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What I Know to Be True About Marketing

October 27, 2011 in Business, Marketing

I love talking about marketing. I love reading about how to better market myself and my business. It’s a fascinating topic and it is changing rapidly.

What I know to be true about marketing today is:

  • Marketing is never done.
  • Marketing is not an option. We must market if we are going to thrive in this economy.
  • Marketing has changed. We no longer push our product or service into the marketplace we must now build a community of loyal followers and fans.
  • Marketing is personal. Our followers want more transparency than ever before.
  • Marketing is FUN! It’s not a ‘have to’ it’s a ‘get to’.
  • Marketing is EVERYTHING we do. The way we answer the phone, the cleanliness of our office and our online presence – it’s all marketing!

 

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Renovate Your Marketing

October 21, 2011 in Business

Marketing is one budget item that often gets cuts during a down economy. Yet the most important thing you can do in a down economy is MARKET. Whether you are a business owner or a business professional – marketing is a MUST! Below are some low-cost or no-cost ideas for marketing your business and yourself.

Use LinkedIn. This free resource is a great way to maintain connections with your current clients. Staying in touch with our clients is part of marketing and it is more important than ever before. Check out my profile at http://www.linkedin.com/in/michelleneujahr.

Use Twitter. Twitter is also a free way to connect with your current clients and connect with potential clients. There is value in Twitter. It’s a tool that takes a while to get used to. And you may need to play with it for a while to find a fit for your business – but persevere. Twitter is the up and coming way to connect. Make time to figure out how to use Twitter in your marketing mix – it’s FREE. Follow me at http://twitter.com/MichelleNeujahr

Use Facebook. Facebook can be a great marketing tool. Once you have a personal profile you can add a page promoting your business. Check out my page at http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fcompanies.to%2Fneujahrdevelopmentcompany%2F&h=2b620de570deca6ed377b75cbcfecc03 and then create one for your business as well.

Write Articles. There are thousands of publications that need content. Local newspapers, industry newsletters, blogs, ezines and various websites are always looking for great content. Write articles about your industry for the general public. The object of these articles is to establish yourself as an expert in your industry– not to promote your business. Establishing and affirming yourself as an expert is an excellent way to market.

Attend local networking events regularly. I know you are busy – we all are! Yet we NEED to make time to networking. Networking is the key for growing a business and/or developing a career. Make a point to get out at a minimum of a few times a month to network.

Participate in community service. As a business owner I regularly participate in community service. You can adopt a highway, volunteer at the chamber or sponsor community events. By doing community service people see you as committed to the community and they believe you are in business to stay.

Delight your customers – every time. We can no longer just sell a project, do the work and move on. Customers are increasingly selective and they want to be “delighted” not just served. Set up company policies that take customer service to a new level. By delighting customers you will generate a buzz with word of mouth advertising.

Enlist other to help. Partner with other companies in your field to do joint marketing, hold local events or link to each other’s websites. There are many creative people in the business – ask for help.

Use your current contacts. Continue marketing to your clients on an ongoing basis. Try to make some type of contact with your clients at least four times a year either through email, personal contact or a mailing of some sort.

Write an email newsletter. This is a low cost way to stay in front of your database. Just make sure the newsletter is not all about you and your company. Add interesting news about your industry, provide useful tips and make it fun.

Offer free seminars. You can offer free seminars at local trade shows in any industry. This is another way to provide valuable information to the public while establishing expert status.

Make marketing a priority today!

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Developing Excellent Teams

October 17, 2011 in Business, Team Building

“If you could get all of the people in your organization rowing in the same direction, you could dominate any industry, any market against any competition.” Patrick Lencioni

I recently read and then reread Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni. It was a fabulous book – full of things we NEED to know as leaders. As I read Patrick’s story about the dysfunctional executive team – I couldn’t help comparing the story to many teams I’ve been on. I’m sure most of us don’t need to look too hard to find a dysfunctional team in our own circles. Dysfunctional teams are everywhere. I think finding a functional team is harder than ever. Yet they are out there if we look for them.

We may not find our own teams to be functional but if we’re willing to do the work we can take our dysfunctional team and transform it into a functional one. We don’t need to continue settling for being part of a dysfunctional team. As leaders we have the power to change the direction of our team. We also have the power to let things continue as they are. It’s up to us. We can actively lead or we can just let things go on as they always have. Usually if we do nothing – we get a dysfunctional team whether that’s what we wanted or not.

Ultimately, it’s our job as leaders to lead the team. It’s our job to assess the current state of our teams. It’s our job to turn things around if they’re dysfunctional. And it’s our job to start the work necessary to make a change.

Turning a dysfunctional team into a healthy, functional team is hard work. It takes guts and dedicated follow-through. I think this scares many of us and this is why we continue to lead as we always have.

Yet it’s amazing to watch a team go from being dysfunctional to being functional. There are times I’ve watched companies transform before my eyes in just a few months. When they transform the way they function as a team many things will happen. The bottom line will be impacted, sales will go up and people will get focused. Things happen when teams begin to function in a healthy way. The best part of the transformation is in what happens to morale. When teams begin functioning – they actually begin to have fun together and their positive energy is contagious. As teams come together under leaders committed to change – anything is possible.

Transforming a dysfunctional team into a healthy, functional team won’t be easy, it will take time and it will require all you have as a leader. But when you look at the alternative – a dysfunctional, unengaged team, what are your choices? You can keep getting what you have always gotten or you can take a risk and step into something new. There are hundreds of resources out there for you to grab on to if you are willing to take you team to the higher ground. But first you must decide if you are willing to do what it will take to get there.

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Employee Engagement is NOT an Option

October 16, 2011 in Business

“In good times, employee engagement is the difference between being good and being great. In bad times, it’s the difference between surviving and not.” James K. Harter

There are those who will survive this economy and there are those who will not. The businesses that survive and thrive during this downturn are the ones who know how to engage their workforce. Employee engagement isn’t a fluffy topic nor is it for the faint at heart. Employee engagement is essential to any business. And it could actually be the critical piece between those who thrive over the next few years and those who close their doors.

According to Gallop, unengaged employees cost organizations over 350 billion dollars a year. Combine this number with the fact that engaged workers decrease productivity, spread negative energy and squash creativity. Unengaged employees are a virus to any organization.

On the flip side, Watson Wyatt found that companies with highly engaged employees demonstrated 200% greater profitability. The fact is employee engagement does add to the bottom line. And in order to be profitable or stay profitable – we must have an engaged workforce.

What is engagement? Engagement is defined as: busy or occupied; involved: deeply engaged in conversation, to occupy oneself; become involved: to engage in business or politics, to attract and hold fast: The novel engaged her attention and interest, to attract or please: His good nature engages everyone.

Employee engagement, also called work engagement, is a concept that is generally viewed as managing discretionary effort, that is, when employees have choices, they will act in a way that furthers their organization’s interests. An engaged employee is a person who is fully involved in, and enthusiastic about, his or her work.

Engaged employees are more productive, create stronger customer relationships, and stay longer. They are powerful “outside-the-box” thinkers and are more likely to react positively to creative ideas. They have good friends at work and are liked by their peers. Engaged employees are willing to go above and beyond in providing excellent customer service, willing to learn and grow with the organization and they consistently exceed expectations. In addition they are twice as likely as their less engaged peers to be top performers, are absent less often and are more resilient to and supportive of organizational change initiatives.

In this economy you must have engaged employees. Unengaged employees will cost your business now and when the economy turns back around.

Take an honest look at your business today. What do you see? Are your employees engaged? Are you engaged?

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