So once again I’ve been neglecting my blog. I think, ultimately, I would prefer to focus my marketing/sales/business topics on the Outspoken Media blog, and start to refocus my site into more local/eating/health/personal related topics, with a smattering of MBA related posts. I know, lame right?

The good news: I’ll still be talking about business topics. The bad news: There is none! Head over to Outspoken Media to hear more from me about business, sales and internet marketing topics. If you’re still around for the ride, stay tuned! There’s more to come.

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I am a graduate student pursuing a Masters of Business Administration degree, and I’m damn proud of it.

I’m not alone. Over 250,000 students were enrolled in an MBA program in 2008. Although this past year saw dwindling application numbers, MBA programs, from what I can tell, are not going anywhere. Try telling that to the mass of business bloggers who have fledged an all out war against the MBA.

In March 2011, entrepreneur and business writer John Warillow published a post on BNET.com outlining the reasons MBA degrees are a detriment to the entrepreneurial mind. It would be enough to discourage pursuing an MBA, but more recently he published an article for a Canadian newspaper, The Globe and Mail, titled “Looking for Entrepreneurs? Screen out MBAs.” Yikes, John Warillow. The following quote from The Globe and Mail sums up his opinion of the MBA succinctly:

To me, an MBA is a sign of a candidate who worries too much about what other people think. An MBA is the educational equivalent of wearing cufflinks – something you show people so they take you seriously.

There has been no end to the business writers who have come forward to stand against the MBA: Penelope Trunk, Matthew Stewart, Josh Kaufman, Geoffrey James …the list goes on and on. I’ve read the analysis of the ROI, commentary about outdated curricula focused on analyzing case studies and professors out of touch with the reality of the business world. I hear you, bloggers, and I appreciate your concern, but with all due respect please, back off!

I wasn’t crazy when I started SUNY Albany’s evening MBA program. I was in no way forced, coerced or mislead. Being part of a sales organization where the majority of the leadership did not have an advanced degree, I was not trying to impress anybody. Instead, I made a decision based on an assessment of my current skill-set, desired exposure and my ability to leverage the MBA curriculum to foster ongoing growth. By no means did I have a running start into the business world. With an undergraduate degree in Anthropology and 2 years following an unfruitful path in academia, I felt as though launching my career would be a slow, dragging process.

There is one sentiment at the core of arguments against getting an MBA: if you are motivated and play your cards right, you do not need to go to school for business. And I do not disagree. For some, entrepreneurship and business acumen are as natural as breathing, but those lucky people are in the minority. For the rest of us, we need to motivate ourselves in some way. And as behavioral economist Dan Ariely argues in his post, The Upside of Useless Stuff, striving for “useless” things can drive our productivity.

I’m not going to waste time picking apart every argument against the MBA. I know John Warillow and his cohorts would like it much more if you spent your tuition on their books instead. Can’t blame them for wanting a piece of the pie, and by all means I urge you to supplement your education with their work. Instead, I’d like to talk to two groups – perspective MBA students and employers – who are in danger of missing out on a great opportunity.

Why pursue an MBA?

I hate to admit it, but most of the value I’ve received from education has been from extracurricular activities. In high school, I participated in Habitat for Humanity and was president of the National Honors Society, which taught me the importance of community involvement and fostered leadership skills I use to this day. In college, I worked for the student calling program (leading to my first job out of college in fund-raising), studied abroad and competed in women’s sumo wrestling (which lead to my second job) and learned the ins and outs of social media by messing around on the internet (which lead to my current job). Nowhere along the line did studying Anthropology directly influence my career.

Yet all of those opportunities presented themselves because of the abundant networking opportunities, resources and knowledge available to me through school. In your MBA program, you will be surrounded by people with diverse backgrounds, viewpoints and goals. There may be the 45-year-old sales manager, or the eager entrepreneurial whiz kid. Sure, the material you’ll cover will be interesting, but the most valuable part of the experience is the exposure to a broad array of opinions. Every professor thus far has encouraged class discussions, which are always thought-provoking and have challenged me to reconsider my assumptions.

I can see Penelope Trunk readying her daggers right now. I understand that you can get this type of exposure without pursuing a degree. I’ve talked to these people. They attend every relevant networking event. They have business cards strapped to their thighs. They buy every business guide and motivational book on the market. They can pick influencers and decision-makers out of a line-up blindfolded. I admire these people, but sorry, it’s just not my style. We all have different paths. This is mine.

In all fairness, there are legitimate arguments for both sides. Here’s my perspective:

Only you can decide where your reasons fall on this chart. I recommend you take sometime to check-in with yourself, build your self-awareness and outline your goals. There is no rush. To be frank, the more work experience you have under your belt, the more you’ll get out of your program.

If you’re looking to go straight into entrepreneurship, either path makes sense depending on your program. Many business schools are integrating a curriculum focused on entrepreneurial studies based on recent demand. Check your local universities to see if those programs exist, and try to meet with professors. If you find that the majority of teaching staff is steeped in academia with little to no real business experience, look elsewhere.

Why hire an MBA?

You have two resumes in front of you: one from an MBA graduate, one from someone with more work experience but no advanced degree. Who do you choose? Obviously the guy with more work experience. In all cases, you’ll want to hire the guy who can bring more industry experience to your business.

In another scenario, you have two young candidates, one who has been doing paid internships for the past two years to gain experience and make ends meet, another who has pursued their MBA full-time. Who do you choose? This is where things are not so clear. Both are hard workers in their own way (trust me, studying for the GMAT, hustling to class after work and writing papers is no walk in the park). Both may have value to bring to the table. Bring them both in for an interview. I suggest not even mentioning the advanced degree during your interview with the MBA. See how and if she brings it up. Does she wear it like a badge of honor, or talk about the knowledge and skills she’s obtained? It’s up to the candidate to shine for themselves. I absolutely do not recommend hiring someone based on MBA alone. It comes down to the skills you need for your business and the person-organization fit.

I’d break out the good and bad reasons to hire an MBA, but quite frankly it wouldn’t be fair to speak for every candidate. Are there students who go just to get a degree and don’t get anything from their program? Sure. But those are the people who wouldn’t have tried hard at anything. If I were in the market for a job (which I’m not), this is why I’d recommend you hire me:

• I am a hard worker. Successfully balancing out work, home and school is challenging but rewarding. I truly feel as though I can manage problems that come my way and quickly learn how to solve them.
• Everything I learn, I learn with the intention of applying it to my company.
• I don’t participate in class discussions to flaunt how much I know. I want to challenge my own assumptions and learn new things from different perspectives.
• I do not think linearly. This is one of the biggest misconceptions about MBAs. Instead, I can look at an organization from a birds-eye-view and in the context of a global economy. I do not expect that there is a process or procedure for everything. I think outside the box.
• I have the expected business skills: constructing balance sheets, calculating financial indicators, times series forecasting, advanced excel, interviewing and hiring, presentation skills, marketing and management and leadership. Some of these skills are automated or outsourced, but if necessary, I can get the job done in a pinch.

The decision to get or hire an MBA comes down to personal choice. Everyone has their own reasons for pursuing the degree. Rather than listening to business bloggers who may have personal biases, try talking to a candidate. We won’t bite, but we may bore you with business theory. Approach at your own risk.

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1. You and I were not among the chosen ones taken in the Rapture as predicted by Harold Camping and his band of merry maniacs
2. The Rapture did not actually happen, and we’re all stuck here on lame old Earth until we die of cancer, car crashes or natural causes

But hey, who knows, the day is young, right? Although he’s been waffling about the exact time and way the world will end, Camping said the fun would begin 6pm EST, about 4 hours from now. Wait, hold on a moment. How do I know that? Why did I, and the rest of the media, care so much about one guy who falsely predicted the end of the world 17 years ago? As in all cases of failure, there is a lesson here, specifically for marketers. While Mr. Camping may be out of his mind, your brand can learn a thing or two from his attention grabbing marketing tactics.

Use an integrated marketing campaign

A radio show broadcast in over 84 languages, RV caravans, fliers, active discussion forums online, blogs and over 1,200 billboards across the United States? Now that’s what I call marketing. Camping would have been foolish to put all his eggs in the radio show basket. He mobilized his followers to spread the word in any way possible. And it got people talking. The majority of people think he’s wrong or out of his mind, but everyone is talking about his prediction, because everywhere you turn it’s in your face.

Is your brand using a similar marketing mix? While fliers may be enough to capture the interest of 5% of your target market, how are you getting in front of everyone else? Even internet marketing has its limitations. Your campaign needs to get creative, diverse and widespread. You don’t need to have a huge budget. As Camping taught us, some of the work can be done by your followers. If you’re interesting enough, people will talk, word will spread and you’ll have the spotlight (for better or for worse). Pushing your brand out there is only part of the process. If you want trust from your prospects and customers, you have to…

Stick to your guns

I have to admit, I’m impressed. Camping and his followers are a steadfast group. They wouldn’t even dare to think about, let alone discuss, what will happen if they wake up on May 22 and the world is just the way it was the day before. To let that thought cross their minds would be to doubt God and the Bible, which would be a violation of their faith.

Don’t we all wish we (and our customers!) could believe in our brand that way? Well, if you want to set your brand apart, you have to believe in yourself. Your customers can smell doubt from a mile away. If your faith in your brand is unshakable, that faith will trickle down to your employees and customers. Even if you’re delivering the worst news, your belief in your brand can move mountains.

There may be push back against your message from unbelievers, but if you stand strong and ultimately end up being right, your customers will trust you like never before. But, wait, won’t there will be times when your message is wrong? No need to worry, because…

You can be wrong and loved

Camping erroneously predicted the end of the world back in 1994, but blamed the lack of Jesus-on-Earth on some bad math. THIS time, he said, it’s going to happen. He went as far as to guarantee it. And somehow, he got enough people to believe him that billboards went flying up, the media went Rapture-crazy and people started looking for post-Apocalypse pet sitters.

There will be times when you miss the mark, but that doesn’t mean you should avoid risk altogether. Sure, delivering a new product, idea or message is terrifying. Don’t let fear of being wrong hold you back. Even if your idea is a flop, it is possible to regain customer trust. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and move on. How many times can you be wrong and still be loved? I’m sure we’ll learn the answer to that question tomorrow morning. But before you try to push your brand out there again, remember that…

Creative math only gets you so far

Have you seen the movie, “The Number 23“? Me neither. But from what I gather, Harold Camping and Jim Carrey’s character might get along swimmingly. Numbers are a valuable tool to make others believe our ideas. They can also drive us out of our minds. Here’s Camping’s Rapturized-math and how he came to the May 21 prophecy:

Christ was crucified on April 1, 33 A.D., exactly 722,500 days before May 21, 2011. That number, 722,500, is the square of 5 x 10 x 17. In Camping’s numerological system, 5 represents atonement, 10 means completeness, and seventeen means heaven. “Five times 10 times 17 is telling you a story,” Camping said on his Oakland-based talk show, Family Radio, last year.

I’m not a Biblical scholar, so I can’t comment on the logic in Camping’s math, but numbers are sexy and it got people to  believe him. But as we know, his creative math got him into trouble before. Will his followers be as forgiving about his “miscalculations” this time around?

In marketing, it is tempting to pull a Camping. You may find some great statistics to support your idea or make your product look effective, but how are you getting your data? Infomercials constantly show the power of using shady numbers. Sure, one person out of a study may have lost 20 pounds on your diet pill, but what about the other participants? How many people actually participated? When you start to push out numbers, be careful. If word gets around that you’re lying with numbers, you can completely blow any trust you’ve built in your brand.

For the sake of sanity and peace in this world, let’s hope Camping’s days of whimsical calculations and false prophesies are over.

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• Why am I torturing myself like this?
• Who am I?
• What kind of value do I plan to bring to the workplace?
• Am I an entrepreneur, and what qualities make an entrepreneur great?
• What does it mean to “enjoy life”?

Tonight, I’ve been particularly focused on the second question. A few hours ago I attended an Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber of Commerce panel titled ‘Tapping Into the Hidden Talent of Tech Valley.’ A topic that came up again and again is the idea of personal branding. For me, a personal brand is a constantly evolving, semi-amorphous beast. On one hand, you can spend tons of time defining who the “you” of your brand is, meticulously projecting that “self” out into the universe. On the other hand, your personal brand has a life of its own, for better or for worse.

Many of the speakers from tonight’s panel probably think they know what their brand is: Self-made. Driven. Humble. Community oriented. Wise. Thoughtful. Funny. Charismatic. Tech savvy. I bet some of you might be saying “Hey! That’s my brand!” Well, yes. Everybody would like those traits to encompass their brand. All of us, in some way, embody those traits. But there is a difference between a group of traits and a personal brand.

To me, a “personal brand” transcends this facade when it steps beyond projecting those traits to acknowledging and taking charge of the value you bring to the lives of others. Knowing your own strength (through self-awareness) and positioning yourself as an embodiment of that strength is the cornerstone of any successful self-branding effort. Executing the delivery of that brand can happen in many ways: blogging, Tweeting, attending networking events, interacting with your local community, volunteering…the list goes on and on. If you lack that self-awareness aspect, it doesn’t matter how many ways you deliver your brand. Projecting a “you” that isn’t comes off as plain old phony, even to people who don’t know you well.

So what is my personal brand? Well, that’s part of the purpose of this blog – to figure out what value I bring to the table to establish my personal brand. Hopefully you all can help me figure that out as time goes on. For now, my speed blog time is up! Stay tuned for more posts in the near future.

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Image: Apple's Eyes Studio / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I’m fairly new to this whole blog thing, but I’m getting the picture that creating content is tough work. Imagine writing a mini research paper every time you decide to post a blog. You start with a great topic that you think will add value to your readers’ experience. It may take you a few hours (or more than a day), but you gather some credible sources to link to, draft and proof read your work and finally click “publish.” Now imagine that after all your effort, nobody reads or comments on the product of all your hard work. In the end, you put on a great performance for an absent audience.

I have tremendous respect for those that choose to put themselves through this painful process for a living. It requires the type of endurance and perseverance that only marathon runners possess. For the rest of us hobby-bloggers it can become too frustrating, and many of us end up tossing our sites into the black hole of inactive blogs.

How can we avoid blog burnout? My simple answer is this: stop trying! For some of us, straying from a strict regimen would be the beginning of the end. But there is a difference between being disciplined and blogging because your calendar told you to. There are ways to balance the two so that you can continue to create content that ultimately drives users to your blog.

Put down the day planner

Have you set an appointment on your calendar to remind you to blog for the week? Go ahead and delete that reminder. It’s doing you no good. Again, professional bloggers can create content at the drop of a hat. For the rest of us, it does not pay to chain ourselves to invisible deadlines, especially when we don’t have a massive readership yet. Holding yourself to a deadline may keep you on a regular schedule, but are you forcing out boring content? It’s difficult to be honest with ourselves. If you find yourself posting about topics that are being talked about ad nauseum for the sake of producing content, it’s time to take a step back.

Strike while the iron’s hot

This is the tip that my husband probably wishes I would keep to myself. I tend to talk about marketing all day, including when I get home from work. Every so often my husband will say something that sets off a spark of inspiration, and I go straight to WordPress to furiously type my thoughts out. That isn’t very practical for those of us with lives, but a variation of this tactic can work for you. Forget carrying around a little notebook, just make sure you have a pen handy at all times. I always have a few receipts or napkins in my purse. Those do just as well as long as you remember not to throw them out. Don’t make the mistake of mentally drafting a really interesting post and telling yourself that you’ll write about it later, only to forget some of the more interesting details.

Don’t scrap it, draft it

WordPress has made it easy to save work that would otherwise be lost in the ether. You don’t need to complete a blog post just because you started it. Get as far as you can until you hit a wall, save the post as a draft and let it go. You may only need a few hours to rethink your topic and get back on track, but in the worst case scenario you have a fallback post to start from during a dry spell. Having a particularly inspired day? Start a few posts that you can flush out on future dates.

Flaunt your stuff

Unfortunately, simply producing awesome, interesting content is not enough to garner interest. Someone needs to read it and (in the best case scenario) like it enough to share it with someone else. For a small-time blogger like myself, sharing a link to the post via Twitter and Facebook is a good start. There are a ton of resources out there about how to create a popular blog. The key is producing interesting content that comes from a true stroke of inspiration. If you’re doing it right, your content will be picked up and linked to by other blogs and websites.

Pick up the planner once you pick up speed

Nothing encourages creativity and drive like positive feedback. Once you’ve built up an active readership, it may be time to start planning posts again. If you’ve drafted enough posts, you can schedule those out for a few weeks to give you a running start. If you see that your cache of drafts is starting to dwindle, brainstorm a list of topics and assign them to the days when you plan to post. Don’t go into a blog drafting session cold until you’ve gotten the hang of quickly brainstorming interesting content ideas.

Remember, your readership is more forgiving than you think. Although they may be accustomed to posts every Monday and Thursday, they will forgive you if your next blog is something that adds value to their reading experience. Posting stale, uninspired content is the easiest way to lose readers and consequently lose momentum.

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I was intrigued and slightly horrified to find out that I currently have 110 megabytes of personal information stored on Facebook. Granted, I’ve had Facebook since it was released to a small group of universities back in the day (when it was actually used for sharing information with classmates. Aaah, youth.) Still, that’s a whole lot of stuff out there about me, for better or for worse.

There’s something thrilling about uncovering a secret from your family’s past. Most of us would need to rifle through dusty old photo albums, listen to hours of stories or (if you’re digging really deep) pour through library archives to find the juicy details of our family history. It may take you a long time, but eventually you could find the location of the house where your great great great grandmother lived. It’s almost like finding buried treasure.

My great great great grandchildren? They’ll simply need to download my permanent Facebook file, by then a few gigabytes or so. Maybe they won’t even need to open a zip file. By then my life will be archived into a few keywords that can be easily searched and sorted. All the nuances and details of my life that have culminated to make me who I am will be washed over by the efficiency of a simple algorithm. They may know that I married Charles Atkins on November 13, 2010, but they might never know why.

All that is sad in a way, but then I started to wonder how if in any way what I say and do online could effect my children. Is it crazy to think that an opinion I express in my early 20s could come back to haunt my daughter during her presidential campaign? I certainly hope that never happens, but it isn’t outside the realm of possibility.

I don’t plan on censoring myself for the sake of my child’s future political endeavors, but it is an interesting question. How much data will be collected from online sources and stored not only about individuals, but about patterns of behavior and beliefs passed down from generation to generation? The optimist in me would like to believe we’re not headed towards such an Orwellian future.

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If you use Facebook you may be familiar with a product called MiO, a liquid water enhancer that comes in six flavors: berry pomegranate, fruit punch, mango peach, peach tea, sweet tea and strawberry melon. Last month Kraft Foods launched an advertising campaign on Facebook promoting the release of MiO in grocery stores, offering free samples to the first 100,000 fans to submit a request.

This is not the first campaign of its kind, but this is the first time I’ve ever signed up for this kind of promotion. Perhaps it was because I had just returned to Facebook after a brief hiatus, or perhaps the campaign really was eye-catching. Either way, I signed up and almost completely forgot about it until I got the sample in the mail today.

MiO (and Kraft Foods, by proxy), congratulations. I really enjoyed this product promotion experience from start to finish. Here is what they did right, and hopefully you all can derive a few takeaways for your own marketing and promotion efforts.

They didn’t bug me

I have reservations about pointing this out as something they did right. Traditionally, I would say that ignoring a potential customer for about a month is a bad idea. In this case, receiving the package after completely forgetting about it made me feel pleasantly surprised.

The packaging helped me recall all the elements of the product that I had stashed away in my subconscious. “‘I’ve arrived’? Did I order something? Update my drink status? Oh yeah! The Facebook water flavor thing!” MiO couldn’t have gotten away with ignoring their customers for so long had the packaging been mediocre. Instead, MiO wants us to get excited. It hasn’t forgotten about us, and it hopes we haven’t forgotten about it. Even better, right from the get-go we have a call to action: get on Facebook and talk about it!

Their sample was an actual representation of the product

The only time I want a tiny free sample is when I’m shopping at Sam’s Club, and I know by the time I leave I’ll have eaten a three course meal’s worth of food. Otherwise, show me what I’ll actually be buying.

Twenty-four servings is quite the sample size! In fact, it’s the actual product size. Kraft knows that this product is more than just about tasty water. They want you to feel how easy it is to transport MiO around, get a sense for how long one bottle will last for you and be able to share with friends. Most of all, you’ll easily recognize it again when you see it on store shelves, because what you got is what you’ll see.

It’s an okay product

Let’s face it, flavored water is anything but novel. Kraft already has Crystal Light. Why launch another water flavoring product into the market? Well, it is different. Crystal Light appeals to the dieting crowd because, although it’s a diet product, it tastes very sweet and can help take the place of other sugary drinks. MiO, although calorie free, is not really marketed as a diet product. It just happens to make water taste a bit better.

I opted to use a conservative amount for my first glass. The flavor didn’t change my world, but apparently people on Facebook are really excited about the flavor. It was good enough to make me consider buying it if it isn’t too expensive and is available in my local grocery store.

Finally, MiO asked for my business

A simple $1 off coupon. Again, nothing new here. But I like that they used this insert as an opportunity to showcase their other flavors. This may be pure coincidence, but the flavor I received was actually printed on the coupon. Smart, because if I like the flavor I’ll easily be able to remember which one I got when I go to buy more.

Based on the feedback on Facebook so far, MiO has seduced the crowd! But has MiO made true converts out of their fans? Only time will tell. If they’ve done their job right, MiO may have 100,000 brand evangelists out there ready to buy their next round and spread the good word to their friends.

What are your impressions of the MiO campaign? Did anyone else receive their free sample in the mail today?

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I have no intention of stealing Daniel’s thunder by revealing too much about his Tour de Soft Serve. Also, I’d rather be outside enjoying this wonderful weather instead of sitting indoors typing this post. I believe Daniel will post an update about it sometime this week, so instead I’ll just give a few snippets of feedback and share some photos.

There were five stops on the tour encompassing some of the most popular local soft serve places: On the Farm in Latham, Guptill’s Coney Express in Cohoes, Country Drive-In in Clifton Park, Kurver Kreme in Albany and Tastee Freez in Delmar. Due to technical issues involving my outdated piece of junk GPS, I ended up missing out on the Country Drive-In.

The rules for judging were simple: order chocolate vanilla swirl ice cream, keeping the size, topping and choice of cone or bowl consistent at each location. Each location was judged on a scale of 1 (being poor) to 5 (being excellent) on vanilla, chocolate, topping, texture, value and overall. We also took note of the weight and cost. I ordered a small with hot fudge in a cup at each location.

Apparently what constitutes a “small” was determined by Andre the Giant, because my servings were about 7.02 oz on average. So, to answer an obvious question, no – I did not finish the ice cream at each stop. I did stay with the small size consistently so that I could compare weights (oh, the things I do for food!). By the last stop I could only take two bites and I had to throw the rest away. One of my tour-mates let me take a picture of her cone when she was half-way through so we could judge the vanilla-to-chocolate ratio.

And so, with that, on with the show…

On the Farm

I liked the decor and atmosphere of On the Farm the most. The tractor at the entrance is a dead giveaway that you’ve come to the right place.

The vanilla-to-chocolate ratio was a bit off with an overwhelming amount of vanilla. That’s too bad, because their chocolate ice cream was one of the best.

Guptill’s Coney Express

Guptill’s is consistently branded as having the best soft serve ice cream in the area. Yesterday, we put it to the test!

Bam! Perfect vanilla-to-chocolate ratio. In fact, Guptill’s was the only spot on the tour to actually accomplish this feat! That being said, Guptill’s was not my favorite, flavor-wise. It left a weird after-taste in my mouth, almost as though something they clean their machines with somehow got into the soft serve.

Kurver Kreme

After switching to my phone’s navigation system and getting back on track, I met up with the group at the forth spot, Kurver Kreme. Kurver’s layout is a hassle, and actually sort of dangerous if you have kids. Even on mildly busy days, the line cuts right through the center of the parking lot, and excited little ones running around could potentially run out in front of a car.

Very interesting vanilla/chocolate dispersion. I suppose one could argue it was a 50/50 split. The major issue was that the chocolate flavor was so mild that it was hard to tell the difference between the vanilla and chocolate. So although the ratio may have been on point, taste-wise you wouldn’t have known.

Tastee FreezThe last stop was Tastee Freez. I liked the simplicity of their menu compared to many of the other places. The layout is more child-friendly than the other locations.

Whoa. We started with too much vanilla and ended with too much chocolate. I guess overall we evened out our chocolate and vanilla consumption. As you can tell, my tour-mates are looking a little bogged down from all the dairy.

So who won? Again, this is Daniel’s thing, so I encourage you to check out his blog and find out in the week ahead. If you live locally and you have ideas for future tour ideas, send them to Daniel. I believe he is looking for good summer tour ideas.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

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And so I challenge you to contemplate leadership a bit this weekend. It doesn’t really matter what stage of your career you’re in right now. Every individual can make a decision to become a leader in some regard, whether that’s within your family or as a CEO. What actions can you take right now to be a better leader to those that hold you to that esteem? I’d love to hear some of your feedback and thoughts on Monday.

On the more fun side of things, I will be tagging along with Daniel B. of FUSSYlittleBLOG tomorrow on the Tour de Soft Serve, and hope to post some pictures and feedback on Sunday. I tried explaining this concept to my grandmother who lives downstate, and I swore I heard crickets chirping over the phone. I swear it’s not all hicks and hayrides in upstate New York

Have a great weekend!

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Image: jscreationzs / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

“Well, I personally use Dogpile for the majority of my web searching and I think my customers do the same.”

“When I search for the kind of widgets I make, I search for something like ‘bright blue mango scented widgets made in Utah’ and I’m fairly sure my customers do the same.”

“Sure, I’ve asked a few of my customers how they find me, and they usually tell me they found me through Google.”

“I dunno, I think this whole internet thing is just a fad.”

Pop quiz: What do all the statements above have in common?

a) They are insightful and well thought out

b) The assumption behind each statement is sound and will lead to marketing success

c) I’ve said all of them

d) They are dangerous and can lead to a heaping sack of money being left on the table for a competitor to come along and sweep up

If you guessed ‘d,’ then you are absolutely correct, and you win the peace of mind that you are more informed than a large population of marketing decision makers. The truth is only one of the examples above is exaggerated (the ‘bright blue mango’ example). I have personally heard these statements from people who have been put in the position to make decisions about marketing, and it makes me fear for them (and their revenue).

Let me go ahead and rip the bandage off right now: how you think your customers behave does not matter. How they do behave and how you go about finding out how they behave does matter. You see, your competitor (for example, Bobby’s Widget Extravaganza) has just completed extensive market research on the buying behavior of their customers and target markets. Bobby’s team wants to know where their customers go to search for their products, how they’re searching for these products and what content their site needs to deliver to convince the customer to buy from Bobby’s. So, while you’re busy optimizing your website with the phrase ‘bright blue mango scented widgets made in Utah,’ Bobby has implemented a holistic marketing plan that not only includes on-site optimization with targeted keywords, but billboards, emails and fliers as well. Bobby took the time to understand how to hold his customer’s hand through the buy-cycle, and now he’s scooping up your money.

“Well, yeah, I would never think that my customers would use such a ridiculously far-fetched key phrase to find my product.” Ok, but I bet you’ve been guilty of using your personal experiences to fuel your marketing decisions. Who can blame you? The easiest market research you can do is the kind you do in the mirror. In actuality, anecdotal experience (aka your hypothesis) is a great launch point for testing and formulating a plan. Who knows your product better than you? But you need to step back more often than not and try to view your product from an outside perspective.

Asking a few of your regular customers is not a bad start, but again it can be just as limiting. Your regular customers have already been sold, and are happy because they keep coming back to you. There are a lot more psychological factors at play with regular customers (habit, familiarity, fear of straying from the norm, loyalty, etc.) than with potential new customers (fear of trying new things, distrust, etc.). The best opportunities for you to attract new business or create loyalty is to understand your infrequent customers (where are they going when they’re not going to you?) and people who are not buying from you at all (are you not visible when they’re making buying decisions? Which competitors do they see first, and how are they increasing their exposure?).

Think about attracting customers the same way you think about a resume. Would you send the same resume to an investment firm that you’d send to a fast food restaurant? You probably would have done much more research for the job at the investment firm. You’d know the type of qualities and achievements you should highlight in your resume, the name of the person you’re sending your resume to and who the major players are in the company.

Knowing your audience and what they’re looking for helps you tailor your message and approach the right way so that you get the job every time.

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