Archives for February 2015
Solving the Marketing Problems of Successful Businesses
Our team has entered into the offices of some amazing speakers, coaches, consultants, internet marketers, CEOs and talented soloprenuers. Having candid one-on-one conversations about living their dream and building upon their success story. Often, this candid conversation turns to pitfalls and challenges they cannot seem to solve, which is not normal – after all it is how they got to where they are – successfully solving problems with solutions that give their customer a healthy return on investment.
Most small business founders and entrepreneurs face unique challenges that have complex offerings and tactics at play. When we are called into their office, these unique challenges are having a negative impact on the growth of their dream. They want results and they want them now!
Most small business owners, entrepreneurs and solopreneurs started their business with a passion for a craft, a unique hobby or an uncanny way of communicating 
a complex message in a easily understandable way. However, if you ask them to convey who they are, what they do and why somebody should hire them to an anonymous invisible audience, they will suddenly sputter, and wind up creating a message that just doesnât work. But they donât understand why it doesnât work; they want results and they want them now!
We relish the challenge to dig deep into a failed process, an unmotivated work environment, a marketing message that flopped and the life of a hobbyist turned small business owner. Nothing fuels our inner being like getting thrown into a cage with an overwhelmed entrepreneur full of doubt that my existence in their office will help. Bring on the challenge I say.
Here is what our firm typically finds as the problem, some of the reactions and the ‘why' behind the ‘what'.
1. The message is all about them. No problem here, as long as your client base is yourself or a group of people who have known you forever. Sorry to report, in today's online world of promoting yourself, that prospective customer does not care about you – not prior to the close anyway. The marketing message needs to be about the prospective customers pains, problems, needs, wants, objectives and how the offer makes the prospect feel they have found a potential solutions that could be beneficial.
2. Lack of definition. If you canât define a few of the primary characteristics of your company that you want to be the focal point of your marketing plan, then youâve got a problem. You might be trying to be too many things at once, or you might have simply not spent enough time reflecting on what sort of traits you excel in.
3. They are scared of trying new things. The biggest mistake that you can make as a business owner is to keep pushing the same marketing practices over and over, even after theyâve failed. Youâd be amazed at how many companies are resistant to new marketing practices or channels. If you know that what youâve been doing hasnât working, why wouldnât you want to try something new?
4. They donât communicate with the customer. Just as bad as having a marketing message thatâs all about you is not bothering to get opinions from your customers before putting a marketing plan together. How can you market to them if you donât actually know them? Do everything you can to keep lines of communication open in customer service, in social media, on blogs and more.
There could be any number of things standing in the way between you and marketing success. Let our team work with you and your company to remove those roadblocks together.
Copyright 2015 Viral Solutions LLC
Watch out elephants! This slayer of business challenges comes with 30 years of record breaking sales, marketing, operations, training and leadership experience . He has worked face-to-face with 100âs of small business owners as well as large firms. His love of creating, communicating, developing and executing results for clients shines with each project, publication and training event. His entrepreneurial spirit, passion, industry experience, education, problem-solving prowess, charismatic personality and been-there-done that attitude leads his client focused approach.
How Do You Happy? – A Product Label Reflection of Heinzâs Ketchup. – Marketing Simplicity at Its Best.
This week, while traveling, I had breakfast at a lovely airport brewery. While prepping my egg white veggie omelet, I noticed the Ketchup bottle. Heinzâs Ketchup, an American brand that is known by most. What caught my eye was the product labeling. Right under the Heinzâs name was the most delightful question, âHow do you happy?â. I paused for a moment, smiled, and thought about the creativity and simplicity of the label.
The remainder of this post will discuss the psychographic impact of the message in the label, and perhaps, will give you food or should I say, condiment, for thought about strategies that you can use to engage your customers and create a good feeling.
- How do you happy? The message is simple. It is asking customers or whoever is reviewing the label how they do happy. Picking up a ketchup bottle isn't normally a noticeable activity. However, this label caught my attention, and with my attention caught my emotions and memories of âhow I do happyâ. It made me smile It made me appreciate picking up the bottle, reviewing the statement, thinking about it when putting a dollop of ketchup on my plate, and then changed my entire state of mind throughout my meal.
Psychographic aspects of the message. The simple positioning of the message âHow do you happyâ not only caught my attention, but it caught my emotions. It made me think about specific ways of how I âdoâ happy. While eating my breakfast and drinking my coffee, I glanced around the airport brewery and just smiled. I smiled, and thought, âone of the ways I do happy is by simply being in the moment,â and in the moment I was observing people, taking in all of the sounds, and experiencing a sheer magnitude of gratitude toward life. Yes, a simple engaging question on an American legacy Ketchup company bottle got me. Man, I was feeling like I was watching a Dove commercial about Like a Girl or Self-Description of How Women See Oneself versus Other Women.- The genius behind simplicity. This was a simple question. A question that makes the user stop and think. A question that may connect the user to well… I do happy by eating or going to a BBQ or packing a sandwich for my kids. Whatever. It engages the audience in a way that is positive. It doesnât ask âHow do you angry?â. Instead the message shifts the emotional state of the user and ultimately the state of the experience using the product. Now, this isn't to say that users are going to have a clouds parting, the world is awesome moment, but it does change their emotional state of mind and does make the user stop and think about something, and not just go through the motions of dispensing ketchup.
- Location of the message. I may have seen the message first thing in the morning grabbing breakfast at an airport brewery, someone else may see it in a grocery store or a c-store grabbing a last minute condiment for a camping trip. Who knows where, but the location and timing of that message will create a moment for the user. Think of it this way, if youâre at a grocery store and you have plenty of options to choose from and you glance to the side and notice Heinzâs Ketchup and the message. You smile. You may not care about the price, but be caught up in the moment of the message. You may want to share that message with people that you care about or have it in your fridge so when a loved one grabs it, they may experience the feeling.
- Why this is so cool. It creates a feeling or multiple feelings. As such, a more positive feeling can yield to a greater customer experience. Whether that experience is simply the perception of the experience, like mine being greater than that of using another ketchup. Seriously, I am so shocked to even be writing about
Ketchup, and the message the question on the label had on me from a marketing and personal standpoint. It made something mundane, pretty rad. In an essence, for me it created a ripple effect of positive feelings, and maybe, just maybe the marketer that designed that label had the idea of putting some good vibes out there for customers – after all the world needs it.
So what can this do for you? Well it depends on how you interpret this situation. You may see this post as a crazy person reading too far into a label on a ketchup bottle and may not see any value in it. On the other hand, you may see the beauty, creativity, and emotional connection that marketers drive to achieve in products. This may cause you to think about what you can do or ask your customers that could engage and change their emotional state of mind at the time of purchase, use, or simply being around it. This is pretty dynamic, and a thought-provoking opportunity that can challenge you to think about what simple message could be tied to your brand that could create a desired emotional state that increases the positivity associated with the interactions of your brand. Really, how do you do happy?
Thanks for reviewing, and if you have any questions or would like to brainstorm strategies on aligning creativity and simplicity within your brand message, certainly feel free to reach out.
Have a day full of how you do happy.
Copyright Viral Solutions llc © 2015. All Rights Reserved
by Katie Doseck, Ph.D.
Chief Visionary and Strategic Ace Up Your Sleeve | Viral Solutions LLC
Katie Doseck, PhD MBA | Chief Visionary & Strategic Ace Up Your Sleeve. I catapulted my experience with extensive education, trainings, and personal coaching; earning a PhD in Organizational Management with a specialization in Human Resource Management, MBA in Organizational Leadership, and BA in Law & Liberal Arts. Subject Matter Expert (SME) areas: Human Resource Management, Employment Law, Organizational Change, Change Management, Resource Planning, Strategic Planning, Talent Management, Selling & Sales Management, Training & Development, Decision Making Models, Project Management, Customer Relationship Management, and Motivation. Dr. Doseck is based out of Logan, Utah.
Todayâs Younger Generation Consumes Media Much Differently
Have you noticed how common âlisticlesâ and âmicromediaâ have become in todayâs internet? Youâve likely seen a whole lot of articles titled â5 Thingsâ this or â10 Reasonsâ for whatever. Thereâs a big reason for this â todayâs younger generation, the Millennials, have become a focal point of web advertising, and more than any other generation beforehand, they just want you to get to the point.
People browsing the internet generally have short attention spans with what they choose to read. If theyâre not pulled in within the first paragraph or the first ten seconds of a web video, then theyâre likely going to move on to something else pretty quickly.
So when youâre looking to make advertising pitches to a younger audience with your online content, you need to be able to draw them in with articles that get right 
to the point â a short introduction and then bullet points with quick, consumable information.
The problem with this format, however, is that this sort of âmicromediaâ doesnât exactly stick around in the minds of the reader or viewer for very long. While the primary goal of your content marketing is to get people back to your website and interested in doing business with your company, a big part of that is leaving a lasting impression about your brand. You can put up a clever list in a blog or a funny social media post, but the reader will move on pretty quickly without having retained the information you gave them.
Basically, marketing to Millennials is something of a catch-22 â you need to be able to catch their attention with easily digestible information, but by doing so you make it harder to create a lasting impression.
So how do you actually create that impression after youâve earned their attention? Itâs all about experience. And to give a great customer experience, you need to rethink the way you perform content marketing.
Your âmicromediaâ should never aim to be an experience for the reader or viewer in itself, but the stepping stone to that experience. It should be a conversation starter that leads to engagement and a real experience for your customer.
Viral Solutions can help you to create those stepping stones. Contact us today for more information.
Copyright 2015 Viral Solutions LLC
by Christine Kelly
CEO and Queen Bee | Viral Solutions LLC
Prior to joining Viral Solutions, Christine held executive leadership roles at some of the largest small business consulting firms in the USA. Her experience includes leading direct reports of over 130 remote sales agents who generated $38mm in annual revenue. She obtained her Marketing degree from British Columbia Institute of Technology. Bring her C-Suite experience to your small business. Although our company is virtual, and we can work with you wherever you are located, she is located in Denver, Colorado and owns a second home in Vancouver, BC Canada.
How to Get Most of Your Work Done Early in the Day
One thing youâve likely noticed about some of your more successful friends or colleagues is that they tend to be the kind of people who accomplish a lot in the morning, often getting most of their work done by noon.
This might seem laughable to those of us with insanely busy schedules, but if you plan out your day and stay focused, you have a good chance of getting a majority of your work done before you even have to take your lunch break.
Here are some tips on how you can be extra productive before noon:
- Get writing done in the morning. If you have any memos, reports, long emails, letters or contracts to write, try to do them all right away in the morning.
There have been studies that show that writing helps to focus your brain, so itâs a good way to set the pace for the rest of the day when you get it done right in the morning. - Set alarms for periodic breaks. These breaks shouldnât be very long (five to ten minutes max), but taking an occasional break to grab a cup of coffee, use the bathroom, take a walk around the office or anything else you want to do is actually a good way to improve your attention span. Because your brain knows a break is coming, itâs easier to focus on the tasks at hand.
- Plan out your day the night before. Before you go to bed, do a mental rundown of all the tasks that you want to accomplish the following day and what time you are going to work on them. That way you go into the next day with a game plan, knowing exactly what you need to do and when you need to do it.
- Save email and voice mail until later. If you prioritize these items in the morning, youâre basically allowing other people to dictate your schedule for the day. Instead, take some extra time to eat a healthy breakfast and get working on the important items that you want to accomplish.
- Donât multitask. You might think youâre being more effective by multitasking, but youâre really only giving a small percentage of your brain to multiple things at once. Instead, give all of your attention to one thing at a time. This will both make you more effective and increase the quality of your work.
These are just a few tips for how you can get a lot of work done before noon without having to get up at the crack of dawn. Have any more tips youâd like to share?
Copyright 2015 Viral Solutions LLC
CEO and Queen Bee | Viral Solutions LLC
Prior to joining Viral Solutions, Christine held executive leadership roles at some of the largest small business consulting firms in the USA. Her experience includes leading direct reports of over 130 remote sales agents who generated $38mm in annual revenue. She obtained her Marketing degree from British Columbia Institute of Technology. Bring her C-Suite experience to your small business. Although our company is virtual, and we can work with you wherever you are located, she is located in Denver, Colorado and owns a second home in Vancouver, BC Canada.
4 Tips to Create Blog Content for Your Small Business
Are you content lost? Are you skimming your brain to figure out what in the world you will write about next for your business blog? Are you feeling tapped out? There comes a point that we all feel that way. We either shut the door and call it a day, or we dig. We dig for ideas, inspiration, or get trapped in a sandpit of social media posts.
The purpose of this post is to give you quick and nifty ways to get those creative juices flowing to aid you in creating blog content for your small business. Here are four tips that you can put into action today:
Content Types for Social Media and When to Use Them | Youâve probably noticed by now that there are numerous types of content being shared on social media sites. For example, cat videos continue to dominate the Internet. While sharing silly videos with your friends is part of the appeal of social media, business users need to share content with a purpose. Below are several types of content you can use to get your messages across.
1. Check out comments on your earlier posts. Carpe content diem! Wowzer. That may be the golden nugget for you. Think about all of the time, energy, and awesomeness that you've put into your past posts. Think about how many people have reviewed and interacted with you via your posts. Take the opportunity to review the comments left by reviewers. The comments that you review, may just be the spark of content that you're looking for your next topic or many topics to come. This also helps you to connect with your audience about specifics that stood out to them about your posts. I would encourage reviewing your dashboard data and comments about your posts. This can help you to quickly move to areas that are more engaging and may shed additional light on areas that your audience would  like to know more about.
Content Curation for Your Facebook Business Page. | Keeping your business Facebook page filled with relevant, interesting content is essential in keeping your audience engaged. Most page owners use a mix of text-only, photo, video, and linked content status updates. Each type of update has its place in the mix. Sharing links to interesting articles, reports, and other forms of content is a form of content curation. When done properly, curating content for a Facebook page is an effective way to demonstrate your expertise.
2. Organize previous posts into a relevant post of resources that can help readers. You thought you were done with that post the moment you posted it. Well, maybe you were done with it. You still can choose to file it away or store it into some other category that you hope others can find the information. Yes, you have options. You're the boss, remember. You can decide to file away or put to good re-use of posts for your audience. This doesn't mean to saturate your audience with reruns of content. Rather, you could review relevant past posts and organize those posts into a new post that is related to specific tips or information for your audience. Rather than having an audience sort through your history of posts, you could create a new post that is specifically related to that particular topic and provide information of other posts related to that topic that can help your audience, i.e. 4 Tips to Marketing Research. You could have article that you've written in the past about marketing research that provide value about aspects within that article that leads the audience to a valley of additional information.
Search hot topics in LinkedIn groups that could spark your blog content.
3. Research hot topics in related LinkedIn groups. LinkedIn is super awesome. You could research topics that are going on in LinkedIn groups that may spark a topic for a blog post. This is especially helpful because the groups that you're reviewing are typically groups that align with your industry. The topics are pertinent to people in that industry, which is probably also similar to the audience that you write your post for anyways. So, researching topics that are trending could aid you in sparking several topics for your posts that matter to your specific audience. If haven't checked out LinkedIn groups before, this is a great opportunity for you to virtually network and learn. You can start by doing a search for groups that interest you, align with your industry or cause that you're concerned about.
Stay On Top of Business Trends. | Chances are you feel way too busy as the owner of a small business to stay up to date with the latest news and trends in your field. There are always customer service, budget, marketing or sales tasks that require your attention, and thatâs completely understandable. But for the sake of your business staying on the cutting edge, itâs important that you at least take a small amount of time every day to keep up to date with some of the latest news and trends relating to your business.
4. Read and subscribe to other blogs. You want people to read your blog. Do you subscribe or at the very least subscribe to others? Why not? Are you suffering from a case of the the superior blog complex? Get over it. Really, there are so many talented, driven, and amazing blog writers out there that it is really worth researching, reviewing,
and seeing patterns of successful blogs. Likewise, it also serves to observe not so successful blogs, and help you to identify things that you want to avoid. This can help you see trends that arise within other online blogging communities that are related to your industry or interest. As such, this is an opportunity to learn through observation what others are doing well and not so well. Then using that knowledge to help you grow. Not to copy or plagiarize.
In summary, the above referenced 4 tips to create blog content for your small business are straightforward, to the point, and won't need a rocket scientist to figure out. You can do this during your lunch time or whenever. I know and empathize with you that coming up with new and improved content can be cumbersome, but there are tips and strategies out there to help. These are just a few. If you have any questions, certainly feel free to give our team a jingle or shoot over an email. Thanks for reading, and enjoy rocking out your blog content journey.
Copyright Viral Solutions llc © 2015. All Rights Reserved
by Katie Doseck, Ph.D.
Chief Visionary and Strategic Ace Up Your Sleeve | Viral Solutions LLC
Katie Doseck, PhD MBA | Chief Visionary & Strategic Ace Up Your Sleeve. I catapulted my experience with extensive education, trainings, and personal coaching; earning a PhD in Organizational Management with a specialization in Human Resource Management, MBA in Organizational Leadership, and BA in Law & Liberal Arts. Subject Matter Expert (SME) areas: Human Resource Management, Employment Law, Organizational Change, Change Management, Resource Planning, Strategic Planning, Talent Management, Selling & Sales Management, Training & Development, Decision Making Models, Project Management, Customer Relationship Management, and Motivation. Dr. Doseck is based out of Logan, Utah.