Theresa Q's Viewspage on Marketkeeping

Why the target audience will always forget us. #li

Because they have more important things to do...

MENG Online: What others think about you is none of your business, by Peter Engler, 2012-Feb-1

Realize, please, that you can only do so much about marketing yourself and impressing your profile and goals on others. Do your best and then leave it to the gods and move on to another opportunity or activity that offers promise.

Frankly, others probably think you’re terrific. They are just spending most of their time on their own careers and jobs, and all the work it takes to keep them alive and growing.

Lead generation is not about flashes of brilliance. #li

When people ask about the secret of lead generation, I know they are looking for a silver bullet, to be shot one time, making all the prospects flock to them. Not happening. Lead generation is about slog, slog, slogging consistency and persistence. 

Hubspot: Sustainable Lead Generation, 2011-Dec-23, by Corey Eridon

1.) Blog, blog, blog. If you haven't already started a blog, do it. If you have one, write for it consistently. If you're not sure how often you should blog, take a look at your organic competitors. If they are blogging twice a week, outdo them and blog four times a week. Just make sure you're not winning the quantity game by sacrificing quality.

2.) Keep other web pages up to date. The frequency with which you post and update content matters in search engines, and to people. Blogging is a great solution to this, but don't neglect the rest of your website. Update your event pages, news pages, product and service pages, and 'about us' pages to stay up to date with the pace at which your industry moves. No, you won't update these as much as your blog, but keeping the content fresh and timely is crucial to maintain relevancy.

The new cult of customer development #li

I was sad to miss the opportunity to hear Steve Blank present recently, but I was too busy working on "customer development" at MosquitoZone. I'm glad to see his ideas spreading throughout the technology community. Back when I worked with Compaq, 'product development' was where all the cools kids wanted to be. 'Customer development' is much more civilized. 

Coconut Headsets: Customer development and inbound marketing in practice, 2011, by Rob May

Customer development is about more than just asking people what they think about your product. It’s about understanding workflows and attitudes, needs and desires, and so much more. When we do customer development interviews, maybe 20% of the focus is on what we offer. The rest of the time is spent on understanding the target customer and their overall needs relative to this space.

Why I write newsletters, or how to control the conversation, I hope. #li

Today I have an unusually long quote from someone else. It's probably a violation of Fair Use, actually, if you know what I mean. (So I hope you don't!) I think of it as an homage to Michael Katz, so if you like it, please run over to Blue Penguin Development and buy something. 

Anyway, if you aspire to be an expert, as I do, then you want to share that expertise. Which means you have to dominate the conversation. Publishing a newsletter allows you to pick the topic, in hopes that some day someone will join you in conversation. Or, at least, listen. Or notice that you seem to know what you're talking about. We can only hope. 

Solo Professional e-Newsletter*: A Random Writing Recipe, 2011-Nov-11, by Michael Katz

• At their best, your newsletters represent an ongoing conversation, not chapters in a book.
  
  And so while it makes sense - and I recommend - coming up with a big list of topics when you begin publishing, that's really just to get you started. Your most memorable issues will be those in which you notice something - in your work or in your industry - and are able to comment on or explain that something's relevance from the perspective of the experienced expert that you are.
  
  Insights, not information.

• Redundancy is not a big problem.
  
  When writing their newsletter, lots of people are overly concerned with "not saying something I said before." My recommendation? Don't worry about it.
  
  First, because practically no one other than you will remember what you said and when you said it. And second, to the extent someone else does (you should be so lucky), they'll simply think of you as someone with a consistent point of view.

*Wasn't this originally called "The e-Newsletter on e-Newsletters"? I liked that name.

Treating privacy as a chance to strengthen your relationships #li

Privacy means different things to different people. Instead of publishing a privacy statement, you could ask your customer what it means to have their privacy honored.

New Rules: Privacy is a type of conversation, by Kevin Kelly

Firms should view privacy not as some inconvenient obsession of customers that must be snuck around but more as a way to cultivate a genuine relationship.

Where to start in social media, or anywhere... just don't be AWOL.

Whenever someone asks me which is more important, Twitter or Facebook, or maybe they should finally do an email newsletter?... I respond with "There are two ways to answer that question."

The long-term strategic answer is "Go where your best customers/prospects are." However, the short-term, practical answer is "Do what you can get done reliably." Any communication that never gets sent out because you never feel like doing it... is worthless. Don't say you'll do it, then don't.

Blue Penguin Development: The Unwritten Rule of E-Newsletters, 2011-Aug-10, by Michael Katz

Quick story: A few years ago I joined a health club for the first time. I was just getting over knee surgery and the doctor told me to start using an “elliptical” machine. But when I got to the gym I noticed that there were three different types of ellipticals and I wasn’t sure where to start. So I asked the guy behind the desk, “Which machine is the most effective?” 

His simple reply? “Whichever one you’ll stay on the longest.”  As he explained, it’s not really about slight differences in efficiency; it’s about finding a machine that you prefer and are therefore more likely to commit to over the long term. 

It’s the same with marketing. Whether we’re talking about newsletters, social media, public speaking, networking, or whatever, the goal is not participation – it’s results. And if you hate and/or stink at the process, you won’t experience much of either.

Backing up my contacts across the internet

My favorite contact manager right now is GIST, but I worry that it won't be around forever, so I am scrupulously copying my contacts to a private database. And I'm re-keying the information and thinking hard about who I know and how I want to keep track of them. I'm very wary of becoming enslaved to any company like Facebook.