April 2008 Archives - 2/5 - Christopher S. Penn : Awaken Your Superhero | Christopher S. Penn : Awaken Your Superhero

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A picture is worth 10,000 words – or a marketing meeting

Posted by Christopher S Penn on Apr 23, 2008 in Marketing | 1 comment

Funny – here at work at the Student Loan Network, I just had a meeting with our marketing director about a press release. The topic of the press release was to emphasize how we’re still open for business despite all the credit market turmoil, how not everyone is going out of business, etc. What was funny was that the entire press release and discussion could easily be summed up in one picture, but it’s difficult to make that fit the press release format.

Instead of four dense paragraphs, what if I put this graphic up on the Student Loan Network homepage?

I think that would have about the same meaning as the press release, but it would convey that meaning almost instantly. Here we are. Open. Even late at night.

Hat tip to Chip Griffin for the photo under Creative Commons.

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Buy me a cookie, dude – Marriott Customer Survey

Posted by Christopher S Penn on Apr 22, 2008 in Customer Service | 15 comments

I got this email just today from Marriott about my stay in Washington, DC.

To the Marriott folks:

Look, no offense, but I’m not going to take your survey. You’ve already got my money, and now you want my time in return for nothing at all. Come on, offer me something, even just something token, to acknowledge that you know this survey will be a drain on my time and probably won’t benefit me in any way.

What kind of offer? Heck, I’d settle for something like “We’ll leave a free cookie on your pillow the next time you stay at a Marriott property if you take this survey. To be perfectly honest, it’ll probably be a little stale since it will have been in the lobby the day before, but at least it’s a free cookie in exchange for the survey. Pretty please?”

Also, I don’t know about you, but when I hit reply, it should go to J. W. Marriott, Jr. If it doesn’t, then don’t sign the letter from him. I’d rather you give me a reply-to and a letter addressed to Florence Attleby, Customer Service Intern, 14th Floor, Marriott Customer Service, Cubicle 87 behind the laser printer, NY, NY 11001.

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PodCamp DC Review

Posted by Christopher S Penn on Apr 22, 2008 in PodCamp | 2 comments

PodCamp DC was a fantastic event held on April 19, 2008 at the Art Institute of Washington. A huge hat tip to AIW for offering the venue and helping out with logistics. Hats off as well to organizers Tammy Munson, Joel Witt, and Ernie Ambrose.

Not much to say right now, save that it was an excellent time and filled with an incredibly diverse crowd of participants, from hobbyists to educators, to lobbyists and politicians, with everyone there eager to learn new media and how we can continue helping change the world for the better.

If we met or you were in one of my sessions, please leave me some feedback – I’d love to know how I did, and more importantly, how I can improve.

Leave feedback on LinkedIn by clicking here!

Need to add me on LinkedIn? I’m cspenn at gmail dot com.

I look forward to seeing and meeting more great people at PodCamp NYC this coming weekend.

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New media has gotten marketing confused

Posted by Christopher S Penn on Apr 17, 2008 in Marketing, New media | 60 comments

I had an epiphany of sorts in the shower.

What a lot of new media folks talk about – audience building, impressions, and the dreaded M word, monetization – is not marketing.

Marketing is the sharing of ideas.

So what is all the stuff we in new media talk about? Sales. Whether it’s pay per click ads, podcast subscriptions, blog readers, speaking gigs, whatever your metric is around getting someone to take action, that’s sales.

Marketing is the sharing of ideas.

Sales is the conversion of ideas into actions.

It’s the job of marketing to share ideas with the audience, to help them to understand what they’re missing out on, what value is awaiting them. It’s all about the content. Content is king, so the cliche goes.

It’s the job of sales to turn those ideas into actions. Create the path for people to take. Make it easy for people to do what you want them to do. Tell them what you want them to do. Click here. Subscribe now. Call the comment line. Leave a comment on the blog. Upload your webmail contacts. That’s all sales – do, do, do.

Once the sale is over, it’s back to marketing, back to sharing. Marketing takes over and reinforces to the audience that the action they took was the right one. Marketing continues to provide value upon value until the customer is so enamored of what you’re doing that they are compelled to share with their friends – and they become your salesforce and marketing team.

Share. Act. Share. Repeat.

This is especially relevant because in many ways, I think we’re reading the wrong books.

Most of my friends in new media are brilliant people. Smart, insightful, good at creating ideas and sharing them. Most of them also wish to be more, do more, achieve more, and this is where the disconnect is. There’s a gap between sharing and acting. Go to any blog and figure out what the action the blogger wants you to take is, and how easy it is to find. Get out your stopwatch, go to any podcaster’s web site, start the clock, and see how long it takes you to subscribe.

Folks like Seth Godin, Chris Anderson, and the marketing folks are perfectly okay. They’re sharing the ideas, and they’re a source for our own inspiration.

Note, however, when you ask any prominent blogger, podcaster, networker, etc. about their bookshelves, they never mention Tom Hopkins, Zig Ziglar, Ira Hayes, Dan Kennedy, Brian Tracy, etc. They never mention the sales books, the sales guys who can help get you from idea to action. Once the customer knows who you are and is willing to make a commitment, you as the new media outlet have to change gears and guide your customer, your audience, into action.

If you want people to do more with your new media outlet, complement your marketing knowledge with sales knowledge, and you’ll blow past the competition in a heartbeat.

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