Your Marketing is Just Like a Deep Clean

When you clean your house, do you do the once a week, 10 minute, vaccuum to the edges and around stuff, kind of cleaning?  I do. Then about ever 6 weeks I move the furniture and find stuff that I missed weeks before.

Now don’t think that we live in an unkept house, because we don’t–you can’t even tell that we have three little munchkins running around–but they don’t clean in the corner or under the entryway table either.

When you market, do you just go to edges or do you go get those specks of dust hiding in the corner that really make a difference of knowing you hit the exact market for your product?  What do those specks of dust do and what do they represent?  You never just find one speck of dust, you find all the other specks of dust – JUST LIKE THEM.  You find a clump of dust, fur, hair, carpet fuzz & a lone Cheerio all in the same corner.  They represent the mother of all marketing niches: your perfect, hugely satifsfying, target audience of what makes an everyday clean a DEEP CLEAN.

What makes them the same? They ended up there and they are attracting stuff just like them.  You might have a Cherrio & carpet fuzz end up in the same place, but the point is–they ended up in the same place! And when you find it and clean it, that is when you get the uuber of all cleaning satisfaction!

Tip of the Day? Go to where your dust is and see who and what gathers there.  Engage with them in their territory, their comfort zone and talk their language.  If you continuously clean around the hiding places, you will never find that speck of golden dust that is YOUR perfect client.

Say Goodby to Email!

 

Jen - with email.......
Jen - with email.......

At least for me, that is.
Is Email going to die? No, but it is going to be left for reminders rather than content.
Example:
Consilio and  Treasure Valley Consultants are working together to put on a webinar on May 27th (on DimDim highly recomended-no software downloads!) about Building A Strong Team based on the book Strenghth Finders and The Five Disfunctions of a Team.  

 

I have already lost emails, or rather I have lost emails in the shuffle of other emails in regard to who is doing what, where the content is going to live, how we are organizing, promoting etc, etc, etc.

Hello BaseCamp!  Everything lives here.  ToDo lists, content (in the form of a living document called the WriteBoard), milestones, logos, notes & due dates.  I don’t have to (nor should I) have to go anywhere else to find info out about this project.  Their are reminders that you can send via email about updates etc – which are, admitedly, nice – but they are quick spurts of info…not long drawn out “version 7” of copy that you thought already got the ok.

I am really looking forward to using my email as reminders rather than using it as a form of communication.  By doing this I have segmented who I work with in the easiest & fastet way that we would work together.  It’s about finding what works instead of forcing to use a systematic (and almost out-dated) way of doing things.  

Literally, I have a huge monkey off my back by not worrying about where “stuff” lives & if I labeled it correctly in my email or if I accidently deleted it instead of another promotion/spam email.

Anyone else using alternative platforms to get work done?

My Inner Marvin

Marvin was bad-ass.  Marvin was my volleyball buddy years ago.  Marvin never let a ball drop.  Marvin dared the other team to serve their hardest serve.  Marvin gave them the “try-again” look when an amazing dig happened on a hit that was supposed to lead to a point.  Marvin was the perfect player, a coach’s dream.  Marvin knew how to get the job done – and did it well.

Marvin was my alter ego when I played volleyball 12 months out of the year up through college & I passed his wisdom onto the girls that I coached after college, then…no more Marvin.

What does Marvin say/do now?….a *few* years later….

Marvin’s ego is a bit more in check now.  🙂  Marvin’s still a buddy, but knows that there is a need to open up & embrace truth, reality, perception, transparency & messaging that happens w/in the depths of a company.  Yes, there are rules, guidelines, policies…but this is the time, this is the place for everyone’s inner Marvin to come out.  Look out friends, my Marvin is back.  

Here is a great quote that just screams for a place here:

I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life’s a bitch. You’ve got to go out and kick ass.
Maya Angelou 

My New Gig With LifeFoods

blog_logoNo, I am not leaving Consilio.  Don’t want to tease two days in a row…but a girl has to get attention, doesn’t she?

The Meeting
About six weeks ago Jerome Eberharter contacted me through LinkedIn saying we should get together and chat about what social media can do for a business.  This was my with-in my first 10 days of being hired on by Rochelle DeLong at Consilio, so of course I am eager to chat with anyone that wants to chat social media for a business!

I arrived at the coffee roaster’s office (free coffee….you know that makes me a happy girl!) and met Jerome.  You know when you meet someone & you just know that you KNOW them?  It was like that.   I would have said “how high” if he asked me to jump…and this was with-in minutes of meeting him – great things to come!

What Does He Want Me To Do?
After a few meetings with Jerome & his General Manager, Lori Minniear, (who has a great southern Louisana accent) Consilio agreed to seek out individuals  & couples through social media wanting to become Fundraising Marketing Director’s for LifeFoods.  I will be using social media to educate and excite others about the benefits of owning a territory where the Fundraising Marketing Director will be the point person for athletic teams, churches, bands, day cares & any other group that wants to raise money for their organization.

Why Did We Sign On?
Fundraising is huge.  We have all purchased cookes, pop-corn, coupons, candy-bars and cookie dough from the neighbor kid & this is an opportunity that goes beyond those 2-3 weeks of fundraising for those groups. There is a huge advantage of having an ON GOING revenue stream through an online store.  Your purchases continues to benefit the group, team, church, band etc…with-out the knock on the door!  Of course, every time they knock, I will buy!   😉

My biggest personal experience with fundraising was for my Club Volleyball team in high school & a church group before that.  How great would it have been if when those neighbors, aunts, grandparents, teachers & friends ran out of a product & were just able to re-order on the spot, rather than wait for the next kid to knock on the door? 

What Will You Do?
Communicate with people with out selling them the expensive claims that are out there.
Teach them about the opportunity that is available.
Educate on what options they have as a franchise/affiliate.
Offer healthy choices to consumers that they use every day…not just high calorie treats.
Surprise them with the ongoing support & sales through a website (I lOVE this part!).

You can find out more info at www.LifeFoods.info
Looking forward to it!
-jen 

PS: I can’t believe I didn’t mention this!….the product! THE PRODUCT IS COFFEE!!!!!!  You know it was meant to be!  And better yet, you can get your personalized label!  Did I mention….COFFEE!!!!

I Am Deleting My Twitter Account

Ha, made ya look!

Like I would ever do that!  Not as long as I am in the business to help businesses or in the business of Jen – you know, being a consumer!    @TweetEtiquette is my other alter-ego that I thought I could pass along good tips & tricks that I have learned on my almost-2-year-journey with Twitter.  As of this afternoon, I will tweet out one last time as the Etiquette Princess that I am & direct people to follow @JenHarris09 for further inspiration & guidance.

So farewell @TweetEtiquette, I can no longer manage you or the ba-zillion ways that people will spell you.

Drop Your AutoDM’rs Day

My two (2) year Twitter anniversary is coming up on May 16th.  I want to do something BIG.  My most read blog on a daily basis is The Auto DM Question, I thought I would expand on this a bit.

First, what is an AutoDM? Most Tweeple use the AutoDM to automatically send a Direct Message to someone that starts following them back (you can not dm someone that is not following you first).  The thought is nice…but it just doesn’t ring to the true-ness of what Twitter started out to be and what it should be.  And yes, I am telling you how to use Twitter – at least for the AutoDM.

TweetLater is a site that has offers amazing FREE & subscription based Twitter services…one of them being the AutoDM.  They sell it as “send welcome DM’s to new followers”…which it should read…”send impersonal, unsolicited ads to people who follow you-they will never know it was automated!”  ARGH. 

My quick .02 = be personal.  Tweeple are OK if they don’t get a response/thank you for following them.  If you don’t have 10-15 minutes a day to check out your new followers to see who they REALLY are, don’t bother being on Twitter.

Enough of the rant – here is the mission…..

On May 16th, I am going to stop following all the tweeple who have sent me an AutoDM.  It will be a good spring cleaning of sorts.  Clean out all the riff-raff who think they can gain market-share by making Twitter automated.

My plea to TweetLater…please stop offering this service, it really devalues the overall goodness of Twitter – please be an advocate to all that is wonderful about Twitter & stop offering this service.

Are you in?  Take the poll & let me know!
xoxo
-jen

Twitter Follow Friday for 4.24.09

I am going to keep this short (but not Twitter short) and sweet today of who I think you should add to your follow list on Twitter.

@RochelleDelong  Yes, she is my boss here at Consilio…but she is just an amazing woman!  She is creating a space for working moms to do it all & be damn good at it!  Why can’t we have it all?  Why can’t we be the mom that wipes noses one day & the next be consulting with CEO’s? Move over bacon, we just brought home dinner!

@BoiseHole This is run by one of my other favorite people @LGM1 (aka: Chris Blanchard), but this term & campaign started about 3 1/2 years ago by Tac Anderson & other crue’ members (of the now non-existing, in name only) BlueLine Marketing.  There was a blog, stickers and some buzz…so-so-so-so-so sad that this is still a hole.  I say make it a cute little native grass & plant park for all downtowners to enjoy year round.

@30RockNews Just because I think that Tina Fey is one of the funniest people out there! And someone told me I looked like her one time – so you know she is just a hot Mama! 😉

The Twitter Cool Kids Moving On?

 

 

@ev & @Oprah...invading the cool kids space? Nah!
@ev & @Oprah...invading the cool kids space? Nah!

I am coming up on my Two year anniversary on Twitter…which means I an old in Twot years.

 

 

With Oprah (@Oprah) and Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk) stiring up the Twitter Pot, there has been a lot of Tweeting the past 5 days about how Twitter will now change.  Twitter is now “main stream”, “the media” and “corporate America” have FINALLY caught on about this Twitter thing.  Us early adopters (or as a very smart fellow Twitter friend called us – “the cool kids”) must move on and find the next “thing”.  

NOT SO!!

Remember, Twitter and social media in general is OPT IN!  Phew! We don’t have to listen, pay attention, acknowledge, go around, delete, fast forward or act on anything we don’t want to.  So let the spammers fall into the Twitter Cess pool and keep AutoDMing and AutoFollowing each other – they will all be rich in just minutes a day.

I am not moving on and neither should you.  Stick around and keep your circle. You don’t HAVE to do ANYTHING!  You can still hang out in your moms basement in your underwear and Tweet away, we will still love you.

The Open Toe Shoe Pledge

 

Thank You to my fabulous friend Nikki Rae for passing this around via email every year…
Alright ladies, it’s that time of year once again!!! I think we need to be reminded of a few things. So my sisters, PLEASE, raise your big toes and repeat after me below…  

 

The Open Toed Shoe Pledge

As a member of the Cute Girl Sisterhood, I pledge to follow the Rules when wearing sandals and other open-toe shoes: 

I promise to always wear sandals that fit. My toes will not hang overand touch the ground, nor will my heels spill over the backs.  And the sides and tops of my feet will not pudge out between the straps. 

I will go polish-free or vow to keep the polish fresh, intact and chip-free.  I will not cheat and just touch up my big toe. 

I will sand down any mounds of skin before they turn hard and yellow.

I will shave the hairs off my big toe. 

I won’t wear pantyhose even if my misinformed girlfriend, coworker,mother, sister tells me the toe seam really will stay under my toes if I tuck it there. 

If a strap breaks, I won’t duct-tape, pin, glue or tuck it back into placehoping it will stay put.  I will get my shoe fixed or toss it. 

I will not live in corn denial; rather I will lean on my good friend Dr. Scholl’s if my feet need him.

I will resist the urge to buy jelly shoes at Payless for the low, low price of $4.99 even if my feet are small enough to fit into the kids’ sizes.  This is out of concern for my safety, and the safety of others. No one can walk properly when standing in a pool of sweat and I would hate to take someone down with me as I fall and break my ankle.

I will take my toe ring off toward the end of the day if my toes swelland begin to look like Vienna sausages.

I will be brutally honest with my girlfriend/sister/coworker when sheasks me if her feet are too ugly to wear sandals.  Someone has to tell her that her toes are as long as my fingers and no sandal makes creepy feet look good

I will promise if I wear flip flops that I will ensure that they actually flip and flop, making the correct noise while walking and I will swear NOT to slide or drag my feet while wearing them.

I will promise to go to my local nail salon at least once per season and have a real pedicure (they are about $25 or $35 and worth EVERY penny).

I will promise to throw away any white/off-white sandals that show signs of wear… nothing is tackier than dirty white sandals.

UPDATE:

Boise! If you want a Pedi, go see Dominique Naegele-Clifford at The 5th Street Salon Belgravia Building, 5th & Main. 343-3400.  You can also DM her @nique22,  10% discount for Twitter Friends…including @Oprah.  🙂

Fuzzy Bunnies

Just thought pictures of Fuzzy Bunnies would be appropriate for today after the 2 day discussion of Morals & Fuzzy Bunnies!

Cheers!