New Media Mavens

How to Create a System To Reach Your Goals

Here's how we achieved a powerful marketing plan for our new book, How to Say It: Marketing With New Media. A Guide to Promoting Your Small Business Using Websites, E-zines, Blogs and Podcasts. (Penguin/Prentice Hall Press 9/2/08). You can use this system for your entire business or just for your online marketing or both:

We made our goals S.M.A.R.T., not like smart alecky, but by making them specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely:

• Specific:  We had three specific overarching goals we wanted to achieve          

• Measurable:  We broke down the goals into measurable tactics that we can check off when we complete or succeed. We also made sure we could answer "how many?"
  
  
• Attainable.   We reviewed our calendar and made sure that we could attain those goals.We established a timeline.

• Realistic.   We evaluated our resources to be certain that we could realistically implement this plan.
  
  
• Timely.  We established a timeframe of when we would achieve these goals in a timely manner.

You can emulate this S.M.A.R.T. system to implement your online marketing plan. You'll be glad you did!

"Are You Ready for New Media?" Take the assessment now!

Regards,

Lena Claxton
The Marketing/New Media Maven

Do You Have a Plan for Marketing with New Media?

Write it down, make it happen!  No truer words were ever said. Case in point, earlier this week we flew into New York City to meet with our publicist and publisher. We had written a detailed plan on how we will market our new book, "How to Say It:  Marketing with New Media: A Guide to Promoting Your Small Business Using Websites, E-zines, Blogs & Podcasts." 

As the plan unfolded, it became quite evident that all our ideas had become a blueprint or a roadmap for us to follow. Now all we have to do is check this plan from time-to-time to make sure we're on track.

Most business owners want to jump in on new media or online marketing to promote their business. Some jump in helter skelter without a plan and not knowing what they want to achieve. I can tell you that it's well worth the time to figure out where you want to go. Ask yourself three defining questions:

1. Who is your target market or what group of people want what you're offering.
2. Where will you find them?
3. What is it you want to achieve?

Next post I'll discuss the system we used for our kick-butt marketing plan.

Regards,

Lena Claxton
The Marketing/New Media Maven

Learn from the pros! Digital content expert Tricia Nelson offers tips for small business owners

Last week, we were fortunate to have Tricia Nelson (from Disney.com, DrPhil.com, WeddingChannel.com, et. al) talk about what every small business owner needs to know about what to say and how to say it on their website.

Click on the player for more.

Are You Offering Features or Benefits on Your Site?

Ask a few business owners about how the messages on their home page stack up and I bet he or she would say, "it's benefit-laden!"

From years of experience coaching business owners, only about one out of ten recognizes the difference between features, benefits and results. The lines can get blurry and confusing. For example here are some popular features that sound like benefits:

• Customized solutions
• Round-the-clock service
• Speed-dial
• Uses solar energy

If you can answer "so what?" to any of the above it's time to pump up the benefit, a/k/a results, for the customer or prospect. Remember everyone tunes in to the station W-I-I-FM - What's-In-It-For-Me. Consequently the onus is on the business owner to write messages that trigger prospects' emotion and offer clear results. So let's take a look again at those pseudo-benefits above transformed into results:

•  Customized solutions are one-of-a-kind and are designed especially for you.
•  24/7 service is whenever you want it it's available
•  Speed dial is one touch service so you never think of another phone number again!
•  Uses solar energy. Become environmental friendly - no more electric bills.

So go over the copy on your site. Are those great benefits that you state really benefits? If it's not a result your message is not doing its job.

Do you have a challenge transforming features into benefits? Post a comment and tell us about it.

Regards,
Lena Claxton
Chief Marketing Maven

Want to know how to make your website, e-zine, blogs and podcasts more compelling? Pre-order our new book "How to Say It: Marketing With New Media ..." and join our 30-Day Marketing with New Media webinar on July 9th (Beginners and Intermediate). Hurry! Early Bird price ends on June 30, 2008.

On the Road to NAWBO: Day 2, Phoenix

I've arrived. First stop: The Arizona Biltmore Hotel & Spa, the hotel hosting the NAWBO Conference.

The hotel is stunning. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, every vista is in incredible. This is a photo of the "Sprites" that were originally in Chicago's Midway Gardens and now dot the property.

I'm registered and ready for tomorrow.

To read my first blog post for PINK Magazine, visit http://www.pinkmagazine.com/blog/nawbo.html.

Alison Woo, Chief Media Maven

On the Road to NAWBO: Day 1, New York

I'm here at home in the Big Apple and the sweltering heat is virtually unbearable. But after visiting some of our clients and talking to small business owners like Cheick Dukuly of Prime Time Media (www.Primetime-Media.com), a media buyer that small businesses can call when they're ready to launch their media campaigns, I'm reinspired! There's nothing like talking to other small business owners who are passionate about what they do. You'll be hearing more about Cheick in a future blog post but he's another great example of the entreprenurial spirit at its best.

This trip is already going well and I'm not even in Phoenix yet.

Despite the fact that I was only in New York for slightly less than 24 hours, I unpacked and then had to repack and in the process lost my phone. Seeing my distress my mom pitched in to help. The next thing I know there she is, in her ever-so beautiful accent, asked me, "Is this your Blueberry?"

My what? Ah...yes! My BlackBerry! Her sheer innocence made me laugh so hard, I doubled over. To my 60-something mom, technology is just one of those signs that things are changing. I find her innocence charming. And it's a good reminder. It's not all about technology. Despite the fact that we live in a world that becomes more and more dependent on technology every day, we should never forget that not everyone is on the bandwagon. Nor should we expect everyone to be.

But one day, if that great antioxidant fruit that's great on cereal becomes able to check e-mail, surf the Web and send text messages, that will be something!

Alison Woo

Chief Media Maven

Join me on the road...

Here's hoping this is going to be as exciting as one of those great Bob Hope/Bing Crosby "The Road to..." movies.

This Tuesday begins a litany of travel dates and stops to promote our upcoming book, work with clients and attend the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) national conference in Phoenix, Arizona June 12-14. Surely the desert cannot be any hotter than the 100 degree plus temps we're enduring here on the east coast. Just in case, I'll be packing a big hat and lots of light colors. Not like the hats seen in the picture above but you get the drift. (BTW, that's Dorothy Lamour in the middle. I shall aspire to look as good as that while covering the convention.)

This shindig is the largest gathering of women business owners in the nation so I'm thrilled I'll be able to attend. If you can't come yourself, do the next best thing...keep reading this blog for live updates throughout the conference. You'll see sights and hear sounds from the conference itself. There will be lots going on and you'll have the bird's eye view to it all.

For those of you keeping track, here's what the schedule looks like right now.

Tuesday morning...off to New York City --my hometown and the place where I'll be chatting with some potential interviewees for some great stories about small business.

Wednesday morning...off to Phoenix for some networking, meetings and book promotion.

Thursday-Saturday...Phoenix, baby!

Saturday afternoon...off to San Diego, California for some exciting client work and a chance to see Dancing with the Stars finalists Cheryl Burke and Christian de la Fuente. Did you know that I'm a huge ballroom dancing aficionado after getting bitten by the tango bug last July when I was in a dancer's showcase?

Monday...back to Phoenix and NYC.

Tuesday...back to Charlotte just in time to celebrate my brother Mike's birthday.

It's going to be a wild ride! Join me for the fun. E-mail me directly at alison@newmediamavens.com or post your comments here on this blog.

Alison Woo

Chief Media Maven

Comedian Lewis Black rants about new media

Whether it's selling a book or building buzz over a new bakery, new media can help you promote your business to a multitude of people like no other medium.

Comedian Lewis Black, my friend Kate's most favorite person in the world and often seen on The Daily Show, has made a series of videos distributed on YouTube talking about why readers should buy his newest book Me of Little Faith (Riverhead), which just came out this week. I found this one, about how new media has become an integral part of our lives, particularly funny.

Thoughts???

Alison Woo

Chief Media Maven

Best endorsement for new media: Hillary Clinton fails to concede but sends supporters to her website

Just when you didn't think the race for president could take any more twists or turns...it happens.

Faced with the inevitable, Hillary Clinton did not concede. Instead she told her supporters that she would "not make any decisions tonight" but instead told supporters to visit www.hillaryclinton.com.

WHAT???

It's not that this wasn't the time for a well-placed ad for one's website but when asked to do what was logical, Clinton balked. Wow!

Going to her site, you can't find anything that would hint Hill and Bill are dropping out of the race. What turn will this take next? Do you think she did the right thing?

Alison Woo

Chief Media Maven

'Journey' uses new media to find new lead singer

This morning I was reading The New York Times and watching CBS Sunday Morning when all of a sudden the strains of Journey's song, Don't Stop Believin', came wafting into my living room. Last heard as Tony Soprano met his end last year, I had added the song on my iPod and hummed along as it enjoyed more radio time. But this time they were playing the song to talk about the band's new CD and string of nationwide concerts.

What was most amazing was when the group wanted to reform, they searched YouTube to find new talent. And they found him. Meet Arnel Pineda. What a talent! He's incredible!

What I love most about this story is how it shows how this idea of using new media isn't only for techies. It's for everyone and it can do amazing things. And change lives.

Listen and watch!

Alison Woo

Chief Media Maven