The Walsh Group

When I first started in business I remember this expression. Like “Famous Quotes,” my last blog, it stuck with me – why? Because it still applies. When someone does a cheap/fast job or as we refer to it, as a “quick and dirty job,” quality is not necessarily expected. Likewise, if you do pay a cheaper price on a quality job – you wait for it!

A very talented photo re-toucher, (this was prior to computers and Photoshop) told us, “You’ll get your job when I feel like it.” We were appalled! What? His response: “I’m giving you a good price, the client can wait. Nobody else can do a better job for the price.” He was right. The quality was fabulous; as was the price.

Now for the fast and good. What is referred to as a “rush job.” But don’t skimp on quality. There is usually a premium paid for this type of quality plus service. That’s why we have “Overnight delivery,” and “Next-Day Air;” “Put a rush charge on it,” and so on. It has become a norm of sorts. Why? As it has been explained to me: “Bad planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.” Yeah, another quote! Probably by every organized person.

Getting back to the three choices: cheap, fast, or good – think about it. What are you “taking to market?” Are you setting your client’s expectations? Don’t charge me Neiman Marcus pricing and give me Kmart quality!

I’m just saying. Pick any two.

Good & Cheap – We can do good for cheap, but it’s not going to get done fast.

Fast & Good – We understand the rush and we will do a great job, but it’s not going to be cheap.

Cheap & Fast – Although we dislike this one we understand it is needed at times. We would rather do it good.

I recently heard “If you think you can do a thing, or if you think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.” I had to churn that one over a few times. Then an argument started about who said it. Henry Ford or Kay Ash. Who cares, I thought.

Some famous quotes or favorite sayings may come from your childhood, like “Don’t throw that, you’ll put your sister’s eye out!” You know, I actually knew of a girl who had her eye put out by a flying paperclip. No kidding. In seventh grade she had to have a glass eye. From then on I took that threat very serious!

My Dad was famous for his quotes. Some were unfit for this blog which is why I got the reputation of having the “mouth of a Stevedore…” at six! But other quotes were more endearing and even educational like…

“The price of knowledge is content review”

“If at first you don’t succeed … read the manual”

“Anything worth doing is worth doing right or not at all”

Or, “That’s a lazy-man’s load.”

I loved this one. I always heard it when I tried to carry too much stuff and ended up dropping and breaking something. That would be followed by: “Never do a half-assed job!”

And then there were my Mom’s renditions. I never heard her say, “Because I’m the Mom,” or, “Because I said so.” All those cliché things. She had a subtle way, for example, “You and God know the truth, that is all that matters.” Whoa – heavy!

But my favorite, then and now:

“Never underestimate the power of a woman.”

Thanks Mom!

P.S. We would love to know your favorite quotes – either personal, or famous. Please comment. Try to keep it “PG”!! Thanks.

Having gone through a paperless world and Y2K I have a built-in resistance to cries of “everything is going to change.” However, in the book “The Mobile Wave: How Mobile Intelligence Will Change Everything” Michael Saylor makes very factual observations that certainly caught my attention. It also becomes more believable as I see these observations reflected in my own world, as follows:

1. Buying an item will be as easy as pointing our mobile device to scan and pay.  A short time ago my computer “geek” fixed my wife’s iPad and then ran my credit card through his iPhone. A receipt was sent directly to me via email. It didn’t matter where he was; as long as he had his phone, he could take a payment.

2. Portable medical records? Not yet in my world until security is worked out (HIPAA Regulations).

3. Social Media – I check my Facebook and text my friends on my Droid while watching TV. Why crank up the laptop just two feet away? And there was the “Arab Spring” revolution where the protestors kept up with what was going on using Social Media (http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/09/2012919115344299848.html). Pretty impressive. And I didn’t know that 97% of the world has access to mobile phones because of low cost infrastructure, better battery life, etc. Makes sense.

OK, I get it. It’s coming and it’s big and I’ll have to learn more. But when I thought about it, I was listening to the audio book on my SmartPhone and later in the day I downloaded a flashlight app. Then I thought about how the insurance claim for damage to our vacation cottage is still done through paper. Not quite the “Destruction of paper” that Saylor talks about in his book. Lots of paper. Endless paper.

Then of course I get dozens of emails flooding my inbox from mobile app developers (wouldn’t it be nice if they had one of those for insurance claims?) and I have to make sure my clients’ websites look presentable on mobile and iPads.

So I stay alert and keep moving forward. The sky may not be falling but I’m keeping my head up and eyes wide open on this one. Mobile devices are transforming us, one day at a time.

As a marketing company, The Walsh Group was asked to research the feasibility of creating a “Social Media Department” at a local college. During this research, we came upon a documentary that focused on the frustrations of the staff and the students at MIT. I have to admit, I cannot remember the name the documentary, just the following concept.

I’ll try to recreate the scene: A traditional tiered lecture hall; the camera is at the back, panning over the student’s shoulders and down onto the professor. He is trying desperately to hold their attention. Almost every student has a laptop open either typing away on Facebook, texting away on their phone or listening to iTunes.

Next comes the interviews: The professor states his frustration at trying to engage with these students. He feels the exchange of ideas, the argument of intellectual concepts, even just an interaction among the students is gone. The despair he feels regarding the inability of these students to communicate with each other is astounding.

Now the student’s point of view: One young woman clearly states. “Our professors have to realize that we can multi-task! That is how we do things now. They need to change and engage us on our level.”

So the challenge is on. MIT took the TOP students, I mean the A students; best-of-the-best and put them to the test. They were asked, “How do you multi-task?” Typically while doing their assignments (homework), they were texting their friends (phone, Facebook or both), listening to music, and even playing an online game.

Next MIT researchers took away one device (the student’s choice) and substituted another simple game-like device. On this device a letter or single-digit number would appear on the screen. The student needed to identify the letter as a vowel or consonant, the number as odd or even. Simple right? The “average” score for these multi-tasking MIT, best-of-the-best, students was a C. I was shocked. So much for that theory. Yes, they can multi-task, but is it effective or efficient? Really?

Now I think of a lower than average person trying to multi-task, lets say, driving and texting! Be scared….be really scared….they are out there and they all think like the MIT student!

Most of the people reading this post will say “Rod Who?”  Well, long before the Twilight vampires there was The Twilight ZONE (circa 1959-1964)!

I caught an episode on SyFy Channel the other night in which Rod Serling wrote about the future. His prediction was that books would be obsolete, and because books were obsolete so would libraries and thus librarians. This being the case, if you were a librarian, you needed to be eliminated. This elimination was done by a televised execution. Heavy!

Rod made another very poignant point in this story.  Simply stated, all clergy were obsolete because the “state” ruled that there was no God, and since the clergy’s job was to preach the word of God, all clergy were obsolete and eliminated. I couldn’t believe that CBS actually aired this show in the late 50’s, early 60’s. Rod must have had “Klout” with the studio. I read a Rod Serling interview with Mike Wallace regarding censorship where Rod stated:

“I don’t want to have to battle sponsors and agencies. I don’t want to have to push for something that I want and have to settle for second best. I don’t want to have to compromise all the time, which in essence is what a television writer does if he wants to put on controversial themes.”

Getting back to the concept of books being obsolete, Rod was not that far off. We may soon see the end of the printed book. Will libraries be far behind? How many of you received a Kindle for Christmas? Just saying!

THE GOOD

The feelings of total outrage over the shootings in Newtown ignited the respond “I need to do something!” But what?  Personally I found the Social Media platform helped me unite with strangers. This is what I see as “The Good” part of social media, the ability to connect with family, friends and even strangers over an issue that is to fathom.

I sincerely believe the prayers that were posted on social media; the messages the families received from thousands of people who truly cared did make a difference. If any of the messages can help even a small part in the healing the families, the friends, the children and the town of Newtown, then social media is Good.

THE BAD

With any “Good” tool, there are going to be people who use it for “The Bad!” Not only does social media spread bad reports quicker than a wildfire, once out there I rarely see apologies or explanations of the real story!  First I read that Adam Lanza’s mother was a teacher at Sandy Hook. That more or less gave an explanation for why he targeted the school. Now, in an article from CNN, I read that isn’t even the case. However, I cannot find any information as to where this woman worked.  Which, if she did not work at the elementary school, why did Adam go there? I guess it just made for a logical story. Bad information is reported and then it drops. I have an entire library of “Bad” information that was circulating during the elections, but that’s old news already!

THE UGLY

And then there is of course “The Ugly!” I think we all read or even watched as the wrong man was accused of this hideous crime. Ryan Lanza also had to endure the hate “tweets’ that were circulating about him. And what now, once that bell is rung, it is pretty hard to un-ring it. Learning that your mother has been murdered, by your brother, along with 26 other innocent people is tragic. It may have taken him years to come to terms with this, on his own time, his “private” journey. Not anymore. He was publicly charged and convicted.

As the stories unfold I would hope that we all use Social Media in a responsible way.

View related link here

If you think Social Media has to eat up hours of your day, then put yourself on a diet. Well more like a time schedule.

First, decide the primary tools you want to use for your Business Social Media Marketing.  Or, if you already have social media in place, decide which ones are working.  For me it’s LinkedIn, Facebook, You Tube and Twitter. However, Google + is starting to climb the charts in popularity.

Once you have a social media presence, establish your time frame. Are you a morning person, or do you prefer the end of day? Set a time frame. I suggest between fifteen and thirty minutes per day – max! Then you should break down that time in order of priority for your business.

Here is an example of how I see it working:

LinkedIn: Review the latest articles posted that are relevant to your industry or line of business, or that you feel your “influencers” might find interesting. Comment on them, or share them. Expand your network (invite people in). Update your profile.
TIME: 3-5 minutes

Next, Facebook: Scan your wall for any new comments, questions or posts.  Respond; especially to questions. Post updates if necessary and remove any expired offers.
TIME: 5-7 minutes

Twitter: Hopefully you are using Hoot Suite or Tweet Deck  and if you have put in hash tags, read what is going on. This is a great “listening” device. Tweet or retweet something you found of interest. Also, have a few other tweets scheduled to be sent out automatically. CAUTION: be sure to monitor current events. You do not want to send an irrelevant tweet while an “eclipse” is occurring. It happens!
TIME: 4-6 minutes

YouTube: Okay, here is where you can really get caught up watching stuff just for the “fun of it!” If you have a YouTube Channel, monitor it. See if you have comments, and respond. If you have new videos, update them. If you do find a relevant video, Tweet it!
TIME 5-10 minutes

If this is all too much for you, develop an in-house social media department. Or, there are companies that will supply these services for you. Note: you will need to be involved and monitor.

What to do if you have leftover time: BLOG, and start from step one the next day.

When a tagline is good, it is very good. Like:

“Just Do It”

“Think Different”

“Reach out and touch someone”

“Put a Tiger in Your Tank”

However, not every business needs a tagline, and not having one is better than a bad one. So take your time and don’t rush the process. Refine your choices to come up with the perfect descriptor for your business. We suggest running the top two or three choices by your clients, potential clients, and even acquaintances outside of your business to see if they get it!

At The Walsh Group, we suggest to our clients that creating a tagline, even for a new product or service, will help them focus on their key features and benefits. This allows them to stay on track with their marketing efforts. Here is how we approach the creative brainstorming of a tagline:

Keep it Short: Try to limit it to no more than six or seven words; three or four is even better. Don’t start off with “clever” right away, just words. “Soothes. Cleanses. Refreshes.”

Keep it Simple: Use everyday words that your customers will understand. Avoid industry jargon. Great Example: “The World on Time.” Do you even need to ask who and what?

Be Specific: “We’re the best” doesn’t actually say anything. Tell your prospects why they should choose you over your competition, preferably before they even think to ask the question. Good example: “Because So Much is Riding on Your Tires.”

Keep it Positive: Project a positive image. Negative taglines don’t work any better than negative campaign ads. And face it, your tagline is a small Ad you display everywhere!

Speak to your target audience: Even if your tagline is short, simple and specific, it won’t help you if it speaks to the middle-aged man and your audience is a young preteen female. As with all advertising, identify your audience and then focus on their needs and wants.

Brainstorm keywords: This is just like doing keyword research for any Web site. Write down every word you can think of that is related to any aspect of your business, product or service. Include synonyms and even homophones (words that sound alike but are spelled differently). At this point, the more words you have, the better, so don’t limit yourself.

Brainstorm about the benefits and values: Now make a list of words or phrases that describe the benefits of your product or service, along with things a client might value about it. Is your product exclusive, contemporary or classic? Combine words to see if you can combine two or more keywords plus benefits and values to create a descriptive phrase. Write down anything you can think of, again without limitng yourself.

Pulling it all together: Pick your favorites and start editing. Go through your phrases and consider how you can make them into a tagline, or if any of them work without modification. Narrow it down to two or three favorites.

And finally,

Test your favorites: It’s important to get opinions, not only of your customers, but of people outside your industry. Make sure they both like it and actually understand it. Your final tagline should be specific enough to say something meaningful, but general enough to remain relevant as your business grows. If it applies only to one product, it might be a good tagline for that product, but not for your entire business.

Most of all, make it a fun experience!

I admit it; I get nervous when I have to blog.  It’s not because I don’t have opinions, because I’ve got a million of ‘em.  And it’s not because I can’t write.   I narrow it down to two “blog killing” thoughts.

One:  Perfection.    I have blogs that I read that I like, and I compare myself, and feel “less than”.  Funny that I hear Frank Sinatra sing and it hasn’t stopped me from singing for 40 years.   The bottom line of this type of thinking is that way down deep there’s a little perfectionist that wants everything to be well “perfect”.    Not only is that impossible, it’s destructive.   Let’s face it, if everything I did had to be perfect, I wouldn’t get out of bed.

Second:  Rejection.   Would my ideas be interesting?   I mentioned this to Gene Marks, a well respected blogger friend of mine and he said, “As long as you are authentic, then it doesn’t matter.  You have 30 years of life and marketing experience, blog about that”.  Then he revealed,” I have just as many people who write negative as well as positive comments.  It goes with the territory.”

So it’s time for Pat Walsh to jump in.   I have an opinion and I’m going to share it. I’ll put on the training wheels and start.   And I’ll fall.   And I’ll get up.   And soon I’ll start feeling the wind in my hair.     I encourage you to do the same.

Warm regards,

Pat Walsh, New blogger, marketing consultant, bike rider and funny guy.

Part 2 – The DO’s:

Now I will give you some of the Do’s that will give you effective results in your next email campaign.

1. Include an offer in your subject line- NOT ALL CAPS
2. If you mention “Facebook” in your subject line there is a 32% higher open rate (don’t know the source for this one)
3. If all your links go to the same page, the conversion rate is 48% higher
4. In the body text, use “you” and “your” instead of “our” and “we.”
5. Put the “unsubscribe” or “opt-out” at the top if possible.
6. Make it easy to opt out.  One click, and when they do…honor that request.
7. Make it easy to “Forward to a Friend” – You WANT them to do this- it is equivalent to LIKE on Facebook or BOOKMARK on the Web
8. State your Privacy Policy regarding useage of their email their ability to unsubscribe at any time.
9. TEST – If you have an offer, do an A/B test and measure the results
10.  Find your “Tuesday” – You may or may not have heard that Tuesdays were the best time to send Enewsletters.  That was true, but too many people got wind of it…now you need to think about your target audience and find your “Tuesday!

Search and you will find!

People will give you their success stories for every subject!  Just Google it!  You can find “Best Practices” for everything.  The best practice for you is what works for you. What you can accomplish.  What you can measure.  So you can take everything I just wrote and flush it!  Or you can test some of it.  But DO SOMETHING.  Make a statement, express your opinion, and get your message out the best way you know how.