Our checklist for e-blast essentials now looks like this >>>>>

1. A Branded Name and a Designed Banner
   Your e-blast deserves a branded name — associated with your company Brand — a quick and easy handle so people can get their arms around it and talk about it. This is a company publication so have your designer put together an attractive banner and two column format. Don’t be anonymous. Use your company name in the format. In the time-honored Rule of Seven in marketing, people need to encounter your name and message at least seven times before they will be ready to buy from you.
2. From: line  / Subject: Line / Salty Headline
   Put your e-blast name in the From: line so the customer does not think it is a personal message from you. This just hacks people off. The Subject line needs to salt the customer’s interest. In other words don’t put an explanation, put a teaser. The same goes for the headline – salt them so they are thirstier for more information from your e-blast.
3. Salty Windows and Copy Driving Customers to Blogs - An effective e-blast not only captures your crowd’s attention, it keeps them wanting more. Your e-blast must avoid the unrelenting “sell, sell, sell” posture and genuinely support, update and/or entertain your readers. E-blasts must drive customers to your expertise in the form of blogs and to your website. E-Blasts nourish the relationship between your company and your crowd, driving future sales. See our previous blog on E-Blasts – A New Role.
4. Visual Appeal: Color Visuals
   Visual stimulation will draw the reader into the article. Pictures can be salty as well. Look at the photos at Yahoo.com. They never tell the story. They make you want to click for more.  In case html graphics are blocked you should always have a link to your full color e-blast on the web. 
5. Company Update:
   Tell your customer what’s going on with your company. A big customer peeve is you changing your staff, products, services, benefits, promotions without letting anyone know. Let your crowd know about new, exciting developments for your business — they won’t find this news anywhere else.
6. A Bit of Fun
   Give readers something they want to read, not always something they “should” read. Let your mascot host your e-blast.
7. Your Logo and Contact Info
   Your E-Blast should let people know who is sending the e-blast and how to get in touch with you. The CAN-SPAM Act requires a physical address on all e-blasts.
8. Subscribe/Unsubscribe Option
   It should be easy to opt-in and opt-out of all E-Blast correspondence. Use a CAN-Spam compliant delivery system like Constant Contact.

Brand well and prosper!

Roswell
Your Brander-in-Chief

The essential role of an e-blast in drip marketing is changing. Why? Many reasons, but the main one is the increased emphasis that Google has put on relevant content. Content has always been the SEO Queen and the inbound links (people are linking to your site so you must be important) has been the SEO Princess. Since businesses can now purchase cheap inbound links by the hundreds from Southeast Asia, the Princess has been demoted. Blogs have risen in importance because they are high in relevant content. So now the role of the effective e-blast is to drive traffic to your best, newest blog posts.

New Recommendation

Here is what we recommend for your E-blast format now: Give your E-Blast a Yahoo News flavor. By this we mean, take your three most recent or best blogs and put a salty picture and headline in a row on your e-blast promoting each blog. Salt your customer’s interest in your blog posts. Your customer can scan the three for useful information and click. If you have a SuperWeb (see our posts on SuperWebs) then the customer finds themselves not only reading your blog, getting the info they want (relating to your expertise) but they are in the middle of your website with your brand and  navigation surrounding them. If they are interested in doing or maintaining a business relationship with you, this is a great place for them to be.

Remains the Same

Other aspects of the E-blast role remain the same. E-blasts are still an amazing form of cost effective drip marketing, keeping you in touch with your customer base and new prospects. The purpose of the E-blast is the same. No “sell, sell, sell”. E-blasts that are used purely as sales flyers make sense for consumers or home businesses trying to save a buck out of their pocket. Business accounts are less transactional savers and more system-wide/strategic regarding savings and other benefits.  E-blasts with robust information to support and inspire your customers and prospects around your expertise are effective for accounts large or small.  Your E-blast and blogs should work hand-in-hand to build your brand and customer relationships.  Next blog: The New E-blast Checklist.

Brand Well and Prosper
Andy Cleary

Except, you have no idea how to use it.

Sound familiar?

Your friend was right, a Twitter account is a great way to interact with customers and drive traffic to your website. Twitter is a social media platform that allows users to send out short messages (tweets) to their followers. Tweets can contain anything from news updates to product giveaways.

But, in order to make Twitter work for your business, you need to use it correctly.

Post relevant content.
People use Twitter because they want to stay in the loop. Customers choose who they want to follow based on what they are interested in. Even though it’s easy to follow whatever is trending to get your name out, it’s not effective. Those who follow you want to know what type of business you’re running and what new products you have. Bottom line: make sure your tweets contain relevant information.

Engage with others.
Twitter likes you to start your account by following at least 5 other Twitter accounts. It’s a good idea to follow companies similar to your own so that way you can also keep up with current trends and products.

But how do you engage on Twitter? The best way to engage on Twitter is to tweet at someone or to retweet informative content.

If you want to “tweet at” a customer or another business, you simply type the @ symbol along with their username in the message. The @ symbol tags the other account and attaches it to the message. The account you tweet at and all of your followers will see the message. This is a great way to respond to customers who ask you questions or have something to say about your company.

“Retweet” means that you are reposting someone else’s tweet to your account. This is a great way to share information with your followers. Retweeting is also a form of promoting, so if someone retweets your post then all of their followers will see it.

If you don’t have a Twitter account set up for your business yet – do it now. If you already have one, great! Just make sure you’re using it correctly.

Brand well and prosper.
Maddie Martin

Hello free promotion.

In order to build a presence on the Internet with social media, there are three important things you need to get started – a blog, a Facebook page and a Twitter account.

Blogs
To start off, your company needs a solid blog. A blog is the best way to show off your expertise and to help your customers get familiar with your company. A blog is not a diary for your company, meaning you don’t have to post every other day about the little things going on in the office. A few monthly blog posts full of quality content is all you really need.
Blogs are also important because of Google and its keyword searches. We’ll touch base on SEO later, but for now know that with a blog customers may have an easier time searching for you on the Internet.

Facebook
Facebook is the most effective social media platform for businesses. This may catch a few of you off guard, but believe it. Facebook is becoming its own search engine. Why? Because if someone is looking for a company, they want something their friends recommend. This is what social media is all about, word of mouth and peer recommendations.
Facebook also allows your company to connect on a personal level. With smart strategy, you can up your likes and keep your customers loyal and in the loop.

Twitter
Speaking of staying in the loop, let’s take a moment to talk about Twitter. The main thing to keep in mind is that Twitter is for those who want to stay up-to-date on current news and trends. In order for your small business to stay ahead of the game, you have to put yourself in the news and follow the trends.

The key is strategy. It’s easy to get lost in social media, but don’t fall into fluffy trends that don’t promote your business. Focus on your brand and the direction you want your business to take and use social media to follow through. No business can afford not to use social media.

Brand well and prosper!
Maddie Martin

Super Bowl Commercials – Mascot as Marketing Workhorse

Every year I count the number of animals used in the most expensive commercials in the world – the Super Bowl XLVII. The repeated lesson that we learn is that animals — from insects to mammals to animations — are what the leading marketers in the world bet their 2 million for half a minute on.

Animal mascots rule much of marketing and advertising. This is a lesson that many independent businesses ignore. So this year instead of making my case for animal icons – animals and animations dominated again in a wide margin in SuperBowl XLVII as always, yes, even the Ravens prevailed – instead, I want to go look at just one commercial produced by the number one company in an ultra-competitive industry for football fans: beer. The brand is Budweiser.

The Heavy Lifting

This year the Budweiser commercial again featured their permanent  branding icon, the visually outstanding breed of horse, the Clydesdale. The Clydesdale is a unique breed. It is large (up to 2,200 pounds) and powerful in stature. Bright white – attention getting — in color. Regal in stature. Yet they are not the swift winners of grand races. You will never see a Clydesdale in the winners’ circle. They are farm workhorses. They are good at pulling loads. Clydesdales do the heavy lifting.

Most of us work. About 9 out of 10 of us have jobs or work to do. From stock-clerk to parents to CEOs, who among us does not think that we do the heavy lifting?

 Animal Love – Nonsensical but Real

Now any animal can be a branding icon. Why? We are taught to love animals from the day we are born. Children love Curious George. Though in reality he might rip your face off. Teddy bears are famous for being lovable although in reality, bears have been known to eat people. I didn’t say this made sense. The love of a house pet is so great it will actually make you live longer. If there is one thing you can depend on, it is that your customers love animals.

And animal icons are great for business. They sell 24/7, never ask for a raise or even a salary, are never exposed in a scandal, can tell your story without cloying self interest, will grab the attention and maybe even the love of your customers.

The Danger of Being Perceived as Silly

Why don’t all companies use mascots? The main reason — they don’t want to appear silly. Theirs is a serious business. Here’s some pushback on serious businesses. I think the most serious business is when you hand over your hard earned money for someone to manage. The bulls and the bears, right? Financial brands are rife with lions, the stags, deer, antelope, bears, dogs (many varieties including Snoopy the beagle), stallion, eagle.

Back to the Super Bowl.

Bud is their marketing to a grand work horse. The Superbowl commercial may be viewed as syrupy and silly to some. (If you didn’t see it watch it below). It is a simple love story encapsulated in one minute. Synopsis: The rancher helps give birth to the Clydesdale. He nurtures, teaches, plays and races with it. Then comes a day when the Bud horse truck pulls up to the ranch and the horse goes on to become one of the Budweiser Clydesdale icons. Three years later the rancher sees that the Clydesdales are coming to his town. He decides to drive to the parade. Tucked in the middle of the crowd the rancher sees his horse go by as one of the leaders but he has blinders on. But when the parade ends you see the Clydesdale spot the rancher walking away in the crowd. As the rancher is about to pull away in his pickup he hears something coming and looks in this rear view mirror. The horse has broken free and the rancher and the Clydesdale are reunited. A friend texted me that this commercial, in fact all the Super Bowl commercials, were horrible. Maybe so.

Emotional Button

But this commercial hit the emotional button with me…in the same way the Dodge “farmers” commercial did. And as a brander, I saw Budweiser, again, tapping into the humor, love, and surprises that most of us see in the animal kingdom and tying it to their crowd of hardworking Americans and ultimately to their brand. Are they as American as Mom and apple pie. No. They sell beer. Do they blunder around as unwieldy corporations tend to do. Yes.  But did they build their brand without images of cheerleaders and partying? Did they stand out?

You could say that sex is what stood out and caught the attention of the public this year as BMW and GoDaddy.com went for it. Sex is a proven seller. Budweiser ran the risk of being silly, hitched up again to their classic animal icon to do the heavy lifting. Who did you think best hit the mark for their crowd, and built their brand?\

Yes, the number one ingredient to a successful sale is trust.

But the question remains: how do you win your customer’s trust? There are four main ways and this article is about the first way: expertise.

I got into sales through expertise. My first real job in a design firm was as a layout artist. I was a production person – a doer. In front of my glass layout board in the production room was a window into the conference room so potential clients could see us all busy writing, typesetting and designing. I watched them more than they watched me. I thought that sales looked like fun and I could do it.

One day, over lunch, we had a potential client stroll in without an appointment. To my amazement, she was the head of marketing, Jeana, for Mountain Bell, the telephone company for Colorado. This was before cell phones, when Mountain Bell was huge. She had just finished eating at the restaurant downstairs and just decided to “walk up and take a look at our set up”. Our execs and sales staff were all out to lunch so I just sat down with Jeana and took notes on what she wanted (talk about stumbling on a successful sales technique) for one of our real sales people to take over later.

Jeana asked me a few technical questions about telecommunicating typesetting, which luckily was right in my wheelhouse of expertise. I had done and read everything related to this subject that I could get my hands on. Jeana liked that I was a “doer” and had ground level expertise. When our execs finally arrived, Jeana had to leave. She left her card and insisted that I handle her account. They explained I was not an account rep. She replied “He is now”. Expertise generates trust. I managed that account for 14 years for three different companies, including my own.

Expertise Matters

Expertise matters to people. Part of Best Buy’s incredible success is their Geek Squad. No matter what you think about the quality of the Geek Squad – who was going to provide expert help at Circuit City, CompUSA, Computer City – now all defunct.

Expertise as a Brand Separator

Expertise can separate your company’s brand from the crowd. In many fields like business products for instance, where every retailer is selling the same brands: Swingline, 3M, HP etc. expertise is a large separating factor. Independent dealers can thrive due to their expertise in special areas like managed print services, office furniture systems design, premium coffee service as examples. Having experts on your sales staff will augment your sales immeasurably over the years.
Expertise is more than Product/Service Knowledge

What is expertise exactly?

It’s goes beyond mere knowledge. In fact, know-it-alls are never true experts. To demonstrate — my wife and I have a buying system which you may find familiar. We call a company to get something we want – everything from a special item, to an adjustment in the bill, to faster shipping. The first person we get is usually what we call the “stiff”. They have product knowledge and they follow the rules to the letter. We say thank you and goodbye immediately to the stiff. Then we simply call back again. We keep calling until we get the “expert”. This person not only knows something but more importantly knows how to get things done. The expert is someone we know we can trust. Meeting face- to-face, you can see expertise immediately. You can even hear expertise on the telephone line. Expertise is a combination of knowledge and know-how. Your customer knows that an “expert” exists in your company. When they find that person – they will not let go.

Andy Cleary
aka Roswell, the Space Monkey
Orbit’s Brander-in-Chief

If you own a business, you probably don’t want your sales and customer service people to give that cold, unfuzzy feeling to any of your customers. No matter what your industry, there are thousands of tips and tricks to help you win sale and build relationships: Be available. Be genuine. Be witty. Etc. Whether you are selling vacuums, books, software, office supplies or anything else under the sun, you are fighting the same battle. The battle of time, money, and trust. It’s a challenge, it’s a game, and it’s discouraging when you don’t win.

When you are selling: The majority of people on your call list don’t have the time or the interest to listen to your spiel. So make sure you are talking to the right person. Network among affinity groups to make connections within your prospective customer’s industry. Qualify your leads. Do the research to see if that person or company would even be a good customer before you do any heavy sales lifting. Is it worth the chase if it’s a one-time order? Talk to the decision-maker, the person who has the power to buy. That way, you aren’t bounced around the organization like a pinball.

The biggest secret to selling is to listen. Ask the right questions. Put yourself in the psychiatrist position.  Let your prospective customer talk about their current situation, their pride and joy (whether it be their company, their family, or their dog) and their problems. Get the full picture. Listen. When the time comes for you to talk, and it seems like your product or service is a fit for the customer, bring customized solutions to some of the problems that have been vocalized. Be a real person. Have feelings. Be honest. Ditch those sales scripts that map out conversations. Provide a real response. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes. When you listen, you are gaining insight on how to better serve your customer. Keep your ears open and eyes toward the future to see how you can continuously be improving.

When you are servicing: Customer service is more of a call-response game. Many of the same rules apply. Listening still comes first.  Be respectful. Have compassion. Toss out those customer service labyrinth scripts that limit your natural ability to converse. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes while using your company’s expertise to find a solution that is a win-win. Don’t bend company rules just to please a customer. Look for ways to benefit each party involved. If you are working on building relationships to have a base of customers who are in it for the long haul, you should be building trust, so be reliable.

You want your customers and your prospective customers to get the warm and fuzzies. You want  your business to thrive on mutually beneficial relationships from committed customers who are with you ’til the end. They want someone who will fulfill their needs, help them grow and/or add value to their life or company. They want you to listen.

Sell well and prosper.

Cyndi
Brand Manager

You want to get high in the web search rankings on certain keywords.

One good way is to put those keywords into your website’s coding and then saturate your website content and blogs with your targeted keywords. Only then will the great Google bow before you.

Well, we all know what happened with this approach. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) experts started “stuffing” their webs full of keywords to achieve rankings. This made for some very awkward, unreadable content and awful search results. This is cheating and Google’s main job in life these days has been to stop the cheaters.

Cheating to the 10th Power

There has been so much cheating on the web over the years that today we have reached the tipping point. Google is completely fed up. It’s not so much what you do right that gets you ahead in the Google rankings – it’s the cheating you don’t do, that moves you to the top. Violate the rules and you will be penalized, ignored or even blackballed for spammy, unseemly internet behavior.

Yes, it is wrong to purchase 300 inbound links from an island in the South Pacific. It is wrong to place duplicate (or stolen) copy in your blogs and in the multiple websites you own. Please do not stuff anything into your web. Do not hire that “black hat” SEO guy who operates out of his guard dog surrounded bunker in North Dakota. In fact, do you need an SEO guy with all the mystical tips and tricks at all anymore?

So how do I trick the system?

It turns out that the best way to trick the system these days is to be sure not to trick the system. Here is a radical approach: provide clear, concise, relevant information on your website and blog posts. Fill in all the meta-information but don’t over-do it. Build, don’t buy links. Update regularly. Let your web age like fine wine. Be loose and natural.

Hire a Waiter

Do you need a marketing savvy, crafty SEO expert anymore? Maybe not. You might be better off hiring an English or Philosophy major currently waiting tables at your local Applebee’s. A person who is a digital and social networking native can be taught, even how to place meta-information into your web’s code (see Orbit’s NextStep Workbook). SEO and Social Networking are going together, hand in hand, down the future marketing path to help grow your company. Multiplying your sales effort, consistently and persistently to both new and most importantly, existing customers is the value that you can’t afford to miss.

Brand well and prosper
Roswell (aka Andy Cleary)

In April of 2012, Orbit Design published the book, “Genius Simple Branding – Rethink, Reinvent and Renew Your Business“, for the first public edition. “Genius Simple Branding” had previously been a client-only book to serve as support material before clients go through the Branding Map Process.

“Genius Simple Branding” helps readers identify their brand assets such as apathy killer, street cred, anchor benefit, branding icon, branding promise and more. Each branding asset is a piece of the Branding Map. When branding assets are combined to create a cohesive brand, a Branding Map helps clearly define the identity and purpose of a company and it’s brand. A Branding Map keeps everyone in your company on the same page and going in the same direction.

Rethink, reinvent and renew your business is the mantra of this book … now there is a systematic way to develop your brand and drive sales: Genius Simple Branding.

Intellectual property (IP) is often the “magic” that sets you apart from the competition. It’s one of your company’s most important assets and something that must be protected from the increasing number of businesses willing to steal and copy your creative works.

We know you’ve got more pressing needs to worry about, but in a world where the transfer of information is becoming faster and easier each day, it is more important than ever to protect and defend your intellectual property.

We recommend that you take a few minutes to register your works through the United States Copyright Office. Here’s a list of the types of works that can be registered (note that the definitions of these works are very broad. To see explanations and examples of each type click on the links below):

• Literary works (example) including text based works and books, brochures, guides, catalogs, white papers, instructions, all marketing materials etc.
• Sound recordings (example) including music CDs, workshops, speeches etc.
• Visual art works (example) predominantly art and design works including original graphic work, images, diagrams, textile designs, sculpture, drawings etc. (Note: A contact sheet of multiple photographs can be registered as a group for one filing fee.)
• Serials/periodicals (example) newspapers, magazines and other business publications like newsletters, e-blasts etc.
• Performing art works (example) any theatrical or dance piece (if the choreography has been notated this may also be registered)

The whole process takes less than 30 minutes.

1. Affix the word copyright and/or the symbol © to your work with the year and the name of the entity owning the copyright: (example) Copyright © 2007 John and Susan Smith
2. Go to the U.S. Copyright Office website
3. Determine the type of work you want to register and click on the appropriate button
4. Complete the proper online registration or print and fill out the required form (this will be a .pdf file). If you are filing a hard copy application, make sure you print the form on one sheet, front and back head to head. Remember to sign the application.
5. Send nonreturnable copies of the work that you wish to be copyrighted, along with the completed application, and the application fee.
6. That’s it. You’ll be notified when they complete the process

Note that the process takes some time (About 3 months for online applications and about 10 months for mail-in applications).

The common notion that a work is protected by copyright law the minute you create it is true — but extremely misleading. Why? Because if in the future you are trying to prove infringement, you will have no 3rd party evidence to prove that you did indeed create the work yourself. The “poor man’s copyright” – sending a work to yourself in a sealed envelope – ranks just slightly above inadequate as a means to protect your intellectual property and is considered to be an “old wives tale” by lawyers. Registration with the Copyright Office is the only way to protect your full array of rights under present US copyright laws.

As branding specialists, we at Orbit are frequently asked about copyright and trademark law. When our clients have intellectual property issues related to branding, we refer them to Replin & Rhoades LLC, specialists in Intellectual Property Law, because they are patient and clear (easy on the legalese). If you need help, please feel free to contact them.

Brand well and prosper!

Roswell

Your Brander-in-Chief