Tag: Adam O’Leary

During the creative process of creating any kind of marketing piece, people become very possessive of their ideas, design and copy. Although that is a positive thing, there are limitations to it.
You want to make sure the piece, whether it be collateral, ads, blogs, speeches, etc, follows your brand guide and represents your brand image consistently. You also obviously must ensure all your statements, claims and product/service offerings are completely accurate. In addition, make sure your copy is proof read. I don’t know how many times I have seen typos in a wide variety of pieces. (If irony is consistent, I am sure there is a typo somewhere in here) Make sure there is an action item, as well. There are a several other things you must confirm in there, so go through your list.

After a thorough process, at some point you must ask yourself one question. Is this going to achieve my goals? I have seen so many design processes get bogged down by indecision and assumptions. Is this color right? This photo won’t be appealing to the bottom 1% of our market…..that graphic is too wavy…. You can try to be everything to everyone with all your marketing, but, guess what? That is impossible. Make sure your piece is geared toward your target market, isn’t completely offensive (unless it is meant to be) and looks professional. Get it done. Get it out the door and move on. We all have a million things to do and the opportunity costs of not getting other projects done is outrageously high.

When do potential clients choose to use you?
Do you sell them on your product or service during that first sales call?
Is your sales pitch that good?

Odds are the decision has been made long before you even speak with them.
Where have they heard about you? What is your marketing campaigns doing for you?

Laying the ground work by building a brand identity is a MAJOR reason why companies decide on whether they do business with you. Do they trust you? Are you providing a true solution to their need area?

I can’t believe I have to write about this, but I run across it more and more in my daily life. Now, I have a full time job at a software company, I work in my spare time with my own clients and am involved in a non-profit organization as well. In all three of these endevours, I come across indivduals who break a fundamental rule of, not only marketing or business, but common sense.

Do not OVERPROMISE AND UNDER DELIVER!!!(sorry, certain writing rules say not to ever write in caps, but oh well)

In the business world, I understand how some people feel they need to do this since they think they will not be awarded the sale, will look foolish in front of their peers or feel like they aren’t as vital to the company as they think. However, they look even more foolish, unreliable and idiotic when they don’t do what they say they are going to do.

Not only is this kind of behavior detremental to your company’s brand, it is detremental to your personal brand. You represent the company you work for and everything you do, affects their brand. This holds true to your personal brand, as well. If you command a reputation for unreliability, this severely limits you and lets people know if they can count on you or not. This is an enormous hurdle to overcome to gain back someone’s  trust especially if you never had that trust in the first place.

So, in your personal and professional life, please be transparent with your friends, collegues and clients. This will sometimes be tough in the short term, but in the long run they will know what you tell them is always correct. Example: if you cannot meet a deadline, let them know. If you say you are going to complete a task, do it. (no matter how menial. If you say you are going to call someone on a Friday, call them on Friday. If you say you will email them that artwork in a few minutes, do it!)

It comes down to an easy rule, (which I know is hard in the business world): Tell the truth. Everyone at least will respect you for it.

Well, as a new blogger, I first want to give some credit to who really inspired me to start this. As a marketing professional I am pretty consistent in reading books on the subject. The most inspiring author being Seth Godin and his series of marketing books. Purple Cow and All Marketers Are Liars have really got me and my career back on track. If you haven’t read these books, you really need to immediately. His blog also has some very insightful topics as well. You can read that here.

The other inspiring author is David Meerman Scott and his book, “The New Rules of Marketing and PR”. If this book doesn’t get you going, nothing will.

So, I just wanted to say how I started and I look forward to posting relevent topics to get people thinking about new ways to market their business, achieve their goals and maybe even learn something about life.