Archive for November, 2009
Thursday, November 26th, 2009
It’s Thanksgiving here in the U.S. This holiday reminds me of two things: 1) the holiday season has begun; and, 2) that’s when people get sloppy.
Given the challenging economy, it’s tempting to focus on the festivities and virtually shut down your business. No one’s making decisions anyway, right? Wrong. Now is not the time to hibernate. It’s time to look back and be thankful for every single thing that happened — either you succeeded and learned something or you just learned something. There is always someone worse off than you. Be thankful for every thing you have and move forward — what you do right now impacts 2010.
Tags: economy, holidays, Marketing, strategy, Vickie Sullivan
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Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
Like incentive meetings, fam trips — those hospitality tours to showcase hotels and locations — are undergoing an extreme makeover. What’s hot now: education sessions for meeting planner attendees. Topics are wide-ranging, with the main criteria being CEU credits. Including seminars with these credits has boosted attendance for Las Vegas Harrah’s trip, which gets 1200 applications for just 175 slots.
Why do you care? Let’s stop and think…where do you think they get the speakers for these sessions? Some will be other meeting planners/industry insiders and some will be local folks with something to share. In this age of competing venues for attendees, watch this trend steadily grow next year.
Tags: CEU, education, hospitality, makeover, Marketing, seminars, strategy, trends, Vickie Sullivan
Posted in Marketing, Speaking, branding, strategy | 1 Comment »
Thursday, November 19th, 2009
When meeting industry association SITE (Society of Incentives and Travel Executives) decided to rebrand, guess what word was left out? Incentives. Now known as lavish boondoggles. New buzzwords: motivational experiences and/or engagement programs.
Heads up: the same thing might happen to “motivational speakers.” I hear rumbling about not hiring “those motivational speakers” as opposed to those with more educational content. This unfortunate idea hasn’t gained much traction…yet.
The moral of the story: watch your labels.
Tags: associations, branding, Marketing, Speaking, strategy, Vickie Sullivan
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Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
Interesting study out last month on how associations use social networking. Omnipress surveyed 325 associations and learned this blinding flash of the obvious: the top objectives are to increase buzz and attendance for their meetings. What I found the most interesting: 35% of associations have custom-built social network systems. When you own the structure of social interactions, you own the community.
Prediction: larger associations will move in this direction and recruit smaller, related groups to spread out the cost. And they are going to need a steady stream of content to keep folks engaged in a more enclosed setting. Great starting place for anyone who wants to be famous in an industry.
Tags: associations, branding, communities, social networking, strategy, Vickie Sullivan
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Thursday, November 12th, 2009
Another great call on Tuesday about generating leads. The big takeaway: the issue is not lack of opportunities. There are plenty of places to “get out there.” Lead generating is about how to take advantage of what you are already doing. How to convert your efforts into leads of qualified buyers.
And the big secret that no one talks about: converting publicity and other outreach efforts has a lot of moving parts. So when the campaign goes south, there can be many reasons why. I untangled this web on the call. Click here to get the mp3 file — only $59.
Tags: Here's the Deal, lead generation, leads, Marketing, outreach, publicity, Speaking, strategy, Vickie Sullivan
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Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
Yep, this surprised me, too. According to last month’s survey by attitude research specialists Sirota Survey Intelligence, white and minority employees are just as engaged at work. This five-year study featured over 800,000 employee responses (that’s a sample pool worth bragging about) and found:
- Whites in management are 80% favorable on Engagement, while minorities are at 81%;
- Whites in non-management are 76% favorable on Engagement, while minorities are at 79%.
The dark side was just as interesting. African-American employees believe there is less fairness in the workplace than all other ethnic minoritis, and black managers perceive less developmental opportunities for advancement. Check out the press release (with more findings and a cool table of stats) at www.sirota.com.
Tags: diversity, employees, strategy, Vickie Sullivan, workplace
Posted in strategy | 1 Comment »
Thursday, November 5th, 2009
My heart cracks a little every time I get one of these calls. Some well-known expert laments, “But I was on (insert prominent media show here). But the leads just didn’t come in!” And I have to break the bad news: it’s the publicist’s job to generate the media mentions. It’s your job to get leads from all the attention. I can just see all the money they paid for “getting out there” just go up in smoke.
The truth: fame doesn’t always translate into fortune. The key: you have to know how to make your media create leads. The secret: it’s the little things that matter most. Get ready for some “you can do this tomorrow” tactics on Tuesday’s Here’s the Deal call on lead generation. Click here to join the fun (and profit)!
Tags: Here's the Deal, Marketing, promotion, strategy, Vickie Sullivan
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Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
In this “who moved my cheese” economy, finding buyers who are willing to invest has become priority one. That’s why I am shocked when turbo charge client Amy Showalter reached out to National Speaker Association members regarding their availability and fees for her Innovate to Motivate Conference coming up in February. What she heard from these self-decribed professional speakers: eight days of radio silence.
Don’t call her now — the slots are taken. Here’s my guess on what happened: these folks didn’t realize she was a qualified buyer. That’s why I’m drilling down on how to separate the serious buyers from the fishing expeditions at the next Here’s the Deal call on Tuesday, November 10th. Click here to join me.
Tags: Here's the Deal, Marketing, Speaking, strategy, Vickie Sullivan
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