Posts Tagged ‘Marketing’
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
Greetings from the NSA Convention in Orlando, Florida. First thing I learned here: humidity matters. I have come to appreciate the “dry heat” of Arizona.
I’m hearing one question over and over again: How do I “get out there?” Folks assume that if they “just get in front of the right people,” they are golden. The good news: there are so many opportunities to distribute your brilliance. The interesting news: these opportunities have created a lot of white noise. Getting in front of people is not the challenge; getting them to pay attention to you is the real first step. The more crowded the market, the harder it is to get that attention.
Throwing spaghetti at the wall no longer works. We have to go an inch wide and a mile deep, not a mile wide and an inch deep. We have to get strategic about what we know, not just tell it. How to create that kind of publicity? Check out the next Extreme Mini Makeovers call next Tuesday, July 27th and leave with a blueprint on what to do next.
Tags: education, Extreme Mini Makeovers, Marketing, promotion, strategy, Vickie Sullivan
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Tuesday, July 13th, 2010
Gearing up for the NSA Convention in Orlando this week. Know that I’m going to be asked a lot of questions about the market. Two words: cautious optimism. Yes, things are rebounding but look beneath the surface and some cracks are still there. Example: yes, association meetings are back and some groups are posting record-breaking attendance. However, industry insiders point to meetings consolidating and pent-up demand from our year-long dry spell in the association market. And this doesn’t help: the sugar daddy of the meetings industry — the corporate market — remains flat. Until that spending increases, be prepared for a roller coaster ride.
Tags: economy, Marketing, meetings, Vickie Sullivan
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Tuesday, July 6th, 2010
Knew it had to happen sometime. And that time is now. Virtual meetings are back and in a big way. On the association front, they are used as an additional revenue stream and to leverage the experience. A great way to subsidize events with lower attendance. Creates a platform to connect and is perfectly understandable.
The corporate market could go one step further to cut costs: replace virtual meetings for digital events. Big companies have the bandwidth to invest in the start ups. Exhibit A: Cisco, who ditched their big traditional face-to-face meeting and went all virtual. Reaction among attendees: best meeting ever.
Moral of the story: if they can get away with it, big companies will switch to virtual in a heartbeat. Experts need to be prepared to participate with fee strategies and with ideas to create a seamless experience for those watching from a computer screen. Might be a good time to hire some kid with high-tech skills…
Tags: events, Marketing, meetings, positioning, speakers, Speaking, strategy, Vickie Sullivan
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Thursday, July 1st, 2010
Yes they are, according to a recent survey by PCMA (Professional Conference Management Association), their foundation and AmEx. Over 500 meeting planners were asked about plans for 2010 and 2011 this Spring and here’s what they said:
- A net increase in off-site meetings of 23 percent in 2010 and 38 percent in 2011 when compared to 2009 numbers.
- Cancellations have subsided: 89 percent stated they were not planning to postpone, cancel or rebook any meetings they had already booked in 2010 and 2011.
Industry insiders are reporting an uptick in attendance, some more than 12 percent in the association market. That’s good news for experts speaking at these events. More attendees mean more sponsorship deals, more prospects for those free experts and hopefully, less stress about paying speakers. Not breaking out the Champagne just yet, but hey, this news is better than what we’ve heard before. Let’s do a happy dance and get back to work.
Tags: associations, events, experts, Marketing, meetings, Speaking, strategy, Vickie Sullivan
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Thursday, June 24th, 2010
Great call the other day on books that brand. What I didn’t get the chance to discuss was the role of the publisher’s speaker bureaus. Let’s drill down on this important issue.
First, a little context: to broaden readership for their authors, publishers have established speaker bureaus to book speeches for their authors. A relatively new trend, the bureaus sprang up around 2006; a couple (such as Macmillan) launched last year.
Many authors think that the speaker bureaus will go out and get them speaking engagements. The reality: nope, the in-house folks are just answering the phone. When it rings. For you specifically. Why? Because they don’t know how to promote speakers and don’t have the database that the established bureaus have.
Another problem with the in-house bureaus: they focus on exposure, so they’ll lower your fee at the drop of a hat. This practice doesn’t make friends and influence people at the bureaus that represented you before the book came out. Be prepared for the ensuing cat fights. And, yes, you are the referee.
Before you sign that contract, ask the publisher about their bureau. Is it outsourced or in-house? What’s the policy on fees? How proactive will they be? To paraphrase an old saying, an ounce of clarity is worth a pound of assumptions.
Tags: authors, books, Extreme Mini Makeovers, Marketing, publishing, speakers, speakers bureaus, strategy, Vickie Sullivan
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Tuesday, June 15th, 2010
I’ve heard a lot of crazy things because of the economy, but this takes the cake. I’m hearing a lot of folks are writing a book right now. When I ask why, here’s the number one answer: well, business has been slow so why not? This answer has spawned a rant not to be missed – click here to see the video.
Let’s get real: this kind of delusional thinking takes over when a business is in trouble — that big client suddenly goes away, referrals dry up, a more prominent competitor invades your space. It’s easy to rationalize, “Hey, instead of figuring out how to get more business, I think I’ll go write a book.” It’s easier to focus on a book than it is your business strategy. Why? Because we feel vulnerable when we don’t know what to do when the game changes. What used to work doesn’t anymore and we’ve got to do something NOW to fix it. The book becomes our security blanket. Writing that book makes us feel in control. By golly, this book will jumpstart my business. And while writing that book, we don’t have to do tough stuff like get out into the marketplace and compete. It’s a great way to hide, to stick our head into the sand. And again, there’s plenty of people urging us to write that manuscript. For a price.
The hard truth: the best motivation for writing a book is market-driven. So before the book train leaves the station, let’s step back and take a hard look at our motivations. Ask yourself: what trends are converging that will make this book create more clients or more speaking?
This recovering economy has created trends that will make some books soar – and some sink. I’m unveiling my latest analysis on those market dynamics at the next Extreme Mini Makeover call on June 22nd. Click here to join in the fun.
Tags: books, branding, experts, Extreme Mini Makeovers, Marketing, positioning, Speaking, strategy, Vickie Sullivan
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Tuesday, June 8th, 2010
Nutrition, wellness and even stress management folks will see a boost in interest in their programs, thanks to the $200M grants for wellness programs in Corporate America. Spread out over five years, these grants will go to small companies with fewer than 100 employees.
Watch for small business groups to wade into this area — I know, they don’t have the expertise, but that’s where you come in. Beware: don’t assume that these small companies just want you to speak and get out. Experts in these areas will have to take a holistic approach and distribute their content in a variety of ways. Your next big step: bundle your services as a project that includes speaking, internet stuff, whatever and target the smaller companies.
Tags: branding, consultants, education, experts, Health, Marketing, strategy, Vickie Sullivan
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Thursday, June 3rd, 2010
I blogged on Tuesday about brain imaging and the revolutionary findings this science will bring to the market. Here’s a great example of what’s to come: an experiment that shows why a “brand” trumps product preference.
Remember the famous “Pepsi Challenge?” When folks didn’t know what they were drinking, more people liked the taste of Pepsi than Coke. What’s the deal? Why would Coke beat out Pepsi in the marketplace if folks like Pepsi better in the taste test?
Scientists at the Human Neuroimaging Lab at the Baylor College of Medicine repeated the Pepsi Challenge while scanning the brains of volunteers. Here’s what they found: most people preferred Pepsi if the soda was not labeled, as in the original challenge. A scan of a brain area associated with rewards, called the ventral putamen, responded five times more powerfully to Pepsi than to Coke.
But, when the researchers repeated the test with the cans clearly visible, almost all of the subjects preferred the familiar red Coke can. Significantly, different areas of the brain responded. The medial prefrontal cortex, which is associated with logical thinking and reasoned judgment, lit up when Coke was selected. In other words, the preference didn’t have to do with the physical response to the taste so much as to the idea of Coke.
Moral of the story: experiments like this make the power of branding real. Watch for this area of boom beyond belief. (No wonder everyone and their brother is a branding expert…)
Tags: branding, Marketing, trends, Vickie Sullivan
Posted in Marketing, branding, strategy | 1 Comment »
