JD Valerio's Blog - Marketing and other interests

light it up

2011-12-08T16:16:00.000-08:00

Well time to start talking about marketing again. I am getting ready to go on tour again so I'll need to be thinking of ways to creat a sucessful CD release. If you have ideas. .. post away!

Here is a song I'll be putting on the new record:

Revolutionize your resolutions!

2011-01-05T10:47:00.000-08:00

It's been a while, hasn't it?

I thought I'd write about making resolutions, since that's the popular thing to do now. To be honest, I thought resolutions were pretty cheesy and didn't even try to make any until a couple years ago. And then, I realized; if I want to change things about my life, I need to plan it out and make goals for myself! I have learned a lot about setting goals for myself, especially in the past year, so I thought I'd share some of that gained knowledge. I'm not claiming to be a 'goal guru'...just learning along the way! :)

We've all heard the "I want to lose weight this year" goal, right? That's probably the most popular resolution. Yet, most people who make that goal don't end up reaching it. Why is that? Well, there are a few reasons, in my opinion.

First, make measurable goals. Instead of saying "I want to lose weight this year," say "I want to lose x pounds by x date". And make sure to make your goals realistic. If you say you want to lose 100 pounds in 2 months, that's probably not going to happen (unless you get surgery or starve yourself and work out like crazy).

Secondly, something I like to do is create a game plan on how to reach your goals. You can't get to your destination without some sort of vehicle, right? The way to make this achievable is to break it down. A yearly goal might seem daunting, but if you break it down into monthly goals and weekly goals, followed by daily activities, it will be much more doable. Here's an example:

Resolution: I'd like to lose 15 pounds by July.
Monthly goal: I'd like to lose 2.5 pounds each month.
Weekly goal: I will work out 6+ hours a week (this is something I actually already do, believe it or not! Haha)
Daily goals: I will track my food every day and make sure to stay within my calorie range as much as possible (this is something I'm currently working on). I will also have at least 60g of protein in my diet to help with my strength training.

Also know that it's beneficial to make multiple resolutions for all areas of your life! At first I thought that would be overwhelming and that it would make me stretch myself too thin, but guess what? When I got serious about my health, I started seeing success in other areas of my life. I felt more well-rounded. If I have multiple areas in my life that I'd like to improve, why not make goals for each of those areas?

These are some areas of my life I made resolutions for this year:
Health/Fitness
Organization
Business
Relationships/Family
Financial
Creativity/Music
etc.

And, of course, I had multiple goals for each of those categories, which I broke down.

Another thing I've learned is to let people know about your goals. It helps hold you accountable. If it's deeply personal, you might not want to, but speaking your goals really helps. Granted, I usually tell people who are involved in one area in my life about my goals for that area, not all of my goals. For instance, someone who is not interested in business might not want to hear about my business goals. And I'm going to tell my health goals to my workout buddies and the health website I visit frequently.

Lastly, know that it's ok if you don't reach your goals. Don't beat yourself up if you didn't lose the weight you wanted to by a certain date. Re-adjust your goals and keep going. I have had many goals in different areas of my life that I didn't hit, but every month, I assess where I'm at and adjust my goals accordingly. Sometimes you might even overshoot your goals and you have to bump it up a notch!

I hope this helps everyone with achieving their resolutions. Feel free to comment!

-Karen

shake it up

2010-10-05T12:58:00.000-07:00

As musicians we need to work together, but we also have to compete for crowd share. Let's face it, if you don't get people into the venue to see your act, you won't earn money and it is unlikely the venue will put you high on their call back list. One way to separate yourself is to play an alternative musical instrument from time to time. For me, I save a few piano chops for the right venue. I don't even own a piano, but I know how to play and it is fun to bust a move on the ivory keys once in a while. I've heard of some bands having painters and dancers on stage, or incorporating poetry readings into their act. Think outside the norm, and try something new. If you read this I'd like to know what talents you have hidden up your sleve that you use or may use in the future. . . (examples: harmonica, double joint freak show, comedy, painting, juggling, etc.).

In the words of Young MC "Bust a move!":

here is a sample marketing letter

2010-09-24T18:07:00.000-07:00

Hi friends,
I have new buttons to help my friends and fans connect their friends and fans with my music. If you go to (active link) http://www.cdbaby.com/valerio2 you will see on the left hand side buttons for facebook and twitter. If you would like to help me spread the word on my latest CD, "hot apple cider" please try these buttons out.

Right now I am working on my new CD. I have received suggestions to put the song Roar and Pirates and Deep End on the next record. If you have any suggestions for other songs please let me know. Much of my new music is posted at (active link) Http://www.youtube.com/user/jdvaleriomusic. The videos were taken with a flip camera so the sound quality is nowhere near a studio recording, but at least you can listen with headphones and get a good idea of what the newer songs are like.

My last record, Come Undone is available at Amazon: (active link) http://www.amazon.com/Come-Undone/dp/B001UIIAJE

I am in the marketing phase of my business plan. I promise not to bombard you with emails, but as a professional musician it is important to sell stuff. Believe it or not that is my least favorite part of my job, but it comes with the territory.

Lastly but not least, I am seeking a simple job at Starbucks, or a dinner or something like that in Sacramento to supplement my income while recording the next record. If you know somebody in the Sacramento area that is hiring please point me in their direction.

Currently, I am living in Las Vegas, but I am moving back to Sacramento tomorrow. So for those of you in Sac Town I can't wait to see you!

Love,
jd

The next step

2010-09-24T17:25:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it can be overwhelming to know where to devote your efforts in a Do It Yourself music world. One of the things I find helpful is to write a list of 100 things you want to focus on, then pick four and get them done that quarter. For example here are some of the things on my list:
1. Get a part time job to fund phase III of my music plan (starbucks, waiting tables etc.) Something that won't steal to much of my mental energy.

2. Get album four recorded and published for CD release in first quarter of 2011.

3. Book two gigs a month to so I don't loose my gig momentum.

4. Build four new websites to promote my music.

5. Get on Pandora.com

6. Make a new exercise schedule and stick to it.

The idea here again is to accomplish four of these objectives. Then I burn the list (or throw it away) and make a new list of things I want to achieve.

another musician informational site!

2010-09-21T09:03:00.001-07:00

hey everyone! i thought i'd post a link as my first contribution to this blog. i hope you approve, jd. :)

http://www.musicianwages.com/

i literally just stumbled upon this site, and it looks extremely informative! i am going to peruse it and let you know how it is!

take care,
karen

(that's me)

cancer humor

2010-09-19T17:58:00.003-07:00

my little brother had bone cancer. he lived, like he promised he would. he makes light of his most recent scar from surgery here:

the x factor

2010-09-19T17:56:00.003-07:00

Connect With a Cause

2010-09-16T08:59:00.000-07:00

My friend Brother Dan Palmer, a great musician, has been on a waiting list for a new liver. He has decided to use his gift of music to help with this organization. This is a great way to use our God given gifts:

www.brazencareerist.com

2010-09-16T08:45:00.000-07:00

My friend Karen suggested this site. For those of you looking to advance your music carreer, I suggest you create a professional profile at a site like Brazen Careerist or on LinkedIn. If you want to copy off of me search for "JD Valerio on LinkedIn". Today I set up a profile at Brazen, if it bears any fruit (helping me advance my music career) I will let you know. . .

Creating Homemad Video

2010-09-15T18:46:00.001-07:00

Video is an arena where I am a complete infant. But that doesn't mean I try. Flip cameras come with built in software that is intuitive and easy to use. Here is a video I made today in about 2 hours using this technology from flip:

HEY FLIP, WANT TO SPONSER MY NEXT TOUR???

Confused about Copyright - Music

2010-09-10T08:26:00.000-07:00

Before you go out and market a bunch of songs, make sure they are copywritten. Here is a fun and easy video from the government's copyright site that will help de-mystify copyright. . .just copy and paste this URL in your browser: www.loc.gov/teachers/copyrightmystery/#/steps/

Esquared Cafe owner Matt Taylor says hello

2010-09-09T06:06:00.000-07:00

Help the venue, and they will help you. Karma is a huge reality to discover in the music business. I took videos like this along the way on my "Live Your Life Tour" it was a great way to drive new comers to my YouTube channel. People would ask each other, "did you see the video from the other night when JD was here, he also had a video of the venue owner, check it out"

Community driven marketing is another ingredient to the (DIY - do it yourself) model which I call (DIT - do it together).

Musicians on LinkedIN

2010-09-08T23:01:00.000-07:00

One more social media site, no please no. But before you throw the baby out with the bath water consider one more social media site, LinkedIn. LinkedIn is for professional networking. Most of the people there are there to advance their career so you won't be reading about your friends taking a leak, or heading to Chipotle for carnitas. Nope, LinkedIn is an awesome networking tool that provides several levels of service depending on how much you want to pay. Check out my profile as an example: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jdvalerio. If you are on their already, connect with me!

Later,
JD

Oh no, i went to jail, now what. . .

2010-09-07T14:29:00.000-07:00

If you travel as a musician, "bad" things can happen. You can make them a "good" thing by doing things like writing a new song about the experience or writing a good "on stage story" to engage your audience.

Bad things don't happen, they are simply seeds for good things.

playing from the heart

2010-08-20T14:19:00.000-07:00

what does it mean to live our lives to the fullest?
how is success defined?
Why don't we always play from the heart?
I dunno - but I'm testing these waters in a total new way how about you?

decided to dust off the piano last night in vegas. .

holy smokes it hit me - i know how to sustain myself as a musician!

2010-08-19T03:16:00.000-07:00

but you will have to wait. it is all hush hush... i will share here later, but in this cuthroat business world, there is a time to speak and a time to remain silent.

stay tuned though because I'll be sharing the secret once i put it all in motion. patent the material etc.

MusicDish e-Journal - The New Artist Development Model: Growing your Brand from the Ground Up

2010-08-17T23:41:00.000-07:00

MusicDish e-Journal - The New Artist Development Model: Growing your Brand from the Ground Up

Creating a Sustainable Music Career

2010-08-17T20:31:00.000-07:00

I am shifting the focus of this blog to “Creating a Sustainable Music Career” not only for me but for others. I learn well this way (through blogging and conversing online). I hope to meet many other people in blog-land who want to see independent musicians thrive.

In December 2009 I shifted my vocational focus from Strategic Marketing and Business Development to music. Primarily, I’ve been doing the singer/songwriter traveling around thing. It is great! This year I've performed live concerts in CA, OR, WA, ID, MT, CO, NV, MN, WI, IL, OH, PA, NY and GA. It was a three month tour that began on May 14th and comes to conclusion on August 19th. Along the way I connected with old clients to stay in touch, etc.

While I am developing my music business I am opening 10 hours a week to companies that can use my marketing and sales expertise. I excel at helping Banks, Credit Unions, and Hospitals grow their businesses and recently worked for a marketing agency in a Business Development role. So, if you know someone in need of sales and marketing expertise, I can help!

One more thing, this blog is not a spelling bee! Go ahead and ramble and write stream of consciousness stuff. I do it all the time, and it is such a relaxing way to exchange ideas. It is a conversation, not a job interview. Questions are fun too. . .

So welcome to my new blog (well it is actually a blog I started in 2008 but I took it offline for a while). If you have read any of my other blogs - I got about 10 now, You know I'm all about experiementing and AUTHENTICY. So feel free to relax here when exchanging ideas :).

One more thing (I am the king of one more thing), check out my "giving up the car" stoies on this blog. Then go to my new friend in New York's website rideplanetearth.org. This guy is a new hero of mine, one of those Aquarian greater good guys, and since I haven't been biking as much this year I've been following his journey across the country. What a nice coincidence that he was staying with my cousin in Brooklyn when I was crashing on the couch there this summer. Cool stuff!

pirates

2010-08-17T18:34:00.001-07:00

Champions, grass route magic

2010-08-17T04:27:00.000-07:00

There is so much fantastic music out there. Talent is pouring out of songwriters and bands in cities all over the world. Sometimes the “sucky” ones “make it” and the “non-sucky” ,are sentenced to the life of a cube-slave or some other meaningless job. The ones who “don’t make it” are left to wonder. . . “what if I jumped in when I still had all that passion for the music?”. If you want to hear a good song about this, click here to hear one of my favorite songwriters, Peter Mayer, sing Magic Beans: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yw6LEvq7AMg

Anyway, Peter Mayer has been one of my musical heros since 1994. In the later half of the 90’s I put down the piano (figuratively) and started banging out songs on my guitar, mostly because of two singer-songwriters I was listening to at that time in my life. Peter Mayer, and another hero of mine, Stuart Davis, would do shows in a little food market on Monday nights at my college. I was poor but I bought every one of their records they had to sell (actually, CD’s and a few cassette tapes). These two guys are so prolific, that it is hard to keep up with all of their work, but I’ve seen each perform at least 20 times and Peter and Stuart remain high on my list of names if I ever get blessed with kids.

So the title of this unedited post (ramble) is “Champions, grass route magic”. A Champion, for the purposes of this post, is somebody that is so crazy about a band or solo artist that they LOVE to share and introduce them to others. I’m a good example, I am a major Champion of Stu and Pete, and thus, I tell the world. They even made it into this blog post – to ripple through cyberspace until the internet fades away. I’ve taken many friends to their concerts, bought CD’s of theirs as Christmas presents for others, and have sung their praises to pretty much anybody that knows me well.

A Champion is NOT just someone who simply buys your music. Someone who just buys a CD is a customer, not a Champion in their own light. No, Champion status is earned, not bought. The customer is a precious asset to the band or solo performer, but not what you need to kick it into high gear. A champion is a super fan. Someone who will drag 10 friends to a show and pay the cover! Someone who records your performances and posts them on YouTube so their friends can hear you too. A champion will write to a venue on your behalf and book you a gig with their cousin Ralph who opened for U2 last summer! A champion goes the extra mile, to help you on your quest to have a sustainable career in music. If you are an independent artist and don’t have money. You need Champions!!!

How do you get more Champions?

Well – mom counts for one :)

Then there is touring – crashing on peoples couches and sharing meals with them (or working on a farm for free food and lodging) is a great way to connect with folks and drum up champions.

Find Champions who can bring more Champions

Network with musicians, we are usually each other’s BIGGEST champions – also the community will help you stay in the game and keep your eye on the prize (whatever that is for you).

Communicate – let them know what you are doing! They already love you, they told you and their friends. There are a lot of people out there who are sick of polished demo CD’s, fancy videos, and pristine blog posts. If you want an authentic fan, be authentic in your communication. Check out www.jaffejuice.com, one of my favorite blogs. Joseph Jaffe wrote, “Join The Conversation” which I think should be on any marketer's top 10 list of books, along with The Green Marketing Manifesto by John Grant.

Examples of Authentic Champion Communication
• Post a YouTube video of your 29th B-day party. . . where Father O’hare from the local perish decides to jam with you for your birthday. My YouTube post this summer that is second rank in views for the tour was of me arguing with a cop! Not music.

• Try a video blog (I don’t like hearing myself talk much, but I put out a talking video once in a while).

• Tell your Champions about upcoming projects, and give them sneak peeks to the songs before they are released.

• Respond to two-way communication on Facebook, Email, MySpace, Twitter, etc. (I am bad at Twitter because it just auto posts from my Facebook account. . . so if you try to reach me on Twitter, my bad. Note to self, check Twitter messages). I found out about my Twitter shortcomings when a fan said “hey I shot you a note on Twitter, you never responded”. . . oops.That person was a CHAMPION so I logged onto Twitter that day to respond :). If I had a cool phone like everyone else I would probably tweet more.

• Face to face – meet with them face to face. Have coffee or beer with them after the show. Go jam with them. Go to their local open mic when you are on the road and have extra time. INTERACT with them. Answer their questions about that one song you wrote that EVERYBODY asks about, it might get redundant, but storytelling connects people to the music.

It is a numbers game though too. My average attendance on the road this summer wasw about 20 people unless I was booked with a local band with a big draw or playing outside. So that means to get exposed to 1000 people, I have to play 50 shows. And to get the most out of every show, sing my heart out even if it is just to the bar tender, or a couple of people who dropped by for some coffee.

As I write this, I realize I am thinking primarily about solo artists. Bands have a tendency to draw more people than solo artists. But most of these tactics are simple, free, and won’t hurt you. So try a couple out.

Back to Peter Mayer. . . A few years ago I was at one of his concerts. Many times, I’ve seen Peter play in front of 5-10 people max. But at this particular show, Peter had packed out the Fitzgerald in Minnesota which seats just under 1000 people. Those were a 1000 people paying $20+ a ticket – that is $20,000 gross! How did he get there?? Well it took time. . . I started asking people at intermission, “how did you hear Peter”, and heard things like “10 years ago he played at my church”, “5 years ago my wife and I stopped in a little tea house, he was there with no amplification and blew us away, we’ve been followers ever since”. I also know that Peter got a lot of exposure through the House Concert circuit – another nut I hope to crack someday. . .

As a professional marketer, it is fun to throw these ideas around. But my marketing has been focused more on marketing for Hospitals, Banks and Credit Unions. Since I don’t have anywhere the near the budget I had available back then, I’m left to rely on FREE and Innovative grass routes tactics. If you have a good music marketing story, I’d love to hear it. Or a CHAMPION story from another industry like Credit Unions would be cool to hear too.

I’ve heard that 1,000 fans is the first hurdle and that 5000 fans is the magic number for sustainability as a professional musician. But these numbers get thrown around loosely, and I'm not sure if they are for solo artists or bands. But I wander what 1000 true CHAMPIONS can do?

Anyway I am done rambling. The bottom line to my Champion method: Go out and make authentic connections with new audiences. Touring is highly recommended (but if you go, shed pass or fail mentality. . .go out and learn, then do it again even better.)

Here is an interview with Punk Rock legend,Patti Smith. . . loved watching this and hope you will too (authentic communication, wrapped in a pretty bow that costs money):

droid

2010-08-11T12:03:00.000-07:00

all along the tour. i've been taking footage, (or someone in the crowd) has been taking footag for me on my flip camera. I believe that quality content is part of the game, but like art, the public can be finicky about what IS quality content? Some people want to see a polished video with lyrics in perfect synch with the auto-drums. Some people want to see raw footage, no frills, just plain. The moral of the story is that there is a lot of people out there. Your content is bound to appeal to somebody. So don't be shy, get it out there. Now, if any of your content is contrary to yoru brand or your authentic self, be conscious of that before throwing the universe in cyberland a curve ball.

After all, it is also about who you are.

Here is a song, Droid.

a song, truer than true

2010-08-07T08:39:00.001-07:00

acoustic cover of miley cyrus - party in the usa

2010-08-05T18:11:00.000-07:00

Release the Kracken! Roar!!!!!!!!!!

2010-08-04T16:21:00.000-07:00

I haven’t posted here in a while. Been spending more time in “art land” rather than “business land”. I took this blog offline, and hid my professional marketing profiles so that when people search for JD Valerio, they would find my music. . . Not my business strategies and marketing genius :(.

But now, I’ve decided to explore more marketing strategies for musicians (since I’ve been a musician full-time since Dec 2009.).

If you have read this blog before, then you know that I have a philosophy about being completely authentic and yourself in business. No mask, no lies, be yourself. That might mean crawling on the floor like a gorilla to get a laugh (I ACTUALLY DID THAT WHEN I WORKeD FOR PRIORITY IN MINNEAPOLIS, MN IN BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT). Ugah ugah. Anyway, be yourself. That’s it.

So in being myself. I am not going to hide that I’m a professional marketer and a damn good communicator.

So here is something real naked. I just wrote, recorded, edited and posted this video today! But not on my professional business networks. . . yet.

So, I’ll be looking for your ideas in how I can earn a sustainable living as a musician. How can I market myself??

In return, I’ll share some of my secret sauce and tricks of the trade. . . as I learn as I go. Roar!

Blessings,
Jd

The Race For Content Online: Quality, Quantiy, Value

2009-11-14T14:46:00.000-08:00

This morning Robert Weber left a comment on my post, “Subscribers and AOL revenue” and pointed me to an article in Wired Magazine, “The Answer Factory” – available here: http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/10/ff_demandmedia/

The article got me thinking about content and its central role in business competition online.

Content is the centerpiece of competition online. Whether it’s a search engine, a standalone website (like your local bank or hospital), or a social media platform, content in its many shapes and forms is crucial. Winning the content race requires quality content. Quality content includes but isn’t limited to the following (feel free to add to this list):

Speed – Are users finding the content they want quickly?
Relevancy – Are users finding the content they are looking for?
Cost – How much do users have to pay for the content?
Experience – How pleasant is the user experience when they are consuming content (video, audio, text, games, etc.) Are they bombarded with advertising, pop-ups, etc? Is the content easy to navigate? Are there interruptions while consuming the content (commercials, stalls during video streaming, etc.)?
Reliability – Is the content trustworthy and factual?
Auditing – Are measures put into place to kick out misleading, illegal, and annoying content?
Timeliness – Are users finding the most up to date information?
Presentation – Is the content well presented, spelled correctly, easy to understand, trustworthy, etc.?

Players in the online content race seem to be focusing on making content cheap, helping people find it fast, and providing information on any topic. In my opinion, where many of these companies fail is in providing quality content in the top ranking search results.

Some players claim to focus on providing quality content, but in reality they are really focusing on popular content and giving the highest bidder the power to be #1 in search results no matter how relevant their content is to the user’s interest.

I like the idea of companies like Demand Media giving writers, editors, and filmmakers the opportunity to make money on their content contributions; I think this creates competition that can have a positive impact on the quality of content submitted.

http://www.mahalo.com/ another site, where content contributors can monetize their content has a compelling model as well.

Mahalo’s description at their website reads, “Mahalo is a human-powered search engine and a knowledge sharing service, helping people on the Internet quickly find the best possible information on any topic. Members of the public can also earn money by contributing to Mahalo topic pages or by answering questions on the Mahalo Answers system.”

Wolfram Alpah is another search engine with a niche approach to quality search http://www.wolframalpha.com . This site aims at “Making the World’s Knowledge Computable” by leveraging built in algorithms to compute an ever growing collection of world data. For example you can answer computable questions as simple as, “what is 4 divided by 2” to complex questions like “what is the probability of getting a full-house in poker” see the answer here: http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=probability+full+house

It will be very interesting to observe the impact that community driven content sites/search engines have on the future quality of content available online. Real-time search and evolving search algorithms will shake things up as well. At the end of the day, quality will be just as important as quantity in the online content race.

Subscribers and AOL revenue

2009-11-05T06:14:00.000-08:00

AOL has had a downturn in revenue in comparison to last year. It appears that much of that downturn is attributed to AOL subscribers leaving AOL in droves. So where are those subscribers going? Why are they going away? Will the advertising dollars that were being pumped into AOL for their subscribers be redirected to other companies with traffic? If so where. . .

Real Time Search, Chinese language and Social Media

2009-10-30T05:49:00.000-07:00

I found these comments by Eric Schmidt to be quite interesting. Imagine a superfast internet, integrating social media technoloy with search and an online environment dominated by the Chinese language. It never ceases to amaze me at how much things change, and how fast.

Should Marketers Put All Their Eggs in the SEO Basket?

2009-08-19T10:03:00.000-07:00

I’ve devoted a lot of time and energy into researching best practices for SEO and Interactive Marketing.

Recently, I posted a blog about six areas to focus on when optimizing a site. However, I want to make it very clear that I think SEO is only one piece of the puzzle when it comes to effective marketing. In reality, only two or three companies are going to win the SEO race at any given time. When consumers search for information online most of them don’t look past the first page of results. What does this mean? It means that the companies that spend the most resources (Time, Energy, Technology, Money, and Staff) on SEO will win the SEO race and the rest of the companies need to find other ways to compete for audience attention.

So, once the SEO race is won, what do the marketers in 4th and 5th or 37th place need to do? They need to drive business and web traffic in other ways.

Here are a few ways to compete with the big SEO players:

Salespeople calling on companies and consumers
Direct mail targeted to ideal prospects driving consumers to take action
Pay-per click advertising
Traditional product campaigns
Micro blogging and social media networking (spending time on niche sites related to your field) – check out Ning.com or LinkedIN.com for some interesting niche focus groups.
E-mail marketing
Webinars
Community events

SEO is important for many businesses, don’t get me wrong. However, when an organization has less staff and $$ to compete with the dominate players online, they need to get creative with how they spend the marketing budget.

I often hear marketing companies say things like: “Direct mail is going away.”, “Paper is going away.”, “Newsletter marketing is going away.” While I agree that we are trending more and more towards electronic marketing channels, I don’t believe that they will completely replace the need for traditional forms of marketing. Our press runs might be smaller and our audiences might be more targeted, but direct mail is not going away – at least not right away. Radio, TV, and publications will still be around for quite a while as well. So in answer to the question - Should Marketers Put All Their Eggs in the SEO Basket? The answer is no.

Six Areas to Focus On in Search Engine Optimization

2009-08-19T09:30:00.000-07:00

In researching various Search Engine Optimization and Interactive Marketing strategies I’ve discovered that most SEO consulting firms focus these six areas when optimizing a website: Keywords, Content Writing, Website Optimization, Link Development, Submission, and Reporting.

Below is a quick synopsis of each area. I’ve underlined key terms that would be helpful for marketers to research before approaching an SEO consultant.

Keywords – using keyword research tools, a list of the most searched for terms for your website or industry is complied.

Content Writing- copywriters are hired to create content that is well optimized (using keyword techniques etc.), grammatically correct, and appeals to readers and potential customers. Articles that are 300-600 words in length that are keyword rich are written on your products and services and posted online to increase the content at your website.

Website Optimization – technical tweaks to the backend of your website are made to make it search engine friendly. Terms you will want to look up that impact website optimization include: title tags, image tags, meta tags. Some obstacles to SEO a good Web developer will help you overcome include: Flash content getting in the way of search engines crawling your site, broken site maps and internal linking structures, and duplicate content.

Link Development – the number of incoming links from well-established websites back to yours is a major factor in attaining high search engine rankings. Some of the methods and tools used to improve link development include:

· Social Media Optimization and posting
· Press release writing and submissions
· One-way links from directories and industry websites
· Fee-based directory submissions
· Reciprocal link exchanges
· Blog posting

Submission – During this phase your website is submitted to major search engines and directories online.

Reporting – A baseline ranking is established before optimization begins. After optimization, ranking results are tabulated and reported.

An effective SEO marketing campaign takes a ton of time, energy, expertise, and can be costly (staff time, directory placement, etc.). In my opinion, if SEO is an important ingredient to the success of a business either a full-time staff member(s) need to be devoted to the projects or outsourcing is required. Often times a blend of outsourcing and internal staff time is the best approach for a long-run SEO strategy.

Mobile Malware

2009-08-12T14:05:00.000-07:00

Today I read an article in the NY Times; the headline read, “Cellphones Largely Immune to Viruses, For Now”. Here is link to the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/technology/personaltech/13smart.html?_r=1&ref=business

Does this mean that I am going to have to get anti-virus software for my phone soon?

It seems that in the insurance and security fields there will always be niche business to chase. . .

Maybe this article was injected into the news stream to generate hype so that CompanyX can launch a new integrated computer/phone anti-virus software.

Hmm . . . have we seen this tactic somewhere before. . .

Small Business Lending An Answer in 2009

2009-08-05T15:32:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine pointed me to an article published last week in The Star Tribune. Here is the link - http://www.startribune.com/business/51633817.html?page=6&c=y

The article basically points out the increased risk credit unions in Minnesota have taken on in business lending and the problems they are facing as a result.

So, instead of huge multi-million dollar business loans for high risk start-ups, how about focusing on the little guys/gals?

Stricter lending practices and improved credit checks should always be "par for the course", but credit unions need to explore the opportunities in the small business sector as a viable option for future success - (read the article to get the golf pun).

I don't have a crystal ball on the economy, but it makes sense for credit unions to explore bringing on more small business members. They will get more credit card transaction revenue, more exposure in the small business sector, and increase loan $$. A diverse lending portfolio with a smaller threshold of loan caps will bring down the risk factor as well.

The solutions are complex, but the basic direction is simple. . . or is it?

In 2009 Businesses need to invest in face-to-face Business Development

2009-08-01T09:18:00.000-07:00

Economy decline slowing - opportunity never stops growing http://tiny.cc/P0HRw

Time and time again, the most successful businesses are the ones with folks wearing out the rubber on the soles of their shoes and building face-to-face relationships with customers.

One way the financial industry can grow their revenue stream (especially banks and credit unions) is to knock on the doors of small businesses. Go make some friends! Think about it. . . a small business that do 2.5 million in business per year can often times run 80-90% of purchases through a business credit card. That credit card transaction revenue adds up for a bank or a credit union. How many banks and credit unions are actively calling on all of the small businesses in their immediate service area around the branch??

And what about small businesses themselves? If you own a pizza shop, what about bringing some fresh hot pizzas in for free to the small businesses in your area? Drop off a few business cards, coupons, and magnets with your phone number on them and then say, "Please give us a ring and tell us how it tastes". That is a lot cheaper than mailing a million postcards or buying a TV or Radio spot. And who do you think they will think of next week when someone in the office says, "Who's hungry? Anybody want to go to lunch? Where should we go?"

Don't get me wrong, we need marketing. But in times like these we also need to sell our way out of recession.

I think we are on the upswing in our economy. 2008 and early 2009 was rough. It might take a few years, but businesses need to focus on long-term gains now. Stop cutting, start building.

Ideas For Credit Unions Reaching Youth

2009-07-24T10:19:00.000-07:00

http://www.yescucommunity.com/video/living-young-free-show-002

The Young & Free program was first launched with a credit union in canada. Now credit unions in the USA can use syndicated programing and a customizable integrated marketing strategy to attract younger audiences to the credit unoin movement.

I've been watching this program and blogging about it for over a year. I think this is a great business idea and I've enjoyed watching it grow.

Twitter 101

2009-07-24T09:41:00.000-07:00

Today I was reviewing http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/. The site provides tips, case studies, and lingo for businesses who are looking to use Twitter. I've heard some great stories, but I remain a skeptic somewhat. . .

How does Twitter stack up to other social media outlets? Will it last? Is Twitter hype just a result of a good PR and Marketing strategy?

Social Media – The Digital Manifestation of Word-of-Mouth

2009-07-23T07:27:00.000-07:00

Social Media – the digital manifestation of Word-of-Mouth

Today, 7-23-09, I was reading in the New York Times about Curtiss Kimball. Kimball owns a crème brulee cart in San Francisco. His business has been so successful that he quit his day job as a carpenter to keep up with demand. He attributes much of his success to Twitter, on which he has about 5,400 followers. Customers apparently wait for his tweets about where his cart is going to be and what the flavors of the day are!

I think it is great to see technology like this helping small business owners. And the best part, this advertising is free!

One thing to keep in mind about social media for marketing use is that a business must have something buzz worthy or truly compelling in order to get” tweeted” about. In Kimball’s case, his cart offers great tasting desserts. If his desserts tasted like diesel fuel – he may get a lot of people tweeting about him but for the wrong reasons – “Don’t ever buy from this dessert cart guy, his crème brulee made me puke!”.

But bravo to Mr. Kimball and other small business owners who have stumbled into positive cyber word of mouth and used it to their advantage. Social media is the digital manifestation of word of mouth and the beauty of it is this, it has the power to spread like wild fire.

Location for the article in the New York Times:
http://tinyurl.com/lbcf6o
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/23/business/smallbusiness/23twitter.html?th&emc=th

One Year Without a Car

2009-06-10T18:51:00.000-07:00

A year ago today I donated my car (I had actually stopped driving it earlier than that, but who’s counting. . .)

For the past 365 days I have relied on my bicycle, bus or carpool to get where I need to go.
Benefits:

Saved at least $3,000 (and that is without a car payment factored in!)
Didn’t gain weight because I was biking so much
Learned how to get around the city of Minneapolis better
Got to know the businesses in my neighborhood much better and felt a stronger sense of belonging to a community
Felt less stress (biking helped me energize before arriving to work and unwind my mind before getting home)
I also felt better about doing my part to save the earth

Other changes:

Was Loosing track of new music and local radio programs so turned to Pandora.com and 89.3 the current online for music.
Used my iPod more for podcasting and music listening since I wasn’t listening to radio in my car
Bought a “Go Pass” for the local transit system
Treated my bike better (more tune ups, oiling the chain etc.)
Had to plan events with friends in advance because getting to things like Friday night happy hour took a little longer
My friends and I established new norms for hanging out such as: they gave me a ride, I bought the first round, or they would bike with me!

All in all this has been a good experiment. I don’t plan to get a car yet. Maybe I’ll make it another year. . .

Three Stats to Start the SEO Conversation With Your Organization

2009-05-28T11:44:00.000-07:00

319 million searches are performed each day (Nielson/NetRatings)
82% of Internet users never make it past the 3rd page of results (iProspect)
85% of Internet users use search engines to find products and services (Nielsen/NetRatings)

Three words to incorporate into the marketing agenda: Search Engine Optimization

Wolframalpha – Hoax or a dreamy new online search tool?

2009-04-30T20:28:00.000-07:00

Today I was reading BBC News about http://www.wolframalpha.com/.

Apparently, this new search tool uses a technique known as natural language processing that will aim to answer questions directly as opposed to just bringing up a bunch of optimized web pages.

The search tool will answer simple questions like, “What is the height of the Empire State Building?” or “Who was the king of England in 1875?”. Much of the content is supposed to be sceintific but there will be some limited cultural information on topics like pop stars and films.

Today I googled, “what is the fatality rate of the swine flu” and I did not find a direct answer. I probably could have found the answer at the CDC site but the answer was not really that important to me to keep searching.

I wonder if this wolframalpha.com site will answer questions like, “what is the fatality rate of the swine flu?”

I guess I’ll have to wait and see. The site goes public in May 2009. I’m a skeptic when it comes to searching for quality information on the Web so I’m hoping this wolframalpha thing isn’t just another let down. Dr. Wolfram, the mastermind of the search tool, claims that the goal of the site is to, “make expert content accessible to anyone, anywhere, anytime” according to this article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8026331.stm

Well, I hope you reach your goal Dr. Wolfram.

Consumer Education

2009-04-22T17:45:00.000-07:00

You can say what you want, but I am glad that the financialstability.gov website has a "decoder" for financial jargon. Education is important.

http://www.financialstability.gov/roadtostability/decoder.htm

On that note, education has long been a tactic (an effective one) for financial institutions. Think about it. If you educate your customers/members on financial literacy what can that do for your bottom line?

Fill in the blanks:
If my customers/members learn to save more, and about the tools our financial institution provides, our deposits will _______.

If our customers/members learn how to invest and grow wealth our deposits will ________.

If our customers/members learn how to use mortgages to their advantage our loan numbers will be _______ today and _______ tomorrow.

If our customers/members learn the importance of credit ratings our loan default rate will _______.

If our customers/members view our financial institution as a resource for financial knowledge they will_____________(let me help on this one: tell a friend, trust us with more money, carry multiple accounts with us, use more products and services, bank with us for life).

Education is a great way to expand value for your customers/members etc. The same applies to other industries (health care, travel, sports, music, etc.).

A Positive Perspective From A Credit Union CEO in Southern Oregon

2009-04-19T14:51:00.000-07:00

Today I read a blog post from a CEO of a credit union in Southern Oregon.

The post provides a response to the barrage of bad news and “down-and-out forecasts” regarding the state of our economy. He advocates for supporting local businesses by spending instead of penny pinching the economy to death. In the post he suggests ways to fuel his local economy:

“with one purchase that you were putting off, with one employee that you chose not to layoff, purchasing a new car because the price is lower than you could ever imagine, attending one concert that you thought you couldn’t afford, or supporting one charity that can multiply the value of your donation several times over.”

Link to post: http://askgeneatrogue.blogspot.com/2009/04/rally-caps-on.html

His credit union is building a new branch in Medford, OR. That expansion will create construction jobs in his local market and other jobs related to public relations, marketing, staffing for the branch, etc. It was inspiring to read this CEO’s post, especially when it seems like all I read in the news is that companies are laying people off, budgets are being slashed, and that it will take eons for the nation to recover from this economic crisis.

Organizations across the nation have had the case of the “Chicken Littles” and I believe pessimism has contributed to our falling sky. On the other hand, in some instances the cutbacks of the big corporations are not entirely bad because smaller organizations, like this credit union in Oregon, have the opportunity to grow and increase market share.

I’m still not going to go out and buy a car (On June 10, 2009 I will have been without a car for one year); but in the spirit of putting my “Rally Cap” on as this CEO blogger suggests, I’m off to enjoy a nice dinner at a restaurant. . .

Before I sign off, there was one more thing in his post that got my mind cranking. In the post he writes, “We must look to the future and find ways to create jobs in our community and rally Southern Oregon to economic revival!”. I’m not sure if his credit union hires companies and individuals from other states or not, but I hope they do. If every state in our union chose to only support locals, how would that impact the big picture of our national economy?

Social Media Sites Creating a Smaller World for Businesses

2009-03-29T09:24:00.000-07:00

According to an article in the The New York Times 3-28-09, Facebook will register its 200,000,000th user this week. Taking into account that just eight months ago Facebook celebrated their 100,000,000th user, the growth is staggering.

I wonder if Mike Zuckerberg, Facebook's 24 year old CEO, even has time to consider the ramifications of such a rapidly growing social media site? With a million new users every day from all over the globe, what will Facebook look like five years from now?

With online translating tools, the decline of language barriers, and the speed of information exchange online, the biblical symbol of the “Tower of Babel” seems to be melting away.

As more people connect in cross-continental romance, idea exchanges, and commerce online, I don’t think anyone can predict the full extent of globalization we’ll experience over the next decade.

Facebook has a goal of being used by everyone in the world to share information seamlessly. While 200 million out of 6 billion is a tiny number, it will be interesting to see where the number of Facebook users is at another eight months from now.

Whether it is Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, or a new Google application – I think one thing is certain; companies that have been watching from the social media sidelines need to dive in now to compete effectively.

One of the blogs I’ve been reading lately is Jaffe Juice; if you are looking for a great idea exchange about conversational marketing, I highly recommend checking it out.

Time to go update my Facebook status. . .

Marketing. . . Where does it all begin?

2009-03-24T20:20:00.000-07:00

Marketing. . . Where does it all begin?

Where does a good marketing strategy begin? Well, I guess that depends on how we define strategy. But in a perfect world, here is my off-the-cuff-rough-sketch of my view of a good business/marketing set up.

Company: People of Integrity, Passion, Intelligence and like-minded values form a company. The company has a strong leadership team and the best employees available. Hire people that share common goals, vision, incentives. . .

Consumers: The Company gets to know their target audience(s) really well: what they need, what they want, how they go about finding information to fill their needs and wants, where they hang out and tell their friends about how they get their needs and wants met, etc.

Products and Services: After finding what the consumer wants, the company develops the *best products and services to fill those needs/wants. *best can be in value, price, or quality

Branding: Develop a brand linked to company values, consumer wants, and the products and services that the Company offers. Make sure the brand is true to who you are, and resonates with consumers. Don’t guess.

Training: Train your staff to live the brand.

Marketing*: Develop a comprehensive marketing strategy and series of plans that use a blend of push, pull and conversational marketing tactics/plans/strategies. Marketing must be linked to ROI. In today’s age, the best (successful) companies are tapping into cutting edge or even bleeding edge technologies and methods. Blending social media, word-of-mouth marketing, direct mail, radio, TV, (other traditional media outlets relevant to the target audience). *Disclaimer – this is an off-the-cough-rough-sketch, feel free to chime in with your ideas and edits bloggers.

Measurement: Track responses to marketing elements (each individual outlet and call-to-action) and associate the number of responses with actual dollars saved, earned or lost. In the best case scenario it looks something like this: consumer A calls because they saw postcard C to buy product Y and after the advertising costs and man power were factored in brought the company $40,000 profit.

Tweak: Tweak the marketing plans for the future based on results, segments, new products, new challenges, new competitors, new buying habits, new anything. . .

Openness: Be open to new ideas and solutions. Listen to critique and invite the “red ink”.

Ongoing Customer Service: When you screw up, listen to your customers and fix it.

Never say, “I have it all figured out”, the second you do, somebody else will figure out something better. At least that has been my experience. The times I’ve lost to my competition are when I’ve had my guard down. I’ve lost, not just in marketing or sales but also in soccer, debate team in college, paintball, chess and poker. I’m not saying business is as simple as playing a game, but it is a lot more fun when I think of it that way.

On that note: if you read this blog – I invite your input and “red ink”. . .

The Evolution of Web Space and the Impact of Internet Ghosts on Brands

2009-03-03T19:19:00.000-08:00

Time travel may or may not be possible in the "real" world, but it certainly is possible online!

Tonight I was having a conversation with a friend about a Web site that I made in 1999 for my music endeavours, www.johnvalerio.com. I was lamenting that I couldn't access the site and would love to see that site again because I am building a new one, www.jdvalerio.com (not up yet).

She told me about the "Way Back Machine". Using the tool at this link, http://www.archive.org/index.php, I was able to input my old URL for www.johnvalerio.com and view my old site all the way back to 2001! This tool can take you to various Web site versions from different points in time. I've experimented with tools like this before for clients looking to redo their Web sites within the context of a re-brand, but our interactive staff usually do most of the research like this.

Tonight, I am having a ton of fun with this little "internet time traveler".

I've been playing with the "Way Back Machine" and looking at popular brand web sites like www.nike.com and www.starbucks.com

For a quick example try these links:
Before 2001: http://web.archive.org/web/20010505234435/www.starbucks.com/Default.asp?cookie_test=1
Today - 2009: http://www.starbucks.com/

I am loving this! I have always been a big fan of before and after case studies and this tool is perfect for that. However, this has prompted me to establish some new rules for my online activities:
1. Consider the future before posting, creating, etc.
2. Work to align behaviors and personality on and off stage, at work and off duty, online and offline (you never know who is taking pictures and sharing them at MySpace, Facebook, etc.)
3. Continue watching how brands, consumers and communities interact online
4. Learn, try, learn, try, learn, try

Actions always have consequences and it is good to be mindful of every action online and on offline.

Consumer Revolution

2009-02-27T13:34:00.000-08:00

I am in the middle of the book “Join The Conversation” by Joseph Jaffe and I am really compelled by the fact that consumers have so much power.

Sites like this: www.my3cents.com are popping up everyday giving consumers places to vent and be heard. You can read horrible stories of lack of service, up charges, and shady contracts.

Other sites focused on ranking particular industries are popping up everyday too:
http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/
http://www.ratemds.com/social/

Organizations that are not tuning in to what consumers are saying will benefit from listening and as Jaffe says, “Joining the conversation”. I am also digging his blog: http://www.jaffejuice.com/
I don’t want to become a “mouse potato”, but it is going to be hard with all of these interesting conversations going on about business and marketing!

Hey stalkers

2009-02-26T18:04:00.000-08:00

Tonight when I googled "JD Valerio" I noticed that this blog came up first in my organic search rankings. It got me thinking, what if someone googled my name looking for one of my music performances, and they found this site first? Might as well make it easy for them. So, I am going to start posting my performances on this blog (when I remember to do so).

Tomorrow night in Minneapolis, I'll be playing at the EP Atelier. It is located at on 10th between Park and Portland. Here is their website: www.epatelier.com

Social Media Marketing in 2009 and Beyond

2009-02-23T18:13:00.000-08:00

I just started reading a book called "Join The Conversation" by Joseph Jaffe. According to the front cover, the book is about "how to engage marketing-weary consumers with the power of community, dialogue, and partnership". The book inspired me to post here.

Part of "joining the conversation" means being transparent. I heard a perfect example of the power of transparency marketing last Friday.

My friend and I were talking about the value of transparency on retail website blogs and he told me about his experience shopping online for a hiking shoe. The company that he buys hiking shoes from allows consumers to post their opinions about the shoes they sell. One of the posts for a shoe my friend was considering buying read something like, "I don't think this shoe is very good because it slips easily on granite." My friend told me that since the company didn't remove that post, he trusted the site even more. My friend has trust in the company and is likely to buy his next pair of hiking shoes from that company because they are willing to showcase both the strengths and weaknesses of their product online from their customers' point of view. Guess what, since my friend shared that with me, I am interested in checking out that shoe company too!

I like this idea of transparency in marketing and hope it continues to take off.

Credit Unions, Podcasts, Local Music, Increasing Web Traffic, Sticky Content

2008-11-19T09:30:00.000-08:00

I’ve been thinking more about how to get youth interested in credit union web sites. One great way for credit unions to attract web traffic is to offer music downloads from local bands. This tactic can help credit unions to leverage their “hyper- local” advantage over national banks. It is a win-win-win scenario in that the credit union gets more web traffic, local bands get more exposure and credit union members get to hear new music for free!

Current credit union podcasts that I am aware of focus primarily on education. You can visit these links for examples:
http://www.omnicommunitycu.org/rc_podcast.php
https://www.ornlfcu.com/feed/1/

I think education is a great application of podcast technology, but the idea of using music to capture member attention is intriguing to me.

This idea isn’t new of course. For example, Starbucks made headlines by providing a free song download every week (see lower right hand action item at this site): http://www.hearmusic.com/

Umpqua Bank has an “Umpqua Life” section at their website https://www.umpquabank.com/ , and they have an entire section called “Discover Local Music Project” where members of the communities Umpqua Bank serves can sample songs by local artists: http://www.tangibledata.com/umpqua/index.cfm?

The name of the game is sticky content and getting people to stick around at your web site once they find it.

As a podcast listener/user, I think it would be great to see credit unions creatively use podcasting to educate and captivate younger members.

Lately I've been downloading podcasts like crazy. Back in the spring I donated my car and decided to take the “green pill” for a while. Riding my bike to work has been great and I enjoy the challenges of shopping, gigging, and socializing without a car. However, my car time was my time for catching up on radio shows! For example, here in Minneapolis there is a great radio program called Musicheads http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/services/the_current/ that I listen to so I can stay in touch with the latest music hitting the airwaves. This morning while listening to yesterday’s edition of Musicheads on my iPod I thought about these ideas and thought I’d post them here.

If your credit union is using some of these tactics (supporting local musicians, providing educational podcasts, providing free music downloads), I’d love to hear about it and how it is working for you so far.

An Integrated Approach to Service Line Marketing

2008-11-14T07:54:00.000-08:00

This summer on the way to the Minnesota State Fair, I saw a URL on the side of a bus which read, “www.thewarriormovie.com”. I noticed the movie was produced by a local health system and as a health care marketer I was intrigued.

When I got home I watched the trailer. That was in September or August and I had to wait until Thursday October 23rd to see the movie.

The health system actually released three movies last month which are basically patient testimonials for key service lines.

10 minute versions of the videos are available at the online locations listed below. Early in 2009 these patient stories will be aired during a half hour special on Twin Cities Public Television.

Earlier this summer, I signed up for e-alerts to notify me when the movies were released. I thought the e-alerts were a great reinforcement tool. To be honest, if they hadn’t sent me the e-mails I may have never gotten around to watching them.

The movies are placed on various online outlets such as YouTube and Vimeo. I don’t know much traffic the movies have received in the past 22 days, but I am curious about the mileage they get out of these movies.

I imagine that the health system will position the movies at many Web sites including their own. Perhaps they will repurpose the videos in their patient waiting rooms and release them to local news stations?

I applaud the health system for integrating online marketing, event marketing and awareness marketing to roll out these testimonials.

Here are the links:

Courage Girl
The Courage Girl website: http://www.couragegirlmovie.com
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEMWcGxw6mA
Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/1978139

The Warrior
The Warrior website: http://www.thewarriormovie.com
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArzqTCgtCwQ
Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/1978415

Ceil's Story
The Ceil's Story website: http://www.ceilsstory.com
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjHdwRE0Nq4
Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/1992359

Internet Based Credit Union! Another Reason For Financial Institutions to Beef Up Their Web Pressence

2008-11-07T07:33:00.000-08:00

I read in several notable publications that NCUA will be presenting a new charter for Realtors Federal Credit Union today. This will be an Internet based credit union for an estimated 1.2 million members of the National Association of Realtors.

According to The Credit Union Journal, today, the Realtors group is announcing the new credit union to its membership at its annual meeting in Orlando, FL to about 23,000 attendees!

You can go to the National Association of Realtors website to learn more about the credit union using this link http://www.realtor.org/about_nar/creditunion_index

As a financial and health care marketer, these are exciting times for me. The rapidly changing market place calls for consistent innovation, creativity and adaptability. Realtors Federal Credit Union will be one to watch in 2009, which I am calling "The Year of the Credit Union".

2009 Will Be The Year of The Credit Union to Gobble Up Market Share

2008-11-05T14:44:00.001-08:00

One of my clients is heading into a budgeting meeting next week. They are looking to slice 6 million from the overall budget. As usual, marketing dollars are first in line for the chopping block. I sent my client this e-mail in hopes to protect budgeting dollars:

Client,

Thanks for sharing about your budget meetings. I hope you are able to secure as many marketing dollars as possible next week.

I think the magazine is a great tool to implement in 2009 for your top depositors and members who have mortgages with you.

Three primary points for your budget committee to consider:

1. The majority of your top depositors have multiple accounts at other institutions. You can leverage the magazine to steer more deposits your way, especially in light of new insurance levels.

2. Offset Attrition: Given a 2% per month attrition rate, at any given time 8% of an existing household’s deposits are in transition. The magazine is a great way to keep the benefits of your credit union in front of your members.

3. Your magazine will generate referrals. Because there is a heightened mistrust in the banks in your market, 2009 is going to be a pivotal year to gobble up market share for your credit union. According to Cook Research, publications still have a high pass along readership level; 21% of surveyed readers of publications from financial institutions have shown an article from their publication to someone else.

Attached is a paper with other reasons to hold steady or devote even more dollars to your marketing efforts.

Also, this link will take you to an article that provides the average marketing budget for U.S. credit unions according to annualized 2008 market data: http://www.creditunions.com/article.aspx?articleid=2844

I hope this is helpful,

JD Valerio

Search Engine Optimization For Teen Checking Account Products

2008-10-20T15:53:00.000-07:00

Search Engine Optimization For Teen Checking Account Products

One important age group that many financial institutions need to focus on reaching are teens.

Why? Because, many of them have no allegiance to a bank or credit union and they have great lifetime value as a customer or member!

I am a good testimony. I was able to open a teen account with my financial institution and now, 20 years later, I am still with them. It is vital for financial institutions to build relationships with young people and earn their business for life.

Increasingly, the Web is where people look for financial providers, especially younger audiences! Additionally, there are some accounts that consumers are able to originate completely online.

So, as consumers are searching for financial providers online an effective search engine optimization plan is vital.

To get a small taste of the search engine rankings for your financial institution, try this little test. Type something like “Checking accounts for teens in (name of your city)”

I did this little test for “Checking accounts for teens in Minneapolis” today and the top five sites that came up organically on Google were:
1. Hennepin County Library
2. Wells Fargo
3. Bank of America
4. Thrivent Financial
5. www.greatschools.net

I find it interesting that no credit unions were in the top five. Especially since credit unions tend to focus marketing in niche geographical areas.

I have read a lot about this site, www.youngfreealberta.com, which is a microsite that a credit union launched in conjunction with a campaign to attract youth. The top five sites that came up when I did the test for “Checking accounts for teens in Alberta” were:
1. Findarticles.com
2. Smallbusinesspbxphone.com
3. youngfreealberta.com
4. CUNA
5. moneyinstructor.com

Wow, in this case there were no banks and only one credit union!

Search engine optimization is impacted by many things such as relevant content at a Website, the coding structure of a Web site, and relevant links back to a Web site. A good SEO campaign may seem like a huge undertaking because it is! But, I think that a strong portion of a financial institution’s marketing budget should be spent on SEO.

Waiting for the next marketing bus

2008-09-09T20:59:00.000-07:00

Next week in San Francisco is the annual SHSMD conference. SHSMD stands for the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development. I go every year. It is one of my favorite conferences.

There will be many ideas shared there. In preparation for the conference, I've been reading up on service line marketing.

One thing I was hoping to chat to other conference attendees about was www.thewarriormovie.com

On August 27th I wrote about seeing a HealthEast URL placement on the side of a city bus as I was on my way to the Minnesota State Fair. I was intrigued so I went to www.thewarriormovie.com, but I only got to see the preview.

Today, I went back to the site again and found that not one, but three patient testimonial films will be released in October 2008 (so I will have to wait).

1. www.thewarriormovie.com - Heart attack survivor
2. www.couragegirlmovie.com - Brain aneurysm survivor
3. www.ceilsstory.com - Cancer survivor (promotes CyberKnife)

Three profitable service lines and technology will be addressed through the form of patient testimonial video. Some of the written content is also available at those three sites and I imagine that it will be economically recycled for other media outlets such as newsletters, press releases, Web site, e-mail newsletters, podcasts, radio programs, etc.

I wonder how many hits the bus URL's have received?? I wonder if they used unique URL's to track hit generation? For example, the bus could have www.thewarriormovie.com,a postcard could have www.thewarriorflick.com, and a newsletter article could have www.thewarriormovie.com/newsletter. Then, Web traffic drivers could be tracked like a horse race and they could measure which one pulled in the most Web hits. This way, if they roll out another series like this next year they'll know which tactics drive the most traffic.

I haven't seen a bus with an update about the movie yet. I wonder what other placement tactics they are using? I wonder if I will see more signage, or get a postcard?? I did sign up to receive an e-mail notification for the release of each movie in October and I'll report more on this later in the year. . .

JD Valerio to play at Vera's Cafe on October 1 and it will be on the radio

2008-09-09T20:54:00.001-07:00

Hi There,

I am writing to tell you about my next performance which will be broadcast live on Lonnie Knight's, "When Worlds Collide" radio program. The show begins at 7:30pm and goes until 10. There will be three sets. In no particular order it goes: JD Valerio, Lonnie Knight, and the band Oceans.

My set will be 45-60 minutes long.

Date: Wednesday October 1st 2008
Time: 7:30pm - 10:00pm
Location: Vera's Cafe 2901 Lyndale Avenue Minneapolis, MN 55408
Online location for streaming the show live (mom, you will love this): www.twincitiesradio.net (remember streamers, the show starts at 7:30 Minnesota Time).
Vera's website: www.verascafe.com

Vera's Cafe is a great cafe that serves light dinners and has a wine and beer selection. The cafe located very close to the Greenway in Minneapolis, so all of you bikers at there can easily get there. Vera's Cafe has a cool history and back story, they even have a garden (although I don't know how much will be alive come October 1). But back to the positive. . . Fall is my favorite season and tends to be a strong song writing season for me as well. I recently finished a new song called "It Won't Be Long" and I have several other new ones that should be ready to play on the 1st.

I also have shows on October 15th, October 28th and November 7th and the details for those gigs are posted at myspace and other places.

Thank you for continuing to come to my shows and for supporting local music (if you live in Minnesota). I hope to see you this Fall.

Kind regards,
JD

URL on the side of a bus

2008-08-27T16:13:00.000-07:00

This weekend I went to the Minnesota State Fair. Loved the deep fried Snickers bar! Anyway, on my way there I saw this URL on the side of a bus: www.thewarriormovie.com

It was sponsored by a local health system, so naturally, I was intrigued.

As of last weekend, the video posted online was just a trailer. It seems like the movie is going to be a patient testimonial and interview with a physician combo.

Now, maybe it appealed to me because I'm in marketing, but I thought it was a fun way to try and draw people in. I don't know what the ROI on something like this is, but it will be interesting to see if I stumble upon other pieces of their campaign this month.

Check out the URL and let me know what you think: www.thewarriormovie.com

Promoting ER vs. Service Lines

2008-08-18T15:47:00.000-07:00

A while back, a director of marketing at a hospital told me that they were spending most of their marketing dollars promoting their Emergency Room services. When they told me this, I was a little confused.

I was confused because I think the number one factor that patients consider when choosing an ER location is the proximity of the ER to the emergency event. Now, perhaps that particular hospital blends ER and Urgent Care services; or perhaps they are located across the street from a competitor. But I don't think it makes sense to devote a ton of marketing dollars here.

Now, I do see the benefit of educating the community about the appropriate usage of Urgent Care services vs. ER, because converting ER abusers to Urgent Care users often saves money.

But it seems to me, that a better use of marketing dollars is to promote service lines that aren't linked to emergencies. Consumers are more likely to shop around for the best facility when considering planned and/or elective procedures. Examples: Eye care, plastic surgery, back surgery, etc.

Personally if I am in a life or death situation where every second counts, I'm not going to select an ER based on a fancy commercial, magazine Ad or the Yellow Pages (LOL). I'm going to the closest one!

I welcome your comments, suggestions, counter points, etc.

Follow up to post August 7th about Tofurkey

2008-08-18T15:42:00.000-07:00

Well - here is newsletter I got from Turtle Foods. I thought I would post it for all to read :)

"Thank you for signing up for Tofurky Tuesdays!

Our goal is to encourage meat-free meals once a week. Eating more vegetarian meals each week is simple and easy, and these resources will help you in your endeavors.

The Vegetarian Resource Group’s Vegetarianism in a Nutshell and Vegetarian Nutrition for Teenagers are both excellent sources for vegetarian nutritional information.

The Humane Society of the United States also has an excellent Guide to Vegetarian Eating that is full of information on vegetarian eating, factory farming and great vegetarian recipes.

Here is one final resource for information on healthy eating; they have a great selection of cookbooks.

We have calculated that the amount of greenhouse gas emissions reduced by going meatless just one day a week is equal to the amount released when you drive a car that averages 20 mpg 16.5 miles. To track the cumulative effect of our Tofurky Tuesdays project, for each person who signs-up we will move our tricked out “Tofurkymobile” 16.5 miles on a virtual trip to every state in the lower 48. In only six weeks, the Tofurkymobile has traveled 14,817 virtual miles, which equals 898 people pledging to eat meatless one day a week.

Included in your Tofurky Tuesday Care Package are complimentary magazines from the Vegetarian Resource Group, Vegetarian Times and VegNews. If you submitted your mailing address when you signed up, you will receive their publications in four to six weeks. Sorry, magazines cannot be sent to Canada.

Thanks so much for participating. We’d love to hear from you, so drop us a line at support@tofurky.com.

Keep an eye on our virtual journey at www.tofurky.com.

Team Tofurky"

Physician Videos and Marketing

2008-08-09T14:00:00.000-07:00

Some healthcare organizations spend a lot of time promoting their technology to avoid the political and legal concerns in promoting their physicians. Those organizations run the risk of fostering a cold and impersonal brand.

Personally, I seek out physicians that have a friendly personality AND the expertise to make me healthy. The machines and robots that physicians have in their "medical toolbox" enter into my decision making process. But at the end of the day, I want to be operated on by a nice person, not a jerk.

Online videos are a great tool to help healthcare organizations establish a personal and human brand online. The flip side is that the use of the wrong online videos can project an "arms length" plastic image of "care". When it comes to online video, I want to see the real doctors and nurses that will have my life in their hands. I don't need to see an online video of the 64 slice CT scanner or the surgical robot they will be using (having the technology in the background of the video would suffice).

Or better yet, here is a potential script for a video to promote the human side of the physician AND his/her expertise and technology:

"Hi I am Doctor Soandsuch. I have lived in Carson City, NV for 25 years. I enjoy bike riding, local theater, and the occasional poker game (grin for effect). I have three kids, and my husband is the head of nursing here at Personal Hospital. I also maintain a blog that is available at this website. My blog discusses my approach to family healthcare and my opinions on how we can create a healthier community in Carson City. You are welcome to read my blog and share your ideas there as well. Anyway, enough about my personal life; you might be watching this video because you want to make sure that you or a family member is in good hands when it comes to operating on your heart (pause, time to be serious). Well, I studied for 15 years at the University of Generic But Awesome Medicine. I did my residency right here in Good Ol' Carson City. I have performed 789 open heart surgeries and nailed them all. To ensure success, the technology here at Personal Hospital is top notch (show clips of technology-10 seconds). Well, thank you for watching our video. If you would like to schedule a screening and health consultation with me or one of our other well qualified physicians please call (trackable phone number)."

Tofurky Tuesdays - Market to me please!

2008-08-07T21:20:00.000-07:00

I just visited Turttle Food's online at www.tofurky.com . I made a "Tofurky Tuesday" pledge not to eat meat on Tuesday's. In return, Turtle Foods is sending me a free quarterly e-newsletter about vegetarian eating and then they will be mailing me my very own special package that will educate me about eating nutritious meat free meals!

Do you remember Ralphie from A Christmas Story waiting by the mailbox everyday for his secret decoder ring from the Ovaltine company? Well, that will be me. It is Christmas in August ladies and gentleman. Christmas in August. I just can't wait to open my free gifts from Turtle Foods!

Apparently, I will also be helping to decrease global warming by going meat free on Tuesdays. I pretty much eat a vegan diet anyway (suckers)- but I'm excited to see the zaney marketing materials I get from Turtle Foods. Who knows, maybe they will persuade me to eat Tofurky or try out one of their Tempeh products???

Tofurky.com has calculated that the amount of green house gas emissions reduced by going meatless just one day a week is equal to the amount released when you drive a car that averages 20 mpg 16.5 miles! Well, now I'm even more jazzed about my pledge! Shouldn't this automatically qualify me for some type of "green" merit badge? I feel so saintly about my new Tofurky Tuesday pledge that I am going to get the initials "TT" tattooed on my neck, right over the skin of my Adam's apple. That way, when people ask, "Hey what does TT stand for?", I can sit back and soak in the adulation as they smile and nod at me in approval as I explain to them what this incredible pledge is all about. I can even imagine my friends and family chanting my name to cheer me on, "JD!. . .JD!. . . JD!!"

As sarcastic as this little post seems, I really did sign up for the e-mail newsletter and took the Tofurky Tuesday pledge. You can read about it for yourself at http://www.tofurky.com/funstuff/contest_TT.htm

While I can make fun of their marketing tactics a little, I can't deny these important facts:
They got me to stop what I was doing, visit their website, and sign up to be marketed to because they were effective in grabbing my attention. They also got extra mileage from the campaign from this blog post. And, the next time I am in the "not so natural" Tofurky isle, I'll probably think about buying a Tofurky even thought it isn't Thanksgiving yet. I am willing to wager, that there will be a coupon enclosed in the little "care package" they are sending me to help me purchase their products. How thoughtful of them :).

Lesson of the day for me: Try new and fun ways of cutting through the clutter.

Using Video Games to Teach Kids How To Fight Cancer

2008-08-06T06:53:00.000-07:00

In general, I think healthcare organizations that create fun and effective ways to inspire kids to be healthy will win the loyalties of parents.

This week, I read in USA Today about a video game that helps to improve patient compliance among teens battling cancer.

In the game, teens try to annihilate cancer sales using a microscopic “nanobot” inspired by the character from Tomb Raider, Lara Croft.

From what I gather, players can travel around the insides of a human body and can win the video game by effectively destroying cancer cells, taking proper medications, etc.

I think this is a great way to teach kids about the importance of following the doctor’s orders.

Use this link to see the article and see a sample video of the game: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-08-03-re-mission_N.htm

Should We Rely Solely on Digital Media Outlets?

2008-08-03T15:17:00.000-07:00

Should We Rely Solely on Digital Media Outlets?

As a musician, I sometimes wonder if I should give up on making another CD and just focus on writing and recording songs for digital download only. But, I read a good blog post by Derek Sivers, the founder of cdbaby.com. Reading his post reminded me of a very important aspect of using new media outlets; Don't neglect the slow adopters!

In the post, Derek Sivers poses a question and answers it with a better question.

Question: Should you go digital-only, and skip the CD?
Answer: The real question is: How much of your potential audience are you willing to exclude?

The fact of the matter is that while many people use MP3 downloading as their primary source of music, there are still many late adopters who will continue to use CD's for years to come. If I only make my music available to downloaders, I exclude a big segment of my potential audience.

Looking back of the evolution of video tapes to DVDs, it took a while for DVDs to become mainstream. Furthermore, I can still go to my local video store in Minneapolis (As of August 2nd, 2008) and rent a movie on VHS!

Some marketers are beginning to "drink the Kool-Aid" and are throwing out the use of direct mail and print advertising to rely solely on Web based marketing. Much of time, this is a HUGE mistake.

*The companies that use a smart blend of print and online media outlets to carry their message will triumph over companies who are slow to adopt new media or rely too heavily on it.

*This doesn't necessarily apply to web based companies, but it would be interesting to see what would happen if MySpace was to launch a postcard series to people ages 60+ to get them to join. I wonder what percentage of people would join MySpace as a result of a postcard blast? I wonder how many users on MySpace are age 60+ currently? MySpace for seniors. . . wouldn't that be interesting? Well, perhaps we'll have to wait 20 more years for current MySpace users to grow up before we see that. But maybe not. More and more people ages 60+ are joining MySpace and similar sites every day.

On a similar note, I read a blog post that claims 40% of moms in the USA are MySpace users. I don't know if that is true or not, but it is interesting to think about (My own mother is actually on MySpace). Here is a link to that post: http://social-media-optimization.com/2008/07/myspace-numbers-look-strange/

I'm done ramble posting for the day. . .

Syndicate My Digital Imprint Please

2008-07-24T18:05:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, I was excited when MySpace announced it's participation in a coalition that will allow me to use the same account and password across the web.

I'm curious to watch the evolution of the OpenID coalition which includes AOL, Blogger, WordPress, and other services. Essentially, I'll be able to syndicate my digital imprint across the web. That way I won't have to update my profile information on 10 different sites!

On the other hand, I participate in the online community as essentially three different personalities:
1. Professional marketer
2. Musician
3. And just plain old, JD, that my friends and family know so well

In some ways, I've been trying keep those different lives from mixing.

But lately, I think I've been shedding much of the traditional "Tie on Monday - Friday and blue jeans on the weekend" mode of operation. Perhaps this OpenID evolution will contribute to a new and refreshing transparency trend in business? Maybe we'll get so sick of juggling our on-the-clock and off-the-clock personas that we'll just let the walls between those two worlds come crashing down!

I guess in some ways, this blog has been serving as my bridge between my casual online presence on sites like MySpace and my "professional" presence on sites such as LinkedIn.

Who knows, maybe someday on LinkeIn you will be able to read my resume, download my songs, read my latest road rage recipe, comment on my crazy marketing idea, and tag a picture of me and you at a marketing conference, and then outlook me for a coffee meeting! AND I WON'T HAVE TO SCAN 100 DIFFERENT SOCIAL MEDIA SITES TO GET YOUR MESSAGE!!
It is truly an interactive marketing world we live in, isn't it? Well not for many people in third world countries though.

Gosh, earlier this year I blogged about that new tribe they found deep in the Amazon jungle. Those people had never been exposed to modern technology. How the heck are those people dealing with this modern world??? Do you want to know what a time warp feels like? Just ask the people in the photo above.

Musical Segmentation

2008-07-19T14:44:00.001-07:00

I was reading a blog today that had something to do with creating new marketing segments using music interest/preferences.

It made me think of Pandora.com. It is really cool.

Here is how it works: You go and subscribe and submit information such as your age, music tastes, etc. Then, the radio station adapts to your listening habits over time. In other words, it is your own personalized (Hannibal Lector-psychological-climb inside your head) radio station.
I enjoy it! I just started using it a month or so ago - the new songs I hear are right up my ally!!
http://www.pandora.com/

What was it like as a marketer after Black Tuesday?

2008-07-16T17:17:00.000-07:00

This economy has been rough for many of my friends and family. Companies all over the USA are struggling.

As a marketer - I have been spending much of my energy on adapting my tactics to the economic climate we are in.

Credit Unions are touting the fact that they came out squeaky clean during our recent mortgage crisis. Many credit unions are preaching things like, "we are what banks are supposed to be - safe.".

Credit Unions are positioning content to make their members feel like they are being "looked out for"during our rough economy season. Lately, I see titles of credit union newsletter articles that read, "How to survive a rough economy", "Ways to cut costs and shop smarter", "Strategies for Safe Investing", etc. This content positioning strategy, in my opinion, is one major piece of the marketing puzzle that will help credit unions grow membership and offset attrition this year and in 2009.

Someone from LA told me about her experience living close to an IndyMac bank branch. According to her, the federal bank took over the IndyMac branch in her neighborhood. Because of FDIC, everyone with $100K or less is supposed to be "ok" but many IndyMac customers have been lined outside the branch in her neighborhood to pull their money out of the bank -hoping it is there. She said that it is "scary" and that the "air around LA seems strange". Yesterday, when she told me the story, it reminded me of the picture I have in my mind of 1929.

Bank and investment companies are using similar strategies to the credit unions and each type of bank has a different set of challenges: Business Bank, Retail Bank, Investment Bank, Virtual Bank, Community Bank etc. Because banks typically take on more risk than credit unions, they are subject to bigger dips and gains. I don't have the time or patience to even open this can of worms an inch further. . .at least tonight. . .

Credit Unions are just as diverse as banks: SEG based, Community Based, State Charter, Federal Charter, many members-small assets, few members - large assets. Another can of worms. . .

In the healthcare world I read about re-reimbursement battles between hospitals and government. I hear that this battle is really heating up in Louisiana. This will be an interesting PR and Marketing adventure to pay attention to in all parts of the country. . . Another can of worms. (boy, with all of these worms, let's go fishing!)

So many people (my friends and family) are biting their nails wondering if their jobs are next on the line.

From the non-profit sector (which I worked in for seven years) - my former colleagues are wondering if grant money is going to be pulled and if their jobs will continue to be funded.

With all of these challenges and trials, I still remain positive. We'll get through this storm eventually and learn from it. C.S. Lewis said something like, "We are like blocks of stone, and the blows of the chisel which hurt us so much, are what make us who we are."

From a marketing perspective, I enjoy the challenge of finding new ways to maximize marketing costs and get extra mileage out of campaigns using guerrilla tactics, etc. However, I think that some companies are tightening the marketing budgets too much. As most of us realize; as companies tighten budgets, the economy slows down even more. But this knowledge doesn't stop companies from tightening their belts - why? - well I think fear and uncertainty are motivating factors in some of the budget slashing we are seeing this year. What's more, as new CEO's come on board they often make "quick fixes" to the bottom line by laying off staff and cutting budgets. In fact, I recently learned of a hospital that laid off 25 employees in one week (this pales in comparison to the mass layoffs we read about daily).

History shows that the organizations that thrive in economies like this are the ones that continue to maintain a proactive marketing and PR strategy. Can I get an Amen? Managing PR issues and customer concerns are vital initiatives and budget resources are needed to do this effectively.

In today's marketing environment, brands can be fortified and established very quickly leveraging the power of interactive marketing outlets. In the same light, they can be brought down by that same power (consumer blogging, healthcare comparison sites, etc.)

The brave companies that are willing to pioneer and invest in new marketing technologies will have a better chance of seeing the largest gains in market share, customer confidence, member loyalty, etc.

In 1929, marketers didn't have all of the fun toys that we have today. In 1929 consumers had fewer sources of information and less control of the information they received or "opted into". Today we are sitting on a gold mine of marketing possibility. The sad part is that there are enough "old school" marketing militants sitting on boards and leadership teams, that it takes some organizations years to pull the trigger on new ideas (in some cases it literally takes an act of congress for some organizations to pull the trigger on new ideas!)

I'm confident that the most successful organizations in the next two years are going to be the ones that maintain a healthy Marketing and PR mix and invest an appropriate budget to support that mix. The companies that slash marketing and PR budgets and sacrifice participation in this dynamic and progressive media environment are the ones that will suffer most in the long run.

Now, perhaps more than ever it is crucial to set measurable goals and track return from marketing efforts. We need to prove to our boards, CEO's, CFO's, etc. that we are worth more than our weight in gold. Some marketers are excelling at tracking and reporting. Regretfully, some marketers are throwing darts in the dark hoping to hit a microscopic bulls eye. And these marketers are in denial of how drastically the target has changed!

Prepare yourself for some archery analogy, LOL!:

The target is no longer just one, and it is no longer in one location (it never really was).
The target is/are Segments: Age, Income, Lifestyle, Vocation, Location, buying habits, browsing habits, and so-on and so-forth.

The darts have never really come in one variety, but there are so many new darts to use now.
The darts are: Radio, TV, Billboards, Micro-sites, blogs, e-mail, Web sites, print newsletters, seminars, webinars, podcastinars, and so-on and so-forth.

To win the "marketing archery match" - we can't just use one arrow to hit the bulls eye and win. We have to hit the bulls eye with a strategic collection of arrows tailored to a particular target. Oh yeah, by the way, rule change!!! the target gets to participate in the decision to become our target or not - In plain English: Consumers have more control of what they watch, listen to, read, etc. They need to "opt-in" to our message before it can make the impact we want.

That's my opinion. I welcome comments, critisism, input, etc.

JD Valerio

Billboards, Credit Unions, SEG acquisition, and URL's

2008-07-08T07:12:00.000-07:00

I recently read about a credit union billboard that simply had three people on the front and a website, “betheofficehero.com”

The credit union did not mention their name on the billboard at all. But, if you logged onto the site, it was basically a SEG acquisition site – highlighting the benefits of being that one of that Credit Union’s Select Employer Groups.

The Marketing Director said that when they launched their SEG acquisition campaign a few years ago that they didn’t have much of a marketing budget. So, to get more mileage out of the campaign they used some guerrilla marketing tactics such as calling radio stations and telling the DJ’s “I just drove by this billboard and it says, ‘Be the office hero.’ What is all that about?”. According to that marketing director, it helped get some free airtime for the campaign.

I read about this in the July 2008 edition of CUES Credit Union Management.

I am curious:
How many hits did that website receive?
How many new SEGs were secured with the campaign?
What were the other media outlets used in the SEG acquisition campaign?

This billboard story is an intriguing idea, so I am curious to know what the other pieces to the marketing puzzle were and what the ROI was.

I’d be curious to know what other marketing folks think about this site/billboard combo: http://www.betheofficehero.com/

Patient Blogging and Storytelling

2008-07-03T12:49:00.000-07:00

I think it would be great to see more patient testimonials in video format and blogging platforms online.
Genesis Health gave a presentation at SHSMD - www.shsmd.org about four years ago.

They asked patients to blog about their experience with bariatric surgery.

The tactic was quite effective in attracting more patients for bariatric surgery.

After reading a blog post today on Hospital Marketing Journal, I looked online and see that they have expanded this story-telling format.
See here:
http://www.genesishealth.com/weblogs/bariatric/bariatric_blog.aspx

Headlines

2008-07-02T07:15:00.000-07:00

I was scanning heathcare news today:

Video of dying patient being ignored spurs changes at Brooklyn hospitalNew York Times, July 2, 2008

18 patients sue Duke University Health System over washed instrumentsRaleigh News & Observer, July 1, 2008

Tape of ignored patient at Los Angeles hospital goes onlineLos Angeles Times, July 2, 2008

Boston hospital: Forgers defrauded patientsBoston Globe, July 2, 2008

Central Florida Regional Hospital must pay $10,000 in baby abductionOrlando Sentinel, July 1, 2008

Whoa, Heathcare marketers and PR folk sure have their hands full this summer. . .

update about giving up my car

2008-06-30T10:13:00.000-07:00

Giving up my car has been a fun challenge. I am averaging about 70+ miles a week bike riding. I am also doing a lot of walking. I'm saving on insurance, gas, and rental for my garage space.

It has impacted several things:

Where I shop - I tend to buy from local grocers, merchants etc.
What I read - I am now interested in reading more about biking etc.
Who I hang out with - I tend to hang out with friends that live closer, logistically it just makes sense.
What I do - I tend to focus more on outside activities that I can bike to. I focus on local activities.

Changing my transportation habits has made me feel a deeper connection to my local community. At church, I ran into a married couple who have been riding their bikes to and from work at least 3x/week. In the office there are about 6 bike commuters (ranging from 1-5x/week). I feel a sense of camaraderie with other bikers.

This has been a fun experiment so far.

Two Hour Micro-Music-Marketing

2008-06-27T07:39:00.000-07:00

Two Hour Micro-Music-Marketing

Last Friday, my friend Neal Swanger invited me to join him for a little coffee shop performance in Hastings, MN. I accepted the invitation at 2pm the same day of the show.

At 3:30pm I hopped on my bike and headed out from my office in Edina, MN to my apartment in Minneapolis, MN. When I got home I washed up, ate, and got dressed for the gig. I was ready at 5pm.

The performance was scheduled to begin at 7pm so Neal and I had two hours to figure out how to get as many people to the show as possible.

Challenges:
1. Driving time cut down our marketing time: Hastings is a city of 22,000 and is about 40 minutes from Minneapolis. Due to the recent bridge collapse in Minneapolis, the primary bridge to the city of Hastings uses fewer lanes than capacity while the gov. performs integrity tests on the structure of the bridge. Many people avoid going to Hastings because they refuse to wait in the bridge traffic or take the long way in to town. We had to take the long way!

2. We did not have fans in Hastings: Since this was a last minute gig for Neal and I, we knew we had little chance of “packing the house” with friends from Minneapolis or St. Paul where most of our listeners are. Plus, since we perform often enough in the cities – many of our listeners would simply prefer to wait for the next show around the Twin Cites. (we both have performances on July 11th by the way.)

3. The coffee shop is fairly new in Hastings and so there isn’t much of an established house crowd yet.

I have played to an audience of one before. While it was interestingly intimate, I’d rather fill a few more seats.

We set the modest goal of 30 attendees by 7:00pm

Tactics:
At 5:00pm I hopped onto the computer, sent out an e-mail to my music list, updated MySpace and facebook.

At 5:15pm Neal picked me up and we drove to Hastings and planned a little more.

At 6:00pm Neal set up our equipment while I hit the streets with flyers. I said, “I’m promoting a show for Neal Swanger. I’ll also be playing a short set. If you bring this flyer in, I’ll give you one of my CD’s for free for showing your support for Minnesota musicians like my buddy, Neal.”

We put a big sign out in front of the coffee house “Free Live Music”.

We left the door open so that when we started playing at 7pm people could hear the music and hopefully wander in.

Results:
A. 4 out of 25 people that I personally invited showed up and stayed for the entire show. That is a 16% return!

B. Overall we had about 30 people in the room at one point and about 40-45 throughout the entire night.

C. I sold three CD’s and we made tips. Our total take for the night was $55 if you include the free food the coffee shop owner, Deke, gave us.

D. Materials cost about $13 for flyers, the CD’s I gave away, and gas. Total ROI was roughly 423% (not factoring in our time – we do this for fun anyway)

E. Several people signed up for our mailing list, so they may come to another show or tell their friends.

F. The coffee shop sold more coffee and food than they would have with no live music.

The night was a lot of fun. I sang 5 songs, Neal did the rest of the show from 7-9pm. It was nice to meet new people and play in a new setting.

It was fun filling the seats too.

Have a great weekend,
JD Valerio

Video Testimonials

2008-06-26T06:31:00.000-07:00

This morning in the New York Times I read that doctors negotiating with their patients to post testimonial videos on video-sharing sites like Revver, Yahooo and YouTube. This trend seems to be especially popular for elective cosmetic procedures such as breast augmentation, Botox, and Lasik surgery. The patients are often compensated with a few hundred dollars or something like an “$800 squirt of Juvederm” according to the article.

The article makes it seem like this is a new thing, but to me it is just a cousin to the cable TV shows and patient testimonials found on channels such as discovery health (Note: I’m a little in the dark when it comes to recent TV programming because I haven’t watched TV since October 2006). Medical ethicists and consumer advocates will certainly serve as the token watch dogs and whistle blowers on this, but I don’t think that should stop hospitals from using testimonial video. It will be interesting to watch how video tactics evolve in the health care marketing world. For that matter, I’ll keep a curious eye focused on video use in financial marketing as well.

Marketing Terms

2008-06-24T06:51:00.000-07:00

Marketers are bombarded with new terms everyday. The following terms mean many different things depending on who you ask:
Interactive
Web 2.0
ROI
E-marketing
Green Marketing
Social Media
Youth Segment
Web 3.0
SEO
ROE

This semantic game becomes particularly interesting when companies consider more than one marketing partner for a project or campaign. So, before we leap we need to define what we are leaping in to.

JD Valerio, over. . . and . . . out.

Segmentation

2008-06-20T06:40:00.001-07:00

Segmentation

I read a comic a while back. It was about marketers coming up with labels for different age groups and how to market to each of those segments. One of the lines read, “What about people between the tweens and teens age group – can we call them weens?”

I laughed out loud.

Sometimes, I think that we as marketers tend to over think segmentation.

Perhaps there is an alternative approach that can be more effective than micro-segmentation?

Happy Friday,
JD Valerio

Another Step in Healthcare Transparency 2.0

2008-06-19T07:25:00.000-07:00

Another Step in Health Care Transparency 2.0

Jay Parkinson, MD, has recently teamed up with Myca. Myca is a Canadian provider of health technology. Together they have developed Hello Health: www.myca.com/hello_health
This website aims to improve the delivery of medical services to consumers. Eventually, using video, voice, mobile messaging and an integrated system of media channels – patients and doctors will be able to communicate online. The platform is scheduled to launch in Brooklyn,NY very soon – consumers will create an account and become a “member” for a fixed fee.

Benefits of this system:

Transparency in health care Pricing
Virtual visits with the doctor cost less than in-person visits
Medical records are stored and easily transferred among referring physicians online
Helps make health care accessible to people who can’t afford insurance

You can preview the platform on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMAZpCOHWXI

Music, Patient Experience, and Branding

2008-06-18T07:04:00.001-07:00

Today I read in USA today that a survey by the Society of the Arts in Healthcare, along with the Joint Commission and Americans for the Arts, found that out of the 1,923 facilities surveyed, 35% offered some type of music to patients.

Many years ago, my mother started a patient music therapy program. She used to take her guitar into patient’s rooms and sing to them. My mother has a wonderful voice and I know that she brought a deep sense of comfort to her patients through her personality and music. She has been a nurse for her entire career and earned the warm title, “the singing nurse” by her friends and colleagues.

My mom is one of my musical heroes, and I am so glad that she set such a good example for me about positive ways to use my music.

“Besides promoting relaxation and reducing stress, music therapy has been shown to affect sleep patterns, improve stroke patients’ memories and decrease the amount of sedation medication needed for some patients” USA Today – June 18, 2008

Music can also play a vital role in a hospital’s brand. What you hear when you enter hospital sets the tone for your experience there.

Think about how you would feel if you walked into a hospital and the following musical pieces were piped in on the speakers:
THE EMPERORS MARCH
VIVALDI’S SPRING
VAN HALEN’S “JUMP”
QUEEN’S “ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST”
JACKIE WILSON’S “HIGHER AND HIGHER”

No matter the industry, we as marketers need to pay attention to the nuances of our brand. The things that sometimes get “unnoticed” contribute greatly to our perceived brand.

Retain, Retain, Retain

2008-06-17T13:06:00.000-07:00

It costs financial institutions five times more to sell a prospect than to retain an existing account holder - every $1 spent on retention saves the financial institution $5 in prospecting costs (The Gartner Group).

24% of customers have transacted more with their financial institution as a result of a custom publication (Cook Research).

Combining an e-newsletter with a printed newsletter can lift response rates by as much as 15%.

We all know how powerful web marketing is.

So, let's bring it all together in one big integrated strategy. . .
Use engaging/educational content to keep readers interest
Use cross sells with trackable calls to action
Use online and offline tools in concert
Monitor the results, tweak the plan, do it again . . . only better!

A Hosptial in St. Louis Decides to Stop Serving Bottled Water

2008-06-16T15:30:00.000-07:00

I recently listened to a podcast at healthleadersmedia.com. Sister Mary Jean Ryan, president and CEO of SSM Healthcare gave a quick interview about her health system's decision to discontinue serving bottled water in their 20 facilities.

They also plan to eliminate serving other bottled beverages.

Cutting back on bottled beverages decreases the use of plastics and can be good for the environment. One thing to keep in mind however is that if they replace liquid distribution with a method that is equally harmful to the environment as bottled water is, no "green progress" is truly made. But it sounds like, they are making a truly "green move" here. The question is, "should they broadcast this as a green initiative or a cost savings initiative?" How much press should companies like these devote to "green" moves like this? John Grant's book, The Green Marketing Manifesto makes the point that companies must be careful in tooting the green horn. In marketing, a health care organization's "green moves" can potentially open the door to public scrutiny.

Maybe nobody will pick on SSM Healthcare for their decision to stop serving bottled water - but I'm willing to wager that they will receive plenty of public feedback -good and bad - on their decision. It will be interesting to see what other green business desisions SSM Healthcare makes and how they handle public response.

Credit Union Boards

2008-06-14T11:13:00.000-07:00

I notice that many credit unions have a majority of elderly board members. While I know this is common for many boards across many industries, it seems to me that credit unions would benefit by attracting a diverse age spread for their boards. Harder said than done though. . .

The right segment for credit union marketing

2008-06-13T20:56:00.000-07:00

I spoke with a VP of marketing from a credit union today about which segment he thinks his credit union needs to target.
He said that they don't have products that the youth are looking for and aren't willing to take the risk to loan to them. He said that they don't have enough services and products to meet the needs of his affluent depositors. He said that their sweet spot is targeting middle income members of the credit union. He said - "we can't be all things to all people, and we don't want to over-promise and un-deliver".
My question to this strategy: "what happens when the middle income depositors become affluent? If you can no longer meet their needs and haven't attracted enough youth to take their place. .. then what?"

July 11th gig in Minneapolis

2008-06-12T14:32:00.000-07:00

Time for a Summer show – Friday July, 11 from 7-10pm

Hi Friends,
On Friday July 11th 7-10pm I will be playing at the E.P. Atelier in Minneapolis and I hope you will join me. We are still waiting for confirmation from the other act, but it will be a double ticket show. I’ll probably play the second spot for about 1.5 hours. I am so excited about it – I have a lot of new material that I’ve been working on and I can’t wait to share it!

Call for Ambassadors: I am looking for 10 volunteers to help me promote this performance by inviting 3-5 people to come with them. If you are interested in helping me to promote this performance please e-mail me back and let me know how many people you hope to bring. Your help is very much appreciated especially since doing this on a very part-time basis doesn’t allow for a ton of marketing time. Note: The show is Free.

As the date gets closer, I might send another update to let you know who else is playing and what musicians might be joining me on stage during my set.

The E.P. Atelier is a cool place. I’ve been hanging out there occasionally on Tuesday nights for their open-mic.

Here is a link to their web page.
http://www.epatelier.com/

The address and phone number are:
609 S 10th St
Minneapolis, MN 55404
(612) 332-4000

The name E.P. Atelier stands for (Elliot Park Artist Workshop). Atelier is a French word for artist studio, or workroom. The coffee shop/café is a cozy place and the people who hang out there are very interesting.

You can link to their myspace page through mine www.myspace.com/jdvalerio

The E.P. Atelier is also serving as the flagship for a new non-profit organization called Sounds of Mid-America. Sounds of Mid-America will be a nonprofit museum, performance space and educational center that they hope to house in the space adjacent to E.P. Atelier. There is a fund-raiser on July 13th for it.

Hope to see you soon!

More about Getting Rid of My car

2008-06-12T11:28:00.000-07:00

As I mention earlier this month - I got rid of my car. It has been 8 days since I drove my own vehicle and on Tuesday the charity came to get my car.

I notice already that I will need to make more frequent grocery trips and that I will be shopping hyper-locally more often instead of going to the supermarkets and malls that are over 3 miles away from my apartment.

Interesting how one choice affects others.

Arizona Credit Union League

2008-06-11T10:09:00.000-07:00

Today I head out to the Arizona Credit Union League conference. I look forward to learning about their challenges and marketing ideas for that market.

I've been reading that many Arizonans won't be receiving their stimulus checks as they will be held for debts. I wonder if this will be a topic of discussion there- on how the credit unions are being impacted? How are they educating members about debt relief plans, etc?

JD Valerio, over and out.

A Hospital Construction Update Micro-site

2008-06-10T11:08:00.000-07:00

Often times, hospital marketers are asked to handle PR, employee relations and a million other things. A construction of a new hospital facility creates a lot of work for the hospital marketer/PR person.

The questions come flying from employees, consumers, and news reporters for information about the new facility: When will the new hospital facility be done? How is this being funded? How will this impact my department? Can I see a map of the new building? - etc.

Methodist Sugar Land Hospital created a micro-site to address questions like these and to keep their community informed. It is called "Hard Hat News". I thought this was a great idea, I especially like the "ask the CEO" e-mail feature and "hot topics" section.

Here is a link: http://www.mslhardhatnews.com/

Transparency in Healthcare Marketing in a Multi-Channel Marketing Battlefield

2008-06-09T14:59:00.000-07:00

Transparency in Healthcare Marketing in a Multi-Channel Marketing Battlefield

Consumer driven healthcare is changing the market place all of the time. Daily, new technologies are putting more power and information in the hands of healthcare consumers.

Hospitals and healthcare organizations can’t hide anymore. The platform of the Internet is creating vulnerable organizations – transparent and naked for the world wide web to see. Their rates, customer/patient satisfaction ratings, and law suits are all available online for the savvy healthcare consumer to read.

What’s more, consumers are talking to each other through blogging and social media platforms. Much like Amozon.com’s reader ranking system; health care organizations are all being evaluated by bloggers etc. Here is a little test to try: Go to your search engine and type “this hospital sucks”. It won’t take long until you are scrolling through links to bloggers telling their readers about their bad experiences with their hospital. Is your hospital one of them?

With the SEO competition online getting ever so fierce, will we see an even bigger increase in direct mail and traditional newsletter/magazine strategies? How are hospitals going to cut through the clutter? How are hospitals going to deal with negative PR, cost cutting competitors, and balancing effective communications to online and offline readers?

I’ve seen a few healthcare organizations do the balancing act well, but the majority of the healthcare marketers I know are overwhelmed, overworked, understaffed, underfunded and underpaid. They have very limited resources (time, money, staff etc.) to gain control in this noisy multi-channeled battlefield. This multi-channeled-marketing-battlefield seems to change daily with each good web marketing strategy that is launched.

The good news is that I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance! (see my post about getting rid of my car – LOL).

Getting Rid of My Car

2008-06-08T09:02:00.000-07:00

The last time I drove my own car was on June 4th, 2008. Up to that point I had been trying to cut down my car use by riding my bike to work, walking more, and car pooling. On Tuesday June 10th, at 8am I will no longer have a car.

I am donating it to Auto Technical, Inc. http://www.autotechnical.com/ They teach people how to fix cars, and make affordable cars available to families that are seeking to transition from Welfare to Work. They make it easy to donate the car because they take care of all of the paper work and come pick it up for you.

This is the third or fourth car I've donated, but this is the first time that I am donating my car without a plan to replace it. Why?

Well, for several years I've been contemplating getting rid of my wheels to challenge myself to rely on greener methods of transportation: biking, walking, car pooling, bus, etc. Granted - I am not going to be perfect or entirely puritan in this experiment. My "footprint" caused by the amount of air travel I do far outweighs the tiny sacrifice of my car. And, I am not giving up my car forever. However, I am committing to myself to be without a car until October of 2008. After that time I will evaluate whether or not I'd like to continue. Cold winter months in Minnesota present extra challenges to riding my bike to work or waiting for the bus to come- but I'll cross that decision bridge in October.

But for now the benefits I see are this:
1. I will save about $2,000 per year (garage rental, car insurance, gas) - that is after offsetting bus fares, bike tune-ups etc!
2. I will be incorporating exercise into my commute to work by cycling.
3. I will decrease my "footprint" - yeah earth!
4. I enjoy challenges like these - it will be a learning experience.

I recently read the Green Marketing Manifesto by John Grant http://www.amazon.com/Green-Marketing-Manifesto-John-Grant/dp/0470723246
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTtTfgW00D0

The basic message from the book is: don't just say you are a green company - be green. The book has been inspirational in my professional life and personal life. When seeking to make green choices, I think it is important to recognize that we can't realistically change everything all at once. It can be overwhelming to consider all of the green choices available to us: biking vs. car ownership, hang drying vs. using the dryer, buying FSC http://www.fsc.org/ certified paper vs. the cheaper alternatives. But I think it is important that we all try to continue on our journey to be earth friendly in our personal and professional lives. At the same time, in our personal lives, I think it is important that we seek to cast aside our judgement of others and focus on what we can change as individuals.

I am excited to be getting rid of my car for four months! I wonder if by the time October rolls around if I will be craving a new set of wheels or pondering a longer period of time without a car? Maybe I'll buy a Hummer when this is all over with?

Word of Mouth Advertising, Word of Blog Advertising

2008-06-06T15:31:00.000-07:00

What am I doing to promote positive word-of-mouth advertising for my company and clients? What am I doing to protect against negative word-of-mouth advertising?
These are the questions I am thinking about today.
Any input is appreciated.

Don't Believe in What You Sell

2008-06-05T16:16:00.000-07:00

Don't Believe in What You Sell
Sell What You Believe In

I recently talked with a credit union who was struggling because their products are not competitive in comparison to nearby banks and other credit unions. We started talking about positive things that their credit union offers that do set them apart from other financial institutions.

There was some debate about developing good products vs. developing good perception of products. We also talked about marketing other things that go outside the realm of product such as process, service, green marketing initiatives, giving back to the community, etc.

At first glance it might seem that marketing things other than product is just a bunch of fluff. But keep in mind, just because the competition might have better products it doesn't mean that your products aren't good.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the "best" products aren't always the best choice. For example some cars may drive better than others but the cost difference between car A and car B could be $80,000! Car A might look better, drive better and last longer. But car B could get better gas mileage, drive fine, and since it costs 1/3 of the cost that car A does, it doesn't really matter if car B is "better". The fact of the matter is that perceived value is what the deciding factor is.

In the credit union world: Credit Union A might have mobile banking, online bill pay, 70 branches, and awesome reward checking programs. Credit union B might not have any of that, but they do offer the lowest loans in town and the friendliest most helpful staff known to humankind. Credit Union B might be less "convenient" than credit union A because it has less branches - but keep in mind there is still a large % of the population that value service and principle over convenience. Back to the car analogy - we talked about Credit Union A and B, but what about option C -choosing a bike over a car! People who choose bikes over cars have a whole different set of reasons for choosing their travel method. Credit Unions who struggle with "product" need to create "Bicycle" options. Is that too many analogies?

If your products "suck" still try to improve upon them. . . and at the same time, look on the bright side of what your organization has to offer. Sell what you believe in today, and develop better products to sell tomorrow.

SEO

2008-06-04T06:48:00.000-07:00

SEO is the way to go if you want more web traffic and make a happy CEO

Improving Payer Mix by Attracting More Insured Seniors

2008-06-03T08:03:00.001-07:00

Improving Payer Mix by Attracting More Insured Seniors

One key strategic goal of hospitals is to improve their payer mix. Attracting insured seniors (Medicaid, Medicare, etc.) is often a strategic goal of hospitals to help reach the goal of improving their payer mix. Providing educational classes, Senior clubs, and fun events is a great way of retaining these patients and generating strong word-of-mouth advertising among the mature segment of the population.

Here is a link to a white paper on reaching mature audiences: http://www.prioritypubhealth.com/files/whitepapers/TheMatureMarketHealth.pdf

Here is a link to an effective e-newsletter version of a senior publication done by a hospital in Apple Valley, CA: http://www.myhealthnewsletter.com/st_mary_medical/senior_select/spring08/
A print version is also distributed to members of their senior club and to other seniors in the community.

A great way to provide video for your Credit Union’s web-space for youth

2008-06-02T10:05:00.000-07:00

This is a fantastic idea. Credit Unions are always looking for ways to engage the youth in their market. Tinker Federal Credit Union held a contest for youth to submit videos about “what money means to me”. They received 28 entries!

Here is a link to the contest blog-site: http://www.whatmoneymeanstome.org/

View all the entries here: http://www.whatmoneymeanstome.org/phase2/view-n-vote.php

Contest rules:

What money means to me” can be different things to different people. So we want you to create a video that expresses your point of view, and hopefully other people will “get it,” too.
The Contest
The Top 8 Video Finalists are selected by a panel of judges and placed in an online bracket to compete for the Grand Prize. The videos compete head-to-head here on WhatMoneyMeansToMe.org, where viewers vote for their pick each round. The winning video of each match-up moves up the bracket for a chance to compete for the Grand Prize.
Runner-Up Videos that do not make the bracket will be eligible to win the View n’ Vote “fan favorite” prize. Here viewers can vote for any video they like, and the entry with the most votes wins the View n’ Vote prize
The Rules
Video must be 90 seconds or less and fit the “What Money Means to Me” theme. Videos that contain inappropriate behavior or language will not be eligible for the contest. Deadline for submission is Friday, March 14, 2008 at 11:59 PM CST.
(the complete rules can be found at the site)

A brand new marketing segment in Brazil?

2008-06-01T16:25:00.002-07:00

BRASILIA, May 31 (Xinhua) -- A new tribe of indigenous Indians was found in the Brazilian state of Acre in the southwest of the Amazon rainforest region, the National Foundation of Indians (Funai) reported Saturday.
Funai estimates that nearly 500 people live in the newly discovered community along the Envira River.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-06/01/content_8296351.htm

Wow, how do marketers reach this group? LOL.

A brand new marketing segment in Brazil?

2008-06-01T16:25:00.001-07:00

Playing with other musicians

2008-05-31T11:50:00.000-07:00

Playing with other musicians is a great marketing tool for solo artists.

If each artist promotes the show, then there is strong potential for each artist to be exposed to new listeners. It is win-win-win. It is a win for the artist hosting the show, it is a win for the artist(s) joining the show. It is a win for the audience because they get to see something new.

This is a shot from a little stand in gig I did with Paisley-Brooks - a little jazzy trio in Minneapolis. This show was a lot of fun because it was 100% off-the-cuff for me. The first time I heard the bands' songs was when I was playing them live in front of the audience.

On May 3rd, I had a show in St. Paul, MN and was joined by Neal Swanger (harmonica) and Jennifer Levenhagen (violin). New people came to my show and signed up for my e-mail list as a result. The next week I went to watch a gig that Jennifer was doing with another local band and saw some of my fans there - they had learned about the show through signing up for Jennifer's list the week before at my show. Win-win-win.

Panic Mode Marketing

2008-05-30T14:53:00.000-07:00

Panic Mode Marketing

Many Credit Unions and Banks use rates to draw new customers/members in.
This can be a strong tactic especially in this economy.

However, rates are always changing - thus triggering last minute edits to print and electronic marketing messages. This creates stress for marketers, printers, e-mail providers etc. Ahhhhhh!

Some possible solutions:
1. Focus on products that don’t change as often as rates do
2. Use teaser rates, but drive customers/members online for the most up-to date info – and hey, while they are there (sign-up for e-statements, auto loans, seminars, etc.). "ding, ding, ding! kuh-ching!"
3. Ink jet last minute info onto print marketing material at the mail-house

4. Plan (just kidding . . . not really. . . hey, it's Friday I can be a little punky)

Many Banks and Credit Unions are shifting from rate sensitive marketing altogether into a financial education/ethos building model. That sounds relaxing doesn't it?

I don’t think rate sensitive marketing should be thrown out altogether, but less of it would save many a marketer headache and late nights.

I am glad it is the weekend!

Transparency in Marketing, Business, and Life

2008-05-29T16:25:00.000-07:00

I was impressed by JetBlue’s CEO David Neeleman’s apology that has received so much buzz this year. I think this is a good example that marketers, PR folk, and pretty much anyone should pay attention too. It goes beyond strategy – it is plain good business sense in action.

“Dear JetBlue Customers,
We are sorry and embarrassed. But most of all, we are deeply sorry.
Last week was the worst operational week in JetBlue’s seven year history. Many of you were either stranded, delayed or had flights cancelled following the severe winter ice storm in the Northeast. The storm disrupted the movement of aircraft, and, more importantly, disrupted the movement of JetBlue's pilot and inflight crewmembers who were depending on those planes to get them to the airports where they were scheduled to serve you. With the busy President’s Day weekend upon us, rebooking opportunities were scarce and hold times at 1-800-JETBLUE were unusually long or not even available, further hindering our recovery efforts.
Words cannot express how truly sorry we are for the anxiety, frustration and inconvenience that you, your family, friends and colleagues experienced. This is especially saddening because JetBlue was founded on the promise of bringing humanity back to air travel, and making the experience of flying happier and easier for everyone who chooses to fly with us. We know we failed to deliver on this promise last week.
We are committed to you, our valued customers, and are taking immediate corrective steps to regain your confidence in us. We have begun putting a comprehensive plan in place to provide better and more timely information to you, more tools and resources for our crewmembers and improved procedures for handling operational difficulties. Most importantly, we have published the JetBlue Airways Customer Bill of Rights – our official commitment to you of how we will handle operational interruptions going forward – including details of compensation. We invite you to learn more at jetblue.com/promise.
You deserved better - a lot better - from us last week and we let you down. Nothing is more important than regaining your trust and all of us here hope you will give us the opportunity to once again welcome you onboard and provide you the positive JetBlue Experience you have come to expect from us.
Sincerely, David NeelemanFounder and CEO"
http://www.jetblue.com/about/ourcompany/apology/index.html

A Credit Union Effectively Using Social Media

2008-05-28T19:20:00.000-07:00

Last week I attended the Marketing Association for Credit Unions in Newport Beach, CA http://www.macnetwork.org/

Of course one of the big topics was – “How can Credit Union’s attract younger members?”

I was impressed by the marketing efforts of Common Wealth, a credit union in Canada who has taken on the marketing challenge of growing their young membership base.

Credit Unions in Canada are for-profit so the rules and playing field are a little different than the credit union marketing landscape in the United States. Nonetheless, Common Wealth’s tactics warrant much attention by credit union and bank marketers everywhere. I won’t go into a ton of detail, but here are some of the highlights from my perspective:

1. They hired a 19 year old, Larissa, to be the spokes person for their Young and Free checking account. This helps build ethos among the youth.

2. They launched http://youngfreealberta.com/ which is basically a blogging site that is leveraged to reach young people where the spend a lot of their time – ONLINE.

3. They keep the blog fresh with updates, free stuff, and videos from their local marketing/community events: http://www.youngfreealberta.com/blog/the-alberta-pond-hockey-video

4. The site isn’t just sitting around waiting for traffic; their spokes person is also on social media sites such as Facebook.

5. The marketing tactics are not hard-sell .

The spent more than $300,000 on this elaborate campaign/strategy. My highlights barely scratch the surface of what they are doing. If you are a bank or credit union marketer – check it out. I’d love to hear your thoughts.