2008 March | Word Sell, Inc.

Content Strategy and Words for Business on the Web • • Feature Post Sales vs. Marketing

Archive for March, 2008

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Funny Companies with Serious Performance

Monday, March 31st, 2008

Although business is serious business, some companies have done pretty darn well using a lighthearted approach to marketing. Here are a few examples, companies I started following on my now moribund humor blog, Scrambled Toast.

Big Ass Fans
Big Ass Fans is a manufacturer of … you guessed it, big ass fans used for large areas such as auditoriums, barns, and distribution warehouses. Their formula for success? Make a quality product and have fun promoting it. The Big Ass spokesman is none other than Chicago Bears legend William “The Refrigerator” Perry. Their Web site includes an amusing size comparison chart, a company blog, Donkey Speak, an hilarious customer feedback section (now featuring audio), and a Big Ass store. If you explore the site you’ll also see plenty of serious information about their products and charitable giving. Does the Big Ass blend of humor and quality work? Well, according to a recent press release, the firm added 53 people in 2007. In the industrial marketplace, their name recognition is positive and second to none.

New Pig Corporation
Moving from donkeys to swine, New Pig Corporation is truly one of the remarkable success stories in the world of janitorial, maintenance, and safety products. They call their product catalog a Pigalog®. Their Web site includes a Fun section hosted by company mascot, Sparky, and pun-filled content including one of their taglines, Partners in Grime®. Again, notice New Pig presents plenty of serious nuts and bolts content, to say nothing of its outstanding line of products. This company, too, has achieved superior name recognition in a very crowded field, and has grown its business steadily over many years. The light touch is working.

Hormel SPAM
Let’s move on to another porcine product. Did you know SPAM has its own Web site? Did you know there is a SPAM Museum, or that there will be a SPAMARAMA® in 2008? You can visit the SPAM Store and get all sorts of gifts, including SPAM hats, SPAM sippy cups, SPAM calculators, SPAM snow domes, and SPAM boxer shorts. This historic food product of questionable health value has an unquestionably loyal base of customers. Hormel’s entertaining portrayal of the SPAM product line is getting bottom line results. Read this Hormel News Release carefully and you will learn that Hormel’s first quarter 2008 earnings were up 17%, “aided by strong sales of the SPAM family of products …”

Why Humor Works
Humor reduces tension between buyers and sellers. When humor becomes interactive, as in the case of Big Ass Fan’s customer feedback pages, it builds steadfast bonds of loyalty. Humor increases brand awareness. The average customer may not remember the horsepower requirements of a 24-foot ceiling fan, but he will remember a donkey. And he definitely won’t remember where he bought his last order of oil absorbent pillows unless he remembers a pig.

This is why my lighthearted business cartoon business should be taken seriously. I’m continually amazed by how often clients who use them report how well their cartoons are remembered and what effective ice breakers they when starting sales conversations.

What about You?
Do you use humor in your business? What do you do, and how has it been working?

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Introducing the Age of Conversation ‘08 Authors

Friday, March 28th, 2008

Age of Conversation ‘08 is off an running. It’s going to be the sequel to last year’s Age of Conversation, a collaborative project spearheaded by Gavin Heaton and Drew McLellan. 275 authors who will be contributing.

BY THE WAY … You can now pick up the original Age of Conversation at Amazon - buy a copy ON MARCH 29 (TOMORROW). We’re trying to get to the top of the Amazon charts for one day!

Here’s the list of authors for Age of Conversation ‘08 –
Adam Crowe, Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob Carlton, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Bradley Spitzer, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Clay Parker Jones, Chris Brown, Colin McKay, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Cord Silverstein, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Goldstein, Dan Schawbel, Dana VanDen Heuvel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Darryl Patterson, Dave Davison, Dave Origano, David Armano, David Bausola, David Berkowitz, David Brazeal, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Emily Reed, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, G. Kofi Annan, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Graham Hill, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, J.C. Hutchins, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeremy Middleton, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, Joe Talbott, John Herrington, John Jantsch, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Flowers, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kris Hoet, Krishna De, Kristin Gorski, Laura Fitton, Laurence Helene Borei, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Barnes-Johnston, Louise Mangan, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Marcus Brown, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Mark McSpadden, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Hawkins, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Monica Wright, Nathan Gilliatt, Nathan Snell, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul Marobella, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Beeker Northam, Rob Mortimer, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Cribbett, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tiffany Kenyon, Tim Brunelle, Tim Buesing, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Longhurst, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem

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Random News Bits

Thursday, March 27th, 2008

CELL PHONE SUPERSITE
Are you confused about which of the 12,000 cell phone models you should buy? My AT&T phone dealer, Kelly, turned me on to this fantastic site — Phone Scoop. The neatest feature is the Compare Phones page, where you can plug in up to five models and see how they stack up. Today I used it to compare the Blackberry Pearl to the Samsung Blackjack II, and I learned plenty. Give it a try.
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GET OFF THE PHONE AND START READING
I’ve added a couple new books to the Word Sell Book Store.

A lot of you may have read Seth Godin’s Meatball Sundae by now, but if not, do so immediately. It’s an easy read with critically important ideas about Web marketing. A key point, which really needs to be understood by small and midsize companies, is that you can’t “bolt on” a Web marketing program to a traditional business model. You can save yourself a lot of money by following Godin’s advice.

For a deep exploration of social media, try Larry Weber’s Marketing to the Social Web. It’s awesome. The book actually takes a lot of Meatball Sundae concepts, describes them more thoroughly, and explains how to put them in action on blogs, social networking sites, and other forms of social media.
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NEW CUSTOMER CARE TRAINING PROGRAM

About Action™ Customer Care Training is now a part of my training and coaching lineup. Customer care personnel play a crucial role in small and midsize companies, yet they are all too often undertrained and overworked. I’m really hoping to change that!
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NEW HOSTING ON THE WAY
GoDaddy should change its name to SlowDaddy. (SEE PHOTO of my GoDaddy server at top.) When I complained about 5 to 10 second load times on my site, they acknowledged the problem and said, “Not a whole lot we can do.” Excellent response … maybe they’re candidates for my customer care training. At any rate, I’m in the process of switching to a new host that should solve the problem. I apologize if you’ve experienced loading problems on my site.

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How to Market Your Way through the Recession

Wednesday, March 26th, 2008

Have you noticed — the economy is brutal! Yes, the market went up more than 400 points the day before this writing, but that didn’t solve all our problems.

Retail is weak
The housing market is deep in the tank.
The banking industry is unstable
Inflation is on the rise
Commodities are high (buy a tank of gas lately?)
The job market is iffy

How can your business thrive in such an environment? I have a one word answer — marketing.

In a shaky economy, companies like to cut costs, and one of the first places they look is the marketing department. Ironic, because a downturn is precisely the time when marketing can be most useful. When the economy soars, it’s possible to make money with a bad plan or no plan. But when the economy sours, it’s impossible to make money unless you have an outstanding plan. Here are a few tactics that can turn the recession into somebody else’s problem.

1. Find robust niches and cultivate them. No matter how bad business gets, some sectors will be flourishing. These days, agriculture, manufacturing, exports, and pharma are among the strong. What can your companies offer them? Articulate a compelling value proposition and take it where the money is.

2. Enhance and emphasize customer loyalty programs. When the going gets tough, buyers start shopping. They’re under a lot of pressure to produce short term savings, even if it means jettisoning a supplier like you who’s done a bang up job for years. A strong customer loyalty program gives customers measurable and meaningful reasons to stay with you.

3. Innovate. Now is the time to roll out a new product or service. Remember how I just said customers are shopping, looking under every rock for savings? As a former buyer, I can attest to the fact that a lot of those rocks have been turned over and over and over. If you can develop a truly new way to reduce cost or improve efficiency, you will grab my attention instantly. In good times, it’s hard to get companies to change because they’re just too busy. In bad times, no idea is too new to consider, believe me.

4. Start a business blog. In a boom, companies have a lot of money and no time. In a recession, it’s just the opposite: companies have no money and a lot of time. The latter condition lines up perfectly for a blog initiative, because blogs require an insignificant outlay of cash but do require a fair amount of time to ramp up. Because a blog allows customers to talk to you, share ideas, and get to know you as people rather than as a faceless corporation, it inspires loyalty and leads to innovation — elements we already identified as recession-proofing necessities.

What else can marketers do to overcome the recession? What techniques and approaches are you using to thrive in bad times?

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4×4 About Me

Tuesday, March 25th, 2008

C.B. Whittemore tagged me with an interesting little meme - check out her post here.

4 Places I’ve Been
1. Moscow. Went there on a tour in the 70’s and saw Communism up close and personal. I was never so happy to come home.
2. Rome. My favorite city, wonderful people.
3. Crete. The most beautiful place on earth I’ve ever seen.
4. Green Bay. Being a Chicago Bears fan, I was never so happy to come home.

4 Jobs I’ve Had
1. Purchasing agent. Not a good fit, because I can’t count.
2. Sales rep. Lots of fun, lots of ups and downs.
3. Sales manager. Much tougher than I expected it to be.
4. Marketing manager. Tremendous fun!

4 Foods I Really Like
1. Spinach and feta cheese omelets.
2. Any kind of pasta.
3. A veal chop at Morton’s.
4. Green olives.

4 TV Shows I DVR
I don’t DVR, but these are my favorite shows –
1. Seinfeld
2. Star Trek Next Generation
3. Frasier
4. Mad Money with Jim Cramer

Nothing much currently on the air interests me.

The No Tag Rule is still in effect at Word Sell, but if you feel the urge, what’s your 4×4?

8 Random Things Meme
Joanna Young tagged me with a similar, earlier meme- 8 Random Things About Me. This meme came my way several months ago, and here is my contribution.

Thanks for the tags, C.B. and Joanna!

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The Most Profitable Recession Ever?

Monday, March 24th, 2008

There are four big drags on the U.S. economy these days –

The weak housing market
The weak financial sector
Rapidly rising commodity prices
Weak consumer spending

Clearly these are interrelated. Analysts like to point out that our recent run of prosperity has been consumer driven. Since consumers are holding on to their cash to pay the mortgage and to buy staples, they declare the consumer driven boom to be over. What’s interesting is, this bad news is being over reported, and the good news about the amazing boom in U.S. exports is being ignored. In January 2008, the U.S. set records for total exports, as well as for exports of industrial supplies and materials, food, feeds, beverages, and petroleum. (U.S. Census Bureau, Monthly Trade Highlights)

Why does the export boom go unnoticed? Many chalk it up to the fact exports are a small part of the overall U.S. economy. An export boom doesn’t matter. As long as Americans aren’t consuming, it’s merely an island of plenty in a sea of poverty.

But just because our good economy was driven by consumer spending before, why should we expect or even want that to continue? What would be wrong with a strong American economy built on exporting tons of goods and services instead of Americans buying tons of plasma TV’s?

More American exports equals more American production. And more American production equals more American jobs — right? What am I missing? If what we’re going through right now is a transition from a spending based to a productivity based economy, isn’t that a good thing?

I don’t get it. Everybody’s worried about the fate of our major retailers. Not that I’d like to see any of them crash and burn, but how come nobody’s excited about the soaring fortunes of companies like Caterpillar and John Deere? There was a time when American manufacturing mattered, here and around the world. Those times weren’t all bad. The service economy we have today, which requires people to buy and buy and buy, encourages consumer debt and does little to create sustainable wealth for the next generation. I think a little more brick and mortar in our economy might be the best thing we could hope for. Am I crazy?

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Cartoon - Foozle and Fribble

Friday, March 21st, 2008

When Joanna Young used “foozle and fribble” in a guest post here, I couldn’t resist creating this cartoon.

Foozle and Fribble will be recurring characters who act out your favorite Words for Nerds. Any suggestions for the next cartoon? For the latest Words for Nerds list, click here.

Are you a word lover? If you want to use this cartoon on your blog, feel free!

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Jacob Share, Group Project Aggregator

Thursday, March 20th, 2008

Group projects are not only fun, they attract new readers and generate inbound links. Problem is, how can you keep track of what projects are out there?

Jacob Share came up with the answer — his Group Writing Projects blog. It gives you the details on open projects, a calendar with deadlines, and in some cases a project recap.

GWP made a difference for me recently. Jacob mentioned my nano contest and it attracted a couple participants that I know of. That was a great result, and as GWP catches on, I think it will do even more.

Jacob’s got a fantastic concept here, and he needs our help to get the word out. Obviously, the more people tuned into his blog, the more activity it will generate for everyone. Thanks for the help, Jacob, and keep it going!

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10 Ways to Be a Better Sales Manager

Wednesday, March 19th, 2008

I just finished up a 10 part series on how to be a better sales manager. Whew! It’ll be a while before I try anything that ambitious again. Here are links to all the posts in the series.

1. Listen

2. Keep your distance

3. Be a director, not a star

4. Take the micro out of your manage

5. Focus on results

6. Deal with problems quickly

7. Check your facts

8. Embrace a system

9. Connect with customers on every level

10. Bring out the best in everyone

We had lots of good conversation around these topics, but what did I miss? What ideas have helped you become a better manager?

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Guest Post from Joanna Young - A Plain English Guide to Writing with Difficult Words

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008

My blogging buddy Joanna Young has graced my blog with another outstanding guest post. Joanna is a freelance writer and writing coach
who helps clients improve their writing, find their voice, build confidence, develop skills, and become part of a community that supports writers in every way. (Mini-testimonial … Recently, she gave me a little help on a newsletter and she did an awesome job!)
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A plain English guide to writing with difficult words

I’m a big fan of plain English writing. It rarely let’s you down. As my plain English guru Terence Denman [see ref and link below] says:

“The more complicated and important the information you are trying to get across, the simpler your language should be.”

But what does that mean for all those fabulous words out there, the words that tumble out of the dictionary and tease us from the thesaurus? Are they totally redundant - or is there a way we can work them into our writing?

Here’s a plain English (and tongue-in-cheek) guide to 10 ways you can do just that:

1. Use long and unfamiliar words sparingly - if your readers can’t easily follow your words will have a soporific effect, causing them to glaze over (or maybe even nod off).

2. It can be tempting to throw in unfamiliar words to make your writing sound more thoughtful, academic, intellectual. Resist the temptation. Chances are you’ll end up with a bricolage of words, which looks, feels and sounds messy - and doesn’t carry the authority of your own voice.

3. Nine times out of ten that unfamiliar, hard-to-read or jargon-full word is going to be otiose. You don’t need it. It doesn’t add anything. Challenge yourself to find the simplest word rather than the most unusual.

4 Take care when you borrow an unfamiliar word from the dictionary or thesaurus - you might have misunderstood the definition, and it’s easy to make a bungle, a foozle you’ll come to regret.

5. If you’re writing in an organisation where the written style is antediluvian and you think all your colleagues were born before the flood… you have my sympathies. Fight back with plain English and they won’t know what’s hit them!

6. Be parsimonious with your use of unusual words. They’re hard for your reader to digest. A frugal use works wonders - maybe one in a 1,000 words. Ten in 600 is definitely pushing it.

7. Short, simple words, sentences and paragraphs come backed with a punch. If you’re looking for powerful, puissant writing plain English is your thing.

8. That unfamiliar word you’re tempted to use is probably unfamiliar for good reason. It’s moribund. On its way out. Use a plain simple word from everyday speech instead. Your readers will thank you for it. And sometimes it’s kinder to let the old words die.

9. You might think an article scattered with jargon and long-winded words was a sign of your intellectual prowess, a panoply of word power. But it’s not an impressive display of anything - other than your desire to look good. True word power comes when you can find the simplest, plainest word for the most difficult of concepts.

10. A simple way to introduce a new and potentially difficult word is to include an explanation or synonym (a word that means the same thing). This allows you to add a bit of variety to your writing, keep your readers on board, introduce them to some new words without having to check the dictionary, and prove you can write plain English with poise and aplomb.

I don’t want to make a palaver out of this issue, but I would like to know what you think. Is there a time and a place for difficult and challenging words? How do manage to work them into your writing?

Join the conversation - let’s fribble together!

This piece was inspired by Brad’s challenge to write a post using 10 or more of his words from the ultimate word nerd vocabulary test. I couldn’t resist the challenge!
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Ref: How Not To Write by Terence Denman

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