I've been following Scott Ginsberg (aka @NameTagScott) on Twitter for quite some time. I'd read a story in the newspaper about this guy that wears a nametag all the time ( in order to make connections with people), and it's been a blast to read his daily, kick you in the rear, admonitions on Twitter.
In terms of an official bio, Scott Ginsberg is the World Record Holder of Wearing Nametags. He's the author of twelve books, an award-winning blogger, professional speaker and creator of NametagTV.com. He specializes in approachability, identity and execution. If you like what you see from Scott and want to learn more about his books, speaking engagements, customized online training programs or want to rent Scott's brain for a one-on-one session, you can email him at scott@hellomynameisscott.com.
When he offered to do a marketing-oriented guest blog on Twitter last week, I was all over getting a DM to Scott to see if he'd guest post for Brainzooming. I'm so excited that you all get to enjoy his perspective today on these things most marketers overlook:
1. Be memorable for the right reasons.
What are you known for? What are you know as? And what are you known for knowing? Those are the keys to memorability. However, if your intention to become memorable is misguided, malicious or so focused on profitability that you disrespect people, you lose. Being memorable for the wrong reasons is worse than being forgotten. Remember the 2006 World Cup? When the captain of France head butted a player from Italy? That was the last thing he was remember for prior to his retirement. Not smart marketing. Why do you want to become memorable?
2. Save feedback from the people who matter most.
The number of positive stories that are circulating about you, your brand, your organization and your product is the measure of marketing success. So, a huge part of marketing is managing your impressions in the marketplace. Now, notice I said, “managing,” not "controlling." You can participate in and keep track of your online reputation – but you can’t control it. That’s why you have to listen. Listening gives you the chance clarify misconceptions, stereotypes and false accusations. And it doesn’t matter how you do it; it only matters that you do it. Are you listening to other people’s ideas about who you are?
3. Decide what you’re going to brand.
Branding is committing to being the best, highest version of yourself. So it’s not just about your products. Smart companies brand their service, brand their honesty and brand their language. And here’s why: Branding is no longer a novelty – it’s a necessity – the price of admission for playing the game. Your challenge is to think about what you’re committed to. The emotion that’s under your fingernails. Brand that and people won’t just pay attention – they’ll pay dividends. What has your organization branded that nobody else has?
4. Increase your digital equity.
That comes from a variety of sources: Interviews. Blog posts. Tagged photos. Search engine optimization. Articles. Presentations. Status updates. Tweets. The list goes on and on. And the key element behind it is simple: The Internet is forever. Forever. Everything matters. Everybody’s watching. And everything’s a performance. Which isn’t that hard to do if the character you’re playing is you. And if you want to build real equity, start by building your platform. That’s the entire marketing engine that does the heavy lifting when you’re on vacation.
5. Focus on income generating activities only.
I once read a business book that said the typical entrepreneur spends 43 minutes a day on marketing. That’s it? What the hell are they doing for the other 557 minutes? Playing on Farmville? I don’t care what industry you work in, here’s the naked truth: Everything you do is marketing. Everything. All day. Every day. From phone calls to client meetings to conversations to tweets to attending networking events. It’s all marketing. And once you realize that, you find a way to leverage everything you do to get the word out about why you rock. How much time do you spend on marketing each day?
6. Interaction trumps interruption.
Remember phone books? Remember brochures and direct mail? Those aren’t marketing tools – they’re artifacts. And smart companies don’t waste their money on them. Here’s the reality: The only place your grandchildren will ever see paper marketing is in the history museum. Instead, stop interrupting and start interacting. Because every time a customer hears about you means less money spent making them hear from you. You don’t need more direct mail – you need more friends. How many trees are you killing just to be ignored by your customers?
7. Fire up your findability.
Marketing is simple: Create a product that customers can stumble upon, obsess over, fall in love with, become addicted to and tell their friends about. There. I just saved you $80,000 in business school tuition. You’re welcome. But the secret is: If you want customers to stumble upon you, you need to become more findable. One suggestion is to ask them. A helpful question I ask my readers every time they write in is, “What helped you find me this time?” You might be surprised by their answers. How do you demonstrate to people that you're worth being found?
LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Are you the arrow or the bulls-eye?
LET ME ASK YA THIS…
For the list called, “8 Ways to Out Question the Competition,” send an email to me at scott@hellomynameisscott.com, and you win the list for free!
