Shannon's thoughts on marketing, public relations, social technology, entrepreneurship and other things

Shannon Mouton
Shannon Mouton

the principal at Topaz Consulting, is a relationship marketing professional, with a passion for utilizing social technology for building B2B/B2C relationships, sharing information, networking and advancing the greater good. She has over 20 years of public relations, marketing and community building experience. Her combination of political, nonprofit, higher ed and corporate experience has afforded her opportunities to build communities where none existed, develop and launch innovative programming and bridge generational, economic and racial divides.

Shannon serves on the board of directors for the In Series, a Washington, DC performing arts organization. She is a regular contributor to Women Grow Business and Discover Exceptionalism, and her blog, Shannon Sez So, examines life's joys, pains and idiosyncrasies. Shannon is the founder of Topaz Consulting, a DC based marketing consultancy with a nationwide portfolio of clients. She graduated from Mount Vernon College (now part of The George Washington University) and is a proud native Washingtonian.

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2011 (31)
2010 (74)
 

Marketing silver bullets are as real as unicorns and fairies

Necessity
Work?
I don't have to work.
I don't have to do nothing
but eat, drink, stay black, and die.
This little old furnished room's
so small I can't whip a cat
without getting fur in my mouth
and my landlady's so old
her features is all run together
and God knows she sure can overcharge-
Which is why I reckon I *does*
have to work after all.
--Langston Hughes
Montage of a Dream Deferred, 1951


As Langston wrote 60 years ago, there are very few "have to's" in life; however, in business there are a great number of "need to's."

You need to market your business.
You don't have to have a Facebook page (Gasp!).

You need to find your customers.
You don't have to have a Twitter account (Get out!).

You need to generate revenue.
You don't even have to have a website (Blasphemy!).

There are a number of "old school" marketing tactics you can employ for your business. None of them are better or worse than any other, all of them require different levels of commitment and resources and all have been successful in one form or another. It is a question of which one(s) will work for you, not which one(s) you have to do. 

Some "Old School" Marketing Tactics

  • transportation advertising (signs on buses and at bus stops)
  • posters, flyers and postcards
  • radio, television and print advertising
  • movie advertising
  • newsletter and program advertising
  • referral and word-of-mouth
  • incentive programs
  • sponsorships
  • networking
  • billboards
  • promotional items
  • tradeshow exhibitions

These are a few methods for getting your message out; however, the best marketing campaign is the one that works for you in meeting your business objective. Before you begin expending valuable marketing resources, consider the following:

What is the goal of my marketing campaign?
Do I want to generate revenue, increase brand awareness or intimidate my competitors?
What marketing tactics are my competitors using?
What are the direct (capital) and indirect (time) costs?
Who is going to manage the campaign?
How long will the campaign last or run?
How will I know if the campaign is working?
What do success and failure look like?
Is the campaign going to reach my target audience?

However you decide to market yourself, remember, the only silver bullets are time and consistency.

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Twin Towers of Power: Time and Consistency

The amount of time and level of consistency you put into something is directly proportional to your results: part time effort will get you part time return.

  • It is with time and consistency that children move from crawling to walking;
  • It is with time and consistency that small savings become golden parachutes;
  • And, it is with time and consistency that businesses grow from start-ups to household brands.


How many articles have you read on the concepts of passion, determination, focus, etc.? Two often over-looked concepts are time and consistency. They are the little talked about twin towers of power for success. This principle rings true throughout every area of your business, lead generation, sales, marketing and so on.


In marketing, all of your activities require time to work and consistency to build brand recognition to generate a response, be it sending direct mail, attending networking events or buying advertising. Doing any of these activities once, or even sporadically, won't net you the results you want. Direct mail has be to sent multiple times of year to be effective, you have to introduce yourself to people a few times to be remembered and your advertising will be a waste of money if not regularly repeated. And social media can be a waste of your most valuable resource -- your time -- if done hurriedly and irregularly.

  • Blogging requires time and consistency to build and maintain a readership. It takes time for readers to find you and trust what you're posting.
  • You must consistently blog in order to become a reliable and dependable source of information.
  • It is better to not have a Facebook page, then to have one that is out-of-date, rarely updated or neglected, as it can go against the brand you are building.
  • A Twitter stream filled with re-tweets, entries selling your services/products or other unengaging messages, such as quotes, will get a lot of bots following you.

You get the point: time and consistency are your allies, use them to grow your brand and better your business.


Additional resources:
Michelle Tennant Nicholson, chief creative officer, Wasabi Publicity: Using Social Networks To Get Publicity
Bonnie Landau, Simple Web Toolbox: Collaborative Blogging For Those Short on Time

 

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The Influencer Project: 60 Speakers in 60 Minutes

I attended The Influencer Project: 60 Speakers in 60 Minutes on Tuesday afternoon. It was billed as “the shortest marketing project ever.” The speakers shared valuable information in bite-sized nuggets with the audience.

The format – each presenter had only 60 seconds to share their best tip on becoming influential in the social media space – forced the speakers to organize their thinking and focus their remarks to the most salient points. I live-tweeted the event and these are some of the takeaways…in tweet form of course.

  • figure out value / expertise you have & connect w/ folks already in the space, building community around your thought-leadership
  • online influence is a slow-burn, organically grown...giving more than you get, influence comes from a passive place    
  • give as much as you can give & help others achieve their goals   
  • building a community of readers by engaging w/ thought-provoking content
  • consistency, strength in connecting practical w/ profound, listening for silence for wisdom of your own heart     
  • connect the who with the what...think about authenticity & consistency of your voice & messaging
  • provide great value     
  • building digital dimensionality, showing as many sides of yourself and your business as you can
  • get active in other people's communities  
  • what expertise do you have that you can leverage to help others     
  • find a niche & become master of it, promote good content, do webinars to give back
  • understand your audience  
  • learn to talk more about other people     
  • its about "passion conversations, not product conversations"...let your passion shine...share who you are w/ the world    
  • share good content & do it consistently     
  • good content, be passionate about it, reach out, make comments on other's blogs, get over your fear     
  • online video is quick way to get messaging out there, create content re: your subject matter     
  • get OFFLINE and meet folks IRL; introduce folks to each other
  • people buy into the story, are you telling a story people can see themselves in, a platform for relationship     
  • wanna get started --> just start talking to people, "SM is really just talking to people"     
  • create content that stands for something     
  • make connections online and then meet them IRL, effective & powerful way to build trustful & genuine relationships     
  • "consistency demonstrates commitment" way to earn trust

A full transcript and mp3 is available here.

 
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