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

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.

It's time for summer vacation:

• car ready: oil changed, gassed up and washed
• clothes packed: an outfit a day, plus a couple for dress up stuff, lingerie and sundries
• entertainment (car): bag-o-fun packed with electronics, DVDs, CDs, magazines, games and extra batteries
• mail forwarded and dog at the kennel
• picnic basket packed: snacks, water and treats
• stove off, iron unplugged and alarm set
• map in hand: route planned, rest stops and best exits for food noted
• hotel reservations: made last month and confirmed yesterday via email (copies on hand)
• entertainment: amusement park tickets reserved last month and confirmed via email (copies on hand)

You're all set to go!

Think for a second...if you put that much effort into planning a vacation, wouldn't you put in the same amount of effort to planning your organization's social technology? As in the example above, proper planning helps to ensure you'll have an enjoyable vacation, with solutions and contingencies at hand for the unexpected. You should do the same thing for your business, plan, with solutions and contingencies in mind for the unexpected.

Nugget of knowledge: successful marketing campaigns are thoughtfully planned out.

Consider these steps as you begin planning:

1. Do your homework: read blogs and white papers; attend webinars, meetups and tweetups; watch videos --> learn from other's missteps and get motivated by their accomplishments


2. Begin at the end: envision success, know what it looks like --> set your goals and objectives, make sure they are realistic and set a time to reach them


3. Control your brand: capture your name in the social media space --> get your username on as many sites as possible, you will not use them all, but no one else can be you in those spaces


4. Be self aware: know your organization's history and mission, know who your customers are and where they are --> go to where your customers are


5. Get your house in order: make sure your organization is on board with adopting social technology --> who is responsible, resources allocated, social media policies and integration plan into current marketing efforts


6. Check out your competition: do a CASE study


7. Evaluate your progress: make sure you're social media is taking you where you want to go --> set benchmarks as you would for a traditional marketing campaign


8. Go for it! You will make missteps, it is okay --> do, mess up, learn...it's the evolution of success

And yes, you are there now.

What is Indie Business?
Indie Business is Indie Business Media, LLC, the company I own with my husband. One of our subsidiaries is the Indie Beauty Network, a trade organization that provides educational and small business networking services, and products liability insurance, for our small manufacturers of health, beauty and lifestyle products. Another subsidiary is INDIEgu, an e-commerce hub for American handmade and artisan products like soaps, candles, fragrances and confectionery goodies.

When did you start?
We launched on January 16, 2000, the day we also published our first online newsletter. Launching this business with a newsletter was the biggest and most important professional achievement of my life.

Really, launching a newsletter was momentous?
Yes, because the newsletter is one of the most fun and effective tools I use to connect with my customers and other stakeholders. It allows me to do four things that are important to me: have fun, help others, increase profitability and stay in touch with people easily and consistently.

Are these four things your priority?
Yes, in the sense that I use them to evaluate how I am doing as a business leader. If I am having fun, helping others, earning a profit and staying in touch with those whom I serve, then I am achieving my purposes as a woman and a business owner. In the case of the newsletter, for example, since I was a journalist/public relations major in college, I learned a lot about publishing. I combined this formal education with my love for the writing process, and this makes newsletter publishing not only effective, but also fun for me. Writing is professionally and personally satisfying for me, as is reaching out and connecting with other people.

Tell me about the newsletter.
The Indie Experience Newsletter is published each Monday. The tagline for the newsletter is my own personal motto, "Enjoy your life! Build your business! Have your way." It is a news, business and product resource.

How do you use media to get the word out about your business?
Connecting with and nurturing relationships with all kinds of media outlets is an integral and enjoyable part of my business. I share information and publish content that helps people, and this ultimately grows my business. I enjoy training others to use their own branded media outlets to do the same through my one-day The Media Is You training workshops. When it comes to media, I employ what I call the trifecta: passion, instincts and training. It's a part of my purpose to help others use media outlets, to discover their voice and share their passions and ideas with the world.

Nugget of knowledge: Everyone needs to be their own best media outlet.

How did you get started on our entrepreneurial journey?
I had a traditional 9-5 job and I was unfulfilled because I didn’t learn anything about myself. I was paid to perform, not to grow. I wanted to grow, and when I realized that a traditional workplace was not helping me do that, I decided to create my own workplace by launching a business that I could design to fit my life -- instead of designing my life to fit my profession. I decided I wanted my life mantra to be, “Enjoy my life! Build my business! Have my way!" So I created that for myself and my family, and now, I help others do the same.

You’ve also found another stream of income as a public speaker, what are some of the messages you share with young people when you talk with them?
This is a great question, since I'm just back from lecturing to graduate students at Georgia State University's J. Mack Robinson College of Business. I encourage young people to start a blog, to be in control of their online identity, their brand and to use technology to reflect skills, integrity, humanity, and professionalism. Young people must be careful to take control of their online personas. If they don't, future employers, business partners, spouses and children could uncover unfavorable things (true or not), which can hurt them in down the road.

"You may not be able to control what people say about you online, but if you aren't a proactive part of the conversations about you on the Internet, you're abdicating your responsibility to present the best possible reflection of yourself to the world."

What are some of the keys to your success?

• Patience: I am willing to do tiny things no one else sees in order to take the big steps that are more visible.
• Focus: I'm not trying to be all things to all people. I have a niche and I do my best to serve it.
• Faith and Family: My husband and personal faith are integral to everything I do, and everything that is done to me.
• Persistence: I don't give up. When an obstacle comes, I assess it and figure out how to go over, around, under or through it so I can achieve.
• Humility: I ask for help when I need it. This is one of the most effective ways to achieve your goals.
• Relationships: Life and business are nothing without them so I try to maintain healthy, interdependent relationships.
• Technology: I embrace it every step of the way. I use it to position myself as someone here to help, offer a service you need, and bringing value to your life.

Finally, life is a process of constant rebranding...I’m in a constant state of beta.

Whether or not you like, enjoy or follow football, Al Pacino's speech rings true for life and business.

Yes, it would be great to land a deal with a Fortune 100 or sign a contract with a Fortune 500. The reality is, most of your work will probably be with small to medium size enterprises, and it is okay, in fact, it's fantastic. It is the small to medium enterprises that keep the economy rolling: buying products & services, providing consumers with choices and living the American dream of self determination. It is the latter which drives entrepreneurs, pushing you during the lean times, prodding you during the so-so times and rewarding you during the good times.

For the small to medium organization, success is in the inches: one more whatchamacallit to sell, one more appointment or service call to schedule and one more appointment or networking event to attend. These are some of the inches you and your families work for everyday; it is the sum of these and the thousands of other behind-the-scene inches that determine your business's success.

What are some of the inches you've had to struggle for?
What are some of the inches you've given up?

Additional resources:
Examining the Defense -- Not Offense -- of Business
Manage your business or it will manage you
Setback to Resilience: 3 lessons from the Unsigned Contract

Video clip from Any Given Sunday, directed by , directed by Oliver Stone, written by Daniel Pyne, John Logan and Oliver Stone, released in 1999.