Marketing Safari

The DIY Economy During Recession

Let’s skip the pro and save a few bucks. But we can’t really skip everything that needs to be done, so we try to do it our selves. That’s why DIY programs, tools and tutorials are really sought after these days. Whether people are renovating their home, fixing the car, making some clothes, baking a cake, designing a brochure or doing SEO on their website.

These are the days when people seek advice on how to solve it them selves and if you’re generous in giving advice, you’ll be building your brand as the expert to go to in the field and creating some valuable relationships. By applying this, you can still make a living. You teach people to do it themselves. And when they get into trouble, you can always help them out. All for a fee of course.

The DIY tendence during recession is not a threat unless you allow it to be. See it as an opportunity and make it your ally.

Let’s beat the recession.
Hjörtur

Is MLM The Way To Go During Recession?

The Internet is being bombarded with all sorts of offers to participate in different kinds of MLM programs. And I’m often asked about those programs, if they are a good thing or not, a good investment of time and money, or if they’re just a scheme, some sort of a pyramid scheme.

No, they’re not “some sort of a pyramid scheme”. They ARE a pyramid scheme. That’s just how it works. If you’re at the lowest level you’re going to have a hard time making any real money. You need to move up the ladder to do so, to recruit people. And the time comes when the market becomes fully saturated.

I wrote my BA-thesis in anthropology “Salesmen or Missionaries” on MLM companies, comparing them to NRM (New Religious Movements). The results were actually quite scary.

A morning "mass" - "It's a great gang that sells a Kirby". But at least they have a real product.

If you come across something where the focus is on selling you the system and all the benefits but the product seems almost irrelevant, you can be certain you will not make any money on it unless you are at the top of the chain. They’re not selling a product because there is no value in the product, they’re selling a program. That’s a pyramid scheme.

This is a classic, offering money, white beaches and fancy cars (images) but actually, no product.

The recession is a great time for MLM, because desperation drives many people to try it. It brings bunch of people into the lowest level who invests in the system and that’s what the top needs to survive. Both MLM and NRM target people that are vulnerable, people in difficulties, whether personal or financial. If the desperation is sufficient and paradise tempting enough, you can get people into anything. Just ask a suicide bomber.

My advice, after both participating in MLM and studying those systems academically, is just don't do it. Consider this: Even though you might be entering early enough and desperation be widespread meaning there’s a large market now, consider where the money comes from. Is it the value you create for the end customer, or by recruiting another level below you (read: exploiting others desperate for money). Invest your energy and money elsewhere and you are much more likely to succeed, no matter how tempting the MLM “paradise” may sound.

What's your experience?

Hjörtur

A Year of Value, Not Wealth - Urban Lifestyle Report

I just got my hands on the first issue of the now free Urban Lifestyle Report - and I love it. The ULR is a new media trend report for marketers and published online. It's been published for some time for subscribers but now they have decided to distribute it for free.

It contains some excellent articles about new media, predictions for 2009, articles about Twitter and loads of other good stuff. I've got a short article there as well, called "A Year of Value, Not Wealth" where I describe my predictions for the year of 2009 and the rise of the new influencers but there's a lot of other articles there that are really worth reading.

Check it out, you can download the Urban Lifestyle Report for free.

Hjörtur

Marketing Tactics and Strategies in Times of Recession

My first ebook has just been published!

As you know if you have been reading my blog (here and here), the Icelandic economy has crashed. We are looking at more people being laid off in the last 6 weeks than have ever been out of a job before. And Iceland isn’t alone, though thankfully, things have not gone as drastically bad in other countries. Not yet, at least and let’s hope it stays that way.

I’ve been involved in marketing for more than a decade now and picked up a trick or two along the way. Low budget marketing has always fascinated me and I love beating big marketing spenders with only a fraction of their buget. The best example is probably the “If The World Could Vote .com” website where we reached just about every single country in the world within a few weeks, without spending a single penny on advertising, PR or other promotions, beating world-wide publishers and websites with much larger advertising budgets.

It sadens me to see companies make fatal reactions to the changed circumstances. Those are uncertain times and yes, people do need to change their marketing strategies. But it is important to realize that the recession does not only bring bad options to the table, it actually brings some great opportunities too. The question is, how you can spot those opportunities and make the most of them.

“The Marketer’s Magic Chest – Marketing tips, tricks and tools to unchain the locks of recession” is the title of my new ebook – a book where I reveal the secrets to success in times of recession. In the book I describe in 30 pages several different marketing perspectives and strategies that have proven themselves when the economy is tough. Methods that have helped companies leave their competitors in the dust. I’ve collected real life cases and success stories that explain how it can be done.

If there’s only one book you will be able to read this year, this one should be it.

You can get the book for $25, probably the best marketing investment you can make all year.

You can now download the book for free! And you're welcome to share it on your blog or elsewhere.

Download The Marketer's Magic Chest

Get the book and become a winner!

Hjörtur

Are You a Community Organizer?

(This is not political propaganda - it's actually a post about social media)

There seem to be some mixed feelings about community organizers. Obama is proud to be a community organizer while Sarah Palin laughs at him. So to be sure what it meant to be a community organizer, I looked up on Wikipedia. And guess what, they have a list of famous community organizers like Jesus Christ, Mahatma Gandhi and Barack Obama (I'm not saying Jesus Christ and Barack Obama are equal. I mean, Jesus had only 12 ... oh, never mind ;).

According to Wikipedia

Community organizers generally seek to build groups that are democratic in governance, open and accessible to community members, and concerned with the general health of the community rather than a specific interest group.

So what's that got to do with Social Media Marketing? Everything. As I see it, this is pretty much what companies are dealing with today because of social media. They have to realize that the power is moving from them to their customers. The customers are organizing them selves, the power is being distributed more evenly to all. When companies try to organize a community, they have to be "concerned with the general health of the community rather than a specific interest group." In the case of the company, that specific interest group is the company. Those who succeed in organizing the consumer or customer community are those who will succeed in the market of tomorrow.

Three very different community organizers, Jesus, Obama and Shoemoney. (Before you go bananaz over the images, I just chose the first image that showed up under the name of each in Google's image search. Couldn't be more neutral)

How does it work?
Companies can build up brand communities using support forums, blogs and social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Bloggers can do the same, build a community around their blog, add forums, and connect to readers on Facebook, Twitter and else where.

Jeremy Schoemaker, better known as Shoemoney, is a blogger, and an "online community organizer". He's got over 20.000 subscribers to his blog and over 5.000 followers on Twitter. Last week he announced a competition on his blog where the price is a trip to the ThinkTank 2008 in San Diego, a non-conference gathering with the top names in SEO and Internet Marketing. The event is "by invitation only" so not everybody can attend. He proofed the power of community organizing when he submitted his post to Sphinn - a digg-like bookmarking community of internet marketing professionals, owned by another powerful online community organizer, Danny Sullivan.

Shoemoney tweeted it asking people to sphinn his story and 14 of his followers retweeted it. Within 20 minutes it went hot and made the front page of Sphinn. But there was a clash of communities when several sphinn users objected and the post was removed from Sphinn. Some mean that Shoemoney is exploiting his community. But isn't this what social media marketing is all about? Building up a strong community, (which doesn't happen unless people think you or your brand are worth it) and then reaping the benefits? I'd say it is.

So, my conclusion is that being a community organizer is probably one of the best assets you can have today, both in marketing and elsewhere.

Update: Jesus Christ and Mahatma Gandhi have both been removed from the Wikipedia list of famous community organizers. Hmm...

Hjörtur

ps. Talking about that competition, here are the reasons why you should invite me to the ThinkTank, Jeremy:

- I will not be teaching you any SEO programming secrets, but I should be able to tell you a lot about social media and branding.

- I'm an anthropologist and might share with you my vision on the future of the internet, the future of business and where our society is developing and put it all in context.

- I can share with you my link baiting and buzz making strategies.

- I'm working on a book on social media marketing (but it's still not public, so don't tell anyone) so other participants might get their case into the book.

- I'm a new, fresh breeze into the industry and no one is fed up with my speeches at conferences ;)

- I'm from Iceland and I bet there are not many who attend who actually met a real person from Iceland ;)

- I put you in the same category as Jesus Christ, Barack Obama and Mahatma Ghandi in the post above ;)

Why I want to go?
- Because winter is starting here in Iceland
- Because I bet I can learn a bunch
- And I finally get to meet some of my network in person

PR Rule of Thumb

Some say today it's all about PR becasue advertising is dead. Others say PR people are just adding to the noise in journalists' inboxes and burning start-up money. I guess it depends on your own skills and the skills of the "professional".

What it all comes down to, is the same as in marketing, blogging, internet marketing and actually, anything else you do. Content is king. The quality of what you do is the breaker (if you manage to get someone to look at it).

Jason Calacanis (of Mahalo) wrote an excellent post on "How to get PR for your start-up company". The unbeatable value of picking up the bill. I highly recommend that reading. In short, it's about the importance of building up your network with journalists and helping them out so that they help you out later on. The same as with social media (maybe traditional media is more social than we've realized). But I guess you do need to be a certain character to pull it of. A people's person. But if you follow Calacanis advice, you should get covered.

Seth Godin wrote another post on the "Myth of launch PR". The "Big bang" strategy is what most try to achieve. But if you don't get on the cover of Time in first try, don't despair. There's also the "long tail" of PR. If you've got the quality, the right product or service, people will notice and the word will spread, both in media and outside. Just like Apple, Linux, Google, Starbucks, Harry Potter, Wikipedia and so many others.

Now, I've never got any formal training in PR, but I am a successful link baiter. And I look at what I write from the perspective of the reader, not the company trying to get coverage. While the manager probably focuses on getting all the necessary information into the press release I use a method I picked up in anthropology. Thinking like the subject. I pick out what is interesting for the reader, not the submitter. What is it that is new, different, revolutionary as well as human and personal (and if there's nothing, create it). That's the focus of the story. The information about your new product, company or service is only like the platform or scenery for your story but not what carries it on (unless you've really got a revolutionary product). Just don't forget to keep the vital information in your press release - who, where, what, when and why and a link to more information.

To sum it up - content is king! Also in PR. People like to read interesting stories, so tell them one.

Hjörtur

Proud To Be Gay-Friendly

We had Reykjavik Gay Pride a few days ago. The festival started a few years ago and has been growing very fast. This year, the focus was on same sex families, gay adoption and gay marriages. Since the Gay Pride started here, the gay/lesbian society has come far in fighting for their rights. About 40.000 people, gay, lesbian and straight, participated this year, which is quite many, considering only 300.000 people live in Iceland.

For me, I don't really understand that gays and lesbians need to fight for their rights. Or rather, I don't understand how a modern society can accept laws where gays and lesbians have different rights from others. But I'm not writing this post to debate that.

There's one thing I would like to share with you that caught my attention on that day. It's an ad that was published in the countries largest newspaper.

"Queen of The Skies" is the title

An Icelandic airline proudly advertises that one of their stewardesses was just crowned Drag queen of the year in Iceland. Below they announce that they are a proud sponsor of Samtokin 78 - The National Queer Organisation and of the International Gay Football Tournament in Iceland in April 2009.

And the reaction? I spoke to the marketing manager and she said they got quite a few calls because of the ad, all but one with positive feedback. While many companies realize how much value the gay market can have, they are not as many who shout out loud that they are gay friendly.

I'm interested in knowing what you would think the reaction would be in your society? Can you imagine a company publishing an ad like that? Has it been done?

Do you know examples of similar ads where a company takes a strong stand on a debated issue? I would love to know.

Update: I asked my network on LinkedIn what the reaction would be in their society and got some interesting answers. You can check them out here!

Hjörtur

ps. before you send me more love letters, I just like to make it clear that I'm both happily married and straight :)

There's more coming up, so feel free to subscribe to my feed or share via StumbleUpon, digg, Sphinn, del.icio.us or elsewhere.

Yes, Social Media Marketing Does Matter!

Peter Kim asks some interesting questions on his blog beingpeterkim. One of them is "Does Social Media Marketing Matter?"

To see if it matters, you can take the test and measure your score. In the test he has some excellent examples of social media success and fiasco. There is one problem with the whole thing though. It is a bit like asking if this ad that was published here or there got you to buy this or that to measure the impact of advertising. If you ask people, majority of them will reply that advertising does not affect their buying behaviour. Still, years of research have shown that ads really do affect our buying behaviour. Yes, we trust recommendations from friends the most, but ads still have influence (though it seems to be rapidly declining).

It doesn't work in the way that we buy a product after seeing a single ad or after single interaction with a brand in social media. That's the exception. You need to see ads repeatedly for them to sink in, and you need to interact repeatedly with a brand through social media channels to build up relationships and trust. And that's what social media is about, building relationships and trust and reinforcing the brand. Social media is the perfect medium for that. And you do that by listening more than anything else. When you have built trust, you come much closer to equal recommendations from a personal friend, as we have discussed in my post "Do You Trust a Blogger".

We can take a look at his test and I'll give my view on the questions:

+3 points:

• Switched cable, internet, or phone providers after Comcast Must Die or Sleeping Technician
No, but if I were to switch, this might very likely influence my decision
• Bought a brand other than Nikon after the blogger campaign
Don't know that one
• Bought shoes from Zappos after interacting on Twitter
I'm much more likely to take them to consideration, yes.
• Bought a Blendtec blender
Don't know this one.

+2 points:

• Stopped shopping at Target after the Times Square billboard
Nope, but their disrespect to me as a blogger results in less loyalty. I'm not willing to go through as much effort to shop at Target as before.
• Stopped shopping at Wal-Mart after the fake blog
Nope, but I probably won't trust any bloggers blogging about Wal-Mart for a long time.
• Switched laptops after reading about Dell Hell
I'm a Mac guy and don't expect that to change. But if I were to buy a PC, this would go into the evaluation of a Dell versus another brand.
• Purchased a Kodak product after reading posts from their chief blogger
Don't read their blog, but if I heard about something interesting there, sure.

+1 point:

• Subscribed to a magazine after joining its Facebook group
If I see that all my friends are in the group, I would probably wonder if it wasn't time I subscribed too.
• Eaten at McDonald's after reading their corporate social responsibility blog
It sure makes me feel that my money is better spent then I would otherwise feel, so it raises my price tolerance.




• Booked a flight on Southwest or Delta after reading their blogs
Nope, but it would get me to include them in my price checking.
• Booked a hotel stay at Starwood or Marriott after reading their blogs
Nope, but it would get me to include them in my price checking.

-2 points for any of the following:

• Became a regular viewer of Aqua Teen Hunger Force after the "bomb scare"
Nope, but it did make me curious so if I would have come across an episode, I would have checked it out.
• Bought Doritos after the consumer-generated Super Bowl ad
Nope, but if I would have been one of those generating the ads, I sure would have.
• Joined Facebook after hearing about it on your local evening news
Very unlikely.
• Bought a Sony PSP as a Christmas 2006 gift anyway
Sure.
• Have ever been Rickroll'd
Actually, I have never been Rickroll'd

So how'd you score? Check out BeingPeterKim to see what your score should tell you.

While Peter Kim's article does raise some interesting questions and discussions, it's not realistic, because it assumes that the success we should be measuring is direct sales. While I agree that increasing sales is the marketers end goal, I don't think that it means it should be the goal of social media marketing nor the meter to measure. In both the + points and the - points, it is not enough alone to make me decide whether to buy or not, but it is likely to influence my decision.

So the most important question it leaves us with is how we should measure success of social media marketing. Do we measure sales that links we share in social media generates? Number of subscribers or friends added? Customer service issues solved through social media? Or good tips on improving service and product development that we get?

What metrics do you use to measure your success of social media marketing?

Hjörtur

ps. remember to subscribe to my feed, if you haven't already. You are also welcome to share on Facebook, digg, StumbleUpon or your blog (just remember to link back).

Selling School To My Children

Yesterday was first day at school. My third child was starting school for the first time (in Iceland they start at the age of 6) and she had really been looking forward to it. First day at school is a big day in each child's life and we tried to make the most of it. She had new clothes on and new shoes, her new school bag and all supplies in place. It was a great day.

Our children have a very positive attitude towards school and that's something we actively try to build up. We had our first four children while we were ourselves still in school, and the first three while we were both in school, so our oldest children are used to seeing us in school. When we were freaking out on school we made sure that our kids wouldn't notice so they wouldn't start hating school even before they started. They should know it can be hard, and that you need to work hard, but they should never hear us curse it.

Every morning we set the tone for the day at school. We don't rush them out in stress, they always eat breakfast and I say good bye to them each day by saying "Have fun in school today".

So they know school is a place where you're supposed to really enjoy the day. Then it's just up to the school to live up to it.

Hjörtur

War 2.0: Digital Fronts in The Georgian Conflict

Russia invaded Georgia last Friday. The Russian army has been moving fast getting control of South-Ossetia and Abkhasia and is moving further in direction to the capital, Tblisi. Now, let's look at a few facts:

Georgia is a European country in the South-East corner of Europe. It used to belong to the Soviet Union but is independent now. It has a democratically elected government and president, Sakashvili and has applied for membership in NATO.

South-Ossetia is populated by 90% Russian ethnic people. They want independence from Georgia which is what Georgia was trying to prevent. The Russians say the same is happening here, as was happening in Kosovo, and therefore the West is being hypo critic supporting Georgia on this one and Kosovo in the other.

Russia's military force is by far superior to the Georgian military force. Russia has about 1200 fighter jets but Georgia has only 7. Russia has about 7.000 tanks while Georgia has 82.

So does Georgia have a chance? In direct military conflict - No. That would just be an unnecessary bloodshed. But they can still "win the war". Iceland won the Cod wars in the fifties and the seventies against the UK, and Iceland doesn't even have an army! Georgia can apply the same strategy, referring to International laws, not obeying to the superior force even though they can not fight back, and that is what they are doing. By offering ceasefire from day one, withdrawing the army from the conflict and calling for international diplomatic assistance they put strong diplomatic pressure on Russia. By continuing Russia is not just dealing with Georgia, it is risking their diplomatic relationship with the European Union, the US and the former Soviet Republics surrounding it. This is where the PR war is fought and on this front Georgia is doing a lot better. Internationally at least. Domestically Russia seems to be doing an excellent PR job proofing that Russia is still a superpower, proofing that if the west supports unilateral separation of Kosovo from Serbia, Russia can support unilaterally the separation of South Ossetia from Georgia.

In the PR fight, authenticity matters, just as in social media marketing. Here Russia also seems to be doing a worse job, saying they are withdrawing when they are advancing, saying they want the regime removed and that they don't. Georgia has had some problems here to, as on what they were doing to the Russians in South-Ossetia before the invasion, but less discrepancies have been proved there.

Another front in the war is the digital front. Mashable published an interesting article earlier today where they tell about hacker attacks on Georgian institutions that seem to be coming from Russian hackers. Estonia experienced similar attacks in 2005 when they had a "dispute" with Russia. Having good military defense seems to be not only on the physical borders, but on the digital front as well, guaranteeing information security and continuous uptime of their databases, computer systems and protecting their information assets. Therefore, the foreign ministry has moved their hosting to Estonia and civil.ge, the national news site, has moved their site to a Google Blogspot domain. Georgia has even got Estonian cyberdefense advisors to help fight the hacker attacks.

We haven't seen the war spreading into social media yet, but the next move in the war 2.0 might be a blogger or a twitter account reporting directly from the life within the conflict zone and getting sympathy for your cause. Let's hope it wont be long enough for that to develop.

Hjörtur