One of the things that we learn very early on in the communications industry is of the existence of a trend pattern. It goes by many different names, but we call it the 80/20 Factor. In a nutshell, it states that at any given time in our industry, 80% of design and communications will not be as strategically correct or well executed as the smaller 20% of work that is truly relevant and appealing to its target audience. (more…)
Archive for the ‘Never Stop Learning’ Category
Great Design & Communication Is All About the People
Tuesday, October 18th, 2011Make Your Tradeshow a Sales Success!
Monday, October 3rd, 2011‘Tis the season… Fall and Spring host a lot of Tradeshows. They may seem old-fashioned but it’s still a great way to get in front of a specific group of people. However, many companies spend pots of money to participate, but miss the key ingredients to making the entire investment a success. Yes, it increases your overall cost, but you’re much more likely to get a return on investment if you do these five things. (more…)
Getting Your Team Onboard With Your Brand
Monday, August 29th, 2011We hear many people express frustration that their employees, particularly their salespeople don’t utilize the brand properly. They don’t see the point; they use the Word default instead of the corporate font. They don’t like the brochures so just don’t take them, or there’s cowboys who go off and create their own brochure. It’s frustrating when you’ve put a lot of money and effort into creating the brand and materials. (more…)
What Are Proprietary Websites?
Thursday, November 4th, 2010In it’s most basic form, it’s a website built with closed-source technology that the developer owns and 
controls. You essentially license it and often continually pay for access to it, and that access is very limited.
The more common ones were originally developed to answer a very real demand. A few years ago businesses began requesting the ability to update their websites themselves. This meant building a user-friendly interface for them to do it through. Because it was new, they had to be custom built, which was costly and buggy. A few savvy companies popped-up with content management systems and frameworks to build websites on.
Otherwise, there are companies who built frameworks and technology to make the websites they build better in some way or easier for them to build and manage internally. The client doesn’t necessarily benefit from it as a feature.
The Problem With Them?
- Can be more difficult to get changes made.
- You can’t take it with you if you decide to leave their service.
- Limitations on frameworks often don’t allow for custom design or much growth.
- Limited access makes support difficult for in-house IT.
- What if they get hit by a bus? If they go out of business, there is no support.
What’s Out There Now?
These days there are open-source solutions for content management out there supported by large communities that are very flexible. Examples are WordPress and Drupal, both of which also have many useful widgets and modules like e-commerce, client login areas, polls, event management, etc. The modules and widgets still need to be customized to your needs and design, but it’s much less expensive to add include in a web project.
Deciding on a Web Company
Know what you’re buying. Before committing to the project, make sure the coded site will belong to you once you’ve paid your bill. You should be able to take it elsewhere and not have to have them make changes if you wish. You don’t want to do all that work and then not have rights to it.
Also, make sure you have control of your domain and hosting account. It’s not uncommon for web companies to set these accounts up and manage them year after year, but make sure they do it in your name, you have all the access codes, and the whois lookup for your domain has your contact information.
Building a Great Team with Rapport
Friday, July 9th, 2010Hiring – especially for the first time – can be one of the scariest moves as an entrepreneur. Rapport currently has nine crew on top of me, and the dog. I’ve had a lot of experience with this and, though was lucky to find really great people, learned a few things along the way.
This is one of the top things other entrepreneurs ask me for advice on. My top tips are:
- Try prospects out on a project or two before committing.
- Define the need/position first, then find the right person.
- Personality and ‘fit’ into culture is as important as skill.
- Be open to them doing things differently then you and let them shine.
Try People as Freelancers Before Hiring
My very first hire was Art Director Lisa, who is still with me today. I absolutely could not have built the company without her. I was fortunate to work on a project with her old boss and friend of mine
Mondo Lulu, and got to know her through him. Then, as he started scaling back she began freelancing for me. I knew her design style, her work ethic, that her strengths complemented mine, and that we got along like old friends. My only hesitation hiring her full-time was sustaining her pay. When I had the need with a large project and knew I could keep her busy for three months I asked her to come full time – that was six years ago.
Since then I’ve been fortunate enough to try most people out on a contract basis before making a commitment. Not just to see the quality of their work, but to get a taste of their working style and personality. If it doesn’t work out, it’s tough on both sides, so this is a really great way to try each other on for size.
What Kind of Help Do You Really Need?
My second hire was a newborn designer, and a big mistake. I was still doing all the admin work myself and felt I didn’t have enough time to do all that and my design work. I thought I needed another designer and the recent grad was cheap. I found I still didn’t have time to get anything done 
and was also now babysitting this kid. So, I let him go and hired an administrative person. Pamela was a God-send. This was my first pure overhead employee – unlike Lisa who generated revenue. But, Pamela took the work I liked least off my shoulders, did it better than me and freed me up to do what I was really good at and made good money for.
Besides hiring for the wrong role, it’s also a mistake to hammer a job around someone you ‘like’. I now determine what roles we really need to fill against goals for the company, then create detailed job descriptions around them to use in my search.
Don’t Underestimate the Power of the Culture You’ve Built
Our team recently did a colours test with our business consultants, Your Planning Partners. Seven out of 10 came in as blue or the ‘Relationship Way’ first. We varied on what came second (Action, Organized, Logical), and that was reflected in skills and roles. What it told me was the team strongly embodied the Rapport values of being laid-back, friendly, relationship-oriented, client-focussed and a close family that got us our name. This culture started with me, gained 
momentum with early people like Lisa, and continues today in the people we attract. Skills in relation to the role you’re filling are incredibly important, but if a really talented person doesn’t fit our friendly, collaborative culture they don’t belong at Rapport.
It’s important to have more than one of you meet with prospects. From a practical standpoint, I had Senior Web Developer Noel, do initial interviews with junior web developer prospects to make sure he had the skills needed. Then I met the recommended finalists to make sure they fit in and talk money. We added the ‘social interview’ with new guy Nick, where he joined the crew for drinks to get everyone’s feel for him. We are a very social bunch, and it’s a very big deal day after day if someone just doesn’t fit in socially. I think I’ll continue that tradition.
Define Your Values, Be Open to New Things
There is always more than one way to skin a cat. I find this most evident with web developers as their logical nature means they always question the way the other guy did it. But, it’s the same with design, processes and which way the toilet paper goes on. It’s important to define the standards expected for the end result as well as the practical processes that run the business, than make these consistent across the board. However, you’ve hired people to complement what you do, let them. This may mean everything from different journeys to great design, to suggestions that improve workflow.
We’ve defined our vision, mission and values, which I share with the company repeatedly. Resulting details include things like design and web standards, or the project management process we’ve developed. The key is sharing it with the whole team, getting their input, then giving them flexibility within to do their thing.
This makes for a much stronger and more dedicated team than if I insisted everything was done my way.
How to Ask for Feedback
Monday, June 14th, 2010At lunch today, my favourite writer told me a story about a client of ours whom she worked with while I was on vacation. She’s writing his brochure. After initial direction was approved, then a couple of back-and-forths between them, he took the draft to his advisory board for 
feedback. He got so many and such varied responses his head was spinning and couldn’t sleep that night.
We encourage clients to run their creative by an advisory board or, even better, ideal clients at exactly the stage our client did. However, if you simply say “what do you think,” the question is too open-ended. Here are some tips on how to get the most useful input.
This applies to anything from logos, to web design to any kind of content.
Give Them Some Background
Tell them who the audience is, how it will be used and what you were trying to achieve. For example, it’s going to a specific audience like financial controllers in large corporations (very different than the head of HR at a smaller company). It will be handed out at a tradeshow and you’re hoping to get meetings out of it. Also, tell them what specific result you are after, if applicable, like getting them to call directly versus sign-up through your website.
It helps to give a bit of background on your discussions with the creative team involved as well, like what led to the format or approach taken This may eliminate a lot of questions that can have you second-guessing yourself. Like ‘why didn’t you just do a tri-fold brochure’? You could pre-empt it by saying ‘we discussed doing a tri-fold brochure but realized it would be inserted into large folders and we also wanted to email it so…’
Consider sharing some of the market research that was done to help put it in context, like ‘client interviews indicated what’s most important to them is ______’
Create a List of Specific Questions
What about the piece is important to you – that a certain message get across? That people 
take a specific action at the end? That it builds a feeling of trust and stability or makes people feel warm and fuzzy? Use this as a guideline to come up with specific questions. Like, ‘did it make you feel warm and fuzzy?’ Same goes for concerns you have – ‘or did it seem too corporate’.
Also think about what you are sure of and don’t intend to change when framing questions. If you definitely like the design but are not sure about the colour, ask them specifically ‘what do you think of the colour?’ Tell them what message you are trying to convey and ask them if they get that from the design or copy. If not what did they get from it?
Broad Questions Are Okay
‘If you had one impression from this piece what was it?’
However, you may want to have follow-up questions ready. If you want it to convey that your services are delivered quickly because of the technology you’ve developed, and they got that, you could ask something like ‘but does it make our service sound cheap because it’s so fast?’
Make the Most of Your Community
Asking for feedback from people who represent your ideal clients or peers you trust for business advice is a great idea. Just prepare for it and know you may get some conflicting 
input. Don’t be reluctant to ask – most people feel privileged that you value their opinion.
Social media provides additional ways to get objective, anonymous and/or professional feedback. You can ask for feedback via the major channels like Twitter and LinkedIn, but there are also great places, both free, like Get Satisfaction or User Voice and professional/paid like EntreBahn (full version coming soon)
PS. It’s a great way to get a little social media exposure too.
Then What?
The best thing to do is gather the feedback and go over it with your creative team, who should be completely open to that. We’d discuss each bit, hold it against the creative brief and objectives, decide what’s important and what’s not, and make some executive decisions.
Blogging for Professional Services: Make a Plan and Make it Easy
Tuesday, May 18th, 2010Life Before Blogging
Before blogging, lawyers, accountants and consultants left the marketing work to the marketers. Yes, the management team would work with the marketing team to determine what the firm should stand for and be best at, but beyond that, there was little to do but wait for the marketing campaign to start.
Life After Blogging
Based on the need for “top 5” placement for search, suddenly, every website needs a blog to protect its rankings. And who would be better equipped to do a blog than a professional services firm? Professional services firms are full of subject matter experts that can gain interest and help clients and prospects by blogging about the things that their clients care about.
Except those same experts are often getting paid $500- $1,000 an hour (or more) to do client work. And if the marketing budget includes internal time…things can get really expensive, quickly. Or if the professionals in the firm don’t think blogging helps build business, the challenges can be even greater.
To significantly increase your chances of getting great blog content from your internal experts make it as easy as possible by using the following techniques.
Top 5 Techniques to Get Your Best Bloggers Blogging
- Get buy-in. There is no use even starting a blog unless your subject matter experts agree that a blog can and will help build business. A blog is
one of the most easily accessible lines of communication a company has, providing exposure to people that actually care about what your experts have to say. People that could easily become future clients. - Solicit help from subject matter experts that are good at writing and communication. Willingness and talent are two different things. If your experts are keen, but not very good at articulating their views, the time spent getting a decent blog post can increase exponentially. If your most expensive talent can create a blog post in 15 minutes, versus someone less adept taking several hours, go for the quick hit.
- Create a master plan for the year. How many blog posts should there be? How many contributors? Is there anything happening in your industry that will be big news during the course of the year? What other topics will gain interest, provide value, and help build awareness of your firm’s expertise?
- Make the “technical” side of blogging easy. Assign an internal proof reader (or hire an external). Provide coaching on how to do blog entries, or, if your experts are not at all technical, have someone technically oriented post the blog (or
outsource). Get your support team to find appropriate pictures. If all else fails, have your expert verbalize their opinions and have someone else write them down. Don’t forget to enhance the blog for search. That too can be outsourced. - Be clear about your objectives and celebrate your successes when those objectives are met. Are you trying to be one of the top 5 firms on a Google search for corporate lawyers in your market? Are you trying to gain clients through your website? Do you want your experts to be quoted in the press to build credibility? Whatever your objectives are, it is critical to keep people engaged and committed to making your corporate blog into a key source of information. That will only happen if there are goals, and you are achieving them.
The Accidental Entrepreneur
Thursday, May 6th, 2010The first question people most often ask me after they hear what I do is “how did you start your business?” They might be expecting an answer like; couldn’t work for other people anymore… took a huge risk… quit a cushy job and used my life savings. The truth is, I was laid-off from m
y last employer (now a competitor) after the dot-com bubble burst. At the time I was totally devastated and just looking for another full-time gig. A couple people suggested freelancing, and I thought they were nuts.
I showed my book to anyone who’d see me, and one day someone who liked what he saw but didn’t need help referred me to a friend of his called Neil. I called Ne
il, he asked me to come right away and stay the afternoon if he liked me. He liked me, I stayed, he had me back a couple more days. Then he made a proposal – if I was there and available to him (and only paid) as he needed me I could use the space and equipment for free to start my own business. I actually said no and did a short stint at a large agency, but left after only a week because I just didn’t fit there.
I went back to Neil and never looked back.
It was an awakening. I discovered a whole other side to myself. I was completely addicted to being independent and in control. It didn’t make me feel free to sleep in and work when I wanted like one might think, it made me wake up even earlier with no alarm clock. Although I really struggled financially my first year, I felt like I had more than when fully employed. May sound a little odd, but I was just happier.
It started with freelance work for Neil, then also some for a former colleague who’d started her own shop, then I got my first client. I was very lucky to have Neil’s advice and guidance early on. The value of learning from others’ experience is something I recognized and have used throughout my years in business.
Unfortunately Neil’s work started falling off and he didn’t know how to get more. We both became frustrated and spent too much time in dark booth at Betty’s (145 King St E).
The folks at Betty’s knew we were great but…
Then, I had my second awakening – no one was going to find us at Betty’s. I literally stepped out into the sunshine and looked for places to meet prospects. I discovered networking with CAWEE (member
for five years and serial board member) amongst others. I even started co-hosting a networking event which I found I loved. I had no idea that I was such an extrovert and loved meeting people. I had also discovered a great new peer group, who were not only in the same boat as I, but had the same underlying drive and guts that made us entrepreneurs.
The rest is history.
As Neil’s business faded away I began getting more and more of my own clients. Networking and relationship-building was a natural for me and soon momentum took over. As far as making the leap from worker bee to running a business, I was lucky to be eased into everything. I eventually had to lease a computer, then start paying for a phone, then some internet, then some rent. Eventually Neil left and I took over the whole space. I didn’t take out any loans, write a business plan or invest in swanky office space, I just leapt and figured it out. I didn’t set out to build what I have today, but I took the opportunities I recognized, was compelled to move forward, to build. I learned as I went. Life had thrown me a detour and I found something even better.
Stay tuned for lesson 1: Hiring.
BTW, Neil is doing much better, is much happier now running the studio at a large organization.
They used to say it takes seven points of contact to make a sale…
Tuesday, April 20th, 2010These days that number is much higher due to the massive amounts of sales messages we see in email and on the web. Even in the B2B space – there are lots of newsletters and Google ads, LinkedIn messages, blog posts, etc. Even if that number is now 50, the key is still the same: the more and more kinds of points of contact the better.
What are points of contact?
Any time or way in which someone comes into contact with your company. Including: business card, networking, call from your office, newsletter, website, they see you speak, an ad, blog posts, articles you write, Twitter messages, etc.
The reason I say the more kinds the merrier is because, for example: if they met you once and only continue to receive your company newsletter, it gets monotonous an
d they start ignoring it. Meanwhile, if they also see an ad, an update pops-up on LinkedIn, then notice you’re speaking as an expert, or spot your brochure on a colleagues desk, then get the newsletter again; suddenly you are top of mind for whatever you do. Plus, you provide more opportunities for them to sell you to decision makers and more ways to refer you (ex: send your newsletter to a peer). You provide more opportunities for them to see your brilliance and understand all of what you do.
I want to do something bold!
This is what a very action-oriented and adventurous client said to me. Doing a specific campaign, something one-time and flashy i
s great for bringing people into your funnel – the most fun projects for Rapport actually. However, if you succeed in bringing people in, then what? You need to have other points of contact ready to go to keep them engaged and coming back, or leading them to your pre-sale action step. For this particular client once she brings them in en masse, she needs to build trust with them to move to the next step in the buying cycle, so we have to make sure mechanisms for doing that are there to support the initial big effort.
Sounds like a lot of money and effort.
This is also why variety is good. The best thing to make it easier is include items that happen more automatically and can impact a large number of people at once, like a newsletter. The second thing is to decide what marketing things you’re going 
to do and then plan and budget for them over a quarter, if not a year. An action plan really makes things much less daunting.
Remember, if you don’t plan for and support one effort with other points of contact, you’re probably wasting time and money on the first one anyway.
Bring all that marketing together.
Be strategic and smart. Spend your time and money wisely by planning, making sure you’re talking to ideal clients in the right way, but also by ensuring all your points of contact are leading prospects on a consistent and compelling path towards your pre-sale action step. Rapport has developed a great tool for helping you do this: the Rapport Marketing Map.
