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    rmstark
    Linking and Thinking

    There’s something about being in a room full of passionate people.

    I was reminded of that last week, when I attended my first Linking Indy Women event Wednesday morning. These gatherings are held monthly as a way for women of all ages to get together, network and listen to one person share her story. As you guys might’ve noticed, I’m all about hearing other people’s stories and soaking up anything inspirational. So when my friend told me about this group (thanks, Aileen!), I knew I had to go.

    I must admit, rolling myself out of bed at 5:30 involved a significant inner struggle. But once I stepped into the Speakeasy – an incredibly cool workspace for entrepreneurs in Indy – I got a burst of energy. (Yeah, the coffee probably helped, too.) Around 80 women filled the room, and each one of them woke up extra early to learn something and meet someone new. Awesome.

    Jenny Vance was that day’s speaker. She founded LeadJen, a multimillion-dollar lead-generation services company in Indianapolis, and is just weeks away from launching PlanSoon, a social network connecting people by their shared interests. I already signed up to be a PlanSoon Pioneer — meaning I’ll always get the service free. Never know when or where I might need a rock climbing or running buddy! Check out the website to learn more.

    Here are a few insights I took away from Jenny’s talk:

    1.   Never rule out an opportunity. Jenny said throughout college she focused her energy on the sports industry, but as graduation neared and she was still jobless, she decided to widen her scope. She told herself she’d do anything except tech and inside sales. What did she end up landing? A job doing inside sales for a tech firm. Clearly, things worked out.

    2.  Everyone has self-doubt. Jenny talked about the manic depressive-like highs and lows that came with running her company. Accept that it will be a roller coaster, take time for yourself, and just keep going.  

    3.  Some people can work until the wee hours of the morning. Others need to unplug. Know how you best work, and respect that.

    Happy Monday, all!

    #linking indy women #networking
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      e-brenda
      Talker Profile for P&G Laundry Detergents

      1. Who are the talkers?

      • Moms
      • Bloggers whose topics include topics that are related to the home
      • Employees who love the products that they work on

      2. What are the characteristics of the talkers?

      • Want to do what is best for their families
      • Want to offer tips and tricks to make other people’s lives easier
      • Love laundry and conquering the stains

      3. What are they talking about?

      • Messes
      • Uses for the products other than what they are designed for
      • Successes/Failures of using the products
      • Daily Life
      • Organization

      4. To whom are they talking?

      • Each other
      • Bloggers talk to their followers and anyone who stumbles upon their blog
      • To the company with feedback about the products

      5. How do you contact the talkers?

      • Directly through e-mail and snail mail
      • Via the Facebook pages for the products
      • By posting on the blogs or contacting the blogger directly
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        morgangoldsmith
        WOMM- Talker Profile: Primary Care Practice

        WHO THEY ARE: Happy Talkers, Eager Employees, Online Talkers, Listeners, Professionals

        Happy Talkers: past, present, and brand new patients- individuals of all ages, parents, older adults, people in the same neighborhood as the practice

        Eager Employees: medical practice personnel- MD’s, Registered Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, Medical Technicians, supportive services- medical device reps and pharmaceutical reps

        Online Talkers: people (current and past patients/employees etc.) who post reviews about the practice online

        Listeners: people who subscribe to medical practice blog or newsletter, individuals that forward newsletters and different types of correspondance 

        Professionals: affiliated medical groups , community health organizations, professional organizations- AAP (American Academy of Family Physicians)

        CHARACTERISTICS: Community members that have a CONNECTION to the medical practice. This may be a connection as a result of personal care received or knowledge of how a friend/relative/co-worker was cared for.  These are individuals that have either grown up going to to the practice or have been affiliated with the practice establishing  some sort of personnel connection.  These individuals may also be members of the medical community (fellow medical practices, medical personnel etc.) that want to be able to promote the practice because they BELIEVE in the practice.  

        THEY TALK TO: Family, Friends, Co-Workers, Professionals, local medical community

        HOW TO CONTACT THEM:  All types of office visits (routine, unscheduled, emergent), newsletters (online and paper), follow up phone calls, email correspondence, community events held by practice

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          nategerstle
          Scott Stratten @ the New South Digital Marketing Conference - March 2012

          Scott Stratten is the President of Un-Marketing and his keynote at the New South Digital Marketing Conference earlier this year was an excellent take on why brands should stop simply broadcasting their message and start having a dialogue instead.

          “It’s all about positioning yourself as a trusted expert in front of your target market, so when they have the need, they choose you.” – Scott Stratten

          Below is a summary of Scott’s major points:

          “Passive in person and aggressive online”
          • People are naturally prone to be conflict-adverse in-person, but have no qualms about going bananas once they sit in front of their computer and starting typing away. As a brand, it’s important to remember this as a ton of consumer feedback will be displayed online – and not all of it will be good!

          “To be great at customer service you only have to be average because everybody else sucks”
          • Using Scott’s Hartford Hilton Hotel example as reference, we can all relate to a business or brand failing to give us the experience we expected. The key is owning that failure and confronting it dead-on – this is where brands can truly differentiate themselves because so many businesses truly “suck” at customer service.

          “Marketing is only good until you get to the door”
          • The lowest paid, front-line have to be able to do their job well as they are the interface between your business and your customer. If they fail to deliver the brand that was promised, even though they may only be a part-time employee, your brand image will be tarnished.
          • Making an investment in great front-line people is an important step in delivering your brand.

          “Just because we can use something digitally it doesn’t mean we should”
          • Pretty self-explanatory this one… If your brand message doesn’t translate well over digital media or you don’t have the expertise to use it properly, using digital media can be dangerous and harmful.

          “Don’t have presence without being present”
          • 95% of wall posts on brand pages never get answered – this is a great example of being a part of social media… not taking part.
          • 70% of tweets never get a reply… just another great example of how badly most business suck at digital media. If your business is going to be on Twitter and Facebook, then your presence has to have substance behind it!

          “Outrage doesn’t take a day off”
          • Social response is measured in minutes and hours, not days. If your customer base is unhappy, they are going to let you know immediately. Failing to respond to outrage and disappointment in a prompt manner shows uncertainty and a lack of caring.

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            e-brenda
            Important Points from Scott Stratten's Presentation

             1. People are passive in person but aggressive online. However, you’ll get raw,   honest feedback in real time if you pay attention to the on-line conversations.

             2. Everybody strives to suck less in the customer service realm.

             3. Bad experiences erode the brand and the relationship

             4. Care about your customers – when things go wrong, be awesome. Make the business look better than it did before the bad experience.

             5. Marketing is important. Businesses need brochures and other materials, but it’s only good until you get to the front door. Front line employees have more impact on digital.

             6. Being great is a reflection of in-person service. Marketing is a verb. Companies are always marketing.

             7. What we say and do is a brand. Customers will define the brand by their perceptions.

             8. Passion and knowledge exceed almost anything in business.

             9. People can learn about products and processes, but you can’t teach passion.

            10. Just because you don’t use it, doesn’t mean it isn’t good for business.

            11. Understand qr codes and match it to your audience and use it properly

                     a. Airplane, subway, bill boards, e-mails are not appropriate spots.

            12. Companies don’t have to use everything. Use what is relevant.

            13. Stop hindering people. Test out your messages on different platforms. If it is too hard to complete a transaction, customers will abandon it and revenue is lost.

            14. Social media amplifies everything

            15. Don’t use it if you don’t have time or if you hate people interacting with people. You have to be involved on a consistent basis for it to work.

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              morgangoldsmith
              The Power of "Un-Marketing"

              Scott Sratten, author of Un-Marketing, provides insightful examples of how to effectively utilize social media within a business setting.  Companies must “stop marketing, (and) start engaging” their customers to truly understand their specific client base.  Stratten states that, “95% of comments made by customers on brand walls aren’t getting any sort of acknowledgement or response from the actual business”.  Acknowledgement and recognition of customer comments (both positive and negative) need to be part of a company’s  social media strategy.

              “To be great in digital, you must first be great in person”.  Know your company.  Know your brand.  Most importantly, know your customer.  This doesn’t mean that all social media platforms will be right for all companies and target markets.  By choosing the correct platforms to focus on, companies are providing their client base with even more opportunity to form a lasting relationship with the organization.  Regularly monitoring and interacting on these platforms is absolutely essential to the success of the organization. For this reason alone, companies want to choose platforms in which their customers (not the just the company itself) feel comfortable utilizing as a means of communication.  

              Engagement and interaction are critical components of effective social media strategies that create lasting client relationships.

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