Archive for October, 2009
One Day in the Life of a Brave Marcom Writer!
Hello,
Today’s a surreal day for me. As the old saying goes, “what doesn’t kill me, only makes me stronger.”
I’m back, after a year’s sabbatical. Lot’s of moving around, visiting, exploring myself and the world … trying to discover what I want to do/be next.
Yet, I’m still a writer, copywriter and author. I write. I study people and life. And I write about it. I’m also an Elf, as I discovered on a little test I took on Facebook. Pretty cool. 
The surreality I refer to is the happenings in my life of late. It’s one of those things that others would find too hard to believe, unless they saw it close up — or had some experience of the same sorts.
Are you ready for this? The dominoes started to fall, with a speeding ticket a month ago. This was quickly followed by my getting the dreaded ‘boot’ on my car, while parked downtown Fredericksburg, VA on a recent summer’s eve.
The police drive around, taking pictures that feed into a database of offenders. My offense? Failing to report to the Commissioner of Revenues that I’d moved out of the city last year.
They still had me on their books, and I owed ‘09 property taxes. My, everyone’s getting really aggressive about collecting. Have you noticed that, yet? You will.
Next shoe to drop was my garnished bank account, by a large credit card company. No ‘due process,’ so I wasn’t allowed to tell my side of the story to a judge. No, Virginia is one of the few states that allow this kind of ‘Gestapo’ treatment of its citizenry.
All my money … gone! In one fail swoop, without warning. Gone. And that included the reimbursement of funds, taken by the ‘boot’ company. And everything else that came into my account, before I had a chance to stop it.
Oh, and let’s not forget hefty bank charges for insufficient funds for some auto-payments that I couldn’t stop in time — or even remember.
And what can I do about it? Well, I’ve petitioned the court for a hearing, so am waiting to see if I’ll get my day in court.
Have you ever tried to exist, without any money and NO bank account? Everything I do is online, so now I can’t pay for anything online, nor can I even have my PayPal account anymore, so clients can pay me!
Yes, this is America. So, not only can one’s assets be seized by city, state and Federal Governments — the credit card companies can do it, too.
Following this interesting, little adventure … next, a water pipe burst in the basement, where my office is located. My laptop didn’t make it, but my printer survived. I’d preferred the other way around. Not sure about my fax, yet.
My granddaughters were here, visiting, through these various fiascoes. What a time to have all your money seized!
Oh, silly me. I almost forgot. To add more insult to injury … the gauntlet finally fell on my new site.
For months, I’ve been trying to get a certain SEO company to finish my new site. Promises, stalls, more promises, more stalls. And, finally, the truth: It wasn’t going to get done. It baffles me that people don’t keep their word anymore.
So, this writer is having a lazy, rainy Saturday. I think it’s all just now sinking in. It’s really quite a jolt to the ole system, let me tell you.
If it’s true that what doesn’t kill me, only makes me stronger, I should be strong as steel by now. Aahh, yes, this too shall pass. I know it always does.
And, I’ll have a little bit more experience to add to my already rich set of experiences to assist me in understanding the human condition. Without going through some of these hard times myself, I wouldn’t be able to connect with those who have.
I wouldn’t be the person I am.
You know, I’m not sure anymore, but I used to think I created everything in my life, in order to learn. If this is true, it really sucks! However, it certainly gives me a depth of understanding and empathy I would not otherwise possess.
I am grateful. I’m still standing. I’m still smiling. I understand.
Yours in understanding,
Carolyn
Do Your Marketing Messages Really Connect with Your Customers, in a Way They Can Feel?
It’s no secret to anyone that we’re living in a BAD U.S. economy. And I’m sure that most businesses recognize they have to communicate with their customers or prospects differently.
Are you acutely aware of how to craft your marketing messages, in order to show your audience/s that you DO understand what’s changed in their lives over the past 18 months or so?
It seems pretty apparent, even in some ‘affluent’ circles that folks are tightening their financial belts, right? So, when times are hard for so many, they respond quite differently to your messages than they used to.
For instance, most everyone is more cautious nowadays — they want to be SURE they’re dealing with someone trustworthy. So BE that.
Also, consumers must be more ‘quality-focused,’ because they want to buy things that will last longer. BE quality.
Millions of Americans are focused on necessities now and foregoing the luxuries. So what do you do, as a marketer, if your products or services are things that most people CAN do without?
Hard question, isn’t it? But, maybe you’ll want to beef up your guarantee. Or, you could give more than you used to. Maybe do some 2 for 1 offers, if it fits your business model.
Showing your clients, customers or prospects you care, by asking their opinions, and really listening, is another great way to connect with them on an emotional level they can feel.
Everyone wants to feel understood. But, now more than ever, it’s imperative to show your audience you understand and are sympathetic to their challenges — and you’re doing something about it, if at all possible!
Let’s all BE the Change we want to SEE in the world.
Carolyn
Do You Know Your Customers’ “WHY”?
Do you, as a marketer, take time to find out what’s important to your customers or prospective customers?
Do you know their ‘why’?
Why do they do what they do?
Why do they think what they think?
Why do they feel the way they feel?
I think today, more than ever before, marketers must take care to learn AS much about their customers as possible … and address their needs and wants in a way they can see that you care about them, as people.
Just because you may have the latest and greatest widget, in your opinion, because it does so many more things than your closest competitor’s widget, doesn’t prove people will want yours more than your competitor’s.
The reason may be they believe all the bells and whistles on your newest widget just get in their way — they’re more of a nuisance than a help. Or, maybe they think (right or wrong) that the more gadgets on the widget, the more there is to go wrong!
You needed to have discovered what else they wanted in a new widget BEFORE trying to tell them how much they should want/need it, right?
Times are a changin’ with the advent of social media, depressed economy and a return to basics. So now, people are driving the market, instead of the market driving the people. That’s old school.
It’s imperative to ask your customers/prospects what they want and why it’s important to them. Very BIG companies, like ‘Big Blue,’ go down with a BIG thud, giving way to a company (like Dell), who gives the people what they want when they want it.
All of your marketing communications, your advertising and your social media presence need to have an ‘ask, not tell’ tenor to them. You need to listen to their needs and discover their ‘why,’ to be successful.
One way to do this is to create a two-way forum on your web site. They ask, you deliver. People will tell you what they think — just ask them!
Maybe a contest? That’s also a great way to get folks to participate in giving you information about why they want what they want.
Figure out what makes them tick — and satisfy their reason for wanting what they want.
Find out their ‘why.’
To making a difference,
Carolyn Permentier
