BWPrice's Marketing U

Steve Jobs Can, So Why Can't I?

I am manning an exhibit booth at a tax conference in Nashville.  One of the interesting things about being behind the exhibit table is people watching. (Before you jump all over me for "watching" instead of "engaging," I do plenty of both.  That's just part of the gig.)

The people I am watching are CPAs and/or attorneys.  Some come dressed in suits.  Some come in wrinkly jeans and ill-fitting polo shirts.  And then there is everything in between.  Certain people, by their dress and demeanor, draw others to them.  Some, again by their dress and demeanor, seem to build a wall around themselves. 

Folks, if you are in professional services, dress and act the part.  Even if you are with peers, how you present yourself is important.  For what it's worth, here is my advice:

• "Business casual' is the dress code for all conferences now-a-days.   Universal rule: when in doubt, focus your dress on "business" and not "casual." 
• The younger you are, the more formally you should dress.  Why?  To give yourself a better chance at being taken seriously.  At a professional conference, you don't have to wear a suit (especially if no one else is); however, your clothes should be professional, well-tailored, and pressed.  Don't forget about your shoes.   
• If you are young and female, I suggest dressing more formally and more conservatively.  Again, the point is to be taken seriously.
• If you think these suggestions mean being boring, no.  You can dress professionally with style, flair, and color.  The point is to keep it professional.
• Concentrate on your posture at all times - when standing, sitting, or walking.  As I watch people mull about in the exhibit hall, I notice few people who stand straight or walk with confidence.  This is an easy way to stand out from the crowd.  
• Smile and say hello to people and look them in the eye when you do.

That is really all there is to it.  Only Steve Jobs is Steve Jobs.  There are always a few people in the professions that can get away with dressing more casually (and, maybe, like Steve Jobs, their dress is part of their brand), but for the rest of us, old-fashioned rules still apply. 

Facing the Fear

Fear often hinders us. This is especially true in these slow economic times.  Many of us have a real fear of losing our job.  Therefore, we keep our heads down and focus exclusively on billable work.  While that seems the safe thing to do, I have my doubts.  Because what suffers is strategic thinking (and personal growth, although I realize that personal growth is now much lower on the priority list for many. Staying employed is job #1 for most). 

It does seem counter-intuitive yet I believe that now is the time to think strategically and step out to try new things.  I know that this is a scary proposition for some.  It feels safer to stay off the radar screen of the seniors in the firm rather than risk bringing attention to yourself with what some might think is a crazy idea. 

One way to deal with this is, if you have an idea you believe has merit, discuss it with someone whose opinion you trust.  Then, bring it to the attention of the seniors in your firm if the idea has legs.  In these times, great risk can generate great rewards.  The video above, while a bit corny, is true.  If we understand what makes us afraid, we are better able to manage the fear.  Let's take the risk and cast our eyes up from our billable work and attempt to be part of a solution for our firm.

Marketing in a Recession: All I Ever Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

In reflecting on the continuing challenges of marketing a professional service firm in a recession, it has occurred to me that some of the basics for success are the same lessons that my 4 year old is bringing home from kindergarten.  I know this is not an original thought so a tip of the hat to Robert Fulghum, and, of course, Miss Kim and Miss Lynn, my 4 year old's teachers. 

Focus: As my daughter says, "zip your lip, open your eyes, and open your ears.  FOCUS!"  Instead of constant activity, take a day or two to think and reflect by listening, watching, and learning.  Sometimes we talk just to hear ourselves talk hoping that we'll happen onto something worthwhile by the time we are finished.  Instead, we should open our ears and eyes in silence to allow ourselves to focus and, hopefully, find a fresh perspective.

Share:  As most any child will tell you, "it's nice to share."  That doesn't mean they like it but they know it's the right thing to do.  In slow times, we need the collective wisdom of our peers, as well as the wisdom and insight of the fee-earners in our firms.   Now is not the time to hold things close to the vest but to reach out and assist one another.

Clean Up After Yourself:  There is increasing pressure to deliver short-term wins.  A good CMO  understands that some strategies and tactics serve to position the firm to benefit once the economy recovers, some are designed to make the phone ring immediately, and some are vanity or legacy projects that take time and resources but don't produce results.  We should be able to discern which is which and clean up those activities that don't produce.

Be Nice:  When you are in a competitive situation, never denigrate your competitors.  Just don't do it.

Make a Friend:  We should identify the influencers in our target markets and be intentional about building and maintaining relationships with them.  Also, we should look to others in our profession for cross-referrals.  We receive referrals from other business valuation professionals when they are conflicted out of a project or don't have a particular expertise.  In turn, always look for opportunities to reciprocate. 

Are there others you can think of?

Unplugged

This past weekend, I attempted to unplug.  No e-mail. No blogs.  No facebook.  No twitter.  No internet.  No nothing.

How did I do?  I give myself a B-.  Yet, that B- felt pretty good.

It was nice to mostly get away from the constant flow of information because there is just too much of it. 

I decided to simplify my information intake.  While I am interested in a great many things, I only have the time and energy to put to use certain things.  I found myself being "plugged in" and knowing a little about a lot. It got so that I would take headlines as content (prime example: after seeing a headline about Flutter, I just assumed it was the "next thing" not realizing it was a hoax.  Shame on me (but it is a funny hoax)). 

The economy has forced many of us to simplify our lives by doing more with less.  The same philosophy should be true for information flow.  The internet allows us to find information quickly and cheaply.  It levels the playing field to a certain extent.  Many voices are speaking into the ether.  Some have information that I can use.  Others, not so much.  Just because someone is interesting doesn't mean I have enough time to read them, friend them, or follow them.  Life is about choices so we have to choose wisely how to best use our time.

I encourage everyone to unfriend and unfollow as appropriate and to pare down the information inflow.  Then, unplug at least one day a week. 

For a great read on the folly of too many social media friends and/or people to follow, see Debra Helwig's post "Too Much of a Good Thing" at her blog Service Minded.

Monetize Your Non-Billable Time Per Bruce Allen

Bruce Allen at Marketing Catalyst suggests fee-earners "monetize" their non-billable time.  Key excerpt:

If you have the courage, keep track of any non-billable activity you do while you're at work. Then, at the end of a day look at your list and put a "$" sign next to any activity that can result in new work.

He goes on to explain the three things your list will possibly demonstrate.  It's a smart post and the advice is on target.  Fee-earners have to think past billable activities and begin (if you haven't already) to focus on development - both for the short-term and for the long-term.  Yet doing this can feel dangerous in this down economy when being as billable as humanly possible is perceived as the safe thing to do because the thinking is "if I'm billable and if lay-offs come, they surely wouldn't let me go."

No one is safe in this environment.  I suggest professionals need to be thinking about the short-term as well as the long-term.  This economy will turn around and rain-makers are always the most valued people in the room. 

So, give Bruce's idea a try.  Hopefully your firm will support it or some idea like it.  If not, do it anyway for your own career progression.

Thinking Strategically

When my husband and I joined a neighborhood group made up of families that attended the same church, we attempted to get to know one another through the use of ice-breaker questions. A question posed to me was "if you were to be stranded on a desert island, what one person would you want with you?" My knee-jerk reaction was "my husband." This was the right answer emotionally, but it wasn't the right answer strategically. The right strategic answer would have been "Bob."

Can Speaking Up Enhance Your Career?

A post on Olivia Mitchell's blog, Speaking About Presenting, presents the findings of a research study done with 68 students to determine if speaking up (speaking in meetings, answering questions, etc.) enhances or detracts from others perception of you.  What they found was that those who spoke up were rated most highly for such qualities as "general intelligence" as well as being "dependable and self-disciplined."  Those who didn't speak up were deemed "conventional and uncreative."  In addition, it didn't seem to matter what type of speaking you did, just as long as you spoke.

This is interesting, indeed.  I too find that those who will engage in the conversation, whatever the topic, are those that people look to.  I also know people who just like to hear themselves talk and you know that where two or more are gathered, they will be pontificating.  Yet, those folks are the minority.

I agree with the basic premise of the study.  Speaking up is important.  Be heard.  What you say doesn't have to be perfect (just look at what others around you say).  Olivia gives those quiet people 5 tips to get started. 

Just remember, once you've learned to speak your piece, don't hog the floor.  Brevity is truly the soul of wit.

Are CMO's Potentially on the Chopping Block in This Economy?

From Larry Bodine's LegalMarketing Blog comes a post entitled "Is the CMO Position in Jeopardy?: NO".  Per Larry, "The Marketing Consigliere blog highlighted a couple posts from a Q&A on LinkedIn, where several top executives shared their thoughts on the role of the chief marketing officer and whether or not the role of the CMO will become obsolete."

Key quote:

"The Marketing Consigliere’s belief is that in many instances CEOs will continue lose faith in CMOs who fail to adopt solid, measurable network-centric marketing tactics that align and meet the revenue objectives of the firm.  Unfortunately, many bright and hardworking CMOs who are trying to positively transform their organizations with network-centric marketing will still be sacrificed on the corporate altar due to ignorance on the part of the other C-level leadership who do not give the CMO the latitude they need but are impatient for the results."

Read the whole thing here.

Cutting the Fat in Your Marketing Budget

I have written and spoken about marketing budgets.  I have advocated not spending less, but spending differently.  I still believe that.  Yet, I am a realist.  Many, if not most, firms are combing through the expense portion of the income statement and making cuts in order to deal with this recession which just seems to worsen with each passing day.  In talking with a professional in his early 60s who has lived through the past 4 recessions, he says this one is the worst he has seen.

As a marketing professional, be proactive.  Comb through your own budget and offer cuts.  Squeeze your vendors for the best price which I know can be difficult to do given that sometimes our vendors have become friends.  I suggest focusing on spending money on those things which have the best chance of making the phone ring - sooner rather than later. 

More likely than not, there is fat in your budget.  To tell on myself, let me give you one example.  In going through my advertising budget, we found we spend about $1000 per year on yellow pages advertising.  First of all, Mercer Capital is a national firm so we don't get "walk-in traffic."  Second, the majority of people will find us via the web.  So, that was an easy cut to make. 

My humble advice is to go through your budget and look for those expense cuts, if you haven't already.  In tough times, there is pressure on everyone to do more with less and to contribute to revenue generation.  Focus on both.

Photo:  Rabbit Scissors from The Daily Planner (www.thedailyplanner.com) 

Top 10 Mistakes of LinkedIn Users

Christine Pilch, a co-owner at Grow My Company and Marketing Director at Bacon Wilson PC, Attorneys at Law wrote a short article entitled "Top Ten Mistakes People Make on LinkedIn" for Legal Marketing Technology. 

Oops.  I see that I commit at least half of the mistakes.  Read the article while I go and clean up my LinkedIn profile, which you can access here.