SproutBuilder.com

OK, I just found this as shared by @bridgetZtalk on Twitter. Have I mentioned I love Twitter! Anyway, I haven't checked this out fully, but from what I have seen so far it's a free online tool. Here's what their homepage says:

Sprout is the quick and easy way for anyone to build, publish, and manage widgets, mini-sites, mashups, banners and more. Any size, any number of pages. Include video, audio, images and newsfeeds and choose from dozens of pre-built components and web services.

Check it out at www.sproutbuilder.com!

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I Just Love This Stuff

I love Zappos for shoes, but the live customer service that is offered by Nordstrom is awesome. Thanks for another great experience and the reminder for why you are so successful.

What's Your Message?

I received an email blast from an "industry expert" yesterday. While she is an acquaintance of mine and I have attended a few of her seminars, the email felt so generic and blah. Now, this post is not a means to bash her, as she is very well respected in apartment marketing and presents great information & ideas at her seminars. This post is about improving your message and deciding that maybe email blasts are not a good idea.

Let me summarize what her message included.

Subject Line: Still Undecided? Vote for [her name]!
Email Letter Content: Large picture of her, letter summarizing why you should hire her to present her latest seminar and a summary of new website features and a link to her website. She also mentions a $500 discount coupon at the bottom of the email.
Additional Info: a brief history about her, quick summaries of the 4 seminars she is currently presenting, and, of course, the coupon.

At first glance I was curious to open up the email and peruse, but after doing so I realized there wasn't anything really there. Nothing grabbed me, nothing was newsworthy, and her picture (while very nice) was actually a distraction. A lot of copy and very generic.

Below is my response to her with some recommendations on how to improve her message.

“Don’t send me an email just telling me who you are why you are so cool with some generic descriptions of your seminars and your background. I’ll be honest, it’s not interesting as I already know you (as most people do that get these emails). What would be interesting is if you shared pieces of your seminars with me. Give me a taste of the good stuff! Here’s an analogy. Let’s say you’ve just emailed me a picture of McDonald’s French fries. I’m a sucker for McDonald’s French fries, but a picture doesn’t really motivate me to actually go buy some. What if you just gave me 1, just to try it, just to get that taste. If you did that, then I’d probably want the whole box. So, maybe ask yourself the next time you send out a SPAM email, are you sending out just a picture or are you giving us a taste. Send me one of your PodCasts, or your latest blog post (which doesn’t appear to be working), or maybe one or two graphs or slides that have some of your great statistics. And one final note, you don’t need a coupon!!! Coupons are for commodities. You are not a commodity!"

I share this with you because I know that she knows all this. But if she knows, then why does she do it? Here's her response back.

"I agree with your marketing thoughts. That was a blanket email that went to over 12,000 people and I need to introduce myself. The next emails we have planned have content in them that will be valuable to the reader. This is what I have been doing for some other marketing and I know those emails get read. With my new Web site, we are set up to put a lot of free content there and that will link in my
emails.

As for the spam, I got a call to work on a project in Atlanta as well as two managers retreats where I will keynote. Not too bad."

The excuse for a bad email is because it went to 12,000 people that she needed to introduce herself to??? In my opinion it was a very boring introduction, and while I didn't ask her if the jobs she booked from it were from previous customers my gut is telling me that is the case.

So, what's my point? My point is that you're only as good as your last email, or last podcast, or last blog post. The content you put into these represents you and what you do best. If what you do best is make excuses for average work and justify it with a couple success stories fine, but I can tell you that things are getting more and more competitive and average will only get you so far. Just because someone has opted-in shouldn't give you an excuse to send an average message. Provide compelling content as your last message is what you will be remembered for.

Until the next. Enjoy your day!

Zazzle Me This

In searching for my funny Halloween t-shirt (as I'm not much of a costume guy), I stumbled upon an interesting website. www.Zazzle.com

Have you ever wanted to create, on demand, any shirt? Always wanted that shirt with the name of your favorite obscure polka band? Ever want to customize a skateboard, coffee mug, tie, or sticker and just order 1? You can do all that on Zazzle. Whether you have a logo, or just want to create something using their design tools it's all at your fingertips right online. How great! No longer do you have to order a minimum of 10 or have a company of people that can justify 10+ shirts or hats. Order just 1 of whatever you want.

So, wow, that's pretty cool. Zazzle takes it to the next level in that if you create your own designs you now have your own store page. It's interactive!!! It's social! Create a cool shirt and share it with your friends on Facebook. Guess what, they don't even have to recreate it they can just buy the same one. And get this, if you're the creator you get a percentage of the profits off your design! You set the rate. Ten, fifteen, twenty percent or more, it's your call.

I really love what Zazzle has done here. What a great tool to open up the creativity of small groups and friends. Create that custom t-shirt for your family reunion or bachelor party. If you have a small company you can create a logo store front with your brand that you would have never done before. It will be interesting to see if this concept catches on, and what Zazzle does to help promote it.

I just created my own fun brand of t-shirts What?Wear. Check them out at the bottom of the blog, and if you like one help support the marketing nerd. ;-) Until next time. Enjoy your day!

Dear FedEx, . . . and All the Other Mudslingers

This is a message to Fedex and the recent mudslinging advertisers (you know who you are) and those thinking it might be a good idea.
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Dear FedEx,

I want to thank you for letting me know that I should be concerned about, your competitor, DHL's reduced capabilities. While I had not seen the published reports, I now have a better understanding and know that with you I will have reliability for peace of mind.

Sincerely, ;-)

Mark Juleen

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So, is this email I received (as I am a registered FedEx customer) SPAM, or a quality opt-in message? At the bottom of the email I have the ability to unsubscribe, and I think after this mudslinging message I may just do that. FedEx just got put on the naughty list this Christmas.

While the recent I'm a Mac & I'm a PC ads are somewhat humorous, I think they are a bit off base as well. How many people, like me, are a Mac and a PC? Is it even necessary to bash your competition? When a company gets down in the mud and starts bad mouthing its competition I think it does more harm than good. Yes, for the Mac lovers of the world the ads might be hilarious, but how do these ads help sell more computers. I somewhat question Mac's integrity. Why stoop so low? I can see it now, some guy looking at his Dell laptop thinking, "That Apple, ha, their commercial is so clever I think I'm going to go get a MacBook."

I think it's an adult version of the blame game. Like when you were a kid and nothing was your fault. It was all your little brother's doing, or the dog's, or you heard that "word" from your Dad, or you even blamed your best friend just so you wouldn't get into trouble. Now we're doing it on a adult level! Ridiculous! Grow up, be more creative, show me why you are more innovative or interesting.

Send me an email about how amazing your holiday shipping reliability will be this year because of a new system or historical data that proves it. Show me a commercial that exhibits to me why Leopard is so amazing and easy to use, and why the quality of a Mac and service that goes along with it are the best in the business. Better yet, don't advertise with some clever commercial. Instead, share with me real stories, from real people, about really great experiences with your product or service. It may not seem as glamorous as the 30 sec. spot featuring a B rated actor, but if the stories are compelling I will share them with others. And that lasts a lot longer than 30 seconds.

OK, enough ranting. Enjoy your day!