“I’d like you to meet the ‘Expert’…”

It’s that time of year again.  No, I don’t mean tax time, or Valentine’s.  It’s the time of year when you (if you’re a local business owner or manager) are going to get a call from your local TV, radio, or print rep, telling you they’d like to bring in the "expert.”  They may use ”consultant,” or “guru,” but you’ll know.  It’s the expert.

The first quarter of the year is a planning quarter for many categories of businesses.  A time to unleash the new initiatives, branding, or spend-more-to-grow-more campaigns.  In an attempt to secure the highest percentage of dollars you’re fishing to spend, the outlets fly in their expert, and push all their sales reps [hard] to schedule appointments with you, and their expert.  And guess what?  It’s FREE to you!    

There’s nothing wrong with the expert.  In fact, good ones can deliver helpful bits of information that are not at all bias to the outlet they are hired to sell for.  That’s the hook. 

Over the years, outlets I worked inside brought in a variety of experts from hard sellers, to jingle writers.  A few were fairly insightful, but many were an embarrassment to take out at all, causing me to later call and apologize to valued clients!  But that didn’t stop us from setting up our minimum number of required appointments (set by sales management).  The expert costs the outlets big money to bring in, and more is at stake if they can sell you a big package.

Perhaps you’ve had the meeting with the expert before.  If not, my advice for dealing with the expert: don’t rush to decide, fact check, and shop around.  They are not an unbiased 3^rd party, as the setup suggests.  They may have a long resume of accomplishments and big positions held in the past, but their job is still to sell you on that outlet.  In fact, in many cases, the expert stands to gain a hefty commission from your commitment to the large campaign they are sure to push on you within 2-4 weeks of the initial consultation meeting (aka, needs analysis, time-out call, yada, yada).

The outlets may also change the expert model altogether, and just invite you in for a “FREE seminar,” where they will pose as the expert, and simply pitch you their advertising pieces.  The invite to these usually goes something like: “how to grow in your category,” or “come receive education on SEO” (or some other buzz-worthy word or topic of the time).  This is not sinister by any means.  However, your time is valuable, and the “free” seminar is merely a long-form, often multi-media pitch, where they skim over the topic you thought you were coming for, and sometimes employ pressure tactics to close a deal with you.  I would recommend simply requesting (or have your agency request) the material or packages to go over at your leisure, without all the hype or gimmicks.  The expert is likely a far less wasteful way to spend your time than these seminars.

So, if you desire, meet the expert.  You may get lucky and be presented with some valuable insight or marketing morsels.  However, you might be wise to get an unbiased party to help you with decisions for moving forward with their recommendations, or any advertisement / marketing options.

To your success,

-David Bauer

On Outsourcing: Marketing

A lot of buzz has surrounded the subject of outsourcing, especially since the recession. 

“Should I hire to fill that need, or can it be done just as well (if not better) out of house?”

For so many savvy companies, marketing is a popular and growing area for outsourcing.  In fact, the number of companies partnering with agencies and firms to handle their marketing is growing quickly (source: Mashable).  When you consider the annual median pay for advertising, promotions and marketing managers is over $115,000 annually (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics), and even entry level marketing positions are filled for around $35k per year plus benefits.  That leaves a lot of room for negotiating a comfortable retainer with a reputable agency or firm.   

Besides hiring marketing and advertising representation in-house, the other alternative I’ve found most common is management or ownership taking on the promotions, branding, advertising, design, web, strategy and creative (etc., etc.).  I’ll express my feelings on that with a conversation I had with one of my clients. 

As we were laying out the advertising campaign mix and creative just before launch, I asked my client what he thought.  He grinned and answered:

“I would never have known this could be done so neatly and effectively.  Before I hired Fresh Form, I wore this hat, I met with all the reps and listened to their sales pitches, a.k.a. ‘recommendations,’ from which I had no idea how to choose, or what to believe.  But with everything else going on in my business, I gave marketing 50% of my effort at best.  That’s all I could give.”

Is that you? 

Maybe it’s time to take a fresh look at your marketing, promotions, brand image, website and advertising.  The target representing your marketing is a moving one.  Don’t wait to get the help you need, because the hassle of hiring is not your only, or best option anymore.

To your success moving forward in business!

-D. Bauer

Where'd 2013 Go? ::: 2014's On Deck

All the sudden, we are on the cusp of another new year. Fiscals for most companies, new initiatives and possibly even a bit of attention to your brand. What's the direction you want to go this year? Perhaps the answer is buried within your brand. I challenge you to seek out that core element as a priority and watch what ease it creates for other initiatives. Need help? Get help.

Make 2014 your best year yet.

Revenue North Summit ::: 2013

Thursday, April 18, I had the opportunity to attend the Revenue North Business Summit here in Colorado Springs.  While they were all good, some of the keynotes were noteworthy above others.

Economist Mary Kelly, CEO of Productive Leaders, painted an insightful picture of our economic situation in the United States and the world.  Humorously, before she began speaking, a member of the audience raised their hand and asked, “if the Federal Reserve is buying our debt, won’t that devalue our dollar?”  To which Kelly replied, “Great, you asked and answered your question all at once.”  While the state of our world’s economy is not excellent, that doesn’t mean money can’t be made in a number of sectors.  Best practice is to manage fear, and in my opinion, add value in every possible opportunity for your customers.

Author and Attorney Louie Larimer, CEO of Focused Strategies, shared keys to business success.  He compared heroes in business synonymous with success, namely, Warren Buffet, Jack Welsh, Steve Jobs, Donald Trump, Daniel Bowman, Peter Drucker, Tony Robins and more.  All of which had something slightly different to say about the “key to success.”  The takeaway for me: given the many possible avenues to “success,” there are always variances in how individuals or companies attain it.  Therefore, I think an open mind, and the ability to change as needed is critical given their examples.

Great info also coming from Rick Denton, Chris Blees, Ethan Beute, Larry Peek and Laddie Blaskowski.

From attitudes and professionalism, to SEO, marketing, crowd funding and capital, the Revenue North Summit covered vast ground in a one-day package.

-D. Bauer

INTRO ::: On Marketing

For the past ten years, I've watched as clients and friends struggle to do their marketing [well] while running their business.  Marketing is the life blood of a business.  While companies may hit hot patches naturally though a boost in demand, or right-place-at-the-right-time luck, a thriving business needs great marketing in place to weather the storms, and capitalize on the highs, to grow and thrive into the future.  When you’re busy, it’s easy to allow marketing to take the back seat.  I’ve seen many business owners struggling to find the time necessary to come up with creative and marketing strategy.  The result: they end up settling and throwing money everywhere or nowhere with little-to-no attention on message or creative.  This is why I created FreshForm Marketing, to help businesses in an arena I am both familiar with and great at.  The biggest oversight in marketing can be what to say, how to say it, and how it should look so that your demographic hears and responds.  That is no small task, but it’s one I do well.  Through messaging and creative branding, I help truly move my clients forward. 

Marketing shouldn't hold you back.

-D. Bauer