Let me say this loud and clear – I am not an expert on social media. Neither are most of the people who are charging high consulting fees and proclaiming themselves to be so – just read Rob Bowen’s excellent article on the subject and you’ll understand what I mean by that.
Social media is new. It’s developing. Companies are growing and failing daily in this arena. Nonetheless, there are some things I’ve observed having been active in social media for a year and a half now (longer than a few other “experts”). Read the rest of this article »
One Marketing genius you should probably know about is David Tonen. He’s a great thinker and creative leader and posts great thoughts about church marketing practices. Here’s a great thought from today’s post…
Church: Invest In Your Logo (Don’t “Cheap Out”)
Remember the good old days when we were talking about the web ushering in the “age of information?” We even called it the “information superhighway.” Now, it’s becoming much more of a social structure all its own, but the information certainly has not decreased. There’s still a ton of it! A century ago, you could barely keep up because of a lack of information sources. Now we have a hard time keeping up because of a plethora of them. So how do you get my attention in the midst of it all? Inspire me! Read the rest of this article »
What would Jesus do if He were physically present during this particular age, the future of which is so shaped and influenced by social media? When you examine the gospels, you see that Jesus was passionate about spending time where people gathered – public wells and bathhouses, beaches and riversides, the town squares of his day. Read the rest of this article »
Truth doesn’t change, but how truth is communicated changes and fluctuates with culture. Many organizations no longer communicate with the surrounding culture not because their message is outdated, but because their communication is out of style and out of sync. But the goal of marketing, sales, evangelism, etc. is still to persuade people to listen, to tell a story that compels people to take notice. What style works best largely depends on the age and the culture. Read the rest of this article »
I see sites popping up all the time that offer logos for $99 or so, and they all promise to deliver a “brand.” They don’t know your company, they don’t understand your vision, but they are great with vector art. Their popularity reflects a terrible misunderstanding about branding and it is that a logo is not a brand and a brand is not a logo. Read the rest of this article »
I just finished reading a great article on GetEntrepreneurial.com written by Terri Zwierynski about marketing yourself honestly. She asserts that putting lipstick on a pig doesn’t necessarily help as much as honesty and self-disclosure, and I must surely agree. Read the rest of this article »
Seth’s blog today mentions something that I try to articulate to clients all the time – there are web subcultures and you can’t sell to one if your site fits in another. I recently saw the site of a web design agency. The front page promoted them as a highly professional firm who wished to work only with highly professional people. It stated this on a little sign held up by a cartoonish guy! Clients choose service agencies that seem to match their own personality to at least some degree. So watch your site’s subculture. Read the rest of this article »
In my last article, I said that being a small business is not a weakness, it’s a weapon. Actually Seth Godin said it first, but you hopefully get the point. Well, my point was proven yesterday. I dropped my laptop a couple of weeks ago and my entire life flashed before my eyes along with the instant thought… “why haven’t I backed up in the last six months???” So I had to fix the situation, and in doing so, I experienced a scenario in which big business has a weakness. Read the rest of this article »
I appreciate reading the blog of Seth Godin (along with half the world, apparently). Today, he blogged about the fact that “small is a weapon, not an excuse” and spoke of the power of the web to level the playing field between small and large businesses. I couldn’t agree more. Read the rest of this article »
