Just remember, if you are out front, every time, you will no longer be the leader, because you will be shot and killed. A leader also let’s others lead. By letting others lead, you, the leader, can step back and see the forest and plan and strategize.

Leading is tactical by nature, strategic by choice. Make the right choice as soon as possible and lead from the rear.

We train twice a week. Once a month we train extremely hard and are rewarded with a pizza dinner at our HQ. We order pizza from one of the local pizzerias and bring it in for all of us to enjoy.

We order approximately 20 pizza’s of all different varieties. Usually the bill is between $300 – $450, depending on how many firefighters train (somewhere between 25 – 40).

All the pizzerias in our area promote themselves on their boxes. All the pizzerias also have a coupon on the box that says something like “Cut out and collect 10 of these and get a free cheese pizza”.

A cheese pizza, out here, has a price of $12.00. If we were to order 20 pizza’s, at an average cost of $18.00, then we would have to pay $360.00. If we were to cut out the coupons and “turn them in”, the pizzeria would only get $336.00 (plus the two free cheese pizza’s) – the next time that we would order from them.

Last week, after one of our hard training sessions, we ordered from a pizzeria. When we brought them in (we pick them up), the pizzeria had marked “VOID” on each of the coupons on the box.

Not only did that pizzeria lose the fire department as a client for the rest of their existence, they also lost business from all the firefighters who were in attendance (and of course, whomever they told about this).

To “save” $24, the pizzeria gave up $336.00; as well as all the other catering opportunities that may have been presented to it through the course of the following year.

THINK before you do something rash like this. A cheese pizza COSTS no more then $4.00 (I am told that it is really less then $3.00), but, to be fair, let’s say it is $4.00.

For $8.00, this local pizzeria lost at least, AT LEAST, $1,000 worth of business from the department AS WELL AS all the firefighters who will no longer go there. Was it worth it?

Yes today’s economy sucks – but does that mean that you will change your “business model” when large orders come in? Will you give a discount AND void any special offers? Do you tell your clients this in advance?

The economy DOES suck, but, you must keep your current clients and not, in any way, jeopardize or put at risk the opportunity to lose them. Think before you act.

Sadly, most of us are in the position where we don’t have a product that will cure cancer or be an iPhone – we have a product that most people don’t know that they want or even need.

What does it take for a product to be a success? Credibility!

Would you buy from a company that no one trusts?
Would you buy from a company that makes a product that kills your pet?
Would you buy from a company that kills all the fish in the ocean?

Of course not – to purchase a product from a company, they must be and have credibility.

What’s it take to build your credibility? It takes time, effort, and understanding from many many different divisions within your company (from money from accounting to contracts from your lawyers to creative from your agencies).

ONE: It takes a strong management team, a marketing heritage, a great spokesperson – all of these are required to get the foundation started on building your credibility.

TWO: Produce a product that has a strong ROI, proposition, and value to your customer.

THREE: Have marquee customers – customers with a name.

FOUR: Have partners that are recognized by their brands. Having Microsoft behind you versus Joe’s Garage Computers goes a long way in building your credibility and success.

FIVE (lastly): Change the market – slightly or incredibly. You have read my article on companies being speedboats or oil tankers -it doesn’t matter in this case; if you can change the direction of the market, then, you have brought credibility to your company, your brand, and your product.

If you skip/ignore one of these, the path to success is extremely difficult if not impossible. They truly are not difficult to accomplish.

There are five legs (I believe) in marketing that support your sales and brand. In no particular order, they are:

Advertising
Promotions
Social Media
Merchandising
Public Relations

Here is how I define each:

Advertising: TV, magazine, newspaper, web. This can be static ads or video ads, on TV or on the web.

Promotions: The easiest way to define this is “Buy two xx’s and get one x free”; “Test drive this car and get a $500 gift card”; or “Send in five box tops and get a free sample”. You want to promote your product or brand and usually this is done by couponing or free giveaways or whatever kind of promotion that you think will get someone to sample OR LEARN ABOUT your product.

Social Media: Funny – this is still being defined out there – is it advertising? No because we are not forced to go to your Facebook page and therefore are not advertised to. Is it Public Relations? Absolutely, but, the customers that go there aren’t looking to be “pitched”, they are going there to be informed about non-pitch subjects. Is it Promotions? It’s certainly going in that direction where Facebook pages are now giving out “free” samples. Is it Merchandising? You could say it kinda is, because of the video’s that can be watched about your product. Obviously, this still has a long way to go. [Which leads to blogs or blogzines or whatever name they're gong to be called this week. Are they part of Social Media or Public Relations? Some people think that blogs are with promotions because they "promote" your product.]

Merchandising: End caps, in-store signage, sampling stations and everything else that you see in brick-n-mortar stores. Is advertising on a web page merchandising, since web pages are become more and more our brick-n-mortar stores?

Public Relations: News releases, press tours, and everything else that is required to get someone else to write or talk about you on TV, Radio, magazine, newspaper, blog, etc.

These five legs should make up your marketing strategy on a consistent basis. Can your brand survive if you only do one or two legs? Of course it can. Some would say it is weaker because you aren’t doing all five legs, especially if you are an agency that does one of the legs that you are not doing.

Are some legs stronger then another? Absolutely. A 30 second spot during the Super Bowl blows away an end-cap at your local hardware store – for brand recognition, but, what about for sales?

Which leads you to: Do I need that Super Bowl ad? No, you don’t – that end-cap may be exactly what you need.

Just be sure to always research each of the legs when you are building your marketing plan and you will discover how important it is to do or not do that Super Bowl ad.

“You sell the product?”
“No.”
“You tell people to buy the product?”
“Yes.”
“So you sell the product?”
“No.”

He has a very small company, meaning he, himself, and him. He hires people as he needs them (contractors, etc.) to do the work that he needs when he needs it. He wants to grow his company but doesn’t understand what “marketing” is and what it could do for him.

Here is what marketing is and what it means to him:

His marketing is telling someone what his company is and does when he is not present to tell them in person.

That’s it.

It’s the same for you and your company – marketing is telling your customer what you do for them without having the capability of sitting down and explaining it to them.

I see TV advertisements that have the Twitter logo on the bottom of all their ads (good for you Twitter!), but, I have to ask the question, why?

Golden Corral – a restaurant chain in the U.S. has the Twitter logo on their advertisements – why?

But more importantly, what is it going to accomplish? That they offer a buffet everyday? That this Friday the fish is $2.00 off?

I guess there are followers for everything and people want to know when Dairy Queen is taking $1.00 off on a cone – but, to place their logo on your advertising? All you are doing is advertising for them.

The same has to be said for Facebook – if you are NOT on Facebook or Twitter, your market is not in the social realm – which is okay. But, if you are in the social realm and DO NOT ALREADY have a Facebook and Twitter account, you should and deserve to fail.

What I’m saying is that you don’t need to wast space in your marketing and advertising plans and budgets to advertise another company that everyone already knows you are a part of.

1) Listen to individuals out there – it is no longer “focus groups” and “polls” – it is actually hitting the street (or your social pages and read).
2) Identify your influencer’s – make them a partner, not an enemy
3) Target – zero-in on your users with offers and continue to bring them new content.

Focus on all of these and never forget them or let them out-of-your-site!!

Was reading over a document from a CMO that had recently hired me to do some research work for her.

Don’t let the “innovation” hype scare you – if you know marketing, if you know how to speak to your audience, then, the innovation will follow – you don’t have to lead with it.

You could have 1 million followers on Twitter, but, if none of them buy your product or use your service, it’s worthless (just as if you had a bad advertisement that no one remembered – a waste of time and money).

It truly is quality – quality of your reader, your user, your friend, and your follower that makes a difference. They will tell others about your products benefits and features. They will “share” your page/post and “retweet” you to their friends.

Find and keep the quality individuals and you will be on the way to success.

Sadly, as social media continues to grow and shape American culture, it is also affecting how your staff interacts with outside market forces.

It is important that you and your staff understand the value of social media marketing, from putting out daily tweets to posting weekly blogs, as this will allow you to communicate to your market and achieve your objectives; but, those same tools that help you dominate your market also affect how your staff interacts with others and their professionalism.

What I’m saying is this: in America today, your staff is and will be better at communicating with a promoter or advertiser or analyst better and easier by texting them then by meeting with them. As America and American’s continue to withdraw into themselves and their homes, the only way to communicate with them IS through social and television media. But on those rare occasions that your market wanders outside the home or away from their phone, they have to communicate using their voice and facial/body expressions.

This “art” of being able to speak is quickly being lost in the Western world, and it WILL affect you and your staff directly. Be it from your receptionist picking up the phone to your new sales person making a call on a business.

Be aware that communicating effectively without the use of a phone or computer is being lost in American society and that more emphasis needs to be placed on this during the hiring process.

As your deal starts to fall apart, it is better to have someone that can step in and save the deal with the correct word here and the polite gesture there – something that can’t be done over a phone or with a tweet. Be sure to interview for a skill-set that was taken for granted in the past – the capability to be friendly and helpful and capable of speaking to accomplish your goals.