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BY
RANDI M. KILLIAN
 aving
spent the last three days cleaning off the surfaces
in my office known as my desk, I'm mad as hell.
Now, I don't care whether you are of the clean-desk
or messy-desk camp. That's not the issue here. What's
important, even critical, is why I'm so angry. Looking
at everything I sent to the shredder, it's sad to
see how much time, energy and money is wasted by
so many who employ marketing tactics that are clearly
"old school."
The
economy has changed. The world and how we all work
have changed. Yet, businesses, for the most part,
continue to engage in practices that were, at best,
marginal even three to five years ago, let alone
today.
So,
I come to you all with one request: It's time to
stop the madness. Let me tell you how to do this.
Remember
Mr. Blackwell
Remember when women were urged to wear "man-tailored"
suits and those ridiculous little bow ties? The
philosophy was that if we dressed like the male-dominated
business world, we would be taken seriously.
Thankfully,
businesswomen can now dress with an individual sense
of style and still kick some serious business butt.
However, the "attire" of many businesses seems to
lag behind our liberation.
Let's
start by examining your business' identity (logo,
cards, company name). Does your corporate image
represent an impressive style, or does it scream,
"My kid did it on the home computer?" Your cards
serve as a mini-billboard about your company and
its capabilities, so an individualized style is
fine. But please, don't let that get in the way
of people's ability to find you when and how they
choose - at the very least, make sure your
card includes your phone number, your e-mail address,
and your company's Web and street addresses.
Offer
No Sympathy
When Mick Jagger sings, "Please allow me to
introduce myself," in Sympathy for the Devil, I'm
certain he never thinks about the thousands of people
who give introductory elevator speeches at networking
events each day. I am also positive the Bad Boy
of Rock-n-Roll would run screaming from the room
if he had to endure even 1/100th of the those introductions.
So,
think before you go out to deliver that next company
commercial. Make sure it's in language that is meaningful
to the people who are going to hear it - and
remember, practice not only makes perfect, it makes
sure you're remembered.
Honor
the King of the Trees
I watched with horror in the second episode
of Lord of The Rings as the Hobbits battled the
ancient trees, because it reminded me of a recurring
nightmare: I'm walking in the forest and one tree
says to another, "Get her! She took out Uncle Louie's
side of the family with all the paper she used!"
What does my nightmare have to do with any of
your marketing? Take a look at your inbox, especially
after you've returned from one or two networking
events. See all the useless information that people
have sent to you, all in the guise of "just following
up?" We're not talking just a note or two. In many
cases, we're talking full-blown capabilities kits!
What
a waste.
Even
more tragic are the letters that start out, "It
was a pleasure to meet you at the (event)..." and
that are written by someone with whom you never
even spoke!
Now,
take a look at your outbox or your "to do" list.
Were you planning on sending those same types of
unwanted missives to others?
I
beg you: Don't do it. Wait until you have some kind
of relationship where it makes sense to have some
kind of contact - and then make sure it's
the same type of meaningful contact you'd want to
receive.
Stop
the Insanity
I won't take the time here to explain, but a
recent conversation with my 12-year-old niece divided
the world into people that change buttons on new
clothes and those that don't.
Of
course, there's nothing wrong with either camp.
Yet, I've found this is a topic that garners two
distinct remarks when asked: "Oh, I would never
do that!" and "Sure, I do it all the time."
Now,
there are no rules or guidelines to dictate the
when or how buttons should be changed - or
by whom. It's obviously a matter of personal taste.
But, you know what? Unlike changing buttons, marketing
has new rules.
It's
time to take a long, hard look at your marketing
wardrobe (messages, materials, look, feel, activities)
and determine what your clients, prospects and potential
partners care about and want to see.
It's
time to stop the insanity of the unwanted and un-asked-for
materials blindly landing on everyone's desk, or
in everyone's e-mail box. That only adds more clutter
to our lives, and it gets you nowhere. More importantly,
it wastes your money, and it might even make a prospect
really, really angry. Of course, an angry prospect
means no sale, which will probably make you very,
very crazy.
So,
don't do it just because everyone else is. Help
me stop the madness and get back the impact behind
our messages.
RANDI
M. KILLIAN is the founder of Randi B Enterprises,
Inc. (www.randib.com), headquartered in Hoffman
Estates, IL. She can be contacted at 847-991-9886
(e-mail: randi@randib.com).
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