Here is a link to a recent story in 'Arkansas Business.' Makes a good case at why people should watch what they blog, no matter if it is a personal blog or a company blog. In this case, it was a personal blog that the company became involved in.
I tried to access this guys blog to see what all the fuss was about, but it seemes that he has made it private and readable by invited users only. Smart choice!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Quit Fishing and Look for the Dancing Bear
My goal here is not to continue an endless cycle of linking to blogs which link to blogs, I wanted to post my thoughts on something that Jamie Notter said in his blog which references this video.
This video is amazing proof that, as Jamie puts it, "our brains have limited bandwidth when it comes to paying attention". However, I wanted to take this a bit further.
I often times remind my sales team to go and look on our 200+ Members (corporate members) websites and blogs to find out what they are doing in their service area. I ask them to keep up on the technologies that they are using, the employees that are retiring, the community events they are involved in, etc. It seems that many times, in our marketing plans, we have specific products and services that we choose to promote throughout the year. Many times, in determining what to promote, we must "fish" for ideas and think of what our Members would like to see the Association do within the industry. As many of you can attest, this is not always successful and the ROI is minimal.
This video is a perfect example of why we should turn the tables. Instead of "fishing" for ideas, let our Members tell us what they would like to see promoted, discussed, and accomplished within their association. All the time in the world can be spent on promoting the ideas originally planned, but that can cause us to loose track of what our Members want and need. We must be flexible in our marketing pushes, looking consistently at what our Members are doing in the industry and forming our plans around them.
This is, in fact, the benefit of being a part of any association. Members pay to join an association that conforms to their needs, that listens to problems and successes, that pays attention to the wants and needs, and as a result, an association that benefits them in more than one aspect.
And for those of you who are wondering what happens to all the time placed into creating a marketing plan for specific product and service pushes, I think that it will be will justified with the increase in Member retention and increased ROI on your marketing efforts.
This video is amazing proof that, as Jamie puts it, "our brains have limited bandwidth when it comes to paying attention". However, I wanted to take this a bit further.
I often times remind my sales team to go and look on our 200+ Members (corporate members) websites and blogs to find out what they are doing in their service area. I ask them to keep up on the technologies that they are using, the employees that are retiring, the community events they are involved in, etc. It seems that many times, in our marketing plans, we have specific products and services that we choose to promote throughout the year. Many times, in determining what to promote, we must "fish" for ideas and think of what our Members would like to see the Association do within the industry. As many of you can attest, this is not always successful and the ROI is minimal.
This video is a perfect example of why we should turn the tables. Instead of "fishing" for ideas, let our Members tell us what they would like to see promoted, discussed, and accomplished within their association. All the time in the world can be spent on promoting the ideas originally planned, but that can cause us to loose track of what our Members want and need. We must be flexible in our marketing pushes, looking consistently at what our Members are doing in the industry and forming our plans around them.
This is, in fact, the benefit of being a part of any association. Members pay to join an association that conforms to their needs, that listens to problems and successes, that pays attention to the wants and needs, and as a result, an association that benefits them in more than one aspect.
And for those of you who are wondering what happens to all the time placed into creating a marketing plan for specific product and service pushes, I think that it will be will justified with the increase in Member retention and increased ROI on your marketing efforts.
Friday, March 14, 2008
How many friends??????
This definitely warrants my time as my first real post!
I stumbled across this article which discusses the amount of close friends and acquaintances a person has and how this has increased with the development of social networking sites such as myspace, facebook, etc. The numbers are astounding!!
I often make fun at my wife for all of the time she spends on these sites mentioned in the article above. She literally has hundreds upon hundreds of friends (more like acquaintances) with who she keeps up to speed on through facebook and myspace. This is the only way she can keep up with who is getting married, who is pregnant, who bought what, ect, ect, ect.
Recently, I began to understand why she spends all this time on these sites. Now, before you start making up your mind that I am socially and technologically backwards, let me explain. I have been a part of facebook and myspace for quite a few years now. When I met my wife for the first time through a friend, it was online and we talked for hours upon hours for over a week before we saw each other face-to-face. But recently, I have spent more time on my facebook site, searching for old acquaintances and such. I found my best friend from elementary school who moved away, old crushes, old 'bullies', ect.
According to this article, people have increased their casual friends from the traditional 150. Think of the effects that this could have on the way we market to our Members, customers, what-have-you. The effect it would have if one of your Members/customers were to send a message on facebook to all 675 of his/her friends, letting them know of the service they have received from you. Oh the potential!!!
I stumbled across this article which discusses the amount of close friends and acquaintances a person has and how this has increased with the development of social networking sites such as myspace, facebook, etc. The numbers are astounding!!
I often make fun at my wife for all of the time she spends on these sites mentioned in the article above. She literally has hundreds upon hundreds of friends (more like acquaintances) with who she keeps up to speed on through facebook and myspace. This is the only way she can keep up with who is getting married, who is pregnant, who bought what, ect, ect, ect.
Recently, I began to understand why she spends all this time on these sites. Now, before you start making up your mind that I am socially and technologically backwards, let me explain. I have been a part of facebook and myspace for quite a few years now. When I met my wife for the first time through a friend, it was online and we talked for hours upon hours for over a week before we saw each other face-to-face. But recently, I have spent more time on my facebook site, searching for old acquaintances and such. I found my best friend from elementary school who moved away, old crushes, old 'bullies', ect.
According to this article, people have increased their casual friends from the traditional 150. Think of the effects that this could have on the way we market to our Members, customers, what-have-you. The effect it would have if one of your Members/customers were to send a message on facebook to all 675 of his/her friends, letting them know of the service they have received from you. Oh the potential!!!
Now Introducing...
Although I do not have anything stellar to say in my inital blog post, I do welcome you and would like to introduce myself. My name is Chris Davis, I am the Marketing Coordinator for an association in the Telecommunications industry serving rural telecommunications companies. I graduated in 2006 from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock with a degree in Advertising/Public Relations.
I welcome you to my blog and invite you to come back periodically and check for updates.
Chris
I welcome you to my blog and invite you to come back periodically and check for updates.
Chris
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