The Value of Mediocrity – When Good Enough is Good Enough

Excellence comes at a price, usually in time and money, but mediocrity comes at a greater price. Our company has devoted thousands of research hours looking at businesses both online and offline. It seems that a majority of businesses don’t see the value of investing into being excellent, or they’ve missed opportunities to separate themselves from their competition.

In every industry, there are a majority of businesses that can be grouped together solely in terms of what they offer. Sometimes reaching a particular demographic is the only reason one company gets a job instead of another.

Then there are those businesses we all aspire to be – the ones that not only achieve excellence in their brand recognition, but who purposely excel in everything that they do. These businesses rise to the top in credibility, visibility and brand loyalty. Their effectiveness is evident in the content of their websites and other marketing collateral, their ability to communicate clearly what they do, and the positioning of their target niche with such precision that they are instantly recognized as offering a leading product or service in their industry.

This doesn’t happen by chance. A lot of time, effort and money go into not only the branding and marketing strategies that propel these businesses, but in being efficient in every aspect of their work. These companies may feel the effects of a down economy, but they have built such a strong base of customer loyalty that they are able to make it -- while others simply drift out of existence.

No successful business opens their door each morning with the hope of being mediocre. Yet there are many businesses that do a great job of “doing what they do,” but are unable to effectively communicate that same excellence in their marketing collateral.

Part of this disconnect could be that these businesses are too busy to worry about their corporate identity or the public’s perception of them. Businesses can get so “busy” with work that they are unable (or unwilling) to think about the long term. It only takes a few minutes to see the effects of this philosophy in the number of failing corporations and small businesses throughout Rhode Island, the United States and around the world. Getting caught up in the hamster wheel of day-to-day activities that just pay the bills can be the biggest obstacle we face in accomplishing those things that are necessary to not only increase revenue, but to help us work smarter -- rather than just working harder.

Finances also play a role in businesses failing to maximize their impact in their industry. Because companies are scaling back on where they’re spending money, advertising is often the first thing to go. As a multimedia and marketing company, we realize this is a direct consequence of ineffective marketing and advertising – not of marketing that works. You wouldn’t lay off your best salesperson. Nor would you cut your most profitable money-maker.

But ineffective marketing should always be cut to make way for effective marketing solutions that get real -- and tangible -- results.

Traditional marketing just doesn’t work like it used to. With TiVo and DVR, most consumers now simply fast forward to avoid TV commercials. There are commercial-free radio options. With inexpensive downloads of music, many listeners choose to avoid radio altogether and plug their iPods into their car audio systems. Newspapers and magazines, which have always been funded by their print advertisers, are losing more and more readers as we become a nation of “skimmers” looking for as much information in as little time as possible.

There is one market that is expanding at a record pace – Internet marketing, also known as Web marketing. But this industry can be the most annoying of them all for consumers.

Banner ads and pop-ups are often ignored and avoided, so they aren’t as effective as they could be. Email marketing also has its challenges, thanks to spammers who flood our inboxes with “make this larger” and “make this smaller” messages. Consumers can either avoid having to deal with email marketing using spam blockers, or spend precious time each day hitting “delete” over and over.
But there is one form of marketing that works every time. There are no gimmicks and no shortcuts. It takes time and effort, but it can be had for less cost than most traditional marketing options.

What is this full-proof marketing secret?

Mark Hughes, author of “Buzz Marketing – Getting People To Talk About Your Stuff” defines it in two ways:

1. Capturing attention of consumers and the media to the point where talking about your brand becomes entertaining, fascinating, and newsworthy.

2. Starting Conversations.

In upcoming blogs, we’ll be talking much more about how New England Multimedia can help businesses in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, throughout New England and across the country create the buzz that gets people talking.

Stay tuned!

Mutual Buzzing - The Key To Buzz Marketing is the corporate blog of New England Multimedia.

To learn more about how New England Multimedia can help your business build online credibility, build strong visibility and build brand loyalty -- affordably -- visit http://www.NewEnglandMultimedia.com or call us toll free at 888.409.1099.

Mutual Buzzing - Buzz Marketing by Being Others-Centered

Richard Phillips is an American hero. He is a living testimony of what being others-centered looks like. Not only did this brave Navy Captain give himself to the pirates as a hostage to save his Maersk Alabama crew, but he praised the Navy for its daring rescue mission.

"They're the superheroes," Richard Phillips said. "They're the titans. They're impossible men doing an impossible job, and they did the impossible with me. ... They're at the point of the sword every day, doing an impossible job every day. … I'm not a hero, the military is.”

When Phillips was rescued, his arms were bound. On Friday, abrasions and scabs could be seen on the insides of his forearms.
These are the marks of a true leader, a servant leader. He sacrificed for the sake of others. He considered others more important than himself. He risked his life to save the lives of his crew.

When I read stories like this, I am not only humbled but I'm inspired to try harder to be others-centered both personally and professionally.

In today's business world, many financial ships are sinking, yet I don't see many men like Richard Phillips around. It seems the worse the economy gets, the more self-centered we become. More and more businesses seem to have adopted an "every man for himself" mentality instead of looking for ways to be more helpful, going the extra mile for the sake of someone else and trusting that doing good by others -- especially when it comes at a tremendous sacrifice – will naturally get people talking about you. When you do good by others, people talk.

Instead of manufacturing ways to generate a buzz about your business, let your reputation of being others-centered create the buzz and get people talking about you.
It’s important to remember that doing good just to get something back is self-serving. We should do good because we care about people and want to offer the best of us that we can. To me, that might be the best reward of all.

To learn more about how New England Multimedia can help your business build online credibility, build strong visibility and build brand loyalty -- affordably – visit http://www.NewEnglandMultimedia.com or call us toll free at 888.409.1099.

Buzz Marketing - Separating From the Competition

The goal of traditional marketing is to reach a target (targeted marketing - lead generation) and have that target respond back (conversion - sale). But the best impact for your business is when you reach out to an audience, they respond to you, AND others talk about it.

The sweet spot in marketing is where this is reciprocated back and forth – with both sides reaping the benefits of the relationship. While it’s true that we’re all in business to make money, that should not be our only focus. Our goal needs to be making money, but the relationships we build and how we create buzz through those relationships are the keys to a truly successful marketing strategy.

Let's say you're a local home improvement business. How can you compete with the world's largest home improvement specialty retailer and the second largest retailer in the United States with fiscal 2008 retail sales of $71.3 billion and earnings from continuing operations of $2.3 billion? Traditional marketing might be that you "advertise" yourself as a local business that has been in business for 100 years and hope that most of your existing clients stay loyal to you. You might get new clients that have something against the big retailers moving in and taking sales away from the smaller businesses. You could carry products your competition doesn't carry. All of these things are good. But does it get people talking about you? Does it create a buzz? If this is your only approach, then the only buzz you will hear is from cutting lumber!


Separate yourself from your competition by doing what they can't do and get people talking about it.

Imagine if someone from your company went out to a job site and followed up after a shipment arrives. You might do this twice a month or more. Take some coffee and bagels with you (be sure you bring enough for everyone). Hang out for a few minutes and ask questions. Get to know your customers and be attentive to what they are doing. Look for ways they might save time with a product they might not be aware of. You might even bring a demo with you and let them try it out for the day - then follow up the next day with a special offer. Ask them for feedback about the quality of service your company provides them. If you feel bold enough, come right out and ask about the large retailers in the area and ask why the customer didn't choose those companies. Really listen to what they say, as this information can prove to be very helpful when you're looking to further separate yourself from your competition.

Don’t have the time? Make the time – but be discerning. You can’t do this for everyone. Look at your current customer base and start with 2 customers that you would like to go the extra mile for. Look for a customer that does repeat business with you, and then build a relationship that shows real effort and attention on your part. Look for those relationships that have the best possible return when you start out, but also make sure you don’t limit yourself to only the top clients.

The time you spend reaching out to them might prove to be one of the best investments of your time.

Mutual Buzzing - The Key To Buzz Marketing is the corporate blog of New England Multimedia.

To learn more about how New England Multimedia can help your business build online credibility, build strong visibility and build brand loyalty -- affordably -- visit http://www.NewEnglandMultimedia.com or call us toll free at 888.409.1099.