Recently I’ve been doing some online research for projects. If a website has content that seems to have value, I’ll normally check to see if they have a newsletter that will benefit me in the future as a way to stay in contact with the site (in addition to RSS feeds). I subscribe to a lot of enewsletters. I don’t read them all as they come in, but I do glance at them and file them appropriately (if only I could keep all aspects of my life that organized). Typically, I have all of these enewsletters and correspondence set up to go to my personal e-mail address. Due to corporate e-mail retention policies, I found it easier to manage in my personal account for archival purposes.

Recently, I was on a marketing website which required a corporate e-mail address to allow me to sign up. Required?! By restricting to “corporate only,” this company was ignoring large portions of its potential client base, or, at the very least, partners for projects. It’s only an e-mail newsletter, after all. Why not expose your brand to as many people out there willing to accept it?

Here’s who they are neglecting:

1. Freelance community – Well connected individuals who have the ability to forge and develop new partnerships.
2. Entrepreneurial community – Although they often have not established “corporate” e-mail addresses, these are regional movers-and-shakers.
3. Business community – Just because they may prefer to give their personal e-mail, doesn’t mean they don’t have professional jobs. The possibilities are endless.

With filtering features available in e-mail marketing software across the board, there’s no viable reason I can think of for a company to restrict e-mail addresses.

Don’t restrict your e-mail acquisition fields. You may be neglecting a large segment of your audience. You never know where your next lead will come from.

That’s how I landed in my most recent predicament — a coworker recommended me as a person who fit the criteria of a “person of interest,” which apparently is defined as being young and having a job.

Mouth salivating with the opportunity for a new sale, the consultant called and I agreed to meet with him. The first meeting actually went pretty well, even though it ended with him asking if I had any contacts who were young and had jobs that I could recommend to him (I knew it was coming). I declined his request for my contacts, but did agree to meet with him again to find out the next steps.

It was probably a month before we met again. In the interim, he requested to connect with me on LinkedIn. I obliged, as I often do after at least meeting with someone*.

The second meeting with the consultant came around, which, again, went well. I was ready to consider signing up with him. Again, at the end of the meeting, he asked me if I had any contacts I was comfortable sharing with him. I told him no.

[Right here is where he should have ended scene.]

He then pulled out a list of my personal contacts asking me if he can use my name as a reference for contacting any of the individuals he swiped from my connections…ON LINKEDIN. The names on the list were family, former coworkers and some folks that I met with only once. I immediately told him I was not comfortable with him using my name as a reference to contact anyone on the list. He proceeded to insist I give him my permission. I conceded that he could say that he and I are working together, but I in no way endorse his services, nor did I give him any of their contact information. He seemed satisfied with that. I have to admit that pulling out a list of contacts from LinkedIn was a little shady, but I understood that I kept my connections public and I accepted the consultant’s invitation to connect – I’m just as much to blame. Lesson learned for me.

[If the scene wasn’t ended before…here’s another opportunity to do so and still have my business.]

Over the next two weeks, three people who appeared on that list contact me. Contact A thought it was a business referral, which I then had retract and explain in detail. Embarrassing. Contact B met with the consultant. At this meeting, the consultant pulled out a list of Contact B’s company roster and told Contact B that I had given it to him. A blatant lie. Contact C met with him with no incident of consequence.

So be warned. There are those out there who are using LinkedIn to develop and expand their sales funnels — understandably, as that is one of the great benefits of LinkedIn. However, going behind someone’s back and using their name as part of your recruitment efforts is not only shady…it’s not ethical. LinkedIn has an established introduction process to connect with your connections’ connections. Use it.

Another personal philosophy of mine is to invest with ethical people. I’m old fashioned like that. No one who preys on my contacts without my permission is going to see a dime of my money. And, no one who lies about where they obtained information will see a dime of my money either. In my mind, they follow the same decent as Justin Kownacki’s Marketing D-Bags.

What I have given this consultant is a mouse click…removing them from my LinkedIn connections.

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*It’s important to establish your own LinkedIn philosophy for accepting connection requests. Do you want to accept all requests to gain a larger reach, or a more concentrated connection circle? Only you can decide, depending on what you want to do with your circle of influence. A lot of times, your philosophy should/could be based on timing as well. Are you unemployed? Connect with everyone…etc. etc.

We’ve all run into the red kettles, the e-mails and the Facebook causes. While each and every one may be valid in its own right, many nonprofits are doing it all wrong. With the thousands of spam lists and free social media tools at their disposal, simply using these to solicit requests for donations will bear little result. Nonprofits have forgotten to develop a sense of community — a network of impassioned people who may, at some point, desire to make a donation to your cause. Chris Brogan uses the 12:1 ratio. Before you make a single promotion about something benefitting you, you should make at least a dozen promotions for others. Doing this establishes yourself as a committed and respected member of our social online community and builds your credibility with your network. Community first, ask thirteenth. It’s a simple rule that will help build your network of trust and make your online donation efforts all the more successful.

The problem (for them) is it linked to our blog. I alerted some of the folks around the office and we had an internal debate to determine if we should be upset about this or not. I also solicited some feedback from the Twitter community. All were in agreement — although this is very odd for someone to do, we should view it as a compliment and an additional outlet to promote our services. Who knows…if we get enough leads from them posting our content, they may make our fruit basket list next year.

What do you think? Has this ever happened to you?

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Everyone knew why these individuals were there. They networked with the municipality folk, passed out cards and traded ideas. When it was time for everyone to introduce themselves, they did so in a manner which highlighted their services and presented the exact reason why they came to the seminar…to build business partnerships. As the seminar continued, they asked questions, offered suggestions and became the resident experts. Following the seminar, all of the contractors and auditors had attracted small groups of people wanting to know more.

As folks exited the room, we were greeted by another contractor who showed up late and was passing out cards to anyone who left the room.

The difference in the contractors is that those inside the room invested time, energy and knowledge to develop PARTNERSHIPS.

The contractor outside the room invested nothing in hopes to get LEADS.

Which do you think generated more business from attending the seminar? How does your sales process portray your sales credibility?

With October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, it’s been really hard to miss strands of pink shuffled into many aspects of daily life. From fountains to the NFL, the effort to drive awareness for breast cancer screenings has been fantastic.

What’s truly impressive is the massive viral activity surrounding the Feel Your Boobies campaign, where visitors can create web stickers, widgets and even purchase sweet Feel Your Boobies merch. Their message is edgy and young. Sure…some of you are thinking that this is a serious issue and should be handled with compassion and sincerity. I agree. Although breast cancer risk increases with age, the Foundation is targeting the campaign at their youngest age group to build an audience around their cause. It’s an example of future-planning — building awareness of generations as their risk increases. Thousands have already created stickers similar to what you see to the left. While breast cancer is definitely no lighthearted matter, creating a catchy, hip and eccentric way to remind folks how to prevent this disease are keys to having your message spread virally.

So, make sure you help save the ta-ta’s this month, get examined and visit the Feel Your Boobies site to make your own sticker (called a Boobicon) to help spread the word. Post your picture in the comments to share your busty creativity with others! Also, be sure to check out what others are saying on their boobicons. Very funny.

Happy National Feel Your Boobies Week!

So, with the start of the new blogging year (of course that’s relative to the PodCamp Pittsburgh calendar), I am fulfilling my new year’s resolution to blog more with…a blog post.

Recently, I’ve been witness to some fairly poor marketing strategies surrounding local events. These ill experiences make me cringe every time I see something from these organizations and companies. So…I thought it would be appropriate to list some easy ways you can increase attendance at your event without breaking the bank.

1. Avoid Lame Gimmicks
Busy professionals don’t need gimmicks to get them to attend an event. Themes and novelties do not add value to the event program. For the busy professional, content is number one. So long as the content is engaging, elicits emotion, builds credibility and appeals to a relevant, targeted audience, the event will speak for itself. Gimmicks detract from an organizations mission and message of the event. The goal of the event should be to add value through a quick, meaningful program. If you need a gimmick to get attendees to your event, perhaps you should re-evaluate the event’s content.

2. Start Your Viral Strategy Early
Too many event organizers begin their viral marketing campaigns when their attendance isn’t where they’d like it to be, and by that time, it’s too late. Viral strategies should begin in coordination with the first release of information about the event. Additionally, strategies should be tiered to offer additional points of interaction on a gradually more intense level as the event draws closer. When considering these viral efforts, remember that people are about 6-times more likely to act on what someone tells them, over what they read. Dan Zarrella offers some great tips on creating contagiousness for viral marketing efforts.

3. Ease of Registration
Registration for events should be simple and the experience should be smooth for each registrant. If the registration is online, it should be a simple process on a single page that is easy to navigate. A payment receipt should be automatically generated and an e-mail reminder about the registration with additional information about directions, agenda and other important details should be sent at least three days before the event. If the registration isn’t able to be completed online and must be completed over the phone, the person accepting the registrations should be friendly, competent and knowledgable about all aspects of the event. In all, the registrant should finish the registration process feeling like their money and/or information has been received, recorded correctly and that all will be in order in preparation for their arrival for the event.

4. E-Mail Still Works
E-mail can be a great ally for marketing events, or it can be an enemy. E-mail campaigns should be strategic in delivery, well-timed, targeted to a specific audience, optimized for delivery, offer value and request action. If any of these items is weak, the e-mail efforts will be weakened. Keep the message simple, personalized if possible and avoid cheesy gimmicks.

5. Easy to Find
Event promotion is often neglected online. Events should be prominently placed on your homepage and allow registration within two-three clicks. If your organization or company conducts a large number of events, you should have an online event calendar to allow for organization of the events and cross-promotion of other events. Make your events easy to find, and they will be found.

6. Research Your Audience
It’s important to understand your audience for a variety of reasons. First, to make the content relevant. However, it’s also important to understand other events that they might be attending. Whether you (or they) realize it or not, they are comparing your event to the other events they attend. Find out what they are attending and, if possible, attend one yourself. Take notes of good and bad qualities of the event and implement change on your own event. Make sure that your event stands out for the good and not the bad.

7. Invade Personal Space
When individuals receive your event message, their first question will be “What is in it for me?” The messaging and content of the event should easily answer this question. The most important word in this question is “me.” If you can make the message personalized based on historical demographics, you will have a greater likelihood of action on the message. If the message doesn’t speak to ME, there’s a greater chance of making it to my trash can than my action folder.

8. Make the Date Work
Before the event date is released, make sure the date works with key stakeholders you expect to attend. This might be a segment of an advisory board, staff members or regional thought leaders — anyone who might virally help share word about your event. If possible, get a committment from these folks prior to making the date public. A person who is attending an event is more likely to share the event details with others than those who are not attending. Here’s a brief checklist for some additional tips on putting the event together.

9. Annual Events
Annual events have a tendency to be very redundant in structure and content. Make sure there is an engaging reason to have a person attend…again. Change the venue, the PowerPoint, the order of events. Strive to make the next year better, different and intriguing. If you’re pulling out last year’s file to reference, you’re doing it wrong. Strive to keep the same audience attending your event and adding to it…not replacing those you lose due to the same ol’ program.

10. Grassroots
Never underestimate the power of grassroots marketing. Make sure your receptionist has information about your event. Train folks who have high interaction with potential attendees about your event. Make sure they make a suggestive sale for attending the event. Try a contest for free passes to gain awareness…whatever it takes to help get the word out.

There’s other great ways to enhance your event attendance. What ideas do you have?

1. It’s important to: decide on a social media strategy based on surveying your audience; develop realistic and measurable goals; and constantly evaluate and adjust your social media campaigns to attribute the most energy towards activities that are helping reach those goals.
2. Infuse social media strategies throughout all levels of your organization, however realize that implementing a quality strategy requires time dedication from key individuals.
3. When trying to sell senior executives on social media initiatives, most will ask questions about the return on investment. A good comparison for this is comparing a website to social media. Most companies and organizations spend thousands on new websites. Websites, while important, only provide two dimensional communication. General corporate websites do not allow for interaction between the organization and those who visit the site (aside from a mail link or contact form, of course). Social media provides direct interaction between companies/organizations and their audience. What would the return on investment be if a company could interact with all members who visit their site? How would sales be affected? How would donations be affected? That’s the benefit of social media.

We’ve developed the Pittsburgh Non-Profits blog to provide resources for non-profit professionals. The presentation is posted here.

I’ll start with an event that happened earlier this week…the Pittsburgh Penguins‘ victory parade after winning the Stanley Cup finals. This win, coupled with the Superbowl four months ago and the G-20 Summit happening later this year, is enough for a series of posts surrounding the exposure and marketing potential the City of Pittsburgh is receiving in themselves. However, the reason for this post isn’t the Penguins win…it’s how city businesses attracted customers during the influx of 300,ooo-plus people within the city limits.

Houlihan’s, a Kansas City-based* food chain that opened stores in Pittsburgh, has a restaurant in Station Square. As a customer of theirs, I succumbed to their POS signage requesting I sign up for their text club (which they creatively call a “Foody Call,” a play on words of “Booty Call“). As a new member of their Foody Call club, I had no expectations to their use of texting as a marketing tool, but as a lover of both food and marketing, I felt inclined to give it a shot.

When the Stanley Cup was paraded through the streets of Pittsburgh, with hundreds of thousands of people descending on the city to relish in it’s glow, I receive a text message, or a Foody Call, which states:

We are the CHAMPIONS! Celebr8 the Pens win at Houlihan’s. Show txt to server for FREE APPETIZER all day. Valid 6/15 only.

Wow. What a great way to drive business…piggy back on other events and activities going on. Because Houlihan’s is a national “chain” I hadn’t expected something like this from them. But…assuming that their Foody Call list in Pittsburgh is a decent size, I can imagine their ROI for this promotion was significant. Who goes into a restaurant an only orders an appetizer?

Lesson learned: Be aware of what’s going on around you and strive to take advantage of other’s efforts…ethically of course.

Well done, Houlihans!

*Yes…I realize the irony of “Kansas City” and “Pittsburgh Penguins” being in the same post brings back painful memories of the Pens’ potential relocation to the midwest. But those days are gone (for at least 30 years).