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Unapologetic Marketing

Don’t keep acting like you are the only one with a product trying to fill the consumers’ need. That’s just plain doubtful, in most cases the consumer has the choice of hundreds of competitors, and you need them to choose you. With that in mind, are you paying into a marketing scheme that simply states the statistics about your widget and doesn’t really differentiate you on any other meaningful level?

Stop Doing That.

confrontational marketing

It is time to change course, to stop pretending there are no competitors out there, there are. How about you compete with them by acknowledging their existence, you have nothing to lose because your product is better, right? If its not definitively better, stop worrying about marketing and start making it better… then come back and pick up here.

Still Reading?

Lets create a confrontation of sorts, an unabashed comparison, be unapologetic about being better and saying it out loud. Why? Because you are better and you deserve more of the market, because consumers are sick of hearing the same old marketing messages and they are tuning them out. Nothing stands out from the crowd like a bold honest confrontation, a person invested enough to do that with a better product will gain more customers. That’s that.

Some Ground Rules

  1. First and foremost, be truly better. Don’t fake it, the only two people that will believe you if you are not truly better is yourself, and your mom, and that’s not a big enough market to succeed.
  2. Don’t make it personal and petty, and don’t pick a fight with a small time operation. Nobody likes a bully, be the David to a Goliath.
  3. Have fun with it, for example: incorporate pop culture or current events into the messaging, don’t come off as a technical nerd about your comparison.
  4. Understand the difference between hostile confrontational and proud differentiation, do the latter.

The specifics are up to you, if you want to see what I would do you are in luck. We are currently running a few of these campaigns and I will follow up with a post of the best example in a few days. Until then provide a better product than a big competitor and don’t be afraid to tell people about it.

I am Spirocks on Twitter.

Try Something

Here we are, today, a perfect time to try something new. Your business, your life, deserves it. To be honest even if what you try is an outright failure, if the product doesn’t sell, the new hire doesn’t work out, or the reception is just plain blah, you are ahead of the game. Now you know, you are not wondering what would happen.

newage

Then you try something new again, this time armed with the knowledge of two very important things.

  1. What did not work.
  2. That failure isn’t a fate it is a step.

Let’s be honest though, you probably know this in your heart. You probably won’t fail in any spectacular way. Maybe it won’t be as big of a success as you dreamed right off the bat, but it likely won’t be a flop either.

Tell Fear to GTFO of your planning, and make an educated investment in the unknown, in yourself, and try something new. Today.

I am Spirocks on Twitter.

Things Not To Do

One of my favorite authors, Ryan Holiday has a brilliant list of things not to do, which featured this closing argument:  As one philosopher put it, pretend that everyone else is hemmed in by predetermination but that you, and you alone, have been given free-will. Because when you give up the misguided notion that they are in control and focus solely on the fact that you in fact are in control, the whining petulance stops and the magnanimity can begin.

Now if you read the post, you will find a list of thirty things to stop doing which are more akin to everyday life, like moving on once you order your coffee instead of slowing down the line.

I am Spirocks on Twitter.

Trust and Permission – Gatekeepers and Goals

Lets take a pre-meditated turn off of our beaten path, and forge a new direction that creates surprise, builds trust, and forges connections.

road trips

You are the marketer, the story teller, the ambassador, the person responsible for the way your restaurant interacts with the public. You have lots to share, and lots of motivation for your community to love your place. So how can we improve our ability to break through, to create lasting loyal customers out of those that we encounter with our message? (P.S. it doesnt matter if online, in person, or in print)

We get there by building trust, and getting permission. 

Think about it, how can we invest the time/energy/money in producing a piece of marketing material, whether a website, email, or old media ad without having cultivated an audience that wants to hear about it. The days of barging into peoples attention span are over.

The Art of the Want

Everything your business does to communicate with your community is intensely personal to you, but not to the community, don’t forget that. It is really not about what you want, if it was you would just send out a postcard to everyone’s house that said; “I want you to come eat at my restaurant tonight.”  The want we are after is the want of a guest to hear more about what you are doing, to hear about what you are doing in the future. You have to earn that want, by delivering what you promise in a way that builds trust.  Everyday my goal is to build trust, forge connections, and create surprise in the way my businesses interact with our guests. That goal is the fertile ground where the want that drives my business grows. 

Forge Connections… Why use the word forge? I say that because once you create them they are iron clad, for good or for bad, these are the stories that people associate with you and your business, they are the stories they tell their friends and family, but most importantly they are the stories they tell themselves.  Recently a woman called the restaurant early in the morning while I was doing some work in my office, when I answered I could tell she was stressed. She had forgotten to order a gift certificate for her Boss’s sister’s birthday that was that day. She was going to try and get someone to come get it from the restaurant and deliver it for her, and wanted to make sure we were there that early. So I said: “I can tell you are stressed, I hate that feeling, why dont you let me deliver it for you.” She was stunned, relieved and thrilled. I got the information for the delivery address and her address to mail a receipt. I took a ride and delivered the certificate, then swung by the woman’s office and delivered her a gift card valid for a martini on my tab that read: “I think you could use this today.” She was floored, and a connection was born. I guess you can say I forged a connection and created surprise all at the same time. With that I had permission to communicate with her in the future, and the best part? It was fun. You have to do something different, something original, something you create, for it to resonate and help you reach your goals. 

So today I suggest you invest in your creative soul and use it to help you build Trust and Permission. They are intertwined, and they represent the gatekeepers to your goals.

I am Spirocks on Twitter.

Restaurant Tech Upgrades For Right Now

As the year comes to an end upgrade your restaurants’ tech with these easy to install products for a more efficient, more appealing, and more secure 2015.

Restaurants Lighting, with its long hours of all bulbs burning electricity is a major expense. Upgrade to LED bulbs today and start saving up to 80% of the electricity immediately. This is one of the easiest ways to upgrade your space. Be careful not to get lights of a cold temperature that change the atmosphere of your space, I upgraded some halogen bulbs to these warm LEDs and have enjoyed their light, the electricity savings, and the quality of the build. Here is an amazon link:

Tired of your clunky old emergency lights with the huge, expensive, lead batteries that never seem sto be charged when it is inspection time? Yeah I was too, that is why I upgraded my restaurant’s emergency lights to these sleek, affordable, LED units that uses small easy to find rechargeable batteries. Oh and they always seem to be charged anyhow. These are a quick and easy install especially when you are just replacing an existing unit.

More and more customers expect to have a wifi network to use at the restaurant’s they frequent, whether it is a kid contently playing with their grandmother’s iPhone or a a business dinner that needs access to the cloud wifi is becoming a necessity and you don’t want guests choosing to go elsewhere when they need it. You also don’t want guest use to clog up your business network and or create any vulnerabilities in your system. That is why you need to get a wifi router that has dual networks, one for guests and employees and one for your business systems. This is the one that I recently upgraded to and I can fully stand behind its performance.

What upgrades are you thinking of making, want some advice on what I would do? Hit me up on Twitter @spirocks and I will be sure to get back to you.

Merry Christmas!

 

I am Spirocks on Twitter.

Don’t just rent your friends from Facebook

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Too many business owners have an online strategy which relies on garnering as many likes as possible for their Facebook page. This is wrought with peril and here is why:

At any time, and they do it often, Facebook alters how you connect with these people to further their goals. Which all revolve around making money off of these connections. They want you to rent your friends, plain and simple.

So as time changes, the investment you have made in those connections is adjusted, filtered, and rearranged to become more profitable for Facebook. Recently they altered how many of your business posts people who liked your page see if you don’t pay to promote them.  Its time to focus on making connections with these friends and followers as permanent as possible.

The answer for most of you: Build your email list. Start today, make it worth their while. How much should you invest in time and money? Answer one question: What is a permanent connection to your customers worth to you?

I am Spirocks on Twitter.

Dominate Instagram Marketing: How to Increase Your Brand’s Local Audience

Instagram has held the distinction as the fastest growing social media network for over a year now. For brands like yours, it puts the ability to get close to your targeted local audience in the palm of your hand.

This requires a healthy dose of inspiration be it artsy, humorous, insightful etc… it also requires you to have a solid understanding of the ins and outs of Instagram. That is what this post is about.

1) Follow the most influential local Instagrammers, interact with them.

Start by finding those that have tagged your business in a post, either by mentioning its name, or by geotagging photos at your place of business. These are happy customers who you must follow and interact with. Like their photos and let them know you are fans of them too, that good feeling is the beginning of an amazing instagram relationship.

Look for others in your community who are active on Instagram and follow them, like their content, get to know what they find interesting, finding customers that will sing your praises is a great thing. Remember you are great at what you do, once they give your business a try you will make them wish you had found them on Instagram earlier.

2) Hashtags are key to getting found, here is how to use them.

While I have a post devoted to this topic on its own, I will give you the cliff notes version here. Focus on finding the relevant hashtags for your post, making up a funny word may be entertaining for your followers but it isnt going to get searched for often if at all. Consider a fitness related post that included the hashtag #beeeasstmodelegdaaaaze versus #squats #legday #workout… clearly the latter post would transcend and be found more often. Studies have shown that including three or more hashtags in your post drastically increases how many people find it. In fact up to 7 are acceptable to Instagram users.

As far as local marketing goes, use hashtags that relate to the town/state/university that makes up your target audience. For instance I use the #andover hashtag frequently for my restaurants in downtown andover. It both relates to those who live in town, and to the prominent boarding school Phillips Academy Andover that is in town.

3) Pull back the Curtain, and do it frequently.

Intersperse images of what you are selling with behind the scenes pics of your team, your office, previews of future offerings… let your audience feel privy to your process and in turn they will feel a part of it. For instance showing pictures of our recently launched sunday brunch dishes is a good way to let people know how amazing they are, but showing them pictures of a bar full of people having a blast eating them is another angle. Those ‘product in motion’ or ‘experience’ images are often even more impactful. Try something different and let your audience look forward to finding your next image… be you, be human, share you business story. It may be your everyday, but to a lot of people it is very interesting and your providing a window into the happenings can make them feel much more comfortable taking the plunge and becoming a customer.

I am Spirocks on Twitter.

Kaskade Demonstrates Why To Blog

I blog.

I do it here.

I also do it for my other businesses, Andolinis Italian Restaurant, and Sauce Wings.

I do it so I can talk directly to my customers and extended audience.

No filters, no reporting, no mistakes, and no doubt that I mean to say what I do. Thats the affect of this medium, its me, talking to you. But the truth is I dont have a terribly big podium to speak from so maybe you discount the whole blogging thing. As if its not that valuable a tool to communicate what I am doing, and what I think needs to be said.

What if I stood in front of an audience like this and I still chose to blog to get my thoughts across?

What if I had topped billboard charts, was paid $200k a concert, and had sold millions of albums? 

That would make my audience pretty large, and much like Kaskade’s.

Why then would I turn to a blog to get my ideas across, when magazines, radio stations, and crowds would assemble to see and hear me? His reason for blogging is the same as why I do it, so that his message can be delivered in his words, exactly as he intends it.

Recently when the LA Times attacked the Electronic Dance Music scene, (EDM) Kaskade didn’t do an interview on SIRIUS BPM or rant at a concert, he took to his blog to effectively and directly take issue with what he felt was unfair criticism. Here is a snippet:

As far as a music culture goes, EDM is the one who will accept the kids on the outliers, the ones who get bullied, the ones who feel like they may not quite fit in. This community is exceptional in its ability to bond all types together, and I am not exaggerating when I say it saves lives. Our audience is intelligent and kind, discriminating only in regards to which sound they like best. Our audience is unprecedented in their drive to proactively support each other.

There’s your story, LA Times. Do the world a favor and dig into that for a change, punks.

Read the whole post here: Kaskade

Whatever way you look at it, delivering your message, on your terms, in your words has value. Building that connection with your audience however big or small, can only lead to you and your business being better understood. Whether you are standing up for a group of people, or explaining a new product, nothing is left to interpretation when you blog.

So, Can you still afford not to?

 

 

I am Spirocks on Twitter.