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Headed to Saleforce.com's Dreamforce event this week

Headed to San Francisco for this event this week.  If you are going to be around and want to connect, let me know - robertcpease at gmail dot com.

Three keys to a successful modern marketing plan

I assembled these notes in advance of a presentation I thought I would be giving.  That didn't come together but I did want to share these three points here as "keys to a successful modern marketing plan."  There are definitely more parts to a plan than what is listed here but I believe these are especially relevant to what you can do and must do given how technology has changed both the approach and pace of marketing.

1.  Launch is a process not an event

Launch is not a one time event for your company.  Launch is a continuous process whether it is the release of new features, a partner announcement, or just a continuous flow of information and events that you are driving. 

I am not a fan of the "one shot" launch events.  Not because I don't think Techcrunch 50 or Demo are good events.  I just believe there are way too many variables that impact a positive outcome...and that the results of the outcome are fleeting.  Isolating everything that could potentially derail a demo or conflicts that could lead to a sparse audience is pretty much impossible so don't set yourself up for disappointment. 

I recommend laying out your time line and finding the events that support it.  Do not spend buckets of money on events although many require some level of sponsorship to get on stage.  Just be frugal about spend and critical of the opportunity.  If it seems to good to be true or it is presented (sold) as the "make or break" event for your company, move on.

2.  Identify on-line influencers in your domain & meet them

Everyone can be a publisher these days and there are no shortage of bloggers, podcasters, and amateur journalists in just about every industry and sub-industry.  A bit of time using a search engine will reveal lots of targets for your given domain that have huge readerships.  Engage with these on-line influencers, share your expertise, and provide content for their audiences.  Traditional newspaper circulation continues to decline so focus on those who focus on what you do and in your space rather than hope for that big article in the Wall Street Journal.  If what you are doing and saying is compelling (and you are really are on expert), those opportunities will find you.

3.  Embrace new technologies but don’t lose sight of fundamentals

Social media is a tactic, not a profession.  It has a role in the marketing mix and is a phenomenal customer support tool.  See it for what it is and understand it is a platform for your brand.  Use channels like Twitter, Facebook, and your blog to share news about you, about your industry, and to show off your expertise as well as that of others (yes, including your competitors).

For a bit of additional perspective, watch this video about how the fundamentals of B2B marketing stay the same:

Social Overload

I am definitely beginning to suffer from this. 

I'm not talking about being social with people (old school social networking), I'm talking about all the ways I can "be social" while staring at my computer or my mobile device including all the activity streams coming from multiple sources across multiple accounts flowing in many directions.

I maintain accounts both personally and for work across a variety of networks including Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn and use a variety of tools to try to keep up (Tweetdeck, Google Reader, Echofon, Twitterberry, and a few others) with what is being said to me, about me, about my company, about competitors, and about interesting things related to the previous.  This doesn't even include the effort required to share relevant and valuable content back into this swarm of status updates, likes, and shares.  I currently have 343 feeds coming into Google Reader spanning various keyword and content alerts plus blogs that span messaging, collaboration, venture capital, start ups, marketing, capital markets, personal finance, and various towns and cities that I like to keep an eye on.  Oh, and don't forget about news outlets like The Wall Street Journal and CSPAN (yes, I really do follow CSPAN on Twitter).

And I won't even begin to bore you with the email volume in four different work and personal accounts.

The challenge is to actually listen to what is being said versus just talking and, more importantly, hear the important things and be conversational.

It may seem like a shameless pitch (I work there) to mention the value Gist currently delivers to me to make sense out of this massive flow of information.  It gives me the ability to get an update on people who are important to me, companies I am interested in, and all of the associated content, status updates, and related news. I don't even need to worry about not being hip to the latest trendy micro-messaging, sharing, friending thingy because if it is available as a public feed, Gist will find it and associate it with the right person. 

More great stuff is on the roadmap to address my social overload and it can't come too soon. 

Fifteen Great On-Demand Tools for Your Small Business

I am lifting this list from the Seattle Tech Startups discussion thread because this response from Ksenia Oustiougova is too good not to share broadly.  Ksenia runs a great company here in Seattle called lilipip! that does animated marketing videos.

Here is her list in response to the question of "what tools do you use to manage your personal workload."  Her answer is a great snapshot of the tools used to run a small business and an example of how any company can access a wide variety of really great products on-demand and at relatively low cost these days.

1. Project management - Basecamp
   
2. CRM - Batchbook
   
3. Documents (signing contracts) - EchoSign
   
4. Docs automatically stored if sent by fax via eFax
   
5. Invoicing - Freshbooks
   
6. Taxes - OutRight
   
7. Operations (manual, overseas VPA's, etc) - Google Docs
8. Scheduling - Google Calendar
9. Voice - Google Voice
10. Newsletter - MailChimp 
11. Birthday/Thank you cards - Plaxo
    
12. Conferencing - Skype
    
13. Video management/hosting/tracking - Wistia
    
14. Money transferring (anywhere in the world) - Xoom
    
15. Sending huge files - DropBox and YouSendIt

This is a great list.  I think I'd add a few like a blogging platform (Typepad or Wordpress), a wiki/collaboration space (like PBWorks), and various Twitter tools (like Tweetdeck & CoTweet) as well as the fact that you can address all your email needs with Google Apps.  Other adds would include marketing specific items like PRWeb for press releases, Jigsaw for lead generation/list building, and, of course, Gist for personal relationship management.

What are good email marketing open and click rates?

I'm a fan of using email marketing as part of a broader marketing plan as long as it is not abused and functions as a platform to share information the recipient will find valuable as opposed to shameless product pitches. 

There are lots of different options here including self-service ones like VerticalResponse (which I currently use), Constant Contact, and MailChimp as well as ones like Portland-based eROI and Nashville, TN-based Emma which integrate agency services along with the email capability.  The full list of options is very long (including Atlanta-based Silverpop & Seattle neighbor WhatCounts) and I know I am not doing it justice here.

The purpose of this post is to dig into what are good results from an email marketing campaign.  How many opens, clicks, bounces, unsubscribes, etc. are actually good when compared to what is best in class?

I know what I have seen in my efforts and am happy to discuss one-on-one if you are interested.  Here is what I found after a few quick searches:

• Great chart from the folks at MailChimp with a breakdown by industry (small businesses).  The average of the averages (sorry mathematicians) pegs this around a 25% open rate with just over a 4% click rate looking across some 273M sent emails. Unsubscribes are pretty low at .36% while hard bounces (not a valid email) seem high to me at almost 6%.  People change jobs and email addresses go stale but I have not seen a result this high or it could be due an extended interval between sends.

• Good stats posted on eMarketer although pegging the high end of list size at 1000+ seems curious to me (my lists are always much larger than this and I hope yours are too).  Their citation of a report by MailerMailer puts the "worldwide" open rate at 12.5% at the end of 2008.

I'm not sure I am leaving you with what is best in class but at least this can function as a frame of reference.  I am not an email marketing expert by any means but believe in it and its responsible use for any organization.

Great ad from Motorola about aggregating content on a mobile device

This ad ran during the World Series and I thought it was a great take on the type of thing we are doing at Gist.  The ability to sift through an increasing amount of content, information, chatter, and other types of noise to get to the things that matter most. 

Does too much available capital limit creativity?

This video was referenced by a variety of folks here in Seattle after Mark Maunder blogged about it.  It is quite good and a nice lesson in what we think we can and can't accomplish based on the availability of capital.  It definitely is a nice perspective builder and a reminder that it doesn't take venture capital to be an entrepreneur.

Busy couple weeks

Apologies for slow posting over the past couple weeks.  I've been bouncing around a bit as we continue to roll out Gist at a series of events around the US.  You can always keep up with me on Twitter - ReplytoAll as it is sometimes easier to do a short update while in motion.

Made some great new friends, recruited lots of new Gist users, and even had the chance to reconnect with some old friends.  A few more events through the end of the year including Defrag in Denver and Salesforce.com's big Dreamforce user event in San Francisco.  If you'll be at either, let me know and we'll connect.

Blogging will change your life

Don't believe me?  Then listen to what Tom Peters and Seth Godin have to say about it.  Good friend Max Effgen at 12Sided posted this some time ago and I flagged it to share here.

It is short and captures the essence of why I started blogging and the fulfillment I get from doing it.  It forces you to more fully and thoroughly think through things, truly grasp why you believe the way you do, and structure those thoughts and beliefs for others to consume.  I write as much for myself as I do for others and am thankful to those of you who think my posts are worth reading and keep coming back for more.

Beware the 2%

In every project or task there are always things that get overlooked, don't go quite right, or are just wrong especially if you are moving fast or entering uncharted territory as often happens in a start up.  I view this as the" 2%."  The key is isolating this 2% down to things that will have the least material impact if they occur or, if they do, can be quickly fixed with limited impact.

Drive for perfection but understand it is elusive.  Understand that things will go wrong but focus on keeping their impact to a minimum.