Expanding Your Digital Footprint: Direct Digital Marketing for B2B – Josh Gordon of Knotice
Josh Gordon, Director of Marketing, Knotice
Join Josh Gordon at BizCamp on August 19-20 for his presentation: Expanding Your Digital Footprint: Direct Digital Marketing for B2B.
Direct digital marketing – relevant, audience targeted content distributed through the email, Web, and mobile communications channels – is changing how businesses persuade consumers. Its impact on Business-to-Business marketing, however, is often overlooked. Knotice’s Director of Marketing, Josh Gordon, will show how a focused and coordinated direct digital marketing strategy creates an impressive digital footprint and the right support for the sales team.
Josh Gordon is the Director of Marketing at Knotice, a direct digital marketing company, headquartered on Main Street Akron, Ohio. Josh is a seasoned communicator and business-to-business marketing strategist that specializes in content marketing, lead gen, and brand.
Josh is a sought after writer, having written on a variety of topics including direct digital marketing, email marketing, customer-centric marketing, and mobile strategy. He has been featured in several leading marketing publications including1to1 Media, MarketingProfs, and Mobile Marketer. He is also the editor-in-chief of Knotice’s popular direct digital marketing blog, The Lunch Pail. Gordon also holds the prestigious expert status on The Focus Network, where he regularly contributes content and provides insight to fellow marketing professionals, and he has been a featured guest on RSS Ray’s highly regarded radio show “Online Marketing with RSS Ray.”
Josh is an award-winning journalist and marketer. He is currently in his second year serving on the Content Committee for Shop.org, the National Retail Federation’s digital arm. Josh is a member of the American Marketing Association and the Public Relations Society of America.
Linking Your Way To Local Business Dominance – Mike Sheehan
BizCamp at the Taylor Institute is proud to welcome Mike Sheehan founder of Linked Local Akron (LLA). In just 12 short months Mike has grown this LinkedIn group to over 1,700 members. How’d he do it?
Find out August 19-20 at The Taylor Institute for Direct Marketing. Seats are limited – register now to secure your seat.
Mike will be one of the 18 speakers presenting at this year’s BizCamp on the University of Akron campus August 19-20.
About The Speaker
Mike Sheehan, Founding member of the Linked Local Akron
The LLA group has grown to over 1,700 members, in a year’s time. Mike has been an invited speaker to many groups and businesses sharing his simple and effective ways of using LinkedIn to help you build your business.
Here’s what other have said:
“Mike was very knowledgeable in his presentation and spoke very fluently about social media. He was responsive to our group’s inquiries, thinking fast on his feet and providing us with useful information. I would recommend Mike as a speaker.”
”His presentations are excellent and provide a good deal of practical information. He keeps them interesting and has experience that is helpful to everyone he speaks to.”
“Mike provided a “Linked In” workshop for my Team. The presentation was lively and very informative. Mike used lots of examples and gave us a “hands on” approach to navigating the network site. He answered all of our questions.”
Event Sponsors:
The Taylor Institute for Direct Marketing at the University of Akron
Serviced Office and Meeting Space Provider – Office Space Coworking based in Akron, OH
Online Marketing Experts – Sanctuary Media Group based in Akron, OH
Michael Feuer, Founder of OfficeMax and newest venture Max-Wellness to provide Keynote Address to attendees of BizCamp at The Taylor Institute
OfficeMax Founder Michael Feuer Keynote Speaker BizCamp
BizCamp at the Taylor Institute is proud to welcome Founder of OfficeMax and Max-Wellness, Michael Feuer as our Keynote speaker August 19-20 at the Taylor Institute for Direct Marketing in Akron, Ohio.
Michael Feuer is a highly sought after speaker, national monthly business columnist and soon to be published author of his upcoming book The Benevolent Dictator’s Play Book. Mr. Feuer has inspired thousands of entrepreneurs over the years with his story, practical advice and inventive approach to business success.
Mr. Feuer is co-founder of OfficeMax, which he started in 1988 with one store and $20,000 of his own money. During 16 years as CEO, he grew the company to almost 1,000 stores with sales approximating $5 billion before selling it for almost $1.5 billion in 2003 to Boise Cascade Corp. In 2004, Mr. Feuer launched another start-up, Max-Ventures, a venture capital operating firm that focuses on buying control and /or making substantial investments in retail oriented business and business that serve retail.
Mr. Feuer’s most recent entrepreneurial launch is Max-Wellness, a one-stop store featuring over 7,000 products for head-to-toe health and wellness for every age and every stage of life. This first of its kind concept in the world is set to benefit from the burgeoning Baby Boomer markets that wants to enhance their life, prevent illness and treat health issues. Max-Wellness which opened its first stores in Cleveland and Florida is now preparing a national roll out patterned after Feuer’s OfficeMax expansion strategy.
What is BizCamp?
BizCamp is co-hosted by Office Space Coworking and the Taylor Institute for Direct Marketing.
BizCamp is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It’s an intense event with discussions, demos and interaction from participants.
Sometimes referred to as an ‘un-conference’ it’s a break from the expensive, ‘pitch’-driven, cattle-herding events that have become
all too common in the business world.
Rather – BizCamp is a participatory event. Attendees help determine what presentations will be given — and even have the opportunity to present themselves.
The presentations themselves are intimate affairs – small groups of 30-40 people.
The sessions feature an open dialogue of questions, answers and -yes- even the occasional ‘I don’t know.’
Our goal: 18 sessions in 2 days. Topics will run on three ‘tracks’:
1) The Entrepreneurial Experience
2) Marketing for Small Business
3) Business Technology
Event Details:
Early-Bird Registration is only $79.
Visit http://bizcamp.eventbright.com to secure your seat at this year’s BizCamp in Akron.
Location:
The Taylor Institute
225 South Main Street
The Polsky Building, 5th Floor
Akron, OH 44325-4807
Parking FREE - included in your registration fee.
Thursday, August 19th
8am – 9am – Registration – Coffee & Continental Breakfast
9am – 12:30 – Scheduled Speakers & Workshops
12:30-1:30pm – Catered Lunch (included with registration fee).
1:30 – 5pm – Scheduled Speakers
Friday, August 20th
8am – 9am – Registration – Coffee & Continental Breakfast
9am – 12:00 Scheduled Speakers & Workshops
12:30-1:30pm – Catered Lunch (included with registration fee).
1:30 – 5pm – Scheduled Speakers
5:pm – 7pm – Happy Hour & Networking
Call for Speakers – BizCamp 2010 Announced
August 19-20, 2010 in Akron, Ohio — Office Space Coworking will be hosting our next BizCamp! If you have a topic idea or are interested in being a speaker, please send me your ideas.
Submit your ideas here:
BizCamp 2010 Speaker Application
Last time we had 18 speakers present over the course of 2 days.
Speakers included Anita Campbell of Small Business Trends, Ivana Taylor of DIY Marketers, Jim Kukral, Nathan Kievman and many other great speakers. You can download our original program guide here to get an idea of what went on:
2009 BizCamp Program of Events
What is BizCamp?
BizCamp is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It’s an intense event with discussions, demos and interaction from participants.
Sometimes referred to as an ‘un-conference’ it’s a break from the expensive, ‘pitch’-driven, cattle-herding events that have become all too common in the business world.
Rather – BizCamp is a participatory event. Attendees help determine what presentations will be given — and even have the opportunity to present themselves.
The presentations themselves are intimate affairs – small groups of 20-30 people.
The sessions feature an open dialogue of questions, answers and -yes- even the occasional ‘I don’t know.’
Why would you want to present?
For one – you’d get free access to rest of the event.
….AND you’d be in a forum that establishes you as an expert to a group of small business owners and entrepreneurs.
Our goal is to have 18 sessions in 2 days. Topics would run on three ‘tracks’
1) The Entrepreneurial Experience
2) Marketing for Small Business
3) Business Technology
We can’t offer you an audience of 1,000 people ….
BUT we can offer you an audience of hyper-local, highly motivated small business owners who would LOVE the opportunity to engage you in your field of expertise.
Over the next few days we’re releasing select videos of our last BizCamp on our site.
So hopefully you’ll follow along and see some of the great presentations and consider participating in the July 29-30 event.
Thinking ‘Small’: Why Bigger Ain’t Better
We’ve all heard the saying, “Bigger is better.” Or is it?
In relation to companies, big has mattered. Big companies are associated with wealthy Fortune 500 conglomerates where value can be added due to large numbers of employees making functions more efficient. Such economies of scale made sense for growth’s sake. Small startups were traditionally always encouraged to get big quickly, primarily because large companies can go public and acquire more capital. Fancy stuff.
Yet, interestingly enough, small businesses are the backbone of the economy. The U.S. Small Business Administration says that small businesses create two of every three new jobs, produce 39% of the gross national product, and invent more than half the nation’s technological innovation. Simply because you operate a small company doesn’t mean you are unimportant.
Read more
Staying Sane: Being Productive, Even in the Slow Times
So you just submitted a big proposal to a prospective client who could really make a difference for your business. If this one comes through, it could make your year – or at least it could cover your payroll for the next few months. You are naturally patient, understanding that it will take time for your prospective client to consider your proposal and potentially review competitors’ proposals.
Rather than waste this “waiting time” with busy work, why not make the most of it? Avoid going stir crazy – by making your time as productive as possible, you’ll feel better and you’ll likely be moving your business forward by acquiring new leads or cultivating existing ones.
Tips for Tapping into Time
We’ve outlined some key tasks that will not only make you feel productive, they will actually produce results. From contacting prospects to getting your business organized, the following tips are all key investments in your business and future.
Schedule a minimum of two hours a day for phone calling
Make your phone calls in the morning while you are your referrals are both fresh and alert, treating this time as you would any important appointment. Your objective for your calls is to create interst, gather data and make an appointment. You’ll feel good when you can get those parts completed.
Call your best customers
When’s the last time you talked to them? They are your best business asset, so invest time into them. A simple phone call is always appreciated. See how they’re doing, what’s new and if there’s anything you can do for them (and don’t forget to record new information into a customer profile!)
Go to industry or association events
Usually, networking activities are the first thing to go when we get busy. Now that you have some space, get up and get out. Talking to people – whether colleagues or potential clients – is not only good business relationship management, but a welcome social outlet.
Work on your customer database
Now is the time to start recording all of the interactions, phone calls and lists that have been either stored in your mind or on disparate pieces of paper. Taking the time to organize in a database (Microsoft Excel or Access are completely sufficient) will pay off in the long run.
So, did you get the call back? If it’s a good answer, great! If not, don’t take rejection personally. It is to be anticipated and is a natural part of the selling process. Learn from it by using it as a valuable feedback tool and keep persevering!
Project Management – Part 2: Communication
Project Communication: An Exercise in Managing Change
Everyone intuitively knows it: communication is the key to any successful project. In fact, constant, effective communication among all project stakeholders ranks high among the factors leading to the success of a project. It is a key prerequisite of getting the right things done in the right way. As knowledge is power, sharing knowledge is empowering every project stakeholder.
It is a best practice among effective project management philosophies build in check points to ensure a thorough understanding and to secure early buy-in from different stakeholder groups. The number of formal communication checkpoints should vary depending on the size of the project and on the number of stakeholders in your company.
A project communication plan is the written strategy for getting the right information to the right project stakeholders at the right time. Each stakeholder has different requirements for information as they participate in the project in different ways. For information to be used, it has to be delivered to its target users timely. As a project manager, while developing your communication plan, you need to decide how often to contact each stakeholder and with what information.
Your communication plan should include the following components:
- The kickoff meeting. This establishes project timelines, required resources, agreed-upon outcomes for the project, reporting schedules and so on. The kick-off meeting serves two purposes. Firstly, it serves to introduce the project team and formalize the project management aspects of the overall project. Secondly, it provides an opportunity for the project team to receive a more detailed briefing from the client and to finalize user and stakeholder involvement.
- A review meeting could be held at the end of any of the analysis, design, or implementation phases. Here, you discuss the outcomes of that phase and their bearing on how to proceed with the project. This meeting aims to create a shared understanding of the emphasis in the remaining phases of the project and allows the project team to reconsider any assumptions based on learnings so far.
- A technical review meeting, if applicable, explains the design to the client’s technical team and gain any feedback about any implementation issues, before the design progresses too far. The goal would be to walk the client’s technical team through the high-level design concepts, showing them the paper designs and explaining both the rationale behind the different designs, and how we would expect each interaction to work.
- Regularly scheduled milestone meetings. Make sure that these intervals are agreed upon by the client and that these meetings happen. Bring an agenda to each meeting to review every component of the project, wins, status and challenges. These elements should cover resources, costs and issues.
- Final presentation. The presentation to client project stakeholders at the end is a crucial opportunity for your organization to understand the design so far, and the rationale it is based on.
Change Management: The Goal of Project Communication An often-mentioned buzzword in business circles, change management is really the core of project management communication. There are many “meanings” of change management, but for the purposes of this discussion, let’s keep it simple.
The first and most obvious definition of “change management” is that the term refers to the task of managing change. In the context of project management, change management is essentially the goal of the communication process and structure. The obvious is not necessarily unambiguous. Managing change is itself a term that has at least two meanings.
One meaning of “managing change” refers to the making of changes in a planned and managed or systematic fashion. The goal is to more effectively implement new methods and systems in an existing organization.
As we referred to in part 1 of this report, a very useful framework for thinking about the change process is problem solving. Interestingly, this is also how effective project management is approached. Managing change is seen as a matter of moving from one state to another, specifically, from the problem state to the solved state. Problem analysis is generally acknowledged as essential. Goals are set and achieved at various levels and in various areas or functions. Ends and means are discussed and related to one another. Careful planning is accompanied by efforts to obtain buy-in, support and commitment. The net effect is a transition from one state to another in a planned, orderly fashion.
The bottom line: change is a reality in any project situation. Therefore, project management inherently involves stimulating change within an organization. Some organizations are set up for this, others aren’t. In order to effectively affect change through your client project, make sure you understand that people resist change as natural parts of the process. By regularly communicating through various means and structures, you can ultimately overcome thosebarriers to ensure project success.
Check out these resources for more information on project and change management:
http://www.change-management.com/
http://www.strategy-business.com/resilience/rr00006
Monday Motivation – January 4, 2010
Make no little plans, they have no magic to stir men’s blood. Make big plans, aim high in home and work and let your watchword be order and you beacon beauty.
-David Burnham
In Chip & Dan Heath’s book, Made To Stick. One of the principles they share is the importance having compelling story.
How do we get people to act on our ideas? We tell stories. Research shows that mentally rehearsing a situation helps us perform better when we encounter that situation in the physical environment. Similarly, hearing stories acts as a kind of mental flight simulator, preparing us to respond more quickly and effectively.
This principle can be applied not only in your marketing efforts, but also in the day to day management of your business.
Toyota calls it their ‘Hoshin’ or ‘True North’. It’s using the power of story telling to get everyone on the same page.
It creates buy-in. It brings absolute clarity to the overall goal of an initiative. It deepens everyone’s understanding of the challenge ahead.
Even if you’re a one person shop, this can be a powerful tool. Chances are you still have to work with people and you still need to get them to act on your ideas.
Now if you’re thinking you need to sit down and pen J.K. Rowling-sized, 800 page tome — don’t worry. Brevity and simplicity are the keys here.
Think of John F. Kennedy’s declaration that we would “put a man on the moon and return him safely by the end of the decade.” That’s a compelling story that mobilized an entire nation.
Additional Resources to help you create your story:
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Getting the Right Things Done by Pascal Dennis
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Made to Stick by Chip Heath & Dan Heath
How To Hire & Manage Interns
Small businesses in Northeast Ohio – and across America, for that matter – have long used college student interns and recent grads as a helpful, low-cost human resource. Student interns are capable, motivated and – if well managed – highly valuable to your business. A great number of high school, college, graduate and vocational school students are eager to take advantage of the real-world business opportunities offered to them by local businesses — during the entire academic year and not just during the summer months.
With the University of Akron, Walsh University, Malone College, and Kent State (Stark) just down the road, local businesses access to a huge pool of talent.
An increasing number of students today are capable of far more than just clerical work. Many can competently handle complex projects in such areas as finance, public relations, event planning and Web site design/development. And, many students choose internships at small companies instead of larger ones because of the hands-on experience they can get.
The trick is the “well-managed” part. Small businesses too often hire interns without a plan. Success with interns requires finding the right people and creating a system that cultivates interns’ capabilities.
Creating Your Intern Program
Interns can help you and your employees be more productive by freeing up their time – all while providing valuable learning experiences for the intern. Take an inventory of substantive work you need done. Ask other employees what tasks an intern could perform – especially those “back burner” things that nobody else has time to complete. There are many things that interns can help with – however, to make it a mutually beneficial experience, consider setting up some of these tasks: Interns can help you and your employees be more productive by freeing up their time – all while providing valuable learning experiences for the intern. Take an inventory of substantive work you need done. Ask other employees what tasks an intern could perform – especially those “back burner” things that nobody else has time to complete. There are many things that interns can help with – however, to make it a mutually beneficial experience, consider setting up some of these tasks:
- identify prospects
- pursue business leads
- write or send press releases
- plan events
- identify news media for publicity
- prepare award submissions
- do Web research on your industry or competitors
- refresh Web site content
- assist with presentations, design charts, graphs and posters
- recruit the next interns
Getting Started
To help get you started, we’ve compiled some key steps to launching and managing your intern program:
- Attract candidates by posting internship positions online. Some internship sites let you post positions for free, others have small per/month charges for a listing. Employers can also post internship positions at Internships.com where a month-long listing is $10.
- Contact the internship/career offices of local high schools, colleges, universities, vocational schools and graduate schools. Internship coordinators help match students’ abilities with employers’ needs.
- Assign someone in your business (it may just be you) to have overall responsibility for your internship program, and be allotted the time and resources to properly manage it.
- Determine if you have adequate workspace with access to computers and other tech tools.
- Interns need a clear sense of guidance and structure, as they may be in a business for the first time. Schedules, work plans and deadlines will help.
- Documentation is very important for effective learning to take place. It is strongly advisable that an employer and intern create mutually agreed upon learning objectives.
Using interns in your organization can result in many benefits. It is important to do some careful planning before creating your internship program. You can be sure to continue recruiting from your pool of internship candidates and foster positive public relations by implementing an effective, thorough internship program.
Instituting Inspiration: Daily Devotionals for Business Learning
It’s true: the more you know, the more productive you can be. Increased knowledge and experience naturally keep us motivated, particularly as our levels of expertise grow. If you are not knowledgeable about your business, your motivation level naturally will be low. As a result, you won’t be able to sustain interest for very long.
On the flip side, if you are knowledgeable, energized and excited about the work you are doing, you will have more persistence, energy and intensity. This will inevitably produce better, more sustainable results. It seems simple, and actually, it is.
Yet the hard part is finding a way to keep up with industry news, market changes and competitive activities, particularly amidst today’s fast-paced, ever-changing business environment. In addition, most small business owners do not have the luxury of leaving their business for days at a time to attend industry conferences to get the latest “scoop” on what’s happening.
As a solution, we’ve seen many successful business leaders institute “daily devotionals” specifically designed to help them, as small business owners, looking to increase their breadth of knowledge and experience. Reading or practicing daily devotionals traditionally are processes followed by dedicated practitioners of their religion. However, the concept is also a potent resource for small business organizations as a way to keep up on their business or industry and ultimately, keep inspired, motivated and productive.
Tips for Creating Your Own Daily Devotional
From gathering material to finding the time, here are some ways to create your own daily devotional.
Create a library of resourceful reading material. This is the first step in developing your daily devotional material. Your library can be physical, virtual or both; it’s just important to start getting in the habit of gathering material and placing it in a centralized location. Browse the Web for relevant e-mail newsletters that can be sent to your inbox each day. Consider investing in tried-and-true books from inspirational business gurus like Stephen Covey and Deepak Chopra.
Have access to a daily business “motivational quotation.” Desk calendars or daily emails with quotations from successful business leaders can help set the tone for the day.
If you have a public workspace shared with other employees, consider posting the “quotation of the day.” Check here for ideas.
Read motivational material in balance with other media. Instead of reading the daily newspaper with breakfast or coffee in the morning, try reading inspirational material instead. A well-written book that offers sound advice is more motivating than reading about the latest market declines. Listening to motivational tapes or CD’s in your car for one hour everyday can actually give you the equivalent of a university degree in a few years time.
It won’t be long before you see how keeping the practice of daily devotionals keeps you informed and allows you to leverage that knowledge you’ve gained and apply it to the real world. Take in a bit every day and before you know it, you’re depth of knowledge and consistent application of that knowledge has greatly expanded.
