2014 - The Year of Trust

So here we are...it's 2014, and a new year.  And, like many of us, we have made resolutions on a personal level.  That is getting off to a good start.  But, in business, many of us are still stuck trying to catch up with marketing trends of 2013. And, I bet if you look back at 2013 or even back to 1999, you will remember that things that appear to change, still remain the same.  Strategic communication and marketing may change platforms (and, often), and the technological landscape may look a great deal different these days, but there is one thing in marketing that never will change...and, that is TRUST.  

Make 2014 the year that you trust your marketing decisions not based on gut instinct or some new platform, or simple desire, but on sound judgment based on a solid plan. In turn, your customers and clients will begin to trust you.

You would never build a house without a solid blueprint, or an experienced team of engineers and contractors you trust to build your dream home.  Follow the same principles with marketing your business.

Just like you would not build your home around a new state-of-the art "waterless" water heater, you cannot build your business just by tweeting, blogging and posting on Facebook.  Build your business by using tried and true strategic communications and marketing principles that never go out of style, and help build trust.  Build a team...you will need one you can trust to support you. Have a trusted comprehensive plan designed to market your product or service and one that you can trust to bring success.

Remember, all the technology in the world cannot compete with a well executed strategy...want to fly in an aircraft without the pilot filing a flight plan?

Concierge PA Inc.

We will help you fly as high as you can!

AMA and Concierge PA Inc.

It was an honor for Concierge PA Inc. to be a part of the American Music Awards through content presentation.  We are honored.  And, we are excited the entire event was a great success.

Concierge PA Inc.

Contact us!

Crisis Communication

Please check out our friend, Robin Roberts,  on her exclusive interview that can provide great insight on crisis communication during her segment on ABC tomorrow. The segments will air on Good Morning American and on 20/20, November 8, 2013.  She will interview the former Rutgers coach, Mike Rice.  

Robin was a friend when she worked for ESPN and our Managing Director had the pleasure of working with her on one of our former clients, Vince Carter. Robin's will be an informative piece.  It will shed some great light on damage control and crisis management on behalf of Mike Rice, and, of course, it will a wonderful interview by Robin.  We love you Robin.

Visit:  Concierge PA Inc.

Branding and “The World’s Best Broccoli Chicken Casserole!”

Everyone has that friend that thinks he or she is God’s gift to the world.  We also have the friend that thinks he or she dresses better than Karl Lagerfeld himself.  Or, the friend that possesses more knowledge than Einstein.  Then we have that friend that is a better cook than Bobby Flay, Emeril Lagasse, and Julia Child combined.  You know the one.  She always brings her “world’s best broccoli chicken casserole” to every possible function.  We will call her “Martha.”

Whether it is a funeral, a housewarming, or Thanksgiving, here comes ole Martha with her world famous casserole.  She never seems to get the point that when all the other dishes are empty, hers sits in the corner almost as full as when she brought it.  Nor, does she recognize that she receives very little in terms of compliments on her dish.  Even when she takes her dish back home 3/4ths full, Martha still feels her casserole is…well…the bomb.  She totally ignores what her friends are telling her by avoiding her casserole.

Many times people start businesses because they are passionate about a product or a service.  They work to develop their offering.  They spend countless days, weeks and months nurturing it.  And, little by little they fall in love with it.  At Concierge PA, we strongly believe that every business owner should have passion for what they do and what they offer consumers.  But, when it comes to branding and bringing products and services to the market, blind love is about as enticing as Martha’s casserole.

No one can build a brand with an offering that the market will not embrace.  Unfortunately, what you think does not always matter.  You have to let the market “taste test” what you are presenting.  And, when necessary, you have to do some re-engineering to get it right.  It is wonderful if you have a product or service that the market loves as is.  If the market rejects it however, a savvy business owner will adjust the recipe.

The moral of the story is: believe in yourself, believe in your products and services, but more importantly, listen carefully and believe what the market is telling you.  Concierge PA helps many businesses build strong brands.  But, ultimately it is up to the business owner to give the market what it needs and wants.   After all, who wants to be like Martha…believing she makes the world’s best chicken broccoli casserole…while her almost always uneaten dish says otherwise.

Concierge PA Inc.

2013 Speaker's Series: Marketing on a Cost-contained Budget and Making Revenue Soar

 

Contact: Concierge PA Today for Participation!

 

www.conciergepa.com

If It Walks Like a Penguin... An Important Google Update for You!

Here is an important notice as reported by our friend, Adrienne Erin:

After several weeks of baited breath and waves of smaller changes to Google’s algorithm, it seems that the penguin is at last out of the bag, as announced by Google Webspam Head Matt Cutts on his blog on May 22. According to Cutts, 2.3% of English-US queries are affected by the update, the largest percentage since the original roll out of Penguin 1.0 in April 2012. The update also affects searches in other languages to different extents; according to some, the impact was greater in German-language queries than English. The goal of the update was to reward genuinely valuable sites, and punish sites that have gained ranking with black hat techniques.

The original Penguin was Google’s first update to specifically combat off-page factors, especially targeting link networks and unnatural linking strategies. This update affected over 3% of all English queries, dramatically altering the search engine’s results pages and obliterating any ranking for some particularly bad, black hat offenders.

Penguin 2.0 uses new, highly advanced spam-fighting techniques that continue to punish unusual and “fishy” activity, penalizing sites that acquire large numbers of links very rapidly (usually through paid means), that get links from irrelevant sites, and those that overuse exact match anchor text. This update also will be specifically targeting ads with dofollow links (since the introduction of the nofollow tag, Google has told webmasters to use it to differentiate paid links and avoid passing on ranking value and trust), and improve the detection of hacked sites.

An Unexpected Boost to Local Results

Amidst the panic surrounding Penguin 2.0, Trevin Shirey from the SEO company WebpageFX seems to have been the first to notice an unusual trend in the SERPs. According to Shirey, Google seems to have been integrating large numbers of localized results into organic searches.

In their examples, such as a search for “hockey” in Dallas, Texas or a search for “marketing” in Miami, Florida, up to 5 results on the first page are local, sometimes even ranking above the results one would expect to see, such as Wikipedia.

The hockey example is especially striking, with two Dallas Stars results from stars.nhl.com appearing above the Wikipedia page for ice hockey. The Dallas Stars’ Wikipedia page also features prominently in the results.

You will probably notice some of these changes to broad keyword searches in your own queries. For me, in a search for “chocolate,” my favorite local café (which happens to also sell chocolate) appears above Ghirardelli, a premium international chocolate company, in the results. WebpageFX gives some other examples of searches to try, such as “ford,” “coffee,” and “computers.” You will probably see some of your favorite local spots featuring highly, as well as business listing websites such as Yelp and Yahoo! Places.

This is definitely a great bonus for local businesses. As Shirey puts it, “local and regional businesses could stand to gain from an update like this as it increases their exposure for informational queries.” However, he adds that it is unclear how this change will be perceived by Google’s users. He adds, “Do searchers really want such hyper-local results for broad queries? Google’s research must show that they do.”

How has your business fared since the onset of the newest rendition of Penguin? Share your experiences in the comments.

Catch up with Adrienne Erin on Google+ https://plus.google.com/u/0/109654446375621919755/posts

Concierge PA:  Keeping you in the know!

www.conciergepa.com

 

 

Can Your Brand Pass This Simple Test?

Here is an exercise similar to one that we perform for our strategic communications and marketing clients.  And, it is one that you as a business owner can and should perform.  It will tell you a great deal about your brand.  Okay, here is the exercise.  Ask 10 of your customers, and, or family members this simple question, “Describe my brand.”   When you gather their responses, you may be quite surprised.

Have you ever heard the saying, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression”?  Well, in the marketplace, that can mean you lose a customer or client forever based simply on the “image” you first convey to him or her through your brand.  And, nine out of ten times that “image” problem is because the business owner has no strategic communications plan, or does not follow it.

In business, image is everything as it becomes your brand.  And, the brand becomes your reputation.  A brand that is not defined by a strategic communications plan is still defined.  People will still form an image or opinion of your business, but it will not be your own.  And, more than likely it is not how you want to be perceived in the marketplace.  It is your business.  It should be your brand.  After all, when it comes to how your audience defines your business, you always want the answer to be the right one, and you want everyone to be on the same page.
 
 

Concierge PA: We build great reputations!

 

www.conciergepa.com

 

Social Media and Small Business: A Hush Hush Rocky Relationship

In an article written by Meghan Casserly and published this month in Forbes, the dirty laundry about small business and its rocky relationship with social media was thoroughly exposed.  For various reasons, in the past you rarely got a glimpse under the sheets of a relationship that was hailed as a marriage made in heaven.  And, rarely did you ever openly hear of any discord between small business and its social media spouse.  But, trust me…like a rocky relationship in a small southern town with a population of 789, people were quietly talking.

Small business owners have been feeling the unrequited love of their social media partner and even whispering about irreconcilable differences between the pair.  If you listened closely, like many marriages, the honeymoon seemed like it was over.  Social media for the small business owner was not fun and exciting anymore.  And, they had to work harder and harder to even keep the relationship alive.  There have been separations and even divorces between what used to be viewed as a very attractive couple.   The relationship may be over for those that feel as though they have been through the fire in their relationship with social media.  But, for those small businesses that have not totally given up on the relationship, there may still be hope.

Every relationship goes through ups and downs - from romantic ones…to those between parents and children…to those that are strictly professional.  In functional relationships, there is always “give and take,” and there must be compromise if the relationship is to be successful.  And each party has to understand that there will be growing pangs during the relationship, and, more importantly, learn to weather them if they want the bond to be one of longevity.  The relationship between small business and social media is no different.  The relationship takes work…a lot of work.  Here are some of the do’s and don’ts regarding that relationship for which we feel are as valuable as a few sessions with a high priced Park Avenue relationship therapist:

Do realize that the relationship between small business and social media is by no means a prom date, and that this relationship will require a lot of hard work.  In some ways, it looks as though small business and social media are incompatible.  Both require a great deal of attention and both require a lot of work.  Like a marriage worth saving, success depends on being able to understand that the two can work together for common good and for a common goal.  Although time spent on social media posts and campaigns can take away from actual direct “business” activities, always remember both are working for a common goal, business success.

Don’t expect your social media partnerships to fulfill all your needs as a small business owner.  If there is a recipe for an unsuccessful relationship, it is when one party expects the other to be the “end all.”  Solid relationships do not work like that.  A sound relationship is a balanced partnership with an understanding that both parties will have short-comings, and that they may have to support each other.   Strategic communications and marketing efforts - including social media - are components of a broader plan for business success.  All of those components must work together for success.  As a small business owner, whether you are in Dallas or Atlanta; or Duluth or Aspen, do not expect social media, on its own, to bring in all or even a majority of your revenue.    Social media may be a partner, but more than likely it will never be the bread winner in the relationship.  Social media may only serve as a quiet, yet energetic cheerleader for your brand and the common cause of business success.

 
Do understand that as a business owner your relationship with social media is going to always be a work in progress.  Like a marriage, the relationship between small businesses and social media is ever-evolving.  Don’t walk away without truly understanding and appreciating the role each plays in the bond.  Your social media significant other may not bring home the bacon, but not being able to see the good in what it can bring is short-sighted on your end.  Keep working at the relationship.  Continue to fine tune it so that it is a partnership that furthers your business goals.  Social media may never be a sugar daddy, but if you keep working at it, it can play a supportive role to your small business.

Concierge PA: A True Small Business Partner!

 

www.conciergepa.com

Buzzwords Like Content, Engagement and Community Mean Nothing Without Trust

Some of the most prominent strategic communication and marketing buzzwords of 2013 are content, engagement, and community.  They are all supposed to relate to an overall strategy where a business produces unique and specialized content to engage members of a specific target audience, and, in turn, hope that they join a community that supports that business.   On its face, that appears to be an honorable strategy.  The problem with that plan, however, is that the goal is skewed and far too short-sighted.  In business, the goal is not only to engage and gather a following, but to develop a customer base that truly trusts your business.

Think about how many times you like something or even retweet a tweet.  And, think about how many organizations you decided to follow.  If you are like most people, those actions are mostly based on a whim.  Most are reactions to something we find entertaining, or we are simply giving some content a thumbs up, or we are giving our blessing with a digital “amen.”  Whether in Dallas or Atlanta; or Dubai or Albania, from a marketer’s viewpoint, it is wonderful to have likes and followers, but that does not make for solid client or customer bases.

Reliable client and customer bases are measured by consistent financial support of a business.  That consistent financial support is only developed through trust.  As much as notoriety in the form of likes, followers and retweets is flattering, in terms of financial success, many times it is short-lived and based on a short-sighted strategy.  As a business owner and leader, it is up to you to not only make sure you provide entertaining and engaging content that appeals to the masses, but that you are more importantly instilling trust in your brand.

 

As diversified and technical as marketing is in this social and digital age, it is easy to get caught up in the popularity game.  Remember, however, that your strategic communications efforts must all support building trust in your brand which will directly impact what you are in business for in the first place, revenue.  Consistently monitor your efforts to make sure they are instilling that consumer trust and that you are not just giving passersby a daily dose of entertainment.  The goal is not simply to be liked, but to turn digital passersby into clients and customers that trust your business, and put their money where their likes are.

Concierge PA: After all, our hallmarks are loyalty, privacy and trust!

 

www.conciergepa.com

Give Them Something To Talk About!

Our professional lives move at unbelievable paces and sometimes we forget to remember all of the rules of the road.  When it comes to social media marketing and strategic communications, here are some key rules of engagement we must never forget:

1.  Consistently provide your audience with original content that not only engages, but inspires dialogue.  By now, everyone who uses social media professionally knows that he or she has to produce unique content.  But, original or unique content does not always engage the audience.  The trick to social media marketing is to spark a dialogue with your content.  As Bonnie Raitt said, you’ve got to give them something to talk about.

No matter how wonderful you feel your content is, it may not go viral as they say, but your goal is still to get people talking about your content and sharing it with their friends, family and colleagues.  Original, inspired content is the new normal and a given in strategic communications.  Getting people to talk about, share and spread that content is the goal of your professional social media marketing campaign.

2.  After you have developed great original content that is designed to engage your audience and inspire dialogue, make sure you take your content on tour.  By taking it on tour we mean that when you have content that you feel will be appreciated by your target audience, share the content on as many appropriate channels as possible.  If you really believe in your content, make sure you do not limit it to one stage.   Do not only post it on your Facebook page, but share it on other social media platforms as well as use in blogs and submit it to article publication services.  Spread the love.

3.  Although you may be in awe of your content, make sure you measure the reaction of the people that really matter, your audience.  When you are communicating on behalf of your business, it is business.  It is not just fun and games.  Everything you communicate should be based on your strategic communications plan which helps define your goals.  And, goals are to be measured.

There is an abundance of software programs that are designed to help measure the success of your social media marketing strategies.  It does not matter which program you employ to measure the effectiveness of your social media marketing.  It absolutely matters that you are measuring what is and what is not working for you in terms of all of your strategic communications initiatives as it affects your bottom line.  Remember, business is business…including business communication.

 

Concierge PA:  We speak business!

 

www.conciergepa.com