So what do you do in hard times? What do you do when times require tightening the belt or cutting back? Hopefully you do what we all tell our clients to do… “For God’s sake, keep marketing!” Without constant visibility, people (even customers you’ve depended on for years) will forget about you. To us marketers, that’s obvious, right?

Think again.

Over the last 18 months, I’ve heard marketing “pros” and agency staffers (from receptionists on up to CEO) saying some of the oddest things. Things like, “The work just seems to have dried up.” and “I’m not getting any callbacks.” or “Clients are ‘InSourcing’ all the work we’d do…”

Troublesome.

Solution: How about you “SPEND” your way through the downturn? YES, SPEND! And I don’t mean doling out your hard-earned cash for new equipment or some rock star biz-dev stud bolt. I’m talking about strategically investing what you DO have, time, into generating those ever-elusive new leads.

I’ve put together a list of five simple (and VERY economical) actions that marketers and agencies can do to churn up new business. And all you have to remember is “SPEND…”

S = Social Media Marketing: Many “traditional” agencies are still having a hard time figuring out the power of using social media for marketing. If your agency or marketing team hasn’t jumped into the social media waters yet, I encourage them to get in there! It’s inexpensive (costing little more than time – and we all know you have oodles of that) and it has outstanding targeting capabilities. You just need to find and join the right conversations.

P = Public Speaking: Can you think of a better way to position yourself as “thought leader” of your chosen field? Associations, civic groups and chambers are always looking for great information and presentations for their meetings. Think of standing in front of 100 business owners looking for marketing advice. It’s a captive audience and each time you present your message, it’s honed to a sharper and more effective tool for your other marketing efforts.

E = Email: Do you know what 93.6% of business owners do every morning when they walk into the office? They check their email! Why not be in front of them, IN their office, ON their desktop on a regular basis? There are plenty of FREE or LOW COST broadcast email services out there (my favorites are AWeber and MailChimp). Get a sign-up form on your website. Set up your target list. Create a reason for them to WANT to open and engage with you (remember you are a marketer). Then, and this is the MOST important part, KEEP DOING IT AND FOLLOW UP!

N = Networking: If the calls aren’t coming in then you need to get out and start introducing yourself to your audience again. Sitting in your office, looking through PeachTree or QuickBooks isn’t going to get people interested in what’s going on in your world; nor will it help your attitude much. Not interested in chamber functions or professional associations? Then get involved with your church or a board for a non-profit. I don’t think God frowns upon doing business between the pews as long as you thank him once-in-a-while.

D = Dial The Phone! This is one that should go without saying, but for some reason, those that choose “Communications” as a profession seem to HATE talking on the phone. Ridiculous! As I said above, FOLLOW UP! You’ve spent time working your social media, speaking engagements, emails and networking, now just give ‘em a call! You need to reach out and touch someone (more than once) before they’ll turn their attention to you. Sure, the phone is cold, impersonal and intimidating, but it can be the best lead generator in your office – if used correctly.

Guess what you do for a living. You market! You advertise! If you’re able to do it for your clients, then why is it so difficult for you to do it for yourself? Even if you only do a couple of the SPEND tactics, isn’t it better than sitting on your thumbs waiting for the phone to ring?

How do you generate new leads when times are tough? Do you SPEND your time wisely? If you don’t do it, someone else will.

Keep Cooking (at all times)!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

Think of it… a short skip back, just five years, shows us that America can completely bungle a Presidential election and live (so far) to tell the tale. Counting errors blamed on both computers and humans made us realize that we can’t solely depend on one or the other any longer.

And if you remember, just nine years ago (this week), we were all wiping the sweat from our collective brow, having survived Y2K! My computer didn’t crash, did yours? (heck, I used a Macintosh… still do… did that really matter?)

If you think back just a little further – only 12 years – you may remember, Europe decided (all together no less) to pool their economic tender into the Euro. Contrary to naysayers, I don’t remember their exchange system crashing to a cataclysmic halt… heck I don’t recall even one report of change being counted back incorrectly.

Fascinating. I call it “Progress in spite of technology.”

So, why the somewhat tweaked glance back in time? Perspective. From what I can see, and whether we want it to or not, technology will continue to integrate itself deeper into our daily lives. And for marketing and communications, Web sites, blogs, e-mail marketing, micro blogging are all here to stay. So the time for being “technophobic” or a skeptic is over. Honestly, if you haven’t embraced implementation of technology in your communications (personally AND professionally), you’re already WAY behind the curve… but there’s hope.

So for 2009, what can we do to “tech-up” our marketing, our communications — our brands?

Here are some simple, yet TRUE steps – A Baker’s Dozen:

1. 1. Weave A Technology Culture – Use it to facilitate personal interaction, not replace it.
2. 2. Get social – Work within the culture, not against it, to facilitate technology adoption.
3. 3. Keep your message consistent – across all channels/platforms (from traditional print to new media).
4. 4. Maintain transparency – Technology accentuates the negative and brand ownership needs to be positive!
5. 5. Use technology strategically – get information to the right people at the right time.
6. 6. Start small – build on incremental successes. Turn the flame up too high and you’ll get burnt.
7. 7. Always Learn – Plan on and budget for extensive support and training for new technologies.
8. 8. Rethink Your Collateral Flow – Keep print materials available—just use them strategically.
9. 9. One Channel Is NEVER Enough – Use overlapping channels to communicate to a broader audience and “spread the love.”
10. 10. There Are No Stupid Questions – Ask for feedback and act based on it.
11. 11. Measure Twice, Cut Once – Obtain metrics where you can and make strategic decisions.
12. 12. Find Your “Special Purpose” – Don’t use technology only for technology’s sake—make sure it has a communication purpose.
13. 13. Always Chalk BEFORE You Misque – Test your message before you send it—and check everything, to the smallest detail (from spelling to links!)

In short – Embrace the future or it will come up an kick you in the shorts! History (even the shortest sampling of it) has proven that fact…

“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.” Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943

The Brand Chef would like to wish you all a Happy New Year!

Until Next Time…

Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
– The Brand Chef

It’s scary out there. As we’ve seen, even locally, Editorial Cartoonist, Brian Duffy (a rock star in my eyes) was let go last week, causing quite a buzz in the local blogosphere and Twitter. Below is a re-post from The Daily Cartoonist with an interview with Duffy from our local NBC affiliate.

Former Des Moines Register editorial cartoonist Brian Duffy was escorted out of the newspaper’s building after learning that his job was being eliminated in a cost cutting (slashing?) move by the paper’s parent company Gannett. He was not allowed to return to his office to collect his personal belongings, he says in an interview with the local television station. Duffy worked for the newspaper for 25 years, and as he recollects, never missed a deadline.

Here’s the interview.

What do you do when the economy threatens to jeopardize the standards you have come to trust? Has your company felt the pinch, like Duffy and The Des Moines Register? How, from a business perspective, have you chosen to deal with it? How, from a personal perspective, have you chosen to deal with it? Does the approach differ?

It’s scary out there. Look and plan forward. Work on stabilizing existing relationships. And always strive to foster new, exciting ones.

God Bless.

Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

Thank you to The Daily Cartoonist and Alan Gardner for the original post.