I recently posted a job opening for a Senior Marketing Manager at my company, a fast-growing Silicon Valley firm in the information services space.

After reviewing hundreds of resumes and speaking with dozens of candidates, I’m surprised at how many “seasoned” marketing professionals just don’t get it.  For those of you keeping score at home, here is a clue:

THE PRODUCT IS YOU.

That means, you need to package, position, target, and message in the the same way you would market a product.

So, now for some DO’s and DON’Ts from the point of view of a hiring manager.  You may want to print this out.

1. Your approach.  Of all the cover letters I received, only one stood out.  It was a PDF called “Am I the right employee for you?” and it was  a datasheet about the candidate. It got her the interview.
2. Your resume. Do not — I repeat DO NOT — use an MS Word (or other generic) template.  You are a marketing person.  Do something creative!  Prove to me that you are different!  Please!
   By the way, here is the resume from the same candidate above.
3. Your qualifications.  Don’t list Microsoft Office as a skill you possess.  Definitely don’t list Outlook.  For god’s sake — don’t list web browsers (do I really need to say this?). If you want to get my attention, tell me you know how to do advanced mail merges, pivot tables, or 3D graphs.
4. Your follow-through. Do your homework before the interview.  Have 3 well-thought-out questions to ask me.  Again, I can’t believe I have to say this — send thank you notes (or emails) as soon as you get home.

None of these tips guarantees you a job.  But, each one of them will increase your chances of going further through the interview process.  I have a feeling I will be adding to this list as I continue to seek (and be disappointed by) marketing candidates.

Top 5 Website Redesign Tips

Going through a website redesign? Keep these 5 tips in mind and use HubSpot to help you through the process .

1. Goal = more visitors and leads. The reason you are redesigning your website is to impact your business, not because you or your CEO are bored with the design. So, focus on the results you want: more visitors, leads, and customers and make decisions based on these goals.

2. Avoid pitfalls. Inventory your assets and protect them. A website redesign can negatively impact your results by unintentionally removing the assets – website pages and links – that are driving the most leads for you. Make sure to figure out your most powerful pages and links and protect them during the redesign process.

3. Invest in remarkable content that attracts visitors and converts them into leads. A fancy design does not necessarily bring results. Focus on function over over form. Create an ongoing content creation strategy (this means blogging!) to add more content to your website over time.

4. Create conversion opportunities with calls to action and landing pages. Once you have visitors coming to your website, give them the opportunity to give you their contact information in exchange for content. This means using landing pages – and having control over your landing pages – as you build out your new website.

5. Measure the impact on visitors and leads. At the beginning of your website redesign process, you decided you wanted to increase visitors and leads. Did it work? Make sure you have the website analytics in place to measure your progress towards your goals.

A business website is a business tool and should deliver business results. Leave the works of art to the galleries and museums. Your career and your company will thank you for it.

1. Provocative
2. Humorous
3. To The Point

The reason for this is simple: decision-makers and VITOs are inundated with poorly targeted marketing campaigns and sales offers.

Think about the last time you received a cold call from someone who had no clue what your needs were.

Then think about the last bland, boring piece of spam or junk mail that you picked up and thought “Wow, they really wasted 50 cents on that.  I’m not even in their target market.”

Both cold calling and direct mail blasts are an example of what I call Net Fishing.  You cast the net far and wide and haul in a bunch of random fish.  Then you pick the ones you want and throw the rest back in the water.  This is a very inefficient way of marketing any kind of large, complex enterprise solution.  What ends up happening?  The same little fishies jump into your net every time, while the whales happily swim free.  And let me tell you something — you want to land a whale, not a bunch of guppies and the occasional carp.

On the other hand, Spear Fishing takes the point of view that there are a limited number of companies that are worth going after — only a few whales worth hunting.   They need to be studied.  Understood.  Analyzed.  And once you know the spot on the underbelly where that ONE single whale is most vulnerable, then you craft a highly targeted and precise marketing spear intended to hit that whale and make an impact.

Let me give you a few examples of well-crafted marketing spears:

1. A web demo custom-built for one customer to solve their KNOWN problem.
2. An unusual or provocative physical (dimensional) piece mailed directly to the customer that references something you know about their business.
3. Something so outrageous that they can’t help but to remember you.  Sending the CEO a singing telegram with lyrics written about their business problem might fall into this category.

The other great (or terrible) thing about Spear Fishing is that because it is time- and labor-intensive, practically no one takes the time and effort to do it.  But if you do it right, the recipient will sit back and say “Holy %$#@ — those guys must really want my business”.

It’s your choice — are you hunting guppies or whales?

Hi Marco Marini,  I’m writing to tell you that we’re just putting the finishing touches on your order # X55555. It looks terrific and will be on its way to you very soon. I’ll be sending you an email to let you know when it ships.

FYI, you can check your order status, view, share or re-order your PhotoBooks anytime at MyBookshelf.

Talk to you soon,

Frank
MyPublisher Service Team
frank@mypublisher.com

Read more about why a timely and personal email can make the difference between good customer service and awesome customer service.

If you want to build a ship, don’t herd people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea. – Antoine de St-Exupéry

Got the impression your workforce is lacking that spark of energy? It’s never a bad to time to motivate employees and to get the best possible performance from them. Not only does it improve performance but job satisfaction will also be increased amongst motivated employees, including you.

Steps

1. Motivate you first. Think about the motivations that compel you to do a good job and to achieve great outcomes, and focus on them yourself. This way, you will set a good example for your employees to follow, and be more pleasant to work with. Think of it this way too: if you hate your job, and you’re in charge, what’s there to work up to? Be the best so that others have an incentive to match you. As Albert Schweitzer once said, “Example is not the main thing in influencing others; it is the only thing.”
   How to Sustain Motivation when You’re Struggling
   How to Enjoy Your Job
2. Get to know your employees. Get some insight into the lives of the people you hired. Learn about who they are, and where they are going. Find out what motivates each individual to do a good job so you can capitalize on it.
3. Use smarter goals. Convey goals that are specific, realistic, and measurable. As long as your employees can see the light at the end of the tunnel, they will keep working towards it with enthusiasm and focus.
4. Delegate authority. You know the bottom line. Instead of micro-managing everyone else’s work, explain to them what your bottom line is, and assign them a certain amount of authority so that they can take charge of the task at hand. By opening up new possibilities, your employees will be encouraged to do the job the way they would do it if they were in charge. See How to Delegate.
5. Work out a reward system. Provide a clear system of incentives for your employees, such as:
   * awards and recognition
   * a pay raise or bonus
   * increased time off
   * more responsibility (or less)
   * a promotion, or a customized position.
6. Keep motivation going. Once you have achieved success, don’t forget to celebrate! Equally, don’t lose sight of the reality that this is an ongoing process that is a regular part of your role as a manager. Think of creative ways to increase your motivational strategies, including making use of retreats, team-building exercises and travel where relevant. Always keep in mind that a motivated workforce will be happier, more productive, more profitable and ensures a fun place to work.

Video

Tips

• Remember that more harm is done by criticism than by over-praising employees.
• Think about leaders who have motivated you. What about them inspires you? What characteristics and ideals held by these leaders are ones that gel with you and motivate you? Use this knowledge to build your own motivational skills.

Related wikiHows

• How to Motivate Yourself
• How to Become Highly Motivated for Your Job
• How to Be Self Motivated
• How to Get Motivated
• How to Be a Better Trainer for Your Employees
• How to Eliminate All but the Absolute Essential Tasks

Sources and Citations

• VideoJug A video of how to motivate employees; original source of article. Shared with permission and appreciation.

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Motivate Your Employees. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

I originally posted this in 2008.  After re-reading it, I liked it so much I decided to repost it on www.nickezzo.com.  Enjoy!

* * *

A few years ago, I broke up with my wireless carrier.

We had five fantastic years together. Oh, the minutes we used spend, just talking! But like all good things, it had to end sometime.

Due to an extensive travel schedule, I had exceeded my plan minutes two months in a row, and my normal $59.99 plan suddenly became a $280 plan. Ouch.

So I paid my bill and promptly switched carriers. And with my new wireless provider, I got more minutes for about the same price.

Do you think my wireless provider even cared that I broke up the relationship? How about… Nope.

No call. No card. Nothing.

Here’s my point —  if my provider had proactively reached out to me before I walked out, I would have stayed.

Imagine:

“Good morning, Mr. Ezzo, this is ____ wireless calling. I notice you have exceeded your plan minutes for the last two months, and I’d like to upgrade your account to a plan that better fits you.”

The call never came.

But, let me go even further with this delusional fantasy:

“And, if you sign up for a two-year contract, I can wipe out those excess charges for the last few months. Heck, I’ll even send you a Bluetooth headset free.”

Hallelujah! Where do I sign?

The sad part is that my provider missed an excellent opportunity to lock me in for another two years.

Wireless providers don’t seem to care about retaining their customers, and I can’t figure out why.

Are their systems and business processes just too knotted up to deliver proactive customer service? Or, do they just take their customers for granted?

Either way, it’s a problem that can be fixed, and I would like to see someone do it.

Dear ____ wireless,

Let’s get back together.

I’m waiting for your call.

- Nick

Don't send me this.

With the holidays coming up, don’t miss an opportunity to get in front of your customers and prospects by sending a holiday gift or card.

Here’s a tip: go out on a limb and do something memorable and/or fun.  Don’t send the same bland holiday card my insurance agent sends out (sorry, Shawn).  Send something like a picture of your employees or a bottle of sparkling pomegranate juice.   Just don’t blend into the background of holiday music.

Use your creativity and think of what you’d like to receive, and send that.

Finally, resist the temptation to digitize your signature or to use a signature stamp.  Sign each one personally — your customers can tell.

Just a thought!

Nick

The first one is a 30-second commercial for Volunteer-o-matic™, an Apple iPhone App created by Bjorn Austraat and selling for 99¢ on the App Store.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TURF19zPdrc

Then, while I had the application (and my skills) warmed up, I put together a 2-minute mock interview in which I respond to two specific questions about marketing.  It’s pretty wacky, but it was fun to do.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLJgJjlbW0M

Update: Several people have asked about the songs in the videos, so here they are.

• The Volunteer-o-matic commercial features “You, Me, and the Bourgeoisie” (also known as the App Store song) by The Submarines.
• The mock interview features “Black Star” by Radiohead and “Standing In The Shower… Thinking” by Jane’s Addiction.

Enjoy!

While I was at TuVox, I created quite a few one-of a kind marketing programs.

One really cool idea was personalizing www.tuvox.com based on the domain name the web visitor is coming from.  That is, the website “morphs” depending on whether the visitor is a (1) prospect, (2) partner, or  (3) competitor.

NOTE: If you are seeing a little box to the upper right that says “Nick Ezzo welcomes visitors from XYZ”, then you are experiencing basic personalization.  If you see your company logo, you are experiencing targeted personalization.

At TuVox I took it even further, since I had a library of 350+ demo audio recordings created for our prospects.  In addition to the logo, these visitors get a little audio player that demonstrates what their system would sound like with TuVox.  That is what I refer to as extreme personalization.

All of this is done without the visitor giving up any information or filling out a form.

The reaction I get from most people is “how the heck did you do that?”

How it’s done

This level of personalization is accomplished using a database that resolves a visitor’s IP address to their domain name, which is typically their company name.  The database I use actually has the company name, like this:

192.168.10.10 –> xyzcompany.com –> XYZ Enterprises, Inc.

Then the company name is used to pull information out of a home-grown MySQL database.

The fields in the table control things like which type of page to show (prospect.html, partner.html, competitor.html) and whether a company logo or audio file should be used.

The results

When web personalization is done well, most people have a positive reaction.  It makes the website more memorable, and enables work to get done faster.  The responses I received were overwhelmingly positive.

To be fair, I was contacted by two companies that asked me to take their logo off my site.  I don’t think they grasped that only visitors from their domain would see that page.  Two out of 350 isn’t bad, right?

So let’s hear it for Big Brother.

By the way, if you are reading this article, I have already received an email telling me that you are on my site.

- Nick

Awhile back, I created a demand generation campaign to get the attention of 50 decision makers at 50 insurance companies.

Here is what I did  [view here]:

1. I called the 50 top property and casualty insurance companies in the US and recorded what the caller experience sounded like.  As you can imagine, many of these were pretty bad.
2. I posted all 50 recordings on a landing page, and sent the link to 50 VITOs at 50 companies.
3. I watched the fireworks as these CEOs and VPs clicked — first on their own recordings, then on their competitors recordings.
4. Once I knew who their top competitors were, the inside sales team sent  emails and made phone follow-ups:  “you want to sound better than X and Y, don’t you?”

The results:

Once we qualified out some of the smaller accounts, we booked more than a dozen meetings with insurance companies in North America.

Let’s hear it for VITO!

[view here]