Hospital Stricken... For Weeks (Day 1)

I had convinced myself that this blog was to be used for valuable business and marketing advice only, that was... until today.  I am almost thirty weeks pregnant with my first (and ONLY may I add) child (we are expecting a baby boy), and I was admitted to the hospital today for oligohydramnios.  For all those common folks out there, that means low amniotic fluid that they are attributing to my water breaking early.  As far as we know right now, I will be in here until 34 weeks, when they will induce labor. Sooo that means I have four and a half weeks confided to a hospital room, missing the pure pleasures of my daily Starbucks fix, my amazing memory foam King size bed, my beautiful little doggie, and oh yeah, sleeping next to my wonderful husband.  I figure it is going to be an entertaining few weeks, to say the least, which might end up with me lacking some hair, a few brain cells and maybe my patience as well.  Needless to say I figured I had to document it somehow so here we go.

Day 1:

My husband thinks my doctor looks like Dr. McDreamy.  Yes, you read right, as in Dr. McDreamy from Grey's Anatomy.  See I host girl's night at my house to watch Grey's religiously every Thursday, and while my hubby will adamantly refuse this, he enjoys watching it with us and sharing some wine with the girls, probably more than I do (minus the wine of course).  Ok so Dr. McDreamy is really nice, and relatively good looking, and all in all a good doctor to have around if I am to go crazy in the hospital...

My sister is worried I am going to scare away all the nurses.  For those who don't know me, I like to talk, a lot, so the nurses today have already heard my whole life story, seen Facebook pics, and exchanged funny anecdotes.  My sister said I really should pace myself, as I will have more than a month to entertain these poor poor nurses.  My opinion?  No time like the present!

Funny Nurse Story of the Day:  I will attempt to share one of these every day, because nurses are the best, they are all knowing.  And I have had some really awesome nurses today.  We had a good fifteen minute laugh about this one:

A guy was with his wife while she was in labor.  He pulled the nurse to the side and asked her, "will my baby be born with clothes on."  Thinking he was joking and wanting to play along she said, "Oh yeah, of course.  Top hat and tap shoes and all."  "WHAT," exclaimed the guy, clearly bewildered.  He HADN'T been joking...

That's all for now folks.  Stay posted to hear how day 2 goes as the countdown begins...

My Love Affair With Hubspot, The Company That Keeps On Giving

As a marketer, I am a HUGE believer in self-learning.  As our world constantly changes around us thanks to new technology, it is important for marketers to stay two steps ahead of everyone else.  Why?

Because they have to understand how people's demands change over time while also adapting the way they communicate to these people through ever changing channels.  Here begins my love affair with Hubspot, a marketing software created by two MIT graduates.  They are headquartered in Cambridge, MA, financed by Google, and growing exponentially.  Not only is their software changing the way the world markets products and services, but they are also inundating the marketing space with valuable educational content; webinars, infographics, e-Books, and more to help the average, everyday marketer hone their skills and learn new tricks of the trade.  The best part?  All of these valuable educational resources are FREE.

What have I learned from Hubspot you might ask?  Not only have I educated myself on how to layout the most optimized company Facebook and LinkedIn pages, but I have also learned how to set up the best landing page, what customers are looking for in content, and EVEN how to create a handmade infographic using PowerPoint and Pixlr.  This is additional to their core message: that inbound marketing is the way of the future.  Instead of mass marketing to a large audience in a hit-or-miss fashion through outbound methods like TV spots, magazine advertisements, trade-shows, and more, inbound marketing focuses on bringing the leads to YOU through a combination of strong organic SEO, landing pages, calls to action, and content, content, content.  Companies end up shortening their sales cycle because leads are qualified, and warm.  These are people that have been driven to you in a more individual, personalized manner.  This concept is changing the way companies market to consumers, forever.

So this holiday season, ask yourself, is your company not only providing a service, or product, but also changing the way people think and learn?  What is your company doing for your community?  You might be missing out on a huge opportunity by narrowly focusing just on sales.  It is the whole package that gives a company a competitive edge, strong brand awareness and the ability to sell.  And in the meantime, take a look at all of Hubspot's free resources HERE and read their blog HERE.  I guarantee their wealth of information, innovative ideas, and more will instil a new fiery passion for marketing in your heart, as it has in mine.

The Power of Jobs

Since his sad passing, there has been an abundance of news articles about Steve Jobs, and the blogosphere has gone crazy with obituaries, posthumous recognition of his life and achievements and, let’s be frank, much discussion about his failures too.  The best blogs give a balanced perspective of both such as Nancy Koehn at the Harvard Business Review.

The very fact that Steve Jobs transformed Apple’s fortunes in recent times is indisputable.  He adopted a mix of different marketing skills to appeal to the customers and resellers within his target market, and through a combination of innovative products, interactive product launches, simple but effective commercials, and the power of social media (just look at Apple’s YouTube channel to see how many views this has), Steve Jobs convinced us all to buy products that, some say, we didn’t actually need.  And we pay more for them too when compared to the plethora of cheaper imitation devices from the competition which, some argue, are actually better than Apple’s products.

Having innovative products is one thing, but it is exceptionally rare for them to sell themselves without making an effort to boost product sales.  The annals of time are littered with the failure of brilliant products because, despite what people may think, products don’t just walk off the shelves: first you need to convince the customer that they need to buy your product.

And this outlines the power of marketing.  Steve Jobs created such an unprecedented level of demand for his products that even with the reception issues that blighted the launch of iPhone 4, demand for the new iPhone 4S outstripped supply.  When launched, the iPad2 was also out-of-stock everywhere.  People couldn’t seem to get enough of Apple.  Whether this remains the case in the post-Jobs era remains to be seen and there are reports already circulating that demand for Apple’s products is waning (although there is an abundance of counter-arguments citing that this is not exactly true) and that this even started before Jobs’s passing.

Steve Jobs leaves a legacy behind for many reasons that are not just related to the products themselves: powerful marketing of Apple’s products generated the unprecedented levels of demand that we have all witnessed.  Without this, the revolution of smartphones and tablet computers would not currently be happening and the transformation of Apple’s fortunes and dominance would have remained a figment of Jobs’ imagination.

Steve Jobs is therefore an icon and Business Schools will be discussing thisgreat man for an eternity, and rightly so, but behind every great product, not only is there an innovative genius, but a powerful and successful marketing engine.

Welcome to the new world of marketing in the digital age!

Welcome to the World of Marketing!

We live in a day and age where we are constantly bombarded with information – there is simply no escape.  If you look around a crowded room, chances are that over 75% of the people you see will be using some form of technology; a tablet, a laptop, a smart phone (or smartphones), an iPod, a Kindle, or all of these!  Communication as an entity is changing and adapting daily, from board room meetings and paper advertisements to a world where people checkout at the supermarket using coupons they have accessed on their iPhone, and where conversations are limited to 140 character snippets.

So what, you may ask?  The world is changing, you get that.  But the question is, do you really?

According to The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), “marketing is the management process that identifies, anticipates and satisfies customer requirements profitably”.  But customers today have much higher expectations than they did ten years ago.  With anything they want at their fingertips (such as YouTube videos, music downloads, online shopping), and so many options, customers are pickier and more demanding.  It therefore takes a strong brand and marketing strategy to generate the customer loyalty that a company such as Apple has.

So get ahead of the curve and keep your company out of hot water.  Analyze the marketing approach you use today and challenge yourself:  Have you done thorough market research?  Are you selling to the right target market?  Do you have opportunities in other markets?  Are you utilizing the right modes of communication in approaching your customer?  If a potential customer Google’s your speciality, will your website pop up?

The work of a marketer is never over, and the best marketers listen to their customers, provide unquestionable information and quality and forecast change before it happens.  Good luck on your marketing path.  If you have any questions or would like me to help you with your marketing, please contact me today.