leebradshaw-blog-blog

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Marketers can learn a lot from street performers (4P's tied in)

If you've read anything I've written, you know that I love concepts at their core, their most raw existence. It's also easier to think of things in real life examples. The life of a Street Performer is, at it's core, a small business. (Hang with me on this one) There is a service offered and there is a cash flow.  That's a business.  Street Performers are located all over cities, some of them are underground in the subways, some of them are in parks, and some of them are on various street corners. 

First, the 4P breakdown of SPs:

The performance they offer is their product, and their street corner of choice is their place. Promotion tends to be how loud/good they are to draw in a crowd. And their price? Donation based price points, which makes them incredibly unique businesses. 

Ok, so they are a business. What can we learn from them? I will dispense these lessons in bulleted form, I personally find it easier to read.

Location, location, location! Wherever they decide to locate their storefront, they usually choose places with heavy foot traffic. At least the well marketed ones do.  In the middle of a field in Central Park, probably not the best option. On the standing platform inside the subway system while people are waiting for a train, much better!  Don't put your business in a place where no one goes. If you are brick and mortar store, this can be taken literally. If you are online, this would be the same as lacking SEO, having too long of a domain, or having no social marketing outreach.

Product over everything else.  Some will argue this point, but they are wrong. You can put the worst street performer in the subway with a highly captivated audience, but if they sound lousy, their hat will be empty. You've seen it before I am sure. Put together a great product and the product will promote itself and bring customers to your place. Your product can draw a crowd, and the crowd will promote for you.

It's alright to have a higher price point, if you have a good enough product.  One of the best performances I have ever seen were three black males who called themselves the Afrobats. They not only did some amazing gymnastic/acrobatic performances, they constantly referenced money, and that they wanted it from the crowd of hundreds.  They got it, and a lot of it. Show your customers how amazing your business is, then tell them to pay up.  If you're good enough, they will abide. This is why I pay $22 for face wash from Kiehl's and $75 for a fifth of Jameson 18-Year whiskey. I know it's expensive, but their product is worth it, to me. 

Enter the market with a low overhead!  A street performer's overhead is basically non-existant, which gives them agility and sustainability.  Their cost usually comes in the form of time, and some props or instruments. So many businesses invest unusual amounts of coin on early marketing efforts before even driving an audience. Enter small. Leave big. 

Don't be a bum. What's the difference between a bum, and a street performer? Essentially just one P.  They have the same store front, they promote the same way, and their price point is the same, donations.  The only difference is their product. Bums offer...nothing whatsoever. Learn a talent, make money.

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A throwback to the me of 2009.  So young, and so naive ;) 

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Google+ owes some 'people' a big thank you

How did you first hear about Google+ (Google Plus)? If you work in my industry you probably read blogs and Mashable/TechCrunch articles for the last 6 months or more about it's approach; however, if you're not in my industry (or related industries) you heard about it through social media channels that already existed. Am I right? And if you heard about it through word of mouth, chances are the person chatting your ear off about some new Google social media mumbo jumbo heard about it through social media.  So what am I getting at?  Google+ got a large portion of its 18 million, through the successes of Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter's combined registrations. Summated these three platforms have registrations in the billions.

That's right, I said it!  Google owes a big ass "thank you" to their competitors, for their early adoption success. If not for a well paved runway and tons of awaiting passengers that have been cumulated through the blood, sweat, and key strokes of the big three, Google+ would be where? (Rhetorical question of course)  Google has yet to truly promote their newest wave on their other platforms such as YouTube, Gmail, and Google.com.  Once they do that, their true registration numbers will unfold.

By now you may have noticed that at this point I am not in support of Google+'s escapades. And yes, I have an account, but so does Zuck.  I love social media and the web. You could almost say that my career's industry is also my biggest interest.  Thus, I want to see it progress vertically, not laterally.  I see Google+ as just another means to take a re-invented wheel to scale, and promote more over-sharing in an e-world that is already way too noisy. Why doesn't Google use their billions of dollars, and corral of geniuses to create something innovative and groundbreaking?

Do you agree or disagree? Shoot me an email and I will post your responses. The mic is open...

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Holy hell this would be bad, if it were permanent...

Twitter is notorious for integration/migration/server errors.  Tonight the nearly 7 thousand followers I've spent the last 90 days earning and cultivating have...vanished!  

There's a 99.9999999% (the nines go on forever) chance that within the next few hours all of @SnagFilms followers will be back; however, can you imagine the virtual value that would be lost if all the connections were lost, twitter-wide? Companies spend millions a year to earn an audience on social media, and that value could be taken away with a "perfect storm" server crash, or virtual-terrorist attack. 

Just something to think about...

Reset to zero on http://twitter.com

Reset to zero on an API platform. (TweetDeck)

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Google+ isn't for me, at its current state

I never adopt platforms just to adopt them, so I'll let everyone else 'guinea pig' G+ for the time being. And here's my rant on why:

1) I don't have the urge to "hang out" with 10 people via video, that's just not my thing, and I don't think there are enough people on G+ that all know each other to fill a 10 person vchat. 

2) I already have a wonderfully sculpted RSS feed structure on Google Reader and the Reeder app, so "Sparks" doesn't interest me.

3) The content I send out doesn't need to be pushed to specific people in "Circles" since I only post web-appropriate content. Know what I fucking mean? ;) I'll fish where the fish are, and for now, the fish aint there.

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If you aren't reading "The Economist," you're like me, as of yesterday.

Last night I was given the June 25th-July 1st issue of The Economist by a close friend. The 'bro' who gave it to me said, "trust me, you'll know more than 99% of the world if you read this regularly."  I believe Malcolm Gladwell said the same thing in a book I read of his way back.  So I beleived it.

Good thing I believed!  This morning after only 16 pages I found myself truly understanding world economy and politics for the first time. I wish this was an exaggeration. 

How does this relate to social media, marketing, CRM & web? Because everything is a product of the dollar. Don't forget that. 

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Stick 'em where it makes sense!

I love social widgets and buttons, due to their versatility and SGO (social graph optimization) weaponry. I put them on everything and anything, that makes sense. Say that with me, "that makes sense."  Does it make sense to put a "Like" on a contact form or on your company's "about us" page? It sure as hell does not!

So before you get HTML happy on all of your pages, ask yourself, "Would I 'like' or 'follow' this section of a website or blog?" If the answer is no, then just don't do it. In short, please don't support over-sharing. 

Below are some places I have stuck social buttons that have resulted in impacting social lifts, that make sense.

Below SnagFilm's blog icon:

On The Reel Spotlight facebook tab, under the title:

Under my own "Social_LEEdia" blog icon:

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API calls/Employees. Klout is the new kid on the block.

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Your customers want ease, give them easier.

One of my interns booted up a PC today, after her iMac was taken by a full-time employee that found out coffee and Mac Books don't play well together. Nonetheless, the picture above was the product of the boot up.  Pressing F1 isn't really an option here, and keyboard driver wasn't being recognized...so now what?

One thing I have learned in the past years in marketing, is that people want easy. Staples' easy button is a great example of blatantly shoving ease of use in customers faces.  The idea was so popular Staples sold them for $5 a piece! People paid to advertise Staples at their homes and offices. Think about that for a second.  

Don't make anyone jump through hoops to figure out how to use your product, because they most likely won't. New web products are developed every day, and the ones that can be adopted and learned within the hour seem to be the ones that succeed. That trend should be followed by anyone trying to win in their space.

Remember Chubbs Peterson from Happy Gilmore? His advice applies well here: "Just easin' the tension baby. Easin' the tension!" 

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4 take aways - Facebook's "awesome announcement" yesterday

1. Facebook's numbers are slowing, even though they just hit 750,000,000 users. (Where was that announcement?)  Of course, they are spinning this decline in advancement as a change of interest. Zuck wants to literally exponentially increase sharing by 2X ever year. Boasting a 1024X increase in sharing over the next 10 years. Does that mean I'll be posting over a thousand blog entries a day? Damn, I hope not.

My friend since elementary school Ashton W. <- No twitter handle to link to ;) thinks it is impossible to create such an exponential increase. I tend to agree with him. 

2. (Skype+Facebook)+(Project Spartan+Android/iOS) = FaceTime rival! 

3. Facebook appreciates the geniuses out there that make apps that call upon FB's API, and will continue supporting their advancement, unlike "some other companies out there."  Three of the top five apps on facebook are produced by Zynga who just announced their own much more awesome news of droppin' an IPO soon w/ a valuation $10B-$20B. 

4. Mark said over 5 times yesterday that Facebook and Microsoft are friends. Microsoft is in the negotiation phase of buying Skype. Everyone's in bed together at this party. 

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Where to market? Where they are, duh.

The other day as I was entering my NYC apartment I noticed a small sticker below my outermost door's lock.  A locksmith had guerilla'd not only my door, but every door in my neighborhood with these simple and effective, 1.5" diameter stickers.  

Immediately it made me think of the guidelines of marketing, more specifically, the second of the four P's: Place.  When reaching out to your customers go to where they are when they need you.  A locksmith wouldn't market on billboard in Times Square, just as an internet marketer wouldn't place ads for social media software on a childrens' online gaming site. It's easy to forget how simple things can be. 

The take away: Location, location, location! 

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Guy Kawasaki...the reason over-sharing is so over.  He may be successful in getting followers, but it's not because he understands the space. He's successful because he has celebrity and used to be high up at Apple.

Here's the tweet he put up that I commented on:

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How to keep your customers happy? Tell them to be.

This morning on my way to work I had to buy a new NYC subway card, and on the back I found "optimism." In what appears to be bold, 30pt Ariel font The subway can be a very stressful place to attend, and the MTA knows that. So why not gently remind their customers to be positive? Positivity and happiness tend to be related after-all. 

Next time you feel that your customers may be a little stressed during their experience with your company. Try reminding them to be happier.

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Hey U-Haul, maybe your employees signatures shouldn't appear to have all my possessions flying out the back of your trucks.

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How to get a baby toy phone to curse...a lot. 

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The napkin notes of my next blogs. Once I have free time, I shall publish!