If you haven’t heard of him, here’s his official website.
Of course I think he’s completely mad, but he did say some things that struck a chord, especially: “there’s an ocean between saying and doing.”
He was talking in the context of your personal life: get off the couch and start doing all of things you always say you want to do: build a tree house for your kids, enroll on an online course to further your education, travel the world, or simply exercise every day. But I want to take it a step further, and talk about the things that companies, and I’m talking about small to mid technology providers in particular (because that’s my area of ‘expertise’), say they want to do but never actually get around to. Small things that need to be done every day to help grow your business and cement your brand.
Let’s take social media for instance, what does it mean to your business? It’s only a ‘small thing’ but it should be update properly and regularly, or not at all. So who’s in charge of it? Are they posting quality content that shows your brand as an innovative thought leader? Or are they posting fluffy stuff every now and then when they bored?
Or your marketing efforts. Do you have a regular channel of communication with your customers and prospects? Is it a two-way conversation? A hashed-together, boring old newsletter just won’t cut it. You need to be innovative and persistent. A well-thought out email marketing plan, can be priceless for keeping your brand and products front-of-mind – and don’t even get me started on the value of a good ol’ fashion, creative direct marketing campaign (there are some great examples here).
When last did you create a fresh case study? Or how about your website. How long have you been talking about the need to refresh it? Wouldn’t it be much easier if you made small changes regularly rather than leaving it to fester and age?
There are loads of other examples I could use, but the point is that I am astounded by the number of mid-sized companies in South Africa that offer really innovative technology solutions, but who cannot apply the same discipline and logic to their marketing and branding – which is the first thing that any prospective customer will see.
I’m biased of course, because marketing is what I do.
