Marketing News

Jun 09
Marketing 0 Comments

Baby Marketing

By Jenny Davis

My husband and I welcomed our third child in April.

He was born on a Saturday morning and his birth announcement was in the paper the following Tuesday. By Thursday morning, we had received a small stack of mail in our baby’s name from photographers, chiropractors (yes please!), insurance companies, and a children’s clothing boutique. Within the week, a few more pieces of mail arrived for the neighborhood’s newest consumer and his parents.

All of these glad tidings came from a piece of newsprint that was much smaller than his footprint.

What type of footprint are your prospective (and current) customers making? Social media aside, are you checking the news media for information on your clientele? Open up your daily newspaper to the business section. Who are they profiling? Take a drive down the road. Who is having a grand opening? Call up your local Chamber of Commerce. What events are coming up?

Take your new-found information and write the company a note, give them a call, stop by and say hello. Anything to start making your own footprint in their business.

Somebody spread a rumor that nobody buys in the summer and it’s a good idea to slow down (that somebody is probably doing the exact opposite). While I agree that summer should be enjoyed, it’s also a good time to try something new. If nobody’s around, what do you have to lose?

Get started on some “baby” marketing of your own and drop me a line at Jenny@thepartnerchannel.com to tell me how it goes.

Feb 17
Marketing 0 Comments

It’s all Gobbledygook to Me!

By Jennifer Culbertson

Is that what your customers and prospects think when they look at your Web site or read your marketing materials? Let’s hope not! To be effective, you want to make sure you write using the words and phrases your buyers use and respond to.

If you’re not sure, there’s a great free Web tool, Gobbledygook Grader, from HubSpot which evaluates your written content (Web copy, press releases, brochure copy, etc.) and checks for use of “gobbledygook”, jargon, clichés, and over-used, hype-filled words. Go to the Web site, enter your content and you’ll receive a grade together with a full report on ways to improve your copy.

For more helpful marketing tips and information on effective marketing strategies for your Microsoft business, go to www.lookingglassmarketing.com or https://community.dynamics.com/members/Jennifer-Culbertson.aspx.

Jan 06
Marketing 0 Comments

Are you going to be social in 2010?

By Jennifer Culbertson

Do your 2010 marketing plans include investing in social media? If so, you’re pretty much in line with what other marketers are doing this year. Although social media is relatively in its infancy as far as its overall impact on marketing and ROI, companies in the tech sector continue to invest in it as a marketing tactic. Social media can be a very powerful marketing tool enabling you to better communicate with prospects and understand your customers. Read more »

Nov 02
Marketing 0 Comments

Customer for the Day

By Jenny Davis

Jane and I attended a Microsoft Dynamics customer event last Thursday.

We weren’t covering it for the magazine, we weren’t sponsoring it, and we certainly weren’t crashing it. We were actual attendees. Read more »

Oct 26
Marketing 1 Comment

Who Does Good Relationship Marketing?

By Michael Brown

A magazine editor asked me. Here is my response.

The outfits that come closest are those that have to do it as a legal and ethical requirement: my financial advisor, attorney, tax accountant, physicians, dentist, and so on.

Among business marketers, a good local example is Arrow Business Printing in Austin, where Bob and LaDonna Enochs and their staff do my printing. They pay attention, remember my preferences, make helpful suggestions, perform admirably, and are genuinely nice people. Does this constitute a “relationship” in the 1-1 marketing sense? Perhaps. But in reality, it’s more a series of above average, cordial and friendly transactions. That’s exactly what I want from my printer and that’s why I intend to stay with them.

Among the bigger companies, relationship marketing is tenuous at best. IBM tries, sending relevant but not individualized small business news and promotions, and not sending mammoth mainframe stuff. AT&T communicates only by mass mailings and is especially difficult to talk with. They have an infuriating, automated call router that all but prevents live communication … the very service they sell!

Relationship marketing for Microsoft Partners? Do not confuse one-way or occasional communication with a relationship. Until you’re doing business with a customer, you don’t have a relationship.

© 2009

About the author: Michael A. Brown publishes the Business To Business By Phone newsletter and runs the company of the same name in Austin, Texas. 800 373-3966 www.michaelabrown.net

Editor’s note: This article was published last week in our October 2009 Newsletter. If you’d like to subscribe to the newsletter and/or magazine, click here.

Aug 25
Marketing 1 Comment

Marketing Materials Should Reflect Who You Are, What You Do

By Jenny Davis

Marketing is more important now than ever before. Our messages need to be clear, concise, and packed with benefits for our suspect/prospects. There is plenty of income opportunity out there right now; we simply need to rise above our competitors and show why people should spend their money with us.

Let’s talk about marketing materials. What marketing materials actually are can be up for debate, but I would suggest that there are many things that should go on the list. Obviously your Web site is a key piece of your marketing materials. Or, if you have a piece of printed collateral describing your firm, that’s another perfect example. Direct marketing pieces, your business cards, special pieces you use at tradeshows and conferences, your tradeshow booth, and of course whatever you use in e-mail marketing and communication, these all fall under “marketing materials.” You could make this list much longer, I’m sure. Read more »

Aug 17
Leadership, Marketing, Partner Community, Sales 0 Comments

Take it from me…

By Jenny Davis

You’ve heard it from Carol, Judy, and Giuseppe.

Now I hope you’ll take it from me…

Yesterday I celebrated my fifth anniversary with The Partner Channel.

I can’t believe it’s been five years. “Time flies” would be an understatement.

I joined the team (well duo, really, consisting of Spider and Norm) and my first project was to create an event for Partners.

I made some calls and selected October 25-27, 2004, as the dates of our inaugural edition of The Partner Event.

(Only it wasn’t called “The Partner Event” yet. We toyed around with fluffy words, action words, abstract phrases – like “The Big” – until we came up with the most logical choice.)

Delivering a brand new event 60 days or so from starting a new job was a pretty good challenge.

Trying to market to Partners who were unfamiliar with both the event and The Partner Channel itself wasn’t in the “easy” category either (the first magazine had just been shipped and prior to that The Partner Channel had been working with a small yet awesome Member base).

We were also pretty new in our relationship with Microsoft. I think it might be pretty safe to say that they weren’t totally onboard with sending Partners our way for much of anything.

Our event budget was the big old goose egg, so getting two Sponsors (Rockton Software and Diamond Municipal Solutions) and having many of our vendors donate their time/services was a huge blessing.

And then something wonderful happened.

Come October, 36 wonderful people showed up at the Radisson Hotel for The Partner Event.

New job, marketing, political, and financial worries went out the door and we had a great time hosting people while they soaked in sales, marketing, and leadership-based content from our speakers, a small yet incredibly talented group of channel experts (back in the day we had one speaker per track, so our speakers were busy for those couple of days!).

The next spring brought 38 people and eight Sponsors. This was our only spring event. It was April and it snowed, so we took it as a sign.

Fall 2005 brought 74 people (we doubled!!!) and 18 Sponsors (holy smokes!). Doug Burgum was a surprise keynote and we partied at an air museum.

We changed it up in 2006, partnering with Microsoft to host The Partner Event – BBC and bring 640 attendees and 57 Sponsors to town. Can you say ramp up?

Fall 2007 was another joint effort, with 517 attendees and 72 Sponsors. Still big, but this was the phantom year (if you were there, you know what I mean. It was weird.).

We chose to go back to our roots and a smaller audience for the 2008 event. It was a gamble, but it just felt right with 238 people and 35 Sponsors.

And now we’re getting ready to do it again. Our goal is 250 and I am so very happy to say we’re getting there. We have 20 fantastic Sponsors (and still have available spots, if you’re so inclined).

Through the years we’ve made it a point to listen to Partners, implement their ideas, and ditch the bad stuff.

We’re committed to providing the best possible learning and networking experience for Partners, and would love to see you there. (Mosey on over to The Partner Event to get registered.)

I invite you to contact me at Jenny (at) thepartnerchannel (dot) com if you have any questions or if you’d like to hear more about climbing uphilll both ways, like we did “back in the day.”

To our veterans, thanks for the memories. To our new friends, I look forward to meeting you soon.

Aug 06
Marketing 2 Comments

Hitting the Street

By Jenny Davis

Just before noon today I received a phone call from my sister.

“You need to look outside in a few minutes, there’s a guy wearing a big sign and walking down the street.”

Reason #262 why I keep my camera in my purse.

I grabbed said camera and ran out to the balcony. I couldn’t see him yet, so I went downstairs to wait.

There he was three doors down from me, coming up the sidewalk.

I greeted him and asked if I could take his picture.

front side

He asked if I wanted to a picture of the other side.

Of course I did!

back side

We chatted for a few minutes.

Turns out he’s from Redwood Falls, Minnesota, but came up here to sandbag during the flood this past spring.

He liked the community so much he decided to make his move. He’s just up here visiting right now, looking for a job, but hopes to move soon.

He said he’d send me a resume (which I’ll post here as soon as I receive it) and he didn’t mind if I posted his image and this story online.

If your business is Fargo-based and you’re looking for a new marketing manager who obviously isn’t afraid to put himself out there, this could be your guy!

Jul 14
Leadership, Marketing, Partner Community, Sales, Uncategorized 0 Comments

Get Your Inexpensive Plane Ticket to The Partner Event

By Brianne Carlsrud

Are you making plans to attend The Partner Event on September 20-22? Get rock-bottom fares from just $68+ roundtrip from Expedia! The sale ends today, Tuesday, July 14. Visit www.expedia.com to book your flight and save money on your trip to Fargo, ND!

Jul 02
Marketing 0 Comments

Authenticity in Social Media

By Joe Rotella

The web of social media is growing beyond university campuses and becoming part of our business culture. Social networking services build online communities where people share their interests and activities. Users can also explore the interests and activities of others. Most social network services are web-based and provide a variety of ways for users to interact, such as e-mail, online postings, and instant messaging services. Companies, more and more, are using social networking sites to connect and share with their clients. LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are talked about in corporate board rooms as frequently as in college dorms. More and more businesses are incorporating social media into their overall marketing campaigns. Read more »

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