Here are some things you can learn from junk mail and what NOT to do.

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This site, Joel-Mark-Witt.com, is where I ask questions while standing at the intersection of social media, podcasting, online video, marketing, PR, storytelling, life and leadership…. and what the heck this all means for my business and yours. If you like what you see – please subscribe to it for free. To join the discussion or to comment in real time follow me on Twitter.

Joel Mark Witt

I can remember getting furious the first time a supermarket forced me to have a discount card to purchase groceries at a reasonable price.

“Head over to the customer service counter and get yourself an advantage card,” the checkout lady told me.

“Can’t you just swipe your card so I can save time?”

I pleaded. I begged. I tried charm. I tried anger. No use. She wouldn’t budge and simply replied “nope.” I could tell there was no swaying this woman.

I toyed with the idea of holding up her line until she gave in. But I thought better of it after remembering a personal “sit in” at a Motel 6 where I demanded a refund for a nasty room. I was instead ushered off the property by the police who were promptly summoned.

So fearing the worst, I stomped over to the customer service counter to get my super special discount supermarket card. I was peeved beyond rational thought.

On the application I placed a false name, address and phone number. They may force me to get a discount card – but I’ll be a monkey’s left toe if they think they’re getting my real name.

Of course, this whole episode didn’t go unnoticed by the people in my life who are close to me and pointed out my behavior as childish and rude. But I feel it is rude to force people to give up their personal information.

I was steaming.

But then about a week later I ordered a book from Amazon and gladly gave them my credit card information (even stored it on their site), name, address, the name of my first born child – the list goes on. I began to tell Amazon what books I already owned. I shared with them my interests and created some wish lists.

I actually wanted Amazon to have my information. I love their recommendation feature where they suggest books and products based on my previous purchases.

So what is different between the supermarket and Amazon? Why does the lady in the checkout line peeve me off while I delight in having Amazon know who I am – what I like – and what I own?

I’ve thought about this a lot actually and came up with this conclusion…

I don’t mind giving my data away to companies that add value and are helpful.

I resist giving my info to the supermarket because I don’t see any value in it. Simple right? I don’t use coupons,  have no interest in weekly specials (I probably should) and don’t enjoy shopping for food.

But there are people – lots of them – that do care about coupons, discounts and deals. The supermarket adds value to their lives in a big way. I just don’t see it.

But I do see the value in getting recommendation and specials from Amazon. They cater to my interests. I see Amazon as being helpful. In my mind they haven’t abused the information I’ve given them. They seem more like a trusted friend and resource to me than my local supermarket and I’m happy to give them what they want.

So how can we translate this to your business? What is it that you do in your company or professional life to add value to your customers, prospects and clients? People will give you information if you return value to them. If you identify your business value proposition and deliver on it – folks will fall over themselves to let you peek in on their lives.

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This site, Joel-Mark-Witt.com, is where I ask questions while standing at the intersection of social media, podcasting, online video, marketing, PR, storytelling, life and leadership…. and what the heck this all means for my business and yours. If you like what you see – please subscribe to it for free. To join the discussion or to comment in real time follow me on Twitter.

Joel Mark Witt

*Photo by SFist

Yes a picture is worth a thousand words – but graphics are subjective. With a picture you have no control over the 1000 words the viewer projects onto an image. With copy you have exact control over your message.

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This site, Joel-Mark-Witt.com, is where I ask questions while standing at the intersection of social media, podcasting, online video, marketing, PR, storytelling, life and leadership…. and what the heck this all means for my business and yours. If you like what you see – please subscribe to it for free. To join the discussion or to comment in real time follow me on Twitter.

Joel Mark Witt

My Rampage Against Traditional Media And Marketing

I am the kind of person who likes to be different than everyone else.
And it can be quite funny sometimes. Because it seems the harder I try to be different the more I realize how similar I am to the masses.

So when my eyes laid hold of social media, podcasting, and online video a few years ago, I jumped in with both feet. It was a way to be “different” as a media creator.

In my mind I was certain RSS would supplant email – online video would kill TV – podcasting would become the new radio – and blogging would cause newspapers everywhere to begin shredding paper for mulch.

In the marketing world, I looked at text based sales letters, TV ads, and traditional marketing campaigns with a smug eye of a cocky new media guy.

“I can’t believe these stupid foolish old school ways of marketing are still popular. What fools,” I would snort.

Of course these copywriters and marketers were making money.

I wasn’t.

Not then anyway.

But in my mind it was just a matter of time before podcasting and new media hit the stratosphere and I would be a millionaire.

Didn’t happen. At least not with podcasting and new media.

And you know what? The traditional marketers who use TV, radio, print, and sales letters are still making money.

And now they are starting to use podcasts, video, blogs, and Twitter to make money too.

What did I miss two years ago?

There Is Nothing New

“What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.”
- Ecclesiastes 1:9

The fundamentals of business do not change. When you strip it down – the basic idea of business is this.

A) You purchase something – add value to it – and sell it to someone else at a higher price than you paid for it.

or…

B) You make something of value or create a service and sell it to someone for a price that covers your time and effort.

That’s it.

Business is nothing more that these two options.

As media professionals we get caught up in all the bells and whistles of marketing, PR, advertising, and sales. We think that we have a better way since we have the leverage of technology on our side.

But the basics of business have been around for thousands of years. Modern sales and marketing techniques allow us to scale. And social media and the web multiply that scale in unprecedented and powerful ways.

But don’t jump to new technology too quickly until you look over the basics.

Those basics are:

* Be sure you are making a great product or service
* Focus on the customer’s needs
* Don’t forget the power of the written word. Sales letters and basic copywriting still work.

The Basics Are Key

Zappos is a great example of a company that had the basics mastered before delving into web 2.0.

Come on. Can you get more offline than a shoe store?

And yet Zappos is leveraging their brand online using Twitter and blogs.

Master The Fundamentals And Your Social Media Marketing Will Rock

If you really want the full advantage of Social Media marketing then you need to master the basics of marketing and sales.

Get yourself a good copywriting book. I recommend Dan Kennedy’s The Ultimate Sales Letter.

Next start into social media with a blog. A blog is the engine that runs everything else. It is a great tool for gaining new customers, building your brand, creating a feedback loop, and posting original content and information.

What other fundamentals would you suggest? Do you agree that these are important?

Let me know by commenting on this blog post. Or join the discussion in real time by following me on Twitter.

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This site, Joel-Mark-Witt.com, is where I ask the questions while standing at the intersection of social media, podcasting, online video, marketing, PR, storytelling, life and leadership…. and what the heck this all means for my business and yours. If you like what you see – please subscribe to it for free. To join the discussion or to comment follow me on Twitter.

Joel Mark Witt

*Photo By Inky

Okay okay okay. I lied…

Email is not sexy.
It isn’t the latest marketing fad. It didn’t just get here in the past few years like social media, podcasting, RSS, and online video.

But eMail gets results.
No really it’s true. Think about it. How many American’s do you know checked their RSS feeds this morning? If you don’t know what I’m talking about – all the more proof to my point.

eMail is still the most reliable way to build a relationship with people online.
You ask them for permission one time and can continue mailing them with value added content until they ask you to stop. And it’s virtually free to do so.

All the social media services like Facebook, MySpace, Friendfeed, Twitter, Ning, Jaiku, Pownce, Digg, Delicious, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Flickr, YouTube, Wordpress, Blogger, Typepad, and Google Reader are great.

But everyone that signs up for one of these services must have an email to do so.
eMail is far from dead. I think it is more alive now than ever.

eMail is linear.
Most websites and blogs are non-linear by design. You land on a page and discover the links, topics, and areas that you would like to access. As you click on these you move through the site accessing the information you want. Good designers will actually make it easy for you to discover the information you want as you click through. But they are still dependent on you to get to the information.

eMail allows marketing professionals the ability to send linear messages out in sequence to build a case for a product, cause, service, or event. It allows a more controlled and direct message than a blog or website.

Email is push content.
Once you have someone’s email and permission – you can begin pushing content to them when you want. eMail marketing is not dependent on the person seeking out your information.

Email gives you permission and access.
When someone gives you their email address they are in a sense giving you a lot more access to them then if they simply subscribe to your RSS feed or visit your blog.

So in a way eMail is sexy.
It’s sexy in terms of how much marketing power it can wield for you and your business. eMail, when used correctly and in a value added way can drive traffic and ultimately sales to your business.

Here are a few of the top email services:

Aweber
Aweber starts at $19 per month and is a great choice for first time email marketing. I’ve used them for multiple blogs and websites. They are perfect for the small to medium size business.

iContact

Constant contact

Blue Sky Factory
Blue Sky Factory is an excellent eMail company. They are a little pricier with more options, bells, and whistles. Perfect for the big to large sized organization.

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This site, Joel-Mark-Witt.com, is about marketing, technology, blogging, social media, video, podcasting, and how you can use these tools as a leader to grow your business or professional career, even if you know nothing about computers and the Internet. It has a two part focus. 1) Social Media Leadership. 2) Social Media For Business. If you like what you see please subscribe to it for free by RSS or eMail. To join the discussion or to comment find me on Twitter.

Joel Mark Witt

Brilliant advertising or waste of money?

Benjamin Moore Paints

Razor

Cell Phone

Bubble Gum

Fedex

Mr. Clean

Nike

Quit Smoking

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This site, Joel-Mark-Witt.com, is about marketing, technology, blogging, social media, video, podcasting, and how you can use all these tools as a leader to grow your business or professional career, even if you know nothing about computers and the Internet. It has a two part focus. 1) Social Media Leadership. 2) Social Media For Business. If you like what you see please subscribe to it for free by RSS or eMail.

Joel Mark Witt

My friend and designer Joel Glovier (great name huh?) gave me this T-shirt today. He actually called yesterday around 3pm asking if I’d like a shirt. I said yes and he overnighted it to me.

If you are looking for a guy with a great design style at reasonable prices check out: www.jagdesignideas.com.

He’s done work for me and I can vouch for him.

Which made me think about his technique.

Joel reached out to me knowing that I have an audience of business and professional people who read my blog and watch my content. But he didn’t ask me to promote his design business. He simply connected with me and offered me something of value for free.

We can all learn a lot from this approach. It worked for Joel. I am mentioning him and his work.

What can you do for your business or clients that will get them talking about you to others?

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This blog is about technology, blogging, social media, video, podcasting, and how you can use all these things to grow your business. If you like this blog please subscribe to it for free

Joel Mark Witt