...not to mention Daryl Hall ('Hall and Oates'), Jay-Z, Pinboard, Chris Brogan and Zappos?
The short answer is SWEATEQUITY.BIZ, my sideline blog that celebrates cool and clever marketing efforts by entrepreneurial small-to-medium sized businesses, nonprofits, individuals (and the occasional large enterprise).
While PR Warrior skews towards PR, communications and social media, SWEAT EQUITY is a lot broader and focuses on smarter ways to market your brand in today's hyper-connected world:
The race is on for the HEARTS AND MINDS of your customers – are you even on the starting blocks?
Here's a snapshot of some recent SWEAT EQUITY goodness you may have missed over the past couple of months:
When did you last get up close and personal with your customers?
While social media makes it possible for organizations to increase their reach cost effectively, today's smart brands realize it’s not just about online communication: it’s also critical you regularly get to see the ‘whites of the eyes’ of the people who matter most to their business – customers, influencers, media and stakeholders.
Companies and organizations that 'get' this incorporate into their marketing mix – and importantly, actively leverage – face-to-face tactics such as:
- events and roadshows,
- roundtable debates and boardroom lunches,
- seminars and speaking engagements,
- stunts, brand experiences etc.
Sometimes the goal of this 'live media' activity is to create a credible platform from which the brand (and others) can create content and conversation via online and offline channels.
Post includes:
EXAMPLE #1 - Johnny Cupcakes (another example here)
Celebrating the 'anti-sell' with Pinboard
Prior to Christmas, the social web was abuzz with the news that Yahoo was ditching the popular Delicious bookmarking site. Within no time people started investigating alternatives to Delicious, including Springpad, Diigo and Pinboard.
Pinboard was one site that caught my eye initially, then I heard an interesting and frank interview with its founder Maciej Ceglowski on Net @ Nitewith Amber Mac and Leo Laporte and decided to check it out further.
I like the way Pinboard describes itself as the "antisocial bookmarking site" that's ideal for "introverts" who don't necessarily want to share their bookmarks with the rest of the world.
Smart marketing defined in less than 40 words
Smart marketing today is…
Less about interruption and more about inclusion.
Less about hype and more about substance.
Less about mass media TARPS (‘Target Audience Rating Points’) and more to do with building trustwith consumers and cultivating advocates for your brand.
Case in point?
The inbound marketing software company HubSpot is a beauty.
Does your brand have its own TV network?
I love the fact every brand (personal or organizational) can now own and operate its own TV network (or radio station or online newspaper or magazine).
It's a pretty powerful opportunity we all have at our fingertips. The smart set are all over it. What about you? Gary Vaynerchuk is a shining example of someone who went from zero to hero via his enthusiastic and savvy use of social media, especially his online Wine Library TV webcast which proved to be a game-changer for the Russian-born entrepreneur who has since become a bona fide is a New York Times bestselling author.
But we can also learn a lot from someone who went the other way - pop legend Daryl Hall (the 'Hall' in Hall & Oates, one of the biggest-selling recording duos of all time), who has reinvented himself with his popular web show Live From Daryl's House.
OTHER READING:
Frank Sinatra Vs Jay-Z: How collaboration can help your brand reach new audiences
MOVEMBER: Secrets of a nonprofit phenomenon
Slash has a top hat. What is your brand’s ‘trademark’?
