Jeph Maystruck is a smart marketing mind. I was very honored when he asked me to be a guest on his podcast in late January, and we had a lot of fun doing it. The topics we discussed were varied, but I think my favorite conversation was when we talked about egotism in marketing.

You can click hear to listen to the entire podcast. While you’re listening to the podcast, make sure to bookmark his website and subscribe to his RSS feed. It’s worth your time.

Lately I’ve been involved in a number of discussions about QR codes and whether they are effective or not, whether they should be used or not, and whether they have a future in marketing.

As a quick recap, QR codes were created in 1994 by a subsidiary of Toyota to track vehicles and parts as they rolled down the assembly line. Almost anything can be encoded in a QR code, from a URL to a contact card and more. The technology is basically flawless and they work very well.

The same, however, can not be said about the people who use QR codes in marketing, or the consumer who scans them.

First of all, QR codes are notoriously misused by marketers. From the infamous NYC subway ads featuring QR codes (placed where there was no mobile access), to QR codes being placed on a web page (so someone sitting at a computer would have to pull out their phone and scan the code, just to go to another web page), the stories of their misuse abound. One of my favourite misuses was at the local CIBC where a sign behind the cashiers featured a QR code. Unfortunately, the image was so small that my phone couldn’t read the image. Also unfortunate was that the cashiers at the bank said that taking photos of the space behind the cashiers was against the rules.

Second, consumers are not all created equal. I consider myself to be an early adopter of technology, but I’m not one of the people who waited in line for the iPhone 4s. In fact, my Blackberry is almost 2.5 years old – mainly because of my cellular service contract and the hardware upgrades I am allowed. I had to find and download a QR code app on my own, which most consumers will never bother to do. Even if a phone does come preloaded with a QR code reader, the odds that the user knows what it is or how to use it are pretty slim. AND, even if you do have it, know what a QR code is, and know how to use it – there is still a chance that it may not work. My Blackberry, a Blackberry Curve 8300 has a crappy camera in it, uses the flash far too often, and doesn’t focus on objects up close very well. The result is that for me, unless conditions are perfect, the scan may not work, even if the QR code is printed clearly, the code was created properly, and the destination URL is set up perfectly for mobile browsing. In fact, the impetus behind this blog post was a discussion that began at the #yqrtweetup last night because of the number of people who had printed QR codes on their name tags. The lead image in this post was my phone’s scan of a QR code on an attendees name tag – an attendee who I have a lot of respect for and who is very capable with both marketing and technology. There was no technical problem with his QR code, the problem was with my technology.

What Can Marketers Learn From This?

First, you need to think long and hard about ever using a QR code in your marketing materials. Think about where the code will be used, where people will view the code, and what they will be doing when they view the code. Billboards on a highway are a terrible place to put a QR code (what do you want people to do, scan it at 110km/h? Pull over?), but a sign that people walk past regularly might be OK. Why do you want people to scan the QR code? I think movie posters would be great places to put QR codes – you could scan them and go immediately to the movie trailer. But if all you want to do is send people to your website, why not just include the URL ( if you still want to use it to send someone to a website, make sure you ALSO include the URL so that people can still type it in manually)?

Is the destination URL mobile friendly? It better be, because I’m not carrying my laptop around to take pics of QR codes. Who is your target audience? Do they have smartphones with large data plans? Are you interrupting your customers, or are you adding value to their experience? Are they allowed to and are they able to use their phone where you want them to scan the QR code?

QR codes will not be used forever. Eventually you will just be able to take a picture of an item, and your phone will do a search on that item (ala Google Goggles). Eventually, you will be able to scan a UPC code and get the prices for that item at all the stores in a 5 mile radius of where you are. Until then, QR codes are an effective middle step – a booster to get people used to using their phones to scan items for more information. But if we, as marketers, continue to misuse this tools, we will turn off consumers and cripple the technology.

Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben is famous for saying “With great power comes great responsibility.” As marketers, we have a lot of power to influence consumers – both in their purchasing habits and in the way that they use technology. But we also have a responsibility to use that power in the proper way. We can all benefit greatly, both for ourselves and for our clients, from QR codes, but only if we stop doing stupid things with them. If consumers become accustomed to QR codes being misused they will begin to ignore them.

One thing that hasn’t changed much however, is trying to rank well in search engines. SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is the process of optimizing your website for search engines. The theory is that if you manage to nail down exactly the parameters that a search engine is looking for that you will rank well in search results, get tons of traffic, and make millions of dollars.

The problem with SEO is that your target is always moving. Initially, search engines were very simple and could be fooled easily. There was a time when people would simply stuff their footers with keywords, change their color to match the background, and rank well in results. Once upon a time, you could stuff your meta tags, and you would rank well. Today, both of those things are very likely to get you blacklisted and removed from a search engine directory.

There are actual SEO professionals out there. However, much like Social Media people, there are also a number of con artists. Let’s assume that you want to rank well with Google, the world’s leading search engine. Google itself offers you all the information that you could ever want about making your site search engine friendly. They have free videos, articles, and Webmaster Tools to make it easy for you to let Google know when you make changes to your site. Here’s the thing, search engines are doing everything that they can to remove your ability as a webmaster to influence search results. The goal of search engines is to return relevant content when someone enters a query. Relevant content doesn’t come from pages that are SEO optimized, they come from pages that have RELEVANT CONTENT. Search engines try to determine which pages have the most relevant content based on a number of factors.

Which factors? I have no idea. The general assumption is that they look for pages that a lot of other people link to, pages that other people consider to be a great resource. How do they do this? I have no idea. To be fair, there are very few people that actually know what search engines are looking for. One of those people is Matt Cutts, head of Google’s WebSpam team. Let’s see what he thinks about SEO:

As a content creator, I believe that content is much more important than SEO. I also believe in making things as easy for yourself as possible – why bother coding a website from scratch when WordPress has such a great platform available, for free, for anybody to use?

I’m not saying that there is no future in SEO – those who can great both great content AND follow SEO best practices will ultimately win in the debate. Further, SEO isn’t going anywhere. There will always be people, especially in the 3Ps (porn, poker, and pills) industries who will push SEO in new directions and manage to rewrite all of the rules…at least for a little while. What I am saying is that, for most of us, creating great content should be the one thing that we focus on. For now, forget your META tags, and focus on giving your readers something that is really, truly valuable.

p.s. I borrowed the subheading ‘content rules’ from the title of a book written by C.C. Chapman and Ann Handley called Content Rules. It’s worth a read if you’re in the content business. Here’s a handy link to Amazon.comwhere you can buy the book.

They reflect an overconfidence that just because something WAS, that something will always continue to be. Most often heard coming from businesses that think they are “too big to fail”, they indicate a market that is ripe for another company to step into and make a huge splash just by trying something new, pushing the envelope, and challenging the status quo.

Never let yourself get stuck. If your customers are dealing with you because they have always done business with you, and not because you offer them something unique in the marketplace it is time to step outside your comfort zone. What are your biggest weaknesses? What opportunities are there for other companies to step into your market and make a difference? How can you stop them? What can you do, right now, to improve your offering? What can you to today that will strengthen your company one year from now?

Over the past 18 months I have been doing a lot of freelance writing work for a company in Regina called Fine Lifestyles. They produce a wide range of magazines – Fine Lifestyles Regina, Fine Lifestyles Saskatoon, Fine Homes Regina, Fine Homes Saskatoon, Fine Lifestyles Estevan/Weyburn, and a new Regina Business publication. My work for them is typically marketing pieces for businesses, but I have been doing an increasing number of editorial stories over the past six months. I enjoy working with the company and believe that they produce a very good quality product.

Last fall I was approached to gauge my interest in becoming a staff writer for the magazine. I was initially concerned – if I said yes I would lose the variety that I currently enjoy as a freelancer, but if I said no I feared my work with them would be put in jeopardy.

Thankfully, that was not the case. In reality, what they wanted was to know that I would be there for them when they called. I’d never said no before, but they didn’t want to take the chance in the future. My new role with the company as a Contributing Editor will allow me to continue to write quality content for the magazines, and also give me more opportunity to suggest stories and topics that I think are important. A side benefit of this arrangement is that I will be able to take a leading role in the new business magazine that is coming to Regina next month.

It won’t change my blogging habits, the freelance work I do for agencies, businesses, or other magazines. In fact, I think it will give me even better access to some of the leading business minds in the region and let me pick their brains and find out what makes them tick. That’s not only better for me, but it should also increase the quality of the work that I do for my other clients.

Here’s to a great 2012!

To be sure, owning and running a business is a very good call to action against apathy – if you don’t work, you don’t eat. However, there have been many new ways that I have tried to push myself in 2011, and I’m a much better person because of it. But there is always more that can be done.

I was recently in a conversation with some family members – the conversation involved some suspected criminal activity in their community. The police couldn’t (or wouldn’t) act without specific complaints. Members of the community were doing a wonderful job of spreading gossip, but nobody would pick up the phone and call the police. There was a lot of talk about “something needs to be done”, but nobody willing to put themselves on the line and do something. The crimes involved petty theft, theft of a firearm, and the welfare of an 8 year old girl. Something needs to be done.

I’m taking Krav Maga right now – a form of self-defense developed by an Isreali before and during WWII. Many of the moves are responses to being attacked, and we do a lot of chokes. In practice, our instructor asks us to choke our partners – it must feel real. Despite this request, there are still some people who don’t really squeeze hard. Not only is the training more effective if you squeeze, the defenses actually work better against a tighter grasp.

In both of these cases, the problem is people not caring enough to act. Everybody has their reasons, and I’m in no position to judge their reasons – it’s none of my business. However, it is my responsibility to phone the police when I notice something wrong, and to make sure that I squeeze hard when I choke.

Last week I went for lunch with Dan Bowman, and he challenged me to act decisively on something that I’ve been thinking about lately. He told me that I’m not the only one capable of doing this thing, and that the first person who acted would ultimately be the victor. It’s true. Ghandi told us to “Be The Change You Want To See In The World” and Stephen Covey tells us that change comes from within and that we affect the outside world by changing ourselves.

I often mention to my clients that ideas are effectively worthless. Not completely worthless perhaps, but effectively worthless. That’s because until you do something with the idea, you might as well not even have it. I had many ideas this year, most of which I did nothing with. Other ideas, like a book on Bad Bosses, I did some stuff with, but no where near enough. On that last idea I lost TONS of potential exposure because of a movie that had a similar idea.

That’s not to say that I did nothing, however. I DID use social media to organize an event for the Regina Food Bank – I got nearly 300 people together on a Sunday afternoon to dress up like zombies and shamble across the city. It was covered by radio, TV, and print media. Most importantly, it raised 1300 lbs of food for the needy. I did enroll in a very aggressive form of self-defense classes, training my body and mind. I did put on my first social media workshop, which was a success and got excellent reviews from the attendees. Of course, I continued to take chances on my own business and promote myself to prospective clients.

But, in all honesty, I could have done more. There were periods of time lost to Twitter and StumbleUpon. Opportunities that I neglected. Bigger and better things that I could have tried.

I’m now looking toward 2012. Rather than making resolutions, this year I’m going to make goals that I will work toward throughout the year.

I humbly suggest that you do the same. Stop thinking about new ideas. Take 5 of the best ideas that you currently have, and take strong action on them. Launch a new product. Hire that new sales rep you’ve been thinking about. Go out and ACT. Strongly. Decisively.

This will be my last post before Christmas, so Merry Christmas. If you don’t celebrate or celebrate other things, Happy Holidays. Between now and the New Year, try to develop a plan to act on an idea. You will not regret it.

It saddens me to say that I run into terrible customer service all the time. I’m always struck that I should write a blog post about it, but I don’t like to be negative. Thankfully, I had an incredible shopping experience this weekend – an experience that could have easily been terrible, but was made excellent with a nickel.

Let me paint a picture for you: It was a Saturday afternoon, December 10th, right in the middle of the Christmas shopping season. The store was the Regina branch of Chapters – a national bookstore chain. I love going to the store, but it is usually busy, and during Christmas it is extra crazy. Ordinarily, I would avoid going there on the weekend, but I was on a mission. I needed a children’s book for a Christmas present, and I had just had a magazine article published in an internationally distributed magazine (Bronco Driver). I had one copy, but wanted a few more. I bundled up the kids, loaded them into my wife’s car, and headed out.

As soon as I walked in the store I gasped. The lineup for the tills was crazy. I don’t know how many people where in line, but I would guess about 100. This was a big store (like a Barnes & Noble) and the line went from the tills to the center of the store, then turned and headed down the centre aisle. I did my shopping, and made my way to the end of the line, fully expecting to be there for 30 minutes or more. Imagine my surprise and astonishment when an employee walked up and said I was about 10 minutes from the cash register and then extended a basket full of holiday coloured Hersey’s Kisses to me and my children.

Zig Ziglar often says that “It’s the little things that make the big difference” and I have to agree with him. Chapters did many things right here, and it cost them no more than a nickel per customer:

1. The tills were fully manned. Recognizing that they were going to be busy, the management had somebody working on every till. This is important, because customers weren’t left with a feeling that the store was shirking their duties. The tills were full, nothing more could be done.

2. People were kept informed. In almost every instance of customers getting angry about a wait, a lack of information is the cause. Lineups for the observation platform at the Empire State Building can be hours long, but the management has set up signs telling you how far, on average, you are from the top. Chapters chose to use a friendly employee to do the same. So simple.

3. They bribed us with candy. I don’t care who you are, everybody loves candy, especially chocolate, and especially at Christmas. And, Hershey’s Kisses are small, cheap, and tasty. Even if you don’t like chocolate, you could never be angry with someone who approaches you with a smile and candy.

You can buy a giant bag of Hershey’s Kisses for a few bucks, and it takes seconds for a smiling employee to hand them out and share some information. So simple, so cheap, and so effective.

Often, marketers count the number of impressions that a marketing effort receives. But businesses don’t live on impressions. They live on sales. I can post kitten videos on my site and bring in thousands of visitors, but none of those visitors will be interested in hiring a writer, marketer, or in having a social media strategy developed. If I devote all of my time to developing those kitten videos, I will fail.

Developing a marketing plan is not just about creating a list of blog posts – it also includes the WHY of creating those blog posts. It involves understanding WHO is going to be reading those posts. It involves WHAT you want your readers to do, WHEN you want them to do it, and HOW you want them to contact you.

PageRank is nice. Klout is cool. Going to the bank to deposit cheques is even better. Something for you to remember next time you log in to your Analytics account.

I’ve heard many horror stories of people who work with writers that think they’re the next Hemingway; sometimes the writers have advanced degrees in English or Literature, sometimes they’re journalists. Whatever their background, I hear stories of them getting angry when a customer requests a change, defending the integrity of their work as if it were a personal affront to them.

I’ve never really understood that. I suppose if I was writing a novel where I had carefully crafted each word to evoke a certain scene, and an editor hacked it up I might be mad, but I don’t know. When I write, I’m basically trying to sell a product (or client, or service, or….). If a client has input on some changes, I’m more than happy to listen – after all, who knows their product better than they do? That’s not to say that I don’t carefully select words and work hard to develop goals for the piece, but if someone has a better idea or a way to improve my work, I’m all ears. In the end, it’s all about getting someone to take action. Sometimes I push back, if I think my ideas are better of course, but there is always room for improvement. I don’t believe that I have a monopoly on great ideas.

Still, in some businesses, I wonder if being unreasonable can’t be an advantage. Certainly, there is a mystique to the snobby artist that CAN lend a certain air of excellence to her image. By now, we’ve all heard the story of the “Soup Nazi” from NYC (and Seinfeld), who evicts people from his restaurant if you criticize him. And my surgeon had better be pretty confident about his skills. If I suggest that he change the procedure for a cancer surgery, I hope he sticks to tried and true methods rather than poking around in his patients’ stomach.

What about a mortgage broker or Realtor? A car salesman? A lawyer? You?

Are there times when you should be a little less flexible with your customers? When? And how would you decide when to hold your ground?

Just a few things to think about.

Not because someone from the outside is completely incapable of running social media – it can be done, if there is excellent communication between the person running the account and the business owner. It’s a bad idea because there is almost never excellent communication between the person running the account and the business owner. It is also often a sign that the business owner doesn’t take social media seriously.

Don’t get me wrong – I do social media consulting for businesses, and some of that involves setting up Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, and other things. I also help those clients find their voice in the new platforms, coach them on what to post and how to post it, and show them how to measure their results. But this is not the same thing as doing all of the social media work for a company.

But, let’s say that you just HAVE to outsource your social media – follow these rules to protect your brand.

1. You absolutely must have complete access to the profile page – this means you must be able to check the email that is associated with the account. I recommend setting up an email specifically for social media purposes – socialmedia@abccorp.ca for example. Or, use a gmail account such as abccorpsocialmedia@gmail.com. Make sure that those who need to know the email password know it. Also, make sure that everybody also knows the login passwords for the social media sites that you will be using.

2. Decide the ground rules up front. If you’re hiring someone to tweet for you, decide how far they can take customer service. Can they offer free drinks at your restaurant? How will the restaurant know your social media person has offered a free product?

3. Make sure they don’t make any promises. Take a look at how one example of a tweet created an expectation of personal service at a restaurant, an expectation that backfired tremendously. If making promises is what you want, make sure the rules are clear.

4. Constant communication. You need to know exactly what is going on with your social media accounts. Your mentions, likes, wall posts, everything – you need to know about them. If the social marketing works, people will be coming into your business BECAUSE of what they saw online. They may make reference to it. You may want to reference a customer who came into your location on your FB page. These things need to be communicated, and quickly. Weekly status meetings will not cut it.

5. Know that this isn’t a gimmick. Social media marketing is REAL marketing, just like a newspaper ad or a television spot. It costs money. Even though Twitter or Facebook or YouTube may be free to use, they still require time. You still need a strategy. Don’t go into this thinking it’s not important – there are real people behind twitter accounts, and they spend real money, talk to real friends, and have real feelings.

6. Be present. If you are going to hire someone – make sure that they are going to be present to answer questions, address concerns, and help. Accounts must be monitored in real time. If they can only be monitored from 9am to 4pm, say so in your profile. Be as transparent as possible.

“But Ryan,” you might say, “if I’m going to go to all that work, I might as well just learn how to do all of this stuff myself.”

Exactly. 

That’s not to say I wouldn’t EVER do it, but everybody involved needs to be very careful.

P.S. If you DO want to learn how to do the social media marketing stuff yourself – I may just be able to help there too.