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iPhone Business Card Scanner - Finally!

Cardreader An exciting new iPhone app is now available that scans business cards and then syncs the data directly into your Mac address book. The app is from a German company and is called Cardreader (iTunes link here).

The new app costs $7.99 and even though it took me several tries, I eventually got used to it and could successfully scan about six out of ten cards. The app allows you to scan in landscape mode or portrait mode and each scan takes just a few seconds. There are some subtle nuances to scanning correctly (holding the card right for appropriate lighting, sizing up the card right for landscape or portrait mode) but this is a promising app, one that I hope our German friends will keep improving.

Note: on iTunes there are already negative reviews outweighing positive reviews for the app but as someone who has been considering spending anywhere from $150 to $250 for a business card scanner, spending $8 and living with its limitations is fine with me.

On a related note: don't forget about Shoeboxed: you simply mail your business cards or receipts to Shoeboxed and they scan and provide you a file for importing, a particularly useful service for the person who requires frequent, large volume scanning on a continual basis.

October 15, 2009 | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

One Expense You Absolutely Must Not Cut

Vips You might have seen this survey before, if you have, the words of Dr. Samuel Johnson might be fitting: most people should be "less taught and more reminded".

Why do your customers leave you? 

1% Die
3% Move away
5% Influenced by friends
9% Lured away by the competition
14% Dissatisfied with the product
68% Indifference

Everyone has a customer. Bankers, politicians, even teachers have customers. Non-profit professionals know they have a "customer" and these customers have many options about where they spend their time and money.  It may help to move away from the language of "customer" and begin to think of all the Very Important People in your world. Your VIP's could be vendors who are strategically important, influencers (your mentors and advisers), employees, constituents, students, supervisors, and more. It is an interesting exercise to draw a graph like the one on the left to discover your VIP's. If 68% of your VIP's leave you because of indifference, you are either genuinely indifferent about them or they interpret your lack of communication as indifference. Fact is, most businesses cannot afford an attitude of indifference in this economy. Indifference toward your VIP's is a slow suicide in a good economy, it's a death spiral in a bad economy.

The good news is, there is a way to eradicate indifference and the solution is a simple one: gratitude.

A simple "thank you" at the right time goes a long way and there are plenty of occasions fast approaching that will help you get about the business of recognizing your VIP's. Gifts of gratitude, whether they are hand written notes or gift-wrapped "thank you's" carry a lot of weight these days. As technology becomes more hi-tech, we must become more hi-touch in order to achieve an impact. A one sentence email saying "thank you" is just not enough if you want to make a lasting impression. Besides, some VIP's contribute significantly to your success, can you really not spare more than a few seconds to appropriately express your appreciation? Don't let the speed of today's hyperactive world delude you in to thinking that you don't have time. You must carve time out of your busy schedule to tell people you care about their contribution, otherwise, your business could be guilty of chasing away 68% if its customers.

68%!

What is your plan to recognize your VIP's this year? Have you stopped to think of all the people who contribute to your business?

Note: I happen to know a great little company that has developed client appreciation programs for brands for nearly twenty years. Email me for more info. We can help you apply the right amount of TLC to your VIPs ASAP. ;-) (Emoticons and acronyms are no charge).

October 10, 2009 | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Rebranding a City: The Devon Tower

Devontower Since we are in the branding business, I've watched with mixed anticipation and skepticism (along with many other Oklahomans) the ambitious plans of the new Devon Tower. Breaking ground today, the tower will forever alter the Oklahoma City skyline, "rebranding", (if you will), not just the skyline but perhaps the city as well.

We've worked with many companies who have gone through a rebranding process, a difficult process that forever changes not merely cosmetics, but the purpose, drive and meaning of a company. How do you go about it? What should be your motive and drive? A few lessons from Devon's rebranding of Oklahoma City:

  1. Lead the change you want to become. Watch this short video to understand Larry Nichol's desire for a brighter future for Oklahoma City. Devon not only had ambitious plans for their company but also for the city and they proved their commitment by providing a loan to the city for improvements. Many consider Devon's tower the pinnacle of Oklahoma City's Core to Shore development. Once you build a brand that excites and motivates your own core, other changes will rapidly come.
  2. Plan boldly and defy the dissenters.  When Devon made their plans public, everyone knew it would be difficult to back down; yet, when the economy began hitting formerly-believed-recession-proof Oklahoma, the plan was assailed by doubts. Devon let the excellence of their work be their own protest. When the power is finally turned on, all doubters will disappear and what remains will be a surviving testament to a daring idea.
  3. Partner strategically: When the Devon team selected an architect, Nichols commented that they wanted a building that was "iconic" and decided to partner with someone who could deliver. It was imperative that they chose the right architect just as it is imperative that you choose the right architect for your brand. Devon started with a list of world-class designers. When you are making a decision that could stand for 100 years, it is a dramatic understatement to say that you know you must make it right. I've previously written about the Everlast rebranding, a brand that stood the test of time for nearly 100 years. Partner only with the best of the best and you are likely to end up with a remarkable, enduring impression.
  4. Be open to change. Devon changed their plans for the height of the tower mid-stream, stating, "design of a project like this is a continuum." As with any design, be open to change until the first shovel hits the dirt and know that constant revision is the closest process towards perfection.
  5. Celebrate what makes you different. Howard Roark's speech in The Fountainhead comes to mind. Individuality is as critical for a brand as it is for a person. Branding could, perhaps, even be considered the soul of the company: who you are, what you believe. The Devon tower is a dramatic statement about who the company is and who the company desires to be. There will be no question as to their distinctive prominence and commitment to all who view their "brand", clearly visible across the entire city skyline.
  6. Realist alert: have lots of money. Seriously. No, it doesn't sound inspiring but it is true. Timing really is everything. Rebranding should coincide with dramatic successes, not failures. Unless you have such grave image concerns that force you to change your brand immediately, the best time for renewal is when things are going good, not when they are going bad. The reason is simple: you have the critical assets required to pull of such a monumental task in both capital and human resources. Though the Devon tower is being constructed during the current economic crisis, the plans had to be in the works for years. The Oklahoma economy was then roaring; it made perfect sense to expand their overcrowded space with a new world headquarters that they could afford to build. 

For more information and helpful links to rebranding articles, please visit a previous post I wrote on the subject: Rebranding: The Process of Self-Disruption.

Thanks to Steve Lackmeyer for his OKC Central blog, an insightful resources for happenings in Oklahoma, particularly downtown.

October 06, 2009 | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Why the Demand for Company Stores and Branded Apparel Programs Will Grow

Twitter is moving more and more mainstream everyday. Like Facebook, user profiles now transcend mere early adopters to the point that the average consumer is beginning to sign up and use the service with relative ease and comfort.

What does this have to do with branded stores?

Everything.

The comfort factor for purchasing and interacting online has grown exponentially. The concerns for security still exist but they no longer exist as a barrier to entry for many consumers; we'll happily purchase online through brands we know, trust, and love. Amazon's tremendous growth from merely an online bookseller to "purveyor of virtually anything" provides a simple testament to the fact that many consumers are far more comfortable purchasing online for a far wider variety of items than is traditionally thought (see this New York Times article, "Can Amazon Be the Wal-Mart of the Web?"). This could mean that custom items online, even branded items, might be coming into a time of their own online (finally), though not without many (many!) pioneers face down in the mud with arrows in their back.

The point is: that end-user, the person who orders the branded shirt, hat or mug is far more comfortable purchasing online than even a year ago and is not only comfortable with it but actually expects dynamic technologies that deliver from the brands they interact with. That means that if you are an employer with an employee store or a non-profit with a store that provides branded items to your donors, the demand for these goods will continue to grow because the audience they are intended for is purchasing online to a greater extent than ever before. In fact, according to Internet Retailer, a recent study conducted by Forrester Research, Inc. revealed that "42% of online retailers increased their online visitor-to-order conversion rates during the first half of this year compared to the same period last year."

Add the continued growth in handheld technologies to the increasing availability of Wi-Fi plus home computing that replaces television sets for mainstream media/entertainment and you'll have a formerly timid consumer that's confident to interact and purchase with your brand and do so much easier than ever before. The bleeding edge of technology might not be as far (these days) from the mainstream as most might think.

September 30, 2009 | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Links that Matter, September 2009

September 21, 2009 | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Did You Know 4.0

The following is from XPLANE, creators of Shift Happens, "facts and stats focusing on the changing media landscape, including convergence and technology":

September 17, 2009 | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Netflix Fulfillment Center: Operations Becomes Marketing

Netflix Hacking Netflix, an independent blog, was invited this summer to tour a Netflix's operation which gave us a glimpse inside a fulfillment center that processes upwards of 90,000 discs per day. I was intrigued by the Netflix warehouse photos from both a marketers perspective and from an operations perspective. Since our little niche is half fulfillment center, half marketing, I was fascinated by the utilization of ones basic operations as a marketing tool.

A post earlier this year from The Head of Zeus Jones defined how this type of marketing is "an aspect of internal operations that has been made transparent to customers and in doing so has become a driver of loyalty or additional business". The Zeus Jones post highlights several examples of companies that have capitalized on their operations as a way to further enhance customer loyalty, such as Zappos free shipping upgrades and Apple's brick manufacturing process.

Our company creates and distributes over 50,000 packages of branded products per year; processing 90,000 per day obviously requires a lot of automation, labor, and innovation. A picture is indeed worth a thousand words as a peek inside a Netflix operations center clearly expresses the Netflix standard for quality and service far more than any mission or vision statement could. As you glance at these photos, you understand that at the end of the day, what really matters, (just as in our business), is whether or not the customer received the right product in the most expeditious manner possible. If marketing is defined as a way to "create the customer, keep the customer, and satisfy the customer" then pulling back the curtain to explain how a company operates is an integral foundation for ones marketing and operations success.

September 12, 2009 | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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Promotional Products that Matter: Secure Ink

Catchmeifyoucanmovie small   Remember the movie, "Catch Me if You Can", starring Leonardo Decaprio and Tom Hanks? The movie was based on the real life story of Frank Abegnale (movie trailer, here). In the 1960s Abegnale passed bad checks totaling an approximate 2.6 million dollars over the course of five years (more about Frank, here). After serving some time, Abegnale was released and began a consulting business to help prevent fraud. Eventually, Abgenale's experience helped lead the promotional products industry to work on a new form of ink that would help prevent check washing. A perfect promotional product for financial institutions, this ink is available in promotional pens from Bic as well as Uni-Ball (Sanford B2B).

In an age of unprecedented uncertainty, (particularly for banks), it is imperative that security is translated through a bank's brand to its customers. Pens that help prevent fraud are one more way for a brand to disguish itself from all the other "me, toos" in the banking business. Bic and Sanford sell only through promotional products distributors, if you need more information about these pens, please email me here.

Promotional Products that Matter is a new "best of" series where I troll the industry's half million products in search of the most unique and important branded products you could use. After eighteen years, I've seen more than my share of CPS (known, affectionately, in the industry as cheap, plastic ... um, stuff). If you're tired of buying promo items that have very little impact, stay tuned. I promise to bring only proven ideas that will matter to your bottom line.

September 03, 2009 | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Additional resources from last week's ASI class on social media

Thanks to everyone who came to "Marketing in a Web 2.0 World" at ASI Chicago, following are the additional resources I mentioned, arranged so you can drill down by topic; I hope they are helpful:

Twitter:

Blogging:

LinkedIn:

Facebook:

Misc:

Quick note: I'm often asked, if you had to choose between online networking and offline networking (cold calling, clubs, organizations, etc.), what would you choose? My answer is always the same: it's not an either/or proposition. Determine who your primary target market is and just get after it, relentlessly, both online and offline.

Now, excuse me while I prepare for a full week of cold calling ...

July 26, 2009 | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Asidistributors ASI's Counselor Magazine recently conducted a poll of more than 230 distributors and their use of social networking sites. According to ASI, the results (at right) mirror national trends with continual increases in the utilization of these tools to help build and nurture a network of contacts. 

If you are in the Chicago area, I hope you can join me this Tuesday, July 21st from 1:30 to 3:30 at the ASI Show as we'll dig a little deeper into what distributors are doing online to help grow their businesses (details here). My presentation, entitled "Marketing in a Web 2.0 World: How Small Business Can Be Heard in a Big Way" will include industry highlights of viral video, Facebook, LinkedIn, the use of white papers, blogs, Twitter, and more.

Harvey Mackay wrote one of the quintessential business books on networking, "Dig Your Well Before Your Thirsty: The Only Networking Book You'll Ever Need". In it, Mackay's wisdom is as valuable today for online networking as it was when it was published in 1997 (when the term "social networking" referred to physical, not virtual, handshakes). Following are a few quotes from the book:

  • For most people networking is a learned behavior, like learning to swim. It is a gradual - and often painful, even scary - process of trial and error, small incremental steps, and finally a few breakthroughs. Fortunately, there are several tried and true techniques for overcoming this Fear of Trying.
  • The really big networking mistakes people make in their lives come from the risks they never take.
  • There's a reason they call them "connections." You have to connect.
  • Networking is not a numbers game. The idea is not to see how many people you can meet; the idea is to compile a list of people you can count on.
  • I don't know what I'll be doing a year from now, but whatever it is, undoubtedly, will be based on the contacts I make today.

July 19, 2009 | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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