Business opportunities: Finding the right "match"

The saying “when it rains it pours”, definitely applies to me right now. Last week while at the beach “relaxing”, I got eight requests for business proposals. Trust me, I’m not complaining, especially with the current economic situation, I am extremely thankful for this little problem.

This sudden wave of business requests has allowed me to think more in depth about the criteria I look for in a potential business opportunity. What do I want to get out of this and is it the right match? Much like choosing a mate, the key is making sure your needs match their needs. This will increase the chances of a successful business relationship.

To help choose the optimal business opportunities, I’ve developed a list of helpful questions to ask yourself prior to taking that step of writing out the business proposal:

1. Do I have an existing relationship with the person or company asking for my business?

If there is already an existing relationship, and I have had a positive experience with the client, then chances are, I am going to want to build on that relationship. Building on an existing relationship is ideal because I already know the company, and to an extent what type of results they expect out of a market research project.

2. If this is a new company requesting the work, do I want a relationship with them?

It is important to make sure that the person or company asking for my business is someone I want to work with. Is the project within the scope of the type research I want to do? How will working with them develop my business and skills in market research?

3. Is this project going to be worth my time and effort in terms of:

• Business development?

• Personal growth?

• Financial gain?

If I can say yes to at least two out of three of those categories, then I will most likely move forward in writing the proposal. If it doesn’t seem worth my time and effort, then what do I perceive within my business or personal life that would take precedence over this project? If the project doesn’t line up with the goals for my business, then I would be doing the client and myself a disservice by pursuing the opportunity.

Again, it’s all about matchmaking. Over the years, most of the proposals I’ve written have been based on a mutual agreement between the client and myself. Ensuring that I am a good match for the client and the client is a good match for me is the best way to keep those good business opportunities coming.

The Power of Oprah

Well, Oprah is officially on Twitter and in a matter of days, Twitter saw a 43% jump in new users. On April 17, the day of Oprah's first Tweet, her amount of followers went from 54,864 to an astounding 215,961...this all happened in less than 24 hours people! So now be prepared for a whole new demographic to join Twitter: the busy mom that every brand competes for. We're about to see an explosion of Twittermoms.

The busy stay-at-home mom is the largest portion of her following, usually watching the afternoon talk show, while doing laundry, making her grocery list or preparing dinner. We all know that the busy mom is what most brands market to, because they make the majority of purchasing decisions in the household. They listen and it's proved they act, time and time again.

She's launched the career of Dr. Phil, practically turned the famous book, The Secret, into it's own religion and some speculate that Oprah's endorsement of President Obama produce approximately 1,000,000 additional votes. So if you thought that Oprah's influence might start to decrease, think again, as the increase in Twitter has proved that Oprah's voice still has just as much clout as it ever did.

Listening to the New Consumer

As we all know, consumers today have a smorgasbord of products, messages and images hitting them every single day. The average American is hit with over 3,000 ads per day! No wonder it's hard for brands to attain brand loyalty. Consumers are constantly being bombarded with the next big thing that's going to solve all their problems and is a "must have"...there's so many choices, how do they choose?

And the more important question for brands is: how do you get them to choose you? A recent article published on marketingprofs.com says the key is to focus on building meaningful brand relationships by listening and actively engaging the consumer as they deal with major changes in society and their lives.

One thing that marketers are learning is that not only are no two consumers the same, but in today's fast-paced, changing society, each consumer has several different identities that change depending on the context. For example, a marketer monitoring social media outlets may find a person who represents himself one way on Twitter or LinkedIn, may represent himself completely different on Facebook.

Most people have several different sub-personas....you have work persona, social or entertainer persona, homemaker persona, super mom persona. So brands must hone in and listen to their consumers.

So how do we do this? Traditional research alone is not enough. MarketingProfs.com says effective listening for marketers is an art and with enough detailed attention can deliver unexpected insights.

So more than just research and monitoring social media, but through private online communities where brands can get a grasp on how consumers handle change in their lives. Online communities also allow brands to walk with a consumer over time and see what really matters to them.

Along with listening, giving them a voice or a platform to express their concerns, and then ultimately seeing that in your product will give them a sense of empowerment that what they say matters. Remember, people want to be understood, and feel important.

Bottomline, mastering the art of listening and then engaging the consumer is when he starts to hear his voice and sees himself in your brand. And that's when your brand becomes his brand.

Twitter 101: 5 Reasons Marketers should use Twitter

Twitter is all the rage right now, and is proving more and more to be the cutting edge way to market. Even though a recent Twitter user behavior survey, claims that only 15% use it for marketing purposes. The majority 28% is still using it as a social tool. But I think we should see this 15% go up, and here's why:

1. It's a Learning Tool. The mother ship of Twitter research is Twitter Search, where over 3 million messages are posted a day. It works much like a google search engine, except picks up peoples Tweets. This will allow you to see what people are saying about a particular brand or product. For example, if you want to see what people are saying about M&Ms, you can search the word, M&Ms, and it will pull up everyone who has twittered about M&Ms in realtime. And if a brand wants to get really brave, they can do like Skittles, and integrate the brand's twitter stream into their Website or blog.

2. Gives Professional Credibility. Although Twitter has been around for a few years now, it has yet to become a marketing norm, and people that are successfully using Twitter are still considered ahead of the curve. With Twitter, you can post interesting articles or videos that you find on the Internet, and the better your posts, the more relative followers you get. And the more relative followers you get, the more credible you become.

3. It creates Exposure. Twitter allows people from all over to see you, what you're doing, what you're into and what you're twittering about. It's an opportunity to get a message out to the masses to promote yourself and your business; whether it's a brand or a service.

4. A Chance to Connect to your Consumer. Not only does Twitter let you view what your consumers are into, but it can take customer service to another level, allowing you to personally connect with the consumer. For example, the other night my friend, Holly, was at a Mexican restaurant, where they give all the customers numbered tokens for a chance to win free queso dip on the "Wheel of Taco". Holly's token won, and she twittered about it. Then she immediately gets a message on Twitter from Eric Michaelson, the owner of the large restaurant group, congratulating her for winning on the "Wheel of Taco".

5. It's all about networking, networking, networking! We all know that in this biz, it's all about who you know, making those connections and being the first to know about the next big thing. Twitter is yet another way to network with other marketing professionals from across the globe. You can participate in online discussions with other professionals. You can see on Twitter Search live updates of the trendiest discussion topics at the moment and join the conversation if you'd like. Topics always have the "#" sign, like #markettrends, and you must use that in all your tweets for it to show up in the Twitter stream. It's like modern day chat room, but it's Twitter.

I'll admit, I've been slow to jump on the Twitter bandwagon, and am still learning the ins and outs, and the more I learn, the more I see what a valuable and essential tool it is becoming for marketing. And the more I learn, the more I'll share...so follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/aprilbell.

Facebook - Love It Or Hate It

Facebook...you either love it, hate it or hate to love it. But either way, it's become the way to connect with people...people from your past and your present...even people you meet that you thought you would never see again.

Facebook is about to double in size in less than eight months, as it approaches it's 200 million Facebook user, but it also has another social media network on it's heels called Twitter. Both networks allow you to connect with people all over, but Facebook is more of an online profile, and a place where you can connect with old friends and new friends. You can see what how life has treated your old high school sweetheart or make sure that guy or girl you met out is not psycho.

You can be as cool as you want to be on Facebook, and let everybody know it. You can share photos

Twitter's tagline is "what are you doing", but once people become twitter pros, they rarely update with "what they are doing". It's more about posting funny, witty quotes or informing people of the latest product, music or movie that they're into. It's almost like an online conversation..users can ask a question and get an instantaneous response from their followersTwitter's also is almost like an online conversation happening with your followers.

Charmin and SitorSquat: nontraditional marketing at its finest

Ever find yourself on a road trip in the middle of nowheresville and needing a bathroom so bad that your teeth hurt? And let's face it (especially the ladies), we don't want just any bathroom, we want a clean bathroom. Well, no need to look futher than your phone, because the marketing geniuses at Charmin have signed on to sponsor a new app called SitorSquat that locates and records restrooms across the globe.

This is social networking at its finest...hunting for your hiney. SitorSquat greets you on the homepage with Charmin's brand image of a cute animated red Charmin bear wagging his behind that will make you laugh out loud. The app is a free download for iPhone and the BlackBerry, and allows users to locate bathrooms and also depends on users to post bathrooms and rate them.

So far, SitorSquat has logged more than 50,000 toilets in 10 countries, more than half a million unique visitors and 1,600 downloads of its mobile app. Charmin is capitalizing on the social media craze, and believes the continued growth of SitorSquat will bring growth to the brand.

According to the Charmin press release, this is the first time a toilet-paper brand has partnered with a downloadable mobile application. My prediction? Looks like Charmin is not only selling TP, they're TP'ing all over the market.

DFW AMA Presentation this Friday

If you're in the Dallas area, then I hope to see you this Friday, March 27 at the DFW AMA Market Research SIG. Wow, that' s a mouth full of acronyms. If you don't know the acronyms, it's the Dallas Fort Worth American Marketing Association Market Research Special Interest Group. I'll be presenting on "Using Design Principles to Deliver Powerful Research Presentations."

In today's marketing world, researchers must do more than simply report that data. We must turn that data into a story for our clients that produces that "aha" reaction. They want to understand the insights and know the next actionable steps, and they don't want to have to work for it. So what do we have to do? We have to go from researcher to "storyteller".

In Friday's presentation, I will be leaving you with design principles and tips for creating effective and clear reports and presentations. It will be held at the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce, 10707 Preston Road, Dallas, from 11:30 to 1:00. Click here to register, or go to www.dfwama.com.

The Danger of Discounts

“All items 50% off”, “Buy one, get one FREE”, “Buy one sweater, get the second at 25% off”. We’re getting used to seeing signs like this in store windows these days. Retailers are doing whatever they can to entice customers to come in and spend their precious hoarded dollars.

They might need to get more creative, because recent Yankelovich poll reveals that discounting prices can discount the brand. Seventy percent of respondents say that when they see the price on a product deeply discounted, they think the product must have been overpriced in the first place. And 62 percent said they assumed deep discounts meant they were either trying to get rid of the overstock or that the product was out of date.

The old saying, “You get what you pay for” applies in the minds of many consumers. Sixty-four percent of those polled said that brands that didn’t discount their prices must either be extremely popular or of good value. Take designer jeans for example, women are willing to pay up to $200-300 for the must-have brand name jean that fits like a glove. But if they start seeing those jeans at a discount store or on the half price rack, they start to wonder if maybe that designer is not the must have anymore. In other words, the consumer begins to question the value of the item…..the value money wise, quality wise and popularity wise.

Another potential danger with huge discounts, is consumers will start expecting the products to be discounted more, and will wait on the discounts before buying. Starbucks used to have an Annual Brewing Sale where they would slash prices on their high-end coffeemakers and espresso machines.

Customer perception turned into “Why should I pay $250, when the real value must only be $200?” So customers stopped buying year-round and waited to buy only during the famous annual sale.

So again, rather than deep discounts, brands need to get more creative. Instead of lowering the price of that expensive coffeemaker, Starbucks should give away a free half-pound of coffee with the purchase of the coffeemaker. The key is to entice the customer without discounting the brand.

The Green Way of Life

What is it about the word “organic” written on the label of a product that makes me automatically want to buy it? For sometime, it’s been trendy to “go green”, but it seems as though now it’s going from trend to becoming a way of life for more and more people.

One would think that in the midst of a recession, people would be more concerned with “cheap”, but not the case. According to a study issued by Green Seal and EnviroMedia Social Marketing, four out of five consumers are still claiming to buy green products, and 82% of consumers are buying green despite battered economy.

Let’s face it, it’s popular to be “organic” and “sustainable”, and companies need to jump on the bandwagon that voices the environmental benefits of their products. Trendwatching.com calls it “eco-bounty”, which refers to the numerous opportunities, both short and long term, for brands that participate in the epic quest for a sustainable society. Some of these opportunities exist despite the current recession, others are fueled by it, not in the least because of new rules and regulations. Downturn-obsessed brands who lose their eco-focus will find themselves left out in the cold when the global economy starts recovering.

Even Apple is jumping on the green wagon, because it knows that most of it’s consumers are progressive, socially-minded individuals. They released the “A Greener Apple” statement to voice concerns and their stance on creating environmentally-sustainable products.

The study also claims that one in ten consumers blindly trust green product claims, so basically one in ten buys the green label because it makes them feel good. But those other nine, want to know that what they claim is actually true.

I’ll admit that all the hype surrounding the “go green” movement has seeped into my buying decisions as well. I purchase energy-saving light bulbs, shop with reusable grocery bags, recycle when I can and am often drawn to products that read “all natural, organic or sustainable”.

There is a lot of opportunity for companies to leverage the environmental benefits of their products to their consumers, because the more people hear about the importance of sustainability, the more they are going to live that way.

Humble is the new Buzz

Buzz, word-of-mouth, viral marketing. I’ve been thinking about the value of WOM after discovering the Skittles site, and seeing how many people were blogging and twittering about it.

Everyone knows that WOM is always the best way to advertise. As talk about your product begins to snowball, then it becomes a buzz topic. And buzz can turn your product into the next must have item.

But it’s important to make sure you point out the right buzz producers. Be sure to do your research, because the type of individual that will produce the best ROI may surprise you.

I just read on knowledge@Wharton.com, about a pharmaceutical company who discovered that word of mouth was affecting physician’s prescription behavior, but what really surprised them was to discover their best promoter was a doctor that they did not know anything about.

Typically, pharmaceutical companies expect their best promoters to be the physicians that are high profile or self-reported opinion leaders. But this study showed their best advertiser came from a well respected doctor who kept his name out of the medical spotlight.

It’s good to be humble. Those people who truly possess great skill or knowledge about something don’t need to flaunt it. Others will see their knowledge, along with their humility, and respect will follow. Respected individuals produce valuable opinions, and people naturally listen to them.

So keep your marketing eyes on the humble, because he or she could be the one to bring you buzz.