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How Do You Tell YOUR Story?

Posted on October 12, 2011 by Marilyn Buckner in blog 2 Comments



A close friend told me recently about a presentation he had attended given by a speaker we had both heard before. The objective of the session was clearly stated in the program, but was by and large ignored. Instead, the presenter relied on his stand up ability and spent the bulk of the hour speaking primarily about his life experiences and accomplishments. This wouldn’t have been so bad, except that it was the exact same presentation we both had heard him give three years ago at another type of meeting.

This leads me to suspect this is essentially the same canned speech he has delivered to every sales group, potential client, training meeting, or other forum he has presented to for quite some time. For those who had heard him before, it was not unlike the movie, “Groundhog Day.” It’s easy to slip into a rut if we’re not careful.

When you tell your story, is it always the same one? And even more importantly, is it the same story everyone else is telling? Here are five suggestions for becoming memorable for the right reasons:

1. Check out the competition. One of the best ways to stand out from your competition is to get to know them. For example, when designing and writing copy for a website, it is critical to first do a thorough review of what your primary competitors are saying and doing.

Then, improve upon what you find in the best, remembering to also add additional value and freshness. A good online marketing firm will always do that and in the process come up with all sorts of ways to improve upon both content and design to make the site outshine the competition.

2. Make sure to read the syllabus. Whether you are communicating through your website, blog, speech, tweet or other marketing venue, keep the objective of the item or page clearly in mind as you prepare it, and don’t wander off on tangents. Keep it simple, direct, and focused on the objective and it will not only be appreciated by your audience or reader, it will actually increase your credibility.

3. Do a needs and wants assessment on your target audience. What are they looking for? How much do they want to hear or read? Is your information accurate and up-to-date, or are you just winging it? What types of things (visual aids, handouts, testimonials, tutorials, etc.) will help them understand and remember you, your topic, or website? Will your content motivate them to action, or put them to sleep? Is it valuable or memorable enough to bring them back again?

4. Ask for and listen to sound feedback. Have you ever met someone who obviously thought they were absolutely great at something, when in reality there were only a legend in their own mind? We all likely have an area or two where we think we are talented, but are only mediocre at best.

A great adage that I have never forgotten is, “if one person tells you you’re a jackass, turn the other cheek; but if 29 people tell you that you are, it’s time to shop for a saddle.” But don’t leave it at that.

5. Fix what’s broken. We live in a time and place where there are abundant resources available to improve anything that needs fixing. For example, if you are a bad speaker but have occasions where you must speak to audiences, enroll in a public speaking course. If either your job skills or industry knowledge are a getting a little rusty, check out the periodicals in your local library, do some online research and study, or enroll in a refresher course.

Sometimes it pays to bring in some professional help, particularly when it affects profitability. Timely advice from a knowledgeable CPA can provide tremendous direction, help avoid pitfalls, and boost profitability. If your website, brochures, or press releases aren’t producing the results you want, hire a professional PR Marketing firm where there are experienced marketing copywriters that can really make your copy sing.

In other words, first take time to identify and either fix or outsource what’s broken. Once that’s handled, you will be free to move on to those things you really do best, and where you are likely to reap far greater results for the time spent.


Marketing Strategies That Work. Sincerely, Heavy Metal

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Matt Peterson in blog 5 Comments



There is a fact floating around that is scary, frightening and jaw dropping. Are you ready for the truth? Can you handle the truth? If you answered “yes” to those questions, brace yourself: Heavy metal music is the largest and most diverse musical genre in the world.

Now pause and let that sink in.

The term heavy metal, especially over the past decade, has warped into an umbrella term rather than one classification. This umbrella term has spawned close to a hundred sub-genres and continues to grow and diversify as new sounds, playing styles, techniques and influences are integrated and introduced. As it stands now, almost every country in the world has some sort of metal scene in its population, including war torn Iraq.


So with a force this massive, wide-spread and globalized as metal music why isn’t it represented in the market as such? It is; just not as much in the mainstream market. As it turns out, metal music is like a roller coaster rising and falling under new waves of music every ten years or so. It has actually always been there and still tends to always rise back to the top. But if it seems metal music is in a declining swing, why is it still so popular and widespread? Guerrilla Internet Marketing.

So what kind of marketing strategies are metal bands, or rather, their fans producing? They thrive on guerrilla marketing strategies through venues such as social media, P2P networks and crowd sourcing. For example, the band I Set My Friends On Fire started by making YouTube videos. After a case of widespread word-of-mouth the band is now touring world-wide.

One of the best examples of this type of online brand management and P2P marketing has been the success of the Japanese metal band Dir en grey. Since their current line up formed in 1999 they have toured and played venues world-wide and are currently the most famous band out of Japan. How did they become so popular? A cult-like following that markets the band 24/7 all over the Internet.

Up until 2005 DEG was only touring in Japan until they released their fourth album, Vulgar, in both Japan and Europe. Before even touring in the U.S. the band’s music was spreading rapidly and they were already a hit on the underground and independent radio music scene. Why? A rapidly growing market on the Internet. Dir en grey’s latest release Dum Spiro Spero (Latin for “When I breath, I hope”) peaked at number 9 on Billboard’s Top Hard Rock Albums in the U.S.

Not only will metal bands forming in this decade have to utilize this type of marketing strategy to sell their music and band image, but other companies and brands should as well. I myself have seen this very thing happen successfully for musicians who use new tools like Soundcloud to upload snippets of riffs and ideas that they’ve come up with, then posting them on Facebook. More musicians (and companies) could benefit from utilizing this technique and making these tools work for them. By doing so, they can brand themselves as a profitable entity; an entity that is marketable because of utilizing tools like social media.

The fact that metal music is the largest and most diverse form of music is largely due to the fact that these musicians have had to adapt in order to survive the market swings and now are some of the best at utilizing these new methods of online branding and marketing (crowd sourcing, social media, etc.). These techniques can be utilized by not only bands, but other entities like businesses, politicians and others who could use a boost in their branding and marketing image. Find your inner metal head, get out there and make guerrilla Internet marketing work to your benefit.