Morningstar Communications Luminary Blog

You’ve decided to exhibit and attend certain trade shows.  Even with a challenging economic climate and the trend to be “virtual” with many marketing tools, meeting with prospects face-to-face continues to be an important investment for many organizations.

So how do you maximize your trade show ROI, in addition to staffing your exhibit?  Here’s five ways to add significant value to your participation.

•  Be a speaker, and turn your presentation into a feature story / marketing tool – Getting booked as a speaker allows you to convey an “educational” message from the podium, in addition to the “promotional” messages you’ll share from your booth.  Copies of your presentation can be offered at your booth and on your website to help drive traffic.  Extend the value even more by turning your presentation / story into a byline article placed in a key trade magazine.  Reprints (perhaps the most credible marketing tool) allow you to extend the value of your presentation to thousands of prospects who didn’t year you in person.  Post the reprint on your website; send it along w/a cover note to both prospects and clients, and enclose in all sales proposals.  This is one of our favorite examples of “think once, execute many times.”

•  Get publicity after the show – Key reporters and bloggers from your industry are already attending the show to cover ‘what’s new.”  They might as well talk with you!  Setting up those interviews in advance of the show is almost always the best approach.  Building a good relationship as a source helps you get included in stories for years to come.

•  Send information in advance – Get the attendee list in advance, and send them information (either email or snail mail) to help generate interest in meeting with you.  It’s always easier to get their attention before the show.  This helps “pre-sell” your message to attendees.

•  Prepare effective handouts – Attendees expect to receive updated, current reference information about your products and services.  Create a customized, “what’s new from us for the ABC conference” handout along with current background information.  These handouts will be used both as talking tools and as leave-behinds.

•  Hone your sound-bites – Refresh your key message platform, and be prepared to answer the 10 most common questions you’ll be asked… “What’s new?  How’s your year going?  What do you think of this year’s show? Etc…

These five simple steps will help you maximize your trade show ROI.

Onward and upward.
 

Having a robust LinkedIn profile is beneficial to you and your company. I recently updated mine and we've done this for several clients. Here are my three top tips for doing so.

1) Fill out as much information as you can.
If people can't learn anything about you from your profile, then it's not really going to do anything for you. Fill out the summary and specialties. They give people a nice summary of what you can do.  I also like to see a couple details about the results you delivered at each of your past positions. Don't be afraid to include extracurricular positions in your experience as well. Sprinkle key search terms throughout. For instance, if you're a PR practitioner you should have terms like "public relations," "pr firm"  and "media relations" throughout your profile. Check google for the top-rated related searches on these terms and see if there's anything you can use from that. Post your picture, customize your URL and join the groups corresponding to organizations you're a member of in the offline world. In addition, do a status update every so often. It will make you show up in the "LinkedIn Updates" email summary received by people in your network. Great way to stay on radar.

2) Get and give recommendations.
Try to get a recommendation for each position you've had. This can take time, as I don't recommend doing it all at once. You want to build a history of people recommending you, versus having five recommendations in one month and then never getting one again. On the flip side, I'm super careful about who I recommend. My rule of thumb is that I won't recommend someone I haven't known for at least a year. A year gives you a chance to observe people in a variety of situations, allowing you to see if they're going to be someone you want to go out on a limb for. If you're unsure about someone, don't recommend them. And finally, don't simply trade recommendations with people. It looks less credible. If there is someone you would like to recommend who wants to recommend you as well, find a way to space it out.

3) Use the applications.
Applications are a great way for people to learn a little more about you outside of the standard resume info. I like the Amazon books ap and have gotten great ideas on what to read from looking at other people's lists. Slideshare is another good one. If you have a presentation you've given recently, you can put it on Slideshare and then activate that application on your LinkedIn profile. It's a great way to share your expertise.

As I was reading Hyatt's Random Acts of Generosity by Rob Walker with the New York Times I compared Hyatt's new policy to my customer service experience at Walmart. In both instances the customer might feel pleased and grateful for the way they were treated, but is it better to have random acts of generosity or consistent exceptional customer service? In a random scenario, there is a pretty good chance that the customer who doesn't get the extra gift will feel like they are being treated unfairly. On the other hand, if the reward or gift is consistent, it could lose the benefit of being a surprise. The best way to provide the surprise is to anticipate what your customer wants and give it to them before they ask. On a hot summer day, greet your guests with a cold water. Hold the door open for a person carrying packages. Call your customer and ask if they received the package you sent and if everything is in working order.

Surprising your customers with exceptional customer service will payoff with long-term loyalty.

Every day I come to the office to learn and implement attraction-marketing strategies, where we position our client’s message in a way that entices the right prospects to that particular company. When I thought about it further, I realized that the concept does not simply stay at work – rather, it is a primary part of our daily lives. From dating to interviews, to co-workers and friends, attraction marketing will always be an integrated part of our life.

We constantly promote ourselves, whether verbally or physically. Our choices in attire, hairstyles, careers, etc. reveal qualities that either push people away or draw them closer. Who we are, at our best and at our worst, is broadcasted to the world on a daily basis.

If attraction marketing is about consistently telling your story to the people who matter most, do you ever stop and wonder whether you are projecting your best individual brand, both personally and professionally? For me, it is my goal to help clients develop and implement their own message as well as constantly develop and implement my own personal brand.

I have two not-so-secret vices; I love to read romance novels, and I'm addicted to chocolate. In fact, I read so many novels that I have, on occasion, purchased a book I already own. However, if I happened to order the book online it could cost me half as much as the book is worth to send it back for a credit. So I thought I would be able to go to the Borders just down the street from our office and exchange the brand new, still on the the New York Times bestseller list book, for another one, or three, that I haven't read yet.

Borders policy is clear; they will not exchange any books without a receipt. I have no complaint with their policy; but I do think it's a foolish one. Here's what happened. I went to Borders, which is like walking into a kitchen with fresh baked chocolate chip cookies for me, and headed for the sales counter. The cashier said that I could not exchange the book, and then I walked out of the store without spending a penny.

At the same time, I asked one of my colleagues, Tricia, who is also an avid romance reader, if she knew of a place where I could exchange a book without a receipt. She directed me to Walmart. I don't typically shop at Walmart, but I thought it was worth a shot. I walked up to the customer service counter. The cashier asked for my receipt. I said I didn't have one. She apologized and said that she could only give me store credit for the current value of the book. Walmart gave me a $5.74 credit and I turned around and spent $145 that night. But more than that, I was impressed with the quality and quantity of books that Walmart offers, and the next time I need my fix, I'll shop at the store that gave me exceptional customer service, Walmart.

Coming back to work from maternity leave is a challenge. It’s hard enough leaving your baby with someone else during those first few months.  But then there are the sleepless nights, finding a back-up sitter for those last minute appointments, and figuring out the nursing thing.

I went through this four months ago. After a few months of part-time maternity leave, I’m now adjusted to balancing motherhood and fulltime work.

The key to having a successful return to work is all in the planning before baby comes. Whether you manage women in your workplace, or are pregnant yourself, here are some tips to make the transition the best it can be:

When you announce, have a plan – Know your employers’ maternity leave policy and if they are covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act. Try to have a plan in place for when you will take maternity leave and when you will return. And, have a feel for what your schedule will be like when you are back at work.

Know who will cover for you – Work with your supervisor to determine who should take over your responsibilities while out. Then, make sure to train who ever is going to cover for you. I scheduled meetings with those people before I had my baby to ensure they knew exactly what to do on each client account – and, I kept my supervisor in the loop.

Stay organized – I created a spreadsheet of all the activities I was responsible for and kept it updated frequently. In fact, when it got closer to my baby’s due date, I updated the spreadsheet nightly so if I were to go to the hospital in the middle of the night, I wouldn’t have to worry about my work getting done.

There are so many more things to think about when returning to work from maternity leave, so here are some more tips.

 

For more than 20 years, the Spring Conference for Counselors Academy has been a “must attend” event.  I have learned so much, and developed deep and trusting relationships with friends who run agencies throughout North America.

This year, Shanny was one of the presenters sharing, Creating Your Own Financial Dashboard.  As expected, she received rave reviews. 

I was proud to be one of the SAGEs (Strategic Advisors for Growth and Excellence) welcoming new SAGE Gwin Johnston, here pictured from left to right, Steve Cody, Tom Amberg, me, Gwin, Art Stevens and Tom Gable. This special group of distinguished agency luminaries shared perspective and vision about our industry during several sessions.  Key take-home value from the SAGE breakfast centered about values / ethics, true leadership, and keys to winning in this challenging economic climate.

We also heard from the founder of Geek Squad, Robert Stephens, who delivered a terrific keynote discussing brand-building and the value of public relations.  I mean, you have to relish a speaker who said, “our uniforms are white, short-sleeved shirts with narrow black clip-on ties.  I was inspired by the images from the movie, Apollo 13, which I believe is the pinnacle of technological ‘can-do’ spirit.  And really, I never worry about our look going out of style, because it never was in style.” 

Humility and insight go a long way for me.

Another highlight for me was the coming of age of social media.  As you would expect, social media was integrated into almost every discussion.  This leading group of business communicators generated more than a 1,000 tweets on the #ca2009 hashtag during the conference!  Once again, our group will help lead our clients into another “new world.”

Being a lifelong learner is the key to long-term success, as my Mom always said.  Counselors Academy continues to be the single best investment I’ve ever made in my career.

The learning, connections and relationships have helped us achieve so much at Morningstar Communications.  And this year’s conference topped them all.

Onward and upward.

In my first month as an intern at Morningstar Communications, I have undoubtedly become a part of the Morningstar team, but I'm a rookie.  Research projects have been handed my way, and quickly I am learning that research is the groundwork of business.  

The beautiful thing about working at an agency is the variety, but with that variety comes the challenge of knowing multiple and unrelated industries.  If you want to work in communications, you need to understand the importance of thorough research.  

Here are a few things to keep in mind when researching:

Learn the industry. It is important that you get online and search any and every keyword relevant to your industry.  Learn the ins and outs.  Unexpected questions will be asked, and you need to be as competent and well-informed as possible.

Always keep the target in mind. See what the consumer is seeing, and search as a customer of your client would search.  Read discussions, forums, blog posts and social media updates to get a feel for what the need is.

Strategy is key. By doing research, you can find what has worked in the past and what hasn't, what has been done before and what hasn't.  This will give you a good understanding of the demand and what the current trends are within the industry.  Have reason and purpose behind every task - be strategic.

Think outside the screen. These days, it’s easy to get caught up in searching the Web, but research does not consist of searching online and online only.  Talk to people.  Conduct surveys.  Follow a reporter in the paper.  These things will supplement your online research and will only work to your benefit.

Clearly, research is significant in the business world.  It can help you better reach your business goals, uncover problems and/or opportunities, give you knowledge of the markets and measure the effectiveness of your efforts.

Research is the only way to cover all your bases before you run them.  

I came across national data the other day indicating only 22% of Gen-Yers are using Twitter. This lines up with local data we collected earlier this year. We found only 19.4% of Midwestern millennials we surveyed use Twitter.

We also found a low percentage of bloggers in this group. Since Twitter is essentially micro-blogging, it makes sense the numbers would coincide.

I'm not sure why Gen-Y isn't as enamored with Twitter as other demographic groups, but if I had to guess, I'd say their social networking needs are currently being met elsewhere.

Two facts point my thinking in this direction. First, our survey indicates 89% are on Facebook. Second, of the 16% in our survey who are blogging, the most popular topic is "life in general." If Facebook is a platform for people to share things about life in general, why would one also have a blog about life in general? It would be overkill. And when life in general is largely about the other people in our lives, Facebook provides the most opportunity to facilitate this discussion.