M & A Rainmaker

The recent launch of 365 ITMS’s website ( and limited company ) takes me back to the blogs that I did a while ago on the Boiler room scammers. ( I will try and remember to put some links to these articles about share fraud and boiler rooms at the bottom of this article.)

The old company, 365iT plc, never had much idea about Internet marketing ( which always made me wonder how much the company really understood about what was going on in the modern world of high technology ). I think it was a case of the old boys network that had really got - well - one foot in the grave ??

What’s the best we can say about this launch of a new company and website/Internet presence ??

Well - they have a website and they did some press releases. This is actually about the sum total of the Internet repetoire of 365iT’s and 365 ITMS’s Internet marketing team.

Oh - and if you “view source” there’s a few ( hopefully ) relevant keywords in the tags and titles.

If you remember the share fraud scammers blogs then this is about what they did - create a relevant website, makes sure that it’s got the right content and relevant titles and tags and then stick a press release out to ( mostly ) free press release sites that syndicate to others.

If you are a bit of a blagger then you can say to your client - there you go - a fully SEO’d website with full traditional ( if you send it to the
” traditional ” media ) and internet media PR.

What’s the fundamental problem here ??

Well a new website has no ” authority “. It is new to Google ( if it has been submitted that is ) and has relatively low amounts of relevant content. It will not have backlinks. Getting it to attain ” authority ” is going to take time and effort.

The Internet Press Release sites are typically SEO friendly and since PR sites are always getting new content they will probably get Google’s attention. Of course they are filled up with content that is not necessarily relevant to you and over time most of these Press Releases will fade in their authority.

If we  Google ” Web Design Basingstoke ” then we begin to see the problem.

Actually the real problem is this:

Marketing has moved on light years from the old traditional ways and Internet Marketing has really got a bit beyond ” brochure websites ” ! If the only social media site that you understand is Linkedin then ( much though I love Linkedin ) you are really in trouble.

Arguably the failure of 365iT plc has a lot to do with the failure to understand the shift in buyer mentality and the way that customers find you ( particularly using the Internet ).

One of the great lessons to understand is the use of what I call ” Internet platforms ” - more on this in a later article - but Wordpress is one of them.

You may have missed it but yesterday Google opened up it’s new social network, Google +, to everyone in the U.K.  - oh and the rest of the world too !

G+ or g+ has been on ” a very limited field trial ” since June 2011 and I was fortunate enough to be invited to participate in this limited field trial ( by some kind people in my network ) and so can count myself as a first generation G+ user.

I am not sure that I had any room at all for another social network in my life but I certainly do have an interest in search, internet marketing and Google and therefore really felt that I had to take a look at G+.

Depending on whether a social networks content is ” open ” to search engines or
” closed ” to them ( Facebook’s content is mostly closed to the world outside of Facebook but e.g. Ecademy’s content is quite open ) social networks are powerful e.g. blogging platforms.

If content on G+ was linked to Google search results then there would be at least one very powerful reason for participating in the production and sharing of content on that platform.

There were some interesting aspects to the time that I spent in the G+ ” field
trial “.  i.e. from June to date.

Since G+ had essentially emanated from Silicon Valley on the West Coast of America my first connections ( On G+ you ” circle ” the people that you want to follow and those that want to follow you back circle you ) were U.S. West Coasters. Unsurprisingly many of these were involved in the High Tech. industry but perhaps more surprising was that there were many artists and photographers - who produced and posted some interesting and even stunning work.

There were also lots of marketing people and quite a few Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, business angels and venture capitalists. ( It may not be well known but Silicon Valley has been booming with new start-ups and slightly older ones getting more funding ).

So, from a social point of view I felt right at home in G+.

G+ rolled out across the U.S. and the Western world - but I should mention that there were a lot of Chinese and Far Eastern members of G+ in the early days aswell.

One of my tests for any software and certainly any social network is that it is easy and intuitive to use - which G+ certainly is.

I also found the people on there amazingly polite ( they had definately been trained in ” netiquette ” ! ). How long this will last now that it has been opened to “the masses” has yet to be seen. Certainly there are a number of 1st Generation G+ users who are dreading a massive decline in the quality of the content and the friendliness of the members.

Opening up G+ to everyone in the U.K. and the world is regarded as G+’s 100th ” new feature ” and the demarcation point between ” field trial ” and ” beta trial ” - yes - even though everyone can now join G+ it is still in
” beta “.

Another thing that I noticed with G+ was that the G+ Community Managers were very good at telling us all about new features and plans.

Recently a feature was launched whereby if you clicked on the G+ symbol on a piece of content ( one not on G+ as far as you knew )  not only were you ” voting ” on this content but also you were able to ” share ” it on G+.

It seems very likely that content that comes up high in a Google search in the future will be influenced by those that G+ and share that content.

Recently I was talking with a mutual friend of mine and  Thomas Power ( who has a huge Social Media network ) and he told me that Thomas had recently checked into a hotel in the U.S. and was told that he had been upgraded to a suite following hotel staff doing a check of Thomas’s “social media influence”. The suite included free use of a computer and the Internet. Thomas had all he needed to tell his online networks about his suite and the way he had been looked after by the hotel group’s staff.

This blog on The Next Web

http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2011/09/10/you-must-have-a-klout-score-of-40-or-more-to-get-into-this-fashions-night-out-party/

talks about the way that Bal Harbour Shops ( http://www.balharbourshops.com/ ) had conducted a social media campaign that culminated in a ” Fashion Night Out Event which was limited to people with a ” Klout score ” of 40 or higher.

This meant that people attending the party had to have a significant social media network and influence.

My Klout score is around 53.  The people that I follow ( on Twitter ) with the highest Klout score include celebrities like Lady GaGa ( KS of 92 ), Kim Kardashian ( 91 ) and Britney Spears ( 87 ); News networks like Breaking News ( 89 ) and CNN ( 87 ) and the people who have created huge numbers of followers and friends in their networks like Chris Pirillo ( 87 ), Jay Wilkinson ( 86 ) and Guy Kawasaki ( 86 ). These latter are typically entrepreneurs and marketing people.

Why a Klout score of 40 or above ??

Christopher Renz, Agency Director at The brpr Group ( who ran the campaign ) , has this to say on the matter:

“A Klout score of at least 40 ensures that only the most socially engaged will be in attendance and as a direct result will tweet, check in on Foursquare and post photos on Facebook to their friends and followers, creating a real‐time digital echo for FNO at Bal Harbour Shops”

Why set the bar at 40 ??

” We originally thought 50, but we contacted Klout to ask their opinion and they mentioned that the average score is well below 40, so beginning it there would give a good mix of those who are just building their networks and the long-time enthusiasts.”

I first started building my social media networks with www.ecademy.com in about 2006 followed by Linkedin and facebook.

Anybody ” ordinary ” that has built an ” online network ” ( via email and social and business networks ) knows how much work and time goes into it . Basically you don’t get to have a Klout score of 40 or above without having put considerable effort into doing so. For celebrities it sort of depends on how popular they are. For news channels - how well they provide up to date, well researched and informative news.

Were Bal Harbour and The brpr Group happy with the event ??

CR: We got a great response from the invite. Bal Harbour Shops is thought of as older and stuffier and so people were very surprised (and sometimes upset) about the Lounge. A competing Fashion’s Night Out venue tweeted to us offended that they wouldn’t be able to get into the lounge if they attended.

We had a Miami Dolphins player, Alonzo & Tracy Mourning (ex Heat player) Deborah Cox RSVP’d, Brooke Hogan RSVP’d and then went to LA at the last minute. DJ Irie and some Telemundo/Univision talent (it is Miami after all).

and how did Bal Harbour’s clients and guests feel about the use of Klout scores ??

CR: They were very happy with the turnout and the number of people who tweeted and buzzed about the lounge even before Fashion’s Night Out.  They also loved that their own Klout score went from a 38 a week before the event to a 54 on the night of FNO.

So, there were a number of effects:

- Some ( positive ) shift in the brand identity

- An increase in Bal Harbour’s Klout score ( influence, reach, amplification )

- Controversy

- Lots of Word of Mouth and ” Social Media Buzz “.

and this is what people like  Bal Harbour and the Hotel chain want.

Dear M.D./C.E.O./Owner/Proprietor/Boss,

In letter from Marketing No. 3 we talked about the people that ” used ” to design and run websites - programmers or creatives ( graphic designers ).

You need to be aware that while many of these people have invested time and effort in learning the new skills required to run a website of today others, quite frankly, have not. ( This also goes for some marketing companies that you might outsource to )

The people that you need ( probably in the Marketing department somewhere ) running the website, social media marketing and blogsites are a strange mixture - HubSpot Inc describes them as ” D.A.R.C. “

( For a more detailed explanation of D.A.R.C. go to download here

http://www.hubspot.com/darc-ebook-download/ )

D.A.R.C. stands for

Digital - They understand the digital/internet world. They understand, for example, how to optimise a website so that it is found ( S.E.O. ).

Analytical - They can analyse graphs and statistics to check how the website and e.g. marketing campaigns are working.

Reach - They are highly connected ( on the Internet ) already. They have Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin pages and their own blogsite and they have lots of connections.

Content - They understand how to create relevant content .

In order to function correctly your D.A.R.C. person needs to know something fundamental about your business on an ongoing basis:

They need to know ” What it is that you want to be found for?? ”

This means that they need to be plugged in to the business strategy.

Your D.A.R.C. person will do something rather strange but very necessary: they will carry around in their heads your businesses key words and phrases - the things ( products and services )  that you want to be found for and they will weave these into every element of your Internet Marketing Strategy.

These words and phrases will be in all the right places in your website and blogsite ( the titles, metatags etc ); these words will be in the content of your website and blogsite aswell: they will write blogs with these words and phrases in the back of their minds. I say at the back because they will do it subtly - a skill learned over time.

They will understand that being found for these words and phrases is only part of the process and that they must create ” Calls to action ” ( C.T.A. )  to convert website visitors to leads. These C.T.A.’s themselves must be designed in the right way to be effective - using the right incentives and requesting the right information.

They will also understand that ” being found ” by Google searches is only one part of the ” Internet Marketing Ecosystem “. They will also use e.g. Facebook pages, Twitter pages, Linkedin pages, Blogs, YouTube videos and Internet P.R. to ” drive ” traffic to the website ( where it will be converted and analysed ).

They will create a closed loop system and monitor on an ongoing basis - How many times the website was found ? How many people converted to leads ? How many converted to customers ? What was the R.O.I. ? What worked best ?

This is the  raison d’etre of your D.A.R.C. Marketer. How to use Internet Marketing to get you the most leads and sales at the least possible cost ??

http://mandarainmaker.co.uk/wordpress/2011/06/29/letter-from-marketing-no-3/

http://mandarainmaker.co.uk/wordpress/2011/06/28/letter-from-marketing-no-2/

http://mandarainmaker.co.uk/wordpress/2011/06/22/letter-from-marketing-no-1/

Dear M.D./C.E.O./Owner/Proprietor/Boss,

In letters 1 and 2 we have discussed why you need to put in place a Digital Marketing Strategy.

Let’s just say that all the ” old ways ” of marketing ( so called traditional marketing ) are not quite dead yet. Depending on your business many of them may still be relevant now and for some time but, for sure, the world is changing fast.

In the more recent world the company website was a sort of ” electronic brochure ” or ” presentation ” of your company. It was probably created by ” creatives ” ( graphic designers, marketing people ) or ” programmers ” ( software developers ). You referred people to your website by putting the web address ( url ) on your business cards ( along with your email address, phone and fax numbers ), brochures, mailshots, vans, lorries etc etc.

If the website was found by a Google search on ” your company name” then everything looked good. Or did it ??

The problem is that unless you are a really famous/well known company then people will not search on your company name. They are more likely to search for a product or service which they hope will then lead them to some information and then the best company to supply that product or service.

If say you needed help with your swimming pool in Staffordshire you might Google

” Swimming pool repairs Staffordshire “.

When I did this I got a load of Google maps results ( N.B. !! ), a load of yell.com results ( N.B. ), a company that said it was Staffordshire based but was obviously in Essex !  and one

http://www.leisurelinespas.co.uk/index.asp

that had good information and was in Shropshire - ok,  close enough

This brings us to the first point in the Digital Marketing strategy:

That you must know what you want to be found and known for - your products, your services, your advice and your philosophy - and your website ( and associated blogsite ) must be found by Google for those search terms.

To borrow from my friends at HubSpot the overall mantra is to:

1. Be found ( for relevant search terms )

2. Convert ( visitors into leads )

3. Analyse ( where you got your visitors from and how )

Find-Convert-Analyse.

The second point is that there is very little point in investing time and effort in a Digital Marketing Strategy unless you know where you started ( how many visitors/leads/sales you are getting at the moment - your baseline ) and how you are are progressing in your efforts.

Over time we will suggest that you do many things to drive traffic ( visitors ) to your website e.g. write blogposts, do Internet PR, start and run Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin pages on top of ensuring that you are found for relevant terms but what you must do is to understand what is working and what is not.

Typically your website will have a level of visitors who are finding you directly ( they know your url ) or indirectly ( they know your name and type it into google or they have typed in a search term that has resulted in them finding your website or blogsite ). You will add to this base traffic with referrals from e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin or another website or wherever.

You want to know what works ??

Did you get more visitors ( leads and sales ) from blogging, posting on Twitter, Facebook or Linkedin ??

Which blogs/posts/Tweets worked and which ones didn’t ???

http://mandarainmaker.co.uk/wordpress/2011/07/05/letter-from-marketing-no-4/

http://mandarainmaker.co.uk/wordpress/2011/06/28/letter-from-marketing-no-2/

http://mandarainmaker.co.uk/wordpress/2011/06/22/letter-from-marketing-no-1/

Services

Services

or contact:

http://www.linkedin.com/in/leighhopwood

Dear M.D./C.E.O./Owner/Proprietor/Boss,

In Letter No 1 we outlined the basic challenge of Sales and Marketing today - that, due to the rise and development of the Internet things are changing forever.

In this diagram

we highlighted the difference between the Internet based marketing methods and the ” traditional ” marketing methods. We noted ( in the comments ) that there are other marketing methods not identified here e.g. word of mouth marketing, business networking ( attending business networking meetings and other gathering of business people ), television and radio advertising etc. etc. We also mentioned that some of these methods are described ( now ) as ” Push ” marketing and some as ” Pull ” marketing.

One of the problems with the ” traditional ” marketing methods highlighted toward the right of the above diagram ( e.g. print advertising, tradeshows, direct marketing etc ) is that they are expensive and consuming in both time and money. Advertising in traditional print media ( papers, magazines etc. ) is very expensive and it is not just the cost of the actual advertisement it is also the cost,time and skill involved in producing the right advertisement in the first place. Attending Tradeshows is horrendously expensive if ALL the costs are taken into account e.g. not just the cost of the stand space but also the stand itself, supporting marketing materials, staff costs,travel costs,  hotel costs etc. etc. Direct mail, telemarketing and traditional P.R. are also expensive ( Internet based P.R. and traditional media PR can be very efficient and effective ).

In addition it is hard to track the returns from some of these marketing investments: How many actual leads or sales did you get from that advertising campaign/tradeshow/direct mail campaign/telemarketing campaign ???????

Furthermore it is getting harder and harder to get results from these methods because e.g. people don’t read print advertising as much; people don’t have time to attend tradeshows; direct mail ends up in the bin because nobody has time to read anything and you can’t get through by phone to the decision makers because they are too busy and have effective filters in place like their secretary or receptionist. Even email campaigns end up in Spam filters.

So it is no real surprise to hear that marketers are shifting their time, efforts and money toward the first 3 or 4 items in the above diagram.

The reasons for this would include:

1. That people are shifting their time online - in various ways and that they get information and buy when they want to and not when you want them to.

2. That the traditional methods are too expensive all around - in time, skill, effort and money.

3. That the traditional methods are not working as well any more mainly because the people are not there any more or are filtering out those efforts.

4. That the old ways are not as easily trackable as the new ways ( you cannot work out the R.O.I. as easily )

So, you must put in place a digital marketing strategy that transitions you from the old world to the new world.

How will be the subject of Letter from Marketing No. 3.

http://mandarainmaker.co.uk/wordpress/2011/06/29/letter-from-marketing-no-3/

Dear Managing Director/C.E.O./Owner/Proprietor/Boss,

The way that people seek information and buy is changing rapidly, dramatically and forever.

You have probably changed the way that you buy some things - using Google to search for things, holiday booking sites for great deals and price comparison sites to compare prices. If you have young people in your family or know them you will see them using Google for the answer to nearly everything !

This change puts the power in the hands of the searcher and buyer. They will seek information on your products and services when they want to. They will to some extent ignore your ” Interrupt driven ” efforts to make them think about you, your products and services ( Mailshots, emailshots, telemarketing, advertising etc. etc. ) in the same way that you may ignore people trying to sell you things in this way. Although you still may catch them at the right time or with the right offer.

Of course the fact is that we are part way through this process and so some of the older ways are still valid now and will be for some time.

This change in the way information is gathered and products and services are purchased has been facilitated by the appearance and development of the Internet.

Of course, at present, some people use  the Internet a lot and some people not so much. You might use the Internet for email but may not be on Facebook or Twitter.

If we look at the graph above we can see a number of things:

1. That business to business marketers ( B2B ) have a range of options to get the attention of their target customers. 4 of them are Internet related ( social media, virtual events/webinars, search engine optimisation ( SEO ) of websites, paid search advertising ( PPC ). 1 can be Internet and/or traditional media related -  Public Relations. The rest are ” physical ” - phone calling, mail shotting ( N.B. email shotting is Internet related ) , attending a tradeshow or advertising in physical media e.g. a paper or magazine.

2. That 6 of them are outbound or ” PUSH ” marketing and 3 of them are inbound or ” PULL ” marketing. ( Although I think that paid search and Internet PR can also be regarded as ” PULL ” marketing in some ways. )

3.  That marketers themselves expect to put more time and money into the first three to five than the last four.

You probably know quite a lot about the last four ( although each of these needs to be done well to be effective at all ).

You probably need to know more about the first 5 ( plus email shotting ?? ).

Subsequent ” Letters from Marketing ” will help you to work out where you are in terms of your preparedness and ability with these 5/6 and also how you can develop these areas.

Regards,

Chris.

http://mandarainmaker.co.uk/wordpress/2011/06/28/letter-from-marketing-no-2/

http://mandarainmaker.co.uk/wordpress/2011/06/29/letter-from-marketing-no-3/

http://mandarainmaker.co.uk/wordpress/2011/07/05/letter-from-marketing-no-4/

I recently came across this post on another blog site:

” I do the SEO for a healthcare company, and I have these exact problems. ( a lack of respect due to … 1. Poor communication, 2. Department mentality, 3. Being seen to be opiniated )  The good news is that they are trying to improve their marketing. I have lots of knowledge, good ideas and excitement and I really want to help them reach their goals. The bad news- lack of understanding of my role, lack of coordination between the various types of marketing, because I am not being told about all the company goals, even if I ask.
In addition, nepotism and the boys’ bonding club is another thing I have to deal with. To make things worse, I am expected to train the web designer about what I do instead of doing my work, and I have to convince him that what I do is worthwhile (since he is design-oriented), so that we can design from a marketing and SEO perspective, all alone and without back-up from my boss (they are really chummy). This means projects are taking longer than they should, deadlines are unrealistic (the graphic/web designer calls the shots of when he is done and he is taking his time), and I can’t really show what I can do, nor can I do anything about it- since I have to keep my mouth shut (I have already been assigned the labels you mentioned in the article).
So, instead of marketing like crazy and getting the results- which is extremely fun for me and good for the company- I have to deal with things such as the ones mentioned, plus I have to do other things that I should not be doing and I get no support. So, yes, I get no respect. I did try to do the team work thing, but it seems to me that educating people about everything is a really a time-consuming task, and it needs to be a two-way street.
I think that companies need to educate themselves better on the roles of marketers and give them more support, instead of just expecting them to be “friendly” with everyone and being submissive and quiet, so that they would fit in. All these cookie-cutter ideas of how people should be all be the same are old and outdated. Part of being a marketer means being bold, free, more independent,creative, outspoken, taking chances, thinking outside of the box, being daring, competitive, a little rebellious and result-oriented. This is what I want my boss to support, because that is what gets him the results. “

and it really touched a raw nerve with me - perhaps because another marketer that I know was experiencing some similarish issues.

I told her:

1. To plot her exit

2. To screw ( use ) them whilst she did it

3. To be happy ( doing it )

Well - like I say it touched a raw nerve !!!!

SEO and more recently Inbound Marketing people are THE FUTURE but they will inevitably be held back by ” the old guard ” - traditional marketers, web designers and other ” established ” marketing and non-marketing functions.

Now this young lady may think she is frustrated but I can tell her that it is even more frustrating being an investor in a company that still has these attitudes and policies.

Remember, as an investor, you may sit on the Board ( or not ) but you will probably not have control ( which resides with the management team ) so you can actually only influence.

As an investor in this company I can imagine myself sitting in a Board meeting while they whinge about the fact that they are not going to hit their numbers.

Trying to ignore this fact slightly you ask why and they make some excuse about market conditions; failing salespeople etc etc

” How is your Internet Marketing going ? ” you ask, innocently. What are you getting from that ??

Oh we don’t get any actual business, they say.

Do you get visitors you ask ??

Well we do but don’t know how many.

Is the website being found ???

We think so.

What is it being found for ????

We don’t know.

Well, you’ve got an SEO specialist right ??

Yes.

So what have you told her to SEO the website for then ???

( Blank looks all around )

o.k. So listen - if the SEO specialist does not know what you need to be found for she will be guessing. So you need to think about it and discuss it with her and then allow her to make changes to the website to ensure that it gets found. Your design guy isn’t going to be able to help you in this.

You also need to think about giving the SEO specialist the tools to measure if her work is having an effect on visitor numbers and leads generated.

Of course by now you have ruffled LOADS of feathers - but hey - they are playing with your money !!!!!

I could make this a much longer blog !!

I have just rushed to make this post after my friend and business colleague of many years, Brian MacIver, posted this comment

“Chris,
A well timed and topical posting. Several of my clients are asking “hard” questions about their ‘investment’ or web ’spend’. Particularly in the Property Market, they laid off sales people, boosted their web content and saw little return. Now that the property market is returning they cant find Salespeople (did they all go to Dubai?)
Good posting, thanks.
Brian”.

on this blog

http://mandarainmaker.co.uk/wordpress/2011/06/08/what-return-are-you-getting-from-your-website-investment/

and it just made me think - You have to manage your website like you ( should have ) managed your salesforce.

What do we mean by that ??

Well, back in the day Brian would have coached us on 3 essential elements for a successful salesperson - and more were added over time:

1. Activity - a salesperson must be active - phone calling, writing etc etc

2. Skills - a salesperson must have good sales skills

3. Knowledegable - a salesperson must be knowledgeable about his products, his company and his competitors.

4. Personality - surrounding all of this - people buy from people - so be nice !!

5. Administration - You have to manage your salesforce and they have to manage their business - turning leads into orders -  and to do that you need some information - How many calls did they make ?? How many appointments did they go on ?? How many proposals did they write ?? How many orders did they get ?? How close was this to their target ??? etc etc etc

6.  Going alongside 5 is the analysis of their progress and performance to determine their R.O.I.

There may be more aspects but lets start with these. What’s the analogy in terms of managing your website like you would your salesforce ??

Going in reverse …

5. & 6. Analysis and Administration   It is essential that you have the means to monitor the performance and progress of your website. You need to know how many prospects it is reaching ( visitors ) and how many of these turn into a lead ( respond to a Call to Action ). You need to know which activities ( posting a blog, posting on Twitter, posting on LinkedIn etc ) produced the best results. You can only do this with the right software on your website.

4. Personality. When you do post information you have to do it in the right way. You want your ( attractive ! ) personality to come out and you want to be nice to people. We all know that ” hard nosed salespeople ” sometime do succeed in spite of themselves but I always thought that this was creating unnecessary ” friction “. Being funny sometimes helps aswell !

3. Knowledge. You have to be knowledgeable , educational and informative in what you say. Many of the most successful people on the Internet ” give away ” loads of free advice and information.

2.  Skills. There are lots of skills that you are going to have to learn and develop ( or you can find people with those skills ) to succeed. Blogging; Posting on Social Networks and building your networks; writing etc etc

1. Activity. Yes of course - as with salespeople it is partly a numbers game and you always have to be active - blogging, posting, commenting, liking, sharing, reading etc etc.

I think it is a great way to think of your website as like your salesforce ( or part of your salesforce ) and of managing your website as you would your salesforce.

If you can get it right the R.O.I. can be massive - just think of all those salespeople’s salaries you are not paying