My Engagement Strategy – Appreciative Inquiry

Most people want ideas and applications that I would propose before we start working together. I equate that to starting on the right side of the A3 (with the answers in layman terms). So recently I have developed a structure that makes more sense. I leave the customer determine the price and budget for the encounter.

I believe in creating a Lean Marketing system. You can't write and teach Lean Sales and Marketing. It is a Learn by doing approach. What I do is provide you a platform for co-creation through joint experiences and incorporate feedback as we put them into practice. The steps of Lean Sales and Marketing are first you go and create a current state. Second, you form a working vision from the user (customer) experience, an ideal situation of where the user wants to go. Third, you visualize the user's process. If you do that, it's more obvious to see what your next reaction should be and when to trigger it.

Many people respond to the latest fad or solicit the cleverest idea to implement some sort of solution, thinking it will make them better. What makes your marketing better is understanding the user or customer experience and their processes. Then with hard work, take the time to figure out how to engage with them. It's this process, that empowers you and which leads you to create better and more performing processes. Using this approach, a Lean system will outperform any other approach in engaging the customers you need, maintaining customers and working with people you like and who will be loyal to you and refer others to you forever.

This is the initial sequence of steps we use to create a Lean Marketing System in an organization. It ensures we carefully think through what outcomes we want to create, what supports and barriers we need to plan for, and who we have to involve within your organization to guarantee success. Our starting point:

1. (Definition) What are you presently doing and how do your clients and organization feel about them?
2. (Discovery) What is your present value proposition for retaining customers? What is your present value proposition for acquiring customers?
3. (Dream)What are your targets? How will we measure success?
4. (Design) Do you understand your customer’s decision making process? For each product/market segment?
5. (Destiny) What’s your investment strategy – not only in media, but in time and events?

What I ask for is simply a marketing budget for me to manage. We allocate a percentage of the budget for fees, creative and production, with the balance going to media, materials, internet presence and other out of pocket expenses. At the beginning it is slanted towards the fee side and overtime shifts as we don’t need to recreate materials and programs from scratch. It can be very cost effective if I am able to use my own resources and fold you into existing processes. I host and manage websites, post products to Amazon, handle news releases, create interview opportunities, host guest blog posts and podcasts, orchestrate events, create info product and manage shopping carts at little if any additional costs. There is little time spent by the client except for telephone interviews and final review of materials.

P.S. What I will not do is masquerade as your persona in social media. I believe that this typically backfires both in creditability and expected results.

Unbeknownst to me what I described in the starting points is the outline for Appreciative Inquiry. In parenthesis above; Definition, Discovery, Dream, Design and Destiny is the AI Process, which I detail below:

1. Definition: What frames our inquiry?
2. Discovery: What gives life?
3. Dream: What might be?
4. Design: What should be?
5. Destiny: What will be?

Never knew I was an Appreciative Inquiry guy!

Related Information:
Accentuate the Positive, Eliminate the Negative
Getting Resistance to Appreciative Inquiry?
Lean Engagement Team Book Released
Appreciative Inquiry instead of Problem Solving

Marketing with PDCA ebook released on Business901 Website

Released as an eBook, Marketing with PDCA authored by Joseph T. Dager is now available on the Business901 website. Marketing with PDCA is about managing a value stream using PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act). Using the new SALES PDCA Framework throughout the marketing cycle will provide constant feedback from customers, and can only occur if they are part of the process. It is about creating value in your marketing that a customer needs to enable him to make a better decision.

Targeting that value proposition through the SALES PDCA methods described in this book will increase your ability to deliver quicker and more accurately than your competitor. It is a moving target and the principles of Lean and PDCA facilitate the journey to customer value.

This book also introduces the Kanban as a planning tool or, as I like to think about it, as an execution tool. Improving your marketing process does not have to constitute wholesale changes nor increased spending. Getting more customers into your Marketing Kanban may not solve anything at all. Improving what you do and increasing the speed that you do it can result in an increase in sales and a decrease in expenses. 

Table of Contents

1. Lean Marketing House
2. Future of Marketing
3. Marketing Funnels
4. Cycles to Loops
5. Knowledge Management
6. PDCA
7. Sales and Marketing Teams
8. Kanban
9. SALES PDCA
10. Marketing with PDCA Summary
11. Marketing with PDCA Case Study
12. Constancy of Purpose
13. Marketing with Lean Program Series

The book is the fourth part in the series of the Marketing with Lean Program: This series consist of the five individual products.

1. Lean Marketing House
2. Driving Market Share
3. Marketing with PDCA
4. Marketing with A3
5. Marketing your Black Belt (coming soon)

Related Information:
SALES PDCA Framework for Lean Sales and Marketing
Continuous Improvement, The Toyota Way
Drucker and Deming = Lean Marketing
Visit the Marketing with A3Website

Become Employable, Surviving in 2009

Local Professionals Join Together To Present Free Become Employable, Surviving In 2009, Seminars

Fort Wayne, IN – In today’s struggling economy, unemployment is a growing problem in the U.S., with more than 12 million people – ranging from high school graduates in traditionally blue-collar jobs to executives with PhDs – currently without jobs. To address this problem locally, two upcoming Survive in 2009, Become Employable Seminars are being planned to help jobless individuals cope with their unique situation and prepare for their future careers. Unemployed individuals from all types of careers and educational backgrounds are invited to attend the Survive in 2009, Become Employable Seminars.

The seminars, which are free of charge and open to all unemployed individuals from the tri-state region, will take place from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on the following dates at these designated Fort Wayne locations:

• April 8 at the Fort Wayne Campus of Trine University, 9910 Dupont Circle Drive East, Suite 130 (located off of Dupont Road at I-69); and
• April 13 at the new Holiday Inn Fort Wayne at 4111 Paul Shaffer Drive (located off of Coliseum Boulevard near IPFW and across from the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum).

There is a website www.BecomeEmployable.com. The content of the new site will be user driven and allow members to visit, comment and add their own content. Also, new information will be posted about the events and future events.

Technorati Tags: jobs,Fort Wayne,Northeastern Indiana,job seekers,careers,unemployment,employment,Indiana

Business901 launches new Small Business Podcast Website and Itunes Store

Fort Wayne, IN - Business901 has just launched a small business and nonprofit podcast website. An ITunes store was also created to facilitate subscription by Itunes user. The site offers visitors the opportunity to listen to current small business and nonprofit topics such as discussions on Social Media and Lean Marketing. The podcast site is Business901.podbean.com and the Itunes store is named Business901.

Why a podcast website Dager was asked; “The Connecting You Passion TV Show needed a forum other than video to reach the public. There are some great stories that have been told on the show and with just a little modification we were able to post them to the podcast. We also had a collection of articles and blog posts that we have been developing into e-books and realize that they could be easily converted to audio. The format worked perfectly and brings a new dimension to our company.”

The Connecting Your Passion TV Show is a bi-monthly program hosed on the Fort Wayne Public Access station. It is aired every other Tuesday at 9:00 AM. The The program that is hosted on the Fort Wayne Public Access station. It is an interview type format and focuses on the participating “Nonprofit’s Story.” The shows guest have included nonprofit organizations: Big Brothers, Big sisters, Reach for Your, Huntington Youth Service Bureau, SCORE, TQM Network, Childrens Hope Hospital. There has also been shows done on Social Media and Why do people volunteer. Joe Dager of Business901 is the host of the show.

About Business901
Business901, http://www.business901.com uses proven methodologies to enable its customers to build applications in a very short amount of time. Joe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as target marketing and organized referral marketing. As a certified coach of the Duct Tape Marketing Consulting organization, Joe provides practical, information-rich, immediately applicable direction that profoundly impacts the success of small and mid-sized businesses. His experience includes numerous start-ups, several turnarounds in variety of industries to include manufacturing, retail, and professional services to include marketing.

Technorati Tags: Lean Marketing,Lean Six Sigma Marketing,Nonprofit Marketing,Duct Tape Marketing,Manufacturer Marketing,Marketing with Lean,SCORE,TQM

IDEO Launches an official blog!

 

The thing I Iove about the Web is that it levels the playing field. Novices and professionals each have equal shots at being heard. So when a company like IDEO launches official blogs (later in the game compared to many), it really doesn't matter because the Web thrives on quality of content and interactions. Everyone has a chance.

IDEO brings us two blogs worth checking out. The first is IDEO Labs, which is described as follows: While IDEO Labs is not posting in large volumes, it does offer some behind-the-scenes glimpses into their process and how they work. Check out this video of an IDEO team as they play around with their own multi-touch experiments.
Next is Design Thinking by IDEO's Tim Brown, an outspoken evangelist of the design thinking movement. Design Thinking has more of a personal touch (I'm sure this is by design) compared to IDEO Labs as it offers direct perspectives from Brown on topics such as optimism and critique, and asking questions about the differences between product + experience.

In addition to learning about design methods and thinking, you might learn something about how to market your own organization from them.

This content is derived from the Logic+Emotion Blog.

Technorati Tags: IDEO,Marketing Blogs,Design,Logic+Emotion,Business901

Our you a designer, check out some of out

best practice and quality videos.

Marketing Plan Pro Review

 

A review by Ivana Taylor on the new Marketing Plan Pro. A good PR piece for Duct tape Marketing. Remember the definition of PR: A positive mention of your product or firm by a 3rd party.

BestPoints

• Practicaland easy to use — This is not your corporate marketing plan. It is intuitive and uses your natural entrepreneurial thinking. This makes it very easy and quick to fill out.
• Hasaudio guides and examples — I love that John Jantsch does these little introductions as audios – it feel like he’s coaching you through the process. There are also several examples for each section – you can read, get inspired or just copy and edit to change later.
• Resourcesreduce the risk of procrastination – Love the resources section! This will get you started on creating the business of your dreams.

What They Could Have Done Better

The software won’t write your plan for you – but it comes pretty close.

Youhave to listen to the introductions – there’s no reading or writing ahead. On the other hand, there was NOT an audio instruction for the Gap Dashboard section, and I felt that many of us would have liked some additional explanation to complement the instructions that were provided.

WhoShould Get Marketing Plan Pro

• Marketingprofessionals for any size organization — this is a great tool to get your thoughts and ideas out of your head or off of scraps of paper, into an outline.
• Smallbusiness owners and entrepreneurs creating their first real marketing plan, or looking for a painless way to create a plan.
• Independentconsultants who help clients create plans and want a structure to follow.

About the Author: Ivana Taylor has spent over 20 years helping industrial organizations and small business owners get and keep their ideal customers. Her company is Third Force and she writes a blog called Strategy Stew . She is co-author of the book “Excel for Marketing Managers.”

Othersites for Marketing Plan Pro:

Nonprofit Marketing Plan

Nonprofit Marketing Plan Forum
MarketingPlan Pro powered by Duct Tape Marketing, Coaching Offer

Duct Tape Marketing

TechnoratiTags: Ivana Taylor , Small Business Trends , Marketing Plan Pro , Duct tape Marketing

Connecting Your Passion Showtimes

The show times for our new TV Show, Cool stuff.

Here is our link on Facebook.

We have the following show times for you;

2:30 PM July 21 on Access 1

• 5:30 PM July 22 on Access 1
• 9:30 AM July 23 on Access 1
• 2:30 PM July 26 on Access 2
• 6:30 PM August 15 on Access 2
• 4:00 PM August 18 on Access 2
• 9:00 AM August 21 on Access 2
• 12:30 PM August 22 on Access 2

Access 1 is Comcast 55 and Verizon FIOS 25

Access 2 is Comcast 57 and Verizon FIOZ 27

 

Technorati Tags: Fort Wayne Public Access Show,Verizon,Comcast,Connecting Your Passion.

Confluence Networking Nearly FULL

Confluence! Networking Event
7/30/08 Workshops at 3PM, Networking at 4PM
Free Registration Nearly-Full!
Workshops Already Full, Jam-Packed
Over 150 Registered, Stopping at 200!
REGISTER TODAY

Confluence! is a free event designed to bring together Indy’s best networkers and associations. Over 150 attendees have completed their free online registrations. Partnering with fortyfive degrees, a brand new restaurant and nightclub on College & Mass Ave, the event is expected to draw a couple hundred top-shelf, well-connected, business professionals. Confluence! networking will kick-off at the venue at 4PM and run for a couple hours. Complimentary appetizers along with a cash bar and many event gifts and door prizes will riddle the evening.

Pre-event workshops, currently closed and jam-packed, from 3-4PM will be provided to attendees interested in professional development and education. Presenting speakers and companies include Lorraine Ball of RoundPeg & Rainmakers speaking on “The Web 2.0 Phenomenon”, Linda Rendleman of Business Women Connect speaking on “Stand up and talk like a girl: Using your unique feminine strengths for success”, and Ginna Fenton of Express Employment Professionals facilitating a panel discussion on the topic of “Are you an ‘Employer of Choice’?” Ginna’s panel discussion includes professionals from the following organizations: May’s Chemical, Bingham McHale, Angie’s List, Liquid Transport Corp, Dashr Solutions, David Anderson, SPHR, and Preferred Sourcing.

Stay ‘til the end for the shocking Grand Prize raffle of a $4,000 DreamAuthentic’s Game Cabinet personally donated by Ginna Fenton of Express Employment Professionals! But that’s not all, other fantastic door prizes include a $500 gift certificate to DreamAuthentics donated by DreamAuthentics, 25 Control Sprayers, Paint Crews, and Deck Mates ranging in value from $99.99 to $199.99 and generously donated by FP’s client, Wagner Spray Tech Corporation, and 4 American Lung Association Golf Plus Privilege Books with discounts at 300+ Indiana golf courses and a retail value of $35 each graciously donated by another FP Client, the American Lung Association. Business cards will be drawn starting at 5:45 PM. Must be present to win. No stand-ins allowed.

Technorati Tags: Confluence,Indianapolis Networking,Rainmakers,Indiana Networking

Moving My Blog

We are moving this blog to the Front Page of the Business901 website. There are still active links on the side to download any guides you may be interested in.

To get everything moved will take a few days, so please click on the link here.

Thanks
Joe

New Links, Getting Google to index them

The Internet is a strange animal or maybe it is just STRANGE TO ME. But trying to make sense out of this, I found a couple important domains that fit into my marketing plans and purchased them. Now, what do links do for me! I am not quite sure but I do think when you type a search and you actually have a website, lets say http://www.ducttapemarketingplan.com/ or maybe http://www.ducttapemarketingsystem.com/ good things might happen.


I even recently purchased http://www.onepagemarketingplan.net/. Which being an Authorized Duct Tape Marketing Coach and a consultant for The One Page Business Plan makes sense for me. But does it everyone. Not at all.


What you might do:

1. Find your target market
2. Differentiate
3. Buy a couple of domains pertaining to 1 and 2.
4. Go to Go Daddy, their only $10.
5. Redirect them to the most similar page of your website.
6. Add some content on that page, to resemble the domains you purchased.
7. Add the links in a blog or newsletter to get Google to index them?

Simple Marketing Idea?

It's minus 5 degrees in Fort Wayne

I started my computer today and intended to start blogging right away. Uck, it was minus 1 degree. Anyway, I fixed a pot of coffee and put on my Detroit Tiger baseball cap, part of my blogging attire and UCK, it is minus 5 degrees. What sensible person is going to work in this weather?

Well the bottom line is we do work. But why do we make it difficult! There are problems enough created by our outside environment why add to them. I read a book that never really became mainstreamed by Mahan Khalsa. "Let's Get Real or Let's not Play that went right to the juggler. It is what I would call the "Discovery" stage with a client. Let's find out now if we are a match and if not lets move on. The book was promoted as a tool to help clients succeed but the message I received from it was spend time on discovery, making sure that you and your company our a good match with your client. Dissimilar cultures rarely succeed.

What happens when you find yourself in a dissimilar culture. The work is difficult, the client is not happy, your not happy and it becomes well "work." Is that what we are looking for?

Why is it -5 where I am at?