by Kirby Hasseman
I preach the power of consistency. A lot. I talk about it content marketing, sales, building a business, fitness…and life. We need consistency and patience. Intuitively we all know it’s true. Sure…some people might take off like a phoenix to success. But most people have to “show up” over and over and over before an audience starts to notice. It makes sense and I know it’s true. But knowing it doesn’t mean it’s easy. Let me give you an example. I decided about a month ago that I needed to double down on my content marketing efforts for Hasseman Marketing. I even blogged about it (here) at the beginning of the journey. “We are a media company, and we are going to start acting like it.” I also decided that I wanted to be unreasonable and I talked about that here. So I did. I started to post a blog on the Hasseman Marketing website every day. One of my goals, as you might expect, was to increase traffic to our site. I looked at our web traffic for the year and took a snapshot to see what that looked like before the journey. We had had one month in the past year where we had the most traffic by far (it was because of one post) and the previous month (May) was our lowest traffic month of the year. I knew that if I posted every day, we could have a significant impact on our website traffic. I just knew it. Right? About 10 or 12 days into the month I decided to take my first look. I was on vacation and I had time. So I decided to check on the progress so I could brag about the difference I was making in our online presence. What did it look like? Well by posting each day, our traffic (at that point in the month) was lower than May. That’s right. The traffic was lower than our worst month for the previous year. I know…it was only 10 or 12 days in…but I would be lying if I said that didn’t hurt. At that point it would have been easy to say “screw it.” It’s not working. But instead I decided I wanted to see the experiment through. Spoiler alert…I was glad I did. By continuing to post each and every day, something cool happened. Though I did not have any “hits,” the cumulative effect of showing up, started to work. Each day the numbers started to climb. People on Linked in might comment on a post that I had put online a week ago. And with each passing day, there are more posts for them to find. Over the next few days the numbers went past our worst month and worked their way up the list. We continued to track up…slowly but surely. By the end of the month, the best month’s traffic was in range. Did we pass it? Yes. And we did it with no “viral hit.” It’s hard to see the progress and the impact of a goal while you are grinding toward it. That’s the reason to focus on the daily list of tasks. We all want a quick hit to the top. But in the end, it’s slow and steady that still wins the race. Make sure never miss an update (or any piece of content!). Sign up for our VIP newsletter here.
by Kirby Hasseman
This past week, I was recognized in a couple of different posts for online activity and influence. It was beyond humbling. The first was Dale Denham’s Online 18. Each year Dale puts together a list of the people he deems as the most influential online in the Promotional Products industry. He has his own criteria, which outlines at the top of the list, and he spends a lot of time putting it together. Other than me, it’s a veritable Who’s Who of online and content in the industry. Check it out here. Oh…and here is the podcast about this I did yesterday. The second post came from Commonsku. Commonsku is a service provider in the Promo World and created this list of their favorite Podcasts. It includes some newer podcasts and some old favorites…and we made that list too. That post can be found here. So why am I bringing this up (other than a blatant Humble Brag)? I mention this because it’s amazing how much recognition matters…to everyone. The Hasseman Marketing team and I create content on an every day basis. Our goal is to provide value. Our hope is that someone gets something out of each piece of content that either educates or inspires. And for the most part, it happens quietly. But when something like this happens, it’s hard not to take pride. It makes you want to puff up your chest. It is great to know that what you do matters…to someone. The lesson, I think goes back to this blog post about Fixing the Appreciation Gap. Recognition matters to everyone. Many of us would like to think we are above it. We “do the work” regardless of what anyone thinks. And maybe we do. But when we get called out for our good work…we take pride. Guess what? So do your employees. So do your customers. Make sure you are taking the time to “make a list” of the people doing great work in your life and your organization. Give them a chance to “puff up their chest.” And if you want to make sure you never miss any of this “recognized” content, feel free to sign up for our VIP newsletter. You can do that here! Or if you want to head to our site and shop for cool Promotional items to recognize your team, you can do that here.
by Kirby Hasseman
The Delivering Marketing Joy Podcast is back! Our goal here is to attack 2018 with a vengeance! The Delivering Marketing Joy Podcast will provide some inspiration, motivation and education to make it happen! Consider this your 10 minute “kick in the pants” to get your week started off right!
Today on the podcast we take a look at the recent Online 18 from Dale Denham. Dale recognizes his list of 18 Online Influencers (you can find the list here). This time on the Podcast I take a look at some lessons you can learn from the folks on this list…and how you can apply them.
Once again, special thanks to Dale Denham for putting together this list. It’s great for discussion…and pushes me to do more (and better) work. And congrats to my buddy Bill Petrie for being Numero Uno on the list this year! Awesome stuff. As always, make sure you never miss an update. We are posting new content every day. So sign up here for our VIP newsletter to make sure you get the best of the best!
by Kirby Hasseman
Everyone wants to create (or be) the “next big thing.” We want to start off with a #1 hit. Or at the very least, we want to have some level of success right away. But when it comes to sales, building a business or creating content, most of the time, it doesn’t work that way. It’s done by making small, almost unnoticed steps, each day. Seth Godin talks about this in this blog post “Two Simple Secrets to Good ideas.” Secret #1 is the biggest one: More bad ideas. The more bad ideas the better. If you work really hard on coming up with bad ideas, sooner or later, some good ideas are going to slip through. That’s how I feel about creating content and building an audience. You need to be willing to live through the times when it feels like nobody cares. You have to keep showing up. You have to keep providing value without getting anything in return. Oh, and as a side, note, I “keep” saying “keep.” Before you can keep doing anything, you have to start. So if you want to build a business or a personal brand, you have to actually start. Seth Godin would say you have to “Choose Yourself.” The bad news is, it will take time. Most of the time it takes a long time to create a real audience. But the good news is, that lack of audience gives you time to hone your craft and get better. It gives you time to make mistakes and not be perfect. You won’t be. But start. As Seth says, start creating a bunch of bad ideas. Sooner or later a great idea, video, podcast, blog, or business will come. Speaking of people who “chose themselves,” congratulations to the people recognized on the most recent Online 18. Dale Denham has created this list for the last several years. It recognizes people that put themselves out there online, hopefully, to the betterment of the marketing community. Keep it up! We will keep putting this “out there!” Make sure you never miss a podcast, video, blog or special. Sign up for our VIP Newsletter here.
by Kirby Hasseman
It turns out my first sales manager was half right. When I first got in sales, I was told “When in doubt, go and see the people.” It was an over-simplification, of course. On the other hand, it’s always seemed to work for me. When I was waiting for the phone to ring or waiting for the sales to come in, I hear that voice. “Go and see the people.”
In Jonah Berger’s book “Invisible Influence” I am starting to learn why this works. In multiple studies, Berger explains that familiarity and having the “people see you” works. In one study, pictures of female students were judged on their level of attractiveness. (Cringe all you want, it was the study). It turns out that if the female students were seen in the class, they were judged to be more attractive. Other studies showed that “being seen” more often could make your more likable and trustworthy.
From my perspective this brings powerful insights into the world of sales, brand building and more! So here are a few takeaways…
See the People
Though the script has flipped a bit, the adage still holds water. When you are feeling reactive in your business, get out of your office and go “let the people see you.” And if you can add value in some way (or just to say thanks like this post suggests), even better.
Social Media
This is one of the reason great social media works. We are giving people a chance to “see us” on a regular basis. Some people would say this can be overdone. Maybe. But the science from this book suggests otherwise.
Consistency is Key
This is also a bit of science to back up my belief in consistency. Whether we are talking about social media, content marketing or sales, you need to be consistent in your efforts. We all have that voice in our heads that tells us we need to stop...it’s too much. But we need to push through that and continue to “show up” with your prospects and clients. Let them “see you” over and over again. Make sure never miss the opportunity to “see us!”
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