Bad Production is a Cred Killer.

Content may be king, but if the content is not presented professionally, with quality production,  it’ll kill your credibility.

Bad (and good) production applies to all marketing material, from business card to podcast. For example, a business card printed on a cheap or thin paper stock is a subliminally bad message about your company. All company print material has to look, and feel, top shelf.

Same with broadcast. For example, I just listened to an informative podcast that was severely compromised by terrible production. The audio levels were so bad that I had to listen with one hand on the volume control for the entire interview. Not fun, especially while driving. Had they done a simple audio check first, the audio levels could have been easily corrected. Now, it’s circulating cyberspace branding that business as “unprofessional.” I’ve also seen bad production on websites via busted links, non-loading or poorly shot video, or very annoying 30-sec flash intros that either use loud annoying music or constantly replay.

You get the idea. Now, be sure you’re not guilty of it.

Don’t trust any marketing firm or person that’s not great at marketing themselves.

I hear it all the friggin’ time: “Yeah, I know my (FILL IN WORD) sucks, but I guess it’s like the cobbler’s children with no shoes. Heh, heh.”

If a marketing “expert” has a lame web site, or a lame business card, or doesn’t carry a business card, or has @aol, @gmail, or @optonline as their email domain, or has no blog, or doesn’t really know what a blog is, or what “Web 2.0″ means, and isn’t on Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn, and has no G-Cred, then he or she should not be calling themselves a marketing expert and have no right to be advising you on your business.

The Importance of Objectivity and Focusing on what you do best.

How they helped a Black man with an Arab name win the US presidency.

Last month, a panel of top marketing experts, organized by Ad Age, gathered to select the ‘Marketer of the Year.’ Beating out the likes of Apple Computer, Burger King and Nike, the winner was “Team Obama.” Working with an unknown African-American candidate with an Arab name, they used a highly-organized, integrated, guerrilla marketing strategy utilizing many non-traditional social-media tactics.

Jon Fine, marketing and media columnist for BusinessWeek, pointed to Mr. Obama’s facility with engaging voters in social-media online channels. “It’s the fuckin’ Web 2.0 thing,” he said. Clearly Obama and his team understood the Internet better than McCain — and took advantage of that. From a broader perspective, however, Obama trusted the guidance of his top marketing advisor, David Axelrod.

Also, Obama invested almost twice what McCain spent on marketing — a fact suggesting that those who invest in marketing, and do it with the best help, have the best shot at winning.

Whether it’s selling a presidential candidate, or furniture, a successful effort depends on finding, and listening to, the best marketing help.

Learn more about effective marketing and social media

Listen to the podcast that lets you hear how other buisness owners solve their tough marketing problems.

“Expert advice.” — Andrew Mede / NY, NY

“Cogent, sage, essential.” — Barry Malvin, Pres./Internet Solutions, NY, NY

“A tremendous kick in the butt.” — Joanne Meurer, ID Inc. NY, NY

Just incase you’re not up with Web 2.0 terms and sites, here are the most popular:

Web 2.0
The second generation of the Web involving social-networking sites, wikis, blogs, video, podcasts, etc, which aim to facilitate creativity, collaboration, and sharing.

Social Media
The umbrella term that defines the activities that integrate technology and social interaction.

Blog
(short for ‘web log’) is a website formatted as an on-going log or diary of text entries posted by the creator or “blogger”. Unlike traditional websites, blog technology allows users to easily create a web site and then easily add content (text, mostly).

Podcast
An audio or video blog.

Facebook
Perhaps the most popular social networking website. It began as a way for college students to connect and is now open to all.

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No matter what your business, 99% of people could care less about it. Why? Because 99% of people simply aren’t good prospects. But for those who are good prospects it’s because you haven’t convinced them. In fact, there are thousands of people who’d buy you IF you got them excited and convinced them of the value of your product.

What is Marketing? (more…)