You’re bound to read plenty of articles about how to succeed this year. Some undoubtedly have great tips, but just as many have uninspired, absurdly upbeat ideas that you’ve read a hundred other times. So, I thought I’d mix it up a little with a primer on how to shoot yourself in the foot, create your own problems, and just plain screw up this year.

No, I don’t want you to follow my advice, but these not so gentle reminders will help you avoid some of the most common ways that so many of us fail. Enjoy! (more…)

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.

It’s the tagline that defined the Obama campaign –  the most successful in American political history.

So, what about your business, product or organization? Does it have a strong, clear, and positive identity? Are your prospects really clear about what your product or service is and how it benefits them? Are you exciting your prospects with your message? If you’re not sure, chances are you’d benefit from a great tagline.

Here are some other effective tagline examples: http://www.follisinc.com/tagline.htm

You Must Build Credibility.

The Follis Report “Top 10 Cred Killers”

10) Non-working web links.
9)  Poor business telecommunications.
8)  Bad Design (especially logo)
7)  Poor production on any business or marketing materials
6)  Weak writing.
5)  Bad G-Cred.
4)  Crappy business card.
3)  No business card.
2) “Website under construction.”
1)  No website.

Have any to add?  Leave your comment.

In an attempt to create some viral online buzz for the launch of its 2009 1-Series coupe, BMW did something different. They also did something fake.

Via BMW films, they created a fake documentary, with a fake director, around a fake German town filled with fake German people (who even had fake teeth) who were blathering on about a fake celebration (“Rampenfest”) for a giant fake ramp that was supposed to launch (literally) the car to the US. After about 20-minutes of the 35 min video I’d seen enough. And, in that 20 minutes, I don’t recall a word about the car.

If this attempt at viral marketing was targeting ad bloggers like me and ad award show judges, then they hit their mark. (Apparently, it was the darling of the award shows) But I’m not sure how many serious car buyers, over 30, it impressed. I’d be happy to be proven wrong so, if anyone knows, please tell me. Because with a storied heritage of German mechanical perfection, it escapes me as to why BMW would opt for silly gimmickry and fakery to try to sell their newest model.

So, what are your thoughts on this? Leave your comment on the “comment” link below.

Just do it…We try harder…The ultimate driving machine…Be all that you can be. They’re called taglines and they’re one of the best ways of defining any product, service, company or organization and distinguishing it from its competition. A smart, memorable tagline will build a positive brand image, and reinforce that image for years. Like these others:

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

Excerpted from the NY Times:

One of the many ways that the election of Barack Obama as president has echoed that of John F. Kennedy is his use of a new medium that will forever change politics. For Mr. Kennedy, it was television. For Mr. Obama, it is the Internet.

“Were it not for the Internet, Barack Obama would not be president. Were it not for the Internet, Barack Obama would not have been the nominee,” said Arianna Huffington, editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post.

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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

Never say “my website sucks.”

It’s OK to have a website that could be better. It’s not OK to go around telling people that your website sucks, even if it’s true.

I’ve met many business owners who are downright embarrassed by their sites. And, the reason is always the same: “I’m just too Gosh-darn busy to deal with it.”

Saying that your site sucks, but you’re too busy to deal with it is like saying you’re too busy to get out of your ratty bed clothes to go to work. Because your website IS your professional appearance. And, admitting that you’re aware of it only makes you look more lazy and unprofessional.