Too much advertising these days seems to be about the product or service and about the people who bring you these products or services. We used to believe that marketing to consumers was about creating their experience,and what the brand offers them. And this approach worked very well. What happened is ad agencies and marketing firms got lazy. They no longer spent time getting to know the consumer. And they no longer spent time coming up with insightful experiences. In fact, it works better than ever still today. Whizbang creates consumer experiences and benefits. We always have. We always will. Just check out our work at Whizbang Ideas.

With the start of a new year is a chance to adopt new practices. One that caught my attention recently is the process called Mise en Place (MEEZ-ahn-plahs). It’s a French culinary term that means “everything in its place.” Wikipedia describes it as purchasing, preparing, and pre-measuring all the ingredients necessary for a dish before you start cooking. It makes cooking more efficient and prevents the cook from making mistakes. Wikipedia finished with this statement: “Mise en Place is probably the single biggest difference between gourmet chefs and regular, once-in-a-while cooks.” That got me thinking. The same can be said about marketing. True professionals have all their marketing pieces in place before they implement their programs. This includes:

1. SWOT analysis

2. Competitive analysis

3. Customer analysis

4. Marketing objectives

5. Marketing strategies

6. Marketing tactics

7. Positioning and key messages

8. Budget

9. Implementation schedule

10. Controls

These are the main ingredients to a marketing plan. Any marketing professional worth his or her salt (sorry the puns just keep coming) has them at their ready just as any gourmet chef has their ingredients ready. Mis en Place, whether practiced for cooking or marketing, makes the difference between success or failure. If you would like to talk about marketing or cooking, or cooking up marketing plans, please email me at ellen@whizbangideas.com.

Over the past couple of years we have seen an evolution in how companies are using social media websites to promote their business and expand their customer base. Websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have allowed companies to reach out to their fans in ways that are more creative and interactive than traditional websites or advertisements. Now there is a new social media website that has grabbed the attention of everyday users and is becoming increasingly valuable for companies as well.  It’s called Pinterest and I am absolutely pinned on it.

Pinterest is most popularly known as a site that allows its users to organize and share some of their favorite things. It is a quick and easy way to find new recipes, personal style and decorating ideas, DIY crafts, and suggestions for your dream wedding. Now that the core of Pinterest has been developed and discovered by its users, companies are now jumping on board to this new platform of business marketing.

Companies are constantly looking for new ways to engage current and potential consumers, and Pinterest has allowed them to explore a whole new world. Through my personal use of Pinterest, I have entered a contest by Lands’ End and discovered new products from modcloth.com. What makes Pinterest so valuable to companies is the fact that it is purely visual. Consumers aren’t forced to read a product or service description. What captures the users’ attention is purely the product, for what it is at the most basic level: a picture.

One of the most valuable aspects of Pinterest is that it gives its consumers the option of exploring a picture further. Find a couch that you would love in your living room or that perfect outfit for an upcoming social event? Simply click on the picture and follow the URL that takes you to where the picture was originally found, more often than not, the website where the product can be purchased.  Consumers aren’t left having to search the Internet for a product they saw in an advertisement.

Pinterest has made it easier for users to share their favorite products and ideas on the web, and has made it even easier for businesses to get their products into the eyes of potential customers. And quite often, the original post of a product came from a customer, not the business itself. This has allowed for almost endless possibilities of free marketing for businesses.

Pinterest is still a social media site that is being tested in terms of what it can do for both consumers and companies. I believe that over the next couple of months we will see an evolution in how companies use this platform to market and promote their products.  Will companies go away with traditional print and television advertising and instead post their advertisements and videos directly on Pinterest, where the sharing capabilities are easier and endless? Only time will tell.

It is often said that small businesses are the lifeblood of America, and working with many small businesses I could not agree more. Each entrepreneur brings something new to the market that was not there before. Those skilled and innovative enough will grow and push their industry. The influx of new ideas is what I love about working with small businesses.

You could say I was born with a love for small business. My mom has taught marketing and entrepreneurship for over 30 years now. I, like a child of a famous Hollywood actress, am following in the footsteps of my parent, except much less glamorous and fewer paparazzi. I am lucky to have a mom so gifted at her craft that she has even written a textbook on starting your own small business. (http://www.amazon.com/Small-Business-Entrepreneurs-Plan/dp/0324591020/ref=dp_ob_title_bk) Not only is it a great book for a class, but for anyone thinking about starting their own business.

My mom’s textbook is a great reminder to anyone thinking of starting a small business, or currently running one, of the fundamental steps you must take to allow your business to succeed. This is why Whizbang is such a great fit for me, no matter how creative a project is, it is still grounded in the fundamentals of business strategy. As we have seen quite often with new technology, a new business idea can change the world, but it takes careful planning to bring that innovation to life.

It is becoming rare these days that a company will send you to their website. More and more we are being asked to visit them on Facebook. This is a good tactic if properly thought out. The reason you should send someone to Facebook rather than your website is so you can engage, share and interact with them, and they can engage, share and interact with you as well as with other customers.

The issue I have is that most companies ask me to go to their Facebook page and once I get there, the door is closed, the lights are out, and all I can do is maybe peek in the windows.

And no wonder. There is a lot of information about how to set up a Facebook business page, but not a lot of information on what makes one useful. What follows is the bare minimum of what a business should do if they are setting up a Facebook page:

1.  Create your Facebook page strategy. If you don’t have a strategy, get one. “To have a social media presence” is not a strategy. Understand what Facebook can potentially do for you before jumping in.
   
2.  Add content that the world will actually benefit from and can engage in, be it useful information, inspirational, humorous, thoughtful, or whatever tactic helps fulfill your strategy.
   
3.  Monitor your page. Don’t have time to monitor? Get off of Facebook.
   
4.  Be there when customers come to visit.
   
5. Engage visitors and customers regularly. Don’t worry about converting to sales yet, or funneling into your sales pipeline. Don’t try to sell. Just be there to say hello and start building a relationship with the customers that are coming “to your store” because you asked them to come visit you.

Anything less will practically guarantee you’ll take a big face-plant on Facebook. Nobody needs that.

For more useful detailed info, visit www.fbforbusinessmarketing.com

I was thrilled when I received the news that I would be the marketing intern at Whizbang Ideas.  Just from my interview, I loved the atmosphere; dog friendly and easygoing.

Before I interned here, I believed that I would want to work for a large corporation in the future, but interning at Whizbang, has definitely changed my mind about that.  I enjoy knowing and working closely with my co-workers.  I also feel that working in a smaller environment has made it easier to learn new things.  There is always something to do, which is good for me because I like to stay busy.

I have been learning a lot of things about marketing and what Whizbang Ideas/Recipe does for companies.  Before this internship, I never thought of how much goes into starting and maintaining a business.  There are so many different aspects, such as looking up data on competitors, creating a name/brand, developing a company logo, having social media, and much, much more.

I am very thankful I have had the opportunity to intern here and I believe that this internship has given me a lot of new knowledge that I will utilize in the future.

Getting started in social media as a small business can seem like a daunting task. Your business may not have any presence in social media and you might not have anyone skilled in social media. Luckily, when getting started you don’t need the reinvent to wheel. Many small businesses have been successful with social media and you can have success too even if you are currently not a user. Starting from the ground up in to the world of Facebook, Twitter, and blogs is not as confusing as it seems. You just need a plan to get started. Here is a good one to follow:

1. Commit to the success of the social media campaign. Just because social media is seen as a low cost way of reaching customers doesn’t mean it won’t demand a time commitment. You will need to create content, interact with followers, and work to grow your fan base on a daily basis. Be prepared to commit at least three hours a week.
2. Don’t overwhelm yourself with too many social media channels to begin with. Choose one social media channel to start, learn how to create buzz online, and then move forward with others.
3. Create Content. You have to give your followers a reason to follow and pay attention to your page. This doesn’t mean you have to constantly be giving out deals to your Facebook fans. If you post content that is relevant to your clients, they will pay attention to you online. This could be content you create or content you share or find pertaining to your industry.
4. Engage your followers. When they post on your wall or retweet you, you need to respond. This lets them know you care about what they are saying and gives them a reason to engage you in the future. Also, they may ask a question about your products or services and your answer could help lead to a sale.
5. Brand your page. This is a step many small businesses ignore. A welcome page branded for your business on Facebook is the number one way to convert someone into “liking” your page. A background on your Twitter or YouTube profile goes a long way to making your profile look professional.
6. Monitor your progress. Most social media sites give you good tools to be able to track your progress, but you may want to get even more in-depth analytics. There are many different social media analytics programs including Hootsuite and Tweetdeck. Remember, like any other marketing effort you want to track results.
7. Be Patient. You are not going to get a thousand followers your first week. It will take time to build your following, but if you are willing to put in the work, you will get great results and a loyal base of followers.

I have been watching a lot of the Food Network lately and being the wordsmith that I am, I had been adding to my epicurean vocabulary.  Here’s a term I found particularly interesting, amuse-bouches.  They’re single bite appetizers (always complimentary) specially created to give guests an idea of a chef’s cooking style and prepare them for the meal ahead. They are in essence tastebud tinglers. The term is French, literally translated to “mouth amuser.”

While I was pondering amuse-bouches (and cracking myself up saying the word out loud: ä-ˌmüz-ˈbüsh) I thought about social media and how it offers a great way introduce your brand.  Social channels give your fans and followers a taste of what it is like to work with or buy from your company. So what follows are great social media amuse-bouches to tingle your customers and get them excited for more to come:

1.     Acknowledge them.

2.     Thank them.

3.     Say you’re sorry if you need to.

4.     Give them inside information.

5.     Hang out with them.

6.     Give them free stuff.

7.     Write a blog that solves their biggest problem.

8.     Retweet them.

9.     #ff them.

10. Introduce them to someone influential.

These social media morsels are just a start. There are many more ways to make your fans and followers feel special. What amuse-bouches do you serve your prospective customers?

As the email about Whizbang’s Cadet Program came through my inbox I was both excited and intrigued. My mom always told me that internships are what set you apart, internships are what get you references, and internships are what help you get your foot in the door. They’re an insight into what the “real” world expects of you and what you can expect from it. They also allow you to find what your real passion is and what you would rather not do again.

I had never really absorbed the importance of them until this past summer, which is why I jumped on the opportunity at becoming a Social Media/PR intern at Whizbang.  Here at Whizbang, it is evident that both Frank and Ellen have found their passion providing high quality marketing services to San Luis Obispo and the surrounding areas. As I come to the end of my experiences here, I can say that I will truly miss everyone here, including the furry, four-legged counterparts Roscoe, Duke and Coco.

The atmosphere at Whizbang is one of nonconforming, imaginative, free thought. It’s a family full of Macs (which I had to get used to using as I am a PC person), oversized wine glasses, forks and spoons, where the stuffy suit corporate world meets the SLO life. As I come down to my last few weeks here the most important thing I have learned is you have to love where you work and most importantly what you are doing.

If you try to make something fit just for the money or geographical location, or any other reason, you just won’t get the end result you were hoping for. Having passions in life and finding them is the greatest reward a person can reap. So I am off in search of my passion, but I am a few steps closer thanks to Whizbang.

Branding isn’t just for companies anymore.

As we become hyperconnected to the other two billion people online, it is becoming harder and harder to grab and keep an audience. And isn’t that what we all want? Someone to listen to us and interact with?

Here’s a suggestion to gain more attention- brand yourself. To help find out what your personal brand is, you’ll need to fill out your own strategic plan. Ask questions of yourself and have answers to these questions: what do I wish to achieve, who am I talking to, what do I want them to do, how do I want to interact with them, what do I want them to say about me to others?

Once you have your answers, then you can form a plan on how to share your brand with others. You may even want to create your own tagline. Our previous PR/social media director, Cary Conrady, had a brand and tagline, “Look Good, Smell Good.” Pretty much everything she does embraces this edict.

Think of others around your office or around town who stand out in your mind. They probably stand out due to a certain affectation-their personal brand. In San Luis Obispo, I think of Pierre Rademaker and his Hawaiian shirts, Missy Reitner-Cameron and her colorful hair, Lynn Diehl and her wine glass.  If I had to give these three taglines, they would be as follows:

Pierre Rademaker – Yellow. The new brown.

Missy Reitner-Cameron – I used to be sane. I got better.

Lynn Diehl- Wine a bit. You’ll feel better.

What’s your tagline?