It was my turn to read Eric Ries' (Ries's?) The Lean Start-Up. The very first thing that wrapped me in was his definition of a start-up. I think we all know what a start-up is, or at least have a vague idea, but there is a lot of gray area. It reminded me of an argument I would get into with an old roommate: he would always say that his company is a start-up, but I never thought that it was. I could never place my finger on exactly why. My arguments were weak: your company has many employees. Your company has been in business for six years. Your company makes a profit. MY company at the time, see, WAS a start-up; we had few employees, just started business that year, and were operating on rounds of investments much less making any profit. Needless to say, my angry blubbering hardly made for a convincing argument.

Mr. Ries describes a start-up in this way:

“A startup is a human institution designed to deliver a new product or service under conditions of extreme uncertainty.”

This old friend's company was not delivering a new service as it had been in business for six years (when something stops being “new” I guess is subjective, but six years doing the same thing isn't even in question), nor were they operating under conditions of extreme uncertainty: they knew exactly who their customers were and how to communicate with them. So pfft. Four years later, and I'm still right. (Or should I say, four years later, and I finally figured out why I'm still right?)

Two of my biggest takeaways from this book:

1. Work on reducing waste.
   How many times have you spent so much time doing something only to realize you were working on the wrong task the entire time? Like when I was in high school and I would do the odd numbered problems on my math homework instead of the assigned even numbered ones. I would be so mad when I thought about how much time I wasted. I would have gotten the same amount of learning in less time if I just did what was assigned in the first place. Similarly, in the example of start ups, focusing on the wrong feature leads to wasted time and money, and if this affected the company's customer base, it may also lead to a loss of a significant amount of business and a lower company morale.
   Reduce waste by asking why, why, why, why, why, until you get to the root of the cause of the issue. Fix the problem, not the symptom. Reduce waste by introducing features on a small scale and test it before you change the product for everyone. Start with a hypothesis — “If we add this feature it will make the register process easier and more people will register” — and test it with a small group until you're proven right or wrong. Work on getting these small changes out quickly so you get your results faster so your customers spend more time interacting with something that speaks to them. Don't spend forever putting together presentations and working on exactly what something should say or how it look if it's not integral to the new functionality. Time matters.
2. Your customer isn't always who you think it is.
   My biggest HAHA! moment in this book was the anedcote about a sandwich shop that started off as an antique store that sold sandwiches to get people in its doors. (Wouldn't it be funny if they started stocking up on antiques to get people to buy sandwiches now?) You may be trying to target one group, but another group you never expected may catch on (hungry people in antique stores). Then there's the transition from early adopter to mainstream consumer. When your product isn't “new” anymore (whenever that might be), your customer base changes and your product most likely won't be received the way it used to.

Here's to a new strategy and growth. Cheers!

Attempting to transform a Chloe from being used to sitting behind a desk to becoming the front face for a potential client is not an easy task.

Challenges I had to overcome:

1. Being scared of rejection — I know I can't get a “yes” without even trying, but if I don't try, there's no chance for a “no”…
2. The tendency to mix up clients and projects — I mix things up occasionally; some of the people on different projects have similar names and others are in the same industry.
3. My relaxed approach to interacting with clients — I needed to be more proactive.

Things I learned:

1. How to communicate clearly — both in speaking and in writing. Speaking: I have some things to work on (I talk fast, I mumble, I have a tiny vocabulary, I can't ever think of the right word, I switch words around, I verb nouns and I noun verbs, just to name a few.). Writing: I was never bad at this, but writing proposal after proposal helped me learn how to communicate my thoughts more effectively. Bulletpoints became my new best friend. I honed my skills in categorization and organization.
2. People aren't as scary or as intimidating as I previously thought.
3. It's easier to execute plans when I'm involved from the very beginning.

I got one “no” pretty early on boy was it discouraging. I felt like I failed. I had one “yes” yesterday, which is awesome! …even though I missed an important deadline. I have a maybe which I'm hoping hoping hoping will turn into a yes. I want to get better at this and get more Yes answers. Can't get better at a game if I don't play, right?

The ROI on unpaid media is much harder to measure than the ROI on paid media. Even with that being said, paying nothing for something should definitely be in your marketing mix.

Consumers are the most weary of advertising ploys as they have ever been. Unpaid media gives consumers another reason to trust the product. When we're low on budgets, we're forced to create something out of very little. Getting in contact with bloggers is a be a big strategy we always turn to. Example: Dessert Darling reviews Lovin' Scoopful. Talking to bloggers is quite risky because they are obligated to make it known we contacted them, and then there's also the slight chance that they don't like your completely-awesome-how-could-anyone-not-like-it? product. Other examples would include the obvious Facebook and Twitter pages where users opt-in to receive your updates. I've even seen Facebook page URLs at the end of movie trailers and on storefronts, as production studios and brands are trying to turn paid media into unpaid media. It's hard to avoid the Facebook logo nowadays (unless you're living under a rock, of course). What was previously an icon just on the web has traversed into our real lives too: it seems like every brand wants us to be visit their site, be a fan on Facebook and follow them on Twitter. The best audience is one that actively comes to your brand for information, which opens up more time for you to seek out those new customers.

And wouldn't you know it — might you reconnect with those who love your product and then found you two years later online? An honest-to-goodness-unasked-for review of one of your clients' products is almost priceless.

Ok, so I never made that my Facebook status. If you are in the dark about all the “I like it” Facebook statuses that started happening this month, women are writing about where they like it. Their purses, I mean. Where they like to put their purses. (Duh.) It's for Breast Cancer Awareness month. Supposedly.

…wait, what?

Well, now I have some questions:

1. How does telling the world where I like my purse spread awareness about breast cancer especially if it's in such a cryptic form? This sounds more like a “girls only” club, where only girls are allowed the privilege of being in the exclusive club. Doesn't this contradict the whole point of SPREADING awareness?
2. Why does it have to have a sexual innuendo? Would that be considered disrespectful to survivors and non-survivors of breast cancer and their families to make a joke out of something serious?
3. The answer to #2 is probably that if it didn't have a sexual innuendo, it probably wouldn't spread so fast, which brings me to the next question, which is do we really need to concentrate efforts on bringing awareness to this issue? I'm pretty sure everyone knows about breast cancer (thank yous go out to the month of October, pink ribbons and Susan G. Komen for the Cure. For Angelenos, there's also the annual run/walks in downtown LA, which, even if you are not a participant, you're very likely going to be aware of them due to the massive traffic that ensues after the organizers block off miles of street). If anything, I would argue that being aware of breast cancer in October is hard to avoid. I think that a more effective way to take a stand against breast cancer is to help find a cure, like donating to the aforementioned Susan G. Komen for the Cure or taking part in a run/walk for breast cancer such as one sponsored by Revlon or Avon.
4. Not a question, but something else I thought of: I am totally going to break into everyone's house and steal purses that I know are kept on the nightstand, on the floor of the bedroom right up against the wall and on the kitchen counter (that is, until that boyfriend moves it to the top of the dryer).

You probably remember earlier this year when women were writing the color of their bras also supposedly to raise awareness for breast cancer. I highly doubt that these two viral Facebook status updates actually started off as trying to raise awareness for breast cancer. I cannot find a single credible source on the internet that shows me where either of these two started. Would this same thing work for men? For men, prostate cancer is the second biggest killer out of all cancers. What if men wrote the color of their boxers or where they like to put their wallets or satchels or murses (man purses)? First, would it spread, and second, would that raise awareness about prostate cancer?

Ok, end of rant. Sorry for being a Debbie Downer. I just don't see the point. On the other hand, maybe this would remind women to do their monthly checks for lumps or get that mammo they've been putting off.

The question bigger than, “How did this start?” is “how did this spread?” The answers might help you try to apply this free and viral strategy to your brand.

1. Rumors overall agree that this started by email chains. Email chain forwarders usually have long lists of email addresses that they normally forward funny/interesting/useful emails, thus making them the “influencers” of email. The first step in any social marketing plan is usually to target the big influencers, and in this case, it's the annoying email chain forwarder.
2. Point #2 relates to Question #1 above that states that this was a secret for for girls to keep. The exclusivity was appealing, as was snickering when boys commented on statuses asking for clarification. Feeling special and included makes people want to hop on the bandwagon that much more.
3. Barrier to entry was very low. It seems that today, my own mother must be the only person without a Facebook account. All one had to do was to write a color or a place, and she automatically became a member of this “club,” a player in this exclusive, secret game, leading back to Point #2. It didn't take more than 2 seconds, so it's not a huge inconvenience to update something that is most likely already open in your browser.
4. The (fabricated) tie-in to breast cancer awareness made people think they were contributing to a good cause, further increasing the incentives for participation.

Obviously, this isn't easy. It has to be something sassy and something that makes other people wonder enough to do some research to find out what it's about (or at least question publicly). Efforts will be hit-or-miss, but since it's all free, there's very little monetary loss.

Information at our fingertips was the old black. Information at our fingertips — wherever our fingertips actually are — is the new black. Worldwide sales of smartphones in 2009 were almost at 175 million and increasing rapidly. Of course, as advertisers, we'd love to reach out to consumers on this media. However, internet on the desktop and internet on the handheld machine were not created equal. Here are a few general key differences:

1. Pageviews and visits will be much lower on smartphones than the desktop/laptop. People browse and hang out on the internet; people use smartphones only when it's convenient and only to look up specific information and then put it away once they're done.

2. Consumers are more understanding of ads on mobile, probably because these ads do not interfere with the main content as much as ads on a regular browser which can create angry backlash by way of expandables, full-page overlays and sound that automatically plays when the ad loads… yet.

3. Quantifying results on mobile is not nearly as easy as quantifying results on desktop. There is no DFA/DFP type of program that exists on mobile today. Each publisher has their own impression and click numbers, sometimes making it difficult for the advertiser to assess the effectiveness of mobile campaigns.

As we see more and more ad dollars move to online, everyone is rushing to make their mark in the webspace. Of course, the current source of online media right now is social marketing, and one of the most common question for brands in this area is which to use: Facebook or Twitter?

Keep in mind that not only are these two different platforms but that you're also reaching slightly different audiences with each. That being said, depending on your product or service, both or either of these community sites could be a great way for consumers with a common passion for your brand to get together and have you push news to them. Consumers joining your Facebook page is a voluntary move that is incredibly welcome in an age where people are more and more weary of spam and secretly paid sponsorships.

In a nutshell:

Facebook
- There are about 125,800,000 accounts open in the US. Of that:
12.7 million are 13-17 (10.1%)
31.1 million are 18-24 (24.7%)
31.4 million are 25-34 (25%)
21.8 million are 35-44 (17.3%)
28.8 million are 45+ (22.9%)
43.4% are male, 54.6% are female (the rest of the accounts are not specified)

Twitter
There are 100+ million registered accounts (most, however, are outside the US). According to ComScore, 30% of their users were under 25 at the end of 2009, with that number having increased about 10% since 2008. Like Facebook (and most social media sites in general), Twitter is slightly more female, but the discrepancy between female and male users isn't as large.

The few facts above touch the surface of what kind of research can be done on these sites, but it is a good start. Things are changing rapidly in the internet world; for example, on Facebook, the 35+ age group is growing the fastest.

Social media is a great tool if used effectively: dog lovers unite under the Dogasaur Facebook fan page, and the health-conscious as well as moms join the Lovin' Scoopful page. Oh, and another thing: it's easier to target peripheral audiences, like supporters of the Special Olympics, using social media if it is done correctly. A couple of months ago I contacted the marketing person running the Special Olympics Facebook page and asked him if the Special Olympics and Lovin' Scoopful could trade shout-outs just because I knew that the Special Olympics has a very broad audience and supporters would like an ice cream brand that donated to a cause they are passionate about:

Users engage by commenting on, “like”-ing and retweeting status updates and pictures while seeing relevant information that they opted in to receive. Tailor your messages to your specific audience via the specific medium; even if your entire audience is a certain demographic, your social media audience may or may not reflect the same. With the internet becoming increasingly available and portable and networking sites growing bigger and bigger, you may want to use the data above to determine how much time you should spend expanding your brand image in these areas.

We're moving into an era where the line between companies and consumers is becoming more and more blurred. Social media sites like FB and Twitter allow companies to connect with the consumer quickly and on a familiar platform; review sites like Yelp and C-Net pit consumers against or with companies in order to keep companies on track with good business practices and good products; and of course, bloggers are able to reach the masses and over time become trusted resources for news and reviews.

Bloggers are all the rage lately. Anyone can have a blog with an internet connection. You can blog about ANYTHING (hell, I even have a blog about cookies!). And lots of people love to talk — they just need listeners. There are varying degrees of bloggers, too; each topic will have a few bloggers that rise to the top due to their expertise on the subject, their social network and their ability to communicate to the masses. Bloggers are like middlemen between the consumer and/or customer and the company, but they're usually on the consumer / customers' side.

If people were cities on a map, bloggers with a following would be a big dot with bold names. It is for this reason exactly that in my time here I reach out to bloggers. Recently we sent out a bunch of stuff to women with children who we thought would be interested in the Lovin' Scoopful brand — a light gourmet ice cream brand with less fat and fewer calories and they donate to the Special Olympics — to have an ice cream party. They blogged about it (examples can be found here and here) of course, and the positive reviews helped. Some important things to keep in mind when you're looking to reach out to bloggers:

1. You obviously want bloggers with a big following. Sometimes you can see how many people they have reading their blogs by seeing how many fans or followers on Facebook or Twitter they have. Other sites like compete.com and quantcast.com give a good ballpark number for visits to these sites. Unfortunately, you can't use Compete or Quantcast for sites like blogname.wordpress.com or blogname.blogspot.com, but most blogs have their own domain names. If you're a smaller brand though, or don't already have a direct connection with the writer, you may not want to shoot too high and go for the most popular bloggers because they get free stuff every single day and your money will be wasted on sending things to bloggers who won't review your stuff.
2. Relevancy is really important. Serious bloggers won't write about something that doesn't fit their audience.
3. Pictures captivate an audience. It helps if the bloggers you choose normally post pictures. It also gives the audience a visual perspective rather than a text one.
4. Bloggers are usually unbiased, and will post honest reviews and opinions. Don't let this discourage you, though; even the best products have critics.

Ideally it's a win-win-win situation: the blogger gets free stuff and popularity, the company gets information out to a targeted audience with very little cost, and readers get helpful tips and news from a trusted resource. There are still skeptics out there who don't see the utility in blogging or the importance of these online journals; however, incorporating bloggers into your media plan might surprise you.