When I hear a statement like that I generally like to join the conversation. And I’m never disappointed in hearing some inane reason why that particular advertising is the best. Last night I chose to restrain myself and not join the conversation. After all, friends and I’d heard this particular friend’s “best” advertising many times, each time a different best. So why at 5:15 a.m. after a night of Valentine revelry did my mind decide to bring back the topic?

I don’t know but I wanted to sleep in.

I’ve hard all types of “the best advertising is” statements and mostly they are based on an isolated incident that brought notoriety to a business (read that as people saying “I saw/heard you on/in…..”) but never generated a measurable and sustained increase in revenue. And most of these expert opinions on the best advertising have come not from marketing and advertising experts but from people in other fields. In my youth I would immediately grab my sledge hammer and start bashing their argument deftly making my point as to why they were incorrect. And when asked what was the best advertising I would, depending on my level of maturity in my career either let them know that there is no best that advertising success depended on too many variables and was different for various businesses and industries, blah, blah, blah.

Yea, I was onel of those guys. I can be pretty goo d at spouting all of the marketing mumbo-jumbo and often catch myself reverting back.

This morning my mind gave me what I believe is the definitive answer to “What’s the best form of advertising?”

An elated customer.

Not just a happy customer or a satisfied customer or a long time customer because for the most part these will rarely praise you to their friends and strangers in the checkout line at the grocery store.

An elated customer can not control themselves and will look for an opportunity to tell someone, friend and stranger alike, how great your business is. An elated customer will spread the gospel of your product with such fervor that others will come to you in droves. The elated customer will not allow them to do anything but come to you.

The Elated Customer, that’s your answer. That’s the best form of advertising. Now that you know it go start your campaign.

Thanks for your time,
Jeff

©2010 The Buzz Forge. All Rights Reserved.

As a test we’ve been playing with Twitter and other social sites exploring aps and looking into who is utilizing them and who. We’ve seen professionals promoting their services well, Socially Fresh for one, and MANY spamming everyone with get-rich-quick programs.

Scammers, gray and black hat users are often new adopters. They learn the boundaries of a service by pushing ’till they get punished then walk the line.

If companies want to become more social, at least in their online marketing, it’s time to look at those who are playing in the social arena not just assign a cubical dweller to learn on the go.

©2010 The Buzz Forge. All Rights Reserved.

Here’s a key point for up and coming managers to remember…Great managers are rarely excellent at the things they manage.

My first management opportunity came at 30. I stunk. By age 32 I was above average. At age 35 I had become a decent manager, at least I believe so. The key came when I accepted the fact that I could not do everything. I was not good at everything and was not the best at most things.

I am far better handling 10 things at a time than one. There are too many details to deal with in the one. I learned and accepted that my detail abilities were not my greatest talent. One of my soccer coaches once told me “You’re not the best player we have but you see the field and how the game is developing quickly and can put the ball where it needs to be better than the others.”

Once I accepted my limitations and focused on my talents it all came together. I surround myself with detail people, those who love to handle the i dotting and t crossing.

If you are the star seller in an organization and have aspirations for management think about your skills and your managers skills. Look at what your manager deals with day to day. Are they the things you enjoy?

We often see VP of Marketing or VP of Finance people elevated to President or CEO only to crash. We forget that they are the VP of Marketing because they are excellent at Marketing and relating to the people in the Marketing department. They don’t relate to penny pinchers. They don’t handle HR or company PR well.

Great coaches, great managers, generally are not star players. They have broad talents rather than highly focused ones. They have high assist numbers and low scoring stats. They relate to teammates better than cameras.

Great managers are rarely excellent at the things they manage.

©2010 The Buzz Forge. All Rights Reserved.

The truth is, it doesn’t matter what station or what media you advertise in. OK, that’s a blanket statement and is not 100% true but for most of the local businesses in the world, and most of the national advertisers, it doesn’t matter.

Put your money in print and if you do it well you will prosper. Put all of your budget in TV, Cable, Radio, Interactive….do them well and you will prosper. The problem comes when your advertising is not done well. And it usually is not.

©2010 The Buzz Forge. All Rights Reserved.

I have seen and heard no less than 14 economist, market experts and business gurus pinpoint mid year as when we’d see an upward turn in the economy. Terms like “A damn of cash.” have been used to describe the current situation. That damn will break eventually and mid year is when most are predicting it to happen.

That means that by planning now you can get a jump on your competition. Right now the cost of voice, how much it costs to reach customers, is extremely low. Why? Because 1) media has discounted inventory 2) fewer of your competition is advertising. Instead of competing with maybe 10 businesses the number that is actively advertising is maybe 4.

You can reach more people more times more cheaply!

This downturn will end. Some will emerge stronger, larger more wealthy. Others will fade away. Choose your path.

©2010 The Buzz Forge. All Rights Reserved.

It’s not necessarily a profound Christian statement, although I can see it’s relevance in a path following Christ, but rather a great rule to live by.

You Get What You Put Into It.

How obvious yet how often forgotten or worse ignored.

I look at my life, my relationships with family and friends, my work, my play, and I feel like a lazy bum. It’s not that I haven’t been successful in work but I am no where near my potential, AND I KNOW IT!

A look at my relationship with my wife and kids shows me how far from WOW I am. Everyone needs a WOW in their life. You know, after a hard physical days work your give it a “Wow, I’m tired.” or after a softball game it’s “Wow, that was a great game.”

or “WOW!” and you see as if you’ve been blind.

When’s the last time you said “WOW, that was great!”?

When’s the last time you laughed so hard you clutched your stomach and fell to the floor?

When’s the last time you felt like you gave your all and were satisfied with your day?

It’s been a while.

You Get What You Put Into It.

God promises to return to you ten fold what you give. Do you believe it?

I always thought of that in contributions to the church, tithing and such. I now wonder if it’s not a promise for everything in life.

©2010 The Buzz Forge. All Rights Reserved.