Beware the Stock Photo Vince Vaughn PR Stunt

The Internet is buzzing with the stock photos recently created by actor Vince Vaughn and his cast-mates from a soon-to-be released movie. They are awesome, I must say. Frankly, anything to elevate the standard "office people doing something" stock photos is a win in my book, and these are just great. 

That said, be careful, folks! Be very, very careful. 

According to an article posted on Adweek, "Twentieth Century Fox has teamed up with iStock by Getty Images to create a set of stock photos featuring Vaughn along with co-stars Tom Wilkinson, Dave Franco and others." In fact, you can get these photos absolutely free through iStock Photo (owned by Getty). 

Many marketers, former marketers, and aspiring marketers are going nuts over these. I mean, really, how fun would it be to have Vince Vaughn or James Franco in your next mailer, or on your website, right? 

Stop! Stop! Stop! Don't do it, I beg you! 

Here's why, and this is important: these images are licensed for "editorial use only."

If you put one of these fabulous shots on your website, you could be violating the Getty licensing agreement. If you use one of these stock photos on a mailer, or a billboard, or an advertising poster you hang on your wall, you are definitely violating the Getty licensing agreement.

You could get so sued.

You can use these images in a newspaper or magazine article, on a blog or website for descriptive purposes, or in a non-commercial presentation. You cannot use these images in any kind of promotional material or advertising, in the creation of products for resale (don't put these images on tee shirts or coffee mugs, for example), or for any "advertorial" purposes. (To see the exact language from Getty/iStock, go here.)

Since a website is usually used for promotional purposes, I don't understand why websites seem to be on the "permitted" list. I would guess that you could use a photo to support an article or a post, but not in your front-page slider, but I could be wrong. Yeah, don't think of this post as legal advice. Get your own. 

Here's the thing: Getty has a reputation for finding their images that are not properly licensed, and sending letters filled with legalese to those whom they feel are in violation of their licensing agreement. Here's a good article about that topic. My takeaway? Even if you don't end up in court, you could end up paying a hefty sum to Getty.

So.... be careful. Don't go so nuts over these refreshingly innocent stock photos starring some major movie people, and you'll be fine. Just remember, the Getty could be watching for missteps and pouncing on us all like the little mice we are. 

Oh, if you want the pics yourself, you can get them here. Looks like they are releasing them four at a time. 

In terms of PR, I think the team at Unfinished Business (there, I finally said the name of the movie) did a great job coming up with this. Let's not give Getty any excuse to tarnish their good work by sending nasty-grams for unlicensed use of these images.

Sell the Steak by Making It Sizzle - Winning Proposals

As I was reading through a professional services proposal this weekend, I was struck by how ... well, matter-of-fact it seemed.  A perfectly serviceable proposal, it was a professional recitation of fact, scope, and deliverables, couched in a layer of explanation where required.  It may or may not win the business.  It did not overwhelm me with the feeling "I have to hire these people!" or "This company is the only one that can solve my problem!"  This proposal is (to tie back in to the title of this article) a steak, on a plate, with a little garnish of parsley.

If the organization does not agree that every single thing we put in front of a client or prospective client is Marketing, there's a fundamental issue that must be addressed.  Here is the issue:  Every single thing we put in front of a client or prospective client is Marketing.

Would you trust an organization with a badly constructed proposal to build a software system for you?  Does a proposal filled with misspelled words leave you filled with questions?  I once worked with a client who had issued an RFP, and when the responses came back, he threw out two without even reading them.  One had misspelled the name of his company, and the other had misspelled his name.  His comment?  "No attention to detail; don't need them working for me."

Every single thing we put in front of a client or prospective client is Marketing, and every detail is important.

In many organizations, Marketing gets input to a proposal before it is sent to the potential customer, yet I have found that Marketing's input is typically restricted to ensuring that the appropriate marketing language is included - the About Our Company section, perhaps the references, and of course the overall look and feel - fonts, colors, logos, etc.  Perhaps another party proofreads the proposal, ensuring that scope and deliverables match, that the project plan accurately accounts for all of the scope items, that the proper rates have been used.

Who is responsible for making it sizzle?

This is the rise of the specialty marketer: the marketer who understands the industry, the offerings, and the competition enough to create language within the recitation of fact, scope, and deliverables that will add the sizzle to the steak.

"The proposed approach represents a paradigm shift in the way that X Organization has been doing Y task.  By undertaking this shift, X Organization will be positioned to leapfrog the competition, executing faster, with greater agility, using Z process." 

"Challenges with the current system include A, B, and C, which will be negated by Z process, ensuring a smoother delivery of services to X Organization's constituents."

"Based on our experience with similar organizations, X Organization should expect to cut Y task time by half."

These claims should not be lofty, unsubstantiated, or sales-y, and, while the standard proposal language must obviously include appropriate disclaimers, the meat of the proposal itself should be the written equivalent of a platter of sizzling steak fajitas being carried past you in the restaurant - hear it, smell it, and you want fajitas, don't you?

There's more. 

Salespeople, technologists, proposal-writers in general lose sight of the possibility that the proposal will need to stand on its own after it has passed from their hands.  Someone will inevitably be reading it who has never heard your presentation, never witnessed your sermon, who has never heard of whatever it is you are selling.  To these people, a steak pretty much looks like a steak.  It is incumbent on the organization - whether with a specialty marketer or another articulate party - to ensure that the proposal stands apart from the noise by making a noise of its own - a sweet, fragrant, sizzle that will stay with the proposal no matter where it goes or who reads it.

How do we make it sizzle?

• Appeal to the heart of the problem being solved, in language relevant to the business of the organization to which you are proposing.
• Make your understanding of the issues completely obvious within the language of the proposal.
• Sell to the "fourth level" - to your customer's customer - in language that is relevant to them.
• Ensure that benefit expectations, and how your proposal addresses them, are clearly articulated.  I like to use "Critical Success Factors" for this.  How will you know if the project has been successful?  Typically, the answer will be "if we overcome challenges A, B, and C," right?
• Call out past experience and past successes - "In similar organizations, we have seen these results."  Use the phrase "based on our experience" where it makes sense.

You know the subject, you know the problem, you know how to solve it, and you are tremendously excited at the opportunity to work with X Organization to get them to a new level in their business evolution.  If your proposal doesn't give off that aroma, it may be time to get Marketing involved.

The steaks will fly out of the kitchen.

Happy Sales. 

  

Life Lessons from the World of Social Media and More

The original blog post made me howl with laughter.  The uppercut at the end made me think.  The lessons are for all of us:  Don't crap on people.  Don't go head to head with a person you don't understand, don't know, and don't appear to care about.  (If you want to read a good synopsis of the entire matter, go here.)

The short version is that some PR firm sent some left-field pitch to a well known blogger (and no doubt to several thousand others at the same time).  Said blogger, in an attempt to illustrate the irrelevance of the pitch to her, sent back a picture of Wil Wheaton collating paper.  (Yes, you read that right.  It's awesome.)  Said PR firm replied to said blogger, copying in several others at the firm.  Said blogger was prepared to be done, until a VP at the firm hit "reply all" and called her a "f*cking bitch."  Oh, the story is too rich to encapsulate as I am doing - go read it!  Then you will totally understand the grand finale moment, when this fabulous blogger said to the VP at the firm "Stand by for a demonstration of relevance," and proceeded to tweet his stupidity to the known universe.  Oh, the justice of it all! 

I read this back in October when it first came out, and every now and again, I am reminded of it.  We live in a day and age when a customer can be a raving fan, or a raving unhappy customer, and, no matter which one, can jump on the social media soapbox of his or her choice and shout to the world. 

There a ton of lessons to be learned from the interchange cited above.  However, most of them are life lessons, not social media lessons.  In no particular order:

• Don't apologize and immediately follow it up with "but here is why you are wrong."
• Sometimes you start something and you just can't finish with dignity.  Bow out while you still have some.
• Win/Lose is not a winning proposition, no matter which side you are on.
• If you are determined to get into a fight, know your opponent.  (In this case, that would have been pretty easy.)
• Grammar, punctuation, and spelling still count.  Believe it.
• If you throw crap against the wall hoping that some will stick, you also should know that some of it will inevitably splash back on you.
• And finally... (drum roll please).. don't take a knife to a gunfight.

Whether online or in-person, people you know or people you don't, via blog or tweet or Facebook or carrier pigeon or conversation, act with respect.  Treat people with dignity.  Don't compound a big mistake by making a bigger one.  Always make sure your side of the table is clean.  In the old days, your mother would come down on your head.  Nowadays, the world can.

What life lessons would you add onto this list?

What If We Gave It All Away? Build Trust; Build Advocates

Some days everything comes together. 

1. I read a book recently:  The Go-Giver, by Bob Burg and John David Mann.  Wonderful book and a quick read - I read it twice on the plane from Chicago to St. Louis in fact.  The tag line is "A little story about a powerful business idea."  Well worth reading twice. 
2. I was on #socialchat a couple of weeks ago, and the discussion was all about building brand advocates.  As the group got into a discussion about compensating or somehow remunerating brand advocates, I found myself asking why that would be necessary.  My theory:  When you give, you get.  In fact it is the surest way of getting anything worthwhile. 
3. Today, two different tipping points: 
• Never Stop Marketing's post yesterday on "Transparent Marketing," asking the question, What if a company were to actually act in way where it didn't care if everything was public?
• An innocent tweet by @BrentBeshore:  "Getting makes you a living.  Giving makes you a life." 

About nine months ago, at a technology firm, I gave birth to an idea.  "Let's teach people how to use this product better, and let's not charge them.  In fact, let's not sell to them.  Let's just share information."  Someone piped up and said "If we give away the information that makes us uniquely qualified to deliver this solution, we'll be taking money out of our own pockets."  Others seemed to agree.  I suggested that clients, upon sitting in a room for two hours listening to experts share how-to information on a given subject would not suddenly become experts, and in fact, the firm would be creating a community of better-educated users - users who might find out that they need help implementing new features.  It took a little more chatting, but finally the team agreed to try this idea. If it didn't work, after all, they could always stop.

In the nine months since then, the firm has built trust in the marketplace and brand advocates to the extreme.  If this particular type of technology is mentioned in the community, the name of that technology firm is the next thing said.  The team that implements this technology has quadrupled in size, billed revenue has quadrupled, and the firm is being called on to implement this technology all over the country.  It worked.  There was no scorecard and no expectation.  For that reason, it worked.

This is one of many success stories I have experienced and witnessed over the course of my career.  It really does work.  When you give - without a scorecard in your hand, you get.  Show up and help.  Give from your heart.  Give of yourself.  It feels good - and it gets results.

In fact, I'm going to take it one step further than @BrentBeshore did:

Getting makes you a living. 

Giving makes you a living AND a life!

What is your experience?

How Far Into Social Media Do You Have To Go - Really?

It's daunting, isn't it?  You give in to the pressure, sign up for Twitter, and start following people.  You read their tweets, subscribe to some of their blogs or newsletters, and before you know it, you have an in-box full of "How-To" and "You Should" and "Helpful Hints" and "99 Ways to Make {fill in social media platform here} Generate Leads."  Backlinks and track backs, advocates and influencers, blogs, microblogs, and Klout. 

How far into this stuff does the average business really need to be?  Now, fair disclaimer, I am not a social media consultant.  My focus is on bringing effective content and effective branding together into a cohesive marketing approach.  If content needs or should be distributed online, I work with my clients to figure out the best avenues for that content distribution, and, if need be, I will have one of my partners who IS a social media consultant work with my client.  I get that it's important; I just don't feel that it is the be-all and end-all to effective marketing.

That said, a LOT of what is being said about social media is exactly what businesses should be doing to drive client engagement; specifically that social media is all about a conversation.  Whether that conversation takes place in person, via email marketing, on Twitter, or on Facebook has everything to do with the individual business.  Just because it seems that everyone is doing it, it isn't necessarily right for you.

First step - Identify your present customers and your potential clients.  What is your ideal customer profile? What are the characteristics of your perfect customer?

Second step:  Figure out where your perfect customers are lurking.  Are they on Twitter or Facebook?  Are they in the grocery store, or at the Y?  Do they attend certain types of events?  Do they gather with certain types of people?  Are they likely to be social-media-savvy, or are they not?  You might enjoy asking your present customers these questions, and they will likely love answering them.

Third step:  Determine if your customers find you first, then look for information about you, or if they look for information and then find you.  This is important - more important than it seems from the simplicity of the sentence.  When your customers and potential customers need your products or services, and they go online, for what are they searching?

Fourth step:  Don't assume anything, and don't stop doing the good things you are already doing to build customer engagement and brand advocates.

Fifth step:  Figure out if your customers are already talking about you online.  Configure Google Alerts to send you an email when your name is mentioned and Google finds it. 

Sixth step:  Start your journey into social media based on what you find. 

I contend that most businesses don't need to worry about many of the complexities of social media.  Ensure that you can be found.  When you are found, ensure that you are credible.  Engage with your customers wherever it makes sense for them.  Continue to provide value to your customers, and you will continue to be relevant to them.

For the businesses that DO need to be involved in all of the complexities of social media, I know some great people who would be glad to help. 

There's a lot more to this topic.  I'll get into more detail, with some examples, in subsequent blog posts.

In the meantime, have a great day!