Looking for some authentic word-of-mouth marketing? Check out this site for Snakes on a Plane.

Bob Pritchett (Fire Someone Today) is hosting this week’s Carnival of Marketing, check it out.

This week I’m hosting the Carnival of Marketing and I’ve got 7 great articles to share with you. Enjoy!

Seth Godin – Marketing in the Car Business

“We should not try to educate or teach the customer about what he or she wants.” Oh.

The Fast Growth Blog – Are Your Employees “Raving Fans?”

“Think about all of the money spent on marketing and sales — all of the ?customer outreach? initiatives, loyalty programs, special offers, etc. How much money is spent to support making employees ?raving fans? of the employer?”

Jim Logan – Stop Playing It Safe, you’re Boring Us To Death!

Odds favor that whatever your competition is doing to build their business is exactly what you shouldn?t be doing.

Career Intensity Blog – Get A New Job Offer Every Month

Creating opportunity is not just a good idea ? it is your responsibility. How many job offers (or new pieces of business for you entrepreneurs) have you received this year?

Fire Someone Today – Authentic advertising, cyborg style

A pretty girl wearing a video screen is as blatant a ?look at me!? advertisement as there is. But it is also a chance to tell a story, because unlike a poster or billboard, your live saleslady can actually talk to your customers. Maybe she should get to try the product.

7CM Marketing Blog – The Importance of Using Keywords In Blogs

Choose a few keywords or short phrases, and work them into your blog entry. Don’t over do it! Nobody wants to read a blog that’s just an obvious set of keywords.

…and to finish off the day with a post with some Easter Sunday relevance:

Church Relevance – How to Find a Church for Easter

?If I never went to church, how would I know when to show up on time??

…and there you have it. I hope you enjoy these posts as much as I did. Next week be sure to stop by firesomeonetoday.com.
[tags]carnival of marketing, business, marketing, advertising[/tags]

I apologize for my absence. I was gone for 4 days, had work, school (midterm, presentation), and tonight I had a concert. In short, I’ve been oh-so-busy lately.

But that’s not why I’m writing. I’m here to remind everyone that the Carnival of Marketing will be hosted by yours truly next week. At first, I didn’t even understand what a Carnival was but it’s quite simple: write something insightful, new, and/or interesting and I will gladly spotlight your post right here. The point is, I host the carnival and you’re one of the rides. People stop by here because they know I’ve collected the best rides the internet has to offer.
For example, a few weeks ago I wrote Market to College Students. I was in the Carnival and I received a bunch of traffic/subscribers.

So, if you have something you’d like for me to mention just shoot me an email ([email protected]). It’s really that simple. I look forward to the submissions!

[tags]carnival, marketing[/tags]

Dear Marketers,

Want to know the best way for me to hate you, your product, and anything remotely related to you? Put a stiff page in a magazine. If you’re really going for the gold, make sure I can’t remove it. I want to be reminded of you everytime I try to place my magazine on a surface. Any surface.

Seriously, that’s exactly why I bought the subscription.

It’s not like I ever try to have the magazine open very often. But when I do, make sure your ad is in there keeping the pages from easily turning. That shows class.

I don’t care how much exposure the publisher promised you. Send them a message: you don’t want your future clients to hate you. I think it’s a solid message to send.

Think about it: do you really want to be associated with tearing, ripping, anger, and my trash can? Sure, your ad was seen once…

…but we all know how quickly that ended.

Thanks for listening!

This week’s Carnival of Marketing is up over at Mike’s blog: Simplenomics. I happen to be featured but the other 6 are far more link-worthy than I am.

Despite what most marketing consulting groups will tell you, marketing something to college students is not that easy. Sure, we have thousands of dollars in disposable income (for the most part). But, here’s the kicker: we don’t want to spend it on you…

…yet. It’s becuase today’s 18-24 year old still fits the ‘starving student’ model. Yes, some may have more of Daddy’s money to play with than others and that’s fine. There are also a number of students that work while maintaining little-to-no liabilities. I might fall under that category (and I might have just bought a 24″ LCD monitor). But I digress…

My point is, students look for value and they typically find it on a price tag. I can’t begin to explain how many friends will tell me “Wal-Mart is evil”. The second I tell them where I bought my $20 bookcase I’m pretty sure I can actually hear a paradigm shifting. They think to themselves “oh no…” because they just realized they can save their money when purchasing trivial things like a bookshelf. Sure, it may be essential, but as long as it shelves books they’re happy. Student’s like cheap.

What if you’re not in the “cheap” business though? How do you market yourself to these same individuals? Free stuff. It’s so simple, really. You attract people by providing the most value for the least money. Say you hand out slices of pizza all day at the student union. From my perspective I see the following: Value: $3, Cost: $0. Let’s do some math:

3 / 0 = Error

Handing out your $3 slices of pizza is so valuable that modern mathmatics can’t even compute it! I’ll let you ponder that for a moment…

Seriously, we’re smart people. We notice little gestures like this. The majority of us are loyal to those who treat us well. Coupons are great but we’re not going to go looking for them. You have to hand me the 20% off discount as I’m looking to buy something. Dell has mastered this art and, well, you know the rest of the story. But, keep in mind: if you hurt us, we’ll be sure to let people know…

In fact, we’ll let them know pretty freaking fast. Facebook, MySpace, AIM, GIM cellphones and blogs keep us connected to our friends even when we’re asleep. Friends trust each other, too. Why else would Dave Balter be making so much money?

Our constant connections coupled with high levels of trust result in powerful word of mouth marketing. Students are busy. It’s easier to have a friend-who’s done the research-to let us know what he found. With that said: your first impression may end up being three, four, or a hundred.

Let’s review:

• Students have money, but they need a good reason to spend it.
• Students are, for the most part, cheap. They like free.
• Once you impress some students with cheap, they’ll tell their friends.
• Their friends will make a decision based on the message you provided the first student with.
• You will then reap the benefits of impressing just a few, influential students through additional sales.
• You don’t want to violate trust, college students are smart. Many even smarter than you.

So, no, it’s not as easy as putting an ad in a college paper. It’s certainly not going to help you if you mail us some crap (email, facebook messages, direct mail). What’s the best thing you could possibly do? Host an event.

It’s as simple as a party. Show me a good time and I’ll show you my wallet. Talk to me as if I’m a real person, I’ll tell you the truth. Show me a movie for free and I’ll have money to spend on your concessions. Give me great prizes to win and I’ll pay attention. But, the second you abuse any information I give you… we’re through.

[tags]college, marketing, students, word of mouth[/tags]

Sure, Target puts a few red targets on their roofs and gets a little buzz. But, what if they somehow incorporated this 3D awesomeness into their stores? Who says marketing can’t be fun?