Relationships are everything.

I credit any success I have as a businesswoman, teacher, author and speaker to this.  I also credit this to being a team member, service-provider to organizations, friend, sister and partner.  I’ve invested a lot of time to reflect on how I met friends, clients, my wonderful Web Marketing Therapy team mates, how I have built my business and watched my passionate professional clients build theirs.  As I define my role models – folks who have rich lives both personally and professionally, there is always one common thread for success:  ”getting relationships”.

You don’t have to be an extrovert to be good at relationships, you just need to know how to “get” relationships (as in making them and growing them).  HOW this is done will vary for each and every one of you.  As I wrote in my book about marketing, there is a fun success equation that I call C.O.U.P.L.E.ing that is applicable for both personal and professional success.  Let this be a good source of motivation to work and live smart (not hard) so you do what you like and like what you do!

The Power of C.O.U.P.L.E.ing for Personal and Professional Success:

Ready for win-win success in relationships?  Get ready to power C.O.U.P.L.E.!

Success is not about what we know, it’s WHO we know.

Take inventory on your ideal clients (the ones who are a pleasure to work with…identify why and put more energy into those relationships). Relationships that you want to have but do not have?  Look critically at why and make steps to change that. Evaluate your personal relationships too (friends, family, community).  Do you have relationships that fuel you?

I’m off to unplug as I recharge into new married life this week – as I do, I am grateful for all of the amazing people I know personally and professionally.

Virtual Marketing Hugs!

Lorrie Thomas, Wild Web Woman and The Marketing Therapist

As I was cruising the internet, I came across this great post on Blogstorm:  Top 10 Viral Marketing Campaigns of All Times. Funny enough, the friend mentioned above had sent at least 6 of these over the years.  I’ll never forget typing in command after command to the Subservient Chicken in amazement at the “magic”  of the internet.

Last year I shared the story of Dave Carrol, one of my favorite accidental viral marketing campaigns who found unexpected exposure and success from a fun diddy titled “United Breaks Guitars“.  He followed up the first video with “United Breaks Guitars song 2” and the final in the trilogy “United We Stand“.   His popularity increased beyond his wildest dreams due to this unfortunate accident!

Get creative and  WORK IT, Wild Web Women and Men!  Perhaps you’ll make the 2010 Top 10 List of Viral Marketing Success Stories!

Ask yourself this healthy business question to put some spring marketing love in the air:

Are your organization’s VALUES out there and are you VOICING them out clearly?

Marketing your values drives your business, sets smart intentions and helps build healthy relationships with your customers, partners and your key audiences! They are ESSENTIAL for your healthy web marketing and if they are not clearly visible in your online presence, it’s time for a web marketing clean up!

Great organizations have VALUES – think about it: why are you in the business that you’re in? What is the purpose of your company, aside from making business? Not only having your values in place, but sharing them and having your own voice as a company is KEY to building your web marketing as it connects you to your audience. Web Marketing Therapy’s principle belief in Healthy Marketing = Wealthy Organizations encompasses the idea that your marketing needs to show your audience that you care and what you care about! WMT wanted to take a minute to share its commitment to great causes close to the Wild Web Women’s hearts and a bit of info on how you can ensure your company’s VALUES really go the distance on the world wide web!

So what do we care about? We are socially responsible – we are dedicated to building meaningful RELATIONSHIPS with our clients and team members by GIVING BACK and MAKING AN IMPACT on the people we work with and our PLANET. True to our values, we are huge fans of keeping the Earth in business and for the past two years have been a member of 1% For The Planet.

1% for the Planet’s organization really has it together in their approach for taking care of our environment by working with businesses across the globe to ensure their generous donation of 1% of their annual sales goes to a good home: an environmental non-profit of their choice. WMT are supporters of all that is eco-friendly out there and we are not afraid to voice our VALUES (scroll down to the bottom of this page to see our member logo – it’s nice, isn’t it?). We don’t have a central office (100% virtual) and we aim to minimize commuting – we connect with like-minded businesses that appreciate environmental responsibility.

We want to offer VALUE to our work by being professional, ethical and innovative in empowering our clients to achieve marketing wellness. We are PASSIONATE about volunteering, staying healthy and GIVING BACK.  We donate our 1% to Breast Cancer Fund (BCF) – a charity close to the hearts of the Wild Web Women. Having a member of our team successfully beat the disease, the Wild Web Women support the Breast Cancer Fund, which works practically to discover the scientific evidence correlating breast cancer and daily exposure to harmful chemicals and carcinogens found in our local environments. Check out the interview below where BCF talks about the amazing success its had with eliminating dangerous chemicals from childrens toys!

We also make use of Charity Navigator (a snazzy database where you can search for U.S. charities of various types and causes and see their organizational efficiently and capacity rating). http://www.charitynavigator.org/

We’ve joined up with these organizations because not only do we greatly value the work they do towards improving our lives and our environment, but we want to make sure everyone is aware of their efforts and why we VALUE them. Sharing our VALUES and voicing what is important to us on the web ensures a subtle, but powerful dose of healthy web marketing! Don’t be afraid to share your values…being professional and passionate do not have to be separate!

Showing what your organization is passionate will attract your ideal clients and help you connect with your customers and have a voice in cyberspace.  Make sure your values are heard – put them out there!

When I am wearing my Marketing Therapist “™” hat, I find I have to re-train professional brains who have fallen too hard for slimy sales pitches or “get rich quick” plans.  When professionals know who they are and what they stand for (and standing for something isn’t making a fast buck) then they are far less likely to be taken advantage of or make poor marketing choices.

Example: I help organizations (small business, entrepreneurs and marketing professionals) implement healthy marketing.  I WILL NOT keep quiet if professionals are being dangers to themselves and others.  I WILL NOT support poor marketing choices and I WILL NOT implement marketing that is not in a smart order.  Strategy first, execution second is my mantra.

My websites www.webmarketingtherapy.com and www.lorriethomas.com share my approach, authenticity and distinct authority.  I pre-quality the right clients, workshops attendees, speaking agents and students.  I also de-tract professionals who are not the right fit.

Like my clients and students, I am also pitched on marketing services.  Because I know who I am, how I generate the right clients and what I stand for, I do not fall for anything that comes across my desk.

I am a healthy skeptic.  I love to learn and love to have my brain opened up to new ideas.  How I choose to implement web marketing (or any marketing) is based on what Web Marketing Therapy stands for, my goals and our long term plan.  I implement marketing based on what will support this.

Remember that web marketing communicates your value, values and creates a voice for your organization.  If you do not know the value you provide to your prospective marketing, what your personal values are and how the web can create a voice for your organization then STOP.

Get clear on your value and values and keep reading this blog to learn how the web supports you in building a voice that brands, builds and boosts your business.

Mid-Winter Groundhog Day reinforces our need for extra savvy business and marketing planning for a fruitful Spring!

Okay, it’s officially mid-winter!  Just as the groundhog has to come out of his hole to see how long the winter will be (based on it’s shadow or not), so do we!  The folklore and tradition of Groundhog Day was created in large part to fill our need for some kind of weather prediction, to help us anticipate and plan for days ahead.  (According to today’s Groundhog Day event, the groundhog did in fact see his shadow –which means there will be six more weeks of winter.)

And, for us as business owners and marketers… the Economic Shadow is also still here!

It’s been a little over a month since the holidays, which were a bit better financially than the year prior for many; but, it’s still very challenging.  There are some hopeful signs for the future, yet we are far from being out “of the woods.”  Therefore, we need to act with more business and marketing savvy than ever before!

We need to do some planning (and planting) in order to have a Fruitful Future ahead…

This means we have to continue to plant seeds, nurture and leverage our resources for smarter marketing.  We need to create more fruitful opportunities for success and greater revenue throughout the year.

Here are 9 Valuable Marketing Tips to Combat the Shadow of a Down-Economy:

1. Maintain & Update Your Website. Invest wisely in your website; these dollars go a long way! (especially relative to other marketing activities). Design your website to help people make effective, informed, and helpful decisions to purchase your product(s) or services. (They need to know, like, and understand you). Update with interactive components for enhancement and optimal Search Engine Optimization.

2. Use Public Relations & Be Creative. It’s a new world of opportunity for cost-effective PR!  (Read David Meerman Scott’s book, The New Rules of Marketing and PR).  You have more newsworthy content opportunities than you realize! — Connect with current day events, create announcements, report on special customer or company stories, etc.
3. Write Articles & Multi-Purpose Them. Create your own website Press Page.  Adjust articles for journalists’ needs.  Send out on-line press releases.  Contact newspapers and media… build relationships.  Everyone knows PR is highly effective advertising and promotion for your business.
4. Reconnect & Reinforce Relationships. Tap into your community and engage in Social Media Networking (at least be in Linkedin and Facebook).

5. Enhance Your Billing Practices and/or Policies. Develop your own “Value-Billing” systems.  Be sure to provide any highlights in the billing that show the full value, time and benefits they received from your product or service.

6. Include Value-Added Services to Build Customer Enthusiasm. It’s always helpful to have some added services or benefits, beyond what’s anticipated to exceed customer expectations and create another level of customer enthusiasm.
7. Create a Helpful Communications Outreach. Find purposeful reasons to say hello –and be helpful! (newsletters, targeted programs/customized services, email, etc.).
8. Adopt a Small Charge for Educational or How-To Seminars. Consider charging a small amount for some educational seminars of value that you may have done free in the past (you’ll get a more secure attendance and will at least garner some income.)
9. Build Real Relationships. Helping people during hard times is something they don’t forget.  –It’s one of those impacting and imprinting opportunities that can build long-term customer loyalty.