Entrepreneurship Advice: Keiretsu Forum

January 30th, 2012

I had a great talk recently with a video producer who has come up with an innovative idea for music fans around the world. Now, I can’t tell you his idea yet, even though it’s actually really exciting, but I can tell you about some advice I was able to offer him. (Also, when the video producer is able to make his business public, I’ll write about it in this blog).

To get up and running, the producer needs to find a place or a way to raise some money to buy all the cameras that are needed for his business to be successful. He needs less than a million dollars, which means that no Venture Capitalist will be interested, because they are looking for much higher numbers to invest. Read the rest of this entry »

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Build Brand Loyalty Through Community Outreach

December 14th, 2011

Building a brand involves connecting with a community that will become loyal to you. That’s especially true when you are a local business relying on consumers in your city or town to uphold your reputation and keep traffic coming through the door.

A community that speaks highly of your business or organization serves to get the word out and convey your key messages. So give them something to talk and tell others about that means something to them. Keep your brand in front of them by telling your story — in a relevant way – through a combination of traditional media and social media.

Tips to help you create the right community outreach.

  • Be sure your outreach to the community is relevant to your target audience
  • Connect what your community cares about with your brand
  • Plan your outreach enough in advance so that your news can be listed in local papers

For Example

Alameda Pediatric Dentistry & Pleasanton Pediatric Dentistry is a good example of how community involvement makes good marketing sense. Recently we helped get the community involved in the dental practice’s Halloween Candy Buy Back event. Sponsored by Operation Gratitude, the event collects donated, unwrapped Halloween candy to be sent in care packages to overseas troops.

Over the course of two and a half weeks, we informed the local Alameda and Pleasanton communities about the event, and the importance of good dental health, through press releases sent to local newspapers, postings on online local news sites such as Patch.com, blogs and radio station websites. We posted about the event several times a week on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn and engaged the dental practice’s community to share the news with their social media and online communities.

This mix of traditional PR and digital outreach resulted in over 500 pounds of candy being collected which is sure to put smiles on the faces of the military troops who were sent the treats.  It gave the children and families who donated Halloween candy a sense of satisfaction. It also is clear proof to the pediatric dental practice that a community supports them and will uphold their brand.

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Posted in Branding, Marketing, Publicity, Social Media | No Comments »

Using Social Gaming as Incentives for Employees

December 9th, 2011

Did you think you had a good understanding of gamification and that it wasn’t right for your company? Well, I attended Converge Cup Silicon Valley, the most recent event put on by ISSMM, the Institute for Social, Search and Mobile Marketing last Thursday. I got a whole new view. 

Kris Duggan, the CEO of Badgeville (http://www.badgeville.com/), gave an really interesting talk on another aspect of social gaming. His talk was on helping to instill Behavior Management. Or as they call it, Behavior Lifecycle Management. In other words, using gamification to incentivize employees to fulfill goals in their strategic plan.

Monetary rewards, yearly salary and bonuses, are always the place that you start as a leader. But research has shown that recognition, if it seems fair, can really stimulate good work.This is something almost any company can use.

Scott Schnaars, a Director at Badgeville, gave great examples of social gaming that can really energize and focus your team. And the nice thing is, this can work with a team that is all over the country (or all over the world).  ISSMM has put on very stimulating conferences based around Social Media and Mobile Marketing. See you all at the next ISSMM event, K1 Speed Executive Roundtable in February.

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Posted in Issues Management, Marketing, Social Media | 1 Comment »

Beyonce Asks: Fix My Website!

November 23rd, 2011

This is perfect timing. Right after our last post on this blog where we talk about what is the important rule when designing a website, Beyonce shows that she understands! She wants a website that tells her story in images and words– her brand! The website she has now is basically a blog, and it doesn’t represent her brand. That’s what we make sure our clients understand– our goal is to tell your story -your brand- effectively to your core audience, the people you want to influence!

Here’s some of her story…

“Beyonce herself hates the website because she doesn’t think that it looks like who she is as an artist, someone who likes fashion and art and photography and travel,” said one executive familiar with Ms. Knowles’ plans. “She has all sorts of interests and wants to communicate that,” said the person, adding that the star wants the new site to be “daring and forward-thinking.” Click here to read the whole article in AdAge.

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Four New Websites from The Placemaking Group

November 22nd, 2011

Here are four of our newest websites designed and developed by our team here at Placemaking Group. We built these for our clients with one important rule. This rule is a key to making a successful website. The rule is to understand who you need to talk to and being able to communicate the story that you want your target audiences to know about. It’s not good enough to just have functionality in a website. It has to talk to the people that you are trying to influence. So, click on any of the website images, and read the stories that reflect our clients’ brands. You’ll see how we’ve incorporated website content and functionality to match the unique needs of each client’s customers.


Interior Designer Website
Real Estate Development Website

Mortgage Company Website
Real Estate Community Website
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Social Media is Perfect for Event Marketing

November 6th, 2011

Social media is perfect for event marketing because, if done well, it can convey a real sense of the event. And that creates a sense of excitement and increases attendance. Done well is the key.

Hard work is more important than a large budget. The most successful promotions look easy. That’s because behind them is a lot of thought, preparation, planning, hard work, attention to details and more hard work.  Here are some tips to make it work.

Photo of the Astounding Electric Magic Elixir Medicine Show captures a glimpse of the silliness and fun of the Gold Rush Days event in Old Sacramento.

Read the rest of this entry »

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With Social Media, Focus on your Story.

October 30th, 2011

When you’re thinking about how you use Social Media, doesn’t it seem like a huge question as to what to talk about?

This is one of the concerns often reported to us. People aren’t sure what they should be posting, blogging and tweeting.

At Placemaking Group our advice is to stick to your message! Your brand message is the key to your social media. Your job as a marketing professional is to keep the brand message clear and consistent. In the many social media avenues (LinkedIn, Facebook, blogs, YouTube, etc.)  it’s easy to get distracted. And, of course, when a question comes up, you have to field it. But, when you are posting and blogging make sure you are telling your company’s story.

Mike Ogden, Digital/Senior Writer, Marketing Communications Specialist at PlattForm Advertising, keeps it to 3 points…

  1. Keep the mission and values in mind. This will flavor your Tweets and Status updates.
  2. Keep your audience in mind. What are they challenged by?
  3. What are the hot button issues going on in the industry? These will be the conversations. When you weigh in socially, you need to represent the company’s positions.

With social media you are potentially dealing with details constantly. My advice is to make sure your story and message is clear and consistent.

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Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can Transform How You Lead

October 17th, 2011

Can open leadership, using social media as a prime tool, help you to get your team and clients together with your plans for the future of your company?

As I mentioned a couple of months ago, I had the pleasure of giving the lunch keynote talk at The Institute for Social, Search & Mobile Marketing (ISSMM) Executive Roundtable. And a big part of the pleasure was getting to listen to Charlene Li lecture and facilitate the meeting. Charlene is one of the true experts in how to effectively use social media. Her original book, Groundswell, is a best-selling primer on the subject. Open LeadershipNow her new book, Open Leadership, is a great place for CEOs to learn how to use social media to be more effective leaders.

She begins by letting you decide if you’re willing to run your company using open leadership. If you’re not, then social media won’t help you. But if you are, then you’ve come to the right place. She gives some great examples of open leaders, including Captain Michael Manazir, who helms the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. She shows how an effective leader must be open, even when running an aircraft carrier! She describes the benefits of openness with numbers, including an ROI. Read the rest of this entry »

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Make Your Downtown Famous with a Seven Step Marketing Plan.

October 9th, 2011

How do you make your Downtown Famous? How do you get visitors to shop and eat at the restaurants? How do you get businesses to move in?

California Downtown Assoc.

Miriam Schaffer and I are going to be giving a talk about those issues this week at the California Downtown Conference in Riverside, CA. If you haven’t registered for the conference yet, there is still one day, so do it!

We at the Placemaking Group have had the privilege of helping to make many downtowns famous. When we start the process, one of the first things we do is to get the group who hired us to understand that there are specific things that make your downtown different from the downtowns of neighboring cities. Sometimes if you’re too familiar with your own downtown, you don’t even realize the differentiators. That’s where we come in. We’ll talk to the people walking in your downtown. We talk to the businesses that are there. We’ll listen to what is said and what isn’t said. Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted in Advertising, Issues Management, Marketing, Publicity, SEO, Social Media | 1 Comment »

CONVERGE 2011

September 6th, 2011

Many people told me that they wished they had gone to the last ISSMM event a few months ago at the Wente winery. Well here’s their next event. It should be a really instructive conference called CONVERGE 2011.

And the exciting news is, you can get an additional 10% discount if you put in PMG (that’s for Placemaking Group!) in the discount code box! I’ll be facilitating a panel at the event, but look below at everyone else who will be there. Quite star-studded! See Registration for Agenda, Speaker Profiles, and discounted hotel rates. Read the rest of this entry »

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