College Students Have a Strong Foot Forward, Despite Tough Economy

As a recent alumnus of Bentley University, I attended the career night for Marketing, Communications and Management majors last Tuesday to represent BluePoint Venture Marketing. The event, held twice yearly, serves as a forum for marketing majors and prospective marketing majors of all ages to network with companies ranging from a boutique agency like BluePoint to companies the size of Target, and everything in between. It was a very interesting experience to be at the event representing a company and not the one seeking a job, as I had done in previous years.

 I spoke with freshmen who were looking for information about what BluePoint did,  how I got involved with the company and  where a major in marketing could take them. I also spoke with more  assertive juniors and seniors concerned about our hiring plans, having done a lot of research on BluePoint with polished resumes in-hand. A few students asked for advice as to which major would be the most beneficial if they were looking to pursue a career in PR, what would be the best minor to compliment their major and what PR/marketing agencies look for on resumes.

 Freshman or senior, the one thing all the students had in common was drive. They all had relevant industry experience they were excited to share with me and impressive internships at corporations and non-profits worldwide that they hope to leverage in their next position; they all looked me right in the eyes when they talked to me and they networked like pros (some even waited in line to speak with me), unafraid of the current market conditions. The students I met with had held roles as brand associates, advertising interns at design firms, managers of entrepreneurship organizations, promotions assistants and sales associates.

 As a result of this event, I have a few take-aways that everyone should keep in mind at networking events and when looking for a job/internship:

1. Remember, not all companies participating in a networking event are looking to hire. By making the “job opening” the main objective of your discussion, you come off as having an agenda and do not seem as though you are interested in building relationships. Relationship building and networking is often the key to getting a job.
2. Do your research. It is very easy to point out who took the time to figure out what you do and, surprisingly, not many people take that crucial step. Creating Google Alerts and reading industry news are great ways to prep for a networking event.
3. Even though it is not a formal interview, appearance is just as important during networking events as during an interview. Act like you’re on an interview and dress to impress.
4. If you are looking to make a good impression, speak with recruiters alone instead of coming with a  group of friends.
5. When describing experiences on your resume, be as specific as possible and provide metrics. Answer the employer’s questions: How much? How often? When? (e.g.: I  cut costs by 60% in my department in 6 months).

 With unemployment at the highest rate in decades, taking the advantage of every opportunity to network is crucial to any job search.

 Good luck to all college seniors and everyone else in the job search process.

 - Posted by Danielle Millerick

 

100,001 apps and growing

My son’s iPod Touch can fart in 32 different tones.  A recent visit to the App Store yielded featured apps on everything from finance to survival shooter games. I can find happy hour discounts in 5 cities, but I can’t find a good grocery store app that will help me list items by department. Nor can I find a good expense tracking app for my business.

Apple recently announced that the iTunes Store now offers 100,000 apps. Oh great – that should make things much easier…..

Actually, help is on the way for all us hapless iPhone and iPod Touch users looking for apps we can use. We (the BluePoint team) have been working with envIO networks on the launch of Chorus – a free iPhone app that went live in the appstore today. OK – I’m definitely biased, but Chorus really is the granddaddy of all apps – it’s the app that will help you sort through the clutter to find the apps that are right for you based on what your friends are downloading and using.

But don’t take my word for it. See what the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and TechCrunch have to say about it.

• http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/11/02/app-watch-a-matchmaker-in-a-sea-of-apps/
• http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/friendsourcing-the-quest-for-iphone-apps/
• http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/03/chorus-delivers-customized-app-recommendations-to-your-iphone/

Want to learn more?  Check out the app and if you like what you see, download it for free from iTunes [iTunes link].  Don’t forget to post a review and let your friends know what you think.  Tweeters can go to @ChorusApps and let us know what you think.

– Posted by Alison Moore

Email Marketing Still Going Strong; Social Media Not a Threat

MarketingSherpa just released its 2010 Email Marketing Benchmark Report with information gathered from over 1,400 marketers. The biggest trend to come from this year’s report is the effect (or lack thereof) that social media is expected to have on the future of email marketing. Some of the highlights are listed below.

 What’s gaining importance?

• Competition with social media for recipients’ time and attention (a 48% increase from last year – in 2008 only 23% of marketers said it was important, compared with 71% this year)
• Getting people to opt-in to lists (a 10% increase)
• Measuring and proving ROI of email campaigns (an 8% increase)

Conversely, delivering highly-relevant email content has decreased in importance by 6% and email deliverability has decreased by 5%.

Email marketing budgets are still steady overall…

• Business/financial services saw the biggest increase in email marketing spend, with 51% increasing budgets in 2009; 38% of technology companies increased email marketing spend
• The industries with the biggest decreases in budget included publishing/media and hospitality/travel (18% decline reported for each)

Social media’s impact on email marketing…

• 81% agree that social media has extended the reach of email content to new markets and over three-quarters believe that this has helped increase brand awareness (check out an article from B2B earlier in the year on tips how to do just that)
• However, social media is not aiding in lead generation – 57% of marketers say they can’t prove that social media has helped them generate more qualified leads and 43% don’t think it’s helped grow their email list
• Social media has not “killed” email marketing – yet. When asked how marketers share something from the Internet with others, 78% said they email them the link. Only 22% said they share it through social media tools.

It will be interesting to see if these metrics change next year, although other studies also support the claim that email is here to stay despite the increase in social media usage. A recent survey of SmartBrief on Social Media readers found that 59% say email use has stayed the same despite the growth of social networks and an ExactTarget 2009 Channel Preferences Study found that 75% of online consumers prefer to receive permission-based promotional messages through email—up 3.6% from 2008.

 – Posted by Melissa Coyle

Something Ventured

The beleaguered national and New England venture capital industries have apparently stopped the bleeding. The news yesterday from PricewaterhouseCoopers’ MoneyTree quarterly venture capital report was good, not great, but hey, we’ll take it.  Nationally VC investing increased for the first time in 18 months with the total amount invested in Q3 reaching just over $4.8 billion. Here on our home turf in New England, Q3 saw a small uptick as well with investments of $558,829. This represents the second consecutive quarter in which we’ve witnessed an increase over the prior quarter.

Biotech and clean tech led the way, according to published reports in the venture trades, the Boston Globe, TechCrunch and other media  outlets. Internet investments (remember the Internet?) saw a substantial increase – 42 percent during the quarter.

For what it’s worth, somewhat ironically on the same day that PWC released its MoneyTree data, Sequoia Capital (yeah the guys with the infamous PowerPoint slides last Sept.) announced a $12 million investment in Jive Software.

Now here is the bad news: the quarterly investments both nationally and in the region were actually lower than the same period a year ago.  Does this situation sound just like your money market, 401K or 529 account performance?  Probably so.  The best way to look at the MoneyTree numbers might well be the same way many of us now view our investment and savings portfolios – definitely better than a year ago, but leaving something to be desired and certainly still a ways to go.

It makes one wonder – Is this the New Normal?

– Posted by Tim Hurley

Death of the Handshake?

Want to know my mom’s advice on avoiding H1N1 and other sicknesses? Refuse to shake someone’s hand (or at the very least, disinfect right after). Try as I might, I simply can’t get her to understand why this might not be appropriate and may even be offensive in a business setting where we are expected to shake hands with clients, candidates and associates on a daily basis.

But it got me thinking…what if the impending H1N1 pandemic really is the death of the handshake as we know it. How will people greet each other when introduced – A wave? A wink? A thumbs up? A fist pump?  Maybe it will be common to hear people say, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, but I’m now abstaining from shaking hands.”

Or perhaps nothing will need to be said at all. Maybe items like these from  IAFTAHA (the International Association for the Acceptance of Handshake Alternatives – whose mission is to “promote the acceptance of salutations sans shake”) will do  the talking for us.

All jokes aside, the inquisitive market researcher in me really wants to test it out first-hand (pun intended) and see how people react if I break the shake, but the professional in me never will. So, I turned to the most authoritative sources out there in my quest to seek an answer – twitter and facebook. I created a poll and asked my friends and followers to answer. Check out the results – they might surprise you (you can vote HERE):

I’d personally be happy if someone said, “I’m battling a cold, so I won’t shake your hand.” And if I was the sick one, I’d provide the same courtesy.

Whether the handshake really will decline thanks to fears of catching H1N1 and the seasonal flu remains to be seen. In the meantime, I’ll keep my Purell handy.

– Posted by Melissa Coyle

Do you agree with the poll results? Leave a comment and let me know!

It’s not Web 2.0. It’s not Web 3.0. It’s Simply Life.

I had the opportunity this week to attend a presentation given by Peter Shankman, infamous in public relations circles for founding Help A Reporter Out (HARO), a service that in under a year became the de-facto standard for thousands of journalists looking for sources on deadline.

Investor’s Business Daily has called Shankman “crazy, but effective” – and after listening to him speak for an hour and a half, I have to agree.  I was quickly immersed in his rapid-fire, sometimes tangential, lecture on how HARO was built largely through social media, even before “social media” became “social media.”

When HARO launched in early 2008, it quickly became one of the most successful word-of-mouth programs ever, attracting more than 75,000 members without spending a penny on advertising.

Shankman credits HARO’s enormous success to four basic, yet powerful rules that I think are worth sharing:

1.     Complete and Utter Transparency

According to Shankman, the beauty of social and viral technology is that it allows us to reach thousands of people in nanoseconds. The danger of it? The exact same thing.

In today’s world of real-time Twitter and Facebook updates, blog posts and text messages, it has never been easier to ruin someone’s, or some company’s, day by talking about how they messed up or provided a bad service. Remember how Enron’s downfall began with one Forbes article? Just imagine if Enron happened today.

The bottom line is that you will never NOT mess up. To quote Shankman, “Transparency is the new black.” Just admit it and move on, Obama-style (hint: think Tom Daschle).

2.     Be Relevant

HARO’s average e-mail open rate is 85 percent. Anyone who has ever used a Constant Contact-type service for their company or for a client knows that this is impressive – and almost impossible. So what’s his secret?

I get a TON of e-mails every day – five or six of them being HARO updates. Yet I’ve never NOT opened one. Why? I regularly find media opportunities for my clients, my company, and on occasion, even my friends. His information is relevant to me. 

What a great reminder, as I engage with my clients, co-workers and media contacts, that relevance equals value, and ultimately, stronger, longer-lasting relationships.

3.     Never Underestimate the Power of Getting up Early

Shankman isn’t known for “redefining the art of networking” for nothing. Every morning, he wakes up at 5:00 a.m. and sends personalized messages to each of his HARO Facebook friends celebrating their birthday that particular day. And there are a lot of them.

Maybe advertising and public relations used to be about telling people how awesome you were. Today, it’s so not about that. It’s all about getting others to do it for you.

As a communicator, it’s my call. Am I genuinely engaging with my audience without always requiring something in return?  A phone call, an e-mail or even a hand-written note (crazy, I know), goes a long way.

4.     Keep it Short and Sweet

Unlike this blog post (oops), brevity is best. As a society, we’re embracing bite-sized messages. In fact, the average attention span of a person today is 2.7 seconds – or roughly 140 characters. So, how can I get an audience to pay attention to me? Simple. I must learn how to write for an A.D.D. world, be compelling and keep it short.

That being said, I’ve blown way past my 140-character limit. So thanks to those who’ve read to the end. I hope some of this sticks.  It did with me. Thanks for the reminder, Peter.

 – Posted by Jill Newberry

Taking the Time to Smell the Roses

In the world of PR it seems that we are always planning ahead, we are all “type A” and that is what our clients expect us to do. Whether pinpointing opportunities on editorial calendars and pitching weeks ahead, looking to the next year’s trade events and planning for speaking opportunities and sponsorships, or crafting press releases in enough time for them to go through the corporate approval process – it seems my to-do list is very rarely centered around items with short deadlines and my mind is trained to think in terms of “lead time”.

Well, all this planning ahead makes the days fly by, the weeks turn into months and the months turn into year ends. When I was doing some research the other day it dawned on me, the PR cycle is almost in the end of year pattern with magazines and trade publications planning their “year in review”, “people of the year” and “outlook 2010 stories” and I thought, it cannot possibly be that 2009 is wrapping up!

My parents recently attended a fundraising event for friends of the family whose son became paralyzed a few years ago in a skiing accident. At the end of a heartwarming speech thanking everyone in attendance, the boy’s mother asked everyone to vow to live in the moment at least twice a day, and really be in that moment, because life can change in an instant. Last week, I made the pledge to myself that twice a day I would live in the moment and I have to say, it’s refreshing. From something as simple as noticing the changing colors on the leaves lining the highway as I drive to work and not just focusing on racing down 128, to taking a break on Friday afternoons to have a weekly foosball game with my colleagues and bond with co-workers  (even though my colleagues can tell you I have won only 1 game in the last six months) , to turning off my cell phone when eating dinner with my family each night and I challenge you to do the same and see how your life changes.

– Posted by Danielle Millerick

Unsolved Mysteries: The Lead Gen Disappearing Act

A big part of my job is lead generation. Clients turn to me when they need to “stoke the pipeline” and bring in qualified leads to hand over to their sales team. In a perfect world, the sales team contacts leads immediately, makes sales and exceeds the company’s revenue goals. However, despite the intentions, there are times when no sales seem to close and the campaign is automatically deemed a failure in the eyes of management or the board.

Let’s face it; the lead generation process is not rocket science. You embark on a campaign (maybe direct mail, a tradeshow or email marketing); you identify the appropriate media outlets in which to run promotions; you present a compelling offer (perhaps a webcast, free trial or a whitepaper); you capture leads when prospects register for the offer (custom landing page with name, title, email, etc.); and then you send the leads to sales, sit back and watch the magic happen – right? Wrong.

All too often there is some kind of misconnect that happens as soon as marketing hands off the leads to sales – I call this the “disappearing act”. I’ve run programs that have generated 500+ leads, only to learn that the sales department has only received 20 (or worse, none at all). Sometimes it’s because someone has decided a lead isn’t “qualified” – but no research has been conducted or even an exploratory phone call logged to make this determination. Instead, the judgment has been made simply by looking at the company and title. Sure, sales needs to prioritize the list somehow but imagine how many prospects fall through the cracks this way!

While generating high quality leads is the number one priority for B2B marketers (69% compared to “generating PR buzz” at 33%), the biggest challenge has always been getting sales to follow up on leads. A webcast (eMedia: “Lead Generation for the Complex Sales Cycle”) I attended today enforced a great way to help with this very issue. If you haven’t already, develop a “universal lead definition” so sales will know how to prioritize the huge list of leads you’re about to give them. For some clients, we do this based on an upfront qualifying question asked during the registration process. For others, we do web research to see if the company falls within the client’s target zone and rank the leads based on this. Whatever your criteria is, sales will be much more excited with a prioritized list and is more likely to follow up with 100 Tier A leads first, followed by the 200 Tier B leads and 300 Tier C leads, versus if you just hand them a raw list of 600 names.

And, don’t forget about the leads post-campaign. Develop an ongoing lead nurturing program and reach out to them on a regular basis with simple monthly email updates, new product features, etc. You never know when a lead might turn into an opportunity.

Source: eMedia's “Lead Generation for the Complex Sales Cycle” Webcast, Sept. 29, 2009

That said, it’s important that management and boards remember that marketing is not the only accountable party when it comes to lead generation. Yes we identify, design and execute the campaigns. But it’s up to sales to follow through on each and every lead to determine whether it is qualified or not, and update their progress in the company’s CRM tool so metrics can be applied and the campaign can factually be deemed a failure or success. And if the leads are qualified but still no sales are occurring? Well, then it’s likely a larger business issue and some market research should be conducted to determine if the product/service is something the audience actually wants and needs.

Whether you’re a marketing or sales person reading this, remember that we’re all on the same side and answering to the same authorities. Good money is being dished out to execute these lead generation campaigns, so let’s help each other be successful and push the leads down the pipeline.

– Posted by Melissa Coyle

DEMOfall09: Six Picks

The other day I blogged about some of the really passionate entrepreneurs I met at DEMOfall09 and I referenced the products that caught my eye. While I did not get to dig into all 70 or so companies while I was there, here are a few that I found worth noting:

Waze – This is a way cool, and I think much-needed, application that brings real-time traffic intelligence/information to the masses via the masses (crowd sourcing). The app works on GPS-enabled Smartphones and sends back GPS points as you drive.  The idea is that through the Waze community, traffic, road changes and other information is collected automatically and anonymously. Drivers can also take a more active role by reporting on new situations from their mobile device.   I need this for my suddenly hellish morning commutes and can’t wait to find out when it will work on my Windows Smartphone (they’ve promised Symbian and Win support as of this week). It also supports iPhone and Android.

WhoDoYouKnowAt, LLC – Think of this enterprise app as LinkedIn on Steroids or perhaps more aptly, LinkedIn With Security Layer.  It is a free and private (note: NOT social networking) networking application that allows you to leverage relationships for personal, business or civic gain in a confidential and tiered manner. CEO Lee Blaylock is a guy I’d bet on or want with me in a foxhole.  He developed the application after years working at Oracle, and I think he’s onto something. After all, how many introductions have you ever made or been asked to make via LinkedIn? What makes this app different is a “Levels of Trust” system that allows your online relationships to more accurately reflect those in the real world. With each connection, you can set their “Level of Trust” to reflect your real-life relationship. For example, when sharing a contact’s information with certain contacts, you can choose to remain anonymous. With your more trusted relationships, however, you can choose to share all of your network information.

Traackr – This is a Web 2.0 application for brand marketers, PR and marketing firms and in-house communications professionals. It allows users to harness the gold mine of information in social networks, blogs and Twitter. The application is called “A-list” or “Authority List,” and it helps you identify the people with the most clout so that you can target and track them. The company claims it can provide you a list of the most influential people online for any given subject as measured by the three “Rs” – reach, relevance and resonance. I plan to check it out in more detail soon.

MoLo Rewards, Inc. – This company has developed a wireless coupon application that allows users – via a cell phone – to scan items at the point of sale to instantly redeem coupons or loyalty rewards using either Near Field Communication (NFC) or RFID. MoLo Rewards also will allow consumers to link and join participating retail loyalty programs and earn points for every purchase by simply waving their cell phone in front of the cash register at the time of purchase.  These guys need to lock up some of the top pharmacy chains and then try to tackle the grocery giants. If they succeed, the coupon book goes the way of the daily paper or weekly shopper. CEO Robert Sprogis brought his “A” game to the DEMO stage, which further impressed me.

 

Enthusem – Can direct mail make a comeback? Enthusem is betting it can with a little Web 2.0 assistance. The company has set up an elegant approach to sending very high quality, personalized post cards through an online greeting card site that lets users send personal printed greeting cards that include a URL and a pickup code, which the recipient can type in online to see a custom video, read an extended note, or listen to an mp3 that you uploaded. This is CEO Steve Tingiris’ third company and maybe it will be the charm.

POWR – Believe it or not, these guys are bringing a new hardware solution to market. POWR (Point of Wealth Register) is a kiosk with an ATM-like interface that helps “unbanked” or hourly employees like bartenders, waiters, blackjack dealers, etc. make fast and easy deposits to personal accounts (think 401K or 529)or to make money transfers, pay bills, etc. These guys had a lot of spunk. CEO Doug Lindstrom is a veteran bartender so you know what his “light bulb” moment for his company must have been – many a morning waking up wondering where all of his tips went.  If POWR doesn’t end up getting bought by CoinStar or Western Union, I think they just might succeed on their own.

DotSyntax’s Digsby – If you have not tried it out (I have been using it for about a year), Digsby is an easy-to-use desktop application that helps people save time by managing their IM, email and social network accounts all from one location. DotSyntax unveiled the latest version of its social-media management tool at DEMO, and the new version is geared specifically towards helping solve the Twitter clutter and chaos problem. One of the key new features is a reversal from the Twitter client standard, in which tweet streams are displayed newest first. Digsby shows the oldest first with the logic being that it is easier to read threads from the beginning. I am not sure I agree, and I have yet to check out the new features yet. That’s what weekends are for …

– Posted by Tim Hurley

How “Smart” Are Smartphones?

With nearly 1/5th of American’s using Smartphones today it seems no matter where you go – Disney World, restaurants, even while driving – you see the people constantly checking, responding to email and staying connected to every move of their work life in their personal time. Many people are actually carrying multiple phones now – one for personal and one for professional use – but does this really keep the individuals professional life separate? I think not. Originally embraced by the tech-savvy early adopters, now that the price of smart phones have come way down it seems everyone is using this as an opportunity to stay connected. The constant connectivity is blurring the lines between personal and professional lives and often causing disengagement from loved ones and friends in once romantic, relaxing and work-free environments.
When is the last time you were out to dinner and saw the people seated around you actively engaged in conversation and enjoying their time together? More often than not I see texting, phone calls and checking data feeds. Not only do Smartphones enable constant connection, but also result in professionals working longer hours. It is estimated that Smartphone users, due to their availability beyond typical work hours (checking their phones starting at 7:10 am until 10:00pm on average), work 71 additional minutes a day - translation 15% more per week! That’s 11,360 extra minutes, or 189 hours, a year (cue the dollar signs for all those hourly workers out there).  And, even when Smartphones aren’t used solely for work-Americans spend an average of 4.5 hours per month just browsing on them-a time drain from personal time as well .
Sure, a Smartphone is an important tool to stay connected when traveling, out at client sites and when working remotely, but sometimes knowing when to tune out is just as critical.
- Posted by Danielle Millerick