Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

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Did You See the Netflix Movie that Bombed?

Filed Under Branding, Business Life, Customer Think, Marketing, Strategy | 1 Comment

As a business owner, you oftentimes have to put things out there and see what sticks.

What does stick can prove profitable, while other attempts can fall on deaf ears. Anyone remember the new Coke?

For business owners, effectively communicating with your customers and potential customers can mean the difference between turning a profit, breaking even and even going under.

Upset Customers are bad for Business

As many of you know, Netflix alerted subscribers a few months back that it was going to employ separate prices for its DVDs-by-mail and streaming video plans.

The end result would be a significant price increase for its customers, with the least expensive bill for customers who sought both services going from $10 to $16 a month. While $6 a month doesn’t sound like much, that is $72 a year that could go for other indulgences.

With the price increase kicking in this month, many Netflix subscribers indicated they would be turning elsewhere for their DVD and streaming video needs. Upset customers bombarded the Netflix site with countless comments, along with a barrage of tweets via the hashtag #DearNetflix.

According to the most recent data, it appears a significant number of those subscribers are holding true to their word.

Netflix recently trimmed its subscriber forecast for the present quarter, reporting it now expects to conclude the period with 24 million customers, some one million less than it had forecast just a few weeks back. When Netflix ended its second quarter at the end of June, it reported having 25.6 million global subscribers.

So, how did Netflix respond to this issue in hopes of righting the ship?

In yet another public relations nightmare, the company said it was separating its DVD mail rental and video streaming services, renaming the new DVD service Qwikster (the streaming service will remain under the Netflix name). Individuals who choose to both rent and stream videos will be required to log in to a pair of different sites and get two different credit card charges.

Research Ahead of Time Potential Fallout Issues

Not only have many subscribers expressed their dismay with the price increase, but they also were probably left scratching their heads as to the new name for the service.

As it turns out, Netflix apparently did not do enough research on the name Qwikster ahead of time, or officials would have known that the Qwikster name on social media venue Twitter is currently held by a male whose avatar is that of Elmo displaying a joint. Oops!

So not only now do you have a company upsetting many of its subscribers by hiking the costs for its popular service, but now you leave them confused with the name change, not even apparently taking the time to check and see who might hold that label on one of the most popular social media sites. Again, oops!

Due to the company’s recent gaffes, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings issued a statement to customers upset with the price increase for the service in recent weeks. “I messed up,” he remarked on the company blog and in an e-mail to subscribers. “I owe everyone an explanation.”

Running a successful business takes time and effort, but above all, the ability to always be one step ahead of the game.

In this instance, it appears Netflix and the changes it enacted, are getting tuned out by a large percentage of customers.

Photo credit: benzinga.com

Dave Thomas writes extensively for business.com, an online resource destination for businesses of all sizes to research, find, and compare the products and services they need to run their businesses. Among the topics he writes about is business cash advance.



Deeper Shade of Viral: How 1 Brand Hero Delivered an Irresistible Experience

Filed Under Branding, Community, Successful Blog | 11 Comments

A True Story of How to Win a Life-Long Advocate

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Now, more than ever, growing brands search for connections that mean something to their customers and the people who help their business thrive. The good ones reach to their employees to put human values inside their value proposition.

That isn’t a new thing.

And the brands that long for their messages to “go viral” might check out this story. It happened over 25 years ago, yet it’s so powerful, memorable, and moving that I think of it and repeat it every time I see the FedEx logo. I still choose FedEx over the others, because of this one event. I still forgive their occasional mistake as an accident. That’s a lifetime customer relationship and since I’m still telling the story, in my book I’d call that hugely viral.

In the last century, when Federal Express was at its peak performance. I was working at home right after my son was born. The work in my hands was on a drop-dead deadline that day. I called FedEx for a pickup because I was not going to be able to deliver the package myself.

We were in a suburban disaster – a fast-rising flood. Hours after the rain, we watched from our second-floor balcony as the water from the Des Plaines River in the parking rose above the door handles of our only car. My husband, my infant son, and I were waiting to hear when we’d be evacuated and for how long?
Then the phone rang. It was the FedEx man. He was on a high spot across the street. “Ma’am, I have a delivery. Do you need this package today?”
“I’m sorry. Yes, I do and I have one going I out too,” I explained the uncertainty, the deadline, and the evacuation.
“No problem,” he said. Then he confirmed the entrance he should use. The door was on a slope above the water line still.
I hustled to ready what I had to send. Then I went on the balcony, just in time to see a young man holding package over his head, walking through water that was up to his chest. Amazing! The neighbors on their decks were as transfixed with the image as I was.
We met at the door. We did the business of trading packages. Then he went back out. As he stood on the stoop, he thrust the new package up over his head and before he set off through the flood again. He surveyed my neighbors with a huge grin and shouted,

“We not only deliver. We pick up!”

He Delivered More Than a Package

That day that FedEx man delivered more than a package to the people who saw him. He delivered hope and trust to folks silently wondering when they would be evacuated, how long it would last, and what would be waiting when we got back.

He was a hero to people who were in distress. He saw what he saw – opportunity not a problem. He knew what he knew – he could use his power to refuse or do something outstanding, heroic, and incredibly cool. And with a huge and generous grin, he walked through four feet of water to make things work better than they were supposed to work.

He was living the values of company. Their tagline at the time was “Relax, it’s FedEx.”

If that same experience happened today, all of us watching the FedEx man in the water would have taken pictures and video with our smart phones. In seconds, we would have uploaded the pictures and video with the caption “We not only deliver. We pick up!” to YouTube, Flickr, Twitpic, and Twitter. Within seconds, thousands of people would be sharing his quote with the picture or the video.

What the FedEx man did was irresistible and shareable by definition. He made everything easy. He made me feel good about being part of it. And he left me with a story that I’m proud to pass on. It’s an unforgettable feeling when a guy is willing to trek through half a block of river water for you. You can bet I became a fiercely loyal FedEx customer.

FedEx built their brand on a company community of employees who were the value in their value proposition. It’s hard to compete with a community like that. The true stories about FedEx hero employees made them the company we trusted, relied on, and got to know as our friends. We didn’t think about other options until the heroes started to look the same as “the guys” who delivered packages from the lower priced brand.

And because my experience with the FedEx man actually happened, I’m still sharing it 25 years later.
Will you even remember the Old Spice Man in 5 years? Human relationships are a deeper, more lasting shade of viral.

Whether you’re a brand of 1 or 1,000,000, the deeply loyal relationship you make with your customers can outlast any single offer, product, or incident.

What is your brand doing to build a winning community?

Be irresistible.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Need help building that winning community? Work with Liz!!

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What I Learned from an Irresistible Billionaire Entrepreneur

Filed Under Branding, Marketing, Successful Blog | 13 Comments

Listening and Learning



When a good heart thoughtfully shares experience, listening comes easily. I know because last week I had the privilege of hearing Clay Mathile tell the story of his life as an entrepreneur. It was a quiet, late morning conversation that included my friends and colleagues, Barry Moltz and Anita Campbell. We were in a small meeting room at Aileron — the $130 million campus that Clay built to pass his success on to others.

“Entrepreneurs can solve almost all the problems we have in this country, in this world,” said Mathile in an interview with CNN Money.

The Iams Vision and Focus

What Clay talked about while we were with him was the vision and the focus that built the Iams Corporation. His vision was clearly stated in a story.

Clay was born in the poorest times of American history, in one of Ohio’s poorest cities. From the time he was 6 he wanted to own his own company. He wanted that company to be the best at what it did and to provide jobs. In 1970, when Clay was considering a job for Iams, the little known pet food brand was having difficulties. While thinking about the opportunity, a thirty-something Clay visited a relative at nearby farm shared some time and left a bag of the dog food for the man’s farm dog. (Anyone who’s seen a farm dog knows that’s a dog luxury!) A few weeks later when the Iams decision was pending, Clay returned to the farm to have another conversation. The dog that ran out of the house was so remarkably changed that Clay didn’t recognize him! This dog had a beautiful, bright eyes and high energy!

Clay’s thought was “This is what people want for the pets they love!” His decision was made. The change in that dog became the vision that turned around a company. Mathile joined Iams in 1970, helped turn it around and took complete ownership of it in 1982. In August of 1999, Clay sold Iams to Proctor and Gamble for $2.3 billion.

The rest of the Iams story includes years of learning.

“It took me 5 years to realize that I was selling a dog food that dogs wouldn’t eat in a package that consumers wouldn’t buy,” Clay said in humility of someone who loves learning. “Then it took me another 5 years to fix the problem.”

But throughout our extended conversation, the themes of learning, vision, and focus were inside every answer to every question.

It was clear that everyone shared the same vision … of delivering great pet nutrition to make a difference.

Aileron

Now, Clay has put his money to investing in other people — entrepreneurs who are building their own businesses. The beautiful campus, Aileron, and fabulous team who run it have the vision and the focus to be the ultimate individualized professional management resource for small business owners. I’m paraphrasing how Clay Mathile said it, but his words so reminded me of my dad that I can’t help but think I got the meaning …

There is no higher philanthropy than being an entrepreneur, because entrepreneurs create jobs for other people.

The wisdom of one man changed me in one short meeting. I’m grateful for the contribution I was able to make to the Course for Presidents at Aileron.org in June.

I look forward to going back soon.

Clay Mathile is irresistible.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

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Checklist: Opportunity Is Knowing Your Position on the Playing Field

Filed Under Branding, Marketing, Successful Blog | 6 Comments

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Every commander knows that on the field of battle we want to be on the higher ground. Every brand manager, every business owner should really be thinking the same. In order to grow a brand and business, we have to know our position before we can advance.

Opportunity Is Knowing Your Position on the Playing Field

Position is relational. It’s part property — what we own. If we own more and manage more we become more visible, more audible, more amplified.

Position is part expertise — what we know and can do well. Keep learning. We’re constantly offered opportunities to learn new strategies, skills, and techniques. It’s also good to teach. Teaching builds position and visible expertise.

Position is part perception, packaging and communication — what others see. If we live the values we want to be, then people see, perceive, and know us as those values. Do you live and talk a clear message? Do you hear and encourage other people to pass on that message about you?

Position is part the networks and relationships — how we interact with the industry. Do you have a brand and a business that attracts others to you?

Use this checklist to build yourself a view of your current position.

where you stand Are you standing on solid ground? Is your foundation connected and stable?

where you’re seen Are you visible in the places that you need to be to meet the people you want to meet?

where you’re heard What’s being said? Who is listening? Who is talking about you?

where you’re investing How do you invest your expertise and time?

Think through where your brand and your business is right now. Find a question that stopped you, that made you think longer than the rest. Work that first. Once you’ve worked most of them through, you can plan a campaign that truly leverages your position, plays to your skills, and advances your position toward higher ground.

Position is all opportunity. Knowing where we stand lets us see the possibilities of where we can go.

Which question offers the most opportunity for you?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

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Building a Career: Combining a Personal Blog and a Company Job

Filed Under Branding, Marketing, Successful Blog | 5 Comments

When we are talking about building your own career, there is nothing more personal to you than your own blog.  When you are working for a company, there are many different kinds of situations which may cause you to leave or to stay temporarily.  But as you are building your career in the “real world”, you can start picking up your working knowledge and build them into useful information around your own blog in the “virtual world”.

Start building a career around your own blog today!

4 Do’s and 4 Don’ts in your blog while working on your job

Do’s

  1. Ponder about what you have learned today.  Start taking down notes, and build useful information that people will love to read about.
  2. Be an expert in your own topic.  This is your time when you can show off what you have learned.  Even though you may make mistakes at your own job, this is the time when you can learn from your mistakes and blog them.
  3. Start building your community and help people to build theirs by contributing your efforts.  Help others when you are approached if it doesn’t take you much in your time and money.  Be real and treat this like a hobby.
  4. It’s good to leverage on useful software and other people’s services.  You have a job, so start investing time and money in yourself to build a good portfolio!

Don’ts

  1. Don’t be influenced too much by all the hype about making money online. It can cause you to have information-overload syndrome  Good to listen, but just carry on building your blog.
  2. Don’t be fake.  If you are just not that kind of person, don’t do it!  If you are not the kind who will want to excel in your job, you probably won’t create a great blog anyway.  Very soon, your blog may just fade away.
  3. Don’t expect immediate results.  Blogging is just for building personal brand awareness.  If people like what you are blogging about, you will get your audience for sure.  It may take a while for the traffic to be aware of you.  Hence, start blogging if you have the patience to build it one post at a time.

Linking social media back to your blog

There are tons of networking opportunities in the social media through the exposure of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.  Social media brings the world even closer now that we are able to communicate and do business together in two different worlds of ours.

As you are communicating more and more in the social media, people will tend to find your blog if they have connected with you socially via an exchange of messages.  The blog can offer assurance to visitors about your worth in that industry you are in.  

Today, there are a lot of attractive blogging themes that we can leverage on, both free and paid versions.  All we need to do, is to populate our social media profile in our own blog accordingly, and to start blogging!

What may happen when you continue to do this?

  1. You may be able to make some money out of it through the huge audience that you may have created.  There are more and more people who seem to be able to work full time on their blogs just because of what they have shared.
  2. Or, you have actually done yourself a very big favor in your career path because this may lead you into a job opportunity or even a business opportunity!
  3. Or if you have gotten far enough in your blog and your industry, there are tons of businesses out there who are looking for bloggers who are either influential in their blogs, or are experienced in the social media.

Is this for real?

Seriously speaking, it is not easy.  The whole journey can be really tough and unexpected.  As for myself, I am actually perform a full time job e-marketing while I am blogging about what I have learned from my job experience.  In fact, I got my job because I used my blog as my resume!

My job is helping me to learn a lot more about the Internet, making my exposure even far greater than I have thought I would achieve on my own.  And with that experience, I actually “document” them down in a meaningful way in my blogs, and allowing my visitors to enjoy what I have learned so far.

Even if I am not going to be able to make a full time job out of blogging, I still get to know more and more fantastic people (such as Liz Strauss here!) through my online journey.  I really thank God for that.

The whole blogging experience is really a fruitful one for me, and I will continue and do even more than what I am doing today!

My question to all of you: What career values or opportunities have your blog brought you today?  Do share with us, I will love to hear about it  too!

This post was written by Charles. He has been an Internet reviewer since June 2007.  He pours his passion for Internet marketing and Internet branding into his Twitter account actively at @charleslau.

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