by Scott Howard | Nov 6, 2014 | The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, Uncategorized
For #TBT also know as #ThrowBackThursday, this piece I wrote in 2009:
I serve on a few marketing advisory boards and I have noticed how some folks are either confused by, or scared of new technology.
Let’s take some of the mystery out of it.
Technology advances are coming at us faster and faster it seems but they are only tools.
And you have to use the right tools to accomplish the task at hand. A pipe wrench isn’t the best tool to change a light bulb, but you probably could use it.
Before you decide which tool to use in your marketing, keep in mind the following timeless principles:
- The very best marketing method mimics human relationship principles.
- In order to build relationships, you need to have positive contact repeatedly.
- Anything that does not follow these two principles should be examined very carefully before you decide to invest your time or money in it.
For centuries, men and women have gone through a courtship stage in their relationships. Many times, this leads to marriage. And that is one of the ultimate examples of how marketing works.
Yes, there are other outcomes between men and women, ranging from friendship to one-night-stands. But what type of relationship do you want with your customers? I bet if you were really honest with yourself, you would want the one that lasts a lifetime, puts up with imperfections, stands by you even when you screw up, and smiles when they think of you.
In return, you strive to be your best, to forgive when your customer screws up, to put up with their quirks and to go out of your way to serve.
No matter what tool you use in advertising or marketing, follow these principles. They will stand the test of time.
by Scott Howard | Nov 4, 2014 | Really? The Personal ScLoHo, Uncategorized
Today is voting day in the United States of America.
No matter what you think or believe about the state of politics these days, you have an opportunity to vote.
Problem is, not enough people will vote today.
Even worse is the lack of simple knowledge about the whole process.
I asked a friend of mine last week who is very politically outspoken a couple of questions about candidates.
Who can you vote for that will go to Washington and represent you?
She mentioned someone who is running for State Senator, but got his name only half correct. I told her no, he is on the ballot to represent her in the Indiana Senate in Indianapolis but not Washington D.C.
I informed her that Indiana does not have any U.S. Senators up for election this year. She looked confused.
I continued to inform her that in this election, she can vote for someone to represent her in Congress. She thought I was crazy. So I explained the whole system of two houses that make up the legislative branch of the U.S. government. In case you don’t know, here’s the lowdown:
The Senate. Each state gets 2 Senators. They serve 6 year terms. Every 2 years about 1/3 (33) Senate seats are up for election. It just so happens that this is an off election in Indiana for U.S. Senators.
The House of Representatives. The number of Representatives each state gets varies, based on the states population % compared to the entire U.S. Population. Indiana currently has 9 Representatives, each represent a portion of the state. These representatives are commonly called Congressmen and Congresswomen. The geographic area they represent are called Congressional Districts.
Let’s assume you already knew those basics, unlike my politically outspoken friend.
Today you get to cast your vote. Every vote counts as they say. But because not everyone will vote today, your vote effectively is worth more than 1 vote.
If only 33% of the population that is age 18+ votes, then theoretically your vote (and everyone who votes today) is worth 3 votes!
Odds are less than 20% will participate in this years election and so, well you can do the math if you want.
Look if you care about the direction our country is going, or even if it’s just a local issue or office that you care about, don’t just rant and rave about it. Take Action. Today.
by Scott Howard | Jan 18, 2011 | Really? The Personal ScLoHo, Uncategorized
Each of us has a system for doing the things we do. These systems include your morning wake up routine and the various systems we have in place for our work activities.
If the systems and routines we are using in our personal life need tweaking, we often do so without much thought. Setting the alarm 5 minutes earlier, driving a different way to work, all pretty simple.
But what I see a lot of resistance to is changing work related systems.
The bigger the company, the more resistance is pretty common. Too many people involved including the “nay-sayers” who say no to everything; the “Don’t fix it until it’s broken” group who still use AOL; and the other extremes… the ones who want to throw everything out that we are doing and start from scratch, and those that always want to “wing it”.
Each of us are responsible for our own systems, if you work for a big company, and you find a way that conforms to their standards, but also helps you to do your job better, Go For It!
The past few years I have set up a few systems and am in the process of setting up even more in the social media world that I live part of my life in.
When I was the V-P of Communication for the Fort Wayne Advertising Federation, I would create an email that was sent to members and interested parties. I had a couple of templates that I would customize for each month, and then modify slightly as we got closer to the event we were inviting people to attend. The email service provider allowed us to both personalize the invites and schedule when the invites were being delivered.
I post between 35 and 50 blog posts a week. This blog you are reading is updated at least once a week on Tuesdays. Three other blogs get a total of 6 to 7 updates a day! And there is only one way to accomplish this, and that is with a system.
My System is a form of automation. But it requires a personal, hands on touch too.
I can write posts and schedule them to appear online in the future. Currently I have some scheduled for February 2012, which would be really freaky if something tragic were to happen and I met an early demise before they all post!
I usually have between 20 and 120 blog posts scheduled and they will automatically appear online when I have scheduled them.
I could set up an auto-Tweet or auto-post-to-Facebook, or auto-post-to-LinkedIn.
But I don’t want those automated. Instead I want those to be personalized for each of those services, to promote the blog postings in a more conversational manner. And do to the fact that I’m not online when every new post appears on my blog, I may promote it a few hours after it is published.
I urge you to automate when you can, but beware of being too impersonal.
I also urge you to review what works, and what doesn’t. You may be too close to your own situation and need someone without an insiders knowledge to challenge your thinking and challenge the status quo.
Are you ready for that?
If you are in the Fort Wayne Indiana area, contact me. If you are outside the area, I have contacts that I recommend. My email is Scott @ ScLoHo.net
by Scott Howard | Jul 6, 2010 | ScLoHo Sales Tips, Uncategorized
The easy ones sometimes aren’t.
Unless you are prepared and know what you are doing.
Around the group of radio stations I work with, I am the fix-it person. About four years ago when I moved into management, I took over our Hip-Hop Station and increased sales to hit our budget within 4 months.
Then I took over the sales management of a different station with the same result… 4 months later, it was on budget.
April of this year, we launched a new station and by June, it was on budget. Now I’ve been assigned a different station and by September or October it will be exceeding its budget too.
The station I’m focused on improving now just launched a morning talk show 3 weeks ago. A well known afternoon talk show host from another station in town became available and after doing research, we brought him on board.
He had a list of about 40 local businesses that he used to do testimonial commercials for and they were our first target for increasing revenues. Yesterday I met with another one on the list and it was fun. Not easy, but fun.
For the past eight years, this local business owner would never agree to meet. The door opener was the talk show host we hired.
When I was ushered into his office, he introduced me to his marketing team, one of whom I’ve known for about 3 years. It was clear that the final decision was going to be the owners, but he wanted input from his team.
I brought with me, a few papers, one with the price for advertising, and a blank contract along with a credit application. I’ve renamed it a terms agreement because it sounds friendlier.
The conversation was back and forth, like a real conversation. I involved everyone in the room, and they basically sold themselves on what I was offering them.
But I’ve seen others who were put in similar situations, who would have blown it. They talk too much about themselves, or why they are better than others. They give unnecessary price discounts, they appear nervous, pushy, and they project zero confidence.
I did the opposite. I even gave them an idea on how to get better results with the radio station they were still on.
Sales shouldn’t be a battle, or a game of trickery. Successful sales people know that their mission is to help solve their customers problems. And when you do it with the right attitude it can pay pretty well too.
by Scott Howard | Sep 27, 2009 | Uncategorized
…in the Kitchen!
Usually Kathy works all day on Sundays and usually I have dinner waiting for her when she arrives home.
Ironicly, she has today off and is going out with friends right now! However, here are a few tips from the DLM Blog:
9 Ways to Cook Lazily and Still Get Rave Reviews
Posted: 25 Sep 2009 01:37 PM PDT
Like many people you’re super busy these days. However, you appreciate the fact that eating out a lot costs a ton and frankly, it’s tough to find restaurants where you completely feel at ease with the ingredients. So how do you balance this? How do you create homemade meals without spending oodles of time cooking? Clearly you’d agree that your schedule cannot tolerate hours of chopping, stirring and simmering on weeknights.
Before expanding your schedule, reducing sleep, or giving into fast food demons, try using these tricks; you can turn out delicious meals with minimum effort.
- Cook from frozen
Most meats don’t need to be thawed before cooking. Boneless chicken breasts or tenders can be grilled, baked or put in the slow cooker straight from the freezer. You can even bread chicken tenders without thawing by running them under cool water to remove the ice glaze, then bread as usual. Fish fillets, such as Tilapia can also be cooked from frozen. Even roasts and larger cuts of meat can be done this way. Pop it in a pan and add the sauce or seasonings, then give them a longer cooking time.
- Slow cook it
There are many excellent recipes specifically for crock pots; they aren’t just for soups and stews. Or convert your favorite dishes for use in the slow cooker. Sliding into dinner time with the food already cooked and waiting to be dished up is a satisfying feeling.
- Skip the measuring
Pour a teaspoon of salt in the palm of your hand. Now try a tablespoon. Learning to eyeball measurements on herbs and spices will save you time in putting a dish together. These ingredients can be added to taste, so exactness is not necessary.
- Combine Steps
Why sauté onion and garlic separate from ground beef, when you can do it all together? Why cook veggies separate from the pasta, when you can throw them into the water during the last few minutes of cooking? Fewer steps mean less time and work for you.
- Skip Steps
In some recipes it’s possible to skip things such as browning meat. Yes, it might seal in the juices, but if its final destination is in a slow cooker it will be juicy enough. Skip the cracker or bread crumb toppings on casseroles and save not only time, but calories too.
- Use your freezer
Cook up several pounds of chicken or ground beef on the weekends, then freeze it to use later in the week. Simmer a big pot of soup one night and freeze the rest for a quick meal later. Double that batch of muffins and pop half into the freezer. All of these tricks speed up the meal prep.
- Use certain convenience items
Go for shredded cheese instead of in a block. Canned diced tomatoes taste better than most grocery store tomatoes. Better still, they are already chopped. Frozen diced onions and green peppers also save time. Instead of chopping and cooking fresh veggies for a stew or potpie, grab a bag of frozen stew vegetables. It’s not quite as good as cooking from fresh, but the difference is not enough to offset the time saved. And you get those little pearl onions in the bargain.
- Choose recipes with only a few ingredients
Using only 3 or 5 ingredients is much faster than gathering and preparing a long list of things. I reject most recipes with loads of ingredients, at least for weeknight dinners.
- Keep it simple
Every weekday meal doesn’t need to involve a main dish, 2 sides, bread and a dessert. Dinners like chicken fried rice or homemade nachos don’t need much to go with them. If you do need something to round out the meal, add a simple steamed veggie, tossed salad or fresh fruit.
By using these tricks, you’ll be able to get dinner on the table in a flash. Just think of all the ways you can use the time you’ve gained.
So, how do you cook lazily? Share your tips in the comments.
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Written on 9/25/2009 by Tiffany King. Tiffany helps busy families get dinner on the table by sharing recipes, tips and menus with complete grocery lists on her blog Eat at Home. |
Photo Credit: Phu Son |
For #TBT also know as #ThrowBackThursday, this piece I wrote in 2009:
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