Last week I had the opportunity to present my Visual and Creative Thinking presentation for the gang up at Refresh BCS (that’s Bryan College Station for those not from Texas). It’s one of my favorite topics to talk about so I always have a blast when I do it. That raises a really good question - a question all presenters should ask themselves. “Did the audience have a blast too?” Lot’s of times when people get up to speak to an audience they see it only as an opportunity to talk about themselves, their company or their products. In my case, I always feel so much better about a presentation when I feel like the audience really took something memorable away from it. You can see the slides for the presentation on Slideshare. Enjoy!

P.S. It just so happens that John Moore (an awesome speaker in his own right) wrote a really good post about this topic called Eureka! It’s Performing, Not Presenting.

So I was driving to work this morning and this is what I see. Yellow page road kill in the middle of the road.Now some people have talked about the fact that yellow page advertising is not as effective as it use to be. And with more and more people moving their advertising dollars online, the people still advertising in the yellow pages are paying higher and higher prices.

But today I literally saw yellow page advertising dead in the streets.

It is sad and graphic, and to get these pictures I was almost late to work.

Now, I could talk about the statistics of yellow page advertising, or about how I myself have not used a yellow page in over 2 years, but instead I think I will share the other possible headlines I came up with for this blog post.

The runners up:

1. Where the Yellow Pages are now.

2. Your Yellow Page ad hard at work

3. What people do with the Yellow Pages

4. It is 9 o’clock, do you know where your Yellow Page add is?

5. Will anyone save the Yellow Page

6. Does it pay to advertise on Road kill?

7. Where oh where is my yellow page ad?

8. The day the yellow page book never came home

And just so you know, this is not the only occurrence of yellow page road kill I have seen. This is not a one off case. I do not have any statistics about how many domestic yellow page wonder out into the wild and become road kill but I am sure it is more than you every considered.

So , if you see some yellow page road kill, feel free to post it and share your comments with the rest of us.

Until next time, Marie

“You’d better keep your mouth closed, a smile on your face, and give `em what they want!”

No, this isn’t a stick up. It’s a day in the life of an account manager for an online search marketing agency. The underlying pressure of servicing several small business accounts is great, so how does one make it through a day in a world where budgets are low and demands are high? Answer: I give my clients what they want.

On a daily basis, the question is: What do they want? My clients’ wants range from money, more business, exposure, branding—really everything the power of advertising on Google has the potential to get you… and then some. I’ve even had a client tell me that “in marketing, you spend 1 percent of your gross sales as your advertising budget. I’m paying you paying you hundreds of dollars per month—I should have a million dollars by now!” Well if I could somehow take a few hundred bucks and turn it into millions with my Midas touch (without the lotto, since only old people win that) I’d stop typing this blog right now and get to spending.

But in all truth, how do you rationalize with a client who isn’t exactly a math wiz yet expects you to magically accomplish the most unreasonable requests? How do you find sanity in the outlandish and discover what your client really wants? Dun, dun, da, da…You ask! If you build it, they will come… if you ask them, they will tell! Once they tell you, you show them how you serve as their solution!

The golden rule helps me turn the negative into an auspicious situation. Regardless of my fear of athlete’s foot, putting myself in my client’s shoes is the only way through! The realization is that the only thing that can ever be on their minds all of the time is, themselves! This is the first step to turning a frown upside down in the client services world.

Once you’ve accomplished this first step, one of two things can happen. You can show your client from their perspective how the situation will help them, or you can show them from your perspective how this situation will help you. Again, the end action will result from you showing your client one of two things: will you help them or hurt them? It all stems back to self preservation. Figure out how someone is trying to benefit themselves and show them how you can contribute to their mission.

So when you’re on the phone with a client who doesn’t want to listen and demands answers now, the not-so-appropriate reply is, “That’s not my job,” “We can’t do that,” “Our policy…,” etc. Keep in mind that the real root of their problem stems from whatever outside variable came in to make them feel like they have endangered their self preservation. So put yourself in their shoes. Always consider yourself a solution to their problem, which is why they’re talking to you in the first place. Last but not least, ALWAYS show them how they will benefit from the end result. That’s all they care about in the first place right? WIIFM (“What’s In It For Me”) `em!

Why not give it a try and put yourself in someone’s shoes? Take that as your lesson of the day. Don’t forget to keep your eyes out for Part Two: How To Love Your Clients Without Getting Arrested!

I can’t wait anymore! Earlier this month, two teams from Pop Labs competed in the 4th Annual AIR Houston Competition. The judging has been going on for two weeks, and I still have wait over a week to find out the results at the Awards Banquet next Thursday.

This might not seem that important, especially at this time of year when everyone is getting ready for Thanksgiving and the holidays. However, we spend a lot of time preparing and working together in order to provide non-profits in the Houston community with fully-accessible sites We attend trainings, meet with our non-profits, custom design a site, and then on Rally Day, have eight hours to build a fully-functional, fully-accessible site. While that does not sound that hard, Rally Day (the day of the coding competition) is always intense.

Personally, I am also excited to see the outcome and go to the banquet because I helped conduct the Accessibility 101 training courses for the teams that were competing as well as conducting the Non-Profit Orientation Trainings for the NPOs participating this year. So no matter who wins, I helped them get there ^_^.

Of course, I also want to find out how my team did.

Oh well, time to focus on Thanksgiving and the start of the holiday season. Focus… focus… nope. Didn’t work. Still thinking about AIR. ^_^

This is it! The Third Annual Cyber Monday. Since 2005, more and more shoppers have been going online, looking for the best deals; on the same token, more and more stores are prepared to offer them savings and discounts for this joyous time of year.

USA Today Reports:

A survey of 116 retailers found 72% plan special offers for this time of year. Only 43% of these retailers featured similar offers two years ago, when the Monday after Thanksgiving was dubbed Cyber Monday.

The Financial Post Reports that:

Holiday sales are expected to rise 21% to $33-billion this year, it should prove be a joyous time, regardless of whether or not Cyber Monday kicks the season off on a strong note. Last year, online holiday sales were $608-million for the day and E-tailers could bring in $700-million or more in sales on Monday alone if last year is any indication, according to global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.

And it makes sense. I heard on the radio that Wal-Mart will be opening at 6:00 a.m. on Black Friday and Kohl’s will be opening at 4:00 a.m. While saving 20% sounds enticing, so does sleeping in on a day off. And since I live in Texas, I even considered it for more than a minute—I mean, it is doable. It is not like getting up at 4:00 a.m. in Wisconsin, Iowa, Colorado, or Washington. Up north, you face cold, snow, etc. and there is no way I would wake up early on a day off to face that.

And fortunately, you do not have to! With the internet, you can buy online in the comfort of your home without having to face the weather or the crowds. The online stores are offering up deals and incentives—such as free shipping—to entice you to buy this holiday season. So don’t worry about missing out on a great deal—you may be able to find an even better one online. Companies in retail, including the ones I work with, already have their promotions, discounts, and free shipping offers planned.  They want to be the place you choose when are looking for holiday gifts this year.

So happy and safe shopping, and happy and safe holidays.