A Year in the Life of the Triiibe

Posted on July 29, 2009 by Jodi Kaplan

One year ago today, Seth Godin posted an invitation to join his tribe at triiibes.com. It’s a gated network dedicated to sharing marketing ideas, building trust, and gaining permission for your marketing (rather than shouting).

This past year, I’ve had the great pleasure to meet the most remarkable people (both online and in person), including Bernd, Mary Louise, Tom, Joel, Sue, Greg, Megan, Pace, Kyeli, Jule, Becky, Bernadette, Anne, Brendan, Ed, Paul, Bob, Chris, Bolaj, and many, many more.

Update: Bonnie and Marcos! I forgot Bonnie and Marcos (smacks head)!

In honor of the anniversary, we’re launching a global blog tribute to mark the occasion.

The group has acted as a launching pad, a brain trust, and a catalyst and has developed into an amazingly close-knit community of people who’ve traveled thousands of miles to meet each other in person.

I started this blog because of triiibes, and I’m in the process of revamping my business because of it. I’ve realized that I want to focus on creative people (videographers, web developers, film editors, exhibit designers, graphic design firms) who are great at generating ideas and doing their jobs — but need help turning their expertise, their skills, and their desires into dollars.

I want to focus on little things that can make a big difference, like developing a niche, retooling a brochure, and fixing broken web sites (rather than huge projects with giant spreadsheets and timelines that require a certified project manager to complete).

Here’s why you’re not making enough money, and here’s how you could make more. Instead of throwing time and money at the wall and hoping something sticks, here’s a way to get results you can measure.

US Health Care is Broken!

Posted on July 23, 2009 by Jodi Kaplan

I know, this is supposed to be a blog about marketing, but I’m just so mad I can’t stand it.

My family just had a scary medical experience. In a nutshell, my dad was told he had an awful disease (no effective treatment and a life expectancy of 2-5 years) and his doctor wanted to do an invasive, painful test to confirm it.

We all went to a second doctor yesterday, who thought it best to check and treat simple conditions first, before jumping to conclusions that were complicated and exotic (hear hoofbeats, look for horses, not zebras).

I started wondering about the way our health system “works.”

Each year, I get a thick book from my insurance company, with listings of doctors on their plan. The book is heavy, but the information in it is minimal; mostly limited to name, address, specialty, and hospital affiliations. There’s no way to tell if the doctor is any good or not, whether he or she has been disciplined or sued, the effectiveness of the treatments s/he provides, or “customer satisfaction.”

Years ago, I had a “zebra” condition. For five years, I went from doctor to doctor trying to get a diagnosis. I was treated for conditions I didn’t have. I was told things like “you’re delusional,” “just live with it,” and other nonsense.

I admit, it was weird and my symptoms were idiosyncratic, but would any other business stay in business telling its customers they were imagining things?

And what about prices and services? If I buy a book from Amazon, the price is clearly marked. If I go to the doctor it seems I can be charged whatever he or she likes (or the insurance company will reimburse).

Why are there no ratings? I can go online and find out more and better information about a bathroom scale, an mp3 player, or a tea kettle (don’t get the orange one) than I can about a doctor! Where’s the crowdsourcing? (I understand that Angies List has doctor ratings, but you have to pay to join.)

How can we fix this?

Can someone build a doctor rating site? Give ratings with stars for the good guys and white ducks (quack, quack) for the bad ones?

Start a campaign to lobby the Congress?

Dress up as ducks and picket the bad docs’ offices?

Write letters to the President?

Got a better idea? Share it here.

UPDATE: Some months ago, Zane Safrit asked the members of Seth Godin’s triiibes for their ideas on broken health care and how to fix it. Get the result here.

(Back to our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow, with a post about promoting webinars).

Is Direct Mail Boring?

Posted on July 22, 2009 by Jodi Kaplan

“Do I have to use direct mail? It’s sooo boring and old-fashioned. Can’t we just send electronic media kits with case studies and company info?”

This question came from a company in London that wants to break into the US market.

Unfortunately, the target audience (reporters) isn’t likely to care about company background information and case studies. Neither will her potential customers. Reporters want a story that will get them column inches. Prospects want to know what you can to for them.

Never, ever, ever plan a strategy based on what YOU think is old-fashioned, or interesting, or cutting-edge: do what will appeal to YOUR AUDIENCE. It’s NOT about you. It’s about what they think. You may think that sending beautifully designed electronic press kits will get you coverage. The press will think it’s spam.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/riotjane/2216996071/ riot jane

What Every Company Ought to Know About Customer Service

Posted on July 8, 2009 by Jodi Kaplan

The New York Public Library web site is broken (is this contagious?). Two days ago they uploaded a bright, shiny new site that lets you tag books, create lists, and gives better search options (such as only e-books or only books in Chinese). The trouble is, that you can’t log in. So, you can search and find the book you want, but you can’t actually reserve it (or see the status of your current holds).

Be Sympathetic

After fighting with it on and off for an hour, I called the help desk. To their credit, someone answered within a minute. He said they were getting 80 calls an hour, and to try again in a day or two. He told me what was going on, but he was awfully grumpy about it. I got the feeling he wanted to get off the phone as quickly as possible.

Now, if you’re having a problem, why not communicate better to your customers? Things do go wrong, but when they do, make sure your customer reps are polite, pleasant, and well-informed about the situation. Encourage them to sympathize with the customers’ plight (hey, I’m a book addict, I need my fix!), not push them away.

Explain the Situation

And, put up a quick note on your home page: Sorry, we’re having problems with our system right now. We hope to get it fixed by Thursday. Meanwhile, we’re suspending all fines so you won’t get penalized for books you can’t renew.

React Quickly (and Publicly)

UPDATE: I wrote most of this post last night. There’s now a note on the site, saying they’re having difficulties. Unfortunately, it took over 24 hours for them to publicly acknowledge the situation.

If you have a problem, don’t wait that long to tell your customers!

Photo: oddsock

Blog Post Emails: Now with Titles

Posted on July 2, 2009 by Jodi Kaplan

Darren Rowse kvetched, everybody wins. About a month ago, Darren (of ProBlogger, which I highly recommend you read to learn how to be a better blogger), suggested that it would be great if the posts that blog subscribers get via email included the title of the post, instead of just the name of the blog.

Well, apparently, Google/Feedburner listened. So, instead of just seeing “Fix Your Broken Marketing” the email subject line should include the title too; in this case “Emails: Now with Titles: Fix Your Broken Marketing”. This will give you a better idea of what’s in the email, and help you search through your saved emails to find a particular topic.

I also discovered that I can adjust the time of day that posts are delivered. From now on, they should be sent earlier in the morning (instead of late at night, which was the default).

Let me know if this works!