Hunters and Farmers

I just returned from the New England Grows trade show in Boston. It was a different show for me because I introduced a new element to the booth. I hired a videographer for two days to shoot business owners. The idea was that they could do a short intro, promote the website, and perhaps tell a little bit more about the story of their business. I spent the first day with retailers and the next day shooting growers and wholesalers. Basically one day was spent on people walking the aisles - we'll call them 'Farmers', and the next day filming the people on the other side of the aisle - we'll call them 'Hunters'. In essence the 'Hunters' attempt to entice the 'Farmers' to buy their stuff. The 'Farmers' will do practically anything and everything to avoid making contact with the 'Hunters'.

The frustration for the 'Hunters' is that the 'Farmers' don't seem interested in buying. The 'Hunters' will commiserate with each other about the quantity and quality of the attendees to the show. They will spend time debating whether this show or that show was really worth it. They get frustrated because they don't have immediate success with the 'Farmers'. Meanwhile the 'Farmers' seemed tired of being 'Sold' something. They would rather spend some time kicking the tires, learning more about things, and mulling over the possibilities. Of course the real confusion comes when you realize that the wholesale growers in their trade show booths are really just 'Farmers'. They just sit there and wait for people to buy things. Imagine the scenario when you have 'Farmers' having to sell to other 'Farmers'.

The problem is that the 'Farmers' need to understand their own customers. After all, they need to make buying decisions based on what their customers - their 'Hunters' are interested in buying. And what happens when the 'Farmers' return to their retail business, or landscaping company and realize they have to become the 'Hunter'?

Now the fact is that nothing is as simple as black and white. Usually most companies have a mix of employees that are either a 'Farmer' (growers) or a 'Hunter' (sales person). Now I didn't come up with this notion of 'Farmers' and 'Hunters', but it sure does explain a lot about the process at these seasonal trade shows...

Click here for Seth Godins blog post on Farmers and Hunters >

Yoga Guy

The Yoga Guy

This past summer good friends of ours invited my wife and I to join them for ‘hot’ yoga. Yoga? Not just any Yoga, but Bikram Yoga. Well, they were insistent and we were curious. They explained it was a 90 minute session in a room heated to 105 degrees. OK. They said it was more than a workout and it wasn’t so much about sculpting your abs as it was finding balance. It was about making a decision to life ‘well’.

Perhaps it was the stage of life we were at, or perhaps we just wanted to get healthier, but we decided to take them up on their offer. We met at the studio, endured the 90 minutes, and discovered something wonderful. It was difficult, I don’t think I have ever sweated so much, but in the end we both felt better.

We continued on till we developed a schedule of twice a week. With an interruption for a ‘trade show cold’, we both found that we looked forward to the ninety minutes at 105 degrees. Now we find that the 90 minutes is more than just a great workout, it is an opportunity to relax, unwind, and decompress from the challenges of the day.

Eventually we would hang around after the session and found ourselves meeting new people, and even after a short few months, encouraging those new to the studio to ‘hang in there’. It was nice when the owner recognized us by name and seemed genuinely interested in our progress. He offered tips and we came to find our favorite instructors. We were fast becoming ‘fans’ of Bikram Yoga. We had joined a ‘community’.

After four months we noticed real progress. There was weight loss, increased energy, and a calming effect creeping into our daily lives. We felt better than we had in years. Our excitement spilled over to our friends who we invited to give it a try, and when our daughters were home for the holidays, we all went together. Afterwards they were excited for find a studio where they lived to continue on.

I decided this was such a remarkable experience that I wanted to share it with you.

I want to ask you a question. When was the last time you felt so enthusiastic about something new you tried? And as a business owner, when was the last time one of your customers was so enthusiastic about your business?

You see while some might think we ‘bought in’ to Yoga, we were really investing in ourselves - our health and state of mind. It is curious to think of what you are being ‘sold’ and what you are ‘buying into’.

In these ‘tough economic times’ it is admittedly tough to make the financial, as well as physical, commitment to a tight budget. But in the end we decided it was worth it. We actually spend more on Yoga than we do on food.

To summarize, we followed the recommendation of trusted friends; tried something new, invested serious time and money to the process, and loved it so much we couldn’t stop talking about it.

So much for objections of price, convenience, and unfamiliarity. The Yoga studio now had a customer for life.

How did he do it?

1) Know the value of your customers. It is not always who your ad brings through the door, but more likely the recommendation of a happy customer who leads to sustained growth.

2) Understand that despite what you think you are selling, customers are buying the experience. They are investing in the benefits. You think you are selling plants, but your customers are buying relaxation, creativity, and well being.
3) Create a community. Create situations where your best customers can impact those new to your business, or more importantly, new to the garden.
4) Become the resource for information. You are the expert - act like it. Customers need to be recognized and have their efforts nurtured and encouraged.
5) Ask for referrals. If your customers are happy ask them to tell their friends, become fans on your Facebook, or blog about their experience.
6) Let the customer determine the value of the product, or experience. You might be surprised at how much people are willing to invest in their well being.

In the end we were hooked. I don’t think we would ever make the decision to try something so radically new were it not for the recommendation of trusted friends. We certainly were not aware of the new studio opening, or had we seen an ad, a TV spot, or found it online. We came because someone we knew was enthusiastic enough to convince us to join them.

So as you reflect on your New Year’s resolutions can you see your business adopting the same fundamental ideas that spelled success for our Yoga Guy?

Of course, you must come to the new understanding of what exactly you think you are selling, and what your customers think that they are buying. Yes, people need to feed their lawns, water their plants, and pull the weeds, but from their perspective it might feel like an afternoon in the sun, playing in the dirt and feeding their souls.

She loves me, she loves me not.

Yelp! Ruibal’s Plants in Dallas, TX is not unlike many small garden centers, but for one big fan – Leigh “mess with the bull, you get the horns” P,. a frequent reviewer on the Dallas Yelp scene. Ruibal’s has a four star rating based on her review (and one other). Yelp is a localized search engine that directs shoppers to their destination, plus provides a forum for customer reviews (like Leighs), photos, and feedback. As it turns out Ruibal’s is just one of the 160 businesses reviewed by Leigh.

Last month’s TGC article featured ‘Leigh P’ in a review of another Dallas garden center.. When last we checked in on Leigh we found that In addition to the 160 Leigh has 206 friends. Leigh is what we would call an ‘influencer’. An influencer represents a sliver of your customer base, but their impact can affect hundreds, if not thousands of other shoppers. You see the opportunity represented by a Yelp, Google, or Yahoo review is not just the customers who know (and love) you, but the people that are connected by friends – and friends of friends, etc.

This is the challenge, and opportunity, represented by Yelp, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and legions more. With all the new media outlets emerging, and more traditional advertising outlets drying up, it is only natural to turn a curious eye towards social media. But be careful, because success in social media requires a commitment to the process. This isn’t as simple as taking out an ad in the Yellow Pages. It takes focus, attention to detail and a willingness to seek out feedback, both positive and negative.

Read complete article >

What is the true cost? Is a Mac really more expensive than a PC?

In our offices at Sunrise Marketing we have long maintained a separation between Macs (for graphic work) and PCs (for accounting and web). While there were times of frustration where I wanted to throw the PCs out the windows, I was always reluctant to add more Macs because of the cost. Just adding the necessary software to the Mac (MS Office, Quark, Dreamweaver, Adobe, etc.) would effectively double the price. It did bug me that buying a Mac meant you still might have to add Office in order to work on spreadsheets, Word documents and PowerPoint. It has always been a luxury of sorts for me to have both a Mac and PC on my desk and when my Mac died a few years ago I didn't replace it.

However, when I decided to get more involved with creating digital media for the web my research pointed me back to my old favorite - a Mac. Although I could have purchased a PC for significantly less, I found that the capability of the Mac far outweighed the savings on the PC. When I factored in what I could accomplish with Garage Band (for generating podcasts), IMovie (for video production) and Keynote (for Powerpoints) the decision to buy was a slam dunk. In addition I learned about the one-to-one service at my local Apple store. With this service (a $99 purchase for the year) I could schedule an unlimited amount of one hour tutorial sessions with a Mac genius.

I am about the leave for an appointment this morning for my second session. Getting this type of support is rare these days, but I think it can serve as a model for any size business when you understand you are a service company. After all, with most products reaching a commodity status, the only thing that can separate you from your competition is your expertise and customer service.

So as you plan out your 2010 marketing strategies keep in mind that you will rarely, if at all, find Apple products 'on sale'. Rather they have built a business paying attention to every detail of the development and execution of their brand development. Your brand is the accumulation of the experience of your customers. Theirs is the only perception that matters. For me, I am sold on the Apple products since it goes far beyond the box I took home when I bought the Mac.

Why is called black friday?

As the holiday shopping frenzy kicked off this past 'black friday'. Why is it called 'black friday' anyway. Blame it on Philly.

Of course many refer to the fact that retailers are 'in the black'.

But the one I love attributes it to Laurence H. Black.

So which is it? The great thing about the Internet is you can find an answer, or answers, to just about anything; and since it is on the Internet it must be true, right?

But it makes it tough to get a straight answer when there are 120,000,000 search results on google. Maybe we should just make up another one to freak out the wikis.

Look who is using bonus bucks...

In the 'can't make this stuff up' department we came across a sugary marketing message we just had to share. While enjoying her morning Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats, Noreen (our customer service goddess) got a laugh out of the offer on the back of the box. Now I don't know about you but back-of-the-box reading was a big deal in my childhood. With six kids - usually with at least 4 different cereals - the kitchen table was walled off into our own little sugary cereal cubicle.

Now I am not that sure that an eight year old is that interested in $10 in 'Bonus Bucks'. Now if it was a Little Orphan Annie secret decoder ringthen you might get my attention. So the Bonus Bucks are definitely directed at the adults; or it could be that Kellogg's realizes that the audience for Kellogg's (frosted) Mini-Wheats is really adults from age 34-56.

So if you don't think Bonus Bucks work, then you just haven't been eating your Mini-Wheats. At Sunrise Marketing we've been printing Bonus Bucks for our customers for years. In fact the amount of Bonus Bucks we've printed could single handedly solve the budget deficit facing the nation.

Pardon the interruption...

The rise of social network sites like facebook, myspace, and twitter have created a new medium of messaging (notice I didn’t say advertising) in order to develop, build and maintain relationships between business and customer.

The important thing to remember is how (and why) the medium started. In the case of facebook, it was started as a way for college students to write (on a virtual wall) and connect with friends online. It started at Harvard, spread to the rest of the Ivy League schools and then to the rest of the college crowd It then spread virally through the web to anyone who was interested in connecting with friends and family. The key to keep in mind is that it is a social site, designed to help people connect with other people.

The same thing with Twitter. It was based on a simple question: “what are you doing?”

Now businesses from the fortune 500 to the local deli are looking to see how they can invade these sites to do more business. The irony is that the success of many of these sites is the result of consumers being tired of being bugged by the over 5000 ad impressions they are bombarded with each day.

This type of ‘interruptive’ advertising is being challenged in a way that is really game changing. When you thing about it, most of the traditional types of advertising models are being marginalized by technology.

Read the complete article >

Short and Sweet

One of the challenges of blogging is being concise. I have found that I am conditioned to a word count of around 1000 words. That is the target length for articles I write for Today's Garden Center. Great for a magazine, bad for blogging. So my new year's resolution (2010) is to pare my blogs down to around 250 to 300 words. Of course it would help if you could discipline yourself to brevity. So the headline needs to work harder and the focus needs to be razor sharp.

Of course this means I can't reuse phrases like "Of course..." or stray to far from the point of the post. This will of course restrict the clever factor, but perhaps it will result in more meaningful messages. That means I will either focus my thoughts and my message or run out of

pardon the interruption...

The rise of social network sites like facebook, myspace, and twitter have created a new medium of messaging (notice I didn’t say advertising) in order to develop, build and maintain relationships between business and customer.

The important thing to remember is how (and why) the medium started. In the case of facebook, it was started as a way for college students to write (on a virtual wall) and connect with friends online. It started at Harvard, spread to the rest of the Ivy League schools and then to the rest of the college crowd It then spread virally through the web to anyone who was interested in connecting with friends and family. The key to keep in mind is that it is a social site, designed to help people connect with other people.

The same thing with Twitter. It was based on a simple question: “what are you doing?”

Now businesses from the fortune 500 to the local deli are looking to see how they can invade these sites to do more business. The irony is that the success of many of these sites is the result of consumers being tired of being bugged by the over 5000 ad impressions they are bombarded with each day.

This type of ‘interruptive’ advertising is being challenged in a way that is really game changing. When you thing about it, most of the traditional types of advertising models are being marginalized by technology.

Tired of TV ads interrupting your show? TIVO it. Or better yet, watch it when you want to watch it on Hulu or Fancast.

How about radio? Tired of ads, then subscribe to XM or Sirius radio (or just create your own radio station on your ipod with music you want to hear, and by subscribing to podcasts featuring the commentary you are interested in).

Newsprint? That’s dying on its own, so we’ll just leave that one alone.

Yellow Pages? Online, why should I have to pay for it?

Telemarketers? Opt for the ‘do not call’ list.

Unwanted e-mail and spam? Better spam filters and black lists.

Junk mail? Well there is less of it because of the expense, and the fact that junk mail has just migrated to the web (spammers).

The point here is that consumers have the power to filter out all (or as much as they can) all the junk so they can spend time on things they are interested in. Sort of a “don’t call us, we’ll call you” approach.

So when you are looking to jump on Facebook so you can tell your ‘fans’ what’s on sale, you might just find yourself with less fans.

It is important to understand the power of the opportunity in front of you. Social media sites offer you the chance to really connect with your customers, and in turn, with their friends and family. You should realize that the real thing to concentrate on is how you can interact with your customers in ways that are meaningful to them.

Having a fundraiser? Well I bet that many of your customers are not that aware of all the philanthropic things you do. (That’s because you never wanted to ‘beat your own drum’.) Believe me people are interested in that. You can share your good deeds and let people know that you can (and will) help them and their cause. That is good news that can spread.

How long have you been in the community? That is something to promote. Buy local and shop local campaigns are important to people.

Have an expertise? Well then this is a good way to let people engage you and ask for your help or opinion. Remember if you encourage your customers to use facebook in order to ask questions, then your response can go out to the entire network of connected friends and family.

Use the technology so that customers can twitter you pictures of plants they like, or need identification on. How about ‘what pest is this?’

Why not consider facebook as part of your ‘loyalty program’. You can use it to survey your facebook friends to learn how you can better serve them. What do we do well? What can we do better? What products would you like us to carry? How is our customer service? Would you like to join a focus group on new plants?

You see it is that type of interactivity that is meaningful to your customers. What value do you offer? Why should I bother to follow you on facebook or twitter? At the end of the day it all comes back to relationships and content. Do you have anything meaningful to add to the conversation? If not, you might want to re-think your facebook strategy.

My advice is to use Twitter to feed quick ideas and to make it an available channel for customers to ask quick questions. (Get a smart phone). Your facebook should tease your blog posts where your gardening advice can be delivered by video, text posts and pictures. You should use it to offer access to information, ask for suggestions, and encourage feedback. Finally, your e-mail marketing is a good way to communicate all the benefits of being connected to you and your business. That is the place to offer incentive to buy offers, as well as information.

Google and Bing has just announced partnerships with Twitter and Facebook. Google is testing a google social search function. This will allow you to confer with your friends when making decisions as simple as ‘what did you think of the movie?’ to ‘what kind of flat panel tv is best?'

Microsoft (bing.com) and Google are searching and indexing Twitter feeds in real time. Word spreads fast. It is an amazing time to be in business - scary and exciting. I believe these changes really benefit small businesses that have nurtured a relationship with their customers over the years. If that doesn’t describe you then you better get started.

Consumers are connecting with each other and sharing their experiences in order to make better buying decisions. I would advise you to not only join in the discussion, but to facilitate the conversation. Remember, no one likes a ‘butt-insky’, so keep your lurking to a minimum.

If you would like to have Sunrise Marketing help you develop a strategy for success then call, click, write on our wall, or tweet. We are in a rare position to help you leverage our knowledge and industry expertise to your benefit. We have the content, images, and industry experience to help you and your business navigate this new frontier of social marketing.

It's a google world and we're just here for the ride...

On October 21, 2009 Google announced a partnership had been reached with Twitter that would incorporate twitter tweets into their search results. Twitter had earlier announced a similar arrangement with Bing.com. The idea was that there were times, such as the Michael Jackson debacle, where the gap in time between things happening and when they were reported on (and thereby disseminated on blogs, websites, news, print) was, in essence, taking too long. So Google will be able to provide indexing and searching in 'real time'. Just another step in a world where things just don't happen fast enough.

The announcement came during the same presentation where Google announced a Beta program that would allow for 'social searching'. Again, Microsoft had announced a similar program for searching social sites like Facebook in order to search your network of friends.

A techcrunch.com post says "This is a new feature that allows you to see results for queries from people in your social network. This works by using your Google Profile. If you fill it out with the other social networks you’re a member of, such as FriendFeed, Google will scan who you are connected to and give your results from those people." So whether you are trying to make a decision on where to eat, or what to buy, you are just a click away from real time testimonials (and critiques).

This pretty groundbreaking stuff, but hey it's only Monday. The larger issue for small business advertising is this represents just another example of how consumers look to one another for more information than just celebrity (and personal) gossip and cool YouTube videos. It is just another example where consumers trust their friends more than advertising. While word of mouth has always been the best form of advertising, now it is easier for consumers to share the story with hundreds, if not thousands, of friends and family.

No longer can you and your advertising control the message. It makes it more important than ever to control what you can - the quality of the product or service, and the relationship that you have with your customers.

Let's see what happens

Keeping your website fresh is a challenge. One of the things we do at Sunrise Marketing is try to establish a schedule (and then keep it) for changing out our home page. We normally try to coordinate the graphic with a promotion that we might be running in one of our e-mail promotions. We keep the promotions to one a month and run it for 8 days. We suggest that all promotions have a definite time span in order to create a sense of urgency.

From that point we put another 'call out' to the right of it on the home pages with some other quick links for our catalog, publications and links to facebook and twitter feeds. The point is that if you have a recipe for defining your home page it can make it easier to manage. This week I thought it might be fun to share a recipe for a home page graphic that would break up a series of sale, or promotional offers. In baking our cake I added some of the base ingredients you might use in your graphics.

First the color. We wanted something that would not clash too terribly with the established colors used in our header. We used red this time around because studies show that it creates urgency and excitement. OK, so red it is.

Next, and most important, the copy. Again to exaggerate the point I went back to an old article I had written back in 2007 (wow) about the ten most powerful words in advertising which led us to another website featuring their list. Well, everyone has their opinion (and research to back it up) so we sorted through them all and selected:

You (number one answer), Easy, and Results.

We came up with "We make it easy for you to get the results you need".

Next came the image. Since most of our customers are garden center owners we selected an image from Istock.com of a garden center type guy pushing a cart of plants in a greenhouse. The objective is to choose an image people could relate to. Hope you like it.

Finally, a call to action. What do you want the person to do? We decided on listing our toll free number - Call 1-888-393-4443, plus a click here button.

So, put all the ingredients together and you have a graphic (or ad) for the front of your website. Finally, I posted this blog to keep the blog posts fresh and provide specific information to help our clients create more compelling ads. I will probably then post to Facebook to lead to this blog, which of course will trigger an automated Tweet with a link. Of course our other type of e-newsletter will go out on Monday (as scheduled) and will refer to this post, plus Facebook, Twitter and Today's Garden Center magazine articles.

I think by now you get the point. If you have a plan, a strategy and a message you can organize your marketing to get your message out on schedule.

Since we have a Google account (for blogger, analytics, alerts) we use the calendar in order to organize the dates for each of the tasks. I hope there is some information here that might help you with your e-marketing efforts. Let me know what you think.

Hey kids, everybody's doing it!

Just because you can Facebook, doesn't mean you should. I had conversation with a retailer this morning. We had a winding talk that made its way to Facebook. In most cases I think banking on success with a business Facebook page is putting the cart before the horse, I actually think it might be a good idea for this business, and maybe for yours.

But first a couple of points to consider. Nothing is free. Yes, you can set up a Facebook page for FREE! But actually creating a network of meaningful friends, fans and followers requires true diligence. You must put in the time to understand the medium and then consider what would move someone to WANT to be your friend. If you just start screaming sale, then that will become tiresome. No, you need to concentrate on a mix of personality, information that matters, and perhaps a means for other customers to connect through your page.

Back to the FREE! Things are often a trade-off of time and money. Which is more important (or available)? You could change your own oil and save $12, but should you? Is that the best use of your time? You have to decide if it is worth your time and effort to concentrate on creating something sustainable through your Facebook page. Now our retailer in up-state NY is one of those rare examples of a company that should do it. Like many other businesses they are owner operated, have been in business for a while and are small (and personal). So in this case I think it would be a perfect way to leverage the technology to help them build customer loyalty and trust.

I actually think in most cases the smaller the business, the easier it is to create a genuine online personality. The key is to see how the technology can help you improve your business. A couple of ideas I floated past her this morning were:

Post notices when you are looking to make buying decisions. "Hey gang, what do you think of this?" A quick pic with your iPhone (she has one) and upload it to your Facebook page.

Ask for feedback on things like hours, product mix, etc.

In this case (the retailer was a garden center) you could even have people post pictures of flowers (or bugs) that you could identify for them (and thus using Facebook to have your response go out to the entire network).

Yes, you could post sales, or make it more personal with a Facebook Fans invitation only event.

You see, you need to establish the value in your friendship. I will stop preaching, but keep those things in mind when you are looking to launch your business page.

Sex!

Well, now that I have your attention I wanted to turn you on (sorry) to some very interesting designers. Faced with a 24 hour turnaround flight I picked up some magazines at the airport. An old favorite is Fast Company. I hadn't read it for a while, but the cover featured 'Masters of Design' so I was intrigued. In the interest of brevity I will just tell you it had several "aha" moments. But the one I will tell you about today is the article about the Femme Den. It is a group of four designers at Smart Design. By now everyone knows that the overwhelming majority of buying decisions (and much, much more of course) are made by women.

In the garden center industry women easily make up around 75% of the customer base. So why is it so hard to get the message right? Well in many cases it is because many advertising and marketing decisions are made by 50+ year old men. So it is a classic case of men are from mars, women are from venus. I was trying to explain this principle to a client the other day. In the course of our 3 hour conversation (mostly me talking, but that's why they pay me the big bucks) there were several moments of, "I just don't get it."

I explained that women are interested in relationships and faced with the choice between an ad loaded with type and prices, they will actually respond more positively to something a bit more aesthetically pleasing. In other words the cluttered newsprint ad you've been sending out for years was (is) terrible. Thankfully customers are so drawn to the product that they overlook the marketing. So I got another variation on "I just don't..." - which I met with a stiff "It doesn't matter what you think, it only matters what they think!"

So with proper credit to the Femme Den here are their top five tips for designing for women:

1) Emphasize Benefits over Features: Rather than concentrating on the specs, concentrate more on making the products benefits clear. Who can it connect her to? How does it make her life easier? How will it save her time? (I would add that you speak in terms of relaxation, creativity, collaboration, etc.)
2) Learn Her Body: (Remember, these are their tips) Women have different bone and muscle structure (did I mention they design products). Simply shrinking products leads to injury and frustration. (They call it the 'Shrink it and Pink it' process that most manufacturers go through).
3) Craft a Cohesive Story: Women consider more than just the product itself. Design the whole experience with them in mind, from advertising and packaging to the retail environment and customer service. (Read this one again, and then look at your entire presentation. Remember 'Marketing is everything, and everything is marketing')
4) Identify a Spot on the Spectrum: For some tasks, women want to feel girly: for others, not at all. Nix the hyper-feminized stereotype and consider where on the spectrum this product should land.
5) Remember Her Life Stages: Are you designing for a 25-year-old or a 65-year-old.

Kind of interesting huh? Did I mention that the Femme Den work in the design of products? Don't get hung up on the product points, but rather think in terms of your whole retail business as the product.

Social Networking Sites are no fad

Just the facts, Maam.

I just saved $25 using my phone! Recently I went shopping for a digital video camera. I researched it online, checked the review, shopper’s comments and found the model I liked. I could have bought it online, but I was too excited to wait for something to ship so I buzzed down to Best Buy where I met Craig, the Best Buy salesperson. I asked him questions and settled on a camera. Like any good salesperson he asked for the sale. ‘Can I ring that out for you?’ “Well”, I said, “I want to check a few other stores.” He then explained that Best Buy has a 14 day price matching guarantee. Just bring in a competitor’s best price and they’ll match it. Great, but I didn’t want to wait. I wanted immediate gratification.

I think that the folks at Best Buy feel that after the purchase most shoppers won’t continue to look for a lower price. Probably true, but this time I pulled out my Blackberry and Googled ‘lowest price on Sony 40XR’. Up popped a few links. I clicked the first and there it was, a price $25 lower than Best Buy. Hey Craig look why I found! I met with some resistance, but eventually he gave me the discounted price.

Bingo! Saved 25 bucks. Felt kind of cool too. Then I flashed on it. Wow, this is where shopping is going these days. Forget about the lowest price games. These guys are busted. Power to the People! I was (as I figured out afterwards) mobile surfing… and I wasn’t alone.

I know you thought the ‘Information Age’ was game changing, but that was just the first wave. Here comes personal computing and information sharing on a level you could never have imagined.

Here’s a few facts for you to chew on:

Here’s how long it took to 50 reach million users:

* Radio – 38 years
* TV 13 years
* Internet 4 years
* Ipods 3 years
* 100 million users of Facebook in less than 9 months.

Facebook now has over 300 million users

1.5 million pieces of content (links, news stories, blog posts, notes. Photos, etc) are shared on Facebook DAILY

Ashton Kutcher and Ellen DeGeneres have more twitter followers than the entire population of Ireland, Norway and Panama

80% of twitter use in on mobile device

YouTube is the second largest search engine – there are over 100,000,000 videos on YouTube alone

There are over 200,000,000 blogs. 54% of bloggers post or tweet daily

25% of search results for the world’s 20 largest brands are links to use-generated content (reviews, yelps, forwards, etc.)

34% of bloggers offer opinions on products and services

And then there is Yelp! Bad customer experience? Used to be that one bad experience could impact 26 people; now try about 260 (or more) people! Back in the good old days shoppers might have searched Google to find a local store or service. These days it is more likely that they will Yelp it.

Yelp allows businesses to build out profiles complete with photos, hours, website links and more, as well as providing an outlet for patrons to grade the business or experience.

What does this mean for your business? It means that now, more than ever, the most important thing you is customer relations. But how can you do that when you can’t remember their name, or when they shopped, or what they like. Sunrise Marketing has worked with hundreds of retailers across the country for over 15 years, but it still surprises me that many retailers still don’t have a customer list. How are you supposed to develop a relationship strong enough to move someone to become a Facebook ‘Fan’ if you have never recognized them as a customer? No mail, no e-mail, no nothing!

I know you think that you can just keep doing what you’ve always done, but those days are gone. Here are a few more fun facts to consider:

Only 18% of traditional TV campaigns generate a positive ROI.

90% of people that can Tivo ads (i.e. skip them) do

70% of 18-34 demographic have watched TV on the web

Only 33% have viewed the show on DVR/Tivo

24 of the largest 25 newspapers are experiencing declines in circulation.

The reality is that newsprint is dead, TV is fractionized and getting worse and your customers might have a greater YouTube presence than you do.

Increase in mobile web-surfers is up 34% to 42.5 million – over 2/3 women

25% of Americans (in a month) said they watched a short video on their PHONE

Best Buy reports that 40% of all non-smart phone users plan to purchase smart-phones within the year – usually in the 4th quarter (holiday)

When you consider that over 75% of your customers are women and women are the larger segment moving to smart phones, then you need to pay attention. So what are they going to experience when the ‘Google’ or ‘Yelp’ your business.

I have always recommended that garden center retailers experience shopping at successful retail operations. When you shop a Whole Foods, a Target, Pottery Barn or Crate & Barrel you get a sense of best retail practices for display, merchandising and marketing. Now I am going to ask you to invest some time in experiencing Facebook, Twitter, Yelp and others in order to get a sense of how your customers might experience your business.

If you need help bringing your business up to speed, or you just want to talk more about what it might mean to your business, I invite you to call, e-mail, twitter and post onto the Sunrise Marketing Facebook page.

Source: Socialnomics.com, AdAge, Best Buy

Get a clue

So last evening I was having one of those moments. I was reading an article in the Atlantic about the whole health care fiasco. An interesting article that altered my perception of the debate now going on around the country. My mother-in-law suggested that we read the article so based on that recommendation I did (there's a point here). As I was flipping through the magazine an ad caught my eye. It was about the re-issue of The Cluetrain Manifesto, a book originally published in 2000 that dealt with the rise of the internet and how it would eventually impact that whole military industrial monolithic business model. Wow, I thought, I wonder if I still have my copy.

Sure enough it only took rummaging through four bookcases to find it. I was curious, would it still hold up all these years later? It should does. It was kind of spooky looking through it quickly, alluding to 'tipping points' and a network of people connect by the web sharing stories about their experiences. To summarize the concept was that business needs to start a dialogue, rather than the usual push marketing monologue that has gone on for years. There needed to be a respect for consumers and that savvy business would welcome the opportunity to listen to their customers. After all, their customers were talking to each other - and about them - and that was something that should be of interest to any business owner.

Wow, I thought - Facebook. All you need to know was point 18 in the Cluetrain top 95 theses presented in the book. You'll have to look for yourself. I continued to poke through the book throughout the evening. It brought me back to my retail days. I liked the fact that I knew my customers, both as people, and as customers. It was a very direct connection, albeit it at times through staff. But it was the type of relationship that I would imagine would lead someone to 'become a fan' of a business facebook page. However, over the years business owners tend to distance themselves from the day to day. The question then is would casual customers become 'fans', or even have the motivation to learn more. I don't think so. You see 'social networking' works when there is a relationship and when there is something meaningful to say. You can fake sincerity. It also takes a real commitment to the process. The problem is for many garden center owners the whole notion of networking is coming too late for most. They are generally 20 to 30 years into the business, a bit burned out, and barely hanging on. The thought of watching their facebook page is as foreign as the dark side of the moon. It is a real shame, because that personal connection is what made the business so great (I hope) in the first place.

Get Smart

Growing up in the wonder years of the sixties one of my favorite TV shows was Get Smart. Maxwell Smart - you know, "missed it by that much". It was one of the first major Mel Brooks hits. Agent 99 and the Chief; great stuff, but also a great lead in for a few words about 'smart phones'. For Max that meant the 'shoe phone' complete with rotary dial. For those under 40 you'll just have to google it.

These days 'smartphones'are everywhere. The estimated number of smartphones sold in 2009 is over 40 million. A smartphone is a mobile phone offering advanced capabilities, often with PC-like functionality. The most popular are iPhones and Blackberries; and their popularity has spawned over 75,000 applications for the iPhone alone. These applications range from simple directions, to a compass, to the best sushi, finding friends (by GPS) and so on. The trick for the IGC retailer is to understand how this will impact their business. My thought is that it will render a website to a secondary status and totally leap-frog e-mails. Yes, it has gotten to the point where even e-mail is too slow.

These days information can be accessed so quickly it is frightening. If you've got a question (on anything) the answer is just a couple of clicks away. So with all that said, again, why should anyone choose your business. Well, it gets back to the key points of differentiating your business - relationships and information. You've got to be top of mind when potential customers are looking for answers (as well as products and services).

So brainstorming about it I came up with a couple of ideas. All of them very simple, but reflecting a general need as it relates to success in the garden.

Number one: What plant is this? A customer can take a photo of a plant in question and either e-mail it to you, or more likely you might send it along with a text or even send it as a 'tweet' to your twitter account.

Number two: What's wrong with my plant? Again, take a photo, tweet it and connect with your friendly neighborhood garden center. That is if your twitter account name is easy to remember.

Number three: I saw this great garden I like, can you help me create this? See above.

How do you do all this? First you have to get up to speed on the technology (usually through younger family or staff)and second equip select staff with smart phones. Remember, standing out in business today is all about providing 'remarkable' service. Good news travels fast, so if you can get back to them quickly you can create a loyal customer. So, your staff would need to monitor Twitter, Facebook, etc. The reality is that is going to be a stiff learning curve, the good news is that you have time before this is mainstream.

The nice thing about a twitter feed is that your answer can be seen by all following your twitter feed. You can also connect your twitter feed to your facebook account (and vice versa) so that it also becomes a post on your wall thus sending it to everyone on your facebook network. I guarantee you Maxwell Smart didn't have a shoe phone that could do that.

Of course this is all predicated on the strength of your relationship with your customers. If you can't even identify them by a physical address, how do you think you are going to win them over to your facebook fan base? Begin by making the connection with your customers and position yourself as the expert. The next generation customers values expertise, and you and your business should represent the source for all things garden related.

This is not to the exclusion of traditional advertising or marketing. In fact you will really need to start marketing this capability.

Need to remember this post? Just remember to Get Smart!

Have your people text my people...

Talk about Deja Vu - or just a coincidence, but I visited a garden center client yesterday and they listened so I talked (and talked), but finally the conversation turned around to website strategies. My feeling is that most garden center websites are nothing more a bad brochure. In designing sites we try to find a compelling reason for people to visit the site - repeatedly. I believe the key point of differentiation for more retailers is their relationships with their customers and their expertise (and how well they market it).

I think most garden center owners realize that they have riding the crest of the boomers for the past 15-20 years, but boomers are getting older. Not so interested in digging holes, kneeling down and the like. Which, as it should, puts the fear of God in them. Trade show talkies and trade publications have been trying over and over again to explain the 'next' generation. In my opinion gc retailers need to work hard to re-invent themselves in order to be relevant to the 25 year olds (like my daughter Erin) who will be in the market for their first home in the next 5-7 years. While a percentage will be interested in gardening, most I fear will view the yard as an extension of the home's living space. Which isn't all bad.

The tricky part of all this is how do we get these now and future customers to connect with the fact that your garden center has cool stuff and lots of expertise (and is much nicer than Home Dumpo). The answer is time and money. They are smart and they know how to find the value of something really, really fast. Faster than it takes me to write this sentence (and I type pretty fast). They will instinctively reach for the iPhone or Blackberry. These 'smart phones' are getting faster all the time and offer the chance to NEVER disconnect. (Actually, gardening would be a good break for these guys).

So when I was at garden center guy's garden center I talked about how fast information is accelerating. Long story shorter I told him he should supply key staff with a smart phone, promote a phone number for customers to text whenever they had a question. Sort of the Garden Guy on Crack (crackberry, that is). They smiled and joked about the manager getting an iPhone out of the deal. So I filed it and moved on with the presentation.

So we fast forward to dinner and one of our favorite places has a wait of an indeterminate time. The options are to stick around at the bar, (yes, please), or take a walk and we'll text you. What? Got to try that one. So, we walk, find a bench and take in the late afternoon sun. Sure enough, text message comes over that our table is ready. Cool.

We are seated and I asked the manager about the texting. Turns out the VP of this restaurant chain has a friend who wrote the software for Mobile VIP. They were just giving it a spin. Hmmmmmmmmm.... things that make you think. My immediate reaction was how do you get one of those easy to remember text numbers. I will keep you posted on that one.

Turns out the future was quite literally, right around the corner. And to think if I would have had a drink at the bar I would have missed out!

Whole Foods... is the bloom off the Ros(ie)?

I am just about to finish Michael Pollan's book 'Omnivore's Dilemma'. I will preface this by saying the I am a fan. I have read and enjoyed Pollan's previous books 'The Botany of Desire' and 'In Defense of Food'. I actually suggested the 'Botany' as a book club book. In Defense of Food changed the way I eat (and to some degree what I eat). So as I am reading Omnivore's Dilemma I am chafing a bit as he pulls the curtain back a bit on The Whole Foodies. A larger issue in the book is the industrialization of our food; a subplot is the bastardization of the whole "Organic" movement. While "Organics" have raised the argument (and captured some grocery store shelf space) to a larger populace it is raising some interesting arguments.

Pollan's features some interviews with some truly remarkable (and some whacked out)farmers resulting in some strong opinions on our food chain. While Whole Food stores are decked out in pastoral scenes, stories about local corn growers, etc. the reality is that they have had to centralize their shipping as they've grown and in some sense the quaint pictures of local farmers is just window dressing.

One of the interesting devices in Pollan's book is how he tracks his dinner up and down the food chain. Beginning with Rosie the Chicken purchased at a local Whole Foods, a trip through the McDonald's Drive Through he ends up in a CAFO in Petaluma. A CAFO is a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation; and believe me it is not a pretty picture. Rosie, as it turns out, is just the concoction of some marketing guy (damn them), but it makes for a nice label.

Now I have always admired Whole Foods ability to market the product, but I think there might be some confusion on what 'the product' is. Some buy in to the notion of natural, people oriented Whole Foods versus the colossus of Cargill and it's army of super-supermarkets (bad WalMart, bad). However, some buy in to the 'organic' orientation of the company, but at the end of the day I would argue that most buy in because the product is better. It might cost more, but if you eat more of the food you buy (I blush at how much we used to trash at the end of a week's worth of Stop & Shop) and it is better for you then doesn't that represent the value? You'll shop there as long as the wallet will support it. There is a threshold.

"Organics" as we now know it will certainly go through some serious changes as the WalMarts of the world realize that customers will pay extra for Stoneyfield Farms Yogurt. Hey, they want it, we'll stock it. Good business, right? Well, yes, but it begins to blur the lines between organics and true sustainability. Case in point while shopping for bulk amounts of stuff at the local BJ's Wholesale Food club I noticed a growing section of 'Organic' vegetables, one of which was recognizable (can't remember the name, just the logo) from the book. Well, organic carrots are great but not if they have to be trucked from California to Connecticut. See my point. Organics good; less chemicals - Organics bad; more petroleum.

The truth is you can't throw the baby out with the bath water. Organics as currently defined does result in less chemicals, which is better for consumers and workers, but the trade off results in one of those sticky arguments that ends in a carbon footprint. Does anyone understand a carbon footprint? Advertising and Madison Avenue (those Mad Men) will certainly take liberties with anything that comes close to resonating with consumers, but in the end are the fine products from S.E. Johnson (a family company) any greener than they were before green was the new pink?

Consumers vote with their wallets and so far that is allowing local growers, farmers and the like an opportunity to get their toe in the water. They are just going to need to be careful so as the sharks don't bite it off. I would like to think that WalMart is capable of integrating "organics" into it's product line, but as with anything else they touch (remember when it was 'Made in the USA'? Thank you 60 minutes) the waters tend to get a bit muddy.

Consumers buy for a variety of reasons. Provided with a compelling story they will pay more, but who knows what will happen when the industrial food processing machine gets a hold of it.

As for me, I am headed over to Whole Foods for lunch. I know that my $8 salad is better for me than the two whoppers for $4 at Burger King. What do you think?

Mind Blowing Ideas

Saturday night we had friends for dinner. Nothing exceptional there except for the fact that we used to baby sit for her and her sister; then she baby sat our kids and finally, Saturday night she visited with her and her baby. Wow. Time flies. She is now a mom and teaches third graders here in town. Over the course of the next few hours we were able to catch up with her. Our daughters were in town so a few hours stretched into the wee hours. Baby Clara was remarkable. Slept through the whole thing.

Now I don't have to relate all of the topics and all of the stories, but one thing I thought you might be interested in: she teaches Photoshop to her third graders. I couldn't believe it - third graders? Yup. She says there pretty good, no using sophisticated masking, but using filters, text etc. Wow I said, that blows my mind. Especially in light of the work I do in print and online. I am pretty much self-taught with all the highs and lows that go with that. Imagine if I had instruction as a third grader? The nuns would go nuts.

Now from time to time some of our retail clients ask about updating their websites, adding photos, uploading new pages, etc. We usually recommend Photoshop LE (it's cheaper and generally a lot less expensive). Generally speaking most of the software that comes with digital cameras would be sufficient for image editing. But that's not the point. Most people asking are at least over 40 facing a learning curve as steep as the Eiger. So it begs the question: when those eight year olds grow up to be homeowners (that's about 20 years from now), what will be the odds that you haven't learned as much as they have forgotten?

Advertising is not marketing

Advertising is not marketing; and marketing is not advertising. But these days it seems as though what we have called advertising – the weekly ad in the newspaper, the annual ad in the Yellow Pages, and yes even the TV spot on the local news - has vanished into thin air.

Over the years many retailers have finally come to the conclusion that print advertising just doesn’t deliver (even when you can find a paper still in business), and that the majority of their customers just Google anything they want to find. With the advent of all the HD channels cable channels are multiplying like rabbits. While most people still watch TV, many use a Tivo, or DVR to watch their favorite shows when they want, and without commercial interruption, that is, if they don’t watch them online.

Every year you face the same challenge: how to cut through the clutter – and every year there is even more clutter. What do you do? The answer is just what your Mother always said: “Don’t talk to strangers.”

Now we all know that strangers are just friends you haven’t met yet, and the best new friends are those introduced by your old friends. Word of mouth is till the best form of advertising. In many respects that time tested concept truly taps into the whole notion of social networking. You meet friends of your friends, well… through your friends!

But wait, before you pull out your IPhone to update your Facebook page, it is important to remember that everything starts (and ends) with the relationship you have with your current customers. I can’t imagine any company these days that operates without a customer list – both mailing address and e-mail address. If you haven’t demonstrated what a great friend you are, then why should they bother to tell their friends?

The 3 building blocks of true CRM – Customer Relationship Marketing.

1. Create a customer loyalty program. It starts with as simple a question as, “Are you a current member of our Garden Rewards (or similar) program?” If not, it is going to important for you to communicate the value of signing up. If it is just to get more e-mail, then you might meet some resistance. There needs to be a good 5 – 6 reasons why, or why should they give you personal information? Need some help with those 5 or 6 reasons? How about sharing your expertise (whenever and however they need it); introducing them to new plants or gardening ideas, preferred pricing, special events, design assistance, or sale notices? One important tip – make sure it is easy for them to sign up, and encourage them to sign up online. It eliminates misspellings.

2. Follow up: These days’ people receive information in a variety of different ways, but it is important for you to concentrate on three - in person at the store, by standard mail, and by e-mail or text messaging. By using a combination of the three you can vary the look and feel of the message – visceral, visual and virtual. The important thing is to maintain a consistency of message and presentation across the different platforms.

3. Reward: Once you are able to make a successful follow up connection it will be important for you to deliver on the promise of step 1. This should be built into the structure of your follow up messages. If you are offering total access, then you should remind them with as simple message as, “got a question, just ask us”, followed of course by phone, web address and a designated e-mail address that you check regularly. Your mailer and e-mailer can be constructed to always feature tips, new plant features, coming events, and special offers.

From these three steps you will have built a strong enough relationship (over time) so that you can introduce new concepts such as a business Facebook account, company blog, or Twitter feeds that deliver good advice consistently.

The important thing is to start now. At Sunrise Marketing we can help you every step of the way. We’re you one stop solution to total integration of your marketing efforts. Of course, if you ever have a question, just call us 1-888-393-4443, or send an e-mail to info@sunrisemarketing.com.

7 things you can do to kick-up your website

Now is a good time (regardless of when you read this) to improve your website. More garden center retailers are coming to understand that a good website is an essential part of an effective marketing mix. Notice I said a ‘good’ website. I would define a good website as one that is current, engaging, and relevant. So in an effort to put together a ‘super seven’ list a good place to start is…

1) Keep it current – Nothing detracts from a website like dated information. I am not just talking about an event that has passed, but websites that have not been touched for years. This can be a challenge is you don’t have capable staff (or yourself) that can keep on top of it. While we all understand the downside of an outdated site, the upside to a current site is a very cost effective way to keep your message in front of your best customers (and those that find you through searches). If you don’t have the staff, consider hiring a company to maintain your site for you.

2) Keep it visual – The garden center business revolves around beautiful plants. If you understand that the sizzle sells the steak, then you will appreciate how esthetically appealing imagery can really motivate your customers. Using Flash technology you can bring movement that will increase the emotional impact of that all important first impression. These days Flash development is not that expensive. You can also extend the effectiveness of the flash by changing it seasonally – usually no less than four times a year. However, another way to get more bang for your buck is to organize a sequence of messages that coordinate with your key promotions such as Bonus Buck redemption periods, sale announcements, upcoming events, and universal services such as landscape design, potting services and plant advice. When you focus your message to around 4 to 5 images in a Flash sequence you can keep it fresh by just changing out the photos seasonally.

3) Coordinate your media – If you are running TV or radio advertisements then consider adding them to your website. At Sunrise Marketing we rotate radio spots for clients that will reinforce the Flash message, as well as the promotions featured on the website. This is a simple update that can add relevance to your site. You can do the same with your TV ads. Just ask the production company you use to provide you with digital files. These can be formatted and integrated into the site through Flash or other methods. Again, another way to get more for your marketing dollar is to ask your TV production company to cut some of the footage they shoot into messages that can be played on the site. There is a big difference between an ad designed for TV and a sequence designed to highlight a featured plant, service or promotion you offer. For example, if you run a hanging basket sale each year why not cut some footage into a promo you can use on your site, or on a monitor in the store.

4) Engage your visitor – One of the key points of differentiation between you and your competition is you. Your expertise, plus your connection to the local community should be promoted. Your website can make you accessible to customers in a way that will be easier for you to manage then four or five customers clustering around you on a busy Saturday in May. We suggest that our clients add an ‘Ask Us’ form to their website. These forms can be designed to solicit very specific information from your customer. This can help you really hone in on the issue so you can respond quickly and accurately. I would also go so far as to promote your ‘Ask Us’ campaign at the store level so that you and your business is top of mind whenever a gardening question pops up. Use signs, staff buttons and even your radio and TV ads to plug your process. Make it easy for your customers to connect with you.

5) Keep up on the technology – One word… Google. In order to keep things simple for you I would recommend establishing a Google account. It is easy to do and it opens up a world of opportunities for you and your site. With Google Analytics you can start to view important statistics that will help you keep track of site traffic, pages of interest, as well as important search phrases that customers use to find you. You can also set up a free email account through G-Mail. Want to set up a blog? Easy to do with Blogger, yet another Google application. While you are at it you can add a calendar to your site, as well as Google maps. All these applications are free and can really juice up your site – practically overnight!

6) Create a community – Facebook can be more valuable than just keeping in touch with High School sweethearts. While it is a bit more of a complex process you can create a profile you can manage so you can post information – such as photos and videos – and even create a fan base. You can post a link to your fan page through your Facebook account, or website, and spread the word about your specials and events to all your fans.

7) Make it easy to buy – You can establish a PayPal account and begin the process of selling items – I would recommend confining it to gift cards – on your site. Make sure you have established the capability to fulfill on these orders quickly and efficiently. The last thing you want to do is disappoint your customers so get all your ducks in a row before launching this one. At Sunrise Marketing we design, print and even ‘snot glue’ the cards in place so that you only need to print a label and add a stamp. Keep it simple and confine it to just a few price points - $25, $50 and $100 are generally sufficient.

Of course there are plenty of other ideas. The great thing about the web is that you can join special interest networking sites like the Today’s Garden Center Fresh Air Forum. There you can post questions or join in on other relevant discussions.

Pick a lane!#^@!!

I am not really upset. I just thought I would get your attention with a snappy title. Well I hope this won't get sloppy, but I was excited to see that Goodby, Silverstein & Partners had cleaned up at the Cannes Lion awards in, well, Cannes (France). In addition to Interactive Agency of the Year, they claimed a Silver for their Haagen Daz Loves Honey Bees campaign. They produced a great spot that chronicled the progression of the promotion. Going interactive was a shift for HD. While I would be hard pressed to tell you how many honey bees they saved, or how it impacted the sale of ice cream (somebody probably could), it did create some buzz (sorry).

Of course, I am only interested in things like this for two reasons, my kids and my customers (in that order). Well if you check out the credits (dig deep) for the HD campaign you'll find Account Manager Erin Fromherz. Can I get a whooo hooo?

OK, I got that out of my system. On to the point of this post. It is usually marketing types who position campaigns like this as a groundswell (read article on Hot Tomatoes), but like Gandhi used to say "we must be the change we wish to see"... Quite a marketing guy that Gandhi.

The point is a 'groundswell' comes when like-minded people converge on a movement, such as the slow food or organic gardening movement. So what does this have to do with the damned honey bees? Well, grasshopper, we are all connected. No bees, no honey; no honey, no money. If you want to get the attention of business (or anyone else for that matter) in this country you have to talk in dollars and sense.

What Haagen Daz, or rather those clever folks at GS&P, realized is that this stuff does matter. People are interested in the larger picture. While, yes, a cynic might just trod over the issue with $200 sneakers (made in a sweat shop in Asia for $5), people do get the big picture. They can connect the dots between SUVs and icebergs.

Now, I am not going to go all global warming on you, but you don't have to be Albert Einstein to know that no bees is no good for us (oh yeah, or the planet). No one can tell you exactly what is happening to those bees, but I am thinking it is one of those "we don't know what we don't know" situations.

Chilling. Big, big, big problem. However, as I get older I realize that it is baby steps, baby. Part of the HD loves HB campaign included something as clever as an ad which was printed on recycled stock. You could tear it out of the magazine, crumple it up and plant it. Wildflowers would grow and it would be one small step for bees, one big step for mankind. But that was just one piece of a very complex organism that included bee fans supporting the cause with self made videos on YouTube. Check this one out. I liked it. So did the other 1,145,000 +/- people who downloaded that sucker.

My point (I knew I had one somewhere) is that good marketing does more than sell stuff, but it also connects with people in meaningful (and not-so) ways that motivate them to do something. If you watch this video (on the Cannes Lion site, make sure to click on the capital) then you will get a sense of what kind of commitment it takes to create that ephemeral 'viral' marketing we all count on.

Haagen Daz was sold on the idea of committing to a new type of marketing, and a message that meant something to them, and as it turns out, those people in Cannes. HD made a decision on a very specific message (bees), but with a message that was global. It was their commitment that got them from a clever idea to a movement that link arms with other like minded movements. People do care about this stuff.

I do, or I wouldn't have written this stupid post.

Do you Twitter?

Before you say another word... I am with you; I am confused by all the hype surrounding Twitter. For those not in the know, Twitter is another one of those ubiquitous social networking sites. I swear they must be paying people to use it, or at least, say they use it.

As with many of these experiments in technology, I wonder to myself how a garden center client would best use something like Twitter or Facebook.

Without breaking a sweat I have 20 'followers', many just subscribed to the thread, or tweet, because, like me they were curious. So I am conducting a little socio-economic experiment here. I promise to post a 'tweet' at least 5 times a week with something more meaningful than what I ate that day. My goal is to see how many followers I can amass by the end of July. Of course you can tweet me with your guess.

In order to make it worthwhile and not just another gimmick I will need to produce some pretty meaningful content. I promise. The good news is that I won't need to do it all on my on. That is one of the good things about Twitter. For example, if you wanted to take a peak at one of the more interesting ways to 'tweet' then check out the NBC LA affiliate at NewsRaw. My youngest daughter is interning there this summer and works at posting lead ins. For the news industry it makes a lot of sense. What is more immediate that hooks leading into a web video.

Back to all things green. The reality is that there are many times that I hatch one idea or another. Some are good, some, well... not so much. I figure I drive my staff crazy, why not you? So here goes - a simultaneous - ok, within a day or so - posting the same general information on our website, e-mail, blog, and twitter.

More to come... I pinky-swear.

All Signs Lead to Boosting Sales - The 5 keys to better signage

The first thing I do when clients debate the merits of store signage is to ask them to do the ‘360 test’. It is a simple way to test how well you and your business are promoted at the store level through signage. Stand anywhere in your store, nursery yard, - even your parking lot, and do a full spin noting the number of times you see your company name or logo. Often times when I just describe this exercise retailers will grimace. (Are you seeing a Monrovia logo more than your own?). Whose brand are you promoting?

Effective store signage is an important way to direct shoppers to product, support and reinforce the store brand, and, of course, sell more products. The success of a signage strategy hinges on the integration of function, style, and placement. Signage can also help you avoid the pitfalls of ‘decorating’ vs. ‘display’. A pet peeve of mine is when I visit a garden center and see product, (usually your best stuff), collected in random fashion through out the store. Not sure of the difference? Well, here is an easy way to tell: is the product organized and supported with fixtures and specific signage? Does it complement the traffic pattern you would like to establish in the store or create roadblocks or distractions? No, well you’ve just failed Display 101.

Before we tackle the keys to better signage, let’s consider the different types of signage. At Sunrise Marketing we recommend Seasonal, Event, Sale, Departmental, Directional and Product Spotlights. These can be produced on a range of substrates (banners, paper signs, mounted signs, etc.), sizes, and display fixtures. Cumulatively they form the basics for organizing your store signage.

The 5 keys to better signage –

1) Design – Whether your objective is a complete store signage project, or just beginning with a few of the basics, you need to establish a consistent design style. Your signage should complement, and not compete with the rest of your marketing media. A specific message is communicated more effectively with consistent presentation. It is helpful to establish a specific color palette (identified by specific PMS – Pantone Matching System – numbers), fonts, logo placement and overall design standards. Try to include your logo and web address on every sign.

2) Style – Style, in conjunction with design, can create a ‘look and feel’ that will establish an environment your customers experience when they visit your store. Style will help reinforce the personality of your business, and the personality is usually an extension of ownership. The reverse of the process is also true; the experience should reflect the personality of the place. Are you fun and friendly? Upscale? Expert? A low price leader or something else entirely? These concepts can expand to communicate your USP, or Unique Selling Proposition, which helps you stand out from your competition.
3) Image – The image – whether a graphic or a photograph – is an important component to the signage process. Before you default to the near clinical precision of the ‘mug shot’ of a particular plant variety, consider images that again complement the design and style you wish to communicate. People respond viscerally to the images. The composition of images, in the case of photographs, can either nail the style or confuse the message. If your goal is a sophisticated, upscale look and feel, then the photography, or artwork, must work in concert with this idea. Another important consideration should be to consider how men and women respond to images. Women respond more to the emotion of color and composition, while men respond to the information contained in a sign or an image.

4) Purpose – It is essential to understand that signage, like any other marketing medium, needs to have a well defined purpose, or objective. What do you want to accomplish with your signage? Are you looking to assist customers in locating products, or specific departments, or are you looking to establish an atmosphere? It is not that these elements are mutually exclusive, but rather a simple ‘Sale’ sign has a different purpose than a sign that says ‘Spring!’ The purpose of the sign will, in many cases, drive the design and style of a sign. The ‘Sale’ sign can be as simple as a red background, signaling importance, or urgency, and the word ‘Sale’ in a high contrast color like white. Whether or not red is your school color (so to speak), a consistent use of the color red in conjunction with an urgent message is another effective way to establish consistency throughout your signage.

5) Location – I am a firm believer in using signage to move people through the shopping experience. When you consider that most garden centers sprawl across acres of product, it is easy to see how that might overwhelm your customer. For that reason I would suggest that you begin with a site plan, establish a traffic pattern, and then utilize signage to mark the path. While scale is important, good signage should move people in 25 to 50 foot increments. You can also organize your signage into primary, secondary and spotlight. Your primary signage might be a departmental sign such as ‘Greenhouse’; your secondary sign might be ‘Geraniums’ and your spotlight sign might be ‘Geranium Sale’. Remember to utilize signage to move the eye from a distance down to a destination. When you section your store into micro-markets, such as pottery or trees, it will provide a logical progression from large to small. This process can be applied to as large a concept as your parking lot – main roadside sign (primary), fence banners (secondary) and store entrance (spotlight) – or as small as a vignette for plants that attract butterflies.

In order to build a successful approach for signage, you may need to break some bad habits. Again, make the distinction between ‘decorating’ and ‘display’. Another benefit of organizing your fixed displays will be the ease and effectiveness of quickly changing out your promotions. Fewer displays mean less work, and in this case, less is better. At the very least you should establish displays in key areas such as the store, greenhouse, and nursery yard entrances. When you apply one of the key rules of retail – WIFS (What’s In Flower Sells) – the decision of what to promote is easy. A calendar of display changes can be worked into a schedule that can coordinate effectively with your other marketing messages. Success at the store level is the timely coordination between the right product, the right message and the right merchandising. Simply put, schedule your plant deliveries for optimum sales (bud & bloom), sign the product (spotlight POP), and advertise the product (direct marketing).

Just about all retailers realize how important store signage is, but fail in the execution of a plan. Despite what you may think, I would suggest that summertime is the best time to plan and execute a signage project. It is easier to work with product than to try to work from a blank canvas. Finally, shopping more tradition retail such as grocery stores (I like Whole Foods), specialty stores (Williams-Sonoma), and yes, even large box stores (IKEA), can spark ideas that might motivate you towards directing your business towards a boost in sales.

They're your customers - fight for them!

While many green retailers have finally arrived at the fact that they need to implement some type of a loyalty program I am concerned that they might be doing it for the wrong reason - because everyone else is.

Years ago I used the analogy that watching our green industry chase ideas was like watching six year-olds play soccer. A scrum of kids would all converge on the ball until it popped out to another spot on the field where seemingly all the kids would rush over to form another pile. The process would repeat itself until the most talented kid would eventually break free of the pack and score.

So I will ask the question, which are you the leader or the pack?

Following the pack is a poor excuse for not paying attention in the first place. Customer retention is the most fundamental of all business practices. Done properly it will allow you to identify and connect with your best customers. Practiced poorly it can become ungainly and will ultimately disappoint customer's expectations. So before you busy yourself with rebate schemes or calculating points, remember that customer retention is job one. Your customers represent your most important business asset - more than the building, the inventory or the staff. So just as you wouldn't neglect the plants you inventory, you shouldn't neglect the customers who have built your business.

Which brings us to the technology of customer retention.

When I started Sunrise Marketing 15 years ago I built it on the strength of communicating as directly as possible to each individual customer. It was over 23 years ago that I entered the garden center industry as a part owner in a local garden center. At the time my business partner was forward thinking enough to install a POS system - this was back in 1986. While it wasn't perfect it was with the information we collect that we could best track inventory, monitor profitability and identify our best customers.

In 1986 the emerging technology was centered around the PC, or personal computer. I remember when I purchased my first (of many) HP laser printers. I got it on sale for $2400. It was with the marriage of the PC, the POS and that HP that we generated an in-house newsletter. Eventually we found a local printer who helped us develop our first four color postcard. Those days we had to print a sticky label for each address and then, one by one we stuck them on each mailer, sorted them into mail bundles trudged them off the post office and hoped we had done it right.

It was my goal at the time to develop marketing strategies that were 'concrete and measurable'. In other words if I sent out 1000 postcards and 237 premiums were returned then I knew I had a 23.7% rate of response. If it cost fifty cents for each piece mailed then my expense was $500. If my average sale was $30 then it generated $7,110 and I received a 14 times return on investment. Because I was able to track prior results I could better forecast the future returns.

To paraphrase hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, I wasn't as interested in where the puck was, but rather where it was going. Fast forward over twenty years later and the facts remain the same: customer retention is the cornerstone of any business. Understanding their wants and needs allows you to create marketing messages that truly resonate with your customers. The results are tangible... and they can be measured.

This is critical as you can't manage what you can't measure. However, when you have accurate information you can begin the process of analysis that will allow you to execute strategies for growing your business.

So it was because of technology I can tell you that we had 409 unique visitors to the Sunrise Marketing website on Wednesday, January 14, 2009. I can review the e-mail sent earlier that day and find that it had a 30.4% open rate and a 32.5% click through rate. The majority of the click-throughs, nearly 48% read the latest article written for Today's Garden Center. Likewise I can measure specifically that phone and website traffic spiked again from mailing out our catalog, The Idea Book, on January 5th. So when I look at developing a marketing strategy I can quickly figure out that I should continue to send out e-mail newsletters monthly (at least) and should schedule another catalog mailing.

But success in direct mail, or direct marketing, is not predicated on having a POS system, but it helps. It makes it easier, but it is not essential. What is essential is the ability to put a name to a customer and begin the process of communication that will keep you and your business top of mind for that customer. Customers that are treated well will tell their friends and word of mouth is the most effective advertising.

What is important to remember is that collecting information is just the beginning of the relationship. Proper customer relationship marketing, or CRM, is a process where actions and reactions are tracked, measured, and improved upon. When you are able to systematically measure and respond to customer feedback you can the systemically and strategically grow that customer - and thousands of others at the same time.

So these days when time and money are stretched to the breaking point isn't it about time for you to look at instituting a system that will identify and reward all of your customers. My advice is to make it your primary mission this spring to meet and greet all customers with enthusiasm and appreciation. Establish the objective of enrolling as many customers as possible into a customer loyalty program. Make sure you identify and communicate the benefits quickly and accurately and then deliver on the promise. If you would like to learn more about it then check out my earlier article on building a loyalty program >.

These days can you really afford the indifference to a consumer that has built your business? Isn't it time to create a lasting bond before your competition does?

Hey, they are your customers - but now more than ever you are going to need to fight for them.

Three things I would do if I were you ...

I have returned from the MANTS show (I know it sounds like the 'Man Show' with Jimmy Kimmel) in Baltimore. It is a green industry trade show that generally kicks off the winter trade show season on the east coast. Like many vendors and wholesale growers I was looking to take the temperature of the attendees.

Well, it wasn't that bad. The traffic was down, but the contacts were better and more focused on getting things done. Signage continues to top the list the to-do list for many retailers, but many that I talked with were interested in some of the more sophisticated selling strategies such as the 'We Plan, You Plant' (a DIY design service), the Perfect Patios & Dream Decks (a DIFM container garden design service) and the Grow Green marketing program.

The common denominator is that all agree that marketing is more important than ever. Unfortunately comments at winter trade shows are somewhat akin to New Year's resolutions, that is you know what you should do, but rarely do it. This year might be different because fear is a great motivator.

With that in mind, here are three things I would do if I were a retail garden center...

1 - I would take advantage of the fact that large scale landscaping projects might be downgraded to smaller projects and quite possibly more do-it-yourself (DIY) than do-it-for-me (DIFM). This means that garden centers will be able to compete with smaller landscapers on home landscape projects. The good news is that small landscapers rarely advertise (they even brag that they never had to), so the marketing you've done over the years should pay off. In a tight economy I think that homeowners are going to scrutinize their budget. Take a look at our We Plan, You Plant and Perfect Patios & Dream Deck programs. You can also see how we integrated these two items into our sample website - www.xyzgardencenter.com.

2 - Don't be surprised if you see a bump in lawn care products as people will look to do it themselves to save money. You should consider advertising more lawn care products. Stress that it is easy and will could save in excess of $100 over the course of a year. Push organic lawn care products and the fact that it is easy and you can help them with professional advice.

3 - This is probably the best year, and this is actually the best time to roll out a community fundraiser program. What with budget cuts and reduced services groups are looking everywhere for ideas that will help them raise money. The winter months are one of the few times you might have the time to sit down and actually sell something. It takes time and a commitment to the process. At Sunrise Marketing we created a 'turn-key' program that can help you hit the ground running.

The great thing about all of these ideas is that you can, and should start them NOW in order to generate pre-season sales while grabbing market share from those landscapers who don't advertise and the garden centers waiting to see what is going to happen (to them).

That's what I would do...

New Year's Resolutions Anyone?

It doesn't seem like it was that long ago that we were anxiously awaiting New Year's day 2000! In many ways it feels as though I have lived several lifetimes since then. Our business was booming as we entered our 6th year. And then there was 9/11 and our business like many others took years to recover. But recover it did and 2007 was a record year.

It is important to realize that during challenging times like these that we will survive. Our country and our business regained it's footing and boomed again. I am glad that the feds finally acknowledged that our current recession started 12 months ago. I am sure many of us could have told them that.

Not that I am any more clairvoyant than the next guy, but I remember advising clients I saw at the MANTS show in January of 2008 that this was a year to 'hunker down'. This should not be confused with giving up, but rather a call to manage your business like your life depended on it. I really didn't say it with quite that drama, but we've seen dozens of small owner operated garden centers go out of business this past year.

Who knows what 2009 will bring.

Well the answer to that one is up to you. Are you in it to merely survive, or are you in it to thrive? I know that this economy is a scary thing, but you've got to take a deep breath, swallow hard and get to work. As the trade show season looms on the horizon you should make this the year that you develop a practical approach to running a profitable business. It is a time for tough choices. You are going to need to approach staffing, inventory and yes, advertising with a steady hand and a steadier plan.

So take some time to re-charge your batteries and commit yourself to success. It shouldn't be entirely defined by your sales figures, but rather the bottom line. Approach each day with an eye towards the possibilities and then make them come true. As a small business owner your staff (and customers) are going to take their cues from you so you must be up to the task.

We have survived before and with proper planning and even better execution, we will survive again. So what will your New Year's resolution be? Enthusiasm and optimism is contagious. Spead the word...

How fast was that?

As I create this post I am about 650 words into my monthly article for Today's Garden Center. I decided to focus this month's article on the speed of information. So I thought it would be an interesting exercise to compose a quick blog on the subject and compare the time and effectiveness of the two methods of publication. In the article I referenced a blog posting that had an interesting working definition of the word 'community'. You can read the complete posting here >

The subject of the TGC article is networking with your community of industry peers and most importantly, your customers. In the most recent issue of Time magazine the 'Going Green' section features a 'green, not green, and greenest' option for the holiday Christmas tree. The article, about a thousand words, went through the pros and cons of the fake, the cut and the b and b options. You can view the article with images here >

Now this article should be pretty good information for the local garden center to share with their customers - providing of course that the garden center has taken the time and effort to aggregate a community of customers. They could reinforce the benefits while letting their customers know that they sell live trees. Heck, they could even provide a coupon.

If they had they could post a blog on the subject, like I am doing here, or send an email newsletter on the subject like we do with Constant Contact, or they could sit back and think 'wow I should have done that'.

So by using this blog I am literally able to create a more dynamic and interesting feature than I can with a print article. In print I can't really link the readers to the content linked here. The reader could do their own detective work on the subject, but this blog has done it for them.

Got to go for now. I have to finish my thousand words on the subject. Boy this blog was easier. Oh, by the way, if you would like to read the complete TGC article before I actually send it to the publisher you can go to the Sunrise Marketing website and read it and the other forty or so articles composed over the years. Better give me a minute or two to actually finish my article...

Some thoughts on cooking your own goose.

This holiday season is going to be challenging. That's an understatement. With the economic woes broadcast 24/7 it is no wonder that spirits (and business) are down. Now I have written a couple of blogs on the subject, and more than a few articles on advertising in general and marketing in particular. In fact, a recent article urged retailers to "Stop Advertising". But before you take it too literally, understand that the message was directed towards improving your advertising. Often times many retailers get stuck in a rut with an outdated message to an un-caring audience.

They say that fear is a great motivator; for some it drives them to find new solutions in tough times, but for others it stops them dead in their tracks. But it always a matter of choice. The irony is that bad news can become addictive. Each day you are drawn to the evening news, the online fix or even the morning paper. It's all you think about. Pretty soon it becomes a fearful obsession. I know, I've been there. I feel like I am spending way too much time with Chris Matthews, Wolf Blitzer, heck maybe even Campbell Brown.

Recently though I have sought intervention in the form of ESPN's SportsCenter and the guys from PTI. I have had enough with bad news. I am boycotting the blues. Not that the stocks will stop their nosedive, or that the Big 3 from Detroit will pull themselves up by their own bootstraps (that's what I have to do everyday, maybe it might build some character), or even that the Christmas retail season won't suck. It probably will. Times are tough. But to curl up into a ball and wait for the end is nothing short of business suicide.

When the options are to do or die, then by all means 'do'! Like every other small business owner I am trying to anticipate the future and adjust accordingly. What's important is to make good decisions, but by all means do all that you can to drive business to your store, your site, whatever. It is tough to face down fear everyday, to manage payrolls and go on with business as usual. I know it feels lonely some times, so I thought I might share some inspiration.

So when I was shaving the other morning I got caught up in a sing song rhyme from Charles Osgood - the Osgood Report. It made me smile so I hope you will like it too.

So inspiring was the message I thought I might give Suessing a whirl. So when I was finishing this blog I decided to juice the Seuss.

"Well, the water was running so I couldn't quite hear, but when the talk turned to advertising it gave my heart cheer.

So I turned off the water so I could hear better, and his rhyme made me smile as I put on my sweater.

(What, you have a better word that rhymes? Well then don't listen to me then, you do it next time)

Well a day or two passed when my wife said she heard it. She couldn't say where, and she couldn't say when, so I googled and found it and we listened right then.

Well, we listened with rapture, we listened with care, so it was right then and there that I thought I might share.

I hope it brings solace, I hope it brings cheer, but most of all lately, may it drive away fear."

The Fromherz file.

Cool is as Cool does...

I recently gave a talk at the New England Greenhouse Conference in Worcester, MA. It was an interesting day. I gave two talks separated by about five hours. It was great because it gave me a chance to sit in on another talk. It is helpful to gain perspective when you have the chance to observe. It was another marketing presentation. A professor from Purdue gave a very good talk on market segmentation. Upon completion they opened the floor up for questions.

There was one exchange that left me scratching my head. It wasn't so much a question as an observation from an audience member. The subject was how to attract that ever elusive X and Y shopper. With an aging clientele many retailers are struggling to come to some sort of understanding of this target market.

Her concern (point) was that those consumers were attracted to places like Home Depot by the strength of their marketing message and the fact that it was 'cool'. This point eluded me a bit. Was it that the store was cool, or just the advertising and marketing? I have to think it was the advertising. Anyway, it got me thinking.

My original thought was how could someone get it so wrong. Kind of a harsh thought so I kept it to myself (until now, of course). With props to Gump's Mom, 'Cool is as Cool does'.

You can't fake cool; for that matter you can't even manufacture cool. It either is, or it isn't; and if you are concerning yourself with the 'cool' effect you are way off track (especially if you are a garden center).

This thought has stuck in my head - let's call them the XerWhysers - aren't so much defined by external forces, but rather how they see themselves. They are curious. They like to explore and discover stuff. They are relentless researchers, (read web-serfers), and are, for the most part, educated and smart - at least those I know.

More than any other consumer base they have a real snout for the good, the bad and the ugly. As it relates to garden center stuff they are kind of a non-starter. They are never going to become 'gardeners' in the sense that their parents might have been. They are into other things; landscaping and home improvement will come when they become, well, home owners.

So, as I do when I am interested in getting to the heart of things I e-mailed my daughter Erin. I find that I can lob an idea her way and she'll cut right to the point. So, I told her about the 'cool' Depot story.

I had the answer in about an hour:

"you're exactly right. it's not the advertising that makes it cool, it's the sense of discovery that gets people hooked. when i get a "cute shirt" comment, it kind of even feels better to say that you got it for $4.99 at the gap on super sale.

i don't think things are as dramatic as "as quickly as they spot something great they will turn something bad" but i do know that my generation is super fickle, and i'm not sure there's been much success in advertising to us.

i can honestly tell you that home depot is NOT geared towards my demographic. a ton of us don't own homes, let alone gardens that we can work on. we're more fixated on contributing to our 401k, getting ahead at work and dressing ourselves. and what, pray tell, is cool about the home depot ads?? they show young families ripping up carpets and painting their kid's rooms. god she was off.

the whole thing here is that we are constantly trying to define what is our own self-image. what our style is. what music we listen to. how we keep house. what kind of foods we like and what our morning routine is.

information moves FAST. by the time the today show or CNN reports on something, it's usually passe. and they have 24 hour news!"

Thanks Erin.

So, with that said, I think we should table the whole XerWisers (or, is it XerWhyers; we'll see if that sticks) thing. I don't think anyone has figured that one out anyway, at least with the traditional media mix.

Back to the seminar. Well, the q and a session ended and I got ready for my final presentation. At the risk of falling back into ad-speak, I tried to sum up a strategy for those souls out there trying to make sense of it all. They deserved something, after all, at least they were committed enough to attend a marketing talk.

The answer is to be 'remarkable'. I think I said it about three times more - you have to be 'remarkable'; 'remarkable' (that ought to do it). A business will (usually) rise and fall on merit. If you have a great product, great service or superior staff people will find you. Word does get out. Of course effective marketing will help, but you can only do so much if you can't deliver the goods. (Was there something about a pig and lipstick?).

The point is to concentrate on your customers; look to understand their needs and connect with a genuine message that clearly states your value proposition. The world is spinning faster than ever. Believe it or not, many will (re)discover the peace and feeling of accomplishment that come with planting a tree or feeding the birds. Keep on point with your message and always look to improve.

Neato Torpedo!

You can learn quite a bit by just goofing around. I have started a rather involved process of building a sample garden center website. I did it in order to use it as a reference tool for an upcoming presentation at the New England Greenhouse conference on November 6th. Well, what started out as a simple, straightforward project has ballooned into a race against time (deadlines, ugh!).

It seems as though the more you add, the more you want to add; ad naseum. You can really get hooked on technology. I really did have rather modest goals when I started to create XYZ Garden Center's fictitious website. Then when I was adding a Google map for directions it occurred to me that I need a real address. So I added the address of my childhood home. Why you ask? Well, because with a Google map you can see a street view and actually see the house. Neato!

Then when I was adding a fictitious Constant Contact account I decided to add the 'survey' function and put a poll onto the site. You never know, you might want to know what your customers think. Alright, I did it because I thought it was... neato!
Well then I was going to add this new cool form creator. It would allow for all kinds of applications for the website - an 'Ask Us' form, a submission for the 'We Plan, You Plant' service, and of course for the 'Contact Us' page. It was fast and really neato!

Are you sensing a trend here? Of course there is a danger in cramming so much stuff onto a website just because you can, but I though, hey, wouldn't it be cool to create a Facebook page for the site and show people how you could create a 'Fan' club for XYZ Garden Center? Still sorting that one out for now.

The reality with a website is that it is never finished. There are always new ideas and adjustments that could be made based on the feedback you get when you add the Google Analytics - neato stuff!

The only thing that will stop me now is the deadline for submitting my PowerPoint presentation outline for the talk. I sure hope they have high speed Internet access. I guess I should really get back to the creation of the site, but I had to compose a sample Blog post to make sure it would work on the sample site.

Did I mention the blog post? Or the podcast? Neato stuff for sure...