(Welcome to Day 5 of Miles & Company’s Completely-Shamless, Semi-Shameless Subscriber Drive. For the next two days, our email subscribers can share our stuff and win big ole’ buckets of crazy swag prize packs that include tools for doodling, learning to write gooder, and caffeinating themselves to creative oblivion. All the rules are here. Only our email subscribers are eligible to win… because they’re all unfairly awesome… if that describes you too, why not sign up for our short emails, too?)
In the methodology we created called The First Order Of Business, everything’s built on the goals and values of your company. We shared our best advice about goals and values Thursday. Once they’re solid, you need a strategic plan. We offered up our very best strategic planning advice Friday. Monday, we dove deep into the world of your customer, and yesterday, we focused on messaging. Today, we climb atop the marketing pyramid and plant our flag on media.
Media
Sure, media choices and placement matter. You can waste a metric ton of money if you’re not careful.
Want to ensure the highest and best use of your money? Make sure the other four foundations of The First Order of Business are sound and solid.
We’ve never seen a business fail because they reached the wrong people, but sadly, we’ve seen too many fail for saying the wrong thing, saying nothing at all, or delivering a poor experience.
Once you’re following The First Order of Business, we believe less is more when it comes to media.
Don’t enter a medium unless you can legitimately be a player in that medium. To paraphrase an old saying: Underspending in an advertising medium is like buying an airline ticket halfway to Europe.
So, which media channels do you choose, and how do you legitimately become a player in each one?
THE MCo BEST OF MEDIA
Since we have so many new readers this week, we’d like to point you to our very best stories about media. DON’T PANIC! Like all of our stories, these are short, practical pieces of advice that typically take no more than 2-5 minutes to read… but you may think about them all day.
Exciting Times – We’ve never had more media channels from which to choose! Great, huh? Actually, it can be… if you take a breath and get back to basics.
The Difference Between Marketing & Advertising – I think it’s an important distinction. We’re a marketing firm. That’s not a semantic argument.
The Three* Types Of Media – Did you know there were three*? Do you budget for all of them?
End Result Should Determine Your Strategic Means – Great post about strategy and not letting the tail wag the dog. Which medium to use shouldn’t be on of your first decisions. It should be one of your very last.
The Top 40 Website Fundamentals For Small Business – A great list my friends helped me create for anyone thinking about creating a website.
Are Banner Ads Effective? – Well… are they? Let’s put it this way…
The Mythical Media Mix – What’s the perfect recipe to guarantee success. Yeah… we probably need to talk about that.
Why Should I Visit Your Facebook Page? – You tell me in your other media channels to visit your Facebook page, but do you give me a good reason? Ever?
Buying Radio Ads: The Myth Of Residual Value – I originally wrote this about the radio industry, but its principles—if not the specific numbers—apply to all manner of media where raising awareness and developing an indirect familiarty is your goal.
“Blogging” Is A Dumb Word – Well, it is. It sounds like it requires salve, but it’s likely the most important medium into which you invest in 2015.
Invitation To The Party – What if you held a big bash… and no one showed up? Is that their fault? Or yours?
21 Quick Website Thingies You Should Check And Fix Each Month – I looked for a list like this on the Internet for hours and couldn’t find it, so I made one. You’re welcome. : )
(Over the next couple remaining days of our subscriber drive and contest, we’ll be sharing our very best advice with you. We’ve used these strategies to help unleash awesomeness in hundreds of companies and thousands of people… but BE WARNED… this is the diet-and-exercise of business growth, marketing strategy, and personal branding and development. You have to be willing to do the work. If you are willing, amazing things can happen. If you aren’t already a subscriber, why not try us for a few days?)
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