Aha… Woodstock!

“Absolutely Phenomenal!”
“Practical and Effective!”
“Timely & So Simple!”
“A lot of great information bundled together very well; I have five pages of ideas.”
“Good stuff, damn good stuff!”

These were some of the comments we received on the workshop in Vermont. The idea exchange at the seminar in Woodstock (VT) was very good. The attendees shared some great feedback with us and we truly want to thank every one of them for their ideas – it was great learning for us as well.

Here are some ideas for all of us to apply to create interactivity and a sense of community amongst our clients and something to engage our prospects:

1. Keep them coming back – have a thought for the day/ week on your site. Get people to come visit, engage them and offer them an opportunity to browse a part of your site or give you comments. Perhaps a little quiz, a story that continues about the many 'characters/ personas' that your brand supports, perhaps the result of a weekly contest that was initiated via email. Keep one thing in mind; don't force any sales on this page as it is harmful to your overall brand strategy.
   
2. Create bookmarks – Even if you are not sure about your overall strategy on MySpace, Blogs, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc. Go ahead and reserve your spot then one small step – go ahead and add some basic information on each of these sites. If you have a blog write a little note about your company, go ahead and add a little information about yourself on MySpace – essentially try to mark your space in the electronic world.
   
3. Ask them, watch them – Keep asking your customers and prospects what they want, this will help you serve them better as you will be tracking their preferences. But please keep validating their preferences; make sure they are truly following through on what they are saying. Many times people say one thing in a survey, yet they do something completely opposite.
   
4. "HEADS UP!” – Many providers insist on marketing on your dime (their logos on your emails) Why should you sacrifice your brand by marketing the email provider? You will hear all kinds of explanations as to why it is good, etc. This is simply something you should not accept.
   
5. Create a community of customers – get them together, get them to give you feedback (positive feedback and negative). If someone gives you negative feedback that is valid, and you can quickly fix it, others will appreciate the information. If someone gives you negative feedback that is not valid – you will find that some of your customers will come to your defense. Positive feedback is always welcome and more valuable when you’re not scripting it yourself – just ask people for it. People love reading reviews from their peers.

Thanks again to all of you that came. Many thanks to Reagan for running the event. Thank you for all the ideas and don't forget the next local gathering will be held on November 15 in Lebanon, NH.