If your organization can demonstrate the sort of managerial effectiveness discussed in Part 1 of this article, there’s a good chance you can actually benefit from your marketing efforts.

Part 2 of this article will concentrate on Marketing Effectiveness.

Even if one of your pitches in the race for capital ultimately results in funding, you’ll need to continuously implement effective marketing strategies and tactics to either a) attract more funding, or b) attract your ideal customers to deliver on investor expectations.

The “long haul” for funding and customers requires modern, “attraction marketing”. In accordance with my own hard knocks, observations, research and investment, here are my five standard requirements for attraction marketing:

1) Effective management is a pre-requisite for effective marketing.

If the management in your company is seriously flawed, even highly effective marketing will not reap results.  As obvious as this may seem, it is all too common for bad management to be compensated for by working-up a new marketing campaign.

Here in lies two problems: (1) Ineffective marketing isn’t the root cause for lack of organizational growth, and (2) Bad management is infamous for poor implementation of any sort, including marketing initiatives.

As I write this, thousands of businesses are ignorantly trying to cover for bad management through implementing a new marketing gig.  Is this your company?

Clean up your management first (hire, demote, terminate or develop in accordance with company culture); then try to get great things done!

2) Effective marketing embraces and implements modern technology.

Here are three of the most ridiculous things I’ve heard recently: (1) “A prominent web presence isn’t necessary; we are only interested in attracting local businesses and customers.” (2) “Internet marketing and social media don’t apply to our industry and type of business.” (3) “We believe the only way to truly connect with people is in person.”

Modern technology changes how things get done, and marketing is no exception to this rule!  The thing that amazes me most is how even tech-focused companies (of any size) are slow to recognize the impact modern technology has on how we market today, and thus fail to implement marketing effectively.

That said, let me first address ridiculous item #1: Even if you’re looking to do business locally within your state, for example, your local prospects and customers are online! This is true if they are online intentionally searching for a solution to their problems, or if they stumble upon your solution in their online networks and industry forums.  Look at it is mere coincidence that people around the globe can access your business.

If you have a website, ask yourself these questions: Do you want to be a brochure, or a presence? Do you want to be a brochure, or a sales and marketing machine?  Do you want to be a brochure, or do you want to be highly effective and attract your ideal customers with a strategic, online presence?

The way I see it, if you’re going to take the time to be online, forget branding your company as a “brochure”.  Be a presence – a force to be reckoned with!

As for ridiculous items #2 and #3: Modern technology now enables rapport building on web-based platforms. It is a gross misunderstanding the only way we can truly connect and develop rapport with another individual is in person.

Where there are words, pictures, sound and video, there is communication – and thus connection – with human beings (investors and customers included).  And where there is connection with human beings, there is the potential for growing familiarity, trust, inquiry and commerce with your company!

Furthermore, aren’t businesses of any industry interested in growing familiarity, trust, communication and sales?  Building rapport online is for ALL businesses.  Don’t take your web presence lightly – go modern.

3) Effective marketing needs to deliver a positive, “potential customer” experience.

Just like a quality product or service delivers a positive customer experience, so too should your marketing efforts.  After all, isn’t marketing a “touch-point” with your potential customers?

Here’s how to implement a positive, potential customer experience: Provide industry-related education.  That’s it!

How are you educating your market about solutions to their problems? Effectively implement edu-marketing always, and you will attract the market.  You will engage your potential customers in becoming familiar with you, trusting you, researching your solutions, and doing business with you – all via education.  Now isn’t that nice?

4) Effective marketing MUST be in synch with sales efforts.

Do you ask members of your sales team what they think about company positioning and branding? Do you align your sales department to properly sell via an education-based sales model?

Positioning your company’s brand in the market requires that you do so through the eyes of your customers so you can speak their language.  Implementing mechanisms for acquiring sales force feedback on your marketing language before you upload content to your website or disseminate sales materials is a highly effective practice.

For example, invite a few of your respected sales leaders to your market strategy meetings and ask them, “What are the top 3 pains our customers are experiencing?”
Although marketing folks prefer to believe they know “customer speak” best, they will never know it like the company’s direct line of communication a.k.a. sales force.  Never.

Once you have the proper language to create effective sales tools, you need to align behaviors in the field.  Attracting the market is different from days of old.  Conversion isn’t going to be so hard anymore. I’ll elaborate on this concept in Part 3 of this article.

5) Effective marketing of today requires a significant amount of personal time.

I hear this from CEOs and business owners quite often: “ I’m really busy running my business.  There’s just not enough time in my day for marketing stuff.”

Because people are interested in connecting, trusting, and doing business with other people, they want to connect with a person, not a company.  Therefore, understand that attraction marketing demands time from the executive/business owner him/herself.  And if not the business owner, someone needs to be assigned the role of “Face of the Company”.

Due to modern marketing technology, today’s market presents a great opportunity for CEOs to attract investors and customers via modern marketing efforts.  Never before has the business owner/CEO been able to so directly connect with so many like-minded customers at once and impact sales.

As a CEO or business owner, if you take time to execute attraction marketing you will surely delineate from your competition.  The market will be attracted to you and your company, and you will grow faster.  Let me say that again, you will grow faster.  First and foremost for your own right – growing faster than your competition is an added bonus.

That said, here are some basic questions to ask of you and your company’s marketing effectiveness:

• Do we regularly utilize market research and/or internal company knowledge to assess our market and our customers’ needs before positioning and branding our     organization?
• Do we have a well-crafted value proposition that guides all of our positioning and branding?
• Are our logo, tagline, business cards, key profiles, proprietary processes, hubsite, product/service packages, leads-generating whitepaper, core case studies, and ancillary branding tools in alignment?  Do we have any of these things?
• Do we have a concise message as to how we help?  Can everyone in our organization communicate this same message? Do we provide training for our staff so they know how to effectively communicate a clear and consistent message?
• Do we market with educational media (blog articles, white papers, case studies, resource guides, reports, telesiminars, etc.) versus traditional “company-focused” brochures which no-once gives a rat’s tail?
• Do we have an online hub (hubsite) where we drive traffic and leads versus an Internet brochure (traditional website)?
• Am I the face of the company?  Who is?
• Are we out on the Internet connecting and earning trust with our future customers?
• Do we have an Internet marketing strategy in alignment with our brand to effectively connect and earn the trust of our ideal customers so we can drive sales through the roof?
• Do we “represent” offline like we do online?

Whether your market is attracted to your organization or not is up to you! We must embrace the change modern technology has on our marketing effectiveness.

What is one thing you and your organization are doing right now that is in concert with attraction marketing?  What are three new things you can start implementing this quarter?
Which concepts from this article would you like me to provide more tips and solutions?

Part 3 of this article will focus on Sales Effectiveness!

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Wouldn’t it be nice to have investors signing-up to receive updates on your progress and achievements, as well as contacting you for a meeting?  Establishing a powerful online presence and/or “hub” where you serve as a resource and educator in your industry will attract investors.

I’m about to give you ten steps to show you how, but first there are five “laws” to consider for successfully implementing these steps:

1) You need to know who you are and where you are going

Executive leaders have strategic business, marketing and sales plans to guide their organizations toward achieving critical milestones.  It will be impossible to create an online hub that attracts investors if you don’t know who you are or where you are going – guaranteed!  Your web strategy must be in alignment with a clear direction provided by your leadership.

2) You need to understand that traditional websites are dead

An internet-brochure (aka website) will not work for you.  At best, it will provide investors and other visitors information (like a brochure).  At worst, it will cost you time, money and opportunity (due to its ineffective ability to help grow your business).

Highly effective websites of today serve as a sales and marketing machine.  They are a hub of empowering information, inspirational ideas, personal connection, and motivational conversion.  Your hub is a one-stop-shop for investors and customers to build trust and loyalty with you and your company!

3) You need to implement education-based marketing strategies

Your online hub should be a distribution center of empowering information to help investors learn all they don’t know they didn’t know about your industry and scope of solutions.  Outside of proprietary information, you can never give away too much helpful insight how your innovations can solve specific problems or make something better, easier, or faster.  If you’re really good at this, you will help readers make important decisions about THEIR business.

Of course you should provide your latest studies for download.  But as interesting and informative as your studies are, are they empowering?  Do they hook your reader emotionally?  Do they move people to action?  It would be nice if they did; however, studies serve as proof only.

You’ll need more to pull funding in your direction!  Whitepapers, Case Studies, and Articles are great pieces for edu-marketing.

4) You need to target specific investors and investor groups

This is where sales strategy comes in.  Just like any other market segment, you have to identify your “targets” and keep track of your investor relationships. You don’t want to attract ALL investors, but only those who fit your predetermined criteria. Your online hub will effectively generate warm leads for you to consider adding to your CRM system/software.

5) You need to always be driving investor traffic to your site

By nature, the activities outlined below will help drive traffic to your site (for example, blogging provides fresh content for Google spiders.) But in addition, you should always direct investors to your site because this is your HUB.  You position and brand yourself on your hub.  You move investors to sign up for your updates on your hub.  All things important to attracting and getting funding happen on your hub, if done right.

CAUTION: If you can’t embrace these concepts it’s highly unlikely you will be able to attract and connect with investors online.  And I will tell you this, either becasue they’re skeptical or because they’re not interested in putting forth the effort to exercise new skills, I meet business owners every week who struggle to accept one or more of the above concepts.  This is good news for YOU!  Take the actions I’m about to present below and you’ll win!  You will stand out from the market, and increase your attractiveness in it!

10 Steps For Attracting Investors To Your Online Hub

Step 1: Define the sort of investors you want to attract.

You want to be able to speak directly to your ideal investor types.  Create a profile for your investors that include things like location, criteria, attitudes, and beliefs. You don’t need to be concerned with ALL investors being interested in your technology and company! Concern yourself with speaking only to those genuinely interested in your scope of innovations – you’ll ultimately earn faster results!

Step 2: Create a free whitepaper (or some other educational piece).

You’ll want to have empowering information ready for download when investors sign up to receive updates on your hubsite.  A whitepaper is a highly effective tool to educate investors on all solutions, history, and milestones in your industry, and then wrap up with your specific technology.  A whitepaper serves to tactfully educate and help people make decisions, while soft-selling your own solutions toward the END.

If you’d like to learn more about writing effective whitepapers that educate and earn thought leadership, pick up Michael A. Stelzner’s book, “Writing White Papers: How to capture readers and keep them engaged.”

Step 3: Determine your web platform and auto-responder

Here you must decide if you’re going to pay an expensive web developer/designer to do everything for you (which is fine if it’s worth it to you personally), or if you will go with less expensive options such as Wordpress, Weebly or Quansite, which don’t require you know code.

Quansite (formerly Blog i360) is what I use because it provides advanced features no other platform can accommodate, such as auto-updating all your social bookmarks for you. For this reason and many more, I highly recommend it.  You can learn more about Quansite by visiting www.quansite.com.

You will also need an auto responder to capture investor contact information and regularly communicate.  You’ve likely seen many examples of these by now, such as Constant Contact and iContact.  My favorite is Aweber because you can automatically broadcast your blog posts to your email list.  Whichever auto responder you choose, you will use it to save time and effectively edu-market your contact list of investors and provide them company updates.

Step 4: Design your site map for investor navigation

If you already have a company website, I recommend adding a tab called “Investors” which will take them to an “investor universe”. This universe is a blog platform of your choosing, as mentioned above.  Ask yourself, “What do investors want to know?” And create pages tailored to their needs.  The following tabs will make a great start:

• Welcome: The most important page, as explained below in Step 5
• About: Interesting info about your company; don’t be dry!
• Management Team: Picture/video and bio of each member highlighting relevant background that makes them an excellent choice for a management position in your   company
• Board of Directors: Picture and brief bio highlighting the value they bring to the company’s achievements and milestones
• Scientific Advisory Board (if applicable): Pictures and brief bio highlighting specifically why they were chosen to serve on this important board
• Blog: Include case studies, updates, opinions, etc…this is your space to differentiate your company, innovations, and most importantly, demonstrate your thought leadership!

Step 5: Shout your “cause” from your Welcome page!

Your welcome page should NOT say, “Welcome to XYZ company!  We bla bla bla…”  This is typical as well as boring!  Instead use your Welcome page to your advantage!

Your Welcome page is your opportunity to communicate – loud and clear – what you stand for and represent!  Have a conversation that hooks your readers emotionally regarding the problems your technology can and will help alleviate.  Avoid brochure talk.  Get investors inspired to sign up for your company updates regarding your milestones and technology.

Step 6: Capture investor name and email

Remember that whitepaper you wrote in Step 2?  Aren’t you glad you did!  It took time and preparation, but it was worth it because now investors get it as an added bonus once you’ve moved them to sign up for your company updates on your inspirational welcome page.

If your title on your guide/whitepaper is well crafted, they will begin to read it.  If the first few paragraphs are extremely helpful, they will keep reading and get to the page where you talk about your solutions (the last page, sorry!).  If they read through the whole whitepaper, you’ll have made a footprint on their minds.

Your updates and other educational material you provide via your auto responder will have greater impact and quickly grow your thought leadership in your industry.

Step 7: Nurture-market your list with your updates

Once you have your investor list, use it wisely!  Don’t email useless nonsense.  Only send things of high value as seen through the eyes of the investor.  They will want to know milestones.  They will want an announcement of your blog post that provides a video of useful or interesting information about your technology.  They will want to know of your latest research publications with a summary in lay terms.  Think before email marketing!

Step 8: Blog your case studies and other helpful information often

Blogging is Marketing 101.  I know it’s extra work, but those who do it effectively attract the market and grow their business.  If you are trying to decide whether or not to blog, a good question to ask yourself is, “Do I want to grow my business?”

Realistically decide how frequently you can blog on a consistent basis. The more frequently you blog, the more you attract your market/investors.

Step 9: Implement multi-media on your site

An important lesson I learned from one of the most amazing marketing courses I’ve ever taken, Tribal Seduction, is that people (no matter who) want to be entertained.   I realize this isn’t exactly new information, but it’s often easily forgotten when we’re getting down to business.  People are drawn to pictures, video, sound, “a cause”, controversy, drama, and other emotion-laden content.  Implementing multi-media will attract the market, even investors (Investors are people too, yes?!)

Step 10: Tap into 1-3 social networks

I’m easily annoyed every time I hear things like, “You have to get on Facebook”, or,  “You must be on Twitter”.  “Why”, you might ask?  “Because it helps you with your business”, people will tell you.

The only people who maximally benefit from social networks are those who have done something very similar to steps 1-9 above, plus understand that strategy comes before tactics.  Facebook and Twitter are tactics, and not quick fixes to lack of direction and/or a strategic marketing plan.  But, with a strategy and a plan, they can be powerful tools indeed!  Proceed with knowing who you are and where you are going!

Furthermore, don’t stress yourself out trying to learn all of the social networking tools at once, especially without a strategy.  Take one at a time!  If you have an effective online hub, Facebook, twitter and LinkedIn will be ancillary (yet powerful) tools for driving traffic to your site, where your thoughts and company reign supreme.

The science and technology you work on everyday are more “rocket-science” (for some of you quite literally!) than social media tactics will ever be!  Keep these thoughts in mind, and you will implement these tools with ease and effectiveness!

A note on SEO: Of course SEO is a consideration for attracting investors to your online hub.  You can pay all kinds of money for search engine optimization services (and potentially discover disappointing results), or you can visit www.wordtracker.com…they will show you the inexpensive and effective way to apply SEO with keywords.

I hope you’ll find these concepts and steps implemented into your strategic marketing plans.  They will improve your marketing effectiveness and thus increase your attractiveness in the market!

When can you and your team complete Step 1?

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I continue to meet scientists and innovative business owners who need to do more to attract capital funding.  Please note that the operative word here is “attract” .

For instance, I recently had a conversation with a scientist who cynically declared nobody is providing any funding, and nobody is buying.  For this reason things are not going well for his business, and he doesn’t anticipate things getting better for him anytime soon.

I asked him what his thoughts were for sustaining and growing his business in spite of this conclusion.  With an outlook like that, I was curious indeed! What he told me: Another new research-publication and more trade-shows for its distribution.

Let’s think about that for a minute…why would another publication and an increased presence at trade shows save his business and support his vision for success?  Isn’t this pretty similar (not to mention a standard practice in his industry?) to what he’s always done?  What’s different?

New Skills and Strategies Are NOT Optional In Our Market

I’m not going to repeat at length what’s been in the media about the state of investing and the survival of many start-up and emerging technology-focused companies.  Funding is like oxygen, and although there is optimism that things are “looking up”, it’s been getting harder and harder to breathe!

Let’s consider mindsets and behaviors.  Scientists are accustomed to receiving grants and other equity resources to grow their research and businesses to the next stages of advancement and development.  And for the most part, they are continuing to do what they know – writing grants, preparing business plans and presenting to investors – and getting not-so-much good fortune in return!

Cynicism, panic, frustration, worry, fear, clamor, doubt, and “pushing in line” are a natural reaction.  The extent of competition for funding is a change from the usual. A new approach is required.  New skills and strategies are a must do if you want to be the one to receive the “well-guarded” funds.

Survival of the fittest?  Sure…but I prefer to think of it as survival of the fit-minded: open, strategic, conceptual, calm, EFFECTIVE.

You see, a majority of your competition will NOT take this advice (change is often deemed difficult).  But this is good news for you, if you do choose to change how you market your technology.  You will win.  You will grow a prosperous enterprise!

So how can scientists and emerging innovators stand out and ATTRACT capital funding?  How can they rise above the clamor and frustration and advance their innovations into the market?

To answer these questions, I will continue with the second part of this article in my next post: The Wrong Way And The Right Way To Attract Capital Funding

Stay tuned…!

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“We must learn to balance the material wonders of technology with the spiritual demands of our human race.”       ~ John Naisbitt

Management over the last few years has changed dramatically.  The impact of downsizing, M&As and advanced technology take huge tolls on our human capital.  And although technology improves effectiveness, efficiency and success, we cannot allow it to hoard our focus altogether.

Contemporary managers must be proficient in interpersonal skills and human development – applying their people knowledge to catch up with their technical knowledge. As technology improves, change accelerates, and people increasingly need talented managers who can help lead them through this business environment toward improved results.

Today’s workforce demands more from their managers and company. 

The reality is that people desire fulfillment, recognition and appreciation for their achievements at work (as in life).  We want to feel valued and like we are having an impact.  We need to know and understand we are appreciated and respected.  When we do, we perform at our best and generate results – first for ourselves, and then for our manager and company.  Being consumed by technology and change, managers are at risk of forgetting these basic human truths!

Managers need to make for an environment where motivation and inspiration prosper! Here are a few suggestions for managers to apply “people knowledge” and create a prosperous environment alongside technology:

Champion a corporate or team culture. 

A strong culture creates a sense of pride, identity and belonging.  Because most people desire to achieve and accomplish, a company culture fosters positive attitudes and personal performance.  If your company doesn’t have a culture, consider creating a “team culture” for you and your reports to uphold.  Together with your team, identify your core values and your purpose for why you come to work everyday.  This is a great opportunity to demonstrate your leadership to the company and genuinely lead your team.

Understand, support, and discuss your people’s personal and professional goals.

Try as we may to keep our business and personal life separate, we will fail time and again.  Having a job is very personal!  Furthermore, we bring our ‘person’ to work with us everyday. To ignore our personal goals, needs, and desires at work (or pretend to) is absolutely ridiculous.  It works the other way around as well.  If we are unhappy at work, we harbor those feelings and carry them home with us to our friends and families.  Life, in general, does not feel so good.  As human beings our performance at home and at work are lack-luster.

Here is yet another opportunity for effective managers to apply their people knowledge.  Show your people you care about all of their goals as they pertain to their personal and business life.  This will show that you care about them as a person – with unique skills and abilities- and that you value what they uniquely offer the company.  Discuss their progress and learn how you can be of service for helping them achieve their goals.

Provide random, non-monetary rewards for performance

Think about a system you would enjoy implementing to ensure you regularily recognize someone on your team. Be as creative as you like, but simply scheduling a phone call one day per month to recognize one of the people you mange and directly tell them what you valued most about their performance that month will prove a highly effective people strategy.  It will also improve the habit of doing so, and you will do it more often.  Why stop?

There’s nothing like the performance of a happy employee.  If managers don’t have people knowledge or show personal leadership to apply it, they simply aren’t going to be effective at getting results for the company.  They are not managers at all.

Technology aside, don’t forget the people!

What mechanisms have you put into place to apply people knowledge for improved results in your company?

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