Vulnerable Marketing, Chapter 1 – Welcome
by Amy Stevens Adams
(Here is the first chapter of our soon-to-be-released book, “Vulnerable Marketing”. We’d appreciate your thoughts and comments. Enjoy!)
To kick off things, I thought I would take a few minutes and answer some of your questions. You might be thinking that you don’t have any questions – but of course you do. The first is…
What’s It In For Me?
This naturally is the most burning question on the mind of any person or business owner. What you’re hoping is that I can provide you with some new ideas about marketing that you can use to improve your business and, ultimately, improve your life.
It may be that you don’t like to read much, but you want to learn something new. So what I’ve done is keep this book short and pack it with value. There is little risk on your part – a little time spent and you will discover a new way of marketing you–as an individual, your business, your product or service.
In short, if you have a 21st century company, you want 21st century ideas, not your ancestor’s marketing strategy!
So let’s get to it.
What’s Vulnerable Marketing?
Vulnerable Marketing is an idea that Amy and I have talked about, brainstormed about, and put into practice here. It is a culmination of the information we’ve gathered and the evolution we’ve experienced over our lifetimes. It’s a mixture of our diverse academic educations, real-world experiences and relationships that acts as a force multiplier– the whole is truly greater than the sum of its parts. Vulnerable Marketing embodies the principles of decentralized control, open source, and transparency. It’s the anti-hype.
I have heard that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. That perfectly illustrates the drawback to traditional marketing in today’s business environment.
Historical marketing focuses on pushing a message to a target audience, in the hopes that a small percentage of that group will be receptive to its message and act upon it. This type of marketing is characterized by individuals and businesses throwing large sums of money (often millions) into a message and watching to see what, if anything, sticks. The originator of the message was a closed system that maintains a tight level of control – image is everything, often based on a false pretense.
In that marketing environment a lackluster product or service can be masked by a polished front. I—and most of you–have been victimized by this form of false marketing, and we disdain it.
Vulnerable Marketing turns the traditional way of doing business on its ear. By allowing yourself, as an individual or business, to become vulnerable, you portray yourself in truth – as an authentic, sincere brand. In essence you are projecting who and what you are, both strengths and weaknesses, for the world to see.
Vulnerable Marketing is not about spending large sums of money to become something you’re not – it’s about embracing who you are and capitalizing on those strengths.
By using this philosophy of integrity you stand to attract the ideal customer for your brand. And since it’s an ideal match based on honesty, the brand relationship will be long-term rather than a flash in the pan. Like most aspects of quality this brand relationship will take time to develop, but the rewards will be great.
Vulnerable Marketing means giving up control. People love reality, so put that idea to work for you!
Why Vulnerable Marketing?
Personally I am tired of seeing lackluster products, services, and people represent themselves as something they are not. Professional polish with little or no substance. I am guessing you feel the same.
Also, I am guessing what you’re currently doing isn’t working. Or it could use improvement. Regardless of how good you are, you can always improve. Vulnerable Marketing will provide you with some ideas that you can take as they are or improve upon.
Isn’t Vulnerability A Bad Thing?
No. (If you don’t believe me, go watch a chick flick.) If you consistently portray yourself and your business in an honest and open light, then you have nothing to fear. It is those businesses that try to hide their imperfections and mistakes that need to worry about being exposed. Put it all out there! The good and the bad. Expose your own weaknesses. Then, try as they might, the naysayers won’t succeed- you’ve beaten them to the punch, and built credibility. Your good name and prosperity remain intact.
Partner with exceptional people and businesses. In my experience I have found that like attracts like. Individuals and businesses who portray themselves honestly will attract others who do the same. Sure, some false individuals and businesses will appear, as well, but eventually they reveal themselves for what they truly are. With practice it becomes easier to identify the unscrupulous – sometimes in a matter of minutes!
Being vulnerable is not without risk – you will occasionally be burned on your journey. But when you do find the truly honest individuals and businesses you will benefit far more from the experience. These relationships will be deep and profound. Your customers will appreciate your honesty and relate to your imperfections.
Who among us is perfect? No one! So why pretend? You’ll only exile yourself and your business to a sea of lost revenues. Many potential customers may deem your product or service ‘out of their league’. They may aspire to someday be able to use your services or product, but you don’t want someday, you want now! Build a relationship with them based on honesty, based on vulnerability.
Here’s the rub. If you follow traditional methods and put up a shield around yourself, your product or service, you will most likely attract others who are doing the same. Over the long term these relationships fall apart when each side discovers false assumptions or the inability to deliver on promises.
On the other hand, if you dare to be vulnerable, you will attract others who are seeking an open, honest, mutually beneficial business relationship.
What Will I Need To Do?
The tone of this book is designed to be conversational and relaxed.. I want you to breeze through this book, without having to think too hard, yet walk away with some profound thoughts about marketing.
That being said, here are the topics we will discuss:
1. Dare To Be Vulnerable
2. Be Authentic & Sincere
3. Get To Know Your Customer
4. Align Perception With Reality
5. Simplify Your Brand
6. Strive for Consistency & Exclusivity
7. Manage Your Relationships
8. Persistently Drive Your Passion
9. Embrace The Entrepreneurial Culture
10. Immerse Yourself In Customer Communities
11. Create Beauty
12. Think Systematically
13. Take The Next Steps
Each chapter is action-oriented, prompting you to accomplish something that will benefit your marketing efforts. There is no homework here, but rather a gentle nudging that will push you down the right path to connecting with your customers, gaining their trust and insight, and building a better product or service that will set you apart from the competition.
What Are We Waiting For?
I’m glad you asked – Let’s go!
Apple’s Snow Leopard – Review
by Amy Stevens Adams
Being the geeks that we are, John and I rushed out to our closest Apple store last Friday to buy Snow Leopard, Mac’s latest OS, as soon as it was released.
Here’s the cool part- when I heard Snow Leopard (SN) was being released I was a bit saddened. Why? Because I wanted the latest and greatest OS, but I didn’t really want to spend a couple hundred bucks for something I didn’t really need. However, Apple (being the super-cool company they are) decided to release it for $29! Yup. $29. Or in our case, $25 for each John and me because we bought the family pack for $50 and shared it. As I was checking out in Apple, the guy assisting me said I was the first person he’d ever sold to that paid for an Operating System in cash.
Smart move Apple, very smart. I forked over $50 like I was paying the tab in a restaurant. No thinking involved, it was a no-brainer.
So now, was it worth it? Well, I’m going to say ‘yes’. As with all of our Apple purchases we have no regrets. HOWEVER, it doesn’t really make a huge visible difference as far as I’ve been able to tell over the past week of using it. What was worth it is the extra GB I got back since Snow Leopard has a smaller footprint. Apple had touted that SN would free up 7 GB of space. I got back 11! So I see it as spending $29 (actually only $25 for me and John each) to get 11 GB of space back on my hard drive. Even if it didn’t do anything else, it was worth it. Unfortunately, John doesn’t know how much space he reclaimed, but a friend of his reported getting back 30 (!) GB when he installed Snow Leopard.
SN has a bunch of features that personally I don’t really understand, or need. If you’re a techie type person, you’ll be happy to know about the transition from 32-bit to 64-bit. This makes your computer handle processing faster, makes your applications more secure against hacks and malware, and gets you ready for the future (when all Operating Systems will be 64-bit). This is just one of the many ‘techie’ improvements Apple has made with the release of SN. It seems to me that most of the improvements are behind-the-scenes. I can definitely appreciate that my computer is faster, more secure, better optimized and overall more powerful. Even if I don’t SEE it.
Here’s what I do see;
1. The pop-up menu on the dock is now black and transparent. Nicer looking.
2. I use the ‘All Windows” Hot Corner setting and now when I see all the open windows on the screen, the one I hover over is outlined in blue.
3. Expose is right in the dock. This means if I have 7 images open in Fireworks, I can click & hold the orange Fireworks icon in the dock and all 7 of my images will open side by side on the screen. This makes it easier to see what you have open and find what you need to work on next.
4. Backups to Time Capsule are faster (80% faster according to the Apple website)
5. Faster shut down and wake up. This one I see a big difference. I can restart my MacBook in no time!
Features I haven’t tried yet, but are improved;
1. QuickTime. A new, uncluttered interface lets you edit quickly, capture audio or a still image from your computer’s built in microphone and camera, upload easily to YouTube, and stream videos faster and smoother than before.
2. Improved video in iChat. Now you only need 1/3 the bandwidth to have a video iChat, and the resolution is better.
3. Safari is faster, more reliable and less susceptible to crashes. John and I both use Firefox, but I’m thinking of making the transition to Safari. It sounds like it might be the superior browser available today. Safari 4 allows you to see all of your favorite webpages in a gallery view and even alerts you if there is new content since your last visit. You can also flip through your browsing history in a cover-flow format like in your iTunes. Safari is faster, more secure, crash resistant and kid-friendly.
Okay, that’s not even half of the new improvements to SN. I encourage you to take a look at Apple’s site if you’d like more info.
*As a final note, I wanted to mention that John has a Neat Receipts for Mac scanner that he has used for about 8 months now. Yesterday he went to use it and it didn’t work, so I called the company, Neat Co., to talk to tech support. It was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had with a company. I was on hold less than a minute, and I spoke to a guy who was pleasant and intelligent. He knew instantly that my issue was related to installing Snow Leopard. He informed me that they had just released a new update of their software to integrate the scanner with Snow Leopard, and he sent me an email with easy steps to install the update. John had his scanner working again in no time! I’ve found Neat Co. to be very receptive and easy to do business with. I wish I could find more companies like them, and we would definitely recommend their ‘for mac’ scanner to anyone using a mac.
To sum up, as usual John and I are very pleased with Apple and continue to be loyal customers. Check out Snow Leopard for $29! It is worth it!
-Amy Stevens Adams of Cape Cod Branding
How To Support Our Troops with AnySoldier.com
by Amy Stevens Adams
Last week I discovered a website called AnySoldier.com. It’s basically a site where our soldiers serving overseas can make requests for food and personal items that they need and want. You can search through the listings and get info like; what branch of the military they serve in, how many soldiers are in their unit (how many men, how many women), where they’re located, how long they expect to be there until returning home, what items they are requesting, and usually there is some personal info included in the listings as well. The way it works is one soldier from a unit will volunteer to be the contact person for AnySoldier and they collect the packages we send to them and distribute them to the soldiers in need or who don’t get packages or mail from home. The packages they get are addressed to them, “ATTN: Any Soldier”. I think this a great service as it boosts morale and helps keep our troops cared for.
It can be a bit confusing to send packages to our soldiers overseas, so I’ve broken down the process in simple steps. In this article I’ll tell you what I did, where I got my supplies, and how you can also send a care package.
First, my pictures….
Here’s the food I sent. Easy to cook in a microwave (which the troop I selected does have). They specifically requested beef jerky, EasyMac, Hot Sauce and individual drink mixes for water.
I Double-bagged the peanut butter and Hot Sauce in case they leaked.
Since it is too hot to send chocolate or candy, I picked up some Betty Crocker Warm Delights. They are simple to make in the microwave, just add water to their little single-serving plastic container and zap for 30 seconds. You get an instant chocolate cake. I knew the guys didn’t have measuring spoons so I put a little note on each box letting them know that 4 plastic spoonfuls of water is the equivalent of what the directions call for, although I’m sure they would have figured that out… 
I bought 3 boxes of Propel drink mixes. I decided not to waste valuable room in the box by leaving them in their boxes, so I combined them all in a ziplock bag. I wanted to cram as much stuff as possible into my care package.
Here is my box (and customs form) from the Post Office BEFORE I stuffed it.
And here it is AFTER. Wow! 10 pounds!
Now for the steps;
1. Go to Anysoldier.com and read through the listings on this page. You can choose a specific branch of the military if you’d like. John and I chose to send a package to Marines since John served in the Marines himself. We selected a unit of 8 men who were primarily requesting food items. The post said that 2 of the men where from Massachusetts and that was one of our deciding factors in selecting them, as we have something in common. One of the most important things our troops want are letters from home. John and I each included a letter in with our care package and it made it easier to write because from their listing we knew we had several things in common with them.
2. Get the address. Once you’ve chosen a troop to send your care package to, you’ll need to email AnySoldier.com for the mailing address. This is a security measure as addresses are not publicized on the website. However, you will get it via email within 5 minutes. Don’t request an address until you’re really committed to sending a package so that a troop doesn’t get neglected.
3. Make a list of what you’re going to send and go shopping. Keep a few things in mind when sending your care package;
*Don’t mix food and toiletries in the same box. It could be a disaster if a can of shaving cream leaked all over the boxes of crackers!
*Try not to send items that could melt, like candy or chocolate. Your package could take 3-4 weeks to be delivered and when it is delivered remember that it’s HOT over there.
*Send foods that won’t spoil and are easy to store, cook and eat. Most listing requests on AnySoldier.com will tell you what their living conditions are. If they don’t have a microwave, then don’t send foods that need to be cooked (like EasyMac and Ramen Noodles). If they don’t have a can opener, don’t send canned goods unless they have a pop-top. It is easy to forget these things because we are accustomed to the comforts of our home where we have all the basics. The unit we selected said they didn’t have a can opener, so not only did I not send any canned goods, but I did send them a can opener. There is always a chance the can opener could get confiscated in customs though, so I didn’t want to assume they’d have one and send canned foods they couldn’t eat.
*Double bag any bottles or jars in heavyweight Ziplock bags. If it can leak, it probably will.
*Try to think of things that accompany the food you’re sending. Soldiers may not always think to ask for things like plastic utensils and plates.
4. Go to your local Post Office and ask for (free) FLAT RATE Priority Boxes, Labels and Customs forms. If you plan on sending care packages on a regular basis (like John and I do), then you can go to usps.com and order Priority Boxes to be shipped to your house (completely free of charge), so you’ll have them for the future. Very important, be sure to only use FLAT RATE boxes. You’ll see why in a bit. Also, Thanks to the US Post Office, boxes shipped to an APO or FPO address cost the same as domestic shipments. This will save you some bucks.
5. Gather your supplies. Make sure you have your priority Boxes form the P.O., plus Customs forms, Priority Labels (all free from the P.O.) packaging tape, a couple standard envelopes, a pen and paper to write a letter to enclose with your care package, ziplock bags, extra newspaper or shopping bags to pad the box, and your items to send.
6. Box up your food (or toiletries, whichever you’re sending). Pack everything in tight. Write a letter to send with it (if you’ve got kids helping you with this project have them draw some pictures to send too). Include a couple self-addressed envelopes, paper and pens so the soldiers can write back to you. You are much more likely to get a response if you include the self-addressed envelopes. Ask them if there’s anything else they need. Include your email address too. Put the letter, envelopes, paper and pens in a ziplock bag on the top of the food and close up the box. Seal it well with packaging tape.
7. Fill out the Customs form. This is simple. Just your address, their address, what is in the box and how many of each item. Ignore all the other fields. Then sign and date at the bottom.
8. Address the box. Using the free Priority Mail labels provided by the P.O., address your package made out to the Soldier’s name who will be the contact person, then under their name put “ATTN: Any Soldier”, and then the address that was emailed to you from AnySolider.com. If the package you are sending is specifically for female soldiers, then fill it out the same way, but put “ATTN: Any Female Soldier” after the contact person’s name.
9. Head to the P.O. and mail your care package! A Flat Rate Priority Box will cost $11.95, no matter how heavy it is. When we shipped ours it weighed 10 lbs 7 oz. The clerk in the P.O. said it would have cost $32 to ship if I hadn’t packaged it in the Flat rate box! Very important to use the Post Office’s FLAT RATE boxes!
10. Smile all the way home knowing you’ve made a difference to our troops.
Something I thought of after I’d shipped our first box, if the troop you pick says they have a microwave, then micro popcorn would be a great thing to send. It doesn’t take up as much room in the box as other crackers and chips and they can pop it to have a warm, salty snack. I’ll be sending some in my next box for sure.
That’s it! It’s easier than you think and if you shop the sales at your local market or target you can fill up a box for under $20 and make some soldiers very happy!
-Amy Stevens Adams of Cape Cod Branding
