by scott.gillum | Jun 9, 2020 | 2020, Marketing
by Scott Gillum
Estimated read time: 3 Minutes
Episode 5: Getting Sales to Buy Into Inbound Marketing with Special Guest, Matt Stevens
Supporting Sales with Inbound Marketing. Matt Stevens, former head Digital Marketing at Gartner and CEB, faced a significant set of challenges in building out an inbound marketing engine that would deliver sales. Scott and Matt discuss how he was able to get the sales organization to accept Inbound Marketing as a solution to increase their productivity and make quota.
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by scott.gillum | May 12, 2020 | 2020, Opinion
by Scott Gillum
Estimated read time: 3 Minutes
I was out for a run this weekend and heard the footsteps coming from behind me. Soon, he was on me, and then past me. At that point I increased my pace as the competitive instinct kicked in when the words “run your race” ran through my mind.
It’s a lesson I learned many years ago while training for 10 milers. After many months of training, planning my race strategy, and setting time goals, I’d be thrown off my pace early in a race, as soon as someone in my age group was passing me.
Chasing them, I thought, was pushing me to a better end result. At least, the competitor in me believed. In reality, it only drained my tank causing me to be out of gas later in the race, resulting in a poor time and disappointment. All the months of training wasted because I ran someone else’s race.
Unemployment is now at its highest level since the great depression which has touched all of us in some way. It’s an incredibly difficult time that can easily be made more stressful by how we now measure ourselves, and our success.
It’s easy to become a victim of the trap I fell into running races. Comparing ourselves to others, feeling like you’re falling behind or being passed by your peers. It’s a feeling all too familiar. In the first 2 years of marriage, my wife and I were laid off a combined total of 4 times.
The first, a month after we put a deposit on a house. By the fourth “downsizing,” my parents were helping us pay our mortgage and my wife’s parents were bringing us groceries.
So first know this, this is not your fault, it’s not something you did. You’ve hit a very challenging and unplanned part of the course.
Second, no one remembers where you started or how many people passed you during the race, only the end results will be remembered. And most importantly, the only thing that matters about the results will be how you will feel about them.
By the third or fourth race, I had developed the discipline to stick to my race plan. My performance improved, but more importantly, so did my sense of accomplishment. I also noticed another thing even more satisfying, the guys who passed me earlier were now being passed by me later in the race.
Our lives are made up of a series of marathons. There are still many miles and difficult stretches of road to cover. Keep your head up, eyes focused forward, and run your race.
by scott.gillum | May 5, 2020 | 2020, Observations
by Scott Gillum Estimated read time: 3 Minutes
It’s a good question given the current uncertainty of our world. When will the economy reopen, what will be the impact, and what should we do about it? To gain better insights into what might be, Carbon Design went back and looked at what clients were focused on during the “Great Recession”. Looking at projects from 2007 to 2010 Scott found 5 interesting trends across industries, 3 which he wrote about in the article,WTF Do We Do Now. In the webinar, Scott will share the research behind the article, insights from 30+ client projects, and how you can use this information to help form your marketing, sales, and internal efforts.
Watch the webcast for insight you can use to gain a competitive advantage:
by scott.gillum | Apr 13, 2020 | 2020, Observations
by Scott Gillum
Estimated read time: 3 Minutes
No one had to say it because we all felt it. After months of research, repositioning the organization, and refining the messaging it all blew up in less than a week.
With the global pandemic in full swing, I’m sure this scenario is playing out across organizations around the globe. Whether it’s relating to sales goals, marketing budgets and/or anything in between they have all been blown to hell.
So what do we do now? It’s a great question that so many of us are struggling with currently. To help answer it I went back into the archives to see what projects clients were undertaking during the “Great Recession” of 2007. Here’s what I learned.
- Repositioning and structural change – I found companies using the downturn to reposition themselves in the market – shifting from product to services, from product focused to customer focused, etc. It was a structural change as well as a change in positioning. Be prepared to see new competitors coming into your industry once the economy recovers…or, it could be your organization entering new markets.
- Fixing the infrastructure – running hard for the last 10 years created very little time to fix basic problems, especially related to the revenue engine. A slowdown is a perfect time to fix the things that can create greater efficiency coming out of a recession. An investment in this area produces a ROI that only gets better over time. Look at the quality of the database, opportunities to leverage AI, better tracking and performance solutions. This requires an investment in time and focus that is rarely found in good times.
- Refining the value – It’s not the value proposition, it’s the entire value package. You can count on one thing for certain about the future. Customers will have to, or will expect, more for less. Don’t get caught flat footed, prepare now to deliver more value for the money. If not expect to 1) be undercut by competitors, and/or 2) take a hit on your profit. If you can’t figure out how to build in new value then figure out how to deliver the same value for less.
In challenging times like these the first reaction is basic survival. And for many that may be the case for the foreseeable future… as a small business owner I feel you! Many of the plans you’re making now are built around business viability, but soon there will be light at the end of the tunnel. Keep in mind, the items I’m suggesting will take at least 16 to 20 weeks to plan, develop and execute.
I understand it may take all your time and energy to ride the storm out, but keep your eyes on the horizon. Good luck, we can do this!
by scott.gillum | Mar 20, 2020 | 2020, Opinion
by Scott Gillum
Estimated read time: 3 Minutes
Making Working from Home, Work
Barking dogs, crying babies, toddlers toddling, welcome to the reality of working from home.
Since our founding 3 years ago, our teams have been living this life. Here are 3 tips to help you make the adjustment.
- Get used to and learn how to live with working odd hours. If you’re accustomed to a routine of “working hours” in the office, you can kiss that goodbye if your children are at home.
Channel your “inner Gandhi” for patience and flexibility. Work when you can find the calm. Early mornings, evenings, and quiet moments in between.
Managers be flexible on your expectations on deliverables and due dates. You may see your team disappear during a good portion of the day.
- Count on technical issues, unplanned and spontaneous interruptions, and scheduling issues with conference calls.
In fact, you may be better off adopting the attitude that something will go wrong as the default.
- Everyone on camera for video calls…except when someone feels like they don’t want to be.
I’ve seen some posts that organizations mandate it, but the reality of our situation is that you, and/or your home office, may be a complete sh*t show at some point during the day. It happens…and we can deal with you not being seen on a call.
Part II – Now that you’ve been at this for a couple of weeks here are a few other things to consider.
- Wall clock to body clock work hours – You may be aware that your energy level and passion vary based on the time of day, now that you’re out of the office you can do something about it. Instead of reaching for another cup of coffee, go for a walk (and take the dog with you) change your work location — it’s spring now and the weather is great for working outside. Working will become more feel driven than time driven.
- Listen to your body – also by this point you may have noticed that your makeshift office isn’t exactly ergonomically designed. Pay attention to how long you sit and/or have your head in one position. Don’t worry if you forget, your body will remind you the next day.
- Reboot your modem and wireless router – you may have also noticed that your bandwidth has slowed. Consumer Reports recommends rebooting once a month, especially if you have added devices to the network.
- Update your work office – now that everyone is out of it, how could you use this time to your advantage. It could be a great time to paint, reorganize the furniture, update the lighting, etc.
Good luck and stay safe!
Making Working from Home, Work…
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