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** This is a reprint of a guest blog I wrote for Dallas attorney Jeff Rasansky. The original post can be found on his legal matters blog. **  Strategy - Your Path to Cut Through the Clutter Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising can be an attorney’s best friend – or worst enemy. One of the biggest deciding factors is strategy. How you develop your PPC campaign can determine whether it brings you clients or drains your budget. If you’re stuck trying to write a PPC strategy, I recommend starting by answering the five W’s:
Expert Tip: Direct your browser to http://adlab.microsoft.com/Demographics-Prediction/ and use this quick and handy tool to discover basic demographic information about web surfers.
Expert Tip: Aggregate the notes from all your past cases onto one digital document. Copy and paste all the data into a word cloud generator – like the one at www.wordle.net/create. The resulting image will show you words that commonly appear in your case notes. While some may be irrelevant, others may alert you to patterns in your clients’ stories.
Expert Tip: www.city-data.com maintains demographic information on cities nationwide. You can use this data to decide which cities to show your advertising. For example, you might find city X has a high rate of vehicle accidents. You may also know that city X contains a major freeway that citizens from city Y use to commute to city Z for work. You would then focus your advertising around cities X, Y, and / or Z.
Expert Tip: If you advertise with Google AdWords and have your account linked to Google’s free analytic software, this data is already available to you! To find out how to access it, go to www.YouTube.com and do a search for “Adwords Reports Overview.”
Expert Tip: Actually – there is none. Each practice has its own blend of talents, personalities, and expertise to offer. Find yours! Answering these five W’s – who, what, when, where, and why – can help you develop a strategic plan to maximize your PPC advertising dollars to increase your volume of qualified leads. Strategy is the difference between reaching the other side of the PPC maze and wasting thousands wandering around, looking for success. Have an online advertising related question? Contact Stephen Wade, Rasansky Law Firm’s PPC Strategist, at swade@jrlawfirm.com.  The Zen of Social Media Marketing by Shama Kabani When I sat down to enjoy Shama Kabani’s new book, the Zen of Social Media Marketing, I was expecting to absorb a couple chapters a night during my quest to take my online marketing prowess to the next level. I read the entire thing in one evening. Not since Claude Hopkins’ 1923 classic Scientific Advertising has a marketing book held my attention so intently. Shama, a lively and personable genius in her own right, didn’t see any need to fluff her book up with generalities and useless anecdotes. Rather, every word, every case study, every personal story is crafted to bring the reader into a deeper understanding of how to lay an effective social media marketing foundation. I like authors who respect my time and give me exactly what I need. Shama does both. It’s no surprise that digital marketing guru Chris Brogan chose to write the book’s foreword. Brogan’s philosophy of putting people over platforms aligns perfectly with Shama’s style of nurturing very real, human relationships through online mediums. She sees the internet as an extension of (not a replacement for!) community and draws on common real world interactions like coffee houses and office-networking events to illustrate her point. Chapter one is all about the philosophy of online marketing. “If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time” is what my mother always says. Shama writes: “online marketing is the art and science of…leveraging the internet to get your message across so that you can move people to action.” The message is clear: you don’t do social media marketing because your competitors do; you do it because it has the ability to “convert strangers into consumers and consumers into customers.” “Strategy should always come before tactics.” Shama evidently prefers her readers to know where they are going and why they are on the journey before she expends any energy on telling them how to operate the car.  Shama Kabani The rest of the book is packed with tactics on how to relate to your audience using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and web video. I pride myself on being a decent online marketer, and even I found myself taking notes on when to engage people through Facebook Groups and when to encourage the following of a Facebook Page. Should I care how many Twitter followers I have? Shama says I should, but not in the ego-stroking way I may be inclined to. The only disappointment I faced was that my tech-savvy, Star Trek watching side wasn’t fed. Not because the material wasn’t solid, but because… Shama speaks the language of small business. You may not be a marketer; you may sew quilts or manufacture plantation shutters. Shama understands, and she writes with you in mind. Easy to remember acronyms and formulas, like Visability + Credibility = Success, and succinct, numbered checklists will help you implement her recommendations immediately. I should quit talking before I begin to ramble. The bottom line is: social media marketing is something you, a small business owner, can participate in quite successfully. Shama Kabani’s book, The Zen of Social Media Marketing, will show you how. Have you ever made a decision that left you reeling, yet you knew it was the right thing to do? A decision that sent the train that is your life into the fog, with no vision as to the final destination? A decision that resulted in bandits boarding your train, ravaging you and your passengers, bringing down trouble upon you and those you love? A decision that, nonetheless, was the right thing to do? Serenity is one of my all time favorite films for a variety of reasons (I’m more than happy to share those with you over hotcakes sometime). One memorable scene from Serenity has been on my mind in recent months. It comes at the crux of Captain Malcolm Reynolds‘ inner struggle, a clash of values.  Malcolm Reynolds Agonizes Over His Decision to Rescue River Tam As an individual with no vision or purpose for his life, Malcolm has drifted from one freelance job to another. He employs a motley crew on his ship, and his guiding principle is to steer clear of the ruling oppressive government (known as the Alliance) – a government he fought against and lost to during a civil war years earlier. Recently, Malcolm met two sibling fugitives – a girl named River whose brother helped her escape from a government lab where she was the subject of cruel experimentation. The government discovered their whereabouts, but before the fugitives are captured, Malcolm rescues them, knowing full well he will draw the ire of the very government he’s been hiding from himself. Finding respite with some friends, Malcolm confides in long time ally Derrial Book that he doesn’t know why he’s risked himself and his people for two fugitives who cause him nothing but trouble. Book: “You got a plan?” Malcolm: “Hiding ain’t a plan?” Book: “It’ll do you for a spell. “ Malcolm: “But the Alliance will be coming. They’re after this girl with a powerful will. I look to hear the tromp of their boots any moment.” Book: “You won’t. This isn’t a palms-up military run, Mal. No reports broadwaved, no warrants. Much as they want her, they want her hid. That means closed file, means an operative. . . which is trouble you’ve not known.” Malcolm: “I could have left her there. I had an out. Hell, I had every reason in the ‘verse to leave her lay and haul anchor.” Book: “It’s not your way, Mal.” Malcolm: “I have a way? That better than a plan?” Malcolm made an impulse decision, something that opposes self-preservation, and now he faces certain disaster. Disaster, not just for him, but for the people he loves. He has no plan and no reasonable purpose behind what he did. He’s plunged into the fog, with nothing but consequences. All he knows is to leave the fugitives stranded would not be his way. Have you ever made a decision contrary to what seemed in your best interest, knowing that consequences would come, knowing that the shadow of fall out would blot out the sun’s warmth? Sitting in the darkness, unable to see the future, you light the candle of hindsight to discover what you could have done differently. Retracing your steps, you recognize how a different decision could have led to a happier path for you. And yet, a gnawing conviction tells you that choice wouldn’t have been right. It just wouldn’t have been your way. Of course, this observation does little to comfort you when you assess the reality of your current situation. The fog of uncertainty has encompasses you. You’re traversing treacherous mountain passes, with marauders on every side, clawing to plunder the train that carries your life and the livelihoods of those you love. You agonize as you imagine the sunny slopes you could be roaming, had you chosen another route. But making that choice wouldn’t have been your way. See, your way is the core system of beliefs that characterizes your life and guides your choices. The majority of decisions you make are guided by it. It lies under the surface, quietly moving you forward, often without conscious interaction. It consumes your inner being – mind, emotion, and spirit. Your way has been developed over time. The tracks your life-train runs along have been progressively laid and chosen. Whether you realize it or not, you’ve gradually formed beliefs about the nature of the world, about your relation to the world, and about what’s important. As you exercise these beliefs daily they become automated; they guide you forward, even when you’ve lost your way. You can’t hardly escape them. Even when everything collapses and leaves you without direction or purpose, your train will still follow the tracks it sits upon.  Switch Track Moments Can Alter Our Lives Of course, you can alter the course of your life-train; you can change tracks. I mean, what if your way is taking you to an undesirable destination? If your way is based on a core set of beliefs, and those beliefs rest on falsehood, what then? Thank God for switch tracks. Switch tracks are activated in a moment, at a brief juncture in time, but their effect can be dramatic and have an eternal impact. A switch track changes the course of your life-train and sends you in a new direction. It may be only slightly different from where you were headed to begin with, or it may be in the complete opposite direction. Switch tracks alter your way, hopefully improving it. We’ve all experienced switch track moments. A thirty second piece of advice from a friend can be a switch track, changing a core belief, changing your understanding of reality, changing your way. A timely revelation while reading a piece of literature can tweak your perspective. A traumatic event can alter your priorities. Switch track moments alter the direction of your life - hopefully for the better. Your way guides the course of your life, but planning organizes it. Planning determines where on the train you sit, who you interact with on the journey, what stops you choose to make, and how you handle mechanical problems while in transit. Planning manages the daily business of the excursion. Planning takes the switch track moments and rearranges the cabin to accommodate the altered direction. Planning brings order to the chaos, and doing so, reflects the true nature of God. In the case of Malcolm Reynolds, he has no plan – just the chaos resulting from following his conviction that it’s wrong to leave the defenseless to the mercy of the wicked. Travelling in the fog of uncertainty, he does the best he can with what he has. Without a destination in mind, he follows the sign posts as they are revealed, shouldering the growing criticism of his crew. And then, in a moment, he breaks through the fog and, in the distance, begins to see his destination. He begins to find purpose amid the confusion. Suddenly, he understands the importance of the fugitives he’s rescued, the secrets that are contained within young River’s mind. Now Malcolm’s faced with a choice. He can choose to toss his passengers off the train, hit the nearest switch track, and escape with his life. Or, he can mobilize his people and formulate a plan to get everyone to the revealed destination alive and intact. In his climactic encounter with a government assassin, referred to only as The Operative, Malcolm makes his choice.  Malcolm Reynolds Makes His Choice Malcolm: “I know the secret, the truth that burned up River Tam’s brain. Rest of the ‘verse is going to know it, too. ’Cause they need to.” The Operative: “Do you really believe that?” Malcolm: “I do.” The Operative: “You willing to die for that belief?” Malcolm: “I am. . . of course, that ain’t exactly Plan A.” Malcolm’s way guided his decision making as he passed through the fog. Upon reaching the far side, he was entrusted with deeper understanding. His responsibility was to make a choice and plan for success. And so he did. What’s your way? What guides you through times of ambiguity? Do you have the faith required to push through and the alertness spot signposts as they briefly appear in the mist? Are you ready to bear the responsibility to resume healthy decision making once the fog lifts and the destination appears? Get ready. Several of you responded via this blog/twitter/facebook about my pursuit of a career as a new Toyota salesmen. The general idea I got was “we’ll support you, at least to your face.” Fortunately, pretenses are all I care about; therefore, I was ready to dive into the highly respected profession of vehicle vending. And then, just like He provided a ram to take the place of Abraham’s son, God showed up and supplied an alternative I wasn’t expecting.  San Benito's Corporate Office in Hollister, CA I received a Facebook message from Steve White, territory sales rep for San Benito Shutter. Back in February, Sewell Shutters brought San Benito on to provide them with component parts. At the time, I was working as Sewell’s marketing manager. San Benito’s president, Bill Lee, came into town from California to finalize the deal with Doug Sewell. After a day full of meetings, Doug gave me a couple bucks and told me to show Bill a good time - which, of course, meant we went to Ozona’s Bar & Grill on Greenville. Unfortunately, no fights broke out (the previous California vendor I took to Ozona’s had immediately called his wife to report witnessing a real Texas bar brawl). Bill and I ate Ozona’s best and then parted ways. As Sewell Shutters nurtured its relationship with San Benito, I began to discover how huge Bill’s company really is. San Benito is a full service plantation shutter company. San Benito builds and delivers plantation shutters in the Hollister, CA area. It also has become one of the largest distributors of plantation shutter component parts and accessories. Bill has multiple distribution centers across the country – California, Florida, Georgia, etc. Next on Bill’s list: Texas. A couple days ago, San Benito rep Steve White messaged me on Facebook. While recently visiting Sewell Shutters, Steve discovered I no longer worked there. Immediately, he called Bill Lee to tell him. Bill had been interviewing candidates to run his Texas facility, and promptly asked for my information. Steve messaged me to see if I would be interested in talking with Bill about the opportunity.  That's right; I get to drive the forklift You can probably imagine my disappointment when I found out I would not be selling new Toyota’s to families in Grapevine. I managed to mask it well though, as I spent a couple hours talking with Bill. Apparently, he was under the impression I might enjoy building a division from the ground up, initially running all the operations solo and bringing on staff as they are needed. I gritted my teeth, convinced myself that would be a more fulfilling job than selling cars, and agreed to come on board. If you can’t find me for the next few weeks, don’t bother calling because I won’t know where I’m at either. I’m going to be visiting California for a couple weeks, then it’s off to Fort Myers, followed immediately by a drive to Georgia. Somewhere in there, I’ll be looking at a handful of properties in the Dallas area to set up shop in. And now, to politely tell this Toyota dealership thanks for the offer, but I will be retaining my soul for now… I’ve been a plumber, an operations manager, a purchasing agent, a marketer, a Starbucks barista, an associate pastor, and a Christmas light installer. The one profession I’ve always avoided is sales. I hate sales. My family hates sales. Marketing was the closest I ever wanted to come to that sleazy profession.  New Look for Me? As a purchasing agent, I spent my days interviewing salesmen. My greatest joy was executing consumer vengeance upon hordes of them who daily darkened my doorstep. My goal: bring ‘em to brink of closing the deal and then cast them into the street empty handed. Hehehe And then I made a mistake. I got called in to interview as a sales person for a Toyota dealership, and I screwed it up. I sold myself to them. I told them exactly what they wanted to hear. I used catch terms like “grass roots” and “community” and “selling the dream.” Just like Pavlov’s dogs, the interviewers began salivating. Sales managers eat that grass roots stuff up. What was supposed to be a 35 minute interview turned into a three and a half hour meeting as I moved up the management food chain. And then, the worst news I could have heard: “You’re hired.” I’ve read that the two places people fear going to the most are a) dentist offices and b) car dealerships. I don’t know what scientific process was used to reach those conclusions, but they seem pretty close to my own observations. I don’t like physical pain, so I avoid dentists. I don’t enjoy having my ego tied to the procurement of a car, so I avoid dealerships. Now, I have the opportunity to work at one. I have the chance to work as an emotional death dealer. My presuppositions aside, I do believe it’s possible for car dealerships to provide new vehicles to the community in a respectable manner. The question is: do they have the patience to follow through with a “grass roots” initiative? Do they have the humility to accept that seeds can be planted and watered, but they cannot be forced to grow – at least, not on our schedule? Perhaps I’ll give it a shot. Perhaps I’ll get over my in-bred discrimination against sales people and dive into that world. Perhaps… perhaps, I won’t lose my soul. No guarantees, though.  Macon Hatton, Singer, Songwriter, Good Man I recently accepted an invitation to assist with PR for Dallas singer-songwriter Macon Hatton. I found his decision to partner with me most curious. These days, being a singer-songwriter generally means you despise all forms of commercialization and like to revel in existentialistic despair. As a typical Dallas singer-songwriter, you play any show you can. Usually that means you’re at every open mic White Rock Coffee hosts or you rock an impromptu gig at a DART Light Rail station. Your weekly income from tips is around $11.57, give or take $20. To supplement this, you land a part time job at Crooked Tree (where you secretly insert your tracks into the stereo playlist). You share a Deep Ellum loft the size of a double car garage with eight other lyrical philosophers. After pawning the oven so you can buy a new amp, you feed yourself with quesadillas cooked using a clothes iron. When vacation rolls around, you head across the tracks into Uptown and take a free ride on the city trolley. This is comical only because it’s a choice that so many singer-songwriters make. It’s a choice rooted in either a) an honest but incomplete assessment of the human condition or b) an admirable but misguided allegiance to the trending mantra: “you can’t be an authentic artist unless you suffer” – which is the musician’s version of “no pain, no gain.” I prefer the philosophy taught by my father: “No Pain, GOOD.” This brings me back to the curious case of Macon Hatton. Here’s a singer-songwriter who’s married, is raising two children, works faithfully to provide for his family, and has a pretty darn positive outlook on life. And he plays music because he wants to. And guess what? He doesn’t mind if he hits it big. He doesn’t mind if he’s never discovered either. Let the chips fall where they may; he just wants to play music and provide for his family. Here’s where Macon Hatton really gets it: like most singer-songwriters, he makes an honest assessment of the human condition, but complements it with a hope that’s uncommon to man. Just talk to the guy. He doesn’t gloss over the realities of a fallen human condition. However, he doesn’t revel in it. He’s found hope, and his entire perspective is shaped by that. I think the era of the modern singer-songwriter is becoming a burden. The world sucks right now. The agonizing self-assessment and social critiques are needed when the world is bloated with unsustainable pride in accomplishments that can never heal a broken planet. But many are on their knees right now, shattered by a popped bubble of over-contentment. They’ve sunk to the depths. What they need is HOPE. Not faux-hope, not a fabricated hope – real, life-giving hope. Macon Hatton’s brings hope through his music. My job is to see if people will pay to be enriched by it. We’ll see how this all works out.  Communication Between Builder & Contractor is IMPERATIVE If there’s one thing that frustrated me as a Purchasing Agent for D.R. Horton Homebuilders, it was budget overages . Having spent weeks and weeks negotiating lumber pricing and performing rigorous plan take-offs, I would feel my blood begin to boil every time an EPO (extra purchase order) tagged “Take-Off Error” passed my desk for approval. A few overages at the onset of a new subdivision are one thing, but eight epo’s per house is a little extreme. As most good purchasers do, I initially assumed the problem was indeed with my take-offs. Unfortunately, every time I adjusted the budget according to the epo’s I received, I would get more epo’s – for different lumber selections! Even if I didn’t do anything to the budget, the epo’s submitted for the next house of a similar plan would have differing quantities or item selections than before. As you’ve probably guessed, the problem wasn’t with the budget – it was with a lack of communication between my department, the field superintendents, and the framing crews. My estimators would do take-offs a specific way. I would order the lumber per those take-offs. My superintendents would bring in their framers, hand them the blueprints, and say: “Frame this.” No further instructions and no diagram. The framing crews would build the house per their particular styles. The result: we had four different framers framing the house plan whatever way they pleased. Other than being a logistical inconvenience, this was a cost nightmare – especially when you’re talking a two story structure with engineered lumber. Our engineers would determine the proper spacing of TJI’s in the garage, I would order them, and then the framer would decide to space them at half what we had determined to be safe. EPO’s would come pouring in, and we’d pay for double the TJI’s necessary! Completely unacceptable. Remedying this proved difficult. Some framers just didn’t want to build the house to my specifications. If they weren’t going to do it, I would try and replace them. Unfortunately, the framers had often become good friends with my superintendents who would raise all kinds of $@!& if I tried to have the contractors replaced. This experience taught me a few lessons about purchasing supplies for a contractor (and when turnkey bids aren’t advisable): 1.) Always Give Your Contractor a Labelled Diagram Unless your contractors have ESP, they probably won’t assemble the material in the same way you did the take-off. Make sure to give them a diagram that shows where each piece should fit. If they have trouble understanding the diagram, take the time to explain it. Trust me: once your contractors understand how you want it built, they will likely build it the same way the next time. 2.) Make Sure Your Superintendents Enforce the Diagram Once you’re certain your take-off is accurate, crack down on EPO’s. If an EPO crosses your desk that says “Take-Off Error,” you drag the superintendent out to the house, diagram in hand, and have him show you where the friggin’ take-off error is. If he’s right, eat some humble pie and go fix the budget. More often than not, though, he’s simply covering for a contractor who didn’t build to specification. If that’s the case, take whatever action you deem appropriate. Superintendents need to take more ownership of their budgets. The best way to make sure this happens is to tie budget accuracy to their bonus. I know they will get all sorts of cranky about this, but with the proper safeguards in place this can be an effective way to keep costs in line. 3.) Assign a Single Contractor to Each Subdivision Oh my friggin’ goodness. Every time a superintendent would transfer into a subdivision, he would want to bring his framer with him. I’m all for loyalty, but every time I switch contractors in a subdivision I have to train the new one how to build the house the way I want it built. That’s time wasted; that’s money wasted. Do your best to keep the same contractor framing the same subdivision. I’ve had plenty of superintendents complain about their framer not being available when they need them. Sometimes this is a valid complaint. Often, though, I found that the superintendent had simply not scheduled far ahead enough. That’s an internal logistical problem that the construction manager needs to remedy immediately. The bottom line is: unless you’re going to bid your framing turnkey, you MUST keep tight reigns on how your contractors use your material. Builders can ill-afford to be wasteful these days. Time to get your purchasing and construction departments on the same page to reign in costs and move production along at an expedient rate. Questions or Comments? Feel free to email me at steve@steve-wade.com. |
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Posted on 00:25, July 15th, 2010 by 
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