Month: June 2008

Web 2.0 From Marketing Theory to Reality

On By Tim KlabundeIn Business, Marketing1 Comment
I had a great conversation with Matt Handal of Trauner Consulting Services yesterday regarding Web 2.0. Many of us have read about marketing using Web 2.0, but most people struggle to understand how to add value to their company and build a strong return on investment (ROI) for their online efforts.
Let me propose that Matt’s website Construction Netcast is a great example of what a successful Web 2.0 effort can look like. Matt is succeeding by focusing on helping other people and in return reaping the benefits of increased name recognition and market positioning as an industry leader. Note that Web 2.0 requires that you add value to others lives, if you don’t add value you will simply be skipped over.
At the end of our conversation I sent Matt several links to blogs that (in my opinion) are successfully integrating into the new web. Below are several of the links (plus one or two more) that I sent him. There are some great things being written on each of these blogs, but probably of more interest might be the great ideas these blogs are themselves. If you are looking to expand your Web 2.0 presence start by looking at Construction Netcast and these blogs for some ideas:
Duane Craig’s Construction Informer
Ruairi Glynn’s Interactive Architecture

Getting Marketing and Business Development on the Same Page

On By Tim KlabundeIn Business, Marketing1 Comment

Robert Buday, Bernie Thiel, Susan Buddenbaum, and Tim Parker from The Bloom Group have got it all right in their recent paper on “Getting Marketing and Business Development on the Same Page” that I found through Michael McLaughlin’s blog Guerrilla Marketing.

The article/white paper is based on a survey that The Bloom Group completed in late 2007. In the opening they note several similarities of successful firms as it relates to Marketing and Business Development. Namely they found that… “most successful firms:

  • View marketing and selling not as independent activities but rather as an integrated process in which marketing and business development have defined, complementary but different, roles.
  • Organize their demand–creation process in a way their clients prefer to buy complex, high–cost, high–stakes offerings, which are hallmarks of all professional services.
  • Concentrate marketing and sales activities on fewer service offerings rather than more to avoid fragmenting resources and reducing market exposure for each service.
  • Base their activities on strong points of view—well–researched and rigorous insights on business issues and how to solve them—that redefine the way their target clients think about these issues and enables the professional firms to shape leads to their advantage and stop responding to standard requests for proposals.”

This is just the beginning of some great information on how to get your marketing and business development activities on track, including extensive results and graphs from the survey. It is well worth a visit to their website to read “Getting Marketing and Business Development on the Same Page“.

Thank you for your kind words

On By Tim KlabundeIn Marketing, RelationshipsLeave a comment

I received this gracious note today from J. Rossi, the Chief Marketing Officer of Burt Hill, regarding my blog and bio this past week on SMPS Connections. I have had the privilege of working with the Washington DC office of Burt Hill in the past and found that they are a world-class firm that has a knack for beautiful design. Again, thank you for your kind words J., I consider it a privilege to write and an honor that others take the time to glean from my writing.

Hi Tim —

Life is really busy these days — as anyone in professional services marketing knows. So I often take a quick look at SMPS Connections, close the email, and delete. Don’t know why, but today I read your profile. And then your blog.

I’m really impressed. I’ve been in the business quite a while now, and I’ve seen a lot. I’m impressed with your attitude and your desire to share information. You embody the concepts in BOOM!, the book that I reviewed for the August Marketer.

Great job! Just wanted to let you know.

Best,

J.

J. Rossi
Chief Marketing Officer
Burt Hill
215.751.2967
http://www.burthill.com

Marketing Engineering services in a Market Downturn

On By Tim KlabundeIn Business, Marketing1 Comment

Carol Metzner, President of The Metzner Group, LLC, and Matt Barcus, President of Precision Executive Search, Inc., have created a great resource for the A/E/C community at Civil Engineering Central. If you haven’t had a chance to visit the site yet let me recommend that you stop by and check out the blog and the forum page as both are great resources.

Also, the June edition of the Civil Engineering Central publication featured an article that I wrote on Marketing Engineering services in a Market Downturn that I hope you will find beneficial. Here is the opening paragraph as a teaser, visit this link to read the rest of the article:

The engineering industry is no stranger to downturns in the market. When the dot-com bubble burst in 2000 it caused many civil engineering firms to stumble, and if you were around in the early 1990’s you remember the major struggles of a severe market downturn and its effects on our industry. The good news is that history has taught us a number of things to do, and not to do, in a downturn. How we respond to the market determines our success not only during, but more importantly after the market corrects itself. The first place to look in a downturn is always the effectiveness of your current marketing…

Creative Networking

On By Tim KlabundeIn Networking, RelationshipsLeave a comment

Cancun Beach UmbrellaI was reading some internet articles this morning on networking and ran across a great article by Fiona Robyn entitled “Creative Networking.” In it she expands on five suggestions of how to be a good networker.

Of special interest to me was her 5th suggestion, “Network with people you want to keep in touch with anyway.” As I expand my network I often run across individuals that I like and respect; people that I truly desire to keep in touch with. For me these individuals have included Hank Chase of Integrity Consulting, Mark Buckshon of Construction News and Report (blog: Construction Marketing Ideas), and Ken White of Architecture Incorporated. I find it easy to network with these people simply because I enjoy their thoughts and respect their opinions. It is important to remember that networking isn’t bound by industry or location; networking is developing relationships that we can enjoy throughout our career and lives.

Let me leave you with a quote from Fiona’s article:

If you like and respect someone enough to keep in touch with them then that should be enough - you may be useful to each other’s careers at some point and you may not. Enjoy building your network and marvellous things will begin to happen!