The message that follows is a simple one. It contains basic tips on conducting interviews. Newcomers to the process should carefully read this information. Even seasoned professionals may wish to review it from time to time.
Being interviewed is an art. Some people are naturals. They can get their message across, tackle the problem areas with an appropriate measure of honesty and still let their personality come through enough to make the reporter want to call back for future stories.
For most people, however, interview skills come with time and practice. You can't control what a reporter will ask or write, but you can present yourself and your company in a favorable light, and as a result, exert some influence on the outcome of the story.
Some people want a story to read as though their mother wrote it; others have an "as-long-as-they-spell-the-name-right" attitude. The appropriate, realistic expectation falls somewhere in between.
The story won't be perfect or contain all the things you consider important. The reporter may have a bias with which you may not agree. But what counts is not every word in the story; it is the general impression that the story leaves with its readers. In time, after several stories, the things you want to see will probably begin to appear.
The following are basic suggestions for taking interviews:
As a final note, now that these cautions have been conveyed, just relax and enjoy the interview. Letting your personality come through is far more important than guarding every word. An interview represents more than just one story. It is an opportunity to establish a relationship with the press that can prove invaluable in the future. Best of luck!
It's called several things -- cross-promotion, fusion marketing, partnership marketing. And it has increased dramatically over the past decade. Why the growth?
First, it works. Even the most mass of mass marketers -- the large packaged goods companies -- have realized its benefits. Smaller niches mean less economies of scale and higher cpms. That's where partnerships pay off. Joint marketing can lower message delivery costs while increasing reach.
Second, shrinking or static budgets. Few marketing people are content with their budgets. When you're asked to do more with less, symbiotic partnerships are cost effective tools to achieve objectives. Think of it as using other people's money!
Third, there's certainly an attitude of acceptance about teamwork and partnerships that wasn't as strong 10 years ago. The massive changes in communications are bringing us together, providing the business basis for fusion marketing.
A bonus reason! Cross-promotions and partnering are fun. They're definitely an adventure. You meet new and interesting people. Share ideas. And, it certainly enhances the budget.
Sound interesting to you? Find a partner who shares your audience. And take advantage of the opportunities. We've got several successful cross-promotion examples that we would be happy to share with you.
If you found out that eight out of every ten dollars of your profits came from only twenty percent of your customers, what would you do?
If you answered, "Find them, keep them, and find more like them," you are one of a growing number of marketers who are aware of the value of database information and analysis. A few of you know that information is power. But surprisingly, only a few are using these power tools effectively.
Become one of the few.
Start building your INFObase today. Begin with the basics -- name, address, phone number, date of purchase, amount and item purchased. But remember, this is only the record of a single transaction. To build an INFObase, you need to build an understanding of your customers' ongoing relationships with you, so you can create one with them. You need to know the frequency of their purchases, their average purchase, the quantity and category of their purchases and the promotions or ads to which they responded.
This accumulation of information will begin to show you that:
Get the whole picture.
Once you have a basic database of at least a thousand customers, you can begin to append or overlay information from various data collection agencies and credit bureaus, such as Polk, Metromail, NDL Lifestyles, TRW, Equifax or TransUnion, to help give you a clear profile of your current customers.
Depending on which agency you use, you will begin to see categories of customers emerge (there are up to 50) with names such as "Upscale Singles," "DINKS" (Double Income No Kids), "Empty Nesters" and "Young Families." Once you begin to discover the size and nature of the categories where your current customers are clustered, you can begin to develop programs to target new customers with similar characteristics. In marketing, too, birds of a feather flock together.
When too much info is not enough.
For the last three decades our information resources have grown from simple geographic data, with the introduction of the zip code in 1963, to the sophisticated socio-economic lifestyle information of today. So many tools are available now, the challenge becomes which ones to use. Like Alice through the looking glass, you may find yourself asking, "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?" The answer, as the Cheshire Cat well knew, lies in your own objectives: "That depends a good deal on where you want to go."