Where's The Conversation?

I've been in some intense marketing meeting where I hear how many followers, fans and contact the company has yet they don't see an increase. This is one of those times when I make the dumb statement and look really smart. "Are you having a conversation with those followers, fans, and contacts?" Take a look at your social media streams. If all you see are anouncements and specials your just being a billboard. The benefit of social media is the social. Treat it like your there in person. Find a group and join the conversation. Build on common beliefs, be witty and attractive. Use your best "Pick Up" lines and read my book The Pickup Artist: Business Contacts.

If you want to get the most out of social media be social.

Fred Abaroa
The Marketing Imagineer
Fred [@] TMIFred.com
@TMIFred

Slurpee Vs Icee

Many of you who follow me on LinkedIn, Facebook, Foursquare or Twitter have probably wondered what the Slurpee Vs. Icee was all about. My original plan was to test my networks to see who was more responsive. But as I received results I was astonished by the fact that not one response was pro Icee.  Almost 100% of the responses were pro Slurpee.  Yet there are more places to get an Icee.

What the savy business man learns is that an identical product can have a piece of the pie. As a matter of fact a huge piece of the pie with little extra effort. Icee started it all when a fountain drink machine broke down and the vendor sold frozen sodas to his cutomers. 7-Eleven decided to experiment with the Icee machine eventually making their own and selling them as Slurpees. They further went on to make deals with mainstream sodas like Orange Crush, Mountain Dew and of course Coca Cola. This gave them a differentiation. But did Icee go out of business? Nope there was plenty of room for everyone.

Do you have a product that is similar to a competitors? Or an idea that is already developed by someone else? Forget the competition and do it anyway. Put a couple of spins on it. Make it a local thing. Make the name of the product cool. You'll probably find there is enough business for everyone. And of course if you need help making your product special call upon me,

Fred Abaroa
The Marketing Imagineer
Fred [@] TMIFred.com