Got a question? Forget customer service, talk to the CEO

In an unparalleled act of customer service, Wesabe.com gives everyone access to the CEO for questions. On the homepage of Wesabe.com, you’ll see a link that says, “Talk to Jason, CEO of Wesabe.” It takes you to a page that says,

“Hi! I’m Jason Knight, the CEO and co-founder of Wesabe. Every afternoon, from 12 to 4 p.m. PST, you can reach me directly at (800) 511-8544. If you have comments about our product, questions about how it works, or just want to chat a bit about what inspired us to create Wesabe, please give me a call. Sure, I could have an intern man the phones, but I can’t think of any job more important at Wesabe right now than talking to our new members and people who are thinking of signing up. So when you call, you’ll be talking to me. I look forward to it!”

Amazing, they actually give you a direct line to the CEO! And the part that says, “I can’t think of any job more important… than talking to our new members and people who are thinking of signing up,” is simply extraordinary!

Giving users and potential users the ability to talk to the CEO about their questions is quite honestly one of the best marketing tactics I have seen. It certainly made a user out of me!

No more landing pages!

I thought landing pages were fairly effective, in fact necessary. But the movement “No More Landing Pages” claim that they are a black eye on the whole web experience. They claim that landing pages are inherently broken; that it’s a case of the tail wagging the dog. In short, they suck.

Their suggest using landing experiences. Don’t use a single web page that contains several link choices and paragraphs of text. Instead, give the user very little text and only 2 to 3 link choices. Basically, break up one convoluted page into 3 or 4 extremely easy to understand steps. They believe that a single page can be more complicated than an experience that requires multiple clicks; users are willing to click but not willing to read in-depth and think.

I have to admit that their counter-intuitive approach makes a lot of sense. You can bet I’ll be testing this idea soon.

On a side note, the marketing strategy to build buzz for “No More Landing Pages” is very effective. I’ll post about their strategy later this week.

100 Marketers. 1 eBook. The Age of Conversation.

Gavin Heaton, Drew McLellan and me are working on the new eBook called “The Age of Conversation.” Oh yeah, there some other marketers working on it too.

Seriously though, it’s a great honor to be included with a list of great marketing minds like the ones listed below. Be sure to buy the eBook when it’s published; all proceeds go to Variety, The Children’s Charity.

Cam Beck David Reich Mindblob (Luc) Sean Howard Tim Jackson

Patrick Schaber Roberta Rosenberg Uwe Hook Tony D. Clark Todd Andrlik

Toby Bloomberg Steve Woodruff Steve Bannister Steve Roesler Stanley Johnson

Spike Jones Nathan Snell Simon Payn Ryan Rasmussen Ron Shevlin

Roger Anderson Bob Hruzek Rishi Desai Phil Gerbyshak Peter Corbett

Pete Deutschman Nick Rice Nick Wright Mitch Joel Michael Morton

Mark Earls Mark Blair Mario Vellandi Lori Magno Kristin Gorski

Krishna De Kris Hoet Kofl Annan Kimberly Dawn Wells Karl Long
Julie Fleischer Jordan Behan John La Grou Joe Raasch Jim Kukral

Jessica Hagy Janet Green Jamey Shiels Dr. Graham Hill Gia Facchini

Geert Desager Gaurav Mishra Gary Schoeniger Gareth Kay Faris Yakob

Emily Clasper Ed Cotton Dustin Jacobsen Tom Clifford David Pollinchock

David Koopmans David Brazeal David Berkowitz Carolyn Manning Craig Wilson

Cord Silverstein Connie Reece Colin McKay Chris Newlan Chris Corrigan

Cedric Giorgi Brian Reich Becky Carroll Arun Rajagopal Andy Nulman

Amy Jussel AJ James Kim Klaver Sandy Renshaw Susan Bird
Ryan Barrett Troy Worman Gavin Heaton Drew McLellan CK

Valeria Maltoni Emily Reed Katie Chatfield Greg Verdino Mack Collier

Lewis Green Sacrum Ann Handley Mike Sansone Paul McEnany

Roger von Oech Anna Farmery David Armano Bob Glaza Mark Goren

Matt Dickman Scott Monty Richard Huntington

8 Successful Habits

Daniel over at Just Communicate “tagged” me. The meme is a list of habits that you feel have made you successful. Now it’s time for me to share the habits that I believe make me successful. I strongly believe anyone can adopt these habits. They have served me well. So without further adieu, my successful habits…

1. Faith in God – The good book tells us that everything works to the glory of God. It also says that God rewards those who are faithful to him. I believe that. Everyday I believe that.
2. Turning to friends & family – I would not be where I am today if it weren’t for two amazing parents (who sacrificed a lot to help their son) and the support of my friends. Thanks guys.
3. Finding good mentors – Everyone needs at least one good role model. I’ve been lucky enough to have a few. From my personal friend whose the senior manager of international operations at FedEx to some of my current co-workers.
4. I read – A good business man told me that “Leaders are Readers.” Makes since to me. Successful people continuously educate themselves by reading business books, magazines, and articles. I make sure to read business and marketing articles everyday.
5. I blog – I find that blogging has helped make me a critical thinker. It also makes me an avid reader, which helps with my previous point.
6. I take business seriously – When it’s time to work, I work. When there’s a deadline, I make sure me and my team make it — even if it means staying at work when everyone else has gone home. My employer pays me to make things happen; I make sure that they do happen.
7. But not too seriously – It’s important to keep work at work. I make it a point to leave any work-related stress at the office.
8. I play – All work and no play makes Michael a dull boy. Ask any of my friends, I play… hard. I like to rock climb, hike, swim, and socialize. I reserve my weekends for play. It’s how I re-energize for the next work week.

7 Tips on Personal Brand Management

The idea of personal brand management fascinates me! I have a fascination with branding in general due to my love for marketing, but personal brand management is even more fascinating because we’re dealing with creating and maintaining a brand for yourself. Essentially, you’re marketing yourself! Sure Hollywood hotshots and big time CEOs have been on this personal brand kick for decades now, but it’s only been within the past 2 years that the idea of defining a personal brand for the average employee has really taken off. Of course, if an employee successfully manages his personal brand, he can’t be called an “average” employee.

But I digress.

Here are some tips on creating your personal brand:

1. Create a professional web site – The key word here is professional. Talk about your job qualifications and duties, not you dog. Also, make sure that your site doesn’t look like your 10 year old daughter designed it for you. By the way, a MySpace profile doesn’t count.
2. Include a bio – This is a necessity for your web site. Give potential employers a little more detail as to who you are. Here it’s okay to provide some personal information like family and hobbies.
3. Add a career highlights section – Whet an employer’s appetite when they view your web site by bragging about the successes you’ve spearheaded.
4. Include your resume – On your site, always provide a resume in PDF format for anyone to download.
5. Give out your contact information – How can potential employers offer you a job if they can’t contact you? Make yourself available by giving out a phone number and email address on your site.
6. Add a blog – This is very important. Have a professional blog on your site. A good blog will show employers that you keep up with the latest trends in your industry and that you’re an intelligent person.
7. Promote your site – Put a link to your site in the signature of your email. Display the URL on your business card and resume. Mention it in your cover letter and tell your friends.

There you have it, 7 tips to establishing you personal brand.

One way to strengthen your brand

What’s one way to strengthen your grip on one of your most important segments? Co-brand yourself with the one of the most popular franchises of the 21st century.

Mountain Dew has co-branded itself with the upcoming video game Halo 3. They will have a special drink that sports the Halo 3 logo and a character from the game. According to spokeswoman for Mountain Dew, “Gaming is an important component in the marketing efforts for Mountain Dew. Our goal is to go beyond traditional advertising by creating initiatives that make the brand an integral part of the gaming experience.”

Seeing as how Mountain Dew is known for sponsoring gaming events, this move makes perfect sense. The brand recognition alone for the drink company has got to be worth the undisclosed cost.

Web 2.0 defined… visually

Know what web 2.0 is? Here’s a visual definition. Make sure your speakers are turned on…

Simply amazing!

My Top 4 Business Books (To Read)

A list of the next 4 business books I want to read:

1. Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug (currently on page 53)
2. Punk Marketing by Richard Laermer and Mark Simmons
3. The Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier
4. Mavericks at Work by William Taylor and Polly LaBarre

A Great Honor

Today a co-worker, in a separate marketing department, told me that he would like to get my opinion on the topic of email marketing.

I was honored by his comment.

If a co-worker asks you for your opinion or for help, don’t complain about having to do more work. Consider it an honor. That co-worker probably sees you as a knowledgable and capable person.

The comment by my co-worker literally brightened my afternoon. What made this compliment even better is that it came from a man that I respect and lookup to.

Being asked for help, and to provide your input, is indeed an honor.

Seth Godin and I think alike

In a blog post today, Seth Godin said, “Psychographics… are way more important than demographics.”

The funny thing is that I said the exact same thing in a meeting an hour before I read Seth’s post. Isn’t it ironic… don’t ya think?