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Everything I Know I Learned at 21

Earlier this year, I stood in front of my entire team; a handpicked, strong team of talented and dedicated individuals. As the agency turned 21, we talked about goals for the company and brainstormed how to make 2017 the best year we've had yet. As I looked around the room at the faces I had gathered, I knew there was no better team I wanted to travel this journey with.

1996 was an entirely different time. We focused on marketing for TV, radio, billboards, direct mail and, of course, the Yellow Pages. To think these tactics are just a small portion of the marketing tools in our arsenal is mind-boggling. Today, we combine many of these traditional tactics with a heavy mix of digital marketing – responsive websites, social media, SEO, pay-per-click, and more. The Internet has completely changed the way we do business and reach our customers/clients. The pace is faster, and we have risen to the challenge to stay ahead of the curve. We're constantly learning, but the one thing that remains constant, no matter what tactics we use, is that brand always wins!

Before graduating from University of Nevada, Las Vegas, I had a course that has always stuck with me along this journey: Services Marketing. In that class, I fell in love with the challenges of marketing the intangible. Professional services face an interesting conundrum in marketing: with a product, people can see, touch and compare; with a service, people must be convinced that your services are excellent and will not know if they have had a great experience until after the job is done. This challenge was attractive to me, and for the past 21 years, our firm has focused on providing first class marketing and brand management services.

I’ve been blessed to have created and sustained a niche client-base since establishing the company – professional services. Although we've worked with products, restaurants, events, venues, and other non-service based companies, we have truly found our value in marketing professional services. From my first major client, Palm Mortuary, that we worked with for nearly 10 years, to the amazing clients we work with today, we have been eager to assist the professional service community.

No ride is complete without the highest of highs and lowest of lows. Like most people in business prior to 2008, I enjoyed the immense growth of our company and our business. For 12 years, I built a company I loved and put my heart and soul into it. Overnight, the economy crashed, and the joy of the ride came to a screeching halt – I wasn't sure CIM Marketing Partners would survive those years. But we persevered and rebuilt.

After 21 years in business, what have I learned? I now know that I will never stop learning. Every experience – the good ones and the terrible ones – have taught me how to be a better entrepreneur. I understand that while business hours are important, the work I put in after hours has been some of the most rewarding. Organizations like the American Marketing Association, Legal Marketing Association and Leadership Las Vegas gave me the knowledge I needed to learn and helped me build a powerful network I could tap into in times of need.

Everyone has to reinvent themselves in order to survive. Change and adaptation are the keys to a successful future. We see it every day, in our friends, family, and in nature all around us. We have to be open to change, and then have the courage and tenacity to DO IT!

Your team is essential. Every step of the way, I’ve been blessed to have a strong team around me. One that shared in my vision, and was committed to helping me achieve it. I wake up every day and my career feels like a day of play and joy, and I am honored to have this team by my side. When you have a team around you that adapts with you as the industry changes and is willing to develop themselves professionally to be able to keep up with the demand of your clients, success happens.

And finally, I’ve learned that you can’t predict the future. We all know that’s not an option, but it bears repeating. You can work hard to prepare yourself for what may come, but you never know what’s coming until it actually gets to your door. So, stay flexible and move strategically. Reacting to tough times with strength is the best indication that you – and your company and team – will make it through those times.

While scrolling through social media recently, I found a quote I absolutely love: “You don’t get paid for the hours, you get paid for the value you bring to the hours.” It is the value of the hours that I have brought to my family, my team, my clients, and my community that have made these past 21 years worth it. I am grateful to have been trusted to build a company that builds other businesses. And I cannot wait to see what the future holds – it’s been a great ride and there is so much more adventure ahead.

Created in Las Vegas. Serving Las Vegas. Respected in Las Vegas. CIM hit 21, and I'm all in.

~Darcy k. Neighbors

CIM Marketing Partners Celebrates Its 21st Year with Promotions

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Las Vegas, NV – CIM Marketing Partners is pleased to announce promotions in multiple departments.

“What makes our business unique and successful is that we continue to prioritize our team,” said CIM Marketing Partners’ Founder/CEO, Darcy Neighbors. “We are thrilled to promote team members who have been vital to our growth and ongoing success.”

April Kemp has been promoted to Integrated Communications and Social Media Manager. She is responsible for managing client accounts and developing traditional and online campaign strategies drawing on her experience in public relations, legal marketing, social media management, and digital marketing.

 

Within the creative and production team, Matt O’Keefe has been hired as full-time Graphic Designer from a previous part-time position with the firm. Matt brings to the company nearly a decade of award-winning work as an artist, photographer and graphic designer.

 

 

“We are very fortunate to have this talented team of professionals in-house, and we look forward to seeing their growth and development in the industry,” said Don Pursell, CIM Principal.

Looking Ahead: Planning for 2016

What a year it has been! 2015 has been one for the books for me, personally and professionally, and I’m excited to see what the future holds.

 

Lessons in life are frequent and recurring; just when you think that you know and are prepared for life’s lemons, another lemon comes to find you. One of the earliest lessons that I learned when I opened my business in 1996 is that you have to work constantly to fill your client pipeline. Keeping your pipeline full ensures that you always have fresh, right-fit clients to keep you and your team’s creative juices flowing. I always say that you must profit to service and survive, and that has been made more and more apparent to me over the past several years.

 

Although Nevada is finally showing signs of recovery, we all know just how quickly a change can happen. To keep a successful business alive, it’s imperative that business owners remain proactive and involved in every step in building the business. It is very easy to get caught up in the amount of work that you need to do to keep clients happy that you forget to treat your business in the same manner. This step is crucial to ensure that your business is sound and that you have a strategy in place to survive during months when business may be a bit slow.

 

One thing that we encourage for all of our clients is a yearly strategy session, called the Strategic Marketing Summit ™, where we create a Diversified Marketing Portfolio® or DMP. We keep this document on hand throughout the entire year and refer to it frequently. It specifically outlines whom they are marketing to, where and how we present the brand each month of the year. That way, there are no surprises and we make a concerted effort to constantly move the business forward.

 

The Result: With prior planning, your business is the most efficient that it can be with the resources to gain the best clients because you have strategically marketed to them and identified them as the right fit for the future of your company.

 

In addition to creating a plan to develop your business, put a plan in place to develop your team, including yourself. A strategy is wonderful, but if you lack the right team behind you that also shares your vision for success, no one will be able to get anywhere. Not only are these people the face of your company to clients, vendors and competitors; they are your work family and brand ambassadors. At CIM Marketing Partners, the people working here believe in the company just as much as they believe in themselves. Together, we moved forward.

 

As we head into 2016, I hope that you have done all of your planning. Similar to life's challenges, the best advise for successful business owners also comes in three’s:

 

Have a solid strategy, a solid team, and a solid execution. With those three things, everything else will fall into place.

 

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

The Stepchild of the Business Development Puzzle

There’s so much information available about business development—books, seminars, personal coaching, online solutions, companies that business develop for you, and on and on. You’ve probably tried multiple things, with both successes and failures. Here are some thoughts in working with many, many companies and individuals in my 22 working years.

Generally speaking, a diversified approach is best:

All of these efforts can be effective, and you can certainly fill your days with these or similar initiatives. What do all of the above have in common? You’re able to do it all without opening your mouth, and that leads us to the almost lost art, the missing piece of the business development puzzle: I implore you to start talking! That’s right. Make a conscientious effort have actual voice conversations with clients, prospects and colleagues. Pick up the phone and talk to someone. Meet someone for a business lunch and talk. Schedule a time to go to a client’s office and, you guessed it, talk.

You’ll be amazed at how often new business will arise in the days immediately following personal conversations or individualized outreach. People like to connect with people, and they’re more likely to do business with people they feel connected to and like. Give it a try…just talk.

Generational Marketing: It’s All About Convenience

The Internet has dramatically changed the way businesses communicate with their target audiences. As new social networks continue to pop up, businesses must actively stay on top of their game to not be left in the dust. With this considered, businesses must recognize that the Internet is not a cover-all strategy; it is just as important to include a variety of other marketing tactics into the marketing mix.

I define generational marketing as crafting a marketing strategy to ensure that it incorporates the preferred communication methods and preferences of the specific targeted product. Businesses must always determine whothis target audience is, considering the four generations: Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Gen X, and Gen Y.

With their ease and availability, almost everyone today has access to a personal computer, a smart phone, and of course, an email address. However, not all individuals are using these tools in the same manner. Traditionalists and Baby Boomer’s share many similarities in terms of their preferred methods of communication. Keeping in mind the generational brackets are general trends (not to be interpreted in black and white), members of these two generations are universally much less tech savvy than younger generations. Moreover, Traditionalists and Baby Boomers both tend to prefer personal communication and relationship building in their purchasing experiences, especially with larger purchases, such as buying a car. They would rather shake hands with a sales representative, align themselves with a brand or company, and return to the same company for future purchases.

On the contrary, the Gen X and Gen Y demographics see it differently. These generations are actually quite different from one another in their consumer behavior. However, traits they share are increased skepticism and decreased brand loyalty. For both generations, especially Gen Y, it is all about convenience. Whether it is browsing mobile shopping sites, waiting for a Groupon for 50% off, or utilizing the nearly instantaneous purchasing experience of Amazon Prime, younger generations are quite comfortable switching retailers. Younger generations have no problem bypassing an actual storefront and salesperson in favor of an online shopping experience. As long as these individuals know they are getting a great price from a reliable company, they are on board.

For businesses and marketers, it is important to know who is buying the product. For instance, if one is selling a product intended for use by younger generations, then the strategy must focus on reaching these individuals where they spend most of their time: online. If a business is selling a product and their target audience includes older generations, they must recognize the importance of traditional marketing strategies, such as meeting in-person, telephone communication, marketing collateral, etc.

Despite how the Internet has taken over many aspects of our daily lives (for better or for worse), it is important to use a mix of personal communication and internet marketing to reach your generational marketing goals. As I mentioned, generational groups are by no means black and white, and there are typically going to be exceptions to the rule. One thing is certain, older generations are not spending nearly as much time online shopping, browsing e-blasts, or building their new car with the click of their mouse. That kind of new-age amusement is usually saved for those in younger generations.

A Salute to Our Troops

 

My entire career has evolved around marketing and advertising, and I must say, I have produced, scripted and watched 100’s if not 1000’s of commercials; this is one of the very best I have ever seen! Before you watch it, let me explain why I think this is so well done.

Final thoughts…Thanks for your service grandfather and grandson, so that I can live in a country where freedom rings. Enjoy and share this link and touch someone else’s day, if only for a minute.

 

Don’t Be a Focus Group of One

One valuable method of research is a focus group. While the purposes, processes and information collected varies per project, very generally, a focus group follows along these lines: A small group of specially-chosen people (perhaps 10) is assembled in a conference room to answer questions and have discussion about a company or organization and its products or services (existing or potential). Topics may include how they feel about the brand or a product, what may make them purchase, what they like or don’t like, etc. A professional facilitator leads the group discussion and keeps everyone on track, while carefully worded, non-leading questions are posed. The 60- or 90-minute session should lead to a bounty of information that can be used to help formulate, guide and steer marketing strategy and operations moving forward.  Depending on the scope of the company or its operations, several focus groups may be performed, possibly in multiple markets and on an ongoing basis to track consumer changes.

In years of meeting with clients, every now and then, we encounter someone who could be characterized as a focus group of one. Here’s how it goes down: We have a potential marketing initiative to consider, say, radio advertising. A particular radio station reaches the ideal demographic, has rates that fall within the budget, etc. In short, radio advertising may be a very good part of an overall strategy. The client says, “But I don’t listen to radio. Why would I want to advertise there? Let’s not do that.” There’s a disconnect, not understanding that you may not “be” everywhere your customers are. Similarly, you may not read the local business publications, but your customers may. Sure, it’s fair and important to have a discussion about any particular marketing initiative to rule it in or out as one to implement.

What to do? Simple. Trust the guidance provided by your marketing and public relations professionals. They’ll help you cut through the clutter of what’s relevant and what will move the dial on growing your business. What not to do? Shut down an idea just because it wouldn’t work on you.

Always remember diversification. Your marketing mix should contain multiple initiatives working together to produce results, as measured by increased brand awareness and business activity, ultimately leading to increased value of the business and increased profits. Radio, or any other single initiative, is worthy of consideration beyond the focus group of one.

Right-fit Marketing for Business Success

Every single day, we in the marketing and public relations field are inundated with “the next best thing,” the new opportunity, the new platform, the new service, the new best way to do whatever. Our job is to keep up with all the opportunities, educate and train ourselves to their potential benefits, drawbacks and costs, and then ultimately match opportunities to our clients’ needs—their business needs, their sales goals, their brand models, etc., all while doing so in the context of each client’s specific strategic plan and budget.

We always start by developing the strategic aspects of their right-fit approach. There may be dozens of “opportunities,” but far fewer that will maximize ROI and ultimate results.

Some camps attempt to place all the options in several categories, sometimes called “traditional” marketing approaches (print advertising, radio/TV, direct mail, etc.) vs. “new marketing” categories, which include social media exposure and online advertising. Some might go as far as to throw away “the old” and get on the bandwagon of only investing in the newest of options. It’s likely that some mix of both will be appropriate. Each client and client business need is different, and by making the upfront commitment to analyze the options and strategize an effective plan, we are able to cut through the clutter of the new daily opportunities and focus on the marketing and public relations initiatives that should be implemented.

Your marketing and public relations professional should take the time to meet with you regularly to analyze the options, review the budget, review the successes of ongoing marketing efforts, and then discuss where to stay the course and where to adjust along the way. Be open to considering all options, but don’t be swayed to jump on what’s new just because it’s new.

5 Things to Consider when Hiring an Agency

You have been limping along and trying to do marketing and public relations in house with little to no results?

There are 5 CIMple considerations in looking for and hiring an outsourced marketing or public relations agency:

    1. Does the agency you are considering have experience marketing for the service or product area you and your company focus on? If yes, great. If no, that is great, too! There are pros to hiring an agency with experience, as their learning curve is greatly reduced. On the flip side, an agency that has a solid track record of success with various types of businesses has the ability to look at your business with a set of fresh eyes and have no preconceived ideas on how you or your competitors have been marketing. This can often times bring fresh insight to marketing and positioning your business.
    2. Ask the question, how long have most of their clients been with them? If it is well over three years, which is the industry average, that is a solid agency with a proven track record of getting results for their clients, or they wouldn’t continue to retain and partner with the agency.
    3. Ask the question, what is the turnover of key executives or account service people? The last thing you want is a revolving door of people servicing your account.
    4. Ask the question, what is the driving force behind the agency? If they drive with creative and not strategy first, that could be a serious problem. Effective marketing and growth always comes by laying down the strategy first and following with creative and tactics.
    5. Very important, do you really connect and like the people you will be working with? Does your gut and intuition tell you this is an agency that really cares about their clients and their success?