Now Rather than Later

 

I hope this message reaches you in good spirits, with you, your family and colleagues doing well and staying healthy.

Here’s a little scenario you might find familiar: As you look at your work or business, you routinely say to yourself or discuss with your team, “Yes, we need to do that.” It could be that you note the need to work on your website, updating/cleaning up your business contact database, filing the pile of papers, organizing the files on your computer/server, or perhaps that you need to have your employee handbook updated.

Since we’re always focused on our clients and their needs first (it’s our first nature!), our own companies’ projects become postponed. Starting today, I encourage you to take a few minutes to recall some of those “forgotten” projects and start the ball rolling to tackle some of them now. Here is a mini-list to help you start:

I am NOT implying that in our downturn you haven’t remained busy, perhaps much busier than usual. For some, workloads have increased significantly; for others (due to the nature of their usual work), it may have decreased. Creating a to-do list, like above, is the first step. Step two is asking for volunteers and support based on everyone’s abilities and current availability.

Accomplishing the task of “treating yourself as your number one client,” at least for some of your time, will strengthen your company and ultimately help in your endeavor to provide excellent service to clients you work with and attract new clients in the future.

Quote of the week:

"Almost every successful person begins with two beliefs: The future can be better than the present, and I have the power to make it so.”
~ David Brooks

 

The Reality of Now and Later

We at CIM Marketing Partners hope this message reaches you doing as well as you can in our current challenge. Please continue to do all you can to keep your team, your family and yourself healthy and safe.

As you know and are likely experiencing yourself, businesses are scrambling to maintain operations and client services. As you’re busy doing just that, there are certain things you and your team can focus on now to ensure your business comes out as strong as possible once COVID-19 isn’t ruling our lives. Some of these are based on some reading I’ve been doing that looked at how certain companies fared better than others during our 2008-2009 economic downturn. We also saw a similar correlation with our own clients’ activities during that downturn.

You may find some strength and inspiration in the following fact about 2008-2009: Companies that responded to the downturn only by cutting costs lost ground after the Great Recession. Companies that prove valuable to their clients and met their needs aggressively recovered faster and stronger.

Do what you can do, and more! Focus like a laser beam on what your clients need and rally your team to deliver like never before.

What you are doing now is already playing a role in your business’ outcome after COVID-19.

Stay healthy and safe, stay strong and please reach out if the CIM team can help you in any way.

Quote of the week:

Trust the wait. Embrace the uncertainty. Enjoy the beauty of becoming. When nothing is certain, anything is possible.

Mandy Hale

COVID-19 Business Update

 

To our valued clients and business partners,

I wanted to take this opportunity to give you an update on how our firm is navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. While our nation and the world are pushing the boundaries of our human spirit, I want you to know that the team at CIM Marketing Partners is here for you. 

As you may or may not have heard, Nevada’s Governor has issued a mandate that all non-essential businesses and gaming must close for 30 days, beginning today. CIM Marketing Partners falls in the professional services category, so we will remain open by way of remotely working. We are dedicated to keeping your digital services running (websites, social media, email campaigns, etc.), as well as traditional marketing projects and initiatives.

As a business owner, over the past three years, I have invested significantly in my infrastructure to allow for remote working by my team. Various team members routinely rotate through working at home every week, so we are accustomed to using technology to accomplish work projects and coordinate with other team members seamlessly. Simply put, my team is well prepared and trained to be able to perform their job duties without being physically present in my office. We are available via phone, email, video conferencing – you name it – we can communicate with each other and you.

In this time of “isolation,” I want you to know that you can contact me or anyone on my team. We will be there for you, even if it is just to say “hello.” We care deeply for each and every one of you and want you to know that we will get through this together. Each of us must first be focused on staying safe and well. At the same time, if we can assist you in any way, such as helping you communicate with your team or your clients (or even just to talk), please reach out to us.

Time heals all wounds. We will be a stronger nation on the other side of this. Stay safe and well.

The Benefit of Company Culture

Company culture distinguishes the values, goals, and attitudes of the employees that make up a company. When individual and company-wide values align, workers feel more appreciated and valued for the work they do in furthering company objectives. Productivity, profitability, and professionalism trend upwards when company culture is strong and healthy, as their image of success shines amongst competitors, creating a competitive advantage. Company culture has a snowball effect on the health and well-being of a company. As company culture improves, the productivity of happy employees increases, which then increases the financial health and overall profit of the company. A company’s productivity measures the effectiveness and efficiency of employees within the company, directly correlating to the success and completion of their objectives punctually.

As times change and technology advances, millennials are brought into companies to keep up with the everchanging and updated technology incorporated in company operations. Millennials are the driving force powering the future of the workplace. The discussion of strong, compelling culture within a company can either attract or deter the millennial audience. In this day and age, millennials want to feel like their work matters, like the time they spent accomplishing even the most mundane tasks are furthering the greater good in the world surrounding them. A strong company culture allows them to better recognize the values and goals of the company, drawing the connections to the outward impact it carries into society.

“There’s no magic formula for great company culture. The key is just to treat your staff how you would like to be treated.”
- Richard Branson

The importance of company culture resounds in a business’ success. Company culture weighs tremendously on the productivity, profitability, and professionalism of employees and the company as an ensemble. If the culture is unhealthy or lagging, employees prioritize duties that will meet their own needs, such as moving up the corporate ladder or improving their salary and benefits. This is due to the fact that the workforce does not feel like they or their efforts are valued by management. Appreciating and valuing employee efforts, no matter how big or small they are, in a client project can contribute to the establishment of healthy company culture practices. By focusing efforts on culture, you are establishing a differentiating factor from competitors who foster poor or nonexistent company culture as they focus too much on the success of the business as a whole, not leaving time to motivate or admire the efforts of those within the company. Creating a foundation of positive company culture, one in which employee engagement organically promotes productivity, can make or break the success of your company.

There are many well-known companies who excel in promotion of their company culture. Zappos has become almost as reputable for their company culture as it is for product and customer service. Ten key core values are instilled in each employee as they are hired and trained. Amidst the fast-moving operations of their business, Zappos takes time to budget and plan specifically for team building as well as internal culture promotion. This is done to encourage their employee and assure them of the impact their efforts make on the success of the company. Another well-known example is Google. Not only do they offer employees a fun working environment and substantial benefits to being a part of their team, they prioritize a strong culture of leadership and mentorship to help their employees succeed. By creating a workspace where people can and want to grow, they attract some of the best talent in the industry and express the worth of their efforts. In terms of strong company culture, both Zappos and Google have taken the initiative to hire people with company culture fit in mind.

How will you shift your focus to promote a healthy company culture?

PPC vs. SEO: Head to Head

In today's world, you have undoubtedly heard of SEO and PPC. The terms are unavoidable in our digitally, Internet-focused world. Everywhere you turn, there's a new article detailing new SEO strategies and exploring how PPC will enhance your overall web strategy. We won't lie: it can be confusing. Step one to successfully using SEO and PPC in your marketing efforts is to understand the similarities and differences between the two.

There are strategic reasons to utilize PPC and SEO practices. Both PPC and SEO are part of SEM (search engine marketing), which is one of the tools used for online advertising. Although different methodologies, each of their goals is to generate more traffic and ultimately lead to an increase in conversions (phone call, form submission, etc.).

First, let's look at each of their definitions. PPC, meaning Pay Per Click, is a form of advertising that involves bidding on targeted keywords through an ad platform in order for your ad to show up at the top of the search engine results page. SEO, meaning Search Engine Optimization, is optimizing your website in order to make it more relevant to natural or organic search terms.

Now, let’s examine the benefits to each practice. PPC can yield instant results and connects you with people who are looking for what you are offering. PPC offers targeting to reach specific groups of people, perhaps with specific interests and/or in geographical areas -- ultimately a demographic that may be more likely to purchase. Finally, PPC guarantees a steady stream of visitors and allows you to promote a specific deal, product or service. Alternatively, SEO has multiple benefits. For example, SEO’s return on investment will continue to rise over time and is, therefore, better in the long run. SEO relies on organic searches which consumers tend to trust more than sponsored advertisements. In addition, SEO helps your website show up more often in relevant organic searches.

Knowing the benefits to both PPC and SEO, it is also important to understand the limitations to each. For example, PPC does not improve organic search rankings. PPC requires testing campaign variables to improve conversions and overall ROI. In addition, PPC requires continual monitoring to optimize performance. Some of the limitations to SEO are that it requires more time in order to generate results. SEO also requires ongoing upkeep, and a lot of factors are simply out of your control. Finally, SEO requires dedicated time to monitor through various tools and make content adjustments or add additional content.

The decision to utilize PPC or SEO is contingent on your business’ goals and which practice makes the most sense to fulfill those goals. In an ideal world, the use of both marketing practices would be beneficial for accomplishing short- and long-term goals. However, each practice on its own offers respective costs and benefits for a business’ search marketing capabilities.

The Tale of Two Marketing Committees

Committees. Depending on your experience with one, you may think they’re great, or maybe a total waste of time. In a nutshell, some get results, some don’t. Here’s the tale of two types of committees. Both are real examples spanning years.

Marketing Committee #1: Twelve years ago, we met with a sizeable law firm’s marketing committee to assess their situation and make recommendations to position and grow their firm. There were 12 committee members present. During that meeting, one of the members told us, “We’ve been meeting once a month for 10 years and we’ve never done anything.” And he meant it literally. We followed up by doing our research, presenting our findings and making clear recommendations for a path to move forward. We returned to their office twice more to “sell” our recommendations and start our typical partnership. It went nowhere, as the committee was never able to reach a full “yes” vote of 12 (yes, ALL had to agree before anything was done from a marketing standpoint).

Where are they now? The firm has fewer attorneys than it did 12 years ago, and I think I’ve seen the firm name mentioned in business publications twice during that time. There’s virtually no sign of a presence: No stories, no articles, no new hire announcements, no community involvement PR, etc. It’s pretty safe to say they’re not actively marketing their firm or their legal talent.

Marketing Committee #2: Several years ago, we met with a law firm that had been “holding steady” for years, a small, but solid group of attorneys with a solid book of business. They had always wanted “to do marketing,” but hadn’t known what to do. Their committee of two was open to being educated as to what marketing and public relations can and cannot do, they had a budget and they were ready to go. We aligned their firm business goals and expectations with a myriad of marketing/PR action steps, and within a year had made huge progress: A professional firm logo/brand, a full series of sales tools, including brochures and e-brochures, a new website that served as a business development tool, a new office in another state, speaking engagements that generated significant new business, business-to-business outreach with prospective clients, cross-selling newsletters, and on and on. They had always had the legal talent, now they have a brand presence to enlarge their number of clients, matters and profitability. They invested, and continued to invest, and are now reaping the rewards.

If you are part of a marketing committee, ask yourself a few questions. Does it have a clear mission? Does it have the power to implement? Does it seek advice and guidance from marketing and public relations professionals? Does it have a budget? Does your group actually do anything?