A Career Case for PowerPoint

Feature by Founder, Amanda McGuckin Hager. When not dreaming of interactive Marketing programs, she’s dreaming of pools, fireplaces, fashion, gardening or digging wells in Africa. Follow her now on Twitter.

In all my years of experience, throughout departments across the organization, there is nothing like an amazing PowerPoint presentation to spur an imagination – or a career. In scrappy start-ups, presentations are used to express intangible ideas and for asking investors for money. In Fortune 500 companies like Dell, dreadful as they can be, PowerPoint presentations are used to express everything in every meeting, every single day.

Young Jedi, I can’t stress these PowerPoint skills to you enough. Whether you are planning to join the Corporate or the Non-Profit world, you’ll need to know PowerPoint. Hell, you’ll even need to know PPT if you plan to join the Military. (See the New York Times: “We Have Met the Enemy, and He is PowerPoint”).

A recent study by University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management uncovered that the PowerPoint slides you present can influence your role in strategy building (that’s cool.) I might even venture to say that your PowerPoint skillz can accelerate your career.

Here are a few key points from popular book Slideology, by Nancy Duarte (which we highly recommend for its stunning visuals. Get it here):

-          Visual Communication is key. (Words are empty. Images are substance.)

-          Design slides that capture the emotions of what you want to convey.

-          Presentations are a 3-legged stool: Message, Visual Story, and Delivery.

-          The #1 Rule you learned in English 101 still applies: Know Your Audience.

-          Beef up your Graphic Design Skills (with the help of the book) or, do like I do, hire a designer.

Where do the great PowerPoint presentations live? Slideshare.net. This site’s traffic is so massive, it is one of the top 1000 websites on the Internet. Run, don’t walk, there to find the best of the best.

And, while you can, go to your student bookstore and get the reduced-price student copy of Microsoft’s PowerPoint or Apple’s KeyNote. Don’t fret – there is always Google Docs Presentations (free).

Now, go to your local community college and take the Community Education Courses in PowerPoint. It’s worth it!

I’d like to take this opportunity to give a shout out to Marketing Superstars and friends of mine in Toronto @AprilDunford and @UnMarketing. I have no idea what their PowerPoint skills are, but we can always ask.

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Win over the Gatekeeper with your Resume

Feature by Co-Founder, Caroline Lim. With an iPhone in one hand and a pink planner in the other, she’s always on the go. Whether she’s working, gyming it up, or shopping, you can catch her on Twitter.

My last blog post, What’s your best 50 character pickup line?, includes a pickup line metaphor for email subject lines. To continue my comparison between relationships and Marketing, if you impress the Gatekeeper, you get the interview. Much like dating, if you impress the best friend, you typically get the date.

Note: People actually pay “professionals” to write their resumes for them. That’s ridiculous. You are fully capable of writing your own with these excellent resources at your fingertips:

Step 1: Brainstorm –Get that notepad out. If you already have a resume worksheet, you’re ahead of the game. If not, or you have no idea what I’m talking about, no worries, there are plenty of them out there like this one from uwrf.edu. If you’d rather just start jotting down your past experiences, major accomplishments, skill sets, ect, Grace Keh wrote a great article on building your own resume worksheet.

My #1 tip? Keep your career goals in mind. Once you have that figured out, your resume should reflect it.

Step 2: Write - Hopefully you already know to use positive, active words when writing your resume, to highlight accomplishments, not tasks, and to tailor your resume towards the position you are applying for. But do you know about the 5 p’s and the 7 secrets?

The 5 p’s of resume writing are Packaging, Positioning, Punch, Personality, and Professionalism. Each of these p’s are described in detail within Jay A. Block and Michael Betrus’ book, 101 Best Resumes.

The 7 secrets come from this completely brilliant article: 7 secrets of a successful marketing resume by Louise Fletcher. Happy reading!

Personal advice: Don’t go crazy with the professional jargon. It’s a sure sign if you are dependent on a thesaurus. Furthermore, don’t use superlatives when describing yourself. You may be a complete rockstar, but be sophisticated about your accomplishments through awards and numbers.

Step 3: Layout – My top 5 tips:
1. There are many ways to organize your resume. The layout can vary, but should always be consistent in regards to font, size, margins, ect.
2. Keep it simple and concise. Your resume is a synopsis of your abilities, not an autobiography. Rule of thumb: one page in length.
3. Emphasize your strengths and downplay your weaknesses.
4. Keep the reader in mind.  Make sure your resume is appeasing to the eyes and not too “busy”.
5. Put some personality into it. Your resume should be professional but also stand out in the crowd. I personally like to add my LinkedIn and Twitter account so the reader can dig deeper into who I am.

For awesome formatting tips and hints, use the Mccombs School of Business Resume Writing Guide. For instance, you’ll learn how to maximize lines and space by avoiding the “orphans” or “danglers”.

Step 4: Examples: Look at some “great” examples.  Yes, I know “great” is a very relative term, but that’s why you’re reading this blog post! Here are some of my favorite resources:

For the bookworm: Start on page 223 for the “Portfolio of Sample Resumes” portion of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Perfect Resume, 4th Edition. I would also recommend checking out the newest edition that was published this year. If that’s not enough, 101 Best Resumes, Chapter 10, gives you a plethora of examples as well.

If you’re completely against books: bestsampleresume.com offers Marketing resume samples in various Marketing positions. Awesome.

A duh moment: don’t plagiarize the resume examples you find. I mean, honestly, I just had to throw that out there.

Step 5: Checkmarks and Proofread: Time to dot the i’s and cross the t’s. Make sure you’ve got everything checked off this Resume Checklist from The University of Scranton Career Center.

Once you’re all checked off, it’s time to Proofread. Let’s be honest, some people can be real sticklers about grammar and the tiniest mistake can get your resume kicked out of the pile. Not only should you proofread your own resume at least 5 times, get someone else to proofread as well. (Hint: This is where a marketing mentor would come in handy.) Also, like all important writing material, get someone who will give honest feedback, aka not your mother.

So there you have it, the do’s for writing your resume. Happy resume writing, GoMarket yourself, and hopefully you’ll never make it on this list: 150 Funniest Resume Mistakes, Bloopers and Blunders Ever.

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New Vocabulary Word: “Conversion”

Sometimes, this is what the office feels like.

I would like to introduce you to a word that may not have been widely used in marketing and communication curricula, but it is the most important event in any direct response marketing you will do. “Conversion” is the moment when someone decides to become a lead or a sale in your campaign.

You will have been taught a great deal about how to get people’s attention, primarily by interrupting them. You will have been steeped in the importance of message, brand, and emotion. You will have learned the importance of creative in the communication process. You will have been shown the importance of identifying your market segments by demographic, geographic and psychographic data.

In the world of branding and image-building, these skills are largely sufficient. However, when you are asking “suspects” to call, register, or buy from you, conversion is the critical piece of the puzzle.

Conversion is important because it is a measurable event. Branding and awareness marketing must be measured by surveying the marketplace. Did they see the ad? Did they remember it? Would it entice them to buy?

Conversions can be counted: calls made, leads generated and sales completed.

What does it mean to be able to measure your marketing results? It means that you can continue to do the things that work, and stop spending on those that do not. You can effectively test your creative, zeroing in on the ads and messages that generate positive business results. Once you have identified a winner, you then continue testing, trying to beat your star performer, called the Control.

The result is marketing that gets continuously better, meaning it gets cheaper and cheaper to generate new leads and sales.

The Peculiar Math of Conversion

Focus on conversion and let the math work in your favor.

If you spend $1000 to generate 1000 impressions through an ad or email, your cost per impression is $1. Let’s assume that 1% of those impressions buy as a result. You have a 1% conversion rate. That means 10 new leads or 10 new customers.

Your Acquisition Cost is the $1000 spent divided by 10 conversion, or $10.

If you want to double your results, you can spend $2000 and generation 2000 impressions. It would be assumed that you would generate 20 new customers with your 1% conversion rate.

However, if you want to double your results without increasing your budget, how would you do that? If you increased your conversion rate to 2%, your $1000 ad campaign would now generate 20 customers, the same number that $2000 would have generated before.

Your acquisition cost drops to $5 per customer, meaning you are benefiting for half the cost.

Increasing Conversion Rates

In the online world, where almost all prospect actions can be measured, you will find that Web sites do a terrible job of converting visitors to leads or sales. Learn the ways of conversion, and you will be invaluable to companies in almost any industry.

Why you don’t need a degree in market research to deliver powerful insights

Marketing Research in under an hour

In today’s business world, being nimble is a job requirement. One of the best talents you can bring to your organization is the ability to apply past learnings to current projects. Some projects may require the upfront ‘discovery’ process, but when strict timelines and budgets make it impossible to squeeze in a focus group or online panel, you can look to a few research tools where experts have already done the heavy lifting. The key to delivering powerful takeaways is building out a comprehensive toolkit. Below are a few of my favorite, go-to tools when I have to take a strategic stand, sometimes within the hour.

• Mintel: A fantastic selection of research reports, categorized by industry. I discovered this tool in my last year at UT, and kicked myself for not finding it sooner. If you’re a college student, it’s likely that your school provides access to this resource for free. Be sure to use it.
• Social mention: Aggregator of all things social. Unlike some of the paid social media tools (Nielsen BuzzMetrics, Radian 6 and Cymfony), this one is free. While it doesn’t provide the level of analysis that some programs require, it gives you a snapshot of what’s being discussed along with quick sentiment, reach and user metrics. Another fun social tracking tool is Addict-o-matic.
• Surveygizmo: Look to surveygizmo for surveys made easy. This tool offers sophisticated reports in minutes – making you look like a market research star.
• Trendwatching.com: Free, fun reports delivered to your inbox every month. See what the rest of the world is up to by reading the trend briefings.
• PSFK.com: Add a little pizzazz to your insights. This is a truly inspiring resource with subjects ranging from advertising, culture, design and technology.
• Slideshare.net & Scribd.com: Pick a topic you’re interested in and start browsing. One offers presentations; the other houses original content that can aide your research process.
• Quantcast: Pull site stats and make informed decisions. You will find rich audience profiles here, including user demographics and lifestyles.
• Del.iciou.us: see who’s bookmarking what and what they have to say.
• Board Tracker: a forum search engine to track conversations and topics.

There are endless research tools out there for you to pick from. Build your own toolkit and be prepared to hunt for research. Which tools have you discovered lately?

But, how do I find a mentor?

Finding Your Mentor

Now, young Jedi, you might be asking: How do I find a mentor?

My personal suggestions: Look and listen. Seek them out. Amazing marketers are hiding in the cubes and offices in the building next door. But they are hard to get to. Easier are those people that are out and about in the community. Go to local events, and strike up a conversation. Poke through LinkedIN, and read their blogs.

1. Ask Yourself: Who do you admire and why? Who do you identify with? Who do you want to be like?
2. Email them. Don’t hold back. Do send them a note – about anything. Trust me. They’ll appreciate it. It opens the door for more conversation.
3. Don’t Be Scared: Do invite them to lunch, coffee or happy hour. Seek them out at local marketing events. (And don’t go getting all creepy by stalking them. Just invite them into conversation.)
4. Know your objective. Which can be simple, to start. “I’m graduating in 2 years, and I wanted to get a better understanding of the Austin Business Landscape. What companies do you know of here?” or “I’m hoping you could review my paper on Building a Marketing plan. I’d love your real-world feedback.”  Or “I’m curious. What is a day in your life like?”
5. Believe in yourself.  Mentors often learn just as much from you as you learn from them.

Then here’s the scary part: ASK FOR IT. Ask them if they would be interested being your mentor. Tell then what projects you enjoyed in school, or why you are passionate about whatever it is you are passionate about. Tell them what you want to be when you grow up and why. Then, give it space and time to blossom.

P.S. At this time, I want to thank my one-time Marketing mentors: Suaad Sait and Josh Baer, and my numerous one-time interns and mentees including Stephanie Brown, Marlana Salmon, Cora Griffin, Mei Lee Ling, Scott Daughtry, Mike Fellers and Caroline Lim.

I don’t need no stinkin’ mentor.

Mentors and Mentees have a lot to learn from each other.

Is that so? Ah, young Jedi. Think again. The wise old mentor brings much light to your career. Let me list the Top 5 Benefits to having a Marketing Mentor:

Failure.

Ah, how nice to let someone else jump off the bridge first. Based on what happens, you make your decision – jump or not. Your marketing mentor has jumped off that bridge before. Learn from their experience – the good and the bad.

They have people.

Most likely, they have worked in the industry, in the field, in the space. They know people who you should know. They have a network that you could only dream of. If you are lucky, they will share that network with you.

Older = Wiser.

Generally, it’s true that your elders are wiser. Why is this? Because life has beat them down and churned them through the blender. They have learned from this. You can learn from them.

Stupid Ideas.

Most likely, your ideas are not stupid. In fact, your ideas are most likely fresh, intuitive and spot on. But the reality is, all of us have stupid ideas. Like a good mother, your mentor will softly tell you, “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.” (Not really.)

Life Support.

Mentors often go above and beyond acting as your professional sounding board. More often than not, mentors provide value well beyond answering your Marketing questions.

P.S. I want to express gratitude here for Dr. Dean Geuras, who taught my required intro to philosophy class using creative, layman’s terms to explain classic philosophy concepts.  Dr. Geuras taught me the concept of the Pour Soi and the En Soi, a concept I carry around and think of often, and introduced me to Albert Camus and his book The Stranger, which is tied to The Cure’s song. Dr Geuras sparked my passion for philosophy, a healthy respect for analogies and a hunger for more education. Thanks Dr. Geuras.

It’s not Dirty Dancing. It’s Dirty Data.

I hate to break this to you kids. It’s the biggest needle to your balloon of hope. Here’s a reality of marketing today: It’s not about your amazing creative. It’s not about your ingenious idea to make a big splash at the event. It’s not about your polished, creative copy-writing. IT’S ABOUT YOUR DATA. I know; it’s sad. But it’s true.

Let’s examine why.

Define Data:

I mean your database. Your email list. Your customer profiles. Your systems of record. Your CRM, be it BuzzStream or Salesforce.com. Your e-Commerce database. And/or all of the above.

Know your audience:

In today’s world, all the information you know about your audience is most likely stored in your database – or worse, databases. (Trust me. I live this daily.) When you have dirty data, you will struggle to find your audience, and to find the niche messaging which that audience wants to hear.

Powerful Stories:

Data, when clean, is the source of amazing power. It tells you an important story. The story of when your customers last purchased, or who opened the last email. (More importantly, it tells you who didn’t open your last email.) When data is dirty, you will struggle to see the story.

Metrics, Metrics, Metrics:

Success is defined by metrics. And the devil is in the details. Often, if the metrics are not consistent, clean or remain convoluted, you are screwed. Guess what builds the metrics? The data.

All is not lost.

Dirty data is a reality. But, just like a dance, there is strategy and creativity in figuring out your next move, and the final results can be amazing.

Reminder: “Data” is plural.” Datum” is singular.

I’d like to acknowledge one of Austin’s coolest start-up companies, InfoChimps , who aim to build one of the largest aggregated data set. Talk about data – these guys got it.

With data and dancing, the results can be fabulous.

Fundamentals 101: Acronyms in the Workplace

Let’s just jump in and get started. Pay attention. These will be on the test.

The C-Staff

CEO: Chief Executive Officer

CTO: Chief Technology Officer

CIO: Chief Information Officer

CMO: Chief Marketing Officer

CSO: Chief Strategy Officer

CFO: Chief Financial Officer

COO: Chief Operations Officer

Other Staff:

The E Staff/E Team: The Executives

The D-Staff: Directors

The M-Staff: Managers

Random Staff:

SME: Subject Matter Experts

PMM: Product Marketing Manager

IT: Internet Technology

In Discussions:

EOD: End of Day

COB: Close of Business

OOB: Open of Business

OOO: Out of Office

WFH: Work from Home

DB: Douche Bag Not Appropriate

dB: Data Base

IM: Instant Message

B2B: Business to Business

B2C: Business to Consumer

ASAP: As Soon as Possible

EOM: End of Message

FUD: Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt

IMO: In my Opinion

KPI: Key Performance Indicator

FWIW: For What It’s Worth

OEM: Original Equipment Manufacturer

WIIFM: What’s In It For Me

ROI: Return on Investment

SLA: Service Level Agreement

VAR: Value Added Reseller

SWOT: Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, Threats

TCO: Total Cost of Ownership

SMB: Small-Medium Business

ENT: Enterprise

SLED: State & Local Government, Education

SLG: State & Local Governement

NPO: Non Profit Organization

HiPPO: Highest Paid Person’s Opinion

Systems:

CRM: Customer Relationship Manager

ESP: Email Service Provider