Referral Marketing: TOADS

For the past few evenings, I've observed an American Toad sitting along the edge of my small pond calling out to any passing female toads that found his message appealing. The sound, a long high pitched shrill, is quite distinctive, especially in spring. I've had this happen to me once before at a different location and that led to me relocating hundreds of tadpoles (since female toads lay 4000-8000 eggs)!!

Last night, he wasn't around any longer. So that means one of two things ... he was successful at attracting his target (which I'll know soon enough) or he wasn't and has decided to move on.

His efforts to attract a mate made me think of our word of mouth messages that we use to attract our target market. I wonder if our message is appealing enough to our target market to encourage them to seek us out? Is anyone listening? More importantly, are the right people listening?

Believe it or not, some people don't even know who their target market is! If that's the case, I can be fairly certain that their word of mouth marketing message is not going to pack a punch.

In reality, it really doesn't matter if YOU like the sound of your message. What really matters is if your TARGET MARKET likes the sound of your message. You need to be saying what they need to hear. When you've accomplished that, your target market will seek you out from the crowd. And ... when you've trained others how to share that same message on your behalf, you then have a chorus singing your song!

Imagine if my little toad had a chorus helping him to attract his mate. Do you think his odds of success would improve?

Referral Marketing: Value of Your Brand

What's the value that you place on your brand? How important is it to you? At what cost would you place it at risk?

Establishing your reputation and your brand is a crucial component to your referability. Without it, people won't refer you. In fact, without it, people are likely to speak poorly about you and that's the kiss of death with word of mouth marketing.

Imagine that every time you refer someone, a piece of your brand goes with them. Will they take care of it? Will they protect it? Will they enhance it? For this reason, some people actually shy away from giving referrals because they aren't willing to risk any blemish to their brand. I believe that we can control who represents our brand by choosing referable referral partners. We can educate people how to enhance our brand by teaching them how to refer us appropriately. We can enhance our brand and reputation by ensuring that all those who represent us adhere to our standards of excellence.

As a Steeler fan, I can only imagine the turmoil that the Rooney family is facing with such a blow to their brand through the recent actions of Big Ben. How much of their brand and reputation are they willing to risk on one reckless player? Will they take control of who represents their brand? It will be interesting to observe from the grandstand.

What would you do if this were your brand?

Referral Marketing: The Grass is Greener

Outside my office window right now, I swear that I can see the grass growing. It's getting greener by the hour and with every rain drop. In Pittsburgh, tis the season for the grass getting greener. It's exactly what one might expect around here.

But what about the fields of your referral marketing plan? Is your grass getting greener? Or, is the grass always greener on the other side (at your competition's pastures)? What are you doing to nurture your referral marketing efforts? Are you giving enough to your referral partners? Are you focused on helping others? Are you feeding your network with your time, energy, referrals, contacts, and connections? Are you a ray of sunshine in the lives of others or are you a grey cloud that dampens their spirits?

Alot of people give up on their referral relationships too soon because they think the grass could be greener elsewhere. They fail to realize that THEY are their own gardener. They control what seeds are planted and how well they are cared for. They control the productivity of their own lawn and garden (their referral relationships ... in case you lost the analogy!).

The grass isn't always greener elsewhere. The odds are that you just haven't been paying enough attention to your own lawn or garden to make it as green and productive as you would like it to be.

What ONE thing could you change today to make your grass greener and ensure that your referral marketing plan is working?

Referral Marketing: Facebook Friend or Foe?

The number of people who use Facebook is staggering! The content on Facebook can be jaw-dropping. Teenagers can become reckless on Facebook. They seem to forget who might be "listening" in to their posts. Case in point ... when my oldest nephew was boasting about smoking to his friends during snow days when they were home from school. My brother didn't like that very much when I told him about it. I'm not sure which made him more angry ... not knowing about it or that his son was smoking.

Facebook is like a never ending reality tv show. That's why people like it so much. It has a way of bringing people back to a high school mentality. But when it comes to how Facebook can impact your referral marketing efforts, it can be your friend or foe ... just ask my nephew.

Your success with word of mouth marketing can rest on your reputation. I believe that a large number of people damage their reputations on Facebook every day. If one of your referral partners referred you one of their clients and that client chose to research you and found you on Facebook, what would they see? Would they see your photos of when you were tanked at your best friend's wedding? Would they read your posts that contain foul language? I surely hope not!! Would they see photos that portray someone they want to do business with?

Think about the deeper impact. How would this reflect on your referral partner who referred you in the first place?

If you're on Facebook (yes, I am too), always remember that anyone, anywhere, at anytime is checking you out. What will they see? And how will it impact your referability? Let's face it ... you're not in high school any longer.