Get Social!

Prepare yourselves.

AMBC's dynamic duo, Fahim and Uncle Marty, are teaming up and teeming with excitement to present our brand new class, Get Social!, at the PostalMate Regional Training Weekend this Sunday in New York. Our new seminar takes the concept of how we behave in social settings, among peers, and in our communities and applies it to social media strategies.

There's nothing quite like getting together in a room with other small business owners to share ideas, information, and inspiration. But what is it we're actually doing when we're together? Sure, we're training. Sure, we're learning new techniques. And absolutely, we're discovering a myriad of new features in our software. But we're also building a community. We're discovering people in very similar situations to our own and creating bonds with them that will last a lifetime. We're making friends, sharing laughs, and bringing why we do what we do back into focus; we're sharpening our intentions.

This societal concept is exactly what we'll communicate through Get Social! We want to guide our peers away from using social media platforms—those amazing, revolutionary, and free tools at our fingertips—to blatantly advertise and instead encourage their use for building a community and creating a genuine following of loyal advocates—not just customers, but dedicated clients and friends of your business.

Though Fahim and I have collaborated on projects more times than we can count and work closely together as members of the AMBC Board of Directors, this will mark the first time a #FahimFix social media seminar and a Marketing with Marty™ marketing and image seminar officially team up to co-present a class. And we're pumped!

We must thank PC Synergy and the PostalMate team in advance for inviting us to their regional events. We are honored to be able to share, thrilled to participate, and very grateful to glean from other presenters and attendees.

If you're unable to attend this weekend's event, don't fret. We and the rest of the AMBC Board have a habit of popping up at events here, there, and everywhere, always ready to share fresh, timely content. So stay tuned!

#AMBC4ME #PostalMate #FahimFix #AskUncleMarty #DynamicDuo #NewYorkNewYork

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Also published on the AMBC blog on February 28, 2017.

Jiggery-Pokery

My brother Allen and I were listening to a Ted Talk podcast yesterday. In it, Jonathan Rossiter, a charming roboticist, was talking about creating new kinds of robots. As he was describing biodegradable robots and detailing how to make basic components at home, he said in his delightful British accent, "If you take some jelly and some salts, and do a bit of jiggery-pokery, you can make an artificial muscle."

In what must have seemed like choreographed synchrony, Allen and I both gasped, looked at each other, and burst out laughing.

"Jiggery-pokery?" What was this delicious new phrase? And why had we never heard it before!? We were instantly obsessed.

We finished the Ted Talk, all the while laughing and completely amused by our new favorite verbalism. Both of us, I'm sure, were trying to figure out in our own heads how we could casually interject "jiggery-pokery" into a sentence as soon as possible … because that's how brains work in our family.

The next podcast in queue was a Grammar Girl episode on double dactyl poetry. (And let me quickly interject how much I love Grammar Girl. She's pretty much my hero. I never miss a lesson; I'm enlightened each and every engaging episode.)

Mignon Fogarty, Grammar Girl herself, in honor of National Grammar Day, was giving us a lesson on dactyls—three syllable words or phrases where the first syllable is stressed and followed by two unstressed syllables, like "octopus" or "applesauce." Then we learned about double dactlys—a distinct form of poetry in which the title is always a two-dactyl proper noun, like "Grammar Girl Fogarty" or "Jonathan Rossiter."

We learned that often the first line of a double dactyl poem is a silly or nonsensical phrase, like "Hibbely dibbely" or "Capital underpants." Then Mignon told us where to find the rest of the requirements for a proper double dactyl: in the introduction to the book Jiggery-Pokery: A Compendium of Double Dactyls.

What!? There's a book titled Jiggery-Pokery!? Like, this is a real thing and not just an amusing phrase perfectly punctuated by British roboticists when they're talking about putting salt on household jelly to create homemade robot components? The revelatory moment for us two word nerds was too blissful to describe.

So as a heads up, you'll be seeing and hearing much more jiggery-pokery from my brother and me going forward. Because, after all, phrases like "jiggery-pokery" are what make the English language okery dokery.

#JiggeryPokery #GrammarGirl #MignonFogarty #TedTalks #JonathanRossiter #AskUncleMarty

Show You Care

Have you told your customers lately that you love them? Have you told them lately that you care?

Now you can grab each one by the hand, look them in the eye, and say, "I love you, customer." But you're probably going to either get slapped or put on some community watch list. So rather than saying it, show it.

Show you care by going above and beyond. Hold the door, put their packages safely behind the counter so they can shop, and offer them a bottle of water if they're all hot and bothered.

Show you care by remembering as many people as you can … by name. Don't repeat their name over and over like you're trying to sell them a used car, but greet them by it and use it once more when you thank them for their business and invite them to "come back soon." (And you're all doing this as a farewell, right? We've talked about this before. Consciously work on replacing "Have a nice day" with "Come back soon" and the results will surely delight you!)

Show you care by writing a handwritten thank-you-for-trusting-us note every time someone puts their faith in your business for something precious and special.

Show you care by putting just as much importance on welcoming customers' children and pets as you do on welcoming the customers themselves.

Show you care by giving your guests a little piece of candy. This time of year, I love to give out little mini boxes of conversation hearts to my favorite clients, and to some random ones just because. And not just because I'm trying to charm my way into their wallets, but because it's genuinely a good feeling to see someone's face light up.

Show you care by making sure every customer that walks through your doors leaves no longer as just a customer, but as a client--thrilled with the service they just received and cordially invited to come back soon.

Show you care by spreading love, speaking kindly, and creating joy.

Happy Valentine's Day. <3

XO, 
Marty

#HappyValentinesDay #ShowYouCare #RelationshipMarketing #AMBC4ME #AskUncleMarty #InspiredByRodStewartLyrics

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Edited version published on the AMBC blog on February 14, 2017.

Would you like SEO with that savings?

I was at Jo-Ann this past weekend. As I was checking out with my three and a half yards of purple and grey upholstery fabric, Lexi the clerk asked if I had any coupons with me.

How could I forget? Like any good red-blooded American that comes from a family of sewers (as in people who sew), I'm on the Jo-Ann mailing list at both my office and home and usually have coupons coming out my ears! In case you're not familiar, Jo-Ann is the undisputed coupon potentate of modern American retail. They send out weekly flyers covered in coupons, many for 50% off or more, and they send a daily coupon-heavy email to their massive email list.

But alas, I didn't have any coupons with me. I had left them at home, along with my wits that would have told me to call up that morning's Jo-Ann e-blast and corresponding coupon. So without hesitation Lexi said, "Just open up a browser on your phone and google Jo-Ann coupons." So I did and it brought me to the Jo-Ann home page, featured on which a big, bold 50% off coupon beamed like a beacon of savings. She scanned the barcode on my screen and I saved $12.50 … just like that.

Though truly grateful for the discount, I thought to myself as I walked back to my car why Jo-Ann would encourage their staff to be so liberal with their coupons, especially as a sale is being finalized with a customer who clearly was happy and ready to pay full price. (Well, to be fair, mine was a red tag fabric so it was already on sale. But still…) And then I thought about what Lexi did--so brilliantly sly, masking her true bottom-line boosting intentions in a façade of savings and sweetness: She boosted joann.com's SEO (search engine optimization) by having me specifically google them from my unique device and then click through to their website (which, if you visit you'll notice the pop-up that must be addressed before entering that solicits the visitor for their email address to join Jo-Ann's amazing email list); she got me to realize--or remember--the wealth of information about her business available literally at my fingertips; she ensured a happy transaction by giving me an unexpected discount, therefore creating a loyal customer for life because I left with a very, very good feeling about the transaction. I left as their advocate.

I don't know any business that rocks the coupon game like Jo-Ann. The way they turn the simple, traditional marketing technique of couponing into a customer experience-focused SEO stimulus scheme is fascinating. It's so brilliant, it must be diabolical!

Think about it…

#SEO #Coupons #Marketing #JoAnn #AskUncleMarty #SoBrilliantItMustBeDiabolical

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Also published on the AMBC blog on January 24, 2017.

A Simply Perfect Piece of Marketing Magic

I was flipping through an issue of Architectural Digest last night and came across this stunning ad for JW Marriott--a simply perfect piece of marketing magic.

The intention of this delightful spread is to communicate something exceptional to look for on your next stay at a JW, confident that the sophisticated Architectural Digest-reading customer will indeed be staying at a JW again sometime soon. In doing this, JW Marriott is keeping their brand top-of-mind. And that's all they need to do.

JW Marriott's reputation has already been established, and everyone knows what the JW brand stands for. So they don't need to explain that in an ad. But they do need to show why they should be the hotel of choice; they need to show what makes them different, interesting, … better.

Sometimes our most effective advertisements don't blatantly advertise what we're trying to sell. Of course, JW Marriott put this ad out to book more reservations. But they don't outright solicit bookings. They're not advertising a deal, a special, or a gimmick. Rather, they're simply appealing to the target reader--in this case, design aficionados--with a sleek, clean layout. Featuring the ad in a publication full of color, they've chosen a black and white picture highlighting beautiful architectural columns to grab the reader's eye paired with spot-on soft pink and elegant, clean text to keep the reader engaged until the simple message is received. It's exquisite.

Ads are not the place to tell your customers every little detail about every little service that you provide. And unless you're selling medication and legally required to do so, ads generally are not the place for long disclaimers. Ads are simply a method to grab someone's attention and give them a little tease as to why they should do business with you instead of someone else. Ads keep your business top-of-mind.

Kudos, JW Marriott. This ad is a winner!

#JWMarriott #ArchitecturalDigest #AMBC4ME #AskUncleMarty

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Also published on the AMBC blog on January 11, 2017.

Caregivers

Four years ago this season, I had just finished my first of four chemo cycles--confused, weak, scrawny, itchy, nauseous, and bald, yet surrounded by amazing, uplifting humans who cared for me. 

Every Christmas, I keep in touch with the staff of the inpatient chemo floor where I stayed for the majority of my treatment. Their card this year reminds me once again that I was not just a patient. I wasn't just some pin cushion that needed his IV changed every few hours. I was a fellow human--a friend whom they genuinely cared for and cared about.

Treatment is more than the drug regimen; treatment is the caregivers and administrators that hold your hand and lift you up.

I had the best caregivers. They gave from their hearts ... and they're still giving.

#Survivor #Christmas #Caregivers #Chemo #GivingfromtheHeart #AskUncleMarty

Don't Feed the Wolves

I've been doing yoga for the past few months. I started going late in the summer, figuring it would be a good outlet for tension and pent-up stress. And it has been!

Initially, I was just doing hot vinyasa yoga--sweating it out in a 105-degree room, trying to push myself to stay active for the whole 75 minutes without having a complete panic attack. But then I discovered yin yoga. Yin is a passive practice, holding positions for three minutes at a time to stretch connective tissue. It's amazing. And the class I try to go to is at night, done by candlelight, with an instructor who speaks softly and constantly reminds us how great we are for taking time for ourselves. It's the crunchiest, chillest, most wonderful experience. But I digress…

Last night, Linda the instructor kept repeating, "Don’t feed the wolves. Water the flowers instead." I've been thinking about that since, wondering what my wolves are and realizing just how much I encourage them.

We all have wolves in our lives. Some are external, threatening us and trying to tear us apart with aggressive attacks. These can be competitors, enemies, frenemies, injury, restriction, or even just negative people that bring us down and make us fret. And then some wolves are internal, eating us up from the inside out: worries, phobias, self-depreciating thoughts, disease, and addictions.

These wolves are bad news. In all logical thinking, we should avoid them and put up fences to keep them out because they're destructive and dangerous. Yet somehow we feed them! But how? And why?

Some ways we feed the wolves are easy to understand, like how we feed addiction … because we literally do feed addiction. "Just one more cookie; I'll eat a salad tomorrow." "Just one last puff; I'll quit when I'm not so stressed." "Just one last episode; I'll sleep better tomorrow night." Worries, phobias, and other obsessions are fed in much the same way. We focus on them--feeding them--which, instead of bringing resolution, just makes them stronger and allows them to take over more of our being.

Other ways we feed the wolves are harder to understand, like how we feed competition … because we don't think we actively feed competition. Isn't our intention to beat competition? Well, we do feed it--just like we feed other aggressors--by playing its game. We play price wars, insult, condescend, downplay, and degrade. We want to run negative ad campaigns, telling the world just how much they suck and we rule. But that behavior only makes us look petty, whiny, and on the defense. It makes us appear weaker, and consequently makes the competition stronger.

What if, instead of feeling all of these wolves, we put energy into building up those things inside of us and in our lives and businesses that are beautiful, strong, attractive, and distinguishing--watering our flowers. Let's stop throwing scraps to those wolves, and stop giving them the territory that they're creeping in on. Instead, let's plant new seeds, take back our property, and make it shine. Let's stop the damage, stop bringing ourselves and others down, and instead make healthy choices to build our world back up again.

A friend messaged a Simon Sinek quote to me today: "Fight against something and we focus on the thing we hate. Fight for something and we focus on the thing we love." 

We have nothing but opportunity. Here's to a beautiful year ahead!

#DontFeedtheWolves #WatertheFlowers #Resolutions #AskUncleMarty

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Also published on the AMBC blog on December 27, 2016.