THIS ISSUE INCLUDES: •  What's New? •  Going, Going … Gone! •  Resource Referral •  Lessons Learned •  Tips & Tricks •  Community Leaders •  Member Spotlight •  Community Stats •  Your Account Summary •  Special Thanks •  Last Laugh

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WHAT'S NEW?

Dear Askers & Answerers,

This week we gained 72 more listings in the Resource Library. This is thanks to the generous contributions of Michele and Google.

Michele has been cataloging her favorites for us in Excel, so we can bulkload them. And Google has undertaken the tremendous project of reviewing old KHE discussions to hunt for resource ideas. The two of them helped us grow our current total to 284 listings.

If you'd like to compile your bookmarks in a spreadsheet to share with the community, just let us know. We can email you an Excel file with all the right field names. And we'd be more than happy to publish them for you!

Meanwhile, our team has been working on redesigning MP's My Subscription page. The new version will provide lots of new functionality. We expect to release it in about a week. We're also in the planning stage for the new KHE profile pages.

I'm off next week, so there will not be a newsletter. I'll be in Mexico dozing in the sun ... thinking of my friends with 40 inches of snow.

Happy exchanging,

Val Frazee
Moderator, Know-How Exchange
MarketingProfs.com

GOING, GOING, GONE!

Here are KHE's 10 oldest questions. They're likely to close soon. Have an idea to offer? Better do it now!

1. Business Intelligence/Lead pricing
2. measuring cost of sales in a services business
3. Blogs
4. Aside from Google ads, what works under $100?
5. Ideas to revamp prdomain.com
6. Help name our new golf club restaurant!
7. Key principles in retaining customer satisfaction
8. 1-800-ASSISTANT
9. Pre-Tradeshow Invitation Content/Ideas
10. Trade Show Stategies and Measures

RESOURCE REFERRAL: THE FIRST 90 DAYS

This week's resource is a 208-page book recommended by KHEr davidr. The opening sentence caught my eye: "THE PRESIDENT of the United States gets 100 days to prove himself; you get 90." Looks like an interesting read for those of us in transition. Here's what davidr's listing says in our Resource Library:

"A new leader's success or failure is determined in the first 90 days. This guide offers strategies for moving into a new role. It provides a framework for transition that will help diagnose situations, craft winning strategies, and take charge quickly. Examples illustrate how to learn about new organizations, build teams, create coalitions, secure early wins, and lay the foundation for longer-term success. Concise and actionable, this is the survival guide no new leader should be without."

Resource: The First 90 Days

Browse 283 other resources recommended by our members in KHE's Resource Library. Or add one of your own!

LESSONS LEARNED: ANIMAL HOSPITAL

Last week, tmacbeth posted her first question in KHE. She wondered where she could find information about best practices for marketing an animal hospital. Here are excerpts from the conversation that followed.

• tmacbeth: Our next goal is to map out a 12-month marketing plan aimed at the general public and referring veterinarians. There are rather strict regulations on vet marketing in Canada, which adds a challenge. Does anyone have any experience in this space, ideas to share?
• OlivierT: I don't know enough about the Vet marketing regulations in Canada. Regulations for B2C marketing (Referring Vets) may be lighter. You should not have problems building one-to-one personalized email campaigns, such as information emails, e-newsletters, a once a year e-survey ("How are we doing?"), and some regular e-greetings (such as "Happy Canada Day, [Contact’s First Name], from [Clinic Name]”). Usually B2C regulations are far stricter. A “how is your cat Sarah doing?” from a Vet clinic may not be a smart idea, and it may be illegal. However, a personalized, permission-based, non-commercial e-newsletter, (“tips & hints for your house pet in good shape!”) should be OK.
• mbarber: So if you are targeting referring Vets, what restrictions exist about what you can say or do? Now as to the general public – is there a national pet day? If not you could start one, gain corporate sponsorship to help fund it and then do your PR campaign through the media to raise awareness. ... You could run an 'Open Day' every two months targeting a different animal or different pet need – make them free to the public and have them last for no more than a couple of hours – get vets nearby to come along and share their knowledge for free. That lets them build awareness and you at the same time and links you strongly to the community.
• thinkmor™: You could always do a Video diary (that you can also play within your hospital) and send it in to one of the children's or wild life programmes for inclusion. This needs a little research but has been done successfully before. ... Affiliating with pet insurance plans could be another channel you could investigate. These would jointly target both pet owners and vets and shortcut you targeting lists and get to pet owners directly. ... If you can connect both 'hearts and minds' of your customers you will be building a brand that will be hard to compete with.
• bobhogg: Not my specialist area, I must admit, but my daughter is currently studying veterinary medicine in the UK and she pointed me to a couple of websites that specialise in web marketing for vets in the UK: VetSite.info and VetClick.com. I don't know how relevant they are to the Canadian situation, but you might find them of interest.
• thinkmor™: Forgot to post this link for "Do it Yourself" email campaigns which can be done easily via the Web and at low cost: ConstantContact.com. Hope this helps.
• Billd724: I've had the pleasure of working with several veterinary practices and would ask why you're seeking to attract 'new' clients rather than 'up-sell' and 'cross-sell' the existing clients of this practice? ... Take a common procedure – e.g. dental prophy (cleaning). ... Cleanings are one of the 'up-sell' / 'cross-sell' opportunities that is really a good profit-center and one of the best investments a client can make in keeping their pets healthy, too. But, often not done because docs don't talk about it and clients don't ask. Remember that clients are ignorant and docs aren't comfortable selling! Thus, facilitating communication and awareness with clients is almost an ethical requirement to fulfill the professional's obligation to the patients and their clients. ...

Question: Marketing Strategy For Animal Hospital

Do you have something to add? Feel free, if you like. Even though the question is closed (and you can't earn points for it), the Asker will be alerted to your response.

TIPS & TRICKS: SEARCH MP ARTICLES

Have you noticed the SEARCH box in the blue horizontal navigation bar throughout the site? That's for searching through hundreds of articles in the MarketingProfs database.

Eventually, we hope to integrate the KHE discussons, the Resource Library listings and the Article Archives content into one search engine with a single results page. But until we do, I encourage you to do your start your background research in that little box.

For example, we have 29 results for "SEO," 40 for "trade shows," and 149 for "career." You'll find countless more on every imaginable marketing topic. In fact, if you haven't been there before, you may want to browse our Article Archives.

I recommend you start with MP's articles and a quick Google search for outside reading to build a basic foundation in a new subject. Then, use the forum to help you learn how to apply the lessons to your particular business. Tell the experts what you've already read and ask them to help you get to the next level.

Have a question? Ask the experts.

Post a brief synopsis below, and invite other members to offer their feedback.

My Question Title

COMMUNITY LEADERS

As of this week, these are our superstars! The Most Resourceful are those who have contributed the most entries to the Resource Library. The Most Expert are those with the highest number of Expert Points (earned by answering questions).

NOTE: These are our top members as of midday February 4, 2005

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: MEET ET3DOTCOM

Daryl Oster, more widely recognized in KHE as et3dotcom, has one of the most diverse backgrounds of any of us here. With experience in farming, engineering, finance and city government, he is currently the entrepreneur behind ETT, an alternative transportation system. Read on to learn more.

Where are you based?
Crystal River, Florida, USA

What do you do in real-life?
The company et3.com Inc has been profitable 5 out of 6 years of operation, but profits are still very low. Most of my present income derives from real estate investments.

Tell us about your company.
The company et3.com Inc. is an open consortium of licensees dedicated to implementing Evacuated Tube Transport (ETT), a new form of transportation that can be faster than jets yet have less environmental impact and energy use than bicycles.

How did you find KHE?
I don’t remember if someone sent me an email, or if I found it through a Google search in the course of research. At any rate it was about four months ago. I immediately saw the value and “signed up”.

Explain your Community Name and why you selected it.
The name is that of my company, selected because it is my life mission.

What kinds of KHE questions do you enjoy most?
I have found that all of the categories are worthy of visiting. I do wish the students in particular would take a little more time to craft their questions, and to at least do a basic Google search first!

What is your favorite marketing book? Why?
I have probably derived the most practical marketing advice from Jay Abraham. A good recent read was The Tipping Point as it is a fresh perspective on the way things are. Presently I am greatly enjoying: Evans, Harold 2004 They Made America – From Steam Engine to Search Engine: Two Centuries of Innovators (ISBN 0-316-27766-5) – this book offers concentrated insight into what elements are necessary in successful marketing and innovation. It shows that innovation without marketing, and marketing without innovation are both destined to fail – highly recommended for in-depth practical study of the best real-world examples.

What professional organizations do you belong to?
Advanced Transit Association and Popular Rotorcraft Association.

How many years have you been in marketing?
Depending on perspective, either all of my life, or none of it. IMO, we are all involved in marketing all of the time. We are either marketing our values to someone, or — someone is marketing their values to us. The word “marketing” has never been in my job title or description, yet it is a major key to the successes I have enjoyed.

Did you study marketing in college? Or on-the-job?
I have learned about marketing my whole life. As far as formal marketing study in an accredited institution, I have none — but I do read the textbooks, and even apply some of what they teach!

Do you have (or have you had) a mentor?
Hundreds. The study of the following provides the most practical marketing knowledge for the field I am in: Fulton – steamship (organization and positioning); McCormick – harvester (management, strategy, planning, improvement, and advertising); Whitney – interchangeable parts (networking, knowledge mining); Judah – transcontinental railway (team building, focus) ; Flagler – transportation – real-estate (synergy); Curtis – first practical aircraft (focus); Ford – mass produced car (industry, initiative, economy of scale, focus on basic needs); Kaiser- shipbuilding (division of labor, target marketing); Dee Hocks – credit cards (chaordic business model). Also of benefit to study are the successful failures like: Fict – first steamboat (failed to optimize for market); Drake – first oil driller (failed to capitalize on his efforts); Goodyear – rubber processing (failed to attend to anything but innovation) ; Tucker – car innovation (failed to be pragmatic); Hughes – business (failed to maintain balance).

What is your next career objective?
Everyone wants to rule the world, don’t they? At any rate, my aim is to make the world a much better place for all.

Do you have a favorite gadget/tool that helps you do your job?
Other than the usual of: PDA, cell phone, notebook computer, earthmate GPS, various software packages, automated banking; I rely on a DLP projector a great deal (I would like to find a better screen though — one that is light weight, ultra portable, quick to deploy, and large enough/bright enough for groups of 20-100).

Describe one of your non-marketing hobbies or interests.
As far as hobbies and interests, KHE is the latest of dozens of hobbies, like: health, motorcycles, aircraft, boats, travel, wealth accusation, arms, etc. My favorite is transportation-related inventing. My number one interest is my wife – she is wonderful in every way.

What is the value KHE provides to you personally?
Presently, the value of KHE is peripheral to our core mission. My personal view is that KHE is a gold mine of value, yet there is a lot of “spoil” to wade through. The benefit to cost ratio is sufficient to command about an hour or two per week of my time.

Have you made any offline connections with KHErs?
Yes, I have “met” two or three very interesting people; and I believe there will be several more as I invest more time in the group.

Do you have any advice for new members of KHE?
Read the FAQ, and then read your question at least 3 times before sending it in.

Do you have a favorite quote you want to share?
A good one from an email I received yesterday:

“I get verbose as I cover every detail, because missing just one bit of information results in wasted time, effort, and money. … When you don't know anything, pretend you know everything. Save time for both of us, accept that I know it all!"

~ From "the Florida retiree who DOESN'T,” Bill M

Is there anything else you would like to say to the community?
I suggest that members start increasing the quality of answers by stating in your questions that you will grant all points to only a single answer, or divide the points among two answers at most. I believe this will go a long way toward improving the value for all.

COMMUNITY STATS

Active Unique Participants (to date): 4,395
Closed Questions (to date): 4,934
Currently Open Questions: 238
Total Responses (to date): 36,946
Subscribers to this newsletter: 14,137

YOUR ACCOUNT SUMMARY

These numbers come directly from YOUR profile. Question Points tells you how many points you have available for asking questions in the forum. Expert Points indicates your standing in the community based on answers you have posted. Visit this FAQ, if you want to know more.

Question Points: %%PointsBalance%%
Expert Points: %%PointsCum%%

Click here to buy more Question Points

SPECIAL THANKS

Thank you, et3dotcom and davidr, for providing content for this newsletter. And thanks to all the following community members who have emailed or posted suggestions, technical reports or questions in the last week. Your energy drives this community's development. We couldn't do it without you!

ASVP/ChrisB, mbarber, JBtron, jose04, Michele, Peter (henna gaijin), W.M.M.A., Google, Stokefire, Pepper Blue, stevea, TamaraG, col, Billd724, ozdesign, elliemk, avalon, gstromberg, MRowland, Bill Moore, gftrcoach, WaynePo, Colleen Sharen, louisyoung, J McCay/Avenue East, surveys, LittleWhacky, sal_misty, Harry, AndrewS, mrf, carter, lovetolove51235, US - UK creative and Deremiah, *CPE.

Finally, thanks to my MP colleagues for making my job easy: Aaron, Sharon, Shelley, Megan, Ann, Roy and Allen.

LAST LAUGH

I like to end with a smile. So this space is dedicated to something amusing I find posted in our forum.

Here's a question by mcory66 that's still open, so if you are a witty golfer, you may want to jump in. If not, still pop over to scan the restaurant names our colleagues have come up with. There are quite a few that will make you laugh.

Discussion: Help Name Our New Golf Club Restaurant!

Forum Feedback: The Know-How Exchange is still young. So we're constantly refining how things work. We have a gigantic list of action items, and your feedback helps us prioritize it. So please feel free to reply to this email with any suggestions. Thanks, in advance, for your time!

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