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

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WHAT'S NEW?

Dear Askers & Answerers,

Thanks for all your feedback and ideas for our next Vendor Selector. Our prototype for Email Service Providers has been growing steadily. We're up to 52 product listings already. Both member and vendor feedback has been positive.

Vendor Selector No. 2 will be for Search Engine Optimization firms. We're on-schedule to release it in August. So if you are in that business, be sure to contact Carrie to find out how to submit a listing for your company.

Did you miss KHEr Michael Fischler's (Markitek) recent seminar about "How to Write a Marketing Plan"? You can now access the recording in our Premium Library. As always, there's no charge for our Premium Plus members ($99 for others).

Is there a subject you'd like to see us cover in a future seminar? Or a vendor category you'd like us to research for our next Vendor Selector? Please reply to let us know! We're tracking your requests to guide our product development plans.

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. Basilico
2. Cons of a promotional web page for product launch
3. what should i do about credit?
4. A swot analysis of Vanilla coke when it was first
5. How to promote web site successfully?
6. i need to do a soft launch via email...can help
7. pls suggest name for saria (tmt and tor steel bars
8. Customer Club (loyalty Program)
9. pls suggest finance website similar to this site
10. Would like opinions on our website

RESOURCE REFERRAL: BRANDING OVERVIEW

This week's resource referral comes to us from Steve B. He recommends a great article on the importance of branding. It's easy to understand and contains a wealth of information, including why branding is important, what it looks like and how to make it happen within your own organization. The easy language makes it a must-read for everyone, both experts and beginners.

Resource: Branding Overview for Non-Marketers

Browse 340 other resources recommended by our members in KHE's Resource Library. Or add one of your own!

LESSONS LEARNED: HIDING FROM THE COMPETITION

Yesterday, long-time member stevef asked the forum whether its better to delay public announcements about new products (mobile computers) until after initial client installations. Here are some excerpts from the discussion that followed.

• ASVP/ChrisB: If the competition is active in the field, they will probably know of the client installations on the day they occur. Since at that stage the products are effectively "in the pubic domain," why not compromise and launch concurrently with the first installations, featuring the happy new users as testimonials to the excellence of your product?
• NoStressXpress: We had similar concerns at Toshiba and decided to do the installs at our larger customers before the promotion. Actually, we let our larger customers do the announcements by showing off how our products benefitted them. However, for the products we had a "patent" or "pending patent" we went ahead and started promoting them after the factory was ready to start mass producing and after all "THIRD PARTY" certifications were received.
• elambert: The best thing thing to do at this point is to create a buzz and anticipation about the product launch. Develop a pre-launch campaign that builds curiosity without telling the story. Having the official launch include initial installation success stories will help build momentum.
• michael: Years ago we called this "Freezing" the market. In other words, if you were the leader you told the market what you were doing to prevent buyers from making a purchase from a competitor until your product was out. Sometimes it worked very well ... IF you have the reputation of providing high-quality stuff. If not, then it backfires and gives the competition time to downplay it.
• Papadoc (Steve): I've never been a fan of competitive paranoia. If you manage to keep the info out of your competitor's hands for a day, a week, a month, all that must be compared with the loss of potential business by not aggressively seeking new clients. Know where your competitor is, but don't spend your time watching over your shoulder. It's hard to steer when you are constantly looking in the rear view mirror. Be a leader and let the competition worry about keeping up with you instead of worrying that they might. If they are copying you, what does that say about you to your potential clients? If you are perceived to be afraid of them, what does that say about you?
• wnelson: Unless you have figured out how to make them time machines with perpetual energy, your competition has figured out they need to make them rugged and fast with lots of memory. So what can the competition say about a product announcement? "Hey, look! They released a new line of PCs that are cheaper, faster, more memory, and more rugged! Wish we had thought of that! Let’s work on that!" ... Second fact is that you "announced" it already at the conference. ... By delaying a formal announcement, you risk your competition one-upping you in the press. ... And chances are that if the competition can react, it’s because they already have something in the works prior to finding out about your product. By announcing ahead of them, you have degraded their product intro.

Question: Our New Products - Do We Keep Them a Secret?

Do you have something to add? Feel free, if you like. You could even earn points. This question is still open.

TIPS & TRICKS: STAY ACTIVE IN THE DISCUSSION

Do you know what the #1 thing is you can do to generate quality responses to your question? Answer: Be responsive. Stay active in the conversation.

Sometimes Askers start out strong with a well-defined question. But they leave out a few key points that inhibit the experts' ability to offer relevant answers. Typically the experts help the conversation along by asking for clarification of a few things. What happens next either makes or breaks the discussion.

If the Asker quickly replies with some elaboration, the conversation maintains its momentum and the discussion rolls along. But if the Asker is busy offline or chooses not to respond, the question often fizzles. So try to post your question when you know you'll be available to participate.

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 July 8, 2005

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: MEET STEVE PICKENS

Here's your chance to meet Steve Pickens (D4Demand). This Top 30 expert has been with us since March 2004. Since that time, he has responded to more than 300 questions - and most of his responses have been accepted. Read on to learn more about this week's featured member.

Where are you based?
Cincinnati, OH

What do you do in real-life?
Brand Strategy Director for Champion Window, largest installer and manufacturer of replacement windows in the United States.

Tell us about your company
D4Demand is a one-man-band specializing in brand development for the companies who generally can't afford to play "big-boy" prices. I develop demographic analysis using PRIZM NE criteria and map cluster groups. I’m also trained in the art of Kowalick ad optimization and have all the tools and know how to execute the Kowalick advertising tests.

How did you find KHE?
I was looking for answers to my questions and, by George, there they were.

Explain your Community Name and why you selected it.
D4Demand refers to the company moniker. Marketing is demand creation. Good marketers create demand for products.

What is your favorite marketing book?
The most influential book I've read is Competing for the Future by Gary Hamel, C.K. Prahalad. It focuses on strategy rather than reactive marketing. If you position your company to dominate a market that is emerging, the company will dominate the category at that time. It is a brilliant book.

How did you get started in marketing?
I moved from sales to marketing when I realized that my sales value to the company was only what I could produce in the next thirty days. I did not get paid for what I knew. Coming from a family of engineers, analyzing and learning is all that matters.

Did you study marketing in college?
I was an English major planning on mastering the craft of words so I could get into advertising. Eventually I got there.

Have you made any offline connections with KHErs?
Yes, Randall (W.M.M.A.) is the best!

Do you have any advice for new members of KHE?
Give answers, don't just ask questions.

Do you have a favorite quote you want to share?
Early to bed and early to rise. Work like hell and advertise.

Is there anything else you would like to say to the community?
Could there be any more realtors? 

COMMUNITY STATS

Active Unique Participants (to date): 6,773
Closed Questions (to date): 7,943
Currently Open Questions: 139
Total Responses (to date): 53,543
Subscribers to this newsletter: 16,133

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

SUCCESS STORY

Missy V shares this week's good news:

"I've found the KHE to be very helpful and supportive environment more than once. In this instance I was looking for some direction to help with my team's plan for the redesign of our website. Measuring visitors and what happens on our current website is not something that happens regularly, and it is part of my task to make sure that the new site will be configured correctly to be able to see what is going on. I asked my questions as briefly as I could and received some answers right away that pointed me to some helpful links. After rephrasing one of my main questions, I received more detailed answers that ultimately pointed me in a direction that is helping to shape things up with this project."

The Question: Help With Web Site Metrics

SPECIAL THANKS

Thank you, Steve B, D4Demand and Missy V for contributing to this newsletter. And thanks to all the community members who have emailed or posted suggestions, technical reports or questions since the last issue. Your energy drives this community's development. We couldn't do it without you!

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

LAST LAUGH

I like to close with a smile. So this space is dedicated to something amusing one of you folks have posted in the forum.

daddysbrattgirl9 is new to KHE. Earlier this week she asked what she needs to start a dog-walking business. I was drawn to the question because my sister is on vacation right now, and I've been walking her best friend, Laz. Papadoc's response made me laugh: "A leash and some lazy customers with more cash than brains and a willingness to spend it."

Discussion: What Will I Need For Dog Walking

Have something to add? Jump in! This Question is still open.

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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