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,

Hi all. There are two improvements in KHE since last week's newsletter. The first is we published our Community Guidelines. Thanks to many of you for adding your suggestions during the writing process! The final result truly is a collaborative document. I expect we'll make additions and revisions over time. But for now, everyone, please do adhere to these "rules of play".

You'll find the Guidelines in two places. There's a link to it from the center section of the KHE mainpage. There's also a link under "Community Info" in the right navigation box throughout KHE (you must be logged in to see the link).

The one guideline I find myself explaining to individuals most often is #3 in the Answerers section. This one stresses that our purpose is knowledge sharing, so we expect Answerers to keep the commercial plugs in their forum responses to a minimum. You're welcome to include your contact info and company tagline on your profile page, if you like, but not in your answers. Please ask if you're unclear on this.

Finally, we also published some search hints at the bottom of our Search Questions page. Be sure to take a look.

That's all for now. Have a terrific weekend!

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. Marketing & Communications department structure???
2. developing a one day seminar on marketing of financial services, any sites indication would be of help,
3. What kind of benefits do celebrity endorsements generate for a brand
4. What activities should take place in marketing department in one big company?
5. HELOC Access Card Marketing Campaign. Where do I begin?
6. How has the recent CanSpam act affected your email marketing and list sourcing?
7. Consumer marketing averages
8. swot
9. how do you calculate a product's demand?
10. Marketing ROI benchmarks for the legal industry

RESOURCE REFERRAL: WORLD CLOCK

Have you found it difficult to suggest meeting times for colleagues in far-flung places because you're not exactly sure what time it is in each location? I noticed that Roy Young uses a Web resource to take care of translating the start times for MarketingProfs' online seminar events. I thought you might find it useful too.

Time Zones: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/

I especially like that you can set up your own Personal List of cities to bookmark. The Meeting Planner and Fixed Time Calculator are also handy tools.

LESSONS LEARNED: INDEPENDENT SALES REP

A few weeks ago, basis posted a question asking for feedback about whether his company should retain an independent sales rep or employ some other creative solution to handling sales. Here are some of the ideas suggested by the group.

• Simon: We have learned a lot through recruiting sales staff for a growing business over the last two years. First, don't pin your hopes on agencies. Sure you can get some CV's, but the best salespeople are rarely on lists because they are too much in demand. Second, when looking for superstar sales professionals I believe that age and background are almost irrelevant. We have very successfully recruited a 'sales animal'. 120 calls a day ... She is independent, doing just one day a week for us. We couldn't handle any more at the moment! Psychological profile is everything. The perfect sales person has two elements - ego and empathy.


• JBtron: Try www.salesrecruits.com. For high-tech sales, this is THE source. Some of these people will be appropriate for your needs. ... REPS are reps. More than one loyalty can be a good thing, depending on your situation. Also, check your competition. The world of MarCom is bursting with personalities, passion and determination to succeed, and the right combination probably already exists in a place where you MIGHT logically find them, were you so inclined. Headhunting is a decision the principals must make with their eyes and wallets wide open.


• basis: ... The third option is to hire a lead developer. This is my weakest area of the sales process. Presenting our company to a new potential clients has never been a problem nor has developing new sales once a relationship has been established. This solution seems to offer real upside, however I am concerned about the transition between lead developer and myself. How do we make this process transparent to the customer?


• telemoxie: When do you hand a lead over to the next level? There is no simple answer, lots will depend on the type of customer, type of project, even the current workload of the sales and technical staff. Generally speaking, over time, prospects qualify themselves. If they are asking general questions, ... then they have have a mild degree of interest. On the other hand, if the prospect starts asking very specific questions, ... then I say something like, "I think I know the answer, but I want to be sure you get the best answer. Would you like to talk with ..." and see what they say.

The Discussion: Sales Dilemma

TIPS & TRICKS: QUESTION TITLES

One sure way to generate more interest in your KHE question is to give careful thought to the question title. The title is the phrase or sentence that will appear on the KHE mainpage, in our email alerts including the Daily Digest, in this newsletter, in the MP newsletter and in a variety of other places. So choose words that will make sense in a variety of contexts.

Think of the title as a headline for a front-page news article. Don't write something vague, such as "PR". A title like that isn't likely to garner much interest. Consider how you can pull readers in, by positioning your question in the most compelling way. Remember your audience, and what the members here care about. They enjoy brain teasers, unusual questions and fresh, new dilemmas. They also get a kick out of anything creative (brainstorming taglines is a big favorite). And they appreciate clever or funny ideas.

Sounds like a marketing exercise, doesn't it? Well, in truth, it is. Invest a few minutes in crafting a strong title, and you're sure to see improved results.

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 Inquisitive are those who have asked the most questions. (Where there's a tie, we broke it based on number of points they offered for their questions.) The Most Expert are those with the highest number of Cumulative Points (given to them by question authors for offering helpful answers).

NOTE: These are our top members as of midday August 6, 2004

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: MEET SHARON (RESEARCHER)

Sharon (Researcher) and I go way back. She was my managing editor at my first magazine job, in fact. And here we are collaborating again! Sharon works for MP a few hours a week, posting answers in KHE. She focuses on questions with fewer responses, trying to make sure the majority of conversations in our forum do generate input. Since many of you have probably seen her posts, I thought you might like to know a little more about her.

Where are you based?
Stockton, California, USA.

What do you do in real-life?
Director of Marketing Communication for University of the Pacific.

Tell us about your company.
University of the Pacific is an independent, private university with approximately 5,000 students and three campuses. We are currently a second tier school, according to the annual US News and World Report rankings of colleges and universities. We are a tuition-driven school which means we must generate revenue from tuition in order to operate. Harvard, in contrast, is an endowment-driven school, which means their annual income from endowments could run the university and they wouldn't need to have anyone pay tuition. That's overly simplistic, but you get the gist. Our student enrollment and student profile have improved over the past five years, which means we are attracting both more and higher achieving students. (Usually it's one or the other at a university.) We are also in the middle of a $200 million campaign, which is more than double the size of the last comprehensive campaign the University ran. We are almost two-thirds of the way there with three years left in the campaign. So things are going well.

Explain your Community Name and why you selected it.
Val selected it for me. Ask her.

How did you get started in marketing?
I guess I've been in marketing for 15 years. I started out in the circulation department at a company that published trade and consumer magazines covering the financial services industry. I managed the direct marketing for the flagship magazine and helped produce collateral for the ad sales department. I also served as managing editor for one of the trade journals - which, for this magazine, was little more than journalistic PR for the industry we were serving. It was an excellent mix of skills I learned at this small entrepreneurial company that allowed me to wear many hats. And I had direct access to the guy who signed the checks whenever I wanted. This is a luxury I have dearly missed since leaving that company. I didn't appreciate it then because I didn't know any better.

Did you study marketing in college?
When I was 12, I was sure I would either be the first female president of the USA, or shortstop for the Baltimore Orioles. But by the time I got to college, I wasn't sure about anything. I ended up as a biology major in undergrad. Looking back, it goes to show that "big" decision about your major isn't ultimately that important. I pursued biology because I thought I wanted to be a science writer. My advisor (a geologist) told me that English majors were a dime a dozen and that if I majored in a science, it would give me credibility for scientific journalism. Although I still think I am an English major at heart, it helps to have the background in science, especially with science professors and researchers. (At least I sound like I know what they're talking about.) I did go back to school to earn an MBA from Boston University in 2001. It helped me tie together all of the things I've been learning in my career. Next up: Either a law degree or that PhD in English ... still deciding.

Describe your non-marketing hobbies or interests.
It's funny, but if I am not being challenged creatively at work, I have to pursue creative outlets at home. When work was slow or boring in the past, I have delved into cooking or gardening. In fact, at one job, I was so bored that I actually dug up my whole backyard and put in an English garden with Mediterranean plants (because I was in Southern California) - complete with a fish pond, waterfall and 25 species of roses.

Have you made any offline connections?
I've made offline conclusions about some ... :)

Do you have any advice for new members of KHE?
DETAIL, DETAIL, DETAIL. The more information you give us, the better we can help. On the other hand, remember your audience is busy too, so try to summarize as clearly as possible. Don't make us try to figure out what you're asking. Use your copywriting skills to whittle the question down to the very essence of the marketing issue. But don't forget to tell us your country, your industry, your position, your decision-making power and, of course, your product.

Do you have a favorite quote you want to share?
"Ask forgiveness, not permission." (unknown source)

Anything else you would like to say to the community?
I have enjoyed participating in KHE. The members are knowledgeable, helpful and entertaining. The questions are interesting, fun and many deal with the issues our field faces today. I am pleasantly surprised how many education marketing questions come up, which helps me directly.

COMMUNITY STATS

Active Unique Participants (to date): 2,253
Closed Questions (to date): 2,315
Currently Open Questions: 188
Total Responses (to date): 17,519
Subscribers to this newsletter: 8,356

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, Sharon (Researcher), 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 feedback and energy drives this community's development. We couldn't do it without you!

SRyan, Michele, Pepper Blue, Peter (helpUhire), Jim Deveau/Catalyst, mbarber, JBtron, Vevolution, tjh, Jett, rknandwani, flavia, Ritee, V Gaurishankar, bborthayre, normand.provost, amie, mediastewards, Arshad, Deremiah, *CPE

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 an entertaining question by jnoonan who was looking for help with a name for a startup company. Whether you prefer the simple/professional names or the quirky/funny ones, these kinds of discussions are always fun to browse.

The Discussion: Name My Interactive Agency

Forum Feedback: The Know-How Exchange is awfully young. So we're still 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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