Blog | Jerome, Bruhn and Associates

Avoid Common Copy Errors

DATE 3-27-13 SHARE

by Alexis Ravey

Though marketing best practices may bend editorial rules, copy should still be correctly written to promote readability through clarity, conciseness and consistency. Readers will understand your message a lot more clearly without stumbling on sentences that don’t read quite right. Above all, you want readers to understand what you’re saying!

Here are five top jumbles that could cause reader stumbles:

1. Non-parallel structure: Start each item in a series with the same part of speech and word form to indicate equal importance. Read more

Example
Incorrect: He likes mowing the lawn, to play with the kids and watching television.
Correct: He likes to mow the lawn, play with the kids and watch television.

2. Incomplete/Inconsistent bullets: Introduce a bulleted list. Then, start each bullet with the same part of speech and complete the introduction—to tie the bullets together as a list.

3. Dangling modifiers: In a clause that modifies the rest of a sentence, ensure any action is performed by the subject that immediately follows the clause. Otherwise, the modifying clause is dangling. Read more

Example
Incorrect: Driving on the left side of the road, the car unexpectedly turned right. (The car isn’t driving.)
Correct: Driving on the left side of the road, the woman unexpectedly turned right. (The woman is driving the car.)

4. Noun strings: In a long string of nouns, change nouns to verbs whenever possible to support active voice. Read more on active vs. passive voice

Example
Awkward: This report explains our investment growth stimulation projects.
Preferred: This report explains our projects to stimulate investment growth.

5. Nominalizations: Change nouns to verbs whenever possible to support active voice. Read more

Example
Awkward: The implementation of the plan was successful.
Preferred: We implemented the plan successfully.

How Many of These Boxes Can You Check Off?

DATE 2-27-13 SHARE

by Dave Watts

What are the most critical sales tasks your organization needs to address if your business is to succeed?

For the last four years, I have worked extensively with startup and early-stage companies and have spent countless hours coaching them on investor pitches and sales approaches that will help them acquire customers (i.e., demonstrate traction). Almost invariably, the weakest links in both the investor pitch and the sales approach are their go-to-market strategy and tactical execution plan (for both marketing and sales). Rarely are these steps well-researched, quantified, and planned. Even worse, the companies often have a fuzzy understanding about what both the sales and marketing functions are and how they relate to each other.

One classic example is the confusion over whose job it is to generate leads. Is it the job of marketing, or the sales guy or gal with the right rolodex? Or is it the job of both—or maybe neither, because if the product or service is good enough, customers will discover it on their own.) The wrong answer will cost you a lot of money.

Nor do these deficiencies apply only to start-ups: many small and middle-market companies are not much better off. In fact, their weakness in marketing and sales planning is often the biggest single factor keeping them from reaching the next level. Sales is nearly a universal source of frustration for entrepreneurs and CEOs.

There is an abundance of both real-world and academic evidence showing that companies that follow the right checklist for building a sales function will continue to experience sales success in a sustainable and scalable manner, year after year. While the particulars vary according to the specific characteristics of the business, the fundamentals are universal–because sales is not a dark art. It is business function, just like finance or manufacturing, and it requires certain key elements to be successful.

What are those elements? At a high level, think about the following list. How many of these boxes can your organization honestly say it can check off?

1) A comprehensive sales/customer service CRM system that addresses the full life cycle (from initial lead to repeat customer), allowing data-driven management decisions. (This is equivalent to a set of books for finance.)

2) A clear, comprehensive, and detailed view of your market and a realistic assessment of your best opportunities and how to go after them. (This is a marketing task.)

3) A complete, in-depth understanding of the customer—one that lets you know them better than they know themselves. (This task belongs to both marketing and sales.)

4) A detailed understanding of the your competitors and their strategy—one that lets you make educated guesses about their next moves and how they are likely to react in a competitive sales situation. (This task belongs to marketing, but is based on feedback from sales.)

5) A clear and compelling value proposition—your core “elevator speech”—that is so much a part of your company culture that it can be repeated verbatim by everyone from the CEO to the unpaid intern. (This comes from the top and is a sacred mantra for sales)

6) A defined sales process that can be taught, improved upon, and leads to predictable closes.

7) A strategy for your sales organization (including direct, indirect, and channel partners) that clearly and fairly lays out roles, responsibilities, reporting structure, territories, and channel boundaries

8) Motivators for sales——that are consistent with your business goals and personally rewarding to the sales people and those who support them.

9) Sales metrics based on driving the behaviors that are consistent with your business objectives and are realistically achievable based on a bottom-up analysis. A sales career planning and growth strategy that addresses individual needs for coaching, training, and the addition of new responsibilities.

10) A hiring profile based on characteristics that are shared by the successful sales people in your organization.

Dave Watts | Principal | Giant Harvest Sales Consulting | daverwatts@msn.com

PR: How to Effectively Work with the Media

DATE 2-6-13 SHARE

by Lisa Brandli

PR is an essential component of your overall marketing communications program. Successfully implemented, PR delivers your organization’s key messages through the media – a powerful third-party endorsement that, done right, can also help boost your bottom line.

To help ensure the success of your PR program, it’s critical that you put the needs of the press first. In doing so, you can establish a successful relationship with key members of the media that will benefit your organization over the long run.

Following are important tips to keep in mind when engaging the press.

The journalist’s primary role is to provide newsworthy information to readers, viewers, or listeners. Promoting an organization or its products or services is not a reporter’s job. Most editors and reporters will shun stories they consider blatantly promotional.

The PR professional’s primary role is to promote the interests of his or her client’s organization. This is accomplished by working to garner positive press coverage, or to quell unfavorable coverage. While the PR goal may appear to directly conflict with the journalist’s mission, it doesn’t have to. An experienced PR pro knows how to provide journalists with the information they need while at the same time, meeting the needs of his/her clients.

PR professionals can serve both their clients and the media by acting as a source of credible, newsworthy information. Journalists do use PR information, but only when they believe it serves their interests. Successful PR pros know how to marry the needs of each, creating a win-win for all.

What is credible, newsworthy information? Not all journalists agree, and not all prepare stories for the same audience, which is why some will cover a particular story pitched by a PR specialist and others won’t. A general rule of thumb is that information is newsworthy when it has:

Developing messages for the media requires adherence to some – when possible all – of the elements that constitute a newsworthy story. Giving editors and reporters information they want will greatly increase your success in placing stories.

Not all media are alike. Different media have different requirements depending on type, frequency, audience and editorial focus. The trade press, for example, has more narrowly focused editorial interests than general-interest newspapers. Story ideas that have little appeal to a mass-audience publication may be eagerly received by certain trade media. Similarly, a certain story idea may interest a particular newspaper’s business editor, but not its city editor, or it may have great visual appeal and be perfect for broadcast.

It’s critical that your PR pro understands what is newsworthy, and how to leverage your business goals and objectives with the needs of the press. A tall order – which is why it’s always best to hire an experienced PR professional.

Do you remember typesetters?

DATE 1-31-13 SHARE

by John Jerome

There was a time when the industry was filled with ad agencies, graphic design firms, typesetters, and other specialty marketing firms. Full-service firms also existed, offering all of these services under one umbrella, waiting to deliver should the client call requiring those services. However, the industry has changed. The old concept of keeping high-priced experts on staff waiting for a client to call needing their service has become inefficient and expensive. Yet we’re still expected to be able to deliver the full depth and breadth of marketing services – essentially doing more with less.

At the same time, we’ve noticed that many of our SME (small to medium enterpirse) clients, who recognize the need to market their companies, are frequently lacking key internal factions (sales, operations, purchasing) that allow the marketing effort to work to its full capability. The most effective marketing effort is for naught if the sales force isn’t able to close the sale or if the cash flow isn’t in line with the outgo. Today the total integration of marketing, operations, sales, finance, and other departments is integral to the success of a company. The days of marketing being a silo are over. The more each of the different departments work in sync, the more effective each department becomes – while also ensuring that marketing is able to effectively do its job.

Four Social Media Resolutions for the New Year

DATE 1-8-13 SHARE

by Lindsay Sydenham

Last year came and went and 2013 is here to stay! Using social media effectively is more important than ever before. Popular social networks, such as Twitter and Facebook, are stronger than ever, newer networks, such as Pinterest and Instagram, are making huge waves in the social media world and new networking sites are continuing to pop-up right and left. Social media is here to stay! Businesses, brands and people all over the country should adopt healthy social media practices into their daily activities in order to brand themselves successfully. Aim for balance while creating your social media strategy for 2013 and try some of these social media resolutions as you embark upon the New Year!

1. Utilize Effective Multimedia

Visual marketing will be even more popular in 2013. More videos. More pictures. And more charts, graphs and infographics. Provide your audience with good content that is accompanied by rich media. Try using Instagram and Pinterest where you can brand yourself, or your business, using illustrations, photos, graphs and other forms of multi-media. You’ll be surprised what you can learn when you begin to understand your audience from a visual perspective!

2. Meet People in Real Life

Make an effort this year to meet face-to-face with some of your favorite social media connections who live in your area. If you actively engage on social media with particular users on a frequent basis, then why not go to lunch or plan a meet-up with those connections? Think about the networking possibilities if you make the leap from a digital connection to a real life connection!

3. Listen and Respond to Your Audience

It can be difficult to find peace and quiet within the fast-paced, chaotic nature of the digital world. Some people find themselves pushing content out on social media without even stopping to listen to their audience and their followers. Thank people who re-post your content. Thank people for following and connecting with you. Answer questions that your followers ask you. If someone takes the time to reach out to you to ask for your expertise, be sure to respond and engage with them. Your active reach outs and responses to your audience will do wonders for your business and branding goals.

4. Congratulate Your Audience

Make a special effort to reach out to your social media audience and engage with them one-on-one. Congratulate your connections on life-changing events in their lives. If there is one thing most people love, it is receiving compliments, praise and excitement about their latest life changes. LinkedIn informs you when a connection has had a job promotion or has been hired at a new job. Facebook informs you when a friend buys a new house, has a baby or gets married. Don’t miss an opportunity to connect with someone and engage with them!

Observations Of Internet Mobile Growth

DATE 12-17-12 SHARE

Contributed by Chad Morgan

In 2008, the International Telecommunications Union, the ITU, reported that there were 577 million mobile Internet users, worldwide, at that time. The ITU went on to predict that by 2013 there would be 1.7 billion mobile Internet users. As 2012 draws to a close, it is interesting to see where that prediction from four years ago has gone.

In June of 2012, the ITU estimate was that there were 1.1 billion users, or a full 16% of the world’s population. With an annual growth rate of 45% in mobile broadband subscriptions for the last four years, the number of users will continue to expand, along with the marketing opportunities that kind of growth will present. The semiconductor manufacturer AMD predicts that in 2015, half the world’s population will have an Internet connection. The majority of those connections will be with mobile technology.

In 2012, the majority of interactions with the Internet occurred on mobile devices, mostly smartphones, according to Accenture. The most popular use of mobile technology is to send and receive emails, to connect with on-line communities, and instant messaging. In other words, while fixed Internet (using personal computers) has chiefly been to share information, mobile ‘net is primarily concerned with interpersonal communication.

Accenture reports that the growth of mobile is directly attributable to improvements in network quality and coverage. “Consumers are now more willing than ever to pay for premium services.”

Interestingly, the greatest penetration of mobile use is in the so-called developing world, Asia and Africa. These are also the parts of the world which are seeing the lowest growth in Personal computers. Most users in the developed world have access to fixed Internet connections, whereas users in the developing world see mobile as their primary Internet experience. This poses interesting questions when considering the Internet as an educational tool, especially when considering the limitations inherent to hand sets for typing and text based interaction.

Another wild-card for web developers is in the world of browsers. In fixed Internet usage, Chrome, Internet Explorer, and Firefox dominate the market. Other browsers account for less than 10% of usage. Largely because of different handset manufacturers preloading proprietary software, there are no less than nine major players in the mobile browser market.

This means that web-development needs to be optimized not only to maximize user experience on the smaller handset or tablet screen, but that development needs to tailored to the programing and code idiosyncrasies of of each browser.

The concept of combining computing with mobile telephony has been with us since 1973 (although some would argue it goes back to the original Star Trek television series). The first mobile phone to incorporate PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) features hit the market was the IBM Simon in 1994. The Palm Kyocera 6035 supported limited Web-browsing in 2001. In 2002 the Blackberry became the first true Smartphone, and the symbol of the rising executive.

Smartphones for the masses became a reality in June 2007 when the first generation iPhone was introduced. The Android Operating system predates iOS, but the open-source nature of the project and non-standard handsets hampered early development. Improvements in both handsets and the operating systems have brought Android and iPhones closer to parity.

The smartphone market essentially did not exist six years ago, and we are now on the verge of one half of the people on the planet having an Internet connection.

Make Error-Free Copy Your Business

DATE 11-28-12 SHARE

Contributed by Alexis Ravey

Consider yourself a super speller or grammar guru, noting each “i” before “e” mix-up or dangling modifier saying that “the car,” not “you” drove? Even if you aren’t an English expert, you likely notice typos and other errors in marketing collateral. Don’t think your company’s prospects care? Think again.

Consider these comments on the mainstream network Linkedin from all types of people that tell a whole story on the damage typos can do. Simply said, they won’t support companies that “can’t” spell. And according to a BBC News article, “An analysis of website figures shows a single spelling mistake can cut online sales in half,” as readers doubt the credibility of the website.

Keep in mind that spell check may not be enough. Only using it could make the difference between writing “pubic” vs. “public.” Ew, but it’s true.

Though you can likely overlook certain traditional grammar rules—especially to maintain a conversational tone in select marketing pieces, you should follow the more widely known rules, such as noun/pronoun agreement. Why? To protect credibility, promote readability and prevent distraction. After all, you certainly don’t want the reader to focus on the error rather than your message.

Poor spelling and grammar can also affect your website rankings on search engines, according to Google. “We noticed a while ago that, if you look at the PageRank of a page—how reputable we think a particular page or site is—the ability to spell correlates relatively well with that. So, the reputable sites tend to spell better and the sites that are lower PageRank, or very low PageRank, tend not to spell as well,” said the company’s webspam head, Matt Cutts. So even if you put tons of work into your website and SEO, errors could negatively impact the perceived importance of your site.

In other words, if your company seemingly doesn’t spend time and effort on conveying information through accurate, readable writing, why would your prospects think you’d spend time and effort on earning and keeping their business? Avoid eye rolls, maintain interest and most importantly, make sales by writing and editing to the rules, proofreading your work, proofing it again and asking others to proof it. One fool-proof way to ensure intelligent copy? Seriously consider using a professional.

Jerome, Bruhn & Associates Adds Search Engine Optimization Services

DATE 11-1-12 SHARE

Jerome, Bruhn & Associates would like to welcome Chad Morgan and his company, Seattle SEO Consultant, to the JBA team! We are thrilled to have added this important new service, which is highly in demand in today’s increasingly online business world.

“The addition of SEO fills a necessary service offering for JBA,” said John Jerome, JBA partner and co-founder. “Chad’s knowledge and expertise in this important area will be a tremendous benefit to JBA clients, many of whom need SEO capabilities. We decided instead of trying to build it organically it just makes so much more sense to build a strategic relationship with one of the best SEO experts in the country.”

Morgan has studied under some of the world’s foremost marketing experts, and has marshaled that knowledge, along with his own creativity and enthusiasm for marketing, to help hundreds of companies realize growth, increased revenue, and market dominance. Previously, Morgan served as president of one of the top SEO consulting firms in the country. His teams manage websites that combined exciting and compelling design with cutting edge SEO techniques, and pull it all together with creative and innovative marketing.

Websites built by Morgan’s team are created with the end user’s experience in mind. The result is high quality, original content, unique and beautiful web design, and the cutting edge technology that make sites fast loading and responsive. Recognizing the critical role that mobile now plays in the web experience, JBA client campaigns are optimized for smartphones, tablets, Android, and iOS.

Welcome aboard, Chad!

It’s Jerome & Associates on steroids.

DATE 9-26-12 SHARE

We’re pleased to announce the evolution of J&A, which effective today has a new name, expanded services offering, and a whole new attitude.

J&A is now Jerome, Bruhn & Associates – or JBA – and we’re taking the business world by storm.

Our philosophy is that the best laid marketing plans don’t mean squat without a sound business strategy as the foundation. So we’ve added a full-range of business services to help our clients grow their businesses, as well as expanded our marketing services to include every aspect of marketing.

Our team brings a combined 200+ years of experience – that’s right, 200+ years. And we don’t pass off the work to junior level team members – our seasoned experts are the ones developing and implementing your plans.

And the best part: our clients already are realizing game-changing results in their own companies as the result of working with the JBA team. Consider one of our manufacturing clients, who after 20 years in their industry with modest growth, is today introducing new product lines, gaining attention from new vertical markets and is poised to achieve 300% growth by 2013.

We’ll have lots of interesting news and tidbits in the coming weeks, visit again soon to learn more about how JBA is helping clients get results.

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