How do you get your event, product, and company to stand out in a crowd?

In a world where we are all connected and information is passed instantaneously how as marketers can we stand out in a crowded marketplace?

It used to be that money was a determining factor of who could get their message out to the masses but with the creation of the Internet in one giant swoop the playing field of getting your word out has been leveled.  This is a GREAT thing but it also makes it even more important that you turn on your creative juices and make sure that you aren't even near the box when thinking of new ways to position your company.

So you want to create a successful event either as a fundraiser or a launch party,  what's the first step?  You need to think on it.  You need to throw some ideas around in your mind and see where they take you.  You need to come with an idea that hasn't already been done like an auction, and if it has been done you need to come up with a great twist to make people stop in their tracts when they hear about it.   One thing you can do is take an event that was successful in the past and revive it with an updated feel and makeover.

Think simple. Think believable.  Think big.  Think exciting.  Think practical.  Think interactive.  Think location.

Are you trying to create an event to raise money for a charity?  People don't mind spending money when they are happy, laughing, enjoying themselves and having a good time.  Something about all those endorphins flying around people's brains that make them open their wallets and feel good about spending especially when its going to a good cause. 

Who is your targeted audience and what did they love doing when they had kids and even better do they have kids now?  Try to create an event where people can relive their childhoods and then share the experience with their own children.  If people don't have to get a baby sitter you've just eliminated one of the obstacles to getting them to your event and fund raiser.  When you have your idea for your event, close your eyes and picture it playing out in your mind.  Start at the finish line and envision all of the people pulling up in their cars. Where are they going to park? Do you have enough parking that is close by and convenient to the event?  What are the people wearing? Are they casual, formal, or ready to get messy?  Oops someone has to go to the bathroom. Do you have that covered?


If you are hosting a mud football tournament between the fire and police department how are you going to make the mud?  What do people love to eat outside when they are watching a football game? How will fans be able to make noise when they are rooting for the chief of police? And how will people be able to remember this great event once it is over? Will they be able to grab a souvenir t'shirt with sponsors listed on the back to where when they go to the dump or their kids soccer games promoting the event for next year?

How did people hear about your event?  Did they invite their friends to come with them? Was there an incentive for them to buy their tickets early?  Did the fire and police departments help get the word out?  Were there prizes or raffles for the crowds?

Go on an on with this line of questioning and try to uncover every piece of information that could possibly happen or make your event great or not so great. Spend a few days imagining your event playing out in your mind and then throw the idea around with some friends and look for their reactions.  If you can turn your fundraiser into a community event then the chance for success is higher and people will be expecting it to become an annual event and it will grow and grow year after year!

Questions? Ideas?  shoot me an email - jennifer@tylerryangroup.com

Are you a Good Website or a Bad Website?

How do you know if you have a good website or a bad website? 

Well here's the thing...you may think your website is fabulous because you cut the check for it and had most of the creative ideas for its foundation but really its very simple to find out whether or not you have a "good website or a bad website".  It doesn't take a degree in marketing or graphics and pretty much anyone under the sun is qualified to evaluate your site and its trust worthiness.

Here is the best available litmus test.  When people view a site for the very first time they know in an instant, a split second, upon opening the home page whether or not they would trust the site and actually place an order with their credit card.  There is a level of creative that surpasses being home grown and somewhere in the middle that screams this is a site I trust. It doesn't matter if the person viewing the site went to business school, has an art degree, or has any clue what layered files are...it is just a gut reaction and it is real.  Watch closely as friends, family and neighbors open your site for the first time and if they tilt their head to the left as Glinda did,  you know they are stuck somewhere in the middle of "is it a good site or a bad site."  Think about what you are trying to accomplish with your website and if you are less than thrilled with people's reaction in the big scheme of your business plan and goals does it matter?

Don't get stuck in today when dreaming and building for tomorrow.

Have you ever had one of those days where no matter what you do, where you put yourself, or who you talk to you can't get away from your own negative thoughts?  I had one this week and I thought I had hit the wall going 150 mph.  My mind had convinced me that my business was going nowhere, I had no friends, I was letting my family down, and worst of all I was being kicked off Team Laffalot.

Okay, so how incredibly insecure does that all sound.  Unfortunately in the moment it felt very real and as though there was nothing in this world that I could do right or even attempt to make a difference.  Then the most miraculous thing happened, I picked up the phone and  reached out to a friend. This was progress for me. I was brought up to not share when things weren't going so well.  I finished the day (faking my way through it) and finally  I went to bed.  When I woke up the feeling was gone. It had disappeared as quickly as it had come on.  I got up, got dressed, and picked up my colleague and headed off to my first business meeting of the day.   Perrin got in the car and immediately said I looked great, I smiled a little smile to say thanks and somewhere inside something major had shifted and I was no longer stuck in the mud of self doubt, fear, and negativity.

I wish I could say that there was something that set me off in thinking that everything I was doing was wrong and heading nowhere but looking back over the week there was nothing.  Just a low moment where my mind was urging me to give up on my dreams of wanting to be more and do more with my life than just the same old same old.  I do know what helped to shift me out of the mud and get back on track in believing in my dream and knowing that it could be done.  It was a call made out of desperation to my very best friend, sharing how incredibly sad I was and that I couldn't be who I wanted to be.  It was in the moment of sharing out loud that my cloud of negativity and doubt began to dissipate.  Oh I still felt the sadness after getting off the phone with her but Sue provided an amazing voice of reason to say "this is just one day, one moment. Life changes in an instant and this will too!"

I remember building our family house on Gerrish Island. My brother cleared the land, poured the foundation,  and raised the walls of the house.  In the beginning there was a lot of mud and it seemed that no matter what we did the mud kept holding back our progress.  Some days it took sheer determination to keep moving forward  to get the house built.  Sure enough month after month the house took shape and before we knew it we were moving in!  Stay on track with your dreams and don't let one day stuck in the mud prevent you from working towards your ultimate goal.

Idea, Communication, and Action

Really big ideas produce really big results.  We often marvel at businesses who seem to be in the right place at the right time and come through with a huge sensation out of nowhere.  "Why didn't I think of that?"  The funny thing is there are a lot of things that we actually do think of but never act on or let go of before we've realized their full potential.

Christopher Columbus had the biggest idea of his day and against popular vote knew in his heart that the Earth was in fact round.  He needed a lot of cash to prove his idea to be true and went to the biggest Venture Capitalist that came to his mind, Queen Isabella.  Can you even imagine the speech he had to give to convince her that against everything she had been taught and believed there was a possibility that the shape of their planet was actually different than always thought?

He did it. We can only imagine the scene and how it played out but the point is that he did it.  Christopher Columbus mustered up the strength, faith, belief, and perseverance to go where no man has gone before.  He had an idea, he communicated it to anyone he could get to listen, and he took action to prove his idea.  It seems simple enough so why is it such a hard premise for most of us to take hold of and put into play?  Maybe it's a little bit of fear from the unknown mixed with some self doubt or maybe its just that we've been told too many times that something is not possible.

Some of my greatest achievements in business came from situations where an idea popped into my head, I picked up the phone to connect with someone, and  just made it happen.  I didn't leave any room for self doubt or questions to flood in and never once let myself believe that it wasn't possible to achieve this new goal I had set.  Looking back over my career I realize that the moment I let something sit too long in the thinking stage before I acted on it - the idea usually became dead in the water and never went anywhere.  The point is  that by nature we are meant to create.  Don't be to attached that your final outcome is exactly what you  envisioned. Creating can get messy and sometimes from our miscalculations or mistakes come the greatest outcomes and achievements. 

The next time an idea pops into your head promise yourself that before you dismiss it you'll share it with a friend and take at least one step in the direction of making it happen.  You never know what it will become.

Remember to Explore

There's a big world out there waiting for you to drop everything and explore.  It's time for you to let go of all your preconceived notions and remember what it is like to be open to new smells, sights, tastes, and ways of thinking.  We've been doing business in our own corner of the world for years without acknowledging that some of the most awe inspiring places exist outside of our borders.  When is the last time you sat in a restaurant and you were the minority, where you hung on every foreign word spoken trying to piece together the conversation? 

A field of yellow daffodils offers the perfect inspiration for a new color scheme for your Spring Line, a spicy serving of fresh fish from Mexico offers a new line of sauces, and the view from Mt. Everest provides you with the courage to launch a new business.  If we forget to leave the place that we feel most comfortable and most at home we risk loosing one of the greatest opportunities for self growth and awareness. If we as individuals become stagnant and closed in our way of thinking and being, then we risk missing out on the possibilities that life has to offer us up each and every day.  Remember to step outside of your comfort zone and purchase a ticket to the place you've always longed to visit.  When you arrive at your new destination try letting yourself go where the wind may take you and not mapping out your entire adventure.   Hop on a bike and fill your back with a baguette and fresh brie.  Drink from the spicket of an old farm that you pass by and stop to ask a stranger for his favorite place to spread a picnic blanket. 

Before you know it you will be engaged in a conversation that will change your perspective on one of your deepest core beliefs, before you know it you will have a new favorite song, and before you know it you will no longer be longing for your favorite brand of ketchup.  You will have opened yourself up to a new way of thinking and that my friend will open you up to new possibilities and a new sense of adventure.  And when you are done exploring and ready to return home, I promise you will be refreshed and renewed.  Your comfortable life and familiar neighborhood will suddenly feel much bigger and more interesting than it did when you left.  You will be looking at all it encompasses with a new set of glasses, one's that are less tinted with your past experience and belief system. Your new set of glasses will be able to see people and places for what they may represent not what they have represented in the past.

Just back from Mexico, I am already trying to plan a trip to Belize for next summer.  Other than that I will wait and see where the wind takes me.

To skype or not to skype....that is the question!

Just loaded the dinner dishes, finished loading backpacks for tomorrow, started the dryer, and sitting down to work on Sharcula, November Night, Get On Board, and finish a proposal for my good friend Tom.  TRG Northeast is underway and growing.  We have signed clients, prospects, events, and life is good.  I love working from home around my kids schedule and most of the time, Tyler and I can connect for quick thoughts or issues via text or mobile.  It works. TRG's headquarters are in Columbia, South Carolina and for now TRG Northeast is successfully working from South Berwick, Maine.

Then every once in a while we come a cross a project or a piece of a campaign that we just can't seem to get on the same page.  Specifically today we are trying to iron out a facebook application and the best positioning that can be achieved for a client. My head is in one place and Tyler's is on a train to Anchorage. (kidding! - don't get your panties in a ruffle.)  From the very beginning of our meeting back on Facebook and our discussing building the Northeast office together for TRG, I have been urged to get SKYPE so that we may communicate more effectively.  For some reason there is something inside of me that screams "no flippin way Tyler".  Actually, let's be honest.  I know what the reason is and wondering if you, any of you might agree with me.

Remember when we were kids and the Jetson's were like one of a handful of shows on Saturday mornings to watch? "Meet George Jetson, Jane, Judy, Elroy, and Rosie etc.."  The one piece of technology that intrigued me the most as a little girl was the talking TV phone where George would picture home and explain why he had to work late or to find out what he needed to grab at the store for his wife.  It has always stuck with and not out of fascination. I have always fell victim to Bedhead.  My hair has enough curl and volume to make it look like the Bride of Frankenstein when I wake up.  The thought of someone calling at any given moment and having to be face to face when not having paid the least amount of attention to what I may look like is not my idea of a good time. 

As I'm putting my thoughts down I'm starting to have questions about my objections of using Skype in business and wondering how valid they are.  There is just something strange about the whole concept to me and where I usually embrace all new technology this one has me stumped.  Tell me what your thoughts are about using Skype for business and please be honest it's for posterity.

Labor Day - Times are Changing.

My dad was a plumber.  I was the last of five children and grew up in a house of older siblings, a home office, vendors, customers, friends, neighbors, and strangers coming in and out of our house constantly.  I have zillions of memories of holiday dinners where the table would be set, we had all just gathered to sit, and the office phone would ring and my dad would have to leave to help someone even before the first bite was taken.

He was a master plumber, a mason, constantly in the local paper, hard worker, and basically a stranger.  He was married to his profession and it was what he did best in life.   He could literally fix, lift, and source anything. We were not allowed to say "can't" growing up and we were told a million times how easy we had it in life and didn't know the true meaning of hard work.

My dad was born in 1929.  His mother died when he was five and was sent to live and work on a Polish farm while times were tough.  The Polish influence trickled into my life through language, food, and music. Oh and did I tell you that it wasn't uncommon to see my dad dance the polka at family weddings?  That's another story.  He had a hard life born from the Great Depression, loosing a parent, and being part of a mixed family with all boys yet he never gave up until the very end.  All of this created a personal belief for my dad that unless you were working physically hard and getting the job done with your hands, you were not working at all.  My brother went to school for engineering and in my dad's eyes it wasn't good enough.  He wanted my brother to follow in his footsteps and takeover the family business.  My brother had his own dreams and they had nothing to do with plumbing.

When I turned 18 and it was my turn to decide what I was going to be when I grew up and my Dad was already 59 years old.  Being the 5th born, and the 4th daughter, he had long given up on the idea that the family business would be taken over and his legacy continued.  My dad had also given up on life and had withdrawn from the world as most of us know it.  I was left as an impressionable 18 year old taking it upon myself to decide whether or not to go to college,  what I should study, and where I wanted to end up in life.  I knew that anything I chose would not fit in with my Dad's way of thinking and his thoughts about what my life should look like. Twenty years later, my Dad has been gone for most of the time and I'm knee deep in a career that my Dad never even knew existed.  It's Labor Day and most of the country has the day off and is celebrating a holiday that most of us don't know the story behind the day.

Times are changing.  There are new industries being created everyday and people's ideas about labor and what it means to work hard are expanding.  People work hard everyday without getting their hands dirty and I applaud them but on this Labor Day my thoughts go out to all the people that work hard everyday like my Dad did.  They work 12 hour plus days, physically grueling, and mentally taxing jobs to make all of our lives run smoothly and without interruptions.   They build our roads, keep our water running, clear our garbage, manufacture our goods, farm our lands, maintain our buildings, and serve our country.  While many of us make our living creating new business and creating new vision, my hat off to so many who like my Dad contribute to society by getting their hands dirty and using a little elbow grease.