In my experience, before dovetail solutions, most of my advisers would stay in touch with clients via birthday cards, newsletters, phone calls, holiday gifts, or the occasional lunch or golf outing. While client communications like these are essential, nothing builds affinity and goodwill quite like a client appreciation event. The resulting loyalty, referrals, and introductions far exceed the costs and the traditional way of staying in touch.

It was a pleasure putting this event together. From the creation of the invitation, receiving RSVPs, hand- delivering each ticket, to the final event – it was a great success. Many times, we get wrapped up in the day-to-day work we face, but there is such satisfaction to actually see just how much your clients appreciate such an event, and in turn, they see how much we truly appreciate each of them.

On the other hand, the moment also signified a great win for the marketing community. With “The Decision,” James’ team utilized/manipulated a respected sports news network by actually writing and shaping the athlete’s history with grandeur.

Traditional journalists are disturbed by the network’s lack of integrity, handing LeBron’s marketing team that much programming power and control; conversely, ESPN received a gigantic 9.6 rating from Nielsen during the 15-minute stretch of the program when LeBron announced his decision, so it’s hard to question the network’s choice. Moreover, the network is actually called the “Entertainment Sports Programming Network,” and this program was more than entertaining.

As a person with a background in sports journalism who now practices public relations, I am cognizant of both perspectives, and I cannot place judgment on either side of the argument. As a former sports writer, I view “The Decision” as an embarrassment for producers at ESPN, who essentially allowed the subject to write his own story under the network’s byline. As a PR professional, I view “The Decision” as a new goal in my own career positioning and the branding of clientele.

What I think we can all agree on is “The Decision” marks a turning point for our society. The ease and accessibility of the Internet, the growing use of social media and the fickle economic state of traditional media have entirely shifted the reporter/subject dynamic.

If ESPN had turned down LeBron and his team, the compromise would likely have been a press conference for all media to attend. If James and his team wanted the media exclusivity, the event may have been hosted on his personal website, receiving similarly impressive figures. LeBron could have even tweeted his “Decision” to his 440,000+ Twitter followers, building suspense 140 characters at a time and garnering worldwide attention to his @KingJames account.  

In other words, LeBron – not ESPN – controlled the power, and the “Worldwide Leader in Sports” was forced to take whatever offer James extended for the exclusive broadcasting rights to “The Decision.”

It’s not as though this concept is revolutionary or even new; one could argue that the President of the United States hijacks the airwaves once a year for the State of the Union address. What makes “The Decision” a fascinating example for marketing professionals is that LeBron was able to pitch and secure an hour-long special devoted to his greatness, donate the advertising revenue to charity in the name of The King and create a year’s worth of publicity in a just 15-minute timeframe… all on ESPN’s dime.

So, kudos to LeBron, his marketing team, the NBA and the Miami Heat. Whether you agree with the approach or not, this was publicity at its finest.

A few weeks ago, I experienced my first interview representing my own company and used some of the most common interviewing preparation rules:

1. Research the company and its competitors

2. Prepare main points of important topics to cover

3. Carry yourself in a professional manner

4. Bring a leave-behind

5. Ask questions and follow up

It’s always easy to talk about yourself, highlighting your skills and experience, but when representing your company, it’s imperative to keep in mind that perspective clients are investing a substantial amount of money and are likely to be extremely thorough and selective in their decision making. Of course, it is important that you show them why you can be valuable to them based on your company’s core competencies and its past accomplishments, but potential clients want to hear about themselves and the benefits they will receive. Showing that you are client-focused and displaying understanding of their needs builds a trusting relationship between the two entities.  The company wants to know, “What can you do for US?”

Everyone can talk about their firm and are able to explain why it is successful, but perspective clients want you to demonstrate benefits they will reap from hiring you. I recently attended a Marketing Coordinators workshop held by SMPS (Society for Marketing Professional Services), and we discussed the one question that you should always ask yourself: SO WHAT? So what if we are the top firm in the industry? So what if we have experience with similar firms? What will that do for them and why does that make us the better choice from the rest?  

Delegating projects is something I constantly need to work at. I sometimes fall into that trap where it seems easier to just do something myself than teach somebody else to do it. Not the smartest idea. Delegating work, especially with interns, is an investment that takes a little time, but there is an ROI in the long run as they learn about the details of what needs to be accomplished.

So I sought some advice on how to better delegate and came across this article by Susan M. Heathfield on About.com. It provides six great tips as to how to delegate effectively:

• Whenever possible, when delegating work, give the person a whole task to do. (If you can't give the employee a whole task, make sure they understand the overall purpose of the project or task.)
• Make sure the staff person understands exactly what you want him or her to do. Ask questions, watch the work performed or have the employee give you feedback to make sure your instructions were understood.
• If you have a picture of what a successful outcome or output will look like, share your picture with the staff person.
• Identify the key points of the project or dates when you want feedback about progress. This is the critical path that provides you with the feedback you need without causing you to micromanage.
• Identify the measurements or the outcome you will use to determine that the project was successfully completed.
• Determine, in advance, how you will thank and reward the staff person for his or her successful completion of the task or project you delegated.

With these ideas in mind, I will continue to pass off projects and take the time to walk through them with our interns. I’ve seen how capable they are and how they always seek to understand things before starting a task. In the end, it’s a win-win situation and everyone walks away having grown and learned something new.

 Therefore, before hiring new employees, consider the following benefits of having an intern:

• Costs of recruiting are lower
• Pressure is less on both parties
• Opportunity for growth (student is still getting an education on the side)
• Trial run for what is to come
• Students are highly motivated and optimistic about the future
• They are willing to take instruction
• Opportunity for teaching by the employer

However, there are also disadvantages in having interns in the office:

• They are unaware of the organization’s structure and/or company culture
• Interns are not  full-time employees
• They usually have a set time limit for the internship
• The intern is learning which can mean that tasks take longer to complete

 The experience gained from being an intern is indisputably beneficial to both parties.  Many companies, especially financial firms, have provided interns with the opportunity to become full-time employees once the internship expires, depending on their performance.  This practice eliminates issues that arise when a new hire is not well-known to the firm.  The increasing number of firms taking on interns demonstrates not only the need for fresh ideas from young adults but also the potential long term relationships that can be formed between employer and intern.

Do propose to the boss a 90-day trial period to start.

Don’t talk about why it will be better for you and your family.

Do turn in assignments ahead of schedule and even volunteer for more work (since the boss is probably skeptical about the whole deal anyway).

Do over-communicate with the boss, clients and fellow workers—since they all think you’re watching TV or taking a nap at times.

Don’t flaunt the fact you work from home to your co-workers—it will only cause the boss grief and may cause you to lose the privilege.

Don’t expect the company to provide all the new technology needed, at least until the trial period is over and the boss is convinced it’s a good idea.



As a result, great ideas often inspire new great ideas, and “piggy-backing” is fairly commonplace in business these days. On the flip side, completely original ideas are pretty rare in marketing.

That’s why Kiva’s “Entrepreneur Hero Trading Cards” campaign is particularly cool and worth highlighting. 

If you haven’t heard of Kiva.org yet, it is the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website. Borrowing principles from the Grameen Bank and its founder, Muhammad Yunus, Kiva.org empowers individuals to lend money online to entrepreneurs across the globe. It’s really an innovative approach to social business, and its growth and success are really inspiring.

To raise money for its “Entrepreneurs in Africa” initiative, Kiva partnered with EvanCarmichael.com to create a series of trading cards that showcase the top entrepreneurs in the world.

To start, Kiva asked the web’s most recognizable bloggers to pick their favorite famous entrepreneurs and provide reasons for their selections. From there, Kiva and EvanCarmichael.com created trading cards, like childhood baseball or football cards, to capture these “Heroes” of entrepreneurship. You can purchase and collect all 33 cards to complete the set; all proceeds go directly to the “Entrepreneurs in Africa” program.

I’m sure this “trading card” concept has been done before, but the idea feels like a fresh and fun way to ask for money through marketing.

I haven’t been able to find any metrics to gauge this campaign’s success so far, but even a modest return is absolutely commendable. If nothing else, Kiva has provided a worthy case study to inspire thousands of other marketing professionals that work to advance philanthropic causes and organizations.

Here are a few great business phrases and their definitions that come to mind:

1. Just plugging along: "I'm doing fine, nothing new. I'm just working as usual."
2. Pick your brain: Substituted when someone simply wants to ask you something.
   
3. Throw it against the wall and see what sticks: Often used to describe a haphazard approach to presenting a batch of ideas, or my favorite, to see if your spaghetti noodles are ready.
4. It's not rocket science: Used most often when pointing out to someone that the task she/he has been asked to complete isn't, in fact, complicated. (wink, wink)
5. The ball's in your court: This phrase is usually thrown around (pun intended) to let others know that you've reached your limit with regard to handling a situation. It’s their turn now.
6. Past history: This one drives me crazy every time I hear it, “Well, based on past history ...” History is, by definition, something that occurred in the past, so why on earth say “past”?
7. Pick the low hanging fruit: Some people are interested in how to get the best results with the least possible effort.  Some might call this quality laziness, but some prefer to think of it as efficiency.  Why not get the most bang for your buck? Ohh, look, there’s another one – Bang for your Buck. Moving on…
8. Ducks in a row: This came from the world of sports, specifically bowling. Early bowling pins were often shorter and thicker than modern pins, which lead to the nickname ducks. Before the advent of automatic resetting machines, these "duck pins" would be manually put back into place between bowling rounds. Therefore, having one's ducks in a row would be a metaphor for having all of the bowling pins organized and properly placed before sending the next ball down the lane. Did you know that many bowling alleys still offer "duck pin" lanes with smaller bowling balls and shorter pins…?!
9. Eat your own dog food: I can’t believe how many business professionals use this term. It’s also called dogfooding. This is when a company uses the products that it makes. Dogfooding can be a way for a company to demonstrate confidence in its own products, and hence, a kind of testimonial advertising. At dovetail, we believe in building relationships to build a brand, and I believe it has been and will be one of the keys to our success! (I’m totally dogfooding right now…)
10. You keep the trains running on time: My boss says this about me a lot. Hey, everyone’s got to be a little project manager at one time or another. Even if you’re lucky enough for it to not be your job title, odds are that you’re doing, thinking about, or wishing for things that the “typical” project manager makes happen. We love to hate them, but even if project managers have a hard time explaining to their mom what they do, they play a pretty important role in keeping the trains running on time, or, in the worst case, making everyone exhausted from pushing. :)

The idea of investing in one’s community through service is certainly not a new idea.  It also is not revolutionary to tie one’s civic engagement to the bottom line of a profit sheet.  However, what I seem to not find very much of are the ties among the corporate, philanthropic, and governmental sectors tying back to one’s individual or company brand or public identity.

So, like a typical first time entrepreneur, I launched without a real plan.  I knew the mission, I had a good idea of where I wanted to end up, I just had no real end game of how to get there; which happened to drive my wife completely insane.  I remember her telling me about things like this flailing along because they have no real road map to success.  Well, its five years later and we have achieved a fairly decent standard of living on this initial “rudderless” idea.

We have done a lot, actually.  Companies big and small, sophisticated non-profits, and several major political campaigns have put there faith in us, and have been very happy with the results. 

I dare say, as we as the “dovetail solutions family” celebrate our five year anniversary; it’s been so sweet.  It’s been fun, we have grown as a team, and it’s only the beginning.  Brand building works, if done strategically, thoughtfully, and with the end in mind.  Its how one dovetail’s it with his/her efforts community-wide that can make the biggest difference.  Thanks for a great 5 years.