Hi everyone,

Just a short message to let everyone know about my International Marketing feature on Sparksheet, Life Lessons from a Global Marketer.  

It's a great forum for all marketers to join - I'm really honoured to be able to contribute to this site.  Check it out here!

Have a great weekend & marketing week,

Miriam :)

Hi everyone,

Just a short message to let everyone know that Part II in my guest blog appearance on Expat Explorer is now live.

As a refresher, Expat Explorer is the largest survey of expats in the world.  It is sponsored by HSBC Bank International (in Jersey, Channel Islands).

The survey was launched in April and results will be released in the coming months covering topics around expat lifestyle, economics and bringing up kids while living the expat life.

Are you an expat (someone who lives and works abroad)? - the survey is still open and they would love your input...so take the survey by clicking here!

Most importantly check out "Setting up a small business" by reading the guest blog - just click here and off you go!

Marketing Mondays will be back in full force on Monday, 5th July so stay tuned!!
Have a great weekend & marketing week,

Miriam :)

Hi everyone,

Just a short message to let everyone know that, this past week, I wrote a guest blog for Expat Explorer.  Expat Explorer is the largest survey of expats in the world.  It is sponsored by HSBC Bank International (in Jersey, Channel Islands).

The survey was launched in April and results will be released in the coming months covering topics around expat lifestyle, economics and bringing up kids while living the expat life.

Are you an expat (live and work abroad)? - the survey is still open and they would love your input...so take the survey by clicking here!

Most importantly check out "Why I love being an expat" by reading the guest blog - just click here and off you go!

My AppleCrisp site is still in the process of redesign - so stay tuned for the relaunch in the next couple of weeks - exciting!

Have a great weekend & marketing week,

Miriam :)

Can you believe its already the end of April???  I started AppleCrisp at the end of September 2009, launched this site in Oct 2009 and I can't believe I've been in business now for over 6 months - time really does fly!

Working solo makes you really zone in on your time management skills - more so than I ever did in the corporate world.  I've found that especially recently I've really had to take stock of what I'm taking on and prioritize.

Organization is a key aspect of life - but is a necessity for any marketer - whether they are in a corporation or self employed.
I recently got asked if I could multitask and if I was able to handle stressful situations in a work scenario.  A totally valid question but when asked this, I nearly broke out in hysterics.

Since I graduated in 2001 (showing my age here...lol), I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off - not all to do with my chosen profession but it has a lot (A LOT) to do with it.

My advice to those people just entering the field who think they are signing up for a 9-5 job -  you are sorely mistaken.

Whatever area you are in of marketing, as I've touched a number of them for a number of firms in a number of places, you will most definetly be working early/late, you will definetly be annoyed with silly deadlines/requests and you will have to deal with it or go.  Sorry to be so blunt, but in my experience, it is what it is....but I still love it!

One of my big goals in life is to maintain a solid work/life balance - not always but on average.
Since I love my career too much to pack it in and I realize I will sometimes have to work long hours and deal with potentially unreasonable requests, I make other changes to balance life out.  I also take a step back and realize why I'm doing it to begin with and make sure to take time out for myself.

The point of this weeks blog is to highlight the time poor life of a marketer (especially in this day-and-age) but more importantly offer suggestions to how we can manage time better and still have a decent work/life balance.

Here's some tips from me:
1) Take 5-10 minutes every morning to write out (acheivable) goals for the day - include deadlines for the day, milestones (i.e. "If I finish this by 10am, I'll make myself a coffee) and build in breaks
2) Be realistic - even though most of us think we are superwoman (or superman) we are only human
3) Think long-term first and work back - too many of us only think in the here & now - understand the big picture and prioritize accordingly
4) Be flexible - realize that emergencies do happen and rejigging your schedule doesn't mean its the end of the world.  Often the time you spend getting worked up about changes, you could be working to finish what's needed
5) Disable your internet (if you can) - while you are working on a specific project, I find it useful to stop the temptation of checking everything flying into your inbox.  This is especially hard in this digital age but try.
6) Meeting meltdown - especially in offices, try to ensure the ones you attend are for a specific purpose aimed at acheiving specific results
7) Take lunch and aim to leave on time most of the time - even though you will have to work late or eat at your desk sometimes, make this the minority overall.  It will make you happier with the job and force you to be more efficient when you are working.

Those are some of my top tips on how to help us struggling marketers manage our time better. 

What do you think???

I'd like to make this an outlet for your suggestions - selfishly for me but more importantly for marketers everywhere. 

Have a productive week & please comment away!!

Miriam

Hello everyone,

Just over a week ago, I ventured back to the UK for a visit. 

Since I’ve been staying in Israel for the past few months, I forgot how wonderful the world of air travel can be – I am trying to use my sarcasm here.

To make a long story short, I got delayed and missed the connection I was supposed to have in Istanbul.  All of this was due to the original flight being delayed and poor communication from our airline - Turkish Airlines.

As an avid traveller, I have to say the service was appalling – from the staff in Tel Aviv to the airline stewardess to the ground crew – I can’t say a positive word about any of them.  They not only made us feel like we were overreacting before we boarded our flight but they also deceived us by telling us they were going to hold our connecting plane for us but didn’t.  To top it all off, when we were told that we wouldn’t be flying to London that night, we ended up having to wait three hours to get transported to a hotel.  It was a very unnerving and disappointing experience.  As I’m sure you can imagine, I won’t be flying with this airline anytime soon.

For a full account of my adventure, I urge you to go to my new travel blog, Travelling Starfish, and read about the journey.

As I sat in the Istanbul airport the next day, waiting to finally board our flight to London, a light bulb sparked.  I thought to myself – “What a good example of a bad customer service experience” and I thought, “This airline better watch out as the world is a much smaller place now than it used to be.” 

Before customers could only talk of their negative experiences through traditional word of mouth, but now people can post their experiences on a host of websites, chat rooms and social networking sites. 

So, what is this experiment I’m talking about? 

The experiment is to see how quickly I can spread the word.  Not to lower business to Turkish Airlines but to elicit a response and possibly make a company like this realize every negative customer service experience has the potential to impact their future – from a customer and revenue perspective – like never before.

The experiment begins with me writing about it...here, on my travel blog, on Facebook, on travel sites.  Over the next 2 weeks, I’ll be using various social networking tools to spread the word of what happened to me and my concerns from a customer service perspective.

I’m hoping that the power of social networking will stimulate some reaction that I can share. 

I’ll be posting updates on my tracked progress on the blog so stay tuned, pass it on & comment away,

Have a great marketing week,

Miriam Berger

Hello everyone,

What a world we live in.  I think I’ve mentioned before how busy our lives are and how much it amazes me sometimes.

I’ve been freelancing since September, and now with over 6 months under my belt, I’ve realized now more than ever how tough it is out there for marketers.

Freelancing has really shown me a different side of what is going on in our industry, making it really tough for those of us that are good at what we do to stay in the game and show what we’re made of.

There are 3 core areas I wanted to flag on my blog this week that show the reality a typical marketer now faces:

1)      Globalization and the internet has made everyone a marketer – I’ve noticed this especially in the writing projects I’m doing but it appears to be happening across most areas of marketing – from planning to research even to developing business strategy.  Now with so many freelance sites at our fingertips, there are individuals bidding on jobs for peanuts.  I’ve seen requests for articles for a budget of $1 per 500 words!  The issue here?  Devaluing what marketers can deliver – it’s great that a business can find a cheaper solution to their needs but is it worth the price for marketers?  More importantly, is the customer truly getting what they need?  I still have faith that those of us who provide work that a customer values will be here to stay, but it is a definite test for our industry.

2)      Too much marketing out there (quantity over quality) – the amount of messages out there is unbelievable.  Largely due to the explosion of the digital channel, the need for articles and copywriting services are through the roof.  Are we now in a state of quantity over quality?  I am a big believer in strong communications but I am also a supporter of defined and clear messages.  This issue challenges and encourage marketers at the same time.  Our services are in demand to satisfy the quantity needed but it challenges us to deliver quality marketing services due to the volume.  For us, finding a balance will be the key to success.

3)      We continue to get further and further away from our customers – I see this now as a freelancer but also when I was working in the corporate world.  Often, we sit in our offices and brainstorm ideas of what customers really want.  Customer research isn’t often undertaken so we are developing marketing strategy and communications with a blind eye.  Searching on the web about customer preferences can only tell us so much.  As the world gets bigger and smaller at the same time, we need to get as close to the customer as we can.  Since I’ve been working solo, in all the projects I’ve worked on, I’ve tried to get as close to the customer as I can.  As most of you know, the voice of the customer is a key element for how I work, and even with the time constraints, it has to be a priority to differentiate myself and service my customers effectively.

So...what can we do?  Globalization, volume and getting close to the customer are all issues we need to realize are out there.  More importantly, we need to do something about them! 

We need to be aware of these realities but also be sure to take a stand.  My advice:

1)      Don’t undersell ourselves (both in our financial contribution and the quality we deliver)
2)      Get close the customer (meet with them, understand them, satisfy them)
3)      Embrace the heightened competition and realize that not everyone is looking for a cheap solution – show the value you bring and reap the rewards

It’s tough out there and only the fittest will survive...so keep the faith and keep up the great marketing work.

Have a great marketing week and see you next Monday,

Miriam Berger

Welcome back everyone! 

When I was thinking about what to write for this week, I wanted to zone in on customer service.  I’ve had some really interesting experiences the past few days that I’d love to share.

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been trying to setup an Israeli bank account…not the most exciting task to accomplish when you don’t have a firm grasp of the language.

Since I’ve been working in the banking industry for nearly 4 years, the past year in customer research, I know that customer service can be a sore subject.  I also have a better understanding than most on setting up a bank account as I’ve been the woman behind creating account opening forms in the past.  On a personal level, I’ve also opened up accounts in a number of countries.   

A couple of weeks ago, I went into one of the top banks in the country and asked a few simple question about fees, type of accounts and access to funds.  This bank in particular, to be frank, confused the heck out of me.  They had no marketing material to present me (in English or Hebrew) and gave me the impression they weren’t even interested in me as a customer.  I ended up walking out of the branch with no account to speak of.

After this experience, I was told by many not to expect much more as customer service wasn’t the norm across banks in the country.  Giving the Israeli banking industry some benefit of the doubt, I kept pushing forward…

Round two…last week I walked into another bank – not as big but still a national player.  I asked nicely if there was anyone who could assist me in English.  I was met by a lovely woman who asked me a few questions about my needs, if I had the required documentation to open the account and handed me an information leaflet that she would walk me through.  And so began the account opening experience. 

Considering most of the information presented to me was in Hebrew, she took the time to explain everything to me – including fees, types of accounts available to me and access to funds.  So, all the information I had asked the other bank now became clear to me.  She also took the time to reiterate that she was here to help anytime and even gave me her direct line – which in this day-and-age, I think we can all say, is rare.

So what is the point of this example?  My point is that customer service is so important for so many different reasons. 

Not only am I going to continue to have my account at the second bank (customer loyalty) I’m also going to tell people I meet to go to this woman to open their accounts (word of mouth). 

One of the sad things that comes out of this tale, is that the woman at the bank I now have an account with, is a part of the customer service minority.  I think we can all agree that most of us don’t expect to get a fantastic service at a bank but even at a restaurant or an airport.  We have begun to accept that mediocre service is all that we will be on the receiving end of most of the time.

If this is all about customer service, how does that relate to marketing?

Servicing the customer is what marketing is all about.  Marketers have a duty to understand what the customer thinks about the company’s brand and that is intrinsically linked to the service they receive. 

It's a simple equation - Happy Customers = Good Marketing 

One of the ways marketers can influence customer service is by feeding back what we find out from customers.  This is the reason why market research – whether on service, the brand or products - is so crucial to differentiating and staying competitive in this global market.

What do you think?  I’m sure we all have had positive and/or negative customer service experiences.  Share away!!

Have a great marketing week and see you next Monday,

Miriam Berger

What a week!  I’m not sure about you, but time seems to be going faster and I just seem to be getting busier.  I guess this is the reality of the world today…no complaints from me but sometimes its amazing how time flies!

I hope you can take 10 minutes out of your busy lives to enjoy February’s final edition of Marketing Mondays!

Following on my last blog on finding simple ways to keep our marketing skills up, I wanted to take time to discuss how education is really everywhere nowadays.

After my last blog, I got some offline feedback that made me really realize a few things.  Some feedback centered around reinforcing the importance of in-class study; others mentioned that we don’t even need books/articles/websites to learn.

I’m going to speak more about the latter.

I can’t reinforce the power of studying in a classroom with similar marketing minded people but I also agree with those that feel that the world is our classroom.

As I sit on the bus observing people around me, talking to people when I’m in a shop, surfing the web or even watching TV, I’m taking information in that helps me be a better marketer.

They say that our generation is time poor (anyone disagree out there?) and if we really don’t have the time to invest in formal education, the one thing we all can do is to start opening our eyes and ears to learning through living.

What’s amazing about marketing is that it is everywhere!  Every person you speak to is someone who gives you insight into their needs; every city you visit shows you a cultural uniqueness you can use in your next campaign; and every bad customer service call (and I’m sure we’ve all had at least one of those before) shows us what not to do when communicating.

As marketers, we are blessed with a profession that allows us to take these learnings and implement them in how we do our work.  It’s simple – we are Learning through Life. 

For the past couple of years, I’ve actively tried to do this and I feel like it’s made me better at what I do. 

How do you feel about this?

Can education come merely from opening our eyes to the world around us OR does it have to come from a textbook/classroom to make it meaningful?

I know what I think but I want to hear your thoughts!  Post a comment and have your say!

Have a great marketing week, take care and keep those eyes and ears open,

Miriam Berger
AppleCrisp Marketing Solutions

PS> Next week I’ll kick off March’s monthly topic with another new approach to my Marketing Mondays blog – you’ve got to keep it fresh! STAY TUNED!