Tag Archives: natural health and wellness

Guest Post, Sharisax Is Out There

Online Relationships Lead to Lots of Learning: Guest Post on Art of Selling from one of my new fav Tweeple

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Justice Marshall aka @SocialNature on Twitter believes that relationships are the foundation of business and happiness, and that makes lots of sense as Justice and I are Tweeting one another — learning from one another — and supporting one another.

When Justice recently Tweeted about a conference he’d attended about the Art of Sales in response to one of my Tweets on the Art of Marketing, I asked him to Guest Post his findings.

Voila . . .

There are no bathrooms in New York:

What I Learned at Art of Sales, Vancouver BC 2009

When Shari asked me to write a guest post on What I Learned at Art of Sales in Vancouver BC, 2009  http://www.theartofproductions.com/events-salesVancouver09.html it naturally made me ask myself “What DID I learn?”

I don’t generally take notes at these sorts of events (not my learning style) so I have to look inside my brain to see what stuck. And as I look inside, I notice an internal distinction between what I learned… and what I enjoyed.

I certainly enjoyed all four of the presenters. And interestingly, the speaker that I learned the most from was also the least interesting in terms of presenting style. He sat at the side of the stage and basically gave a slideshow. But his slideshow rocked. Max Lenderman — http://www.experiencethemessage.com/ — taught me something new about experiential branding, with visual examples and stories from all over the world.

Dipping their toes in

I work mostly with natural health and wellness businesses. These folks are accustomed to more “traditional” forms of advertising and marketing, and are now dipping their toes in the digital and social media spheres. My mission is to help them use social media to support what they’re already good at, and tie it all to their overarching business vision and objectives.

Along the way, I also get to learn about and influence their strategic planning process. In his presentation, Max showed me —

How some companies are creating remarkable branded experiences in real life that can be extended and deepened through digital mediums like social media.

His most striking examples were pop-up stores and unusual branded installations like the Charmin public restrooms in Times Square.

Smart brands worldwide are creating events and contributing and participating in the lives of people in ways that are way more far-reaching than being just about the features and benefits of any particular product.

It got me thinking —
  1. How can my clients bridge the gap between real-life and social media in a meaningful way?
  2. How can we create deeper branded experiences, drawing people into something that is valuable, compelling and worth sharing?

So – What did I learn?

I learned to stretch my thinking about what a branded experience can be. I learned that branded experiences can be pretty elaborate… and pretty far removed from the original product offering. Branded experiences can take a wide (and long!) meandering path. They can be generous, humorous, touching and inspiring. The best branded experiences work on a feeling level, and push the envelope of conventional marketing and PR thinking.
Nearly half a year later what I learned is still sticking, and has in fact taken root and continues to grow.
Shari – Thanks for asking!
(Justice Marshall is a Social Media Director and Web Strategist for Natural Health and Wellness brands. Find him on Twitter @SocialNature