craig sutton

Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer at MarketingProfs

A: Yes. I head up content at MarketingProfs, a resource that offers actionable know-how to help people market their products and services both smarter and better. Oops — does that sound like a commercial? (lol) We have about 321,000 entrepreneurs, small-business owners and marketers as subscribers. As head of content, that means I manage a team that produces content for our Web site, newsletters, conferences, seminars, blog, and so on.

Our contributors come from all walks of life — from the largest corporations to the small companies to solo consultants. They are usually folks that are on my radar in one way or another… because they tend to be leaders in their fields, or writers, or speakers, or content producers in their own right before they meet up with ‘Profs.

Q: Our twitter guest question comes from @adambrault, who asks “What’s the most creative and effective ‘guerilla’ marketing methods you’ve seen?”

A: Wow — that’s a tough one. I guess I’d have to say that most guerilla marketing tactics I hear about impress me less than viral marketing tactics — the difference being that guerrilla marketing ambushes the viewer when he or she least expects it, while viral marketing is content that someone opts to pass around their network because it’s interesting, or cool, or intriguing in some way. Am I pulling a Sarah Palin by answering a different question than the one that was asked…? ; )

Seriously, there are some guerilla marketing tactics that I think are clever. Here in Boston, the Cartoon Network’s late night Adult Swim animated television series “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” got some attention a while ago when their magnetic light displays in and around the city were mistaken for possible explosive devices. That was clever — if a little irresponsible in a post 9-11 world — but it definitely got attention. Viral stuff — things that folks willingly pass around to each other — seems a better approach to me, however.

Q: Over at your personal blog, AnnHandley.com, you have titled the blog A n n a r c h y because of the “general state of disorder and occasional (yes!) chaos” in your life. Do you have long term goals for what you hope to accomplish with your blog? Do you see an end to the chaos?

A: I started A n n a r c h y almost a year ago because I wanted a place to write about stuff I wanted to write about — all the non-marketing flotsam, the non-business jetsam, the real stuff that’s under the hood, the underbelly, the chaos inside. All that stuff that had been bouncing around inside of me — and inside a lot of us — but I had never really written down. It’s a little scary to write about sometimes, but I felt compelled.

I started it with no particular goal beyond that. But I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the way people relate to it. I love writing there — mostly, aside from the occasional fear I still have — but I love the comments almost more, and community of people who have become regular readers. That’s pretty cool, and I’m grateful for every one of them.

And no, the chaos is ongoing. At least, I hope so. Life would be boring without an underbelly.

Q: The Huffington Post is quite the gig! Tell us about about how you got chosen to contribute!

A: I asked. Seriously… it wasn’t any more difficult than that. HuffPo is a great publication, and Arianna Huffington is one of my personal inspirations for what she’s accomplished. What’s great about the publication is that it is inclusive of all kinds of voices.

Q: What does Ann like to do for fun when she isn’t blogging or sharing her wisdom on Twitter?

A: Well, I just finished beating both of my kids at Wii tennis. I just love to make them cry….

Seriously, I do work a lot, and when I’m not working, I’m usually taxiing the kids someplace. But when I’m not doing either, I love hanging with my two kids, walking my lovable and silly dogs, sharing a bottle of wine with my longtime boyfriend, or reading a really good book on the beach in southern Maine, which is probably my most favorite place on earth. Don’t tell anyone — but I’m kinda boring.

Please note: While this interview does mention what Rosemary does and a bit about her company, this is not a paid advertisement or an endorsement of services. My mission is to learn about people and what they do.

Q: So you run a company called Virtual Hires, can you tell me about about your companies goals?

A: Our mission is to help small and medium sized web-based businesses grow by providing quality and affordable staffing solutions.

Q: What made you decide to get in this business?

A: I had quite a bit of exposure to outsourcing at my previous job, including outsourcing IT, production, and creative. When I began working for myself, I had hired a virtual assistant and was really impressed with the results I got from her link building and content writing efforts. I found my virtual assistant to be very easy to work with. She spoke English fluently, was web-savvy, polite and was very familiar with American slang and pop culture. She spoke with just a slight accent, and was willing to work on US time which make working with her really easy. Having my virtual assistant do the day-to-day lower value tasks made it possible for me to focus my energy on growing my business. It ultimately has made me more profitable.

As I began sharing my experience with other small business owners, they asked how they too could take advantage of outsourcing. After receiving several of these requests, I decided to open up a full-time business offering web staffing services to other small business. I hired a few employees, began successfully matching clients and employees, and have never looked back.

Q: Tell me how you use or plan to use Social Media in your business pursuits?

A: This is something that we do for our clients all the time, but something we haven’t done too much for ourselves. (Most all of our business comes from word of mouth referrals.)
Here are some of the things we have done for our clients and will be incorporating more for ourselves as time goes on:

• Social Networking Sites – Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. – A great way to share news and to keep in touch with clients. Personal relationships are the crux of any business. We tend to trust people we know well, and these sites offer a degree of transparency and accessibility.
• Bookmarking, Tagging, Blog Commenting, and Participating in Forums – Keeps the conversation going.
• Online Video – Increasingly popular way to share, demonstrate, and educate.
• Blogging – An easy way to build community, and share updated information.
• Microblogging – This is great way to keep promote news and share tips.

Q: Do you attend conferences? Which ones and why?

A: Yes. I love the Affiliate Summit West. Apart from escaping the Cleveland winter for a few days, it is a great place to network and to keep abreast with industry trends. I went to the Search Engine Guide’s Small Business Unleashed Marketing Conference in Columbus for the first time this Fall. I loved this conference for the small, family feel. I made some great connections and will definitely attend again.

Q: I see you enjoy the outdoors. What is your favorite outdoor sport? Tell me a bit about what you get out of it.

A: I do enjoy the outdoors. My favorite outdoor sport? That’s a tough one. I am an avid, year-round hiker.

Hiking provides exercise, and an outlet for my tremendous amount of energy. More than anything, I find a sense of renewal by being outside. It’s hard for me to stop thinking about work. When I step outside, I am able to get outside of my own head. Being outside is an act of cleansing for me. As I take in the sights and sounds around me, and as I am surrounded by the beauty of the natural world, I leave my comfort zone. I relax. I am inspired. I appreciate. Most importantly, I find perspective. I am then able to focus on what matters most to me: relationships.

Other notes: Check out her recent plug in US News & World Report!

I was reading a wonderful post by Mack Collier on how Social Media is a trust enabler. And it got me to thinking.

He is dead on, it is the 2 way communication that makes Social Media and Marketing so much different than the traditional uni-directional methods. At Learn About Web I talked about how the phonebook is becoming the dinosaur because of how little information you can learn about a business with a smiling picture and some words. Think about that, what do you actually learn from that? Only that company X either has more money or wagered more money that the phonebook could drive traffic to them.

I know, I was recently a gambler!

But a customer in the Web 2.0 world sees things differently. But what about those not familiar with it?

How do we get our customers involved in Social Media?

Now I know some of you people in larger towns may not see this as a relevant issue, but in small towns like ours.. it’s half the battle at least! I am telling Small Business they need to use Social Media, but how do you educate those customers or people in general who know little or nothing about it? The ones not interested in coming to see a Conference on their dime because they don’t understand its merit?

Challenging Question – perhaps it’s been answered, but here are some thoughts I have, and perhaps you can add something to this?

The most obvious – Word of Mouth – Tell them! Talk to them about the benefits you have gained from Social Media and the tools they can use to get involved. Point them to your blog.

Bring a friend/colleague/customer to the speaking portion of a conference, let them learn about about why they should be interested, and perhaps they will join in. Don’t try to take them to training session on their first trip out, the idea is to get them some exposure.

Write about them! Why not have a featured customer blog post and ask them to read it? They would likely share it with all of the people they know and so on!

A discount if they add themselves to one of your Social Media tools? Added value for you and your customer!

Using 2 way communication to gain the attention of people not involved in Social Media seems to be the smarter strategy, after all, we should practice what we preach right?

I’d love to hear if you have anything to add to this list or comments about the idea in general…