Michael Tucker

Social Media and Mobile Marketing for Florist

July 30, 2012 By michael tucker Leave a Comment

Today I had the opportunity to speak at the 2012 Arizona State Florist Association conference in Phoenix about how retail and wholesale florist could use social media to grow their businesses both locally and internationally. There were a number of current and future American Institute of Floral Designers (AFID)in attendance, to include Tim Farrell of Farrell’s Florist in Drexel Hill, PA and Telaflora.

I must admit that I had never explored the floraculture industry until I began to prepare for today’s event. However, after all of my research and having several good conversation with a number of designers I must say that I am pretty impressed with the creativity and business savvy required to be successful.

The slides from the presentation are below. While they don’t capture the full level of engagement I had with the audience through music, good humor and text polling. They do provide a good amount of advice and insightfor florist that are looking to grow and expand their shops.

Additional Information:
Top Exporters of Flowers
Holland
USA
Italy
France
Germany

Top Importers
USA (Largest Supplier – Colombia)
Holland (Largest Supplier – Israel)
France
Switzerland
Great Britain
Belgium/Luxemburg
Sweden

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Filed Under: Featured, Marketing, mobile marketing, Social Media Tagged With: AFID, florist, mobile marketing, Socaial Media, Tim Farrell

Social Media Used to Search for Isabel Celis

May 10, 2012 By michael tucker Leave a Comment

Isabel Celis

Isabel Celis was found missing a week ago when her parents went into her bedroom only to notice their daughter was gone and the screen was missing from the window of their Tucson, Arizona home.

In an effort find Isabel, many citizens and businesses owners posted flyers and told neighbors. Most of these flyers contained information about a $50,000 reward for finding Isa and used QR codes that drove mobile users to a website with information about the young girl.

Tucsonans also used a number of social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest to let others around the world know that Isa was missing. Within hours of the news story, post with pictures of young Isabel went up across the social graph.

In addition to a number of YouTube videos created, as police wound down their search efforts, one group of musicians “The Flight Team” released a music video entitled “Bring Isa Home.” So far the video has been seen more than 22,000 times. View the video below and share it with others.

Isa we miss you and we wait for your return. #BringIsaHome #Tucson

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Filed Under: Facebook, Featured, Marketing, Social Media, Twitter, Youtube Tagged With: arizona, Bring Isa Home, Isabel Celis, The Flight Team, Tucson

Create an Avatar of your Favorite Customers

November 1, 2011 By michael tucker Leave a Comment

Often times when meeting with new clients I ask them to describe their target market or perfect client. The answers I get range from “everybody” to small businesses owners on the “North-side” of town. As a business newbie we’ve all said something like this. However, if you ever want to make it to become an “oldie” I’d recommend never repeating it. If you want to be laser focused in your efforts to attract the right clients for your business I’d recommend creating up to 3 Avatars or personalities of your target market and directing your marketing specifically to these individuals.

I’ve known this concept for awhile but recently decided to take it on after hearing a talk by Paul Lemberg at the Social Profit Formula conference in Phoenix, Arizona nearly a week ago.

In less than one week I have effortlessly attracted 3 perfect prospective clients without even looking for them. Why? Because my intentions were crystal clear about what I was looking for. Additionally, I am now able to share my Avatar with others so they can make the best referrals. Lastly, and best of all I get to save time and energy by not wading through the hordes of individuals who simply aren’t a good fit.

Surprisingly, my perfect Avatar was not at all who I thought it would be. This was very eye-opening and caused me to rethink my marketing efforts. Which as I mentioned has worked like a charm.

Below is what I did to create my Avatar. Follow these steps to create your own.

1. Review the records of the customers you’ve worked with.

2. Make a list of 6-10 that you absolutely enjoyed working with. The clients I’ve enjoyed working with the most were very positive, eager to learn, took action, and best of all they didn’t haggle over pricing because they could afford my services.

3. Create a personal and professional profile for each of these individuals based on the following:

Professional

Industry
Company size
Gross Sales
How they interact with company
How their employees and peers view them
Problems they need solved

Personal

Age
Sex
weight
Race
Hobbies
Political preferences (even if you don’t agree)
Cars they drive
Marital status
What inspires them
What keeps them up at night

4. Find or create a picture of your Avatar.

5. Give him/her a name and personality.

6. Repeat steps 1-5 two more times.

7. Design marketing materials to focus on your 3 Avatars.

8. Share your Avatar with all who ask you to identify your best customer.

Here is an example of one of my perfect Avatars (If this looks like you or someone you know visit SocialMobileBuzz.com to learn more about how I can help you grow your company with social media and mobile marketing.)

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Filed Under: Featured, Marketing, Social Media Tagged With: arizona, Avatar, Paul Lemberg, Phoenix, Social Profit Formula

Marketing Beyond the Trance of Scarcity

September 26, 2011 By michael tucker 1 Comment

I recently started reading the book “Trance of Scarcity” by Victoria Castle as a part of a reading circle at the Center for Spiritual Living in Tucson. Since choosing to become a full-time entrepreneur in 2006 I have seen many ups and downs in business. I know what it means to work really hard and stay focused and play even when I don’t see results or feel well. I did this for several years and while I did see some business growth I always knew, that it was limited when compared to what I believed I was capable of.

Over the last year or so I have change may game plan a bit. I have been making an effort to just relax, be happy, love my family, take vacations and enjoy life regardless of what the business was doing or not doing.

Please don’t hear this as “I decided to neglect my business” I still did all of the basic things I needed to do to run and promote my business. However, this time I did them from a place of joy and not obligation or fear. When I would get out of this flow I would get back in by focusing on all the things I was grateful for.

The results have been amazing. I hired and contracted several employees this year and my marketing company Social Mobile Buzz is growing like a weed. While I do my best to practice my own marketing rules, I must admit that my largest business deals have come in spite of them. I have shared how I have been creating these results with a few of my clients. However, as of today, I will be making this message an even greater part of my consulting process.

Victoria’s book is a great tool to support this mindset. I am very grateful that she took the time to write a book that provides such clear instructions on how to remain in the flow of abundance.

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Filed Under: Featured, Gratitude, Health and Wellness, Inspiration, Marketing, Mindset Development, Social Media

What is a Brand?

August 19, 2011 By michael tucker Leave a Comment

The concept of a brand is very large and in many ways esoteric. However, I like to keep things simple. A brand is simply a promise or guarantee of uniqueness made to a customer. The best brands are those that communicate their uniqueness so well that when you think of a type of product or industry their name comes to mind.

Here are a few examples, when you need to blow your nose, you ask for a Kleenex. When you need a copier machine you ask for a Xerox. When you need to do an online search you “Google it.” These brands have been so well positioned in our minds until it is almost heresy to consider another product in the category they dominate.

Coca Cola is and anther great example. Have you ever wondered why it is called “the real thing?” Two words, brilliant branding. This phrase begs the question If Coca Cola is “the real thing,” what is everything else? The logical answer to this question is everything else that is not Coca Cola is a knock off, a fraud, a fake. Why? Because Coca Cola said so…over, and over again and so do all the people you know.
The last statement brings me to another point. While companies do their best to create and influence their brand, the people have the last say.

In the 70’s before Toyota became an industry leader in quality and sales, If you were to ask an American what they thought of Toyota or Japanese cars, most would say that they were an unreliable piece of junk. No matter how much they spent on advertising “Piece of Junk” was indeed their brand. Why? Because based on their experiences, this is what the people concluded and held in their conscious and subconscious mind.

As a business owner, speaker, consultant or coach you must consciously create your own brand. What unique promise will you make to your customer? What can they get from you that they can get nowhere else? This is your brand.

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Filed Under: Featured, Marketing, Social Media Tagged With: Brand

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