Try opening a new shop to sell smoothies in a small Utah town in the middle of Winter. Not just any Winter, one with subzero temperatures. You’d think it would be tough. It’s really a time when you’d probably do better selling hot chocolate. But thanks to some brilliant marketing, one small business owner is getting plenty of customers for his new smoothie shop in Vernal. He’s also getting national press. How? By taking a controversial political stand.

The owner is already a local celebrity for putting up billboards in support of oil and gas drilling in the town. Now he’s using his political views to get customers for his newest venture.

The large menu states that liberals will pay one price and conservatives pay another (not sure what moderates pay). If you’re a liberal you’ll pay $1 more for your smoothie. The extra dollar liberals pay gets donated to conservative causes. Again, brilliant. So is the name of the restaurant. It’s called the  I Love Drilling Juice and Smoothie Bar.

Owner George Burnett  is a real character, wearing his cowboy hat and not backing down from his opinions one bit. In other words this isn’t a publicity stunt (well, yes it is). He really believes it.

“I have liberals come in who pay $1 surcharge….actually all 3 liberals have been happy to pay it.”

No matter what way your politics lean, you have to have admire his brazen tactics.

Not only are customers rewarded for being conservative,  employees must be too. They must not only believe in drilling for oil (raping and pillaging the earth), they have to share their views on social media and with bumper stickers. Again, brilliant!

Now, in just about any other town in the US this would be not only bold, but stupid. But this is Vernal, Utah, where liberals might get shot at. When I traveled through these towns in college, we always displayed our US flag on the car to hopefully ward off attacks (while we went hiking). This is a small town where most would rather liberals not even visit (it reminds me of Richfield, New York which has a sign that says: Welcome to Richfield — now go home). This move creates instantly loyalty. And this is Utah, where some parents buy pink guns for their babies (as featured on Nightline).

This reminds me of Chick-fil-A and their open anti-gay marriage position. It may have made them hated with some, but others love them for their stand. That’s a lot riskier since they have a national audience, but supposedly it has paid off since this article claims they have record-breaking profits.  7-Eleven gets political without taking a stand either way by letting their customers choose a Republican or a Democrat coffee cup and claims that they do accurately predict election results.

In other words, taking a stand or using your business as a platform for your beliefs or to measure your customer’s beliefs, seems to be a trend that can pay off. What it’s really doing is tapping into what their customers are passionate about.

What do you think, do politics and business mix well? And, would you drink the Kool Aid  conservative or the liberal smoothie?

Here are some of my favorite reads or resources found online this week:

• This study says almost half company followers on Twitter are bots (fake). Anyone know how to clean out your Twitter account or see how many bots are following you?

• Become a Power Searcher – Google offers free online courses going on now: http://bit.ly/PHlkI9

•  3 Little-Known Metrics That Can Help Optimize Your Facebook Page (Entrepreneur.com)

• Bufferapp lets you flag content to be added to a queue and then auto-tweeted or put on Facebook throughout the day. I need this because I get flashes of ideas and finds, then flood my accounts and overwhelm people. Plus this tool chooses the best time of day to post for you. They also have a great blog – like this post on how to find & post great content 15x per day!

• List of Pinterest Tools – you can add your own favorite tool to the list! (List.ly)

Since my blog gets a lot of traffic based on a picture of toilet paper I posted, I thought this story would be well-received. Hannah Laine helps small businesses find a captive audience. The ad space she sells is practically guaranteed to be seen by everyone who is exposed to them. That’s because she sells ads in public restrooms. Since people are generally not doing much else at the time her ads are shown, she aptly named the company Undivided Attention.

She is testing using QR codes on some of the ads. We know people bring their phones with them everywhere, yes, even in the bathroom.

Always a champion of women-owned businesses, I asked her a few questions about how she got started and what’s been most effective so far.

What gave you the idea to start this business? I was at a business convention out of state and saw the ads on the insides of the stalls of the convention center. I said, Brilliant! This is an amazing way to advertise!

How long ago did you start it? We’ve been up and running since January 2012!

What did you do before this? I’ve worked for various companies including UBS Bank, XanGo, and eBay. I also started, ran, and later sold my own gourmet hot dog catering business called Frank’s Franks, which operated out of a fully-restored and retro-fit 1964 VW Bus.

Is it profitable yet? We’re shooting for profitability by the end of 2012.

Is it just local (Utah only)? Yes, we are focusing on the Utah market right now, though we have some connections in other areas that we may pursue at a later date.

What has the response been like? The response has been very positive! Most people laugh at first, until they realize how really awesome the possibilities are.

Can you track response of the QR codes or do you leave that to the client? We outsource with a QR Code company, who manages the clients’ QR codes and tracking. Many have not jumped on the idea yet. Although we love technology and are major fans, many people still don’t know what to do when they see a QR code. It’s a gradual introduction process.

Can you give me an example of some ads with QR codes – are they only for men’s restrooms or have you had success with women’s? We ran some ads for City Deals, and the Men generally had more interest in the QR code-based ads. We’re now experimenting with text-based campaigns for the women’s room.

The cost? $50/month Yes, it’s $50 per frame, per month, per location!

Here are some of Hannah’s most successful ads (I’m hoping this first one isn’t literal!):

Surprised it doesn’t have an address (at least a city), but it has a URL.

What do you think of her idea – will it catch on? And, would you scan a QR code in the restroom? I think it’s a great idea at tech shows especially.

Social Media Club of Salt Lake City Re-launches – Sarah Evans Speaking

Social Media Club of Salt Lake City is back! This is great news. I’m fond of SLMC because they gave me an award in 2009, my friends were founders, and its a great way to stay in touch with the industry.

The kick-off event is Wed. July 11, 2012 and Sarah Evans will speak along with Jennifer Gosse, co-founder of Tracky, to discuss “Migrating from Casual Connections to Meaningful Collaboration.” Sarah is so genuine and I’ve always wanted to meet her. Plus she featured my Pinterest tool PinAlerts in her newsletter. And we’re both working moms in the social/pr space (our babies are about the same age). Even though I might not make it to this meeting, Sarah will speak at EVO, which I am attending.

WHERE: The Leonardo (next to the Salt Lake Library)

WHEN: Wednesday July 11, 2012 from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

COST: Admission is free, however attendees are encouraged to register as space is limited.

Register at smcslcjuly.eventbrite.com or visit www.smcslc.org  for more information.

I could make this subtitled viral Utah – the good and the ugly.

• A Utah woman with a guide dog got kicked out of an Ann Taylor store. It made local and national news (The Consumerist and Huffington Post picked it up). Ann Taylor first tried to blame the woman, but later came to their senses and apologized. They should’ve owned up faster and offered her a $100 gift card for their mistake. Becky Andrews was ready to burn her wardrobe and Ann Taylor got a lot more than $100 worth of bad PR.

• After that story, you need a laugh. This no cost PR stunt from a comedy group out of Utah Valley State College. They filmed a guy trying to hold hands with strangers. It has over 4 million views on YouTube. My favorite is the woman who happily goes along with it (she’s hoping that his move is shorthand for want to go out with me?) That’s how I would’ve reacted if a hot guy walked up and started holding my hand, so that was my favorite part.

• The World’s Largest Webinar!
  With the Olympics coming, everyone is trying to set new records (even me). How about a marketing-related record? Great way to send out a press release and get some publicity. Hubspot is trying to get  in the Guinness Book of World Records for the world’s largest webinar. July 12 at 10 am PT. Hosted by Dan Zarrella, HubSpot’s Social Media Scientist, and Ben Watson, the VP of Marketing at HootSuite. Register today to be a part of HootSuite history!
• Social Media writing guide.
  This is from a government agency (the CDC) but it’s helpful for anyone who writes online. Make your own version for your business.

Have you ever been hated by a big group of people? I hope not. This is my news quote of the week:

“People don’t understand – when you screw up, and you feel that wave of energy of a million people saying, “Shame on you” – 20 minutes on that grill is enough to change your life. The body is not equipped to handle negative energy from so many people.”
-John Mayer on his PR crisis

Facebook Marketing Insights

• Do Facebook promoted posts actually work? In my experience, they do very little except increase impressions (chances that its seen by someone).

• Study says online communities need constant attention if you want sales. Only community members who received “relevant, frequent, lengthy and timely” information were likely to experience increased levels of trust or to be more inclined to make purchases, researchers found. More insights including this line I love: Number of Facebook Fans Isn’t a Key Performance Metric from Search Engine Watch‘s Miranda Miller.
• This campaign combines Facebook and Pinterest -with the a Pin it to Win It Contest that originates on Facebook. Fans create a “Tuckernucking” Pinterest board featuring three items inspired by the brand’s All-American look. Fans then submit their boards’ URLs via the Sign Up form for a chance to win a $250 gift card.  Source: Offerpop.

YouTube Marketing Insights (which has some insights that apply for going viral on Pinterest too)

• The quote below is from a Techcrunch post about how a marketing agency gets videos to go viral on YouTube for their clients (they don’t make you pay if you don’t get at least 100k views!). They admit they pay bloggers to post their embedded videos and got a lot of heat for it. I’m a big fan of partnering with bloggers- esp. for local businesses. Link goes to an event I organized and loved. Thank you for dispelling a myth…the post was written in 2007 but it’s still true today. The internet is crowded and you have to stand out to be seen.

“One simply can’t expect to post great videos on YouTube and have them go viral on their own, even if you think you have the best videos ever. These days, achieving true virality takes serious creativity, some luck, and a lot of hard work.”

I’ve been looking for case studies of people who are making money directly from Pinterest. I’ve found affiliate marketers who are (stay tuned for more on this in a future post). Geoffrey is one of the first to make money by promoting his products on Pinterest.

I’m not advocating that making money directly from Pinterest is the holy grail of marketing. Just like making money on any social network, it’s usually because you’re visible and people like you that you end up making money. In other words, people see and like Geoffrey’s work so they contact him for a design project. It’s rarely a direct sale (someone sees and buys the product).  But sometimes it is and that is what this case study is about.

I interviewed Geoffrey Sagers (that’s such a graphic designer’s spelling, isn’t it?). He’s a graphic designer who got on Pinterest about 9 months ago. He just started to experiment with selling his work. He didn’t set out to do it, but after people asked for copies of his designs, he began to see the potential.

Geoffrey noticed quotes, which are super popular on Pinterest, but a lot of them are ugly. He thought he could do better, so he started making his own versions. Quotes do well on Facebook too (I didn’t ask if Geoffrey has a page for his business). If you design a quote, it’s good for a blog post, a Facebook update, a new product, and a pin.

When he was starting out Geoffrey wasn’t pinning his work, he pinned photographs and things that inspired him. Things that gave him ideas for his own business.

Pinterest is nothing if not a form of inspiration and enchantment. There’s always something to be discovered. I believe in participating from a mindset of sharing and connecting with whatever inspires you, not from a mindset of how much money you can make. Although I’m not a purist. You can use Pinterest any way you choose, or create multiple accounts to use as you please. In fact, you could create a themed account like this one that just showcases Facebook design services.

Of course someone can copy your work and take credit for it. Or Pinterest could decide it’s theirs. But so far it’s worth the risk Geoffrey says. You win some…but not all. Granted it’s not his full-time gig.

Lessons in Fulfillment
At first Geoffrey ran to Walmart to print orders as they came in, but that took a lot of time. He now uses Smugmug . I must say I hate their shopping cart with the small buy button that you have to look for, but that’s not the point of this story. The point is the quality is better and he doesn’t have to do any of the fulfillment.

Appeal to your Target Audience – in this Case Usually Women
The majority of people pinning and repinning on Pinterest are women. That does not mean that men or things that appeal to men can’t do well on the site. It does mean that the majority of pins in most cases are things that appeal to women. I like this. Most businesses like this because you know, the power of the purse. Women make a lot of the purchasing decisions for their families. Think educated, higher income moms and grandmas.

My friend Karen says men are more reluctant to use Pinterest because of the name. Her husband says it’s because men don’t pin things, they nail ‘em. But it was started by a man (who launched Pinterest at Alt Summit, a conference in Utah that mostly women attend).

Timing – When to Pin
Geoffrey says if he doesn’t get at least one repin on his work, he deletes it and pins it another time. Your pin appears as a new item in a category for about 7-10 mins. So if you don’t get a pin in that time it’s unlikely you’ll get them later. I’m sure there will be services that do this but I’ve started to see people hiring for this task.

He’s found that the best times to pin are between 7-8am (before work or school), 11-1:30 (during lunch), and 6-8pm (after dinner).

Colors are Important Too
Again and again I see how colors are important. Geoffrey uses pinks and red when the image is has a love or marriage theme. Otherwise he uses blues or greens. If the quote is hard-hitting then he’ll use a darker background image or grungy look. This could be a coffee stain look or black. So that infographic you create might do better on Pinterest if you change the color scheme.

End of my Long-Winded Post about Pinterest
I can write and write about Pinterest because I genuinely love it. For many reasons both personal and business. I think it’s the most accessible of the social networks. We’re always looking for the fastest way to get information. It’s much faster to skim images than to read. You don’t need to click to be whisked away into dream mode, you’re just in it, bang. I also love how people love Pinterest.

Here’s one of the pins that got Geoffrey the most repins. You’re not used to seeing quotes like this on my blog are you?

Now you can pin this post.

Related articles

• Pinterest, Google+ and Facebook Tips and Techniques (slideshare.net)
• PinPuff For Pinfluencers And Other Ways To Find Pinterest Users (makeuseof.com)
• Pinterest: We’re not going to be sued into oblivion, and here’s why (nextlevelofnews.com)
• Pinterest For Personal Branding: 7 Cool and Practical Uses (personalbrandingblog.com)

This infographic has some insights that made me pause. One of the simple takeaways is make a more secure password with 8 characters and by using at least one capital letter.

Here’s how your identity gets compromised:

Created by: Online Marketing Degree

“From what travel agents are telling me, that horrifying image (of the massive ship on its side) is going to turn the cruise industry on its side, too.”

-Mike Driscoll, editor-in-chief of Cruise Week Magazine, as quoted in USA TODAY

What a quote. It’s my favorite of the week. I’m pondering this as I read stories and see images of the Italian cruise ship that hit an obstacle and within minutes starting to fill with water and go down. How no one was prepared. How it was so unexpected. And how tragic it is because it was entirely avoidable. But most of all how the captain of the ship reacted.

Talk about a PR disaster! I can see the headline: Cruise Industry Sinking!

Not only is the cruise industry facing this but Italy also has a PR disaster because the captain of the ship walked off! Now he’s in jail. What a coward.

Contrast this to Sully who successfully landed a plane in the Hudson and carefully helped his passengers off in freezing water. We felt a surge of national pride.

What would you do if this were you, your industry or your country?

In a sense when bad news hits, it’s like an obstacle you didn’t see coming and after a point, couldn’t avoid hitting.

The story of the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia sinking (here are some great photos of the cruise ship on Google +) in fair weather with clear skies is more than a PR disaster for the cruise industry though. It’s more than the story of people dying and the person in charge running off while everyone else suffers (bringing to mind the stories of Enron, Bernard Madoff, execs from major financial institutions).

It’s a story that reminds me of what happens to industries (newspapers, music, books), people, companies (Borders, Circuit City, WordPerfect, Hollywood video) and products (dvds, text books) all of the time.  I’m fascinated by what happens next after  you go through the shock and clean up the damage, what emerges.

This story is sad, true and it’s a powerful metaphor for business. What did it teach you?

This past week I went back to work after maternity leave. I’m starting off with just one day a week, going to two days in a few months. While it was a little difficult thinking of leaving my 2 month old baby for an entire day, I also realized it was time. I needed to get back to work again to save my own sanity and Alexis is getting some great bonding time with grandma.

I realized years ago that I don’t do well making friends with other moms. Much like at work, just having one close friend at work makes a huge difference in your happiness. I haven’t found that friend at home and I’m going nuts. I’m social and hate being alone most of the day. Which is why I go into work at least once a week now.

When I left I trained someone to do my job. She did so well I didn’t even worry about things while I was gone. That was such a relief. When I returned I realized a few things:

1- My temporary replacement was better at doing my job than I was.

2- I don’t think she had another job lined up.

3- The plan I had wasn’t going to work as I’d hoped.

Things had also changed dramatically in the company since I left. I have a new boss and team. With all of the changes I haven’t gotten updates and some of tasks I did have been assigned to others. At first I panicked. It’s not uncommon for someone to take your place while you’re on maternity leave. I could’ve been angry or threatened and demanded or fought to get my position back. Instead I saw it as an opportunity to be creative (one of my strengths).

It’s not unusual for a woman to get passed over for a promotion or lose a position because she takes maternity leave. Look what happened over at TechCrunch.

My solution? I’m creating a premium version of the product I started (a blog network). I still get to work with bloggers but now I’m just working with the best. The group will be much smaller but that will free me up to be partners with them and develop more creative solutions for our clients. I get to pass off some of the parts I didn’t like about my job to my replacement. She’ll have more work and I will too. I see it as a win.

Why am I blogging about this? I want other women in the workforce to consider these issues. I also want to show that when you feel threatened you can fight the change or you can make a change. Usually there are solutions you don’t see at first. Look for them. Most of all I want women to stand up for themselves and to think ahead and plan — something that took me years to learn.