Marketing with index cards

[handprop]

Here is what you requested Ann, I found it, copied it and pasted it on a new thread. Below is NOT the whole system, you need to get some pink cards to go with the white ones and i'll explain why in the next post.



Some use software but I use hardware.

Many years ago I watched a marketing executive use index cards and it was amazing to see. This was before computers were mainstream so I adopted it and use it to this day.

All I have is a metal box that uses 5 x 8 index cards and a bunch of dividers. The dividers never change but the index cards do. The box is my complete system (sort of) and in the front is all the brainstorming ideas and the back is full of conclusions from all the efforts made as it evolves. The middle is like a giant flow chart and contains all the nuts and bolts of the complete marketing process.

Some day I might consider changing to a spreadsheet but I doubt it. I can take the box in my car, airplane, and any meetings I have. When an idea, question or task comes up I just open it and grap the right card. When driving I always take it with and driving is boring so I normally grab a card i'm working on and set it in my dash where the gauges sit and keep thinking and staying on task. The cards are always changing because as the marketing process takes shape I keep removing cards and re-writing them improving the content every step of the way.

This all sounds crazy but it works great and I wouldn't change a thing! One reason it works so well is simplicity, something that was pounded in my head for years. It's not for everyone but some folks may like it.

Oh, I should mention the guy that gave me the idea was the senior marketing executive of Kimberly-Clark.

Mike

[handprop]

OK Ann, you said you bought a box and some cards......and dividers I hope. The above is the very short version and it gets a little more complicated but not anything you can't handle.

You do need a different color, I use pink but any color works as long as it's different than white.

The first step is to put everything to the side and grab a notebook, pencil, and a glass of wine. Now just get really relaxed and make sure your not bothered by anybody....total silence.

Think of marketing as a process, kind of like a factory I guess. How you start is to just pick one component of the business (it can be more than just marketing) and think the process through. In a factory production of a part has a beginning and a end right? Marketing is similar in that the process can and should be identified.

The purpose of the box and the cards is to 1) identify the process and 2) improve the process. White index cards is the simple parts of the process while the pink represents the (attempted improvement). Remember something, marketing is an evolution with no right or wrong way, just different results. What we are going to do is maximize results.

The best way to explain it is with a very simple made up process.

One set of dividers has one independently identified marketing process. In the example lets choose my daughter because it will be simple and easy to understand.

My daughter is 8 and in any given day she pretty much does a bunch of things each day that are pretty much the same. We are going to pick just one thing and that's going in a separate divider. Of all the things she does let's pick the very first process in her day and forget the rest.

The alarm goes off

She wakes up and goes to the bathroom

She walks to to the kitchen and eats breakfast

She brushes her teeth

She gets dressed

She goes to school

OK, this is the first process of her day. In marketing it my be your "Website" or "Billboard" or "Word of mouth" or "Referral" ......

What I have above is a starting point, the goal is to improve the process so I have some work to do. I also need a goal for my daughters morning. The simple process above is put in the notebook only and I can explain that in the next post.

For you, what component of the marketing process to you want to improve, change, or validate? Pick one and break it down in very simple terms and write it in a notebook just like above.

Do this and write it in a post here also. When you do that i'll follow up with how I handle the next step and then we can work on the marketing for you.

Mike

[handprop]

Keep in mind Ann, nobody can teach you about marketing your business better than you. You know it better than anybody and believe it or not you already have the answers, we just need to pull it out of your head. A business owner has a ton of stuff kicking around the brain at any given hour and it's overwhelming. We are just going to make it simple so you can get on with the task of flipping a switch to make the marketing work for you. In your case it's easy because you already have a good business, you just want it better.

Mike

[greenoak]

thanks so much mike....i forgot about the colors.....
i set it up already and not just for marketing... i like it....its all in one place and kind of visible....
like this morning i bumped into zazzle....well i might be interesteed but no time right now to research it...so its on a card ..when get more info on it it goes on the card again....maybe a different color card...right?
i always have a ton of what i call ORPHAN IDEAS ....some get forgotten and some get worked on.... i think your idea here is really going to help me keep track and add to the different projects......
im thinking i will probably have 5 main categories,,,,marketing....store style ....furniture design.....buying.....and big store direction ideas....
im so new and excited about facebook...it has the biggest file right now.....
i think this really fits my hectic style and life....i can deal with cards....
new ideas come all the time...like yesterdsay ...day off and shopping at the mall....i met a portrait artist who i talked to about coming to one of our events....now his number is safe in my file....and i can have lots of little sub categories.... but should i put him under art...or events or spring? thats what always drives me batty....
when you look into your file how do you tell your progress on the different ideas? mainly thru the colors? how do you decide when to get the pink cards out? what happens to the deserted ideas?

ps...your picture with the cigar looks awfluly ikky for someone with an 8 yr old...
ann

[greenoak]

mike....in trying to do what you described.... here is one of my big main marketing goals and projects.....
the goal is to target the under 45 married woman home owner....who really cares about her house. she probably isnt in a trailer or a little teeny house or an apartment......
i want her to hear about us, get interested and come buy something....
what will tempt her in???....the green idea, the great prices, the adventure, the zipless parts
how to reach her????....in store
on facebook
right words in ads
right visuals in ads and on blogs and site...
shes our future....
is that a start...?
im trying to get inside her head..i know she doesnt care about antiques or collect or love the huge amouont of stuff like my earlier customers did........on a store forum im on someone described her as pms, menopause, drinking, friends and me me me...... i thought that was funny....
im considering funny bitchy women stuff or rainforest fair trade stuff...or a combination of both...as my new side products for her....mainly i want to be her furniture source...and her fun place to shop
now what do i do with my cards....
ann

[Spider]

I used to follow a similar system and have advised clients on several occasions to do likewise. It can be very effective.

I called my cardfile my "Treasure Chest." I used 3x5 cards and it was used to follow through and complete tasks, or goals.

I had several main Goal cards, one card per goal. Each card listed 4 or 5 steps to reaching that goal.

These sub-goals were given cards of their own and further broken down into 4 or 5 steps. If necessary, these steps were given a card of their own and they were broken down into 4 or 5 steps.

Each card also had a date for completion on the face, and the back was used to record progress.


I particularly liked it for when I had several main tasks/Goals running simultaneously - it kept them all on the front burner and none could get ignored or overlooked. It also meant I could choose what I wanted to do rather than do what I felt I had to do. This made life far more enjoyable, and still kept me on purpose.

[greenoak]

sounds good frederick..
..this time of year really makes you think about goals and where you are and how you did last year....and especially what you are aiming for in the coming year....
and how....
im getting all kinds of number reports from dh now...almost year end....
ann

[KristineS]

That is a good idea and I might try something similar. I'm so spread all over the place right now, trying to do so many different things. This sort of system would help me focus a little more and make sure things don't get forgotten.

[Spider]

While I'm sure a card index "Treasure Chest" will help you focus, I did it because I wanted to do what I enjoyed. With this system, I could do what I fancied, knowing that it wasn't really goofing off - I was still working on a goal, although perhaps not the goal of highest priority. Then when I was in the mood for #1 Goal, I could get on with it with a passion.

It helped make even procrastination productive!

[greenoak]

bumped up hoping for handprop...