Crow Beautiful Digital Media: A Whole New World

Have you heard the rooster Crow Beautiful?

2019 is a our year of -Dreaming Our World- in VIVID COLOUR.  We are manifesting a Whole New World and want to Share our New World with you! We are in the development stage . . . so we will peel back the layers slowly leading to our official launch . . .

Crow Beautiful Digital Media lives in a world of imagination and ideas. Dreaming out loud and in colour is priceless. What makes our NEW WORLD priceless is the potential; the thought of bringing dreams into a digital CLOUD reality!  Just what is it that separates a sleeper of dreams from an implementer of dreams? This is answered by asking yourself, “Do you believe?” Belief is the quintessential piece that transitions dreams into reality. Belief is intangible and often cannot be proven. We live in a world of imagination and ideas. I am a Believer! A believer in the impossible, and a definite believer in the power of dreams.

Crow Beautiful Productions | Digital Media is developing and harnessing the power of imagination. Dreams and ideas are energizing us; driving us to create a foundation built upon the quintessential; to BELIEVE!

OUR NEW WORLD HAS LAUNCHED . . . BELIEVE!

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Brand or Product? What’s more important?!

Does everybody know your name?!

My first taste of brand-image and marketing, like most was working as sales clerks in retail stores while in school. The retail job that gave the most education about company branding and image was Victoria’s Secret. I loved everything about Vicky except the long hours. BRAND was all I heard in meetings. BRAND was talked about at every meeting, conference call and correspondence sent by the corporate office. It was unreal. Product was important, however BRAND for Victoria’s Secret was the ICING!

What I learned from that experience was that your company PRODUCT offerings and services can change like the wind. Product CHANGE must occur to keep up with the time, however your BRAND IMAGE is timeless! It will sell itself through the many product and service change and offerings over many decades!

So, what are you thinking? Add something to this Conversation!

This is my own kind of beautiful . . . Dream Your World!

I am Lisa Henry-Harper . . . Digital Content Producer & Visual Storyteller

Learn more about my marketing coach services and mentor-ship program for entrepreneurs, start-ups and boot-straps. Visit CrowBeautiful.com

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Identify YOU!

Does everybody know your name?!

Identification is important to your brand and your reputation. Once the question of “Who are you?” is well-known, building the other areas of your offerings and business will fall into place.

Every business, family, or community has a market or following. I love the Harry Potter novels and movies, even “he who has no name” has a following, a market.

Identification is anything by which a person or thing can be identified. If  I asked you to identify your market, could you? I am sure Voldemort could identify his market. It is the question that most business owners cannot answer without thought. Without really knowing who your client or customer maybe, marketing success will not be achieved.

So who is your market? The first place to begin is with your product or service. Who will benefit from your product or services. Remember people buy from you to satisfy basic needs, solve a problem, or to just make themselves happy.

Start with things that will benefit people in your target audience search. The only sure way to identify your market is to test your theory before you invest your time and money 100%.

This is my own kind of beautiful . . . Dream Your World!

I am Lisa Henry-Harper . . . Digital Content Producer & Visual Storyteller

Learn more about my marketing coach services and mentor-ship program for entrepreneurs, start-ups and boot-straps. Visit CrowBeautiful.com

Marketing is a verb . . . .

Does everybody knows your name?

Did you know that marketing is a VERB? The verb is perhaps the most important part of sentences. A verb or compound verb asserts something about the subject of the sentence and express actions, events, or states of being . . . Marketing sounds like a verb to me!

When you market you share all you can about your business, your offerings and your services. You express action through creating marketing, advertisements, and promotions. Without a verb in a sentence, could we understand the statement or question? Marketing is a verb. Marketing connects people with your business. Could we connect our businesses with clients and customers without marketing?

Do you have a business without a verb? Hmmmm . . . . Today is a good day to develop some verbs!

This is my own kind of beautiful . . . Dream Your World!

I am Lisa Henry-Harper . . . Digital Content Producer & Visual Storyteller

Learn more about my marketing coach services and mentor-ship program for entrepreneurs, start-ups and boot-straps. Visit CrowBeautiful.com

Cut Back on Marketing? WTH!!

Does everybody know your name?

I have listened to three people who have businesses and mentioned that their plan of action due to the economy, (1) *is to suspend all marketing for a while, (2) *to cut back on the marketing budget, and (3) *to let the marketing company they hired go for about a month or so, until things turn around.” They said they are working out how they will in-house market until things turn around.

OK, I shall say it again. Cut back on marketing, WTH!!!!!

Marketing is the beginning, the middle, and without it, the end of your business. People forget quickly, they lose faith in you and your business when you drop off the scene, and your competitors will feast easily on your “should have been” client’s.

Cut back on marketing? You might as well cut your own throat NOW! Why wait three months from now, just cut it now before your phone goes dead, your front door starts collecting dust, and the employees that probably put the idea in your head to begin with, start looking for and find a better job. When the ship goes down, the only person that will be standing there is YOU. It ain’t no shame in laying off or implementing a run-and-go-get-it policy for your employees.

There is nothing more I will say other than, “Cut back on marketing? What the h….!!

This is my own kind of Beautiful . . . Dream Your World!

I am LISA LIFE . . . 🙂

Personally Develop: Become a Mental Athlete

Does everybody know your name?

Personal development is the core of creating, building, and sustaining a marketing plan/campaign on limited financial resources. The journey of a marketing war with low or limited resources requires heart, presence of mind and many compromises.

You must be a mental athlete. One that can move around the obstacles of limited resources. Personal development of mind and self fills the void of lack of financial resources, lack of objects needed, and pressures from those asking, “How, what, where, when, and why.”

It is never too late to learn, grow, and achieve. All things are possible, BELIEVE.  Bringing your dream into reality is work that is worth the journey. There is much trial and error developing, so be patient. This is what I remind myself to do daily.

This is my own kind of beautiful . . . Dream Your World!

I am LISA LIFE . . . 🙂

The Velvet Rope Theory: Screen your clients?

Does everybody know your name?!

Imagine you being invited to an exclusive party. You arrive to the party and stopped by a velvet rope between two brass poles. A young woman asks you for your name, you give it and one end of the velvet rope opens for you to enter.

You passed the screening. The exclusive party clearly is something the host knows you would benefit from and enjoy.

It is absolutely divine to work with clients you enjoy. It makes the work you produce better and promotes mental and emotional health for you personally. Having great relationships with clients creates a quality of life that extends to all areas of your life. When you work with clients who are not ideal for you, at some point you’re going to create a conflict, whether intentionally or not, because you will be frustrated with those clients, and those clients will think you’re not providing them with good service and they’ll be right. I’ve made that mistake many times.

I did not screen any client in the beginning. I should have asked the right questions. All business relationships should be equally yoked and all parties should be of like mind. This is especially true for the nature of the business and venue I provide services to.  There is a wise saying, “All money ain’t good money” a true saying I learned the hard way.

There was a time I worked with five attorneys or law offices simultaneously as a legal marketer and not one of the firms were a fit. It is awful when you hate going to work for yourself. It should have felt rewarding to have clients. It should have been a blessing especially then. Never have I had so many headaches as I did at that time. What was causing this stress? It was not the work. I enjoyed marketing. It was who I chose to do business with. It is draining and exhausting working with challenging client-relationships.

We are dedicated screening our clients now. It is not elaborate; we simply take the time to talk with potential clients over coffee or lunch. Humble egos is what we look for. This approach may not be best for your business, but if you have more challenging client-relationships than enjoyable client-relationships, it may be time to introduce the velvet rope theory.

This is my own kind of beautiful . . . Dream Your World!

I am Lisa Henry-Harper . . . Digital Content Producer & Visual Storyteller

Learn more about my marketing coach services and mentor-ship program for entrepreneurs, start-ups and boot-straps. Visit CrowBeautiful.com

Rainmakers Can Be Slick As a Pot of Okra

Does everybody know your name?!

I personally have not worked in a firm where the attorneys really got along. For a six month stretch the firm name could be Johnson, Miller and Steen. The next three months could be Steen and Associates then eventually just Mark Steen, P.A., for example.

One Friday evening we all left the office for a normal weekend expecting to return bright and early Monday looking forward to a new week. Monday morning at 5:00am I received a call from an attorney in the firm who informed me the office had moved over the weekend and to report to the new location by 7:00am. I asked why so early and why the move, he said just get a head start organizing the office and it would be explained in our morning meeting. I called other marketing department co-workers in the office and they verified the same information. I arrived about 6:50am got out my car, started for the front door and everyone else pulled up. About 7:15am the attorney who called everyone pulled up, unlocked the door and told us the coffee was made and a southern breakfast was on the way. Everybody get some java and meet me in the conference room.

By 7:45 we were in the conference room and the receptionist asked where the office manager was, he confidently said she will not be joining us. I knew then there was a twist to this move. I looked around the room and realized the staff was everyone he hired. Staff members hired by other partners were not in the new office. The runner asked the right question, whose firm is this? His answer was, “Mine.” if anyone has a problem with it, now is the time to make your decision.

Perception is a beast to disprove! By now the managing attorneys knew where we are and it looks as though we are in on it. How can we leave and go back to that firm without suspicion? The receptionist tried to call the managing attorneys and found out all our law firm cell phones were shut off. Well that made the decision for us. We were pirated! Our new employer asked for all law firm cell phones and made sure the phones were returned. That same day our new employer issued everyone a new cell phone. Later that week he negotiated getting our personal items from the office.

He pirated the entire marketing staff, the receptionist/prospect intake person, one paralegal and one office runner. Everyone he personally head hunted and hired.

Rainmakers can be slick as a pot of okra  . . .

This is my own kind of beautiful . . . Dream Your World . . .

I am LISA LIFE . . . 🙂

Heart of a Legal Marketer-Criminal Defense

Does everybody know your name?!

The first time I heard this African parable, I was working in the marketing department for the Mississippi Credit Union System. I had the pleasure to meet one of the top motivational speakers, Mr. Willie Jolley. As part of the marketing team, my job was to get Mr. Jolley from point A to point B during the credit unions three day convention. There were many words of wisdom he shared as I drove him to each engagement and also in the lobby of the Biloxi convention center, however this parable from Mr. Jolley set the core for how we operate and do business.

“Everyday in Africa a gazelle wakes up knowing he has to out run the fastest lion or get eaten. Everyday in Africa a lion wakes up knowing he has to out run the fastest gazelle or starve to death. So it doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle, when the sun comes up you’d better be running.”

I know many of you have heard this African parable but this was my first time. Marketing controls a large portion of the financial success of any law firm or any business for that matter. Marketing managers are accountable to EVERYONE who receives a paycheck from that business. When the “marketing manager” has personal problems, has the blues, or wakes up on the wrong side of the bed, the firm or business will see it in their bottom line. It is more than a job. It is the key to everyone’s quality of life.

Whatever the personal circumstances of the marketing personnel the motto is, “When the sun comes up you’d better be running.”

There is nothing more “PERSONAL” or enlightening than seeing a picture of a receptionists’ or paralegals family portrait with their babies smiling directly at YOU!

Marketing does not keep the same hours as the rest of the firm. Operations is structured from 8 to 5. Direct marketing is different from other forms of marketing. Direct marketing requires (Call to action) one-on-one real-time with potential clients and that requires a great deal of the marketers time. That means on-call 24/7 and ready to change strategies at a moments notice. Heart characteristics are commitment, dedication, and discipline.

The drive or heart of marketing must be willing to go that extra mile. The attitude of your marketing team and how they operate affects others. Time, energy, and imagination are vital to marketing success. Everything has to be done in time and well executed. Direct marketing is filled with planning a-lot of mini events. Off timing or bad execution just may halt momentum of incoming revenue. If this happens, there will be a drought until the machine is oiled again. Some businesses do not have the luxury or are financially unstable to maintain while re-priming the pump. The heart of a legal marketer must understand what is at stake and treat this as more than just a job. Legal marketers get up running everyday to protect a way of life.

If your marketing manager does not identify with this story, a new marketing manager is needed.

There was this Young Creative Inventor who built a wind machine with no motor. He showed it to his Wise Uncle. His Wise Uncle praised him for this one-of-a-kind wind machine.  An Investor contacted the Young Creative Inventor and told him he was interested in mass producing his wind machine, and said he had only a window of tomorrow at exactly 5:30pm to test drive the unique wind machine with no motor. The Young Creative Inventor and his Wise Uncle were excited and then realized there had been no wind in 2 days. They were both nervous at the thought of no wind. They waited to see what the morning would bring. At sun up there was no wind. At 10:00am there was no wind and at 1:30pm the mid-day wind report said there would be no wind at exactly 5:30pm. The Young Creative Inventor became hysterical. His Wise Uncle told him to calm down and that there would be wind by 5:30pm. The Young Creative Inventor was stunned. He asked, “Wise Uncle how?” Wise Uncle walked to the phone, dialed a number. The Young Creative Inventor asked, “Who are you calling?” Wise Uncle said SHHHH! I’m on an important call . . . “Yes, this is Wise Uncle. How are you? Well, I need your assistance.

God, I need to talk to you about your wind . . .”

This is my own kind of Beautiful . . . Dream Your World!

I am LISA HENRY-HARPER . . . 🙂

Almost forgot the most important attribute of the heart of a legal marketer. PASSION.

So you want to be a Rainmaker?

Rainmaker may refer to

• Rainmaking, attempting to artificially induce or increase precipitation
  • Rain dancing, a ceremonial dance that is performed in order to invoke rain
  • Cloud seeding, dispersing substances into the air that serve as cloud condensation or ice nuclei

The “Rainmaker” is any person who attracts and establishes long-term business relationships with clients and/or desirable contracts. It is not enough to create a marketing plan and pay attention to your marketing only Mondays and Thursdays. Becoming a rainmaker takes willingness, persistence, patience, and the ability to accept and mold to change. It requires evolving your state of mind and continually building your staff through constant business development.  To build anything worth having requires work.

Rainmaking does require a ceremonial dance. Establishing business relationships of respect and confidence with your target audience and local community is a ceremonial dance, a journey of building trust that you will do the work they are paying and entrusting you to do.

Bringing business in the door that surpasses financial expectations is awesome, however it does not indicate a “Rainmaker” Once the client or contract chooses your services, does your work live up to the expectations that were presented by you or your staff? Business development should come before a marketing plan is put into action. Poor service does not a “Rainmaker” make.

So you want to be a rainmaker? The next question I personally ask myself, when I’m tired or must work with obstacles is, “What are willing to do to get what you say you want?” You cannot skip or ignore the dance if you want rain. You can change the style of the dance, the tempo, or the venue but rainmakers dance.

Becoming a rainmaker is a journey, whatever business you are in. Setting goals, working your business vision everyday and adapting to change are necessary to become a certified “Rainmaker”

This is my own kind of beautiful . . . Dream Your World!

I am LISA LIFE . . . 🙂