If your anything like me, it represents a “check out” moment from the hustle and bustle of life to reflect on the joys of beings mom (and the sorrows), how far you have come and how far your family has come.

Most of us our adorned with flowers, a gift, or dinner out and those are all such wonderful tokens of love from our families. However, this year I also received a Mother’s Day gift that not only was really special to me personally…but it was an excellent example of 21st century marketing at its finest in my books! Those of us in business should setup and take notice.

Here’s the scoop. I was busy at my computer (I still spend way too much time there) working on my business and an email came in from a dear friend of mine notifying me…

Your friend Patty sent you the following video from CNNBC: “Hazel Nieves Announced as 2009 Mother of the Year.”

I thought at first…wow…about time someone out there knew what I went through raising six children as a single parent!! Of course, I clicked on the link and to my utter delight the video played with all these mentions of me announced as ‘Mother of the Year’ from President Obama to a guy with a tattoo on his arm with my first name!!!!

WOW! I was so excited I then personalized the email and sent it to a list of mothers I know so they too could get the joy of this gift like I did.

You may be saying great for you but how does this help me with my marketing!

Well first, I found out the video has been sent to more than 4,500,000 moms and that does not count today’s numbers or tomorrow!! Secondly, the sponsors of this video have had a flood of emails pouring in thanking them for the video, blogger’s blogging about and just a huge response to what the entire marketing purpose was in the first place and that was to bring attention and TRAFFIC to their organization MomsRising.org!

The MomsRising Organization is dedicated to bring together millions of people who share a common concern about the need to build a more family-friendly America. Started in May of 2006, MomsRising has gained over 150,000 citizen members and is rapidly growing. More than 85 national and state organizations have signed on to be aligned with MomsRising.

There marketing for this cause is soooooooo 21st century in that they understand how to strike the cord of emotion in people and give something relevant to their audience so that they can also share in the purpose and mission of this organization and at the same time in a ‘non-selling’ way help us to understand the need for us to support this cause.

I advise anyone one interested in what I call ‘New Model’ marketing to study their website and strategies. They certainly are doing an excellent job!

P.S. Just because of this ONE video, I not only became aware of them (I never heard of them before), I have signed up as a member, took the time to fill out a ‘refer my friends’ form to help spread the word, and I will begin to get involved with this organization.

Now that is good marketing! That’s good Social Media Marketing!!

Of all the things that entrepreneurs and small business owners fail to do, one of the most serious is strategic marketing planning. Strategic marketing planning in today’s marketplace IS the most important thing you should do. A Strategic Marketing Plan is a management tool that determines which steps to follow, and the methodologies and times to reach certain objectives. Gone are the days where marketing planning is an isolated activity! It has to be perfectly linked to the rest of the business functions (First contacts, billing, assistants/virtual, production, personnel, etc.)

STRATEGY TWO -Fall in love with your Clients/Customers again.

Use the time you spend with your clients to validate that you understand their changing needs as well as to demonstrate that you’re meeting their service needs. Emotionally satisfied – or “engaged” — customers and employees contribute far more to the bottom line than those who are rationally satisfied, according to numerous social neuroscience and behavioral economics studies. A J.D. Power & Associates study found that friendlier, more social employees earned 13% more revenue for their organizations. Author of Information Masters: Secrets of the Customer Race, John McKean’s research found that a whopping 70 percent of a customer’s decision to buy is based on how they are treated as people. Not the product. Not the price.

STRATEGY THREE – Assess & Tighten up your Operation.

When we ’re busy, it’s easy to get sloppy. We may stop thinking about how to be  more efficient. Use slower times to ask your staff how you can be more  streamlined, more efficient, and hence more cost effective. You might be  surprised how much wasteful activity has crept into your business. Make it your  job to keep services lean and effective. Set goals to measure your progress and  reward your staff each time a way is found to be more efficient without  compromising service to your clients.

STRATEGY FOUR – Don’t think outside the square–Think around corners.

Constantly look for gaps in the market that you can fill.

• Use your client connections to identify service gaps.

• Decide if the gaps you identify are for services you can provide.

• Plan how you will fill the gaps. Don’t wait for opportunities to present themselves to recognize and fill opportunity gaps.

Instead take a proactive position that can shift your business into a leader in your field rather than always playing catch up. You might end up offering a new service that you’d never previously had the time to consider. The process is relatively simple…ask questions!

STRATEGY FIVE – Don’t play the “me, too” or “wanna-be” game.

While it can be tempting to do what everyone else is doing in your industry, don’t do it because in today’s market it can mean the demise of your business. Remember there are LOTS of choices in your field today so must have something unique to differentiate your services from the next. If you don’t, your practice will be just another “me too” or “wanna-be”. Get rid of “herd thinking” it’s deadly to your business success. Creativity, client focus philosophy and superior service will win over the long term.

STRATEGY SIX – Throw out ‘our policy rules’…be flexible.

What will most surely guarantee your long-term survival is your ability to adapt to changing demands. No one knows how long this downturn will last. Perhaps you will discover a new type of service or a new method of service delivery that your clients prefer. Be flexible enough to hear their needs and search for a way of filling them that creates a win-win situation. You may find that filling a new need replaces the parts of your business that lagged when the economy turned. Such discoveries can ensure you grow during the downturn and beyond.

STRATEGY SEVEN – Appreciate your Team.

You don’t want your team to lose heart during a downturn and look for employment elsewhere. When staff leaves, your service declines and with it, your value to your clients. Your team is your first line of representation of YOU. Like never before, they are a valuable asset in today’s new business climate.

STRATEGY EIGHT – Embrace Digital Marketing and the New Social Client/Customer Your Social equity is more important than your financial equity.

A whole generation is putting their lives online, why? Simply because sharing of information is a social act, it is the basis of connections. Sharing brings social benefits that outweigh risks. Withholding information from the collective knowledge may even be considered anti-social in today’s marketplace. Businesses are looking for alternatives for cost effective and more cost effective ways to get new business and keep existing clients. In a downward spiraling economy social marketing is the next logical step.  Costly old school marketing and PR models are increasingly ineffective and are becoming obsolete. Seek out professionals to help you formulate your social media strategy.

STRATEGY NINE – Optimism in this Age of Opportunity Stay positive.

As scary as a downturn may be, the good news is that it’s always followed by an upturn. Therefore, it’s important for you, your team, and your clients to be optimistic. Do what you need to do to make it through the not-so- good times and continue to provide outstanding service to your clients. Invariably, your business will be the one people turn to again when prosperous times return.

Download the 9 Strategies map.

I have had a web development company for over 13 years now and have been a digital marketing consultant before it became cool One of the greatest web presence problems I have encountered when it comes to designing a web site is the client does not really understand (or care to in some cases) how to market online with a web site nor do they understand the online consumers wants and motivations so they don’t really know how to take charge of their marketing goals for their web site.

What happens in most cases is they leave the entire project in the hands of the web designer; graphic artist or programmer and most of them are not marketers!

Even if they were seasoned marketers like me…the business owner of that web site must be totally engaged in the development strategies and business plans for this amazing marketing tool if they want a return in their investment. Your web presence is not just a bunch of pages online. It’s a business asset…and a valuable one at that!

You cannot leave your front door to the world to just some cool effects, colors and things that go pop-up in the night! You must be in control of your web assets. The day of just loading that off to your web person is gone if you want to remain relevant and compete in this new business economy.

In all fairness to business owners, I understand many don’t know how to market using digital media and online strategies. That’s why I call upon Seth to help spread the word about the availability of those of us who are Digital Marketing Coaches. A short time ago he put up a post on Squidoo explaining the need for digital coaches who would help those who were in need of a tech coach. There is even a greater need for Digital Marketing Coaches that help bridge what I call the Great Business Digital Divide!