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Writing Sample - CorpTech

Note Of Interest to PR / Ad / Direct Response & Web Agencies:

JMB Communications is frequently called upon by some of the country's highest-profile PR, direct response, Web marketing, and advertising agencies to do projects for some of the best known companies in the world. Some agencies use us as a resource their clients are unaware of . . . others use us as a direct member of their team . . .and still others tell their clients that they’re using us as consultants. For confidentiality reasons we can't discuss most of those relationships or post writing samples, but we think this White Paper – which we wrote for GHW Associates (a small but highly successful direct marketing firm in the Northeast) and for CorpTech, their client – says a lot about what we can do for you. Contact us to learn more.

 Executive Summary

The "Mystique" Of Emerging Technologies is Simply The Aura of the Technologies Themselves – The People are Still People.

The "high technology marketplace" to many people epitomizes excitement. For most of us, that excitement began when the first PCs appeared in our offices almost 20 years ago.

Since then, technology has never looked back. Today changes occur at ever-increasing speeds. Current (June, 1999) high-end 550 MHz PCs will seem Neanderthalically slow a year from now, when their 1000 MHz+ brothers (with over 256 MB of yet another kind of memory and 40 GB hard drives) will be commonplace.

The effects of technology are everywhere. Instead of being tied to desks, people today are tied to ideas and to actions. With their laptops, their palmtops, their world-ready wireless combination phone/pagers/Internet devices, and their rapidly converging desktop technologies, they can (or soon will be able to) consult on medical emergencies while salmon fishing in the Alaskan wilderness, design an automobile from the comfort of their camper, swap ordering email with customers while flying at 40,000 feet, or simply talk to their kids via an Internet videophone from their hotel room, using a thumbnail-size video camera integrated into their 1.5-pound laptop computer.

High technology companies are the great enablers of this revolution, which finds millions of Americans "logging in" to work instead of driving in. The Internet makes it practical (not merely possible) for almost any office-based employee to work from anywhere.

Understandably, high technology companies are the focus of sales people, researchers, scientists, visionaries, and countless others who sense the genre’s drama, who watch its stunning growth, and who see billions invested in "dot com" businesses which aren’t projected to turn a profit for years.

Working with high technology companies requires you to both understand and leverage this strong customer-first orientation. In today’s demanding, sophisticated marketplace, high-tech companies want perfection throughout the entire process of product analysis, vendor comparison, buying, setting-up, using, and supporting new products. If you can somehow help them do that, your attempts to become involved with this marketplace will be met warmly.

To properly understand the market, you must first understand what high tech companies are doing.

New ways of doing the same thing – better: What technology companies offer is more productive ways of doing things which are of unquestioned value. For example:

Email – enables users to transmit information (messages, documents, data files, and more) instantly, worldwide. Email speeds delivery, ensures no "missed calls," cuts costs, and gets attention.

Online Direct Marketing -- enables OEMs to deliver information about their products and services, such as drawings, specs, price, delivery, service programs, accessories, etc., directly and instantly to end-users, saving time, cutting costs, and improving customer satisfaction.

Online Auctions – offer an easier way to shop, since users can get exactly what they want, often at lower cost than otherwise possible.

E-zines – enable selective reading in a versatile, contemporaneous format.

Small mobile technologies -- PDAs, GPS, and Digital PCS wireless phones are a more efficient way to know where we are, where we’re going, and what we’re doing – and to tell others, or be accessible to them, anywhere, anytime, instantly.

They Look for Quality, Price, Reliable Service, and – above all else -- Brevity.

People who work in every area of high technology share one similarity: they regard every second as precious. Competition is so fierce, and so ubiquitous and pervasive, that their lives seems consumed by the urgency of their company’s business. You’ll often see castles constructed of Diet Coke® cans in their offices, near the empty pizza boxes, both of which provide frequently needed midnight power boosts…

The effect of all this on you is significant. High tech "people" who share this characteristic sense of urgency expect – or perhaps demand -- the same of you. Regardless of your objectives, they will require fast, dependable responsiveness from you. They have little time to think; they must get the facts quickly and act – and to deal with them effectively, you must do the same. Avoid wasting their time.

If you are involved in either technology-sharing or in gathering information for research or product development, remember that "sharing" is a two-way process. Make sure there is some benefit for them in that process, not just for you, even if it is only your obvious gratefulness. Your genuine, unmistakable orientation toward the needs, wants, and expectations of the person you’re approaching is absolutely critical to developing any successful relationship.

As noted earlier, ever since the first PCs were introduced, the pace of technological change has never stopped accelerating. Bill Gates is reputed to have said that today’s PCs are roughly equivalent in their development to automobiles that were delivered in the 1920s, which gives you a very faint idea of just how much developmental headroom that technology has ahead of it. (Integrated circuit "chips" when they were first developed had thousands of individual components and were thought to be amazing technological marvels. But some of the latest, most sophisticated chips contain more than 35 million components – rather stunning testimony to the progress of an industry still in its infancy.)

In a rapidly shrinking global economy with billions of increasingly affluent, demanding consumers, it means technology has a world of growth ahead of it which ordinary people simply are unable to imagine. Almost anything you can imagine becomes possible. Let’s look at some of the very real possibilities:

• Homes that are totally energy self-sufficient, utilizing solar, wind, and geothermal energy sources.

• Automobiles that run on fuel cells or as yet undeveloped energy sources, and which can be "programmed" to take the most expeditious, safe route from point A to point B – while the "driver" ignores the road to work with her 99.9999% accurate voice-activated, wireless Internet-connected computer.

• "Jobs" and project work for the self-employed that can be executed anywhere, anytime. "Virtual reality" staff meetings could have you sitting in front of your computer in your underwear making a presentation to a multinational committee of elite investors and venture capitalists – all of whom visualize you in the latest virtual Armani suit. (With ultrafast 10,000 MHz chips not many years away, computers will be able to do far more than any of us dare imagine.)

• Gene mapping and biomedical research into the causes of both infectious and hereditary diseases will help prevent some of today’s worst health problems, and to slow the process of aging. Biotechnology is just getting started…

And what does this mean to you, today, and in the next few years? CorpTech tracks all these developments to give you advantages in your efforts to work with (and within) technology companies.

For example, CorpTech tracks today’s hottest markets, and enables you to see tomorrow’s hot markets early on. You get market size figures and growth projections for every key market including both the Internet and telecom markets.

Convergence will clearly play an explosive role in the future of what President Clinton years ago characterized as the "Information Superhighway." Convergence explains why so many companies in the Internet and telecommunications and broadcast businesses are merging. Remember these clear points:

• You can already use the Internet for "telephony" – telephone calls to Japan, for example, that last for hours but for which you pay only your local phone charge.

• You can use your computer to read newspapers from around the world. "Web TV" and "cable modems" enable high-bandwidth transmissions of distant radio and TV stations to appear live, right on your desktop. Stock traders getting ready for work in the morning can or soon will be able to see a broadcast from Tokyo about how the Japanese stock exchange fared at the close of business that day.

• On the other hand, high-quality DVD players and TV tuners in computers mean workers could watch the World Series or the Superbowl on their PCs via the Internet, or full-length movies. . . .

• "Convergence" allows you to send email from your living room TV or phone calls from your computer or watch TV from your PC or receive email on your cell phone or make a World Wide Web airline reservation from your pager – which is also your worldwide, one-number cell phone and email reception station. (All of this is reality, right now.)

Where is technology going in the 21st century? Anywhere our imaginations can take it.

The opportunities presented to all of us by these changes are, of course, tremendous. A great source of information on the markets and technologies which are in the vanguard of these changes is Technology Industry Growth Forecaster, a CorpTech publication. You will find it immensely valuable in researching what kinds of companies you want to approach.

Today’s hot markets – and tomorrow’s: Clearly, among technology companies both telecommunications and Internet companies continue to both benefit from and to drive the explosive growth of the World Wide Web. Some statistics, from the CorpTech EXPLORE database:

• The companies are new; nearly 60% were formed between 1994 and 1998. Most were capitalized by private investment and 46% have fewer than 25 employees. A full 28% are forecasting growth between 25% and 99%. . .

• Half of the companies are in the Southeast, the Southwest, and California

• In Northern California, the cradle of many companies which have risen meteorically in recent years, jobs in emerging companies are seeing explosive growth. In San Jose alone, there are about 40,000 jobs in emerging firms with under 1000 employees. Smaller, neighboring Sunnyvale California has just under 30,000 jobs in similar firms, and Santa Clara isn’t far behind with over 25,000.

• The projected growth for technology companies based in California is higher than for any other region of the country. Of 284 emerging technology firms surveyed by CorpTech, those in Northern California projected 11.6% average growth. Some 352 similar companies in Southern California projected 8.8% growth. Both New England and the Mid-Atlantic area were close behind, with projected growth of 8.1% and 8.0% respectively.

• The Employment Trends section of the CorpTech Web site reports that high growth levels are expected around the country within emerging technology companies with under 1000 employees. CorpTech obtained employment projections earlier this year from 4079 of America’s 34,137 technology manufacturers with under 1000 employees. Over 46% plan to expand their work force during the next year by an average of 17.2%, creating 28,309 new jobs and generating sales opportunities for thousands of suppliers. More than one company in six projects growth of over 25%. Note that the areas of technology achieving the most rapid growth levels are telecommunications and the Internet:

                                                                # of Comp. Employ Now      Proj Chng    Chg %

• The "Telecommunications and the Internet" industry category consists of Internet service companies (data aggregation, infrastructure, security, multimedia, and search); manufacturers of audio/visual, broadcasting / receiving, electronic mail, telephone / voice, and network equipment products; plus providers of related services.

• Because of "Convergence" and the rapid development and deployment of new tools and products involving the Internet and telecommunications products, Internet and Telecommunications companies continue to project strong growth and are expected to keep on doing so. To learn more about the growth of the Telecommunications / Internet sector, visit www.corptech.com, and peruse copies of CorpTech’s monthly newsletter, Technology Industry Growth Forecaster.

Communicate With High Technology Companies

CorpTech Directories provide all the information you need to find and communicate effectively with high technology companies. More than 50,000 companies and more than 150,000 executive contacts are listed – in fact, 3000 were added in 1998 alone.

• Gathering information. Regardless of whether you choose to pursue Telecommunications / Internet or another high tech business category, CorpTech maximizes your prospecting productivity. For example, most emerging companies are privately held or are operating units of larger organizations, which makes them difficult to find and even more difficult to explore. CorpTech constantly gathers and updates information on these companies, and makes it available to you in PC databases, printed directories, mailing lists, and custom reports. You can use these custom reports to populate lists of target companies according to prioritization criteria which you select. In other words, the CorpTech EXPLORE Database helps you select both the industry and the companies you want to approach.

• Great Detail and Accuracy. Using the CorpTech EXPLORE Database Gold CD, you can select precisely those organizations you want from 18 high tech industries; 3000 product-specific codes; 181,000 key executives; over 50,000 companies; plus 3500 internet developers and service providers. The CorpTech EXPLORE database lets you leverage more than 30 selection criteria and the 3000 product codes to pinpoint precisely the information you need and want, quickly. The best-known competitive databases miss up to 75% of what CorpTech delivers.

• Most current information. You won’t waste time pursuing dead-end information with CorpTech because we verify all our comprehensive, high-quality data on a frequent, regular basis. Furthermore, new companies and operating units are being added constantly to ensure that the CorpTech EXPLORE database stays accurate, detailed, and as totally current and complete as technology allows.

• Easy, intuitive, and more productive. Some databases are unwieldy and almost impossible to fathom. When CorpTech’s EXPLORE database was developed, the project had one key ground-rule: keep EXPLORE clear and easy to use. The EXPLORE database is highly intuitive, which means you spend very little time going through the process of accessing information – and more much time capitalizing on information.

• Frequent CD upgrades and private Web database access. Rapid growth of the businesses we cover means rapid changes in data, so part of the CorpTech EXPLORE Gold package is quarterly CD upgrades. They’ll help ensure that your data stays current. Plus, you get exclusive members-only access to our Web site, where information is updated every day. Nobody covers the rapidly changing world of technology like we do. Of course, when you order the CorpTech CD-ROM, you also receive our four-volume CorpTech Directory, a $795 value if you were to buy it separately.

• CorpTech Codes Provide Greater Selectivity. We’ve developed a set of streamlined CorpTech business codes which expand "SIC" to three thousand product codes, which helps guarantee that your searches give you exactly what you’re after and that nothing falls through the cracks.

• EXPLORE Gold delivers unexpected high-end features. EXPLORE Gold lets you create and directly export personally addressed direct mail lists. Robust sorting capability enables you to make files, print reports, and conduct complete direct marketing campaigns.

• Expanded Web information access. CorpTech gives you links to company Web sites, news release archives, competitive information databases, and more – all of which extends the power and scope of your data search well beyond anything you thought possible. You can find detailed information from both EXPLORE and the Web links not just on companies, but also regarding their products and initiatives.

• Familiar Windows-based environment. The EXPLORE GOLD database leverages familiar Windows functionality; you can customize the database for maximum advantage.

• Free Support. In the event you need technical support, you have unlimited access to it – at no charge.

As you’ve seen, the growth of many High Technology companies is accelerating. Once you’ve used the CorpTech EXPLORE database and the other Web information sources we’ve mentioned here to select companies, your success with them hinges on your ability to communicate clearly and effectively. The following are important elements to consider whenever you approach new businesses, but are particularly important when you approach high tech companies:

• Know exactly where you’re going. The old cliché is true: if you don’t know where you’re going, you’re bound to wind up somewhere else. What are your objectives? Be crystal-clear to yourself and to the person you’re approaching. Again, brevity is critical when dealing with technology companies. You must let them know who, what, when, where, why, how, and how much time…

• Orient your approach to the needs of your audience. Eliminate "I need" or "I want" or "We are getting information" and instead use "Your opinion of . . . is extremely important" or "We’d be grateful is you could share your great knowledge of" or simply "We know you’re really busy but your experience is a rare commodity. . . we’re wondering if you could take five minutes some time in the next day or two or even now to…"

• Orient your presentation to the needs of your audience. Identify with your target by using his/her industry’s idioms and jargon and know what your talking about. Help your target; somehow try to make his life easier. Go to great lengths to accommodate him or her, and you’ll find that favor returned.

• What’s in it for the target? If you can define customer benefits, do so. If you’re involved in research, people are interested in the results; perhaps you can promise (and deliver) a results summary.

• Be brief!

• If you’re selling, what makes your product ideal for this prospect? What differentiates it from competition that is of significance to this prospect? Again, orient your approach to the needs and wants of your target.

• Successful or emerging technology companies consist of people creating and fulfilling needs in highly creative ways

• Tremendous progress in technologies demands incredibly fast response by supplier companies, as a matter of survival

• Successfully communicating with high technology companies requires strict orientation to their needs, wants, and time demands – and precision / brevity!

• Expect change and be prepared to adapt / respond quickly – in terms of the companies themselves, what they are doing/producing, takeovers/mergers/ acquisitions: be prepared to turn on a dime or stand on your head because that’s what they WILL ask you to do.

• Leverage the power of the CorpTech EXPLORE database to help you pick the right people in the right businesses; use CorpTech to create direct response communications; and use CorpTech’s free updates to keep all your business information as current as is humanly possible.

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To learn more about CorpTech products and services, please call CorpTech Sales at 1-800-333-8036 or email us at sales@corptech.com.

Written by JMB Communications for GHW Associates, Summer, 1999.