Michael Ference Fluid Power Marketing

In business or even in your private life, communication is, of course, essential.  In her recent book,  Relevant Selling , author  Jaynie L. Smith  makes this point again and again.  She is mostly referring to business and sales but here theory works in everyday life too. Her point, as I understand it, is that you must know what your customers value about your company and products or services before you can promote those values.  In other words, a business owner or manager must understand what attributes or advantages or unique skills about your company attracts customers and keeps them.  The only way to find out is to ask. We in business can go on and on day after day telling our customers that we have the highest quality products or the fastest delivery when what they really value the most is friendly service.  We must ask by doing reserarch and by asking our customers what it is that they like. Our upcoming Fluid Power Technical Conferenc...

Our February issue of Fluid Power World is now available for all of our readers both in print and in digital format.  I won't tell you too much because I would prefer that you read the issue. I can tell you that you can access the issue by clicking here .  I can also tell you that you will find features on Medical Pneumatics, Hydraulic Valves, Mobile Hydraulics , and Industrial Hydraulics.  You will also find lots of very useful information from our advertisers, We have such a strong editorial team led by Paul Heney our Editorial Director.  Mary Gannon is a very respected industry media professional as well.  We have now added Ken Korane to our team and he adds a lot to our content.  Judge for yourself, check out the issue.

Our Fluid Power Technology Conference website is now officially live.  Click here Now when you visit this site, you can register for the event taking place on June 21 and 22 at the Milwaukee School of Engineering.  It promises to be a very exciting few days. You will also see the logos of our sponsors displayed on the homepage.  Additionally, users can review the seminar sessions that will be presented and this list will be updated as more seminar sessions are scheduled. Check out our new website and sign up for the event today!

Our audience at Fluid Power World is very interested in accessing useful information.  That can be in the form of our printed magazine, our 5 e-newsletters, or our 5 websites.  And, by the way, that audience is growing.  If you are interested in joining our audience, click here for our magazine , and click here for our e-newsletters . We have very successfully added another channel to our audience and that is the technical editorial webinar.  Last week, we presented a webinar titled Understanding Hydraulic Pump Designs.  You can access that by clicking here .  This event was successful for our sponsors and for our audience of over 350 registrants! You can still view the archived version of the webinar with the above link.  Our next webinar will be held on April 16, 2016 and is titled Proper Hose Assembly Guidelines.  The presenter is once again our Contributing Editor, Josh Cosford.  We will open the registration for that soon. ...

At our 2016 Fluid Power Technical Conference, Fluid Power World magazine is offering all of our exhibitors the opportunity to have a company video made on-site.  We have a great history of making such sales videos and I turn your attention to our video library for many examples. The event will be held at the Milwaukee School of Engineering on June 21 and 22.  For more information, please contact me at mference@wtwhmedia.com Our expert video team will be at the event guiding our sponsors through video sessions.  We will give each company the opportunity to make a solo narrative video or an interview style session.  So, in addition to giving a presentation from the Conference stage, having opportunities to network with potential new customers, and bring your own personnel to the event, you now have the option to make a great company video, cost included.  Let me know if you are interested. You can also visit our website for the Fluid Power Technical...

One of our contributing editors at Fluid Power World is Carl Dyke of the CD Industrial Group.  He will be one of the featured speakers at our upcoming Fluid Power Technical Conference being held in Milwaukee at the MSOE on June 21 and 22. He has an article on our Mobile Hydraulic Tips website and this article will provide you with an example of the kind of fluid power expertise that Carl offers our audience.   Click here. This two-day event will deliver some great fluid power content to all of our attendees.  If your company would like to take a booth sponsorship and full take advantage of the marketing opportunity, please contact me at mference@wtwhmedia.com.

There are many trade shows that include fluid power technology.  Of course, some of the giant mobile equipment shows include a lot of off-highway systems featuring mobile hydraulics.  Another segment of mobile hydraulics however is the on-highway systems and they will be featured at the 2016 NTEA Work Truck Show taking place in Indianapolis at the Indiana Convention Center on march 1-4. It is right around the corner so check out their website link  and register to attend if you are interested. I have counted over 30 exhibitors that have some fluid power components or related products to be displayed at the show. There will be some educational sessions held in conjunction with the show.  The sessions will be tailored to industry businesses and will include such topics as workforce development, ROI, regulations, trends, fuel, and much more.  Again, check out their website for full information.  

2016 will be a good year for fluid power!   Companies have been dealing with some of the existing circumstances that made last year more difficult than expected.   Fluid power technology is still a great way to make things happen and manufacturers and distributors will make this a great year. In March, Fluid Power World has a great lineup of print articles scheduled and they are detailed on the attachment.   We also have a complete offering of digital media and custom media to provide you our advertiser with an integrated advertising program that will increase brand awareness while generating sales leads. Our circulation consists of 8,500 OEM Design Engineers and 1,500 fluid power distributor professionals.   That is the way that we cover both the OEM and MRO markets for fluid power components.   Additionally, we send the magazine to 100,000 opt-in recipients. I recommend an integrated advertising program to all of our advertisers meaning that prin...

Every fluid power component manufacturer and every fluid power distributor has a story to tell about every one of their products.  In some way, their products provide solutions for better OEM designs of machinery and equipment or better maintenance solutions.  The salespeople for these companies tell these solution stories every day. Now, we are providing a stage from which they can tell their story.  It is called the Fluid Power Technical Conference and it will take place on June 21 and 22 in Milwaukee at MSOE. WTWH Media and Fluid Power World magazine and digital network will host the inaugural event on at the Kern Center at the Milwaukee School of Engineering.  If your company would like to tell its solution story from our stage and have a booth in the conference room where the event is presented, then please contact me for more information at mference@wtwhmedia.com On the other hand, if your company is seeking solutions for better designs or more relia...

One of my favorite events of the year is the NAHAD Annual Conference.  This year, the event will take place during the first week in May at the Broadmoor, a really cool resort in Colorado. The event is always full of great opportunities to network with industry professionals in the conference room and on the tours.  This year is no exception with a great lineup planned.  I invite you to visit the NAHAD website  where you can get full details. I can tell you much more but a I would rather direct you to a post by one of my associates, Michelle DiFrangia who is now a NAHAD veteran.   Please click here to read her recent post . 

What does that mean, Invest in People?  Well, it means a lot of things.  When you think of investing, you generally think of placing money into something.  Well, this is true for people too.  We can certainly invest in our family members, we can help those in need, and we can certainly help public causes like taxes for education.  Those things are all a part of investing in people. Equally important or maybe more so is the investment of time.  Giving your time to those who need it is a huge investment in people.  This is especially true when you feel that you have the need to do something else with your time.  Maybe you have another agenda.   Not only does that investment of time help the other person, it helps you. There is more though.  Investing your confidence in others iis priceless.  Being able to offer encourgement to others is an investment in people.  Building up rather than tearing down, offering support rather tha...

Networking, prospective new customers, creating content for multi-purposing.  These are three good reasons why a marketer of fluid power components and related products should participate in our new 2016 Fluid Power Technical Conference. The event will take place on June 21 and 22 at the Milwaukee School of Engineering.  This two-day event will give marketers an opportunity to meet prospective new customers from both the OEM and aftermarkets sides of the business.  There will be expert presentations given by Tom Wanke of MSOE and Carl Dyke of the CD Industrial Group. In addition, all exhibitors will have the opportunity to address our audience from the FPTC Stage.  The content presented by our exhibitors can be multi-purposed in the form of white papers and video done by our video team. If you would like more information, please contact me at mference@wtwhmedia.com

I have written about this book before, called  Knock Your Socks Off Service.   I have revisited it several times and each time I learn more.  Being in a service mode with customers is common sense but this book makes many points about how to best carry that out. Being in service mode all the time is really difficult and is probably only possible if you incorporate that into your way of living.  If you make it a regular practice of making service to others a way of life, then Knock Your Socks Performance not only becomes possible but it comes naturally. This is not to say that the content of this book is not important, it is very important.  Day-to-day practices of providing excellent service to others requires attention to details of personality,  use of words in conversation, readiness to serve, and a variety of other characteristics and practices. Incorporating service, Knock Your Socks Off Service, into your standards of living can lead to using th...

As I have posted before, we have a great series of very informative webinars scheduled for 2016 presented by Fluid Power World .  The first will be presented to our qualified fluid power audience on February 16, 2016 and the topic is Understanding Hydraulic Pump Designs.  The presenter is Fluid Power World contributor, Josh Cosford. We already have may registered viewers of this webinar but you still have time to register, click here . Our sponsor for this first webinar of the year is Servo Kinetics and we thank them for their sponsorship.   Visit their website for more information about the company and their products. Next up on our series schedule is proper hose assembly guidelines -  also presented by Josh Cosford.  We are looking for some sponsors of this event.  If you are interested, please contact me at mference@wtwhmedia.com.  

The January 2016 issue of Design World  has been delivered to our readers and it may take them a long time to get through all of the information.  The issue is 492 pages long!  Here is a link to the digital edition.  Many of our fluid power advertisers start the year with an ad in this issue.  Those advertisers also feature a full-page profile of their company.  Lots of great information for our readers who are off to a great start in 2016.