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The expectations of giving
Posted in Communications & Social Media, Random Musings on October 20, 2010
Lately I’ve been feeling cynical. Several people I know have jumped on the bandwagon blogging, tweeting, attending digital events, etc all in the name of personal/professional growth. I think to myself, are these guys really interested in growing and putting ideas out there? Or are they just trying to get a piece of the action to promote themselves.
Then I wonder, is there a difference? At the end of the day aren’t we all here to promote ourselves? A business or consultant isn’t blogging in the interests of free information and the greater good. Would these people still give without the get?
I know that without you, the few and faithful readers, I’d have stopped writing a long time ago. If no one read my blog, I’d just be writing to a void. And yet, that’s what I see happening. People writing into a void, and while they hope people will talk to them – they don’t act like it. They don’t give expectantly.
Now let me say there’s a fine line to this argument. I don’t look at social media as some divine strategy to promote myself or business because it’s not. But the days of one way communication are over so there must be a corresponding change in mindset.
Put another way, the significance of social media is not in who follows you. It’s not how many people like your product or service. It’s the connection that’s made… And the number of followers or likes, which increases the probability of making a real connection, is not the metric that should matter to you.
It comes down to a very subtle change in expectations. If you expect to be hailed as a thought leader, if you expect a sale, if you expect a raise, if you expect world supremacy – you will fail. BUT if you give with the expectation that you will make a difference in someone’s day, with the expectation that you will connect with someone you wouldn’t have otherwise connected with – THAT’S SOMETHING!
If you’re putting something out there – it’s OK to expect something back. Just know what it is you’re expecting.
Pursuing Perfection? Why bother?
Posted in Marketing & Branding on September 23, 2010
Pursuing perfection? Why bother when good enough will do?
Now those of you who have been reading this blog for a while might think, wait – doesn’t this contradict a prior blog I wrote last year? To some degree it does but there’s an important distinction between a business that’s good enough and a deliverable that’s good enough. It’s here that I’m talking about the latter. A business that’s satisfied with being ho-hum will eventually be squeezed. But a business that is focused on world domination, sometimes has to settle with delivering product that’s just good enough.
Take this blog for example. If I were to focus on writing an absolute masterpiece, let’s face it – it would never post. I would deliberate for days on end and probably can the thing when it was all said and done. When Apple developed the iPhone I have to believe they knew of the connectivity issue that got so much press earlier this year. But even with that flaw, was it good enough to launch? Steve certainly thought so. And most iPhone users I know say that it was, if for no other reason than they don’t normally use it as a “phone”.
As a colleague of mine points out, sometimes being good enough vs perfect can make or break your first mover advantage. So as you deliberate the minute details of your new new thing… ask yourself if waiting to get it just right will make it the old new thing.
More than that, I believe most of us just need to get better at executing. It’s easy to criticize and agonize and idea-ate but it takes a whole different skill set to deliver, or as Seth Godin says, to just “ship” it.
Learn to deliver, learn to fail and then learn to do it again.
And then you will die (and other Seth-isms)
Posted in Random Musings on September 21, 2010
Last Thursday I had the unique opportunity to spend a day with Seth Godin. Now poke fun and call me a fan-boy (see picture for Exhibit A – my autographed Godin action figure) but it was an incredible day. We discussed taking action, deciding when to quit, the acceptance (and need) for failure, and being remarkable. What made the session so great was the intimate audience where just about everyone who wanted to was able to ask a question or two of Seth. I just wanted to post some of my notes from the day…
“Discounting is the last refuge of the marketer when there’s nothing left to do.” I think we’d all agree discounting is a slippery slope that can be habit forming for your customers and devaluing for your product. Seth also makes the important distinction that “Free is different than charging a penny… sampling brings permission to talk to them”.
“Find products for customers and NOT customers for products.” I don’t think anyone would disagree. I just like the way he phrases it.
On ROI – In my world we spend a lot of time talking about ROI. Both in terms of what we spend our marketing dollars on and also in terms of the ROI our solutions deliver for a clients. Seth’s response to the question of ROI – “That’s not the real question being asked. ROI is just an excuse to say no”. Bottom line, we as markters need to be better story tellers, not ROI givers. Don’t marginalize what you do down to an ROI number that can be poked and prodded.
“Start a tribe. Ship something every day just to connect with other people who care.” He uses the word “ship” but he’s talking about creating something at the risk of failure or imperfection.
“It’s a mistake to present in a conference room where they’re trained to say no”. Couldn’t agree more. Change the context of the conversation, change their mindset and maybe you’ve got a shot.
“Get laughed at every single day. You can’t be a genius and not fail. So go be a failure”. In the US – The Self Storage market is about $6B. We just don’t like to give up on things. We talked extensively about failure and knowing when to quit. He also provides a great discussion of it in his book “The Dip”, which I highly recommend. Bottom line – we need to learn when to quit on things so we can move on to something that won’t keep us going in circles. If it’s not going to be remarkable, why put any more effort towards it?
“The devil doesn’t need an advocate, he’s doing just fine on his own.” His emphasis here was sometimes we just have to do it. Don’t make it perfect, because then you’ll never do it. The devil’s advocate is the tiny part of your brain sending off waves of fear and self-doubt.
Finally – FEAR THE DEER. More people are killed by deer than by sharks, but we have this visceral fear of Sharks. “Unless the worse case scenario ends with ‘and then I die’” you should tell that little voice in the back of your head to shut up.
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In Search of the Corporate Mullet
Posted in Communications & Social Media on September 2, 2010
First, I apologize if I’ve offended anyone that sports a mullet. This post is not aimed at you. Quite the contrary, you are actually my new model citizens.
As I browse the corporate blogs, tweets, and fan pages out there, I’m disappointed by how banal and predictable most of them are. While there is some very informative content out there, by and large there’s a complete lack of personality. Always clean-cut is no way to go through life. The same should hold true for your social media efforts.
Instead, find your inner corporate mullet. Business up front is good, but don’t forget to show the party in the back.
A celebrity with a million followers isn’t just tweeting about his next big movie or endorsement. No, he’s talking about anything under the sun, even at the risk of being quirky. And it endears him to his fans. Ashton Kutcher didn’t get to 5 million + fans by acting like a corporate brand. When in reality he is as much a brand as any big business.
Same goes for some of the best marketers I follow on the web. They don’t just talk marketing. Instead they’re engaged in entirely unrelated conversations that tell me who they are as people (something I am trying to better apply to my own digital life). Some of my favorite marketers include @marketingprofs, @dmscott (who just wrote a great story on storytelling) and @sarasantiago (who was just named one of the 100 coolest peeps in Milwaukee. I’m told I just missed the cutoff at 101). All of them have one thing in common – they are not your run-of-the-mill, blatant self-promoters.
I’m not trying to stop you from doing your press releases and case studies. Those are important too. But just talking corporate speak isn’t going to bring you any closer to real people. And as I said in an earlier blog, as a B2B marketer, I can’t forget that the one who ultimately buys my product/service/solution is a person (not a business).
If real people make the ultimate purchase decisions, why don’t we talk to them like they’re real people? You have my permission to stop acting like a business, if only for a moment. Go forth and flaunt that mullet. Who knows… you may even like it!
Beyond Marketing: The value of social media
Posted in Communications & Social Media on August 25, 2010
At dinner with a group of colleagues the topic of social media came up. Particularly with regard to Twitter, the overwhelming consensus (that is everyone at the table but me) was that people didn’t see the point. While there are always laggards, I was not expecting this table to be among that group.
Of course, it should also come as no surprise that I began making the case for social media. I was abruptly cut off and told, “well it’s different because you’re in marketing.” As if to say Twitter was just a bunch of celebrities and marketers hanging out talking to each other. Sadly, the point caught me off guard and I really had to stop and consider that statement. Fortunately my quick wit caught up with me after dinner as I made my way back to my hotel room ready for response. Since dinner’s over – you all get to hear my thoughts here on this blog.
No – Twitter is not just for marketers or celebrities. And no, Twitter is not just to let people know you’ve just used the bathroom at your cousin’s girlfriend’s house with the door wide open, or other acts equally mundane. Twitter, or more broadly speaking, social media is…
1) A tool for collaborative communication and problem resolution. This should be a no brainer. Got a problem? Ask your tweeps. Got an idea to brainstorm, blog it and see what comes back. There is a ton of expertise out there, and the content is by and large free. I think by now most readers get this, but @comcastcares is a great example of real-time problem resolution made possible through real-time communication like Twitter.
2) A customer insight machine. I know what you’re thinking – this is supposed to be for non-marketers. If so, I call BS. Customer insight is everyone’s job – not just marketing, not just sales. If you are not listening to your customers, your competitors, your peers and industry luminaries – then something bad should happen to you. There’s no excuse to not be at least listening in to those conversations.
3) Entertainment. See @shitmydadsays or@thedayhascome. That’s I’ll say on that.
4) A community enabler. So yes, there’s a lot of marketers out there. But are we always marketing? No. In fact, I tweet to talk with and learn from other marketers. And it’s not just around industries or functions. In Milwaukee we had huge flooding last month. The damage was catastrophic in some places, and you know what medium broke the story to the most people first? Not TV, not radio, not the national weather service. It was Twitter. Just look up #brewcityflood or read this great blog from @TriveraGuy which tells the story far better than I could.
So I’ll say it again – Social Media is not just for Marketers. It’s not just for tracking celebs or giving your friends the blow by blow of your trip to the acupuncturist. Still don’t believe me? Then you leave me no choice but to quote the intellectual wizard that is @kaynewest who said “Fresh code is my dress code”. I can’t argue with that.
B2B is so 1999
Posted in Marketing & Branding on August 11, 2010
I remember the first time I heard the term “B2B” – I was a senior in college. Any company that made the slightest reference to it was being touted as the next big thing. Looking back on it, I didn’t really get what all the fuss was about and before I had time to stop and think about it, the millennium came and went. Now here we are, 10 years later and I still hear people referring to it like there’s some mystifying secret to it.
Let me shed some light on the matter…
There is no esoteric meaning behind the term because there is no “B2B”. B2B IS DEAD! PEOPLE (not businesses) buy from other PEOPLE (not businesses). And while I don’t think anyone would openly dispute that, there are still those trying to market to businesses!!!
If you were a sales person, you might start with a business target in mind, but you don’t just walk up to the entrance and talk to the bricks on the building wall? So why as marketers would we target businesses?!?!
Don’t get me wrong, to engage in a conversation we need to start at the business level, but we also have to go deeper. There’s the question of who is the decision maker (VITO) that will ultimately decide whether or not to conduct business with you. And then there are your key influencers, who, being among VITO’s most trusted advisers might be someone who could influence on our behalf. This might be a person within the organization or it might be a particular external thought leader, but either way it’s about a person.
It’s about touching individuals – which means talking to them as individuals, NOT as businesses. Everyone has their own motivations, and just because something is good for the “business” doesn’t necessarily make it good for the individual.
So don’t be a B2B marketer. Be a “people” marketer and always keep in mind what’s in it for them!
Making the most of an MBA internship
Posted in Random Musings on August 5, 2010
As the lead MBA recruiter for one of my company’s executive partner schools, I’m often asked about making the most of the MBA internship. Obviously every company is different but here are four things that almost always come up as I talk to full-time-hire-hopefuls.
1) The MBA internship is never what you expect it’s going to be. It’s filled with uncertainty and ambiguity. The project you were assigned to might change. There may not be a project at all and your manager may have no idea what to do with you. Be prepared to get dirty and assert yourself without being that over-confident MBA. That means asking thoughtful questions with all the stakeholders in your business and coming to your own conclusions. Be prepared to scope and pitch your own project! “Nobody had anything for me” is not going to go over very well when you’re jockeying for a full-time role.
2) Focus on what’s measurable and set clear goals up front to objectively evaluate your contributions. You know those sexy, game-changing strategic projects that will forever change the face of business? You know the ones I’m talking about… Buyer beware. While on the surface this can lead to some good learning and exposure – what can you REALLY accomplish in 12 weeks when tackling something of that magnitude? If expectations are not managed from the beginning, you may have nothing to show for heading back to your second year of business school.
3) Know how your business makes money. This probably seems obvious to a lot of you but I’ve met too many candidates who, when explaining their internship, had no idea how what they did contributed to the bottom line. I’d say this is especially true in complex revenue recognition businesses like financial services. Be prepared to defend how what you’re doing translates to growth. Even if you can’t prove a direct impact (which you probably can’t in the short time you’re there), intuitively drawing line of site to revenue (or costs) will really help your audience understand what you you were up to for 3 months.
4) Remember the gatekeepers. Don’t be the guy who doesn’t have time for someone unless they are equally busy and important. I was once stood up by an interviewer (the guy just didn’t show up). My gut reaction was to take the hint and pack my stuff. But on my way out I chatted with the admin who I had greeted earlier in the day and thank goodness I did. She made a few phone calls and within 15 minutes I was interviewing with someone else. The gatekeeper is the gatekeeper for a reason. They are empowered to make judgment calls and you don’t want to be on the wrong side of those.
I’m sure I could go on but these are the big ones I come across with eager-beaver MBAs. For the readers out there, what other knowledge would you impart as interns prepare for final presentations and interviews in the coming weeks?
A musician’s perspective on branding
Posted in Random Musings on July 30, 2010
I’m a guitar player and have been for going on 20 years. In the words of Wayne’s World’s Garth Algar – “I like to play”.
My love for music is a huge part of what defines me and while I couldn’t pack an arena by any stretch of the imagination, I can usually hold my own with the musicians I come across. As far as material possessions go, my Gibson Les Paul is among my most prized. And even though my first purchase 20 years ago wasn’t a Gibson (it was in fact -gasp- a Fender), I promised myself that I’d one day own a Gibson. It took more than a decade an a half to fulfill that promise but, a few years ago, almost on impulse, I pulled the trigger.
Hold back your tears… the purpose of that story was not to reflect on a boy and his longing for a killer 6-string. My point was that 15 years is a incredible amount of time to hold on to a brand as an aspiration.
Owning an Les Paul was always a boyhood dream. But come on, I’m now in my thirties – surely I didn’t think that owning a Gibson would transform me into Slash or Jimmy Page. Of course not (though that would be some nifty marketing). So what is so dang enduring about the Gibson brand? Well…
1) Gibson symbolizes an uncompromising approach to quality, and dog gonnit, I’m worth it. If it’s good enough for Slash, it’s good enough for me.
2) Gibson owners are fanatical about, well, Gibsons. While I don’t own a Harley, I imagine the kinship to be comparable. There’s a mutual respect and admiration that comes with owning a Gibson – as if it gives you immediate credibility. Part of it is their branding and pricing strategy – which even at the low end will cost you more than most high end guitars – making ownership an elite club among the musically enlightened. But it’s not just fancy marketing. Last year I had the honor of playing in a fundraiser and tribute to the late (but always great) Les Paul himself and I was amazed at the immediate kinship people had despite having never met before. Yes we were all musicians but this was more than just simple commonality. Which goes to my next point…
3) People are fanatical for the brand, but the brand is also what it is because owners are so fanatical. Or put more simply, Gibson is a brand, personified. The zealots are Michael to Gibson’s Air Jordan. But with even more zeal. Just go on youtube and look up Gibson. From young to old, from hack to pro – people are showing off their finely tuned axes. There is an incredible symbiotic relationship, a personal pride that defines those musicians, and that in turn feeds the brand. And the best part is that it costs Gibson nothing in terms of marketing dollars.
Play a word association game with a Gibson owner and you’ll see what I mean.
…Party on Wayne.
Defending Social Media in Healthcare
Posted in Communications & Social Media on July 28, 2010
Yesterday the Mayo Clinic announced it was opening a social media center to train other health care providers on the applications of social media to better connect with patients. Whether or not Mayo is the “expert” in this scenario may be debatable but I was pleased to see their attempts to move the industry forward, which frankly has been the proverbial long tail in the adoption curve.
And then I scrolled down to see comments like these…
“Note that this is not about providing better patient care–it’s about selling. Chalk up one more for increased health care costs.” – langton04
“Twitter? Twitter is for little girls, self-absorbed executives, and Lance Armstrong.” – teddyg
“Worst. Idea. Ever.” – questioner
WHOA! What’s with all the haters? My first reaction was to reply right then and there to all the naysayers on the Minneapolis Star Tribune but I had to go through this huge rigmarole just to register with the site (which is an entirely different story), so I abandoned that effort and decided to post my response here.
I am amazed at the ignorance displayed by some of these posters. There’s about $700 billion of wasteful spending in healthcare right now and I would argue that a good chunk of that is caused by poor, uninformed decision making. The adoption of social media in healthcare can only increase transparency in what has traditionally been a very closed model. So how does the proliferation of social media in healthcare translate to higher costs or worse care? If costs are artificially high, economic theory would tell us there’s an imperfection in the market, and part of that is transparency (or in this case, a lack thereof).
By empowering healthcare consumers to speak candidly with providers we can only improve that transparency – whether by comparing costs, assessing the need for certain procedures, or just promoting good ‘ol preventative care.
I’ll end with this: Don’t rush to judgment. If Mayo is only it for the money (per langton04), people will figure that out soon enough (though I’d argue so what if they are, so long as there is a corresponding public benefit). For now we have nothing to lose. I commend Mayo and hope others will take a queue by listening up. We just might learn something about one another.
“an extension of old-fashioned word-of-mouth marketing. “
Note that this is not about providing better patient care–it’s about selling. Chalk up one more for increased health care costs.
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Blogging and CRM – why they aren’t that different
Posted in Communications & Social Media on July 27, 2010
If you’ve ever done CRM or database marketing, you’ve used R-F-M to target customers. It stands for Recency, Frequency and Monetary. When evaluating customer value, you take into account the recency of the last transaction, the frequency in which they transact and the overall monetary value of that relationship. To the would-be corporate bloggers out there, I would submit that figuring how to write a blog isn’t that different.
The first two are pretty easy to grasp…
RECENCY – If I come to your blog and it hasn’t been updated in 6 months – I assume you’re not actively engaging anyone and that your thoughts in this dynamic environment are probably yesterday’s (or last year’s) news.
FREQUENCY – The best and most viewed blogs are updated regularly. They are indexed more often and probably getting better search traffic. A reader likes frequent content because that’s usually indicative of it’s relative freshness. It also tells me here’s someone who’s going to notice if I respond.
Now here’s where you might feel the urge to disagree…
MONETARY – This is probably the hardest concept to grasp for new bloggers. While a blog doesn’t exactly have a monetary value, consider the time spent reading as a cost to your customer; consider the opportunity cost of consuming content in a world of virtually infinite options. Don’t be fooled into thinking your content is so compelling that viewers will read it at any [opportunity] cost.
If this is a struggle for you, remember this…
1) A blog is a not a case study or white paper. Tone down the academic speak. You have two minutes to impart the gist. If someone wants more they’ll download the case study or contact you (that’s the point after all, isn’t it?).
2) Stay on point and within a few hundred words. There shouldn’t be multiple disparate points. If you have more to say, break it into bite-sized nuggets to keep them coming back for more. Recall the very definition of LOG – to enter a record, singular.
3) A blog is not a corporate billboard. If people want ads, they’ll find the nearest woman’s fashion magazine. Blogs aren’t for hawking products or solutions – they should be focused on needs, problems or other resonant topic.
Even as I’m writing this I’m coming up on 400 words so I’ll end with this thought…
People choose blogs similar to the way marketers target. We can’t target everyone, just as customers can’t consume everything.
Kris
Sam
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