Taste Test
Here is a sampling of some blog posts and articles that I have read recently. I find them interesting, humorous and/or informative enough to share (this is to become a weekly thing):
As humans, we fear failure. That affects our appetite to take risks. We herd, follow others, miss opportunities to lead. By not taking risk because of exposure to failure, we become less inventive. This separates good entrepreneurs — who aren’t put off by the possibility of failure — from most others who cannot live imagining failure.
Harvard Business Review: When Failure Hits
WASHINGTON—As weekend festivities draw to an close and another Monday morning quickly approaches, workers everywhere are seen trudging to work in a manner that suggests they’re about to meet their maker. That is, those who even bother to show up at all.
The Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a detailed report today revealing startlingly new statistics on the spread of cases of the Mondays throughout the U.S. The report confirmed that cases of the Mondays has doubled since 2008, a statistic that has grown as exponentially as the recent worrisome outbreak of girls posing in photos with the highly contagious fish lip pucker. Shudder.
Cassie Behle: Cases of the Mondays doubled in US since 2008
In real life, as in the film Black Swan, Natalie Portman wants to win not only the leading role, but also its attendant accolades. And on February 27, she may well fulfill her ambition: the 29-year-old Harvard grad is within a jeté of theOscar for Best Actress. More remarkable, Portman is pregnant with her first child and set to wed her co-star and choreographer. Here is a talented, driven young woman who dares to want it all, dares to be it all, and will likely succeed at both.
Harvard Business Review: Does Female Ambition Require Sacrifice?
We live in a world of noise and competition, one that is still healing from a recession, and one of incredible change and opportunity. When going about our daily lives and striving for success, we often subscribe to traditional means of personal promotion. Though that may often be satisfactory, we must remember that the competition’s drum always beats louder. How can we set ourselves apart?
Reviewz N Tips: Using the Internet to Build Your Personal Brand
Enjoy!
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The New vs. the Old
Since my foray into social media and corporate America one of the things I have noticed is this insane clash between older generations (Baby Boomers and Echo Boomers, if you will) and the younger generations (Generations X and Y … who comes up with these names??). I’ve noticed it in numerous arenas and over just about … well, anything. Blog posts on how cable TV is dead and streaming is the future (and vice versa). Rants against business cards and for embracing digital versions (and rants against those rants). I suppose this is how it always is between competing generations, but it is all new to me.
I’ve often wondered why two similar but seemingly opposing ideas could not co-exist? Take for example the business card argument, since I just read both of the above linked articles today. I definitely see why many people believe that paper cards are a waste of trees and time, especially when you look at emerging technologies to replace them. Going digital with your cards makes things so much simpler: they’re more functional, easier to keep track of and since you’ll probably get online and google your new contact anyway, it makes the whole process of establishing connections flow much more smoothly. Besides, where the heck do you store all the cards you receive? In my first year of networking I bought a book that was designed to hold a few hundred business cards. After a few months it was completely full and the rest of the cards, mostly useless to me, were thrown into a shoe box. Many of the cards I received seemed ineffective and, honestly, outdated.
However, in defense of the good ol’ paper business card, there is the human aspect of it all. Even as a 23-year-old fresh out of college there is something that bugs me about when I meet a person who tells me to google them. How important do you think you are and why should I? Besides that so much of the information on the internet is inaccurate. People don’t maintain profiles like they should and if you have a common name you run the risk of getting lost in the crowd. If I have your business card at least I have some point of reference for when I do my google search.
Besides, look at how awesome this card looks!
Another win for business cards is a mark against the new technologies seeking to replace them: widespread adoption
with any of these has not happened yet. When I first started networking I had a BlackBerry Bold (God, do I miss that thing). It had a handy dandy app on it for sharing contact information that you would normally find on a business card. My first thoughts: “How neat!” My thoughts after leaving my networking event: “How stupid!” Why? The range of different phones at the meeting created a situation where no one seemed to be using compatible apps and phones for sharing this information digitally! It became a lot easier to hand out a business card. No need to ask, “So is your pocket or purse a compatible size for this? My card’s is the latest style available right now … “
I see the good and bad in both, and the areas where they both fit in. Is the business card dead? Not in my opinion; not even close. Maybe one day, but just because something is new doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily better than the old way of doing things.
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Twitter has been one of the best tools for me to connect with people around the world in a non-creepy way, people who I more than likely would have never ever “met” otherwise. It’s awesome. I love Twitter. A lot. At the same time, just like with my 5″ Jessica Simpson heels that transform my 4″11 figure into something fancy (maybe?), I also hate Twitter.
It’s not the service itself; it’s some of the users. For instance, the event that has me on this rant today started just about a half hour ago. I received an @ message from a new follower that simply said, “Follow back.” I’ve received a number of variations of this message: please follow me, make sure you follow back, etc.
Whoa. Whoa. Who are you and why the hell are you trying to tell me what to do?? Unlike some people I am not merely focused on the number of followers I have on Twitter, Facebook or any of the other services. I interact with my followers (at least a good number of them), and it is easy to do this because they tend to post really interesting things. And that’s why I follow them in the first place. See how that works? You develop interesting content, I follow you! Novel.
Relevancy isn’t very high up on the list of reasons why I follow someone. The people I follow range wildly from marketers to fashion columnists to football players and analysts, and it’s because I find them interesting. They present material in a way that is quirky or witty or informative without spamming me. I don’t use Twitter just to learn. Sometimes (like during just about any sports season) I like to fuck around. I can’t be business-y all the time; it’s just not possible for me. I’m like a 5-year-old who is easily distracted from a story about my day at the zoo by a pretty dress in a store window.
This incident got to me to thinking about other things users do that annoy the shit out of me. My top 5 are as follows:
- Follow Back: I think I’ve raped this one enough here.
- Tweeting Nothing But Quotes: I appreciate a good quote (especially funny ones), and this is not directed at parody accounts like the Steve Jobs one. If your Twitter stream has nothing but quotes, you add no value to my life and do not warrant a follow. Seriously, why even have a Twitter account? It seems pointless if that’s all you’re going to do. Set up a website so that I can look at all your pretty little quotes at my leisure.
- Those Who Spam Me With Direct Messages: I just started following you .0002 seconds ago and my inbox
is filled with no less than 10 DMs from you. TURN THE AUTOMATION OFF. And while we’re on that tip … - Strictly Automated Tweets: I know that we’re all busy and finding the time to tweet is difficult sometimes, but you don’t want people to “forget” about you so you turn to a tool like SocialOomph. That’s all fine and dandy to a point. If your Twitter stream reads like a bot, I ain’t following you. Actually, you scare me. I’m not sure you’re real, and all of sudden I realize that your profile picture is one of a very attractive brunette with barely any clothes on …
- Using Twitter As A Pick-up Tool: No. No. Stop it. I am not here to flirt with you. Do not trick me by engaging me in what seems like a business-related conversation only to follow it up with “So where do you live?”* or “You’re too pretty to be single.”* Creepy. And a surefire way to get blocked!
Who or what are some of the types of Twitter followers who make you want bash your own hand with a hammer?
*These are messages via Twitter and LinkedIn that I have actually received from creepy guys.
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Such a negative title, eh? From what I’ve heard this makes people want to read it.
Now that I am done being sarcastic (witty, even? Nah.) I really want to get into the reasons why I think for some people 2011 is going to be “another shitty year.”
All over Facebook around the time of January 1st I saw friends post some variation of the following:
Ugh, 2010 sucked so bad for me! Here’s to hoping that 2011 is better; I deserve it after last year!
Hoping that 2011 is a better year leads me straight into number one:
- You’re leaving it up to chance/hoping something awesome will happen
Argue with me what you will regarding fate and destiny and the like, but I strongly advise against waiting around and “hoping” things will be better. Who are you sitting around waiting on? Take action! Don’t just sit and wait for … well, whatever it is that you happen to be sitting and waiting for. (Almost) every goal that you set for yourself is attainable! Obviously, you need to be reasonable, but if you actually work toward it great things can (and do!) happen. The only person who truly knows what you want out of live, or just one year of it, is you! Which leads me to my second point …
- You don’t have a game plan
By now you know that you have to take action to make things possible. Not only do you know that, you WANT to take action now. Journey’s “Eye of the Tiger” is pumping through the speakers, you’ve got your 1980′s track suit on (yummy) and you are PUMPED.
Sit down, please. Before you go anywhere and do anything, you need to have a game plan. Did Lewis and Clarke just set off into the wilderness without any idea of where they were headed? Sort of, but that’s neither here nor there. What I do know is that having a game plan is a good idea. Think back over 2010; it couldn’t have been all bad, right? What were the high points, the positive moments? Can you recall the events that made them that way? Try to recreate positive situations to keep your spirits up. Don’t forget about the bad times, either. If there were mistakes that were made on your part, now is as good a time as to reflect on those. What could you have done differently? Maybe it wasn’t even your fault. Moments like that it’s just time to let go. Leave them in 2010.
- You’re still stuck in 2010
So now you have your game plan. You have (hopefully) taken off the bad track suit. Keep the Journey pumping, though; that’s great stuff. You are keeping negative thoughts out and pulling positive ones in. No one can stop you! Obviously this is all easier than I’m making it seem (for some people, anyway). Sometimes we let things from our past piggyback ride on us to the new year. This is bad. This is real bad. 2011 is never going to be a great year for you if you don’t get over 2010. Don’t wallow on what could have been, what did or didn’t happen, what was or wasn’t said. That’s stupid. Just like that one ex that you wanted to slap the crap out of (which you may or may not have done in 2010; it’s a new year, remember!), it’s time to move on.
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Why should I care?
Though you may have never actually heard this from one of your customers, it’s what we all think whenever something new is presented to us, whether that be a product or offering:
Why should I care?
If you don’t give them a compelling enough reason, rest assured they will see if your competitor can. And what if he does? Then you lose out big time.
With the economy still not back up to par businesses are still finding it hard to get consumers to part with their cash. The NY Times notes that, in terms of the economy and consumer spending habits, 2010 was a crazy up and down year for everyone. Just when things started to look better, something would happen to ruin consumer confidence again, e.g., the ridiculously high unemployment rate (see: American Companies ARE Hiring – Overseas.).
It is well known that it is more cost-effective to retain old customers than to gain new ones. What strategies are you putting in place to ensure that your customer base stays solid and your product relevant and interesting? Here are a few tips to consider to start off the new year right:
- coupons/specials/promotions: Make sure your offer is compelling. Chances are 5% off isn’t going to get anyone moving. In most states, you’re not even cutting off the effect of tax with that! If you don’t make it worth the price of the gas it takes to get to your business, you won’t get the foot traffic.
- helpful attentive staff: This one is a no-brainer yet how many businesses do we see fail at it every day? If your staff is lazy and overall uninterested in the customer, it doesn’t matter how much money they have to spend. They will surely be taking their business elsewhere.
- social media: Now, you know that I am normally a bit of a downer on social media, but I do believe in its power to connect you with your “fans.” The market research potential is enormous! You can find out precisely what your customers do and don’t like and what they would like to see. I’m not saying you have to answer to everyone, but tapping into that base can be crucial.
- remain competitive: You don’t want to be known as the company that is light years behind everyone. You don’t have to jump on every new trend, but there are always some within every industry that are worth exploring. Weigh the pros and cons, become an industry leader.
I hope that 2011 has started off fantastic for everyone (I know, it hasn’t even been a week). Let’s make some money and gain some new, loyal customers this year – let’s get moving!
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We all know that social media marketing is the new, hot thing in the business world right now. And with good reason. My generation in particular (Generation Y) is less responsive to traditional advertising yet we spend an absorbent amount of time on the web: Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc. Slick graphics and snarky catchphrases don’t appeal to us. We are considered the first “online” generation. We have an immense amount of knowledge at our fingertips. We don’t need you to tell us that your company’s products are great; we’ll find out for ourselves by asking friends (both in the real and virtual worlds) and researching it online. When it comes to buying power, the ball is now squarely in the consumer’s court. (
http://www.marketingforsports.com/content9.html
)
The following is all common knowledge by this point, but to reiterate: Facebook has 500 million users and we spend “an average of 421 minutes on Facebook per month” (
http://mashable.com/2010/02/16/facebook-nielsen-stats/
). And that’s just one social media site.
This is why many businesses, both large and small, are migrating to an online presence. According to a report by White Horse, 86% of B2B firms and 82% of B2C firms utilize social media for business (
http://mashable.com/2010/11/11/b2b-social-media-marketing-infographic/
). Hey, you have to go where the crowd is, right?
One piece of advice I can give in your search for the perfect social media avenues for your business is that if you are seeking outside help (i.e., a social media marketing firm or consultant), be cautious. Do your research like you would with anything else you plan to spend money on! You will run into many who will promise you tons of fans on Facebook or followers on Twitter, but ask them what this translates to. Do followers become customers? In their past experiences with similar companies what was the ROI on average? And I mean in terms of dollars-to-dollars, not dollars-to-followers. Don’t be fooled by talk of “You spent $1 per fan you obtained on Facebook!” Doesn’t this sound better: “You spent $1 per fan obtained on Facebook who become a new customer!”
I bring this up because I recently joined a very popular site that certifies social media marketing professionals. I have always been skeptical about these certificates because they don’t seem to have the greatest backing. What I mean by that is they usually don’t come from accredited, respected universities, say like a state university. That people have actually heard of.
Anyway, it basically consists of a number of “classes” (webinar presentations) that you take. There are about 20 of them, I believe, and when you’re all done you take a certification exam. I started one of the classes and had to watch it three times. Not because it was confusing, but because I bore easily. I ended up skipping all the classes and going straight to the exam. Guess who passed with high marks?
And that is all I am going to say about that.
P.S. Actually, I will add that the webinars are highly informative (and free!), which is a good reason to check them out, even if you want to pass on the exam. I recommend that!
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1. You are (sort of) your own boss. Sure, there’s a person or several who own the company and there might even be some type of management in place; however, everyone is spread pretty thin. No one’s going to baby you or hold your hand because they literally do not have the time to. Whereas larger companies have created positions to cover every little detail (the secretary is the secretary, sales does sales) in small startups you have to double or even triple up on functions. The secretary becomes HR and personal assistant rolled into one. Salespeople handle the full sales cycle and fully manage accounts. In a real world example there is Paul at my company. He’s IT for Sundrop. He also trains customers on the back-end functions of our program. He installs our software in POSs for clients and troubleshoots them. This may be scary for some, but those who thrive in loose, fast-paced environments will love it.
2. The laid-back, anti-corporate America atmosphere. I wear jeans, t-shirts and flip flops to work. Sure, when I get on the elevator in my building with all of the super fancy dress people from other companies they stare; that’s because they’re jealous. I have lunch with my CEO who isn’t scary; he’s really cool. We go get frozen yogurt in the middle of the day just because. Some people work from home. At this stage the rules are pretty lax because there are so many other things to be worried about. Ya know, like getting this company off the ground.
Lying down at work totally motivates me boss.
3. Everyone wants to hear your ideas. Unlike a lot of company meetings where speaking up is a nerve wrecking affair, at startups people want to hear your ideas. In fact, they actively seek them out. The CEO won’t rub into your face how he’s built this company from the ground up by himself with no one’s help because, well – ya just started.
4. The opportunities for growth are tremendous. A lot of businesses have great potential for growth. What makes a startup different is it that this is highly apparent and there is much more room to grow. No one needs to lay it out for you. If you’re doing marketing for a startup and you are the entire marketing “department” as long as you do your job and do it very well, it’s not hard to figure out what you could be in the future (hellooo, management!).
5. All the things in the future that haven’t happened yet. Your company could be the next Facebook. Or Google. Who knows? I mean, it could also end up in the deadpool, but that’s ok! The things you will learn on this journey are priceless and can be carried over to any other position.
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