Happy Friday! This a Mashable! Blogwatch. Enjoy, and have a great weekend!
A Guide to Mobile Web Design Tips and Tricks
- Some very helpful pointers in getting you started, or helping you improve, your organization's web presence. Kudos to Christiana Warren for putting this together!
Remindo: Social Web Collaboration for Business
- A great idea, a nice user interface, and a well-thought platform make this very interesting, indeed! I'll be trying it out this month! Let me know what you think! Thanks to Christina Warren for this as well!
HOW TO: Use Social Media to Find Deals this Holiday Season
- We can all use a little savings this year. Use your social media outlets to help you do it during the holiday crunch! Thanks, Sara Dunham!
Friday, November 27, 2009
Me Marketing
I'm a pretty big fan of myself. I mean, I ought to be. I've been with myself for a good while now, and I don't foresee a parting of company with myself in the very near future. So appreciating myself makes the relationship a little easier.
There is a secret to marketing yourself, and it may not be what you think.
Think carefully about why you make the decisions you make. The basis for our foundation always boils down to the Like-Want-Need model. You buy, eat, consume, purchase, watch, enjoy, etc. the things you do because you either like, want, or need them. But, further, for the deliberate consumer, you make those choices based on a value proposition. You make the choices you make based on the inherent value that you perceive in your selection.
When marketing yourself, this really is the key to making yourself likable, desirable, and necessary. You have to make yourself valuable. Now, it is human nature to perceive ourselves as inherently valuable at the outset. None of us wants to be worthless. But, the value which we perceive in ourselves may not be perceived by our consumers. So we often have to create it.
I sincerely believe that the key to this is making it more than worthwhile to do business with you. Your consumer ought to get more than what they expected to get. People expect to get what they pay for, but if you exceed that expectation, you will have made yourself more valuable than the others who simply deliver what is expected.
Many are afraid serve their customers in this way because they feel like they aren't being profitable if they do. It is up to you to decide what you deliver to your customers that will exceed expectations. Often, good customer service and friendly interactions will suffice to surprise and delight your customers. That doesn't cost you anything.
As you market yourself, the best thing you can do is to deliver on your promise of over-delivery. Build a culture of exceeding expectations within yourself and your organization, and let the product, the value speak for itself.
There is a secret to marketing yourself, and it may not be what you think.
Think carefully about why you make the decisions you make. The basis for our foundation always boils down to the Like-Want-Need model. You buy, eat, consume, purchase, watch, enjoy, etc. the things you do because you either like, want, or need them. But, further, for the deliberate consumer, you make those choices based on a value proposition. You make the choices you make based on the inherent value that you perceive in your selection.
When marketing yourself, this really is the key to making yourself likable, desirable, and necessary. You have to make yourself valuable. Now, it is human nature to perceive ourselves as inherently valuable at the outset. None of us wants to be worthless. But, the value which we perceive in ourselves may not be perceived by our consumers. So we often have to create it.
I sincerely believe that the key to this is making it more than worthwhile to do business with you. Your consumer ought to get more than what they expected to get. People expect to get what they pay for, but if you exceed that expectation, you will have made yourself more valuable than the others who simply deliver what is expected.
Many are afraid serve their customers in this way because they feel like they aren't being profitable if they do. It is up to you to decide what you deliver to your customers that will exceed expectations. Often, good customer service and friendly interactions will suffice to surprise and delight your customers. That doesn't cost you anything.
As you market yourself, the best thing you can do is to deliver on your promise of over-delivery. Build a culture of exceeding expectations within yourself and your organization, and let the product, the value speak for itself.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Pick your sandbox.
Remember junior high school? The first week was full of stress and anxiety, not because of classes or homework, but because of lunch. The table to which you would find yourself relegated had the potential of changing the face of your entire socio-academic career. It was never a decision you could make for yourself, at least, that was the case for most of us. Our peers, those who had come before us, they chose our table. It was all a matter of waiting, wondering what would happen, what would THEY think of us?
The social media phenomenon feels a lot like a junior high school lunch room, especially for those who are getting on board at this relatively late stage in the game. There is so much to learn, to process, to formulate and make a decision on, it seems just a little simpler to let someone else decide for us at which table we should sit. After all, we don't have time to spend worrying about all of this do we? There is too much else going on. Isn't there?
The question you ought to be asking yourself is whether or not you truly understand what is happening. If you don't, you have to be up front and honest about that. And then you have to educate yourself. The difference between this new media landscape and those smelly lunchrooms is that nobody here wants to be your friend. They want the money that your consumers would otherwise spend with you. And they will pick your table for you. They will relegate you to that table in the corner where people who don't meet the acceptable standard sit.
You have an opportunity, much like you had when you were much younger, to pick, not which table you sit at, but which sandbox you play in. As a child, you simply brought what tools you had to the sandbox and built your own castle. Social politics aside, he who could build the biggest castle was king. So bring your tools to the sandbox and start building. Learn, educate, discover, and adapt. Make yourself organic, growing with your surroundings, and changing as is necessary.
Social media provides the single greatest opportunity to date for effective communication with your consumer audience. They crave interaction from you, and will gladly spend their money with you when you meet that social need. The old rule to live by was "Pay to Play." You're not effective anymore unless you are willing to actually play. No more arm chair quarterbacks with fat marketing budgets. Now you've got to put on the pads and make it happen.
\
The wonderful thing about this shift socio-economic dynamics is that it puts you in control of your own destiny. You finally get to pick your own table. And guess what? You get to bring your sand castle.
The social media phenomenon feels a lot like a junior high school lunch room, especially for those who are getting on board at this relatively late stage in the game. There is so much to learn, to process, to formulate and make a decision on, it seems just a little simpler to let someone else decide for us at which table we should sit. After all, we don't have time to spend worrying about all of this do we? There is too much else going on. Isn't there?
The question you ought to be asking yourself is whether or not you truly understand what is happening. If you don't, you have to be up front and honest about that. And then you have to educate yourself. The difference between this new media landscape and those smelly lunchrooms is that nobody here wants to be your friend. They want the money that your consumers would otherwise spend with you. And they will pick your table for you. They will relegate you to that table in the corner where people who don't meet the acceptable standard sit.
You have an opportunity, much like you had when you were much younger, to pick, not which table you sit at, but which sandbox you play in. As a child, you simply brought what tools you had to the sandbox and built your own castle. Social politics aside, he who could build the biggest castle was king. So bring your tools to the sandbox and start building. Learn, educate, discover, and adapt. Make yourself organic, growing with your surroundings, and changing as is necessary.
Social media provides the single greatest opportunity to date for effective communication with your consumer audience. They crave interaction from you, and will gladly spend their money with you when you meet that social need. The old rule to live by was "Pay to Play." You're not effective anymore unless you are willing to actually play. No more arm chair quarterbacks with fat marketing budgets. Now you've got to put on the pads and make it happen.
\
The wonderful thing about this shift socio-economic dynamics is that it puts you in control of your own destiny. You finally get to pick your own table. And guess what? You get to bring your sand castle.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Improvement
Personal. Organizational. Social.
How do you define it?
The smartest people in the world focus on improving themselves, then make a genuine effort to tell other people about how it worked.
How do you define it?
The smartest people in the world focus on improving themselves, then make a genuine effort to tell other people about how it worked.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Personal Motivation
Motivation has been a big theme on my linkedin.com profile this week. I've been asking people how they motivate themselves and other people? How they stay motivated? How they keep others motivated? It's a big question. Motivation is the impetus of accomplishment.
Isn't it?
I think motivation-personal, social, organizational-really boils down to purpose. I've talked about this before, but it everything we do, whether it be in our personal lives or in our professional lives, is guided and directed by the underlying purpose, or lack thereof, we have for what we are doing.
I motivate myself by keeping my purpose clear and recognizable, and by keeping myself reminded of it. I carry 3x5 cards that have several purposes written on them: my purpose for loving my wife, my purpose for serving my clients, my purpose for keeping my faith. As I continue to remind myself of these things, I am motivated to accomplish my purpose. I am reminded of my goal, and urged on to achieve it.
So how do you motivate yourself? How do you keep yourself, and those around you, pressing toward the mark?
Isn't it?
I think motivation-personal, social, organizational-really boils down to purpose. I've talked about this before, but it everything we do, whether it be in our personal lives or in our professional lives, is guided and directed by the underlying purpose, or lack thereof, we have for what we are doing.
I motivate myself by keeping my purpose clear and recognizable, and by keeping myself reminded of it. I carry 3x5 cards that have several purposes written on them: my purpose for loving my wife, my purpose for serving my clients, my purpose for keeping my faith. As I continue to remind myself of these things, I am motivated to accomplish my purpose. I am reminded of my goal, and urged on to achieve it.
So how do you motivate yourself? How do you keep yourself, and those around you, pressing toward the mark?
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Dynamics
I love this word. It comes from the Greek word dynamos which means "power" or "massive energy". It's an extremely descriptive word, especially when applied to unorthodox contexts. Most of the time we associate the word "Dynamics" with personality or character of an entity. Seldom do we actually consider it a viable quality to be learned and applied.
We all function within the framework of and structure of organizations, which, for the most part, are three-dimensional, working models of the business plan. The plan was crafted and created with the intent that those who actually provided the manpower and resources necessary to bring it to life would understand and embrace the values upon which it was founded. This is all well and good, except that, in most cases, those working within this framework are not empowered to see beyond its limitations and stagnation results. This problem does not stem from unconcerned or indifferent employees, it stems from their inability to create a better environment.
Too often, managers are afraid to facilitate the betterment of their subordinates. When we take off those limitations, however, good, intelligent people are free to create, to suggest, to experiment with their environment and requirements, and they begin to evolve their organization from the inside out. Those companies and organizations that are truly successful, are truly leading their industries understand this principle of inner dynamics, and they encourage, even promote, critical insights from within in order to improve the outward performance. This requires a measure of trust on behalf of the facilitating tier, but more so, it requires an organization to give the people involved a vested interest in the organization itself. People are ready and willing to invest themselves and their ideas into an organization that will benefit them as it gets better.
For example, Starbucks offers stock options to every single employee. They essentially become partners in the company for which they work. The organization even goes so far as to refer to every single one of its employees as "Starbucks Partners".
This kind of an organizational investment into the people who involve themselves with it is exactly the kind of dynamic promotion that sets some organizations apart from others. When a coffee-making barista approaches her work with the mindset that her success as an employee affects the success of the company, which in turn affects her success as a person, she is personally motivated to find ways to make her environment better and more productive. This is dynamic motivation.
How are you motivating your people? Have you modeled inner dynamics in your organization? If so, how? and what were the results? How is your organization dynamically promoting effectiveness within a given environment? are those environments friendly to effective change and outward evolution? And lastly, what is your organization doing to dynamically motivate your people? how are you enabling your people to invest themselves into the organization?
We all function within the framework of and structure of organizations, which, for the most part, are three-dimensional, working models of the business plan. The plan was crafted and created with the intent that those who actually provided the manpower and resources necessary to bring it to life would understand and embrace the values upon which it was founded. This is all well and good, except that, in most cases, those working within this framework are not empowered to see beyond its limitations and stagnation results. This problem does not stem from unconcerned or indifferent employees, it stems from their inability to create a better environment.
Too often, managers are afraid to facilitate the betterment of their subordinates. When we take off those limitations, however, good, intelligent people are free to create, to suggest, to experiment with their environment and requirements, and they begin to evolve their organization from the inside out. Those companies and organizations that are truly successful, are truly leading their industries understand this principle of inner dynamics, and they encourage, even promote, critical insights from within in order to improve the outward performance. This requires a measure of trust on behalf of the facilitating tier, but more so, it requires an organization to give the people involved a vested interest in the organization itself. People are ready and willing to invest themselves and their ideas into an organization that will benefit them as it gets better.
For example, Starbucks offers stock options to every single employee. They essentially become partners in the company for which they work. The organization even goes so far as to refer to every single one of its employees as "Starbucks Partners".
This kind of an organizational investment into the people who involve themselves with it is exactly the kind of dynamic promotion that sets some organizations apart from others. When a coffee-making barista approaches her work with the mindset that her success as an employee affects the success of the company, which in turn affects her success as a person, she is personally motivated to find ways to make her environment better and more productive. This is dynamic motivation.
How are you motivating your people? Have you modeled inner dynamics in your organization? If so, how? and what were the results? How is your organization dynamically promoting effectiveness within a given environment? are those environments friendly to effective change and outward evolution? And lastly, what is your organization doing to dynamically motivate your people? how are you enabling your people to invest themselves into the organization?
Friday, November 6, 2009
Friday Blogwatch
I know it's been a while. My wife and I found out we're pregnant and it's been a little bit of a whirlwind these last couple of weeks! It's an exciting time for us and we're just thrilled about starting a family.
But, life keeps moving and there is so much happening. This issue of Friday Blogwatch is dedicated the new and improved that is out on the market now. You should be checking these things out!
http://bit.ly/2dwEtV
Have you tried Windows 7?
The new Microsoft product is on the market, and, at least at the outset, people seem to be excited about it. Sales were 234% better than Vista at it's debut. Those are significant numbers. Microsoft needs the good press, too. With Apple really stepping up the Apple/PC advertising, there is certainly a point to be made in the Microsoft camp. We'll see if W7 is the product to make it.
http://bit.ly/3Bvh7K
Google helping out with Twitter Lists
Twitter's new List functionality is helpful, efficient, and smart. And Google, true to form, has stepped up to make it easier to use and manage. Google will alert you about activity in your TwitLists, allowing you to keep doing whatever it is your doing instead of constantly surveying your tweets in fear of missing something important. Good job, Google.
http://bit.ly/2hHOv8
Finally, Dislike in Facebook
How many times have we watched a stupid video, listened to a terrible song, or put up with our friend's annoying status, yearning for the opportunity to tell them what we really think. Well, if you're a Firefox browser, now you can. There is a new plug-in for Firefox that allows you to Dislike any item on the News Feed. One major drawback is that other users must also have the plug-in in order to see your unfavorable opinions, but the plug-in does work within Facebook and not a separate party program, which many FF plug-ins have been known to do.
Have a great week-end everybody!
But, life keeps moving and there is so much happening. This issue of Friday Blogwatch is dedicated the new and improved that is out on the market now. You should be checking these things out!
http://bit.ly/2dwEtV
Have you tried Windows 7?
The new Microsoft product is on the market, and, at least at the outset, people seem to be excited about it. Sales were 234% better than Vista at it's debut. Those are significant numbers. Microsoft needs the good press, too. With Apple really stepping up the Apple/PC advertising, there is certainly a point to be made in the Microsoft camp. We'll see if W7 is the product to make it.
http://bit.ly/3Bvh7K
Google helping out with Twitter Lists
Twitter's new List functionality is helpful, efficient, and smart. And Google, true to form, has stepped up to make it easier to use and manage. Google will alert you about activity in your TwitLists, allowing you to keep doing whatever it is your doing instead of constantly surveying your tweets in fear of missing something important. Good job, Google.
http://bit.ly/2hHOv8
Finally, Dislike in Facebook
How many times have we watched a stupid video, listened to a terrible song, or put up with our friend's annoying status, yearning for the opportunity to tell them what we really think. Well, if you're a Firefox browser, now you can. There is a new plug-in for Firefox that allows you to Dislike any item on the News Feed. One major drawback is that other users must also have the plug-in in order to see your unfavorable opinions, but the plug-in does work within Facebook and not a separate party program, which many FF plug-ins have been known to do.
Have a great week-end everybody!
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