Five Rings and a Month of Suggestions

It can be fun, serious, funny, or thought provoking, but daily on Twitter I post something that may brighten your day, cause you to pause, make you think, or give you a smile.

Since the London Olympics began on July 27th, you'll notice some silliness may have ensued in the last few days of the month and may continue through August 12th.

Here’s the list for July 2012

• Happy Birthday, Canada
• Two out of ten play mostly to their strengths. What about you?
• Context is king
• Happy 236, USA
• Without initiative, leaders are simply workers in leadership positions. Bo Bennett
• Martin Streek - Three years and still doesn't seem real.
• At the end of the day, when all is said and done, we may need fewer clichés
• Never underestimate the power of quite time
• Build relationships not customers
• Leadership doesn't appear on a business card
• Nose to the grindstone, best foot forward, shoulder to the wheel, drink plenty of fluids
• Stay curious
• Drop out of the Ain’t it Awful Club. Jack Canfield
• Take a break from the internet. It will be here when you get back
• Make the choice or something else will make it for you
• Let others have the spotlight today
• Take the victory
• Leadership starts from within
• How often do you listen to your gut?
• Never. Stop. Learning.
• Thank those who help you
• Independence needs a hand. Accept it with grace
• Meet five new people this week
• Growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership
• Stress can be a self-inflicted injury
• Leadership is about helping others
• Are you giving your best?
• Remains the frontrunner in marathon napping
• Scored gold for sharp retorts
• Won silver in coverage viewing
• Stuck the couch dismount

If we give up, we may never know.

Kneale Mann

getty images

Are You The Best in The World?

Make a Dollar

A year ago this week, my friend Mark Gallagher gave me a project. During one of our long deep and very helpful conversations he said that I should imagine a triangle with three equal sides. Side one features things I am best at the world at, side two is where I will make the most money and side three is what I'm most passionate about.

It's a challenging exercise because imagine for a moment that you can accomplish all three. Passion seems to be the easier one (for me) but most money and best in the world seem daunting.

Make a Name

I'm not sure who first coined the phrase but there is a theory that we are motivated by three things - to make money, to make a name for ourselves and to make a difference. Again, making a difference seems to be the most attainable and honorable. But you may feel different.

There is sound evidence that as we age, we seek more purpose and meaning. But the most difficult side of Mark's triangle is identifying what you are better at than anyone else on earth. This isn't meant to create a boastful ego but rather to make us strive to really be our best.

Make a Difference

Mark's triangle was in this order for a reason so it's up to each of us to figure it out for ourselves - our context. It's an interesting quandary. Many a dreamer has struggled and many who chase only the dollar get in too much trouble as well.

It's interesting that we want to get better but wait for opportunity to land in our lap. Our collective impatience can waste value time focusing on what's important. We search for how to be the best, make a living and realize passion but we often let life get in the way.

What's on Your Triangle?

Kneale Mann

image credit: istock | original: nov 2010

Motivation Can Be Our Biggest Obstacle

What Will We Do?

I technically own my own business. But really, I am an idea guy with a bunch of years of experience helping clients with marketing strategy and digital presence while ensuring it helps their overall business objectives. And it needs to make sense for their situation and abilities. In other words, theory won't help a soul without realistic actionable ideas.

One issue that is similar to every manager or owner I speak with is there is always pain and there are always items they want to improve, just like me and you. My clients and prospects are always looking for ways to  bring value and increase the revenue line, just like you and me. And I need to continue prospecting and I'm sure you do as well.

You Are Busy Enough

Some have suggested that I must be far too busy to speak with potential new clients or discuss new projects. If your local coffee shop had no customers for the next month, they would have no business. I'm always up for a meeting with someone new to discover how I may help them. How about you?

But wanting to grow and moving forward with the action you need to do it are two very different things. It takes motivation to keep moving forward. And as my friend Mitch Joel says, this isn't just business, this is personal. So if you own your own business, rejection can crush motivation.

Last week I met with someone in the morning who is starting a business and a senior executive from a large corporation in the afternoon and the conversations were remarkably similar. Both want to look at ways to better navigate what they could do to reach their goals. The same is true for the 100 people attending my upcoming social media workshop in March. The same is true for you and me.

Biggest Factor is Motivation

Whether you are a sole proprietor or a c-level executive running a publically traded organization with a global footprint, you must find ways to lead while motivating your team and yourself. Leadership can be a lonely journey within a team environment.

This is particularly delicate if you or your company is active online. You have to stay positive and you can’t post stuff that bums people out. No one wants to read it. You have to find the balance between connecting and selling while you navigate the overwhelming amount of data. Welcome to the human race.

To-Do List Keeps Growing

Much goes into running a business and this becomes especially clear when you are running your own company. You have to be the person finding new customers, developing and revising offerings, creating new content, while delivering the best results for clients.

Context is important but it can distract us. We can get preoccupied by what others are doing and comparing those efforts to our own. We can become unmotivated. We must remember that every situation is different and our perception is often not their reality.

How do you keep yourself and others motivated?

knealemann

image credit: sportsillustrated

Context is King

My friend Mark Gallagher gave me a project. During one of our long deep and very helpful conversations he said that I should imagine a triangle with three equal sides.

Side one
At which can you be 
the best in the world?
Side two
Where can you make 
the most money?
Side three
What are you most passionate about?

As my career evolves and perhaps it's an age thing, I seek more purpose and meaning and I hope you do as well. But this is where we get into trouble. And mostly (in my opinion) because we measure against others – it gives us perceived context.

Passion is essential in my mind but without the other two it doesn't amount to much. Money will be difficult without identifying your most valuable skills.

But Mark's triangle was in this order for a reason so it's up to each of us to figure it out for ourselves - our context. It's an interesting quandary. Many a dreamer has gone penniless and many who chase only the dollar get in to much trouble as well.

You Got Mail

I received a client request last week that simply said “where do we start?” and without much hesitation, I sent back a clear list of instructions before we were to meet.

• Find a quiet place to think.
• Make a list of what you want to do with the project.
• List all your professional attributes.
• List only those attributes you are good at and want to continue doing.
• Then let's grab a coffee and chat about next steps.

It sounds like a lot of work for a simple request but it is essential context. Before I can help, I must first decipher what he wants to accomplish and more importantly what he will actually do to accomplish it. Where we start is just that and needs to be flushed out before we can build a scalable and sustainable solution.

I looked at the list again and realized it was time for me to do the exercise. And on the heels of Mark's triangle project, I had forgotten the power of think time. My colleague has completed his list so I look forward to learning all about it.

Do you help others with the very things you need to do?

The context of my prospect's situation may be vastly different than yours but have a look at the list and pick it apart. The solutions reside in the context.

It is interesting that we want to get better but wait for the skies to shower us with confetti and opportunity to arrive on our doorstep?

We find context from reading, learning, asking, searching, then looking inside.

What is in your triangle?

knealemann | email


image credit: getty

Your Message | Your Medium

Send Me A Voice Mail.

Think about how you exchange ideas and connect with colleagues, clients, friends and family on a regular basis.

There may be days when you call someone’s land line, cell phone, send them an email, text them and meet them in person.


If the medium is the message according to Marshall McLuhan that would five messages. But it could be five parts of the same message and the medium is less important.

Content Is Data.

It is the raw ingredients to the meal and alone isn't enough. It's the reason restaurants can't charge us $300 for a bunch of unprepared ingredients on a bare table in an empty room.

Imagine if someone wrote a book but put all the words in the wrong order. Without sentences, structure, story arcs, characters and development, the content is useless if not confusing.

The pillars I use are: content, context and community.

You need data that connects to people.

Sell It Before You Build It?

We all sell a product or service that brings benefit to clients. But if we treat them like a commodity, we shouldn’t be surprised if they treat us like a vendor.

If you are in retail and you look at each person coming through your front door as someone who may get rid of that extra inventory, you may be up for disappointment.

You don't want them to do business with you. You want them to tell their friends and visit again.

How is your message and your medium working to build your reputation?

@knealemann
strategy. marketing. social media.

photo credit: sto resonlin epro

統合されているか? What Is Integration?

Are you integrated? Is your company integrated?
Do you know? Do you know how?

Integration is a word that is thrown around quite a bit these days. But what does it really mean? Let’s start with one definition; the organization of various traits, feelings, attitudes into one harmonious personality.

But it’s one thing to define it; it’s another to put it in to practice. It can be as foreign as speaking Japanese to someone who only speaks English.

統合されているか?
What Is Integration?

Integration has become a catch-all like social media, marketing, user-experience, paradigm shift and community. In simple terms – though easier said than done – it is when several topics or concepts or pieces are seamlessly merged to make a better result. The parts are not lost but work well with each other in a natural way.

But integration is not about trickery. It is about reflecting life.

設定した上で静かな
Quiet On The Set

In the entertainment world, we have seen infomercials and product placement for decades but those applications are often clunky and obvious. The advertising and marketing communities have embraced integration for the purpose of telling more of a story around the product or service.

You may remember the Dog House viral video or the Guy Richie BMW mini-movies. Though neither may have increased sales per se, they were a part of the overall strategy.

コピーを取る
Make A Copy

The mistake many make is to see something that spreads through viral channels and think they can duplicate it. That strategy is about as sound as all the years when the New York Rangers thought they could buy a Stanley Cup by paying gobs of money to a bench full of “superstars”.

Copying is not integration, insuring all the parts are in tact is not either. Integration happens when you remember the human part – when you can reflect the tastes of your audience or customers - not dictate them.

はじめまして
Nice To Meet You

If you are having coffee with someone you just met, you notice their clothing and the surroundings, you are more conscious about yourself and your body language. But once you get to know someone, those thoughts are melded into a relationship with that person which is integrated with all that you do with each other. You become yourself.

When we can forget the screen, the transmitter, the camera, the out-of-context medium that is simply delivering the content then we begin to enjoy true integration.

どのように統合されますか？
How Do You Integrate?

@knealemann

Newsflash: Social Media Is Not A Fad

Let’s take a quick trip back to a simpler time when laptops were rocks and Facebook was a cave. It was a time when grunts meant complex sentences and networking was done around campfires after the beast was conquered.

It was discovered then that humans enjoyed the contact of other humans. Similarly it was revealed that humans enjoyed multiple visits from those they knew and called them “friends”. Experiences shared, stories told.

From 2,000,000 BC to Today

Fast-forward several million years and a new study by Cision – a media research company out of Chicago has discovered that social media is in fact on the rise in Canada. The sites with the biggest growth are globeandmail.com and cbc.ca

If you aren’t in Canada – The Globe And Mail is a national newspaper which has recently stepped up their online content in the wake of that industry’s crumble and CBC is the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation – the national government funded television, radio and content company.

Content Content Content

Jay Krall from Cision says that social media and online content channels are the future. Not a big revelation but content still must be worthy of people’s time and people must know where it is and how to find it.

Not So Fast!

It’s dangerous to tell those not versed in the space to simply start a blog or sign up at social media sites or post their messages and content on a website. It’s like age-old issue in the music industry – bad music slammed over people’s heads will still not make it good.

Try It You'll Like It

Like with any piece of research, there are flaws. In this case, Cision measured online success by blog comments and mentions on “the social web” – love that term. It sounds like my dad talking about Nine Inch Nails as “that music you kids listen to”.

Reality and Media

Online is not the future, it is the present. As stated several times here and many more times to friends and colleagues – this isn't new media or new reality – this is media and reality.

How will you best harness the power of social media to help your business?

km

The Evolution of Content

The three words I use a lot are: content, context and community. Words that roll off the tongue and sound kinda cute but they are – in my opinion – essential to most of the stuff we do, create, consumer and share.

We All Have A Voice
Technorati estimates there are about 150 million blogs in the world – that number is probably low. Anyone with a laptop and an internet connection has the ability to create content and discussion starters.

There are no interviews, no one will vet you, your resume will not be scrutinized, and you may gain a sizeable audience for what you have to say.

Toys Toys Toys
The Consumer Electronics Show is on right now in Las Vegas and while the throng gawk and point and touch and fiddle with all the coolest latest stuff, the challenge remains that we need stuff to put on all these toys.

Content comes in all shapes and sizes and sounds and tastes. It’s all too overwhelming for any of us to get a handle on what is available.

You Have To Be Good
A musician without good songs can have the nicest guitar on the market and it doesn’t matter. You can spend thousands on a Hi-Def plasma surround sound system but you still need quality content or all you have are more dust collectors.

The challenge is not content – it is quality content. Quantity is a word usually reserved for items that hold no emotional value and the lowest price will usually win the day. It’s okay to search for the best price on bathroom tissue but not when you are selecting a new cell phone.

Choice Is Everywhere
I would never suggest that we don’t have gobs of excellent choices available to us. Great music is being made, top-notch movies are being produced, bright minds are finding a space in the blogosphere and the world of podcasts, and the cable companies are providing a wide choice of shows.

And if you are in the area, you should check out Podcamp Toronto February 21 and 22nd.

While we continue to feed our seemingly endless appetite for the newest and shiniest gadgets, it’s important for us to spend an equal amount of time on the content that goes on these things.

What are your thoughts?

km

Don't Be Shy - Share!

A few months ago, during a chat with a colleague, we got to talking about someone who we enjoy reading and listening to through their blog and podcast. I know this person, my colleague does not – so I asked him if he knew what this person did for a living. He was a bit stymied.

It got me thinking about the reasons why we blog and share and podcast and connect through the social network. Some do it to share wedding photos, some to share business wisdom in their particular industry or area of expertise.

There seems to be a reluctance to let the listener or reader peer into the host’s day job. It is vital to have a reference point for your thoughts and it is okay to open up once in a while.

Theories are cool but equally important are practical examples to show them in action. And it’s refreshing that some are beginning to let us in a little further through their blogs and podcasts to explain what they actually do.

We don't necessarily need to exchange our resumes, but it’s important to context what you’re talking or writing about with practical experience from your career.

Next year, we will need to share a lot more and try to find creative ways to work together, make a living, and expand ourselves.

Whether you blog, podcast or simply do things the old-fashioned way through human contact – it’s okay to share. That need will never diminish and that is the essence of integration.

km

John Weiss 'Sharing Lunch'

That's Not What I Meant

It is fascinating how we can seamlessly communicate with each other via social networking sites, cell phones, emails, pins, texts, landlines, Skype, and snail mail.

What’s equally fascinating is how little information reaches its intended recipient in-tact.

Newsflash: email is not the best way to share ideas. The meaning gets lost, we all make mistakes in the words we select, and the mood at the other end is out of our control.

More text messages are sent each day than there are humans living on the planet. And that will only grow. There are an estimated two million emails sent every second!

We are spending a lot of time and money trying to reach each other.

But are we communicating? Are we receiving information in the same light as it was intended? Are we listening and reading?

The telephone game is a simple one – and you know it – the message begins with one person, who tells it to another and the more people who touch the message before it gets to you, increases the chances of inaccuracies.

You've been there. It begins with an innocent email only to end in a flurry of misunderstanding and half sentences. No one has decided to bail in lieu of an actual converstation and the whole thing becomes a mess.

We try our best to re-explain ourselves which can make things worse. The result is a string of emails that begin to make no sense and the original question or comment or content is buried three pages down.

Mean what you say and say what you mean. Easier said than done.

It's worth a try. Oh, and the smartphone does have a phone option.

km

The Plot Is In The Story

In a world of content, product placement, infomercials, advertorials, and other integrated models,
perhaps it's time to get back to simply telling stories.

Every year, one of the big stories surrounding the Super Bowl is how much it costs to buy a 30 commercial during the game. Last year, the price was $2.7 Million. Think about that. Think about your company. Can you or your company afford over two and a half million dollars for a 30-second event? That doesn’t include production costs so lob a few extra bucks on the tab.

Glorida Goodale writes in a recent blog post that we need to “forget product placement – that's so 20th century. Even product integration is passé. Advertisers these days want to do far more than just place BMWs, Manolo Blahnik shoes, and other luxury items within reach of favorite TV and movie characters. They want to create entire worlds of consumption.”

You may remember receiving a copy of the “banned” 90 second X-Box commercial a few years ago. I received it seven times in a two day period. It was shocking how broadcasters had refused to air this and the community seemed outraged. They were so outraged that the “banned” commercial was shared amongst millions of people. These people watched the “banned” commercial on their computers and portable devices instead of their television screens.

How dare those broadcasters ban such a thing and we all rallied around the floundering Seattle software firm to “fight the man”. It was not a staged or calculated event, nah.

YouTube is consistently in the top five most visited websites on the face of the earth. This space is jammed with material that doesn’t see the traditional light of day. Shocking.

BMW has been the sole underwriter of one of the most wonderful visits in cyberspace – TED.com – and they do it through wickedly cool visuals (not “commercials”) that compliment the content, not interrupt it.

Goodale talks about product plots – another concept that has been going on for years but only now starting to gain traction amongst content providers, producers and companies like BMW, TED, and Microsoft.

What’s important is you must have a story before you dive in the deep end of storytelling. This is not about plunking your product into some backdrop and calling it a plot. Go back to making commercials or another traditional concept route until you can utilize this wonderful integrated option.

Goodale cites this as; “the heady days of brand integration and immersive commercial environments.”

When you are embracing what seems like a new idea, you can’t expect everyone to nod their heads and join in. But that is not enough of a reason to stop.

Mass traditional media has its place and there is audience for it. But we are building swiftly, evolving rapidly, consuming wildly, and multi-platforming constantly. And this is not a specific demographic issue.

Anyone toiling in content generation, marketing, production, advertising or promotion who thinks the “we’ll be right back after this” model will not continue to erode should be prepared to one day utter the phrase;

“What happened!?!”

km

Possibilities Predictions and Positivity

With the Canadian election done and the American election three weeks away, trillions of words have been spoken, written and thought about government, the economy, and the future. I don't view myself as a futurist, I am a broadcaster and producer but from my many years of unscientific research – you and I have about as much luck at predicting the future as anyone.

So we have two choices – and not the la la la I can’t hear you approach.

Integration is one of my favorite words and it when it works, it’s magic. And to quote Obama last night, this is the worst economic time since the great depression. I live in Canada, but trust me no one is waltzing around this gorgeous nation thinking we’ve dodged any financial bullet!

As I talk with clients, partners and potentials, we discuss integration more and more. Sure this is about matching content with context and building the community but not just in entertainment where I preside most of the time. This is about (sorry for the centurion cliché) teamwork! But it's about teamwork on a much larger scale.

That sounds simple enough. It’s not. The human mind seems to adopt the negative much swifter than positive. But with open discussion and using how rather than no, when we feel ourselves slip can we should remember that we’re all in this together.

km