You have heard the quote “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. Some say it was Einstein; some say it was Franklin. The point is the meaning behind it.
Change is awkward and unsure. The ground begins to move beneath us and we crave for things to return to "normal". We are creatures of habit and like to feel safe and comfortable. We may scan the menu but there are usually only a handful if items we order each time we're back to the restaurant.
Rinse Don't Repeat
There are two significant issues going on – the sheer will of stakeholders to keep their status quo and the monumental task of building inspirational leadership.
Change is not this. Change can be exciting. Change is unproven. Change can be scary. Change requires a leap of faith. Change can conquer courage. When the bottom line is the only objective, affecting change can often be an illusive pipe dream.
We can't always predict the outcome of change.
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Showing posts with label integration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label integration. Show all posts
February 9, 2019
September 4, 2018
Busy or Busy Being Busy?
The world keeps getting faster and we keep adding gadgets and technology to make it easier which gives us more reasons to stay busier and less time for each other.
I once had a boss who traveled the country to meet with managers but was never really in the city he was located in at the time. During our meetings, his face was buried in his smartphone. He would squirm in his chair. His eyes would dart back and forth. He pretended to pay attention. He couldn't sit still for a minute.
Wait a minute...
Then I realized that he answered my emails when he was elsewhere pretending to be present in that meeting. If you live on your smart phone, it becomes increasingly difficult not to telegraph to others you are ignoring their emails when you fail to respond.
Years ago, a friend moved to a much larger city. I asked him if he noticed the pace had increased and he simply said people seemed busier but he was unsure they were getting more accomplished.
Some wise words from Calvin of Calvin and Hobbes; "We're so busy watching out for what's just ahead of us that we don't take time to enjoy where we are."
__________________________________________________________________
I once had a boss who traveled the country to meet with managers but was never really in the city he was located in at the time. During our meetings, his face was buried in his smartphone. He would squirm in his chair. His eyes would dart back and forth. He pretended to pay attention. He couldn't sit still for a minute.
Wait a minute...
Then I realized that he answered my emails when he was elsewhere pretending to be present in that meeting. If you live on your smart phone, it becomes increasingly difficult not to telegraph to others you are ignoring their emails when you fail to respond.
Years ago, a friend moved to a much larger city. I asked him if he noticed the pace had increased and he simply said people seemed busier but he was unsure they were getting more accomplished.
Some wise words from Calvin of Calvin and Hobbes; "We're so busy watching out for what's just ahead of us that we don't take time to enjoy where we are."
__________________________________________________________________
November 14, 2011
Business is Not an Overnight Success
A large cheeseburger with condiments is approximately 600 calories. An hour of high impact aerobics for a 200lb man will burn about 600 calories. A slice of pumpkin pie is about 350 calories. An hour of ice skating for the same man will burn about 340 calories. We know we need to eat better, work out more and take better care of ourselves but (on average) we don’t do that. We eat the cheeseburgers and the pie then get acquainted with the couch.
Often companies will look at the success of a certain campaign or promotion to get a sense of customer reaction or appetite. This kind of strategy is both flawed and short-lived. Patience is a virtue but rarely a business plan.
Open for Business
Unless you have won the lottery, have rich parents or are independently wealthy, you need new business all the time. It’s admirable to see some who have as many customers as they will ever need but the rest of us need to constantly build our business. Not for a week, not once in a while, but every single day.
We want the customers now but can have trouble seeing the long term benefits of a sustained effort throughout the year. We wonder how these available channels can help us without realizing our contribution is critical to the equation. We want the quick wins to sustain our revenue line forever.
Downside of Now
As a business and marketing strategist, I am asked often if I can help companies improve and increase revenue. I can but I don't have magic dust to solve all their problems in an instant - no one does.
If you are in business, you have made some mistakes and enjoyed some victories but neither happened in a day or a week. It would be arrogant for anyone to claim they can help you improve in those areas in a short amount of time. You may want to find some quick wins but they are fleeting and impossible to scale.
We are not built for strategy or long-term thinking. If things are bad, we want them to be good, right now. If money is tight, we want money, right now. If someone promises that this campaign will help us get us out of this slide, we are happy to listen, right now. We want the burgers and the pie without the waistline.
Do you want wins or business growth?
Kneale Mann
image credit: directresponse
original: Mar 2011
November 12, 2011
Change is a Way of Life
You've heard the quote “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. Some say it was Einstein, some say it was Franklin. The point is the meaning behind it.I have worked with business owners who have tried it the other way around. They narrowed the focus, found the niche, then measured success against the wide mainstream. They did different things expecting the same results.
What Change Feels Like
There are theories that we build our set of values by the age of five. After that, it’s all experience and execution. Marriages split after decades of partners trying to change each other. Elections are won by candidates promising change.
Change is not easy. Change requires energy and focus and sustained attention. Change is something that sounds good when someone else says it. Change can fight you. Change can be elusive. Change wears many disguises. Change starts from our core, not our minds. Change is freely available when we want to grab it.
Change is Right Here
I was speaking with a colleague who was commiserating about a client who says she wants change in her organization yet her actions prove the opposite. And I reminded him that most of us like the concept of change but we don’t have a clue what it feels like when it’s happening. Most of us don't realize how deep rooted our habits are which often block change. And those habits once represented change.
Change is awkward and unsure. The ground begins to move beneath us and we crave for things to return to "normal". We like to feel safe and comfortable. We may scan the menu but there are usually a handful of items we order each time.
Say Change vs Do Change
This is increasingly more difficult in an organization. The economy is still down in many areas of the world yet on the threat of their very survival, companies often fail to realize a necessary organizational shift. Often the people uttering the decree for change aren't willing to change themselves.
There are two significant issues going on – the sheer will of stakeholders to keep their status quo and the task of building inspirational leadership. Knowing when change is necessary then actually taking the necessary steps to create it, is the challenge.
How do you affect positive change?
Kneale Mann
image credit: catnross
original post: feb 2011
October 3, 2011
Data Are Worthless
If you own a company, manage a business, run a department or contribute to a team, you are intimately aware of the time constraints you face every day. You have deadlines and meetings, emails and projects as well as constant reminders of the bottom line. And what should you do about all this online stuff?
There are close to two billion of us online reading, digesting, publishing, sharing, tweeting and conversing. The amount of content published in a day is unrelenting and new spaces are being built constantly.
Our Insatiable Appetite
The choices can overwhelm you, the so-called experts can hound you and the decision remains how to improve the organization. And unless your company is called “campaign”, you need a strategy and long term solutions.
It’s not difficult to find someone who will lay claim to their vast knowledge of all things digital through blog webinars, Facebook symposiums and how-to LinkedIn seminars. Yet with a click of your mouse, you will be falling over self-proclaimed experts who can give you link bait and search juice for a handsome fee.
Under The Hood
Perhaps the not so sexy but valuable aspect of the social web that few talk about is research. Over and above any activity you partake through the myriad digital spaces, you can unearth rich useful information about your company, what people are saying about you, topics that are important to you and what your competitors are doing through regular digital audits.
With over 600 million daily search inquires on Twitter, someone seems to be digging around for information. And over a third of us online have presence on Facebook where we share more than 30 billion pieces of content every month.
And There's More
YouTube is the second largest search engine, next to parent company Google and fifth most visited website on the planet. It served more than 75 billion video streams to over 375 million unique visitors last year. And if you're looking for even more research, you can check out SlideShare which features hundreds of presentations in your industry. And there are hundreds of other spaces available.
The data are only worth something if you do something with it. The information needs to be gathered, analyzed and implemented. And constant research on the web can positively effect the bottom line. The decision is whether you want to do the work and put in the time.
Kneale Mann
image credit: cloudcentrics
original posted Feb 2011
Our Insatiable Appetite
The choices can overwhelm you, the so-called experts can hound you and the decision remains how to improve the organization. And unless your company is called “campaign”, you need a strategy and long term solutions.
It’s not difficult to find someone who will lay claim to their vast knowledge of all things digital through blog webinars, Facebook symposiums and how-to LinkedIn seminars. Yet with a click of your mouse, you will be falling over self-proclaimed experts who can give you link bait and search juice for a handsome fee.
Under The Hood
Perhaps the not so sexy but valuable aspect of the social web that few talk about is research. Over and above any activity you partake through the myriad digital spaces, you can unearth rich useful information about your company, what people are saying about you, topics that are important to you and what your competitors are doing through regular digital audits.
With over 600 million daily search inquires on Twitter, someone seems to be digging around for information. And over a third of us online have presence on Facebook where we share more than 30 billion pieces of content every month.
And There's More
YouTube is the second largest search engine, next to parent company Google and fifth most visited website on the planet. It served more than 75 billion video streams to over 375 million unique visitors last year. And if you're looking for even more research, you can check out SlideShare which features hundreds of presentations in your industry. And there are hundreds of other spaces available.
The data are only worth something if you do something with it. The information needs to be gathered, analyzed and implemented. And constant research on the web can positively effect the bottom line. The decision is whether you want to do the work and put in the time.
Kneale Mann
image credit: cloudcentrics
original posted Feb 2011
May 25, 2011
How Many I’s on Your Team?
Involve
Last week, I was meeting with a client and we got into exchanging business clichés. When she used the “There’s no “I” in team”, I corrected her. I relayed a post I had written here a couple of years ago and it reminded me that most people don’t sift through the archives. This was originally published in January 2009.
Imagine
We travel in packs, so it’s safe to say you more often work in a team environment. A group of people all wandering in different directions can be extremely dangerous. When we can share ideas with each other, magic can happen.
Inspire
One of the coolest television shows ever was Long Way Down featuring actor Ewan McGregor along with his best mate and fellow actor Charley Boorman. This was the follow-up to their original trip entitled Long Way Around which began in April 2004. The goal was to take the long way around the earth - on motorcycles.
Instigate
Charley, Ewan and their crew left from London, crossed over to mainland Europe then rode to France, Belgium, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Siberia, Alaska, Canada, into the U.S. and finally arrived in NYC. You don’t just wake up one more morning and try this. It takes a lot of preparation and a lot of people.
Integrate
In January 2004 the boys began intense physical training which included weights, boxing, and cardio. In between workouts, they joined the rest of the team for intense road planning research. They also had to educate themselves on issues such as possible bear attacks, language barriers, passports, every possible weather condition, medicine, proper supplies and just for fun there was a television crew filming everything from day one.
Improve
They also had to be trained to deal with survival issues, possible hostile environments and of course first-aid. Nutritionists, GPS experts and seasoned outdoor travelers were consulted. All this to prepare for their mammoth trip.
Implement
Three years later, they wanted to do another trip. This time, Scotland to South Africa. The same detail had to go in to this trip as with the last. They ran in to some passport issues and Ewan broke his leg which delayed things. But when you see them riding their bikes around the Great Pyramid of Giza or stopping to bungee jump over Victoria Falls, it's proof the prep was well worth it. Long Way Around was 115 days covering 15,000 miles. Long Way Down covered more than 20,000 miles in 85 days.
Initiate
You may not have the desire to spend twelve months of your life training and riding motorcycles but the elements are the same. Working in a team environment takes many moving parts and many talented people who can take thoughts and turn them into actions and results.
You have to imagine the idea, inspire the rest of the team to get moving, integrate everyone involved and implement the plan.
Give some thought to the I's on your team.
Kneale Mann
image credit: visualphotos
Last week, I was meeting with a client and we got into exchanging business clichés. When she used the “There’s no “I” in team”, I corrected her. I relayed a post I had written here a couple of years ago and it reminded me that most people don’t sift through the archives. This was originally published in January 2009. Imagine
We travel in packs, so it’s safe to say you more often work in a team environment. A group of people all wandering in different directions can be extremely dangerous. When we can share ideas with each other, magic can happen.
Inspire
One of the coolest television shows ever was Long Way Down featuring actor Ewan McGregor along with his best mate and fellow actor Charley Boorman. This was the follow-up to their original trip entitled Long Way Around which began in April 2004. The goal was to take the long way around the earth - on motorcycles.
Instigate
Charley, Ewan and their crew left from London, crossed over to mainland Europe then rode to France, Belgium, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Siberia, Alaska, Canada, into the U.S. and finally arrived in NYC. You don’t just wake up one more morning and try this. It takes a lot of preparation and a lot of people.
Integrate
In January 2004 the boys began intense physical training which included weights, boxing, and cardio. In between workouts, they joined the rest of the team for intense road planning research. They also had to educate themselves on issues such as possible bear attacks, language barriers, passports, every possible weather condition, medicine, proper supplies and just for fun there was a television crew filming everything from day one.
Improve
They also had to be trained to deal with survival issues, possible hostile environments and of course first-aid. Nutritionists, GPS experts and seasoned outdoor travelers were consulted. All this to prepare for their mammoth trip.
Implement
Three years later, they wanted to do another trip. This time, Scotland to South Africa. The same detail had to go in to this trip as with the last. They ran in to some passport issues and Ewan broke his leg which delayed things. But when you see them riding their bikes around the Great Pyramid of Giza or stopping to bungee jump over Victoria Falls, it's proof the prep was well worth it. Long Way Around was 115 days covering 15,000 miles. Long Way Down covered more than 20,000 miles in 85 days.
Initiate
You may not have the desire to spend twelve months of your life training and riding motorcycles but the elements are the same. Working in a team environment takes many moving parts and many talented people who can take thoughts and turn them into actions and results.
You have to imagine the idea, inspire the rest of the team to get moving, integrate everyone involved and implement the plan.
Give some thought to the I's on your team.
Kneale Mann
image credit: visualphotos
May 12, 2011
Follow Us. Like Us. Connect Us. Now What?
It Begins With a Click
There is non-stop noise and chatter online from people, companies and computer generated bots asking for our attention, time, money and business. Follow us on Twitter. Like my Facebook group. Visit our YouTube channel. Download my e-book. Attend our webinar. Buy my stuff. Read our blog.
If It Was Only That Easy
I’m often in conversations with business owners and managers about improving their digital footprint and web presence. We want business and revenue to move quickly so there is often little patience to give the process the time it needs to develop. Within the digital landscape, here are five types of people that often reside inside an organization.
All Over it
These are early adopters who have immersed themselves in online social networks. They use their mobile device for both business and pleasure. And they don’t understand why the entire organization hasn’t jumped in with both feet. They may be viewed as renegades void of business acumen who don’t recognize the importance of company privacy. They can be the scary ones with the new ideas.
Don’t Understand it
They don’t usually articulate it this clearly, it is manifested by their behavior. The quick subject change or dismissive claim it’s just a big waste of time is rarely too far away. Status quo is their friend. They don't realize their own use of digital is often a reflection of customers' activity.
Think They're On it
Most companies today are somewhat involved in digital content. They have a website, they may have created a few additional online profiles but haven't begun participating in any conversations with customers. But they do have a "Follow Us on Twitter" button, so they think they're covered.
Unsure About it
This can be a tough place to be because you know you should know this stuff, you know your organization would benefit from all this stuff but you are not clear on how and where to start. The good news is the social web gives us a plethora of information about our customers, our industry and our competitors. It just takes a leap and some time. And like a good work out regime, it then takes consistency.
Actually Doing it
These are the trail blazers who are simply doing what they need to do to find customers where customers are and they don’t make a big deal about it. They grasp that the time needs to be invested and that there is a tremendous amount of business intelligence to be found if patience and research is a priority. They aren't boasting about it, they're getting on with it.
And since most organizations have a mix of all these types of people, understanding each other is the key to moving ideas along. Working in idea cubicles will only continue to separate instead of integrate.
Where are you and your company on this list?
Kneale Mann
image credit: wgalnightkids
If It Was Only That Easy
I’m often in conversations with business owners and managers about improving their digital footprint and web presence. We want business and revenue to move quickly so there is often little patience to give the process the time it needs to develop. Within the digital landscape, here are five types of people that often reside inside an organization.
All Over it
These are early adopters who have immersed themselves in online social networks. They use their mobile device for both business and pleasure. And they don’t understand why the entire organization hasn’t jumped in with both feet. They may be viewed as renegades void of business acumen who don’t recognize the importance of company privacy. They can be the scary ones with the new ideas.
Don’t Understand it
They don’t usually articulate it this clearly, it is manifested by their behavior. The quick subject change or dismissive claim it’s just a big waste of time is rarely too far away. Status quo is their friend. They don't realize their own use of digital is often a reflection of customers' activity.
Think They're On it
Most companies today are somewhat involved in digital content. They have a website, they may have created a few additional online profiles but haven't begun participating in any conversations with customers. But they do have a "Follow Us on Twitter" button, so they think they're covered.
Unsure About it
This can be a tough place to be because you know you should know this stuff, you know your organization would benefit from all this stuff but you are not clear on how and where to start. The good news is the social web gives us a plethora of information about our customers, our industry and our competitors. It just takes a leap and some time. And like a good work out regime, it then takes consistency.
Actually Doing it
These are the trail blazers who are simply doing what they need to do to find customers where customers are and they don’t make a big deal about it. They grasp that the time needs to be invested and that there is a tremendous amount of business intelligence to be found if patience and research is a priority. They aren't boasting about it, they're getting on with it.
And since most organizations have a mix of all these types of people, understanding each other is the key to moving ideas along. Working in idea cubicles will only continue to separate instead of integrate.
Where are you and your company on this list?
Kneale Mann
image credit: wgalnightkids
March 4, 2011
Why Social Media
What's In It For Me?
I’m looking forward to working with a group of about a hundred people next weekend for my social media strategy workshop.
The executive director of the event was gracious enough to give me access to the list of attendees and I sent out a questionnaire. My goal is that each participate can pick up a few actionable ideas they can implement immediately.
There is no shortage of theory. Many assume everyone gets all this digital stuff. Some do, some don't, some are working on it, some are afraid to ask. And that includes small, medium and large companies. The exploration continues for all of us.
Human Networking
The essence of online social networking is what you bring to the equation. The choices of tools and sites can be overwhelming. No one has mastered them. It is an evolution for everyone. We are all cobblers in one way or another. I see far too much smugness on the social web from self-anointed experts touting everyone should be at some level. There are no levels, we are all learning. I have colleagues who are mortified that I still use Blogger while Seth Godin and David Armano grow large strong communities on TypePad. If it was about software, we'd all be rich.
This will be a workshop with professionals who have jumped into the social web and want some advice on how to navigate it better for their situation.
Here are some questions that came back from participants
• How can social media transform an organization?
• What are the limitations?
• How can I earn a living where standards and payment of content is low?
• What social networking sites should I consider using?
• How can I use social media more efficiently?
• Is the expense of reinventing my business worth it?
• How do I manage the time it takes to use social media?
• How can I find a new revenue stream?
• What can I do so social media doesn’t run my life?
• How important is blogging to my business?
• Where can I go to get information about sites and terms?
• How can social media best create new relationships?
• What's next?
What would you add?
Kneale Mann
image credit: noupe
I’m looking forward to working with a group of about a hundred people next weekend for my social media strategy workshop.The executive director of the event was gracious enough to give me access to the list of attendees and I sent out a questionnaire. My goal is that each participate can pick up a few actionable ideas they can implement immediately.
There is no shortage of theory. Many assume everyone gets all this digital stuff. Some do, some don't, some are working on it, some are afraid to ask. And that includes small, medium and large companies. The exploration continues for all of us.
Human Networking
The essence of online social networking is what you bring to the equation. The choices of tools and sites can be overwhelming. No one has mastered them. It is an evolution for everyone. We are all cobblers in one way or another. I see far too much smugness on the social web from self-anointed experts touting everyone should be at some level. There are no levels, we are all learning. I have colleagues who are mortified that I still use Blogger while Seth Godin and David Armano grow large strong communities on TypePad. If it was about software, we'd all be rich.
This will be a workshop with professionals who have jumped into the social web and want some advice on how to navigate it better for their situation.
Here are some questions that came back from participants
• How can social media transform an organization?
• What are the limitations?
• How can I earn a living where standards and payment of content is low?
• What social networking sites should I consider using?
• How can I use social media more efficiently?
• Is the expense of reinventing my business worth it?
• How do I manage the time it takes to use social media?
• How can I find a new revenue stream?
• What can I do so social media doesn’t run my life?
• How important is blogging to my business?
• Where can I go to get information about sites and terms?
• How can social media best create new relationships?
• What's next?
What would you add?
Kneale Mann
image credit: noupe
March 2, 2011
Finding the Quick Wins
Don't Wanna Wait
A large cheeseburger with condiments is approximately 600 calories. An hour of high impact aerobics for a 200lb man will burn about 600 calories. A slice of pumpkin pie is about 350 calories. An hour of ice skating for the same man will burn about 340 calories. We know we need to eat better, work out more and take better care of ourselves but (on average) we don’t do that. We eat the cheeseburgers and the pie then get acquainted with the couch.
Once Not Enough
One blog post on a brand new site may get a handful of visitors – aka your friends – and hardly seems worth the effort. Three posts a week for three years may gain new clients as well as thousands of visitors and connections all over the world. That’s 468 articles. That’s a lot of work and discipline.
If you have a Twitter account that follows 39 people and has 24 followers with an average of 5 tweets a week, it is doubtful you will get much out of the experience. If you spend three years engaged in the channel several times each day, you may see new business, new contacts, more help and a large connected active network of colleagues and friends. That’s about an hour a day or 20,000 tweets or just over 1,000 hours.
Open for Business
Unless you have won the lottery, have rich parents or are independently wealthy, you need new business all the time. It’s admirable to see some who as many clients as they will ever need but they represent the minority. The rest of us need to build our business every day. Not for a week, not once in a while, but every single day.
We want the customers now but can have trouble seeing the long term benefits of a sustained effort throughout the year. We wonder how these available channels can help us without realizing our contribution is critical to the equation. We want the quick wins to sustain our revenue line forever.
Downside of Now
As a marketing and media strategist, I am asked daily what I can do for a company right this moment. Can I increase revenue, improve product lines, enhance messaging and advance the customer base, today. No I cannot. This stuff takes time. If you are in business, you have made some mistakes and enjoyed some victories but neither happened in a day or a week. It would be arrogant for anyone to claim they can help you improve in those areas in a short amount of time. You may want to find some quick wins but they are fleeting and impossible to scale.
Humans are not built for strategy or long-term thinking. If things are bad, we want them to be good, right now. If money is tight, we want money, right now. If someone promises that this campaign will help us get us out of this slide, we are happy to listen, right now. We want the burgers and the pie without the waistline.
Which is better – a quick win or sustained business growth?
Kneale Mann
image credit: jupiter
Once Not Enough
One blog post on a brand new site may get a handful of visitors – aka your friends – and hardly seems worth the effort. Three posts a week for three years may gain new clients as well as thousands of visitors and connections all over the world. That’s 468 articles. That’s a lot of work and discipline.
If you have a Twitter account that follows 39 people and has 24 followers with an average of 5 tweets a week, it is doubtful you will get much out of the experience. If you spend three years engaged in the channel several times each day, you may see new business, new contacts, more help and a large connected active network of colleagues and friends. That’s about an hour a day or 20,000 tweets or just over 1,000 hours.
Open for Business
Unless you have won the lottery, have rich parents or are independently wealthy, you need new business all the time. It’s admirable to see some who as many clients as they will ever need but they represent the minority. The rest of us need to build our business every day. Not for a week, not once in a while, but every single day.
We want the customers now but can have trouble seeing the long term benefits of a sustained effort throughout the year. We wonder how these available channels can help us without realizing our contribution is critical to the equation. We want the quick wins to sustain our revenue line forever.
Downside of Now
As a marketing and media strategist, I am asked daily what I can do for a company right this moment. Can I increase revenue, improve product lines, enhance messaging and advance the customer base, today. No I cannot. This stuff takes time. If you are in business, you have made some mistakes and enjoyed some victories but neither happened in a day or a week. It would be arrogant for anyone to claim they can help you improve in those areas in a short amount of time. You may want to find some quick wins but they are fleeting and impossible to scale.
Humans are not built for strategy or long-term thinking. If things are bad, we want them to be good, right now. If money is tight, we want money, right now. If someone promises that this campaign will help us get us out of this slide, we are happy to listen, right now. We want the burgers and the pie without the waistline.
Which is better – a quick win or sustained business growth?
Kneale Mann
image credit: jupiter
February 26, 2011
Consume. Connect. Collaborate.
You are looking at a box that has been in the spare room or basement for a while and you wonder what you should do with its contents. You don’t even know why you’re keeping it but you can’t bring yourself to get rid of it. You may need it one day. It seems to be easier to build up clutter than clear it out of your life.
Now imagine if some of that stuff was wanted by others. And you've been looking for some of their stuff. The old cliché – one person’s trash is another person’s treasure is alive and well. And technology has allowed us to accelerate it through the social web.
You could hold a garage sale or post some of the stuff on a website for sale. You could also visit a social networking swap site for some collaborative consumption.
Rachel Botsman is the co-author of a book entitled What's Mine Is Yours. She also consults and speaks about the power of collaboration and sharing through online social networks. Botsman founded an innovation incubator called CCLab which works businesses of all sizes to help them with collaborate consumption.
This is her recent presentation at TEDx Sydney.
knealemann
visual credit: TED
Now imagine if some of that stuff was wanted by others. And you've been looking for some of their stuff. The old cliché – one person’s trash is another person’s treasure is alive and well. And technology has allowed us to accelerate it through the social web.
You could hold a garage sale or post some of the stuff on a website for sale. You could also visit a social networking swap site for some collaborative consumption.
Rachel Botsman is the co-author of a book entitled What's Mine Is Yours. She also consults and speaks about the power of collaboration and sharing through online social networks. Botsman founded an innovation incubator called CCLab which works businesses of all sizes to help them with collaborate consumption.
This is her recent presentation at TEDx Sydney.
knealemann
visual credit: TED
February 18, 2011
Giving Lip Service to Change
You have heard the quote “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. Some say it was Einstein, some say it was Franklin. The point is the meaning behind it.I have worked with business owners who have tried it the other way around. They narrowed the focus, found the niche, then measured success against the wide mainstream. They did different things expecting the same results.
What does change feel like?
There are theories that we build our set of values by the age of five. After that, it’s all experience and execution. Marriages split after decades of partners trying to change each other. Elections are won by candidates promising change.
Change is not easy. Change requires energy and focus and sustained attention. Change is something that sounds good when someone else says it. Change can fight you. Change can be elusive. Change wears many disguises. Change starts from our core, not our minds. Change is freely available when we want to grab it.
Change is right here
I was speaking with a colleague this week who was commiserating about a client who says she wants change in her organization yet her actions prove the opposite. And I reminded him that most of us like the concept of change but we don’t have a clue what it feels like when it’s happening. Most of us don't realize how deep rooted our habits are which often block change. And those habits once represented change.
Change is awkward and unsure. The ground begins to move beneath us and we crave for things to return to "normal". We are creatures of habit and like to feel safe and comfortable. We may scan the menu but there are usually only a handful if items we order each time we're back to the restaurant.
Say or Do
This is increasingly more difficult in an organization. The economy is still down in many areas of the world yet on the threat of their very survival, companies often fail to realize a necessary organizational shift. Often the people uttering the decree for change aren't willing to change themselves.
There are two significant issues going on – the sheer will of stakeholders to keep their status quo and the monumental task of building inspirational leadership.
Change is not this. Change is unknown. Change can be exciting. Change is unproven. Change can be scary. Change requires a leap of faith. Change can conquer courage. When the bottom line is the only objective, affecting change can often be an illusive pipe dream.
How have you affected change?
knealemann
image credit: googleimages
February 16, 2011
The Information Super Saturated Highway
If you own a company, manage a business, run a department or contribute to a team, you are frightfully aware of the time constraints that face you every day. You have deadlines and meetings, emails and projects as well as constant reminders of the bottom line. And what should you do about all this online stuff?
There are close to two billion of us online reading, digesting, publishing, sharing, tweeting and conversing. The amount of content published in a day is unrelenting and new spaces are being built constantly.
Our Insatiable Appetite
The choices can overwhelm you, the so-called experts can hound you and the decision remains how to improve the organization. And unless your company is called “campaign”, you need a strategy and long term solutions.
It’s not difficult to find someone who will lay claim to their vast knowledge of all things digital through blog webinars, Facebook symposiums and how-to LinkedIn seminars. Black hat or white hat, the recent JC Penny story blew a hole through the SEO world. Yet with a click of your mouse, you will be falling over self-proclaimed experts who can give you link bait and search juice for a handsome fee.
Under The Hood
Perhaps the not so sexy but valuable aspect of the social web that few talk about is research. Over and above any activity you partake through the myriad digital spaces, you can unearth rich useful information about your company, what people are saying about you, topics that are important to you and what your competitors are doing through regular digital audits.
With over 600 million daily search inquires on Twitter, someone seems to be digging around for information. And over a third of us online have presence on Facebook where we share more than 30 billion pieces of content every month.
And There's More
YouTube is the second largest search engine, next to parent company Google and fifth most visited website on the planet. It served more than 75 billion video streams to over 375 million unique visitors last year. And if you're looking for even more research, you can check out SlideShare which features hundreds of presentations in your industry. And there are hundreds of other spaces available.
The information out there can be gathered, analyzed and implemented. And constant research of the social web can positively effect the bottom line.
Is that a valuable use of your resources?
kneale mann
image credit: istock
February 13, 2011
The Web: It’s Amazing and We’re Not Amazed
Humans are inherently curious. This doesn't mean you have to be a PhD candidate in biophysics to be interested in finding answers. Our curiosity brings ideas which can often turn into bigger ones if we allow them to flourish.
The earliest ideas for a computer network intended to allow general communications among computer users was formulated by a dude named Joseph Licklider who was a computer scientist. He had this idea in the early 1960s he called it the “Intergalactic Computer Network”.
By the late 1960s, the U.S. Department of Defense hired Licklider to lead the Behavioural Science Command and Control initiative at the Advanced Research Projects Agency or Arpa. He convinced some influential people on the project that his idea of building a network of connected computer had some merit. That was the creation of the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network or the Arpanet.
The Arpanet becomes the Internet
Now we can click here, tweet there and spend far too much time complaining that it’s just not this enough or that enough. As Louis CK says, everything is awesome and nobody’s happy. We are tripping over technological breakthroughs every day and we still complain. I loaded a software upgrade yesterday and was complaining how slow it was within about two minutes. Case rested.
What now seems like a lifetime ago, back in 2007, Wired co-founder Kevin Kelly did a review of the first 5,000 days of the Internet as we know it. So add another 1,000 or so since then and see if our predictions can possibly keep up with advancements and reality. Feel free to make some predictions and we’ll see if you’re right in another couple thousand days.
knealemann
visual credit: TED
Other TEDTalks by Kevin Kelly.
Also published on Social Media Today
The earliest ideas for a computer network intended to allow general communications among computer users was formulated by a dude named Joseph Licklider who was a computer scientist. He had this idea in the early 1960s he called it the “Intergalactic Computer Network”.
By the late 1960s, the U.S. Department of Defense hired Licklider to lead the Behavioural Science Command and Control initiative at the Advanced Research Projects Agency or Arpa. He convinced some influential people on the project that his idea of building a network of connected computer had some merit. That was the creation of the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network or the Arpanet.
The Arpanet becomes the Internet
Now we can click here, tweet there and spend far too much time complaining that it’s just not this enough or that enough. As Louis CK says, everything is awesome and nobody’s happy. We are tripping over technological breakthroughs every day and we still complain. I loaded a software upgrade yesterday and was complaining how slow it was within about two minutes. Case rested.
What now seems like a lifetime ago, back in 2007, Wired co-founder Kevin Kelly did a review of the first 5,000 days of the Internet as we know it. So add another 1,000 or so since then and see if our predictions can possibly keep up with advancements and reality. Feel free to make some predictions and we’ll see if you’re right in another couple thousand days.
knealemann
visual credit: TED
Other TEDTalks by Kevin Kelly.
Also published on Social Media Today
February 11, 2011
Help from the Social Web
A recent status update on Facebook: "Kneale Mann wonders how the social web has helped your career and business".
It generated some good emails and wall responses.
Nila "Expanded connections. I've been able to branch out beyond the network of people and resources I had before diving into the social web. The outcome has been expanded a stable of collaborators, additional business opportunities and greater access to information that helps me help clients better."
Alison "Not helped career but has sure helped through another move and the transition of isolation in a new town. Always someone to talk to here."
Jon "I was so leery at first. I wondered about privacy issues then time issues then revenue issues. Now I'm disciplined with my time online and can point to three clients all because of that."
Pat "It gave me a new start personally and a new career that turned into a passion, and great people all over the world to call friend and mean it."
Kelly Ann "Can I just "second" the previous comments? It's how I met you Kneale!"
Sheila "I can directly track $100,000 in sales to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, all have different audiences and different relationships. Blogging allows me to share useful info with clients. Socmed gives me immediate contact with hotels, cruise lines, airlines and travel agents around the world."
Sean "It change my life. I found a gig, met my wife and a bunch or great colleagues, clients and friends. But it takes time. Don't expect it all to come together in a few days or months. And you don't have to allow it to become a time suck."
Carol "Allows me to reconnect and stay current with friends around the world who I've met and don't see often enough. Had a Hungarian colleague comment that he'd also attended a Leonard Cohen concert last year after I posted about it (albeit I attended the Tampa concert, he attended in Hungary). Connected life is good!"
Joanna "It allows me to be a real person with people in my area that I would never normally talk to on a regular basis. Lets them get to know me as a person as opposed to just an advisor or neighbour."
How has the social web helped you?
knealemann
image credit: shareasyougo
It generated some good emails and wall responses.
Nila "Expanded connections. I've been able to branch out beyond the network of people and resources I had before diving into the social web. The outcome has been expanded a stable of collaborators, additional business opportunities and greater access to information that helps me help clients better."
Alison "Not helped career but has sure helped through another move and the transition of isolation in a new town. Always someone to talk to here."
Jon "I was so leery at first. I wondered about privacy issues then time issues then revenue issues. Now I'm disciplined with my time online and can point to three clients all because of that."
Pat "It gave me a new start personally and a new career that turned into a passion, and great people all over the world to call friend and mean it."
Kelly Ann "Can I just "second" the previous comments? It's how I met you Kneale!"
Sheila "I can directly track $100,000 in sales to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, all have different audiences and different relationships. Blogging allows me to share useful info with clients. Socmed gives me immediate contact with hotels, cruise lines, airlines and travel agents around the world."
Sean "It change my life. I found a gig, met my wife and a bunch or great colleagues, clients and friends. But it takes time. Don't expect it all to come together in a few days or months. And you don't have to allow it to become a time suck."
Carol "Allows me to reconnect and stay current with friends around the world who I've met and don't see often enough. Had a Hungarian colleague comment that he'd also attended a Leonard Cohen concert last year after I posted about it (albeit I attended the Tampa concert, he attended in Hungary). Connected life is good!"
Joanna "It allows me to be a real person with people in my area that I would never normally talk to on a regular basis. Lets them get to know me as a person as opposed to just an advisor or neighbour."
How has the social web helped you?
knealemann
image credit: shareasyougo
February 9, 2011
The Anatomy of a Digital Audit
"A mind is like a parachute. It doesnt work if it's not open."
Frank Zappa
Part of how I help clients is to take a clear snapshot of their organization online. The Internet is a busy place full of opinion, noise, content, accurate and inaccurate information. But the same can be said about your organization.
Small, medium or large, your company has stuff it needs to work on. It also has things that it does well and issues that need to be addressed to improve. And for that, welcome to the human race.
Good Communication meets Miscommunication
A digital audit is a mix of heuristic analysis along with formal monitoring by companies such as Radian6 (not an affiliate link). It's like an x-ray with intuition. It can measure numbers of blogs,forum entries, comments, tweets,website mentions and more but it takes some additional analysis to measure tone and opinion.
The key to a unbiased digital audit is to analyze your entire web presence which includes your website, social networking profiles and any other content you generate online. It also includes conversations generated by others about you, your company and any topics that are essential to your business.
Digital is Not a Department
What often happens is money, resources and time are spent on building products and hiring qualified people then a small handful (if that) are given the task of managing all that the organization does online. This is exactly how customers feel disconnected. Internal and external communication must be a full organization initiative.
Add to that, you need to add experience and knowledge and context when looking closer at your digital footprint. I do have a couple of decades of marketing and media experience that certainly comes in handy. But every situation is different and often perception is far from reality. I have seen far too many business owners either hide behind the research or discard it. Both tactics are dangerous.
Software and Google Ain't Enough
Through an ongoing realistic online snapshot, you can gain new ways to find honest feedback from your customers through software and online searches, then collect data in pie charts and spread sheets but it won’t do you a stitch of good on its own. You need to do something with the findings or go with gut calls and opinion.
A digital audit is a process by which you look at your organization from the customer's perspective. It's also about looking at the information and being honest enough to discover what you will do about it. And if you think "everyone" has this online thing mastered, think again. The non-stop journey continues for all of us.
Are you ready to have a look?
knealemann | How can I help?
Image credit: smcdsb
Frank Zappa
Small, medium or large, your company has stuff it needs to work on. It also has things that it does well and issues that need to be addressed to improve. And for that, welcome to the human race.
Good Communication meets Miscommunication
A digital audit is a mix of heuristic analysis along with formal monitoring by companies such as Radian6 (not an affiliate link). It's like an x-ray with intuition. It can measure numbers of blogs,forum entries, comments, tweets,website mentions and more but it takes some additional analysis to measure tone and opinion.
The key to a unbiased digital audit is to analyze your entire web presence which includes your website, social networking profiles and any other content you generate online. It also includes conversations generated by others about you, your company and any topics that are essential to your business.
Digital is Not a Department
What often happens is money, resources and time are spent on building products and hiring qualified people then a small handful (if that) are given the task of managing all that the organization does online. This is exactly how customers feel disconnected. Internal and external communication must be a full organization initiative.
Add to that, you need to add experience and knowledge and context when looking closer at your digital footprint. I do have a couple of decades of marketing and media experience that certainly comes in handy. But every situation is different and often perception is far from reality. I have seen far too many business owners either hide behind the research or discard it. Both tactics are dangerous.
Software and Google Ain't Enough
Through an ongoing realistic online snapshot, you can gain new ways to find honest feedback from your customers through software and online searches, then collect data in pie charts and spread sheets but it won’t do you a stitch of good on its own. You need to do something with the findings or go with gut calls and opinion.
A digital audit is a process by which you look at your organization from the customer's perspective. It's also about looking at the information and being honest enough to discover what you will do about it. And if you think "everyone" has this online thing mastered, think again. The non-stop journey continues for all of us.
Are you ready to have a look?
knealemann | How can I help?
Image credit: smcdsb
February 7, 2011
Selling Stuff is Hard. Selling Yourself is Harder.
.
I enjoy assisting clients in expanding their presence online and offline and seeing those plans through to execution.
As I say to prospects and clients alike, there are a lot of things you can do but the important issue is what you will do. And simply having a Facebook page or being on Twitter or creating a LinkedIn group is not enough. Interacting in a human way is critical.
We Are All In Sales
Perhaps it’s easier to show someone the benefits of a gadget over the benefits of you. Techniques may be easier to apply to the cure for wrinkles or something to get a shinier car finish than explaining why you are a better solution than others. I have lost count the number of people who have asked me if this marketing tactic "will work" and anyone who can guarantee that will be a very wealthy person.
Years ago, I worked with a remarkable sales guy who reminded me that selling stuff was hard, selling yourself was harder. You and I can both cite examples of when we bought something quicker from someone we liked. It's not a steadfast rule, but it happens. And who likes to sell themselves and more importantly who likes to be sold?
Klout won't help your bottom line
The old adage, people buy from people has never been truer than in the ever growing digital channels. In fact, it is much more likely you will listen to the endorsement of a friend or colleague before you will believe an unsolicited advertising message.
You can claim to be the holder of the rules and keys. But all that falls away when you are face-to-face with someone who is looking to you – not some doohickey or theory, but you – for a solution that will help their business. I learn stuff every single day and it's often stuff about me. Self-doubt never helped anyone but overconfidence is equally difficult to digest.
Selling yourself is difficult. But is buying into others, complex?
knealemann | How can I help?
image credit: istock
This was also published on socialmediatoday
As I say to prospects and clients alike, there are a lot of things you can do but the important issue is what you will do. And simply having a Facebook page or being on Twitter or creating a LinkedIn group is not enough. Interacting in a human way is critical.
We Are All In Sales
Perhaps it’s easier to show someone the benefits of a gadget over the benefits of you. Techniques may be easier to apply to the cure for wrinkles or something to get a shinier car finish than explaining why you are a better solution than others. I have lost count the number of people who have asked me if this marketing tactic "will work" and anyone who can guarantee that will be a very wealthy person.
Years ago, I worked with a remarkable sales guy who reminded me that selling stuff was hard, selling yourself was harder. You and I can both cite examples of when we bought something quicker from someone we liked. It's not a steadfast rule, but it happens. And who likes to sell themselves and more importantly who likes to be sold?
Klout won't help your bottom line
The old adage, people buy from people has never been truer than in the ever growing digital channels. In fact, it is much more likely you will listen to the endorsement of a friend or colleague before you will believe an unsolicited advertising message.
You can claim to be the holder of the rules and keys. But all that falls away when you are face-to-face with someone who is looking to you – not some doohickey or theory, but you – for a solution that will help their business. I learn stuff every single day and it's often stuff about me. Self-doubt never helped anyone but overconfidence is equally difficult to digest.
Selling yourself is difficult. But is buying into others, complex?
knealemann | How can I help?
image credit: istock
This was also published on socialmediatoday
February 6, 2011
Marketing Bowl XLV
There’s a Football Game Too
.
Each season, around the time the start of the playoffs, the chatter begins about the cost of a 30 second spot on the Super Bowl. broadcast. This year it’s $3M USD or 100 grand a second.
For years, the NFL and large companies have danced an interesting dance of airtime versus exposure. You may remember all the dot coms who blew VC cash on a 30 at halftime on the hopes the website that had no actual product or offer would turn a profit from the exposure.
Money? What Money?
Apparently, the U.S. is still limping through the worst economic downturn in eight decades yet the Super Bowl is sold out today. They somehow found enough companies to drop the coin to fill the space. But we know what airs tonight is a small fraction of the mileage each campaign will get.
Volkswagen, Dell, GoDaddy, Doritos, Best Buy, Snickers and all the rest have teased, leaked, posted, repurposed, tweeted and broadcast their campaign in every other channel, for weeks. Millions of YouTube views, Facebook likes and Twitter RTs have proven how they are leveraging their $3M to those who don’t even like football and won’t be watching tonight.
Find Them Where They Reside
The point here is as business owners of any size, you need to find ways to meet your customer – at least – halfway. And your website is rarely their first destination. The Super Bowl for most is the launch of a new campaign, yet leveraging the social channels have given them weeks, maybe even months of additional momentum.
And if you are still not convinced of the power of the social web, do a search on "Super Bowl" and you will find out that the official Super Bowl Twitter website (not profile) is higher ranked than the official Super Bowl site.
How can all this help your business?
And congratulations to Super Bowl XLV Champions - The Green Bay Packers.
knealemann
.
Each season, around the time the start of the playoffs, the chatter begins about the cost of a 30 second spot on the Super Bowl. broadcast. This year it’s $3M USD or 100 grand a second.
For years, the NFL and large companies have danced an interesting dance of airtime versus exposure. You may remember all the dot coms who blew VC cash on a 30 at halftime on the hopes the website that had no actual product or offer would turn a profit from the exposure.
Money? What Money?
Apparently, the U.S. is still limping through the worst economic downturn in eight decades yet the Super Bowl is sold out today. They somehow found enough companies to drop the coin to fill the space. But we know what airs tonight is a small fraction of the mileage each campaign will get.
Volkswagen, Dell, GoDaddy, Doritos, Best Buy, Snickers and all the rest have teased, leaked, posted, repurposed, tweeted and broadcast their campaign in every other channel, for weeks. Millions of YouTube views, Facebook likes and Twitter RTs have proven how they are leveraging their $3M to those who don’t even like football and won’t be watching tonight.
Find Them Where They Reside
The point here is as business owners of any size, you need to find ways to meet your customer – at least – halfway. And your website is rarely their first destination. The Super Bowl for most is the launch of a new campaign, yet leveraging the social channels have given them weeks, maybe even months of additional momentum.
And if you are still not convinced of the power of the social web, do a search on "Super Bowl" and you will find out that the official Super Bowl Twitter website (not profile) is higher ranked than the official Super Bowl site.
How can all this help your business?
And congratulations to Super Bowl XLV Champions - The Green Bay Packers.
knealemann
January 31, 2011
Can Marketing Create a Brand?
Perception meets reality
The topic of branding has often created heated debate. Some claim they are branding experts who can create desire in the hearts and minds of customers and potential customers. I'm of the belief you cannot create a brand.
Just like viral, it is something that happens when a customer interacts with a product or service. It's about their experience not the outbound message.
This is not to say that a compelling offer won't lure some people to try a product, it happens every day. The table may have been set but the customer remains the one who has decided to partake. If they enjoy it and share the experience with someone then branding begins.
Coke is not a brand; it is syrup and bubbly water. Harley-Davidson is not a brand; it’s a company that makes motorcycles. Porsche is not a brand; it is a handsomely priced line of super cars. And they all conjure up images in our minds which is where brands grow.
She told three friends
You are certainly familiar with the telephone game where you tell someone something, then they tell someone and by the time it gets three or four people deep, the content has morphed into something different.
This happens with our online persona. Like branding, our reputation cannot be created because it's what happens when we aren't in the room. We have no idea what most people think or say about us. But we can conduct ourselves in a way to hopefully garner kind feedback.
In marketing, there is a term called aspirational. There are four categories of items that people aspire to win – cars, cash, trips and things they don’t have access to within their own means.
Bound for Arlington
An example would be a pair of tickets on the 50 yard line to see the Packers and the Steelers on Sunday. The Packers and Steelers aren’t brands; they are football teams. I can hear fans of both screaming at me for writing that. And that would be branding. Ask anyone in Green Bay if they cheered for the Vikings this year.
The social web presents an interesting opportunity for many to position themselves in a certain light. If you work hard and build up a Klout score and get a lot of followers on Twitter, some may perceive you as a savvy digital expert whether you are or not.
How do you think you can change the perception of others?
knealemann | How can I help?
image credits: coke | inform | mogoel
Just like viral, it is something that happens when a customer interacts with a product or service. It's about their experience not the outbound message.
This is not to say that a compelling offer won't lure some people to try a product, it happens every day. The table may have been set but the customer remains the one who has decided to partake. If they enjoy it and share the experience with someone then branding begins.
Coke is not a brand; it is syrup and bubbly water. Harley-Davidson is not a brand; it’s a company that makes motorcycles. Porsche is not a brand; it is a handsomely priced line of super cars. And they all conjure up images in our minds which is where brands grow.She told three friends
You are certainly familiar with the telephone game where you tell someone something, then they tell someone and by the time it gets three or four people deep, the content has morphed into something different.
This happens with our online persona. Like branding, our reputation cannot be created because it's what happens when we aren't in the room. We have no idea what most people think or say about us. But we can conduct ourselves in a way to hopefully garner kind feedback.
In marketing, there is a term called aspirational. There are four categories of items that people aspire to win – cars, cash, trips and things they don’t have access to within their own means. Bound for Arlington
An example would be a pair of tickets on the 50 yard line to see the Packers and the Steelers on Sunday. The Packers and Steelers aren’t brands; they are football teams. I can hear fans of both screaming at me for writing that. And that would be branding. Ask anyone in Green Bay if they cheered for the Vikings this year.
The social web presents an interesting opportunity for many to position themselves in a certain light. If you work hard and build up a Klout score and get a lot of followers on Twitter, some may perceive you as a savvy digital expert whether you are or not.
How do you think you can change the perception of others?
knealemann | How can I help?
image credits: coke | inform | mogoel
January 21, 2011
Simplifying Complex Problems
Life can be as complicated as we make it. How often do you hear someone or yourself use the word “busy” throughout your day? It’s as if we find comfort in being busy with tasks and deadlines, meetings and responsibilities. We wear busy like a badge of honor. After all, who among us would ever dream of admitting we have blocked off some time to think and plan?
Often when you check in with a colleague, they will predicate any response with the level of busy they are experiencing which is usually high.
Add to all this, we have this penchant for making simple things complicated while we find difficulty in making complex concepts rather simple. We do it in the business sphere when we have long meetings with no agenda and waste our time on stuff that won't lead us to solutions.
Eric Berlow is an ecologist who loves to study what you and I may find overwhelming to find the simplest concepts inside. [video]
knealemann | email
visual credit: TED
Often when you check in with a colleague, they will predicate any response with the level of busy they are experiencing which is usually high.
Add to all this, we have this penchant for making simple things complicated while we find difficulty in making complex concepts rather simple. We do it in the business sphere when we have long meetings with no agenda and waste our time on stuff that won't lead us to solutions.
Eric Berlow is an ecologist who loves to study what you and I may find overwhelming to find the simplest concepts inside. [video]
knealemann | email
visual credit: TED
January 13, 2011
Do You Feel Like An Alien?
We don't have time.
I was in a client’s office this week and they gave me a tour of the place and introduced me to the rest of the team. Nice, warm, friendly people all made me feel at home. I was introduced as the guy “here to help with the social media stuff”. It’s not all I do but in this case it was a workshop to explain tools, examine what they’re doing, find ways to better integrate all their efforts and most importantly ensure internal communication improves. That work continues.
I felt a bit like an alien, a strange being that was coming in with stuff that was foreign to most. My direct contact is doing a great job and it was as if she had found another from her planet to help explain it to the rest of the team. Love this client, love her team. They want to understand what they don’t understand. Perfect!
Does this sound familiar?
You seem to be the only one jumping up and down to embrace the power of the digital channels yet some look at you with confusion, claim there is no time for all this stuff and think Facebook is just a way to keep in touch with their college friends?
Everyone seems to have an opinion of the social web yet the organization has yet to embrace the full power of an integrated solution to improve communication and drive revenue. If you spend too much time on Twitter or Quora you are left with the impression that “everyone” gets this stuff. They do not. We are still in the early stages.
We're way behind!
You can read spaces such as Mashable, Wired, Gigaom or Business Insider and it appears you are in the dark ages if your organization is not completely firing on all social networking channels. Don’t worry, global companies are still working on it and there is no one answer.
If we take a campaign approach tied to return on investment of one YouTube video or a single blog post as the metric to social media success, we still have a lot of work to do.
What’s your story?
knealemann | email | How can I help?
image credit: wikimedia
I was in a client’s office this week and they gave me a tour of the place and introduced me to the rest of the team. Nice, warm, friendly people all made me feel at home. I was introduced as the guy “here to help with the social media stuff”. It’s not all I do but in this case it was a workshop to explain tools, examine what they’re doing, find ways to better integrate all their efforts and most importantly ensure internal communication improves. That work continues. I felt a bit like an alien, a strange being that was coming in with stuff that was foreign to most. My direct contact is doing a great job and it was as if she had found another from her planet to help explain it to the rest of the team. Love this client, love her team. They want to understand what they don’t understand. Perfect!
Does this sound familiar?
You seem to be the only one jumping up and down to embrace the power of the digital channels yet some look at you with confusion, claim there is no time for all this stuff and think Facebook is just a way to keep in touch with their college friends?
Everyone seems to have an opinion of the social web yet the organization has yet to embrace the full power of an integrated solution to improve communication and drive revenue. If you spend too much time on Twitter or Quora you are left with the impression that “everyone” gets this stuff. They do not. We are still in the early stages.
We're way behind!
You can read spaces such as Mashable, Wired, Gigaom or Business Insider and it appears you are in the dark ages if your organization is not completely firing on all social networking channels. Don’t worry, global companies are still working on it and there is no one answer.
If we take a campaign approach tied to return on investment of one YouTube video or a single blog post as the metric to social media success, we still have a lot of work to do.
What’s your story?
knealemann | email | How can I help?
image credit: wikimedia
