Too Busy to Get it Done

You are a busy person doing busy things. After all, the job description said you would have to work independently in a fast paced environment handling many duties at once with a calm demeanour. Emails come at you all day and you’re expected to respond to that urgent text you received last night at 9:37 during your one hour of television this week void of interruptions. The promise of a paperless world with a four-day work week has been replaced with much busyness and still no jet packs.

There are meetings and deliverables, research and decisions. And when you get a moment, you check on your social streams. You haven't tweeted in well over an hour and people may have commented on that article you shared on Google+. Your friends on Facebook want your thoughts on the best sushi in town and there hasn't been a fresh blog post on your site in almost two whole days.

Here's Where We Get into Trouble

We are so afraid to miss something we tend to skim over everything. You're probably doing it with this post. Our lives are 140 characters or acronyms on the smartphone. It's okay, they're busy too and we added that semi-colon and a closed parenthesis so they know we're kidding, right?

In your quest to stay on top of everything, shortcuts are taken and suddenly a friend contacts you through one of the eleven ways they can and mentions that your last response seemed a bit dismissive. Suddenly a dozen messages back and forth could have be more enjoyable and far less misunderstood with a phone call. Or perhaps we have strapped on the suit called busy because it's what others think we should.

A Mile Wide and an Inch Deep

There is certainly no time to have a meaningful conversation, we are far too busy for that. And we wouldn't dare show up for that dinner engagement without our mobile device so we can check it half a dozen times before the appetizers arrive.

Business Week recently published a study stating that only 38% of people can make effective decisions today due to the overwhelming amount of data which is increasing at a rate of 60% a year. It may be time for us to have less meetings, put our phones away, and have more meaningful interaction.

Or perhaps we're too busy for that.
__________________________________________________________________
Kneale Mann | Leadership Strategist, consultant, writer, speaker, executive coach facilitating performance growth with leaders, management, and teams.

fototastic

Measuring Business and Marketing Results

We All Want Revenue 

We seem to be good at tossing around buzz phrases. We can talk to each other about the ROI of digital engagement through the internal customer service of community development. Managing expectations and deliverables are a way of life. And yet we seem to often get stuck while waiting for quick wins.

In the world of marketing and business development (the new catch-all for sales), there is no shortage of chatter about the social web. Of course, it’s the moving target and still the new shiny toy. Anyone with an Internet connection can publish their opinions. That does not mean it’s a sound business opportunity.

Marathon Meet Race

Budgets are tight, jobs are on the line, there is no time to try stuff and hope it will work. And as someone who consults business and has worked in every medium, it remains challenging for me to remind owners and managers that this stuff takes a while and no campaign will sustain them forever. Moreover, you can only measure your return if you are honest about your actual monetary and human investment. Throwing up a Facebook group, buying a bunch of television advertising and stuffing mailboxes are not tactics that will automatically bring results.

The social web is not the only place to spend your effort but reading and tweeting about direct mail or telemarketing just doesn’t seem to be as sexy. But judging from the mound of three-color print designed pieces of cardboard and paper overflowing from my recycle bin, it appears to be alive and well. Television and radio advertising remain viable channels to extend your offer and external or outdoor advertising is still around too. But opening your wallet and demanding results is dangerous sport.

Nothing Is Free

My colleague, Drew McLellan wrote a post recently about the importance of channel selection and more importantly he reminds us that social media are not free or even cheap. It takes a shift in your organization to account for any outbound marketing. In fact, in my humble opinion, marketing is not a department but rather a part of all that you do in business.

No amount of advertising or external collateral will save a bad business. So if you think you can buy your success, save your money and spend it on developing your actual offer. I have lost count the number of prospects who tell me they don’t need marketing, they need more revenue. It’s like saying you want to run a marathon but aren’t prepared to buy shoes and train.

How Do You Measure Your Business Expectations?

Kneale Mann

image creditfantes

Too Busy For Each Other

Semi-Colon Closed Parenthesis

You are a busy person doing busy things. After all, the job description said you would have to work independently in a fast paced environment handling many duties at once with a calm demeanor. Emails come at you all day and you’re expected to respond to that urgent text you received last night at 9:37 during your one hour of television this week void of interruptions. The promise of a paperless world with a four-day work week has been replaced with much busyness and still no jet packs.

There are meetings and deliverables, research and decisions. And when you get a moment, you check on your social streams. You haven't tweeted in well over an hour and people may have commented on that article you shared on Google+. Your friends on Facebook want your thoughts on the best sushi in town and there hasn't been a fresh blog post on your site in almost whole two days.

Here's Where We Get into Trouble

We are so afraid to miss something we tend to skim over everything. You're probably doing it with this post. Our lives are 140 characters or acronyms on the smartphone. It's okay, they're busy too and we added that semi-colon and a closed parenthesis so they know we're kidding, right?

In your quest to stay on top of everything, shortcuts are taken and suddenly a friend contacts you through one of the eleven ways they can and mentions that your last response seemed a bit dismissive. Suddenly a dozen messages back and forth could have be more enjoyable and far less misunderstood with a phone call.

A Mile Wide and an Inch Deep

There is certainly no time to have a meaningful conversation, we are far too busy for that. And we wouldn't dare show up for that dinner engagement without our mobile device so we can check it half a dozen times before the appetizers arrive.

The tools are great yet we are missing the important nuances that come with human interaction. Tone and feel have been replaced by texts and tweets. Call a friend, meet in person and put the technology away for an hour. It's okay, the earth will continue to rotate. Then you can stop using busy as an excuse not to spend quality time with friends and colleagues.

Or perhaps you are far too busy for all that.

Kneale Mann

image credit: google
I'd be happy to spend 30 minutes with you on a complimentary introduction call
to see where I can help your business. Feel free to contact me via email and let's chat.

Yell and Sell

Do As I Say

No one likes to be told what to do. As children, our parents may remind us who sets the rules and cake before dinner is not permitted. In school, it was frowned upon to not show up or fail to complete homework.

In the workplace, there are few employers who allow for poor attendance or spotty output. They all expect so much of us throughout our lives. Deadlines and rules, dress codes and protocol, stated or implied, we have to follow the constraints of others.

Cross Media Assault

We are hammered constantly from radio, television, print, outdoor, email blasts, social, like, tweet, blog, podcast, did you see our deal, it’s all about relationships, numbers don’t count, for a limited time only.

It has gotten the point where we actually see none of it. The mad dash to create a false sense of urgency continues and we have become masters at blocking, deleting, ignoring and dismissing.

How about we stop telling each other, selling each other, interrupting each other and start helping each other?

Kneale Mann

image credit: usaimage

The Social Media Lottery

Return on Business Investment

We have all let ourselves dream about what we would do if we won the jackpot. We think of the freedom and how we could focus on a life without bills or financial strain. One ticket and we're set.

If you don't already, imagine you manage or own a company. You know all the digital channels are the hot topics, mobile is a platform that is growing exponentially and it`s time for you to get going in a big way. You feel your competitors are leaving you behind and revenue is affected.

Trickery won't help a bad idea

There is endless discussion about how the social web can build your business, find you revenue and accelerate your objectives. But there is just as much chatter about the time suck, cost and return on investment. Some people feel it's enough to simply have a profile or two and call that participation. While others insist there is one iron clad way to navigate all the channels.

So sit back and let your mind drift. Imagine hundreds of thousands of followers on Twitter, a Facebook group that makes others weep and a YouTube channel that is breaking all records. Your weekly podcast is the highest rated on the Internet and sales have never been bigger. Your website is an SEO expert’s dream and Google AdWords is bringing in more customers than you can handle.

Did you buy a ticket yet?

knealemann

image credit: thingamy

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 @Ev olution of Twitter

We know the social web moves at the speed of light but it is interesting to go back almost two years to see how things were, how they have changed and in some cases (and not necessarily in a bad way) stayed the same.

This is Evan Williams at TED in February 2009 being a real, genuine (and nervous) guy talking about the birth, the launch and the evolution of Twitter. He says he always follows the hunch but never assumes where it will go. [video]

Advice we should all heed don't you think?



knealemann | email


video credit: TED

The Essence of Social Media

Put On a Brave Face.

As the social web explodes so does our ability to publish our thoughts to a potential audience that may turn into new friends, clients, customers or just an exchange of ideas.

I have been blessed to connect with people from all over the world - which still blows my mind.

There are close to two billion of us online and through the magic of the Internet, we are able to connect along thought silos void of geographical limitations.

What Are Social Media?

Sure there is bots and spam, dead accounts and ones with very little activity, but that is no different than in real life. Think Pareto.

Websites aside, the most powerful social media remains meeting someone in person. The places we first connect are just the beginning. Cliche as it may be, but step away from the keyboard and get to know those other humans behind other keyboards.

Smile for the Camera.

There is an interesting ongoing discussion with several colleagues right now and it is about keeping the smile when you’re not feeling it.

Two of us are self-employed and always look to improve our business through more client work which includes networking and prospecting, one is currently unemployed, three are gainfully employed but want to do something else and two seemed to have found a balance between creative freedom and paying the bills. They don't all know each other and I have not met them all (yet) in real life.

We’re Different Yet the Same.

The main thread of the conversation is how to respectfully translate that the search is on without spamming people or bumming people out. No one wants to read constant bad news but there is a way to do it without sounding desperate.

I had coffee with a friend who is currently looking for full-time work and after half an hour of telling me all the consulting work they are doing I was left puzzled why they still feel lost. And that is the point, it is their journey not mine. I can only offer my thoughts while they help me with my trip through this thing called life.

Nice to Meet You.

This all points to one of the pillars of social media we don’t talk about in depth. Sure, we hear it’s all about relationships but what does that mean to you? Well, to me, it means I have gained the trust of people I would never have met otherwise. I can hash out ideas and offer guidance to their situation.

My parting comment to my “looking for the next opportunity” friend was for them to arm me with how to help them look for opportunities. It’s not enough that a full-time gig is the goal because that could mean a million things.

Numbers are Irrelevant. 

Next time we wonder about the power of social media,we can’t forget that the friend, follower, connection counter on our profiles means there are people connected to us - albeit marginally in many cases - and it is up to us to unearth the possibilities.

Try it if you haven't already. Pick five people in your network, send them a direct message and ask them for an offline chat. You will be surprised how many doors you can open. And if you want to contact me just to say hi - go for it!

Does that sound like a worthwhile exercise?

knealemann | email


image credit: danny portnoy

The Allure of Twitter

Patience is a virtue not a business plan but often people get onto the social web and expect instant results. For some reason, the online world can be a tempting mistress for hard work. She can give clues that one more tweet or blog and all those nice things others are saying will turn into revenue.

What is often forgotten is that the online world is the real world in one person increments. Those connections, followers and friends are actually real people hoping they can make a connection too.

Twitter is an interesting and rapidly growing channel that is an exciting place to find similar people along specific thought silos void of geographic constraints. But it is not a bottle of diet pills. There are no short cuts.

Business is conducted constantly on this and many other social networking channels with people who have taken the time to get to know each other.

Nice to meet them.

If someone invites you to a backyard barbecue and they are the only one you know at the party, it’s clear you wouldn't show up with a box of business cards. So it is essential to let others get to know you.

Be genuinely curious about them.

We read words such as authentic and trust all the time with reference to channels such as Twitter but the only way you can truly define those for your own experience is to put in the time. If I don’t know you, how can I trust you and why would I buy from you?

We reside on both sides of the counter. 

We are all providers and customers. Give thought to how you want others to approach you before you approach them. If you don’t want spam, then don’t spam. If you don’t want someone to go directly to the sale or talk about themselves, reciprocate.

If you do the work and remain yourself, you can build relationships that you would never have elsewhere. Twitter is the conduit. It is the people that make it a living entity. Respect and decorum go a long way.

If your goal is to simply get to know people, then be patient and let them get to know you. If you want Twitter to help build your business, it requires just as much work and time as building any other relationship.

What are your thoughts?

knealemann | email



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image credit: twitter