Tim Andren - At the corner of Innovation and Marketing - Powered by Guideas

Social Media is not about you.

It's not about you.

It's not about you.

It's not about you.

Life is changing. 

Business is changing.

The world is changing.

iThis. iThat. iHave. iWant. iNeed. 

This is what a lot of social media communication sounds like.

This is short-term, selfish, nobody-is-going-to-care-because-they-can-see-right-through-your-motivation thinking. They see the dollar signs in your eyes. 

When your social media presence becomes 'iFocused' your business becomes 'just another one of those businesses'. Just another enemy attacking their senses, after their money.

But you and I know this isn't your motivation. We know that. But do they?

Take great care with your social behavior or that's how you will be perceived.

Consider that, as people - we want and need others in our lives. We are happier, more peaceful, and more productive when we have good people around us. Our bodies and minds respond positively to community, friendship and family. It's as essential to us as any food or water we consume. Isolation and depression go hand-in-hand. The individual is better off as a part of something bigger.

Family. Church. City. Group. Tribe. Organization. Community. Country. World.

Purpose. Legacy. Brand. Unity. Love.

Stop firing off dozens of links out on Twitter. Start talking.

Stop collecting friends. Start listening.

Stop thinking you. Start thinking we.

How do you define social?

It's not about you.

Be like Facebook

Play a meaningful role.

What do those words mean to you?

Facebook took a hit last week when they released their new Terms of Service. The 'We Can Do Anything We Want With Your Content. Forever.' headlines shot around the internet like my cat following a laserpointer beam.

Facebook revised their stance and recently posted an update to the Terms of Use. In doing so they took a problem and turned it into an opportunity. They obviously know that the 120,000,000+ customer base was unhappy and they listened to them.

This situation is different than an apology. It's different than a free meal because there was a cigarette butt in your chicken sandwich. It's different because the new terms include their customer in the solution. 

Here's the update they posted:

Terms of Use Update

Today we announced new opportunities for users to play a meaningful role in determining the policies governing our site. We released the first proposals subject to these procedures – The Facebook Principles, a set of values that will guide the development of the service, and Statement of Rights and Responsibilities that governs Facebook’s operations. Users will have the opportunity to review, comment and vote on these documents over the coming weeks and, if they are approved, other future policy changes. We’ve posted the documents in separate groups and invite you to offer comments and suggestions. For more information and links to the two groups, check out the Facebook Blog.

You'll notice the most important term in there. It stands out of the legalese and marketing-speak like Donald Trump at a laundromat. 

"...play a meaningful role..." 

Wow. Play a meaningful role. This is the phrase that gives purpose and community to Facebook now. This phrase will echo off of mountains. Can you see it broadcast by with those cloud advertising planes? This could be it's own advertising campaign, as if Facebook ever needed one.

Be like Facebook.

Don't be that business

We've all been to a wedding where the Best Man, stands up to make his speech and in a split second we all realize he's had a few too many cocktails. We collectively feel nervous for the wedding party and their family. 

'Will he say something stupid?','Will he say something inappropriate?'

Never been to that wedding? Well surely you can picture somebody's behavior in your life that you know is inappropriate, or just makes you cringe. 

Why? Why do we feel this way, why do we chuckle or give our buddy that knowing look about the behavior of others? 

It's because we care right? It's because we know what's appropriate, we know the definition of bad manners, what's cool, what's in style, what's 'sooo 80s'. 

We can get into the depths of why, the nerd in me loves to share that kind of thing, but a story would be a lot more fun.

One of my best friends Josh and I have a saying for this type of thing. One time we were at a Bloc Party concert and they had t-shirts for sale prior to the show. I bought one and turned to show Josh and he gave me a half-serious/half-joking expression and said "Don't be that guy!". In an instant I knew what he was expressing even though the statement was vague. 

I had never considered wearing the shirt and I'm well aware of the unwritten code of not wearing the same shirt of the band to the show they are playing. Where do these unwritten rules come from? The crowd of course. They're a part of many unspoken commandments that we have decided upon as we go through life. 

A few weeks later I flipped on the TV and bounced around the movie channels and landed on the movie 'PCU'. I'd never seen it before and Jeremy Piven is a great comedic actor so I ate my sandwich and watched.

A scene develops where an excited guy is wearing a band's t-shirt and talking about going to their concert.

Piven's character Droz chides him: "What's this? You're wearing the shirt of the band you're going to see? Don't be that guy." 

I didn't just LOL, or start ROFL...I got into ROFLMAO mode. I knew then where Josh's comment came from. It's now become one of those awesome movie quote statements in our daily lexicon, our communication of code.

Many movies do that. I find myself quoting some favorites such as Swingers, Dazed n Confused or Rounders on an almost daily basis. It helps if who I'm talking to has seen the movie of course, but often like in the case of the concert we just know intrinsically what they mean. I enjoy these movies so much because they examine the truths of life.

The loud people behind you in a movie theater is a pretty blatant example. We know that they're behavior is inappropriate because we can't hear the movie. The concert shirt is a bit more subtle, it's not so much about right or wrong but more about what's appropriate or what message is being sent. Wearing any kind of printed t-shirt or clothing is sending a message. We are communicating to our fellow man who we are and what we care about.

In conclusion, we must be aware of what is right or wrong behavior in the company of the crowd if we want to succeed in business. It's not, nor has it ever been about what we think individually of our business behavior.

Brands, people, you and me

 

It happened. 

I don't know when, where or exactly how, but after years of working in the field reading and being an observer I finally felt like I got a grasp on what works in marketing, and a lot of what doesn't work.

Along the way I found that there are too many opinions, too many books, and too many agencies that were not focused on what really works. I was confused at first, I had naturally assumed that focusing on effectiveness was a given in the industry.

This lazy contingent are only too happy to take their money and do the 'busy work' of marketing. They like being paid from your regular account or to sell you their product, but they're not focused on effective marketing. These guys are wolves in sheep's clothing. 

I'm not trying to play the blame game here. I'm not mad at the wolves. In fact, they make my life easier by not caring. Getting to the truth and sifting through tons of data and opinions takes a lot of hard work and dedication and in reality only played a small part toward giving me the understanding that I now have about what effective marketing really is.

It wasn't until I began to study people that I really understood how to market to them. It wasn't until I talked to business owners like you, listened to married people like you, focused on single mothers or groups of people united with common interests like you until I really understood who you were or what 'tribe/s' (as Seth Godin describes it) you belong to.

It wasn't until I read books about people, their behavior, or how the mind works that I really came to an understanding of how marketing works. I began to dedicate my focus on what it is we as people truly care about, why we communicate and why we buy. The answers are simple, the methods of acquiring my understanding require a daily discipline and passion for the subject. I love my job.

Once I began to understand the thought process and the emotions behind the buying decision, then it all became clear to me. 

For your business to be successful I want you to focus on one thing - people. If you study people, they will tell you everything you need to know. They will tell you what's important, cool, fun and consequently what's worth spending their hard-earned money on.

Opinions come and go, but people don't change. They still care about the same basic needs. We look different through the years as clothing styles and just about anything else ebbs and flows with the whims of fashion, but deep down it's all about survival. 

We came out of our mother's womb with some basic needs, including a need for food, shelter, community, etc. We weren't born with a need for brands, yet brands were developed along the way as vehicles for communicating a bridge from people's needs to a product or service to address them.

Many marketers look at a brand and see a style guide, a set of standards that supposedly epitomizes the brand. They establish rules and do so with good intentions. They are way off base on this. If you want to really know what a company's brand is... you have to listen to your audience. They're the customer who will be making the decision whether or not to buy so they should be making the decisions of what logo is appropriate, what colors resonate with them and what significant aspects of the brand speak to them. 

Brands are like emotional keywords. They are the triggers in the mind that associate a service or product with reliablity, quality, fun, great customer service and on and on. Social media and crowdsourcing is ripping the cover off the old branded methodology of business. We are moving into an age where quality, trust or security [to name a few] are commodities that will be determined not by emotive television commercials or print materials but by collective opinions on the matter.

What does that mean for your brand?

The art of conversation and why listening rules all - Part 3/3

Do you have good conversation skills?

You don't need to read a book, take a seminar or speech lessons to thrive in conversation for your business.

Here are the basics to help you succeed in your conversation with clients or customers. If you don't have the luxury of a one-on-one conversation with your target audience, then offer them a survey or forum and tailor your questions to them.

1. LISTEN. LEARN.

Nobody is expecting you to be an super-absorbing sponge. That's boring. 

Great conversation is about exchange. Great conversation is about interplay. However, conversation is much more valuable to you if the majority of it is done as a receiver. This is true in all areas of life. 

2. WHATCHA SAY?

When you listen, process what is being said from the speakers viewpoint. What is important to them? What do they need or want? Do they care about your product? Why or why not? 

Here is where you find out what isn't working and you've already begun your journey to fixing it. Your client or customer is actually charting a map to your business success. How exciting is that?

3. RALLY TIME

After all the listening and understanding it's time to take it all and put it to use. This is the part of the conversation that requires you to offer something applicable to the subject at hand. 

For instance, I had a customer who owned a chain of hotels on the California coast. Her customers were satisfied but didn't return as often as they referred. In fact, when they returned to the same area they booked at any place they could find. This is odd because these same customers enjoyed their experience enough to tell someone else about it yet didn't rebook. We found out the reason they didn't rebook was because their decision was made online through a hotel search site. 

Their response was that the hotel didn't communicate enough with them! They wanted to be marketed to because they didn't have the time to do a lot of research. Imagine that! In this day and age! This is like striking gold. We asked them their preferred method of communication, what they'd like to see and the results have been astonishing.

What are your customers saying? What should you offer? It had better include a value to your customer or else they won't care. Solve their problem. Offer an easy path to their freedom and your business will thrive. People's needs and concerns are usually pretty basic. If you listen enough to the common threads of conversation you will be able to position your business offering in such a way they will have no choice but to buy.

Finally, it's your turn! You get to shed your knowledge, your insight to the world. Only now your audience is hanging on to your every word. Make them count.

The art of conversation and why listening rules all - Part 2/3

Why is conversation so important?

Marketing is communication. If you want your business to succeed, you better not just have a great product, you better not just offer amazing service, you better be good at communicating those valuable offerings to others or you're wasting your time.

The tennis example is a powerful one if you understand conversation to be an exchange of feelings, ideas or information. This isn't a game of 'blast-the-ball past you' tennis, it's more like a rally where each player is making an attempt to hit the ball to a position where the other can keep the rally alive. 

How many times have you been in a conversation and can't get a word in? 

How many times have you been chatting with someone who is only interested in discussing their life or views? 

Boring isn't it?

Yet so many times marketing is just like that blowhard who won't bother to even ask you about your life. Too many companies waste millions of dollars, hours and trees doing just that. Instead of telling everybody about how smart their kid is, how their job is this and their vacation is that, they're broadcasting unwanted information to anyone within eyesight or earshot. 

It's no wonder people don't want to listen. What's in it for them?

In order to be good at this game of tennis we must first be good at listening. The thought of listening after the description above sounds like torture but I assure you, once you start listening to your clients they will give you all the information you need. You can then take your turn to speak to them through your marketing and the game of tennis is underway.

Hearing vs. Listening

First, you must be able to make the distinction between hearing and listening. 

When you're 'hearing' your client or customer you may receive the words they are expressing, you may even take the time to process them and store them away as information. Listening involves taking an active part in feeling and understanding what those words mean to whoever is expressing them. 

Ask yourself:

• Who is this person? male/female? age? ethnicity? education? 
• How do they view themselves?

There can be a big difference between the two.

Ask yourself:

• What is this person communicating? 
• What methods are they using to communicate? 

Body language and tone of voice play a bigger role in communication than even the words themselves. Don't forget that some people are more expressive than others, some cultures express themselves differently than others. All of these factors play a significant part and need to be mastered if you really want to be able to effectively market to this person. 

This is a crucial aspect of business success today as people's attentions spans shorten and their methods of guarding themselves become more and more effective. Don't worry, the consumer is not an endangered species, they are just going to be looking for their specific needs in a much more diligent manner. Consider the tools today's modern consumer or client has at their disposal with the internet and smartphones within arms reach. Now more than ever you better speak to them and their specific needs or you're just another annoying company.

Conversation and marketing

I have yet to meet someone who is great at marketing who isn't a great communicator and vice versa. 

You'd expect marketing professionals and agencies, people who are supposed to be experts at their craft, to be great at communication. Far too often this isn't the case. Far too often their focus is off target. Far too often I see businesses throw away their money on marketing that doesn't resonate with their client's intended audience simply due to poor communication.

What gets lost in the noise of spreadsheets and demographics is the art of listening to the client's prospect. What do they want? need? Why should they care? 

Help yourself by learning to become an expert listener.

The art of conversation and why listening rules all - Part 1/3

"You have the coolest Mom" 

"I can just sit and talk to your mother forever..."

"How is your Mom? I miss talking to her"

I regularly hear praises and inquiries from friends of mine about my mother. What's funny is they don't always come from my closest friends. I'm sure you're picturing a family-friend bond where everyone grew up in the same neighborhood. That's not true. It's not the quantity of time my friends spent around my mother, but the quality of the time with her. 

The most important skill I learned from my family is the art of conversation. All families or organizations thrive by the direction of their leader and my mother's ability to relate to all types of people (through the secret of listening) set a great example for us to follow. How else would one person get along with so many different people, each with their own unique personality types? 

One universal truth among people is that they all like to talk about themselves. This isn't a statement on selfishness, it's important for us all to talk about our hopes, fears, joys and sadness. We like to be heard, to click into a community, to get along with and relate to others - it's as important as the air we breathe. 

I recently read Malcolm Gladwell's newest book 'Outliers', in it he uncovers some hidden truths about success. One premise Gladwell examines is how many successful people came from a particular background, generation, family or class. Simply stated - the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. 

Conversation is in many respects a friendly game of tennis and my mother is the Chris Evert of her sport. The back and forth nature of this game of tennis begins with someone being a good receiver of information – a good listener. My mother's children couldn't help but grow to be good at conversation. We were trained with a daily example of how to listen, when to speak and how to do so. She bred in her children a family of conversation tennis pros. Today, as each of us play in our real-world tennis matches, whether it's business meetings, networking or client relations we benefit from that training.

Recession-proof your mind and your business will follow

I've had a lot of clients ask me for marketing advice recently. They use phrases that I'm sure you're hearing in daily conversations at the office, at home or with friends and coworkers. Some of these phrases are: "these tough economic times", "because of the economy", "recession" or even "depression".

The internet is littered with thousands of articles and a million opinions for advice on the matter.

Let's talk about what all of those articles and opinions miss. Let's talk about your daily approach, your mindset. 

Small talking - get walking

The single most important step you can take is to avoid talking about the economy, the recession or anything related to these subjects at all costs. Nothing productive can be gained from these discussions. As people, we are effected by every person and every opinion we come in contact with in our daily lives. We absorb these opinions and they can be very damaging to our approach and our motivations for our business. There are too many people walking around contributing to the fear and sadness by spitting out doom and gloom scenarios - and they're not even aware that they may be doing it! Walk away from these conversations or simply change the subject. 

Live by the sword - die by the sword

I understand the people I refer to above may be family members or friends and they may be unaware of what they're doing - but just as the power of words drives sales in business it can also do opposite. I often advise my clients about buzz marketing or word-of-mouth. I find many of them interested in how to tap into this essential vehicle for sales and attracting customers. The flipside to using people's conversations to grow is that our connected communities can also destroy business at lightning speeds. Look at how quickly some recent social events have traveled through your grapevine. How did you hear about it?

Media? Don't need ya

Be mindful of how you stay in the know. Newspapers, magazines, etc., have one motivation - to sell more of their product and make money from advertising. They do not care about the health of your business. They will pump out whatever they can to attract an audience. The same goes for television and radio shows. While it's important to stay in the know on current affairs, outside of getting the factual news you need from the paper or online, avoid all 'opinions' on the economy. Be aware of the source, ask yourself what their motivation is - go for a more established source who has to have some accountability for what they write or produce. You must stay as protective of what you feed your mind every day. 

Fill 'er up!

So I've told you what not to put into your mind. Here's what you should be filling it up with. Spend more time focusing on success stories. Find methods to motivate yourself and accept the challenges your business faces in today's climate. 

A quick list of ideas:

• Read a great biography about someone who has overcome adversity. Motivational biographies
• Watch an inspiring movie. Motivational movies
• Print out some motivational quotes and post them above your desk and nightstand. Motivational quotes
• Listen to great music. [Crank up 'Eye of the Tiger' and sing along in the shower - your husband or wife will love you]

Leap out of bed

Some of the above methods require you setting aside time. If you are simply too busy working or handling daily duties with kids, then you must take five minutes for yourself every day. Five minutes is all you need, it's best to do in the morning. This is a time for you to 'put on your armor' and inspire yourself for your work day. During your five minutes, listen to a song that gets you excited. I don't care where you are, whether you're on your commute, at the gym or in the shower. While your song is playing take some time to fill yourself with motivation. Encourage yourself, build excitement, charge yourself up with new ideas. You may benefit from writing out a quick list of items to recite to yourself, recall a motivating story - the key here is to find what works for you and most importantly to do it. 

Since you are a founder and leader of your business, whether you have employees or not, it is essential that you stay positively charged and protect yourself from gloomy conversations, articles and the like. Your daily approach will be healthy and strong and will have a positive outward effect on your employees and your customers and clients.

I take performance enhancers

I have a confession to make. I take performance enhancing supplements. 

I recently held a press conference to admit this to the world, but nobody showed up.

With the recent news of baseball superstar Alex Rodriguez admitting to using performance-enhancing drugs there has been a lot of debate on the rights and wrongs of doing such a thing.

The question I've heard in many discussions is 'if you could take a pill to improve your performance in your job and boost your income - would you do it?' and the answer is undoubtedly 'yes'. 

My business is marketing. My daily performance in either office or on the road is greatly effected by the the supplements I take. I want to be the Alex Rodriguez of my business and so I will do whatever it takes to give me the best energy level and brain power to do so.

My performance enhancers include a steady diet of fish and omega-3 rich foods. Omega-3 fatty acids have been proven to be 'brain food' and help improve memory and concentration. I also take flaxseed oil, ginkgo biloba and drink tons of water on top of a regimented exercise routine. 

Perhaps the most important area of my focus is to get power sleep. James Maas, author of 'Power Sleep' argues that for maximum energy and performance in our daily lives eight hours of sleep is a minimum and 10 hours a night is the ideal.

Performance enhancers come in all shapes and forms. You can give yourself an edge on your competition by adding any of the above approaches and see great results. 

Your small business success depends on it.

5.5 reasons why you need to be on Digg

Everyone is talking about social media. That is justification enough that it's an effective tool. Since the goal of social media is to get everybody connected and conversational, we can conclude that it is working.

You've heard the stories about how large groups of people are more effective at predicting a company's stock performance versus some of the most informed experts on Wall Street. Since large groups of people actually drive a stocks share price, it stands to reason that their opinion would be a good place to start!

Word of mouth prevails.

There are many social media platforms designed to consume your every waking hour. Many of them are 'me too' sites that are hard to differentiate. In terms of brand value, it goes without saying that LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are the public's laptop darlings.

However, what I want to talk to you about is why you should be lovin' on Digg. Digg is proving to be a solid player in showing a ROTI (Return on Time Invested) right now. 

You need to be using Digg, here's why...

1. SOCIAL MOMENTUM

Digg users pull your content in one direction. All of your online content swims in a vast amount of information. It's bound to get further when it's pointing one way. Keep in mind that you must post informative and relevant content or else you'll be wasting a lot of people's time - including yours.  

2. STAY ON TRACK

It's easy to track how your content is doing, and who is helping it succeed.

3. LESS CLICKS - MORE FRIENDS

Adding multiple friends on a page is easy. Your time is precious, you need bang for your timebuck.

4. RALLY THE TROOPS

Shout to friends for help, love, etc. Simple group shouts (don't overuse these) will get the your posse ready.

5. WATCH 'EM FLY

It's motivating to watch your numbers rise. This is just humans being humans. We likely bright, shiny things and we enjoy watching things grow.

5.5 ONE NATION

Only half a reason, but Digg Nation is just so damn cool.

*It should be noted that we're experiencing in Twitter's toddler years is just the tip of the iceberg, there's a tremendous amount of potential here. Stay tuned.