I love this video so much, and see this sort of corporate blah blah everywhere. Dan Heath has some valuable advice, including my favorite, “If what you’re writing has the word solutions in it, you’re probably not done yet.”
This RFP question matters
July 6, 2010 By 1 Comment
Last week I received an RFP with a key question: what is your organization’s mission and beliefs? I love that question because it will help the evaluators get a sense of the firms in a way that the factual questions can not.
However, many firms struggle in answering this question. Or they play it safe. Or answer in bland language. Having reviewed hundreds of RFPs my advice is to answer this question passionately and genuinely, in language you would use in talking with someone.
This RFP question is designed to help the evaluators get to know the personality, people and passion of your firm. Don’t waffle. Be bold, be true to who your organization is, and use language that brings you beliefs alive.
Also, make sure your Web site includes your belief ( or purpose, or mission, or point of view; they’re really the same) And that everyone in the firm knows it and understands how it guides your work every day.
Stuck? Get your people together and have a thoughtful conversation around this question: why does the world need our organization now more than ever?
What's your marketing soundtrack?
February 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment
I help companies uncover what they love about their businesses and show them how to use that to create pretty fascinating sales and marketing strategies.
The first step in our discovery process is asking a few questions, like “if you were having dinner with an old friend, how would you brag about your business?” The answers to this question are usually dull, dull, dull. But it helps me get to know the people.
The second question always uncorks the creative juices. Please take it and use it. It is simply this:
If you could pick one song as a theme song for your organization, what would it be?
The ideas are usually hilarious, hold a thread of truth and possibility, and loosen people up in new ways. A couple of weeks ago I heard some some great responses from a consulting firm with deep analytics expertise:
- Beat It by Michael Jackson
- White & Nerdy by Weird Al Yankovich
- Marching Through the Wilderness by David Byrne
Let the marketing brainstorming begin….
The viral effect: positive, awe-inspiring stories
February 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Just what causes a story to go viral? New York Times Science writer John Tierney reports today on a new in-depth University of Pennsylvania study that found:
- People share articles that inspire awe
- Positive stores are more likely to be shared than negative
- More emotional stories are emailed more often
- Stories about anxiety travel, but no where close to those that inspire awe
Having done my own studies on what people like to share and the power of meaning making (Beyond Buzz, 2007), I found this new study validating and insightful — especially learning more about what the heck is awe inspiring.
The UPenn researchers used two criteria for an “awe inspiring story”: the scale of the story is large and it requires the reader to see the world in a different way.
The researchers also found that people like to share awe-inspiring stories not to impress others, but to realize a type of “emotional communion.”
Emotion in general leads to transmission, and awe is a strong emotion,” said Dr. Jonah Berger of UPenn. ” If I’ve just read this story that changes the way I understand the world and myself, I want to talk to others about what it means. I want to proselytize and share the feeling of awe. If you read the article and feel the same emotion, it will bring us closer together.”
One of my most popular blog posts over the past few years had nothing to do with marketing but was about an awe-inspiring 18 hours in an urban hospital emergency room. The resulting comments, calls and emails created an extraordinary emotional communion with friends and strangers.
Three weeks ago I finished writing a new book about an awe-inspiring journey. It was the most fulfilling writing I’ve ever done, and it’s the marketing project I’m most eager to get moving. Why? There’s nothing more satisfying than emotional communion, and the buzz that goes with it.
Good lessons for all we marketers who too often rely on a heavy-on-the-logic, light-on-the- emotion style of business communications. To realize the powerful possibilities of social media our content needs to be emotional and show what’s possible.
A word of mouth story based on fear
February 6, 2010 By 1 Comment
I love spreading word of mouth about things that are remarkable. But last week a small restaurant tried shut me down in my efforts to do so.
Whenever I go to San Francisco I schedule my business calendar so that I can have breakfast at Boulette’s Larder in the Ferry Building. The food is extraordinary, the restaurant design remarkable. So while waiting for my breakfast I took out my Droid to snap a couple of photos to share with you. Because no words can quite capture the beauty of this small little space.
After the click, owner and renowned chef Amaryll Schwertner came over and asked me to stop taking photos immediately. It was against her policy.
“But why,” I asked. “I wrote a book about word of mouth and like to spread the word about great experiences, and photos are a great way to do that.”
“We’ve had a lot of problems with people taking photographs and stealing our ideas,” she explained. “Photographs of our restaurant have ended up in places without our permission. We need to control who takes photos.”
The exchange left me cold and wondering. Just what could anyone “steal” by taking a picture of a little restaurant? A restaurant’s assets are its food, its service, and its vibe. How can one steal that total experience in a one-dimensional photo?
And why be fearful of letting people take a picture and spread word of mouth, the most vital marketing for a restaurant. Sure, my photos aren’t professional but I doubt I would hurt the restaurant’s image.
My advice for all businesses and Boulette’s Larder is to let go of fear, and let people who love you spread the love, especially with photos. The greater the love, the less likely that any negative remarks or pirate photos will ever hurt your reputation.
Here’s a photo of the restaurant taken from Boulette’s web page. I hope I don’t get reprimanded again. 
If you think your company is boring…
December 18, 2009 By Leave a Comment
‘Tis the season for marketing planning, which can be painful if you’re in a rut. From many years of experience I believe every company has remarkable ideas to talk about, but finding those ideas can sometimes be challenging.
This week I talked at the Word of Mouth Supergenius conference about how to shake things up and find those ideas. Thanks to Merritt Colaizzi of SmartBlog on Social Media for her post that sums up those ideas. You can find it here.
Finding those interesting ideas to talk about is well worth the work. Consider:
- What do sales reps to say to engage prospects?
- What makes your proposals and RFPs stand out?
- Social media only works if you have interesting ideas to talk about
- How do CEOs get employees’ attention?
To get more interest, you have to be more interesting. It doesn’t mean you have to be cool like Apple. In fact, much of my work has been with “boring” B2B companies. Everything in marketing and sales gets much easier when you find the “talkable” ideas.
If you get stuck, call me to help jump start your thinking. If your company is really stuck, let’s do a workshop in 2010 to uncover those amazing ideas just waiting to be found. While I am slightly biased, this is the best marketing investment you can make next year.
A CEO's Twitter advice
December 8, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Most companies tell employees what NOT to Tweet about, but Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com, suggests to employees that they Tweet about these three things:
- What will cause my followers to smile
- What will enrich people’s perspective
- What will inspire
Thanks to Hollie Delaney of Zappos.com, for sharing this yesterday during out social media session at The Conference Board conference on extending your brand to employees. Thanks too to the other super-smart and generous panelists — Marietta Cozzi of Prudential Financial, Kat Drum of Starbucks, and Kelle Thompson of Liberty Mutual.
CEO's Twitter advice to employees
December 2, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Most companies tell employees what NOT to Tweet about, but Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com, suggests to employees that they Tweet about these three things:
- What will cause my followers to smile
- What will enrich people’s perspective
- What will inspire
Thanks to Hollie Delaney of Zappos.com, for sharing this yesterday during out social media session at The Conference Board conference on extending your brand to employees. Thanks too to the other super-smart and generous panelists — Marietta Cozzi of Prudential Financial, Kat Drum of Starbucks, and Kelle Thompson of Liberty Mutual.
New study on video sharing, blogging profiles (Tues. is the best day)
November 4, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Video sharing is becoming one of the most effective business communications strategies, and this new study from Sysomos provides valuable data about video sharing and engagement. Here are some highlights.
Market Leader: YouTube – Not surprisingly, YouTube is the most popular video-sharing service used by bloggers, attracting 81.9% of all embedded videos and direct links. Vimeo is a distant second with 8.8%, followed by Dailymotion and MySpace.
Young Males Engage the Most – 20-to-35-year-old males constitute the most engaged demographic group in our study. In total, 77% of users are under 35-years old, while 60% of all users are male.
Asian Users Engage Differently - 90% of the users from Asia and Oceania are under 35-years-old. In comparison, a third of North American users are over 35-years-old. Bloggers in Asia and Oceania are less likely to use services other than YouTube, with 89% of the links and embeds pointing to YouTube.
Gender Balance – The most male dominated video service is Break.com (88%) vs. (12%) females. The most female dominated video service is MTV (68%) vs. males (32%). The most balanced video serviceis MSN (56% male and 44% female).
Countries and Cities – The countries with the most bloggers embedding and linking to videos are the U.S., Brazil, Spain, the U.K. and Canada. In terms of cities, the most active bloggers who embed and link to videos live in New York, Sao Paulo, London and Madrid.
Engagement Peaks on Tuesday – The most popular day for engaging with video in the blogosphere is Tuesday and Wednesday. The most active engagement takes place between 11a.m. and 1p.m EST.
Putting social media to work: Publicity Club workshop
November 3, 2009 By 1 Comment
Here’s the presentation from last night’s workshop at the Publicity Club of New England in Boston. Great group and lots of fun doing conversational writing and community building workshops. Creativity is everywhere; we just have to ask new questions and collaborate in new ways to get at it.
Putting Social Media to Work
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