September 13th, 2009
A great successful brand has a plan for various uses of their identity. No possibility is too small or too out there to be considered. Implementation of branding at every level is key to closing the sale when you can’t be there for the hard sale. The sale is in the details and if you’re not there too then you’re losing out.
In today’s increasingly cluttered landscape consumers are vigilantly filtering out their attention. In order to grab a hold of their subconscious and conciousness minds your brand needs to be subtly placed. All the better if you do it a self-referential ironic or unforeseen way. Bonus points for collaboration.
I’m on the train. I’m listening to music. I’m reading a book. I’m playing with my multimedia phone. I’m writing something. I’m doing ALL of this at once. I’m doing all this to block out outside influences on my way to wherever I’m going in my one last area of zen in the outside world. Your advertising and constant bombardment has forced me to put up my defenses. So how do you as a successful brand break through that barrier?
Any type of countermeasure must be done with the most delicate of hands. I’m already guarding against the big in-your-face branded gestures. By the time a sneak attack is realized it’s already too late. My defenses are down and I’m thinking about your brand in a different light.
By taking the time to invest in the details I realize that you’ve taken the time and money to invest in me. As a savvy consumer I know that every little bit of branding costs money. I appreciate it especially when you do so with a fine brush rather than a spraygun.
Even when I’m not conscious of these small details, on some level I’m registering it. That’s the most important part of this whole journey- the soft sell, the long tail, buying a customer’s mindshare. If your brand is interesting enough in a way that I can’t get you out of my head long after your ingenious piece of branding is gone then ultimately you’ve won.
It could be something as simple as having your brand colors be represented on something as trivial as a straw. Regardless of what it is for you just realize that there IS something there for you. If you don’t do it be sure that someone will do it and is probably already doing it.
Tags: advertisers, advice, benefit, bombardment, bonus points, collaboration, communicating, communication, communications, consumers, core values, costs money, different light, feelings, gestures, goals, ingenious piece, interaction, interactions, journey, knowledge, landscape, life, little bit, mindshare, network, networked, networking, personalities, personality, productivity, savvy consumer, sneak attack, social, taking the time, time and money, Value, zen
Posted in branding, business, featured | No Comments »
September 12th, 2009
You are not Chris Brogan, Brian Solis or Gary Vaynerchuk. You’re not Seth Godin, Guy Kawasaki or even Robert Kiosaki. And neither am I. You’re you and I’m me. You’re not a rockstar. The moment you come to terms with that then you can truly live and love your life.
All of these men mentioned above aren’t overnight successes and don’t just glide along in life. They have been plugging away day in and day out at their claim to fame for years. Practice does indeed make perfect.
These are ordinary men who have achieved success by having passion about something they believe in on a consistent basis. Keywords – passion, believe, consistent. There’s a lesson here in which they are to be admired but by no means deified. Take a page from their books, literally – all of these men are published authors as well.
To paraphrase Gary Vaynerchuck, if everyone would stop consuming so much media and produce more content then we’d all be that much richer. Stop being so concerned with what certain rockstars are doing and be more concerned with what you’re doing.
Find out what you do well and do it, a lot. This may sound simple enough but in today’s media saturated society we increasingly have fragmented attention spans. Cut everything else except one or two things that you love and excel at. Now become legendary in your niche.
As Einstein once said ‘Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration‘. If you’re any sort of inspired genius you’ll learn to perspire and love it, then your fans will love you for the rockstar that you truly are.
Tags: advice, benefit, brian solis, chris brogan, claim to fame, communicating, communication, communications, consistent basis, core values, einstein, feelings, gary vaynerchuck, genius is 1 inspiration and 99 perspiration, goals, guy kawasaki, inspiration, interaction, interactions, knowledge, life, network, networked, networking, niche, ordinary men, overnight successes, paraphrase, passion, personalities, personality, productivity, robert kiosaki, rockstar, rockstars, s media, Seth Godin, social, Value
Posted in business, featured, life, social media | No Comments »
August 10th, 2009
Tr.im has recently announced that they are shutting down due to non-monetization. According to their press release they “cannot find a way to justify continuing to work on it”. While they may have shopped it around and “no one perceived any value in it, or they wanted to operate a shortener under a differently branded domain name.” I have some ideas on what should happen with their service.
Tr.im is the best brand name for a URL shortener out there. You know EXACTLY what it does by the name (it trims it), plus it’s only 5 characters while most others (including bit.ly) are at least 6. In a character sensitive environment where novices may stumble upon your links these two items are very important.
Here’s some thoughts on who should buy Tr.im:
As of now Twitter has no personal URL shortening service. They made the move from TinyURL to Bit.ly and can just as easily move to their own in-house shortening service. Why is this important? Twitter has been building out their features, and most recently redesigned their homepage to focus on search. By having an in-house trimming service they can create a more seamless experience for their users. They can also own the statistics and analytics. This will be increasingly important for monetization, gauging the depth of their network, figuring out the velocity of messages spread and their growth and keeping their users on their site longer.
Tr.iim graphic courtesy of David Kadavy via his Flickr
Bit.ly
Bit.ly is currently Twitter’s default shortening service. There are other competitors but this factor has strongly bolstered bit.ly’s rise through the ranks. Acquiring all of tr.im’s shortened URLs along with their proprietary name would benefit them greatly. Bit.ly could redirect all tr.ims to bit.ly’s platform, so essentially you will be seeing bit.ly’s analytics coupled with tr.im’s name.
Bit.ly is not short on money, considering they just were funded for $2 Million. Much has been said about Twitter’s rumored acquisition of Bit.ly but until it happens it’s just that, a rumor. Also of note, Bit.ly is building out a full-featured platform that is said to rival Digg’s current service.
TinyURL vs. Bit.ly vs. Tr.im graph
One thing IS for certain though: the recent social network DDoS attack and Tr.im’s announcement of their closure reaffirms the fragility of social media properties. A site can be inaccessible or close down at any time, so don’t hedge your bets on any particular one just yet.
Tags: bit.ly, brand, brand name, branding, business, consumer, consumers, conversation, design, designers, domain name, functionality, interaction, marketing, media, monetization, network, networked, networking, personal url, press release, productivity, proprietary name, seamless experience, selling, sensitive environment, short url, short urls, social media, statistics, technology, tinyurl, tr.im, trim url, trimmed urls, trims, twitter, url shortener, url shorteners, url shortening, Value, velocity
Posted in branding, business, social media | No Comments »
May 30th, 2009
Recently I had an encounter with @Just_Janie on Twitter. She told me she started a new account for her company @HouseofJerky. I proceeded to tell her that I’m not too big on jerky. She then offered to send me some of her jerky complimentary.
If you’re not always listening and paying attention as well as networking then you’re not doing enough. Janie Honeycutt was having a conversation with me on what was new with her. She wasn’t trying to force a product on me or sell me on it’s benefits. What she did was build upon a relationship and offer usefulness where applicable.
I could go into detail about each and every jerky but I won’t. I will tell you that the encounter and the person behind the company makes the product shine more. Running a business nowadays is all about timeliness and relevance. House Of Jerky took both of those into consideration when building on our relationship.
The key here is that this selling approach is a part of the long tail. She got to know me first. She sold me on me, me on her and ultimately me on our relationship. Once I buy into who you are I’ll definitely buy into what you have. Taking the time out to care about each and every one of your customers as they were an individual person ingratiates you in their hearts.
There’s no secret to this. This is about being a real person and wanting to connect. We all know we have something to sell. Take the selling out of the equation so the buying can exist more easily.
(notice the personalized 'Enjoy DB' card)
I haven’t tried jerky before so it was really thoughtful of Janie to send a House Of Jerky sampler. It included beef, buffalo, venison, ostrich, and turkey in hot, sweet & spicy, teriyaki, black pepper and exotic flavors. I recommend finding out which jerky you love by trying the All Flavors Jr. Variety Pack. It’s inexpensive ($36.99) as well as all-encompassing. The best thing about the jerky besides it’s taste (you’ve got to try the Teriyaki) is that it’s all-natural. I actually understand what I’m eating.
When someone gives me something I do not feel obligated to say anything about it. It’s only when I am truly impressed OR dismayed that I do. In the case of House of Jerky, Janie Honeycutt’s interactions with me laid the groundwork to allow her products to shine on their own merit. The interaction IS a part of the selling process. You’re fooling yourself if you think you can just push product alone.
With so many options of equal value, the great differentiator is real, open and honest interactions. A great product will sell itself but an even greater salesman will sell you on you. Care about the transaction from the start to the finish. Selling starts with the customer AND ends with the customer ALWAYS.
Tags: benefit, black pepper, branding, buffalo, business, communicating, communication, communications, consumer, consumers, conversation, conversations, differential, encounter, feelings, flavors, fool, heart, hearts, interaction, interactions, listening, marketing, network, networked, networking, ostrich, paying attention, personalities, personality, productivity, real person, relationship, relevance, running a business, selling, social, social media, taking the time, timeliness, turkey, twitter, Value, variety pack, venison
Posted in branding, business, featured | 1 Comment »
May 29th, 2009
Follow Friday is a plague on Twitter and social media. It’s a Trojan Horse. It’s a seemingly harmless interaction wrapped in niceties. Even giving in to it one bit is fueling the fire even more. You’re a part of the problem if you’re not a part of the solution. Here’s why those who participate in follow friday don’t get social media and never will.
Social media isn’t about sharing at all costs. It’s about sharing at the best cost. It’s about pull NOT push.
Let’s relate follow friday into offline terms. You’re at a party (I know, because social media is one big party) and someone walks in saying that everyone there MUST know Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane. Now that’s not exactly social is it? The person literally just disrupted the party to tell everyone who they SHOULD know. It doesn’t matter if you know the disrupter or not. What matters is that the disrupter decided that their opinion was worth more than yours. They didn’t think of you first.
Social media is about pull. Social media is about personalization. Social media is about those two things plus connections. Take out pull and personalization and you just have the old way of doing things- a connection based on me telling you what to do. When you act without thinking of others first you come up with a bunch of unintended consequences.
To those of you who are moving Follow Friday off of Twitter to other areas I have one word of advice to you: don’t. You are the worst type of person, the enabler. SOCIAL MEDIA ISN’T ABOUT YOU. Social media is about everyone else. Start thinking of them first, not yourself. Blanket recommendations are akin to stereotypes- you’re covering a large landscape and inadvertently encompassing those who shouldn’t be involved in the first place.
The only way to break the cycle of me me ME is to think about you you YOU. If you care about the person you are promoting enough then TRULY care about them. Shouting to the world why they’re great is a step in the right direction but it doesn’t go far enough or stay true to social media. Personalize it.
Others and I have resorted to avoiding Twitter altogether on Fridays. The noise is so loud it drowns out the actual useful signal. I schedule blog posts around Friday now. If I’m writing about someone else they tell me to post it any day BUT Friday. This is the law of unintended consequences. It won’t be long until Friday is a day without any substance- the social media equivalent to junk food. It tastes good but you get sick of too much of it.
Remember, this is a party. What’s more meaningful- Having someone you may or may not know well proceed to tell the whole party exactly why Zoe is amazing OR having someone you know well introduce you two to each other because they feel the both of you would be a great fit? See the difference?
Social networking is a whole different ball game. Wait, no it isn’t. If you wouldn’t dream of doing what you do online in an offline setting then don’t do it. If you still think it’s okay to shout how awesome people are at other people (no matter how in-depth you get) then maybe you shouldn’t be in social media. Social media is about them not you. It’s not your time to shine it’s their time to shine. Be useful and thoughtful in all your interactions by micro-personalizing them.
THINK how your actions will affect another person before you do them. When you think of the other person first then it leaves little room for misinterpretation. Don’t be ‘that guy’ at the party and ruin it for everyone. Be the AMAZING party host that introduces two guests to one another. I GUARANTEE people will be talking about YOU before long.
Tags: advice, benefit, brand, communicating, communication, communications, conversation, disrupter, feelings, follower, friends, interaction, interactions, knowledge, landscape, life, media, network, networked, networking, niceties, personalities, personality, plague, promotions, social, social media, step in the right direction, stereotypes, thoughtfulness, trojan horse, twitter, unintended consequences, Value, walks, word of advice, words, zoe duncan jack and jane
Posted in featured, social media | 4 Comments »
May 22nd, 2009
Is the web 2.0 bubble balloon slowly deflating?
Recently Meg Pickard released an updated version of the now infamous Web 2.0 image map. This new map breaks down who is dead, acquired and alive (X, O, and no mark, respectively)
Kevin Eklund’s statistical analysis of the chart:
Web 2.0: Project or Business?
Mashable touted all those on the list (survivors included) as a testament to those willing to do rather than watch. While I tend to agree with Mashable and others concerning the survival/success rate of Web 2.0 businesses, no one is asking the important question. Only Doug Martin begins to touch upon it:
I created one of the projects Xed out on the first chart. Looking back it was a project and not a business – I got coverage on all the hot tech blogs and the associated huge spike in traffic but there really was not a business there. It did help me get my next job though and it was a fun ride.
Many Web 2.0 companies start out with a great idea, ambition and a rush to get it first to market. The problem with that is when you think like a designer or a developer you get those results. A businessman thinks of the bottom line: money.
Amazing ideas are all well and good but if you don’t have a proper monetization model in place before you launch you are setting yourself up for disaster. You also need short & long term road maps and an exit strategy. Core values and belief systems MUST be set up before you can start doing business. Crawl, walk, run, fly.
I’m not interested in a failure rate or what that means for a new web industry. What I am interested in is why. Why did these companies fold? Why are some still around? Why did some get acquired? Rates mean nothing without reason behind them.
Web You.0
Meg Pickard is at least asking one question, a question about creating a new roadmap:
“If anyone would like to make a new collage of startups in this genre for 2009, I’d be very interested to see it – please post the link in the comments. Here’s the collage above, but with all the defunct companies removed. There are plenty of healthy and exciting companies around these days which could fill those empty spaces. Who’ll take on the task of filling the gaps?”
I propose not just a new update to the Web 2.0 map but a new way to organize it as well.
- Create a maximum uniform height and width for logos.
- Separate into color groups according to what their primary service is (sharing, storage etc).
- Make each logo into an actual clickable image map that links out to each service.
- Show how the social networking services are linked together i.e. Twitter > Facebook > Friendfeed <->Twitter
- Repeat for a Web 3.0 (aka Semantic Web) map
- Tie both the Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 map together in parallel linked maps
Just remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Also, Rome is just a city now instead of an empire. Think about that.
Tags: ambition, belief systems, beliefs, blog, brand, branding, business, businessman, chart web, collage, colors, commenters, communications, core values, design, designers, doug martin, eklund, excitement, exit strategy, experiment, Facebook, failure, failure rate, Friendfeed, fun ride, functionality, grouping, image map, interactions, lists, marketing, mashable, models, network, networked, networking, one question, organization, road maps, roadmap, social, social media, startups, statistical analysis, statistics, strategy, success rate, tech, technology, twitter, update, Value, web industry
Posted in branding, business, featured, social media | No Comments »
April 24th, 2009
© Shelley Gibb
In 3 seconds or less tell me why I should care about you. Not 140 characters- about 7 words.
Get to the point. I’m busy and you should be too. Don’t tell me what you do. Tell me what you can do for me. How can you empower me to evangelize you? How can you enrich my life? Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: benefit, brand, branding, business, communicating, communication, communications, competitor, conversation, evangelism, feelings, goals, Google, interaction, interactions, life, network, networked, networking, passion, productivity, second, social, Value, widget, words
Posted in featured, life | No Comments »
April 20th, 2009
THANK YOU AND I’M SORRY
© wasabicube
First off, I’d like to thank ALL OF YOU for visiting, subscribing AND reading this website so far. Without your support I would have no desire to continue to grow this venture to greater heights. That being said, I’d like to apologize.
In my excitement for reorganization with adding/moving user pages, some of you may have received a post that was inadvertedly sent through the RSS feed entitled “Damien Basile”. I have an ego, but not THAT big of an ego to name a WHOLE POST after myself.
Tags: about, av flox, badges, blog, bottom left, brand, branding, communicating, communication, communications, community aspects, convenience, damien basile, desire, ego, excitement, Facebook, Google, habit, jargon, knowledge, lisa hickey, media, mybloglog, network, networked, networking, new features, niche, niche communities, reading, reorganization, retaggr, retweet, reviews, sidebar, social, staci j shelton, subscribers, twitter, widgets
Posted in technology | 1 Comment »
Has the Web 2.0 bubble burst?
Is the web 2.0 bubble balloon slowly deflating?
Recently Meg Pickard released an updated version of the now infamous Web 2.0 image map. This new map breaks down who is dead, acquired and alive (X, O, and no mark, respectively)
Kevin Eklund’s statistical analysis of the chart:
Web 2.0: Project or Business?
Mashable touted all those on the list (survivors included) as a testament to those willing to do rather than watch. While I tend to agree with Mashable and others concerning the survival/success rate of Web 2.0 businesses, no one is asking the important question. Only Doug Martin begins to touch upon it:
I created one of the projects Xed out on the first chart. Looking back it was a project and not a business – I got coverage on all the hot tech blogs and the associated huge spike in traffic but there really was not a business there. It did help me get my next job though and it was a fun ride.
Many Web 2.0 companies start out with a great idea, ambition and a rush to get it first to market. The problem with that is when you think like a designer or a developer you get those results. A businessman thinks of the bottom line: money.
Amazing ideas are all well and good but if you don’t have a proper monetization model in place before you launch you are setting yourself up for disaster. You also need short & long term road maps and an exit strategy. Core values and belief systems MUST be set up before you can start doing business. Crawl, walk, run, fly.
I’m not interested in a failure rate or what that means for a new web industry. What I am interested in is why. Why did these companies fold? Why are some still around? Why did some get acquired? Rates mean nothing without reason behind them.
Web You.0
Meg Pickard is at least asking one question, a question about creating a new roadmap:
“If anyone would like to make a new collage of startups in this genre for 2009, I’d be very interested to see it – please post the link in the comments. Here’s the collage above, but with all the defunct companies removed. There are plenty of healthy and exciting companies around these days which could fill those empty spaces. Who’ll take on the task of filling the gaps?”
I propose not just a new update to the Web 2.0 map but a new way to organize it as well.
Just remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Also, Rome is just a city now instead of an empire. Think about that.
Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Tags: ambition, belief systems, beliefs, blog, brand, branding, business, businessman, chart web, collage, colors, commenters, communications, core values, design, designers, doug martin, eklund, excitement, exit strategy, experiment, Facebook, failure, failure rate, Friendfeed, fun ride, functionality, grouping, image map, interactions, lists, marketing, mashable, models, network, networked, networking, one question, organization, road maps, roadmap, social, social media, startups, statistical analysis, statistics, strategy, success rate, tech, technology, twitter, update, Value, web industry
Posted in branding, business, featured, social media | No Comments »