As surely as the sun rises, business cards will be eclipsed by technology. Business owners need to begin grappling with this fact.
It really began with the Palm Pilot. You were able to beam information back and forth with it, even though you still had to dock it, to upload new e-mail. The iPhone has the bump feature, where you can swap information easily. But even among techies, I’ve yet to see anyone actually use the service. My guess is it’s still too much of a hassle, and you look pretty silly asking if someone also has an iPhone and if they use the Bump application. It’s much easier to simply exchange business cards.
But how long until the business card loses its relevance? Tough to tell, but if you’re a business, you should definitely be thinking about the transition to electronic contact information transfer options (and bringing your electronic resume to your business card).
Here’s a list of five things you should do today, to prepare for this switch.
1. Secure user names (also called passports) on at least every major site.
There are several tools you can use to help you do this, like http://knowem.com/.Knowem can look your username up on every known social media site, along with looking up all the domain options for that name.
Critical to branding is having one unified name and image on the web. So hurry up and grab yours today, if it’s still available. You can snatch a Facebook name or a web site URL, if you own the trademark, but that’s not true of sites like Twitter, I’ve been told. (I’m not a lawyer, but I do intend to interview a lawyer on the topic of online user names and trademarks, for this blog).
2. Love LinkedIn
Optimize your LinkedIn profile, because often when someone searches for your name, this will come up on the first page of Google, and they don’t need to be a LinkedIn user to read the basic information. Consider it your electronic resume and business card all in one. Your personal Facebook profile shouldn’t come up in Google search (although at times I’ve see it come up. But even if it did, the other person would have to log into Facebook to see it. That’s another hurdle you want to avoid).
3.See What’s Out There About You
Search under your name and see what comes up, just to make sure a potential client doesn’t Google you and discover something embarrassing. After you do this, you can also tell people to “Just Google me” in case you don’t have business cards, or don’t want to carry them. At a conference I attended recently, a speaker told the audience that if we can’t find him online “You’re not trying hard enough.” Many of us can already say the same thing.
If you do see something you’re embarrassed about come up under your name, ask the web master about taking out your name. If the information is extremely old and irrelevant, there’s a good chance they’ll do it.
4. E-mail signature
An easy way to pass along your contact information and advertise your business, is simply by including links to those sites at the bottom of each e-mail, like our CEO Christopher Swanson does. We also track the links in the signatures, so we know how many people actually connect to us through those signatures. Trust me, if we thought it was a waste of time, we wouldn’t do it. (Side note: We can teach your business how to track individual links as well).
5. Add the web to your printed business cards.
If you actively use Twitter, or Facebook or LinkedIn for business, go ahead and add the url or user name.
To me this photo represents the attitudes of a majority of Americans today.
For the last 10 years of my life, I wrote about people who lived in what most residents of planet earth would consider fairly palatial surroundings – small towns and suburbia. Yet, despite the fact that if you own a car you’re in the richest 2 percent of the world, most of us act like we’re in the bottom third, searching for scraps. In reality, most of the world would be happy to live off of what lands in our trash cans on a nightly basis.
What does this have to do with social media and online marketing? Everything, really. If this were a blog like Zen Habits, I’d wax eloquent about how you ought to feel grateful for what you have, or whatever. But this is a blog about digital marketing. So my point here is simple. Don’t weave these sorts of messages into what you look like online. One of the things I cherish about the online marketing world, is how positive the culture is. Sure, we have our bad apples. But by and large the community is friendly. And just about anyone except celebrities will respond to your tweets. We like it that way. And we tend to help others who want to keep it that way.
But when you’re only out for yourself, don’t help others out online, don’t really care about anyone else in the online space, and your tone and picture smacks of bitterness, frustration, anger, or just plain weirdness, then don’t expect people to follow you, retweet your blog posts, or even generally want to speak with you.
People like nice people. Remember that.
We on the Internet are a bunch of imperfect individuals, no doubt. But every day we strive hard to learn, grow, sell, and perhaps most importantly, just share and help. And negative values and attitudes like this bumper sticker proclaiming the loss of hope in the world, is exactly the kind of stuff I’d advise you stay clear of, unless of course you don’t want to accomplish anything useful online.
In 2010 I’ve attended and taught more paid and unpaid training sessions than I have in the last five years.
They’ve primarily come in the form of online webinars companies will provide, often for free, in exchange for you providing your name, e-mail and sometimes phone number. Which they then follow up with via the phone or e-mails. Unlike the past, where the information is little more than a sales pitch, these webinars are often filled with great information, because the companies are using inbound marketing techniques. So by passing out good information, they in turn hope you’ll buy more.
One tier above the webinar though, is a half-day or all-day virtual conference, the first of which I attended last week, called the Digital Marketing World: Social Media Marketing virtual conference. I wanted to provide a sneak peak into what these events look like, how they operate, the pros and cons of them, and we’ll end with a nice little nugget I advise you stick around for. (Or if you’re in a hurry, just scroll down to the end.
Honestly, it felt a bit eerie walking into for the first time. But this sort of layout really makes sense. Why not replicate as much as possible what an actual conference area looks like? From this view you essentially click on where you want to go: From left to right is the “Exhibit Hall” the “Resource Center” the Lounge, where you can live chat and finally the actual auditorium, where the presentations were held.
Front and center was an information booth where you could ask questions live via chat.
And below that was a tool bar. The two buttons on that bar I used, was to update my profile, and the suitcase, which is a place you could store contact information for people you met in the chat room, downloads of the presentations, and documents you picked up at the exhibit booths. I’m a big proponent of collecting educational documents, which I always plan to read later. So this little feature was a wonderful find.
Exhibit Area:
Walking into the exhibit area also felt odd. Just like in real life, you’d walk (in this case scroll) around, and when you clicked on a booth, often a sales representative would greet you in a live chat window that would pop up. All the sales folks made a point of calling me up the following week. I found this method also exposed me to some companies I’d never heard of, despite being an avid industry watcher, and regular reader of industry blogs and other social media sites. So it might be an innovative way to get your business name out, and notice knew potential vendors.
Useability
I quickly grew accustomed to the system, and often found myself running out of time to look around, between sessions.
I was surprised how many more pieces of information I picked up, because it didn’t require me having to lug anything around. So you might call this a couch potato’s dream of a conference.
Once I entered the auditorium, the conference sessions were pretty much like a standard webinar, with slides on the right, and a chat box on the left. The chat box wasn’t used, and therefore I’m surprised they didn’t remove it from the screen. I typed in a couple questions during the presentation, not realizing they wouldn’t be answered there. After each session the speakers moved to another chat room specifically set up for follow-up questions after the session. It was a bit tricky the first time, to realize there was a general chat room, and then another chat room specifically for the session I was in.
I did meet a few nice people in the chats, but few if any loaded much profile information up, nor a photo, which would have been nice. I find people seem at least a little more real on Twitter or Facebook, because a picture runs alongside their comments.
I was surprised there wasn’t integration with Gravator, so people’s avatars naturally popped up.
I also requested contact information for a few of the speakers, which they didn’t provide. (Although some certainly did).
Bottom Line
While attending a virtual conference isn’t nearly as fun as a traditional conference, it’s also a lot cheaper, and you tend to focus more on the seminars, not everything else that goes along with a conference, like the food or even meeting other attendees. So I can see many companies switching some of their training and even marketing dollars to events like these. They’re simply too convenient and cost-effective to ignore. But because they are so inexpensive to put on, the perceived value of both the content and the event itself will be much lower.
The event I attended was free, and I’m sure Marketing Profs was using it as a loss leader, especially since these sorts of online conferences remain very experimental, but I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the speakers take that same information, and provide it at expensive industry conferences for much more money. Even if I were charged $50 or $100, I would have walked away thinking I got a real deal. The topics this particular month were on Overcoming the Challenges of Social Media Metrics, Unleash the Power of Content to Engage Your Prospects, and How to Building Successful Business to Business Social Media Strategies.
What do you think?
For the next roughly the next two months, you can watch the same set of webinars I did for free, by going here.
If you’re reading this in November of 2010 or later, there’s a good chance the videos won’t be posted any longer. But every month there is a free seminar by Marketing Profs. You can find the schedule here.
If you do attend one or more of the sessions, let me know what your feeling was.
The more marketing books I read, and time I spend marketing, the more I see the principles of marketing online and offline aren’t just similar. They’re exactly the same. The tools are just different. Below is a book review I shot of Seth Godin’s “All Marketers Are Liars,” which I strongly suggest businesses of all sizes use in trying to figure out how to attract more customers. Below the video are my extensive notes on the book. Anything in quotes came directly from the book. What’s not in quotes is something I paraphrased. In a hurry? Just hit the portions in bold.
I’d love for people to add their own thoughts on what they learned from this book, or any book by Seth Godin.
I’ve now read this book and “Tribes.” What Seth Godin book should I put my hands on next?
P.S. If you scroll to the end of the post, I also posted a cool worksheet from the book.
Pg 2
Everyone is a liar. Stories are shortcuts we use because we’re too overwhelmed by data to discover all the details. The stories we tell ourselves are lies that make it far easier to live in a very complicated world. We tell ourselves stories that can’t possibly be true, but believing those stories allows us to function. We know we’re not telling ourselves the whole truth, but it works, so we embrace it.
Marketers lie to consumers, because consumers demand it.
Pg 8 The book’s bottom line: A great story is true — Not true because it’s factual, but true because it’s consistent and authentic.
“Great stories make a promise. They promise fun or money, safety or a shortcut. The promise is bold and audacious and not just very good–it’s exceptional or it’s not worth listening to. The promise of a transcendental evening of live music, allowed the group to reach millions of listeners who easily ignored the pablum pouring out of their radios. Phish made a promise, and even better, kept that promise.”
Pg 9
Great stories are trusted, and trust is the scarcest resource we’ve got left. As a result no marketer succeeds in telling a story unless he has earned the right to tell that story.
Great stories are subtle. The less a marketer spells out, the more powerful the story. “The prospect is ultimately telling himself the lie, so allowing him (and the rest of the target audience) to draw his own conclusions is far more effective than just announcing the punch line.”
Pg 10
“Great stories happen fast” Then engage the consumer immediately. First impressions are far more powerful than we give them credit for. Great stories match the voice of the consumer’s worldview was seeking and sync right up with her expectations.
“Great stories don’t appeal to logic, but they often appeal to our senses.”
“Great stories are rarely aimed at everyone.” “If you need to water down your story to appeal to everyone, it will appeal to no one.” The tiny audience that your pitch appeals to spreads the story. Think of Live Strong bracelets.
“Great stories don’t contradict themselves.” If you’re a restaurant, you need to both be in the right location with the right kind of menu. Your art gallery needs the right kind of artists and the right kind of staff, not a staff who looks like they should be on a used car lot.
Pg 11
“And most of all, great stories agree with our worldview. THe best sotires don’t teach people anything new. Instead, the best stories agree with what the audience already believes and makes the members of the audience feel smart and secure when reminded how right they were in the first place.”
Pg 15
“Successful marketers are just the providers of stories that consumers choose to believe.”
“The only way your story will be believed, the only way people will tell themselves the lie you are depending on and the only way your idea will spread is if you tell the truth. And you are telling the truth when you live the story you are telling, when it’s authentic.”
Pg 16
“This is what makes it all work: a complete dedication to and embrace of your story. I believe marketing is the most powerful force available to people who want to make change.”
Pg 17
Marketing is about spreading ideas, and spreading ideas is the single most important output of our civilization.
Pg 22:
How marketing works, when it works:
Step 1: Their worldview and frames got there before you did. If a story is framed in terms of that worldview; he’s more likely to believe it.
Step 2: People only notice the new and then make a guess
Step 3: First impressions start the story
Step 4: Great marketers tell stories we believe. The authenticity of the story determines whether it will survive scrutiny long enough for the consumer to tell the story to other people. No marketing succeeds if it can’t find an audience that already wants to believe the story being told.
Step 5: Marketers with authenticity thrive.
Pg 23: “The biggest myth marketers believe: ‘I have money, which means that I am in charge. I have control over the conversation, over the airwaves, over your attention and over retailers.’ You, the marketer are not in charge.”
Pg 25
“‘Positioning‘ by Jack Trout and Al Ries is one of the most important marketing books ever.”
Pg 29: “There are only two things that separate success from failure in most organizations today:
1. Invent stuff worth talking about.
2. Tell stories about what you’ve invented.”
Pg 33
“Don’t try to change someone’s worldview.”
Pg 35
“Marketing succeeds when enough people with similar worldviews come together in a way that allows marketers to reach them cost-effectively.”
“Your opportunity lies in finding a neglected worldview, framing your story in a way that this audience will focus on and going from there.”
Pg 36:
“A worldview is not who you are. It’s what you believe. It’s your biases. A worldview is not forever. It’s what the consumer believes right now.
Pg 37
A consumer’s worldview determines whether he or she even bothers to pay attention.
It makes up your bias: a list of grudges and wishes.
Vernacular: consumers care just as much about how something is said as what is said. They care about the choice of media, the tone of voice, the words that are used – even the way things smell.
Pg 38
“People clump together into common worldviews, and yourjob is to find a previously undiscovered clump adn frame a story for those people.”
Pg 41:
“Frames are the words and images and interactions that reinforce a bias someone is already feeling.” Use them to market your message.
Like when a paper calls someone a “UFO buff” it conjures up certain ideas about how he is.
Pg 44:
“It’s not enough to find a niche that shares a worldview. That niche has to be ready and able to influence a large group of their friends.”
Pg 47:
“As a marketer, you can no longer force people to pay attention.”
Pg 48:
“People don’t want to change their worldview. They like it, they embrace it and they want it to be reinforced.”
Pg 53:
“A worldview is the lens used to look at every decision a person is asked to make.”
Pg 56:
“The desire to do what the people we admire are doing is the glue that keeps our society together. It’s the secret ingredient in every successful marketing venture as well.”
Pg 58:
Two worldviews worth mentioning:
1. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” People hate change.
2. “I like working with you” People make decisions based on who they like to associate with.
Pg 59:
Step 1: Frame your story in terms of the worldview of your target market, and it will be heard.
Pg 62:
How your brain works:
“Look for a difference.”
“Look for causation (coincidence) Once we decide to pay attention to something, our brain sets to work to figure out how it happend. If a window breaks, we want to see the golf ball on the floor.”
“Use our prediction machine.” Then we make a prediction about what will happen next. If right, our brain can settle back in and start ignoring things again.
“Rely on cognitive dissonance.” Once we’ve made up our mind, once we’ve got some assumptions about causation and we’ve made some predictions, then we stick with them. We ignore contrary data for as long as we can get away with it and focus on the events we agree with.” – Think someone hiring someone else (Me)
Step 2: “People only notice stuff that’s new and different. And the moment they notice something new, they start making guesses about what to expect next.”
Pg72
“In order to survive the onslaught of choices, consumers makes snap judgments.”
Pg 73: First impressions are critical, but we have no ideas what the first impression is for the customer.
Pg 74
“1. Snap judgments are incredibly powerful.”
“2. Humans do everything they can to support those initial judgments.”
“3. They happen whether you want your prospects to make a quick judgment or not.”
“4. One of the ways people support snap judgement is by telling other people.”
“5. You never know which input is going to generate the first impression that matters.”
“6. Authentic organizations and people are far more likely to discover that the story they wish to tell is heard and believed and repeated.”
So make everything you do regarding your business one coherent story.
Pg 76:
“Step 3: Humans are able to make extremely sophisticated judgments in a fraction of a second. And once they’ve drawn that conclusion, they resist changing it.”
Pg 82:
“And the reason they buy stuff they want is because of the way it makes them feel.”
“The people who buy for business are people first, and they buy things that get them promoted, that make them feel safe and secure or that give them a sense of belonging.”
Pg 83:
“But is the utility of the product the main way people shape their desires? No way!”
Pg 84:
“Step 4: Stories let us lie to ourselves. And those lies satisfy our desires. It’s the story, not the good or the service you actually sell, that pleases the consumer.”
Pg 85:
Examples of stories framed around worldviews:
“I believe a home-cooked meal is better for my family.” So Banquet created a meal for a crockpot that talked about the value of cooking at home for your family, even though Banquet could have just as easily made it to go in the microwave.
Pg 88:
“I believe shopping for lingerie makes me feel pretty.” “What’s the story? What will people get out of a visit? Who will they meet while they’re in the store? Should I serve herbal tea or espresso? I need to have half as much inventory as the standard store — but which half?”
If the right story is told, the woman will feel good about the lie that she’s prettier because she bought lingerie. The lie will spread, guaranteeing the store a loyal following.
“So growth starts with better questions. Questions about storytelling, not about commodities.”
Pg 89:
Traditional advertising often isn’t believed.
“In order to be believed, you must present enough of a change that the consumer chooses to notice it. But then you have to tell a story, not give a lecture. You have to hint at the facts, not announce them. You cannot prove your way into a sale – you gain a customer when the customer proves to herself that you’re a good choice. The process of discovery is more powerful than being told the right answer – because of course there is no right answer, and because even if there were, the consumer wouldn’t believe you.”
Pg 90
“Expectations are the engine of our perceptions.”
Pg 96
“Storytelling works when the story actually makes the product or service better.”
Pg 98
Fibs are true.
Mercedes isn’t necessarily 15 times better than a Toyota, but “Mercedes wins because they are authentic in their quest for a car worth talking about.”
Frauds are inauthentic.
Pg 105
“The good news is clear: authentic marketing, from one human to another, is extremely powerful. Telling a story authentically, creating a product or service that actually does what you say it will leads to a different sort of endgame. The marketer wins and so do her customers. A story that works combined with authenticity and minimized side effects builds a brand (and a business) for the ages.”
Pg 106:
Buying a car is a lifestyle statement. Often people buy a care based on very not logical reasons.
Pg 113:
“You don’t get to make up the story. The story happens with or without you. If you’re not happy with the story, the only way to change it is with direct contact between your consumer and a person. That person might be the consumer’s neighbor or friend or teacher or boss.”
“Personal interaction custs through all the filters. Personal interaction is the way human beings actually make big decisions–by looking people in teh eye, by experiencing them firsthand. That’s why it was so hard for the dot-coms to build a loyal following–they couldn’t afford to provide the interactions that are built into the retail experience.”
Pg 114
“When a clerk tells the consumer, ‘That’s all I can do, that’s our policy,’ he’s creating a negative interaction.’”
“Sometimes the interactions are nasty or rushed or even selfish. But when they’re genuine, they have an impact.”
“The goal of every marketer is to create a purple cow, a product or experience so remarkable that people feel compelled to talk about it. Remarkable goods and services help ideas spread–not hype-filled advertising.”
Pg 119: When telling a story to customers:
“Some senses count for more than others, but every sense matters.
o the way a home smells when you visit an open house
o the clicking sound a cell phone makes when you dial it
o the location within a strip mall when you choose a restaurant
o the display in the window
o the way the receptionist answers the phone
o the typeface on the flyer
o the identity of the person calling you on the phone soliciting a donation”
Pg 120
“It’s the combination of senses that now convinces the skeptical consumer.”
Pg 121
“Your story is a symphony, not a note.” All the senses have to work together.
“All successful stories are the same.
Remember, the best stories promise to fulfill the wishes of a consumer’s worldview. They may offer:
o a shortcut
o a miracle
o money
o social success
o safety
o ego
o fun
o pleasure
o belonging
They can also play on fear–by promising to avoid the opposite of all the things above.
Pg 122
Consumers are all different, but ultimately they all want teh same outcome. They want to be promoted, to be popular, to be healthy, wealthy and wise. They want to be pleasantly surprised and honestly flattered.”
“…successful stories never offer the things marketers are most likely to feature: very good quality. A slightly better price.”
“Almost nobody wants a better drill bit or a slightly more nutritious muffin. Delivering a remarkable story isn’t easy, but it’s worth it. So the palce to start with your product, your service, your organization and your resume is this: what classic story can I tell?”
Pg 124
“The problem is that once a consumer has bought someone else’s story and believes that lie, persuading the consumer to switch is the same as persuading him to admit he was wrong. And people hate admitting that they’re wrong. Instead you must tell a different story and persuade those listening that your story is more important than the story they currently believe. If your competition is faster, you must be cheaper.” But you can’t just say “we are cheaper” you have to to have a real story that is completely different form teh story that’s already being told.
Pg 132
“The only stories that work, the only stories with impact, the only stories that spread are the “I can’t believe that!” stories. These are the stories that aren’t just repeatable; these are the stories that demand to be repeated.”
Pg 133
“You succeed by being an extremist in your storytelling, then gracefuly moving your product or service to the middle so it becomes more palatable to audiences that are persuaded by their friends, not by you.”
Pg 134
“Your goal should not (must not) be to create a story that is quick, involves no risks and is without controversy. Boredom will not help you grow.”
Pg 153
“…old stories die hard.”
“…people don’t like changing their minds.”
“hook it (a new idea) up to an old story.”
Pg 154 There are four reasons why your new release failed:
1. No one noticed it. If it’s not remarkable or exceptional, we ignore it.
2. People noticed it but decided they didn’t want to try it. Most people carry a frame of “just looking” when shopping. You must find those who are nutty about your product, like photographers who want the latest lens, and start you campaign there.
3. People tried it but decided not to keep using it. New producers have to keep a certain percentage of early adopters, who then tell their friends.
4. People liked it but didn’t tell their friends. Worldviews keep people from talking about stuff. People may feel comfortable forwarding on a funny video, but not a something on gun control.
Many times the seeds of failure are planted before the item is manufactured, because the wrong story or frame is used.
My storytelling plan:
1. Which worldview are you addressing?
“The story you’ll need to tell in order to get noticed must match the worldview of the people you’re telling it to, and it has to be clear and obvious.”
Pg 172
2. Which frame are you using?
“How do you frame your story so taht people with that worldview will be aware of it, listen to it and believe it?”
3. What’s the story that’s worth noticing?
Once framed properly, you can tell a subtle story, using frames to make it palatable to people who share a worldview. Tell a story that your audience cares about (and one you can learn to care about!) You only get one chance to tell your story.
4. How will you live your story?
Be authentic and live the story.
“What hard decision are you willing to make in order to keep your story real and pure and authentic? Compromise is the enemy of authenticity.”
Create mechanisms that allow individuals who believe your story to share it with their friends and colleagues.”
Pg173
“What are the shortcuts your fans can use to tell the story to their friends? How can you help them frame that story?”
“How can you radically change your product or service so that the story is natural and obvious and easy to tell?
5. “What’s the value of your permission asset?”
“…the people with a worldview that gives them a bias to listen to you and to believe you are the most valuable consumers on earth. Get permission from them to follow up, then get to work finding new products for the people who want to buy them.”
Pg 186 The book’s bottom line:
“If you hope to sell a product or service or candidate or organizaiton that affects teh way people feel, and if you hope to get a premium (in revenue or in makret share or in votes) for that feeling, then you must refocus your efforts.
Concentrate on the story you tell. The story you tell affects the way your audience feels about the product. The story, when you come right down to it, is the product.
Some consumers will avoid or resist or deny you your story. That’s okay. Tell your story to people who want to hear it, who want to believe it, who will tell their friends.
Before you being to tell your story you have no choice but to live that story. To make it authentic. Every action you take and every signal you send has to be in support of the story.
Finally, realize that you are in a powerful position and use that power to do the right thing, to tell the whole truth and to spread ideas worth spreading.”
