Mitch Joel's Blog: Six Pixels of Separation, page 208

Explosive Customer Growth

Episode #479 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Mirum Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to.

The challenge with any business (the ones that are digital... and the ones that are not) is getting a consumer to not only pay attention, but to become a customer. Even then, getting someone to buy from you once is not the same as getting them to buy from you frequently. It's a busy world, and the push for a consumer to try something new is everywhere. Gabriel Weinberg is the founder and CEO of DuckDuckGo. If you think you're in a competitive business, DuckDuckGo is a search engine that doesn't track you, but it's hard to compete in a Google world. Before entering the search world, Weinberg was the cofounder of Opobox, which was sold for $10 million. Now, a major book publisher is releasing a newer version of the book he co-authored titled, Traction - How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth. Originally, he self-published the first edition of Traction, and - using techniques from the book - managed to sell over 35,000 copies across three printings, now with 160+ 5-star Amazon reviews. Enjoy the conversation... 

You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via iTunes): Six Pixels of Separation - The Mirum Podcast #479.

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What Makes Us Human?

Big, tough questions. The kind of questions that we need to ask. Always.

We, as a species, are hard to define. We are not the sum of our Facebook and Twitter posts. We are, often, not the people that we try to represent ourselves as. Are we kind as a species? Are we evil as a species? I had not heard of the documentary, Human, until I popped open Google for a search, and there was a mention of it on the homepage. This is a pretty incredible film, documentary, work of art, philosophical experiment, and... it's much more.

We tell stories.

That's what the best marketers do. Some, do it better than others. The ones that get it right, are often the ones that have a much more human angle. Spend some time with these stories.

This is important...

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Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #273

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (BitCurrent, Year One Labs, GigaOM, Human 2.0, Solve For Interesting, the author of Complete Web Monitoring, Managing Bandwidth: Deploying QOS in Enterprise Networks and Lean Analytics), Hugh McGuire (PressBooks, LibriVox, iambik and co-author of Book: A Futurist's Manifesto) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person "must see".

Check out these six links that we're recommending to one another:

Comment is weird. "I don't know what this is, but I like it. Maybe NSFW, at least Tony Blair is. This kind of site (and it isn't much to see) makes me question how easily we trust things, just because they look polished or professional. Our cues for veracity are all borked." (Alistair for Hugh).
Claw machines are rigged -- here's why it's so hard to grab that stuffed animal - Vox . "I knew it." (Alistair for Mitch).
Hell's Club. New Mashup AMDSFilms . "All the red-light-tinted club scenes, from all the movies, mashed into one. Pretty spectacular (though I thought Taffey's Nightclub from Bladerunner should have made the cut)..." (Hugh for Alistair).
Why I Put My Wife's Career First - The Atlantic . "An interesting take on the realities of two-(alpha)-career households, ' ead parenting,' and what it takes for married women with kids to get to the top (that is, exactly what men have always had: a spouse who makes sure the household runs smoothly)." (Hugh for Mitch).
Why Facebook's $2 Billion Bet on Oculus Rift Might One Day Connect Everyone on Earth - Vanity Fair . "It's easy to dismiss new forms of technology. Autonomous cars seemed silly - even to me - until I drove in one a few years back. Now, I'm just waiting for them to be everywhere. Why? After going for a spin in one, it became abundantly clear to me that the technology was way more sophisticated than what human beings are capable of taking in, absorbing and reacting to. Goggles and virtual worlds? Who would do that? Then, I tried it and now, everything else seems flat, boring and 'fake' (for lack of a better word). Just wait until Oculus Rift hits the masses, we may never look at a computer, tablet or smartphone screen again." (Mitch for Alistair).
David Byrne's Lending Library - Brain Pickings . "Looking for something to read? Here's a list... a serious, serious list. I guess David Byrne is even more cultured than I had already imagined. I have a lot of reading to do..." (Mitch for Hugh).

Feel free to share these links and add your picks on Twitter, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.

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Find Your StoryBrand

Episode #478 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Mirum Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to.

"Marketing is about telling great stories. Living a happy and successful life is about the stories we tell ourselves." This is how I started a post back in 2010, after reading Donald Miller's book, A Million Miles In A Thousand Years (at the recommendation of Chris Brogan). I loved the book and, long before it became en vogue to talk about content and storytelling for brands, I was seeking out new types of content to help brands tell better stories. Fast forward to the present moment. I received an email from Danny Iny asking is I had ever heard of Miller, because he had just attended The StoryBrand Marketing Workshop at thought that Miller would make an excellent guest for the show (thanks, Danny... you were right). How does a novelist become a marketing trainer? How does a novelist shift from writing books, to building a company that helps brands tell better stories? More importantly, how does a novelist - with little marketing experience prior to launching his company - get so many interesting kinds of businesses to become so much better at their marketing? What's his secret? Enjoy the conversation...

You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via iTunes): Six Pixels of Separation - The Mirum Podcast #478.

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Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #272

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (BitCurrent, Year One Labs, GigaOM, Human 2.0, Solve For Interesting, the author of Complete Web Monitoring, Managing Bandwidth: Deploying QOS in Enterprise Networks and Lean Analytics), Hugh McGuire (PressBooks, LibriVox, iambik and co-author of Book: A Futurist's Manifesto) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person "must see".

Check out these six links that we're recommending to one another:

The rectangle behind you - The movie premiere - Marcin Wichary . "If you like open source and hackery, I think you'll be a fan of running a movie theatre with HTML5." (Alistair for Hugh).
The Women! They're Using Gadgets and Having Sex! - Slate . "Unless you've been living in a cave recently, you've heard that Ashley Madison, a dating site for married people, was hacked. Or maybe you're just hiding in that cave. Either way, it's making for fascinating political and moral hay. But as Amanda Hess observes, this is part of an ongoing freakout we have about morality and technology, particularly when women start using it." (Alistair for Mitch).
The Teletubbies perform 'I Fink U Freeky' by Die Antwoord . "Teletubbies. Die Antwoord. No need to say much more. (PS, see this for the original video)." (Hugh for Alistair).
How to Age Gracefully - CBC Wiretap . "The great Jonathan Goldstein is putting an end to CBC Radio's Wiretap, a kind of demented Canadian, This American Life (or something). Here's a parting video, that is pretty moving." (Hugh for Mitch).
Make Yourself Immune to Secondhand Stress - Harvard Business Review . "Have you ever gone into a meeting with the feeling of 'we've got this... no problem,' only to be dragged down by one (or several) team members who are overly-stressed or anxious and projecting their emotions into the meeting. Sure you have. This probably happens on a daily basis. Why do we let it drag us down? Is there something that we can do to avoid secondhand stress? I never thought about it... until now." (Mitch for Alistair).
How Podcasts Have Changed in Ten Years: By the Numbers - Josh Morgan . "It seems like ages ago. I first met Hugh because of our mutual interest in podcasting. It's been over a decade. Things have changed. I'm not sure if Hugh and I think it's for the better, because we're both indie-at-heart, and loved how podcasting ushered in a new era of experimenting with audio. Podcasting sounds a little-too-much like radio, if you ask me. Still, it's an evolving media channel... and I love it dearly. Here's how it's doing." (Mitch for Hugh). 

Feel free to share these links and add your picks on Twitter, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.

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Getting Lost In YouTube Will Help You Find Your Content's Soul

I went down deep into the YouTube rabbit hole.

I didn't think that I would ever get out. For me, it all starts with some random band that pops into my noggin' and the simple question: "what ever happened to..." From there, the "recommended" finds on the righthand side of the screen becomes the burrowing tool for hours of enjoyment, discovery and inspiration. As the years wane on, I'm not finding as much inspiration from within the marketing industry, as I am finding it from other creative spaces (music, architecture, literature, art, etc...). It's not just the simple act of consuming other creative inspirations that helps me to forge new ideas, it's the backstory. It's the documentaries and the behind-the-scenes, about where these very unique people get their ideas and cultivate their work.

Still, even this is becoming a little trite.

Now, because everyone can create content... everyone is. With that, brands are being told that they need to tell better stories. The output of this is sometimes astounding,  but often disappointing. These are "first generation" storytellers. These are not the same masters of story that we all love and hold so dearly. Many brands still veil their long form - or storytelling-based - content in a shill. No matter what they do, it's advertising. The viewers know it. The brands have to get over it. So, the push to sell overshadows the story... and, the story is lost. This, sadly, makes the content feel inauthentic.

While down deep in the rabbit hole...

I was watching videos about guitars players (and how they make music). I was particularly taken by a seen from the documentary, It Might Get Loud. From there, I stumbled upon some John Mayer videos... and then this:

The story of time.

Watches tell time. That's what they meant to me. I became fascinated with this content. The host's knowledge and love of the watch. His friendship and interplay with Mayer. Mayer's knowledge of watches... and what they should mean (I had no idea that he was this deep into watch collecting, or that watch collecting was such a big deal)... The language that they use to discuss the time pieces of art. It struck me that this content - which features a mass media celebrity - is so niche. It's so specific. And, from what I could tell, very pleasing and perfect for this audience. From the quality of the production to the content, it's not meant for everybody. It's meant for watch collectors. Not only was it enjoyable to me. I wanted to learn more about Hodinkee... I'd refer them business, and all I knew about them was this one video. Through real story and quality content, they earned my trust. No shill. I'm all in on them, if someone asks me anything about watches. All of that from one video.

This too...

I know nothing about The Balvenie, but after watching Anthony Bourdain in this twelve-minute documentary better understand how a master bladesmith makes the perfect kitchen knife (and, who knew that this was even a thing?), it's hard not to know that The Balvenie brand stands for something that is fine, superior and crafted at a highly personal level.

What content is not.

This doesn't mean that every brand can tell such great stories. It doesn't mean that every brand should tell these kinds of stories. It does mean that when you have a brand that stands for something, the tools are abound for you to bring them to light, in a truly powerful way that resonates. Sadly, a lot of brands are watering it down. Taking out the soul of the brand. Turning this kind of opportunity into a long-form advertisement. These brands think that they're serving the business, when - in reality - they're probably losing credibility and, in turn, hurting the soul of the brand.

If your brand has a soul... your content needs to be able to let it come out and shine. 

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How The TV Industry Just Hurt Television Advertising

What is the value of your personal data to an advertiser?

Consumers are rightfully concerned about what is being done with their data, where it's going and how it's being used. It's a big business. It's a huge business. It's often the trotted out horse when people want to know, exactly, how places like Facebook and Twitter are going to make the billions of dollars that they are required to generate, based on their market capitalization. In simplistic terms, we're often told that the goldmine is in the data. The knowledge of what people are doing, and how to better target them with relevant and timely messaging, is what's going to win the day. The evolution of big data in business jargon is pushing this further. The notion that we can couple disparate databases and leverage the information with speeds never-before-available to businesses to create more interesting outcomes. It all sounds so hopeful, so dreamy and... so powerful. This is where the proverbial rubber meets the road for marketers. The creation and distribution of media is cheaper, more targeted and super-relevant. 

Media will know things that we've previously never known. Cool.

Everyone loves Hulu (if it's available in your location). This joint venture of NBC, Fox and Disney was created as a place where consumers can, primarily, watch ad-supported video (with a focus on TV shows) for free (and yes, there are subscription services available that offer a richer catalogue of content and more depth of functionality). Of course, this was the major network's reaction/creation/competition to platforms like Netflix and Amazon. Disrupt the disrupter, as it were. Breaking it down: the television networks developed a digital channel to distribute their content (and an added traditional advertising stream).

If you were Hulu, how would you amp up your sales?  

That's easy: Increase both the amount of content you are showing (thus, more ads will run) and/or increase the quality of the content (so that you could charge more for the advertising based on the quality of the viewership). That's one way to go. Well, Hulu announced yesterday that it will offer the option of having no advertising during shows for $11.99 a month. Yes, this makes Hulu much more of a direct competitor to Netflix, Amazon, and the like, but it also sends a very interesting message (especially because their current premium subscription service is $7.99, but still has commercials) to the media industry. The average consumer is worth about four bucks a month. That's it. What makes this more interesting? How about these quotes from Hulu CEO, Mike Hopkins:

"There's a whole set of customers that we saw in the research and in the metrics that aren't interested if we have advertising."
"The whole intent is to really target a new consumer who has tried us before and churned out because of the advertising." 

What about the advertising?

People are willing to pay more for content that doesn't have advertising. Who would argue with that? It's confounding. Hulu has a ton of data about their users. Who they are, what they are watching, how long they're watching it for, and much, much more. If data is going to drive advertising's future, doesn't Hulu have this future model? They know more about their viewers and viewing habits than most. Why isn't the advertising and value of it being demonstrated? Shouldn't Hulu be getting much more than $4 per viewer in terms of media spend? Shouldn't all of the ads being shown be targeted, relevant and desired by their viewers? People hate advertising. This is not true. People hate bad advertising. If ever there was an opportunity to prove how efficient and effective a television commercial can be, Hulu would be the place. Isn't the future here? 

What kind of signal do you think Hulu is really sending to the advertising world? 

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Are You Good At Business? Let Facebook Decide

What makes a great business?

Put aside things like how ethical the business is, well-priced, marketed, value of the brand, etc... There is a sentiment (check out the Net Promoter Score) that a businesses success is based, primarily, on two things: its customer base and how well it takes care of its customers. Fair play. Seems like a perfect metric. Having customers means that you're getting the basics right. Keeping happy customers means that you're innovating and growing your market. So, what does a great business look like in 2015?

Just ask the Better Business Bureau?

There used to be formal institutions that actually rated and compared how well a business can handle issues, and then continue to grow (in fact, these organizations still exist). How good is a company's products and services? There are organizations (both created commercially or for the public good) that act as a buffer between the corporation and the consumer. We had these unbiased places to go to better understand just how good a business is doing, or to act in defense of a troubled consumer.

Can Facebook completely take the power away from these organizations? 

Last week, The Globe And Mail published an article titled, Facebook rating pushes firms to up social-media responsiveness (I was interviewed and quoted in the article). Being verified on Twitter and Facebook (those coloured little check marks that appear next to an individual's name, to ensure that they are the "real" them) is kind of a big deal for many. They see this verification as a status symbol (and, who doesn't want to be "kind of a big deal"?). Now, Facebook is giving a different kind of verification to brand pages that provide a high-level of responsiveness. Can you feel the mad dash of brand's to get their own little green badge just below their profile picture, giving them a "very responsive" verification?

So, just how responsive is your brand? 

Before you go off hunting for the badge, here is how Facebook defines "very responsive": "brand pages must respond to customer questions in less than five minutes, 90 per cent of the time, over a seven-day period. Pages are re-evaluated every week." You may want to go back and re-read that last sentence. Why has Facebook set the bar so high? Which brands truly have the infrastructure to deliver against this kind of criteria? Why should brands care? 

You brand really needs to pay attention to this metric.

You may believe that Facebook is setting the bar very high. Facebook might think otherwise. It doesn't matter. What are you customer's expectations? What do they want and require in a world where they can (and are) shopping the brand 24/7? What about the brands that, strategically, don't feel the need to use Facebook as a customer service channel? The truth: none of these questions may hold any water in the boardroom any more. Last week, Facebook also announced that they had over one billion people connected on their platform in a single day. A staggering piece of data. Facebook may be using this new responsiveness rating as another way to show businesses why they need to spending more time (and money) within the Facebook world. Again, you can question Facebook's business strategy all that you want, but the facts seem to be this: your consumers are on Facebook, they are asking brands millions of questions, and Facebook has the data to demonstrate just how happy consumers are with these questions and interactions.

"Facebook doesn't work for us? "

It's a sentiment that I often hear in boardrooms and hallways at events from brand leaders. Perhaps that's the wrong question. Hoping that Facebook can do a brand's bidding is the wrong approach. Perhaps a more realistic question is this: if all of my customers are on Facebook, and Facebook is now benchmarking how responsive a brand is, what will I do to keep my customers happy and keep my competitors at bay. A Facebook strategy can't simply be about promotions, transactions, impressions and engagement. Why? Because Facebook is becoming the new customer service channel, and it doesn't much care about how much you have invested in your own customer support channels.

The new Facebook reality. Can you deal with it?

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Over A Billion Served (In A Day), And Facebook Is Just Getting Started

Every Monday morning at 7:10 am, I am a guest contributor on CHOM 97.7 FM radio broadcasting out of Montreal (home base). It's not a long segment - about 5 to 10 minutes every week - about everything that is happening in the world of technology and digital media. The good folks at CHOM 97.7 FM are posting these segments weekly to SoundCloud, if you're interested in hearing more of me blathering away. I'm really excited about this opportunity, because this is the radio station that I grew up on listening to, and it really is a fun treat to be invited to the Mornings Rock with Terry and Heather B. morning show. The segment is called, CTRL ALT Delete with Mitch Joel.

This week we discussed:

Last Monday was a big day for Facebook... and a bigger day for how much digital technology has connected us all. Say what you will about Facebook: teenagers don't use it, millennials are tired of it, etc... none of that really resonates in a world where the online social network had one billion people using Facebook on that single day. What does that really mean: one out of every seven people on the planet were logged on. So, what do you think, will there be something after Facebook? I'm thinking this could be the channel that does, in fact, connect us all.
How are businesses coping with all of this Facebook stuff? Last year, brands received almost 22 million questions on Facebook and Twitter from customers. The good news is that most brands are now listening and responding. Brands that respond well on Facebook are now getting a green badge on their pages, next to their profile picture (like being "verified" by Twitter). The thing is, Facebook wants brands to really step it up. In order to get the badge, brand pages must respond to customer questions in less than five minutes, 90 percent of the time, over a seven-day period. Pages are re-evaluated every week. The Globe & Mail ran an article about this (and I was quoted in it). So, is Facebook both the Better Business Bureau and the center of customer service? 
Apple has sent out invites for an event on September 9th. What are we expecting? Based on how they currently cycle out new devices, this probably won't be the iPhone 7, but more likely the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus. So, is it worth it? A better camera? Faster speed? Front-facing flash (selfie much?), animated wallpapers? Force Touch technology? Oh, maybe even a new Apple TV or some new laptops... a new iPad? 
App of the week: Instagram... why? Because now, you post in landscape and portrait formats! Yay! Big update!

Listen here...

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The Business Of Podcasting

Episode #477 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Mirum Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to.

It's hard to deny that podcasting is really coming into its own as a media format. Everyone is jumping in. From amateurs to the biggest media companies in the world. I've been creating this podcast - on a weekly basis - since 2006. Almost a decade of shows. But, the first podcast that I ever appeared on, was the one from Donna Papacosta. At the time, I thought the format was a joke, but after spending time with Donna, I quickly felt that this might be the perfect channel for businesses to experiment with audio. Not to be another kind of radio, but to invent a new type of audio programming. Ten years later, and it is still evolving. I'm loving the podcasting value in relation to business. Donna runs a successful communications consultancy called, Trafalgar Communications. More recently, she co-authored the book, The Business Of Podcasting - How to Take Your Podcasting Passion from the Personal to the Professional, with Steve Lubetkin. This book is filled with some great insights on how to create a compelling show - from the tech behind it, to the story that's going to make it popular. Enjoy the conversation...  

You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via iTunes): Six Pixels of Separation - The Mirum Podcast #477.

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