Mitch Joel's Blog: Six Pixels of Separation, page 228

Be Kind To Brands

My holiday wish: be kind to brands.

I know what you're thinking. For some, it's a holy day. Should we not be saying that a better holiday wish might be: brands should be kinder to their customers? No. I would argue (happily) that brands should always be thinking about new and better ways for them to be kinder to their consumers. This is the true brand imperative. Today, on this holiday, as we (especially, in Canada) get primed for Boxing Day, we need to be thinking about how we - as consumers - interact with brands. There are going to be line-ups of people looking to buy stuff on special. There are going to be line-ups of people trying to return gifts that they don't love. There will not be enough inventory of some items that everyone really wants. The weather may even make us crankier than normal. It's easy to hop on Twitter and blow a digital gasket. Perhaps, if not for a moment, don't.

Why be nice?

It's easy to think of businesses as being cold and heartless. Especially, when things are busier than normal, or it feels like all they're trying to do is to make a quick buck (and, doing so with as little impunity and recourse as possible). That's what the next few weeks are like. It's a great, big fire sale to get rid of everything from this past year, before the New Year rolls in and it's time to re-stock the shelves with a bunch of newer and shinier flashy objects to grab our collective attention. Say what you will about capitalism, democratic society and consumerism, but this is the standard cycle of business, how things go and the human condition. We - as consumers - tend to forget the human part. We become savages to get that extra fifteen percent off, and barbarians when the return line gets too long, or the sales associate can't bend the company policy in our favor. Still, remember, this is the holiday season, not Lord of the Flies.

Be kind to brands, because we all are a part of what makes the brand work.

This is the work that we do. This is the new-ish way of thinking that gets us all excited. Around the time that I first started blogging (2003), it became apparent to me (mostly after reading The Cluetrain Manifesto that what makes marketing so appealing and interesting to me, was the idea that brands can (finally) shift away from shouting at people, to the newly-available opportunity of creating real interactions between real human beings. It was this humanization of business - and how it connects in a world where every consumer is connected to one another - that the best brands could truly thrive. On one hand, this new way of thinking would force businesses to be on guard - and more transparent. On the other hand, it would enable the marketplace to come alive. Alive with conversation, reviews, perspectives, instruction, assistance, collaboration, engagement and more. For the most part, this has come to pass. It's happening. It's exciting. And, with each passing day, more and more businesses are realizing the value and merit of this opportunity. They're also beginning to see it much more of an opportunity as opposed to a threat. It's changing business in the best possible way.

Where this leaves us.

Goodwill to all. Let's not leave our goodwill at home when we go to work. Let's not leave our goodwill at home when we go shopping or try to buy anything. Let's not forget our goodwill when it may be easier to elbow our fellow human being in the head for that last Zoomer Dino on the shelf. Let's not forget our goodwill when there is something we can do about it, even it may just be easier to push that consumer off with the all-too-tired, "I'm sorry, but that's our company policy." We all might argue that brands are not human beings, and that they should not be afforded the same rights as human beings. Fine. We all should never argue that brands are still made up by people like you and I. These people are not evil (and least, the vast majority of them are not), because these people that work for brands are our family, friends, neighbors and fellow human beings.

Let's ask for more.

We have an opportunity. And, let's not just think like this because it's the holiday season. That opportunity is right in front of us. We can laugh at this sentimental way of thinking, or we can be the change that we want to see in this world (as someone once, so brilliantly and famously, said). We can push our fellow human beings. Not to get ahead of them in line at the store, but to raise the bar. To treat one another in a way that is respectful and valuable. To be equals. Great brands don't just thank their clients for their patronage. Great brands celebrate their employees and develop them into better world citizens. Great brands encourage their customers to be more (not just to buy more). Maybe, we can spread this way of thinking in business to all the players. Kindness could well be a great place to start.

Happy Holidays.

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The Thing About Serial And The Golden Age Of Podcasting

"Did you catch the season finale of Serial?"

If you're into podcasting (like I am), there is not a finer opening liner than the one above. Podcasting has arrived! (as some in the mass media are now proclaiming). Others (like me) could have told you that podcasting has been "arriving" for close to ten years. This week, people will be walking around with that same face of sadness and disillusionment that they have when it's the season finale of Sons of Anarchy. We have come to the end of the first season for Serial. Serial is an audio podcast series produced by the same people that bring us This American Life. While the podcast season was only nine episodes, it became a massive sensation. Depending on who you ask, the data looks something like this: over five million downloads/streams, with about 1.5 million listeners per episode. To put that into perspective, HBO's crazy popular new show, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (which I love!) captured 796,000 viewers for it's season finale. The difference, of course, is that it cost the producers of Serial absolutely nothing for their distribution (let alone the marketing costs).

Don't think that those numbers mean nothing.

Mass media pundits will still look at these numbers with an air of disillusionment. Like they are still not significant when compared to the opening weekend of a big Hollywood blockbuster or what a brand can expect when advertising on network television during prime time, but the world is changing. Quickly. TV is not just about prime time. Hollywood is not just about big opening weekends. We now have specialty television and cable television. We now have Netflix... and all of their competitors. It's a new day, and the consumer has many more choices. This fragmentation and movement towards niche segments is not letting up. In fact, take one look at what's happening on YouTube, and it becomes painfully plain to see: even the most obscure of niches can now pull a significant audience. It's not uncommon to see a YouTube celebrity with a loyal subscriber base of over five million fans. Yes, we're seeing a mass audience in these strange niches.

Serial is not the anomaly.

If anything, Serial is simply a strong poster child for media's changing landscape. It's true, people like Adam Carolla and Joe Rogan have been pulling in some pretty impressive audience numbers - for some time - with their respective podcasts, but it's also well-known that even the biggest podcasting celebrities aren't making big coin from making their shows. The money - for most creative talent in podcasting - is in using the platform to sell the listener something else (a live event, a t-shirt, a book, whatever). This is where those serious media pundits cringe. They want to see real advertising revenue - and talent being paid - because there is so much money being made on this massive/captive audience.

It's coming. It's starting. It's happening.

There are two reasons why podcasting is starting to take off. I refer to this at "The Two 'T's of Podcasting":

'T' number one: Technology. The technology to find, subscribe and download to a podcast has finally arrived. Podcasts used to be a buried link - somewhere - on iTunes. Unless you knew what you were looking for (and what a 'podcast' was), it was not easy to find. Even if you could find them, subscribing, plugging in your iPod, synching your device, etc... was cumbersome and easy to ignore. For years, podcasting really was for the hardcore users (like ham radio). Apple now has a stand-alone app for podcasts and platforms like Stitcher and SoundCloud are familiarizing an audience with the power of this audio format. Smartphones and the cloud are also pushing this through to a much broader audience, because the experience is that much more seamless. As technology gets easier to use, so too goes podcasting.

'T' number two: Talent. As the medium gets more mature, we're seeing an influx of two types of talent. One, the people who have been experimenting with the podcasting format for some time have moved from being real indie players to getting very comfortable and clever behind the microphone. They're getting better at editing, building compelling audio and more. Two, serious talent from radio, television and the movie industry are stopping to sneer at podcasting as a negligible format and starting to realize what the potential truly is. Talent drives media. Nothing new to that, but we're now seeing the "serious" talent starting to take podcasting seriously.

Maybe it is the Golden Age of Podcasting.

It's hard to know if this is the moment. It's hard to know if the moment has already past. It's hard to know if it's still just around the corner. History will tell. But, here's what I do know - as someone who has been podcasting every single week for over eight and a half years: let's not allow podcasting to become too much like radio. We already have radio. The promise (and opportunity) of podcasting is our ability to use this format to experiment with audio content in a new (and different) way. My podcast, Six Pixels of Separation is a hour-long conversation with a leader in business. No commercial breaks. An hour. Pow. It's a commitment. A serious one. Especially, if you're going to listen to it every week. I do shows this long, because that's how long the natural course of the conversation goes. I'm hoping that this type of audio is not the type of content that you can get anywhere else. I'm also hopeful that other podcasters approach their shows with a similar ethos. Then, at some point in the future, we can look back and marvel at just how exciting and interesting the format is, instead of wondering if we're in the golden era or not.

What do you think?

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Content Marketing Is Dead (But There's Always This)...

Content Marketing is dead. Right? That didn't take long.

I've been reading this notion of "too much content and not enough value" a lot lately. It usually starts with the premise that consumers simply can't keep up with the pace and increase in content production and publication. We live in a day and age when anyone can create content - in text, images, audio and video - for free with global distribution. We live in a day and age when people like Bethany Mota can get ten million active subscribers to engage with her every move. We live in a day and age when a YouTube channel producer like Maker Studios can be sold to a company like Disney for five hundred million dollars. We live in a day and age where a couple of guys from Montreal - who were publishing an alternative magazine - can suddenly move to New York, embrace digital marketing and turn Vice, into one of the most powerful and valuable media properties in the world. All of this, and we're not even talking about the thousand upon thousand of individuals getting fame, attention and more from blogging and podcasting. Still, if consumers can't keep up - and aren't even paying for any of this content - then what's the point? Where's the business? Who gets paid for creating all of this content, and how do brands get their content to connect with consumers in this tsunami of publishing? I've been writing about this for almost a decade. My friend, Mark W. Schaefer, got a lot of attention on this topic with his blog post, Content Shock, and there are many more.

Is there are solution?

As marketing professionals, we are often asked to do a full audit of a brand's catalogue of content. This includes the content that they have on websites and intranets, to everything the brand is pushing out in the social media channels. From there, they want to know one thing, and one thing only: what's working? They want to do more of that. Much more. This doesn't defuse or change anything. It's also quite challenging to validate why one piece of content works better than another. Yes, there are some clear and simple rules that we have seen developed over the past few years, but once you get past those, it's often unclear why some pieces of content do better than others. With that, the push for brands to do more social media and more content marketing is real. So what does work? Is it about publishing only things that have the DNA to go viral? Is it about publishing with a frequency and reach, so that the brand is always top of mind? How do you think the best content creators approach their work?

The end of content as an engine of publishing.

When I think of great content, I tend to think of successful books. Books that have sold a lot of copies, because individuals have taken the time to not only buy them and read them (which, is very time consuming), but to also share them, or place them on a bookshelf... or on a table at their office. A book is a piece of long-form content that was finished, and that affected the consumer... on a deeper level. If a brand can have that affect on a consumer... that would be something.

How is content like that created?

If you spend any amount of time on YouTube watching bestselling and famous authors discuss their writing process (and, for the record, I have spent an embarrassing amount of time doing exactly that), you begin to see three familiar themes emerge:

1. The art of writing. Authors often talk about other authors who write and publish books with a lot of frequency (some with limited success) as "churning" out the work versus crafting the words. This is significant, because when authors speak about churning something out versus crafting it as an art form, they are also quick to self-recognize when they are doing it themselves. It may be during something as innocuous as a daily writing session, or in relation to a book that they published to please an editor, or to comply with a publishing contract. Ultimately, they believe that their best work is done when they are crafting the words, instead of just churning them out.

2. Care. While it may sound simple enough, the best authors often come back to something that they had written the day before to analyze the work more deeply (and, with a fresh set of eyes). This is less about editing the work - from a content perspective - and much more about looking at the content and trying to figure out if it really matters. Does the reader really care? Will the reader really care about it? Was there enough care put into the work for anyone to feel it? Authors won't publish anything that doesn't illustrate how much care they put into the content.

3. True value. Brands are not creating words of fiction (hopefully!). Brands are doing everything possible to use content as a way to say things differently. This is the power of the new brand narrative. So, how great is that content? Another core theme that bestselling authors repeat when discussing their process is how they only publish something that has real value. Not just for the reader, but for the author as well. They want to know that all of that time spent toiling with adjectives and verbs was well worth it. They want to know that all of that time wrestling alone with their words meant something. They want to feel like the finished products deserves its space in the book store... or on your Kindle. Authors only publish things that have real value.

Now, seriously, how many brands do you know that embrace these three simple ideas in their content creation?

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Learn A New (Digital) Language

Sure, who doesn't have the time to learn a new language?

Wondering about the intersection of marketing and technology can be exhausting and exhilarating - all at the same time. Feeling the desire to learn a new language - as romantic as that does sound - is also something that most people need like a hole in their heads. We get older. We don't want to change. We can all talk about being agents of change, but don't confuse the landscape shifting beneath our feet - and a panic to keep up with it - with our natural instincts and comforts of habits as we get older. I'm as eager as anybody to better understand how marketers can make hay with Snapchat, while being as angry as anything when my favorite restaurant closes. Ahh, to be a creature of habit in an ever-changing digital world.

Still, change is good.

Someone recently asked me when I switched over to Apple products. I was late to that game. Very late. I was a PC user for as long as PCs were available commercially. I was also a BlackBerry customer since their first device was released. It was a black and white screen, and was only able to do email. No phone. No nothing else. Early days on both technologies, and I went along for the ride. I switched less than five years ago. I switched because I was trying to understand what it must be like to be someone who wanted to use these tools, but didn't know where to begin. On a random Saturday morning, I put my Dell laptop and BlackBerry aside, and bought a MacBook and iPhone. I wanted to live and feel disruption. I wanted to see what it's like to be a consumer dumped into this new world. It was an experience. The adjustment happened fast, but several years later, and I still don't think I know these Apple devices as well as I knew my PC and BlackBerry.

It's time to learn to code.

Learning to code is on my bucket list. Every child should be trilingual. They should be able read and write in their mother tongue, another globally used language (Spanish, Mandarin, etc...) and code. You don't have to be fluent in it, but having an understanding will - without question - be a highly competitive advantage for all individuals entering the workforce. Personally, I decided to take some baby steps. Recently, I ditched the blog writing software that I had been using for over a decade. With that, I decided to re-calibrate all of the software that I use to write. For blogging, I am using MarsEdit for posts that are replicated every week (like the "six links trading" every Saturday or the podcast ones on Sunday). For writing, I am using ia Writer Pro (beauty and simplicity) and, for book writing I an using Scrivener. I had a chance meeting with Joseph Michael (via Jeff Goins), and he invited me to take his online course, Learn Scrivener Fast. I loved it (and highly recommend it for anyone who writes long-form content or books). Within the course, there is a module on using Scrivener for writing blog posts. I was skeptical. I was even more skeptical when Joseph recommended learning Markdown language. I submitted to the online course and experience and, guess what? I'm now a Markdown language writer. I can't believe how easy it is to use - and now it's the only way that I write my blog posts and articles.

Don't be skeptical.

I made the mistake of thinking that this would be laborious, painful... and mentally exhausting. It's not. It's simple. So, if you write online, if you blog or whatever, you too can learn Markdown. Don't believe me? Watch this video. It's the one Joseph uses in his course. Within ten minutes, I was comfortable with the language and ready to go (and you will be too... I promise).

The bigger lesson.

Learning a language sounds hard. Changing your writing habits sounds harder. Learning new codes, sound silly in a world of touchscreens. As someone who likes to write a lot... and fast, all of this stuff (new software, new languages, new commands, etc...) seemed like it would just slow things down. It didn't. It was a relief. After pushing out a few pieces of content written in Markdown, I felt liberated. Free. The chance to write (and have it be ready to post - formatted and all) could now be done in any simple text editor. The words, suddenly, became more powerful. Plus, a new skill set was taken in. All of this, after a short fifteen minute video.

What are you waiting for? Go for it...

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What Digital Marketing Might Look Like In 2015

Episode #441 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to.

As the year comes to a close, many marketers are left wondering, what is on the horizon for 2015? What are the key trends and areas of focus that we should all be paying attention to? Are there macro trends that our brands need to be ready for? How will marketing play a bigger role in business? Mark W. Schaefer is a regular guest, insightful marketing professional (and professor) and passionate communicator about how marketing continues to evolve. He's written many successful business books (Return On Influence, The Tao Of Twitter, Born To Blog and Social Media Explained) and brings a wealth of real life experience to the discussion. If anything, we believe that 2015 will see much more disruption and challenges for the marketing industry. We are an industry in flux. For some, this is great news. For others... 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 Twist Image Podcast #441.

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Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #235

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 Google misery index: The times of year we're most depressed, anxious and stressed- Washington Post . "It's time to spend days half-drunk with your family in enclosed spaces. So it seems only fitting to share what makes us miserable. And yes, despite what ads tell you, holidays make us depressed. But Mondays? Mondays actually make us physically hurt." (Alistair for Hugh).
The 2014 Hater's Guide To The Williams-Sonoma Catalog - The Concourse . "Describing things nobody needs, and trying to inject urgency while maintaining an air of independence and class, is a copywriter's worst nightmare. Bah, humbug!" (Alistair for Mitch).
Bugle 281 - One star review - The Bugle . "It seems like we can no longer be shocked, or if 'we' are, nothing ever seems to happen. Witness NSA mass wiretapping, which, I guess everyone just accepts now, US Constitution be damned. Or, the US Torture report that recently came out, detailing the CIA torture program post 9-11. We can expect that exactly nothing will happen as a result of this report. But, leave it to John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman of the Bugle Podcast (long live the Bugle!) to find the right outlet for the impotent rage I felt on reading about it, in one of the funniest things I've heard in a long while. Satire is really the only tonic we have left, but God does satire have to work hard to compete with the real world these days." (Hugh for Alistair).
Haunting Illustrations for Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, Introduced by the Courageous Journalist Who Broke the Edward Snowden Story - Brain Pickings . "While we are on cheerful topics, in advance of the holiday season, why not re-read Orwell's 1984, illustrated by Jonathan Burton." (Hugh for Mitch).
Instead of killing comments, we should be trying to fix them - GigaOm . "I like to tell people that I've known Mathew Ingram for so long, that we used to argue the merits of blogging, back when he was a journalist at a ' espected' publication and he was on the fence about its viability. Now look at us! LOL. Times have changed over the last decade. One of the things that hasn't changed much, is the way in which we comment online. Should sites be turning off their comments, because social media solves for that, or is that we need to figure out a more relevant/updated commenting system? I'm for upgrading... how about you?" (Mitch for Alistair).
Dear Metalheads, Stop Apologizing For Liking Metal - Noisey by Vice . "I started working on another podcast. We've recorded ten episodes already. It's about metal music. I haven't really told anyone about it yet. It's called, Metal Wraps, and it's a quick look at things that are happening in the metal news world, and what bands/musicians will be featured on the Talking Metal With Mark Strigl and One On One With Mitch Lafon podcasts, respectively. For now, it's a fun, little show, where three nerdy/older metalheads debate whether or not a Guns n' Roses reunion will be able to fill stadiums (I say 'no'), or if Ace Frehley's new solo record is any good (I also say 'no'). Still, I'm somewhat shy about the fact that, after these years, I still love heavy metal. After reading this... chin up!" (Mitch for Alistair). 

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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The Point Of Creativity In Business

The point of creativity in business is to tell and/or sell.

For some reason, the statement above is seen (by many) as some kind of defamation of creativity. A bastardization of the what art is. The proverbial selling of the soul. That's stupid. And, it's wrong. Let's set the table first: creativity for the sake of being creative is fine. It's a right. Anyone can do oil painting in their garage, or pluck away at their guitar in their basement for the pure love of the activity. The arts are marvellous at curing what ails you. On the other hand, great creativity does inspire on other levels. Great creativity makes human beings curious, it makes them yearn to hear more, and it makes them take action. Creativity isn't just something for the pre-Internet era, either. It's profoundly linked to what makes one business more successful than another. Creativity drives our economy like never before.

Creativity is still core to business. Creativity is still core to a marketing agency's success.

Roger Dooley, pointed me to his latest contribution at Forbes magazine today. It's an article titled, They Is Gone, But Creativity Isn't, that tells the all-too-common tale of a fellow marketing agency that shut its doors, and what this means about the future of the marketing agency model. The agency was called, They, and this is what one of the founder's said...

"The whole traditional model doesn't work anymore. It's less about creativity and more about business results. There is not a lot of room to be creative."

Failing to see what is the opportunity and not the threat.

Without pointing fingers or being accusatory, I am hopeful that this quote was either taken out of context, or that there was more meat around it and it was edited to elicit a reaction like this one. If it wasn't, this quote may well illustrate why they're no longer in business, or what happens when artists try to put the art before the business. This isn't about traditional models or digital models, but basic business common sense. If your creativity doesn't drive business results, then what was the point of doing it in the first place? There was never much room in marketing for creativity with the singular purpose of creativity. That activity can better be defined as wasteful.

It's not about the data, analytics or KPIs, either.

We have always had different types of data. We have always had the ability to speak to the consumer, to better understand their needs. The idea that hyper-creative agencies can't survive in a world where we have metrics, doesn't point to a Mad Men vs. Math Men model at all. If anything, agencies are struggling because brands are bulking up on their own, internal, marketing capabilities, and are able to use a breadth and depth of data that used to only be accessible (or created) by the agency model. With that, many agencies have, simply, not added the right professionals and newer services to match the shifts in the industry, and how consumers connect to media.

An agency that only cares about creativity, isn't an agency.

That may be hurtful to read, but it's true. If you're running a marketing or advertising or public relations agency, and all you care about is creativity without any connection to business results, outcomes and - even - optimization, I'd rebrand that agency as an art studio. Again, nothing wrong with an art studio, but it's NOT a marketing agency. Creativity, inspiration, breakthrough work and the like do not get brushed beneath the carpet in a world where brands are (and should be) demanding better business results and more optimization. They run together - hand in hand. Great data, profound insights from analytics and focusing (like a bullseye) on business results is the exact way that agencies can be most creative. To exclude creativity as simply some kind of artistic endeavour that doesn't need to be attached to an endgame that is driving economic value to the brand is, simply put, bad business.

Make sure you know the business that you're in.

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The Power To Smile In A Digital World

What does true customer service look like?

Marketing is edging ever-closer to customer service, and vice-versa. That may not be anything new, as you go to work, buy your holiday gifts and start thinking about how you're going to affect the brand that you work for in the coming year (and, hopefully, beyond). Still, it's something that most companies are not thinking about (enough). They're certainly not making any massive moves, by forcing departments and silos to disappear in an effort to better reflect what seems like a very logical statement. For many (bigger) organizations, customer service is the group charged with ensuring that corporate policies are met with (and managed) down to the consumer. In many instances, what we're really saying (at a tactical level), is that the customer service department manages the people and the technology to create a level of "fairness" in the eyes of customers that have an issue with our products and services. It's also the place that is forced to do this in shortest amount of time possible with the least amount of financial loss.

We can all agree, that this needs a radical overhaul, right?

Not everyone wants to friend, follow, like and engage with the brands that they do business with. This is true... on many levels. It's also very false (or mis-leading) in terms of true application. Why? Well, for the most part, businesses are things that we - the humans of Earth - have transactions with. When there's an issue, we're hopeful that we can get an empathetic ear from the corporation. We're less interested in corporate policies, how brands do things or more. And, even if our issue can't be resolved, we want that high level of empathy. When we get, we do become that much more loyal and true to the brand. As much as people say they don't want/need these kind of connections to brands, we do love the things that we love. So, while it may not be relevant to breakfast cereal, for you and me, it could well be just that type of brand that other consumers would put on their "brands that I love" list.

Blame Oprah.

I kid. But, not really. Whether you're a fan of Oprah or not, it's hard to argue that her show - and subsequent impact on society - has led many of us to be more open about our feelings. This has led to us being more empathetic (there's that word again) and vulnerable (special thanks to Brene Brown for that one). This, is a good thing. This, is a great thing. We can be more human. We have become more humane now. This has trickled in business. More than most people care to admit.

How many Facebook accounts do you have?

"Should I have one Facebook account for my personal life, and one for work? I'm not sure if I want to link my friends with the people that I work with." I used to get asked this question a lot. I bet this is something that you had considered at one point in the past. Now, it seems silly... or not as relevant. Doesn't it? We're quickly realizing that who we are... is who we are. How we engage - and how we connect - is no longer divided between our physical selves and our digital profiles.

I tweet, therefore I am.

I have been smiling at strangers a lot lately. Not in a creepy/stalky kind of way, bit in a "yes, I see you," kind of way. I mostly do this to people who seem stuck in their day... or their routine... or something that they just read on their iPhone changed their physical mood. A lot of them smile back. It's a connection. Something simple. Something real. It's something that I didn't do before (too often). I don't do nearly enough of it on digital channels. I don't "like" enough things that you post. I'm not great at sending you a digital high-five on the comments. I don't tweet back at people to say "thank you." People like Gary Vaynerchuk, Scott Stratten and Gini Dietrich do this so well. It's like watching poetry in motion. Seriously.

What does this have to do with customer service?

Everything. This is where it all starts. Customer service is not the ethos of the CEO passed down to everyone. Customer service is not the rules, policies and regulations in the field guides. Customer service... Great customer service start with a smile. Great in physical environments. Great in digital environments. A smile is a thank you. A smile is a connection. A smile lets a customer know that you see them. A smile can change a lot of things that suddenly went wrong. 'Tis the season to allow the scrooge in all of us to boil up. As we rush towards the holiday break (and the end of the year), think about smiling. Think about how it can and will change you, the customer you're connecting with and - with any luck - how your business really connects. Let's not forget that customer service is all about how we serve our clients. Smiles are probably more contagious and viral than most of our marketing initiatives.

If it doesn't start with a smile (and this includes a digital one), then what?

Tags:

brand

brand ambassador

brene brown

collaboration

customer service

digital profile

digital world

empathy

facebook

gary vaynerchuk

gini dietrich

holiday season

iphone

marketing

oprah

oprah winfrey

personal life

professional life

scott stratten

smile

technology

ted

ted talk

vulnerability

Building A Better Business By Thinking Like Amazon

Don't try to be like Amazon

Amazon is a business like no other. Retailers might not like to hear this, but it is true. They have a spirit of innovation that looks at both software and hardware, plus they have a spirit of customer service that is tough to rival. Everyone talks about the pioneering spirit of Amazon, and it is a story that is worthy of telling. Still, people like Avinask Kaushik and I would agree that trying to be like Amazon, Apple, Google can be hard for most (maybe even all) businesses. For a myriad of reasons. Still, there is always something that we can think about, learn from and implement to make our businesses that much better.

How is Amazon thinking there days?

We don't get to hear from Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos nearly enough. It's usually the odd quote, here or there. But, it's rarely in the context of a longer and more focused interview. This past Tuesday, Business Insider posted their full fifty-minute live, one-on-one conversation between Business Insider founder, Henry Blodget and Bezos from their Ignition - Future of Digital conference. It is very raw and direct. The questions are very probing and provocative. I have rarely seen a conversation like this, only because I found myself questioning my own business-thinking and reaching for my Field Notes with some new ideas to jam on. I think you will too.

What is the future of Amazon? What is the future of business? Watch this...

Tags:

amazon

apple

avinash kaushik

business insider

business thinking

customer service

field notes

future of amazon

future of business

google

hardware

henry bloodroot

ignition

innovation

jeff bezos

retail

retailer

software

Why Buy A Car, When You Can Have A BMW On-Demand?

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:

In London, BMW is launching a pay-as-you-go car sharing operation. You have to pre-register - like ZipCar - but once you're in, you can choose between BMWs, Mini Cooper and even the hot n' happening electric i3. They're partnering with DriveNow, which also means that you can pick-up and drop-off cars almost anywhere. This marks a huge stride in the evolution of the collaborative economy and - maybe - a smart brand play for BMW.
My book publisher, Hachette, had this massive year-long battle with Amazon. It's over now, but the damage for many authors (including me) has been done. Now, Hachette has launched an initiative that enables authors to sell their books directly to fans through a "buy" button on Twitter. Consumers won't have to leave their Twitter feed to spend money on books. And, much like Amazon, Twitter may simply be starting with books, but soon every brand can start selling on Twitter.
Does it make sense to you that Instagram is now bigger than Twitter? When we talk about social media, we tend to talk Facebook, then Twitter. Now, with Instagram bigger than Twitter, we're seeing a new kind of social Web, on many fronts. Also, consider this: Facebook owns Instagram. So, what does Google do now?: 
App of the week: Robinhood. It's too bad that this is only being launched in the US, but it's still an interesting idea. Imagine if you could buy and sell stocks - in a simple and smart way - on your smartphone. Well, Robinhood nailed the usability and experience. Oh, wait... you also get to do this for "zero fee." No, that's not a typo. How do they get away with this? "Robinhood makes money through interest on funds you hold with it or when you trade on margin, plus selling trade volume to stock exchanges." A new (and, potentially, massive) disruption to Wall Street.

Listen here...

Tags:

amazon

bmw

bmw i3

chom 977 fm

chom fm

ctrl alt delete

ctrl alt delete with mitch joel

digital media

drivenow

facebook

google

guest contributor

hachette book group

heather backman

instagram

mini cooper

montreal radio

morning show

mornings rock with terry and heather b

radio segment

radio station

robinhood

smartphone

social media

soundcloud

technology

terry dimonte

twitter

zipcar