Mitch Joel's Blog: Six Pixels of Separation, page 360
May 18, 2011
The Newest Thinking On New Media
You have to have an appetite for learning if you're looking to be successful with new media.
Finding the right sources isn't always easy. There are plenty of people with plenty of followers, but there is not much substance. Don't be fooled by people posting big numbers or linkbait-like content. Be seduced by the people that make you think. Be seduced by the people who have wisdom and are challenging our more common held beliefs. Two people that immediately come to mind for me are Clay Shirky (Here Comes Everybody and Cognitive Surplus) and Jay Rosen (PressThink). I was really surprised to see a tweet from Rosen this past week mentioning this video conversation that he had with Clay Shirky that I had not heard of (I'm a big fan of both thinkers). It's a five-part video series that runs close to an hour. If you're trying to better understand new media, audience, participation and Social Media, this conversation is filled with gold and depth.
Watch this...
Tags:
clay shirky
cognitive surplus
here comes everybody
jay rosen
learning
linkbait
new media
nyu
online video
pressthink
primary sources
social media
youtube
May 16, 2011
The Other Side Of Privacy
You can't throw a rock and not hit a concern about privacy and the use of our data online.
This is a huge concern because us Marketers have screwed it up so royally over the years. From a lack of permission and abuse to security breaches and scams. It's so bad that government plays an active role in deciding what can and can't be done (yes, lawmakers). Still, we keep botching it. From newer media initiatives (think Facebook Beacon) to cyber-attacks (see what Sony has been dealing with), not a week goes by that some sort of privacy breach or plans for a corporation to do something funky with consumer's data isn't in the news.
Your data is not your own.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you join an online social network or sign-up to an online service, its incumbent on you to review and understand the terms and conditions. Let's assume - like 90% of the population - that even if you did read it, the legal intricacies are not clear and that you have no idea what you're signing up for, then govern yourself by this: whatever they are giving to you to use for free is not free. You usage is being turned into data that the platform is going to use (in one way, shape or form). This will result in activities like targeting you with advertising or even leaking your usage to a third-party (like an advertiser or media company). So, if you're not comfortable with your usage being tracked and your information being seen, it's best to avoid these channels.
This will piss some people off.
There are many people who believe that whatever data and information you put into a platform (let's say Facebook, for argument's sake) should be yours and yours alone. These same people believe that Facebook's true value is this data set and that the company should not be able to monetize it without our consent or without compensating us for it. Sorry, I'm not buying that. The payment is the service. When people sign-up, the free usage is not free. The fee we pay (for getting all of this cool, free stuff) is the pass-off of what we're doing while we're engaged in their channel. I don't necessarily like this, but it is this way.
The other side of privacy.
Hypothetical question: would you be willing to pay a monthly service fee to use Facebook and - in doing so - this fee ensures that all of your data is your own? Facebook will never use any of your content without your consent. Do you think this is a viable business model? I don't. I think the majority of people want Facebook to be free. I also see countless instances where people give out way too much data about themselves just to save a buck or two. The other side of privacy is knowing and understanding that whatever you put online is now in the public domain. The other side of privacy is knowing that you decide what you put into these channels and who you connect with. The truth is that you decide how much data you're creating and your own level of privacy. Facebook doesn't and Google doesn't either.
You are the other side of privacy.
You don't have to use your full, real name (just let the people you are trying to connect to know your handle).
You can be connected to your spouse without identifying your connection in your info.
You don't have to publish pictures of your children and family members.
You don't have to update your status with every little life detail.
It makes things a little less fun.
OK, that's harsh... it doesn't have to be less fun, but you can throw the data vacuum and privacy snoops off by both omitting or changing minor pieces of information that make your experience both good for you and your connections, while at the same time keeping a semblance of privacy. The truth is this: until we have full data portability and until our avatars are our own, legal, possession, we have to assume that nothing we do as our digital selves is private or that the data won't be used in some way.
Privacy and our data is ours... we just have have chose wiser how (and to who) we distribute it.
Tags:
advertiser
advertising
avatar
business model
consumer data
data portability
facebook
facebook beacon
google
marketer
marketing
media company
media initiative
online data
online service
online social network
privacy
private
sony
May 15, 2011
Don Peppers Looks At The Future Of Marketing
Episode #253 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to.
The Marketing industry only has a handful of true innovation legends. Don Peppers is one of them. Along with his business partner, Martha Rogers, they invented the term one-to-one marketing to "illustrate the importance of treating different customers differently." In 1993 they founded their own consulting company, Peppers & Rogers Group, to help brands understand the ever-changing world of the consumer, the power of data, CRM, the customer revolution and how to make Marketing more effective. They're currently authoring their tenth business book, Extreme Trust (about the new dynamics of competition). My jaw nearly hit the floor a month back when Don left a comment on my Blog (it was one of those, "gee, maybe I should pay more attention to what I publish if thought-leaders like Don Peppers are reading me!"). I reached out to Don to see if he would have an appetite to come on to the show to discuss what he's working on and how the evolution of Customer Relationship Management has changed in our digital and social world. I'm thrilled and honored that he accepted my invitation. 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 #253.
Tags:
advertising
bite size edits
blog
blogging
blue sky factory
book oven
business book
cast of dads
cc chapman
chris brogan
christopher s penn
crm
customer relationship management
digital dads
digital marketing
don peppers
extreme trust
facebook
facebook group
hugh mcguire
in over your head
itunes
julien smith
librivox
managing the gray
marketing
marketing legend
marketing over coffee
martha rogers
media hacks
new marketing labs
one to one marketing
online social network
peppers and rogers group
podcast
podcasting
pressbooks
six pixels of separation
social crm
social media 101
social media marketing
strategy
trust agents
twist image
May 14, 2011
Will A Brands Next Big Move Be A Journalism Department?
Who should own Social Media in the organization?
The challenge in answering that question comes from a lack of clear definition. It depends on how you (and your organization) defines Social Media. Some see it as a communications channel, while others use it to extend their advertising. Other companies use it for customer service and some use it as a platform to experiment with content marketing. None of those are inherently right or wrong, they're just different uses (and there are countless more). The long-held debate (and yes, we're looking at over a decade of Social Media usage, at this point) was about whether or not Social Media should be a part of the Marketing department or the Communications department.
In the end, Social Media is everywhere.
The companies that tend to benefit the most from Social Media are the ones who are finding multiple blends, tactics and campaigns to find their sweet spot. Some have used short, mid and long-term tactics against an overall business strategy, while others have chosen to blend one-way with two-way communications and more conversational types of strategies.
It's the content, stupid.
While advertising has its place in Social Media, it's all about the content. The platform allows everyone to publishing anything in text, images, audio and video instantly (and for free) for the entire world to see. It's humbling to know that the success of your content is almost entirely driven by how relevant it is (or, how it moves your audience). It's easy to make a case for content marketing, but it's going to wind up being the wrong case you should be making.
Death to content marketing.
The problem with content marketing is the marketing part of the equation. Marketing content rarely connects with an audience. Why? Because it's really just marketing material that is thinly veiled as content, and it's quickly becoming the kind of one-sided content that turns people off. What makes great content spread is how unique and inspiring the message is, not in how it slants into a direction that ultimately positions your company as the only one to buy from.
Flipping from content marketing to journalism.
I was thinking about this Blog. I was thinking about citizen journalism. I was watching Geoff Livingston present at Webcom Montreal last week, and things started to click. Maybe the reason this Blog has some level of success is because it's more like journalism than it is about what Twist Image offers and sells (I prefer to write relevant articles about this industry). Maybe citizen journalists are the best marketers that a brand could ever ask for, and maybe, Livingston is right that the problem with content marketing is the "marketing" part. Instead of plopping Social Media into your communications or marketing department, why not start a journalism department (or start off in a more humble way by hiring a journalist part-time to write content that your organization will publish)?
What could a journalist do for your brand?
They could write articles about the industry you serve without slanting the piece to favor your brand (this would give you credibility and build trust).
They could become valuable by commenting and adding more content in the many other primary spaces for Social Media that people in your industry follow.
They could interview the industry leaders for you.
They could add a layer of credibility to the content you're publishing, because you're very clear in your disclosures that this journalist's role is not to write favorable content about the company, but to write great content about the industry you serve.
We're not talking about a journalist who is working for you as a writer.
That would be missing the point. The idea here is to start creating content that is both valuable and needed. The idea here is to see if a tactic like this could lead to an entire department of journalists that are publishing the most relevant and interesting stories about the industry you serve. It's about becoming the de facto recognized authority for your industry. It's about adding so much value that your clients (and potential clients) need you in their lives because the insights and information that you're providing are so valuable. The challenge (of course) will be in doing this in an honest and credible way. Marketers don't have a strong history of being able to pull this sort of stuff off, because we just can't help ourselves but to push our own wares in the moment of truth (which is sad). The only way this will work is if the brand truly does let the journalist be an actual journalist (instead of a corporate shill).
I think this is a huge (and interesting) opportunity. What do you think? Is the world ready for real Brand Journalism?
Tags:
advertising
blog
brand
brand journalism
business strategy
citizen journalism
communications
content marketing
customer service
geoff livingston
journalism
journalism department
marketing
marketing material
publishing
recognized authority
social media
twist image
webcom montreal
writer
Will A Brand's Next Big Move Be A Journalism Department?
Who should own Social Media in the organization?
The challenge in answering that question comes from a lack of clear definition. It depends on how you (and your organization) defines Social Media. Some see it as a communications channel, while others use it to extend their advertising. Other companies use it for customer service and some use it as a platform to experiment with content marketing. None of those are inherently right or wrong, they're just different uses (and there are countless more). The long-held debate (and yes, we're looking at over a decade of Social Media usage, at this point) was about whether or not Social Media should be a part of the Marketing department or the Communications department.
In the end, Social Media is everywhere.
The companies that tend to benefit the most from Social Media are the ones who are finding multiple blends, tactics and campaigns to find their sweet spot. Some have used short, mid and long-term tactics against an overall business strategy, while others have chosen to blend one-way with two-way communications and more conversational types of strategies.
It's the content, stupid.
While advertising has its place in Social Media, it's all about the content. The platform allows everyone to publishing anything in text, images, audio and video instantly (and for free) for the entire world to see. It's humbling to know that the success of your content is almost entirely driven by how relevant it is (or, how it moves your audience). It's easy to make a case for content marketing, but it's going to wind up being the wrong case you should be making.
Death to content marketing.
The problem with content marketing is the marketing part of the equation. Marketing content rarely connects with an audience. Why? Because it's really just marketing material that is thinly veiled as content, and it's quickly becoming the kind of one-sided content that turns people off. What makes great content spread is how unique and inspiring the message is, not in how it slants into a direction that ultimately positions your company as the only one to buy from.
Flipping from content marketing to journalism.
I was thinking about this Blog. I was thinking about citizen journalism. I was watching Geoff Livingston present at Webcom Montreal last week, and things started to click. Maybe the reason this Blog has some level of success is because it's more like journalism than it is about what Twist Image offers and sells (I prefer to write relevant articles about this industry). Maybe citizen journalists are the best marketers that a brand could ever ask for, and maybe, Livingston is right that the problem with content marketing is the "marketing" part. Instead of plopping Social Media into your communications or marketing department, why not start a journalism department (or start off in a more humble way by hiring a journalist part-time to write content that your organization will publish)?
What could a journalist do for your brand?
They could write articles about the industry you serve without slanting the piece to favor your brand (this would give you credibility and build trust).
They could become valuable by commenting and adding more content in the many other primary spaces for Social Media that people in your industry follow.
They could interview the industry leaders for you.
They could add a layer of credibility to the content you're publishing, because you're very clear in your disclosures that this journalist's role is not to write favorable content about the company, but to write great content about the industry you serve.
We're not talking about a journalist who is working for you as a writer.
That would be missing the point. The idea here is to start creating content that is both valuable and needed. The idea here is to see if a tactic like this could lead to an entire department of journalists that are publishing the most relevant and interesting stories about the industry you serve. It's about becoming the de facto recognized authority for your industry. It's about adding so much value that your clients (and potential clients) need you in their lives because the insights and information that you're providing are so valuable. The challenge (of course) will be in doing this in an honest and credible way. Marketers don't have a strong history of being able to pull this sort of stuff off, because we just can't help ourselves but to push our own wares in the moment of truth (which is sad). The only way this will work is if the brand truly does let the journalist be an actual journalist (instead of a corporate shill).
I think this is a huge (and interesting) opportunity. What do you think? Is the world ready for real Brand Journalism?
Tags:
advertising
blog
brand
brand journalism
business strategy
citizen journalism
communications
content marketing
customer service
geoff livingston
journalism
journalism department
marketing
marketing material
publishing
recognized authority
social media
twist image
webcom montreal
writer
Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #47
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, the author of Complete Web Monitoring and Managing Bandwidth: Deploying QOS in Enterprise Networks), Hugh McGuire (The Book Oven, LibriVox, iambik, PressBooks, Media Hacks) and I decided that every week or so 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:
Paul Lewis: Met told us to 'lay off' Tomlinson story - PressGazette . "I'm feeling a bit bleak this week, so here are some sobering links. First: Reporter Paul Lewis refused to let a story die. When Ian Tomlinson died during G20 protests, Lewis dug in. This brief account (and the March 2010 piece ) serve as a reminder that corruption and cover-ups are all around us. Tomlinson's death only came to light when a hedge fund manager decided to share some security camera footage." (Alistair for Hugh).
It's the Inequality, Stupid - Mother Jones . "As I get older and more jaded, I've come to realize that most economies are experiments in income disparity. Too small of a gap between the rich and the poor, and nobody strives. Too big of a gap, and the poor become wage-slaves to a controlling elite. Hey, nobody said these links were all fluff -- next week I'll post some cats. In the meantime, here are eleven charts that sum up the growing divide between the haves and the have-nots. As I think I've said before, the next election will be fought with infographics." (Alistair for Mitch).
Anatomy of a Mash-Up - Definitive Daft Punk . "A visualization of a mash-up of Daft Punk tunes." (Hugh for Alistair).
Man tracks stolen laptop hundreds of miles away, calls thief - Storify . "I watched this all happen on Twitter a few nights ago, and it was thrilling, and while this *actually happened*, it revealed a really exciting possibility for new forms of live, participatory story-telling: Sean Power had his laptop stolen in NYC, but had to return to Montreal. He had a bit of software on the laptop ( Project Prey ) that can be activated to start recording what's going on on your laptop, including taking webcam pics of whoever is using it, and broadcasting to you what's happening on your computer in real time. Sean Tweeted about the stolen laptop, then activated Prey. Clues were immediately revealed, a picture of the thief! (Tweeted) Then the thief logged into Skype - we had a name (Tweeted)! Logged into Gmail ! We had an email address! (Tweeted). Using Prey, Sean could also locate his laptop - at resto called Cantina Latina in NYC... a woman Sean doesn't know, but who follows him on Twitter, went to the resto - Sean called the cops... It was a pretty exciting bit of real-life story-telling, and it shows some wonderful hints about how we might use tools like Twitter for creating new kinds of fiction (an interest of mine)...This link is to a Storify collection of the event." (Hugh for Mitch).
Obi-Wan Kenobi Is Dead, Vader Says - The Galactic Empire Times . "I know what you're thinking, Alistair: you don't believe that Obi-Wan Kenobi is dead unless you see the body. The Empire really shouldn't be giving aid to Tatooine... the people there must have known where he was hiding. This has to be one of the best written pieces of content I've read online in a long time (especially the comments). We live in a crazy world and we often forget that the Web is a publishing platform: it works equally as well for the mass media as it does for the conspiracy theorists. Now, the Star Wars nerds are getting in on the fun." (Mitch for Alistair).
How Social Media Creates a Rough Draft of History - GigaOm . " Mathew Ingram wrote this fascinating Blog post that looks at how breaking news and reporting news moves from fragmented pieces of content to details and into a 'final' product. Social Media now creates a rough draft of history that slowly - over time - starts morphing into both facts and different perspectives in many different pieces. The difference between now and what used to happen is that it's an open space that is not only highly fragmented, but distributed in real-time to the palms of our hands." (Mitch for Hugh).
Now it's your turn: in the comment section below pick one thing that you saw this week that inspired you and share it.
Tags:
alistair croll
bitcurrent
bite-sized edits
cantina latina
complete web monitoring
conspiracy theorists
content
daft punk
economics
g20 protest
gigaom
gmail
great links
hugh mcguire
human 20
ian tomlinson
infographics
journalism
librivox
link
linkbait
managing bandwidth
mashup
mass media
mathew ingram
media hacks
mother jones
obi-wan kenobi
paul lewis
pressbooks
pressgazette
project prey
publishing
rednod
sean power
skype
social media
star wars
storify
the book oven
the galactic empire times
twitter
visualization
year one labs
May 13, 2011
The Gentle Art Of Service
True story about service:
When I'm on the road and presenting at events, I often dine alone - grabbing a quick lunch or breakfast (something healthy) that will tide me over. Unlike other travelers, I tend to eat much healthier when I'm on the road (energy much be high!). Recently, I was at a mid-level family dining restaurant and ordered a standard Chicken Caesar Salad (it's my default/sure thing). The waitress asked me if I wanted some kind of bread (I could not make out what she saying over the music) or a soup. I said, I'd just like some bread with the salad. A few minutes later, a busboy arrives with my salad and this very intricate bread/melted/cheese/something appetizer and says, "you must be hungry!" I let him know that I must have made a mistake and that all I wanted was a little bread on the side of my salad. "No problem," he says after apologizing (even though this was clearly my fault) and returns with some bread. My iPad is on the table, I'm neck deep in emails, etc... when the waitress comes by and asks what happened. I explain to her the story, she apologizes, I apologize and I put my head back down into the work. Two minutes later, the manager comes over and asks me if there was a problem with my bread appetizer. I explain to him the story, he apologizes, I apologize and I put my head back down into the work. A couple of minutes later, the waitress comes back to apologize that the manager came over all well. I flip my iPad cover over, stash it back in my briefcase, quickly work through lunch and leave.
Over-service can be a huge disservice.
Many years ago, I was dining at a fancy restaurant with a friend who was a regular at this place. After dinner, we went out for a stroll to walk off the hearty meal. He asked me what I thought of the restaurant. I commented, that it was amazing to me that every time I went to drink some water, it was as if my glass was magically refilled without my knowledge. My friend, the restaurateur, responded: "the best service is when the service is almost invisible. The best service is when all of your needs are met and you don't even have to mention what those needs are."
We are all in the business of service.
As a Digital Marketing agency, this is primary function we serve at Twist Image: to serve our clients needs. Beyond that, this Blog acts as a service to the readers and people who comment. My Twitter acts as a service to those who are interested in connecting to me. Everything you do is a service too. Over-service can be a disservice and the best results come from those who can balance the unique and personal needs of the people they are connected with. Understanding that pulse and flow of what the needs are and how to meet them is not always something that can be systemized. Servicing the people you are connected to is a very gentle and intricate art that requires both practice and being able to read a situation better than your peers and competitors. There are many instances that resemble my Chicken Caser scenario: sometimes when you think you're doing the right thing and being kind, it's really just exacerbating a situation. This type of prodding often happens in Social Media spaces as well, where individuals feel the need to either get the last word in, be a gadfly or persist that their side is the one that must be heard loudest.
Service is key to being successful, but the true success comes in understanding how to do it in a way that brings people closer to your brand... and not further away.
Tags:
blog
brand
business of service
business travel
custmer service
digital marketing agency
email
ipad
knowledge
service
social media
twist image
twitter
May 12, 2011
Moving People Creates Movements
What is art?
It's a question that has been asked for as long as humans have done acts of creativity - from painting on cave walls to the architecture that surrounds us. Music is art and so to is the work that many of us do. While trying to find a true definition for "art" may be more difficult and challenging than one might suspect, I tend to define art as something that moves you. Granted, it's a simplistic viewpoint, but it helps reconcile good art from bad art. If a work of art is bad it still moves you towards a feeling. Say what you will about Salvador Dali or Frank Lloyd Wright (you can love 'em... you can hate 'em) their work does move you, and their work is art. Remember, one person's Motorhead is another person's Lady Gaga. Art is personal and highly subjective (think about Dogs Playing Poker).
Does your work move you... or anybody else?
One of the reasons I love Social Media so much (and, more specifically, Blogging) is the instant feedback you can get from it. Write a Blog post that moves people and it suddenly gets tweeted up on Twitter or someone shares a link to it on Facebook. It may generate comments on the Blog or inspire someone to write a Blog post of their own. It could get popular on a site like Reddit. Traditional mass media journalists may even call you up to be interviewed about it. A magazine or newspaper might be so moved by it, that they offer you an opportunity to write for them. Your words might inspire an organization to invite you to come in to talk about your Blog post to their audience. Who knows, a book publisher or literary agent might be so moved that they put a book offer in front you. Your words might inspire a company to take action and hire you as their consultant or agency.
Things move very fast in the Social Media spaces.
Whatever you create is published instantly for the world to see, and what the world sees and how they are moved is there too for all to see. No, this isn't about creating something and quantifying the success of it based on how many people are moved by it, but it is one of the ways to keep score. If people aren't moved by what you're creating, what does that say to you? If more and more people aren't moved by what you're doing, what does that say to you? If you're constantly and consistently putting out your best work and it's not connecting/finding an audience, what does that say to you?
Moving people creates movements.
The truth is that a lot of the content that is created and consumed online is - for lack of a better word - "vanilla." It's generic and it hardly moves people (let alone moving any needles). Look no further than the industry we serve: Marketing. Think about how creative, innovative and powerful the work that we do is (at a core level, we're trying to connect more and more people with the brands that we serve/nurture). In all of these channels and new media spaces, isn't it astonishing how little of it actually moves people. And, when I say "move" I mean in a deep way.
It's not about clicks.
Moving someone to click, follow, friend, like, give up their email address or whatever is not what I'm talking about. Most of the time, this is happening because an individual was incentivized to do so (a discount, status, etc...), not because they were moved by the brand. It's a shame. Think about Marketing today. Think about the myriad of opportunities we have - as Marketers - to treat the work that we do as art (real art - not marketing messages thinly veiled as art). To think not just about whether or not someone bought our stuff and told others to do so, but to spend time, energy and focus on actually trying to move people. I don't know about you, but even if we moved audiences in a negative direction, at least we're getting some kind of emotion. Think about the brand loyalty that would come from actually moving your audience.
It would be nice to dream of a day - in the not-so-distant future - where Marketing shifts and changes to a place where everything that we do as Marketers actually moves people. Wouldn't it?
Tags:
architecture
art
blog
blogging
book publisher
brand
content
creativity
dogs playing poker
facebook
frank lloyd wright
journalism
lady gaga
literary agent
magazine
marketer
marketing innovation
mass media
motorhead
move
movement
moving
music
new media
newspaper
publishing
reddit
salvador dali
social media
twitter
May 10, 2011
What It Takes
Have you ever thought of what it takes to make something really happen?
It could be an advertising campaign, it could be a successful Blog, it could be meeting more interesting people on Twitter or Facebook and it could even mean getting a promotion at the office or making a personal relationship work more effectively. I reflect on this often. Not just for myself. In fact, when I think of "what it takes" I'm often doing it by analyzing those that I consider to be successful (rough translation: individuals I appreciate, and if my life should somehow become similar to theirs, it would not disappoint me in the least).
It seems like there are two primary factors that need to be working for something to gain acceptance:
Self-discipline. It's hard. Very, very hard to get motivated without external forces at play (a looming deadline, a demanding boss, a nagging spouse, etc...). It turns out that when we're left to our own devices, human beings are amazingly good at avoiding the act of "getting things done." If you don't believe me, check out the work of David Allen (he wrote the best-selling business book, Getting Things Done). Millions of dollars (maybe billions) have been made in the business of selling books, seminars, programs, etc... on how to stop procrastinating and how to start acting on the things that are important to you. The experts will tell you that, "all it takes is a little self-discipline," but the truth is that it takes a lot of self-discipline (and it needs to be consistent and ongoing). Getting something to a point where many people will embrace it and share it requires that the creator has the self-discipline to work at it, to chisel away at it and to tweak it. It may seem obvious, but when people ask me why they're not accomplishing the many things that they would like to do in the Digital Marketing spheres, the main issue holding back the majority of people that I meet is their lack of self-discipline (and it's something that I grapple with on an ongoing basis as well). They don't commit (time, effort, energy, output, etc...) in a consistent and self-disciplined way. If you're doing anything with creativity, try Steven Pressfield's latest book, Do The Work! for a kick in the pants.
Secret Sauce. If you thought that self-discipline is difficult (and it is... it's very difficult), the notion of secret sauce is going to be a true mind-bender for you, because there nothing I (or anyone) can say or do to help you find your "secret sauce." In fact, to push that thought just a little bit further: There are no individuals that can define their own secret sauce or the recipe for it, either. John Lennon may be able to tell us what he was thinking when he wrote, 'Imagine', but he could never define how or why that song came to him. Over the length of his life there were many mitigating factors that acted as partial ingredients for what is his secret sauce for writing a song that transcends time and culture. The good news is that we all have a secret sauce for something - a skill or trait that is uniquely ours - that when we're outputting our best efforts, it's truly reflected in the result of the work. Where do great ideas come from? That is the secret sauce.
Don't stress (too much) about figuring out what it takes.
It's fascinating to see how few people spend any significant amount of time nurturing their secret sauce by actually having the self-discipline to keep at it. If you have a thing for writing, but haven't written in a long while, you know what I am talking about. Have the self-discipline to write - every day - even if it's just for a handful of minutes. Keeping those muscles (the physical and mental ones) warm is better and will lead to tone faster than creating a myriad of excuses as to why the writing is not taking place. The interesting part of this exercise is that the secret sauce really starts flowing when you apply the self-discipline in a rigid and consistent manner.
For me, it's the self-discipline and secret sauce that makes stuff happens. What's it all about for you?
Tags:
advertising campaign
blog
business book
consistency
culture
david allen
digital marketing
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The New Twitter Effect
Twitter is mainstream.
It was another week of Twitter getting mainstream media accolades as news of Osama Bin Laden taking one in the head from the Navy's elite SEAL Team Six unit lit the Social Media channel afire with chatter. Twitter's implications in breaking the news story was further amplified when it was revealed that Abbottabad, Pakistan resident and IT consultant, Sohaib Athar, unknowingly busted the Navy SEAL's cover when he tweeted, "Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1AM (is a rare event)" as the dramatic military operation was happening live and in real-time. Things got even more Twitter-centric when Keith Urbahn (former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's chief of staff) tweeted, "So I'm told by a reputable person they have killed Osama Bin Laden. Hot damn," nearly one hour prior to the official announcement from President Obama to the media and public.
Twitter is all about breaking news... or is it?
Twitter is not a centralized media channel that is vetting news for both accuracy and journalistic integrity. Twitter is an agnostic publishing platform. It's a publishing platform that allows anyone (for free) to publish a thought in 140-characters (or less) instantly to the world via any type of connected device (computer, smartphone, etc...). Twitter didn't break the news about Osama Bin Laden. It also didn't break the news back in 2009 when US Airways flight 1549 crash-landed in New York's Hudson River. All of these moments in time were "broken" by individuals - people like you and me - who happen to be there, live and in the moment and through the marvels of new media have the ability to publish anything and everything for the world to see. Twitter isn't a news organization. Twitter is a distribution channel. The truth is that the news about Bin Laden, the US Airways flight or even who got booted off of American Idol this week could have been published on a Blog, recorded on video and uploaded to YouTube or posted as a Facebook status update as well. People don't use Twitter because it's a better distribution channel than those in traditional or new media, the majority of people use Twitter because it's simple.
It's simple to use, it's simple to access and it's simple to connect to those people or organizations that anyone might be interested in.
In Clay Shirky's seminal business book on the rising power of Social Media titled, Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations (Penguin 2008), the NYU professor in Interactive Telecommunications and Journalism astutely illustrates that when the cost and complexity of publishing is pushed to zero (in terms of cost and effort) it forces everything to change (and he stated this long before the public adoption and popularity of Twitter took hold). Twitter is exciting not because it's free to use.
Twitter is exciting because it takes no effort... and that's where the true focus of attention from the media (and your business) should be paid.
If Sohaib Athar had to fire open his word processing software and write up a little paragraph about how helicopters were buzzing overhead late one light, then push that copy to his Blog software, he probably would not have bothered. If he had to find a video camera, shoot the event, give some commentary, transfer it over to his computer and upload it to YouTube, he probably would not have bothered, either. It was a simple and innocuous tweet (a fleeting moment in time and a random thought that he now had a platform to vent it out on to). The same could easily be said about the passenger who first tweeted about surviving a plane crash and being stuck in the Hudson River. If Twitter were not simple to use, simple to publish and - best of all - a simple platform for mobile devices, we would not be witnessing this daily barrage of insights, insults and oddities (like I said, the platform is agnostic, so it's definitely not all pearls of wisdom).
There are lessons within these stories that every business must be attuned to.
In a world that is shifting from mass media to mass content, it's the effortless and simple platforms that will win - the ones that remove the friction for people to share with others. The content within these channels must be relevant - not just to what a business is selling, but to the consumers (first and foremost). The content most be worth talking about and worth sharing. Because of Twitter's growth and popularity, individuals now have a nose for news. Whether it's the personal events in their lives or what they're seeing in a world that allows them to publish in text, images, audio and video from the palm of their hands for the world to see. That's the true, new Twitter effect. It's less about the news that's being broken and much more about why we're at this amazing moment in the history of our civilization. How we filter this mass amount of content and vet it for accuracy is another story, but in the meantime, businesses can start thinking about how their consumers don't have to wait to get home or to the office to complain and it doesn't take much effort either to tweet out, "Brand X sucks!" To make matters more complex, it's even easier to retweet that type of content - making it go viral within the network.
The real question becomes: how can business adapt, react and benefit from the new realities of real-time and instant feedback?
The above posting is my twice-monthly column for the Montreal Gazette and Vancouver Sun newspapers called, New Business - Six Pixels of Separation . I cross-post it here with all the links and tags for your reading pleasure, but you can check out the original versions online here:
Montreal Gazette - Twitter's ease of use is a double-edged sword for businesses .
Vancouver Sun - not yet published.
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