Casual Fridays

“Take a risk on me.”

That’s probably one of the toughest sells out there.

The few people out there with enough confidence and competence to take a risk, probably will take that risk on themselves.

The rest are too motivated by fear and need a ’sure thing.’   Something proven.  Something they can count on.  Something safe.

What if you’re the first of your kind?  If there are no case studies… no precedence?  How do you get someone to take a risk on you (or with you)?

1. Fear becomes greater than the risk.

Your risk becomes (perceived as) the safe choice.

Setting an appointment with the doctor is a bigger risk (loss of time and some money, discovery of serious health issue) when you just have the sniffles.  When you’re bed-ridden and burning up from fever, the doctor seems much safer than the risk of letting an illness run rampant.

Being in-the-know becomes a lower risk than the time spent watching the reality show or the money spent on an iPhone.

2. Love becomes greater than the risk.

We do plenty of stupid things in the name of love.  We risk embarrassment, heartache, rejection, money, our pride, our reputations… our lives – for love.

But love seems so ethereal.  What can you do to lead customers to love you (your brand, your product)?

Take a risk on them.

If you’d like to read some of the top blog posts from Casual Fridays, here they are:

7 Reasons No One Likes Your Ideas
Why don’t people listen or use your ideas?  Here are a few clues.

Pull! 10 Signs You’re Shooting Down Good Ideas
Are you as open to new ideas as you think?

One Idea Forward, Two Opinions Back
What’s the difference between an idea and an opinion? Why does it matter?

Ponder This: Q&Q
A new take on Q&As

Byproducts of Busy Bees
A dedication to those who make a difference. 

A Free Exchange of Ideas
How do trust and risk affect the sharing of ideas?

johnmoore of Brand Autopsy often cites whether a book is a Way-Worthy read or not.

Seth Godin suggests good bloggers create tribes.

I think that is why I haven’t been satisfied with this blog the last 2-3 years.  It has not consistently been a way-worthy read and has not created a tribe.

Realizing this, I have a few options:

1. Make no major change of course.  I could keep writing mediocre pieces with a few gems (subjectively speaking) here and there.

2. Scrap it all.  I could consider my four years of blogging (3 1/2 years here) as a fun learning experience, but one which I now leave behind.  Pull the plug, let it die.

3. Grit my teeth and try harder.  I could give all kinds of excuses as to why I haven’t put more time, effort or thought into this blog.  I just don’t see any benefit to that.  Perhaps I should just get a grip and try harder.

4. Carry it forward.  I could look at what I’ve learned from this experience and view this period as a natural progression in the cycle.  Perhaps this horse has led me to a stream it is not willing or able to cross.  Using the same analogy, the best thing may be to dismount – cross the stream – and see if there’s a ride on the other side.

I have a writing project I’m working on currently.  I often wonder if I could finish it and make it better if I didn’t try to come up with ideas for this blog.  The concept I’m writing is so intriguing to me that I may even start a separate blog based on that idea.

No decisions yet, but I thought I’d give you some insight into why this blog is lingering.

When you hear “customer loyalty,” what do you imagine?

The Happy Couple
The customer gleefully spending all their money with you out of some sense of belonging.

The Ol’ Ball & Chain
The customer is locked into a relationship with you because of terms and conditions or simply a lack of better choices.

The Gold Digger
The customer only stays with you because of the ‘gifts’ you give them.  Once the flow of giving stops, so does the love. 

I saw a billboard for U.S. Cellular the other day.  It read, “We Believe Loyalty Matters.”

It was unclear what they meant by that and it made me think.  I wondered, “Whose loyalty matters?”

Businesses today are so focused on creating customer loyalty.  It is a lofty goal to aspire to be such a great company that people will not leave you for a lower price or better rewards program.  How do you do that?  Which above version of customer loyalty do you pursue?

What if we completely changed our vision of customer loyalty to something like this:

Be loyal to our customers.

Now, what does that change?

I just want to give thanks today:

Thanks to you for reading my blog.  I’m grateful for my audience, no matter how small.

Thanks to David Walker and the folks who put on Tulsa Techfest this week.  They did a great job organizing a very impressive event.

Thanks to those who came to hear what I had to say about Word of Mouth Marketing.  I had a great time presenting and my favorite part was the sharing of audience comments and ideas during and after the preso.  Thanks for participating!

Last night, I attended a meeting held by my daughter’s teacher. She was explaining the structure of the class and led us through some sample exercises she uses with the students.

Occasionally, she called upon us parents for volunteers to read or give answers.

I was stunned by the silence and awkward glances downward.

The teacher shared her observation that her students were much more eager to participate than their parents.

It gave me pause to wonder – why were we so hesitant to speak up, give answers… hesitant to take even the smallest risk?  Much has been said of our fear of failure, but failure was not the deciding factor here.  It’s not like our success would be dictated by how well we read “See Jane run.”

How come parents paused when our children would have eagerly spoken up?

I think somewhere between 3rd grade and our 3rd year of college, we have been beaten, chiseled, hardened and restrained by perpetual criticism.  We’re a cynical society.  We make snide remarks all the time about someone’s speech impediment, religious affiliation, choice of wardrobe or choice of friends.  The constant wear has made us paranoid… even as adults.

It’s obvious in politics.  Candidates like McCain, Palin, Obama and Biden know the very words they speak will be used in an attempt to hang them later.  But should they let the critics dictate their speeches, let alone their policies?

How about you?  Are you paranoid because of living among critics?  And how much power do you give them over your life?

More on this from Seth.

Brian Clark at Lateral Action put together a great list of Tyler Durden’s 8 Rules of Innovation.

The list is based on statements by Brad Pitt’s character in Fight Club. Below is my favorite:

Tyler’s Eighth Rule of Innovation:

“This is your life, and it’s ending one minute at a time.”
Brian does a great job of expounding on this statement and seven others.  It is well worth the two minute hiatus to check it out.

“A sense of privilege is what motivates us to finish the mission.”
Pastor Paul Taylor, Liberty Church

Do you feel privileged?

Do your employees or colleagues?

I’ll be talking about Word of Mouth Marketing at this year’s Tulsa TechFest.

You can see more info here.

I’ll be speaking Friday, October 10th at 10:30 AM.

One of the neat things about this event is the price of admission.  This is a non-profit event that supports local non-profits, so you only have to bring $2 or 2 cans of food as a donation to get in.  The donations go to the local food bank and Family & Children’s Services.  Left over lunch portions are even donated to the local homeless shelter, John 3:16 Mission.

The event is Thursday October 9th – Friday October 10.  So, if you’re in Tulsa and are interested in what’s happening in technology, eBusiness and marketing, I hope you’ll join us!

When we repeat something, people remember it.
When we repeat something, people remember it. 
When we repeat something, people remember it.
When we repeat something, people remember it.
It also sets them up to notice something different.
When we repeat something, people remember it.
When we repeat something, people remember it. 
When we repeat something, people remember it.
When we repeat something, people remember it. 

As the political rhetoric heats up, it’s interesting to see which messages are insightful and which simply incite.

Does this candidate’s ad really tell you anything new about him, his platform, his party, his opponent?  Or does it simply stimulate something you’ve always believed?  Does it stir emotions and feelings?  Or does it change the way you think about something?

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with inciting.  In fact, I think your message is much more potent if it connects on an emotional level.  

What IS dangerous is incite without any insight.

By attaching a new perspective… a new way of thinking… a powerful idea…  to an emotion, you do more than just PUSH people.  You push them in a different direction.

Push them in the door.

Push them in front of a mirror.

Push them in front of a train.

Big difference.

Challenging thoughts from Brian at d’bug.

After reading this, ask yourself:

Am I willing to sacrifice in order to have time to be the best?

What do I need to sacrifice?

What do I believe should NOT be sacrificed?

Alex requested I expand on the effects of collaborative communication vs. conspiratorial communication

Collaboration creates teams of teams.

Organizations that encourage collaboration will see greater interdepartmental and interorganizational teamwork. A sense of interdependence creates a desire to involve others in on the work at hand.

Conspiracy creates lines and sides.

Information is held in silos. The grain is harvested, then stored where it simply rots.

Teams do not grow from shared experiences. They fight to steal from each other’s silos of information, recognition and reward.

Conspiracy divides individuals, centering them around lower goals and agendas.

Myopia causes conspirators to focus on self-centered goals which don’t benefit the larger organization(s). Consequentially, they do not rally followers around them because their vision is narrow, short-sighted and low on impact.

Collaboration unifies individuals around a common, higher goal.

By collaborating, individuals and teams discover common goals held across the divide. By broadening horizons, collaborators broaden their vision and hold onto the higher goals that impact the BIGGER picture. Consequentially, collaborators attract followers who desire belonging to something bigger than themselves.

Collaboration stimulates growth.

Individuals must be empowered in collaborative environments. Collaboration encourages delegation as the vision and input of direction is bigger than one person.

Conspiracy stunts growth.

Long-term, conspiracy mindsets eventually stifle growth. Conspiracies may have early growth spurts, but are midgets as adults when compared to their potential through collaboration.

Thanks for throwing down the gauntlet Alex! I hope you and others find this stimulating, and perhaps generate your own beliefs on the effects of collaboration vs. conspiracy.

The military spends tons of money to make something blend in and then loses it. Sounds pretty stupid when the army does it, yet advertisers do something even more inept. They spend an insane amount of money buying ad space to get attention, but then camouflage their ads. They still remain invisible because of clutter, attention-spans (Oh, look, there’s a bird!) and generic messages.

Top 5 Ways Advertisers Use Camouflage:

1. Look like the competition.

Ads should highlight what makes you special. To quote the Incredibles, “When everyone is special, then no one is.” That’s especially true when everyone tries to be special in the exact same way.

This Reebok ad is very similar to the Nike ad below (10 years before the Reebok ad).

(source: AdPulp)

Let me emphasize this point.

One of my clients has an employee who previously worked for the competition. Before I worked with this client, their ads were very similar to their biggest competitor’s spots. The employee said before we came in and changed my client’s ads, the competition always knew when my client was advertising because they had more shoppers coming in THEIR doors.

By looking like their competition, my client was sending customers to ‘the enemy.’

2. Advertise where all the competition is.

Why do advertisers have to be right next to their competition? It’s like the CEO went to the marketing department and said, “Castrol is on a NASCAR, why aren’t we?” So then their logo is slapped next to MOROSO and something unreadable (even in a close-up) typed in a script font.

What if you had the audience to yourself, like Sweet Pete’s Bicycle:

(source: Guerrilla Promos)

You get an audience all to yourself.

Likewise, an motor oil company could “rent” a parking spot from their local Auto Zone. Place a temporary sign stating the spot is reserved for users of their product because their engine runs better, fewer leaks, etc.

3. Being irrelevant.

Who cares:

How long your furniture store has been in business?
You’re the #1 car dealer in the metro area?
Your kid is in your TV ad?

When creating your ad, only think and talk of yourself and the customer never will.

Think and talk about the customer and your relationship with them, and they’ll reciprocate.

4. Never change the ‘wrapping paper’.

Has anything changed in your business over the last five years? I would guess so. Then why are you running the same ads?

First, those who didn’t respond to your message yet, won’t.

Second, maybe some responded and didn’t like it. Now they think nothing changed and they’ll still be dissatisfied.

I’m not saying you have to change the brand message, but give it some new wrapping paper every once in a while. If you have a powerful enough message, then it should have legs to adapt.

5. Basically… play it safe.

Being different seems risky. But being the same is even riskier.

“If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less.”
— General Eric Shinseki, retired Chief of Staff, U. S. Army

—————–

If you’re going to spend money, time and effort crafting a message… don’t throw it all away by painting it camouflage.

“Ugh, another post about branding. I’ve already heard and read too much about that.”

I agree.

This post isn’t intended to give you more information about branding. It’s intended to help you discard what hasn’t been useful.

I’m reading an interesting new book called The Back of the Napkin by Dan Roam. Early in the book, he talks about creating a useful website. He dissected the primary components as Brand, Content and Function.

Brand – What will people REMEMBER?

Content – What do people want to KNOW?

Function – What do people want to DO.

That’s as concise and accurate an explanation of branding as I’ve ever heard.

It made me think:

1. This is why most ‘elevator pitches’ don’t work. No matter how short your pitch is, if it’s not memorable, it’s not effective.

2. This is why many branding campaigns don’t work. People won’t remember what they don’t believe.

3. Most vision statements aren’t branded well. They’re usually so long and full of business buzz words, I never remember them. Like branding campaigns, they’re also based on what the company believes about themselves, not what people remember.

Most branding is forgettable. We’re much better at creating brandnesia than brand memory.

How does this change what you put into your:

• Marketing
• Resume
• Website
• Sermon