I’m part of a discussion over at LinkedIn Groups (I didn’t link to it to protect my their identity)  about branding and whether or not it’s still relevant. They’re tossing around terms like media channels and marketing equations. They are confusing brand equity with market share. The marketing insiders just don’t get it. Granted they are talking to other marketing professionals. However, if they are true to their own brand then it is bound to leak through – ask any I.T. marketer about verticals, optimization, and integration.

I’m of the belief that, while the spirit of branding is still applicable (only it’s called promotion), the term branding is WAY over used. And because of the communication platform of the Internet (I tried really, really hard not say Social Media) branding has given way, thankfully, to “having a conversation”.

I used this example:

You have a company of 500 people. 400 people manufacture, package, and ship your super-duper baby spit-up remover. 50 of them are out there selling it. 10 are marketing folks. 40 provide support services and management. What’s the chance of all 500 employees living the brand? A snowball’s survival comes to mind.

Now, you could run a print ad in Parenting Magazine (which I’m actually reading right now ) that reaches 2.1 million (per Wikipedia) and control what your potential customers READ about you. But that brand equity gets used up fast if you publish an inappropriate photo in your online-newsletter (Google Parenting, Fox, Boston).  And look what home equity loans did the the real estate market.

My solution: have a conversation. Start at the largest forum for your industry – it’s not hard to find and Google is your friend. Ask questions to find out what the end-user of your product or service finds attractive about it. Listen to their answers and provide feedback they can understand.

Why do you think the “Old Spice Guy” is so successful? IMB has an idea (BEWARE there are tons of buzzwords) that I think is spot on. They are creating a conversation, in real time no less, that answers questions from their customers. Ding, Ding, Ding. We have a winner!

So what conversations are you starting with your customers today?

Oh, if you think I’m way off base, let’s have a conversation about it

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In addition to his regular contributions on The Motivation 101 Blog, guest author Todd Pillars spends his days teaching entrepreneurs how to appreciate their customers.  Check out his “Just Like Them” blog, but beware: if you give him a reason, he’ll send you a card!

I’ve been talking to a number of new bloggers the past several weeks, and it seems that they’re all getting the same advice from the experts, namely that they should focus on providing valuable content.  This might come as a surprise, but I’ve told all of them to ignore that advice.  Why?

Before I tell you why, let me say for the record that I’m all for valuable content.  I think valuable content is great.  It’s what makes a blog worth reading.  It’s what makes the internet…well, valuable.  But here’s the thing: whether or not you provide valuable content is entirely secondary to what really matters: whether or not you’re interesting.

That’s why I tell people to ignore the advice about valuable content, at least at the beginning.  The directive to “provide valuable content” bogs down a lot of new, and even seasoned, bloggers because they end up spending all their time trying to figure out what readers will find “valuable” instead of actually writing anything.  Readers can never be interested in, and never, ever find value in what never gets written.

The same is true in sales.  I’ve seen salespeople who are completely obsessed with creating the perfect script to use when they make calls or deliver presentations.  In fact, they get so obsessed that they never actually get around to calling, let alone making any presentations.  Again, the desire to provide value gets in the way of actually delivering something valuable.

So how can you get out of your own way?  How can you create something that will grab the interest and attention of your readers or prospects?  How can you craft the perfect post or the perfect pitch to bring them in?

I can only tell you this: stop trying so hard and just go do it.  One of my favorite quotes from Ken Blanchard is this: “Trying is just a noisy way of not doing.”  If you really want to make an impact on others, either through blogging or through your efforts as a salesperson, you’re going to have to connect with them.  And the only way you can truly connect with others is to stop trying to be something else and start being yourself.

This is a powerful lesson that I’m still in the process of learning, and the best advice I can offer is to just let your guard down and embrace who you really are.   Even if it’s only for a minute or two, or however much you can handle without having a meltdown, just feel what it’s like to be totally exposed, basking in the glow of your true self.  It will simultaneously exhilarate and terrify you, especially if you’ve been trying to be someone else for a long time.

Do this, and learn to be good at it, and you’ll have no problem at all being interesting.  People will be drawn from miles around.  Those who resonate with your particular frequency will be attracted to the real you.  They will come from far and wide to read your words or buy your stuff.  And when they do, you’ll be in the perfect position to provide exactly the value they need.

So, I had this crazy idea on Wednesday: why not spend this weekend doing a Blog Building Marathon?  After all, I love blogging, I love the setup process, I know people who want to start blogging but don’t know how, and, best of all, it beats doing yard-work.  Never one to think small, I immediately set a BHAG I could be proud of: I set the intention to create 20 new blogs between Friday evening and Monday morning.  I know, crazy, right?

I told a few friends what I was planning and asked them to spread the word to anyone they knew who wanted to start blogging but needed a little help to get going.  There were questions, of course.  I also posted my plans on Facebook, which generated a few more questions.  I got my first two new bloggers lined up, and they had even more questions.  So I thought, why not write a blog post to let everyone know why I’m doing this and to answer some of those questions publicly.  Here goes:

Why are you doing this? First and foremost, I’m doing this because I love blogging. I think blogging is a great way to connect with other people who share your passions.  I believe that blogging is a fantastic tool for attracting new clients to your business (or new fans for your music, or new readers for your books…you get the point).  I’m also doing this because I’m getting tired of hearing stories from people who’ve paid big money to blogging “experts”, waited for months to see their sites, and still been disappointed with the results.  I figured that if I could knock out 20 blogs in a weekend for a minimal cost, maybe more people would realize that it’s not as complicated as the “experts” make it sound.

What are you offering? Basically, what you’re going to get is a WordPress blog configured with what I consider to be the essential plugins (if you don’t know what plugins are, don’t worry…I’ll send instructions for using them), including a domain name of your choice and hosting for 12 months.  The blog will be built on one of the thousands of available free WordPress themes, with a little bit of customization to make it uniquely your own.  Nothing fancy, unless you really want it, in which case we’ll need to work out some details.  The blog will also be integrated with your accounts on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn so that when you write a new post, your followers on those sites will know about it automatically.

Is there a cost?  If so, how much? Yes, there is a cost.  Basically, I’m looking to cover the cost of hosting, domain name, and my caffeine and food for the weekend, plus a little something for my time and effort.  Oh, and to hire someone to do the yard-work I’m neglecting.  I’m asking $149, but honestly (and I really do mean this), if that’s not in your budget right now, tell me what is, tell me a good story, and I’ll probably do it anyways.  At the very least, I can give you some pointers on doing it yourself.  Which brings us to the next question…

Can’t I just do this myself?  Or hire the kid down the street to do it? Absolutely you can!  Here’s a little secret the “experts” are going to be mad at me for telling you: WordPress has made it super-easy for people with a limited knowledge of computers to set up a blog and/or website that perfectly suits their needs.  I’m just here to help those who don’t want to do it themselves and would like to just show up on Monday morning and start blogging without worrying about all the set up.  If you want some pointers on doing it yourself, send me an email (jerry@jerrykennedy.com) and I’ll be glad to help.

Why not use a free service like Blogger or WordPress.com? Excellent question!  For the definitive answer, have a look at this article from Hubspot.  It basically boils down to this: if you ever plan to use your blog for business or to attract traffic to your own website, you’re better off having your own site with your own domain name.  It’s much more flexible and better suited for helping you stand out from the crowd.  That said, if you really want to use one of the free services, there is ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with doing so.  I have a friend with a very popular blog that’s hosted on the free Blogger platform, and he used it to make $100,000 last year.  No shame in that!

What about SEO?  Do you do anything for SEO?  Because all the “experts” say that SEO is SO important! Glad you asked.  I do recommend you use the “All In One SEO Pack” plugin, which is included in your installation, and I’ll send you some instructions on how to use it.  Here’s the thing about SEO, though: it matters, but not as much as everyone pretends it does.  What really counts with the search engines is whether or not your content is relevant to the person who is searching for answers! Write good content, stuff that your target audience would enjoy reading, and the search engines will love you for it.  Sure, there are ways that you can game the system so that you can “drive traffic” to your pointless, irrelevant website.  Trust me, though; you won’t like what happens when Google catches on to your game, I promise.  Write for people, not for search engines, and the people who align with your values will find you.

Won’t this project just add more crap to the blogosphere? Possibly, but I’m one of those radicals who thinks that everyone should have a voice, if they want one.  After all, one man’s crap is another man’s I Can Haz Cheezburger.

Here’s the bottom line for this project: blogging is one of the most democratic things to come along in decades.  It provides an opportunity for people to share their thoughts, beliefs, feelings, pictures, videos, music, drawings, artwork…whatever…with the world.  It’s my personal belief that there should be no barriers to entry; everyone (even the ones I don’t agree with or who I think are morons) should be able to participate.

And for those who want to use blogs to market their products or attract new clients to their businesses, I say “Good for you!”  I also say you don’t have to invest a ton of money and wait for weeks or months to get started.  I’m a big advocate of “completion over perfection”, and I’d like to help you get started down the road to using a blog as a way to build your business.

So if you or anyone you know would like to have a blog of your very own by Monday morning, send me an email.  The address again is jerry@jerrykennedy.com.  Or just leave a comment with your contact info and I’ll get in touch with you.  And I’m totally serious about the money part.  If $149 isn’t going to work for you, talk to me.

Let’s get you that blog you want!

I love the moxie of a small company in a small town in Northern California who looks at a giant oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and says “Yeah…we can fix that.”

That’s exactly what Mobius Technologies, of Lincoln, CA, has done, and they didn’t stop there.  When Mobius realized that it was going to take too long to get through the bureaucracy and red tape required to get their product approved for use in the cleanup, they set about using social media tools like YouTube and Facebook to recruit a volunteer army and encouraged them to spread the message.

And while I think the powers that be at Mobius Technologies are making a huge mistake by not engaging with bloggers to help them spread their message (it seems they don’t consider bloggers to be “true” media outlets), I can’t argue with the results they’re getting.  Have a look at this video from the local ABC affiliate in Sacramento.

Mobius is starting to get some traction, and I applaud the work they’re doing.  More than that, though, I applaud the way they’re going about it.  Here are some valuable lessons other small business owners and entrepreneurs can learn from the example of Mobius Technologies:

The kind of ingenuity and innovation Mobius Technologies is demonstrating is impressive.  They’re a great example of how vision and determination can lead a small business to the forefront of an effort to solve a global problem.

It’s examples like this that make me believe the future is bright for small businesses, especially the ones who can bring an “A game” like the one Mobius Technologies is playing.  Congratulations, guys!

I wanted to share something I came across last week that I believe demonstrates a lot of the principles that this blog is all about.  Have a look at this video, but don’t form an opinion just yet: 

The reason I asked you not to form an opinion just yet is that I’d like for you to get a little more information before you get too excited and start demanding that this product be used in the Gulf oil spill.  I don’t want you guys and gals to start acting like a “herd”!  I do, however, want for this product and Mobius’ claims to get some media attention so that the product can be vetted for use in the cleanup efforts.

So why am I sharing the video, then?

First, I’m intrigued by the claims made about the product.  Coming from a background in the petroleum industry, I’d say at first blush that this looks like a viable solution to the cleanup problem.  Since Mobius Technologies is local to where I live, I’m going to try to arrange an on-site demo and see for myself.  I’ll bring along a camera to record the demo, and I’ll share that video here once it’s done.

Second, I love the fact that this company is taking a proactive, no-holds-barred approach to getting the word out about their product.  I initially came across this video on a friend’s Facebook profile.  I shared it on my wall, and Mobius immediately engaged with me to find out whether I was willing to help them spread the word about MPU.  They’ve been hitting the social media networks hard (without being annoying or spammy), and their efforts are paying off with local press coverage.  If they keep up the effort, you’ll see this product getting national media attention in no time.

Third, I’m sharing this video with you because I think it’s an excellent demonstration of the power of small business to solve global problems.  How amazing would it be if it really turns out that a small company that recycles polyurethane foam (the stuff that’s in your seat cusions and sofas) can clean up one of the worst man-made disasters in history?  I’d say pretty amazing.  This is entrepreneurial ingenuity at it’s best.

So, what can you do to help?  Well, if you’re so inclined, you can click here to have a look at the “Champion Kit” that Mobius has put together to make it easy for you to share their story with your networks.  At the very least, you can follow them on Facebook and Twitter and check out their YouTube channel.  Learn as much as you can about the product, maybe request a sample and try it for yourself, then decide for yourself whether you’d like to help spread the story of how a small business is helping to solve a big problem.

No matter what anyone says, the internet is the coolest place in the world, especially since that whole Web 2.0 evolution. Where else can you meet so many fantastic people from around the world (and right in your own backyard) who think like you do?

I’ve been reading Walden by Henry David Thoreau for the third or fourth time, and I can’t imagine what it must have been like for a guy like him; he seemed to be constantly frustrated by the refusal of his fellow townspeople to think about anything other than their crops and the latest gossip. Sure, he could go visit Ralph Waldo Emerson (what was it with these guys and the three names?) and chat about transcendetalism, but what then? No wonder he wandered into the woods for a couple of years to just be alone.

Thoreau would have loved the internet, I think. He would have been able to read everything he ever wanted to, connect with other like minds and discuss or debate ideas until the cows came home. He would have found his tribe, have no doubt. I know I have.

In a little over a year, I’ve met more intelligent, articulate, clear-thinking people than I did in the previous decade. Many, in fact most, I’ve never met in person; our relationships are entirely virtual, but the connections are real, nevertheless. Here are a few of my virtual friends and a taste of what they’re doing to make a difference:

Brad Trnavsky

I “met” Brad when another virtual friend introduced me to his Sales Management 2.0 Community. Brad and I had a couple of email exchanges and a phone conversation that spawned the creation of the Sales Management 2.0 Podcast. Brad and I had an instant connection, probably because we both have a passion for seeing sales professionals behave in a way that elevates the profession to the position of respect it deserves. Brad’s taught me a lot, and I’m looking forward to meeting him in person one of these days so we can share that pint of Guinness we keep talking about.

Jim Keenan

I stumbled across Jim’s blog (appropriately titled “A Sales Guy”) on a random search for information about social media and sales. I found that his take on the subject aligned nicely with the opinions that were forming in my head. We started chatting on Twitter and commenting on each other’s blogs, and Jim was eventually a guest on the SM2.0 Podcast. He was a lot of fun to talk to, and more than that he was brilliant. His commentary on motivating salespeople was spot on, and he’s one of the minority of sales leaders who really gets social media. If I ever make it to Colorado, I’m hoping he’ll take me skiing.

Jackie Faulk Dotson

Jackie is one of my more recent virtual friends. We first met on Facebook. I’m not even sure how; we have a few friends in common, so someone must have introduced us. However the introduction happened, though, I remember exactly when the connection happened (at least on my side). Jackie mentioned on her Facebook wall that she’d just written a blog post about living her truth.

That intrigued me, so I popped over to read the post. As I was reading, it dawned on me that Jackie and I were going through a similar period in our lives, a time when it felt like everything was changing and we were becoming the people we were meant to be. And then I read this comment on her about page: “I have a keen interest in business and entrepreneurialism: specifically how to use business and capitalism to actually make the world better.” Bingo. I knew right then that she was one of us, even if she’s a shoe-obssessed, baseball-loving triathlete (i.e. crazy person who isn’t satisfied with running insane distances so adds long bike rides and swims in frigid water to spice things up).

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That’s just three of the people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting online and, even though I’ve never met them in person, I feel like I know them. What’s more, I’ve learned from them. I hope you’re taking full advantage of the incredible opportunity that the internet is affording you to connect with and learn from brilliant people around the globe. If you’re not, you may be missing out on some of the most valuable friendships you could ever have.

I’m going nuts trying to track down a video on YouTube, or anywhere for that matter. It’s an MTV commercial from the early 90s; in it, there are two punk rockers, a boy and a girl, sitting on a curb.

The boy complains, “Nobody likes me.”

The girl replies, “I like you Oliver.”

After a long pause, the boy responds, “Nobody good likes me.”

I remember laughing so hard the first time I saw it that I almost shot soda out of my nose. I wanted to find the video today so I could embed it here for you to watch; it’s funnier that way. So if anyone knows where I can find it, let me know and I’ll replace all this rambling text with what may be the best MTV commercial of all time. Then I can get to the point.

So here’s the point: does anybody good like you?

I think we all get caught up sometimes in the issue of traffic; we think that if our site just gets enough traffic or if our product or service gets in front of enough eyes, we’ll have it made. But is that really true?

I’ll use Jack in the Box as an example. The Jack in the Box commercials (featuring Jack, the man with an giant antenna ball for a head) of the past few years are hilarious. While I normally fast-forward through commercials (I could kiss the guy who invented DVRs), I always stop and watch when I see that big white head flash across the screen.

Here’s the kicker, though: I never eat at Jack in the Box. I really don’t care for their food. I find myself wondering why, if they have all that money for advertising, they can’t make a decent taco. And so, while I like them, I’m not someone good liking them.

And so I’ll ask again: does anybody good like you? In other words, are your marketing efforts reaching your ideal clients, the ones who’ll actually be happy to buy your stuff? If not, it’s time to get clear on who you want to reach and go talk to them in a language they’ll connect with.  Otherwise, no matter how many people like you, nobody good will like you.

Hi kids!  It’s Social Media Fable time, and you get to pick the moral:

Once upon a time, there was a Facebook fan named Jerry.  He was going about his days on Facebook, enjoying his interactions with his virtual friends, and life was good.

One day, he received an invitation form one of his Facebook friends, Mr. G, to become a fan of a bakery in a far-away town.  Since Jerry had never been to the bakery or tasted their confectionery delights, he hit the “ignore” button and thought no more of it.

A few days later though, Mr. G repeated his request to become a fan of the bakery.   Since he still hadn’t tried the bakery’s cupcakes, Jerry clicked the ‘ignore’ button again, and again thought nothing of it.  ”Just an oversight on Mr. G’s part, that’s all,” he thought.

The very next morning, though, the invitation appeared again!  Jerry started to get annoyed, but, as always, managed to keep his cool.  He simply hit ‘ignore’ again and went about his day.  His annoyance grew, however, when later the same day there was another invitation!  ”This is madness,” he thought to himself, clicked ‘ignore’ again, and wondered what he should do.

No more than an hour had passed, though, before the invitation appeared again!

“Enough!” he cried.  ”This is insanity!  What would cause Mr. G to annoy me so?!”

Jerry considered several possible solutions to the problem.  He could report Mr. G to Facebook for abuse.  He could remove Mr. G as a friend.  He could make a public display and call Mr. G out in a public forum, say, for example, Mr. G’s wall.

Jerry, being a kind soul, opted for a more civil solution.  He sent Mr. G a message.

“Dear Mr. G:

First of all, thanks for reaching out. I’m glad to make your acquaintance here on Facebook. I hope things are going well for you and your business.

I’d like to ask a favor. I’ve received several “page suggestions” from you over the past few weeks requesting that I become a fan of a particular bakery you like. I appreciate your enthusiasm for this business, but I’m really not interested in becoming a fan of it at this time.

I have elected to ignore the previous invitations to this page, and I’m going to do so one more time. I’d really appreciate not receiving another request for this page.

If you have other pages you’d like me to consider in the future, I’m happy to do so. Just not this one.

Thanks again for your friendship,

Jerry”

Jerry wasn’t sure what would happen next.  He waited in anticipation of Mr. G’s next move.  Would he receive the invitation again?  Would he be forced to remove Mr. G as a friend and mock him mercilessly in public?

No, for as it turned out, Mr. G was one of the good ones.  ”I’m sorry, Jerry,” Mr. G replied.  ”I didn’t realize I was doing that.  You see, I’m new here, and I didn’t know that hitting ‘Message All’ would re-send my invitations to people who’d already ignored it.  Thanks for the heads up!”

“No worries, Mr. G,” said Jerry.  ”I appreciate your sensible response.  Good luck to you, and may your bakery eventually have 100,000 fans!”

The End

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So kids: what do YOU think the moral of this Social Media Fable should?  Leave your responses in the Comments section.  The best moral for the fable will receive a special prize: a copy of “Motivation 101: Five Steps to Activate Your Potential In Any Economy”, autographed by yours truly.

Have fun!

I wanted to talk a little more about the topic of customer engagement.  I’ve been giving this a lot of thought, in light of the changes that business is facing.  Social media, web 2.0 and a shrinking world are putting tremendous pressure on businesses to adapt to the new expectations of their clients.

Traditional companies, especially those who are looking for their customers among Generations X and Y, have a new challenge to rise to.  That challenge can be summed up in one question: Is it fun to do business with you?

There’s no denying it.  Baby Boomers have for years decried the fact that “kids these days” need to be constantly entertained.  And they’re right, of course.  Just look at phones: modern phones are not made for placing calls, they’re made for entertaining.  So if you’re selling a product or service to this group who need to be entertained, what are you doing to entertain them? Again, are you making doing business with you fun?  If you’re not, there’s a pretty good chance you’re not going to survive.

Tomorrow’s customer isn’t going to base their buying decisions primarily on things like features and benefits or price.  Their expectation is that every company will offer great features, benefits and prices.  After all, this is a generation of buyers who knows how to research, and if you’re not in line with the market, you don’t stand a chance.  No, tomorrow’s net-savvy consumer is going to decide whether or not to buy from you based on the entertainment value you provide.

A lot of traditional businesses are having a hard time figuring this out, as evidenced by the way they are using social media and the web.  They put up static web pages and use social media as a mode of free advertising to promote their own agenda.  Folks, that just doesn’t work any more (if it ever really did).  Have a look around: look at the Zappos’ and Chipotles and 37Signals of the world and you see companies who not only are excellent at what they do, but that are fun to do business with.  They get it, and they are thinking, not of their own agendas, but the agendas of the ones who really count: the customers.

So have a look at your own business and ask yourself: am I (or is my company) fun to do business with?  Is there entertainment value in my/our offering?  If not, how can I add it in and be more fun?  Beacuse even if you’re not targeting Gen’s X & Y now, it won’t be long before you will be.

Oh, and their younger siblings and kids?  Let’s just leave it at this: you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!

While I was driving around yesterday and thinking about some things I wanted to do with this blog to make it better for you, the readers, it occurred to me that I needed to take a bit of my own advice from Monday’s post about the new rules for business, the 3 Cs: content, connection and conversation.

I realized that while the content I’m writing seems to be striking a chord with readers (thank you again for all your support!), and while I’m conversing with you all when you leave comments, I haven’t yet provided a place where we can all connect.  I realized I needed to remedy that as quickly as possible.

Now, call me lazy if you like, but I’m not inclined to take on the responsibility of creating and managing a Ning site right at the moment.  So, I opted to create a Facebook fan page for the blog instead.  A couple of clicks later, it was all done, and I’d like to invite you all to join in the connections and conversations over at the Motivation 101 Blog fan page.

Here’s what I’d like to see on this page: your ideas, suggestions, links, tips and tricks for getting and staying motivated to press forward in your businesses, careers and lives.  I’d like for this to be a place where you can come and ask questions and get advice on how to be a better salesperson for your business.  I’d like to see everyone helping each other in the true spirit of community.

That said, it really doesn’t matter what I want; this page was created for YOU, the readers of the Motivation 101 Blog.  So do what you like.  Engage, interact, tells stories and jokes: whatever.

So let’s have some fun.  Click here to join the fan page, and I look forward to our conversations!