St. George and the Monitor

Wise old-timers used to say, “Believe nothing of what you hear, and only half of what you see.”

But it’s hard to believe anyone actually lived by those words.

More and more Americans get their information from monitors, rather than from direct experience.

And non-technical information on our monitors is mostly hearsay or opinion.

So presentation becomes everything.

The more convincingly you say something, the more loyal followers and influence you can generate.

Almost nobody has time to carefully compare various expert opinions before making a choice or decision.

We’re buried under thousands of small instant choices that need to be made.

So we leave our biggest choices to unseen leaders of our status quo.

Almost nothing of what we see affects what we believe.

Many beliefs are defined by what we “hear” online, from the people we choose to believe.

Fifty years ago, playwright Clifford Odets wrote: “All of us should have the values of a St. George. But there is no St. George without a dragon. And we don’t have a dragon.”

That’s more true than ever today, when the only dragons are the beliefs we disagree with.

And in our Photoshopped, overly-engineered world, we can no longer believe what we see.

So we’re 180 degrees from the old-timers’ advice:

We now believe nothing of what we see, and only half of what we hear–the half we happen to agree with.

A Dozen Benefits of Brand-Driven Content

The hottest 20 Google search topics of September 23, 2010 included three related to a leading baby formula.

Number one was “similac recall,” number 10 “similac formula” and number fourteen “similac formula recall 2010.”

So if you sell Similac, you’re getting a lot of attention (in this case unwanted).

But if your business is rain gutters or golf shoes and you’re writing the site content, should you pepper your content with “similac” just to attract millions of eyes? Of course not.

1. Manipulating keyword searches is self-defeating, because people aren’t stupid enough to enjoy being manipulated.

2. Many emails that fly into my email account from SEO or content experts are obviously trying to manipulate me into buying something; they never even get opened.

3. They’re throwbacks to a simpler time (like 2006), when traditional direct marketing content attracted sales by using cute or slightly edgy subject lines.

“I blew it, Carey!” “Last minute surprise.” Such ploys remain popular with email marketing hotshots out there. But even if the sender is a legendary sales trainer, I don’t open his email, much less buy anything from him.

4. Thoughtful people don’t respond to manipulative content, even if it’s cleverly disguised by the copywriter as brand-driven. Don’t expect anyone to open manipulative content just because it was thought up by clever ol’ you.

5. Good brand-driven content doesn’t stray far from a unique brand: your values, core message . . . your “Mantra.”

6. It’s more difficult to attract online prospects into your sales “funnel” than it is to drive thousands to your site through a SEO “heating duct.” That explains why most marketers don’t do it.

7. But you aren’t that lazy; your content is driven by a strong brand. That’s how you attract the right customers. Try to “drive” disengaged prospects with digital smoke and mirrors, and your conversion rate will suffer every time.

8 – 10. Value is first, last and everything. Good content driven by your personal brand has plenty of value.

11. So nourish online business the way a nursing mother nourishes her newborn. Share something of real value–your brand–with people you really want to engage with. Don’t offer a million strangers a prepackaged substitute using quick-and-dirty SEO tactics.

12. In other words . . . recall the Similac.

Words

Like Tom Peters, I’m a Certified Word Fanatic. You should be, too.

* A Word Fanatic is also a master of persuasion
* He or she knows that words are at the root of most business success and failure
* Social media and internet technology have transformed the art of wordsmithing
* How you “turn a phrase” can determine your business’ chances of survival
* Our business choices and decisions are based on less and less information
* So create an initial message that fits onto the screen of a smart phone
* Give each word extra muscle, personal value and credibility
* Like a good project manager or engineer, focus on efficient design–but of words
* Use them to consistently engage, inform and enlighten
* It isn’t easy; but it’s much more productive than just attracting faux “friends.”

Design better words. Say less about more. And succeed.

8 Things To Crave

Are you insatiable for success?

Every day, dozens of digitized experts tell us we should be.

Success is our destiny, they insist–as long as we buy their magic bullet solution.

Really? Being happy comes from accepting some stranger’s self-serving definition of success? A definition that’s blowing in the social media wind?

No thanks. If it’s crazy not to crave that kind of success, I’ll take crazy. I’ll choose to be:

* Insatiable for unconscious human grace, and to watch a breeze picking wildflowers.
* Insatiable for never really growing up, and the certainty of a good breakfast.
* Insatiable to see a machine part suddenly click into place, and the shuddering curve of a horse’s haunch.
* Insatiable, when something “bad” happens, to see what glory is following close behind.
* Insatiable to get better when I’m sick, and to think about how someone can deal with not getting better.
* Insatiable to see random groups dance, and a baby smile over his dad’s shoulder.
* Insatiable for ignorance about what’s in store for me, because that’s how life is.
* So insatiable for life as it is, I know I’ll never get it out from between my teeth

That’s real success. Bank on it.

The Future, Open Sourced

I met my first programmer when I was in middle school. He was the ultimate tongue-tied geek, who even remembered replacing burnt-out tubes in room-sized calculators so he could test his software. He rarely collaborated with end users, or even programmers on other teams.

That’s all changed. Today’s end users directly collaborate on business applications, helping turn open standards into actual software.

Companies and individuals that collaborate on software products can make more money. They help programmers fix bugs and tweak the software to make it more productive and fit their business schedule.

The open-source model exposes a program to public scrutiny, actually increasing security. Problems are spotted and fixed before they can do much damage. Such collaboration also helps level the playing field, since smaller businesses can compete with major corporations.

Is it possible to adapt this open-source model to other complex systems–schools, for example?

It’s already happening with textbooks. MIT puts free courseware online, and Rice University’s Connexions project offers academic content in small “knowledge chunks” or as “groups of modules structured into books or course notes.“ All of it open license content, which anyone can use, reuse and customize.

Collaborative education? Socrates may be coming soon to a school near you.

And if “open-source education” makes textbooks collaborative and free, might a group of teachers, parents and students improve their school in a less hierarchical problem-solving style?

They could organize bottom-up brainstorming sessions, driven by student preferences and abilities. And since we’re suddenly collaborating, why not also address national issues like childhood obesity?

Time to “open source” your business, school or community group. Get a free “Mantra” diagram right here, and get started.

No tubes required.

Confessions of a Business Communication Coach

Business communication has never been as easy. Or as problematic.

It was different just twenty years ago.

The industrial age was about technique and process: it focused on what we needed to do, or to know, to finish our task.

Managers could motivate employees by walking around, occasionally asking a question and making personal comments:

“You did that job well, Joe.” “How can we do that better?” “Let me see that widget again, Mary.”

Employees identified completely with their jobs, and cared more about what managers thought.

But change was in the air.

In 1996, Richard Farson’s very readable little book Management of the Absurd noticed that “The More We Communicate, The Less We Communicate.”

“Increasingly, we seem to believe that everybody should be in on everything,” he wrote.

“Many supposed communication problems are actually balance-of-power problems. That is why it probably is unwise to introduce completely open communication into a situation in which there is a large disparity in power.”

And since then, completely open communication has become the norm. Disparity in workplace power, fed–not reduced–by open communication, grows and cripples many businesses.

“Organizations that believe all their troubles can be solved through increased communicatons may be in for a surprise,” he added.

There’s a time and place for communication. But it needs a strategy, and overcommunicating leads to unpredictable and often counterproductive results.

Maybe it’s time to get up and walk around.

Six Steps to the Heart of Business Success

Do you have a business? Then have a heart.

1. Clarify your core message, what makes you unique. Start every conversation with prospects and customers by telling them Why you’re in business; the what and how are supporting players that will never capture anyone’s heart.

2. Marketing and management are two varieties of conversation. Hold every marketing or management conversation for a clear reason, with the appropriate people (who are in a position to take the most effective action), and with an engaging message or promise.

3. Take humane leadership of your niche market, your staff, or a team. Offer more value to everyone you come into contact with. Today’s leader provides the most real (or at least perceived) value to those very important people

4. Stop dreaming that a single procedure, formula or magic bullet product will move anyone to support you or buy what you’re selling. People have always resisted being manipulated–and never more strongly than today.

Would you freely submit to being manipulated into doing something? Then why expect others to submit to you? “Push” and “pull” will soon become dead as doornails. It’s all about people!

5. Want to feel special? Then talk about yourself, your company, and your activities, But if you’d rather make money, help your customers, prospects and employees feel special. That’s the path to authentic engagement and success with heart.

6. Show how much you value others’ time and attention. Make sure every message is rich with relevance, proof and value. Otherwise you’re wasting their time–and ultimately yours.

Here’s a thought. Post your next blog or marketing message as a craigslist.org classified. You’ll focus on what you’re really offering, get noticed by people in a buying state of mind, and write more clearly, concisely and compellingly than ever.

In The Age of Paradoxes

With our almost unlimited choices in social media and search engines, we always have at least two decent answers to every search, question or opinion.

With so many choices, marketers (including idea merchants and politicians) try to give us compelling reasons to choose their product or service.

These choices are connected by a common category, yet separated by the benefits or features that make them different from each other.

We decide what makes two similar products or services different in just a few seconds. The more effective a marketing message, the more likely we are to choose A over B.

So “on the other hand” isn’t a phrase only for economists now. It’s become part of the process we use to differentiate between our options.

The more subtle the gap between A and B, and the less time we have to compare, the more familiar we become with paradoxes.

Because a paradox is defined as something that combines contradictory features or qualities. Or it can be a statement that seems at first to be absurd or self-contradictory, yet eventually makes some kind of sense.

“The paradox of war is that it involves killing people to stop people from killing each other.”

“The more undernourished our children are, the more obese they become.”

“The more we communicate with each other, the less we really listen.”

As compulsive choosers, we hear paradoxical statements every day and accept them more easily than ever.

And there are rules for the uses, care and feeding of paradoxes. So stay tuned.

The Problem Solver’s Plight

I’ve worked with a number of laid-off managers in the last year. I help them repackage their skills and presentations. We all hope this results in a new job.

The economy, ageism and high unemployment rates are part of the problem. But there’s one issue that even the most experienced managers can’t tackle.

We no longer solve problems–unless it’s with paper clips and toilet paper rolls like the 80s TV action hero MacGyver.

We have more than enough problems. Every day some new mess appears in the news, and corporate boardrooms.

We just can’t get a handle on them.

That’s because today’s dilemmas are different from the problems facing industrial-age companies. They grow out of conditions we don’t want to get rid of.

For example, being able to read someone’s tweet (or to size them up in person) in less than a minute is priceless. But having less than a minute in which to introduce yourself or your idea is tough.

Organizations, companies and especially entrepreneurs need experts who will interpret, reframe and deal with situations quickly, efficiently and very economically (as “betterwords” I offer gigs for $5 on fiverr.com).

And consumers act like race car drivers. They demand “pit stops”–answers to urgent dilemmas–when and where they need them.

Meanwhile, experienced problem solvers–highly skilled, hard-working and decent professionals–find themselves on a very crowded periphery, with no viable solution in sight.

Marketing Snow to Eskimos

“He’s such a great salesperson,” the saying goes, “he could sell snow to an Eskimo.”

But that might not be as hard as you’d think.

The fact is, almost everyone prefers having more of something they already have, rather than something they lack.

Rich people want to be richer; that’s why we have lobbyists. Beautiful people’s desire to be more beautiful keeps Hollywood’s plastic surgery clinics (and the tabloids) humming. Olympic athletes wish they were stronger or faster. And geniuses dream of being more intelligent.

Years ago, Georgia voters had to choose between a sitting governor whom everyone knew to be corrupt, or a young political firebrand. Many old-timers voted for the incumbent.

“We know he’ll steal a million dollars a year,” their reasoning went. “We aren’t sure how much the young guy will take.”

They were comfortable with electing crooks, and saw little point in doing things differently.

Of course your prospects and customers want to enrich their lives and business. But changing to your product or service may require a leap of faith. Why try to make them take it, or use up your resources getting them to trust you?

Instead, discover what your prospects and customers have plenty of. Then pitch your product or service as the best way for them to get more of it.