You Are What You Say

The Southern expression “Make yourself useful” has helped many people define who they are, and what they hold dear. And that’s just one example; there are almost as many similar expressions as there are communities.

Social media messaging is making it easier to share these core messages with millions of people.

“You are what you say” is replacing “You are what you eat.”

What we eat nourishes our bodies–or sabotages them. And an online message that tells people not so much what we do, but why we do it well, gains enough value to even nourish a community.

On social media sites we learn a lot about each other. Mostly we tell the world about who we are, and our readers come to appreciate us. Or not.

A message gets read because it has real or perceived value, which reflects our relative value as individuals.

General Colin Powell says a leader must keep his or her followers curious. So add extra value by making sure your message fosters curiosity or learning. Then your chance of becoming a thought leader will grow organically.

When you eat you always want nutritious food. Your readers want content that’s rich in relevance, proof and value. Keep attracting them with what they want. Before you know it, you’ll have your own robust “tribe.”

Your community will grow strong around great messages. As community members interact with you and each other, a culture will blossom, your business will grow, and a more resilient ROI will nurture your business or venture like good food nurtures your body.

You are what you say.

Raising Good Consumers

Texas is one of six states that allow advertising on school buses; the others include Colorado, Arizona, Florida, Minnesota, and Tennessee.

This seems a more politically acceptable way to raise money than increasing taxes. The concept has prompted politicians in Washington State, Ohio, New Jersey and Utah to consider it as well.

Opponents say children shouldn’t travel on “moving media kiosks.” They also argue that parents should be allowed to choose ad-free buses for their children to ride on (multiple choice buses–there’s a great cost-cutting idea!)

But such voices are likely to be drowned out in the end. Commercialization’s just too easy an answer to economic problems.

Some day soon, students may come across various forms of “product placement” in their classrooms. For example:

# Boston’s tourism office could have coupons handed out during American history lessons.
# Dow Chemical products could be prominently featured in chemistry class materials.
# Upcoming exhibits might be advertised by sponsors in art classes (in any schools that still offer art classes, that is).

Sound far-fetched? The writing’s already on the wall-and the school buses.

50 First Steps to a Breakthrough

Did you know that anxiety is an expression of creativity? Why not get creative today?
 
1. Smile–your brain needs more endorphins and serotonin
2. Reorganize your kitchen drawers
3. Paint something. Anything. With anything
4. Show a waiter or waitress they’re special
5. Read a favorite book to a child, upside down
6. Attend a wedding and toast the couple with a poem
7. Send a Christmas card to someone for their birthday
8. Carve something from a potato, then eat it
9. Make up a song with nonsense lyrics
10. Be thankful about something ordinary
11. Reframe an annoying sound as a call to action
12. Make a great breakfast for someone you love
13. Read the Heart Sutra while breathing deeply
14. Find two dissimilar things that have something in common
15. Record your first thought in the morning
16. Enjoy a casino with just $5
17. Write down a homeless person’s favorite story
18. Sing in the garage with your kids
19. Buy the first little thing you see in a store
20. Find something you like about someone you hate
21. Attach a picture to your ceiling
22. Convince an older person to do something silly
23. Write a sonnet about spare parts or produce
24. Pray for an acquaintance in need
25. Buy macaroni and cheese at an Asian supermarket
26. Write a speech about something you’ve just learned
27. Balance a coin on its edge and watch it for a moment
28. Open a branch office overseas just for fun
29. Transform your business lunch into a special event
30. Leave the computer off for a full day
31. Walk across a dark room without stumbling
32. Take a nap at night
33. Transform a hurtful comment into a compliment
34. Eat popcorn while smiling
35. Create an alcoholic snow cone
36. Listen to a type of music you never much cared for
37. Recall everything you ate yesterday
38. Share the story of your biggest mistake
39. Interview a child and post the video
40. Buy medicine for someone who’s sick
41. Put lemon in your coffee rather than milk and sugar
42. Give an acquaintance your favorite book
43. Thank your Mom until she believes you
44. Turn a picture into a short story
45. Let your dog take you for a walk
46. Massage the bridge of your nose for two minutes
47. Give someone you love a foot massage
48. Choose a cloud and make it your landmark
49. Tell people thank you until you begin to feel happy
50. Catch me if you can!

Get Tweetable

* Which customers or collaborators can help your business grow?
* Decision makers, always in the market for quality information.
* As long as it’s relevant, clear and concise. Really concise.
* Don’t expect them to read wordy, derivative articles or blogs.
* Or hang around networking events and flaccid Facebook pages.
* They demand real value, in messages that’ll fit on iPhone screens.
* Offer them bite-sized solutions to business problems and challenges.
* Excellent concise content can transform leaders into your followers.
* They’ll read articles like this on Twitter, posted one line at a time.
* So your messages will help business succeed for years to come.
* Just keep the messages short and sweet. Tweet tweet.

Lessons from the Olympics

At this year’s Olympics, great athletes demonstrated their amazing talents. Olympic organizers, meanwhile, did great at Whistler and really dropped the puck in Vancouver.

Whistler had fewer events and less infrastructure. It was a huge “block party.” Fans could wait in short lines and get pictures with friendly medal-winners, enjoy international camaraderie, and celebrate authentic achievement.

People of all nationalities and ages rubbed shoulders and dreams in a real-life international social network.

Just down the valley in Vancouver, commercialization and other familiar forms of crowd control ruled. These fans waited in long lines to reach arena-quality seats or restrooms. Only a lucky few, in the front rows, had any chance of long-distance interaction with the equally dismayed athletes.

(Fans at home had to watch rebroadcasts. “Prime time” is completely blurred in the internet age, but NBC needed the ad revenue)

The longer lines in Vancouver were there to protect the bottom lines of sponsors and organizers.

Most internet marketers (and the businesses that follow their advice) still share these same dreams of control and ownership of our experience. The online leaders and taste-makers are “servant leaders;” they organize around their followers.