Think back. Waayyyyyyyy back. There may have been a time when, as a child, you had a security blanket. Call it your bunckie, your bubby, your woobie, Rex … whatever it was, you likely gave it a special name and it gave you an ever so wonderful feeling in return. It was warm and fuzzy (especially right after it got out of the dryer). You always felt safe and secure when it was with you, which was almost always. The bond you had made you feel as if something bad would certainly happen if you didn’t have it close at hand. Your woobie never passed judgement, never let you down and required very little compared to what you got back. This was a magical connection for sure.

Question; How do YOU become a security blanket?

In a powerfully short read, Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles outline how to create “Raving Fans” out of your customers. One of their core ideas is that it’s not OK to settle for “good” customer service. To create raving fans, you must go way beyond the extra mile. You have to give your customers specific reasons to pass along your praises by word of mouth - to become evangelists.

Here’s my tip. Read the book but instead of seeing this as an exercise of creating great customer service, define the task at hand as becoming the security blanket. Foster that warm and fuzzy feeling. Make it so your clients can’t live without you. Do that, then you’ve succeeded. As a bonus, there’s a wonderful prize at the end of this journey. If you succeed at becoming the security blanket, you’ll find you feel the same about the client. You’ll be willing to do more for them. The delivery of service will seem less like a chore. The work you do for them will seem to go faster and you’ll have a deeper sense of fulfillment and appreciation.

Good luck with this process! However, watch out for those fabric softener sheets! They’ll stick to you as you climb out of the dryer.

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Often, in conversation with new clients who have not yet made any moves away from traditional media toward new media, I get the comment, “…that stuff really doesn’t apply to [me, my business, my product, my service, my industry].”

Let’s take an extreme example to show the correct way of thinking.  What if you were running an extremely low-tech company — hand carved wooden signs?  AND, you were located in an extremely rural area of an extremely rural state (NH)? AND, what if many/most of your clients were not tech savvy.  Am I missing anything? Can you think of a more extreme example of someone who could claim that new media and Internet technologies “aren’t right for me”?

You already know where this is going, right?!  Here’s the story …

J.D. Iles at the Lincoln Sign Company in Lincoln, NH indeed “gets it.”  He has dramatically shifted his marketing to new media strategies and is intent on becoming the household name, globally, for his industry.  To get a little viral lift going, he’s running a contest on his site right now where you could win one of his beautiful hand-carved wooden signs, simply by commenting on his blog!  Check it out here.

This is really a shining example; Traditional product, traditional industry, new media marketing plan, new media marketing tactic (blogging), viral campaign (buddy commenting - BTW, a new one on me), a freebie give away … this is fabulous stuff J.D.!!!   By emulating J.D., I hope all business owners can see that the only obstacle to improving their marketing is the limitation in their own way of thinking.

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It’s critical that you understand the dynamics of “The Long Tail” as introduced to us by Chris Anderson. Seth points out if you have a choice between making a hit (a point in the head of the curve) or an alternate choice well out on the long tail, go for the hit. BUT, he also points out the reality that you usually don’t have a choice. Extreme competition up in the head is indeed harsh.

What to do? Although the competition in the head makes it very difficult to ever have a “hit” … or, more specifically, to plan a hit … the competition down in the long tail is quite light. I may not be able to get a top 10 ranking for the phrase “buy life insurance” (using Seth’s example), but it should be pretty easy to get a decent rank on the long tail phrase “Bolivian Sushi“.

Sooooo, here’s the question; “Which is better? A million visits coming from a single “hit” phrase in the head? … OR, a million visits coming from 950,000 less popular phrases out along the long tail?” I think the obvious answer is, “they’re both the same.” Although the former requires a lot of fortuitousness, the latter requires a lot of content, planning and time commitment.

Bottom line; Tapping into the long tail can be hard work, but you get to control your own destiny. Crossing your fingers and hoping for a hit is much more risky.

Anyone up for sushi tonight?

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This past week, Kevin Martin, chairman of the FCC, stated that the cable goliath Comcast had essentially violated the agency’s principles on open access to the Internet.

What does this mean for you?  The topic is called “Net Neutrality” and these landmark cases, going on right now, will determine the future of how the Internet works for you (and your kids).  The question is simply whether a service provider has the right to impose restrictions (equipment, filtering of content, use of applications, etc.) on a network in any way.  Imagine if one network creates a really cool new gizmo or application.  Should another network service be allowed to block its use or charge extra for it simply because it sees it as competitive?  The obvious answer is no.

Before the flame wars start here, however, let me state that this is nothing short of complex.  Both sides of the argument have valid points and the resolution of this topic will not be an easy one.  The direction these cases take us will forever impact all of our lives.  Important:  Take note of this topic, if you haven’t already, and voice your opinion.

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I procrastinated — ACK!. Although I started the planning almost a year ago, I didn’t put the date of PodCamp Boston 3 on my calendar. Realizing that it was coming up soon, this afternoon my business partner Richard and my lead developer Howard and I looked it up and found out that tomorrow/today (Wednesday, July 16th) is the last day to register and the event is this coming weekend. The thing is that I’m committed to several other personal obligations and although I tried (really tried) to justify getting out of most of them, I couldn’t. I - AM - BUMMIN’!

OK, so what does this say about the event?! It’s going to be a DOOZIE! If you have the opportunity to sign up and you’re available to hang out in Cambridge, MA with some of the world’s leading social media gurus, do it now!

If you make it there, tell Richard and Howard to take lots of notes … I’ll read them later through my tear stained eyes. WAH!

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Another masterpiece by Chris Brogan.

Some people are unoriginal and just regurgitate other people’s stuff. Some people aren’t social or interactive. HOWEVER, some people (like Chris) are able to take a simple list of sites and craft it into a valuable resource. One with well thought out, and brief, explanations, and then a follow up with his community to ask for additions to the conversation.

We can all learn a lot from this one simple post … not just from the great content but how it was written. Well done Chris!

[Sorry folks.  This one was delayed because it was inadvertently sitting in my ‘drafts’ section. I’m calling this post “required reading” - including all of the referenced articles/posts]

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At the 2008 WidgetWeb Expo, I think all but just a few of the two dozen+ presenters felt compelled to give an explanation of what a widget is. Considering the audience was one of the most motivated group of widget developers/users/consumers on the planet, I thought this more than a bit odd. After a little bit of thought, however, I came to the conclusion that the explanations were clarifications of their own particular view … that the concept is far from clear and that there is no consensus on what exactly a widget is.

There are start page widgets, web widgets, social network widgets and even desktop widgets. They can be simple or complex. They can be coded in a myriad of programming languages.

Sooo, I decided to come up with my own metaphor for describing what a widget is to the average layperson. Here goes …

Let me start the metaphor by having you think of your business as a home-based business out in the suburbs. The house itself is your web presence. Got it?

OK, now think about how MOST businesses conduct marketing. They build billboards, they post flyers, they send postcards to people, they publish yellowpage ads, etc. All of these tactics are performed with the intent of motivating people (located elsewhere) to come to your place of business (your house - your web site). Getting people to get off their duffs to come see your wares is no small feat — especially on the web.

Now, consider the nearby small town or city. In our metaphor, these are social networks (MySpace, FaceBook, etc.). This is where all of the warm bodies are located. All of those people are milling about, doing their day-to-day tasks. Are they ripe to get an in-your-face advertising pitch? NO WAY! How about your well crafted billboard advertisement. Doesn’t work. It is, indeed, a marketing case of “water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink.” Tens of millions of consumers that are aggressively insulating themselves from marketing messages.
The way I see it, you have four options;

ONE — Build a new city. If you control the city and can get people to occupy it, you’ll have a ready and waiting group of people who might be consumers of your goods and services. But what a monstrous task that is!… building your own social network is NO small feat!

TWO — Continue marketing your services the old fashioned way. The tried and true marketing strategies of days-gone-by require no extra learning curve on your part but they still work … kinda.

THREE — Learn about the New Rules of Marketing and PR. Now we’re talking. Best use of the web and technology to make direct contact with the consumer.

But, there’s another way. Back to our metaphor …Â

FOUR — Pack up some (or all) of your business into a cart, take it into the city and park it on a street corner. Surrounded by millions of consumers, you’re sure to land sales you never would have made by waiting patiently back at your house. Are you ready? …. the cart is a widget!Â

Through widgets, consumers are exposed to your company (content, products, services, etc.) without having to leave the social networks, communities, blogs, web pages or even their own desktop. The cart … uhhh, I mean widget, provides the content conveniently and immediately. The widget makes it easy for them to spread the word about you virally to all of their friends, and the connections you make are facilitated by the networks and communities where the widget is placed.

The next logical question for you is, “what kind of widget can I make for my business?”  Good question … give me a call if you’d like to chat about that (888-825-3300)

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