This week’s collection of good reading doesn’t easily fall into any one category. We cover marriage, digital generations and lots of other stuff. So take it for what it’s worth, but know you’ll be smarter for reading it. Enjoy.

1. Practicing Marriage, by Jon Swanson: If there’s one thing I’ve personally learned in my almost 7 years of marriage, it’s that there’s nothing naturally easy about marriage. Jon says it here much eloquently than I ever could. His idea of practicing marriage is so dead on.
2. Are You a Digital Native or a Digital Immigrant, by Brian Sullivan: It’s too easy (and too common) to simply assume the young “get” technology, and the old struggle with it. I’ve spent time with plenty of people younger than me who don’t always have the digital chops you think they would. I sometimes wonder if those of us who got used to the web in the pre-2.0 days actually had to develop some useful skills that today’s whipper-snapper doesn’t. Regardless, this post by Brian got me thinking, and it’ll reframe your thinking as well.
3. Bill Hybels Addresses Speaker Change, by Michael Hyatt: So Howard Schultz ditched a speaking engagement at a church because some gay people took offense to it. Bill Hybels’ response in this video is awesome and perfect. Where you line up on this issue matters not. Take notes on how you handle a tough, sensitive situation and use it as an opportunity to simply show strength, care, and then move on. Love it!
4. I’m in Love with Schwood, by Steve Sammartino: What a great way to tell your story! I had no idea where this thing was taking me, but I hung on until the end just to find out. Using copy and print to sell something like this simply doesn’t capture it like using video.
5. Selling the Benefits of Charity, by Seth Godin: What are you really selling when you’re selling a charitable act? Are you short-changing yourself?
6. Announcing the Complete Google Algorithm History, by Dr. Pete: OK, search geeks. This one’s for you (us?). Definitely more in-depth than most of us would ever care to go, this cool collection of all of Google’s changes is pretty dang cool.

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It’s great being a goofball. It’s even better being a goofball with a guitar. But it’s completely AWESOME when you can be a goofball with a guitar with a friend and business colleague at an industry event.

As I recently wrote about, my summer has been a busy one, and it started with the Direct Selling Association annual conference in Miami. Many of you already know of Jen Fong, the social media expert of the direct selling industry (as well as frequent commenter and guest poster here at MiP). But did you know she’s got the ghost of Pat Benatar hiding deep within her soul, and it came rushing out at the DSA’s Got Talent event at the convention this year?

And who’s that hot guy in the green wig?

Here’s the link to the video if you can’t see the embedded version above: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUAfjwxwkUo

Needless to say, good times.

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You are someone’s expert, and someone’s student.

You are someone’s hero, and someone’s enemy.

You are coveted by some, and pitied by others.

You are targeted by some, and ignored by others.

You make things clearer to some, and confuse things to others.

You are attractive to some, and ugly to others.

You are impressive to some, and disappointing to others.

You are someone’s boss, and someone’s employee.

You are someone’s master, and someone’s subject.

You are someone’s leader, and someone’s follower.

You are someone’s counselor, and someone’s patient.

You are smart to some, and stupid to others.

You are a virtuoso to some, and an amateur to others.

You are advanced to some, and basic to others.

So …

Realize it. Accept it. Embrace it.

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At the beginning.

Technology shouldn’t matter at the beginning of your planning stage. This is where a lot of people screw things up. An idea is sparked, and everyone immediately jumps to what technology can currently do or can’t do.

Our system doesn’t work like that.

Those two things aren’t integrated.

Let’s make the Facebook Fan Page do this.

These are all typical responses when new ideas are hatched. We naturally jump to what’s tangible. And that can be terribly limiting.

Using technology as a guide or inspiration certainly isn’t a bad thing. But it’s not meant to be the main thing. Technology is only supposed to further proliferate a concept, a message or an experience.

So spend all your vital, creative brain power upfront on solidifying that concept. Don’t be limited by the technology you currently have access to. Or the ways you typically use technology. Instead, nail the concept and the crowd who needs to be introduced to it. Figure out what they’ll like, then make technology serve that master.

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Social media marketing has now become an integral part of business processes and it is important that business owners take proper advantage of these tools if they want to take their business to new heights. In the following article I will be offering some tips on how businesses can use social media to build customer loyalty.

1. Be human

Social Media is a great way for businesses to relate with customers on a more personal basis. Customers will have the impression that they are being cared for and that they can have access to help and support if ever something does not work out as promise. This can indeed help to increase customer loyalty. So make sure that you interact with your customers and reply to all messages that they leave.

2. Conflict Resolution

We all know that it is easier to retain a customer than to win him or her back and social media allow you to do just that. Very often frustrated people may tweet negative things about your brands and products and monitoring this can really help in building your reputation as a dependable company.

3. Give your customers what they want

Often marketers think that offering discounts and coupons should be enough to attract customers to their social media platforms but this is far from the truth. According to a research carried out by MarketingSherpa , customers are more interested in insider information pertaining to the products and the services that they use. So it might be a good idea that you provide such information if you want to build customer loyalty.

4. Marketing Research

By making use of social media sites you can effectively understand what your customers want from you. This can be a great way for you to tailor your offerings to make sure that they meet the expectations of customers. This can consequently lead to increased customer loyalty. Make sure however that you ask the right questions though and also provide a form of incentive for your followers to reply.

By the proper use of social media, a business can indeed improve its marketing channels whereby improving customer loyalty. It is important however that there is a two-way traffic for customers to feel that they are being listened to and also cared for.

Charles Borromeo is the writer behind Justice-Explained.com, a site devoted to explain legal questions in layman’s terms. He is also a passionate blogger during his free time.

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Have you heard the latest uproar over Mark Cuban’s recent blog post? It’s been a while since the Benefactor stirred the digital pot, so it’s nice to know he’s still got the touch. And this latest post had to do with new media and the locker rooms.

Essentially, Cuban made this point in his opening paragraph:

In the year 2011, I’m not sure I have a need for beat writers from ESPN.com, Yahoo,  or any website for that matter to ever be in our locker room before or after a game.  I think we have finally reached a point where not only can we communicate any and all factual information from our players and team directly to our fans and customers as effectively as any big sports website, but I think we have also reached a point where our interests are no longer aligned. I think those websites have become the equivalent of paparazzi rather than reporters.

I disagree with Cuban’s premise (although it doesn’t fire me up like it has some other local media folk), but his post is filled with accurate opinions of today’s journalistic landscape. Just like my attitude toward Charlie Sheen’s recent craziness, I disagree at the core, but can definitely pull out some great points.

Which is what I’m going to do here, thinking specifically of how Cuban’s quote applies to the even broader application of media and communication today. Here we go:

1. “This isn’t 1983. This isn’t 2000. In the year 2011,we are in a completely different media landscape.  So let’s take inventory of the platforms in the locker room.”
   Cuban begins to make a case that all the current communication platforms (like website, blogs, Twitter, etc.) make it possible for the players and team to completely provide communication distribution to the “outside world.” This is a horrible idea strategically, but it is a fact. Pretty much any company has every platform necessary to communicate on a broad scope. A laptop, flip cam and an idea does a great company make these days. Are you leveraging your inventory of platforms?
2. “Newspaper has to be in the room. I know this is counter intuitive to some, but it is a fact. Why? Because there is a wealthy segment of my customer base that does not and will not go online to find out information about the Mavs.”
   I love it when Cuban pulls back the curtain and reminds us that he is, first and foremost, a business owner. He knows his audience. He knows he needs to reach that audience. And he knows what media suits them best.

   Of all people, you would think Cuban would embrace the idea of no print media faster than anyone. But his target audience (at least one of them) won’t allow that, and he’s well aware of it.

   Do you know your audience well enough to know which channels work best with them? Even if it’s an “old-fashioned,” traditional channel, if it reaches them, use it. The point is not using the shiny new toy. The point is reaching your audience.

3. “The internet reporters who get paid , IMHO , are to the Mavs and any sports team, the least valuable of all media . …  They tend to look at the number of page views they get for any article as ‘their ratings”. More is better. Which in turn leads them to gear their work towards generating more pageviews.”
   This is where Mark is taking most of his flack, because he goes on to explain that these reporters don’t have the Mavs best interests at heart.

   Well, of course they don’t. They’re the press.

   But there’s still something to his post. There are writers who know how use good copywriting, strong headlines and polarizing ideas while still maintaining some ethical and professional standards. And then there are those who are just looking for any type of scoop, factual or contrived, to boost pageviews. Because most of them are getting paid via the impressions or clicks of ads on their sites. And if TMZ has taught us anything, any dirt that’s half true gets way more eyeballs than the straight truth.

   Shunning this temptation yourself is a choice. Will you succumb to the easy pickin’s that trashy, attention-grabbing writing brings, or will you take those principles and, well, add some principles around it? 

4. “Unlike TV and Newspaper,  I have access to reach their online audience. Not only do I have access, but so does each of my players through their own twitter and facebook accounts. Why not just use twitter, Facebook fan pages, Mavs.com and  or our own media platforms to communicate with online Mavs customers and fans ?”
   Here’s Mark’s biggest point, methinks. He’s essentially let these people in the locker room to serve a function he can’t serve himself. He can’t do what the Dallas Morning News can. He can’t get to people the way Channel 8 can. But he, and his players and staff, can pretty much reach the Internet audience just fine.

   Theoretically, he’s right. Practically, that’s not enough. Because 10,000 people writing each for an audience of 100 is still better than 20 people each writing for an audience of 40,000. There’s something to be said for the multitude of outlets.

   Of course, with that comes a multitude of opinions, takes, tones and motives. You have to deal with it.

   But what I do like about Cuban here is the true essence of his point, which is, “I can’t control who writes or what they write about, but I can control who from that group can be in my locker room.” Can’t argue that one. It’s his locker room.

   In fact, think about it for yourself. Who are you letting in behind closed doors for the sake of “transparency” or all the other social media kumbaya that some sing so loudly?  You can’t stop it entirely, but you can certainly stop it and/or influence what’s happening on your turf. 

5. What do you think? Just proving that he does still actually get it, Mark ends things wanting feedback. Which is crucial here, because he’s showing that a) he realizes this idea is different and b) he knows it may not be popular. Even more so, he wants to know what his audience thinks. Which is what makes Mark Cuban “Mark Cuban.” He’s not a stuffy, by-the-book owner. He’s a fan. He’s relevant. He’s often wrong, but at least he’s wrong on the side of passion and moving forward, pushing through risk.

Even through the process of writing this, I’m leaning even more toward the side of Cuban on this. He’s not banning certain “journalists” (however you want to define that) from writing; he’s just banning them from his locker room. And while it sounds unreasonably self-serving, his motive seems to be in protecting the psyche of his team. It’s not about “controlling the message.” These leading, pot-stirring questions cause tension and friction, especially over time.

You’ve known people like this. People who prod. Who spark conflict. Who instigate. We all want to get rid of them.

Mark Cuban just happens to be able to do that in his situation.

———-

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdlasica/2854793035/sizes/m/in/photostream/

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If you’ve read anything about increasing your blog traffic, there’s no doubt you’ve heard at least one piece of tried-and-true advice:

People love lists.

In fact, I bet you’ve heard it so much that you don’t want to hear it anymore. I bet you want to hear something new. I bet you want to challenge the status quo.

But before you do …

I noticed the sidebar of Copyblogger.com the other day, where it lists the most popular posts on the site. It’s a list of what I would assume are the top 30 posts on the site.

Guess what: 21 of the 30 posts are list posts. Another two of them include numbers in the title.

This is one of the most popular blogs about blogging and copywriting on the web. It’s safe to assume they know something about this. So let’s save the explanations and rebuttals and excuses and just accept one simple fact:

People love lists.

Wanna grow your blog traffic? Give people more of what they love.

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I received a tweet from a friend lately that I feel captures what many of us deal with on a regular basis. In response to something I wrote on selling and marketing not being the same thing, my friend said this:

I keep trying to explain this to Dad. As a good salesman, he thinks being good at marketing means being good at sales. Sigh.

Yep, we marketers deal with confusion over what is what all the time. I know my mom typically calls it all “promotion.” Others use the term “marketing” when they’re actually talking about “selling.” Then too many others think “marketing” is essentially just “advertising.”

Sigh.

Granted, it is a blurry line. When does marketing start and selling begin? Or does it even work that way at all?

I submitted my thoughts on the topic recently at The Dale Carnegie Way site (San Francisco edition), titled Defining the Blurry Lines Between Marketing and Sales. I’d love to get your input on it, as I don’t think I’ve got it completely figured out.

While you’re at it, be sure to check out the interview tips post. It’s pretty good stuff, as well.

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It happens.

People get fired. Good people. Sometimes for good reasons. Sometimes not so much. But it happens.

In fact, I’m betting you know someone who’s been fired recently. Someone who sat nearby. Maybe a boss. Maybe it was you.

I had a colleague and friend recently let go, and I found myself wanting to help as much as I possibly could. Which is the normal reaction, I suppose. Unfortunately, what that normally leads to is just a bunch of “wanting” and not a lot of “doing.”

So here are some things I figured I could do to help my friend out that I thought were worth passing along.

1. Give a LinkedIn Recommendation. Actually, you probably should’ve done this while you were still working together, but since most of us don’t touch our LinkedIn account until we’re jobless, you should go do this now. This will take you no time at all, but could make a big difference for your pal. Those recommendations can go a long way. Plus, they’re great pick-me-ups.
2. Be the connector. Personally introduce your friend to people in your network that come to mind. It’s not enough to pass along an email address or phone number of someone you think could help or may have a job opening. That’s just too awkward for your friend (“Uh, yeah, Brett told me I should connect with you … so …. let’s connect …). Make the introduction yourself, and break the ice that is always the hardest part for everyone. Tell your acquaintance some of the specific reasons he should get to know your jobless friend, and tell your friend about how you know the acquaintance. Throw some humor or inside jokes in there, too. Nobody likes stuff like this to be too stuffy. The fact that YOU make the introduction rather than forcing it on others makes the whole thing work exponentially more smoothly. (By the way, this always looks good on you, too. Some people even make a career of connecting).
3. Blast it out to all your networks. Once you’ve made those personal, specific introductions with a handful of people you think would be a good fit (see #2), you should now leverage all your social networks and contacts list and spread the word in bulk. Send an email out to 100 folks. Private message everyone on your LinkedIn account. Tweet it out, and use appropriate hashtags to make sure the right people find it. You never know where a fit will, well, fit, so get it out there and make people aware. If you really believe in your buddy’s skills, then you’re doing everyone a favor by making them aware that he’s available. This obviously shouldn’t sound spammy. You’re helping a friend by tapping into your network, so be sincere and clear.
4. Pass along some networks to follow. Your jobless friend has a lot more time on his hands than he used to, so pass along some stuff you know he should check out. This could be broad, but things that come to mind are networking events, conferences, twitter hashtags (especially chats), Facebook or LinkedIn Groups, or even influencers in his specific industry. If you’re at all savvy with social media, you can be a big help by just showing your buddy how to find people online.

So what’s missing here? How do you help people who are looking for a job? Or how have people helped you? Any specific tools or resources that have done an awesome job for you?

p.s. Whether you have a job or not, chances are you’ll get something out of the MarketingInProgress.com newsletter. It’s sent every 2-3 weeks, and it’s free. Sign up now.

Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytvdinner/

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When working with clients, I always tell them that they need to be themselves when they are speaking. While we should look up to people and try to emulate some of what they do, trying to copy someone else will make you come off as insincere and your credibility will decrease. Just be yourself and you will do just fine.

This thought came to me twice during the Super Bowl ads – and they both happened to be featuring Eminem.

To me, Eminem has always had a split personality – Eminem and Slim Shady. One is very serious and the other is a goofy screwball who just wants to create controversy. What is interesting is that he used these two personalities to perfection with his two ads.

In case you missed them, the first ad that he appeared in was a quirky Lipton Brisk Ice Tea commercial. Lipton has had some success over the past couple of years featuring various ‘stars’ as cartoon characters promoting their products (my favorite has to be Sylvester Stallone). So Eminem’s ‘Slim Shady’ character was a perfect fit: someone who’s just looking for money and have fun doing it.

The second commercial was a very serious ad featuring not only Chrysler, but the entire city of Detroit. If any city needs a re-branding, it is Detroit. This commercial featured a little bit of Eminem’s music (which you wouldn’t quite recognize unless you know the song ‘Lose Yourself’) and him talking in a very serious way.

So the question we have to ask ourselves is: Did Eminem stay true to himself?

Personally, I enjoyed the Chrysler ad a lot. Is it going to make me go and buy a Chrysler? No. However, it did make me think about their brand and what it means. Long-term this is a good thing for Chrysler and one that I think is also going to help Detroit. I think that Chrysler and Eminem stayed true to themselves and wanted to show the rest of the world what they – and the city of Detroit – are all about – not what other people think they are.

Travis Dahle is the Chief Communicator for his company Dahle Communication Group. Helping clients become better at communication and presentations is his passion. He shares his thoughts about communication and how you can become a better communicator on his website. He is also a proud contributor to Rock Your Business!

Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/42002245@N04/

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