stevebuelow.com
Great marketing, in the absence of character, will eventually tick off even your best customers!

Okay… quick recap from yesterday.

No, I’m not referring to the weather report I gave, or the coffee menu for that matter…

I’m speaking about the survey conducted by Harvard Business Review that asked 600 execs to rate the number one motivating factor in the work-life of their employees.

Here again is my recollection of the choices that they were given:

* Financial Incentives and Benefits
* Social Interaction and Interpersonal Support
* Recognition for Their Achievements
* Progress in Reaching Objectives
* Formulation and Communication of Clear Goals

Now, I suppose if we went back thirty or forty years, that same set of questions would have invariably elicited a majority response about pay and benefits… though to be truthful, thirty or forty years ago we probably didn’t have “Interpersonal Support” or “Communication” issues on the list… did we?

In any event, back to today.

And the winner, according to 600 top corporate managers is… Recognition.

Just one problem… it seems they all forgot to ask the employees.

**************************************************************************************************************

Yes, this study which included hundreds of workers who kept detailed journals and in which they emailed their entries to researchers every day for several years, wanted…

Progress.

That’s it… simple progress toward their goals.

It seems, believe it or not, that our people don’t like roadblocks… don’t relish wasting their time… and don’t enjoy spinning their wheels any more than we do.

Imagine that.

Oh, BTW… the article goes on to say that the variable that managers rated dead-last was… yup, you nailed it. The very thing that the vast majority of employees said was the most important characteristic when it comes to happiness and motivation in their careers.

But then again, Abraham Maslow could have told them that decades ago.

I look forward to speaking with you.

Questions:

Are there any areas within your company in which sufficient progress is not being made toward the stated goals and the expectations of your team?

What are three concrete steps that you can take this month to significantly move the dial?

What resources do you need? Are you prepared to pull that together? Will you?

Photo Credit:

E-Strategy Blog

Time: 9:48pm CST
Date: Last Evening

Mood: Positively Excited
Location: 44.262512,-88.478597

Temperature: Start at freezing…
then subtract 37 Degrees, Fahrenheit.

Yeah… I know, it’s nuts.

Though I suppose after awhile you do kinda get used to it… you know, like the story of the frog that is boiling… only in this case, the frog is freezing its buns off!

But alas, I digress.

Anyway, as I traveled I thought about savoring a voluminous Cafe Americano over the latest issue of Harvard Business Review, and how that would likely benefit me in more ways than one… so I stopped to enjoy the atmosphere of a favorite bookstore thirty minutes from home.

As I placed my order and picked up the publication… my mind still dwelt on a phone conversation I had finished just minutes earlier. You know, stuff like proper goal setting, effective motivation, and our role as leaders in moving the dial forward for our organizations and… more importantly, for our people.

Taking a chair by the fireplace, I opened at random to an article about… this was so cool… motivating employees!!

Imagine that.

**************************************************************************************************************

Thirty years ago, I remember thinking that financial compensation was the prime motivator in business, and no one could have told me any different at the time.

Of course, this likely had much to do with Abraham Maslow, the “Hierarchy of Human Needs”, and the fact that I saw donating plasma as a legitimate part-time job!

Sorry… another digression.

But, at some point… as we fulfill our basic physiological requirements and eliminate our concerns for safety and security… other needs, higher needs… become more important.

Easy stuff.

So… back to the HBR article. They asked six hundred or so executives to identify what is most important to their people… what are their employee’s needs… what one variable is most important in motivating the entire team to win.

Here, in no particular order is my paraphrase of the choices they were given from which to choose… they are, of course, our choices as well.

* Financial Incentives and Benefits
* Social Interaction and Interpersonal Support
* Recognition for Their Achievements
* Progress in Reaching Objectives
* Formulation and Communication of Clear Goals

Go ahead and choose one… and we’ll pick up the discussion again tomorrow. I look forward to hearing from you.

Photo Credit:

Vintage Daydream

Many years ago, a mentor told me that anytime we compare ourselves to others… we lose.

The way the principle was described to me, and the way I have described it to countless others, is like this…

If I compare myself with you… all I know about you is what you have shown me.

In other words, more than likely… all I know is your BEST characteristics. On the other hand, I know all of my own WORST traits, ’cause, well… I’ve lived them!

So, I take all of your BEST qualities, and I compare them against all of my own WORST… and, voila… I have, in effect, widened the gap to the furthest possible extent!

Not wise.

**************************************************************************************************************

This is on my mind tonight because I’ve had several discussions over the past week or two with some folks on the the subject of authenticity.

Now, I know that word is getting a lot of play in terms of transparency in marketing… but we were looking at a different context.

You see, this conversation revolved around the concept as it relates to being real… and being real approachable to those whom we might influence in the realm of coaching or mentoring.

It all started when a young man called me for advice on a business matter. He had made some promises… had lost a significant five figure sum… and now stood to lose even more, if… he kept his word.

He wanted to know what to do.

Well, it’s really pretty simple, I said… you just need to figure out if your word is any good, or not.

Silence… followed by six or seven additional seconds of absolutely no talking whatsoever!

Then…

“Yeah,” he said, “I knew that’s what you were going to say… but man, you don’t know how it feels to lose that kind of money.”

Oh, my…

**************************************************************************************************************

I asked if he had a few extra minutes… and then described a period of great financial loss… in fact, many times the size we had just discussed seconds earlier. The stress… the depression… and the sleepless nights.

He was stunned… and he was thankful. Through sharing my story, he received the gift of hope.

Would I walk this road with him, he asked. And the answer, of course, was yes… after all, it may be part of the reason I had to learn the lesson in the first place.

Authenticity.

It means allowing others in… letting them see us when we’re not at our best. It is showing our humanness… and yes, sometimes our brokenness. Authenticity is the source of the strength that comes from shared experience, from overcoming in similar situations.

It is knowing… because, well… you just know.

One of my favorite old scriptures refers to the fact that we all kinda suffer from the same stuff (my translation).

The question is whether we will allow others to see those hurts… those challenges… the illness or pain or failure. Do we find it necessary to present a perfect face… or will we let others see us fall? And if they see us fall, will they also witness as we get back up again and again and again?

Oh yeah, and one more.

Are we then willing to take our experiences… both positive and negative… and walk along side someone else? To provide encouragement and hope that is based on having been through that fire a time or two before?

The answers to these questions… will determine the degree to which we have any influence at all.

Application:

What is the greatest personal or professional challenge that you have overcome in the past 60 months? Are you willing to walk through that minefield again… this time to help another individual or family safely to the other side? How and where will you find them?

They’re waiting…

I look forward to speaking with you soon.

Photo Credit:

The Only Anla

My friend, Warren, lives on a small piece of limestone and coral about six hundred miles southeast of Puerto Rico and just beyond the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea.

Recently, I suggested that maybe we could meet halfway and hang out in Miami for the weekend… but then I remembered that he doesn’t like the cold that much!

Yes, depending on where you live, Miami could be toasty warm or just a wee bit chilly… it all depends on your point of view.

For example, the current weather outside my window right now is listed as “Fair”… yes, fair… temperature is 7 degrees, with a wind chill of -1.

And just in case you’re not familiar with the concept of wind chill, here’s the rule of thumb… when headed outside, cover anything that you don’t want to fall off.

Yes, different points of view… indeed!

**************************************************************************************************************

My dad has a saying for these situations, which sounds something like, “Well, my boy… it all depends on how you look at it.”

Oh, the number of times I heard those words while growing up… and how many times I’ve probably said them since!

It kinda goes hand in hand with other remnants of ancient wisdom like, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” or, “With this much manure… there’s got to be a pony in here somewhere!”

But alas… I digress.

Obviously, the gist is that our attitude positively or negatively colors our perception of our circumstances. At the same time, it’s our job to make sure that our circumstances don’t unreasonably affect our attitudes!

It’s a circular reference and, of course, that’s the real challenge.

Yes, it is all in how we look at it.

**************************************************************************************************************

I remember reading once that virtually every life-altering invention is simply a remedy to an otherwise difficult, troubling, or annoying process or circumstance.

To be sure, great advances in technology, business, and medicine are often preceded by a set of events that simply cry out for innovation.

But here’s the thing.

While everyone can see it… and everybody feels it… there are always just a handful who view the situation as an opportunity to act… to make a difference… to leave a legacy.

And as they proclaim, “There’s got to be a better way,” one thing is certain… there’s a relatively good chance that they’re going to find it.

And the difference? Just the point of view… and a willingness to act. I look forward to speaking with you soon.

Photo Credit:

Robert Paul Young

I don’t know about you, but Christmas is definitely one of my favorite times of the year.

Well, actually Fall is my favorite time of the year… Christmas is just my favorite holiday… so I suppose what would make a perfect situation would be to move Christmas to October.

Then again, I like the week between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, so I guess we would kinda have to move New Year’s Day back a few months also.

Hmm… so here’s what I’m thinking. This is going to mess up a lot of vacation plans and fiscal years and such, so… at least for the time being… let’s just plan to leave it like it is.

But I do have another idea you can implement almost at once.

With just seven days until the new year, most everyone who plans to make resolutions probably already has a good idea of what they’re going to be… and we’ll speak some more about that in a few days.

But here is a thought.

Most resolutions tend to be pretty “me-focused”… you know, lose weight, make more money, quit this or that, improve whatever… but, why not turn that around?

Why not focus on someone else?

Yes, this is one thing I love about Christmas. On this day, when one third of the Earth’s population celebrates a 2000 year old gift that was given to the world… and another third celebrates the gift’s that they give to each other… why not carry the spirit of giving forward, and make a year of it?

Yes, why not spend some time in the next week identifying the needs of another individual… someone who has no means whatsoever to return the favor… and then resolve to make one of their dreams come true in 2010?

And then please write and tell me about it… I’d love to connect with you.

Merry Christmas.

Photo Credit:

Jurvetson

In 1906, ecomomist Vilfredo Pareto obeserved that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by just 20% of the people.

A star was born!

In no time, the Pareto Principle… the 80/20 Rule… would become an almost universally accepted measure in teachings on economics, business, technology, and success.

Suddenly, we learned that the top 20% of achievers earn and control 80% of the worlds wealth, while 80% of the population fights over the remaining 20%.

We heard that 20% of salespeople make 80% of all sales… 20% of the members in your church give 80% of what winds up in the collection plate… and the top 20% of taxpayers pay 80% of all taxes.

It also turns out that 20% of what we eat gives us 80% of the real nutrition our body requires… 20% of our clothes are what we wear 80% of the time… and 20% of our customers give us 80% of our revenue.

Yes, it has application to seemingly everything… health, finances, mathematics, even software. As reported a few years ago by Paula Rooney at ChannelWeb, Microsoft calculates that 20% of the bugs are responsible for 80% of all crashes and errors.

Which, of course, my Mac friends seem only too happy talk about… but alas, I digress.

Though as you’ll see… the uses for Pareto’s Principle are only limited by our creativity and our priorities.

**************************************************************************************************************

I think my favorite part of this principle is the one which states that we should spend 80% of our time on the 20% of activities that really move the dial on our goals.

You see, if we do that effectively, it generates plenty of income so that we can invest the remaining 20% of our time on other worthy projects… projects that are critically important, but which may not add to the bottom line.

For example, I have some incredibly talented friends who run a nationally recognized Ad Agency in which they have turned this rule into a company policy. Yes, they’ve made the rule, well… a rule!

As defined on their website, part of the company philosophy is to invest back 20% of their time and creative assets to help non-profit and community projects through pro bono engagements…

And make everyone’s life a little better in the process.

I don’t know about you, but methinks Vilfredo would be proud…

I look forward to speaking with you soon.

Photo Credit:

Wikipedia

One of the great things about New Media is that anyone, anywhere, can suddenly go into business and brand themselves however they want.

Of course, one of the watch-outs with New Media is that anyone, anywhere, can suddenly go into business and brand themselves however they want!

Now, you already know that I’m all for people working for themselves… I’ve been beating that drum for a very long time. And you also know that when it comes to New Media, I’m certainly all for the price!

To be sure, with a cost-basis fast approaching zero, New Media should be high on everyone’s list.

And without doubt, new technology always spawns new opportunity.

For example, if you spend much time at all with Social Networks, and assuming you have a few thousand friends or followers between them… you already know that this technology has given rise to an entirely new entrepreneurial class.

I am speaking, of course… of the Guru.

A month or so ago, a businesswoman who lives between Puerto Rico and Miami sent me a message on Twitter, commenting on all the self-proclaimed “Gurus” on the Web.

How do you know who to believe?

Indeed.

I told her that it may be just me, but I don’t trust anyone who has the word “Guru” printed anywhere on their business card… or tattooed anywhere on their body! Though in retrospect, some of the new ink does look pretty cool… but alas, I digress!

**************************************************************************************************************

In any event, I just swung through my Facebook Group requests and Twitter DM’s and am happy to report that there are scores of these Gurus ready to drop everything to help me get it all together.

With just a few clicks, I could take advantage of offers to help me create income streams of hundreds of dollars in just minutes, thousands of dollars per day… even hundreds of thousands of dollars in the next month!

All from Wealth Gurus who are ready to help me unlock ancient secrets.

I also have Health Gurus who will teach me the path to live darn-near forever, Love Gurus who will teach me how to… well, let’s just leave that alone for the moment, and Workout Gurus who are ready to unveil the six-pack abs that have been hidden away for years, and are now just ready to burst forth!

Hmm… that one may actually be worth a try… I gotta go!

PS: Caveat Emptor

Photo Credit:

Vintage Collective

Ahh… Marketing Claims.

I was driving up from Chicago the other day and, as I often do, spent a few minutes in between phone calls scanning the AM Talk Radio Stations listening for anything political.

Suddenly, this catches my attention… as does anything to do with New media…

“Coming up next on ‘Expert In The House’ we have Robert W. Glockenspiel of Good Stuff Marketing to talk with us about the importance of New Media and Social Networking.”

Now, of course… I must make the following disclaimer.

“The story you are about to hear is true… the names, including that of Robert and his company, have been changed to protect them from embarrassment.”

Now, this was one of those commercials that is really nothing more than a paid advertisement, but it is set up to try and fool everyone into thinking it’s an actual interview on a business radio program.

I’m not sure, but I don’t think they’re fooling very many… but alas, I digress.

So the radio announcer, playing the part of Mr. Interviewer says something along the lines of, “So Robert… this Facebook and Twitter stuff is really important to a business nowadays, eh…?” (A little Wisconsin lingo for you there).

To which Robert responds, “Oh, you better believe it is… Facebook and Twitter are HUGE parts of our business! In fact, I can safely say that we were really the first agency in the state to recognize their role in Marketing… and we’ve been preaching that message now since the late 90’s!”

Really.

Now… just in case you’re wondering, that would truly be the definition of an “early adopter”, given that Facebook was not available to the general public until September of 2006, and Twitter… while having spun off from it’s sister odeo.com in 2006… didn’t make a splash with the public until it dominated the SXSW Festival in March of 2007.

Anyway… I am always looking to learn, so I recorded Robert’s info on my mp3 and checked his accounts when I got home.

His company Facebook page had 4 Fans; his Twitter account 17 Followers… 3 of whom were bikini clad women offering content that was, well… Not Safe For Work.

C’est la vie…

I look forward to speaking with you soon.

Photo Credit:

SkeezyWizBang

Okay…

So in preparation to continue our last discussion, I just sifted through my In-Box looking for the stack of Online Newsletters that I received over the past two weeks.

They are pretty easy to find, since… well… they all pretty much look the same.

Ahh … I bet you can see the point developing already.

Here are a few of the Subject Lines to get you started…

“December Newsletter”
“December Newsletter”
“December Newsletter”

And, oh yes… “December Newsletter”

Then, we have…

“December News”
“[Company Name] December News”
“[Company Name] December Newsletter”

And finally…

“Holiday Savings at [Company Name]“, and
“Try Our [Company Product] For The Holidays!”

Which BTW, still strikes me as odd.

I am not kidding… I was walking through the Bay Park Square Mall with my daughter last night and Santa looked like the doggone Maytag repair man… I swear he was the loneliest guy in the place!

So, I waved and then HE SAID…, “Happy Holidays!”

Can you believe that… “Happy Holidays”… from Santa. I couldn’t help it… I just had to ask him which holiday it was that we were talking about!

In any event, I did wish him a “Merry Christmas”… but alas, I digress.

**************************************************************************************************************

After all, the point of this article is about how to get people to read your Online Newsletter, and separate yourself from the crowd.

And not surprisingly… the idea would be to actually separate ourselves… to offer something that differentiates us from the masses!

I could take a hundred of the newsletters like those mentioned previously… mix them up… and there isn’t a person alive who would have any idea why they ought to open a particular one.

Same… boring… redundant.

And in virtually every case, the Subject Line screams, “HEY… LOOK AT ME! READ ABOUT ME! LISTEN TO WHAT I HAVE TO SAY ABOUT… ME!!!”

Yes, we all want to be important… we all want to be loved. It’s all about us.

Here’s a tip… why not use next month’s newsletter to engage your would-be reader, and talk about… them.

Yes, think if my accountant sent the following headline…“This One Mistake Will Cost You $1500 Before New Years Eve…”

Or if my Chiropractor offered… “Three Facts You Must Consider… BEFORE Getting Your Child A Flu Shot…”

There’s a zillion ways to bring value to the conversation.

And I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that I would absolutely read an e-mail sent to me by my Insurance Agent that read… “Bundle These Two Policies And Save 27% in 2010!”

This is so simple.

**************************************************************************************************************

So, what do Accountants and Flu Shots and Insurance Policies have to do with your business?

Maybe nothing… and positively everything!

Why not take the next three weeks and sort out the questions and concerns, along with the fear and the pain that exists in your customer and prospect base… then, prioritize the top twelve and lead with that in each month’s newsletter over the next year?

Now, wasn’t that easy… you’ll likely double your Open and Read Rates, and you’ll do your customers a real service by giving them useful and relevant content that is worthy and respectful of their time and attention.

Or, then again… I guess we could always tell them about how great we are in our “January Newsletter.”

Yikes!

Questions and Applications:

What benefits would your top three customers say they currently receive from using your products or services? Provide the testimonials as the lead story for your Jan-Mar newsletters.

What are the top three most frequently asked questions that people have about buying the type of product or service you offer? Answer the questions in the newsletter issues for Apr-Jun.

What three questions should they be asking before making a final decision on a product to buy, or supplier to use? You got it… you’re going to use these to headline your Jul-Sep mailings and get your readers to open them as soon as they arrive!

What are the three most common fears or uncertainties that people have when shopping for the type of product or service you provide? Can you believe it, you’re already set with powerful, interesting, and engaging issues for next Oct-Dec!

And yes, I look forward to speaking with you soon also!

Photo Credit:

FlyNutAA

We all want to be loved.

And not just that, most of us also want to be noticed, appreciated, sought-after, respected, and… valued.

Yes, valued. We want to know that we bring something to the table… that we are making a difference and impact.

And one of the ways we do that is to give of ourselves, through acts of service… by sharing our time and influence… and our ideas.

Yes, we want to know that our ideas are valuable… that we can change and improve circumstances just by the way we think.

So imagine brainstorming a solution to whatever needs a solution that day… clarifying and organizing your thoughts completely… outlining your arguments and tracking the entire concept through to a logical and powerful conclusion… and then publishing your recommendations on your new blog that, as far as you can tell…

No one else is reading.

**************************************************************************************************************

Now I just checked and, as of today, this site is read by thousands of wonderful people in 63 countries… but it wasn’t always so.

In fact, the scenario I described above… you know, the one where no one is reading… was pretty accurate as to how it was when I started out just a year or so ago.

Okay, so before we move on, and in the interest of transparency and full disclosure, I must admit that I have never had ZERO readership… on the contrary, I have always been able to count on my wife and daughter!

But, alas… I digress.

In any event, over the next few weeks we’ll spend a fair amount of time speaking about some options you have in engaging others in online conversations… whether that be through your social networks or video channels, your blogs or podcasts, Internet Talk Radio Networks, or any of a zillion applications for e-mail or online newsletters.

In fact, it was a series of discussions last week about how to improve the Open and Read Rates on Corporate Newsletters that prompted my thoughts here tonight.

So tune in next time… or subscribe over on the right…and we’ll see about doubling your industry’s average on your next mailing!

Until then, I look forward to speaking with you!

Photo Credit:

Moriza