Write what you know. And what I know right now is pain. The oh, ouch, owee-kazowee hurty-feeling of rollerblading gone bad. I was a victim of the whee-factor, skating way too fast. That’s when gravity stopped being my friend. And when skin encounters asphalt, you can quote me on this, asphalt always wins.

Then I started thinking (guess the fall shook loose some extra neurons) that rollerblading is a lot like building a business. I know it’s an illusive analogy, but just like the Federation folks on Star Trek, I’m on a mission to seek out and discover strange new connections between unlikely events. So before the giddy relief of surviving small time trauma fades, here are my injury induced insights on the ups and downs of business and rollerblading.

Risk is a sure thing. “D’oh!” That’s why you wear protective gear, unless like me you have sweaty knees and elbows and eschew the pads. Of course that’s where I got the boo-boos. (Note to safety engineers: I do wear a helmet and wrist guards. And yes, I’m smart enough to know when I’ve been stupid.)

Being in business is risky too. But some degree of risk is far less dangerous than complete risk avoidance. Decisions have to be made based on the information you have; not deferred until you have ALL of the information. In my observation, indecision and 11^th-hour enactment syndrome are far more costly than a thoughtful acknowledgement that risk is present but that the opportunity is worth it.

Mid-course correction. Henry Pollack, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Michigan, served up mid-course correction when I interviewed him for our podcast.  (Sorry, the interview is still in post-production.)  Mid-course correction is such a solid and scientific way of saying if something doesn’t work out change things up. Of course change can give rise to uncomfortable feelings too. But which would you rather be, stuck in something that’s not working or simply make an adjustment and carry on?

To mash-up and misquote Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, “Nothing last forever, neither good times nor bad.” In other words, now is not forever. If something in life or business isn’t working out it doesn’t have to keep on keeping on. I mean, eventually my rollerblading boo-boos will scab over and heal. I just have to deal with it for now. And you can deal with the risk of poor results by making a mid-correction correction. It’s the smart thing to do and it makes you sound smart too.

Dynamic balance, obviously I didn’t have it. But life, business and certainly rollerblading all demand it. It’s all those tiny little adjustments,; flexed knees, head over body and the absence of chasm-like cracks in the pavement that keep you on your feet. Dynamic balance in wingtips and pumps requires a nimble accommodation of a changing environment too: requests and questions, diplomacy and candor, clear-heading thinking and crazy ideas.

Here’s the deal.  Failing is painful. So is falling down. But as long as we’re able, we get up, we get smarter and we grab hold of the chance to continue with both hands.  It also helps to have at least one foot on the ground.

Eggs as art.

Easter has come and gone. But a well-decorated egg lasts forever, at least in pixilated form. So what’s the dipping, the designing and the unpredictable process of creating colorful eggs have to do with choosing a marketing firm? More than you might think.

Pricing: There’s no denying that cost is a consideration when choosing a partner to promote your business. Just be aware that you will get egg-zactly what you pay for. Store-bought eggs are uniform in color, they’re mass-produced in un-chick-friendly environments, and they’re devoid of the very characteristics that makes them genuinely eggy: an orange sun yolk, a resilient white, and a yummy, buttery taste. If you’re the real deal and you want others to know it, you might want to invest just a little bit more to work with people who know how to market (and even create) colorful characters.

I Changed It So It’s Mine: Okay, I borrowed this from Lawrence Clore, an ardent foodie who knows how to cook up a storm. His particular gift is to start with someone else’s recipe and then reinvent the formula so that the finished dish is entirely his own. He’s married to my work partner so we often joke that he should write a cookbook with the title I Changed It So It’s Mine. But the ability to change things up is what the right agency can do for you. This goes beyond business book stuff like ‘your unique selling proposition’. What’s uniquely human about what you do, make, or sell? Why would someone tell a friend about what you offer? You see, anybody can make egg salad. But only Larry Clore can make HIS egg salad – which, by the ways is delish. And only you can provide the thing that is uniquely yours – even if you start with eggs like everyone else.

The Invaluable Immeasurable: Everybody’s talking about metrics. How do we track page views, click-throughs, time spent, impressions, word of mouth and more? How do we validate results? I’m all for the thoughtful consideration and assessment of marketing activities. But I do worry that we are so obsessed with the means of measurement that we forget some things of genuine value are immeasurable. Yes, we can break people into parts, analyze their online behavior and adjust campaigns accordingly. But the risk is reactive marketing, like leading by a poll. I’d rather help people discover something they didn’t know they wanted, couldn’t have imagined they needed, and wouldn’t have said they would purchase. Measurement can inform your decisions, but it cannot remove risk. If you want someone to take your pulse, go with a metrics-driven group. If you want someone to breathe new life into your business, take a look at the invaluable factor of creative thinking.

You can’t give people egg-zactly what they want because they often don’t know what that is. Instead, why not delight people? Be a good (and colorful) egg. Be resourceful and serve up your brand of egg salad. And when you choose an agency, see if they measure up in all the imprecise ways that will make them egg-zactly right for you.

Cereal Marketing

What could be easier than starting the day with a bowl of cereal? It’s simple, right? Well, not exactly, especially if you’re me. Think of Rachel Ray and her trademark grabbing of an overloaded armful of ingredients. That’s me in the morning with my four boxes of cereal; mixing and measuring like an alchemist seeking to transform base elements into a grainy kind of gold.

It’s not important WHY I do this (quirky accounts for most of it). So the relevant question is really this. What does cereal-making have to do with social marketing?

Repeatable not Repetitious

I love my breakfast mix. That’s how I start most every day. I repeat the process but it never seems repetitious. That’s because I have the freedom to add more raw oats one day, pull back on the bite-size goodness, and regulate the amount of crunchy stuff I choose to chow down on. I’m taking a product and creating my own platform, uh, breakfast. The act of making it mine is a comfortable routine but it’s not boringly repetitious. It’s me being me. It’s mine. I own it.

Personalized Mix

I’m pretty sure that cereal makers didn’t have me in mind (or anyone else for that matter) when it comes to my personalized mix of multiple brands. What’s cool is that the product comes in discrete packages that can be consumed any way you like: by the handful, in a bowl, with lite vanilla soymilk (anyway, you get it and yeah, as my husband reminds me, soy beans produce soy liquid – not milk as he defines it).

But it’s the box, man. The box lends itself to a mash up of massive proportion. It’s made in a factory. It’s churned out on a massive scale and yet I have the ability to make it personal. Here’s the point. Companies that produce a product that acts like a platform are the companies who get ahead. If you can help people do what they do only make it easier, you win.

Your Brand is What I Say It Is

Don’t panic if people use your brand and make it their own. This is opportunity knocking if you know the rule. And the rule is: you’re not the only one who gets to tell people what your brand is. People can now tell you what your brand is to them. That’s the prize that shows up in the box between your ears if you’re ready to listen.

Jan's Swag

My friend Susan is cool. She makes cools stuff. Best of all, she gives cool stuff to me. This is worthy of celebration and, obviously, comment since I’m motivated to write about it.

Being the fortunate recipient of unique designer gifts has made me consider the importance of giving cool stuff to people. Sadly, I lack the ability to create one-of-a-kind handbags, lavish beaded bracelets, or stylin’ cowls that make a fashion statement while eradicating the winter chill from necks bereft of a turtleneck sweater.

But my friend’s largesse raises the question of what are the rest of us doing? Are we giving cool stuff? What does that really mean? And how is it relevant as we encounter the necessity to earn a living? Rarely at a loss for words (ask anyone who knows me), I believe that my good fortune in having a gifted (and generous) friend reveals something important that the rest of us can use in the quest to be remarkable.

The sharing of the cool thing is just as important as the cool thing . You can be the creator of cool stuff (yeah, I know, I’m overusing the word). Or, you can be the conduit for sharing this useful, genuine, worthy-of-comment thing, idea, insight or information. It’s the selfless sharing of something that is meaningful to people. Even an intensely personal declaration like “I love my kitty”, can create a connection. Especially if it’s attached to a bigger idea (rescue kitties) or a diverting video clip of stupid cat stuff that makes people smile. But beware of sharing that forgets about the recipient. In some circles that’s called ‘blurting’, and it’s almost always boring.

Personal relevance equals remarkable. People talk (if you’re really good) they rave about you, your product, your service or your cause. Why? Because it’s relevant to their experience. And if you’ve done something remarkable, like salvage a customer service problem gone horribly wrong, that’s cool. And people will share their experience because, well, it’s remarkable. The opposite also applies, so serve up some cool and save yourself a lot of grief.

Appreciation is a pay back that pays off. When someone gives you something cool (a referral, an insight, or the name of a good facialist) appreciation is the way you pay it back. Then your sincere appreciation (this has to be communicated not just thought inside your head) inspires you to engage in a cycle of sharing and exchanging. And, one step at a time, this is how relationships are built. Let’s not forget, you can also pay it forward and be proactive about sharing your appreciation. Reciprocity isn’t a given, and you sure won’t get it if that’s why you’re doing it.

I appreciate my friend and creative co-conspirator Susan Bachman. Yeah, she makes cool stuff and better yet, she gives cool stuff to me. Best of all, she gets me and I get her. And, on occasion, I get her handbags at Banana Republic. They’re not handmade, but they are cool, and they’re given with sincere appreciation.

What about you? Are you or your company creating, sharing and showing appreciation for cool stuff? I’m talking about the world of ideas and information too, not just swag or lumpy objects large and small. If you are, I’ll say it one more time. That’s cool. And it’s worth talking about.

After 91 years of providing marketing services to client companies (dog years, but that’s how hard we worked) my partner at Market Arts Creative, Susan Bachman, and I knew it was time for a change.

We looked into the future (metaphorically) and saw that we weren’t going to be part of it unless we embraced the social and interactive media of Web 2.0.  Happily, we were fearless and unaware of how much we didn’t know.  Now, after lot of work and a little suffering, we’re ready to share the 7 biggest secrets that we’ve learned about podcasting so you don’t have to do as much of either.

 Bumpy Beginnings

18-months ago we didn’t own a single iPod, knew absolutely nothing about how to produce a podcast and we thought social networking was something you did at a chamber of commerce meeting.  But we embraced technology with the complete confidence that any girl places in a product that holds the promise of a transformational makeover.

The buzz about new media can be intimidating, but we’ve learned that with a little (okay, a lot) of help from the Apple Genius Bar it CAN be learned. And (this is important) you don’t have to know it all to put it to work in your business.

Secret #1

Purpose.  Figure out WHY you want to podcast.  What do you want to achieve?  How will you know you’ve succeeded?  Who do you want to reach and why will your podcast be of interest to them? 

In our case, we wanted to re-focus the business around the creation of own podcasts, showing (not telling) clients that we can do the same for them.  We also wanted to celebrate and promote the practical application of creativity, equating ROI with return on innovation.

Secret #2

Structure.  Yup.  You heard it here.  Podcasting, like any creative endeavor, isn’t about freedom.  It’s about working within a constraint and using those boundaries to discover a fresh insight.  It’s about structure, not about freedom.

Our first encounter with structure was the necessity to decide on our podcasting format, choosing from: Narrator; Co-hosts; Host with guest; Host with panel (preferably no more than 3 panel members).

In our enthusiastic state of not-knowing, we captured (yeah, we started with video and that’s a story for another time) so much content that we spent light years in editing.  Let me be clear.  Don’t do that.  Decide on the format and length of your podcast first.

Here are a couple of podcast that I really like.  And they execute their formats well.

Mignon Fogarty’s popular Quick and Dirty Tips for Good Writing is a breezy, informative 5-minute show that works well in the narrator format.

Mike Duncan’s impressive narration on The History of Rome runs for 20 minutes. It’s so well done it seems like two.

The Mayo Clinic’s Medical Edge is a 2-minute podcast on subjects ranging from Arthritis to Hockey Injuries.  It’s good, but it would be even better if they gave you a personalized podcast visual to look at during the run time.

BBC Radio’s In Our Time, hosted by Melvyn Bragg is one of my favorites.  The show runs about 50 minutes with the charmingly quirky Mr. Bragg interviewing a 3-person panel on the history of ideas from Newton’s Laws of Motion to Marcel Proust.  It’s smart, lively and not at all stuffy or egg-heady.

With more than 125,000 audio podcasts available on iTunes in 2007, there’s plenty of material to explore.  Just let the clock help you decide on the length of your podcast because you’ll spend approximately 15 minutes editing every minute of audio capture.  

Secret #3

Audio Quality. YouTube has adjusted our video expectations downward.  Stuttering delivery and poor lighting are now acceptable.  But poor audio will kill a podcast.  We wanted to keep production levels high and our budget low.  Here’s what we did.

For solo narrator or two-person podcasts we usually work with a freestanding SnowBall microphone.  It provides good audio capture for an affordable $100.00.  While the SnowBall gives you a few options to reduce ambient noise, we learned that in noisy settings lapel mics are a necessity.  Also, some guests aren’t comfortable cozying up and staying close to a free-standing mic.  And if you have a combo of low and loud talkers, you’ll need the multiple sound tracks to equalize the voices in post-production. 

We invested about $1,000.00 in 3 wireless lapel mics, audio box and software.  We did learn one thing that you’ve got to know.  Wireless mics are great for reducing the trip and fall factor.  BUT if you’re in the vicinity of powerful microwaves or a passing long-haul trucker using a CB, you’ll get feedback.  LOUD FEEDBACK!  And your audio engineer will cry (or swear) depending on their personality type.  If you want to attract listeners, audio quality matters as much as quality content. After all, who wants a sonic boom directly in their ear bud, followed by an unintelligible murmur?

Secret #4

Big Picture to Pixel Thinking.  Even though we podcast, I wouldn’t advise a client to do so just because they can.  But there are compelling reasons to add podcasting to your marketing mix.  Actually, there are 18.5 million reasons.  That’s the number of people in the US listening to podcasts right now according to eMarketer. They project 65 million listeners by 2012, with $435 million spent on podcast-based advertising. 

We looked at the big picture and saw that podcasting was going to put down roots.  Like author Chris Anderson’s premise in his book, The Long Tail, when production costs are low, then custom content (like ours) can be a hit even if it only appeals to a very small audience.  In other words, thinking small might be big for your business too.

Secret #5

Re-purpose Content.  Yes.  Podcasting takes an investment of time and a commitment to continue for the duration of your marketing strategy.  It may sound strange, but once we started podcasting we found content all around us waiting to be re-purposed. It’s common for people to blog before they podcast.  Not us of course, because we wanted to put on a show (entertain and amaze, you know?)  Our interview podcast, Conversations with Creative Minds, inspired the Creative Juice audio podcast where we talk about our talk show.  That led to our blog, Conversations with Juice, where we write about what we talk about.  It’s a self-recycling center of ideas that grab us, technology we like (because it’s techno-idiot friendly) and our take on the business of being creative for a living. 

Look at existing material and resources and find a way to re-purpose them. If you’re blogging, posts can serve as the catalyst for a podcast.  If blogging isn’t your thing, take a look at white papers, articles or business presentations that already exist.  And don’t forget about your in-house resources; super sales people, new applications, technological breakthroughs and industry trends. Raw content is already there once you direct your attention to reinventing it.  Keep in mind that the best content is a conversation between you, your guests (if you have them) and your audience.

Secret #6

Search Engine and Client Optimization.  While search engines are still not adept at reading audio files, podcasting can boost your search engine presence if you post a written transcript online; preferably on your web site with links to selected social networks.  This is a really good thing to do if you’re not building your online presence with blog-based content. 

We also use our podcasts as a way to stay in touch with clients and colleagues, announcing the release of a new episode with a link back to our web site and social platforms.  Our page views always spike following the release of an e-newsletter.

Secret #7

Podcasting as PR Opportunity.  Our podcasts have been a great source for PR coverage.  Inside Mac Radio, OnineBizU, CommercialCreationCenter.com, Metro Chick Radio, and Crain’s Detroit Business have interviewed my partner and me.  Our conversations with guests have positioned us as knowledge leaders by association and interpretation.  And knowledge leaders are always in demand as sources. 

If don’t already subscribe to Peter Shankman’s Help a Report Out, do it now.  Many of our PR opportunities are because of HARO’s emails and Twitter alerts.

Is podcasting right for your business? 

Only you can decide.  But here’s a bonus secret as you think it over.  Don’t let a lack of knowledge be the only reason you don’t podcast.  It’s never stopped us and, let me state the obvious, we’re still learning.

I feel your pain. There’s too much information out there and it’s changing too fast. But the pressure to sound informed is unrelenting, particularly during the dangerous hours of 5 – 7 p.m., when real time, face time takes place. If you’re okay with social networking but terrified of actually talking about social networks, here are 10 little tips that will see you through any small talk situation.

Scan the list while you’re in line at the cash bar and you’ll be good to go. Just don’t get smug. You don’t want to blow an actual social networking opportunity by sounding too superior about the world of Web 2.0 (or anything else for that matter).

1. Name drop. When hasn’t this worked? If you’re not a thought leader in the new world of social media, talk about someone who is. You can’t go wrong by mentioning any of these:

Chris Brogan has been called the blue-collar guy of social media. Shake your head as if it’s incomprehensible that such a nice guy got so many people worked up because K-Mart gave him a $500 gift card and he wrote about his shopping experience.

Brian Morrisey is the editor of all things digital at Adweek. To sound insiderish, just say the word ‘PigDog’, followed by a pause, then an exclamatory ‘intense’. Pigdog is Morrisey’s personal blog about running and overcoming personal limitations.

Brian Solis looks awfully young to be a social media pioneer, but that’s what he is. You can compare his new venture, MicroPR, with Peter Shankman’s Help a Reporter Out. Be pleasantly vague, saying both services help connect media with pr people.

2. Take a strong stance against blurting, the practice of talking too much about yourself, your company, your client or your anything on Twitter. I’d like to start a trend where blurting is called barking but then you get into troublesome issues like: “He’s such a dog. He just barks about himself.” This is even worse. “She barks incessantly. What a dog.” Hmm. You’d better stick with blurting in all its ugly manifestations.

3. Casually mention some newsy news you’ve seen on The Huffington Post, but be sure and call it HufPo.

4. Don’t worry about stylish prose. Just use the words ‘Ning’ and “The Long Tail’ together in a sentence. Ning is a niche social network platform and The Long Tail is Chris Anderson’s book subtitled: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More.

5. Show disdain for the reliability for web metrics, but be sure to mention the names of three major firms: Nielsen Online (gets data from installed tracking software and panels) comScore (gets data from installed tracking software too); HitWise (gets data directly from ISPs).

6. When the topic of Web 2.0 or social media comes up, toss off one of these phrases. “Content is the new currency, right?” “You can’t be authentic if you don’t have something to say, don’t you think?” “Participation separates genuine listening from eavesdropping for personal gain. Just one girl’s/guy’s opinion.”

7. Sound like a digital historian and bring up Burger King’s successful Subservient Chicken promotion.

8. Build rapport with people by confessing in a conspiratorial whisper that you’re afraid of mommy bloggers.

9. Be ready to name your favorite podcasts. Here are a few personal favorites:

Smart: BBC’s Melvyn Bragg host of In Our Time

Useful: Mignon Fogarty’s Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Guide to English

Emergent: Conversations with Creative Minds (Oh, wait. That’s self-serving since it’s our podcast. It is emergent though.)

10. Ask people which micro-blogging site they prefer, Twitter or Friend Feed. It’s okay if they mention a platform you haven’t heard of. Nobody likes a know-it-all.

That’s it. With these ten little tips you can be social offline and sound really smart about being social online. It’s just like mom said. Be interested and people will find you interesting – no matter where you’re networking. Ultimately, the smartest person in the room is the one who listens more than they talk.

jan

This week I listened to a teleseminar presented by Elizabeth Marshall with Author Teleseminars. The notable guests were Guy Kawasaki, Rich Sloan, Pam Slim and Andy Sernovitz. Each of them served up uncommon wisdom about business that has nothing to do with business as usual.

As someone who believes in the power of personality and authenticity to build rewarding relationships (on and offline) I was delighted with the panelists’ comments. Though I don’t remember who said it, one thing in particular stuck in my head. It was a simple question that we should ask ourselves when evaluating any idea. Here it is. Would anybody tell a friend?

Wow! What a great idea evaluator. So why would someone tell a friend about your business, your podcast, your anything?

Well. there’s the cool factor. It makes me laugh. It makes me feel good. It captures my imagination. It’s interesting. And it’s important to me.

Then, there’s the ‘I get it’ factor. This ‘thing’ (even a complex thing) is understandable. It’s clear and simple (even more important when it’s complex). It’s a good deal. It’s in my best interest.

And finally, there’s the ‘I want it’ factor. It comforts me. It elevates my status. It expresses the wonderful quirkiness of me. It makes me feel (supply any of the following) sexy, powerful, beautiful, and popular or other emotional drivers.

My creative partner Susan and I frequently encounter businesses in search of a personality. These are perfectly fine people, it’s just that their collective corporate persona is devoid of anything resembling human. The language landscape is over-populated with facts in search of context. Their knowledge is lost for a lack of narrative. And don’t get Susan started on design that fails to reveal any signs of life. That makes her really cranky.

Here’s my take. Friends tell friends about things that are insanely silly and monumentally important. Friends tell friends about things that are real and relatable that can readily be re-told.

So if you’re exploring ideas on how to build a brand, attract an audience, or make more money, just ask yourself, ‘would anybody tell a friend about this?’ If the answer is no, you may be suffering from absentee personality syndrome. But don’t worry, if you’re a person (even the non-perky kind) personality can be recovered and brought to life. And life is what friends are telling friends all about.

Jan

I just finished reading Jonah Lehrer’s beautifully written book, Proust was a Neuroscientist. Before you wrongly assume that I’m all egg-heady (more pointy-headed, especially on bad hair days) this book articulates in lucid and engaging prose the premise that creative types of the 19th and 20th centuries had an innate understanding of how the brain works long before neuroscience proved their insights.

This made me all skin-tingly and sweaty under the eyes (does anyone else perspire there)? You see, many of the guests that I’m privileged to interview for our podcast reveal insights about the practice and thought process of creating just as eye-opening as those in Jonah Lehrer’s book. Here’s an example.

Guy Sanville, actor and artistic director at the Purple Rose Theatre in Chelsea MI, was a guest on our show. When I asked him to define acting, he described it as being authentic in imaginary circumstances. He also said that the greatest actors are those who know how to pay profound attention to the other person in the scene.

After the rigorous crafting of a character from the inside out, it is the actors ability to pay attention to what’s going on that allows reality to arise from a make believe situation.

Coming back to the book, Proust was a Neuroscientist, the author makes a similar point, saying that the brain’s ability to pay attention is what gives rise to our sense of self. In essence, when we’re not practicing paying attention, there’s no there there. It’s our ability to listen-up, tune-in and take note that makes us real to ourselves. That’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever heard. As long as we pay attention to one another we can construct reality together. I guess that means you’re a neuroscientist and I am too.

Jan