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  • Overheard in the Brains on Firesphere

    Posted on January 30th, 2009 by Spike and currently 1 commenting.

    “Your Twitter is not my Twitter,” and “Don’t use Twitter before coffee or after beer.”
    -Dr. Mihaela Vorvoreanu, whom Geno and I had the pleasure of visiting with today.

    “Remember when you were a kid, how every shot you took at the basketball hoop was the “championship, last-second, save the world and the crowd goes wild” shot? That’s the way to approach things every time.”
    -Greg Cordell,  Chief Inspiration Officer

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  • Get Your Customers to do Stuff for You

    Posted on January 29th, 2009 by Spike and currently 5 commenting.

    This has got to be the biggest red flag we’re seeing these days. This idea that you can “get” your customers to do things. Get them to buy. Visit. Blog. Comment. Engage. Evangelize. Own. Get them. Get them. Get them.

    I think this is almost a sub-conscious slip-up of most marketers held over from the marketing 101 days. Remember that vocabulary? Where we target segments, launch a campaign and aim for target domination? Ya know, that war mentality.

    But I digress. With the barriers coming down that marketing and advertising have built up over the years, there’s still this idea that – even by “engaging” with your customers – you can get them to do something.

    Look, we can’t “get” people to do anything. And if that’s the mentality, then we all lose. Social media isn’t going to change that. Or make it any easier to get people to do things for you.

    Just something to chew on as we all navigate these new waters.

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  • 3.5 yards every play wins every game.

    Posted on January 28th, 2009 by Cordell and currently 6 commenting.

    In a recent conversation with a colleague I shared how I struggle with goals. I’m much better with “What now?” than “What then?” I explained if I were a college football coach, I’d tell my offense to put touchdowns and winning games out of their minds. We can celebrate winning on every play by focusing on getting 3.5 yards, one play after another. I would recruit and build my offense with talent that could do that without fail. No big playmakers. No celebrity wide receivers. No big gun Houdini at QB. Just build a team with strength, tenacity, and clarity. We’d have one battle cry, “Never give up the Ball!” Given a respectable defense, we’d never lose a game.

    For obvious reasons, I will never coach football.

    I wonder if we’ve become addicted to Big Plays as a nation? Nothing is good enough unless it gains us 20 or 60 yards. Everything’s “no huddle” and “hurry up.” We want to see speed streaking down the sidelines. We want to see explosiveness break through for big gains. I don’t know. It sure seems we’re all paying the price for that economic game plan now. I know a lot of good people out there who’d love to count on winning 3.5 yards at a time. They might tell you “Just keep me in the game working one day after another. Just give me a chance to celebrate doing the basic things without fail. Just give me the ball and I promise I won’t let go.”

    I’m no economist either, but a lot of this “stimulus package” stuff smells like more big play/Hail Mary thinking to me. And what if it’s an incompletion? Not only could we lose the ball, we lose field position. And the opponent, “dwindling confidence,” seems to have the momentum. I may be wrong, but I’d like to see that money earned in 3.5 yards wins. Can we huddle up and hand it off one play a time and not hurl $800 billion go-for-broke passes? No razzle dazzle earmarks. No double reverses. No sneaks. Just steady progress. So, who do we recruit? Working people. People who make things, who’ll dig in side-by-side and put everything they’ve got into every play and move us ahead one little win at a time. The strong. The tenacious. The clear-headed.  As for those who want to leave the game with clean uniforms, “stylin’ and profilin’” dancing toward the end zone…trade them.

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  • Fire Cam - A Slice of Life

    Posted on January 27th, 2009 by Spike and currently 5 commenting.

  • Peer-to-peer vs. Corporation-to-customer

    Posted on January 26th, 2009 by Spike and currently 3 commenting.

    It’s so interesting to see how different companies are approaching this world of word-of-mouth marketing and outreach. And on one issue, we’re seeing two pathways emerge when it comes to leadership of the community (and when I say ‘community,’ I mean offline and online ” not just online, so get your head out of the social media clouds for a moment).

    Pathway one is picking someone from inside the company to ‘lead.’ They figure that they are already towing the company line. They know the dos and don’ts. They are trusted by others in the company to say the right thing and put the best interests of the company first. This is corporation-to-customer.

    Pathway two is finding those folks out there in the world that are passionate (or ‘influential’ ” bleh) about the industry or brand, empowering them with knowledge and tools and then bringing them into the fold. This is peer-to-peer.

    So now let me tell you why peer-to-peer works better: Because it’s peer-to-peer. I don’t care how good your intentions are if you come from inside the company, you’re still from inside the company and people aren’t going to trust you completely. You are a PR tool. You are doing your job.

    It’s been proven that the vast majority of people trust people ‘just like me.’ One of my favorite things that Holly, Fiskateer #1, said to us during her training was, ‘I’m a crafter FIRST. And a Lead Fiskateer SECOND.’ This is the honest, transparent perspective that only someone from the outside can bring. So the people in the community know where their loyalties lie. They are not part of the machine. They are part of the community.

    Now I’m not saying that those that lead communities from inside the company are all bad. There are a lot of them out there doing a great job communicating to the community. But from first-hand experience, it is multiple times more powerful and more successful when you hand the reigns over to those in the community, step back, and let them lead. Because that’s trust. That’s dedication. That’s truly becoming a fan of your fans. It’s putting your money where you mouth is. And instead of just talking about listening and trusting and being transparent, now you’re putting those things into practice.

    Hard work? Oh yeah. Very. But worth every single moment of it. So before you appoint that PR or marketing person to lead your community, consider empowering those that are out there already. Because peer-to-peer will trump corporation-to-customer seven days a week and twice on Sunday.

    Believe it.

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