On September 1st, 2010 Workface Inc acquired Card.ly, a user-friendly virtual business card service. The plan is to roll Card.ly into BusinessCard2 by October 2010. As it happens, just weeks prior to finding out about the acquisition I had stumbled upon and signed up to Card.ly and created my own digital business card.

Now more than ever we should be thinking about our personal brand, our contact information, and tools that make us more accessible to others. I think BusinessCard2 and Card.ly do exactly that. Thinking about this for a moment, I reached out to Lief Larson, President of Workface Inc which is responsible for the acquisition to ask a few questions regarding the acquisition.

1) What attracted you to card.ly and how will BusinessCard2 benefit from this rollup?

We created an interactive business card for the internet in 2006, and broke it off as a stand alone service in 2007. We’ve been monitoring cool products and potential competitors for some time, and card.ly caught our eye when they launched in 2009. Dan at Harkness Labs (creator of card.ly) did something really good with the service, but I think he understood how driven we are to power the business card of the web. We closed on the the acquisition on 8/31/10. The benefit to us is getting to tap into all the incredible users of card.ly. As we roll card.ly into BusinessCard2 we’ve just gained access to thousands of product engineers. Around our office our users and customers have always been our greatest innovators. Already we’ve had more than 100 emails from card.ly users with ideas and suggestion on what they like to see in an internet business card, so the benefits for us started immediately.

2) What’s the big insight you wish more people understood about their online presence / online contacts?

There is opportunity in creating and controlling our own personal brand and being digitally accessible on the web. Doing so can connect you with new friends, customer prospects, employers and others. The business card has existed for several hundreds years in the real world. It’s the world’s tiniest billboard. The same sharing, openness and etiquette that constitutes the spirit of the business card has been missing from the web. Our mission is to connect people in meaningful 1:1 relationships online in a way that preserves the human condition.

3) What does BusinessCard2 do that is special and unique?

BusinessCard2 is networking without walls. You do not need to have a card or log in to a website to view a BusinessCard2. You do not need to have a prior relationship with the owner of a BusinessCard2 to learn more about them. It’s incredibly transparent. In addition, when you have your own BusinessCard2 you can digitally share it with others. I like to think it’s a very polite way of breaking the ice or putting your best foot forward.

4) What are your thoughts on integration, api’s, and services like Facebook connect as it relates to your product/service?

I’m a heavy user of LinkedIn and Facebook. Although I use both, BusinessCard2 has a distinct role not offered by either service. Facebook is where I talk with friends and family, LinkedIn is where I replicate my real world business contacts, but BusinessCard2 is where I tell the world who I am and invite people I don’t yet know to engage me. I think this is an open vs. walled garden scenario.

Facebook connect helps web services to tap into my personal data. I for one am not a big fan of that. I like to keep at list some level of distinction between my personal and professionals lives. So, any comparison to connect and BusinessCard2 is apples vs. oranges. BusinessCard2 does have a portability piece. One unique feature of the technology is that on BusinessCard2-enabled websites you can digitally drop your business card without any software downloads or browser plug-ins. Your BusinessCard2 is detected to exist, and so long as the website accepts BusinessCard2, you can leave your calling card on that site or even shares cards with others. In short, we’ve tried to duplicate the way business cards are shared in the real world, but on the web.

5) How can people learn more about your company and services?

The best way is to visit http://businesscard2.com. We have a strong base of information about how BusinessCard2 works at http://businesscard2.com/learn-more. You can find a comprehensive inventory of features and benefits at http://businesscard2.com/solutions. You can find the role BusinessCard2 plays in your personal branding and marketing at http://businesscard2.com/marketing. And, there is gallery of videos available at http://businesscard2.com/solutions/how-to-use-the-card-videos.

Lief C. Larson, Workface Inc.
My Internet Business Card: http://lieflarson.businesscard2.com
Friend on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BusinessCard2
Read the Blog: http://businesscard2.wordpress.com
Follow on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/businesscard2
Watch some vids: http://www.youtube.com/user/BusinessCard2Videos#g/u
Call Me: (612) 310-5051
Fax Me: (866) 793-7317

Create your own internet business card at BusinessCard2.com.
The World’s First, Largest, and Undisputed Champion of Web-Enabled Business Cards.

While at SOBcon in Chicago, I was talking about project management with the folks at my mastermind table and I went on a quick riff about how I essentially project manage all my projects from book publishing to website launches and marketing plans to business plans and nearly everything in-between.

The discussion was quick, but it’s a great topic to elaborate on.

This article is about project management and includes:

1. A video on what I believe makes a great project manager
2. A basic outline of what a project manager does
3. A few resources to really dig deep and learn about project management processes

This article is based on the past 15 years of launching websites, books, newspapers, magazines, and managing video and photography shoots as well as the management of advertising campaigns among other things link events, business plans, marketing plans.

NOTE: I am not a “Project Manager” by title.  I consider myself to be a Champion for the project and if you are trying to turn ideas or projects into a reality, you should be a Champion too.

This (almost) short video opens up on some of my fundamental ideas on Project Management and sets the tone well for the rest of this article. Watch it to learn about my thoughts on Human Capital.

What Makes a Great Project Manager from Justin McCullough on Vimeo.

In the video, that was not a direct quote from Seth Godin. In Linchpin, Purple Cow, Free Prize Inside (affiliate links) and his blog he talks about championing projects and shipping and I guess I just wanted to name drop

10 Things Great Project Managers Do:

1 – Champions the project.
This includes accepting the responsibility of success or failure of the project from the very beginning. Accept the responsibility right off the bat because you’ll be the first one blamed for it if there are problems or failure, so may as well own it from the start so its easier for you to deal with.

2 – Facilitates communication and becomes the info hub.
You will always be the center of the communication for all internal and external constituents.  Use good judgment and common sense in your communication, maintain a “can do” attitude and always be the first to check in or follow up.  Always be the keeper of current information and share it freely. It helps people understand what you are about and if you offer to help, not just criticize or enforce objectives, you’ll be a friend and ally to the project.

3 – Defines, interprets and shares expectations. Often.
Even the best and most talented minds can be paralyzed if they are unclear on expectations.  This includes responsibilities, process, timeline, tasks, deliverables, budget and PAYMENT for services.  Some of the biggest issues I’ve ever had with experts on a project have stemmed from their incorrect assumptions on when they would get paid or the intent of the project all because I trusted “they were the expert and would know what was expected”.  Appreciate the expertise, but honor the client and the project by clarifying the details and setting expectations.  Those connected to the project will appreciate you for it and know that you run a tight operation that sets the project on the path of success. We all want expectations, so give them.

4 – Asks questions and is not a no-it-all.
Great project managers don’t know the in’s and out’s of every job required to complete the project, but they do know the people involved know their job.  Great project managers ask the right “why” and “how” questions often in order to uncover real issues, real deliverables, real expectations etc.  The why and how aren’t asked so you can learn to do their job, they are asked so you can learn how they see themselves fitting their jobs into the project on time and on budget.  This is a key part of understanding the work to be done as well as the expectations or challenges of the people involved in the project.

5 – Knows the steps, what’s next, and where things are going.
To successfully champion any project you must always be aware of the deliverables, milestones, tasks and pinch-points or bottlenecks in the project.  While you might think “everyone” understands how important the project (the client, the budget etc) is, none of them will be married to the entire project end-to-end like you are, so always know who’s doing what, when, where, why, how and then what’s next.  When in doubt, remember that you are the map and if you don’t know what’s next it’s likely to cause a pinch-point that will cost time and money. Be the map and know what’s next.

6 – Inspects what is expected.
Plotting dates, budgets, milestones and tasks are essential.  Large projects will have many items – enough to warrant project management software, but regardless of size, the tools you use, great project managers inspect what they expect.  The tighter the project is on time and budget, the closer you have to be with your follow-up (inspection).  See, follow-up is a nice way to say it, so follow-up often.

7 – Eternally represents the solution not the problem.
The best project managers internalize the issues and problems and determine next steps and solutions to the problems. As a champion of the project it’s your place to find the solution proactively and keep the project moving forward.  It’s nice when it happens, but never assume someone else will jump in with a solution to bail you out. Again, you are the champion of the project so it is you who represents the solution so always represent that solution so the project can be completed.

8 – Owns the bad news, shares the good news.
Great project managers take the punches and share the successes.  That’s just the way it works so don’t throw your vendors, partners and employees under the bus to save face.  Always own the bad news personally and share what you are doing to fix it. And by all means, celebrate every victory, every win, everything good with the ones who did it – never take the credit for yourself.

9 – Cares.
Great project managers care about the client, the people involved, the project and it’s success.  If you care, it will be obvious.  If you don’t care, it will be obvious too.  When you care it’s much easier to get results.

10 – Knows how to ship.
You must be results oriented and the best project managers help things get unstuck and ship. Everything ships including the final project. Ship on time (or early) on budget (or under budget) and you’ll have a winning project and a remarkably important role in your organization, your ideas, and your success. Focus on shipping and you’ll do great.

Learn More About Project Management and the Process.

I personally try not to use project management software and I have never received formal training in project management which means there are a lot more skilled project managers (as in skilled in the craft, the software, and the formal process) than I am.

However, I have launched about 200 websites, several newspapers and magazines, several books and many many many advertising initiatives that have all gone well without project management software or certification as a project manager. I think you can too.  This is one area where a desire to succeed and learn means you don’t need to be certified in order to be great at it.

In my experience, most clients don’t care how you deliver on their goals and objectives. They only care that you meet and exceed their goals and objectives. In my opinion that’s all that matters too.  My hope is that this article will help you understand the core aspects required to champion a project and become a great project manager.

If you want to dig deeper into the formal processes of project management, here’s some good content to sink your teeth into.

• 11 Things Every New Project Manager Should Know
• 20 Things Every Project Manager Should Know and Do
• Wikipedia definition of Project Management
• Project Management 101
• Top 10 Qualities of a Project Manager
• The SCRUM Process
• The Stage-Gate Model
• The Waterfall Model

My personal methods are something of a mashup between the Agile Method and 37 Signals approach mixed with SCRUM and Stage-Gate processes.  These techniques have been folded in over the last 8 years or so, but prior to that I was literally just learning as I went and still delivering so don’t get tied up on ingesting all this at once.

Good luck on your project management efforts and don’t hesitate to share your experiences or ask for help.

Ok, so in all fairness, the title should probably be:

Online Campaign – How Blue Sky Factory, Chris Brogan and Christopher S. Penn nearly got it right, but failed in my case and how everything here can make your next sales push a success.

But that title is just too long.

We all make mistakes and sometimes, the mistake is farther down the chain than we realize or have control over.

I believe that is precisely what happened in my case.  And IF it happened to more people than just me, you can bet the good guys: Blue Sky Factory, Chris Brogan, and CS Penn are holding the bag – their fault or not.

This is a detailed look at trust, marketing, and execution on an online sales push from some of the biggest names in Social Media – the good and the bad and how you can learn and apply this to your sales and marketing efforts.

Follow every bit of this through (except the last part) and you will succeed in your next email sales push. The sections I call “What’s Happening Here” should provide the key elements for you to model in your online campaign and sales efforts.

Nearly everything here is actually a success story other than the fifth area below.

First – Chris Brogan eNewsletter

Subject line of email from Chris: “Email marketing and the folks at Blue Sky Factory”

This is a great little sales piece from Chris.  It clearly identifies his role in the email, why I (we) received it and who it benefits and why.  On top of that, a nice bit of positioning and display of influence by offering an exclusive ebook download and discount to use Blue Sky Factory as a benefit to loyalty with Chris.  Well done.  This is the right sort of email marketing and who would expect less from Chris?

What’s Happening Here:

1)  Chris leverages his list of readers, his name, and his promise to help others in exchange for our attention in the trusted environment of his newsletter.

2) Chris offers value with an informative eBook and a nice discount if you use Blue Sky Factory for email marketing services.

3)  Chris gives clear calls to action if you are interested in either the eBook or professional services of Blue Sky Factory.

4)  Blue Sky Factory gets great promotion, visibility, and an opportunity to grow their email marketing list via the eBook link and an opportunity to make sales (which I’m sure they did).

5)  It’s understood Chris gets something from Blue Sky Factory for the effort (obviously).

This entire sales push is based on the value of Chris; his audience, and his usage of the Blue Sky Factory services, and his brand promise.

All this is very good marketing, strategically and tactically.

Second – Blue Sky Factory eBook Offer Web Page

Title of Page: Blue Sky Factory presents: The Ultimate Guide to Email

The offer page from Blue Sky Factory is a wonderful sales page that explains the value of the eBook, who will benefit from reading it. (I downloaded the ebook and would explain the value of the content, but Acrobat says its damaged and wont open – so I’m not sure, but I assume it’s high value content). In true Hubspot fashion, you have to complete a lead generation form to gain access to the ebook.  Give up some information about you including email marketing volume and a clear message to indicate how you would like to be sold to.  Well done.  Of course, you expect that a sales push from Chris is going to be this well done.

What’s Happening Here:

1)  Offering value to Chris Brogan’s audience as a thank you for responding to his sales message.

2)  Lead generation. Lots of lead generation from the Blue Sky Factory.  Each email they get could turn into cash and lots of cash if people convert and use the service.

3)  Trust Building.  Thanks to Chris’s endorsement, there is little resistance to the lead generation form and Blue Sky Factory gets trusted implicitly as a result.

This sales and lead generation page is well done. Excellent response items and a clear way to identify the person responding and how to sell to them.  Excellent execution.

Blue Sky Factory undoubtedly grew their permission marketing list and prospect list quite a bit.  So far, Chris Brogan, Blue Sky Factory and the reader (prospects) are all winning.

Third – Christopher S Penn Follow Up and Thank You Email.

Subject line of email from CS Penn: “Thank you for downloading the Ultimate Guide to Email!”

This well thought out and drafted email from Chris S Penn clearly identifies his role at Blue Sky Factory, an oddity with the eBook and how to fix it, and sets a clear expectation to expect follow up from a Blue Sky Factory sales rep.  Excellent writing, not pushy, and relevant.  Very well done.

What’s Happening Here:

1)  Immediately touching you as a result of the free eBook offer to personally tie the prospect to the company and to the next step in the sales process.  You have to create the connection with the prospect or your lead gen form and recipient become a number with no personal contact other than the eBook.

2)  Enhancing CS Penn’s personal brand and connection to Blue Sky Factory (if you didn’t already know) allowing him to leverage Chris Brogan’s relationship with us and give him personal access to us – should he choose to do so.

3)  Clearly setting an expectation to be contacted by a sales rep from Blue Sky Factory.

This is a great ‘next step’ item from Blue Sky Factory to move you further down the sales funnel.  And this is all happening more or less on autopilot because it was pre-planned, pre-written, and all the touch points plotted and setup.  Awesome execution of funnel building. Note, the email included sales reps names, company phone number, company website and CS Penns email.  Completely transparent communication here.  Also note, so far there is no “we are the best”, “hundreds of people use us and love us”, “act now, limited time offer, buy buy buy” messages in this email or the sales page or Chris Brogans eNewsletter.

Fourth – Blue Sky Factory Sales Rep Follow Up and Call to Action Email.

Subject line of email from Sales Rep: “Blue Sky Factory / Publicaster Information”

Now, after three touches with the Blue Sky Factory brand, this is the first somewhat typical sales message. It includes a brief message of thanks for my interest as well as various links to the Blue Sky Factory website and more information on their products.  All pretty standard “learn more about us” type information.  Also included is acknowledgment that the sales rep is indeed interested in talking to me about my interest in their product and asks when we can connect to discuss. Presumably the rep has seen all my information from completing the lead gen form on the eBook page, where I actually listed several questions and areas of interest.  However, the rep does not actually directly speak to those items I indicated so I’m not sure if that information is known at this point.  I am provided links to review and a phone number to call.

What’s Happening Here:

1)  Providing more information on Blue Sky Factory and products.  Which move me further along the funnel as I learn and understand more about their services.

2)  Clearly identified the interest to speak to me, learn about my needs, and ideally sell me something.

This email had a lot to review – too much in my opinion and did not specifically speak to my questions from the lead gen form on the eBook page.  This is not particularly bad, just worth noting as an area of possible opportunity on their side.  Again, this email does not have any swanky sales messages “buy now” offers or promises.  It clearly is a request to learn more from me and offer me ways to learn more about them should I decide to follow all the provided links…. Again too many links in this email, so I didn’t look at any of them. However, I did make a note to call the rep as requested.

Fifth – My Call to the Sales Rep

WHO WAS JUST FIRED.

So, now the breakdown. The kink in the chain.  The plot twist.

After all this excellent marketing, a truly well thought out campaign with many pieces of communication and undoubtedly tons of energy and time and at the expense of Chris Brogan’s name and list, the whole thing comes to a faltering halt – at least for me – all because the sales rep had just been terminated.

How much sense does this make? How many people experienced this? 2 (I count as one of them)? 20? 500?… I don’t know, but it goes to show how you can do all the things right to build the funnel, build interest and momentum, and drop-the-ball when it matters most.

The sales rep was professional despite the situation and did give me a phone number to call (which I already had from CS Penn’s email).  The problem though, is that I’m spent for the moment.

The one-shot opportunity the campaign was all about has come and gone.  My emotional well of interest, trust, and value has drained.  Not completely, but certainly no longer full enough for action.

Why did the Blue Sky Factory management team do this? I mean, either fire the person before the push so they are not a link the chain, or wait till after the push to utilize their role in the campaign and at least move the prospects deeper into the funnel and then strategically migrate those accounts.  But do it in the middle of the push? Crazy.

It should be noted that I got Chris Brogan’s Initial email (first step above) and called the sales rep (fifth step above) all within the same business day.  It’s not like I hesitated in my response and drug out my actions over weeks.  We are talking just a few hours here.

The Result:

1)  Lost confidence in Blue Sky Factory and it’s product – their fault or not, no matter, its happened (for me at least).

2)  A mental note registered against CS Penn and Chris Brogan – one that will either be dismissed as a non-incident and no real risk, or one that will fester and grow over time depending on my future experiences.

3)  Lost conversions.  For every prospect this sales rep is associated with is now costing Blue Sky Factory with little hope of the original ROI goals.

The Praise:

I’m sure its understood by now, but I switch gears through out this post between affected prospect and marketer…

1)  Excellent execution on the front part of the funnel from Brogan’s email, through the creation and leveraging of a valuable eBook and to the positioning of the sale from CS Penn.

2)  Remarkably well written sales messages that were not too pushy, did not have false promises, and effectively moved prospects through the funnel of conversion.

3)  Great timing.  Each follow up piece was appropriately timed and deepend the desire to act since it was timely and appropriately messaged.

This was a 98% perfect campaign, but the last 2% is where it failed.

How Blue Sky Factory, Brogan and Penn Should Fix This:

1)  Acknowledge it.  No excuses, just acknowledge it happened – don’t act as if it didn’t happen and don’t make it about me.  It may not be “your” fault, but that’s the burden of leadership. So own it and work with it.

2)  Communicate.  Maintain the same transparency and authenticity of the earlier messages and emails and reach out to each and every one of the people who got contacted by the terminated sales rep.

3)  Care. Show you think my interest is important and that the situation doesn’t define our budding relationship.

4)  Be Trustworthy.  Make every effort to regain the trust you had at the beginning and make it right, make it remarkable, make it deeply valuable.  This is your opportunity to win despite the written off and implied loss of this experience.

5)  Bring me back into the fold and remind me why I was interested and taking action to begin with.

An upset customer has the capacity to be a great customer.  Don’t loose sight of your efforts to get me here and jump in now and salvage all those interested people before it’s too late.

Conclusion:

This was a well planned campaign and you marketers out there should follow these points all the way through. Just don’t fire your sales rep in the middle of it and you should have stellar results!

Disclosure:
I personally like Chris Brogan (we chatted a bit at this years SXSW in Austin Tx and he has RT’d my blog before), and I like CS Penn and I also intend to get to know Blue Sky Factory and still see if there is a fit.  I follow all three on twitter and value their contribution to social media and marketing 2.o.

My hope is that this shines a light on effective marketing, how it can breakdown, and what we can all learn from it… And, I don’t blame any of the mentioned people – just acknowledge that they have ownership in the process and outcome.

While I was at SXSW in Austin I met Michael Procopio, a great guy who is leading the Social Media team of one of the top computer and software makers in the country.  We both sat in on this panel discussion with about 150 others and decided to co-author a blog on this exciting discussion.

“Blogger to Expert to Professional Speaker” by Michael Procopio and Justin McCullough.

We were at the SXSW Interactive session – From Blogger to Social Media Guru to Professional Speaker given by Nick Morgan (@nfrodom1) and Tim Sanders (@sanderssays). With a packed room, in a panel style layout with Nick and Tim in the center of the room rotating as they talked, we were given a behind-the-scenes look inside the professional speaking industry.

Tim became a speaker while at Yahoo! Nick is a speaker, author and Tim’s coach. Tim said Nick took him from ~$10,000 per talk to the next level. Turns out “the next level” is a bit more than a step away.  Throughout the discussion, we learned how to go from a $2,000 speaker to a $10,000 speaker and up to $35,000 and beyond.

Tim lead off the discussion by saying, when it comes to speaking, in his opinion there is only one book to read: “Give your speech and change the world” by Nick Morgan
People want a speaker to move an audience to action, which means an emotional topic or talk.

How do you make the journey from blogger to social media expert to professional speaker? That was the discussion. Professional speaker, in this case, is tear 3 or tier 2. By example tier 1 would be former President Bill Clinton or comedian Jerry Seinfeld.

Tier 3 starts at $3500 and up for a one-hour talk. How do you get there? According to Nick and Tim, first write a book published by a major publisher, self-publishing unfortunately doesn’t count. Tim wrote Love Is the Killer App: How to Win Business and Influence Friends. If you don’t have a book, expect to be limited to ~$2000 per talk.

To get the major publisher, you must follow the rules of publishing and Tim recommends reading and following the advice of Jeff Herman in his book “Write the Perfect Book Proposal”.

There are two types of books that lead to professional speaking opportunities:

• You did something successful and write about how you did it, even if it creates competitors
• Niche – everything you know is wrong, here is what’s right.

Tim urges us to not write another “duh” book that tells us what we already know.  Make yourself and your content outstanding – that’s what it takes to go pro.

Tim is all about actionable content. The gem for me was the answer to the question: “How do I go from speaking for free to getting paid”. Tim gave two points:

• When asked will you speak at our event you first statement is, “My standard fee is x thousand dollars”
• If the ‘will you do it for free’ topic comes up say, “I’d be happy to do this pro bono, just put it in writing that no one else is being paid to speak”.

For the second statement, Tim said you’ll probably hear a bit of silence on the phone and then they will give you a number and you can negotiate from there. He enforced the point saying, “don’t let them disrespect you” and gave an example of the huge dollars an event planner has to work with. In many cases, the large events cost and generate millions of dollars, so your speaker’s fee is really just a small portion of the overall expense. Many times, the event coordinators are just trying to leverage the event and get you for free or as cheaply as possible.  Tim illustrated the point where a planner told him they wanted three free speakers so they could pay the keynote speaker more.

Are you an opening or closing keynote or a panel speaker? That’s the question you have to answer.  Tim and Nick discussed the fact that pro speakers, the ones who make the big dollars, are the openers and the closers of the event. Interestingly, a panel speaker is valued around $5,000 – $8,000 for the hour where as the keynote may be $10,000 or more.  As a point of reference, Tim mentioned that his fee is around $25,000 for a 1-hour gig and comparatively, Malcolm Gladwell, bestselling author of “the Tipping Point”, “Blink” and “Outliers” is currently charging $86,000 for a speech.

His next point to becoming a pro speaker is to treat speaking bureaus like gold. When you get the speaking engagement above, look up your nearest speaking bureau and take the deal to their office personally. They will get ~25% commission but they will love you and give you more work. Also NEVER accept a job directly, ALWAYS take it to your bureau. Go around the bureaus and they will stop giving you work.

One note about speaking bureaus, their job is to deliver the best presenter, the safest bet, and the best results to organizations requesting a speaker.  If you use profanity or go into inappropriate areas during your presentation, you will most likely be cut from future gigs through the bureau.  In this context, you must package yourself as a safe and reliable purchase.

Money is great to get but you must earn it. First practice, practice, practice including the day of the presentation in front of a mirror. If you screw up once you won’t get any more work from the bureaus, he had examples of well-known people who are struggling to get speaking engagements because of off-hand comments and in one case, slipping the “f” word just one time.

You need to create a brand, that is, a promise of what you will deliver. Once you have your niche or unique topic you must package yourself.  Ask yourself, “what do I stand for”, “what do I represent” and own it.  This means you, personally, may sacrifice how you dress, how you speak, the words you use, and which of your opinions you share.  He talked about how the simple fact of long sideburns cost him $10,000 on each speaking gig because he just didn’t realize it was devaluing him in the bureaus mind.  Tim, as it turns out, once was in a rock band and had long hair in addition to those long sideburns so he has gone through quite a metamorphosis to become the pro speaker he is today. In addition to his appearance, Tim has also removed religion and politics from his areas of discussion – because it doesn’t fit his personal brand, his promise to deliver and he can’t afford to talk about things outside of his personal brand since he understands why the speakers bureaus are hiring him.

Also, create a professional DVD about 20 minutes of you speaking. The short clips are ok, but anyone who is interested wants to see continuous footage so they know what you are like, not just the best clips you have of yourself. One inexpensive way to do this is ask if the venue has IMAG projection, then give the director a $100 Amazon gift card or similar to give you a DV cam master. [Most large corporate events are recorded.] Hire a photographer [Craigslist.org was suggested to get a bargain price] to shoot the audience to get picture of people reacting to what you are saying.

How do you get the first gig? Use your social media network. Probably no one in your network will have a gig, but his or her network probably will.

The Quick Points:

• Get a publishing deal (based on niche topic or unique experience)
• Create a personal brand and promise to deliver it
• Have a DVD and website that shows your on-stage performance
• Offer high value content, no “duh, we already know that” material
• Ask for a fee that matches your role (Opener, Closer, Keynote or Panel)
• Always work your gigs through the speakers bureau
• Don’t be taken advantage of by “free” gigs
• Practice your speech, take it seriously, always improve your performance

Give your best at every gig; you can’t afford to have an off day.

Related items:

• Nick’s blog
• Tim’s blog
• Escape from Cubicle Nation: From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Entrepreneur, Pam Slim

Marketing 2.0 by Bernie Borges

A book review and 9 responses from Bernie Borges on  “Marketing 2.0″ – Bridging the gap between seller and buyer through social media marketing.

Before diving into the interview, first a bit about Bernie Borges and why I think Marketing 2.0 is a great book for any business interested in online growth.

Bernie’s twitter profile reads:  “Author of Marketing 2.0, Social Media Evangelist, Inbound Marketing Agency CEO, Blogger, Podcaster, Speaker, and Entrepreneur”.

From what I can tell, Bernie is not a geek, gearhead, computer nerd, or software engineer, he is a regular business guy working with regular businesses to produce irregular results online.  The sort of results most businesses think are impossible to repeat in their situation. What these business don’t understand is that they can achieve the same success if only they shift to a Marketing 2.0 mindset.

So, if you are a business struggling to embrace the social web, struggling to understand what web 2.0 is all about and how inbound marketing can work for you, then Marketing 2.0 is probably the only book you need to read to get started.

Where as most books educate on specific elements, terms and definitions, Bernie’s book also provides context, logical reasons and actionable information to truly embrace the concepts in your real world situation.  You will have many “ah ha” moments as you see the “why” that is often hidden behind the “what” you may already be familiar with.

In my opinion as a marketer and player in this space, I feel this book is the first book a business should purchase to build their web integrated marketing foundation.  Starting here, with a Marketing 2.0 mindset, will allow all other things to fall into place.  It is exactly this reason that I decided to write this post and interview Bernie.

So, on to the interview.

1) You describe much more than social media in this book.  Why did you take such a holistic approach to marketing?

I originally had another title for the book that pertained to social media. I realized as I was writing the book that it was about marketing as a new mindset. The book is broader than social media, though I focus on explaining how to use social media in a 2.0 marketing mindset.

2) Why are companies struggling to embrace the Marketing 2.0 mindset?

Because they don’t view marketing 2.0 as a mindset. Many marketers still have a 1.0 mindset applied to the new tools on the social web. Without the mindset they won’t get good results.

3) I enjoyed Mike Volpe’s contribution to the Foreward of Marketing 2.0.  As the front runner for Hubspot, what types of people do you think he recommends this book to and why?

Mike wrote a terrific foreword for which I’m very grateful. He recommends the book to social media newbies.

4) You have a whole chapter dedicated to Personal Branding. I found it to be deeply relevant for a person’s ‘personal branding’. I also thought it was just as applicable to companies that are attempting to be more personal with their branding.  How has Marketing 2.0 changed branding for individuals and companies?

Those who understand the rationale for personal branding realize that it’s all about humans marketing to humans in human ways. The corporate cloak is dead. Brands and people who work for brands need to be human. Personal branding is about the convergence of “me” as “me” and as a worker in a company. I’m not two different people. The brand I represent can be represented by me and by the brand in very human ways.

5) I triple underlined a passage in your book talking about how we are trained in business to protect (horde) our information, experiences and content and that your advice was to just let the content go.  What would you suggest as a starting point for companies who resist this fundamental shift in thinking and messaging?

It’s hard for some companies to adopt the mindset which calls for letting your content go. My advice is to study what others are doing in their industry. Experiment with content flow and see what happens. It can start gradually and expand over time. I wouldn’t expect overnight results.

6) You have a nice collection of real-life case studies of “regular” businesses putting Marketing 2.0 in action.  Do you have a recent case study you wish you could have included in the book?

Homemaker’s Magazine in Toronto has recently become very active on the web by sharing their content and building terrific relationships. They are building an online community that transcends to their print product.

http://www.homemakers.com/

7) What do you think professional marketers who have already adopted the social web will take away from your book?

Hopefully, they can pick up suggestions about how to convince any skeptics in their company to become a marketing 2.0 company. I also have a chapter on staffing which can be useful to experienced marketers as well as closing the loop between marketing and sales.

You describe traditional media as interruptive media.  If you plug your website, twitter, or facebook on a television or radio spot – is that good or bad or just more of the same “old school” thinking?

That’s not old school. You’re inviting people to connect with you on the web. If you don’t engage with people properly, that would be “old school.” But if you truly engage people with good content, you listen, you invite them to participate in your community, it’s great to promote these channels in any marketing materials you produce.

9) With only 140 characters for a call to action, why would someone read Marketing 2.0 today?

Adopt a marketing 2.0 mindset. Think like a publisher. Build relationships. Earn trust. Enjoy the sales benefits.

Buy the book, Marketing 2.0 on Amazon

Visit Bernie’s website or see Bernie on twitter.

What’s your title?  What’s your skill?  Is it one or two things, or maybe three things?  If so, you’re in trouble over the next 10 years.

The days of being a “plumber” or an “artist” are gone.  No more and never again will a person be able to be just one thing and be successful.  Now and moving forward, you must be multiversatile – capable of many things across many fields competently.

You already see it in the local business owner who is the accountant, the salesman, the customer service rep, the help desk, and the human resources department.  But it’s not just for business owners anymore.  Now it’s the regular guys.  The $10/hr guys.

The guys who will get ahead will be the ones who learn to express their ideas in a blog, an audio clip or a video – even if they are not “writers” or “camera men”.  The guys who will win are the ones who learn to setup a website, a hosting account, and a wireless network – even if they are not “programmers” or “network engineers”.  The guys who will have more accounts, more sales and better reputations will be the guys using facebook, twitter, along with teleseminars and local conferences – even if they are not “social media consultants”.

As we go forward, titles are pointless. If you want to win, you must be bigger than any job title and be able to demonstrate the ability to cross a wide spectrum of skills that were never before required.  The good news is if you do it now, you’ll still be with the pack or maybe even ahead of the pack – for a little while.

What are you doing to blow up your job title and explode with success?

Here’s 7 things you can do:

1. Pick a friend in the company (or at another company) and cross train with them
2. Learn twitter, facebook, blogging, or any other current technology
3. Even if it’s not your job, pick a project, make it your own, and run with it.
4. Learn more about leadership, sales, and/or marketing – you can’t go wrong with these skills!
5. Get out – go to seminars, conference, workshops, and events.
6. Become an expert on your business (not your job specialty)
7. Become the in-house trainer on topics / skills.

// Edit // See Bernie Bay’s thoughts on the future of business and predictions on the next decade.

I originally drafted this with the title of “What do you stand for? Chris Brogan and Seth Godin Know”, but then I realized that might not be a good headline so I changed it before posting – who knows if either were good to begin with….

Back story and foundation for this post:

In a recent article from Chris Brogan, he shared his frustration with Timberland regarding a pair of boots he saw advertised on TV on Thanksgiving day, but couldn’t find locally in any brick-and-mortar stores. His story sufficiently details a negative experience with shoe representatives at various stores in his area with conclusive thoughts on why brick-and-mortar stores are failing and how that leads consumers to make online purchases when they would have done it at a local store. While I did not see his first version of the blog post, it was apparently very negative and he was prompted by a reader to reconsider his narrative (and for good reason too according to his followup post entitled “With Great Power”).

Any how, the original, but revised post: What Timerbland Taught Me About Retail says:

I changed this post around 100% after a conversation with Pat Phelan. He was upset at my handling of the post, and I think I can see his point. More about that in a subsequent post.

Now you should know that Chris Brogan is a prolific writer, consultant, and book author who blogs frequently about his thoughts on what it takes to be successful in today’s world, how to run a great blog and all things social media. Chris happens to be the #1 blogger in the country according to AdAge and all this from a “normal” guy sharing his thoughts on his own blog. His online success stems from his experience, authority and expertise + transparency + consistency around thought leadership. The word ‘trust’ fits in there somewhere too since he can be trusted for what he says and is coauthor of a new bestselling book, Trust Agents.

Why does Chris Brogan or this Story Matter?

I respect what Chris has to say and what got my attention is how he reconsidered his own thoughts and opinions about his experience after hearing others chime in. Not just personally, but as it related to his brand and his blog and seemingly how he viewed himself and how others view him. This shows that leaders really are learners too. As he learned more about this experience, he revised his views and then went on to share his new view post haste. Remarkable to see such transparency in a leader.

Stand up and Stand Out

This brings up two key thoughts. What do you stand for and how relationships are built online.

Continuing with Chris as my real world example (hope you don’t mind Chris), I’ll just keep working through this scenario to reveal how important it is to stand for something and how relationships are built online.

What do you stand for?

People are quite familiar with this question, but it can often be hard to extract or define because we tend to stand for things based on situations and we typically stand for things based on core beliefs. I can’t claim to know exactly what Chris Brogan stands for, but I’m guessing it’s based on trust, leadership and transparency.

According to Seth Godin, another thought leader and online trail blazer has a better way to illustrate this concept and shares it well in his Authenticity post from a few months ago:

Authenticity, for me, is doing what you promise, not “being who you are”… because if you’re inconsistent, you’re going to get caught.

Yep, that’s a good way to be recognized for what you stand for, how/what you are. So, in the quest to stand for something, start by being authentic, which Chris does in his blogs and video posts.

This gives way to how being authentic is at the core of building relationships online (and in life). Mainly because people want to trust and if you can be trusted you’ll win and keep them. Again, Seth Godin chimes in:

People and brands and organizations that stand for something benefit as a result. Standing for something helps you build trust…”

How do you build online relationships?

Being authentic is a key factor. That authenticity leads to trust which is at the foundation of all relationships. In another blog post regarding Seth Godin, Small Biz Bee shares another insight from Seth:

Seth says we should be asking ourselves “Are their people out there I’d go out of my way for, and would they go out of their way for me?” That’s what you should be tracking.

And how do you get there? By going out of your way for them, and earning the privilege of one day having that connection be worthwhile.

While that may seem obvious, we can not all go out of our way for everyone all the time. That’s what leads me back to Chris Brogan. In his post, “With Great Power”, he actually brings you into his thoughts and experiences and the consequences of his actions with the earlier Timberland post. By sharing his new findings, he creates more trust in all of us who follow and read his blog. This new level of insight on how Chris thinks and sees this allows us to buy in a little more. Its this buy in that makes us connect to Chris even though he may not know us. In business terms, we are increasing our loyalty to his brand – just because he consistently can be trusted.

For me, this leads me closer to him, I make a note to read him daily instead of ever few days, I revise my mental note of “maybe” buying his book, to “I will buy his book”. This is social media at it’s finest. Chris like Seth sells himself, his thoughts, his ideas, his passions and I buy into them, one blog at a time until ultimately, the trust, the relationship, and the message is solidified into action. That’s how you build a relationship online.

What this means to you:

If you are considering how you build relationships, what you stand for, and how to use social media in your life, start with authenticity and trust, act consistently and don’t stop learning or sharing. Also, take Lucy Beer’s advice on social media because she’s right, when it comes to a life online and social media, it is about self expression, being personal, and growing as an individual.

Are you trust worthy? Do you stand for something? How are you growing as an individual?

Seth Godin, marketing mastermind, respected entrepreneur and author of “Tribes” and “Purple Cow” makes $50,000 in one day – By lying or by selling or both?

Get Seth Godin's boxed set

So, like Seth did when he was naming his book, “All Marketers are Liars”, I was lying when I named this blog post. Seth isn’t a liar; he’s just a great story teller. We are the liars. We lie to ourselves every day about what we wear, where we live, and where we work. And now 800 of us can lie to ourselves about the souvenir (wooden box of books) coming our way.

Today, in approximately 4 hours, Seth made over $50,000 in book sales with his unique souvenir idea. I admit to being one of the Godin junkies who purchased the book at 10:53 this morning – only 14 minutes after his email (from his blog) hit my inbox informing me of the boxed set and the website to purchase it from.

Webpage to purchase the Box Set

At that time, I was amazed to see the 800 in inventory was already showing as only 435 items remaining. A little scarcity in action + time sensitive + emotional hook = Sold without thinking twice. Now that’s great marketing (selling).

If you’ve read any of his books, you see that he is doing exactly what he preaches. Seth has created a reputation as a leader (tribes) and knows how to do big things by thinking small (small is the new big) and already has our permission to sell to us (permission marketing) and we are happy to be sold because we are a part of his community (triiibes.com) and he is offering us something valuable at a discount along with a story and something free (purple cow / free prize inside).

Having said that, I’m surprised he only did 800 because we all know it could have been more. Additionally, I’m surprised he sold the box set at a discount (about 25% off compared to buying the titles one-by-one) instead of selling them at a premium. But I’m not too surprised because he knows by giving what he can at a rate he can afford, he will get more back in other areas (speaking engagements, next books sales, bloggers buzzing, google juice juicing etc). Again, more of Seth doing what he tells all of us to do.

Now then, I noticed some odd stuff with the purchase site for the book. I sat on it throughout the day and made notes – I was enamored by the whole thing. So, for those of you who didn’t see the blog post soon enough, here is sort of a play-by-play. At least, what I saw.

10:39 AM – Seth’s email about the box set hits my inbox
10:49 AM – 435 boxed sets remain. I purchase mine
10:53 AM – 339 left
11:02 AM – 64 left
11:05 AM – 17 left. Amazed, I start to do screen captures
11:06 AM – Site shows negative quantities (see animation)
1:00 PM – Site shows 131 boxed sets left
1:14 PM – Site shows 90 boxed sets left
1:42 PM – Site shows 48 left
1:58 PM – Sold Out!

What was up with the weird glitches? I’m thinking it was tracking all clicks to the paypal account then checking to see which of those referring visitors completed the check out process. Once that happened, the site was updated releasing the inventory. If this is the case, this shows that nearly 400 people (maybe more) clicked with intent to buy and then bailed out. That tells you a lot about buyers intent and the biggest challenge with online sales – the abandoned shopping cart.

Alas, glitches or not, I got one for myself. How about you?

According to BusinessDictionary.com, a business system is:

Methodical procedure or process, used as a delivery mechanism for providing specific goods or services to customers in a well defined market.

In simple terms, its a defined set of known things you do and do not do in your business. People buy McDonald’s Franchises because 1) it can make you a millionaire in a year or two and 2) the system has been refined to the point that you can make a million bucks from a store that is almost exclusively run by teenagers.

We can’t all be a McDonald’s, but we can all have a system in place. Start with the basics:
- Payroll system (accounting software, checks, scheduled payments, etc)
- Human resources system (application, screening services, filing system, employee handbook)
- Sales system (customer management software)
- Marketing system (advertising, referrals, networking, etc)

After that, whats your business really trying to do? Can you adopt another companies system for operations? Same for your business model? Do you need to create your own system?

No matter what, if you don’t have a system or several systems in place, then you are missing out on the opportunity to grow, be more efficient, and lead a company without you doing all the work yourself.