1.) To Demonstrate the Value of Social Media – So many companies know they should be participating in social media merely because there are examples of other big brands experimenting and having success, but they don’t necessarily understand how it’s applicable for their brand. Physically demonstrate (or have the account manager for the monitoring solution you’re using demonstrate) how the tool can uncover influencers, capture industry trends, measure key performance indicators, aid the lead generation process, evaluate competitors and more.

When they see the potential power of this tool coupled with your agency’s ability to help them leverage these insights in their marketing/PR campaigns you’ll break down that initial resistance.

2.) Amplify the Power of Your Proposals – How many RFP’s (request for proposals) do you receive a week? I worked at a small boutique and I often pumped out two or three a week. Using a monitoring solution helps you acquire and filter valuable insights in an efficient matter. Can you imagine the look on their face when you turn the proposal around in a day or two with more knowledge of their brand in the online space than they have?

If the monitoring solution you’re using has a sleek interface (and many do at this point), consider using screen captures of your console in the proposal. Not only does this demonstrate the effectiveness of the tool, but it also provides an additional aesthetic element that should not be underestimated.

For Current Clients:

3.) Research – Sure you can ask people to fill out a traditional survey, but using a monitoring tool to acquire insight in real time is significantly valuable as well. How are people responding to your client’s latest promotion? Where is their message getting the most traction, on what platform? This type of deep customer research enables you to help shape future marketing initiatives and determine the most optimal way to engage customers.

4.)Crisis Management/Prevention – All brands screw up at some point, but there’s more people watching if it’s a big brand. Using a monitoring solution to keep an eye on your clients’ customer’s complaints is a good start. Often times predicting where the conversation is trending, especially if it’s potentially negative buzz, can enable your client to nip it in the butt before it becomes a full blown disaster. But provided the shit does the fan, you’re already pulling in the relevant conversation and can provide your client with a wealth of information and advice on how to react most appropriately.

This can include seeing where and with whom the crisis originated from instead of retroactively trying to track a conversation across multiple social media platforms; a tough if not impossible task.

5.) Continued Education – While the tool you use certainly compliments these efforts, this example deviates in that it’s based more on the culture your company. It’s important to realize that while many ad/pr/marketing agencies are slowly making the transition, there are countless others still rooted in traditional television efforts, one-way broadcasts and fancy copy and art work that must be examined countless times before going to press. Content shouldn’t be stagnant anymore, rather conversational in a way that builds trust and loyalty.

Use your monitoring tool to show the type of content that works in the digital space. As Jason Falls explains here, it’s much different than what many agencies are used to: it’s nimble, quick, conversational, and responsive. (His words, not mine). Whether you’re executing for your clients, giving them the resources do it themselves (maybe the most authentic solution), or helping them find strategic partnerships to compliment their efforts, a monitoring solution will play an important role in the future success of your relationship with your clients.

What Else?

For those of you who work in an agency, how do you leverage your monitoring solution? What agencies are doing this well? What monitoring companies are providing the tools, resources and insights to guide their agency partners? Where am I off base? What am I forgetting? Please share your insights in the comments!

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Though some people called him Negative Nancy, he was right, and we see it more often than we care to admit. In the comments Monica asks two important questions, “How do people know when they’ve become drones in someone else’s community?” and “How do we take down those that use social media to do this to people?”

To answer her first question, I suspect the overwhelming majority doesn’t have a clue when they’ve become a drone. For their benefit, some symptoms of drone syndrome include, but aren’t limited to:

• Nodding along with everything you read, never challenging the author
• Reading something like “work harder than other people and you’ll succeed,” knowing it’s as generic as the advice from a Tarot card reader, but accepting it just because technically it isn’t false
• Re-tweeting their posts without reading it just because they’re your friend, you respect them, etc.
• Referring everyone to their work regardless of their actual need

Since the history of time the average person wants someone to stand up and say, “this is what we’re going to do, follow me.” Many of you that read this post probably don’t fall into this category often, but you sometimes do.

How many times have you just wanted you friend, your significant other, etc. to just pick a movie, place to eat, etc. It might not be EXACTLY what you wanted to watch or what you were hungry for, but if it isn’t completely blasphemous you’re down. Besides, it’s easier than continuing to argue/be indecisive, right?

That is kind of what I liken this current epidemic to, picking out a movie. If someone’s content is ‘good enough’ you’ll go along with it. Calling out their taste in movies doesn’t work, and choosing your own movie and watching it in the back bedroom probably isn’t a very good solution either.

So then how do we answer Monica’s second question?

We’ve already acknowledged people just want someone to lead, and maybe that’s the key here. Maybe you have to consistently craft content so great that at some point they get tired of watching Channing Tatum try to act and they realize that The Hurt Locker will blow their mind.

And it’s hard. If it wasn’t the drones would easily see the trap they’re falling into and they wouldn’t aimlessly agree with everything someone else writes as he/she steps on their head like a rung in ladder to the top of the blogosphere.

For most people calling them out only makes you seem jealous. Pointing fingers at the drone questions their intellect (and nobody is going to respond well to that).

The solution is to get out of the fishbowl, make it a competition, and find a way to win. Drones are notoriously nimble bandwagon fans and when they see you take the lead they’ll try to ride your coattails. When they do, don’t manipulate them. Demand they call you on your bullshit. Demand they challenge you, and push you to keep stay atop your game. Then deliver the goods, not re-packaged generic garbage.

Tweet This: How to Sway Drones, Kill the Queen Bee, & Take Over the Hive –> http://bit.ly/cI3OK4

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If you’d like insight on how I would employ similar techniques for your small business feel free to shoot me an e-mail at ryanstephensmarketing (at) gmail (dot) com.

Enjoy!

1. Let’s assume you just opened a martial arts studio. You’re ready to begin classes. You have no students. What are the top three things you’re going to do to get the first fifty?

The problem with this question is the assumption that you should open a martial arts studio prior to acquiring any students. I think the first thing you’d want to do is start having conversations with other martial arts influencers and people wanting to learn the practice. Begin developing a reputation as someone who is knowledgeable about martial arts and then start providing value and building a community. Whether it’s offline, online, or both, the key is to get a handful of true fans that want to learn from you, and are willing to spread the word about your brand. Then you open the studio.

2. Do you think Twitter is a good tool for martial arts schools to be using? What do you think would be the best way for them to utilize it?

That depends. Are people who are interested in martial arts participating and having conversations about the discipline on the platform? A quick glance at http://search.twitter.com/ reveals quite a few people talking about martial arts so yes, it’s probably a sound tool. The important thing (unless you have a tiny niche) is to go where people are already talking and join the conversation – WHEREVER that is.

There’s countless ways to utilize Twitter. The BEST way is probably to engage people interested in martial arts that could potentially become your customers. You could also build Twitter lists of martial arts influencers, students, students by geographic location, etc. You can share links to good articles, videos, etc. I won’t inundate readers with examples, but there’s hundreds of ways to utilize Twitter provided it’s a medium your audience responds to.

3. Do you have any insight into how instructors could take your advice on building their personal brand, but not on what others want/think/expect?

All I mean by that is that people shouldn’t let others influence the path they want to take. So many people follow this unwritten protocol where they insist on being politically correct and ridiculously agreeable because they don’t want their personal brand to suffer. The problem with that is you become ordinary, and you don’t stand out to anybody. A lot of people think Dane Cook is hilarious. Plenty others think the guy is a total douche. The key is to be whoever you are without worrying about what others think. Define your brand on your terms and you’ll earn your true niche of fans.

4. Tell us about the tagline of your site: Building Intimate Business Relationships.

I think relationships (and ideas) are the foundation of good business so I’ve tried to create a platform where I can wax poetic about how important relationships are. People don’t associate with a logo the way they can a person, and people want to do business with people they like. Nobody wants to push 1 for the menu and the automated voice. I’m probably oversimplifying it, but that’s what it boils down to for me. Being genuine, helping people, and cultivating reciprocal relationships that ultimately help both parties achieve their goals.

5. Martial arts competes a lot with soccer, baseball, football, and other youth sports. What would you do to hold the competing sports at bay and retain more students?

I don’t think I’d actively try to hold other sports back. I think I’d do my best to tell compelling stories about martial arts. I’d try to highlight the benefits and unique selling propositions both for the sport and for my particularly school/studio. In lieu of competing with other sports, you might even try marketing martial arts as a supplement to other sports. Increase your concentration for baseball, discipline for football, quickness for soccer, etc.

6. Where would you place your focus more in 2010: Print Ads, Online advertising, or Other? Explain?

Again, it’s really dependent on the audience you’re trying to reach. Where are they? What do they respond to? There’s something to be said for a company, big or small, that can bring people together and engage in personalized and meaningful way. Personally, I’ve found this to be easier online. I don’t think it’s a coincidence a lot of money is shifting away from traditional advertising methods and towards the online stratosphere. I think it’s all about evaluating what you’re trying to accomplish and using the tools, mediums, channels, etc. to connect with your target audience in a way that makes sense (to them).

7. We like unconventional. What’s your top unconventional marketing tip?

Being yourself. Too many people, companies, brands, etc. want to follow others, to imitate rather than innovate, and to stick with what’s work for others, what’s worked in the past. I have a lot of respect for companies like Crispin Porter + Bogusky that aren’t afraid to take risks.

The truth is that I’m not the most creative person in the world. I like executing the simple things at a very high level. Put it this way: If I were a chef I wouldn’t use really fancy techniques. I would try to cook simple flavors better than everyone else.

If that’s not your approach, try to use the element of surprise to do things nobody else is doing. If it’s been done before, chances are it’s not that unconventional. Andy Nulman is the master of leveraging surprise.

8. Online video is getting big and will probably overtake many other forms of advertising in 2010. How do you use online video in your hypothetical martial arts school?

I would probably just show them the wise ways of the West Virgina Ninja.

Kidding aside. I would test a variety of different segments and see what people were responsive to. You could host very short videos where you demonstrated a move, discussed a mental aspect of martial arts, gave a tour of your studio, showcased student sparring matches, etc. The possibilities are endless.

I suspect there’s plenty of proud parents that would love to go online and watch little Johnny perform his moves on YouTube. It would give them something they could send to their friends, who could show their kids, who could become interested in your studio as well.

9. Lots of martial arts schools have trouble differentiating themselves from the other schools in their area. Facing this reality, what do you decide to do to make sure your school is the purple cow?

Pick out one thing (or a couple of things) that you want to be the fabric of why you do business. Execute relentlessly. Maybe it’s some of the strategies and/or tactics mentioned in this interview, and maybe it’s something totally different, but find something you can be the best at it. Then do that everyday with as much passion and as much respect for your students as possible and the rest usually takes care of itself. It sounds simple, but it’s the truth.

10. What is your first reaction regarding martial arts or the martial arts industry?

I know virtually nothing about martial arts aside from a few bloopers I’ve watched on You Tube, but I have great respect for people that have the discipline to hone a craft that has the ability to positive influence both their mind and body. That said, I’m pretty sure I could take Chuck Norris is a street fight.

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Unchecked Ego

Unless you’re LeBron James you’re brand probably isn’t bigger than that of your company (unless it’s tiny). Even then, you still need to be able to rely on the other member’s of your team in order for the company to succeed. How many championships does LeBron have with that supporting cast?

Sometimes employees’ side projects make them supremely confident in their abilities (this is good), but sometimes that confidence turns into an unchecked ego in which an employee feels that he’s somehow bigger or better than the company he works for.

As a result he/she might try to use their status to make unfair requests, slack on the job, and take unnecessary risks under the assumption that if the company doesn’t adhere to their behavior, they’ll just go somewhere else or start their own gig.

In fairness if their efforts to grow and become a better employee outside of regular office hours does indeed make them more knowledgeable, more skilled, etc. AND THEY’RE BUSTING THEIR ASS, then sure the company should try to accommodate them to retain the value they provide.

That’s not what we’re talking about though – we’re talking about blunt force ego that is toxic, and detrimental to what matters most: The Team.

Disrespect for Company Time

I’m a firm believer that what you do on your lunch hour is your time, but the first time you start using office time or resources to work on a project for another client a side project then you’re out of line.

This also goes for working until 4 am to finish something for a side project and it adversely affecting the work you do for your organization the next morning. It’s pretty much on par with getting drunk at lunch on Friday and playing Sporcle all afternoon.

The scenarios above are pretty blatant, but where do you draw the line? If Frank Eliason just answered 12 customer service requests and wants to rest is weary typing fingers can he read an article in his Google reader about the ROI of customer service that will aid him in a side consulting gig he’s doing for the local Elks Lodge? Maybe he clicked on it because it appealed to that gig, but clearly the knowledge acquired in that article could also help him with his day job at Comcast, right?

Stealing Clients

Personally, I don’t know of any instances where this has happened. I don’t know how you could keep it a secret, but I don’t think side projects should EVER be an excuse to swipe clients (“I can do the same thing for cheaper on weekends”) or even take on clients that could potentially be a good fit for your organization.

Case in point. I haven’t done any side projects (aside from little residual online web spaces) in awhile because I’ve been really busy, but when I did – it consisted solely of friends who ran small businesses who just wanted to learn the ropes of social media. Most paid what they could, which was great compensation for me as I simultaneously acquired more experience, but I don’t know if it would’ve turned the lights on in our office for a day. The one time a potential client came to me with a larger budget I disclosed to them immediately that I’d love to help them, but that I thought they’d be a better fit for our organization as a whole. More people = more knowledge, more resources, better execution, etc.

Though wrong, I could envision how the first two scenarios could slowly develop over time. But this last one (and again, I can’t speak to instances where it’s happened, though I’m sure it does) there’s no excuse and I wouldn’t want to with anyone that would sacrifice their integrity over something like that.

——————-

Please weigh in. I know I’m missing other scenarios, but as someone who lacks the managerial experience of having employees do side projects I can’t think of any realistic and/or glaring situations I should add to the list. I’d appreciate your insights and would love to hear about situations you’ve encountered.

And after hearing the side both for and against side projects, which side would you take if you were a manager and your employees wanted to participate in side gigs. What rules/limitations/policy would you put in place for employees side projects?

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Acquisition of New Skills

Some big companies will you send you to training seminars and possibly even pay for your post-grad education, but that’s not reality for most companies; not in a down economy. Side projects enable you to learn new skills (presumably you’re interested or you wouldn’t do them after hours) that could inevitably help you become better at your own job.

I know a project manager for a Fortune 500 company who helps small business build blogs and websites to increase their online visibility and grow their communities. When her superiors saw her work they asked her to lead a team to build an internal community with social tools, and convince their ‘old boys network’ to participate in an effort to increase collaboration.

Expand Your Own Visibility

This is one some company’s get apprehensive about, fearful they might lose the employee. (We’ll talk about this more Thursday.) I understand this, but under the right circumstances an employee that can build a name for himself becomes a valuable asset to the team he’s (or she’s) on.

I suspect there’s lots of vendors out there who want to work with Altimeter group because Charlene hired a rockstar like Jeremiah. Or visual learners who want to work with Dachis Group because Jeff went out and snagged David. Unless they’re local sports fans, most people want to watch teams with the best players. It’s the same way in business. Customers want to work with the most prolific teams.

Obtain New Clients

There are times when someone will come to you, and ask you for X, Y and Z. Maybe you only do X, and maybe they’re one of the few companies with some discretionary income. Perhaps you’re just booked and aren’t willing to give up your weekly time set aside to watch Dexter. (I sure wouldn’t blame you.)

The point is if you’ve honed your craft in your spare time, you’ll get good enough that eventually a client comes along that’s a better fit for your company than your Friday night freelancing. Upselling the potential client often means they still get to work with you (in addition to other smart people) and your boss gets a new client and more money. Everyone’s happy.

Supplement Your Income/Passion/Intrigue

I admit that I’m a frugal freak of nature. If I can’t eat it or read it chances are I don’t buy it. I put nearly everything I make in savings, my Roth IRA or invest. Having a little freelancing income on the side provides me with guilt free spending: a new T-shirt, a 6 pack, a Texas Country Music concert. Maybe you’re saving for a wedding, or your kids’ college fund. It’s always nice to have a little side income – sometimes it prevents you from leaving a job you enjoy for a higher paying job you’ll hate.

I hope you’re doing work you really enjoy, but the statistics dictate that you’d be in the minority. Even if you absolutely love you’re job chances are you have outside interests that don’t overlap with your job duties. What’s the harm in keeping yourself fresh by maintaining a wide variety of interests outside your job, bonus points for earning some spare change. Maybe it’s a cover rock band at the local dive on weekends, maybe it’s writing copy, and maybe it’s babysitting.

Whatever you do, do it because you enjoy it and it supplements your life in such a way that it makes you a more complete person. Typically, those people high performers at work. There’s a stat somewhere that confirms this, I’m sure of it!

*I’m very fortunate that my boss and my job enable me to work on things I’m passionate about in the evenings and on weekends (provided my work is done – SMC work always takes priority). I can honestly say I’ve learned a lot of things that have helped me sharpen my skill set and made me better at my day job.

To be fair, Thursday I’ll examine the drawbacks and negative connotation surrounding side jobs.

I know many of you write books, host tweetchats, consult, coach, etc. on the side. How have side projects impacted your career? Enhanced what you do in your day job? What kinds of concerns have your employers expressed? If you don’t do side projects, what’s prevented you? If you work in a big company (Bank of America, Proctor & Gamble, etc.), what’s their stance on outside projects?

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The Case for Side Projects –> http://bit.ly/70R4Al

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Slides: What’s the Future of Business – Jermiah Owyang (Web Strategist)
This is a short, but solid slide deck that will give you some insight into the role emerging technologies will play in the future of business. It includes how this affects leadership, communication, organizational structure, and more. And it also provides a nice introduction to the Altimeter Group.

Jim Collins & Charlie Rose Discuss Business & Great Companies – Mitch Joel (Twist Image)
I don’t watch many videos over 3 minutes long, but this one was definitely worth it. Collins discusses the undisciplined pursuit of more, how hubris leads to obsession of growth, and the truth about the ambition of those in power.

Essential Reading for Building Online Communities – Rich Millington (FeverBee)
Citing the fact that there’s not a definitive book out there yet on online communities, Rich recommends 10 of the best books regarding online community management.

Smart Targeting: Influencers or Fans? – Jeremy Epstein (Social Media Explorer)
Jeremy pushes back against traditional wisdom that going after influencers is the best strategy. He “humbly suggests that the ROI on identifying, cultivating, and activating your Raving Fans would be much higher.”

5 Ways to Market Like a Psychotherapist – Melissa Karnaze (Copyblogger)
“Don’t think in simplistic terms of selling products or services. Find the ideas and attitudes that you are really trying to sell. You’re not manipulating people to buy; you’re presenting them with ideas and attitudes that they can choose to adopt.”

My Icons – Ben Casnocha
Ben made a black-and-white portrait of nine people whose ideas or life-paths loom large in his life. I thought it was a cool exercise and enjoyed reading the quotes from the people who have influenced him along the way.

Hitting the Bullseye of Success – Christopher Penn (Awaken Your Super Hero)
Chris tells a great story with a metaphorical bow and arrow about how both luck/opportunity and skill/effort translate into success, as well as how to go about enhance skills and finding more targets.

I Know Kung Fu – Stuart Foster (The Lost Jacket)
“Direct marketing is pure offense. Inbound marketing is channeling people’s energy and using their input to your advantage. Each can be used effectively and will get you results. The effectiveness of direct marketing will eventually stagnate though, where as inbound marketing is a renewable resource.”

Bringing ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ to the Screen – Saki Knafo (New York Times)
Not exactly a blog post, but an awesome read if you’re interested in the movie: “I realized only then that it happens millimeter by millimeter,” he told me. “If you compromise what you’re trying to do just a little bit, you’ll end up compromising a little more the next day or the next week, and when you lift your head you’re suddenly really far away from where you’re trying to go.”

The Hierarchy of Success – Seth Godin
The hierarchy is as follows: 1.) Attitude 2.) Approach 3.) Goals 4.) Strategy 5.) Tactics 6.) Execution — How many people/companies do you know start with number or after? Read the post for the explanations.

Non-Obvious Guide to Finding a Great Job – Auren Hoffman (Summation)
10 pretty solid techniques for employing a proactive job search. Some of these include applying to the company as opposed to the job, dumbing down your resume, and doing something nutty and unorthodox.

A Fixed Income is a Sucker Bet – Steve Palina
“When you receive a fixed income, you’re actually creating a variable amount of value, but the income generated by your excess value is being siphoned off to line someone else’s pockets. They’re profiting from your ignorance.”

The Platform vs. The Eyeballs – Seth Godin
“Compared to the cost of renting eyeballs, buying a platform is cheap. Filling it with people eager to hear from you… that’s the expensive part. But if you don’t invest in the platform, you’ll be at a disadvantage, now and forever.”

And these two have nothing to do with marketing at all, but I stumbled across them and thought they were pretty funny and worth sharing. The latter is probably not safe for work. Cheers!

Love is Funny: Awesomely Bad Engagement Photos – the_mean_bean (Guidespot)

Weirdest Questions Asked on Yahoo Answers – Nimda (Wild Ammo)

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15 Essential Blog Posts from Sept ‘09 — http://bit.ly/4i3O5Z

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One such idea is something that I’ve had on my mind for quite some time now. I’ve witnessed people do some great (see: charitable) things with social media. David Armano helping Daniela and her family comes to mind, Chris Brogan encouraging his community to help out one charity a month, and many, many more. Well, my community pales in comparison to those guys, but I still wanted to find a way to contribute something to causes I was passionate about, causes you’re passionate about.

So here’s my solution:

As of today, I’ve re-launched my consulting services with a new twist.

25% of what I charge will go straight to the charity of your choice. If you don’t have a favorite charity, I’ll donate it cancer research, or the Acumen fund, or another organization benefiting our world.

My time is extremely valuable to me. In fact, it’s my most important asset so my services won’t come cheap (well I guess that depends on who you’re comparing them to.) That is to say if you want to give to a charity please just give, you don’t need an excuse. But if you want to use social tools to increase brand reach, brand affinity, and most importantly your bottom line and you’re serious about your efforts please inquire knowing full well 25% of your bill goes straight to charity.

Check out the services page for more details. (Yes, it’s barren right now, but if I didn’t “just do it,” it would’ve never gone live. I’ll continue expanding and refining it over the next couple of weeks.)

One day when I find a ridiculously wealthy woman that looks like Olivia Wilde and can tolerate me, maybe that number can go up to 50%, but in the meantime here’s what you can do to help me out. If you know of a personal brand, a small business, or even a big one that needs help learning how to integrate social media into their marketing efforts please pass this along.

Also, please keep in mind I will be taking my own advice. It’s very likely that depending on the scope of the work I will only take on one project at a time for the time being. This is nothing again you, or your project, work, etc. but if I can’t be passionate and get behind the work, or if we’re not a good fit I’m not going to take it on. I will however do my best to refer you to someone who can help you.

Finally, for a limited time only (I don’t know how limited or how long yet), I’ll make a special offer. Anyone who I decide to work with that doesn’t feel I provided them value at the end of a predetermined time will receive a full refund except for the 25%, which will still go to charity.

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Check Out Ryan Stephens’ Re-Launched Consulting Services w/ 25% Going to Charity — http://bit.ly/2jitz8

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I feel confident that I helped quite a few people, and that’s what is most important to me. But, in the midst of helping others I also learned quite a bit from the experience. What follows are some of the most important lessons I learned:

1.) Taking action is imperative. Last week I discussed the importance of taking action, but honestly it’s always been something I’ve struggled with. I worry entirely too much about how something will be received and have been reluctant to try out new initiatives for fear that they’ll adversely affect my personal brand.

Besides, you won’t remember if it didn’t benefit you anyway. With the free consulting sessions, I took action. It wasn’t the most successful venture ever, but no animals were harmed during any of the sessions.

2.) It’s important to qualify consumer perceptions; which is to say that when something is free some people will take advantage, and you will always be surprised by how many people are looking for a silver bullet solution. Often the two work hand in hand.

A handful of people got on the phone expecting me to tell them the secret to making millions overnight. After I evaluated their business model, and offered a few suggestions to help move the needle, they often discovered ‘hard work’ was part of the equation, and stopped listening. I’ll be careful to screen these people out in the future.

3.) It’s okay, no extremely important to say no sometimes. To my surprise quite a few people shared the offer with their networks and the response was honestly overwhelming. I was both flattered and determined to help all of these people. This was the same time I was working 50+ hours a week at a new job in a new state.

I ended up getting to everyone (with the exception of one who had a tumultuous schedule), but I got severely burned out in the process. Moving forward, I’ll be more selective and ensure that I’m only taking time to work on projects I’m passionate about and people I’m particularly fond of.

4.) Make sure you a lot excess time for research. This is my “no duh,” moment, but when I originally launched the idea I was thinking a half hour every night on the phone. What I didn’t take into account was my propensity to want to over deliver. Yes, I know what I’m talking about, but I wasn’t familiar with a lot of the entrepreneurs and small business that approached me.

I ended up researching companies for at least an hour prior to the calls to ensure that I could make some really strategic recommendations tailored specifically for their company, as opposed to generic advice. I also typically spent another half hour going over notes, and sending them a follow up document outlining the key takeaways and actionable items. 30 minutes after a 10 hour work day is reasonable, 2 hours was a stretch some nights, and ultimately the reason I ended up only doing 2 sessions a week.

5.) You know what you’re doing, trust yourself and get it done. When I started the offer I honestly thought it would be mostly new people just looking to acquire some momentum. I was extremely surprised and flattered when a bestselling author, and a CEO of billion (not million) dollar companies approached me. Admittedly I was a bit intimidated and asked myself (particularly with the author) what they could possibly learn from me.

The thing is I’m a voracious reader of all things business/marketing, and I build strategy and execute for big brands all the time in my day job. Then I go home and help small businesses and personal brands. I have more tangible experience in this sandbox then the vast majority of people online. Even if someone more experienced comes along it’s important to remember that sometimes people just need a different perspective, or are looking for one small piece of advice to really transform their efforts. That’s all it takes, and guess what? If they’re more experience, already know what you’re capable of so be confident and deliver value.

So why the lessons learned now, instead of 4 months ago when I concluded the offer? It’s because it’s time that I take all this advice and put it to good use. The middle of this week I’ll be launching some new consulting services. I won’t get into it now, but once they’re live I’d greatly appreciate your opinions and help to refine my offerings into something that potential clients will get great value from.

What do you think of these lessons? What have you learned from consulting? What would you look for in a potential consultant? Would you hire me to consult you on how to be awesome if Stuart Foster wasn’t available?

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What do Michael Jordan and Lewis Howes have in common?

They’re both over 6’0” [check]

They’re both athletes [check]

They’re both unafraid to take action. [Ding Ding Ding]

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan

Lewis admits he’s not the smartest person online (though he’s sharper than he gives himself credit for.) So why has he been successful in building a brand, maintaining a solid website with a host of talented writers, written a book, and hosted numerous paid seminars and webcasts attended by people all over the country?

It’s because he takes action. All the time. And he’s not the only one. Matt Cheuvront also comes to mind. Who else do you know that has been successful because they’re relentless in their pursuit of action?

I’m willing to suspect there are some projects Lewis has done that didn’t work out so well along the way. Guess what? Just like people don’t remember all the game winners Jordan lost, they won’t remember the times you’ve tried and failed — provided that you learn from your mistakes, and have a few successes along the way.

Depending on the list you’re looking at Jordan has made between 22 to 25 game winners in his career, less than he’s missed, albeit that’s a ridiculous success rate. Yours probably won’t be that good, and it doesn’t matter. It usually only takes a few successes to counter the failures.

I often spend way too much time calculating this and that, weighing every variable, and anxiously awaiting a sign from above that my idea is the right one or will be a success. You probably do to.

What if we just started hoisting game winners? We might miss a few at first, and we’d probably never make as many as Jordan, or Godin, or Kern, but I suspect that the more chances we take, the more deadly our aim will become.

Photo Credit: jpangan3

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“We can increase your traffic, help perpetuate your important messaging, build your brand and positively influence your ROI.”

How many times have you heard something similar?

You know how the rest of this conversation goes.

“That’s exactly what we’re looking for. How will you go about doing this?”

“Oh, we’ll get you set up on Twitter, design you a Facebook page and a blog.”

“Yeah, a lot of brands are doing those things, right? We’re still learning, but we feel like we should definitely have those things. How do we measure our ROI though, isn’t it difficult with social media?”

“Well you can’t really measure ROI the way you would traditionally. Think of ROI has Return on Influence or better yet, change it to ROE and measure return on emotion. I can get you tons of Twitter followers, and countless hits to your blog.”

[A bit skeptical, but convinced they need to be doing “social media.”] Okay, that sounds good.

This might work once or twice. Maybe even a few times if you can target enough companies that don’t know any better. Some companies are small and don’t have the resources to learn this stuff on their own. Some are big and have enough money for you to do it for them. Some just want to pay for something to cover their ass and tell others A.) they’re doing it and B.) it’s your fault if it’s not a success.

But here’s the rub.

Eventually this recession will end. Eventually HR/Marketing/Customer Service departments will realize social tools should be integrated into their entire organization. Eventually a former client, who’s still not convinced that you provided much value, will work with someone else or wise up and realize you were full of it the entire time.

Eventually you’ll be obsolete.

You’ll pitch your services all the same, but because you were insistent on pulling the wool over people’s eyes for the quick fix, people won’t believe you anymore. And nobody is going to come rescue your floundering Twitter consultancy, even if you chip in for their subscription to TwitterAdder.

People have discussed this before so why do I bring it up now?
Because early last week, I had the fortunate pleasure of attending Charlotte’s Social Fresh event, put on by Jason Keath and a slew of other awesome people. I really walked away with a lot of value and particularly enjoyed presentations byKeith Burtis, David Armano, Olivier Blanchard, and Spike Jones.

You could probably classify them all as gurus, but the truth is none of them would be caught dead calling themselves anything of the sort. In fact, experts suck.

Want to know what all those guys had in common?

• They were funny
• They were approachable
• They admitted if they didn’t know something or were wrong
• They were conversational and open to critique, rather than pretentious know-it-alls.
• And yes, they were all genuinely knowledgeable about their subject matter.

And they were also well dressed. In fact, I told Spike that I was impressed with the impeccable style displayed by the guys down at Brains on Fire. He attributed it all to Geno, who I was able to meet at a Charlotte Social Media Breakfast earlier in the year. Both killer guys!

It’s so easy to get turned off by the overwhelming amount of people that are crying wolf, and it would be really easy for the real influencers to take advantage of that approach as well, but they don’t. And that’s why they’re successful and will continue to be successful.

These guys were a helpful reminder that shortcuts aren’t the way.
Do yourself a favor and put in the hard work now. Learn your craft, hone your skills, never stop learning, and always, always be authentic in your approach. And when you cry, your customers will come running.

Oh, and ask Olivier what he thinks about Return on Influence.

Photo Credit: Whitewolf Productions

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