As the Future Becomes Present, the Past Looks Different

What do I mean by “As the Future Becomes the Present, the Past Starts to Look Different”?

Well, you have no doubt seen the indicators that “social mesh”– from Reality TV to ZipCar, from Jigsaw to LinkedIn — is changing our lives, businesses, and business models.

Global Communities, User-Generated Content, and an Always-On Net-Based Economy are allowing the fundamental rules to morph. Now there is a directory of mesh companies that’s quite interesting to peruse!

And as to the past looking differently from where we are, 3 pictures is worth 3,000 words! I include for you below some advertisements that were “the norm” 40-80 years ago.  Just note how incongruent they seem with our current Western culture. Clearly these companies were addressing the desires of people in society — and still have — but the communication itself is now somewhere between comical and repulsive…  [Aug. 6 Note: a fourth picture has been added since the "Soda Pop Association" was revealed to be a spoof].

What do you think and what else have you seen?  Comments welcome below!

– Paul

PS. Registration closes tomorrow for the social media training that I mentioned my friend launched last month. and he’s now offering busy people “done for you” services as well. Whether or not you’re interested in the paid course, take advantage of your last opportunity to see the 3 free training videos and downloads — I definitely learned some new things!

Easier-to-Read Copy, added after the "Soda Pop Association" photo was reported as a spoof: Why we have the youngest customers in the business This young man is a 13 months old – and he isn’t our youngest customer by any means. For 7-up is so pure, so wholesome, you can even give it to babies and feel good about it. Look at the back of a 7-Up bottle. Notice that all our ingredients are listed. (That isn’t required of soft drinks, you know – but we’re proud to do it and we think you’re pleased that we do.) By the way, Mom, when it comes to toddlers – if they like to be coaxed to drink their milk, try this. Add 7-Up to the milk in equal parts, pouring the 7-Up gently into the milk. It’s a wholesome combination – and it works! Make 7-Up your family drink. You like it . . . it likes you! Nothing does it like Seven-Up!

Easier-to-Read Copy: Though she was a tiger lady, our hero didn't have to fire a shot to floor her. After one look at his Mr. Leggs slacks, she was ready to have him walk all over her. That noble styling sure soothes the savage heart! If you'd like your own doll-to-doll carpeting, hunt up a pair of these he-man Mr. Leggs slacks. Such as our new automatic wash wear blend of 65% Dacron® and 35% rayonincomparably wrinkle-resistant. About $12.95 at plush-carpeted stores.

How soon is too soon? Not soon enough. Laboratory tests over the last few years have proven that babies who start drinking soda during that early formative period have a much higher chance of gaining acceptance and “fitting in” during those awkward pre-teen and teen years. So, do yourself a favor. Do your child a favor. Start them on a strict regimen of sodas and other sugary carbonated beverages right now, for a lifetime of guaranteed happiness.”]”]

Easier-to-Read Copy [Now believed to be a Spoof

Easier-to-Read Copy: My spirit -- the spirit of Christmas-giving -- is abroad in the land. A gift that expresses that spirit, and brings pleasure to every home, both great and small, is rare indeed. Such a gift, my friends, is LUCKY STRIKE.

How Facebook is Affecting Life & Death

Before I get into the topic today, I just want to say how great it is to have heard back from folks how worthwhile my friend Don’s training on turn your social media endeavors profitable was!

Just in case you “made a mental note of it” which subsequently fell off the radar, Don has since put out two more videos (including a complimentary blueprint download that got my wheels spinning).  Before you say “social media isn’t my thing”, consider the possible benefit outside your primary professional focus — perhaps a side business, that of a family member, or even a community group you belong to.

Now, back to the profound idea that 25-year-old Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook could affect life and death…

• I’ve had two friends pass on in as many months (RIP Ken and Terry) and have been stunned at how Facebook is serving as that virtual memorial service — a place where well wishes and memories would probably not have been written down and shared heretofore.  Much less, for eternity!
• On the other hand, a colleague shared with me some statistics on how the elderly — who used to be isolated in their nursing home rooms — are now embracing the ability to communicate with one another at a distance, without the stress of leaving home! Facebook is actually extending lifespans, which is in turn triggering a shift in the economics of the eldercare industry, as actuarial tables didn’t know about FB friends.

Please feel free to comment below — have you seen this dynamic as well?  Or am I off base?  Let me know.

State of the Nation — Social Media 2010

As fellow panelists and I discussed a couple months back, one of the most common themes in business/professional use of social media today is ROI. That is, it’s possible to spend a huge amount of time in a broad array activities — how do we ensure a clear path to monetization?

Enter my friend, Don — whom I got to know in the training world a couple years back.

After creating his first social media program, he began working on the theory that there are two categories of activities within social media:

1. Those that make you money
2. Those that make you friends

I liked the simplicity of it so much that when he circled back recently with a high-quality educational video, I had to share it with you.  He’s done a ton of testing, and has a natural way of making things easy to understand.

Gotta hop on the flight — I’m returning home with the family from New Hampshire

PS. I almost forgot, he includes a helpful worksheet you can fill out along with the video training — this alone has gotten rave reviews!

Innovation in Capitalization

I will forever love Peter Drucker’s observation that “marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs”.

So I wanted to share three examples of innovation in a very specialized part of the business world — capitalizing a company.

• Young entrepreneurs have launched “Thrust”, an investment marketplace where investors bet on their business future.  For example, invest $300,000 now for 3% of the entrepreneur’s lifetime income. Certainly mirrors the old adage that venture capitalists bet on the individual.
• Overseas chocolate retailer “Hotel Chocolat” is raising expansion capital to expand their chain’s geography, and they’re doing it with a unique debt offering. The returns are paid in chocolate. ?Customers can buy bonds of 2,000 or 4,000 British pounds which return between 5 and 7% per annum, paid in a “delectable” fashion. ?Sample boxes come from the company’s tasting subscription program.  After a holding period of three years, the owner may redeem for full value.  The deal was arranged by accounting giant BDO so this is legitimate (as opposed to some of the crazy things we’ve all received in our Inbox).  Please just don’t tell my wife about this “opportunity”!
• And lastly you may remember the story of Google.  Rather than use Wall Street investment bankers to underwrite their stock offering of nearly $3 billion (and pay a commission of 7%) they took the opportunity directly to the people.  In a “Dutch Auction”, they made shares available over the internet in a manner that hadn’t been used on such a scale before.

It takes courage to innovate and differentiate, but the option is to look like everyone else!

Case Study: How to Build Badwill With Customers

If you want to reduce customer hesitancy (a good thing!) a solid line of reasoning is to reduce the customer’s risk in trying the product or service.  Someone told Verizon Wireless about this, and they prominently feature their Worry Free Guarantee.

All those people and they STILL can't make customer problems right

What they don’t tell you is that their operational team (for the hundreds of them behind the unnamed “Can you hear me now” dude in their commercials) doesn’t know much about making good with customers.  This is a great lesson for smaller businesses in how good intent poorly executed actually backfires.

I purchased a cellular modem and a smartphone for $280 on April 20th.  Getting 2 bars of service in my home was less than expected, so I returned the equipment and have a confirmation letter to that effect.

But upon calling to verify that my account had been zeroed, I began a “hamster wheel” of fun [sarcasm light glowing brightly] with the customer service and finance/credit departments.

Why?  They can’t seem to figure out that refunding my $275 is a different issue than the balance owed.  So I’m now accumulating finance charges and my second month’s charge has it at $320, even though Verizon IVR [interactive voice response, the computer's that ask you to push buttons and talk to them] clearly identifies that I’m not a customer.

In hours of conversations over the past 2+ weeks, I’ve spoken with Germaine, Armando, Fernando, and others before I thought to start logging their names.  Today I got a call from Herman explaining that my account was past due — and a twist, he says they actually are not crediting me fully for the equipment returned (pristine, 29 minutes of usage).

As the customer, I cannot do a darn thing to change the matter.  It appears they’re going to report me to Experian and the other credit bureaus as delinquent, and yet for the number of  supervisors I’ve spoken to, they’re impotent/incompetent to fix this problem.

Did I really need more material for my blog?  No, but when you mistreat customers to the point where they feel powerless in the customer-vendor relationship, you’ve gotta know it will come out as word-of-mouth complaining.

When I ran restaurants “in the last millennium”, I taught my people the line I learned from trainer Frank Cooper:

The customer signs your paycheck.

For all I know, Verizon Wireless may even have signs like this in their corporate buildings.  But like my business card and web site say, “Ideas are cheap — Execution is everything”.  May your ideas for pleasing customers land like you intended

Remembering the Purpose of Business

Handling cash the old-fashioned way

Whether you’re motivated by single-bottom-line (profit) or triple-bottom-line (profit/social good/environmental good) the commonality is profit.

While visiting a client in Port Gamble, Washington of all places this morning, I (all of me — no I didn’t lose part of my face) happened to see a sight for sore eyes.

One of the oldest, fanciest CASH registers I’ve seen, it got me to thinking about how removed “information workers” are from the revenue stream that is the lifeblood of every business.  Sure, they get reports or P&L statements, but have little true connection with actual money.

In the 90′s when I ran a chain of restaurants, it was important not only that every employee knew the importance of “greenflow”, but that they understood that — for all the cash coming in every day — there was only 3-5% in profit left at the end of the month.

Bottom line: how can you help your people (and your self) appreciate the value of the dollars coming in and going out on a daily/weekly/monthly basis?  It’s different for every business.

Is Social Networking/Media Overhyped?

>From the Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal

Is Social Networking Overhyped?

As many of you have noticed, it’s become as trendy to bash social media as overhyped, as it has to promote it as the silver bullet. Those of us familiar with The Well and LISTSERV in the mid 80s, Usenet in the late 1970s, or even ARAPNET in the early 60s can attest to the power of evolving computer-mediated communications tools which are responsible for how we interact today.

We’ve watched websites and blogging – which some media outlets claimed were distractions businesses wouldn’t take seriously over the long haul – become mainstream. Whether it’s Badoo, Friendster, Ning, Twitter, or Facebook, what’s clear is social media/networking are here to stay. Some offerings will – as always – survive and thrive; others will rise, then fizzle (Geocities, anyone?).

• What is a business or potential user to do?
• What are some of the best practises and pitfalls?
• How does one set measureable goals and objectives which translate into ROI?
• How do we get beyond the cognitive dissonance from shake-and-bake opportunists to real, effective and truly expert advice?

Get the answers to these questions and more on Catching Bytes Radio’s May 10 show at 12 noon (Pacific), hosted by West Sound Technology Association (WSTA) president Charles Keating, who will be joined by

• Eric Becker, a Writer/Producer and Social Media Strategist/Consultant from Seattle
• Paul Travis, a Strategic Marketing expert, Certified Management Consultant, and author
• Doña Keating, Pres/CEO of an international business, policy, and information technology consulting firm
• Frank Kenny, Pres/CEO of North Mason Chamber of Commerce.

Click here to listen from your computer or iPod/iPhone, live or anytime afterward. Call in comments are welcome, or use the chat feature if all lines are filled. Tune in and join the conversation!

What If You Could Get Through the “Backlog” Faster?

Years after leaving Microsoft, the fellow who hired me there told me he’d studied speed-reading as a way of “keeping up” with all the change in the world.  Well I never made time to learn that, but I did stumble upon something equally important as more and more video content comes out on the web.

This utility lets me “speedread” through video content so I learn (on average) twice as fast. Said another way, I can get through twice as much information in the same time!

With this special link, you save 20% off what others pay — which in itself is completely worth it!  Nonetheless, type “VIVIFY20″ where it lets you enter a special code. You can’t lose, since there’s a money-back guarantee.

Never Say Never: Travis’ Timeslice Cred Theorem

Almost 20 years to the day after I officially left Microsoft, Standard & Poor said Thursday that the company had been eclipsed in size by Apple (market cap of $241 billion) which was now 2nd only to Exxon.

The same company that made the little Apple 2c.  And the Newton.  And iTunes and now the iPad.  So on the one hand, they’ve certainly validated the “Tortise & Hare” fable and the “Little Engine who could” story.

On the other hand, Microsoft was not always a household name.  When I began in 1986, I remember speaking to friends back in Illinois who responded, “You’re working WHERE?”  But indeed the company would continue to grow and eventually become a household name.  At one time, people thought there could never be another Microsoft — until Google.

We won’t delve into that rivalry because the focus here is on the timeslice, and how a company’s “cred” [reputation in the market] is not permanent but rather relevant to what has happened lately.

I often cite IBM as my example:  in the 70′s and 80′s, the company was a powerhouse in the industry.  But by the 90′s, the company had faltered (remember “PS/2″ and its operating system, “OS/2″?)  And under the great leadership of Lou Gerstner and focus on IBM Global Services, the company is again a serious player in the industry.

Think about it: a good friend, Apple, Sears, Polaroid, Lehman Bros — they’ve all had their day.  We thought of them in a certain light “once upon a time”, but time passed.  Some do come back, and you want to be one of them.

So what are your takeaways?

Keep taking risks doing great things for your customers — you’ll have more/bigger “ups” than downs.  You’ll capture word of mouth.  And despite your low points, you will overtake the kingpin in your industry — which people will remember more than when you’ve faltered!

Changing the Channel

Bravo to Louise Hay and Hay House for bringing a movie to market with an “alternate channel” strategy!

Rather than struggling to get this new movie by Peter Rodger into theaters, they’ve “hybridized” a crowdsourcing/nonprofits/home-party-plan launch that I think is very creative — not to mention viral.

Entitled “Oh My God”, this movie reminds me of “The Secret” or others that will appeal to spiritual thinkers and searchers for meaning.

From their pre-launch pricing page:

Hay House is offering public screenings of this remarkable new film. Any group conducting a screening will have the right to charge their audience members a fee to view the film. As an added bonus, we will provide promotional materials, by request, and post your event on this Website. To thank you for your continued support, we have reserved an exclusive time period for you to screen the film between March 15 – April 14 (you may also have a screening any time after the exclusive period). The DVD will be released to the general public on April 15.

Option #1 (100+ Viewers)
Receive 50 Expanded Version DVDs
Retail Value: $1,497.50 | Screening Price = $600.00

Option #2 (Under 100 Viewers)
Receive 20 Expanded Version DVDs
Retail Value $599.00 | Screening Price = $250.00

Option #3 (Under 10 Viewers — Individual Party Screenings)
Receive 5 Expanded Version DVDs
Retail Value $150.00 | Screening Price = $50.00

Additional copies can be purchased at 50% off and include Free Domestic Shipping *

How can you change the channel?