Buzzwords

Jan 06 2011

Social Media Hall Of Fame

Yes, there will be one. Are you worthy of election?

Thanks, ChrisL_AK on Flickr

An annual rite of January, the Baseball Hall of Fame Election, got us thinking – when there’s a Social Media Hall Of Fame, who will get in? Where will the Hall be built? What will the induction ceremony look like?

Some Thoughts:

1. The Social Media Hall Of Fame will be reserved for those retired from Social Media. Like the Baseball Hall of Fame, where you have to be retired from the game for five years, it doesn’t make sense to put people in who are still active.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame does this a little differently, electing people and bands after they’ve been in the business for 20 years. It’s also in Cleveland, which, we’re told, rocks. Bringing us to point two…where?

2. The Social Media Hall Of Fame will be located in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. Why? Social Media Hall Of Fame induction should really center around the authentic. Those who are truly authentic focus on the Truth or face the Consequences.

Plus: Truth or Consequences was a game show, and Bob Barker was the host.

3. The Social Media Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony. Unlike the People’s Choice Awards or the MTV Music Awards, the Social Media Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony must include things like Bacon, Slime (from Nickelodeon), and maybe a really schmaltzy host. Not Steve Harvey, but possibly Wink Martindale.

Is this beginning to sound like a really bad idea?

Ah, there’s the point of this post: we all want recognition for our efforts. We all want to get there honestly. We all want, maybe, an occasional star-studded event.

But yesterday’s election of two Hall of Famers – Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven – may have taught us a little something about the craft. The love of the game. Living in the moment.

Are we waiting days, months, years for the recognition we truly deserve?

We may keep waiting – especially in this modern world of craziness.

Danny Brown talked on his site about longevity at the workplace, and how the Japanese have companies that have been around for decades.

There won’t be a Social Media Hall Of Fame.

There will be little victories – in business, in life. You may throw 120 pitches one game, you may get shelled in the first inning of the next.

Don’t keep waiting for your induction. And don’t focus too too much on “Social Media” or getting into a “Hall Of Fame.”

Just go do stuff that’s cool. Enjoy the climb.

We’re off our soapbox.

Jan 04 2011

The Brand Builder Q&A – Our Turn At Answers

Thanks, @scoobymoo
Great little meme courtesy of Olivier Blanchard. Our turn to play along.

The idea was to get marketers, brand communicators, startup people, businessy types to answer a James Lipton-style Q&A. You can see Olivier’s take here: The Brand Builder Q&A.

What is your favorite marketing/business word?

Launch.

What is your least favorite marketing/business word?

TIE: Ninja, Rockstar, Guru.

What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally about marketing/business?

Passion. I’d rather watch Dick Vitale scream at a basketball game than see another person in business lumber through another day above ground. I love it when business people have the same passion about their work.

What turns you off about marketing/business?

Lack of authenticity. Lack of tact. Arrogance.

What’s your favorite curse word when you see really bad marketing?

For the love of Mike.

What sound or noise do marketers/business people make that you love?

A-ha!

What sound or noise do marketers/business people make that you hate?

Does inactivity make a sound?

What profession other than marketing should marketers attempt – to become better at marketing?

Writing.

What profession should marketers never try?

Metallurgy.

If marketing heaven exists, what would God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

Thanks for having an ethical compass.

Dec 30 2010

40 Thanks, life123.com
It has arrived. That wisdom that comes with a birthday that is divisible by 10.

What’s crazy is that I find myself ruminating on the past 10 years – thinking back to how turning 30 made me “legitimate,” and started a decade of, well, lots of stuff.

Is ruminating the right word?

Well, the very last thing I want anyone to do is be subjected to a load of crap on this site. So, instead, here are a few things I’ve picked up in the past decade:

Your significant other is likely definitely smarter than you.
Trust your gut.
If you have to choose between two or more opportunities: take the job (or gig or client engagement) that pays more money.
Some people will never get what they deserve. Get over it.
Often, the job that no one else wants is the job that provides the best opportunity for you.
Don’t be afraid of failure. (I ran a startup called U Sphere; it went under. People still ask me about it, want to know what I learned.)
Ideas are like water: the only way you’ll know if your idea is worth anything is to try to do something with it.
Remove toxic people from your life.
Working by yourself has its pluses and minuses. Consider both.
Don’t get hung up on what you name the product or service or business. Give it thought, sure, but there are more important things to worry about.
Avoid companies that are traded on the pink sheets.
Pick up the phone.
Don’t leave a voice mail message unless you absolutely have to.
Don’t read your own press clippings, if you have any.
When launching a business, think about sales cycle. If you call a prospect and they ask you to call back “next year at this time,” you are in the wrong business.
Put the Blackberry down when you’re eating dinner. (Kid #1 told me this in 2005. Stuck with me.)
The direct route is the best.
Being a Cubs fan is torture. Think long and hard before subscribing.
Being a Bengals fan means you don’t have to worry about watching the NFL playoffs.
A plus for someone in your circle does not necessarily mean a minus for someone else. Happiness is not a zero sum game.
If your business card is not a conversation piece, then you probably don’t need to hand it out.
Guys: on a two-button sportcoat, button the top button. On a three-button sportcoat, button the middle button.
If the boss asks you to lie, don’t do it. You may well lose your job, but you’ll be able to live with yourself.
If the other side in a negotiation won’t tell you who they are, who they are working for, or what they want with you, move on. It’s not a negotiation, anyway.
Adoption is just another way to build a family. Doesn’t make adoptive parents or kids any more or less special than anyone else. Just different.
Corporate America loves to say they’re “entrepreneurial.” However, at the end of the day, Corporate America hates hiring “entrepreneurs.”
Empathy is a nice trait.
So is politeness.
Belt and shoes should match.
You can wear an inexpensive suit – but if you add a pocket square, you’ll make it look much more expensive than it is.
Socks are an extension of the pant. Same color is best.
Your children may think someone else has a cooler job than you. That’s okay.
The best emails are sometimes the ones never sent. Ditto for tweets and Facebook posts.
Some people don’t want to have kids. Asking them why they don’t have kids is not cool.
Ditto people who are single.
The best way to build a business is to actually build a business.
Never turn down a chance to sit with a VC person, even if only for 10 minutes. And don’t waste their time: be succinct.
Life’s about way more than business. Maybe your passion is business, maybe it’s something else altogether.
Faith, Hope and Love are very important things.
The greatest of these, without a doubt, is love. (Yes, that’s Biblical.)

I’ve made connections, made friends, learned a ton, and am so very grateful for your time, your thoughts, your comments, and you just being you. All of you. You know who you are.

Thanks.

Oct 21 2010

Buzzword Watch – How to Change the Game by Being a Game Changer

UPDATE: November 10, 2010 – we have removed the Amazon affiliate link in this post. All other text remains unchanged.

More than a best-selling book: a way of life for the buzzword-addicted. Here’s what’s wrong with Game Change(r)s.

Book from Heilemann and Halperin

If you think about the book “Game Change” you can learn quite a bit about when it makes sense and when it doesn’t make sense to use the term “Game Change” or its variation, “Game Changer.”

First, a layman’s definition, in plain English. Obama won not because he defeated John McCain, or even Hillary Clinton. He won because he campaigned against George W. Bush and Washington as usual. He was an outsider, outsider equals good, good equals electable. If you run a political campaign that accomplishes one of these things, congratulations: you have successfully created a Game Change. (BTW, if you want to get a copy of the book, our affiliate link to it is below. Rock on.)

In business, if you create a product or service that is a category unto itself (what they used to call a “category killer”), you are a Game Changer.

In fact, let’s use the 2010 elections and the holiday shopping season to give you a very short list of people, places and things that are right now “Game Changers.” For instance:

The Tea Party: Game Change. What’s most interesting about the Tea Party movement, to this reporter, is not its ubiquity but its lack of a concrete message. The seminal moment of this Tea Party is widely considered to be a rant by CNBC reporter Rick Santelli. Yet, hardly present in this current movement is any mention of derivatives, securities laws, mortgage-backed bond trading and stuff like that. (“Stuff like that” is a technical term.) The Tea Party appears to be about change – back to the Constitution in pre-bailout mode, where “Don’t Tread on Me” is a way of life.

iPad: Game Changer. It’s not a phone, it’s not a TV. It’s somewhere in-between. Gartner predicts that 19.5 million units of “tablet computers” will be sold this year. 54 million units are projected to be sold in 2011. The rules of the game changed: don’t sell people a phone, don’t sell them a computer, sell them something in-between.

Think about it in the context of what you’re doing in business: unless you are coming up with a new way of computing, or a new way of positioning candidates as you enter an election, you’re not a Game Changer.

Guess what: that’s okay.

We’ve bumped into literally hundreds of folks whose businesses are not in the middle of a Game Change. But they are watching the rules change and shifting their own strategy to follow along.

This can mean restaurants that tweet deals, or lawyers who blog, or fundraisers who abandon the old way of doing things and try something new.

You don’t have to be a Game Changer. But you should watch the rules of the game, and play along.