Despite widespread adoption of Social Media, most companies are still missing the point and failing to engage the medium effectively or powerfully. This was evidenced with the ads at the 2012 Super Bowl XLVI; there were few extensions and few integrations beyond the initial hashtag or web link. Nearly a third miss going that far, according to Altimeter Group.
You’re not Thinking 4th Dimensionally
Most in the communications/promotions world think only 1 or 2 dimensionally. It results from a need to see how their personal work/project impacts a certain space – they put it out there, then gather metrics on their impact. It’s simple, it’s easy. It’s also short sighted. Like any field of play, a 3 dimensional player will eventually advance ahead of the 1 or 2 dimensional player. This is what made Tim Tebow so exciting to watch in his debut season. Just when the “stronger” team thought they had it won, Tebow pulled a new move that was not expected – like running his own touchdown play. (alright, enough with the football, back to business). For you sci-fi fans, this is the equivalent of James T. Kirk beating the no win scenario… by changing the rules of the test. To use social media effectively, you have to be able to “see the future” just a little bit.
This is why social media can be so powerful – it offers a relatively inexpensive means to move into a 3 or 4 dimensional plan against a more powerfully equipped opponent who has more resources for far less money. It sounds silly, but it works. Just ask Gary Vaynerchuk. All innovation is based on this principle – gain 1 dimension against your opponent and you can out-play them.
Watching the Super Bowl ads was disappointing. Most of us in the social media communications business expected LOTS of interactive commercials. Alas only a couple played their game using the new rules. The bad news is this means that so many companies still don’t get it. The good news is, for entrepreneurs and neophytes, you have a lot of opportunity to gain advantage by looking at those extra dimensional opportunities.
Three and a half Strategies to Give You Advantage:
Continue reading
There is a distinct cusp of attitudes and approach in business technology use. The divide is roughly age based generationally but also, somewhat, by inclination. For office based, non-manufacturing/distribution businesses we can all be more effective at lower cost.
Old School: Everyone in a place I know, visibly doing a job I’ve assigned. Ahh, comfort and control. Sure I have the expense of land, plant, equipment, furniture, utilities and specific staff for just those pieces of infrastructure. I like it this way. We’ve always done it this way, etc.
Modern Business: Let’s minimize the “plant” infrastructure or minimize it radically. Let’s only spring for the equipment necessary to out-place all or nearly all of our staff. Modern technology allows anyone anywhere to communicate and collaborate effectively, closely and real time. The best business processes allow you to keep staff accountable to achievable goals, motivated (even excited) about the job and mission and just as (or more) efficient at dramatically lower costs.
Social Gillie offers you the best focused assistance with achieving the “modern business” model above. To creat a remote effective workforce you’ll want it just how you choose. We provide solutions from initial assessment to comprehensive development of strategies, requirments, tools, training, implementation, coordination and reporting. A program designed by you to achieve your goals and needs.
Climb out of the comfy “backside in seat” money-pit in your operations.
Contact Social Gillie today to find out more!
The Holy Grail of Start-Ups: Angel Investors
At Social Gillie, we have walked with partners who have gone through the pangs of funding a Start-up. We have walked our own entrepreneurial ventures and we have both seen and felt the challenge, walked through the preparations of presenting to Angel Investors and Venture Capitalists, experienced the agony of giving a great performance that fell on deaf ears. We have also experienced the elation of winning that A, B or C round of funding that gets the company launched in a new direction. We also know the challenge of the “boot strap” start up.
Venture Funding Resources
We know that for many of our clients and many in our audience, this is a major issue – to launch their expansion or get new products to market. So, as the capital is beginning to loosen a bit in the Venture Capital arena, we at Social Gillie are providing a new channel on our blog. Follow us for updates in the Venture Capital and Angel Funding arena – under our “start-ups” category. We will share news, ideas and current events in Venture Funding as we find them, learn them and experience them with our clients or partners.
Fund Hunting Rituals
A helpful article has recently come out from Forbes, on the joys and labors of the “courting ritual” of venture funding. We will keep you posted as new and insightful information arises.
Happy fund-hunting to all!
The Social Gillie Team
Engineering business relationships has more pieces to it than many are aware of. What are you after? What needs to be done?
Our specialty is helping you answer those questions and implement the processes and policies necessary to grow your base of relationships. Communicate better, attract more business, get the best people and suppliers. Be valued in your community and your market segment.
Social Gillie will take you there.
The most important question about using any particular Social or Mobile Relationship tools is not How?, but rather Why? There is so much talk about how this or that tool is used, how it’s implemented, how to build a network, how to organize contacts, etc. Yet, this is at best the secondary concern. And it is the lack of answering the Why question that keeps many business leaders shy about using the many Social Media and mobile computing platforms in the market today. Don’t get me wrong: I think that Social is good for almost everyone in business; but there are both risks and costs associated for every benefit in social media that need to be addressed.
Obvious Benefits
For the first half of the modern* digital business age, the focus was on productivity tools. Rivals such as Corel, Lotus and Microsoft began creating productivity software for the every day business user and these tools had a sudden impact on every aspect of business, especially for mid-sized businesses. Functions that were highly specialized and took days, could be done in just hours by less skilled people. As companies adapted, they found more opportunities to improve their daily processes so that almost every role in the business world transformed. A sales manager in a small company could create his own spreadsheet to track clients, the sales team and predict orders, where before it required the accountant or office manager a couple of days to generate such reports. Back then, the crucial question was “how” to use the software, because the “why” was obvious to most.
I remember in the early 90s, working for a manufacturer’s representative who’s leaders had been to a trade show and became convinced that they needed to develop a corporate-wide distributed data management system. At the time, it seemed obvious – put all of the data into one system that can be accessed by all branches for all business functions. Obvious benefit. Then, the show came around to laptop computers. No longer does the sales man carry a brief case. He carries a laptop. The corporate president blurted out in his deep southern drawl “Why in the world would I want all of my salesmen carrying around computers???” He went on to answer his own question with expletives assessing how “dumb of an idea” that would be.
Continue readingOne of the most exciting aspects of launching cutting edge business management consulting is just trying to identify and connect with those who will be interested. Social Media is how so many outreach today. There are other considerations of course. Email lists, contact manager data, databases from web site registered users, Active Directories. All of these attach to people.
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube all have enormous (although inflated due to multi-account use) user bases. You email contacts from years past and your professional networks. Yes, even your Postal mail and physical correspondence are all sources for relationships evaluation and identification.
The bottom line is to share with everyone what you’re doing. Seek to benefit others as an integral part of your relationships and you will profit more, learn and improve everyone involved.
Epic Contenders
Most people involved in modern business know of the rivalry between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. It was common knowledge that Jobs considered Microsoft products inferior and that there was a professional rivalry between them. Yet, it may escape attention that there is generally a common respect, even among rivals and adversaries, between successful people.
It’s interesting to note that Bill Gates sent a letter to Steve Jobs as he was dying. Yes, even Bill Gates had an appreciation for Steve Jobs, his often quoted adversary and critic. And Steve reportedly kept that letter by his bed – ostensibly to comfort himself in his last days. How fascinating. I think that says a lot about both men.
A Worthy Opponent
Jobs made no secret of his disdain for the Microsoft empire and it’s rise to power. In many ways it seems that Steve was actually propelled by a quest to do something “better” for the consumer. The best stories, the great epics, involve rivals and titanic struggles. This one, for all of it’s mundane techy detail, was no less fascinating than the greatest good vs evil stories of historic battles.
Continue reading
Social Gillie Team
When Good is Bad
We recently had a prospective client sit with us who has “done it all” so to speak, in the realm of digital communication promotions. The company is a consulting firm that has invested a large amount of time and resources into developing traditional internet and social media programs. They have an entire team that has worked on branding, artwork, websites, blogging, tweeting and selling their product on the web. It’s all good stuff! There’s been a massive effort, for a relatively small company. But we suspected that it wasn’t going well for them based on what we could see.
The Harsh Reality
We invited this prospect to meet with us because we had previously bid their project, but they took a different plan with another vendor. They turned us down, going with the other firm’s strategy and using a different philosophy. When we checked back, we could see from the work that they had not implemented several of our key recommendations. We met to review their experience with the other plan.
When we asked how their plan is working, the blank look came back, “not so good. We’re flat on all sales for that project.” Well, we weren’t surprised. The platforms are all there, the efforts are all professional and polished. But, there is no implementation of the Business Relationship Engineering principles which we had recommended.
Continue readingEngineering business relationships has more pieces to it than many are aware of. What are you after? What needs to be done?
Is it “marketing”? Is it “recruiting”? Is is “advertising”? No.
It is a specific strategy, set of processes, tools, measurable metrics and trained staff focused on creating positive new relationships and sustaining existing ones to increase individuals’ own overall productivity as well as the impact, reach and efficiency of the overall organization. Use the integration of Systems, Hardware and People to create a collaborative environment fostering every business relationship.
Contact us for more information.
I love it when someone comes up with new angles on something old – especially in the online communications or marketing world. This week, two profound examples come forth on this topic. While Social Gillie is not strictly a “media” company, nor a “marketing” company, we track the marketing and social media world intensely as part of our commitment to business relationships engineering.
Fresh Insights on Business Communications
This week, a fresh view has come out that is truly fascinating: Adam Ladd, an Online Communications Designer recorded his 5 year old daughter’s impressions of brand logos. There’s a lot of intrigue in the insights that come from her brief quips. The most noteworthy is Ladd and his wife obviously have a java addiction. Ha! (Don’t we all). But, there are many others that come out.
Continue readingYour business relationships are based, maintained and improved based on how you communicate. Communications in the marketplace, business location and around the block and dinner table.
We help enterprises large and small identify, manage and integrate each stream or conduit of relationships that are mission critical. Your employees in and out of the workplace, your leadership, your suppliers and of course your target customer, member or constituent.
Many don’t realize that the underground streams (e.g. your employees at a social gathering with others outside your orbit) impact your efforts and success as much as your advertising or marketing might. Your business relationships require attention, measurement and sustainment. You also will benefit from fresh relationships in each conduit. From finding the talent to make you better, to enhancing your ability to serve those you wish to.
Identify each stream. Measure its use and find its impact. Integrate it to your common enterprise messaging. Ensuring that everyone in your business communications conduits has the best, latest information. Build relationships that keep others talking accurately about you and encouraging others to be in a relationship with your organization.
We provide comprehensive analysis, strategic planning, training, integration and fulfillment in ways custom designed for each person or enterprise.
Outsourcing, In-sourcing, Consulting and Contracted Collaboration - part 1
When should you Consider Outsourcing, In-sourcing or Consulting? Will these empower your company, or dilute your creative energies? Do they offer gains of intellectual property, or risk losing them? Beware of formulaic answers, but seek sound methodology. Using consultants has distinct benefits that should be considered and some risks to avoid. Not every consulting engagement is alike. Many smaller companies do not realize that they can generally set the terms of usage of consultants. If you cannot do so with one company, you can simply shop for another provider who will work with terms that you like. Even if you are locked into a contractual engagement with one company, there are usually short term remedies that allow you to step around those contracts for certain situations.
Talking about Tech Origins
In the late 1980s and through the 1990s MCI, the bygone telecommunications innovator, built internal consulting teams within their company to develop new products and new services that completely changed the face of telecommunications; driving the innovations that make so many amazing things possible today, which are now part of our every day life. They invested billions on creative transformation. There are walls lined with patents and a list of hundreds of innovations in technology, all of which were birthed in that technology incubator.
As evidenced by Rupert Murdoch’s political endorsement making the news. Described as a “computer neophyte” the 80 year old Murdoch used twitter to communicate his political preference.
Why? Because Murdoch is smart and understands that the easiest way to propagate a message widely and fast is via the social communication engine that is all the rage.
You can create new conversations, re-energize stale relationships and engineer all of your relationships’ communications just by riding the wave of technology with solid planning, processes and policies.
There are more people waiting to hear from YOU.
Who Owns Your Peeps -part 2 (see part 1)
The matter of who owns the followers on a social media account is under question in the case of PhoneDog v Noah Kravitz and it is certain to set the tone for how companies do business, or don’t, on social media in the future. We’ve been following this case, since last month where we learned that @phonedog_noah was changed to @noahkravitz, when he left the company in 2010, which led to a lawsuit in July of 2011.
Case of Mistaken Identity-Retention?