positive disruption by: Tom Martin

How to improve your networking at conferences

 
As I'm sitting in Vegas at BlogWorld, I thought I'd share a few ideas on how to get more out of your conference or tradeshow efforts. Mostly, I'm going to give you a few ideas on iPhone apps you may want to consider downloading and a thought about how to be memorable. Because lets face it, the number 1 challenge when working a conference or tradeshow is being memorable. You just meet so many folks so quickly, that if you don't do something to stand out, well, it's easy to blend in. So here goes.

Bump:    if you have an iPhone, do yourself a favor and get Bump. It makes exchanging information so easy. You just activate bump and you and the person you just met "bump" your iPhones together to trade vCards. I love this because a) it's really easy and b) it enables the use of the next idea with little to no real effort.

GoPostal: I'm a huge fan of this app. Primarily it was designed to make it easy to send "postcards" to your friends and family when you're on vacation, etc. You just take a picture with your iPhone, select a contact to send it to and then type whatever message you want. Then you upload to the GoPostal site and approve the $1.29 credit card charge (you put your credit card in once and the app remembers is) and presto, within a few days a good old fashioned postcard arrives at the selected contact's address. Remember, the hardest thing to do is be memorable. So what better trick than to snap a pic with everyone you meet (you and that person in the pic) and then send them a little "glad to meet you" postcard featuring that pic. So simple. So cheap. It's my new favorite way to make an impact with someone I meet that I really want to make sure remembers me. 

LinkedIn: have you played with the LinkedIn iPhone app lately? It's actually improved quite a bit. My favorite use for it at a conference is to instantly look up someone's LinkedIn information and if they are not a contact, go request a connection. It's a great tool to use right after you meet someone. Request they link to you and include a little note about how you enjoyed meeting them and that you wanted to keep the relationship alive by LinkingIn together. Again, simple, easy and immediate. All while you walk to the next session. 

Yelp: someone is always needing a restaurant or bar recommendation, phone number, address or directions. With Yelp's iPhone app, you can search by category, name or just say "show me all the restaurants near where I am." Be the one who can share that info and you give folks a reason other than business to talk to you. In fact, they might even invite you to join them. Bonus! [LOL note to Yelp: if you're reading this, can you maybe put a link to your iPhone app on your home page? Just saying.]

And lastly, a suggestion. Before you leave for a conference, put 10 great blog post URLs in your notepad app on your phone. Or if you plan to have your laptop a lot at the conference, put them on a Word doc. Then, after you meet folks and get their twitter handles, look and see if (based on your conversation with them) any of the posts you brought along would be something they might find useful. If so, send out a tweet or email to them letting them know you enjoyed meeting them and include a link to the post with a note of why you think they might like it.

That's it. Considering it is 2am my time (midnight BlogWorld time) probably time to call it a night.

Oh yes, one more thing. Anyone else got any great ideas or tips for doing a better job of networking at conferences and trade shows? I'm all ears... help a brother out eh?

I Quit

Have you ever felt like quitting? Past your limits? When you just don't have any more bandwidth, can't work any harder and yet still it's not happening for you? Maybe you're running a small sandwich shop or a new restaurant or a carpet cleaning company. Or maybe you're social media consultant, aspiring speaker or run an ad agency? ;-)) Yes I too wake up often with that feeling. We all do.

It's tough because all around us we see pictures and stories of folks that are making it. And while the vast majority certainly earned it, the story that really gets you down is when you see the person who really isn't deserving -- and there are a good bit of those.

So what do you do? How do you push through until your day in the sun comes? Simple actually.

When you feel like saying "I quit" -- don't.

Do whatever you need to do -- take a run, have a drink or turn on the tunes really loud... but snap that funk and get your ass back in the game. Work harder, smarter and, if necessary, longer because luck finds he who earns it.

Oh and if you're wondering why I chose the picture of Eminem -- it's because when I feel like saying I quit -- I listen to Till I Collapse... sort of my "get off your ass Tom" anthem. Who knew I'd ever find inspiration in rap but seriously, good stuff.

So what about you? What do you do to push through abyss and find the other side? Let us know.

photo by ckaroli

How much is knowledge worth?

Last week I stopped by a bookstore and picked up a couple of books that I haven't read yet but have been highly recommended. Final tally for two books: $49.78.

I subscribe to a number of magazines and newspapers that I read regularly to stay abreast of what's going on in the world or marketing. Finally tally of yearly subscriptions: $278.00

And then there is the time I spend listening, reading and watching a host of blogs, white papers, video webinars, etc. Final tally for that: $0 but then there is the value of my time, which is huge.

Now I'm not a big conference guy. Not that I don't think they have value, but with a wife, four kids and a demanding job, conferences are usually a luxury I can't afford (time not money) to take advantage of.. unless of course I'm speaking, in which case I make the time ;-). 

All of this to say, I've been thinking what is knowledge worth? Both in terms of acquisition of knowledge but maybe more importantly in the selling of knowledge, which is kind of what many of us do. And I guess along those lines, once you figure out how much your knowledge is worth, then how do you go about charging for that?

Anyone got an opinion on this stuff? Because I'd sure like to hear it.

photo by h.koppdelaney

Why 9-5 Must Die

Companies need to get with it and lose this silly focus on office hours. When the majority of American's (or worldwide for that matter) made their living building things in factories -- 9-5 made sense. But in today's knowledge based economy, it is an antiquated thought that I believe stifles the most creative of workers.

I'm sitting here at 11:21pm writing this. Why? Because the thought just hit me. If I try and wait till morning, I'll forget it and this post will never appear. And probably because no one is walking in my office (hard to do when I'm at home he he), emailing me, calling me, IM'ing me -- you get the picture. I can sit and think. Focus. An hour ago, I was doing the same thing -- only it wasn't a blog post it was a big client strategy idea (well in my opinion, we'll see what the client thinks).

Funny thing is, I'm at my most creative place late at night. Later the better. But that's hard to do because I'm expected (like most folks) to arrive at a designated place of business at a designated time. (which makes it harder to work across time zones) Hard to do when you've been up to the wee hours writing, thinking or researching. To be clear - for some folks, I think office hours are necessary. I've known many people in my career that wouldn't work at home or after hours if their life depended on it. That just wasn't their gig -- they work at work and the play at home. That's cool. But for lots of really smart folks that I know the 9-5 gig limits versus expands the impact they can have on their employer. It forces them into an unnatural flow.

More companies should embrace fluid scheduling. Let highly productive employees schedule their lives in 24 versus 8 hour increments. It decreases stress, allows them to better balance their lives and frankly, will make them happier. And for employers, it all but assures highly productive, happy employees that won't want to leave.

The currency of today is ideas. Successful companies (especially marcom oriented companies) will live and die on the backs of their employees ideas, innovations and ability to see around the corner before the competition. So if an employee's brain is most active at 1am, why would you want to temper that? You're paying them to think. So wouldn't it make sense to figure out how to enhance versus detract from that ability?

Yes, I know there needs to be some kind of office hours. Great marketing is seldom done in silo. You need collaboration and not everyone is up for a Skype call at 2am...but seriously, I'm not talking about having vampires on the payroll. What I'm suggesting is to figure out when your employees are most productive and then make sure they're working at that time of day -- even if that time of day fluctuates (within reason).

The other major argument against this POV is that it breeds resentment. Why? Because certain folks can work in a fluid environment and certain folks can't. Employers don't want to have to tell the latter that they don't get this "benefit" because that's a hard conversation and likely, the person on the other end will get pissed. But that's lowest common denominator HR if you ask me. Would you rather piss off the person who you actually have to monitor to ensure work product or the person who can't help but create work product?

I don't know... late night ramblings or important point-of-view worthy of discourse? Only you can decide... that's what the comment section is for... what say you peeps?

Photo by CC Chapman

What do you want from me?

 
I'm a big proponent of asking the customer what they want, hope for or desire. Then trying your best to deliver.

So tell me... you're here... why? What made you stop by? What makes you come back? What kinds of posts are your favorite?

Do you want to be provoked? Do you like lists of good tips? Maybe you prefer to be pointed towards other smart people with a bit of context as to why you should care? Or do you want to serve up your challenges and hope for some answers?

Do you wish I'd cover Social Media more? Or maybe focus on traditional advertising or PR? Maybe a post or two on brand experience or aligning all consumer touchpoints to maximize their conversationability?? What kind of content are you hoping I can provide?

Do you wish this to be a community or just a destination?

And lastly, how can I make the time you spend here more valuable? I'm asking because I truly value your time and willingness to join me here... so I'd like to make sure you're getting your money's worth.

What Keeps You Up At Night?

Ok, so thanks to this great post over at ProBlogger yesterday, I decided that today it's all about you.

You come here, you read, and sometimes you comment. But what I really hope you do is learn and help me learn. That's the real reason I like blogging. So, today, I want you to help me help you.

Tell me what is keeping you up at night. What issues, or problems or deep, hairy marketing problems are you dealing with? What is it that problem that thus far, you just haven't been able to solve. You can keep it secret it you like by emailing me (link up there below my pic) or you can post it here. You don't have to reveal your company or anything, just describe the problem in general. Then I'll find the themes and use them to write future posts where hopefully I'll share a bit of smart thinking (mine and others) that you will find helpful. 

So go ahead. It won't hurt. Add a comment. Let's talk and maybe even succeed in solving your problem.

Why I will never accept ads on my blog

Because you're not here for that.

Quit Crying About Personal Brands

Yesterday I blogged about how I think people need to get over the personal brand debate because personal brands are inevitable. Smart employees know that ultimately, the most important brand they'll ever manage is their own. But I'm not inventing that idea.. no, that honor goes to Mr. Tom Peters and his seminal article on that topic in FastCompany's Aug/Sept 1997 issue entitled, The Brand Called You.

His point makes sense when you consider the according to a report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Baby Boomers held an average of 10.8 jobs between the ages of 18-42. Personally I think that is a wee high and is probably effected by multiple jobs held by younger folks when working their way through college, etc. But even if I look at myself and my peers, on average we've held 4-5 jobs and by peers, I mean folks that are turning 40 this year. The simple fact is, people don't work for one company for eternity. And even if you do work for one company, that doesn't lessen the need to develop a personal brand. I've done the corporate America thing. I've seen office politics at its best. When you get into a big corporation, you damn sure better spend some time investing in your personal brand or you'll likely get overlooked for all the really good posts and opportunities. See @jmacofearth's comment on yesterday's post.

Add to this that uber-talented employees gravitate to the creation of a personal brand by nature (it's in their DNA I think) and what you have is not an optional activity but a natural one. In fact it is so natural that many of the best personal branders don't actively think about it, it just happens.

After yesterday's post, I was emailing with Sonya Beckley and at some point I asked her what she thought my brand was. This is what she sent back:

You definitely have your own brand.  You are a leader in social media and the guy from Louisiana who plays with the big boys.

Now I had to laugh at this because if I were to define my brand, this isn't exactly what I'd say but heck, as I told Sonya, I'll take it. Which prompted this reply:

But that’s a true brand, Tom. It’s natural, authentic.  You don’t put it that way because it is who you are and your company is an extension of your brand.  You don’t have to think about it because it’s truly who you are.  If you were trying to be something you’re not, then you would be keenly aware of it all because you would be imitating someone else.  That’s part of why you’re good at social media…you just get to be yourself.

Which takes me back to the whole idea of natural activity. Some people are just natural branders. It's who they are not what they say. And you simply can't ask them to stop doing what they do. So why do so many feel the need to argue that companies should try and limit this naturally occuring activity?

Here are the reasons I often see folks reference in the argument against letting employees develop a strong personal brand, especially a public one:

1. They'll leave to form their own company
2. They'll get hired away by a competitor
3. They'll become too important to lose
4. They'll want more money

Hmmm, so we have fear of competition and fear of the employee/employer relationship power tilting in favor of the employee. Basically - we have fear.

But here is what I think most companies need to figure out.

Smart employees, the ones that are most likely to create those strong brands you fear, they can leave anytime they want regardless of you letting them build a brand or not. Sure, if they have built that strong brand they probably have an easier time of leaving, hanging out their own shingle, etc., but the bottom line is that smart people are known quantities in every industry. As I noted yesterday, every industry has it's rock stars.

So instead of fearing something you can't really stop anyhow, try this.

First, invest in your brand. That's right. It's your company so take responsibility for making your company brand stronger than any one employee brand could ever be. If you've built a company of smart people and you're a smart person, that really shouldn't be that hard.

Second, help that employee build his/her brand. That's right, give them every friggin opportunity in the world to write, create, speak, whatever. Got PR resources, give it to them. Got creative resources, use it to make their content shine. Got someone who can help them book speaking engagements and handle the details of travel, etc., give it to them. In short, build them a world-class support network.

Why? Because by doing all of this, you essentially make the idea of leaving seem so remote, so foreign and so painful -- after all, all change contains pain -- that they'd be a friggin idiot to leave you. The cost to create that infastructure is huge both in terms of personal sacrifice (now they have to do all of that on their own) or the cash to hire someone to do that for them. Oh yes, and remember, people who want to hire that uber-smart person that works for you, well they have to hire your company to hire that person. See the reward there?

Also, by doing this do you make it less likely that uber-smart folks will ever leave. Will they work for you forever, not likely, but then, as noted above, the idea that you can somehow stop that from happening is an illusion regardless. Employees will do what is in their best interest because frankly, that is what they are supposed to do. They don't owe you, their employer anything other than their best efforts to helping you make more money. But them leaving you isn't necessarily a bad thing either. Don't believe me? Go ask the big wigs over at McKinsey who have made an entire new business strategy out of alumni.

All of this to say, here is my HR advice: smart people stay in good situations. Let me repeat that. Smart people stay in good situations.

Except for the most materialistic of them, uber-smart folks aren't motivated by money (well outside of needing to make enough to support themselves) they're motivated by opportunity. So if you're paying them well and giving them every chance to leverage their remarkable skills against unlimited opportunity, why the heck would they ever leave, open their own company or do anything else for that matter?

Ok, signing off now before I fall off this soapbox. But before I go... please, I know this is a hot topic in the SocMe community -- let me know what you think. Use the comments section to make us all smarter.

Thanks.

Can a 10 Year Old Have a Personal Brand?

This is my son Davis pitching at a recent tourney where an opposing coach made a comment to me (not realizing he was my son) that 'You've got a really good little pitcher in that one. What a great move to first base.' that I quickly thanked him for and then began thinking about this post -- well after the game was over.

There is so much debate right now on the whole personal brand versus corporate brand that frankly, should just stop. Not because it isn't important but because you simply cannot stop personal brands from forming. My son is 10. He didn't do anything to promote himself to this coach. In fact, the coach was from a team we'd never played until that day and his only exposure to Davis was watching him pitch earlier in the day against another team. So in less than 4 innings of play, my son had already built a 'brand' in this coach's mind by doing nothing more than throwing good pitches and picking off a boys at first with a wicked good move that caught more than a few boys this year and resulted in outs.

And that is my point. Every industry has it's rockstars. I don't care if you're in sports, advertising, technology or sell steel pipe to big oil companies. Pick an industry, find the leaders (coaches) of that industry and they'll tell you who the top 50-100 people in that industry are or will be in the next few years.

Why is this? Simple. When you put a bunch of folks together doing the same thing, some are simply going to be better at it than others. They'll have a certain talent (my son is a lefty with a wicked good move to first), ability or maybe just be willing to work harder. But whatever it is, it will create a point of difference, something they become known for and that will translate into opportunities, jobs and success independent of the companies they currently work for today. And people that matter (the coaches) in that industry will take notice because building the best team is how they become successful.

It's the inevitable outcome of a natural world order that successful people want to be around other successful people and they tend to find each other. 

Asking uber-talented folks to not develop a personal brand is simply not realistic. They can't help it because even if they don't try to build it, the world will build it for them. As a society we flock to the great ones. We like and almost need to put them up on little pedistals. Usually so we can rejoice when they fall off but more likely because it creates a north star for our own success. It creates something we can and often should emulate to find success in our own lives.

So stop worrying about if your star player's brand is growing faster than the team's brand. Instead, start thinking about how you're going to harness and direct that star brand to win the world series without upsetting any apple carts. I'll share those thoughts tomorrow.

In the meantime, what'cha think? What's your personal brand? Should your boss be pissed that you think that or that you are trying to build that brand? Let me know your thoughts. Make this post better than I can by adding your voice won't you

Are you open or closed?

I think there are two kinds of people in the world.

 

There are open people and closed people.  And I venture to say there are more closed than open.

 

Closed people live within themselves. They are inner focused and concerned with things like looking foolish, making mistakes or doing the wrong thing. They are the people who can spend two hours on an airplane and never say hello to their seatmate. They are the people that are tied to traditional thinking and the belief that they know what they are doing. They are satisfied.

 

Open people are just the opposite. They believe life is a contact sport. That you have to engage and learn at every opportunity. They’re convinced that there is a better way to do pretty much everything and are intent on finding it and then sharing it. For open people, new experiences and knowledge are as essential as air, water and food.

 

So they put themselves out there by creating content, saying hello to strangers and trying new things or approaches. They invite criticism understanding that even in the most idiotic critique, there is a nugget of knowledge. They’re ok with failure as long as it includes learning. Open people understand that change is inevitable and hope to simply stay ahead of it and maybe leverage it for new opportunity, fame or fortune. 

 

Open people create open companies. Closed people create closed ones.

 

And I’m guessing that in the not so far away future, we’re going to see a lot of those closed companies close and open companies well, stay open.

 

So what about you? Are you open or closed? What do you think I am – open or closed? Let me know… Please.