Conversation Agent

Show me the Money

How do we handle decisions about money? Let's take a look at a couple of scenarios.

Scenario Number One

What if I told you that of all the things you do today, you could choose only a handful. How would you begin to sift through your services and products to pare the list down to a core set? Could you tell me, right now, what those products or services are? What criteria would you use to judge?

Would go for the high value/high profit or margin items? It would seem like a logical direction. Maybe you would go for developing a niche that is only yours further.

Now let's expand the view to a landscape that includes your direct competitors. What does that list look like?

Same exercise looking at indirect competitors. Has the list changed at all?

What are the market considerations and concessions you need to make?

Scenario Number Two

You are about to negotiate a pay raise or to provide a quote for a project you have been asked to bid on. Every single book on salary negotiation is filled with advice on documenting value, matching that value to a need, and communicating worth. And if you have your own business, I recommend being prepared to quote rates.

Have you done your research to find out what the going rate for what you provide is? How do you stack in comparison with others? Would it surprise you to learn that although women know how to negotiate and attach value to their worth, there is still a social cost associated with them doing so? [thanks, Dan]

In your calculations and communications with the party interested in your services, do you spell out terms and conditions? Anyone experiencing project run overs and scope creep?

Scenario Number Three

What if you found an envelope filled with real money. No marks on the envelope and no idea who put it on your desk or in your mail box. There are maybe be a couple of thousand dollars in the envelope. What would you do with it? Would you report the find to the police? Or would you keep it.

By the way, this scenario is not so far out, it has been happening in Japan. [thanks, Dan] How would you decide to act if you knew it would be just sitting in a box somewhere unclaimed? Would your decision change if your next door neighbor or colleague decided to keep the cash?

If someone revealed to you that the money was a gift intended for your to do as you wished, what then?

_____________

We all think we have one definitive relationship with money. And we think the decisions we make are applicable in absolute terms. Yet, when we apply a broader context or add information to the mix -- marketplace behaviors, relationships, dependencies -- that picture and those decisions may change radically. We thought we were talking about greenbacks yet we may be talking about grays.

Now, that would be $9,000, please.[Expression first heard from David Newman, Unconsulting].
 

Ask(?)Away: Take your Brand from Commodity to Community, Director Tom Clifford - now Portable

Maybe you've noticed that series of links on the sidebar to indicate viral marketing projects. These are initiatives I participate in with other bloggers. By nature, blogs invite dialogue and invite you to build on ideas.

The Ask(?)Away format is a more fluid type of conversation, one begun on email over a topic between two bloggers and continued with the readers' comments on this blog.

A little over a week ago, along with the launch of The Age of Conversation, I published one such conversation with Tom Clifford -- Director Tom -- for the discerning film crowd. The news of the imminent publication of the book may have drowned our two-part discussion on how to use documentary and film to take a corporate brand from commodity to community.

As I've done with the two previous conversations in this format, I am making it available on the permanent page that collects them on this blog (with link on the sidebar) and offering it now for download.

Some of the key points we covered are:

• The effectiveness of narrative by documentary as a source of inspiration
• How connecting through story allows companies to attract talent
• And why it is a good idea to open the doors to the outside world via film

The portable version contains a link to some of Tom's films.

Have you seen examples of corporate videos that light you up?  Would your company go for the (personal) story approach?

Meet the (New Media) Editor -- Ann Handley, MarketingProfs

Over the years I have written several articles for submission to the editors of print publications. They never made the cut. There was always some reason why: not long enough, too edgy, you haven't published somewhere else, etc.

One of such articles described how we had used our internal marketing resources while the market was soft to rebrand the company and get ready for a growth spur. It was a pretty interesting case study in taking your own advice -- still, no dice.

Many print publication editors are now setting their sights on the new media promised land.

That is the domain of a new breed of editors -- they can move fast, embrace the diversity of thought of their readers and at the same time hold the threads of their publication so it is a consistent and valuable experience.

In other words, they are both orchestra conductors and players. Allow me to introduce you to these new media editors by starting with Ann Handley, MarketingProfs. Ann also writes for the Huffington Post.

Traditional publishers may lump Internet, radio and TV in this category under the umbrella of multimedia. Yet everyone is after the same attention pool.

Ann: Yes. Everyone is.

I was on vacation a few weeks ago when I read in the Maine Sunday Telegram about its plans to marry its print and web site publishing divisions, and I thought, "Well, DUH." Isn't that a little crazy—that newspapers still consider their online and offline editions to be in separate orbits. My question is: Why? Media should be reaching their audiences wherever those audiences happen to be—in this case, online in addition to sitting on the couch at home.

Online is fast becoming a very competitive business model—how do you keep the value from turning into commodity?

Ann: It's always been an editor's job to ensure the quality—and I think that includes the concept of uniqueness, which forestalls commoditization—of what their publication is publishing, online or offline, to ensure that it's not just a commodity. It's an editor's mission to be the caretaker of content quality, to meet the needs of the audience or community first. I know that ambition probably sounds a tad grand, but it nonetheless is the ultimate goal of any good publication, in my mind.

Publishers can leverage the quality that editors and writers build with advertisers and sponsors, certainly—that's the dance between editorial and advertising. But the quality of content has to be in place first.

You retain editorial control over the number of posts and flow of the publication. How do you plan your weeks/days?

Ann: MarketingProfs produces a lot of content—the blog along with newsletters (MarketingProfs Today and Get to the Point), Know-How Exchange forum, seminars, case studies, templates, guides, and so on. While there are certain things I own on a daily basis—publishing blog posts, for example—I also rely on a team of very talented people here to do much of the heavy lifting. There is no editorial calendar, per se, in part because of the online nature of the entire operation and in part because a good deal of it is user-driven.

How do you keep things relevant and sustainable at your publication? What is your definition of success?

Ann: There's a ton of information out there. There's a lot of stuff that lands in our inboxes and mailboxes on a daily basis. The volume is overwhelming. Some of it's good, and some of it's not. My editorial focus at MarketingProfs is to shine a beacon of light for our readers—leading the way through the clutter.

How? By finding the top people in our audience who are experts in their respective fields or areas of expertise. Those are the people who produce all of our great content. They write for us, they lead virtual seminars, they produce templates and other tools to help marketers navigate their way.

And I know it's a successful strategy, because I hear it from our readers and subscribers every day.

What is your strategy for inviting contributors?

Ann: I look for contributors who are smart, who know their field well, who have some track record and demonstrated experience, and who write well—since, usually, the best writers are also the clearest thinkers. I also look for a good smattering of all disciplines… representatives from all walks of marketing.

And, finally, I look for contributors who have another quality, which is harder to quantify: I call it a "generous spirit." What I really mean by that is someone who wants to help their peers and colleagues in the industry, who truly wants to share knowledge and experience and perspective, and learn from others, too. It's obvious when a potential contributor is in it just for themselves—for what they can milk from our audience and exposure. And those are the people who don't last.

Do popularity and voice play a larger role in inviting contributors than publications' focus?

Ann: Well, voice matters… because that has to do with writing ability. But I don't care whether writers are already popular. I'm actually more concerned with popularizing writers and ideas that deserve to be but aren't. Yet. Giving them voice, so to speak.

Where do you draw inspiration? Do you read other online publications? Which ones? How are you influenced by them?

Ann: Generally, I get more true inspiration from non-marketing sites and publications than from industry stuff, but I read industry pubs to keep on top of the news and events. And I am addicted to blogs—it's a way to both unwind and wind myself up.

Outside of business, I am a huge fan of the New Yorker. Online, I love the Huffington Post and Salon. And finally I love Larry Dobrow's Magazine Rack column for MediaPost. I shouldn't—because I don't really care about magazine reviews—but his writing is sharp and funny.

Do you feel threatened by the idea of user created media? How is what you do different from user created content? Is there still a place for traditional editors in the 21st century?

Ann: Wow. Is that all one question? ; )

Do I feel threatened: No. I love the idea and embrace it fully. An active and engaged audience is a beautiful thing.

How is it different…: Well, most of it is not different, because much of our content is written for and by readers and subscribers. The blog, for example, is really user-generated content by and for professionals. The MarketingProfs Know-How Exchange—our Q&A forum—is purely user-generated, as well. And even the MarketingProfs Today weekly newsletter relies on outside contributors for much its content, making its editorial largely user-driven.

Still a place for traditional editors: Lord I hope so. Can you imagine what a mess sites would be without us? I'm kidding—sort of. But no matter how good the content—they'll always be a role for editors to shape and manage content. Especially now, with the proliferation of content, that includes acting as a filter. So as the ease of publishing and creating content has increased, I actually see the role an editor plays also increasing, not diminishing.

Any aha moments you'd like to share?

Ann: This is a really exciting time to be working in media online. The advent of Web 2.0 applications and rise of social media is adding an incredible amount of texture and nuance and twists to publishing. Which is to say that it seems I have an “a-ha!” moment at least once a day! 

In other words: Right here is a very cool place to be.

For Sale by Owner Excluded

The other day I received a flyer at home from a real estate agency. The visual impression was not the usual agent photo with an invitation to call, so I opened it. Inside, I discovered a property update report summarizing listings sold, as well as listings active and pending for my area. The information is based on the TReND MLS.

I kept reading as the properties listed as sold were not only the ones by this specific Realtor. Then I got to the part that made me pause:

Please note that For Sale By Owner properties are excluded because they often do not represent the full value of what they could sell for when properly priced and exposed to a greater number of qualified buyers through a professional real estate agent.

And I stopped reading. I’m a property owner who was so far willing to be part of the conversation with you, real estate agent, because you were apparently offering some information that would educate me about trends in my area. You just told me something obvious –- you have more experience selling homes than I do –- in a way that shows you have little respect for what I think.

If you’ve read Freakonomics, you learned that real estate agents aim to persuade homeowners to sell for less and buyers that your house can be bought for less. It’s a matter of language, as you can see in the excerpt from the book, and it’s a matter of incentive –- the agents’ incentive is to sell quickly, not to sell for more. Why? The agent makes marginally less off their commission when you sell for more.

As in the case of the flyer I received, real estate agents are careful to exercise every advantage of the information asymmetry they enjoy. Using language to frame the context and position yourself at an advantage is not new. What is new is that more and more consumers are trained to see through it.

Is the list in the property update I received a fair representation of reality? It might be. Since it excludes one piece of information that could weigh in the statistical data, I now question the information.

And there is one other message this flyer sends: I don’t respect you enough to be transparent with you. The other “R” in reputation is respect. See some other ideas on gaining respect and why that is important at The Blog Herald.

I'm Not a Number but I Play one on Advertising Age

Ever been to a cocktail party and seen a name tag that said "Hello, my Name is #97". Of course not, but that's what Conversation Agent's ranking is in The Power 150 today. My name is Valeria Maltoni, you know yours. In fact, chances are *I* know yours if you've made at least one comment here. We're not rankings, we're people.

The difficulty of objectively quantifying conversation is that it is hosted and facilitated by people. People are subjective and their thinking is evolved in the flow of learning and interacting. Many of us blog to share what we know so we can learn from what others learn; to stabilize information so we can have a starting point for discussion, etc.

Todd And(rlik) started The Power 150 many months ago and maintained it out of sheer passion. He did it to share with others a list, in part his list (one of the four ranking criteria), of marketing blogs. We all took it as we take every other list announced by a peer -- with delight. The opinion of a peer is respected in the same spirit it is given. We blog because we want to publish independently of outside affiliation. Subjective in social media is good, in fact it is best.

The breaking news by Todd And is that Advertising Age, a well respected and widely read publication, is going to take the list to the next level. What that means is left to the imagination (more comments here).

I value your opinion and insights, you are my customers and I am yours in conversation. Where do you see this "partnership" going? The freewheeling thought that is the currency of the blogosphere cannot be easily taken on in the same way and spirit by commercial entities. The spirit of social media (subjectivity), may not be translated as more of the same in main stream media. Their criteria are different and more commercial. That consideration is the topic of my weekly post at FC Expert blogs.

Join the conversation.

UPDATE: It looks like the comment function at Fast Company is still going through an approval process and I do not have a firm commitment from anyone at the online magazine on when the comments will be activated. I do want to capture your reactions and realize that you'd rather have them on record there. All I can offer is an alternative home here.

The New Kind of Business Hero

"This new kind of business hero... must learn to operate without the might of the hierarchy behind them. The crutch of authority must be thrown away and replaced by their own ability to make relationships, use influence, and work with others to achieve results." [Rosabeth Moss Kanter, When Giants Learn to Dance]

When you hear the word politics you'd like to cover your ears and start humming to yourself, I'm quite sure of it. I have many friends who work in the career counseling and outplacement field and they tell me that the number one desire of people in career transition is for their next job to be free of office politics.

We might as well just decide to become hermits. Put two people together, you have politics. If we look at the Wikipedia definition:

Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions.

I like Hannah Arendt's: "political power corresponds to the human ability not just to act but to act in concert." Some of the greatest thinkers and philosophers from Confucius to Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, and Russeau spent considerable time on the subject.

With the flattening of organizations and the increased number of free agents who collaborate on a project-basis, there is an increased need to make decisions in group. Yet, group settings are the worst places to make decisions. Instead, we would be best served if we learned to build those relationships that are crucial to the success of our projects ahead of time.

Did I whet your appetite? I just finished reading the advance copy of GUST, The Tale Wind of Office Politics by Timothy L. Johnson. Tim blogs at Carpe Factum and was one of the very first people to welcome me to the blogosphere. This was not the first book on the subject I read, it was probably the easiest to digest. It's a complex topic; one charged by our own assumptions and ideas.

Are you starting a new job? Did you get that promotion you wanted? Have you succeeded in getting that big account? Are you working on a new project with a large team? The successful outcome of all these activities hinges upon your ability to embrace change (sometimes to initiate it) and to get the attention that is critical to your projects.

Tim's medium is the fable, which may be a very good way of making the subject approachable and concrete. Two themes jumped out at me as I began reading:

• The characters' victim status was compounded by the fact that they felt out of control and helpless so they whined a lot -- take a moment and reflect on this observation, I did. Quite sobering.
• The top person was completely clueless about what was happening inside the organization -- executives have many things competing for their attention. They juggle, while running and ducking.

When you have two or more people working together, what matters is that they are aligned towards a common goal. Knowing how to build relationships, use influence and work with others is crucial to achieving the results you seek. If you are looking for one resource to get you started on this topic reach out to GUST, and begin comprehending how to best communicate with the people and companies you work with.

In a world where we exist more and more as fuzzy people in David Armano's parlance -- "It's about putting aside egos, getting out of silos and mixing it up with each other—I mean really mixing it up." -- it becomes essential to be able to work effectively across teams and projects. We have new technologies and tools at our disposal, yet the make or break point remains the domain of the decisions people make.

Interface is not only for systems, it's for people too. Did you have a situation that could have been solved by a deeper assessment? How do you handle politics?

How do You Sell to the Marketer on the Inside?

Buy the book. No, it's not a typo. It's one more take on The Age of Conversation. When was the last time you saw 103 marketers agree on anything? This is a world changing event -- and we do hope to change the world of the children supported by Variety, one book at a time.

Having a company picnic this summer? I surely do hope so, even if it's just you, your Beagle (I have soft spot, I admit it), and your neighbors. Buy a copy of the book for each one. It will make a great conversation piece and a memorable give away. 10 staff members, 50, 200? Why give replica hats and pens, when you can give the gift that keeps on giving?

And it will make a great catalyst for the gossip column, see who's all in there. Marketers and writers mix it up with the rich and famous, see their mugs on the front cover(s) of your copy.

This is an example of a possible list of dos. When you're selling to the marketer on the inside, the one with the ever shrinking corporate budget, join their project.

For an exploration of a few more dos and a couple of definite don'ts, link over to my post at the MarketingProfs:Daily Fix.

Corporate Communications and Blogging -- Oxymoron?

A couple of weeks ago I had an in depth conversation with Adii, which is short for Adriaan Pieneer. He blogs about freelancing, Web 2.0, business strategy and WordPress and lives in South Africa, a place I've learned to appreciate thanks to a colleague from Johannesburg.

If you have a little time, in it I discuss how I view corporate communications -- expanding on

When thinking about corporate communications I see my role as one of business negotiator and information broker.

The value I see in self publishing -- building to

Imagine having a gigantic focus group where the interactions with your product and service generates all this data. I can measure what people are interested in, what they respond to and how they do it, etc.

The difference between how I think of conversation and how some have taken to conversational marketing. And the value of blogs as internal communications tools.

See why I think that blogs will not replace traditional media and my last thought to share --

Wherever the future of work will be, one thing remains clear — it is imperative that we teach children how to read. On screen, off screen, it doesn’t matter where. To succeed, we need to be able to decode these symbols, translate their meaning, and transmit our own signal.

Mac or Windows?

This is the question. It's time for me to buy a new system for my home. I'm between embarrassed and proud to have used the same computer for almost six years. Before blogging there was really little reason to spend hours online and having a PC running on Windows XP at home was convenient as I could easily transport files back and forth.

A recent report from Gartner says that worldwide shipments of PCs have increased 12% in the second quarter -- with US sales at about 6%. Dell and HP are in the two top spots in both lists, with HP clearly dominating the international market. Another report from IDC, says that Apple, Acer, and Toshiba lead charge in US PC sales -- with Acer growing at a whopping 164%, Toshiba at 50% and Apple taking the lead to 960,000 units (just below Gateway) with a growth of 26% in quarter to quarter comparison between 2006 and 2007.

Apple seems to have done the nicest jump from 4.8% to 5.6%.

Every time I talk to a Mac user, I'm tempted to go that route. The system seems to be the easiest to work with, and notwithstanding the fact that it's been thirteen years since I worked on a Mac, the ramp up time might not be too bad. Although the expense would be much greater and I would have to purchase Adobe Suite programs for that system, in addition to the overall cost of Apple, which is greater than Windows' based PCs.

I'm a practical person, I tend to lean towards a Windows based system. So looking at those systems, the main question seems to be Quad-core or Dual-core? And here's a new hurdle: Windows Vista. I have now read a few reviews that panned the new operating system for many reasons. A preliminary look in stores these past couple of weeks did not thrill me, either.

What are your thoughts? Keeping in mind that I use my home computer mainly online for blogging and for some light design work, for which I currently use Adobe software .

• Mac or Windows? Why?
• Windows XP or Vista? Why?
• Where do you see the future of personal computers going?
  

Facebook Ain't Face Time

"A force sucking you deeper into Facebook?" "Sign up for Facebook or consign your career to the dustbin of history, etc." Please, someone get real here. Maybe LinkedIn is not the solution; it was never meant to be. And neither is Facebook -- we are. How ready everyone is to jump on the next fad and make that the Holy Grail. I am thoroughly impressed.

Yes, we do like to look busy and important and Facebook has got all the functionality to show that up front. It's uncanny how effortlessly one can build a whole network just by showing up. Well, we were paying attention at Woody Allen's class. And yes, I finally created a profile (a bare bones one) on Facebook to support The Age of Conversation project.

Fast Company had it right a couple of months ago -- Hacker. Dropout. CEO. And they were not talking necessarily about Zuckerberg, they were holding a mirror up to our... ahem faces. We're still trying to build to flip, aren't we? Put in a profile, mix with a few short phrases and a couple of predictions from "influential" bloggers and voila', les networks sont fait. Just like that.

Everything these days seems to be cutting into blogging. Mobile phones may replace blogging, Twitter replaced blogging, Tumblelogs are short and sweet (read less maintenance vs. blogs) -- and while you're at it, check out ecoTumble. You know why all these tools seem to be replacing blogging? Because blogging is still work. And now that we've tried it for a while and figured out that it takes time and effort, we're looking at easier ways to make instant friends, and possibly deals.

And let's not discount the fact that companies are now starting to appreciate the value of blogs and social media. Sony Electronics launched one just last week in an effort to spark dialogue and give a 'human' face and voice to the global corporation. Guess what? The faces are now on Facebook, sorry guys, you're too late.

Want to make a bet? As soon as marketers start to embrace this new tool/medium, everyone is going to find a new destination and creative outlet. That's the way we're built --

• we want to be popular, yet not feel crowded
• we want to be first among many, yet not one of too many
• we want to look busy and important and we quickly tire of being... busy

Have you noticed that nowhere in here there is mention of meaningful relationships? Links, walls filled with notes and busyness do not define who we are and our creations -- we do. In the defense of blogs -- yes, they are work, sometimes seemingly hard and not gratifying work. They are the product of our ingenuity and ability to stir critical thought and often enough thoughtful analysis and discourse. And they create the fodder and context for deeper conversations -- here and face to face.

Without the dialogue and the deeper reasoning and sharing of emotion, we don't have face time, we just have Facebook.