Susan Hires A Boss

Final post: Lessons learned

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 22:57:00 +0000

Someone asked me to recap what I had learned in the hiring-a-boss process. Here's a recap post I wrote for The Art of NonConformity contest (didn't win) that covered a few of those lessons.

________________

There many things in life we don’t like as they are.

And the normal reaction? Just to work within the constraints, accept the boundaries, play the game by the rules. But the very crux of the nonconformist life is not to do that.

Instead, change the game, change the rules, change the playing field. Make it a game you can win.

And nothing is more hide-bound by rules than the job search process. Include a cover letter, use the right keywords, have the exact required experience, provide a resume (but how many pages?), fill out the application form, we’ll call you, send a thank you note. Whew. How you’re supposed to get noticed and hired in all that is beyond me.

So how to change the game? How to take a non-conformist twist on finding a job?

Hire a boss instead.

That was my line of thinking as I wrapped up my six months studying with Seth Godin. The mere prospect of putting together a resume and having to send it out for boring job listings just set my teeth on edge. Yes, I’d have Seth’s name on there now and that should open a few doors. But there would still be the entire process where, no matter how proactive I got, I would still be waiting on others to make things happen.

I didn’t want to play that game and thus this site was born.

The process was simple – create a website complete with blog showing off my thinking and expertise. One post about me, one post explaining the job, one post explaining the process. Add a little promotion (including a mention on Seth’s blog, which is close to cheating) and viola! Less than two months later, I have an amazing job with some really cool people.

Lessons?

Understand the status quo, the assumptions, the norm. These are the fertile field you have to work with. Figure out which parts work against you, weigh what can and can’t be changed, come up with a new way to do it that works for you.

For me, this was my random work experience, more than 300 people applying for any position I applied for and a knowledge that the best jobs are never advertised. Doing it my way, I never even sent out a resume, there was only one applicant (me!) and I got one of those best jobs.

Not everyone will like what you’re doing. And that’s OK. If you don’t tick someone off, you’re probably not going far enough. Whether a job hunt or a new business venture, you aren’t trying to please everyone, so don’t try.

I got a lot of grief about one of the parameters I set for my new boss, as well as people thinking I must be out of my mind. Not to mention the ones who cautioned me about making so much of myself public and putting myself out there. Then there was the newspaper article about people taking bold measures on their job hunt. My efforts were apparently too extreme to fit with the rest of the article, so I got cut and only included in an online column.

There’s no such thing as a little non-conformist. If you’re going to adopt the posture, make sure you carry it out all the way through. No half measures, no retreating.

For me, this extended to actually sending a formal job offer to the company I’ll be working for and driving the process the entire time. It got hard to always be in charge and make all the decisions. (Seriously hard.) But that was the posture I chose and I forced myself to stick with it. Keep that in mind as you start out in a game-changing stance.

This entire process was one big learning experience with unexpected things coming at me from every corner. While I might do some of it differently now that I’ve done it once, there is no doubt it was worth every moment.

________________________

Again, it’s been a great ride and I appreciate you coming along with me. Best of luck in your own job searches and changing the game you play!

The adventure begins … with my new boss(es)

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:00:00 +0000

Paperwork’s all done, ink is dried, commitments made – so I can officially tell you all that I have finally hired a boss. Actually two. (It was just that fun.)

Meet my new bosses – Mike Rustici and Tim Martin from Rustici Software. (Wave, guys!)

And ready to be really jealous? Because here’s what my new job is going to be – product evangelist. Yep, I get to be a mini Robert Scoble. (Whom I’ve never actually met, so I’m not entirely sure just how mini I would be next to him.) Mike and Tim’s company is coming out with a new product that requires them to start talking to an entirely new audience. A non-technical audience. People who look at you blankly if you start saying things like UI and SQL and compilers and so forth. (Come back!! I know I started to lose you there.)

So my job gets to be talking about the new product (called the SCORM Cloud) along with providing more formal marketing thinking and strategy for the company as a whole. Sweet!

If you poke around a little on the Rustici website, you’ll notice right quick a certain voice and style to the way they talk about themselves. That was just the first thing that drew me to them. Then there was the application email and the Twitter conversations with Tim. There was definitely something there.

They figure I get them. I figure they get me. They figure I’ll be a powerful superweapon for them to deploy. I figure this opportunity gives me the chance to flex my superpowers while developing a few new ones. We all figure we’re in for a fun (and challenging) adventure.

Thanks to everyone who has joined me for this ride. It’s been far more than I expected (more on that another day) and you were half the joy of the entire adventure. I’ve met so many really cool people as a result of this experiment (and ticked off a few others) and it’s time to bring it all to an end.

Susan

UPDATE: The job hunt to date

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 22:04:00 +0000

Just a quick update on the job hunt so far. And just the facts.

Applications: 26
Interviews: 10
Finalists: 3
Media coverage: magazine, newspaper, podcast
Books: Being used as examples in two books (so site will stay up for at least a year)
New software "learned": two video conferencing options
Twitter followers: lost track
New friends: a billion

I've talked with people from Canada, San Francisco, Chicago, Nashville, Plano and Austin. (Where were the people in Dallas?) And along the way, it became clearer and clearer to me just what I wanted from this whole affair. And I think we're almost there. I'll keep you posted.

Riding a trend

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:02:00 +0000

Back in the 50s, one of the hellacious parts of being a woman was stockings. Most of us don’t remember the days of garters and girdles and hooks and seams.

Then came pantyhose in 1959. But despite the superiority of the product, it took years to catch on. And what finally got it past the dip?

The rise of the miniskirt.

In almost every industry, there are the peanut butter and jelly relationships. (Or, my preference, peanut butter and chocolate.) Two products that are great on their own, but only hit the big time in symbiosis.

Have you latched on to the miniskirt of your industry? Can you ride a trend to success? Or are you trying to go it alone?

Aston Martin goes slumming

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:01:00 +0000

So these guys landed in my email box yesterday. Luxury cars taken down to a Smart Car verions. They look ridiculous. Who doesn't want a Ferrari? But one like this? The Porsche looks like something from a cartoon.

Now, these obviously Photoshopped luxury cars provoke quite a chuckle. The idea of a commuter version of a Lambroghini just smacks of the surreal. People who buy luxury sports cars are totally not the market for a commuter car, right?

So how to explain the news out of Aston Martin yesterday? I mean, this is the luxury brand synonymous with James Bond - sleek, fast, sexy. It's a dream car for car lovers. And a pipe dream for most of us.

When I saw the headline for a budget Aston Martin, I was curious. I'm thinking it's Aston Martin, so maybe they're introducing a lower priced sports car, something for half what the DB9 goes for.

Color me surprised, shocked and nonplussed to see what they were actually talking about. It's a commuter car. Not quite like they're shrinking the DB9 down like the joke pictures above, but it feels like just as much of a joke.

Their logic is a desire to move with the market, not get trapped in the same morass as American car makers. Bravo to them for that. But at the expense of their brand?

The way I see it, Aston Martin will have a hard time taking new market segments while holding true to the core of their brand. This is a company that prides itself on making bespoke products, each as individual as its owner. That level of craftsmanship just isn't something that flies with certain segments of the market, nor are they willing to pay for it.

My instinct would have been to expand out the licensing of the Aston Martin name. There's already a line of luxury watches and an art collection. What about an Aston Martin jet? An Aston Martin vodka? An Aston Martin suit? I sadly see a big fail with the choice to become a car company for all levels. But it's going to be interesting to see if they can prove me wrong.

When marketers fall asleep

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 14:43:00 +0000

This kind of stuff happens.

The bike is cool and other pictures show people carrying gardening supplies or camping gear. But this isn't exactly the way to transport this particular precious cargo! (Actually, there's a lawyer at that company having a heart attack over this one.)

Twitterfeed got an influx of cash and put it toward upgrading services and a complete brand overhaul. Which included a new logo. The old one borrowed heavily from Twitter's brand, using the bird, font, font treatment. The new one gives the company its own style and bird. But who thought it was a good idea to go from a bird singing out the RSS to a bird shooting the RSS from its butt?

On being absolutely vital

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 03:17:00 +0000

MySpace announced today they'll be laying off 30 percent of their workers. That's 480 people once you do the math.

So if those 480 weren't functioning in a way that was absolutely vital to the company's mission and survival, why hadn't MySpace been cutting them out already? The way I see it, if you can't make the hard choices involved in running a business, you aren't going to stay in business long.

If you were one of those 480, how could you have made yourself so absolutely vital that you would be the last one out the door? The way I see it, that means understanding your value to the company isn't found in your job description and the company doesn't owe you a job.

To the rest of us, are we making ourselves absolutely vital to our companies, our families, our communities? It's easy to point fingers outward at companies and people and forget to check how the man in the mirror is doing.

Because in the evolution of business, only the absolutely vital survive.

Taking aim on perfectionism

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:24:00 +0000

I did this in one take (couldn't be a post against perfectionism if I had kept shooting it, now could it?) And the whole thing was far more cogent when I outlined it in the shower. But I wanted to try it as a video because I'm still working on my filming and minor editing skills. (And the word I can't seem to think of? Possible.)

What others have been saying about perfection lately (and not so lately):

Good enough instead of absolutely perfect - 37signals
Seven habits of the good enough marketer - Marketing Profs
Breaking the perfection habit - Penelope Trunk

And one of the posts that got me started on this chain of thinking - a look at Microsoft's Project Natal and why their "perfect" video actually hurts them in selling this project.

Cool Company: IDEO

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 01:42:00 +0000

I ragged on Google and the MBA students who want to work there in a previous post. But there is hope because in that same list from Fortune was a first-timer worth knowing about – IDEO at No. 15.

IDEO is a design firm, but that doesn’t quite completely define them. The 500-person company is responsible for Crest's Neat Squeeze, Tivo's set top box and remote control and Bank of America's "Keep the Change" program.

What makes them cool? What doesn’t?

Understanding people
Tom Kelly’s book The Ten Faces of Innovation is a must read. MUST READ. It’s a fascinating look at the different types it takes to do what IDEO does. Everyone has a role based on their expertise, but is given opportunities to contribute based on attributes that go beyond the degree on the wall. What I saw was a place that would appreciate and take advantage of all the best things in me, most of which are impossible to detail on a resume.

Make it happen
IDEO isn’t a think tank. They don’t sit around and just dream up products and leave the rest of us to figure out how to make it happen. The dreams that come out of their heads become reality, improving the way things work in big and small ways.

Question everything
Why does toothpaste have to be in tube? Why does a hospital bed work that way? Why aren’t the turnstiles bigger? Why? How? Who?

A large part of the magic of IDEO is an ability to approach products and experiences with the most critical and open mind possible. No part of the status quo is safe from their probing, allowing them to reboot to actually solve the problem rather than slap a coat of paint or bandage on and hope it works.

If I were in real estate …

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:52:00 +0000

I would never, ever, ever, ever send you a postcard about the house I sold down the block.

You would never, ever, ever, ever get a fridge magnet from me.

There would never, ever, ever, ever be a billboard with my picture on it.

Instead, I would be the mayor of your neighborhood.

Because the ultimate marketing for a real estate agent, the point so many of them seem to miss, is the relationship. (Cue building objections of realtors saying they’re all about relationships!)

Really? Because just what part of your marketing is relationship based? The postcard to every house in a neighborhood you only entered because you had one listing there? The letter telling me what the market value is for the house two streets over?

The way I see it, real estate agents need a new way to market themselves and it comes by rethinking how they define relationships. What I propose is a little (OK, a lot) scary because it looks like you’re choosing a smaller pool to play in. But if you can own that pool, it’ll be worth it.

Here’s my plan (should I ever become a real estate agent!):

Chose a neighborhood – one that has a reasonable amount of churn, isn’t the highest priced, nor the lowest price.
Define the area precisely – from Midway Road to Forest Lane to the Tollway to 635 might be one such area in Dallas.
I only take listings, I only sell houses in that neighborhood. Period.

Here’s why it works - I am the mayor of my chosen neighborhood. What does that look like?

I use the businesses there and know those people by name.
I know the city councilperson who represents the area.
I attend city council meetings when items on the agenda impact my neighborhood.
Everyone in my neighborhood gets updates from me about news impacting the neighborhood.
I throw regular block parties until I know every person in the area (and even after).

And I’m just getting started. By the time I’m done, every person in that neighborhood knows that no one can sell their house better than me because I know so much about the area. Anyone buying there will wish they had used me because I can introduce them to everyone on their new block.

Would you buy from an agent who operated that way? Why aren’t you the mayor of a neighborhood already?

Cool People: Megan Casey

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:15:00 +0000

Zombies, things that blow up, off-beat toys. It’s the little things I love most about Squidoo’s co-founder and editor in chief, Megan Casey. Her sense of fun is just slightly wacked in a way I truly appreciate. But what about her would make her a cool boss?

Enthusiasm
Megan is the Tigger to my Eeyore. Every interaction I’ve ever had with her is full of pep, can-do, love that, yeah! She pushes back in a way that makes you feel she’s engaged with what you’re suggesting and really wants it to be the best so you achieve success. If you can make your case, she’s ready to help make it happen.

Trust
I asked Megan to give me something on her wish list that I could make come to life. She described what she had in mind, we talked through a few things and then she just let me run with it. What I developed might not have been exactly like what she had envisioned, but she trusted that I would execute to the goals and deliver a product to be proud of.

(Yes, she’s a girl. I can like them too.)

Focus, focus, focus

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:39:00 +0000

A previous boss of mine talked a lot about being world-class. I even put his list of what it takes on the wall of my office.

And step one? Focus.

The way I see it, companies that run after the latest marketing fad to solve marketing issues are missing out on being world-class. The shiny new toys distract them from what really matters.

Social media is fun. But it’s a tool to be deployed in a strategic manner not magic fairy dust. For most companies, the best place they can spend marketing attention and dollars is in making their product, customer experience and service world-class.

It’s one of the things that disturbs me about the Comcast story. Frank’s battling the demons as best he can, but if Comcast invested in making its product and service even a little better, it wouldn’t need Frank on Twitter. People talk like it’s a great story for Comcast, but it just highlights how broken their product is to start with. Frank’s actions would be expected (and thus unremarkable) at a world-class company.

So, are you willing to commit to focus and be world-class? Or will you just keep looking for magic fairy dust?

The coffee wars

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 14:37:00 +0000

It’s old school vs. new school marketing in the coffee wars. Yep, I’m talking Starbucks and McDonald’s in a battle for our coffee-loving mouths.

McDonald’s is all about the interruption marketing – they’re all over your television. (In fact, the company spent $607 million on TV ads just in the U.S. last year. Yikes!) They’re positioning is in the average products for average people construct. Meanwhile, Starbucks has dabbled in ads but tends to put its money toward creating a great in-store experience and engaging with fans on social media. They’re about great coffee for people who appreciate it.

As McDonald’s attempts to out-Starbucks Starbucks on the quality of the coffee and the experience, there are those who say Starbucks has to fight back by playing McDonald’s game with TV advertising. To which I say, huh?

The way I see it, McDonald’s can’t hope to ever compete with Starbucks on the things it does best – in-store experience, drink variety, personalization. So why would Starbucks want to pour millions into something where McDonald’s can run circles around them?

Starbucks holds the upper hand here. They’re engaged with their customers at a level McDonald’s just can’t seem to grasp. They hold advantages in areas customers care about that McDonald’s can’t replicate. They occupy a premium spot in our minds that McDonald’s can’t move in to.

Does this mean Starbucks has nothing to worry about from McDonald’s? No. Every time Starbucks gets distracted from the in-store experience and customer engagement, McDonald’s gets a point. But retreating into old school marketing and playing on McDonald’s turf is a losing proposition from day one.

One person in charge at a time

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:00:00 +0000

If you work at a company with more than two people, you’ve likely had a project that was SNOWED.

Jeremiah Owyang brought the term up in reference to websites that look and run like mush. SNOWED – Stakeholders’ Needs Overwhelm Web Experience Design. Basically a case of too many cooks. And you see it all over the web. And in print and in events and in customer service and in … .

There’s a severe lack of amazing to be found in what marketing produces and some of it is related to Jeremiah’s solution to the website issue.

The way I see it, if you want to get something done, if you want it to be amazing when it is done, you’ll only get there by having one person in charge at a time. One person whose job it is provide the vision and watch the critical path. One person who understands the true goal and can say no. One person who accepts the responsibility for blame or credit.

Sounds like leadership, huh?

Unfortunately, companies end up with one of two scenarios instead. Either projects are run by committee and no one steps up to lead and nothing gets done. Or someone is designated the leader and undermined at every step by the way by people who won’t let them be in charge and nothing amazing happens.

Do you want amazing? Put one person in charge. Be willing to be the person in charge. Take charge, take responsibility, take the blame, share the credit.

Cool Company: woot!

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 02:12:00 +0000

I’ve never had the chance to visit Woot, although as it turns out, they’re in my neck of the woods. (Or McMansions actually.) Poking around online and learning about them, though, I see a few things that put them on the list of companies that could apply to hire me.

Consistent
Everything on the site is in the same voice and style. There is no “this is the marketing” part and “this is the business” part that you get at some companies. They are proof that you don’t have to have boring job descriptions (even for the boring jobs) and a shiny veneer you call company culture.

Focused
Have you looked for Woot on MySpace? Facebook? They aren’t there. There are Twitter accounts, but they just give you the RSS feeds from the company sites. Rather than follow the social media train and spread themselves everywhere, Woot has a plan and they’re sticking with it, thank you very much. They built one of the best user communities on the web and pour themselves into interacting with customers there. They were being social long before most companies realized interacting with customers made sound business sense.

Fun
The job descriptions come with superpowers. The product descriptions include snide remarks about anyone who would buy such a thing. The contests ask for family pictures of past Woot products. They are having a great time creating a great experience for their clients, who repay them with some pretty passionate love.

No tweets? Don't assume they aren't there

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 01:06:00 +0000

Kudos to Frank Reed for parsing out the results of the Harvard Business study on Twitter usage. But he screwed up his conclusion.

Like a lot of people who talk about Twitter, Frank made the fatal leap from one fact to another that caused a fatal error. He looks at the stat that works out to more than half all Twitter users tweeting once every 74 days or so. Then he considers the fact that 10 percent of the users account for 90 percent of the tweets. (If you’ve followed Guy Kawasaki at any point in time, this actually doesn’t surprise you at all.)

Where he goes from there is that obviously the reach of Twitter isn’t quite what we thought and it might be time to rethink it as a marketing strategy. Now, there are definite reasons for doing that, but this ain’t one of them.

The way I see it, Frank is drawing a logical but not necessarily correct assumption. He’s equating tweeting with Twitter activity. (Stick with me here.) It’s anecdotal to be sure, but I know at least four people who have Twitter accounts just to keep up with other people. They’ve never once tweeted themselves, have no plans to do so. And if you’re one of the people they’re following, they’re part of your reach even if they’ll never be part of the Twitter stream.

So just because the tweeting might be low or not existent, don’t assume there isn’t any reach. I agree with his next point that as marketers, it’s up to us to guide our followers into the conversation, giving them a reason to want to speak up. But don’t discount them before they get there.

What marketing should be

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 22:22:00 +0000

The way I see it, everything about your business is marketing. From how easy it was for me to find a parking space to whether I’m able to find what I need on the shelf to whether there’s soap in the bathroom.

So if you think your job as a marketer is just to write stellar copy for the website and ensure the sales staff has brochures and buy tables at events, you are selling yourself short. You could (and should) be having far more impact on the bottom line of our company. On its profile in the community. On the quality of your product.

As Seth pointed out today, it means getting involved in the process early. With the key word there being “involved”. As in not waiting for people to come to you with things to do. Not accepting someone else’s narrow view of your job description. But instead actively looking for ways to make an impact, whether it’s your “job” or not.

Because marketing happens in every corner of your organization. So you should be there too.

Visual just as important as words!!

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Fri, 29 May 2009 16:57:00 +0000

It makes me sad when I see good content destroyed by poor presentation. It could be a blog with tiny white text on a black background. It could be lurid sparkly animated rainbow graphics on a website. It could be a business card with five different fonts. It could be signage with text too small to read.

Visual impact is a key part of communication. I'm sure KD is a fabulous presenter and holds her audience in thrall when she speaks. But slides like these detract from her presentation, not support it. They do little to make her memorable or give her a posture of a forward thinker.

7 steps to measurable success in social media

View more OpenOffice presentations from kdpaine.

Here's my redo of a few of KD's slides. I was looking for emotional impact, something to strike the memory and to not have every word on the slide. The words and insights should come from KD, not the screen. Thoughts?

Slideredo

View more OpenOffice presentations from Susan Lewis.

I've worked with these people

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Fri, 29 May 2009 00:38:00 +0000

Enlightened stupid marketers need not apply to be my boss. Ugh.

Just what is a social media expert?

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Thu, 28 May 2009 00:56:00 +0000

The potshots flew this week as The NY Times named its first social media editor. Who got on Twitter and asked people just how the Times should be using Twitter.

Not an auspicious beginning.

But still, a beginning. We all started somewhere with social media tools. And from the looks of things, we’ve all arrived already. Because everyone signing up for Twitter these days seems to be a “social media expert”.

There have been cases made that calling yourself a social media expert is akin to saying you’re an expert faxer. And that taking a title as social media manager at a company is like being the telephone person. Social media is a tool, not the whole shebang. Without the strategic chops to back it up, you’re just a user, not an expert. And a definite backlash is arising against the posers who don’t get the overall strategic picture in which social media plays one part.

The way I see it, social media is a tool, but one that does require a certain amount of finesse and skill to deliver results. I can kick your butt from here to Sunday in using Word, but that doesn’t make me a better writer. And you might be able to do just about anything with a phone better than me (don’t ask!) but that doesn’t make you more pleasant in a sales call.

Being a social media “expert” is more than knowing all the technical aspects – like the difference between pages and groups at Facebook or what a hashtag is on Twitter or how to game lots of followers and fans. The expert part involves making the right kinds of connections and starting the right kinds of conversations and responding with the right kinds of answers.

If that sounds familiar, it should. It’s exactly what we communications people have been doing for decades. We just did it via letter, then telegraph, then phone, then typewriter, then computer, then email, then … social media.

Social doesn’t mean life of the party

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Tue, 26 May 2009 23:58:00 +0000

The very term “social media” trips up a lot of companies looking to get involved online.

Shannon Paul posted a great list recently of 16 boring things a company can do to become more social online. And they’re great and vital and you should totally do them. But what stuck with me was part of the intro – “Rather than trying to be the life of every party on every social network, simply think about what customers and community stake-holders want from you and over deliver.”

The social part of social media isn’t about being the life of the party. That might not fit with your company’s style. It might not fit with your company’s story. It might not fit with your company’s product. (You can only sex up financial products so much!)

But just because you’re a bank or an accounting firm or a plumber or a manufacturer doesn’t mean you can’t be part of the social media party. Your online activity doesn’t (and probably shouldn’t) be about creating a fun place for your customers to hang out or having the hottest facebook app.

The way I see it, for any company looking to get into social media, the priority is on customer interaction. Making it easier for them to reach you and easier for your employees to reach back. Conveying friendly on a digital plane. Creating remarkable relationships.

Being social.

What should The Mountain do now?

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Mon, 25 May 2009 15:28:00 +0000

The Three Wolf Moon shirt is about the tackiest thing I’ve seen in a while. And that includes the Snowy Owls shirt my hubby got as a gift and - Surprise! - came from the same line.

And yet, it became a top selling item on Amazon through the power of story telling.

Not the company’s story (unfortunately for them), but the stories users made up about the shirt. How it made them attractive to women. How it changed their life. How theirs is broken because it didn’t come with super powers. Now, when you wear the atrocious thing, you have something great to say about it and not an excuse of “well, my mom gave it to me.” It’s no longer white-trash garb. It’s ironic and you’re in the know if you’re wearing it.

To date, the company has been written up in the Washington Post, NY Times and Chicago Tribune. Other shirts in the line are getting similar snarky reviews on Amazon, though none have gone viral like Three Wolf Moon.

So what should The Mountain do now?

Checking out the company website, you can see the hasty attempt at communication and community. There’s a forum (with one member so far), a blog (under construction), a shop (under construction) and news (under construction). So someone wants to try to capitalize on the surge in publicity and capture new fans.

The way I see it, The Mountain is reacting rather than acting strategically. It’s one thing to zig to capture market; it’s another to zig at the whim of the market. Embrace the publicity, print more shirts, promote initiatives like the Wolf Reserve.

But don’t allow this to distract you from your strategy. It’s easy to feel like the publicity is about you, about your shirt, about your brand. But the remarkable here was the reviews. And unless you’re willing to commit to changing the marketing of The Mountain line to a woot!-style snarkiness, it will fade.

Build the communication tools and the community, by all means. Just for your real community, not the ironic crowd that is driving this blip of attention. For your true fans, the ones who love your shirts for real.

How to brand Susan Boyle

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Mon, 25 May 2009 02:20:00 +0000

Inc. Magazine posed the question of how to brand Susan Boyle to extend her 15 minutes of fame in to a career.

Interesting – the literary agent thought she should write a book, the big agency people want to get her endorsement deals, the guerilla marketer wants her to do a reality show. Seems everyone instinctively reaches for their most common tricks.

The way I see it, Susan Boyle has a rare opportunity, whether she wins or not. In fact, it might be helped by not winning as it could add to the underdog story.

I’d argue there’s already a story (or brand) there – one that speaks of authenticity, courage and the unexpected. She shouldn’t limit herself by endorsing products; most will only speak to one part of her story and turn her into a parody. Here’s what I would do with her:

Your dream is to be a professional singer, not a celebrity. So be that. Record an album of soaring Broadway numbers since that seems to be your bent. Go on tour. Enjoy yourself.
Instead of endorsing products, look for companies to sponsor you and your tour. This keeps control of your story in your hands. No one can show you as anything other than exactly what you are that way.
Love the new hair (much needed) but beware changing too much. You need to stay Susan Boyle.
Beware overdoing it. You had never heard of YouTube before all this happened. To suddenly be all over the social media and internet world backfires if it’s authentically you. No one wants to follow your PR agency talking about you on Twitter. Over-produced videos on YouTube will feel manipulative. They will want you.

Cool People: Trent Reznor

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Mon, 25 May 2009 02:19:00 +0000

Trent Reznor is one cool dude. He's the genius behind Nine Inch Nails, breaking ground musically and breaking the music industry status quo while he's at it. Here are two things I love about him that would be great qualities for any boss to possess.

Fans First
Reznor is always looking for new ways to connect with and reward true fans. This includes an iPhone app for listening to Nine Inch Nails music, putting HD quality video from concerts on the website to let fans play with it and releasing the last album not only free, but under a Creative Commons license. (Blackberry and Android versions of the app are on their way.)

Generosity
Reznor started a twitter campaign to help raise funds for Eric De La Cruz, a Medicaid patient in Nevada in need of a heart transplant. Nine Inch Nails and touring mates Jane’s Addiction are offering bonuses like hanging with the band, backstage passes, soundcheck visit and pictures for donations to Eric’s treatment fund. In just six days, they got the total in the fund to more than $800,000, exceeding the goal set. As far as I can tell, Trent just stumbled across this and decided to help.

Bad Company: Google

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Thu, 21 May 2009 15:35:00 +0000

A story today in Fortune ranked the places MBA students most wanted to work for and topping the list for the third year in a row was Google.

Really?

Maybe that shouldn’t be a surprise. They topped Fortune’s list of the best companies to work for several years running before slipping to No. 4 this year. But they don’t even hit my radar. Here’s why:

GPA requirement
Great for Google for setting standards for hiring. But a GPA requirement for anyone not straight out of school (and maybe even then) slices your pool of potential employees down to those who are good at school, spent college with no social life or under-challenged themselves. I understand creating boundaries to cut the pool down to a manageable size, but making them too solid limits your choices as well. It’s the wrong kind of remarkable to shoot for.

(For the record, I meet the requirement on both of my degrees. I am very good at school.)

Perpetual beta
Umm. I’ve been using Gmail almost since it came out in 2004. That’s five years now, guys. And it’s still in beta. They’ve added all kinds of bells and whistles in that time, but technically, it’s never shipped. As long as it (and most other Google products) remains in beta, Google always has an out when something goes wrong. Say it’s V.3 and commit to it being a finished product already. I want a company that doesn’t get caught in a perfection cycle.

Impersonal management
I see this pop up over and over and over when I read about working at Google. Socially inept engineers promoted up the ranks are tasked with managing people rather than code and it’s not a pretty picture. As the company gets larger, more investment needs to be made in making that middle layer work well. That means people development, not just product development and Google doesn’t seem to have made that transition. When the only good things that crop up in company reviews are food and co-workers, you have an issue.