Common Sense Observations

Want Social Meida Success? Just be cool.

2011-03-21T08:54:00.003-05:00

Someone asked me over the weekend if I could sum up social media success into one sentence. I can sum it up in three words. Just be cool.

I’ve had the privilege of living abroad and meeting many different people in many different cultures. Through all my travels one thing remained consistently true. If you’re cool, most of the time people will be cool to you. If you’re an ass, people will treat you as such.

The same rule applies to your social media success as a business. If your content is a steady stream of sales pitches (not cool) you’re likely to have very little success.

On the other hand, if you engage your audience worthwhile and interesting information (very cool) you’re likely to be very successful.

Want to be successful online? Just be cool.

Lionel Rainey III
3Lions Media

You Cannot Manufacture Social Media Success

2011-03-01T09:27:00.003-06:00

If you're talking to a "Social Media Marketer" and you hear the words "Fan Acquisition Campaign" ... Run as fast as you can.

Here's the deal. Social Media success is just like a successful friendship. If its fake it will eventually be exposed. To quote Rob Bass, "It takes two to make a thing go right". You get my point. If its not real, it doesn't last.

Who cares if I can generate 500 Twitter Followers in 2 minutes or provide you with 1,000 Facebook fans overnight. If they aren't real, they aren't going to engage in the conversation or do business with you. Isn't that the point?

Just like in "real life," friendships take time to develop. It's called trust. You can't rush it. Wasn't it a wise man that said, "only fools rush in?"

There's no difference with your Social Media.

Transparency, consistency and the willingness to listen.

Lionel Rainey
3Lions Media

Say Bye-Bye to the Share Button

2011-03-01T08:50:00.003-06:00

Bye Bye Share Button - the Like button is taking over.

Facebook has been on a roll lately; After months of updates to it's Like button, they released an update that fundamentally changes the button’s functionality to that of a Share button. Now after hitting the Like button, a full story with a headline, blurb and thumbnail will be posted to your profile wall. You’ll also be given an option to comment on the story link. Previously, only a link to the story would appear in the recent activity, often going unnoticed by users.

Users will now think twice now about clicking "Like" as much more information will be posted on their wall - but for the first time the shareability aspect will be in full effect. Isn't that the purpose?

Facebook has slowly been rolling out updates to its Like button and has stopped developing the Share Button. Facebook spokeswoman Malorie Lucich Mashable that while the company will continue to support the Share button, Like is the “recommended solution moving forward.” However, Lucich today called it a test, saying “We’re always testing new products that incorporate developer feedback as we work to improve the Platform experience, and have no details to share at this time.” It’s unlikely that the change is just a test, however. Typically such tests from Facebook only affect a small number of users, whereas this change affects all Like buttons.

Perhaps the change was necessary. Because it was never made clear to users that the Like button would function differently than the Share button, many never understood what it meant to click Like on a piece of content. Making the result the same as the Share button could build stronger user expectations, ultimately fashioning a better user experience.

Thanks to Vadim Lavrusik for this post.

10 Tips to Tweet Locally

2011-02-26T20:38:00.001-06:00

So you’re tweeting away on Twitter about your latest blog…posting links to industry related articles…engaging with people, and so forth. You’ve followed some of your favorite folks, tweeted about your favorite place to eat sushi, and others are now following you. Like the dentist in Baton Rouge and the life coach in Scotland.

What about the users in your own backyard? How do you find geographically closer prospects who may be interested in your offer?

Top Ten ‘Local Tweeting’ Tips:

1. Twitter Search. Type in your city’s name to access a list of Twitter users in your region. The advanced search feature finds peeps up to a 15 mile radius.

2. Do a simple Twitter search for people tweeting about your area using the # (hashtag). Simply type– #your city name– or abbreviation in the search box.

3. Twellow – (Twitter + yellow pages) is exactly what it sounds like — a listing of Twitter users. Access your region by clicking on Twellowhood, then your location on the map…or type in your city and state.

4. Follow Twitter trending topics. On the right side of your Twitter page, choose the closest city to yours, then watch for topics of interest to follow.

5. NearbyTweets and GeoFollow offer constant listings of your local Twitter pals and their tweets. GeoFollow lets you bulk follow.

6. Why not Tweetup? A meet-up (offline) of nearby Twitter friends arranged – you guessed it –via Twitter. How to find these elusive group blind dates? Try Meetup (an event site with a special section for Tweetups), Twtvite (a site like Evite but for Twitter) and by searching tweetup geographically, on Twitter Search.

7. Localtweeps – started as a localizing site utilizing the hashtag, this one allows you to register and allows others to follow you or click on your website. You can search by zip code as well.

8. Look for apps- there are tons out there and more fresh apps are created every day to help you to find people in your area. TwitterLocal, Twinkle and more.

9. Twitaholic (formerly Twitterholic) –Not affiliated with Twitter, but the top twitter users in the country are listed here…and so are those hot shot Tweeters in your town. Just type in your Twitter ID under “your Twitaholic ranking.” Once it comes back, click on the name of your city, next to your stats.

10. Search the lists of your local followers and those that you follow in town. This search is bound to yield some like-minded locals.

Thank you to Chris Tompkins for this post

How To: Optimize Your Company's LinkedIn Profile

2011-01-28T13:10:00.000-06:00

Boasting 90 million users, LinkedIn is one of the social media titans. For business professionals, it has become an essential tool for staying connected to their business network.

But for companies, there’s been little reason to pay attention to their presence there. LinkedIn has been about individuals, not organizations. LinkedIn Companies existed, but offered little in the way of functionality. That has now changed.

In November, LinkedIn quietly introduced an upgrade to LinkedIn Companies that makes it both a critical and powerful tool for managing your company’s digital presence (especially if you market B2B).

Here’s a primer to help you plan and make the most of some of the powerful new features on LinkedIn Companies.

The Basics

The basic features have not changed since previous iterations of LinkedIn Companies. (In fact, if I have one criticism of the new version it’s the utter lack of integration between the new features and old. The new ones all live under one tab.) You can upload a logo, add a paragraph describing your business, list contacts and attach their profiles. There’s a decent chance someone at your company has already done this. Other legacy features include the ability to post job listings.

LinkedIn also automatically displays the profiles of employees and new hires. This can be a great tool for business development pros because they can quickly discover the people with the “right” job titles at companies they are targeting.

Unfortunately, LinkedIn does this by keyword association, so there is a significant degree of inaccuracy in the profiles listed. Of the forty-four “employees” listed for my agency, at least ten are from other companies with similar names. Allowing administrative control over this would be nice.

Products & Services

The biggest new feature of LinkedIn Companies is the addition of the Products & Services tab. Your company can list each of its products or services, upload a 100 x 80 pixel icon and description of each, and create a bullet list of attributes. Pretty standard, right?

This is where we begin to have fun and start to build a really powerful marketing tool. The first thing you’ll notice when you visit a souped-up page is the “carousel.” Through a simple admin tool, you can upload three whopping 640 x 220 banners (JPEG, GIF or PNG, no Flash) that rotate on the page and link to specific URLs that you designate. Obviously, these can be landing pages set up to generate leads. You can also go with a softer sell — my agency put up ads driving toward case studies in our website portfolio.

The impact of these is substantial and the fact that LinkedIn allows you to create links that take users away from their website (and advertising revenue) is to be applauded.

YouTube Videos

You can now also embed a YouTube video on the Overview page and each of the individual Products & Services pages you create. When done well, video is a powerful tool to convey your message to customers. This is a huge opportunity to engage people in a contextually relevant manner. You can use a different video on every page and embedding them is as simple as copying and pasting a URL from YouTube.

Recommendations

Probably the most important new feature is the ability to solicit recommendations from your customers for each of your products or services. This works just like the Recommendations feature does on an individual LinkedIn profile. You’ll want to take the time to edit the default message when asking for an endorsement.

This will soon become a vital reference checkpoint that people use before doing business with your company. According to Forrester Research (in Groundswell), 83% of us say we are at least somewhat influenced by word-of-mouth. While the highly edited “Success Stories” on your website may comprehensively cover the breadth of benefits and messages you want to convey, their impact is no match for a three sentence endorsement attached to the personal profile of an enthusiastic customer.

LinkedIn has elected to give you administrative approval over which testimonials go on your profile. Users are savvy and will recognize this, so don’t think Recommendations can replace actually having good products and services. Google is only a click away.

Audiences

This is where LinkedIn Companies gets powerful. LinkedIn allows you to completely customize how you present your products and services to distinct audience segments.

If your ears just perked up, you may work for a company with a diverse customer base or product offering. Or maybe you’re a marketer who knows that creating content that is relevant to your target is essential for provoking engagement, inciting response and maximizing ROI.

Either way, you’re probably realizing that this is not something you’re going to do in one afternoon. You’re going to want to be strategic in your approach and thoughtful about the content you create.
Taking advantage of Audiences may take strategic planning, but it won’t take technical acumen. LinkedIn lets you easily “Create an audience segment,” select its attributes (job title, seniority, company size, industry, location, etc.) with a few clicks and then edit a clone of your base company profile.

Offers and Campaigns

Each product or service (for each audience segment) also has a placeholder for a unique offer associated with it. For example, you can easily create an offer for a free white paper or a free coupon for your tasty and delicious consumer packaged good.

Once you’ve got your products and services all set up, you can create targeted Campaigns to drive traffic to your profile. LinkedIn has a self-service tool with simple filtering options to find the right audience. Self-service is a good thing because it means you don’t have to be a big company with a big budget to start generating traffic, leads and revenue.

The system works a lot like Google AdWords. You can create multiple versions of your campaign — up to fifteen of them — to see what works best. You can set a daily budget and a maximum bid for either clicks or CPMs (cost per thousand views). And you can set campaigns to run indefinitely or until a specific date.

Analytics

Lastly, it wouldn’t be digital if you couldn’t measure it. LinkedIn has some nice charts that allow you to view your performance in terms of page views, visitors, clicks on various types of content visits by industry and followers.

What I really like is that LinkedIn compares your performance in each of these categories with similar companies, so you have a contextually relevant benchmark. I don’t like that I can’t export any of these charts to Excel or embed them in a dashboard. But hey, a guy can dream, right?

Overall, I think LinkedIn Companies could become as important to brands as websites or Facebook Pages. It’s worth taking the time to do them well to harness the power these new features can provide.

Thanks to Adam Kleinberg for this post. Adam is co-founder and CEO at Traction, an interactive agency that aligns psychology with technology to create ideas that work. Look for Traction’s LinkedIn page and free toolkit. Catch him tweeting at @adamkleinberg and blogging at tractionco.com/blog.

Dont Post That

2011-01-24T16:25:00.003-06:00

Do you remember the saying, Would you do that if your mother was watching? It should be, Would you post that if you knew your boss was watching... because he/she is.

Social media allows us to connect, share, comment, rant, discuss, etc. for free, in real-time. The trade off is that its available for virtually anyone to see and share. And once it's there, it doesn't go away (without A TON of work) .

We hear stories on a daily basis of people making inappropriate, or perceived inappropriate posts and getting in trouble at work. We also hear stories about people not getting jobs because of what they have posted online.

There is no reasonable expectation of privacy once you hit the enter button and "publish" something online.

Do the bosses and hiring managers have a right to hire or not hire you based on what you've posted online? Do they have the right to fire you?

Lets start with hiring. Yes, of course they have the right to not hire you. And the vast majority of hiring managers are looking. If we were looking to hire an intern or full-time staffer the first thing we will do is Google/Facebook and Twitter them. Do you really think we would hire someone with pictures posted of them hanging off a balcony, hitting a beer bong?

In regards to firing... that's touchy. It depends on exactly what you post and what your companies official policy is.

Many business do not yet have a social media code of conduct in place. We get calls daily from companies requesting we assist them with developing a social media policy. So, if your company doesn't already have one, they soon will.

In closing, don't post the picture of you at spring break trying out for Girls With Low Self Esteem or the picture of your bachelor party when you went streaking.

You should assume everything you post is being viewed not only by the people you work with but by your current and future employer as well. Because it is.

Lionel Rainey
3Lions Media

What to do about negative online reviews or comments

2011-01-18T11:40:00.001-06:00

Not replying to, ignoring or deleting negative comments or reviews online can be a big mistake. I've spoken to numerous small business owners who will not setup a Facebook page because they are afraid that someone will say something negative about them, their product or their company. Guess what...people are talking about you and your business. If you choose to simply ignore it, it doesn't go away. It's just a one sided story: Their side of the story.

Here's the deal. Neither you or your company is perfect.

So, what do we do about negative comments or reviews?

If negative posts are made with malicious intent, are posted purely to harm or have no legitimate basis, delete them (and the user).

If a comment is negative, but legitimate, do not delete it. Address the complaint and describe what is being done to remedy it.

Everyone makes mistakes and people know that. What will set you apart is that you address the mistake and detail how you have or are fixing it, rather than ignoring it.

Not all negative comments are posted on your Facebook page. In fact, a small percentage of them are. Its up to you to seek out these comments and address them. Both negative and positive as well. Find positive reviews online and share. Find negative comments and give your side of the story. Be aware that people are (mostly) not stupid and can sense a sincere post vs. a fluff piece.

If you do not have the capabilities to manage your reputation online (ORM), find a reputable company to assist.

- Lionel Rainey

Martin Luther King Day - What would he say?

2011-01-17T15:47:00.002-06:00

I was asked today what I thought Dr. Martin Luther King would have to say about the United Sates today:

I think he would see the steps we've taken as a Nation and be very impressed. In 1963 when he gave the famous "I Have a Dream" speech, many black people couldn't even use the same restroom as white people. Today we have... a black President. So, yea, I think he would be very pleased in the progress we've taken.

I believe that Dr. King spoke as much about personal responsibility as he did equality. To be honest, they go hand in hand. In that regard I think there would be many aspects of the black and white community today that he would not be happy with.

He never spoke about entitlement. He just wanted the playing field to be equal. He dreamed of a time that we could "sit down together at a table of brotherhood", "to lift our nation from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood", "to make justice a reality for all of God's children".

Much of what comes from a small vocal leadership today in the black community is exactly the opposite. It's a divisive message by design. Leaders like Jessee Jackson & Al Sharpton constantly promote separation by color. They, in my opinion, prey on the black community.

Would Dr. King be happy if a black person was awarded a job over a more qualified white person simply because of the color of his skin? I doubt it. I think he would be as appalled by it as he would if a white person got a job over a more qualified black person due to race.

I think the strides we have made are tremendous and I think we have a long way to go. It's about us working together as "people" and as American's... not as African Americans or Caucasian Americans or white people and black people. Just as people. "...to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of BROTHERHOOD".

- Lionel Rainey III

The Second of November

2010-11-02T08:23:00.000-05:00

Passive and still as change swept the land
Silent we stood, not raising a hand

Our contempt increased and our anger grew
With each liberty taken, with each right removed

The flags came out and a party was born
To reverse a tide; To mend a Charter torn

The time is upon you; your voice will be heard
Today you scream out loud; without saying a word

To all those whom govern, I advise you remember
What happens this day, the second of November

- Lionel E Rainey III November 2, 2010

Stop turning your head & stop saying your sorry

2010-05-19T14:42:00.002-05:00

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke)

From the beginning of time the constant struggle between good and evil can be explained by Mr. Burke's observation. Pick any century, civilization or empire and you will find time and time again the number of good people greatly outweighing the number of evil people. But more often than not the numbers don't determine the outcome. What does make a difference, however, is whether those who claim to be good men are willing to stand up and fight for what they know to be right.

How does this happen? Is it a crowd mentality or are people really that easily lead or mislead?

I don’t know what the answer is, but I see it happening right now, this second in the United States of America. I don’t know when it started. Maybe Roe v Wade. Maybe the so-called separation of Church & State. I don’t know. What I do know is that the Constitution, the conservative ideals this Nation was founded on and even our God given rights are under a vicious attack. And ‘good men’ are silently standing by and watching it happen.

We turn our heads because we are afraid. Were afraid of what they will say about us. We criticize the President and we’re racist. We attend a Tea Party rally and we’re ultra conservative right wing nuts. We bear arms and we’re potential domestic terrorists. We support the institution of marriage and we’re bigots. We support a pro-active war on terror and we’re warmongers. We worship in public and we’re criminals. We try and guard our borders and remove those here illegally and we’re Nazis.

Don’t kid yourself. Battle lines have been drawn. Think that’s over the top? Think again. One day you might wake up and not recognize where you are. I guarantee you our Founding Fathers wouldn’t recognize it today. Could you even imagine what John Adams or George Washington would say? They would be put in jail for it, I promise you that.

So what do you do? Its simple; Stop turning your head and stop apologizing. Take a stand whenever the opportunity arises. Speak out. Don’t be afraid of what people will say. Support conservative leaders. Open your eyes and ears and spread the word. Stay informed. Never shut up. More is at stake that you could ever imagine.

I’m done turning my head. I’m done apologizing. So should you.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-04T10:29:00.003-06:00

I want to publicly commend my boss, Bizzuka Inc CEO John Munsell for instructing us to refer to Christmas as Christmas and not the Holiday. Its sad that's a big deal. I'm sick and tired of being dictated to by the vocal liberal minority. What about my rights as a Christian? Maybe it’s offensive to me to be told I can’t say Merry Christmas. How many of the enlightened class who don’t believe in Christ take the day off? If it’s not your thing, show up for work on the 25th of December. How would African Americans react if they were told they couldn’t call MLK Day by its name, and to refer to it as ‘non-violence day’? If I was told I couldn’t say Veterans Day and had to call it ‘a holiday’ because it would offend the anti war crowd…well, we would have a problem. I challenge the 72% of Americans who do believe in Christ to proudly wish everyone a Merry Christmas and not a happy holiday. If your work dictates you not to say Christmas, do it anyway. If you are reprimanded or mistreated in anyway, fight back. File a law suit for having your First Amendment rights suppressed! Its funny how liberals often leave out the second sentence of the first amendment stating: "Congress shall make no law prohibiting the exercise of religion". We have been pushed around for long enough.Stand proudly and be counted! Have a Merry Christmas!

The Salty Seller

2009-04-07T11:48:00.001-05:00

Keep your friends close and your manager closer.

I know that sometimes we think our managers suck. Maybe they do, maybe they don’t. I've had managers in the past that I wanted to place under citizen’s arrest for being complete idiots. I've wondered how some even managed to get dressed in the morning? I'm going to guess they had a spread sheet with detailed instructions. Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto.

Some managers have no business being where they are. Get over it.

The fact is, they are where they are and we are where we are. There's nothing we can do about that, no matter how much we may want to. What we can do is sell the hell out of our product. When you're out selling, not only do you make more money...you keep your job!

No one has a perfect work environment. If you do, please forward me your hiring manager’s phone number.

If things aren't perfect where you work, I am sure that you have a group of passive protesters lurking around. A sly group, these passive protesters . Do not fret. They are easily identified. At the beginning of the day they will be hanging out around the coffee pot, bitching about their morning commute, the husband, wife, children, even the coffee. More times the not, the complaints about the coffee are completely justified. During the morning meeting they will keep a straight face , but come 9:31, they're the first to give a passionate speech about how poorly everyone is treated, how terrible the corporate structure is, and how life just isn’t fair.

I know this because I've have been that guy. Sometimes rightfully so... Sometimes not.

If you're that guy or girl... Stop. If you're around that guy or girl... Walk away. All they will get you is fired.

Like it or not, we are influenced by the people with whom we surround ourselves. If you’re a golfer, you know exactly what I mean. You will often play to your competition. Meaning if you play with someone better than you, you will play better than normal. If however, you play with someone really bad, odds are you'll end up breaking a club or two.

As for the passive protesters, do you really want to be like them? I’ll go out on a limb and guess you don't. Misery loves company. And her parties suck!

I want to see everyone happy and doing well. I see the miserable people and wish they weren't. Gandhi said, “Be the change you want to see in others." Forget that! Be the change you want to see in YOURSELF!!! If you wallow in your own pity, you’ll become just that… Pitiful.

You know where you want to go. Go there. Don’t let a manager get in your way. Don’t let anyone get in your way. Stand up and be counted.

It’s a cold, cold winter outside. Jobs are tough to come by. If you have one, try and keep it. One sure fire way to do that is to close deals. Sell baby, sell! It’s hard to fire someone that makes you money. Even the worst of managers understands that. Or maybe they don't. Either way, don't waste your time crying about it or writing a blog in a coffee shop. No one cares. Just go sell something.

Pick up the phone.

2009-04-02T16:07:00.000-05:00

I received an email yesterday from someone who was sitting about 15 feet from my office. My answer to the question in the email required a yes or no answer. After I sent my reply I wondered why they didn’t just walk over and ask me, or easier yet, just pick up the phone. It took about 10 minutes for them to write the email, send it, have me read it and send a reply. It would have taken 15 seconds or less if they had picked up the phone.

No one can argue that e-mail is a bad thing. It would be detrimental to my current success if I didn’t have it. But should it replace an actual conversation? When should you pick up the phone and call? I guess that depends on each situation and if you really want to talk to the person or not.

It seems like we are becoming a society of non-communicators. Text messaging is replacing phone calls. Online social networks are replacing happy hour. Blogging is replacing coffee pot rants… It’s just easier, I guess. But when did the easy way become the best way?

My Grandfather never sent an e-mail and is one of the most successful people I know of. He never had a cell phone either. How many of us feel like we couldn’t live without our cell phones. I had lunch with a colleague the other day and he never put his iPhone down. Neither did I, but you see where I’m going.

We are afraid that if we are not constantly connected we are going to miss something. We aren’t! If its important, they will leave a message. The next time you are about to send an e-mail to a client, consider calling them instead. They might actually like to hear from you.

Dress the part!

2009-03-30T14:12:00.000-05:00

Do the clothes make the man? No, but they sure speak loudly.

Walk into a coffee shop and look around. See the guy with Birkenstocks, cut off shorts, hemp necklace and a huge smile? I wouldn’t have him do my taxes, but I bet he could score some great pot.

What about the guy in work boots, blue jeans, a flannel shirt with a tool belt on? I doubt he’s an authority on social networks, but I bet he can build one hell of deck.

The kid in the Birkenstocks could very well be the head of Students Against Marijuana and the guy in boots could be a webmaster...but I doubt it. You can’t always judge a book by it's cover...but it will usually give you an idea of what it’s about.

Romance novels have a picture of a shirtless guy with really long hair fighting a dragon. Mystery novels will have yellow crime scene tape and empty bullet casings on the pavement. Fantasy novels will have a picture of Barack Obama. Sorry...couldn’t resist (please don’t shut down my blog Big Brother).

The point is that your appearance says a lot about you. It's your first, first impression. When you walk into someones office, before you even open your mouth, you have been sized up by the potential client. It takes about 5 seconds.

Take advantage! Don’t spend the meeting trying to change their mind about you because you wore ratty shoes or because your shirt has a coffee stains on it from last week. This is when you should be selling your product or service.(This is one of the primary reasons I would avoid having tattoo's on your neck if you deal with decision makers on a daily basis.)

You don’t have to buy a $1,500 suit. Sometimes a 'big boy' suit can be a bad thing. It can be intimidating. Especially if you are calling on a local blue collar client. For eaxmple, I would never wear a tie during a first meeting with a local tire dealer. Half the staff might run out because they think you’re a cop, or even worse, the IRS.

Do you know that feeling you get when you drive a new car? You sit a little higher in the seat. When you look sharp and feel good about yourself, you just seem to walk a little bit taller. Strangely enough self confidence builds upon itself.

Give yourself an unfair advantage. Buy a three button black suit. Pick up a nice pair of shoes. I would suggest staying away from alligator skin and multi colors. Put on a freshly pressed white shirt with a sharp tie and hit the streets. I bet you sell something...

*** If you are a woman in sales, I have no advice whatsoever. I am no more qualified to give tips on ladies fashion that I am on giving sales advice…

Sell ME

2009-03-30T11:09:00.000-05:00

My initial thoughts of a salesman (even now) is of a greasy haired, middle aged man...slightly over weight. A white dress shirt with a slight permanent sweat ring around the collar.

I imagine him knocking on my door on a sunny Saturday morning. He has a faded brown leather briefcase in his left hand. His smile when I open the door reminds me of the smile I give when I run into someone I really don't want to talk to. Basically as insincere as it gets.

With an outstretched hand he introduces himself as John from Johns Widgets Inc. Before I have the opportunity to tell him I have as many widgets as I can handle, he's started into his pre-scripted and well rehearsed speech of just exactly why I need his widget.

After 5 minutes of completely ignoring my obvious body language (screaming go-away) he asks if he can sit down and show me a brochure detailing the levels of widgetary he has available.He has that look on his face. You know the one... like a lost child, or a hungry dog begging for a treat.

You feel so bad telling him no. But you do anyway.I am a salesman... I am not John.

What makes me different from John and his widgets? For starters my widgets are invisible. I sell air. Radio advertising actually. News Talk, AM radio advertising to be precise.But that's not what makes me different from John...or any other salesman. What makes me different is that I have found the secret to sales. That's right. Its all right here for you in the next several paragraphs...and its free. (Another difference would also be that I wash my shirts and my hair.)

Here you go.

The secret to sales is simply believing in what you sell. Well, that's the first part of it anyway. You see, when you believe in what you sell, you don't need a pre-designed script. You don't have to start your conversation with "Hello, my name is ______________ and I have the solution to all your needs". That makes me want to throw up in my mouth. When you believe in what you sell, you can simply look someone in the eye, shake his or her hand and enthusiastically engage them in a CONVERSATION about how your product will enhance their life.

Notice I said conversation. Not talking at someone. That's what a scripted salesman sounds like. It sounds like someone is talking at me...not to me.

People buy from who they like. Correct? Who likes someone with a canned speech about the roto-wizard 3000? Well, that actually sounds interesting...but you get my drift. Especially in the economic state we live in today, people are wary of anyone or anything attempting to remove money from their hands and into someones pocket.

Now, more than ever, the relationship is vital. You don't have to close someone the first time you meet them. Slow and steady wins the race.Someone told me that I needed to slow down to speed up. I now know what that means.

So...If you are going on a sales call today, try this. Don't bring a pamphlet, don't bring a package. Just bring yourself. Sit down with your prospect and talk TO them. Get to know them. Find out what they need. Find out what they want. See if you have any tools that will help them get said wants and desires...and go from there.

Learn everything you want to know about someone on a golf course.

2009-03-30T10:50:00.000-05:00

If you don't play golf, you should. If you are in sales and you don't play golf, you really should.

Golf is an intriguing sport. It's the only sport where you penalize yourself. In an era where it seems most athletes will do all they possibly can to break the rules and not get caught, the idea of calling a foul on yourself seems silly. Can you imagine T.O. catching a sideline pass and telling the referee he was out? Better yet, can you picture any basketball player handing the ball to the ref and telling him that he palmed the ball while his back was turned? Of course you cant! How is this relative to sales? Let me explain...

During the course of 18 holes, here is what you can expect to learn about your sales rep, or your client.

1. Patience.
Golf is a sport that demands you take your time. If you hurry a shot without weighing the risk and reward you will soon find yourself out of the game. Just ask Phil Michelson. Notice how your playing partner addresses each shot. See if he actually takes the time to evaluate the potential outcome. On the flip side, see if he (or she) takes way too long to hit. There is a thing called over analyzing. I mean...come on, unless you're at the Masters, there is no reason to take five minutes to hit a three foot put. Both of these scenarios can be used to evaluate how a person deals with day to day issues. Do they try to carry a shot 300 yards over water when they know good and well they can only hit 200? Or do they judge the wind, consult a golf swing book and then pace off a 20 yard pitch?

2. Cheater!
As I said before, golf is the only game where you call a penalty on yourself. An example being when you are in the rough, you cant move your ball. Some people will think its not that big of deal to move your ball a foot or so if its up against a tree. I mean...its just a foot...its just a game, right? To me, if you have no problem breaking an essential rule of the game, you will have no problem doing the same thing at work. There is no difference between a liar, a thief and a cheat. Need I say more?

3. Temper, Temper.
When I first started playing golf my father told me that there is nothing I can do about a previously hit shot. If I get mad, all I will accomplish is another poor shot...thus compounding the problem. This lesson was one of the hardest to learn. Little did I know that he was actually giving me a lesson in life. Now when a problem comes up, I take the time to see what I can do to correct it, rather than breaking a club over my leg. If you are playing with someone who pitches a fit reminiscent to a 3 year old, or an overpaid NBA player...imagine how they will deal with a mistake on your account.

These are just a few of the examples of how you can relate golf to sales or to life. I could go into the deeper psychology of the golf swing in comparison to motivational drive...but seeing how I just made that up....it probably wouldn't make much sense.

In closing, I hope you take this with you. Play golf like you live your life. Or better yet, live your life the way golf is designed to be played.

Anger vs. Apathy

2009-03-30T10:43:00.000-05:00

I opened a fortune cookie last night that read, “Discontent is the first step towards greatness”. Please note it also gave me seven lucky numbers that to my surprise were not winners. But it made me think. At what point does my discontent actually produce positive results?It depends on how you view discontent. If making one sale per day doesn’t quench my thirst for the close, then yes, discontent absolutely produces results. Assuming I increase my sales.

What about anger?

Show me an irate running back, and I will show you a potential 100 yard rusher. Anger is an emotion that if managed correctly can be channeled into drive, motivation or better yet…desire. Give me a furious sales rep, and I will in turn give you an award winner.

When you are angry about something, that lets you know one thing for sure: You care. When you care about something, you have that internal yearning to make it better. That’s AWESOME. Give me a room full of angry sales reps, and let’s go take on the world.

Apathy on the other hand…well…that’s not so good. Look at a room full of apathetic sales reps and you will probably find a ton of very detailed MySpace pages, complete Facebook accounts and maybe a very insightful blog or two…

Apathy is death to any organization, but none quite as much as a sales force. When a sales rep no longer cares about the product he or she is selling its time for that person to go.In some cases that’s a good thing. God knows there are sales reps out there that need to ‘move it on down the road’. One bad apple can spoil a bunch… one salty sales rep can spoil a floor just as easily. The term misery loves company actually has some truth to it.

What about good sales reps that become apathetic? What about great sales reps? I know for sure that it’s easier to prevent apathy than then to reverse it. Obviously that’s easier said than done.

I cannot buy into the sales coaches, motivational speakers and managers who try to pump you up all the time with catchy phrases and clichés. It’s sort of like a bad motivational poster. Nothing screams ‘leader’ like walking into a manager’s office and seeing a poster of a majestic Bald Eagle with the word Ambition typed in bold below it. You might as well have Stewart Smalley standing in the corner holding up a mirror for you.

A manager doesn’t have to be so far up a salesperson’s back side that he knows what they had for dinner last night, but he does have to care. You have to care about the people you manage. You have to care about the product they sale. You have to care about the success of your people. YOU HAVE TO CARE!

Is it so surprising that the companies who treat their employees well get great results? Look at Apple, Microsoft or Google. What do these companies have in common? Aside from being in the tech sector, they all treat their employees very well. In return, their employees will run through walls for them.

To whom much is given, much is expected. To whom little is given much is expected. To whom you beat down with your pompous cane until they are nothing more than a bloody pulp and starting to smell…I wouldn’t expect too much.

In closing, this one is for all the sales managers out there. Try this: Engage your reps today. Talk to them. Find out what they’re having problems with. Find out what they are having great success with. Help them build on the current success and push through the problems. We all know it rolls down hill. But if apathy prevents you from deflecting a little bit of ‘it’ from hitting your sales people, it’s eventually going to pile up and you will find yourself swimming in ‘it’ – with an apathetic sales staff.