Business Cards: Not Just For Scoring Free Lunches Anymore

There is a boardroom scene in American Psycho where protagonist Patrick Bateman, the handsome, wealthy, sociopathic Wall Street banker, trades business cards with colleagues.

His appreciation of card stock, lettering and typeface is practically erotic. And the status envy induced by a co-worker’s superior card design is borderline psychotic.

“Oh my god, he even has a watermark,” Bateman gushes.

Bret Easton Ellis’s harrowing novel was published in 1991, but the card lust it describes already seems quaint.

I recently ran out of business cards and hesitate to order more. I only feel the absence when someone gives me theirs – it is simply good manners to reciprocate. Beyond etiquette, though, what are they FOR, anymore?

In the pre-digital days, it made sense to amass fat files of clients and leads. Gathering contact information back then was cumbersome. Now, though, a business card is clutter I am more likely to lose or spill coffee on than actually USE.

Here’s the thing: when someone gives me their card it is almost always in person, which means I have already met them. The connection is made. I likely have their contact information. And if not, if they are even remotely on their social-media game, they will be easy to find.

I’m not the only one questioning the card. As Matt Stevens noted in his 2012 Los Angeles Times piece ‘Passing out business cards is quickly becoming passé,’ the former business staple is becoming an anachronism. Today, Stevens writes, many people find them “irrelevant, wasteful - and just plain lame.”

As comedian Mitch Hedberg puts it:

“I got a business card ‘cause I want to win some lunches. That’s what my business card says, ‘Mitch Hedberg: Potential lunch winner.’ Give me a call, maybe we’ll have lunch? If I’m lucky.”

Hedberg’s  joking, but he gets at something about business cards today - acting on them is unlikely.  It would be lucky indeed, if they got you a call. You want to create a card that compels action.

Better yet, don’t give them out, get them. Don’t wait for the other guy or gal to get in touch; make collecting cards your goal and put the onus to act in your own  hands.

If you aren’t ready to shred your paper cards, there are ways to optimize their social media potential, which means more friends and follows, more ways to share your story with potential customers and develop the sort of relationship that will mean, in the end, more business.

That little piece of paper should be pulling in tandem with your online presence and social media strategy.

Here are some tips:

Include social media links.

That means your Twitter handle, Facebook name, or blog site. And use social media icons on the card, for visual impact.

Step it up with QR Codes.

Personalize a Quick Response code with your deets. Scanned by a smartphone, it can automatically send text, photos, videos, music and URLs. Create a digital business card that can be beamed up.

Borrow from social media design.

Profile pictures aren’t just for online. Add a photo to your business card to make the connection between you and what you do even stronger. Some designers have even formatted paper business cards to look like social media sites, creating a nice visual bridge between the physical and virtual.

Get visual.

Pinterest and Instagram are popular because they are beautiful and interesting to look at. Use eye candy.

Create a one-off.

Design a business card for a particular event or promotion to drive traffic to your social media streams.

Skip them.

If you are a true trailblazer, save a tree and create a digital card that can be sent as an attachment or traded by apps such as Bump or LinkedIn.

Are you one of the brave pioneers who have gone cardless? How have you made business cards work for you in this digital age? Are paper cards destined to become nothing more than pocket spam, their mother-ship the Rolodex headed for the scrap heap of office history? Or do the little cards have a place in the future of networking?

If you have some feedback, let’s do lunch.

Define Your Brand By What You Share

Getting someone who is not you to "be you" online is strange to me. It's like asking someone else to go on a date for you. Not only do you miss out on the engagement and enjoyment of the date, but it is also fake and downright creepy.

But what you say and what you share are two different things. I can get an associate to speak on my behalf and share my interests and positions, as in the case of a lawyer or a press agent, but I would never ask either one of them to actually pretend they are me and imitate my voice when talking to people. It's kind of funny when you think of it.

That's why I have resisted potential clients who have sought to just pay someone to do their social media for them. Instead, I offer them an understanding of the phenomenon so they can take the reins on their online engagement.

The content you base your conversations on

But some aspects of social media marketing need special skills and reap special benefits. For example,

• creative agencies can come up with brilliant ways to tell your brand's stories that are compelling, entertaining, and sharable.
• researchers can collect fantastic data that you can turn into consumable, memorable, and sharable infographics that your clients will love.
• curators who know your brand and what interests your clientele can find great, sharable content that others have made for you to share on your social channels.

That last point, curated sharing, is the one that most businesses jump into, with varying degrees of success. Most people understand, from as far back as high school, that who and what they are associated with impacts how others see them. So finding great stuff to associate themselves with and share online is something most of us naturally start doing when we plug our businesses into social.

Although it can be time-consuming and a major distraction, you do know (or should) what content is most interesting and helpful to your clients. And the content you find (vs. content you create) is the most readily available source for your social channels.

Curate great content for a few great reasons

1. Define your company's brand by what you associate it with. It looks good when you demonstrate you know what your customers care about.
2. Expand the 'scope of interest' for your brand by sharing a diverse selection of topics, giving you a wider potential audience for your content.
3. Add layers of sophistication to your brand by finding content that compliments your own content.

Of course, you need to come alongside the content you are curating with content you are creating and conversations you are sharing based on all of it. That's where the social, human element comes in and without it you're going to have a hard time gaining or keeping your target client's attention.

The point of selecting great content to share, above all, is to be helpful and interesting to the people you want to attract to your brand community. It is a discipline every company should be exercising as a basic, foundational social media investment.

What It Means To "Be Authentic" Online

Here's a simple suggestion when considering whether your profiles and activity online are "authentic": if someone who only knew you online met you in person would they be surprised?

No one should ever be surprised by your appearance or your behaviour because you are the same person online and as you are offline. The online you matches the in-person you. I think it is unwise to risk deceiving and likely disappointing people who otherwise had no expectations of you except for the inaccurate and inauthentic version of you that you carefully cultivated for them.

“When you stop expecting people to be perfect, you can like them for who they are.” ― Donald Miller, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life

Why is authenticity important?

Many people are complaining that the word authentic is over-used and has lost its meaning (here are a few). That may be true but words often lose their impact when their meaning is forgotten.

Here are the first definitions for the word "authentic" from Dictionary.com:

1. not false or copied; genuine; real: an authentic antique.
2. having the origin supported by unquestionable evidence; authenticated; verified...

Relationships are investments we ask others to make in us and no one wants to make a bad investment. So, like it or not, we carefully choose who we'd like to get to know better based on the evidence we have and we invest accordingly. And just like buying a product that doesn't match the marketed promises, disappointment can lead a person to devalue their investment and invest no more.

Who wants that? Some even define the difference between expectations and reality as stress! Who wants to cause stress to a potential friend?

By removing the filters and presenting ourselves as authentically as possible we can have confidence that few will be cashing in the investments they have made in us. We can trust that they know the real us and that our relationship won't be undermined by some revealed truth in the future. Authenticity puts our relationships on a more sure footing.

We all do it.

We have all written resumes that embellish, put on clothes, makeup, or a hairstyle that skews our appearance, and changed our vocabulary to match the person we're talking to.

Most of us find it hard to talk about ourselves. A few years ago when reviewing my online profiles I found it hard work to come up with creative ways to explain myself. So I decided to stop it and make it simple. I started with "culture change excites me", because it does, and I went from there. My avatars turned into simple pics of my face in the kind of clothes I wear every day (I wear a suit and tie maybe a dozen times each year) and my most recent pic was taken by my wife, unplanned, on a day I hadn't shaved (which is once or twice a week).

The goal is to be you. We are already interesting and attractive to people who we would want to get to know better and possibly work with or else why would we? The effort to deceive always backfires.

Take a look at your profiles and some of the things you have shared recently and ask your friends to do the same for you. Then ask; would someone be surprised by any of it if they met you and spoke to you in person?

Why Journalists Will Be In Demand in 2013

We're in the content marketing era, which is more show and less tell. Clients don't want you to tell them how great you are through advertising, they want you to show them value at the start of the relationship.

Every business has stories to tell and needs to inform, educate and be useful to clients through great storytelling. We tell stories across social media channels, blogs, and through opinion pieces, research, comments and even through our products and services themselves.

"Journalism is the art of storytelling."

If you look at what a journalist learns it's easy to see that having their skill set in-house is a huge asset for any company that knows how important content/inbound marketing is.

I combed through the course lists for a few journalism schools online and collected a sample of course titles that I believe make my point well:

• Journalistic Writing: the Language of Storytelling
• Editing, Publishing and Producing
• News They Can Use
• Reaching the Public: Fundamental Skills in Strategic Communications
• Magazine Production
• The Business of Communications
• Copy Editing
• Critical and Opinion Writing
• Advanced Research Methods
• Advanced Feature Writing
• Advanced Photojournalism
• Understanding Multimedia Journalism
• Video and TV Journalism

As traditional media fades away, the content that will create awareness and demand for what we sell, more and more, will need to be created, not bought. We need to share more and advertise less. Our clients need to find media-rich and useful content specific to their needs when they find us.

Content Marketing is Storytelling

Journalists are trained storytellers. They are researchers, writers, listeners, and able to think from a variety of perspectives. That skill set is perfect for creating content that online communities would find interesting, useful, or even entertaining.

Here's what the most awesome journalists do really well:

1. Their work makes you want to keep reading Writers who enjoy telling stories write things you don't want to put down. Does their work just report the facts or do they tie key points together nicely and in an entertaining way that makes you want to keep reading?
2. They like playing with new technology New communication and productivity tools emerge all the time and each evolution offers new advantages and new ways to tell stories. The journalist you want needs to keep your company engaging and, as journalists know well, the medium is often the message.
3. Their work compels you to share it with others A great storyteller will compel you to share their stories with others. Your content needs to be shareable if it is going to generate awareness and demand for your brand's offering.

The Need For a Bias

The culture of non-bias that many journalism schools have ingrained in students can be a bit tricky for marketing.

Your company should have a bias. Your bias and your approach to what your clients need and the unique way that you meet that need differentiates you from your competitors and brings choice to the marketplace. The people you hire for any role in your company need to understand your unique approach well, support it, and speak from that biased perspective every time they speak for you. Non-bias does not lead to engagement that sticks and stickiness is what you're after.

I have worked with amazing journalists who have turned out to be the best storytellers any business could hire. They have the skill set I know our company needs for our content marketing and we plan to hire more of them in the coming years.

A business needs to show their value with great content instead of just telling people how amazing they are through advertising and contrived efforts. People will come to your party but if the vibe isn't good, they'll sneak out the back door.

As traditional media loses its punch, I hope more and more journalists will look to marketing departments to find a new home. Our businesses need you whether they know it yet or not.

Do you plan to hire a journalist to join your marketing team?

A Good Snapshot: The Social Media Ecosystem in Late 2012

With such rapid change and extreme disruption to business caused by social media in recent years, many wonder where this is all headed. How about if we start with where we are now?

This Fall the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) released a comprehensive paper on the state of the social media ecosystem which, for those who need to deeply understand something before investing in it, is very insightful and appears very accurate. As expected, it's not an entertaining piece, but it's worth a read over the weekend and for holding on for future reference.

You can grab the report titled The Social Media Ecosystem Report - Rise of Users, Intelligence and Operating Systems. Below are a few excerpts that jumped out for me as valuable, sometimes surprising, and sometimes validating of my suspicions.

What do you think? Does this information confirm or will it change any of your business plans?

"You as a brand have to be completely confident about your position, because you will get criticism. You will have a negative reaction.  If you didn’t get a negative reaction, that means you’re standing neutral and you have no point of view.  Who wants to participate in that?” ‐ Frank Cooper, CMO Global Consumer Engagement, PepsiCo

“Facebook and Twitter have become online gate keepers to all things social”

"Gameification is the most common tool for glossing over the lack of a value proposition (i.e., when tools and apps offer little or no true functionality) – it appeals to users’ desire to acquire and amass things (real or fake) that show status."

"The social ecosystem is anchored by platforms (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Path) that focus on users’ relationships (i.e., the “social graph”) and offer broad utility and interaction..., interest based platforms (e.g., Fancy, Spotify, Pinterest) offer broad functionality but are vertically focused, engaging the user’s “interest graph”."

"LinkedIn has been building off its “professional graph” to create an “economic graph”, wherein professional identities – on a global basis – are available, making it easier for both human resources and capital to flow to where they can best be leveraged."

"Social media services have begun to significantly transform the way businesses interact with each other, both internally, on an enterprise level, and externally, with customers."

"Apart from CRM, enterprises are also using social media for internal non‐customer facing initiatives, such as talent management and resource optimization."

"A new breed of Social Intelligence companies – technology driven agencies – will be charged with generating actionable insight and defining social ROI."

"A brand’s social strategy starts with identifying its entire audience on and off channel, segmenting the audience into different types of users, and developing an engagement strategy for each type."

"Success is uniquely defined by each company and its own campaign approach or goals.  The ultimate goal is to amplify the earned media to shift or decrease the total media cost for brands."

"There is no silver bullet in social media marketing, and success must be uniquely defined."

"Social media has introduced a new form of communication between consumers and brands that allows for an around‐the‐clock, real‐time marketing and interactive customer experience.  Consumer adoption of social will continue to proliferate as companies offer high value and relevant engagement opportunities."

The Shared Story Experience

Have you ever noticed the unique bonds that are forged between you and the people who have shared an experience with you?  Some experiences are traumatic, some adventurous, some beautiful, and some are downright awful. But if you experience something with another person, whether you are strangers or old friends, that experience will create a strengthened relationship between you that is incredibly unique. I call this the Shared Story Experience.

The Postpartum Party Ward

On November 21st and 22nd my wife and I were in our hospital’s Postpartum ward with our new baby Willow. As it turns out, two really good friend couples of ours were enjoying their new babies in the same ward: Sociallogical’s founder Jeff Roach and his wife Kelly Lawson welcomed baby Jude to the world and Potter/Artist Darren Emenau and Nora Kennedy welcomed baby Lucy.

We popped the Champagne, turned on the music and turned the unit into the postpartum PARTY ward! What are the odds that three groups of friends would share such a powerful experience in tandem? From this point forward the parents of these three little bambinos will have a special bond created by the shared experience of delivering babies within hours of each other. This is the shared story that we experienced together.

Businesses Share Stories With Partners

Businesses work with other companies that are in line with their own value sets, interests, and experiences and should seek opportunities to pass on these shared story experiences. They will align your brands and boost all of you as you expose your humanity and what is important to both of you.

• Maybe you decide to purchase a book from the bookstore that is in your building instead of ordering it online – your shared story is that you reside in the same physical space.
• Maybe three years ago you went on a trade mission to China with the CEO of a company you really want to work for. That shared experience of travelling overseas should be more than enough to open dialogue about working together.
• Maybe you partnered with another company before to serve a shared client and maybe the experience was brutal but you got through it as a team. Use that experience to open the door to do more work together and get great referrals (and maybe don’t share that story publicly).

Whatever the shared story is or was, use it as your connecting point to strengthen your business relationships. If you don’t have shared story experience, go out and create them! At the core, the best partnerships are based on positive relationships that are strengthened by shared experiences.

Tips For Creating Shared Stories

• Go on a trade mission adventure with other CEOs that you want to work with,
• Invite other key players in your community to go see a hockey game or a concert together,
• Join clubs, sit on a board of directors, get involved with organizations that also attract the people you want to do business with,
• Hire the services of the company that you want to be hired by,

Or, arrange to have babies at the same time as social media experts that will help grow your community, as pottery masters who will create the very best client gifts, or as a filmmaker who could help you tell your story to the world :)

Do you have a shared story experience you could share with me? I’m a collector - I’d love to hear it!

Online Social Media Will Never Get Rid of 'Phone Calls'

Online social media can draw people to your brand community and help return humanity to the world of business but it will never get rid of one-on-one voice conversations.

On one end of the bell curve are those who wish all human interaction could be kept to text and under their personal control. They see phone calls and postal mail as 'so last century', so they shun it as much from a sense of personal style as from a need to feel productive.

On the other end are those who are offended by the new social media and the distance it seems to breed between people. Completely misunderstanding what social media is and how it accomplishes just the opposite, they fear it will erode society through disconnection and lack of community.

Somewhere in the middle are those who are learning to use all tools for what they do best. And in this spectrum will always be a very important role for voice conversations that we've always known as 'phone calls'.

Why one-on-one conversations are so important

One-on-one conversations are disruptive. It's hard to do much else when you're having a conversation with someone else so multitasking must stop while you focus on the other person. This drives some people crazy.

One-on-one conversations are so important because they communicate importance. If your goal is to communicate how valuable another person is to you, dropping what you are doing and giving them your attention is a great way to do this.

[Infographic] Socially Awkward? How Online Relationships Affect Real-World Relationships sologi.co/fk4ph #learnsocial

— Sociallogical™ (@soclogical) November 15, 2012

Why my Mom gets a phone call

Our family is currently expecting a baby and, as of today, we are 11 days overdue. Many people we love want to know what's going on and want to hear from us as soon as there is news. Most will find out when we post news online but my Mom wants a phone call.

To call my Mom and let her know what is happening with our baby's birth I need to set aside a few minutes to do nothing else but talk to her, just like in the olden days. But doesn't she deserve this? Shouldn't people in our lives like our mothers receive this top-level treatment in which we drop what we are doing and make them our priority for a few minutes now and then?

The same efforts that keep you close to your Mom can also keep you close to your clients.

What qualities do you bring to your business?

We value various types of communication partly based on the investment required for the communicator to share it. We are so deeply offended by businesses who automate their communication too much because we feel we deserve more. We are giving them our money, after all. We also still cherish handwritten or signed letters or even requests for a video conversation because we appreciate the cost in time and effort involved for the other person to share with us in these ways.

I'm obviously not against all forms of automated communication and I am certainly not against one-to-many social media sharing. But it's important to recognize what each type of communication costs us and what we can expect from the relationships we feed with it.

Online social media keeps people connected to us and our brands. It keeps us on their minds, adds value if we are sharing helpful content, and allows us to keep personal connections alive the same way our grandfathers used to tip their hats and share a kind word with their neighbours (and their customers) on the street. But social media only enables a personal connection if we personally invest in it.

The technology will change but 'phone calls' or one-on-one voice and video conversations will never come to an end for any business that wishes to bring people close and to build community around their brands. A business can't chat with every customer. But every conversation they do have is an investment in relationships that should matter to a business.

Call your customers now and then, just to say "hi" or offer some friendly advice. Be cautious not to waste the other person's time, but if you know your contact is wanted or even requested your interest in wanting them to stay close to you will be understood better than with an email or a social network post. And that investment is worth so much more to the success of your business than extreme efficiency in how we communicate.

Do you shun the phone or embrace it as a powerful relationship building tool for your business?

The photo above is of me talking to Santa Claus on the phone, Christmas Eve 1978 - obviously proud that Santa would take a minute of his time to call me on his big night!

The Importance of Online First Impressions

In the business world, we aren’t meeting in office spaces and conference rooms as much as we once used to. Instead, we meet online – a place where we are also making a lot of first impressions.

While you carefully select your business wardrobe, keep yourself manicured and fresh looking, and are mindful of where and how you are seen professionally, how much care do you give to how you represent yourself online, where most people will meet you for the first time?

Most people will meet you for the first time online

Our virtual images have become increasingly important. Leather chairs and mahogany desks are being replaced with social media avatars, YouTube clips, twitter pics, LinkedIn, Google+, Blogs, Facebook, and websites. Our online appearance is how we are presenting ourselves to potential clients and customers every day of the week, almost exclusively.

How does your online first impression measure up?

Below is a sample of headshots and links to the profiles of the people they belong to. I commend the recognition by their companies of the importance of a fresh, clean, professional virtual image for the company and especially, for their people. Click through to their profiles and take a look at a few of their before and afters - look at what they used to have versus their new ones...

Do your online avatars represent the real people that you want your clients to get to know? Follow Kelly Lawson's board Headshots (Avatars) on Pinterest.

What Telling Authentic Stories Really Means

Whether you tell stories that are fictional or fact, it is critical to tell your stories with authenticity. Authentic storytelling does not necessarily mean it has to be factually accurate, or even real. It just means that it needs to be told with honesty, and in a unique way.

I was speaking to Sociallogical’s Jeff Roach this evening, and he mentioned a quote that a photographer once told him. The photographer was actually my brother Mark, and he told Jeff,

“…a great photographer (or in this case, storyteller) is not one that necessarily knows the technology of image capture inside and out, or perfect framing…a great photographer is someone who sees the world in a different way.”

When I think of great stories to tell for my documentary film projects, I always keep that philosophy in mind. There are a million different ways that you can tell the same story. The ones that resonate with audiences are ones that are told from an authentic perspective that are unique and interesting.

Many stories that are successful in attracting and engaging audiences are ones that are inspired by everyday experiences, which are meditated on, and told in a fresh way.

Andrew's Authentic Story of Culture Shock

Andrew MacCormack is a Hemmings House filmmaker. I have seen his storytelling skills evolve over the years to the point where he is producing award-winning content that attracts attention and builds audiences. After a trip to China to visit his girlfriend (at the time. Now his wife, Julie), Andrew came back with a new perspective on culture, travel and self awareness.

Andrew was born and bred on Prince Edward Island in a rural area where many young people leave as soon as they are able. I chatted with Andrew on the phone tonight to get a perspective on his experience in China, and how it inspired a beautiful film that he later produced.

“Growing up on a small rural island, I dreamt about getting out and seeing the world. I traveled to at least two dozen countries in my twenties, and always felt comfortable experiencing new cultures and meeting new people. I felt like I was a very adaptable traveler - until I experienced China. China, urban and rural, gave me a massive sense of culture shock and realized I was in the midst of experiencing a place that was vastly different from the place I grew up.

“After spending 6 weeks traveling there I returned home to rural Atlantic Canada and remember reading a story of a man who never left Prince Edward Island, my home province. This was fascinating. Tragic but yet very admirable. I then thought of the millions and billions of people who live in big cities throughout China and the world, many of whom don't have the means or ability to travel like I do. There is a lot of value and wisdom that can be gained by knowing one place really well."

Andrew returned to China earlier this year armed with a stronger understanding of Chinese culture - and a camera! He produced a film that was inspired by his authentic experience of culture shock, and the questions that he had about the differences (and similarities) of people from two completely different cultures.

Please take 7 minutes to watch his beautiful film Here & Away

Andrew is a brilliant storyteller. He reflects on experiences that he has in life, asks questions, and builds stories based on his authentic experiences. His films are engaging and interesting because he tells these stories from a perspective that no one else could.

Even the most ordinary experience, people or place can be the focus of incredibly engaging stories.

What experiences in everyday life do you have that could be told in a unique and creative way?

3 Community Branding Lessons From the New iPad Mini Launch Event

What I noticed most about the launch of the new iPad Mini by Apple Senior Vice President Phil Schiller this week is that he did not sell us on how this new device will change our lives. That's what Steve would have done.

He would have reenacted dreams of our childhood made real by this new device. He would have painted an irresistible brand picture for it that would make it feel like it belonged in its own category of product; something we hadn't already seen many times before. Instead we were sold on specs. There was certainly a romantic praise for the industrial design that Apple always deserves, but he gave us information, not religion.

Absent was a play to the emotional, personal experience that indicates a true understanding of what Apple customers want that Steve never missed. Was this device created because competitors' success indicated a demand for this type of device? Or did they build something that would make their buyers lives better? That's what Apple used to always strive for. That narrative was weak this time.

'Belonging' Strengthens Brand Communities

Apple taught us that we should build a community around our brands. They did it before social media and now they continue to do it without brand-generated social media. Despite their heavy use of traditional advertising and marketing they still connect with their community (advertising on social channels is not a very social use of media).

Here are 3 things Apple used to do better than it does today that any brand can learn from:

1. Demonstrate understanding.

   Your products and services should always communicate that you understand your customer. Not just what they want to pay you for, but that you understand them as people. You know how they live, what's important to them, and what they enjoy and don't enjoy.

2. Communicate emotion.

   Information won't accomplish anything unless it stimulates an emotion that supports your brand. Make your customers feel nostalgic, unique, or even afraid if that's what they want and expect from you. Stephen King told beautiful stories, but fear needed to be part of them to satisfy his community.

3. Share the experience.

   Regard your company, products, and services the way you want your customers to so you can authentically project that regard on to others who might want to be part of it. Company + Customers = Community.

Steve Jobs knew these pillars of branding better than anyone. Without being social he still used that channel for viral reach by pushing traditional media buttons: PR, advertising, events, etc. He made Apple a company that could carry out these 3 brand goals using the old ways. Imagine what a brand could do if it reached for these goals with social media.

How would you pursue these 3 goals with your brand?

The Greatest Story You Can Tell

I had a very story-themed day earlier this week that reaffirmed for me that the best stories that any of us can tell are the ones we believe in, are connected to, and share with pleasure.

At a workshop focused on entrepreneurship in a new economy, the agenda followed Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and I presented during the Love and belonging part. As an entrepreneur entrusted to tell the stories of others for a living, love is foundational to how I approach my craft and run my business and I had a great time leading this workshop.

The morning workshops dealt with the themes of Physiology and Safety. After lunch was my bit on Love and belonging as well as Esteem. Then, to wrap up the experience, well into the night the group enjoyed a music party that celebrated the top of the pyramid: Self-actualization.

About thirty people attended my workshop. I first asked how many in the circle were entrepreneurs and close to ten owners raised their hands. I asked them each to take a few minutes to tell their story.

Having the opportunity for them to present themselves and explain what their small business provided was truly enlightening for all of us. If I did not ask these young entrepreneurs to share their story, there is a good chance the rest of the room would not have had the opportunity to know the incredible resources they had sitting around them.

Love Your Own Stories

The thesis of my presentation is that we must LOVE our own stories, and share our stories with the world. Our stories include:

• The stories of others - sharing the successes of a client, a vendor, or even a competitor
• The stories of products or services that will give value to your listeners
• The stories of yourself and or your team - always believe in the story you tell and don’t forget that you are the best in the world at what you do! And always tell your own stories with humility and without boasting.

When you share your stories, along with celebrating and sharing the stories of others, you form a supportive community that becomes an attractive magnet to others for more than just the information your stories transfer.

I left the workshop happy that I could share my story by encouraging others to love and share their own.

I jumped into my Dodge Caravan (yes there is a great story behind my choices of vehicles) and turned my satellite radio to the Grateful Dead Channel. The song that was playing was titled “The Greatest Story Ever Told”. I smiled as this song title validated my own story.

My story is centered around my mission to remind people, teams, brands and movements that their stories are relevant. My ambition is to empower people to share their relevant stories to the world with passion and effectiveness.

If a storyteller loves and believes in their own stories - and authentically (and humbly) shares them as if they are the greatest stories ever told - they will have engaged listeners. And engaged listeners are what brand evangelists and loyal customers are made of.

What stories can you tell on demand with pleasure?

We're Blowing Our Brains Out On Media

We're blowing our brains out on having everything that we ever wanted available, and then some, and we are unplugging.

Niche Communities Rule

There are so many interesting people to connect with, so much unique and varied entertainment, an entire world's collection of information available that people are filtering - they have to!

Reaching a target market is not about standing out anymore, as much as it is about standing for and offering something that people can identify that they need and care about. They'll find you when they need you. And when they do, you want your COMMUNITY speaking for how great you are, not just your marketing.

People don't have the time or the patience for the distractions that so many brands are throwing out. To win people's attention in Branding 1.0 we became loud, aggressive, and sometimes offensive to grab everyone's attention. Branding 2.0 is about being really great and known for one specific niche that has its own community of buyers and boosters.

We're Exhausted and People are Beginning to React

[STUDY] Twitter, Facebook More Addictive Than Cigarettes, Alcohol And Even Sex, Says Poll sologi.co/etMZD #learnsocial

— Sociallogical (@soclogical) October 15, 2012

Nobody wants the chaos that extreme indulgence in multi media - social, entertainment and knowledge media included - breeds. We've been there and we can't take it. We're starting to learn to filter noise and only let in what we believe will enrich our lives.

Brands should respect this and focus on being good and available. If not, you, too, will be filtered and ignored.

How are you filtering media in your own life? How is your business speaking to your niche audience so you don't get filtered?

Storytelling for Business : Your Most Powerful Marketing Asset

The story of your business - how it came to be and why you are in business today - is a mountain of personal connections and powerful marketing that you can build on. Until you build your brand on your own stories, you’re not building the social capital that you need to market yourself in the internet age. And until you realize the power of storytelling in all styles and formats then you may be missing out on an opportunity to create powerful community.

We (as leaders of companies and organizations) spend so much time, effort and money trying to find the best tool to market our product or services. We do this because we see the successes of other companies and brands that invest in robust ad campaigns, glossy print inserts, radio spots and big budget TV ad buys.

What many of us are missing however is that it is not just the medium that is the secret to success, it’s the content that the medium is presenting that creates and engages community, which in turn can birth successful outcomes. The most effective content that brands can use to attract audiences that convert to customers is the content based on authentic, personal storytelling.

Your Story Cuts Through Noise to Your Niche

Ok, you will probably roll your eyes when I state the next fact:

WE ALL HAVE AN EPIC STORY TO TELL.

Many of us simply don’t know that our stories are relevant. Even more of us know that we have a story to tell, but can’t quite articulate what the story is or even how to tell it. Storytelling engages the people who could very well become your customers because your niche will identify with your stories and be drawn in.

“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: "What! You too? I thought I was the only one.” ― C.S. Lewis #learnsocial

— Sociallogical (@soclogical) September 30, 2012

We are all attracted to other people, groups and brands that dig the same things that we do. It’s been the case since the beginning of time, but now we can laser focus on it and develop communities around our brands by sharing content, information and stories.

Why is authentic storytelling so important? Because we are living in an age of connectivity where there is a lot of noise and very few things can penetrate through that noise the way that authentic storytelling can. (On a side note, I chose both the picture above and the background of my about.me page for their epic story value. I hope just leaving you wondering will make them interesting)

Friends tell friends stories

If you are a presenter of other people’s stories, or have a passion for sharing your own incredible stories, then you are on the right path. We can tell our stories in articulate, engaging and sharable ways via multiple platforms that will engage and grow communities.

I intend to show you how through this blog.

I am an entrepreneur, a filmmaker, and a professional storyteller. I want to share my experiences with you from working and living in the media production, television, and content marketing industries for the last decade. I am convinced that you and your brand have stories worth telling.

A great potential side effect of telling great stories and building a loyal audience is that they will become your brand evangelists and you will see an increase in sales! Stay tuned, this story isn’t over yet...

Does your company share your stories? I would love to hear them. Please post links or stories in the comments below so I can have a look and share them with others.

What the Maturing of Social Media Use Means For Business

In the mainstream, people are no longer excited just to be using social media. Users are becoming sophisticated about how they allow themselves to be interrupted by notifications and how they filter people and content based on their interests. This inevitability has implications for business and presents challenges especially for businesses who have been slow to embrace it.

The Fad is Over

The fad phase is over. That doesn't mean it is going away, it means online social discourse is the norm. As a society, we're not going back to relying solely on traditional media and the trends toward social will continue in that direction. But businesses can't count on just being there to ensure success in reaching their communities.

The novelty of making a video, posting a tweet, or writing a blog isn't enough for your audience anymore.

In the same way, just creating an event on Facebook or Google+ and sharing it is not enough to get people's attention anymore. Social media has become overwhelmed by events, especially on Facebook, so that it can be difficult to stand out or for people to even notice your event before the date arrives.

Tenets of Advertising Are Back

Advertising has been about getting noticed and remembered as well as having a clear call to action that appeals to your target market. Social media had a short run that could shortcut those first two requirements simply because it was on a novel platform with an attentive audience. Since social media has been mainstream for a few years now and the field crowded, the novelty is fading and getting attention online is becoming increasingly competitive.

Businesses that are not truly social will never be heard. Posting brand messages like an advertisement is not social and won't give you the engagement you're looking for. Getting to know the people in your community on a personal level is the only way to make the social channel work.

Unless a business can compel people to share its content because of its relevance to their lives, its importance to their friends, and the humanity of its approach, media creation will be a wasted investment.

The two principal measures of whether or not a piece of media content will be shared socially is 1. is it informative? and 2. Is it sharable? Without a yes to those two measures, your content is going nowhere.

Mature With Your Community

Businesses can buy media but they can't buy social. There is a learning curve that social media imposes that takes time and forces a company to really consider who they are and who they serve. Get started on the learning curve and know that there is no solution that doesn't involve you and your team using social media on a personal level.

How else can you be "social"?

Hangouts Are Not Your Parent's Soda Shop

Good times. Good times.

Yesterday afternoon 8 friends and clients of Sociallogical jumped on a free, high quality, responsive and easy to use video conference that was fun and shocked the heck out of more than a few of us. After our brief conversation, the whole thing was automatically uploaded to YouTube in HD quality where it can forever be watched and shared, hopefully for the benefit of others who want to give it a try.

This great experience was courtesy of Google+ and its Hangout feature and was simply a 23 minute chat for friends and clients who expressed interest in trying it out to do just that. We planned it last week, called it a Sociallogical Google+ Hangout Intro intended to last 5-15 minutes, and we broadcast it "On Air", which meant that anyone in the world could watch our discussion live as it was happening - and now anyone can watch the recording of it forever.

Want to try this? Learn How To Get Ready For Your First Google+ Hangout

I don't plan to blog about every +Hangout we host or take part in. But watching people experience the power and simplicity of this new medium for the first time is a pleasure and I urge you to watch a bit of it (below at the end of this post) if you have never seen it before. I actually started recording it early because I didn't want to miss the surprise and pleasure on people's faces. A couple of people had trouble using their microphones or webcams for the first time, but that's expected. They won't have that problem next time.

A Powerful Brand Builder

Just think of how powerful this tool can be to reach an audience and build a brand community:

Idea 1: Discuss new trends with leaders of your industry Idea 2: Instruct your clients on something they're interested in learning Idea 3: Give demos of your product to clients, potential clients or partners

There are lots of ideas that you can come up with to help your business by using it to build community around your brand. Think about it and let me know what they are in the comments below. We love learning new ways to be social.

And let us know if you'd like to join us on another "first-timers" Hangout sometime soon because it really was a good time.

Special thanks to Garth Frizell from Prince George, BC who was our experienced guide on this brief tour. And I'm so happy that Kelly Lawson, David Hayward, Greg Hemmings, Judith Mackin, Sarah Tapley and Chris Boudreau were all able to join us.

How To Get Ready For Your First Google+ Hangout

Google+ Hangouts are an engaging social media channel that

1. connects you with guests and partners in a personal way,
2. allows you to speak directly to your audience, and
3. creates highly sharable and engaging content for your brand.

Because we host Google+ Hangouts regularly, we have prepared this simple outline for getting ready if you have never joined a Hangout before. If you're already using Google+, skip to step 3...

1. Get a Gmail or Google Apps account

Most of us already have one of these, but if you don't have a gmail.com account or an email account that uses Google Apps (gmail for your business), you'll need to get one. Since Google+ is the only social media channel that requires you to have a specific kind of email account, this is a necessary step if you want to get the most out of the Google suite of services (Youtube, maps, gmail, etc.)

I have a gmail.com account that I forward my other personal and work-related email accounts to so I only have one inbox and it is tied to the other great services I use each day.

2. Get a Google+ Account

Even if you're already using Gmail, you still need to say yes to sharing across Google's services by setting up your Google+ account.

3. Get the Tech

On a computer:

• Gmail: You’ll need to turn on Hangouts in Gmail.
• Google+: Hangouts is automatically enabled in Google+.
• Chrome browser extension: Download the Hangouts Chrome extension. A Chrome browser or Chrome OS device required. Windows 8 Metro Mode is not supported.

On a mobile device:

• Android devices: Download the Hangouts app. If you want to make phone calls, you’ll need to download the Hangouts Dialer to turn on calling in the Hangouts app.
• iOS devices: Download the Hangouts app.

4. Respond to the invitation from your friend

If you're getting ready for your first +Hangout that someone else is inviting you to, you'll receive an invitation in your Notifications section (a little box that lights up red in the top right of your Gmail or Google+ page - or any Google service page, for that matter - when there are any messages). The invitation to +Hangout will be there and all you have to do is click the link to join! And if you don't see it there, visit the Google+ profile page of the host and the invite should be one of their more recent posts.

A Few STRONG Recommendations

Use a headset with a microphone. I just use the headset that came with the iPhone I bought several years ago and it works like a charm. Most laptops, tablets and other devices made in recent years have built-in webcams but even those will often pick up a lot of the sounds around you and not just your voice. A personal microphone on a headset is much better at just picking up your voice, making the experience better for everyone.

Join a Trial Run

Every Thursday morning at 10am EST Sociallogical hosts a FTH (First Time Hangout) for anyone who wants to try one out for the first time or just practice with a new change to your video or audio setup.

No pressure. No agenda. Just practice.

You'll need to add the host, Sociallogical, to your Google+ circles to see the invite. You'll see an invitation to the next FTH in our recent Google+ posts so you can say Yes and get notified of the next one.

Do you have any questions that we don't answer here? Let us know in the comments below.

A Stunning Social Media Failure: Have the Olympics Lost Their Generous Spirit?

As Seth Godin would say, this is broken.

The 2012 Games could have tested the power of sponsored stories, social media advertising and online community engagement on behalf of high paying sponsors. But, instead, Olympic organizers hid behind copyright protection and old technologies - including social channels - to broadcast them instead of share them with the generous spirit of, well, the Olympics!

I agreed with a friend tonight that I am only now mildly regretting that we have been a cable TV-free home for many years now. Except part of me is happy to be boycotting these Games for not making every minute and every bit of content freely available across the web. I could take a video of my left foot this evening and potentially share it with more people on more channels than anything happening at the London Olympics this week.

+1 RT @jeffroach: #london2012 best example to date of what is wrong w/copyright laws. What a clumsy, sad content "strategy". #thisisbroken

— Burke Allen (@novologic) July 28, 2012

The International Olympic Committee needs to hear a clear message that this has to be the last "television network" Olympics. They'll hear it if enough of us consume non-Olympic content on the web over the next two weeks, share best wishes and support directly to our favourite athletes who are available online, and hope that the IOC wakes up and changes direction before Russia 2014 and what could be a turning point for the modern Games if they don't tear down this iron curtain.

If you could, would you prefer to consume the Olympics through the web where you can choose your experience and how you'd like to share it with others?

If such a massive, wealthy machine as the Olympics can misunderstand and fail so badly with social media, does this comfort or frighten you when you consider the opportunities for your business in becoming social?

Do the Yellow Pages Deserve Your Marketing Dollars?

When considering all the ways that people will look for you or what you sell, the yellow pages won't top the list for most target markets. Not anymore. So why do so many businesses still put their money there? I have 3 theories.

1. It's what they've always done.

For businesses who have been around for many years, the yellow pages have long been a resource that their customers have relied on to find them and they have good anecdotal evidence to support it. That evidence is getting old.

2. They are unsure of the alternatives.

The web and social media is not yet a comfort zone for a lot of businesses still apprehensive about committing wholeheartedly. Many have dipped their toe in that vast ocean but not a lot of them would express confidence in understanding how their customers use that medium and even fewer have figured the best way to respond to it.

And if social media is daunting, the complex algorithms and nuances of online advertising is an even tougher nut for many to crack.

3. They believe their target customer still relies on the printed directory.

That's fair, if there is evidence for it. After almost two decades of digital hegemony, there are still resistors and those who live unplugged.

Be where your customers will look for you

In the spring of 2011 I taught our first course on understanding social business to 10 people in 3 restaurants over 3 weeks. There were men and women from their 20s through to their 60s with varying comfort levels using the internet. One of the most poignant moments for all of us was when my friend Chris asked the room how many people still use the phone book to find a person or business. Two people put up their hand.

If you search for research on yellow pages usage you'll find a ton of articles and pseudo-research that is skewed and suspect at best. It makes sense that a dying billion-dollar industry would fight with the tools they know work and today the internet and the social web are just that. The industry is using as a weapon the mediums that are eating their lunch!

What really matters is for your business to be found by your customers when they decide they want what you sell and go looking for you. And the best way to find out how people discover and reach you is to ask them. Ask how they found you and ask how they would prefer to have found you.

And with so many of the most widely used channels available to businesses for free - search, social, online directories, and more - how does a business justify the cost of the yellow pages any more? Can you? I'm curious to know.

The simple back story: The yellow pages were delivered to our doorstep unsolicited yet again this week. The picture above was taken 2 days after delivery, showing that neither we nor our neighbours could be bothered to even pick it up off our step and toss it in the bin.

Summer Is More Important For Renewal Than the New Year

Despite the hype and pressure around New Years resolutions, when it comes to making real change happen in the life of a person or a business, summer vacations are much more potent and enabling. While the phenomenon may be more confined to businesses in the parts of the world with short summers, the culture and mood created by the need to capitalize on the warmth and comfort of the season has to have an effect on any business that has any connection to these areas.

New Year Lacks The Energy and Spirit of Change

The significance of a new number on the calendar aside, The dead of winter and post-spending spree is a lousy time to expect great change from ourselves and others. The time to learn something new and make fundamental change is not when the pressure of survival is upon our culture and when short days and cold climates sap the energy from our people and have many of us longing for a vacation or for spring to arrive.

New Years is a time of reflection, for sure. It may even be a good time to let go of things that aren't working. For many businesses, it's a time to let go of relationships that aren't working also, which doesn't always help the mood of the business community either.

We shut down in the winter. We hibernate. We get cozy and focus on family and others who are closest to us. We sit by roaring fires, read books, and eat "comfort" food.

Summer Is When We Open Up

Summer is when a good part of our northern societies take vacation, replenish our vitamin D, our recreational pursuits, and our social relationships, and generally open ourselves up to possibilities, new beginnings, and new energy.

Even if we're not among the lucky ones to have vacation time in the summer, those of us who are left to work, generally do so with less chaos, less demanded of us, and there is more support for a social tone to our workday. Business golf days, working remotely on patios, backyards, and even from the cottage are more often tolerated or even encouraged during this season.

The foods we eat tend to be more local, fresh, and nourishing. The air we breathe is more often straight from the outdoor source and the sunlight is warm and comforting.

This is the perfect time of the year to learn something new and take on a new change. This is the time of year to breathe deep and welcome something we have put off for a long time. We all want to return to September energized and ready for growth and summertime is the season to do the prep work for growth and change.

What Change Are You Using Your Summer For?

Summer may not be the time to make change but it can certainly be the time to open ourselves to it. The books we read on vacation, the student interns with their youthful perspectives, or the new/renewed friendships and conversations we enjoy can feed us with new ideas and directions.

This summer I am finishing two books I started a while ago: Trust Agents, and The Identity Society (please read along and discuss with me if you like). I like books that make me think in a new way and often avoid the how-to type. I have been exercising more and have returned to cycling after a 25 year break (slowly, of course). I also intend to introduce a regular daily strength training routine - which I desperately need. The most important thing I plan to do this summer is slow down and spend less time working on non-essential things. Especially with a new baby on the way, I don't want to live a busy life anymore, I want to be productive and energized. I will need to shift from multi-tasking to focused work.

While you are open and rested, what do you intend to do to set yourself and your business on a course for success in the coming year? How are you feeding yourself this summer?