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Entries Tagged as 'Growing & Learning'

Going viral = out of your control

by Drew McLellan

May 8th, 2012 · Growing & Learning, Innovation & Creativity, Life, Social Media, Trends

It seems like one of the goals I hear more and more is… “and we want it to go viral.”  I translate that to mean — we want a lot of people to see it.

But rarely when someone says they want something to go viral, do they really understand the implications of that.  The biggest one is — the minute it begins to go viral, it begins to take on a life of its own and it is beyond your control.

Let me give you a very tangible example.  My daughter and several of her college friends decided that they wanted to jump into the Sh*t People Say meme that was started in December (the original video has over 16 million hits – click here to view it) and make a video based on what University of Northern Iowa students say.

Their intention was pretty straight forward and college kid appropriate — they thought it would be funny. (And it is).  So they scripted and shot the video with that intent.  It’s filled with inside jokes about the names of resident halls (Dancer, Bender, Rider so you can imagine the joke!) and some of the art that lives on campus. And the first 50 viewers or so, mostly their friends or people within their circle of friends, were of the same mindset.  They got a lot of “LOL” type comments.

But then as the video began to spiral outside their own circle and go viral, some interesting things happened that we all need to keep in mind as we cross our fingers for a viral spread of our marketing efforts.

Not everyone is going to like it.  Some people took the humor as putting down the college they loved and took offense.  And there were a couple swear words sprinkled throughout which a few people objected to.  No matter how clear your intent or how pure your motives — as your audience widens, so will the range of opinions.

People will apply it to their own agenda. Like most Universities, UNI was not without some controversy this year.  Budget cuts are leading to dropping some majors which routinely only graduated a few kids a year.  Professors and special interest groups started sharing the video as proof “that the kids are upset that classes are being cut.”

Know that we all view things through our own perception/lens.  And nuance and meaning can be inferred or transfered if the motivation or inspiration is strong enough.  Sometimes that will work for you and other times, it might take you off course.

People will nitpick at it, because they would have done it different.  Apparently UNI is a very windy campus and one of the bits referenced that inside joke.  A commenter pointed out that they should have shot it in a different location which is the windiest of the windy spots.

One of the truths that has become apparent via social networks is that everyone has an opinion.  And now, they have multiple ways of sharing it. Some will applaud your efforts, others will take the opportunity to critique.  You can’t put yourself out there if you aren’t ready to accept both.

The lessons learned by the UNI students is a very valid one for all of us that create content and toss it out into the social wind — hoping it will grab an updraft.

There’s the trade off.  If your efforts goes big (their UNI video has over 5,600 views as of this posting) it will also go places you never imagined or intended it would go.  Is that bad?  No, of course not.  The goal is exposure.  

But you need to be ready for the tangents, the crazies and unintended consequences because those are part of the package too. If your brand is strong and consistent, most people will dismiss the fringe comments and see what you were trying to say.

The fear that comes with the potential loss of control is why so many brands do social media badly or not at all.  You have to be willing to let go and trust your audience.

Hmm, there’s an interesting twist.  We want them to trust us with their money but are we ready to trust them with our message?

(Hat tip to my daughter and her fellow students for their creativity and willingness to see what happens.  A special nod to freshman Linh Ta (Electronic media major) for a great job shooting and editing the video. Want to read her thoughts on studying journalism in today’s world? Check out her blog.)

Photo courtesy of www.BigStockPhoto.com

 

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Are you willing to double your profits?

by Drew McLellan

June 16th, 2011 · Books, Business owner/leader stuff, Growing & Learning

97379129
…do you want to double your profits?

Seems like a silly question, doesn’t it?  Who wouldn’t want to double profits?

Wanting to and being willing to do what it takes are two very different things.  But I’ve found a playbook that might give you an edge.

Double your revenue and profit in 3 years or less.  That’s a bold promise and one most authors wouldn’t dare make.  But Cameron Herold doesn’t appear to be just any author.  Cameron earned his chops running high-growth businesses such as 1-800-GOT-JUNK? where in his six years as COO, the company roughly doubled in size every year, growing from $2MM to over $106MM in sales.

What I appreciate about Herold book’s Double Double (click here to buy*) is that it’s practical “how to” stuff as opposed to a lot of theoretical discussion.  Lots of good examples and very tangible tools.  But all of that said….this isn’t revolutionary information.  I doubt you are going to read anything that makes you slap yourself on the head and say, “I’d never have thought of that.”

So why read the book, you might ask.  Well, if you’ve already doubled the size your revenue in the past 3 years and are on track to do it again — then you probably shouldn’t waste your time.  But if you’re like 99% of business owners/leaders — you may be familiar with many of the concepts but you aren’t making it happen.

So read the book.  Take notes.  And notice the focus.

I think most business leaders know what they need to do to make their business successful.  But then one of three things happens:

  • They get distracted
  • It gets too difficult (they don’t want to do something they need to do)
  • They get worn out and don’t have the energy

The other danger is that most business leaders try to do this in a vacuum.  They don’t involve their team.  They don’t create a vision that’s so clear anyone in the company could draw it and they don’t protect/chase that vision like a middle linebacker at the Super Bowl.  While Herold’s book can’t toughen you up to do the hard work — he has written a playbook you can follow.

Part One: This is what I would call the prep section.  This is about creating your map.  You can get somewhere without one, but why go to all that extra work?  Measure twice, cut one!  This isn’t just about vision, it’s about how to go from vision to action plan and how to create a culture where everyone is pulling in the same direction.

Part Two: This section is the nitty gritty of how to execute on the plan.  It covers just what you’d expect it to — right people on the bus, marketing, tracking/measuring progress, etc.

Part Three: This section talks about having the heart of a leader.   Herold talks about juggling all you have to do, finding some balance and the heart murmurs that come with running  business.  His chapter about the roller coaster was worth the price of the book alone.  Having owned my own business since 1995 — I have felt everything he described and then some.

This book is a call to action so read it with a notepad by your side.  I’d also recommend that you read it with your management team and then discuss your ideas together.  It would be a great pre retreat homework assignment and then you could really dig into the planning.

Bottom line — if you want your business to be stronger, more profitable and more fun — this is an excellent playbook.  But…reading the book won’t be enough so don’t bother buying it if you aren’t also willing to do the hard work.

 

*Yup, an affiliate link.  The author sent me an advanced copy of this book to review.  So did a bunch of other authors.  But this book is worth sharing with you.

 

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Need some one-on-one direction?

April 19th, 2011 · Business owner/leader stuff, Growing & Learning, Marketing · 5 Comments

An Eight Week Jumpstart To Exploding Your Business Note: In almost five years of blogging, I’ve never done anything like this before.  And I probably won’t do it again for quite awhile after today.  But I keep getting requests and thought this was the best way to serve the need. ……. Is this your opportunity? [Read more...]

Weekend reading – two great social media ebooks

April 9th, 2011 · Growing & Learning · 6 Comments

Grab a free ebook and get a little smarter! It’s about 70 degrees here in Iowa today, the birds are chirping and everyone is working hard to come up with an excuse to be outside.  Don’t worry — I’ve got you covered! Check out these absolutely free resources — some excellent weekend reading.  Get smarter [Read more...]

Did you miss these? (week of 9/20)

September 27th, 2010 · Collaborations, Community, Growing & Learning · 6 Comments

I get so much smarter just by reading what others have to share.  But I always worry that I missed something big. You too? Just in case you missed any of these…I wanted to serve up some of my favorites:   Content Marketing: Marketing Profs and Junta42 partnered up to research some content marketing trends, [Read more...]

Social media training specific to the tourism industry

September 12th, 2010 · Growing & Learning, Social Media · 2 Comments

Whether you work at a Chamber, CVB, local attraction, hotel or an agency who does tourism and hospitality work — your world has changed.  Any marketing effort that does not include some elements of social media is missing out. But you're smart enough to know that you just don't slap a Twitter account or Facebook [Read more...]

Want to lock arms with Chris Brogan or Ann Handley?

March 30th, 2010 · Business owner/leader stuff, Collaborations, Community, Growing & Learning · 2 Comments

Now, now…I didn't mean it like that.  I mean in the "hang out and talk marketing, social media and connections" sort of way.  Chris and Ann (along with a host of others) are both playing a role in this Spring's hottest conferences…and I want to make sure you know all about them. Why would you [Read more...]

I need you to ask me a question or two

January 5th, 2010 · Growing & Learning · 18 Comments

I really want to know what you want to know. In other words, I need your help.  I'd like to know what sort of marketing topics and questions you want to see tackled on this blog.  What marketing questions do you have burning in your belly? So I have created a very simple and very [Read more...]

Want to know what your customers think? Ask them.

August 10th, 2009 · Customers/Clients, Growing & Learning · 12 Comments

If we're honest, we'd admit that we make assumptions about our customers every day.  First we wonder something.  "I wonder why Tuesdays are so slow," or "we sure seem to get a lot of calls at 4:30 trying to schedule service," or in my case…when someone unsubscribes from the blog, "I wonder why they're leaving." [Read more...]

Want to get better?

April 23rd, 2009 · Growing & Learning · 6 Comments

I'm a firm believer in these three things. No matter how good we are, we can always get better Learning is not optional or age restricted One of the best ways to learn is by interacting/sharing with your peers Which is why I am thrilled to tell you about three amazing learning opportunities that will [Read more...]