I spend the majority of my time with two types of people: one, those active on the social web, and two, my clients who are working with me to learn how to integrate the social web into their marketing.

Speaking of the former, here are some of the ways I spend my time attempting to engage with people and (hopefully) share some value:

1. Hosting a radio show.

2. Blogging. In a lot of places.

3. Experimenting with a lot of video.

4. Hanging out with friends on Twitter.

5. Spending time reading and reviewing content on my RSS feed. [I don't read newspapers, or magazines, or watch much TV. I spend that time here. Learning.]

Seems pretty normal to me. But every now and then I step back and get smacked upside the head when I realize that a MAJORITY of the people on the planet don’t spend their time this way. They do their “normal” things. But many look at me as if I was from another world…

Let’s use LinkedIn for example. I recently was part of a training program teaching sales people about incorporating the social web into their marketing. In that session? Just two people – out of 25 – had a LinkedIn account. And more recently, I spent the day with the top sales leaders of a large corporation. Afterwards, a quick review of those same sales leaders on LinkedIn showed that, while they had an account on LinkedIn, most had 50 or fewer connections, and did not appear to be active.

It was a “palm smack on the forehead” moment for me, realizing that most people are not engaging these tools in a way I am accustomed to using them, or my close friends in the Twitter echo-chamber are using them.

And that’s why I need to remind myself each day that there is a whole world outside of my tight circle of Twitter comrades. So here are the lessons I am learning for myself – and concepts you need to think about – about how to interact with both our customers and prospects:

1. You can’t force the social web on people. If you do, they will resist and take NO action.

2. You can’t explain the social web once, and expect them to suddenly have their own “palm smack on the forehead” moment and get it. It will require repetition on your part, and their own willingness to explore.

3. Yeah, the world is moving in this direction, but not by tomorrow…

4. We have to change tact, and focus on teaching and educating people. If we are “telling” and “broadcasting” – they will resist, or at least not learn.

5. I have to demonstrate these things by example. Show what works, and what doesn’t.

6. I have to have patience with people. They will come around. Or they just won’t (and that’s ok too). Some people still use phones with cords…

7. Some people need permission from superiors. And we need to understand that will likely gum up the works. But just remember that not everyone will see this as clearly as you might…

8. There are people who profess to be experts, who proclaim to help people build community, that don’t actually fully understand and/or embrace the social web themselves… It is ok to teach and help them too… It is also important to remember that people you are interacting with may have been “taught” by one of these “experts” – so help them too…

I now understand that most people view me as an oddball. They can’t comprehend that I spend all this time writing on blogs, shooting (and sharing) all this video, and engaging with folks on Twitter. It is just not in their nature or DNA, or more likely their current level of understanding.

What they need to understand is that I believe this to be the future of marketing and how people will connect. And while I believe this is the future, I also know that you can impact your marketplace TODAY – by engaging this way.

You may feel the grass is greener on your side of the alien landscape. But just remember – not everyone is there. Bring them along for the ride, slowly, carefully, patiently…teaching and helping as you go!

What do you think?

[cartoon by @gapingvoid - this cartoon, btw, is now the wallpaper on my MacBook - to remind me that I have to educate and teach people to understand this alien landscape that I live on...]

It happened again…

I was speaking with someone about starting a blog, and I got the “I just don’t know what the hell I would write about” excuse again…

After getting over my desire to stab my eyes with pencils, I collected myself, and started asking a few simple questions:

“Could you write about some cool customer stories about how you helped them?”
“Yes,” he answered.

“If you devoted 30 minutes, could you write down at least 25 ‘helpful tips’ related to your expertise to share with your market? You know, so you could become known as a go-to guy?”
“Well, duh, yeah,” he said, mockingly.

“Are there experts in your field that have done some great writing in your space…that you could feature, spotlight, and add commentary?”
“Oh, there is a lot of great content out there,” he replied.

“Do you have any customers, partners, friends, or prospects that could generate some cool guest posts?”
“Tons,” he said.

“What about doing some fun ‘Man on the Street’ interviews, where you ask random people some questions about your service offering, or about the problems you can help them solve?”
“Oh, that’s a way cool idea,” he said, excitedly!

I stopped there.

“Well my friend, see? There are tons of ways to generate content for your blog! We just came up with dozens and dozens of ideas,” I said.

He furrowed his brow, reflected for a moment, and said “Well, I sure don’t want to give away any of my expertise, and I sure as hell don’t want to showcase any potential competition. I have to write about me, and why they should hire me.”

To which, I replied, “no wonder you can’t think of anything. You’re right. You shouldn’t blog.”

I then went to go find some pencils…

[cartoon by @gapingvoid]

A High Velocity client...

We bought the new camera Thursday morning. Within 45 seconds of getting back to the office, the camera was in service. It really is that simple. No fuss, no reading directions (because there really aren’t any and I wouldn’t read them anyway), and no time consuming set-up process.

There are dozens and dozens of good video cameras on the market. I can’t recommend others, just because I am not familiar with any. We just use the Flip Cam. Because it is simple to use and not too expensive ($180). Oh, and it is high definition and superior quality video. [you can purchase below - affiliate link]

In fact, we believe so strongly in the Flip Cam that we include it in our package to clients. Whether they want one or not, they are getting one!

Still don’t see how this is meaningful to your daily marketing lives? Well, here are a few ideas. In fact, I’d recommend that you keep your camera on you, at all times. You never know when an opportunity will present itself.

Here are 10 things you can do with your Flip Cam TODAY, that can have a positive impact on your ability to go-to-market:

1. Use it to provide an additional way to generate content to your blog.

2. You can quickly record a customer testimonial to use on your website.

3. Do “Man on the Street interviews.” Do random interviews with people, and record their take on the state of your marketplace.

4. Film product/service reviews that you can place on your YouTube channel and/or product page on your website.

5. You can film an internal meeting. Not for public distribution, but to capture and record key conversations, or to perhaps use as training material for employees.

6. When a project goes very well, record a round table conversation of the team responsible. Record what worked, why it worked, and how you can improve the next time.

7. When a project goes bad, record a round table conversation of the team responsible. Record what happened, debate and discuss why it happened, and discuss ways to improve the next time.

8. Interview employees, and feature them on your “About Us” section. Don’t just video them reading their bio. Get to the core of why they are passionate about what they do…help prospects see the value of choosing your business!

9. Do random. You might be out in the world, and you just might stumble upon a situation, the kind of situation you and your business can fix. Why not record it, and tell a story about how you would solve the problem? Help prospects see how you tackle problems.

10. This doesn’t necessarily have to be for public distribution, but interview a customer when a job is complete, and do a debrief. Learn what you did right, learn what you can improve on, learn what needs to go.

These are just a few ideas. Please share other ideas in the comments below. As you see, the opportunities are limitless. Open your eyes…you will never run out of opportunities to creatively market your business with a video camera!

Cobb Symphony Orchestra

Are You Proud Of Your Business?

Would You Like To Get Noticed?

Looking For An Easy Way To Jumpstart A Conversation?

Wear Your Work On Your Sleeve — Literally and Figuratively!

You have been fortunate to be a guest on the High Velocity Radio Show. Your life is about to change. Oprah will likely be calling soon. The world tour to promote your book will start soon…

Well, maybe not, but because you took the time to appear on the show, you now have some tools to help promote you and what you do. Don’t let them slip away. So we present a short series on this blog about how our guests can maximize this experience.

Part 3 – Share the High Velocity Blog posting of your radio show appearance!

OK, as a High Velocity Radio Show guest, we will publish a personalized post for you on our blog that will include a brief write-up about you, present your head shot and your book cover (if you have one), include the post-show video interview, and most importantly, two audio links: a brief excerpt from your appearance, and the complete interview.

Here is a RECENT EXAMPLE…

LISTEN. CAREFULLY: if you do nothing else, use this blog post. It was written for you. It is meant for one purpose – to help you promote you, your book, and your business.

Here are a few things you can do with this personalized blog post:

1. Hit the RT button and share with your Twitter network.
2. Share this post on your Facebook page.
3. Share this post on your LinkedIn profile.
4. Write a blog post on your own blog about your appearance, and reference our post.
5. If you distribute an e-newsletter, include a link to this post.
6. Share this post on Buzz.
7. Share the post on your RSS reader.
8. Share the post on bookmarking tools like Delicious, Digg, Alltop, etc…

Remember, the key here is the third party validation. Seeing a post by SOMEONE OTHER THAN YOU will give your show appearance some credibility. Take advantage of that.

And the more the post is shared around the internet, the more likely it will be found on Google, which will result in more people learning about you and what you bring to the market.

All you had to do was invest one hour in the studio with us. Let’s work together to get your post spread around the internet, so that your appearance continues to work for you long after you left the High Velocity studios!

Good luck, and we’ll see you in the fast lane…

CLICK HERE to sign-up and receive the latest High Velocity Radio podcasts!

[photo by haydnseek on flickr]

LESSONS LEARNED WHILE AT THE POST OFFICE
Guest Post by Theo Gilbert-Jamison, author of The Six Principles of Service Excellence

This week I happened to be in the post office on two separate occasions. Both times I used the post office because their price for shipping the packages I needed to mail was most economical.

When I entered, the post office was clean, well-lit, well-organized, and the location was convenient to my office. However, in spite of the money I saved in shipping costs, the countless minutes I lost waiting in line to be served made the overall experience a total let down. Just another example of the infamous saying “cheap always costs more.”

During my wait in line, what I observed in the actions and behaviors of the postal workers was consistently poor.
• No one ever smiled at a customer
• No one greeted customers with a warm and friendly “good morning or afternoon”
• At the end of each transaction, no customer was ever “thanked” for doing business with them
• As a matter of fact, we were treated like transactions, instead of human beings
• Customers appeared to be an interruption of their work
• And most disheartening is that there was no “sense of urgency” or value of the customer’s time

It is no wonder fewer and fewer customers each year use the U.S. Postal Service. What the post office has to offer its customers in convenience, cost-savings, and diversity of products and services, is often lost in the lackluster customer experience. I am not saying that every time I visit the post office it should be a celebration, but it should be a memorable and engaging experience that keeps me coming back because of the delightful people that work there.

So what are the lessons learned? Well for one, if you don’t treat your customers as if they were your most valuable assets – they will stop patronizing your facility and services. A second lesson learned is that the post office is a great place to benchmark if you specialize in getting rid of customers.

Bottom-line, the most important lesson learned is that if you want to ensure customers patronize your products and services for a lifetime then make sure your employees: (1) are warm and friendly; (2) value their customers; (3) have a sense of urgency in serving customers and; (4) are competent and passionate about their work.

Based on my own personal calculations, I suspect that the lifetime value of a post office customer has to be around $10,000 (at a minimum). Seriously, what type of service do you suspect we would receive if every time a customer walked into the post office they were perceived and treated as a valuable, lifetime customer?

Theo Gilbert-Jamison is CEO of Performance Solutions by Design; a global performance consulting firm that caters to luxury and premium brands with an emphasis on transforming organizational culture. She is also the author of two books, The Six Principles of Service Excellence, and The Leadership Book of Numbers (Vol. I). As the creative force behind the innovative concepts and methodologies utilized by Performance Solutions by Design, Theo is a highly sought after speaker and consultant to CEOs and senior executives in high profile organizations. For more information visit her website www.psbydesign.com or you can reach her by email tjamison@psbydesign.com

You have been fortunate to be a guest on the High Velocity Radio Show. Your life is about to change. Oprah will likely be calling soon. The world tour to promote your book will start soon…

Well, maybe not, but because you took the time to appear on the show, you now have some tools to help promote you and what you do. Don’t let them slip away. So we present a short series on this blog about how our guests can maximize this experience.

Part 2 – Posting the post-show video on sites like YouTube and Tubemogul!

We talked last week about how you should use the post-show video interview filmed following your guest appearance on the show, and suggested a few ways you could get some mileage from this.

Today, I just want to talk about posting the video on websites such as YouTube.

As a businessperson, and CERTAINLY as an author, you should have an account on YouTube. Here, you should be posting interviews about your book or service offering, customer testimonials, and other commentary extending the conversation about what you are offering.

In this day and age where high definition, easy-to-use, point-and-click video cameras are less than $200, this is a NO. BRAINER.

But it is one thing to have a camera. It is another to film some video. It is yet another thing to actually leverage the footage you get on the high powered internet.

I have no doubt you read the same thing I did when we learned that YouTube is the second most popular search engine following Google. People look to find information on YouTube. You had better be present there.

You can also use a service like Tubemogul, which is a resource that allows you to post your videos to ALL MAJOR online video archive sites. This too, is a no brainer.

So, the point here is this. We got a cool video of you following the show. Here, we learn a little about you, see that you are human and have something valuable to offer, and learn why you are passionate about what you do. Get this footage out into the world.

Just a little thing that can have a BIG impact on telling the world a little bit about you, your book, and your business!

Good luck, and we’ll see you in the fast lane…

[photo by David Jones on flickr]

Peter Bowerman: The Well-Fed Writer

Brief Excerpt (4:34)

Full Interview (26:07)

Peter Bowerman is the author of The Well-Fed Writer (2000), TWFW: Back For Seconds (2005), The Well-Fed Self-Publisher (2007) and the 2009 edition of The Well-Fed Writer – which combined and heavily updated the content of BOTH original WFW titles. The WFW books are how-to “standards” in the lucrative field of commercial freelancing – writing for businesses, large and small, and for hourly rates of $50-125+.

** For a free report entitled, “Why Commercial Writing?” Click Here.

In 1993, after a 15-year career in sales and marketing, Bowerman turned his sights to freelance commercial writing. With no industry experience, no previous paid writing experience and no writing background, he built a commercial freelancing business in Atlanta, Georgia from fantasy to full-time in less than four months.

His corporate client list has included The Coca-Cola Company, MCI, BellSouth, IBM, UPS, Holiday Inn, Cingular Wireless, DuPont, American Express, Mercedes-Benz, The Discovery Channel, Junior Achievement, Georgia-Pacific, The Cartoon Network, the CDC, The American Heart Association and many others.

He has published over 250 articles and editorials, leads seminars on writing and is a professional coach on both commercial freelancing business start-up and self-publishing.

The Roller Coaster Ride Called Entrepreneurship
Guest Post By Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk, BBR Marketing

I’m relatively new to this whole “entrepreneur” thing. I started my company, BBR Marketing, on August 31, 2009, after a really miserable summer where I felt the need to take control of my life. I’d always wanted to start my own company and decided now as the time.

I have 20 years of business experience, so I didn’t come into this blind. Before I hung out my shingle, I talked to many talented and experienced people, and got input on everything from the name of my company to the niche I should serve to even whether this was a good idea or not.

Nearly all of them said that now was the perfect time to start my own company. When the market is down, companies and firms are looking for ways to reduce their costs, yet still grow their bottom line with reduced revenues. Marketing in down times is even more important, and many studies show that the firms that continue to market their services and people are far ahead of the curve once the economy improves.

So, I jumped in with both feet. My advisors had told me to watch out for certain things as I stared my company, but no one warned me of the extreme ups and downs I’ve experienced in the last six months. Most days are great. I love meeting new people and getting to know more about them and the companies for which they work. I don’t even hate the day-to-day tasks of scheduling and managing my books. I especially enjoy the work I do for my clients and hearing their appreciation for my skills and services.

But the business development part of it can be a real ride. On days when I have a great prospect lunch and get to meet with a truly interesting person, all is great. I can’t begin to explain the excitement that comes with walking away from these meetings with some fantastic prospective, or real, work. The rush I feel when I can share some simple tips that will help a firm in small or large ways is exhilarating. When I leave a meeting with a stack of potential projects, it’s like Christmas morning.

However, that’s not the whole story. There are days when I wonder why I chose this path too. Will I ever be able to replace my previous salary with my new company? Why won’t the person who was so excited to talk to me last week respond to my emails? How will I continue to populate my pipeline with viable prospects? I can easily create negative scenarios in my head, many of which lead to doom and poverty.

I know I’m not alone in this. And for those of you out there on the same roller coaster ride, take heart. On those days where the path seems a bit foreboding, don’t forget why you did this in the first place. Get out of your rut by calling a fellow-entrepreneur friend and go to lunch to brainstorm ideas to grow both of your businesses. Or simply go for a walk around the block to clear your head and get the blood pumping.  Write a blog post about it with some ideas for how to get the coaster heading back up the hill. Oh wait, I just did that.

I’d love to hear what you think and hear your tips for dealing with the daily roller coaster that is entrepreneurship. Please post your thoughts and you just may help someone.

Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk has 20 years of marketing experience working with a diverse range of industries and people. In 2009, she created her own firm, BBR Marketing, which provides marketing advice and services for professional services firms. Through her creative thinking and distinctive approach, she brings unique ideas to her clients that differentiate them from their competition and give them the tools needed to reach their audiences. She can be reached at bonnie@bbrmarketing.com.

Her clients describe her as creative and professional, talented and helpful, friendly and approachable. A graduate of the FIDER accredited University of Georgia, with a BFA in Interior Design, Michelle has worked in various aspects of the Interior Design field. In addition to hotel and restaurant design, decorating model homes, and working with an architect designing new estate homes, Michelle has worked with homebuilders, helping new homeowners through the design process, including fixture, finish , and color selection. Her real love, however, is working with clients to make their home inviting, comfortable and beautiful, and has done this for several years in various formats. It is with great pleasure Michelle returns to independent interior design where she can offer clients her design expertise, a wide and proven set of associates to lend their talents, as well as a wide variety of furnishings and accessories to fit most all tastes and budgets. The goal is to make your home a place you love spending time in, and sharing with your family and friends.

A proud and devoted Hokie fan, Michelle is also a graduate of Virginia Tech and loves watching her team compete in most any arena. College football is a passion. Her life experiences include teaching high school science in Central Virginia. With a M.Ed. from Virginia Commonwealth University, her teaching continues as she educates her clients on the design rationale she uses to transform their rooms. Her analytical side makes her very detail oriented and well organized to see your projects through. Michelle is a member of the Atlanta Designers’ Network and an Allied Member of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID).

Michelle is the wife of Bill E, a construction executive, and is the mother of 2 wonderful children: Melanie, also a graduate of Virginia Tech and HR manager for USG in Stockton, California, and Lee, a business major at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

[youtube=u-JS7CjRIN4,4:3,LEFT,LINK, Post Show Interview 2/15/10]