Archive for the 'Blog' Category



Touchpoints, interactions, whatever it's all about connecting and relating

People need to relate to be exposed to a brand a few times before they feel comfortable with it.

Most research seems to put that number at 7.

(Side note: the average sales person gives up after 4 interactions, when the average successful transaction takes 7 interactions.)

That is 7 touchpoints or interactions… (or in short connecting ideas with people).

Did you sign up to Facebook the first time you heard of it? Nope.  You probably heard of it in passing, someone said you should sign up and then eventually you had no choice.

Sales people can get quite technical with this, trying to find shortcuts, to get to the magic number faster.  However it’s not as simple as that.  Once you get that methodical with it you will lose the value.

It’s not the touchpoints which win, it’s that each and everytime you’re building a rapport with your customer.  Making real connections and relating to them.

Never ever shortchange the process…

April 29th, 2010

Once you've done it once it gets easier to repeat.

Infinitely easier.

You know the road, the steps, the ability to repeat.

However once you’ve repeated it a few times the value diminishes.

The same goes for Marketing Campaigns.

Fitness (doing the same course repeatedly has diminishing returns).

Business ideas….

But what if doing the same thing did the opposite – kept increasing? Like networking? Writing a blog? A framework that allows for opportunity of new ideas… rather than the exploitation of a singular idea.

April 28th, 2010

No matter what, don't do nothing.

Seth talks about the paralysis of unlimited opportunity.

He couldn’t be more right.

It’s easy to get sucked into the buzz of opportunity.  There is so so much opportunity.  The horizons are unlimited.

However that can be just as paralysing.

Which way do I go when I can go anywhere?

If it is [paralysing].  As Seth says, create artificial limits and most importantly don’t do nothing.

Doing nothing is the complete opposite buzz kill.  The more you do, the more opportunities you create.

(Note: See previous post Success formula for next decade. The fastest learner (and applicator) wins.)

PS
Marketers should learn from this…

PPS
So should entrepreneurs…

PPS
Actually just everyone should.  But those groups in particular!

April 27th, 2010

Success formula for next decade. The fastest learner (and applicator) wins.

Ok I cheated, it’s always been a winning formula.

Get in early, learn like heck, apply continuously, revise, relearn, reapply. That’s a winning strategy.

April 27th, 2010

What tastes like Strawberry?

This is the most worrying terrifying question someone can ask.

Instead of what’s the best dam strawberry we can get?

(Inspired by a strawberry cream cheese croissant I had at Pearl Harbour which had no dairy products or strawberry in it!)

April 25th, 2010

It's amazing what happens when you give people a place to connect

It really is.

I’ve been quite quiet about what Young & Shand has been doing.  And that’s because I’ve been flat tack!

One project we’ve done is with the SPCA Petfood.  Helping them engage online.

What we noticed right away is people posting pictures of their cats and dogs on the page.

Sharing their own stories.

We didn’t even ask them to! On their own initiative, they wanted to share and had found an outlet.

That above all is the most rewarding part.

(NB: If you’d like to read more about it, including a pdf, jump over here to the Young & Shand blog.)

April 19th, 2010

The ideas manifesto. What makes a good idea? #1

What makes a good idea?

Simple.  It’s not complex.  It’s easy to build and execute.  If I was to make it out of lego it would probably only involve two or three parts.  When it’s lego technics… probably too far.

It’s been done before.  Maybe not in the same context.  But the same framework.  Calcium enriched Milk.  Calcium enriched Yoghurt.  Framework taking an increasingly perceived commodity and providing a value add.  What is that value add? Whatever the consumer will pay.

It won last time.  Or you know why it failed last time.

Someones already doing it, and you can do a million times better at a bigger margin.

Your idea is expensive. Expensive in time, money, commitment or attention.

You haven’t coated a simple idea with three or four layers of complexity (like an onion).  When you bite into it, it’s sour, take the layers away expose the core idea.  If it’s too weak it’s not good enough.

Like the onion example, compromise isn’t your friend.  The more compromise the more boring and average it is.  Take out the added widget, stick to the core idea without compromise.

Make sure someones already buying it.  Whether it’s a replacement technology OR they’re demonstrating behaviour which proves the pain.  Unless you have a global platform to launch on like Steve Jobs, it’s dam hard to create totally new behaviour.

Profit from day one or very very early on.  Sales speak louder than any pitch, don’t forget the dollars.

April 18th, 2010

You don't know what you don't know. So listen to this podcast. It's a favourite.

Radiolab, their tagline is “on a curiousity bender”.

Just read this from the about page “Radiolab believes your ears are a portal to another world. Where sound illuminates ideas, and the boundaries blur between science, philosophy, and human experience. Big questions are investigated, tinkered with, and encouraged to grow. Bring your curiosity, and we’ll feed it with possibility.”

You don’t know what you don’t know and Radiolab will really drive that home if you listen.

April 15th, 2010

A movement you want to be part of, lego and gaps.

Look here. Discovered via NewZealandDesignBlog.

Gaps, lego, movement.

Once you see it you understand.

Then you can do it yourself.

By doing it, the result tells more people.

Then you have a snowball.

Suddenly all gaps have lego.

April 14th, 2010

Joy from random strangers when you least expect it

Something unexpected.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTwJetox_tU

April 13th, 2010

Google = Him. Facebook = Her.

Just a thought.

In my tests, broadly speaking, in fact generalising far too much this seems to be true.

Google = Seeking.

Facebook = Connecting.

Again, just a thought.  What do you think?

(Background: Male Social Media Fatigue, Results from our SPCA Campaign)

April 12th, 2010

Opportunities are a vacuum for ideas, you just need to connect the two

Just to revisit let’s look at Will Smith’s two things to be successful:

Running & Reading.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEMEBBwO6J8

They do go hand in hand. Reading gives you knew ideas and running gives you an opportunity to digest them.

So why is it one person reads books takes away tremendous value and nada for others.

The reason I ask is I know plenty of intelligent people who read ‘the books’ yet they don’t appear to be that much improved by it.

The reason is opportunity, they don’t have the opportunity or the ability to make an opportunity to execute the ideas they’ve gleamed.

No opportunity = no risk = no success = no learning.

So why would we expect them to get the most out of it?

April 11th, 2010

When understanding is important, conversations win!

An elevator pitch helps investors. But what about your customers?

A quick technical paragraph might sum it up.

But do I understand it? When you look at a group of people conversations are going to ensure understanding. Not a one size fits all solution.

The “I have a dream” foundation says exactly that. By treating everyone as individuals their individual understanding and increase dramatically.

April 8th, 2010

Making opportunities and running in thunderstorms

You have to know opportunity when it knocks, what it looks like (it looks like a challenge). Often it’s fun that looks like a challenge or a challenge that looks like fun.

You have to be prepared for it, opportunity is like going for a run between breaks in a thunderstorm, you watch for the opportunity, you know what it looks like but you have your running gear on.

You have to seize it, quick. Again YOU. That’s ‘your opportunity uncovered’ so attack.

Simple. Not hard.

How do you get better at making and seizing opportunities? Plan for hundreds of opportunities.

List all the stuff you want to do (it’s no co-incidence that Bill Gates plans a decade ahead and is able to seize the opportunities that allow him to complete them). And prepare for them.

The more you seize the more you learn to ignore that nagging voice inside which stops you, slows you down and really is the reason you can’t sleep at night.

Doing stuff can be as frictionless or as tough as you want it. You just need to refine that ability to push through and do what needs to get done.

In short you make opportunities through the three p’s: Planning, Preparing and Pouncing.

.

Photo Credit: Jijis008


April 8th, 2010

Reducing Hotels to a commodity

You know what the problem of Hotel comparison websites are? (or any price comparison website).

They reduce Hotels to a commodity.

When cheap you focus on rooms as a commodity.

When expensive still focus on room but the real value is in the experience.

Price comparisons don’t communicate that.

What’s the price of a relaxed holiday where everyone smiles at you? Or provides free wifi so you can find the best activities online? Or the fact the room is dead quiet so you can rest?

That’s what we forget when we get stuck in price mode.

April 6th, 2010

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