Toggl

A useful time-tracking application, Toggle has both a browser version and a mobile app. An account can be used to track time accrued for internal projects, for example if personnel time is distributed across cost centers. It can also be used by contractors and freelancers to allocate time spent on client projects. The data can feed into a Freshbooks account, too, saving time transferring entries while also mitigating entry errors. There’s also a timer feature, so if you’d like to track time spent completing a task, then report that time as a unit in Toggl, you can do that too.

Get It Done

There are a ton of to-do list type task manager applications on the market, and several good freemium project management programs, too. Get It Done is an app that dovetails with the principles from the book Get Things Done by David Allen and may be used independently (I haven’t read the book). The system is set up f.or a user to create list items tagged in accordance with categories you establish (a topic, a priority level, area of responsibility, etc.). Individual tasks can be associated with higher-level projects, with each task given a due date. Tasks can be delegated or assigned to other team members as well. Graphs are a way to visualize progress to goal, or individual tasks as part of a whole body of work.

Buffer

With my tendency to use my home feed tweet stream  as one way to identify links to articles and posts I may like, I end up with a lot of tabs open in my browser (see below). As I read (or scan) material, I can quickly and easily share my favorites to followers of my Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn profiles using the Buffer browser extension. Buffer pushes the links out at optimized times to maximize exposure to my audiences. In addition to taking part in 2-way online conversations on these platforms (responding, striking up a spontaneous chat, etc.), I can consistently distribute useful material to others at times convenient tome.

Google Chrome To Phone

I’ll admit it. I’m a habitual browser tabber. At any one time, I could have between 40-60 tabs open in one window of Chrome, and a handful of tabs open in a second (um, and probably Safari open too. You know, for client accounts I’m logged into). And while I’m always on the run to hockey practice or baseball practice or soccer practice or the orthodontist, I have to remain productive. I don’t have an iPad, so I use my mobile to stay on top of the sites I have open on my computer in the office. Sometimes it’s an article I need to finish digesting, other times it’s a service or a company I want to learn more about. In any case, Chrome To Phone lets me keep browsing on the go so things aren’t on pause while I play chauffer.

Dwolla

The simple, completely usable, and low-cost payment gateway, Dwolla is great for making and receiving payment between clients and contractors. Don’t even think about using PayPal again. The mobile app also allows account holders to locate businesses that accept Dwolla within a local area and make purchase transactions with those merchants. Dwolla is directly connected to your bank account of preference, so there are no worries about running up a balance that racks up interest. The fee to send amounts over $10? A mere quarter (but that can be passed on to the recipient if you prefer).

Dropbox

The Dropbox that you enjoy on your desktop or laptop (and who doesn’t?) is equally as useful from your mobile. Downlod the app, synch your account, and voila! Cloud storage you can access on your mobile. You can double-check the details on a PDF in a folder, share folder access, or export items right from your phone. **Sign up for your free account using my link, and you get 250MB of free file storage!**

MProfs Moble App

Like many, I use Google Reader to subscribe to RSS feeds from the long list of blogs I enjoy reading. In addition to my Reader being a great source of information (I tag everything I want to save using Delicious), I also recommend the MarketingProfs mobile application. It offers mobile access to articles and posts from the great collection of authors that contribute to the marketing education platform. When you find yourself with down time on site between meetings, in a cab, or in the airport, the MProfs app can help you make use of time that might otherwise be lost. (I’m kind of partial to the great folks at MarketingProfs)

Evernote

Evernote’s been around for awhile now, and I’ve read many posts where users sang its praises. I heavily use Delicious to bookmark content I like so conceptually had some trouble adding Evernote to my box of tools – even though I know it’s useful for much more than cataloging web pages. I’m starting to realize new usefulness for the app since migrating from Blackberry to Android OS last fall. Now I can capture and catalog idea snippits or images of random things (funny signs, etc.) that are bite-sized for sharing on Google+.

Skype

If you collaborate with an internal team or base of contractors, Skype can be an immensely helpful way to get work done. Sometimes an email is too much or too formal, or not quick enough. An IM conversation or video call over Skype can help someone else get their facts right or the one detail needed to finish a call, send an important email, or look up a record in a database.

WordPress Mobile App

While I haven’t used it with great frequency, the WordPress app for Android is one way to keep on top of my blogging when I can’t access my computer. I’ve used it several times to write and publish posts to my hockey blog and while I suffer from “fat finger” syndrome, I’m  glad for a way to stay on top of my writing to make good use of the time spent on the road driving to away games. I suspect I’ll get more adept at this as time grows.  Tom Martin spent a year blogging to his web site exclusively using his mobile which included WordPress, camera, and video capabilities.

Today we’re going to look at one by Guy Kawasaki and another by Scott Klososky.

Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions

Gotta say, I’m a Kawasaki fan. I’ve read Reality Check and The Art of the Start, and enjoyed them immensely. I had high hopes for Enchantment and it didn’t let me down. The author systematically built a well-supported thesis for the power of magical moments between brand experiences and those who are enveloped within them. That kind of power evokes disruptive change from status quo transactions.

Put another way, Kawasaki examines the soft, irrational, and emotional reasons why we align ourselves with a product, a cause, or a movement. Moreover, the art of enchantment isn’t so much a marketing strategy as it is a commitment to learn what your audiences are thinking, feeling, and believing. While knowing these things will undoubtedly help  marketers craft winning messages that helps stuff sell, the kind of insight gained through the commitment will lead to better-performing, more relevant, and useful products. Enchanting brands surprise and delight.

In a lot of ways, Kawasaki tells us how to get back to the business of connecting and serving people, without all the high-falutin salesmanship stuff clogging the path to relationships.

I liked this book for its content, its readability, and the injection of real-world examples from big-name brands and little-known organizations. It’s written with humor and clear language. And the quotes? Great punctuation throughout the story.

Enterprise Social Technology

I struggled quite a bit with this book, I’m sorry to say. On the tactical side, it just wasn’t very readable to me. It’s lengthy and dense with long “preachy” paragraphs, two traits that seem incongruous with the image I hold of social media and multi-channel connectivity. There were no visuals to support key ideas or concepts.

The book was crowdsourced, and harnessed thoughts from many different sources to construct individual chapters. I read a reference that many hours were spent editing to ensure consistent tone, voice, and style throughout the book. Unfortunately, I think the heavy editing squashed the unique quality an array of author voices would have brought to the table.

Maybe its a by-product of multiple authors (in that case, perhaps something the editing should have weeded out?), but I also felt message threads were repeated, annoyingly so. Is the book for a newbie or experienced professional? The repetition says “newbie” but I sense the book aspires to be much more lofty than that. In my opinion, other social business books have done a much better job at covering the shifts in culture required when a company commits to forging and maintaining direct relationships with customers.

Lastly, I was troubled by the repeated use of the term “social technology” and “social tech.” It felt contrived and intentional. I just don’t think we need another term to muddy the waters.

But maybe I’m not the right target for this book, or perhaps put off early by a few things that prevented me from receiving the intended messages. If anyone else read and liked this book, I’d love to hear your thoughts to learn what I missed.

Side note to PR reps, publicity folks, and publishing people

Just a thought, but when you send out a book (they’re not cheap!) to a blogger, include some sort of documentation along with it. A simple letter explaining why the author felt it important to write about his or her topic, a bit of background on the research and writing process, etc. Links to multimedia resources – images, infographics, videos, etc. – that help illustrate key points can help the interested blogger learn more about the topic and the author’s passion for writing about it.  When you send a book in a box with nothing else, and no follow up email, I can’t help but feel like the author’s been let down by his/her representation. Why bother if you’re just going to drop the book in my hands and then leave me to my own devices? This is even more remarkable when the book in question is about social media.

Editors note: I was sent these two books by their respective publishing houses free of charge. I did not solicit the books, nor did I commit to providing favorable reviews in exchange for compensation of any sort. I simply got a book, and in exchange made no promise to read, much less write a post about, said book.

How many times (as an employee) did you:

• go along when a difficult boss shut down your well-researched idea to drive new traffic to the company web site?
• bite your tongue when a coworker lobbied hard for “the blue version” of fluffy creative served up by your agency, when you really wanted to challenge them to re-examine the brief so they might actually get to the crux of the problem?
• agree to a change in tactics when you knew the real issue was the choice of strategy?
• let someone’s own bias and values shape whether you pursued what instinct told you was the right direction for the business?

Happens to us all, you might say. There are days we win and days we lose.  Some situations call for thinking about the greater good.

Yes, I understand all that. But.

This type of fear and frustration can cripple an organization as quickly as uncensored tongues and contentious attitudes.

Fear of having our ideas rejected, of being pigeonholed and treated differently. Fear of being singled out as a lone dissenting voice when we ourselves hear no logic.  Frustration at spinning wheels, sapping resources and being ineffectual.

Now, as a business owner, do you want employee ownership and personal accountability? Do you look for partners that perform as an extension of your staff? Or are you content with sycophantic robots?

Fear leads to sameness. Frustration causes contempt. Neither bode well for your brand.

Fear and frustration are a blight on any business relationship, whether internal to an organization or external with partners and suppliers.

Fear constricts free thinking and wondrous exploration like a vise. Fear limits the number of problems that can get solved, and the degree to which we pursue solutions.  Fear discourages intrapreneurship and creativity, the kind of creativity that births innovation. Fear freezes us to operate within a time and space we already know. It limits the flow of nutritious ideas and flux of waste. Fear is an icy gray.

Frustration is a seismic red. Frustration builds isolating walls. Frustration causes us to go into survival lock-down mode, doing with very little thinking.

There’s no room for fear or frustration in your growing business. A dose of  diligence and caution, yes. The right measure of focus, absolutely.

But if you find yourself hearing (saying!) things like “This is what got us to where we are today. It makes sense to keep doing it this way.” Or “I don’t really know much about [branding/customer experience/public relations/community management/whatever] so it’s hard for me to put much energy there. Let’s stick with what will impact revenue today,” you may have a problem.

Heresy isn’t a bad word (see #5). It’s the equivalent of having a mirror put in front of your face and being forced to identify what you see. It may be a little uncomfortable, but only then are you prepared to pursue the good and deal with the not so good.

To achieve change, you as a leader have to be willing to accept intelligent challenges to your thinking and the rational questioning of indoctrined processes. Trust employees with a safe, open culture free from reprisal, where calculated risk and honest failure are accepted as the building blocks of innovation. Empower partners to surface ideas and suggestions in a reciprocally respectful manner. Hire for expertise, accommodate passion, and resist tying anyone’s hands.

Do you have what it takes to be a heretic? To let your employees be heretics?

Another year has gone by, just as we knew it would.  During this time, we’ve each had personal trials along with triumphs.  And we’ve seen the same  forces exert on the world at large.

There are experiences and lessons we want to remember, and events we wish had never happened.  There are even things we’d change if only we could.   I can’t understand the epic floods in Pakistan or why there are children in my kids’ school district who are hungry.  I just know that amidst all the things I don’t know and can’t understand, there are lessons I can’t ignore.  I pledge to do more about that in 2011 as my intentions and actions meld (and they will; how else can I legitimately drum it into my kids?).

As a People we saw tragedy unfold here and there in the world around us; it lived around the corner for awhile.  And yet we were also touched by the miracles large and small bestowed upon us each day.  The pain of calamity and the full heart coexist.  Together they teach us compassion and stretch us to realize the potential that lies within each of us.  Twin desires to escape and achieve have led many to discover their inner strengths and fortitude. May we each learn to appreciate what we’ve been given and care for what we’ve earned.  Those are my wishes for you all in 2011.

In previous years I published posts covering 2009 predictions and 2010 predictions in the circles of marketing and business.  Today I’ll continue the mini-tradition with a list of links to posts and videos prognosticating about what we’ll see happen in those circles during 2011.  Sure, some of this could be found through a simple search.  But you’d have to cut through a lot of chaff first.  I’d like to send a “thank you” to the individuals who put their thoughts down and cared to share with us all.

Have you run across a post you’d like to add?  Please leave a link in the comments.

Culture/Consumerism

Trendwatching:  http://trendwatching.com/briefing/

The Food Channel:  http://vimeo.com/17931123

Pantone:  http://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone/Pantone.aspx?pg=20821

Mobile

iMedia Connection:  http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/28135.asp

Media

Mashable:  http://mashable.com/2010/12/20/news-media-predictions/

Nieman Journalism Lab:  http://www.niemanlab.org/2010/12/maybe-not-much-will-change-at-all-more-2011-journalism-predictions/

Digital Marketing and PR

Spin Sucks:  http://www.spinsucks.com/communication/communication-and-marketing-trends-for-2011/

Bazaar Voice:  http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/2010/11/22/2011-the-end-of-%E2%80%9Csocial%E2%80%9D-marketing/

iMedia Connection:  http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/28160.asp

The Atlantic:  http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/12/clay-shirkys-big-media-prediction-for-2011-syndication-stops/67918/?

Branding Strategy Insider:  http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2010/11/11-branding-and-marketing-trends-for-2011.html?

CMS Wire:  http://www.cmswire.com/cms/enterprise-collaboration/2011-predictions-email-forever-or-rip-and-replace-009593.php

Web Pro News:  http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2010/12/17/why-2011-will-be-a-huge-year-for-smbs-1

Landor:  http://www.landor.com/index.cfm?do=thinking.article&storyid=837&sct=1&s=1&a=1049&bhcp=1

Mashable:  http://mashable.com/2010/12/21/advertising-industry/

Burrelles Luce:  http://www.burrellesluce.com/freshideas/2010/12/2010-trends-and-2011-predictions-for-public-relations-marketing-and-social-media/

Reinventing, by Rishad T.:  http://rishadt.wordpress.com/2010/12/26/four-key-trends-2011/

Hospitality Times:  http://www.ehospitalitytimes.com/?p=8647

MENG:  http://blog.mengonline.com/2010/12/28/top-11-marketing-predictions-for-2011-its-all-about-protecting-and-nurturing-the-brand/ (by Mark Burgess, @mnburgess)

B2B Marketing

Buzz Marketing For Technologyo:  http://pauldunay.com/11-b2b-marketing-predictions-for-2011/

Bliss PR:  http://blog.blisspr.com/2010/12/14/top-10-predictions-for-b2b-marketers-in-2011/

Social Media

iMedia Connection:  http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/27999.asp

Gigaom:  http://gigaom.com/2010/11/08/the-next-wave-of-social-media-nears-critical-mass/

Spin Sucks:  http://www.spinsucks.com/social-media/eight-social-media-trends-for-2011/

Harvard Business Review:  http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/12/six_social_media_trends_for_20_1.html?

Smart Blog:  http://smartblogs.com/socialmedia/2010/12/10/why-2011-will-be-the-year-of-social-media-convergence-and-what-that-means-for-you/

Being Peter Kim:  http://www.beingpeterkim.com/2010/12/social-business-predictions-2011.html

Entrepreneur:  http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/217772

Content Marketing Institute:  http://www.zmags.com/social-media-predictions-2011

Inc.:  http://technology.inc.com/software/articles/201101/leary.html

Sentiment Metrics:  http://www.sentimentmetrics.com/blog/2010/12/21/what%E2%80%99s-hot-for-2011/

Mark W. Schaefer:  http://www.businessesgrow.com/2010/12/28/2011-social-media-forecast-digging-deeper/

Search Marketing

Search Engine Land:  http://searchengineland.com/bing-busts-out-an-early-look-at-most-popular-search-trends-in-2010-57175

Search Engine Watch:  http://searchenginewatch.com/3641639

Search Engine Land:  http://searchengineland.com/ten-search-marketing-hot-spots-to-watch-in-2011-59549

SEOmoz:  http://www.seomoz.org/blog/7-predictions-for-seo-in-2011

Affiliate Marketing Navigator:  http://www.amnavigator.com/blog/2010/12/16/35-affiliate-marketing-predictions-for-2011/

Business and Tech

Entreprenur:  http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/217508

Gartner:  http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1454221

IDC:  http://www.idc.com/research/predictions11/predictions11.jsp;

INC.:  http://www.inc.com/ss/11-big-ideas-watch-2011#10

Business News Daily:  http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/2011-big-ideas-for-small-businesses-0835/

Mashable:  http://mashable.com/2010/12/20/data-predictions/

MITX:  http://blog.mitx.org/Blog/bid/56588/Prognostications-for-2011

Tom Asacker:  http://www.acleareye.com/sandbox_wisdom/2010/12/2001-breakout-breakthrough-or-breakdown.html

Mashable:  http://mashable.com/2010/12/21/small-business-predictions/

What about a little hindsight?

2010 In Review

From Google, on how we searched:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0QXB5pw2qE

From The Mobile Future, on mobile:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mCkbrYKQyI

Fast Company:  http://www.fastcompany.com/1710411/top-10-trend-roundup-2010-itunes-facebook-twitter-spotify-amazon

Interbrand:  http://www.interbrand.com/en/best-global-brands/best-global-brands-2008/best-global-brands-2010.aspx

SEOmoz:  http://www.seomoz.org/blog/top-10-things-we-learned-about-seo-in-2010

Or all this is all just a traffic jam in progress, despite the Google Maps, GPS, and live traffic reports?

Imagine a world where there was no rear view.  A world where Google Analytics, Post Rank Analysis, YouTube Insights, and two dozen other data mining and aggregation software services didn’t exist.  No trending for patterns or granular views at source.  No premise of popularity.  For all you knew, even your mom didn’t subscribe to your blog.  And you definitely didn’t know what time of day your tweets had the best propensity to be RT’d, much less know how many people clicked your junk.

Now, stop to consider that this imaginary report and pivot table-free world was reality (pretty much, at least in this context) as recent as five years ago.

What did the rear view look like back then, in 2005?  Gmail had only been around for a year, the iTunes store for two.  Facebook had decidedly less than the 500 million users it boasts today.  Many were still sticky (stuck?) from the dot-com bubble bust of 2000.  We pretty much lacked heat maps and status updates.  Most web sites were still digital pamphlets coded in tables, and community was somewhere most of us lived.  Literally.  In real life.

Where we worse off?  Somehow disadvantaged?  True, I didn’t have the random photo of a friend’s bumper crop of backyard tomatoes pushed to my wall.  But then I also lacked even the most tenuous of connections with friends sitting on the fringe of my life.  As I grow older and shed more facets from my youth, even those digital connections and the ability to easily send a short message of care give me comfort.

But back to the questions.  Were things worse in 2005 for the digitally oriented marketer?  The answer may depend on the day and the work you need to get done.  Ask me to forgo GA on a day when I need to tally conversions from an email drop, and I’d say No Can Do. But I also look for offline advances perhaps achieved more easily through current technology but deeply rooted in principles of brand development.  The physical manifestation of an emotional connection between a brand and its believers.

I’m eternally grateful for the people I’ve met and the things they’ve helped me learn during these intervening years, made possible by products I can’t even hold in my hand (other products running these products, yes.  But the products themselves, no.  Follow?).  And yet I can’t help but wonder where all this knowledge, sh@! piles of information, data, and perpetual access is going.  Where its taking us. Whether we’re consistently being productive with it (as Toby Bloomberg tweeted during a recent conference).  And what comes next.

To paraphrase Seth Godin, at some point you “…spend your best energy on optimization, not creation…the never-ending cycle becomes a crutch when you should be heading for the unknown and unrealized.”

When do we become so saturated with raw data that we become immobilized? I think it’s entirely possible we’ll have truckloads of data available and still lead with trusty instinct and seasoned intuition when rubber needs to meet the road.  Why?  Why revert backwards as though unenlightened with all these line-graphed indications of forward movement?

Because the tools won’t answer any more truly important questions.  Moreover, most of us won’t know what to make of data we have access to, to speak nothing of the wealth potentially available around the corner.  The numerically inclined that long to dive into the data and emerge with colorful charts will have performed impressive tasks, for certain.  But I question the value of that output if generated within companies that get stymied by all the potential implications, alternative routes, and possible A/B tests.  Companies that need lots of weigh-in and internal mulling.

Those companies may bring the most scientifically advanced, vetted product to market, but it will come at the price of being 24 months behind the competition.  When the product is already associated – and likely entrenched – with the more nimble brand.

Does your company use its rear view to produce variations of rear views?  How has that worked out for you?

Allison Cash

This is a guest post written by Allison Cash, Vice President of Marketing for Tenaya, LLC., makers of MADE organic drinks.  With names like Cranberry Limeade and Pomegranate Lemonade, these yummy beverages are crafted from certified organic juice, teas, and other natural ingredients.

How do you advertise authenticity?  A tale of a small, small drink company in a very big beverage world.

Seems like an oxymoron, right?  To advertise authenticity sounds off base, off-color and at least partially impossible.  But our little organic drink company is doing just that – or trying.

In a lot of ways our story starts very similar to many other entrepreneurial stories.  A guy, an idea, a little bit of money and a whole lot of energy.  You mix these ingredients up and get a product, a brand, and our little company.  MADE, organic refreshment from green tea and fruit juice blended together in perfect harmony. That’s our drink.

We like to think of ourselves as the little company that can, the small train puffing along and never stopping.  Betting on showing up and betting on people giving a damn.  So far, so good. There have been enough fans cheering along the tracks to keep us going.

But the challenge stares us in the face every day.  I laughed the other day at the irony of it all as I sat in my car and looked in my rearview mirror and saw a giant, red truck blocking me into my spot.  The truck was unloading and servicing a nearby convenience store.  This truck was full of beverages, chock full. I laughed because I am used to being in that very spot as a brand.  Trapped in a little corner by the big guys who drive the big trucks.  Yet, I smiled as I wiggled out of the parking spot just like MADE is wiggling onto shelves.

One of the biggest challenges we face is the day-to-day fight for shelf space.  This fight is bare fisted and tough.  There is only a certain amount of shelf space in this beloved world of ours and everyone wants it. We want it and little by little we get it.

We get the space by delivering the basics – good product at the right price that makes people grin when they drink it. We keep the space because just enough people are ready to purchase organic products in this competitive category.  And we keep going back, every day.

We plan and we plot.  But mostly we keep pounding the drum.  Every day.  As a marketer, I am continually creating interest and telling our story. That is the authenticity piece. The story is true. Our little company is made up of three people, that’s all.  We make MADE so thirsty people don’t have to, really.

We have used the basic tools – public relations, social media, even a tiny bit of paid media.  However, it really isn’t about the tools.  For us, it is about the consistent message of MADE being organic refreshment.  Being a small company has made the blurred boundaries of corporate and consumer a plus, we talk directly to the thirsty people we seek.  It is word of mouth. It is literally me or Charley telling our network of friends and family through one-on-one conversations, facebook and twitter about MADE. For the trade we do the same thing, along with our broker network, we tell the story of MADE. Again, the medium becomes invisible, the message goes out and we get up the next day and beat the drum again.

About our guest:
Allison Cash does marketing for Tenaya, the makers of MADE. A somewhat reluctant marketer, she comes from an advertising background, helping some of the biggest brands bring their messages to the market. She believes in organics and bringing relevant products to the market so more people can include organics in their everyday life. She counts Wendell Berry as a favorite author and Big Love as a favorite show. Constantly looking for a more organic way to do anything keeps her busy, along with her husband and two children.

While executive-level management books blather on about collaboration and informed decisions, recursive loops and such, the reality remains siloed.  Multiple one-offs.  Sales may view Marketing as ill informed, lacking respect for the resources needed to do today’s job.  Conversely, Marketing often views Sales as overly needy drama queens, unappreciative of the subtle advances capable of providing long-term results.  The two departments are the business equivalent of Mars and Venus.

Imagine the possibilities if these two groups of gatherers (marketing) and hunters (sales) worked in concert to revitalize apathetic customers or leads?  With heightened cohesive efforts, could some laggards be drawn from apathy toward affinity?

Find Common Ground

Sales has heard all there is to hear during inbound calls, read it all on RFP’s and customer contact forms, and seen it all during field sales calls.  Whereas this group’s institutional knowledge should shape and direct every acquisition and maintenance strategy the marketing department develops, its often dismissed as anecdotal or circumstantial.  The problem is, most businesses lack the systems and processes in places to capture all this gold (where it may be quantified and more closely examined in an objective manner) and channel it to the folks that can do something with it.

Marketing, however, is where the brand is owned, even personified.  Those folks have taken care to define and defend a brand position.  Marketing nurtures a distinctive brand voice across all channels and knows that a little less “spew” and a little more “support” results in brand experiences which can strengthen a bond with a customer.

With all these smarts on staff, why do companies still fail?  The span between the two groups acts like a wedge, driving them further apart, creating more friction and unrealized opportunity.

Some ideas to try to bridge the gap between Marketing and Sales:

• Job shadow:  Make it mandatory for all new hires.  Develop a schedule to rotate current employees in cycles to observe and learn from other current employees.  You’ll lose some productivity in the short term, but gain better long-term understanding and help new relationships form.
• Form a central hub:  No one appreciates random fly-by requests or lengthy email rants. And yet one group doesn’t know what the other group is thinking unless the information is shared.  Set up a simple intranet or other secure online community and allow articles to be posted for others to read, Q&A for non-critical issues that emerge, and distribution of marketing tools like product sheets etc, copies of recent marketing emails, etc.
• Talk it out:  It sounds totally obvious, but simple communication can do wonders for surfacing questions and issues.  To maximize productivity and ensure quality, formulate easy-to-follow rules of engagement prior to  your first meeting.  You want to encourage comfortable discussion, not give someone a platform to purge.
• Identify it:  Ever heard of “Help me help you” cards?  These can be a great tool to raise a person’s awareness about what they’re doing that others really appreciate as well as things they could change that would really impact a colleague’s work.  The idea:  Each person on a team receive index cards equal to the number of persons on their team, minus one (they don’t need a card for themselves).  Using one card per person, write a sentence about them detailing something they do at work that helps out.  Next, write a sentence detailing one of your “wish fors,” or ways that the person could help you help them.  Example:

“Sharon, your project briefs are great.  They’re thorough, detailed, well-thought and spot on.  Thank you!”

“If I could be brought in to the new product acquisition discussions a little sooner, I might be able to be more efficient with my workflow and add more value.”

• Share and share alike:  During meetings, rotate conversation leaders.  Those persons need to recap recent projects they’ve been working on and why they were important.  Allow time for questions and even feedback.  This helps increase transparency and removes blinders that often develop when groups work separately rather than cooperatively.

These are just a few ideas to get you started.  Sustaining these tactics, along with morphing them as needed to fit your needs, is key to bridging the gap between Marketing and Sales to improve internal communication and multiply the force of your teams.

What has worked for you?  Do you have new ideas to add?

Upon presenting concepts for a new web site, client says:
“That’s really nice.  Looks good.  I’ve been thinking, you know, that maybe this site should also have a way to showcase some of our best projects.  Like mini case studies?  With pictures, maybe floor plans.  And pretty, happy people on couches in our living rooms with the high-end woodwork? Some sample materials would be awesome.  Can we add that in?  What about letting them build their own virtual model, right there online?“

Struck dumb, you think:
“Is he serious?  That’s not in the scope of work.  I didn’t estimate that type of custom programming.  Shooting those photos with model talent isn’t in the budget.  That content doesn’t exist.  The fall Open House rush is in four weeks, there’s no way I can get this done.  I can’t backwards-engineer this design to do what he wants!  Where the he!% is this coming from?”

How many of us have been in that room, on that conference call, or received that email?  Time and time again, whether working as a solopreneur or member of client services from a boutique or even mid-sized agency, this scenario hits.  I speculate there are often a number of reasons why clients and service groups often speak separate languages (ok, there are sometimes even a few lies), and here are a few:

1. You got caught up in the courtship, in the allure of a fresh client win.
2. They got caught up in the allure, the siren song of working with “creative people.”
3. You work in your reality. You know the man hours required to complete a spectrum of projects.
4. They live in their reality.  They might know what they want.  They possibly might know what they need.  But this is a big deal for them and the project has a lot of other moving parts (which you may not see) so connecting the timing and sequencing dots may be a challenge for them.
5. You can’t afford to waste time that’s not leading directly to project completion.  You may have already absorbed some hits just to hit stage one concepts (which you thought rocked).  To rework things might wreck internal timetables, compromise other (lucrative) projects, or affect other revenue-generating resources.  This drop of water creates ripples.
6. They don’t know the cost of exploration.  Or uncertainty or indecisiveness.  They can’t visualize a final work product.

I’m an agency veteran and I’ve held roles in strategic/creative services for companies delivering technology products.  This issue is essentially intrinsic to anywhere I’ve been where talented creative people “make stuff” for clients who “need stuff.”  This problem can be frustrating for both parties and cause a lot of financial (and relationship) angst.  How have you successfully navigated the problems of project specification and scope?

Some of my methods (met with varying degrees of success over the years):

• Be frank. Acknowledge the elephant in the room.  Tell the client you’re excited to have his business and want to help the project succeed.  He/she plays a critical role, too, in providing clear, actionable direction to establish specific deliverables, budgets, and timetables.  Together, your two parts comprise the whole.
• Go deep.  Ask questions, even if the client is a little confused about their relevancy to the task at hand.  You need to know the backstory, their motivations, their obstacles, what’s on the immediate horizon and where they’re looking at the middle distance.  What’s worked in the past, what hasn’t.  Connect the dots and hear what they aren’t saying, as much as what they are.
• Write the brief.  This is non-negotiable.  Outline the entire project.  Include what you heard them say, and what you intuited.  Fold in points of reference.  The brief calls upon your skills in information organization, creative writing, and instruction.  This document becomes your Statement of Work and establishes a baseline of expectations and deliverables as it informs your decision-making and defines your approach.  Don’t do work without it.
• Get the signature.  The client may prefer to “just get started.”  Or they may not be able to review the brief for a few days due to their vacation.  That’s okay, no rush.  You’re happy to launch the project once he’s worked through the brief and faxed the final page – bearing his approval signature – back to your office.  A scan will do nicely, too.  You can provide more info about actual timing once you get the brief – that’s when you can examine the work queue (production schedule) and see what works.

Managing a project where creative resources develop the work product (and clients pay the estimate) can be a challenge.  There are questions about fair price, questions about copy, questions about time to launch.  With a well-written (and signed!) creative brief, there won’t be any questions about the assignment scope or objectives.  I’ve provided a creative brief template for your reference below.

What would you add or change about this sample creative brief?  What other resources or planning documents would you like for me to share?

Web Site Creative Brief

Fear of the unknown – the unproven, unmeasured, and unmastered – can inhibit the flow of good ideas.  It can waylay a company behind a pioneering competitor.  It can give you justification for funneling attention on a “sure thing” project.

But no change nets you more of the same.

The same diet gets boring and unappealing after two days.  Many people can’t bring themselves to read the same book or watch the same movie twice.  The same fall wardrobe leaves you wanting a few pieces to bring it current and spice things up.

A little change now and again keeps everyone on their toes.  Competitors become programmed to expect the unexpected.  Employees appreciate the versatility that planned, intentional change brings.  Customers come to expect new, more, and different.

US Army General and ex-Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki once said:

“If you don’t like change, you’ll like irrelevance even less.”

His words are among my favorite quotes, and make me think about the shift of power and control from brands with their mass communication methods toward consumers with the rights and tools of self-selection.  When I apply them to managing a brand in an age of self-publication and instant gratification, steps like these emerge:

1. Understand your customers’ needs.  Research and listening fueled by a desire for the real deal make this more than a perfunctory effort.
2. Define your business priorities.  Everything’s important, and important to someone.  Strip away the superfluous and the tangenteal and focus on the important core.
3. Map customer needs to business priorities to pinpoint focal areas of critical proportions.  This is a straight line, folks.  No question if these activities will create value.
4. Communicate your intentions and methods.  Don’t wait for customers to circle back to you on their will.  Inspire them with your commitment.  Let everyone ackowledge your progress.  Bumps may happen; its lost ground that’s often too difficult to make up.
5. Check your report card.  Find out what worked well and what didn’t.  You want to know the ‘why’ behind both.  You’ll get a chance to re-engineer some things and get insight into opportunities for enhancement.
6. Keep on keeping on.  Fold everything in, remedy what you need to, and forge ahead.  Take no prisoners and be mindful of those who set off land minds before you.

I’m not advocating radical shifts in direction at every turn.  Certainly, that’s no way to build equity in any brand or be a steward of the financials.  What I’m suggesting is more of a continuous loop; while steadily shaping a cogent brand traversing multiple channels, take care to implement a team  (or allocate some time) focused on innovation and evolution where work not only backfills key initiatives but can also be plugged in at cross sections when new data and insight can do the most good.

How do you think most companies feel about change?  Is it someone’s job to think about what’s next or what should be?  Are they comfortable exposing their weaknesses to their customers?

It can be emotionally wrenching and off-putting.  Sweaty palms, nervous patter.  And we’ve all been there.  Done that.

It can happen when two minimally acquainted people are pushed into close proximity in a social setting.  The plasti-smile gets yanked on.  It can happen at work when someone stubbornly advances their antiquated, myopic point of view while others look on uncomfortably.  In both cases, you are clinging to the last bit of safe ground, your comfort zone.  Anxiety crawls up your throat like a fat ant on a lazy summer day.  Trepidation reigns.

The voice inside your head screams “Escape!  Help!” and your eyes scan the horizon for the nearest life preserver:  a mutual friend who can serve as a bridge and get you through the banquet with a mere limp.  Or the patient and sensible group member whose soothing voice serves as a balm for the distressed.

The critical moment may pass, but the stink of your discomfort in those situations will linger like a Linus cloud.

Breathe easy, it’s over.  But I have a question for you.  When the conversation gets tough, do you muddle through with superficial comments about banal topics?   Are your eyes cast on the ground while you will the situation away?  Huh.  That’s too bad.

You could try something risky, something without precedent or a well-lit path.  You could change the conversation.

To change the conversation for you or your brand:

• You have to be approachable.
• You have to listen.  Forget multitasking, be respectful.
• You have to observe.  Pay attention to cues.
• You have to ask questions.  Dig deeper.  Write with your other hand.
• You have to validate, restate the message you think you’ve learned.
• You have to think laterally, make contextual relationships and connect dots.
• You may have to be  silent and reflect before determining your next step.
• You have to be humble and appreciative.
• You have to be willing to help.
• You have to ask the difficult questions, and be willing to receive the answers.
• You have to be able to accept change.  Even if it isn’t your idea.

What are your conversations about these days?  Did your last one get the better of you?