Can I do 1 Blog a day?

Goal: Post Once a day for the next year!

Some posts my just be an image snapped on my cell phone, some may be great ads, some posts will rock, some posts will suck... I think I can do this and still be interesting in a year from now.

If you want to join me on this journey feel free to add me to an RSS feed, comment often and let me know if you want my take on something!

1 down 364 posts to go!

Oh and when the year finishes I will probably just adjust the frequency...

Worthy Wednesday:: 5 Blogs Worth Reading

We live in a world loaded with noise... Blogs are no different so I thought I would share 5 Blogs I think are worth your time.
Add these to your RSS!

#1 http://ilearntechnology.com/ Run by a teacher... she offers really good info on how to use technology in the classroom. (On twitter @ktenkely)

#2 http://garyvaynerchuk.com/
Gary is an Iconoclast.. He breaks the rules, provides great insights, and works harder than any person I have ever met. If you like business or wine he should be a staple (on Twitter @garyvee)

#3 Groundswell A forester Collaboration... If you want to stay relevant in the digital space for business this blog is a must!

#4 http://www.potsc.com/ This is a project run by a guy named Mike Foster, brillant guy great posts. He has a book coming out called Graceonmics which should be amazing! (On Twitter @mikefoster)

#5 http://www.sixmonthmba.com/ This is one of the most insightful and interesting collaboration blogs I read! Full of great advice for anyone who needs to communicate anything from marketing to parenting. Started as the result of a Seth Godin experiment they are brilliant!

Twitter+ Fast Follow = Huge Change!

Twitter just made a major change to their network which is going to effect businesses substantially. I am not sure how many brands are going to appreciate the shift (to start with), but if you read this blog I will try to give you a head start.

::The Basics::

What is Fast Follow: Fast follow lest you follow any twitter account (even if you dont have one) via SMS.
How it works: Send an SMS message to 40404 in the message text enter "follow @[username]"
What Happens: You then will receive SMS updates from that twitter feed when the status is updated.

Fast Follow will likely follow the same rules that filter out messages starting with @[username] already in place.

Why it matters:: Fast follow gives businesses the ability to offer customers discounts, features, and news via text. For Free! If brands are smart they should leverage this feature with Fast Follow accounts. On all print they can provide Fast follow sign-up steps and offer a discount in store. Suddenly you have a follower and a broadcasting platform. Fast Follow accounts would give smart brands the ability to quickly reach mobile users. However it should change their behavior on twitter so they don't annoy fast followers.

In my opinion Re-tweets, Linking to blogs, links to news, and late night/early morning tweets should all be off limits for these accounts.

Your thoughts??

More info can be found at Mashable.com

Mad Men Dove Ad... not so popular

The first ever Marketing Handy Monday Poll... came in with 100% in the way of lame votes. Say what you will about Dove...

But you can't honestly tell me that the Ad below is anything less than awesomeness!


1940's Twitter... who knew?

Dove Mad Men Ad...

Motorola Makes Awesome Dig on Iphone 4

I love this ad! Motorola takes it straight to a competitor that has gotten far too arrogant. Apple knew about their reception problem but decided to move forward with the product. Apple shipped 2 things rather than one at expense of quality. Shipping is important, and shouldn't be undervalued, but Apple already had the new iphone OS ready to go. Getting the iphone 4 right would have saved them and their fans a major embarrassment. Apple's only advantage has been quality!

Someone can (and will) do it faster and cheaper (thats the microsoft market position), but quality and creativity can't be touched. Make the best and never back down from being the best. Learn from Apple rework the product to stay the best... work harder and faster to meet the deadline... don't Settle. Being the best isn't a position without risks quality is expensive, and time consuming... but the safe alternative is boring!

Is Safe Smart Business?

This week Gap created a small buzz with the in store advertisement above. The ad is risky and has offended some. However the Ad is being noticed... The Huffington Post ran an article asking users if the Ad was offensive or cleaver. Only 20% of respondents indicated that the Ad was offensive.

Is this a bad thing?

I am not calling for full scale offensive/classless advertising, but I dont think safe is smart. The Golden age of advertising when bland safe messages were able to generate sales is probably dead and gone forever. The average american consumer see far too many ads in one day. In a small Starbucks in Signal Hill CA, I counted 85 different brand messages IN the store. Everything from Apple laptops to Tazo tea, to Nike Logos is in this one little place.



With this much visual saturation how on earth do you make a message stick out? I think one way is to do something unexpected. Only unexpected has a tendency to offend 20%... but isn't that old news the classic flipped 80/20 rule?

-->In case you dont know the 80/20 rule says 80% of revenue comes from 20% of your client base. The flipped 80/20 rule says that 20% of consumers will hate your brand no matter what you do. These numbers are always pretty consistant. For some reason (probably fear) many brands give power to the 20% that hate them, and try to win them over. Lets look a little closer...

There are 20% of consumers who will never by a Foreign car.

Should foreign manufactures produce cars in the US?

(Some brands are trying but they still aren't winning that 20% over)

There are 20% of consumers that will never by a domestic car.

Should domestic automakers produce cars overseas?

Why dont companies ignore the 20% that hate them? Why don't more brands do what Gap is doing?

Its smart to focus on the 20% that generate revenue and the 40% that havent made up their mind about you yet. If safe is reaching that group than safe maybe smart! If safe isn't reaching that 60% than maybe its time to make a little noise... just expect to offend the 20% of consumers that are going to hate you!

This rule probably applies to interpersonal relationships as well...

Do you ever meet people with the expectation that roughly 20% will not like you?

Have you ever just decided to accept it, and be who you are regardless?

-Side note if substantially more than 20% hate you... you are probably doing something wrong. From an interpersonal level its realistic for that number to be much much lower over time.