2 x 237 = 1

Yes, today October 29, 2 times 237 will equal 1.

That is 2 great thought leaders (Drew Mclellan & Gavin Heaton) with uncommon enthusiasm multiplied by 237 other really good bloggers around the World:

 Adrian Ho,  Aki Spicer,  Alex Henault,  Amy Jussel,  Andrew Odom,  Andy Nulman,  Andy Sernovitz,  Andy Whitlock,  Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Chris Brown, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Schawbel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Dave Davison, David Armano, David Berkowitz, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham,  Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, Gareth Kay,  Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne & Todd Cabral, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, John Herrington, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kristin Gorski, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tim Brunelle, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem 

Who got exited and engaged with the idea of being part of a great collaborative effort, results in one really great, excellent I dare say, book! THE AGE OF CONVERSATION 2: why don’t they get it. 

If you enjoy reading The daily and the not so, then you should really get a copy of AOC 2 where some of the greatest bloggers worldwide share their thoughts and insights on collaborative marketing, social media and yes, conversations.

Plus, not only will you reading a great book, you’ll be doing a social labor, since all proceeds from the sales of the book, all authors are donating to Variety, the international children's charity.

So take action right now, visit lulu.com and get a copy, hell take two or three, believe me the book will make for a very good gift for clients, colleagues and business partners in general. 

Small commitments to big objectives.

I must confess that I am very fortunate. Thanks to my current job and all the work I’ve done as  blogger and speaker in the last couple of years, I’ve had the incredible opportunity to meet a lot of very interesting people. People from different organizations and industries; with different jobs and callings and very different origins and education. All different but all with one thing in common: BIG DREAMS

They all have big ambitions and clear visions of how high they want to get. And they have frequently shared with me that they want to be the best in their trade, the number one, the stars: “We want to be the most important digital marketing agency in the market”, “we aim to be the first company in our category to fully digitize our business”, “we want to be number one on sales”, etc.

But just as often I’ve seen the same problem: Not all of them are prepared to accomplish their dreams of grandeur.

Many claim to not only be talking but to actually be doing what it takes to deliver on their vision. But are they really doing it or do they just think they are doing it?

I could share dozens of stories when I’ve heard leaders say they are really willing to do whatever is necessary to accomplish their vision of being the best, the first, the stars. They deliver really inspiring speeches that after a couple of days end up dispersed in the air, forgotten by their team, hidden under the chaos of tasks and daily problems, overlapped by sales quotas and P&L reports or simply lost in the lack of experience of the people who is supposed to help achieve those goals.

That’s why, after giving a lot of thought to this matter, I’ve concluded that the best answer to BIG OBJECTIVES are small commitments. Leaving all speeches aside and starting taking the necessary small but sure steps that will get us to our goal.

Now I know this sounds easier than it is done. And that’s why I wanted to share 10 steps (or rather small commitments) I believe are key to achieve our dreams:

1. Define your intention. They say that having a clear intention is half the work, because from the moment we do so, our mind starts looking for ways to achieve that intention.
2. Clearly understand your place in your market or segment. Know what strengths and capabilities you will need to develop to meet your goals. And make sure your objective is congruent with the vision and mission of your organization.
3. Share your dream with the members of your team and ensure that they share the very same ambition and passion. If your team does not make your dream their own, they will always put it second to their own priorities.
4. Make sure you have the right talent for the tasks and work you’ll need to get done to meet your goal. Identify their strengths and capabilities and help them maximize them. Provide them with the proper training and coaching and give them the right tools for their job. Develop great talent and recruit it as well.
5. Define what steps your company will have to take in order to get to where you want to. Understand that even though some can happen simultaneously, others need to happen sequentially.
6. Establish a Critical Path Schedule and assign timings for every small commitment or step that your team will have to achieve.
7. Review your status frequently but please do not do so all of the time. Define very specific moments to do it. Understand that every path can have its detours and challenges, so be flexible and work around each situation.
8. Don’t just make it about the money for the company. Make it about something else and find ways to publicly recognize and even reward those people who are helping the most. Help them understand the benefits they, as employees, will get out of your big dream. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard team members at different companies, say “I can see how this deal will make a lot of money for the company, but what’s in it for me? They’ll still pay me the same, only now I have to learn new skills and have more work”. Let them see how having a new set of skill will not only help them do a better job but will make more qualified for future opportunities inside and beyond your organization.
9. Review in your mind your objective every day and visualize yourself and your team achieving it. Find a way to review these objectives everyday, make it a motto, adopt it as part of your vision, create a vision board that anyone and everyone can easily see and read.
10. But please do not let your great intention become your obsession.

Come to think of it, the very best thing about this list is that you can apply it to your personal life as well!

A few suggestions…

How many of you are concerned, even obsessed with the economic crisis that is going on around the world today? How many hours have you already dedicated to follow the news each step of the way?

I even know some people who check the stock and the exchange rates every two hours. And I cannot help but ask: Is it really useful to obsess so much and spend so much time watching how the markets fall?

I definitely think that what’s truly important and what’s really going to help us all make things better is focusing on our work. Stop worrying so much about the stuff we cannot do anything about and dedicate ourselves to being productive with those things that are inside our circle of influence.

For example, I’ve always said that establishing solid relationships with our clients is of the utmost importance, even more important than sales quotas, commercial objectives and (how dare I) operation costs. Quotas will come and go, hopefully these will always be achieved, though sometimes won’t. But a loyal client, with whom we’ve created a strong, real relationship, will most likely, always be there.

Lately, I’ve listened to the marketing experts say that these trying times are also a great opportunity for on-line media (which I absolutely think so too by the way). But I also think that we have a huge opportunity to strengthen our relationships with our clients.

Not by giving away our work for free, not even by giving them a discount so they keep buying from us. A good and loyal client after all, understands the value of our work and will always be willing to pay what’s fair for it, even during hard times or despise tempting “lower prices” offers from our competitors.

But by giving them an even better service, making them know that we are there for them, providing them with a great customer experience and adding a whole lot more value to what we provide for them.

How? Here are a few suggestions:

-          Let’s start with a simple phone call at the beginning of the week, with no agenda but knowing how they are doing, how is their business, even how their family is doing. Just send the message that you are there.

-          Second, share your value (your network). If you know that a client or a vendor of you (yes our suppliers are our clients too), can benefit from connecting with one of your contacts, connect them. Send and introductory e-mail saying: “Dear friend X, I think you’d probably like to meet my friend Y. I hope you can get in touch and talk about how you two can collaborate with each other, and please let me know how it all turns out”.

-          Now, let’s follow up with a little quick and effective response timings. Time is today’s currency they say, and in times like these, it actually is. Companies today have very little to no time to follow up on your deliverables, so do them a favor and make sure to be one step ahead, they will surely be thankful for it.

-          And finally let’s close big by making sure we are friendly, kind and collaborative with every single person we interact with. Believe me, if there is one thing people need today is to see a friendly, smiling face asking them “How can I help you?”

Not much? Maybe, but let’s start with something, right?

And on another note, I want to thank Katedra for their invitation to participate as speaker at their Digital Marketing Seminar in Mexico City a couple of weeks ago, it sure was a pleasure to collaborate with you and share some time with such a terrific and dynamic audience.

 

 

Mekate Wednesday! My entry as guest blogger in The Marketing Spot

Are you a business owner or an executive worried about how you our your peers and colleagues support the values of your brand?

Drop a visti to Jay Ehret's blog, The Marketing Spot, and ready my guest post there.

"...I cautioned, “Always remember, the most important thing in your marketing mix is you”...

Read the post now: http://themarketingspot.blogspot.com/