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Thinking is So Sexy…Seth’s Blog KILLIN’ it on a Saturday:The distraction, the tail and the dog

MichellePrice — Sat, 29 May 2010 17:03:09 +0000

Thinking is SO sexy.

What ONE thing would transform your project – what ONE success would turn the tide? Would respond to overwhelming attention? Those are really good questions, Seth.

I love good questions. They are an indicator of Higher-Order Thinking Skills (or HOTS for short, for you sexy thinkers . A quick Google search shows it seems to be catching on in grade school education (thank God – can't happen fast enough for me).

Create a "Thoughtful" Day,
MP

From Seth's Blog:

The distraction, the tail and the dog

Your business has a core, a goal, a challenge and a deliverable. There is probably one thing that would transform your project, one success that changes things, one hurdle that's tougher than the others. What's difficult, what would respond to overwhelming attention? That's the core.

Getting from here to there involves making sales, delivering on promises, overcoming the Dip and shipping.

Along the way, there are supporting tasks you can engage in, things you can do to make the goal easier to achieve.

A popular blog might gain attention and then trust and ultimately help you sell more widgets.

A lot of followers online might give you permission to tell a story that gets you better employees.

A vibrant party at SXSW can create buzz that gives your salespeople entree to important meetings.

These aren't trivial activities. In fact, they're part of what marketing means today. But…

But if they give you and your team an outlet to avoid the difficult work of achieving your goal ("I can't go to that sales call, I'm busy uploading pictures of last night's party to the blog and then tweeting out the url") then you're not building, you're hiding. Rich calls this playing with turtles. The thing is, the turtles are alive, and they're going to demand a lot from you.

There's a huge downside here: once your side activity gets going, it will lead to crises (we have an urgent email we have to answer), to feelings of abandonment (hey, you haven't been on the forum lately!), to irresistible offers to have the CEO speak or get people involved. There will always be a feeling of sunk cost, of opportunities missed and of things on the verge because these are human movements, not paid ads.

Two choices: 1. find a way to make your goal completely aligned with the tactics you use to achieve it. What's good for your blog is good for your business. or 2. Now that these approaches are working, and working incredibly well, it's time to come up with boundaries so the tail doesn't end up wagging the dog.

Posted via email from The Michelle Price Lifestream

From Seth’s Blog : Do you have a media channel strategy? (You should.)

MichellePrice — Sun, 02 May 2010 16:23:22 +0000

Seth, you and me Babe. Entrepreneurs, listen up, this media channel strategy is the best kept secret of the century.
(Shhhhh, don't tell the Others)…

The greatest thing about *most* of Seth's posts? They don't need a lot of explanation.

Please read and take notes. Your future business success depends on it.

I'm sitting up and paying BIG attention. Believe that.

Create a great day,

Michelle P.

==============================

[You're getting this note because you subscribed to Seth Godin's blog.]

Do you have a media channel strategy? (You should.)

Twenty years ago, only big companies and TV stars worried about media channels.

Oprah was on TV, then she added radio. Two channels. Then a magazine.

Pepsi set out to dominate TV with their message, and billboards and vending machines. Newspapers, not so much. The media you chose to spread your message mattered. In fact, it could change what you made and how you made it. [Stop for a second and consider that... the media channel often drove the product and pricing and distribution].

Today, of course, everyone has access to a media channel. You can create a series of YouTube videos, or have a blog. You can be a big-time tweeter, or lead a significant tribe on Facebook.

Harder to grapple with is the idea that the media channel you choose changes who you are and what you do. Tom Peters gives a hundred or more speeches a year, around the world, for good money (and well earned). But this channel, this place where he can spread his message, determines what he does all day, impacts the pace of the work he does, informs all of his decisions.

Oprah lives a life that revolves around a daily TV show. Of course it would be difficult for her to write a book… that's a life dictated by a different channel. And she's a lapsed twitter user because it demands a different staffing and mindset than she has now.

This applies to non-celebs, to people with jobs, to entrepreneurs, to job seekers. We all spread our ideas, at least a little, and the medium you choose will change your ideas. If you only pay attention to the world when you need a new job (your channel is stamps and your message is your resume) you'll spend your day differently than if you are leading a tribe, participating in organizations or giving local speeches all the time.

We've come a long way from a worker having just two channels (a resume and a few references) to having the choice of a dozen or more significant ways to spread her ideas. Choose or lose.

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Posted via email from The Michelle Price Lifestream

“Ass, Gas or Grass…Nobody Rides For Free”…(circa 70′s Bumper Sticker)

MichellePrice — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 02:09:17 +0000

Except on the internet. Everything’s FREE right?

This is an excerpt from a book that I thought was THE best book on social media I’d read. And I’ve read them all….(really – I get review copies sent to me by the publishers)…until this sentence had me do a double-take:

“[Insert name of VERY well known social media male icon who owns THE social media destination site here] recommends finding a firm or individual who would like to increase her (emphasis mine) exposure in your niche, and offering a trade of advertising space on your site and blog for free or discounted services.”

I am not usually hyper-sensitive to gender references in books or other media, social or not. Somehow, the way this is used in this particular context really bothers me though.

Now it has me really curious…pondering questions like, “Hmmm, was that a Freudian slip? Why did he say “her” and not “his”? (Or at least “his/her”?)…”Does he really think “she” should work for free or discount services in return for “exposure” in a niche that may or may not be “rich”?”

I think I’ll reach out and find out what was he thinking? Maybe he wasn’t.

More later.

Posted via web from The Michelle Price Lifestream

Why Men Don’t Promote Women More (A Forbes Leadership article. Really.)

MichellePrice — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:34:04 +0000

“Actually, it is mostly women’s fault. They simply don’t ask for raises or promotions as often as men do.”

If I had to give my opinion, I think this Shaun guy is either smoking crack (or at the very least, playing someone on TV who does) or blowing smoke up his own and puffing rings out his mouth, for the Shock Factor.
And, he might have a point but it’s not the one he’s making. If anything, it’s around women learning to speak the Language of Capital.
But whatever his motive, at least he’s transparent about it.
Click here to read the full post on Forbes.

Posted via email from The Michelle Price Lifestream

Live Blogging Election 2008: How Social Media Changed This Election

Michelle Price — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 05:58:23 +0000

I am trying out something new – “live blogging” – if you want to come join the fun, and learn how it works (or watch how it works is probably a better description meet me over at my colleague and fellow social media experimenter Dahna M. Chandler’s blog at 5 pm Pacific/8 pm Eastern.

Election 2008: How Social Media Changed This Election

Last one there is a rotten egg…

O-BA-MA! Yes we can!

93% of Social Media Users Expect Companies to Have a Presence in Social Media

Michelle Price — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 22:35:16 +0000

Apparently I am not alone.

Cone, Inc. presented findings of an online survey done in September, 2008 of 1,092 adults (525 men and 567 women 18 or older) that showed 60 percent of them use social media web sites.

Of the 60 percent of social media users, 93 percent believe companies should have a presence in social media, while a huge 85 percent believe a company should not only be present but also interact.

A whopping 56 percent of users feel both a stronger connection with and better served by companies when they can interact with them in a social media environment.

Wow. And get this…this is coming from hard to reach consumers in the online space like men, younger users (ages 18-34) and the wealthiest households (income over $75,000+).

All the more reason I say “connectivity is the new currency(tm)”.

60,000 Facebook Users Plot a Global Carrot Rampage

Michelle Price — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:55:54 +0000

This is a prime example of what one person with a funny idea, and some influence can make happen using only social media.

He confesses that the idea came to him when he was very drunk…”What if everyone went out and PANIC bought carrots?” (why carrots? who knows, but if you visit the Facebook Group page and read the FAQs you will see why).

More importantly, the lesson here is that even though he was drunk, he took ACTION – he created a group on Facebook and enrolled people in his “vision”. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=9801981146

And notice the name of the group it’s appropriately titled “The “On May 15th 2008, everybody needs to go out and panic buy CARROTS” Facebook group. He just named it what it is. No guesswork there

The result? 60,000 people have joined, and it’s been featured on the BBC of all places! To get the facts journalistic style, here’s one online news article:

Facebook users plot global carrot rampage

More than 60,000 people from an online group have pledged to swarm supermarkets and buy out their supply of carrots in one day in a bizarre mission labeled “impossible” by vegetable growers.

The “On May 15th 2008, everybody needs to go out and panic buy CARROTS” Facebook group was created earlier this month in London and now attracts more than 10,000 members a day — many of them Australian.

The moral of the story: What idea do you have around the topic of your book or your expertise that could tap into people’s desire to be a part of something fun?