Aug 29, 2011

Why the Web is For Lazy People

Well, when I mean lazy...I actually mean people who want to grow and develop without having to queue in traffic jams, sit on planes or stand(!) on trains.

What the web has brought is an ability for anyone to INTENTIONALLY learn and succeed. That may sound strange but sometimes I think people assume success will just come...and it won't. You need to take action to make it happen.

Here are 5 things people can do today  image from upload.wikimedia.org

  1. Sign up to Google Reader and start subscibing to blogs (Press the orange RSS
    button) in your area of interest, about leadership, about business...about different areas of life to broaden your mind for 10 minutes in a morning.
  2. Subscribe to 3 podcasts...of course The Engaging Brand!....seriously this is huge development for me. I listen when walking between client meetings, at the gym, in the car....that way I am utilising my time in the best way possible.
  3. Carry a notebook around with you and each time you either don't understand or haven't heard of something, somewhere or someone write it down and Google it later.
  4. Join LinkedIn. From your sofa you can build your professional network, search for a job, build your expertise through answers and create a personal brand.
  5. Go to YouTube and search for videos on skills you need to brush up on from Excel to Presenting to Interview Techniques.

All of these are simple steps....nothing geekified! But what the web does is bring the world to you...now

AS A COMPANY THINK ABOUT HOW YOU CAN PROVIDE THAT VALUE TO THE LAZY WEBUSER!

Sleeping

29 Aug 2011 18:24:00 | Careers, Learning

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How to be simple! Creativity is a wonderful skill but when combined with simplicity then I really love it. I interviewed Todd Henry recently on The Engaging Brand podcast and he talked about how to keep that simplicity in your thinking and therefore your work. I have tweeted about this but I love a concept in his book, which brings simplicity home to you. He asks himself each day which side of the equation is he working to? Is he simplifying or complicating a situation 1+1 = [[9 x 3]/3]/3] - 1 Tip: Have this on view....screen saver or on a post-it note. And keep asking yourself - am I making this more complicated than it has to be?
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5 Essential Business Questions for Modern Marketers This week I was interviewing Patrick Schwerdtfeger, author of “Marketing Shortcuts for the Self-Employed” and a regular speaker about modern entrepreneurship and the social media revolution at conferences and conventions around the world. Great guy...and the podcast will be coming up next week. Prior to the interview as a prelude rally I asked Patrick what his five questions for businesses would be to get their message out effectively because as he states "today, marketing is less about selling and more about educating" What do you do that’s remarkable? Begin by identifying the things people are amazed by, the things you get asked questions about, the things that capture their attention. What’s the “human story” behind that value? Take what you do that’s remarkable and explain how it changes people’s lives. Describe the emotional impact of your product or service. How can you tell that human story in a visual way? There are different types of content: text, audio, photos and video. Which is most viral? You guessed it: photos and video! How can you get your customers to tell that human story? Content can come from two places: you or your customers. Which is most viral? Right again: content from your customers! How can you incentivize your customers to tell more stories? Incentives, incentives and more incentives. If you give people a reason to be creative, you’ll be amazed at what you get back. There are dozens of examples of companies that have held contests to inspire their customers to create dynamic content promoting their business. Take the Australian Tourism Board and their 2009 “Best Job in the World” campaign. By offering a lavish compensation package and requiring a 1-minute video to apply, they ended up with almost 35,000 videos that other people created! Thanks to Patrick Schwerdtfeger for these 5 tips and watch out for me probing this more in The Engaging Brand interview next week. In the meantime check out “Marketing Shortcuts for the Self-Employed”.

Anna Farmery

Social Marketing Architect, Speaker, Author and in spare time completing PhD on the future of the social business model

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