Business Profiles Category

Want it to Work? You Better do it Your Way

Monday, April 2nd, 2012

When I attended the Alliance Flooring Convention I was struck with a statement made by keynote speaker Dale (“the Murph”) Murphy. Dale was a major league baseball player for 18 years. Dale said there was a time when he was playing so badly that he thought he should quit. It didn’t matter what he did or how much coaching he got, he couldn’t seem to improve. It occurred to him if he quit he knew what would happen; he would never play baseball again. If he stayed, he still had an opportunity, and so he stayed.

I haven’t stopped thinking about his statement; how do we know when to quit? Quitting is the end to whatever we’re doing. In this case quitting meant the end of the pain and it also meant being out of the game. According to Murphy, if success is what you want, quitting is never an option. So Murphy didn’t quit but another person may have quit even if they wanted the game.

Why do some people quit and some stay? It appears that it has to do with motivation.

Some people quit exercising, dieting and their marriages. Others stay around for what’s called “the long haul.” Could it be there are different types of motivation? There are people who listen to motivational speakers, get all reved up and go home and do nothing. There are others who get reved up and go home and do everything. So what’ the difference?

My research leads me to two types of motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. . Simply, internal and external motivation. People who have extrinsic motivation need rewards from the outside to stay around. Cheering crowds, big pay checks, constant bonuses and the big hurrahs.

Those with intrinsic motivation are motivated from within. They are motivated by their values and mission and find it difficult to quit. If you are truly living your passion, quitting is not an option.
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Writing with Truth and the Experience of Life

Wednesday, March 21st, 2012

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A couple of weeks ago I had the utmost pleasure to chat with Paul Greenburg, the author of the acclaimed CRM at the Speed of Light book series. The conversation was excellent ranging from life to social CRM. Towards the end of the call Paul suggested that I read his post “Glass 4/5 Full: Life, Business and the Narcissism of Small Things” on his personal blog. I readily agreed and felt almost foolish for not reading it before.

I’ve always enjoyed Paul’s writing because of the conversational tone used throughout his posts and books. However, this post is more than that. It is something I could only describe as real. It is rare that (as a reader) you have the pleasure to glance past the business… past the technology… past the politics… and read something that is truth.

I may not be fully explaining myself… writing with truth is between the author and the reader. We (the reader) trust the opinion and emotion maintained by the author. This is true whether you are reading Milan Kundera or Twitter Marketing for Dummies. You subscribe to the books, blogs, and podcasts because the content speaks to you in some way. We trust that the author’s experiences, opinions, and emotions will lead us down the true “path.”

It either does or it doesn’t. Writing with truth is the the backbone of storytelling and as marketers we are all in the business of storytelling.

Paul uses his experience, opinion, and perspective to drive the reader to a specific point… to a conclusion. Whether or not the post was meant to build credibility and trust between Paul and the reader is a moot point… because it does. It does because Paul tells a story:

“When I was maybe 7 years old, my Dad was talking to me in the living room of our home in East Meadow, in New York and he said to me (this is an adult paraphrased version of what he told a 7 year old),
‘Paul, your mother and I brought you into this world, but you don’t owe us anything. But because you’re in this world, you owe it something.’

I’ve tried to live my entire life based on that.”

We are all in the business of storytelling. This is the best advice I can give to the social and marketing entrepreneur.

How are you writing with truth? Are you using your experiences and emotions to build a personal brand that stands apart?

kyle lacy
ExactTarget
(blog) www.kylelacy.com
(join) www.smallerindiana.com
(tweet) kyleplacy

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Understanding the High I Personality

Tuesday, February 28th, 2012

The personality assessment and profiling system I use for understanding employees and building a better relationship with your management team and key employees is the DiSC. In it there are four pure personality types: D which is Dominate or high drive, I which is Influential or highly social and great communicators, S which is Steady or very patient and thoughtful and C which is Compliant whose goal is to get it right. The D and C personality type are very TASK orientated and the I and S are very RELATIONSHIP orientated.

Understanding the High I Personality

The best descriptors of a High I personality are: enthusiasm, trusting, charming, popular, influential, confident, persuasive, convincing, inspiring, spontaneous, sociable, talkative, emotional, generous, optimistic, self-promoting and a good mixer.

Famous people with High I personalities are: Robin Williams, Bill Clinton, Jay Leno, Tony Danza, Oprah Winfrey, Steve Martin, Arnold Palmer and Dolly Parton.

The High I personality types are creative, creative problem solvers, and great encouragers. They motivate others to achieve through a positive sense of well being and many times with humor. They are good at negotiating conflicts and are peace makers. Throughout the campaign of 1992, reporters continually commented on the way then Governor Clinton energized and connected with people. President Clinton is clearly an extrovert, unafraid to show his emotion or express his concern. Even his foes state that he clearly cares about people, even if they disagree with his agenda.

General Characteristics – High I’s are very talkative. They are very relational and people orientated and like to talk about how their weekend was. They are the most optimistic of the four personality types and are fun to be around. They are good friends and very supportive of their other team members and are positive when dealing with goals for future success.

Communicating with the High I – They are motivated by popularity and acceptance. A verbal acknowledgement of a job well done in front of their peers will go a long way with them. Give them opportunities to verbalize their ideas, realizing that they will need assistance in turning their ideas into action. They work well in a friendly environment and freedom from rules and regulations. They don’t like structure and are motivated by new experiences, challenges and relationships.

Positive Characteristics of the High I personalities are instinctive communicators. They are, for the most part, very enthusiastic team players who do well in job positions that allow them to interact with others. They respond well to the unexpected, and willingly offer their opinion whenever asked for it. They thrive in group activities and a professional and social work environment.

Weaknesses – Many High I personalities avoid getting and staying organized. Follow through, detail and paper work is a constant struggle for them. Since they are always very positive and their goals are usually much higher than is reasonable to attain (monthly sales goals for example). Some may allow their friendships to dominate their time.
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3 Ways to Cater to Your Niche Through Social Media

Friday, January 27th, 2012

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If you’re running a small business of nearly any variety, it’s incredibly important to understand who your niche market is. Unless you’re one of the Wal-Marts or Amazons of the world, you definitely do have a niche and being able to define and cultivate it will help you with improving your web analytics, increased sales revenue, and robust brand management. Here are 3 tips for catering to your niche through social media:

Offer promotions, contests and incentives. Creating a verdant garden of discount possibilities, savings, and incentives is one of the best ways to cater to your niche. In short, people like getting stuff for free. They also like to compete for free things, so hosting contests on your social media sites, such as Facebook or Twitter, is a great idea for creating an online stir. Have a logo design contest, or a viral video contest and host it through YouTube. Inviting user generated art and design can be a tremendous boon. Also, promote your brand on Foursquare, where you can offer discounts on products in exchange for check-ins.

Promote valuable independent resources. Customers respect a company or site that is not afraid to refer to others. For example, if you’re running an online education forum and your site lacks decent tutorials, you should provide links to great sites that do have tutorials such as the Khan Academy or Open Culture. Not only will this enhance your community, it can lead to you getting linkbacks, blogroll features, and considerable street cred. There’s always the opportunity that later on you will be to partner with these other sites in a way that is financially agreeable to both of you. In short, put your money where your mouth is—if you claim to be “the leading authority on…” don’t tolerate obvious gaps in your knowledge base.

Use media effectively. Consider having a YouTube video of the day that is relevant to your niche. See the previous tip about viral video contests. Many companies use online video as vehicle for ingenius marketing campaigns in which the consumer ends up doing your marketing for you. Or consider having a photo contest through Tumblr, Flickr, or Imgur. Beyond just video and photos, investing in some research as to what kinds of visual aesthetics your niche prefers can go a long way. You don’t have to get too psychological about it, but your website and company ethos should appeal visually and emotionally to the demands of your community. For example, if your niche is science fiction, a general space-age aesthetic wouldn’t be too cheesy would make your fans feel at home.

Appealing to your niche market is one of the most important elements of running a small business. Investing considerable effort and resources into defining who your niche is and how you will reach them is an excellent idea for the present and future.

kyle lacy
ExactTarget
(blog) www.kylelacy.com
(join) www.smallerindiana.com
(tweet) kyleplacy

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