Is a Thank You worth $Millions

Can anyone disput the fact that good feelings help brighten your day?  I didn't think so.  That's like saying you don't like sunshine or you can't stand it when babies laugh.  EVERYONE loves good feelings.

So what do people to get good feelings?  Well that depends on the person obviously, some go outside, others read blogs, others exercise, and some enjoy Lego (if you're scratching your head about the Lego this will help).  Although there are many things that bring good feelings one of the fastest ways to get them is.........

HELP somebody.

Helping people gets THANK YOU'S, and knowing that you helped someone out feels good.  Now I'm not saying everyone needs to run out and help older people cross the street (although a couple of you might), there are many different ways to approach good deeds, each resulting in varying forms of gratitude shown.

Thank You's are considered to be priceless, but if we were trying to put a value on a thank you, what could it actually be worth?

How is that possible?  I would give out a million Thank You's if they were worth that much.  Lets think about this for a minute.

How many of us like navigating through voice automation services when we call a business for help?
That's what I thought, NO ONE.

So why do businesses put us through that?  Because it's cheaper than hiring people.  Even when companies outsource their call centers and technical support it is still a major expense.  So how can businesses save money, provide service and keep everyone happy at a minimal expense?

Provide an opportunity for people to receive Thank You's.

There are a lot of smart people on-line with a ton of information at the tips of their fingers,  Many are professionals, experts, and people that love doing research.  Imagine how much simpler things would be if we enabled everyone to help each other when problems arise.  There are lots of people on the internet willing to showcase their skills in finding information and solving problems.  These resources can be tapped by businesses or individuals needing help, and thanks to the gratification people get from helping others, a lot of work is accomplished with a payment of a Thank You.

Remember last week how we discussed Talking TO your audience and not AT them (in case you missed it), one of the recommendations was to start a community where discussions could be made and people are given a chance to be heard.  Well not only can people be heard they can also help each other.  Many forums and communities are established to help users bond and utilize their knowledge.  Think of this in terms of a rope, each strand is very weak until it is woven together with many other strands increasing its strength.  Your community strengthens everyone in it the larger it gets, because there is more information being shared.  Empowering users and community members is one of the best ways you can utilize individuals talents while helping others.

From a business perspective, this is considerably less expensive (millions of $$$$) than setting up call centers for people to remain frustrated.  Utilizing social media can tap into the unlimited potential of the internet.

The only downside is that the more gratification people get from helping others the more they'll want to contribute and continue to help.  Damn those good feelings.


ANY comments, followers or shares are ALWAYS welcomed.



If this doesn't brighten up your day I don't know what will.

How do you fix Dumb? Start Talking TO your Audience Instead of AT them.

QUICK!!!!   What's the last commercial you watched? ..............


Ok, how about this, what's your favorite commercial on TV right now? .............  Still Nothing?


Do you remember any commercials?

That's ok me neither.  How much do those commercials cost that we don't remember?  Well if we're talking Super Bowl we're looking at millions of $$$$$$ and if we're not talking Super Bowl we're still talking millions of $$$ (note there are a couple less $).  That's a ton of cash being dumped into advertising that no one seems to remember.

Why do companies do it then?  Simple....... They're DUMB.
So why do most companies continue to do it?  Because....... They're DUMB.  (there seems to be a trend here)

So how do we start fixing DUMB?  It's quite simple actually, we start talking TO our target (People) instead of AT them.  Need proof?

How many of you remember the last viral video you watched? (all hands should be going up right now)

Why do we remember viral videos and not commercials?  (Hint, they're not talking AT you)
They're talking TO you.  You actually have to click on the video to watch it and that means that what ever the video is about is gaining your interest, enough that you CHOOSE to watch it.  Their message talks TO you.

There are many ways to talk TO our target (People), you won't believe it but they're all forms of social media. SURPRISE!!!!


1) Post a viral video - Easier said than done, right?  Remember viral videos don't necessarily mean millions of views (it helps), but you have to remember who your speaking to (this might help).  Every one on the internet doesn't have to see it, if you have  50,000 out of the 75,000 your targeting that's VIRAL!!!

2) Engage in social network and user generated content sites - This is where the Google+'s, Facebook's, Twitter's, and LinkedIn's come into play.  This is where direct contact is established and where personalities are "expressed" (remember my first).

3) Join the Blogoshpere - This helps spread your message while maintaining control of it.  This also engages conversation and feedback from your target.  A Google+ acquaintance +Peter G McDermott, is about to start this undertaking (he's starting a new project with blogging, not joining, but the principle remains).

4) Create a community - Communities are one of the strongest ways to communicate with your audience (remember communication goes back and forth).  They give you a chance to listen to your target and talk TO them not AT them.


Watch this and think about who the target is.

Yup it's a trick.  This Viral Video can target whomever you're intending to send it to.

If +Pepsi is sending it out to their target, people will get a laugh and think how cool Pepsi is but.......

If +Chevrolet is sending it out to their target, they won't even notice pepsi and they'll be drooling over the Camaro but........

If +NASCAR is sending it out to their target, they will be astonished at +Jeff Gordon's hilarious prank.

The same message can speak to different audiences depending on who their trying to speak TO INSTEAD of AT.


ANY comments, followers or shares are ALWAYS welcomed.

A Social Media Maze or Leap of Faith: Where is your brand going?

Mazes are a blast, everyone runs around laughing and smiling not having a clue where they're going and loving every minute of it.  Mazes are so much fun that people are even willing to pay to go in get completely turned around, disoriented, feel really dumb and come back for more.

The thing about a maze is that they can go from being a ton of fun to pure hell in 2 min flat (have you ever had to go to the bathroom when you're lost in the middle of one?).  Where does the fun go when the sun goes down?  All of a sudden a sense of panic kicks in and everyones scrabbling for the exit cause there's something creepy (I won't say scary cause real MEN don't admit stuff like that) about being lost in a maze in the dark of night.

I'm hoping everyone can see where I'm going with this (hint: its got to do with companies/peoples on-line presence).  Is your social media presence just as confusing as a maze?  Look at your posts, blogs, wikis, status updates, forums, tweets, pins, pluses, how consistent are they?

Last week I posted about Google maps and receiving direction, this week I'm supporting and adding to it.  A simple way to remember some of these lessons is to put them in an acronym. And believe me you would have to be dumb as a fence POST to forget this one.

People - This is your target.  Remember a previous post discussing how to find your target? (maybe Lego or Ladders will trigger a few memories)  Discovering what engages the audience you're targeting allows you to adapt to their needs.  If you develop a forum for commercial realtors when your audience are more COLLECTORS than CRITICS or CONTRIBUTORS it won't do you a bit of good, but if you create informative posts for your audience to share, all of a sudden your audience of COLLECTORS eat it right up and are continually coming back for more.

Objectives - What are your goals? (<-- repeat from last week / the addition -->) Is your intention to get People giving feedback, or do you want them spreading your message in promotion?  Maybe you want to market your brand better?  What ever it is YOU must decide what you want to accomplish, this has to be the FIRST step when approaching any form of social media marketing (remember this applies both personally and professionally).

Strategy - This directly ties in to your People and Objectives.  What do you want to convey to your audience?  How do you want them to react?  What form of social media will you utilize?  If your audience and feedback objectives are met from the benefits of blogging then start a blog.  If you need feedback and your audience are contributors start a forum.  Your strategy provides you with a plan of attack and gives you direction if things start to go off the rails.

Technology - Refers to the tools you're going to use.  Believe it or not, not everyone responds well to social networks (I'm talking the Google+'s, Facebook's, Twitter's), some simply prefer blogs or wiki's.  Wherever your target is that's where you go.  If you go looking for sharks in the mountains you'll be sorely disappointed.

Social media can be so beneficial to brands, companies, and personally.  It has the ability to transform peoples lives and alter brand image.  EVERYONE must realize that jumping into social media takes responsibility and strategy.  Companies can find themselves battling to try and regain control of social media gone wrong, just ask Shell about an open caption contest (it happened to be fake but grabbed everyones attention, these situations actually happen and can be a companies worst nightmare).

The reality is that once you jump there's no turning back, you can change direction but there are no guarantees.

ANY comments, followers or shares are ALWAYS welcomed.


Speaking of jumps.