Why this blog is going on hiatus

It’s time to state the obvious: this blog is on hiatus. Perhaps foremost is the fact that readership has not met my expectations. Blogging at its heart is about a conversation that contributes to a community. This particular blog has not done so at a level that I feel it should. Rather than continue with something that’s not working, I think it makes more sense to step back. I can’t say yet what’s next, but I’ll seek out those of you who I know were readers so you can decide if you want to join the new conversation. In the meantime I’m ramping up some freelance writing work, commuting between states as I relocate from one to the other, and engaging in some exciting conversations with potential new employers.

Until the next conversation…

Kevin

Lessons of the Square Watermelon

Note: this piece first came to me in March of 2008. It’s a marvelous piece on how innovation can come from simplicity and an open mind. It first appeared on the website of the LeanThinkingNetwork. I’m including it in lieu of a regular blog entry as I am heading out on the road to take my father to Grandparents Day for one of his nieces. I’ll be back to my normal rounds next week. Enjoy the piece…

Japanese grocery stores had a problem. They are much smaller than their US counterparts and therefore don’t have room to waste. Watermelons, big and round, wasted a lot of space. Most people would simply tell the grocery stores that watermelons grow round and there is nothing that can be done about it. That is how I would assume the vast majority of people would respond. But some Japanese farmers took a different approach. If the supermarkets wanted a square watermelon, they asked themselves, “How can we provide one?” It wasn’t long before they invented the square watermelon.

Experience tells us that this example alone is just a part of what it takes to develop a true Continuous Improvement culture.  Additional steps include the ability to identify waste, understanding of reliable methods to use as counter-measures, creating a favorable environment (cultural) for idea creation and implementation and then keeping everyone practiced all the time, in slow and busy times.

The solution to the problem of round watermelons wasn’t nearly as difficult to solve for those who didn’t assume the problem was impossible to begin with Peter Hoshitsuki simply asked how it could be done. It turns out that all he needed to do is place them into a square box when they are growing and the watermelon will take on the shape of the box.

This made the grocery stores happy and had the added benefit that it was much easier and cost effective to ship the watermelons. Consumers also loved them because they took less space in their refrigerators which are much smaller than those in the US meaning that the growers could charge a premium price for them.

What does this have do with anything besides square watermelons? There are a few lessons that can you can take away from this story which help you in all parts of your life. Here are a few of them:

Don’t Assume: The major problem was that most people had always seen round watermelons so they automatically assumed that square watermelons were impossible before even thinking about the question. Things that you have been doing a certain way your entire life have taken on the aura of the round watermelon and you likely don’t even take the time to consider if there is another way to do it. Breaking yourself from assuming this way can greatly improve your overall life as you are constantly looking for new and better ways to do things. This was one of the most difficult things for me to do because most of the assumptions I make, I don’t even realize that I’m making them. They seem perfectly logical on the surface, so I have to constantly make an effort to question them.

Question habits: The best way to tackle these assumptions is to question your habits. If you can make an effort to question the way you do things on a consistent basis, you will find that you can continually improve the way that you live your life. Forming habits when they have been well thought out is usually a positive thing, but most of us have adopted our habits from various people and places without even thinking about them. I have changed a large number of habits that I have had after taking the time to question them and continue to do so. Some of them I have no idea where they came from while others I can trace to certain people or instances in my life. It’s a never ending process, but by doing this, you can consistently strive toward making all aspects of your life more enjoyable instead of defaulting to what you have now.

Be creative: When faced with a problem, be creative in looking for a solution. This often requires thinking outside the box. Most people who viewed this question likely thought they were being asked how they could genetically alter watermelons to grow square which would be a much more difficult process to accomplish. By looking at the question from an alternative perspective, however, the solution was quite simple. Being creative and looking at things in different ways in all portions of your life will help you find solutions to many problems where others can’t see them. I am not a creative person, but I’ve found that the more that you look at things from different perspectives, the more creative I have become. It’s a learned art and builds upon itself.

Look for a better way: The square watermelon question was simply seeking a better and more convenient way to do something. The stores had flagged a problem they were having and asked if a solution was possible. It’s impossible to find a better way if you are never asking the question in the first place. I try to ask if there is a better way of doing the things that I do and I constantly write down the things I wish I could do (but currently can’t) since these are usually hints about steps I need to change. Get into the habit of asking yourself, “Is there a better way I could be doing this?” and you will find there often is.

Impossibilities often aren’t: If you begin with the notion that something is impossible, then it obviously will be for you. If, on the other hand, you decide to see if something is possible or not, you will find out through trial and error. Many of the lessons above are what I used to create my online income. As I’ve said many times, it’s not easy, but it’s certainly not impossible. Even for those of us that are not A-List Bloggers, creating a full time online income is quite possible as I have shown.

Take away the lessons from the square watermelons and apply them to all areas in your life (work, finances, relationships, etc) and you will find that by consistently applying them, you will constantly be improving all aspects of your life.

Social Media is NOT like the yellow pages: a counterpoint for financial services

A recent post on everdaytenacity.com contended that social media is like the yellow pages. It also implied FINRA regulations and a lack of ROI will turn social media into a fad. The piece advocated going “back to events” and concluded by stating that “moving the relationships beyond just investment advise will beat those firms that focus their efforts solely on social media.”

I have a growing sense too many people in the investment and wealth management communities agree with statements like these and I think they’re absolutely dead wrong virtually right down to the last bullet.  Let me say this about events before I move on: I do agree events can be a powerful marketing tool. The problem, though, is too many events are far too generic (e.g., ” Golf Classic.”) and too many pretend to be about education or client recognition when they’re primarily prospecting tools. Being a prospecting tool is perfectly fine—when it’s “sold” as such and done without high-pressure tactics. Even brand-building events like golf events broadcast on TV can be powerful when they’re combined with cause marketing in an area the company actually cares about (e.g., more than 40% of American Century Investments’ profits support the Stowers Institute for Medical Research and their golf tournament raises money for LIVESTRONG, the Lance Armstrong foundation which also raises money for cancer research).

Here’s the missing key: social media marketing is about a conversation designed to build relationships without an immediate expectation of financial return. Yes, ROI matters, but social media marketing success is not measured the way quarterly investment performance is measured. In addition (and as I’ve said before) the world is increasingly online. The word “Crackberry,” for example, wasn’t created out of thin air. The savvy firms of today who truly know their clients will know their interests, their needs, and their unspoken wants. Meeting them out where they’re at online is part of where we’re headed. Much like the way luxury cars meld into a world of sameness, events, TV ads, and websites for most financial firms do the same.

There is such an opportunity for savvy, talented financial advisors and financial services firms to stand out from the pack. Doing so starts with solid product performance, of course. Social media usage will make a difference when it’s done as a genuine commitment to make a tangible difference with a targeted clientele. People are hungry for firms they can trust and for usable information they can trust. Social media can help satiate that hunger in a powerful way—if it’s done the right way. If not, the team at everydaytenacity is absolutely right: it’s hype that takes an undue amount of time. I think we can do better.

Text message giving to Haiti as a client conversation opportunity

Talking to clients about text message giving may seem like an odd thing to do. Consider, however, that according the study “Signals on Mobile Philanthropy: Is Haiti the Tipping Point?” estimates that over 6.5 million people have given in this way in the last seven weeks alone. The study also noted that over 77% of people surveyed had at least heard of giving in this way even if they didn’t give this way personally.

So why talk about it?

• Build rapport with tech-savvy and younger clients. Gen Y clients and younger in particular “live” on the web, conduct business on the web, and the like. Showing some trend awareness can build confidence that you understand them, their needs, and interests.
• Initiate conversations about socially responsible investing. Talking about the topic can be an entre into a discussion about whether or not a client is interested in this form of investing.
• Planned giving conversations with older clients. Even clients who aren’t likely to give in this manner may well be aware of the phenomenon. For them it can open the door to talking about what they want their legacy to look like and what planned giving options they want included in their retirement and estate planning.
• Client communication conversations for any age client. As email, smartphone, and web usage continues to expand, the options for communicating with clients expand in kind. Talking about text message giving can be a great way to understand how to customize the vehicle(s) and timing of your client communications.

Whether your practice is on the leading edge of social media usage or just interested staying informed, social media awareness will continue to offer opportunities for maintaining and deepening client relationships for the savvy advisor.

Why and how financial advisors can play defense with social media

For many financial advisors, stepping into the world of social media can feel like stepping into a swarm of gnats. There are little distractions coming at you from every direction at the same time you’re worried one of those gnat bites will be a compliance violation. So why should the individual advisor step into the fray? If you do, how do you protect yourself?

Why it matters for the individual advisor to use social media

1. Sub-specialty networking and prospect identification. You can find and connect with thought leaders, peers, and potential clients in specialty areas where they’re harder to find through traditional channels and do so in real-time.
2. Reputation management. Bad news can spread on the web like throwing gasoline on charcoal. At the least you want to know what’s being said about you or your firm soon enough to make action worth taking.
3. Cost-effective, timely client/prospect communication. Twitter, blogging, and the like can offer a great way create value-adds for more of the right people with timely, targeted information sharing. You stay top-of-mind without spending top dollar.
4. Knowing what’s top of mind in real time. Marketing surveys aren’t always timely and don’t always get to what you really want to know. Social media usage can help you get sense of what clients might say to you—or be thinking about and not say to you—in real time.

Tools you can use and still stay focused

Stick to monitoring and information sharing unless—and until—you work with an expert to develop a marketing strategy that includes social media. Until then, here are a few steps to get started.

1. Monitor what’s being said about you. Set up a Google search alert for a daily sweep. Include your name, your business name, and your corporate parent name, etc. Set it for a daily sweep
2. Know what might be top of mind for a client. Use a real-time search engine before your first client meeting each day. Leapfish and Scoopler are two that aggregate both conventional news sources and social media outlets like Twitter. Spend five minutes to see what they might ask about or what you might highlight to show you’re on top of the game.
3. Establish a scalable home base. Hootsuite is my favorite on this front. It makes Twitter manageable and makes it easy to add on other social media tactics like a blog—all from one site.

Making it too complicated: financial services social media guidelines

One of the best pieces of advice my older brother gave me was this: “quit playing not to lose and start playing to win.” When it comes to social media usage, financial services firms are playing not to lose. We don’t wait to move ahead with strategic initiatives or new products until we’ve got it all perfect, so why do we take this approach with social media? Yes, there are many valid concerns about loss of control. There is also valid skepticism about the ROI of social media marketing. I think, though, too many of us are waiting to get it right—perhaps even trying to “guarantee” we won’t get in trouble with regulators before even starting down the path. This isn’t an either-or proposition; it’s a both-and proposition. So play to win and work out the details for doing it in a compliant way rather than waiting to be sure it’s compliant and then deciding if it’s worthwhile.

So why dive in now?

1. People talk whether you want them to or not. Whether it’s employees or customers on the bus, in the grocery store or online, they will speak regardless. See onwallstreet for more on this including a quote from Allan Hackney, senior vice president and chief information officer at John Hancock Financial Services has noted, “social media is all about conversations and conversations are going to occur whether you participate or not.”
2. FINRA has put the basic guardrails on the road. Yes, the guidelines can seem sparse and at times I felt they were painfully self-evident. Still, the driver’s license has been issued.
3. Social media usage helps attract employees and may help attract clients. Anecdotally I can tell you that social media usage has been a factor in my choice about which companies to target. I take the usage as the sign of a forward-thinking, creative firm. For that matter, research has consistently shown how online oriented millenials are—including their preference for online banking. In addition, as Colleen Healy general manager of U.S. Financial Services at Microsoft states, “The financial crisis has created a deep sense of mistrust in millenials, which is keeping the next generation of wealth on the sidelines.” So if the millenials are online, they don’t trust us, and they’re talking; how effective are we going to be in having them invest if we aren’t listening, talking back, and adjusting? (My thanks to Spurspectives and their article “How To Get It Right With Millenials And Money” for alerting me to Microsoft’s survey and research.)

Guidelines for moving forward

I said last time I’d propose some next steps regarding social media guidelines for financial services. An excellent place to start is this “Disclosures Best Practices Toolkit” from the Social Media Business Council. It’s focused on blogs and interacting with bloggers and is designed for any company. However, the basic guidelines work extremely well regardless of the medium or industry.

And a few other thoughts…

• Use Twitter to monitor what’s being said and direct people to the appropriate resources. Think of it as a combination of directory assistance and real-time radar reports.
• Start with the people you’ve already trained to go public. You already have people who write for and speak with the public. Start with them until you get your sea legs.
• Stick to education and listening. Direct requests for recommendations, account servicing issues, and formal complaints to existing channels—and explain to consumers why you’re doing it when you’re doing it.

At the end of the day this is about reaching people where they are and the way they want to be reached. It’s about a legitimate conversation. It’s about listening and leading. That’s pretty simple. So why do we persist in making it so complicated?

Proposing guidelines for social media monitoring by financial institutions

Nick O’Neill had a great piece yesterday about banks mining social media sites for personal information. It’s both an unsettling and an exciting piece to read. We live in an age of increasingly easy data access and increasingly ineffective mass media advertising. Much as employers now include credit scores in their hiring decisions and are using information on social media sites to influence hiring and firing decisions, financial institutions will eventually create meaningful ways to use other publicly available data like social media site activity to protect their interests and make decisions.

Much like cloning, the train has already left the station on this issue. So what to do—if anything? I suggest three elements to social media policy for financial institutions.

1. Creation of tools and best practices for ethical data use in social media marketing. This would include both ways to gather information in ways that are statistically valid and accurate. It would also include best practices for when and how to use this data (e.g., on which type of sites do you market, what level of detail can you use, etc.) For example, when—if at all—is it acceptable and effective for a bank or insurance company to place an ad on my Facebook page marketing a product that is appropriate for someone of my age, family situation, etc.?
2. Create like an industry “seal of approval” body and an actual seal or emblem that “certified” companies—or companies that subscribe to the standards—can use. With proper education and awareness, consumers would learn to recognize the seal much the way the recognize VeriSign or TRUSTe seals today.
3. Legislation to update applicable privacy and credit laws. Legislation after a tragedy takes place is almost always too heavy-handed and stops at window dressing. The Fair Credit Reporting Act and the like should be updated now not later. Yes, this can be equivalent to opening Pandora’s Box or a can of worms, but at least if you choose to open the can you have a much better chance of putting one of them on the hook and going fishing (i.e., marketing effectively and ethically) than being on the hook and fined, sued or pilloried in the press.

David Svet at Spurspectives wrote a great piece recently on how FINRA (the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) has taken the first steps in the related area of social media guidelines for financial advisors. I’m calling for more of the same from the financial industry itself and I’ll begin proposing some ideas in upcoming blog posts.

50 milliseconds to win business on the web: how website visuals and a clear purpose work for Russell Investments and Dominos Pizza

According to Canadian researchers, you have fewer than 50 milliseconds to make a good impression on your website. In a twentieth of a second a potential customer looked at your website and decided what they thought about its quality. I’ve seen other studies give roughly the same timeframe and reach the same findings about consumers’ views of a site’s relevance and credibility. That’s a scary prospect. So how do you make your web work without spending thousands? Out of many possibilities, I want to focus on two:

1. Establishing a clear purpose
2. Replacing text with visuals.*

*Note: I’m defining a visual as a graphical image that helps you do or understand something without reading anything.

Testing for clarity of purpose

1. Look at the web page and write down the first five words that come to mind. No editing and no thinking. Just write.
2. Look again and ask yourself what’s the purpose of this page? (In other words, what question does it answer or what does it help you do?) Again, no editing and no thinking. Just write.

What you should find

• The first five words should match what you want the web visitor to think, feel or do when they see the page. If not, there’s a missed opportunity.
• You should be able to state the purpose in one sentence—two at most.

In addition, the page should bring closure to the visitor or directly drive business for you. That is, the visitor should be able to resolve it (their need or want) or reach the right person directly from that page. Think of it as the closure principle: a (positive) conclusion for them or a sale for you.

So what about the visuals?

This is the missing link. We live in an increasingly graphical world. People don’t read (as much); they do see and then they act. Compelling visuals show your purpose quickly and enable people to act immediately. Then, if they want more detail, they can read the copy that goes with it.

Two examples to consider for visuals that work:

For business-to-business: check out the State of the Economy page from Russell Investments.

For business-to-consumers: check out the “Order Tracker” page from Dominos Pizza.

In both cases they’re clean, have a clear purpose, and enable you to take action—or know what action is being taken—immediately. Do they do their job in less than 50 milliseconds? Let me know what you think!

Ghostwritten blogs and a lesson from the Wizard of Oz

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain! Dorothy and her friends are crushed to discover the Wizard of Oz really is no wizard at all; he’s just a man who’s been hiding behind a curtain pulling levers and making noise. They thought they were talking to a real wizard and getting to discuss what mattered to them with someone whose opinion they valued—but they weren’t. Therein lies the risk in a ghost-written blog. It’s a dilemma Todd Defren draws to light in a great piece titled “In Defense of Ghostblogging: Social Media Ethical Dilemmas.”

But leaders are busy leading and they’re not writers or they’d be doing my job instead. So I’ve ghostwritten emails, newsletters articles, and more for many years. In fact, one membership invitation I wrote received so many compliments that the leader I wrote it for was grateful when the kickoff event was over. The reason: it wore him out to pretend he wrote it. The piece worked, though, because I knew the leader so well that I could write in his voice. I knew what he would want to say and how he would say it. The piece, in essence, was from him even if it wasn’t written by him. Most important of all is that he requested the topic and he personally edited and approved the final copy.

Blogs get grayer because they live somewhere in the world of “Dear Diary” and talking over the fence or water cooler. In other words, they’re a conversation specifically between the author and the readers.  They work specifically because they’re not corporate-speak from corporate writers like me. If readers figure out—or come to believe—it isn’t really the listed author doing the writing then the trust is gone.

Does that mean I think you should never ghostwrite a blog? No. It’s an awfully slippery slope, though, as soon as it shifts from editing to drafting to writing. The further it moves in the other direction, the more the Wizard of Oz becomes just the man behind the curtain. Dorothy and her friends may not have been able to walk out and “hire” a new wizard, but customers and potential customers can “walk out” on a business. Once they walk out, they almost never come back. To me it’s not worth the risk…

1 jingle and 20 years of value: music matters even for small business

373-7350. 373-7350. Jake’s Pizza…  It’s not nearly as catchy without the music to go with it. For the moment, though, that’s not the point. The point is that I remember the phone number and the jingle for Jake’s Pizza in Albert Lea, Minnesota over 20 years ago—even though I never lived there. I did, though, go there to visit family and every time the radio was on I heard that jingle. I couldn’t tell you the phone number for any other restaurant in America, but I will know that one until the day I die.

So, what’s the point?

Music is an underutilized tactic in any marketing or branding strategy. According to a study cited by music branding expert Ruth Simmons,

• “Brands with music that fit their brand identity are 96% more likely to be recalled than those with non-fit music or no music at all”
• “Respondents are 24% more likely to buy a product with music that they recall, like, and understand compared with 8% where the opposite applies”

Music helps you stand out and, I’d argue, it can be a key component in helping you move from brand recognition (consumers know who you are) —to brand value—(consumers care who you are and they’ll do business as a result)

Why does it work?

As music therapy research has shown, “music with a strong beat can stimulate brainwaves to resonate in sync with the beat” and “bring lasting benefits to your state of mind, even after you’ve stopped listening.” In other words, music creates chemical and emotional reactions that can stick with you long after you’ve stopped listening.

When should it be used?

Music tends to work best in saturated industries or unfamiliar industries and where the consumer is purchasing a product rather than a long-term relationship. In either case you’re dealing with what appears to be a virtually identical product, purchased on a one-time basis, where the service or the atmosphere is the key differentiator. Automobiles, personal injury attorneys, and even fast-food are good examples.

What doesn’t work?

Music just for the sake of music, music that’s overused (e.g., ad saturation), music that overpowers the message, or music that doesn’t fit the taste of your audience.

What does work?

• It’s memorable: if you can reproduce it before bed, the shower, or car, it works.

• It’s short: whether it’s your “calling card” (e.g., the Intel “bum, bum, bum bum”) or your call to action (e.g., putting your name and phone number to music to encourage the dialing of your number) aim for three seconds and cap it at ten. You want even non-singers to be able to sing or hum the key part in their head.
• It sets a mood that captures your brand.

Used strategically, music can be a compelling means for setting a company apart. Used poorly, it can drive business away. And the beat goes on…