The biggie is “Don’t try to please everyone!”

I spend a good portion of my day convincing clients that their target is NOT Everyone. For example, if you are B2B, that eliminates a lot of the audience right there. If you have a geographic limit to your delivery area, you just shrunk the audience. See? Get it?

The other side to that is Seth’s point that you can’t please everyone. And why would you want to?

In sports, fans love their team and hate everyone else. Other examples include:

• Coke versus Pepsi
• Chevy vs Ford
• Burger King vs McDonald’s
• Democrats versus Republicans

Brands polarize.

If your brand doesn’t have haters, you don’t have any Brand Loyalty. You don’t have enough people emotional attached to your brand. They haven’t had a great experience with your product or service or people (like say Zappos or Tom’s Shoes). They don’t have a story to tell about it.

Let’s face it, social media is about conversation. It is about spreading a message, an idea or a story. But at its foundation it is marketing, because what is marketing but spreading an idea, a story or a message.

Unfortunately, most people are spreading manure and pumping up their own egos. How many were not very good at traditional marketing? Ego doesn’t work well in marketing because it isn’t about YOU, it’s about THEM. The Client. The Customer. The Ratepayer. The Prospect.

Marketing is about getting attention. That’s why people talk about eyeballs and the number of followers or some other metric. It is about Engagement and Listeners. Jeffrey Gitomer asks, “Would you rather have a loyal wife or a satisfied one?”

The same with your followers. Sure, 10K people following you strokes your ego, but if no one is listening or responding or re-tweeting or commenting, what’s the point?

There is a story about 1000 customers being profitable. And 2000 customers makes you lots of profit.

There’s also the mental limit of about 250 – that’s about all the people we can effectively remember and engage with. People with a network of more than 5,000 will tell you it’s possible but I’m going to stick with you can have a Rolodex of thousands, but can only maintain a relationship with about 250.

That brings us around to sales: in sales, it’s about the relationship. They have to like you and trust you to buy from you in most cases.

We forget in this digital age that pre-Internet, PR, marketing, advertising and branding were not always done under one roof. There are still many firms that just handle publicity. Still others only handle branding; while others just do advertising. It’s all under the Marketing umbrella, but they are different arms of that octopus.

Remember too, that in traditional advertising, there was a media buy component and a creative piece. The creative piece was the charge to come up with the campaign – whether it was the story board for the commercial (TV or radio) or the billboard and newsprint ads. The firm created the story that would resonate with your target audience. (Unless it was just a cool ad to win an ADDY, which also happened. A lot.)

The firm would do the media buy for a commission to get your ad on the radio – on the right radio station that hit your demographics; or on the right TV channel, on the targeted TV show, aimed at a targeted demographic. Or the same with a newspaper or magazine ad: who is the target demographic and what do they read.

We seemed to have forgotten all that in the online marketing world. We don’t story board or check where the demographic is or target like a sharpshooter. Instead, we aim for numbers and noise and throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks. If you are going to spend the time, the effort and the money, do it right. The Internet has a long memory.

On RAD’s Radar has a bunch of the insights and quotes from the sessions I attended at GROWCO.

Now I will sum up the conference in 4 points.

Number 1: I would have to say that in order to really grow your business you need to tell a story. That’s first and foremost. And not a story that is Me, Me, Me. Over the ages storytelling is how history was passed down. You know your own family history from listening to your parents and grandparents tell you stories. If you want people to talk about your company and refer business to you, you need to be able to tell a clear, concise story about what you do that benefits the person who is listening. (It takes time to create this message).

Whether you are networking, giving a presentation, answering a customer complaint, or on a sales appointment, remember that people care about themselves, not you. What message do you want them to take away? (It can only be one message).

Your Brand is the Emotional memory that a person has for either your company or logo or product. I usually describe it as 1K of memory storage of everything they know or have heard about your company. But there has to be an emotional string there somewhere for them to care one way or another. Apathy is the absence of emotion. [FYI, the Coke/Pepsi Challenge with brain imaging]

“You are building a relationship not a sale,” says Norm Brodsky. Raving Fans, Repeat Customers, and Referrals all come from relationships. You need to care about your customer more than making a sale. Period.

It all starts with the Hiring. You can’t teach Friendly. Hire Slow, Fire Fast. If the candidate isn’t smiling and trying to win the position, don’t bother hiring them. Corporate Culture is about hiring friendly, trustworthy people that care about the same things that you care about. [See the story of Zappos.com or any article by Norm Brodsky]

There are a number of factors that go into web design, including why are you building the web site? That’s first and foremost. Why? To sell something? An online brochure?

It can not be all things to all people because it will end up being nothing to anyone.

In an upcoming session in Orlando, we will be examining websites for design flaws. But luckily we will tell you how to improve it!

What does that mean?

The idea of job security is ended. The responsibility for job security, income, benefits and retirement will be solely in the hands of the workers from now on.

Whether you intended to be a Freelancer or not, you will need to make decisions and embrace the path of a freelancer to find some success.

Register for the Lunch 2.0 talk on March 10 here.

I find that if I don’t carefully monitor my social media time, I can quickly have 30 tabs open in Firefox and be lost for hours replying, commenting, reading, re-tweeting, until the morning or afternoon is gone and I have to get in fireman costume to get any real work done.

And notice that much of that is just following links and reading the feed. There’s a lot of information out there. I’m slowly learning how to scan and move along. While I am not sure what I expected from Buzz, I do know that it is becoming like Posterous. People are using Buzz as an aggregation of all of their social media interactions – tweet, blog, yadda yadda. Whereas I was looking for a filter to get less noise, I know get more noise from each person I follow.

I have to wonder, what are these people thinking?

Sally Hogshead, the author of Fascinate, noted this, “In an attempt to be all things to all people, most brands end up being nothing to anyone.”

Take a moment to think about that.

Why is that? Let’s take a look at Oil of Olay. Back in the day I worked for Richard-Vicks Research just as Proctor&Gamble acquired them. At the time, there was only the pink bottle of Oil of Olay. We were working on the first non-pink version, Young Oil-Free, which was removing the coloring and re-formulating it without oil. At the same time, we were working on a clear, colorless eye conditioner. And so began the expansion of the Olay Brand. Today, there is about 8 feet of shelf space in Publix of Olay products. They have diluted the brand to the point that no one even knows what product to buy. I watched two women look at a few bottles each and end up choosing none.

Social Media is a great platform for Personal Branding. However, I see that people want to be all things to all people. They want their message to be seen by all people. They want that message populated across all networks because someone may miss it.

Trust me on this: most of the messages (blog, tweet, whatever) are not so significant that everyone has to see it. I get to see it for many people at least twice a day – the same tweet or update – and it is tiresome.

Most of this noise isn’t even a conversation, but a broadcast. It’s a news update from your own station.

It’s not even a conversation starter. It’s Advertising. Why do I say that? Because it’s “look at me!” “look at me!” We need less of that.

I know that there is some overlap in my social networks – LinkedIn, twitter, Facebook, Buzz, etc. I do know that my goal on each is very different. On LinkedIn, it’s all business. LI is my rolodex and my resume. Twitter is about news and connecting with others in the industry. It’s a news feed as well as a place to have a fascinating conversation. Facebook is where you go if you want to see a more personal view, but I rarely connect with folks on FB and LI anymore. I push everyone to LI. In most cases, I don’t need to know that much info about someone I do business with. Remember how your mother said not to talk about politics and religion at dinner? There’s a reason for that – even moreso today in our very much polarized world.

So what does all this rambling mean? What is your goal on each network? Is it to be like Guy and broadcast your message across all platforms to every single set of eyeballs?

As Steve Tingiris of Enthusem.com told me, we are at a point when the marketing is getting closer to one-to-one. If that is so, why are people still trying to puke on the masses? They are listening less and less. (See Deanna’s stats from Spike Jones at Social Fresh Tampa: “76% of people think that companies lie in advertising. 77% Percent of people trust companies less than they did a year ago.”)

I would venture to guess that your message could be better targeted as well. It’s easier to broadcast across all streams, but what is your goal? Who are you targeting and why? And where are they? And why are they there?

Fast Company magazine published Tom Peters article titled The Brand Called You in August 1997 and a follow-up article called Brand You Survival Kit here in 2004.

In addition, Joe Calloway wrote Becoming a Category of One in 2003.

Moreover, Seth Godin has been writing about being unique (a Purple Cow) since 2003.

Seth’s latest book, Linchpin, is about becoming indispensable at the office. To add value and distinction at the workplace so that you can get some pleasure out of your W-2. In a way, that’s about branding yourself too, because you are talking about affecting how others perceive you. And you are thinking about how others perceive you. A brand is the sum total of experiences, thoughts and emotion associated with a person or company.

Affiliates links to Amazon.com are contained in this post.

Copyright 2009-2010 by Peter Radizeski, the Marketing Idea Guy. All rights reserved. Must have written permission of the author to copy.

Gary started in retail at the age of 6 with lemonade stands. That’s right: plural. He had others working for him over the summer. He understood early that business is about eyeballs.

We agree on 2 points:  (1) Storytelling is the key to business. (2) Social media is just a marketing tool like the printing press. It isn’t about the tool; it’s all about the story to the market.

Gary says that if you don’t get Twitter or Facebook, get over it because millions are using it. That’s where the eyeballs are, so you better be there. But doing what? It isn’t about Talking. It’s about Listening. (Which btw is a huge lesson in sales. Two ears, one mouth; listen twice as much as you talk

Too many businesses draw a line in the sand. You have to see trends and go with the flow. “Business is  a game of change.” If billions are on FB – but more important, if your target market is on FB or Twitter – then you need to be there to. Listening, engaging, telling your story. The World Wrestling Entertainment is about storytelling. Disney and Pixar are all about stories. Branding is about the story that the consumer has heard about your brand – the sum total of story, experience, WOM (word-of-mouth), and emotional tag. How you feel about Dunkin Donuts or Nike is the branding.

Another point he made has been made by Seth Godin: You have to know what business you are in. During Q&A (which was half the night), Gary kept asking people these questions:

• Who are you?
• What are you selling?
• What’s your story?
• Where are you going?
• What are your expectations?
• What do you expect to happen?
• What do you want to happen?

His answer to most questions was Content. That translates into Personal Branding online. Buy the domain yourname.com. Start a blog. Video, audio, text – doesn’t matter. Start producing content (and stories) about what you are passionate about, what you have knowledge about. But do it in your own voice. This is your online presence, your home on the Internet – just 15 years old but changing everything everyday.

He spoke over and again about Transparency. Basically, be authentic, because if you aren’t, you will be caught and outed. In a similar vein, remember that everything is recorded for posterity today. Cameras are everywhere. Everything you put online is permanent. If you aren’t authentic, it will come out.

When it comes to What are you selling, be Honest with yourself. It’s okay for it to be about the Benjamins. Just make certain that you know what you want and expect, so that you know where you are headed.

Gary Vee’s BHAG is to own the NY Jets. It’s what guides his actions. Having a seven month old child may have changed that just a little bit. He’s all about “Crushing It” – working smart and hard. He works 19 hours per day. (He is cutting back to 15 now). What’s yours? What guides your business decisions? What is  your Goal or Vision that keeps you motivated?  (It’s a key part of the equation).

Note: Lack of self-esteem and laziness is destroying business value.

Gary mentioned that WOM converts to a sale 70% of the time. Advertising converts 12%. Today, with online personal branding your job is to create fans, who will spread the word (re-tell your story) about your business to prospects, who will become customers.

We are becoming more connected and more documented every day. So the days of chasing the quick cash might be coming to an end.

Gary thinks the Wal-Mart Era is almost over and it will become the Niche Era. We will win next. Oops! There will be 2000 to 8000 of Yoga Chicks in your area. You better have the skills and the work ethic to beat them. YOU are the Differentiating factor.

Here’s why Gary thinks the Zappos story is so important: because it is the story about how Culture and Service won (not price). Zappos cost more than other online shoes stores, but the Culture was to make the customer happy. That won out (when its competitor, Amazon bought Zappos for $1B)

The other thing to notice is that customers are going through an Expectation Shift. Instant Customer Service will be expected or you will become a commodity (and lowest price will win).

BTW, that social media thing? It takes time to work, so be patient.

UPDATE:  Fellow Tampa blogger, Deana Goldasich, has  a great write-up about the Gary Vee talk here.

This is the story about Organic cotton.  Some folks (like my wife) are in to the whole organic story. But how much is it a fable when only 5% of the fabric is Organic Cotton (or Bamboo) and the other 95% is regular cotton?? Would you buy a head of lettuce that was 5% Organic?

QuickSilver is dumb in doing this (which explains why it was on the clearance rack).

If you are thinking about jumping into Social Media Marketing for your company, here’s some advice:

There are No experts (here and here). Sure, people call them that. And there are lists of people to follow (here and here and here and here and here), but the industry is too young to have experts. (And how many can answer most  of Chris Brogan’s questions?) Plus the whole sector is in a constant state of flux: one day its blogs, then social networks, then twitter, then on to the next cool widget / tool / app. It seems to be like fashion – once everyone is wearing it, it’s no longer cool. More likely, once it hits mainstream, it is no longer useful because the noise level has become way too loud.

The key thing is that social media is just a platform for communications and connections. It is a tool like a billboard or a commercial, but it has to be engaging. People want to be engaged, connected, told a story — Entertained. The hardest thing to do in a  declining civilization is to keep the masses entertained.

The next step is to realize that without a goal and a plan, it’s just a crazy time sink.

• What do you want to accomplish?
• How will you go about doing that?
• Who will help you?

Chris Brogan has a nice post about how to build a powerful small network. You are doing that, but you are inviting people to buy into your Vision and take the ride with you. There’s an element of trust there, but if you can engage them with an authentic story then you are on your way.

“Companies that focus on earning love will thrive during hard times, and kick ass when good times return.” – Andy Sernovitz from Peter Kim’s Social Media Predictions for 2009.

One thing to remember is that although there is no capital cost (CAPEX) to social media there is a lot of man-hour cost. And if you are not authentic and kind of transparent, then your reputation may suffer. Also, if you are not prepared to expend the effort long term, don’t bother. It takes time to write a thoughtful blog regularly (at least once a week). It takes time to Twitter and use Facebook. Moderating a forum or starting discussing on a social network app takes an enormous effort. (And it is about the conversation). As David Armano wrote, “Although it is now cheaper to launch an initiative leveraging Web 2.0 technology – it requires qualified and passionate people to make them successful.”

It’s going to be conversations not tricks because SEO is Dead.  Search is getting local and smarter.  According to Bernie Borges at Find and Convert,  “”search” is a much bigger picture than SEO only…I like “SMO” because “media” doesn’t limit to engines.”  That means you have to have a strategy. Well, now’s a good time to plan for 2009!