Both Coke and AT&T left the audience with a feeling that became associated with their brand. There is no better branding than that. None.

Today, we have a lot of creative stuff, but very few that leave you with an emotion. One exception is the VW The Force ad by Deutsch that debuted at the Super Bowl.

A couple that come close: TalkTalk is trying with this commercial. Google Chrome did a good job of explaining WHAT you can do with Chrome and the Google Cloud without every mentioning it – which is a huge point! – in this ad. Your prospects and Customers do NOT care about the technology. They only care about what they can do with the tech.

Back to Coke for a minute. Coke did a social experiment in Portugal this year – read about it here. It had nothing to so with selling Coke. It was a human interest story. It was about emotion. I think that’s the key to branding. Feel good, Grab a Coke.

Connect with People, pick up the phone. Voice is better than text because text has no emotion.

According to the NY Times, there are only 1.2 Billion good jobs in the world – and 6.9 Billion people are fighting over them! Ever seen Shift happens?

Education is getting slaughtered in the US – and maybe that is a good thing because free education was set up by Edison and Crew to provide skilled workers for their factory jobs – jobs that have moved overseas. Maybe home schooling, internships and mentoring programs are the way to go. Even with a Chemistry degrees, I didn’t have the skills for a job until I took extra workshops in specific equipment to get certified with marketable skills. The same is true today where a number of jobs did not exist ten years ago — and education certainly won’t fix that.

The key is to be coachable, learn a lot fast, know how to market yourself, communicate, handle the complex — in a nutshell: Be a Linchpin!

Good Luck!

With the passing of Trey Pennington over the Labor Day weekend, a few blogs wrote about the pressure they were under in today’s economy and ever changing marketplace.

I’m confused by that. While I am not as well known as some social media personae, I am a consultant, marketer, author, speaker and an event planner.

I strive to give my best. Every time. I want every event to leave the audience with an A-ha moment. I look for improvement at every opportunity. I try to write better, clearer, more concise. I try to leave my audience with valuable take-aways.

The blog is part of not only the fremium revenue model, but the gift that I give to my audience. Actually to my tribe. I don’t write for everyone. I don’t create events for everyone. I do what I do for the success of my Tribe.

There’s a concept in math of getting closer and closer but never reaching the target. Each step is half the other. Each step is as hard or harder than the last. Yet never quite reaching the target. That target for some is perfection. It’s great to strive for, but it is overwhelming and exhausting to be obsessed with perfection.

You can’t top every speech.

Every blog won’t get a favorite in someone’s reader.

Every tweet doesn’t get a RT.

Maybe the social media audience allows for immediate feedback, but for many they don’t even see your posts in their stream.

If you have 20K followers how many actually pay attention?

You should be focused on your Tribe.

In Linchpin, Seth Godin talks about being an Artist, a Genius and shipping. Good enough often is.

I’m not saying do sloppy work. I am saying focus on your Tribe – not everybody. If everything you do – blog, speak, plan, write – is done with the intent to improve the business of the tribe members, then it will all work out.

In his inaugural address in 1961, JFK’s speech really set the tone for what the USA could and would attain. We need more of that.

“But let us begin!”

Ask not what Your Country can do for you, But what You can do for Your Country!

To all the men and women in the military and their families, thank you for your sacrifice for our Liberty.

BTW, here’s a copy of the Declaration of Independence.

“Wow lots of people celebrating in WH & Times Square: it is just like watching Iran after a terrorist attack – the US is the same as them…” [twitter]

When you examine the newspaper headlines (see some here), it is understandable how this may inflame the fanatics. And I’m not trying to be a buzz kill.

To fill time on air, the bobble-heads on CNN and MSNBC kept repeating words like invaded, killed, assassinated. They even said, “This was a kill operation.” This was a military operation against a terrorist. It needed to be told that way.

One of the CNN analysts even stated that Pakistan should be embarrassed. Of course, the backlash came this morning when Musharraf condemned the ‘violation of our sovereignty’. CIA Director Panetta stated this morning that al-Qaida will ‘almost certainly’ attempt to avenge bin Laden death. Let me remind you that a dead Bin Laden no more means the end of terrorism than a black president meant the end of racism. He will be martyred and others will take up his mantle. Our media should think first about whether they are fanning the flames of hatred.

Not too long ago, a Florida minister burned a Koran, which incited violence in Afghanistan. Others paid the price.

Yes, of course, it’s closure. Yes, we should take the time to remember those lost in the 10 years since 9/11. (Here are the astonishing numbers!) And this action definitely says that “We will be relentless in the defense of our citizens.” But temper it with the fact that perhaps celebrating a death is kind of dishonorable. That we still have soldiers in military zones. That North Africa and the Middle East – Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, even Somalia and Lebanon – are experiencing unrest at levels unseen in my lifetime.

The beacon of hope was when Americans crowded together and sang the National Anthem. It was not whooping it up while yelling “Rot in Hell, you bastard!” We need to be a beacon of hope and light. Most of the world does not have a good feeling about America. As President Obama said, “We will be true to the values that make us who we are.”

To the US Military: “Thank you for doing your job so well that the rest of us can sit on our couch and cheer the television.” [twitter] Here’s a good way to support Special Forces: http://www.nswfoundation.org/. Or donate some care packages to the men and women that serve http://www.navy.mil/navydata/navy_legacy_hr.asp?id=164.

A couple of parting thoughts from others: opinion at NYT; and OBL’s obit.

I will say that all the jokes about 4square and the iPhone at a time like that is classless. Also, the number of folks who had to pick on the President’s speech – nitpicking about everything – even in that moment. It is utterly amazing to me. And for certain everyone has made blunders – especially me – but how would you have performed? What would you have said at that press conference?

This weekend is BarCamp Sarasota at the G.Wiz science museum.

Then next Saturday, May 7th from 8pm – 11pm is the annual Sea Grapes 2011. It’s a big WineFest as you stroll through The Aquarium.

On May 14, 2011 is an event I have never attended: The Royal Swan Gala. It will be a black tie affair at the Westin Harbour Island benefiting the Shriners Hospitals for Children.

Then Linda Conley of Connect Tampa is holding a Bachelor/Bachelorette Auction as a fundraiser for The Stylez G White Better Us Foundation. My friend Leah will be a Bachelorette. This will be on Thursday, May 19, 2011 from 6-10 PM at Hula Bay.

Then of course, Memorial Day is Monday, May 30.

One weekend in June is really busy. On June 25, 2011,
Business Buddies is having their annual Havana Nights event at the Tampa History Center, while the Ryan Nece Foundation event is the same evening. But DISPATCH is playing in Boston, so I am going to be hanging with my niece in New England.

There’s also a wedding on June 4th – big congrats to the bride!

What did I miss?

where they need to be

I took some heat from people on my blog post to the TBBJ. Apparently, I took a personal dispute public. Actually, it was on Facebook and there was some public dressing down at a club, so it was public.

Why do I blog this stuff? As a fellow Cranky Bastard told me, “I set my expectations too high, so I’m always disappointed.” There’s some truth to that.

Why is Customer Service so awful?

Why don’t companies accept criticism as a chance to improve? (What? You think I’m some Outlier? That others don’t feel the same way?)

Hugh MacLeod sent this cartoon out to his email list today. “Business is the art of getting people to where they need to be faster than they would get there without you.” In other words, I may kick you, but I will try to be constructive so you can improve from it. Most people don’t see the constructive parts in what I write. They just see the kick. The kick is to get your attention. If you can’t get past that, then I can’t help you. (Nor do I want to.)

Business is changing faster today than ever before, especially for the print newspaper space. With about 8K subscribers, the TBBJ has to rely on events to stay open. It can get better at events. It has to. There’s too much competition in the event space for the sponsor dollars; the audience attention; and the attendees’ wallets.

TBBJ isn’t just competing with DG or TBTF. It’s competing with hundreds of Meetups that are smaller, specialized tribes that give great value. It’s competing with Camps like BarCamp Tampa Bay, BlogCamp, CodeCamp, and so many more.

In a similar vein, the AMA Tampa Bay is facing a similar challenge from all of the social media “gurus” running seminars, classes, etc. all over the Greater Tampa Bay market. It also competes with the Wealth Annex and Social Fresh for sponsor dollars and attention.

That’s pretty much the problem: Everyone is competing for Attention.

There are two ways to get the Attention: (1) throw such a fabulous event that people buzz about it; or (2) build a tribe through relationships with your target audience. The other way is to just keep throwing shit on the wall to see what happens. That doesn’t work well.

Here are some ideas, Bridgette. (1) Subscriber only events with a speaker. (2) Work with Bright House, since you have the same parent company. How about a TBBJ/BayNews9 business minute every work day? Or better interview a business person every day. Unfortunately, you will take this to mean any advertiser can send anyone over to get some face time. That’s the wrong way to do it! (3) Brand each event better. Instead of “just name tags” what about a TBBJ headline name tag?

It’s 2011. Time to get creative. Stop whining about your critics and your competitors and get better at what you do.

Netscape spent too much time worrying about Microsoft’s Internet Explorer instead of making game changing improvements to Netscape.

But my opinion doesn’t matter, so you probably didn’t read this far.

Community. What is Community? We live in a time when it is as easy to connect to people in Europe as it is to connect to people in our home town. But Community starts at home. It’s where we live.

Some community leaders spend time on their own agenda, but not on connecting with other communities. We are a collection of micro-communities, many times running in parallel; other times in cross-purpose with other micro-communities in our own geographic circle.

One fear surrounding the Internet is that we will become insulated from other opinions and surround ourselves with like-minded people who don’t oppose our world view. That’s not how thinking happens. To poke the box, you need to be able to defend your world view or philosophy or opinion against thoughtful debate. But I’m getting away from my idea for the post.

We talk about Community in grand scale. But it starts in your backyard. (Local is all, right?) It starts with people, because who but people in you backyard make up community?

Leadership is a funny word. It isn’t defined by notoriety or fame or celebrity. A leader is someone who has a vision and, well, leads. She does that by following that vision. If you look around and no one is following, you may not be a leader. Every tribe needs a leader. Someone to be the beacon of the vision, like Steve Jobs or Gloria Steinem or Martin Luther King, Jr.

Visionary is not a title you get to pick for yourself. It’s about seeing the future. It’s about imagining what is to come. It’s also about expounding that idea, spreading it, making it happen.

In none of these cases – community, leadership, visionary – is it about YOU. It’s about the Tribe. It’s about moving forward, paying back, taking a stand, but always about bettering the ball. That’s a volleyball term that means when you make a play on the ball, you improve the position of the ball for your team to make a play. Mothers say to leave the place better than when you arrived.

The next time you are thinking about these terms – community, leader, visionary – remember that it isn’t about you. It’s about those around you, where you live, and what you will be remembered for. It’s about Actions more than Words.

Words are easy. So are Ideas. The stand outs Act, Ship, Create, Do.

I’m Catholic by virtue of Confirmation and four years of Jesuits beating me with the Scriptures. I’m not quite certain people understand the idea of prayer. It isn’t so much pray and receive. It’s kind of like the lottery ticket you buy: you have to keep working towards retirement with some kind of planning until you do win. (Hope isn’t a strategy and lottery isn’t an IRA).

Saint Francis of Assisi had it right when he said, “When we pray to God we must be seeking nothing – nothing.”

Satchel Paige said, “Don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines.”

Two hands working can do more than a thousand clasped in prayer. ~Author Unknown

Give a man a fish, and you’ll feed him for a day; give him a religion, and he’ll starve to death while praying for a fish. ~Author Unknown

Finally, Frederick Douglass stated, “I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.”

It’s all about action.

I am a firm believer that prayer can you strength (and when do you need that strength more than when you are in trouble, right?). But nothing is delivered into your lap. It’s all about working for it.

And nothing is easy. There is no overnight success. You just happen to see the result of consistent labor.

I read that even if He wanted you to have it after you prayed, He wouldn’t place it in front of you. He make you go find it.

Life is a journey, right? You only enjoy Happiness because you know Sadness. You only like water because you know thirst. We like winning after tasting loss.

Here’s an article with a similar theme.