I have long been a fan of Ryan Reynolds. Minus that Green Lantern fiasco, he is a great actor. And what makes him so is his huge personality. I do think though that he truly became a star when he “created” Deadpool. Somehow, it is as though he truly connected with the character and… well … stayed in character on and off screen. Being Deadpool – smart and funny with a heaping serving of self-deprecating humor – works for him. It comes easy. My favorite moments of Ryan Reynolds’ brilliance, however, are not on screen at all, but off. The movie is fun, yes. But the marketing of it is even better. From pre-release teasers, to weird interviews, to crazy Walmart movies shelf takeovers, everything Reynolds does is hilarious and, most importantly, fully aligns with not only his character, but with his own personality. Moreover, Reynolds extends his self-deprecating humor to marketing of his new business, Aviation Gin. But more on that later. First, let’s go back a bit and take a look at Deadpool 2 genius marketing moves. Here are some bold movie’s teasers / posters / covers:   Then there is this priceless “With Apologies to David Beckham” teaser video: Of course, there is Deadpool’s “awkward interview” with IGN:   And who could ever forget Deadpool taking over Manchester United. My favorite closing quote:

“See, when you make a sequel, you have to double down on your promotion so you don’t just get buried by Infinity War.”

Another genius move was to use Deadpool’s master-of-sarcasm personality and love for limelight to work him into the cover art of other famous movies for sale at Walmart:

As part of the marketing campaign for the Deadpool sequel, some Walmart stores in the US have different covers for DVDs, featuring Deadpool in a prominent role. pic.twitter.com/6p6pM7fEwp

— Ken Rutkowski (@kenradio) May 16, 2018

I can probably keep going. But I am way too impatient to discuss his latest masterpiece – promotion of Aviation Gin, a boutique gin producer in the Pacific Northwest which Canadian actor recently acquired. The promotion for Aviation Gin started with a video that Ryan posted on his YouTube channel with this comment: “What makes Aviation Gin so delicious? I’m glad you didn’t ask…” The video jokingly describes the process of making gin, openly mocking a variety of other “perfect” and “inspiring” commercials produced by brands. Reynolds’ promotion of his new business closely resembles Deadpool’s disregard for the norm. And it’s delicious! And his ingenuity doesn’t end there. Huge kudos to Reynolds for the creative way in which he and Sir Richard Branson announced their new partnership:  

Look closely, you can spot the immediate regret on Sir Richard Branson’s face. #AviationOwner @AviationGin pic.twitter.com/KbmiMPIwRK

— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) September 25, 2018

Furthermore, Reynolds shrewdly uses his Twitter “war” with Hugh Jackman (even though they are friends in real life) to cross-promote not only his business, but Jackman’s new venture as well. Reynolds/Jackman “feud” goes back to Wolverine/Deadpool beef that has been somewhat even for a while, until Reynolds tweeted this:

How well do you really know @RealHughJackman? pic.twitter.com/cV0W7C4LE3

— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) November 2, 2018

Jackman fired back, suggesting that Reynolds’ success wasn’t exactly earned.  

Who are you going to trust? Me or @VancityReynolds? (Courtesy of @MTVNews @joshuahorowitz) #OnceUponADeadpool @letsfcancer pic.twitter.com/OanGxwPDO6

— Hugh Jackman (@RealHughJackman) November 26, 2018

However, recently the two actors decided to call a truce and to make up for previous transgressions to make ads for each of other’s respective new businesses. A truce is always nice. Or is it? Last week Reynolds tweeted this video with a caption that read “F for effort”: Not sure what Hugh Jackman was “mad” about. After all, Reynolds wasn’t the one who did this to him at a Christmas party:

These assholes told me it was a sweater party. @RealHughJackman #JakeGyllenhaal pic.twitter.com/qGLa2a2o0Z

— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) December 21, 2018

Needless to say, both actors found a brilliant and light-hearted way to cross-promote each other’s movies and each other’s new ventures. What can marketers learn from Ryan Reynolds? Here are my thoughts:

1. Find out who you are, shape your brand and voice around your identity, and stick with it. Surprisingly enough, most brands don’t know who they really are and what they stand for. They sway from left to right and backwards trying to find that golden nugget that would take them viral overnight. They change their voice, their approach, their tone, and sometimes even their logo in a desperate attempt to not become outdated. And consumers see right through it. Those brands that are firm in their purpose, their personality, and their values tend to be consistent in how they talk to the world and that is what resonates the most. You might not please everyone. You might not dominate the market. But you will attract the crowd that “gets you” and that’s where loyalty lives.
2. Infuse your personality into everything you do. Yes, everything! Some might say that not all marketing ideas for his movies came from Ryan. That may be true. Though a big chunk of them – including some very niche and unique jokes Deadpool makes – did come from the actor and his quirky personality. He brings the same personality to marketing Aviation Gin. And we all say “that’s so Ryan Reynolds.” And that’s powerful!
3. Stop taking yourself seriously! Humor goes a long way in connecting with your audience and with your customers. So many executives are deathly afraid of poking fun at themselves and their own mistakes because they are worried about bad publicity. Humanity and humility are always more attractive and trustworthy than your spotless reputation and flawless speech. You gotta step off of that high horse and humanize your brand. That’s the only way forward.
4. Just because nobody has done it before, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. You want to be a leader, you need to be willing to take risk on an uncharted territory and original ideas. Otherwise, you are a follower. The best of the best don’t benchmark themselves against their industry rivals, they benchmark themselves against global leaders who create extraordinary things in extraordinary ways.
5. Start a feud with another celebrity… Wait! That’s not it. 😊 Don’t broadcast, engage others. Yes, that’s the one. Time and time again we broadcast: our opinion, information, product benefits… People don’t want to be talked down to, they want to be engaged. Start a conversation, spark a debate, maybe even engage your competition around a worthwhile cause. Don’t sell, converse! Listen as much as you talk. Consider your customers’ opinions and feedback. Crowd-source ideas and technologies. Empower your employees to engage with your customers and with the world. The list goes on.

Whatever you do, do it with love and flare. Engage with others and make meaningful connections. Get creative. Invite crazy ideas. Allow your personality to shine. The outcome might just pleasantly surprise you.  

The post What Marketers Can Learn from Ryan Reynolds appeared first on Ekaterina Walter.

I’ll be honest – I am not a professional videographer by any stretch of imagination. But that’s exactly, it seems, why my friends ask me – they want advice from someone who is not wrapped up in making a fancy professional video with super expensive equipment, they want advice from someone who is creating great videos with minimal effort and doing so on a reasonable budget.

Below are the things I suggest you pay attention to.

MESSAGE

Focus on your message. Map out what exactly you want to communicate. Write down the list, then pair it down. And then pair it down again. Leave the essentials only.

I suggest against memorizing anything, it will look forced. Rather, practice a couple of times so that you could hear it out loud. That usually changes your mind about the flow of delivery or the way you communicate certain parts of the message.

Another tip: don’t use complex words to try to sound fancy or use words you wouldn’t use in a regular conversation. It’ll trip you up every time.

DELIVERY

Do NOT try to make it perfect. You are human, if you trip up on a word or must rephrase something, it’s okay to not edit it out. No one expects you to be perfect, being human is just fine.

Sometimes it’s hard to talk to the camera because, let’s face it, it’s a bit unnatural. We are used to having a human person on the other side of the conversation. What I do when I experience that feeling is pretend that I am talking to one of my favorite industry colleagues and my stiffness goes away.

Contrary to what others will tell you, there is nothing wrong with being animated. People don’t like too polished, too stiff, too professional. I am, for example, a naturally passionate person. I talk loudly, I use my hands a lot, and I am usually super passionate about the topics I share. And that’s okay.

The best advice I can give you is this: be yourself. Don’t try to make yourself into something you are not. People will pick up on your personality quarks and that’s why they will keep coming back to watch your videos. Of course, there would be some who wouldn’t fully appreciate your uniqueness, and that’s okay. You don’t want a fan base who doesn’t “get you” or appreciate you.

Example: the unboxing video I shot for my new book The Laws of Brand Storytelling. Some might say it’s corny, some might say it’s a bit over the top. But when I get excited, I get excited. And all my friends and followers know that about me. It really fits with “who I am.” And I don’t ever apologize for it. Plus, watch it and tell me you are not excited alongside me when you are done watching it. 😊

That said, tailor your message to your audience. You would probably talk one way with your prospective employer and another way with your friend.

It is okay to do multiple takes. That practice will allow you to see how you behave within the set frame, how you might want to alter your environment, what you might want to do differently, etc. Watch every take, decide what you want to change, and shoot the final one.

One last piece of advice is: film standing up. It will improve your posture, give you more chance to move around a bit, project your voice and energy better, and will altogether make you look good. I am not a fan of sitting down while filming a video.

LENGTH

There are 2 things to remember:

1. People’s attention span isn’t long. For a regular vlog or personal message, normally 1-3 min video is long enough. For a video resume, 5-7 minutes should work. You get the point.
2. Maximum length allowed for posting on different social networks, if you are planning on posting natively (vs. linking to YouTube). On Twitter, for example, maximum length allowed is 2 minutes 20 seconds; on LinkedIn, it’s 10 minutes; etc.

Another tip: start with the key message. Don’t create a lengthy intro, otherwise, you’ll lose people’s attention right away.

LOOK

What you are wearing matters as well. There are some colors and patterns that are not great for a video. For example, consider this:

• Avoid wearing stripes, plaid, polka dots, or other patterns. Striped clothing may create a weird optical effect called a moire pattern, where different patterns might compete with each other.
• Don’t wear all black or all white. Throw in a bit of a contrast, the camera will boost it. In general, all white is not a great choice.  And contrary to what you may think, black won’t make you look slimmer on camera, the lack of contrast will make it hard for the camera to pick up where your arms end and your torso begins, making you look wider.
• Try to wear clothing that compliments the background. If your environment / background clashes with the colors you are wearing, it’ll look strange.
• Avoid anything that references a specific time or place can make your video appear dated.
• Watch out for accessories that might reflect the light or make noise.
• Sometimes glasses can cause glares or reflections so it’s better to keep them off, if you can. I struggle with this all the time since I wear glassed myself.
• If you are filming in front of a green screen, do not wear green.
• If you use makeup, foundation is always a great idea. It smooths out your skin and, coupled with the studio light, your skin will look flawless. And powder will give you an even, matte finish and cut down on distracting forehead and cheek shine.
• If you are not using makeup, then at a minimum consider using oil-absorbing sheets, they will reduce the oil sheen that the camera will intensify (I always carry those with me).

QUALITY

One of my professional videographer friends gave me this advice once: “It’s okay if the video quality isn’t the best, as long as the audio quality is great, people will watch it.”

I never used any professional cameras. All my videos are shot on my iPhone. The camera quality is good enough and, if you add a lav mic, the audio will be solid as well. If I am shooting at home and it’s quiet, most of the time I don’t use the mic either. More on the equipment below.

EDITING

Several secrets I learned:

1. If you are placing the video on social media, always add captions on the bottom. It’ll get way more views because people are watching those videos on silent.
2. Add a black bar on top that tells people what they should expect from your video (see my unboxing video). It doesn’t always fit with the purpose of your video, so be select where to use it. Several of my friends did the test where they posted the video with and without the black bar and they consistently got more views with the video that had the black bar on it.
3. Add a call-to-action: link to the website, link to buy your book, where to learn more. Use a jump link that’s easy to remember (e.g. bit.ly link).

Let’s talk software. I never recommend something I’ve never used. So here’s my favorite video editing software: Camtasia by TechSmith. I am a HUGE fan of TechSmith software. I’ve used their software for over 10 years and every year I fall a little bit more in love with it. I also use SnagIt by TechSmith for good-looking screenshots, training videos, and screen capture in general.

Both are extremely easy to learn and very versatile. And when I say easy to learn, I mean it. I pick up things fast but when it comes to software, I want it kindergarten-level easy. Moreover, TechSmith has a ton of free training videos that will get you editing your own videos in under 20 minutes.

In addition, Camtasia has a ton of great transitions, call-outs, music, and other nifty things built in to help you create professional-looking videos.

For certain scenarios (e.g. when you want to do a compilation of photos and video snippets and create one good-looking summary/wrap-up video) I also like to use Spark Video mobile app from Adobe. It’s free, but if you want to remove Adobe Spark branding from the end of the video, you can pay $9.99/month to create a fully custom, fully branded videos.

EQUIPMENT

And, of course, you need equipment to help you create videos of decent quality. Below are my suggestions (these are the tools I use myself).

Creating a makeshift studio:

I am not a fan of a green screen. I love a more natural environment. In my house, I use a favorite corner of my library as a backdrop to shoot my videos. All my equipment is set up there. I don’t have a ton of equipment (just necessities), so they are easy to move when I need to.

Here is what I use:

• Studio light
• Tripod
• Phone tripod mount
• Small magnetic tripod with remote shutter control
• Lav mic + extension cable
  • smartLav+ portable mic
  • SC1 extension cable

You can absolutely set up a small studio with the green screen in your house. Here is a post from TechSmith that walks you through everything you need to know.

Some of my friends even went one step further and painted a wall with the green screen color instead of buying a screen. Here is one example of the paint that would work. But you can google Rosco Chroma Key Paint and find lots of options that can be delivered straight to your home.

On the go:

When I shoot at events, here is what I bring with me in addition to some of the items I already listed above:

• Smartphone stabilizer: Smove
• Power bank
• Wide lens with LED light
• Lav mics (2 pack) for when you need to interview multiple people

There you have it. I hope this post was helpful.

My last piece of advice is this – don’t overthink it. Just start doing it. Don’t go for perfect. Don’t stress out. Just start shooting short videos and you will get better and better every time.

P.S. If you have favorite equipment or software that you love and want to share with others, please leave a comment and share them with us.

Cover image credit: Luis Quintero @jibarofoto

The post 7 Secrets to Producing Great Video on a Reasonable Budget: Tips, Equipment, Software appeared first on Ekaterina Walter.

My daughter and I were going to the library since she was 3 years old (she is now 10). We go almost every week. We read a lot together. Heck, we wrote a book together. And throughout the years we created our own mini-library of the books we love.

A lot of my parent friends asked me to send them the list of our favorites. Several of them expressed concern that their little girls are “too much into princesses” and they wanted them to discover that there are other ways to be cool beyond “pink dresses and pretty castles.” And every time, I sent them the same book list, the list of our favorite children’s books with kick-ass female characters in the lead.

And now I am sharing it with all of you.

A QUICK NOTE. One thing I have noticed is this: some of the children’s books in the market may have a great message, but they are not written for kids. Their messages are hard to understand, they are convoluted. Adults may understand those messages, but kids remain perplexed by them. The list below is a highly curated list of books that really resonate with kids. Those are the ones they want to read over and over, even when they reach the “grown-up” age of 10.  🙂

These are the books I can guarantee your child will truly enjoy.

1/ Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell

Our all-time-favorite book about the importance of being yourself. Molly Lou Melon is super cute, very lovable, and crazy fearless.

2/ The Worst Princess by Anna Kemp

This one is hilarious! It’s one of our favorites! The book description on the back says it best: “the traditional princess fairy tale gets turned on its royal head, proving that the worst princesses can have the most fun!” And boy, does she ever!

3/ I Like Myself by Karen Beaumont

The little girl lists everything she loves about herself. It’s a great rhyme that is easy to read, combined with fun illustrations.

4/ You Think It’s Easy Being the Tooth Fairy? by Sherri Bell-Rehwoldt

Get ready for a spunky redhead who loves what she does and does it brilliantly. And has a ton of fun in the process. Nuff said!

5/ Not All Princesses Dress In Pink by Jane Yolen and Heidi E.Y. Stemple

A lovely book that shows that princesses come in all shapes and sizes.

6/ The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch

This princess doesn’t need a prince to save her. In fact, she will be the one doing the saving, thank you very much!

7/ Princess Smartypants and Princess Smartypants Breaks the Rules! by Babette Cole

Princess Smartypants is no one’s fool. She writes her own rules and has fun in the process. Princess Smartypants Breaks the Rules! is our favorite of the two books.

8/ Odd Velvet by Mary E. Whitcomb

This is the book for everyone who feels different. Being odd may not be such a bad thing after all…

9/ Grace for President by Kelly DiPucchio

When Grace discovers there are no female presidents, she decides to change that. By the time she is done, no one will be laughing at her proclamation of wanting to be a president!

 10/ Violet the Pilot by Steve Breen

We love Violet Van Winkle, a girl inventor with a flair for the air!

11/ Interstellar Cinderella by Deborah Underwood

A great modern twist on the Cinderella story. Except this Cinderella can fix any fancy rocket!

12/ The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes by Mark Pett and Gary Rubinstein

The book about the pressure of being perfect and fun of being perfectly imperfect.

13/ The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires

About being inventive, the power of perspective, and the importance of not giving up.

14/ Daisy-Head Mayzie by Dr. Seuss

This book is about Mayzie – the girl who sprouted a daisy, about love and acceptance.

15/ Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots? By Carmela LaVigna Coyle

There is a whole series of “Do Princesses…” books. This one is our favorite, but we do have others.

16/ Bullies Never Win by Margery Cuyler

One of our favorite books on how to handle bullies.

17/ The Dot by Peter Reynolds

This is the book about starting small to create something magnificent.

18/ Sam and the Seven-Pound Perch by Paul Hoffman

Ok, so this book’s main character is a boy. But my daughter doesn’t love it any less. A cute rhyme, this book teaches many lessons, perseverance and creativity among them.

19/ What Do You Do With An Idea? by Kobi Yamada

This book is for kids and adults alike. It makes you think, it makes you create, it makes you use your imagination in many ways!

20/ Amber and Sapphire: The Magic Spell by Ekaterina Walter and Taya Walter

And, of course, there is the book my daughter and I wrote together. This is a story of two very different twin sisters who went on a journey of discovering themselves and their sisterhood. Here’s our own journey of writing the book. We hope you enjoy it.

These NEXT 5 BOOKS are broken into a lot of stories. These are the ones my daughter and I read before bed. We choose a story or two of an infamous female in history, we read it, and then we discuss it.

21/ Girls Think of Everything by Catherin Thimmesh

Stories of Ingenious inventions by women.

22/ Bad Girls Throughout History by Ann Shen

100 Remarkable Women Who Changed the World.

23/ Rad Women Worldwide by Kate Schatz

Artists and athletes, pirates and punks, and other revolutionaries who shaped history.

24/ Rad American Women A-Z by Kate Schatz

Rebels, trailblazers and visionaries who shaped our history… and our future.

25/ Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls

The book is packed with 100 bedtime stories about the life of 100 extraordinary women from the past and the present, illustrated by 60 female artists from all over the world.

We hope you found our suggestions useful and would love to hear what amazing books we missed and should add to our list of “favorites.”

Ekaterina and Taya

cover image courtesy of Aaron Burden @aaronburden

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What is it?

Real leaders hire people who are smarter than they are. And then they give them trust and freedom to innovate.
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This practice seems to be as rare as unicorns. Why? My guess is that oftentimes it stems from leaders’ ego or insecurities, from fear that someone else will outsmart and outshine them. But in hiring look-alikes, they limit the company’s (and, frankly, their own) potential for growth and for building something truly amazing.

One of my favorite quotes on the subject comes from Ricky Van Veen, co-founder of CollegeHumor Media. CollegeHumor Media, comprised of CollegeHumor.com, Jest.com, Dorkly.com, and several syndication partnerships, is a leading online entertainment company targeting a core audience of people ages 18-49. Ricky himself is a millennial who started CollegeHumor in his early twenties. Regardless of his young age, he was full of leadership wisdom. To him, it was very simple. When I interviewed Ricky for my first book Think Like Zuck (2013), he said:

“I always hire people that are smarter than I am. If you look around at the people in the office, they do what they do a lot better than I could. It can initially be a blow to the ego, but it pays off in the long run.”

Success is a team sport. You want the best team around you, if you want to not only accomplish something, but to build something exceptional. Innovation doesn’t come from fear, from overblown ego, or from holding a leadership title in the name only. Innovation comes from humility. It comes from understanding that if you are a true leader, then the collective wisdom of the team you built should outshine your own brilliance. It comes from passion, desire to create, and from servitude.

Jim Collins says it best in his timeless book Good to Great:

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“People are NOT your most important asset. The RIGHT people are.” - Jim Collins
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A true leader doesn’t breed managers, (s)he breeds leaders. One of the greatest leaders I’ve worked with at Intel, Johan Jervoe, vice president of marketing, told me once: “My goal as a leader is to work myself out of a job.” His goal as a leader was to create a strong, self-sustained team that could be empowered to make decisions and lead when he wasn’t there. That is a true mark of a leader!

So… if you are a leader or you aspire to be one, I hope you get off your high horse and acknowledge those around you who deserve to be acknowledged. I hope you give the credit where credit is due. And I hope you say thank you. But most of all, I do hope that the next time you hire a new team member, you hire the one who is smarter than you. Because, by doing that, you have the best chance to position yourself ahead of competition and to inspire people to follow you.

Cover image credit: @benwhitephotography

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If you are scratching your head, thinking “What in the world is she talking about?” then your answer is probably no.

It’s not surprising. This feeling of wonderful confusion is very rare, it is like an elusive unicorn. That is because most brands don’t have the guts to elicit one.

Let me explain.

This week I was looking at different creative agencies to help me with the web design. One that was recommended to me by a dear friend, called Red Square Agency, stood out. My immediate reaction: I love clean design, sharp copy, and use of colors! Followed by my second, and equally strong reaction: I hate that I can’t click on anything!  That’s right! The only clickable links are the Contact links. Nothing else. It is just one page that allows you to scroll through some sample work without zero opportunity to click on it and see a more detailed portfolio. I was sitting at my desk for literally 5 minutes scrolling up and down and swiping left and right, totally flabbergasted by the fact that that was all I got to see. By the time 5 minutes were up, I was screaming inside.

What the hell?

Who do these guys think they are?

Are they so cool and trendy that they don’t need to display their portfolio anymore?

What kind of marketing is this? Are they going to leave me hanging?

But I loved it all the same. Clean, sleek, simple. Leaves you curious, leaves you wanting more, leaves you strangely satisfied. A totally bizarre behavior, yet a hundred percent human behavior. So what did I do? I filled out their contact form.

And the next day I got to vent to the agency’s CEO, a lovely gentleman by the name of Rich Sullivan. Rich smiled and informed me that since they switched to this approach a year ago, they didn’t lose a single customer because of it and that, in fact, the site is as effective (if not more so) as their old one that displayed their portfolio in detail. And no wonder! Who wouldn’t want to know what’s behind the mystery of the one-page site?

But you have to have confidence and guts to market this way. It’s not easy. And it’s not for everybody. It has to hit the right note with the right audience. It has to work, that balance, the right mixture of strong feelings that don’t accidentally go the wrong way.

It could be an ad that doesn’t show much, doesn’t say much, but elicits a sense of FOMO and makes you think: “Did I miss something important?”

Or a piece of creative that is so beautiful and different that it makes us slow down, stop, and look… for a long time…. make us think for a minute.

Or a new movie release that never was. [And don’t tell me I was the only one who was seriously upset that there, in fact, will not be the next installment of the Crocodile Dundee, but loved the cleverness of the campaign execution anyway].

Brilliant marketing isn’t easy. But oftentimes it doesn't happen at all, and not for the lack of desire to try, rather for the lack of courage to go all the way.
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Over a month ago I joined YPO as Content Director, aka Chief Storyteller. 😊

Never heard of YPO? No worries. You are not alone. For over 60 years this incredible organization has been a best-kept secret.  But, not anymore. I am looking forward to helping bring the wisdom and stories of extraordinary YPO members to life.

YPO is the premier leadership organization of chief executives in the world. Today, YPO empowers more than 26,000 members in more than 130 countries, diversified among industries and types of businesses. Altogether, YPO member-run companies employ 21 million people and generate USD 9 trillion in annual revenues.

And the stories of the global YPO member impact will BLOW YOUR MIND!

There is the story of Natalie Jabangwe, the youngest CEO to run a mobile money service – and second largest in Africa – who recently was named a Young Global Leader (YGL) by the World Economic Forum. There is the story of Andreas Souvaliotis, founder and CEO of Toronto-based Carrot Rewards (the world’s first eco-rewards loyalty program) who turned his struggles with Asperger’s to a competitive advantage and in the process was widely recognized for his achievements in driving social change. And then there is the story of David Karandish, the founder and CEO of Jane.ai – artificial intelligence platform that makes all of your company’s information accessible through chat or, simply put, your first digital executive assistant.

Talk about a goldmine for remarkable storytelling! I couldn’t be more excited!

And the team is amazing to work with. For well over a month now I have been immersed in a great culture of teamwork and desire to do great things. Even though YPO is a non-profit, its leadership operates with a for-profit view towards growth and innovation.

On a personal note…

I am getting ready to release my third business book “The Laws of Brand Storytelling: Win – And Keep – Your Customers’ Hearts and Minds,” co-written with my friend Jessica Gioglio. It’s officially in stores on November 5, 2018. Check our what industry leaders have to say about the book and watch the book trailer here.

My daughter and I are also working on the second children’s book. Stay tuned for that announcement. If you haven’t seen the one we published last year, check it out.

I am genuinely excited about what the future holds and the new adventures in the upcoming year.

The post My Next Professional and Personal Adventure appeared first on Ekaterina Walter.

The team was the third best in the league. They entered the last three games expected to stay the third best. They were the only team that played with no substitutes (there were 5 girls on the team while the rest had at least 8), which meant no one got a break during each of the three games. They played all three games on the same day, with only one-hour break in between. And they played two strongest teams, one of which went undefeated… until the championship game. By the last game the girls were exhausted. One was bleeding a bit, taking a hard hit on the nose. One was so tired she was crying. At half time of the championship game, the coach asked them what they wanted to do: quit or rally. They chose the latter. And boy, did they rally. It was amazing to watch. I was mesmerized.

They didn’t win because they were the best. They won because they had grit.

I left that day thinking: “If eight-year-old girls can do that, nothing is impossible.”

And then I thought about start-ups I have watched succeed and fail in my lifetime. Some I worked for, some I partnered with, some I coached. Granted, one can’t oversimplify the reasons for company’s success or failure. But the older I get, the more I think it all comes down to one thing. And that one thing is grit.

Grit is defined as “courage and resolve; strength of character.”

As start-ups grow up, most lose their grit.

Grit to continue to put their customers before their sales numbers.

Grit to retain the culture that got them to where they were in the first place.

Grit to give a damn about the people who sacrificed because they believed in the vision (and I don’t mean the founder(s), rather the ordinary employees that made the company extraordinary).

Grit to hire leaders, not managers. (And yes, there is a huge difference).

Grit to deprioritize founder’s ego.

Etc. Etc.

Because at the end of the day, your product won’t matter. Your funding won’t matter. Your big-name advisers won’t matter. What will matter is whether people want to work with you. Your people, your culture, your strength of character and your passion – aka grit – will be the things that will take your company to the next level. Because people can spot fake miles away. People can see the dollar signs in your eyes the second you walk into the room. And people will always know how you treat others, because… well… stories spread.

Yes, I may be oversimplifying it. Yes, there are a lot of factors to success. Timing, connections,  strategy. Before the championship, the coach watched other teams closely as they played. He noticed who was the strongest on the team, what plays they used, what was their coach pushing them to do during the game. So winning the game required some strategy and practice. That helped. But at the end of the day what won that game was pure grit. (Oh, I know you are probably smiling and thinking to yourself: “It’s third-grade basketball game. How strategic or brutal can it be?” You may be right. But then again, you may not be.)

That’s the thing about grit. It defies logic. I’ve seen some of the most brilliant people fail because they lacked either guts or compassion or both. And I’ve seen people with no education lead others in ways the Harvard-educated folks would never even dream of. And I’ve seen visionaries who can’t lead people at all. That is because no matter what you call it – strength of character, guts, courage – nothing will ever be as important to not only growing your company, but sustaining it’s success long-term, as grit.

You can’t convince people to follow you, to partner with you, to buy from you if you don’t have the strength of character and the guts to do what’s right. If you treat people like disposable tools. If at the end of the day you put money before compassion. Money is not the goal. It’s the result of being great.

If you liked this post, you might enjoy this one: “People Join Because of Great Vision, People Leave Because of Poor Leadership.”

The post One Quality That Separates True Business Leaders From One-Hit Wonders appeared first on Ekaterina Walter.

Hiring the right people will create and define your culture, and culture has a butterfly effect on every other area your business –  including public perception and product innovation.

With the rise of digital and social media, some of yesterday’s hiring best practices are now obsolete and need to be replaced by more creative approaches, including the practice of social recruiting.

Here are some of the proven strategies you can use to hire the best talent:

Prioritize passion and self-learning over resume bullet points

When I did research for my first book “Think Like Zuck” and talked to many successful entrepreneurs, one common leadership belief stood out more than any other. And that is: “Hire for passion. Skills can be taught, passion – can’t.” If a person is deeply engaged in the communities around your business and adds value through thoughtful contributions (and nowadays, most of it happens through social channels), you know they are passionate about the same vision that you are.

Time and time again successful business people recommended to hire not based on resume but based on street smarts. They ask themselves one question: “Is this person a self-learner and a self-starter?” In the age of break-speed innovation and digital transformation only those who continue to learn and adapt can successfully pivot their strategies and skillsets. And that is what differentiates real performers.

Tip: Look at the candidate’s digital and social footprint and identify the themes of interest that intersect with your company’s vision and direction, then arrange the interview process in a way that would not only showcase candidate’s understanding of your business, but their ability to think on his/her feet and find creative solutions.

Accept video applications

Video is the best format to get a good feel for who the candidate is.  First, someone who will take time making a video is serious about their application. Second, we can tell a lot about a person based on many visual clues (such as body language). Video does what the resume can’t: not only shows candidate’s knowledge, but personality as well.

Tip: Use tools that will let you accept video applications; use Skype for video interviews.

Hire on social networks

My friend Vala Afshar hired purely on Twitter when he was a CMO of Extreme Networks and had several digital marketing roles open. “I am fairly certain I am going to abandon the résumé process,” he said in the interview with Wall Street Journal. “The Web is your CV and social networks are your references.” Similar to Google offering coding challenges for prospective hires to solve, Afshar looked at people’s real-life digital skillsets to identify how well they really understood the digital transformation imperative.

Tip: Ensure your hiring team has digitally-focused mindset and is up-to-speed on the latest/greatest digital hiring practices.

Recruit passive candidates on social channels

There are a lot of professionals who are not actively looking but would switch jobs if the right offer came along. Proactively finding them and reaching out to them through a meaningful and personal connection does pay off in the long run.

One example is a video game company Red 5 Studios who handpicked 100 ideal candidates and got to “know” them by researching their social media profiles and past work. They then sent each one a personalized iPod equipped with a welcome from their CEO. This led to several great hires.

You don’t have to go that far, but you can easily build relationships with those folks if you connect with them in a meaningful way on the channels they are comfortable engaging on.

Tip: Implement the right tools that would allow you to not only understand potential candidates better, but to engage with them on the channels of their choice. At Sprinklr we use our own technology for social recruiting which allows us to find and connect with the best talent. Whether you want to look at the talent your competition (or the company you admire) employs, or find the best recruiting events, the technology (and its sophisticated workflows) will allow you to easily find, track, compartmentalize, and engage in real-time. We’ve seen high levels of success from our well thought-out social recruiting approach.

Create an environment people want to work in… and then let them share their stories

Just like recruiters, candidate also do their own research before deciding to join the company. Not every company can be a Google or offer Facebook’s amazing perks, but creating a unique environment where people are happy isn’t that hard. Whether it is adding working treadmills to the office ambiance (like Facebook does), or creating pet-friendly environment (like Sprinklr does), or allowing flexible schedule – these perks significantly increase employee loyalty. And employees love sharing their office delight with the world through their social media channels. So let them! It will significantly help with your recruiting success.

Tips:

1. Review your social media policies and make sure they allow your employees to advocate on your behalf.
2. Create hashtags that employees could easily adopt company-wide, which would allow you to curate some of the best content. At Sprinklr we use the hashtag #SprinklrLife. If you search for this hashtag across platforms you will see pictures of the most adorable Sprinklr office puppies you’ve ever seen, pictures of employees enjoying an occasional game of ping-pong, and much more.
3. Create a great referral program and then display digital leaderboards in your office that show which employees are the most effective in their external outreach. At Sprinklr social employee amplification is the key driver of the company’s referrals. And we display it proudly on our Command Center screens across global offices.

In conclusion

The rules of the recruiting game might have changed in the digital world, but the basics of human relationship-building haven’t. Technology sure plays a big part in successful social recruiting approach, but ultimately it’s all about letting your prospective candidates know that you know them, you care about them, and you want them to be a part of your extraordinary team.

Originally featured in Forbes

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Today’s marketers need to prepare for the AI revolution and understand how they can use it to enhance customer experiences in our increasingly digital world.

While robots will not replace everything and everyone, there are many new skills and functions that today’s marketers should explore. As more and more tasks become automated, it’s crucial to pivot and acquire new skill sets.

With that in mind, here are five skills you’ll need to survive the AI boom in marketing over the next five years:

Self-Learner 

About 10 years ago, when I worked at Intel, I jumped at the chance to work on a five-month social media project. This was back when social media was new, and most considered it a passing fancy. People thought I was crazy to take on such a professional risk, but it turned out that social wasn’t such a passing fancy – it was a way to innovate like never before.

I recognized that social was the future of business, but it was my willingness to soak up new knowledge that allowed me to be successful. I spent at least two hours a day reading, researching, talking to industry experts, and exchanging tips with fellow marketers who were also innovating in their own industries and companies.

With the world moving so fast, we all need to be self-learners. As the pace of innovation continues to accelerate, it will be difficult for even the most experienced marketers to keep up with the latest advancement and constant changes.

Because AI is a new frontier, it’s a game changer for everyone. We all need to stay curious and hungry for knowledge. Those who are passionate learners will be the ones leading the conversation and harnessing the technology most effectively.

Problem Identifier 

Solving problems is obviously important for people in any industry, but with the advent of AI, there is a need to identify the sort of problems that the new technology can address not just for us, but for our clients and partners.

Take customer care as an example. Consumers increasingly expect a high level of personalized service when interacting with a brand, yet many companies aren’t capable of providing great experiences every time.

The marketers who thrive in the AI era will be those who recognize and understand the pain points that AI can address and pivot their marketing and business strategies accordingly.

Computational Thinker 

In addition to honing the ‘soft skills’ mentioned above, marketers will also need to improve their technical abilities to meet the challenges and opportunities of AI. This may be a daunting prospect for more conventional marketing pros, but in a world full of data, it’s clear that everyone will need to build the necessary analytical skills.

Successful marketers will be able to take these endless streams of data and transform them into business insight. For example, brands will soon use AI (if they don’t already) to identify the most relevant groups to target with digital content.

Marketing strategists may produce the sharpest, most engaging content imaginable, but if they can’t grasp the data and understand how best to deploy that material, then it won’t be of much use to the business.

Renewed Creative 

We may be entering an era of robot-written marketing materials, but we aren’t at a point where robots are consistently producing creative work that’s more creative than what real, live marketers are coming up with.

As AI expands to cover processes that aren’t necessarily rooted in data, such as copywriting, marketers would be wise to get back in touch with their imaginations. A sophisticated algorithm can generate a creative product, but marketers should be sure that they can produce something that’s more intuitive, accessible, and – well – human.

Open-Minded Thinker 

For decades, when brands and customers have interacted, it’s been a human-to-human exchange. These exchanges first took place in-person, then over the phone, and then via email or over social.

Now, using AI, brands are starting to deploy chatbots as their first line of contact with customers. For marketers, this can be a risky proposition. After all, what’s keeping a chatbot algorithm from misinterpreting a question and providing a completely irrelevant answer that turns someone from a customer to a vocal detractor?

While there will be some rocky moments along the way, marketers will need to be open to harnessing AI to handle processes that have stayed mostly the same for years.

Believe it or not, it’s worth the risk. Overcoming some hiccups in the short term will allow marketers to gradually automate time-consuming processes and instead focus on tackling more important and innovative tasks.

Get Excited, and Get Ready 

AI is a fascinating development. Its uses – and repercussions – are only just beginning to emerge. But it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.

To thrive in the coming years, business leaders across all industries have an obligation to understand what AI can (and can’t) do, and determine how they can harness it to provide value for their businesses. With that, though, must come the pivot in mentality, approaches, and skillsets.

Originally appeared in Forbes 

The post How to Keep Your Marketing Job Through the AI Revolution appeared first on Ekaterina Walter.

Your brand is the sum of customers’ complete experiences with you across all touchpoints.
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Your brand isn’t your company. It isn’t your marketing message. It isn’t even your product. It is an experience! A holistic experience a customer has with your product, with your content, with your employees. It is the reason to choose a relationship with you over the relationship with your competitor.

Relationship capital is arguably the most important goal any business has. After all, there is no such thing as a self-made man. We all depend on others in our success. Businesses depend on partners, investors, vendors, and employees. But most important relationship a business has is with its customers.

Relationship capital is arguably the most important goal any business has.
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Oh, that “relationship” used to be easy. Several key channels (print, TV, radio, phone), one-way broadcasting, millions of impressions as a goal. Things didn’t change much over decades.

Then the digital revolution came and, with it, brought new channels and new challenges. Web and email started to take over. And just when we thought we got those mastered, the pace of change became unsustainable. Dozens of social channels, as well as the rise of the citizen journalism around the world, brought blogging, newsjacking, podcsting, social posting, and, with that, the need for listening, real-time engagement, managing digital crisis, and more. The pace at which social network features, rules, and capabilities change is staggering. The number of niche tools supporting various functions of creation, publishing, distribution, management, and reporting grew to hundreds.

For those business that recognized the seismic shift in the marketplace, managing consumer experiences through the rise of social tsunami became not only a challenge, but a priority.   But as they started to implement strategies, solutions, and tools across the organization, one critical gap became widely apparent. No matter how much you try to serve your customers, if the organization is internally siloed in mentality, processes, and technology, no amount of delight will ever deliver a truly holistic experience that your customer deserves.

Sales funnel doesn’t exist anymore. We now have a sales zig zag. Every day, our customers are consuming information from 5+ devices through 50+ channels and engaging with you through thousands of touchpoints. They are educated, globally connected, impatient, and have a high BS radar. They expect that you are listening – on every channel! – and demand real-time response. They trust their friends over advertisements and brand messages. They buy brands they have relationship with.

Successful business isn’t about impressions any more. It is about building relationship capital through smart experience management. And the only way to achieve that is for all parts of the organization to work together, to become a connected company!

What is desperately needed is a set of critical capabilities that would work across a lot of channels, to be implemented across a variety of teams, a number of product lines, in every market. What is needed is a complete solution for your digital needs that’s architected to work in tandem with your existing infrastructure that has been in place for many years.

What’s needed is an integrated business nerve center.

But the reality is a bit grim. 2014 study by Signal states that organizational and technological integration is a key problem for businesses. While respondents recognize a range of benefits to a fully integrated marketing stack, around half of respondents said their marketing data and technology are either managed separately (10%) or that only some tools are integrated (41%). Just 4% reported having a completely integrated stack.

And according to a 2014 Forbes Insights and Sitecore survey, companies average 36 different data-gathering systems and vendors for marketing efforts, with some using hundreds. So while 53% prioritize developing a single view of each customer (a high priority for marketers around the world, according to MarketingCharts), they’re faced with technological challenges such as multiple/duplicate records (41%), too many systems/difficulty keeping track of where data is housed (38%), and siloed data (37%). As a result, 59% of respondents felt that it was a priority to have a single system to deliver customer experiences across all potential digital channels.

Consumers experience our brand through different life’s moments and in a variety of places: at the store, on our website, through social conversations. This is a remarkable opportunity for brands to connect with them. Most importantly, an opportunity to track, manage, and align these moments to drive brand love, advocacy, and loyalty.

Bringing the voice of your customer into the right business context, at the right time, is the first step in that transformation. To do that, organizations need to build an integrated business nerve center that sits at the core of the enterprise and connects all of the people, processes, and systems within it. This is the only way we will enable innovative, positive social interactions that build long-lasting relationships with people who matter.

Companies need an integrated business nerve center that connects all people, processes, and systems.
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Originally appeared in Entrepreneur in 2015. Reposted by popular demand. As I work with executives across industries and geographies, this article seems to be the one they continue to refer back to when discussing digital transformation.

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