Saul Colt - The Smartest Man in the World!

Super Quick StartUp Advice

noreply@blogger.com (saulcolt) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:47:00 +0000

Here is another installment in my series of super quick [possibly tweetable] Business Startup Advice.

"The best entrepreneurs have a combination of a desire to create amazing things coupled with the unwillingness to compromise in anyway to achieve this."

Do you have this?

Can a loyalty program actually make you less loyal?

noreply@blogger.com (saulcolt) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:10:00 +0000

I don't have many rules when it comes to my blog posts. I occasionally talk about inappropriate nudity and share too much about the views and opinions I have but one thing I never do (and this is really my only rule) is that I don't take cheap shots at brands....or really ever say anything negative about brands because as someone who represents brands myself I know what it is like to get dumped on and just don't feel like being "that guy".

That being typed I am going to share an experience I have been living through for more then 8 months and it got me asking "Can a loyalty program actually make you less loyal?"

So I travel a lot and doing such I joined an airline loyalty program because, well I like free travel and all the things that come from special attention.

Much to my surprise and delight last February I received in my mailbox 6 upgrade certificates to fly the friendly sky from the front of the plane where I can only imagine is similar to the Playboy Mansion. This excited me and instantly began looking forward to my next trip.

You see by sending me these certificates the airline is hoping I get so used to the pampering and private bathroom in business class that I will not be able to return to the commoners of the back of the plane and from that point forward I would pay the extra fees associated with the higher lever of service.

This might have worked because I am impressionable and all, except for the fact that since February (when I got these) I have flown 10+ times and have never been able to redeem these certificates because the I purchased discounted seats and not the full fare ticket (does anyone pay full fare ever?) and on top of it all these certificates will expire at the end of November.

This was an enormous missed opportunity for the airline because not only am I a chatty girl who would have encouraged others to upgrade so they could experience the airplane grotto for themselves but beyond that they have actually made me care less about who I fly with.

So I ask you...how effective was this surprise and delight?

Takeaway for people who don't feel like reading the whole post : If you want to give something away for free...give it away for free. Don't make people work to give you money.

Super Quick Startup Advice

noreply@blogger.com (saulcolt) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:17:00 +0000

Here is the first in a series of super quick [possibly tweetable] Business Startup Advice.

"Building a category through PR and awareness is very expensive but telling your own story isn't."

I hope you find them helpful.

Would it kill you to wish me a Happy Birthday?

noreply@blogger.com (saulcolt) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:32:00 +0000

Yesterday was my Birthday and everyone forgot....and when I say everyone I don't mean my family, or friends. They remembered and are awesome. The "everyone" I am talking about are the companies and brands I interact with on a daily or even a weekly basis.

I preach about "the little things" a lot because I know customer care is a differentiator and sending someone an email (even automated) on their Birthday goes a long way to making them loyal and happy to spread the word about whatever you are up to.

Think about all the companies that have your Birthday in their Database.

Credit Card Companies
Banks
Car Dealerships
Social Media Sites
Message Boards
Loyalty Programs

The list goes on and on. So if you are in possession of your clients B-Day's consider doing something small with that info because it is more valuable then you think.

Oh...and just to be fair I did get one and only birthday greetings from a brand and feel they deserve a shout out! Jinxworld.com (a comic book message board by Brian Bendis) Go check them out!

I want to be the Amazing Randi of Social Media...or why am I offering you my hard earned money.

noreply@blogger.com (saulcolt) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 19:04:00 +0000

Most people who follow technology and business probably know about the $1,000,000 (that's one millions dollars) prize Netfilx awarded a team of folks for developing a better movie recommendation algorithm but did you know that there is another 1,000,000 prize out there waiting to be claimed?

Since 1964 James Randi has had a cash prize for anyone who can prove the existence of paranormal activity. The reward started as $10,000 and over time has now grown to over $1,000,000 and while it has been challenged a few time it has never been awarded.

These two things, plus a conversation I had over dinner with a very well known social media author and practitioner got me thinking that we need a similar challenge in the Social Media space....why you ask?

Well, It is my belief that there hasn't been a new idea in Social Media in a few years and while that isn't necessarily a bad thing because essentially we are still in the very beginning of all of this it should be a slight concern since things that don't change and evolve tend to die off and become irrelevant.

So in an effort to kick start a movement that takes Social Media beyond the "Listen and Engage" stage I am putting up a cash prize of my own.

Send me your thoughts and ideas and lets figure out the next great discovery together...and if being a part of something cool isn't enough then do it for the money (as shown below...yes that is the whole prize for now)

Aaron Patzer from Mint.com explains how to start up a Startup!

noreply@blogger.com (saulcolt) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:08:00 +0000

I try very hard not to write about things that others had written about because I try to come at things from my own angle and through my own filter but after reading this post from Techcrunch titled "Everything You Wanted To Know About Startup Building But Were Afraid To Ask" I knew I was going to break my little rule....well kinda. I am not going to re-write their post or even comment on it but I am posting the video of Aaron Patzer (CEO of Mint.com) explaining what it takes to start a Startup...because it is amazing.

So if this interests you I suggest you check it out and feel free to leave a comment!

Mint CEO Aaron Patzer on Startups from Techcrunch on Vimeo.

The definitive "How To" guide to use Twitter on the iPhone.

noreply@blogger.com (saulcolt) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:56:00 +0000

Chris Brogan recently wrote a blog post called "How I manage Facebook" and it immediately gave me the idea to write the post that you're reading now but I admit I hesitated for a few weeks because I kinda see this as a "trade secret" as to how I am able to manage and react to conversations on twitter in an almost real time fashion even when I am away from a computer...but I noticed something interesting today while I was speaking at a conference for people reasonably new to twitter that changed my mind. You see as I was explaining how to use twitter I could see a few of the prettier females in the room were really impressed.

So in an effort to impress pretty people everywhere I now present you The DEFINITIVE "how to" guide to use Twitter on the iPhone.

*disclaimer* there are many ways to do what I am about to explain so in all honestly I am using the word "definitive" the same way coffee shops say "world's best coffee" but this is a great system and it works for me plenty well.

Next to this is a screen shot of my phone and you will notice that I have three separate iPhone Twitter Clients.

The the three are Summizer, Twitterific and Echofon (formerly Twitterfon). I use all three as they all offer me a quick way to accomplish different tasks quickly and easily.

My main twitter app is Echofon/Twitterfon.

This app pretty much works like they all do and the only reason I use it over others is because I find it easy to use. As you can see from the screen shot, it shows me 200 updates at a time from my friends list and also separates all my DM's and @replies (mentions) so I can find this stuff quickly and with a single touch. It also lets me add/remove and even block people with just a few clicks and this is the app I use when I am just reading twitter and seeing what is going on in my main stream.

The second App in my tool box is Summizer.

Summizer isn't a feed type app in the way Echofon is because Summizer is search tool with the ability to save searches. With Summizer I have set up close to 50 keywords and people I care most about and I use this as my catch up tool as well as my focused "quick glance" tool. Basically when I am on the subway or using one of those rooms with the stick figure gender character on the door I will fire up summizer and find out what is going on with my closest friends or see if people are talking about the company I work for or other companies I respect and monitor unofficially and without permission...and I also rely on it to keep me informed at a moments notice if I need to respond to anything falling in my set up searches.

Now it should be said that I could easily set up all sorts of searched in Echofon and basically accomplish the same results and purpose that I use Summizer for but I find it simpler to keep them separate so I can be more focused and responsive this way.

The last app I use to complete my DEFINITIVE (please see disclaimer above) how to is Twitterific. I used to use this app as my exclusive Twitter client and was happy with it but switched to Echofon one day because I just tried it and liked it (and I understand Tweetie is pretty amazing as well) but I still come back to Twitterific when I get an inspiration to tweet something quickly. You see as much as I love Echofon I find it can take half a minute to a minute to load up and Twitterific loads up crazy quick and lets me share with the world very fast the pearls of wisdom I share because I know people rely on me for my witty quips, observations and self promotion.

So just to review...this by no means replaces the ease and reliability of a desktop application like Tweetdeck or Seesmic Desktop but this does give you a head start in creating a mobile command center in the palm of your hand and while I claim this to be the best way to manage your twitter accounts on the go I will also say that this is just my opinion and I haven't gone looking for a more polished way because this one works crazy well for me but if you have a different opinion I would love to hear all about it in the comments section of the blog or just go talk about it on twitter, because chances are I will hear about it from one if not all of my installed apps!

Are you an Entrepreneur?

noreply@blogger.com (saulcolt) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 01:34:00 +0000

Accoring to dictionary.com the definition of an Entrepreneur is as follows:

en⋅tre⋅pre⋅neur

A person who organizes and manages any enterprise, esp. a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk.

I bring this up because I have been thinking a lot about being an entrepreneur lately. Thinking so much in fact that I have been looking at ways to re-invent the whole idea of entrepreneurship and the best place to start, in my mind at least is with the definition.

So here is my work in progress and I would love to hear what your thought are on the matter.

en⋅tre⋅pre⋅neur 2010 version

Entrepreneurs are people who like to experiment and fix things. They make corporations nervous and don't always make the best employees. Entrepreneurs have minds of their own and a embarrassing wealth of ideas. Entrepreneurs have a habit of moving in on their superiors and whenever possible claiming power roles for themselves. Entrepreneurs are willing to take huge personal risks to reach their clearly defined goals and while they they don't always end up on the winning side of things they have the fire and passion to keep trying.

I truly believe Entrepreneurship is a frame of mind and you don't have to be the founder of something to be a brilliant Entrepreneur.

SO I ask you.....Are you an Entrepreneur?

I have a distinctive voice...come hear it!

noreply@blogger.com (saulcolt) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 18:26:00 +0000

I really need to spruce up my blog and make it more of an info portal instead of just blog posts. The reason I have been thinking about this is 'cause I am getting asked more and more to speak at conferences and infect young minds with my ideas and would love to have a place to tell you all about these appearances without writing a blog post about them.

But until I find some time to do that (or to breath) I am just going to have to fill you in here about my speaking stuff and hope you will come and support the fine folks who see me as a big shot.

So without any further buildup, here are the next 4 opportunities to come out and hear me speak, teach and try to get pretty girls phone numbers.

Canada Post - Think Inside The Box Conference

October 7th at the Toronto Board of Trade

I will be talking in front of Canada Post folks as well as invited guest and the general public about customer service, social media and why making out with your customers is something every company should make a goal in their outreach.

Impact National Conference

November 20-21st at the Westin Harbour Castle Hilton (Toronto)

I am super excited to speak at this conference as the majority of the attendees will be students either finishing up college/university or entering their last years. I will be speaking about Entrepreneurship and ask the students to look inside themselves and see if they have entrepreneurship characteristics in them and if they do I will advise them to drop out of school and start a company. Should be an interesting day!

Canadian Women in Communications

November 25th, 2009

Details on this are still being worked out as far as content of my talk but I said yes without hesitation because I thing this will be an interesting group of folks to pal around with.

Word of Mouth Supergenius Conference

December 16 - Chicago

I will be talking to a group of Supergenius' to be on how to create offline chatter and unlike many talks I give where I rely on my good looks and charm and speak about how wonderful I am and what I have done in the past I have been asked to speak here about the future and create a step by step formula that people will take away with them so there can be a "little Saul" in a whole new group of offices all over America.

Please come to any or all of these events if you can and it goes without saying that I am available to speak just about anywhere (including prisons, schools, conferences, weddings and funerals) on the topics of Social Media, Customer Service, Entrepreneurship, Office Culture, Dating and Community Building so please invite me places and I will preform feats of amazement for you and your crowd.

Zappos gave me an idea....

noreply@blogger.com (saulcolt) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 02:06:00 +0000

About a year ago I was honored with an invite to take the world famous "Zappos Headquarters" tour in Las Vegas. An avalanche of blog posts have been written about the tour from many different perspectives and I can confirm that the tour is a great experience and one that probably inspires people to try to copy something about the way Zappos and Tony Hsieh operate their company. I make this assumption because I know it did for me.

Many things stuck with me from the tour but the thing that stood out the most happens to be the first thing I noticed when I got there....you see right at the front door (yes, in the lobby) there was two pretty big book cases containing what you would expect to be on a bookcase...books. But unlike a usual bookcase, these ones had probably less then 15 titles in total with each title almost getting an entire shelve to its self and being the kind of person who loves to read I asked someone what the deal was with the books and was told that the books are hand picked by the Sr. Management as things worth reading and the books are provided free for the staff.

These are new books and this is not a lending library...these books are there to be taken and read but there is no mandate to do so...only a suggestion and an opportunity.

I love this so much that I decided today to try to work this into where I work and on this here blog I am going to share with you the first handful of books I would stuff my shelves with....so here goes (in no particular order):

A Sense of Urgency by John Kotter - Quite Possibly the most thoughtfully inspiring book I have read in the last little while and has changed the way I look towards business building an motivation.

Manging By Henry Mintzberg - I haven't read this book yet but Henry Mintzberg is one of my favorite disruptive authors and happen to love his book Managers not MBA's a great deal.

Managers not MBA's by Henry Mintzberg - This book formed by opinion on the difference between Entrepreneurs and MBA's and is something I read once a year.

Trust Agents By Chris Brogan and Julien Smith - Both Chris and Julien are people I consider friends and are super smart in the ways of connecting with people online and profiting from those connections. This book doesn't just talk about the ways but walks you through strategies to do on your own and is a valuable read.

Six Pixels of Separation by Mitch Joel - Mitch, another friend is one of the true thought leaders in the digital space and while I admit I haven't read the book yet (it is on my nightstand) I know from reading everything else Mitch has released through his blog or podcasts that this is something that people in an organization can learn from.

and finally....Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk - Because Gary is Gary and everyone can use a little of Gary's hustle in them.

Keeping staff inspired can only benefit your work environment and while this isn't the only thing you should/could do it certainly wouldnt hurt to share a book every know and then..cause as I learned as kid, Reading is Fundamental!

The Five Questions you need to answer before starting a business.

noreply@blogger.com (saulcolt) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:56:00 +0000

So far in my not so short life I have started four companies on my own. Out of the four, two have been pretty successful (in a ridiculously low standards kinda way) and two were pretty forgettable...but having a .500 batting average is pretty good by any ones loose standards and while I don't have all the answers I have learned some things along the way, and I am going to share something with you now.

Coming up with business ideas is easy...I have 100 a day but I may only have 1 or 2 really good ones a week/month and the way you figure out the good from the bad is simple:

Run your idea thought the 5W's

Pretty Simple huh?

Well it is...all you have to do is ask yourself the following.

Who - is the product/service for and do they really need it?
What - is the product/service and will people pay for it?
Where - will people get it and can you scale this distribution channel?
When - can you get it to people and will there still be a market at that time?
Why - are you doing this? (passion, profit, does it solve a pain for people, ego)

If your idea still holds up after the 5W's then you might actually have something worth spending some time writing a business plan for, if it doesn't (like my idea for a mobile gentleman's club in the back of 18 wheeler trucks) then just move onto the next idea.

Cause ideas are easy, great business's are hard.

Everyone wants to save the Whales...I want to save the Blue Jays.

noreply@blogger.com (saulcolt) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 01:20:00 +0000

I have written close to 600 posts on this here blog (579 to be exact) and one of my favorites, and according to my blog stats it is one of the most popular, is my post on how I would save Playboy magazine.

I had fun with that post because I like coming up with ways to save things people like..or once liked. So in the spirit of my Playboy post I am back with another way to save something, and this time it is the Toronto Blue Jays.

Now before I go any further I MUST say that the company I work for is affiliated with the Blue Jays so MORE THAN EVER I have to stress that these ideas are my own and do not reflect those of my employers...and while I do not work for the Jays I think they should hire me to implement these ideas cause they are all gold.....GOLD I tell you.

The reason I think the Jays need saving is simple. People don't care and no one goes to the games. This is sad to me cause I have been a fan for a long time and have many great memories at the ballpark....so much so that I can prove that I was the inspiration for the original Blue Jays mascot (BJ Birdie...but that is a story for another post) and seeing the stadium 2/3 empty is disappointing.
Ok...enough lead up...the way I would save the Jays is simple...I would treat them like a Minor League Baseball team. Now to be clear this is not a comment on their performance but rather a promotions philosophy.

In the minors teams are a little hungrier to get people in the park and some teams take amazing steps to make the environment fun. My favorite minor league stunt is "Nobody Night" in Charleston, SC where for one night no one was let in to the park (even though they had tickets) so the official attendance would be zero and instead of letting folk in they set up the parking lot as a huge event party where people could watch the game and have a good time...and no one was upset because they were apart of something cool.

If the Jays took HUGE strides to make every night a surprise people would come no matter how the team was playing or who the visiting team was. The opportunities are endless but here is a starter list of cool stuff to do.

Replace the two worst sections in the bleachers (that no one sits in now anyway) with Hot Tubs and sell those sections at a premium.
Sign Jenny Finch (Olympic Woman Softball Pitcher) because she would attract a crowd and can actually pitch...maybe.
During Pride Week offer same sex marriages in the out field.
During the Toronto International Film Fest show movies on the Scoreboard with the sound on a local radio station and if the promotion is a hit you keep doing it and call it Drive In Movie Nights.
Mascot Nights where anyone can get in free if they are dressed in a real furry costume.
Allow a few fans per game to do their own play by play broadcast from a in house frequency and people in the stands get the choice to pick their favorite.
Turn the outfield bleachers into a soup kitchen a few games a month.
Make a few games a year an event that you cant even buy a ticket to and instead they have to do cool things to get them.
Every person who is sworn in as a new Canadian Citizen gets honored one game a year and the swearing in ceremony can be during the game.
Mass Weddings in the outfield.
Wacky Wonder Woman Wednesdays (People dressed as Wonder Woman get in free)
...and finally Dating in the Dark (Speed dating in the stands)

The sky is the limit here and the general idea is make the stands so ridiculously fun that people will talk about them and more importantly return, and return with friends.

Also and this part is obvious. If that jays really want some attention they should not only take some of these ideas but also think of the PR possibilities in hiring me to execute them. It would be exactly like the time the Twins had that 14 year old manager in the movie Little Big League or when the Cubs signed that kid to pitch for them in the movie Rookie of the Year except I am not a kid, this isn't a movie and I always guarantee a happy ending.

Jays, Call me, you have my number :)

Social Media Talkers vs. Social Media Doers.

noreply@blogger.com (saulcolt) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 13:13:00 +0000

I am kinda lucky cause I get to go to a lot of conferences. Conferences are fun because you get to sleep in other peoples beds and every now (I have been told) and then you get invited to really sleep in other peoples beds.

Even luckier than going to a lot of conferences is that I get invited to speak at a lot of conferences and try to accept every invite I receive, cause you never know when the invites will stop coming.

When I speak I talk about a slew of different topics with interesting examples that almost always involve myself as a case study. I dont do this because I am an ego manaic (an argument could be made) but because I am the only person who can really tell you what was going through my head when I dreamt up whatever idea or concept I am talking about.

I was at a conference recently and I sat through two separate presentations from two people with nothing memorable to their credit explain (as fact) why Zappos sold/merged with Amazon and the best part was that the two speakers who spoke one after the other had opposite opinions...and this makes perfect sense because well, the only person who can really tell you why the sale/merger really happened is Tony Hsieh (CEO of Zappos) and some of his business associates...and this got me thinking about how easy it is to be a social media talker and how few social media doers there are.

I am using Social Media as an example here cause it is easy and makes for a snappy title but in reality I am talking more about people in general.

So still with the conference speaker example (and I can come up with many more examples if you want them) why not make some minimum requirements to speak at a conference....something like you need to have done something.

Pretty outrageous huh?

...and by something I don't think it even has to be a successful "something" since you can learn more from people failing then you can from the stuff where everything goes well. Conference presentations should be about your projects and learnings from the time YOU did something and not a new spin on something you read in INC or Fast Company.

If you can't point to a handful of url's showcasing your accomplishments and you are not willing to present about yourself then what are you really talking about?

Sure there are exceptions like people talking about Metrics and such but even that can come from a personal angle with personal insights.

If the goal of a conference is to teach or inspire then the goal of the conference organizers should be to invite doers and not talkers because people who "do" are usually the ones that inspire...and people who talk, well they are just talking.

P.S. If you are reading this and thinking I am being harsh and making it harder for people to "break in". I see it as the opposite and if you want to become a doer as apposed to a talker just go out and do something, make some content, stop repeating other peoples stuff and discover something on your own...I promise, you will sleep better at night...and get more of those conference invites to sleep with others.

*UPDATED* I have gotten a slew of (and by slew I mean 4) email/DM telling me that this post is harsh and that in fact I am a consultant (this is true...you should totally hire me) and I don't know what I am talking about. All I can say is that this is my opinion and I stand by it. All it takes today to become a "social media expert" is getting a shiny stack of business cards and that is kind of the problem. If you show results you are a doer. If you can point to projects and says "That was me" than you are a doer. Anyone who thinks the solution to any companies problems is to sprinkle a little facebook on it and set up a fanpage and walk away is not a doer.....and if you own a home that is mobile and 5 cars that aren't..you might be a redneck.

Is it possible that Dov Charney is smarter than us all?

noreply@blogger.com (saulcolt) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:48:00 +0000

I have never been diagnosed with OCD not do I think I suffer from it but I certainly do have a some obsessive tendancies in me. This isnt anything that people need to worry about and what I mean by this is that once something interesting gets in my head I usually try to read everything I can about whatever it is until my thirst for knowledge is satisfied. I have done this for topics like Comic Book History, P.T. Barnum, Baseball, Movie History, Business and Marketing and most recently I have been focusing a lot of energy on the Startup Fund Y-Combinator and the Ceo of American Apparel, Dov Charney.

Dov Charney is a facination of mine and I have written about him a few times before on this blog. Part of what fascinates me is that if you look past the AA ads and if you look past the sexual harassment suits and the wacky stories that have been written about Dov in the press there is actually a lot of substance to the man.

Of course I say this without having met him nor am I making light of the seriousness of his harassment allegations but in a time where few (new) brands are cutting through the clutter, he has.

American Apparel does interesting things.

Like make a dress that can become dozens of different looking outfits with a little tinkering and they even made a serious of YouTube videos to show you how to do it.

Dov Charney does interesting things.

Like spend a lot of money and devote a lot of time fighting Immigration reform and trying to make the world...er Los Angeles a better place to work for a segment of the work force.

So taking all this into consideration is it possible that Dov Charney uses the nudity and the public masturbation as a way to not be taken seriously while at the same time he is really just smarter than us all. A modern day P.T Barnum who does remember that experience and image are important if you are going to capture people's imagination. American Apparel is as well known for their "everyman" plain t-shirts as it is for the skin tight cool kids clothes, so in a way they have built a lasting brand without putting all their eggs in a "fad/trend" segment....if this was done on purpose I would say he is probably showing us what he wants us to see.

Or maybe he is just a guy who likes to masturbate.

Sometimes you just want to shower with 40 of your closest friends.

noreply@blogger.com (saulcolt) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 13:20:00 +0000

Please take a moment and Vote for my SXSW panels!

noreply@blogger.com (saulcolt) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 13:29:00 +0000

It's that time of the year again.

The time of year when people start counting the days till they have to put away their white pants and those with kids start getting ready for back to school.

It is also the time of year that thousands and thousands of the smartest, most fun and best looking technology enthusiasts and teachers learn whether or not their speaking applications will be voted in to being a full fledged panel at the SXSW Interactive Festival in March. (South By SouthWest)

I have been very fortunate to have spoken at the last two years festivals and would like to keep my streak going since this year I feel I have submitted two very interesting and timely speaking topics.

Part of the reason I am telling you all this is because to be selected as a speaker you need the support of the festival organizers as well as the community attending (and not attending). So I am asking you to please look at my panel topics and please give me your vote. Even if you have no intention of attending the festival you can still feel the "rush" of democracy as you click on the Thumbs up button to propel my topics into a higher voting category.

I appreciate all of my readers and I hope you guys will consider helping me with this.

Below are my speaking topics and I could love to not only have your votes but also your comments so please let me know what you think of my ideas!

(click on the panel titles to vote.)

Community Management: Future Skills you need to know

Community Management is a key role in any startups but with any new role in a company they need to evolve over time to survive and prosper. Come listen to what the future of community management will look like because the future role is more than just drinking with customers!

and

Tweet Your Way to Your Next Job

Obviously, we all know that Twitter is more than having a sandwich. Learn from two savvy marketers who used Twitter to further their careers. Saul Colt and Warren Sukernek have each used Twitter effectively to find new positions.

Thanks for your support and remember you need to vote now and vote often to really appreciate the freedom we share and not take advantage of it. <-----ok that was maybe a little too much :)

Are you willing to work for free?

noreply@blogger.com (saulcolt) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:57:00 +0000

A lot of has been written about Chris Anderson's new book "Free" and while I haven't read it yet (I have it on my nightstand) I think there is a different kind of "Free" that people don't talk about enough...or actually do.

I am talking about free work.

Call it Advising, Consulting, Working for Food, whatever, it is something that you should do a little of if asked because (and this is the closest I get to preaching) the more profile you get for your work and if you want to get along in life you have to be prepared to do a little free work.

I get asked to give advice a lot and up in till now I have almost never said no, and being honest I am going to have to start being choosier because the sheer number of requests is growing too fast, but one of the reasons I do say yes so often (and that you should too) is because it is the Free Work that keeps you sharp and is usually the real fun projects that allow you to do the work that you can later use as examples to get paid work.....or if that isn't an aspiration of yours you can use these fun projects to use ideas and skills that just don't come to play in your day job and there is enormous value and self worth in that....just be careful not to be taken advantage of.

My Dad once told me that "if all the ideas you dream up are being executed on then you don't have many ideas". I could write another 5 paragraphs about that observation alone but I am going to leave it hanging so you can find your own meaning in it.

....and for those who where hoping this post would be more about Chris Anderson, I am sorry if I let you down but I hope you got something out of this and below is a video of Chris so this post has something for everyone :)

I don't want to be thought of as a Marketer anymore.

noreply@blogger.com (saulcolt) — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 15:13:00 +0000

I was in San Francisco last week for work and took a few minutes out of my schedule to catch up with friends Sarah and Julie. We chatted about a bunch of things like what we where up to and personally and professionally and somewhere in the conversation I had a revelation.

I don't want to be thought of as a Marketer anymore.

I came to this conclusion after explaining to my dinner companions that I am constantly explaining to people what exactly my job is because of my non-traditional title, Head of Magic.

I have been calling myself "H.O.M" for a couple years now because I like the mysteriousness, and because I've never seen myself as a marketer...or at least what being a current day marketer has become.

Ok...so this is the part of the post where I say "The opinions expressed in this blog are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect those of anyone else including friends, family or my employer".

With that out of the way I am going to stick my neck out and say that present day marketing has become all about "cost per clicks" and the super sexy concepts of conversion rates and ROI. Now even I know these things are crucial to a companies growth so there is a point to them but and in no means am I saying these things should be ignored BUT marketing used to be about "fulfilling a promise" and "delivering on an experience" and that IMHO is getting very lost in the quest for increasing your companies conversion rate by an 1/8 of 1%.

It just seems like companies no longer care as much about making a connection with a customer and are no longer building their brands around the idea of delivering on an experience or promise but are making brands more transactional and disposable. Creating customers experiences isn't always tied to a direct revenue stream but does have an overall effect on the bottom line of a business but without that direct link to revenue it is being pushed aside for a rainy day.

One of my business inspirations is P.T. Barnum and I know this "shift" from marketing being an art to a science would make him a little crazy because more than anyone P.T. understood the concept of experience...and sure he had an advantage of not living in the digital age where word would spread that some of his promotions were nothing more than an occasional hoax but he still understood that people are looking for something different...and a great example is that of the Cardiff Giant.

For those not familiar with the Cardiff Giant story here is the real quick version, a cigar maker named George Hull hired a sculpture maker to carve him and artificially age what appeared to be a giant fossilized human. Hall buried the carving on his brother’s farm and waited a full year for it to be discovered by a hired crew, unveiling it with great fanfare and huge profit as a museum piece. Not realizing it was a hoax P.T. Barnum tried to purchase it to add to his museum and when Hall refused to sell it Barnum had his own giant built and presented it with even more fanfare than the original Cardiff Giant saying his was the real one...and for you historical buffs it was this experience that the Quote "A sucker is born every minute" came from BUT it was actually George Hall who said it and not P.T. Barnum.

P.T. Barnum believed in giving people more than their money's worth and in the example of the Cardiff Giant he was doing that by adding a more interesting story to the same hoax that George Hall was offering...and you can say that this is a bad example because the whole thing was a scam but the people who came and paid to see the Giant were transported to a different world and left with a new life experience not that different from going to the movies now a days (and to take this further going to the movies and finding out there are 3 Asteroid films at the same time) remember this all took place in 1850.

P.T. would always say “Without promotion something terrible happens… Nothing!”

So if you are in the position to spread messages and create hype around a product, service, event or just about anything your should be creating a great story around why people need your item or attend your event and promote it the way P.T. would. Go crazy and have fun because people will notice that more than ever because less and less people are taking the time to do it this way.

No one understood hype/promotion (or dare I say Marketing) better that P.T. Barnum. So much so that when he was in failing health he gave permission to the newspaper to announce his passing a few days before he actually died so he could watch how the news spread and what the public reaction was. I love that story and this is what I aspire to be...not dead, but always trying new things and not resting on things that you know will work...and that in my opinion is much more than a marketing person so when I am asked what I do for a living I am going to keep telling people I make magic.

...and if you are wondering what I do that is P.T. Barnum worthy I invite you to keep your eyes open for an national event on August 25th to showcase zoocasa.com that hopefully will make the Barnum and Bailey Circus look like a petting zoo.

My Presentation from DemoCamp 21

noreply@blogger.com (saulcolt) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 18:36:00 +0000

I owe a HUGE thank you to Geoffrey Wiseman for not only recording my presentation from DemoCamp 21 but for also posting it online.

Please take a look and let me know what you think...and to answer your questions in advance, yes the SuperFriends story is true.

Are you good to the people who follow you?

noreply@blogger.com (saulcolt) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 02:00:00 +0000

I know a lot of amazing people.

So many that people I was once called the Kevin Bacon of the tech community.

Ok...I made up the KB part up but if people were to make any connection for me I would like it to be known as the Mother Theresa (of Calcutta...not the other one) of the tech world because, I wash a lot of feet but also go out of my way to do other nice things for people, even if it isn't asked for.

Here is why.

This past Wednesday I attended the monthly Wired Wednesday put on by the nice folks at RedWire and while there I got to chatting with Aran Hamilton.

Ya see, chatting is what I do.

...anyway, Aran is the VP of Strategic Partnerships with the new (and very impressive) startup Zoompass....and over the course of our conversation we started talking about our networks and I offered to help him with any introductions I could because I think his product is cool and want to see it do well. Somewhere in our chatting I blurted out (and I don't remember the exact thing that triggered it anymore)

"What is the point of having a network if you don't use it?"

Spending most of 2008 traveling to every conference or speaking opportunity I could find put me face to face with so many of the smartest and nicest people in the Tech and Entertainment industry, and I consider myself a pretty connected person...but seriously, what good is knowing all these people if I am not helping them?

The goal of this post is not to pat myself on the back but I am going to use "me" as an example and challenge everyone else to do the same because while this may sound odd but in my free time I sit around thinking about who I know and who I could introduce them to.

I do this because it makes me feel good to help people, but also because I usually get repaid in hugs and long kisses. Out of the hundreds or thousands of folks I meet over the course of a month or a year, only a small number of them will actually have a fit into what I am doing work wise...but all can help me in other ways...and I think the best way to get people to help you (if needed) is to help them first with something.

This has nothing to do with Karma or Pay it Forward but just good old fashioned un selfish introductions because there may not actually be a time where you need help from one particular person but if you help them find a job or escape from a bully I bet they will remember and help if called upon.

In the past month I have helped one person land a job. Made intro's and helped secure interviews for two other people and made at least 10 introductions that resulted in real business or a new clients for people.

Does this make me a better person than you? Not really, like I mentioned earlier I am doing it for the warm loving embraces....because I like the way those make me feel but if you have time this week why not take a look at your network and make an unsolicited intro to two people you like and think can work together...and if you don't get a hug out of it let me know and I will send you one.

Because @bethggwaz asked...10 things about Twitter (good and bad)

noreply@blogger.com (saulcolt) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 14:48:00 +0000

Yep, a little known fact about me is that I am available just about any time to answer questions on Twitter or by Email and if you ask a really good one I may just highlight you on this here blog...and answer the question of course.

I have a lot of opinions....and some of them are about Twitter.

Mostly I love Twitter and don't know what I would do without it...that being typed there are a few things that irritate me.

But first the great stuff! (and I am not sure I am going to do 10 of each but here we go)

1- Twitter lets me stay in touch with people I care about better than anything else...especially when I am really busy.
2- Twitter is my news feed and keeps me up to date on things as well as celebrity deaths.
3- Twitter is an amazing resource of opinions and idea...as well as a great place to get instant feedback on things.
4- I love Twitter because people think I am funny. (doesn't happen anywhere else)
5- Twitter gives me access to important and otherwise unobtainable folks so I can discuss things with them.
6- I love when people I have never met engage me in a conversation...it is fun!

I could go on and on but I think you get the point...so here are a few quick thoughts on the other side of the coin.

1- People put too much value in their following/follower stats. I follow people based on if they are interesting or pretty. Also personally, I have never asked a single person to follow me because the number of followers you have should mean nothing in the overall picture of how you use twitter.
2- I RT a bit and love when people RT my stuff but at the same time I wish people would create more original content and not just RT 90% of the time. I want to hear your ideas and thoughts so I can get to know you. RT'ing is an important part of Twitter but you have to still let yourself shine through.
3- I wish it was a little more playful and silly sometimes and not just a place to promote your stuff (something I am guilty of sometimes).
4- Auto DM's......nuff said!
5-When porn accounts follow me the pictures they use are so small I cant even enjoy it for a second before I block them :)

So Beth...not sure if this is the list you were expecting but I hope this might start a conversation and the list can grow from there.

I am Michael Knight, I am Michael Knight, I am Michael Knight...

noreply@blogger.com (saulcolt) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 23:44:00 +0000

I remember a long time ago watching an A&E Biography on David Hasselhoff (this was when he was still relevant) and him telling a story of before his audition for Knight Rider he drove his car all around the city saying to himself "I am Michael Knight..I am Michael Knight...I am Michael Knight".

This always kinda stuck with me because this was right out of the book "The Power of Positive Thinking" by Norman Vincent Peale but more than that I have always been intrigued by escapism and experiences and an argument could be made that The Hoff was tricking himself to offer himself a new experience.

Now I have never tricked myself into thinking that I own a members only jacket and a talking car but I do let myself escape into video games every now and then and was taken back by reading about the new Tiger Woods 10 game for the Wii because they are taking Escapism and Experience to a whole new level.

Basically you can enter yourself in golf tournaments and play along side (in real time) against all the players playing at the same time.

OK so that isn't that new or different but the thing that caught my eye was that when you do play a weekend tourney you can play the same real time tourney that the real pros are playing that weekend and to add to the experience you will play in the exact same weather and conditions of the actual course.

So if you were playing along with the US Open a few weeks back your screen would have been blanketed in rain and darkness.

This is very cool because the obvious next step, and I am sure they are working on this, would be to play along side the pros to see if you can match them shot by shot with real updates from the actual tourney. Currently they post the scores but if they could actually embed the game play of the pros it would be pretty awesome.

That my friends is the perfect combination of escapism and experience and if game companies can pull if off I think you will hear a lot of people whispering under their breath...I am Tiger Woods, I am Tiger Woods, I am Tiger Woods.

The Future of Social Media.

noreply@blogger.com (saulcolt) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:40:00 +0000

Here is a presentation about the Future of Social Media that I gave at the Canadian Telecom Summit. Please take a look as this may be the most thoughtful explanation of this whole phenomenon..ever.

or maybe not :)

The Future of Social Media was told in 1975. from saulcolt on Vimeo.

Wanna know a secret?

noreply@blogger.com (saulcolt) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:47:00 +0000

I am pretty lucky because I get asked to do some pretty cool stuff by some pretty cool people. A few weeks back I was asked to contribute to the Flight Centre Blog (yes, THAT Flight Centre) by sharing some of the secret out of the way places I have seen on my travels for Zoocasa.com and neat places to visit when you are traveling around in other cities.

I think the videos are kinda playful and I hope to keep doing them...so please watch, comment, let me know what you want to see and I will try to make you all proud!

I take the "Howard Stern" approach to Charity but I am making an exception for Lilah.

noreply@blogger.com (saulcolt) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 01:06:00 +0000

Before Howard Stern moved his show to Sirius Radio I listened to his show every day for 10+ years so even though I didn't make the move with him to satellite radio I still consider myself a fan and reference the time he and I shared often.

A lot of things Howard talked about his show have stuck with me because if you could get beyond the silliness and "shocking" conversations you would see that his blunt honesty was a pretty accurate explanation of how the real world operates.

So with that lead up I am going to share with you one lesson that always stuck with me from my radio friend "The King of all Media". Many years ago Howard explained his philosophy on asking for people to support causes and Charity. I am paraphrasing here but basically he said that he understands that he has a lot of influence over his listeners and because of that he never wanted to sell them garbage like T-Shirts and take advantage of them.

Now I don't pretend to have the same following as Howard Stern but I do share the ideology and never really ask for anything from you guys and while I personally am very charitable, I feel funny asking you all to do things just cause I ask you to.

Ok...well I do ask you to keep reading this here blog and I do ask you to check out Zoocasa.com (my new company) and I do ask you to tell people I am a good kisser (WOW...I didnt realize how needy I am) but I never ask you to do things on my behalf that cost you money.....and that isnt going to stop now BUT I am going to fill you in on a Charity that I am helping out with and it is something I think is worth a few minutes of your time so you can know a little bit more about.

A family friend of mine has an amazing daughter named Lilah. She is warm and fun just like many 4 and 5 year old children, the only real difference is that Lilah was born with neuroblastoma, a childhood cancer that attacks the central nervous system and basically makes things not fun.

Lilah's condition was found on her first day of her life completely by chance and she was able to receive immediate treatment that surely played a part in her amazing recovery.

But the story doesn't end there...ya see, Eric and Tammy (Lilah's parents) decided to start a fund to help raise funds for neuroblastoma research. The fund is called (appropriately) Lilah's Fund and it is pretty amazing what they have been able to accomplish.

I am writing about this today because this Sunday (June 7th) there is the annual Sunday in the Park with Lilah event and if you are in the Toronto area and find this interesting I urge you to please check it out. This is a special year because Eric, Tammy and Lilah are hoping to pass the 500k milestone in total money raised since inception a few years back.

So here is the part where I ask you for something.

Please look at the website for Lilah's Fund, read up on what they are doing and if it moves you please help them. If it doesn't connect with you (and I guess that is possible) please take a moment and tell someone else about it because Lilah is an awesome little girl and more people should know her story.

Thank you.