This video shows a real-time depiction of people checking in with their various location-based social media applications during the SXSW conference this year.

The data is certainly interesting. Of course, there are no real conclusions that come as a result of this video. But there is an understanding that using tools like this will offer a new perspective on the world and how people engage with it. Enjoy seeing a glimpse of the aggregate of human activity for this one city for one week.

Finding the best way to use the tool of social media for your brand and your audience is the key. Take heed of this presentation below.

It’s interesting to think of the ramifications of the work we do. None of the people that worked on the beginning pieces had any idea what their work would become.

That should inspire all of us to work with:

• humility to know when we are wrong, hear the critique, and make change
• imagination so we can even begin to conceive of vision and unintended (or intended) consequences
• love so that we can seek the betterment of society through what we do

“In a recent study of social media usage it is clear that consumers who are Facebook fans and Twitter followers of a brand are more likely to not only recommend, but they are also more likely to buy from those brands than they were before becoming fans/followers. The study of over 1500 consumers by market research firm Chadwick Martin Bailey and iModerate Research Technologies found that 60% of Facebook fans and 79% of Twitter followers are more likely to recommend those brands since becoming a fan or follower. And an impressive 51% of Facebook fans and 67% of Twitter followers are more likely to buy the brands they follow or are a fan of.  Considering Facebook’s over 400 million users, the opportunity is great for social media marketers.”

Possibly the most interesting part of the study was that it found a growing perception of brand being considered “out of touch” if they were not on social media platforms.

At the very least, your brand needs to have an engaging presence on different social media platforms. Even if you aren’t using it strategically, the fact that someone can identify themselves as a fan of yours helps them tell the world who they are. Reap the benefit of that.

Read the entire article here.

For even more analysis, click here.

My partner Peter Nevland recently bumped into the owner of a bottled water service who asked him for some free advice. Peter asked, “Why should the customer of another water service switch to yours?”

“We’re locally owned.” “Ten percent of our profits go to charity,” blah, blah, blah.

Peter was unimpressed.

Exasperated and grasping at straws, the man mentioned his water had recently been voted “Best Tasting” by the readers of an obscure, local business journal.

“Why do you think you won?”

The man hung his head, “We cheat.”

“How?”

“Our water is saturated with dissolved oxygen, twice the amount found in regular water.”

“What does that do?”

“Dissolved oxygen is what makes water taste good. It’s why cold water tastes better than warm water. Cold water contains more dissolved oxygen.”

“You’re saying your room temperature water tastes like cold water?”

The man nodded his head.

“Do you always saturate your water with dissolved oxygen?”

“Yes, why do you ask?”

SAD ENDING: Peter was unable to convince the man to promote his better tasting water with dissolved oxygen. I swear I’m not making this up. The man remained convinced his ads needed to say, “We’re locally owned and give ten percent of our profits to charity.”

We have created a website that will specifically focus on Jacksonville Beach real estate. The site will have house search functionality, tools to help buyers and sellers, and information about the following communities:

• Neptune Beach
• Jacksonville Beach
• Atlantic Beach
• Ponte Verde Beach
• Intracoastal West

We think the design is really cool. Eric looks engaging, and there is clear communication of how to get in touch with Eric. We will be adding contact forms and other sources of lead generation shortly, and of course, we’ll help Eric navigate the social media world to contribute to his success.

White space is typically a term used in graphic design that means the space between elements in a composition. It’s often the mark of simple, clean, and clear design.

The past month we’ve looked at white space in new ways.

In “White Space (Part 1)” we note, as did Da Vinci, that “simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” Often complex ideas can be best explained by using metaphors or examples. By utilizing these techniques, we can all bring a greater understanding to what we do.

“White Space (Part 2)” looks at how the internet is creating another sort of white space. By having multitudes of information always available when we search for it, we can relax, clear our brains, and be ok with decentralized knowledge.

All of these approaches to white space lead to a hopeful reality for our emerging world:

Great ideas will win.

This is largely due to the technological changes happening right now, in real time. The internet is redefining “authority”.

Culturally, the playing field is leveling. It’s less about how much influence you can buy and more about how much influence you can earn. It’s about how good your ideas are and, of course, how well you communicate them.

Here’s why:

1. We’re in an opt-in world. Increasingly, we only consume the information and media that we want to. We self-select the influences we want to have and so we care more about what those people and brands say. Time-shifiting products like TiVo, DVRs, podcasts, other on-demand services, and even Google itself, mean that we get what we want when we want it. The role of interruption-based messages (like traditional advertising) is changing drastically.
2. Communities are evolving, and they’re going online. Instead of turning to big media outlets to tell us what’s happening and what’s cool, we are looking more and more to our hand-picked communities (or, as Seth Godin calls them, “tribes”). These tribes are developing online where we can create and digest tons of content, stay in touch with more people than ever, and essentially leverage our time, our expertise, and the value bring to the table.
3. All media is becoming “social media”. This means that we can engage with and/or contribute to the messages we consume like never before. Walls are down. Gatekeepers are dead. Ideas can spread with the click of a mouse or cell phone button. For example, if one of your Twitter messages is “retweeted” by a few folks and again retweeted by some of their friends, you’ve reached an audience of thousands within seconds. We have more potential for influence and power than ever before.

The real question is, what are we going to do with it?
Brody

P.S. A great example of this whole concept is that in a matter of days, over 1,000 people signed to participate 40 Days of Water, a Blood:Water Mission campaign to bring clean water to our neighbors in Africa. In the 2 days after launch, about 10,000 people had visited the special website dedicated to the campaign. All of this happened almost exclusively through social media and word of mouth. It’s incredible.

Wordswell had the privilege of building the website and software application that is supporting this campaign. You can sign up to participate by making water your only beverage for 40 days. Otherwise, if you’d like to donate to the cause, visit my profile page at http://40Days.bloodwatermission.com/brodybond.

Information overload is crushing to the soul.

It’s why we should all be excited about emerging web technologies. Here’s why:

We will no longer have to wade through the mire of content packed into tight, unsearchable places.

The old way

Jam lots of content into a printed newsletter. Force people to have to read though everything to find the pieces of content they actually want. Make sure none of this content is ever accessible again. Do not leverage this content outside the scope of your current audience. Oh, and spend lots of money to print and mail it.

The newer way

Put all of your content online – text, pictures, audio, and video. Allow users to see titles, summaries, categories, and tags to find what is useful to them. Make all this content searchable, both so that it can be found in the future and so outsiders might find something valuable to read. Store all this content for free (regardless of how many people see it). Allow folks to comment, share, link to, and otherwise engage your content.

The web lets us spread out information. It allows us to find information on demand. It’s like a proxemic white space.

It allows us to find those needles in the haystacks.

It allows us to breath.

It also levels the playing field of influence… but more on that in Part 3 next week.

Create white space. Revive your soul,

brody

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” according to Leonardo da Vinci.

He’s right.

The best teachers, consultants, pastors, artists, and leaders all do the same thing: they make the complex simple. Does what you do fall into any of those categories?

What should you do when you have to explain something complex? How do you make it simple? Find a metaphor.

If someone doesn’t understand something, figure out a way to say, “Well, it’s just like…”.

Is he still not getting it? Use careful examples. Starting a phrase with “For example…” is one of the most powerful ways to bring meaning to what you are saying.

In graphic design and web design, simplicity is achieved through the use of white space.

What’s white space? Well, it’s just like what you would have when you clear away all the hay to find the needle.

For example, look at how simple it was to donate to Haiti relief efforts through the way this iTunes store page was designed and written:

Adding by subtracting,

brody

P.S. You know that needle that your audience found so easily because there wasn’t any hay? They’re now using it to stitch with.

Democrat:

When you look at something while listening to music, the thing you’re looking at takes on stunning new meaning. Music creates mood. That’s why great music is key in film and key in the communication of a message.

Music also implies story. Both music and story require the passing of time for them to even exist. Music is completely incoherent if all of the notes of a piece are played at once. Music only has meaning when notes are spread out over time and played in rhythm.

May I make an odd suggestion? Make sure that you have a strategic adviser that’s either a musician or someone who “gets” music deeply. Here’s why:

Music is art that is directly tied to time and process. What’s happening at any given moment only makes sense in the context of what has already happened and what will happen.

There’s movement. There’s change. There’s direction. There’s preparation. There’s fluidity. There’s purposeful tension and dissonance… that resolves. There’s story. And there’s meaning in it all.

Sound like something your organization needs? Music people get it. Have them write your song.

Then you can get others to sing along.

Clap your hands,

brody

P.S. Need proof? Watch this.

Mike Metzger of The Clapham Institute writes a weekly must-read piece called the Clapham Commentary.

Mike will often talk about the concept of “ordering your loves.” Let me explain how I understand the idea:

Imagine you have these 3 ideas, goals, or let’s call them “loves”: vacation, money, and time at home. Let’s first note that none of those things are intrinsically bad (or good).

If you love vacation more than than you love time at home, that will directly affect how you plan your year. Just because you love vacation more than time at home doesn’t mean you’ll never be home. Rather, one priority informs the other, and in this case, you’ll be heading to the beach!

Now, let’s say you love money more than vacation. All of a sudden, there is a different and higher priority that informs your decision making. Now, though you love vacation more than time at home, you may actually be more inclined to stay at home so that you can save money. It’s a worthy sacrifice because you’re responding to a greater love.

Here’s the twist: let’s say you love your family more than you love money. Now what do you do? Which is more critical to the success of that even-greater love: vacation or staying at home (or saving money)? Moreover, what is a greater love than even your family? Your career? God? The environment?

There isn’t an answer. But there is a guiding principle: How you order your loves will directly affect the decisions you make.

What does your organization love? What are the order of those loves? What hills do you die on – and in what order?

Do your customers care about knowing those things? Absolutely.

Go tell them,

brody

P.S. Wordswell is looking for a research intern.

Have you ever heard little kids laugh when they hear something they think is funny? My wife and I have 2 fantastic little boys, ages 4 and 2. They explode with laughter every time they hear Bono sing the line: “Ju Ju man, Ju Ju man” in Breathe… which they call, “that breathe song”.

The first time it happened I about jumped out of my skin. We were bouncing around town together while they were talking amongst themselves in the back seat. I was focused and already thinking of the next stop to make, pondering the lyrics earlier in the song, and wondering where to score my next cup of coffee when all of a sudden the explosion of laughter and “that guy said Ju Ju man, Dad!” came out of the back seat with a volume to rival any rock concert in history. The only thing that mattered to them in that moment was that they just heard some guy say, “Ju Ju man.”

Have you seen an example of the same message being heard in two different ways? Have you ever been through the same event with someone else and realized that you both had completely different experiences?

As a leader you may be focused on where you are going, what your organization is about, and how to keep yourself going; but what about your team? What about the people figuratively in your back seat? What message are they hearing? What is their experience along the way?

My kids experienced a great laugh. We had a family bonding moment. That’s personal. (And in my opinion, awesome.) However, in business, if your employees aren’t dialed in to where your organization is headed; if they aren’t focused and energized… then you might as well be zipping around town with the latest tunes crashing through the speakers. Which again, in your personal life can be a memory to treasure. Professionally speaking though, it may not be the best way to lead an organization. Just sayin’.

Marketers lie.

Used car salesmen do both.

Teachers are the ones that can’t “do”.

Government workers have it easy.

Housewives have it easy.

Celebrities have it easy.

Doctors charge too much.

Financial guys are greedy.

Consultants b.s.

Politicians only care about getting reelected.

Pastors don’t do real work.

Mechanics rip you off.

Trash men are… trash men.

IT guys are dorks.

Realtors just unlock doors for you.

Construction workers are dirty.

Nurses aren’t doctors.

Do you ever feel like a victim to your own stereotypes about what you do? Smash them.

This year at the TEDx Mid-Atlantic conference, Joel Salatin said, “If we devote ourselves to sacredness in our vocations, the world will rise to meet us.” Do you see the sacredness and the dignity in what you do? What about in other people?

The humility that lets you see the value in everyone around you is the humility that will let you see the value in yourself.

Take the phrase “I’m just a…” out of your vocabulary,
Brody

P.S. If you watch the “Wordswell < :90 Update” video today, you’ll see we’re asking you “Why are most car dealership ads so bad?” and “What would it take for you to care about where you bought a car?” To access that survey, click on wordswell.com/cars.

Make it really, really cold. And keep it really cold for a long time.

Your sales and marketing tactics are like a snowstorm. No matter how ferocious your blizzard is, your strategy will not stick unless you’ve prepared the ground. You gotta keep it cold enough long enough so that your customer is willing enough to let your storm turn to beauty.

If you don’t prepare the ground, you’re wasting money with every flake that melts.

Here’s how to make it cold: Say the right things in the right ways. The “right things” are the things your customers care about. The “right ways” are ways that are a) surprising enough to get attention, and b) beautiful enough to earn credibility.

(Can you feel the B.S. meter going up these days?… it’s not just how you say it, it’s what you say.)

Here’s how to keep it cold: Say the right things in the right ways over and over and over again.

How do you know the right things to say? Ask. Ask your customers. Ask your sales people. Ask Wordswell to help you.

How do you know the right ways to say them? Ask. Ask your customers. Ask your sales people. Ask Wordswell to help you.

How do you say them over and over and over again? Strategize. Ask Wordswell to help you.

We define brand development as “telling the truth about who you are, faster.” But we should also add “…for the long haul.”

As soon as you change your set of promises, you start the freezing process over again. It’s ok to do that. Just be patient, like the last time.

brrrrrr.

brody

P.S. Wordswell loves to do brand assessments where we research your “stuff”. How good is your message and your media tools? What are your competitors doing? But really, all that only helps to assess the main questions:

• Do your customers know the promises your making?
• Do those promises matter to your customer?
• Do your customers believe that you can deliver on those promises?

Ultimately, do your customers/members/donors/stakeholders know you? Trust you? Advocate for you?

If so, great! Let’s run with that. If not, great! Let’s fix that.

Prices start at various four-figure amounts. Start 2010 with a Wordswell Brand Assessment.

There’s an oft-quoted piece of advice that sometimes rubs me the wrong way: “Live everyday as though it were your last.”

To me, that can be short-sighted, selfish, hedonistic, uncharitable, rude, or opportunistic. There are certainly times when we shouldn’t throw it to the wind. We should often take care to live today like there is a tomorrow – so that tomorrow is all it can be.

The implications for your organization and it’s brand development are strong. Simply, a business cannot think only of the present if they are interested in building a brand. A brand says, “we’re here, today, tomorrow, or whenever you need us, ready to serve you and meet your needs.” A brand’s marketing and advertising needs to communicate that.

The opposite of a brand is a commodity that screams, “Sale! Today only! Call us now! We are awesome! Your opportunity (and our success) lives or dies right now!” Those businesses take advantage of their customers.

And they don’t build trust. Hurried messages can’t make the type of promises that you can deliver on over and over again. A brand is a promise. And, without a concerted effort to build a brand, it becomes difficult for people to become advocates and fans of who you are.

All of this is directly tied to the religious significance of this season:

Hanukkah is a holiday that celebrates longevity. Consecrated oil that was thought to only be able to burn for one day miraculously burned for eight days.

Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, whose very coming was predicated on God’s desire to redeem the world so that people could live forever with Him.

Right on the cusp of every new year we are reminded of what endures. Does your organization – does your brand – follow the theme of that song?

Joy to the world,

brody

So says my wife’s brother who lives with us.

Certainly, my wife and I are not going to have deep conversation nor get cuddly while he’s around, right? He has a limited perspective of how we spend our time.

The problem is that his limited perspective creates his entire framework for how he sees our marriage. It’s arrogant.

And we all do it.

We so often use our limited perspective to give us our entire framework of looking at something. Like my brother-in-law, we let our perceptions of something project realities that aren’t always true. We are all arrogant.

This happens in business all the time. The limited (and jargon-laden) perspective of a business owner will often provide the entire framework for how that organization communicates with their prospects and customers. The message will be about the company, in the language of the company, and about things that the company cares about.

But remember: marketing and advertising are not about you. Each ought to be used to serve your audience. Messages should be about your customer, in the language of your customer, and about the things your customer cares about.

At Wordswell, we define brand development as “telling the truth about who you are – quicker.” It’s a process that requires humility. Only when we are humble can we speak someone else’s language. Any only then can we convey real meaning.

How do we meaningfully communicate the truth about something (e.g. our organizations)? 1) Realize our perspectives are limited. 2) Listen.

Ya hear?

brody

P.S. The best advertising merely echoes that which people are already saying about you. Research is a key element of brand development. That’s why Wordswell helps our clients research what they should say before they say it. When we interview your clients to see why they love you, you get invaluable information about your brand. (And, along the way, you get some huge customer service points with your audience.)

Wordswell’s Social Media & In-Bound Marketing seminar was just outstanding in content, selected topics and delivery. The speakers were all enormously well versed in the material covered and were really able to very specifically address the application of the technologies as they would apply to the attendees. It was clearly time well spent. Being able to attend this kind of seminar without having to travel to NYC, or fly to the west coast was also a definite plus.

I highly recommend any firm serious about their marketing and perception within their market, send at a minimum one C-level executive to attend regardless of their current level of knowledge in social media and in-bound marketing. I am already looking forward to Wordswell’s next seminar.

Dick Morgan

Joe Brandli

Barry Sheehan

Richard Criste

Jonathan Nelson

Brandon Marsh

Josh Crist

Greg Rittler

Brody Bond

Listen to all those “bad” notes.

They are exactly the reason this experiment was a success.

And they are exactly how to get people to walk up your staircase.

Because if people are hitting bad notes it means that they are allowed to hit bad notes. And if they’re allowed to hit bad notes, then they have freedom. And if they have freedom, then they can choose to contribute. And once they contribute to something, then they are vested in it.

And if someone is vested in you, your history is changed.

None of this happens if you stay in control. How do you give up control? Enable your customers to be creators, sharers, collaborators, lovers, fools, fans, advocates. To put it another way, let them be themselves. Just make sure you’re a valuable part of the conversation along the way.

Practically speaking, what can you do? Make your content accessible. Allow comments on your blog. Respond. Give away secrets. Tweet. Ask for advice from your clients. Post that ridiculous photo. Put down your defenses. Talk about what you’re doing and how you’re doing it. Don’t just give the polished impression of yourself. Give the transparent one.

And follow it up with engagement. Prove you’re listening. This is a fundamental shift in the way most “marketing” has happened in the past.

The days of control are over.

The days of inspiration are here. Better start getting more creative… and more humble. Why? Because people have more options than ever. We are all more likely to be commodities. Most of us are staircases. Some of us are cool, flashy escalators. Few of us have the courage to let people walk all over us by turning ourselves into instruments.

But if you believe in what you’re doing in the world, if you believe your product or service makes a difference, isn’t that exactly what you want people to be doing? It’s the only way you can earn the right to be heard and gain influence. Why? So you can be the staircase that guides your clients to the light of day.

Inspire,

brody

P.S. If people are going to use your staircase for all its worth (and give you their time or their money along the way), they must be delighted to do so. There is no delight without surprise. It is incumbent upon us, not the pedestrians, to make our staircases surprising. That’s why Wordswell asks our clients to take risks. We help you create surprise. Wanna start 2010 well? Jump. We can push you if you need it.

Visit TheFunTheory.com for more information. In the meantime, enjoy these films:

Brody:

thanks baltimore love time people help iphone cool check funny follow phone idea whats wordswell yeah doing dude email bloodwater lisa voice saved awesome night tell video tonight call sweet week life free church please google name amazing stuff tweet congrats wedding looking mails getting read nice real game apple thank party coming look music record start guys media blog

Greg:

cont time night love elise caleb life people morning watching looking seth beach home week help ready check kids little riley dinner world wedding friday follow iphone gerkins forward gary getting days house game tonight wordswell baltimore school lake weekend read harbor stone stafford thanks bono mission client finished josh times office hours tomorrow hamel heading party sunday africa hard

From Brody and Denny in the office (botched this one):

Trying to sum things up:

To learn more about what Dropbox is and how it can help you, watch this:

Dropbox explaination video

I want to explore using this methodology in my own creative thinking – if only just for fun.

The way the application works is that it will randomly shuffle three columns of words. The words available in the left column are different than the words available in the middle column are different than the words available in the right column. Once the word in each column is randomly selected, they are put together to form a 3-word phrase. The example given on the app’s preview images is:

automatic | tubular | toy

Once you have that abstract phrase, you can let yourself run down a road of imagination because your brain is working with a new concept altogether.

Looking through the pattern of this app, there are two key things that make it work:

1. The words must come out in a left-to-right order. Meaning, the placement of all the words is not random, just the words in each column.
2. It looks like the words in the left and middle columns are all adjectives (including participles).
3. The words available in the third column are all nouns.

Experimenting

Humans think in and through words. We are language-crazy. To discover a new concept, we need to have new words, or new word orders. That’s why education is largely about developing a vocabulary, and expertise is largely based on knowing the jargon (only to then gain wisdom when you can describe concepts simply).

What I would like to do is put hundreds of words in hats. One hat would be nouns. Another would be adjectives. Another would be adverbs. Etc. Then, by picking out words from hats, we could construct any new concept following any phrase order. We could also play with the structure of these phrases. Something like “adjective-noun-verb-adverb” could be used with as much gusto as “adjective-adjective-noun”.

Of course, software makes this easier. If someone were to develop thematic sets of words that you could add or remove from the mix of options, that would add some scope to our possibilities.

Regardless, the take away is this: when stuck for ideas, let’s rearrange our language to spur us on.

The conclusion? Metzger writes, “People tend to conform to social customs, or what others call peer pressure. When people discover what most of their peers are already doing, they’re more likely to begin doing it themselves.” (Emphasis mine.) When there is “social proof” that something is a good idea, more people hop on the bandwaggon.

So how can you get your customers socially proving that other people should spend their time or money with you?

First of all, we need to understand that people have an unprecedented number of options when it comes to finding the goods and services they want. Additionally, the providers of goods and services now have new and innumerable ways of communicating about their brand. Both are largely the result of the forces of the internet.

In light of this, brands and organizations need to start adopting tribe mentalities. Meaning, your best chance at success is through ever-expanding influence. For more info on tribes and marketing, google Seth Godin.

In a tribe mentality, you as the leader (the brand that people love) need to create your own cultural norms, customs, and even your own language. These all contribute to a shared experience amongst your fans and members – and they create the dynamic that is the tribe. Metzger puts it this way, “People tend to convert to what their surrounding culture tells them is normative.”

Never before has this been so important, and never before have there been so many tools to do this. Social media is a key set of tools you can be strategically using to create your own normative culture. Social media is the easiest and fastest way for you to gain social proof that you’re worth the attention of others.

Make sure that you are creating customer experiences that make them want to vouch for you. Once you do that, make sure you’re helping to create venues where they can share their experience. The tools exist. Ever hear of a “re-tweet”?

What’s Foursquare?

Basically, every time you go somewhere – your favorite restaurant, coffee shop, office, gym, appointment (anywhere that’s a destination) – you “check in” as being there. Typically, this works best with a GPS-enabled mobile device like an iPhone.

For instance, last night a friend, my wife, and I go out to dinner at Holy Frijoles, a Mexican restaurant in Hampden, Baltimore. When we get there, I launch Foursquare on my iPhone, it locates my position, and gives some probable options for where I am. I check in at Holy Frijoles, and voilà, the world knows where I am:

“I’m at Holy Frijoles (908 W 36th St, @ Elm Ave, Baltimore). http://bit.ly/3QuNYy“

Of course, my friends on Foursquare get notified about this (often through a text message, if they have that feature turned on). But my Foursquare updates are linked to my Twitter account. My Twitter updates are linked to my Facebook account. Soon, and through a one-click process, I’ve told my entire circle of influence where I am.

Great… another tool for over-sharing, right? Not so fast…

What happens if I went to Holy Frijoles every week? What happens if I went there so often that Foursquare claimed that I was the “Mayor” of Holy Frijoles? What happens if someone else wanted to chase that crown and started eating there more? What happens if I was proud of my position and started eating there even more to keep my title?

What happens if there was an incentive for the Mayor of Holy Frijoles? You’d be surprized what I’d do for a free margarita.

Meanwhile, everytime we’re “checking in” at Holy Frijoles, we’re personally vouching for that brand visibly through our entire networks on Foursqure, Twitter, and Facebook. Talk about word-of-mouth advertising (the free kind). Wow!

But what’s this whole business about being a “Mayor”? Basically, Foursquare keeps track of what you do, when you do it, etc. There are different point values you earn by doing certain tasks. For instance, if you go to a gym enough times in a month, you earn the badge “Gym Rat”. If you go to you gym enough, you’ll soon be the Mayor of the gym. For more information on this points system, Mayors, and badges, check out Foursquare’s web site.

Foursquare is a developing platform. The number of titles and badges available to earn is certain to grow. It’s a game. But it can be played (and won) by anyone – including your customers.

Now the question is, how is your organization going to become a prize?

Wordswell can help you coordinate a plan Foursquare for your business as part of a larger social media strategy. Drop us a line any time.

First, Brody had a “tweet of the week” according to Bmore Media. See Brody’s famous Twitter update here.

Also, Brody was on the local news recently. WMAR-TV (Baltimore Channel 2) brought him in as a social media expert to talk about the plague of over-sharing on Facebook. Despite the horribly dumb look on Brody’s face at the beginning of the interview, it’s a good discussion on some social media theory.

This means that watching videos online is do-able, easy, and on-demand. And people love it. As of May, 2009 over 20 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every second. When the iphone 3GS came out in June, mobile uploads to YouTube immediately spiked 400%.

But the real power is found in the effectiveness and the credibility of messages delivered through film.

Wordswell believes your films don’t need to be awkward and stale. If anything, they should be the exact opposite of that! “Corporate films” can have cinematic qualities to them that communicate the truth of your brand. As an art, film is potent in its ability to evoke emotion and persuade. When these techniques are applied to your message, you’ll have pure magic on your hands. Check out some of our latest work below.

Lastly, creating a great film is only as good as its distribution. Wordswell has proven strategies to get eyes on your work. Your investment will be capitalized.

Let’s describe this tree. It’s:

• Different
• Evergreen, long-lasting
• Serving those who use it
• Easy to tell if you want to use it
• Easy to find when being sought for
• Strong under the weight of much use
• Attractive (in content, purpose, and aesthetic)
• What else? Share your comments on what differentiates this tree.

I just need a website…

The funny thing is how little thought has gone into what the purpose of the website is before the process begins. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised; I don’t think much about a lot of things that are probably very important but aren’t a focus of my time.

The truth is that Wordswell’s initial client meeting (“the Storyboard” meeting) is spent asking hundreds of questions to help our clients narrow their and focus and determine exactly what they want to accomplish on the web. These questions usually have very little to do with the web itself. It normally has to do with our clients customers, their business, and their market. It is uniquely focused on our “client’s client”.

We are big fans of questions. Seth Godin is also (and we’re big fans of Seth’s). Check out his questions to ask before starting a web project.

If you need help figuring out the right questions to ask before you embark on your new web project give us a holler at 443.804.0108.

Sean Silverthorne wrote “Understanding Users of Social Networks” for the Harvard Business Review. He profiles the research of Harvard Business School professor Mikolaj Jan Piskorski who has years of online social media research under his belt.

Here’s our summary and comment:

•”Online social networks are most useful when they address real failures in the operation of offline networks” So says Piskorski. How do you know what lots of your friends are doing? How do lots of your friends know what you are doing? How can you search for real-time information on a topic? REMEMBER: Google is NOT real-time. How can you have a real relationship with someone without having to commit significant time or resources to make it valuable? There are TONS of ways social media allows us to leverage to achieve what was once impossible. This doesn’t mean that all those achievements are good things. But the more tools we have the better – we are only limited by our imagination and ethics.

Would you offer some more “How could you ________ without social media?” ideas in the comments?

•Pictures are huge in social media platforms. According to this study, 70% of actions in online social communities (except for Twitter) are related to looking at photos. So, reader, how are you going to get more photos associated with how people connect with your brand?

•Myspace? Yes, it still has 70 million folks logging in every month. But this is interesting: “MySpace has a PR problem because its users are in places where they don’t have much contact with people who create news that gets read by others. Other than that, there is really no difference between users of Facebook and MySpace, except they are poorer on MySpace.”

•Social Media must turn to Social Strategy. A couple quick points here. People don’t tend to click on many ads presented in social networks. Further, you shouldn’t expect folks to just use social networks as a way to find a way to click through to your website. What should your brand do in social media? It goes back to point 1: solve failures found in the “real” off-line social world. Do you have customer service issues? A tough time connecting with your clients? Following up after a sale? Market research?

What it is for you?

You’ve heard that social media is all about “engagement” – and it certainly is. But it is also about serving your clients. More about that in a later post…

Here’s our summary and comment:

•Perceptions Matter (!). Perceptions are tied to perceived value. Further, people are going to be more inclined to enjoy/use their investment when they value them more. In so doing, that creates even more value. Creating the perception of value is emotional.

Case in point: When you lay down $100 for a date at Swanky Inn, you are going to eat slower and enjoy your time differently than your date to McDonalds. This is even if the salad you order is exactly the same salad.

I’m not saying that the nice place can or should serve a crappy salad and charge more for it. I’m only talking about perception – and you know as well as I do that you’d be willing to pay more for that salad at a different locale.

•Brands are born from customer experience. Therefore, create the experience that lives up to the prices you charge. You ought to deliver a better product/service for more money. But, again, regarding only perception, you client experience better kick ass if you want to charge more for what you do (especially if you are delivering a better product).

In the article, Derek identified two means to affect customer experience: meaningful customer service and customer interactivity. This interactivity should show your intention to invest in your customers and assure them that they each have a face.

•Brands get communicated with words. You’ve gotta choose the right ones that evoke the right emotions. Is your restaurant a “bar and grille” or an “inn”. With every ounce of how your brand communicates you are instructing (or not instructing) your customer how to engage with and best enjoy your product or service.

If your words can tell someone how to best use your product, you’re serving them, which, in turn, serves you. Outback Steakhouse tells people to say, “Let’s go Outback tonight”. Outback then becomes an “every day” option for eating out. But that is only so because they have let us know that they are; they have created the expectation that their price, their speed of service, and their entire experience works on a whim.

Brands make promises. Deliver on them. Set the right expectations with the words you use. And this becomes especially true when your setting an expectation on PRICE. If your brand’s price perception isn’t aligned, you’ll have a lot of confused customers (who aren’t willing to spend much).

Here is the best presentation that we have run across on making great presentations. Garr is outstanding at helping us realize that we can’t afford to bore people to death or present things in the standard presentation format. While it will take more work to create a great presentation in this style it will be worth the effort.

ANALYSYS, a full-service IT company in Baltimore and Washington D.C., commissioned Wordswell to create a film to achieve several goals.

The film was going to be presented to business owners attending a virtual trade show sponsored by SmartCEO Magazine. Those owners needed to know what ANALYSYS did, as it related to the purposes of the industry event. So, the film lauds the benefit of IT outsourcing.

But ANALYSYS knew that IT outsourcing can be seen as a bit of a commodity. To differentiate themselves, they hired Wordswell to use this film as an opportunity to tell a story bigger than just IT. In reality, ANALYSYS helps their clients achieve their mission. The case study in this film demonstrates it well. Because ANALYSYS handles the IT for the non-profit organization So Others Might Eat (SOME), SOME is able to complete their mission better.

Connecting IT outsourcing to feeding the less-fortunate was a challenge. But, by telling the story well and connecting the dots, Wordswell was able to position ANALYSYS as the brand they want to be.

Boring video, but they’re right on.

Using the Gmail interface for email (while keeping you@yourdomain.com) is smart. So is using Google Calendar (gCal) as a shared calendar application. There are other great capabilites as well.

The best part: you don’t need to spend money on IT to keep your email working right.

If you need help using Google Apps to improve your organization’s workflow, Wordswell can help.

But that’s not the point of this post.

The point is what’s happening in response to this: http://www.fixoutlook.org.

This site simply explains the Outlook problem, and then provides a link so that Twitter users can tweet: “Help tell @msofficeus that using Word to render HTML emails in Outlook is a dumb idea. See http://fixoutlook.org and RT”

Within 24 hours of starting the campaign, there have already been over 17,000 folks who have tweeted this message. And because “@msofficeus” is part of the message, Microsoft’s Twitter admin will see all of them.

This is the first best crowdsourced petition – and it’s prone to change the way a behemoth company makes decisions. You think Microsoft isn’t listening to this? I bet they are – and if they’re not, then they certainly should be.

But there’s another interesting thing. When you go to fixoutlook.org, it shows the avatar icons of the Twitter users who have sent that specific tweet. You’ll notice that a lot of them are shaded green. What’s up with that? It’s a simple idea that started here: http://helpiranelection.com/. It caught on like wildfire.

Folks, word-of-mouth, mutual influence, the sharing of ideas – these are winning. If you don’t have a voice in the ever-expanding conversation, you’re missing out.

Don’t pay for great media space. Pay for great ideas. Pay to figure out how to get ideas out to the people that matter.

The “people that matter” these days? Everyone.

UPDATE: if you can find the Brody Bond or the Wordswell avatar in the mosaic at fixoutlook.org, please send me a screenshot, and you’ll win a prize (prize = any drink you want at Starbucks)!

UPDATE (6/24/09 5:07 pm): Microsoft has already offered a reply in direct response from the fixoutlook.org campaign. As of now, they aren’t budging. But, good for them for the reply! Moreover – wow! – Microsoft just responded to a day-old, viral, grassroots campaign that happened through Twitter.

It’s an idea that would help people remember you, and it’s an idea that would encourage me to eat at your place more often. Read for it? Here it is:

Below the sign that says “All employees must wash their hands before returning to work” you should install another sign. This sign would say “… Not that we would hire anyone who needs to be reminded of this.”

Everytime I see a “wash your hands sign” I’m not thinking, “Sweet! The people here are clean!” I’m thinking “Crap! The people here are idiots.” Yes, I know the sign is required by law, but still… it’s gives me the creeps.

Focusing on something you don’t have (but think you need) can be a dangerous, common pattern. The pattern is to identify something you lack and use that as an obstacle that prevents you from doing what you really want.

With an obstacle identified, we feel better. No harm done, right? No harm except that nagging sense in the back of our brain that we really should be doing something differently. Not to worry: most people come to terms with it over time.

I do this. I let obstacles to a task, a passion, or a goal serve as excuses to not attempt them. It’s not a fear of failure. It’s a fear of not having a perfect process.

This is stupid.

Chris continues:

Fortunately, many of the obstacles we perceive are not really obstacles. Many of the things we think we need are unnecessary.

Isn’t that true?

Some of this is tied to thankfulness. If I were to be more thankful for what I have, I’d be more prone to go do something with it. Instead, I wait for something – often the perfect, measurable, replicable, neatly-wrapped, guaranteed-outcome process – and I have an excuse for inaction.

What obstacles do you use as excuses?

You: Hi, I’m so-and-so from company X. We do this-and-that.

Some Guy: Wow, that sounds really interesting! What’s your website?

Sound familiar?

Notice the question that used to be “Do you have a website?” is becoming “What’s your website?”

Having a website is expected.

What really matters is how good your website is. This isn’t just a matter of “good design”.

It’s a matter of user experience, information architecture, content, navigation, and effectiveness. It’s getting people to return to your site. Most importantly, it’s adding value to your user. (Remember, you need to add value to your audience in order to earn a voice that can influence them.)

So now you have a website. What next? How do you drive traffic? How do you get your money’s worth out of your communication hub?

The Big Offer
We’ll let you know what we think of your website for free, and offer some advice on improving it. Do you want some honest feedback? Give us a ring.

Stand out, but in a strategic way,
brody

P.S. A key to driving traffic to your website is search engine optimization (SEO). SEO means that your site will come up when someone searches for what you do. You can call us for some free pointers.

P.P.S. In case you missed it, that’s two free offers we’re starting this week and will continue as long as we can: 1) brief honest assessment of your current website plus ideas for improvement, and 2) basic SEO tips. My cell phone number is 443-804-0108.

I do, however, use the Twitter website every time someone follows me. I like to check out who they are a little bit, look at their website in their bio, and then decide whether to follow them.

Until today, if you clicked on a user’s website in their bio, it would open that page in the current browser windon/tab, taking you out of Twitter. But now when you click on that website, it will open a new browser window/tab.

Sweet!

And it also seems smart on Twitter’s part. Once I finish being destracted by checking out someone’s website, I won’t forget to go back to Twitter to possibly return the follow.

Doesn’t that seem like something fairly obvious? It’s odd that Twitter just made that change now. Let me know what I’m missing as to why that change was only made now. Usually, as a general guide, it’s better for a site’s links to external sites to open those external sites in new windows or tabs.

Hello Friends,

We think it is critical that you know that at 12:01 AM EDT, Facebook will be offering personalized URLs for individual user accounts and all the brand pages you administer. For instance, there is no “facebook.com/yourname” currently, but that URL will be available on Saturday morning to the first claim.

These URLs are permanent and irrevocable, according to Facebook. Unlike web domains (www.yourcompany.com), this internet “real estate” cannot change ownership.

It is essential to protect your brand, name, or identity ASAP, lest it be claimed by someone else first.

Facebook is nearing 250 million users and is the third most visited site on the internet. Recent changes to Facebook have made it a place of huge opportunity for brands to interact with customers – for free.

As part of our brand development process, Wordswell helps organizations create social media strategy and guidelines.

If you would like help preparing for the Saturday land rush please call us this week. Additionally, please share this important information with your friends, especially business owners and organization leaders.

We’ll offer more insight on the Wordswell Blog this week. In the meantime, please call us to discuss your options. My cell phone number is 443-804-0108.

Make the most of every opportunity,
Brody

For further reading:
LA Times
Inside Facebook
TechCrunch
Mashable

Control the signals and you control the perceptions.
Control the perceptions and you control the conclusions.
Control the conclusions and persuasion is accomplished.

The end: What do you want to persuade people to do or to think?

The beginning: What signals are you sending?

Chris wrote a post today called “What Makes a Community?” and it echoed thoughts of my own. Recommended reading.

One thing I took away from his article is that the necessary conditions for building community are also true for building brands. As you are building your brand, Chris’s ideas about community might serve as inspiration. They did for me. Here’s the summary recap of Chris’s thoughts (my comments in italics):

A community needs a leader. That’s you, business owner, CEO, pastor, president. There is no brand if you don’t act. Need help aligning your vision and your action?

A community needs friends AND enemies. There is no inclusion without exclusion. You want fans (short for “fanatics”), not a lot of people who just think you’re ok. Do your ads annoy people? Good. They’re listening. If you are afraid of having enemies, you can’t have a brand. Do you think Starbucks is Starbucks because everyone likes them? No. Their brand has attracted friends of Starbucks – and enemies.

A strong community needs long-term commitment. That’s why you build a brand – to get commitment. It starts with your commitment to your audience and that commitment never stops. You must earn their commitment to you along the way. As you keep delivering on the promise that is your brand, as you keep adding value to the lives of your audience, you will have your own community – that you lead – that has long-term commitment.

A community needs its own language. YES YES YES! This point cannot be understated. My best friends and I communicate in a way that no one else understands. The world’s people-groups are organized by language. Certainly, you need to be clear about who you are and what you do in this world. BUT, if you develop a language that you use with your clients exclusively, and they use with you exclusively, you have built a community. The person that orders an iced-quad-venti-whole-milk-caramel-macchiato isn’t crazy. They’ve experienced love, commitment, and a language from a brand – and they are making that brand very rich in the meantime.

A community needs to actively (and carefully) solicit other members. Don’t grow too fast. Not everyone is a good client. Your brand’s integrity is worth more than your bottom line this year.

A community built on hope is stronger than one built on fear. Sales and discounts don’t build brands. Do you want people to BUY FROM YOU RIGHT NOW!!! or know that you’ll be there tomorrow and the day after that, ready to take care of them when they need what you have to offer? Your brand is strong when people think of you when they have a need that you fulfill.

Maybe it’s not that “the principles of building community are the same principles of building a brand.”

Maybe it is that brand-building and community-building are the same thing.

What do you think?

If there were a third lesson here, it would be “play dumb”. Here goes…

In trying to get internet and tv in my new apartment, I, of course, was searching the internet for deals, specials, etc. I happened upon a site called BuyComcast.com, a third-party vendor for Comcast. Their site offered $100 grocery discount vouchers for each Comcast service you signed up for. $200 buck in rebates sounded good for me so I called them for the details.

Knowing there would be a catch, I asked the rep to walk me through every step required to get the $100 rebates. Some, I had to tease out of her; others, I had her check with other people in her company. Regardless, I wanted to make sure I got these discounts, and, at least, I was fascinated by what the process might ential. So, I wrote the steps from operator 3774:

1. Sign up for Comcast services through the BuyComcast.com site. Services were full priced, I think.

2. Wait for services to be installed.

3. Wait for the first month’s bill to be mailed by Comcast.

4. Get rebate form from BuyComcast.com website.

4a. Go to homepage
4b. Click on “Rebates” in lower right corner (go see if you can find this link…)
4c. Print PDF rebate form.

5. Mail in rebate form with copy of Comcast bill (front and back of bill).

6. Wait 16-18 weeks.

7. Receive the “registration form”.

8. Apply instantly online or by mail.

9. Wait undisclosed amount of time for coupons to come (usually a 3-4 weeks)

10. Spend $100/mo. at an approved retailer (grocery store or gas station)

11. Save original receipts.

12. Mail original receipts and coupon to redemption center.

13. Wait about 6-8 weeks.

14. Receive $25 refund/gift card (presumably, you can use this item as an actual gift card)

15. Repeat steps 10-13 to receive balance of $100 discount.

Yes, I recapped that whole process for accuracy with Operator 3774 after we codified the process. And then I asked if she thought it sounded ridiculous. Silence. On the short end it would take 11 months to get the $100 rebate. Between that, forgetting to photocopy the back of my Comcast bill, never finding the “Rebates” link in the first place, or spending $100 at an approved retailer, it was clear this company wasn’t interested in people actually receiving their discounts.

So I called Comcast directly. Comcast – the ones who, after the rampant success of the iPod, still think remotes with a user interface like this are awesome:

“No, dude. Hit the circular yellow triangle button above the up-arrow button that’s not the volume-up or channel-up control.”

I wasn’t looking forward to this whole Comcast thing. I have them in the same lousy category as Verizon, and especially Best Buy. But I called. Talked to Jeremy. Told him I was comparing my tv and internet options, and that I was interested in learning more about Comcast and their packages.

“If you buy this from me today – literally right now – I can do this special deal for you,” he pushed. (Later, he would be calling me back after I asked time to think about it). That made me nervous in the “Oh boy, here we go…” way, but I pressed on.

The rest of the conversation consisted of questions like, “What the deal with _____?” “Can I do _____?” “Are you able to _____?” “You said ____. Is that limited by my geography? No?” And basically every question was answered with a concession or offer on his part!

Importantly, one of the first questions I asked was “How do we get back in touch with each other if we get disconnected?” I wanted him to know that he had a good chance at a sale.

Anyway, here’s where we ended: Basic cable, movie channels (which I declined), HDTV DVR box, 12 KBPS internet, modem, and wireless router for $65 a month – FOR 12 MONTHS! Oh, and half-price installation.

Not bad.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a sucky remote discount.

If you need help getting your Apple hardware (macs, iPhones) up and running – and working for YOU – let me know.

hmm… Something for twitter. Tweetie is most popular. I LOVE Twittelator Pro.

Google

Some RSS reader if you read blog/content fees. NetNewsWire is great – it syncs with your desktop to know what has/has not been read already.

Wall Street Journal has good news in their “what’s news” and “editors picks” sections. The rest of the standard crap I just go to cnn.com through mobile safari.

Facebook app is great.

Sportacular (my favorite) or SportsTap (Lisa’s) for scores, standings.

Trapster for on-the-fly speed trap warnings.

HUGE ONE+++++: Easy Wi-Fi for logining into WiFi at Starbucks without having to enter UN/PW in web browser.

There are some good free/cheap workout programs

Radio stuff:
Speakers (plays your computer iTunes through your iPod touch – which I guess you could wire to a stereo in another room)
Pandora
AOL radio
IHeartRadio

Flickster for movies.

Wi-Fi Finder for knowing what Wi-Fi is around.

Banner (Free) for projecting a message across a crowded room.

ICanHasCheezburger for a good laugh (LOL Cats, Fail, etc.).

The Weather Channel (live radar, etc.).

Skype

Some file-sharing program. I haven’t used these yet, but I hear Air Sharing is good. There’s also box.net, Briefcase Lite, Files Lite, and many others…

The only apps on here that aren’t free are the Twitter ones (and maybe Air Sharing).

Hope that helps.
brody

What it said

•Twitter and Facebook are useful in corporate branding. But they are different platforms. Users and marketers need to understand each separately.

•Twitter and Facebook “enable organizations to learn about what people are thinking and saying and doing about their brands, and about life in general.” Listening is the first step in engaging social media. Better understanding of need means better understanding of how to meet that need.

•Through these social media platforms, brands are able to get close to customers. This enhances customers’ experiences with brands.

•Companies have been able to offer customer service and put out fires because of information gleaned through social media.

•Virgin Atlantic “uses Twitter to alert passengers of flight delays and other negative events. It also tweets about positive goings on, such as special travel promotions.”

•There is a “power of Twitter to get people to self assemble and become impromptu, impassioned marketing machines.”

Our take

Social media empowers conversations between companies and the people they serve. You should figure out how to take advantage of this. Wordswell can help.

It’s not a junk yard, it’s a parts garden.

Take a look at their website:

Crazy Rays

Here’s the copy from their home page. It should be their radio ad.

“A car-enthusiast friend once said, “It’s a parts garden, not a junkyard.” Graceful words for an auto scrap yard. But as anyone who’s called a dealership for a replacement window or radiator can attest, car parts are mighty pricey. And if you’re cheap and drive old cars, like we do, salvage yards are the places to go. That in mind, the best parts garden around is Crazy Ray’s, the kind of scrap yard you have to explore yourself–they don’t log every vehicle towed into their gates. Pick a location–there’s a yard off Pulaski Highway on the east side and another off Washington Boulevard southwest of town, in Jessup. You pay your buck to get in (paradise has its price), lug in your toolbox, and set out to find that radiator (all radiators, $40), windshield (all windshields, $50, and they pull it for you), or, if you’re a true motorhead, a full engine ($150). Mercedes Benzes and Escorts alike are jammed together, Jaguars ignobly gutted, and an iron curtain of crushed cars surrounds the lot. It’s not for the timid or those uncomfortable with grease, mud, and weeds, but Crazy Ray’s is a godsend for folks who don’t mind getting a little dirty to save some money. For the rest, the dealership parts counter will be glad to take your money.”

Don’t you want to go to Crazy Ray’s?

Don’t you want your message to sound like that?

Write with creativity, honesty, story, and courage. All you have to lose is the interest of your reader.

Step 1: Include the 20 Words to Get Your Email Marked as Spam.

Step 2: Blind carbon copy (Bcc:) as many people as possible.

Step 3: Write in all caps. If you want to be a varsity-level spam creator, type some of the 20 Words in all caps.

Step 4: Attach large images and files. Use HTML tags not meant for email.

Step 5: Don’t honor opt-out requests.

Are you interested in good email marketing?

Wordswell can help you send emails that:

• bust through spam filters
• look great
• offer measuring tools such as open rates, click-through rates, and forward rates
• are easy for you to manage

Here are some more short pieces you should read:
•An Intro to Email Marketing
•Features of Our Email System
•What Makes Our Email Services Unique?

If you’d like a free demo of how all this works, please call me at 443-804-0108.

Can spam,
brody

“One must not work in a thousand fears, and yet that is what many do who are so anxious to get hold of the right colors and tones that through this very anxiety they become like tepid water. The real artists say, ‘Just dash the color on!’ Otherwise, we reach the summit of wisdom when nobody has any daring left.”

And that’s where we come in. With our help, you’ll be able to:

Manage your audience lists…

You can easily organize your recipients into groups, or use our advanced search-and-segment feature to find (and send to) people based on their interests, their geography, their past response and more. Your customizable signup screens let new people sign up from any spot on your website, and your customizable database lets you collect and store as much information as you like.

Utilize industry best practices…

Whether it’s following the rules of permission marketing, handling opt-out requests quickly, interpreting bounces or making sure you’re sending a well constructed email every time, our service can help make sure you’re on board with the latest industry trends and best practices that will increase your delivery rates and improve your results.

Create and send stylish email campaigns…

Create stylish email campaigns using our intuitive click-and-build screens, or upload your finished html campaigns. Either way, we’ll help you prepare and preview your campaigns, proof them for problematic content, and send quickly and accurately every time. And your past campaigns are stored for easy access and linking later.

Deliver with success every time…

Our world-class delivery network ensures high delivery rates through our personalized sendoff, ISP relationships, and delivery policies that can be fine-tuned down to the individual mailing if necessary. Our engine handles every aspect of delivery for you, and our industry know-how helps ensure the highest delivery rates possible, every time.

Track your results in real time…

You’ll see who opened your campaign, clicked on every link, forwarded your campaign to friends or signed up to get your future emails. You’ll find out who bounced (definitely didn’t get your email) and be able to follow up with them. This is just part of our real-time response tracking that lets you know just about everything that happens to your campaign, as it happens. And because we store your results over time, you’ll be able to learn from past efforts to make your future emails enjoy even greater success.
________________________________________________
*Direct Marketing Association Response Rate Study, October 2003

♦The interface

Our intuitive interface makes even the most sophisticated email-marketing features easy for anyone to use, saving you time and effort and allowing you to let non-technical staff members help you manage your lists, content and account.

♦ The relationship

Whether you’re just getting started or you have a question about a campaign or its results along the way, we stay involved to make sure you’re getting the most out of your email marketing account.

♦ The custom designs

Whether you’re utilizing our professional design services or creating your own campaigns in house, we’ll help you create and send great-looking campaigns every time. No pre-fabricated templates here, just professional designs created just for you.

♦ The flexibility of it all

From signup screens and database fields to campaign templates and content, there’s little about our service that can’t be customized to suit your particular projects and process. All you have to do is ask and there’s a good chance we’ll say yes.

♦ The price

Our startup and activity prices tend to be lower than that of most comparable services out there, particularly when you factor in our custom designs, extensive features and customer support.

Blind-carbon-copy as many people as possible and include these words:

1. amazing
2. cancel at any time
3. check or money order
4. click here
5. congratulations
6. dear friend
7. e-mail marketing
8. for only ($)
9. free (including toll-free)
10. great offer
11. guarantee
12. increase sales
13. order now
14. promise you
15. risk free
16. special promotion
17. this is not spam
18. to be removed
19. unsubscribe
20. winner

Thanks to this post by Alexandria Brown at Business Know-How for the research

It’s faux pas to leave a lot of people in the regular “To:” and “Cc:” fields. Lots of “Bcc:” names will send your email to spam filters. So what do you do? Check out the next Wordswell Communique or call us if you’re in a rush for help.

only matters if it has

INFLUENCE

only matters if it has a

VOICE

only matters if it adds

VALUE

only matters if it offers good

CONTENT

only matters if people can

FIND IT.

Message Creation isn’t just about getting you a website, logo, or brochure.

With Message Creation you bring into focus the value you offer your audience, establish your voice in a crowded world, earn the right to have influence, and deliver on the promise that is your brand.

Wordswell helps our clients do this. And we offer production leadership and creative consulting when it comes time to create your identity, website, email campaign, film, etc.

Need help?
brody

I found this on the blog for the Dirt Conference. I don’t know much about what they’re doing at the conference except brainstorming on how to do more with what you already have. Seems healthy.

You can view their original post (Inspiration – #001) here.

Our New Office Space
It’s funny that for weeks after we moved into our new office space, the sign of the previous tenant was still on the front of the building. It wasn’t really helping the cause, you might say.

We called a sign company to install our new 15four Integrated Media sign – and it looks great! The colorful character that installed our sign was also the owner of the sign company. I just had to talk to him.

“How’s your business holding up?” I asked.

“I hate to admit it ’cause I don’t wish bad times on anybody else, but we’re booming right now,” he replied. I was surprised. He continued, “We make signs. When businesses struggle, they need a bigger sign. So we’ve been building a lot of signs.”

Using Film as a Sign
A sign is anything that points to something else. The goal is to create ideas or images that point people to you.

Integrating short films on your website is a way of building a bigger sign. Companies are quickly realizing that their static web content must get a voice and a personality. Your message must be dynamic and engaging to be the biggest and best sign that it can be. This happens through film; film can be a sign that moves people to action. It’s available 24/7, on demand, and has world-wide distribution.

Convert your messages to short films. It’s cheaper than scattered marketing approaches. Integrated film content on your website gets you a bigger sign. We help you build it and hoist it up where everyone can see it.

Check out this example for the Ripken Foundation. You’ll see some familiar faces.

Let us help you hoist,
Steve

Comments, stories, or advice? Please share!>>

There was a typo.

If you lood at the first paragraph of the post below, the word “let” was not a part of the email. Man, that’s frustrating. I wish we took the same care for ourselves that we do for our clients.

In any case, I’m wondering what you think about typos. Do you give people a pass? Do you think they are the worst sin a writer can make? And, what would you do in the case of this email… would you send out an email apologizing? Blog about the typo?

Any input? Please leave a comment…

As customers/deciders, we need brands to help us make our decisions. We buy based on our emotional attachment to a brand.

Quick Thoughts
Ideas about branding are vast, but take these to the bank. Your brand is:

• greater than the sum of its parts: Every aspect of your organization is your brand. Your brand is not just your colors and logo. These merely serve as visual cues to help customers remember your true brand and differentiate you. Instead, the way your employees act, the way you answer your phones, the cleanliness of your restrooms, your perceived value – that’s your promise, your brand.

• personal: In addition to “buying billboards”, brands are now having conversations. Technology and social media are opening the doors here. More than ever, brands have personalities like people, and we are asking, “Is he reliable? Is he authentic?”

• foundational: Your brand drives everything you do as an organization, internally and externally. It informs hiring, pricing, decor, and management. And it is certainly the base for all communication, PR, and marketing.

• a promise.

Before you spend another day and another dime on “marketing” yourself, take a look at your brand. Wordswell can help if you need it.

Don’t be a commodity,
Brody

Comments, stories, or advice? Please share!>>

As the speed of all our transactions increases, we need fast ways of transmitting information about ourselves without losing authenticity; we have less and less time to make our mark in other, more leisurely ways of knowing. Style, like a perfectly fitting book jacket, evokes the substance within by way of the surface. It makes an authentic visual impression, is a memorable mark of identity in a world that otherwise strips people of identity. There was a time when style was a luxury. Today it is a necessity. …

In the end, style is fundamentally democratic. It assumes every person has the potential to create a unique identity and express it through grooming and a few well-chosen clothes. Yet style is also aristocratic. It sets apart those who have it from those whose dress is merely utilitarian. …

Whatever else it is, style is optimism made visible. Style presumes that you are a person of interest, that the world is a place of interest, that life is worth making the effort for.

That’s brilliant, and it has everything to do with how you build your brand.

Converting Prospects to Buyers
Ultimately, when a person makes a particular decision it comes down to one moment in time. It’s a window of a few seconds. You gotta be in that window! Some ideas and suggestions will be in the next Communiqué. But you can always call us for specific advice.

Glances are fleeting,
Brody

Comments, stories, or advice? Please share!>>

Twitter To Go: How one local coffee shop used Twitter to double their clientele. What’s YOUR story?

It’s short, so read it if you like learning about this sort of thing.

Here’s the point of the article: building your brand is about caring for your customer. Using Twitter and other social media allows you to identify yourself by way of communication with clients and prospects (two-way communication, that is). Talk about branding!

Social media is emerging. A lot can be said for its success, its confusion, its vastness, and, most certainly, its potential. (Did you know that Facebook may soon become more popular than Google?) If you have any stories of success or failure using social media, please leave them in the comments section. If you want more insight into this world, drop us a line at Wordswell.

After lunging out of my still-moving car, sprinting to my apartment, fumbling to find the right key, throwing open the door, and shuffling across the floor, I made it to the place of release – the restroom.

I had too many refills at the restaurant. It was an increasingly painful drive home. You’ve been there, right?

Whenever something is built up in us, it becomes a burden – not a pleasure – to hold on to it.

The Pain of Accumulation
The pain of accumulation plagues our minds and emotions, also. Do you have something building inside of you? An idea, a story, some knowledge, some love, a business, a project, a dream, something that can help those around you? Are you holding it in as the pressure rises?

Release it already! What are you waiting for? The pressure is going to kill you. And if you’ve been sitting on it this long, it’s gotta be good.

We know what to do when our bladder is too full; it’s instinctual. But often, after cultivating our ideas for so long, it’s hard to figure out what to do when our brains are too full and there’s an impending explosion in our heads.

Wordswell does message creation, creative consulting, and brand development. But, really, we just try to help you not explode.

Release,
Brody

You’re in the dark room. The door opens. What happens?

Immediately, light invades the darkness. Now, you can see! All that’s in the dark room is revealed. The darkness, completely unable to encroach on the light, is powerless.

Furthermore, the amount of light in the bright room has not been compromised. That room is still just as bright as before, yet it lends its brightness to the other room. What happened was not like pouring water from one glass to another; it was like sticking your glass under a fountain – of light.

Message Creation
At Wordswell, we’re always trying to find metaphors to explain things. It’s sursprisingly hard work, but it leads our clients and us to beautiful clarity.

In our new comments section of the Wordswell Blog, let us know what you think about this metaphor for what Wordswell does:

Message Creation is standing in one of two adjacent dark rooms, figuring out how to turn on the lights, and then kicking open the door to share your light with the world.

What’s it like where you’re standing?
Brody

So what does it all mean?

But do you know about Pavlov’s second experiment? This time he tried to use shapes to stimulate salivation.

Over time, the dog was trained to salivate at the sight of a circle. But he was also trained to stop salivating when a long oval was on display.

Maybe Pavlov was a bit of a sadist when he started to change the shape of the oval to become more circular. When the shapes became very similar in shape “the dog became highly agitated and the previously conditioned reflex was lost.” Ultimately the confused dog ignored Mr. Pavlov entirely.

Mixed Signals
Here’s the lesson: If you want people to complete an action that you desire, your message must be singular, focused, clear, and repetitive. Your message must be bound to a need your audience already feels.

Are you sending mixed signals? Why don’t you figure out your own story and tell it over and over. Make sure your customer is the main character.

Otherwise, people might stop listening to you and you’ll be left with drool to clean up.

Here’s to an effective 2009. Happy New Year!
Brody

Chances are you have some idea, message, business, or vision that needs to be heard.

But, chances are it’s not moving people. Sometimes it’s trapped because:

• people haven’t heard you
• they may have heard you, but your idea doesn’t mean anything to them
• you know there’s technology out there, but you can’t get it to effectively tell your story
• you don’t have the time, energy, or resources to get your message out there

Each of those is a closed door. Wordswell is here to help you kick them open.

The marriage of innovative strategy, clear writing, and potent ideas with polished design, sweet websites, and alluring media and technology (e.g. film, email newsletters, and social media) is how Wordswell makes your message grow legs and get running.

Top-to-bottom consistency makes Wordswell’s approach more effective than a “field of silos” marketing effort. A Wordswell project is infused with strategic, results-based, compelling, and practical solutions. We call it message creation.

Message creation when ideas matter. Here’s the fun part: it’s your ideas that matter. We’re here for you.

Let’s kick open a door,
Brody

See the postcard here.

See the brochure here.

See the Vision Packet here.

See the marketing postcard here.

See the film here.

Wordswell’s early work was developing the brand of the Kanon Group.

The Kanon Group is poised to expand their brand and service offerings through a future array of similar logos and one company tagline.

Wordswell created the logo for Blood:Water Baltimore.

Are people delighted to spend their money and time with you?

It’s time to get strategic. It’s time to employ imagination and humility like never before. It’s time to say the right thing – over and over again. And, of course, it’s time to say it well.

It’s time.

Let’s grab your idea off the shelf. Let’s put it to words.

Wordswell’s strategy is to translate your idea into fireworks or embers. Either way, let’s start a fire.