Book Review: The 4-Hour Workweek

This book has been sitting on the Etap Communications library shelf for a long time. The title has

always been very intriguing to me, but for some reason I hadn't read it. I wish I had read this book first when I was ready to start my professional career. Author Timothy Ferriss doesn't just focus on the professional aspect of how to work more efficiently, but really encourages you to re-evaluate your lifestyle, your wants, needs and desires and how to focus your energy on achieving the things you want to do in life.

I share my love of traveling with the author, which is why I could instantly relate to the ideas in this book. Your dream may be to do something that does not include travel, but the fact of the matter is, nearly everyone has to work. We need money in order to live, however, Timothy argues you don't need as much money as you may think. He also gives examples about how these ideas can apply to couples and families, not just a single guy or gal wanting to "live the dream."

Here are some highlights of what you'll take away from this book:

• Focus on being productive instead of being busy
• Ask yourself if you're inventing things to do to avoid doing the important
• Maintain a low information diet
• Split your dreams into Having, Being and Doing - the Having category should have the least amount of things

Even if you don't own your own business, or enjoying working 40+ hours a week, reading this book will give you a good perspective on your dreams.

Adapt to Your Customers

In a recent trip back to my alma mater, I realized a lot has changed in seven years. As businesses, we have to be open to that change. I went back to the University of Kansas during homecoming week for the Journalism School's activities. I had the opportunity to walk around campus and see what's new and what has changed. I'm sure you can say the same when you go somewhere you haven't been in many years.

Let's take one of the libraries on campus, for example. They've removed the individual chairs in the lobby which reduces the noise and distractions. They're now encouraging food by having a coffee shop and packaged food available for purchase. They've also reorganized the furniture on the main floor, giving more seating options for groups and individuals. 

They listened to their customers. How do you do this? How do you implement change?

By asking or observing. Surveys are great to get feedback on specific things and to be able to quantify things. The better way is to observe. People may tell you they want one thing, but their actions speak louder than words. 

Changes can be anything from ordering new furniture, updating a process, upgrading software for end users, improving customer service calls, etc. I always look for things to implement that can be more efficient, but improving the quality or functionality of something can be just as important.

Stop Calling Yourself a Social Media Expert!!!

When clients ask me about something related to social media, its functionality or how it can be used as part of a marketing communications mix, I usually have the answer off the top of my head. Why? Because I use social media sites for business and personal reasons everyday. Does that make me an expert? No - it just means I have more knowledge than you do because of how often I use it.

Why am I not an expert? Because there are more than 200 social media sites currently available, connecting people online right now. I don't know if there's anyone in the world who could keep up on the functionalities, updates, and changes of more than 200 social media sites! 

It infuriates me when social media managers try to tell people they are experts - they aren't. If you are looking for someone with an expertise in social media for your business, consider these things:

• The branding and sales goals of what you want social media to help achieve.
• What social media sites are you competitors, or your industry colleagues, using?
• Who will be responsible for social media content, posting and scheduling?
• Does your crisis management plan include provisions for social media communication?
• Does your business have social media profiles because "everybody else does?"

A true social media manager with a marketing background can help guide you through those questions to decide whether your business needs to be on social media or not, and which profiles make most sense for your business.

September Means Christmas is Almost Here!

You've sent the kids back to school, you’re enjoying those last warm summer days, and Starbucks is finally serving Pumpkin Spiced Lattes again: it’s almost Christmas time! Well not really, but close. If you haven’t begun already, now’s the time to kick it into gear and begin planning those holiday cards and events for your clients and employees.

Start with the holiday party. It can be very difficult to find a venue to accommodate all of your needs this late in the game (some companies have already signed contracts with a venue a year in advance!) Don’t fret, just think outside the box, or call in some help. Etap Communications has event planners with experience in planning Corporate holiday parties to meet the goals of your event.

Next, look at your holiday card list, review and update it based off updated relationships or companies. Looking at the number of people on your list may help you decide if you want to do physical cards or an ecard, based on cost. Some companies do both and some companies do neither.

No matter what’s on your “to do” list for the holidays this year, don’t let time slip away further, and get to planning your holiday activities right now.

Unique Sponsorship Ideas

When you have the opportunity to sponsor an event, trade show or conference, it can mean great
exposure for your company. There can be a lot of different traditional sponsorship opportunities like signage, food, or level sponsors, but there may be some other opportunities to get your company noticed.

Just because a sponsorship isn't listed out doesn't mean you can't contact the event organizers to discuss other non-published options. Event organizers are typically ecstatic to accept additional sponsorship money, especially if they know they can help reach your sponsorship goals.

It doesn't have to be costly either. At the Collaborate Marketplace held in Portland, Oregon earlier this year, the ladies' restrooms were outfitted with mouthwash sponsored by Visit Syracuse. This mouthwash was labeled by a sponsor and included little cups to use too. What a brilliant idea for the target audience of this event: business women networking with others in face-to-face and crowd situations three straight days.

Think of ideas where your company could sponsor something useful that all of the event participants would either see or use. Brainstorm a list prior to calling and discussing non-publicized sponsorship options with the event organizers. Your ideas could be expensive to produce or brand, or they could be inexpensive like the mouthwash idea.

Book Review: Blue Ocean Strategy

If you feel like your business is stuck in a rut or things are stagnant, you need to make time to read this book. Blue Ocean Strategy's tagline is "how to create uncontested market space and make the competition irrelevant" - and it goes through just that and more.

Thinking about things from a different perspective can be a good thing, but this concept (embodied by the likes of Southwest Airlines, Callaway Golf and the NYPD) really brings people out of their comfort zone. To this effect the book also outlines a process to get employee buy-in. Let's face it, people can be afraid of change sometimes, especially if they think their job is at stake. 

Even if you don't own or manage a business, read the last part about getting employees on board. It can really help you with tactics in situations where you are leading people or trying to implement a new idea or process. 

The authors are currently updating this book, which will be published in 2015. You can pre-order this expanded edition on Amazon.com. 

Billboard Rules of Thumb

I was driving to the airport Saturday morning enjoying the traffic-less ride and I couldn't help but look at the billboards. I have a Journalism degree with an emphasis in Strategic Communications (advertising). I had to learn how to design print and radio ads, create a comprehensive campaign and include a call to action with nearly everything.

The billboards I was seeing on the side of the road were terrible. Not only did they not follow convention,

Billboard: bad example

you couldn't read them. It wasn't just one billboard, it was on one particular stretch of I-435 outside of Kansas City. Sometimes designers and ad agencies can get creative and throw all caution to the wind, but no matter whether you're going to follow proper convention or not, you must have these things in ANY billboard ad you design:

• Make sure text is readable - I use the "eight words or less" rule, but if you're not going to follow the rules, people have to be able to read your text at a quick glance.
• Brand or call to action - if your goal is to brand, make sure your logo is prominent and viewers would have no trouble identifying it was from you. If your goal is to call people to action, make sure they could act within the confines of their car going at 65+ MPH.

Billboards can help achieve multiple goals in your marketing mix, but if people can see something at a quick glance, it won't help achieve anything. 

Napa Earthquake: Event Planning Emergency Preparedness

What do you do when an earthquake happens and you're hosting an event? Your problem solving will likely kick-

Furniture moved from quake.

in as you try to keep your guests calm and decide what the next steps are. I had 27 people at the Napa Andaz when the earthquake hit at 3:20 am Sunday morning. 

Here are some tips to keep in mind while planning any event.

• When you contract with a venue, ask them what their emergency procedure plan entails for a likely disaster in that area of the country (California: earthquakes; Midwest: tornadoes; East Coast: hurricanes; etc.)

• Once you sign the contract, identify your contact in case of emergency and have their phone number programmed into your phone.

• Have a list of the attendees’ names in multiple places. If you can’t go anywhere without your phone, make sure you have access there.

• Have the attendees’ phone numbers programmed into your phone.

  

  Bathroom mirror shattered.

• If disaster strikes, direct people to the appropriate place (based on the emergency procedure plan) and take roll, using the list you have.

• Assess and address any injuries immediately.

• Make contact with your emergency contact and wait for further instruction.

• Stay calm. If people haven’t been in that type of situation before, it can be extremely frightening and they may take cue from your demeanor.

The Napa Andaz did a fantastic job of helping to get our guests accommodated at a different hotel in the area because of the damage. Their employees came straight to the hotel without being called in to help serve the guests. Because they had to evacuate the hotel, I wasn't able to get my silent auction items packaged up and shipped out. The hotel offered to do that for me; even though I'm sure it's the last thing on their minds after this disaster.

Book Review: E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber

I haven't read an E-Myth series book since 2004, but thought it was time to re-read the classic small business book. Owning Etap Communications and a start-up (PlanMyTournament.com) means I'm constantly running in different directions. This book outlines processes and steps to take in order to create quality processes that are repeatable by writing things down in a step-by-step list.

Creating a process for everything helps when I take vacation or am sick. It's time to really expand on the number of processes we have in place so as we market Etap Communications and bring in new business, we have an established program to easily integrate new staff members.

Michael Gerber's The E-Myth Revisited goes through the story of Sarah, a pie shop owner. Even though he describes the process and business principles through a B2C format - you can easily see a connection for B2B. This is a great read, and re-read, and a Top 10 business book for business owners in my opinion.

What Will Our Marketing Teams Look Like in the Future?

Hardly anyone knew in 2003 that social media would be a main channel in our marketing mix today. How do you go about predicting the future of marketing then? By realizing that adaptability and flexibility are keys to staying on top of marketing.

With an internal marketing team, you'll work together with other departments to collaborate on ideas about how to reach your target consumer. It won't be limited by just members of the marketing team or by a marketing team title. By ignoring traditional boundaries, you'll be able to receive feedback from people who deal with different aspects of the business and varied interactions with customers. Keeping the group open and accepting all ideas (no matter how silly) can really help bring forth a solid marketing idea. Hey, you don't know if 20 years down the road everyone will be receiving their information on Google Glass or if we'll regress to beepers as our preferred communication method.

As far as learning that information, we'll keep doing the same thing we've been doing. Understanding our demographics and psychographics; listening to our customers and watching their behaviors; and making our products and services better and more valuable for our customers.

Make a List to Accomplish More

I'm one of those Type A people. I like making lists and checking them off. Even if there's something I accomplished and realized I left off the list, I will add it to the list just so I can check it off. I'm not sure if I feel so accomplished at the end of the day because I actually completed things or because I have a list that reflects something more tangible. Here are some ways I use lists to help me accomplish more things each day:

• Create a running list in a notebook - this will help with the "feeling" of accomplishing more when you can see all of the things you've actually done
• Create a day-by-day to do list - segmenting the items that are top priority each day can help ensure you get more important tasks completed
• Create an hour-by-hour to do list - this is the most effective type of list for me because I can segment out how I'm going to accomplish the things I want to each day

No matter what type of list you create, physically writing things down will help increase your chances of actually getting it complete. Don't forget to keep the list handy and accessible as well. If you don't have the list available, you likely won't know what you're working to achieve.

You can also read the book "Getting Things Done" by David Allen. He points out ways to actually get things done by incorporating efficiencies into each day.

Book Review: Ten Steps Ahead

I'm always looking for new business books when I'm at the local used bookstore. I had struck out recently by reading a book from the early 2000's that was already out-of-date so I was glad to see Ten Steps Ahead (2011) in the clearance area. Erik Calonius presents some different attributes on business visionaries of both past and present.

He does a great job of incorporating already widely-known principles, such as emotional intelligence and visualization. The most interesting part for me was the part on luck. I consider myself very lucky in my personal and professional lives, but it's not what I would typically think of as pure luck. Pure luck doesn't really exist (the planets can never really align). It's not only hard work that goes into luck, as Calonius describes, but a positive attitude and calculated intuition.

In addition to the luck section, I also really enjoyed his personal interview anecdotes that brought a closeness to these past and present visionaries. Great, quick read.

Book Review: Six Pixels of Separation

This book by Mitch Joel focuses on the power of blogging and podcasts. Even though the book was
published five years ago, and there is some outdated references to social media, blogging is still relevant today. As with any online medium, content is still king.

In the book, Mitch gave many anecdotes with the success of his blogs and podcasts. One success story in particular connected two people in a town in Australia as they were both connected to his podcast. Although I don't listen to podcasts, they are still going strong and are being consumed.

I prefer to go straight to YouTube and I think this year, many businesses are going to be integrating YouTube into their social media mix. YouTube videos are now easily accessible with your mobile phone as podcasts once were with your ipod.

As technology, social media and online conversations continues to evolve, videos, blogs and podcasts will be part of this evolution. No matter what though, content will continue to be king!