If only someone in the office erupted like the Grimsvötn Volcano, among colleagues.
What would that eruption look like?
Someone described a volcano as,
Volcanoes are just like very hot hot tubs. They produce magma, ash and lava. Lava can reach 2000F.
And so if we took each volcanic element and matched them with a personal trait:
Produce magma (energy core) - Volcanoes generate violents amount of energy and heat. You stand close, and you feel it.
Ash (far-reaching residue) - Towns nearby become covered. You don't stand close, yet still, you feel it.
Lava (redefine) - New landscapes are born. Doesn't matter where you stood because now you're standing better.
If someone in the office were to raise the temperature to 2000F, colleagues are going to feel it, locally and externally. When the the energy becomes high enough, after gathering heaps of enthusiasm, stronger values and strategic visions will be born.
So who's ready to turn up the heat?
And some amazing video capturing the Iceland Eruptions from Eyjafjallajökull last year. Wonder if we'll see the same for Grimsvötn
[dropcap]B[/dropcap]efore buying a product, do you look for user, product reviews? Heck, I always refer my friends to Youtube to get some product insight before buying. And with Facebook's sharing abilities, my friends are sharing some cool products that I never was able to discover through my own research.
Ecommerce is getting F'd, intentionally
When online payments became possible, e-commerce was born. The difficulty has consistently been getting people to your site and buying. Which explains the reason that traditional sales pitches to ecommerce pains/targets remain as:
Increase online revenue / conversion
Increase traffic (visibility) to your site
Ensure that "little Johnny" is able to understand the shopping cart functionalities (and actually buy something)
And so the idea of "viral" was created. Make something spreadable, shareable...and you have become a marketing genius. Maybe close to this guy, Seth Godin.
That's where Facebook has found their fame with companies. They offer the communication platform that allows people to share products, aggressively. People who feel they have possess possess knowledge that others don't...watch out poke-a-thon and your wall. It's going to get painted! Done effectively, a company's marketing department has just created a new "flu" about to affect millions.
Facebook is the game changer
We all become more willing to buy when treated with exceptional care. Why? Because it's rare.
And that's where I feel Facebook, social networks are going to win with companies. Ecommerce departments can opt in to devoting more time communicating with customers on social networks in very personal manner and , in turn, have positive reviews about the company visible throughout social networks and spread to friends and family. We all like to spread good experiences to people we trust or share relationships.
And sometimes we buy things for the mere fact that we know a friend who has it enjoys it.
But unlike the tradional ecommerce approach, I wonder about Fcommerce. Should the bottom line conversations about generating more revenue and deflecting costs to help "little Johnny" continue to be at the forefront. Or should the sales pitch change...less about bottom line because we all know that's the obvious duhhhh of business. Maybe the sales pitch should evolve to something fresh of the sort:
Add 50 million consumers (specific to your product) to your sales department
Create the deadliest Virus the internet has sold
Become the most friendliest company on Facebook
Go to social media events, and the latest questions is, "How do I sell through Facebook?" Applications/tools already exist to achieve good fcommerce business: shopping cart, spotting social network trends, providing customer care, promotional activities
Here's a list of larger companies doing some Facebook commerce to get started, which is translating into a multibillion dollar industry.
[dropcap style="font-size: 60px; color: #9b9b9b;"] S [/dropcap]everal people around me claim that generating business is based on numbers. Reach as many prospects as possible, get a 2% success rate…and carpe diem! singing "I'm a hustler, I'm on a boat, now where's my promotion?" Btw does Generation Y even use this expression because I never noticed until I entered the corporate office.
And companies keep singing "numbers". Heck, several continue to SPAM away because it works despite being annoying and is very cheap to accomplish. And from what I hear, several bizdev individuals are patted on the back simply for speaking of HUGE numbers as opposed to quality. Maybe it sounds more impressive to say you reached out to thousands of potential customers as opposed to just a handful highly-qualified leads.
...my a$$
Wasted Energy Not Spent on the Target
It's like getting your entire back scratched except the one spot that acutally itches...annoying!
Problem I have with the numbers approach is that you end up spending some much time on failure. 2% of success means failing 98% of the time. I wonder if executives heard, "Hey boss! I just failed 98%...where's my boat?"
...kick my a$$
Business = Relationships = Friendships
Most will prefer to separate work from pleasure, although I ask why since work is such a significant part of life.
If I am ever persuaded to buy something I don't immediately need, it's generally because the seller made me feel good, smile and had me understand how the product will assist in whatever I need. Kinda like a friend would. Now switch roles and you are the seller for your company. If you have time research, get to know about your prospect by using various social media websites like LinkedIn, Twitter, and blog posts on the individual or company. Here's a nice list of advice that can apply to all sellers.
I like the one-to-one marketing approach because it's personal, it creates trust....AND for goodness sakes, spending 98% of the time trying to become more engaged with one or a couple prospects is so much more fulfilling.
I spoke with some Egyptian executives and we started talking about the political situation over there and how it impacted the company. I discovered that a department has recently been reorganized and somewhat chaotic. Putting business aside for a moment to talk about the current situation there, we shared a nice conversation and warranted me to warmly introduce some product offerings.
...and that was fun!
Respect for one another.
If you're sports fan from the States, you might refer the incredibly talents basketball stars "Harlem Globetrotters" (btw...The city in New York, Harlem, actually originates from The Netherlands).
If you look on Google, then a globetrotter is someone traveling a lot to several locations.
If you ask students, some may refer to a cool person absorbing the various surrounding cultures to gain a better understanding of the world's people and events.
Ask businessmen (or women), and you'll probably hear something like being a front-line member of a company targeting global share or market domination.
Now the Funny Coincidence
I met a fellow American over the weekend while playing basketball. We talked about how cool it is living in Europe because it's so easy to travel to several countries. Both of us are businessmen, but business aside, we were playing with people coming from Greece, China, Sweden, Spain and telling stories about each of our homelands....typically we would have at least 8 different countries representing our weekly games.
Just playing one single game of basketball, I was able to ask people from respective countries about:
How are the people of Greece handling the debt issue?
How is creativity and "breaking conventional wisdom" taught in China versus the Western World?
The public education system in Sweden, which has one of the best financial aid programs worldwide. Did you know Sweden is one of the tops countries at exporting culture? Music is a top 5 export of the entire country!
Smiling at each other, I looked at the fellow American and said, "You can't get this at home." The chance of playing a simple game with people from all over.
Btw...I had to throw this in after mentioning the Harlem Globetrotters
Over the weekend, I saw the movie Thor...in 3D. A fun film if you like Transformers or movies with action heroes, comedy and BIG muscles. I bet 10% of the guys watching the film will mostly likely head to the gym in the next day or two after listening to the girls whistle during the film....Yes, they whistle! And yes, I part of that 10%. Btw, a great soundtrack that I listen regularly on Spotify.
My Summary of Thor's Adventure
Overall, I liked the film. Thor starts as an arrogant prick. His father whoops his butt, takes his magic, and kicks him out of the house for being cocky. Thor cries for being unable to pick up his hammer. Natelie Portman (I refer to her real name because I like her!!) uses her magical Harvard spells to get Thor to act less of a stubborn dweeb. Thor learns the virtues of a leader through interacting with Earthlings in Nevada (my Las Vegas vacation on my mind!!) and eventually saves the day so that he and his friends can once again ride white horses even though their civilization is probably 1000 years advanced in technology. Does that about sum up the movie for others that saw it?
Humbleness is the New Sexy
[caption id="attachment_1410" align="alignright" width="364" caption="Leaders are superheroes to those around him or her"]
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If an action hero movie teaches a moral, then for me this one is about leaders being humble toward others. A leader will naturally emerge within a group of people. And what if that person is you? Will you make decisions that are going to have the biggest impact on yourself or for the people around you? What is the difference between a good decision and a great one? One decision may bring you more wealth, but will you consider how it will affect others for the better?
I'm reading a book about Purpose. The leaders of successful companies don't get the title of "greatness" because of being the richest, but rather because they have a ultimate passion to push a visionary idea, to create a movement of some sort, and to take care of the ones he/she guides. To accomplish this, a leader's decisions must resonate within his or her people in such a way that people will strive to do more than humanly possible. That's why I admire the great sports stars or any leader that plays injured. They become selfish-less. They are driven by the notion that their actions are not only best for themselves, but for the team.
And when this occurs, a real superhero arises.
This is the book I'm reading. Nikos Mourkogiannis is considered one of the world’s leading experts in the field of Strategic Leadership. I was recommended to this book from the Personal MBA reading list[/box]
