Press the flesh
March 11, 2010
The answer is “yes” to all of these questions. I believe that moderation is crucial in all aspects of life. Yes, Web 2.0 and Social Media have changed industries and many business and communication fundamentals, but we need not – and should not – discard everything that worked well before.
Press the flesh is a term I picked up in a book called The Rules of Entrepreneurship by Rob Yeung. [I incorrectly referred to it as "Touch the flesh" in a recent seminar - apologies.] It refers to meeting people and shaking their hands. I believe this is vital. I try to have a few meetings every week. One per day would be great, but currently that’s just not possible with all the desk work I have to do. Meetings are great, they reveal a lot about the people that we’re doing business with (partners, associates, clients) – but even more importantly, they help build the relationship like no online activity can. It’s all about relationships, isn’t it? It’s all about people, isn’t it? I also have a policy to not have my MacBook out at a first meeting. I am surprise how rushed people are to get out their laptops and do some screen-dazzling. Nope. I want to get to know the person first. Let’s talk.
A few months ago someone who does similar work to what I do posted something on Facebook. He said that we should do away with all boardrooms and meeting rooms, and all meetings should take place online. I think that’s absurd. I’ll even go as far as to say it’ll never happen.
Throwing the baby out with the bath water is almost never a good idea. Adapt, yes. Change, yes. Grow, yes. Innovate, yes. Have blinkers on, no!
I still use business cards, even though I know that if you Google my name you will find so much information about me. Business cards still help when meeting people, and they also help in giving contact information to people who are not online all day like we are (yes, there still are many of those types of people). Meetings are irreplaceable. However, I must say this. I meet when I feel it’s a good thing to meet. I’m fully aware that many people and organisations are stuck in having-meetings-about-other-meetings syndrome, and they waste hours each month in unproductive activity. This is not a good thing. I have many online meetings (using tools such a Skype and Dimdim), and I even do coaching and seminars online – but I balance those with personal meetings and events. Boardrooms? Like books, I think they’re going to be around for a VERY long time. There’s too much value in these things for them to be replaced overnight. Maybe in 50 years things will be different, I don’t know. But we’re talking about our current situation, and perhaps the near future.
Rob Yeung says:
“Touch trumps tech every time…A single meeting a day may win you more business than hours of phone calls, letter writing, and emails combined…Secure that contact and press the flesh.”
It all about balance, I guess.
Apponomics
March 11, 2010
Yesterday I tweeted the news of the newly opened Google Apps Marketplace, but I feel that I need to blog about this. This, I feel, is important for us all to understand, because the future of business and technology is being defined – and redefined – in and by online advancements.
One of the many things I love about the Web 2.0 world is it’s direct and natural resemblance to the real world. Web 2.0 – like the real world is all about sharing, honesty, transparency, and all those feel-good things. In the real world, no man can live alone. No man is an island, as they say. We need to connect, collaborate, and help each other to build a society. Everyone is important. The famous NASA story comes to mind. One of the cleaning ladies at NASA was asked what she does, she said: “I send people to space.” Now that is a profound understanding of common purpose and vision.
In the Web 2.0 world collaboration is fundamental. There is no surviving without it. If you want to “go it alone” in this space, you’re going to go nowhere slowly. Successful online companies (like Google, Facebook, and Twitter) have realised this. They’ve realised that they have to allow collaboration into and of their products, in order to provide more value to end users. This is not an easy thing to do – it is to some level a relinquishing of control.
If you’ve ever been on Facebook (who hasn’t!), you’ve at one time or another used an Application, an App as it is commonly known. There are Apps for everything, obviously the gaming Apps – like Farmville (reporting 83, 755, 953 monthly active users) – are very famous. There are Apps in all sorts of categories – Business, Education, Entertainment, etc. You can find a full directory of Facebooks Apps here.
Facebook wouldn’t be Facebook without the Apps. So picture Facebook as a big company in a big building. The company is theirs. The building is theirs. But they’ve opened up little side doors all around the building, to allow other companies (the App developers) to have access to their users. It’s a Win-Win-Win situation. Facebook wins because their users have a more enriched experience. The App developers win because they have access to millions of people. And the end user wins because we have a better experience on Facebook.
These little side doors are called APIs. An API is an Application Programming Inteface.
Apple has done the same with the iPhone. Apps really make the iPhone. And there’s an App for virtually anything. See the official Apple directory here. Some Apps are free, and some carry a price tag. Prices are very affordable though. Ranging from $0.99 to just a few dollars. App developers have already made a fortune selling millions of Apps in the Apple App Store. The Apple iPad is going to be released in a few months, and already there are Apps being created for it.
There are so many Twitter Apps available. TweetDeck, Tweetie, and Twhirl allow you to monitor and send tweets. Apps like Twitpic allow you to send photos on Twitter. It’s very interesting that the Twitpic founder was interview by Andrew Warner on Mixergy.com recently, and he said that last year he was offered over $10 million for his company. He didn’t sell, of course. What’s more interesting is that Twitpic doesn’t have offices. The founder works from home, and his parents also work for him – from their home, and he has also employed another developer – which he hasn’t even met yet, and who also works remotely. Yep, that’s how drastically the business world is changing.
If you look at the homepage of this website, you’ll see our Flickr photos displayed. This is an example of WordPress using the Flickr API.
The examples of API usage are endless, and it’s going to grow. To understand this dynamic of mass collaboration, I really recommend the book Wikinomics by Don Tapscott and Anthony D Williams.
It says:
Even ardent competitors are collaborating on path-breaking scientific initiatives that accelerate discovery in their industries
and…
McEwen saw things differently. He realized the uniquely qualified minds to make new discoveries were probably outside the boundaries of his organization, and by sharing some intellectual property he could harness the power of collective genius and capability. In doing so he stumbled successfully into the future of innovation, business, and how wealth and just about everything else with be created.
I suggest you buy this book. It’s well worth the read if this sort of thing is of interest to you.
The latest spark in the App world is the opening of the Google Apps Marketplace.
Google says:
More than 2 million businesses have adopted Google Apps over the last three years, eliminating the hassles associated with purchasing, installing and maintaining hardware and software themselves.
We’ve found that when businesses begin to experience the benefits of cloud computing, they want more. We’re often asked when we’ll offer a wider variety of business applications — from accounting and project management to travel planning and human resources management. But we certainly can’t and won’t do it all, and there are hundreds of business applications for which we have no particular expertise.
In recent years, many talented software providers have embraced the cloud and delivered a diverse set of features capable of powering almost any business. But too often, customers who adopt applications from multiple vendors end up with a fractured experience, where each particular application exists in its own silo. Users are often forced to create and remember multiple passwords, cut and paste data between applications, and jump between multiple interfaces just to complete a simple task.
Today, we’re making it easier for these users and software providers to do business in the cloud with a new online store for integrated business applications. The Google Apps Marketplace allows Google Apps customers to easily discover, deploy and manage cloud applications that integrate with Google Apps. More than 50 companies are now selling applications across a range of businesses…
Watch this interesting video to see how easy it is to use the Google Apps Marketplace:
Photo credit: cambodia4kidsorg
P/PC Balance in Social Media
March 11, 2010
It’s impossible to be on Twitter or Facebook for 5 minutes without learning something new. People across the world are talking about all sorts of things, and providing useful links to pretty fantastic websites. This is occurring literally all day and all night, without exception. It’s quite fascinating actually.
General browsing will bring “random value” – value on all sorts of subjects. You can also be specific and dig into topic areas and really get exactly the information you want. Tools like TweetDeck work like a dream when trying to do this. It’s no wonder that Sky News rolled it out to its staff recently.
Executive producer of Sky News Online, Julian March, said this about the TweetDeck rollout:
“The big change for us in 2010 is evolving how social media plays a role in our journalism. We no longer ghettoise it to one person, but are in the process of embedding throughout the whole team.”
With all of this information, it’s extremely easy to get sucked in. It’s easy to spend all day reading, collecting information, bookmarking, and filing. But doing only this will get one nowhere. There has to be a balance between collection data, and using data.
Stephen Covey explains this principle very accurately in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. He calls it the P/PC Balance. P is Production, and PC is Production Capability.
You have to keep Production (using data to produce workshops, products, etc) and Production Capability (research, crafting your skills, etc) in balance – otherwise you won’t be effective.
His words:
Effectiveness lies in the balance. Excessive focus on P results in ruined health, worn-out machines, depleted bank accounts, and broken relationships. Too much focus on PC is like a person who runs three or four hours a day, bragging about the extra ten years of life it creates, unaware he’s spending them running. Or a person endlessly going to school, never producing, living on other people’s golden eggs – the eternal student syndrome.
In the Social Media space, it’s very easy to be a victim of the eternal student syndrome. Our industry literally changes daily. New developments at Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc shift the way we do things every so often. Company buy-outs and mergers are pretty common and no longer surprising. It’s easy for us to consume all of this information disproportionally to our actual use of the information.
I have learnt, from Covey’s teachings, to adapt this principle to every area of life. And I would recommend that you consider the same.
Covey:
The P/PC Balance is the very essence of effectiveness. It’s validated in every arena of life. We can work with it, or against it, but it’s there. It’s a lighthouse.
Social Media is very powerful. But a low-information diet will help us keep the P and PC balanced.
Photo credit: johnjoh
Get your head out of the clouds – no, don’t!
March 10, 2010
“Get your head out of the clouds” is a famous saying that I’m sure we all know all too we ll. Having your head in the clouds was seen as a bad thing, when someone was daydreaming, etc. But, it’s 2010. And I say: don’t only get your head right up there in the clouds, but get your entire business up there too!
The 2 terms used to describe what I’m referring to are: “Cloud Computing” and “The Web as a platform.”
Let’s look at the evolution of computing (in a very over-simplified manner). First there were none. Then there were very big computers, mainframes, which were in the hands of a select few. Then the desktop computer was born. Then networks were born – a bunch of computers connected to each other. First you could only connect to the network’s server by physically being in the building. Then you could connect from any location by dialing in. Then national and global networks emerged. Then the Internet was born.
The Internet is, metaphorically, the cloud. More and more, all our information resides online. Less and less are we dependent on servers, desktop computers, or laptops. We are dependent – more and more – on the Internet though. But that’s okay, because access to the Internet is becoming more easy, and less costly.
If you’re a Facebook user (and I’ll bet you are), you’d have experienced the power of the cloud. Logging into your Facebook account from any computer or mobile phone provides all your Facebook information – contacts, messages, news feed, etc. The same with Twitter.
I think Internet banking was the first significant cloud service. Firstly, being able to bank online revolutionised business, in my opinion. Being able to access your bank account, and make payments, without going into a bank – changed the game forever. And if you had a bad experience as I did of having being arm robbed after leaving a bank, it tends to be one of your least favourite places to visit. Secondly, you could bank from absolutely anywhere – as long as you had an Internet connection. Phenomenal!
Today there are so many cloud services which make our lives much more productive, much more fun, and much easier. Google Apps (used by 2 million businesses worldwide, including ours) is a communication suite from Google – providing email, online documents, calendar, and more. Freshbooks is an online invoicing system – also providing time tracking, expense tracking, and quotations. Evernote, Basecamp, and many other online applications now make us more mobile. We are no longer dependent on computers or locations, we’re only dependent on the Internet – and that’s not too hard to come by these days.
It’s not easy to give up control of your data, and move it to online locations – but it’s a move we must make. And once we’ve made that move, we never want to go back!
Photo credit: kables
Are you a Mona, or a moaner?
March 10, 2010
I firmly believe that there is more – MUCH more – good in the world than there is evil. If we want to, we will find goodness and pleasantness all around us, wherever we go. And the bad that we discover will not affect us in any major way.
Yes, the world is not perfect, and we are frequently faced with unpleasant experiences. These may take the form of unfriendly people, bad service, etc. I believe that what happens to us is irrelevant, but how we respond to it is the matter which is important. I’m not implying that I don’t care if bad things happen to myself or other people, but I’m saying that bad things are going to happen. The trick is to handle them effectively.
Social Media has given everyone a voice, a loud hailer if you will. This is powerful, because it has changed communication and marketing – and business as a whole – from what we once knew. People are talking all the time, about everything. Twitter is active 24/7 – literally – so is Facebook. People are talking about everything.
What are you talking about? Are you adding value, providing good information, sharing valuable insights? Or are you whining about every bad thing?
This is really an important choice to make prior to – and during – Social Media engagement. So many people are creating value and being positive “online citizens” – we value them. Others complain all day. For example, there is someone that complains about Social Media all the time – saying that it doesn’t work and that it’s useless. But where does he complain? On Twitter. The hub of Social Media. It doesn’t make sense.
In both the online world and the offline world there are positive people, and negative people. Monas, and moaners. The thing is, in the online world everything is amplified, made larger, expanded, extended. So if you’re a positive person – many more people will know about your positivity due to the vastness of the Internet, and the rapidness of information flow. If you’re a negative person, more people will know too. And you’re doomed. No one wants to work – or associate – with negative people.
So you choose. But choose wisely.
Photo credit: click here
Pick up a jersey
March 10, 2010
If you know me personally you’ll know that I’m not that much into sports. I played soccer in my pre-teen years, but not much thereafter. I enjoy watching a good game of soccer, tennis, and other sports – but that’s only if I happen to come across it playing on tv. I don’t really schedule this into my calendar, if you catch my drift.
What I do prefer is activities that get adrenalin pumping. So I’ve done bridge jumping, recently been on a (mega fast) speed boat, and sky diving and other items are next on the agenda!
Team sports interest me though, because I am fascinated by the team dynamic. Every person is important in the team, and working together is essential for success. I believe the same is true for business, as well as social communities. In this regard, John Wooden comes to mind. I first heard about him on a talk by Anthony Robbins, and then I saw this video of him at TED.com. Wooden (now 99 years old) was a phenomenal basketball coach. He was the first person ever (and then followed by Lenny Wilkens and Bill Sharman) to be a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player (1961) and as a coach (1973). As a coach, he is still unmatched for winning 10 NCAA National Championships in a 12 year period while at UCLA. The significant difference about Wooden is that he focused on “coaching for people, not points” – so it didn’t matter if the team won or lost – he was interested in whether the individual player won or lost. Did that player play his best game, even if the team lost? Did that player play his worst game, even if the team won? What an interesting perspective!
A few months ago I attended a soccer match with my cousins and their kids. We watched a bunch of kids – around 10-12 years old – enjoy their Saturday afternoon in the best manner they knew how. Someone (I think it was a parent) yelled to one of the kids “Pick up a jersey.” Perhaps I had heard the phrase before, but that was the first time I had actually taken serious note. Immediately, I made a note on my iPhone, under “Blog Post Ideas” – yeah, I’m that type of geek!
The little kid was told to “target” a player of the opposing team, to focus only on that player. The opposite of this would be to tell the kid “Target everyone” – forcing him to run all across the field like a maniac. This is not the way team sports are played. I think businesses should learn from this. Too often we try to “Target everyone” instead of using the “Pick up a jersey” strategy. We’ve all fallen into this trap – at some time or another.
When trying to win clients, we sometimes “adapt” just so that we can get the business. This – in the long term – is not good. We lose focus, and we spend time building experience in areas which are not part of our purpose and ultimate vision. Anthony Robbins refers to this as trying to speak to all the trees in the forest – instead of the biggest trees, and the trees that are the best fit for us.
A very bold woman, and a very dear friend of mine, Jo Duxbury, has conquered this. Jo runs Freelancentral as well as Peppermint Source (please check out these websites, Jo really rocks!). A few days ago Jo said this on Twitter: “Turning away work because the clients do not fit my target profile is a uncomfortable, but sticking to my guns is best for both me and them.” You can view the original tweet here.
This idea is so essential as business advances and as global markets open up. All of us can’t be everything to everybody, we really need to focus. We need to find what it is that we do best, and then just do that!
Photo credit: bethcanphoto
Exploring rejection
March 9, 2010
A few days ago a company rejected one of our proposals. It was quite a decent-sized project which we pitched for, and the rejection certainly came as a disappointment. In the past, a situation like this would be met with assumptions of why we did not get the work, and then we’d just go on with business as usual.
I had 2 assumptions about why we did not get this particular project. The first was price, and the second was that I thought the client didn’t see the value that we would add to their business. So I enquired, politely, as to why we didn’t get the work. To my surprise, the company presented 2 reasons for the rejection, and neither was related to price or value. In fact, they thought the price was right, and identified the value – but they had 2 other concerns. This was totally enlightening. Now there is an opportunity for dialogue! The first of their concerns is valid, but we might be able to convince them that it should not really be a concern (due to the nature of the Web and Social Media), and their other concern – we think – is invalid and we can probably come to an agreement on this one.
How many times – in business and outside of it – do we accept rejection and not explore the reasons behind it. I think that most times we will be amazed that our initial assumptions about being turned down are far from the truth. Sometimes we’re so afraid of the truth, that we fail to see the potential benefits which lie in the truth.
Communication is so easy today, and all we really have to do is talk! I believe that talking is the essence of relationships, and relationships are the core of business today.
Gina Smith wrote a very interesting article about communicating and connecting. Read it here. Thanks to Sheraan Amod for the link.
Photo credit: quinnanya
Coaching vs Training vs Consulting
March 9, 2010
The Internet has brought vast amounts of information to our fingertips. With all this information, and the rapid advancement in many industries (especially those which are Internet-related), there is often room for confusion, and ambiguity. For example, Gary Vaynerchuk (one of the people who really get Social Media) believes that Web 2.0 equals Social Media. He believes they’re synonymous terms. I don’t believe this. I believe that Web 2.0 is all of the Web – and that Social Media is but a component of that bigger whole. It’s a significant component, but a component – lesser than the whole – nonetheless. Similarly, there is disagreement about even what the term Web 2.0 really means, there is disagreement about the true meanings of terms like Social Media, Social Networking, and so on. Just this morning Adrienne Michetti said this on Twitter: “Hmmm. I don’t usually consider blogs to be social media. But perhaps they are. What do you think?” – a proof that these terms are still trying to be understood by all of us.
This confusion and continuous debate is to be understood. Just a few years ago we never knew these terms. These technologies never existed, and were beyond our imagination. Tweeting, blogging, etc are new words, describing new things we do daily.
What is very interesting though, is the confusion between terms we know for ages. I’d like to explore 3 terms which I think are widely misunderstood. Coaching, Training, and Consulting. If you go to the websites of some companies offering either of these services, what they actually do often does not accurately fit the term they’re using.
About 2 weeks ago I was sitting in the lobby of an office building waiting for someone with whom I had scheduled a meeting. I enjoy waiting. It gives my time to read, think, relax, or just observe my surroundings. On this particular day I picked up a business magazine from the coffee table and browsed through it. I came across an very interesting advertorial, which I think provided an excellent metaphor to describe the difference between these 3 terms.
A business coach is like the coach of an Olympic swimmer. This coach never gets in the water, this coach walks along the edge of the pool motivating and guiding the swimmer. Note here that the swimmer already knows how to swim, the coach is merely improving the skills and outputs of the swimmer.
A business trainer is like someone who teaches someone how to swim. The trainer can be in the water, or not. The point of departure here is that the person being trained or taught does not know how to swim, or does not know how to swim at the level that he or she would like. The trainer might teach new techniques and new ideas to swim better.
A business consultant is like a swimming mate – someone who is there in the water with the swimmer all the time, offering advice, being a partner in this swimming exercise. This is someone who does everything the swimmer does, tries new techniques, sometimes succeeding, sometimes failing, and then trying again.
This metaphor has even helped me grasp this more clearly. In my different business capacities I play all 3 roles, but I far much prefer being a trainer and a teacher. The joy of imparting knowledge to someone, and then seeing that person blossom in that knowledge – is priceless!
Photo credit: peasap
Google’s Buzzing, again
February 10, 2010
In case you missed Google’s Press Conference last night, Google launched a new social platform called Google Buzz. The Web has shifted to becoming extremely social and interactive in recent years, and this is going to continue without a doubt. Twitter and Facebook have been dominating the “conversations” on the Web, and now Google Buzz appears that it might change things – perhaps totally, but definitely in some or other way.
According to Google, Google Buzz is “a new way to start conversations about the things you find interesting and share updates, photos, videos and more. Buzz is built right into Gmail, so there’s nothing to set up — you’re automatically following the people you email and chat with the most.”
Before I continue, I want to say this: In my talks and writings over the past 2 years I have been emphasizing the importance of principles, not technical intricacies. The technologies are ever-changing – these websites that we know now were not around a few years ago, and they will be drastically improved and changed, or even replaced, in the coming years. My focus is on the underlying principles and fundamentals about why Web 2.0 and Social Media is so powerful. Once you have a grasp of them, the technology changes will not affect your ability to harness the full potentials of the online tools available.
Back to Google Buzz…
We’re not sure about the affect that this new platform will have on Twitter and Facebook. Firstly, it allows for status updates, commenting, liking, and also integrates with blogs, Flickr, and YouTube. It has a “Friendfeed” feeling to it as well. The only thing that stumps me at present is that it sits within Gmail, and on a “Google Profile” page. Personally, I use my Gmail account very rarely – my business emails are all in Google Apps accounts. Buzz will be integrated, but only in a few months time. There has been no talk of an API – but I don’t see Buzz surviving without it. Due to the API of the other social networks, I manage Twitter, Facebook, and even LinkedIn via TweetDeck. This simplifies my life a whole lot, and makes my social interaction much more valuable.
I agree with Augie Ray from Forrester Research:
“While bringing relevance filtering to the noisy social media world could prove a significant advantage, this doesn’t (yet) seem to be enough to pull people away from the networks they’ve already created elsewhere. Buzz doesn’t update user’s Twitter or Facebook feeds, so I expect experimentation but not wholesale switching in the foreseeable future. Buzz could end up supplementing rather than replacing users’ other social networks for now.”
What does get me excited about Buzz is the mobile access – available at buzz.google.com – and the extremely advanced integration with Google Maps.
Google says:
With Buzz for mobile, we hope you can start interesting conversations about places and be more spontaneous when you are out and about. How many times have you missed a fun event, even though it was nearby? Or a better choice of dessert, just because you didn’t know about it? How often have you wondered “Where are you?” when reading a text message from a friend? Now, you can use Buzz to learn that there is going to be a movie night at your favorite park, share with the world that there is an awesome ice cream place right around the corner, or tell your friends about that delicious homemade lasagna.
The Google Buzz for mobile video explains it all:
The mobile component of Google Buzz is believed to impact Foursquare, and I think that will prove true, at least to some extent.
Mashable’s article “Google Goes Social with Google Buzz” gives a very nice overview of Google Buzz – read it here.
Also, read these very useful Mashable articles (all posted only hours after the release of Google Buzz):
What Google Buzz Means for Mobile
The Location Implications of Google Buzz
target=”_blank”Google Buzz: What It Means for Twitter and Facebook
Google Buzz: Competitors and Experts React
Google Buzz: Will You Use It? [POLL]
I was surprised to receive access to Google Buzz immediately, I assumed US users would be linked up first. You can connect to me at http://www.google.com/profiles/jamaal786. I’ve been following the conversations on Twitter, and many folks can connect to Buzz via their mobiles, but not yet via their Gmail accounts on the Web.
Of course, if you want to avoid the Buzz altogether, this article might be of use to you: Banish Google Buzz Updates from Your Gmail Inbox.
At the time of writing this post, about 7 hours after the Google announcement, the topic is still very hot online, with blog posts being written, podcasts been produced, and thousands of tweets flooding Twitter. I’ve estimated about 2, 500 new tweets with the words “Google Buzz” every 3 minutes. You do the math.
Facebook’s Latest Redesign
February 7, 2010
Facebook has launched it’s latest redesign this weekend. The first deployment has been to 80 million users – just a fraction of it’s 400 million user-base.
Many people are complaining about login and news feed problems, and I expect that this will be the case for the next few days. Many users like the new design though, and I assume there’ll be less of an outcry about this UI upgrade.
Peter Deng presented the new changes in a private press meeting. Thanks to Mashable for making this video available:
