Do you remember the old American Western movies where the sheriff with the big white hat rode onto the scene to bring law and order to the frontier town? Having grown up with these movies, the image of the heroic leader with the big hat still sticks in my mind. But today we don't see many big hats around anymore — and it's not just because 21st Century leaders dress differently.

In many ways, the current financial crisis has been caused, or at least exacerbated, by a lack of leaders with big hats. Instead of thinking about what's best in the long-term, most politicians have been focusing on how to advance their own parochial agendas. Thus European leaders have been protecting their own currencies, deferring austerity measures, and avoiding some of the deeper structural changes that may ultimately be needed. Similarly, Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. (including the President) have been digging in their heels on their "non-negotiable" positions and seem to spend more time blaming each other for problems than actually offering solutions. Everyone seems to be wearing a small hat, not willing to exchange it for a larger one that encompasses a broader perspective.

Wearing a small hat, of course, is perfectly natural. Political leaders are elected, appointed, or promoted on the basis of positions that resonate with their constituencies. And often, to be re-elected, politicians feel that they need to stay faithful to those positions. But what many leaders don't understand is that they also have a responsibility to do what's best for people who did not elect or support them, but whom they represent anyway. Coming to grips with that tension and reconciling conflicting principles for the overall good is the essence of what I'm calling "big hat leadership."

Big hat leadership is not just an issue for governments and politicians. It's also a recurring challenge for managers in all organizations. What's best for a particular function, geographic unit, or product division will often not be the same — and even may be contrary to what's needed for the organization as a whole. Getting to the optimum solution, however, requires that all of these managers wear big hats and partially subsume their individual agendas.

Take, for example, one consumer products company that was struggling to increase margins: The leadership team jointly decided to sell off or discontinue a number of low-volume brands, and outsource some of the support functions. Following this decision, if the managers of those affected brands and functions had not put on their big hats (and accepted the individual consequences to themselves and their constituencies) (which they did), these shifts would have been very difficult, potentially to the detriment of the entire company.

Not everyone has the capability or willingness to be a big hat leader. In many ways, it's far easier to advocate for the people who support you or agree with your positions than to alienate your base or be seen as weak. It's also easier to be an expert in your own area than to learn how other areas work and how the organizational (or economic) pieces fit together. Most importantly, wearing a big hat takes courage — since it means venturing into new territory, not worrying about popularity, and possibly making decisions that are good for the enterprise but not for you personally.

So yes, it's tough to put on the big hat. But at the end of the day, our organizations (and our economy) might be better off if more of our leaders learned how to do it.

To what extent do you think leaders in your organization, and in your country, are able to wear the big hats?

To attract and retain great people, several things need to coalesce. From the extrinsic reward of a salary to the more nuanced (and more important) intrinsic reward of people feeling that they have a meaningful role, it requires thought and a proactive approach to keep talent once you've got it.

One of the most critical elements in retaining great people is effective mentoring. But what does that really mean? The word "mentoring" is too general to capture the specifics of what people need through the different stages of a career. It is akin to saying that people need to be educated — and then implementing a teaching curriculum that is the same every year for everyone. Like education, mentorship requires different things at different stages, including different types of skills and advice, and different types of teachers and learning styles.

Few firms think as carefully about mentorship as they should. So for most companies, a wake-up call on the basics of mentorship is in order. The first step, of course, is just having mentorship as part of your people development strategy. This does not need to be a complex, bureaucratic HR-department process. It should be something people know is embraced as part of the ethos of a firm. It can start simply by having existing employees volunteer to be mentors to newer staff members. And while it can and probably should be communicated out to staff and emphasized top down from leaders, people will believe it more when it is a "show, don't tell" process.

Mentorship, delivered in an authentic manner, shows that you care about employees' professional progression. This basic "I care about you" culture is the foundation for effective mentorship. It requires knowing a mentee's ambitions and capabilities, their successes and challenges towards, and the ways you can help push their ball forward. I 've already written about how the best mentors are able to get a mentee snap-shot in five questions. But to put in place a more systematic and thoughtful mentorship program across any size company, it is helpful to differentiate among three types of mentoring:

1. Buddy / Peer Mentoring
2. Career Mentoring
3. Life Mentoring

1. Buddy / Peer Mentors This is the starting point for mentoring, where it is less about mentorship and more about an apprenticeship. During the entry-level, early stages of a career, or when "on-boarding" to a new job, what really benefits someone is a "buddy" or peer-based mentor who can help one get up the learning curve faster. This type of peer mentor is focused on helping with specific skills and basic organizational practices of "this is how it is done here." This can happen to some extent informally, through social and professional networks online and offline. But assigning a buddy day one on someone's new job is a great "I care" practice. This is a high frequency mentor who interacts as needed in those first couple of years.

2. Career Mentors After the initial period at a workplace, employees need to have someone who is senior to them to serve as a career advisor and internal advocate. A career mentor should help reinforce how the mentee's job contributions fit into the bigger picture and purpose of the firm. People don't contextualize the purpose of one's career enough. When people feel that they understand their current role, its impact and where it can take them next in a company, it leads to higher levels of satisfaction and motivation. Note that a career mentor is not necessarily the manager who may be doing the mentee's performance evaluation reviews. In fact, it may be better if it is not. Think of your most respected managers and rising stars — your real people people — who enjoy and are willing to spend the extra time to provide counsel as go to career mentors. In a career mentor, an employee should feel that they have an "I've got your back" advocate and advisor inside the company. Career mentors should look to meet with their mentee semi-annually or quarterly.

3. Life Mentors These may be the most important mentors to have. They can be people inside the mentee's company, but also outside. As people reach mid- and senior stages of their careers, they need to have someone in whom they can confide without feeling that there is any bias. This is someone who can be a periodic sounding board when one is faced with a difficult career challenge, or when is considering changing jobs. A company's alumni network is often a good place for life mentors, but employees should be encouraged to find these mentors outside of a firm's affiliation as well. The senior folks at a company should make it a part of their objectives to be a life mentor to rising stars, and to put younger associates in situations where they can meet some of the firm's institutional relationship network. Most of the better strategic consulting firms do a decent job of this as they make regular efforts to expose current employees to their firm's alumni and other relations. Retention would likely go up in many companies if employers demonstrated that they openly and fearlessly tried to do what is best for the employee — that they saw their employees as being as important as their customers. Companies should want to do what is best for their employees even if that means helping look for a job elsewhere. Life mentors do not supplant career mentors or peer mentors (and in some cases may be one and the same), but they are there to impart career wisdom. And whatever your employer does, you should look for at least one life mentor (if not a small council of them), and ideally set an annual dinner meeting with her, him, or them.

Beyond this mentoring taxonomy, there are many other aspects of mentoring, people development, and retention that could fill a book. In future blog posts, I'll touch on other key people themes and strategies. But start by making mentoring a priority in your company culture, and consider this simple three-part structure to help match the right mentorship to the right stage of professional development.

Building a brand isn’t like constructing a skyscraper, or finishing a race, or completing an audit. Your brand, no matter how powerful it may be, is never “done.”  If you begin to think that way, your personal brand will start to grow stale. What was once innovative and exciting will become routine. The traits that once set you apart from others in your market will be imitated, and soon you will look just like everyone else. How can you avoid this fate? Keep the following tips in mind:

1) Tell a story. In addition to being known as an expert in your field, you want your brand to tell an ongoing story. Keep your audience up to date on your latest adventures, whether related to business or your personal life (as long as you are staying true to your brand!) Let your audience see you grow.  

2) Give it some breathing room. Nothing kills interest in a brand as quickly as a total lack of personality. While it may be “safe” to build a completely vanilla, politically correct brand, it will also be boring. You don’t want to offend anyone or step over the line, but don’t be afraid to stir up controversy every once in a while. Your audience may not agree with every single thing that you say, but they will be interested enough to keep paying attention!

3) Don’t lose touch with your market. The biggest mistake many business owners make is failing to keep connected to their target market. Just as disco balls and psychedelic rock fell out of favor as the '70s gave way to the '80s, so can traits that once appealed to your customers. Just because your brand resonates today doesn’t mean that it will next week--so make sure you are connected well enough to make any necessary adjustments.

Branding is a process--it is never done. If you have built a strong personal brand, congratulations! But now is not the time to sit back and enjoy your victory. As soon as you take your foot off the gas, your brand begins the slow process of going stale. Keep the pedal down if you want to keep your brand on top. 

JW Dicks (@jwdicks) & Nick Nanton (@nicknanton) are best-selling authors that consult for small- and medium-sized businesses on how to build their business through Personality Driven Marketing, Personal Brand Positioning, Guaranteed Media, and Mining Hidden Business Assets. They offer free articles, white papers, and case studies at their Web site. Jack and Nick have been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Newsweek, FastCompany.com, and many more media outlets.

This guest post is by Onibalusi from YoungPrePro.com.

I have been writing for others as a freelancer for over seven months now and within that period I have made over $20,000 just by writing for others. I keep on getting new client requests every month and due to an agreement with my current and main clients, I have rejected almost ten clients in the past six months.

I have also noticed that in the blogosphere and in the freelancing world, less than 20% of the people get 99% of the results, so I decided to write an article on how to use blogging to get more clients to your business.

Before I continue I’d like you to know that the tips in this article won’t help you get “cheap clients” who really don’t care about the quality of your work. I’ll be giving you tips that can help you get high paying, recurring clients that you can choose from.

I’d also like you to know that every aspect of this article is essential. Don’t think you can skip my first point to go to the next and then expect the results to come. This is definitely not the ultimate guide on getting clients—I’m far from someone to write an ultimate guide on the subject. The tips in this article can also be modified to give you better results than I’m getting, but some people like to skip the main parts and try to rush into it for the money, then expect the results to come. That just won’t happen!

Okay, let’s get to the tips.

Focus on what you’re best at

Try to put yourself into the shoes of your client first. Let’s say you’re a small business with a tight budget and you want to get the word out about your business. You think the best thing to do is to hire a marketing consultant to give you advice based on your business model and you decide to go out in search for one.

You came across two people—the first is someone who is really desperate to make money and is therefore claiming the title of a “marketing consultant” because he hears that others with that name are making it big. The other, however, is a dedicated marketing consultant who lives, eats, and breathes marketing and who has helped several people with marketing their business. Which of the two will you go with?

You might try to play smart and think clients won’t be able to see through you but as someone who hardly advertises my service but keeps on getting client requests regularly, I will tell you that the best thing to do is to focus on what you’re best at. Doing so won’t only increase your chances of getting a lot of clients, it will ensure you’re paid double what you’re worth, and it will also ensure your clients stick with you for a very long time.

After all, the only thing your clients want is results, and once you can give them a lot of those, they will happily stay with you forever.

Know which kinds of clients you want and tailor your blog posts to them

I’m not trying to tell you to start writing blog posts every day inviting clients, or to be writing aggressive blog posts with the sole aim of getting clients. I’m taking about being specific about what you talk about, and letting potential clients see you as an expert on your subject.

Take a look at Darren Rowse, for example. If a big client is looking for someone to give the best advice about building successful blogs, you can be sure they will hire Darren. Not only does Darren have three very popular blogs in different niches, he also has the most successful blog in the blogging niche (which has been the most successful for several years now). That alone speaks a great deal to show that this guy knows what he’s talking about.

If you want clients to hire you to do their website design work for them, you need to be blogging about web design, and doing case studies that help analyze other people’s blog designs for better results. The more you can show someone that you know your stuff, the higher their chances of hiring you will be.

I try to know how my clients have found me, and I have noticed that every single one of them discovered me through my blog posts about guest blogging, which assures them that I know my stuff as far as writing is concerned.

Be a living example of what you have to offer

If you’re a web designer who wants to have clients flocking after you, having a very poor website design won’t help you go far. The best way to get clients is by letting them know that you know your stuff—and what better way to do this than to be using your services yourself?

Why will people ever hire you to write for them when you don’t even have a blog? Why will people hire you to help design their websites when you have never designed for someone else and the website template you use is one of the worst they’ve ever seen? Why will people hire you for SEO when you hardly get any visits to your blogs from the search engines? Why will people hire you to write their copy when you can’t even convince them to use your service?

Since I’m human, just like you, I’d like to tell you that my number one concern isn’t my mother, it isn’t my siblings, it isn’t you either. It is me, and since every human thinks alike, I’d like to believe this is the same for everybody. Our major concerns are ourselves, and we think about ourselves before others. No one will hire you if you can’t prove to them that you’re an example of what you have to offer and that hiring you will be their wisest decision.

Market yourself

You will notice here that I’m not actually saying you should market your service.

I’m not against marketing your service altogether, but my point is that being a living example of what you have to offer is enough marketing of your service in itself. So spreading the word about yourself will let a lot of people see you, and will result in them asking to buy your services.

Look for the best tactics that those who are getting results in your industry are using, and start making use of them yourself. Don’t just rush after guest blogging because people in the IM niche says it is working for them. Facebook might be what’s working in your niche. Search engines might be the best friend of those getting the most results in your niche.

So instead of following the general approach to marketing, try to take a look at how some of the people getting the most results in your field are marketing themselves. Then, start marketing yourself using the same approach.

Use your blog

Getting clients flocking after you isn’t as difficult as most people think. It isn’t about joining one freelancing site or the other. Blogging is the most powerful tool at the disposal of everybody, and you can easily make the best use of it to your own advantage. Utilize the tips above to get clients flocking after you—and let us know how you go in the comments.

Onibalusi Bamidele is the founder of YoungPrePro.com, a blog where he teaches people how to write for traffic and money. Get his free 7 series eCourse on How to Build a Successful Online Writing Business

Don’t you hate the “IF” in that phrase? It’s like the canned, fake apologies we receive from call center employees reading from a script. Yet we hear “I’m sorry if I upset you” or something just like it over and over again from business colleagues and yes, even friends.

What is an Apology?

What is an apology and when should we provide one?  A few years ago, I ran across an expert, Lee Taft, a Dallas lawyer also educated in ethics and religion at Harvard Divinity School, and who was recently highlighted in the Dallas Morning News. He takes a holistic approach to dispute resolution, and an apology is at the center.  He believes that “if someone is at fault in causing harm, the party causing the injury should offer a fault-admitting apology, an explanation of what happened and reparation.” His five step process, explained on his website, includes: Remorse (experience of sorrow/regret), Explanation, Apology (expression of remorse), Accommodation (reparations) and Lessons Learned.

When I acted as a mediator, I was amazed at how fast an apology led to a settlement. Of course, the lawyers feared that an apology was an admission of responsibility (and it was), but in reality it was more than that. To the person receiving the apology it meant that the person giving it actually felt sincere remorse, and wasn’t going to do “it” again to someone else. That assumes, of course, that it was a sincere apology, pretty much following Lee’s formula, rather than just going through the motions.

More Apology on the Web

Getting to know Lee got me thinking more deeply about the topic, and I looked into what’s available on the web on apology.  Here are some great sites with valuable contributions on the subject:

PerfectApology.com.  It’s got everything you wanted to know about apologies.  A section called “Apology Central” even has pages on “how to apologize” (complete with ads somehow related to apologizing); “Apology Ideas” for sharing ways to apologize; and an “Apology Board” where people can post their apologies for others to learn from.

Those who created this site say they are “a few friends and colleagues who have always been on the lookout for the perfect apology.”  They created the site because “we’re human, we tend to screw up on occasion, and we inevitably need to deal with the problem.”  They’ve even created an Apology Blog. One of the things I like most about this site is that both the developers and the contributors seem to be into acknowledging the offense that needs an apology, rather than simply making excuses. And they give advice on how to say you’re sorry in a variety of situations. So, next time you mess up, take a look at the How to Say I’m Sorry page.

Mediate.com. This site devotes a full page to articles about apology in the context of disputes in a variety of legal settings. It was there that I discovered Vivian Scott, who wrote the best titled blog I’ve seen on this topic:  “I’m Sorry You’re Such a Crybaby Isn’t Really An Apology”. In fact, I liked the title so much that I called Vivian to learn more.   Turns out she authored “Conflict Resolution at Work for Dummies” and has other writing to her credit. In “Crybaby” Vivian says that when she “hears an apology laden with sarcastic tones or Ill-chosen words [she tries] to give the speaker the benefit of the doubt and assume the reason he’s delivering such a lousy apology is because he’s uninformed about the must-have attributes of a real one.” Her blog is a must read for the four elements of a real apology.

WriteExpress.com. If you ever wanted to know how to write just about anything, take a look at this site. I’ve hyperlinked the apology page, and there’s so much more here.

It's Personal

I’d like to share an additional perspective on apology. Inspired by numerous encounters with those plastic call center apologies, I’ve suggested to my coaching clients a distinction between the need for an apology (which includes acknowledging what happened and taking responsibility) and the need for simply the acknowledgment and taking responsibility without feeling and expressing remorse. Lee Taft’s apology approach includes: “the party causing the injury” should offer the apology. To me, an “injury” occurs when there is personal harm. I define “personal” pretty broadly – something like when the action we do or words we say have a negative impact on others – their jobs , their finances (like affecting a bonus), their lives, their health, and even their egos. In business, there are things we do that merit apologies, and other things that merit only the acknowledgment and taking responsibility portion of apologies.  When there is a need for an apology, follow the advice of the experts and give a complete and sincere one. If not, acknowledge what you did, take responsibility and move on.

If you have anything to add, or other suggestions of where to find great advice for apologies or blogs on the topic, please post!

Stewart Hirsch is an Associate with Trusted Advisor Associates LLC , and heads its Trust-based Coaching practice. He is founder and owner of Strategic Relationships. Read more about Stewart at http://trustedadvisor.com/consultants.stewarthirsch/. You can follow Stewart on Twitter @stewartmhirsch

The launch of Google+ apps sends a powerful signal – the personalized web has begun. What this means is that the way information is structured and accessed will turn on the individual, or rather their personal profile which is a composite of all the data collected on the basis of what they have searched for and shared. What this means for brands and their marketing is enormous.

As the individual becomes the filter through which all information must pass, the onus for brands to be defined and social becomes acute. Here’s why.

Till now, search was outward facing. When you wanted to find something you entered its name and in most cases, relied on Google to provide a list of ranked links to that topic.But now search, and the way information is structured and accessed is becoming increasingly inward facing with the individual as the filter. That means when you visit a website the ads will reflect brands, topics or causes that you have demonstrated a past interest in through what you searched and shared. In short, your experience of the web is being built from the individual out, in circles as Valeria Maltioni rightly explains.

With this shift in informational structure and emphasis in mind, what happens to the undefined brand? How does a brand that either stands for nothing, or more commonly, several things at once, pass through the individual filter of the personalized web?

Brands reluctant to do the hard work of defining what they stand for and integrating that within their organization, or brands that mistakes social technology as an end in itself rather than as tools to connect people emotionally, run the very real risk of becoming invisible and obsolete. Put simply, brands must accept that they are no longer the destination. Their customer is. And as such, self-definition is a critical tools through which your brand, and its products and services, can reach it target audience.

If you doubt the importance of this shift, you need only look at how much competition there is for the potential customer’s attention these days and platforms (like SocialVibe) or strategies (like bonuses, rewards or coupons) that are used to command it.

Brands are facing a new competitive landscape in which self-definition, core values and purpose will increasingly define their ability to reach customers that only allow what is meaningful in their lives to pass through their filter.

At the 4A’s conference this year, Unilever CMO Keith Weed asserted that “the customers are in charge” of the conversation. The advent of Google+ and the emergence of the personalized web means this is more true than ever. Brands, and their advertising partners, must wake up to this challenge and define themselves with clarity, consistency and authenticity. Otherwise they just might find themselves shouting in a ghost town.

Do you believe the customer is increasingly in control? How do you think brands must respond to the personalized web?

 

What is the core of the human condition?  If you dig down deep enough you might just find that most of us feel vulnerable and strive for security.  In our social lives we minimise our vulnerability and build up our sense of security by cultivating relationships with people we can trust.  In our business lives we strive to do the same: do business with people and organisations we can trust.

One of the major causes of us feeling vulnerable is uncertainty.  Uncertainty makes us feel uneasy: it exposes us to risk and most of us are risk averse.  Research studies show that most of us will pay a premium to minimise risk – to outsource it to someone else.  The entire insurance industry is founded on this understanding.   Chris Zane has built a successful cycle business through a deep understanding of this principle: he provides a lifetime guarantee!  Zappos have flourished by exploiting this principle: their generous returns policies take the risk (and cost) out for customers.  In return customers happily pay a premium.  This is the reward these companies earn for taking risk out of their customer’s lives.

What am I saying?  People buy products.  People buy services.  People also buy security: peace of mind.   You can build stronger bridges with prospects and customers by taking out risk and replacing it with peace of mind.  And you can make more money!

If you are inspired to provide this peace of mind then might want to make use of some of the insights that Ernest Dichter, consumer behaviourist, came up with back in the 1950s.  He identified that there are at least five dimensions of risk every time someone makes a purchase:

• Economic – am I wasting my money making this purchase?
• Functional – will this product work reliably?  Will I get the quality of service I am being promised?
• Social – what will other people think of me in buying this ‘product’ and doing business with this company?
• Physical – will this be painful?
• Psychological – will I think poorly of myself?

When you think about it this way you can get why quality and reliability make such a big impact on customers: quality and reliability makes your customers feel safe.  You can see why good design commands a premium: good design makes us look good in our eyes and in others eyes.  You can see why price counts and why people search out deals: it makes us feel intelligent and good about ourselves.  In the current economic climate price is particularly important as it also gives us bragging rights. 

Now let me ask you two questions:  In your customer experience design efforts, what are you doing to take out these risks?  Does your customer strategy make use of risk as a key leverage point?

Guest post by Corinne Federici

Scoring 45 minutes on the stage at an important industry event (paid or unpaid) is a win. These days, that’ll get your company in front of 20-100 people, on average. We’re big believers in quality over quantity, so if you’re standing in front of the only people you care about, mission accomplished. For most – that’s not the case.

Here are a handful of ideas to expand your reach and fuel lead gen, with very little “extra” effort:

1. Create an on-demand Webinar. The presentation already exists; make it available on your website to non-event attendees (registration required to capture leads). Email outreach to customers and prospects drives downloads.

Capture it on camera. Cut it down to 3-4 short (60-second) videos and post to YouTube and your site; embed links to drive traffic/SEO. (Convert to podcasts and post audio-only versions.)

Provide a sneak peak on SlideShare. Post 3-4 slides that make readers want more; link to your on-demand Webinar presentation; capture more leads.

Blog. Serve up the most compelling points from the presentation, share any interesting questions attendees raised and tie it into the broader theme at the event.  Always, always embed links to hold the campaign together.

Tweet it all. Before, during and after the event. Promote the live presentation, the bite-sized videos, the webinar, the slides on SlideShare and your blog.

A single speaking opportunity should be much more than 45 minutes of fame.

How to create one kick-ass lead generation campaign (from scratch)

Recently I visited a 1/2 billion dollar business intelligence company who was looking for a global leader for lead generation. They rejected me, (the President of the B2B lead generation consultancy, Find New Customers) saying “the team did not think you are the one to create our lead generation campaigns.”

So we dedicate this post to Peter Isaacson, SVP of Worldwide Marketing at Microstrategy – who concluded I was unable to create lead generation campaigns.

Want to share a comment with Peter about his conclusion? Email your comment to pisaacson at microstrategy.com.

This is why this blog topic is how to create a kick-ass lead generation campaign. We can show the world (and one clueless business intelligence software company) how to create great lead generation campaigns. 

Let’s get started. Here’s how to create one kick-ass lead generation campaign:

1. Start with great research
   The most important thing you need to do is great research. Who are the target buyers? What problems are they trying to solve? What questions do they need answered to buy? Whom do they prefer and would they buy from us?
2. Find thought leaders and keywords
   Who are the respected thought leaders in the industry? When searching for a solution to the problem we solve, what words do people use in search? Network with those thought leaders and use those keywords in your content.
3. Map and develop content
   You are looking to create content to move prospective buyers through a buying process. So you need to map content to buying stage, decision role, industry, product line, etc. The goal is to create modular content that can be used as needed on a one to one basis. Keep in mind that content marketing is an ongoing strategy. You cannot stop.
4. Build landing pages and develop attraction strategies
   We suggest thought leadership using a blog and personality, such as humor, interviews and so forth. Also, as you create content, you’ll want to reuse the keywords you devised in step 2.
5. Launch, measure results, and continually refine
   Now we are ready to launch. But you need to measure results and continually refine and improve the program. You want to move the focus on one approach to another based on results. Marketing is the process of continual experimentation and refinement.

Jeff Ogden (@fearlesscomp) is President of the B2B lead generation consultancy, Find New Customers. He presented “How to Build an Awesome Personal Brand” at the 140 Social Media Conference and appeared to discuss B2B lead generation on Sales Lead Management Radio.

Barcodes, QR codes, readers, 2D barcodes (have you ever seen a 3D barcode?). There’s a lot of debate in the marketing world about just how useful these scan-able images can be for businesses, and that debate continued on the May 13^th episode of HubSpot’s Marketing Update with Karen Rubin and Mike Volpe. Opinions ranged from “who would waste their time using those?!” to “I just don’t think marketers have figured out how to use them yet.”

What the Heck is a QR Code?

QR stands for quick response, and barcodes are nothing new. But to clear up any confusion, a QR code is simply a matrix barcode that is readable by QR barcode readers that can be installed on smart phones. The information that is encoded by QR codes can include text, a URL, or other data. Barcodes have been around for quite some time, but their use as a mobile utility for accessing information is new in the scheme of things. Just like any new piece of technology, the mass market will show signs of resistance before it starts to adopt it. And while there will always be naysayers out there, the fact of the matter is that if QR codes catch on with consumers (and there is nothing that suggests they won’t), businesses – especially local ones – can really stand to benefit from them.

Even though the mass market has yet to fully embrace them, there are multiple reasons why local businesses should be embracing QR codes now as part of their mobile marketing strategy.

QR Codes Can Help You Stand Out From the Crowd

Differentiating your business from your competitors is definitely a marketing 101 lesson. The fact that QR codes have not yet been adopted by the masses means there are many people who see them and don’t know what they are. If used correctly, QR codes can spike the curiosity of your customers and prospects alike. Use this opportunity to link QR codes to exclusive offers or valuable content to carry that curiosity through to a sale.

Boston Photobooth Rental is a local shop that rents photo booths for all sorts of occasions. They recently redesigned their business cards and used the back of the business card to host two QR codes. One leads to their website and other to their reviews page. Tell me using this otherwise wasted real estate is not a good idea!

QR Codes Let You Target Consumers On the Go

 Retailers, don’t you wish there was a way to interact with customers on the go? Integrate QR codes into your store signage and other print advertising. Whether you’re providing coupons for shopping in-store or an easy way to sign up for your newsletter, QR codes make it super easy for customer and prospects to access your information fast on their phone.

REI, an outdoor sports apparel retailer, had this signage on the front door of one of their stores to pique interest about their frequent shopper program. Instead of calling out the program, they focused on the benefit (dividends) and provided a QR code linked to a list of products people were able to purchase with their dividend.

QR Codes Make Real Life Interactive Like the Web

 The incredible growth of the online marketing industry isn't a fluke. Businesses are shifting their time and budgets to online channels because it’s much easier to track the success of their efforts and prove their strategy is working. QR codes essentially allow you place call-to-action buttons on any piece of physical content you have.

 

The best time to look at recipes (at least for me anway) is while I'm at the grocery store. My local Whole Foods store has a recipe board equipped with QR codes so shoppers can open the recipe right on their phones and make sure they buy all the ingredients they need. Genius!

Setting Up QR Codes Is Free & Easy to Set Up

There are multiple resources businesses can access that will allow them to insert a landing page URL and create a QR code that will direct users to that URL with the click of a button.

Sites like Kaywa QR Code allow you to set up QR codes in a matter of minutes and provide you with proper image formats to use in your designs.

The Market May Be Slow to Adopt, But the Telecommunications Industry is Ready for You

An industry has sprung up around the use of QR codes and other mobile barcode technology. A great example is Neustar. They are veterans in the telecommunications space and recently launched a mobile barcode service that lets you take QR use to the extreme.

Neustar users can utilize features like dynamic URLs for geographic or device targeted offers, day parting, and web analytics to make their campaigns incredibly efficient.

All the Cool Kids Are Doing It

This is not true at all. In fact, you could argue that only geeks are using these things. All kidding aside, the use of QR codes could open up new channels of traffic and customers to your business. At HubSpot, we talk all the time about testing new forms of media and marketing tactics. You won’t know if QR codes will work for business if you don’t at least experiment with them. Go ahead, test them out. If they work -- awesome. If they don’t, then who cares? You’ve got nothing to lose. Either way, we’ll still think you’re cool, and actually, you'll look like the cool kid in your industry if your use of them really pays off.

Have you started to use QR codes or other mobile barcodes? Please share how you’re using them, how you are measuring results, and some tips to getting started.

Photo Credit: pagetx

At the Ace Hotel yesterday, PepsiCo’s Global Director of Digital and Social Media, Bonin Bough, identified a lag in enterprise level innovation and pinpointed the marketers’ means for closing the gap and transforming laggards into leaders.

To understand Bough’s insight for success is to see his big picture: Society is adopting new technologies at lightning speed, but while organizations drag their feet, the rest of the world is well on its way to becoming what he calls a “100 percent digital society.”

In an effort to save brands from impending irrelevance in a digital world, Bough sees it as a marketers’ responsibility to help organizations dedicate themselves to an idea he subscribes to called “digital fitness.” Champions of this fitness regimen will identify new technologies, weave innovation into corporate culture and tap into the technologies that are transforming us in ways we never expected.

At PepsiCo digital fitness started with a needs assessment that compared the brand’s digital marketing against the competition. Instead of settling with industry standard though, he had the foresight to look three years ahead.

That’s when Bough found influencer relationship management (IRM) and signed up with YouCast. Together the organizations built a database of digital influencers to acquire and nurture. Then YouCast and PepsiCo designed a program that leverages these trusted social publishers to to help spread brand conversations across paid, earned, and owned media.

When applied to PepsiCo’s portfolio company Gatorade in Gatorade Mission Control, the brand uses YouCast’s IRM platform to build customized measures of impact and success based on brand priorities as outlined by the influencer marketing objectives. The resulting data is then applied to smarter and more informed ad spend, but it’s also helpful for publishers anxious to prove they can make an impact.

Bough calls not investing in this kind of marketing the equivalent of “leaving cash on the table.” Today this could very well be the case, but in three years the investment in influencer marketing could easily mean the difference between having cash on the table at all.

I mentioned in an earlier post that although many people use the terms interchangeably,  networking is not the same as prospecting. If you were a fly on the wall at a networking event, you’d see a lot of people trying to sell their stuff to other people who are trying to sell their stuff. They’ve missed the point of networking. These same people will complain they couldn’t find anyone interested in buying their product at the event, while lamenting the fact that people were trying to sell to them.

If you are one of those people, I’d like to offer a mind-shift for you that I think will take a lot of pressure off. Quite simply, networking is about connecting.  Networking is about giving to others.  It could be giving your time, your attention, knowledge, or resources.  Networking is about trying to make the people around you more successful. Show interest in what your network is doing, trying to do, or hoping to do and see how you might help them get a little further.

Tips For Networking

1. Use a tool like LinkedIn to keep track of your network.  LinkedIn lets you follow your network as they make career transitions.  Not everyone in your network will be on LinkedIn, so make sure that you keep track of the remainder of your connections in another tool like Outlook or your CRM solution. Or invite your non-LinkedIn network pals to join you on LinkedIn using the invite feature.
2. Connect with your network on a regular basis.  By regular, I mean, make it a daily habit to spend a few minutes working your network. I suggest, if you have a network of 200 people or less, contact at least 2-3 people each day. If you’ve got more you might want to try and connect with 5 or more each day.  It will take you a number of months to connect with everyone, but it will keep you top of mind with your network.  The goal is find out how they are doing and see if you might be able to help.  Once you have finished the list start again.
3. Use social media updates (linkedIn, Twitter, Facebook) as conversation starters.  Congratulate them on new projects, jobs or other life changes, it makes them feel noticed and remembered.
4. Network does not refer to only formal wine-and-cheesy events. You can (and should) network anywhere; your kids soccer game, the giant line at the coffee shop, or even while you are working.
5. When you do network, listen intently to the person you are talking to. Make them your focus for the period of time they are in front of you. You want them to feel like the most important person you have meet.

If your organization has already decided to take the plunge and commit to building its communities across the various social media platforms, then the imperatives around social media campaign integration discussed in this post should be a no brainer. A solid social media integration plan does not only help in leveraging existing social media channels for marketing campaigns, but also helps in growing and nurturing your community. It helps in creating engagement & talking points and makes the customer feel connected and special. But despite the benefits, campaign integration in many organizations is not a well oiled engine that cranks up when needed. So let’s list the imperatives of social media integration into marketing campaigns. 

1.  Websites (Corporate, Campaign or  Blogs) Need to Be Social Friendly:

It’s amazing how still many companies are failing to optimize their sites for Social media. They either don’t have social media share buttons or then the content or site format is no conducive to extract content on a share. It’s crazy to even think that one can propagate a campaign microsite if the share functionality on it doesn’t work. All the community building is a waste if you can’t drive traffic or awareness to content on your web pages.

2. Need for a Content Calendar

The content calendar becomes extremely important if you are running multiple campaigns across multiple social platforms.  You can’t plan your content distribution on a day to day basis it has be more long drawn and shared with content publishers much in advance. It may be worthwhile to invest in tools that help you optimize your publishing by scheduling it in advance and helping you post content at the appropriate time. There is definitely a science involved in timing your content based on time zones, demographics and amplification sweet spots.

3. Knowledge of Promotion Guidelines on Social Media Platforms 

Many agencies and companies seem to struggle in the area of understanding the ever evolving policies of social media platforms. Though there is a lot of talk around use of social media in contest, sweepstakes and promotions, many promotions fail to meet both internal & social platform guideline criterion. Special precautions need to be taken to make sure that your campaign meets all the guidelines around privacy and any dispute that may arise around the promotional terms and conditions. Constant training and communication of internal as well as agency staff could help mitigate and prevent many of the problems that may show up around this.

4. Blogger/ Influencer Integration

Along with traditional media channels many organizations have started to engage bloggers for their product, service or campaign launches.  But unfortunately not many PR agencies and organizations completely understand the needs of bloggers and that they behave very differently from traditional media. One of the most common approaches of engagement used currently is blogger meets where presentation and handouts are given out to influential bloggers. But if you notice closely you will see that the information handed out is not very different from the content and format that the traditional media get. More thought needs to be put in when designing the Blogger PR kit and organizing the Blogger event. This form of media definitely needs more hand holding then managing traditional media. The content ideally should be modular and giving bloggers different angles to the same story.

5. Metrics

It’s extremely important to define what success would look like at the end of a social media integration exercise. Just standard web metrics may not be sufficient to judge the effort as successful. Goals should be around things like campaign amplification, customer engagement & acquisition, incremental business results, increased margins etc. Goals that measure brand or business impact are more appreciated by the management.

Some of your best inside sales reps might need more motivation. I'm not talking about training or comp plan changes or pep talks. I'm talking about organic, intrinsic motivation to sell more and make more money.

For many sales professionals, this isn't an issue. They have bills to pay, families to support, retirement accounts to fund. They're motivated to earn as much commission each sales period as possible.

For others, especially younger reps, the motivation may be different. I've seen brilliant but young inside sales reps have a fantastic month, earn a ton of money, then mail it in for the next two months. It's not because they couldn't find and close prospects in those subsequent 60 days. It's because they didn't need the money.

They had what they needed to pay their rent, fund their lifestyle and do what they wanted beyond that first month of spending their commission. Only when the money started to run out did they get serious and start killing their quota again.

Whether you're working with a younger inside sales team or a more diverse group, outside motivation, goals and dreams are important. The more you help your team envision the life they could lead, the toys they could buy, the more hungry they'll be to earn the dollars to get it.

Even those young reps might not be thinking (yet) about buying a house. Or a boat. Or a newer car. But maybe they should. What if you helped them think bigger, and put photos of those investments in their office or cube as they work?

Whether those investments are serious or superficial, it doesn't really matter. Motivation takes a whole lotta shapes.

An Example...

Personally, I didn’t need another reason to utilize my RSS reader. It is a very important tool in how I manage my reading, education, and maintain my listening posts.

But the latest reason you should be using an RSS reader?

You can now subscribe to the RSS feed on Facebook Fan pages. So, yeah, all those pages you’ve liked? You can now more easily keep an eye on the actual pages you care about.

All you have to do is click on the Subscribe Via RSS button on the left sidebar on a Facebook Fan page. You then will be prompted to put the feed into the RSS reader of your choice.

Probably like you, I “like” too many pages, and it is virtually impossible to follow any of them. But now? I can go to the few pages I want to monitor, subscribe to the feed, and see what content they are publishing on those pages, such as for my client’s pages, or that of a prospect…

This action just made Facebook more important to me…

Here is a quick reminder of a few other important uses of your RSS reader:

1. An obvious way to manage all the blogs you follow. Your RSS reader aggregates all that blog content into one place. You can now much more easily follow hundreds of blogs at any given time. You can quickly glance at post content to determine if it worth a deeper read, and you are notified when a blog publishes new content. Secret: this is how you monitor hundreds of blogs. Most don’t update but a few times a month…

2. Twitter Search. Monitoring key word searches on Twitter, such as your name, your company, your target market is the best way to keep an eye on what people are saying about you. When you set up a Twitter Search query, you can have the results fed into your RSS reader. Having all this content go to one place makes it easier to monitor.

3. LinkedIn Status. You can have the status updates of all your LinkedIn connections fed into your RSS reader. This is a great way to view a daily snapshot of what your friends and business connections on LinkedIn are doing, saying, and connecting with, again, all in one place.

4. Google Alerts. Most of us are familiar with using Google Alerts to send web mentions of you and your company. But most people have those results sent to them via email. I did too at one point, until it clogged up my inbox. You can have those query results fed into your RSS reader.

5. News. Honestly, this is how I get my news. I subscribe to the RSS feed of the news sources I want, and have those results fed into my RSS reader. Thus, all my news is gathered in one place. My RSS reader enables me to quickly scan the headlines, and select a specific news article if it interests me…

What others ways do you use your RSS reader?

And yes, using those six methods as I do, I get a TON of content fed into my reader every day. But, I promise, you will get the hang of how to move and sort quickly through all that content and find those valuable nuggets of information that are worth your time. Having all that content sent to my RSS reader is an amazing time saver for me, yet keeps me easily plugged in to all the content my network produces on a daily basis.

Salesforce.com is the recognized 800-pound gorilla in cloud CRM software. However, while they may own "CRM" on the stock exchange, they do not own the market. Salesforce's tool is fairly intuitive with deep Sales Force Automation (SFA) functionality. It should definitely make your shortlist, but what other companies should you be looking at? Below are five alternative cloud CRM systems that are worth adding to your shortlist of vendors.

1. Microsoft Dynamics CRM

With their latest release, Dynamics CRM 2011, Microsoft represents some stiff competition for Salesforce.com. Microsoft Dynamics CRM is built on the .NET platform, making it ideal for companies that already run a Microsoft-based office. The system has a familiar, Outlook-like user interface, and with Microsoft's extensive network of ISV's and resellers, buyers have access to customized and vertical industry solutions to suit their specific needs.

2. NetSuite OneWorld CRM

This legacy ERP player has developed a CRM system with the global organization in mind. With an unlimited number of users, modules, apps and storage, organizations can easily scale this system to meet their needs. NetSuite also now offers Social CRM capabilities through their partnership with Yammer. This development adds an internal collaboration to NetSuite's existing offering.

3. Oracle CRM On Demand

Oracle entered the CRM arena with the purchase of Siebel's CRM On Demand product and has since built out capabilities to create a strong cloud solution. Oracle offers vertical solutions specific to your organization and also has built-in integration with existing Oracle back-office products. Oracle recently acquired marketing automation company Market2Lead, adding that strength to its stack. While most CRM systems traditionally fall short in this area, Oracle has shown its intention to set the standard for its competitors.

4. Sage SalesLogix

SalesLogix is Sage's premium CRM offering. Like many CRM's, it was originally realeased as an SFA solution, but has been built out into a comprehensive CRM product with 6 million customers worldwide. SalesLogix has strong features in sales and customer service, but I really like their mobile capability. It can be accessed from any smart phone platform, and, best of all, it's free. This is a great solution for companies with a remote salesforce that requires instant access to contacts, accounts, and opportunities while on the go.

5. Sugar CRM

For companies that require an extremely tailored solution, SugarCRM is worth looking into. As the most popular open source cloud CRM solution on the market, it offers a basic CRM platform that organizations can then build upon to create a highly customized solution for their business. SugarCRM also offers a unique and intuitive wizard for helping new users get familiar with the system. It functions much like a CRM "Clippy", offering tips and instructions as new users navigate the system.

For a more in-depth review of each of these systems, you can visit Software Advice's blog.