Business

Commerce is about pricing, and pricing is about scarcity. Scarcity, of course, demands no easy substitutes.

Some news websites are foolishly putting up paywalls, requiring readers to pay by the day or the year to see what's there. This is foolish because substitutes are so easy to find. If I can't get to the Times of London or Time magazine, no problem, I'll find the same news (or almost the same news) somewhere else.

This is the mistake that book publishers are making on the Kindle. I was mildly interested in the new biography of Henry Luce. But it's $19 on the Kindle. That's outrageous in a world where there are plenty (more than I can ever read) of great biographies for less than $10 on this very same device. (In fact, I can buy the biography of his forgotten partner, the actual founder of Time, for $4 in paperback or $10 on the kindle.) Is a biography about someone else a perfect substitute? Not if you're writing your dissertation about Luce, no, it's not. But the publishers seek a broader audience than that, don't they?

The internet has dramatically widened the number of available substitutes. You don't have to like it, but it's true. That means you have to work far harder to create work that can't easily be replaced.

New times demand new words, because the old words don't help us see the world differently. Along the way, I've invented a few, and it occurs to me that sometimes I use them as if you know what I'm talking... Seth Godin

New times demand new words, because the old words don't help us see the world differently.

Along the way, I've invented a few, and it occurs to me that sometimes I use them as if you know what I'm talking about. Here, with plenty of links, are 26 of my favorite neologisms (the longest post of the year, probably):

A is for Artist: An artist is someone who brings humanity to a problem, who changes someone else for the better, who does work that can't be written down in a manual. Art is not about oil painting, it's about bringing creativity and insight to work, instead of choosing to be a compliant cog. (from Linchpin).

B is for Bootstrapper: A bootstrapper is someone who starts a business with no money and funds growth through growth. The internet has made bootstrapping much easier than ever, because the costs of creating and marketing remarkable things are cheaper than ever. It's really important not to act like you're well-funded if you're intent on bootstrapping (and vice versa). You can read the Bootstrapper's Bible for free.

C is for Choice: I didn't coin the term the Long Tail, but I wish I had. It describes a simple law: given the choice, people will take the choice. That means that digital commerce enables niches. Aggregating and enabling the long tail accounts for the success of eBay, iTunes, Amazon, Craigslist, Google and even match.com.

D is for Darwin: Things evolve. But evolution is speeding up (and yes, evolving). While it used to take a hundred thousand years for significant changes to happen to our physical culture, the nature of information and a connected society means that 'everything' might change in just a few months. Ideas that spread, win and organizations that learn from their mistakes lead the rest of us. (from Survival is Not Enough)

E is for Edgecraft: Brainstorming doesn't work so well, because most people are bad at it. They're bad at it because their lizard brain takes over moments before a big idea is uttered. "Oh no!" it says, "I better not say that because if I do, then I'll have to do it." And so brainstorming quickly becomes clever stalling and timewasting. Far better is to practice edgegraft. Someone announces a direction ("we'll be really convenient, we'll offer our menu by fax,") and then the next person goes closer to that edge, topping it, ("we'll offer it by email!") and so on, each topping the other in any particular direction. (from the book Free Prize Inside)

F is for the Free Prize: People often don't buy the obvious or measured solution to their problem, they buy the extra, the bonus, the feeling and the story. The free prize is the layout of Google--the search results are the same, but the way the search feels is why you choose to search there. If engineers thought more about the free prize, we'd need fewer marketers.

G is for Go go go™: I just trademarked this one, but you have my permission to use it all you like. Go go go is the mantra of someone who has committed to defeating their anxiety and ignoring their lizard brain. Not a good strategy for airline pilots, but for the rest of us, a little Go go go might be just the ticket.

H is for broken: Isn't it just like a marketer to compromise when he should have organized better in the first place? There's a lot in our consumer society that's broken, but try to avoid getting obsessed with it. Far better to ship your own stuff that's not broken instead.

I is for Ideavirus: A decade ago a wrote a book that was free. It still is. It argues that ideas that spread win, and you can architect and arrange and manipulate your ideas to make them more likely to spread. Note that I'm not saying you can add gimmicks and spam and networking to spread your idea. I'm saying the idea itself is more or less likely to spread based on how you design it.

J is for just looking: When there's plenty of choice and everything is a click away, I'm very unlikely to take action, certainly unlikely to actually buy something from you. I'll do it tomorrow. Or the day after. Which means the only way you create action is to produce an emergency. Why now? Why not later...

K is for kindle: No, not the ebook reader. Kindle as in patiently starting a fire. The TV era demanded blockbuster launches of blockbuster products aimed at the masses. The internet responds better to bonfires that are kindled over time, to ideas that spread because the idea itself is the engine, not the hype or the promotion. First, ten.

L is for Lizard Brain: This is a huge impediment to getting what you want, finding your calling and satisfying your customers. The lizard brain is near your brain stem, including your amygdala. It's the part of your brain responsible for anger, revenge, fear, anxiety and reproduction. It's the original brain, the one that wild animals possess. Steve Pressfield has named the voice of the lizard: it's the resistance. The resistance rationalizes, hides and sabotages your best work.

M is for Meatball Sundae: This is the unfortunate combination of traditional products and services (designed for low price and good quality) with the high-growth nature of the idea-driven internet. When your boss tells you to build a viral campaign about some lame product gathering dust in the warehouse, she's asking you to build a meatball sundae and you should flee.

N is for NOBS: Otherwise known as the new order business school. My rant about this points out that for most people, a traditional MBA is a waste of both time and money. The two biggest benefits--the selection process of getting in, and the social process of networking--could be accomplished, in a Swiftian fashion, without any classes at all.

O is for Orangutan: I could have used the word 'monkey', but I already had an M listing, plus I love the way you spell Orangutan. Anyway, the primate is the best way to think about how people interact with websites. They're like monkeys in a psychology experiment, looking for the banana. Where's the banana, they ask? Of course, I don't know the monkey word for banana, so I'm paraphrasing. If your website offers a banana, people are going to click on it. If they don't, they'll leave. My argument for banana design is in The Big Red Fez.

P is for Permission: Anticipated, personal and relevant messages will always outperform spam. Obvious, but true. So then why do you persist in spamming people? Billboards, TV ads, phone calls--they all are defeated soundly by delivering your offers with permission. In fact, the biggest asset a company can build online is this privilege, the list of people who would miss you if you didn't show up. Here's the original interview (12 years ago!) in Fast Company.

Q is for Quitting: Sticking things out is overrated, particularly if you stick out the wrong things. In fact, I think you'd be much better off quitting most of what you do so you have the resources to get through the hard slog I call the Dip... The challenge, then is to not quit in the Dip, but instead to quit everything else so you have the focus to get through the slog of what matters.

R is for Remarkable: A purple cow is remarkable, because it's worth talking about. Not because you, the marketer said it was, but because I the consumer did. And in a world without effective, scalable advertising, remarkable products and services are the single best way to succeed. Here's a long essay from seven years ago.

S is for Sneezer: What do we call someone who spreads an idea the way some people spread a virus? Seek them out, cater to them, organize them.

T is for Tribe: Human beings evolved to be attracted to tribes. Groups of like-minded people who share a culture, a connection and perhaps a goal. And each of these tribes seeks leadership. The opportunity for marketers today isn't to sell more average stuff to more average people. The opportunity is to find and connect and lead tribes of people, taking them somewhere they want to go.

U is for Ululate: Not because it's relevant, just because it's the single best word in the English language. Can I sneak an extra C? The cliff business.

V is for Very good: No one cares about very good. I can get very good from just about anyone, and certainly cheaper than I can get it from you. We don't have a competence shortage, not any more. No, I'm only going to pay extra for the personal, the magical, the artistic and the work of the linchpin.

W is for Worldview: I first encountered this term via George Lakoff. Your worldview is the set of expectations and biases you bring to a situation before any new data appears. Some people hear a politician say something and hate it, while others are thrilled by it. Is it the thing that was said or the person who said it? Some people hear that Apple is about to launch a new product and they get out their wallets, others flee--before they even know what it is. If you don't understand the worldview of the people you're selling to, you will fail.

X is for Xebec: I hate it when A-to-Z listmakers cheap out on the X. Hey, a xebec is a three-masted schooner. And they're obsolete. Just like CDs, newspapers and a whole host of interesting but dated business models. Sorry. Imagine someone saying: "He's a nice guy, but that company he works for is a xebec."

Y is for You. You the artist. You the one who makes a difference. You the one who stands for something and now has the leverage (and access to the market) to actually ship. Go go go.™

Z is for Zoometry: Originally a term from zoology (pronounced zo-ology, in case you were curious), zoometry is the science of instigating and learning from change. This is the revolution of our time, the biggest one in history, and it's not just about silly videos on Youtube. One by one, industry by industry, the world is being remade again and again, and the agents of change are the winners.

Possibly the oldest human worldview is fear of strangers. And right next to that is anger as a byproduct of fear. If a candidate wants to gain attention and possibly votes, then, it makes short-term sense to stir up fear... Seth Godin

The chances that you and your brand will first be encountered digitally grow every day. The only question is what sort of reputation and anticipation you create before they actually encounter you in real life. I think it's a conscious... Seth Godin

The chances that you and your brand will first be encountered digitally grow every day.

The only question is what sort of reputation and anticipation you create before they actually encounter you in real life. I think it's a conscious choice.

Possibly the oldest human worldview is fear of strangers. And right next to that is anger as a byproduct of fear.

If a candidate wants to gain attention and possibly votes, then, it makes short-term sense to stir up fear of strangers and turn it into anger. It might even work (once). But it makes it virtually impossible to govern. It's a short-term strategy that eats itself, because sooner or later, everyone is a stranger, and fear is no foundation for work that matters.

It seems as though we're entering a season in which it's easy to ostracize or become righteously indignant over someone's national origin, skin color, religion or sexual orientation.

If this is the best a politician can do to organize and lead, then we all lose.

Just about all sabotage is self-sabotage. We don't get forced to eat that cookie, we choose to. And so the diet is ended. Marketing self-sabotage is fascinating to watch and understand. Consider the college application: it's primarily an opportunity for... Seth Godin

Just about all sabotage is self-sabotage.

We don't get forced to eat that cookie, we choose to. And so the diet is ended.

Marketing self-sabotage is fascinating to watch and understand. Consider the college application: it's primarily an opportunity for teenagers who aren't sure of where they want to go to undercut their chances by exposing their uncertainty. The lizard brain, the voice in the back of the head that wants security and safety--it's not eager to go to a college that might be 'too hard' or 'too good'. The easy thing to do is to scale back the effort, not do what works, but do what feels right instead.

Or consider the way we resist opportunities to lead, to connect, to do work that matters. We don't resist because we're not capable of it... we resist because if our marketing fails, if we don't get the job or earn the trust, then we're off the hook. No promises made, which means no promises to keep.

We know more than enough about marketing now. We know how to craft a story that will spread, we know how to find and lead tribes. The thing we have trouble with is making the commitment to do it even when it's frightening and difficult.

That's what makes it a monster. In fact, when you look the monster in the eye, when you calmly and carefully inspect the actual monster, you discover that he's not so bad after all. It's just the shadow that's scary.... Seth Godin

That's what makes it a monster.

In fact, when you look the monster in the eye, when you calmly and carefully inspect the actual monster, you discover that he's not so bad after all. It's just the shadow that's scary.

When in doubt, ignore the shadow.

Paco Underhill on women and retail. Nancy Lublin on learning from causes. Noah Boyd with an FBI thriller beach read. Better than the last Reacher novel, imho. And stunningly elegant (and lovely to hold) pottery inspired by some of my... Seth Godin

Paco Underhill on women and retail.

Nancy Lublin on learning from causes.

Noah Boyd with an FBI thriller beach read. Better than the last Reacher novel, imho.

And stunningly elegant (and lovely to hold) pottery inspired by some of my work from Lori Koop.

100 people doing something at the same time has far more power than 300 people doing it over time. We unconsciously amplify the power of coordination when we consider the impact of actions. If there's a thousand people waiting outside... Seth Godin

100 people doing something at the same time has far more power than 300 people doing it over time.

We unconsciously amplify the power of coordination when we consider the impact of actions. If there's a thousand people waiting outside of a store, we instantly believe we're seeing a phenomenon.

While the internet makes it easier than ever to spread ideas, it makes it far more compelling to coordinate actions.

If everyone in your weekly meeting drops a pencil at precisely 12:03, you'll notice.

The wifi Kindle, $139. Drop the first digit and you're on to something. And it only took them six weeks! Seth Godin

The wifi Kindle, $139. Drop the first digit and you're on to something. And it only took them six weeks!

In light of the economy, a lot of companies whether they be in digital marketing, web development, public relations or social media, pitch a wide range of services in order to secure clients. The only problem is, the range of services they offer, they can’t actually do all of them. Web developers are offering social media services and PR companies are offering SEO services, but are the clients actually getting burned?

One of the big questions in the public relations industry is whether companies should bring everything in-house or should they pick a specialty and stick to it. And how do consultancies that choose to specialise compete with one-stop-overpromising shops?

There is no doubt that the disciplines mentioned above overlap, but when you specialise you can offer your client a far better service than those that offer everything. I do understand, however, that very large companies that have the budget can offer all services with a dedicated team for each. The worry is that smaller companies competing for a piece of the pie offer ‘expert’ services and don’t have the resources.  For example, when PR agencies tout their social media expertise when in all actuality, it’s only one recent grad at a corner desk.

Companies should acknowledge their weaknesses in order to best service their client. We can execute an effective social media strategy and that overlaps into some SEO, but not all of it. By understanding the space the client is in, we learn what their audience wants. Using that information, ourselves with the client, can produce rich and relevant content aka organic SEO. But, I am quick to admit that there is lots of SEO that isn’t our specialty.

Which leads me to this—while it might be great for the short term to offer clients everything under the sun, eventually it will catch up to those companies who do. While companies continue to overpromise and win the pitches, their clients consistently get the short end of the stick. Clients will eventually realise that they aren’t getting their money’s worth and it’s client retention that proves worth.

All of us in the overlapping industries need to learn from each other and also accept when we’ve reached our boundaries. And when we do reach our boundaries, we need to be ethical enough to tell our client ‘that ain’t our bag’. By bringing  in specialists with skills we don’t have in-house, we can service our clients to a much higher standard.

This month has been a particularly successful one for the team at Wolfstar, as we have been nominated for three awards at two top awards ceremonies.

Firstly, our work with First Direct, the UK’s first social bank, has been recognised by the prestigious Communicate Digital Impact Awards, a new programme of awards which highlights excellence in digital stakeholder communications, with a nomination for the ‘Best Online Newsroom’. We’ve also got everything crossed for a double win at these awards as we have also been shortlisted the ‘Best Multimedia Press Release’ for our Jalou campaign with Sony Ericsson.

The CorpComms Digi Awards celebrates successful work in online and digital media and we’ve been shortlisted for ‘Best Social Media Press Release’ for our work with First Direct.

Stuart Bruce, MD of Wolfstar says, “We are very proud of our awards nominations and they come after a lot of hard work and effort from all members of the team with our clients.

The other agencies and in-house teams that have been nominated have also produced some fantastic work and we wish everyone the best of luck!”

Last night was the first ever Mashable meetup in Leeds; the event took place in the upstairs section of the swanky Living Room on Greek Street.

The format of the evening gave people the chance to rant, rave or both for 60 seconds on something to do with social media in Leeds and then the rest of the group would vote for the person they wanted to hear more of by clapping.

The speeches ranged from what people were doing in social media to business, event and blog plugging and even a recruitment drive!

The ‘clapo-meter’; controlled by Stuart Bruce decided on a tie between Karyn Fleeting of Tinderbox Media, and our very own Sam Oakley. Karyn talked on the upcoming Think Visibility conference taking place in Leeds in September and Sam spoke on the separation of human behaviour and how social media was fundamentally about people.

The speeches went on to provoke further discussion, and we sat around thrashing out debate on public relations and social media education (the failings of academia), the integration and separation of different marketing disciplines, the future of social media and how the Leeds social media scene could grow.

For someone fairly new to the industry, this was my first networking event and I think regular meetings just like last nights will not only help to add gravitas to the Leeds social media scene, but will also benefit us individually through sharing and collaborating with each other.

I think the event was a success and hope we can all do it again soon…maybe next time I’ll even pluck up the courage to speak!