It’s fitting that I’m writing this introduction for my latest MyWebWriters.com post from here:
Finding the best place to write has always been a challenge for me. Here are my thoughts on Five Everyday Places to Write Inspiring Content
Where do you do your best writing?
How does my recent need for a phone charger relate to RadioShack’s $21 million dollar 2nd quarterly net loss?
Plenty.
On a recent visit to NYC, I needed two micro usb chargers for phones. “No problem, there’s RadioShack a few blocks down the street,” my daughter said.
Off I go, as the marketer in me is thinking that The Shack still has relevance to 20 somethings.
I walk up to the phone charger display. Nothing. The usb options are all mini usb – the outdated standard.
I ask the clerk. She looks around and tells me they don’t have any. I look in every aisle. Still nothing.
For me RadioShack has always been the place to go when you need to make something work. They failed. I went to Rite-Aid and bought what I needed within five minutes.
Last week, RadioShack shocked investors with a a huge net quarterly loss. Margins tanked as they focused on selling low-margin iPhones. But I can’t walk-in and buy an incredibly high margin and very much in-demand phone accessory.
I’m sure someone in the company’s Fort Worth headquarters is saying that my experience is a fluke. My response, “Get away from the desk and see what is really happening.”
Amazon is expected to launch same day local delivery soon by partnering with local brink-and-mortar stores with Amazon pick-up lockers. Think of the power of RadioShack’s 4,700 corporate locations as Amazon’s delivery channel while offering high margin products and services that make today’s electronics work. Here’s Forbes take on the idea.
Thanks for listening.
What’s your advice to RadioShack?
One of the best things I like about working with volunteer organizations is what I learn from collaborating with others. Teams with different backgrounds and experiences bring new perspectives and greater value to the organization as well as to our daily jobs.
Recently I wrote a post for My Web Writers detailing five useful project management tools we used to plan TEDxFortWayne. Click here or on the image below to read how these tools can help make your project a success.
What tools have you learned from others that have helped you?
– Don Kincaid
Trust is powerful force. Stephen M. R. Covey in “The Speed of Trust” shows how trust greatly accelerates the speed to completion. When it is high between two people, things get done.
Recently, Peter Dunn (PetethePlanner.com) discussed “What it Means to be an Expert” at an Indy Social Media Lunch.
Starting out in the early 2000s, Pete was a one of a million financial planners. Then in 2005 he started building a personal brand as Pete the Planner in order to set himself apart as a financial adviser for the “rest of us.”
Now. he’s the author of three books, host of the The Pete the Planner show on 93 WIBC FM radio. creator of WISH-TV’s 60 Days to Change, regularly appears on Fox News, Fox Business, CNN Headline News and numerous nationally syndicated radio programs. I contend Pete has become one in a million.
After lunch, Pete took time to share with me how trust plays a key role in building your personal brand and spreading your content through media outlets.
How has trust helped get things done quicker for you?
I look forward to hearing from you!
– Don Kincaid
Peter Dunn: A big key of having people see your stuff you worked so hard to develop this content, is to become a trusted source for the producers of the content.
So often you want to go to the on-air talent, the radio talent, but the people you really need to know are the producers of the program. It’s of course good to know the on-air talent, too. But the key is this: you have to produce good, valuable, reliable content that’s not about you and your business, but about serving the consumer, serving the viewer; and certainly serving the audience of the network you’re on. So, being a trusted source, not being “me-centric”, is the way to go.
And hey, you’re not going to get paid for it. But the pay comes from the fact that you’re going to be highlighted on a regular basis delivering your valuable content, something you’re passionate about. So not all rewards, not all compensation is monetary. And just know, if you can use the media appropriately, not use it negatively, it’s really gonna help your career.
Indiana’s News Center INsight’s Heather Schoegler and Amber Recker challenge us to tell our story and inspire others at TEDxFortWayne 2012. Take a look at the video segment to learn more from the ladies.
Submit your speaker application before March 30 at TEDxFortWayne.com
Movie date night is an early Tuesday evening (cheap ticket and Coke zero prices) escape with Paulette. Sit back, relax and be entertained by a movie.
This 47 second clip from “We Bought a Zoo” was a highlight for me from a recent movie date night.
I didn’t know I would walk out with a good piece of self-talk to help me when self-doubt creeps into my head. “Sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage” is good advice. Don’t let your mind talk you out of taking action with all the what-ifs.
How do you conquer those moments of self-doubt? I’m anxious to hear your thoughts.
– Don Kincaid
My image made from my twitter friends' profiles.
Over the Christmas holiday, I highlighted 30 of my many twitter relationships that moved to face-to-face relationships in 2011.
This is power of social media. Finding common ground through online conversations which lead to people helping people. Ultimately these relationships define our personal brand.
I encourage you to look through these tweets and get to know those you haven’t met. I bet you’ll be happy you did.
One request: Share a comment about someone we should meet in 2012.
http://twitter.com/#!/DonKincaid/status/150274248194277377
https://twitter.com/#!/DonKincaid/status/150279532635635712
http://twitter.com/#!/DonKincaid/status/150275165605998592
http://twitter.com/#!/DonKincaid/status/150309250365796352
https://twitter.com/#!/DonKincaid/status/150439990495674369
https://twitter.com/#!/DonKincaid/status/150441209398169600
https://twitter.com/#!/DonKincaid/status/150443033094135808
https://twitter.com/#!/DonKincaid/status/150448132411494402
https://twitter.com/#!/DonKincaid/status/150451619983671298
https://twitter.com/#!/DonKincaid/status/150588187369160705
https://twitter.com/#!/DonKincaid/status/150599155331514368
https://twitter.com/#!/DonKincaid/status/150615128520409088
https://twitter.com/#!/DonKincaid/status/150617520158670848
https://twitter.com/#!/DonKincaid/status/150998313334882304
https://twitter.com/#!/DonKincaid/status/151001612566020098
https://twitter.com/#!/DonKincaid/status/151033194488147968
https://twitter.com/#!/DonKincaid/status/151039883228610560
https://twitter.com/#!/DonKincaid/status/151078036169695232
https://twitter.com/#!/DonKincaid/status/151081799118888960
https://twitter.com/#!/DonKincaid/status/151086798884438016
https://twitter.com/#!/DonKincaid/status/151092648877363200
https://twitter.com/#!/DonKincaid/status/151098876378615808
https://twitter.com/#!/DonKincaid/status/151102512513036288
https://twitter.com/#!/DonKincaid/status/151108526943633408
https://twitter.com/#!/DonKincaid/status/151153121580679169
Looking forward to your thoughts!
– Don Kincaid
Looks like the perfect situation, executive management supports social media. Full steam ahead on building the strategy and policy. Umm just a second, there are a few things to remember:
Welcome to the world of social media in a regulated industry. The Eli Lilly communications team took the lemons and made lemonade by focusing its efforts on public policy. Greg Kueterman of Eli Lilly describes what is key to connecting with their audience:
Simple and powerful. People care about people. Kueterman said this “ah ha” moment came when Lillypad featured a Lilly employee-group produced video for the “It Gets Better Project” This led to the company incorporating “Life at Lilly” as a key part of its communication strategy. Video is an important medium for telling the story. Kueterman summarizes its benefits in social media:
Questions:
1) What issues have you encountered in using social media because of your industry or profession?
2) How have you addressed the issues?
3) How have you used video to communicate with you audience?
4) How has video been received by your audience?
Thanks for stopping by. I look forward to your comments.
– Don Kincaid
Greg Kueterman spoke at the Indy Social Media Breakfast on October 27, 2011. See his full presentation courtesy of 12 Stars Media.
When we started down the road of a Social Media platform, I was given some parameters: uh, one was that we could not talk about any of our products; another was that we could not talk about any of the patients, that use our products; and the third one, was that we cannot talk about any of the diseases our products treat. So, I spent a lot of sleepless nights wondering what I had done wrong to deserve this assignment.
It’s just a really good reminder for us, that even though our core mission is around public policy, that people care about people, and how things impact them.
Video’s great, because it really allows us to tell a very important message in a very easy way, and in a quick way, for people. We really recognize people don’t have time to read blog after blog, same way they don’t always read newspapers anymore. So, the more we can use video, I think, it’s going to be important for us to be able to get our messages out.
Part Three of a series detailing my impressions of Blog Indiana 2011.
Randy Clark‘s presentation at Blog Indiana 2011 was described as how his company (TKO Graphix) won a nearly $2M contract due to a vehicle wrap photo on flickr. But more importantly, the photo was only the first step in the relationship. Randy describes how the relationship developed in this video.
Randy is a champion of using social media to build relationships. He says, “You have to be a human being talking to another human being.” Truly a poster child for – There is no B2B or B2C. It’s all Person 2 Person.
Mark Schaefer outlines the value of P2P in his book, Tao of Twitter. It’s the key to Mark’s three Taos (principles): Attracting Targeted Followers, Providing Meaningful Content and Offering Authentic Helpfulness. I don’t think Randy and Mark know each other. They should because they live these principles.
How has relationship building through social media helped you?
I look forward to hearing from you.
– Don Kincaid
September’s Social Media Breakfast Fort Wayne centered on diving into the best of Blog Indiana 2011. Amber Recker, Lisa Wylie, Samantha Sawyer and I were led by Kevin Mullett to discover the key takeaways.
Randy Clark: First, you engage with people, I guess first you get out there and get on the social networks,
but you engage with people, and then you just have conversations and you talk with people.
And if we’re talking about Twitter, you know, it’s not all about promotion; it’s attraction, not promotion.
For example, the social media works TKO that we used at BIN started out as a Flickr photo
that was posted, and a fellow who does similar work as
TKO out of St. Louis saw it, liked it, started a conversation with Josh Humble.
And they conversed on social networks, back and forth, to the point where our representative that covers that area said
“Hey, you know, I’d like to meet the guy, too.
Even though we’re in the same business, you never know”.
and went over on the next trip to St. Louis, and took him to lunch.
An advertising agency approached our friend Jeff in St. Louis, excuse me,
on social networks, and just conversed.
and had a job that was bigger than he could handle,
They needed someone with the installation staff who could travel the country,
with the logistics behind deidentifying 200,
or 4,000 vehicles, 221 locations, and, and installing.
We could do that.
He set up the meetings, we had several meetings with them. It ended up being an almost two-million dollar contract that we had, across the country.
But it started out with a Flickr photo, you know, but it didn’t end there.
See, I think some people miss a couple of things:
Part of that story is; yes, you had to be out there,
then you had to engage, and then you had to converse,
and, you just had to be a human being talking to another human being,
because then you made a friend.
We’re B2B, and I think a lot of times in B2B,
as you were talking earlier, Don, people think you’re connecting with this business, or that business.
Stop and think! When you have connected, it was probably because you knew somebody,
or were introduced to somebody.
You got your foot in the door because Bob knew Joe and introduced you.
Isn’t that what happened?
It wasn’t that you went to ABC whatever company,
and knocked in another cold call, and that can happen.
So you met somebody, became a friend, were introduced. And he introduced his friends.
So, the first point was, you gotta engage,
the second point is that it’s meeting people, talking to people,
human beings, and, again, it’s Don (who) said earlier,
It’s not B2B, but P2P: people to people.
And the third point I want to make is, when we do share these stories,
and we all have had–, excuse me, any of us that work in any social media
have had non-believers and detractors.
“Why are you doing that?”, “Where’s the ROI?”, “It doesn’t work”
As much as we want to talk about how it helps with SEO,
and how it’s making more of an impact on your website,
and we need these stories to be able to share with people.
So, when you have these social media successes, the third point I want to make to everybody is
Put it out there, let people know about it.
Let Don know that here is somebody who had this success dealing with HR people looking for new positions.
What’s missing? An Email address box!
Point 1:
Kroger had great crowds during their Grand Opening of Indiana’s 1st Marketplace store. Full parking lots, people visiting from outside the normal shopping area and several contest fishbowls.
Point 2:
Kroger’s active digital presence at kroger.com features the weekly sales circular.
Why wouldn’t you include a space for an email address and then send a thank you email with a link to the weekly specials? Even use it as an opt-in for a weekly email campaign.
Email address collection is a critical tactic in a marketing strategy. Kroger already has good content that can be repurposed for a campaign.
Take time to step away from the desk and see how you can improve your marketing execution with simple changes.
Be curious.
What did you learn from your last shopping trip that you can use in your business?
I look forward to your thoughts.
– Don Kincaid
A Desk is a Dangerous Place 