Steve Jobs: Secrets of Life

Steve jobs explaining why we need to believe that we can change things if we really want to.

Remember if you die having made enemies, then you probably stood for something.

What do you stand for?

2 Key Lessons in Brand Building

College students say the darndest things. In a recent marketing class, our discussion turned to McDonald’s unique TV ad, “Signs,” which features shots of the iconic golden arches, each with a customized message on its placard:

• Thank you Veterans
• We Remember 9/11
• Boston Strong
• Hug Those Dads

“I think the ad is great,” a student in the classroom's front row said. He explained how he really liked the ad’s theme and positive emotion. What he said next, however, washed away all the brand equity: “But I still hate McDonald's.” Much of the class nodded in agreement.

It’s not fair to judge a firm’s success on a single set of reactions to one ad. Still, the students’ collective response to the commercial and to the McDonald’s brand is very telling. For every organization seeking to build or restore its brand, there are at least two valuable lessons here to be learned:

Related: The Basics of Branding

1. Actions speak louder than words.

There’s a reason why the phrase “talk is cheap” resonates with us. We know it's much easier to say things rather than back up those words with appropriate action. Whether on the basketball court or in the boardroom, our tendency is to discount the “talkers” and respect the “producers.”

Chipotle, which has been eating McDonald’s for lunch, provides a good example of the latter group. A leader in the fast-casual revolution, the Mexican grill joint does relatively little traditional advertising or talking. Instead, it lets its actions speak for it. The firm recently pulled pork from its menu because a key supplier couldn't comply with the company’s high standards for animal treatment. This significant subtraction from an already small menu had to hurt revenue, but the integrity underlying the action did much to bolster the brand.

2. Trouble can’t be turned around overnight.

Although we might forget within minutes the firm featured in our favorite Super Bowl ad, we have long memories about other things -- especially wrongs we’ve endured. Unfortunately, many people feel that fast food in general -- McDonald’s in particular -- has wronged them, and I don’t mean just health concerns. There’s also the growing notion that the food’s marginal quality isn't worth even its relatively low cost. While not an egregious one-time offense, the slow erosion of a firm’s value proposition is just as harmful.

When a company breaks its main brand promise -- to provide its customers with true value, for instance -- it takes time and often far-reaching change to restore trust and win back allegiance. Apple knows this well. In the 1990s, when the company was on the ropes, rehired CEO Steve Jobs initiated a dynamic sequence of new product development, from iPods to iPhones to iPads. Each of these innovations was likely years in the making, and together they drove a brand transformation that took more than a decade. Of course, Apple’s tremendous success since, including its recognition as the world’s most valuable brand, has validated the firm’s considerable investment of time and resources.

For most brands, effective messaging is just the icing on the cake. Troubled brands usually have deep-rooted challenges (aka cake problems) that require more than just another layer of pretty frosting. More than simple words, the right corrective action and ample time are needed to fix a broken value proposition and restore a brand that consumers will again love.

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5 Secrets to Succeed at Video Advertising

Video, if done right, is one of the most powerful storytelling formats in the world. Indeed, sight, sound and motion elicit great emotion. It has the power to make us laugh, to cry, to contemplate big ideas and call people to action. With video advertising expected to grow 21 percent annually, it has never been a better time to be a content creator.  

Whether the intent is to entertain, inform or persuade, there are many things to consider before setting out to create your next video campaign.

Here are five ways to maximize a video initiative in order to make your video advertisement go further.

1. Go beyond the 15- and 30-second spots.

Everyone knows that consumers are migrating to a multi-screen world. As people spend more of their leisure time on digital devices, advertising dollars should follow the eyeballs. For marketers, you are no longer constrained to the formats of old standards that TV once held firm. By thinking outside the 15- and 30-second box, you can create rich and compelling stories for viewers that are emotional, memorable and impactful.

Digital browsing is usually done at leisure, which means that consumers have more time to engage with longer form videos that can be up to three minutes in length.

2. Compel your audience to an action.

Your video may be the bait but the call-to-action is the bite. When activating your video campaign, it’s important to identify how you want your audience to react for maximum ROI. Include a call to action at the end of your video that reminds the viewer to visit your site or subscribe to your channel. For a relatively low cost, you can also use companies like my business Virool to create custom banners and video overlays with one-click social sharing buttons.

3. Retarget in order to re-engage.

One of the biggest mistakes that marketers make is assuming that people will immediately make a purchase after watching their video. Think about it: When was the last time you did that yourself? Customers need a reminder across multiple touch points before they make a buying decision. Retargeting companies like AdRoll or Criteo can help re-engage your viewers by targeting them with banner ads down the line. Your video is the hook to get people excited about your product, but it will take a few reminders before they return to your site and make a purchase.

4. Use data to find an audience and place it programmatically.

There is an amazing amount of consumer data available on the web that can be leveraged to find your ideal audience. Make the most of your budget by combining three different types of data parties:

• First party: Also known as your data or the CRM data that you own
• Second party: Is someone else’s data, whether it is publisher data or data from the distribution platform that you partner with.
• Third party: These are like BlueKai or Nielsen, the behemoths of the data world.

If you package these together, you’ll be able to effectively target an audience with little to no waste. If you can understand who reacts to messages and under what circumstances, you can optimize your campaign and replicate your success with other like-minded consumers.

5. Video is hard but it is not impossible.

What good is a video if no one is seeing it? Be smart about your video and activate your campaign by partnering with a trusted company that can help you reach your audience across multiple publishers and platforms. Always identify your KPIs before you begin. Do you want more views, social engagement, a high click-through rate?  Once your video is up and running, keep a close eye on the performance and pause it if you’re not happy with the results.  There are many small adjustments that can be made to optimize the results and give you the most bang for your buck.

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To Have Your Video-Content Marketing Be Successful in 2015, Follow These 5 Rules

Some things just belong together. Shoes and socks. Bees and honey. Peanut butter and jelly. Videos and advertising. Whether they’re instructional, informational, or simply for fun, videos are an important part of today’s marketing strategy.

According to a recent report sponsored by Demand Metric and VidYard, almost 70 percent of marketers use video as part of their marketing strategy and 82 percent say they’ve seen success with video content marketing initiatives. If you’re planning to give video a larger place in your content marketing strategy for the coming year, here are a few things to keep in mind.

1. Define your goals. 

Videos within the context of content marketing mean different things to different people. If the marketing team whips together a video highlighting features of a new product while the CEO is expecting something that depicts a day in the life of a company employee, that’s an expensive lesson to learn. Make sure everyone is on the same page before the cameras roll.

Part of clarifying the goals of your video content marketing strategy should be to determine how your team defines successful metrics. By the number of viewers? How often it’s shared? How many leads it generates? If it goes viral? And, what constitutes “viral?” Figuring out these kinds of things ahead of time helps you spot what’s working and what need to be tweaked.

2. Star or supporting cast? 

Give some thought to what kind of role you want your videos to have as part of your overall marketing strategy: central or peripheral.

For some organizations, casting video in the starring role makes the most sense. The majority of camera manufacturer GoPro’s marketing content revolves around videos, with social media content, blog posts, and other types of advertising serving as support or collateral content. The company now boasts 2.5 million subscribers to its YouTube channel and was the platform’s top brand channel from January to March of this year.

Some products or services simply don’t lend themselves to that much of a focus on video marketing, but that’s okay. Videos that supplement a company’s primary marketing content are still important and useful. Even a collection of videos showing how to repair or troubleshoot a product can be positioned to customers as a value added benefit.

3. Remember to include a CTA. 

Obviously, you’ll want each video you create to feature your logo and brand but it should also include a clear call to action (CTA). Written copy allows content creators to easily incorporate clickable buttons or URLs but videos present a bit more of a challenge. Incorporate your CTA directly into the video both visually and audibly for the best impact.

If you share your videos on YouTube make sure to use the platform’s Annotation feature to add pop-up messages that automatically play whenever your video is viewed. Don’t rely on it exclusively for your calls to action, however, because YouTube allows its users to disable pop-ups if they choose.

4. Paid or organic distribution? 

There are two ways to get your videos noticed: pay to have them distributed or let customers find it themselves. What’s the best approach? A mix of both.

Organic reach on Facebook has been taking a nosedive for a while now. Facebook VP Brian Boland says it’s due to a combination of factors including the way its algorithms are structured and that there’s simply “far more content being made than there is time to absorb it.”

Facebook hasn’t reported any plans to increase organic reach and now Twitter is hinting at taking a similar approach to how they serve content to users. All the major social media platforms offer tools to help brands boost their signal — in exchange for fee, of course.

If you want a fighting chance at getting your videos seen on social media, you’ll need to spend a portion of your marketing budget on buying promoted or boosted ad space. It’s money well spent, though, and you’ll be in good company, to boot. A 2012 Nielsen survey revealed that 65 percent of marketers increased their social media ad budgets for 2013.

Of course, paying for reach doesn’t mean you can take the rest of the week off. You still need to promote your video content via your own social networking channels and email campaigns.. Videos are the perfect medium for cross-channel distribution so don’t forget to use them at trade shows, as part of your online user support tools, or in mobile apps you create.

5. Find a parking spot. 

Your videos need a permanent home on your website so you’ll want to find the best place to put them. Vimeo, Brightcove, YouTube, and other video hosting sites are an option. However, they might not be your best choice if you want to retain complete control over your content and what ads (if any) are shown alongside it. Housing your video in an on-site content management system is a better bet. From there you can set up on other distribution channels and add your videos there as well.

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Here Is How to Get Your Branded Video Watched - Part 2

Continued from Part 1.....................

Add to these videos the fact that Tumblr enables brands to disseminate content throughout the Yahoo family and a powerful communication mechanism emerges. Other media companies are identifying powerful social media storylines on platforms such as YouTube and selling robust media packages around them. In an interview with Streaming Media, Danny Fishman of digital entertainment company Believe Entertainment Group describes the keys to successful video branding.
“For us, it’s more about going to where the current fan base exists versus trying to bring them elsewhere,” Fishman explains.

On a final note, Instagram also has tested the waters of the branded video space—specifically for mobile devices. The concept: create a series of 15-second video episodes around product reviews and other actionable information, the media and events company Tech Cocktail notes.

These creative solutions are just some of the ideas your brand might try to get social and achieve measurable returns. (Hey, if banks are already doing it, you should probably get in the director’s chair sooner rather than later.)

Explore the up-and-comers

Up till now, we’ve touched on mostly familiar channels. Yet the startup community is buzzing with interesting ideas surrounding branded video, from interactive elements to adjustable native ad displays. Consider the following two examples:

Rockabox creates a website-style experience that is anchored by video, explains an article from VideoAdNews.com. Interactive elements are key, with clickable content online visitors can use to navigate to additional information and social sharing, among other features. Yet the system isn’t simply about grinding out yet another painful video ad. “Consumer engagement won’t start to happen unless the right creative idea is delivered,” CEO James Booth tells the news website.

Sharethrough is built around an in-feed exchange of content including videos, which are used to generate revenue. “Whereas Facebook’s exchange (FBX) is built for in-feed, native ads just on Facebook, Sharethrough’s Exchange (STX) is built to scale native ads in the feeds of content publishers across the rest of the Web,” explains CEO Dan Greenberg in an interview with AdExchanger.

There are plenty of other great resources for tracking emerging channels for branded video, including this cost-per-click breakdown by Contently.

Do your homework

The final point we’ll make here is to keep reading and learning. Branded video distribution goes beyond content creation and interaction to more profound issues such as copyright protection. That’s why companies such as Adobe have developed specialized products that essentially help you protect ownership in the original artwork and messaging you’ve invested in.

Clearly, we’re awash in an ocean of online video, and the tide is rising. Branded content is popular, and the best original ideas can find an enormous audience. Whether your creative rises to the surface will depend on whether you are nimble enough to ride these waves of change.

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Here Is How to Get Your Branded Video Watched - Part 1

If the Internet is an ocean, video is what keeps the currents flowing. Although the web has more text-based content than you can shake a stick at, the reality is that video has built its own online empire.
Statistics show as much. For example, Cisco reports that by 2018, IP video traffic will represent 79% of consumer Internet traffic—a 13-point increase from just five years earlier.

For brands, video creation is an essential component of existing in the virtual ecosystem. The challenge is to identify which platforms are the best at distributing and elevating your message in a noisy space.

In this post, we’ll explore just a few best practices for ensuring branded video is seen and identify why this form of earned media can go a long way toward achieving financial as well as educational goals. ?

Aim for conversions

Video should be a crucial part of your content strategy because it can actually yield conversions. Whether you want clients to buy a piece of merchandise or share a few pieces of information for lead gen, video can help you achieve those goals.

For example, a recent study of B2B marketers sponsored by Vidyard found video added to a landing page boosted conversions up to 80%.

Although there are probably many reasons video tends to yield conversions, one key is probably the fact that a video adds context in a way few other media can, notes WideFunnel, a marketing optimization company. A product that might be difficult to explain in writing or photos can instantly be demonstrated in a short clip, helping to “make a product more tangible and reduce the perceived risk of buying.”

One example of this marketing approach? WideFunnel points to Airbnb, which has put together a series of attractive online video spots and also enables users to create their own video tours:

Capitalize on Social Media

In addition to hosting branded video on owned media such as a company website or an e-newsletter, earned media such as social media are a must.

Although video can be found across multiple social channels, several frontrunners have emerged in 2015 and are worth watching. Among them is Tumblr, part of the Yahoo family of brands. In a January post, Brandchannel.com notes tourism programs such as Travel Alberta of Canada are adding video to their Tumblr pages for a content-rich presentation:

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The 5 Mistakes That Will Land Your Email in the Spam Folder

As marketing automation gains popularity many companies are expanding their use of email campaigns. Spammers, unfortunately, are also expanding their use of spam. In 2013, spam comprised an estimated 84 percent of all email traffic.

As a result, email providers and readers have raised the standards for what content makes it into the inbox and stays there. Even if you aren’t trying to send spam (which we’ll assume you aren’t), many of your targeted messages could be filtered out of inboxes before prospects get a first impression. In addition to choosing the best marketing automation software for managing campaigns and tracking engagement, businesses need to identify the points of liability that cause well-intended messages to be flagged.

How it happens

There are two main entities in charge of identifying “spammy” emails. The first is the internet service provider (ISP) that hosts a recipient’s mail server. Google, Yahoo, and AOL are common examples of email ISPs. An ISP filter can flag an email if the origin domain or IP address is deemed untrustworthy, or if the email itself has a high probability of being spam. This is measured according to hundreds of different parameters. Much like Google’s infamous search algorithm, no one factor is necessarily a showstopper, but everyone wants the secret formula. 

The second entity in control is the reader. Readers often mark messages as spam if they find them irrelevant, unsolicited, or annoying. Email readers are bombarded daily by so much content—most of it unhelpful—that they learn to tune it out. And if they’ve seen it one too many times, they’ll do what they can to be left alone. 

If you’re smart, you’re using a marketing automation tool that notifies you of these incidents so you can give them immediate attention. Most email providers take spam seriously—as abuse, even. If they receive multiple abuse reports about a specific sender, they often block the entire domain until the sender proves its credentials. Without a way to track message delivery, you could be sending hundreds, thousands of emails straight into a compost heap. 

Common Mistakes

In the interest of preempting this disaster, it’s important to know the common problems that get marketing emails in trouble. You can then build screenings into your workflow that catch liabilities before they damage your reputation. Here are five of the most common mistakes that cause emails to be marked as spam:

1. Inadequate permissions

In order to have email permission, the recipient must have specifically agreed to receive periodic messages or offers. Without this permission, you’re sending unsolicited mail, which is a surefire way to get caught in a spam filter. ISPs have gotten better in recent years at detecting permissions. For example, if you send a batch email to a list of purchased contacts, almost any ISP will be suspicious. Purchased lists are one of the easiest ways to be identified as a spammer. Inadequate permission can also happen if you email contacts who did give you their email, but didn’t specifically opt-in to receive promotions or newsletters (e.g. online customers).

Many email marketing services now establish permission through a “double opt-in” process,” which means the recipients sign up to receive emails, then receive a first email with a confirmation link, and do not receive future emails unless they click the link or reply directly.

2. Sending emails with spammy content

The actual content of your emails, including the message body, links, images, and headers, can all be factors that rank for spam, if you aren’t careful. Here are a few things to to avoid:

• Hashbusting: using special characters designed to break up words or phrases (e.g. “Fr3e W!nn@r”).
• Bad links: Avoid linking to unreputable sites or content, or using url shorteners.
• Misleading subject lines: using “Re:” or “Fwd:” when you’ve never communicated with a recipient before.
• Sloppy html code: Using Microsoft Word to design in html can add extra formatting to the code, which raises your spam score (and also makes your emails look terrible).
• Too much image, not enough text: embedding text inside of images or sending emails that are all-image, no text.
• Using all-caps WHEN it’s not NECESSARY: makes your message seem salesy and possibly suspicious.

3. Legal violations

The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 imposes legal requirements on commercial email, and ISPs will usually weed out sales/promotional content that violates any of these restrictions—not to mention, your business could be fined thousands of dollars for a violation. Here are a few of the most important points to check:

1. An “unsubscribe” option must be visible in all emails (and must work for 30 days after sending)
2. You must honor unsubscribe requests within 10 days
3. From-addresses (e.g. updates@yourbusiness.com) must be accurate
4. Subject line must be relevant to content
5. You must include a physical mailing address

4. Unauthenticated sender ID

This can happen when an agency is trying to send out emails using its own server. ISPs usually authenticate sender identities to make sure messages are coming from a legitimate source. The two current standards for this are DKIM (domain keys identified mail) and SPF (sender policy framework), both of which are difficult to set up manually. When an agency sends marketing emails using an email marketing service middleman (such as Salesforce Marketing Cloud or Pardot), the service establishes authentication for you. It’s also important to use clear, straightforward “From” field names, such as “updates@,” or “newsletter@.” You know, something a human would create.

5. Not appealing to the recipient

According to Experian, 60 percent of marketers don’t let customers choose the kind of email they want to receive, and only 30 percent let them choose how often they want to receive correspondence. As we mentioned earlier, ISP filters aren’t your only threat for being marked as spam. The other half is the customer (or prospect, contact, etc.). To avoid rejection, marketers need to make sure every message proves its own relevance and value, and that the customer understands why they’re receiving it.

• Don’t send a promo to a contact you haven’t reached out to in eight months (generally, permission goes stale in about six).
• Don’t continue to send newsletters to contacts who are repeatedly deleting them without opening.
• Don’t send messages four times a week if your opt-in form said “occasional” updates.
• Do use engaging, accurate, personal subject lines.

There are a lot of places where a perfectly harmless email can go wrong. That’s why most businesses with email campaigns rely on some kind of marketing automation software, which can analyze your emails, permissions, and authentication, and help you avoid these mistakes. 

The good news is, if you’re sending solicited, meaningful content, you’ll probably steer clear of the spam folder by default. So instead of wringing your hands about landing in the inbox, focus on delivering high-quality emails that delight and engage your readers. 

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All Marketers Are Liars by Seth Godin Audiobook

Linchpin by Seth Godin Audiobook

Tribes by Seth Godin Audiobook

Audiobook: Poke the Box by Seth Godin.mp4

Take 5 minutes to listen to this excerpt from Seth Godin's audiobook called "Poke The Box".

There are 7 imperatives needed for success, but as Seth Godin mentions you can still fail unless you implement the 7th imperative!

Enjoy the audio and let me know your thoughts!

Starting A Business? You Need These 3 Basics.

The decision to start a business is exciting, but don’t get caught up in the fairytale. If you want your business to succeed for the long-term, have these three essential elements in place.

1. Enough capital for six months. The time it takes to turn a profit will vary between industries and individual businesses, but the rule of thumb remains the same: have enough cash in the bank to survive for six months or more before you launch. Developing a realistic personal and business budget can help you survive the first few months, and sticking to this budget will be crucial to success.

Develop a list of potential expenses early on so that you have a good idea of what monthly bills plus extraneous expenditures will add up to and how this spending will affect your bottom line. Know that you may not receive a paycheck for months or even years after launch, so a hefty cash reserve will ameliorate the growing pains of starting a business.

2. Marketing and sales strategies for early-adopters. Coming up with an outstanding product or service is great, but your business will likely fail without those crucial first few customers. Develop a marketing plan with an allotted marketing budget that will get your product or service in front of key early-adopting clients. From the start, prepare ways to engage with and nurture clients to develop a loyal base. 

Next, build your sales infrastructure: think about sales contracts, proposals, product listings or anything that a client will see when he or she wants to purchase from your company.

3. Endurance. I tell people this all the time: one of the hardest parts about being an entrepreneur is having the stamina to keep up with the daily demands of running your business. A lot of people mistakenly think that it will be a walk in the park.

Sure, there are major benefits such as working for yourself, having a flexible schedule and enjoying the successes of your hard work. But each benefit comes at the cost of putting your own capital and reputation on the line.

Before starting your own business, make sure you can mentally and physically ensure the journey. Be prepared to work long days, do things that are outside of your comfort zone, make personal sacrifices, work hard for what you believe in and dedicate yourself fully to the businesses success. If you aren’t in it 100 percent, the business won’t achieve its full potential.

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Why Business That Use 'Big Data' Make More Money (Infographic)

“Big data” is buzzy, and if you drop the phrase at a cocktail party, you will probably earn yourself some serious street cred. And rightfully so. Big data is big news these days, because it has the potential to make a pretty profound impact on the bottom line for a business.

Collecting large quantities of information and analyzing it allows entrepreneurs to make better, more strategically beneficial business decisions. The infographic below was generated by the big data analytics platform Datameer to demonstrate how using data can result in smarter business decisions and more revenue for all sorts of companies. Think: advertising firms, loyalty programs and online retailers, to name just a few.

Have a look at the infographic for other examples of how big-data analytics are being used by businesses to make better decisions and more money.

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Make Your Waking Hours Work for You

If you could have any skill of a superhero, which would you choose? The ability to fly or leap across tall buildings in a single bound perhaps?

I would choose the power to never need sleep though this is not a flashy choice. This would mean an end to my constant wish for more hours in the day.

Needless to say, my superpower has yet to unlock itself. Until then, here are four scheduling tips I use to help me get the most from my waking hours:

1. Reschedule canceled events.

Many years ago I heard the phrase "If I erase, I must replace" and it's still a mantra I live and work by today. It serves as a reminder to be flexible, yet accountable.

Your schedule should not be so rigid that you can never tweak it. But if an event was important enough to include initially, set aside time for it later in the day or week.

Rescheduling an event (a meeting, a conference call or independent work time) allows for the flexibility that a busy life demands while ensuring that important tasks don't fall by the wayside.

2. Be strategic.

To use a calendar strategically, schedule important tasks first and let the less-demanding ones land where they may.

Every time you refine your calendar, you're resetting priorities (an important duty).

Appointments should not merely exist on your calendar because they have been auto-scheduled to repeat every week for five months.

Instead, set up each event with intent and only if it's of great importance right now.

3. Leave a buffer for preparation.

Professionals sometimes accidentally overbook their schedules, forcing them to sprint from one meeting to the next all day.

To avoid this, include time between events to review your last appointment and prepare for the next. If you don't, the nonstop rushing is bound to catch up with you.

The best way to ensure having enough time between tasks is to block out the necessary interludes on your calendar.

4. Add in time to breathe.

Workaholics might find it all too easy to get trapped in the constant whirl of activity. This is a recipe for burnout.

I believe in not only taking a break but also scheduling time for one during the workday. For instance, I take a daily break to get outside the office and exercise.

If a midday visit to the gym isn't realistic for you, take a walk or at least step away from your desk during lunch. Take time to sharpen the axe! 

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