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Why?

January 21, 2010 by Karen Swim

: Image by 姒儿喵喵 via Flickr

Why?

Why can’t you see past who you are to who you could be?

Why is your vision enslaved to a past that you cannot change?

Why can’t you

Take the vacation of your dreams

Design your own lifestyle

Start your own business

Go after the job you want

Break the rules and do it your way

Try without worrying about the results

Do that thing that scares you silly

Take a big leap of faith even if you fall

Why?

Your answers may differ but I guarantee your why’s can be solved with a s single word – Believe.

So again I ask, why can’t you

BELIEVE in YOU?

The Gift of Written Language

January 19, 2010 by Karen Swim

: Image via Wikipedia

I attended a missions conference last week and the guest speaker was an Engineer serving as a Bible translator. As a lover of words and people, I was rapt with attention as he shared stories of both. To translate a language, you must have an alphabet, the building block of the written word. Many languages do not have an alphabet so translators must work with native speakers to define letters and words.

Language is our identity, our heritage. Having a language that can be written enables us to share and pass down our history and stories. We can educate and learn because we have language.

Those who do not possess this wonderful gift proudly embrace the opportunity to own their language by writing it. My eyes teared up at photos of happy faces now able to pass on their stories through the written word.

We take so much for granted in literate nations. We complain about reading and writing. We are lazy and sloppy in our communications. We opt out of mastery of our own languages because we don’t like it or don’t believe we have a natural talent for it.

Perhaps its time to rethink the written word and make more of an effort to honor this gift.

What do you think? Are basic writing skills important?

Resources:

199 Ways to Write with Confidence – In this book, Joanna Young has compiled the best of her writing wisdom from her blog, Confident Writing. I bought the book as soon as it was published and it sits on my shelf for quick reference. This is not an affiliate link, just a good old fashioned recommendation for a great resource.

The Marketing of Human Suffering

January 18, 2010 by Karen Swim

: Image by caribb via Flickr

Across the globe, people have generously opened their hearts to help the people of Haiti in their hour of need. The images, stories, and personal accounts of tragedy have moved us to act and to give to the relief efforts.

Haiti, slightly smaller than the U.S. state of Maryland is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The low literacy rate, health problems and poverty are unimaginable to those in wealthier countries. Mission groups, aid workers and those who serve the needy have long known of the needs and put forth efforts to raise awareness and resources to make a difference.

: Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Yet, even the best marketing efforts could not ignite the outpouring of compassion that has resulted from this horrible earthquake that has claimed an estimated 100,000 lives.

The Haitian tragedy illuminates the difficulty faced by charities and non profits on a daily basis. How do you “market” the cause of daily human suffering so that people feel connected, and moved to act and to act not once but over a period of time? How do you hold the interest when so many other things fight for our attention?

: Image by Getty Images via Daylife

In the wake of tragedy, there is a collective consciousness of need helped greatly by media attention. Yet, we know from past tragedies that the cameras will soon turn their attention to other stories, the telethons will end and we will resume business as usual. Much like consoling a friend after the death of a loved one, soon we move on even as the person experiencing the loss continues to grieve.

When Haiti is no longer a top trending topic, its people will still need our help. I challenge us all to to keep Haiti on our radar even as it fades from national attention. Let us not tune out the marketing of human suffering but open our eyes, ears and hearts with ongoing love, prayers and support.

How to Help

12for12k Hope for Haiti

Electronic Village: Haiti Earthquake: How Can You Help?

What You Need to Know about Business in 2010

December 28, 2009 by Karen Swim

: Image by nDevilTV via Flickr

In the final week of 2009, we will undoubtedly do a lot of looking back and looking ahead. I wanted to take this final Monday to look ahead and share a few things that I learned from reviewing the 2010-2015 strategic plans of other businesses. Read this information and consider how:

You can apply it in your career to become more valuable in your organization
Your own strategic plans compare
You can leverage it to win new business and serve your market in the coming year

I will not share any confidential or proprietary information, but am simply sharing trends and thought patterns that I noted after reviewing strategic plans from several small to medium sized businesses (SMBs). The companies represent a wide spectrum of industries.

The Economy

Without surprise, the economy of the past several years played a factor in all plans. However, not in ways you may expect. All plans reflected a shift in thinking about business processes, and customer engagement. The paradigm shift is driven in large part by increased competition (fewer established competitors fiercely fighting for market share) and the change in consumer behavior and mindset.

Every single plan drives back to the bottom line of growing / protecting market share and profits. All roads to ROI lead through the customer and in all plans the customer was king.

Customers

Two common words could be found in each plan – “customer relationship.” Businesses are interested in building and sustaining relationships with customers. They are shifting their internal processes to better discover and deliver on their customers’ long-term needs. There is a move from transaction based selling to relationships. In the past, companies sought relationship as a way to boost lifetime customer value. While that remains a benefit, the motivation as presented in these 2010 plans is to have the customer truly believe in the business as a trusted partner.

Each company wanted to be a resource for its customers. Planned investments include technology and training that would support collecting better customer information and managing it to provide information and education that was timely and valuable.

Internal

As companies look to shift their external relationships they also want to improve internal relationships. There is a desire to change internal communication structures with more real time, collaborative communication throughout the organization. Executives and front line managers are expected to communicate with teams more frequently, providing feedback and updates about progress against goals. Technology that addresses these needs will be welcomed.

No Buzzwords

None of the plans contained buzzwords like “behavioral marketing” or “social media” but all described a need for exactly what new media offers. Businesses want to improve how they target, talk to and engage their customers. If you are selling to business customers, you will do well to present the benefits and eliminate the jargon. Don’t talk to them about platforms and methodologies but show them how those things help them to achieve their bottom line goals.

Investments

All plans included increased funding for training, technology and new hires but there was a decided uncertainty about the ability to fund these investments in 2010. There were contingencies that extended plans into later years. This was an area that differed from plans I reviewed in past years. All will make the investments needed to drive their bottom line goals but investments may happen at a slower pace. If you sell to businesses, consider phased approaches that would help them invest and realize a return before moving to the next step.

Marketing

Marketing departments are stretched thin and as always are subject to rule changes in the middle of the game. While vendor budgets have been decreased, and will not increase in 2010, there is room for outsourced help. The majority of the plans stated a renewed focus on holding marketing to budget based goals. Nothing new here but in light of the economy, be prepared to show the executive suite the money when it comes to campaigns and communications. The smart internal or external marketer will tie marketing to customer engagement initiatives with a focus of driving bottom line results.

Summary

Business at its core has not changed. Companies want and need to make money. What has changed is the approach, processes and people that will help them with that longstanding goal. Whether you are an employee, business owner or business provider, understanding this will put you ahead in 2010 and beyond.

What trends are you seeing as we near the new year? How can we all do better and serve better in the coming year?

Wednesday Links, Laughs and Loves

May 20, 2009 by Karen Swim

Written by Karen D. Swim

It has been quite a week! I don’t know about you but I’m all for celebrating the half-way mark. For me it has been a week of being sifted and shaken from every direction. I wish I knew a great joke to share with all of you (come to think of it I could use a good joke in which er you know I’m not the butt of it, got any?), but instead let’s check in with the web happenings of the week.

Stacy Lukasavitz shared a great link this week on rap artist Eminem’s integrated marketing campaign. Like Stacy, I’m not a fan but read with interest how his marketing team is using traditional, social media and multimedia to promote his latest album. Give it a read and let me know your thoughts – weird or brilliant?

Kelly Erickson snags an interview with the author of When Growth Stalls, Steve McKee. Learn how Steve failed his way to success. Great insight and takeaways that we can all use.

Joanna Young returned from her spectacular writing retreat in Sardinia and pondered how to hold on to that balance. It is a timely, thought provoking piece as many of us attempt to pursue writing dreams, while funding our lives.

…and if you’re up for some great e-book reads, head over to Smashwords and pick up Flashy Fiction by George Angus and Poke it with a Sharp Stick by the man with the big hat and even bigger heart, Robert Hruzek.

How about you? Did you read, hear, see anything interesting, inspiring or just plain wild?

Are You a Business Bridezilla?

May 18, 2009 by Karen Swim

Written by Karen D. Swim

There is a television show that follows around cake throwing, profanity spouting, possessed by Satan would be brides and films the train wreck for American audiences to watch on television. It is appropriately titled Bridezillas.

I have watched only bits and pieces, two minutes in and I am so appalled that I cannot bear to watch any longer. However, I have seen enough to know that it’s not entirely unlike some of the experiences of modern work life.

Bridezillas are out of control would be brides who work themselves into a frenzy over wedding veils and cake toppers. Their cellphones become megaphones of hatred where they routinely dial up their wedding party to spew venom on their day.

These bridezillas micro manage everyone associated with the wedding except of course themselves. They frequently go over budget, isolate friends and family and are never on time to events they organized in great detail. They go to great lengths for the perfect wedding day but never spend a single moment planning for the actual marriage.

Like their wedding counterparts, business bride (or groom) zillas micromanage the tiniest details while failing to prepare for the big picture. They spend numerous hours having the copywriter reorganize periods and commas, and months choosing the background color for their website. No department or vendor is spared their oversight but they never seem to spend time working on their own expertise.

They can plan a perfect launch but are unprepared to actually serve customers. They can crack the whip and get things done but lack the ability to motivate and inspire teams. The wedding bridezilla’s staff is temporary and they gladly wrap up and move on to the next project. The buiness bridezilla’s staff wishes that were true.

The moral of this un-fairy tale? Beware of monsters in frily costumes.

Have you ever met a business bridezilla? How did you manage the bad behavior while still getting your job done?