Interesting Articles
Quote of the Week: Are We Ever Done Working?
Thursday, August 12th, 2010 | Blog Talk, Quote of the Week | 1 Comment
I was out at dinner tonight and overheard another table. Maybe you’ve heard something similiar before. It goes something like this, “He made how much? from that? If only I’d thought of that, I could cash out. Call it a day and be done.” The truth is though, we are never done. I mean really, what is done?
So, as you wrap up your week, ask yourself: What am I working for? Are you working for retirement or are you working with a purpose? Clayton Christensen, over at the Harvard Business Review, offers some great insight into work, meaning and our purpose in life. In his words:
For me, having a clear purpose in my life has been essential. But it was something I had to think long and hard about before I understood it. When I was a Rhodes scholar, I was in a very demanding academic program, trying to cram an extra year’s worth of work into my time at Oxford. I decided to spend an hour every night reading, thinking, and praying about why God put me on this earth. That was a very challenging commitment to keep, because every hour I spent doing that, I wasn’t studying applied econometrics. I was conflicted about whether I could really afford to take that time away from my studies, but I stuck with it—and ultimately figured out the purpose of my life.
Had I instead spent that hour each day learning the latest techniques for mastering the problems of autocorrelation in regression analysis, I would have badly misspent my life. I apply the tools of econometrics a few times a year, but I apply my knowledge of the purpose of my life every day. It’s the single most useful thing I’ve ever learned.
Working with a purpose–no matter what that purpose is–whether it be to put dinner on the table, to provide opportunity for your family to doing what you love, matters. And we are never done. Call it an end-of-the-week rant, but what do you think–are we ever done working?
flickr credit: markbarky
PS: Christensen’s HBR article is quite possibly the best article I’ve read to date. It’s worth the read.
Quote of the Week: Why the Web Was Won
Saturday, June 19th, 2010 | Quote of the Week, Social Marketing, Web Communications | No Comments
Have you ever been in a meeting and someone tells you: We aren’t in the behavior change business, we just want to raise awareness? You are not alone. Put take heart, there are those who know better. Especially in the times of the Web, behavior change–and micro-choices that lead to a great action–are even more possible.
In a post titled Designing for Networks, Mike Arauz captures the potential of the Web–beyond its ability to be a distribution channel, beyond its ability to influence and beyond its use in achieving awareness:
If you only use the Internet in order to raise awareness, and perhaps to influence perception, then you are missing out on what the Web was made for: to enable large networks of people to come together for effective purposes through sharing, cooperating, and organizing collective action.
It might have been okay to work towards just “awareness” in the past, but with today’s technology, we can achieve more. I believe that the Web increases our ability to measure, evaluate and influence behavior change. The thing is: Behavior change is no longer on the same playing field. Just like journalism is evolving and the media, the way we influence behavior change and achieve behavior change has evolved. We, as practitioners, must evolve with it. I recently came across another quote that embodies this belief from one of the TurningPoint Collaborative’s PDFs, The Basics of Social Marketing:
The process of heightening awareness, shifting attitudes, and strengthening knowledge is valuable if, and only if, it leads to action.
Why do we want someone to know to exercise, eat right, and get their vaccines? Because we want them to act on that knowledge to prevent disease. Why do we want teens to know that drinking impairs their ability to drive? Because we don’t want them to drink and drive and hurt themselves or others.
Your Challenge
This week, think about why the Web was won. Sure–it can house knowledge and be a database of information–but it is more and can be more for you, your organization and your cause. Think about your bottom line–What is it you want to accomplish? Solve? Create? End? Start? Because at some level it involves behavior, especially if you are working in a Web environment. Do you want people to click on a certain link, read a certain story, donate to your causes—these are all online behaviors.
PS: Do you like these challenges? Are these helpful? I want to help you in being effective. And, I know I like prompts–do you?
Quote of the Week: Impersonal Engagement
Friday, June 4th, 2010 | Quote of the Week | 4 Comments
This week’s quote comes from Joseph Yoo of Step by Step–a blogger I discovered through Andrew Conrad. Yoo talks about a time when he was in seminary and worked at the Korean United Methodist Church of Greater Washington. In his post, Yoo shares a story with us about a small signficant moment that I think is significant still today and outside the walls of the church.
On this particular day, Yoo was helping out with the church’s youth ministry where the youth would go out to the parks of DC and hand out sandwiches to the less fortunate. On this day though, there were more people than there were sack lunches available and the following interaction occurred:
As the kids were getting in the car, one of the homeless men came up to the passenger window of the van. Thinking he needed a sandwich, the pastor said, “Sorry, we don’t have any more sandwiches. But Jesus loves you.” The man started yelling back, “I know Jesus loves me! But what about you?”
Impersonal Engagement
Yoo goes on to say how the pastor just kept repeating the same thing: Jesus loves you. And the guy kept asking the same thing: Yes, but what about you? until the car drove off. I won’t do it justice, but Yoo goes on to talk about how impersonal things get sometimes–even when you have good intentions. And that sometimes, to truly make a difference and show you care, you have to get engaged and this may mean you have to roll-up your sleeves, get your hands dirty and get involved.
Your Challenge
Does this sound familiar? I find Yoo’s story relevant because in the world of social media–it gets easy to thank someone for a RT. It gets easy to post a photo. It gets easy to give a #followfriday shoutout. It gets easy to ask them for feedback or respond to an inquiry. It’s gets easy…and impersonal. So, here’s your challenge:
Take Five Steps Back
- Review your communications. Look through your Twitter feed and Facebook postings. Count the number of times you have an authentic interaction with a customer versus the number of promotional postings or generic responses.
- Review the conversations you’ve had with customers. Have you taken the conversation to the next level? Did you answer their question?
- Talk to outsiders. For example, call local media–not to pitch a story. But just to ask them what they think about your organization or cause.
- Know your competition. Look at your competitior’s website, Twitter, Facebook, blog, etc. How are they engaging people? What can you learn from them? What gaps exist?
- Get outside your comfort zone. Talk to people that don’t work in your department or function within your organizaton. Showing people you care inside the organizaton will build an attitude of caring.
What else? How can we make sure we are authentically engaging people and buidling relationships?
Like they say: If it were easy, everyone would be doing it. Don’t be everyone. Be unique–this is how you will offer true value to your customers.
flickr credit: Matthew Yaktine
Quote of the Week: The Cost of Dreams
Thursday, May 13th, 2010 | Quote of the Week | 3 Comments
They say the best things in life are free. They also say that everyone has their price. Up in the Air, a movie starring George Clooney, puts these two sayings on the line.
The storyline is based on Clooney’s character, Ryan Bingham, a corporate downsizing expert who fires people for a living. This quote is taken from the movie during one of the time’s Clooney’s character is firing someone:
This is a wake-up call…Your resume says you minored in French Culinary Arts. Most students work the frier at KFC. You busted tables at IL Picatorre to support yourself. Then you got out of college and started working here. How much did they pay you to give up on your dreams? At what point, were you going to stop and go back to what made you happy?
In response, the man being fired answers: $27,000. During the interaction, you learn that the man has worked for the same company his whole life and now makes $90,000 but that all those years, there was never one happy day on the job. For one blogger, he recounts the day he was offered $9,000/year to work full-time at Kay Bee Toys as the same day he gave up on his dreams. This breaks down to $4.25 an hour. What’s your price?
In January, Taylor Marsh of the Huffington Post wrote that this movie was the best of 2009--saying that it represents a walk through today’s America and captures our current economic moment. I know times are tough--back home, many of our neighbors are looking for jobs. These are smart, talented people who are good at what they do--from lawyers to accountants--the full spectrum. The impact is real.
Dreams Survive
I have to hold on to the idea that dreams are not dead. This isn’t being idealistic--it’s being hopeful. To see what I mean, watch the clip below from the Lemonade Movement. It’s based on one of those other sayings--turning lemons into lemonade. See how 16 people answered their “wake up call:”
No matter your situation, believe in yourself and your dreams. It’s easier said than done--there’s worries of health insurance, the pressure to provide, there’s reality--so find support, write down your thoughts, reflect and do. Your dreams are waiting for you.
flickr credit: THQInsider
Do Big Ideas Need Big Leaders?
Tuesday, May 11th, 2010 | Blog Talk, Experience This?, Interesting Articles | No Comments
Lots of people have big ideas–the next ‘big’ thing. Not everyone executes. This isn’t only applicable to individuals, but also to teams and organizations. Many teams have great ambitions, same with organizations–and some are successful in achieving that idea. But, they may not have reached a point of bigness. Teams need leaders. Organizations need leaders–but to what degree?
Thank You Tim O’Reilly
Inc Magazine recently published an article highlighting Tim O’Reilly and the visionary leadership he is bringing to Washington. Out of all the great things covered in the article and that Tim O’Reilly has said, this one line lives with me the most:
“My original business model — I actually wrote this down — was ‘interesting work for interesting people.’ “
Interesting work for interesting people. The word “interesting” is most critical in this phrase, as, people define interesting differently. I find interesting to mean work that meets more than a bottom-line, that influences people and behaviors for good, that is innovative and leverages the latest research, technologies, and approaches for social change. This is quite specific.
Define Interesting
What Mr. O’Reilly says is applicable not only to organizations–but also to people I often say: “Own your education. Own your career.” To be able to do this, you need to know what is interesting.
Then, you need to find people who you also find interesting–who share similiar interests, people you admire, people who are one step ahead of you, people who think differently that you, motivate you–but again–to find the people, you need to know what interests you in others.
The Role of Leadership
Have you ever been on the other side of a big idea–where, you want to go from good to great? Is it possible to reach bigness without it? Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, I think best gets to the bottom of why leadership is crucial:
“…more than anything else, real people in real companies want to be part of a winning team. They want to contribute to producing real results. They want to feel the excitement and the satisfaction of being part of something that just flat-out works. When people begin to feel the magic of momentum—when they begin to see tangible results and can feel the flywheel start to build speed—that’s when they line up, throw their shoulders to the wheel, and push.”
Interesting needs interesting.
Do you know what interests you?
flickr credit: TechShowNetwork
Quote of the Week: Unleashing Love
Sunday, May 9th, 2010 | Quote of the Week | 2 Comments
This week’s quote comes from one of my favorite people in the non-profit tech community, Stacey Monk of Epic Change:
In America alone, we spend $14.6B annually on Mother’s Day for “stuff” that could just never say what’s in our hearts. What if instead, we all just unleashed that love on the world? How would it impact our world if we stopped using stuff as a surrogate for love? What if we invested that love to make the world a better place for Mamas & children everywhere?
Love Your Mama
This thinking led to Epic Change’s latest fundraising initiative, ToMaMaWithLove.org in honor of mothers everywhere–including Mama Lucy. Mama Lucy is Epic Change’s Tanzanian partner–the money raised from the effort will go towards the childrens home Mama Lucy wants to build for her primary school.
To date, over 200 mamas have been honored and over $11,000 has been raised–making a home for 12 children. The goal is to create a home for 50 children. You can contribute by unleashing your love and honoring your own mama by create a heart space–an online, visual tribute to your mom over at ToMamaWithLove.org.
Unleashing Love
The idea of unleashing love, however, can live beyond Mother’s Day and can be applied towards an organization as well.
- Have your employees felt appreciated lately?
- Is there an organization with an unmet need in your community?
- Are you following the golden rule–treating others as you want to be treated?
These are just a few examples–but you get the picture, we can unleash love in our daily lives. As As Stacey suggests–What type of impact would that make? Imagine how that could change our world–your world?
So go love–unleashed and with wild abandon.
Quote of the Week: Breaking Habits
Wednesday, April 21st, 2010 | Quote of the Week | 3 Comments
This week’s quote encourages us to break habits (our habits) to change the world. It’s poignant, direct and action oriented. Coming from Franke James, author of “The Real Poop on Social Change” and active changeblogger:
As social marketeers, we are often focused on working to change others’ behavior. But, when we look in our own mirror, what behaviors do we as individuals need to change to live healthier lives–and build healthier communities?
James talks about how she broke her 30-year habit: ending the subscription to new newspapers. Why? Because it got to a point where she was recycling 13 newspapers a week–and she was tired of it and thought there had to be a better way. Thus, she entered the world of being an online news reader–and created a new habit.
From changing her habits, James identified six benefits–from reducing waste to saving money. These benefits inspired her to find more ways to make changes. So, now, it’s your turn: What habits could you change to help the world? (Or, what new ones could you form to make a difference?)
The One Review of the iPad You Must Read
Monday, April 5th, 2010 | Interesting Articles, Web Communications, journalism | 3 Comments
On the social media and tech stream this week, we have the iPad. Despite my thoughts on how the name “iPad” was determined, the iPad draws one’s curiosity.
I don’t have an iPad nor have I seen one in person, but Jeff Jarvis’ review captures two of the bigger implications of this new technology that deserve your attention.
- Web sites vs. Apps
- Content Consuming vs. Content Creating
I’m not going to repeat all that Jarvis says in his review–I’ll let you read his words directly as his points are worth your time and consideration. Instead, I’ll add in my own comments.
On Web sites vs. Apps: As mobile marketing continues to grow and evolve across the board (fyi: Mobile Health Conference coming up in May), this will become an ever-greater question. Not just in terms of execution and strategy, but also in terms of analytics. Many organizations are just now getting a grasp on their Web site analytics and how the data can offer insight and direction regarding an organization’s overall mission and objectives. The next phase many are working to figure out–is how to measure and assess not just a Web site–but a Web presence. The division between a site-based Web and an app-based Web will throw in another element into the analytics puzzle.
On Content Consuming vs. Content Creating: I may not have an iPad, but I do have the Barnes and Noble Nook. I love my Nook, but I want to do so much more with it. Barnes and Noble, if you’re reading this, please borrow a page from Netflix. So, I understand Jarvis’ point. As a consumer, there are times when I appreciate that my Nook is an ereader–nothing else. But there are times–where I want more. With the ipad, you have some degree of more–but not everything. Like Jarvis said, you don’t even have a camera (which seemed odd to me when the iPad launched). I think there is a need for balance. I don’t want another mini computer that I can connect to my email and social networks. I also don’t want another phone or a super machine. What I do want–is a relaxing user environment where I have the option to create, share and consume at my leisure on my terms. But then again, maybe I’m not the audience for the iPad. Maybe there are those that just want to consume–and not create or distribute.
Thoughts on Publishing and Content: I find this conversation interesting not because of the Web vs. App conversation or the hardware vs. software talk, but more so because it gets to the heart of publishing and distribution of content. The development of e-readers are changing the world of publishing and how the traditional business-model of journalism operates. Many are hoping, that if done right, it can “save” journalism. But here’s the thing: Journalism does not need saving. Instead, it needs pioneering. Perhaps, the “business-model” of journalism is where the rubber meets the road. This is where we need our innovations… in my humble opinion.
In general, I agree with Jarvis’ main point about “implications.” How we maneuver down the road of information, communications and consumer-technology, will have implications. This is why, as consumers, it is important for us to know that our choices–where we spend our money, how we relate to information, how we choose to communicate, the type of content we consume and the type of content we produce–carries implications.
Your thoughts needed: Are the iPad, e-readers and tablets the best we can do?
*****
This post was originally going to be the quote of the week–but I couldn’t choose just one sentence to highlight as Jarvis’ whole article stretches one’s thinking.
Quote of the Week: Removing Barriers
Monday, March 29th, 2010 | Quote of the Week | 3 Comments
Most of you have never met or read anything from the person with this week’s quote–but she is one of the most insightful people I know and has an authentic, strong, persistent heart for serving others. She is my mom–the woman I call the original SocialButterfly. Allow me the second to thank my family and ancestors.
“Sometimes, we work so hard to change a person. When, what they really need from us, is to help them remove the barriers blocking them from changing themselves.”
I don’t know about you–but what a change in perspective! We often look at the point of behavior and often, we tell people over and over to run, not to smoke, eat healthy, get tested for STDs and everything else under the sun. Even–come out with us on a Friday night or meet me for breakfast in the morning. We want people to make choices, decisions.
But how often, do we look at people and find the boulders in their life? And how often are we helping to lift those boulders rather than tell them of the great valley that lives on the other side? Do we see their needs? Are we listening? For example, how can someone take a walk–if they don’t have sidewalks? Instead of wanting them and telling them to start walking, what if we helped them build a sidewalk? Or, instead of telling someone to eat healthier, teaching them how to grow and cook good foods. Or, making certain foods more affordable. Or, listening to their trials and tribulations, so they can feel cared for and loved and empowered to make healthy decisions.
Just a thought passed on from my mom. Did I mention she’s pretty great? 
flickr credit: Okinawa Soba
Quote of the Week: Failure Happens (and One Way to Avoid It)
Monday, March 15th, 2010 | Public Health, Quote of the Week, Web Communications | No Comments
This is not a boggy-too sad to read post. This post is about failure, yes, but it’s also about what can be learned from it. This week’s quote comes from Sarah Ragsdale over at the Walking the Path blog:
“Failure happens.”
However, Sarah doesn’t mope and pity in the eye of failure–instead she offers insights into why failure happens based on the text Marketing in Public Health. Sarah reviews four types of common failures when it comes to communications interventions:
- Strategy failures occur when external barriers exist in the community that cannot be overcome by communication messages. For example, a condom usage campaign may be very effective in raising awareness, but if condoms are not available in the community, the campaign is moot.
- Execution failures are the result of poorly constructed messaging or targeting the wrong audience. We must always remember to do our homework and study our audiences.
- Measurement failures happen when we planned the communication strategy appropriately and delivered it well, but we had a poor evaluation strategy. Check out our post on evaluating social media.
- Expectation failure results from overestimating the campaign’s impact in the community. Change occurred but not to the level stakeholder’s expected.
I would like to call your attention to reason number 3–measurement and evaluation. Why? Because this can be one of the easiest to avoid and is also one of the most important elements in any social marketing campaign. Think about a project that you are currently working on–do you have an evaluation strategy for your communications? If not, some resources you may find helpful are provided below:
- Pubilc Communication Campaign Evaluation (PDF)
- Guidance for Evaluation Mass Communication Health Initiatives (PDF)
- Web Analytics: An Hour a Day (for Web and social media types)
- Complete Web Monitoring (for more Web and social media types)
- Planning a Social Marketing Program Outline from Craig Lefebvre (overview)
- …and for those who want to completely geek-out with me, here is the motherload of all evaluation resources.
- (What other resources do you suggest?)
If you do have an evaluation strategy, I want to also challenge you and ask you two questions: What are you evaluating and why are evaluating it? Often, by asking these questions, you can avoid some of the other failure pitstops that Sarah mentioned. I know our team internally are asking ourselves these very questions on some great projects we are brewing up–and I look forward to continued thoughts from the team and from you. Because when it comes to “success” in social marketing, my head automatically thinks of desired behaviors, behavioral objectives and behavioral outcomes–what does your mind think of?
flickr credit: fireflythegreat
Alexandra Bornkessel
Email: abornkessel@fly4change.com
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If you have questions, comments or concerns, email me at socialbutterfly4change@gmail.com.
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