… what would it look like, and why? Even better, what would you WANT it to look like?

Interesting questions, don’t you think? Thought-provoking, profound and personally revealing – all at the same time. The perfect “get to know you” question. If you’ve been around the internet for any length of time, I know you’ve run across (or been tagged already) with one of those too-numerous-to-count memes: 1,000,000 Things About Me, 88 Random Things About Me, 500 Things About Me You Didn’t Want To Know But I’ll Tell You Anyway… or, well, something like that.

Now don’t get me wrong; I do enjoy finding out stuff about folks I read because it helps morph them from just pixels on a screen into actual three-dimensional people. But let’s face it; those are just words.

Yesterday’s post about plans, construction sites and buildings got me to thinking (in case you were wondering about that grinding noise) about what I’d like my life to look like if it were a building. Think of it as a branding question: What would your building say about you?

So how about some Friday fun?

Since most of us are visually-oriented anyway (sound of light bulb switching on), I thought to myself, “Hey! Rather than just telling us about yourself, why not show us instead?” (And I’m not even from Missouri!)

OK, I’ll start. Back when I was working in Las Vegas, I ran across this one:

For me, it would have to be the New York, New York Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. When I first saw it, I was literally mesmerized (sound of me, mesmerized). How on Earth did they manage to mind-meld so many different styles into one single building (and without a Vulcan in sight!)? It is absolutely incredible; not just from an architectural and construction standpoint, but to the senses as well.

Here’s why I would use this structure as “my” building:

1. Authentic. (Here’s one for you, Joanna!) I’ve never been to the actual New York, but it definitely gives you a genuine feel for the place. This was confirmed repeatedly by many I met there who had been to New York. If there’s anything I’d like my life to be, it’s authentic.
2. Consistent. Both inside and out, the entire place screams NEW YORK CITY! From the scale model of the Statue of Liberty on the outside to the choice of food vendors inside, it’s completely focused on giving you a feel for the real thing. The other half of the coin of authenticity is consistency.
3. Proud. Not as in arrogant; no, I’m talking about standing tall and willing to be noticed. The thing is, there are a lot of hotels in Las Vegas you never heard of, but this one is willing to be a focus of attention – a landmark, even. Are you willing to stand out from the crowd and be unique?
4. Whimsical. Defined as determined by impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason, this seems to describe the overall look perfectly. I found it interesting that the World Trade Center building was shorter than the Empire State Building. It was an opportunity for the designers to emphasize what really says “New York” to most people. Taking a relaxed and sometimes whimsical view of life gives you the opportunity to see things you’d miss otherwise.
5. Serious. Hey, this is one of THE major money makers on the Strip. Big business for sure. And I’m not admiring the casino, or any specific part of it; it’s that I admire the great job the management team does: they know who they are they and do it well. Know your stuff, and be able to do it so well you don’t have to spend all your time on it. That way you can stop every now and then and have -
6. Fun. Notice the roller coaster surrounding the entire structure? That is one fun ride, especially at night! Gotta enjoy life!
7. Hospitable. Hey, the place is a hotel, after all, and the idea of hospitality resonates with me. I mean, I would like to be known as a hospitable guy, ready with a cup of coffee or cold drink if you need one, maybe a place to draw up a chair, have a seat and take a load off… (and hey, maybe even a Klondike bar or bowl of Blue Bell Banana Pudding Ice Cream – and yes, it deserves the Capitals).

(Oh, and by the way, if this building truly represented my life as I’d like it to be – I’d leave out the casino, and relocate the whole thing someplace else! Sin City is aptly named…)

Hey, this was fun! So what about you? What kind of building would you like to represent your life? Not necessarily your actual life, mind you, I’m talking about what you’d like your life to be. (Let’s leave some room for dreams and goals here.)

Hmmm, let’s see now… who to tag, who to tag? OK, how about:

Joanna Young at Confident Writing
Troy Worman at Orbit Now!
Liz Strauss at Successful Blog
Dawud Miracle at Healthy Web Design
Pete Aldin at Great Circle

Got a great response for this question? If you read this post, consider yourself tagged, my friends; no need to sit around waiting for a tap on the shoulder! Go for it! (And p.s., don’t forget to link here so I can capture them all in a wrap-up post later.)

How do you accomplish really big audacious goals? Hey, that’s easy – break it into lots of little ones, of course!

Hmmm… it seems to me I’ve mentioned before about the network marketing business I’ve recently gotten into, right? (Sound of groans from the audience.) Well, one key concept to success in our NM business can be nicely summed up by this phrase: it’s not what you do; it’s what you… start.

It simply means that eventual success is built upon your initial actions.

OK class, what that translates to for our particular NM business is two-fold, and can be summed up as follows: first, each Associate finds 10 customers, then signs up 3 Associates and teaches them to do the same. We call this the Power Unit (has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?), and completing it is the gateway to earning residual income from all customers that subsequently sign up in the Associate’s downline (which is all Associates below them in the organization).

As with all NM businesses, it works by duplication, and over time it can add up to quite a large number of Associates and customers in your downline. (Just as a for instance, the group leader we’re under has over 3,100 Associates and well over 10,000 customers in his downline after working the business about 28 months.) So, as each Associate does exactly the same thing, then incredible things can happen!

Anyway, the other day I called a friend of mine in order to invite him to become one of my Associates, only to discover he’d been in the business for about two years already (Ignite has been in business since March of 2005). But here’s the thing – he was no longer actively doing anything at all with it. In fact, the sum total of what he’d done was to sign up one single Associate – and then he stopped. No customers, no more Associates. Done. Finis. End of Story.

About a year and a half passed.

By the time I got around to calling him, he hadn’t even thought about it in quite a while. He had no idea what had developed in his downline, so after we talked, he began to do some checking.

Remember that one Associate he signed up? Well, he made the astonishing discovery that  his downline now consisted of an organization of 214 Associates! Whoa Nellie! Can you believe it? Here my friend was, down in the dumps because he felt he wasn’t accomplishing anything – only to find out a large dynamic organization was being built below him – not because of what he was doing, but because of what he… started!

You want to know the sad part? Because he never completed his Power Unit (10 customers and 3 Associates) he hasn’t qualified to earn the residual income from all the customers those 214 Associates in his downline have signed up! No core team – no income. He’s missing out on hundreds, and eventually thousands of dollars of passive, residual income every single month – just because he got discouraged and quit!

OK, here’s the thing.

You got some goals, perhaps even big, audacious goals you want to achieve? Sometimes, after the thrill of coming up with them starts to wane, you find yourself looking at them and thinking, “Now how am I going to accomplish this thing, anyway?”

Of course the answer is to break it down into smaller, more achievable steps, then focus on accomplishing those instead. That way the big, final goal becomes the inspiration for all the little ones along the way.

Plus, each little goal, when successfully attained, gives you progressively more confidence, making it that much easier to make it to the next step. Consistent, along-the-way encouragement plus a big picture vision will propel you forward far more than just the vision alone, no matter how wonderful it is.

When you get right down to it, success in any endeavor is pretty much built in the same way. Remember that phrase I mentioned at the beginning of this article?

It’s not what you do; it’s what you… start!

OK, this isn’t really an entry in this month’s What I Learned From… project. It just kinda came to me. (Hey, it’s my blog and I can do what I want.)

Normally, I don’t think about the subject of branding much, but here’s a little something that recently tiptoed across my unsuspecting cortex in pink fuzzy slippers… (Why pink fuzzy slippers, you ask? I’ll quote Leslie Neilsen: “Because I like the way they make me feel.”)

Uh, where was I? Oh, yes -

The other day in my work carpool, two of us got into a somewhat zany conversation about old movies and TV shows. It was a lot of fun reminiscing about old shows like “Dukes of Hazzard”, “Lost in Space”, or “Mission Impossible” (not the ridiculously idiotic movies, but the brilliantly original TV show).

But the thing that we ended up talking about most wasn’t some “gripping police drama”. Nor was it yet another in the seemingly endless series of what are laughingly referred to as “reality shows” (I mean, c’mon folks – this is reality?)

No, we ended up laughing the most about that old Batman TV series starring Adam West as the Head Bat. Talk about a silly show! Better than any Simpsons episode, I’ll tell ya! (OK, I’m aware that I’m giving away a lot here, but what the heck – it was bound to come out sooner or later.)

Anyway, despite the proliferation of Batman movies (and assorted Batmans, for that matter – or is it Batmen?) that have hit the big screen over the last few decades, in my mind nothing beats the old TV show. Why? Well, because when I turned on the TV, I knew I’d be entertained – simple as that. I knew what to expect, I looked forward to it, and the show always delivered. In a word, it was consistent.

For instance, invariably at some time during each episode, both Batman and Robin will be seen walking up the side of a building using a rope (well actually, it was painfully obvious the camera was turned on its side – but that’s what made it so funny), and inevitably some well-known TV or movie star would stick their head out the window and initiate some inane conversation with the caped crusaders. This little vignette turned out to be one of the highlights of the show – you just never knew who would pop out.

But for me, one of the silliest things (among literally hundreds of them) the show’s producers did was make sure everything had the “bat-” prefix. You remember the Batmobile, of course. But then there were also the Bat Boat, the Batcycle, Bat Copter, Bat Plane, Bat Phone, Bat Suit (and I have no doubt whatsoever, Bat Shorts) – the list went on and on.

It applied to actions as well as things, too. Once, when Batman and Robin were tearing down a road in the Batmobile and had to make a sudden turn, Batman turns to his trusty sidekick and says, “Prepare for Bat-turn, Robin!”

And who could ever forget the Bat Rope, a piece of regular ol’ rope prominently labeled “Bat Rope” visible for TV viewers to see. (I always imagined an entire industrial complex out there somewhere, producing all these wonderful toys, something like Wile E. Coyote’s mysterious supplier, “Acme”.)

But amid the BIFFs, POWs, and OOFs that speckled the screen whenever a fight broke out (at least once per episode, guaranteed), after all these years, there is one thing that stands out to me, and it’s a great lesson that has truly stood the test of time.

One thing that old show (and for that matter the entire Batman franchise) demonstrated well was the process of BRANDING. Yep, that’s a fact, my friend. Whatever else you might say about Bat Man and the whole Bat “Thing”, boy did they have branding down to a science! I mean, when a plain old piece of rope got branded with the Bat Brand, it became something special – no longer just a rope, but an essential piece of crime-fighting equipment!

So, the next time you think about branding, I just have this simple advice: Take a Bat Lesson from the masters!

Perhaps you’ve already heard the news, but this week (Monday, actually) a new book, The Age of Conversation, went on sale amid quite a bit of hoopla and fanfare (cue the fireworks; cue the band).

In case you missed it, The Age of Conversation is the brainchild of ace marketers Drew McClellan and Gavin Heaton. A great testimonial of how an idea can be turned into something far greater than the sum of its parts, the book is a compendium of 103 authors (which by the way includes yours truly), each with a single page of content. As the book’s cover declares, what we have here is a book with many voices, but one conversation.

Already there has been some considerable fanfare along with articles in several large publications; other media are beginning to take notice as well. On the book’s dedicated website you’ll find everything you might ever want to know, including how the idea developed, the list of incredible authors, and how to buy your copies (available in three formats: e-book, paperback, and hardcover).

Still not sure you’re interested? Try this one on for size: Steve Woodruff at Sticky Figure is writing a series of posts with brief excerpts from each entry. Check ‘em out!

Just for fun, you can also check this Google map for the worldwide locations of all authors. And, don’t miss the fact that not one author, including both Drew and Gavin, makes a penny off this endeavor; all proceeds go to Variety, the children’s charity.

Nevertheless, I’d like to take a moment to publicly thank my fellow authors for participating in what Drew and Gavin promise to be an annual event. A tip o’ the hat to y’all!

Gavin Heaton
Drew McLellan
CK
Valeria Maltoni
Emily Reed
Katie Chatfield
Greg Verdino
Mack Collier
Lewis Green
Sacrum
Ann Handley
Mike Sansone
Paul McEnany
Roger von Oech
Anna Farmery
David Armano
Bob Glaza
Mark Goren
Matt Dickman
Scott Monty
Richard Huntington
Cam Beck
David Reich
Luc Debaisieux
Sean Howard
Tim Jackson
Patrick Schaber
Roberta Rosenberg
Uwe Hook
Tony D. Clark
Todd Andrlik
Toby Bloomberg
Steve Woodruff
Steve Bannister
Steve Roesler
Stanley Johnson
Spike Jones
Nathan Snell
Simon Payn
Ryan Rasmussen
Ron Shevlin
Roger Anderson
Robert Hruzek
Rishi Desai
Phil Gerbyshak
Peter Corbett
Pete Deutschman
Nick Rice
Nick Wright
Michael Morton
Mark Earls
Mark Blair
CB Whittemore
Mario Vellandi
Lori Magno
Kristin Gorski
Kris Hoet
G. Kofi Annan
Kimberly Dawn Wells
Karl Long
Julie Fleischer
Jordan Behan
John La Grou
Joe Raasch
Jim Kukral
Jessica Hagy
Janet Green
Jamey Shiels
Dr. Graham Hill
Gia Facchini
Geert Desager
Gaurav Mishra
Gary Schoeniger
Gareth Kay
Faris Yakob
Emily Clasper
Ed Cotton
Dustin Jacobsen
Tom Clifford
David Polinchock
David Koopmans
David Brazeal
David Berkowitz
Carolyn Manning
Craig Wilson
Cord Silverstein
Connie Reece
Colin McKay
Chris Newlan
Chris Corrigan
Cedric Giorgi
Brian Reich
Becky Carroll
Arun Rajagopal
Andy Nulman
Amy Jussel
AJ James
Kim Klaver
Sandy Renshaw
Susan Bird
Ryan Barrett
Troy Worman
S. Neil Vineberg
C.B. Whittemore

Perhaps you remember my mentioning an upcoming e-book called The Age of Conversation? (My chapter is titled “Bridges“.) Well, the release date is coming soon – Monday, July 16th in fact! (Cue the fireworks!)

I’ll tell ya, Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton have truly done a heroic amount of organizing, proofing, collaborating, and just plain hard work to put this thing together. What’s more, every single penny raised will be going to charity!

Pretty cool, eh? Not bad, guys; not bad at all!

As the week progresses, there will be more information released on next week’s launch. For the time being, though, check out Drew’s Marketing Minute for a sneak peek at the cover. (Well, OK; it’s the same cover pictured here. But there’s also info about prices, how the book was originated; the author list; and much more. Check it out!)

I bring you this important, potentially life-changing question as a direct result of reading yesterday’s post by BL Ochman (I’ve always wondered – is that “B.L.” or “BL”?) at Marketing Profs Daily Fix. It’s a funny little story told her by Gerlinde Puchas about a canned ham commercial she did that illustrates something I’ve experience myself. It’s a quick read (30 seconds, tops) and here’s BL’s concluding statement:

“These days, I often tell clients that story when I introduce ideas about new media marketing. I warn them: ‘OK, here comes a canned ham idea. I know it doesn’t apply exactly to your business. Please think about the concept.’ It often helps to open their minds to new ways of looking at marketing.”

It’s what I call experience bias, and here’s how I became a victim:

Way back in the shrouded mists of yesteryear, when I worked as a Piping Designer (that was back when engineering drawings were produced by hand instead of computer – imagine that!), I remember encountering the same kind of thing whenever facing the prospect of looking for a new job. (As a contract employee I was constantly in “search” mode.) The job description usually included a key word or two about the project, something like “refinery”, “chemicals”, or “amusement park” (I really saw that one once), and the recruiters often used that as a way to filter out the sometimes overwhelming number of resumes they had to evaluate.

It was up to us job-seekers to find ways to get past those filters – sometimes using, shall we say, “creative” language on our resumes. (Once, a company I worked for circulated a request for Piping Designers with Pharmaceutical or Brewery experience. On seeing this, my co-worker asked, “I drink a six-pack a day and do drugs – does that count?”)

I remember applying for a job on a mining project (which I’d never done before), and the recruiter asked me if I had any mining experience. Now at the time, jobs were becoming rather difficult to find. After a long and fruitless search, I have to admit I was so frustrated I just couldn’t help myself. I replied with the following response: “Well, no. But what’s so different about it? After all, pipe is round, and water flows downhill. What more do I need to know?”

I know, it was a stupid thing to say. Needless to say, I didn’t get the job (but at least I can snicker about it now). Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to work on a great variety of projects, from small ones (a few thousand $$$) to megas (billions of $$$), and they include refineries, chemicals, semiconductors, automobiles, insecticides, plastics, power – well, you get the idea.

We’ve all faced similar constraints, I’m sure – times where you find yourself being held back by what you’ve done before. Frustrating, isn’t it? But rather than simply accept those limitations, try using your experience, as BL did, to build a lever that might just open that door.

So while I still heard the same questions from recruiters, in many cases I was able to use a variation of BL’s approach: I’ve demonstrated my ability to take experience X and use it for experience Y. Many times, it was enough to get past the gatekeeper to the actual hiring authority, and I got the job.

Her point (if I may be so bold, BL) is that it’s up to you to help others see your experience, not as a limiter, but as a facilitator of your potential. Dont’ you hate it when someone does that to you? (And by the way, don’t do it to someone else, either.)

During our recent move we had to deal with a multitude of vendors and contractors, with varying degrees of satisfaction and/or success. From this experience, both Mrs. MZM and I had an amazing range of customer relations experiences, but today I’ll share just a couple of stories. Perhaps we can all learn something.

All you sales and marketing folks out there take note! In spite of the best-laid plans and the best of intentions, always remember the Golden Rule of Project Management: Sometimes Things Just Happen (STJH). The key thought is that when they do (anyone remember Murphy?), your customer’s service experience becomes a true defining moment. We, your customers, can be convinced to forgive and forget, but it’s up to you to make the experience a positive one.

Kitchen Cabinets

The kitchen cabinets were improperly finished (unless you call “sandpaper” a finish) and needed to be resurfaced. This was brought to the builder’s attention, but one day when visiting the house during construction we encountered the local regional manager for the cabinet manufacturer, who was also inspecting them. He was appalled at the workmanship (I’m shocked, just shocked!) and promised to make it right by sending several of the worst cabinet doors back to the shop, and then within the week, bringing in his “best man” to refinish the cabinets on the spot.

True to his promise, the cabinets were all refinished and several doors replaced, all within the promised timeframe. Our dealings with the company were pleasant, productive, and they did what they promised. In the midst of the moving madness, this was one of the things that ended well. (Of course, it would have been nice if they were done right the first time, but as previously observed, STJH.)

Sofa and Chair

As a rule, we never buy anything we can’t see, touch or feel before bringing it home. The only exception in recent years was our new sofa and chair, since we had to select the fabric for each. This is always something of a risk because from past experience getting refunds for broken or poorly made “custom” (meaning we ordered it with a particular fabric, not had it custom-made; I’m not made of money!) furniture can be a real pain in the tookus. (For some strange reason, when a vendor puts fabric on your furniture, they think you ought to take it no matter what the quality. I have never understood this attitude.)

Well, unfortunately, neither sofa nor chair are acceptable. Regarding the sofa, although we like firm cushions, these are so firm that when we sit on them, they don’t squish down like normal cushions; in fact, our feet don’t even touch the floor! On a firmness scale of 1 to 10, I would rank these about 15. And the chair… well, it’s no good either, but for different reasons.

So now begins the process. We had to visit the local store and demonstrate the, ahem, firm cushion. First problem was our salesperson wasn’t in, so we had to ask for a higher-up. Well her attitude was there “might be a problem”. Hmmph. We compared the cushion with one that it was supposed to feel like, and I practically had to push her down to make her sit on it. Then she grudgingly admitted “there might be an issue here.” We’re to call this number and they’ll “see if there’s anything that can be done.” We got the distinct impression that since we weren’t her customers, she couldn’t have cared less.

It’s stuff like this that makes the blood pressure rise. Who do they think they are? Once again, a blown customer service opportunity.

So Mrs. MZM, God bless her, calls the number and asks for the guy, but he’s out. But… she ended up talking to the Service Manager for the entire chain of stores. So she unloaded on him. Amazingly, he took every detail down, agreed we were treated poorly, and promised a response right away. Within the hour, the co-owner of the chain caller her back and solved the problem to our satisfaction. He was also appalled at the treatment we had received and promised to “take care of it”.

We’ll see how quickly they resolve this one, so the jury’s still out.

Fast Food

Naturally during this time there was no time to cook (or even a place for food until the refrigerator was delivered), so we became quite familiar with the local fast-food eateries. Mrs. MZM stopped at a Chick Fil-A near us to order lunch, and after placing her order stepped aside to wait. While waiting, at least three other employees stopped what they were doing and asked her: “Can I help you with anything?”, “Is there anything you need?”, and “I’m glad you came by today. Won’t you come back again?”. And they weren’t even behind the counter!

Now that’s a positive customer service experience we’ll remember!