Usually I like to tune into our local PBS station on Sat. afternoons as they usually run cooking and home improvement shows. This probably coincides with watcher who plan on doing the same thing and thus like to get a little inspiration be it cooking a special Sat. or Sun. meal for the family or doing some landscaping in the yard. The particular cooking show that caught my eye sadly was a bit of a turn off. The set was perfect and polished and this chef’s came across as the young ladies cooking we so polished and perfect in their speech I seriously had I hard time taking them seriously. The show is called, “Everyday Food” but to me nothing about the show communicates “Everyday Food.” This show is a Martha Stewart Production is you can tell it’s in the Martha Stewart Style of “over perfection.” The kitchen looks more like microchip clean room or hospital waiting room. Honestly I have a hard time relaxing with such a presentation. The hosts seemed to tense and “perfect.” It’s not that the production values aren’t good, they are top notch. The big problem I have is their slogan on their web site says, Real People, Real Situation, Real Solutions. Maybe if they show had been called, “The Perfect Kitchen” or even if they had stressed the word “Simple” but I felt nothing “real” about what I saw.

I must sound kind of crabby lately critiquing these things I experience in the media but as yesterday when I talked about keeping it fresh and today I’m talking about being real. Keeping it real in your communication with others involves the following;

• Show a little emotion, especially humor
• Express your personality through your treasures, how you dress, what makes you laugh etc.
• Share your experiences - People love stories of why you are passionate about something. Instructions and news are important but unless you are a journalist people are reading and watching YOU and want to know what you think.

I realize that when I first meet people I may come across as a little less than real. I’m reserved by nature but deep down I have a bizarre sense of humor, an eclectic taste in music and food. I’m working hard to communicate who I am to a greater degree. One thing I have done recently is express my opinions, although somewhat negative in these past few post. I feel you have to know what bothers me as well. That is part of what makes me tick and forms my values. How are you expressing the real you or the story of your business in your communication with others? Have you had experiences where you didn’t feel comfortable because things didn’t seem real? i.e. visiting someone’s house that feels like a museum to the point you felt too nervous to even sit in a chair?

One of my biggest pet peeves in both new and old media is seeing the same thing or formula day after day. Soap Operas have often been a target of many a joke with people saying they could watch one episode a year and not really miss anything. Several radio talk show hosts are guilty of this as well. I’ve all but stopped listening to certain radio shows not because of their political or philosophical stance but rather I feel it’s a waste of time hearing the same thing over and over again. I’m probably going to get into deep water and offend some people by saying this but one radio show that is guilty of this is the Dave Ramsey Show. Before I say anything critical I love and deeply appreciate Dave’s stance and principle of being debt free. I also appreciate how is confronts callers who try to make excuses for their debt behavior however as a listen I have noticed the show does get into a formula of sorts and while kind of “cute and funny” in the beginning playing the “FREEDOM!!!” sound clip from the movie, Braveheart gets extremely old to the point I want to shout, “Enough Already! I get it!”

In the 90’s The Ken Hamblin show was on the local talk radio station in my city. Ken’s referred to himself as the “Black Avenger” and in my opinion he tried to bring home the point he was black (or African American if you prefer that term but he said “black) and conservative. I “got it” the first few times listening but hearing anything over and over and over again can be a big turn off. Maybe the mindset in radio is repetition because they are expecting turnover ever so often but in the past few years I have had the opportunity to listen to many more hosts and read writers either in the new media through blogs and podcasts or in the old media of print journalism or broadcast media and I have enjoyed and stayed a long time reader. listener or viewer as a result of the hosts or writers “keeping it fresh.” Here are some of the things I have noticed that have kept things fresh for content producers;

• A catch phrase at the beginning or end of the show is fine but don’t let such stuff “hog up” the whole presentation
• Respond and comment on current events - people are often in “shock” during times of change. Help them cope with your unique product or service
• Avoid stereotypes, cliches and out of style terms
• Dare to be eclectic - a local auto repair shop has a radio show hosted by the owner who also loves classical music which he uses for bumper music. Definitely not a stereotype and the unique mix doesn’t get old. BTW, The show is know as the Driving Line and is now available as a podcast. I highly recommend it.
• Be known for consistently surprising your audience in a good way.

How do you keep it fresh and what experiences have you had with encountering things that “got old” way too quick?

Ok, technically our company has not been around since 1801 but something that happened in 1801 that influenced many aspects of our business and maybe even the economic development of the area we live and work in. One of my favorite series of documentaries growing up was Connections hosted by James Burke and this tale of how an innovation in the early days of the 19th Century basically made us who we are today.

Jacquard’s Web by James Essinger tells the story how a hand loom led to the birth of the information age. The book covers a lot more than just one man’s attempt to automate the fine art of spinning silk but also chronicles the birth of the information age in a time you may not have thought any serious computing was going on. No, it wasn’t electronic computing as we know it with circuit boards and wires but this was a time when computer programming was born. On the left you will see a photo of the Jacquard loom with the early 19th century punch cards that made the automation of spinning intricate designs possible.

This is fascinating to me as a Greenvillian because at one time Greenville,SC was known as the textile capital of the world. A place where a lot of “computer programming” was going on and most people did not even realize it. I’m proud that our company name is somewhat inspired by this innovation that occurred over two centuries ago. This area of the United States is not only home to many web developers but we are a budding center of innovation and technology. I’m thankful we have a great networking and educational group like the GSATC to provides many opportunities to network and learn from other technology professionals and innovators. While textiles is not the prominent business in the Upstate that it once was you will discover that Greenville is even more of a technology center with such companies as BMW and Michelin as well as centers like ICAR.

If you are the least bit interested in either the history of computing, textile or innovation I encourage you to read Jacquard’ Web. What are some surprising things you have learned about your industry? What lessons of innovation and inspiration can you glen from the historical ties to what you are doing today?

If you are reading this blog you may have noticed two new ads in the sidebar on the right side of the page you are reading. In the past 30 minutes I received notification via my RSS reader that both 37 Signals and Buzzoodle Marketing were starting affiliate programs. Affiliate programs are a means of being financially rewards for recommending products and services of third parties. First and foremost we are in the business of creating our own products and services for our clients however they are other products out their that we highly recommend as we have also used them to grow our own business.

You can find a variety of products that will help you effectively market your business through what is known as “Buzz Marketing” and Employee Evangelism through the Buzzoodle Buzz Marketing Catalog. We highly recommend the Buzzoodle Buzz Marketing book for starters as we own it ourselves and is a great resource. I want to thank Buzzoodle’s founder, Ron McDaniel for calling me as I the first person to sign up for his affiliate program. That was some excellent “Buzz” Ron!

Another set of online tools we use extensively is the products by 37 Signals. We use Basecamp to manage our projects from web sites to print product projects as well as our audio and video projects. We use Highrise as our online contact management program to keep track of clients, leads and other people connected to our company. The third 37 signals product we recommend you check out and consider using for your business is Backpack which is for sharing calendars, to-do lists, etc. It’s important to have these tools available online as we have access while traveling and are not tied down to any one computer. We recommended that 37 Signals provide the opportunity for an affiliate program a while back and are really excited to see it become a reality.

Of course we still recommend you bookmark and checkout our Amazon Store which has a listing of books, software and other products we feel would make a positive impact on your business and life.

In my last post I mentioned we provide and produce and multitude of products to help you market your business however their is one that we can’t help you with, at least not on the deepest level. What product is that? Your internal marketing. Some call it buzz marketing, it can be very crucial to generating good word of mouth. What is your vision for your company? Are you excited to the point you are continually learning and telling others how great your product or service is? Did you know your employees can be your best sales people even if they are not official sales people? Do they have a reason to talk about how good your company is when you are not there? In past jobs where I worked for others the following got me excited about my work and who I worked for;

• Recognition and use of my creative thinking
• Remembering my birthday
• Respect for my family life
• A space I could call my own be it a literal work space or area of responsibility
• Promoting good health through prevention programs

Some things that encouraged me to complain or give bad buzz about other companies I worked for included;

• No respect for the chain of command (In one job I had 4 bosses and each wanted it done their way - I quit after a month)
• Being “micro-managed” - This caused me to make more mistakes than the desired opposite
• Not having my loyalty to the company appreciated
• “Good ol’ boy” or Nepotism practices - This leads to a “why bother” attitude among everybody else

How are you recognizing your entire work force? Are you providing an environment where they will want to talk positively about your company when they are in public? Imagine they are out with friends or family at a local restaurant what would people nearby hear about your company or organization? We can’t change the atompshere or polices within your company but what tools could we provide that would honor your employee’s skills and encourage postive communication? I encourage you to look into and buy some books related to what is known as buzz marketing. One resource is Buzzoddle Buzz Marketing when it comes to putting into practice low or no-cost marketing techniques everyone in the organization can employ . Also the book, Brand from the Inside is worth taking a look at. Can you name some marketing tools that have encouraged you to promote your own company or want to give good buzz to other ones you were pleased with?