If you have LION's, TopLinked or any other variant of "Linker" in your network list I advise you to drop the connection to them immediately.
More than any other networking site, LinkedIn is not about how many - but who. If you wish to be collected as a notch on the profile of a Linker then that is up to you, but there are actually very good reasons why this is not a good idea.
1) Updates stream. My updates streams are filled with relevant, interesting information about people I know within industries I target. In fact, it is a scarce business intelligence resource.
I knew that two of my companies key clients were moving roles prior to Christmas before anybody else did. I can also see who is connected to whom, who is changing roles and who has been promoted. (Among other things)
And importantly....these are not random names on my screen. They are people in significant roles in industries I wish to deliver services to.
When I was connected to LION's, TopLinked and others it was just mush. Unrecognizable mush about people I didn't know doing things I didn't care about.
2) Your network is your most valuable asset. B2B networks are not about notches on profiles, they are about long term mutually beneficial commercial relationships. Your network needs to be valued and treated as the phenomenal opportunity producing asset that it is.
Why would you expose it to people you do not know? Worse. If you are a consultant, why would you link to somebody who may have links to competitors of yours? Really, why?
If you connect randomly then you run the risk of giving a competitor some form of access to decision makers within target companies. This seems restrictive but it isn't.
Do you even know the name of the VP for manufacturing from GM and their consulting budget? I do. And I got it from my LinkedIn account, and if you are going to be competing with me for that budget why would I allow you to have that information?
3) It's not about you anymore.
As stated above, networking is about mutual benefit. Connecting with "Linkers" is about helping them to grow their connections list even further. it is not about you, at all, it is all about them and their list.
Their is a belief that "Linkers" have extra ordinary reach, and they do. But it is broad and general not narrow and specific. They are able to ouch a range of people across a range of industries, but often not able to dive deep into one sector to define the key decision makers moving millions, if not billions of dollars.
My advice? Don't deal with them, don't allow them into your networking groups, don't let them lull others with "Accept all invites" statements, and do not ever curse others with an introduction to them.
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Showing posts with label Trust. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trust. Show all posts
January 26, 2010
January 25, 2010
Yelp!, UrbanSpoon and Google Maps. Your business is now on the map - like it or not!
This week I have posted reviews on Google maps about real estate firms in the city where I live. Most bad or leaning towards bad, but one or two were worth a bit of flattery.
One stood out so much I felt almost obliged to post a review to try to help others going through what we went through. I did so again today about a furniture outlet that really blew me away.
I have posted in the past on a number of items from consultancies I have worked with through to hotels and restaurants that I have been unusually happy with.
Features like this, combined with mass use, are changing the entire shopping experience for me.
We now spin through the urban spoon restaurant guide almost every ime we want to go out. We check the reviews there, or on Google maps before even picking up the phone, and we look for tell tale signs of a bad night out.
You couldn't get a better trust based asset. Something that shows you can be trusted by those that others trust.
More and more I am getting into the habit of recording the days events in a quick five minutes reviewing hotels, cafes, real estate agents..in fact - any business I come in contact with. And I'm not alone...
Invariably there are already other reviews on Google maps....
This is how serious it's getting, whether you like it or not. One bad customer experience, one disgruntled or turned away client and...BANG! Remembered forever...
The way around this? Obviously the first is to make sure there are no, or exceptionally few, bad customer experiences. But that isn't enough to get people writing about you.
You also have to make sure that you are (as Godin would put it) remarkable. (Worth remarking upon)
When I write positively about a business it isn't just because I got great service. That's just the rules of the game. If you don't give great service you can't play.
No, it was because of something else. Something extra or special that I got from my interaction with that business. My pizza idea could be one of those maybe... (I really liked that idea)
But this isn't the only way of course. SOm ewill some won't, and some need to be prompted. So ask! In your email newsletter, on your blog, in person, or even in a personal email if they don't know how to do it.
There are many strategies you could use. But whatever you do, don't ignore this phenomena..whatever you do.
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The way around this? Obviously the first is to make sure there are no, or exceptionally few, bad customer experiences. But that isn't enough to get people writing about you.
You also have to make sure that you are (as Godin would put it) remarkable. (Worth remarking upon)
When I write positively about a business it isn't just because I got great service. That's just the rules of the game. If you don't give great service you can't play.
No, it was because of something else. Something extra or special that I got from my interaction with that business. My pizza idea could be one of those maybe... (I really liked that idea)
But this isn't the only way of course. SOm ewill some won't, and some need to be prompted. So ask! In your email newsletter, on your blog, in person, or even in a personal email if they don't know how to do it.
There are many strategies you could use. But whatever you do, don't ignore this phenomena..whatever you do.
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January 22, 2010
Making trust based assets work for you
There are three basic levels of trust based assets. And as a consultant you need to have all three!
The Diamond standard, or highest level, are those most likely to convert into revenues, and often into repeat revenues.
Here you could include referrals from peers, friends and family. People whose word will be implicitly trusted and who would not risk their own relationships by referring somebody sub-standard.
Also in this area are long term subscribers to newsletters and blogs. But not just any subscribers. The ones that read the posts, work through the newsletters, and become part of the activity surrounding them.
All of these are likely to convert into commercial revenues at some stage. This is the fundamental element of trust based marketing. Many relationships built on trust gives you a lever large enough to accomplish great things.
The Gold Standard is next, and is where many of us live and work right now. These have less likelihood of converting straight away and are more about building your brand. These are referrals from a trusted source.
This could be through a radio program, TV interview, an article you published or an inteview ith a well read trade publication. This approach is to be the news and not the ads, the main event instead of the diversion.
But it also includes things like LinkedIn recommendations. If these are well collected they will represent the views of people who others might be likely to trust.
For example, your next client may not know the VP of HR for GM. But the fact that you are referred by them adds significantly to your trust account.
The Silver Standard are things that represent your brand, you thinking and your approaches. Silver standard TBA's are generally not subscription based and not part of a long term relationship.
Things like your marketing materials, your blog for random visitors and even your books, booklets and audio programs.
All are things that will introduce you to your potential clients, and all of them need o be stunning.
You can't do all of these at once. But you can do a very good job by working on two or three of them. The beauty of trust Based Assets is that they live on beyond your initial work with them.
I still get emails from members of a newsletter I used to publish in Latin America over a decade ago...
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January 18, 2010
Google, China and The Doubt Virus
Trust is hard to earn, when you have it people will endure minor mistakes and even the odd disaster. It is also hard to lose, but once lost the results are rapid and dramatic.
Like a glass jar trust can sustain several hairline fractures and still hold together, performing as it always has. But one large impact, or one hairline fracture too many and no force on earth is going to keep it all together.
It was the same with IndyMac, Washington Mutual and Lehman Brothers....
Endless censorship, a loaded media and finally the breach of their security with "attacks" on their account holders. Google is a company that exists purely on trust. Trust that they can deliver the leading edge, most integrated, securest platform for the modern Internet. And if they cannot, they have no business.
The more you tune into trust the more you see it ebbing and flowing through all the worlds great companies, societies and institutions.
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Like a glass jar trust can sustain several hairline fractures and still hold together, performing as it always has. But one large impact, or one hairline fracture too many and no force on earth is going to keep it all together.
It was the same with IndyMac, Washington Mutual and Lehman Brothers....
Endless censorship, a loaded media and finally the breach of their security with "attacks" on their account holders. Google is a company that exists purely on trust. Trust that they can deliver the leading edge, most integrated, securest platform for the modern Internet. And if they cannot, they have no business.
The Chinese government doesn't trust its people and cannot survive in a society where people have full access and full choice to decide their own future. Their glass is already broken...
For us, the challenge is to stop the hairline fractures from even starting. To make sure that at every turn our clients are rewarded for having placed their trust in us. Excellent work, results that are expected or better than expected and timelines that are beaten continually.
The more you tune into trust the more you see it ebbing and flowing through all the worlds great companies, societies and institutions.
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July 8, 2009
Arrogance or Humility?
In my new favorite Audio book, Secret Formulas of the Wizard of Ads, there is a line that really hit home with me...
For me, this goes to the heart of Trust as a sales tool, and of the core of how to become a trusted advisor.
In one of the Street Smart Consulting newsletters I made the point that there is often a lot of pressure on consultants to omit details, keep quiet and tell the client what they want to hear rather than the facts.
This is just rampant sycophancy at its worst... honesty can sometimes be a career limiting move, but but definitely is not a business limiting move.
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"Early in life I had to choose between honest arrogance and hypocritical humility. I chose the former and have seen no reason to change." - Frank Lloyd Wright
For me, this goes to the heart of Trust as a sales tool, and of the core of how to become a trusted advisor.
In one of the Street Smart Consulting newsletters I made the point that there is often a lot of pressure on consultants to omit details, keep quiet and tell the client what they want to hear rather than the facts.
This is just rampant sycophancy at its worst... honesty can sometimes be a career limiting move, but but definitely is not a business limiting move.
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June 26, 2009
Don't trust me...
Ever worked for a company who started an engagement in a passionate love affair with the client.. and then was somehow able to turn that good will into loathing and contempt?
The sorts of consulting or software firms where repeat business is done begrudgingly because there is nowhere else to go, not because they want to do business with them.
What is wrong here? how can something so good turn so bad?
When you hold somebodies trust you have an awesome responsibility. A responsibility to not make them look bad. People hate to admit when they are wrong. They hate it even more because they will often not admit it very quickly.
When a client trusts you they will help you through the rough times, they will even defend you if you make a mistake. (Which we all do at sometime or other)
But if they finally decide that you are not worth trusting. If they come to believe that your character or abilities were not what they had been led to believe, then they feel betrayed and humiliated.
And they will not trust you so easily next time.
In fact, they will go out of their way to use their brand, their "trust account" with other people to ensure that others do not make the same mistake that they did.
So why does this happen? More often than not it is because somewhere along the line; between the hype, the close and the delivery...someone (or a group of people) acted in a dishonest way. Misrepresenting the deal, the skills, or the capabilities of whatever it was that they were selling.
This just screams "don't trust me"
And after a while of blaming the market, the clients, their workers or their products... the realization that something is rotten just has to sink in or whatever value you had to get them won't be enough to keep them.
In a world where trust is scarce and getting even more rare, it is vital to nurture the trust based assets that you have today...they won't be so easy to come by tomorrow.
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The sorts of consulting or software firms where repeat business is done begrudgingly because there is nowhere else to go, not because they want to do business with them.
What is wrong here? how can something so good turn so bad?
When you hold somebodies trust you have an awesome responsibility. A responsibility to not make them look bad. People hate to admit when they are wrong. They hate it even more because they will often not admit it very quickly.
When a client trusts you they will help you through the rough times, they will even defend you if you make a mistake. (Which we all do at sometime or other)
But if they finally decide that you are not worth trusting. If they come to believe that your character or abilities were not what they had been led to believe, then they feel betrayed and humiliated.
And they will not trust you so easily next time.
In fact, they will go out of their way to use their brand, their "trust account" with other people to ensure that others do not make the same mistake that they did.
So why does this happen? More often than not it is because somewhere along the line; between the hype, the close and the delivery...someone (or a group of people) acted in a dishonest way. Misrepresenting the deal, the skills, or the capabilities of whatever it was that they were selling.
This just screams "don't trust me"
And after a while of blaming the market, the clients, their workers or their products... the realization that something is rotten just has to sink in or whatever value you had to get them won't be enough to keep them.
In a world where trust is scarce and getting even more rare, it is vital to nurture the trust based assets that you have today...they won't be so easy to come by tomorrow.
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June 11, 2009
Ways to lose trust...
Put an asterisk next to your pitch line, that'll do it every time.
Ask me to give you my credit card details before I sign up for your free service. (You obviously trust me)
Better yet, don't make me give you my credit card details for the free service, but ask me to do so once I have registered. (Before I can use the free service)
Send me to a long funnel page with lots of text in different colors and sizes, all leading me to the conclusion that this whatever is going to change my life forever...then charge me the low, low price at the end of the page. (Doesn't that just do it for ya?)
Reply to one of my tweets with a recommendation that I check out this related link...which takes me to a page above.
Post a discussion in our LinkedIn group recommending a tool or service you have discovered, which is actually produced by your company. (Inauthentic!!!!)
Send me an auto DM telling me how smart I am. (Do you even know my name?)
Today, everyone is connected to more people than ever before in history. Everyone is acutely aware that old forms of interruption marketing aren't working. And everyone is drifting every so slightly towards a service based economy as the manufacturing, technology and other indsutries fly away to low wage countries.
The combination of technology, desperation and opportunity is gving rise to a whole new level of interruption marketing or spam.
Don't be tempted.. I have been, and I am glad I resisted... people are far, far too cynical now. Aside from the annoyance factor, the likelihood of it working in a sustainable way is very low. And every day another couple of hundred people discover that they can spam everyone else... so the competition is pretty fierce too.
Build and leverage trust based assets...every time.
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Ask me to give you my credit card details before I sign up for your free service. (You obviously trust me)
Better yet, don't make me give you my credit card details for the free service, but ask me to do so once I have registered. (Before I can use the free service)
Send me to a long funnel page with lots of text in different colors and sizes, all leading me to the conclusion that this whatever is going to change my life forever...then charge me the low, low price at the end of the page. (Doesn't that just do it for ya?)
Reply to one of my tweets with a recommendation that I check out this related link...which takes me to a page above.
Post a discussion in our LinkedIn group recommending a tool or service you have discovered, which is actually produced by your company. (Inauthentic!!!!)
Send me an auto DM telling me how smart I am. (Do you even know my name?)
Today, everyone is connected to more people than ever before in history. Everyone is acutely aware that old forms of interruption marketing aren't working. And everyone is drifting every so slightly towards a service based economy as the manufacturing, technology and other indsutries fly away to low wage countries.
The combination of technology, desperation and opportunity is gving rise to a whole new level of interruption marketing or spam.
Don't be tempted.. I have been, and I am glad I resisted... people are far, far too cynical now. Aside from the annoyance factor, the likelihood of it working in a sustainable way is very low. And every day another couple of hundred people discover that they can spam everyone else... so the competition is pretty fierce too.
Build and leverage trust based assets...every time.
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June 6, 2009
Marketing 2.0 - It's all about trust !!
Marketing 1.0 was advertising. TV slots, Billboards, Radio spots and magazine (print) ads. These still have their place, and they're a lot of fun, but the game has changed. Cynicism, the evaporation of trust and changes in our reading and entertainment habits has given rise to a whole new swag of marketing techniques and practices.
Marketing 2.0 is all about trust. Using trust based avenues to reach the unreachable, and to do so in a way that raises the chance of them buying something from you, at some stage. This is more than getting your name out, it is getting your name out attached to something, some form of value or benefit that people want to possess.
Here are the top three marketing avenues available to you today.
1. Sponsored blog posts. Drawing on the trust of leading bloggers to reach their audience. These are great because bloggers will not risk their readership, or their credibility, by referring somebody who is not worth it. So the reviews are honest and allow you to be introduced to a large group of people by a trusted source.
2. Interviews and guest posts. The world is swimming with blogs, news sources and failing publications. In the increasingly commoditized world of news - scarce and stand out content is something to be fought over. You can make yourself this content for your markets. Another form of introduction to a large audience by a trusted source.
3. Permission based marketing avenues such as your own personal blog, your own personal email newsletters and your own channels on YouTube, or even Twitter. I think the most important element here is that the traffic you have, or the followers in the case of Twitter, need to be authentic . Not just the result of some following technique.
4. Referrals, but not as you have ever known them. Referrals are a different creature than they were even two short years ago. Today a Twitter Re-Tweet, if done by the right people, can have far more effect than a month of display ads on Adwords. Your LinkedIn recommendations, if collected from the right people, are a permanent and public trust based asset for you. A record of trust by those others may trust.
The world is changing. You can push against it and continue to employ old world gimmicks like TV spots, SEO advertising and spam-type marketing. Or you can start to really try to leverage the trust that exists out there.
Amway, as I have noted may times on this blog, is built on trust. A network of sales reps all over the world selling to their family, friends, and extended circles of friends.
Amway turned over 7 billion last year. Thats a lot of trust...
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Marketing 2.0 is all about trust. Using trust based avenues to reach the unreachable, and to do so in a way that raises the chance of them buying something from you, at some stage. This is more than getting your name out, it is getting your name out attached to something, some form of value or benefit that people want to possess.
Here are the top three marketing avenues available to you today.
1. Sponsored blog posts. Drawing on the trust of leading bloggers to reach their audience. These are great because bloggers will not risk their readership, or their credibility, by referring somebody who is not worth it. So the reviews are honest and allow you to be introduced to a large group of people by a trusted source.
2. Interviews and guest posts. The world is swimming with blogs, news sources and failing publications. In the increasingly commoditized world of news - scarce and stand out content is something to be fought over. You can make yourself this content for your markets. Another form of introduction to a large audience by a trusted source.
3. Permission based marketing avenues such as your own personal blog, your own personal email newsletters and your own channels on YouTube, or even Twitter. I think the most important element here is that the traffic you have, or the followers in the case of Twitter, need to be authentic . Not just the result of some following technique.
4. Referrals, but not as you have ever known them. Referrals are a different creature than they were even two short years ago. Today a Twitter Re-Tweet, if done by the right people, can have far more effect than a month of display ads on Adwords. Your LinkedIn recommendations, if collected from the right people, are a permanent and public trust based asset for you. A record of trust by those others may trust.
The world is changing. You can push against it and continue to employ old world gimmicks like TV spots, SEO advertising and spam-type marketing. Or you can start to really try to leverage the trust that exists out there.
Amway, as I have noted may times on this blog, is built on trust. A network of sales reps all over the world selling to their family, friends, and extended circles of friends.
Amway turned over 7 billion last year. Thats a lot of trust...
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May 20, 2009
The revenue generating power of Trust Based Marketing
For a while now I have been working on a new book about marketing. (Download chapter 1 here)
I was initially inspired to enter the world of consulting by Alan Weiss and his book about building a brand in the consulting industry. Recently I stumbled across Seth Godin and found a lot of common threads in their writing.
Further investigation of works by Bob Burg, Kevin Hogan, Daniel Pink and even Tom peters soon made it clear that there was a theme underlying each and every one of their books.
An unrevealed force that was guiding every action and attitude that they recommended, and once I started to analyze my own sales record it suddenly became very clear.
The hidden force behind every decision we make, and probably the most valuable marketing asset that exists today - is trust!
To see the results of a loss of trust just take a look at the recent financial crisis. When IndyMac was taken over by the regulators in the USA it was still a viable financial institution with over $17 billion in assets.
But the trust evaporated, there was a rush on deposits, and the game was over.
If you are able to harness trust, to build trust based assets, then you can build a lever large enough to change the world. Amway is built on trust. Multi level marketing organizations are dependent on people selling to their friends and family, and then extending the circle from there.
In 2007 Amway earned over $8.4 billion USD.
In this book I am exploring the whole concept of trust, trying to define what a Trust Based Asset actually is and how to build one, and how trust can be used to generate a permanent revenue stream.
You can download chapter 1 here. It has had some pretty solid reviews but what I really want to know is what do the readers of this blog think about it?
I look forward to getting your feedback.
I was initially inspired to enter the world of consulting by Alan Weiss and his book about building a brand in the consulting industry. Recently I stumbled across Seth Godin and found a lot of common threads in their writing.
Further investigation of works by Bob Burg, Kevin Hogan, Daniel Pink and even Tom peters soon made it clear that there was a theme underlying each and every one of their books.
An unrevealed force that was guiding every action and attitude that they recommended, and once I started to analyze my own sales record it suddenly became very clear.
The hidden force behind every decision we make, and probably the most valuable marketing asset that exists today - is trust!
To see the results of a loss of trust just take a look at the recent financial crisis. When IndyMac was taken over by the regulators in the USA it was still a viable financial institution with over $17 billion in assets.
But the trust evaporated, there was a rush on deposits, and the game was over.
If you are able to harness trust, to build trust based assets, then you can build a lever large enough to change the world. Amway is built on trust. Multi level marketing organizations are dependent on people selling to their friends and family, and then extending the circle from there.
In 2007 Amway earned over $8.4 billion USD.
In this book I am exploring the whole concept of trust, trying to define what a Trust Based Asset actually is and how to build one, and how trust can be used to generate a permanent revenue stream.
You can download chapter 1 here. It has had some pretty solid reviews but what I really want to know is what do the readers of this blog think about it?
I look forward to getting your feedback.
May 14, 2009
Trust Springs from Candor
I love The Tudors, fantastic period piece about the travails of power and how it is used.
As you look around you can see more than a few parallels to todays world.
King Henry VIII, as with most monarchs, was surrounded by sycophants. People who were merely nodding heads, and with good reason. Being anything else tended to leave you about a head shorter than normal in those days.
Today, even though beheading is out of fashion in the West at least, you see similar parallels in the workplace and in business. Bullies and beligerent types tend to be surrounded by sycophants and nodding heads. In fact there are several personal brands out there built on the back of arrogance and the nodding heads that feed it.
But at the base of it all we are still in Tudor England.
Despite all protestations to the contrary, nodding heads are not interested in the health and well being of the boss. Nor are they interested in the fortunes of the company in its many guises.
No, they are only interested in themselves. It is not a supportive role it is a defensive role. It is all about deflecting attention, avoiding suspicion, and evading blame.
At the base of it are the carreer aspirations that most of us foster - only expressed through an exceptionally undesireable and unproductive tactic.
If you lead a team - encourage candor. If you are part of a team - encourage candor. If you are dealing with a client - display candor. And if you are working with powerful people - be sure to wear your candor on your sleeve.
Candor is not disloyalty. Quite to the contrary, it is loyalty to the cause, the company and the future.
Being open and honest in all your dealings can often leave you on the outer, exposed, and even in danger of losing your livelihood. It has happened to me in the past. But it is far more digestable and effective than the alternative.
As I said in one of theStreet Smart Consulting newsletters - Candor/Honesty could well be a career limiting move; but it is not a revenue limiting move.
Clients need honest and candid people around them. They already have a good collection of nodding heads.
The Notorious Consultant
What are you doing about your personal brand? Do you even know what it is or what it says about you right now?
Do you have any level of notoriety at all? Do people in your game know of you, in any way?
A brand means that when people hear your name there is an image and perception associated with that. Brand = Notoriety. And you want your brand to send out the message that you are a person who can be trusted to deal with their problems, or to satisfy their requirements.
The problem with current thinking on branding is that it has been diluted by much of the talk about Web 2.0 and the social media phenomena.
We have started to act as if we are in Big Brother all of a sudden. Everyone is watching your Tweets, everyone is reading your blog, the boss can see your LinkedIn profile. Oh no! Does she think I'm trying to get another job??
So we are all living in the fishbowl. By itself that's not too bad, but the real problem is that people start to act as they think they should act, not how they actually are.
Political correctness creeps in. Things that, in polite conversation, they might disagree with - they are suddenly fervently in favor of because it is what is expected of them.
And this leads us to the endless stream of blog posts, tweets, profiles and updates telling everyone how you want to help the world, with nobody taking any risk of offending a single person. All very bland, and very boring.
If you want to fit in the worst thing that can happen is that you achieve it.
Is your brand about what people read of your tweets, your LinkedIn profile and your blog posts? Definitely.
Is it the end of the story? No way - it is just a recent addition to an epic novel that has been running for decades. Your brand comes about through getting your name out there.
1) Write a book. Heck, write three. I have three books coming out later this year. In addition to the three I have already written on engineering.
When I enter a conference, a seminar, or even someones office they more often than not know of me. They know my name and often they even know some of my positions on certain issues.
It gives you credibility. Even if nobody reads it. It has to be good, preferably by a third party publisher. (E.g. not self published) and it needs to have at least been heard of. (Books are all about branding. You can earn some money from them, but Harry Potter it is not!)
2) You need to get articles out there. Not through the article marketing channels but through magazines, professional websites (while there are still some left), through other obscure but authoritative sources such as (In my case) the IEEE.
Write for internal company journals, trade magazines who still have a decent subscription base, and try to get into the prestigious journals for your sector. For example, I used to run regular articles in a magazine called Utility Week in the UK. Great for reaching the ears of hard to reach people.
3) Do you have a newsletter? No - write one! Get organized enough to write a few paragraphs for every second week and you will be amazed how much this impacts on your personal brand.
4) Speak. Speak at trade shows, run seminars, speak at industry conferences and do webinars. Get the name out. Regardless of what anybody says you are not stupid if you are not making top dollar from speaking! You are stupid if you do not see the potential that it has to gain you what will ultimately open doors for you...
Notoriety...
Do you have any level of notoriety at all? Do people in your game know of you, in any way?
A brand means that when people hear your name there is an image and perception associated with that. Brand = Notoriety. And you want your brand to send out the message that you are a person who can be trusted to deal with their problems, or to satisfy their requirements.
The problem with current thinking on branding is that it has been diluted by much of the talk about Web 2.0 and the social media phenomena.
We have started to act as if we are in Big Brother all of a sudden. Everyone is watching your Tweets, everyone is reading your blog, the boss can see your LinkedIn profile. Oh no! Does she think I'm trying to get another job??
So we are all living in the fishbowl. By itself that's not too bad, but the real problem is that people start to act as they think they should act, not how they actually are.
Political correctness creeps in. Things that, in polite conversation, they might disagree with - they are suddenly fervently in favor of because it is what is expected of them.
And this leads us to the endless stream of blog posts, tweets, profiles and updates telling everyone how you want to help the world, with nobody taking any risk of offending a single person. All very bland, and very boring.
If you want to fit in the worst thing that can happen is that you achieve it.
Is your brand about what people read of your tweets, your LinkedIn profile and your blog posts? Definitely.
Is it the end of the story? No way - it is just a recent addition to an epic novel that has been running for decades. Your brand comes about through getting your name out there.
1) Write a book. Heck, write three. I have three books coming out later this year. In addition to the three I have already written on engineering.
When I enter a conference, a seminar, or even someones office they more often than not know of me. They know my name and often they even know some of my positions on certain issues.
It gives you credibility. Even if nobody reads it. It has to be good, preferably by a third party publisher. (E.g. not self published) and it needs to have at least been heard of. (Books are all about branding. You can earn some money from them, but Harry Potter it is not!)
2) You need to get articles out there. Not through the article marketing channels but through magazines, professional websites (while there are still some left), through other obscure but authoritative sources such as (In my case) the IEEE.
Write for internal company journals, trade magazines who still have a decent subscription base, and try to get into the prestigious journals for your sector. For example, I used to run regular articles in a magazine called Utility Week in the UK. Great for reaching the ears of hard to reach people.
3) Do you have a newsletter? No - write one! Get organized enough to write a few paragraphs for every second week and you will be amazed how much this impacts on your personal brand.
4) Speak. Speak at trade shows, run seminars, speak at industry conferences and do webinars. Get the name out. Regardless of what anybody says you are not stupid if you are not making top dollar from speaking! You are stupid if you do not see the potential that it has to gain you what will ultimately open doors for you...
Notoriety...
April 26, 2009
LinkedIn, sycophancy and the deceit of good intentions
Deceit and dishonesty are often masked by good intentions. Sounds counter intuitive doesn't it?
Thats because sycophancy is not about helping you it is about helping themselves. (Often to either your cash or just your good graces)
This is dangerous because the world really doesn't work like that. I don't mean the network you choose to interact with, or the city where you live, or even the country where you work. I mean the world!
Related Posts
We already understand many of the common forms of dishonesty; touching up the track record or CV, bait and switch marketing (or hiring), blatant lying and misrepresentation are stand out examples of deceitful practices.
But what about something a little more subtle? For example, what about the annual budget game?
You know the one. You send in the budget that is 15% larger than you want because you know your manager is going to cut it down. She (your manager) sticks to the rules and sends it back for you to revise down. Or when you hurriedly spend every cent you have in the last month to make sure that they don't take it away from you next year.
This is not business tactics, it's dishonesty. In fact it is fraud.
That's heavy isn't it? Fraud. Defrauding the shareholders and owners of your company into giving you more money than you need to do the work that is set for you.
What about something a little more obscure still... what about blogging?
There are a rash of bloggers out there who will bend over backwards to not offend anybody. They fire off veiled criticisms and sanctimonious rants while maintaining a veneer of "Why don't we all just hug?"
It is false, is is annoying, and it smacks of insincerity.
Something we have all learned from our time in business is that, unfortunately, sycophancy works. In fact many managers stack their staff with sycophants. People who fill the role of nodding head to every wild idea, stupid claim or delusional forecasts.
These are the people who nodded their heads while Enron went off the rails, in fact - they did the auditing!!
They nodded quietly while GM decided that SUV's were wiser than efficient cars, when Angus and Robertson decided not to become Amazon and when eBay decided Skype was aligned with their core business. (Really..how did that happen?)
Thats because sycophancy is not about helping you it is about helping themselves. (Often to either your cash or just your good graces)
In the social media universe they are potentially more dangerous than ever. They tell you "it's all about you", "if thats the way you want to do it then thats okay", and they will go to great lengths not to state an opinion or concept that any person (ever) could ever find even slightly offensive.
This is dangerous because the world really doesn't work like that. I don't mean the network you choose to interact with, or the city where you live, or even the country where you work. I mean the world!
The world is shrinking, and you are more likely today to do business with or in the wider international environment than at any other time in history. Nations are still engaging in institutional slavery, misogyny, high level corruption and rampant injustice.
...and they (some bloggers) are trying to prepare people for the world by telling them anything they want to do is okay, by holding back on giving them the hard news, and by allowing them to continue with thinking, practices and techniques that make them feel good, but are ultimately disastrous.
Shame...
I tend to be more direct. I write about what I know, and if I say something works that is because it really has worked for me. Advice rooted in experience. Don't get me wrong, I am not a fan of rudeness for the sake of being rude, but I tend to call it like it is.
And sometimes you need to shout at people to get their attention, sometimes you need to be pushy so that they get the message. Particularly when it is a message worth hearing. One that can change the course of their careers.
I got slammed by a guy recently as "rude". Fair enough. But the stuff he wrote about in reply was somewhere between wrong and just lightweight. A sanctimonious attack, supported by lightweight and incorrect advice, and even advice seemingly in support of fraud.
This is the point.. false sincerity may get you started, but it is not going to deliver the content and value for the readership to keep you going. Sycophancy may keep you around as a willing servant, but it will not allow you to produce advice that is of value.
And despite all of the good intentions in the world... it is dishonest, misleading and counterfeit. It leads to the wrong decisions being taken and it restricts the candor of others. Even if you do it with the best of intentions.
Related Posts
- Turn your LinkedIn account into a powerful revenue generator
- The newest Trust Based Asset - LinkedIn referrals
- Why are people so stupid on LinkedIn?
April 6, 2009
Trust and the downfall of print media
Once you are able to recognize it, you can see the impacts of trust in practically every field of human endeavor.
For example; much has been said about the newspaper industries decline. And while I don't buy into the "sudden death" line of thought, there is no doubt that they still have a long way to fall before the industry is able to stabilize itself.
A lot of the thinking is framed in the following way.
Since 9/11 Google has aggregated news. This has shown the world that a resource they believed was scarce and of value - was actually a commodity. Valuable still, but a commodity nonetheless. Every time a news story breaks you can immediately find a dozen different versions of the same story on the Google news site.
Therefore, the logic goes, we are used to receiving our news a different way now, and we therefore purchase less newspapers. Less newspapers mean less circulation and less circulation means less contact with a sought after demographic.
And the lower circulation (READ: contact) with the general public has made the entire medium less desirable to advertisers. Fair enough. It is a logical argument, and I am pretty sure that the way we receive and read news is one of the driving factors. (At least it is in my case)
But it is far from the only reason.The charts below came from information that is publicly available from the Newspaper Association of America .
The graph above shows the relationship between paid circulation and advertising and it shows some pretty stark facts.
Paid circulation for daily newspapers actually reached their zenith at around 63,340,000 copies. A huge figure, no wonder they used to earn a lot of money.
But surprisingly, even once newspaper circulation rates started to collapse downwards, the advertising revenues continued to rise. Revenues from Print Advertising actually peaked at $48.6 Billion in 2000 when circulation had crumbled to 55,773,000. (A drop of approximately 8 million copies)
So is paid circulation actually to blame? It has been falling for a long time while the advertising revenue was actually rising. The fall off since 2000, their highest revenue year, is undoubtedly linked to Google news and other aggregation phenomena.
But again - this hasn't impacted their revenue in the past. Quite to the contrary. There are another set of figures that really tell the tale better.
This is taken from the TechCrunch site which was in turn taken from a report written by PWC on teh growth of the online advertising market. Recommended reading.
This shows the real culprit - online advertising. A trend that has quickened with the advent of the Google Adwords platform, pay per post, Text links, affiliate advertising and a whole range of diverse online offerings.
In the hey day, even as late as 2000, display advertising was a "faith based initiative".
Faith that consumers would act if they saw the ad 8 times (O whatever the figure is) and faith that the up-tick in our business is the result of the repeated high cost adverts we have been running.
But...using Adwords faith is replaced by certainty. We are certain that our ads were clicked on X times, and we are certain that this resulted in a Y% conversion rate, and we are certain that this translates directly into a revenue of $XXX.
Trust can exist without hard evidence. But when it is compared with something designed to achieve the same result, (the telephone rings, we receive an email, or the product gets sold) then the one with certainty wins over the one requiring faith.
Science and religion...
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush...
...and online advertising versus the old print mode.
People are quicker to trust what they can be sure of.
For example; much has been said about the newspaper industries decline. And while I don't buy into the "sudden death" line of thought, there is no doubt that they still have a long way to fall before the industry is able to stabilize itself.
A lot of the thinking is framed in the following way.
Since 9/11 Google has aggregated news. This has shown the world that a resource they believed was scarce and of value - was actually a commodity. Valuable still, but a commodity nonetheless. Every time a news story breaks you can immediately find a dozen different versions of the same story on the Google news site.
Therefore, the logic goes, we are used to receiving our news a different way now, and we therefore purchase less newspapers. Less newspapers mean less circulation and less circulation means less contact with a sought after demographic.
And the lower circulation (READ: contact) with the general public has made the entire medium less desirable to advertisers. Fair enough. It is a logical argument, and I am pretty sure that the way we receive and read news is one of the driving factors. (At least it is in my case)
But it is far from the only reason.The charts below came from information that is publicly available from the Newspaper Association of America .
The graph above shows the relationship between paid circulation and advertising and it shows some pretty stark facts.
Paid circulation for daily newspapers actually reached their zenith at around 63,340,000 copies. A huge figure, no wonder they used to earn a lot of money.
But surprisingly, even once newspaper circulation rates started to collapse downwards, the advertising revenues continued to rise. Revenues from Print Advertising actually peaked at $48.6 Billion in 2000 when circulation had crumbled to 55,773,000. (A drop of approximately 8 million copies)
So is paid circulation actually to blame? It has been falling for a long time while the advertising revenue was actually rising. The fall off since 2000, their highest revenue year, is undoubtedly linked to Google news and other aggregation phenomena.
But again - this hasn't impacted their revenue in the past. Quite to the contrary. There are another set of figures that really tell the tale better.
This shows the real culprit - online advertising. A trend that has quickened with the advent of the Google Adwords platform, pay per post, Text links, affiliate advertising and a whole range of diverse online offerings.
In the hey day, even as late as 2000, display advertising was a "faith based initiative".
Faith that consumers would act if they saw the ad 8 times (O whatever the figure is) and faith that the up-tick in our business is the result of the repeated high cost adverts we have been running.
But...using Adwords faith is replaced by certainty. We are certain that our ads were clicked on X times, and we are certain that this resulted in a Y% conversion rate, and we are certain that this translates directly into a revenue of $XXX.
Trust can exist without hard evidence. But when it is compared with something designed to achieve the same result, (the telephone rings, we receive an email, or the product gets sold) then the one with certainty wins over the one requiring faith.
Science and religion...
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush...
...and online advertising versus the old print mode.
People are quicker to trust what they can be sure of.
March 27, 2009
A willingness to trust
No man ever became president of the USA who already had experience in running the largest economy in the world. (Or the most powerful military at the same time)
Many people are promoted to CEO who have no previous experience running a large corporation. Jeffrey Inmelt was pretty experienced, but stepping up to the mantle of CEO at GE is several orders of magnitude different. And he had never done that before...
This theme occurs again and again. new hires, promotions, the first contract, the first time they come to one of your courses... and so on.
They don't know for certain if you are going to be worthy of their trust in your character and abilities. But they are willing to take a chance...
In Latin America one time I was referred by the CEO of a resources firm to their senior Director for asset management.
After our first meeting he decided he was willing to trust me further and met some of the people that I recommended to him.
Within three months this willingness to trust had turned into several small scale projects, culminating in a $3 million USD contract for software services.
And I still keep in contact with him today. And I still hold his trust...
This is the benefit of trust based assets like referrals from a trusted source, and an enviable track record of success. It lowers the perceived risk.
The more you develop trust based assets, the more likely you are to encounter a high willingness to trust. And the more likely you are to convert that into revenues.
Many people are promoted to CEO who have no previous experience running a large corporation. Jeffrey Inmelt was pretty experienced, but stepping up to the mantle of CEO at GE is several orders of magnitude different. And he had never done that before...
This theme occurs again and again. new hires, promotions, the first contract, the first time they come to one of your courses... and so on.
They don't know for certain if you are going to be worthy of their trust in your character and abilities. But they are willing to take a chance...
In Latin America one time I was referred by the CEO of a resources firm to their senior Director for asset management.
After our first meeting he decided he was willing to trust me further and met some of the people that I recommended to him.
Within three months this willingness to trust had turned into several small scale projects, culminating in a $3 million USD contract for software services.
And I still keep in contact with him today. And I still hold his trust...
This is the benefit of trust based assets like referrals from a trusted source, and an enviable track record of success. It lowers the perceived risk.
The more you develop trust based assets, the more likely you are to encounter a high willingness to trust. And the more likely you are to convert that into revenues.
March 16, 2009
Using business downtime to grow your Trust Account
I received an email the other day from an old acquaintance who I had used in the past as a mortgage broker. I enjoyed the experience, and I think he did a good job for us in terms of advising and helping us to make the right decisions. I intend to use him again.
The email was a newsletter he had put together. A little amateurish - but great content. I am in Australia and he wrote about issues relevant to my market.For example:
This is a great display of how a company that is in tough times is leveraging its trust based assets to create ongoing touch points, and to keep themselves at the tip of their prospective customers minds.
I thought it was a great idea. If you are in the Mortgage industry, or another industry that is feeling the pinch what can you do to create a Trust Based Asset today?
Is it time for you to go into the publishing game? Everyone has their own channel these days. There are literally millions of people now publishing blogs, newsletters and even local newspapers.
The email was a newsletter he had put together. A little amateurish - but great content. I am in Australia and he wrote about issues relevant to my market.For example:
- The Reserve bank of Australia's latest decrees on interest rates and what that meant to potential borrowers,
- Some thoughts on the current environment if you are thinking of moving ahead with a purchase
- Great advice on prepayment of your mortgage and some tips on pre-purchase inspections
This is a great display of how a company that is in tough times is leveraging its trust based assets to create ongoing touch points, and to keep themselves at the tip of their prospective customers minds.
- I have already worked with them, and we came to a great solution. I trust their abilities and their character - and -
- They write about things that I can use to get immediate value from in their e-newsletter, reinforcing my trust in their abilities to help me.
I thought it was a great idea. If you are in the Mortgage industry, or another industry that is feeling the pinch what can you do to create a Trust Based Asset today?
Is it time for you to go into the publishing game? Everyone has their own channel these days. There are literally millions of people now publishing blogs, newsletters and even local newspapers.
- Make sure to get authorization from your existing clients / prospects to include them in the initial email mail out.
- Find (say) 10 stories to print over a two week period. (Each week is a good idea, but a weekly schedule will kill you if you are also trying to boost flagging revenues)
- They need to be related (even slightly related) to the central theme of the newsletter. And including how-to tips and opinion pieces on recent market developments is a great starting point.
- Include the obligatory forward to a friend email links so that your readers can include others in the news mail out.
- Get a sign up box for your site, and think about starting a separate site just for the newsletter!
- Advertise it on notice boards, shop windows and others in your chosen area. (Most small business is local, if not then there are internet versions of water cooler venues today)
- Soft sell, light promotion of your abilities and character. Side adverts on your offerings.
The goal is to build your Trust Account with your prospects and past clients. Including regular links to your LinkedIn profile (say) and asking them to provide recommendations is another way that you can leverage this, and grow your Trust Account at the same time.
The results? You are on the tip of their mind when it comes to investing or spending in your area. You are providing continual value by writing about areas and issues that they can use immediately, and that they need further information on.
And if your story is about them, with their permission, then you are able to provide them with a bit of notoriety - which most people appreciate when done with sincerity.
Good luck!
March 15, 2009
The Snowball Effect of Trust Based Marketing
The good thing about Trust Based Assets is that after a while they begin to have a snowball effect.
I have taken time to develop a number of trust based assets. Ranging from the passive B2B assets like my LinkedIn profile and recommendations, through to actively managed assets such as newsletters and network connections.
At all times the goal is to manage the asset by continuing to validate their judgment that they were right to trust in your character and in your abilities.
In the past two months I people who I have developed a trust based relationship with over the past decade have been responsible for introducing me to Managing Directors, EVP's, CEO's and even the major shareholder of a significant resources operation in Asia.
These are diamond class referrals. That is, they are referrals that are given from one industry leader to another. This means they are willing to trust you to the point where they attach their name and reputation to you.
Believe me - if they think that you cannot deliver, or that you are a person of dubious integrity, then they will either forget your name very quickly - or worse - they will actively work to make sure that you do not find a way into their circle of contacts and colleagues.
Everything starts somewhere, and if you are reading this and you haven't worked out that consulting is based almost entirely on managing relationships then stop now!
I have taken time to develop a number of trust based assets. Ranging from the passive B2B assets like my LinkedIn profile and recommendations, through to actively managed assets such as newsletters and network connections.
At all times the goal is to manage the asset by continuing to validate their judgment that they were right to trust in your character and in your abilities.
In the past two months I people who I have developed a trust based relationship with over the past decade have been responsible for introducing me to Managing Directors, EVP's, CEO's and even the major shareholder of a significant resources operation in Asia.
These are diamond class referrals. That is, they are referrals that are given from one industry leader to another. This means they are willing to trust you to the point where they attach their name and reputation to you.
Believe me - if they think that you cannot deliver, or that you are a person of dubious integrity, then they will either forget your name very quickly - or worse - they will actively work to make sure that you do not find a way into their circle of contacts and colleagues.
Building the Snowball
Everything starts somewhere, and if you are reading this and you haven't worked out that consulting is based almost entirely on managing relationships then stop now!
- You gain someones trust enough for them to give you work...
- You deliver results that are extra-ordinary. results that confirm their great judgment, and give them bragging right when they speak with their colleagues next.
- You ask, or they volunteer, to refer you to others in their circle of influence.
- Repeat steps 1 and 2
- Now you have 2 people who trust your word and your work. They are willing to give you repeat work based on that trust, and they are willing to line up to tell others how you can help them.
- And on and on it goes...
Does it take a while? Yes.
Does it deliver the value you need to be a viable consulting professional? You betcha!
The trust based assets I have generated over the years I have been consulting are without a doubt the most valuable assets that I have to my name. (And I'm not doing too bad these days)
It turns contacts into friends, a project into a career, and a job into an enjoyable and satisfying way of life.
Today my trust based assets, coupled with standard business developmental approaches and consulting execution methods, generate income not only for me and those who work with me - but also for friends and colleagues I have made all over the world.
And the snowball continues to grow...
February 7, 2009
Freebies and the Trust Based Relationship
After a career speaking to groups all over the world I recently suffered my first real bout of nervousness for about 12 years.
It was my first seminar, ever, in Australia. That in itself is amazing enough. But it was also in the company where I started my career, and a company where my brother and father still work to this day. They are also pretty well recognized for hiring and deploying quality people in my area.
And for some reason, all of those things together really got to me.
Fortunately, a lifetime of performing in front of groups paid off and I am pretty sure that it went well. In fact, I have already received a couple of congratulatory emails so I am relieved and extremely happy of course.
After I left the main conversation, strangely, was "how much did THAT cost?"
There was stunned silence when the room found out that I actually did it for nothing. Zero. Not the promise of work - nothing.
Why? Isn't that commercially foolish? I don' think so.
I am big on trust. Very big on it. In fact - as people get more and more cynical it is probably the best marketing and sales tool that we have. And not an artificial construct - but sincere trust.
Trust in my character, that I am a person who would follow through on what I promise to deliver. And trust in my abilities - that I (and my team) bring a mixed bag of scarce and valuable skills that can help their organization to get quick cashable results.
And I am happy to invest my time and travel in developing that process.
It takes time - but once people develop trust in your character and abilities they are happy to work with you. They give you repeat work, they line up to give you personal references and if anything goes wrong (as things sometimes do) then they will actively defend you.
trust takes time to lose. People are not very willing to admit they made a mistake so they will tolerate a lot before they have to openly admit that they were wrong to trust you.
Once trust is lost they will battle with you every step of the way. They won't call, and they won't tell anybody else about you. In fact - they will actively work against you if the opportunity presents itself.
So why would I do this for nothing? A small investment in developing a commercial relationship built firmly on trust. A phenomenal investment any day, and a particularly important investment as we head deeper into uncertain times.
February 1, 2009
Wanted - New home for outsourced labor
The Satyam disaster has uncovered some of the darker sides of off shoring repetitive functions to low cost labor markets.
You would think the warning signs were there earlier with a rash of warnings about identity theft. (2005 ) (2006 ) (2008 )
Unfortunately, as seems to have been common during the "free market rules" days of the economy, none of this mattered so long as it didn't unnecessarily dent the profits of the companies doing the off shoring.
The problem has always been the triple threats of rampant corruption, a lack of corporate governance, and a desperate need for ready cash. The result - Satyam and a crisis of confidence.
We seem to be finally coming around to understand that cheap labor is okay - as long as it comes with the controls and governance that we should expect with the sensitive data that they are managing.
Will there be a public outcry? Not yet.
Will the corporate start to look for higher levels of governance and corporate ethics? Not if it threatens profits.
But this is nearing the tipping point of a evaporation of trust. And as we saw recently with the failure of gigantic financial institutions like Lehman Brothers, an evaporation of trust can be fatal to any industry, any company, and any nation - no matter how big and powerful they are now.
You would think the warning signs were there earlier with a rash of warnings about identity theft. (2005 ) (2006 ) (2008 )
Unfortunately, as seems to have been common during the "free market rules" days of the economy, none of this mattered so long as it didn't unnecessarily dent the profits of the companies doing the off shoring.
The problem has always been the triple threats of rampant corruption, a lack of corporate governance, and a desperate need for ready cash. The result - Satyam and a crisis of confidence.
We seem to be finally coming around to understand that cheap labor is okay - as long as it comes with the controls and governance that we should expect with the sensitive data that they are managing.
Will there be a public outcry? Not yet.
Will the corporate start to look for higher levels of governance and corporate ethics? Not if it threatens profits.
But this is nearing the tipping point of a evaporation of trust. And as we saw recently with the failure of gigantic financial institutions like Lehman Brothers, an evaporation of trust can be fatal to any industry, any company, and any nation - no matter how big and powerful they are now.
January 25, 2009
The Longevity of Trust
I have always been a big fan of networks and networking. I think this is one of the most underutilized concepts in marketing. I have been nurturing a network of contacts since I was about 20 years old.
And today I need them.
I recently returned to Australia where I am heading up the consultancy arm of a major international services company.
The vast majority of people I am working for, partnering with, or hiring are people from this network. Friends, connections and relationships spanning almost a quarter of a century.
You never really know how long some people are going to be bouncing around the professional scene - and you never know where they (or you) are going to end up.
Relationships built on trust, trust in your character and in your abilities, are enduring. They endure career changes, moving between countries, employers and professions.
Loyalty is horizontal not vertical, and during my career it always has been. And it lasts as long as you, and they, are still in the great game of business.
And today I need them.
I recently returned to Australia where I am heading up the consultancy arm of a major international services company.
The vast majority of people I am working for, partnering with, or hiring are people from this network. Friends, connections and relationships spanning almost a quarter of a century.
You never really know how long some people are going to be bouncing around the professional scene - and you never know where they (or you) are going to end up.
Relationships built on trust, trust in your character and in your abilities, are enduring. They endure career changes, moving between countries, employers and professions.
Loyalty is horizontal not vertical, and during my career it always has been. And it lasts as long as you, and they, are still in the great game of business.
January 12, 2009
The newest trust based asset...LinkedIn Recommendations
Trust based assets are those things that are based on trust in your character and abilities. Regardless of whether you sell software, services, training, speaking or whatever.
They include referral systems such as those employed by Amway and The Pampered Chef, blogs and online newsletters, press interviews and blog posts about you or your product, and word of mouth marketing.
One of the most neglected, yet highly useful trust based assets is your string of recommendations on LinkedIn. Recommendations are almost, though not quite, like Business to Business referrals. But you can overdo it I have found...here are some tips based on my own profile.
1) Quality over quantity. Nobody wades through classified ads anymore, nobody is going to wade through 200 recommendations looking for the jewels.
2) Referrals from trusted sources. My recommendations include leaders of national consultancies in the USA, Chief Executive Officers, Company Directors and recognized names in the consulting field.
I have recommendations from colleagues also, and I sincerely appreciate them, but these need to be balanced out with recommendations fro trusted sources.
3) Don't do recommendation SPAM!! I hate this stuff. Insincere referrals from people who barely know you and who are just doing it to get their count up.
I have had people who send me one email, ever, in their lives, and they ask me to refer them on LinkedIn.
What am I going to say? "Gee, she really writes a mean email!" Whenever I see stuff like that, and it is obvious, my opinion immediately drops of the person whose profile I am reading, and of the person who wrote the recommendation.
It is near to fraud if you think of it a little deeper...
4) Use them! Like photos in your electronic camera, you need to set them free...
Put them on your website, in your email signature maybe, on your CV (definitely), in quotations and in tender documents. They are all representations of your brand and, if you have collected them correctly; they represent referrals from trusted sources.
The days of "references available on request" are over, long live the days of "references available online - this instant!"
They include referral systems such as those employed by Amway and The Pampered Chef, blogs and online newsletters, press interviews and blog posts about you or your product, and word of mouth marketing.
One of the most neglected, yet highly useful trust based assets is your string of recommendations on LinkedIn. Recommendations are almost, though not quite, like Business to Business referrals. But you can overdo it I have found...here are some tips based on my own profile.
1) Quality over quantity. Nobody wades through classified ads anymore, nobody is going to wade through 200 recommendations looking for the jewels.
2) Referrals from trusted sources. My recommendations include leaders of national consultancies in the USA, Chief Executive Officers, Company Directors and recognized names in the consulting field.
I have recommendations from colleagues also, and I sincerely appreciate them, but these need to be balanced out with recommendations fro trusted sources.
3) Don't do recommendation SPAM!! I hate this stuff. Insincere referrals from people who barely know you and who are just doing it to get their count up.
I have had people who send me one email, ever, in their lives, and they ask me to refer them on LinkedIn.
What am I going to say? "Gee, she really writes a mean email!" Whenever I see stuff like that, and it is obvious, my opinion immediately drops of the person whose profile I am reading, and of the person who wrote the recommendation.
It is near to fraud if you think of it a little deeper...
4) Use them! Like photos in your electronic camera, you need to set them free...
Put them on your website, in your email signature maybe, on your CV (definitely), in quotations and in tender documents. They are all representations of your brand and, if you have collected them correctly; they represent referrals from trusted sources.
The days of "references available on request" are over, long live the days of "references available online - this instant!"
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