Know Your Game
If you’ve read Chris Brogan and Julien Smith’s Trust Agents, you’re familiar with changing the game to succeed. Game changers are people that don’t just outperform their competition, they bring something to the table that transforms the industry or spawns a whole new industry. Maybe you’re like HubSpot, and have the ability to create an industry based on inbound marketing.
Before you can change your game, you need to know exactly what your game is. If you’re a sports fan, I have no doubt that you know Colin Cowherd. Cowherd always takes shots at people that think they can be sports radio personalities. It’s not negative, he just hits people with a dose of reality. The reality is that you don’t know his game. You might know a TON about sports or get everything right about your team, but that’s not Cowherd’s job. Like all radio personalities, Cowherd doesn’t get paid to be right about sports. He gets paid to entertain you. He admits that when he’s wrong, his ratings are noticeably higher.
To a listener, it sounds like Cowherd has a job because he knows sports (and there is a level of knowledge required…but that can be learned if you’re interested). You can’t compete with Colin Cowherd until you realize the arena in which you are competing – you’re not competing in sports, you’re competing in entertainment. If you take the entertainment too far, you’re not valuable to the sports community and if you take the sports too far, you’re too boring.
Another example in sports is Dwight Freeney. When asked about his game plan with an injured ankle in the Super Bowl, Freeney told reporters that he planned to find the ball and tackle the guy holding it. It sounds simple, but think about how many football players place emphasis on beating the guy in front of them. Freeney mentioned that he doesn’t get paid to beat his man or tire out an offensive lineman, he gets paid to put the man with the ball on the turf. He understands his game. He is past the obstacle directly in front of him when he starts (mentally), and he can focus on the true goal.
Do you recognize your game? Do you understand the reasoning behind your methods? It helps if you focus on problem-oriented problem solving. Yes, solutions are good, but if you think about solutions, you often miss the core of the problem. For example – if you’re living space is too dark, the solution might be to get more lights (one logical route). Consider this though: the problem is not that you don’t have enough lighting fixtures (lighting fixtures are ONE solution), the problem is lack of light. The problem opens new paths other than going out to buy new lighting fixtures. Have any ideas?
Friday Five: Build Momentum for 2010
Happy Friday to all and to all a good Friday Five! It’s been a great week around here and I’m looking forward to taking the momentum into the weekend and carrying it through the end of the year lull. I hope you can do the same. I’d like to thank Danny Brown once again for allowing me to run with his idea of Friday Five recommendations.
1.) Tweet ‘Em or Leave ‘Em – I always like to start off with a recommendation from Twitter. This person stood out this week as a top conversationalist with ideas to match. He solidified a recommendation last night in the #u30pro chat as one of the most valuable contributors. @jackieadkins is a young professional, marketing idea engine, and sports fan – what else do could you need? He also runs a great blog called The Curbside Marketer at jackieadkins.com.
2.) Blogrocker – Today I coin the term “Blogrock.” If you are a rockstar blogger, you write in the genre of Blogrock. Nobody is more deserving of the term than today’s recommendation for blogger of the week. In fact, Mack Collier is such a Blogrocker that he offers up two blogs for your reading pleasure – MackCollier.com and The Viral Garden. Mack started off the week by telling us “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Social Media Strategy (But Were Afaid to Ask)” and rounded out the week with the brutal truth that “More Comments Doesn’t Always Mean More Conversation.” It shouldn’t surprise you to see Mack’s blogs recommended, but if it caught you off guard head over and save yourself some keystrokes by hitting the RSS feed.
3.) Unlikely Hero – He may not win the Heisman Trophy this weekend, but nobody can deny that Ndamukong Suh altered the game of college football more than anybody else in the league this year. Suh plays Defensive Tackle at the University of Nebraska and he dominated every opponent without mercy all year long. Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult to win the most prestigious award in college football as a defensive player. Take a note from Suh though – It doesn’t matter what you do. You don’t need the most glorious job to make a giant splash.
4.) Head-Shaking Marketing – We’ve all seen some marketing campaigns that have nothing to do with the product and make us do a double-take. We’ve all seen ads that have heavily sexual references when it seems they are completely misplaced for the product. We’ve never seen anything quite like what Burger King launched this week. The self-proclaimed King of Burgers has decided that a BK Showercam (probably NSFW depending on where you work) would be a good idea to advertise. I don’t know who told them that, but I’ll let you decide how you feel about it.
5.) There’s Always Room for [Beyonce] – In the event that you haven’t quite had enough of “Single Ladies” by Beyonce, here’s a version that I couldn’t stop laughing at. They’re fun musicians and if you pay attention you can find some little jabs at the song’s popularity.
Freezing Friday Five
Just took a peak at the current radar and it was kind enough to let me know that the current temp. is 16 degrees. So here you go – the first (of what I hope is few) Friday Five of the Frozen season. For those of you in warmer climates, I’ll try to keep the snow references to a minimum – I know how the word “snow” makes your eyes burn.
1.) Oh, The Weather Outside is Tweetful – As usual, I’ll start you off with a standout tweeter of the week. There was a great discussion last night during the #u30pro chat. First, I suggest you check it out and follow all of the consistent contributors because it really is a smart and diverse set of young professionals, students, and more seasoned veterans offering up insight. Last night’s guest moderator was a real pleasure to have involved – If you’re not following @LenKendall, get on it. Len’s blog, “Constructive Grumpiness,” could just as easily be listed as a blog suggestion as Len can for a Twitter suggestion. Len posts great content on Twitter and has a knack for telling it like it is whether it’s controversial or not.
2.) Blogsy the Snowman – There have been a ton of great blog posts this week, but one blog stood out as the overall greatest of the week. Jim Connolly, from “Jim’s Marketing Blog,” has been testing out the impact of posting daily entries to his blog and guess who has benefited the most? The readers (including me). Among others, this week Jim asked for your attention (and taught you how to do the same), gave you “6 Marketing Tips” related to good timing, and taught you how to achieve “Mouth Watering Marketing” with words. Thanks, Jim.
3.) Dashing Through the [Tiger] Woods, In a One Horse Open Controversy – I would be ridiculous not to comment on Tiger Woods this week. Talk about a PR nightmare. Back when Tiger was staying quiet about what looked like a shady car wreck, I thought the whole thing would blow over pretty quickly. Turns out, the story is much deeper. Here’s what I want from the public: Stop saying Tiger is just like “everybody else.” First, Tiger Woods is a celebrity. If he wants to make millions relying on an adoring fan base, he can’t turn off his celebrity status when it’s convenient. Also, “everybody else” doesn’t have an (alleged) extensive affair throughout almost an entire young marriage. You don’t have to be a celebrity for that to be wrong. Good luck clearing this up, Tiger. Another major championship (and holding the record for majors) will probably help more than it should.
4.) Look for the Holiday Joy – Shhhhh. Don’t Tell Debbie. Does Evan White’s (@YourFriendEvan) mom like lawn gnomes? I don’t think so, but she’s about to have one of the most extensive collections on earth…whether she wants to or not. On Saturday, December 5, Debbie is going to wake up with 405 lawn gnomes in her face. I can’t wait to see the footage, so keep your eyes open for it. Enjoy, Debbie!
5.) Stocking Stuffer of the Future – Without a doubt, the most amazing video I came across this week came from Todd Defren’s PR-Squared blog. Think about the possibilities and the future of mainstream media why you check out something I want immediately.
Let it Flow
This post is a result of my asking you to name my next blog post. I only had a few suggestions and I appreciate each one, but this title comes as a suggestion from Jonathan Miller (@JonFun). Thank you all.
We’ve all had those moments where ideas and words just dry up in an instant. Contributing factors combine to act as a sponge for creativity and our fingers cease up. None of our ideas seem to be that important and none of the words we use to express our ideas are quite right. So we stop. That’s ok – if you don’t have anything to write/say, take some time to gather your thoughts.
First, don’t worry about it. It happens to everybody. That’s often where the strange posts on your favorite blogs come from. Sometimes the strange idea becomes a regular feature, sometimes it goes into the “filler” bin.
Don’t be afraid to let your ideas build up in a mental reservoir without writing anything. Chances are the build up won’t take long before the dam breaks and your ideas are begging to get out into the world. When that dam breaks, grab a laptop, some headphones and some coffee (if that’s what you’re in to). Sit down and blast out as many posts as your carpal tunnel will allow. Once you’ve got a cache of solid content – refine and relate to timely examples when you are ready to publish.
Don’t look for ideas while you write, let the ideas find you. If you’ve done your searching and thinking before you write, you’ll have a harder time stopping than getting started.
If you’re not having fun, you’re not doing it right.
Name My Next Blog Post
If you want to read the opposite side of a popular argument – I’m game.
If you want to see me link something ridiculous to a marketing, social media, or PR lesson – let’s do it.
If there’s a question you don’t think is getting answered sufficiently – I’ll research it and throw down some answers from my perspective.
It’s really up to you to determine the direction of my next blog post.
Have fun with it and maybe we’ll all learn a little something.
Leave a comment here or hit me up on Twitter @sjhalestorm





