Let me start by telling you that I am a huge Malcolm Gladwell fan.  I consider “Blink” and “The Tipping Point” to be required reading for any serious business person or marketer.

What the Dog Saw isn’t quite to that level.  But it’s still a great read.

Unlike his previous books, Gladwell didn’t write this one to explore a specific marketing trend or social behavior.  Instead, it’s a collection of his New Yorker magazine essays on a wide variety of topics, from homelessness to the CIA, and from Ketchup to The Art of Failure.

If you are in need of a boost to your creative juices, What the Dog Saw might be just the ticket.  When I read the point/counterpoint of Gladwells essays, coupled with the interesting assortment of topics that are outside the realm of the areas I normally ponder all day, I found myself being a bit more creative, a lot more objective, and saying “hmm” to myself after just about every chapter.

If you are held at gunpoint and can only read one Gladwell book in your life, this probably shouldn’t be the one you read.   (Blink would get that vote)

But if you’ve read all the others and you want to actually benefit from your reading in a number of ways, then grab What the Dog Saw and get to reading!

(FTC Disclosure: All links in this post connect to Amazon, where I’ve found the best prices on the various books mentioned.  Yes, I earn like 1% commission if you actually buy one.  Believe me, that’s not my motivation for writing a positive review!)

Late last night I posted the following to Twitter:

@FawnKey 10pm and I just got off the phone booking another speaking gig. You just never know when & where the next client is going to come from

Immediately thereafter, I received this post from one of my connections:

@thriftster teach me the secret to public speaking. I’ve got some good stories that I could use to illustrate a larger idea but I get nervous.

This really got me thinking… What IS the secret to public speaking?

All night I thought about it, until I realized…@thrifster already KNEW the secret!

The #1 most important element to being successful in public speaking is having a great story!  It only takes one good story and you are on your way.  Think about the speeches that have made an impact on you.  Throw out the PowerPoint presentations, the rehearsed verbal pauses, the scripted jokes, and the sales pitches and you’ll find all good speeches are really just stories.  And the best speeches are true stories about the speakers themselves.

So @thrifster, you are more than halfway to becoming a public speaker…you have good stories!

Now you need to learn to tell those stories without being nervous.  The secret for that is just as simple.  Don’t worry about it.   You need to realize that everyone loves a good story.  When someone buys a book, they want to read a story.  When someone goes to the movies, they want to watch and experience a story.  Humans have loved and craved stories since the beginning of time.

Right now, there is someone out there waiting to hear YOUR stories.  So don’t be nervous.  Be excited that you are giving someone what they want!

This is me earlier this year delivering a Keynote speech at a University. It ended with a very happy audience, a very happy client. And all I really did was tell my stories.

One other secret I’ll share.  Well it really isn’t a secret since over 250,000 people around the world are current members, but for some reason many people still don’t know they should do this…

Join Toastmasters.

Toastmasters will provide you a step-by-step process to learn how to tell your story in the most effective and compelling manner.  Even better, Toastmasters will give you a nurturing and empathetic environment in which to learn.  Bar none, the two Toastmasters clubs I’ve belonged to in my career have been filled with the most caring, supportive people I’ve ever met.  Every member is there to help the other members SUCCEED.  Yes, you’ll be nervous the first time you speak. In fact, you probably be nervous the first several times.  But you will learn to control it, and you WILL learn to share your stories.

Click HERE to access a database of all Toastmasters clubs in the country so you can search for a club near you.  Because each club has a different “personality”, I recommend you visit more than one club to find the one that fits your needs.  So choose at least 2 or 3 different clubs to visit.  Once you find the club that feels right, join it.

That’s it.  Two simple secrets to being successful as a public speaker.

One final thought:  Far too many people die with their story still inside them.  Please don’t let it happen to you.

As a professional speaker, I present at about 8 or 10 business and marketing conferences around the country every year.

That's me on the right moderating a panel at a conference in Las Vegas

In late 2007, I started noticing a number of people “tweeting” during my speaking gigs.  Believe me, there is nothing so difficult for a speaker as an audience that won’t pay attention.  Having 30% of your audience staring at their laptops, BlackBerry’s and iPhone’s while you are presenting is a tough challenge.

I was using every strategy in the book to keep the audience engaged in what I was saying.  But then I realized they WERE engaged.  They were SO engaged they were repeating my words to the rest of the world via Twitter.  Wow, talk about viral!

“If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” I said, so I signed up for Twitter myself.  (Yes, I’m now addicted!  Follow me here)

By late 2008, a few of the conferences I spoke at actually had screens behind the speaker displaying everything the audience was tweeting in real time!  At one conference, I moderated a panel discussion where most of the questions came from the audience via Twitter and the panel itself was video broadcast via USTREAM.  We had about 100 people in the room, and another 200 watching virtually.

Most speakers aren’t even ready for the “Twitter change” that is happening today, so when I read this week about how Google Wave is now starting to be used at conferences for instant audience collaboration, I was blown away.

Imagine…while you are presenting, the audience is taking notes, sharing them with each other and with the world, editing them, debating them, and adding their own comments.  Then before you are finished saying “Thank you very much” and sitting down, an entire document based on your speech exists which was developed in real time by the crowdsourcing methodology.

Whew!  The business of Speaking sure is changing fast!  Are you ready?

Read the article here, then be sure and come back to comment with your thoughts on this subject.

I’ve been up since 4am.  Why?  Because my local Twitter contacts were abuzz about the new Dunkin Donuts grand opening happening at 5am this morning.  Since I wasn’t doing anything else at 5am, I decided to head on over and check it out, dragging my 17 year old daughter in tow.

What I encountered was a dramatic contrast to what I was expecting, and it gave me a lot of ideas about the right way and the wrong way to host a retail location grand opening.  If you are opening a new brick and mortar business in the future, I believe there are some lessons to be learned.  Here is my story…

About two years ago, Chick-fil-A announced a grand opening of a new store near my home.   Part of the grand opening celebration was that the first 50 people would get gift certificates for 50 free combo meals, and everyone else who showed up would get prizes as well.

This was enough to convince my daughter and her friends to camp out the night before to ensure their place in line.  I stopped by there late in the evening to check on them and hang out for a while, and here is what I saw:

• Hundreds of people camped out in the parking lot, some in tents, many in just sleeping bags and blankets
• Dozens of people playing Frisbee, tossing footballs, playing board games, socializing, and having a great time
• The owner of the new franchise (His name is Randy.  I still remember after a few years) walking around, shaking hands and thanking everyone for coming out
• Workers from Chick-fil-A handing out food, drinks, and ice cream, making sure everyone had a good time
• Everyone having such a good time that nobody cared that the wait was 12 hours or more before the doors opened

At 6am the next day, Randy gave a quick welcome and thank you speech, opened the doors, and fed everyone in line a free breakfast.

Yes, the first 50 people did indeed get 50 combo meal vouchers.

By a quirk of fate, one of my daughters’ friends went off to serve his country in Iraq shortly after this event, so he gave me his 50 coupons.  Then my daughter moved to a different state, so she gave me what was left of hers.  Here I sat with nearly $500 worth of free food vouchers for a great place to eat. So what did I do?

I spread the word!

“Oh, you’ve never had Chick-fil-A, the best chicken sandwich in the world?”  “Well, let me buy you lunch!”

I know I converted at least a dozen people or more to the taste-bud-delight that is a Chick-fil-A sandwich.

On future visits, the owner remembered me, and always came to say “Thanks for coming in” and “Thanks for your support”

That’s how to do a Grand Opening right.  Fun.  Memorable. Established the brand in the neighborhood.  Brought more people in after the fact who became paying customers.  That’s good marketing.

Now let’s fast-forward to today:

I heard about the Dunkin Donuts grand opening on Twitter.  The owner had wisely recruited a local Twitter maven to host a “Practice run” a few days before the grand opening, announced only to people following @DDinKC on Twitter.  This bit of innovative thinking had me excited to see how the grand opening would be handled.

Here is the timeline:

• 9:00pm the night before – Watching all the tweets about the opening, I saw “There will be 100 little @DunkinDonuts reasons to be among the first 100 thirsty customers ”  Hmm, maybe we should spend the night? That might be fun!
  Posted that question back to @DDinKC on Twitter, and got this response.  “being 1st 100 NOT worth spending nite-it’s a “little” special-so sleep!”  My first thought…thanks for making sure I didn’t waste my time, but telling customers NOT to come have a good time…Not a good sign.
• 4:45am – Arrived for the 5am opening to see only a handful of people in line.  My daughter and I were #8 and #9 in line.
• 4:50am – Entertained by watching through the front window as the “Cup” and “Donut” mascots get their costumes.  Neither looked very happy to be there.
• 5:05am – Doors still not open.  Outside temp is 40 degrees.  Hot coffee would be nice about now.  Maybe they could bring some out to the shivering masses?  Nope.
• 5:08am – Doors open.  We are each given a plastic Dunkin Donuts travel cup.
• 5:10am – At the counter.  Guy in line in front of me “Do we get free coffee for our new cups?”  Girl at counter, “No, you have to buy a coffee”.  Woman in line in front of me “Do we get free donuts?” Girl at counter “No, sorry”
  Me “Wha?”

So I BOUGHT some coffee and some donuts, said hi to a few Tweeple I was meeting for the first time IRL and went home.

A plastic cup - My reward for getting up at 4am and driving 20 miles for Dunkin Donuts

No, the owners didn’t make a speech thanking everyone for coming.  No, they didn’t say “hello” to the customers as we were waiting, or walking in, or eating the food we had purchased.  I know there are two owners of this new store from reading the press releases, but have no idea who they are.

To be fair, it seems there were additional festivities happening later at the grand opening including an appearance by baseball star George Brett, and some TV and radio media.  However, that didn’t take place until 7am…two hours after the doors first opened.  By then, responsible citizens like myself were back in the trenches at work.  (Yes, blogging is work for me!)

Bottom line

The Chick-fil-A opening was a real “event”.  It was fun, exciting, the owner really engaged with the customers, and the freebies were leveraged to bring new customers into the business long after the big event.

The Dunkin Donuts grand opening felt more like; “We’re open, now buy some donuts”.

 

UPDATE:

After posting this blog, a few people picked it up on Twitter, including the owners of the Dunkin Donuts in question.  (@DDinKC)

This is a classy way to handle less than desirable press, so I wanted to share it as part of this post:

@DDinKC:  hey thanks for the feedback! Sorry to disappoint you, we did try to please today and last week too.

@FawnKey:  Didn’t mean to burst your bubble on an exciting day. Just writing what I see for my readers. I wish you the best of luck!

@DDinKC: oh it’s all good! Appreciate your thoughtfulness! Maybe we’ll get another chance with you Marty

This 4 minute, 22 second video pretty much sums up my thoughts on Social Media and the impact it has on your business…whether you know it or not. (And whether you like it or not)

Wondering what to do next?

Email me at marty at fawnkey . com for a complimentary brainstorming session how you can leverage this powerful new medium to grow your business.

(Notice:  If you are an entrepreneurial inventor, software engineer, media analyst, a person in the DRTV industry or otherwise looking for an interesting new business idea, keep reading.  If not, you might be bored with this one. Don’t say I didn’t warn you)

A decade ago, I pioneered bringing the DRTV (Infomercial) industry online.  Under my watch, the company I ran was among the first in the world to conduct E-commerce transactions driven by television infomercials.  We were the first in our industry to use video on a website (this was YEARS before YouTube!), and we were the first to integrate analytics to understand what our customers were and weren’t doing on our site. 

Yes, times were good, and we were generating millions of dollars in revenue online while many of our competitors were still trying to figure out “this newfangled interweb thing”. 

The one big problem we had…how could we effectively track and attribute orders generated by offline media to online transactions?

You see, back when DRTV transactions were done only by “800 number”, it was easy.  You simply assigned a different 800 number to each TV station or network, tracked all orders by 800 number, and PRESTO, you knew exactly how much money you made on each and every TV station and media buy.   Instant trackability and accountability…the lifeblood of direct marketing. 

Now, throw a website URL into the mix, and that all goes out the window.  Thousands of orders flooded our website, but we had no way of telling our media department which media buys brought the customers and which didn’t. 

My colleagues and I tried every solution we could think of, including:

• Different URL’s for every station – A big campaign could use hundreds of different TV stations.  There was no effective way to secure enough “easy to remember” URL’s to make this effective.
• URL slashes (www.TVproduct.com/tvstation) – That didn’t work because most people don’t remember or even write down what is “after the slash”
• Asking the customer – That didn’t work.  All the customer knows is that they saw it on TV.  No way do they know what TV station they saw it on
• Offer codes – Even making it a “discount code” and essentially paying to get the data from the customer proved less than 50% effective
• Geo-targeting with time allocation – We were able to identify some of the orders based on time and zip code for local broadcast stations airing a commercial, but this method did not work for cable ad buys

These are just a few of the long list of solutions we tried.   But we never have found the magic bullet.

For the past ten years, this situation has been a dilemma.  Hundreds of millions of dollars in media spending budgets are at stake, and an entire industry is playing a guessing game. 

While thumbing through my DRTV/Infomercial industry magazines this weekend, I noticed articles in each competing magazine which essentially said the same thing…the multi-billion dollar DRTV industry needs a “Offline to online” tracking solution desperately.  Quotes and links from each article are below:

“If the leaders of this industry band together to figure out a new paradigm for direct-to-consumer advertising, the reward may be the entire universe of marketing and advertising itself.”
Finding a Solution to Eroding Attribution
Author:  Rick Petry
Pub: Electronic Retailer magazine – July 2009

and

“Imagine how much further we could take our campaigns if we were able to accurately track online response back to originating TV media.”
Media Zone: Measuring Online Response — We Can Do Better
Author:  Dick Wechsler
Pub:  Response Magazine – July 2009

There is a famous quote in business that goes something like this; “Find a need, then fill it”.  Well, I’ve found a need.  But I don’t have the time or expertise to fill it. 

Therefore, I’m posting this as a free gift to all entrepreneurial inventors, software engineers, media analysts, or anyone else who might want to solve a huge problem plaguing an entire multi-billion dollar industry.  And you’ll probably make a ton of money in the process. 

Good luck.

Oh, and please remember me when you hit it big with this idea!

I subscribe to a daily inspirational email service called “This Day’s Thought” which contains a few inspirational thoughts sent to my email each day.  It’s one of several things I read or listen to in order to keep myself motivated, and to keep me focused on what is really important. 

Today’s “Thought” was especially profound to me.  It’s only a couple of sentences, but each sentence on it’s own contains a valuable lesson… 

“It is my custom every night, as soon as the candle is out, to run over the words and actions of the past day; and I let nothing escape me, for why should I fear the sight of my errors when I can admonish and forgive myself?  I was a little too hot in such a dispute; my opinion might well have been withheld, for it gave offense and did no good.  The thing was true; but all truths are not to be spoken at all times.  I would I had held my tongue, for there is no contending, either with fools or with our superiors.  I have done ill, but it shall be so no more.  Habit is a cable; we weave a thread of it every day, and at last we can not break it.”
 
Horace Mann – The Father of American education
(Learn more about Horace Mann here)

In other words, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nuttin’ at all” – Thumper

A lesson I need to keep close to my heart.  How about you?

PS – You can subscribe to This Day’s Thought for yourself by clicking here

“With every great recession, comes greater innovation. The bad news is that we’re in a recession. The good news is DR is hanging in there.” – Billy Mays (1958-2009 RIP)

The above quote came from a magazine article in Electronic Retailer magazine, of which I am a member of the Advisory Board, as well as a feature columnist.

Billy (with his business partner Anthony “Sully” Sullivan) was the cover story of the May 2009 issue.

May 2009 cover of Electronic Retailer Magazine featuring Billy Mays (Click picture to read full article)

When I heard the tragic news of Billy’s death yesterday, I pulled this article from the shelf to re-read and reflect. Upon doing so, I saw a side of Billy that I hadn’t really noticed before. You see, with all my years in the infomercial business, I’ve known Billy for quite some time. In more recent years, I’ve consulted to Orange Glo and later Church & Dwight on their online marketing for OxiClean and Kaboom, both brands that relied heavily on Billy for their promotion. Billy was a loud, brash promoter. But he loved what he did. It wasn’t a job, it was a passion.

…and Billy lived his passion every day.

Upon re-reading the Electronic Retailer article, I came to realize how much Billy cared about the people behind the product. He and Sully really wanted to help people be successful in the direct response/infomercial business.

The quote above is the key takeaway. Now IS a great time for innovation.

• Capital equipment has never been cheaper
• Highly skilled labor has never been more readily available or affordable
• Media rates in certain sectors are at fire sale prices
• Many traditional marketers are “circling the wagons” and refusing to try anything innovative, interesting, or risky with their marketing

Now is the time to make something happen.

If you’ve been sitting on the sidelines waiting for a better time to start that cool new business, invent the next great product, or pursue the passion you REALLY want to spend your life doing, don’t wait…DO IT NOW! 

Before it’s too late.

I’m working with a client who has an urgent need for an experienced web development contractor.  You will be working on high profile websites for several well known national brands of our Fortune 500 client. 

I’m looking for an Independent Contractor web developer with the following skills…

Must have:

• XML
• PHP
• ASP
• E-commerce experience

Preferred, but not required:

• Experience creating and utilizing encrypted environments for data transfer
• Java script
• Omniture or similar analytics experience
• Located in bay area of California
• Skill set with newer or more innovative tools than the ones listed above

We are not looking for a company or an agency.  We prefer a high level, independent contractor who can assimilate with our team.

Ongoing, we are looking for someone 15 to 20 hours per week.  However, we need someone who can step in right away (today?) and help clean up some existing issues, so for the first couple of weeks we might need more than the regular 15 to 20 hours.

IMPORTANT:  Due to tight security on the systems you’ll be working with, you MUST have an existing static IP address in place at your office

If interested, please send your resume, desired compensation and a portfolio (listing your contribution to the portfolio piece) to marty@fawnkey.com, using the words “Web Dev” in the subject.  Your information must be in the body of the email or contained in links to the web.  No attachments will be accepted.  Any emails received with attachments will be deleted without opening.

I’m one of the most patriotic people I know.  My family has a long and proud heritage of military service to our country.  I have a 30 foot flagpole front and center in my yard where an American flag flies each and every day.  I’m a Scout leader teaching “duty to my country” to the next generation.  I’ve driven American cars pretty much all my life, even when my Yuppie “Beemer and Benz”-driving friends made fun of me.  Yes, I even get a tear in my eye when the National Anthem is sung just right…particularly in my favorite venue… 

The American flag making a grand entrance at the Pioneer Days Rodeo, Ogden UT

I support my country, and the workers, entrepreneurs and business owners in my country. 

Last week, I questioned my own patriotism and principles when a few people complained about a Teleseminar I produced on the topic of outsourcing web development and internet marketing work to people in another country. 

The essence of the complaint was that the program I was advocating was taking away money from talented people here in the United States, and giving it to cheap labor overseas, thus making it harder for the U.S. worker to make money.

I had to think long and hard about this situation before I came to any conclusions, but my mom helped by reminding me of a recent situation I faced where outsourcing actually SAVED domestic jobs. 

Here is what happened…

About a year ago, I was working with a client building a premier, top of the line website and online business.  This was a website which required some very intense database and design skills, as we were pioneering new ground with the business model.  We needed smart, talented people to help us with the cutting edge technology.  We hired a domestic firm to build the site, at a cost of $125 per man-hour.  Needless to say, very quickly we were spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on design and development.

In preparation for launch, we hired a team of people to build the business.  We had a technical project manager, a customer service person, a marketing person, and an operations person.  We also had 3 full time web developers at the outsourced web development firm.  All in all, there were about 7 people working in the business. 

Then, a “perfect storm” hit the business.  The initial investors were running out of money, the rapidly deteriorating economy scared off secondary investors we had lined up for ongoing funding, and technical glitches with the site were causing serious delays to market.  It was a bad situation. 

We needed to come up with a battle plan fast.  The original investors/founders needed to make a decision, and they had two choices:

#1  Figure out how to stretch the limited amount of seed capital we had left.
or
#2  Cut their losses and shut down the business

I then found a company who outsources web development work to China at a cost of $25 per man hour (vs. $125/hour domestically).  That massive savings allowed us to keep going, and get the business launched.

So the bottom line choice now became:

#1  Don’t consider outsourcing, close the business because of lack of funds, and wipe out 7 American jobs. 
Or
#2  Outsource some of the work to another country, lose 3 jobs in the U.S, but SAVE 4 other jobs.  (Plus keeping the company viable it can grow and add even more jobs in the future.)

Which would you choose?

Further, if you listened to my Teleseminar, you would have heard that much of the stuff we were talking about outsourcing is very basic, standard kind of web work.  It’s the “assembly line” of web development.  Most of the really good web developers I know would turn their nose up at that kind of work anyway.  (Or they would outsource it themselves!)

One other way to look at it:

If you want a mass-produced car that is well built, of satisfactory quality, and performs its function with no muss, no fuss, and little flair, you buy a Nissan or Toyota. 

Nissan Quest - An example of a perfectly adequate vehicle that millions of people buy every year.

No one thinks twice about buying an import car anymore, do they?  

However, if you want a high-end, hand built custom hot rod that will turn heads, you would have called American auto design legend Boyd Coddington (RIP 1944-2008).  

Boyd Coddington's "Smoothster"

The same is true of websites.  If I want a custom designed, very cool website with all the latest bells and whistles, I call my trusted vendors here in the U.S.  People who have a great design aesthetic, understand the underlying objectives of the site (commerce, networking, lead generation, etc) and who I will probably sit down face to face with during the design process. 

But if I just need a “quick and easy” website built on a template, which has a simple function, and is more about utility than beauty, should I pay someone $100, $150, or even $250 an hour to design that?  I think not. 

The bottom line:  My personal opinion is that outsourcing/off shoring is a fact of life in today’s global economy, and it’s here to day.  Complaining about it isn’t going to change that fact. 

Yes, I believe that used correctly, the strategy of outsourcing can save jobs, and make U.S. entrepreneurs more efficient, more effective, and able to make a bigger positive impact than we could otherwise. 

PS – I know that by posting this, I’m probably offending all of my readers outside the U.S.  Sorry about that.  I guess you can complain to me and I’ll blog about THAT next.