My 3 Words for 2021

Thank BUDDHA that it's 2021! Since 2006, I've been recommending that people choose 3 words to guide their actions and choices over the year to come. You've shared with me 14 years of your experiences with more to come, I want to share with you how this works because I want you to choose your own 3 words and share them around. (We use the hashtag #my3words when sharing so that others can find your examples.)

What is My 3 Words About?

The My Three Words idea is simple. Choose 3 words (not 1, not 4) that will help guide your choices and actions day to day. Think of them as lighthouses. "Should I say yes to this project?" "Well, does this align with my three words?"

How to Choose Three Words

I started this process back in 2006. Back then, my 3 words were "Ask. Do. Share." I picked these very simple words and they served me very well. One of my best years ever. When I asked questions, I learned. When I took action based on what I learned from asking, I made more ground and took over more of the universe. When I shared what I learned with everyone, I made connections and some friends.

Choose any three words you feel will guide you forward. I can tell you a few things about this:

• Don't make it a phrase. "Publish the book" is a terrible choice. "The" is wasted.
• Try to make the words actionable. "Expand" is better than "bigger."
• The more utilitarian the word can be, the better. These words have to be your compass.
• Stick with the 3 words all year. Every time I've changed one a month or two later, the year mucks up. I can't explain it. But I can report it.
• Years where I've tried "fancy" words with layers of meaning, I lost the thread. Use plain words, maybe.
• BUT the words don't have to mean anything to anyone but you. Don't worry about explaining them.

Review Them Daily

The more you review your 3 words, the better. I have mine built into my daily planning guides and action stacks. I try using them for a mantra when I can. Sometimes on walks, I just repeat them over and over. I like to reflect on them and meditate a little with those words in mind.

Past Iterations of My 3 Words

2006 - Ask. Do. Share
2007 - Seek. Frame. Build. Bridge (yes, that was 4. It also was a less successful year.)
2008 - Believe. Loops.Farm
2009 - Equip. Armies. Needles
2010 - Ecosystems. Owners. Kings
2011 - Reinvest. Package. Flow
2012 - Temple. Untangle. Practice
2013 - Walt. Ender. Monchu
2014 - Lifestyle. Monchu. Black.
2015 - Plan. Leverage. Fabric.
2016 - Home. Shine. Win.
2017 - Move.Voice.Game
2018 - Ritual. Execute. Value
2019 - Station. Stacks. Movement.
2020 - Push. Structurequence. Package

And My 3 Words for 2021 Are:

Showrunner - Not only do I mean this literally. I'm running The Backpack Show and at least three other shows in 2021, I'm using the concept of a showrunner to explain how businesses need to think about their brand strategically in all their communications, marketing, and interactions. It's a big word for me in 2021, so I'm not worried that I'll falter on it.

Monk - 2020 gave us the gift of a lot less noise. We thus could see where our lives were still a bit too messy. I plan to operate far more intentionally and simply in several areas of my life. For instance, I'll get rid of my car entirely (Lyft's fine for how rarely I need an actual ride). I'll pare my wardrobe down to 6 of everything and just do a load of laundry on day 6. I'll eat simply. I'll meditate and journal (I started 12.9.20 and going strong so far.)

Options - Somewhere near the end of 2020, I reflected that "leadership is option management." If your team has too many options, they lose focus and flounder. If they feel stuck (lack of options), they feel pressure and anxiety. I survived 2020 because of always seeking the option. Looking for a next move. Those next moves kept me housed and fed in 2020. I'll do even better with my options in 2021.

Your Turn

Share your #my3words ideas on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, wherever. Spread them far and wide. This gets SO much more fun when I get to see your words and hear their meanings, and understand how you plan to make your 2021 amazing. Remember to use the hashtag so that all of us can find it. Okay?

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Personal Branding is Vital Now

Photo by David Rotimi on Unsplash

Personal branding is something I've thought a lot about for years. Branding is about a business, product, or service. Personal branding is about helping the person behind the product to stand out. It's a way to drive a strong perception of the type of person you are and by extension, to earn a little credibility in the process. The goal is for people to see themselves and see you in the product or service you're selling.

Brand Yourself But With Your Buyer In Mind

The weird yo yo trick of personal branding is that the best people in the world at personal branding are the ones who make YOU feel like the star. This work isn't about saying how great you are. It's talking about how wonderful the people you serve are, but in such a way that people think about you.

In brand positioning terms, you're a service brand or a community brand or a lifestyle brand (or all 3). Katie Robbert and Kerry O'Shea Gorgone created Punch Out as that place you go to learn about the rest of the lives of your favorite marketers. Their personal brand thusly becomes about being generous, lifting up others, enriching the brand promise of other people. They act as a community brand.

Tone of Voice is Critical

I built my own strong brand identity around a few bedrock details. These translate into the "tone of voice" of my brand. See if this sounds like me:

• My personal visual brand is casual, cartoonish, and almost a bit sloppy
• My core values are service, honesty, and inclusiveness
• The branding concept of me is "anyone could do this - YOU could do this"
• An emotional connection is core to all the material I share with people
• The only "consistent brand experience" you'll find with me is that I'm always experimenting

To shape your brand is to demonstrate what you stand for and for it to be a recurring part of your expressions. If you're frugal, don't show off your matching Teslas. If you're trying to say you're down to earth and spontaneous, don't be buttoned up all the time.

Think through this:

• What does your word choice say about your brand? Are you using big words when your brand is supposed to be down to earth?
• Even if you're shy, you need to show yourself. Can you dress in a way that matches what you believe and how you want to be perceived?
• Beyond selling (but also during selling) what do you talk about? What do you share? Does it match what you want people to think about you?

"Influencers" are the Devil

Before we had people trying to be "influencers," we had people trying to be "authentic." (After I typed that, I took my hands off the keys to accentuate air quotes - two pumps of my fingers each - because that word is Satan.)

The ways that people try to walk around and represent your brand are almost always about positioning and telling a story that isn't true. If you normally eat hot dogs, you're not a foodie. If you're ever trying to be something you're not, and it's part of a business pursuit, I'll save you time: it rarely ends well.

Communicate Your Brand

Ze Frank once said "a brand is an emotional aftertaste" that comes from experiences. You know "show, don't tell." That's the point. The more you talk about what you are, the less likely you are that thing. So show it.

Establish brand experiences by talking about the kinds of people you serve in terms that echo your intended brand voice. "We're moms who love to help teachers get time back in their day. We know you're busy! Let us help you get better results with your students. Your students are our kids. Let's be on the same team!"

"You have smarts that someone else needs. Sell your brains."

The best personal branding revolves around "you" stories (the kind that enrich your buyer) but that reflect your part of that equation.

How to Build Your Personal Brand

For your brand to thrive, you need the following:

• Clear and unique voice and perspective as it relates to the people you serve
• Consistent publication of media that reflects that voice
• A recurring delivery of value from the media you create and share

Think about that before your next Instagram post. "Am I saying something in my own way or am I someone else's echo?" If someone else reads this, is there a chance they'll take something from it?

"But can I build a brand and stay anonymous?"

I mean, you can build *a* brand, but it's not a personal brand. The word personal and the word anonymous really don't mean the same thing whatsoever.

What people want from you as it applies to personal branding is the following:

• Are you like me?
• Do you share my values?
• Can I trust you?
• Will you help me win?
• What happens when something goes wrong?

Think about your own experiences. When your car needs engine work, do you wonder about those five questions? The last three are definite. The first two might depend on what you're buying for some people. I want someone to be honest like me, obviously. I want them to be understanding.

The last and maybe most important step about personal branding is perhaps the hardest.

Can You Be "Sticky?"

The most powerful part of branding is whether what you create is memorable. Advertising is a powerful tool when it comes to this. Think of all the ads you remember to this day:

• Who is the "quicker picker upper?"
• Plop plop. Fizz Fizz. _______
• The best part of waking up is _____

Advertising works through a combination of something being memorable to begin with and then being repeated enough that you can't forget it. That's an element of personal branding that gets lost often.

The key to being sticky, then, is a formula. An equation maybe. Luckily, Julien Smith and I wrote The Impact Equation for just this purpose. I'll give you the quick rundown here:

Impact = Contrast x Reach + Exposure + Articulation + Trust + Echo.

• Contrast - Does what you say or do stand out
• Reach - How far does your message carry
• Exposure - How often do people see it
• Articulation - Can you say it succinctly
• Trust - Are you believable
• Echo - Can people see themselves in you

That's the impact equation and it really means a lot for the personal branding effort. More than most anything else I've written thus far. If you master that little gauge: CREATE, you will see the value of putting your marketing and outreach efforts through that lens before publishing.

Beyond saying something useful, you have to say it in a memorable way. That's the gold.

Brand Management for Personal Brands

I don't know if this is "management" per se, but what I mean is that it's upon you to create information frequently and share it often, information that serves their pursuits. "They" being the people you serve, naturally. The management aspect of personal branding is that it's so easy to fall out of being top of mind. What stops that from happening?

Reach + Exposure from the Impact Equation help. Take your Articulate and sticky phrases and share them often and far and wide, especially if they help others. Do this often. Do this in new ways with new words. Don't let anything get too old, but say things repeatably enough that others can sing along. Write the hits. Play the hits.

And now you're well on your way to mastering personal branding. It takes work, practice, and all the luck of saying something that catches the attention and imagination of others. I hope this was useful. If it was, share it?

Finally, I'm always available to help you with this through coaching. Just use my contact form or drop me an email: chris@chrisbrogan.com

Content Marketing in 2020

Photo by Marc Fanelli-Isla on Unsplash

Content marketing gets a bad rap because a lot of it is so badly wrapped. What happens in the land of marketing and business (b2b marketing or B2C - it doesn't matter) is that someone takes a good concept and sullies it with poor execution. A strong intention becomes a watered down effort to lure people into a sales funnel with search terms. While SEO is a useful part of earning attention, it's not the soul of content marketing. Let's talk about that.

Content Marketing Strategy is About Being Helpful

Attention spans in 2020 are shot. The COVID-19 pandemic and other world events pushed us into having to consume more than our share of news. It's built an intention of shutting out too much information. But what types of content earn attention? Helpful material never goes out of style.

One way to help: brevity. People want the payload, not the fluff. Whether it's business goals or personal pursuits, skip the backstory and cut out the fat.

Guide people by making all your content simple to scan, easy to read, and worth bookmarking for later. By this, I mean: use subtitles and bullets. Create transitions and straightforward messaging. Don't make people work to consume what you create.

Content Types for Context Types

Video marketing is an undeniable part of 2020's content marketing landscape. It's useful for when we feel like being nurtured, or when people's content needs also match a desire to lean back and simply absorb the material. But what if many of your target audience are in a car for long stretches (like truck drivers or suburban commuters)? Then a portion of your marketing methods would be better suited for audio. If not a full fledged podcast, then at least audio content you can invite the recipient to play while commuting. Remember that just because you might prefer text, the most effective way to reach people is the type to choose. Never let your preference guide this choice.

Use Different Types of Content But Tell the Same Story

While matching content to the customer journey, remember that it's preferable to tell your story across a variety of marketing channels. If a prospective customer is evaluating your product, shoot an Instagram video showing why your product is the better choice for them. Follow it with an infographic comparison chart or the like. Remember that you can get quite varied in delivery methods. Make a Slideshare of "How to Convince Your Boss to Buy Our Product for You" and arm your internal allies with what you know. But be sure that you use an editorial calendar or content calendar (however you prefer to call it) so you have an eye towards optimizing earned attention.

Perform a Content Audit

It's easy to mistake content marketing efforts and published material for being actually useful. But there's so much at stake. All content is a reflection of your branding. If the content marketing your organization creates doesn't serve both the consumer of that material and the sales team, it's not content marketing. It's just content.

A content audit investigates whether your organization's marketing strategy and tactics align with its business objectives. If funny dance videos don't make the phones ring, then who cares? But at the same time, if your company still pushes bland white papers circa 2000 because you're "doing b2b marketing," then you're missing far too many opportunities. There are so many ways to reach more people and earn more customers. But it takes effort and it can't be phoned in. It's 2020. Let's get you ready for the years ahead.

May I Help?

I offer consultation around business strategy and marketing as it applies to content marketing and much more. I'm quite available to help, should you want to talk that over and see how I can get your company's content marketing to serve you better. Just drop me a line via this contact form and I'll get right back to you. Or email me directly: chris@chrisbrogan.com . Either way. I'm here to help.

Business Storytelling

Photo by Almos Bechtold on Unsplash

Business storytelling is the act of using story as a way to interact with others to convey business values and/or business information. I like to say that "story is the best unit of memory" (tweetable) and that's because the goal of business storytelling is to help information stick, both internally among various teams and leadership, as well as externally in alignment with marketing, sales, customer service, and other parts of a company.

Stories to Tell

There are three types of business stories the way I teach it:

• Mission stories - stories that help people understand and align with the mission of the organization. "We work to give every mother the tools she needs to raise compassionate athletes."
• Belonging stories - these are stories that inform people that they are in the right place, so to speak. "Moms of athletes don't always agree, but they all want their kids to have what they need to thrive."
• Growth stories - part motivational talk and part "corrective" language, this helps employees stay aligned with the mission of the organization. "While we want you to sell as many coaching packages as possible, it's important to work within the budgets and schedules of the mothers you're supporting."

One doesn't have to be any kind of master storyteller to make this happen. Remember that the definition of story is simply "an account of people an events." While I'll show you some story structure as it applies to business storytelling, essentially the spirit of your work here is to learn that a story helps people remember important information better than most any other tool.

Business Storytelling Approach

The goal of every story you tell should be to convey information in a memorable (and maybe even repeatable) way. Because these are business stories, and the goal isn't to become some kind of master storyteller of fairy tales or something, let me give you a few more details to consider:

• Clarity - Business stories must be succinct and clear. There should never be a surprise. Instead, people need their information to be straightforward and understandable.
• Brevity - The attention span of people these days is diminished from stress, from too much information, and from a shift in how we prefer to consume knowledge. Create brief stories. Snacks more than meals. And seek to be as brief as possible while staying clear.
• Metaphors - To craft a compelling story, sometimes an easy tool is a metaphor. "Life is a stream. It flows in one direction and when we step out of the water, we can never get back in at the exact same moment." That sort of thing is a metaphor.

The first two should be used all the time. The last is a tool you can use more as a condiment than a meal. (A metaphor.) "Think of metaphor as a condiment, not a meal." <-- that's a tiny business story to remind you how to use metaphors in your writing. (Not much in the "account of people and events" department, but we'll stretch the definition a little.)

Content Marketing Thrives on Compelling Stories

I'm working on a project with my friend Saul Colt. The goal is to help physical stores and galleries all across Canada to build online storefronts to enable these organizations to sell online. While brainstorming ways to earn more sign-ups for this project, I came up with two different ideas (stories) that complement the project and can be told as content marketing (in this case, on Instagram).

The project is called "shopHERE powered by Google" and because I want to encourage more people to sign up, I proposed storytelling elements that are a play on "shop here." The first is built around regional business pride and uses the hashtag #myshopishere . The second is about women-run businesses and the uses the hashtag #shopHER (minus the e. Get it?) They're meant to be quite relatable (as good stories are).

If I didn't tell you much else about the campaign, can you imagine the kinds of photos people will take for 'My shop is here?' Pizza places. A favorite nail salon. Maybe a cool pawn shop would be part of it. And of course 'Shop her' is about empowering women owners, like an auto body shop, and an MMA gym, and so on.

The projects are content marketing designed to drive awareness and signups to the shopHERE powered by Google project, but the STORIES are about regional pride and woman-owned businesses. Make sense?

Storytellers Invite Their Listeners to be the Protagonist

The power of storytelling works best when it becomes a collaboration between the creator of the story and the consumer of that material. The reader or listener or viewer best experiences compelling storytelling when they are invited to tell the story from their perspective and participate in it themselves.

Star Wars has stuck with us better than many other media properties because the stories are bigger than the main characters. Even if you don't want to be Luke or Leia, you can decide if you want to be an Imperial Tie fighter pilot or a rebel scout or someone else in the captivating stories that follow.

Story, as it turns out, works best when it is a collaboration.

In business, this can happen in branding. On the day I wrote this to you, Nike's website has a tag line that says "Where All Athletes Belong." They're pushing inclusivity and this goes beyond a marketing strategy and instead pushes deep into the fabric of their brand stories overall. It matches.

Story Structure is a Powerful Starting Point

You've watched a TED talk before, I presume. Reserved to no more than 18 minutes (there are very few exceptions to this online), presenters are trained and drilled in how to craft stories that start with cores of data visualizations or case studies and add an emotional connection to the material. Sometimes these are funny. Other times, they make us see what we thought we fully understood in a new light. And even other times, we simply enjoy the experience and go along for the ride.

The structure of TED, the little details, how it all gets wrapped together into a compelling narrative is worth understanding for your future business communications as well. I recommend Talk Like TED by Carmine Gallo, a book that is every bit as useful today as the day it was published.

How to Get Started

With business storytelling, you might be thinking: "Okay, I don't disagree with you, Chris, but I'm not sure what to do now with this information." Fair enough. I'll help.

1. Write a story of what your product/service is and who it helps. The agile user story template works well for this: As a <type of user>, I want <some goal> so that <some reason>. Being able to answer this succinctly helps you see your business more clearly.
2. Work on a few sentences around this: The type of people who buy from us are ___ . They like __ and they don't want ___ . (This is a belonging story.)
3. If you were hiring a new employee today and she will be working from home, what story does she need to know that sums up the culture of your organization? Are you sticklers for timeliness? Are you a very collaborative company? Are the rules cut and dry and there's not really a lot of flexibility? (Remember, this isn't always a bad things: franchises must follow the systems that are in place.)
4. Write a few sentences around the ideal customer experience. "If everything went flawlessly, a customer would start on our website and click here. And then..."
5. At a team meeting, host an exercise around "A meal we used to have at home." Have people write down some details or a paragraph to explain something about food that inspires at least a little emotional attachment.

End Clearly and Strong

Another detail. For whatever reason, it seems that the art of ending a story is lost on the world. The best endings point to what might come next. In many ways, the best endings are beginnings. This piece ends with me offering help, which might lead to a beginning. Your stories might end in different ways. But "stopping" and "creating an ending" are vastly different efforts and exercises. You want to end clearly. Like this.

If You Want More Help

My core business at StoryLeader™ is dedicated to improving your success with expressing yourself within (and outside of) your organization. I help you convey your intentions, clearly express your business goals and values and needs. And I'm an expert at turning that terrifying blank page into something you can run with and complete on your own with confidence. Never hesitate to drop me a line either by email (chris@chrisbrogan.com) or by just filling out my contact form.

People Need Brevity in Stories in 2020 and Beyond

It seems that when people try to communicate, they mostly try to push the most stuff they can into our heads at one time. We say that business storytelling is very important but we don't teach people how to do it. In the absence of instructions, a lot of people believe that saying more is the same as giving someone useful information.

Brevity is Key for Business Storytelling

Have you looked at a recipe on YouTube lately? We often have to slog through 11 minutes just to get even the simplest recipe. But it doesn't have to be that way. Look at this amazing video to see a great example of brevity:

He got three different hummus recipes into a video that was less than three minutes long. Think on that the next time you say that brevity isn't possible.

How Do We Work With Brevity?

1. Start with the end point in mind: What does this story need to do?
2. Trim any explanations: The #1 killer of brevity is thinking we have to explain something beyond a brief in-context line or two at the most.
3. One idea per interaction: We try to cram too much information into all communications efforts. Make each interaction about one thing. Or one small grouping.
4. Read it aloud: Any writing benefits from your voice out loud. If it doesn't sound like something you'd actually say, delete it. (Hint: read this post out loud. Sounds like someone talking, right?)
5. Think bullets and lists: Our brains love small lists. We love bullets. Communicate that way.

There's a Time for More Words

But it's far less often than you'd think. You can fire someone politely and professionally with three sentences. You can profess your love with three words. You can communicate entire oceans of meaning with a single look.

Think brevity first at all times. Every time you add more, it's usually because you're feeling insecure or afraid. Hurts to hear that, I know, but it's true.

Until it's time to NOT be true.

If you want to learn more about how I can help you with leadership, marketing, and sales advice, peek at this and then drop me a line. I'd love to help.

Marketing in the Faster World

A few weeks back, Jac and I took a week's vacation in the woods, with no access to our devices or the Internet. There was electricity and water and a small fridge, but there was also the basic requirement that if you wanted a meal, you had to start a campfire and cook over open flame. Imagine having to coax wood to burn, get some coals going, prep the food, and cook it slowly every time you felt like a meal.

Compare that to our regular fast world. We eat when we want. We get it delivered or pop something in the microwave. When we think about buying something, we can say "Alexa, order me more True Lime packets" and it will show up a day or two later. But if everything is so much faster, why is your marketing so slow?

Marketing in the Faster World

Your buyer doesn't have time to read Moby Dick. Mind you, they'll binge a whole season of Mindhunter in a day's time, but if you slow them down with print, it's not going to happen. (Says the guy typing this to you.)

I've been pushing the same simple (but not easy) marketing premise over and over: the snack, the show, and the letter. I'll repeat it here.

Snack - small media bites. Things like an Instagram posts, tweets, little bitty tastes of what's going on in the world of your buyer and what you sell to them.

Show - something longer, entertaining, and with more substance, like a podcast, a YouTube channel, or a well crafted newsletter (not to be confused with "the letter" I talk about next).

Letter - access to your prospect's inbox. This last one becomes the most important tool right now. Why? Because you can't trust someone to choose to buy or take follow-up actions when they're consuming snacks or shows. Besides, Google and Facebook own all the other access points to your customer. You own a direct path to their inbox.

The map of where to reach your buyer changes so often that we have to write it out in pencil. For well over a decade, people have asked me where people hang out online, as if that's the right question to ask. It's not. The question is and always should be: how do I get access to their inbox? And then: how do I get them to read what I send?

Device-Sized Messaging

The inbox is the phone. We keep forgetting. And anything we send in text has to be short form these days. So even when we earn their inbox, it's all about short messages well-targeted.

If you want to reach people in this too-fast, too-busy world, my best advice is that formula: the snack, the show, and the letter. Get clear about showing your prospects their problems and your solutions. Deliver a message that reminds them often that they're in the right place and you're the right guide.

And do it quickly. We don't have time to start a fire. People are hungry now.

Send It

What comes next is production. We want something to chew on. We want to sing along. We want it to make sense in our lives. We want to know all the words. We want to collect it.

And then

We want to take it, modify it, make it ours, do our own version.

Old Town Road isn't a hit simply because the song was catchy. Gazillions (that's a real number) of people used it on TikTok to make their own thing with it. They started with the product belonging to Lil Nas X, but at some point, they felt an ownership of their own.

Send It

Make something and put it out there. Make it memorable and unique and give it a flag and something for people to latch onto and take it as their own. And that's what messes people up and confuses companies and why marketing is always so crappy. Because we create "material" and "content" that's built to sell something, which isn't inherently bad, but it's also not at all interesting.

And forever more, you have to use as many channels as you can. Posts, letters, audio, video, and whatever else makes sense. Postcards. Phone calls. SMS texts. But ONLY if you're contributing to the anthems of the people you hope to serve.

Only if you're bringing something to the picnic.

It's Not Who You Know

You've been told that it's not what you know; it's who you know. That's almost true. It's who you know that you maintain good relationships with that matters most. Warm contacts, not just contacts. Years ago, my friend and boss at the time Jeff Pulver told me, "You live or die by your database." I've guided my business by that principle ever since, and it continues to pay off.

Warm Connections Beat "Contacts"

I'm typing this from the dining room table of two friends who are now also clients. I've known them for years now. Gary is a chef and author and Sylvia is a photographer and creative. They own a boutique inn located in the fabled Hamptons in New York, and through that, I've seen them nurture guests and deliver amazing customer experiences. They treat their friends as if there's no one else in the world besides them and it's a treasure to bask in their presence.

When they asked me to come work with them on a few projects (some marketing and some business work), I said yes without a moment's hesitation. And while I've worked with the two of them in limited ways over the past several years, this is our first big business undertaking.

My point is this: these are the types of engagements you want in business. You want to work with people you like. You want to work with people who matter. And that takes time and effort.

The Opposite of Serendipity

Some parts of life happen by chance. They're beautiful. Sometimes, we meet someone simply because they've wandered into our world. That's great.

But for business purposes, and for life plans, and for mapping out a way to thrive, I have to caution you: your business success will increase if you learn how to nurture warm connections with people who you want to work with in business and in life. This particular success comes from effort, not serendipity.

How to Keep Contacts Warm

I could tell you the simplest method possible:

• Make a simple spreadsheet with names and contact columns, an area for notes, and an area for an ongoing log of dates.
• Ensure it has a "last contact" column where you can add a date.
• SCHEDULE TIME to reach out and connect with people on your list daily (or almost daily).
• Do this a lot.
• Visit people when you can.

I know it's insane. I know you wanted there to be more to this. But this is how it works. You connect. You observe. You leave messages. You recognize the good work of others. You find ways to help however you can, even in small ways.

And here's the most important one:

You make warm introductions where it makes sense between people you know, and using the following model.

1. Ask party one if an introduction to party two might be helpful. Wait for a yes.
2. Ask party two if they're willing to connect with party one. Wait for a yes.
3. Introduce both parties and get out of the way.
4. Follow up with party one and party two separately after the fact.

(I can't tell you how many times someone sends an email to me and someone else without following this model and how rarely this is beneficial to either me or the other party.)

Trust in Relationships

I never connect with people solely for business. I have to like the person. I have to want to eat meals with them, drink beverages with them, and laugh outside of work with them.

And I just lied. I said "never." Every time I end up doing business with someone I don't really like much, it fails. Either I don't give it enough love, or the other party treats the business relationship as transactional, and nothing good comes of it.

I don't know. Maybe other people can do this. I can't. I need to actually like the people I work with.

I just gave you a super easy recipe to work this way. Trying it might benefit your business. What do you think? Willing to try?

(And drop me an email - chris@chrisbrogan.com)

10 Years After Trust Agents

Just about ten years ago, Julien Smith and I wrote and published a book called Trust Agents. It talked about the rising experience of companies being able to use the web to reach people directly and connect with them in a world where companies could no longer really control the information out on the web about their brand. It was a rallying cry to invite companies to be real and transparent and to connect with the people they most wanted to serve.

The book did well. It was a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller. It won awards from Inc Magazine, USA Today, 800-CEO-Read and more.

Ten years have past and I want to share what's changed in that time. (I've written some thoughts on this already at LinkedIn, if you're interested.)

Ten Years After Trust Agents

In 2009, I wrote: "Companies can no longer hide behind a veneer of a shiny branding campaign, because customers are one Google search away from the truth."

It's more true today. And people have endured ten years of feeling unseen and unheard. As companies adopted the tools (but not always the spirit) of the social web, they pushed information blindly to people without thinking much about who they were addressing. It felt the same as telling every woman at a bar that they're beautiful and hoping the line worked eventually.

In 2009, I wrote: "Trust agents have established themselves as being non-sales-oriented, non-high-pressure marketers. Instead, they are digital natives using the Web to be genuine and to humanize their business."

I would change this a bit. Sales isn't bad. Bad sales are bad. A trust agent sells you something they believe will help you win the game you're trying to win.

Make Your Own Game

The first of the six tenets of a trust agent was to make your own game. It means to define your own space. Be specific. Create the rules of the story instead of competing against other similar products. Amazing books like Play Bigger have really expanded on this in smart ways in recent years. I stand by this.

Julien wrote about how creating your own keywords was a much better way to win at SEO instead of competing with existing words. He pointed out that if you could earn enough media attention for a phrase you coined, all roads would naturally point back to your site. I've been using this trick since 2009 and if you look at the traditional SEO markers of my site, it stinks, but I have massive authority around all the terms I created for myself.

In 2019, there's something more. We are in an age of identity, where people want to be very specific about who they are, what matters to them, and they want to support only those companies that share their values. If you can buy the same kinds of products from multiple sources, why buy from a company you don't respect? Or most importantly, who doesn't see you?

We've made our own games, and we want companies to see and speak to who we are.

Companies keep saying they know what people want.

"A black guy can't do a country song." On the day I'm writing this, "Old Town Road" by Lil Nas X is on its 11th week at number 1 on the Billboard Top 100.

"No one will want to see a black-led superhero movie." - Black Panther made $1.3 billion at the box office.

"Women superheroes won't bring in movie viewers." - Wonder Woman made $800 million; Captain Marvel made $1.1 billion.

Inclusivity matters. Seeing people for who they are matters. REPRESENTING THEM IN MEDIA AND MARKETING AND YOUR BUSINESS PLANS matters.

One of Us

This chapter pointed out the importance of connecting beyond advertising. Not that ads are bad. They're just one tool.

In 2009, I wrote: "Gaining the trust of another requires you be competent and reliable. It also requires you to leave someone with a positive emotional impression, which is something the Web has the potential to do quickly and well."

We included our first of many references to the work of David Maister and Charles Green who wrote the amazing work, The Trusted Advisor. Julien was already friends with Maister, but we befriended both authors, and I still talk to Charlie Green about once a month to learn at the feet of a master.

Of all the chapters in Trust Agents, this is the one I feel companies discarded. I think very few marketing departments held conversations about the trust equation (even though Maister and Green helped companies make millions on this detail alone). And I know that very few companies set about trying to humanize their brands to reach people.

The Archimedes Effect

I've always called this "Julien's Chapter" because he had a much stronger bead on what was going on here. Leverage was the topic. How do we understand leverage? What are the ways we can use arbitrage to our advantage. It's still heady stuff, but if people spent a little time investing in this chapter, they often reported some great results.

The parts I contributed were about leveraging time better, about building stronger relationships, about making the most of your appearances.

One fun detail about this chapter is that I cover the first inklings of the rise of Gary Vaynerchuk, when we all started to realize that this guy was going to fly to the stars and back. It's laughable now that I covered him in the book because he was already on the way to being a massive star.

Agent Zero

I believe with all my heart that nurturing a network of great people you want to serve is the absolute most important work of a person or a company. To be the connector that helps others thrive is a powerful business driver, even if it isn't an instant kind of reward. (It never is.)

This talks through the concept of having to become more visible. To put your presence out there on the web. To be seen on the social networks.

Over the years, companies seem to only put their CEO, CMO, and a few very junior people out on the social web. They never did quite adopt the belief that having people reachable via the social web was a benefit to the company. And frankly, many people were afraid of this kind of visibility. These tools seem foreign. Interactions on places like Twitter feel fraught with peril. And so many brilliant people worry that they'll "do it wrong" or "look foolish" and so their brilliance is withheld from the many who would benefit from this.

The people within companies who work on "Agent Zero" type work see great rewards. Sales professionals get it. Deal makers get it. But I wish more of the folks who have non-selling jobs but massive amounts of helpful ideas and thoughts would come out and play on the web.

Human Artist

I might have said that no one cared to do the "One of Us" work. Human artist is married to that. It was our effort to point out that the Golden Rule was alive and well. So many great works focus on this. Bob Burg's Go-Giver comes right to mind. Same-Side Selling by Altman and Quarles. Many more. Tim Sanders and Love is the Killer App.

We wrote about transparency and empathy and intimacy, all topics that most every company in the world would rather pretend doesn't exist, though they'll talk about it in speeches or ads.

People are SO sick of feeling invisible, being lied to, having to "find out" that a company has done them wrong. They're so fed up, and when there's a chance to pick another company to deal with, they will.

In a 2017 study, Cone Communications found that 67% of people wanted to align with companies that shared their values, and that furthermore, most people wanted to align with companies who would move their values forward in some way.

Identity matters to individuals more than ever before. My 17 year old is both gay and trans. He spends a lot of time online finding and listening to like minds, learning how to navigate his life, and so on. He pays attention to which companies really support trans and gay causes and not just in June.

We all want people to love what we sell, but it is only when people feel seen and understood that they're ready to pay attention.

Build An Army

This chapter is about scale. How do we grow beyond where we are? How do we find more hands to lighten the load. Of all the chapters in Trust Agents, I could never have predicted the outcomes that companies have developed in this area.

Automation is nearly the norm in so many areas. Robots talking to robots. Everyone agreed that we needed scale, but sometimes to the detriment of human contact.

Don't get me wrong. There are plenty of places where automation is preferred. It's the best. I love when companies reduce friction where they can (Roger Dooley has an amazing book on Friction).

But the human touch matters. We want it more than ever. And in a world where automation is doing the lion's share of the heavy lifting, it means we have opportunities to earn more attention, retention, and stronger business relationships.

Trust Agents in 2019

I think there's a lot to update and revisit in this book. I've been talking with Julien Smith about looking this all over again. I spoke to my publishing friend Matt Holt. I've talked with all kinds of people who I've known for the last ten years or more.

Keep your eyes posted. You might see a lot more about this. And regardless, it was super fun to look back on it all.

I help companies earn the right to sell and serve the customers they most want to nurture. Connect with me, if you want some ideas and help.

We Don't Want to Fit In. We Want to Belong

There has been a big shift in how people interact with brands. In the old days, a product or service would show up on the scene, and we'd evaluate whether the product was something we could use. Sure, there were some products and brands where we felt like we wanted to belong (you are either a Coke or Pepsi person, for instance). But most times, when something new came out, the question was whether you could fit yourself into the right category to make that product useful.

This has all reversed. People are tired of fitting in. They want to go where they belong.

The Business of Belonging

A lot of purchases in our day don't matter much. At least in a B2C setting. We'll buy from whoever is convenient, or cheap, or without a lot of thought.UNTILUntil we discover something that changes our perspective. Maybe we decide that we want to support more local businesses. Perhaps we decide that any company that wants to clean the world's oceans are worth your business. Or maybe you are part of a group that demands to be recognized and wants the world to see your value, as well. Maybe you served in the Armed Forces or you grew up in a large extended family home.We used to buy from necessity. Or price. Or locale. But that's not a given. And as people become more and more distracted by their phones, by non-traditional media sources, and by the sheer volume of information flashing in front of our eyes, how will companies explain to the people they most want to serve that those people belong with them?

We Buy From People We Feel Share Our Values

Seven out of ten Millennials consider a company's values before making a purchase. By comparison, 52% of US adults (blended generations) do. But that still means that one out of every two people wants to know that your company's values align with theirs. (source)This means that for us to help customers figure out where they belong, companies will have to create information that expresses their values either directly or otherwise.Most of what marketers and people in general "believe" is true about buyers comes from years ago. Who plays video games? Men or women? The answer: women. By a much larger number. We believe that markets don't exist for something "weird" and then superhero movies like Black Panther make over a billion dollars. Or that a free-to-play video game would earn a company $2.4 billion in a single year. (Fortnite.)

Companies Must Reach Out and Connect With Smaller Buyer Markets

By selling to everyone, you're talking to no one. (tweetable)It's the equivalent of going up to someone at the bar and saying, "You have the most beautiful eyes" and then saying it to each person there over and over again and hoping for a good result.We all want people to love what we sell, but it is only when people feel seen and understood that they feel ready to buy.Same-sex marriage supporters want to know where your company stands, says this infographic. NASCAR fans can now race into esports, even if they may never be a "real world" driver. And companies are finding ways to connect with the interests of groups of potential customers.

This Requires Bravery

Your company could guess wrong. You might stumble when trying to reach out to people you want to support. There might be backlash from people who don't support those that you choose to help. And there are plenty of ways to mess this up.

• If the message doesn't match the brand, your efforts won't make sense.
• If you tiptoe into this with a single campaign or baby step, people might say you're wishy washy or non-committed.
• If you use cliches and stereotypes because you don't actually have any first hand knowledge of a group, it will show and it won't go well.
• Just because you reach out to smaller groups that matter to you doesn't mean they'll see you if you don't create interesting, small, portable content for them to consume.
• Marketing this way doesn't replace your "big" and "general" marketing, but it requires you to pay a lot more attention to feedback, and it'll be upon you to create more than a few small groups for each product or brand. You can (and should) definitely reach out to more than one type of people at a time, if you stay focused within those groups.

But This is Where We're Going

We've gone far past Henry Ford's "any color as long as it's black." We have pushed past simple customization. The world is built for mass personalization. Humans organize tribally by nature. The marketplace has never really supported this in any significant way, or for too long. Marketing to the masses was always too attractive a prospect. But it's fading. Your numbers show that. And this? This crazy idea of reaching to specific groups? That's what's next. It will be bumpy. It won't be easy. But it's where a lot of this is headed.And as you know, I'm here to help. (Feel free to drop me an email: chris@chrisbrogan.com )

Why Your Company Needs to Understand Memes

This picture is my 13 year old son's recent project. He printed out the Sunday funnies (we don't get a newspaper so he went online and found some to print). Then, he chopped up each panel and sliced out each bit of dialog. Finally, he mixed them all up at random to make his own comics to see if anything unexpectedly funny would come of it. It was funny enough. The idea comes (roughly) from "Garfield without Garfield" and other remixes of old comics tropes.

Your Company Probably Doesn't Pay A Lot of Attention to Memes

Shortly after Barack Obama became US President, a lot of politicians and corporations decided to take social media a lot more seriously. Before then, it was "that thing kids do." Afterwards, I was hired by some of the biggest companies in the world (Coke, Disney, Pepsi, GM, Microsoft, and so on) to talk about how these tools could drive better human interactions.Memes and meme culture are that same thing all over again. And everyone's ignoring it. Again.

Okay, So What is a Meme?

The word meme (rhymes with "seem") take a little unpacking. The official definition is "an element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, especially imitation."The other definition (the real one): "a humorous image, video, piece of text, etc., that is copied (often with slight variations) and spread rapidly by Internet users."It's these two words "spread rapidly" that should raise your eyebrow.Oh, and a quick aside: bookmark this site. It helps explain some of these.

Memes are a Fast Pass to "Insider" Feelings

Here are three things you might not know about right now:

• A massive petition went out requesting the song "Sweet Victory" be played during the SuperBowl halftime show. This song is from the cartoon SpongeBob Squarepants, created by the recently deceased Stephen Hillenburg. It appears that Maroon 5 will be honoring this meme request and playing the song. (Wait and see.)
• Elon Musk (of Tesla and SpaceX fame) just reached out to PewdiePie (YouTube's most subscribed channel with 82 million viewers) to host "meme review," after several memes and fake tweets were posted saying he would. (Memes drive reality.)
• Teachers and companies all over are trying their hand at posting memes to interact with students and customers, sometimes hitting and other times failing, but definitely earning attention they otherwise wouldn't have.

Not everyone is there yet. And yet others know it feels weird but they want to participate.It's not that you care all that much about SpongeBob or PewdiePie or memes in general, but to realize that a multi-billion dollar event and a billionaire CEO are being influenced by memes is worth thinking about. The fact that memes are "technology" that travel fast, convey meaning in a VERY brief format (in a world that is attention starved) and that give you a potential quick connection into otherwise distracted and attention-starved people, that's worth thinking about.If you're already thinking of ignoring this, let me remind you that in 2008, no one thought Twitter or Facebook or YouTube were all that interesting, either.

About Memes

Often times, the point of the meme is easy to understand, even if you're not aware of the reference material:That's Squidward from SpongeBob. You don't need to know that to accept the premise of the meme.The format doesn't exactly matter much.This is just a graphic of a tweet that's spreading around as a meme. It's obviously a political jab at the current US President, cloaked in a reminder that other presidents were a bit more wholesome.Other memes come from adding an interpretation to a photo for multiple potential future uses:The obvious hinge of the meme is "but." We have all kinds of ways to use that. "I know you didn't ask for any opinions..." or "I'm not racist..." etc. Everything before the "BUT" is the joke.

Why Should You Care?

I'm least interested in convincing you to care. That's a hard rule I have. But you might become a bit more aware of this as a tiny media type, as a way to earn attention before seeking even more attention from the people you most want to serve. People are far more willing to invest the small amount of time required to possibly laugh and relate (even more importantly) with your meme before they decide to check out your larger and more time-consuming business content.This is most definitely a B2B play as well as B2C. Everything I'm talking about here is in play for as long as humans are your intended customer or prospect.As with all media types, a little bit of thought is required before execution. (By the way, I consult about that.) You might review any potential memes created to ensure they're not offensive to particular groups, and also to ensure that the content you're creating is reasonably current. One insanely frustrating detail with the world of memes is that they seem to have a shelf life of less than a week.But there's value in here. You might not immediately see it. That's okay. Other companies are noticing and they're adapting.Chris Brogan is a business advisor and digital marketing consultant. Get in touch with him here.

Marketing is About Connecting With Your Customer's Story

Working with companies lately, I keep coming back to the same starting point: marketing is about connecting with a customer and aligning with helping them win their story. Think about yourself when you're buying something. There's a challenge in front of you and you're hoping that what you purchase will improve your life or business in some way. Now, think about how you market.

Marketing is About Connecting With Your Customer's Story

I'm a big fan of the coffee tumblers that Yeti sells. Their site this morning had all kinds of winter stories (I wrote this in winter) about keeping food warm in their coolers, about bringing a a "ground blanket" (I didn't know I needed this!) to lay out while out camping or hiking or hanging out. They had a big sturdy camp cup tha would make being outside in the cold so much more enjoyable (presumably full of hot coffee or a thick tomato soup). The products all align with the story: "If you're going to be outside, we'll make it more enjoyable and you'll be the hero of your family."

What's different in business and marketing this year and beyond is that customers really want the brands they spend money on to connect with their values. That's how Adidas sold over 2 million pairs of sneakers made from ocean waste. And this story relates to B2B as well as B2C. We want the companies we buy from to be "good" and to share our values.

But wait. How will a buyer know anything about this alignment?

Marketing Must Become a Shared Story Experience

"You're over 50 and out here training for your first 5K race. We want to help you be ready and finish strong."

"Your kid is interested in electronics. Here's a behind the scenes look at how we build the Surface tablet," and here's a cool YouTube channel full of engineering videos and DIY projects."

"Anyone can sell you some pens. We want to keep your small business running smarter by introducing you to the people whose brains you want to pick."

Marketing can't be about features and product descriptions alone. It must shift to telling your customer's story. Not your product's story. You have to empower the customer with what you sell.

Gone are the days where you could allocate a few dollars to ads, work with a graphics person for part of the morning, and call it good. You have to live and work a lot closer to your customers if you want them to invite you into the opportunity to serve them.

And there are SO many stories to tell, no matter what you sell. There are dozens of customer types who feel invisible, overlooked, and not important that you could gladly welcome into the world of whatever it is you sell. This is a golden opportunity, if only enough companies will dare to revisit how they're trying to reach people and shift some of their methods, time and money towards really earning a better ongoing relationship with the people they hope to sell to and serve.

(That's where I'm dedicating my efforts this year. I intend to help companies thrive by improving their connecting with their best possible customers.)

Are you with me on this one?

If I Were Selling Real Estate Today

The world of real estate has become a lot more software driven in recent years. Sure, ultimately, a buyer interacts with a person, but with the number of real estate apps out there, a lot of up front work happens before a real estate professional is contacted. That's not necessarily bad, but for a lot of Realtors (and other professionals in other industries for that matter), a personable connection with a buyer matters immensely as well.

If I Were Selling Real Estate Today

For years, I've had the pleasure of keynoting various real estate events and speaking at industry conferences. In every interaction, I found a warm, smart, driven person looking for new tools to reach and serve their buyer. My book with Julien Smith, Trust Agents, seemed to resonate with the primary challenge of "how do you build business remotely on the web?" Since that book (over 9 years have passed), I can say that the use of digital tools to evaluate real estate has only grown.

If I were selling real estate today, I'd embrace these apps and I would have a website/blog where I could add some content that my buyers might want. What would I put on that site? Oh, I'm glad you asked.

A Real Estate Professional's Content Marketing Checklist

1. Sure, you want to post pictures and videos about the properties. That's a given.
2. Take the camera on your phone and shoot a "neighborhood walk through" video.
3. Record an audio file where you talk people through how to evaluate a home. Tell them to keep this playing in the car when they're out hunting around.
4. Record another video where you list out what people need to bring to closing.
5. Find community points of interest and interview people to show off the neighbors.
6. Shoot an autobiographical video talking about your passions for serving people and your career so far.
7. If you have other skills/talents, like interior design, give people a video of tips for how to spruce up their place. OR, make a video to show homeowners how to prep their house for sale.

Naturally, there are plenty more pieces of content I could recommend. This is a great starter set that will keep you busy for a few weeks.

How to Go About Making All This Content

I'm sure you might have seized up a little upon seeing that list of seven ideas. The thing is, you already have the tools to make this. You have a smart phone. This comes with a video recorder and a voice recorder built in. If you feel like you have to edit the videos a little, you can record lots of little clips and dump them all into either Windows Media Maker (PC) or iMovie (Mac) and trim off the edges a bit. I promise that none of it is rocket surgery. If you know how to cut/paste words in a document, it's almost the same thing.

Practice. That's what I most want to share with you. Just practice.

As for scheduling, pick a weekly schedule of creating and posting that will let you take a little time to make your content, edit it, and post it. It's that simple (but not easy).

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In Your Ear

Communications and marketing and computing in general is moving beyond the keyboard and text faster and faster. PC and laptop sales continue to decline EXCEPT for 2-in-1s (those laptops that fold into tablets) and hybrids (Microsoft Surface tablets, ipads with keyboards). What's coming in their place?In the home, Amazon's Echo platform (Alexa!) has audio and video models. Google Home does, as well. Facebook is rolling out Portal. All of these respond to your voice.Mobile phones are VERY close to rolling out foldable phones (think of a book opening) that will usher in a different kind of visual platform. Samsung's model was briefly demonstrated recently:In light of this, companies like Snap (makers of Snapchat, which I tend to say bad things about in general) are rethinking their "vertical only" requirements, just like Instagram did a year or two ago, switching from "square only" to "okay, whatever works."But with a LOT more voice-controlled systems and keyboard-less interaction and TONS of video seeking to replace text (like this blog post), one concern people keep voicing (and it's valid) is that we don't really want to watch video if the sound will bother the people around us. (Okay, yes, there are often jerks who ignore this and play videos anyway, but I don't mean them).

In Your Ear

Just like Altoids brought a new category to light with "premium mints" because of the rise of Starbucks, I believe that bluetooth earbuds (like the Apple airpod) are going to be a LOT more ubiquitous. I have Google Pixel buds (I don't recommend them). I found these affordable earbuds with lots of great ratings. I think a lot of the future will be in your ear.But this means something else.You know how podcasts seem to be going through their second Renaissance? I think it'll happen even more. I believe that the audio form AND the video form will thrive. If we evolve our use cases to have a more visual device and personalized speakers, it means we'll have more audio as well.The future might well be in your ear.

What Will Suffer?

Text."Oh nonsense, Chris. I *love* to read."You do. You.The stats say people (in the US, at least) are reading a TOTAL of 19 minutes a day between email/texts/websites and so on. At the same time, we are consuming digital media on an average of 6 hours a day. If we're online for 6 hours but only 19 minutes on average is reading... uh, where is everyone?Video. And audio.

You Want to Reach People? Get In Their Ear

It's just not really an option any longer. That's where it's at. Sorry.Okay, books are a different matter. In fact, PHYSICAL books are outpacing digital books in sales numbers lately. But don't think of blogs as books. Don't think that the platform matters. Medium is seeing a lot of attention right now. LinkedIn is cool. Blah blah blah. OVERALL, the larger world not just us nerds... it's in the ear.Get there. :)

Earn Your Place in the Inbox

I just deleted an email without reading it (like you do). The subject line was "Not your typical Monday email." I deleted it because I knew without a doubt that it would definitely be a typical email. (I just fished it out of the trash. It was a sales offer. Pretty typical. No?)I'm told by so many people that email marketing is dead or that they have low open rates or that no one cares about email any more. I'm also told that no one reads email any more.None of this is true. But there's a massive catch. You have to actually earn your place in the inbox.

Earn Your Place in the Inbox

What gets someone to open your mail?First, we have to discount the types of mail you really want to receive. If you LOVE fly fishing and "Fly Fishing Weekly" shows up in the inbox, of course you'll open it. We can't talk much about that. There's no lesson learned by trying to copy something beloved.But what makes you choose to open those letters that aren't your top passion?To earn your place in the inbox, your efforts have to touch on at least a few of these important details and points:

A Great Subject Line Helps

I subscribe to the Lefsetz letter about the music industry and culture in general. What makes me open his emails? The subject line. We are a world of browsing-swipe-right-Netflix people now. If the subject line doesn't catch us, who's going to open the letter?The key to a great subject line is the act of promising something of value will be contained within. OR, if you're clever and tricky, sometimes a clever subject line will get people in. Here are a few samples of recent subject lines I've sent out:

• Connectivity Drives Repeat Business
• The Simple Mechanism of Marketing
• What I Told the Rockstar
• What to Do When Everything Sucks
• People Want a Guide

None of the subject lines are especially amazing. They're all kind of "working class." That's an aesthetic I really love and push here. You're welcome to be a bit more fabulous if you want. But the point is the same. Make sure the subject line earns your way in. Boring subject lines equal easy deletes.What comes next?

Teach me Something

Whether or not you're selling something, make sure you teach me something. I asked my fiance Jac what makes her choose which newsletters to open and read and she had three main points: newsletters that give her steps to follow, useful takeaways, or some deep research. Those are her top three reasons to read a newsletter. This makes sense when you see the quality of her Maria & Jane newsletter, covering women in the cannabis business world.Education in a newsletter is a powerful tool.

Make It Human

For years and years, this has been my battle cry. So many people write newsletters as if they're sending out a web page. They heavily HTML format the newsletter so that it's very graphically appealing, and there's barely a touch of humanity in the letter itself. It feels written by slaves chained to desks in a sweatshop. Here's a hint: if you hate sending it out, no one's going to love receiving it.The best way to make a newsletter human is to write as if you have something to tell to a person who matters a great deal to you. Write the letter to be helpful, informative, and dare I risk it, entertaining.

Lead Somewhere

It's amazing how many newsletters and emails are sent with not much of a sense of what you want the reader to do afterwards. They've read the letter. Now what? For my personal newsletter, I just invite people to hit reply. Unless I'm selling something. Then I invite them to click the purchase link OR hit reply.But letters that end quickly, abruptly, and with no sense of a next step are a wasted opportunity. Give people a chance to go further with you. It makes a world of difference.

Summary: Earn Your Spot

The inbox is still a very powerful place to earn customers. Much better than any specific social media, that's for sure. People still do go to their inbox. They do still open, click, reply and the like. But only if you make your work worth it to them. Hopefully this helps a bit.(And if you want to sample my newsletter, sign up here and check out the process for yourself!)

Use Your Voice

The biggest opportunity all this technology has afforded us is the chance to share what we find interesting and to potentially connect with others we can help or who can enrich our lives or businesses. Formally or otherwise, we have the most opportunity ever, in the history of humans, to connect with people who are into what you are into. It's baffling how few people choose to take advantage of this.

Use Your Voice

On the lighter side, if you really love recreating junk food in your kitchen, you could start the "Not Twinkies" website. If you are a LEGO minifig modifier who takes existing sets to create your own masterpieces, I know for sure there are others who love what you do. There's a bunch of people out there, no matter what, who want to talk about what you want to talk about.

Causes and nonprofits know this. People with medical challenges know this (or should). There's a group or a few strong voices out there speaking about whatever it is you're into.

And you can be very specific. If you're ONLY interested in talking with other female accordion players, there's definitely someone out there waiting for you to gather up ideas and share. If you grew up identifying ramen noodle packs by their colors, not their intended "flavors," there's a group that loves to talk about how orange is the only one to eat uncooked. (My Lyft driver says she snacks on the contents of the orange ramen pack UNCOOKED. "Like chips," she said.)

There Are Only Three Rules

Companies and people alike need to recognize that there are three important rules to this opportunity to interact and to build relationships with others:

1. Speak to the buyer’s story
2. Invite interaction
3. Build to serve

If you want to find these other people with your voice, you have to write (or make video or audio or all the above) in ways that make the person you're trying to reach the hero of the story, or at least make what you're sharing feel very accessible.Blathering AT people without making it easy to connect and interact beyond what you share isn't all that helpful. I find that I have great conversations with people from all walks of life on Twitter or through email, and in all cases, because I've made it easy to connect with me, people feel that they can reach out and ask whatever they want to ask.When I say "build to serve," the point of creating any media whatsoever should be to serve others. If you're writing about insomnia strategies, make it so that others might learn how to get a better night's sleep. If you're selling cloud storage solutions, share information that will help your buyers thrive. If you're going to build content, and use your voice, use it to serve others.

Don't Worry and Be Self-Conscious

The beauty of this time in our lives is that you don't have to be perfect. You just have to be honest about the interaction. If you're a marketing student looking to meet others in your future field, just say that. If you deal with depression and want to know how others tackle the black dog, just say it. It's an unprecedented time to reach out. Yes, some people might fight back against what you want to talk about, but you'll also find those who want to share what you're into.How will they find you? The way I would find you: google. Search. YouTube. I find you because if you publish your words and videos and thoughts and ideas, I'll find your voice on the internet somewhere.That's the big point. So? Get sharing!

Join me for free and get valuable insights that go beyond the articles posted here.

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And thanks so much for your support.

--Chris...

How to Earn More Customers

As I plow through the writing for my tenth book, Be Where They Are. Go Where They're Going, what I'm most concerned with doing is helping you best understand what customers want these days when it comes to content marketing and customer experience overall. Companies must evolve and adapt from the past few years of lobbing content into various channels and hoping to reach prospective customers. Instead, they have to develop material and touchpoints that show the customer that you're ready to serve a customer at their point of need.Part of this involves changing how you build out content marketing.

How to Earn More Customers

Busy customers want to find something that helps them move their story along and they want to know that you're ready to serve their needs. They also need everything delivered in bite-sized pieces. As most everyone consumes content and marketing materials via a mobile device these days, gone is your opportunity to create rambling and wandering text posts filled to the top with unnecessary words and blather. And finally, every piece of content has to offer the opportunity to connect and/or move forward. Police have the motto "protect and serve." You need to adopt the motto: "Connect and Serve."

Story Support

A customer's first experience with your brand should be what I've labeled story support. This means that whatever content you create has to match what they're seeking along the way. This requires thinking about (or knowing about) your various customer types.Let's say you sell digital cameras. Maybe one of your markets are aspiring YouTubers. (If I sold cameras, this would definitely be one customer type I'd pursue.) Build content that helps them improve their game. Here are some sample topics:

• Inexpensive Lighting Solutions for a Starting YouTuber
• Conducting Interviews for Your YouTube Channel
• How to Shoot Fancy Shots with Affordable Cameras

In all cases, the story goes beyond your technology but incorporates it. You're gently asking for the sale and/or making it clear you're there. But you're also providing something of value with or without a purchase.

And where would you put this content? YouTube in this case, silly. And also your site. But this post isn't about that.

Bite-Sized Engagement Opportunities

This post will top out at around 600 words. That's not exactly bite-sized. But it's better than 2000+ words. Plus, if I wanted, I could pull out little tidbits and do something different with them. Like here's a quick video, for instance:At every turn, make your content modular, small, dispersed to where people might need it, and ALWAYS with an opportunity to connect.

Be As Specific As Possible

My last piece of advice for today is to speak directly to one group at a time, if at all possible. Build your content and materials such that it reaches out to a very specific group at any given time. If you serve multiple potential customer audiences, that's fine. Just speak to one group at a time. Obviously, this works better if you speak to your biggest groups first, but don't be afraid to get very drilled down, too.

Ask for the Sale

Content marketing is marketing, which is part of sales. It's never a bad time to ask for a next step from the people you hope to serve. Just make sure it fits into the context of the interactions and/or that it matches a potential point of need for your customer base. For instance, if you like this article, it's a great time to grab my newsletter to get the BEST of what I do weekly.

See? Like that.

Finally, Be Where THEY Are

People ask me about which site, which social platform, which whatever. That's not the question. The question is: in which context would someone likely take a next step with the material I'm offering, and how does this help the customer? That's always the mindset. Always.I hope this was useful. Like I said, feel free to keep this interaction going. And if I can help you in any way, I'm here to customize this process for YOUR business and help you earn more customers.

Content Marketing is a Privilege

We are all creators now. All publishers. And companies are collaborators. Okay, and sometimes, we're fans of other people's creations, too. But even then, there's a change afoot. We see ourselves on the same level. We're all the star. But you? You're the star.

Publishing is a Privilege

This post is a bit meta for me. I walked out of the movie theater feeling so exhilarated after seeing a movie (doesn't matter which one). I thought to myself, "Wow. If I want, at this very moment, I could go write a blog post (this one), shoot a video for my YouTube channel, or record a podcast episode. I have a voice and I can use it.

But there's also a huge distance between what I choose to create versus what I can make that might be of use to others. Because even though there's a "me" in media, it doesn't count for much of anything unless it's useful to someone else. Everything else is journaling. Which is fine. Do that all you want. But to me, the real power is in creating something useful. Your mileage may vary.

To that end, publishing is a privilege. We earn the right to snag a little attention. Never waste that on something frivolous. Don't "post just to post." Make your material matter in whatever way you choose. Bring your particular awesome self to the picnic. But always treat this like the gift it is. Attention is an asset. And people run out of it quickly. Try never to eat someone's attention for no good reason.

Every Company Can Participate

If we're all publishers, all the stars, all collaborators, it's really important that companies learn that they're just a participant in the stories of their buyers. They're not always the center of the spotlight. In fact, they rarely are. Only in shampoo commercials do people rave about shampoo. We have to be a participant in the story of our buyer's success, not some weird star company demanding adoration.

Use your powerful publishing and creation powers for good. Make the world better for someone, or maybe many someones. The new stars are all about the collab. Find some costars and shoot/write/sing/make/build/create/dream. Whatever you do, do it as part of something bigger than you.

What a time to be alive and creating. Are you in?

Customers Don't Want Content - They Want a Better Path

I'm in the business of helping companies use tech to drive better customer interactions. I help companies earn more customers. The most common way people employ me is to help them build content marketing projects, expand their existing ones, or in general, turn their marketing, sales, and communications efforts into something more effective.

Well guess what?

Customer's Don't Want Content - They Want a Better Path

The reason I'm so bullish on AI, blockchain, chatbots, IoT, and video media for the future of business is that in all cases, these technologies can be applied to improve the success of a customer's journey from prospect to so-happy-they-refer-people levels.

Here's a simple one. Parking lots. The Logan Airport central parking lot in Boston is a zoo. It's really hard to find a space, even when you pay extra for "Logan Express." And yet, my son and I went to a sensor-filled parking lot in Braintree that told me at every level how many spaces I might find. This was updated in real time. How? Sensors. Easy. A few dollars per sensor and maybe $100,000 total for the project, including the software. (That sounds like a lot, but if it improves commerce and satisfaction, isn't it worth it?)

That project isn't content. It's really grindy-basic technology. And yet, a customer would be MUCH happier with something like that installed.

Content is Useful Only When It's Useful

I'm typing this at a Dunkin Donuts at the airport. I wondered to myself which content a customer would actually want in association with coffee, donuts, and whatever else they sell. My thoughts were "A guide to sneaking in Dunkins while you're on a diet." I figured that would be fun. Video plus a downloadable PDF would be fun. Right?

But sometimes, a customer doesn't need content. They need a solution. They need something to work better/faster/clearer. They OFTEN need more communication. They OFTEN need more support. They OFTEN need a better sense of how to navigate something unnatural to them.

Content is JUST ONE of the Marketing Tools a Company Needs

I do think there's a benefit to content. But I think there's a massive opportunity to make the customer experience so much better with content *AND* some of these emerging technologies. A really well executed chatbot could change customer interactions immensely. Voice interface is here whether or not you're using it, and it opens up a lot of new potential use cases for you. Blockchain mixed with the Internet of Things and all those delicious sensors means that you can build some amazing new customer interactions that are fast, with less friction, and that serve everyone involved in better ways.

Sure, make a great piece of content that turns someone on and educates them and makes them feel smarter. But the time is now to look beyond content marketing, digital marketing, social media marketing, and *just* marketing as a way to drive more sales and retain more customers.

What's next is here now, and it's your job to make it work. Dig in and start learning, start drawing your customer experience paths, and you know, if you get stuck, drop me a line. I can help.

Sponsored Post - Staples Consulting Sweepstakes Winner

The following post is sponsored by Staples. The words are all mine. They paid for me to give away an hour of consulting to a small business owner looking to grow their business. John Grossman runs the Holyoke Hummus Company out in western Massachusetts. He started out with a food truck promoting fresh tasty falafel sandwiches that were healthy but felt decadent. John’s had a lot of success in other businesses, but food can be tricky. When timing struck that he could acquire restaurant space and open a brick and mortar business to complement the truck, he had to take the opportunity.The Challenge: Get More Dinner GuestsThe sponsor of John’s consulting, Staples, points out in their recent survey, that finding new customers and marketing growth is a challenge. John told me that he was getting plenty of lunch traffic, but that dinner was a bit too quiet. Economics-wise, per-customer lunch tickets average probably around $15, but dinner had the chance to be even more lucrative, especially if he could attract family dining experiences more frequently.This is where I stepped in.The Recommendation: Build Fast Take-Out and Delivery OptionsWhile dinner’s a better per-customer revenue opportunity, people aren’t eating out as often as they used to according to many studies, especially in the Millennial crowd. So I had a recommendation.Before I talk about the recommendation, I have to tell you something sponsor-related. I mentioned running to Staples to get some flyers printed up and he laughed and said something about this being paid for by Staples, so naturally he thought I “worked it in there” to talk about a trip to Staples. Both John and I love Staples. We have intimate past business experiences with the company, quite often with the print center’s ability to deliver what we need quickly and at a price point we love. In the middle of giving John my idea, we had a laugh about this.But the pause is important, because it’s true. I told John not to do a lot on social media beyond what he was already doing. I said that printing something simple that recommended a very specific dining opportunity (fast falafel family platters) married with something people love (like watching Netflix) would be a great way to start promoting.Hand those simple postcards out to people in the lunch crowd and talk up the offering. Easy peasy. What makes the printed material better in my conversation with John is that you can tack it up at your cubicle at work. It becomes something to look at during the day. It’s a gentle reminder. Maybe you forget about it for a week or two, but then, “Oh yeah, the Holyoke Hummus Company! I should get a platter before the game.” Kapow.The Marketing Mindset HereJohn’s smart and he’s focused on several things. He’s grown the brand. He’s working the community aspects because Holyoke matters to him. And he’s of course perfecting the product at every turn. This restaurant business is a new venture to him and so he was working from existing models.MY idea was just to look at trends, look outside the methods others were approaching, and think about how we could meet the customers at the marketplace of their choosing. This was the magic trick. Everyone can try to get people to their restaurant. I wanted John to try getting his great falafel and hummus meal experience to people who aren’t coming out of their houses like they used to for dining.The flyers? Well, it’s good that Staples can help with that sort of thing.The previous was a sponsored post. They don't get a vote on the words I use. Those are all mine. You should check out Staples for your business, as they have a LOT more than just Post-it notes and pens. Their Copy center is one of my secret weapons.