Building relationships with your customers is the obvious piece to this but these aren’t the only relationships that are important to your business.  You also have 3^rd party vendors, employees and partnerships.  How you build relationships in all of these areas is vital to your brand.

Let’s say that you have a core value of your business that includes treating people with respect.  If you don’t treat your employees that way then what’s their incentive to treat other people well? Check out this great story from Tom Peters about why you should treat employees like customers.

I will get into the importance of branding from the inside out in future posts but one thing to know is that treating your employees right is a big part of your brands potential for success.

Apple is a great company with regards to building relationships around their brand. Everyone talks at length about how they create brand evangelists but it’s not just because of their messaging.  Some people love the fact that Apple is their own retailer of their products.

What separates Apple from Microsoft in this regard is the connections they can build with their customers.  If you are a Microsoft user, you use a third party retailer to buy their products and services. To be fair, Microsoft doesn’t create the hardware that their operating system works with.  They did a great job creating a strategic alliance with hardware producers which helped their business explode.  On the flip side this makes them vulnerable to having a disconnect between them and their end users.

You could see this disconnect in the issues that people have complained about through the years about Microsoft’s software and how Apple was able to exploit that.  Apple also has Apple stores.  Apple stores are fun.  The service is awesome.  People walk away satisfied with their experience.  They use the store to build connections with their customers and to understand them better.

Is your business building solid relationships on all sides? If you are not good at that, who do you know that is?  Are you engaging in the right social media platforms for your business?  This is a key component to building a brand that people talk about in a positive light and that has staying power.

What is one of the best ways that you have used to build better connections with your business?

Building and maintaining positive relationships is essential to creating an atmosphere and culture of optimism in the workplace.  I recommend we might take this day and week of Valentines as an opportunity to examine ways we can improve relationships of all kinds and especially those at work.

Ten Tips for Building more Positive Relationships in the Workplace

1. Don’t just focus on what you like most about a co-worker, but try to learn to appreciate what you like least about them.
2. Make it a point to give one co-worker a day some kind of verbal appreciation. It could be as simple as, “Thanks for . . . It could take the form of bringing in some cookies, cake or fruit to share.
3. Make a list of little random acts of kindness you could do around the office, from dusting, to making coffee, or passing on a positive and inspirational quote.
4. Remember, even under the crusty outer surface of the chronic complainer is someone who wants a better world.  Redefine their complaint as a problem, and offer to help solve it.
5. Remember a relationship is built by what you give to it and not what you take from it.  Make your first thought, “What can I give to this person that might make his/her day better?”  It might be a simple smile, a cup of coffee, an attentive answer to a question, or some interesting tidbit of information.
6. When you give as above, you feel good about your act of giving and yourself.  The good feeling experienced is a beginning of the payback for a kind act and is enough in and of itself.
7. Looking for something to appreciate in a co-worker, close your eyes, then open them, and look, listen and feel the everyday ebb and flow of energy in the workplace.  You likely will notice some small contribution the individual is making.  Make a comment and verbalize your appreciation for that effort.
8. Think about something you have learned from the other.  We might, for example, have learned from the complainer how to get your head out of the sand and identify something that needs a fix.
9. Take the risk of admitting your vulnerability and let a co-worker know how depend on him/her to come to your aid in a “pinch.”
10. Start talking with co-workers about positively partnering-up to solve problems in the office or organization.

Now, make a commitment to appreciate one specific act, thought or quality about a coworker, everyday. It doesn’t have to be the same co-worker.  I have found that positivity is infectious even when you have a grinch for a boss.  Try it out for a few days or a week, and see how it goes.  Let me know the results in a comment. Thanks.

Cutting Edge, which recruits musicians and music for films, helps filmmakers save money on the nuts-and-bolts work of assembling a movie score.

There may be something to it – as publishers look to cut their advances for everyone except perhaps the most starry authors, more and more writers struggle to exist on their writing. I’m not only talking about creative writing, but all sorts of writing that might take more time than squeezing in an hour or two before or after work.

Already, some rock and pop singers now ask for donations via social media, and promise to include contributors’ names on the liner notes, and even pay them back when there’s a profit. It takes the pressure off the artist to search for a label (since so many more are self-releasing). And some artists are evening being inspired by sites like Facebook to create works of art.

Could the same thing happen with writers? As it’s becoming more likely that authors will be heading toward a world in which self-publishing is another option, rather than a last resort, getting backing for a project seems to make sense. It means, however, that an author has to structure his project as more than one where he waits for inspiration – he needs a plan.

Maybe a collective – perhaps funded by an angel fund that wants to offer some of its money to the arts at a time when a lot of funding, including government funding, is drying up (arts are the bane of politicians, despite the fact that arts contribute greatly to local economies – politicians loathe art as vampires fear the sunlight).

In order to attract funding, through donations or a collective, a writer needs to be able to utilize social media in a good way. We have seen the power of social media with the recent event sin Tunisia and Egypt, where Twitter has been the means of getting the word out about popular uprisings. Twitter is even the preferred method of getting in touch with airlines now for updates on cancellations.

Wouldn’t it work for proposals for donations for a project/ If you’re able to craft yor proposal in under 150 characters, it means you already have a good sense of where you’re going. Investors like that.

It means, though, that you have to be willing to be rejected. But writers are used to that. In any event, there are more and more options for getting funding – it takes a little creativity. And every writer worth his salt has that.

It’s a world of laughter, a world of tears

OK—now that we’ll all have that song stuck in our heads for at least the next hour, if not the rest of the day (“You’re welcome!”), take a look at the last 3 lines:

There’s so much that we share, That it’s time we’re aware, It’s a small world after all.

Now, when Walt Disney commissioned this song to be written back in 1964, it was intended to show children playing in a spirit of international unity and had a general theme of global peace.

Today, we understand exactly how small the world is.  We have technology and the Internet (not Al Gore) to thank for that. And in business, the world gets smaller with every review that’s written, every product praise that’s posted, and every text message that’s sent telling my BFF not to buy that thingamabob.

Case in point, it’s Thanksgiving evening. The kitchen’s cleaned up, Black Friday list is made, 3^rd football game of the day is on in the background, and I’m catching up with my Facebook friends.  One of my friends, who faithfully posts great “this day in history” videos, posts a different type of video tonight:  this one’s of a disgruntled HP customer.  And not just any ol’ customer:  this guy’s a member of our Armed Forces serving in Iraq.  Check it out.

Now, he’s got my interest.  You see, I’m from a military family: my husband, father-in-law, 3 brothers-in-law, step dad, and an aunt have all served—one paying the ultimate price.  I grew up in a military town, and have lots of military friends.  When you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us.

Now, I’m not here to post about how bad or evil HP was or wasn’t for how they handled this soldier’s service request. There are 2 sides to every story (well, actually, there are 3, but that’s for a totally different discussion), and we’re getting only one side in the video clip.  But…we’ve got a video clip…that is going viral*…that may affect how others view HP’s products and services.  And I’m seeing this the night before I go out shopping for Christmas gifts?!  Hmmmm…

Now, what does this have to do with you and your business, you wonder?  (Am I driving to a point? Yes.)

While you can’t completely control how your customers react in a given situation, you can be proactive up front to prevent a situation. And if one comes up, then be transparent in how you handle and respond to it. Remember, we are fully in a Civic Cycle.  Corporate BS will no longer do.

First off, recognize that none of this would even be floating around if HP had taken care of this customer.  “You are our #1 priority,” has to be more than just lip service!

But, now that they have a problem speeding its way around the globe, what can they do?

Take responsibility…and not just from a CYA, “gotta fix the PR mess created by this video” perspective, but to really want to take care of the issue.

“There’s so much that we share” – like how happy or disgusted we are by the service we receive;

“That’s it’s time we’re aware” – Wake up—word travels to thousands and hundreds of thousands with the click of a Send button;

“It’s a small world after all” – and getting smaller by the nano-second.

Can you relate?  I’d love to hear your stories—both you as a customer and/or you as the transparent business owner.  Just post them below.  Let’s help to make it a better “small world”—one cyber step at a time!

* A short post-script:  While looking for the video so I could embed it here, I discovered that this video was actually posted in 2006!  FOUR YEARS AGO! What a shelf life!

Tyner’s catchphrase circled the globe at light speed, his actions immediately synthesizing the volcanic tensions between the flying public and those tasked with securing passengers.

Facilitating Tyner’s hyper-speed fame was the fact that he used his cell phone to capture audio of 30 minutes worth of his interactions with TSA officials and then, within hours, posted his written version of events on his blog.

Today, everyone, everywhere, is still talking about Tyner – polarized between the majority who applaud his act of civil disobedience and the minority who view him as a prima donna who places his individual needs above those of a nation and industry seeking to deflect very real terrorist threats.

Insta-celebrity status such as that attained by Tyner gives rise to an adaptation of the old adage, “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”

In this case, we might reword the aphorism thusly: “When the mood of the public is ripe, a single event or individual will come to embody it.”

Insta-celebrities can be heroes or anti-heroes. Often, as is the case with Tyner, they are both – depending upon one’s perspective.

I don’t believe viral celebrity, such as that Tyner has attained, can be reduced to a formula that can be cast by strategic promoters.  His is not the kind of packaged fame that comes from appearing on a television reality show or talent competition.  In those cases, producers have carefully pre-screened to find the personality clay that they can mold into stardom and exploit for ratings and product endorsements.

Insta-celebs such as Tyner are organic. They are living their lives – perhaps atypical lives at that – and one day, unexpectedly, just collide with destiny.

That is not to say that communications professionals can’t derive a great deal of insight from deconstructing Tyner’s success in disseminating his message.

Indeed, an examination of multiple recent insta-celebs makes it abundantly clear that marketers and publicists who can accurately gauge the public mood have a potentially limitless energy to harness.

A few other recent examples to jog your memories:

The truth can now be told.

Well I can attest that it is, indeed, legitimate. You see, she was on the line with me and I know the whole story.

The commotion over the video is validation of my hypothesis, taught during my Buzz Snatching course, that anyone – even an unknown 33-year-old Belfast maker of trashy horror films, can become an instant global celebrity thanks to the power of the viral Internet.

In this case, said unknown filmmaker is one George Clarke, who before discovering the fur-wrapped woman in a top hat chatting away on her cell phone was best known as the director of Battle of the Bone, a no-budget kung-fu zombie flick that found a surprising – albeit small – cult audience.

It is Clarke, standing in front of a movie poster for Battle of the Bone, who prattles on for nearly 8 ½ minutes on YouTube about the mysterious cell phone caller.  She might be a time traveler, he offers, since cell phones themselves weren’t used by regular folk until at least the late 1970s.

It’s hard to measure how many millions of viewers have witnessed Clarke’s video since he originally posted it on October 19^th.  By the time you read this column, Clarke’s own original post will have surpassed 5 million views.  But that is a drop in the viewership bucket when weighed against the other YouTube knockoffs of his original; the video’s global network television audience; and the forests of trees that have been felled to carry the print stories on the so-called mystery.

Credit is due to Clarke. More people have viewed his poster for Battle of the Bone in the past two weeks than ever had or ever would have heard of him and his flick if he’d live to be 1,000 years old.

Clarke recognized the power of the public’s fascination with anything even remotely supernatural and he exploited it to its fullest.  Bravo for him.  His films may suck, but his marketing instincts are Nobel Prize-caliber.

So who is the mysterious women on the cell phone?  Her name is Gertrude Owens, a 54-year-old unemployed actress from Santa Monica.  Trude and I bet 50 bucks that she couldn’t travel back in time and complete a cell phone call to me at my office in Denver.

Well, go know!  Trude did it with aplomb and even had the chutzpah to call me collect.  If you want to learn her whole story, you’ll have to watch my soon-to-be-posted YouTube video that reveals all. I’m shooting for 500,000 viewers and airtime on the new Conan show.  Be sure to look for the “Buzz Snatching” poster in the background.

Dean Rotbart, an award-winning journalist and media relations consultant, teaches a workshop titled: Buzz Snatching: Proven Methods for Grabbing More Than Your Fair Share of the Public’s Attention.  The course is offered through the Wizard Academy in Austin, TX.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Jonathan Livingston Seagull was in a rut. Day after day after day he scurried for food, fighting with all the other seagulls for whatever spare crumbs were tossed his way by children vacationing at the beach. Young and idyllic, Jonathan was determined to find a greater destiny for himself. He didn’t want to resign himself, like the rest of the flock, to the tedium of this hovering existence. So one day Jonathan spread his wings and soared high above the fracas over food that was going on below him.

The other seagulls didn’t understand why he was acting this way. Just who did he think he was? Seagulls were supposed to do what seagulls had always done. And if Jonathan was too good for that, they didn’t want him around. So they de-flocked him.

Jonathan couldn’t have cared less. Every day he was getting better and better at flying, a progression that created a strong sense of pride in his little seagull soul. Soon he came across two seagulls he had never met. But they weren’t just any old seagulls – they were seagulls who had found a way to tap into a higher plane of existence. “Follow us,” they encouraged Jonathan. “We’ll show you a world so beautifully perfect you’ll think you’re dreaming.”

Jonathan then meets other seagulls in this newly discovered utopia, who all confirm that he is indeed a very special bird. The wisest of his new flock, Chiang, takes Jonathan under his wing and teaches him how to move instantaneously throughout the Universe. The secret, according to Chiang, is to “begin by knowing that you have already arrived.”

Exhilarated, Jonathan heads back to Earth to share his knowledge and understanding with other seagull outcasts like himself. Before long he has gathered a flock of thousands of other nonconformists. Eventually the first seagull to joined this flock, Fletcher Lynd Seagull, assumes a leadership role and Jonathan Livingston Seagull flies away to share his insight with as many others as he can find.

Are You Kidding Me?

To give you an idea of how strongly Baby Boomers identified with his idealistic and decidedly individualistic perspective, the book Jonathan Livingston Seagull, by Richard Bach, spent 38 weeks at the top of the New York Times Best Seller list, sold many millions of copies! The movie was nominated for two Academy Awards, and the soundtrack, by Neil Diamond, won a Golden Globe and a Grammy.

Although the book is still in print, what do you think the reaction would be if it hit the shelves today? I think it’s safe to say there would be no need for a second printing, a movie or a soundtrack. It’s too plastic-wrapped and sugar-coated for today’s world. Sorry Jonny, but we want the truth, ugly or not. You’re little seagull fantasy might appeal to a reader looking for to capture the nostalgia of his youth, but for those who want the unvarnished truth today, it just doesn’t fly.

Consider these facts:

• 66% of Boomer men who managed to avoid the Vietnam War have admitted to some degree of “dodging” in order to do so.
• On December 23, 1975, arbitrator Peter Seitz ruled in favor of Major League Baseball pitchers Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally, opening the floodgates for players to become “free agents” if they played for their teams one year without a contract.
• Assembly of God church membership grew by 400% during the 1980’s as Boomers abandoned “established” religions in favor of New Age and evangelical sects.
• In 1997 in The Fourth Turning: What the Cycles of History Tell Us About America’s Rendezvous With History, authors William Strauss and Neil Howe stated: “Around WWII, we were proud as a people but modest as individuals. Fewer than 2 people in 10 said yes when asked, ‘Are you a very important person?’ Today more than 6 in 10 say yes. Where we once thought ourselves collectively strong, we now regard ourselves as individually entitled.”

If you subscribe to the notion of “nurture over nature,” it’s easy to see how Boomers became so inner-focused. From their earliest years it was all about them. Our grandmothers were the most intensely nurturing generation of women America ever saw. Most of these former “Doughnut Dollies” (women who worked with Red Cross recreation centers during the war) stayed at home and made their children their livelihood. Even 80% of Boomer children of those women who did have a job to go to were taken care of by relatives in their own homes. Only a mere 2% were put into institutionalized daycare.

This child obsession could also be seen thanks to advances in the medical field. In the U.S., the scourges of diphtheria and polio were almost eliminated, tooth decay was lessened because of fluoridated water and more vaccinations and operations were performed on Boomer children than any prior generation.

Furthermore, the discipline of Boomers was extremely democratic. As writer (and mother) Eda LeShan recalled, “We wanted our children to be inner-directed. It seemed logical to us that facism and communism … could not really succeed except in countries where children were raised in very authoritarian homes.”

If you study it closely, it’s not hard to find the empirical evidence to support how and why our Baby Boomer parents have always been such interesting individuals. And I stress individuals. For 40 years America snubbed its nose at conformity. But as Bob Dylan once grunted, “The times, they are a-changin’.” Our parents’ idealistic perspective is being replaced by a more civic-minded one.  Are you one with the forces at hand?

Prove it:

1.    Get connected. Study the practical applications of new media.

2.    Get involved. Make a difference by being part of something bigger than you.

3.    Steer clear of hype and pretense. Say something powerful instead of powerfully.

4.    Be transparent. It’s okay to let them see you be real, no matter how typically you see yourself.

5.    Don’t “we-we” all over yourself. It’s not nice to boast about yourself and your company. Better to steer your message towards your civic interests.

Spam from ‘friends’ on my Facebook wall is very different matter.

My Facebook wall is almost a holy place, where I interact with friends, family, and soon to be better friends. So when marketers decide to place an ad on my wall, it feels worse and is a true violation of the unwritten rules of common decency on FB.  It the equivalent of  someone putting a Billboard on my front yard without my consent.

Usually when this happens I just delete their wall post and remove them from my friend list, which is what I was about to do yesterday morning.  Then something switched in my brain. I decided to use the very same tool the ‘spammer’ used to fight back.

Below is the series of back and forth’s I had when I got ‘spammed’ by Paul Cutright yesterday morning. It is raw and unedited, includes typos and is just as it happened.

It started with this post on my FB Wall.

Paul Cutright Hi Anthony – Dr. Joe Vitale is so inspiring! I just watched

this interview he did with Ryan Higgins from Mind Movies and Nick Ortner from World Tapping Summit. I know both of these guys and thought you might like to check it out and get the free audio – just click EFT and Mind Movies below . . .

Then I replied on my wall…

Anthony C. Garcia Jr. If you post your spam on my wall, you get removed from my friends list, and I broadcast your douchebaginess to my 3000+ friends here. Paul you posted an ad on my lawn without permission. Not cool.

Friends, if you don’t like douchebags, and Paul Cutright is on your friend list, I suggest you remove him as I have.

When will marketers get a clue?

Harsh? Maybe.  But do you disagree?  Shortly after this post(and a dozen likes and comments on my post), Paul sent me a message on FB.  Here is the thread from beginning to end.

Subject: Please accept my apologies

Paul Cutright August 9 at 11:57am

Hi Anthony — please know that I meant no offense in sending you that message. I see you unfriended me already.

I guess I don’t understand your hostility, though, when a simple request to not do anything like that again would do.

I don’t expect us to be “FB friends” again, but I would appreciate you deleting the unecessarily nasty “douchebag” message you posted. Makes me think you have no idea who I am or what I am about.

Paul

Anthony C. Garcia Jr. August 9 at 2:59pm

Paul,

Placing an unsolicited ad on my wall(or anyone’s) is a hostile act. Just because it is possible doesn’t mean you should. I only responded in proportion to the initial hostile act taken by you.

And tell me why I would want to know someone who would place something on my wall without my permission? You were clever enough to see that you could expose your message on my wall, are you not clever enough to understand my response? I was only using the same tool that you were to get my message across.

Has nobody called you on this before? Will you stop spamming people’s walls? Or are just sorry because someone actually did something you didn’t expect and you feel like you have egg on your mug?

I am ready to listen and hear you out put please know that I will share our conversation with my FB friends if you do choose to reply.

Anthony.

Paul Cutright August 9 at 3:17pm Report

Anthony,

Thank you for responding to my message. I understand you interpreted my post as a hostile act. The perception of hostility is in your interpretation, not in my intention. And your assumption of hostile intent without checking it out first is, in my opinion, over the top and uncalled for, especially with your vulgar epithet.

As a matter of fact, I have NEVER posted anything like this EVER before, for what it’s worth. No one has ever called me on this because it has never happened before. Again, you have made an incorrect assumption about my behavior as a social media participant and business person without any grounding whatsoever.

This was simply a mistake, plain and simple. Where I come from mistakes call for correction, not judgment or punishment. But, that’s just where I come from.

I am more than willing for you to share this conversation with your friends. I am also more than willing to clear this up, but I am not sure you are.

Paul

Anthony C. Garcia Jr. August 9 at 3:59pm

Paul,

I make mistakes, and if you were the unwitting recipient of the end of my patience with spam on my FBwall, I can accept that and broadcast that as well. As most of my friends can attest, my heart is bigger than my mouth.

If you are indeed a spammer, people will know and call you on it, if you are not, then good for you and good for everyone.

As you can guess, I am simply defending my wall and others who complain and just accept it as part of their FB experience. Somebody has to.

There are lessons everywhere you look, and if you and I can turn this into something that will help others have a better experience on FB or even market themselves better, I would vote for that. How about you?

Enjoy the day,

Anthony

<End of thread>

If you are a marketer or social media guru that recommends posting unsolicited advertising on a ‘friends’ Facebook wall, please rethink your tactics.    It won’t be long before people understand what I did.   That my Facebook wall is a more powerful weapon in MY hands than it is in yours.

Of course, this is not the only reason you shouldn’t do it. Bottom line, it just doesn’t work.(More on that in a separate post)

I am not convinced that Paul isn’t a spammer, are you?

What are your thoughts?  What part can you play in turning down the digital noises and spam during your FB Experience?

If you are a marketer, would you recommend or participate in posting ads on other’s walls without their consent? Why?

In 1991, William Strauss and Neil Howe co-authored the book, Generations: The History of America’s Future, 1584 to 2069. The book traces society’s changing worldview for over 400 years and arrives at the overall conclusion that our collective mindset cycles through time in a series of four generations.  These generations are identified as Civic, Adaptive, Idealist and Reactive, each lasting approximately 20 years. Meaning one generational cycle lasts about 80 years before resetting and starting again. Strauss and Howe pinpoint the most recent cycle as follows:

Society’s 40-Year Pendulum

I saw human persuasion guru and best-selling author Roy H. Williams present his modified take on this generational cycle theory in October of 2004. His presentation, Society’s 40-Year Pendulum, promoted one cycle as two 40-year generations (Civic and Idealist) rather than four 20-year generations. From his perspective, Adaptive and Reactive aren’t so much their own generations as they are Civic and Idealist cooling off periods.

Imagine the pendulum of a grandfather clock starting from its resting position. As it moves up to the left we experience a 20-year Civic generation. Then it falls back for the next 20 years as we grow increasingly tired from our zest for civic duty. This push-back has enough momentum to catapult the pendulum up in the opposite direction for 20 years until we reach the zenith of an Idealist generation. At this point the pendulum falls back again for 20 years as we react with pragmatism to the pie-in-the-sky posturing and posing of self-righteousness and expression.

Thinking Civically

If you agree with this cyclical thinking, it’s encouraging to realize that we are currently moving deeper into a Civic generation. This kind of all-for-one-and-one-for-all attitude feels much needed given the corporate scandals and economic crisis of recent times. Over the next decade, values such as teamwork, honesty, humility, social consciousness, transparency and equality should become more strongly ingrained in all of us. A few examples of this over the last couple years include:

• Applications to Teach for America, which recruits graduates for underserved urban and rural areas, have nearly tripled.*
• The Peace Corps is experiencing its largest number of volunteers in 30 years.*
• AmeriCorps*VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America), which pairs recruits with non-profit organizations, has seen a 50% jump in applicants.*

*Source article: Volunteer rates hit record numbers

Thinking like an Idealist

To come of age during the late‘60s meant running from conformity like it was a plague. Idealism was not about humbly doing your part, it was about breaking out to express yourself in a brash, larger-than-life way. It was Muhammad Ali proclaiming “I am the greatest!” It was Mick Jagger strutting around the stage like a peacock in full plume. It was Tom Wolfe chronicling the experimental escapades of the Merry Pranksters in The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. This addiction to pretense finally entered rehab in the mid‘80s and by the early 2000s we began feeling like regular people again. As our disdain for hype grows over the next decade, potential signposts, as highlighted by Roy H. Williams, should include:

• The decline of prestige brands like Rolex, Harley Davidson and Gucci.
• A decline in the effectiveness of traditional, hype-based advertising.
• A decrease in the divorce rate.

Holding Yourself Accountable

So what does this all mean to you book professionals out there? It means for the foreseeable future, people won’t just be evaluating your content, they’ll also be evaluating you. Here are ten things you can do to demonstrate your values, your perspectives and your willingness to do your part:  

1. Reference persons, places and things familiar to your audience.
2. Deliver the experience you promise.
3. Evaluate what you’re doing to make a difference.
4. Find the loopholes and close them. Anticipate the “yeah buts …” and speak to them directly.
5. Evaluate your website by asking yourself, “How can I make it easier for people to deepen their relationship with me and trust me with their money?“
6. Don’t ‘we-we’ all over yourself. Focus your message on your audience. Give this ‘we-we’ calculator a try and see how reader-focused you are.
7. Build a two-word bridge that connects your features to their benefits—‘which means.’
8. Use raw, unscripted testimonials like this one.
9. Keep your pencil sharpened and your notebook at the ready. Be prepared to capture the golden little nuggets of truth and human interaction you observe. These are the moments that bind us together.
10. Study the practical applications of new media. How can facebook help you? Should you put a video on YouTube? Is a blog something worth considering? Marketing strategist Chris Maddock certainly believes so. Read what he has to say on the matter.