Ralphie runs upstairs to the bathroom, locks the door and rips open the package. There’s the pen and the secret code. He gets to work. Meanwhile his little brother is knocking on the door. Nature’s calling, but Ralphie keeps plugging away at that message, oblivious to his brother’s dilemma. The pounding gets louder in the scene, both from the door and Ralphie’s racing heart. What does this message say? Whatever it is will change the world, he knows it! Keep going, push through and figure it out, for humanity’s sake! Finally the message is revealed: Remember what it was? DRINK MORE OVALTINE. Even better was Ralphie’s response: “Son of a B****!!!” After all of that buildup came a tremendous letdown.

Fast forward about 50 years from the setting of the movie. Last night my wife discovered a QR code on the newspaper, so she grabbed her Android and I my Blackberry, each one equipped with code readers. Kind of a “quick draw” competition if you will. We each pointed and shot the code, then waited for the phones to decode the message, like we were using Ralphie’s decoder pen. Within 30 seconds the message was revealed: It said: “Here’s the Deal”…It was a site that directed us to a coupon for a restaurant we’d never heard of in a place we never go.

Therein lies the dilemma: We have all of this new technology that could be used to help people, build business, and attract and maintain attention. Or, we could put QR codes all over the place that tell us to “Drink More Ovaltine”. I think we can do better than that.

This issue is extending to personal relationships as well. How many blogs are there? Over 1.9 Million and growing. What are they about? Better yet, what AREN’T they about? Individuals can literally search for any topic of interest and discuss it in any format they choose: Skype, e-mail, blog, text, phone, letter (not likely), FB, Twitter, My Space, YouTube, LinkedIn, …… You get the point. The challenge is that our tolerance for discussion of topics OUTSIDE our interests is drastically reduced…we’d far rather give attention to things we genuinely CARE about…not things SOMEONE ELSE cares about…There simply isn’t enough time in the day to learn enough about someone else’s interests to engage in an intellectual discussion with them included. Like it or not, this isn’t going to change. Call it information overload in the Information Age, call it targeted social interaction, call it whatever you want. It may or may not break down longstanding personal relationships depending on the coping capacity of the people involved in the discussion.

People are actually finding themselves drawn to others who share much more TARGETED interests than 20 years ago. Remember in the 80’s and 90’s? What did we have to talk about? Football, basketball, local news from the NEWSPAPER, what mixes well with watermelon schnapps…Are we on the same page? Today, we are all challenged with too much information. Dining room table conversations don’t happen like they used to, even when the entire family is present. Family gatherings are becoming stressful instead of relaxing because there are now MILLIONS of topics someone could possibly choose to discuss. For example: If a discussion begins about something for which you are totally unprepared, what do YOU do? I personally feel that’s the reason there’s football on Thanksgiving.

Happy Holidays.

Prediction: Social media is going to have a huge impact on this phenomenon and it is going to significantly impact who consumers choose to trust with their livelihoods/money/friendships/decisions in the very near future. If there’s one thing social media is big on promoting it’s transparency. The internet is one giant background check. If someone provides financial support to a specific cause with the expectation of receiving a transactional financial gain from the donation, it’s a hypocritical gift…otherwise known as a bribe. Bribes are usually big news in the political world, but we either engage in them or passively observe them every day in the business world. Certainly, businesses can give “gifts” to schools and non-profit organizations and get recognized on the “donor list”. That’s acceptable IF THAT’S WHERE THE HEART IS. Skepticism should and does arise when it’s discovered that the donor has no personal interest at stake in the organization besides the transactional expectation. And if he/she doesn’t have such an interest? Sorry, folks, that’s called advertising and they’re not really supporting your cause…They’re looking for ROI.

There is a huge gray area between advertising and marketing versus charitable giving. One sets a transactional expectation and the other does not. Social media is all about giving more than you get in return. It’s built on the word-of-mouth premise that if someone does something nice for me, I want to reciprocate that act NOT WITH MONEY, but with kindness. It’s the word-of-mouth around the character that generates ROI, not the financial significance of the donation. In other words, successful businesses of the future will pay it forward.

In agriculture, seeds get planted with no guarantee that they will grow or generate a return. Yes, there is a lot riding on those corn and soybean plants, but there’s also a lot of patience, nurturing and faith that goes into the process as well. For example, why can a tractor only travel a little over 3 miles per hour when a farmer is cultivating corn? Two reasons: First, one sudden move can cause the implement to plow out the very plants it is cultivating. Second, if the implement is moving too fast, it throws dirt over the top of the plant’s leaves and stunts it growth, or even possibly kills it. I learned this from experience, and from attitude adjustments applied by my father.

Compare the example to the strategies of the present day, namely social media. The internet is touted as being the fastest, most efficient advertising and marketing vehicle on Earth. We have instant access to more information, more opinions and more people than ever before yet moving through it too fast will affect the very relationships that are required to grow a “crop” online. Moving recklessly through the “fields” could uproot seeds that have been planted for some time or stunt the growth of others by covering them up with unwanted “soil”.

Resist the temptation of accelerating through the fields just because you want and need your online crop to grow faster. Instead, plant, cultivate and nurture every seed you plant in every online relationship. It may take months or even years for the seeds to germinate, but in the end you’re more likely to be rewarded with a record harvest.

You think this is about road construction, but it’s not…It’s about business. Many of the traditional paths to success taught by corporations, mentors, business schools, and other resources are being cut off. Businesses are now seeing signs like: “Dead End—Do Not Call, Do Not Solicit”, “Detour—Land Line Disconnected”, “Closed Indefinitely Due to Budget Constraints—Find Alternate Path to Household”. And yet the proposed alternatives are nothing more than revisions of the original traditional concepts: SPAM e-mail, automated text messages, and the inundation of visual brand images on television, in newspapers, and on Facebook ads. The interesting thing is that the general public will be a lot less patient with these “proposed detours”.

It took radio 37 years to acquire the attention of 50 million listeners and television 15 years to acquire 50 million viewers. It only took 4 years for the internet to acquire 50 million users. If you think building a road of alternative, permission-based marketing solutions is going to take longer than two years to build, I’d say you’re kidding yourself.

The main challenge for those in either school of thought, in my opinion, is held in the context of these two strategic decisions.

The penalty for waiting in any game is the forced “catch-up” process… The panic instilled in oneself when they discover the boat has already left port and they’re still holding their suitcases. Trying to catch up with a moving boat leaves you exhausted, frustrated, and “all wet”. The greater challenge with social media is that it’s moving faster than the boat.

The penalty for doing it wrong is loss of credibility. If 95% of your Facebook posts are about what your company has to offer the general public and are “me-centered” instead of “them-centered”, it’s called mass marketing. If you tweet links to your business’ microsite 50 times a day, it’s SPAM. If one day you have 5 LinkedIn contacts and the next you have 500, what is that saying to your “audience” about the value you place on relationships?

So, what’s the context of your social media presence? What’s the history behind “why” you are doing what you are doing? What’s the “WIIFT” (not the traditional “WIIFM”)…What’s In It For Them: Your readers, friends, fans, contacts, followers, or whatever different platforms call those who are engaged in their conversations?

Thank you in advance for your comments.

Ever apply this phenomenon to the marketing world? Remember when there used to be one salesperson representing one product squared off with one prospect with an unmet need? A lot of door-to-door salespeople made a lot of money fulfilling needs in this manner, and the odds were pretty good. Zig Ziglar got his start as a cookware salesman, or at least that’s what he says in his book “See You At The Top”. The days of one salesperson facing off with a prospect are over…just check your mailbox. How many pieces do you get every day for products/services that are ALL similar commodities? You’re right, I don’t want to know.

So now, instead of being one hunter facing off against one saber tooth tiger, there’s one hunter in the middle of a circle surrounded by a HUNDRED of them. How does that make you feel?

There is no more “the way you have always run it”. That’s how most people react to this evolution, by thinking it will go away. Ignorance is bliss, right? WRONG. It’s inevitable. Change is coming. It’s on the horizon, and if you haven’t thought about attempting to do business in a way that doesn’t constantly interrupt people to get your point across, the forward-thinking minds out there are going to bury you in your own traditions.

Instead of falling by the wayside, why not embrace it and become an active member of this tribe of change?  It would be better for everyone, including your clients.  And if you don’t know how to start, talk to Robyn at CaptiveAgents.com.  Sure she has an insurance background, but her information is applicable to just about any type of service organization out there.

1.  People are reluctant to put their name and contact information on any sheet of paper, even if it means it gives them a chance to win something of value.  They’ve clearly been called by a salesperson in the past after they’ve completed an entry form for a prize. 

2.   People are picking up less “free stuff” than they used to, possibly because they now either realize that a.  nothing is truly free or b.  they don’t want to feel obligated to someone when they pick up that pen (like we can find you when we don’t know your name.)

3.  Even though people “shop” and engage in a conversation with a salesperson, most state up front that they choose to stay where they are until their current service provider does something wrong or experiences a substantial financial hardship as a result of their prices.    

4.  It doesn’t matter if you are an independent franchise owner, when asked their specific representative’s name, many people cannot tell you.  They CAN, however, tell you the company that has their account.  The ones who can tell you their representative’s name frequently have a deeper personal connection with that person beyond the products/services they buy from them.   

5.  If there are multiple providers of the same service who represent the same company in one geographic area, most people assume you work together, share expenses, and are funded by the parent company.  To take this even further, customers and prospects directly correlate the money spent on postage for correspondence and advertising and an ”excessive” number of storefronts in a given area to a waste of spending because they think these expenses all contribute to their individual rate.   Some of these assumptions are true, but many are false.    

6.  This one isn’t business related, but I mention it because I’m a dad:  Unattended children should be given an espresso and a puppy for the ride home with their parents.  Maybe that’s extreme, but seriously, kids under 10 should not be wandering around by themselves, or with friends of the same age, even if they have a cell phone, in an uncontrolled environment like a county fair.  Technology should never replace parental supervision. 

Overall, my wife is correct in her assessment of why we should keep setting up a fair booth:  “People will notice when you’re there, but even more when you’re not.”  Funny thing is that I didn’t set out a huge stack of business cards this year and people looked relieved.  Thank you to everyone who stopped by.  If you want me to help you, I’m online.  Just Google my company, hit “locate an agent”, and shoot me an e-mail message.  Here’s my philosophy:  I won’t call YOU…I’ll call you BACK.

So many people see any gathering of multiple people as an opportunity to promote what they do to others.  That’s what we’re taught in “sales school”, right?  “If someone doesn’t know what you do, how can they ever ask you for help?”  is a common argument.  Totally understandable in the old way of thinking, but what about today when there are hundreds of alternatives to the products and services we offer?  Does it really matter more than who we are as people?  And if I don’t really like you as a person, why in the world would I want to do business with you?  If you’re attending a party among friends, they already know what you do. 

Santa is certainly kind enough to give you his business card if you ask for it, but he’s not going to just hand them out without being asked first…perhaps you shouldn’t either.