Shalvey's Musings

A random collection of thoughts on tech, social media, basketball, soccer, and politics/economics. You are not expected to read/be interested...

[gamechangershow]

Honest Monopoly Board

Parker Brothers recently released an all new “honest” Monopoly board. This new version cuts through all the bullshit of the regular board and allows players to experience the game the way it was meant to be played.

[theshalvey]

True story

[missshirley]

Because that’s the thing about Scooby-Doo: The bad guys in every episode aren’t monsters, they’re liars. I can’t imagine how scandalized those critics who were relieved to have something that was mild enough to not excite their kids would’ve been if they’d stopped for a second and realized what was actually going on. The very first rule of Scooby-Doo, the single premise that sits at the heart of their adventures, is that the world is full of grown-ups who lie to kids, and that it’s up to those kids to figure out what those lies are and call them on it, even if there are other adults who believe those lies with every fiber of their being. And the way that you win isn’t through supernatural powers, or even through fighting. The way that you win is by doing the most dangerous thing that any person being lied to by someone in power can do: You think.

-Ask Chris #81: Scooby-Doo and Secular Humanism (via missshirley)

[theshalvey]

B2B Email Copy: How Short is Too Short?

When reviewing best practices, blog posts, comments, white papers, slide decks, ad infinitum regarding how to write B2B Email Copy - a few points came up repeatedly. 

Personalize your subject line.

Address the problem in the subject line.

Personalize the first paragraph and form some connection (regardless of how tenuous)

Keep to one CTA per email. Do you want a call back? A meeting? An email? Pick one and stick to it.

Let them know you will follow this email up with a phone call in a few days. 

Now, besides these specific touch points, there is also the issue of length. Specifically, emails should be as short as possible. A general metric of around 5 sentences total was mentioned by more than one source. 

The question quickly becomes, in a world where everyone is trying to get their voice heard, and differentiate their product/company/solution from the next guy/gal - is it even possible to do this while remaining in these prescribed lengths? 

For example, given the parameters I have laid out above, here is a sample email:

Subject: Hi Carol, I noticed You've Created a Great Piece of Content - Are You Getting the Best Possible Exposure For It?

Hi Carol,

This is Bill at Nero Corporation - I saw your great Infographic on the Best Type of Content for B2B Decision Makers and I wanted to make sure that you are getting the most mileage as possible out of it.

NetLine can offer you an audience of 75 million unique visitors a month, and can reliably deliver the kinds of leads your sales team needs. Our video [Link to video] gives a simple overview of what we can deliver.

I understand you're busy, and I'll follow up with a call in the next two days to touch base.

Thanks,

Bill

Now, compare this with the following example - an actual email template sent to me by one of our salesmen (a good one too for the record).

Hello ________,

  I am trying to find the appropriate person responsible for online B2B lead generation and demand creation activities at COMPANY.  Nero Corporation’s (www.NotARealWebsite.com) multi-channel distribution network allows for a greater reach to your target market through a combination of B2B niche web sites, blogs, e-mail newsletters, social media groups, mobile platforms and RSS feeds that reach more than 75 million unique business professionals on a monthly basis.  Here’s a link to our 2-minute video.

  Among a suite of solutions that we offer are:

  Content Syndication (CPL programs) - Targeting sales leads interested in your products filtered by occupation level, company size and geo-specific targeting using your digital content such as white papers, webinars, etc.  Please check out all of our current clients’ content on www.website.com

PPC/CPM display advertising - Leveraging our extensive B2B content syndication network to provide high-end visibility to your target audience while delivering on your branding and demand generation campaigns

  If you are indeed the appropriate person for me to speak with, please allow me to demonstrate how we can speed up your sales cycle and increase your ROI by using Nero's suite of solutions.  Would you be available for a 15 minute online demo of our platform this or next week?

  To be removed from future e-mails, please reply with REMOVE in the subject field.

Now, the differences between these examples are striking. For one, the second version is much larger. Here are the numbers for comparison:

Version A

Words: 102

Characters (w/ spaces): 534

Paragraphs: 3

Lines: 13

Version B

Words: 210

Characters (w/ spaces): 1,355

Paragraphs: 4

Lines: 23

So, given the stark differences between the two choices, which will convert better? Version B has the advantage of information - it delivers the company's value props, it offers supporting evidence, and supplies links for further research.

Version A has the advantage of brevity and directness. It gives a much clearer decision point and intended follow through than does Version B. 

The plan going forward is to test these two versions (or iterations thereof) in a Lead Nurturing Campaign and attempt to quantify the true value of both of these methods of email messaging.

[theshalvey]

How to Develop Customer Relationships Online

DRAFT

Today's online space is cluttered with a million players, organizations, people, (and cats) vying for the attention of the huddled masses. How are you, the business marketer, expected to not only reach a customer, but keep their attention and start to develop a trusted relationship that will eventually turn profitable?

A difficult question, made more difficult by the fact that there are a multitude of people simultaneously trying to figure it out. The idea of being the first, or the best, needs to be removed from your thought process. With something of the scale of the internet, it's simply not possible. However, re imagining your interactions in a more real-world setting makes the problem slightly less daunting. 

As shown in such works as "To Sell is Human" by AUTHOR, today's consumer possesses all the information they could possibly need to make any decision. With enough internet research, I could make a reasonably informed decision on ice-hole rentals in Finland - despite the fact I've never been to Finland, I don't know how to ice fish, and I don't particularly want to do either. The point is, with the power of the internet, it's possible.

Given this fact, our role as marketing professionals is NOT to fool the consumer, trick them, or confuse them enough to make a decision favorable to us and not to them. Not because of some sense of morality (far from it), but because it simply doesn't work. What resonates with consumers at all levels is authenticity. This has been proven time and time again. Brands have distinguished themselves by how they deal with mistakes, faux pas, and other blunders that used to make companies the laughing stock of their industry. Nowadays, companies are pouncing on these events as a way to distinguish themselves even more - "Hey we screwed up but we're sorry and here's what we're doing to fix it."

The same open, honest approach should be taken at all levels of communication. Your pricing, service offerings, and reputation should be transparent and simply stated. Customers (Cs and Bs) are often aware of the industry norms before they ever come to your site - information that doesn't fit with what they know will likely drive them away - or at least make them seriously question your motives.

2. Be Consistent

Real-life relationships are built on many things: trust, respect, helpfulness, proximity, envy, family ties, social pressures, etc etc etc. However, ended relationships have far fewer causes - one of the most common being "We just fell out of touch." 

As marketers, this is an area we can systematically address. Every customer enjoys being treated as special and unique - and none of them enjoy being dropped and ignored after such treatment. The client needs to be shown they are valued and important throughout the process, before, during, and after a sale. Lifecycle marketing tools and studies are abundant in showing the ever-increasing value of a long-term client.

In practical terms, have separate messaging plans for customers at each stage of their life-cycle, but most importantly have a messaging plan for customers at every stage. Communication needs to be consistently delivered - lest you too lose a relationship from "falling out of touch..."

3. Be a Nice Brand

Customers, especially those on Social Media, value the etiquette of the new web - congratulations, retweets, social shares, and compliments are the norm. Negative marketing is a definite no-no - most importantly because it gives your target an easy way to differentiate themselves and actually profit from your attempted attack.

Giving kudos to other brands, even competitors, can still add value to your own brand - provided it is done in the right way of course. Saying your nearest competitor is "The Best in Their Field" is obviously not the way to go, but saying "Congratulations to ABC on their recent award nomination" is a safe way to go (especially if you've been nominated as well). 

Generally speaking, being an industry leader these days comes with the expectation that you are not only a customer advocate but also an industry advocate. You do what you do because it's the right way to do it (if you're a service), or it's the best version of this very important thing (product). Be seen as a benevolent benefactor even if you're smaller than your competitors automatically attaches the positive imagery of that leader to your brand. And worst case scenario, you're seen as someone who seems easy to do business with.

Hopefully these small tips will help someone out there, and I'd love to hear your own tips and insights in the comments below. 

Cheers everyone

[emergentfutures]

How GM Makes $1 Billion A Year By Recycling Waste

The automaker generates an eye-popping $1 billion a year reusing or recycling materials that would otherwise be thrown away — everything from scrap steel and paint sludge to cardboard boxes and worn-out tires. It’s an unexpected but welcome revenue stream that comes from rethinking its approach to waste reduction.

  Full Story: Forbes

[theshalvey]

Wow. Unexpected

[theshalvey]

Noticed this on the trail... #snowonthemountains (at Los Gatos Creek Trail)

[fastcodesign]

Infographic: An Amazing, Invisible Truth About Wikipedia

Every Wikipedia entry has an optional feature we take for granted—geotagging. An entry on the Lincoln Memorial will be linked to its specific latitude and longitude in Washington D.C. On any individual post, this may or may not be a useful thing. But what about looking at these locations en masse?

That was a question asked by data viz specialist and programmer Olivier Beauchesne. To find out, he downloaded all of Wikipedia (it’s open-source, after all) then used an algorithm that would assemble 300 topical clusters from popular, related keywords. Then he placed the location of each article in these topical clusters on a map. What he found was astounding.

“Eventually, Beauchesne’s maps evolve to something more than the locations of everything in the world. They become the locations of, quite simply, everything we know.”

[theshalvey]

Volunteering and came across this... #firstgradewisdom

[whilstinsf-blog1]

Trying to deal with the Superbowl...

Walking home from the game: How I felt the next day:

[theshalvey]

This will not end well. Countless studies have shown that drug and alcohol problems basically have the same root - once an addict, always an addict. Be it drugs or alcohol, the result almost always ends the same... Love to bet the over/under on Season 2 of Anger Management right now

[theshalvey]

Another LeBron Post

I cannot describe to you how happy I am that LeBron James finally won the NBA Title. The amount of snarkiness, attack-journalism, and baseless judgements thrown his way have become tiresome... James screwed up with the Decision, agreed. He handled it as badly as a 25 year old with a ton of money would. However, when's the last time a professional athlete who took less money to win championships took this much heat? (you see what I did there?)

My feelings about LeBron James are entirely based on the fact that I believe he is the most freakish blend of talent, vision, size, and speed that the NBA has ever seen. Hell, that the NFL has seen. He's like Mike Vick crossed with Peyton and a dash of Jim Drunkenmiller (who was drafted by the 49ers after impressing scouts by dragging something heavy across a football field - but I digress). The fact that an athlete this special, in a sport this competitive at the moment, to be raked through the coals for every single thing he does or does not do is crazy. Criticism, yes. Unbridled mocking and derision? No.

Greeny (of Mike & Mike fame) made a pertinent comment to this argument I believe. His son, and all his classmates, are growing up and the player they idolize is LeBron James above everyone. I understand that you could argue that there's a generation of kids who grew up in Seattle idolizing Shawn Kemp for similar reasons, and he's not that great, but basketball is dead in Seattle so that point is moot. The important part here is that those who watch the game with a naive eye, one unfiltered by propaganda, or historical comparisons, look at LeBron James play basketball and say, "I want to be THAT guy." I believe there is some value there.

Bill Simmons (who has led me to hate a certain Ohio State ex-player because he wants to adopt HIM) said that LeBron James' base motivation was to 'Amaze' - as opposed to Jordan's 'Vanquish' or Wilts' 'Stats.' However, I believe that's unfair. LeBron James actually isn't that flashy on the court most times - if anything he uses brute strength and power over glitz and glam. I mean, it's Rondo who has a move named after him, not LeBron. Also, a player who averages as many assists as LeBron does from the forward position is NOT looking to amaze in my opinion. These aren't behind the back/no look passes - these are (usually) making the smart basketball play at the right time (Evidenced by Mike Miller's 3 point outburst in Game 5, which will forever be remembered as the last time Mike Miller was relevant).

And then there's Kobe Bryant. Listen, I hate Kobe. Passionately. However, I absolutely respect what he's brought to the game, and he will deservedly go down as one of the all time greats. (I also hope he 'goes down' Tiger-style shortly after he retires - after because I don't want to watch a 'Behind The Lines' in twenty years with Kobe saying he would have shattered every record if (insert Tiger-like incident here) didn't happen. But for all the vitriol and criticism Kobe has earned received, he was never placed on a pedestal in order to better lob stones at than LeBron.

Well, I have to get to the office, and this is probably going to be something I regret later, but screw it, I love LeBron James and I don't care who knows it.

[theshalvey]

First Attempt at tumblr...

Just checking out this space - never used it before. Interested by how quickly it's growing - totally ok with any help on where to look, how to use it effectively, etc.

Cheers, Shalvey.