jordanpfowler

I have finally met an Occupy Movement (OWS) person who desires to see an action plan occur. His comment to me:

. . .unfortunately you need to think about who would be passing those laws. The people who they affect the most. I don’t think there’s any way in hell that any of those laws would get passed by the current members in Congress. That’s one reason I can see for not even bothering dealing with specific goals. Why set a goal if there’s no chance of it getting passed?

This young man just created an Occupy Movement actionable step. Finally!

Recruit, enlist and promote a potential congressional candidate who would represent Occupy values.

So some of you should pack up your tents and get busy at this.

(Disclaimer: This is solely generic movement development advice. It does not imply that I, Jordan P. Fowler, or jordanpfowler consulting does or does not endorse any actions or values of the Occupy Movement. This advise was provided in a purely advisory role and the aforementioned parties cannot be held liable if it succeeds and results in the demolition of every corporation known to mankind. Nor can the aforementioned parties be held liable if the Occupy Movement takes this advice and their bid for congressional seats fails. Just covering my assets).

I understand what The Occupy Movement is against. I am all for civil dialogue in the public square. Os Guinness has influenced me heavily in this area. But I continue to ask this question (for months) with no answer:

What are the actionable steps the Occupy Movement desires to see going forward?

This is the type answer I consistently receive:

That’s the problem, there isn’t really a solution… short of pulling the world’s longest thread on the giant sweater that is our corrupt government and economy. And that will never happen.

Unless you want to throw violent revolution into the mix, which I don’t think most of us do, I think the best course of action is loud, visible, but non-violent anger. Take to the streets, make voices heard, and sure… block traders from getting to the NYSE. I won’t argue with that.

I also understand that the disruption of the current system you desire to see ended is part of the deconstruction process you desire. However, my contention is

Disruption without Construction = Destruction.

Rather than only telling me what you are against, tell me what you are for! Otherwise, the current system would be deconstructed with what in its place? Chaos? Anarchy? Put together some sort of 9-9-9 Plan of the Occupy Movement. A clear, actionable way forward. It is as this point that those who see you merely as a modern manifestation of angry, disgruntled youth would at least be open to considering you as a viable solution provider. So who will undertake this from the Movement? Put forward your best and brightest in this effort.

I am always open to listen to any point of view and engage in civil dialogue, but I ask you to come to that conversation with a way forward, not merely a disruption and destruction of the current.

You might wonder how frequently you should post to Facebook or Twitter.

Wait at least one hour before posting a second post with a link on Facebook or Twitter. Current data reveals more frequent posting actually divides click thru’s.

The most followed people on FB and Twitter post once every 1.5 days.

Drawn from Dan Zarrella‘s new book, which I highly recommend, Hierarchy of Contagiousness.

So you were up super late last night. Let’s say it was for a red eye flight and not that MMA fight at the local sports bar. Now you find yourself slapping for the snooze button in a less than familiar hotel room. What? Oh yes, that huge pitch meeting to the multimillion dollar client. You head over to the sink, splash water on your face in a futile attempt to snap to it, and look up in the mirror only to notice, you have bag eyes. Not the normal, I’m getting older bags, but I’m so tired these are the size of cow udder bags. (Yeah, gross). So what do you do?

If you are a smart business person, you realized the potential for this and threw a small tube of Preparation H into your toiletries. You see, no pun intended, Preparation H isn’t merely for the lower regions. This lovely shark oil substance is an inflammation shrinking cream that works wherever you apply it. So a small dab on your finger spread under those tired eye will begin shrinking the bags. I suggest applying it 30 minutes before you shower and letting it sit. Be diligent not to get it in your eye ball or tear duct, as that will create red eyes, which will lead your client to other conclusions. Make sure you wash it off before you leave the hotel room or you risk looking like a prize heavyweight fighter at your meeting. (I also suggest using a separate tube for your eyes if you are also a hemorrhoid sufferer, as it just seems a little risky to use the same tube for both.)

Where did I get this tip? Early morning news anchors often use this little under eye perk up trick to look their best.

Finally, a little relational advice. I wouldn’t mention this practice. Once I was at a church giving a message, afterwards someone saw me in the hall and said, “You look a little tired today.” To which I responded, “Yeah, I forgot the Preparation H.” Her mouth hit the floor and I was in a hurry for the next message and had to head back towards the platform. I tried to find her after the second service but couldn’t. To this day she probably thinks, “TMI, that guy is weird and we are looking for a new church.” Still, it works.

The Center for Disease Control, unlike many large organizations, has a sense of humor. If you are concerned about a zombie apocalypse here is the official U.S. federal government response.

Also, diverse responses on zombie protection on Quora.

I would add what I saw on the Shiloh Church marquee sign. No joke, they are always bizarre.
“Zombies don’t eat fast food.” (An upcoming series on this).

Both the CDC and Shiloh have realized the power of a disconnected message method as has Geico. Obviously, this works very well through social media platforms. While it shouldn’t be core to your efforts, showing a sense of humor or even mild shock can be effective to drawing initial attention to your offerings. Of course, it can backfire. Many of us have seen a commercial where we saw a humorous, disconnected message and, afterwards, if asked we could not tell you the product or service promoted.

A list of title and summary words that appear in the most and least connected LinkedIn profiles. Of course, if you merely throw these words into your LinkedIn, it smacks of inauthentic content. Use them only if they truly apply to you. (My LinkedIn account).

From this list it is obvious that LinkedIn is becoming the platform for job seekers and recruiters.

Dan Zarrella uses evidenced based approaches to social media (finally someone) and has access to a great quantity of data. I highly recommend his new book, Hierarchy of Contagiousness.

(Dan’s Twitter, Facebook)

DG21 ScreenShot

DesignerGenes21.com founder, Nigel Barnard, contacted jordanpfowler consulting for strategic marketing and web development help. Nigel was launching a business that offers Down Syndrome Awareness branded t-shirts and apparel which are thought provoking, humorous, and empowering. He needed an e-commerce site up within two weeks in order to be ready for exhibit booth the Buddy Walk. (No small task, especially when product wasn’t expected to arrive until just before the event).

We engaged in the task immediately, in our usual partnership with Chris Johns Media, who provided the web design that matched our strategic marketing plan and original copy. Through this efficient partnership, we were able to hand Nigel the keys to his site before the event, hitting our two week deadline and delivering a quality site.

We also developed his social media platforms including a Facebook page and custom skinned Twitter page. jordanpfowler consulting also set up our client’s hootsuite site for easy social media management. In the coming days, we will skin a landing page on Designer Genes 21′s Facebook page, allowing contests and other applications to be utilized. Promotional plans also include activating a blog that is CSS ready for content and e-newsletters.

Nigel’s story of his experience with Down Syndrome is compelling and his company gives back blessings to other children with Down Syndrome through scholarships to the Kinderfrogs program at TCU. We hope you take the time to peruse his shirts. My favorite is the the R-Word shirt.

Thank you Nigel for trusting us with this life dream. We are proud to be a part.

After much internal wrangling, I decided to put the Google +1 button for my blog at the end of each body of text. Why? I am not looking for easy +1′s but for people who have truly digested a post and think it contains content valuable enough to share. Placing the Google +1 script at the end of the text lends itself to being clicked after the full post has been read.

By the way if you need the script and are a non-programmer, simply post this into your WordPress or other content editor in html mode and the Google +1 button will automagically appear.

<!– Place this tag where you want the +1 button to render –>
<g:plusone size=”medium” annotation=”inline”></g:plusone>

<!– Place this render call where appropriate –>
<script type=”text/javascript”>
(function() {
var po = document.createElement(‘script’); po.type = ‘text/javascript’; po.async = true;
po.src = ‘https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js’;
var s = document.getElementsByTagName(‘script’)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s);
})();
</script>

And without further adieu, here is…

Click to Enlarge

For all you visual learners, a graphic follow up to one of the best pieces of communication wisdom I ever received .

Corbin, Nerf Gun Marketing Warrior

My son Corbin frequently asks me to play Nerf Gun Wars. We each head to a different part of the house, count to twenty and then attempt to Styrofoam dart the other one to death. The last time I hunted him down, it occurred to me that many business owners’ approach to marketing can be compared to Nerf Gun wars. The business owner attempting to target and hit his/her target customer, and the target customer, who tends to want to avoid sales people or being sold to, shoots back in defense.

The Sniper. My usual NGW strategy. Find a strategic location, establish a nest, site up where the target will emerge, and finger on the trigger. This is the highly focused owner who uses limited scope marketing to prospects that are more likely qualified to have a need his or her business can provide. These owners are willing to spend more marketing dollars per prospect per impression, much like a sniper is willing to wait for the ideal targeted shot, because they know their bullet or method will deliver. They are willing to pay more for highly filtered prospect lists and have screening methods for clients. Often, this strategy is more concerned with maximizing profit margins per unit sold, rather than percentage of market. This strategy works well with premiere or niched products where the potential client needs a high value touch. Price point as a competitive value is also not as important.

If you are going to try sniper marketing, you’d better make sure your scope is accurate and precise, and your advertising bullet is effective and impressive enough for “the kill” with a single shot.

The Sprayer. Any kid with ADHD or an aggressive outlook tends to use this NGW strategy. Upon the 20 count, they emerge and blitzkrieg any suspected target area spraying Nerf bullets everywhere. Their theory is ‘one of these shots will surely be lucky.’ These business owner’s marketing is all about number of impressions (highest CPM at lowest cost). If a marketing bullet whizzes by someone’s ear and doesn’t land, their thought is, ‘at least the person will know about who we are and what we do.’ This strategy works better on goods and services where price is a competing factor and market share is a key measurement.

If you are a sprayer, each bullet has to be very cheap per shot since you are going to unload tons of ammo as compared to the waiting sniper. Can you cover a broad enough swatch of prospects that you will land a few of them?

The Strategists. There are always the masterminds who develop elaborate schemes. The last NGW I had with Corbin, he had set up a cage of laundry baskets and moved his laser sight to a different part of the room in an attempt to fool me into thinking he was really there. As I had counted to twenty, I headed towards his room only to catch him still in the process of setting up his Stephen Hawking-esque elaborate scheme. As he built away, unaware that I was there, he soon was wasted in my onslaught. This personality is akin to business owners who love incessant planning, tweaking and re-tweaking never to actually execute or try any actual marketing activity.

If you are an over-planner, force yourself to have milestones to try something, even if you feel your plan needs further work.  

The Send Your Sister. Corbin will often send his sisters to spy out where I am, but it is very easy for me to sway them from giving away my defensive position (usually it only involves a chocolate chip cookie bribe). As a result, he gets bad intel and rarely has the ability to make the kill. Some business owners so love making the product or providing the service that they relegate all selling to their ‘sisters,’ or professional sales force. As a result they get separated from the front lines of actual messaging and delivering a sales presentation. This can quickly become a fatal disconnect for the business, where the owner becomes a backroom general who has no idea of his business’ marketing challenges.

If you are a technician type business owner, make yourself sell your product or service to clients at least once per week. This will help you help your sales force message your core value more clearly.

Grab your marketing gun and get going. What other marketing as Nerf Gun Wars come to mind?