What could I, a 30something business woman, practically raised in the age of the internet possibly learn from a baby boomer seemingly beyond his time? Everything! Listen up all you 30somethings and Millennials out there; because the new Millennial Boomer is re-defining young and providing a wealth of knowledge and insights that are simply priceless. To all you 45+ guys and gals out there finding great and creative ways to thrive in today’s business world – keep reading for a touching story of a another great Millennial Boomer.
I would like to introduce you to Brian Jacobson, a career recruiter based in the greater Chicago area. Simply put, the guy is stacked with credentials - an MBA overseeing 130+ people as the VP of a very successful company whose office overlooked Lake Michigan. With a six figure income and a long list of successes he is one of those people that knew his blueprint and followed it religiously. With a dynamic wife Lin; who also mastered a career running parallel to his they were truly a couple building an American dream.
For them the “American Dream” blueprint was easy to see: work hard to provide their employers the best they had; live responsibility so they could build a nest egg in the form of a 401k; and simply be the best at what they did. Then – the unexpected; the rules of the game changed.
Until this point in our conversation I experienced from Brian what I call “the veil”. It’s that beautiful draping we wrap ourselves in as professionals. It’s the description of ourselves that we give the world so they see a polished professional that has the answers. The list of successes – both personal and professional creates a weave most onlookers generally never see beyond. They’re the ones that show up looking their best, carry unshakable confidence and are ready to conquer whatever’s in front of them.
However, it’s those that allow a peak under the veil that my heart goes out to. It’s the seasoned professional with a well formed veil and the ability to be vulnerable and transparent when it will help others the most, that we can truly learn from. I am fortunate that Brian is just one of those people. It is this openness and vulnerability that I sensed in Brian’s voice as he started to tell me about how the game changed and what this would ultimately mean for him and his wife.
In their 50’s both Brian and Lin found themselves unemployed. The 401K they’d worked so hard to build was getting beat up left and right. Lin had some opportunities to stay in her industry; however, neither of them made the money they were once used to. The downturn in the market coupled with the heightened use of technology in just about every industry created a perfect storm of sorts and a brand new game with its own set of rules. Needless to say, their blueprint needed to change.
As I listened to Brian share his story (and watched his veil come down), my heart went out to him. How could this be? How does a person that’s used to navigating cutthroat competition in the job market find himself here? I even started feeling bits of fear come over me, asking myself “Sheesh, if this guy can’t beat the odds, what does this mean for the future of other aging executives?”
So I asked him, “now what?” With a defenseless tone he responded: “We made a decision to embrace change and adjust our mindset.” He then began to share how he and Lin began gathering up their resources, digging deep into the technical skills they already had, and learning the skills they didn’t.
I can only imagine the voices of doubt and moments wondering if the new plan would even be possible. Those little gnawing feelings that tell a person it’s just to late to make a change this big. That’s when Brian told me about the voice he chose to listen to – the voice of his younger executive self telling him anything is possible and what he did had meaning. It’s that voice that rekindled a fire for rebuilding on this new blueprint. As Brian said “There was no other alternative, it was not just a want – it was a MUST!”
Wow! From the edge of my chair I asked, “how’d you do it, exactly what was the new blueprint?” He responded, “We started our own consulting firm and recruiting site SirusSearchGroup.com.” With an excitement and fulfillment in his voice he told me about this new business and how along with the ups and downs, long hours, and sacrifices required with any new business he was living with purpose.
Today they spend their days together, make their own hours, enjoy bike rides and kayaking when they want. The decision was to not become victims of the circumstances, instead to redesign their life’s blueprint. It may not be the retired life they originally envisioned, but they still enjoy the benefits of retirement while generating the income they need to live.
I love this! Just because the rules of the game change doesn’t mean the players are no longer significant. The formula of taking a lifetime of knowledge and experiences into a new world with a few adjustments to perform in a business 2.0 world is not only valid – it’s highly rewarding for both those doing it and those of us who still have so much to learn as the 20 and 30somethings.
Thank you Brian for showing us that success is ageless and all ages can learn a great deal from each other. Thank you for being a true Millennial Boomer.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Marketing: Are you telling a viral story?
I recently had the privilege of watching a personal interview with Bob Allen, president of the I.D.E.A.S firm. His unique firm is responsible for creating various forms of communication pieces that deliver what some would describe as the top three values to storytelling in the new media world. These three values are: entertainment, learning and marketing.
Storytelling is how we as marketers communicate a message we wish to convey to an audience. As Bob described, audience sizes have changed; however, the process of storytelling is still centered around these three top values. The form of distribution is simply the channels the story will ultimately travel. As we are all discovering, today’s interactive world is fertile ground for the story to travel vastly via the social channels. So the question posed is: How does one ensure the story’s success?
His success formula has tremendous depth, yet made up of some very simple principles. The story must be authentic, show social proof and ultimately convey the story we want people to share. By knitting these values together with his prescribed formula, it’s easy to see how balanced his approach is to good storytelling. It’s also easy to see why his stories would then become viral. He’s simply meeting the needs of the audience.
Who is the audience? That was the next topic he addressed. The audience has taken various forms over the past few decades. What once was broad and general has evolved into niche and now even the audience of “one”. What does this mean for marketers? Simply put, we must take into consideration that the story we are sharing speaks to an audience of one. This is now a priority to storytelling because of the interactivity element.
Technology now offers the audience of one a platform for his voice to be heard and for others to share his perspective. That means the story must hold its integrity throughout its travels through the various media channels. Marketers today must focus on the story’s integrity value. This means marketers must be involved throughout the journey of the story, listening, watching and integrating opinions of the audience regularly. In summery, it is indeed a “living” story we as marketers must groom on a daily basis.
Thoughts?
Storytelling is how we as marketers communicate a message we wish to convey to an audience. As Bob described, audience sizes have changed; however, the process of storytelling is still centered around these three top values. The form of distribution is simply the channels the story will ultimately travel. As we are all discovering, today’s interactive world is fertile ground for the story to travel vastly via the social channels. So the question posed is: How does one ensure the story’s success?
His success formula has tremendous depth, yet made up of some very simple principles. The story must be authentic, show social proof and ultimately convey the story we want people to share. By knitting these values together with his prescribed formula, it’s easy to see how balanced his approach is to good storytelling. It’s also easy to see why his stories would then become viral. He’s simply meeting the needs of the audience.
Who is the audience? That was the next topic he addressed. The audience has taken various forms over the past few decades. What once was broad and general has evolved into niche and now even the audience of “one”. What does this mean for marketers? Simply put, we must take into consideration that the story we are sharing speaks to an audience of one. This is now a priority to storytelling because of the interactivity element.
Technology now offers the audience of one a platform for his voice to be heard and for others to share his perspective. That means the story must hold its integrity throughout its travels through the various media channels. Marketers today must focus on the story’s integrity value. This means marketers must be involved throughout the journey of the story, listening, watching and integrating opinions of the audience regularly. In summery, it is indeed a “living” story we as marketers must groom on a daily basis.
Thoughts?
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Does your corporate site offer social significance?
The public display of affection is not something we all appreciate. It is however, the “public display of connection” that drives us to our social network sites. Yep. Simple concept. We’re all a little guilty of it. We collect friends, rack up points on Farmville and display our status lines for the purpose of having a little bit more significance…maybe even some bragging rights. Guilty.
I live in a town that’s all about social status. Everywhere you look, someone is trying to prove some sort of something to the world. As I’m sitting outside the Sprinkles cup cake shop in Beverly Hills borrowing the Internet connection from the restaurant across the street, it all makes sense. Wa? Don’t judge, I dropped like fifty bucks for lunch with a friend there about 2 hrs. ago…I can come back and borrow a little bandwidth. And yes, I did buy a cupcake and even a coffee, so my taking up the Sprinkles table across the street is totally legit…
Now that I’ve justified my actions, my point. I’m in awe of the giant line of people that never seems to end, sitting and waiting to buy cupcakes here. Are they special cupcakes? Nope. Just regular cupcakes with frosting. However, the fact that celebs supposedly buy cupcakes here, that’s something. I bet nine out of every ten people in line are here just because they want to be able to tell their friends “I had a Sprinkles cupcake.” Again, public display of connectivity is the driving force. It’s the evidence factor.
When marketing online people want evidence that others like you. Do you show evidence that your visitors’ opinions matter? Do you even ask for their opinion? It’s not about how many friends you have on your company’s social network pages…it’s about how you feature, celebrate and glorify those that take interest in your company. Games on your site add value too. If your visitors have fun reasons to come back, they will! Offer up points, tokens, etc. for their time interacting with your company online. Any good webmaster can source free game scripts you can incorporate into your site. Here’s a good starting point for free games you can play with: http://javascript.internet.com/games/
Thoughts?
I live in a town that’s all about social status. Everywhere you look, someone is trying to prove some sort of something to the world. As I’m sitting outside the Sprinkles cup cake shop in Beverly Hills borrowing the Internet connection from the restaurant across the street, it all makes sense. Wa? Don’t judge, I dropped like fifty bucks for lunch with a friend there about 2 hrs. ago…I can come back and borrow a little bandwidth. And yes, I did buy a cupcake and even a coffee, so my taking up the Sprinkles table across the street is totally legit…
Now that I’ve justified my actions, my point. I’m in awe of the giant line of people that never seems to end, sitting and waiting to buy cupcakes here. Are they special cupcakes? Nope. Just regular cupcakes with frosting. However, the fact that celebs supposedly buy cupcakes here, that’s something. I bet nine out of every ten people in line are here just because they want to be able to tell their friends “I had a Sprinkles cupcake.” Again, public display of connectivity is the driving force. It’s the evidence factor.
When marketing online people want evidence that others like you. Do you show evidence that your visitors’ opinions matter? Do you even ask for their opinion? It’s not about how many friends you have on your company’s social network pages…it’s about how you feature, celebrate and glorify those that take interest in your company. Games on your site add value too. If your visitors have fun reasons to come back, they will! Offer up points, tokens, etc. for their time interacting with your company online. Any good webmaster can source free game scripts you can incorporate into your site. Here’s a good starting point for free games you can play with: http://javascript.internet.com/games/
Thoughts?
ROI Metric for Online Video
By now everyone in the marketing world knows if we’re not telling your clients about the power of online video, we need to find another job. I mean think about it, can we not get enough of the Old Spice guy?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLTIowBF0kE
Old Spice people!!! I haven’t thought about Old Spice since I was 10 and my father’s choice scent of that decade. When I started seeing this ad pop up virally, it not only caught my attention, it gave me brand new perspective on a brand that’s been “the old man” smell all these years (you know you’ve thought that too). Genius campaign. I can’t get enough of the Old Spice guy and might even be okay with my husband wearing it. Okay, maybe not…husband smelling like my father in the 80’s is creeping me out.
Coming back to ut-hummm, marketing. That ad generated over 2Million views this week (in 1 week). To date it’s up to something like 8Million views. Now we’re not talking about an ad that pops up in the middle of a TV show in front of a couple million viewers, we’re talking about an ad that is airing (for free) and getting passed along to 8M people (by choice). Powerful stuff.
So how does one monetize such undisciplined behavior? Well one little gem of a find is an online metric application created by visiblemeasures.com. You get tracking, social performance reporting and a list of other perks.
Would love to hear back from anyone who’s tried it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLTIowBF0kE
Old Spice people!!! I haven’t thought about Old Spice since I was 10 and my father’s choice scent of that decade. When I started seeing this ad pop up virally, it not only caught my attention, it gave me brand new perspective on a brand that’s been “the old man” smell all these years (you know you’ve thought that too). Genius campaign. I can’t get enough of the Old Spice guy and might even be okay with my husband wearing it. Okay, maybe not…husband smelling like my father in the 80’s is creeping me out.
Coming back to ut-hummm, marketing. That ad generated over 2Million views this week (in 1 week). To date it’s up to something like 8Million views. Now we’re not talking about an ad that pops up in the middle of a TV show in front of a couple million viewers, we’re talking about an ad that is airing (for free) and getting passed along to 8M people (by choice). Powerful stuff.
So how does one monetize such undisciplined behavior? Well one little gem of a find is an online metric application created by visiblemeasures.com. You get tracking, social performance reporting and a list of other perks.
Would love to hear back from anyone who’s tried it.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Scared of employees blogging? 4 Steps to doing it right:
It’s no secret employees are sharing the “behind the scenes” with the world. Whether they’re doing it in secret or as a company approved effort, the corporate world is generally a bit unnerved by the whole idea. Some are still in denial about the implications of avoiding it and the topic is dismissed altogether. Well avoiding something does not mean it’s going to go away and the longer it’s avoided, the harder it will be to overcome later.
I say nip fast and nip it now. A super successful 4 step formula:
1. Assess your people – If your employees have not taken personality assessments such as DISC, Myers Briggs, etc. then they’re probably not as cohesively connected to your company as they could be. Assessing them will give you clear understanding as to why they do what the do and how you can help them do it even better.
2. Categorize – Once you’ve assessed the group, separate them into categories. An example would be to put analyticals into one category, social butterflies into another.
3. Compartmentalize Your Website – Your web team should be able to help you “direct” traffic into the areas you desire. Staying with our example, offer entry points for the feel good reader (social butterflies) and other entry points for the hard facts reader (analyticals). The common mistake made by many companies is to clump up ALL the company’s social correspondence into one area of the website. That’s like jumping on a city bus and asking every stranger to bond before the next stop. Not likely to happen. However, what if you had a bus for “chatty” people and another bus for “hard facts only “ people. Better chance of them getting along and bonding? Probably so.
4. Encourage Interaction – It’s not just a Web 2.0 world out there, it’s Business 2.0 world. That means if your internal operations (i.e. Employees) are not involved in your external outreach message, you’re not truly connecting with the consumer as well as you could be. Encourage employees to blog based on their strengths (now easy to figure out based on your nifty new assessments) and get them involved in connecting with your customer.
Bottom line is that if you’re a successful business today, customers and employees are going to talk about you. Some will do it out in the open, others behind disguises and fake handles. Why not take every measure to have them do it constructively and with a little bit more quality control?
Please share your thoughts!
I say nip fast and nip it now. A super successful 4 step formula:
1. Assess your people – If your employees have not taken personality assessments such as DISC, Myers Briggs, etc. then they’re probably not as cohesively connected to your company as they could be. Assessing them will give you clear understanding as to why they do what the do and how you can help them do it even better.
2. Categorize – Once you’ve assessed the group, separate them into categories. An example would be to put analyticals into one category, social butterflies into another.
3. Compartmentalize Your Website – Your web team should be able to help you “direct” traffic into the areas you desire. Staying with our example, offer entry points for the feel good reader (social butterflies) and other entry points for the hard facts reader (analyticals). The common mistake made by many companies is to clump up ALL the company’s social correspondence into one area of the website. That’s like jumping on a city bus and asking every stranger to bond before the next stop. Not likely to happen. However, what if you had a bus for “chatty” people and another bus for “hard facts only “ people. Better chance of them getting along and bonding? Probably so.
4. Encourage Interaction – It’s not just a Web 2.0 world out there, it’s Business 2.0 world. That means if your internal operations (i.e. Employees) are not involved in your external outreach message, you’re not truly connecting with the consumer as well as you could be. Encourage employees to blog based on their strengths (now easy to figure out based on your nifty new assessments) and get them involved in connecting with your customer.
Bottom line is that if you’re a successful business today, customers and employees are going to talk about you. Some will do it out in the open, others behind disguises and fake handles. Why not take every measure to have them do it constructively and with a little bit more quality control?
Please share your thoughts!
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Fear Not - BLOG!
Many times I meet a Boomer that wants to be a Millennial Boomer but feels they have nothing to contribute, or that no one will really pay attention their stuff. Not true. Fact of the matter is that it’s a 90-9-1 co-created content world out there.
What’s that mean?
That means 90% of people out there are “watchers” (read but don’t contribute); 9% contribute once and awhile and only 1% are responsible for true contribution.
As I always say: “Feed the Internet and it will feed you.”
What’s that mean?
That means 90% of people out there are “watchers” (read but don’t contribute); 9% contribute once and awhile and only 1% are responsible for true contribution.
As I always say: “Feed the Internet and it will feed you.”
An App for Everything and Anything
The more Millennial Boomers I meet the more finds they share. Needless to say, web apps are king for a Millennial Boomer lifestyle. Here’s a great site with every kind of web app one will ever need to conquer the world…and then some.
http://www.go2web20.net
http://www.go2web20.net
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Want to know how your website measures up to today's standard? Check it!
So many browsers, mobile viewing devices, etc., how do you know if your website is up to today’s standard? Waaa, don’t read code? No problem. Here’s a tool that will not only keep you in check, it will tell you what to fix! http://validator.w3.org
Note: Top four you’re going to want to make sure you dance well with are: Opera, Explorer, Firefox and Safari.
Note: Top four you’re going to want to make sure you dance well with are: Opera, Explorer, Firefox and Safari.
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