People get excited when you shine the spotlight on them.
Take a baseball game for example. When someone in the crowd shows up on the Jumbotron and realizes they're up there, they grab the person next to them and frantically point towards the big screen. They start jumping up and down, ecstatic they're in the spotlight. They're going to go home and tell their friends and family that they made in on the Jumbotron.
You can apply this simple idea to your business. Shine the spotlight on your customers. It doesn't have to be a big spotlight. Just big enough to make the customer feel special.
With their permission, highlight their experience on your blog.
Send them a thank you card with a coupon for next time.
Give them a membership card for free.
Be careful when throwing around the words ordinary and extraordinary. They're very subjective words that can be abused quite easily.
For example, to you, the guy behind the counter at Starbucks might be leading an ordinary life. Nothing special, just there. But to his nephew, the guy might be leading an extraordinary life. He might be the coolest person on this planet.
Sunrises and sunsets are ordinary, aren't they? Yet we love them. We take pictures of them, we film movies during them, we put them on calendars. To many of us, they're extraordinary.
We're all afraid of something. Scary movies, dying, heights, water, fast cars, slow planes, the color orange. Fear is part of humanity.
Let's make a pact right now, though. Let's never be afraid of being us. Let's never be afraid of voicing our opinion, even if everybody in the room disagrees. Let's question those that suggest questioning. Let's stop being afraid.
I always say that video conveys a more personal, emotional message than regular text can. Invisible People is one of the best examples of this.
Mark is dedicated to sharing the stories of homeless people all over the U.S. In addition to learning about their stories, Mark always asks folks what they would wish for if they had three wishes.
Joni (shown below) simply wishes for a home.
You could never feel the emotion from her tears if Mark simply posted a text interview of his chat with Joni. Even a photo wouldn't have done justice in this case. Mark's video captures the raw emotion of Joni's three wishes. And it's heartbreaking.
These days, you're used to short spurts of video. Whether it's a half hour television show (which gives you a break every 5 minutes or so), a quick YouTube video (babies don't take more 3 minutes to dance to Beyonce), or a quick informational show (like GeekBrief.tv or New Media Minute).
But smart people across the land have been claiming that you'll dive into longer spurts of video nowadays. Maybe 10 minutes, 20 minutes. The technology is there. The internet is fast enough now to stream even regular length television shows.
Forget those smart people with their theories, studies, and equations. Let's hear it from you.
Do you watch video longer than 3 minutes online? Why or why not? What kinds of videos do you watch?
"I can't see into your kitchen, this is a one way thing here."
That's what Rachel Ray said Monday on her show. She acknowledged the obvious - television is a one way medium. You watch her and she doesn't communicate back.
That whole idea doesn't fit well into today's idea of social communication. A conversation needs at least two participants who can send communication both ways, right?
Web video started off the same way. You watched a YouTube video and that was it. You could leave a comment or give the video a thumbs up, but that was it for interaction. There was no way to interact with the video itself.
Today, with tools like YouTube Annotations, content creators are able to add interactive elements to the videos themselves. Viewers can click on elements of the video and be led to extra content.
This is just the beginning though. Web video is bound to become more interactive as the technology evolves. What would you like to see happen in the future?
The power of video lies in its ability to communicate personality and emotion.
Zach Braff demonstrates this perfectly with the video below. He posted this video on Facebook yesterday hours after a rumor quickly spread through the Internet that he had committed suicide.
A blog post, tweet, press release, or any other type of text announcement wouldn't have provided the same message as the video Zach posted. We're able to see that he's healthy, smiling, and the same old fun Zach Braff we all know and love. No other medium could communicate Zach's personality so effectively here.
Put yourself in Zach's shoes. Would you have chosen to make a video for your fans too? Or would you have just written a blog post or sent a tweet?
I love the new ABC show "Modern Family". Excellent cast, amazing writing, great show.
Last weeks episode has me thinking about product placement and sponsorships. The episode features a scene where one of the characters discovers the wonders of CostCo for the first time. Specifically, how cheap their products are, how they have everything from diapers to coffins, and how they specialize in mass quantities of items. I've included one of the clips below, thanks to Hulu.
Those sound like points CostCo might try to convey in a commercial.
So I started thinking...is CostCo a sponsor of the episode? Is there an agreement in place that CostCo will be written in somehow?
I'm totally fine with a yes to both of those questions, because the way CostCo was featured in the episode was neither commercial or salesmany - it was integrated flawlessly.
To me, this isn't traditional product placement. Traditional product placement consists of a shot of a Coke can or someone eating Cheerios at breakfast. Instead, this is a product/store fully integrated into the storyline of the show in a more prominent, smooth way.
The question in my mind is how this sort of situation will affect television writing in the long run. If this example of CostCo being featured in Modern Family is a forecast of the future of advertising in television shows, what does that mean for the writers?
Will writers be given a sheet of required products/services/stores to integrate into next weeks show? Not in a traditional product placement way but in a total integration way? Will that stunt writers' creativity or guide them into new/different directions?
I'm totally thinking out loud here. What do you think?
Three months ago, Jill and Kevin accidentally became a viral sensation. They decided to begin their wedding ceremony a bit differently than usual.
Yesterday, their idea was referenced in one of the most popular shows on television currently.
Jill and Kevin had their fifteen minutes back in July with appearances on the Today Show and such. But now they can smile and remember when their simple idea for the biggest day of their lives was celebrated in a popular Thursday night primetime television show.
What exactly is fame these days? You don't have to the star of next summer's blockbuster or a regular a primetime cop drama anymore. Some would argue you simply need a few people to truly adore what you do.
Whether we like it or not, we're influenced by everything around us. The weather, our parents, the sound of traffic, the smell of a forest, our friends, our enemies, books, blogs, tweets, epic ballads, horrible poetry.
We weren't born with opinions or ideas. We developed them. Partially from our experiences and partially from our influences (often they're the same).
Every day, every step, every turn, every color shapes how we feel, how we act, how we think.
Thinking about now is important. But thinking about later is also important.
Take today for example. Right now, it's 48 degrees, sunny, but windy. For you, that's chilly. So you bundle up as you head out this morning, donning an undershirt, long sleeve shirt, jeans, and comfortable warm shoes.
But this afternoon, it's supposed to be 58 degrees, sunny, and a little less windy. As you walk down Milwaukee Ave. this afternoon, you start sweating. You're way too warm!
The ideal solution is probably to check the weather report for the whole day and find a middle ground of comfort. But you're not going to check the weather report if you're not thinking about now AND later, right?
I grew up during the AOL years. That was the first Internet my family had and knew. The sound of the modem dialing in was synonymous with "getting on" the Internet.
My parents decided to get me a cell phone when I was able to drive, which was 17 in my house. My wife's 11 year old cousin has a cell phone now.
We hear a lot of talk about digital natives and kids growing up today that don't know a life without extreme technology. It's sorta scary when you think about it, isn't it?
I chatted with Keith Kriegler about his website MyDadNMe.com a few weeks ago. Part of the reason Keith started the site was because his daughter was drawn to the computer after school, not the TV. It's crazy to think what the next 15 years will be like, as "Gen Yers" start having kids.
Do you have young children? Are they "digital natives"? Do you put any limits on their consumption of technology?
In our digital world of pixels, tweets, pokes, and bumps, it's easy to forget our other world. The world of handshakes, hugs, grins, frowns, punches, kicks, and all that three dimensional stuff.
But the offline world is the most important of them all. Relationships that start online will certainly flourish more so when continued offline. Can a great game of pool and a few drinks ever be beaten by an intense Twitter chat? Can simple coffee and shootin' the shit ever be beaten by quick email exchanges?
Sitting on the sidelines is definitely an option. And it's definitely the easier choice. But it's not the choice that will get you where you want to go.
You need action. A play. Some moves. A strategy to get you from one end of the field to the other.
It doesn't have to be a sixteen page business plan or a series of meetings with extremely popular business people or two years of graduate school.
This post has nothing do with trees. But that picture is adding value right? You're here because of that picture right? You'll never come back if I don't continue using pictures, right?
This post doesn't need a picture. So it shouldn't have one. But this picture will probably quadruple my traffic today. So it was a must.
Yes, it's an awesome picture from joiseyshowaa on Flickr. No, it has no relevance to this post whatsoever.
Do your pictures have anything to do with your posts? Why or why not?
