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A couple of weeks ago Seth Godin blogged about The Talking Pad (and the following post was a variation called the modern talking pad). The concept is when you’re talking with someone either 1 on 1 or in a small group, instead of using a powerpoint presentation, you should walk them through the discussion with a simple piece of paper that you can write on in front of them.
The alternative is to use a thick pen or marker and a legal pad.
Whenever you mention a number or make an assertion or promise, write it down. The act of writing is a verb, it’s the process of putting it on the page that underlines what you’ve said, that highlights the moment.
Seth’s point is that the talking pad can help you control the discussion and can add credibility, but I think there are a couple of other really strong reasons to use it.
Technology is coming to all of us (keep an eye out for it!)
Below are a couple of interesting looks at the pervasiveness of Social Media – everyone is talking about it and now it looks clear that most people are participating in it in some fashion.
Social Media Revolution!
The first piece does a great job putting Social Media participation into perspective. Several of the statistics are a little questionable, but directionally they’re correct so the overall point is totally valid. Take a look:
If you have any trouble with the video or if you’d like some additional background on the statistics that are presented – here’s the source posted on Socialnomics – Social Media Blog.
Consumer Technographics Data!
Consumer Technographics…a sexy title for some pretty cool information!
The second piece of information that just came out is from Forrester Research. They’ve been doing a lot of in-depth analysis on who and how many people are participating in the Social Media space. They’ve even broken down the definition of participation into 6 different categories, differentiating between people that are creating content vs. those that critique or simply join social networks.
If you look at just the default data, you’ll see that the number of inactive participants is at 18%, so more than 80% of adults are participating in Social Media in some capacity. Check the Forrester Groundswell blog for more information on this data and Social Media Participation growth year over year. It’s some fascinating data – and very interesting to see how the US compares to other countries.
Are you participating in Social Media? Do you still think it’s a fad that’s going away soon? Share your thoughts below, I’d love to hear them.
Have you ever felt like you were chasing a rainbow? You know that there’s a metaphorical pot of gold out there somewhere and you’re running hard…towards something but you’re not really sure where or what that something is.
I’ve had this discussion with several of my clients recently (and been struggling with it some myself as well) – why are you doing what you’re doing? Where are you going with your business and more importantly with your life? It can be deep stuff – probably too deep for a simple blog post, but here’s why I think it’s critical and where a lot of people get lost:
Networking for your business is about making friends (you don’t have to kiss them…).
Unfortunately most people don’t really ‘get’ the whole networking thing, which makes going to networking events sometimes very painful. As an example, at an event I was at last week there was a woman that was waiting in a corner and if anyone made eye contact or walked to closely to her she immediately jumped into her sales pitch. Sadly she may have felt like she had a productive meeting – she cornered at least 3 different people that I saw, but I guarantee none of them left with a positive impression of her.
Networking is a great strategy for small business owners – people want to do business with other people (that they know, like and trust) not with some faceless company, so the playing field with the big guys is really leveled. Networking is a marketing strategy that facilitates developing relationships that can generate referrals or business.
But what’s the right way to go about doing that? Read the rest of this article and feel free to download my in-depth (18 page) report if you’d like to learn more.
So you know that a trend is becoming mainstream when people start making fun of it and doing spoof Broadway musicals about it. Social Media is certainly ripe for satire and the clip below does a great (and very funny) job of bringing out the really silly things people do. It’s very well done!
Check out Web Site Story – an homage to the classic musical.
