Remain Relevant in Changing Times

Are you a relevant networker?

Are you a relevant networker? How do you know? I've always thought I was pretty good at purposeful networking, but it never hurts to occasionally review what I'm doing to make sure I'm being as effective as possible.

That's why I was delighted to have the opportunity to hear Andrew Dietz of Creative Growth Group in
Atlanta last week. He offered some terrific reminders of what we need to do to remain relevant as networkers so that we can build our businesses in an effective way. Here's the bottom line: it all comes down to  who you know and who knows and likes you.

He said there were three keys to client development survival:

1. Mine relationship assets. Take a total inventory of who you know. There are four essential affinity groups to consider: Community, Work/Career, Family and Friends, and Educational Institutions. We all know people from each of these life categories but often forget to harness the power they represent. When we reach out to others in a way that proves we want to help them as much they help us, we increase the likelihood of a positive experience.

2. Connect with content. Make sure you've earned the right to connect. There are many ways we can make meaningful connections, from providing information to introducing people to one another who can help each other. Andrew offered a matrix of Ideas, Information, Introductions and Income, and how we can make connections with others we identified in the four mining categories.

3. Navigating likeability. It may seem like a big "duh," but aren't all the basics that really work? Here's a quote Andrew offered from the June 2005 Harvard Business Review: "When people need help getting a job done, they'll choose a congenial colleague over a more capable one... if someone is liked, his colleagues will seek out every bit of competence he has to offer." Andrew echoed this, noting that people want to help people they like, so make sure you really think through what you can do to show how likeable you are by seeking common ground, fostering familiarity, and showing genuine appreciation for others' efforts.

Andrew's primary focus in the meeting I attended was face-to-face networking, but the principles he described can certainly be applied to the online world. I'm a big fan of www.LinkedIn.com because of the incredible opportunity it offers to apply networking skills on a larger scale. Of course, good networkers don't depend on a single vehicle for networking. The most powerful networking occurs though a combination of good, old-fashioned palm pumping, combined with the efficiency online tools offer.

The main takeaway was simple, but powerful: if you aren't maintaining your network on a regular basis, you're risking becoming irrelevant. It will take a lot more effort to become relevant with your network again than it takes to just maintain it.

The day my land line phone became irrelevant

Until recently, it hadn't really occurred to me that my phone would become irrelevant. Yet, that's exactly what has happened. April 30 will be the last day my land line interrupts the middle of one of my favorite shows, which, ironically enough, are House and Flip That House (no connection between the two).

After almost 20 years of having the same land line phone number, we have decided to go completely wireless. I honestly have no anxiety about this at all. I can't remember the last time someone called me on my land line who wasn't soliciting for something. My daughters have never had a land line, so calls coming in aren't for them either. It's time to  "let it go." I've come a long way from my childhood days when our family shared a party line with a neighbor.

When I called Bellsouth to let them know of my decision, the first thing  I was told was that I would now be  dealing with "The new AT&T" (as if that made a difference). When I told Chris that I had decided I no longer needed a land line, he suggested I keep the line at a new reduced rate of  about $25 a month, less than half what I had been paying. I explained that the same $25 bucks could buy me an enormous amount of additional, flexible cell service. He didn't even try to argue with me. Maybe he realized the service he was selling was quickly becoming irrelevant to a lot of homeowners like me. Still, wouldn't you think he'd fight harder to keep a 20-year customer?

The day I called to cancel my land line, I also called T-Mobile to switch my daughter's cell service to Verizon because T-Mobile's service is spotty in the college town where Sydney will soon move. The rep did everything he could to prevent the switch. He offered to find out when better coverage would be available and said I could suspend the service until then, thereby keeping the number and not leaving a "service you have enjoyed since January 2004, according to our records." He then suggested switching to a newer phone that had better signal strength and, oh by the way, would be available to me at a discount rate as a reward for being such a good customer. I really liked this guy and actually felt guilty about canceling the service; however, I had already checked into T-Mobile's future coverage plans and knew they didn't include the GCSU area. I was very impressed with the rep's efforts to make T-Mobile continue to be relevant to me. And if T-Mobile had plans to increase coverage in the area soon, I would have stayed with the service.

How about your company? What do you do to ensure you remain relevant to your clients? Don't wait until they've decided they no longer need you before you figure out you still need them.

USA Today, America's McPaper, embraces Web 2.0

One of my favorite newspapers, USA Today, has relaunched its web site and it's a real beauty. The paper that built its reputation on giving people colored pie charts and an abbreviated version of the news has decided to take a deep dive and actually involve its readers, whom they're asking to participate online and use the paper as a resource.

The first thing I noticed was all the white space on the screen, a far cry from the original wide screen layout with lots of color and bold fonts. Now, the online paper is elongated and fits on the screen in a much narrower format (which advertisers tend to love). Then, I saw how the cover photo changes as you mouse over the thumbprint photos in the margins. That means instead of selecting a cover story and playing it up, the cover story changes based on your own interest. Can you say relevant?

The site uses a public comment tool, social network capabilities and gives people the ability to upload photos and participate in blogs; in other words, all the things that make Web 2.0 the must-have format for newspapers now.

But what I like best about USAT's efforts is that they're not turning the paper over to consumers to be "citizen journalists." Instead, the paper's "real" journalists can use the consumer tools as a listening device, but the reporting will still come from those trained in the craft. Thank goodness. I've always hated the expression "citizen journalist" because it implies expertise that in most cases does not exist. (Full disclosure: this could be an ego thing with me. I have a degree in journalism and worked as a reporter for several years. I'd hate to think I wasn't special somehow.)

Watch for other newspapers, even midsize local fishwrappers, to grab on to Web 2.0 too. Today's newspapers will thrive only if they go beyond giving consumers what they need and include what they want (which, apparently, is the ability to be a part of the process).

I predict USAT will be successful because it has always had a breezy, consumer-oriented writing style that makes it appeal to the average reader, who will be quicker to share the site with "like kind." And when that happens, advertisers will start to throw their support behind it and before you know it, USAT becomes a "gotta see" portal.

Check it out.

Super Bowl commericals reflect mood of the country

It's the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl as I'm writing this and I feel like I've seen enough commercials to detect a distinct pattern. It's not pretty. Seems to me the commercials have been more violent than in the past, including the cartoonish ones. What's up with that? I can only assume those producing the commercials decided to take their frustrations about the war out in supposedly more subtle ways.

Two guys who apparently love Snickers bars ripped off their chest hair. In a FedEx commercial, a poor fellow was creamed by a meteor. Bud Light showed a hitchhiker toting an ax and looking like a mass murderer, which, frankly, wasn't as scary as ETrade's depiction of a bank where the employees rip off customers and make them feel like they're in the middle of a violent bank robbery. At first I thought I was watching CSI.

I confess it struck me as a tad funny that Prudential's commercial "Like a rock" theme made me think for a nanosecond they said "Iraq."

I wasn't sure what to expect when I heard that Coca-Cola would make a comeback this year at the Super Bowl after an absence of several years, but I was delighted and pleased to see they went for the tender, sweet touch, harkening back to the days when they did the famous "Hilltop" commercial in which they offered to teach the world to sing.

Over all, I can't say I've been terribly impressed with the commercials this year. (The half-time show, however, was one of the best yet, IMHO).

Of course, not every company can afford the $2.6 million it takes to advertise for 30 seconds at the Super Bowl, which is why we have seen such a rise in companies turning to YouTube to grab viewers. A quick check of "2007 Super Bowl Commercials" on the YouTube search engine brought up several and the viewership on some is already pretty high. On the downside, a lot of the comments about the commercials are pretty snarky. At least during the big game, you only see/hear what others in your living room have to say.

This Super Bowl has been unusual in many ways, from the history-making first play (92 yard return for a touchdown) to consumer-generated commercials, to instant postings of commercials on YouTube.

There are now 6 minutes left in the game and it appears the Colts will win (YAY!). But the real winner, in my view, are the companies that got to try something new this year, whether or not it appeals to me personally. I'm eager to see how this shift from high-dollar, over-produced commercials to something more relevant to today's multitasking viewers turns out. What do you think?

Lessons learned from prom dress shopping

I spent a good part of my weekend prom dress shopping with my youngest daughter, Sydney. Although her senior prom isn't until March 24, she decided she had better get started, since it's much harder to find a dress than it is a date (at least if you're a beautiful, popular girl).

After going to the four stores where we have bought previous formal dresses and feeling more like an intruder than a customer, Syd and I gave up and came home to turn to the Internet for help. That's how we found A Formal Affair in Roswell, GA, which turned out to be a new store in a strip shopping mall on Holcomb Bridge Road. We were blown away from the moment we walked in the door. Sydney said it best: "Don't you love to go into a place to looks expensive only to find out it doesn't cost more than those crowded stores we went to?"

(Relevance lesson number 1: customers like to feel special from the first moment of contact. Even teenagers like to feel important... they notice things like how spacious a store is.)

Vanessa, a beautiful young African-American woman, greeted us warmly, told us the store was family owned and immediately started asking how she could help. She explained that the dresses were arranged by color, then size. She asked which prom Sydney would be attending and what kind of dresses she liked. Her questions weren't gratuitous. She seemed to actually be interested in Sydney's answers. Within minutes, Sydney had selected six dresses to try on. (She hadn't found six in the four previous stores combined, primarily because she tends to be modest and didn't really care for the most common style - plunging necklines and a back that started just above the crack her her butt. My God, some of these dresses could have their own reality show!)

(Relevance lesson number 2: understand that the decision maker isn't necessarily the person who swipes the debit card. In this case, focusing on Sydney's likes and dislikes while looking at me "offline" for an approving glance, ensured neither of us felt alienated.)

Rather than hang the dresses in a room and yell, "Call if you need anything," which is how other shops treated us, Vanessa instead stood by the dressing room and offered to help her try each dress on, showing her how it could be altered if she didn't feel it fit just right. She also pointed out the advantages and disadvantages of each dress. For instance, dresses with trains make lovely photos but can be cumbersome on the dance floor. Beautiful  Southern Belle hoop dresses can be difficult to sit down in. I've still no idea which dress Vanessa liked best. She seemed perfectly objective about them all.

Each time Sydney emerged from the dressing room, Vanessa helped her onto a riser stage that had three-way mirrors and encouraged her to take her time, try to dance, sit down, bend over, all the things a girl in a prom dress would probably do on prom night.

(Relevance lesson number 3: customers will listen to someone who seems to genuinely want to help them by thinking through with them how the product will really be used, not just how cool or beautiful it is.)

By the way, while all this trying of dresses was going on, I was comfortably seated in a big, beautiful, soft chair facing the stage. I could have sat there for hours. Why haven't more retail stores figured out that Moms don't want to stand for a long time holding two purses while trying to be patient and enthusiastic?

(Relevance lesson number 4: consider ALL your customers and do the little things it takes to make them feel they matter.)

After watching Sydney try on several gowns and getting an idea for what really appealed to her, Vanessa then brought a couple of gowns to Sydney that she had not selected for herself. Wouldn't you know the one we bought was one Vanessa selected? And not once did she say, "This looks better on." (That reminds me of my favorite Rita Rudner joke. She said she was looking at an ugly dress in a store when the clerk said, "That looks much better on." Rita replied, "On what? Fire?")

(Relevance lesson number 5: you have to earn trust and respect before you can offer an opinion and be listened to. Vanessa didn't begin her interaction with us by making suggestions. She waited until the right time.)

In the end, we bought the "perfect" dress (pink, in case you're wondering). Vanessa then recorded Sydney's contact information and prom details and guaranteed her she would not sell that same dress to another girl attending Sydney's prom. Moreover, she showed her a couple of tuxedos that would beautifully complement the dress (including a pink vest that matched Sydney's dress perfectly). She told her she could send her date there to rent his tux and he would get a 25 percent discount by mentioning Sydney's name. She asked Sydney to please tell her friends about the store and let them know that they would be open seven days a week through prom season.

(Relevance lesson number 5: treat your customers well and ask them to help you spread the word. They'll gladly do so. Sydney must have "texted" a half dozen friends about A Formal Affair before we got home!)

Finally - the most important lesson of all: it doesn't matter what business you're in or whether your customers are high school seniors or senior citizens: 1) treat them like they matter; 2) earn their trust and respect; and 3) ask them to help you tell your story.

The Painted Veil targets TV viewers with relevant information

I absolutely love to go to the movies. I've been known to see a dozen in a week. Recently, during the week between Christmas and New Years, I managed to see only six, but what can I say? I had other things on my plate to do too.

One of the best movies I saw was The Painted Veil, an independent film staring Naomi Watts and Edward Norton. Shot in China, it is the most beautiful cinematography I've seen in ages. The story is captivating and the casting spot on.

But what intrigues me even more about this great movie is the way it was promoted. Warner Independent Pictures initally boughtTV commercial spots in 18 markets (on cable). Rather than ending each with the typical, "Now playing at a theater near you" or "Now playing at selected theaters," the spots told viewers exactly which theater to go to in their city. In Atlanta, for instance, viewers are told to go to the Landmark's Midtown Art Cinema.

What a great concept: tell consumers what they need to know without making them work for it! It also helped to create a sense of urgency to see the film. Seeing that the movie was playing in only one theater - one known for indies - made me want to rush out to see it before it disappeared. I didn't know if if would ever make the screens in the suburbs.

As it turns out, The Painted Veil will roll out to another 73 markets next week and at that time Warner will run broader national TV campaigns. But this initial targeted campaign was a stroke of genius that speaks once again to how consumers want information that is relevant to them.

By the way, kudos to SpotRunner, an LA-based ad ageny that created the specific tags and handled the execution in each market. Don't be surprised if you see more movies go down this path.

Now if only someone can figure out how to get rid of those annoying commercials that play in front of the movie trailers that play in front of the actual movie you're there to see...

Your outrage is really working!

Just moments ago, CNN announced that the interview between Judith Regan and O.J. Simpson has been canceled. Moreoever, O.J.'s book won't be published either.

"I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project," said Rupert Murdoch, News Corp. chairman. "We are sorry for any pain that his has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson."

I can't tell you how delighted I am to hear that this show and book won't see the light of day. It tells us that we consumers have power. Outrage still works. We all need to keep that in mind. One of the great things about viral campaigns and blogs is that those of us who don't have bully pulpits in the traditional sense still get to affect change by giving voice to our convictions and opinions in a forum that doesn't rely on editors and producers to determine what makes the cut. I want to encourage you to turn to the blogosphere, e-mail and other online tools to garner support for what you believe in.

Thanks for all your notes of encouragement and your willingness to join me in my personal protest. We matter. And hopefully Fox won't forget that (at least until next November sweeps time)!

Plane and simple: Apple scores again with iPods in the air

Anyone looking to learn a lesson in how to remain relevant needn't go any further than this week's announcement by Apple that it struck a deal to have iPod jacks installed on planes at six different airlines.

According to the Wall Street Journal on November 15, Air France, Continental, Delta, Emirates, KLM, and United have agreed to offer passengers a way to connect their iPods to their seats so they can use them in flight or at least charge them while soaring thousands of feet in the air. What's more, video iPod owners will be able to view their videos on the screens embedded into the back of the seats. I guess this is Apple's way of saying "Take THAT!" to Microsoft's new Zune, which also launched this week.

What an ingenious plan to find yet another way to make the iPod relevant to people who love it most: those who travel. I just can't wait to experience this new arrangement when it becomes available in mid-2007. Do you suppose customizing my seat even further will make me forget - or at least forgive - the fact that I'm usually cramped into a space intended for someone or something the size of an average house cat?

Apple's quest to constantly find new ways to make the iPod a part of our lives is working. When I bought my new Lexus last spring, it was the iPod jack I looked for first, not whether it had a CD changer. I'm hooked. I've even come to expect hotels to provide a clock/radio combination that accommodates my iPod. Next, I'll want a waterproof iPod system in my shower. And why not? I can buy shoes and athletic clothes with built-in  pockets for  an iPod. Mind you, I wouldn't do that because it might give someone the impression that  I actually would do something that requires athletic apparel. (I wouldn't dare: all I exercise is caution).

We could all learn from Apple's example. They're not only making the iPod ubiquitous, they're positioning it as a way for other companies to remain relevant. This time next year you may find yourself rocking out in 21D, completely unaware that  you haven't been fed, your luggage is lost and drink prices have gone up. And then the next time you book your airline ticket, you'll  first check to see if the plane has iPod jacks.

Nobody knows more about relevance than Ty Pennington

I confess I've had a crush on Ty Pennington since I first saw him goofing around on the set of Trading Spaces several years ago. He has that irresistible appeal of little boy mischievousness combined with grown-up charm.  I had a chance to meet him in person last year at a movie premiere and was pleased to discover that is he is as genuinely nice and authentic in person as he is on TV. (The movie, Ocee Nash, was his first acting role. He's a much better TV personality than an actor, but since I'm neither, who am I to judge?)

So, it's a real pleasure to see him be so successful with this ABC show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Ty's a talented, smart guy.  But the tuth is, the show works because of the team's ability to make everything about their project relevant. The families who are selected to receive a new custom homestead would probably be just as happy to receive any house, but what they are presented is a beautiful, custom home that reflects their personalities, hobbies, dreams and  memories. It makes for riveting television, but more importantly, it makes for happy families that are often overwhelmed by the experience of being an Extreme Makeover family.

The way Ty and team are able to make each room relevant is by asking a lot of questions, paying attention to the smallest details and then going to great lengths to incorporate the family's  input into everything from the design to the smallest accessories. Beyond creating a fascinating TV show, they have also made it matter beyond the Sunday night episode we see. People who participate in the "it takes a village" approach also contribute to the show's blog about their experiences so viewers can learn more about what goes on behind the scenes.

Imagine if we could delight our customers the way Ty's team delights theirs. We probably can, if we're willing to truly understand the power of doing what it takes to ensure we remain relevant to those who do business with us. All it takes is the willingness to ask questions, absorb the input and act on it. I'd love to hear more about how you've remained relevant. What's your secret?

Relevant doesn't necessarily mean new

It's tempting to think that relevant equals "new" when talking to teenagers. Not so, as I learned from my youngest daughter this weekend.

On Saturday, my husband and I went with  Sydney to visit Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, GA. This was the 12th college campus Sydney, a high school senior, has visited. (Full disclosure: Edelman has represented GCSU in the past, though they currently are not a client).

It was a very well organized event, drawing about 1,000 potential students and their parents to the campus, where we got a tour of the entire place, including the dorms, which were just awesome. Organizers did a great job of showcasing things about the school that they believed would be relevant to the students in attendance.

Professors' lectures are downloadable on iPods. Check.

The entire campus is wireless. Check

The dorms are co-ed and the rooms are new and well designed. Check.

The classes are small. Check.

There are tons of ways to get involved on campus. Check.

I knew all of these things were important to Sydney, so when we left the event after several hours, I figured she had what she needed to make a decision. That's when I got surprised.

Coming home, I asked her what she liked about the school. She named all the things listed above. Then I asked the magic question, "Was there anything you didn't like or wished you had heard more about?" Her answer was enlightening: "I wish they had talked about traditions."

As I probed further I learned that when Sydney visited UGA, GA Tech, UNC Chapel Hill, Duke, Furman and Elon, they all talked about long-held traditions that every incoming Freshman should know. She said it made her feel like it was a special place where everyone had at least one thing in common: knowledge of a tradition that had spanned generations.

What an interesting observation! It had never crossed my mind that traditions would even make her radar screen, never mind be important.The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized how cool I thought it was that Freshmen weren't supposed to walk under the famed Arch on the oldest part of UGA's campus.

She intends to apply to GCSU, among others, but also plans to seek out the answer to her question, "What traditions do you have?"

I couldn't help but wonder how many businesses get so caught up in "what's new" and "what's cool" that we fail to remind customers and potential customers of our history and traditions that played a role in making us as successful as we are now.

What does your business do to honor tradition while moving forward?