Excellent Video!

Perfectly illustrates what not to do when making presentations.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORxFwBR4smE

Now here's good marketing.

I've been regularly getting emails from Salt & Light Ventures since I attended their Al Ries talk back in '06 but this is the first time they actaully piqued my interest.

I got this email today and I instantly click on the link to sign up. What made me decide I want to join this seminar?

1. It's spearheaded by Nokia. Nokia is one of the leading (if not the leading) brands in the telecomm industry today. Their continuous development of new technologies fit for the untechy-savvy person, such as me, has kept me a loyal Nokia user since my college days. I have never even thought about switching to another brand, even when Apple released the iPhone.

2. The way their material is designed exudes exclusivity, something that appeals to someone like me very much. The dark hues and the minimal use of the Nokia logo doesn't scream tacky. It's simple, straight forward and attractive. If this design were a guy, he'd be someone I'd fall for. Oooh, plus the fact that it's limited to only 40 participants. I want to be part of the 40!

3. IT'S SIGN UP FOR FREE! Anything FREE always, always, always has my vote. So, fine, they'll most likely sell you stuff when you get to the actual event but at least you know that's likely to be part of the deal you signed up for. This is not only a chance to listen to a speaker talk about Creativity and Effective Leadership, it's not only a chance to broaden my network, but it's also an opportunity for me to learn more about myself more, even in just the simple act of signing up.

Too bad the link doesn't work properly... yet. I was a bit irked at first but then again, it doesn't mean I won't be checking the website every 3 seconds to ensure I get my slot. This for me is good marketing. Good job, Salt & Light and Nokia guys. :)

(to sign-up, visit www.nokia.com.ph/peptalks)

Interruptive marketing doesn't work

I've been bugged by the WWF agents in the Ayala underpass often enough! High time you kids learned your lesson and got thru your head that what you're going isn't helping anyone.

I'm all for the cause of WWF, and I get the need to involve the regular Juan in their efforts to conserve our precious environment but interrupting the lives of people on their way home from a long day of work is NOT the way to do it. Interruptive Marketing never works. No one likes being stopped in the middle of a brisk walk by a total stranger. No one likes it when a sales agent suddenly gets in your face, with that stretched and worn-out smile. Heck, no one likes receiving spam. And you are SPAM PERSONIFIED!

I bet you guys close ZERO sales in your half-day stint in the underpass. Its because no one likes what you're doing! And I bet, you don't like it either.

There are better ways to get people to "buy-in" your cause. Sponsor a race, get runners or bikers to sign-up to save the environment, say the proceeds will go to the WWF fund, then SET-UP your booth there! That way, you've already narrowed your market to the people who actually signed up for the interruption.

Never ever be the irritating fly on the wall. Not when you've got such a great cause behind you.

Delivering Happiness Entry #2

I finished the book yesterday. As excited I was to get to the end of it, I also didn't want it to end. One, it had become a refuge. It created a place for me to escape from my daily boring routine, to dive into the inner workings of a clear and preset genius in the very much alive body of Tony Hsieh. Two, finishing the book scared me. It meant I'm done with my first step of learning, now comes the greater task of making something out of it.

The final two chapters of Delivering Happiness focused on long-term happiness and harnessing it. Tony pointed three types, two of which were discussed at length as he told his story, PROFIT & PASSION. He feels they've achieved both fairly well in Zappos. Profit was $1B in 2008, two years before their projected 2010 target. Passion was customer service excellence, and believing that "customer" wasn't limited to those who paid cash to help them achieve $1B, but literally everyone.

Now, he's on the path of fulfilling their 3rd degree of happiness. PURPOSE. Tony and his team believe they work not just because they have a responsibility to their investors and board of directors. They work because they're trying to be the forever-guinea-pig role model of great business and great living. They work because their work helps change lives for the better. His only wish is they started doing it sooner.

I don't believe a person necessarily has to achieve profits first before getting to passion then purpose. Maybe it can all happen simultaneously, or maybe even profit can wait.

So the question is... what is MY passion... and to what purpose do I want to work towards. Inasmuch as I'm afraid to admit that I have absolutely no clue... I realize my cluelessness is just a for-now concern. Nothing happens overnight. Zappos' success was all through a 10 year process, and it's still going. I guess it's okay for me to be a bit scared now... I know this will someday turn to confidence and bravery once I've secure my footing and started working towards my happiness.

nerdie birdie + frugality = three new books for me! :)

I am the eternal opportunist. I try my best to take advantage of every situation that I know will not have any (overwhelming) negative effect on me but at the same time gives me my best possible results. ;)

For a few months now I've been growing my e-book library. I discovered that I can almost find any book I fall interest in thru the wonders of the world wide web when The Lost Symbol's hype died down and the fear of losing my job (late last year) cropped up. Instead of stressing about my job insecurity, I centered my daily life on finding a free copy of Dan Brown's latest release online... Lo and behold, after a few searches and life-risking link clicks, I found one! I read it in a week and went to Doc Gino, my eye doctor the weekend after. (No, the e-book reading did not affect my eyesight... so much...)

After that, I've been on a rampage! I found me a copy of Warbreaker, a novel by my latest favorist fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson. And I also got a copy of Perdido Street Station by China Míeville (yet another fantasy novelist)! Then one of my best finds yet happened. A two-for-one link: World War Z and The Zombie Survival Guide, both by Max Brooks.

I love my ebook finds, but reading off the monitor gives me a headache. So today I decided to use the office printer to make myself books. (*BOW*)

The mix of my new print outs are funny, though, from an outsider's point of view. Book 1 is World War Z, of which I've read halfway on my PC. Book 2 is Good to Great by Jim Collins, a book mentioned a lot by Tony Hsieh in his Delivering Happiness. And Book 3 is Screw It, Let's Do It! by Richard Branson, my idol. His island will be the blueprint of mine someday.

Reading has always been a part of my reality, (my first ever "big" novels were Jurrasic Park and Interview With A Vampire in Grade 5) and I'm just so happy that with the beauty of the internet, this wealth of information is literally on the tips of my fingers. Plus with the technology of the printer/photocopier, I can actually turn this softcopy wealth into something hardbound (courtesy of UP Diliman book binders).

I was able to add three amazing titles to my ever growing collection without denting my wallet! Today is a happy day.

I want to be Indispensible.

Seth Godin believes that every person has the ability and opportunity to be a linchpin. According to wikipedia, a linchpin is a fastener used to prevent a wheel or other rotating part from sliding off the axle it is riding on. According to Seth, a linchpin the person who is absolutely indispensible to a business. That doesn't mean simply delivering the most sales for the quarter. It doesn't mean submitting the weekly report the earliest. Not coming in early and leaving the office late. Not mundane, not routinary, not just doing the things anyone else can do.

To be a linchpin in a society, an individual must be able to deliver these:

1. Provide a unique interface between members of the organization.

2. Deliver unique creativity.

3. Manage a situation or organization of great complexity.

4. Lead customers.

5. Inspire staff.

6. Provide deep domain knowledge.

7. And possess a unique talent.

(http://howto.performancesocialmedia.com/additional/7-abilities-of-the-linchpin/)

To be a linchpin, you must deliver results that you, and only you, can churn out. No one else.

My problem is... I don't exactly know how to be a linchpin, and I'm not entirely sure if I even want to be one here. I am currently a farmer, a factory worker in the company I'm a part of and it kills me that I've been reduced to a "Yes, Maam!" employee. I used to be able to dictate how a certain personal care product gets displayed on-shelf. I used to conceptualize and implement radical below-the-line activities that moved a brand closer to the hearts of our niché, meet people with wide networks and great powers of influence.

It's so sad that I'm now looking back on my past because I'm stuck in this present, and seemingly unable to move into the future. But I've decided now, I want to be a linchpin. It may not be in this office, heck it may not even be related to work at all, but I want to be indispensible. I must be able to find my way thru the muck of today, search my inner being to pinpoint what exactly I'm good at, how I can be great at it, and turn myself invincible.

Step one is realization. (check!)

Step two is actualization. (in process.)

Step three would be to keep on going. Wish me luck.

Positive Reinforcement in Delivering Happiness

I have two chapters of the book left and I'm trying to stretch out my time virginal time with it. Just can't believe I'm flying thru the pages of this book! And somehow able to retain moving tidbits as I read along.

One thing struck me today and it's all integrated with Zappos' company culture and 10 core values: Deliver the WOW. Although it's just one of the 10 core values of a company I knew nothing about before I picked up the book by their CEO, I feel that in these three simple words, you can build up a principle you can live by for life.

It also got me thinking about positive reinforcement. Years ago, when I was a newbie employee, a former superior cornered me and told me flat out, "If you're not going to do your best, best you don't do anything at all." Okay, so it means the same as Do everything you do with the power of WOW, except for the delivery of it. Zappos' sentence structure gives the receiver of the message a positive outlook. It encourages you to do everything at the very highest of your efforts. The way my former superior put her words out was full of negative contempt.

Granted it was said after a Christmas performance (I was forced to sing in front of my colleagues) and granted that there was prize money in the end (a thousand bucks I think, but due to my "unbest" performance, I didn't even get to place), but I kind of took the way she told me off against her. I think that's the problem with many slightly older, overwhelming, I-do-my-work-by-the-book upper management. They don't know how to WOW their rank and file. They even think it's our job to suck up and WOW them. Much like parents are to their kids: "You better have good grades.", "You better learn this piano piece by tomorrow.", "You better get in the Math team." Too much pressure, too many demands, too much of a power trip.

I think the success of Zappos also comes from the merging of like-minds. And that's not just of the people uptop. The way their HR Recruitment makes sure that each new hire is a culture fit in the company ensures that everyone is on the same page in terms of direction, positivity and WOW-ness. The presence of an ever-changing culture book shows the dynamism accepted by the entire team, that nothing is ever set in stone and that it's okay to make mistakes, so long as you learn from them. The company's 10 core values apply not just in work of the employees, but also in their daily beyond-work lives. It's how they're a family unit, not just a company.

Very few communities get to establish this kind of familial love for non-blood-related individuals. And even fewer act as a giant tribal leader that strives to inspire the other communities to do the same. And I think this all started with the positive reinforcement the community leaders instilled into everyone else. Kudos to Tony Hsieh and his gang of geniuses.