Janet Lee Johnson | The Art of Marketing

In a fascinating and compelling cover article in this month’s Atlantic magazine called “Is Google Making Us Stoopid?” Nicholas Carr writes:

“My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles. Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski.”

He goes on to say that years of using “the Net” has begun to effect the way our (extremely malleable) brains are actually wired - and we’re reprogramming the neural network within our heads every time we go online. I’m in agreeance.

He goes on to cite historical changes in technology that have affected the brain - the printing press, the clock, the advent of Turing’s efficiency studies… in a very, very cool article.

I first heard of it from a friend who (ironically) hadn’t read the whole thing. I ran out and bought the publication in order to read it at my leisure (which could also be deemed ironic). I did read it all, and it’s both insightful and slightly frightening at the same time. Read it to find out why…

Meanwhile, my favorite quote from deep within the framework of the pages:

As we are drained of our “inner repertory of dense cultural inheritance,” Foreman concluded, we risk turning into “‘pancake people’—spread wide and thin as we connect with that vast network of information accessed by the mere touch of a button.”

I am, indeed, a “pancake person,” spread wide and thin. But I’m not stoopid. Maybe just stuffed.

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I got an email two days ago from someone I didn’t recognize - Lauren Cook. It started like this:

Hi Janet,

My name is Lauren and I’m the Editor at BeThree.com….

And I thought to myself - wow. How cool is that? I blog about one of my favorite newsletter articles, and the person who wrote it actually reached out to thank me…

…thank god you liked the “poop smoothie” description (because when writing it, I second-guessed myself about a million times… “am I REALLY saying this????”).

People wonder whether they’ll be able to spend the necessary time a blog really takes in order to thrive. It’s things like this - connecting with someone you’d never imagine you could - that has kept me firmly in the game blogging for more than 4.5 years.

And I’m not alone. According to a Universal McCann study published recently (via MediaPost), among adults 18-34, social media now is the dominant form of personal communication media, with 85% relying on one or more Web 2.0 platforms to stay in touch with others.

“Although age is the driving force behind usage patterns of these technologies, it is clear that a fundamental shift has taken place in all of our lives about what it means to communicate in the 21st Century.”

This fundamental shift has happened, in large part, because of what I’ve just experienced. Surprising connections, enabled by social media (and those people who are smart enough to watch the web for mentions of their brand via RSS).

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I’m sitting alone at a table in the Pearl Bakery this morning, having been forgotten by my 9:00 appointment. Which is fine, because I’m drafting off of someone’s unsecured network and feeling productive with an extra hour of work time. But I’m probably making people around me nervous as my shoulders shake from laughing so much.

I just got today’s installment of the BeThree newsletter, one of the few non-tech, non-marketing newsletters I read. Because it’s compelling and perfect. Today’s installment is brilliantly titled “The Traveler’s Trots.” Of course I had to open it!

Talk about descriptive phrases… (forgive me if you’re squeamish, but these girls can paint a vivid visual picture):

“….the thought of getting a shot in the butt to avoid unloading a Montezuma’s Revenge poop smoothie in a foreign public bathroom is not an option.”

And the photo at the top? I just have to show it here. Again, perfectly done. (Okay, sorry for those of you whom might take offense, but I think it’s most excellent.)

Sign up for this newsletter to experience descriptive writing. Oh, and it’s powered by PDX’s very own eROI team… thanks to Dylan Boyd for turning me on to this treasure.

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I was asked recently to provide a guest blog for one of my long-time friends in the blogosphere, Meryl at Meryl.net. She has been blogging for 8 years. In honor of her blog’s 8th birthday, she decided to take a break and let others blog for her. And she’s giving prizes away to people who come along and care enough to leave a comment.

A lovely birthday tradition, I think.

I enjoyed writing this post about the time that Meryl and I met. It’s a bit of blogosphere history (in the “teenage years” of the blogosphere), and thought those who regularly read my blog might like to read a little shared history over on Meryl’s blog.

Stick around there, she’s really quite a writer… she’s been doing it for a very long time, and she’s a personal model and mentor for me..

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In an article called “How Three Brands Got Smart About Social Media” over on the ClickZ network, author Anna Maria Virzi wrote a perfect setup in her beginning paragraphs:

“A cacophony of voices are chanting: Put on a good face for Facebook, chirp on Twitter, tap dance for YouTube — all without looking stupid, appearing phony, breaking the law, alienating customers, or busting the budget.

No wonder some marketing executives are paralyzed.”

The article goes on to describe some interesting implementations of social media marketing, and some nice ideas for measuring success - positive comments, number of downloads, increased sales, increased customer satisfaction…

Paralysis Analysis (sorry, I couldn’t resist)

The feeling of paralysis is real when it comes to entering into the different areas of conversation online (which is all social media really is, in my opinion).

At the root of the issue for most businesses is one simple thing - control.

I used to think fear was the underlying issue, but I’m beyond that now. Fear simply describes the emotion around loss of control.

“What if someone says something bad about us?”

The most oft-heard (and generally first) question I hear from businesses when asking how to safely enter online conversations…

My answer? They’re probably already talking about you anyway. Don’t you want to know what they’re saying? (It may not all be bad - unless your business has prompted bad feelings.) And regardless of the tone of the conversation, don’t you want a voice at the party to respond?

These days, it’s OK to be human - even if you’re a brand.

A brand is (ideally) how your market feels about you, after all… And I know of no human in the world who’s always in control. To be human means to be:

• Delighted when things go well. (For most of us, that’s - what? - 10%-20% of the time?)
• Vulnerable when things don’t go well. (Another 10%-20% of the time?)
• Unsure, irritated, bored, smug, beseeching, aggressive, threatened… when things are just going along (the majority of the time).

Most of the time, we just make stuff up to move us to one state of feeling or another…

Why, then, does your business need to consistently appear superior to the general human condition? That’s a very 1.0 point of view.

Until businesses are made up of robots, we’re full of people. Which means we’re stuck with having forces beyond our control affect us - whether they be people, the rising/falling dollar, the agility of our partners or the resilience of our natural resources.

The first step in building resiliency to the forces beyond our control is to admit we’re not superior; and we’re interested in being part of the solution.

“What if I don’t know the answer?”

In another excellent article, this time on Online Spin, Max Kalehoff wrote, “Acknowledge What You Don’t Know.“In it, Max writes:

“…acknowledging what you don’t know implicitly means you’re open to alternative viewpoints and solutions. Allowing others into your realm enables choice and optimization, and greatly improves problem-solving likelihood….

…The fact is that people want to help. Being open identifies yourself, makes you visible and encourages others to contribute positive thinking and support to help you succeed.”

That’s the value to businesses in social media. There are thousands of examples every day of people offering their advice, opinions and experiences with brands online.

Smart businesses are listening (1.5), and even smarter businesses (2.0) are engaging in those conversations online.

And then there are those businesses (1.0) who simply have their heads stuck in the sand.

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