Media are often discussed, written about, and shared as if we're in a big room together akin to a Super Bowl party all consuming the same message and nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, that party where you spent more time eating the nachos and ribs than watching the game is probably one of the few times each year you consume any media with others in the room.
Media consumption is a personal experience. We listen to music alone in the car or do email alone in our office or post to Facebook and Instagram alone on our mobile devices. Yet there has always been a fascination with the mysterious group called 'them'. I lived that life when I programmed radio stations and we would try and attract a particular demographic as if it's a bunch of clones all doing the same things.
Alone Together
You're probably reading this post by yourself. You may share it, disagree with it, forget it minutes after you're finished, or tell someone about it. But at the genesis of consumption, you're doing it alone. You are the audience of one. The shared experience happens seconds, minutes, hours, days later.
We may use market research and analysis to determine tastes and preferences of a certain age group, but that means nothing to you or me. What matters to you is what's important to you. But if someone you trust shared something, the credibility of the content increases once they share their audience of one experience.
One's and Two's
The stats say North Americans check their mobile device an average of 110 times every day. We aren't sharing our screen with others; we are checking email, social streams, news feeds, and websites alone on our phone.
Now imagine if we took the audience of one concept into the workplace and busted down the walls of departments and silos and watched what happens. What if we allow everyone to have a voice and an opinion? We might unearth an idea from one of our team members that could change the course of the company.
But that's just the view from this audience of one.
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Showing posts with label LinkedIn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LinkedIn. Show all posts
February 17, 2016
May 30, 2013
Same Offer - Different Results
I was on a call recently with two partners in a company. She is details personified and he is all about the idea. They make a great team save when she wants him to be more specific with his ideas, or when he wants her to just figure it out and make it happen. Often the little things become large obstacles and they get stuck. Sound familiar? You often see it in sports. Two evenly matched teams play each other to a lopsided result. Each seemed to have the same amount of talent and tools yet it wasn't enough to predict the outcome.
In that perfect world void of egos, job titles, org charts, and territorial battles, every relationship has open dialogue to deal with big things, small things, ideas and details. Once we embrace our differences, find calm in the chaos, and work as a team, we will celebrate more wins.
If conflict can turn to collaboration, magic can happen.
__________________________________________________________________
Kneale Mann | Leadership and Culture strategist, writer, speaker, executive coach engaging leaders, collaborative teams, and strong business results.
original: dec 2012 | fineartamerica
December 7, 2012
Chaos and Collaboration
Leadership is 25% products or services and 75% people and life.
You often see it in sports. Two evenly matched teams play each other to a lopsided result. Each seemed to have the same amount of talent and tools yet it wasn't enough to predict the outcome.
In that perfect world void of egos, job titles, org charts, and territorial battles, every relationship has open dialogue to deal with big things, little things, ideas and details. Once we embrace our differences, find calm in the chaos, and work as a team, we will celebrate more wins.
Easier said than done but it can be done.
Kneale Mann
guardian uk
June 18, 2012
Pick My Brain
We've all had our brains picked without compensation. One of my clients lamented about it last week but there are tire kickers in every business. The challenge is to separate those who are serious from those who are just trying to sneak a freebie from the candy counter. And that's something we need to manage.
An Offer to You
I've cleared two 30-minute confidential free coaching calls for the first two visitors who email me with a legitimate business or leadership issue. There will be no sales pitch from me. We will focus on you and perhaps unlock some ideas.
If there are blind spots or snags you can’t seem to get around, let’s discuss them. If not, let’s continue to get to know each other and you can always drop by here for free. Calls will happen by June 30, 2012.
Email Here
Update: The response has been overwhelming. I received over a hundred emails in less than 90 minutes, thank-you for your trust. Clearly we'll need to do this again sometime!
Kneale Mann
wikipedia
October 21, 2011
700 Posts in 42 Months
It happened at a dinner on April 23, 2008. After the 5th person asked me where they could find my blog, later that night I started a blog. Like millions before me, I had no clue what I’d write about and I didn't think anyone would read it. So I started writing and I'm still surprised people read it.
I thought I'd write every now and then which turned into 699 posts in three and a half years with more than 12,000 comments and readers in 147 countries. There have been fun times and not-so-fun times in my career during that time but this space has remained the one constant. Thank-you for ensuring my thoughts aren't just fired into the abyss. If you want to write, don't wait for permission, write and keep writing.
Connect and Collaborate
Through this and other social channels, I have met literally hundreds of people I would never had met otherwise in a ten lifetimes. Some have turned into business colleagues, friends and clients. And the focus of this space continues to be to share creative ideas for business, leadership, strategy, marketing, social media and life.
My passion is to help business owners and managers become better leaders, build better teams and grow their companies. So let's keep sharing ideas and don’t hesitate to email, say hi, send thoughts, book a call or grab a coffee.
Thanks For Dropping By!
Kneale Mann
image credit: wikipedia
October 3, 2011
Data Are Worthless
If you own a company, manage a business, run a department or contribute to a team, you are intimately aware of the time constraints you face every day. You have deadlines and meetings, emails and projects as well as constant reminders of the bottom line. And what should you do about all this online stuff?
There are close to two billion of us online reading, digesting, publishing, sharing, tweeting and conversing. The amount of content published in a day is unrelenting and new spaces are being built constantly.
Our Insatiable Appetite
The choices can overwhelm you, the so-called experts can hound you and the decision remains how to improve the organization. And unless your company is called “campaign”, you need a strategy and long term solutions.
It’s not difficult to find someone who will lay claim to their vast knowledge of all things digital through blog webinars, Facebook symposiums and how-to LinkedIn seminars. Yet with a click of your mouse, you will be falling over self-proclaimed experts who can give you link bait and search juice for a handsome fee.
Under The Hood
Perhaps the not so sexy but valuable aspect of the social web that few talk about is research. Over and above any activity you partake through the myriad digital spaces, you can unearth rich useful information about your company, what people are saying about you, topics that are important to you and what your competitors are doing through regular digital audits.
With over 600 million daily search inquires on Twitter, someone seems to be digging around for information. And over a third of us online have presence on Facebook where we share more than 30 billion pieces of content every month.
And There's More
YouTube is the second largest search engine, next to parent company Google and fifth most visited website on the planet. It served more than 75 billion video streams to over 375 million unique visitors last year. And if you're looking for even more research, you can check out SlideShare which features hundreds of presentations in your industry. And there are hundreds of other spaces available.
The data are only worth something if you do something with it. The information needs to be gathered, analyzed and implemented. And constant research on the web can positively effect the bottom line. The decision is whether you want to do the work and put in the time.
Kneale Mann
image credit: cloudcentrics
original posted Feb 2011
Our Insatiable Appetite
The choices can overwhelm you, the so-called experts can hound you and the decision remains how to improve the organization. And unless your company is called “campaign”, you need a strategy and long term solutions.
It’s not difficult to find someone who will lay claim to their vast knowledge of all things digital through blog webinars, Facebook symposiums and how-to LinkedIn seminars. Yet with a click of your mouse, you will be falling over self-proclaimed experts who can give you link bait and search juice for a handsome fee.
Under The Hood
Perhaps the not so sexy but valuable aspect of the social web that few talk about is research. Over and above any activity you partake through the myriad digital spaces, you can unearth rich useful information about your company, what people are saying about you, topics that are important to you and what your competitors are doing through regular digital audits.
With over 600 million daily search inquires on Twitter, someone seems to be digging around for information. And over a third of us online have presence on Facebook where we share more than 30 billion pieces of content every month.
And There's More
YouTube is the second largest search engine, next to parent company Google and fifth most visited website on the planet. It served more than 75 billion video streams to over 375 million unique visitors last year. And if you're looking for even more research, you can check out SlideShare which features hundreds of presentations in your industry. And there are hundreds of other spaces available.
The data are only worth something if you do something with it. The information needs to be gathered, analyzed and implemented. And constant research on the web can positively effect the bottom line. The decision is whether you want to do the work and put in the time.
Kneale Mann
image credit: cloudcentrics
original posted Feb 2011
August 17, 2011
Our Distracted World
Removing Clutter and Adding Clarity
I’m often asked if I am necessary to a client’s business. Water and food are necessary, the rest are choices. I can bring 25+ years of marketing and media experience to a client’s business but only if they want my help and realize it won't happen instantly.
If you take the social channels at face value, many claim they can solve all your problems with the purchase of their book or click of a mouse. Solutions can be buried somewhere between good intentions and snake oil.
Sign Up and Never Read
I was sifting through my in-box recently and realized that I was creating clutter by joining upwards of 100 different services, clubs, email blasts and news sites. Over time, I have subscribed to these services only to glance when the daily email comes in and never read it. Volume has replaced need. So I will unsubscribe to all of them in email form and go back to digesting the content through my reader. Quantity replaced quality and it all became white noise.
The average Facebook user has 130 friends and has joined 80 pages or groups. How much daily interaction happens after the "like" button is pressed? Something caused you to do it in the first place so there may be good stuff, or not, and if not, dump it. The onus is not on you to stay but for them to give you reason to want to stay. Could we see a social media diet plan in place over the next few years? Less will become more while we focus on actual connections rather than collecting numbers.
Ready Shoot Aim
So often we feel we’re going to miss something so we create clutter instead of progress. Companies adopt a new imitative for fear the competition will get a leg up. Someone on Twitter self proclaims some tactic and it makes us wonder if we should adopt it. Every one of our profiles on the social web has a counter on it and the numbers begin to distract us as if they are actually important.
In business, there will always be someone doing better than you and always someone doing worse than you. The critical issue to keep in mind is what is important to you.
Perhaps some thought to what is truly necessary may help.
Kneale Mann
image credit: brickhouse
originally posted: march 2011
If you take the social channels at face value, many claim they can solve all your problems with the purchase of their book or click of a mouse. Solutions can be buried somewhere between good intentions and snake oil.
Sign Up and Never Read
I was sifting through my in-box recently and realized that I was creating clutter by joining upwards of 100 different services, clubs, email blasts and news sites. Over time, I have subscribed to these services only to glance when the daily email comes in and never read it. Volume has replaced need. So I will unsubscribe to all of them in email form and go back to digesting the content through my reader. Quantity replaced quality and it all became white noise.
The average Facebook user has 130 friends and has joined 80 pages or groups. How much daily interaction happens after the "like" button is pressed? Something caused you to do it in the first place so there may be good stuff, or not, and if not, dump it. The onus is not on you to stay but for them to give you reason to want to stay. Could we see a social media diet plan in place over the next few years? Less will become more while we focus on actual connections rather than collecting numbers.
Ready Shoot Aim
So often we feel we’re going to miss something so we create clutter instead of progress. Companies adopt a new imitative for fear the competition will get a leg up. Someone on Twitter self proclaims some tactic and it makes us wonder if we should adopt it. Every one of our profiles on the social web has a counter on it and the numbers begin to distract us as if they are actually important.
In business, there will always be someone doing better than you and always someone doing worse than you. The critical issue to keep in mind is what is important to you.
Perhaps some thought to what is truly necessary may help.
Kneale Mann
image credit: brickhouse
originally posted: march 2011
August 16, 2011
Guest Post: Brass Tack Thinking
What I Wish More People Knew About Me
Anyone I meet who claims to be new to the social web is quickly reminded they have been a part of it their entire lives. There has been much talk about the tools we use in accelerating serendipitous relationships but the key factor in all of it is us. Twitter on it's own doesn't do anything. Facebook won’t grow your business by itself. LinkedIn is not a magic pill.
What is crucial as we all try and navigate this busy place called life, is people. Social media are simply human networks and time spent getting to know the humans from across the world can be quite rewarding.
One person I have had the privilege of getting to know over the past few years is Amber Naslund. She is a writer, co-author of The Now Revolution with Jay Baer, a tireless teacher, a curious soul, a speaker and the VP of Social Strategy at Radian6.
Recently, Amber wrote a post entitled What I Wish More People Knew About Me and offered her community the same opportunity to publish their personal thoughts on her website. So I grabbed the nerve and sent her my notes. Thanks Amber! :-)
The post is here
Kneale Mann
image credit: sodahead
What is crucial as we all try and navigate this busy place called life, is people. Social media are simply human networks and time spent getting to know the humans from across the world can be quite rewarding.
One person I have had the privilege of getting to know over the past few years is Amber Naslund. She is a writer, co-author of The Now Revolution with Jay Baer, a tireless teacher, a curious soul, a speaker and the VP of Social Strategy at Radian6.
Recently, Amber wrote a post entitled What I Wish More People Knew About Me and offered her community the same opportunity to publish their personal thoughts on her website. So I grabbed the nerve and sent her my notes. Thanks Amber! :-)
The post is here
Kneale Mann
image credit: sodahead
July 30, 2011
Make Time for Think Time
The content will never end
Don’t follow rules, follow rules, be on every channel, be selective, watch this video, buy my program, read my blog, see this new thing.We are constantly trying to find ways to filter through the stuff and find what's important. But how do we shut out the noise from out there and inside our own minds?
Take Digital Time Off
The Internet will be here tomorrow. Shut off your computer and your phone. Try it for 24 hours. It's okay, we'll be here when you get back.
Keep Things Simple
I start less and finish more. It’s not easy and it takes daily practice. Squirrel.
Listen to Your Voice
It’s fascinating how much weight we give others' opinions. Take the time to listen to your voice more often. It knows you better than they do.
Find Your Focus
This is like adopting a new exercise regimen. The treadmill in my basement has yet to get me in shape on its own. Weird.
Memes Can Be Dangerous
The human mind is a miraculous machine that can create whatever reality we wish and for some strange reason negative thought can infiltrate faster than positive. Our thoughts are just our thoughts and we can work on turning self-doubt moments into action items.
Give Yourself a Break
Take some time by yourself and list all of your strengths. No one needs to see the list, so be completely honest with yourself.
Step Away. Enjoy the Silence.
Kneale Mann
image credit: wickednox
Original post: Aug 2010
Don’t follow rules, follow rules, be on every channel, be selective, watch this video, buy my program, read my blog, see this new thing.We are constantly trying to find ways to filter through the stuff and find what's important. But how do we shut out the noise from out there and inside our own minds? Take Digital Time Off
The Internet will be here tomorrow. Shut off your computer and your phone. Try it for 24 hours. It's okay, we'll be here when you get back.
Keep Things Simple
I start less and finish more. It’s not easy and it takes daily practice. Squirrel.
Listen to Your Voice
It’s fascinating how much weight we give others' opinions. Take the time to listen to your voice more often. It knows you better than they do.
Find Your Focus
This is like adopting a new exercise regimen. The treadmill in my basement has yet to get me in shape on its own. Weird.
Memes Can Be Dangerous
The human mind is a miraculous machine that can create whatever reality we wish and for some strange reason negative thought can infiltrate faster than positive. Our thoughts are just our thoughts and we can work on turning self-doubt moments into action items.
Give Yourself a Break
Take some time by yourself and list all of your strengths. No one needs to see the list, so be completely honest with yourself.
Step Away. Enjoy the Silence.
Kneale Mann
image credit: wickednox
Original post: Aug 2010
July 19, 2011
Media are in the Hands of the Beholder
Stay Tuned. News at 11. Coming Up Next.
I was at a dinner recently with some friends in media I’ve known for years. As it often happens at one of these types of events, we talked shop. The landscape is changing, what traditional media outlets are doing and could do better, the continued infiltration of the social web, mobile and more. If this had been twenty years ago, one may claim it was conversation filled with opinion. But now many of us have actually been working in marketing and media for that long and those opinions have become rather educated.
During the dinner, I recounted a meeting I had a few months ago with someone in the mobile space. He is a bright guy with a growing company but it struck me how much he felt his world was the world. He couldn’t fathom the fact that some people actually aren’t on the cutting edge of technology or living on every word coming from the mind of Steve Jobs. As astonishing as it may be to believe, there are people who actually don’t have a LinkedIn profile. And get this, some don’t blog or listen to podcasts either.
Forecast after this. Stick around for more details.
As much as we instinctively know it’s not the case, we tend to still think others think like we think and others grasp what we have experienced. Proof of this happens every minute of the day. An event will happen and some will go to YouTube for more information while others will check the Twitter stream. Yet the news agencies will hope we wait for the 11 O’clock news. And millions still do wait for the news report. Those who don't hop on social media claim they may not "get it" while others who are constantly wired up can't grasp why anyone would do it any other way.
Information is fragmented and live. It is inaccurate and opinionated. The speed of content being shared will only increase. While the challenge for anyone creating content is to understand that the audience isn’t waiting by their device to receive it.
Desire and Technology Converge
Mitch Joel once pondered how the world would be without traditional media – television, radio, outdoor and print. I would add mobile devices and the Internet to that list because each is getting as big as the big four. So I think it's a more complex question. As millions flock to the social channels, traditional channels remain alive. There is no one way of navigating all this stuff.
We reside on both sides of the counter - we are both providers and clients - and the noise can often be deafening as we attempt to resonate with others while we try to decipher what we need from each other. I have clients who have found great success with a radio component or print imitative. Television, though expensive, still receives billions in annual ad revenue and they haven't stopped the printing presses just yet.
How do you reach your customer who has so many choices?
Kneale Mann
image credit: lifeonpurpose
During the dinner, I recounted a meeting I had a few months ago with someone in the mobile space. He is a bright guy with a growing company but it struck me how much he felt his world was the world. He couldn’t fathom the fact that some people actually aren’t on the cutting edge of technology or living on every word coming from the mind of Steve Jobs. As astonishing as it may be to believe, there are people who actually don’t have a LinkedIn profile. And get this, some don’t blog or listen to podcasts either.
Forecast after this. Stick around for more details.
As much as we instinctively know it’s not the case, we tend to still think others think like we think and others grasp what we have experienced. Proof of this happens every minute of the day. An event will happen and some will go to YouTube for more information while others will check the Twitter stream. Yet the news agencies will hope we wait for the 11 O’clock news. And millions still do wait for the news report. Those who don't hop on social media claim they may not "get it" while others who are constantly wired up can't grasp why anyone would do it any other way.
Information is fragmented and live. It is inaccurate and opinionated. The speed of content being shared will only increase. While the challenge for anyone creating content is to understand that the audience isn’t waiting by their device to receive it.
Desire and Technology Converge
Mitch Joel once pondered how the world would be without traditional media – television, radio, outdoor and print. I would add mobile devices and the Internet to that list because each is getting as big as the big four. So I think it's a more complex question. As millions flock to the social channels, traditional channels remain alive. There is no one way of navigating all this stuff.
We reside on both sides of the counter - we are both providers and clients - and the noise can often be deafening as we attempt to resonate with others while we try to decipher what we need from each other. I have clients who have found great success with a radio component or print imitative. Television, though expensive, still receives billions in annual ad revenue and they haven't stopped the printing presses just yet.
How do you reach your customer who has so many choices?
Kneale Mann
image credit: lifeonpurpose
July 13, 2011
All Media Are Not Created Equal
What Worked? What Didn't? Where To Go Next?You have a product or service that needs exposure. For the purpose of this exercise, we will assume that it is fantastic and there's a need for it.
We will also make the leap that your creative messages are well focused and all the other parts are in place.
The Future Is Now
Let’s deal with where most business owners unfortunately reside. It’s where the pain is most intense – today. There is no time to look at long term plans; you need to make your next quarter. But if you do the same things hoping they will work this time, well you know the cliché.
Should you do a television campaign or a microsite? Perhaps it’s time for you to increase your social networking activities or buy radio? Has the money you spent on print become a dead end or perhaps an outdoor campaign will work?
It is dicey to change strategy without sound reasons yet dangerous to stay with a bad plan. Whether you run a large, medium or small organization, you have budget constraints. It’s effortless to look at Starbucks or Wal-Mart and have an opinion on how you would spend their marketing budget.
A quick checklist
• Find people who can give you honest feedback and perspective.
• Stop watching the competition (for now).
• Remember that Facebook and Twitter are tactics, not your strategy.
• Pay no attention to those who say they have all the answers.
• Keep in mind that the media sales person is compensated on commission.
• Firing people to save money is not a good enough reason.
• Ask your customers what resonated with them.
• Carefully analyze what media has worked for you and what has not.
• Get out of your office, turn off your phone and think.
• Examine all of our current business activities. All of them.
• Cutting your marketing budget to save money is not the answer.
• Educate yourself on all media options and metrics.
Perhaps some items to add to your list.
Kneale Mann
image credit: alternativenews
original post: July 2010
July 1, 2011
Canada Day Fun Facts
In keeping with the multitude of celebrations today, here are some items you may not know.
The Dominion of Canada was established on July 1st, 1867 and officialy became a country April 17, 1882. So today is Canada’s birthday and she’s 144 years young. Like our American pals’ Independence Day we spend at BBQs and parades or just enjoying the extra long weekend.
The average life expectancy is 8th in the world at 81.16 years while the United States is 46th at 78.14. Butter tarts, poutine and ketchup chips are among the long list of snacks native to Canada. Our national anthem, originally entitled “Chant National” was first performed in 1880 and Canadian Parliament approved it as the unofficial anthem and renamed it O Canada in 1967 and it became the official anthem on July 1, 1980.
Over 18 million Canadians on Facebook
Though delicious, maple syrup is not our official beverage. 22% of Canadians name French as their first language. The longest border between two countries in the world is between Canada and the U.S. stretching 5,525 miles or 8,891 kilometres and known as the International Boundary. Three quarters of Canadians are online which ranks the country 4th in the world.
Canada is 3,855,103 square miles which makes it the second largest nation by land mass on earth. Remarks such as “please”, “thank-you” and “you’re welcome” are alive and well in Canada. Ice hockey is the country’s official sport. There is evidence of hockey being played in this part of the world dating back to the 10th century. The rules of the game were first published in 1877 in the newspaper The Montreal Gazette.
Loonies and Twoonies
Canada is the 9th in population density and has the 14th largest Gross National Product in the world. Besides being home to animals such as moose and grizzly bears, Canada has over 50,000 species of insects and more than 10,000 species of spiders and mites. Newfoundland was the first area of the country visited by European explorers but the last to become an official province.
23% of Canadians search LinkedIn for job opportunities. We say a-bout not a-boot. Canada has the longest coastline of any country in the world at 151,600 miles or 243,976 kilometers. The population of Canada just over 34 million.
Beer and Basketball
Although symbolic, the regent of England, Queen Elizabeth II, is the Canadian head of state. The Moosehead Brewery of Saint John, New Brunswick produces over 1,600 bottles a minute. James Naismith, born in Almonte, Ontario just outside of the capital city of Ottawa invented basketball to give his YMCA students more exercise in 1892. At 74, Naismith attended the 1936 Olympic Games to witness the first time basketball was in the competition.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police were formed in 1873. Today there are over 28,000 members. We eat more than 350,000 tons of cheese every year. That’s close to 24 pounds each. Canada has universal health care. From its opening in 1976 until being eclipsed in 2007, the CN Tower in Toronto was the worlds largest free standing structure. Canada is the most multi-cultural country on earth.
Happy Canada Day!
Kneale Mann
image credit: lancasteronline
The Dominion of Canada was established on July 1st, 1867 and officialy became a country April 17, 1882. So today is Canada’s birthday and she’s 144 years young. Like our American pals’ Independence Day we spend at BBQs and parades or just enjoying the extra long weekend.The average life expectancy is 8th in the world at 81.16 years while the United States is 46th at 78.14. Butter tarts, poutine and ketchup chips are among the long list of snacks native to Canada. Our national anthem, originally entitled “Chant National” was first performed in 1880 and Canadian Parliament approved it as the unofficial anthem and renamed it O Canada in 1967 and it became the official anthem on July 1, 1980.
Over 18 million Canadians on Facebook
Though delicious, maple syrup is not our official beverage. 22% of Canadians name French as their first language. The longest border between two countries in the world is between Canada and the U.S. stretching 5,525 miles or 8,891 kilometres and known as the International Boundary. Three quarters of Canadians are online which ranks the country 4th in the world.
Canada is 3,855,103 square miles which makes it the second largest nation by land mass on earth. Remarks such as “please”, “thank-you” and “you’re welcome” are alive and well in Canada. Ice hockey is the country’s official sport. There is evidence of hockey being played in this part of the world dating back to the 10th century. The rules of the game were first published in 1877 in the newspaper The Montreal Gazette.
Loonies and Twoonies
Canada is the 9th in population density and has the 14th largest Gross National Product in the world. Besides being home to animals such as moose and grizzly bears, Canada has over 50,000 species of insects and more than 10,000 species of spiders and mites. Newfoundland was the first area of the country visited by European explorers but the last to become an official province.
23% of Canadians search LinkedIn for job opportunities. We say a-bout not a-boot. Canada has the longest coastline of any country in the world at 151,600 miles or 243,976 kilometers. The population of Canada just over 34 million.
Beer and Basketball
Although symbolic, the regent of England, Queen Elizabeth II, is the Canadian head of state. The Moosehead Brewery of Saint John, New Brunswick produces over 1,600 bottles a minute. James Naismith, born in Almonte, Ontario just outside of the capital city of Ottawa invented basketball to give his YMCA students more exercise in 1892. At 74, Naismith attended the 1936 Olympic Games to witness the first time basketball was in the competition.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police were formed in 1873. Today there are over 28,000 members. We eat more than 350,000 tons of cheese every year. That’s close to 24 pounds each. Canada has universal health care. From its opening in 1976 until being eclipsed in 2007, the CN Tower in Toronto was the worlds largest free standing structure. Canada is the most multi-cultural country on earth.
Happy Canada Day!
Kneale Mann
image credit: lancasteronline
June 29, 2011
The Social Media Revolution Continues
The digital landscape is a moving target. Online social networking is exploding. And the levels inside small, medium and large organizations are trying to get a handle on all the stuff going on. Those blazing a path say we should keep blazing, those beginning to realize the value of this work is a growing number and progress is happening among the money people who want proof and metrics that all the time spent has a compelling enough business reason to continue.
Erik Qualman wrote a #1 best selling book entitled Socialnomics in 2009. He also produced subsequent videos and a powerful infographic packed with actual statistics that excited the evangelists, increased the interest of the advocates and made some naysayers and decision makers a bit nervous while others began to understand the importance of this data. Erik is back with an updated version of the video.
This is the Social Media Revolution 2011. Enjoy!
Kneale Mann
visual credit: Erik Qualman
Erik Qualman wrote a #1 best selling book entitled Socialnomics in 2009. He also produced subsequent videos and a powerful infographic packed with actual statistics that excited the evangelists, increased the interest of the advocates and made some naysayers and decision makers a bit nervous while others began to understand the importance of this data. Erik is back with an updated version of the video.
This is the Social Media Revolution 2011. Enjoy!
Kneale Mann
visual credit: Erik Qualman
June 21, 2011
The Web in Sixty Seconds
Lovin' Every Minute of It
A fun infographic that has been making the rounds is one that shows the multitude of things that happen online every minute. It was developed by the web design company Go-Globe and when I first saw it, like most, I was impressed. But then it reminded me how overwhelmed business owners and managers feel on a daily basis. How do you keep up? What channels do you choose? Where do you focus your efforts? How can you digest the never ending amount of content?
Some highlights of what happens on the Internet every minute along with some additional items you may experience today.
• There are almost 700,000 Google search inquiries
• Flickr receives more than 6,000 photo uploads
• You surfed that car site instead of making another sales call
• Over 70 new domains are registered
• Twitter gains 320 new members and almost a hundred thousand tweets are sent
• More than 22 million meetings ended with no definitive decisions
• In excess of 168 million emails are sent
• iPhone customers download 13,000 applications
• You read this post
• Over 350,000 minutes of voice calls are done by Skype users
• LinkedIn gains another 100 members
• You started another game of Angry Birds at your desk
• Over 25 hours of videos are uploaded onto YouTube
• 700,000 status updates, 80,000 wall posts and 500,000 comments on Facebook
• More than a hundred questions are asked on answers.com
• Scribd receives another 1,600 reads
• You checked your Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter profiles
• Over 1,200 new ads are created on Craigslist
• Pandora streams more than 13,000 hours of music to users
How will you spend the next sixty seconds?
Kneale Mann
image credit: goglobe
A fun infographic that has been making the rounds is one that shows the multitude of things that happen online every minute. It was developed by the web design company Go-Globe and when I first saw it, like most, I was impressed. But then it reminded me how overwhelmed business owners and managers feel on a daily basis. How do you keep up? What channels do you choose? Where do you focus your efforts? How can you digest the never ending amount of content?
Some highlights of what happens on the Internet every minute along with some additional items you may experience today.
• There are almost 700,000 Google search inquiries
• Flickr receives more than 6,000 photo uploads
• You surfed that car site instead of making another sales call
• Over 70 new domains are registered
• Twitter gains 320 new members and almost a hundred thousand tweets are sent
• More than 22 million meetings ended with no definitive decisions
• In excess of 168 million emails are sent
• iPhone customers download 13,000 applications
• You read this post
• Over 350,000 minutes of voice calls are done by Skype users
• LinkedIn gains another 100 members
• You started another game of Angry Birds at your desk
• Over 25 hours of videos are uploaded onto YouTube
• 700,000 status updates, 80,000 wall posts and 500,000 comments on Facebook
• More than a hundred questions are asked on answers.com
• Scribd receives another 1,600 reads
• You checked your Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter profiles
• Over 1,200 new ads are created on Craigslist
• Pandora streams more than 13,000 hours of music to users
How will you spend the next sixty seconds?
Kneale Mann
image credit: goglobe
May 20, 2011
LinkedIn IPO: Looks Good on Paper
Initial Public Obsession
The online and business world was a tizzy Thursday as the LinkedIn Corporation went public. The initial public offering (IPO) put the stock price at $45 USD. It began the day on the New York Stock Exchange at 83 bucks, rocketed to $122.70 and ended the day at $94.25. And then to $93.26 following after hours trading.
LinkedIn was one of the hottest trending topics of the day, the blogosphere was a blur with new posts every few minutes and opinions were plentiful. The good news was dampened by worry that this was be the beginning of another dot.com bubble.
The Dice Rolls Again
Investment giant Warren Buffet doesn’t play in the speculation world because it’s not actual product and he is one of the wealthiest people on earth. While Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, once owned broadcast.com. In 1999, the company was making about $14 Million in annual revenue and Yahoo bought it later that year for $5.6 Billion in stock options. The question remains whether LinkedIn is worth $95 bucks a share, $950 bucks a share or 95 cents a share. Perhaps the only safe bet is the velocity of purchases for stocks will slow down.
Speculators are frothing at their keyboards for the day Facebook or Twitter announce their IPOs which some estimates say it will happen in the next 12-18 months. The question on most critics’ minds is whether either will be properly valued. And judging by first day LinkedIn trading mayhem, that is doubtful.
IPOs almost ground to a hault after the collapse of Lehman Brothers and others in late 2008 in the U.S. and have never returned to the frenzy of the initial dot.com boom-bubble-bust. This volatility would okay if you could buy low, sell high and get out before the floor caves in. It's doubtful anyone will ever know the value of LinkedIn and with an 8,000% increase in 24-hours, the numbers are tough to trust. MySpace anyone?
Is this the beginning of a dot.boom or a dot.bust?
Kneale Mann
LinkedIn was one of the hottest trending topics of the day, the blogosphere was a blur with new posts every few minutes and opinions were plentiful. The good news was dampened by worry that this was be the beginning of another dot.com bubble.
The Dice Rolls Again
Investment giant Warren Buffet doesn’t play in the speculation world because it’s not actual product and he is one of the wealthiest people on earth. While Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, once owned broadcast.com. In 1999, the company was making about $14 Million in annual revenue and Yahoo bought it later that year for $5.6 Billion in stock options. The question remains whether LinkedIn is worth $95 bucks a share, $950 bucks a share or 95 cents a share. Perhaps the only safe bet is the velocity of purchases for stocks will slow down.
Speculators are frothing at their keyboards for the day Facebook or Twitter announce their IPOs which some estimates say it will happen in the next 12-18 months. The question on most critics’ minds is whether either will be properly valued. And judging by first day LinkedIn trading mayhem, that is doubtful.
IPOs almost ground to a hault after the collapse of Lehman Brothers and others in late 2008 in the U.S. and have never returned to the frenzy of the initial dot.com boom-bubble-bust. This volatility would okay if you could buy low, sell high and get out before the floor caves in. It's doubtful anyone will ever know the value of LinkedIn and with an 8,000% increase in 24-hours, the numbers are tough to trust. MySpace anyone?
Is this the beginning of a dot.boom or a dot.bust?
Kneale Mann
May 16, 2011
Leaving Our Digital Footprint
Who's Watching Who
There is an old adage that the only person who is really concerned with you is you. The rest of us are far too busy worrying about us. But with the online world, that doesn’t stop us from being able to peer into each others’ life whenever it strikes our fancy.
Voyeurism is alive and well when we can leave our thoughts on a Facebook wall or Twitter stream and others can read a moment in time, any time they want. But I hear all too often "I just connect with my friends". That may be true, but it's often done in front of several hundred million people.
Ten to fifteen years ago, it was important for companies to have a place on the Internet where customers and potential customers could find out more about their offerings. Now it’s imperative for companies to not expect customers to come to them but rather they need to go where customers reside online. This is the difference between having a website and creating a web presence.
Watch Where You Step
With close to two billion of us surfing the web all trying to learn from each other, gain information, get each other’s attention and put our best out there, it can get distracting and overwhelming. Add to that, we are human, so we experience grumpy moments that can slip into our online activity. That flippant lash can hurt a company as evidenced by faux pas by many large respected brands in the last few years.
If you get into a heated discussion at work or with a customer, that is a one-on-one situation that can be diffused and resolved between the two of you. But when you engage in a similar discussion online you are doing it in front of anyone who cares to watch. And that makes companies nervous. Many are concerned about opening themselves up to the digital mob. After all, anyone with an Internet connect can publish anything they want.
Checking References
Human Resources managers and recruiters are using the social web more and more to find candidates for job openings and they aren’t just reading a well crafted resume or LinkedIn profile to gather information. That offhand remark you make on Quora can come back and bite you.
This is not to suggest we have to be perfect, because once you get that new gig you will need to be yourself but it does serve as a reminder that perhaps the next time we’re having a tough time or in a rough mood we may want to step away from the keyboard for a timeout.
Does that sound like a wise plan?
Kneale Mann
image credit: adrianakems
Voyeurism is alive and well when we can leave our thoughts on a Facebook wall or Twitter stream and others can read a moment in time, any time they want. But I hear all too often "I just connect with my friends". That may be true, but it's often done in front of several hundred million people.
Ten to fifteen years ago, it was important for companies to have a place on the Internet where customers and potential customers could find out more about their offerings. Now it’s imperative for companies to not expect customers to come to them but rather they need to go where customers reside online. This is the difference between having a website and creating a web presence.
Watch Where You Step
With close to two billion of us surfing the web all trying to learn from each other, gain information, get each other’s attention and put our best out there, it can get distracting and overwhelming. Add to that, we are human, so we experience grumpy moments that can slip into our online activity. That flippant lash can hurt a company as evidenced by faux pas by many large respected brands in the last few years.
If you get into a heated discussion at work or with a customer, that is a one-on-one situation that can be diffused and resolved between the two of you. But when you engage in a similar discussion online you are doing it in front of anyone who cares to watch. And that makes companies nervous. Many are concerned about opening themselves up to the digital mob. After all, anyone with an Internet connect can publish anything they want.
Checking References
Human Resources managers and recruiters are using the social web more and more to find candidates for job openings and they aren’t just reading a well crafted resume or LinkedIn profile to gather information. That offhand remark you make on Quora can come back and bite you.
This is not to suggest we have to be perfect, because once you get that new gig you will need to be yourself but it does serve as a reminder that perhaps the next time we’re having a tough time or in a rough mood we may want to step away from the keyboard for a timeout.
Does that sound like a wise plan?
Kneale Mann
image credit: adrianakems
March 18, 2011
Removing Clutter and Distraction
Focusing on the Need
Someone asked me a while ago whether I was necessary to a client’s business. Water and food are necessary, the rest are choices. I can bring 25+ years of marketing and media experience to a client’s business but only if they want my help and realize it won't happen instantly.
If you take the social channels at face value, many claim they can solve all your problems with the purchase of their book or click of a mouse. Solutions can be buried somewhere between good intentions and snake oil.
Sign Up and Never Read
I was sifting through my in-box yesterday and realized that I was creating clutter by joining upwards of 100 different services, clubs, email blasts and news sites. Over time, I have subscribed to these services only to glance when the daily email comes in and never read it. Volume has replaced need. So I will unsubscribe to all of them in email form and go back to digesting the content through my reader. Quantity replaced quality and it all became white noise.
The average Facebook user has 130 friends and has joined 80 pages or groups. How much daily interaction happens after the "like" button is pressed? Something caused you to do it in the first place so there may be good stuff, or not, and if not, dump it. The onus is not on you to stay but for them to give you reason to want to stay. Could we see a social media diet plan in place over the next few years? Less will become more while we focus on actual connections rather than collecting numbers.
Ready Shoot Aim
So often we feel we’re going to miss something so we create clutter instead of progress. Companies adopt a new imitative for fear the competition will get a leg up. Someone on Twitter self proclaims some tactic and it makes us wonder if we should adopt it. Every one of our profiles on the social web has a counter on it and the numbers begin to distract us as if they are actually important.
In business, there will always be someone doing better than you and always someone doing worse than you. The critical issue to keep in mind is what is important.
Other than food and water, what is necessary to you?
Kneale Mann | How can I help?
image credit: majed
Someone asked me a while ago whether I was necessary to a client’s business. Water and food are necessary, the rest are choices. I can bring 25+ years of marketing and media experience to a client’s business but only if they want my help and realize it won't happen instantly. If you take the social channels at face value, many claim they can solve all your problems with the purchase of their book or click of a mouse. Solutions can be buried somewhere between good intentions and snake oil.
Sign Up and Never Read
I was sifting through my in-box yesterday and realized that I was creating clutter by joining upwards of 100 different services, clubs, email blasts and news sites. Over time, I have subscribed to these services only to glance when the daily email comes in and never read it. Volume has replaced need. So I will unsubscribe to all of them in email form and go back to digesting the content through my reader. Quantity replaced quality and it all became white noise.
The average Facebook user has 130 friends and has joined 80 pages or groups. How much daily interaction happens after the "like" button is pressed? Something caused you to do it in the first place so there may be good stuff, or not, and if not, dump it. The onus is not on you to stay but for them to give you reason to want to stay. Could we see a social media diet plan in place over the next few years? Less will become more while we focus on actual connections rather than collecting numbers.
Ready Shoot Aim
So often we feel we’re going to miss something so we create clutter instead of progress. Companies adopt a new imitative for fear the competition will get a leg up. Someone on Twitter self proclaims some tactic and it makes us wonder if we should adopt it. Every one of our profiles on the social web has a counter on it and the numbers begin to distract us as if they are actually important.
In business, there will always be someone doing better than you and always someone doing worse than you. The critical issue to keep in mind is what is important.
Other than food and water, what is necessary to you?
Kneale Mann | How can I help?
image credit: majed
February 16, 2011
The Information Super Saturated Highway
If you own a company, manage a business, run a department or contribute to a team, you are frightfully aware of the time constraints that face you every day. You have deadlines and meetings, emails and projects as well as constant reminders of the bottom line. And what should you do about all this online stuff?
There are close to two billion of us online reading, digesting, publishing, sharing, tweeting and conversing. The amount of content published in a day is unrelenting and new spaces are being built constantly.
Our Insatiable Appetite
The choices can overwhelm you, the so-called experts can hound you and the decision remains how to improve the organization. And unless your company is called “campaign”, you need a strategy and long term solutions.
It’s not difficult to find someone who will lay claim to their vast knowledge of all things digital through blog webinars, Facebook symposiums and how-to LinkedIn seminars. Black hat or white hat, the recent JC Penny story blew a hole through the SEO world. Yet with a click of your mouse, you will be falling over self-proclaimed experts who can give you link bait and search juice for a handsome fee.
Under The Hood
Perhaps the not so sexy but valuable aspect of the social web that few talk about is research. Over and above any activity you partake through the myriad digital spaces, you can unearth rich useful information about your company, what people are saying about you, topics that are important to you and what your competitors are doing through regular digital audits.
With over 600 million daily search inquires on Twitter, someone seems to be digging around for information. And over a third of us online have presence on Facebook where we share more than 30 billion pieces of content every month.
And There's More
YouTube is the second largest search engine, next to parent company Google and fifth most visited website on the planet. It served more than 75 billion video streams to over 375 million unique visitors last year. And if you're looking for even more research, you can check out SlideShare which features hundreds of presentations in your industry. And there are hundreds of other spaces available.
The information out there can be gathered, analyzed and implemented. And constant research of the social web can positively effect the bottom line.
Is that a valuable use of your resources?
kneale mann
image credit: istock
February 11, 2011
Help from the Social Web
A recent status update on Facebook: "Kneale Mann wonders how the social web has helped your career and business".
It generated some good emails and wall responses.
Nila "Expanded connections. I've been able to branch out beyond the network of people and resources I had before diving into the social web. The outcome has been expanded a stable of collaborators, additional business opportunities and greater access to information that helps me help clients better."
Alison "Not helped career but has sure helped through another move and the transition of isolation in a new town. Always someone to talk to here."
Jon "I was so leery at first. I wondered about privacy issues then time issues then revenue issues. Now I'm disciplined with my time online and can point to three clients all because of that."
Pat "It gave me a new start personally and a new career that turned into a passion, and great people all over the world to call friend and mean it."
Kelly Ann "Can I just "second" the previous comments? It's how I met you Kneale!"
Sheila "I can directly track $100,000 in sales to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, all have different audiences and different relationships. Blogging allows me to share useful info with clients. Socmed gives me immediate contact with hotels, cruise lines, airlines and travel agents around the world."
Sean "It change my life. I found a gig, met my wife and a bunch or great colleagues, clients and friends. But it takes time. Don't expect it all to come together in a few days or months. And you don't have to allow it to become a time suck."
Carol "Allows me to reconnect and stay current with friends around the world who I've met and don't see often enough. Had a Hungarian colleague comment that he'd also attended a Leonard Cohen concert last year after I posted about it (albeit I attended the Tampa concert, he attended in Hungary). Connected life is good!"
Joanna "It allows me to be a real person with people in my area that I would never normally talk to on a regular basis. Lets them get to know me as a person as opposed to just an advisor or neighbour."
How has the social web helped you?
knealemann
image credit: shareasyougo
It generated some good emails and wall responses.
Nila "Expanded connections. I've been able to branch out beyond the network of people and resources I had before diving into the social web. The outcome has been expanded a stable of collaborators, additional business opportunities and greater access to information that helps me help clients better."
Alison "Not helped career but has sure helped through another move and the transition of isolation in a new town. Always someone to talk to here."
Jon "I was so leery at first. I wondered about privacy issues then time issues then revenue issues. Now I'm disciplined with my time online and can point to three clients all because of that."
Pat "It gave me a new start personally and a new career that turned into a passion, and great people all over the world to call friend and mean it."
Kelly Ann "Can I just "second" the previous comments? It's how I met you Kneale!"
Sheila "I can directly track $100,000 in sales to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, all have different audiences and different relationships. Blogging allows me to share useful info with clients. Socmed gives me immediate contact with hotels, cruise lines, airlines and travel agents around the world."
Sean "It change my life. I found a gig, met my wife and a bunch or great colleagues, clients and friends. But it takes time. Don't expect it all to come together in a few days or months. And you don't have to allow it to become a time suck."
Carol "Allows me to reconnect and stay current with friends around the world who I've met and don't see often enough. Had a Hungarian colleague comment that he'd also attended a Leonard Cohen concert last year after I posted about it (albeit I attended the Tampa concert, he attended in Hungary). Connected life is good!"
Joanna "It allows me to be a real person with people in my area that I would never normally talk to on a regular basis. Lets them get to know me as a person as opposed to just an advisor or neighbour."
How has the social web helped you?
knealemann
image credit: shareasyougo
February 7, 2011
Selling Stuff is Hard. Selling Yourself is Harder.
.
I enjoy assisting clients in expanding their presence online and offline and seeing those plans through to execution.
As I say to prospects and clients alike, there are a lot of things you can do but the important issue is what you will do. And simply having a Facebook page or being on Twitter or creating a LinkedIn group is not enough. Interacting in a human way is critical.
We Are All In Sales
Perhaps it’s easier to show someone the benefits of a gadget over the benefits of you. Techniques may be easier to apply to the cure for wrinkles or something to get a shinier car finish than explaining why you are a better solution than others. I have lost count the number of people who have asked me if this marketing tactic "will work" and anyone who can guarantee that will be a very wealthy person.
Years ago, I worked with a remarkable sales guy who reminded me that selling stuff was hard, selling yourself was harder. You and I can both cite examples of when we bought something quicker from someone we liked. It's not a steadfast rule, but it happens. And who likes to sell themselves and more importantly who likes to be sold?
Klout won't help your bottom line
The old adage, people buy from people has never been truer than in the ever growing digital channels. In fact, it is much more likely you will listen to the endorsement of a friend or colleague before you will believe an unsolicited advertising message.
You can claim to be the holder of the rules and keys. But all that falls away when you are face-to-face with someone who is looking to you – not some doohickey or theory, but you – for a solution that will help their business. I learn stuff every single day and it's often stuff about me. Self-doubt never helped anyone but overconfidence is equally difficult to digest.
Selling yourself is difficult. But is buying into others, complex?
knealemann | How can I help?
image credit: istock
This was also published on socialmediatoday
As I say to prospects and clients alike, there are a lot of things you can do but the important issue is what you will do. And simply having a Facebook page or being on Twitter or creating a LinkedIn group is not enough. Interacting in a human way is critical.
We Are All In Sales
Perhaps it’s easier to show someone the benefits of a gadget over the benefits of you. Techniques may be easier to apply to the cure for wrinkles or something to get a shinier car finish than explaining why you are a better solution than others. I have lost count the number of people who have asked me if this marketing tactic "will work" and anyone who can guarantee that will be a very wealthy person.
Years ago, I worked with a remarkable sales guy who reminded me that selling stuff was hard, selling yourself was harder. You and I can both cite examples of when we bought something quicker from someone we liked. It's not a steadfast rule, but it happens. And who likes to sell themselves and more importantly who likes to be sold?
Klout won't help your bottom line
The old adage, people buy from people has never been truer than in the ever growing digital channels. In fact, it is much more likely you will listen to the endorsement of a friend or colleague before you will believe an unsolicited advertising message.
You can claim to be the holder of the rules and keys. But all that falls away when you are face-to-face with someone who is looking to you – not some doohickey or theory, but you – for a solution that will help their business. I learn stuff every single day and it's often stuff about me. Self-doubt never helped anyone but overconfidence is equally difficult to digest.
Selling yourself is difficult. But is buying into others, complex?
knealemann | How can I help?
image credit: istock
This was also published on socialmediatoday
