Observed

I can't say for sure whether Telemachus ended up thanking Mentor for showing the young man how to write better Web content or edit a video clip and upload it to YouTube. Let me know (doug@doug-stern.com), however, if anything like that appeals to you.

My business employs interns from time to time. Here’s a brief description outlining what that generally looks like.

WHERE

Experience has proven that face-to-face interaction improves just about every aspect of what an intern does, how they do it and what they get out of it.  So, at least a few hours a week ought to be spent on site, in my office.  I have wi-fi and whatever else an intern might need.

WHEN

I’m flexible.  For the sake of productivity, however, I suggest that interns expect to spend 4 to 8 hours a week either in my office or telecommuting, perhaps split between a couple days each week for however long the internship lasts.  A lot depends on what (if anything) an intern’s professor or degree program requires or recommends.

WHAT (more…)

"O envy! envy! thou gnawing worm of virtue, and spring of infinite mischiefs! there is no other vice, my Sancho, but pleads some pleasure in its excuse; but envy is always attended by disgust, rancour, and distracting rage." -- Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote, Part II, Chapter 8.

In the last couple of days, both Seth and The New York Times have taken a look at the connection between on-line technology and envy.  It’s not clear who coined it, but the Times uses an acronym to describe the way Facebook, Twitter and the like have tormented those of us stalking a better offer — FOMO…or, Fear of Missing Out.

Of course, there’s nothing new under the sun.  It’s been ages since Envy was added to the Seven Deadly Sins list.  The ancient Greeks invented Zelos (god of envy and the root for the word zeal), and Cervantes wrote Don Quixote around the end of the 16th Century.

So, I’m reluctant to further demonize our gadgets and apps and how they abet our addiction to connectivity and the inevitable quest for something other than what we have.  Technology is, after all, partly a solution in search of a problem.

In a way, we set ourselves up.  When we open a Twitter account or create a Facebook page, aren’t we giving some part of ourselves permission to act on whatever innate urge might reside in us to compare our lives to the lives of others…and, perhaps, to despair?

A buddy of mine said it really well when he called out Facebook years ago.  He called it invited voyeurism.

So, really.  Who are we kidding?

My guess is that this would get my attention. Even in a hurry-up busy airport. Which is the point. When the point is to get found...and, maybe, be remembered.

There are a couple lessons from the Bingham law firm’s airport billboard.

1. The first is that you must have an awesome image to arrest the eyes of the reader-visitor-viewer.  This one does that.
2. The other it to keep things brief.  Seven words or less.  That goes for billboards as well as headlines.  At nine words, this one’s close.

Remember that ads mostly scratch the get-found part of the itch.  They’re cognitive, left-brained creations.

According to some, "computers and cellphones, and the constant stream of stimuli they offer, pose a profound new challenge to focusing and learning."

Maybe all of us have a touch of ADHD in our hard-wiring.   Maybe that’s what helped keep us safe from the sabertooth or the tar pit or the whatever.

Fast-forward several eons.  The average amygdala is getting a real work out in the Digital Age.  We’re bombarded with stimuli, constantly shifting and sorting — alert to threats and opportunities — and feeding our addiction(s).

This morning’s New York Times suggests we’re paying a price for this innate urge, particularly among the young.  Consider: (more…)

That Rolling Stone cover behaves like a billboard.  It will get your attention at 70 mph.

Write copy accordingly.  For example, titles and headlines?  Absolutely no more than seven words.

Just like a billboard.

Seth just posted a thought about the importance of relationships and how to build/maintain them.  “The experience I have with you as a customer or a friend is far more important than a few random bits flying by on the screen.”

My advice?

• Be tangible.
• Be tangible.
• Be tangible.

So, touch somebody.  Do something tangible.  Any questions?

Why all the fuss about intimacy in marketing communication and, especially, sales?  Does it really matter whether you stay in touch with a client or prospect via Twitter or something more personal?

I believe it does.

Sure, it depends on the stakes.  In my case, I’m a freelance writer selling into a mature market.  If I want someone to hire me, I must offer them something more than my experience and credentials.  Something more than the promise or intention that I’ll be accountable.

So, here’s a re-frame for my last few posts on memorable communications from my own business development perspective…

• In order to hire me, a prospect must first trust me.
• In order to trust me, they must believe I care.
• In order to believe I care, I must demonstrate that I care…not merely assert that I care.
• In order to demonstrate that I care, I must be as tangible and personal as possible.  The more I sacrifice (e.g., my time, money and the like) in communicating that, the greater the value and impact.  The more I prove I care.

What I’m seeking is to be in relationship with someone.  Because I’m asking them to trust me with their baby.

Back when I was in-house, I got hundreds of messages a day and was striving to stay connected to a couple hundred clients.  And that was before Twitter and other social media.

There were often times I felt that a shovel would have been more effective than my keyboard.

Know what I mean?  Was any of that promoting intimacy?  Or, was I doing more good by putting on my suit coat and taking a partners’ walk?

So, we know that repetition is key to having a client or prospect remember you.  Furthermore, it’s a blend of the quality of what you repeat and the frequency of the impressions you make on your target.

What, however, about the delivery platform?

My sense is that the more personal the impression, the better.  After all, which are you more likely to remember?

• One of the hundreds of text messages you might get in a day? or
• A face-to-face meeting?

I can offer only a little research to back this up.  Here’s one item .

Actually, what caught my attention was the comment to this linked post:  “Is twitter nothing but a series of text ads put in the context of perceived intimacy?”