Kem Meyer on Less Clutter & Noise

7 Myths Marketers (& their bosses) Gotta Stop Buying...

I read an article this week that begs to be shared. Want to get the most out of marketing in today's world? Stop believing these myths.

• Myth #1 - "I'll just hire me one of them marketing superstars.
• Myth #2 - "If everyone just picks themselves up by the bootstraps and tries harder (or works smarter)...
• Myth #3 - "If we can just get some of that marketing automation, that'll solve our problems."
• Myth #4 - "If we can't quantity it, we shouldn't do it."
• Myth #5 - "I don't care what it takes, just get it done!"
• Myth #6 - "We can't spare a dime to invest in research."
• Myth #7 - "We don't have time to examine our own navels."

Read the full article on Chief Marketer.

Less Clutter. Less Noise. book tour happens today...

Today's the day I take the book on the virtual road and visit 28 blogs in 27 cities. The rules were simple. One question per blog all on one day. Some questions were hard, some were easy, some where short and some were long--all were good. Enjoy the tour! (It might take you more than a day, and that's ok. I about killed myself hitting all in one day. You might want to pace yourself.)

1. "Our church seems motivated most to attend events and activities when things are announced from the platform. When there’s no major push from the pulpit, how does one get the congregation excited and eager to participate in other things that are happening in the church using other forms of communication?"  Find the answer on Frank Chiapperino's blog. (Philadelphia, PA)
   
2. "What mistakes have you made in the past and how/what have you learned from them?" Find the answer on Curtis Stephens' blog. (Charlotte, NC)
   
3. "What are your top 10 (5 will do) ways to communicate effectively?" Find the answer on Dave Baldwin's blog. (Reistertown, MD)
   
4. "If you were to move to a small church with little to no budget for communications, how would you implement a system for communications?" Find the answer on Faye Bryant's blog. (Townsend, TN)
   
5. "If you had to start over again (you found yourself at a new church), with no staff and leadership not agreeing with your philosophy, what one thing would you focus on first?" Find the answer on Frank Deno's blog. (Latham, NY)
   
6. "We’re finding our families are extremely busy and increasingly unable to get involved in church events. What are you best practices for communicating and engaging busy families?" Find the answer on Jenny Smith's blog. (Dayton, OH)
   
7. "What are some principles and strategies for transforming a silo-structured communications environment, where ministries are allowed to compete for attention with your main message?" Find the answer on Jeremy Davidson's blog. (Tulsa, OK)
   
8. "What's been the most valuable lesson you've learned since working in ministry?" Find the answer on Jon Edmiston's blog. (Peoria, AZ)
   
9. "As I read about Granger's communication policies and practices, it's apparent both the medium and the content are designed to be uncluttered. How did this mindset come to be part of the DNA of the leadership of the church?" Find the answer on Kim Bontrager's blog. (Wichita, KS)
   
10. "Is it better to have one long blog entry or podcast episode, or multiple short ones?" Find the answer on Tim David's blog. (Orlando, FL)
    
11. "When it comes to building the buzz about a sermon series or event, how do you determine the amount of energy, communication pieces, and time it will take for the largest buzz to grow?" Find the answer on Mark Borgetti's blog. (Naperville, IL)
    
12. "What ways have you found effective to communicate to regulars, who like the way things are, why changes are necessary in order to better connect with guests? Find the answer on Matt Ames' blog. (North Augusta, SC)
    
13. "As part of a larger church staff, what do you find to be the one essential/non-negotiable ingredient for your team to consistently function at a high caliber?" Find the answer on Mike Gothard's blog. (Elizabeth City, NC)
    
14. ""What effect does church marketing and communication have on a church's children's program; do you think a communications team should collaborate with a children's ministry team on developing the program?" Find the answer on Nate Nakao's blog. (Morristown, NJ)
    
15. In the past, we've had NO communication strategy at my church. Part of my job is to create and implement one. In your experience, what is the best way to successfully walk the ministry leaders and staff through this transition without becoming a dictator of communication? Find the answer on Nick Asolas' blog. (Gilbert, AZ)
    
16. "How do church’s find a balance in utilizing new and old media in their presentation of the gospel?" Find the answer on Sam Mahlstadt's blog. (Winston-Salem, NC)
    
17. "How do we effectively communicate (vision, values, policies) with-in the multi-site model without adding layers of complexity?" Find the answer on Sam Luce's blog. (Utica, NY)
    
18. "We're a fairly inter-generational church with a good mix of tech and non-tech savvy people that worships 430 on a weekend in four worship services where all generations are represented. If you were starting from scratch in your communications strategy, what is the first communication tool you would tackle to reach the most people?" Find the answer on Sue Steege's blog. (Tonawanda, NY)
    
19. "Is social media the new wave of communication from the church to the unchurched? If so, how might we best use this medium to maximize impact in our cities?" Find the answer on Tommy Bowman's blog. (Kansas City, MO)
    
20. "You have a lot of great action items in your book, things to evaluate, then to implement some positive changes if needed.  Where would you suggest starting if there are many things that need attention?" Find the answer on Jody Wissing's blog. (Frisco, TX)
    
21. "Desert island. You, on it.  Choice of three books and three CDs.  What would they be?" Find the answer on Beth Brawley's blog. (Powhatan, VA)
    
22. "In a smaller church setting, where most of the communication material is from volunteers, what can be done to coach all of those volunteers to reduce clutter?" Find the answer on Matt Kerner's blog. (Springfield, MO)
    
23. "How does the local church ensure they are not adding to the 'noise' engulfing their congregation?" Find the answer on Adam Mashni's blog. (Plymouth, MI)
    
24. "Given the topic of your book, what are your thoughts on twitter?" Find the answer on Jim Kast-Keat's blog. (Grandville, MI)
    
25. "Our church likes to be (more than) a little edgy in our sermon themes, hoping to speak the language of our culture.  For instance, we preached a series on sex called Turned On. Can you suggest any guiding principles for choosing themes that are very relevant but don't cross the line of being in bad taste?" Find the answer on Robb Ryerse's blog. (Northwest, AR)
    
26. "I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook; I loathe the thought of Tweeting.  I see their value, but I also see so many people being sucked into these social networks, wasting hours of time playing games, taking quizzes, sending flair,  etc. which seems like the ultimate in clutter and noise. How can they best be used while subtly communicating "don't settle for status updates thinking you've experienced the real thing." Find the answer on Vanessa Ryerse's blog. (Northwest, AR)
    
27. "What would be your social networking advice for a church planter? Assuming he wants that added clutter and noise to his already busy life?" Find the answer on Guy Walker's blog. (Birmingham, AL)

LIVE VIDEO AFTER PARTY! (Just when you thought the fun was over.) Mark your calendar for Tuesday, June 2 p.m. EDT. Shawn Wood (Charleston, SC) is the host. You're invited. Don't miss it. Shawn's even better than Ryan Seacrest.

My favorite graduation gifts for 2009

[SPOILER ALERT: If you a a recent graduate I know and love...don't read this post if you want your gift to remain a surprise.]

For the rest of you ... Here are my top three graduation gifts of choice this year.

       

Five things to demand from design thinkers...

Some highlights from an article I read yesterday...I think it's important to absorb stuff like this in order to train our brain to think differently; to break our ruts and change our paradigms. The article shared ten things you need to know to make design thinking work for you...I'm sharing five.

Today we are facing many tough problems in business and our society as a whole. Design thinking is a problem-solving protocol that can be used on virtually any problem. Not just for the world of designers; left-brain, linear thinking, engineering professionals effectively ladder up on the idea, too.

1. Clarity about Equity Brand equity used to belong to the Madmen of Madison Avenue. But advertising simply doesn't work like it used to, and won't ever again. Customers, enabled by the Internet and social networks, are telling companies what they want through the truth of the consumer experience.
2. It's in the the Story A story has emotion, narrative, and memories built into it. In a world bloated with messages, a story is sometimes the only thing people will remember.
3. Design at the Beginning Design is more than aesthetics or attractive packaging. Before setting off on any mission, design thinking protocol asks us to step back and ask "Is this the right way to frame this problem?"
4. Keep Assassins in the Crosshairs "We did that here once. It didn't work." "That's not the way we do things here." Figure out a way to overcome resistance to new ideas or become a Designosaur.
5. Use Your Head Before Your Hands Look past a project to the next step, sideways to the tangents affected by the result and the investment required. No problem is solved in isolation.

Full article by Mark Dziersk in Fast Company.

Making a connection calls for change...

“The amount of change in marketing over the past 3–5 years
probably equals the amount of change over the past 30 years.” 
Robert Liodice, CEO, Association of National Advertisers

You don't believe it? Consider this truth. Three years ago Facebook didn't exist. Today it's the 5th largest "country" in the world. Here's some post highlights from “Marketing Technopologist” Dave Knox about today's reality.

What people want has changed dramatically over the past several years.  While functional benefits still play an extremely important role, people want more.  They want the brand to have a purpose and in many cases, they want to have an emotional connection with the brand.  These changes in attitude are being driven by a new generation:

• 40% more likely to “pay more for products consistent with an image I like"
• 59% of trend setter youth prefer to buy a $4 Organic Vegetable than a $2 Non-Organic Vegetable”
• 62% of 14 to 34 year-olds claim to have taken steps to “living a more environmentally conscious lifestyle”, including 14% who have bought environmentally conscious brands.
• twice as likely to claim to be “influenced by what’s hot and what’s not.”

Digital is transforming how people interact with brands and with each other.

Nearly half of US online adults are social media users, but 71% of online tweens and teens

• connect to a social network at least once a week.
• There are more Paypal accounts than Visa card holders.
• Americans sent 75 billion text messages in June 2008, a 160% increase from June 07.
• 70 million of the 90 million homes in the United States that are online have broadband connection speed and 37 percent of US Homes have Wireless or Wi-Fi.
• 9 out of 10 teens considers themselves to be “video gamers” and more than half play video games at least 3 times per week.
• 29% of teens would rather shop online than in a store.
• Consumers aged 18 - 26 are spending more time using the Internet (12.2 hours per week) than watching TV (10.6 hours per week) according to Forrester.

Read the full article.

What does this mean for you as you lead your staff, your business or your church? You have three choices:

1. Ignore the current reality and stick with what you're comfortable with.
2. Imitate new techniques that discredit you as a fraud.
3. Take the time to learn about what's gaining credibility with people today and why.

Ignoring social media may be hazardous...

Ignoring social media may be hazardous to your organizational health. The number of users is up 87% since 2003 and now outnumbers email users for the first time. In the past year, the time spent on social networks increased 73 percent, Nielsen says.

The full article shows ways more companies are using it. Thanks for the link, Guy Kawasaki.

Worth noting... the smartest companies use social media to LISTEN to what customers and competitors are saying. They don't jump in with the self-centered perspective of "here's another outlet for us to TALK." They use it as an opportunity to deliver great customer service fielding real-time to customer feedback; good and bad.

It's called taking your hand out of the sand. And, it may not always be pretty. But, if you're serious about learning the perception others have (which is their reality), then I'm confident you can handle it.

Maybe this will help...you choose which audience to respond to and which to absorb, but without looking through that social network window...you risk making decisions on incomplete or inaccurate information about your company.

Not ready to set up a blog, twitter or facebook account for your organization? That's ok. At least search to see what others are saying about your church or your company. And, here's where to start:

• Technorati
• Google
• Twitter

Are you selling walkmans in an ipod world?

This is really good. Found it over on the American Express blog. It's by John Jantsch, author of Duct Tape Marketing.

You want to sell what you’ve got to sell, but what if that’s no longer what the market wants to buy. The Sony Walkman (for those of you under 30) was once the thing. Rich kids and cool kids had them and then everyone had them. But, that was yesterday, now it’s an iPod world.

So, the question is, are you still trying to peddle you industry’s version of the Walkman or are you willing to take a look at every aspect of your business, your products, your services, and your processes in an effort to give the market what it demands.

When times are good, people will spend their money on things they don’t really need, but right now, consumers are businesses are pretty darn focused on getting the most bang for every penny spent. Now is the time to make sure that your products align with that kind of thinking.

Let me give you an example of Walkman vs. iPod business models.

Traditional medical practice

Walkman - you make an appointment through your insurance company, mountain of paperwork, doctor makes you wait 30 minutes past appointment time, doctor pretends to listen, discounts treatment options you’ve found on Internet as a hoax, prescribes several medications to treat symptoms without any discussion about prevention diet or exercise.

Neighborhood clinic

iPod - same day appointment, paperwork online, massage therapy and green tea while you wait, appointment on time, discussion about overall health, encouraged to explore combination of traditional medicine and alternative therapies.

So, you’re not in the medical business - whatever industry you are in, I assure you there are standard practices that no longer mirror what the ideal customer is looking for - find out what they tolerate and blow it up.

No matter what you make, fix, ship or sell in this day and age, what you really have to offer to differentiate is the customer experience. You are in the customer exciting business and that comes about only when you can put away everything that you assume about your business and products and focus 100% of your strategic attention on understanding just exactly what the market wants today.

People still ask...Isn't TWITTER a waste of time?

Even after all this time (I've been on Twitter since 2007), I still get asked on a weekly basis:

• Isn't it a waste of time?
• What IS it anyway?

I've weighed in before and recently, Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson, Inc. answered both questions quite well in his post: 12 Reasons You Should Start Twittering.

1. It will enable you to experience social networking first-hand. One of my pet peeves is people who pontificate on new technologies but have never actually used them. This is particularly annoying—but common—among CEOs. 
2. It will make you a better writer. Twitter only allows you to post 140 characters at a time. As a result, you are forced to be concise. In my opinion, this is one of the hallmarks of good writing. Short messages. Short paragraphs. Short sentences.
3. It will help you stay connected to people you care about. This is one of the few technologies I’ve found that actually contributes to community-building. In today’s busy world, it’s difficult to keep up with others.
4. It will help you see a new side of your friends. In an odd sort of way, Twitter “humanizes” people and provides a context for better understanding them. If you follow me on Twitter, for example, you’ll quickly see that I get excited, bored, frustrated, and confused—sometimes all in the same day. You’ll also learn what is important to me and what drives me crazy.
5. It will introduce you to new friends. I have now met several new people via Twitter. These have contributed to my life in small but significant ways. 
6. It is faster than text-messaging. In a sense Twitter is a universal text messaging system. You can broadcast to people who subscribe to your Twitter feed or send a direct message to just one. 
7. It will make you think about your life. You start to see your life through the lens of the people following you. Interestingly, it has made me more intentional and thoughtful about my life.
8. It will help you keep up with what people are talking about. Via Twitter, I have learned about hot books, cool software, breaking news, and even great restaurants. Because the information is coming from real people who care enough to Twitter about it, I have found it more valuable and authentic.
9. It can create traffic for your blog or Website. I have noticed a 30% uptick in my blog traffic in the last 30 days. It may be related to the fact that I have been in the news more or have been writing on more controversial posts. However, I also think it is related to the fact that I am Twittering every time I post a new blog entry. This seems to have a viral effect.
10. It requires a very small investment. Twitter itself is a free service. In terms of my time, I probably invest less than 10 minutes a day. Since “tweets” (i.e., posts) are limited to 140 charters or less, you can scan them in a second or two. Writing them usually takes less than 30 seconds.
11. It can help build your personal “brand.” When people hear your name, what comes to mind? What is your reputation? What is the “brand promise”? Brands are built incrementally, one interaction at a time. Twitter gives you one more way to build your brand, one tweet at a time.
12. Twitter is just plain entertaining. Following your family and friends is kind of like watching reality TV. The difference is that you know the people and actually care about them. In this sense, it is even more fun, because you know more about the people from other contexts.

You see, Twitter is one practical illustration of how we've moved past the industrial age through the information age to the interconnected age. But, naysayers are still calling it silly and dumb. Hello. Anything can be silly and dumb--depending on how it's used.

• "Like most areas of life, the greatest dangers often come out of the strongest positives. And we don't stop using good accounting principles because of the bookkeeping abuses of Enron." Phil Cooke
• "Technology is a neutral medium.  Technology only amplifies what is already inside of me, for good or for bad. Sometimes,I forgot the obvious. It's easier to blame something outside of me versus face up to the internal realities." Rob Wegner

Still wary? Consider this...it might just be a relational responsibility.

Mixing up the message

Thanks to our Elkhart campus pastor Jeff for sharing this YouTube sensation. I love it. The dude gives his best. He thinks about how to make it interesting for his audience. Has fun in the process. The joy is contagious.

 

A few of Jeff's afterthoughts:

• Repeatedly communicating the same thing the same way repeatedly results in a deaf ear. Mixing up the same message (new voice, new media, fresh way) increases the likeliness that it's being heard.
• I love that what he's doing - the freshness, the quirkiness of it - doesn't cost a thing. Everyone feels the constraints of a budget. The best ideas often come when we're forced to be creative.
• Did you notice the response of the passengers? The business class guys in the front stopped what they were doing...and participated. I wonder why?

There's more.

New logos after the financial crisis...

Thanks to Business Pundit for these fun logo parodies and to Mom for sending me the link.