Age of Conversation 2 : Why Don't They Get It

Drew McLellan and Gavin Heath corralled 100+ authors and published the book AGE OF CONVERSATION and raised money for the choldrens charity, VARIETY.

Well, they went and did it again...this time assembling more than 200+ writers to write a marketing opus called THE AGE OF CONVERSATION: WHY DON'T THEY GET IT, which comes out today. And once again, they will be raising money for the great work VARIETY does with children.

This will be a great book to have on hand as reference material as it has chapters written by marekting types, many of whom you probably know. You can buy this book here and do your part to help kids'dreams come true.

Below is a list of all the contributing writers (I think I'm in there somewhere):

Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Chris Brown, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Schawbel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Dave Davison, David Armano, David Berkowitz, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne & Todd Cabral, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, John Herrington, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kristin Gorski, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tim Brunelle, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem

I made the cover

...ok, the inside jacket cover of Seth Godin's new book, "TRIBES". What fun it was looking through all the photos trying to find the one I had submitted (what, a year ago?). I also recognized some other faces of bloggers I read after like Thomas Clifford.

What a great way to market a book...although my photo is only 3 pixels(?) tall, I'm still going to tell eeryone I know that my photo is in the new Seth Godin book.

After all, Seth planned it that way

Marketing Cartoons

I just ran across this book of marketing cartoons at the Church of the Customer blog. The book, This One time, At Brand Camp, is by Tom Fishburne and is a collection of cartoons surrounding the world of marketing. Tom also has another book that precedes this one called, Brand Camp. I'm looking forward to looking these books over. Have you read these books? What did you think?

Just a photo of the wife and I that I really enjoy.

Life Is Short, Eat Dessert First!

This is an idea I have had for a long time and it struck me at lunch today, after being asked the same question almost all wait staff ask after you've had lunch of dinner, "Did yo leave any room for dessert?" that maybe I should write about this concept and see what others think. And since a large part of our businesses are in the restaurant industry, maybe this will help someone make more money.

OK, here it goes. Why do waiters and waitresses always wait for the end of the meal to ask "Have you saved room for dessert?" of course we haven't. Who does? I'll bet dessert orders are way down at the bottom of a restaurant's revenue.

However, what if the waiter/waitress asked for the dessert order at the beginning of the meal? What would happen then? Would their percentage of dessert orders go up? Here's what I'm thinking. Ask for the dessert order along with the appetizers and main course when the person has come in, sat down and is HUNGRY! I've got to believe that the orders for desserts would go up when you catch a patron at their hungriest point. Put very simply, the dialogue might go something like this,

"May I take your order?"
"Yeah I'll have some of this and this."
"Great. Would you like to start the meal off with some fried mushrooms or calamarie?" (get that appetizer order in)
"Yeah, I'll take some fried mushrooms."
"And to top it all off, would you like to try a soft strawberry cheesecake or a sliver of zesty Key Lime pie?" (totally assuming the sale)

You ask for the drink order, appetizer and dinner order and then the dessert order.

It's a guarantee if a waitress or waiter waits till the end of the meal to see if I have "left any room for dessert," I'm too full and can't even comprehend the thought of eating dessert. But if you get me at the beginning fo the meal, I might just go for it.

What do you think? Is this a good idea for raising the percentage of dessert orders?

Steve Farber's New Book

Drew McLellan turned me on to Steve Farber several months ago and since then I have read Steve's book, RADICAL LEAP and RADICAL EDGE. Today I received an email from Steve letting me know he is working on a new book, out March 2009, called Greater Than Yourself. Below is Steve's take on the book and what it's all about.

Continuing to read CITIZEN MARKETER

Twitter Etiquette

Blogger Tangerine Toad has listed some great rules of etiquette where Twitter is concerned. I am afraid I have violated some of these rules myself, but will definitley do better in the future. check out these rules of etiquette for Twitter and let me know what you think.

Brad Bird and Innovation

As I was Twittering this morning, I noticed a tweet by FoundRead about an interview Brad Bird did with the McKinsey Quarterly. This interview is a great conversation with Brad Bird, director of The Incredibles and Ratatouille, about innovation. To read the article in it's entirety, you'll need to register for free at the McKinsey Quarterly website.

Starbucks' New Feedback System: Corporate Marketing At Its Finest

I hope you enjoy this "guest post" by Heather Johnson

Recently, Starbucks Corp. launched a Website that is specifically devoted to collecting feedback from customers. My Starbucks Idea asks coffee enthusiasts around the world what they think the company should do to improve its service. Naturally, thousands of suggestions have flooded in.

While some may be quick to dismiss this site as merely a virtual suggestion box, marketing experts know better. Starbucks is actually listening to its customers and will undoubtedly reap the rewards.

My Starbucks Idea is interactive and allows visitors to vote on their favorite suggestions. Currently, some of the top-rated ideas include:

• Free cup of coffee on a customer's birthday
• Punch card system that earns a free coffee when completed
• Reusable Cups
• Free Wi-Fi at all Starbucks locations

This site also contains a regularly updated blog, Ideas in Action. There, Starbucks is alerting the public to any customer suggestions that are actually being implemented.

It is interesting to note that the site is powered by Salesforce.com, a current leader in the world of CRM. Indeed, My Starbucks Idea serves as the perfect lifeline between customers and the corporation. People come to the site to suggest ideas, vote on ideas and discuss ideas. Essentially, this is a social networking tool that works to everyone's benefit. A brilliant strategy on the part of Starbucks, I wouldn't be surprised if more companies develop a similar platform.



By-line:

Heather Johnson is a freelance business, finance and economics writer, as well as a regular contributor at Business Credit Cards, a site for best business credit card and best business credit card offers. Heather welcomes comments and freelancing job inquiries at her email address
heatherjohnson2323@gmail.com .

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all my friends and family. Thanks for reading, commenting and keeping me on my toes.

Show me, don't tell me

Southwest Airlines does a great job of using video to help their customers have a good experience with the company. Writing a blog to help the customer understand processes or procedures is a good thing. Showing someone how to a process or procedure works is even better. How could you use video to improve and enhance your customer's experience with your company? If you have any examples of companies using video to help their customers, please let me know.

OSU vs OU.. Go Pokes!!

Orange Power. Orange Power! Go Cowboys. The game is today at 2:30 Central time.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends and family.

Kindle - The Electronic Reading device

I just came back from viewing Amazon's video demonstration of the Kindle, and electronic reading device that is blowing my mind. It looks like it would be simple to read, easy to download to and light enough to carry with you anywhere. Check it out at www.amazon.com/kindle

Age and Creativity

Drew McLellan posted a great message that has generated alot of thoughtful feedback regarding the concept of aging and creativity. Can we stay relevant and in touch with the younger markets as we get older?

I highly recommend checking it out at the Marketing Profs blog.

Trackback

The War

Did you get a chance to see the first installment of THE WAR on PBS last night. If not, you've got to tune in tonight and the next 4 nights for Ken Burns' latest documentary covering WWII. Must see TV.

A Fair(y) Use Tale

This is avery interesting take on one's perception of how copyright law works.

Be a service partner, not a service roach

Becky Carroll wrote a great piece over at the CUSTOMERS ROCK blog called "Its Cool to be a Geek". The article is about how to brand and market a service a ethereal as IT.

One of Becky's suggestions, and the one thing that caught my eye and made me read twice was the part about "tie results to business goals". It seems to me this is done so very little that anyone who adopts this strategy will definitely be the purple cow. Wouldn't it be cool if your vending machine vendor came to you and suggested you both sit down and go over reports such as "vending-machine down" time" products offered vs. products wanted by customers, etc. A program like this puts you on the customer's side of the table. It also provides you with the opportunity to show the customer what it is you are doing to improve your service and meet their needs.

One reason a marketing practicioner, service provider (or better yet, roach) might not want to include this sort of strategy is because they would not want their customer to know what was going on, which is the feeling I get from various service providers. They operate on the theory "What my customers don't know won't hurt them". If the light gets turned on, go run and hide. This might work for awhile, but over time, your customers will start to get the impression something is just not quite right. Then your competitor walks in, works with the already uneasy feeling your customer has about the service you are providing, and signs up your customer...much to your surprise.

Be transparent, be your customer's partner...show, reveal, suggest and recommend. Let them know about the problems you have found and the solutions you have implemented or suggest being implemented. Be the hero, not a back-door in-and-out, hope-no-one-sees-me type of vendor. If you operate in this fashion, don't be surprised if you get squashed like a bug.