Barbara Walters Price

Don't miss Michelle Golden's blog

I know many of you are already regular readers of Michelle Golden's blog, Golden Practices, however, if you're not, you should be.  I point out the following posts that you need to read:

• 3 Positive Ways to Impact Your Firm.  The post asks (and Michelle offers her answers) the question ""What do you think could most positively impact [professional service] firms in the next 10-20 years?"  I need to think about this one a bit but will offer my top three soon.  What are yours?
• Don't Separate Marketing from Strategy.  Fabulous post and right on point.

Thanks Michelle!

Mercer Capital's redesigned website launched!

A new day has dawned at Mercer Capital.  Our "new and improved" website launched this afternoon.  Thanks to Matt Washburn for pushing this to completion.  Take a look and tell me what you think.  www.mercercapital.com

Confessions of a too-nervous mom

Thank heavens Paula Spencer of Chapel Hill, NC wrote Newsweek and thank heavens Newsweek published what she wrote in their "My Turn" weekly column.  (Not mentioned in the Newsweek article is that Paula is an "Author * Magazine Writer * Columnist * Family/Health Specialist * Editor * Mom - And not in that particular order."  She also has a blog: "Momfidence".)

The title of Paula's article is "We Protect Kids from Everything but Fear."  She makes a great case for parents to just chill out.  She says:

But you can't go around afraid of everything. It's too exhausting! No matter how careful you are, bad stuff happens (diaper rash, stitches, all your friends assigned to another class). And it's seldom the end of the world.

I've got to tell you a secret - I'm one of the nervous moms she talks about and I never thought I would be!  I'm not as nervous as some (it would never occur to me to put our girls in long-sleeve bathing suits and I don't bother about skinned knees and believe that children have a constitutional right to ice-cream and chocolate chip cookies).  I am, however, certainly more nervous than, say, my mother was.  I worry about what schools to send our girls to, their making friends, about them falling off the top of their play set and breaking their neck, even what to bring for show-and-tell for gosh sake - and I'm beyond tired.  I have to keep reminding myself that I made it through childhood just fine even though it wasn't perfect - and they will too. 

Thanks Paula for reminding me and all moms to calm down, chill out, and enjoy our kids.  There will be struggles and disappointments but those are the things that teach lessons.  There will also be times of great joy and fun.

As an aside: Here's Paula's take on the "My Turn" column.  Visit her blog, Momfidence, which she describes as "Momfidence! is about worrying less, winging it more. Parenting by the seat of your commonsense mid-rise mom jeans."

Newsweek My Turn: Who is Paula Spencer?

March 25, 2007

"We Protect Kids From Everything But Fear" is the title of my 'My Turn' essay in the current issue of Newsweek.

Cool!

But:

On the down side, I'm pretty disappointed that there is no mention of "Momfidence" --either the book, column, or the blog--in the bio. Aside from losing out on a chance to make a wider link to those things (since the My Turn piece, as you can tell from the title, is right up my usual alley), not mentioning either Momfidence or the fact that I'm a  journalist in the bio is a slightly disingenuous. It just says "Spencer lives in Chapel Hill, NC" which makes me sound like your basic ranting mommy. Which would be fine, except I am also the author of "Momfidence" and a half-dozen other parenting books, a columnist for Woman's Day and a contributing editor at Parenting and Babytalk--in other words, this is my profession as well as my opinion.

On the plus side, Page and Margaret are mighty cute in the foto running with the essay. We had a great time being photographed that afternoon by Patrick Davison, who teaches at UNC and  also happens to be a Pulitzer-Prize winning photographer!   

If at all possible, you should stop talking before your audience stops listening

All you meeting planners out there, take heed.  My friend, Eva Lang, sent this e-mail to speakers for the upcoming FCGU conference.  Read the "Advice for Speakers" section. I've reprinted the e-mail (with permission) and the boring but needed stuff (the information I first focused on) has been replaced with "yada yada":

Thank you so much for agreeing to speak at the FCG University Program on April 23-24, 2007 in Atlanta.  Below you will find some information about the program and logistics. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Audio/Visual Needs
Yada Yada

Conference Materials
Yada Yada

Schedule
Yada Yada

Location and Lodging
Yada Yada

Conference Fees and Travel
Yada Yada.

Dinner
Yada Yada

Advice for Speakers
Below is some advice that you might find helpful in planning your presentation.

1) Your presentation should bear at least a passing resemblance to the announced topic.

2) If at all possible, you should stop talking before your audience stops listening.

3) If you insist on speaking past your allotted time, you must start giving the next speaker's presentation.

4) All humor must be either “politically correct” or funny. If you manage to achieve both of these goals at the same time, you are eligible for a standing ovation.

5) Keep your ego in check. It was our intent to book the best speaker possible, they weren’t available... We booked you instead.

6) If you walk around the stage or through the audience, it should be for effect and not because you’ve forgotten where you are.

7) The slickness of your presentation should not outweigh its content. (There is content… right?)

8) If you intend to use sophisticated technological equipment you must provide to the meeting planner (in advance) documented DNA evidence proving beyond all reasonable doubt that you are related to Bill Gates.

9) If you are intending to fly into town the morning of the talk, you must first present to the meeting planner, your pilot's license and registration number of your private jet.

10) Unless you are intending to give it away for free, all mention of "product" on stage is expressly forbidden.

11) If you intend to mumble throughout your presentation, written transcripts must be distributed to the audience in advance.

12) If you intend to read your presentation, it is forbidden to hand out transcripts to the audience. Since they can read faster than you can read and talk, we want to keep the ending of your presentation a surprise.

13) If you speak in a monotone, you must inform the meeting planner in advance so that we can provide pillows to the audience.

(From Peter de Jager and the original longer version is on his website at  http://www.technobility.com/docs/article107.htm)

Thanks! Look forward to seeing you in Atlanta.
Eva

Thanks to Peter de Jager for the list and visit his website to read the entire list.  Thanks to Eva for sending this playful "advice" to the conference speakers.

I dare all meeting planners to include this list in their correspondence with speakers.  What a fun and funny way to remind speakers of some very important points.  If you find your speakers without a sense of humor and humility, you might consider not inviting them back.  Hopefully everyone will enjoy the good natured ribbing and take a few truths to heart.

Say it slowly ... I'm trying to write it down

My friend Debra Helwig gave me a helpful tip that I want to share with you.  When leaving a voice mail message, always, and I mean always, repeat your name and number at the END of the message. 

When you get to your phone number, remember it's not a verbal speed contest.  You need to state your number clearly and at a pace that people can write it down without having to listen to the message a second (or third or fourth) time.  Debra's hint to do this is to look at the telephone keypad while stating your phone number, moving your eyes from number to number as you say them.  This slows you down. Saying your number clearly and at a reasonable pace helps the recipient of the voice mail.  Anything that makes it easy for people to call you back is a good thing.  Try it.  It works.  Thanks Debra!

Loyalty only knows two extremes

Bruce Allen over at Marketing Catalyst had an interesting post titled Proof that Relationships Win Business.  Basically he's saying that even if you don't do exceptional work every time for a client, a good relationship will keep that client from leaving you.  As Bruce says, "If clients valued excellence in legal services over the relationship they would jump ship every time an attorney did not perform in absolute excellence."

He concludes the post with this:

Do well at your work and do better at your relationships.

I really like this admonition.  It's short.  It's easy.  It's true.   Every professional (indeed, every human being) needs to internalize it.

Then he goes on to say:

Loyalty only knows two extremes; We are loyal to our friends and we are loyal about our enemies. Everyone else does not matter.

Can somebody help me?  What does "we are loyal about our enemies" mean? 

Anyway, hang on to the admonition: Do well at your work and do better at your relationships.  It won't fail you.

Gettin' out there

Just because some of the new books (Buy-Sell Agreements: Ticking Time Bombs or Reasonable Resolutions?) are falling apart, doesn't mean we're still not marketing!  (We're just not selling them right now.  The new non-defective books should be here today or early next week - I hope!  If you have no idea what I'm talking about, see here.)

Radio Days - If you're interested, tune into the Heartland Business Roundtable radio show tomorrow (Saturday, March 17 at 10:00AM CST) via the internet (streaming at www.kxtr.com) to hear an interview that Steve Johns (of Value Added Mentoring) did with Chris Mercer, our CEO, about the new book, Buy-Sell Agreements: Ticking Time Bombs or Reasonable Resolutions?.

Viral Internet - Professor Bainbridge likes the book ("I recommend it very highly." - emphasis his).  Given that Professor B likes the book, another blogger picked it up.  We've sent the book to two other influential bloggers hoping they'll read it, like it, and blog about it.  Only one problem - they received books from the pool that was defective.  It's always something. 

I am now afraid to use the book, because I do not want to have to do that again

Our latest foray into self-publishing has hit a snag.

My book "exploded" and the pages went all over the floor.  I picked them up, sorted them, and put them back in order-I think.  I am now afraid to use the book, because I do not want to have to do that again.  I would really like to get a new book.

I left the book on my desk with the first 10 or 20 pages turned back to mark my place.  When I came into the office in the morning, the first 10 or 20 pages had separated from the binding.

My first reading was through page 17; the title page through page 4 came loose. Pages 170-176 have already fallen out.In my book, the outside cover has come away from the spine a little bit and a few pages “look” like they could come loose.

... the book (which I think is excellent) is unfortunately falling apart!

However, the positive news is this is what we're hearing about the content:

... the book itself is terrific - sophisticated, refreshingly thoughtful and the first really new ideas (to me, anyway) in this area I've heard or seen in a long time.

So what do you do when you find out that books you are self-publishing and selling are falling apart in the hands of readers?  Well ...

Shake it like a polaroid picture...

Polaroize.  Converts images to look like polaroids.  See my girls "polaroized." 

Hat tip: the [non]billable hour

More data? - Is holistic expertise overrated?

I loved this comment so much that I had to bring it out of comment-land and into the forefront, lest you miss it.  It was in response to my recent post, Data, we need more data and it is from Debra Helwig, the marketing guru at IGAF Worldwide, a friend, and one of the most insightful folks I know.   It furthers the conversation.  Read it and let me know your thoughts.

"Barbara, VERY interesting post.

I freely admit I hate numbers and number crunching - probably because I know I'm not very good at it. My boss jokes that our company will be just fine as long as no-one gives Debra a spreadsheet to manage (!) and he's only partially kidding. I wouldn't call myself a strict mar-com brochure generation flunky, just because I'm very interested in corporate strategy and how marketing needs to play into that strategy. But numbers? HA! At the same time, I also understand our desperate need for data and often grow tired of relying on my nearly 15 years of industry marketing experience to give me the "gut push" to do this, that, or the other.

Here's the big rub, though. Any system is only as good as the person using it. Buy me a $750 stand mixer, and I will make cakes that look exactly like they did when I was using a $15 Wal-Mart special. Give the same equipment to Wolfgang Puck, and you'll have a masterpiece. How is a data collection & analysis system really any different?

I wonder if this an area where you suck it up and not only invest in a system, but make the even more significant investment in a PERSON to manage the system. Let's face it, you're a creative type like me. Even if you get the system in place, is your first instinct going to be to run and crunch data? Will you even know the best questions to ask? And is it really a good use of your time, the high level strategist and creative guru, to go head-down in piles of database code to extract the 2% of your potential client base that might be interested in X?

I read a post yesterday (and darn it, I can't find it now) that lamented the fractioning of the marketing function between analytics and creative, saying that the creative types were gutted shells of real marketers and that only a person who can do it all is a REAL marketing expert. I personally think holistic expertise is overrated. Do what YOU do best and find someone to help you do the things you don't do well. The key there is to find the right person, one who can help you understand what you need and how to go about getting it without feeling like they have to be the CMO. After all, you are still in charge and you are still the person who understands the industry - the analytics guy is the one you pay to build and play the database like a Stradivarius for you.

Investment? Oh, yes. A super huge one. But if your firm is big enough now that trend data and customer data need more intensive tending and managing, and if you are serious about getting the most out of that data, maybe that staff investment is the "pay to play" for a massively higher return later on, combined with greater job satisfaction all around."