Barbara Walters Price

New Words Get New Results

A friend sent this to me today.  After a bit of research, I find that it's been around for a few years at least, although I can't precisely pinpoint its original author or publication date.  If you know, let me know and I'll provide the appropriate credit.  In the meantime, enjoy.

One day, there was a blind man sitting on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet and a sign that read:

"I am blind, please help."

A creative publicist was walking by and stopped to observe. He saw that the blind man had only a few coins in his hat. He dropped in more coins and, without asking for permission, took the sign and rewrote it.

He returned the sign to the blind man and left. That afternoon the publicist returned to the blind man and noticed that his hat was full of bills and coins.

The blind man recognized his footsteps and asked if it was he who had rewritten his sign and wanted to know what he had written on it.

The publicist responded: "Nothing that was not true. I just wrote the message a little differently." He smiled and went on his way.

The new sign read: "Today is Spring and I cannot see it."

Learning what to say changes everything.

Happy Monday

Unplugged

This past weekend, I attempted to unplug.  No e-mail. No blogs.  No facebook.  No twitter.  No internet.  No nothing.

How did I do?  I give myself a B-.  Yet, that B- felt pretty good.

It was nice to mostly get away from the constant flow of information because there is just too much of it. 

I decided to simplify my information intake.  While I am interested in a great many things, I only have the time and energy to put to use certain things.  I found myself being "plugged in" and knowing a little about a lot. It got so that I would take headlines as content (prime example: after seeing a headline about Flutter, I just assumed it was the "next thing" not realizing it was a hoax.  Shame on me (but it is a funny hoax)). 

The economy has forced many of us to simplify our lives by doing more with less.  The same philosophy should be true for information flow.  The internet allows us to find information quickly and cheaply.  It levels the playing field to a certain extent.  Many voices are speaking into the ether.  Some have information that I can use.  Others, not so much.  Just because someone is interesting doesn't mean I have enough time to read them, friend them, or follow them.  Life is about choices so we have to choose wisely how to best use our time.

I encourage everyone to unfriend and unfollow as appropriate and to pare down the information inflow.  Then, unplug at least one day a week. 

For a great read on the folly of too many social media friends and/or people to follow, see Debra Helwig's post "Too Much of a Good Thing" at her blog Service Minded.

Monetize Your Non-Billable Time Per Bruce Allen

Bruce Allen at Marketing Catalyst suggests fee-earners "monetize" their non-billable time.  Key excerpt:

If you have the courage, keep track of any non-billable activity you do while you're at work. Then, at the end of a day look at your list and put a "$" sign next to any activity that can result in new work.

He goes on to explain the three things your list will possibly demonstrate.  It's a smart post and the advice is on target.  Fee-earners have to think past billable activities and begin (if you haven't already) to focus on development - both for the short-term and for the long-term.  Yet doing this can feel dangerous in this down economy when being as billable as humanly possible is perceived as the safe thing to do because the thinking is "if I'm billable and if lay-offs come, they surely wouldn't let me go."

No one is safe in this environment.  I suggest professionals need to be thinking about the short-term as well as the long-term.  This economy will turn around and rain-makers are always the most valued people in the room. 

So, give Bruce's idea a try.  Hopefully your firm will support it or some idea like it.  If not, do it anyway for your own career progression.

Happy Monday!

An ad for diet pudding.

"Chocolate doesn't have to be evil."

Advertising Agency: CumminsNitro, Melbourne

Lifted directly from "Advertising Is Good for You."  If you've not visited this blog, do so today.  Great stuff.

By Partnering, Everyone Wins

In a previous post, I noted that if you're doing what you've always been doing, in this economy you're likely to get less of what you've always gotten.  Sally Glick, CMO and Principal of Sobel & Company, notes much the same in her recent post on AccountingWeb.com entitled "What's Working."

She makes the salient point that most firms have the basics covered - web sites, print materials, e-mail newsletters, and the like.  If that's the case, then what can you do to differentiate your firm as well as communicate directly with your target market?

Her suggestion is "partnering with key (noncompeting) influencers in your market to host seminars, roundtables or other networking and educational programs."  She notes that the cost is low yet the return can be high.  According to Sally, "Clients who attend are reminded of how knowledgeable you are, and prospects who attend have the chance to see the value you can add. The successful programs stay very focused on areas of critical relevance to a specific audience. This increases the chances that your firm will meet quality business owners in the sector where you have a strong name and depth of capabilities."

It is an idea worth exploring.  Read Sally's post here.

New Blog: Service Minded

My talented, fun, and insightful friend, Debra Helwig, has finally joined the blogosphere with "Service Minded - Debra Helwig on Marketing & Leadership in Professional Services."  The wait was worth it!  Debra spends most of her time as the marketing communications manager for IGAF Worldwide, an international trade association serving mid-sized accounting firms in over 60 countries. She is a person you should listen to.  Bookmark her blog today!  

Thinking Strategically

When my husband and I joined a neighborhood group made up of families that attended the same church, we attempted to get to know one another through the use of ice-breaker questions. A question posed to me was "if you were to be stranded on a desert island, what one person would you want with you?" My knee-jerk reaction was "my husband." This was the right answer emotionally, but it wasn't the right answer strategically. The right strategic answer would have been "Bob."

Happy Monday

Stir the Water

In these economic times, my marketing strategy is pretty simple.  It can be described as "stir the water." 

Stirring the water means being active in, hopefully, all the right strategic and tactical ways that have a chance to make the phone ring in the short run.  Yet even if you are not always doing the right thing - let's be honest, sometimes the right thing and the wrong thing are only clear in hindsight - do something.  Make it your focus to make the phone ring sooner rather than later.  

If everyone is pulling together and stirring the water, something good will happen.  On days when the phone is silent, the promise of "something good," while not specific, is enough.