We have to take the world around us and make it edible for our brain to digest. Taking in all of the complexity, and somehow deducing it into a form that is relevant, memorable, and actionable is the ultimate task for all people, especially marketers. In order to relate to someone else, we have to draw simple terms into a more complex scenario in order to create bridges in consciousness. For example:

Treat others as you would like to be treated, and simple golden rules like these have been derived from complex life situations. Yea! Great rule of thumb, but how come it doesn’t stand alone? If I riddle off a saying to someone they may think it is cool, but they rarely stick, and even then it rarely changes an action. But saying a golden rule in a story thousands of different ways allows people to capture the essence of the rule.

This begets the cycle of taking in cues from the complex world around us, defining it, summarizing it, and then retranslating it in order to pass on the knowledge. Each person looks at the world around them differently. As marketers, we need to describe the apple in the terms of whoever it is we want to buy the apple.

Marketers are the translators of a product or service’s reality. Marketers need to be birealistic. (bilingual would be a subset) What this means is that we need not only to be able to define what we are selling in one sentence, but we also have to translate what it means to each person.

As an aside: If you do not translate honestly, they will catch on eventually.

Even though taking in knowledge makes you smarter on some level, it isn’t actually productive. Reading RSS feeds will not help you with a thing, if all you are looking for is a new idea. Every person you know can offer a new idea. So if you are getting new ideas from RSS feeds, and that is your single goal, you are missing out on the relationship building that is actually supposed to occur during an idea exchange.

RSS reading alone, is actually anti-productive and will keep you from achieving the same status of the authors who content you waste so much time sucking in. It really doesn’t take much brains to make a ton of money or get a lot of attention. There are a ton of dumb ass execs, artist types, and publicity hunters everywhere making bank, with half-a-brain. Most every blogger you read isn’t smarter than you, they just produced more. Reading RSS feeds has the guise of productivity, but it is actually the opposite. Instead you are spending more and more time, doing nothing of any value to anyone else.

With that said, recently, I’ve changed my reading habits. I only read RSS feeds to find things worth sharing. It’s actually made my reading more enjoyable, because now I can filter out a ton of crap, and read from a well defined perspective. The most effective way to filter out noise is to know why you are reading in the first place. My new goal is to be a knowledge translator and relayer, and leave it to the computers to suck in information.

Lesson: Reading alone isn’t conducive to learning and productivity.

1. There are at least twenty more people like you online, all you can do to be better is to raise the quality of whatever it is you are sharing, or share more.
2. No one cares if you are going to the bathroom, they will not care on twitter either. Use twitter to share quick notes of knowledge and links.
3. I am addicted to Google Reader. Acquiring knowledge makes you feel knowledgeable. On that note, your knowledge doesn’t do anything if it isn’t accessible to anyone else. Use Google Reader to find interesting things to share. Otherwise, you might as well be watching a soap opera.
4. There are good days at work, and there are bad days at work. Both will influence how you write. Drink a beer, blast some music, and let the emotion poor out. Blogging isn’t a scientific journal. Missteps not only get more attention, but they make people realize that you are a person to.  Let yourself mess up.
5. Get off topic, once a month.
6. Your not really that smart. Even if you are, people care more about your approach.
7. Get everything noted online, somehow. (I suck at this)
8. Online things are cool, real life is always cooler. Get out and enjoy life. Then come back to the screen and talk about it.
9. Things that change your mental state, makes for really interesting writing. Things that are interesting to write does not necessarily translate into interesting reading. You may idolize Hunter S. Thompson but you will never be as awesome.
10. You’ve had many cool experiences. Only 5% are worth noting. Learn to be a better story teller and everything will be a little more interesting.
11. Laugh at yourself, in the mirror in the morning, at lunch when you are pissed at your boss, and before you go to sleep. Embrace your insignificance.
12. Over-tiredness can lead to some crazy thinking. Just go to sleep or read something instead of writing. The worst time to blog is when overtired. The best time is right after waking up.
13. The web is an overwhelming place to dwell. But good friends allow you to ignore the chaos. Remember what the real purpose of this place is: to bring us together from distances. Don’t allow the web to further isolate you.
14. Smile, and have fun. I don’t need to remind you of your impermanence.

Online, I see so many me too sites.  Company’s all have the same mantra, “We have huge clients, lots of money, and offices and examples. My client is bigger than your client.”  To put the cherry on top, they say things like “We are unique, creative, and we can appeal to niche markets like minorities.”  Seriously?

Unbelievable the shit these people spew, then proceed to log onto AOL mail, watch Sportscenter, and bitch about a windows bug that has popped up since they bought it.  These people suck the life out of every orifice of my body. You really aren’t that different if you could so easily tune out the things that suck about your life. Mainstream people are really good about not looking for change but instead having it be so in there face, it isn’t really a change at all.  If you aren’t willing to do a couple clicks to improve your life, what are you willing to do to make a change and be different?  I can guarantee at those companies where people are different and have huge clients, that all their top level execs don’t have even an inclination of what being different is.

Things that you can say that will guarantee you permanent purgatory in the “not different” category, also known as the Dateline (or other-mainstream-news) mentioned this in a special last night and now I know it category:

• “This damn popup comes up every time I start my computer!” – Google it
• “[fill in the blank] doesn’t work, why doesn’t this work?” – Google it
• “I found this awesome [fill in the blank] in the Yellow Pages.”
• “[fill in the minority] would love this.”
• “We need a viral video.”
• “Kids love [blank].”
• “Why txt message when I can just call you?”
• “I just worked a 90 hour week.” – get a life
• “We need a blogger to talk about our [fill in the product or service]“
• “Young people know computers, we didn’t have computers growing up” – This applies to all electronics too
• “We need to make an impression.” – How? What makes impressions.
• “Think outside of the box.”
• “I didn’t know that was possible on computers.”
• etc.

To avoid being this mainstream asshole here are some tips:

• Google first, ask questions later
• Don’t overgeneralize populations of people
• Realize you cannot just turn on web understanding, like you can just turn on your browser
• Those aren’t just webpages, they are people
• Get out of your house and turn off the TV
• Seek trends and seek to understand why they are occurring
• You don’t create trends, you just start being different
• Don’t use lame business jargon, ever
• The tech guy already thinks you are an idiot, prove him wrong
• Understand that different channels of communication begets different communication, I say different things, in different ways, depending on what I am using

Stop talking about your big client, and start talking about who you are and what you stand for, otherwise you are still exactly like everyone else.  Follow this and save my sanity. Please, I beg you.

“I’m not sure whether or not we want to build right now. I’m afraid, if we hire a contractor, they would be more likely to cut corners to save money. Not only would the management look for ways to save but so would the individuals involved with building the house.”

For the past three weeks, I’ve been searching for work in the Atlanta area. I have many reasons for making the plunge from the comfort of my home in Cleveland down to Atlanta. More than anything, I need a place that offers more opportunity. Unfortunately, my timing seems a bit off. In leaving one of the hardest hit areas of the sub-prime loan crisis and real-estate bubble, I’ve come to realize the psychological shock wave has spread much further. Even in markets with some of the highest growth in the country, management has an uneasiness in their gut from what they are reading in the news, hearing on the radio, and watching on television.

Everyone seems to be insecure at the moment. More specifically, they are concerned about the future outcome of investments. Not such a good area for a recent college grad, seeking entry-level employment to be caught in. I am one of the most insecure investments a company can make. Management uses time and resources, which means money, on a person that has no guarantee of yielding any present or future benefits.

The downward spiral, through my eyes, looks something like this:

• Consumers hold onto money because they are not sure their investment is optimal.
• Management can see areas of decreased sales, or merely forecast that a decrease will occur because of more uncertainty of growth.
• Hiring is tapered back, if not put on hold. Or worse, layoffs, possibly all-out cutbacks occur.
• Unemployment rises.
• People hold onto money even more.
• Inflation occurs at every step of the game because people view the things they have as more valuable than the money being offered.

I’m not arguing economics, I don’t know economics very well. To confirm my ignorance I will ask two economics majors to critique this argument in the comments. I’m trying to argue psychology.

Its easy to see who the major players are in building and loosing confidence are; the government, the media, and your social networks are probably heavy hitters. But there is a more subtle variable that has has a direct, immediate effect on how you think of your money. Cheap prices.

Right now the best thing businesses can do to restore consumer confidence is to drop prices. The last step of my spiral is the most important to ending the cycle. Businesses need, more than anything, to slash prices and to adjust their processes while they still have a buffer. The buffer between now and when prices are forced to adjust by the market will allow companies some elbow room for testing different pricing schemes. It will also give them time to streamline inefficiencies, draft up new plans, and apply other practices that have been sitting in archives and business books for rainy days.

Nothing makes consumers more confident than when they feel rich because their money can go far. Companies cannot afford to wait for better governance, media optimism, or people to just feel good without anything having changed. What needs to change is business. Pull money away from all forms of marketing but research and use the savings to compensate for the adjustment. Maybe its a good thing I haven’t found work yet. It’s probably occurring already, but I haven’t noticed…

yet.

1. Be silly and enjoy the unnecessary – GTD and other approaches to work are great for a portion of the day. The rest of the day you shouldn’t have to be as concerned about being so efficient. We aren’t machines. Read your daily horoscope, apply your life to a poem, or simply play some ridiculous music loudly. The horoscope isn’t true, the poem is too deep, and loud music doesn’t make a difference after all, right?
2. Researching is fun – Or at least it should be. As marketers we have an obligation to be constantly in touch. I don’t mean double checking your Tréo. I mean we need to be in touch with the world beyond ourselves. While our greatest source of information is within those around us, our second greatest source is beyond our social networks. Take time everyday to learn something new from people completely separate from your life. This little extra could be what gives you an edge in your job.
3. Change a habit every couple weeks – While people are creatures of comfort, marketers do not have that luxury. The more habits we are locked into, whatever they may be, somehow prevent you from doing something different. The more locked in we are to physical habits, the more removed we are from the mental stimulation of change. We need to always be on our toes. You think cycling is a good habit? There are at least 20 more activities with the same benefits. Seek constant change or your marketing will become stale.
4. Take a moment every day to reflect on your core – What makes you happy in your job? Pursue altruistic goals. This doesn’t apply only to yourself but also to the people around you. Know what makes your friends, coworkers, and family happy. Finally, figure out the best way to balance these goals. Put yourself first and move down the latter. Read your personal mission every day before you start work. This way, every moment of the day, you will know why you are doing, what you are doing (it may also make you reconsider whether a task is worth it or not).

The best marketers are also the best at targeting. They target core emotions, beliefs, and wants. We can achieve this through being more in touch with our own and by shedding those that weigh us down. Reflect, know why, learn, experiment, and be ridiculous. There are many ways to the end, but it always helps to be told that one extra time to, “Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each.” – Henry David Thoreau