I’m a bit late in reviewing Brian Solis’s great book, The End of Business As Usual: Rewire the Way You Work to Succeed in the Consumer Revolution (amazon affiliate link). He’s done a good job in this book of being pretty thorough, of having some deep thoughts, and illustrating them both with words plus, well, good illustrations. I find the book useful, engaging, and definitely worth checking out. Here’s a video review:
Most advice about job seeking is oriented around big companies. The notion of a standard resume, of mass mailings, of dealing with the HR department--even the idea of interviews--is all built around the Fortune 500.
Alas, the Fortune 500 has been responsible for a net loss in jobs over the last twenty years. All the growth (and your best chance to get hired) is from companies you’ve probably never heard of. And when the hirer is also the owner, the rules are very different.
1. Learn to sell. Everyone has sold something, some time, even if it’s just selling your mom on the need for a nap when you were three years old. A lot of people have decided that they don’t want to sell, can’t sell, won’t sell, but those same people need to understand that they’re probably not going to get a job doing anything but selling.
Small businesses always need people who can sell, because selling pays for itself. It’s not an expense, it’s a profit center.
2. Learn to write. Writing is a form of selling, one step removed. There’s more writing in business today than ever before, and if you can become a persuasive copywriter, you’re practically a salesperson, and even better, your work scales.
3. Learn to produce extraordinary video and multimedia. This is just like writing, but for people who don’t like to read. Even better, be sure to mix this skill with significant tech skills. Yes, you can learn to code. The fact that you don't feel like it is one reason it's a scarce skill.
Now that you’ve mastered these skills (all of which take time and guts but no money), understand the next thing about small businesses--they aren’t hiring to fill a slot. Unlike a big company with an org chart and pay levels, the very small business is an organism, not a grid. The owner is far more likely to bring in a freelancer or someone working on spec than she is to go run a classified help wanted ad.
And many small businesses are extremely bad at taking initiative that feels like risk. They’d rather fill orders than take a chance and go out prospecting for a person who represents a risk. And that’s your opportunity.
When you show up and offer to go prospecting on spec, offer to contribute a website or a sales letter or some sales calls--with no money on the table--many small business people will take you up on it, particularly if they are cash-strapped, profit-oriented and know you by reputation. (Please don't overlook that last one).
Hint: don't merely show up and expect a yes. It's something you earn over time...
The rest is easy. Once you demonstrate that you contribute far more than you cost, now it's merely a matter of figuring out a payment schedule.
This is probably far more uncertainty and personal branding than most job seekers are comfortable with. Which is precisely why it works.
I had the supreme pleasure of sitting down with one of the world’s foremost experts on sales and leadership, Harvey Mackay. We talked about his new book, The Mackay MBA of Selling in the Real World (amazon affiliate link), which took us all over the place. This interview, which I’d intended to last about six minutes, was just too fun to keep short. Harvey Mackay is a master at making you feel important and an expert in all the things he talks about. I was very fortunate to get the chance to be his first ever Skype video interview, and because of that, we both just cut loose a bit. Please enjoy this interview, as it speaks to a lot of interesting points about sales, about women’s shifting dominance in the business world, and much much more:
Low expectations are often a self-fulfilling prophecy. We insulate ourselves from failure, don't try as hard, brace for the worst and often get it.
High expectations, on the other hand, will inevitably lead to disappointment. Keep raising what you expect and sooner or later (probably sooner) it's not going to happen. And we know that a good outcome that's less than the great one we hoped for actually feels like failure.
Perhaps it's worth considering no expectations. Intense effort followed by an acceptance of what you get in return. It doesn't make good TV, but it's a discipline that can turn you into a professional.
A few things came up over coffee the other day. His idea is good, his funding is solid, there are many choices. Some of the questions that don't usually get asked:
Are you aware of your cash flow? The thing about a fish in the stream is that it doesn't care if the water is six inches deep or a foot deep. As long as it never (ever) goes to zero, it's fine. What's your zero point? What are you doing to ensure you get to keep swimming?
Are you trying to build profit or equity? A business that builds a brand, a footprint, a standard and an audience might end up being worth millions (witness Tumblr, which has many millions of value but zero profitabilty). On the other hand, a business with no exit value at all might spin off plenty of profit (consider the local doctor's office). It would be great if you could simultaneously maximize both the value of your company and the profit it produces (in the short run), but that's unlikely.
What's your role? Do you want to be a freelancer, an entrepreneur or a business owner? A business owner is the boss, but it's a job, a place that is stable and profitable. An entrepreneur is an artist of sorts, throwing herself into impossible situations and seeking out problems that require heart and guts to solve. Both are fine, but choose.
Are you trying to build a team? Some business owners want to minimize cost and hassle. Others are trying to forge a culture, to train and connect and lead.
Which kind of risk is okay with you? There's financial risk, emotional risk and brand risk (among others). Are you willing to put your chips on the table daily? How about your personal reputation?
And finally, and most important, why? Why are you doing this at all?
I really like Bob Poole. He has a great perspective, writes interesting posts, and does things along a similar vein as I would want to do things. I was happy to get his book, Listen First – Sell Later (amazon affiliate link), and also the nifty zombie monkey shirt he included in the box. I didn’t read this book for the shirt. I read it because I like Bob. So, I shot a quick video book review:
I think that when marketers and PR practitioners talk so often about “engagement” and trying to understand its mechanics, I feel that what most people seek is “attention” and then “intention” and not exactly engagement. As the parent of two young children, I can tell you that “attention” is a valuable coin. Instead of “pay attention,” I wish the phrase were “invest attention,” because I feel that the more attention I give to my children, the more they see that I’m seeking to understand them and see them fully, the more they open up to being who they intend to be with me.
When I put my little boy on the bus this morning, the other two kids wanted desperately to show me their Halloween costumes. One was a vampire girl from Monster High and the other was a biker, complete with a goatee. When I made extra special care to compliment the boy with the goatee while stroking my own to show that we were two of a kind, he lit up with a big proud smile. When I shared with the girl a few lines that her character from Monster High would have said (my daughter’s watched the show a few times), she lit up inside knowing that I knew exactly who she was.
The same experience is exactly true for adults. We all stumble around hoping to be understood. We all feel like we don’t belong somewhere. We all slip into that awkward feeling. It might come when we read something we don’t fully understand. It might come when we are pushed into a work environment that doesn’t suit our personalities. But we find ourselves there as adults, and those very rare moments when someone breaks the barrier and shows us that they see us, that they are giving us attention, that’s the magical moment.
Attention into Intention
To me, once you’ve invested enough attention, then it’s much easier to seek an intention. If you want someone to read your stupid PR pitch, they will be much more likely to do so if they feel like you know who they are, and like you know each other’s work, and maybe even a little bit more about each other. This is clearly not fast work. This is clearly not easily measurable work. And yet, it’s how these things go best.
When I walked into Jason Kintzler’s booth for PitchEngine at a recent PRSA national event, I was checking in with someone I’d known for a few years, and whose progress I’d followed. Jason didn’t have to push me for engagement. We had had each other’s attention, so he earned the ability to execute on his intention: in this case, to show me his product’s updates.
What Does This Mean, Practically?
Here’s the rub. No one in the management cares about this. The CEO and CFO give you a marketing budget and they say, “for that amount of money, I expect this many sales.” They don’t say, “I’d love it if you get to know the people before you try to sell them.” And this method I’m talking about isn’t especially efficient, if you’re still seeking only transactional experiences. But this is really just a part of the method, a part of the Way. How does it fit? Depending on your position and responsibilities, it’s something like this:
Advertising
SEO Attention/Intention
Traditional PR
Customer Service
Okay, so in my world, Marketing owns customer service. It’s not a reality yet, but it’s something I’m striving to make real. But, depending on how one puts their budgets together, to me, Attention/Intention is somewhere around where you’d put your social media efforts, your blogger relations efforts, and matters like that. To me, the beauty of working on attention is that you can work on finding people who might love what you sell, and who might have communities of their own, and you can embrace them and work towards their intentions. In a way, this is a mix of what people are already stabbing at with social media plus blogger relations (which continues to be horribly broken).
One Last Thing: The Enemy
The enemy of Attention is Impatience. This isn’t something you try to rush, try to game, or try to expedite by some electronic means, at least not all of it. One part of attention is providing interesting content for conversations and consideration. That can be somewhat automated, obviously. But responses, interactions, and the like, are meant to be non-scalable environments. You can talk as much as you can talk, and that’s about it. If you can’t get to everyone, you can’t get to everyone. But you cannot (in my not nearly humble opinion) revert to a bunch of electronic means to try and skip some steps in this regard.
What do you think? Are we seeing this the same way?
I think that when marketers and PR practitioners talk so often about “engagement” and trying to understand its mechanics, I feel that what most people seek is “attention” and then “intention” and not exactly engagement. As the parent of two young children, I can tell you that “attention” is a valuable coin. Instead of “pay attention,” I wish the phrase were “invest attention,” because I feel that the more attention I give to my children, the more they see that I’m seeking to understand them and see them fully, the more they open up to being who they intend to be with me.
When I put my little boy on the bus this morning, the other two kids wanted desperately to show me their Halloween costumes. One was a vampire girl from Monster High and the other was a biker, complete with a goatee. When I made extra special care to compliment the boy with the goatee while stroking my own to show that we were two of a kind, he lit up with a big proud smile. When I shared with the girl a few lines that her character from Monster High would have said (my daughter’s watched the show a few times), she lit up inside knowing that I knew exactly who she was.
The same experience is exactly true for adults. We all stumble around hoping to be understood. We all feel like we don’t belong somewhere. We all slip into that awkward feeling. It might come when we read something we don’t fully understand. It might come when we are pushed into a work environment that doesn’t suit our personalities. But we find ourselves there as adults, and those very rare moments when someone breaks the barrier and shows us that they see us, that they are giving us attention, that’s the magical moment.
Attention into Intention
To me, once you’ve invested enough attention, then it’s much easier to seek an intention. If you want someone to read your stupid PR pitch, they will be much more likely to do so if they feel like you know who they are, and like you know each other’s work, and maybe even a little bit more about each other. This is clearly not fast work. This is clearly not easily measurable work. And yet, it’s how these things go best.
When I walked into Jason Kintzler’s booth for PitchEngine at a recent PRSA national event, I was checking in with someone I’d known for a few years, and whose progress I’d followed. Jason didn’t have to push me for engagement. We had had each other’s attention, so he earned the ability to execute on his intention: in this case, to show me his product’s updates.
What Does This Mean, Practically?
Here’s the rub. No one in the management cares about this. The CEO and CFO give you a marketing budget and they say, “for that amount of money, I expect this many sales.” They don’t say, “I’d love it if you get to know the people before you try to sell them.” And this method I’m talking about isn’t especially efficient, if you’re still seeking only transactional experiences. But this is really just a part of the method, a part of the Way. How does it fit? Depending on your position and responsibilities, it’s something like this:
Advertising
SEO Attention/Intention
Traditional PR
Customer Service
Okay, so in my world, Marketing owns customer service. It’s not a reality yet, but it’s something I’m striving to make real. But, depending on how one puts their budgets together, to me, Attention/Intention is somewhere around where you’d put your social media efforts, your blogger relations efforts, and matters like that. To me, the beauty of working on attention is that you can work on finding people who might love what you sell, and who might have communities of their own, and you can embrace them and work towards their intentions. In a way, this is a mix of what people are already stabbing at with social media plus blogger relations (which continues to be horribly broken).
One Last Thing: The Enemy
The enemy of Attention is Impatience. This isn’t something you try to rush, try to game, or try to expedite by some electronic means, at least not all of it. One part of attention is providing interesting content for conversations and consideration. That can be somewhat automated, obviously. But responses, interactions, and the like, are meant to be non-scalable environments. You can talk as much as you can talk, and that’s about it. If you can’t get to everyone, you can’t get to everyone. But you cannot (in my not nearly humble opinion) revert to a bunch of electronic means to try and skip some steps in this regard.
What do you think? Are we seeing this the same way?
