I've become…Average

Taking a step back allows you to gain a different perspective…but what happens when your perspective becomes average?

Its no secret, for a lot of years I was a champion for business events, happily leading the cheerleading squad, toting the benefits of the events industry and leading the rally cry for meeting, incentive and special event planners everywhere to join arms and be recognized. Folks that know me know that I am still passionate about the business events industry…but my perspective has been challenged.

For the past year, I've been rebuilding magazines for Business Information Group; namely Hardware Merchandising and Canadian Contractor. Heading into this fall, we are launching three conferences for Canadian Contractor and rebuilding an awards gala for Hardware Merchandising. I'm now your typical corporate meeting planner…organizing events part-time, not a member of any business event industry association, and deeply passionate about my non-event industries.

In short, I've become…average. My events this fall will be great, by my own measurements, and they will require no additional meeting planning education to accomplish said greatness. I will rely on my suppliers/partners to ensure my critical path doesn't go off the rails. I will likely beg a huge favour from someone for something I forgot, overlooked or underestimated. And after the events are done, I will retreat into the depths of my industries feeling safe and comfortable knowing I won't need to begin planning again for several months.

Being a part-time planner allows you to sit on the sidelines. You can easily justify not engaging in the "business events industry" because it is not "my" industry. In my own case, my industries are home improvement retail and residential renovations & construction. So what is the tipping point when someone gets off the sideline and engages? Is it when the percentage of their day job reaches a magic number? Is it a casual invitation from a supplier to come to function as their guest? Is it after an event goes horribly wrong and the individual gets on Google and learns there is a lot to learn about planning events? I would speculate the answer could be "all of the above".

Over the past year I have had a front row seat in rebuilding a business from the ground up; re-engaging an industry using print, online and face-to-face events. Now, going forward, I want to network and learn with fellow entrepreneurs how to be even better and continue to grow my businesses.

So I hereby give notice that I am getting off the sideline…see you soon!
Steve

Moira; my eulogy

If I'm only half as respected as Moira...I'll consider myself tremendously successful...and one very lucky individual.

I first met Moira Hearn of Select Group Marketing in late 1994...post CMITS (now IncentiveWorks) and planning for the 1995 show. For reasons unknown to me at the time, she adopted me into her flock. For over 17 years we swore and promised we would do lunch...and it didn't happen until after I left M+IT/IncentiveWorks in Feb 2011. True to her word, we went for lunch...and Moira was still looking out for me even when I couldn't directly help her professional goals - she was that kind a human being.

We had some great laughs and adventures but make no mistake...Moira gave me a piece of her mind when she felt compelled; however it was always with constructive criticism for the growth and development of IncentiveWorks and the industry (and a little mentorship for me too).

I didn't know Moira before the mid-90's and her accomplishments. We never socialized outside of work. Regardless, Moira was one of those special people I would take a bullet for...and sadly the bullet that got her was one that no one else could step in front of.

To this day, the greatest lesson Moira demonstrated to me was that a strong relationship is only a phone call away. Not email, not fax, not Skype…a phone call. Moira was the original social media...making connections and relationships in and out of her immediate circles...backed up with a hand shake followed closely with a big hug.

Moira...if you're reading this...thank you for being my friend. I'll miss you tremendously.

Until next time

Steve

Are you profiling your customers?

I love technology and the latest gadgets/apps...but I also know I'm in the minority when compared to the general business population. So when you're communicating with your customers, what level of sophistication are you using?

Define your customer

For purpose of discussion, let's agree your customer is any business professional whom you are communicating with and you want to take a desired action. An action may be to open your email, answer the phone, complete a survey, register for a business event, or maybe even buy something from you.

So now you have a customer (or prospect) and a defined goal (action). Have you profiled your customer? Hopefully you have dozens or hundreds of customers and prospects so no, I don't mean profiling each one...but I do mean you should have an average profile of an average customer.

Customer Profiling Questions (to ask yourself)

What keeps them up at night? Are they male or female? Average age, family profile (pets, kids, etc.), cars and/or trucks, vacation(s). When and how do they read their email? Desktop computer, smart phone, tablet, or a combination of all three? If they are in meetings/events during business hours, then they likely are reading email in off hours. How engaged is your average customer in social media? If yes, determine which ones and when they use them? Who are their trusted sources for information and how do they consume/share it?

The point being your average customer profile should outline everything you would include if introducing this person to your parents/family...and then they Google’d your customer to check your story. Then, and only then, can you even start to think about a communication plan asking them to take your desired action.

Your communication plan should match language, colours, and images that appeal most to your average customer. Humour may not be as appropriate as the team in your office may think. Appeal and speak to their needs, wants and desires. Bonus Tip: you will likely have to have a few "average profiles" and customized communication plans for each.

Why bother with all this extra work?

Modern research has shown that if you communicate the wrong message on the wrong medium at the wrong time not only will you not get the action you are seeking...but you will turn that customer off your product/brand/service indefinitely because you didn't take the time to learn about them in the first place.

Until next time,

Steve

What's on your iPad?

Have you taken the plunge and got yourself an iPad yet? Are you sitting on the fence 'cause you’re not sure what the benefits are? Here's what I've got on my iPad and I'd love to hear what's on yours...

I upgraded my iPad 1 to the new iPad and opted for the basic Wi-Fi model. I don't store movies or videos and only keep a small selection of my music as I can access my Sirius satellite radio via their app. In no particular order, here are my favorite apps and why:

Flipboard - this is a widely popular app that is an aggregator of social media, magazine and news channels. What I love about it is the information is displayed in a very user-friendly format, it's easy to navigate and read a variety of feeds in one shell. Bonus Trick...when I attend a show or event, I can pre-load the event's Twitter hashtag as a channel to read/follow so I don't have to search for it every time! Cost: Free

Keynote - this is the ‘Power Point’ for iPad. I can build presentations and promotions quickly and professionally all using my iPad. It took a couple of hours of playing around to get proficient at it but now that I am I couldn't live without it. Cost: $10

Pages - this is the ‘Word’ for iPad. It's easy to use and gives me total flexibility to create, edit and share Word docs. Cost: $10

Dropbox and iCloud - I use these to store and access all my work and personal files. Think of them as virtual hard drives that you can access anywhere... and yes they are secure. Bonus ...with Dropbox you can share folders with others so you don't need to email versions of documents back & forth.

Netflix - this is a great app that allows me to watch TV shows and movies from my iPad or at home through my Wii console. This is great when I'm on the road as I can watch a movie in my room and not pay the hotel to rent one (sorry guys).  Bonus ...I also use Crackle, Global and CityTV but a lot of their content doesn't interest me. Cost: the app is free and the service is $8/month

Epicurious - this is a great app for the amateur cook or chef! Bonus...it comes with a built in grocery item list too. Cost: Free

SoundHound - a must for every iPhone and iPad owner. Don't know who sings that song on the radio? Simply launch the app, let it listen to the song, and it tells you all kind of information including who sang it! Cost: Free

In addition to the above I've got the usual games, banking, and use Notes for meetings and blogging. Bonus Trick... I recently hooked up a wireless receiver at home that I can control and feed music/satellite radio throughout my house (and patio) using AirPlay (100% on the iPad)!

Until next time...

Steve

Reading Steve Jobs - Getting Started (blog)

I've decided to take the plunge and read the ~1,700 page Steve Jobs biography...and blog about my experience. The first question to answer is why read this book?

Curiosity is the primary reason. Wether you like Mac's or PC's, you have to respect what Jobs accomplished. Also, with some 16,000 reader reviews scoring it four or five out of five, I gotta think there's something good in there. 

Convenience is my second reason. I never would have bought and carried around a nearly 2,000 page book (this is why I've never read Bill Clinton's My Life), but with my iPad, not only is it terribly light,  it is with me always. 

If you are one of the millions who have read it, feel free to comment on my thoughts/findings. If you are not, hopefully I can provide some interesting insights for you.

Until next time,

Steve
thestevereport@gmail.com

PS: ...and no, the irony of reading Jobs' biography on my iPad is not lost on me!

The Value of Value

My friend Trevor Lui (@LuiSays) said it best...time is money. But you are not likely to part with either without  knowing the value, or the promise of value, that you will receive in return. When was the last time you really gave some thought to defining value?

Value is a finicky friend to time and money; value is as much about perception as it is a measurable commodity. The same value means different things to different people, cultures and time zones. So how can you deliver value when it's a moving target?

If we presume that you would trade time or money for a product, then value could be defined as the service you provide. It goes without saying that your products must be on par with or have benefits that comparable products in your category have. And I think it's fair to say we've all been promised "the best service" to death by every organization from fast food to politics.  So is value a myth? Is value an empty promise?

The answer is everything is a commodity and loyalty is a myth. In our A.D.D. society of smart phones and tablets, we don't need to be loyal to any product or brand as we can jump from value promise to value promise with the tap of a finger.

To compete on value you must evolve from providing great service to being more fascinating than your competitors. A new product has an inherent fascination factor but it is the organizations themselves that are inherently fascinating that we strive to emulate. Take Apple for example, they will release a new iPad3 this year; the product will have a fascinating elements, but they will sell tens of millions because Apple continuously evolves itself to be more fascinating than its products.

Until next time,
Stevethestevereport@gmail.com

PS: Not sure how to become or stay fascinating? Then pick up or download Sally Hogshead's book Fascinate; it provides a framework to get you there.

LinkedIn Polls: A Useful Tool? (blog)

So I tried out the new LinkedIn polling feature (see Chicken vs. Egg poll) and have some likes and dislikes...


I like...

• the fact that group members, when they receive an email update, can vote on the poll right from thier email. This is great because the user doesn't have to click several times to vote.
• as an administrator it's really easy to set up and monitor. if your event or company has a LinkedIn group, its a great way to get a poll out fast and garner quick returns.

I dislike...

• I set up my Chicken vs. Egg poll to run for 1 week. This was for no particular reason, just seemed like a good idea. As the person running the poll, I can't seem to close it or end it...nor are there any additional analytic tools beyond the results. This is OK if you are asking a simple question, but not so useful for more in depth questions.
• The poll can not contain any live links, photos, pop-ups or other "aids" to explain an optional answer. For example, your voter may need to read a definition of a technical term to answer the poll correctly.

Overall, its an easy tool to use for easy questions. However, don't think this tool - in its current form - will replace audience/attendee surveys or in depth opinion gathering research. But it may just be the too you need to get a quick read on a keynote speaker...or current opinion on a very old question!


Until next time,
Steve
thestevereport@gmail.com