English Recordings

A mere 212 calendar days until graduation!

Talk about changes! Getting into business is a roller coaster of events and emotions that sour and sweeten unexpectedly. Having the werewithal to withstand these changes is key to success. The sugary icing is an entrepreneur's ability to dive deep and discover things about herself she had never fathomed. The rotten apple is ridding herself of the emotions surrounding poor decisions while still considering the mistake objectively. As I've mentioned before, failure is a powerful teacher. The urge to get up and go do something is mitigated by the experiences that say "ow! that stove top is hot!".
Translate this problem to a leader within a business organization who has hundreds, perhaps thousands, even hundreds of thousands of followers. Imagine each employee as an engine of emotion: innovative, curious, yet careful. Having not a single outlet for handling outbursts or prodding introverts is a dangerous tactic - I'd even argue its scientifically detrimental to productivity! I consider my growing set of personal relationships within a lens that becomes magnified the more I learn about myself.

212 days went by not so fast

It's funny how love can change your life. One moment you're focused entirely on yourself, purporting your own wisdoms to the world, and then there's someone else's viewpoint that you consider considering. Curious, curious indeed. After a long semester and a significant alteration in my self-awareness, I can confidently say that my journey has hardly even begun. What I find funny is how my college campus shielded me from reality. Mom and Dad I can't thank enough for financially supporting me throughout my studies. Now its on to some serious business. I'm still seeking a job, but am a contender for several sales positions where I can excel quickly. I'm looking for the next big thing, something that's going to pop it like its hot, something I can live and breathe and win at. Is that what you're hiring for? Get in touch with me ASAP. I'm accepting InMail.

Beginning a New Blogging Journey

I realized today that practicing what I preach is more important than ever. Every day its my job to tell companies that its wildly important to have fresh unique content on their sites, whether it be in the form of a blog, news articles, whitepapers - but to date, I have completely neglected my blog as my own way to communicate with these individuals and the world at large.
The information driven world has overwhelmed me... with rollouts of such things as Google+, industry groups on LinkedIn and the proliferation of discussions there, not to mention the constant need to Retweet and Like; I've been trying to conceptualize a way to keep that all under control and have it work in my favor.
My goal, and I'm putting this in writing on purpose, is to have at least two blog posts a week. One being related to the content marketing industry, and another related to my experience of daily life. This one doesn't count. Luckily enough for me, public transportation is my mainstay and I have a smartphone. Let the content creation begin!

Social Media for Lead Generation

Protected tweets might seem staid, but they stand initially stark against the synergistic noise that has proven to be both instrumental and insightful as a free, 24/7/365 public tool. Marketers who withhold the right to open one-to-one Twitter communication can take advantage of a gated approach to B2B engagement. However, brands who choose this path can't foster a follow-and-forget relationship.
Yet, my experience tells me that many B2B industries underestimate the power of Twitter as a tool for lead generation using a targeted content marketing approach. By making the brand search engine accessible, its possible to invoke social media interaction as a result of simple site traffic. If the content isn't instantly available and then consistently available, it can become easier for the marketer to engage in one-to-one communication. However, the entire experience then becomes less meaningful for the Twitter user, the potential customer, if tweets can't be retweeted because they're protected.
[I don't know if any one brand is powerful enough to stimulate the visitor to create an account solely for the purpose of interacting with the brand. It can be argued that B2C communication requires more advanced listening and response functions than B2B, because of the unwillingness or inability of consumers to participate in paid media proactively.]
Assumptions: that's what makes social media dangerous. If a marketer assumes that the participants in his industry aren't using social media, then he's operating with a significantly shallow worldview. Cautious experimentation is key when merging with the raging stream. What I think curious B2B marketers interested in leveraging Twitter for lead generation via protected tweets are missing is content, especially because the only network path that can be utilized is one-to-one.
Once a Twitter user "takes the plunge" and Requests to Follow the brand's protected Twitter account, that brand is relegated again to the constant chatter. Does the user remember, after several months of once weekly Tweets, that they had to specially request to follow that brand? What if the content provided is irrelevant or overly promotional, not to mention that it can't be retweeted! There are hundreds of strategic implication questions that need to be answered regarding the decision to protect Tweets, if the brand is indeed claimant to be operating in a world of integrated marketing communications. My conclusion: marketers viewing Twitter in a control-driven vacuum can lead to misfired messaging that serves as a distraction to, rather than a source of, non-interruption marketing as intended by a protected Twitter account.

People Buy From People part 2

When there exists a superstructure of uncertainty around either the feasibility or the longevity of the solution, I believe the decision making process for the potential customer becomes more psychologically primal. This series of events happens more intuitively than consideration of factors such as affordability, timeliness, and other such secondary influencers. Instead, the potential customer looks to socially acquired instances that consciously indicate a level of trust.
When I attempt to develop a rapport with my prospect, it is for reasons threefold. Firstly, I realize that if I seek an understanding about how he expresses himself, my understanding of his needs as expressed will be deeper. Secondly, I am educating and information-seeking more than I am hard selling, making a complex discussion more easily had. Lastly, people buy from people.
If I introduce myself to the bus drivers who stop in Oak Square, begin a dialogue about their interests, or even just about the weather, regardless of the points of commonality or difference we share - at those moments we build trust. Instead of just a lunatic grinning crazed in the middle of the street, I become my indefatiguable personality-rich self.

People Buy From People part 1

You know those mornings when the bus nearly runs you down in the street, you, who just sprinted down the hill trying to keep your work clothes on the hanger, you, who just drove forty minutes so you could take the bus- and that driver doesn't have the compassion to stop for your gleefully waving hand in the lamplit haze on a humid Monday at 4:36am?
There's a difference between those responsible for setting up a successful service delivery, and those who are just uniform order takers. The bus driver who's supposed to pick me up every morning doesn't necessarily care that I have to wait in the dark for the next bus driver to come whisk me away. He knows there's another driver right behind him, and he most certainly doesn't know me and care about why its important I'm on his bus this morning at 4:40am.
I believe that a salesperson, or even stretching that definition to include a service delivery agent like a bus driver, attempts to embody the mentality of an order taker less and less. Instead, she attempts to position herself as a consultant, someone who can advise exactly what level of service would be required to meet an agreed upon objective.

Your Type Seven EnneaThought for the Day part 2:

Anticipation is a dangerous thing. It can cause someone who is typically a rational, practical, logical thinker to behave in a way obtuse to these normal patterns of thought. Consider the effect that pressure and stress, whether of your own creation or mandated by some other relevant party - and you start to understand the feeling I'm attempting miserably to characterize.

You see, but then you don't. The traditional inaccuracy with which we can predict long-term outcomes of any particular set of circumstances should indicate to our logical brain that in fact we needn't worry. Any attempt I might make to mitigate risk in the present no doubt has an effect on the outcome of the future, or does it?

Consider the age-old example of the farm animal, let's agree to call him Babe, to put a face to the story. Borrowing a bit from Nassim Taleb's philosophy, Babe has no reason to expect that one Sunday morning he'll stop being fed scrumptious slops and instead find his neck on the chopping block. The farmer of course knew the plan from the beginning.

Your Type Seven EnneaThought for the Day part 1:

The degree to which Sevens are anxious about themselves and their lives is the degree to which their minds race out of control, leading them into a widening circle of unfocused behaviors... They tend to spin out of control trying to realize all of their ideas, in a search for satisfying experiences and happiness. Notice this tendency in yourself today. (Personality Types, 261)
Now considering the gravity of this statement I figured I'd bring the teachings of the Enneagram to my blogpost. Also considering I havent been living up to my self-ascribed 2-a-week rule, this post can serve as a bit of a double entendre.

It's been said a zillion times that life is like a box of chocolates, but where I run into the most problems with that model is when I try to decide what I'd like best to have next, predict what else is in the box, and anticipate the return from investing time and energy in said box of chocolates.

Far too analytical for the massive degree of uncertainty wrapped up in a 22-year-old's future. I'll quote Terminator 3 with "No fate but what we make" and back that up with another apt although slightly cliche phrase from my latest sales manager "if it's up to be, it's up to me".

Anticipation of future potential, or thinking too furiously over any particular event that equates to a pebble in the mythical and metaphorical "jar of life" is dangerous. Can't see the forest for the trees? It's always good to remind myself to step back and enjoy the present moment to the fullest rather than worrying it away.

Patience is the best remedy.

One apple a day keeps doctor away.

East or West, home is best.

There is no smoke without fire.

The more languages you know, the broader is your mentality.

After breakfast, I sent the children to school and then I went to market. It was still early when I returned home. The children were at school, my husband was at work and the house was quiet. So I decided to make some tarts for tea. In a short time I was busy mixing butter and flour and my hands were soon covered with sticky pastry. At exactly that moment, the telephone rang. Nothing could have been more annoying. I picked up the receiver between two sticky fingers and was dismayed when I recognized the voice of Mrs Bates. It took me ten minutes to persuade her to ring back later. At last I hung up the receiver. What a mess! There was pastry on my fingers, on the telephone, and on the door-knobs. I had no sooner got back to the kitchen than the door-bell rang loud enough to wake the dead. This time it was the postman and he wanted me to sign for a registered letter !