iWriteBlog.com

It’s Monday morning. Some people sit at their desks and quietly focus on a steaming mug of coffee, rather than shooting the breeze with their colleagues around the coffeemaker.

Being one of those who loves to chat with my coworkers by the coffeepot, I always wondered why they walk away. In “The Art of Conversation: Stranger? No Danger” Jay Morrissey, in his blog, points out the fact that many people are afraid to talk to strangers. I was amazed at how his opinions paralleled my own and made so much sense! Morrissey mentions five areas of our lives - dating, community, office, friends, and shopping - where talking to strangers ultimately brings people together and makes our lives better. He says in the Office section, “Whether it’s the managing director, the cleaner, or a complete stranger - it will never hurt your career to connect with people. If anything, it will make your working day more enjoyable.” I strongly agree, and think his explanation of why people shy away from contact with strangers is dead on. It’s the phrase we all know by heart, drilled into us by our parents, “Don’t talk to strangers!”

Once I got to be a certain age (and more rebellious), I realized that “talking to strangers” was the only way to meet people! Too many live in fear of leaving their comfort zone, whereas the way I see it, the best way to grow, professionally and personally, is to meet people.

This fact became that much more obvious to me when I joined iWrite Marketing, a company that thrives on the philosophy that “marketing is all about people, and only about people!”

Allow me to transport you into our office on a chilly Rochester day in mid-January. We had just finished a meeting when I received an email from the Rochester Advertising Federation, inviting us to a wine-tasting the following evening. I bounced up and down in anticipation, but my boss, Graeme Roberts, was reluctant. “I don’t know anyone, we are not an advertising agency, and I am not sure what good it would do,” he complained. My enthusiasm must have been infectious enough, because Graeme then agreed that we would go.

The night of the wine-tasting, I met about ten or fifteen people, collected business cards, and saw some old and recently-made friends as well, including Rochester Advertising Federation President Kate Sonnick, and Dumbwaiter Design’s Therese Hannigan. This evening was an enriching experience: not only were the wine and food (of the Pacific Rim, no less!) wonderful, but so was the conversation.

Whizzing about the room, approaching anyone and everyone who looked relatively friendly, I got to meet all kinds of people: the mother of the guy who does our payroll, the photographer, John Myers who owns the studio hosting the event, two talented New Media Design graduates from Rochester Institute of Technology, an independent printmaker, and the CEO of a major printing company.

Consider how many people I met just because I wasn’t afraid to go up and say hi and get to know someone. They may have been just as curious about me as I was about them!

And best of all, Graeme loved it too. He made a couple new friends and met several interesting people. Graeme had been won over. He decided that the RAF was an excellent organization, focused on marketing as well as advertising, and shook his head, disappointed that we hadn’t joined before.

You can easily find tons of articles on the Web about why networking is good for your business, but I learned something about this from Graeme. He refuses to use the term “networking” because it connotes collecting acquaintances for your own selfish purposes. He insists that we work on “relationship building” because in his words, real relationships are built on sincerity and mutual respect!

Building relationships is certainly not the only rewarding part. If you’re one of those Monday morning quiet coffee people, don’t be afraid to start a conversation with someone you don’t know, because you will learn new things (about fascinating people), make someone smile (just because you’re talking to them), and most importantly, overcome your dreadful fear of talking to strangers.

Now, some of you may be saying “That’s easy for her to say, she sounds like a total ‘people person’, without a trace of shyness in her bones, unlike me!”

Actually, you’d be surprised.

Sure, I love people, and do get an enormous pleasure out of good conversation and meeting people, but I happen to also be Deaf.

When I meet someone at a crowded, noisy event (like the wine-tasting), I am often forced to read people’s lips. Sometimes it isn’t easy, especially if the room is filled with people I don’t know, who may not be knowledgeable enough about Deafness to make eye contact when they’re speaking. It isn’t easy for either of us, but I refuse to give in, even after an embarrassing moment or two (or five!) of misunderstanding. I endure the repeated need to smile apologetically, especially after asking someone multiple times, “say again?”, “pardon me?” or even the less polite “huh?”

Eventually, some people become comfortable and begin to understand how to interact with a Deaf person, after which a rewarding conversation begins and we learn one another’s story. Sometimes hearing people are embarrassed or uncomfortable, so they reject or ignore me. Perseverance is the key in these cases, and I simply “try, try, and try again.” The fact that I do step forward, risking embarrassment, showing my true self, my identity, a large part of which is my Deafness (and yes, the ‘D’ is intentionally capitalized), shows that the challenges we face may be different, but we all benefit in the same way: personal and professional growth.

Now, if you’ll excuse me… is that someone I haven’t met yet?

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Writing is the core of our marketing business, and the way we think. Most of the time we love it passionately, because it allows us to play with words. Strange as it may seem to some, we love the shape and rhythm, the taste, fragrance, and flow of words, their beauty in isolation and their power in sequence.

Most of our clients preface discussions of their marketing needs with statements like, “I simply cannot write,” or “I hate writing even more than public speaking.” We are happy to write for them, but we remain convinced that writing is not too difficult for most people, and that they can even enjoy it. The trouble is that writing is taught badly from elementary school on, and that the really important techniques of good writing are never taught at all.

Daphne Gray-Grant, of Vancouver, British Columbia, calls herself The Publication Coach, “Helping Corporate Writers Work Better, Faster.” I don’t think that you need to be corporate to enjoy and benefit from her advice. Her article of November 26, 2007, entitled What’s your writing personality type? The 7 habits of highly effective writers would turn most juvenile writers from a low road of unhappiness and frustration to a high road of effective communication, fulfillment, and even enjoyment. Enough about juveniles, however. We all want to write better.

Effective writers, she says:

1. Separate the writing and editing processes.
2. Focus on the interesting.
3. Tap into the power of metaphor.
4. Do adequate research.
5. Learn from the writing of others.
6. Write in small bursts.
7. Read their work out loud.

Read and enjoy them. Most of all, I love her statement, under “Focus on the interesting” that:

Effective writers (and speakers) always tell lots of stories. If they have to communicate something “theoretical,” they illustrate it with real life examples and anecdotes. They know that human beings don’t just crave food — they are also starved for stories.

Life, marketing, and writing are all about storytelling.

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Other than in matters of religious faith, people look for proof. Buyers are no exception. We sometimes buy products and services without proof of their efficacy or substance, but the less we know, the more uncomfortable we feel. It is no surprise that intangible services, without clear proof of delivery as promised, are often sold by the most charismatic and convincing sales people, who are also highly paid. Buyers look for proof that a product or service will do what it promises, and that it will do it better than its competitors. The more proof that exists, the easier it is to sell.

I have recently experienced the power of proof in my own business. I have had a marketing services and consulting business for almost ten years. Like many small business people, I paid too little attention to marketing my own business, and virtually none to proving that my services were excellent. My single Web page, built on a Yahoo! template gave some indication of what I offered and my contact details, but nothing else. It did me more harm than good. It proved that my business was small, that I hadn’t invested in its growth, and that I wasn’t practicing what I preached. The cobbler’s children had no shoes.

I met Therese Hannigan, of Dumbwaiter Design, in Rochester, New York, and everything changed. The quality of their work on the Web and in motion graphics was all the proof I needed. Together, we developed a new brand identity, a website, a blog, and a stationery system.

Once they were up and running, we sent an e-mail blitz to everyone we know, professionally and personally, linking them to the sites. The results were astonishing. Leads poured in, like the bursting of a dam. Friends who have cared for me for many years, respected my ability and intelligence, and wanted only the best for me and my family, suddenly became clients or referred others to me.

For the first time, I had given them proof.

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Ever since reading Spaulding Gray’s Swimming to Cambodia twenty years ago, I’ve been charting my life in “perfect moments,” as Gray called them. A perfect moment is when all the cares of the world melt away and bliss takes over. Gray had his perfect moment swimming off Phuket, Thailand after wrapping up the film The Killing Fields.

I had my first post-Swimming to Cambodia perfect moment while standing in the middle of an open-air market in Quezon City, Philippines. I had just gotten a barbershop shave. As I stepped into the mass of shoppers, hawkers, purse-slashers, old men and children, all going in different directions, I realized I had nowhere to go. It was the noon hour. I hadn’t stopped sweating for days. I felt as if I were being lifted up over the noise, exhaust fumes, cooking smells, sun, and thousands of faces and bobbing heads. Floating, feeling the same as I’ve felt in death dreams hovering over the mourners, and flying dreams streaming around tall buildings, all was silent. This was not quite as idyllic as Gray’s swimming in the tropical sea, but it was a perfect moment.

That was a long time ago and I’ve been domesticated, so most of my near-perfect moments come amidst family and between scheduled events. And being blessed with the practical thinking that comes with domestication, I often think of how to profit from rare experiences. Qualifying perfect moments sort of defeats the purpose, but I am what I am, which brings me to a more recent perfect moment: Friday night at a sushi bar near Venice Beach, California. For the time it took me to eat, I felt like… heck, I was… one of the family.

Feeling like part of the family is one of the keys to success for any business, in my opinion. When the workers and the customers feel close enough to hug and kiss, all business things are possible. How do you create and maintain this? I don’t think I can answer that yet, but I do want to tell you what happened at the sushi bar, just to drink a little perfect moment juice (or sake in this case).

The place was jammed, and loud. It looked like a gin commercial, but this room was full of real joy, or a rugby party, as I imagine one, before anyone gets mean drunk. The movement was constant: animated faces and arms at every table, smiles all around; waitresses threading the most intricate paths imaginable, handling their trays like dancers; tall, handsome Japanese sushi chefs behind the counter, feeding customers and each other great gulps of sake from yard glasses (who knew there were tall Japanese men, and how did yard glasses get from the pub to a sushi bar?).

Just when I thought the scene couldn’t get any more gloriously manic, the ripping cords of the Beatles’ “Birthday” took over the room. We, I, everyone, was blasting out “THEY SAY ITS YOUR BIRTHDAY!…” I can’t remember now who was getting this special tribute, but I do remember I was standing on a chair along with many others and we were one.

For all I know, soon after we spilled out of the place to spread our sushi love, a fight broke out, or the head waitress checked her watch every two minutes until her shift was over. You may be thinking that I’m a yokel and don’t get out much, or that I can’t hold my liquor. You’d be right. But I have to think that my experience was not unique: someone had orchestrated this perfect moment. The restaurant was run efficiently and people were spending loads of money, but it didn’t seem that way; it just seemed alive.

At the risk of debasing my own blissful memory, here are some business lessons I can draw from this experience:

Hire people who believe in you and your business. Years ago, I met a man from a broken home who uttered this tragic maxim: “You can’t choose your family, but you can choose your friends.” Since you can choose your employees, hire people as if they are going to become members of your family, because they are. You’re going to need their support, loyalty, and tough love to succeed.

Encourage them to let loose, be themselves, and have fun. If you let your people reveal themselves to you and each other, you increase your chances of binding them to “the family” and your collective success.

Provide a welcoming environment for customers. Sure, product quality and service are important, but there’s no place like home. It doesn’t matter if you’re selling sushi or steel beams, customers will return to you if you treat them like family.

Tear down the counter (figuratively or literally) and let your people and customers mix it up. This is where you introduce elements of excitement and unpredictability to the transaction, and where you put your money where your mouth is. Expect life-altering experiences, exponential growth and the occasional lawsuit when you leave the people you love to their own devices.

Adopt a gimmick or trademark activity that instantly hits the pleasure center, or the funny bone. I’ve already admitted I don’t get out much. Dozens of eating and drinking establishments may have latched onto “Birthday” as celebratory chic. But I will associate that song with a perfect moment for the rest of my life. And you don’t have to blast it out of the speakers to have an impact: my boss keeps one of those obnoxious Staples “That Was Easy” buttons on his desk, but I laugh every time he hits it.

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In the third post of this series, I look at several elements of Apple’s second Principle of Great Marketing: Revolutionary Radical Products.

The quotations in this post came from the interview, “Steve Jobs on Apple’s Chemistry,” in Fortune, March 17, 2008.

Principle II—Revolutionary Radical Products

Companies have to grow or die. Slow growth is slow death in a comfortable bed. Real growth requires a mix of revolutionary, radical products and evolutionary incremental products. Revolutionary, radical products make a clean break – unprecedented performance or features, supported by new technology. Evolutionary, incremental products improve on features or cost, using existing technology. Apple manages a near-perfect balance of the revo/evo mix. You need both – all revolutionary would be too risky and all evolutionary wouldn’t grow enough.

How do you make revolutionary products? Start with a need that is obvious to you then develop the new technology you need to meet it. A lot of startups begin with a technology that drives a product that in turn looks for a need. This is the wrong order.

You See an Obvious Need

Apple develops products to meet customer needs that are blindingly obvious to Steve Jobs and his team, not based on market research. In fact, Apple does no market research. Jobs says, “It’s not about pop culture, and it’s not about fooling people, and it’s not about convincing people that they want something they don’t. We figure out what we want. And I think we’re pretty good at having the right discipline to think through whether a lot of other people are going to want it, too. That’s what we get paid to do.”

The iPhone came from rampant dissatisfaction with existing cellphones. “We all had cellphones. We just hated them, they were so awful to use. The software was terrible. The hardware wasn’t very good. We talked to our friends, and they all hated their cellphones too. Everybody seemed to hate their phones.”

Jobs tells a similar story for iTunes: “We did iTunes because we all love music…And the reason that they [the Apple team] worked so hard is because we all wanted one. You know? I mean, the first few hundred customers were us.”

Don’t Expect Your Customers to Tell You

In my experience, customers can tell you about their incremental, evolutionary needs – smaller, cheaper, lighter, faster – but never about needing radical products. “So you can’t go out and ask people, you know, what’s the next big [thing],” Jobs says. He quotes Henry Ford, “If I’d have asked my customers what they wanted, they would have told me, ‘A faster horse.’”

Technology Breakthroughs

Revolutionary products require new technologies. Otherwise everyone would build them and they wouldn’t be revolutionary. As Jobs says of developing the iPhone, “It was a great challenge…Nobody had ever thought about putting operating systems as sophisticated as OS X inside a phone, so that was a real question. We had a big debate inside the company whether we could do that or not. And that was one where I had to adjudicate it and just say, ‘We’re going to do it. Let’s try.’”

As for the iPod, it could only succeed on an enormous scale if the technology of Internet music delivery existed. iTunes was a breakthrough technology in that it made Internet delivery simple and pleasurable. As Jobs said, “I mean, it just seemed like writing on the wall, that eventually all music would be distributed electronically. That seemed obvious because why have the cost? The music industry has huge returns. Why have all this when you can just send electrons around easily?”

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In the second post of this series, I look at several additional elements of Apple’s first Principle of Great Marketing—No Compromise Products!

The quotations in this post came from the interview, “Steve Jobs on Apple’s Chemistry,” in Fortune, March 17, 2008.

Principle I—No Compromise Products!

Most companies want to make great products, but expect to make compromises—to stay on schedule, because the needed technology is not available, or just to avoid conflict, for example.

Apple avoids compromise by:

Not Talking About It

Jobs has built a culture of secrecy. Products may be rumored, but Apple says nothing about them to the press or analysts, and gives very conservative earnings guidance, that does not require pre-announcement of products for support. Some view it, and the company’s active prosecution of those who publish its secrets as evidence of paranoia. I disagree. Apple’s insistence on secrecy prevents competitors from responding to new products and services before they are even launched, and discourages destructive rumor mongering. More importantly, it allows the company to “push the reset button,” as discussed in the previous post. Would they have redesigned the iPhone enclosure at the last minute if the product had already been previewed with the press and analysts? Absolutely not. It may be true, as Ralph Waldo Emerson said that “a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds,” but having made any statement, most people will resist changing it. Apple’s secrecy begets flexibility and excellence.

Having a Real Leader

Most companies are emasculated and confused by the many, often conflicting, agendas and priorities of individual executives and managers. The VP of product development insists on meeting schedule so he rejects marketing’s request for a new feature, or the CFO cuts the launch budget. All of this might happen beneath the radar of the CEO, who should be the chief marketer.

Steve Job’s single purpose is to make great products. "So what we do every Monday is we review the whole business” Jobs says. “We look at every single product under development, products we’re having trouble with, products where the demand is larger than we can make. All the stuff in development, we review.” His intense involvement at every level drives consistency of purpose. "My job is to not be easy on people. My job is to make them better. My job is to pull things together from different parts of the company and clear the ways and get the resources for the key projects. And to take these great people we have and to push them and make them even better, coming up with more aggressive visions of how it could be."

The next post will discuss several more elements in Apple’s first Principle of Great Marketing—Revolutionary Radical Products!

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In a recent post, I agreed with many others that Apple is the world’s best marketing company. It may continue to hold that title long after Steve Jobs, and even the company, is gone, like the Beatles and Bach. I said that “Steve Jobs is a genius and exercises absolute power.” That is the core of Apple’s greatness, I believe, but it got me thinking about all the many elements of its success, and I decided to gather all these slices of excellence, grouped according to some general principles, in a series of blog posts. I cannot imagine a truer or more profound guide to winning.

This was helped enormously by Betsy Morris, Senior Editor at Fortune, whose article “What Makes Apple Golden,” and its accompanying interview, “Steve Jobs on Apple’s Chemistry,” appeared in the March 17, 2008 issue.

Principle I—No Compromise Products!

Most companies want to make great products, but expect to make compromises—to stay on schedule, because needed technology is not available, or just to avoid conflict, for example.

Apple avoids compromise by:

Being Damn Good

Jobs explains it this way, “We don’t get a chance to do that many things, and every one should be really excellent. Because this is our life. Life is brief, and then you die, you know?… So it better be damn good. It better be worth it. And we think it is.”

Pushing the Reset Button

When Apple was far too close to introducing the new iPhone to be able to change anything, Steve Jobs suddenly said, “I just don’t love this. I can’t convince myself to fall in love with this. And this is the most important product we’ve ever done.” They looked at all the earlier designs and came up with the now stunningly successful enclosure design. “All this work you’ve [done] for the last year, we’re going to have to throw it away and start over,” Jobs told them, “and we’re going to have to work twice as hard now because we don’t have enough time.” His team apparently said, “Sign us up.”

Controlling the Whole System

Apple controls the complete user experience—the operating system, the hardware, and often the software and Web services too. As Jobs points out, “There is no intimate interaction between Windows and a Dell notebook.” Owning the complete system also allows Apple to innovate at its own pace and set its own priorities. "That allows us to innovate at a much faster rate than if we had to wait for Microsoft, like Dell and HP and everybody else does. Because Microsoft has their own timetable, for probably good reasons. I mean Vista took what — seven or eight years? It’s hard to get your new feature that you need for your new hardware if it has to wait eight years.”

The next post will discuss two more elements in Apple’s first Principle of Great Marketing—No Compromise Products!

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Have you ever stood in the supermarket, reading package after package, trying to divine which product is best for your needs? Your frustration level rises exponentially with the number of products examined, and the number of shoppers trying to squeeze past you. Every can, bottle, or box bears some combination of the usual marketing hyperbole. How many ways can you say “delicious” or “superb”?

You usually end up looking for the hidden messages. Tasteful design suggests that the manufacturer cares about quality, or shares your values. “Traditional” packaging hints at “good, old-fashioned quality,” whatever that means.

Why should we, the customers, have to fight for information that would help us make good purchasing decisions? The cynical might say that obfuscation is the first defense of the mediocre marketer, and they are probably right. We sometimes buy disappointing products because we simply don’t know any better. Too little information.

I love good coffee. Ethiopia Sidamo from Canaltown Coffee Roasters in Pittsford, New York is my favorite, but I don’t always want to spend $10.99 a pound, because I drink it fast. Last week I saw America’s Test Kitchen on PBS conduct blind taste tests on several brands of supermarket coffee. The clear winner was a Millstone^® Coffee, with a Starbucks^® blend close behind. A few days later, at Sam’s Club, I bought a 40-ounce bag of Millstone Columbian Supremo whole beans, for $13.68. The price was right and the package gave me all the information I needed to make a stress-free decision.

When a company provides clear, useful, and believable information, two things happen—we trust them, and we buy their products. Millstone coffee does just that. Millstone is a Procter and Gamble brand. They do know a thing or two about marketing.

I love their marketing basics as much as I love the coffee. Here’s why:

Value is always the first buying question, and the last. The coffee beats the market for value—a winning combination of taste and quality at a very competitive price of $5.47 per pound.

Let’s look at that 40-ounce Millstone package of whole beans. Bear with my thoughts, my internal dialogue, as I read the package, whistling along to the hits of the 80’s, under the bright lights of the store.

[I think] That’s a great price but 40-ounces is a lot of coffee!

[Package] Storage—The bag you purchased is excellent for storage. Keep unused coffee sealed and store at room temperature, away from direct sunlight.

[I think] Buy the big bag, use it up gradually, and don’t take up room in the fridge. It will still taste good.

[I ask] That’s a great price, but does it taste like old socks?

[Package] Established in 1981 in Everett, WA

[I think] Been around long enough. Coffee and Washington state…like love and marriage.

[Package] Our passionate commitment to gourmet coffee begins high in the remote mountains, where sun, rain, and soil combine to produce exceptionally rich Arabica coffee beans. Our expert buyers travel to the world’s renowned growing regions to select the finest Arabica coffees. Hand-picked at peak ripeness, these exceptional beans are dried under a tropical sun and shipped to the United States. Our master roaster then slow roasts them to bring out their richest aroma and flavor. The result is a difference you’ll taste in every cup.

[I think] Yep, all the predictable superlatives and precious product poetry, but they do seem to care about coffee. I know that Arabica beans are better than Robusta. It’s like a check list of good coffee qualifications. I hope it’s true!

[Package] With so many superb varieties—from light and mild to dark and bold, or somewhere in between—Millstone offers a delicious coffee that is just right for you. So brew a fresh cup and discover the taste you’ll love.

[I think] So if I love this blend, I can find others of the same brand with similar qualities.

[Package] We think you’ve never had a coffee this aromatic, this delicious. If, for any reason you are not fully satisfied with this product, please call us toll-free at 1-800-522-7894.

[I think] That’s it! No risk! Let’s give it a shot.

Before you scour the world for the latest marketing technologies and trends— viral3-DmobilesocialmediaSecondLifevideogaming– get the marketing basics right!

Value and packaging!

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BusinessWeek media columnist, Jon Fine, makes a great argument in “The One-Guy Theory” in the February 25, 2008 issue.

Time Warner, he says, moves very slowly, because, “There are too many layers. There are too many fiefdoms. There are too many…guys. Guys strolling the corridors, guys clustering around the boardroom, guys slowing things down … This, in a time of great uncertainty and fast-shifting consumer appetites, when sheer speed may determine which companies successfully molt and which simply melt.”

Fine makes the point about media companies, because that is what he covers. His media One-Guy examples include Rupert Murdoch, Barry Diller, Sam Zell, and Michael Eisner—but he also says, “Big tech companies tend toward the One-Guy. Apple, Microsoft, Dell, Oracle, Amazon—One-Guy all.” Google may be three-guys, but Eric Schmidt runs a One-Guy ship.

Jon Fine, you are right! Thanks for naming the phenomenon. My favorite marketing book is Radical Marketing: From Harvard to Harley, Lessons from Ten That Broke the Rules and Made It Big by Sam Hill and Glenn Rifkin, HarperBusiness 1999.

They list The Ten Rules of Radical Marketing and Rule 1 is “The CEO Must Own the Marketing Function.” “For the CEOs of radical marketers,” Hill and Rifkin say, “the one thing that is never, ever delegated is marketing. This is because radical marketers understand that corporations exist without shareholders and in today’s era of virtual companies, even without employees, but no business exists without customers.”

Great companies have strong, decisive, fast One-Guy CEOs who see marketing as their primary function. I have experienced the misery of marketing in Many-Guys companies. It is a miracle that anything gets sold, because a lot of time and positive energy is consumed with politics, bureaucracy, bullshit, turf wars, and backstabbing.

Do those things not happen in One-Guy companies? Of course they do, but One-Guy leaders hold people accountable and are notorious for tough love. Apple is the world’s best marketing company because Steve Jobs is a genius and exercises absolute power. You need both. Some One-Guy leaders are tyrants, but all are effective and demand performance, and most importantly, they make the final decisions. Steve Jobs maintains control down to the finest detail, and it shows. Apple products are the thoroughbred Arabian stallions they promise to be, not camels designed by compromise in committees.

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When I catch myself surfing from a report on the latest offensive in Iraq to details of Britney’s psychiatric treatment, I feel as if I’ve caught the short attention span disease that I normally attribute to the younger generation.

But maybe short is an obsolete adjective for this condition. Wide is more appropriate. I’m not willing to believe that, in this new information age, our ability to concentrate has deteriorated. I don’t think I have less capacity for attention than I did before. It’s just that I’m spreading that capacity thinly by breathing in snippets of profound wisdom along with scraps of inane garbage, all at the same homepage level.

So, instead of trying to increase my capacity for attention (which sounds like too much work, though I might tackle that too), I need to surf less, and control the information I concentrate on, more.

This is where podcasts come in. If we’re trying to attract people to our message, we need to give them an engaging place to land: our homepage. But we also need to envelop them, and get them onto the warm beach, away from the surf. There, they can put on their ear buds and learn something that’s important to them.

Isn’t it true that all but the most shallow, or well-adapted of us feel that web surfing is not the best path to success? We can put podcasts on our site as beacons to the web-weary, even if they’re only looking for a way station before flying off again to hunt the shiny fish that swim near the surface. We can also position podcasts as sustenance, a retreat where hard chargers can go on a regular basis to recharge.

With podcasts, the pressure is on us to give visitors value, because they are giving us their full attention. Sure, glom onto the latest social networking fads to gain eyeball share, but make sure to give away bits of what you know well. Your best prospects will drink deeply of your knowledge, and surely come back for more.

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