An ex-cop friend of mine once told me an interesting story about his experience at a law-enforcement tactical driving school. During the training they learned techniques to avoid and recover from sliding and spinning situations. They learned these techniques on a number of different law enforcement vehicles, but there was one vehicle that stood out. Apparently, in this particular vehicle, if control was lost and a spin began, the tactic was to let go – let go of everything – hands off the steering wheel and feet off the pedals, everything! This story illustrates the idea that control can be an illusion. It is only by letting go of control that the vehicle righted itself and recovery was possible. (Read full post …)
Over the last couple of years much has been made of the commercial power of social media. We hear how the Dell Outlet sold $1 million through Twitter, how Zappos blew their site traffic (and conversions) through the roof. We salivate over Facebook’s 350,000,000 users and the opportunity that could bring. The direct marketer in each of us is understandably tempted. But wait! Resist the urge to send that one-sided overly commercial tweet. From the 2009 Cone Consumer New Media Study we know that “85% believe a company should not only be present but should also interact with its customers via social media” and that “78% of new media users interact with companies or brands via new media sites and tools, an increase of 32% from 2008 (59%)”. (Read full post …)
