We had a major hail storm here today and I intentionally Tweeted storm details and location data i.e., my city to see what if any type of response it generated. Sure enough, I found myself a new follower on Twitter albeit a contractor who has followed me specifically to try drum up business. Twitter Prospecting Whether this approach will generate any new business for this particular contractor remains doubtful.
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An Example Of Prospecting On Twitter
I just returned from a Bobby McFerrin concert, and now I know how to run my new business. No, this post isn’t about “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” Bobby McFerrin is much more than that. You see, I’m a little nervous. For 23 years, I’ve made my income the same way — in a service business, as a graphic designer. A client comes to me for design work. I create something for them, and bill for my time. Rinse, repeat, rinse, repeat for 23 years, and you have a career as a successful designer. But that’s all about to change. I’m venturing into new territory. I’ve started a blog, I’m putting together a course, I’m interacting with my readers. I’m supposed to let them guide me, respond to their needs, offer what they’re looking for , and everything is going to work out fine. Except I’m just a little terrified. How exactly is this supposed to work? Who are these people I am serving , and how do I know it’s all going to come together? And that’s where Bobby comes in The first thing you notice when you file into the theater at a Bobby McFerrin concert is that the stage is almost bare. It’s dark, and a spotlight shines on a single chair in the middle of the stage with a microphone sitting on it. A water bottle is on the floor beside the chair. Nothing more. You wonder if he’s going to sing by himself, or if he’ll have back up singers. You wonder if he’ll play an instrument. The answer is yes: he does all of these things, but not in the traditional way at all. He steps into the spotlight Bobby comes out, sits down, takes a sip of water, and brings the microphone to his mouth. He starts to sing, softly at first, then louder. He begins to hit his chest with his right hand, creating a percussive effect that beats in time to the music. He’s a full-bodied instrument, who makes music with his mouth, hands and feet. He has a four-octave range, and incredible vocal mastery. He’s an American treasure. Then he turns that spotlight around The first inkling that this isn’t your everyday concert comes when he asks the audience to participate in a call and response song. He assigns half the room a few notes, and the other half different notes. He does this mid-song, without stopping. We all willingly sing along. Then he asks if we know “Ave Maria.” We all laugh, and I think this request is going to fall flat. He says “if you know it, sing it out. The people who know it can be the section leaders.” He begins to sing an accompanying melody, and guess what? The hall fills with the sound of the audience singing “Ave Maria.” It’s beautiful. How did he do that? The audience volunteers Bobby pulls his chair over to the edge of the spotlight. He says, “the last time I was in your city was 22 years ago. I want to ask if there are any dancers in the audience. If you’d like to come up and share the stage with me, we’ll improvise together. It might be another 22 years before you get this chance again, so come on up.” Four people make their way to the stage. Each one takes a turn dancing in the middle of the spotlight, while Bobby, off to one side, improvises music that they respond to with their bodies. It is amazing to watch: each dancer responds in a unique way, but they are all good . Then he asks if anyone wants to sing with him. No hesitation this time: people are up out of their seats, hustling to the stage. Every singer asks to sing a different song. Bobby’s accompaniment honors their song selection and makes it a work of art. You watch as each singer experiences a moment they’ll always remember. Give, honor, create together Tonight was like no other concert I’ve attended. It wasn’t really a concert: it was an experience. McFerrin wasn’t up on stage to receive our accolades. He was up there to entertain us, but he wanted our voices, our bodies and our talents to shine, too. He wanted us to feel like we had created tonight’s concert together . That’s when I knew that I needed to follow the Bobby McFerrin business model. His concerts are all improvisation. He doesn’t plan his songs, or even his key changes. He just lets them come to him, based on the audience, his voice, and our response. What he does plan, I believe, is interaction He wants to create something with us, not just for us. He listens, responds, adjusts and creates. That’s what I want to do. It’s my ticket to stop worrying, and my technique for being happy on the vague, uncertain road ahead. Give to my audience, honor their contributions, create something much greater than the sum of all parts. Like Bobby. How do you involve your audience in your business? Any advice for people who are making the transition from a different business model? Tell us in the comments. About the author: Pamela Wilson is a music lover who runs Big Brand System , a site devoted to helping small businesses grow with great design and marketing. Photo ©Stewart Cohen
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The Bobby McFerrin Plan for Creating A Remarkable Business
What a difference a day makes! Disconnected At The Beach After a twenty one hour day yesterday and a good night’s rest, my batteries are well on their way to being recharged. I am trying out a new salesmanship surfacing strategy here that has already produced some simple yet profound discoveries. What’s a salesmanship surfacing strategy? Its the techniques I use to create environments where sellers go to their greatest lengths to try and sell me their products and services. The process helps me identify and isolate the simplest human behaviors and motives used for making sales which I then reverse engineer and repackage for use in other sales environments. What’s the best way to activate a Salesmanship Surfacing Strategy? 1. Pick a heavily trafficked tourist market on any continent 2. Book the most expensive accommodations that you can afford at the most expensive hotel or resort in the area. 3. Set out to experience all the city has to offer as if you had an unlimited amount of money to spend. Salesman of all stripes will trip all over themselves to try and sell you whatever they have to offer whether you were at the moment or would ever be a buyer . If there is a better way for experiencing every type of sales technique under the sun, I haven’t yet discovered it. Granted you can go to any tourist mecca and immerse yourself in all the tourist venues to see what is selling and how its being sold. However, I have found that when salesman perceive there is unlimited budget attached to a prospect either through association with one’s hotel choice or how one dresses and behaves relative to all the other tourists – salesmen will pull out all of the stops! The circumstances of selling to tourists on the fly – reduces salesmanship and those brave enough to practice it to selling’s primal core – you only eat what you -or your tribe – can kill (closed sales). Only those who can stick it out and perfect their pitch have the best chance of surviving. Tourist locales are truly the salesman’s toughest jungle. Where else better to confirm which strategies and techniques work best? In my first day alone, I was exposed to eight scenes where salesmen’s selling processes were laid bare. Here’s where these sales scenes occurred: 1. The Airport 2. Hotel Check-in 3. Beach jewelry sales guys 4. Bungee jumping 5. Hard Rock Cafe - “the lizard on a leash” 6. Mimes 7. Taxi driver 8. The Monkey and Tiger Of these eight selling scenes, the Monkey and Tiger provided the most insight. I will write about what I learned from the Monkey and the Tiger in a future post.
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Day Two Of Disconnect: Salesmanship Surfacing Strategy Live
I sent the note below about why a small town should consider applying for Google’s Fiber Trial via email to a small town resident yesterday: I thought the following might be of interest to you, your company, your contemporaries and the City of X. “New computing cycles create / destroy material wealth.” Morgan Stanley Research I read several weeks ago about how Google is planning on awarding an Ultra High-Speed Internet infrastructure project to a small number of trial locations throughout the US. googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/think-big-with-gig-our-experimental.html At the time, I didn’t think much about their announcement. However, yesterday I read about how Topeka, KS is planning on submitting an application and then I learned Duluth, MN plans to apply as well. forbes.com/feeds/ap/2010/02/28/technology-technology-hardware-amp-equipment-us-topeka-google_7393887.html This morning it occurred to me “your city” would be just as good a trial location for this project as any of the other cities who have publicly announced their intent to apply. If your city were to apply, the application alone would reflect positively on the city’s leadership. Winning a project like this would also surely help the city’s employers attract and retain talent while also insuring future investment and development in the community for years to come. There probably aren’t any of our towns applying… if any were – why not yours? Broadband and speeds throttle productivity. America needs to upgrade our network access speeds to compete with those countries who had the foresight to understand increased and superior network speeds enhance a country’s global competitive advantage.
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Why A City Should Want Google’s Fiber Trial