 People say some smart things on Twitter. I'm noticing a lot of the time that people are posting quotes from seminars, business meetings, and pitching strategies and ideas through twitter. I thought it might be a good time to take down some notes and expand on these "140 Characters or less" tweets. Here's just a few I nabbed last week.
#1 reason clients give me for absence from social media: lack of resources. This seems to be a pretty common observation. It takes a lot of work to maintain a digital brand. Heck, I even find myself having a hard time managing, maintaing, and marketing my own sites and blogs, I can't imagine a small business or a large corporation. The problem? It's GOT to be done. My family has a personal friend who runs his own web design firm. I took a gander at his "career opportunity" page just to see what was available. Surprisingly enough, he wasn't looking for any developers or designers, he was looking for messengers, copywriters, and public relations people. Sure, he can make a company a great website, but if they don't have anyone to give him the message, the brand, the headlines, the titles, the history of the company, and this mission - how good of a platform can he create. Lesson learned? Don't ignore the neccessities. A good design without copy is like a good brand without an identity. Don't let lack of resources come in between your company and your consumers. There are good writers out there, wink wink. It's important for you to have an online presence. The first place I go to check out a potential job candidate is linked-in. Obvious? A little. But this is probably the single most important advice I could give to anyone right now. Sure this works for brands. In fact, it is imperative for brands, but it's also important for everyday individuals like you and me. Why? Because anyone can find anything about everyone. Confusing I know, but it's the power of the world wide web. If information is going to be out there, why not control it and cater it towards how you wanted to be perceived by others. The world is Digital. A lot of people simply need to accept it. This couldn't be more true. I think marketers and advertisers, and interested people like myself are the first ones to kind of adopt this theory, but slowly everyone is starting to realize. Everything we do is dominated by technology. Sure their is an older generation that still reads the paper every morning, sits outside and reads a book, but I'd imagine they also have a television, a cell phone, and some sort of computer knowledge. We could have a discussion about Twitter for hours and never come to a conclusion on it's popularity in the future, but nonetheless, I guarantee in 20 years when our kids no longer have textbooks and do everything on their mobile/computer/smartphone/kindle hybrid while they're flying to school in their automated vehicle, they'll be learning about it's effectiveness in 2009 as a driving force behind the "digital revolution." The more ideas being associated with your brand, the more conversation will surround it. When I think about new campaigns for new brands and new companies, I always think big. My belief is it's better to pitch 10 ideas and have the client like 1, than to pitch 3 ideas and have the client like 0. The more companies and brands do to deliver a message, the more conversation this causes. Look at a recent movie "Paranormal Activity." They made the movie with an $11,000 budget and made 20 million opening weekend. They created buzz online, made crazy trailers, hosted parties for movie buffs who attended midnight screenings. Sure, the reviewers wouldn't like it, but draw buzz in your target audience and get conversation started. It's no longer about advertising, it's about interaction. We are what we repeatedly do. Marketing, then, is not an act, but a habit. A last little piece of advice. When done correctly, marketing shouldn't bother you, shouldn't annoy you, and shouldn't be something that you have to hide from. It should be something you welcome, something you enjoy, and something you embrace. It shouldn't be an act, it should be a habit. Pretty interesting stuff hugh? As I've said before, the bird truly is the word. Feel free to leave comments, insights, opinions, advice, ect. Have any of you ever encountered any inspiring tweets? I'd love to hear from you.
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 I just recently read a white paper on the idea of incrementalism as it relates to big businesses. Incrementalism at its core means this: to make small, often unplanned changes over a long period of time. For some companies, this way of thinking works well. You've got a winning strategy, why change it. The most basic example of this way of thinking would be to examine the process of creating a website or a blog. Many people start a website, add a little bit of content each day, and incrementally move forward in creating a so-called "finished product." But the problem I constantly find in terms of incremental thinking, is that the "finished product" is never actually reached.
I believe in big ideas and big changes. It constantly keeps people interested, connected, and consistently guessing. I appreciate innovation, experiments, and calls to action. In today's society, ideas that break traditional boundaries and barriers are the ones that turn out trends. let's look at some of today's Big Breakers vs. Slow Movers. The What You Want, When You Want It Category Redbox vs. Blockbuster: Capitalizing on cheaper movies, more locations, and no-hassle membership, Redbox has completely destroyed Blockbuster in recent years. Blockbuster moved incrementally in marketing and distribution relying too much on their brand name. Redbox was innovative and broke ground with a new form of movie rental and distribution, people caught on, and the rest is history. iTunes vs. Best Buy: Cashing in on ease of use and accessibility, the iTunes store allowed individuals to buy music by the track, legally, and downloadable directly to an iPod. They cut out the middle-man and made it unnecessary to drive to the store, buy a full CD, and download it to your computer. Best Buy missed out on legal, digital distribution, leaving the market open for Apple to dominate the industry. The Music Industry We see incrementalism all the time in the music industry and a lot of the time we don't even notice it. Bands are consistently capitalizing on the current trends. Many of today's bands are just getting lost in the shadows of similar, but more popular bands. Bands like Fall Out Boy have amassed thousands of bands holding tight onto their coattails in an attempt to make a quick buck. The artists that are going to pave the way for the future of the music industry are the ones that are daring to be different. Lady Gaga: Different - hugely successful MGMT: Different - hugely successful Kanye West: Different- hugely successful Cell Phones Cell phones are all the same. Except for one- the iPhone. A huge idea; this thing has a full-web browser, apps, a video camera, a iPod. It blew competition out of the water. Apple didn't take an existing phone and incrementally improve on it like most companies - they created something completely unique and new. The future depends on big ideas and big innovations. The current economy could not only use them, but it desperately needs them. We are the future of business and we will decide the direction of the economy. It's time for us to move past incrementalism and move more towards imagination. The internet has allowed us this option and it's the people who understand this who will truly benefit. My challenge to you. Find a way to make a big, positive change in your life today. Incrementalism can only work for so long. Eventually you'll lose interest in yourself and people will lose interest in you. Make it happen. Make a change. In such an oh-so-similar society, those who stand out will be the ones who succeed. Hey guys,
For anyone checking in, I apologize for the lack of consistant blog posts. I've been doing some traveling here lately starting out in Cape Girardeau, MO, heading West to Fulton, MO then catching a plane to Fort Worth, TX to spend some time with my girlfriend. This blog will continue to be my main priority as I plan to write more op-ed style pieces on my job search, job thoughts, and industry ideas. If you haven't noticed yet, I do have another blog up and running called "The Daily Interest." It's more of an entertainment-driven site with my favorite ads, movie trailers, and internet videos. I'll also be posting some industry news on that blog as well. The reason I decided to make this site was so that I could keep this as more of an intellectual portfolio. I'm working on some powerpoint presentations that I plan on embedding into this site as well as some educational articles that I have been spending some time on. I also got a book review that I plan on posting here soon. A lot of stuff in the works. but the main priority is finding a job. I'm building a brand, but it won't be much use if I don't find an outlet to use it. I'll keep you posted here, but thank you for checking in. Lots of exciting stuff to come and I'm glad you guys want to be a part of it. For now, head over to The Daily Interest at: www.buffsdailyinterest.blogspot.com Follow me on twitter for all blog updates at: www.twitter.com/mbuffa  I'm working on a few things right now that are pretty cool. For starters, I'm narrowing the scope of this blog just a little bit. I'm still keeping the same basic layout, but I'm shooting to make it a little more "my own." What do I mean? Well, for starters, I'm making the design a little more personal. The image above is the first logo I was working with. No longer is the site going to be known as "The.Good.Life." "In the Know Advertising" is one idea that I am working with. The simple design above needs to be re-worked, but it might be kinda cool for a basic logo.  This is the next design I was working with. Same name, different design. More abstract, creative, and weird - all things I am proud of. The colors need to be reworked a little bit, but overall, I think it's pretty cool. It could even be used as a basic template for a business card - take anyone who works at the company, put their head in the template, and Voila!  Lastly, I'm working with, "The Ad Egg." A blog where ideas hatch. Haha. Cheesy as hell I know, but I think it's pretty cool. Above is an image I put together that could be a logo for the site. Basically, I want something that people will start reading and taking note of, and The Ad Egg or Intheknow Advertising are both pretty attention-grabbing and "out-there." Two things I need to take this blog to the next level.
Let me know what you think in the comments. | Buffa, Michael J.I eat, sleep, and dream music. Movies are my life. The internet consumes me. Commercials make me happy. I find humor in everything. I've just graduated college. I'm no longer waiting for my big break. I'm hunting it down. ArchivesDecember 2009 CategoriesAll |
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