Shy? This Post's for You!

My mom and dad liked to entertain.  Mom was a great cook and dad was her right hand lieutenant in the kitchen.  When I was little, I used to hate their dinner parties because I was very shy.  So shy in fact that when their company arrived, I would hide under my mom's skirt.  To her credit she didn't shoo me away but gracefully maneuvered with that 'extra pair of legs' peeking out from under her shirtwaist dress, skittering along with her while she waltzed about the kitchen, cooking and chatting with friends.  Under her skirt, I felt protected.  I could hear the company but didn't have to interact.  I was safe.  

In an effort to get me out of my "safety zone", my parents gave me a book, Manners Can Be Fun by Munro Leaf.  The book explained that since we don't live on desert islands, we meet people and when we meet someone we smile and shake their hand.  Mom improvised the experience and actually took my hand and shook it.  That's when I learned the Guthrie Handshake.  

 

Here's the secret.  Don't squeeze too hard but don't be a softy either.  Look this stranger in the eyes, smile and grasp their hand firmly, and say how-do-you-do.  For me, having this plan of action in mind when I met someone new made the process so much easier.  Like following the directions on a box of Jello, as my dad would say.

Over the past year, I've found (via Google Analytics) a lot of folks who discovered this blog by searching on the words "Socially Challenged".  I initially took that title as it explained my own feelings about these new media channels and the technology.  But I wonder if I'm misleading this group of blog visitors (about 15%) and perhaps should provide content more targeted to the literal definition.  On this point, the jury is still out.  (What do you think?)  

 

But I do know that the more I learn about this social media phenomena, the more I realize that whether you're shy about meeting new people in the flesh or you're timid about going online, it is really the same thing.  Use the phone; write a letter; send an email; connect on Facebook or over lunch - it's not about technology at all.  It's simply communicating and it's good old-fashioned two way communicating.  

 

So start out by trying the Guthrie Handshake on the person sitting next to you.  Then you can stay in touch with emails, make plans with them by phone, and join their LinkedIn network.  Viola!  You've started down the path of making friends.  And to bolster your courage, here are some words read to me by my parents that Christopher Robin said to Winnie the Pooh, "Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think."  So what's to be nervous about?  There is great comfort and power in being yourself.

Lyrics @ http://www.azlyrics.com

Jesus Would Love This!

Shot like a documentary, a new viral video from Hi-Tec introduces a new sport called "Liquid Mountaineering," where participants run on water - yes, on top of the water.  The equipment that makes this all possible is a water repellent shoe, discovered by mistake (supposedly), by lake skimming athletes.  A brief product shot of the shoes deflecting water showcases how extremely water repellent they are.  It's just enough of a glimpse to expose the brand without being obvious, in fact it's almost understated.  The video experience is brief and intriguing and leaves me wondering where can I get these (light, dry, fast) shoes myself?

Currently with over 4 million YouTube views, several folks seem to think that the activity is real.  A fact that's reinforced by the water running cast in the video, blogging about the sport and their experiences as well.  And yes, of course, you can join their Facebook Fan Page.

With thanks to Megan O'Neill writing for Social Times for the insights and information!

Magic, My Brother Mark, and The Butts of Newspaper Execs

My younger brother, Mark, has a newspaper distribution business.  He has a staff of 25 folks that deliver newspapers the old fashioned way, door to door.  He delivers a variety of papers including the New York Times, Hartford Courant, Wall Street and some others.  And at a time when newspaper readership is shrinking, his business is growing.  Don't get me wrong, I don't think he's going to become a millionaire with this but on a recent rare in-person visit (and Mark if you're reading this you need to visit more often in particular to see Mom) he commented that his customer base had increased in first quarter by 6%.

I think there's some magic here.  The kind of magic I espouse to.  His business is customer focused, the customer selects what papers they want and Mark delivers that assortment.  Yes, it is a logistics nightmare with each customer getting their 'special' blend.  Customer A getting newspapers X and Y on Sunday and customer B getting only newspaper Y but daily.  You get the idea. Needless to say he seems to spend a lot of time working on spreadsheets for his delivery crew.  But his focus and the basis of his success is that he is providing a personalized product in a mass audience environment.

More magic, he's targeting Boomers and their parents.  People who still have a love affair with Sunday mornings, great coffee and the New York Times (adding "after church" is optional).  Let's not forget that Boomers have a ton of buying power, many want and can afford the newspaper and also the stuff advertised in it.  This is smart (and also is a comfort to me that provided there are newspapers, he'll have income for a long time - see my post on living to be 120). 

In addition to Mark being in the newspaper biz I have a friend, a consultant, working with a newspaper that evidently hasn't updated their subscriber list since sometime in the late 90's.  All I can say is, "Unbelievable" as I come from a direct marketing background, and know from personal experience that customer files need to be "scrubbed" routinely, at least every 6 months in my book.   

Based on this experience, I have questions like how do newspapers update their customer files, what's the frequency and what's the current list status?  Who determines if the paper is "deliverable" and is that determination up to date?  How is new customer information integrated into the files?  Don't they have a business plan and is it being used?  What do their advisers say? 

Or is the commonplace scenario, one that Greg Satell described in his post Newsweek's Failed Strategy about Meacham's plan evidently enacted without customer research.  I also offer you Peter Kafka's insights on the value of newspapers as information resources in his article, Google's Secret Plan to Save Newspapers.  And I'm wondering, if some of the financial bleeding couldn't at least be slowed by a serious review of the operations structure, in particular as it relates to meeting customers' desires.

Perhaps GSI Commerce's CEO, Michael Rubin, isn't the only chief that needs to go undercover.  Maybe the folks at the top need to get off their butts and out of their safety silos and spend sometime with the folks involved in the actual delivery of their papers.  I bet they'd discover some ways to fortify their business while seeking profitable ways to evolve their product, not the paper product, the other one - information.

update on Newsweek and a perspective from David Carr, June 7, 2010
The Media Equation:  Changing the Course at Newsweek