My New Year’s Resolution: Live More Like Steve Jobs

“While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” — Steve Jobs, from the “Think Different” campaign (see video below with Steve’s own voice)

Sometimes I’m sleepily drifting, thinking I’m a passenger on the journey of life. Other times I’m more awake to the choices I am making and recognize the power to live life more fully. These more conscious moments are the times of courage when I am able to act beyond my limited concepts of myself, take risks, and trust the Creative Flow. At those times, I become the kind of inspiration that I long to be.

jobs_possible_000Steve Jobs, despite his various weaknesses, always seemed to be someone who was unafraid of his creative “craziness.” He seemed always willing to access and trust his vision and to step outside the proverbial “box.” The result was astounding creativity. And, there’s no doubt in my mind that everything he created (from Apple itself to the Mac to the first iPod, iPhone and iPad) was a result of this same kind of courage. To me at least, Jobs was one of the most important people in American history.

I was struck again by this power recently while in flight from SFO to Newark. I had previously skipped the movie “Jobs” because I had heard it wasn’t a very good movie. But while watching this movie on the plane, I found the power of Steve Jobs’ story to be uplifting, inspiring and motivating (despite the obvious cinematic weaknesses in this particular production). I was reminded that it is the story of Steve Jobs’ life that is an inspiration to me. I appreciated being reminded again of his example.

In fact, the story of Steve Jobs’ life is so sensational that if we didn’t know it was a “true story,” we would have a hard time believing it. In this case, I found that the true story supersedes the filmmaking as well as the Hollywood pretense. This is the story of a great life dedicated to bringing unprecedented innovation to the world, in other words a life well lived.

This is also a dramatic example of a business that is obviously on the leading edge. When I was launching my first company in New York in 1985, the PBS series, In Search of Excellence had a segment on Steve Jobs and the Mac Team. This short video which I recorded on VHS was the closest thing I ever had to an employee orientation film. But I used it just the same in order to communicate to my small team that I wanted us to make an impact on the world. We wanted to put a “dent in the Universe” as Jobs used to say. I wanted to make sure that we did not get trapped into doing the “same old same old,” but to think differently. Personally, I also wanted to push the limits of my own potential.

This requirement to go beyond the norm is as relevant to me today in 2014 as it was in 1985.

Today, as we enter another new year, I am embracing the inspiration of Steve Jobs as an invitation to question everything, and to go out on a creative limb whenever I feel authentically called to do so.

As we enter 2014, what a perfect time for me to re-look at my vision. By sharing this with you here on this blog, I am recommitting to the truth that ComBridges is not just another marketing communications company. My vision is to create meaningful communications that make a difference for our clients and for the world. Thank you for your support in whatever form, even if it’s just reading. I am not doing this alone.

If you are so inspired, I’d love to hear what moves you. How can we each make a bigger difference in the world? Are we each making the most of what we are best at? Where can we expand our horizons?

In this spirit, I enter the New Year and recommit to my own personal creative “craziness.”

I look forward to your comments and to sharing the fun of this journey with you all. Happy New Year!

“It’s a Wonderful Web” ENewsletter Highlights Internet Marketing Tips, Social Media, and Overall Strategy

holidayThe December 2013 edition of our “It’s a Wonderful Web” e-newsletter is out. It includes:

  • New Blog Post: 3 Surprisingly Useful Internet Marketing Tips from Top Experts
  • Client Spotlight: Michelle Schmitt – Her Music & Heart Benefit Us All
  • Luscious Links
    • 7 Critical Mistakes You’re Probably Making On Social Media
    • The Top Social Media Mistakes of 2013
  • Please Help Me to “Triple Down on the Things I’m Best At”

If you’re not already a subscriber, click here to read it online.

3 Surprisingly Useful Marketing Strategies to Make a Real Difference, Insights from Top Experts

Amidst all of the on-going changes, there’s always a need to learn more. Social media is not necessarily easy, nor is it just one thing. However, as almost everyone has realized by now, it is a serious, mission critical component of every company and organization’s marketing communications strategy.

social media is much more than one thing

As I continue to learn and follow the rapid changes in social media marketing strategy, I have recently come across three very valuable insights from which almost anyone can benefit. They come from Internet marketing leaders like Gary Vaynerchuk, Clay Collins and the Content Crafter for the social media sharing app, Buffer.
 
I’m sharing these strategies because I think I’ve got three very useful ones here. All you have to do is put them into practice. 😉 The first tip will boost your visibility. The second will enhance your lead capture/list building initiatives. The third will fuel your effectiveness with passion. I hope you can put these to use and I would love to hear what you think and how they work for you.

1. BufferApp: Share Your Blog Posts More Than Once

It may sound spammy; but it not only works, it makes good sense. Belle Beth Cooper, the Content Crafter for the blog of my favorite social media sharing app, Buffer, put together a thoughtful, analytical post to explain why the likes of Guy Kawasaki swear by the strategy of sharing your blog posts more than once. “One and done” just doesn’t cut it. Hey, we all put some serious time and effort into making our blog posts as valuable as possible (don’t we all?). For this reason, it makes enormous sense to make them even more available. After all, various people are in various time zones and no one sees everything you post only once on social media anyway. There are lots of good reasons to make this a regular practice. Read Belle Beth’s case for reposting content, including recommended best practice strategies. You will thank me.

2. Clay Collins: Offer More Than One Opt-In Opportunity

Clay Collins is an Internet marketing success story in his own right having built LeadPages into what he says is now “a multiple seven figure” online software business. I’m a customer and plan to expand my use of his platform. I recently did a webinar with Clay (who seems to be a tireless creator of valuable content) and I found myself sharing one of his insights in particular with a number of my associates and clients.

During this particular webinar, Clay shared his quest for a goal of doubling his company’s revenue through online marketing (of course). Briefly, his first thought was increasing traffic. Too tough. Then, he took a shot at doubling conversion rates which was a very tough way to meet his ambitious requirement. Finally, he realized, tried, and succeeded by dramatically increasing the number of opt-in opportunities that he was offering his visitors. Stated simply you could call this creating many more points of interactivity.

I am now adding this error-of-ommission to my list of common mistakes that I see most businesses making. To tell you the truth, this is something that I am currently doing, but will be changing soon. The single and only real opt-in form on my site and on most websites is some kind of offer in exchange for subscribing to an email newsletter. I now realize that this is no way to do Internet marketing.

List building is crucial. (More in another post about how to use your lists effectively.) And, just making one offer is an extremely weak strategy. Clay recommended having an opt-in offer of some kind at the end of every blog post and building out multiple (as in “as many as possible”) landing pages with opt-in offers. Webinar offers. Resource guide offers. And so on. It makes sense. Make specific offers in exchange for opt-ins that are as relevant to your content and as valuable possible. Why do so many of us stop at only one offer?

No one said that social media marketing was easy, and it does take time and effort. But when you do it well, it works. Clay’s success is proof of that.

3. Gary Vaynerchuk: Triple Down on What You Do Best

I’ve started reading Gary Vaynerchuk’s new book, “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World.” In case you don’t know, Gary is the real deal as far as “social media gurus” go. I’m a fan. So, it was to my delight when I suddenly discovered last Tuesday that he was speaking live at the Book Passage, our local independent book seller. The last time I heard Gary live was at InfusionCon where he keynoted to about 2,000 people. This was going to be much smaller crowd and in my back yard; so of course I went.

I even got to ask Gary for specifics about how he has grown his new company, VaynerMedia, from 30 to 300 employees in only 2 years. This is a fascinating business story on its own. But the bottom line that Gary underscored was the fuel for his fire is the way that he “triples down” on what he does best. While this may not sound like a profound insight to some of you, to me it’s something that very few of us do well. And, personally, I think it’s something that I need to do better.

I’ll say it for myself (knowing that I’m not alone here), the thing I love to do most is Internet marketing strategy. It’s what I think I do best and where I offer the most value to my clients. Yet, I spend a lot of my time on operations and implementation, not to mention website development. I’m going to take this guidance to heart and I hope you will too. Triple down (or spend far more time and resources) on what you do best and everyone will benefit. You will find yourself with more energy as well as effectiveness.

 And, if you want to learn more about my services as an Internet Marketing Strategist, please click here 😉

FYI, the picture of Gary Vaynerchuk and friends below is via Instagram and @annaontheweb. It was taken at the Book Passage event discussed above.