Internet Marketing and Digital Media Strategy Sydney Australia

It's a Wednesday night and a full moon is rising over the Bay as I head back into the City for Benn Rennie's from Uncluttered White Spaces "Making Ideas Happen/ What If" talks.

Guest speakers are inspirational Collaborative Consumption Author Rachel Botsman (see my TEDx Sydney post last year); Ash Donaldson - Human-Computer Interaction Expert; Seb Chan - Head of Digital at the Powerhouse Museum; old breakfast mate Futurist Tim Longhurst (see Internet Chef Bridgett Cooks Breakfast Degustation) and Jodie Fox from Shoes of Prey (my girl would love this website) who late replaced old Traction mate Ian Lyons who had to fly to London.

We're in the 4th Floor of the Merivale's CBD Hotel, it's a relatively small group which is perfect for these type of open talks.

I'm here primarily to get a further understanding of the "innovation" to implementation process.  I put "innovation" in inverted commas because like so many people, Ben, after his first talk on "innovation" dropped the overused word and replaced it with "What If".

So I'm here to further understand the nature of "What If" - "What If" I'd done it this way?  and "What To" make things happen.

“Everything is always created twice, first in the mind and then in reality.” I'm not sure who originally said that, some say Picaso, other Jung and Helen Kellar, irrespective it's a good place to start.  Rachel talked of the weekly crank email claiming she'd stolen "their" idea.  I remember back in my BANGitUP Tradie Search days we'd have similar claims of "my" idea and today with our CLIVE project, the "yeah we're thinking of doing that!".  Immitation is the greatest form of flattery and authenticy will eventually rise to the top (we hope). 

Ash (or Rachel I think) reminded us that there were actually three patents lodged around the same time for the telephone way back in 1870's.  You see no idea is ever unique, it's the joining of the dots, of A+B, that creates "C"; the integration or convergence of what has happened before that makes things possible, of Jung's Synchronicity and Collective Unconscious - or as Ash said - standing (and jumping) on the shoulders of giants.

Take Google, it wasn't the first search engine but what it learnt from the others and incorporated other elements - for example, the first to offer Page Rank as a user search benefit and its first acquisition in 2001 was Deja - the Usenet postings which gave it an immediate repository of indexable user generated text content and hundreds of thousands of instant users.

The guys at Google were originally knocked back from Excite (one of the leading search engines at the time)

So it's not so much the brilliant idea but the development and implementation that matters most, of dogged persistance to your idea (s).

Filtering Though Ideas and Failure

The common takeaway across all speakers was the ability to fail and learn - "failing forward" was a great term I'll borrow ("innovation is great, immitation is faster" - see video below - 1.25) and prioritise - Tim's "Big Yes" and no the little things.

Jodie talked of her shoe box failure; Seb about innovation within Government and Tim introduced us "Status Quo Man"

The solution - small, testable, organised micro projects to see what sticks which are driven my passionate, intrinsically motivated change agents - as Rachel said "speedboats and tankers".

"It's not sexy" - it's a constant process of improvement. 

You can follow these guys on Twitter.

It was February 9th so says the Google Apps shared document but my thoughts and discussions go back many months earlier.

This series of blog posts aims to chronicle the development of how a dissatisfaction of the status quo manifested into challenging our approach to what we do.

We were sick of the "hard sell", we were bored with our own brand approach, we wanted to focus on showcasing what we do best, less production focus and more strategic creative.  

I reminded of a quote  "The riskiest thing we can do is just maintain the status quo"  from Bob Iger, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company.

I suppose there are many factors that instigate a need for change - either internal or external motivations - some we force upon the world and others are forced upon us.

Whatever the motivation, the one guarantee is there will be change.

When interviewing Ted Johnson, CMO, Minnesotta Timberwolves last year I was reminded that "attitude" is the one that makes the most difference.  "Attitude is Everything"

My dear dad (RIP) also said that it is not money, size, education, or privilege but the focused team that gets the greatest results. 

So my CEO challenge is to create a highly focused, innovative team with great attitude that resonates with our customers.

From a business perspective I suppose "attitude" is about culture - your people, your products, your customers experience,

It prompts the question what's the attitude and personality of your business?  Is it Friendly? Risky?  Innovative?  Conservative?  Arrogant and so on.

I'm suddenly back to snoozy Marketing and Psychology 101 lectures of Pavlov's dog, Maslow and Jung (Freud was just a sex fiend ).

In my current world of online advertising and media there's much discussion around online behavior and contextual advertising.

But I think it's less about sophisticated targeting algorithms and more about connecting with people, of dealing with customers who appreciate, like and advocate your work. 

How does your brand personality resonate with your customers?  Do they like you?  Do they share their experience with the friends?  

New Project - Step 1 - Create

I'm sitting in my local coffee shop, it's amazing how a couple of coffees, a writing pad, pen and a hour or two can create your next special project. I get away from the computer to begin any new project - I like to draw a lot when coming up with ideas.

After nearly ten years of writing most days I find it takes 2-3 pages and about 45 minutes of just dumping down all those random thoughts on your mind before whatever idea is in your head finally comes to the surface.

Turning those ideas into something real takes a hell of a lot longer.

Over the years there have been many experiences and books consumed which have helped mold the creative process.

It was a gift of Julie Cameron's "Right to Write" years ago that gave me confidence to just let the information flow. If people like your stuff they'll embrace - let it flow, be yourself and edit later.  Very Zen.

In terms of marketing then Seth Godin's "Purple Cow" and his incredible daily insights which has had the most influence - be remarkable.

I'm also a fan of Garr Reynold's "Presentation Zen". Keep it simple.

Our experiences and ideas morph into our own unique ways of doing things - from initial brainstorming and conceptualisation, through project planning, management, creatiion, delivery and engagement.

I suppose that's one of the challenges - "information overload" and how to incorporate all these thoughts, models and processes into your own unique style.

At times you have to wonder what the return on investment is - isn't it much easier to just consume, comment or share?

I suppose the answer to that question is the final product or service that is delivered and your measurement of success - sales, subscribers, personal feeling of satisfaction, seeing other people smile, engage or learn?

Now onto "The Project" and to research some online project collaboration tools.

Connection Addiction - pull out the plug

Don't you hate it if you're talking to someone and they take a call or worse receive and reply to a text.  You're better to concentrate on the task at hand and let the message go through to the keeper.

Anyway, I'm due for a new phone and have been thinking about a Crackberry (Blackberry) so that I can check emails all the time. On the other hand all this technology is increasingly intrusive to our lives. 

My question is how much value does instant messaging really add to corporate communications? 

I read yesterday that there is an increasing number of people who, when they first wake up of a morning check their computers or phones for messages - even before a pee and a cup of coffee - "I'm not alone!" I cry but then I realise I've got "Connection Addiction!" - YOU KNOW that one message that has to be replied to in an instant.

When you think about it - what a load of crapola!

How do we deal with this constant flow of information?  Are new skill sets required?

"Shallow rivers run fast, think strategic" I hear my dad say.

I look around my office - I currently have four screens on my desk - two for each computer - my laptop and my desktop - geez I'm in deeper than I thought! 

1. One has my Skype account,
2. TweetDeck (Twitter client) and Woopra live web tracking,
3. my emails (multiple accounts)
4. my web browser

Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr and all that other social connection stuff are accessed through the day - they run from early morning till late.

It's madness but I suppose that's the business I'm in - it's no wonder it's a challenge for most businesses to comprehend and implement.  It's not like a 9-5 shop.

I wonder what would happen if I just suddenly turned them all off or took back control  

• limiting emails to 2 or 3 x 1 hour sessions a day - setting up auto reply to let senders know you'll get back within 24 hours or to call if urgent. 
• Twitter at periodic coffee breaks.  (the water cooler metaphor)
• Facebook to social times (the pub metaphor)

What would the prospects and clients think?  How would it impact sales?  Would more important work get done?

I know from my pub and call centre management days that response time is very important but what about web businesses?

So anyway we'll see - brb - the phones ringing!

Interested in your thoughts?