In 2002, Seth Godin defined remarkable as companies who created new ways of being highly successful at traditional businesses. That same year, Malcolm Gladwell’s classic “The Tipping Point” underscored how little things can make a BIG difference, but most everyone missed the huge point on page 98 – which explained why remarkable isn’t enough. In subsequent years, Godin, Gladwell, Joe Calloway, Keith McFarland, Michael Garber have all taken on the idea of what makes an extraordinary business. Tom Peters is re-releasing his wisdom on the subject.

Being irresistible is a decision. Done well, it’s a complete strategy.

Irresistible businesses are those who build great relationships. They constantly

• Remove what customers don’t want.
• Enhance what customers love.
• Add something unexpected customers would die for.

Irresistible is the only option. The opposite of irresistible is irrelevance and invisibility.

What makes you irresistible?

Liz Strauss
Find out about working with Liz.

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What you need to know is simple …

• Know who you are.
• Know what you you value.
• Know who values that too.
• Know the language to communicate the nuance of what you’re saying.
• Know the culture into which you are reaching.
• Know the tests you expect people to pass and how you pass them.
• Know the difference between numbers that are growing and numbers that are inflating.

It’s that easy.

Liz Strauss
Find out about working with Liz.

Buy the Insider’s Guide and Get your best voice in the conversation.

When we learn to speak, it starts by listening. Google has started a global listening machine.

Google has announced it’s building a Translation Center to connect people who need text and documents translated with people who can do that. Such a central location for language conversation has fabulous implications for the Internet and the translation industry.

Amir Helzer, of I Can Localize a translation service that combines human and technological solutions, and I spoke about the Google Translation Center on Friday. Amir suggested that, looking at Google’s core business, it’s likely that this new center will function similar to Google AdWords — connecting buyers to seller without intervention. He and I discussed the nuances of accurate cultural translations. Amir pointed out that, “Now that Google has made this move, people are talking about the translation industry. It opens the door to a discussion of quality and standards and the value of providing a local feel to a global web business.”

Google will be collecting words in context to build what Brian McConnell has called a free global translation memory.

Google has been investing significant resources in a multi-year effort to develop its statistical machine translation technology. Statistical MT works by comparing large numbers of parallel texts that have been translated between languages and from these learns which words and phrases usually map to others — similar to the way humans acquire language. The problem with statistical MT is that it requires a large number of directly translated sentences.

Before we speak, we listen. Are you ready to start speaking and listening?

Global is the new local. Communication is relationship.

Liz Strauss
Find out about working with Liz.

Buy the Insider’s Guide and Get your best voice in the conversation.

When clients raise the issue of possible dangers of putting information in public, I’m right with them. I listen in actively to see where their concerns lie.

Some worry about physical danger — people who might do them or their business harm — theives, vandals, and psychos

Some worry about danger to their reputation — people who might want tosay bad things about them — unhappy customers, unethical competitors

Some worry about danger to themselves — saying something they might regret later.

I’d never deny the possibilities. Instead I listen to understand the core issues.

Then I often find myself outlining that arrive every day to protect us online — comment moderation, blind contact forms, the ability to respond quickly online to damaging information — and quoting the simple rule Microsoft uses to guide their bloggers, “Don’t be stupid,” as I put the listed dangers in context.

It’s true that those situations listed are serious concerns. We deal with them daily in our interactions in the concrete world, the in world of email, at conventions and in sales presentations, and even on the telephone. We know how to handle information to an audience larger than one person.

We don’t need to leave behind the interaction skills we already know when we move to the Internet.

Liz Strauss
Find out about working with Liz.

Buy the Insider’s Guide and Get your best voice in the conversation.

]]> http://www.lizstrauss.com/2008/07/21/strategic-thinking/social-media-i-dont-want-to-my-information-on-the-web/feed/ 0 http://www.lizstrauss.com/2008/06/08/everyones-business/roi-of-trust-a-blog-as-a-human-face/ http://www.lizstrauss.com/2008/06/08/everyones-business/roi-of-trust-a-blog-as-a-human-face/#comments Mon, 09 Jun 2008 00:43:32 +0000 Liz Strauss http://www.lizstrauss.com/2008/06/08/everyones-business/roi-of-trust-a-blog-as-a-human-face/ Leaders Aren’t Always Right

I don’t know anyone who hasn’t made a mistake. It will happen on a blog, sure as the sun shines.

As mistakes in the workplace, a mistake on a blog is what we make of it. Leaders turn mistakes into opportunities. Leaders aren’t always right, but they do right when they find they’ve been wrong.

What better way to connect with a human face to your customers than to say, “Hey, that last thing I wrote wasn’t quite as it should be. Let me set it straight.” People, customers, don’t expect perfection. We expect respect and honesty in our transactions.

If I can trust you to correct a mistake you’ve made publicly, I can invest in a transaction with you with some security that you’ll back that up too.

People like to do business with other people. We know that other people are human.

Liz Strauss
Blog confidently with Liz.

]]> http://www.lizstrauss.com/2008/06/08/everyones-business/roi-of-trust-a-blog-as-a-human-face/feed/ 0 http://www.lizstrauss.com/2008/05/27/everyones-business/roi-of-trust-what-about-exposure/ http://www.lizstrauss.com/2008/05/27/everyones-business/roi-of-trust-what-about-exposure/#comments Tue, 27 May 2008 11:54:58 +0000 Liz Strauss http://www.lizstrauss.com/2008/05/27/everyones-business/roi-of-trust-what-about-exposure/ We Can’t Control What People Say

One issue that comes up when companies start thinking about a blog is control.

When we stand back and consider a blog in the context of conversation, the idea of control falls more into perspective.

Conversations ebb and flow. Each participant has part of the control. No one can direct the conversation completely. When a person takes over control, the “exchange” becomes a presentation to an audience, and loses it’s conversational give-and take. It also loses the input from the side that no longer has a voice in the discussion.

A leader can handle conversation that doesn’t follow a plan.

We’re back to choosing a blogger who loves the company, can represent it well, and wants to be blogging.

Transparency isn’t exposure.

Liz Strauss
Blog confidently with Liz.

]]> http://www.lizstrauss.com/2008/05/27/everyones-business/roi-of-trust-what-about-exposure/feed/ 1 http://www.lizstrauss.com/2008/05/07/everyones-business/roi-of-trust-how-do-i-choose-a-company-blogger/ http://www.lizstrauss.com/2008/05/07/everyones-business/roi-of-trust-how-do-i-choose-a-company-blogger/#comments Wed, 07 May 2008 12:44:06 +0000 Liz Strauss http://www.lizstrauss.com/2008/05/07/everyones-business/roi-of-trust-how-do-i-choose-a-company-blogger/ Blogging Is about Relationships

In this series, we’re putting context around the issues of trust and control that concern companies as they consider blogging.

Marketing wants to start a blog. Product thinks they should do one. Sales says it’s their territory. How do I choose a company blogger?

Backing up from the question, keep in mind that any blog can have more than one blogger. Look for the people skills that you look for in any customer-facing role.

• An ability to communicate authentically and responsibly with transparent respect for the audience.
• An active listener who is truly interested in the views and ideas of customers.
• Curiosity about the market you’re in and the people who are in all facets of that market.
• A bias toward helpful action, that stays clear of hypeful selling.
• A beginner’s mind that allows the blogger to say “I don’t know, but I’ll find out.”
• A strong sense of relationships and community.

It’s a good blog that centers around readers and ideas, rather than writing and products. Though we want our message clear and well presented, blogging is more about conversation than disseminating product information.

Information is all over the Internet. It’s the people that make the difference.

Liz Strauss
Put people back in business with Liz.

]]> http://www.lizstrauss.com/2008/05/07/everyones-business/roi-of-trust-how-do-i-choose-a-company-blogger/feed/ 1 http://www.lizstrauss.com/2008/04/19/everyones-business/roi-of-trust-what-about-negative-comments/ http://www.lizstrauss.com/2008/04/19/everyones-business/roi-of-trust-what-about-negative-comments/#comments Sat, 19 Apr 2008 12:03:41 +0000 Liz Strauss http://www.lizstrauss.com/2008/04/19/everyones-business/roi-of-trust-what-about-negative-comments/ Some People Just Can Say Anything Nice

In this series, we’re putting context around the issues of trust and control that concern companies as they consider blogging.

If I let my employees blog, I open my company to negative comments from people with bad intent.

If we think a little wider, we realize that we’re already open to those negative comments from those very people . . . the comments will happen with or without the company blog in question. A search on the Internet is sure to find negative comments about any successful product. What a blog offers is an official place to address them.

What is an effective way to address negative comments on the Internet? Look to the people. The response is the same as we might handle it well in person.

• Consider the source and the value of the information. In the extreme case, when they offer no value or are offensive, moderation is an option.
• Be gracious. Acknowledge the comment and the commenter with a respectful “thank you” for the investment of time sharing the opinion. Offer appropriate and authentic apologies if the situation warrants.
• Be thoughtful. Agree to the facts and point out the misunderstandings.
• Be transparent. Add any available information that might offer context or clarity to the situation.
• Be action-oriented. If something is happening in response, say so. If nothing can be done, tactfully explain that too.
• Be confident and non-confrontational. If the commenter cannot be satisfied, agree to disagree, and offer to take the discussion offline. Other readers will thank you.

We all know that a great information source and a great relationship can begin with a negative statement. Sometimes we don’t realize that the way we handle such situations also builds trust in those who are only watching what happens.

Negative comments offer us a chance to show our commitment to all of the people we work with.

Liz Strauss
Put people back in business with Liz.

]]> http://www.lizstrauss.com/2008/04/19/everyones-business/roi-of-trust-what-about-negative-comments/feed/ 1 http://www.lizstrauss.com/2008/04/19/everyones-business/the-roi-of-trust-im-scared-to-let-employees-blog/ http://www.lizstrauss.com/2008/04/19/everyones-business/the-roi-of-trust-im-scared-to-let-employees-blog/#comments Sat, 19 Apr 2008 11:25:25 +0000 Liz Strauss http://www.lizstrauss.com/2008/04/19/everyones-business/the-roi-of-trust-im-scared-to-let-employees-blog/ How Do I Safely Let My Employees Blog?

I think if you’re in a business where talking to your customers is important, blogging is a great way to do that. — Matt Mullenweg, WordCampDallas 2008

At the end of March, I had the honor of being part of the exceptional business blogging panel moderated by John Pozadzides. John brought up fabulous and important questions that businesses raise daily about blogging. In this series, I’ll take those questions and step back to apply them to the larger company culture.

Playing devil’s advocate John said, “I’m scared to let my employees’ blog.”

What a power-packed sentence! A blog is a tool. In this case, it’s a relative unknown, but is the blog the problem?

Look to the people. Isn’t the issue one of trust and control? The employer is concerned about what employees might write on the blog.

We let employees talk to customers daily — answering email, answering phone call, answering questions at exhibits, and answering letters at the office. We trust what they write on behalf of our company. We once worried in the same way about the telephone and email. Still today any of those customer conversations could be shared internationally or in a court of law.

It comes down to hiring and training employees who make good decisions.

If we trust our ability to choose the right employees and to let them know the values that we hold for our company and our customers, the question of whether we should let them blog falls away as an issue.

A blog is a powerful, customer-facing tool. Like a computer, it’s as strong as the people we choose to use it.

Liz Strauss
Liz puts the people back in business.

]]> http://www.lizstrauss.com/2008/04/19/everyones-business/the-roi-of-trust-im-scared-to-let-employees-blog/feed/ 5 http://www.lizstrauss.com/2008/03/27/everyones-business/how-to-market-a-model-t-in-the-21st-century/ http://www.lizstrauss.com/2008/03/27/everyones-business/how-to-market-a-model-t-in-the-21st-century/#comments Fri, 28 Mar 2008 02:44:44 +0000 Liz Strauss http://www.lizstrauss.com/2008/03/27/everyones-business/how-to-market-a-model-t-in-the-21st-century/ People Aren’t Concrete

Whether Henry Ford actually said, “You can paint it any color, so long as it’s black,” it underscores Ford’s success at building for a mass market. He brought together an acceptable standard of quality, price, and reliability to sell 15,000,000 Model T automobiles.

It might seem that all we need to do is find our own “Model-T” and get it to the mass market. Some companies are trying to do that. The ones that are succeed understand that no product can serve a mass market in the 21st century.

If you’re marketing a Model-T — a single version product — in this century, here’s how to do it.

• Identify a clearly defined key customer group who buy for reliability and low-price point value.
• Study the products that this group currently buys to see the features those products have in common. Look beyond the features to the benefits that each feature offers.
• Within the key customer group, meet with the car mavens — folks who offer friends detailed advice on car buying — and customer evangelists for the products that the key group is currently buying.
• Build a product that includes all of the features that key customers value and none of those that they have no use for.
• Offer it at a competitive price that requires no negotiation.
• Provide fast delivery and excellent service.
• Make the product modification friendly. Allow consumers to personalize it. Offer mod kits and merchandise that let’s folks feel part of a club for owning the product.
• Take care with any new versions that you don’t revise out the value that developed the customer base that you’re enjoying.
• Consider a limited and temporary brick and mortar presence and a huge online selling model. A consistent product with a simple sales story works well in an online situation.

A single version product that fits its customers perfectly still has a place in the 21st century market.

Liz Strauss
Find out about working with Liz.

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