Not Just Another ScLoHo

Most fortunes in those little cookies are as generic as the newspaper horoscope.

They offer good advice, usually.

Every once in awhile you might get a dud.

With a few typo’s.

Watch your relations without other people carefully, he reserved.

I bet those Lucky #’s aren’t lucky either.

Original Article

I’ve worked in traditional media and social media.  The Radio Business and The Web Business.

One fallacy that continues to be spread is that in the web world you can measure the response with accuracy and the precision.

No, you can’t.

There are plenty of ways to measure things like, clicks and likes and fans and followers.

But what you cannot measure is the real impact that motivates people to action.

And we’re not really measuring action accurately either.

Time and time again I see businesses failing to connect the dots.  The waiter who has no idea what to do with a reward earned by a FourSquare checkin for example.

This is true with all forms of media and marketing, but some want to measure success with these false, incomplete numbers.

General Motors announced they were no longer going to use Facebook as an advertising medium because it wasn’t doing the job.

Let me tell you something.

The G.M. execs who pulled the plug are idiots.

Well payed idiots, but still they are measuring stuff that doesn’t matter.

We crave relationships, ones that make us feel good.  The heart of social media is based on building relationships.

I have learned that through conversations after the fact, that something I may have said, shared, or done had a tremendous impact on changing a persons life in little ways and sometimes major ways.

These are anecdotes.  You need to gather anecdotes to see the real impact of your social media, or any of your marketing for that matter.

Your comments and anecdotes are always welcome.

BTW:  Every once in awhile I screw up a word or grammar or something silly that spell check doesn’t catch.  Thanks to my friend Kit who pointed me in the right direction 11 hours after I posted this using the word Antidote instead of Anecdote.

My writing usually doesn’t need an antidote, just friends who catch my errors.

Original Article

In the United States of America most of us speak some form of English.

Most of us who speak English can also recite all 26 letters of our English alphabet.

Perhaps we learned it as a song.

But did you ever wonder why the letters are in that particular order?

I challenge you to memorize those 26 letters in some other random alphabetical order.

I know you can do it.

But the question is why?

Why bother trying something new if the old way works just fine?

I mean, it’s not like one day you or I will forget that the letter before P is O, or G comes after F.

It’s tradition we say to start with A followed by 24 letters and wrap it up with a Z.

But often it’s this nearly blind following of tradition that prevents us from trying something different.

I’m not really going to memorize the alphabet in random alphabetical order.  I don’t have a good answer to why?

However, I believe that at least once a week, we should make some change in our life that is different from the habits and traditions we are living with day after day.

Imagine what our lives would be like in a couple of years, once 100 weeks have passed, each with some type of change that we’ve explored.

Are you with me?

Original Article

Check out this infograph.

And beware if you think the DUI rules only apply to driving on roads.

In Indiana, several have been arrested this weekend due to Driving Under the Influence on lakes.

In a boat, of course, they weren’t THAT drunk.

Have a safe holiday weekend.

Original Article

So, this is the unofficial start of summer in the United States of America.

Unless you work in retail you probably have a three day weekend instead of two days due to Memorial Day on Monday.

A lot of relaxing is going on, as the cartoon from my archives mentions, but please also take time to discover why we get the extra day off.

Original Article

It’s been a week since Facebook had their IPO.

Billions of bucks.

Millions of people talking about what went wrong.

Thousands of people wondering if Facebook will go belly-up.

If you want the latest news, just Google it.

I see the big lesson is none of the “brilliant minds” have figured out the true value of Social Media and how to capitalize on these giant networks such as Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, Pinterest and yes, Facebook.

YouTube, (owned by Google) has figured some of it out.

The value is not really measured in Billions, Millions or even Thousands.

Maybe hundreds.

The value is in the relationships and most people have less than 1000 connections on their social media networks.  Those of us that have more than 1000 are not having meaningful two-way relationships with all of those 1000+.

The reason people are using Social Media is not to be sold stuff.  It is to converse, share, learn, and explore.

We do buy and sell stuff do to social media, but 90% of the time, it’s not the advertisements, it’s the relationships.

I bought my lunch from a hot dog vendor Wednesday due to the recommendations of friends on Twitter.  This is word of mouth communication utilizing social media as a conversation agent.

I’ve seen countless similar activities that resulted in buying and selling using real dollars due to social media.

The “brilliant minds” haven’t pick up on this yet.  They want to put a price tag on a share of stock in Facebook in the same manner they put a price tag on a share of stock in any other business.  The problem is this whole social media stuff isn’t just any other business.

I don’t know the answer.

But I do recognize that those who are trying to place a value on Social Media are not using the right measuring sticks yet.

Original Article

10 days ago I wrote about Customer Service and Social Media.

Ricky Potts responded and the following conversation went back and forth between us:

Ricky wrote:

Before I read Ricky’s comment I was reading my email, and I wrote back:

Thanks Ricky,

And here’s more advice from a newsletter I received today:

Losing a new
customer for a lifetime is a terrible
way to run a business.

Yet just last
week that’s what happened to my wife
and me.

There’s a new
restaurant in Lakewood Ranch. Lakewood
Ranch is where we call home. The name
of the restaurant is “The Ranch
Grill.”

The restaurant
is about 2 miles door to door from
our home.

It was Friday
night and we arrived at the restaurant
at 6 PM. The place was mobbed. When
I asked how long the wait was, I was
told 20 to 25 minutes.

It turned out
to be closer to 50 to 60 minutes -
the wait time was doubled. During
our wait I ordered two glasses of
Kendall Jackson Chardonnay. They delivered
two glasses of Kendall Jackson Sauvignon
Blanc. My wife’s favorite glass of
wine is the Kendall Jackson Chardonnay.

After a taste
we called the server over to explain
what happened. After a couple of,
“I’m so sorry’s” my wife,
B, finally got her favorite Chardonnay.

My advice is
“Be slow to commit and quick
to deliver.”

No one has ever
accused B. and me of being very patient
when it comes to poor service.

We were sitting
outside and were soon overwhelmed
with “Love bugs.” They hang
around for 30 days and then they’re
gone. So we found a place to sit inside
the restaurant.

Bernadette walked
over to the woman who was handling
reservations and seating and asked
her where we were in the queue. Her
response was, “I don’t know because
I don’t have a computer here.”

Bernadette asked,
“Where is the computer?”
The woman responded and pointed to
the other end of the bar about 25
feet.

Now let me digress
for a moment. We shop at the Publix
supermarket. Ask any clerk where something
is and they will take you to the product
no matter where it is in the store.

Here’s my advice,
“Be helpful, not helpless.”

Finally, we
get a table after waiting almost an
hour.

We ordered two
more glasses of wine. What are the
odds of the same bartender screwing
up an order of Kendall Jackson Chardonnay
two times in one night to the same
couple? Well, you’re right he did
it again.

The server kept
saying, “I’m so sorry, I’m so
sorry.” Well I’m sorry that she’s
sorry, but being sorry didn’t solve
anything.

The server then
volunteers, “The bartender is
new.”

We ordered dinner.
B orders the Pulled Pork special.
I ordered a salad wedge and the fish
and chips.

The place is
buzzing with busboys, servers, managers,
and even a general manager. They’re
all wearing headsets. We spoke to
everybody after waiting for dinner
another 35 minutes.

And there it
was, a chorus of “I’m sorry,
I’m so sorry, I’m so very sorry.”

Still no dinner.
And then miraculously my wife’s dinner
arrives.

Not mine though.
No salad and certainly no fish and
chips.

My wife finishes
her dinner. 15 minutes later my salad
wedge arrives. I finished eating the
salad.

The top of my
head is about to explode. I asked
the server, who keeps on repeating
“I’m so sorry” to put my
dinner in a box and I’ll take it home
with me.

The general
manager came over for the third time
to talk with us and said, “We’re
doing the best we can!”

Look, nobody
in the world is doing the best he
can. Three geniuses, Einstein, Schweitzer,
and Edison once said they never worked
to more than 20% of their human potential.

So I doubt very
much the general manager and his minions
are doing the best they can.

When we got
home and after I had my long overdue
dinner I took a pencil to a sheet
of paper. Did some quick math and
since we eat out several times every
week and go to our favorite restaurants
every month I estimate the lifetime
value of our business is about $15,000
during the next 20 years.

The only good
thing about our restaurant experience
is that I got a customer service story
out of it.

When a new restaurant
opens it’s usually pretty crowded.
But guess what happens? If the dining
experience was excellent the customers
will be back. On the other hand, if
the dining experience was worse than
horrible they’ll never be back.

Why do so many
restaurants keep going out of business?
It’s because they all make the same
mistakes.

Here’s my advice
to anyone who is thinking about opening
a new restaurant.

Hire and train
your new staff.

For the first
30 days only fill 50% of the seats
in your restaurant. Now see what happens.
The full staff is now working to create
a memorable dining experience for
all of your customers. In the process
your staff would gain invaluable experience
and not be so over worked and challenged
by the mass of humanity that they
would have to say, “I’m sorry,
I’m so sorry, I’m so very sorry!”

If you want
a good reputation unleash good food
and great service from day one. Otherwise
you might lose your new customer for
a lifetime.

Obviously, this
is easy to say and very hard to do.

from: Jim
Meisenheimer
13506 Blythefield Terrace
Lakewood Ranch, FL 34202
Tel: 800-266-1268
Fax: 941-907-0441
jim@meisenheimer.com
www.startsellingmore.com

Ricky again:

Yes, there’s several lessons in here, and Jim did a pretty good job of offering some very helpful tips.

You can connect with Ricky on Twitter at: @RickyLeePotts   Also Jim is on Twitter at: @JimMeisenheimer

And I’m on the “Twitter Machine” at: @ScLoHo

Original Article

Time for a few words from deep inside my heart.

We live in a temporary world.

One where we say yes and pledge to something yet we keep an eye out for something better.

I’ve seen it happen in peoples marriages and I’ve seen it happen in peoples careers.

It’s the grass is greener syndrome that tells us what we have is not what will make us happy, so we need to be on the look out for something or someone better.

Problem is that the person that is with you where ever you go in life is still yourself.

Sometimes we call it restlessness.

And sometimes it is okay to look for something else, especially in the employment world where things seem to be very fickle.

I have done this for years.  For decades.

When I started on the air as a radio disc-jockey in my teens, I was always looking to move up to a bigger station, a better gig.  That was the way it worked in show business.

It worked.  I went from overnights in a city of 25,000 to evenings in a neighboring town of 50,000 in a year.  My next move was back to overnights, but I was on the Big Dog at the time, back in Fort Wayne where I grew up but on the most popular radio station.

I later ended up on the air in Indianapolis and Detroit.

Fast forward to 2012.

A few years ago Monster.com set up a free service that would send you daily emails with job postings that matched the criteria you asked for.  I have been getting these emails for 3 or more years.

I finally unsubscribed and deleted my information from their site.

I really like my job.  I don’t want to look.  Let those that are looking keep looking, but not me.

This is my commitment.  Do you need do solidify any commitments in your life?

Original Article

What a weekend.

Saturday was the 2nd TEDxFortWayne event.  I was privileged to be a volunteer on the team that Craig Crook put together to create this years TED. The theme was ReThink Fort Wayne.

Saturday morning I shared a preview, but I was blown away by some of the unexpected.

For example this video, which I had heard of but never saw the full seven minutes was part of one of the presentations.

(A good friend of the family is one of the artists in this video too).

In order to keep the momentum going, the #ReThinkFW Hashtag is being used on Twitter and elsewhere.

Original Article

Note: I publish updates on this silly website at 9am 7 days a week.  Except today.  I am releasing this a bit early, since this is TEDxFortWayne day and 9am is when the presentations begin.

I got to serve on the speaker selection team this year.  We picked 20, mostly from Fort Wayne, a few from Indianapolis and at least one from out of state. Check out the line-up here and keep track of these names.  Some are already famous for what they have done or are doing.  Some will never be famous, but will inspire others.

Today will be a non-tech for me I believe.  I’ve got a couple of pens and a new journal that I’ll be using to take notes.

If you see me say hi, I’d love to meet you face to face (again).  Today I’m just the bearded guy with a white shirt.

Here’s the list:

MARKBECKER

Creating the tipping point for positive change in communities, perspectives gleaned from a seasoned civil servant yield a call to collaborate for our city and our region.

ZACHARYBENEDICT

Recognizing the socio-economic power of everyday interpersonal connections can be used to increase engagement and improve communities – this is a call for reprioritization.

AARONBROWN

Mobilizing communities to make a difference through service as seen through the eyes of a volunteer – a story of personal change, inspiring encounters and key takeaways from these experiences.

ALEX JONATHANBROWN

Building endeavors within Fort Wayne around organic, strong ideas with a large support base.  Avoiding the pitfalls of the hip or exclusive versus the strength of the sustainable cool.

RANDYCLARK

Distinguishing the use of technology as a force that can be used for good is a powerful tool in promoting community and pursuing real world connections to offer support to one another.

ERIKDECKERS

Exploring the disruption of society from the introduction of both internet and social media with consideration for the possibility that these modalities have created newer and better communities.

KIRBYFERGUSON

Remixing is a folk art but the techniques are the same ones used at any level of creation: copy, transform, and combine. Explore examples, discover innovation’s secrets and be inspired to go and do likewise.

JEFFREYGLADD [MD]

Empowering patients to true jump-out-of-bed-in-the-morning health by creating high-tech, high touch medical practices focused on achieving optimal levels of health and balanced lifestyles for patients, employers and providers.

RILEYJOHNSON & GINGERGIESSLER

Re-thinking education in Fort Wayne through an innovative program that empowers students in the classroom and community with the goal of improving the culture of our city by giving the students a voice and a choice.

JOHNKAUFELD

Discovering oneself on the road less traveled as a leader, this is an opportunity to explore and consider how to translate and communicate passion and beliefs to other people.

LORIKEYS

Learning to dance happens in a progression.  It can change people’s lives, and the same lessons learned on the dance floor can make even greater changes in the world.

KELLYLYNCH

Challenging the “what’s in it for me?” mentality with a shift to making imaginative and authentic investments – fusing arts and culture, trails and rivers, historical cornerstones and inspiring considerations of who we can become.

MILESNITZ

Contemplating the concept of change through exploration of secrets hidden deeply within the neuro-biology of the human brain. Learn cutting edge approaches being used to facilitate new thinking.

MACPARKER

Taking risks and having vision built Fort Wayne’s legendary past and will reshape its future.  Reviewing the first three Acts of Fort Wayne’s history offers insight into why Fort Wayne needs to get its swagger back to direct Act Four.

ROBSALKOWITZ

Using the lens of the San Diego Comic-Con to explore the unprecedented disruptions in communication, marketing and technology, explore the convergence of pop culture, niche & mass marketing and changes in the top down creative approach.

CHRISSANDERSON

Making dramatic changes in health yields significant weight loss, improved statistics and remarkable changes in quality of life.  Consider the transition from sub-par to premium nutritional fuel to improve health and optimize life.

HEATHERSCHOEGLER

Realizing that [1+1≠2] in the realm of human contact and connection – rather recognizing that [1+1=infinity] – opens doors to endless possibilities for anyone. RETHINK Fort Wayne!

ALEXSMITH

Discussing the importance of sowing seeds that benefit others, as well as cultivating community attachment and retaining talent – recent grassroots initiatives give proof of fertile soil within our city.

LAURENZUBER

Giving yourself permission to be fluid, to try things, to test what you want to do and where you excel makes a case for the five-year anti-plan: RETHINK entry level.

Original Article