Personal Archives - Page 44 of 47

Web Strategy Firms are the New World Order

Times are changing faster and faster everyday. As technology evolves faster than we can breathe…and as it evolves, we need people to help us with it, understand it, and sell us a strategy to implement.

Web strategy of 2010 has evolved into business communication strategy. Creating and monitoring revenue streams as we create and monitor conversations…well actually the technology that distributes these conversations and messages.

I think back to when I was in undergrad at Clemson. My freshman year (1992), no email and the only knowledge of the World Wide Web was this thing called Gopher. I remember I could use it to find my girlfriend’s class buildings at Appalachian State University. By my sophomore year, I had email and the WWW became a new idea on Clemson’s campus. By my junior year, Clemson was teaching web design and development classes. While I was in college, major AD & PR agencies were building strategic communication strategies and the computer geeks were creating webpages.

Now…here we sit in 2010, the new age AD Firm is the web/new media agency: building business models around web strategy as a communication plan that drives revenue. It started out as going paperless to save money, but now communication strategies are sold to drive revenue not only for the organizations that buy the plan but for the firms that are selling the strategy.

Why the discussion…I have been studying and trying to understand the evolution of the new media business models. Watching and researching the retainer models for web and new media firms that are not only creating an updated web presence but also building relationships with C-Level executives for long term ROI.

I have been talking and visiting with companies everyday who are caught in similar positions. They are staffed with creative professionals that handle all the graphic design and communication planning for their communication strategies. These companies are staffed with “traditional” media execution but scrambling to create and implement web and new media strategies. Many companies staffed with seasoned professionals trying desperately to get up-to-date with these web, social, and new media concepts. These same companies are staffed with interns that are training professionals how to evolve and adapt practitioner concepts into new technology.

Web strategy companies come in with big retainers and big ideas…visions of solving problems capitalizing on the current deficits in knowledge in many mid to large size organizations…”how can we make our web presence better and drive traffic to our message.” The new age AD Firm is today’s Web Firm….staffed with Presidents/CEOs, project managers, business development professionals, designers, developers and a board of directors. These board of directors made up of investors and visionaries capitalizing on the new wave of messaging.

It is a new world order…we are buying iPad’s and Androids as fast as we consume information. We sit and watch HDTV on our couches while we sit and surf the Internet with our Mac Book Pros and posh laptops. We are texting as we drive down the road while answering phone calls and listening to Pandora. Information velocity has a new derivative…information velocity. It is a new world order. And what is the next evolution? Hmm…Mobile Media Firms will take over and create the new strategies as business communication strategies with brick and mortar offices in every city.

How will we as practitioners stay relevant though this accelerated evolution of business and technology strategies. Hmm…maybe just keep on telling stories. BTW…I realize I might be one of these groups I am talking about…taking part in the new world order.

Will the market bear more education?

Over the last few months I have been thinking about how the educational system here is South Carolina is changing and being forced to change. For the past few years, state funding for higher education has continued to drop substantially, each year forcing institutions of higher learning (that depend on state funds to operate) redefine how they support the demand. Well, there are two scenarios to this business proposition, raise the cost of a public education and/or seek more and more private funding. But before going down that thought process, I want to back up a few minutes.

Currently, my wife and I have been put in a position to support (both financially and parentally) my wife’s younger sister Susanna. She is a rising junior at the College of Charleston studying history. For the past two years, after Sarah and Susanna’s mother died of breast cancer, we have been helping Susanna navigate this convoluted financial-aid maze. From applying for expensive and inexpensive student loans to finally being eligible for grant monies, there is a serious conversation concerning “return on investment,” picking a educational path that is going to yield a direction post graduation that provides either a job paying a good wage or moving on to a graduate level education. But what is the ROI on a history degree? That conversation is soon to come.

We are just one of many families having this conversation right now, educational dollars spent should be taken just as seriously as a house purchase. When it is all said and done, one family can spend or borrow close to $7K – $10K per semester. These dollars add up and can come close to a $50K-$80K investment for a four year education. There is a serious business model behind providing loans for those to get a “quality” education. Think about it for a second…it is a like a revolving door behind the rising costs of education and the educational tracks being offered, but…are those tracks market driven?

As a side note, this blog post comes after a Saturday morning conversation with John Warner, he made me think more about market driven education.

More and more degrees are being offered, more and more dollars are being borrowed, more and more institutions are getting fatter, and now we have educational institutions moving away from market driven education. Each day I walk into another Panera Bread where the cashier working is a recent college graduate with a marketing degree and no job. Take a look at my wife’s MA in Professional Communications, she has yet to find a job using that degree. She worked in Manufacturing for close to five years becoming a strategic buyer and then became burned out and now teaching pre-schoolers. She was sold this degree track right out of undergrad at Lander on the fact she would find a high paying job, yet no one helped her in finding that job. It was not market driven…at the time. Side note, she and I graduated with our MA’s right after 911, the market was rock bottom.

So what are we seeing, educational institutions are starting to get back to basics. They will begin doing a couple of things. Identifying market driven degree programs that make sense and begin cutting programs that basically have no funding. As funds continue to decrease from the state, institutions like Clemson, USC, and other state supported schools will begin moving closer and closer to privatization. Now they will not become “Private” but they will be supported by private sources that have a vested interest in the types of programs that will be offered, supported with a pipeline of talent educated to fit that market need.

Clemson University was founded to provided the “Common Man” of South Carolina a technology and mechanical education to solve the agricultural problem in the state.

From Thomas Green Clemson’s Will
“My purpose is to establish an agricultural college which will afford useful information to the farmers and mechanics, therefore it should afford thorough instruction in agriculture and the natural sciences connected therewith — it should combine, if practicable, physical and intellectual education, and should be a high seminary of learning in which the graduate of the common schools can commence, pursue and finish the course of studies terminating in thorough theoretic and practical instruction in those sciences and arts which bear directly upon agriculture, but I desire to state plainly that I wish the trustees of said institution to have full authority and power to regulate all matters pertaining to said institution — to fix the course of studies, to make rules for the government of the same, and to change them, as in their judgment, experience may prove necessary, but to always bear in mind that the benefits herein sought to be bestowed are intended to benefit agricultural and mechanical industries.”

What type of education is necessary for the “Common Man” of South Carolina today? One of the “new technologies” is automotive innovation as seen with the creation ICAR. What other innovative, market driven, educational tracks will be created and be supported through private funds? This will be decided because in 2011, the federal stimulus money provided to subsidize the short fall for the 2010 academic year will be gone, and the fat will have to be trimmed and the deficit will have to be managed. You can read about the impact on Clemson in President Barker’s Blog.

Over the past 50 years, especially during the rising and falling economies, their has been an upward trend in expansion of higher education degree tracks. More and more diverse educational opportunities were created either by the market or a vision. More and more dollars were spent by families in a competitive battle between educational institutions. Now, we will be getting back to basics. Degree programs that have a path. General education requirements will be re-evaluated and the new professors will be ones of innovation, entrepreneurship, and educational economics (bring true business value to the classroom).

There was at one time in this great nation the opportunity to get a law degree or a medical degree without a four year bachelorate education…why not today. Is it time to reconsider the four year track for a BA or BS and combine with graduate level education? How can we put value back in the education we pay dearly for and work hard to obtain. Right now, some of it is not worth the piece of paper that it is printed upon, but rather the interest it is accruing for those student loan payments we pay each month. We are paying ours each month as Sarah walks into the daycare classroom each day.

What about my sister-in-law working on a BA in History? It is our hope she will keep on studying to become a librarian after getting a Masters from University of South Carolina. That separate degree was not created for the job market but for the institution’s margin. They are in that cyclic process of creating new degrees just to make money.

The higher education system in South Carolina is fat and needs some trimming, not only from a degree offering stand point, but also from a market position. There is a need to critically examine the type of high dollar education that is being taught and figure out what is really necessary to provide a market bearing education.

So on this line of conversation, there are groups that are wanting to capitalize educationally with this current market. Take Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina. Here is a group that makes money off of transactions. They are a company of IT professionals and they build their systems on COBOL. They are in a position to aggressively seek the next wave innovators to fill positions that are being vacated through attrition. The problem, it is not cool to go into “IT” anymore and the educational systems are not teaching COBOL. So Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina has teamed up with educational institutions like University of South Carolina, Clemson, and others along with IBM to re-shape the perception and educational tracks for the world of “IT”. There is a market need and there is value in teaming up with high education to shape curriculum so that the Blue Cross Blue Shields of the world can capitalize on the new emerging talent. This entity is know as the Consortium for Enterprise Systems Management and is based in Columbia, SC. This group is a marketing engine working with groups to change the face of “IT” and educate and recruit the new talent but educate and reshape our educational system from K-12 to higher education.

So ask yourself, if you had to do it all over again…what would you study? Would you study your passion or what the market would bear. Maybe it is a combination of both, but it is time to shift that conversation back to where there is a need in the market for job opportunity and growth. Or…is a higher education truly standardized just for jobs or theoretical education? The pendulum is swinging back and it is time to figure out what is up next for our new leadership. That leadership are those students, our children, our future, our legacy. Remember, it is up to us to help shape our future…the decisions we make now will shape how we, our children, and our children’s children will live one day.

So what do you propose? What is your alternative healthcare reform?

So on Tuesday, March, 23, 2010…President Obama signed into law the new health care reform bill. In the months, days, and hours leading up to this bill becoming a law, there are LOTS of voices in complete opposition to this piece of legislation. There are even people in agreement there is need for reform, but this is not the best piece of legislation to achieve the goal at hand. There are states currently working overtime trying to pass legislation to block this federal law.

So here is the context, I am a thirty-six year old husband who owns a house, small business owner, helping a 23 year old pay her way through college, shopping to afford healthcare. This piece of legislation speaks to me…provides me some sense of hope. But, there are so many that believe this is not the correct path. But I have not heard one time, one suggestion that would be an alternative to this plan. Seriously, for all those who do not like this legislation, who are screaming out loud against this new law, what is your plan? What is your recommendation? What is your alternative?

So…here is your chance to let me know what you would propose. I want to be educated. I want to know what you think is the alternative? The current system is not working…I want reform. What is your reform. I want you to use the comment section to sound off with your alternative. I will approve all who write legitimate ideas, not party bashing ideas…real, legitimate ideas that provide people like me an opportunity for healthcare. I want to see if you can live up to the screaming and articulate a proposed solution. No foul language, no party bashing, no slanderous accusations….a real idea with real vision. Prove it…back it up.

Let’s see what you have!

What am I really trying to measure? A Conversation?

So I have been thinking a bit about all these various discussions relevant to Social Media and how to measure success. People want a metric…they want to measure something! Whether it is the “SIZE” of the community, the number of leads, or the amount of revenue generated, etc.

I just read an excellent blog post by Amber Naslund titled: “How I made $100K with Twitter.” This was such a great post, but what I walked away from this post was this simple point, you get as much as you put into it. I know that sounds so elementary, but it is so true.

“The magic in making money with social media isn’t that the site or social network becomes a revenue center itself. I didn’t sell stuff on Twitter. I gave people access to me and my expertise, and paid attention to when the time might be right to talk business.” Amber Naslund, Radian6

So what are we trying to measure? If we are business people, we want to know that we will get something in return for the time we invest into this medium. If we are a large company, we want to measure the scale of time as it directly relates to the revenue or sales it generates. If we are a cause or advocacy group, we want to measure the reach of our message; basically how many people we can communicate and get them reciprocate the message.

This is what I want to measure:

Connectivity is increasing: I want to know that my community is growing and I can continue to connect with other smart people.
Revenue is increasing: I want to know that the number of people I am reaching has some direct effect on the revenue I generate.
Generation of New Ideas: I want my ever increasing connectivity to help me to become more innovative.
My “Competition”: I want to be able to engage and watch what my “competitors” are doing as they innovate.
Reciprocity: I want to know that if I am sharing, others are sharing back.
Clicks: I want to measure if people are clicking what I want them to click.

I think of the ole education story. Remember back when we went to college, and it was hard to get up in the morning for that 8am class. Sometimes we would skip and wonder what we missed? Then there are some of us that might have been perpetual skippers and wonder why we could not get good grades. I was one of those people. But my academic advisor told me this, your success in the classroom dramatically increases if you just show up for class. Think about that statement for a second. Your success can be attributed to the amount of time you engage.

I think the same thing is true for any portal of conversation you choose to find value. The more you engage in the conversation, the bigger return. The key word here is conversation…not dictatorship. People want conversations, opportunities to grow, listen, and to be heard. People want to share with like minded people. If you are in the business world, they want to share business with people that understand how to solve their problems. This goes back to listening .

So here is my metric: I can directly correlate the number of times I listen to the amount of meaningful conversations I have, whether it is business or personal. If I listen, I can help people solve problems. If I am a good listener, then my network is big…AND if I can’t solve the problem, there is someone in my network that can probably help solve that problem.

What stories are you listening to today?

BTW, here is a good discussion Social Media ROI from Olivier Blanchard. I think the guy is smart and has figured this out.

WOW! Bobby hits the track BMW style!

So today was the day! Yes, and it was what I least expected! A few weeks ago, I had the tremendous opportunity to meet up with someone cool, the one and only Kamran Popkin from SWAG Club. This guy is more than just about great SWAG, but sharing some fun and connecting people. He invited a few of us for a corporate trip out to the BMW Performance Track in Spartanburg, SC next to the BMW Manufacturing facility where they build the X5’s for international distribution.

As I got into my little red 1991 BMW 325i convertible, and made my way to Spartanburg, I had no idea what was in store for the day. As I pulled into the facility and made my way inside, I was greeted by some close friends who had also decided to attend this day. From there, it was lunch, some ground rules and off to the track. OK…ground rules and off to the track…YES….we are going to RACE BMW’s on a performance track. No weird Interstate driving where we are worried about blue lights. Yes, it was the petal to the metal. BTW, one of the attendees was late today because he was pulled over on the way to the day’s activities, he was a little PUMPED! Rightfully so!

So…four tracks, eight different BMW’s, 38 attendees and time for loads of fun. We started with driving the X5’s on an off road track where you can take the SUV through 2.5 feet of water, on steep inclines, and even on two wheels, YES..TWO WHEELS. My partner for the day was Wendi Hil,l whom is also a marketing professional. From the moment we jumped into the X5, it was a day off holding onto the “Ole Shit” handle accompanied by loads of laughter and screams.

So a few things that rocked my boat:
1) Racing a BMW 650i on a timed track.
We were able to drive a black 650i on a timed track where we could unleash the 4.8L 360HP V8…and charge around the track in uniform chaos with a partner in the car. Here is Wendi as she drove around the track, a video from my iPhone. Notice the intensity in her eyes and the shake in my hand as we scream around the track. If you listen, you can here the scream of the engine!

2) The Instructor “Hot Run” – AKA Check your Britches Run!
This is where the instructors get to take us ego driven goof balls (after we think we have mastered the track) and show us how to really drive a BMW M5 on this “Performance Track.” Umm…OK, my head still hurts, I never thought that I could ride in a car where the only forward motion that was created was when the car was sideways. What do I mean, this M5 spent more time moving up the track sideways than actually wheels pointing forward. After slipping and sliding, a few 360’s, my head hurt from laughing so hard! My hand was permanently engrained into the “Ole Shit” handle above the window. IT WAS AWESOME! It is amazing the performance and safety of a BMW M5.

3) The BMW 135i 3.0 Liter Twin Turbo
This little two seater actually has four seats, but the two in the back are the insurance seats. But, this little firecracker on the open track made me get on the gas in the open straight-aways and get on the brakes before those sharp turns because of this amazing power. WOW! Man does it have torque! This was my favorite car of the day, and at the nearly $30K price tag, WOW!

All I can say to my friend Kamran Popkin, thanks a BUNCH! He knows how to through a party BMW style! What a great pre-birthday present!

Excited: The New BobbyRettew.com is Up and Rolling

I want to thank the peeps over at Pixelmeld, LLC (Dave Lee and Andy Macdonald) for making this happen! We spent lots of time working on the video player for the main website using HTML5 technology compressing multiple flavors of video so that the front page could play in many different browsers and the iPhone. Bottom-line, we want to avoid using Flash video.

The site was designed using ModX CMS along with a WordPress Blog. The blog was styled with a custom template to match the branding of the main site. The part that took the most time was trying to get the background of the video as close to a true white to match the website. The video on the homepage was shot in HD on a green screen using both Final Cut Pro to edit and Avid Media Composer’s key capabilities to match colors for the background.

I also want to thank George Law for his technical expertise and direction while making this happen. He is one hell of a Linux Administrator! I am just a video guy and I like to surround myself with smart people, like George, Dave, and Andy. WOOT!

All it takes is a cup of coffee…

When you are walking to your office, or walking to grab lunch, through a crowd of people…do you realize that you are surrounded by some smart people? Everyday we probably come in close contact with more than 250-300 people, as we walk from one place to the next. If you live in New York City, Chicago, LA, or other large metropolitan areas…we probably walk pass thousands of people a day. Imagine if you took the time everyday to find one person, one that you have not met and introduced yourself..then bought them a cup of coffee?

Imagine being a student again on college campus, getting up every morning to go to class. It is 8:45am and you are on your way to you 9am class. If you attended a large university with over 15,000 students, you probably pass close to 1000 to 2000 students on your way everyday. Imagine if you left a bit early and picked one person a day and bought them a cup of coffee. You might start a conversation with the next President of the United States, the next GM of Ford Motor Corp, the next religious leader of our time, the next Defense Secretary, etc. What if that person turns out to be a business partner, your lawyer, your minister, your accountant, someone you might do business with one day. College campuses have the greatest potential for human capital and also the greatest potential for building long term relationships.

Now if you take that same principal and place it into your everyday work routine. Imagine taking just a few minutes everyday and meeting someone new. The cup of coffee is just a pathway to a conversation…it is a connection point. So is thaa game of golf or other relationship building tool…just a connection mechanism. But do we really foster those relationships?

Some people are coining this economic situation as one of the worst in decades. Many people are looking for work, struggling to find jobs, resorting to paying people to write resumes or lots of money on technologies like LinkedIn. But do we really get jobs or forge business deals solely on a piece of paper that holds our credentials? People that excel in tough economic times are those who have forged relationships and can pick up the phone to call for help or a favor. They have been building their human network for years and years. All it takes is a cup of coffee.

So each semester, I take one day and make my students follow me to the coffee shop on Clemson’s campus. Today was that day. It was a day to forget about proposals, projects, and grades…it was a day to talk about what it means to leverage those relationships and the greatest potential that walks by them each day during class change.

Are we building our tribe? Are we building our network? What are we passionate about? Everybody has a story to tell…even over a cup of coffee.

“A tribe is a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea. For millions of years, human beings have been part of one tribe or another. A group needs only two things to be a tribe: a shared interest and a way to communicate.”
~Seth Godin

It is time; for a place to call home…innovators

It is time…yes, it is time to connect all the dots and find a place that brings all of the entrepreneurs together here in Anderson. We need a vision, a place, a roof, a vision, a mission that will provide synergy to our cause. Some believe the answer is just build a place and they will come, a building where entrepreneurs can be educated…but entrepreneurs and small business owners want more than education, we want a mission, passion, vision, and a path…to success.

There are many major companies/organizations in Anderson, SC that are the foundation of this community. Without AnMed, Michelin, Bosch, Anderson School District, Anderson University, Tri-County Technical College, and other major employers…the stability of the community would be a transient community. These pillars of the community give us the foundation necessary to build support around the entrepreneurial spirit. Why not build this place, this building, this entrepreneurial community around the priorities of these pillars. They have problems that need to be solved, projects that could be business plans, ideas that cannot only lead to a high-impact business but a replicable business idea that could attract Angel Investors to the community spirit.

What problems are out there for these large organizations to be solved…is it an IT problem, a sustainability problem, a fiscal problem, a technology problem? Why not build a place around a set of priorities identified by these pillars, and use them as the vision to build this place where entrepreneurs can call home. A priority can provide vision and ultimately a commonplace for conversation and connection. This could foster conversations between entrepreneurs to find internal solutions and find a unified approach to solving problems.

Imagine if this place was built, and a priority was put in place, and these entrepreneurs built business plans out of ideas that are solving problems, and these ideas could lead to bigger ideas. Then the attorneys and business people of Anderson could help these companies become successful; and all of this could generate human equity creating a community that leads to long term community growth. The type of growth that closes the gap financially, where the average household income is increasing and those could actually afford healthcare, go to school, and be a contributor to this better Anderson.

What are the priorities of this facility that connect the entrepreneurs to the pillars of the community? Where each pillar is connected on the same playing field for one big vision…to build a bigger, brighter, healthier Anderson…one of innovation.

Thanks Firestone for Great Customer Service

There is something to be said for true customer service, something I can learn from my experience this morning at Firestone. So I am small business owner, I have to seriously watch my budget when it comes to expenditures. Well, my little bimmer needed some new rubber…it was long overdue! Four tires all around was in my search yesterday. My CFO (my wife) gave me a $400.00 budget for tires…so I stopped by Firestone yesterday on my way home from the Anderson Area Chamber’s Annual Luncheon.

I walked in and told the fine gentleman at the desk my budget. I also let him know that it would be good to get it done this weekend, some traveling I will be happening next week. Here is the catch, my little bimmer has an odd size tire requirement….14″ rims (195/65/14). They did their little search and noticed they had nothing in stock and they would have to get the Bridgestone Tires shipped in from another warehouse. Then the great peeps went into problem solving mode…three phones, a little bribery, and some sweeting talking; the manager convinced someone to make a trip to deliver the tires this weekend morning. So they asked me to be back in the morning to have all the work done.

So I show up this morning, and the place was packed. Tons of cars in the parking lot ready for service and the waiting room was packed. But when I walked in the door, the same two gentlemen greeted me from across the room with a smile. One of them stopped what they were doing, and walked out back to roll in the tires for me to inspect. The other had my paper ready to go, took my keys and said thanks for doing business with them.

Now, you know about 10 years ago, gas stations used to be full service centers. When you would pull up to the tank, you could choose the gas price based on full service or pump yourself. A friendly smile would greet you with the option of having that nice person check under the hood, tire pressure, and even shake your hand when you pull out. I miss that little conversation which has turned into merely sliding your card and pumping yourself.

Well…Firestone in Anderson may not pump your gas, but they sure want to make sure you come back to do more business with them. It is the little things, a friendly smile, great customer service, even letting you inspect the tire that goes on your car. Thanks Firestone…you too should check them out!

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They say print is dying…NOT!

There is nothing like getting a package in the mail…something that is fun and exciting. But when I walked in the front door, I was pumped to find my new business cards! It is the little things that get me excited. Who says print is dead, there is something fun and exciting about pulling out a business card to give to someone that you feel best represents who you are and what you are trying to achieve!

My good friend Dave Lee, who is part owner of a group called Pixelmeld, took the time to tell my story in one little card. I think people still like to exchange these little things called business cards. You know that physical piece of marketing that gives the recipient something to remember you by? Print is not dead…just targeted!