atkinson advisor

Businesses often tout the strength of its team and exult, “Our greatest competitive advantage is our people.” Some experts estimate talent can account for as much as half of a company’s market value.

Yet rarely do you see the people unless you engage with the company.

The equation has flipped thanks to social media. It’s now affordable, practical, and srategic for employees to build a dynamic online presence that connects them with potential customers and existing clients. It’s powerful stuff.

The new equation also raises some interesting marketing challenges that businesses will have to tackle.

• Who controls the content? Right now, marketing departments have complete control of their marketing message. Social media requires giving up some of that control and trusting employees to do the right thing. Social media guidelines are a must for any business.
• What’s the balance of professional insights to personal information? Social media is predicated on personality. Too much business information = pushy sales. Too much personal information = TMI.
• Why invest in employee branding when they could leave? This is a valid concern. Pioneers in the area of employee branding will be able to point to their investment in an employee’s brand as a reason point for staying. Eventually we believe employee branding will be a necessity for attracting and retaining any top talent.

The newspaper industry has struggled with the Internet.  Its challenges have included readers’ expectation of free content online, the erosion of print classifieds to free listings like Craigslist, and competing with the hyperlocal coverage that social media allows.

One thing that chafes editors and publishers are the news aggregation sites, such as The Daily Beast and Newser, that are popular with online users. Aggregators often summarize the content and then link to the original article. Newspapers claim these sites are stealing their ad revenue and using their content without having to pay the production costs of reporters and editors.

A growing movement among newspaper editors and publishers seeks to protect their business from this latest Internet challenge with changes to federal copyright law.  One proposal would bar aggregators from using newspapers’ content for the first 24 hours after stories are posted.

Right now, the future of newspapers appears shaky.  Fighting the Internet (and the referral traffic) is probably not the best business strategy to get them back in the game.

This is definitely a story worth following.

It was a wise person who created the K.I.S.S. (Keep it simple, stupid) Principle however many years ago.

Simplicity cuts through clutter in everyday life. It saves time. And it prevents future problems.

The truth is that simplicity is hard work, especially in communications.

Here are some thoughts for simplifying your important communications:

• Open with why your communication is important. How many times have you heard someone talk for 10 minutes only to conclude with, “What I mean to say is…”? The same happens with e-mail and marketing materials. Always start with some perspective.
• Use analogies and examples. People understand symbols and stories. They rarely understand data unless they have history with the subject. Find creative ways to connect your communication with something familiar to your audience.
• Use small words and short sentences. The average business communication is written at a college level or higher. Big words and long sentences require a lot of effort. Save your audience the time by shrinking your words and sentences (see Hits & Bytes below). The Wall Street Journal writes to an 8th-grade level, in case you are wondering.
• Layer. Most poor communication overwhelms the audience out of the gate. Layering information is the antidote. You layer by opening with why your communication is important. You then add a layer with the first supporting point, making sure to connect it to the main premise. Now add the second supporting point and so on. The key is to connect each point back to the premise before adding the next point.

Sean Penn recently won an Academy Award for best actor for his role as Harvey Milk in Milk. This is the same actor who launched his career as the infamous stoner Jeff Spicoli in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Penn was brilliant in both roles because he disappeared and let the character enter the story.

The same thing happened with Jamie Foxx in Ray. There are points in the movie when you are not sure if you are watching Ray Charles or Jamie Foxx. The reward was the same: a best supporting actor Oscar.

Contrast this with movies where the actor is clearly miscast for the role. These films are a painful waste of 90 minutes of your life you’ll never get back.

The difference is authenticity. The actor adapts – language, inflections, mannerisms, dialect, etc. – to become the character in the story. He does not impose himself on the character. We believe his story.

Marketing can learn quite a bit from good acting. Today’s consumers are savvy. They appreciate and can spot authenticity. Likewise, they abhor people and brands trying to impose themselves on their worlds – into their stories.

How, then, do companies generate authenticity?

• Respect for and desire to learn the target community’s traditions, language, etc.
• Genuine care and concern for things that a target community cares about
• Desire to start small with knowledge that small roles will lead to much bigger opportunities in the future

Blogs are the most prevalent part of social media. Technorati, the top blog search engine, counts more than 130 million of them.

For years, companies have had policies governing the proper use of e-mail and the Internet. It’s time to seriously consider adding a corporate blogging/commenting policy.

In short, the policy should require all employees to disclose their company affiliation any time they blog or comment on a blog about issues of interest to the company. For example, an employee at an architecture firm building a new convention center would have to disclose his employer when commenting on a blog about the project’s viability.

The disclosure is important for two reasons. The first is liability. Cisco was recently sued for comments one of its researchers posted on a blog about patents. The company modified its policy in response to the suit.

The second is transparency. Many important debates are taking place in the blogosphere. Companies have every right to participate in those discussions as long as employees disclose their interest. If people discover a lack of transparency, they will be quick to condemn the company in a very public and permanent way.

Today’s workplace is the most diverse in history, especially when considering the many generations comprising the workforce.

Each generation has a different style of communicating with co-workers and preferences for how to receive information. Keep these attitudes in mind and tailor your approach depending on the generation you’re communicating with:

• Baby Boomers (born 1946-64) grew up talking on touch-tone phones and sending letters they wrote on word processors in the mail. Many Boomers are defined by work and expected to pay their dues. They slowly but surely climbed the corporate ladder. They don’t necessarily need individual feedback on performance, but they appreciate public recognition through plaques, awards, and certificates.
• Generation X (born 1965-79) feels more comfortable questioning authority. They’re also comfortable communicating primarily via computers and cell phones. Generation X doesn’t live to work—they work to live. Instead of spending a lot of time on process, communicate the desired outcome to Gen X employees.
• Millennials (born after 1979) enjoy collaborative environments and may look to make friends with their managers. They are technologically savvy, creative, and crave feedback. Because they’re so speedy with technology, they might not take the time to think critically before crafting a response.