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Passion Is The Fuel For Innovation, Experimentation Is The Vehicle

By on July 11, 2011 | Category: Article

If passion is what fuels innovation, experimentation is the vehicle.

My first “real” job in professional marketing was managing the direct marketing campaigns for a software company. I had zero influence or control over any creative aspect of the campaigns. My job was more like a scientist. I conducted experiments, gathered data, then analyzed and reported that data. In a big marketing department like the one I worked in, most of us were either on the creative side or the analytical/mechanical side. For solo consultants, and small firm marketing professionals, work requires a balance of left-brain and right-brain thinking and action.

My involvement in publishing content online is a combination of passion and experimentation. I am passionate about the subjects I write about, and I am not afraid to take risks. Even if the result is failure.

I recently concluded some experiments I’ve been working on that (in my assessment) ended in failure. I am closing down both SpaceElephants.com and ProSvcMktg.com. My goal with those sites, was to provide curated content that was narrowly focused on specific areas. While I was successful at that, I spent too much time on production and wasn’t able to deliver the quality I hoped. I may reuse those domains later on for other purposes, but for now, those sites can be considered obsolete.

Instead, I am going to put more energy into my primary sites: this one (More From Less), and AECforensics.com. My goal is to post once each weekday on each site. But there is still a lot of additional content that I think is extremely interesting, and I believe that I have (through experimentation) found the ideal way to share that: Posterous.

I have set up two new sites using Posterous. BLHill Linked (blhill.org) will serve as a “companion site” to More From Less. What you’ll find is curated content related to marketing, business development, personal branding, technology and personal productivity. Eventually, I’ll get around to revamping the newsletter to include this content (or at least some of it), but for now there are two ways to stay up to date: follow BLHill on Twitter, or subscribe to the BLHill Linked RSS feed. (Here is a great video from Common Craft explaining what RSS is.)

The other site will serve as a companion to AECforensics.com and is called The A/E/C Brief. You can follow AEC4N6 on Twitter or subscribe to the RSS feed to stay informed.

Ironically, what prompted me to make these changes had more to do with a failure in my workflow, as opposed to the performance of the other sites. Since getting my iPad 2, I have been forced to adapt my workflow. Using Posterous, I can easily post to either BLHill Linked or The A/E/C Brief in a few seconds using just my iPad. This means that I am able to share more relevant content, with less hassle and in less time. Thus, More From Less.

For those of you that are still on the fence about whether or not to start a blog for the benefit of your clients and prospective clients, give Posterous a look. You can literally be up and running with your first post just by sending an email to post at posterous.com. There are lots of great themes, mobile applications for posting on the go, and Posterous can also redistribute you content to multiple channels including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. Anything attached to your email will be posted and properly embedded, so you can easily share photos, photo galleries, video, documents, or whatever your heart desires.

No more excuses! Most likely, you are passionate about your work. Take a risk and start a blog to give a vehicle for your passion. If you want some help, I’m only an email away.


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Overcoming Internal and External Resistance To Blogging

By on June 2, 2011 | Category: Article

For a lot of people, blogs are a valuable resource for information. The medium is intended to be a two-way communication. For most people consumption is easier than creation or production. Why?

I don’t know all the answers, but in talking to others, I have seen both internal and external obstacles that people must overcome in order to begin publishing their own content.

Internal resistance is the most difficult. No matter how successful we are in are professional lives, or knowledgable we are about a subject of interest to us, there is that small voice inside our head. (Now if you have multiple voices inside your head telling you to do certain things, it is probably a good idea to have the meds checked…) We all deal with this insecurity. Questions like these prevent us from moving forward:

  • What if I’m not good enough?
  • Is my writing any good?
  • What if I’m wrong?

Answer those questions with another question: “What is the worst that can happen?”

Besides internal forces preventing us from acting, there are external forces that must be addressed, as well. Most commonly, external resistance comes from superiors, colleagues and peers. To deal with this resistance, I recommend either of the following approaches:

  1. Try to find out what is really going on with this person that is causing reluctance. What are their fears? Are there legal issues, compliance issues, confidentiality concerns?
  2. Reframe the conversation in the context of how blogging fits within your personal/professional goals.

And if other people are still resistant to your pursuing a form of expression that provides tangible personal and/or professional benefits, my recommendation is to do it anyways. It is often easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission.


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Construction Defect Attorneys and Social Media

By on May 23, 2011 | Category: Article

On May 13, 2011, I attended a session on construction defect litigation and social media, presented by Dan Berman and Steve Henning. The session was part of the continuing legal education offered by West Coast Casualty’s Construction Defect Seminar at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, CA. Berman and Henning are name partners with noted construction defect defense law firm Wood, Smith, Henning & Berman. I arrived a few minutes late, but was able to catch the majority of their presentation. The full name of the presentation was, “Internet and Social Networking Sites: Ethical and Practical Issues in Investigation, Litigation and Winning Your Construction Defect Case.”

When I received the conference schedule, this was one of two sessions that I did not want to miss. After all, I run one of the only blogs regularly covering construction defect litigation that isn’t biased towards one side or another. Without reading up on the proposed topic by Berman and Henning, I assumed that this was going to be a watershed moment for our little cottage industry. In my mind, this was going to be the spark that would inspire my colleagues to Engage with one another via social media in order to further the conversation and sharing of knowledge.

I was wrong.

Here is the opening paragraph from the handout accompanying the presentation:

During recent months, we have watched events unfold around the globe that are directly linked to the power of social networking. Powerful regimes in Africa have been toppled, fueled by powerful images and video shared via Facebook and Twitter. Closer to home, people regularly receive photographs, status updates and whereabouts of acquaintances from a variety of social networking sites. While these sites allow people to connect with new and old friends, it also creates a contemporaneous, discoverable record whereby people are sharing intimate and potentially incriminating details of their lives.

The presenters mentioned that 83% of lawyers use LinkedIn, according to one study. And while they mentioned briefly that the majority of those lawyers use social media as part of professional networking and client development, the point of this talk was not about networking and client development. To me, the message centered around two main concepts:

  1. Be afraid. Be very afraid of anything you post online.
  2. Don’t think twice about exploiting social media to gain evidence to use against your opponents in litigation.

“Mining” Social Networking Sites for Evidentiary Gold

Berman and Henning provided a couple of examples of both positive and negative ways social media could be used as evidence in litigation, including numerous well-researched citations to current legislation and case law. The one example cited having to do with construction defect litigation involved a case in which the presenters’ firm represented a builder-defendant. The homeowner-plaintiffs alleged numerous defects led to mold which caused a number of financial and health setbacks for the family. The star witness for the plaintiffs was the teenage son of the homeowners. He claimed his social life was in ruins, asthma had ruined his athletic participation, and mold even had affected his mental abilities causing him to fall behind in classes ruining his lifelong goal to become a dentist. Unfortunately for the youth, his MySpace page was publicly accessible and contained photographs (shown to attendees at the conference) of the youth smoking a hookah and doing keg stands. Although the evidence was not admitted, the lawyers made sure that the teenager knew they had the evidence, causing the youth to recount some of his false testimony. The end result was a verdict for the defense.

Did the presenters state anything that was false or inaccurate about social media? No. In fact, because many of the attorneys in construction defect are a little behind the times, their message is vitally important. A lawyer that does not avail themselves of every tool at their disposal risks not providing their clients with the representation they deserve.

Perhaps an unintended impact from the presentation was to dissuade attorneys from using social media for its intended purpose – connecting with others. Following the session, I spoke casually to a handful of attorney friends. Their reaction was one of fear. “I’m shutting my Facebook account down right now,” one said. “Is LinkedIn worth it?” said another. Then another attorney began talking about how they gained access to their teenage daughter’s Facebook profile and surreptitiously used it to spy on a boy at the same high school.

In the tech world, we have an acronym for this sort of rhetoric: F.U.D.. It means Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt. FUD is a powerfully persuasive tactic, albeit one that runs completely counter to the direction that business is heading at present.

Social media is a buzz word that just refers to a means of communicating. If you send a letter to someone, it can be used as evidence (in most situations). If you have a conversation with someone that you allow to be recorded, that recording can be used as evidence. Is it somehow surprising that if you post something online that it too can be used as evidence? I know a lot of attorneys and they are all very careful, due to years of conditioning, about anything they say or write. Applying the same prudence to social networking sites seems like a no-brainer.

What’s the Point?

Construction defect litigation throughout the country is in a state of flux. Legal developments, insurance coverage, economic factors, etc. all contribute to this dynamic niche of the legal world. Another legal niche that is also in a constant state of flux is intellectual property (IP) law. Legislative changes, case law, and numerous other factors mean that the “rules of the game” are constantly changing. Unlike construction defect litigation, there is a vibrant and growing community in IP law connected and sharing information via social media. This includes blogging, services such as Twitter and Facebook, discussion boards (some private) on sites like LinkedIn and Quora, and others. This sharing of knowledge and information is improving the collective understanding of intellectual property issues.

By not participating in the larger conversation and contributing to the collective knowledge, construction defect litigation professionals are doing a great disservice to the clients and end-users that are most impacted by construction defect litigation. Property owners, developers, contractors, designers and insurance carriers may have unrealistic expectations. Knowledge is power. By empowering your clients you gain respect and trust.

Burying your head in the sand for fear that the sky might be falling, is no way to go through life, counselor. You may not feel comfortable setting up your own blog or running a Facebook page for your law firm, and it may not be necessary or prudent. But if you want to be seen as a leader in the industry and gain respect and trust, not only from clients, but also from peers and opposing parties, take a risk and join the legion of legal professionals outside CD that are moving the conversation online. We need your input and insight.

Come on in – the water’s nice.

Note: Just to be clear, I think Dan and Steve did a great job of covering their topic. Their presenting style was top notch and they really did an impressive job of working together and used great visuals. The information presented was well-researched and very informative. I just wish that there could have been more discussion about the benefits of social media for the legal profession, an area where construction defect attorneys are woefully behind.


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Blogging in Markdown | Digging into WordPress

By on April 29, 2011 | Category: Link

Shared by BLHill

Curious as to how this will play out…

Whether or not this looks appealing to you is simply a matter of taste. Do keep in mind that Markdown is compatible with HTML. So if you have articles you have previously written in HTML, those will be fine with this activated. However, the opposite is not true. If you create a bunch of content in Markdown and then decide to turn it off, you will be looking at asterisks and octothorpes and such.


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Confession: I’m Not That Good At Marketing

By on April 27, 2011 | Category: Article

A lot of the content I have written on this site has to do with marketing. I write about it because as a former philosophy major, the concept intrigues me.

The thing is though: I’m not very good at marketing.

With my first business, as a professional musician/producer, I instinctively knew that I needed to promote what I was doing. People wanted my contact information, so I spent $50 I’d made from a 2-hour gig at a senior citizen’s home on some business cards. [note 1] To advertise events, I used the rudimentary graphic design tools available: the infamous “PrintShop” program combined with a B/W Xerox machine. The results were not very good, in terms of design, but I did manage to get people to show up.

I didn’t have to try to bring in business. A lot of my business came from previous clients and referrals. But I didn’t do much to remain in contact with previous clients – I just waited for the phone to ring. In fact, I did everything “wrong” when it comes to marketing.

But I did well. I believe that there is a very simple explanation for this:

Execution.

From the moment my fellow musicians and I arrived at a gig, it was clear that despite our age (we were in high school), we were professionals. Everyone dressed appropriately. We didn’t eat until after the show, or during a break. There was absolutely no smoking or drinking allowed on the premises by any of my musicians. We set up and tore down our gear quickly. But most importantly, when it came time to play, we delivered. And by the first note we played, my clients knew that they were going to get their money’s worth. [note 2]

What I Have Learned

I do not believe that there is a right or wrong way to approach marketing. As a professional musician, manager and producer, I made a good part-time income with little to no marketing. So is marketing a waste of time?

If you’re a top-rated high school jazz musician looking to bring in a few hundred dollars a week, marketing isn’t that important. But if you have a business that you rely upon to put food on the table for yourself and others, simply showing up isn’t likely going to be enough.

As I mentioned, I don’t think that I’m very good at marketing. I wouldn’t last a day in any advertising agency. I don’t have all the answers and I’m not sure that any of the answers I have are the right ones. But I have seen what works. The most effective marketing techniques accomplish the following:

  • Establishing reasonable expectations – effective marketing provides an accurate impression of what the client/consumer can expect. What are you going to deliver?
  • Telling a story – the best marketing tells a story that is compelling and draws people in. How will you make a positive impact on the life of your client?
  • Building trust – we are so bombarded with advertising in nearly every aspect of life, that we have become desensitized. If you’re selling your services like a used-car salesman, clients will not be as trusting. Why should a client trust you?

One area that I have learned a lot about over the years is customer service. Solid execution combined with exceptional customer service makes up for poor/nonexistent marketing. But only to an extent. Perhaps the best approach (for businesses that are challenged in the marketing department) is to view marketing as an extension of customer service. Providing helpful and insightful information is very effective as both a marketing tool and as a service to your existing clients. Conversely, in this day and age, a company that does not maintain regular communications (through a blog, newsletter, personal correspondence, etc.) will be increasingly viewed as “not caring” enough.

In the end, there is no “one size fits all” approach to marketing. I’m no expert and most people that run their own small businesses aren’t experts at marketing either. It is about trying new things and sticking with tactics that work. More than anything, marketing is just as much about meeting your clients’ needs as the actual services that you provide.

Notes:

  1. I first developed my personal BLH logo at that time. Back to article
  2. About the money: Prior to any engagement, a fixed fee price was negotiated and established. Neither the client nor the musicians ever arrived at a gig with false expectations about the cost. I was always paid on time, and never extended credit. Although we generally based our price on an hourly amount (as high as $100 per hour per musician), the price was fixed and predetermined. Back to article

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