Final post

This is my final post here, I've now moved on to a better place!

Visit and follow me at www.victoryuen.co.nz.

I'm now the productivity ninja.

Change is coming

I've found my calling!

After months of thought and exploration, I've discovered something that is really a self expression of mine.

It fits my intrinsic drivers, is on the path to my goals and I know I'll be able to make a difference doing it.

The realisation struck me as I was reading a book and it all seems so obvious now. It feels so natural and it's a strength of mine.

I'm working on the website now and I hope to launch it soon. This blog will no longer exist as I amalgamate into the other.

Will let you know what it is soon!

Experiences

I love experiences and I'm particularly fascinated by how businesses create them.

I recently went to a couple of new restaurants, Ortolana and Milse in Britomart.

Amazing. As I walk in the door, I can really get the vision and passion behind it. The attention to detail, the passionate staff and the decor. Copper pans, hand made plates and bowls, beautiful wooden table.

Having those experiences makes me even clearer that's what I want to help create more of.

What sort of marketer am I?

I'm having an identity crisis. I'm trying to label the type of marketer that I am so that I can focus in one area.

I can be a soccer player but you're not just the best soccer player. When you're putting together a team, you're picking the best forward, midfielder and defender. Each position has its special skills and training.

The first problem I have is that marketing disciplines aren't really that well defined. Digital marketing is all encompassing. Content marketers in theory will also be video marketing and viral marketing. Social media marketers should also be grounded in customer service strategy.

So perhaps I shouldn't be trying to label myself but first look at what I enjoy doing.

There are a few things that really stand out for me when it comes to marketing.

- innovating and standing out
- building relationships
- creating memorable experiences
- being creative
- creating experiences that involve all the senses
- building brands
- delighting people and putting smiles on faces

What I don't enjoy is:

- repetitive marketing strategies (me too strategies)
- marketing that's solely focused on capturing leads and sales (rather than building communities and delighting customers)
- old fashioned mass advertising vs smart marketing

Perhaps I want to be an experiential marketer? That shoe seems to fit the best so far.

What do I blog about?

It's a question I ask remarkably often. It's funny, it's not the lack of ideas that stops me from writing but quite the opposite.

There are so many ideas that I don't know where to start. I've created this blog as an expression of my ideas and thoughts but it'll also serve to develop my personal brand.

But what do I want my brand to say? I've been blogging about marketing and I've talked about entrepreneurship. I've also thought about blogging about icecream and cars. Regardless of what it is, it's important that it's something I'm passionate about.

For now, I'm going to keep writing and expressing my ideas. This very process of getting it down is helping out. Just keep writing!

Customer Service - Who knew it could be so exciting?

I've been reading an absolutely fantastic book.

It's called "What's the Secret?" by John DiJulius. I've read a lot of books recently and I must say this is right up the top so far.

It's all about customer service and what it means to a business. He's written about the topic so clearly and so practically that it's a must read for anyone that's in business - especially one that deals with the consumer.

Customer service doesn't get the attention it deserves. It has the power to completely cripple your business or send you flying head and shoulders above your competition. In practice, it can be completely free yet yield you the best return out of any marketing activity.

Based on his research, John DiJulius states that 79% of companies reach a customer service level of average at best. 18% are above average and only 3% are excellent.

It's hard to impress a customer that expects and consistently receive excellent customer service but given those statistics. You don't really need to do much extra to impress...

Social media - where do we find the time?

It's the way things are heading. That's what a lot of experts are saying and I don't disagree.

Facebook's graph search is going to be a very valuable new service and I'm looking forward to giving it a go. If you don't know about it already, it'll allow to do a search such as "pizza restaurants that my friends in Auckland like" using information already captured in Facebook.

This is an important development, one that Google isn't currently capable of providing. It draws on social information to help you make choices that are already validated by your friends.

As our online world becomes more social, that's where we must direct our attention and therein lies my dilemma. There's so much opportunity to network, to start building a profile for myself as a marketer but how do we fit it all in?


A little at a time. Right now, I keep mindful of this blog at the back of my mind and I make sure I post regularly. It takes discipline and when I get started, it takes a surprisingly short amount of time.

I'm taking one step at a time, forming a habit. I think of it like an investment.

Open chat with your customers, why not?

I had a thought just now. We're trying to get to the most vocal of our customer base. The ones that are sure to post on their social media and tell all their friend when they have a bad experience with a brand. Conversely, impress them and you'll get their praises then.

Well, how do we pick these people out and engage with them?

What about a live online social media chat with the directors/owners of the company?

What would you ask or suggest to the executive of Z Fuel? What about Jetstar? What about your local bus company?

As a business, what a great opportunity to take feedback, capture contact details and update on initiatives born out of these discussions.

We're always trying to find the best value proposition to the customer. What are their wants or needs?

Why not let them tell us?

Goldmines in the least likely of places

I would've thought email done to death.

Clearly not for the team that created the Mailbox App. Originally a team that was creating a to do list management app called Orchestra, they pivoted when they found they were doing more for email than they were to do lists.

I've not really had any issue with my email client - Gmail - nor have I had much of an issue with my mobile mail client. I simply use the iOS standard email client and it does what I need.

Mailbox though has somehow managed to carve out a massive user base in an incredibly short amount of time for what seems to be a relatively simple product! They've passed the tipping point and they've got a waiting list that is around 600,000 users long (and they get through around 50,000 users a day it seems).

The point I'm making here is that opportunities are absolutely everywhere. Honestly, I would've never thought that there was an opportunity in ANOTHER mail client.

It looks like they've made some great fundamental usability improvements and kept things simple - a good formula. I'm yet to try it as I'm 422,000ish in line but I'm looking forward to it.

Oh, did I mention that they launched in February this year and they've just sold for an estimated $100 million?

You don't need to look too far to be innovative.

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/03/15/dropbox-buys-mailbox-an-app-with-some-buzz/

http://www.mailboxapp.com/

Appreciating our customers

Gary Vaynerchuk calls it the Thank You Economy.

Years ago, we didn't have cellphones or even television or radio. The growth of a business was dependent on the locals. Word of mouth was the way things were spread and you had to look after each and every one of your customers lest you drop the ball and the whole neighborhood finds out about it.

Then came the Industrial Age. Mass production spawned mass marketing. Television ruled and the more you spent on interruption marketing the more you sold. Local shops were replaced by multinational corporates. You as a customer were only a number, barely an insect bite on the back of an elephant. Customer service came out second best.

Today, we have social media. Power has come full circle and we find ourselves as the consumers, once again with power. Blogs, YouTube, social media can turn a customer service blunder into viral news or the next meme. Businesses once again have to put their attention on customer service.

It's great for both sides really. Customers get the service and respect they deserve and businesses can now stand out not on mass production and prices but rather because of good fundamentals such as service, quality and value.

If you're a business owner, make sure you're moving with the times. Don't get caught out.

Reader comments affect your interpretation

Check this out: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/03/opinion/sunday/this-story-stinks.html?_r=1&

Psychology is a crazy wee beast. We're beginning to understand more and more of it on a scientific level but when it comes to a more practical level, we have no idea.

Who would have thought that some stranger's comments on your blog post or article would affect the way that reader interprets that post or article.

I always used to think that little things don't really make a difference. You know, leaving out a sentence or including a sentence in an email. The colours we choose on a website. The size of the logo you put on your business card.

Now I'm sweating the little things. It's not about stressing out and worrying about every little thing but rather avoiding leaving things out/taking shortcuts just because I don't think 'they'll' notice. In fact, they may not even notice but that doesn't mean it doesn't have an impact.

Turn that radio off.

In this day and age, it's so easy for us to keep occupied (or distracted).

Waiting is almost synonymous with checking your emails, Facebook or playing a game. With the advent of smartphones, we're now almost always connected to the world - plugged in.

I've noticed this for myself. Whenever I'm sitting down for a meal on my own I turn on YouTube or when I'm waiting for something I grab my phone. When I'm in the car I've got the radio on. There's always something occupying my attention.

It's not a surprise then that a lot of my best ideas come when I'm having a shower. I'm not occupied, it's an automated action now and my brain is free to create.

There's a lot of brain time that could be put to better use.

People say to me, "there's no way I could drive the two hours you do everyday in Auckland traffic". It's not a problem for me. I turn the radio off, sit in traffic and I get two hours a day of thinking time. I actually think it's a great use of my time!

I've taken on catching myself when I feel the urge to distract myself. It's actually amazing how attached I am to having the radio on. My brain must be a scary place.

So when I catch myself, I ask the question, "is this how I want to use my attention?"

The honeymoon is over...

At least it is for me. I just had mine just over a week ago and man it was fantastic. If you haven't spent much time up in Northland, make sure you do it!

There's a honeymoon period for ideas/concepts as well (how's that for a segue?).

Halo is a great example. I bought it when it first came out and I read all the books that went with it too. I've watched the fan videos, I've watched the short films. What a massively successful franchise however its honeymoon period is over.

When it first came out, it was the bees knees. I bought my first Xbox so I could play that game. It was the rage in FPS. Amazing graphics, groundbreaking AI, cinematic storytelling. It had it all.

These days, it's just another game except to the die hard fans. The anticipation has disappeared and it's not surprising considering the series has spanned almost 12 years.

The problem that the Halo series faces is that it's now built on old gameplay and old ideas. Stay the same and it doesn't compete with the likes of Call of Duty... or make innovations incrementally and lose your loyal fanbase.

The only choice is to change altogether or make a big leap in innovation. You'll get a far better return on your efforts. Bond is a great example, just compare the new Daniel Craig to the old Bonds decades past.

And an example in the other direction is the Die Hard series. I've heard the new movie is rubbish (which actually brought about this blog post). The reviews agree. Old formula, decades old. Fond memories but it's time to leave them at that.

Gamification

I love the concept of gamification.

Gamification is the act of introducing 'game principles' into a product, business or service. Primarily, gamification is used for maximising engagement. Whether it's having people come back over and over again or fulfilling on a business or marketing objective.

Games are incredibly engaging and it's possible to break down the elements of why that is. Fulfilling an objective, completing a mission, breaking a high score - all incredibly satisfying to the human being. They give us a sense of purpose and achievement and they augment our social needs in the multiplayer side of things.

We can take these particular elements and implement them in our own business practices.

Here's a great example.

LinkedIn. It's not usually that fun to put in all your details in the profile. After all, you've probably done it for numerous other forums, social media or even your CV. It's time consuming and a pain, often you just want to browse other people's profiles.

To increase the completeness of a person's profile (thereby increasing the value of their service), they introduced a progress bar. How many % complete is your profile. It's simple yet extremely effective. That little bar in the corner compels you to finish your profile so you can achieve 100%.

Another one that everybody can get, pedometers. The idea of walking every day can be off putting but introduce the idea of counting your steps and competing against other teams makes it fun. In fact, when I did it, I went from not walking much at all to doing a 2 hour walk home one night just so I could get a higher "score".

Then of course, you've got the obvious one of loyalty points. Spend money, collect points. For me, if they added a few more elements to it, it'd be even more engaging. Comparing your points collected against other people for example.

Bringing this to your own business is easy. Look at the engaging/addictive elements in games, especially simple ones and apply that to your business.

Hasn't Air New Zealand done well?

And aren't we proud as a nation!

Air New Zealand from out of money to one of the top airlines in the world in a seemingly short period of time.

In fact, it was just over 10 years ago that Air New Zealand was bailed out by the government for just under $1b. Rob Fyfe joined the team as CEO in 2005, 7 years ago.

I always think that the company culture starts from the top. If you go to a business and you find that the team are friendly, passionate and hard workers, you'll always find the leaders of that business proactive and lead by example.

Rob Fyfe says in an interview he was a bit of a shy guy when he first started at AirNZ but talks about some of the outrageous things he did. That includes abseiling off their offices to encourage people to use the stairs and getting filmed running nude down a plane aisle for the nothing to hide adverts.

To me, that's an example of who he was and that makes a big difference to the culture and attitude of the company. Being a leader that isn't afraid to get embarrassed, or rather is afraid and does it anyway gains respect and inspires.

As business leaders, we need to lead by example. Be okay with going out on the skinny branches and risk getting hurt. If we don't do it, our team won't.

When you've got a company that's passionate, inspired and all working towards something they care about. Now that's something to behold.

Leadership, not management is one of the key pieces there.

So much information, too little time

We have so much information at our fingertips now. All the time we're being bombarded.

In the past, we didn't have smart phones. We didn't have YouTube. We didn't have Facebook.

News and information was harder to come by so we were more willing to listen when something was put in front of us.

Nowadays, we're extremely fast to dismiss, to filter out information. We make snap judgements. I delete emails before I read them.

That means first impressions are even more important. We need to catch people's attention and then hold on to it.

That means creating content that provides value and continue creating content that people want.

We can increase our appeal by targeting specific groups or tribes. We get into their shoes and understand what interests them.

If you're creating common low value content you may as well not bother. Don't waste the space or time.

The power of our body language

Our body language has an impact on our success in lives. Not just outwardly, but inwardly as well.

Confident people always seem to do well at life - here's an insight into why: http://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are.html

Somebody that has a confident body language, a power pose, is actually psychologically more setup for success. It becomes a self fulfilling cycle.

At first, it'll take a bit of practice or "faking it" as Amy says in the video but before we know it, we've got momentum and we self reinforce. We start knowing that we're successful. It's also the case in the opposite direction. Close up, and we'll grow momentum in the other direction.

Knowing.

The brain has an amazing ability to make things happen for us.

There are certain people that always succeed in their field and they know it.

For example, Donald Trump has been bankrupt numerous time but he's always made his money back. Sebastien Loeb wins the world rally championship time and time again.

But there's those people closer to home as well. Those ones for which everything they touch always seems to turn to gold.

I thought about this and there's something they have in common and that's the confidence they have. In fact, it's like the success is inevitable to them.

The other day I had a realisation and I linked multiple disciplines together into what I call "knowing".

These successful people know they're going to be successful in what they're doing. We see it as confidence, maybe even cockiness in some instances. There's no doubt in their minds.

Kerry Spackman calls it an Unshakeable Belief. Then there's "The Secret". Derren Brown demonstrates this when he gets money from losing betting tickets (YouTube him). We've seen the effects of it in the Placebo effect where knowing something that may not even be real has a profound effect.

When the brain doesn't doubt itself, when we know that something is going to happen, our brain makes it happen. It gives us the actions and thoughts (both conscious and unconscious) to ensure what we know is fulfilled. The placebo effect is the best demonstration of this.

To get to this point, we can't just trick our brain into knowing. After all, we can't trick ourselves.

There are ways of getting us to this point of knowing. If we gather enough evidence that something will happen, our brain will switch over into knowing.

We can use visualisation. We can create an environment of people that anticipate our success. We can have mentors that believe in us.

In a nutshell, we're gathering and creating more and more evidence until we just know our success is inevitable.

With all this in mind, the flipside is true. Doubting ourself is just knowing about our potential (likely) failure. Our brain will make that happen too.

Whichever way we go, there's also momentum built. The more successful we are, the more we know we'll be even more successful. The more we doubt and fail, the more we doubt and so the cycle continues.

So the place to start is to notice our doubt, break the cycle and start creating the evidence for our success. Bit by bit.

Something in common

I've been intrigued by how strangers meet each other in the street.

In modern day society with technology and our fast paced lives, there's often a good excuse not to talk to the stranger next to you. Sometimes though, you never know who you might meet just by saying hi as you stand in line waiting for your coffee and you don't know the difference you might just make.

On our street, my wife and I are the street contacts and we love knowing our neighbours. It makes our community feel so much more secure and we really appreciate where we live a lot more.

Now can you imagine if that was the case in larger communities? Perhaps the office building you work in? Perhaps the whole block? What if you got to know all the people that you see at the cafe where you get your lunch?

Just imagine what would happen to a city. The effect can really be seen in rural townships and everybody is always seem more friendly and welcoming when you go to those places.

In bringing strangers together, having something in common helps. The more significant and the more confident you are in that you have something in common with the other person, the easier it is. Take the rugby world cup and Christchurch earthquake as examples.

For that matter, take puppies for example too. You have in common the love for the puppy and it's something that's not uncertain. That's why everyone says it's a great way to meet people.

So the question is, how do we create something in common between strangers within a community to strengthen it?

My life is exactly the way it should be.

From time to time I read those articles about these extraordinary entrepreneurs. Those that made their millions in their early twenties or even their teens. Those that seem to have that drive, motivation, talent and "luck" to get where I want to be.

I think about this and I look at where I am and think, man I'm falling behind. I'm not going to be able to achieve those results and when I do, so much of my life would have passed already. I would have wasted so much time.

And it's about that time that I snap myself out of it. Crazy thoughts that I use to tell myself I'm not good enough so why bother trying.

It's noticing these thoughts that really gives me an opportunity to do something different. To say something different about how my life has gone. If I look at it, it's going incredibly well. I don't have the same work ethic that some entrepreneurs have but I tell you what, all the time I don't spend working I spend enjoying with my amazing wife or my friends. It makes me thankful that I don't have that sort of drive.

I'll get there. I'll just get there my way and in my timeframe. And whatever way or timeframe... that'll be exactly the way it happens.

The senses - an intrinsic driver?

I've just been going through some of my intrinsic drivers and I had always thought that experiences were deeply important to me.

What wasn't immediately clear for me was what about experiences was a driver for me. After all, there are many different experiences to be had.

As I asked myself the question, I looked at my passion for cars and what is it about the experience of driving a car that drives me. What I discovered was the stimulation of my senses. The obvious ones, visual and auditory. But the ones of touch and smell play a big part too.

This is a great realisation for me as breaking this driver down allows me to apply it more readily in my goals and decision making. Do more stuff that involves me senses!

As I go through this process of understanding myself, it's like illuminating the path that's going to give me the most fulfillment in life.