by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Apr 29, 2014 | Communication, Content Marketing, Guest Blogger
Let’s Rebel Against Boring
“I fell asleep reading a dull book and dreamed I kept on reading, so I awoke from sheer boredom.”
I’d like to start this post by sharing one of my greatest fears in my role as a video producer and content developer. Are you ready?
To have my content be boring…
You Know…
Dull, uninteresting, flat, humdrum, dull, stale, uninspiring, or just plain…
BLAH!!!!!
I’m hoping that’s not you.
However, the fact is that the web is full of an ample supply of boring crap interrupting our lives on a daily basis.
Plenty of it comes from businesses in the form of advertising or other repetitious marketing humdrum.
I hope you agree that it’s time to write a new script when it comes to business communications. Our customers want more. They expect it.
Therefore…
The single most daunting challenge of every content creator, be it a video producer, web developer, blog author, newsletter designer, social media manager or for that matter any business, is to be memorable, to create a memorable event.
…So memorable in fact that your content actually makes a difference to another person. You help solve a problem, fill a need, or inspire change.
You rock someone’s world!
Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore, authors of the best selling book, The Experience Economy, call memorable events that ENGAGE people in an inherently personal way, EXPERIENCES.
In this article I’ll share some thinking on how to use some principles of experiences and experience design to create more engaging digital communications.
Let’s begin.
Recently I was attracted to a communications effort that was the opposite of boring- one that I would define as engaging and memorable.
Here are some background details.
I began pursuing this new business-learning program a couple of months ago. The media in the program includes 8 podcast (audio recording) and a corresponding transcript.
The business series is about transforming a business into a media company as a component of a new type of marketing strategy. The theme is ‘Media not Marketing.’
How engaging is this new content?
I look forward to new weekly episodes and at times have even been excited when announcements arrived in my Inbox. OK … You might be thinking…Bill needs to get a life. After all, podcast and webinars are a dime a dozen. Snooooze City… Right?
But really… when’s the last time you were looking forward to an e-mail announcing another episode of business content, that seemed to talk directly to you and your needs.
There’s a lesson here. Let’s explore in greater detail.
But first, it might be helpful if I put this experience thing into some context for you.
Another words, why the heck is a video producer writing a blog post connecting experiences to business communication.
My Big Find
My journey into the world of experiences began 10 years ago after re-defining the work I do as a video storyteller, as creating experiences.
My interest in the concept peaked after discovering and reading a book called ‘The Experience Economy-Work is Theatre & Every Business a Stage’, and a trip into the Mountains of Colorado for the annual 3-day gathering (conference) of ‘Experience Economy’ practitioners and evangelist.
The journey has been on going since that first book and conference ten years ago. I’ve practically lived and breathed experiences and business experience design.
My big find is the discovery that EXPERIENCES have become the center of the new business landscape and the critical component needed for business differentiation.
Applying an experience perspective to the development of your digital content can be a game changer for your communications initiatives. It will energize the creation process and help create memorable digital experiences, not more boring and meaningless noise.
Let’s get back to that engaging new program that has me captivated.
Drum roll please…
The name of the program is “New Rainmaker” from Copyblogger Media, LLC.
I’ll apply a few experience design principles to it, that hopefully will help you start re-thinking the process content creation.
Concept One: Language is Important-An Experience vs. Content
The language you use in defining goals and their specific business outcomes can have a dramatic impact on a project’s success. My mind goes to a very different place when I think about designing a compelling experience versus writing a newsletter, producing a video or writing a blog post.
The word experience suggests, for me anyway, something more significant, memorable and worth sharing. It moves the bar in terms of imagining what’s possible.
New Rainmaker is an engaging experience because the program’s producers Brian Clark (The show’s star) and Robert Bruce (co-star) explore new ways, and challenge each other, to be different. In one their ‘behind the scenes’ episodes, they openly discuss a strategy of using storytelling, theatre, and drama to make their show distinct.
Have you ever thought of your work as theatre or drama – your business as a stage?
Concept Two: Great Experiences are Intentionally Designed
Robert and Bruce revealed in their episodes that they devoted 6 months planning the design and release of New Rainmaker. One of their activities during the planning phase included research on current business models and mediums being used by others in the same space. (Competition)
Concept Three: Distinctive Experiences Include Elements from 4 Experiential Realms
The most engaging experiences draw from these four realms.
1. Educational – to learn
2. Entertainiment – to have fun…. to enjoy
3. Escapist – to do…to draw in further… to transport guest emotionally
4. Esthetic- to be… to make your guest want to come in and just hang out…an inviting environment
New Rainmaker emphasizes the educational realm but is more engaging because of the entertainment value that is delivered by the production value designed into the learning experience. Each episode is scripted and background music edited into the production evoking an emotion of suspense to each learning episode. Productions are sprinkled with humor, which helps make the learning more enjoyable.
The overall experience is enhanced as it draws from the Escapist Realm.
Brian Clark accomplishes this through the effective use of storytelling. Most notably, he shares some personal stories that help build trust with his audience.
Often during the 8 episodes, you lose the sense and feeling that you’re listening to a business presentation in front of a computer, to a feeling that you’re in the front row of a theatre. Great storytelling transports people emotionally.
Finally, there is a touch of the Esthetic Realm mixed into New Rainmaker. Clark and Bruce deliver a radio like performance in a conversational and personal manner. Their down to earth style and transparency is inviting and makes you want to hang out and listen awhile longer.
Let me leave you with a final thought and question.
Maybe, business super thinker Tom Peters sums up the importance of business experiences best, in one of his ‘Essentials Book Series called Design.
“We must understand that experience is a very big word, with far reaching implications, but it is nothing short of the basis for a totally re-imagined organizational life form.”
Are your digital communications defined, fresh, immersive, accessible, significant and transformative?
Let’s rebel against boring communications !
Guest Author:
William Gibeault of Story Mavericks
Rock your customers- Grow your business
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by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Apr 24, 2014 | Organization, Productivity, Time Management
How many times have you thought that you need more hours in your day or an extra pair of hands? You know the feeling, looking at your desk, your calendar, your Smartphone, your inbox…. Ugh, it is overflowing with things that need your attention. You can’t torch it. You can’t ignore it, but you can implement a few systems and processes to help you better manage the overwhelm and chaos, moving you to increase your productivity.
For every minute spent organizing, an hour is earned. – Anonymous
The Notorious To Do list
The first step toward success is to be cognizant of the level of disturbances which you allow into your day. It could revolve around the daily notifications you receive regarding text messages, emails, news alerts, phone calls or any other immediate interruption that diverts your focus from the task at hand.
- Are you able to turn off or lower the volume of the notifications?
- Can you schedule 3-4 times throughout the day to review/respond to emails?
- Do you need to respond immediately to each byte of data that crosses your desk or your Smartphone?
Tips
- Prioritize and set deadlines.
- Know which projects require the most time and your undivided attention.
- Create your boundaries for working hours and “publicize” them.
- Tune out distractions.
- Stay on task.
Is Your Inbox Abundant with Clutter?
In 2011, it is estimated that there were 3.146 billion email accounts and 2.8 million emails sent and received every day. Wow!
Email has become the most predominant mode of office communications whether it is a quick hello or dissemination of corporate materials, contracts, projects and data. It is a necessity that we cannot live without.
Some inboxes can look like a nightmare of messages and To Dos if not properly maintained or left unchecked for an extended period of time. We are all busy working and managing the flow of information and business operations that it can just become an inconvenience to take the time to delete, file, schedule or otherwise take some form of action with each email. If you continually shy away from inbox management, it not only becomes unruly like a bad hair day, but it fosters a lack of productivity and organization. Who can afford that?
Have you ever spent wasted minutes or hours feverishly searching for an email that contains an important document? It becomes a frustrating unproductive endeavor that is a gross misuse of your valuable time AND time is money.
PING!! A new email is awaiting your attention.
- Schedule time to check your email at various intervals
- Make sure you have appropriate folders and filters for filing.
- Is it urgent?
- Can it be completed in 2-3 mins?
- Can you flag it to read later?
- Have you set up rules/alerts
- Delete it if it isn’t necessary and won’t add any value.
- If there is an attachment, download it and save it in the appropriate document folder
- Forward it with instructions to your virtual assistant
- If it is an appointment, drag it to your calendar
- Have separate email addresses for personal and business use
My Documents
You are inundated with digital paper that requires action and filing. Creating folders is a simple task to ensure your documents are organized and easily found. It can prove very time consuming if you have to scroll through one larger receptacle looking for a needed document. Sure, you can do a broad search but when proper file management is established, you can save a great deal of time and aggravation. Let your digital filing system mirror a physical filing system.
Tips:
- Create folders and sub-folders
- Use short names
- Be diligent about filing
- Separate current and completed works
- Archive older, unneeded documents – store in a separate folder, USB or cloud storage
- Create shortcuts or links to documents you use more consistently. Maintaining a single copy ensures you are always using the most current version.
- Delete unnecessary files
- Create shortcuts of your most used documents and save them on your desktop.
- If you routinely share documents with a group, consider using Google Docs, Teambox, Dropbox or another online sharing tool for collaborating.
- Save your data and make sure you always back up your computer
Taking the time to organize and streamline your office operations, even if it is just your email and documents, will help to increase your efficiency and productivity – which saves you time and money. The less time you must spend rummaging through folders and emails, the more time you have to devote to the your vital business operations and daily procedures.
Have a time and place for everything, and do everything in its time and place, and you will not only accomplish more, but have far more leisure than those who are always hurrying. – Tryon Edwards
Make organization a habit, not a one hit wonder. Get into a rhythm everyday and stick with it, just like you would with any lifestyle habit.
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Apr 22, 2014 | Delegation, Entrepreneur, Small Business
Entrepreneur, solo-preneur, small business owner; while each comes with its own clarifying distinctions, one quality remains significant, the opportunities to build and scale your business are better performed with a team.
Your team is available to listen, brainstorm, collaborate, build, generate, troubleshoot or otherwise help you to achieve your dreams a little faster than if you remain a single entity.
“As the business owner, your time is extremely valuable, and you should be focusing on the items that only you can do! If you have the resources, consider hiring a virtual assistant to take care of these administrative tasks that are holding you back”. Brett Relander
Scale Your Business Beyond Yourself with Jason T. Wiser and Rebekah Radice highlights the benefits and value of partnering with a virtual assistant to effectively grow and manage your business.
This isn’t anything new to you, nor is it rocket science. Partnering with a virtual assistant is a simple solution to enable you to expand your company more cost effectively than hiring an in-house team. Where else can you find an entrepreneurial spirit that doesn’t cost you insurances, benefits, office space, training, taxes or supplies? Think of how much that alone will save you on a yearly basis.
However, the world has changed, you don’t need to hire a regular full-time or part-time employee. You can leverage a virtual assistant (VA) for a fraction of the cost. Time Management Ninja
You only have so much time in your day; when you leverage the power and expertise of a virtual assistant, you have just added more hours to work ON your business. More hours to engage with your audience, clients and prospects. Toss the tedious and time consuming to do more of the work you love. The real core and guts of your company.
You can’t do everything that you need to do on your own. It’s impossible. There are not enough hours in a day. And as a business owner, your main focus should be on your clients and customers, how to obtain more of them and networking so you have a growing list of leads to nurture and eventually convert to future clients and customers. M. Shannon Hernandez
Why fill your day with menial administrative and day to day operations that gnaw on your precious time? If it doesn’t produce revenue, consider delegating it.
Can you afford to be buried in;
- Social media management
- Content curation
- Scheduling posts
- Editing and proofing your blog
- Optimizing blog posts
- Drafting content
- Calendaring and appointments
- E-newsletters
- Brand monitoring
- WordPress updates
- Image search/creation
- Daily business management
These are just 12 of the necessary business “nuisances” that you may be doing on your own but don’t generate any income for you. So could they actually undermine your hard work and efforts?
Consider this, each time you are involved in one of these tasks, how many times do you encounter some sort of distraction or roadblock? Are you sidetracked? Does something else come up, like a software or tech issue, and you end up spending even more time on the project which means less time ON your business, building relationships and speaking with clients?
Honestly! Is this the MOST productive use of your time?
In a recent online survey of more than 460 small business owners, proprietors and CEOs, 63% said that they spend 1-5 hours on social media every week. The rest are spending much more, with some business owners spending 21+ hours a week on social media alone – that’s HALF of the normal working week – how are they getting anything else done? Chris Ducker.
Ready! Set! GROW!
Let’s hear your thoughts on building a remote team and taking your business to the next level.
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Apr 17, 2014 | Entrepreneur, Productivity, Small Business, Time Management
Entrepreneurs are always strapped for time! You need more. Want more. Gotta have it but you need to realize the value of your time and how to best use every second, all 86,400 of them.
You can learn to maximize your productivity and feel like a rock star. I’m not talking about just being busy as that isn’t efficient. There is a difference between just using up some time, watching the hours tick by, and truly cranking out some real work that has an impact.
There’s always plenty of tips and tools you can enlist but it really comes down to you and what you are willing to do to best leverage your time, output and true success.
It is a choice. Everyone has the exact same amount of time in their day so it is about how you invest in it. Invest in you.
Achieve your goals and master your To Do list and projects for your greatest accomplishments or merely float through the day, kinda hoping things magically get done. Don’t operate your business like it’s in Disney Land.
You all need some downtime, nap time, and some time, BUT, don’t expect to realize winning results without a plan, focus, and dedication. It just doesn’t happen. Simple as that.
Victory comes at a cost.
Pay it or concede.
Productivity Simplicity
- Determine what is most important: in your day, in your life, in your business. That’s what you need to be doing.
- Make a plan: to achieve these important tasks and milestones. List out action steps.
- Priorities: have them. Understand them. Commit to them.
- Allow time for diversions: it always happens. A sink hole or you are somehow sidetracked but with proper planning, you are prepared.
- Set realistic timelines: if you don’t, you may be scrambling and only half finishing your lists or not putting in 100%. If you can’t give it your all, then it is half ass. Do you want that??
- Tick tock: don’t be ruled by the clock. It doesn’t tell you if you are being more efficient and productive. Your output does. 9-5 doesn’t mean anything if you are just “busy.”
- Create your goals: this helps to keep you on target daily, weekly, monthly. Revisit your list and revise as needed.
- Eliminate your distractions: there is nothing worse than the ping of a notification, TV, phone, etc that will detract your focus. Tune out and turn off. It’s okay. You won’t lose anything but you have everything to gain. Be in the moment and nowhere else.
- Don’t multi-task: it really does impede your productivity, decrease your brainpower, and limits your true attention to get one thing right. Put the emphasis on one project, one task at a time.
- Ask yourself, “how or does this serve my goals?” If something doesn’t really serve you, then STOP!
- Be accountable: yes, your day and how you manage your time is up to you. Own it. Do it.
- Timers: they work! Set a timer for 30 minutes that you will devote to the time on task. Don’t stop. Don’t stray. Just do it. At the end of those 30, take a 5-minute break and then hit it again.
- Break the chains: don’t be a prisoner to your email. Check it at set intervals.
- Review time: every night, review your day, and set your goals/action steps for the following day.
- Sing ME ME: yes, you must give back to yourself and establish a healthy work-life balance. Schedule in a time that is away from work; away from must do’s and have some fun. Refresh and refocus. Your brain needs it.
Michael LeBoeuf: “Waste your money and you’re only out of money, but waste your time and you’ve lost a part of your life.”
There are posts every day about what the most productive people do, 5 minutes to increase your productivity, how the top 10 entrepreneurs get things done, 30-second productivity boost; the list is endless but no matter what the post suggests, it is up to you to find and implement the tips and tools that you will use. The ones that resonate the most to help you increase your efficiency, work-life balance, time management, and productivity. Unless you are ready for a change, to kick it up to rock star status, then all of the recommendations are worthless.
You choose the productivity hacks that work for YOU.
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Apr 15, 2014 | Entrepreneur, Marketing, Small Business, Social Media
As you have read countless times, social media is about relationship marketing, engagement and making authentic connections. Real-time conversations with real people, doing and wanting real things. Your audience is not a conveyer belt digesting your content. They want and need genuine dialog and interactions.
Yes, it is all extremely time-consuming; eating many hours of your day, but with a mix of “healthy” automation and personal engagement, you can feel the success of this medium.
I am not against automation; however, when you choose to merely schedule all of your posts, without any time for personal communications, you are missing out on tremendous opportunities to meet and network with your global community. I love automation tools for content search and scheduling posts because they help save a lot of time and energy, which there is so little of. Populating your content ahead of time frees up your hours for the “social” in media.
With proper use of social media automation, you can make your time spent on your social media online marketing as productive and profitable as possible. business.com blog
Don’t set it and forget it.
Auto DMs? I can say they are a pet peeve of mine. We just met seconds ago and knowing nothing, you are asking me to click on a link, buy something, join you on a different network or download your product? It’s not going to happen. I had one follower who offered me a free massage when I purchase five, but I highly doubt flying to California is a viable option. If you choose to send a DM to welcome a new follower, then make it personal not robotic. You may get unfollowed.
You are a social being, act like it. Think about your behavior and mannerisms at a cocktail party or networking event. Do you shake hands, immediately hand out your business card and ask for the sale? I don’t think so.
- You ENGAGE in conversation.
- You ask questions.
- You share valuable information.
- You exchange in mutual dialog.
Practice the same online.
Take the time to get to know your followers, their interests, their pain points, their passions…. Human beings enjoy real conversations versus sterile robotic machines.
Review your Twitter stream. Is it just links and tweets or do you engage? Sure, automate some content, but keep it real. Reply to tweets and retweets. Share the love of your follower’s content. Review profiles and websites – discuss them, ask questions.
What does your Facebook page look like? When someone likes or replies to your post, don’t ignore it. They took the time to comment. They are interested in your page. Respond. People love to talk to people, to their favorite brands and pages; stand out from those who don’t engage. Be the brand that you want to buy from.
Whatever various platforms you choose to deploy, humanize your networking with real interactions.
Simple as that.
Have a presence.
Be remarkable and continue to nurture your audience with rich dialog and connections.
Social Automation Tips
- Evaluate your needs and goals to pick a tool that works best for you. Examples: Buffer, Do Share, Hootsuite, IFTTT, Zapier
- Understand when to automate and when to engage.
- Monitor your tools and automated posts.
- Automate your RSS feeds as well as those in your network.
- Schedule non-urgent posts like favorite quotes and tips.
- Don’t schedule the exact same content across all of your platforms. Keep it fresh.
- Don’t overschedule and drown your audience. Too much of anything is a bad thing.
- Update your channels daily with current news and trends. Mix it up a bit.
Once all of that is done, you will have saved yourself a few hours to engage with your audience, creating deeper connections and meaningful relationships.
Social automation is a great time-saver but don’t overdo it. You’ve got real people enjoying real conversations, with real needs. Exceed their expectations.
Be SOCIAL. Don’t do social.
Bring human resources to the table where the opportunity for real social media engagement exists, and use computers to make all else more efficient. Just be sure the quality meets high standards and builds audience. Adam Stetzer
