On May 26th, 2011 Mark Bandte wrote:
So I've recently noticed that there are some cool, cool companies out there, who seem a little bit afraid to acknowledge just how awesome they really are - and I think that it's a bit of a shame. Of course there are some positive aspects of keeping things low-key, depending on who you are and what your target is; for example if you want to be a bit more underground and exclusive, but hey - isn't it more about attracting like-minded people to your brand? And yes, there is a line between knowing how awesome you are and being arrogant, which is why humility is so important. But how can you know that you are awesome and still be humble?
By knowing yourself, and knowing what you want. By knowing how people perceive you, and by stepping out of the subjective and being able to see yourself from the outside. It's kinda like before you go out in the city and you look at yourself in the mirror and you say 'I'm ready. I look good. (well, as good as you can be anyways)' But it's also about being present in those places that YOU think are awesome. By being proactive in those places, and by getting inspired by others' awesomeness.
Someone said to me at SMCCPH (about personal branding) yesterday that by being present and proactive in awesome places makes you feel cooler, because in a way it makes you feel like you're a part of the cool-kids-crew. This is definitely true, but it's there more than ever that you need to reign in that arrogance. Because you aren't doing anything awesome to be a 'part of the crew'. You're just tagging along for the ride, which means that that 'cool feeling' you're getting is empty. Doing what my partner, Henriette says as 'Doing Epic Shit' is not about shouting to the skies about how cool you are, but it IS ok to realize your awesomeness.
But you know what? It really is ok say 'You know what? I AM awesome. WE are awesome. Love us!!' You can either walk into a room (or onto the web for that matter) and be present, engaging and interested in people, or you can stand against the wall and hope that you'll get noticed - and think about it: what's the worst thing that can happen? That someone won't notice how cool you are? So what?! That just means that that person/client/partner isn't right for what you want to achieve. Move on, and don't take it personally. Whoever it is that doesn't notice you isn't going to think 2 seconds about you after you walk away.
In the end, I think it's not about doing what you think is cool, or being more like someone else, but about being You x 2. I mean...You + You = even more you, which is awesome!
Peace, Love & Heavy,
Mark William
[personal, branding, awesome, arrogant, cool, being, yourself]
[2 comments]
It's starting to occur to me more and more. People who puts you on a newsletter list or a PR list because they think you would want to be there. Because they think you would see their spam as relevant or valuable. Without you signing up and you might not even know the person who's writing you.
I would, at any day, if it was someone I knew and who adressed me individually, because they thought it was relevant for me, take a look at it and reply back. I think it's kind for people to actually think of me and think, OH that might be relevant for her. At other times it really isn't the case. At other times it's people who don't know you - who found you on the internet and actually added you to a list because they want to sell stuff to you.
If that happens I get pretty pissed and I point it out to them. First of all it's kind of illegal and second of all it undermines my personal work. It really does - I publish e-books and books and all these things, to, amongst other things, get people to sign up to the henriette weber or the toothless tiger newsletter (as well as extending these two brands. Spamming people like that, is a shortcut that I don't like at all- because if I could just add random people to my newsletter - then my work with getting you to signup wouldn't be worth the effort.
Actually Im writing this blogpost because it happened to me today, as it has a lot in the past, and now I will link to this post everytime somebody is so stupid to send me spam/ a newsletter i didn't sign up for.
So - enough about pissed me - what does it actually do for your business to treat people like this ?
it's makes you look damn stupid and I bet it doesn't give you one single sell.
Today the particular thing - and something that is somewhat hilarious - was that it was spam to promote social media in the publishing industry - to sell. I mean honestly, you wouldn't need social media if you add people to your newsletter like that, because people wouldn't like you because your not doing anything good.
So in a way it's a very uncreative loose-loose, for you people who decides to take the short road - and burn a lot of bridges on your way.
[newsletter, branding, stupid]
[3 comments]
I was so lucky that I got an official blogger pass for the Le Web conference in Paris last week (this was due to my english blog on henrietteweber.com, and the two danish blogs I run on erhvervsbladet.dk (about social business) and on amino.dk (about social media)). Its the second time I went to Le Web, first time was in 2005 when it was called "les blogs 2". les blogs 2 wasn't as well-planned or as focused as Le Web this time around - so it was awesome to see that not only was it a great conference, but it had the perfect mix of "all things web" panels, social media, social marketing, branding, experts, startups, creativity, showroom and other great stuff. We're sending out a newsletter tomorrow with more of the tendencies that are happening down there, and let me just say that it's not small things. We are totally convinced about what direction we are heading in as a society, as businessworld and as Toothless Tiger. But at Le Web we learned:
1. That there's no room for weak messages anymore
2. How to do a pitch to Marissa Mayer
3. Thinking big is the way ahead
4. That everytime someone asks us what the ROI of social media is, we say "well naturellement - it's the same as the ROI of your mother".. (see the video of the Gary Vaynerchuk Q&A to see what we/he means)
5. That the carindustry is being revolutionized
6. That you, in particular need to go to Le Web if you are a startup.
7. That working in this field ROCKS
8. A lot of other cool stuff and last but not least:
9. That snow basically shuts all of Paris down
[leweb, leweb10, blogging, social marketing, branding, social media, tendencies]
[2 comments]