So Here’s Your Challenge

How often have you read a prediction, statement, or about a trend, and began to wonder if it were true?  Sadly, with so many instant experts, pundits, and self-serving gurus, it is sometimes difficult to tell fact from fake news. In this podcast, Randall reviews six tests that can help you improve your signal-to-noise ratio.

Have you ever spent time with some colleagues talking about the good old days? Perhaps wishing that someone you worked with was still part of the team? Or maybe wishing that the old bonus plan was still in place?  

For many of us, Social Media has become ubiquitous: we couldn’t imagine a day without Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube. or TikTok. For many companies, Social Media is at the core of their marketing strategies. But what if the plug was pulled?

The term diversity has become associated with the human rights movement, and lives in the same space with terms such as enforcement, quotas, and affirmative action.  Despite these seemingly negative terms, there is a powerful case for organizations to adopt a positive and proactive approach to diversity.  

With millions of pages written on the subject, presumably there is an answer for every Digital Strategy question that comes up.  Unfortunately, this is not the case – and it’s not Google’s fault.  

Do you look for shortcuts in order to more efficiently reach your goals?  Do you feel jealous when others achieve before you do?  If so, it’s not surprising: you’ve been programmed that way.  Many organizations set annual goals for their employees; they follow-up with annual evaluations.  Compensation is tied directly to achievement… and the cycle continues.  You’ve been programmed.  

Have you ever been in a situation where someone has used a word that seemed wrong?  Or maybe out-of-place, suboptimal, or or ill-considered?  Each of these three words means something slightly different, and each tugs a slightly different emotional chord, although in this case, they are all negative.  

How much spam do you get in your email box each day?  Probably too much.  How many Social Media “updates” do you read each day?  Probably too many.  And how relevant are they?  Not.  

Most successful executives are bombarded with emails, voicemails, text messages, Social Media messages, and a queue of people looking for feedback or approval. With their attention so divided, how much time do they have to be creative, do their own analysis, or even digest the big picture?

How often do you read a blog post or listen to a podcast that was just not relevant?  Or from the content creator's perspective, how do you make sure that your content is relevant, makes a difference, and achieves its objectives?  

Have you ever been in a situation where you answered someone’s question, and you’re sure that they didn’t “get” your answer? Or have you tried to explain an issue to a work colleague – and all you get is a blank stare?  

If you have spent any time on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok (and now, sadly, LinkedIn), you may have been the victim of over-sharing. You are subjected to pointless, and often narcissistic postings, often from people and organizations that should know better. While the impact on you is wasted time, the posters often don’t consider the brand impact of their actions: Every posting, comment, picture...

With all of the wheel-spinning and effort spent on social media, wouldn’t it be nice to actually use it to grow sales? Not improve awareness, develop the brand, help with marketing, or “continue the conversation”. But actually sell.  

Project managers the world over build Gantt charts, PERT charts, Work Breakdown Structures.  They focus on delivering on-time, on-budget. No matter your role, is there something that can be learned from the profession of project management?

How do you determine the ROI on your marketing and sales investments? Unfortunately, most marketers focus on the conversion rate - say 5%.  But this is a fundamental error: what about the other 95 per cent that haven't converted? What can be done about them?  

Gutless and spineless…and afraid of the marketplace of ideas.  These are not exactly the attributes that most organizations (or people) aspire to. Yet most have a Social Media strategy that conveys precisely that. 

You invest in events, send out emails, educate, and send invoices.  But how well do you really know your target audience?   Beyond the basic demographics, perhaps not as well as you might think...

Have you ever spent time staring at your blank screen, wondering what your next blog post should be about, then staring at the clock, stressing about the looming deadline.  While it’s tempting to think of this problem as writer’s block, it is really a question of process gone wrong.  (Or rather, gone missing.)  

What is the one lesson that appears in every newspaper article, every magazine article, and for that matter, every bestselling book?  Journalists and editors realize that they have to work exceptionally hard to get people to actually read what they write. And unless you actually do so, their work has no value – so they have become experts on “hooking” you in.  Here’s how they do it.  

My recent trip to India has once again sensitized me to an assumption that writers and speakers too often make:  that everyone understands what you mean to say. This is absolutely not the case.  Test yourself – what do the following three words mean?  Flyover, Subway, and Removalist.  

Governments use regulation to influence how we each make decisions, either through tax policy or laws. Business uses money to change our behavior, either through commission plans, bonuses, or advertising. But how do we, as individuals, change the attitudes and behavior of those around us?

Where do you call your social home? Likely it includes LinkedIn and Facebook. Perhaps YouTube and Twitter. But what about Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok? Or, the 500+ other social networks that exist? The significant challenge of social media is that you don’t know who is looking for you (or your services), nor where. What you do know is that if your target users can’t find you on these 500+ sit...

While the internet has changed the world of publishing fundamentally, the world of writing has been fundamentally shifted as well. Consider the vastly different groups who are actually doing the writing:  Professional writers, and Subject Matter Experts...  

Is your content really that effective? Do they grab the reader, listener, or viewer, and convince them to continue? And is there a magic bullet that can immediately make this so? Too often, content is an outgrowth of “stream of consciousness” thinking, and rarely hits the mark.  Adding strategyand structure can make a vast improvement.  

Do you actively seek out different opinions than your own, or unwittingly reinforce your personal world-view by only consuming “agreeable” content? While we may think we do the former – who doesn’t have a self image of being open-minded – too often we live in a bubble.