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I think the latest Microsoft TechNet mailer show that they don’t understand the new realities of the “conversation“.

I recently received a marketing piece for TechNet Flash from Microsoft Canada. I looked at the copy on the front and thought “Wow, they just don’t get it!”

The copy read:

Some people believe it is who you know that gets you ahead.

When I opened the piece I saw that it wasn’t as bad as I first thought:

Members of TechNet Flash believe it’s what you know, too.

The “too” at the end made the difference. While “what” absolutely is important in the technical arena, the Cluetrain Manifesto showed us that “who” can be even more important.

As a provider of technical knowledge TechNet tries the typical approach of making their stuff “the most important thing since …”.

What’s wrong with that you might ask? Well, to really show their class I think they should have acted differently. By wording their marketing piece differently they could have acknowledged that they understand the importance of the “conversation” - and at the same time underlined the importance of technical knowledge.

Let’s face it. With 95% of all jobs never advertised you need to know somebody. Without contacts you are stuck! Thus the importance of “who”. When you know somebody you have the possibility to get ahead - if you know “what”.

So, while Microsoft got both of the elements in their message, I think they should have stressed the overall importance of “who” much more, and then played the “what” card.

One possible option:

Networking expertise is important. It is who you know that might get you ahead!

Networking expertise is important. Do you know what to do to run your network properly?

Any other ideas? Suggestions welcome!

roar at roarweb dot com

I just discovered indeed.com, a job search site which allows you to create graphs showing trends for words in job postings.

It looks like “Internet Marketing” has reached its peak. “Blog” is still a keyword increasing in popularity.

roar at roarweb dot com

Gerald Bauer, organizer of the Vancouver Blogger Meetup Group and o-organizer of the Vancouver Web 2.0 Forum (Van2) told subscribers to the Van2 e-mail(!)list about a Boris Mann post to the Bryght Blog. Under the heading of “Web 2.0 and
Personal Brand Development Presentation” Boris passes on some good advice to the people at Sunaptic Solutions.

Boris writes: My take on Personal Brand Development? A respected, well-know employee is a credit to their employer, just as working for a high-profile company reflects well on the employee. Forward thinking companies should encourage and reward personal brand development.

Boris also points us to a post on “Personal vs. Professional Identity” by Francois Nonnenmacher who concludes: “The message: Guard your identity and don’t mix it up with your company’s identity. Otherwise, you risk being “disappeared” if you leave your job or get fired.“.

Both Boris and Francois have some good points. For an individual it is very important to keep a focus on your professional brand. Having a brand makes it much easier to make employment changes when you like. It also helps should you prefer to become a self-employed “consultant”.

Their analysis is not complete though. If you are THE BRAND, then any company you start might die with you. Since you are the only valuable element, you’ll have nothing to pass on, nothing to sell should you so wish to. While I have not read the E-Myth book I believe one of their conclusions is that you need to work ON your business, not only IN it.

Developing a personal brand is important for those that want to better control their careers. It is important though, for most entrepreneurs that one day would like to retire and see an ongoing return on their investment, that the Corporate Brand is developed as well.

Boris goes on and lists some good advice about getting domain names (I’ve been happy with MyDomain) and hosted blogging services (I’m still using Blogger and are very ready to move on. I want a tool where I can use categories for my postings!).

I’d like to add another piece of advice to the Sunaptic folks: To make me believe you know what is going on you will need to keep your corporate web site up to date! January 2004 news should not be your latest piece now in November of 2005!!

In fairness, it’s easy to end up as Sunatic with old content. My old web site, which has not been updated since I shut my consulting practise down to take “a job”, currently shows 2004 news as latest entry as well. I must update it one of these days. Funny, in my first go as a blogger I wrote an article on keeping your image up to date.

roar at roarweb dot com

Note: This post moved from Blogger on Decemebr 6, 2005

infoeconomy on “Embedded IT: “IT has consistently struggled to build bridges with the rest of the organization, resulting in misunderstood requirements, failed projects and a lack of trust. Some companies are discovering a solution: plug staff directly into business units.”

The above is an extract from an article included in a recent ITBusinessEdge newsletter I received. While I’m a marketer, I keep being drawn back to reading technology stuff - especially things that discusses where IT and other business units meet.

I guess it’s “in my blood”. My MBA focused on both Marketing and MIS, while my undergraduate degree was on Management and Organizational Development. When I think about it … I did some MIS stuff there too - a course on Decision Support Systems.

After and between studies I’ve managed, researched, marketed, organized, analyzed, changed, trained and sold - pretty much touched on most departments an organization may have. Much of this work while in a marketing position, other parts were done as a part of management responsibilities. Not that this really matter, but it might help my readers better understand where I’m coming from.

In general I’m of the opinion that great marketing doesn’t really matter if the rest of an organization is not “ready”. If sales can’t sell, production not deliver in time and quality is lacking, then the need for marketing is minimal - at least in our emerging Internet 2.0 world where community and honesty becomes more important than ever.

In the same way, IT and other business units must work together. Today they often have different objectives - and the results of that show! While some of these objectives are important to everybody (I can’t see an online marketer not wanting a stable website or e-mail that only works every other day…), it is also important that we look at these objectives and the processes around them with the customers in mind.

There are different approaches. Alastair Muir talks about “Bridging Functional Silos to Achieve ‘Customer Impact” by using a SixSigma approach. There are other approaches as well.

When it comes to the “divide” between IT and other business units Muir’s article points out something really important - the customer. This is where the marketer in my gets really interested. By selecting the customer and their needs as the focus, I believe coordinating objectives, breaking down the silos if you like, becomes much easier.

roar at roarweb dot com

Note: This post moved from Blogger to WordPress December 6, 2005

Tickle me …..

A while back I took a free IQ test from Tickle.com. The result … well, let’s just say I was on the “right” side of the curve.

As I’m a bit sceptical to this kind of testing, I did not buy the premium analysis …

Today I was offered a free copy - as long as I was willing to check out some offers from some of their partners (”free” gas card etc.).

The report was “interesting”. I’m a “Visionary Philosopher”. And guess what, they even issued me a Certificate of Intellectual Achievement”!

From the report:

You’ve got tons of strengths. It wouldn’t surprise us if you:
- Think of the “big picture”
- Can anticipate and predict patterns
- Are good at context clues
- Can see similarities in seemingly disparate things

Who wouldn’t be pleased with this?

It also gave me some help for my job search )))

Some of the careers they suggested:

- Archaeologist
- Detective
- Sculptor
- City planner
- Chief executive

Quite a range to choose from. I could have told them that without taking the test. I’m sure my mom must have told me I could be whatever I want to be!

roar at roarweb dot com

UPDATE: Moved from Blogger December 5, 2005

95 % of all jobs in the Lower Mainland are never posted - or at least that is what I have heard.

That’s a lot of jobs - mostly filled through networking and internal promotions.

I’m available for one of these jobs!

Leads are appreciated - marketing, internet, operations, strategy, management, etc., etc. are all areas of interest. My backround is broad and I enjoy a challenge.

roar at roarweb dot com