Blog Media Kit

This blog is an oldie having been around since 2009.

Recently it was used by a brand to promote it's service as the brand did not yet have content management capability for it's own site. This meant  updates as news, communications, e-learning support for their clients, programmes, training etc could not be provided on their own site at that time. This blog was used to support that organisation. It was a workaround and extremely challenging to integrate.

However it is now back to blogging about everything healthcare and story. We have updated our header and blogger colours to freshen the blog and in keeping with our own branding. Love how easy it is to do with blogger templates.

We have also put in place guidelines for any future sponsored posts, product endorsements and if I agree brand ambassador roles etc. I only focus on health, medical, lifestyle and wellbeing. Health promotion and patient activism is welcome.

However, please do not assume I will write a sponsored post about your brand. I get several dozen a week and discard most of them. Please consult my media kit for further information before you send me an email with your ideas, details etc. If circumstances change with regard to posts I have written then a post is updated according to blogger protocol.

If you wish to contact me regarding services that I provide those details can be found on my personal website www.kathiemelocco.net.au

In the meantime, I will be taking a break from this blog but hopefully will be back soon with an occasional story or two.

The Future in Health: Disease Detection, Waiting to Exhale

SCREEN CAPTURES FROM NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION VIDEO

As Stony Brook University researcher Perena Gouma looks
on, technician demonstrates breath­alyzer device that
promises to detect signs of disease.

Instead of instructing us to breathe deeply and say “ah,” future doctors may simply have us exhale into diagnostic breathalyzers.


The Single Breath Disease Diagnostics Breathalyzer is being developed by a team of scientists at Stony Brook University in New York, led by materials scientist Perena Gouma. The device uses sensor chips coated with nanowires to detect chemical compounds that may indicate the presence of diseases or infectious microbes.


While the first such “medical breathalyzers” will be specific to one type of disease (for instance, to monitor diabetes), future handheld devices will allow individual users to self-monitor and detect diseases ranging from lung cancer to anthrax exposure.


Source: National Science Foundation, www.nsf.gov. and full credit to the World Futures Society for this post.

Blogopolis 2012 -Does social media work for healthcare communication

At the weekend I attended the most wonderful event in Sydney known as Blogopolis. 200 of Australia’s leading bloggers came together to share lessons, learn new tools and celebrate the power of the authentic voice.

I confess at the outset I too am a blogger, but what was fascinating from a brand sense was how many otherwise influential writers from the healthcare sector were present. I like to say they were there as themselves, representing their passions and of course for the fellowship of others.

I caught up with Catherine Saxelby well known dietician and lots of people came by to welcome us and share their day jobs too - they were either psychologists or nurses or married to doctors and journalists too. It was fascinating. That alone for me was satisfaction enough. Satisfaction that my representation to the company I work with that bloggers are a powerful voice and can either make or break a brand was viewable in one mass – right in this room. Word of mouth still reigns and it was great to hear ‘real opinions’ on matters that mattered and matters that did not. Like what was that question again?

However one blogger and I hope she doesn’t mind me sharing her story really caught my attention. Her name is @mumtalksautism. She has almost finished training as psychologist and has built a respite retreat for those with autism. Her story really touched my heart and I thought I would share it with you.

“I have three boys who all have autism. I am also trying to rebuild my life after our second child was tragically killed.

My eldest #1 is 19 and has high functioning autism and generalised anxiety disorder. Than we had our beautiful #2 who was tragically killed in 2003. #3 is five and has high functioning autism also but additionally has a sensory processing disorder. Then our little man #4 has classic autism, phonological receptive and expressive speech delay, sensory processing disorder and global developmental delay. We are pretty full on around here.

On top of the challenges that we face we are trying to overcome the devastation that feels our life after the death of our son some years ago. This is also that story. How we made it through to the other side. Sort of anyway.

Through my blog I talk about our life. The ups the downs. The good times and the madness that can be grief and living with autism. Having said that.

This is a happy place where I hope you will find inspiration. A place where you will find out how I am making it with three autistic boys. I want to explain how we made a difference and how you can too. We were told our #4 (4) would never talk. Last count we had about 78 words but I think we are way past that to be honest.

We can do this. The good stuff, the bad stuff, the great stuff. We can do this. Together. So please join me for what I can promise will not be a boring journey. Hope you will jump on for the ride. It wouldn’t be the same without you. Plus I wouldn’t want you to miss out on some amazing surprises that we have just around the corner to share with you all. We are going to make a difference. Not only for our boys but your family too. You don’t want to miss this.

Don’t stop believing.”


Mum Talks Autism

It’s stories like this one, real stories that make what I do as Marketing Director of 1stAvailable so satisfying. We are just one small piece in this amazing cog of healthcare access. Everyone counts, it’s all about equity.

For us at 1stAvailable trying to make people’s lives simpler by being able to book an appointment with the doc when you are able to do that, ie maybe you have time later at night when the kids are bed to jump online and book your regular health checkups. You can see the available appointments your doc has has during the 9-5 window, select one that suits and then book it. It’s simple, easy and quick. And its free.

Thank you again my new friends at Blogopolis 2012 – we learnt a lot and hope to be back. Oh and if you would register and try 1stAvailable.com.au as a service I’d be ever so grateful for your feedback.

Making an appointment to see the doctor gets easier at last!

Have you ever wondered why it is so hard to make an appointment with your doctor when you really need it? It is often after hours when you realise you need to make that appointment ASAP. I was reminded of this only recently when my son asked me to make a time to see a doctor about a rash on his back. Not urgent, but it required a quick visit to the GP for a script nevertheless. Of course my son's prompt was at 8.00pm at night and our doctor's surgery was closed. A quick after hours call to the surgery got a frustrating voicemail message to call back the next day....

How is it that we can make travel bookings online, do our banking online and at our convenience, yet something as basic as organising a visit to our doctor is still so frustrating!

Recently I've been working with a great organisation called 1stAvailable. They have launched a national appointment booking platform - one destination for all your healthcare appointments - enabling doctors, dentists, physiotherapists, chiropractors and other allied health professionals to publish their first available appointment using the site www.1stAvailable.com.au

It's built with both the patient and the clinician in mind. Launched to healthcare professionals in April 2012 it has already attracted a significant number of health practitioners and is now in beta consumer – As a blogger we’d love you to try it.

What you need to do

You need to register first and then search for a local health care practitioner near you to make an appointment. You can search up to 250km for appointments, which is really useful for country folk. Yes, 1stAvailable listened to country people and the frustration they have in making healthcare appointments when and as they need them.

But we need your help to make this available to all Australians

Like most things – change is often difficult for many of us. In Australia, healthcare is known for being slow to adapt to new trends. It’s not because healthcare practitioners don’t want to help but it’s just not on their radar. They are so busy running their practices and looking after patients that they haven’t really had time to think about how frustrating it is for us patients at times to make an appointment with them.

If you identify with this and would like to help make this service available to all Australians we’d love you to consider writing a blog post about your experiences of not being able to get an appointment when you needed it, even delaying treatment because of the experience. We need your voice. It’s not about making anyone wrong, it’s just about life is so busy for us all and with technology meant to enhance our lives, it’s all about being, Quick. Easy. Simple.

If you are like me, a mum who often finds herself with sick children on the weekends or later at night when my doctor is closed, you’ll identify with this scenario. Even making time during the day for booking my regular health checks as a woman can get sidetracked by other pressing business. I usually only have time after hours to think about and plan these things. It’s a recurring situation for just about everyone I talk with.

BTW – 1stAvailable already has over 1000 practitioners Australia wide already signed up – no small feat. Even a practice in Alice Springs has committed.

However if you can’t find an appointment near you and perhaps notice your health care provider or doctor isn’t using the system you can hit the nominate to join button on the site and lend your voice to the cause.

We’ve created a special badge you can wear on your site if you wish or add to your post – please feel free to download it at www.1stAvailable.com.

And if you are at Blogopolis today come and introduce yourself to us at our stand, your voice is very important to us, we want to hear your views and experiences.

Kathie Melocco

During the day - Kathie is Marketing Director for 1stAvailable - a game changing  way consumers will access and make their health  care appointments.

Blogger, Mum, Passionate Marketer for 1stAvailable.com.au

The Power Of The Patients Voice In The Care Process

This week we being a feature series on best practice comunication in HealthCare: Today we take a look at the Mayo Clinic. They run an excellent inresidence series on social media for healthcare practitioners and attract participants from all over the world.  Dr Farris Timimi shares his insights into the power of social media for healthcare practitioners in the above video.

The Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media, is a first-of-its-kind social media center focused on health care, it builds on Mayo Clinic’s leadership among health care providers in adopting social media tools, which began with podcasting in 2005.

Mayo Clinic has the most popular medical provider channel on YouTube and more than 260,000 “followers” on Twitter, as well as an active Facebook page with over 65,000 connections. With its News Blog, Podcast Blog and Sharing Mayo Clinic, a blog that enables patients and employees to tell their Mayo Clinic stories, Mayo has been a pioneer in hospital blogging. MayoClinic.com, Mayo’s consumer health information site, also hosts a dozen blogs on topics ranging from Alzheimer’s to The Mayo Clinic Diet.

Mayo has also used social media tools for internal communications, beginning in 2008 with a blog to promote employee conversations relating to the organization’s strategic plan, and including innovative use of video and a hybrid “insider” newsletter/blog. This employee engagement contributes to Mayo Clinic being recognized among Fortune magazine’s “Best Places to Work.”

The center will accelerate adoption of social media for health-related purposes, starting at Mayo and then within health care more broadly. Through this work, Mayo Clinic looks to help improve health literacy, health care delivery and population health worldwide.

It starts with business strategy and then flows into YOUR Story - are you on target?

Digital Media Storytelling (aka Social Media) -Use storytelling to pitch better, sell faster and win more business using the storytiser methodology

Your actual ‘Brand YOU’ story is something you might not realize you’re missing. When you first started your business, you probably had a long checklist. Things like: Build a website. Find more clients. Secure speaking gigs. Establish your expertise. And set yourself up on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIN and more.If you’re still struggling to describe what you do and who you serve, you’re probably overlooking some aspect of your story. When someone can see themselves in your story — the need to persuade, convince, or sell them disappears.

Everything depends on your story. If your story is not clear to you and to your clients, your business will not thrive. When your story gets aligned with your mojo (finding the magic in what you do), you’ll automatically start playing on a bigger platform. It leads to more sales, better speaking engagements, and a growing pipeline of opportunities.

Telling your Digtal story matters today more than ever. When people Google you, or visit your website – they go straight for the story. If you’re an entrepreneur – your perceived value is directly linked to that personal story. Especially when you’re an expert professional — blogger, author, speaker, coach, consultant, designer, etc. Getting paid what you’re really worth comes down to sharing how you see the world. Remember, people are you buying your ideas and opinions (i.e. your story of how things work).

Get a Coach
The most efficient way to move from dead brand walking to a powerful Brand YOU story is to get a coach who will help you succinctly refine your strategy and identify what story you have to tell. You'll learn to wrap facts up with emotions as stories (human beings are actually biologically hardwired to remember stories), share case studies as stories that people remember and how to tell a compelling story that your customers that compels action.

One that encompasses audio, visual and kinaesthetic positioning. We discuss the relevance of LinkedIN, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, the importance of the Social Website, Blogging, Podcasts and more. It's not about sharing what people 'had for breakfast' but a strategic groundswell of relevant stories you have to tell that fits your business purpose and goals.

How Digital Storytelling is being used in healthcare for patient management

Pip Hardy and Tony Sumner founded the Patient Voices Programme in 2003 with the intention of bringing more humanity into healthcare through the creation and sharing of digital stories.

Through its carefully developed methodology, the programme facilitates the telling and sharing of reflective stories of care by all stakeholders. The innovative model of free distribution of resulting stories for use in health and social care education and quality improvement ensures that those voices are heard, and that the investment of storytellers is nurtured to develop maximum social capital.

Some 500 people have participated in workshops to create their digital stories and the model of free distribution of stories via the Patient Voices website has resulted in their use in healthcare education throughout the English-speaking world and beyond.

“The Patient Voices programme aims to facilitate the telling and the hearing of some of the 

unwritten and unspoken stories of ordinary people.
The goal is that those who devise and

implement strategy in health and social care, as well as the professionals and clinicians

directly involved in care, may carry out their duties in a more informed and compassionate 

manner. 
We hope that, as a result of seeing the stories, patients, their carers and clinicians 

may meet as equals and work respectfully together for the benefit of all.”

Apply the new science of happiness in: • Education • Health • Business • Your Life.

You can change your personal capacity for happiness. Research psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky's pioneering concept of the 40% solution shows you how.


After yesterday's blog post where I discussed that we all have the ability to be creative, I thought I'd keep the focus on emotional well being and the importance of using tools that we now know scientifically improves our happiness quota. Being creative and innovative at work requires us to address our lives in very different ways, to invest in our emotional well being. In fact, I continue to be astounded how companies can expect the best from employees when so many work surroundings are dull in atmosphere, many even lacking a window to the world. The space you occupy to do your most creative and innovative work is important and so too is the way we savour our lives.

It is for this reason that I thought I'd share with you The How of Happiness. I heard Sonja Lyubomirsky speak at the Happiness and its Causes Conference in Sydney last year and her book The How of Happiness is an excellent read and guide to how to increase your own happiness in life. I know it's sounds trite to some who think happiness is a given but try it for yourself, it really does work. There is also an excellent and fun app available for the iPhone that can assist you on your happiness journey.

You can change your personal capacity for happiness. Research psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky's pioneering concept of the 40% solution shows you how.. Drawing on her own groundbreaking research with thousands of men and women, research psychologist and University of California professor of psychology Sonja Lyubomirsky has pioneered a detailed yet easy-to-follow plan to increase happiness in our day-to-day lives-in the short term and over the long term. The How of Happiness is a different kind of happiness book, one that offers a comprehensive guide to understanding what happiness is, and isn't, and what can be done to bring us all closer to the happy life we envision for ourselves. Using more than a dozen uniquely formulated happiness-increasing strategies, The How of Happiness offers a new and potentially life- changing way to understand our innate potential for joy and happiness as well as our ability to sustain it in our lives. Beginning with a short diagnostic quiz that helps readers to first quantify and then to understand what she describes as their "happiness set point," Lyubomirsky reveals that this set point determines just 50 percent of happiness while a mere 10 percent can be attributed to differences in life circumstances or situations. This leaves a startling, and startlingly underdeveloped, 40 percent of our capacity for happiness within our power to change. Lyubomirsky's "happiness strategies" introduce readers to the concept of intentional activities, mindful actions that they can use to achieve a happier life. These include exercises in practicing optimism when imagining the future, instruction in how best to savor life's pleasures in the here and now, and a thoroughgoing explanation of the importance of staying active to being happy. Helping readers find the right fit between the goals they set and the activities she suggests, Lyubomirsky also helps readers understand the many obstacles to happiness as well as how to harness individual strengths to overcome them. Always emphasizing how much of our happiness is within our control, Lyubomirsky addresses the "scientific how" of her happiness research, demystifying the many myths that unnecessarily complicate its pursuit. Unlike those of many self-help books, all her recommendations are supported by scientific research. The How of Happiness is both a powerful contribution to the field of positive psychology and a gift to all those who have questioned their own well- being and sought to take their happiness into their own hands.


Here are some tips for getting started:
(1) Count your blessings: Expressing gratitude for what you have (either privately,
through contemplation or journaling, or to a close other) or conveying your
appreciation to one or more individuals whom you've never properly thanked.
(2) Cultivate optimism: Keeping a journal in which you imagine and write about the
best possible future for yourself, or practicing to look at the bright side of every
situation.
(3) Avoid over thinking and social comparison: Using strategies (such as
distraction) to cut down on how often you dwell on your problems and compare
yourself to others.
(4) Practice acts of kindness: Doing good things for others, whether friends or
strangers, either directly or anonymously, either spontaneously or planned.
(5) Nurture relationships: Picking a relationship in need of strengthening, and
investing time and energy in healing, cultivating, affirming, and enjoying it.
(6) Do more activities that truly engage you: Increasing the number of experiences
at home and work in which you "lose" yourself, which are challenging and absorbing.
(7) Replay and savor life's joys: Paying close attention, taking delight, and going
over life's momentary pleasures and wonders – through thinking, writing, drawing, or
sharing with another.
(8) Commit to your goals: Picking one, two, or three significant goals that are
meaningful to you and devoting time and effort to pursuing them.
(9) Develop strategies for coping: Practicing ways to endure or surmount a recent
stress, hardship, or trauma.
(10) Learn to forgive: Keeping a journal or writing a letter in which you work on
letting go of anger and resentment towards one or more individuals who have hurt or
wronged you.
(11) Practice religion and spirituality: Becoming more involved in your church,
temple, or mosque, or reading and pondering spiritually-themed books.
(12) Take care of your body: Engaging in physical activity, meditating, and smiling
and laughing.

Footnote: The new science of positive psychology has a lot to offer us to enhance our lives. It is a pity with the wealth of scientific research now available to us that more of these tools and techniques are not mainstream yet and so many unproven self help courses and books still survive.

What is this thing called.. ‘Creativity’

What is creativity? The dictionary defines creativity as “to make or bring into existence something new.” You’ve probably heard of right- and left-brain theory. That is, the right hemisphere of the brain is the intuitive, abstract thinking part of the brain, while the left hemisphere is the seat of rational, logical thought. The right side handles big-picture stuff, while the left handles the details. Creativity is commonly thought of as purely a right-brain activity... head in the clouds, nothing logical about it at all. Well, through my own research and personal experience, I’ve discovered that creativity is actually a three-phase process. It’s the right and the left hemispheres of the brain working together in a balanced way combined with a physical act to bring the idea into form. It’s a holistic process of body, mind, spirit. My definition goes like this: Creativity is to make or bring into existence something new by generating ideas (right brain); developing, reorganizing, and refining them (left brain); and taking physical action (body).

Creativity began about 40,000 years ago when our ancestors first made tools out of bone and ivory. Before that they just made do with whatever they could find. A rock for a hammer, a sharp stick for a knife. Once human beings began making things, they began to take control of their own destiny –– thus embarking upon a path of intelligence and consciousness separating them from other animals. Human beings used creativity to survive and prosper, as well as to express themselves through art, music, and dance.

Human creativity grew steadily over the millennia until something rather interesting happened in the not too distant past –– the Industrial Revolution. Creativity brought forth incredible scientific discoveries, including the invention of the steam engine which lead to railroads and factories. These changes did much to add convenience to our lives, but there was one problem. People were needed to do the monotonous, non-creative jobs of operating the machines and working in the mills. Ironically, human creativity had gotten us to a place where creativity itself was no longer a requirement for survival –– we could exchange our time doing a repetitive task for a day’s wages. Creativity became optional, some might say a luxury, and like an unused muscle, creativity began to atrophy in the masses.

Even in the days of the Industrial Revolution, those with a more rural existence often expressed their creativity through music, quilting, and storytelling. Then another product of our amazing creativity, the invention of the radio, caused an even deeper divide between the “creatives” and “non-creatives.” Now, rather than telling stories or bringing out the instruments after dinner, the family would gather ‘round the radio and passively listen to music played by the most accomplished musicians in the world. We began to believe that creative expression was for the truly talented –– not for regular people like us. This “great creative divide” was further deepened by the advent of television. Now we were not only passive listeners, but watchers too. The steady stream of images and sounds from an outside source (when taken in on a regular basis) tends to numb our senses and diminish our creativity, while on the other hand, active entertainment –– like going to a concert, dance, or theater event –– stimulates creativity. Don’t get me wrong, I love radio, and I think both radio and TV have an important place in our lives, but it’s interesting to notice how they’ve affected our creativity.

So where does this leave us here in the beginning of the 21st century? If you take a look around, you can see that we live in a society in which about 90 percent of the people are left-brain dominant –– really good analytical thinkers –– and many people don’t think that they’re creative at all. Now this isn’t much of a surprise since we’re just beginning to come out of the Information Age. For the better part of a century, success has been defined by our ability to manipulate and analyze information, and as a result our educational system is almost entirely focused on developing left-brain analytical thinking. So, yes, it’s not surprising that we live in a world where creativity is indeed undervalued.

Can you see that there’s an opportunity here?  As someone who has based her entire professional career on using creativity I can tell you that creativity was often undervalued until recently. The tide is turning.

Take note of all the rapid innovation appearing around us, often it is the result of the young rejecting the sometimes stifling education system and using creativity and innovation to surge forward. Take the rise of Facebook for example, or Google. Both at their lowest denominator are simple concepts using technology to facilitate and both are outstanding examples of creativity.

If creativity is seriously lacking in our society and indeed your business, wouldn’t we have an advantage if we just invested a little bit of time and energy into exercising our creative muscles and tapping into our inner creative brilliance? Think of the advancements we can make around sustainability, social good and of course, the planet. Creativity and innovation are needed. Your thoughts... •

The inspiring story of how one man found his 'passionpulse' in life and is changing the world, one school at a time!

The inspiring account of one man's campaign to build schools in the most dangerous, remote, and anti-American reaches of Asia  Three Cups of Tea is a must read adventure and a great cause

In 1993 Greg Mortenson was the exhausted survivor of a failed attempt to ascend K2, an American climbing bum wandering emaciated and lost through Pakistan's Karakoram Himalaya. After he was taken in and nursed back to health by the people of an impoverished Pakistani village, Mortenson promised to return one day and build them a school. From that rash, earnest promise grew one of the most incredible humanitarian campaigns of our time—Greg Mortenson's one-man mission to counteract extremism by building schools, especially for girls, throughout the breeding ground of the Taliban.

Award-winning journalist David Oliver Relin has collaborated on this spellbinding account of Mortenson's incredible accomplishments in a region where Americans are often feared and hated. In pursuit of his goal, Mortenson has survived kidnapping, fatwas issued by enraged mullahs, repeated death threats, and wrenching separations from his wife and children. But his success speaks for itself. At last count, his Central Asia Institute had built fifty-five schools. Three Cups of Tea is at once an unforgettable adventure and the inspiring true story of how one man really is changing the world—one school at a time.

Marketing Mastery Bootcamp – a passionpuslator event

I was reading Sir Ken Robinson’s wonderful book ‘The Element’ and was struck by a wonderful story he led with as his opening and to illustrate that all of us have a natural wonder about us, it is just that over the years life experiences, education and our own belief processes eventually get in the way of us being creative and thwart for many of us our own natural talents and passions.

It goes something like this: ‘An elementary school teacher was giving a drawing class to a group of six year old children. At the back of the classroom sat a little girl who normally didn’t pay much attention in school. In the drawing class shed did. For more than twenty minutes, the girl sat with her arms curled around her paper, totally absorbed in what she was doing. The teacher found this fascinating. Eventually, she asked the girl what she was drawing. Without looking up the little girl said, “I’m drawing a picture of God.” Surprised the teacher said, ‘But nobody knows what God looks like.”

The girl said, “They will in a minute."

A beautiful story,it certainly reminds us young children are wonderfully confident in their own imaginations. Sadly most of us lose this confidence as we grow up. Ask a class of first graders which of them thinks they are creative and they’ll all put their hand up. Ask a group of university students this same question and most of them won’t.

We are all born with tremendous natural capacities, and we simply lose touch with them as we spend more time in the world. Ironically, one of the main reasons this happens is education. The result is that too many people never connect with their true talents and therefore don’t know what they’re really capable of achieving.

This week I spoke to a large group of business owners keen to learn the in's and out’s of social media. All attendees had participated in a 7 day social media learning intensive from how to use twitter, facebook, linkein and so on.

My presentation was about putting it all together and guess what? All the training in the world won’t deliver results unless you put together a creative campaign that is different, innovative, fresh and inspires others to take action.

So I spent a lot of time during the presentation talking about creativity, innovation, the long tail and social media best practice campaign models. Why? You can learn all the how to’s of social media but if you fail to develop a creative campaign that resonates with your audience you miss a wonderful opportunity to inspire others to take meaningful action.

Why am I using the words inspire and meaningful? Maybe because I have yet to meet a business owner that doesn’t have a real purpose that they enjoy sharing and, this purpose has the potential to transform their brand into something that adds value and makes a difference. Be it a cause they contribute to, the way their culture provides service, a unique product offering and so on.

Just look at the great case study of Zappos. They sell shoes! But their whole customer and cultural experience is about delivering a unique customer experience no matter the channel of communication and in so doing they have empowered their employees and customers as evangelists for the brand. Be it on the phone, via email, in social media and more.

At our forthcoming Marketing Mastery Bootcamp in October we are going to explore exactly that with each attendee identifying what is the unique selling point of their company and how can this be turned into a campaign that makes a difference. Sure we’ll cover the nuts and bolts but it is my goal to ensure that everyone leaves with a complete A-Z blueprint for how they are going to drive marketing through their business to deliver the results they are seeking to achieve. That requires tow things: 1. The uh huh moment of what communication can truly make a difference and 2. A sense of personal passion to stay the course to deliver that and not get sidetracked by other things.

I’m really looking forward to working with 50 dynamic business owners and hoping you will join us too.

The Origins of Six Degrees of Separation and the power of social media for business

Yesterday I spoke to a terrific group of people about developing a social media strategy and programme. The event was organised by that super networker Sean Grobbelaar. I spent quite a lot of time talking about innovation and the importance of connecting with tribes as you plan your social media campaign. The concept of tribes and finding super connectors is not new. We all feel closer together because of the power of the web and indeed more so than ever with the advent of new social media platforms that bring us together often with networks and friends that we may even have lost contact with at some point in our lives. So when we casually say 'gosh isn't the world a small place and it only takes six degrees of separation before I meet someone we mutually know' what does that really mean?

In the late 1960's well before the advent of the internet, psychologist Stanley Milgram conducted an experiment to find an answer to what is know as the small world problem. The problem is this: how are we humans connected? Do we all belong to separate worlds, operating simultaneously but autonomously, so that the links between any two people, anywhere in the world, are few and distant? Or, are we all bound up together in a grand interlocking web?

What Milgram was asking has a great deal of relevance to the success or failure of some social media programmes, that being how does an idea or trend or piece of news - travel through the population?

Milgram's idea to test this question was a chain letter. He got the names of 160 people who lived in Omaha, Nebraska, and mailed each of them a packet. In the packet was a name of a stockbroker who lived in Sharon, Massachusetts. Each person was instructed to write his or her name on the packet and send it onto a friend or acquaintance who he or her thought would get the packet closer to the stockbroker. If you lived in Omaha and had a cousin outside of Boston, for example, you might send it to him, on the grounds that - even if your cousin did not himself know the stockbroker - he would be a lot more likely to be able to get to the stockbroker in two or three or fours steps.

The idea was when the packet finally arrived at the stockbroker's house, Milgram could look at the list of all those who hands it went through to get there and establish how closely connected someone chosen at random from one part of the country was to another person in another part of the country.

Milgram found that most of the letter's reached the stockbroker in five or six steps. This experiment is where we get the concept of six degrees of separation.

This phrase is so familiar to most of us today that we lose sight of how surprising Milgram's findings were. Most of us don't have particular broad and diverse groups of friends.

When Miilgram analyze his experiment to determine how did the packet get to Sharon in just five steps, the answer was not all degrees are equal. He found that many of the chains from Omaha to Sharon followed the same asymmetrical pattern. Twenty four letters reached the stockbroker at his home in Sharon, and of those sixteen were given to him by the same person, a clothing merchant Milgram calls Mr Jacobs. The balance of the letters came to the stockbroker at his office, and of those the majority came through two other men, whom Milgram calls Mr Brown and Mr Jones.

In all, half of the responses that came back to the stockbroker were delivered to him by these same three people.

Think about it. Dozens of people, chosen at random from a large Midwestern city, send out letters independently. Some go to college acquaintances. Some send their letters to relatives. Some send letters to old workmates and so on. Yet in the end when all those chains were completed, half of those letters ended up in the hands of Jacobs,Jones and Brown.

Six degrees of separation doesn't mean that everyone is linked to everyone else in just six steps. It means that a very small number of people are linked to everyone else in a few steps, and the rest of us are linked to the world through those special people.

These people who we rely on heavily are 'connectors', people with a special gift for bringing the world together. We'll talk more about the traits of these special people in a later post, that too is a fascinating insight.

However I wanted to share the relevance of this experiment dating back to the 1960's and the rise today of the phenomena known as social media. Imagine if you could and can tap into these special connectors to communicate the benefits of your product or service with passion and with meaning for their lives. Who will they tell, I wonder...


This in itself is a strong argument for networking on linkeIN, facebook, twitter and so on. Have you observed these special people on social networking sites and met them in the real work perhaps? I'd be interested in your thoughts and observations. One person who comes to mind is Iggy Pintado. He has written an excellent book on what he calls the Connection Generation. He says 'Connection Generation reveals how individuals, groups and networks have progressed beyond their intent to communicate - but to a tangible connection between people, information, experiences and ideas. Due to the advent of internet and mobile technology, this dynamic transcends traditional thinking about societal generations. It proposes that anyone who had access to a computer or mobile device since 1995 - regardless of age - is part of the Connection Generation'. Personally I think what he is showing, albeit in a technology driven society, is how true Milgram's basic experiment was, that the power of social networks offers enormous opportunities to grow our businesses in ways many of us do not tap into.

Stay out of social networking and you may miss one of the greatest business opportunities you have to reach new customers and in some cases turn them into powerful evangelists for your product or service. Of course six degrees of separation also means the reverse is true, a lousy experience and your tribe may tell their friends and so on...

Focus on a great customer experience whatever social media platforms you use: service, customer satisfaction, innovation and brand essence, delivering on the promise remain paramount. A great social media example of doing it well is Zappos, the shoe company. You can read their case study for more information.

For further reading on Six Degrees of Separation, I highly recommend reading The International Bestseller - The Tipping Point, How Little things can make a big difference by Malcolm Gladwell.

Is your business innovative enough in this era of social media?

The inexorable rise of web-based content, social media and mobile devices is forcing marketers to take a long hard look at their online brand presence and digital reputation. And this digital influence is happening at such a rapid rate that it is often hard for businesses to mobilise their efforts fast enough to keep up with the online consumer evangelism now taking place.

Smart businesses are reorganising resources, skills and processes to adjust to the new reality of conversational and participative media. Concepts of paid, owned and earned media provide a useful prism through which to plan campaigns and attract new customers.

This re-engineering, if you like means that no longer can you delegate your digital requirements to your resident ‘geek’. We are now in the era where everyone is a marketer and, a geek by default given the rapid offering of new technologies being launched almost daily.

But how do you know what technology and communication needs are suitable for your business. The offering is so diverse that it can be overwhelming. It starts with what you want to communicate and how? Mobility is the key. One company who specialises in assisting businesses assess their communication needs independent of any of the carriers or vendors is Team Telecom.

According to General Manager, Tony Carrozza, “Every business from 20 people to those employing thousands has productivity challenges. There is little place for off the shelf and customisation sends fear into the hearts of the finance manager. The market is highly customisable but sometimes the innovation is ahead of what the business actually perceives is possible. It is surprising how much technology out there that was designed for one purpose but deployed and viewed in another application can deliver significant productivity and financial benefits. The bottom line is to provide what the customer needs to communicate in this new digital era, not what the vendor has.” says Carrozza.

The other area business needs to get its head around is the notion of big brands continuing to establish complex and expensive marketing outposts in the form of corporate websites. These ''owned'' media formats provided a safe and controlled environment where brands could lay out their stall. This was the first phase of the web and is now outdated and restrictive to operating in the web 2.0 landscape.
Why? The game changed completely with phase two. Social media today consumes more than six hours of the average online Australian's time every month. Confronted, almost affronted, by the empowered customer many brands are soul-searching for a reason to engage and a manageable social media strategy.

Consumers, your customers, in every form are drawn to social media because it allows them to create their own experience. The opportunity to generate ''earned'' media in the form of word-of-mouth recommendations and advocacy within social networks, forums and blogs has sparked a gold rush with each marketing discipline laying claim to what will be a major source of income for the industry.

The successful brands online will be those that understand their customer, optimise their various marketing channels, identify the connection points between media types and deliver a consistent message or experience. The metaphor is a river, with a source of strategic messaging that trickles down to a variety of channel connection point.

The branded website, an owned media format, will play an important role in this mix but not in its current form. In most cases, traffic to branded websites is in decline. It's no wonder given the brand-centric rather than user-centric nature of most and their poor search functionality. Today's branded websites are, in the main, Web 1.0 hangovers, which prioritise presentation and usability over content and interaction. Content today is king.

The theory behind digital PR and marketing is that relevant experiences facilitated by brands will build relationships which make customers more inclined to take action, such as share content, click 'Like' in Facebook, make a recommendation to a friend or colleague via Twitter or make a purchase.

The mistake branded websites make is to act as e-commerce shopfronts or online brochures. They fail to understand the user and bury the subtle relationship-building content. Social media is user-centric; its currency is human voices and entertaining content. It provides brands with a platform for conversation. Here, value lies in the content as opposed to the context. There's no need for high value production. The human voice is, however, almost completely absent from branded websites.

A recent social media study by B&M found that just 20 per cent of the top 20 brands in Australia have a company blog. Yet we have seen the rise of super bloggers who influence your customers about everything imaginable. Suffice to say, if you don’t have a dialogue with your customers via a blog then you miss a powerful opportunity. Further, only 10 per cent of corporate newsrooms offered video downloads, yet You Tube dominates consumer and business downloads not just for fun but for intelligent insightful commentary. With social media, customers build relationships that shape discovery and add features that personalise their experience. Branded websites treat every customer equally, presenting each with a limited number of choices and predestined workflows. Future efforts will be highly personalised.

At the end, the same the same principles apply. It all starts with vision, strategy and innovation. Where do you want to be as a business. Not what have you been doing to date...Think outside the box, because anything is now possible. And that is the very issues, those that adapt cleverly to the new digital world with innovation have tremendous commercial opportunities. It is however challenging for old school businesses to move away from the linear mode of communication to the new interactive dialogue with customers and business.

If we crystal ball gaze it is fairly obvious that we will see the rise of a new band of trusted advisors in micro niche specific areas working with business. Why? Change is so rapidly upon us that it is simply impossible to keep up to the minute with every relevant change and that’s where these new micro advisers will emerge. Ensure you have trusted and expert counsel in the area of technology provision, marketing counsel who are abreast of new web 2.0 developments, establish appropriate social media policies and guidelines but make them empowering, you have the opportunity to turn everyone in your organisation into a sales person. And of course, work to make your customers your evangelists. There will be times when you have dissatisfied customers in the social media space too, take note, respond and work to correct their concerns quickly and transparently.

But to succeed in this new digital era it must start at the top, the CEO has to embrace this new paradigm of communication and rapidly to compete. Make sure your make it your business to explore the future and innovation is the key.

Using YouTube 101 - for Business

YOUTUBE IS AN ONLINE VIDEO PHENOMENON AND A CHEAP AND ACCESSIBLE TOOL TO PROMOTE YOURSELF AND YOUR BUSINESS ONLINE.

Online video advertising and marketing is experiencing rapid growth with the popularity of YouTube.

Take your business marketing to the next level with online video advertisement and your own channel. YouTube is an interactive worldwide community, there are numerous ways to use the platform to inform people, get them to participate and broaden awareness of your business.

Television commercials have largely been beyond the reach and affordability for small businesses, NGO's and business, a YouTube channel can offer you a new and inexpensive marketing medium.

Setting up your YouTube channel is far from complicated, as your channel is automatically generated for you when you sign up for a new YouTube account. To set up a basic channel follow these steps:

1. Sign into your YouTube account and click the Account link (at the top right hand corner of the page).

2. Click the large blue My Account link in the top left hand corner of the screen.

3. From the My Account drop-down menu, select the My Channel option.

4. In the left hand navigation section, click Channel Info.

5. Add the information you'd like to appear on your channel

6. Don't forget to click the 'Update Channel' button to save your changes!

7. You can then click the 'View your public channel' hyperlink (in the top right hand corner of the page) to see the edits you have made on your channel.

You can now customise your channel to push your business branding, product advertisement and offer support features. Go to Channel design to choose a colour scheme to match your logo. Go to Branding options to add banners, icons and URL's linking users to your business website or other relevant businesses. Choose your top video, the top video on your channel automatically plays each time someone visits your page.

Update this regularly to keep it fresh, or keep your most important video there as an introduction. Use a video to push your company's brand, just the way you would with traditional television advertising. You can also take a more direct approach and use a video to promote individual products. Keep your videos informative, educational or entertaining. Include a lot of close up shots of the product and a link back to your own website where further product information is available.

A YouTube channel can be used for more than just the business to consumer relationship, it can be utilised as a tool in streamlining business to employee relationships for product training, employee communications and recruiting new talent. A YouTube channel can offer your business both value and opportunity as one of the lowest cost marketing tools you can find.

LinkedIN - the power of connection and social media influence

Your web site may be sitting there waiting for visitors to come along but not so for LinkedIN because it has 55 million users who regularly visit representing 150 industries around the world, LinkedIn is a fast-growing professional networking site that allows members to create business contacts, search for jobs, and find potential clients. Individuals have the ability to create their own professional profile that can be viewed by others in their network, and also view the profiles of their own contacts.. The best thing is that you don’t even have to pay to reach these 55 million people. You just need to figure out a way to attract their attention.

The paradox with online networking is that it is difficult to put into practice the usual nine influencing tactics of; reasoning, inspiring, inquiring, make them feel good, strike a deal, swapping favours, using silent allies, authority and force. There are three reasons why this is the case.

Firstly, most people joining LinkedIN are focused on themselves and use a discussion or comment as a disguise to leave their ‘online’ business card. Secondly, most people tend to fallback on reasoning to get their point across and a discussion then ends up as a verbal arm-wrestling contest. Thirdly, they underestimate the time, effort, and skill required to engage in a fluid and dynamic conversation.

To get benefits from online business networking, you need to invest time and energy to build your reputation. It is your reputation that influences and attracts people. People want insight instead of Inmails. The more insights you share, the more people will see you as an expert. The more valuable you become in your network, the more people will be attracted to you and so your reputation grows. Over time, people starts to look to you to make connections with other people. In short, you become more than your CV, you become an invaluable asset in your network. In benefiting others, you become the benefit of online business networking.

Have you determined who 'brand you' is?

I was at a workshop last week, at which I gave an impromptu “from the heart” mini-talk on personal branding in the era of social media.

People often question if they “need” a personal brand. Here’s the news – you already HAVE a personal brand. The only questions are, what is it? Are you projecting it effectively? And with the rise of social media, you also now have to think about your personal brand online. Is it congruent with brand YOU!

When people see you, think of you, and relate to you, words and images and feelings come to mind. That is your personal brand. If people who know you think “friendly,” “helpful,” “kind,” when they see you and talk about you, you are well on your way to possessing a positive personal brand. Of course, you can easily see the flip side of this as well…

So, you have a brand. Do you know what it is? What distinguishes you from the teeming hordes of humanity? What are you known for? Here, you need some self-examination, maybe some personality profiling (I found the Gallup books on Strengths to be particularly helpful), and some honest friends to help you distill it down.

What you’ll find is a constellation of qualities, and perhaps 1-5 characteristics that really stand out. Those are what you build your brand on. And, once you really have a grasp on it, you can communicate to people much more effectively what you’re all about. Where you fit in. Even what your future business endeavors should look like. You project your brand NOW – but you can project it more effectively when you actually know what it IS, and feel comfortable in your own skin.

What is my personal brand? I listen, analyze, distill, and rapidly find the core, then communicate it fairly effectively. This becomes my brand voice.

Let’s make one distinction. There is your personal brand essence, which is that grouping of personality traits, character traits, strengths, and capabilities that make you you. Then there is your personal brand role, which is how you function in the world and marketplace. Your role may change, but your essence remains the same, and hopefully, your functional and professional role is increasingly aligned with who you (essentially) are.

I’ve had live and on-line conversations with several people in the last few months who are wrestling with how to define themselves, and project their personal brand. As it turns out, my core competencies of analyzing, distilling, and expressing makes that a very enjoyable and meaningful exercise.

You don’t have to be a personal branding guru, or a consultant, a blogger, or an entrepreneur, to have and project a brand. You simply have to have a pulse. And a willingness to discover what really makes you tick. You DO have a brand, and you DO have something to offer. What endeavor could more rewarding and noble than identifying that brand and running with it?

Nearly 20% of Marketing Dollars Will Go to Social Marketing in 5 Years

Social media networks are a marketers dream. With over 500 million active users on Facebook today, there’s no doubt that Facebook is a social media powerhouse. And although Facebook is a social networking favorite, it’s not alone.

Marketers are actively taking note of many different social media opportunities and beginning to implement new strategic social initiatives at a higher rate than ever before. Here are 3 new studies that show social media is on the rise. As a business you cannot afford NOT to participate:

#1: Small Business Doubles Social Media Adoption

At least one positive result from the economic downturn is the rapid growth of social media marketing.

A recent study, “The State of Small Business Report,” sponsored by Network Solutions, LLC and the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, points to economic difficulties as the catalyst for social media’s rapid popularity.

The study results show that social media usage by small business owners increased from 12% to 24% in just the last year, and almost 1 out of 5 actively uses social media as part of his or her marketing strategy.

Here’s a breakdown of what the small businesses reported as the main uses of social media marketing:

* 75% have a company page on a social networking site
* 69% post status updates or articles of interest on social media sites
* 57% build a network through a site such as LinkedIn
* 54% monitor feedback about the business
* 39% maintain a blog
* 26% tweet about areas of expertise
* 16% use Twitter as a service channel

According to the study, different industries are adopting social media marketing at different rates, and while many industries have started using social media marketing in their efforts to reach more customers, many still have not positioned it as their top priority.

According to the survey, “Professional services firms, real estate businesses and entertainment/food/lodging businesses rely more on email marketing than other types of small businesses. Firms in the education/health/social services sector rely more on social media marketing and direct mail. Not surprisingly, retailers depend more on print and broadcast advertising.” Those slow to adopt to the new way of communicating via social media may remain in the backwoods for years and may simply be unable to catch up with their more aggressive and savvy competitors

The report also measured small businesses’ expectations of social media. While 58% feel that social media “met expectations,” 12% feel it has “exceeded expectations,” while 25% feel social media has “fallen short of expectations.”

Some of the reasons given for social media’s shortfalls were:

* 50% feel it has used up more time than expected
* 19% believe social media has lost them money
* 17% feel social media has allowed people to criticize their business

Overall, social media use by small business is a major growth area. The report says it best: “This dire environment has not stifled innovation. The most successful small businesses are competing by offering superior service and creativity and small businesses are rapidly embracing social media as a way for keeping engaged with customers and tapping knowledge resources.”

#2: Nearly 20% of Marketing Dollars Will Go to Social Marketing in 5 Years

In just the last 6 months, marketers have shifted their attitudes toward social media marketing spending. This was recently affirmed in the new study, “The CMO Survey”, from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and the American Marketing Association. A key finding: Social media marketing budgets continue to rise. According to the results, businesses currently allocate 6% of their marketing budgets to social media, an allotment they expect to increase to 10% during the next year and 18% over the next 5 years.

Back in August 2009, marketers had already planned on devoting more money to social media. However, in February 2010, marketers reported that they plan to allocate one-fifth of their marketing budgets to social media marketing in the next 5 years. This is a definite increase from the 2009 projections. The study features the following comparison from August 2009 to February 2010:

Current marketing budget spending on social media:

August 2009: 3.5%

February 2010: 5.6%

Marketing budget spending on social media in the next 12 months:

August 2009: 6.1%

February 2010: 9.9%

Marketing budget spending on social media in the next 5 years:

August 2009: 13.7%

February 2010: 17.7%

According to the director of the survey, Fuqua Professor Christine Moorman, “Even though many are still experimenting and learning how best to use social media tools, these results indicate that marketers think social media marketing is here to stay and will play an increasingly important role in their work in acquiring and retaining customers in the future.”

#3: Mastering Social Media: A Top Goal for Marketers

Anderson Analytics and Marketing Executives Networking Group recently released a report titled “Marketing Trends 2010” with some interesting insight into the minds of marketing executives.

Marketing executives were asked to choose the most important trends and buzzwords to pay attention to in 2010, marketing ROI (getting a good return on marketing efforts) was number one, with 58% saying it was the most important trend to keep an eye on. But what’s even more interesting is that social media made the top 10 list, with 42% choosing it as one of the top trends to watch. In addition, 72% said they work for companies that are planning social media initiatives in 2010.

The study also explored social media presence and reported interesting findings when comparing personal social media use among marketing executives and their company’s social media use.Individual executives are most likely to use networking tools like Facebook and LinkedIn, while companies are more likely to keep a blog than individual executives.

Equally interesting is the consensus on how to carry out the social media initiatives. Marketers turn to internal employees, social media consultants and interactive agencies for support and are less likely to use PR and ad agencies. The growth is certainly in social media marketing agencies.

When selecting a supplier for social media initiatives, marketing executives focus on the influence over a target market and the extent of a consultant’s network as major deciding factors.

These three surveys are great indicators that we will continue to see social media marketing rise and perhaps over time see less of the traditional marketing strategies. Social media is here to stay so for those still working within organisations where it is a low priority your challenge is to show how linear marketing is no longer the norm. Your customers hear about your products from many, many different sources.

Have you seen a major shift to social marketing initiatives in your company? Is there still a hesitancy to make a substantial leap to this new way of marketing or has the shift been an easy transition?

Tips for creating great Blog content

I often get asked how do we keep our blog interesting and topical. Often the solution is simly a matter of brainstorming with your team. You will be surprised by the stories that abound within your organsiation that will indeed interest your audiences, customers and add focus to your business. Here are some tips.


1. Industry News – whats happening this week, this month

2. Industry Trends – where is the industry going, what are the emerging hot segments

3. Customers Pain Points – Write posts that provide solutions for your customers
problems

4. Customers successes – Write up a case study about a clients successful project,
they will often let you publish their name

5. What not to do – highlighting where something hasn’t worked (the names shall
remain anonymous of course)

6. Create a video blog post by interviewing a successful client – this can a
powerful providing authentic evidence of authority and credibility for both you
and the client

7. Write articles for the different types of customers that are relevant for each
of your vertical markets

8. Brainstorm blog post topics with colleagues and management and create a list for
future reference and planning

9. Subscribe to the top industry blogs in your market, both company blogs and
personal blogs for ideas

10. Look through your latest news releases for ideas

11. Sign up other staff to write on topics in your industry or market that they are
passionate about

12. Develop a series of how to blog posts

13. Turn the “how to” blog posts into short videos

14. When you have a great idea, go straight to your “add new” button and write the
headline and save it as a draft or write it down before you forget it.

15. Include a great iconic image at the start of the blog that catches the eye

16. Case Studies are always popular to write about and not just your own

17. Place Powerpoint presentations on your blog by posting and then embedding links
from Slideshare

18. Run polls and surveys on your blog

19. Create great headlines that catch people attention and makes them want to read
the rest of the article

20. Add credbility banners such as how many subscribers, number of hits, blog grade
and any awards

21. Provide “share this” buttons to Facebook and Twitter as a minimum

22. Implement “subscribe” buttons via RSS and Email

23. Write in bite size chunks and use bullet points so readers can quickly and easy
consumption

24. Break up large blocks of text with iconic and interesting images

25. Take screen shots to place in your post using Software like Snagit to highlight
points .. a picture is worth a 1000 words

26. Be yourself even if it is a company blog.. be authentic.

27. Optimize your blog for SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

28. Promote and distribute your posts on to other social media platforms such as
Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn

29. Make the blog easy to find on your company’s web page with a large bannner or
button

30. Finally, have fun, mix up the types of posts and add some humour occasionally

What makes your blog hum? Look forward to hearing your suggestions