So, on April 23rd, a couple hundred of our close Des Moines social media friends as well as some connected through the wonders of technology, gathered to explore “The State Of Now” at the 2012 140 Character Conference Des Moines!

As a marketing and branding professional, I love to create passion with my words, but I was in for a treat on this day.  We had speakers make connections professionally and personally throughout the whole day. As I watched the event roll via Ustream, I was thrilled and honored to be included in this event. For some, it was educational. For some it was entertaining. For most, it was a day of passionate sharing that they’ll never forget.

Some of my favorite speakers include (click to see their video on YouStream):

Michael Libbie, Speaking on Marketing & Social Media ROI (EYE-OPENING) ( Find him on Twitter @MichaelLibbie )

Laura Wynn, Speaking on Bullying through Social Media (HEART-WRENCHING) ( Find her on Twitter @LauraWynn )

Angela Maiers, Speaking on #YouMatter and Education (POWERFUL) ( Find her on Twitter @AngelaMaiers )

Ben Smith, Speaking on the Social connection and the tremendous experienced he’s had in his “New Home.” (MAKES ME PROUD TO LIVE HERE) ( Find him on Twitter @BenASmith )

While I’ve linked to four of the presentations I liked, PLEASE go to the UStream channel and watch others. You’re going to be amazed!

And for those that know me and know about TRUE Branding: Here, in a neat 10-minute nutshell is how TRUE Branding can change your life and your business for ever!

If you’d like to read more about TRUE Branding, click the link here –>  TRUE BRANDING!

Thanks so much to Deb During ( @DebWorks ) for allowing me to experience the event.  I look forward to future ones!

Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

If I’m your brand advocate, we, in some significant way, have made a connection. Your unique message has fought through the din of chaos and clutter and found it’s way into my heart, my mind and even my soul. It’s now a part of me. So engage it with care.

I’ve had the honor of hearing and seeing some very good keynote speakers throughout my career.  Some have left me with tears in my eyes or a fire in my heart while others…  have…  well…  just left me.

On the positive, I’ve seen tremendous motivational speakers like Hajj Flemings (@HajjFlemings on Twitter) and Angel Maiers (@AngelaMaiers on Twitter), innovative business marketing and branding speakers like Michael Wagner (@BigWags on Twitter) and Liz Strauss (@lizstrauss on Twitter).

Every time,  I make it a point to get a few minutes, face-to-face with the speakers to make an introduction – often times just so they can put a name to the face “@TheBrandChef.“ And every time I approach these speakers, they are engaging, honest and forthright when it comes to offering advice or simply talking about the day’s event.

That’s TRUE brand engagement.

That’s how to build a connection to brand advocates and help build a sustainable brand in the minds of your advocates!  WHY? My personal take-away? As your advocate, I feel like I am a bigger part of the event and with the conversation and even a signed book (or whatever swag) I feel I’ve made a connection that meant something to both of us.

So what’s with the Brand Posers?

Yeah, I know, kind of negative, but I have to call ‘em for what they are. I’m talking about the people that stand up and preach brand and personal connections and engagement, but carry themselves in a way that is quite the opposite. They POSE. And they suck.

I take branding personally.  I am, after all, The Brand Chef.  So when I am inspired by a speaker from my industry (or out of for that matter), I have the passion to pursue engagement and connection at ANY level possible. When this happens, it’s electric. Not just for me, but for my work, my career and my own brand advocates. And I’d hope that for the speaker, the brand I have subscribed to, feels a bit of that spark as well.

So, on the negative, when the correlation of brand “performance” to brand engagement is SO far off, it makes me…  well, write posts like this. Because, if I hadn’t had a disappointing experience with a “Brand Poser,” I wouldn’t be relegated to vent. I wouldn’t be forced to wave my blogging fists in the air. I wouldn’t have felt dismissed, disappointed and trivialized.

Being TRULY ENGAGING takes more than a handshake and a kiss in the air by my cheek.

For every clammy palm you have to press and for every Polaroid you have to fake, there is going to be 1000 more that you’ll miss.  And THOSE are the misses that matter. The misses with the people that count, the misses with the people who care, the CONNECTIONS with your brand advocates is what will get you where you want to go. So at least make an effort.

Your accolades, your book and the Armani suit have NOTHING to do with your brand.

So as your brand advocate, I offer this miniscule seed of advice, “Pay attention to those that you look down upon, because they, like you, are climbing the same hill… And years from now, they just might know how to spit further than you.”

That’s where it all started for me.

I read his book, Uncertainty, Turning Fear and Doubt Into Fuel for Brilliance. And for those that know me, I NEEDED it. I can’t say it changed my life. I’ve personally understood what he wrote in the book for 20 years, but it revealed a path on which I could take the first step.  Read it today, I highly encourage it…

So, this morning, as I traveled on that path with meetings for a new venture, creating an outline for new campaigns, dreaming of the future and my plans for personal growth and “World Domination,”  I looked through my email and was shown just another hint of the brilliance that Jonathan Fields was willing to share with us.  It was a notification from Slideshare that Jonathan had posted a new slide deck.

Big deal, right? I get that notification as people I follow in SlideShare post new decks and videos daily. But this one stood out. It simply showed Jonathan Field’s portrait and the title “Annual Report 2011: Serve | Aspire | Transcend” 

I had to click.

What I saw was inspiring. What I read was engaging. What I felt was motivated to make 2012 the start of MY future to Serve, Aspire and Transcend.  I had my start with his book, but Jonathan’s slide deck (a look back for him), which I humbly share here, has become the blueprint for TheBrandChef (Andrew B. Clark) and how I choose to move through my life moving forward.

View…

Annual Report 2011: Serve | Aspire | Transcend

OOOOOOH are things heating up the TheBrandChef’s kitchen this morning? Thanks Jonathan Fields (@jonathanfields) for the permission to dream and act on my dreams.

NOW…  you go do the same!

Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

Of course there are still common sense uses for telemarketing, but with the onset of digital messaging, I see its use and utility becoming a little like that of the FAX machine. I still have a FAX number on my business card, but really couldn’t pinpoint the last time it was used.

So, that brings me to today’s little post. While I was at lunch with some close friends, I saw a call come in on my cell phone that I didn’t recognize. Generally, and I’m sorry to those I’ve screened, I don’t answer calls from numbers I don’t readily identify as “friendly.” That may be due to the fact that I used to be the director of a loan collection telemarketing center, or it may simply be that I live in Iowa, where every 4-years-or-so, we become the political solicitation call capital of the world. In any case, if you’ve gone my to voice-mail once and left a “friendly” message, I can guarantee you probably won’t again (unless I’m too busy for real.)

So, I finished lunch and got back to the office to check my messages and I’m assaulted with the following:

Yeah, right?

So, let me smack this poor guy around a little…

1. The company (or guy) did a Google search for “Social Media” — maybe even as specific as “Social Media Marketing, Des Moines” and found my Website. BIG DEAL
2. He’s reading from a poorly written script. YAWN
3. His pitch was vague, broad and unappealing. CLICK
4. There was no tangible call-to-action. FAIL
5. There was no research or qualification to the call. DUH And
6. HE SURE AS HELL KNEW MY NAME IS ANDREW…  (he said it 9 times in less than 90 seconds! GOOD LORD! I’m vain, but that’s uncalled for!)

So, what are my takeaways from this little solicitation? Telemarketing can work if you approach it logically.

1. Don’t be a robot.  If I were to answer, I can only assume this guy would have, without taking a breath, given me the :90 seconds you just heard without engaging me for a second. If you’re going from a script, memorize it and interject sales points and benefits as the conversation progresses. Don’t read to me!
2. Be prepared. Sure a Google search and some skimming of a company website may give you the gist of who you’re calling, but with a little deeper dive (LinkedIn, Twitter search, etc.) he could have personalized some of the pitch to make me feel more comfortable that he was stalking me.
3. Don’t bury your lead. It took well over :50 seconds (of :90 total) for the “Hook” to be presented. If you want to get someone’s attention, you don’t have time for chit-chat, especially in this day of “Immediate Gratification.” I’ve seen his business model as a start-up happen in less time than it took him to tell me about it. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!
4. Finally, Leave ‘Em Hangin’… Don’t reveal the hook when leaving a voice-mail… Even when I was collecting student loans, I would leave messages that would make people think they should call back. Not by being deceptive or dishonest, but by feeding enough information to them that calling for the “punch line” seems logical.

Like I said, telemarketing can work, but it has to be used the right way.

Let me know your thoughts. Would YOU have taken this call? Would you have even listened to the enitre message before hitting DELETE?

Food for thought.

Keep Cooking,
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

In a conversation with a good friend, we were mulling over the unique challenges we both have with clients, agencies and production houses when it comes to being effective marketers.  He made a very valid point that

“…if everyone worked as quickly as his brain, the work would be TEN TIMES as valuable.”

As the conversation went on, I started assimilating marketing to a constantly moving force in search of it’s next meal… 

“If a marketing department or even a basic marketing campaign is to have value or any spec of success, it needs to be constantly moving. Like a shark, if it stops, it suffocates under its own pressure and drowns – suddenly, another corpse for other sharks in the ocean to feed on…”

One thing lead to another and the phrase “Sharketing” was coined.

The conversation came to an abrupt stop. Our eyes grew to the size of the plates that sat below us, and we both started laughing.

“Sharketing…  Are YOU Sharketing?” I yelled. (to some pretty strange looks at Palmer’s Deli, mind you)

“Ha…  what a cool idea.” He added.

So I immediately went back to the CreateWOW office and registered the domain, AreYouSharketing.com and the seed was planted.

Jump ahead a few months and we come to Sunday, February 20, 2011. A day that Sharketing was given breath and the ability to swim in the ocean of marketing phraseology for ever.

Sharketing defines the action that ALL MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS professionals should be taking. Ever moving, ever searching, hunting, tracking and focused on the next meal. Sharketing allows the campaign to run, unfettered by politics, red tape and the lack of return.

AreYouSharketing.com is a portal for all marketing communications professionals to gain the speed they need to become TRUE marketers.  It’s a resource for learning.  It’s a resource to extend your brand equity. It’s a resource for additional outposts for your marketing messages.

Some of the best ideas come quickly and simply. And it should always work that way.

I invite you to go on over the AreYouSharketing.com to see what’s in store.  So far we have a handful of collaborators, but we’re always looking for more. If interested, please contact me!

Thank you!

And, remember… Sharks Swim in Schools…

Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef