Gratitude Journal- Day 20- the Gift of Song

This weekend, our synagogue hosted the Maccabeats, whom some of you may remember burst onto the scene with the Candlelight video that went completely viral.  For a while, it was a sensation.

As part of the festivities, we were privileged to host 3 of the singers for lunch where we got to hear the story from the inside and "talk shop."  

In addition, they regaled Tonka with "Happy Birthday" as it is tomorrow.

As I listened to them sing and others around the table joined in, I found myself feeling grateful for the gift of song that we have and how much we can communicate to each other through song and music.

It's not something that I've thought much about, but our 3 guests devoted a nice portion of their lives to it and have enriched the lives of millions of people (look at the # of views they have!) through it.

That's a great gift.

Gratitude Journal- Day 19: Maria and Irma

I love Fridays. Not because it is the end of the week or because Shabbat is that evening (though both of those are true).

I love it because our cleaning ladies, Maria and Irma, come and work tirelessly.

It's not that our house is dirty. The NFO and I both make efforts, but you know how it is.

But the time from 10-3 on Fridays after Maria and Irma have left before the kids come home from school...it creates a  special Zen-like atmosphere for me.

They have an amazing work ethic and always with a smile on their face. They NEVER complain and are just fun.  They have fascinating personal stories as well as they have overcome adversity.

I just feel so fortunate to have them and am so grateful for all they do to run the household.

They are here right now, as I am typing this, so it's top of mind. And yes, I tell them how much I value them, greeting them with "my favorite 2 people in the world!" when they walk through the door ;-)

Gratitude Journal- Day 18: Nikki (our Roomba)

Keeping a house clean is a challenge. Both the NFO and I are running around daily and let's just say that the kids don't always help as much as I would like ;-)

Recently, however, I bought a Roomba robot vacuum and it's been a nice stress minimizer for me. We call the Roomba, "Nikki" (more on that later).

When the kids leave in the morning, I do a quick walk through of the main floor of the house, picking up anything that will get in the way of Nikki doing her job (like shoelaces, etc.)

Then, I push the button (I was going to say 'turn her on,' but thought better of it) and go about my business. About an hour or so later, she returns to her dock and the house has had a nice vacuuming. For a wanna-be Zen guy, it's a great feeling.

We call the Roomba "Nikki" for a few reasons.

"Nikayon" in Hebrew means "clean up" or "cleaning."

Then, in a nod to our Finland fetish, we made it "Nikkanen" (to go along with Tikkanen, Jokinen, and Lakkanen).

Finally, we shortened it to "Nikki."

When we were deciding what to call Nikki, we also had to determine gender. I didn't want to assume it was a female who did the cleaning and we thought that Nikki could be male or female.

However, Lakkanen (age 9) suggested that Nikki was actually a transgender female, so we agreed that Nikki was a transgender female robot vacuum.

As part of the deal, Lakkanen is also known as "Nikki Janitorial Service Team" as she is responsible for cleaning the Roomba after each use.

So, today, I am grateful to the inventors of Roomba who give me a feeling of serenity.  I am grateful for the effort they put into creating something that works (pretty damn well) and which has some amazing technology to solve a need.

Gratitude Journal- Day 17- The Right Therapist

I've changed my mind significantly about the value and need of therapy.  I'll admit that, once upon a time, I viewed it as a sign of mental weakness. Sorry, just being honest here.

Anyway, I eventually felt compelled (for reasons I'd rather not share) to give it a try.

Thing is, I've learned the hard way that the "fit" between therapist and patient is ueber critical.  My first two were very nice people, but didn't have the requisite skills to call me on my excessive amount of BS and self-justification.

Third time is the charm, I suppose, as I have found someone who meshes well with me. It's been a powerful and enlightening experience.

So, today, I'm grateful for the right therapist and, I suppose, for the wrong therapists (for me) who helped me realize what the right therapist looks like.

The Day I Discovered My Marketing Calling

I write this on a flight back from London, which provides ample opportunity for reflection.

I’ve been thinking about my career path and chosen field and why I got into it.

Certainly, hearing Todd Newfield speak when I lived in Japan was a seminal moment. One that was further catalyzed when he instructed me to read my first marketing book, Peppers and Rodgers’ The One-to-One Future.

Intellectually, I was hooked.

But, there was a moment a few years later when I was working at Snickelways and we had a client called Quantum Cycles (I’m still in touch with one of the clients from that assignment) and they instructed us to come down to Florida to observe Daytona Bike Week. They wanted us to understand the mentality of the customer to whom they were selling.

At one point, we entered a drugstore. Not a chain, kind of a five-and-dime variety.

As I walked the aisle, I found myself behind a man who fit every stereotype there was about a redneck/biker.

Dirty jeans, long, greasy hair, worn boots and a mesh baseball cap.

He also had a jean jacket where the sleeves had been cut off, showing his arms.

On his left and right triceps were tattooed-in kind of a gothic/old English style, the words “Harley” and “Davidson,” respectively.

I was mesmerized and I felt an emotional jolt that lit up the intellectual wood which had been gathering.

I distinctly remember thinking to myself, “I don’t know what it is that motivates someone to tattoo the name of a company on their body, but that’s what I want to figure out.”

So, while the tangible goal might be to have someone so passionate about Sprinklr or Never Stop Marketing or whatever company, product, service I am marketing at the time, that they will tattoo it on their bodies, the real goal is to understand the human condition on such a deep level as to understand the Why.

It’s a long run and I’m not there yet, but that’s just how I seek to make sense of Life.

When Work Helps Your Life…

One of the artificial lines that has long troubled me is the “work/personal” line.

The idea that the two worlds were-and should remain-separate.

Last week, I read a post by one of my favorite bloggers, Mitch Joel, as he advocated the idea that creating content for your audiences was akin to creating a ticket of discovery for your potential customers.

Then, he took a turn and talked about the need to inspire curiosity and amazement in our kids and that one of the best ways to do this is through travel.

I’ve long loved to travel and hope to inspire my kids in this respect as well, so I took Mitch’s idea to heart (he had been inspired by the train tracks in Montreal where he lives) and set out on an adventure on the DC Metro with my kids-to nowhere.

Our plan was just to get on the train and go. See what happened. The kids, who don’t ride the Metro very often were thrilled. Throw in the fact that we got to take a bus, ride some elevators and escalators and use some fare cards, as well as meet some interesting folks and we had ourselves a fun, exciting, and cost-effective morning outing.

Seeing their eyes wide open, listening to them make observations about the passing scenery, and answering their questions, I felt lucky that the work/personal line had been crossed.

Helping 1000 people in one year to build a business…

I’ve long believed that one of the best ways to build your brand (be it personal or corporate) is to focus on the needs of others.
If you do that, you earn trust…which is an asset that comes back to you.
Fact is, you can even be open about the fact that your motive is yourself long-term, but you know the strategy is about serving others.
Here’s an example…and something to think about as we move into 2013.
Robby Slaughter of Indianapolis set himself a goal at the beginning of 2012.
To help 1000 people.
He called in 1000in2012
Even built a website to track it all.
You know, if you are reaching out to Robby, he’s going to help you.
And I know that when he actually does—even if he is doing it for the reason that he thinks it will help him in the long-term, and I’m not saying he is—you’re going to trust him more.
That will, in some cases, lead to opportunities for him to do business with you.

A Boss Reunion-Thanking The Teachers

I think it’s important, much like a college reunion, to periodically reflect on how your professional career has unfolded and to express gratitude for those who helped shape it.

There's no way I would have achieved any of my own success without the input and impact of those who hired me into my various roles.

I’ve been fortunate. I have always had a great relationship with bosses who hired me (not always with those who inherited me, but I digress).

One of these days, I’m going to get them all together in a room. For now, I’ll just introduce them all to you and to each other.

Todd Newfield, who gave me my first job doing Internet Marketing in Tokyo, Japan at FACT Communications. Even today, I can’t believe the amount of exposure and opportunity I had to do some great stuff. I certainly didn’t appreciate it all then. His two pieces of career advice still linger with me.

• “Only do business with people you like.”
• “Never believe your own bullshit.”

You want intensity? That’s Todd. He truly Never Stops Marketing.

Paul Cimino gave me my first sales job at Snickelways and introduced me to the world of doing business-and doing it well-in New York City. He’s a great salesman and showed how relationships and networks matter so much in building, well, anything. I had been dedicated to my network before then, but Paul supercharged that focus.  He taught me the value of strong negotiations (using that skill on me once or twice) and persistence.

Tom Begley made the call to hire me at Microsoft. He knew I lacked some professional polish (some would argue that I still do), but he saw potential and passion and believed that my love of technology and how it could possibly impact people would come through. Tom is a Zen Master (well, you know what I mean) of Emotional Intelligence, among many things, and taught me many of the nuances of navigating large organizations, the politics of it, and how to listen to a room and “know your audience.” 

Christine Zmuda hired me onto a different Microsoft team. Not only is she a great listener, teacher, and friend, but she’s a world-class planner and execution fiend.  She raised the bar in terms of my expectations and possibilities and showed me how to put it all together from a marketing perspective, giving me responsibility for my own piece of business—and accountability for it as well.  The operational and data side of marketing is where she truly excelled-and where I benefited.

And, Ragy Thomas, hired me into Sprinklr and, well, the jury is still out on him   Just kidding…he’s a great teacher, but we don’t write the history until the chapter is over.

Sushi and Mastering Your Life’s Passion

Find your passion and then commit fully to it.

That’s one of the key messages of a fantastic movie that I watched recently (with my kids as well) called “Jiro Dreams of Sushi.”

You learn the story of the 85 year old who is regarded as the world’s greatest sushi chef and his lifelong dedication to his craft.

Plus, you get a pretty clear picture of what it takes to become (and stay) the best in your field.

The movie isn’t about sushi. It’s about, well, a lot of things, but it’s a blueprint for mastery.

Most of us don’t achieve that level and Jiro’s dedication shows us why and why it’s so rare. And, I suppose, it helps us appreciate Mastery when we see it.

BOOK Review: Imagine-How Creativity Works

(Updated: So I read and wrote this review before I found out about the author's plagiarism, see comments below. I did find the ideas inspiring, but obviously, the experience has been tarnished. Herewith, the original post.)

Ever found yourself staring at your computer screen trying to come up with an answer to a vexing question that requires some insight or fresh thinking?
Turns out, you’re probably better going off to take a shower.
Long-time readers know that along with marketing, my other passion is innovation. Heck, I bought the domain “Never Stop Innovating” as well.
But, it’s bigger than that.
The key to growth, longevity, and profits lies in innovation. And even bigger than that is that the future of American competitiveness requires it as well.
Which is why you MUST pick up Imagine: How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer.
I was entranced by it from the git-go, as I learned how the two sides of the brain complement each other in creative thought, why we need to actively cultivate both of them, and how to do it.

• You should force yourself to meet new people, out of your traditional circle. In fact, growing your network may be one of the best things you can do for your own creativity.
  
  According to one study, “the highest performing employees-those with the most useful new ideas-were the ones who consistently engaged in the most interactions.”
• Take a step away from your desk and go for a walk, a run, or take a shower. You don’t work on an assembly line. You are paid for creativity and these are ways to help connect the dots in your mind.
• Foster dissent instead of group think. 
  In fact, “beginning a group session with a moment of dissent-even when the dissent is wrong, can dramatically expand creative potential.”

Bottom line: if creativity and innovation is important to you for your career and for your children’s future (that was rhetorical, my friends), then I HIGHLY recommend you read this book.
Highly recommend.
Imagine: How Creativity Works

Best Marketing Advice I Got…

Image by Sprengben [why not get a friend] via Flickr

So, what’s the best marketing advice you’ve ever received?

I chime in my thoughts in this Digiday article.

Too harsh a marketing lesson?

I received the following note recently. Read this and my response. Then, weigh in. Was I harsh or did I do the young man a favor?

Dear Mr. Epstein,

My name is _____ , and I have just completed my second year at ______ University. I'm now back in Maryland with my family for the summer, and last week I was fortunate to have been able to speak with Mr. _____ at length about his work at _______.

I was fascinated by his explanations of how he utilizes strategic marketing to exploit environmental markets, and he was kind enough to educate me about the marketing industry in general, and how best to pursue a career in it. He heavily recommended that I speak to you about the possibility of obtaining an internship at Sprinklr, and about the marketing industry in general as well.

I did some reading about how Sprinklr's dynamic SIREn platform aids businesses to manage multiple social media channels in a scalable way, and I am highly interested in learning what it is Sprinklr does in detail, and about what it is that you do for them.

I'm also hoping to discover if there are any potential internships at Sprinklr that would fit my skill set and interests, but just by reading your NeverStopMarketing blog and about Sprinklr, I'm certain that the opportunity to speak with you in person would be highly beneficial for the development of my interests and career path. I'm available to meet whenever is convenient for you, and if you prefer to contact me by phone my number is

xxx-xxx-xxxx. I look forward to hearing from you, and hope that you will have the time to talk, but I completely understand if time constraints render that an impossibility.
Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
xxxxx

Here’s what I wrote in response.

XXX,

Thanks for writing. Appreciate you reaching out.

Your first marketing lesson, whether you intern for Sprinklr/me or not, is something called the "You/I" test.

You should look at your writing and ask yourself: which is used more frequently? "You" or "I/We".  If "you" doesn't win, you should start over.

The second lesson is "relevance."  You wrote a nice email, but your key point is "anything that fits my skill set."  However, you didn't provide any insight as to what, exactly, your skill set is. Nor any URLs for me to investigate, so I have no idea what the answer to the question is.

Now, you have a choice. You can be disheartened by this email and wonder how I can be so harsh and say, "I don't want to work for this jerk," in which case, we both move on.

Or, you can say, "what a great learning opportunity" and come back with an email that shows some real potential as a marketer.

Jeremy

A Story of Persistence: The Accidental Client

Every now and then, it’s good to go back to the beginning and think about the roots.
Thanks to Rajesh Setty for giving me an opportunity to tell the story of how I got my first client…on the Unpaved Road.
The Accidental Client

There was a movie, back in the 80s, I think called “The Accidental Tourist.”
The story of how my consulting firm got off the ground might as well be called “The Accidental Client.”
I’m an avid reader and a passionate connector. I love ideas and I love people. Even better….talking about ideas with people.
I picked up a copy of Dan Pink’s book “A Whole New Mind” and just LOVED it. Really made me think about how I think, the hallmark of a great book.
Somehow, I deduced (I don’t remember exactly how) that Dan lived in the Washington, DC area, where I live.
I figured, since I was passionate about the ideas in his book and he lived in the same area that he would, of course, be more than happy to sit down and have coffee with me. Why not, right?
I emailed Dan with my passionate plea and his response was, “I’m travelling like crazy now, can you ping me in a month?”
I did.
The answer that came back was “Things are still crazy, try next month.”
I did.
Same answer.
This continued on for 10 full months.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my career (actually, I’ve learned many), it’s that often times, it’s just a question of “who wants it more?”
More than talent, more than connection. Raw, rugged determination.
In other words, if someone says “follow up,” you freaking follow up. It shocks me how often people don’t follow up. Really, really shocks me.
Anyway, Dan finally relented and agreed to meet me for coffee.
I didn’t have an agenda, other than to chat or connect. I was gainfully employed at Microsoft and I had zero intention of leaving.
When Dan sat down, I saw a look in his face saying “Why exactly am I meeting with this guy?”
We got to talking. Just sharing our passion for ideas, his book, and marketing (my passion.)
After five minutes, I saw a light go on and Dan said, “you know, I am working on my next book now and one thing I’ve discovered is that traditional book publishers are just not very good at marketing. Would you like to help me with marketing my book as a side project?”
Of course, I would, but I thought it more of a hobby or a petri dish than an actual business. It would be fun to have an environment where I could test out my ideas.
He even offered to pay. Bonus!
Not much, but I didn’t really care.
“Ok,” he said, “great. I have some more things to take care of before we can get started, so follow up with me next month.”
Believe it or not, the cycle repeated itself as I followed up with him every month for ANOTHER 10 months.
At last, he said, “ok, I’m ready to go,” and the project was underway.
Keep in mind, folks, I was STILL gainfully employed at Microsoft. This was just my hobby.
However, I discovered something…something really important. I was having MORE fun and learning more doing my hobby than doing my regular job and it dawned on me that, “hey, maybe I can make a living out of this.”
Having a New York Times best-selling author as your first client seemed like a good starting off point and, in fact, it was. A few weeks later, I met an executive from Johnson & Johnson and we were just chatting as I told him about what I was doing to help Dan market his book “The Adventures of Johnny Bunko.”
The exec from JNJ said, “you know, we have a couple million dollar ad budget, do you think you could do something for us like you are doing for Dan?”
Uh…let me see if I can work that into my schedule!
And that’s when I knew…it was time to leave Microsoft and hang out the shingle.
Sure, I was scared out of my mind, but it felt right.
While it wasn’t a million dollar deal with JNJ, Dan’s cache (and ultimate glowing testimonial) led to a Fortune 50 client all within the first week of being on my own.
Luck? A bit. Sometimes you hit a homerun on your first swing, but the knowing when to swing and how to hit are the result of years of practice and preparation.
In this case, it was a relentless curiosity, a desire to learn, and persistence.
The best part, in my opinion, was that Dan’s book “Johnny Bunko” offered up 6 rules for business success.
Number 4 was “Persistence Trumps Talent” and Dan later told me that my display of living by this rule was what ultimately gave him the confidence to invest his book’s marketing success in my hands.

Why I Took the Job…Ships Burning

Many people have asked me, “Jeremy, you had a thriving consulting practice? Why would you give that up (and the benefits of self-employment) to go work for someone else?”

The answer: Because I was scared.

I wasn’t scared of failure or of not being able to generate enough business. After 3.5 years, I knew that I could make that happen.

No, what was scaring the daylights of me was that I would be able to generate enough business doing the same thing I had been doing.

It was a fear of a lack of ability to TRULY innovate in my offerings that motivated.

Ok, that’s not entirely true, as I was (and am) genuinely excited about the Sprinklr opportunity and the mission of the company.

But, what made me open to the possibility of joining was this nagging fear of staying relevant of staying on the cutting edge.

Between my reading of Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why and its discussion of how neural pathways become so ingrained as to become hindrances rather than helpers and an inspiring blog post by Rajesh Setty about how “most careers plateau at age 40,” I found myself in a predicament.

I knew I could keep going and do well for a while, but how long that while would be wasn’t clear.

What was clear was that…at some point…I would have to do something that “forced the change” and MADE me confront a new challenge, developing new skills, and building out new neural pathways.

This isn’t easy and it gets progressively more difficult as we age, but it’s precisely for that reason that I felt like I almost had to do it (again…it dovetailed nicely with the natural passion I felt for Sprinklr and the team).

Even though it appears he didn’t really do it, the notion of Cortes “burning the ships” has become an inspiring vision in my mind and among some of my friends as well.

Perhaps a better metaphor is that of Abraham living Haran and going “to the place I will show you” as led by God.

In both instances, the requirement is a willingness to leave behind what you are/know in order to arrive at what you can become.

But, you can’t do it halfway.

So, that fear…plus the awesome opportunity of raising my game by taking all that I’ve studied/done in the past 3.5 years and apply it in a petri dish led me to the conclusion that it just had to be done.

How I Plan to Never Stop Marketing This Year…A New Job

When I started Never Stop Marketing about 3.5 years ago my intention was to create a beautiful link between the type of marketer I wanted to be and the types of clients who would benefit from how I view the world.

With this blog, the eBooks (CDM, Dandelion Marketing, 10 Ways to Grow Your Fans ), my goal was to provide you, my faithful friends and readers (aka Community of Raving Fans!), with a front row seat as I've pursued this dream with you.

The consulting portion of NSM has been very very good to me. I'm thriving professionally, I'm making many new friends, I'm traveling the world, and I'm even putting plenty of food on my table.

Of the many new friends I've made, one of the more interesting (and persistent) is Ragy Thomas (via Sean O’Rourke).

Ragy is a successful entrepreneur and the second most insightful person I know when it comes to how society is being fundamentally altered as a result of the arrival of all of these social tools .

His newest company, Sprinklr, is focused on helping large enterprises build meaningful, authentic, and REAL relationships with a community of customers and do it in a way that is manageable and scalable.

If this sounds familiar and similar to NSM, that's because it is.

When I talked to Ragy 3 months ago, he came straight out and said:

“I’ve seen your stuff and we need you to join us. We’ve raised some money, we’ve got some Fortune 500 clients and I want you on our team.”

My answer…”what are you talking about? I love what I am doing now. Not interested.”

He persisted…and, over time, I realized that this company represented a chance to take my skills and mission of changing marketing to a new level, so I accepted their offer to become the VP of Marketing, effective January 15th.

Yep, I know. I’m still coming to terms with it myself!

I’m excited. Scared, too. But definitely excited.

Ok, here we go.

The Job of the Future…

I’ve been blogging/fascinated/focused on the jobs of the future and American innovation.

My marketing guru is Seth Godin. I thought this post of his was spot on.

It’s the skill set we’ll all need in the future as the very nature of organizations change from BIG to small.

How I handle the “Pick Your Brain” Question now…

A while back, I shared that I was feeling a bit conflicted when I get the “Can I pick your brain?” request.
I didn’t want to be a jerk by saying “no,” but I couldn’t say “Yes” to all of them.
So, here’s what I do right now.
I say,
“Sure, I’d be happy to chat about your marketing issue, but before we do, it would be great if you read my three eBooks CDM, Dandelion Marketing, and Grow Your Fans. Then, since you’ll have the background down, we can specifically talk about your issues.”
What I find is that this weeds out the serious from the non-serious.
I kind of feel like “if you’re prepared to ask for my time (in an area where I make my living) and don’t want to do any prep for it whatsoever, then I don’t feel bad about not giving my time to you.”

Paranoia, Anxiety, and the Day to Day…

One of the business books which has most informed my thinking is Andy Grove’s “Only the Paranoid Survive.”

I think it needs a sequel. Something like “how to make it every day when you are paranoid.”

You see, I’m in the midst of 3 big projects right now…all of which have HUGE innovation components. That is, I’m deliberately trying out some new things.

It’s ridiculously exciting, but since there’s a real chance that any or all of them could fail and that could make my clients dissatisfied, there’s anxiety.

But, my paranoia about failing to innovate and staying fresh, relevant, and hungry goes beyond all of that so I gladly and willingly do it.

Getting comfortable with being out of your comfort zone…that’s the trick. I don’t have all the answers though.

Alaska and the Flat World…

When you arrive in Alaska, you can’t help but think about how big the world is, how magnificent nature is, and how you fit into it.

Tyler Arnold grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, and at age 16, a teacher gave him a copy of Tom Friedman’s book, The World Is Flat .

So, Tyler did what comes naturally to people with an “Alaska Perspective,” I suppose…

He started a company…at age 16.

But, this company sells services to agencies in New York and San Francisco and manages computer programmers in Pakistan and Romania.

His business took off as he was “managing it from a Blackberry” during 10th grade and, now, at age 19, he spends 8 months a year outside of Alaska (not because of the weather), because he’s either seeing clients or managing his teams around the world.

His monthly revenues would make most of you pretty happy.

There’s been a lot of talk recently about creating jobs and innovation. IF we had more people like Tyler, who understood how to create value in a new, globalized world, we wouldn’t be having that discussion.

Just an inspiring guy. Meet Tyler in this video or check out his website: www.tylersystems.com

How to Stay Relevant in Your Job

Great advice from my friend, Rajesh.

Worth the read: Why many smart people hit a plateau (and stay there)