Reasons I Love the NFL Draft

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 As I write this, tonight is the first night of the NFL Draft.  If you are a fan of the NFL, you likely already know this.  If you are a fan, you probably already understand my interest and my fascination.  But if not, you might be wondering why so many grown men will tune in to watch the equivalent of “picking sides on the playground.”  So let me explain, in the best way I can, why I love the NFL Draft. Hope:  Let’s get this out of the way.  I am a Cleveland Browns fan.  So some might say, the first night of the NFL draft (where the Browns always seem to pick) can be the most hopeful and exciting night of the our season.  I get it.  But the fact is, the NFL Draft sells hope.  Fans get the opportunity to hope for the player they want.  They get to hope for the production that player might give the team.  Hope is fun.  We all need more of it. Excitement:  The NFL does a great job (with its partners like ESPN) of creating a month-long build up to the Draft.  Those of us who are fans have been talking about it for weeks.  This morning, talk shows are broadcasting from Philadelphia (the home of this year’s draft) and talking about the potential picks.   It is an industry in itself.  But more importantly, it’s a story.  And as we have said here before, people love stories. Intrigue:  From my perspective, sports is the very best of “reality TV,” and the Draft is exactly that.  For those of us that make fun of “giving the rose” on the Bachelor, this is not much different.  It is really fun to watch what teams decide to do to build their franchise.  I love it! The NFL Draft packages Hope, Excitement and Intrigue better than most events of the year. But what is the lesson?  We can all use more of all three.  So how are you creating those for your clients or employees?  You might want to give that some thought. 

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DMJ Podcast: 3 R's of Marketing

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 When you were growing up, you might have heard about the 3 R’s of Education.  You know what they were, right?  It consisted of the basics; reading, writing and arithmetic.  Read more details from this blog post (including case studies) here.  Today on the Delivering Marketing Joy podcast, we dig into this topic and which one of the R’s is most important!  Listen in here! As you can hear in the podcast in details, the Three R’s are Reach, Recall and Reaction.  Reach:  I think we spend too much time, money and attention on the first R, reach.  It’s an important component…but it’s not the end game.  Salespeople focus on that number because it’s sexy.  But it doesn’t tell you how many people you reach that actually want  your product! Recall:  This is more important because you need people (and hopefully your target) to remember your message and your organization. Reaction:  This is the holy grail!  We need to reach people.  We need them to recall us.  But most importantly we want them to React.  We need them to pick up the phone, click on the link, come to the store.  The best advertising and marketing causes our target market to react! Thanks for listening to the Delivering Marketing Joy podcast!  Let us know if you have any topics you want us to dig into!  We want to provide as much value as possible!

 

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7 Things to STOP Doing on Social Media Now

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Social media can really be a wonderful thing.  We get the opportunity to connect with people from around the globe and reconnect with people from our past.  We get to share and communicate, and it gives each and every one of us a voice.  But we all know that there are some things about social media that are not as good.  People have a tendency to get themselves in trouble by making some pretty simple mistakes.  So here are 7 things that you (or the people your organization) should STOP doing right away.

Stop Complaining About Work or Co-Workers:  If you are complaining about your co-workers or your job, and you think they can’t see it, you are wrong.  They will find out.  It’s unprofessional.  And if you don’t care that you lose your job, just keep in mind that your next employer will be checking social media on you too.

Stop Passive Aggressive Complaints:  This is when someone is obviously complaining about something that happened but does not want to address it in person.  “Some people should just stop…” or posts of the like.  If you have a problem with someone, be a grown up and talk to them about it.

Stop Claiming Free Speech:  The First Amendment was created so that we could speak out without fear of being imprisoned by the government…not for being a jerk on Facebook.  You do have freedom of speech, but you don’t have freedom of consequences.  Stop acting like you do.

Stop Looking for a Reason to be Mad:  It seems like some people wake up each day searching for a reason to be outraged.  If you look for reasons to be angry all the time, you will find them (this post for example).  Stop seeking out reasons to be mad and you might actually get happier.

Stop Comparing Your Life to Others:  The fact is, most people (myself included) sometimes put up our “highlight reel” on social media.  We post the pictures that look great.  We show our vacations, not the times we are crying in the corner.  Just be better than you were yesterday…stop worrying if Frank is on vacation again.

Stop Saying “Woe is me:”  We all have challenges, and social media can be a place to vent…sometimes.  But if you are constantly complaining about your life, then stop it.  Take that time and energy and go out and change it.

Stop Forgetting Social is Public:  I am always a little amused when people are surprised that what they put on social gets seen by people.  It’s a public forum.  So when you post things, just understand that your co-workers, your boss, your customers and even your future employer can and will see it.

These are just seven things to stop, but it’s a good start.  Let me know if we have forgotten any that we need to add to the list.  Again, social media can be great.  But be smart…and it can be even better.

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5 Lessons from My Dad

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 Today is my dad, Rod Hasseman’s, birthday.  So it seems appropriate to flashback to a piece of content I created about a year ago!  Take a look.  Take a listen.  Enjoy! 

In the past, I have taken a look at 5 Lessons we can learn from someone in the sports, business, or entertainment world.  This week we stick with the “5 Lessons” theme but I get a little more personal.  Today we look at 5 Lessons that I learned (and you can too) from my Dad.  Listen in here.

 

 

Be a Reader: Many of you know that last year I read 50 books for business and personal development. My love and interest in reading was modeled by my dad. He was always reading and I learned early that if I wanted to be smart, I needed to read. Thank goodness for that!

 

Have An Open Mind:  My dad was (and is) a very intelligent guy.  But that does not mean he always feels like he knows all the answers.  He is a questioner.  He is a bit of a contrarian.  I get that from him.  In order to question opinions, including your own, you need to have an open mind.  You need to be willing to admit when you are wrong.  It’s not easy for anyone.  But Dad was willing to sit back and say “okay…that makes sense.”

 

Have a Sense of Humor:  One of the things I love about my dad is his laugh.  Because he has a great sense of humor, I got to hear it a lot growing up.  People love other people that make them feel good.  One of the best ways to make other feel good is to make them laugh.

 

Be a Good Storyteller:  Oh what a yarn he can weave!  I grew up listening to Dad tell stories.  It turns out that this is not just good for around campfires.  The best marketers and salespeople are those that tell good stories.  Remember…people buy stories, not just stats.

 

Be Willing To Re-Create Yourself:  After a career in business and sales, my dad hit a bit of a wall when he moved back to Ohio.  In order to make a living, he started a second career.  He went back to college to get his Master’s in teaching and started over teaching High School.  He has made the most of this 2nd career, but it’s tough to start over.  Sometimes you have to be willing to re-create yourself for a better tomorrow!

 

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3 Ways To Help Your Sales Team Grow

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In nearly every sales force you have three kinds of team members.  You have your Rock Stars, the average performers, and the Laggers.  And your success as a business is dependent upon working with (or not working with) the right groups with the right amount of time to grow your sales.

1.  Rock Stars:  These are the folks that are self-starters.  They are driven.  This group takes very little of your time to motivate and (most of the time) they are actually pretty low maintenance.  There is not a need or want of any hand-holding (for the most part) because they don’t have time for that.  They are working to get the next sale.

Sometimes they are so easy to deal with you might ignore them.  Don’t.

2.  Laggers:  As one sales manager once told me, “You can’t push a rope.”  Many organizations make the mistake of spending a lot of time with the Laggers.  They are often very nice guys and gals (that’s why they were hired).  And the tendency is, we think that if we “coach them up” they can turn into Rock Stars.  Most of the time, this is fantasy.  Raise your hand if this has happened to you…everyone!

3.  Average Performers:  The fact is, most of your sales team falls into this category.  These are good sales members that have moments of “rock star status.”  They just don’t perform at this level consistently.  They very well could be “rock stars” but they are not…yet.  One of the jobs of an entrepreneur, sales manager, or sales guru, is to raise the level of these team members.

But how do you thank and appreciate the Rock Stars and incentivize the rest?  That is, literally, the million-dollar question.  Let’s take a look at a few options…

1.  Status Award:  When it comes to affecting sales members’ behavior, a great option is to create Status awards they “wear.”  This allows them to be reminded of their accomplishment nearly every day.  It also shows the Average Performers who to model their behavior after.  When thinking of a status award, think of the Green Jacket that is given to the winner of the Masters.  What are some other ideas for status awards?  Think of doing a cool custom watch.  The average person looks at their watch more than 10 times a day.  Make it a fashion statement and you have something they are proud to wear.  Not a fan of a watch?  No problem.  What about a custom ring or a special shirt.  You get the idea.

Make it cool and it will get the attention you desire.

2.  Fun Award:   Sometimes you can really have fun with the celebration!  If you create a contest or incentive around lifestyle and the fun that success can bring, you might create awards that celebrate that.  What do I mean, think about toting around a very nice Coleman cooler to every event this summer with an award message.  What a great way to remind your team of their success (and get people to ask about it!).

3.  Public Awards:  Another way to make sure your sales team knows how they are doing is to create an award program that is a very public display of accomplishment.  Read more on how to really do this right here.  But when you create a public display, you can really give your sales team a way to showcase their own accomplishments to everyone that walks in their office!  The other cool effect of these awards is that it tells all future customers that they are dealing with a Rock Star…and we all want that. If you want to dig deeper on learning how to create a program to help grow sales, just contact us here and we will reach out to you.  In addition, you can shop online for other ideas here.

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