The Orange Chair Online

Search-optimization: Engaging clients through your web stories

National Post journalist, Brianna Goldberg, writes amusingly about her competition to gain ascendance over her “googlegänger” – the other Brianna Goldberg - a pagan who worships the Invisible Pink Unicorn, and who consistently rated above her in Google searches.

There’s a secret need in all of us to be number one. As children we’re pretty straightforward about demanding attention. At school the popular kids have everyone talking about them – they get their stories out there. As we grow older our tactics become more subtle – but the aim is still to get people thinking and talking about us.

Brianna Goldberg #1 (our journalist) had some stiff competition from Brianna Goldberg # 2 (unicorn worshiper) – who had a story line to knock your socks off. Brianna # 1’s strategy involved a significant amount of social networking, including an article about her in Wikipedia. In other words she got people talking about Brianna the journalist. Brianna # 1 triumphed – first among Brianna Goldberg’s in Google-world.

If you are a business – being number one has very serious implications. Search-engine optimization is an expanding niche in online marketing.

Search-engine optimization is important, but it can only work if you have a genuine story to tell that connects with your audience. Brianna # 1 worked hard to tell her story. She told the story of Brianna the writer and musician. A story that allowed her to hook up with people interested in her world – as opposed to invisible pink unicorns.

Likewise if we are to engage prospective clients and customers, we must start with the real organizational story. The story of our pride and the journey our organization is on – and we must make it accessible. In other words find the emotional connection so people can relate to the organization. Most often this will be the stories of your customers, the stories of your staff – people stories that illustrate your service values.

With a real story to tell you are ready to connect with clients and customers and that’s where search-engine optimization can make a difference and get you noticed for what you are. I know some people say any publicity is good publicity, but I’d far prefer people come to me because of what I am, rather then what they think I might be – because that’s bound to lead to disappointment and recriminations.

Where engaging employees blurs the lines between the lines between the inside and the outside

Check out www.mystarbucksidea.com . Starbucks – a masterful marketing organization is going back to the root of its success – people looking for a unique coffee experience. Their "mystarbucks idea" web site, asks for direct customer input – and they’re getting it in bucket loads. Fabulous idea – but there’s more! A lot of the suggestions and comments are from Starbucks employees.

There’s significant power in connecting employees and customers. Several months ago in our newsletter  I mentioned Farm Credit Canada showing videos of customers to their staff. Other strategies include sending employees to work for the customers, bringing customers into meetings and telling customer stories. Starbucks has found the solution that works for their youthful, dispersed and coffee-connected part-time workforce and customers.

I read a column about mystarbucksidea that expressed some annoyance that customers weren’t being reimbursed for Research and Development. I’d say the writer (who looks to be about my age) is missing the point.

There’s a whole generation out there that expects and demands a more integrated relationships with their suppliers. They’ve had five years of MySpace and Facebook and they know that they can connect with anyone – anywhere. They know they don’t need to be part of the corporate structure – or the pay packet – to make a difference and influence. And they are doing just that – they’re getting the coffee they want, the clothes they need and generally managing their life experiences far more intimately then my generation ever imagined. That is power. It’s also a generation savvy enough to understand that a good idea is just that and needs to be tested and refined before it’s put into practice – and that is the job of the Starbucks corporation.

Pretty neat when the line between employee and customer blurs to the extent that they are all working toward a common goal – with little concern about which side of the counter you’re on.

Generational expectations - implications for the world of work

My 15-year old daughter and I buy music in very different ways. She finds the notion that that someone would buy a physical object that contained a finite number of songs arbitrarily selected by someone else - rather quaint. My daughter is very clear about what her purchases and her expectations are high.

Businesses are beginning to catch on - music sellers, networks and studios are adjusting to a new world view where the customer is not only right, but expects to be able to exercise that judgment with a click of the mouse.

Clay Shirky,  an adjunct professor at New York University’s graduate Interactive Telecommunications Program  and the author of a new book, “Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations.”  http://www.shirky.com/ suggests that the web is not competition for traditional media, but a completely different system that empowers groups and individuals, a place where choice is not only an option, but an imperative.

As a communications professional and engagement specialists I have to ask myself what this will mean for the workplace of the future. Portal-based web sites and customized benefit packages are just the tip of the ice-berg.

I was chatting with a young woman the other day – an engineer.  One of her key motivators for becoming involved in volunteer activities within her organization is that she is able to exercise her creative design abilities. Can we expect to see a world where employees and managers co-design the job function?  Take that one step further and one can envisage interactive strategic planning. Exciting or terrifying – depends how you look at it.

Internal Communications - McDonalds Launches Employee Blog

I read with interest on Brandweek.com that McDonalds has recently launched Station M - a blog for intended to stimulate interaction between McDonald employees in the 15000+ outlets across Canada and the US and between employees and HO. 

"Station M allows employees to post content and begin online discussions on a variety of topics, including new McDonald's products, promotions and operations, as well as general, non-business related issues. Each post contains a 'comments' section where users can insert their reaction to, or questions about, a given topic. Content is provided in English, Spanish and French to facilitate the greatest level of participation across the U.S and Canadian markets."

With a major corp like McD's on board (finally!) it will be interesting to see how long the rest of the fast food industry (and other businesses for that matter) takes to move into the current world.

Jim Shaffer again hits the nail on the head

I just finished listening to the Melcrum February 7 2008 Podcast - an in depth interview with Jim Shaffer, the long time leader in communications and author of  Leadership Solution. 

This is a must listen for anyone involved in communications, change and engagement.Whi le the main focus of Jim's conversation is on the issues that lie ahead for communicators in the year ahead, he covers many topics - and all well!   Jim reiterates my long held belief that communications people are often short of some of the core knowledge behind business and need to build their understanding.  He looks at keys to engagement (all of which I believe can be interchanged with change) and a few other areas.  Check it out - he has again hit the nail on the head!

Where are you focusing your attention this year?

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Employers to Use Wiki's, Blogs and Social Networking to Engage Staff

As I said at a recent leadership forum  I spoke at a couple of weeks back, the world of work is clearly changing ....and finally technology finds its way into mainstream thinking as part of employee engagement. 

According to the latest Press Release from Watson Wyatt Worldwide, companies will focus on upgrading and integrating their human resources technology in 2008 in an effort to improve administration and better engage employees.  The Press Release outlines some of the more likely trends to be the increased adoption of advanced Web solutions, such as wikis, blogs and social networking, and a focus on making HR technology easier for employees to use.

"Managing a workforce is increasingly complex, and employers are searching for the right solutions to help them address this challenge," said Richard Hubbard, director of Watson Wyatt's North American technology and administration solutions practice. "Technology will continue to help companies manage the most intricate HR tasks, including some, such as talent management, that were once done more by intuition than by data analysis. Employers' biggest challenge is staying on top of the trends and investing in areas where they will get the most for their money."   

Among the top trends Watson Wyatt has identified for 2008 is the adoption of Advanced, Web 2.0 Technology.  With the rapid growth of consumer-oriented Web 2.0 applications, organizations are considering increasingly interactive strategies and technologies.  While many corporations are using Web 2.0 elements such as blogs and wikis, organizations are just beginning to implement other elements of social networking.  All of these systems could reduce the focus on traditional e-mail and make work communication a more dynamic experience for employees.

Are you ready?  Or better yet, have you moved out ahead of the pack?  I would be interested in knowing where your company is with all of these tools....drop me a line or leave a comment

Tags: web2.0, engagement, employee communication, social media, blogs, communication strategy

“Social not-working”

With the increasing popularity of online social networks people are spending more and more time interacting with online content.  Concerns about the amount of time employees spend on social networking sites are proving to be warranted, as research from the Online Publishers Association shows.  A four year study yielded results that people are spending 47% of their time online engaging in content and social networking rather than using the internet for communication or searching. 

The use of the internet in our daily lives has been changing. In the past it was predominantly a means to find information and to communicate, but with the rise of social networking, people are spending more of their time on sites like Facebook, and YouTube; which incorporate both content as well as communications.  Don Tappscott is quoted as saying in his book, Wikinomics that, “the old web was about Websites, clicks, and “eyeballs” the new web is about the communities, participation and peering”. 

Should businesses be afraid of the amount of time employees may be spending on social networks or should they embrace it and discover ways to incorporate them into their corporate strategy? Turns out, it isn’t much of a choice.

The Future of Management

A few years back I was taken by Gary Hamel’s book Leading the Revolution – so much so that I read and applied all I could of his ideas.  Today I saw on Management Today that next month he will release yet another book – this time focused on the revolutionary nature of social media. 

As the MT article states so correctly “When management thinker Gary Hamel writes a new book, people listen.”  His new book, titled ‘The Future of Management’ I am certain will carry on the tradition he has established in the past.  (The book is scheduled for release October 9th.)

An excerpt form the exclusive MT review written by John Birkinshow of the London School of Business offers good food for thought:

…‘The Future of Management’, takes on perhaps the most ingrained orthodoxy of all – the concept of management – and says we need to reinvent it. Hamel’s agenda is ambitious and daunting, but the underlying logic is compelling, and deserves to be taken seriously.

The basic argument of the book is that the core practices of management – from capital budgeting, to talent management, to reporting structures – were all invented some 100 years ago to allow the companies of that time to deliver standardised, mass-produced outputs for a rapidly-growing market. The underlying principles of hierarchy, bureaucratic control, and pay-for-performance worked well when the objective was efficiency. But today companies need to deliver on a broader set of objectives, and they need to be far more creative than their forebears.

So rather than force-fit our old management practices to the needs of today’s companies, we should actually develop a new set of practices – based on new principles such as community, variety, and creativity."

Reminds me of a session I did with colleagues Jon Husband  and John Dickinson some time ago (2001 I think) at the Human Resources Management Association conference in Vancouver, BC titled the Future of Work.  In that session we explored how we got to where we were and explored how Jon's concept of wierarchy was rapidly overtaking hierarchy.  I can’t wait for the book to be released.