Seth Godin’s blog post today speaks about just this: The long tale. His advice: keep telling your story once you get the permission. It’s that long tale that keeps the story moving and, more importantly, gives your customers a reason to Share!

Best Nicole

The long tale

(not a typo).

The long tale is the never-ending story you tell your prospects, your customers and your employees.

The hard part is getting a little bit of permission to start telling your tale. The overlooked part, the part that wastes all that permission, is that you forget to keep telling your story.

Are you really the same as you were a year ago? How often do you re-introduce yourself? What’s truly new (as opposed to what does the salesforce think is new)? What’s the next chapter that matters? Almost all the goodness of marketing comes not from the big announcement, but from the long tale.

When the outside world changes, do you? Does the regulatory or environmental or competitive marketplace have an impact on you or us? That’s part of the tale. Share it.

I can’t stress enough the value that is waiting  for all of you who are hesitant to dive in. Connecting and engaging with your customer is only going to enhance your relationship—which in turn will turn into increased sales, repeat sales and additional sales to your customer’s friends. Are you  ready to gain the sales you have lost and build upon that to get more sales in this new economy? Let us know. We want to hear from you.

Best Nicole

In a post at the Viral Garden blog, Mack Collier discusses why so many companies struggle to launch and maintain active online communities. To find success, you’ll need more than a message board and good intentions, he says. Here’s some of his advice:

• Communities grow and thrive when you offer members something of value. “[They] do not form around the idea of being monetized,” he says. “Want to make money off your community? Fine, but you can’t monetize something that doesn’t exist.”
• They don’t materialize out of thin air. “One of the biggest myths about online community building is ‘if you build it, they will come,’” says Collier. He suggests reaching out to your target audience and explaining why they’ll benefit from participation.
• They benefit from the enthusiastic support of key participants. Some members will take a natural lead—identify these evangelists and show your appreciation. “Empower them to promote your community to others,” he says. “Showcase their contributions. And above all else, say thank you.”

The Po!nt: Don’t take anything for granted, and have a clear purpose. “[B]efore you start your online community-building effort,” advises Collier, “think about where you are, and where you want to be. Is the goal to make money, or is the goal to create a group of happy people?”

Source: Viral Garden. Click here for the full post.

Everyday people having a say.

Getting rid of the middleman.

The media no longer can dictate who someone is. Everyone now has a chance to show themselves in realtime.

No filter.

A chance to build your own community and use it for whatever you are passionate about. People have choice to follow you or not follow you and can be blocked if you feel they are not somebody who expouses the values of your community.

You can build your brand, product, service – raise awareness for a charity, like the mosquito nets that Oprah, Ashton and others have been purchasing to fight malaria.

Realtime conversation.

A venue for news in real time.

Social networking is an area that everyone must now enage. It is fun, it allows you to control each aspect of your content and build a following of like minded people who all want to share and engage in like minded interests, products, services, passions etc.

The business model now for everyone is collaborative content. As this new economy dictates change and the reduction of resources, the true area for growth is viral. Social networking is now the premier way to have a two-way relationship with your target audience.

Pushing your information is not longer going to garner you the relationships with your audience that it did in the past. @bcadgroup looks forward to engaging you! Are you listening?

Best Nicole

On the heels of President Obama’s speech last night to congress, he hosted his first lunch for newspeople. I get a feed from a site called mediobistro.com that focuses on media news from various sites. I came across some of the “newspeople”—really news anchor’s blogs—and of course was drawn to Katie Couric’s blog. She calls it Couric & Co.

Interestingly, during this new time of change amidst the election of the first African American President, Katie Couric became the first women to anchor the evening news cast for CBS. As we continue to educate companies with ways that they can better communicate and engage their women consumer, I am reminded that there are many new beginnings that we all need to take in order to move forward. The opening line to her blog reminds us all that we as women have a way to go and that the strength, talent and steadfast commitment to great work by women such as Katie Couric will inspire many more to follow.

I look forward to leading the way and I hope that all of the women reading this post will join me.

Enjoy Katie Couric’s Post on her lunch at the White House.

Best Nicole

The president hosted his first lunch for newspeople (more accurately newsmen and one newswoman) in the private dining room of the residence. It is always a thrill to be part of this lunch. I was first invited in 2006 with President Bush. It’s an opportunity for some frank conversation in a relaxed, informal setting. Of course sports was the initial topic (guys) but I was able to direct the chit chat more towards the Oscars and movies. President Obama said he had watched “Slumdog Millionaire” at the White House and loved it … in many ways, he said it reminded him of growing up in Jakarta, where he lived between the ages of 6 and 10. He also really liked “Gran Torino,” and the table pretty much agreed that Clint Eastwood was enormously talented in acting, as well as directing and composing. He missed the Oscars because the governors were at the White House for a formal dinner. That was about it in terms of small talk. The discussion soon moved to something much bigger: the economy.

The conversation was on background with a number of White House officials, so I’ll spend the next few minutes characterizing what they had to say. I think it’s safe to say we’ll hear from Dr. Obama tonight. He’ll level with the American people and explain that the patient is sick, here’s the diagnosis and that the prognosis is good. I got the impression he’s going to try to explain these complicated issues in layman’s terms without sounding too professorial or as if he’s lecturing at an Introduction to Macroeconomics class.

But he will try to connect the dots and explain why the credit crisis is impacting people on a personal level, whether it’s plant layoffs, college loans or home foreclosures. When asked about nationalizing the banks, they said they would do what they had to do to stabilize the economy but wouldn’t elaborate much further. It was pointed out there are 9,000 banks in the country and the top five probably have 70 percent of the troubled assets, according to White House officials. Also, they want Americans to know that there’s a big difference between, say, Citibank, and a local or regional bank. It seems, they say, that the president is resigned to the fact that he’ll be second-guessed until the economy turns around but he’s making a series of judgment calls they say he believes will solve the problem.

They did say that one person told the president something about the presidency that was very true: “by the time something reaches your desk it’s really hard.” I think there will be a significant effort to convince Americans that helping out bankers isn’t something the administration is desperate to do, but he’ll explain, it seems, why doing these things, and the plan to give homeowners mortgage assistance are needed to improve the overall economy. Connecting the dots, which I think everyone acknowledged, will be a difficult thing to do in a 45-minute speech. And while no solution is perfect, it’s clear, they say, that not acting could be disastrous. They don’t appear to agree with the notion that “because government cannot act perfectly, it shouldn’t act.” And that getting it 98 percent right and 2 percent wrong is a risk that they’ll have to take.

These economic times were, not surprisingly compared to those during the FDR administration, and there was an honest appraisal that these moves, that needed to be made quickly, feed into ideological fault lines that are hard, if not impossible to erase in Washington.

Healthcare, energy and education will be discussed. Some foreign policy, but not much. When it comes to healthcare, the philosophy is that coverage cannot be extended until costs are controlled.

The president’s mood was good. Serious, but upbeat – and he seemed to be very cognizant of the huge responsibility and challenging situation he’s facing vis-à-vis the economy. The White House, he feels, is a very nice place to live, especially because he can have dinner almost every night with his family. The Obamas play a game called roses and thorns, where the girls talk about the good things that happened to them that day and the bad things – a device that gets them to “open up.” (I need to try that tactic at my dinner table!) One night, Malia, after hearing about some of her father’s challenges, remarked that he had a “very thorny job!” Meanwhile, all the baubles – perks like Camp David, helicopters, etc. – still make it hard to live in a bubble, it seems, because the President can’t go to the corner drugstore, run on the National Mall, or sit in a diner and soak in the mood or overhear conversations.

He said he wishes he could do the job anonymously. At that point, his senior adviser said: “Then you’d be Dick Cheney.” That got a big laugh.

Well into his first full week as President of the United States, Barack Obama—with the backing of the US Congress—is signing into legislation equal pay for equal work! Woot as many say on twitter when someone loves something.

Change has finally arrived! Steve Hildebrand’s latest article discusses this new great moment in American history. What make’s the article I am going to share so wonderful is that it points out how this legislation is particularly important to women as well as minorities. In his article (posted fittingly enough in none other than the women owned news blog Huffington Post), Steve says:

“It’s a new day in Washington. After years of Congressional Republicans holding up the equal pay provision, Democrats in the House and Senate swiftly passed the bill. Tomorrow, the first bill that our new president will sign into law will be equal pay for equal work. How proud President Obama must be.

More importantly, what a great moment this will be for the millions of women and minorities in our country who have worked just as hard as their counterparts, but paid substantially less because of their gender or color of skin. This critical moment should be celebrated in every community and in work places across our great country.”

As we watch the current economy go through vast changes and as businesses assess how they are going to navigate the economic challenges, it is clear that all corporations must address how they are speaking to, engaging, and connecting with women consumers all across the spectrum and in various environments—including in the work place. Here are some great stats about women and business:

• • Women in the US spend more than 3.3 billion annually. (purchasing power)
• • Women business owners employ 35% more people than all the fortune 500 companies combined.
• • 95% of family financial decisions are made by women.
• • Women in business will invest in 44.5 billion in high tech products this year.

This is a target market that not only needs to be addressed from a marketing and communications perspective, but needs to be acknowledged for its contribution on a grand scale to the economy at large. And that’s why equal pay for equal work is now a mandate and a right step forward into the 21^st century. Bravo President Obama!

Click here to read the full Huffington Post article.

How are you planning to access the opportunity to market and engage this most important target market in this challenging 21st century economy?

Best Nicole

As a new year approaches, it is customary for journalists to make predictions about the future. This time around, CNBC.com has a collection of prognostications from CNBC bloggers on a special page: Predictions ‘09. Last year around this time, Warren Buffett Watch offered its Eight Predictions for ‘08 .. and Beyond. In keeping with Buffett’s long-term way of looking at things, the eight predictions were intentionally on the ‘timeless’ side of the predicting spectrum.Here they are again, with a little bit of editing. This could be the start of a new holiday tradition!
—————–
Warren Buffett became one of the wealthiest people in the world by making predictions and putting money behind those predictions. Every time he buys a stock or a business or some other investment, he’s forecasting the future.

Judging by the incredible returns of his holding company Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett and his colleagues are very good at making those predictions. Of course, it helps when you can give your predictions plenty of time to come true. That’s one reason Buffett’s favorite holding period for investments in “outstanding businesses with outstanding managements” is “forever.” After all, “We don’t get paid for activity, just for being right. As to how long we’ll wait, we’ll wait indefinitely.”

With that in mind, here are Warren Buffett Watch’s ‘timeless’ predictions.

1. Recessions can’t be avoided forever. As 2007 was coming to a close, Buffett told our Becky Quick that if unemployment picks up significantly, the “dominoes” will fall and the U.S. economy will fall into recession in 2008. He was right, but not alarmed. “It is the nature of capitalism to periodically have recessions. People overshoot.” (He told Becky she’s young enough to expect to see 6 or 7 or them.)

2. We’ll survive current and future recessions just as we’ve survived past problems. As Buffett told us in August, 2007, (and repeated throughout 2008): “We’ve got a wonderful economy… There’s never been anything like that in the history of the world. We live seven times better than the people did a century ago on average… We’ve had problems all along. If you look at the last century, we had that Great Depression and World War Two, we had the Cold War, we had the atomic bomb, but the country does well.”

3. Recessions will create opportunities. “I made by far the best buys I’ve ever made in my lifetime in 1974. And that was a time of great pessimism and the oil shock and stagflation and all those sort of things. But stocks were cheap.” Fast-forward to October, 2008, and Buffett’s Why I’m Buying U.S. Stocks Now.

4. All stocks won’t be cheap. Like Ted Williams waiting for the right pitch, a successful investor waits for the right stock at the right price, and it doesn’t happen every day. “What’s nice about investing is you don’t have to swing at pitches. You can watch pitches come in one inch above or one inch below your navel, and you don’t have to swing. No umpire is going to call you out.” You get in trouble, Buffett says, when you listen to the crowd chanting “Swing, batter, swing!”

5. The crowd will make mistakes. Buffett cites this piece of advice from his mentor Benjamin Graham: “You’re neither right nor wrong because other people agree with you. You’re right because your facts are right and your reasoning is right—and that’s the only thing that makes you right. And if your facts and reasoning are right, you don’t have to worry about anybody else.”

6. Investors will mistakenly think falling stock prices are bad. “If they reduce the price of hamburgers at McDonald’s today I feel terrific. Now I don’t go back and think, gee, I paid a little more yesterday. I think I’m going to be buying them cheaper today. Anything you’re going to be buying in the future, you want to have get cheaper.”

7. Good times will prompt bad decisions. In his 2000 Letter to Berkshire shareholders, Buffett compared the crowd that buys big when prices are high to Cinderella at the ball. “They know that overstaying the festivities – that is, continuing to speculate in companies that have gigantic valuations relative to the cash they are likely to generate in the future – will eventually bring on pumpkins and mice. But they nevertheless hate to miss a single minute of what is one helluva party. Therefore, the giddy participants all plan to leave just seconds before midnight. There’s a problem, though: They are dancing in a room in which the clocks have no hands.”

8. There will be more dancing at another wild party followed by another painful hangover. Looking back at the Internet bubble, Buffett is quoted as saying, “The world went mad. What we learn from history is that people don’t learn from history.”

Wishing you all the best of luck as you reflect on your last days of 2008 and prepare for a prosperous 2009!

Best Nicole