A Messy Way to Waste Money

Andy Nulman's "Pow!" blog makes the great point that in snowy cities, companies pretty much throw their money away when they advertise on the sides of buses in winter.

Then he discoved this picture from fellow Montreal entrepreneur Bernie Malinoff. It pretty much nails his argument.

How NOT to win friends and influence people

I found a link this morning to a good article on “negotiating with difficult people” at the DaleCarnegie.com site.

As a consultant myself in content marketing, I think it imperative that businesses selling their smarts (AKA “thought leaders”) provide free content such as this to attract prospects’ attention and build respect for their expertise.

But that doesn't mean you broadcast what your intentions are. Letting people know they're just "leads" to you makes people feel they're being manipulated, rather than served.

Carnegie’s mistake? Look at the URL they choose for the page that hosts the story:
http://www.dalecarnegie.com/lead_nurturing/tips/tips.jsp?tipid=250

Maybe few people will notice the phrase “lead nurturing tips.” Nonetheless, this takes transparency too far.

Yes, providing relevant content is a marketing tactic. But most businesses use phrases that sound less mercantile. Examples: Free_stuff. Premium_content. Welcoming_wisdom.

Business should make customers and prospects feel they're being valued, and respected. Not hunted.

(Cross-posted from my "Canadian Entrepreneur" blog)

The 10 Biggest Blunders in TV - 21st century edition

The Hollywood Reporter (THR.com) is running a series called "Ranks for the Memories" - a look at the highs and lows of the past decade.

Its Top 10 list of TV industry blunders include overleveraging promising shows, taking stupid chances on untried execs, and a $6-billion bad call.

Here's the Blunderful TV Top 10:

10. Fox canceling "Family Guy" (now its second-highest-rated scripted series).

9. NBC hiring Ben Silverman: fine agent, bad exec (he masterminded American Gladiator and the remake of "Knight Rider")

8. ABC's overload on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" (seriously, four times a week? ABC's ratings took years to recover.)

7. The casting of Ryan Jenkins on a VH1 dating show (He was later charged with the murder of his spouse and took his own life.)

6. Dumping Jay Leno from NBC's "Tonight Show" (Jay dominated late-night; now he's flailing in prime time).

5. Election Night coverage in 2000 (Remember how Florida ended up being called for Gore, then Bush, then "too close to call"?)

4. MyNetworkTV (The UPN and WB stations that didn't merge into The CW were regrouped by Fox Entertainment Group into a network called MyNetworkTV. Inexplicably, its plan to run all low-cost telenovelas flopped.)

3. Janet Jackson's Super Bowl nipple slip (The infamous "wardrobe malfunction" led to pre-emptive editing of risque content and more vigilance on live telecasts.)

2. ABC passing on "CSI" (The franchise has since generated $6 billion for CBS.)

1. The 2007-08 Writers' Strike (An avoidable, mutually destructive act at exactly the wrong time. A season was lost, and nobody won.)

Click here to read the full article.

Why are stupid people paid so much?

It's not just businesses that screw things up

I enjoyed the lead paragraph on this CBC news story today.

U.S. reaches climate deal with 4 countries
Last Updated: Friday, December 18, 2009 4:49 PM ET
CBC News
The United States, China, India, Brazil and South Africa have reached a "meaningful" climate change agreement, although nothing large enough in scope to truly combat global warming, a senior U.S. official says.

Keep on leading, o fearless leaders.

Dear Bell Canada:

Please stop calling me.

I always know it’s you calling, because there’s a huge long gap between when I pick up the phone and say “Hello,” and when someone actually responds. It is very annoying. It’s a much longer lag than I get when the lawn-care companies call, so if you are not sure what kind of telephone solicitation systems to use, maybe you could call and ask The Weed Man.

Secondly: Please don't call me with people who can barely speak English. It reflects badly upon you.

And please, don't tell me my name has been randomly drawn to receive a great offer. I already knew it’s a sale pitch. But now I know you also think I’m stupid.

Oh, and don't say it’s a courtesy call when you're just trying to sell me stuff. That goes beyond incompetence to hypocrisy. And it’s bad manners.

And finally, when I say, very politely, that I'm not interested in this great offer, train your people what to say. Don't let them respond, “Oh, ok, goodbye.” Showing that little confidence in their product tells me that they are bad salespeople, and that you hire bad salespeople.

I would really like to believe that the company that supplies my telephone services is good at something.

Yours Sincerely
A Loyal Customer

A story out of the Dark Ages

This a true story. Names and places have been obscured to protect the innocent.

In an unnamed American city on the weekend, I was sitting with my family members at a fast-food restaurant. We got to talking to the waiter and he admitted he was off his game that night. Seems his nephew had gone missing that day.

We of course expressed shock, and asked what he was doing here, at work. Surely his place that night was helping out his family?

Yes, he agreed. But when he called in to say he wanted to stay home, his boss said he needed him to work. The boss apparently said, "If you want to stay home, you have to bring in a note saying your nephew is missing. Or there won't be a job to come back to."

Circumstances being what they are today in the Land of the Free, he came in. And provided exemplary service, I might add. We gave him a big tip and wished him all the best.

Sounds like a story out of the Dark Ages.

Those who have achieved a modicum of success and autonomy in their working lives often need to be reminded that not everyone has it so good. Scrooge ("Are there no workhouses?") is alive and well, especially in the current economy when even low-paying positions are so essential to so many - giving bad bosses too much power.

My heart goes out to all employees who are still subject to the whims and arbitrary decisions of flint-hearted bosses and inflexible organizations. Enlightened management welcome.

Chevettes and Pintos and Netbooks, oh my!

Holy Lemons! A study quoted in a recent New York Times GadgetWise column says 20.4% of laptops fail over three years.

The study, produced by SquareTrade, an online vendor of extended warranties, found evidence that netbooks fail at a higher rate, 5.4% in the first year of use compared with 4.2% for a premium-level laptop.

The study also says the accident rate for laptops is another 10%, so the total failure rate over three years is closer to 30%.

What’s most fascinating is that different manufacturers have compiled startlingly different failure rates.

SquareTrade concluded that Asus and Toshiba laptops fail about 15% of the time. At the other end of the scale is Hewlett-Packard, with a failure rate of more than 25% (my first laptop was one of those statistics - right out of the gate).

How sad is it that the report concludes, “In some cases, it would appear that failure is not only an option, but the expectation.”

We need higher manufacturing standards. Yes, price points are competitive, but the failure rate is just too high.

The big U.S. hardware brands should recall what happened to Detroit in the 1970s when foreign carmakers got the unique idea to focus on quality.

Learn from the past, or forfeit the future.