Earlier this year, when I was in Chicago for the BMA Engage conference, I had the chance to meet up with the very wise Jeff Hill for a late-evening nightcap.

I said to Jeff, “You’ve got a ton of experience.  You do really complicated business.  You’re on your way to a Ph.D.  What’s the one, single, most important piece of advice you can give a headstrong 29 year old who’s trying to make his way in life?”

Without any hesitation whatsoever, Jeff answered, “Don’t ever be afraid to fail.”

On the walk back up Michigan Avenue to my hotel, Jeff’s words rang in my head.

It’s not the first time I’d heard that said, but what does it really mean?  Has “don’t be afraid to fail” simply become business jargon that makes us feel good and fill us with hope, or are there actions we can take to live up to this mantra?

I think so.  Here are some steps I’m trying to take, as I build Social Business Strategies and my personal brand.

5 Ways to Effectively Learn From Failure

• Make failure real
  By writing down our failures, we gain ownership of those actions.  Keeping a personal notebook or journal is a great idea.  Very brave individuals might even write about their failures on a personal blog and ask their base of readers for advice.  However you capture your own failures is fine, but be sure to make the the situation tangible so you can own it, learn from it and adjust your approach as needed.
• Change your paradigm
  We often get stuck blaming others for our failures.  Oftentimes, we fail others who were depending on us to deliver on expectations or promises.  The next time you fail, try looking at the situation from the lens of the other party involved.  What did that failed customer relationship look like from the unhappy customer’s side?  How did that ill-received email look from the inbox of the person who received it?  Do you get the drift?  Reframe the situation from their paradigm and examine the sequence of events that led up to failure.
• Isolate a variable
  When you’re looking back over the sequence of events that led to a time of failure, try to isolate specific actions that may have changed the final outcome.  Examining and keeping tabs on these specific actions will provide insight into how to change them to produce the results you’re going for next time around.
• Be tenacious as hell
  Never give up.  Never say die.  Failure is a positive experience that creates needs and actions related to improvement.  But all the analysis and deep thinking in the world is a waste of time if you don’t have the courage to try again.  There’s a reason why a large number of famous and successful entrepreneurs have gone bankrupt multiple times.  Being tenacious as hell is how they managed not to remain bankrupt for long.

How else do you learn from your failures?  Do you have any tips or tricks you can share in the comments?

Photo credit: Chris Onyx Reid

I’ve subscribed to SurveyGizmo for about three weeks now.

It’s an online survey and polling tool that has a bit more meat on its bones than PollDaddy.  And in my mind, it also has a much nicer user interface than SurveyMonkey.  I’ve used all three and landed here from my own projects.

What’s interesting – from a marketing angle – is that I never saw an ad, read an article or blog post, or even received a tweet from the company.  Nope. Nothing.  I found SurveyGizmo while taking a recent survey that Dan Harris included me on.  It just so happened that, at the time of Dan’s Q&A, I was about to start looking at survey tool options.  Serendipity, yes?

I was so impressed with how clean Dan’s survey was designed, I decided to try SurveyGizmo on for size.

I currently have three client surveys out and I’ve been impressed with how easy they have been to set up.  There’s also a good amount of pre-build logic for questions.  I’m planning some more surveys and polls for research for a few eBooks in process over the next few weeks.

Then on Friday afternoon, SurveyGizmo did something VERY important, in terms of growing a business.  With a heartfelt, creative, and highly humanized piece of direct mail, the folks at SurveyGizmo converted me from a happy customer into a raving fan.

Guess what else happened?  I’m now telling you the story.  See the connection, friends?

Here’s what I mean:

Let’s Review What SurveyGizmo Just Did

• Focus on Making a Great Product – SurveyGizmo invested in developing a product that delivers and is impressive.  It’s not just a shiny marketing campaign.
• Go Viral by Making it Easy to Spread – SurveyGizmo’s customers spread the word virally by using the product to conduct surveys, such as how I learned about it from Dan.  Genius.
• Get More Personal with Customers – New customers are immediately embraced and thanked in a very personal offline way that is rather unexpected.
• Humanize Your Company – Rather than send a catalog with more products (like some companies still do), the team at SurveyGizmo sends a creative mailer with introductions to the humans who make up the company.

While I don’t have any access to the data to prove this, I’m willing to bet that a possible outcome of SurveyGizmo’s efforts is an extremely high customer retention rate.  (Folks at SurveyGizmo, please feel free to share that in the comments if you’re willing and able…)

Being Reminded of Little Things
I used to be really good about taking time for the little, personal human touches.  Treating people like human beings is how I built my network of friends, as well as professional connections.  Yet, somewhere along the path, I’ve gotten away from things like handwritten notes and simple, personal phone calls to say “congrats!” or “happy birthday.”  I use Facebook for that now, along with almost 500 million other users and hundreds of thousands of companies who, like me, buy into that machine and set of norms and processes.

As I type, I find it ironic that a single customer experience with SurveyGizmo and the humans behind their business has reminded me about the foundation upon which my own business has its roots.

What have I learned?  I need to readjust.  I need to do better at getting back to my roots.  Stay tuned…

What about you? Where are your business roots?  Are they still important or have the been buried under overgrowth?

It’s been interesting to see how the economy of the past two years has caused paradigm shifts in the way business is working.

Even two years ago, companies seemed focused on merely surviving in the sandbox, full of staunch competitors.  Entrepreneurs, account folks and business developers were forced to wear smiles, sign NDAs and keep secrets from one another, all the while planning how they would capitalize on the first failure of their sandbox playmates.  Some of us called these business folks “opportunists.” Others called them “back-stabbers.”

Enter the idea of the Happy Sandbox.

Driven by limited client budgets, fallen shingles and the pressures of a race-paced, complex, adaptive business environment, learning how to play nicely together in the Happy Sandbox has become a crucial element of business survival.  Simply put, the Happy Sandbox is synergy defined: a group of entrepreneurs all realizing that the sum of the whole will always be greater than the value of each individual part.

Synergistic and friendly relationships that produce real mutual benefit is what I believe to be one of the core foundations in this whole Human Business movement.

I like it this way.  Are you with me?

A Happy Sandbox Example to Watch

If you’ve read this blog for a while, you probably know I’m into SaaS tools.  As an independent consultant, I have to be.  Without good-working and cheap tools, my overhead goes up and available time goes down.  Both ends of that equation lead directly to my bottom line.  It’s a mission-critical situation.

Now, thinking about that, take a look at this:

What you see is a screenshot from inside my BatchBook SCRM account.  I’ve written about some of these tools before, but what’s most impressive to me is how well each SaaS company plays together with each other in the partners in same Sandbox.  Playing nice equals a Happy Sandbox.

From the customer end, open API’s allow me select the services I need, click a few times and enter a few passwords.  The Happy Sandbox destroys any information silos that limit my productivity.  And guess what?  Each individual SaaS makes their fair cut, with my monthly cost staying relatively low.

Advantages of Playing in a Happy Sandbox

The advantages of playing nice in the Happy Sandbox are so simple that the explanation only requires a couple brief bullet points:

• Increased lead generation opportunities through complimentary partnerships
• Each business stays focused on their core niche
• Each business becomes more valuable in terms of offering
• Very happy customers stay on board and tell their friends
• Strategically-combined marketing platforms generate greater audience and community reach

Neal Roberts can see this type of application in co-working spaces.  I agree with him.  What complimentary services could inhabit a co-working space, play nice and offer compliments to the members?

Some of my clients and a few other folks in Columbus can see how the Happy Sandbox might apply to our work.  It’s worth looking into a bit deeper.

What about your business?  Who could play in your Happy Sandbox?

Out of all the presenters I saw at BMA Engage this year, Jeffrey Hayzlett wins first prize.  Hands down.

Not that it was necessarily a competition, but this guy is uber-sharp and seriously entertaining to watch.  He dominates the stage with a natural presence that is truly larger than life.

Hayzlett is the now former CMO of Eastman Kodak, resigning in good grace after a four-year tenure to launch his new book, The Mirror Test.  If you’re familiar with the CMO game, that length of stay is about twice the national average of big company CMOs.

Want Credentials?

Hayzlett was one of the driving forces behind the strategic rebirth for the Eastman Kodak global brand marketing initiatives.  This corporate giant had built an entire business model on the production and sale of film.  Enter the digital camera and aside from photography enthusiasts, the market for film has all but died.  Imagine how that challenge must have felt.

Hayzlett has been credited with leading Kodak into the development of new and innovative products, and with it, year-over-year record business growth.  He was heavily involved in the product development behind the Kodak Zi8, one of my absolute favorite video products on the market today.

I also think it’s interesting that the Zi8′s key feature – it’s external microphone port – actually came from a suggestion Hayzlett received in a tweet from a consumer.  He acted quickly, turning the idea into a product innovation that has positioned the Zi8 as one of the market leaders in HD pocket video devices (against the once-dominant Flip brand).

(And just for the record, both videos you are about to watch were shot with the Zi8.)

Here’s my interview with Jeff on his new best-selling book, The Mirror Test:

Two of the key points I’ve taken from The Mirror Test, aside from chuckles at Hayzlett’s stories on his own business ventures, are the idea that passion without planning is simply not enough and if your business is not growing, it is dying.  That’s where the idea of the mirror comes in – looking at the realistic reflection you see and not necessarily the distortion you want to see.

To me, The Mirror Test almost stands as the antithesis of Gary Vaynerchuck’s recent book, Crush It. While I totally dig Gary’s work, it seems his key message in Crush It is that passion is everything.  But is passion alone really enough?

Read both books and make your own call on that.  Personally, I would LOVE to see these two charismatic speakers debate their ideas on a stage somewhere.  That would just be interesting to watch and one hell of a good time.

One More Video

I think you need to see Hayzlett on stage to fully get what he talks about in the book and where I was going with the comparison between Gary V. and Hayzlett’s different opinions.  His talk grabbed my full attention because it was spot on and very entertaining. When you think of passion alone versus passion with planning, consider Hayzlett’s pheasants.

What do you think?  Are you reinventing the film business or simply chasing pheasants?

What is Human Business?  You might recognize that term.  It’s become a buzzword in 2010.

You’ll recognize who’s in the next video interview and he has some answers for you.  If you’re here, you probably read his blog too, and might have even seen him speak sometime in the last couple years.

(Side note:  The picture you see to the right is kind of fun.  Over some tasty martinis, Becky Johns asked Chris to shoot a short video roast of Peter Shankman.  It was hysterical and all in good fun.)

If you don’t recognize Shankman’s name, you might recognize him by the very popular HARO emails that float around to marketers and other business-minded folks.  Maybe you even subscribe to them.  Help a Reporter Out is one of peter’s babies and a damned good idea.

Chris Brogan is one of the key leaders in the human business movement and the growth of social media adoption in business.  I first met him around this time last year at the Ohio Growth Summit, where he was the keynote speaker.  At the time, Trust Agents, his New York Times best-selling book had not yet been launched.

Towards the end of video, Chris shares some information on his newest project, Human Business Works.  While the site is not updated yet, I think small business owners will find this project particularly interesting since Human Business Works is being launched to help you build new ideas and become more profitable.

Check it out.  I think you’ll dig what he has to say.

What’s your definition of Human Business and how will you make it work for you?  Do you think Human Business Works will be a helpful project?

(Photo credit: Becky Johns)

While I was finishing up at BMA Engage, Chris Stone sent me a tweet asking:  “What are the 10 blogs you read every day?”

It’s a great question, but one that is in no way answerable in 140 characters or less.  That being said, it is a great idea for a blog post.  Thank you, Chris.

It’s important to keep in mind that not every one of these bloggers post every day, but I do read them when there’s something new up.  I read a crazy amount of blogs.  It’s my job to stay up on the conversations; but I also read because bloggers and blogging fascinate me.  I truly enjoy reading what people have to say.

Most of my everyday blogs get delivered to my inbox via email.  It’s easy, and it makes sure that I don’t skip or miss anything without a look.  For other blogs that I read (but not all the time), I’ll typically subscribe to via Google Reader.  Brogan would probably say that reader is a great tool for leveraging the convenience of Anywhen.  Click that last link to figure out he means by that term.

The 10 Blogs I Read Every Day (And Why)

These blogs are listed in no particular order.  This list is not a ranking, as each blogger delivers a different type of conversation starter.  All are good at what they deliver.

Chris Brogan – I found Chris’s blog by chance, sometime around 2004.  Chris and his content first piqued my interest by using social media for more than just fun.  Even today, I still get tons of value and entertainment from his posts .

HubSpot – Brian Halligan and his team of contributors at HubSpot are, by far, one of the most valuable blogs on the web today.  Want to learn how marketing is changing and how to change with it?  Read this blog.  HubSpot is one of the very few blogs that deliver multiple posts each day on a consistent basis.  And it’s not all business.  They have some fun too.

Michael Hyatt – Hyatt is the CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers and writes on values and leadership, just cranking out some damned good content.  In my mind, Michael has really cracked the code in terms of the balance between personal branding and company branding.  He and his content are inspirations to me on so many levels.

Convince & Convert (Jason Baer) – Aside from being an uber-cool guy, Baer sits at the top of the list of interactive agency marketers in business today.  He’s an amazing influencer and his style sits somewhere in between Brogan and Solis, in terms of charisma and analysis of trends.  His content is also entertaining as hell.

Brainzooming – Mike Brown is one of the best business strategists in the game, in my humble opinion.  I’m privileged to have many opportunities to work with him.  Mike brings an actionable take on strategy that is rooted in his more than 25 years of experience in the corporate world.  His content is creative, innovative and always gets my gears turning.

Seth Godin – Seth’s blog, like many of yours out there, has become a staple in my life.  What I really dig about Seth is his ability to name concepts and make them memorable.  A lot of the stuff he writes on is not new information, but I think Seth has the ability to say it better than just about anyone else out there.

Shel Holtz - Shel is my organizational communication influencer.  He’s an ABC (Accredited Business Communicator) and an IABC Fellow, which is the highest honor you can receive in that organization.  Shel always calls it really like it is.

All Facebook (Nick O’Neill) – This is the unofficial authority on just about everything that is happening with Facebook.  I have no idea how Nick gets his insider information on the world’s biggest social network, but he does.  And he shares it with everyone.  All Facebook is simply an amazing resource.

Darren Rowse – A.K.A Problogger, Darren is my favorite blogger who blogs about blogging.  He’s truly a master of all things content and just a really cool guy.  He’s also a expert on photography, which is something I’m getting into on the personal side.  I love this blog.

Brian Solis – Solis is defining things like SMO, Social CRM and just about every trend that’s worth looking at in the online space.  Here’s a tip: If you want to get all the latest research without paying thousands of dollars for subscriptions to big name research companies, read Brian’s blog.  It’s always excellent and his analysis is worth your time.  He shoots a good photo too.

Blogs I Read Anywhen

• Artie Isaac - Artie started me on the path of being a blogger.  His style, content and perspective are so valuable.
• Chris Penn – Chris is brilliant and understands the true meaning of ROI (real Return on Investment) and how to get there.
• C.C. Chapman – C.C. is one of the most creative guys I’ve ever met and currently works with Campfire NYC.
• Jeremiah Owyang – Jeremiah is probably the most respected Internet strategist in the game today.  Read his blog and you’ll know why.
• Paul Gillin – Paul is another marketer who I highly respect.  He’s written a few good books as well.
• Linda Stone – Linda is simply on a different level in terms of her experience and take on technology.
• KD Paine – KD is the best in the business at measurement.
• Jacob Morgan – Jacob’s perspective on social media and people is uncanny.
• Dan Schwabel – Dan is one of the pioneers of personal branding.
• Jason Falls – Jason is a killer social media strategist and does amazing work.
• David Meerman Scott – Read his blog now.  David’s newest work is centered around the idea of real time.
• Brian Clark – A.K.A Copyblogger, Brian has one of the most widely subscribed to blogs on the web today.
• Mashable – An aggregate of just about everything that is happening in online business.
• Cheryl Harrison – Cheryl is a friend and Columbus native.  She’s snarky, funny and always pushing the envelope.
• Lindsey Nobels – Lindsey works with Michael at Thomas Nelson.  Her content is fun, values driven and just good stuff.
• Justin Kownacki – Justin is a smart dude with contrary opinions and a rather interesting take on sociology.
• Dad-o-Matic – This is a blog that I love reading.  (I’m a dad.  What can I say?)  When I have something of value to add, maybe I’ll even submit a few posts.

Phew, those are mine.  What blogs do you read?

(Photo credit: The incredibly talented Becky Johns.)

For the past few months, I’ve had the privilege of partnering with Mike Bowers and Tonya Wilson, of the SBDC, on building out content for some of the event sessions Ohio-based small business entrepreneurs will partake in at this years Ohio Growth Summit.

The event takes place June 9th in Columbus, Ohio at the Columbus State Community College in the Small Business Development Center.

I’ve written today’s post so that you can meet the panelists for the BIG Personal Brand Panel that will kick off the event.  I’ve picked these 10 uber-sharp people because they are leveraging personal branding in a wide variety of ways – all of them driving their business efforts.

Please click here to visit the Ohio Growth Summit Blog and read the post there.

Cheers!

@nateriggs

Going about my daily routines online today, this image caught my attention.

Seems like the folks at Gowalla are pretty proud of the state they operate from.  Would you agree?

A week ago, a friend (and someone I absolutely respect as a professional), made the suggestion that I might want to lose the image of the Columbus skyline from the header of my blog.

Their reasoning made sense.  The image and my reference to being Columbus-based consultant might limit my opportunities to gaining national attention.

I get that and I’m always grateful for the feedback, but I have a different idea on that.

My Columbus Strategy

You might remember reading one of my earlier posts this year where I laid out my goals, both personally and for my business.  One of those goals was to do my part in helping to point the spotlight on Columbus, Ohio.  Do you ever get the impression that Columbus is jaded by the perception that the only thing Ohio has to offer is cowtowns and great college football?

I do.

What does that mean?  You and I have lots of work to do to change that perception.  But you know what?  If we work together – you and I – we absolutely can.

Synergy

In my opinion, Wikipedia offers the best definition of this term:

“Synergy is where different entities cooperate advantageously for a final outcome. If used in a business application it means that teamwork will produce an overall better result than if each person was working toward the same goal individually.”

Can you see what we need to do?  Right now, we are all moving in different directions.  That’s okay.  That’s part of being in business.

But what if?  What if you and I both made an effort to stake our claim as a Columbus-based business?  What if we all worked toward the same goal of pulling the spotlight in our direction.  What could we achieve by working together?

A Challenge the Columbus, Ohio Business Community

I want to challenge you and your business network.  What do you say?  Are you in?

Let’s all work together to make some noise for Columbus, Ohio and our business community.  Let’s use the even playing field of communication tools to which we have access to build a presence in and around this city.  To start things off, here are some ideas:

• Claim Columbus, Ohio big and bold on your website with a badge or logo on your homepage
• Write a blog post about the business environment in Columbus, Ohio and why you stay here.  If you’ve recently left, write a post as to why you did.  Maybe we work together to fix some problems?
• Build a SlideShare presentation about and include profiles of businesses you like in Columbus.  Help your community neighbor develop a greater online presence.
• Get active in Columbus Underground.  Walker Evans is a true community leader and he’s working to make Columbus a better community.  Follow his lead.
• Point your contacts to a resource that will let them in on how to live, work and play in Columbus.
• Write a letter to Mayor Coleman and ask him to start an active blog.  Wouldn’t you like the chance to read and comment on daily posts from our city’s top executive?
• Invite a business contact or friend to come and stay with you for a few days.  Show off our city and what it has to offer.
• Write a blog post about a Columbus-based business that you admire.  I’ve written several posts on Columbus businesses like DoMedia, TixiT,  Sparkspace, Media Source, Inline Bits and even DK Diner.  There are plenty more to come.
• [Insert your ideas or any media you produce about Columbus in the comments.]

What do you say?  Are you in?  What will you do to help point the spotlight on Columbus?

I couldn’t have found a better way to spend a Friday.

Building a Human Business Team to support Ohio University’s Schey Sales Centre Symposium is right up my alley.  This group of students and faculty will be developing the social media strategy to support the event experience.

I’ll be speaking about how social media tools can be applied to things like prospecting, business development and creating deep and valuable business relationships.

These eager Gen Y-ers are the Linchpins that will be changing your company in the next few years.  They will be indispensable.  Why?  Because they are young, smart and full of passion.  They have ideas, and haven’t been jaded by the idea of maintaining the status quo.  Just watch.

Can you feel the energy that was in the room?

That’s one of the key ingredients in turning ideas into strategies and strategies into shipped execution.  I’m truly impressed by this Human Business Team.  Everyone dove in headfirst.

• Dr. Catherine Axinn, Team Leader
• Julie Wells, Team Leader, Assistant Director
• Katie Marvinney, Team Leader, VP of Professional Education
• Kaitlin Daly, Executive Events
• Jenny Duffy, Events Marketing
• Lee Axelband, Events Marketing
• Meredith Grossi, Events Logistics
• Bryan Hackett, Social Media Networks Admin

Ship
In Linchpin, Seth Godin talks about the importance of shipping.  His definition, in my mind, simply means execution.  Delivering something.  Doing the work.

You might have noticed Julie Wells in the video.  She was the one sitting in the back, busily toiling in front of her laptop.

In a period of less than 6 hours, while she participated with the team’s Sanity process, Julie also shipped.  Without someone telling her to do it, she made two small, but critical, changes to the event’s website and then started the first blog the Schey Centre has ever had.

Julie is an impressive leader.  She ships.  She’s a Linchpin.

Keep watching this team. We have lots of work to do for this event.  Who knows, maybe you’ll even attend?

Are you are actively using Google Wave to collaborate with your friends?

At Social Business Strategies, Marie and I have been dabbling to make it work.  From the experience, we’ve come up with some of our own ideas on how to use Google Wave to your advantage.

It’s not hard to understand why using the web to facilitate small group collaboration is a good idea.  Wave seems to have captured the most buzz around online collaboration tools recently, thanks largely to Google’s wide spread domination of just about every aspect of the web.

While there are a ton of great features and benefits to Wave, most users will agree that the concept is far from being perfected.

The question is, who’s gutsy enough to step up and challenge the Goliath of the Interwebz?

Being gutsy is one of the reasons Tim Gasper, of Corkshare, impresses me.  Backed by Goldstein Caldwell & Associates, a firm dedicated to helping Northeast Ohio entrepreneurs get their start-up concepts off the ground, he and his partner, Jim England, are stepping up to the plate to challenge Google Wave with their own take on how social collaboration tools should work.

What is CorkShare?
Corkshare was an idea birthed during a car ride from Cleveland, Ohio to Columbus’s inaugural Startup Weekend in 2008.  Since then, these two entrepreneurs have been working to build their system and onboard users to what has the potential to be a more user-friendly interface, making sharing content and ideas online much easier.

In their own words:

“CorkShare is a way to visually share web content like notes, photos, videos, and more with small groups of friends or colleagues. Modeled after physical bulletin boards, users of CorkShare create virtual CorkBoards, post embeddable content from around the Internet, and discuss these objects in a fun and simple way.”

Skype Session
In today’s Skype Session with Tim, we discuss what’s developed with CorkShare over the past two years, and how they are planning to grow the business and make a move towards competing for market share.

If you can’t see the video, watch it on Social Business Strategies TV.

What do you think about CorkShare?

Columbus Startup Weekend 2010 is scheduled for April 23rd -25th and will be held at the killer facilities of TechColumbus.  If you have ideas and would like to play, register HERE while there are still spots available…