Say, 'Yes!'
You
may have seen the movie, “Yes Man” starring
Jim Carrey about a man in a rut who attends
a self-help seminar with the message, “say ‘Yes!’ to
everything.
The
recent economy challenges may have led us
to believe that caution is wise, that hesitancy
is prudent, and that now is not the time
to take chances. Now may not seem to be the
time for the new, untried ideas and potential
opportunities may seem better explored when
economically, things are more sure.
"I've
been that guy,” says Jim Carrey, who
stars as Carl. “I know a lot of people
who are in that situation where they just
avoid life. I live in the United States of
Avoidance. To me, this is a movie about choosing
to join life, and that's what drew me to
it. Sometimes saying no is saying yes to
something else, to something greater that
will come your way. And sometimes saying
no to an invitation is saying yes to a couch
and some potato chips. Just do what's right
for you,” advises Carrey. “But
it's usually not the things we say yes to
that we regret; it's when we say no that
we look back and think, 'Ah, I could have
lived a little bit more."
The
economic uncertainty may seem to say “wait
a bit, see what’s going to happen,” but
in this exact time – in this moment,
great business leaders will serve their companies
best with a vision to reassess costs and
priorities to find ways to move, to advance
and to find opportunities to say “yes” to.
In
the movie, Jim Carrey’s character learned
to play guitar and speak Korean, took flying
lessons, joined Persian Wife Finder.com,
and in his job as a loan manager, said “yes” to
every loan application that crossed his desk,
giving many others opportunities they wouldn’t
otherwise have had. Carl learned, he grew,
he tried things he never otherwise would
have and made great relationships. He enhanced
his life and others’ with the word, “yes.”
It’s
a concept taken to an extreme, as Hollywood
and Jim Carrey both do so well, but it’s
also an opportunity to challenge our traditional
managerial wisdom that money is the dominant
factor in all that matters – missing
possible chances and opportunities. We tend
to narrow focus, to say “no” and
therefore potentially miss something greater
that may come our way.
Brainstorm,
gather focus groups, communicate, and generate
and seek ideas. Say, “yes.” Acting
now may mean your business leaves the downturn
sooner and stronger than ever.
Social Media is Here to Stay
You
may have thought it would just go away. You
may have wished it would be a passing trend.
You may have secretly wanted “social
media” to just die already. After all,
it takes time and the right focus to skillfully
design and manage your social media networks.
Sorry.
It’s growing. Hugely.
Some
statistics which show the ubiquitous usage
of some social media:
- Facebook
boasts some 800 million users;
- 48
hours of video are uploaded to YouTube
every minute, resulting in nearly 8 years
of content uploaded every day;
- Twitterers
are tweeting about 250 million tweets per
day. During President Obama’s announcement
about the killing of Osama bin Laden, Twitter
sustained an average of approximately 5000
tweets per second.
Social
media and Internet marketing blog, Traffikd has
a list of more than 400 social media sites,
including everything from foreign languages
to pop culture to pets, kids, and multiple
business-specific sites. How does one company
navigate all the possibilities?
Foundationally,
companies must determine and articulate their
own priorities which will maximize exposure,
while highlighting the company’s brand.
Then it’s a matter of keeping up!
According
to Simon Jones, director of marketing at Digital
Visitor, some of the most important trends
to watch in 2012 include:
1. Social
media as a customer service tool: Social
media allows businesses to quickly and economically
communicate to a large audience and in 2012,
we will see more and more organizations using
it as a customer service tool.
2. More
companies using social media sites for competitions:
We will see more companies launch exciting
and creative competitions via social media
to make them really stand out from their
competitors.
3. Social
media will more prominently affect search
engine results: In addition to crawling traditional
content of a company's website and blogs
for relevant keywords, search engines will
also pull results from social networks such
as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Therefore,
as we search online, we will start to see
more real-time information in our results
from Facebook, Twitter, blogs and user generated
reviews.
4. More
companies will include user reviews and ratings
on their websites: There are flurries of
statistics across all industries that prove
why online reviews are important for businesses
today, particularly how they impact purchasing
decisions, so we will start to see more businesses
gathering user reviews and ratings on their
websites.
5. Social
media and relevance: Social media has become
everything to everyone, and as more and more
people and brands engage via the ever growing
number of social media sites, the question
of how to match up relevant information with
the right people will become vital for businesses
to succeed.
The
last point is key. Companies make the mistake
of trying to “friend” or talk
to everyone and anyone. Clearly, with the
kinds of user statistics posted above, it
can’t be done. Companies must find
key contacts through tailored channels and
they must craft their strategies, profiles
and messages to effectively engage with those
most important and maintain their brand in
the process.
http://www.newmediatrendwatch.com/news/817-social-media-trends-to-watch-in-2012
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