Intrepid LLC

Usually, something that is solid, that doesn’t move, that is unchanging, immobile, etc…is something we rely on, something that can be counted on, something that seems like a steady foundation. Almost comforting, if you will.

But not in the modern world of marketing. When it comes to your web presence, you don’t want to be described as unchanging or immobile. Your web presence needs to be…ENGAGING.

That’s what intrepid marketers do. [More text below video]

[In the video below, I discuss the value of an engaging web presence:]

Here are a few tactical ideas you can use to provide an engaging web presence:

1. Incorporate a blog into your site.
2. Allow comments on your blog.
3. Respond and engage people when they comment.
4. Provide forums to facilitate conversation.
5. Invite guest contributors.
6. Connect people to your social web tools, like Twitter.
7. Utilize surveys tools.
8. Solicit questions from your audience…
9. …and be sure to answer them!
10. Make it easy to share your content.
11. Invite people to join your e-newsletter.
12. Use an Instant Messenger plug in to invite conversation. Hold regular hours.
13. Provide content with various mediums, such as video and audio.

The items listed above are not new. They are not rocket science. In fact, I suppose when you reviewed the list, you probably said something along the lines of “no kidding.”

Yet I continue to be amazed how many entrepreneurs have chosen not to incorporate these simple tactical options into their web presence.

But that said, it is what you do with these ideas that matter. Here are a few reasons why having an engaging presence matters:

1. Strengthens your brand.
2. Allows relationships to develop. This is where the sales come from.
3. Simplifies process of testing – and getting feedback on – new ideas.
4. Does a better job educating people about you and your business.
5. Makes it easier to teach and help and serve others.
6. Allows for better story telling.
7. Not to mention provides fresh and unique content – updated regularly – that keeps people coming back for more.
8. Oh, and added Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strength.

At the end of the day, it is the safe and easy path to build a static website – one that is solid, reliable, and unchanging. But dare I say it is lazy? And boring? Static sites just don’t cut it any more in this fast-paced, conversational, and engaging world we now live in.

What do you think?

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cartoon by @gapingvoid

In my examination of what makes for intrepid marketers, it is clear to me that they are simply master storytellers. They can take complex issues, and make them simple. They can take ordinary people, and make them legends. They can take boring things, and make them scintillating.

In other words, they are master storytellers. They talk about things that matter. They keep you riveted. They make you believe. They are master marketers. They are intrepid marketers.

There are many tools at their disposal. But what most intrepid marketers utilize in their quest to do something remarkable, is a blog. It is amazing to me how many individuals and small business people still do not blog. But the list of people who are achieving big things and living big dreams because of their blog is a steadily growing list.

But just why is that happening to that select and intrepid group? Here are a few reasons…

The free form of a blog is liberating, and conducive to storytelling. There are relatively few constraints on a blog, and spirited, creative thinkers thrive in this medium.

But ordinary people can make something happen too. I mean, look at me for chrissakes…

Blogs facilitate conversation. And as any intrepid marketer knows, this is what the new marketing is all about.

Blogs don’t care if some new idea you are trying out tanks, big time. You can always write new content the next day.

Blogs demand that you be different, edgy, living on the edge, pushing the envelope. That nice tri-fold brochure you have? That is so yesterday…

Blogs just seem to work better when you are being yourself. Be yourself, yes, but speak your damn mind. Be honest. Be transparent.

So, if you currently aren’t blogging, get out there and do it. Try it. Experiment. It can be free. And the lessons you learn, and the experiences you achieve, will be worth the effort. Two key thoughts:

Blogs require a sustained effort over time. Blogging takes a while. Don’t retire after ten posts. It works, but slowly…

Blogs work best when you use them to spin electronic yarns. About whatever the heck you are passionate about. I mean, I really can’t think of a better medium to facilitate good story telling. Use them!

What do you think?

[Read my list of 99 ways to be an Intrepid marketer.]
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cartoon by @gapingvoid

I am as big an advocate of fully engaging on the social web as anyone…

By this, I mean that you should blog. You should read other blogs via your RSS reader, and be a part of conversations on those blogs. And you should be active on all those other social web tools such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr, YouTube, Foursquare, etc. etc…

But you know as well as I do that if you are not careful, you can lose control. And your activity on the social web will be ALL CONSUMING. And you can spend HOURS playing in the sandbox and not advance your business goals.

It has happened to me. And I am working hard to figure out ways to simplify my presence and activity there. Without sacrificing the benefits.

Here is my best advice to you in terms of how you should view the social web as a marketing strategy for your business:

FOCUS ONLY ON ENGAGING AND SERVING PEOPLE.

If you only do this, you will be on the right path to getting the results you want on the social web. Here are some tips to apply minimalist principles to your social web strategy:

Keep Connections Relevant. It really is quality over quantity. Who cares if you have 100,000 followers if none of them care what you say? Don’t focus time and energy on just racking up hollow follower counts (and do the things listed below, and your list will grow naturally).

Look out for a few key words. If you help authors, you should be searching for messages that contain the word “authors.” You will find someone who needs your help – if you are looking and listening.

Strike up sincere conversation. Don’t just send out one-way sales messages. Find people you can help or want to know, and talk to them. It is these conversations that will lead to business opportunities.

Share with your community. If you are not trying to generate a meaningful conversation, then you should be focused on sharing meaningful content. This helps your network, and can lead to conversations too…

That’s it. Your time on the social web really should be kept that simple. Make it a goal to connect in a meaningful way with ONE person a day. Before long, you have quite a powerful network.

Too often, we get distracted and just lose our way. We get caught up artificially growing our followers, or playing with shiny new tools, or focused on self-promotion.

So keep it minimal. Keep it simple. It is easy to lose sight of your real business purpose on the social web. Keep your goals, and the activity you do on the social web, simple. Follow only the right people. Read only the blogs that help you advance your cause. Do this, and you’re on the right path!

What do you think?

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Popularity: 5% [?]

I was reading Leo Babauta’s e-book about focus recently, and he was talking about the importance of rituals. He says it is easy to get distracted in this modern age, but when you engage in rituals, you are more likely to be focused and in the moment. He writes:

A ritual is a set of actions you repeat habitually — you might have a pre-bed ritual or a religious ritual or a just-started-up-my-computer ritual. One of the powerful things about rituals is that we often give them a special importance: they can be almost spiritual (and sometimes actually spiritual, depending on the ritual). And when they become special, we are more mindful of them — we don’t just rush through them mindlessly.

And I thought, I bet intrepid marketers have marketing rituals. So let’s examine this idea…

If intrepid marketers (CLICK HERE to learn what an intrepid marketer is) engage in rituals, based on Leo’s writing above, we should assume they are focused. On this point, I don’t think there is any argument. The question then becomes, what are they focused on? And thus, what part of their marketing process is cemented into daily ritual…

Are you focused on the customer? It is my opinion that each business needs to be more customer-focused, and thus, we need to devote more time – each day – to thinking about every customer interaction. We often overlook even the little ways our customers interface with our business.

What to do? Setting a ritual where you review these interactions – on a regular basis – is vital to success of your business. How about creating a series of questions you ask yourself – maybe at the end of each day – that help keep you focused and review how each customer interacted with your business, and how you can improve those. Include everything, from products, to voice mail, to your invoicing process.

Are you creatively focused? If being creative is an important part of your work, and it is for most of us, then ritual is probably a very critical element in your creative process. What does it take to get you in the creative mood? Do you need to remove all distractions, such as email? Twitter? Phones? Do you need to use a specific creative space, such as your studio, coffee shop, or the conference room?

What to do? Figure out what you need and then execute on the ritual so you can deliver your best creative work. And don’t let ANYTHING disrupt the ritual process.

Are you focused on process? Or results? These are two very different things, process and results. How you might ritualize to focus on these two would be different in my opinion.

What to do? First of all, do you have your process committed to paper? Can you measure the results of each step in the process? A regular examination of this process, and ritualizing to determine what is working and what can be improved might be a good thing to always be getting better at what you do.

As for results, well, isn’t this what we are after? Most people are more worried about the process than the results, and that’s why they have NO cash flow. It might be helpful to set a weekly ritual where you focus on thinking through all you are doing to be sure they are leading to actual positive results for your business…

Are you focused on conversation with your marketplace? Is interacting on the social web important to you and your business? Well, then you need a ritual. And I am not talking about getting on Twitter and just doing whatever for several hours.

What to do? What is your goal on the social web? If it is to identify and make relationships with new prospects, then create a ritual where you listen for keywords that are of interest to you, and begin a conversation. Then share information with that new contact. This three-step ritual might work for you. Here is what I do to help bring some sense of ritual to one element of my social web activity.

See, I am thinking most small business people don’t have marketing rituals. We are all too busy trying to manage the mundane and time consuming tasks of running our shop day-to-day. But, if Leo is right and rituals are a set of actions you repeat habitually, then we all need to formulate some new rituals. Life is too hectic, and we probably don’t have the discipline to focus our minds – on a regular basis – on the important things related to our business.

What do you think? What are your rituals? What works for you?

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Popularity: 11% [?]

A friend, very confused about Twitter, asked me how I manage my time on it. I told her about a little process I go through that helps keep me on the right track. And thought I’d share it with my community. Nothing profound, but maybe a few of you might find it helpful. So, this is for my friend. Hope this helps!

Randomly, once a week, I go through and organize a full day’s tweets into three simple categories: sharing (when I promote someone else’s work for the benefit of my community), conversation (when I am just chatting with other folks), and “ME” (when I promote my events, my blog posts, my services, etc.).

My analytical process is quite simple – you know, for a guy like me tabulating results in a moleskin. But here is the goal – and your target – for this exercise:

No more than 10% of the total tweets should go in the “ME” category.

If your “ME” percentage is higher than 10%, you are probably not utilizing Twitter effectively. And yeah, I’ve heard all the talk about everyone using it differently, what works for one doesn’t necessarily work for the other, etc..

I say hooey. If you are conversing with people and learning how you can help them and sharing valuable content with your community, then you are on the right track. Whether you are a person, a brand, or a business, or all of the above.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I just did a quick analysis on my Twitter profile from yesterday. Which showed 13% of my tweets sharing other’s work, 74% of my tweets conversing with people, and 13% of my tweets promoting something of mine, in this case, yesterday’s radio show. A quick review of yesterday’s numbers tells me I need to simply share more content from other’s work, and I will get the “ME” number under 10%. Easy.

If your “ME” number is consistently higher than 10%, here are some things to think about:

1. You need to come to grips with the fact that marketing is two-way, a conversation, a dialog. Understand this, and treasure this opportunity, and you will no longer struggle with something like Twitter.
2. It is actually possible to get to know someone on Twitter. Just decide to engage in a conversation. Ask about their kids. Ask about their favorite music. And ask about their business, not because you want to sell them something, because you really are interested in knowing.
3. Celebrate the tools that allow the sharing of other people’s work, such as TweetMeme. They make it so easy. You have NO excuses.
4. Do your best to concentrate on “REAL” interaction. Don’t focus on building up impressive amounts of followers, and don’t automate responses to people. You don’t play a recording at a face-to-face networking function, and you don’t (you better not) walk around to everyone at an event and give a business card to all guests – hoping someone will call.

So what do you think? Is 10% too high? But honestly, if you can manage a “ME” number of 10%, that’s a good start. I welcome additional thoughts…

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Popularity: 17% [?]

I recently finished Seth Godin’s Linchpin. It was a great read. It changed my thinking. Made me look at things differently. All the usual stuff people say after reading Seth’s material.

But there was one section on page 171 called “Thank You and…” that I believe to be the most profound part for me. It is from the chapter where Seth talks about the power of giving gifts:

From the book:

If you appreciate a gift, consider saying, “thank you and…”
Thank you and I dog-eared forty of the pages.
Thank you and I told your boss what a wonderful thing you did.
Thank you and here’s a record my band and I recorded last week.
Thank you and you made me cry.
Thank you and I just blogged about what you did.
Thank you and here’s a twenty-dollar tip; I know it’s not much, but it’s all I can afford right now.
Thank you and how can I help you spread the word?
Thank you and can you teach me how to do that?
Thank you and you changed me, forever.

Now, what does this mean to you and me?

When I published THIS POST about the 99 ways people are intrepid marketers, I offered number 26, which simply stated “they engage with others.”

Now, by this, I meant that intrepid marketers don’t stand in front of an audience and yell, rather, they want people seated in a circle so that all can participate in the conversation. And what Seth talks about above is a very powerful way to engage with people that not only expresses gratitude for some type of gift, but also communicates the profound meaning the action meant.

By saying “thank you and…” you are saying this changed me, this action had a meaningful impact on how I do things.

But what it also means is the giver is made keenly aware of the impact of their gift, in a way that will motivate them to continue giving, to continue contributing, to continue striving to have a measurable impact on the community around them.

And that is a good thing.

It is a good thing because it benefits both of you (giver and acknowledger). Both become people of influence, both become sought after, both become leaders in their respective space.

So, thank you Seth, and know your words opened my eyes and inspired me to share this idea with others.

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Popularity: 11% [?]

So, what exactly is an intrepid marketer? And why have I built a business – and started this blog – around the idea of making people intrepid marketers?

The definition of intrepid from the Wiktionary is fearless, bold, and brave. It’s etymology is the Latin intrepidus, meaning “not nervous.” Here is a more detailed explanation for why I named the company HERE.

Fear is something that always holds us back. Fear of being rejected, so you never submit that project on time. Fear of never achieving a goal, so you never set out to do it. Fear of taking that leap to do something you love and are passionate about, so you stay in a job you hate. Fear of being truly innovative and taking your small business in an exciting new direction, so you just do the same old tired things…

I want to make intrepid marketers out of all of us. So, here is a partial list of attributes that make people intrepid marketers:

1. Intrepid marketers take decisive action.
2. They are bold.
3. They are fearless.
4. They do not fear making important decisions.
5. They create a serious marketing plan…
6. …but aren’t afraid to make mid-course corrections on their plan.
7. They read voraciously.
8. They have a blog.
9. Their web presence engages. It is NOT static.
10. They embrace the social web.
11. The celebrate transparency.
12. They give back to their community.
13. They serve others…
14. …and they even serve their competition.
15. They don’t hide behind traditional media.
16. They teach.
17. They tell stories.
18. They listen.
19. They embrace new technology…
20. …but only new technology that advances their goals.
21. They don’t tear down others…
22. …but they learn lessons from the mistakes of others.
23. They love joint venturing.
24. They love collaborating.
25. They love learning. And never stop learning.
26. They engage with others…
27. …even with people they disagree with.
28. They focus only on the customer experience.
29. They recognize that every employee is in the marketing department. From the CEO to the cleaning crew.
30. They see every conceivable customer interaction as something that can and should be continuously improved.
31. They see that automation is a bad word, most of the time.
32. They worry about communicating well.
33. They welcome customer feedback…
34. …especially negative customer feedback. It helps them improve.
35. They thoughtfully comment on the blogs of others.
36. They share. Freely.
37. They only upsell if they are truly benefiting the customer.
38. They ask a lot of questions…
39. …but only to really hear and learn from the answers.
40. They don’t gloat or show-off.
41. They believe in quality over quantity.
42. They admire courage.
43. They know that marketing is a two-way conversation, not a one-way push.
44. They sense that interruption marketing is evil, and should be mercilessly destroyed.
45. They don’t compete on price…
46. …and they won’t. Ever.
47. They have no fear walking away from prospects who aren’t the right fit.
48. They love what they do.
49. They are minimalist marketers.
50. They don’t “work.”
51. They don’t take credit. For anything.
52. They demonstrate value. With ease.
53. They know you earn your brand. Not hire a consultant to “create” your brand.
54. They test and measure. Everything.
55. They are always improving. Everything.
56. They understand the power of video, even if the medium isn’t right for them.
57. They understand the power of podcasts, even if the medium isn’t right for them.
58. They love networking…
59. …by which I mean they love learning how to help others.
60. The relish the chance to connect people.
61. They know what they don’t know.
62. They are trust agents.
63. They understand the power of images.
64. They respect differing opinions.
65. They push themselves, even when there are obstacles.
66. They aren’t afraid of improvisation.
67. They know there is no such thing as an overnight success.
68. When they identify a problem, they fix it. They don’t wait and let it fester.
69. They don’t spam.
70. They hustle.
71. They are creative.
72. They have patience…
73. …but they don’t sit around and wait.
74. They respect the A-listers…
75. …but they help and push the little guys.
76. They are innovative…
77. …and actually know what innovation really means.
78. They don’t have too many products or services. They focus only on what they do very well.
79. They are continually trying to improve themselves in every way. Personal development never ends.
80. They are good problem solvers.
81. They are NOT afraid to adapt to an ever-changing environment.
82. They see themselves as artists.
83. They don’t multi-task. They focus.
84. They are in the moment.
85. They are deep thinkers. And they make time to do serious thinking.
86. They sweat the small stuff.
87. But spend time focusing on the big stuff.
88. They know how to apply the 80/20 principle to their situation.
89. They honor and celebrate referral partners.
90. They are not conformists.
91. They aren’t afraid of sharing what they know. They aren’t held back by this notion of “people need to pay me for my knowledge…”
92. …but they charge a premium for their services.
93. They embrace relationships.
94. They live by “serving first, selling second.”
95. They don’t have time management problems, because they are always focused on the important stuff.
96. They have balance, and enjoy things outside of business that drive them.
97. There is nothing fake about them. They are real.
98. They apologize when they need to. And work hard to fix the problem.
99. And they are honest. Always.

OK. So what else am I missing? Remember, this is a partial list. And it is always changing. What do you think?

[photo by ~jjjohn~]

Popularity: 18% [?]

In today’s “You Might Be Intrepid Marketer” episode, I talk about how intrepid marketers are NOT afraid to dive in and build relationships. With real people. In a video filmed last Friday morning, I share some thoughts about how profound relationships – that are formed online and strengthened in real life – can have a dramatic impact on your marketing and your personal brand. Enjoy!

Click RIGHT HERE to Be Intrepid!

Popularity: 8% [?]

I’ve been doing some reading and experimenting on this topic. I think social search/real-time search is an important step forward for the social web. Big time. In this episode, I claim that intrepid marketers fully embrace this, and aggressively seek to take advantage of it. Enjoy!

Here is a VIDEO from Google to get you up to speed!

Learn how to Be Intrepid here!

Popularity: 9% [?]

cartoon by @gapingvoid

OK. I’ve had two very busy days, but I finally got to spend some time on Twitter this evening.

And in about 90 minutes time, these are the things I observed that just really, well, bother me.

And know that if you are doing these things, your “friends” in the community are quietly murmuring about you. And that isn’t good….

So, here are Todd’s Tips To Avoid Twitter Murmuring About You (and please add ones I miss in the comments!):

1. Be honest. If you fudge facts, we will know. And we will never, ever, trust you again.
2. Don’t gloat. We secretly hate show offs…
3. When you retweet something without citing the orginal source, and making it appear that it comes from you? Bad.
4. If you want your community to retweet something, leave us some extra space. If I have to spend 30 minutes editing to knock it down to 140 characters? Forget it…
5. Don’t send out a tweet with JUST a hyperlink. It smells so MLM-ish…
6. Auto-DMs = Nails on a chalkboard.
7. More than ten tweets per day about Trump’s latest scheme is enough. Way enough.
8. If you are tweeting about someone on Twitter, USE THEIR DAMN TWITTER HANDLE!
9. And oh, don’t type in ALL CAPS. The shouting is annoying…
10. If you’re going to tweet about politics, don’t get mad when someone from the other side fights back…
11. Understand the differences between lol, LOL, and ROFL…
12. Plz dn’t abbrevi8 evy wrd n a twt. Hrd 2 follw…
13. If you are on Foursquare and you tell me you are at Publix, don’t get upset when I ask you to get me some chips and dip…
14. If you are only going to tweet once a day, don’t just push your latest blog post…
15. Honestly, if I want to connect with you on Facebook, I will seek you out. Don’t DM me a %*&$# link to your Facebook page…
16. Just because you add to the end of a tweet doesn’t allow you to be mean…
17. Really? Did that person just RT their own tweet?
18. I get the value of hashtags… but don’t overdo it. #twitter #socialmedia #helpfultips #advice #socialmediarules #howtostoptwittermurmuringaboutyou
19. I love twitpics, but if I am still working at the end of a long day, and you send around a pic of an ice-cold beer? I am probably going to unfollow you out of spite. Just saying…
20. Did I mention gloating?
21. If you SPAM us? Don’t be surprised when you are hunted down and shot…
22. …Mercilessly.

Popularity: 19% [?]