Intrepid LLC

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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cartoon by @gapingvoid

OK, so maybe it is not almost Christmas, but when in the hell did March suddenly pop up right around the corner?

It made me quickly realize I am a wee bit behind with some of my goals, projects, marathon training, etc. But the sudden and brutal realization about where we are on the calendar made me step back for a few minutes, take a snapshot of where things are, and reassess where to go next. It was a good wake-up call.

And actually, that’s a good thing.

Although apparently it was two months ago, it feels like only yesterday that I published this post, where I laid out my 2010 goals. I have made some progress on these, keyword on “some.”

But as I was doing this, I was thinking about this tendency we all have to only check progress at very well-defined points in time – the top of the hour, the close of each week, the end of each month.

Why do we do this? Why do we only make resolutions around January 1st? Sure, there is a sense of order around doing these tasks on well-defined points in time. But why do we do that to ourselves?

This recalls one of my favorite quotes, “Every passing minute is another chance to turn it all around.”  [from the film Vanilla Sky.]

This quote speaks to me. It is profound in that it reminds me that you can make, affect, enforce, and do change – whenever you want to. You don’t have to wait for society-selected times.

As for my 2010 goals, I am not panicked. Yet. I am making progress, and new ideas and new projects have presented themselves since I wrote my goals post. I am not making excuses, I am stating fact. Life happens. Which is all the more reason to keep focused on your goals. And at any given moment, use the inspiration to make the adjustments/changes you need to get back on track.

Sure, the advice we receive to write down goals, and check on their progress at regular intervals is good advice. But you will get distracted. You will get off track. Just don’t decide to wait until March 1st to figure out how to get back on track. DECIDE and take action now.

Be Intrepid. When you want to make change happen, do it.

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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~]

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We all have a list of things that need to be fixed, adjusted, upgraded, tweaked, improved, or destroyed with malice. Yet many entrepreneurs don’t take quick action to deal with these little nagging problems. I talk about how intrepid marketers identify these issues, and take decisive action. Enjoy.

CLICK HERE to learn how to be an Intrepid marketer…

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I recorded this video following a recent run. It was one of my first longer distance runs (for me anyways) and I had to push myself to get through it. And it made me think that intrepid marketers often have to push themselves to achieve. And they aren’t afraid of pushing the envelope either… Enjoy!

Need help pushing the envelope? Click HERE to Be Intrepid!

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Be An Intrepid Marketer – No. 34
Spent the day with two colleagues yesterday. We were doing an initial deep dive with a new client, sort of getting a handle on the scope of the project and working to visualize how to make magic happen.

Funny thing was, we went into the day with a vision of how things should and could proceed. And as it typically happens, things went down a different, but very positive path.

Now, a good man makes his own luck, I firmly believe. And our careful thought and preparation for the day made some good things happen. But to be honest, we were pleasantly surprised at how well things went. The client was clearly charged by the results of our collaboration.

At the end of the day, one of my colleagues said something profound: “Let’s figure out what happened here, so that we can ‘Do It On Purpose’ next time.”

And therein lies the nugget that I want you to think about today. When something goes well with an interaction, whether it be with a client, a loved one, friends, etc., think about and analyze what happened so that you can position yourself to recreate the magic down the road.

All too often people, me included, stumble into a situation that goes well but they never take the time to think long and hard about how to recreate the scenario. Make a commitment to yourself not to let that happen again. I think the hardest part is to recognize and acknowledge when this happens, so that you can then exercise the discipline to seriously reflect on it.

When magic happens, embrace it. Learn from it. Then do it on purpose!

Be Intrepid.

[photo credit: Kuzeytac]

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cartoon by @gapingvoid

I’ve been thinking a lot about this over the last few days.

I have a new client who is very methodically constructing a business plan to grow a new consulting practice. I am engaged with the project to think creatively on the marketing side, but I have been very impressed with is thoughtfulness in building his new company. Slowly, and carefully.

I have also been talking with a colleague over the last several weeks, and the two of us are strategizing over a potential new business idea. We aren’t in any hurry. But it has been fun to take our time with it and really think through every tiny element of what it might take to pull this little business together.

And then I look back to when I formed Intrepid, just about three years ago. And wow – what a difference. I slammed this thing together and dove head first into the water and never looked back. These days, citing the first two examples above, I would never go about forming, or helping form, a new business without careful thought, methodical planning, and taking things step-by-careful-step.

But that doesn’t mean I regret how I launched Intrepid.

The goals of my business then are so very different from where they are today. But that’s ok. That happens. In fact, if you are NOT going to spend time carefully planning your new business, I’d rather you jump right in and learn from mistakes – then never start to begin with. I hate seeing would-be entrepreneurs who never take the first step out of fear of the unknown.

So what are you going to do? How are you going to launch? Think it through and prepare carefully if you can. But if not, dive in anyway. Learn. Experiment. The water is fine…

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cartoon by @gapingvoid

Here is something I am taking action on as I launch some new projects in 2010. Not by any real design, but turns out I am starting the year with three new clients – just this week alone. And I am chatting soon with a former client, and we are about to engage on a brand new project.

So, while it is a fluke that all this new activity is happening in January 2010, I am using the new year to take a new approach with these new client projects.

What am I doing differently? I am making a bigger push than ever before on my vendor engagement. In fact, I have released a few past vendors, and have engaged some fresh faces.

This is really exciting to me, as this will give me some new souls to bounce ideas off, and a fresh perspective on some things. This has done a lot to recharge my batteries.

And in the end, I think it will serve my clients very well. I am NOT suggesting that my work prior to this point was mediocre, but I am looking at these refreshing new partners as if I was striving to up my game. And make it better. As if I was telling “mediocrity” to kiss my fanny.

And you can’t imagine how this is firing up my creativity!

So, the simple point of this post is to remind you to think about doing something like this in your business. Take things you have been doing, whether they are standard protocol, routine, comfortable – and shake things up a bit. Be like John Keating in Dead Poets Society, and stand on a desk and look at your world a little differently.

Pick something that needs a little shaking up, such as how you interact on social media, how you present your company while networking, how you shape your customer experience, or how you deal with your vendors – and make it a point to seriously question how you can do those things better.

Don’t settle for anything mediocre – make your business lives extraordinary!

Be Intrepid.

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pic by joshua davis on flickr

OK, so I’ve just finished reading my 38th blog post on predictions for 2010. And I have read 26 posts on trends for 2010. So, I guess as a blogger, it is my duty to report on trends and predictions for the coming year. I will do this too. However, I will combine the two. So here are ten predictions and trends for 2010 – in no particular order. Well, except for #10 [which is most important...]:

1. Video will change everything. In fact, I predict that a majority of blogs in the next couple of years will become strictly video-based. As it becomes easier and easier to record, upload, and share quality video, people will jump on the bandwagon. The big question for 2010 appears to be “do it yourself” verses “hiring professionals.”
2. There will be a continued focus on improving the overall customer experience. The significant growth in use and understanding of social media in handling customer outreach, means we will see more and more use of these tools. In fact, just listening and responding to customer complaints online is no longer unique. Be on the lookout for the next big idea.
3. Social media, however you define it, will play an increasingly larger role with small businesses. It wasn’t long ago I read an article that said 76% of small business people saw no value in social media in terms of marketing their business. My prediction? That changes in 2010. Big time. And those who don’t figure out how to begin integrating it in 2010 – will be out of business in 2011.
4. Personal branding will be more important than ever before. Since we are moving away from cubicle nation, and more and more people are going entrepreneurial, I expect there to be a larger push from the masses on a strategic utilization of modern tools to build their personal brands. And this commonly heard statement that “Facebook is for my friends only…” will start to go away too.
5. Users of Social Media will achieve a better understanding of how to measure success and ROI. This is STILL the biggest mystery when it comes to the application of social media to business. How do you measure it’s success? How to I measure my return on investment. Since this question is asked one million times a day, I expect better and more articulate thought leadership on how people can get these questions answered. And I think the answer – the realization rather – will be different than most people expect…
6. Sharing will become recognized as a marketing tactic. If you don’t know what I mean by sharing (certainly in terms of social media), then you probably don’t believe in or practice this approach to marketing. Yet. But you better figure it out, because that’s where all this is heading…
7. There will be an explosion in mobile marketing. Yes, you will start getting marketing messages via text. And assuming you opt in for these, it will be the wave of the future. I am already exploring this for several clients. And I can only imagine the possibilities when more and more people get smart phones…
8. More people will learn how to make money online. [Including me!] I am in the midst of building and soon launching my very first online product with High Velocity. And now that I am moving into that space, I am realizing there is a lot of advice and thought leadership on the subject. But with case studies and a lot of lessons already learned, I think the marketplace will refine how people can achieve success in this endeavor.
9. Niche and passion marketing will finally be understood. Marketing thought leaders and teachers have been saying for generations that you must market towards a niche, and if you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life. Nothing new here, other than I believe that the masses will start understanding this, and creating business opportunities for themselves around a passion. This naturally leads to marketing towards a niche. The modern tools are there to really capitalize on this, and I think you will see a new movement…
10. People will begin to fearlessly JUMP, to dive in head first, to be intrepid, and take more risks. This attitude, this new way, is how you have to set yourself up to compete in the new world. People stuck in their shell, afraid to do anything wrong, will slowly fade away. I don’t mean that people will en mass begin to take silly, uncalculated risks. I just think people are beginning to realize they have to be a little less afraid to jump, and not be afraid of where they will land… What about you?

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photo by Pabo76 on flickr

So I just decided to compete in a half-marathon next Thanksgiving day, 2010.

A slew of friends competed yesterday, and I found myself feeling guilty and fat because I was sitting on my fanny watching a parade…

Not anymore. Next year, I am ticking off an item from Todd’s dream list…

So, I immediately set out to do some planning and plotting to slowly, methodically prepare myself for this run. And it got me thinking about crafting your marketing plan for the upcoming year.

There are many similarities:

One, you have to set a goal: My RUNNING goal is to compete in a half-marathon on Thanksgiving day, 2010. What is your MARKETING goal? Is it to double sales? Triple the amount of units sold? Think long and hard about what your goal should be, and commit it to paper. And don’t forget – it is very important to have a deadline, an end point, a completion point. This is essential.

Two, you need to plan and time line: My RUNNING goal now consists of an exercise plan – a day-by-day schedule with certain steps I need to complete to make progress towards the goal. 30 minute walk on day one, 35 minute walk on day three, 30 minute run/walk on day ten, etc. Your MARKETING goal should consist of the same thing, although this time with a list of specific tasks to complete on a schedule. This can include writing blog post on day one, set lunches with three prospects on day two, spend 30 minutes answering questions on twitter/facebook, writing ad copy on day four, etc.

Three, you need to have the right equipment: My RUNNING effort will require the right equipment, such as the right running shoes, ones that will actually fit my exact body specs, such as pronation. Your MARKETING effort needs the same thing. Is Twitter right for you? Magazine advertisements in the right niche journals? Networking to to the right niche groups, etc.?

Four, you need to take in the right diet: My RUNNING regimen will consist of a new dietary plan. Between you and me, I will have to throw out my entire crap diet. I will need to focus on eating the right complex carbs, lean proteins, enough water, etc. For your MARKETING effort, you need to keep learning. You need to read the right diet of books, appropriate blogs, and get your fill of leadership development books that inspire and motivate you. [Note: you can review the right sidebar and see my recommendations found on Amazon]

Five, you need to team up with a partner to motivate and guide you: As of this moment, I get winded walking to the fridge to load up on snacks. And I don’t know a thing about running, training, and/or the appropriate dietary strategy. I am going to need experienced friends and partners. A mere tweet on twitter and I found several friends willing to help. It is no different with your MARKETING. You should bring on a marketing consultant, business and/or life coach, and/or at least join a mastermind group to help guide you and inspire you along the way. We all need this to help keep us on track…

I will report on my progress along the way. I anticipate many near-death experiences along the way. But I know my support network will help me achieve my goals! And that I will learn a whole lot of new stuff…

And I expect the same thing with my HALF MARATHON goals too!

Good luck, and Be Intrepid!

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