Did you put that plan into action?

This implementation is often times the number 1 failure of business plans and makes all of that wonderfully hard work for naught.  So what can you do to make sure that the goals and actions you have mapped out for yourself and/or your company get implemented?  Make yourself accountable.

In this short video below I discuss the importance of a “good” business plan, but focus much of my talk on different types of accountability tactics that have worked for myself, my agents, and others.  How do you plan on making sure your actions are carried out next year?  Share your tips in the comments below:

The You Factor – Thoughts on Business Planning from Matthew Dollinger on Vimeo.

I shot this video on the way to work this morning to discuss a common thought that I’m having when attending events, watching my Twitter stream, or even working with my own agents:

The constant looking and researching, “what’s next?” and over-inundating of data we consume is actually paralyzing us as individuals.  Instead of actually putting something into action (or focusing on existing efforts that bring us business/engage our clients), our constant “shiny object syndrome” is actually hindering our success in business – or as implementers of actual actions.

Some quick thoughts below on this topic.  I would love to hear thoughts and/or discussions on this with examples that you have actually “implemented” or put into place.

Paralysis by Analysis – The story of Web 2.0 from Matthew Dollinger on Vimeo.

This is the first of a series of posts expressing insight into certain topics covered during my recent trip to the Blogworld Expo 2009, in Las Vegas.  You can view all my notes/thoughts and rambling by clicking here“

So, maybe I’m a little bit biased (since it is was my educational focus), but this thought was rumbling around in my head during the entire expo event.

“Engineering is the heart of everything in your business”

Here’s what I mean:

One of the most talked about buzz-words/concepts at BlogWorld this weekend has been about “strategy”.  Your social media strategy, your marketing strategy (both “new” and “old”), your engagement strategy, etc…  It was a very refreshing take since many of the events and discussions I have been apart of in as of late have been a “just do it” mentality – especially with regards to social and online media.  Many speakers and panels alike discussed the necessity to not only embrace new concepts and technologies, but to take on these challenges with a well thought out strategy.

So how do you “build” a strategy?  To me it is actually multi-phased, and rather than being “built” it is actually Engineered.

Step 1. – Understand – The questioning/fact-finding phase

Step 2. – Assess – What do we know/have at our disposal?

Step 3. – Design/Visualize – Laying out an “if this then that” map/Start with End in mind

Step 3. – Analyzation – Learn/ Assessment of collected data/engagement/results

Step 4. – Adaption Process – Using Gained knowledge to learn and improve.

Step 5. – Repeat – Using gained knowledge, reassess from Step 1

Are you an engineer?

It’s easy (and yes some even consider it sexy) to call yourself a consultant, social media expert, or marketing person.  No one ever tends to consider themselves an engineer.  But in this time of “geek ascendancy” and shrinking/disappearing budgets, I personally think it’s necessary to approach EVERYTHING from a standpoint of engineering.

Too often I see “brain storm” marketing campaigns tossed together without thought of consequence leak from individuals or companies.  I might even suggest that engineering is the “new rule” of marketing or business in general.  Since “new” media especially has given everyone a soapbox to shout from, isn’t it even more important now to fine tune your role out before launch?

The end of “Test” Markets – an example

What do you mean you're not hungry?

Back in the day, when McDonalds or any other company wanted to roll out a new product they would do geographical/regional testing.  For example – if they were looking at releasing, oh…, the McRibb Sandwich – they might do some research and find that barbecue is most popular in a particular region or market (i.e. the SouthEast).  They would then contact their franchises in that area, prep them on marketing and preparation of the item, roll it out to the public and see how it was received.

If it succeeded – great… our data shows it’s successful in BBQ market.  If not – no worries… we rolled out a crappy item to only one area and not to the whole country.

Today.  If McDonalds did that today, they are unable to confirm that poor (or good) response to the particular item would be confined to the target region (and a small trickle of Word of Mouth marketing to outside areas).  Due to the expansive reach of the social web the poor response would creep like wildfire across the country – reflecting poorly on the McDonalds brand.  The question I pose to you is – “How many leaks has your test-marketing already caused?”

I am not a marketing expert

I am sure that some will disagree with the things that I have written above, and many are more insightful/creative than me when it comes to marketing.  My strength isn’t in writing passionate copy or Adobe Illustrator.  I’m a process guy.  In my mind there is a Beginning – a Process – an Outcome – and Analysis.  And where I might have traded my pocket protector for a laptop, the core of an engineer will always revolve around problem solving.

This is the first of a series of post both on what I learned while at BlogWorld Expo 2009, but on a larger level to help those in my network to start approaching their business from an “engineer’s mindset”.  Who knows… maybe you’ll even start to feel that engineers are sexy.  Intel does!

Matt Dollinger
The You Factor

Image courtesy of themiddleway.net

Recently I had  an incredibly meaningful conversation on Twitter involving Jeff Turner (@respres) and  Ines Hegedus-Garcia (@ines) where we discussed Social Capital versus Social Karma. The conversation was actually started by Kim Wood (@kimwood) with a simple tweet stating, “Whuffie or Building your Social Capital should not be done with the intention of “building your social capital”. I’m jussayin.” She rocked my world with this and the discussion began.

For me, this hit the nail on the head because I have always been a little leery of how people were using the term of “social capital”.  I’ll disclose that I have read “The Whuffie Factor” as well as the predecessor of this with regards to Social Capital, “”Down and out in the Magic Kingdom”. But this isn’t a book review, this is simply my take on Social Capital, what I will refer to as Social Karma, how they affect one another and more importantly that they two are not mutually exclusive.

Ines has written a brilliant post on our conversation over at Agent Genius entitled, “Social Media Politics can Suck You Dry” which sparked a wonderful conversation of comments.  It’s written from her point of view and perfectly honest.  As she says in her post:

“There is so much talk about being genuine and doing things for a greater good without expecting anything in return, but to tell you the truth, most of us are here to make money and to improve our business.  This doesn’t mean we can’t have fun in the process and show our personalities, but I’m not Ghandi or Mother Theresa – I volunteer my time, I raise money for charities and truly believe in the Universal Law and Power of Intention – but my time here has a goal and I have strategies for business as should you.”

God bless you Ines – you are totally on point and have spoken the truth about your intentions on social media.  She succinctly puts the difference between Social Capital and Social Karma into a beautiful one word (and very Zen) sentence.

Social Capital is a way to quantify your presence and the depth of your involvement whereas Social Karma goes so much deeper than that.

Karma and Capital

Social Capital has many different definitions and has been around for years prior to the best seller “Whuffie Factor”.  It has not always been positive, however, and its negatives are discussed in depth in the book “Down and out in the Magic Kingdom”.  In it (and other books) the negative elements of secular Social Capital are explored in the terms of Bridging vs. Bonding Social Capital.  This, however is another post for another day… (but can be referenced here)

Quantifying or calculating your Social Capital is a huge discussion with regards to Social Media/Networking today.  It is often times discussed as a piggy bank where deposits are made (by a means) for future withdrawal (i.e. asking for something in return).  What often times is NOT discussed is your potential Social Debt (or Karma) when operating in this social capital marketplace. Where this is the means to the end, I believe that what affects these deposits and debt is where my idea of Social Karma comes into play.

But what is Social Karma?

First of all, Social and Karma are kind of redundant (as pointed out by @repres) since Karma already has to do with society as a whole. But I want to use Social Karma to indicate that I am discussing Karma with regards to “Online Social” interactions.  To understand, (and these are my opinions only), I think we need to understand what the principles of Karma really are.

“Karma is the universal principle of cause and effect. Our actions, both good and bad, come back to us in the future, helping us to learn from life’s lessons and become better people.” – Wikipedia

Social Karma is then, in essence, the overall world in which all things reside with regards to a society.  Social Capital; respect, influence, and all of the other benefits and negatives actually reside within the world of Social Karma.  Karma is basically energy. One person throws out energy through thoughts, words and actions, and it comes back, in time, through other people.

The process of action and reaction on all levels—physical, mental and spiritual—is karma. One must pay attention to thoughts, because thought can make karmas—good, bad and mixed.

A big part that is often overlooked in this is that Karma is both good and bad.  It’s not ALWAYS your positive actions and rewards associated…  your karma can also be something selfish or negative that adds to your overall cosmic debt.  So with this being said, Social Karma (in speaking about Social Networks/Networking) is actually the MEANS, or one way, in which one can actually affect their Social Capital (or make deposits into said piggy bank).

“Karma is the best teacher, forcing people to face the consequences of their actions and thus improve and refine their behavior, or suffer if they do not. Even harsh karma, when faced in wisdom, can be the greatest spark for personal growth.”- Wikipedia

So here’s my thoughts on this:

Social Capital is what you seek
(influence, reach, positive or not)

Social Karma is HOW you get there
(consider them guiding principles, ethics, beliefs, or your energy)

There are three types of karma in Hinduism:

1. Sanchita karma -  the sum total of past karmas yet to be resolved;
2. Prarabdha karma – that portion of sanchita karma that is to be experienced in this life; and
3. Kriyamana karma -  the karma that humans are currently creating, which will bear fruit in future.

Sanchita Karma (Sum Total Karma or “Accumulated actions” or the Arrows in the Quiver)

*This is your total cosmic debt. Every moment of your every day, you are either adding to it or you are reducing this cosmic debt.

Praarabdha Karma (Fructifying Karma or “Actions began; set in motion” or Arrows in Flight)

*This is Karmic Template of that portion of Sanchita Karma that is ripe enough to be experienced by you and allotted for this lifetime for you to work on.

Kriyamana Karma (Instant, Current Karma or “Being made” or Arrows in Hand)

*This is the daily, instant Karma created in this lifetime and that we create in our life because of our free actions. These are debts that are created and worked off – i.e. for example, you park your vehicle in a ‘No Parking Space’, you get caught and you are fined (punished) immediately.

What the hell does this all mean?

An 800lb gorillas in the room that no one usually discusses, (except Ines!),  is what you seek through gaining social capital, or what is your intention for growing it?  Whether it be business, respect, more readers to your blog, speaking engagement opportunities, or simply ego-driven popularity – I would venture to say that everyone has some kind of reason for building social capital.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but as @joespake said the other day “there seems to be alot of posturing and less actual genuine participation”.  As a business coach, I would even venture to suggest that you make sure you have some kind of strategy for building this.  But does it have to be your defining ultimate task?

I think this is the million dollar question.

The idea of “Whuffie” is based on the idea of a “post-scarcity” economy as described in “Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom” and we are far from that in today’s society of  real life.  People still need to make a living and close deals to pay the mortgage, (regardless of social capital I’m not thinking that your bank is going to accept it to pay off your mortgage).  Also, we are all human beings and often times think about ourselves first (which isn’t always bad… as Ines says we are not Ghandi or Mother Theresa).

I think that this is all about balance (and yes this is me trying to bring it full circle).  Personally, I’m not looking for any kind of financial gain through my online contributions, but like anyone else I enjoy being quoted, tweeted, asked to speak at an event, etc.  It benefits my self-esteem, my self-worth, and makes me feel good by doing it.  But at the same time these actions benefits others because I focus on providing value to them through my thoughts, words, presentations, teachings and research.

Some might take a look at this sentence above and say, “wow – that’s egotistical or self serving.” But this is me being honest and open about the goals of my Karmic Actions and truth – is me being genuine and authentic through transparancy.

In closing and through much thought on this topic, I think that Social Karma and Social Capital are intertwined regardless of your take on my post.  Whether your are a “Whuffie” fan or not, Social Capital and Karma are just revisits to the Golden Rule of which we were raised on as a child, “Treat others as you would want to be treated.” I think that by approaching Social Karma as “the defining principles” as to how you build Social Capital, it allows us all to formulate (one again) guiding principles or guidelines for your online campaign.

In 2007 Sprint/Nextel appointed Dan Hesse CEO of the customer-service-flailing company.  Since then, Dan and his marketing team have worked across all different forms of Media to deliver a message of customer service and “biz-love” to clients across the nation.

Sprint on Facebook

Sprint on Twitter

First Sprint declared a Revolution…

Then preached responsibility to their employees

They made an effort to educate their clients

And they listened to what we wanted.  Then they delivered.

Regardless of what business you’re in today, we could all learn a thing or two from Dan Hesse and Sprint/Nextel.  They have shown that the business of leadership can break from whatever stigma has been thrown at us, but only through innovation, communication and implementation.

Take some lessons from Dan.

Matt Dollinger

The You Factor

The top 5 brokerage sites remained the same with Realtor.com topping the charts with 6.7% of market share while Yahoo! Real Estate dipped slightly for the month.

The most interesting development in this latest delivery was the entry of 3 new sites to the top 20

Reply.com, Move.com and WhiteFence.com joined the top-20 list of real estate-related Web sites in December, climbing several spots from the previous month, online metrics company Hitwise reported today.

The interesting thing about this is that all 3 of the new entries are “lead development” model companies. Does this mean that where the large franchised companies are cutting back on advertising and exposure (see article on C21 ditching it’s TV advertising – courtesy of FOREM) the lead generation business is picking up the slack? -OR- does it simply mean that where a number of these small startups don’t have much overhead cost that they can continue to spend?

- Matt Dollinger

If you haven’t met Seth Godin yet, it’s time you introduced yourself…. Better yet, introduce yourself to his blog and his way of thinking.

SETH GODIN is a bestselling author, entrepreneur and agent of change.  More importantly he is a lifesaver for the real estate industry, and any other that depends on a living, breathing consumer.  (Read his list of books here)

In one of his recent blog posts entitled “Rough Edges and Attention”, Seth talks about a recent campaign by UPS where they have, ” haphazardly affixed SAFETY sign hanging from the back.”  (See sample of the picture here)  Seth then goes on to discuss that if we truly want to gain show ummmm get people to notice your message, “When in doubt, scrawl make it human.”

 I read this, I LOVED this… and the more I thought about it, the more it walked hand-in-hand with The You Factor.  Question it all and ask, “What differentiates me from the commodities in my business?”  The answer, and the only thing that TRULY sets you apart from the competition is YOU.

YOU are different.  YOU are evolving.  YOU can adapt at the drop of a dime.  YOU can make a difference.  YOU have a heart.  YOU can listen.  YOU can understand.  YOU…  are amazing. 

Forget the brand.  Scrap the tag line.  Stand up, Turn on, and let your clients see it, feel it, and believe it.

Matt Dollinger

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