Day 25 What Did I Do Wrong? (revisited 2013)

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Les Adkins

So I was unable to post my blog yesterday due to all the crazy good stuff that is going on with my business. Not a bad problem to have but I did hate that I missed blogging yesterday. Going through this journey again has really focused my “chi” for success and allowed me to expand my business by just doing the things that I am discussing in this 30 day journey (revisited) on a daily basis.

Hope you are seeing the same success. Enjoy Day 25 and yes we are close to the finish line,. But remember that is where the real work starts!

Les Adkins is the CEO of Orange SMS Consulting and an International Social Business Strategist, speaker, consultant and author. Bringing strategy and whole brain thinking to creative campaigns and social media through his work. Please follow @mysylbert and connect on LinkedIn Join us on FB and Google+ as well.

(Original Post -Posted on November 7, 2011)

So I hope everyone had a great weekend! Now getting back to our 30 day journey. If you started your daily journey when I did (October 1, 2011) you have completed your journey and have a focused outlook and more definition around:

Living Life Outside the Comfort Zone

But if you just joined us or started your journey somewhere in the middle you are still on your journey and following these Monday through Friday daily blogs.

So it is now Day 25, What did I do Wrong? As an international sales trainer and speaker I focus on several things when speaking to audiences. But when discussing Sales I focus on two big things when you are in a meeting with a prospect.

#1. Executives and business people are too busy to meet with you just for the heck of it. So if you set a meeting there is something your company offers that they are interested in.

#2 If you don’t close the prospect (get the sale) one of three things has happened.

You did not show the value of what you were offering to their business.
Your service or solution did not meet their needs.
And the BIG One – They did not trust you or felt that you could not implement the services or solution that you were offering.

So I recently had a big presentation. I did the discovery meeting (the initial meeting where you discover what their needs are), and I did a ton of research on their industry, their competitors, and even talked with local store managers.

But- Guess What? They did not buy!

So what did I do wrong? That’s what I need to figure out for myself.

Did I not build the trust?

Did I understand the individual needs?

Did I not show the value?

Whatever it was I was asked to come back in a year. So as you can guess I was pretty bummed. But when I told one of my colleagues about what happened they made the statement:

Well at least you were able to present to them.

I thought about that and realized he was right. At least I got the chance to present to them and maybe down the road they will move toward needing or wanting the services I have available. One of the main things is I got in front of them, many companies and sales people don’t even get the chance.

So what did I learn? I may not win every single company that I present to, but at least I was given the chance. And who knows what happens down the road.

As in life, and as in business you need to enjoy and learn from the journey. It makes you better, stronger and allows you to improve. If you won every one, you would never take a hard look at yourself and your company and ask.

HOW CAN I MAKE IT BETTER!

So you must always continue the journey! And always ask the question. “What Did I Do Wrong?” and then turn right around and ask “What Can I Do Better the Next Time?”!

Day 20 Go Against the Norm! (revisited 2013)

Posted on June 4, 2013 by Les Adkins

So it has been one crazy ride since I started this revisit of my 30 day journey that I first went through in 2011. All the things that are happening with my business and other pursuits are exploding. This is one of the reasons I’m behind a day. But it is all due to the work that has been done to get to this point. It is also a little scary how relevant the posts are to my current daily life and business. It just goes to show you what the Crazy one’s can do.

(Original Post – Posted on October 28, 2011)

Go Against the Norm! What does that actually mean? Well, when I was a little boy, my parents gave me a little stain glass window that I still have that says:

If A Man Does Not Keep Pace With His Companions. Perhaps It Is Because He Hears A Different Drummer. Let Him Step To The Music He Hears However Measured Or Faraway. - Thoreau

This sits in my office and is one of my prize possessions. It even has tape on it, because I apparently dropped it over the years, and had to put it back together. If you can relate to that then you know that if you Go Against the Norm, you also, at times, have to put your life, your career, and your relationships, sometimes back together because you almost always go against the norm and this can cause things to not go exactly smoothly. We always hear about the successes, but very few times do we hear about those individuals still trying to succeed. Which one are you?

Recently Steve Jobs passed away and if anyone could be the poster child for this motto it is him. If you read the poster to the left you will understand that he, above all, understood what “Go Against the Norm” meant.

Yes there have been others: Michael Dell; Dell Computers, The Google Guys; Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Bill Gates; Microsoft, let’s not forget Ted Waitt, Gateway Computers, Richard Branson; Virgin and the list could go on.

Those names are the current ones but remember the Wright Brothers; first to fly, Columbus; credited for discovering the earth is round, Albert Einstein; theory of relativity, Thomas Edison, inventor of the light bulb and holder of 1093 patents, Alexander Graham Bell, phone and many, many more.

Like I said in the beginning, history remembers the successful ones or those that got credit for giving the world something they needed or wanted. But if you read their histories they were thought of as individuals that “Go Against the Norm”. Life was probably not easy for them before their fame and in some cases even after.

I love this picture of the original Microsoft Team:

Anyway as you go through your 30 day journey just remember if you have your own business, are an entrepreneur or are passionate about a cause or anything you may be labeled one of the crazy people. You might hear things like why can’t you just fit in? Well stay strong and remember the names above.

Here’s to you the crazy ones. Those who live outside the Comfort Zone!

Day 14 Blog, Blog, Blog, Blog (revisited – 2013)

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Les Adkins

So on Day 14 I discovered that LIFE is what happens when you are planning and working. This alone is the beginning of a brand new blog, but for time sake I will write that blog another day. So yes for those of you keeping track I missed yesterday so today we are looking at Day 14.

Several things have changed since the origination of this original blog. There are now numerous sites that allow you to host blogs and also to say it in video like Vine also Tumblr was just purchased by Yahoo and although thousands of bloggers are leaving Tumblr since the purchase it might be worth revisiting or hopping on board because you know that Yahoo is going to put some money behind this to promote it. As usual there was no reciprocation or endorsement by Yahoo, or any others platform to mention the above.

So here we go on Blogging. It is important to say that this has been around for quite awhile, blogging that is. But it is never too late to start so what are you waiting for?

Les Adkins is the CEO of Orange SMS Consulting and an International Social Media Strategist, speaker, consultant and author. Bringing strategy and whole brain thinking to creative campaigns and social media through his work. Please follow @mysylbert and connect on LinkedIn Join us on FB as well

Original Post – Posted on October 19, 2011

So if you are not blogging; why not?

If you have a business you should be blogging about the industry you are in and giving helpful information, that adds value.

What am I talking about? I hear you out there saying, shouldn’t I be selling my company on my blog? Well have you read a blog lately? Most of the good one’s give valuable information without asking for anything, and that is the way it is supposed to be. Yes you can mention your company but only in your bio at the end. Here’s why:

Home Depot was starting to lose sales to Lowe’s. They came up with a great idea. They decided to offer free workshops to the communities where they were and provided these workshops usually on the weekends. Amazingly enough most of the materials that they used in these workshops were also sold by them, but at the end of the workshop there wasn’t a “sales pitch”. They really didn’t care if you went somewhere else to purchase the materials needed. So what do you think happened? Well there sales went up because they became a trusted partner in the community.

That’s the reason. Here’s the how.

You can use a number of different free blogging tools here’s a couple.

WordPress

Blogger

Now there are a number of different free tools out there that tell you how to blog. Click on blog for a great site on “How Blogs Work”.

Your blog should be concise, short (as possible), and informative. But why should you blog and also why should you comment on other blogs.

Influence! When i write this blog it is networked and goes on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. I then post it on Google + and a few LinkedIn groups that I participate in.

If you only blog and post but don’t interact then your missing the point. There have been many ‘Blogs’ written about blogging, but you need to understand that as an individual or business you need to engage with your audience and others and a ‘Blog’ is an easy way to do this.

Social media is about interacting. In order for you to grow your online influence you need to make sure you are initiating dialogue with others. Not just for the sake of selling, but to truly provide helpful, insightful, and inspirational information to others.

Happy Blogging!

Day 10: Develop 30 second Commercial (2013 – revisited)

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Les Adkins

So on Day 10 I developed a 30 second commercial and gave some pointers on how you can create and deliver your own 30 second commercial. My commercial has changed from 2 years ago.

We help mid to large size companies create a strategy around their digital presence and help them increase their reach using a Whole Brain Approach.

This short 30 second commercial opens up dialogue as to what is a Whole Brain Approach and how do we help them increase their reach which allows us to then qualify them as a possible prospect. See the rest of how to create your own 30 sec commercial below:

(Original Post - Posted on October 13, 2011)

Day 10: Develop 30 second Commercial

So on day 10, I am re-developing my 30 second commercial.

So what makes you unique? Who are you? What company are you with? And how do you creatively explain what you do?

Being a business development consultant that specializes in Social Media Strategy and Whole Brain Approach has been difficult this past year. (No, I’m not complaining just stating facts.) Every time I say what I do, someone inevitably states, “We do the same thing”.

When I first started working with “Social Media”, around seven years ago, there were very few people who knew what “Social Media” was. Let alone its value to business and how it would change the way companies do business. Or they only knew a few of the players and had no idea about Second Life or Kaneva. Virtual worlds that have become more conducive to business interaction in the last few years.

Anyway my point is that when I started the words “Social Media” were unique enough to draw interest. Now I’m just another fish in the sea and everyone has jumped on the social media bandwagon, from PR companies to Advertising and Marketing agencies.

So how do I set myself and business apart? I go back to the basics. Here is the exercise.

Adapted from Jeffrey Gitomer, “Sales Bible”

Instructions: Fill out this exercise below. Read it from top to bottom. Add a few personal pronouns. Time it. Practice it. Study it. And voila!

My Name:

My Company Name:

These first two are pretty self-explanatory.

What I do:

Now don’t make the mistake of saying you print materials or you provide business development consulting. I love what Timothy Ferris from “the 4-Hour Work Week” says when asked this question, “I’m a drug dealer”. This is usually a conversation ender but I thought I would share it anyway because I love the answer. Go read the book and find out why he answers that way.

OK, so what should you say? You should say something that involves action items and makes the person look at what you do differently. I’m still working on mine but it goes something like this:

We help companies draw new talent and new customers by creating a Whole Brain Approach to their business development strategy.

Notice I am getting away from the words Social Media. Although what we do in the message above is help them with their Social Media Strategy as part of the business development strategy.

My Power Questions:

“When formulating your power questions for your commercial, ask yourself these…questions.”

What information do I want to get as a result of asking these questions?
Can I qualify my prospect as a result of the question
Does it take more than one question to find out the information I need?
Do my questions make the prospect think?
Can I ask a question that separates me from my competitor?

You need to ask questions to be able to close your 30 – second commercial with a call to action. Make sure there is a closing statement or question that ensures another contact.

I personally am not a big fan of lists of questions, I prefer a guide to be able to respond to the person’s answer from my previous question. So here is a quick guide:

Situation - What is the current situation (of their business related to what you do)?

Objective – What are their objectives? (Usually it is to better the situation, this can be more sales, more talented employees, larger sales, better communication, and so on.

Challenge – What challenges are they having in reaching these objectives?

Impact – What impact is this having on them? (Make sure you ask about the impact to them. The answer they give will tell you a lot about the person you are speaking to.)

Trial – So in order to reach your objectives you need to (fill in the blank) Example: So in order to gain new talent you need to improve the current employee environment of communication to the Executives?

There is a lot more that goes into the above guide, but it is a good place to start.

My Power Statement:

How Can I Help?

Why Should The Prospect Act Now?

Have a call to action statement that gives the person a reason to act now.

Example: I specialize in reaching new talent and helping businesses communicate to their employees, vendors and customers in a way they want to be communicated with. I know you can’t afford to be sending out messages that don’t reach your Whole audience in these times. So let’s meet for breakfast and discuss your latest objectives and how you are communicating those objectives to your customers. If I think I can help you, I’ll tell you. If I don’t think I can help you, I’ll tell you that too. Fair enough?

I know this is getting too long-winded, but I want to end with How to Deliver the 30 – second commercial:

Be brief
Be to the point
Be remembered
Have power questions and power statements ready
Get the information you need
Show how you solve problems
Pin the person down to the next action
Have Fun!
Time’s Up – (When you have delivered your message, made your contact, and secured the next meeting or action – move on.)

Lot’s of information to digest. Sorry for the lengthy Blog.

Day 7 Review, Review, Review – 2013 Revisited

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Les Adkins

I find that going through this 30 day journey for a second time has given me some additional insights into what I need to do to be successful and the things that I am doing that are hindering me from that success. One of the main things, is that I need to review at the end of each week or another way to say it is to Reflect on my last weeks activities.

Enjoy your weekend and I’ll see you all on Monday! I’m looking forward to also posting another blog regarding the ”4 Hour Work Week“ and “Sleeping Your Way to the Top” this weekend. So enjoy!

(Original Post - October 12, 2011)

So my Day 7 was actually on October 7th, which was a Friday. If you are following this 30 day journey, I believe I mentioned that I’m only writing articles/blogs to support the journey Monday through Friday. My daily log/diary can be found on my business page “Orange SMS Consulting”

So Review, Review, Review. I recommend doing this every Friday, or weekend, or at the end of your week. Here are the things you should be reviewing for your weekly activity so far:

Do you have an organized environment?
Did you look at your goals, everyday, Mon-Fri?
Did you make 10 to 20 new contacts per day?
Did you follow-up with the contacts you made to set up a meeting, or offer advice that may be helpful to their job, business or life?
Did you read, or listen to material that motivates you?
Did you try to live without worry?

So you should review at the end of every week, whether that is Friday or Saturday for you.

The above is just a short list that we will expand as our 30 day journey continues. URGENT NOTE about the week review: “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff”!

What that means is – Don’t worry about what you didn’t get done or if you missed a follow-up, or you came up short of 50 to 100 new contacts. There is always next week. At the beginning of your new week, always start fresh! Don’t carry things over (with the exception of the follow-up). Start at 0 for new contacts.

I am explaining how to start fresh, because for me it has become overwhelming to carry certain things into the new week and at some point you freeze. We are trying to help you avoid being overwhelmed, stressed and then freeze. This way you can live outside of the Comfort Zone!

Just remember at the end of each week,

Review, Review, Review!

Day 4 Follow Up – 2013 revisited

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Les Adkins

So today a couple of crazy things happened. Apparently I published a blank blog that said “Day 4″ Not sure how that happened. I did go to WP to start this blog but I didn’t hit publish so not sure what happened there. I’m blaming it on technology or as I tell my dad it probably was user error. I’ll tell you that story another time.

The second thing happened while I was asleep. I had an epiphany regarding this 30 day journey. I come from a learning background so I should have realized this earlier. The only true way to accomplish this 30 day journey is to spend a week to 21 days on each task until it becomes a habit. So my recommendation is to take each of these tasks or suggestions and implement them one at a time for a period of time that allows you to add this to your routine. Then and only then will you be able to create the life style of living outside the comfort zone.

Below is the original blog and this one is vital to any successful business strategy!

(Original Post)

So what do we mean when say “Follow Up” The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines “follow-up” as:

1. to follow with something similar, related, or supplementary

2. to maintain contact with (a person) so as to monitor the effects of earlier activities or treatments

3. to pursue in an effort to take further action

Yesterday we talked about making 10 to 20 new connections per day Monday through Friday. Or at least making sure you are making 50 to 100 new connections per week. One last quote about connections.

Your mother taught you everything you need to know about connecting before you were 10 years old: Make friends, play nice, tell the truth, take a bath, do your homework. –Jeffrey Gitomer “Little Black Book of Connections”

So you’ve made all these new connections and now what do you do? Well the answer is “follow-up”. Here are a few ways you can follow-up.

Connect with them on Social Media (LinkedIn is the easiest way for business)
Follow up with a phone call to schedule a coffee or lunch
Follow up with an email saying how much you enjoyed meeting them.
Follow up with a text asking to meet for coffee or lunch

Will Corente has 5 Rules for Building Successful Connections. These are worth repeating here regarding follow-up.

“It’s about each of you. Whether you are connecting with one person or a group of people, it is important to consider the needs and objectives of each person or party involved and to seek win-win solutions. Effective connecting at its core is about is about helping each other seize opportunities, entrepreneurs and business people are more apt to help you reach your goals if they know you will do the same.”
“Follow-up Within 24 Hours - If you enjoyed making a connection or see potential for a relationship to develop, show the connection that meeting them was important to you by reaching out within 24 hours via phone, email or text. I find a simple note saying it was great to meet them, offering next steps of communication and an offer of to be of assistance if they need it is a great relationship builder.”
“Once in Touch, Stay In Touch – Every successful relationship in your life is built over time and through multiple interactions and communications. Once you have made the initial connection it is imperative that you follow up, stay in touch and check-in to keep the lines of communication open. If you live or work close by, a brief coffee meeting is an excellent relationship builder with your connections.”
“Be a Giver – People who excel at connecting give advice or assistance first and ask for assistance second. Offer your advice, counsel or assistance on a matter, offer an introduction to a friend or business associate who can help them as a way to show you care about their future success as much as your own.”
Have a Long Term View – Great connectors know that the next great partnership, introduction or synergy could be just around the corner and that developing relationships with everyone they meet regardless of the immediate benefit is the key to long term success and relationship building. Some of my best connections and synergies have been 20 years in the making.

So it is important to be persistent. I can’t tell you how many times my persistence has paid off in landing a client or developing that business relationship that provides the next big step for my business. Also what do you do if you have not contacted them within 24 hours. Well 2 things:

Start now with every new connection contacting them within 24 hours.
Go ahead and start following up with past connections that you may have lost contact with. Even if it has been over a year. Remember you are starting fresh.

Whatever you do, don’t give up and think that they won’t be interested in hearing from you because it has been too long. The majority of sales people fail because of poor follow-up. Whether you are building a business, a non-profit or just trying to make connections “Follow Up” is the most important aspect of next steps. (We’ll go into more detail on Next Steps in the following weeks)

Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way! You need to Lead with meeting people, Follow up with them quickly and consistently and Get Out of the Way of your success to live outside of the “Comfort Zone”

New Quote not in the original blog: Wake Up, Show Up, Follow Up or in other words Get off your Ass and Do something!!!

Day 2 Goals revisited

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Les Adkins

In reading my original blog from Day 2, written October 4th, 2011, I discovered that I only reached a few of my original goals. Out of 12 I only reached three. Now those of you who are reading this might look at this as a failure. But the ones I reached were:

Finish 30 day Journey
Booked 5 paid speaking or workshop engagements (I actually booked a few more)
Travel to 3 new countries I had not visited (Ok so I only got to go to Brazil and Turkey-but where did you go?)
Have a total of 15 new clients (again I added 5 new clients- but what would’ve happened if I hadn’t reached for 15?)

Yes, could I have done better, YES! But the point is what would I have accomplished if I had not written these goals down? Also since writing this blog I have also discovered a great book to help me and you in completing our goals. A book by Anna Stevens SMART Goals

So take a look and let me know what your goals are for 2013? We are already into the 4th month so there is still time to write down and achieve your goals. I’ll let you know my current goals in the next blog. But remember I am still only writing this blog Monday – Friday so have a great weekend!

(Original Post)

So to keep you in the loop I am continuing my 30 day journey to continue living outside the ”Comfort Zone”. A gentleman named Nate Webster has joined the journey with me and hope to have more people join us as we go through this 30 day journey.

Here is the pic that prompted this 30 day journey:

So I am actually on day 4 of the journey but I am only blogging Monday through Friday so you are getting to see my work after the fact. I hope this helps some of you achieve this ultimate goal.

So I had a birthday not too long ago and I promised several followers and friends that I would be posting my Goals for all to see. I also have asked those followers and friends to hold me accountable for these goals. If you are willing to stay in touch you too can hold me accountable and make sure that the goals I’ve printed below are happening.

First a little about Goals. There has been so much written on this subject that if you google Goals you get over 456,000,000 results. The actual definition of Goal from dictionary.com is: “the result or achievement toward which effort is directed;aim; end.”

I worked for someone one time who really believed in S.M.A.R.T Goals.

Specific

Measurable

Attainable

Realistic

Timely

But I also remember what Les Brown said at an event . When deciding financial goals do the following. Go on do it with me now.

“Write down how much money you would like to make in the coming year” (got the answer?)

“Now multiply that by 100 and don’t worry about it being a large figure”

The point is that if you ended up with say $1,000,000 and you only reach 10% of that goal you earned $100,000. Chances are if you reach for a million you will end up with closer to a million than one hundred thousand. So is that “Realistic” in a SMART Goal scenario? Depends on if you are living inside the circle or outside of the circle.

Four main things to remember when writing goals:

1. Write Them Down. They are too easy to forget if you don’t and by writing them down you form a link in your brain that will help you achieve them. (There is a science there, but I won’t bore you with the details.)

2. Put a Timeline on Them. That can be 3 months, 6 months, 12 months or 5 years. If you don’t put a timeline on them you can never evaluate where you are with reaching them.

3. Make Short Term and Long Term Goals. By separating them into short-term and long-term goals you allow yourself the energy to spread them out and yes (although I’m against making them too easy) realistic.

4. Post in a prominent place where you see them every day. This is important to make sure that your sub conscience helps you reach your goals.

If you miss a timeline or even an actual Goal. Don’t give up just move it back. The more brain time you spend on looking at your goals the more likely you are to reach them. This is because your brain, your sub conscience wants to make them real for you. (That could be another entire article.) So good journey and good luck. Here are my goals below:

Les Adkins Goals for 2011 – 2012

10 Reasons to Use Social Media

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Les Adkins

So it’s 2013 and Social Media is everywhere. I have even started a daily tip on Twitter @mysylbert Apologies for the shameless plug but I had a goal of 2000+ followers in 90 days which has turned into a little longer so I need all the help I can get. Thanks for the follow if you are so inclined.

Working with businesses here in the US and Internationally I hear this statement a lot “Well we are using Social Media but we are not seeing the results we would like to see”, which keeps me in business by the way, but I always ask the question WHY? Why are they using social media and you would be surprised at the number of directors and CEO’s of large well-known companies that can’t answer that question. So below I have decided to state the Top 10 Reasons to Use Social Media (in my humble opinion). For business or for individuals.

10. To Get Noticed: Whether you are a business or an individual and you want to get your name out there the best way to do this is through Social Media. Search Engines love Social Media.

9. Marketing: There has been a lot written and said about Social Media Marketing and although you should never look at Social Media as a new Marketing channel (it doesn’t work) you should enhance your marketing through Social Media. “Content is the Fire, Social Media is the Gasoline” Jay Baer

8. Real Time News: Now you have the ability to have real-time news with video from around the world without having a large group of paid journalists and travel expenses. (and I studied journalism-so journalists don’t hate). Anyone with a smart phone can report the news. Look at all the news related items coming out of the Middle East, US and literally every major country in the world. The ability to get news right away has never been more easy than through social media.

7. Relationships: Finding long-lost friends and family. Reconnecting with old school friends or work colleagues. We live in an age where, if they are on social media, you can reconnect with them and develop close ties again or just keep in touch. This is great for sales and also if you are looking for a job.

6. Innovation: I believe this is one of the biggest breakthroughs that social media has allowed companies, that use it correctly, to accomplish. You can now innovate your products and services by asking the users what they want and adapting to their wants and needs rather than guessing or holding expensive focus groups.

5. Collaboration: Business, Science. News and Education are just a few of the industries who are now using social media to collaborate with others on projects that normally might have been done in a vacuum. Two minds are greater than one, with social media you can now have dozens, hundreds, thousands or more all working toward a common cause or project.

4. Sales: If your sales team is not using Social Media to gain new leads and find new business then you are missing out on a great opportunity. Social Media allows you to find new business opportunities, who the decision maker is, and what companies are looking for. If you don’t believe me Google Social Media Sales. “You can really get to know his or her needs through social listening. It’s a great way to research a market and initiate conversation leading to a sale.” Janet Fouts

3. Finding the Right Talent: Although there are a lot of people in the job market it is still hard for companies to find the right people that will move their organization forward. With social media you can search in specialty groups and also have a broader reach when you need to fill a position. Finding the right person for the job is right at the tip of your digital fingers.

2. Information: Causes, Companies and people in general have always wanted to get information out to their peers, prospects, and the general public. We always tell anyone we are working with that the information has to add value to their audience. This works for businesses, organizations and everyone who is putting out information. Including my blog. But now with one click you can send out information to millions of people around the world. Just be careful that it is the right information. (Your audience will decide this for you).

And drummmm rollllll please!!!!!

1. To Stay In Business: Socialnomics and Infographics have stated that 40% of Fortune 500 companies will no longer be in business in 10 years. This is due to their inability to adapt to the new consumer, business or audience. So whether you are a business, church, nonprofit or individual you need to be using social media if you want to still be relevant and viable in the next 10 years.

Email Is DEAD…

Posted on February 21, 2013 by Les Adkins

So yes this is a shocking headline, but amazingly enough after googling, (yes that is a word), “Is Email Dead” there were several articles, blogs and even research papers stating both that yes email is dead and no, when used in a certain manner, it is not dead. So why the headline “Email is DEAD”?

Well lately I have been seeing several emails from email marketers stating why email is better than social media. There was a recent tweet by Chris Brogan that stated “Email marketing is the #1 conversion and revenue tool for my business. I have 10x the followers and blog subs, but I get 10x MORE sales via my smallest channel, my newsletter. Email is FAR more responded to than just tweets. He also stated in a tweet…”When people tell me kids don’t read email, first, bullshit. That’s how FB tells them they were tagged in whatever…” Now I am a big fan of Chris. I met him right after he came out with his co authored book ‘Trust Agent’. And I do value what he has to say.

But based on my own research and working with Universities email is changing. There is still a place for it but it is changing. A few stats for supporting the theory that email is changing.

Boston College Will Stop Offering Incoming Freshman Email Accounts

Many students don’t even want a college e-mail address these days because they already have well-established digital identities before they arrive on campus. That’s the conclusion that officials at Boston College came to in a recent review of their online services. So the college recently decided to stop offering full e-mail accounts to incoming students starting next fall.

EDUCAUSE’s annual survey of 930 higher-education institutions showed that about 10 percent of respondents are considering getting rid of student eMail accounts. For doctoral institutions, the number is 25 percent.

So you might ask yourself where are the student’s getting their information? They are still checking their current emails like gmail, hotmail and others but on mobile devices. Universities are allowing them to move university emails to one of these services or getting rid of emails all together and creating text messaging for important notices. The point is they are not trying to change their behavior they are trying to reach the students where they are already spending time. This is on platforms like FB, Twitter, Bebo and yes folks, MySpace is coming back. So whether it is a text, a post on one of these platforms or an email account forwarded to another service the message is clear that our email world is changing.

So why are email marketers and others promoting email? Well it is my belief that corporate america changes slowly. I’m not disagreeing with Chris and others that email is still a valid marketing tool, but that the climate is changing. I sat next to a gentleman that works for one of the email providers at a conference not too long ago and this topic came up. His response was that email will always be around, I’m not so sure. But his argument was that once Gen Y get’s into the workforce they will be forced to work on email. Guess what folks…he’s wrong. Gen Y will choose where they work and what they do based on their current behaviors not the behaviors of corporate america. If you don’t believe me ask Readers Digest why they are going bankrupt; well it is because they did not adapt to the new marketplace and the new consumer. Email companies are trying to adapt and change. But I hold to the belief that Email is not Social Media…Period. No matter how loud these companies keep yelling and saying that it is.

I’ve put off writing this blog because I know it will ruffle some feathers but those feathers are due to be ruffled. The bottom line is that behavior’s have changed and corporate america must change with these new behaviors. The status-quo is no more and email is just a small piece of how the new customer, employee and vendor is changing the way they want to be communicated with by companies. Think about how much of your email you don’t read because you consider it spam. Now think about the last few texts, notifications and posts you’ve actually read from platforms you are already on.

Just something to think about…

My Toughest Challenge Accomplished! Tough Mudder

Posted on October 29, 2012 by Les Adkins

So this past Saturday I ran a 12 mile, 24 obstacle course called the Tough Mudder. If you are a friend of mine on Facebook or a Social Media Connection you have seen some of the pictures of our event. So I have been traveling non stop for the past three weeks and this was the finale of my 3 week travels. I started in North Carolina facilitating an Elite Consulting Course for NetApp then spoke at a Sales Conference in Vegas to 100 sales people, managers and operations for Peak Campus Companies. Flew back in town, Atlanta, and then woke up and drove to Society Hill, SC to participate in the Tough Mudder with the High Achievers Muddervation team. I tell you all this not to impress you but to show you that you can do anything you put your mind to. I went from NO EXERCISE 20 weeks ago to exercising every week including doing a month of Operation Boot Camp.

The Tough Mudder Pledge:

I UNDERSTAND THAT TOUGH MUDDER IS NOT A RACE BUT A CHALLENGE.

I PUT TEAMWORK AND CAMARADERIE BEFORE MY COURSE TIME.

I DO NOT WHINE, KIDS WHINE.

I HELP MY FELLOW MUDDERS COMPLETE THE COURSE.

I OVERCOME ALL FEARS.

I have been amazed at what I have accomplished in the past 20 weeks. I have done more business, I am in the best shape of my life, and I feel great overall. When I was on the course it was a great experience to see everyone helping each other. It did not matter your age, fitness or lack their of, everyone helped everyone through the challenges, with encouragement, support and even lending a hand through the mud, dirt and water. People who had never met before that day, and didn’t even know each other’s name, all were helping each other get through this challenge. I thought to myself, and then said it aloud to friends and family, that if life worked that way everyone would definitely be better off.

Everyone was working together to complete the same goal. To finish the challenge. If we helped out everyone to finish the challenge of life, life would be better for all.

There wasn’t anyone just asking to be carried to the finish line, and everyone in the challenge was muddy, dirty, and tired with some skinned knees and injuries along the way. Just something to think about the next time you say you can’t or you wish someone would do it for you.

I’ll end with another great quote from the Tough Mudder:

NO QUIT IN HERE!

I don’t know what your “In Here” is; maybe work, maybe circumstance, maybe marriage, maybe LIFE. But the next time you are looking to Quit, remember the Tough Mudder Quote! And remember that you need a team around you to complete the challenge regardless of what that challenge is.

So if you are wondering where I have been and what I have been up to since my last blog from Brazil in September now you know. My company has been invited to Istanbul, Turkey at the end of November for CeBIT. Life is Good!

Next blog on “Email is Dead”

Les Adkins is the CEO of Orange SMS Consulting and an International Social Business Strategist, speaker, consultant and author. Bringing strategy and whole brain thinking to creative campaigns and social media through his work. Please follow @mysylbert and connect on LinkedIn Join us on FB and Google+ as well.

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Integrating Social Media into Business

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