Monthly Archives: May 2012

by | May 30, 2012 · 12:52 pm

Like it? Share it…

I’ve had some thoughts rattling around in my head recently, thinking about how the cultural subtleties of Asia Pacific impact the ability for people to be successful in social media. It started when I asked some leading digital media folks who their favourite business bloggers were in AP, apart from me of course :) . Surprisingly (or maybe unsurprisingly) the majority said they predominantly followed US bloggers… On the one hand, I understand it’s hard to get word out in Asia Pacific because it is a vast region and cannot be packaged up together, especially with so many languages in play; on the other hand, I think it has a lot to do with traditional culture.

I’ve had many conversations with people in this region about the way Americans do things. Oftentimes Asians find the US high-five-pat-yourself-on-the-back style very confronting – it’s just not the way things are done in these parts. However, when social media – specifically blogging – took off, I believe it was this very aspect of American society that turned bloggers into mega stars. As a general rule, Americans are terrifically supportive of folk – especially in business. When someone you know writes a blog, you tweet it, G+ it, Facebook it, etc… because that’s what it’s all about – supporting each other to be successful. I really enjoyed this aspect of American society when I lived in Boston and NYC about 12 years ago. It’s lovely because it feels like everyone has your back.

In Asia, it’s not like that. People are more understated and humble. Don’t get me wrong, Asians are certainly not quiet or conservative, they’re just not loud and in your face. It’s hard to explain, but it’s different here and when you bring social media into the mix, I think these cultural aspects are having a big impact on people succeeding (or not) in Asia. I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had with people who said I started blogging, but couldn’t get any support so I gave up. I feel devastated when I hear this. It’s a HUGE effort to blog, not just making the time to write it, but putting yourself out there in the public domain, so the thought that people aren’t “making it” because they’re not getting support is tough to hear.

But it’s true. I started blogging in 2006 (a family type blog) and got very serious about it just over two years ago, with three very different blogs in the market today. To start with, I got a few friends saying they loved it, keep it up and that was it, but I kept going, linked one of my blogs into a global community, created two Facebook pages, and essentially just kept at it no matter what – because that’s what I want to do, write for a living, so I suppose I’m more motivated than most. Slowly, slowly people are sharing my blogs, digital publishers are picking them up and republishing them, and between all of my blogs, I’m close to 40,000 hits. That’s good for me. But it’s been a long, slow process and I certainly haven’t done everything I can to get greater exposure because I just don’t have the time. I’m also not the type of person who is going to ask people to promote me – it’s just not me and all along I’ve been hoping that people will do it because they like what I’m doing. In Asia, that’s not enough.

So a few ideas for everyone reading this, whether you blog or not – and if you blog, perhaps share this with everyone you know as a kick in the bum to get them sharing your work? I’d love to see Asia Pacific being more successful in this genre, but we’ll only get there if we support each other.

My tips:

  • If you read a blog and you like it – share it with your community – please don’t tell me you don’t have time, it’ll take you a minute and trust me, the blogger will be eternally grateful to you for taking the time to do this for them. Remember there are lots of platforms to share it on, so do the lot when you get a free moment. My sharing typically goes to:
  • If you know you are going to launch a blog in the near future, start sharing other bloggers work now on your social networks – that way, when your time comes, they’ll support your blog – supporting gets supported
  • Create a community of support around you with other bloggers like yourself trying to build a profile. Share each other’s work with your communities whenever you can and help each other out. I’ve got a great small community and we all share each other’s work, but someone has to start the sharing for others to follow. This is a really important tip for individual/SME bloggers. Feel free to Tweet your blog to @sajeideas and I’ll be sure to retweet it
  • Bloggers in big companies definitely have an advantage over individuals and SME bloggers, but not always. My suggestion, find out who your company bloggers are and actively support them. The best way is to sign up for their blog and when it’s emailed to you, make sure you take a minute to send it out on your social networks – especially if you like it. Also support individual/SME bloggers, because it’s harder for them to do this and run a business. I suggest find out who’s writing on your industry and if you like them, actively support them
  • Write comments on people’s blogs whenever you can take the time. If you like what they’ve blogged about, tell them. If you’re not so keen or don’t agree, that’s fine, but be respectful and offer an alternative point of view – comments are definitely appreciated because sometimes you feel like you’re sending your work out into the stratosphere and it’s just disappearing… But don’t be an arsehole – there really is no need for that at all. You don’t agree, fine, but be kind
  • This is not just about blogging – there are plenty of other ways you can support the people you respect in a social world. For example like G+ and Facebook fan pages, put them in your Twitter lists, like LinkedIn company pages, etc… How many “Likes” a page has gives it credibility and it’s no skin off your nose to like a page. In the last few days, three friends have sent new Facebook pages to me to like. Even though I may never use their services, I like every request I get, because I know how it feels to get support – numbers matter!
  • There’s another type of social person – those who share lots of awesome information but don’t create their own original content. I love these people because they give me great fodder to share. Certain people are consistent in sharing great stuff, so I always try to acknowledge them – even in small ways with a comment. Therefore I suggest why not say thanks, an awesome article BEFORE you share it? It’s a great way to make them feel that what they’re doing is worthwhile and they’re giving you great information too – to read or to share
  • What have I missed?  

But there is something in it for you too. One way to build your professional profile is to share the great information doing the rounds, because if you build a reputation for sharing great information, over time, people will read what you share because they value what you read. So AS IT IS GOOD for you TOO, how about making sure bloggers and content creators in Asia Pacific are part of your sharing agenda?

We all know we are living in a social world where people share information to their communities from very different mediums. I think this new social world is great for everyone, and it’s a way to give thought leaders in Asia Pacific a voice on the global stage. There’s AMAZING things going on in this region, how about we all work towards supporting the business story tellers?

Do you agree we need to do more to support our own? Well SHARE this! :)  

Cheers

Andrea

 

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by | May 15, 2012 · 12:31 pm

5 Tips for Identifying Your Perfect B2B Content Partner

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of seeing my first article published on Content Marketing Institute. Here is a link to the original article “5 Tips for Finding Your Perfect B2B Content Partner.” I put this together because things are changing so rapidly in regards to content becoming a priority, that perhaps this advice might be timely for companies looking to embark upon or improve content marketing effectiveness? The article is copied below for easy reference.

I hope it’s useful and please, do let me know what you think?

By the way, if you like what we write about, we share our blogs and other interesting industry blogs/articles that may be of interest to you on our Facebook page, so why not give us a “like”?

Andrea Edwards

Managing Director

SAJE

5 Tips for Identifying Your Perfect B2B Content Partner

By Andrea Edwards

For the past six or so years, I’ve worked exclusively as a business writing partner with some great companies in the Asia Pacific region. My customers span a variety of sectors, with a focus on IT, digital media, and professional services. It’s a lot of fun, wonderfully challenging, a great professional evolution, and I am very passionate about it — it’s all I want to do.

The most important lesson I’ve learned so far is that a successful writing partnership requires a deep level of intimacy with customers. A professional writer no longer just delivers static brochures or web content. Writers today are ghost writing blogs, conducting executive interviews, creating more personal customer success stories, and more. As such, when I work with my customers, I need:

  • To understand how they speak and think
  • To challenge them on some of their ideas to build out strong value arguments
  • To make them work hard with me to find the story, because their idea may form a great starting point, but it might not be compelling enough to get their readers to act
  • To get them to stand back and ask the question: Will my audience be interested in this? Does it address their pain points?
  • And sometimes I need to educate them, because what they think is important might not be that interesting to their customers. It can be sensitive stuff.

Unless both parties understand and appreciate the essential role that great chemistry and mutual respect plays, it can be tough to create the perfect partnership between content provider and client.

Content is a human business, and sometimes you just don’t gel with every potential business partner. Very rarely I have experienced a personality clash — those situations where you meet someone and there’s tension for no apparent reason. It happens, right?

But more often than not, it comes down to a clash of working styles. I want my customers to stand out and be amazing. However, when I work with people who have an intrinsically conservative style (i.e., preferring to use formal language), are very set in their ways, or are not open to new ideas and ways to succeed, I sometimes find it to be a challenge to work together successfully. Conversely, if my writing style isn’t conservative enough for a particular industry or person (which is ok, too), our partnership just isn’t going to be a good strategic fit.

Based on this, it occurred to me that some guidance on how to identify the perfect content partner for you and your business could be helpful. With everyone claiming content to be the new “king of marketing”, it has become a priority; but to really win, you need to acknowledge the “queen of marketing” — context, and its related considerations.

Content and context are now firmly elevated to a strategic position in marketing (with some forward-thinking companies creating the role of CCO to reflect this), so here are five tips to help you identify a great writing or content partner that can deliver both content and context:

  1. Look for good personal chemistry. It is vital to get on with your writing partners. Much of today’s written output will require you to work very closely together — getting inside each other’s minds, and challenging each other, when appropriate. You want to work with writers who can bring out the best in you and your business. Are they going to be a pleasure to work with? Are they capable of capturing your spirit or your company’s essence? Are they curious and intelligent? Are they open and inspired? If you want some insight about these considerations right from the start, consider asking potential new content partners to submit a writing test: Ask them to interview you on any subject you are both familiar with, and see how they proceed, as well as what they produce (both aspects are important). Sometimes you’ll just know if someone is right or wrong, but if you’re in the middle, or want to be sure, a writing test can be a good tactic.
  2. Find out where their passions lie. Look for someone who is a passionate business storyteller, excited about your company, and can reflect your message and passion in what they produce. It’s is one of those things that should be very obvious when you meet someone, but there can be talented content professionals whose passion is understated, so it’s best to rely on examples of your writers’ work, rather than personal impressions, when evaluating passion. Read their testimonials, ask for feedback from members of their network, and make sure their style and natural voice indicates that they would be a good fit for your team. You can also look at their broader body of work — the blogs they write (on any topic), other published articles, cross-published blogs, the way they use social media, etc., to get an idea of what they are passionate about. If they are able to express their passion in these areas, the chances are they have learnt some valuable lessons your business will benefit from.
  3. Find a strategic marketing thinker. Work with a content partner who understands the overarching marketing and messaging strategies of your company, and understands how important this is to everything you are trying to achieve as a business. The ultimate goal is to have this messaging subtly wrapped into all content developed. For example, I’ve been working with a young and up-coming IT monitoring company, NetGain Systems. One of their key messages is they provide reassurance to customers by tracking IT performance 24×7 – it’s always on, in the background, tracking for problems and sending alerts, which means customers don’t have to worry about IT performance and can get on with more strategic work. Understanding this message, I interviewed one of their customers and shaped the interview to get the CIO to talk about the key message in his own words. He admitted he sleeps better – a powerful endorsement, especially for the IT monitoring industry. So make sure your potential writer knows what your core messages are, and has strong ideas for helping them come through in their writing. Writing professionals who understand the messaging dimension of business are worth their weight in gold and will be able to create even more powerful content for you.
  4.  Look for a proactive professional. You need someone who has great ideas and is familiar with the emerging issues in your industry that they can develop stories around. The best sign you’ve found a great writing partner? The very first time you meet, they’ll come up with a bunch of great ideas for stories — and this is before they have been briefed about your business and goals. A great writer can see story opportunities everywhere, and while they may not be on the money with every idea initially, you know they will be once they’re in. A pro-active and creative professional will be constantly on the pulse with new ideas, angles and approaches. They will feed your content channel months in advance, as well as alert you to topical news that must be acted on immediately. In an always-on world, this is an essential quality and means you can be reassured the quality of your content is taken care of.
  5. Watch out for “yes” people. If you want to do something amazing, don’t work with writers who will blindly follow your lead and say yes to every idea. Your writing partner should be free to challenge you every step of the way, and everything they produce should exceed your expectations. Find people who listen to what you want, but are capable of surpassing it – look for people who can deliver the wow factor. If they can wow you, they can wow your customers and prospects. The key skill your writer must demonstrate is an understanding of both your company’s goals AND what is important to the prospects the information is intended for. A yes person will only see your company’s goals. How do you find them? Look for people who have serious experience and credibility behind them. They may be a little more expensive, but they will be worth every cent. However, don’t overlook talented and eager new writers – both offer great skills in the content mix.

A great writer is a valuable partner that can reap big rewards for your business — as long as you choose the right one, you’ll get compelling content and experience a natural synergy that is sure to lead to great results.

I hope this helps. If you have any additional ideas for finding the right content partner, I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.

Bio:

Andrea has worked in communications all over the globe for 20 years, and her focus now is to follow her passion – writing. A gifted communicator, strategist, writer and blogger, Andrea is MD of SAJE, a digital communications agency, and The Writers Shop – a regional collaboration between the best writers in Asia Pacific. Based in Singapore since 2003, follow her on Twitter @sajeideas, Facebook, LinkedIn, or her blog.

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by | May 10, 2012 · 12:04 pm

How Datatronics Delivered 2400 Benefits Per Second in 1990

Back in the early 90′s, Ethernet was but a young networking pup, battling it out with IBM’s token ring  for the emerging ‘office LAN’ market.

As a computer networking instructor for 3Com UK and BICC Data Networks, I had the fun job of giving tech training courses on both of these technologies, as well as for the company’s own products.

Occasionally, our small team would be asked to hold a course overseas.

Being young, single and adventurous I had no problem in volunteering, and so got to see the interior of hotel conference rooms around the globe. Actually, it wasn’t all work; business class air travel was mostly fun and hassle free, the internet was merely a curiosity in business circles (this was pre Windows 3.1, as I recall it), international pagers were a luxury, and faxes from HQ were left waiting for you under the hotel door (along with the morning newspaper).

And that’s where a handheld ‘port modem’ from a company trading as ‘Datatronics’ changed my way of working.

The device in the photo is their Discovery 2400P port modem.

Here’s the techie feature list in action

This state-of-the-art modem delivered 2400 bps connectivity between my Compaq laptop and the company’s email server in the UK.  Getting connected was the biggest issue as the modem-to-modem asynchronous communications protocols were quite unforgiving of line errors.

And there were many of those on an international line between Asia and Europe in those days. I can remember having the modem dial ten or more times before a connection was established, and even then the negotiation between server and mail client would often fail or time out.

Another problem was being able to even dial out from the hotel room phone socket, through its PBX system. Often the phone socket was inconveniently hidden behind a bedside drawer, or directly below the bed’s headboard. Once found, the next hassle was that my async RJ-11 cable either wouldn’t reach it, or the socket connector was of the wrong type. Carrying a box of international socket connectors and a modem breakout box became a road warrior’s lifeline.

Once connected, there was only a text-based email client protocol – no attachment or, heaven forbid, attachment files.

Those 2400 benefits per second

Despite these annoyances this portable modem became a real boon on my travels.

Now I could write a trip report and send it to my manager(s), get a reply overnight, and also keep in touch with some of the important training department projects. There was no need for expensive international faxes, where the risk of sending company confidential information was high.

I had become independent of the company’s HQ LAN network yet able to reach it when required. Admittedly, speed was not impressive but 2400 bits per second really did seem like the same in benefits gained.

Business trip communications for this globetrotting technical instructor was to change forever.

I’ve kept this modem all these years to remind me that what a product enables is far more important than how it actually performs.

B2B technology marketing rarely gets simpler than that.

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by | May 2, 2012 · 12:57 pm

The Difference between a Vision and a Mission Statement – Simplified

The most searched term on my blog – by a very long way – is: “what is the difference between a vision and a mission statement?” I did a pretty comprehensive blog on this in September 2011, and then another entitled “Are Corporate Values Important?” in December 2011, which built on this discussion. Based on the obvious need to understand the difference between these two concepts, I thought a very quick blog summarizing the difference between vision and mission, in a very simple way, could be handy for all of those people landing here looking for answers to this question.

Vision Statement

A vision statement is a short phrase detailing what a company wants to become in the future – it needs to be inspirational, aspirational and energizing. It should only be a sentence in length and must capture the essence of a company’s goal, but does not explain how you are going to achieve those goals. In essence, it needs to be visionary.

Our vision

To be true to ourselves and others in everything we do.

Mission Statement

A mission statement clarifies an organizations’ purpose and typically, needs to be about one paragraph in length. It should be unambiguous and to the point, integrating meaningful statements, such as: moral stance, how you want to be perceived, primary focus, your customers, who you care about, your presence and how you will grow.

Our mission

To set the standard of excellence for communication across Asia Pacific. We will always strive to provide exceptional service to our customers. We will always be willing to go the extra mile to meet our customers’ needs. We will always work with great people and employ or partner with great people, and we will live a life that enables us to smile and laugh as much as possible. We will always aspire to be the best and to be passionate, in everything that we do, always.

If you look at my earlier blogs, there is a lot more guidance on how to build these out, but as a quick snap shot for those wondering which is which, I hope this helps. Of course, you may completely disagree, but the examples I included previously from industry leading companies (Virgin, Nike, Boeing, Harley Davidson, Apple, Ben & Jerry’s and Google, to name a few) back up what I’m saying – although even some of these leaders get it wrong in my opinion. There’s definitely a lot of confusion around this subject.

As I said in my corporate values blog – “the way I see it – your vision is what you strive for, your mission is how you’re going to get there, and your values are the sort of company/people you’ll be on the journey.”

Let me know if you agree and I really hope this helps those struggling to find clarity around the important aspect of a company’s messaging.

Cheers

Andrea Edwards

Managing Director

SAJE

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