Blogger Buzz: We want to hear from you!

Hey, bloggers! If you use Blogger or Blogspot, you'll want to check out this new link to their feedback forum that was just released yesterday. It allows you to submit and vote on new features, gadgets, and even Blogs of Note. The forum is open for a limited time, and will close on Friday, May 14, so don't miss this prime open sourcing opportunity to be heard! Click the link below to connect. And don't forget to communicate with me as to whether or not this was helpful to you ....

Blogger Buzz: We want to hear from you!

Communicating with Spirit: Working from the Inside Out

Yesterday’s breaking news at the American newswire, Associated Press, focused on credit card companies and their current business strategy: President Barack Obama, after meeting with chief executives from the credit lending industry, held a news conference in the afternoon that outlined the White House administration’s proposal for consumer protection—the main thrust of which is a “credit card bill of rights” that would limit banks and credit card companies from inordinately raising their customers’ interest rates. After years of public criticism over the industry’s practice of targeting college students (and, worse, doing little to educate those new, young customers about how to use their credit cards wisely), companies are now pushing many of their customers out the door—or trying to—by sometimes doubling interest rates and penalties with no warning.

“Consumer protection” is a hot topic today that goes beyond the banking and credit card industries. It’s also key to staying in business: Now more than any other time in history, corporate greed is a major focus in both politics and policy—and especially in the press. Good public image is the cornerstone of marketing. The finger-pointing of the recession era seems to go every which way—particularly to bigger companies and bubble-bursting industries like the auto, banking, and housing markets.

Conversely, there are number of smaller and/or start-up companies—and even individuals—who operate from a more personal plane, where message seems to trump money.

Around the turn of the millennium, the phrase “Cultural Creatives” had a bit of buzz to it. The term, coined by spiritual authors and Ph.D.s Sherry Anderson and Paul Ray, applied to (according to its inventors) the more than 100 million adult professionals through the U.S. and Europe who were dually concerned with their inner selves and their social passions. Such forward-thinkers were looking to the future and finding creative ways to reinvent society, marrying interior ideals with external goals.

Last year, author Ron Rentel coined a new name for such peculiar people who further blend their inner and outer passions with capitalistic motivations: “innerpreneurs.” These are visionary entrepreneurs who shape the face of business in this upside-down economy by working inside-out to find personal fulfillment—creatively, emotionally, and even spiritually—as they create social change, hopefully for the better, both long- and short-term.

Innerpreneurs garner criticism just like anyone else in the world: Just ask Alexandre Barouzdin, co-founder of France’s Tecktonik movement. His above-the-influence-of-drugs lifestyle has its own fashion look, its own dance, its own energy drink, and of course, its very own (very legal) brand. He laughs at French critics who have started a knock-off brand in protest, noting that they are helping to publicize Tecktonik (via the old, negative standard) while simultaneously furthering his social goals of keeping the night club scene drug-free—of course, the main reason Barouzdin and his partner, Cryil Blanc, started Tecktonik to begin with.

Where do you rank on the Cultural Creatives scale? If you can call yourself an innerpreneur—or if you want to get in on the ground floor (or the mezzanine at least) of this global phenomenon, consider how you not only view, but communicate with the world around you. A communications coach who knows how to commune with the world and speak with true spirit may help you meet and marry your inner and outer ideals. Contact me or one of my colleagues to discuss this further. Talk about moving beyond talk!


(c) KiKi Productions, Inc. 2009

The Evolution of Etymology: How Human Language Changes & Grows

We’ve all heard the universal lament: Cell phones and e-mail accounts are downgrading language. Abbreviations and emoticons are blamed for dropping literacy rates and for lingual confusion virtually all over the world, as teens and tweens spend, according to one British study, about 31 hours per week online texting, surfing, and chatting—versus 3 hours each week studying via the internet. Contrary to popular belief, however, the reverse may be the real truth: Newsweek Magazine reported in an article last August that “texting may give literacy a boost,” because exposure to language equals exposure to language—period.

The fact is, language—no matter which you speak or in what part of the world—changes. Pick up any book written in any decade of the 20th Century, fiction or non-fiction, and you’re sure to find yourself amused at some point by the notable differences in conversational tones. The English language, spoken by more than 20 percent of the world, has morphed from Middle English and “Olde Englishe” (as it was then written), and beyond that, from the Romance languages of Latin and Greek. Etymologically, English has been internationally influenced at each turn as the world population shifts, grows, and eternally relocates.

It should come as no surprise then that language continues to transform as the various countries of the world meet up online. Merriam-Webster’s “open dictionary” takes a firm hold on the helm of this exploration, inviting internet users to add their own words (or “slanguage” as one anonymous contributor put it) to an ever-growing list.

Wikipedia, the open source e-encyclopedia, also has its own open content dictionary, or Wiktionary. It integrates multiple languages into one dictionary source for any speaker-user around the globe.

It’s also not unexpected to note the several books and e-books on the subject of linguistic adaptation. The hand-held reading device Amazon Kindle, having released over 265,000 titles to date—currently priced at around $10—has at least 57, alone, about the ever-changing English language.

What’s your personal contribution to the word world? If you consciously create, unconsciously co-create, or even simply help proliferate the language you speak, hear, read, write, type or text (imagine: “text” is now a verb!), you are a part of the ever-evolving human existence. Welcome to growth! And talk about progressive!

(c) KiKi Productions, Inc. 2009

Speaking of Success: Open Source Means Open Dialogue

This week, I traveled to New York City from Chicago on my favorite airline. JetBlue is headquartered in New York and has JFK International Airport as its major hub, featuring a newly renovated terminal with a number of innovative features—including to-your-gate food service delivery. In-flight entertainment options, such as DirectTV, XM Satellite Radio, The New York Times on Air, and free-of-charge healthy snacks are just some of what makes this 8-year old company a major competitor against airlines that are struggling after decades of doing business.

Besides its branded “Even More Leg Room” and leather seats for every passenger (along with the amenities named above), what makes jetBlue so special as a standout in its industry?

The fact is, the company has been earning accolades every year since its inaugural flight in 2000. But what really gave it wings was a much-publicized customer service catastrophe on Valentine’s Day of 2006, when jetBlue learned the hard way what not to do—the key word being, “learned.” What might have sunken another such young company kept jetBlue sailing through the skies: After disgruntled passengers were kept aboard grounded flights at JFK for several hours during an ice storm, the airline created its Customer Bill of Rights, stating among other things, that passengers who experience on-board ground delays will be reimbursed to some extent for the inconvenience. In June of the following year, it miraculously ranked highest in customer satisfaction of all North American low-cost air carriers by J.D. Power & Associates—an honor it continues to boast to date.

This ‘open source-esque’, evolving strategy keeps the “customer satisfaction” brand alive and well. In example, witness the honesty of CEO David Neeleman, who—rather than downplaying the Valentine’s Day event—gave an emotional press conference a few days later, where he confessed to feeling “humiliated and mortified,” and even shared with the world the reasons behind the debacle: a faulty communications system between pilots and other staff that slowed service options down to a standstill. The changes made to the company’s communication infrastructure ensured that the Customer Bill of Rights was more than just lip service.

On my own flight, I got to see this super-hyped customer satisfaction promise in action: The electronic equipment for the plane’s entertainment system was out of order, which meant I received a $15.00 voucher toward my next jetBlue flight. Also, we passengers were informed of the glitch at the gate prior to boarding; both the pilot and the flight attendants made additional apologetic announcements at take-off, as well.

The most important factor in any open source service or product is always an open dialogue with the customer. I frequently receive e-mail messages from this customer-oriented airline after my flights, often containing a survey form. I love to fill out these forms, cherishing the opportunity to voice my opinions about how I believe the company and crew have (or have not) gone above and beyond to enhance my in-flight experience.

How do you keep the channels of communications open with your customers or potential customers? Is your brand sending an inconsistent message? Or do you take an honest and open approach to welcoming feedback and aligning or alleviating inconsistencies? Studies show that surveys that use a combination of ratings and written feedback can best measure customer satisfaction. Implementing the survey findings is the height of marketing strategy. KiKi Productions, Inc., can help you implement the right survey approach and the right branding solutions for your company’s target audience. Talk about satisfying!

(c) KiKi Productions, Inc. 2009

Of Dinosaurs & Digitization: When Print (Still) Works

This month, the 100-year old international news rag, The Christian Science Monitor, makes history by replacing its print edition with several digital editions: its website, RSS feeds, and handheld PDA and e-mail subscriptions. Founded in November of 1908, the newspaper has won 7 Pulitzer Prizes in journalism, and touts a non-partisan stance on global affairs. Its decision to reach audiences solely through digital means in the year 2009 (and beyond) comes at a time when a number of newspapers are struggling—or folding—in the face of adversity.

It isn’t just economy pressures that push the envelope for newspaper budgets. When I entered college as a journalism student in 1991, the internet was a little-known portal dubbed “the information superhighway;” praised by forward-thinkers, but mystifying to many others. Even then, visionaries were proclaiming “the death of the daily newspaper”: Glossy magazines were more appealing to the color-television generation of the day.

Now, with the myriad of technological advances in business and society that continue to occur each year, today’s news audience has little time to thumb through the newsprint as in days of yore. Fast receipt of information is top-of-mind to most businesses—including newspapers—in this fast-paced world.

But there are some times when print pieces still succeed over their digital counterparts. While print journalism struggles to remain valid in the current electronic age, print advertising continues to have a home. As electronic communications sources become prolific, tangible items are a valuable commodity—especially to the younger set, who are more likely to have fewer print pieces on-hand or in their homes.

Whether you choose e-format or print versions of your communiqués, consistency is key: Studies show that the more successful ads are those delivered on a regular basis, from daily blogs to monthly mailers. And don’t forget to weave your promotions into your information, so that your product or service is always a major takeaway—even alongside any educational info. you may provide (such as in white papers, newsletters and magazines). Marrying the two formats is still a valid option. With the right design, e-mail and print newsletters can consistently share the same information with similar-to-identical looks and feels.

Small businesses, along with groups and organizations with low budgets, particularly benefit from local mailings. The Toastmasters speakers' club I belong to in Chicago succeeded in more than tripling its membership with a year-long campaign that included publishing a newsletter, where print pieces were given to visitors, as well as left behind in area offices, coffee shops, and gyms. The dual electronic component of the newsletter (PDF downloads available on the club’s website) provided the right tandem push to excel the campaign. Furthermore, direct-mail industry giant The Ballantine Corporation reported via blog in 2008 that the local auto, retail, and hospitality industries were just a few that could directly benefit from direct-mail campaigns—especially when both print and electronic options were available to audiences.

Has your print marketing campaign gone the way of the dinosaurs? KiKi Productions, Inc., offers newsletter creation to individuals, non-profit organizations, and businesses of all sizes, featuring both print and online formats that fit your solutions. Talk about timely!


(c) KiKi Productions, Inc. 2009