When Obama came into office, many Americans and non-Americans celebrated. But these are proving to be tough times nationally and across borders. Let’s not forget the swine flu pandemic, the temper tantrums of North Korea dictator Pyongyang and the effects of the American economy Americans and non-Americans.

Despite all of these things, the Obama administration continues to pour money and invest in political agendas such as science, a national health care plan, financial bailouts that have long term, uncertain ROI during a time where money supply is short and interest rates are low.
True, a former lawyer is no businessman, but it seems that we need to have business-minded people working in government. People who can work in a non-profit world but also understand how to work a balance sheet.

While I consider myself fairly liberal as a resident of the SF Bay Area, I think Obama may be thinking of too many ways to spend money that we don’t have, instead of developing programs that pull on current and limited resources. He needs to think more like an entrepreneur and less like a large corporation.
That means:
- evaluating resources.
Today I heard on the radio that Obama is creating urgency around the healthcare issue. Is he acting with business sense or acting rashly?

In terms of the health care system, are there any current running health care programs that serve those who need health care but do not have access to it? And are there existing programs that advocate for preventative healthcare? This is what the government should support rather than a overhaul and development of a national healthcare system. We may admire our neighbors to the North for their national healthcare (anyway, it’s targeted at getting people to stay healthy, not treating sick people) but we’re just letting politics get in the way. And we are a tax-minimizing country as well.

- Talent. Obama’s cabinet has talent, but where is a certified public accountant when you need one? A CFO?

How else could the government be more efficient? Chime in with your thoughts.

I got this e-mail campaign sent to my mailbox. It was a little weird. Do you want me to Fan your Facebook page so I have a chance to win money? Or because I am really a fan of your company?
Back to basics: Social Media is about groundswell support, not top-down marketing management.

What could they have done instead? It depends, but let’s say the goal is to share information so that they position themselves as not just the “Job Shop” but also the Job Experts.

They could…
encourage their employees to pro-actively work inside of Twitter with a goal to do outreach to their Twitter community, maybe by offering useful advice on jobs that are available.

They could create the Facebook Fan group so that people can share their tips and tricks on job hunting, and Job Shop could post their helpful hints on how to work with temp agencies (including themselves).

Bonus: You should get a more engaged community and it’s less likely that someone will join your “Fan Page,” take the money and run and forget about it.
OK, I get it though. If someone joins your Fan page, then maybe their friends will see their status. But you certainly won’t get advocates rooting for you, which is a double plus.

Many people are clueless about how to use Twitter. While there are many blogposts out there on how to use Twitter, here’s my version of why anyone would join the micro-conversation.

Between a bottle of Heinz Ketchup and Safeway Ketchup of the same volume, the only difference is the price. The number of ingredients are the same.

Between a bottle of Safeway Ketchup and Safeway Organics Ketchup, the difference is in the number of ingredients. Safeway Organics Ketchup only contains Tomato Concentrate, Sugar, Salt, Onion Powder and Spices, all of which are organic.

Both Heinz and regular Safeway ketchup have 10 ingredients and both contain corn syrup. (I hate corn syrup.)

Safeway Organics Ketchup has less ingredients and yet it costs $1.00 more than Safeway Regular Ketchup.

So, Heinz should probably start making Organic Ketchup and charge $1.00 more than their regular ketchup brand.

I decided to start numbering these.
There is a lot of talk about self-branding, but I have to say that anyone who makes a career out of being a self-marketer should get an ego check.
That includes Guy Kawasaki for making this very typically cryptic, eccentric comment recorded at the Wall Street Journal in regards to promotions on Twitter: “If I do it, it’s clever marketing. If it’s done to me, it’s spam”

But, it is also true that part of Guy Kawasaki’s persona is that of an author and an artist. Also, what he says about Twitter is very true. We like to hear ourselves talk.

In any case, anyone who chooses a career as first a “self-marketer” and second of some other profession should consider taking lessons in modesty. I think.

I’m working on yet another post on networking and job-hunting, so stay tuned.

Some very strange things have been bubbling up in my mind since re-reading Jostein Gaardner’s Sophie’s World and listening to NPR on the weekend.

If you don’t know Sophie’s World, it’s a book that tells a story about philosophy and questins whether humans really exist or if we just are cheating ourselves into thinking that we do.

You might wonder what this has to do with being a marketer. I have recently come to the conclusion that lot of a person’s consciousness nowadays has to do with being a consumer. Living in one of the richest countries of the world, we are trained from birth to be consumers.

You could even go as far as saying that we are brainwashed into overconsumption. It becomes a mindless habit and it doesn’t matter whether you may have lots of money or a little money in the bank, a lot of marketing has created us into impulsive, needy little consumers that enjoy and crave the thrill of buying.

Why do we choose one soap brand over another? Probably because you’ve seen some kind of promotions about it, seen the brand being advertised during your favorite sports game or you have a friend who has talked about the benefits of the brand.

There comes a point when we must realize that actually our needs are imagined needs dictated to us by advertising, the news, our friends (viral marketing)…all these things have been put into place to increase our level of consumption. And better yet for marketers is the consumer’s propensity to buy on impulse.

Starbucks is the paramount example of the impulse buy phenomenon. You could go in for a simple cup of coffee, but that may not be enough. Why not have your milk steamed for $2 extra and while you’re at it, add in some syrup so you don’t have to add sugar yourself? And on top of that, pack on some more calories with a piece of Reduced Fat Cinnamon Coffee Cake.

After all, Starbucks is just there to make sure that you get your usual cup of joe so that you can be more productive that day.

(But they don’t tell you that they make an incremental profit off of you because your $3.20 latte is priced just right so that you won’t think twice about buying one every day and at the end of the day, those baristas aren’t really treated as well as they say they are, because it’s still the corporate guys who make the big bucks.)

Of course, I use Starbucks as an example because they have done a phenomenal job of marketing to their target audience. I just question more whether the regular consumer really wants that Latte or they start to buy them, simply because Starbucks has become an integral part of their regular everyday life routine.

I am a marketer so it is funny for me to be so cynical, but recently, with the recession, people losing their homes, and all sorts of problems with debt, I’ve been really considering what I see and hear more closely.

So, while shrewd marketers out there are pushing your buttons to get you to make the impulse buy, think first, then act.

Do you really believe in what you are buying?
Was it a calculated, planned purchase? Do you really need yet another item to decorate your living room and add to your collection?

Because while the media is telling you that you need what you buy, it’s questionable that those items that you buy define who you are.

AIG executives have been the source of much public anger lately for accepting $165 million in bonuses from government money, which has now spurred a new bill passed to ensure that at least 90% of the money from these bonuses will be given back to the government.

But, you have to wonder if it were you, given the recession and the reduced value of cash in today’s recession, would you take the money?

Taking this money and awarding bonuses is saying, “Thank you Uncle Sam for the free money–now we’re going to spend it like millionaires right in yo face!”

Which is, ironically, a similar attitude individuals have taken to $600 per taxpayer stimulus package last year. It was not spent towards the cause for which it was created.

Uncle Sam is going to have to ignore any accusations about over-regulation and come up with more pro-active string-attached laws when offering up money to support drowning companies that don’t know how to manage themselves.

That would have been the more responsible thing to do rather than blame companies like AIG for spending stimulus money in any way they see fit.

That doesn’t mean that I think AIG should have given out bonuses though. It was an imprudent thing to do, and management needs to wake up and smell the recession.

I’ve done a lot of investigative work recently on how women are marketed to, checked out various magazines, went to the mall and I swear these are all trying to play upon women’s insecurities, especially the places that have a premium. A ton of them suggest the average woman has:
- bad skin
- no makeup skills
- zero gracefulness
- has the wrong clothes
- zero allure
- AND needs more credit to solve these problems

But actually most women are fine the way they are.
So I think the next time any woman (or man) sees an ad marketing towards women to consume more should simply hold up a finger and shoot the ad down on the spot. Bang!

That goes for “Diamond is Forever” ads too.

As fate would have it, while I’ve been hoping to do more investigative on this subject, I have to just put it out there.

Netbooks, are they going to take over the mobile market? I’ve been rooting for Palm for quite a while and now that the Palm Pre is coming out in the future, it’s clear that the mobile market is in great need of new innovators.

But are Netbooks mobile? According to Intel’s social media-ist, Ken Kaplan, Netbooks will see their way into their market as a companion to the mightier laptop, when you’re in need of nothing else but email and a little bit of internet surfing.

Sounds like a good bet for catching up on bill pay online.

Supporting this line of thinking is a hot new fashion piece on the technology block, the Vivienne Tam-designed HP Mini which promises to accessorize the wardrobe of tech chicks and gadget guru-esses, (and possibly fashion-conscious gadget geeks). And even more tiny and sleek is the Intel Atom Processor inside.

So, who will win? Granted, netbooks are now spreading fast since the OLPC, but once newer portable phones come out, what will that say about consumer behavior?

In other words, who’s the hot gadget on the block come Summer 2009?
Palm Pre or HP Mini?

Even in a recession, we can still drool.

Once you get out there networking, it’s possible to get a random call from someone that you may have met. Or, you may be in the reverse situation where you are making the cold calls yourself.
The ideal situation is to never make cold calls because you’ve become prepared enough so that your network will support you.

But, if it happens that you do make a cold call, make sure you have a reason to call. For example, you could following up to an event where you first met, checking in after a few months of having met someone, being referred by a friend who recommended to call, and so on.

Otherwise, you are placed in a bad situation with very little leverage and all the power is in the hands of the person who has just received your call.

The goal is never to call someone that you don’t know well for a favor. I don’t claim to be an expert on this subject but I’ve definitely had my personal triumphs and challenges in doing this very thing. It does take a few very bad “sales-y” calls to get better understanding of how to do this, so don’t be afraid to make mistakes.

I think it’s best to take cues from a badly prepared cold call. A woman that I had met maybe about two or three years ago calls me today.

I do have great empathy for cold callers, but I saw many blunders, which I will name Common Mistakes of the Amateur Cold Caller.

Common Mistakes of the Amateur Cold Caller
Caller: Hello Clara, we met a while ago and I was wondering if you were looking for health insurance?
Me: No, I am not looking for that right now, thanks.
Caller: Oh, how about tax-deferred investments?
[Already we are off to a bad start because this appears to me like a telemarketing call.]
Me: Excuse me, where did you get my number from?
Caller: Oh we met at a mixer a while back, but I don’t remember which one. I have your business card here from the Monterey Institute, your graduate school.
[And it appears that since she received my card, it was randomly selected from the deck without any further investigation. She hadn’t written down the name of the mixer, either. I happen to have quite an extensive LinkedIn profile.]
Me: Well that must have been a while ago then.
[Here, I am wondering to myself, why did she not call me two years ago when I first gave her the business card? It has gone through several iterations and companies since then. We would have had a better chance to get to know each other about two years ago.]
Caller: Yes, well it was at some mixer.
Me: Um, OK. [Since she doesn’t know which one it is, I find it hard to make a human connection with her. At this point, she switches from being a potential acquaintance to being another Telemarketer.]
[[Awkward silence.]]
Caller: Oh, so you graduated, congratulations!
Me: Thanks.
[Note that one word answers aren’t a very good sign. I just don’t know what to say.]
Caller: So where are you working now?
[Apparently, this may be an attempt to acquire further lead ideas from me.]
Me: Um….[long pause—I’m thinking about how I would rather not disclose any information about my life at this point.]
I’m very sorry, but I don’t believe that to be your business. Thanks for calling.
[Also, under the circumstances, since she is now a Telemarketer and not a potential friend, this appears to be a very intrusive thing to ask. Thus the call ends as it was fairly unproductive.]

Read more about the anatomy of a cold call below.

The objective of a cold call should never be to push a “final objective” (get a job, sell a product, etc.) Rather, try to develop a relationship instead. (This is one of the reasons why I’m a big fan of Twitter, but that’s another post on relationship building for another time.)
Before the call,
Review what you remember about the person. Is there anything that you find particularly excites them? Is it politics, baseball, professional development, or an event they were going to? The 5 W’s (Who, What, When, Where, Why) are a good place to get your head wrapped around all the details.

During the call:
Take a deep breath and calm down. This also allows a moment for the call receiver to adjust to the conversation, because they may need a few moments to get oriented. Then, state your name and ask if it is a good time to talk. Make a human connection: “Hi, I met you at marketing mixer last week. ” or “I noticed that we are fellow members of the same association.”

Read between the lines. You should be able to tell from the other person if the call is appropriate, and if they say, “I’m not sure how I am able to help,” it’s a good sign that they are friendly, but also a bad sign because you may be hitting them a little hard with your ulterior motive.

Allow a natural flow to the conversation. Some people are programmed to network and exchange ideas, others are not accustomed to it, so adjust the conversation as you go. It’s a good idea to inject humor as laughter brings people closer together.

Create another opportunity to speak again. It’s important not to push your objective but to keep a natural flow where they enjoyed the conversation and are willing to speak again. One thing I don’t recommend putting the interlocutor in a situation where they are forced to say yes to something when they are not whole-heartedly in agreement with you.

After the call:
Create an honest assessment of yourself. Take note of anything you did well and anything that did not go so well. You’ll have a better idea about what to do next time.