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RSSWe lived fast and loose the last few years. As executives, we sometimes spent money too carelessly, as salespeople we sometimes oversold, and as publishers we failed to innovate our product and help advertisers measure success nearly as much as we should have.
It is not entirely our fault; it is hard living in a world with multiple masters. I was taught by my mentor that as a CEO you always have five masters: your employees, your shareholders, your customers, your partners, and your community. Balancing these five is an incredibly challenging, and thankless, job.
As publishers, we also have multiple masters. We need to balance the needs of our advertisers, our users/readers, the need for editorial integrity, and the needs of our staff. It has become painfully obvious in the last 12 months that we are not doing a good job of striking this balance.
Our failure to innovate on ad formats and help our advertisers define success has left both our readers and advertisers dismayed. Our declining CPMs and revenues are terrifying us all. Yet this is an opportunity in disguise. There is nothing quite like seeing death to make you appreciate life, and good times hide problems.
On a cold Saturday in New York, Ari Rosenberg (fellow OPI columnist) challenged me to identify a unifying theme for my columns. It is not easy to sum up your mission in a single sentence, so I spent most of the day walking around SoHo trying to figure it out (and trying to find the best cupcakes -- which, incidentally, are at Crumbs Bake Shop). After a bit of reflection, I concluded that my only goal is to challenge industry conceptions (and often misconceptions), and force people to think. I am admittedly an outsider to this industry, having spent the last 15 years in the world of software and high-tech.
So in an effort to provoke both vitriol and fantastic debate, I humbly offer eight things that need to change now:
1. Getting friended on Facebook after a business meeting. Can we please preserve the last ounce of formality that is left in business? I can live with you wearing jeans to our meeting, but save faux friendship for faux friends.
2. Writers and bloggers that need to use "in full disclosure" in their articles. This is the bizarre combination of someone with enough self-awareness to know that they are doing something wrong, but insufficient dignity to stop doing it. If you need to issue a disclaimer in your article, don't write the article.
3. People who start sentences with the phrase "to be honest with you." It is the fastest way I know to convince the other person you are full of crap.
4. Competing with your BlackBerry. Whether in a meeting, or on a dinner date, leave your BlackBerry at home (or at least in your pocket)! It is the fastest way to demonstrate to a client or date that you are "not that into them."
5. People that wear Bluetooth dongles in their ears. I have said it before, and I'll say it again: put the dongle down.
6. Consultants. When will you finally learn that their interests will NEVER be fully aligned with yours? Consultants try to maximize their fees (as they should), not maximize your ROI. It is not the consultant's fault, though. It is the fault of the person hiring them for not acknowledging what team they play on.
7. Using CTR to measure success. The notion that it is better to focus on the wrong metric rather than no metric is asinine. Focusing on the wrong metrics ensures your staff will not be successful. Brand advertisers should be measuring for brand impact, and performance advertisers should be measuring revenue. Nobody benefits from CTR as a primary metric.
8. Anyone who still believes ad networks actually sell "blind." As long as there is a financial incentive to disclose your brand, you will never have blind ad networks. You will only have companies that commoditize your inventory.
I am as guilty as everyone else. At times, these are eight things I hate about me. I present this list indignant, but looking firmly in the mirror.
What do you hate? Let me know in the comments.
2 people recommend this article.
RSS FEEDS
As a sometimes consultant (lines blur in my business), I HAVE to be concerned about the client's ROI for engaging my services. Most of my work comes from recommendations. Only get recommended if you really do create value for the clients. So I offer that caveat to your #6 and offer this #9 > Be Careful What You Wish For - If you want a conversation, or engagement, or relationship, they can get complicated and you may not always like what you hear. Don't stop listening or responding just because it isn't perfect.
For me, it's really simple. I never want to do anything that doesn't feel natural.
After a first meeting, don't send anything.
Once you have an ongoing business relationship, LinkedIn is fine.
Once you have a personal relationship, Facebook is fine.
However, I'm not much of a fan of Twitter, but it is a business tool and if I tweet it, it shows up on my Facebook so that saves me one more thing to do. At the same time I only have friends on Facebook and they don't care about my job stuff. So I'll put in on my LinkedIn where all those business contacts are, if I could actually figure out where to add this to my LinkedIn page/account. If LinkedIn's usability was half of what Facebook's is then we business people could actually use it in a beneficial manner beyond a giant resume database.
I agree with Monica's fax comment. You learn by doing - as I have outlined above.
But what about LinkedIn? At what point in a client engagement is it OK to send a LinkedIn invitation?
It's not Facebook's job to keep businesspeople from being creepy.
Facebook is first and foremost a place for people to connect with their friends. They store photos, personal data, and a relationship snapshot among other things.
I think Jon Levy had it right. Start with LinkedIn and maybe graduate to Facebook. Maybe.
-David Koretz.
I love the Bluetooth comment. Ever notice how the people yammering away on Bluetooth at the airport are usually the least likely to actually be accomplishing something important? Get your laptop out, buddy.
I hate advertisers who discount the impact of display on their SEM ROI; publishers who would rather show a crummy diet ad than an engaging rich media widget to make an extra penny; and anyone who doesn't deal honestly and proactively with their past due invoices.
This economy brings these three hates into stark relief...
Regarding "Hate"item # 3: If you were honest you'd admit that you've said "to be honest with you" before and you likely will say it again. I mean... to be honest with you : )
Human nature will always lead people to seek short-term rewards unless you thoughtfully align incentives.
I recently heard the former CEO of Symantec speak, and he closed with a great point:
"Build a company to last 100 years, and ignore everything else. You will always make more money building sustainable businesses."
-David.
I am very good friends with many of our clients and partners.
The trust, honesty, and openness that comes with a good friendship, helps the business relationship as well.
...as long as you don't force a relationship where it is not natural.
-David.
Wearing the blue tooth around is not only rude, you look dorky - not cool.
The blackberry constant connectedness is one sure way to tell the people you are with:
1. You are not important to me.
2. I don't understand the importance of relationships.
David www.nicheplayer.com
That being said, I tend to tune out people who don't at least use twitter, friendfeed or linked in, and I find myself disrespecting coworkers who act like 80 year olds at the X games when I tell them they ought to get into at least one of them. "All that newfangled technology--I just don't get the appeal." Yeah, I don't get the appeal of faxes either but I still know how to send one. They're business tools, what's to get? Just use them and see.
BE AUTHENTIC in all YOUR/OUR relationships.
Thanks for the cerebral jolt...
Curt Baxter Salem Web
Really, there are "best practices" and there are good manners. Common sense is common sense in every environment, but perhaps less common online.