There is something very vulnerable and invigorating about being naked in front of a crowd.
I don't mean that kind of naked. I'm talking about busking as a musician. In this case it was just me and my acoustic guitar -- no microphone or PA system to amplify the sound for the outdoors. Totally stripped down and naked...at least as naked as I prefer to be in public. I had a great experience busking recently at the Hilldale Farmers Market this past Saturday morning. It was a rather hot summer day, but worth enduring the heat. I played my tunes in a stripped down fashion without any amplification for those milling about to each vendor's booth buying fresh produce and baked goods. As a musician, busking feels a little awkward at first because you're not really the main attraction, it's not necessarily your show like at a club venue where people come specifically to see you perform. In some ways you feel like you're interrupting the market attendees' shopping experience. However, as soon as you start playing that feeling subsides and it's replaced with a feeling that you're actually enhancing their experience. It's kind of like going to a store to shop and they have music playing over the speakers while you browse the shelves for items you want to purchase. Only, in this case, it's a live musician, which is more engaging. Busking is fun as a musician because you can quickly tell if people have interest in your music. When they're interested they typical stop to listen for a while or you can see people bobbing their head to the rhythm of the song you're playing. A really nice indication that they like your music is when people drop a few bucks into your tip jar. When this happens, as a musician, it's important to thank people for giving you a tip even in the middle of the song you're playing, or at least give them a nod to indicate that you saw them give you a tip and that you appreciate it. In college I used to busk regularly downtown especially in the fall when the new school year started and there was a lot of people around (I live in the college town of Madison, WI). As a young college student coming into my own as a singer/songwriter, busking was a great time to work out the kinks in new songs. It's like practice with a live audience, and because people are going about their business most are only partially listening so if you make some mistakes as you play no one but you would likely notice. If you're a musician working on your chops I recommend busking somewhat regularly as a method of practicing. If you pay attention you'll be able to spot which of your songs resonate well with audiences, you can work out set list orders and simply practice your songs. You'll probably even make a few bucks too. I remember as a poor college student busking was always a way to make some quick cash. Busking for a musician is like conducting market research or utilizing a focus group to perfect your product -- your music and performance -- for your audience. Busking falls into the "honing" portion of honing one's craft. Truth be told, you have to put in the work to get better and better, and if you do, it will be obvious to others. Thanks for the great experience Hilldale Farmers Market! I hope to be back soon. Next stop on my summer of shows, I'll be performing at The Steaming Cup coffeehouse in my old stomping grounds of Waukesha, WI. Sat. Aug. 11, 2018, beginning at 7pm. Be sure to come on out. posted by Nick Venturella Have you ever recommended a good movie you saw to a friend? Then, after your friend saw the movie she thanked you for recommending it? That’s customer advocacy on a basic level. You, the customer who saw the movie and liked it, advocated on behalf of the movie by recommending it to a friend you knew would likely enjoy it too. That customer advocacy can scale too… Say the movie was part of the Star Wars series of movies. There is an entire fan ecosystem around those movies. The producer of those movies (Disney) interacts and engages its fans with special events, fan websites and communities, contests and even opportunities for fans to share their thought leadership on various Stars Wars-related topics. It’s true, you can check it out at StarWars.com. What ends up happening is that the Star Wars franchise has helped individual Star Wars fans feel valued for their interest and participation in the Star Wars community. Fans have even been rewarded and recognized for their Star Wars thought-leadership contributions to the community. In this example, Star Wars/Disney makes their franchise about the fans, and as a result those fans continue to advocate on behalf of Star Wars providing that franchise with more promotional power than Disney alone could produce. What’s the ROI of Disney putting their Star Wars fans first? According to a Fortune Magazine article from a few years back, it was nearly $42 billion. That’s billion, with a B. Not bad for a few sci-fi fantasy movies. Here’s the thing, these same Star Wars advocacy fundamentals can be applied to B2B Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) tech businesses, and it just so happens that I personally know the Yoda and Obi Wan Kenobi who can share the ways of the Customer Advocacy Force... Join the webinar - Customer Success + Marketing: How to Team Up to Boost Advocacy. February 22, 2018 @ 10 am (PT) / 1 pm (ET) Join Howard Tarnoff (Founder & Managing Director of Customer Success LLC) and Carlos Gonzalez (Vice President of Customer Success Operations at Ceridian) as they reveal the advocacy playbooks they respectively use to:
Post by: Nick Venturella
When you’re working with customers, or your audience on social media or even your email distribution list, remember those you’re trying to reach with your message, opportunity or solution will only continue to give you their attention if you continue to provide them value.
A harsh truth is, your audience likely doesn’t care too much about what you want them to hear/read as much as they care about whether or not that content actually provides them solutions to problems they have, or stops them in their tracks to change their perspective about your solution to a problem you’ve helped them finally identify that they have (an aha moment, if you will). You can continually provide your audience value if you stop trying to be the hero of their story and guide them, so they can be the hero of their story (notice the italics for emphasis). Recently, I was introduced to Donald Miller’s Building a Storybrand blog and podcast (thanks Beky, co-owner of Montae Creative), and I like the way he describes things. Miller’s approach, which I agree with, is that your audience, or your customer, is the hero in their journey toward a solution and success. You are not. Here’s one reason why you are not the hero in your customer’s story… Your customer, let’s call her Janey, has her own job in the company she works for, and if she brings you and/or your solution in to help the company she works for and you steal the glory of being the hero, then why does the company need her anymore? Now that’s an extreme example that doesn’t necessarily take into account other factors, but the emotional response is the same in practical application, and if higher ups at Janey’s company think you’re the hero and they can minimize Janey’s role to save a few bucks now that your solution is in place, what’s really stopping them from doing so? However, if you come in with your solution and you position Janey as the thought leader who helped drive the decision to seek and implement this solution – and you partner with Janey to ensure she can maximize your solution and show positive results – then you’ve just helped Janey become indispensable. Yes, your solution helps Janey realize success, but so many things that Janey and her company are in control of are what will make them successful or not. As for your solution, it likely only helps them to reach that success more easily, quickly and efficiently. In other words, they may have reached success without your solution, but by partnering with Janey and her company your guidance helped accelerate their success. And…this isn’t a one-sided scenario. You and your solution or brand or company benefit too. Actually, you will benefit more than any success you might have achieved if you were trying to be the hero because you’ve fostered a positive relationship with Janey and her company. You’ve built trust by proving their success is paramount. When you do that, your success is inevitable because you have created a positive advocate on your behalf. Janey advocates on your behalf because she is someone who has gone through the work it takes to be successful under your guidance. Then, as Janey tells her industry colleagues about her success and your solution, the perceived value of your solution goes up. Even more importantly though, the true value of your guidance skyrockets, and that, will attract more Janeys. posted by: Nick Venturella
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Good storytelling is helpful, most marketers would even say it's crucial to marketing.
However, promoting your business, product or service to a specific target audience to get them to take some level of desired action takes more than just an entertaining story and clear communication. If you're not constantly understanding the value that is derived by your audience from their engagement with your current content, or ad or [insert medium of choice here] in the moment that they're engaged with it as well as beyond that then you're missing a crucial element. Probably The simplest way to explain it is the WIIFM -- What's in it for me, or in this case substitute "me" for "the customer/client/prospect." (You've likely heard this acronym before thus you're now tempted to click off of this article. I implore you to keep reading.) You already know what you want out of the engagement, but are you focused on the value the customer or prospect gets out of the actual engagement. In other words, you now have a prospect's attention with your content, for example, what is the value to the prospect of engaging with that particular content at that particular time? Furthermore, you need to ask yourself what is the benefit to me/my company for that prospect engaging in that content at that time? Does the marketing create a win-win for both the prospect engaging in the marketing content that the company, in this example, is producing and promoting? Also, if the prospect takes the desired action from the marketing content at hand, what is the next level of value for that prospect and/or customer should they buy from you -- what's the win-win look like in that situation? All too often many marketers miss the opportunity to articulate the value for all parties involved when planning marketing strategies. Often the strategy starts with the end goal that the company wants to achieve and a target audience to go after. Then there's the challenge of finding a creative and often entertaining way to ask that audience to take a specific desired action. The problem there is that often the strategy assumes the value to the prospect or customer is obtaining the product or service that the company is offering. But really the product or services that the company is offering is simply a vehicle to a solution that the prospect or customer has or perceives they have. What I'm referring to in this post is not only the explicit transactional value, but also the intrinsic value of building an exchange with a customer or prospect as they engage with your marketing. Your essentially attempting to quickly build a connection and a bit of a relationship in a short space and time via your marketing messaging and for that to be effective, the result of engaging must appeal to both parties explicitly and intrinsically. ----- Posted By: Nick Venturella
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Sign up for the Nick Venturella eNewsletter. I was watching this documentary on Amazon Prime called, Unsigned. The film was from a few years ago and follows three acts/bands along their musical journey as unsigned artists in Los Angles, CA. What really resonated with me was the artist, Paul Nagi, because he had a wife and child, was working as a music teacher (which he seemed really good at and enjoyed), all while pursuing his passion as a musician writing songs and performing shows. I connect with that because that's my own situation. I, like so many other serious musicians, have a family, work a career job -- that I'm good at and like -- to help support my family while still also pursuing my musical career too. I like to share my musical journey and learn of others in a similar boat because I believe a large population of professional musicians fit into this category. However, most of what is publicized are stories about music stardom, which is rare at best. Plus, there is so much great music being missed if you only gravitate towards the stardom category. In many cases those job-attending, family-oriented musicians are hustling and working harder to pursue their best selves in all aspects of their lives than their single, solely-focused-on-music counterparts. Now, I'm not trying minimize the latter. I simply aim to bring some awareness to the former, which doesn't always get much attention. And I'm certainly not complaining... For me, I have the best of both worlds:
At the end of the film, it's implied that the 3 bands featured keep pursuing their musical passion, continuing to grow in their professional craft whether or not that includes a major label contract. For me, it’s always been about playing and doing well enough financially to keep playing. What that looks like has evolved over the years, but I’m happy to say that after 20+ years of writing and performing music, I’m still energized by the pursuit of it. Posted by: Nick Venturella
Friday afternoon...
"Okay, so we'll have our call on Monday at 2pm, correct?" "Yes, that's correct." "Great, I'm looking forward to it." "Me, too! Bye." "Bye." Monday at 1:59pm... Email calendar invite sent from host of meeting we were supposed to have at 2pm (in one minute) asking to reschedule for tomorrow... Recipient's reply email... "In coordinating our phone call meeting for today at 2pm I shared that I was unavailable Tuesday through Thursday of this week, and Friday was the only other option, besides Monday, today. Now, one minute before our scheduled meeting you want to reschedule it? ...and for a time that I already told you doesn't work! This is not in good form." ---------------- This scenario plays out a lot. Too often in my opinion. The above depicts a first-time phone call meeting appointment between two business professionals. The host of the call, who asked for the call and was involved in coordinating the date and time, backs out at the last minute. I understand that emergencies come up. When they do, explain that, people are more understanding than you think, but to simply change the meeting time with only an electronic calendar invite for a day and time when the other party already expressed they're unavailable, is just lazy and unprofessional. If I can impart one piece of professional business advice on you, it's that if you actually do what you say you're going to do when you say you're going to do it, you will raise your professional credibility above most others. Unfortunately, most people say they will do something and then they don't follow through. I do get that things come up and that happens as an exception to the rule. It's at that time that you need to offer clear, explicit communication to the other party to help them understand that you do honor their time in spite of plans changing, and that you are not trying to be inconsiderate. Then be aware of when the other party mentioned they are available and reschedule at that time -- accommodate them with the reschedule because you're backing out at the last minute and making them accommodate you, now. Posted by: Nick Venturella
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I recently saw a video interview on DifferentBrains.com with Stephen Shore, Ed.D.- who is an author, autism advocate, professor at Adelphi University and actually autistic.
In the video he spoke about autistic individuals finding employment. This is of interest to me because I have a son on the autism spectrum and I’m always trying to educate myself to better the work I’m doing on AutismHR.com. The information that Shore shared is something true for autistic individuals seeking meaningful employment, but also true of anyone seeking meaningful employment, or the means to a fulfilling profession. I’m paraphrasing a bit here, but the essence is, that when interest, skill and ability intersect that’s the recipe for a happy, productive life. I encourage you to check out that post/video interview here. Shore eloquently summed it up, in my opinion. I would only add that one needs to continuously work at discovering who s/he is and be self-aware to help constantly course-correct their path to a happy, productive life. I believe this because as time passes often our interests, skills and abilities evolve, grow and change. Sometimes those interests, skills and abilities develop over time in far different directions from where they originated. That’s okay if you continue to have a solid relationship with yourself and figure out what you need and want to remain focused on your main directional heading — North, toward Happy and Productive. “What about the money?” You say. Yes, people need to make a certain amount of money from their work to cover the basic necessities of human living, and other financial obligations/saving for the future. But, if you’ve figured out what your intersection of interests, skills and abilities looks like to produce a happy and productive life for yourself you will remain motivated by that to put in the time and effort to figure out how to create income from it. If the passion is there and you put in the work, you can find the money. It won’t be easy, but it is possible. However, if you’re not interested in being happy and productive and you don’t know where your interests, skills and abilities intersect then you will most certainly have a hard time finding fulfillment from whatever money you are able to earn. Posted by: Nick Venturella
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I have a thought that fear is just anxiety about the unknown.
We get worked up about different things that may or may not happen, but the anxiety of not knowing whether or not those fears will come to fruition is the part that tends to drive people crazy — myself included. Funny thing happens though when you embrace your fear and instead of trying to avoid it, head straight for it and threw it. It’s this mindset that allows you to overcome, or at least accept, whatever outcome results from your actions, in the face of your anxiety. This is far easier said than done, but if you can learn to harness your fear and turn it into positive energy you push through your fear instead of going around it, and come out on the other side in tact. or reasonably okay or equipped enough to adjust to whatever the outcome is, even if it was not what you wanted it to be. You gain a sense of accomplishment, a sense of confidence, that builds on itself overtime to a point where you aren’t afraid to be anxious. I am not suggesting to numb yourself out so you don’t have anxiety or fears anymore, but more so being able to recognize that anxious old friend, identify it, label it and view it for what it is without allowing it to be a bigger deal than it needs to be. One way I used to deal with being anxious was to carry around a pocket journal, and every time I was anxious about something I would write down what I was anxious about. Just releasing it from my brain immediately helped the anxiety to subside and that was just enough to take the edge off to move through the fear and leave it behind me. Perhaps this could work for you, too. Posted by: Nick Venturella
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I've been creating art (visual art, music and written works) in a professional sense for more than 20 years at this point.
While I've had dry spells at times (or had life events that required me to pull back on my art immersion), I've always chipped away at my artistic practice. I started more as a visual artist, before I owned a guitar, but I always associated music (if only in my head at those times) with the visuals I created. As I finally got my hands on a guitar my creativity expanded. I erupted with a creative explosion, prolifically writing songs and creating art inspired by the stories of emotions of those songs. Writing was always a backbone of both my visual and musical outlets as I believed (and still believe) that it's important for an artist to write well if for no other reason than to articulate his/her artistic vision and intentions to others. College is when I honed in on purposely expanding my creative horizons by further developing my writing abilities. In a societal and cultural sense (at least in the western world) there is a pressure to focus on, and get good at, one thing to forge your career. For me, I've always struggled mentally with this idea because I'm interested in constantly meddling in multiple art forms as each provides me different forms of inspiration to keep me creating. In fact, I feel most comfortable when I can develop a project that incorporates all of my main creative outlets -- music, art and writing. At times, over the years, I've held myself back by succumbing to the pressure of needing to focus on one art form. At first, I felt liberation -- I wanted the simplicity of only having to focus on one art form. I thought I could truly develop a distinct style and define my creative self if I only concentrate on one thing. However, after a little while it just drove me nuts. That's just not me. I need a more holistic approach. So in a pursuit over the years for my own style in one art form and/or genre I've realized my style is to be interdisciplinary in my approach to my creative output. Doing so has led to more success in my career -- my own personal creative career as well as the work I'm paid to create for businesses I work with (past and present). How about you? Let me know here. Posted by: Nick Venturella The next progress update regarding the journey toward fulfilling my 2017 goals, is now available.
Read the update in its entirety here. Thanks for following along. -Nick |
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