bwagy, the blog of Ben Young

Great little video from Andrew St. John at TED – he talked to over 500 people trying to find what leads to success. 

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6bbMQXQ180

His definition of CRAP is hilarious – watch it again.

As many of you may have heard (and seen the occasional spy shot) my first book The Best Ideas are Free is due out soon.

I sat down last year after 6 months of blogging, printed out every post and spent an afternoon selecting the 63 best ideas.

Since then they have been put together into a book – 63 easily digestible ideas to chew on.

It will soon be available to the general public (I expect to ship July 6th but that may move up if time allows) but I will be opening pre-orders exclusively to you guys.  This is to thank you for all your support, comments (good or bad), readership and to celebrate my 1 year anniversary of blogging!

Now I will be the first to admit that yes you can browse through the blog and read the ideas for free (go for it I encourage you) but hey how much cooler is it having a book?

The book is designed to be such that you can open it up on any page, read an idea within 30 seconds, pick it up and run with it.  The first time you read it you won’t get them all but reread it three months from now another one may be relevant.

If you enjoy the blog you’ll love the book.  Like the blog it is colloquial format – as if I am having a conversation with you.  DO NOT expect a typical book – expect my blog in phsyical form (and yes with all my quirks!).  This truly is a book the way I would want a book to be..

For the 130 pages of goodness you will be given the opportunity to pre-order 1 of 63 limited edition signed copies.

To snag one enter your email below and I will be in touch (first in first served).

(Update 3rd Aug 09: The book is now out, you can click the book cover to the left in the sidebar to get a copy off Amazon or visit www.thebestideasarefree.com thanks – Ben).

(Note: RSS & Email Subscribers need to click here to visit the blog to use the form. Thanks!)

Today I celebrate a year of blogging! Woo hoo!

I started off initially 1 post a week, then ramped up to three posts a week (a huge step).  Then in September decided to try and do one a business day.  Since then I have been set.  

I have explored doing more than 1 post a day but tend to avoid it.  By limiting my output I enhance the value of the posts that do make it.  Often I find myself deleting posts that are great but not great enough.

Some of the cool stuff that has happened as a direct (or indirect) result of my blogging:

• Written my first book The Best Ideas are Free*
• Succesfully got my ChangeThis proposal voted in (yet to be released).  Thanks to all that voted.
• Had the chance to interview Tom Peters (video here) 
• Priceless friendships & networks that typically require years to build
• Had the blog republished on GetFrank
• Also earlier this year after recommendations from readers of the blog it is now republished once a week on the NZHerald, one of New Zealands biggest media sites.  Consequently it is the #1 Business Blog on the herald (in traffic & comments).
• Built up my twitter network, meeting many many great people.
• Got invited to speak on Gen C & Entrepreneurship (video link) at the Digital Summit earlier this year
• Prepared several manifestos & ebooks Blogging Strategy, Blogging Strategy: Extras for Experts edition, bwagy marketing manifesto, Business Stripped Bare
• Generated of hours attention and thousands of visitors
• Established bwagy brand
• Forced me to explain myself, challenge myself, am much much smarter this year than last. (Reasons on why to start a blog today & video)
• By my calculations processed about 16,200 emails!… (compared to 2000 the year before).
• 214 posts – 353 comments…untold spam haha

The list goes on, it has been a wonderful year & I look forward to many more… so keep watching & participating, glad to have you here.

I just want to thank you all for reading – keep an eye on the blog for a follow up special* announcement later in the day 🙂 -Ben.

Brand experiences tend to be post event. 

However now we have the technology for live experiences. 

Social networks with live engagement are such an example.

Local energy drink provider has taken advantage of this with their V Bebo Community.

Another great example is Vaughan Rowsell.

Now Vaughan is cycling the length of New Zealand Uphill (bottom to top) for charity.  He is just about half way now.

You can send him messages on twitter, see his blog, watch his videos.  I have included his first one below:

You can experience it as he does.  With the right software and cell coverage he could even stream live from his cycle trip.

Imagine watching the Tour De France from Lance Armstrongs bike with his commentary as he rides.  Motor racing does this with in car cams – but there is a ways to go.

You could be sponsoring such an experience as Vaughans, some great fits would be:

• Hotel Chain (where to rest after a long day of travel)
• Energy / Sports Drinks (providing the fuel for the journey)
• Clearly the bike / clothing
• Technology (we are where you want to be)

This isn’t for everyone, yes it is less controlled, you don’t know what will happen.  Maybe it will be boring? Or maybe you will be there when something remarkable happens.  It is reality tv meets real world.  We all know reality tv isn’t that real anyway so why not deliver an authentic experience.  (Hell if you even track Vaughan down you can partake).

Twitter, Blogging, Video all allow people to engage with your brand real time which creates an extremely loyal customer base.  Neat huh?

(Vaughan is raising money for a good cause TASC The Agency for Spinal Concerns, check his blog out for more details).

Flying under the radar is good, it gives you time to experiment, learn, without risking everything.

By the time you are out of the radar the recency effect means the ‘majority’ tend to only remember the last good (or bad) thing you did but so what you probably made your mistakes whilst under the radar.

So fail lots and fly under the radar for a bit.

No need to blow your own trumpet once you’re good enough others will do that for you…

A brand experience is magnitudes times more valuable than observing a brand.

You experience the Apple lifestyle, you experience the Gary Vaynerchuk brand through his video blog, you experience my brand through this very blog.

Seeing an advertisement at a bus stop just doesn’t compare – however pairing that up with an experience completely changes the game.  A great example is a free ringtone which you can grab via bluetooth from the advertisement which then gives you something to walk away with and experience.

Living a brand is so much more fun, engaging and most of all attractive to others as they want to be a part of it.

Sure it’s not for everyone but those that can master it will reap the outrageous rewards….

As most of you do not visit the blog and get it via RSS or Email (which is great, thanks for your subscriptions)  I thought I would let you know where I am and where I’m not.

Where I am:

• Twitter – At @bwagy
• Facebook Fan Page – (why? I keep my main facebook for personal use, so if you want to friend me on facebook fan page the way to go).
• LinkedIn

These are the three ways to friend me up and keep in touch.  Email is always preferred but these platforms are the other avenues you can stay in the loop.

Of your role models which took the conventional path? Virtually none.

You see following the same path as everyone else is a surefire way to relative mediocrity.  Sure you may do well.  But imagine how much better you could do on your own path.

Think Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Steve Fossett…

Everytime I go get Sushi, they say ‘Ginger & Wasabi?’ and everytime I say yes.

I do eat the wasabi but never the ginger yet I always say yes.

A quick poll of everyone else in line before me (three people) they all did as well.

Now I have said no before and other places haven’t offered and you know what? I didn’t feel like I got a good service.

For some reason those two little packets help communicate value.  In fact some sushi places charge extra for it.

The standardised addon has become an essential part of the consumer experience.  

What part of your service has become standardised? Or is there room to standardise something that others don’t? Just a thought.

Apparently if you add “the art of’ to a subject title it is viewed a lot more creatively than how to. Who knows. Anyway….

What is a Twitter Fart? It’s a lapse of judgement that results in a misguided tweet that impacts your brand negatively.

Real Estate Agents, Social Media Experts and Wealth coaches are farting all over Twitter and quite frankly ruining the experience. I thought I’d put together a bit of a guide for those using Twitter for marketing to avoid the Twitter Fart.

The key to Twitter (and of course at which I love) is that it constrains you to fit your message in and thus stimulates creativity. You have 140 characters to sell your message. However you don’t really. That is what people miss…

1. You have 140 characters to get your reader to take action, to click a link, to ask a question, to make a connection. You ARE NOT going to close a sale in a tweet. A series of tweets yes but not a tweet. In your micro message view it as a way or reaching out to shake someones hand, if you’re good enough they will return the handshake and pave the way for a conversation to happen. Then once you have their permission & engagement you can get closer to a sale. Go straight for the sale without building a relationship people will shut you out quick snap.
2. If you run a freemium based service; use twitter to engage people in the free edition, give them a free ebook, trial, coupons. Use the concept of free to start to build the relationship above.
3. When you run a competition let the winner pick someone else to also receive the prize in fact let them give it to as many people as they want to tweet. Get them to help you spread your product.
4. You have 140 characters to ignite a spark, an idea, a curiousity, don’t necessarily answer the questions going on in your readers mind, give them an url so they find the answer. Ie Grab bens latest book The Best Ideas are Free – it’s all abouts ideas’ vs ‘Grab a copy of @bwagy latest book The Best Ideas are Free, download free sample here’. Stop answering the questions for your readers… you are doing them (and you) a disservice.
5. Remember it is all about branding and consistency, be consistent in your message, do not get angry at other readers, swear, or share whilst drunk (I know but see it all the time). This reflects badly on you (unless you’re a party brand?).
6. Ask for feedback from your users and actually implement them, thank them publicly for helping you. It helps enhance their status but shows you value their input.
7. Remember others are always watching. The 1 in 100 rule still applies 100 may read your message and only 1 respond. I often get a ‘hey I read your tweet….’
8. Always thank people. Do not stop thanking them. If someone takes the time to retweet your tweets, share them, make a comment. Make sure they know you value their input.
9. Pretending to be mystic, asking airy fairy questions, or hinting at your next product release doesn’t work unless your Apple stop it. People are only going to find that annoying. We don’t love your product as much as you do.
10. Reward your fans, look after them, keep an eye on what they do and help them spread the word when they need it. A loyal fan is going to spread your message more than you can ever imagine. So try not to burn them!
11. Use Twitter not in isolation but to reinforce other campaigns, those that spark an interest will spread through your channel, from twitter to your blog to youtube to subscription to purchase. It is a long dance not a short one, so let Twitter boost your other avenues.
12. Sometimes you aren’t on topic, don’t sweat the small things, we realise there is a real person behind the account.
13. Frequency of engagement pays off.
14. Measure, measure, measure! Measure the time of day you release content, visits to your site, conversions, language use vs traffic, number of retweets. You can measure virtually everything. So do so! Once you find something that works focus your energy on that.
15. Reward participation to stimulate it, offer competitions for best reply or question, or video reply, leveraging the conversations you create achieves coverage in the second tier network.
16. Second tier is where the real value is. If 100 people read to 1 comment, garnering 5 comments from 5 different people has a potential second tier reach of 2500 people! If I talk to all of my 3000 followers I have a second tier reach of 20 million! Remember someone is always watching.
17. Measure your time investment into Twitter with Rescuetime, compare vs return over time. Astounding how it changes.
18. Evry chrctr is vluable, use them wisely. People understand that you don’t need full or proper english. That being said remember this is branding.
19. Think ahead strategically, what kind of conversations would you like to stimulate? how can you do that or lead a conversation in that manner.
20. Live Campaigns work best, can you tie in retweets to usteam.tv, where prizes are given out instantly? in a world of instant you can really leverage that.

API stands for Application Programming Interface.  A geek term which means you can build a system that uses functions from another (through the API).

Google, Digg, Twitter use APIs to stimulate innovation and really open the platform up.  

Having an API maximises the potential of your service.  Smart on every level: leverage, stimulate innovation, buy out those that work, learn from those that fail…

Arising amongst these purely ‘tech’ services are startups building web platforms that connect the previously unreachable  through their online platform.  Once they are connected innovation can really happen.

Take Mint.com for example, by working with many different banks across the USA and importing their data into Mint they provide an industry standard.  The data is in a centralised location, abides by the same rules and can be opened up.

You see once you have ubiquity across an industry of data abiding the same structured rules you then provide a platform for innovation to happen over the API.

What could you do with Mint transaction data?

Compare spending versus external events (like google news, browsing habits, locality), provide a ‘new’ cashflow management tool, let people check their bank account via twitter or text.

Imagine the possibilities if you can create the same platform model in other industries, a platform for every postshop in the world, connecting all car yards or even every mobile network in the world.

Build a real life business api, open it up, see what happens.

This week has been a bit of a video week for me, so I thought I’d share my favourite one, it’s called Smile & Move. Hard to describe, just watch.

Given the huge amount of fun I had last time with Pay What You Want Marketing Advice  I have decided to bring it back for good.

Why did I do it as an experiment? To limit my downside of course.  As I found there was no downside, it was all a challenge and hugely fun.  So now it’s back…

For those who are new the gist is:

You email me with your problems, questions, questions on strategy.

Anything Internet Marketing related.

Who is this suited for? Any kind of business, maybe your a small business who hasn’t ventured online, a tourism business, owner operator, b2b, b2c….

You probably have made cuts of your marketing expenditure.

And so you should if it has questionable returns.

BUT with internet marketing you can measure your returns. Down to the dollar.

If you know how.

So to help clear misreprentations about it and encourage spending in internet marketing I am doing this.

The catch? Well the catch is I ask you to pay me what you think my information to help you out is worth to you. If its worth nothing pay nothing, if its worth $250 pay that. Up to you, no pressure, my aim is to help you.

I just want to repeat that, my aim is to help you!

Basically you email me ben@bwagy.com with the subject line ‘pay what you want’, I give you a hand, you pay me what you think it’s worth via paypal.  It is probably the best way to get advice from me without committing to a contract.

Please note a few things:

1) Give me some background information about your company, clients (in the email).  I can clear up to several thousand emails in a busy week so if you have all the information in the email helps me out (vs a web address for more info).

2) If I help you, could you post feedback in the comments below (good or bad, mostly good Im sure)

3) Forward to friends this post to help them out.

This article on Avon (the direct sales company which recruits people to sell their cosmetics product for them) came through my inbox Avon experiencing strong growth.

In New Zealand over the past few weeks 1,500 people have signed up to sell their products!

This on top of a 27% increase in sales so far this year.

Their model (from a potential sales persons point of view) is we help you build your income.

To the recipient you get catered at home service to sell you the products you actually want.

No need to go to a store, deal with a rude staff member, battle the crowds.

Stay at home and let someone you know come to you and help you with your cosmetic problems.

I wonder what’s next, bloggers selling avon products? An Avon video blog? Wonder if they have affiliate sales…. huge opportunity for growth.

The query is then, they are soaring in a downturn, what happened when times were good? Or have they always done well and are just now doing better.  

Either way if you can position yourself to cater directly to your markets needs and by doing so deliver real tangible value, it’s not hard to sell.

They’ll only steer you from your course.

Listen to those that get it, talk with them, help them spread your ideas.

By pandering to those that have no motivation than to drag you down, you end up where they want you to be.  And that’s not cool.

So forget the critics!