Net Cotton Content

A Dream Comes True

I have tried to be merciful with you, my friend. 

Merciful — and not mercenary.

There is no advertising on Net Cotton Content. I write for free. (Sometimes I request donations to charities.)

I have only very rarely spoken of SpeakerSite, the business suggested by Rob Emrich, which we co-founded in 2008. It quickly became the world's largest social network of public speakers. Imagine that!

SpeakerSite is mission-driven to democratize public speaking — opening doors and turning on microphones so all of us can share what we know.

Because everyone has a message. And every message has an audience.

Today, Will You Permit Me An Update?
Well, after years of toil, Rob and I — with the smart folks at QStartLabs — have launched the 2.0 of SpeakerSite.

It's the SpeakerSite Marketplace. 

Would you please take a look and let me know what you think of it? It's at speakersite.com.

I'd sure appreciate that. 

Why did we do it?
Because the 5,000+ members of SpeakerSite Social Network have long asked for the functionality of a marketplace, where meeting planners can find, assess, and contact speakers. And our social network technology platform wasn't flexible enough to do it.

So we bit the bullet.
And we've chewed on the bullet for nearly 30 months. We've spent a lot of money and time developing SpeakerSite 2.0 Marketplace. 

Would you please take a look and let me know what you think?

Oh, and feel free to list yourself. (That's free.)

Oh, and feel free to upgrade to a Professional Listing. (That's not free, but valuable.)

On Better Brainstorming

What a month.

If I'm counting correctly, I've lead more than 30 hours of brainstorming during the past 30 days.

Some of it has been informal, like a training session I led for my friend Ken Ackerman's Vistage group.

But most of it has been highly structured.
A major corporation, determined to innovate, has me leading groups of smart people in an aggressive initiative to generate and develop ideas for a competitive marketplace.

The client there — confidentiality is sacred on this project — came up with the best idea so far. He's got a mind for management. At our first planning meeting, he said, "We need ideas. But we aren't especially creative people. We're smart, but just too close to the problem. We need someone to sit on our side of the table, helping us to be more creative, so we can get more ideas out of ourselves and our outside resources."

That was a powerful idea. And it placed me in the corporate kitchen. Suddenly (after 20 years of preparation), I'm their corporate creative counsel — leading brainstorms and encouraging innovation. And, man o man, is it ever productive. It's amazing and delightful how many good ideas can boil up, when the pot is stirred.

Getting Started
Whenever I lead a brainstorm, we start by creating YES! Space, as I've been taught by the inspiring folks at Improvedge with Karen Hough's YES! DECK.

Then, we warm up with a practice mini-brainstorm. We brainstorm our own ground rules for our brainstorming. It's a nice, ironic start. And an easy way for me to demonstrate some of the ways we do not want anyone to brainstorm.

If you are working with a team of folks, here's how to design your brainstorm process.

And here's Go Artie!, a personal brainstorming tool.

Why rules? Isn't this brainstorming, dude?
Yes, brainstorming is best when it's open minded. But "open minded" doesn't mean a reckless disregard for the question-at-hand and the intended outcomes.

So, for principled brainstorming, we need some guidelines.

Here's The Best Guidelines
After having so many groups brainstorm on their own rules, I've assembled Brainstorming Guidelines.

After all, you probably have some need for a few fresh ideas. So brainstorm!

Maybe this list is missing something. If so, let me know.

And, Now, From Helensvale

I'm mindful not to flog SpeakerSite on Net Cotton Content. (Net Cotton Content must remain pure, whatever that means.)

But — if you care to read an item about SpeakerSite — this would be the Item Of The Month.

The premiere edition of CL!Q eMag has just hit the web and — joy of joys — it features a seven-page spread on SpeakerSite.

• You can see the CL!Q eMag piece on SpeakerSite by clicking here.
  
• You can see the entire #1 July 2009 edition of CL!Q eMag (on ISSUU.com) by clicking here.

Congratulations to founding editor Jeannie May on their launch. And thanks to Jeannie for including SpeakerSite with such a nice piece on the world's largest social network of public speakers.

I Guess I'm Old
I am simply amazed to correspond with a start-up publishing venture in Helensvale, Queensland in Australia, and see it result in such a nice product.

It's a small world after all.

Fork You

One day, long ago, Brooks Young came to me with a frustration.

Brooks was the original "Young" of Young Isaac. ("Young" was never my modifier. If so, we would have long ago become "Aging Isaac.")

He was frustrated that some big potential clients would not return his calls. Brooks was our Bird Dog In Chief, charged with new business. And, dag-nab-it, some people just wouldn't return his calls.

Perhaps they had never heard of us. Perhaps they didn't know that we could help. Perhaps they didn't know they needed help. Whatever. Messages left. Few return calls.

Brooks asked me what he might do.

I Was A Bitter Young Man
So I said, "Send them a fork in the mail and tell them to fork off."

Brooks laughed and walked away.

But he soon returned.

"There's an idea in that," he said. "Think some more about it."

That's part of Brooks' brilliance. He can hear anything and see the value. It's a talent that all of us would be wise to develop.

The Fork Letter Was Born
After a week or so, the idea was built and launched.

It's a business letter on letterhead. Attached to a board. Holes are drilled in the board and a fork is rubber-banded to the board. An inexpensive $1 fork. No big deal.

 The perky text reads:

Dear [potential client]:

I’ve tried to reach you. But you’re busy. 
 
Still, you have to eat. And I want to feed you.
 
Please join me for lunch so I can show you how we can help our clients sell – with marketing strategies and ideas that work hard. Advertising, direct mail, marketing planning, sales collateral, print and web design – we craft messages to help you change behavior. 
 
Come on. Take my call. Don’t make me come at you with a knife.

[signed, etc.]

That "come after you with a knife" was inappropriate for many months following 9/11. In time, however, we were again able to use the letter.

It Works
The "Fork Letter" was mailed to several folks that hadn't returned Brooks' repeated calls. He'd left messages, but no calls.

They called back. Right away.

It was so effective that Brooks wanted to just mail the letters out. "Why bother calling and leaving messages that they won't return?" he asked.

We did it a couple times. The recipients would call back, somewhat exasperated, saying, "But I never received any messages from you."

So Brooks still made the often futile calls. Otherwise, we'd be cheating.

We'd Always See The Letter Again
So, we would go visit the prospective client. (A fork had died, that we might live.)

And we would usually see the original fork letter sitting in a windowsill or against a wall.

We'd see it and say, "Hey, that's our fork letter."

The prospective client would say: "Oh, yes. That's right. That's how you got this meeting — say, can you do that for me?"

"Make you look like a lunatic? Sure. But what's right for our business might be wrong for yours. Let's find the tool that works best for you."

Why Is The Fork Letter Always Sitting Out?
Because:

1. It can't be filed. The fork is too bulky and potentially dangerous in a file cabinet.
2. It can't be thrown away. Forks are too precious. We all chase forks down garbage disposals, risking life and limb. Forks are dear to us. (Why? Because the fork is to the adult what mother's breast is to the infant.)

Don't get mad. Get even. Fork 'em.

The fork letter is featured in I'll Get Back to You: 156 Ways to Get People to Return Your Phone Calls, edited by my friend Robert L. Shook.

More Free Money

Remember Free Money?

Back in March, great gobs of people grabbed great fistfuls of cash for their favorite not-for-profit agencies.

It was a charity spree: a big success, courtesy of the enterprising people at The Columbus Foundation — and the many generous donors who rely on the Foundation to connect them with philanthropic opportunities. (Young Isaac propelled the message with viral marketing.)

Well, it's time for another "Match Day."
Here's the fine print. If you missed the first Match Day, note especially the parts in red:

The Columbus Foundation Governing Committee announced $300,000 in matching dollars to support Match Day 2.0, an event aimed to stimulate $1 million in charitable giving in our community in 48 hours. This is our community giving stimulus plan:

• Starting at 2 p.m. Tuesday, November 18, we will match online grant suggestions from Foundation donor advised funds and supporting foundations to PowerPhilanthropy nonprofit organizations in the amount of 50 cents of every dollar contributed, up to $2,500 per fund.
• Starting at 2 p.m. Wednesday, November 19, we will match online credit card donations to PowerPhilanthropy nonprofits in the amount of 50 cents of every dollar contributed, up to $2,500 per individual, until all matching funds are exhausted. We encourage everyone to give — the minimum gift is $20.
• Matching funds available for donor advised funds and supporting foundations total $150,000. Any remaining matching funds will be rolled over to the public match beginning on Wednesday at 2 p.m.
• PowerPhilanthropy has grown to include more than 420 portraits, with valuable information on nonprofit organizations and programs that strengthen our community. To learn more, visit PowerPhilanthropy or call 614-251-4000.

The deadline to request a new PowerPhilanthropy donor login or confirm your current donor login is Wednesday, November 12. Contact Katie Brennan at 614-251-4000 or by email.

What To Do?
Here's a postcard you can share with friends.

Or just forward the URL to this page to anyone and everyone.

Free money for your favorite cause. Go get it.

Free Money

Here's a poorly kept secret. (Young Isaac has been hired to spread the word through viral marketing.)

Today, at 3 p.m. is PowerPhilanthropy Match Day, courtesy of The Columbus Foundation.

Here are the rules:

Beginning at 3:00 p.m., anyone may visit the Foundation's website to make an online gift to a favorite nonprofit.

The Columbus Foundation will match 50% of all public donations of $1,000 or less made online with a credit card through PowerPhilanthropy, while funds last.

Anyone can give, starting with a $20 minimum.

Kind People Are Waiting To Pounce
Let's pay attention to the "while funds last" part. 

The donors of The Columbus Foundation are providing $175,000 for this match. That's a lot of money. But, the viral campaign has been successful. I expect the money to be gone within 10 minutes.

If you take a moment to register in advance, you might grab some of that $175Gs for your favorite charity. Again, you can give as little as $20.

I'll be there.

Let's crash the server.

The Check is in the Mail (again)

Young Isaac is, for the sixth year in a row, sending out a pile of $8 checks to our friends, asking each friend to forward the check to a favorite charity.

If you are new to this fabulous scheme, here are the answers to the top three questions that will soon come to your mind.

Read on for our public relations counsel, Jayme Soulati's press release...

A "Dear Rich" Letter

According to Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko in their classic The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy, the vast majority of millionaires -- those with true net worth of more than $1,000,000 after debts are paid off -- have become rich not by making money, but by saving it. By this, Stanley and Danko mean that those who become rich overnight (major league baseball players, rock stars) are the vast minority. Most millionaires lived within their means, and wealth snuck up on them.

Along comes Budros, Ruhlin & Roe, financial planners and wealth managers. They're a Young Isaac client for whom we placed the featured advertisement (just click here to be able to read it).

How To Be A Supermodel

I've never written anything I love more than this advertisement. Young Isaac ran this full page in the local business press during the late 1990s.

While it ran only a few times, it's warmly remembered. Folks have requested reprints; some have told me that yellowed copies hang in their office cubicles.

That warms my heart. I like to think that the message is worthy, deserving enough to be re-read.

Click here to download the advertisement for your enjoyment.

"We are the minority that feeds the majority."

Current work done by Young Isaac with our beloved client, The College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) at The Ohio State University is the cover story of the national trade journal, Admissions Marketing Report. While this national recognition has sparked telephone calls to Young Isaac from other colleges and universities (and that's always nice), the actual work has been the greatest delight. The faculty is smart and nurturing, the students are wisely choosing their way in the world, and matching the two is an honor.

Now that the campaign has been implemented, the College is enjoying a record number of visits and the highest ever measured response from direct mail. Our Clarity process for brand message strategy focused our communciations and revealed these motivating aspects:

The College's mission couldn't be more important. As one student put it during our initial Clarity (brand message strategy) session, "We are the minority that feeds the majority." When you hear that, from a student, wise beyond her years, you know you have entered into The Realm Of The Important. Other colleges at Ohio State -- traditional sciences, business, etc. -- attract traditionally gifted high school seniors. But what of the student who wants to pursue the study of our natural world in the most practical of ways: how to feed and clothe people, how to help humanity survive and thrive on the planet? These candidates come from the broadest pool: from rural to suburban. And they have the broadest range of interests and ambitions: from engineering food production to designing a golf course (which has its roots in turf management, an agricultural science). The marketing challenge requires that we connect emotionally and practically with the candidate and his or her family.

For the entire article and a full description of how the campaign works, contact Artie Isaac.