"Solutions Out Loud™ - Network Solutions Podcast for SolutionsArePower™" - 3 new articles
Book Review: Predictably Irrational, by Dan Ariely
It’s also an easy, accessible read. Now, if you haven’t heard of the book (and it’s gotten a lot of press, especially in light of economic bubbles inflating and collapsing), it’s about the theory and practice of behavioral economics. Traditional economics takes as given that, with proper information, people will always act rationally — they’ll be able to accurately gauge the costs of their choices, then make decisions based on their best interests. If you’re ever bought something you couldn’t afford, or just know any, well, people, you’ll intuitively know that this is bogus. (This is why most people don’t like economists — because the people that economists talk about don’t sound or act like real people.) Ariely’s premise is that people are irrational — that is, we don’t make perfect decisions, even with perfect information, and that we are influenced by seemingly unrelated things — and what’s more, we’re consistent in how we’re irrational. So we might as well try to use that knowledge so we can make better decisions. A lot of this information will be equally useful to people who sell stuff, and to people who get sold to. Also, for those of us who like to think we’re generally rational people, a lot of this is pretty off-putting. I won’t go through the entire book, but a few examples: * Relativity: We’re always making comparisons, even if those comparisons don’t really make sense. And, we can be influenced by decoys — a well-known example is how restaurant menus will feature high-priced entrees, so that the mid-priced stuff won’t look so expensive by comparison. Or hanging out with less-attractive friends, so you look better when you’re on the prowl. * Anchoring: Once we associate a value with something (even if it’s completely arbitrary), we’ll end up using that as a baseline for our subsequent decisions. * We’re just nuts for free stuff: We’ll make really silly decisions just because something is “free” (like pick something that’s free, even if we’d get more value from something that wasn’t free). Also, there’s a huge difference between “cheap” and free. (”Free shipping” does tons better than “1 cent shipping.”) There’s a lot of interesting stuff pertaining to beating procrastination, the costs of ownership, how sexual arousal affects our decision-making, an experiment on expectations that involves putting balsamic vinegar in beer, people drinking Coke in MRI machines, the effect of the Ten Commandments and honor codes on cheating, and how ordering out loud influences your menu choices. I guess there is one section particularly relevant to social media consultants — the section on the placebo effect, and how people think the 50-cent aspirin does a better job than the identical 1-cent aspirin. In fact, I know a guy who shares all of his social media knowledge on his blog, for free, but his clients insist on paying him for the exact same information (presumably because they don’t really value it until they have to pay for it…) Anyway, I highly recommend this book as an interesting read, broken up into discrete, easy-to-digest chunks, perfect for your holiday break. In fact, I’m giving it to my sister, as one of her Christmas gifts. (In point of order, I’m not saying she’s irrational. At least, not any more so than the rest of us.) Book review for Tactical Transparency, Ch. 10: how issues blogs show people you’re listeningTake issue! Authors Shel Holtz and John Havens continue to hit it out of the park with their latest book Tactical Transparency. This month I’ve reviewed select chapters of the book starting with Chapter 3 characteristics of transparent organizations and Chapter 4 on a more transparent approach to selling & ROI. Quick note: the book cites blogger experiences for larger companies; but small business value was definitely present with more highlighted below.
Take aways for small business It builds trust. It builds trust with your customers and stakeholder community - with at the forefront - your willingness to be honest about your position and status within the conversation i.e. be truthful on that recent review on your restaurant even if it didn’t score as high as hoped. More take aways from the book 1) Be confident in your chosen issue to blog about. 2) Realize that issues blogging creates a chance to show what drives your business philosophy. 3) Frame your issues so the community - or press - comes to you.
-Bob Langert, VP of corporate social responsibility, McDonald’s And Langert’s quote from the book goes on: We want people to say the blog [Open for Discussion] is transparent and that it’s open and that it’s real dialogue. Do you agree with this chapter’s premise on issues blogging (or again, even issues centric to your development … like forming an advisory board from what I linked above?)? What other benefits or consequences do you see from extending your business in this way? In weeks ahead: reviewing selected chapters from Tactical Transparency
Photo Through A Glass, Darkly by Drumsnwhistles under Creative Commons License A-NC-ND Works 2.0. Book jacket for Tactical Transparency used with permission from Meredith Stanton at John Wiley & Sons. The Power of Micromessaging from the creator of Utterz/Utterli, Simeon MargolisHis bio on his personal blog is one line – "Entrepreneur trying to make it in the mobile world". Many may know Simeon as the "Maestro of Utterz". Utterz, the micro voice messaging company, was an idea he had that was launched by RPM Communications, the firm he was working for at the time. In the first part of this three part interview, the impact of micro-messaging tools like Utterz/Utterli and Twitter on the business community and events like the 2008 election. Here is the transcript of that conversation: Steve: Seeing that Utterli, formerly Utterz, is a mix of social networking and micro-messaging, what are your thoughts in the evolution of the micro-messaging space with products like Twitter? Steve: With events like the 2008 election season, do you feel that Micro-messaging tools are going to become a key element in the future of marketing campaigns? Steve: According to Gartner, "Social Networks and Social Media" is in the "Trough of Disillusionment". This is not a bad thing. It is essentially where the hype has worn off that these technologies and that over the next 12-18 months it will be folded into mainstream software development and adoption. Do you agree or disagree and why? Coming Up in Part Two and Three: In the next two parts of this interview we get his sage advice on building a successful startup and find out about his new startup, Monkey Bed Media. More Recent Articles
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