I created a tag cloud from the text of Obama and McCain bios located on their website.
The larger the word, the more it is emphasized in the candidates bio.

Special thanks to http://tagcrowd.com for the tagcloud.

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I recently interviewed Beth Seabright, managing director of Tucker Arensberg, P.C., about her program to motivate young associates at her law firm to take business development initiatives. After you read this great article, check out how the program worked in a bit more depth by reading the below:

1.     Did you provide your team with additional resources to point them in the right direction. For example, did you create a list of possible speaking engagements for them to attend, or were they expected to research this on their own? 

I did provide additional resources for them.  I suggested publications for articles, speaking engagements, networking events and occasionally set up lunches with my contacts that I wanted my attorneys to get to know.   I coached them through phone calls when they were reaching out to contacts for the first time and walked them through various business development scenarios.  I helped the Associates to get to their goal in any way that I could.

2.    Did you post people’s point score continuously and publicly?

I sent out the results every two weeks to our Associates and occasionally included our Managing Shareholder.  

3. Did that create a competitive or a collaborative environment?

I would say more motivating than competitive.  A few Associates that were not making the time for the program initially saw that other Associates were making progress toward the goal and were inspired to meet with me to put together a plan to catch up with their colleagues.

4. What was the logic behind assigning which point values to which activities?

The more difficult the task, the higher the point value.  I made a list of all of the activities included in the program and ranked them from simple to challenging.  For instance, meetings with me: easy - Associates received 2 points/meeting.  New clients were worth 10 points.

5. And lastly, have you been able to correlate a dollar amount to the biz dev challenge–ROI?

To be honest, I did not go back and correlate dollar values to the challenge, simply because a lot of the value in the program was planting the business developing seeds with the Associates.  While our more senior associates brought in new matters and clients, which I could easily correlate with a dollar value, our younger associates were setting up meetings and writing articles for the first time, activities that were not going to create instant new business.

Quiver&Quill commentary: If I ran a business development program for a law firm, I would use a similar framework to motivate my young associates. Here’s how it would work:

The process starts by answering one of two questions:

• What, that our business prospects care about, could we help them better understand?
• What, that our business prospects are doing, could we help them do better?

The next step — turn the young associate into a resource.

Incent them to attend lectures, visit social networks, read niche publications and develop a personal interest in the areas that matter to prospects. Finally, place them into situations like conferences and events where they can help prospects and demonstrate their resourcefulness.

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American Public Media’s Marketplace, a national radio show, has a great interview with E&J Gallo Winery CEO Joe Gallo called “Growing up in the wine industry.” A few highlights:

“There are two big decisions to make in life: What you do and who you marry. And a lot of people get one right and not the other.”

“I’ve been guided by my dad’s philosophy on what it takes to be successful in business:
-Stay independent
-Hire good people
-Strive for perfection
-Never be satisfied
-Don’t plan too far ahead
-Have a sense of urgency
-Work like hell
-Be lucky

Listen to the entire podcast here:
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2006/11/16/growing_up_in_the_wine_industry/

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Do we want choice, or just the perception of choice?
I believe we are most persuaded by marketing that simplifies the act of choosing.

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1. At a movie, baseball game or restaurant, she spontaneously sighs and says, “I seriously love my car.”
2. When another Mini driver stops to check out her car, she says, “That’s such a Mini-owner thing to do.” “What?” I ask. “You wouldn’t understand.”
3. She spent over an hour reviewing the care pack Mini sent her – and smiled as she lovingly turned every page.
4. Every time she makes a U-turn, I get to hear the speech about how superior her Mini is (to my car) and how my car could never do what her car can do so smoothly.
5. Ditto parking, turning, stopping or packing luggage.
6. She actually waves at other Mini owners. And they actually wave back. Even in New York. I am not making this up.
7. If she brakes hard and says, “Are you OK?” I know not to respond. She’s talking to her car.
8. She wants to attend Mini-related events and regularly Googles them.
9. Yesterday, after borrowing my car for the day, she said, “Your car is over-sized and clumsy. I feel at one with my car. I know how it moves, and how it responds to the rain.”
10. When asked what she likes about her car, she says – without rehearsal – “Its awesome design; it feels cool, trendy and compact; it has great handling; it makes super-safe turns; its width-to-height proportion, like a bulldog’s stance; the huge trunk space; it’s easy to drive; it has a vintage design, but I know it’s a BMW; I feel safe in it; if anything happens, Mini roadside assistance will come pick me up.

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I’m the best Tipper On Earth

Originally uploaded by Jason DeRusha

I pay at the counter at my favorite lunch place. Most people do not tip even when they sit and at this little dive. I’ve noticed that when people pay with a credit card, they always tip well. And when they pay in cash, they seldom tip.

When they pay with a credit card, the receipt is printed with a blank line for the tip. And when they pay in cash, there’s obviously no such line.

It’s the expectation of leaving a tip—or the fear of insult surrounding leave the tip line blank, which causes many people to tip when paying with a credit card but not when paying cash.

I would love to see how asking customers paying in cash, “do you want to leave a tip?” would affect how many of them do. So, do you want to leave a comment?

P.S. I am currently at blog group deciding whether to delete this post or explain it further. The point I want to emphasize is the “do you want fries like that phenomena” that when people are asked directly they tip. This restaurant is a little take out place, I appreciate their service and acknowledge it often with gratuity.

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I work with 40+ sales reps from both local and national media companies every month placing digital media buys for clients. Most sales reps fail to close a deal or earn a repeat order not because of their digital knowledge or skills, but rather shortcomings in their service.

Here are a few common mistakes:
1. Treating an agency’s smaller and larger clients differently. The size of the client does not always correlate to their budget on a particular campaign.
2. Renegotiating rates during a media buy rather than scheduling a time during the planning process to discuss.
3. Failing to provide added value—or offering no incentive to clients who continue to renew orders.
4. Failing to offer ideas and suggestions to enhance the campaign.
5. Selling out of inventory without informing the agency ahead of time.
6. Only talking or emailing the agency when they are placing a buy—this will guarantee a strictly transactional relationship.
7. Failing to inform the agency about changes to the media website and its essential stats (uniques, TOS, impressions, new content and sponsorable assets)
8. Failing to provide the agency with a wrap up report
9. Complaining…about the size of a buy; the fact that a competitor received the same buy; the urgency with which a buy needs to be executed
10. Forgetting reoccurring advertisers in favor of short-term profitable opportunities
11. Mistaking when the agency is looking for an idea versus when an agency has an idea and is searching the right digital venues to execute it.
12. Failing to hit deadlines. This is both when the campaign goes live and when the campaign has concluded.
13. Failing to deliver all the media that the agency booked—and informing the agency after the campaign has ended.

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“Life conspires to beat the rebel out of you,” Bogusky says, dropping one of those lines that could be either authentic on-the-fly wisdom or something he once saw on a T-Shirt. “I was at a meeting at Nike recently with a bunch of senior people, and that’s just the thought that went through my head. For everyone at the table I could see how life was trying to beat it out of us.” Alex Bogusky quoted in Fast Company, June 2008.

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