GoHuman Blog

Since I used to be fluent in Spanish, my agents loved sending me out for Latina roles, but the contrast and culture of my Castillian accent grossly clashed (Think Englishman auditioning for NASCAR driver). The most entertaining part about going on those auditions was how the casting director or assistant would look at me once I entered the room. There was usually a blank stare, followed by a lot of blinking, followed by the question, “You’re fluent in Spanish?” After my confirmation, they would continue speaking to me in English, as though they couldn’t wrap their minds around the fact. Needless to say, I never booked those roles.

What I have finally learned, after over a decade in this industry, is specificity is golden. People want to know what they’re getting – in three words or less.  I’ve conceded to being typecast. My theatrical agent sees it as a numbers game – where do I have the highest chance of succeeding?

We have eliminated the Spanish speaking or looking roles, and have decided my place is in the Asian/ethnically ambiguous category. This already makes me one of a few hundred submissions versus one of tens of thousands.  In Hollywood, brunettes are seen as smart, serious, and often times, a bad girl. My ethnic diversity tends to suggest an air of mystery, which is subconsciously uncomfortable. This equation easily categorizes me as a mischievous or mysterious bad girl – mischievous for comedy, mysterious for drama and/or action.

There’s a certain freedom to knowing your specifications. You can focus on strengthening and developing the range within those descriptions, because they really aren’t as limiting as they might originally appear.  And being able to expand on a type creates a depth of character that is refreshing to see in casting, like Marlon Brando in The Godfather. Not only did he win an Oscar for the role, but decades later, acting teachers and students alike swoon over the unexpected, complex character Brando created. Here is where artists get to really play; the place where you let your imagination run wild, and you’re able to listen to the insatiable curiosity you have for your character. This is where the rigid intellectual ends, and the organic, imagined life begins.

To be continued next month, when I’ll explain how this also relates to the yoga business.

This particular banker knew the day was coming for his dream golf outing, so he went to the course every day after work (which would be 3:00 pm….sorry, had to get that jab in) and practiced like there was no tomorrow.  He did not want to embarrass himself when he played with Arnold.

When the day came, he showed up and was greeted by Arnold Palmer and they set out to play their round of golf.  The banker played up to his best and actually beat his own former low score on this particular course.  Of course, Arnold still handily beat him, but not to the point of humiliation.

As they walked back to the club house, the banker looked over to Arnold and said, “You know, Arnold, some of my best shots were as good as your shots back there.  Maybe I could still make the PGA; what do you think?”  To which Arnold replied, “It’s not how good your good shots are that is keeping you from being a professional golfer…..it’s how bad your bad shots are.”

Now I relate this story not for golfing purposes (since I can’t stand watching or playing the game), but to make a very important point.  Almost everything in life has both good sides and bad sides.  For example, you see beautiful, rich, glamorous movie stars that marry other beautiful, rich, glamorous movie stars and then several (fill in the blank with days, weeks, years) later, they divorce.

I don’t know how anyone else feels, but my feeling on the subject is this:  “It’s not how good the good parts are (ANYONE can put up with the good stuff….the beauty, the wealth, the glamour…..that’s SO easy) but it is how BAD the bad parts are!  If they are a psychotic, neurotic whiner with the mental depth of a baby pool, who will put up with that for very long?

Sometimes I watch the beginning of these reality dating shows on primetime and wonder, “Why can’t these apparently attractive, educated, successful people find someone to date and/or marry without subjecting themselves to being humiliated on national TV?”  Then I watch for a few minutes and say, “OHHHH, that’s the reason why they can’t find someone to date….they are (fill in the blank) freaks!”

So you see, in almost every area of life, it’s not how good the good parts are….it’s how bad the bad parts are that really matter.

Now let’s get back to the topic at hand….starting/buying/running your own small business.  It is not how good the good parts are (I get to be my own boss, no cap on my income, get to be a big shot in my hometown, my picture is in the paper for interviews, etc.) with running your own business.  Anyone could handle that.  It is how bad the bad parts are (it is my job to bring in the sales, constantly worrying about having enough money to meet payroll, putting up with employees who act like children, customers who are rude, long hours, etc.) that keeps people from getting into, and staying in, business for themselves.

Granted, life is not easy and you cannot simply avoid the bad parts because they are unpleasant.  But we each have to “choose our poison” when it comes to deciding which bad parts that we can live with.  That is the key.  Since we cannot completely avoid all the bad stuff, we at least have to come to grips with what sort of bad stuff we are at least willing to tolerate.

I will use myself as an example with something many of us can relate to….marriage.  My spouse knows there are both good things about me and bad things about me.  Each of us who is married can probably list, with relative ease, the good things and bad things about our spouse.  Since roughly 50% of all marriages end in divorce, there are many people who say, “I will not get married because half of all marriages end in divorce.”  What they fail to see is there are a lot of extremely happy marriages and these people have an unbreakable bond that each partner would die for, literally.  I know of marriages that are that strong.

Being married to someone is not all strawberries and champagne.  But it is also the most fulfilling relationship known to humankind if it is done properly.  My wife knows about my bad stuff and I know about hers….and we are both willing to live with the bad because the good FAR outweighs the bad.  So we live contently with one another because even though we are not perfect (no one is), we certainly have much in common and we enjoy each other’s company and conversation, so the bad stuff is miniscule by comparison.

The same metaphor can be used for owning a business.  There are things about owning a business that are about as pleasant as taking your dog for a walk and picking up their poop with a plastic bag.  Nobody wants to do it, but if you don’t, you won’t like the end result.  And when it is your business, it is your responsibility.

But the good news is, as the business owner, if you don’t want to pick up the poop, you can delegate that task to an employee.  But remember, if the employee quits or doesn’t show up for work one day, you still have to pick up the poop.

When working with new clients on their initial social media strategy, there are a few basic questions that I ask:

1. How do you want social networking to benefit your business goals?
2. What do you expect to gain from implementing a social networking element to your existing marketing plans?
3. How much time do you expect to devote to social media each week?

The first two questions typically lead to lengthy discussions about the business, long-term goals, and how social media platforms can extend an existing marketing strategy. It is always good dialogue, as it yields information that helps to shape the way we develop the “go to market” plan.

The third question is the real test of my client’s understanding of the reality of social media and the sustained effort it entails. Most responses are something like “a couple of hours a week” – which indicates that there is much to learn about the time and effort required to manage true social media.

Good social media is not a few characters, a hashtag and shortened links put into HootSuite. It is hours of research on who to follow, what should be retweeted, and how to blend your business personality into the messaging you want to get in front of potential customers. It takes time to nurture your online persona into something that people will want to follow, and which benefits your business. Most importantly, you have to engage your customers online one-on-one, in a way that lets them know that they really matter to you – and that you are not an automated system.

This last piece is one of the biggest misconceptions about social media. But if properly understood by business owners, it is the one thing that really separates good social media from great social networking.

The fact remains that social media is not going anywhere. It is a moment in time that will decide what your company can become. Recently, on a webcast about the ROI of social media, one expert stated that the ROI is that “you will be in business in five years.” There may be some FUD in that but there is also some truth to it.

So what do you do next? Engage your 15-year-old nephew to explain what a hashtag is and how to create a bit.ly link? You could, but wouldn’t it be better to find a local expert? This is where GoHuman can provide you with the expertise you need to develop a solid social networking strategy, including determining the right platforms, identifying resources and content, and building the right infrastructure to make your campaign work effectively and efficiently from day one.

One great way to get started is to enter our Change the Way GoHuman Works Contest!

Contact us today to find out more about how to enter the contest… and to get your social networking up and running.

His next challenge was to find a way to stack the sticky sheets of paper so they wouldn’t fuse together. After another two months of struggle, his boss ordered him to stop working on the project. But Drew continued his quest after-hours. Then, late one night in his office, a burst of gamma waves erupted in his right hemisphere. The solution to his sticky problem entered into conscious awareness. Eureka! Apply the adhesive to a thin strip of paper that could be rolled up like a spool of ribbon. Thus at 3M, Scotch Masking Tape was born, followed by transparent Scotch brand cellulose tape.

I read this story illustrating how creative insight arrives (on my wonderful Nook Tablet) in Imagine: How Creativity Works, by Jonah Lehrer. I’m only into Chapter Two and already hooked. The latest findings from neuroscience are uncovering this once-mystifying realm and showing how innovation, insight and creativity can be nurtured and encouraged.

Speaking of creativity, did you know that April is National Poetry Month? One of the goals is to introduce more people to the pleasures of reading and writing poetry. I’m participating in a Writer’s Digest Poem-A-Day Challenge, in which poets write a poem each day of April. As a newbie-poet, I’m having a blast. It’s not too late to join the fun!

I’ll end this post with my poem for Day 16. The prompt (topic) is a “mixed up” poem.

 

Reweave

every strand

of earth and sky

 

To create

things

anew

 

 

1)     Campaigns

What is your goal? Direct Response? Branding? What are you trying to market? Who is your audience? Where are you marketing? In a previous blog, I discussed how to determine your location and language targeting. When organizing your campaign, think about your product or service. It’s best to model your campaign(s) as closely to your website as possible. Campaigns can be organized by location, language, product, brands, distribution preferences, and budgets. If you have a website and you offer many different products, consider setting up a campaign for each of those products. For instance, if you sell coffee and tea through your website, you would want to set up a campaign for coffee, and a separate campaign for tea. You also control the budget and other settings at this level, so if you have a monthly amount allotted for PPC advertising, take that amount and divide it by your campaigns and then divide by 30 (average days in a month) to come up with your daily budget. If one campaign performs better than another, you can revise your budget at any time.

2)     Ad Groups

Ad groups further define the campaign and you can have thousands if need be. An ad group contains a unique set of keywords not found in your other ad groups, as well as one or more ads. Your ad groups should reflect a specific product or service and be tightly themed together. If you sell roasted coffee and organic coffee, you will create an ad group that will contain keywords and ads specifically for roasted coffee, and a separate group for organic coffee. The Ad Group tab is also a great way to monitor and manage your ad performance. At this level you can set an amount for the default maximum cost-per-click (CPC) for your keywords.

3)     Ads

Text ads are the most common and basic ads used (we’ll discuss different ad formats in another blog).  For most languages, text ads can contain 25 characters for the title including spaces, 70 characters for the ad text, and 35 characters for a display URL. Google usually displays this on four lines, but it may appear differently on Google partner sites. There are also policies and guidelines for what content is not allowed, so be sure that you are aware of what those guidelines are, depending on the PPC platform you use. Limited space means your ad needs to be eye catching and to the point. Use keywords from your keyword list whenever possible and by doing so, the keyword will be bolded in the ad text when queried. If your ad includes a price, free offer, or discount, it needs to be visible and clear within at least 2 clicks of your website. Write clear, concise ads and use strong call to action words such as Buy, Purchase, Order, and Sign Up Today. Create several variations of ads within the ad group and then analyze after some time to determine what the best performing ad is.

 4)     Keywords

The keyword list is really the “key” to your success. There are many tools you can use to evaluate your keyword list, but the best tool is really your own website. Tying in the keywords from your website will drastically improve your quality score, which in the long run will bring down the overall cost-per-click.  In creating your list, try to keep it to 20-30 tightly-themed terms and use keywords with two- or three-word phrases. If your keywords are too broad, you’ll receive lots of clicks but very few conversions. You will want to add a variety of keyword types and after some time, determine the best performing keywords.  Keyword types are as follows:

• Broad Match – these words in any order or combination will trigger your ad when organic or coffee is queried
• Phrase Match – these words in the exact order will trigger your ad when “organic coffee” is queried but also when another word is added before or after the phrase (i.e. “wild organic coffee”)
• Exact Match – these words will trigger your ad the exact match [organic coffee] is queried
• Negative – these words will not trigger your ad when the certain phrases are queried such as “-free organic coffee”

There is so much more to discuss when creating an effective and relevant campaign, but if you follow these four steps, you will be on your way to creating a great pay-per-click campaign with impressive results! What are you waiting for?

I said I could, but that I wouldn’t be able to guarantee that it would be there before 12:30 – however I would try my best. “Oh, but we’ll have to have it by 12!” was the reply. “Well, I might not have time to do the other sandwich then,” I said. “But we need it!” the secretary pleaded.

It doesn’t take long to make a sandwich, but there were other customers in the shop and the lunchtime traffic was building up. There was no point arguing anyway. “I’ll see what I can do,” I said. Then I turned to serve the next customer. 

“Do you have any egg mayo sandwiches?” he asked. “No, but I can make one up for you,” I said. 

“How long will it take?” he asked, anxiously looking at his watch.

“About five minutes,” I said, not wanting to be hurried. “Umm…” he dithered, looking at his watch again, impatiently. “Umm… OK then.” It actually took about two minutes to make the sandwich, and he seemed very pleased. And the lunch got to its destination at about 12:05.

It would be hypocritical of me to complain about how impatient people are these days. I always seem to be in a hurry, and it does seem to get worse as the years pass. Why is this? Labour-saving devices were meant to give us more time, not less. I remember watching programmes as a child in the 1970s that told us that in the future we would all have so much leisure time we would need more sports centres and libraries to help us fill the long hours. How quaint that sounds now!

I think the economic climate has made things busier for those of us who work. We are expected to do a lot more in less time.

And we should never underestimate the importance of time. When you’re running a business, every minute counts. The minimum wage in the UK is £6.08 an hour for those over 21, and it increases each year. That means every minute of labour for each employee costs the business owner at least 10 pence, and five minutes with a customer costs 51p.

If it takes five minutes to make a sandwich, that 51p has to be factored into the cost. It might seem petty to worry about such costs, but when the business electricity or rent bill arrives, these concerns won’t seem petty at all.

And if you’re the business owner, what value do you put on your own time? If you run a café it’s tempting to compare your prices with the café down the road, or to set your prices according to the price of the food. The research I did before I launched my café advised me to add a percentage margin to the cost of the ingredients. However this method of pricing does not take into account the increasing cost of labour and other costs, such as VAT. So I will have to look into my pricing structure again.

When we visit the hairdresser we don’t just expect them to charge for the cost of the scissors and shampoo and add a percentage to that. We’re paying them for the service they offer, for their time. It’s the same with any service.

That’s why we should never undersell ourselves. Time is precious. Whatever you do for a living, make sure you’re paid the full value for your time.