The view from the Spredfast office. Not bad!

Austin, Texas, is a city of cowboys and hipsters. River and concrete. Texas barbecue and vegan cafes. The people, the food, the music — everything simmers together to create a unique breeding ground for creativity and innovation. It’s no surprise that Spredfast — an advanced social media management system (SMMS) and OpenView’s most recent investment — is located in the heart of it all.

I recently had the pleasure of spending an afternoon in Austin at the Spredfast offices, meeting the team and exploring the platform. Over the course of the visit, two things became clear to me:

1. Spredfast employees are awesome.
2. The way we use and measure social media is changing in a big way.

Social media rebels.

After attending a wedding in San Antonio the weekend before, I drove to Austin on a Monday morning (the two cities are only about an hour and a half away from each other) and headed to Spredfast. If you’ve read my previous posts, you know that I’m a social media junkie, so I welcomed the opportunity to experience Spredfast in person and receive platform training from the on-boarding team.

I met Brittany Edwards, Marketing Manager, for coffee before visiting the office, during which time she prepared me for the fact that it was the entire team’s first day in a new office. While I was surely in the way, they made me feel nothing but welcome. It was perhaps telling that although the office was still being settled, a pirate flag had already been hung from the ceiling.

I wandered around for a bit, introducing myself to the team and receiving some excellent Austin restaurant suggestions in the process, and then met with Meghan Brindley, Social Training Manager, and Unji Udeshi, On-Boarding Manager, to learn my way around the platform’s posting and measurement capabilities.

Blocking Spredfast’s view of Austin.

Allow me to preface my assessment with an acknowledgement that OpenView is an investor in Spredfast, but I’ll follow that with the sentiment that I can see why. Spredfast is the most comprehensive social media management system I’ve experienced — as Meghan put it, clients tell her they’re both excited and slightly intimidated by the platform’s capabilities. The Spredfast team breaks it down into five key areas of focus, allowing users advanced functionality around:

1. Organization: Spredfast allows you to create and manage multiple social initiatives, assign appropriate permissions to users, and coordinate actions and approvals across teams.
2. Daily Engagement: You can schedule and publish across multiple channels while monitoring engagement and responses.
3. Enterprise Repository: Spredfast is an information powerhouse. The platform lets you share content internally, keep records, and meet compliance needs.
4. Social Platforms: Spredfast syncs with pretty much everything: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube, Flickr, SlideShare, Blogs, you name it.
5. Analytics and Reporting: This was the most impressive part for me. The system integrates with Google Analytics and Omniture, and performs in-depth analysis to help you understand who is interacting with your content, when they’re doing it, and how best to reach them.

Megan: “Pose, but act natural!”

I was amazed, but not surprised, by Spredfast’s extensive service offerings. Social media is no longer being viewed as an option or a “nice-to-have” for most organizations — it’s a necessity, one to heavily invest in.

Organizations aren’t winging it anymore, either. They want to understand the impact of everything they’re doing and how it’s helping their vision and brand. It will be software like Spredfast’s that revolutionizes the social media industry and how we determine the much-discussed (but little understood) “social media ROI.”

Thanks to everyone at Spredfast for their hospitality and kindness (and the barbecue recommendations). I can’t wait until my next visit to Austin!

The whole office was cool, but the lobby chairs were one of my favorite parts.

Sorry, Walter. We get our news from Twitter now.

I originally drafted this post just hours after a false tweet from the Associated Press (AP) caused the Dow Jones Industrial Average to immediately plummet more than 140 points. The AP’s Twitter account had been hacked, sending out a tweet reading: “Breaking: Two Explosions in the White House and Barack Obama is injured.”

The @AP account has over 1.9 million followers, many of whom were sent into panic mode. The tweet was deleted and the account temporarily suspended, but it served to demonstrate a truth that has become very clear to me: Twitter is the first news source for many, but it is also the least reliable. As such, it requires a critical eye and a healthy dose of skepticism that we haven’t mastered.

We’re all on edge right now. Like many people, Twitter became my morphine drip after the Boston Marathon bombings. I watched helplessly as my home was attacked. I saw the streets I knew like the back of my hand streaked with blood. I saw an event that had come to define my country for me more clearly than the Fourth of July destroyed in an instant. I looked out the office window, wondering how to get home, feeling bad for wondering, asking my coworkers what their plans were, were they okay? No one was okay, everyone was confused, so we refreshed our Twitter streams. Over and over. We clung to any scrap of information we could find, anything that could tell us what had happened and why. Why?

Of course, no one knew much of anything that Monday afternoon, but that didn’t stop people from speculating. What we “knew” changed by the second. Zero dead, dozens dead. No more bombs, four more bombs. The explosions came from manhole covers. No, backpacks. No, garbage cans.

On Wednesday, a suspect was in custody. On Wednesday, no suspect was in custody. On Friday, one of the bombers was a missing Brown University student. Then the bomber was actress Zooey Deschanel (to be fair, no one took that one seriously). Then, finally, the bombers were the Tsarnaev brothers, names and nationality frequently confused. It was an exhausting week to be a Twitter user, but I still kept refreshing that feed.

I don’t have any grand insight to offer, no magic bullet to make people more thoughtful and less reactionary on a platform that sometimes discourages both. I love Twitter and I think many of its problems are also its strengths.

In the aftermath of the bombings and during the ensuing manhunt, it helped the authorities keep us informed. X, Y, Z streets are closed. Stay indoors. Street cleaning canceled. Cabs aren’t running. We’re looking for this car, this person. It also helped increase donations for those affected, which have now totaled over $26 million. I kept coming back to Twitter for more because among the misinformation, there were also these reminders of connections and caring that made me feel less alone (especially when we were all on lockdown).

Ultimately though, I had to close Twitter, minimize Boston.com, shut off the TV, leave my phone behind, and sit by myself in the sunshine. Maybe that’s the biggest lesson out of all of this. Twitter works because it makes us feel plugged into the world, but it also gives us a distorted view of it. To maintain the perspective we need to be successful users, we need to be critical users. Perhaps most importantly, we can’t be afraid to unplug when we need to. (And perhaps we should all apologize to Zooey Deschanel.)

Have you felt overwhelmed by Twitter the past few weeks? How do you maintain a healthy perspective?

1. “Why waste a sentence saying nothing?” -Seth Godin, Best-Selling Author

2. “Make it simple. Make it memorable. Make it inviting to look at. Make it fun to read.” -Leo Burnett, Advertising Executive

3. “Don’t invent a product and then go searching for an audience (‘Accountants will love this!’). It almost never works. Instead, focus on the group of people you want to serve.” -Dorie Clark, Strategy Consultant and Author

4. “First, earn an audience. Second, nurture a community. Third, empower a network.” -Chris Brogan, CEO & President of Human Business Works

5. ”The urgent can drown out the important.” -Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo

6. “Be specific enough to be believable and universal enough to be relevant.” -Ann Handley, CCO of MarketingProfs.com

7. “Value the positive voice. It’s too easy only to focus on the negative. You need to make time to thank customers who love what you do.” -Scott Stratten, President of Un-Marketing

8. “Above all, you want to create something you’re proud of.” -Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Group

9. “You most likely have enough content. First look at stopping some things that aren’t working and reallocating those resources to quality content initiatives.” -Joe Pulizzi, Executive Director of Content Marketing Institute

10. “Whether your business is comprised of three founders or a growing team of sales, marketing, and product development people, everyone should participate in the content marketing process.” -Marcus Sheridan, Founder of The Sales Lion

Photos Credits: Seth Godin Photo by Technotheory | Marissa Mayer Photo by Adam Tinworth |  | Richard Branson Photo by Gulltaggen

Do you have any favorite inspirational marketing quotes to add?

Make them stop chirping!

I had a dream about Twitter last week. It wasn’t good or bad, just literal, which is the worst kind of dream. I was thinking about something while asleep that I spend a significant portion of my day thinking about while awake and that, my friends, is depressing.

While I hope I’m the only one counting chirping blue birds before I fall asleep, I doubt I’m the only one feeling a little overwhelmed by the volume of social media opportunities and output. What’s the best way to manage the constant stream of information and the myriad platforms available?

To be honest, this is something I still need to get better at (obviously). Social media prioritization and time management can be notoriously difficult — anyone on Twitter or Facebook can probably testify to what I like to call the “social media black hole.” It will suck you right in. You settle in at your computer, cup of coffee in hand, and before you know it two hours has gone by, your coffee is cold, and your eyes hurt from staring at a glowing screen. This is even more difficult when social media is an important part of your job and your company’s marketing strategy. So how do you combat it?

Here are three steps to keep you swimming in the social media ocean without drowning in it.

1. Do an audit of your social media presence and then prioritize.

As with most things in life, you have to understand how you’re already doing before you can get better. A social media “audit” and subsequent prioritization can help you understand how you’re currently spending your time and where you can improve. I think this is especially important if you’re managing social media for your company, since all of the outlets and platforms can quickly feel overwhelming.

An audit can be as simple as a Word or Excel document naming the channels, who manages them, and where the majority of your time is spent. It can then go further, listing the current community numbers, interactions, and site referrals for each. This should give you a good idea of where you should be spending more (or less) time.

A word of caution: just because a social media channel isn’t delivering yet doesn’t mean it isn’t worth your time. Do some competitor research and see where the most robust communities are. Maybe you haven’t been utilizing Pinterest to its full potential or perhaps you need to spend less time on Tumblr and more on Google Plus. Experiment a bit to see what works, but don’t be afraid to reprioritize as necessary.

2. Make the most of lists and groups.

This is something I’ve vowed to focus more on this quarter. It takes time, but I think it’s one of the most effective ways to filter through the social media noise and better target your conversations and content. Break your Twitter connections into lists by specialty and track member tweets. Share their content and reach out to specific people when you have content you think they might be interested in. Explore tools like Triberr as another good way of connecting to like-minded individuals.

The same goes for LinkedIn Groups and Google Plus Communities — create your own and invite people whose opinions you care about. Join groups focused around content that interests you. There’s no need to consume content from everyone at once.

3. Set aside social media time (and social media down time!).

Set aside a block of time each day to focus on social media — I recommend trying for earlier in the day if possible. Whether it’s 15 minutes or two hours, this is your time to respond, interact, post, and schedule. If you’re managing multiple accounts and not using a scheduling tool like HootSuite, I don’t know how you’re staying sane. Having one place to preschedule posts and browse all feeds, mentions, conversations, etc. will help you get the most out of that block of time.

You need to get over the fear of missing something. Yes, social media is 24/7, but you are not. You still need uninterrupted work time, even if social media is your main focus. If you don’t log off, when are you going to find the time to strategize and refocus as needed?

Now I want to hear from you — how do you deal with social media overload? Any tactics you’ve found helpful?

Dear Mailchimp,

Has it really been four years since we met? I was just a kid. I was seeing Yahoo! Mail at the time and didn’t realize there was a bigger world beyond the confines of my inbox. As soon as I created a MailChimp account, I was hooked. You had me at monkey mascots and friendly dashboard greetings:

What can I say, I’m a sucker for simplicity — the clean interface, easy navigation, and customer support keep me coming back for more. Both new users and experienced email marketers will be happy with your features (and what good looking features they are!), because they can access as little or as much customization as they want. Upon opening an account, the user is walked through setting up a subscriber list and then invited to choose a MailChimp template or create their own. Once an email/newsletter is ready to go, there are a few things to check before sending and voilà — it’s on its way!

I also like how you make efforts to show you don’t just love me for my money. In fact, I can have up to 2,000 subscribers and send 12,000 emails per month for free. I didn’t have to provide my credit card information or sign anything on the first date, and I still have access to most MailChimp features. There are plenty of reasonably-priced paid options too, including monthly and pay-as-you-go plans, depending on what I need from my email campaign.

Finally, you’re intuitive. You can import my contacts from different formats and add them to my subscriber lists. When I was designing my first newsletter, you even imported the color scheme from my website into the MailChimp Campaign Builder. You generate just the right analytics and reports I need to understand my campaign’s effectiveness, and you help me check my work to ensure maximum quality and effectiveness.

I know not everyone is perfect. If my email marketing needs significantly expand, it remains to be seen if you can grow with me. But I think we can work through any problems that come up, because this relationship feels built to last.

Dinner Saturday night? Call me.

Love,

Megan

You flatterer.

Do you feel that? Spring is in the air, people!

Soon you’ll be cleaning your desk, reviewing your calendar, organizing your inbox, and clearing any cobwebs that built up during the five months you spent shivering and clutching a Dunkin Donuts coffee (or maybe that’s just a Boston thing?). I’m personally going to spend some time spring cleaning the social media accounts I manage, starting with Twitter, so I thought I’d share a few tips to help you do the same.

I find that with Twitter, it’s all too easy to let the weeds grow. You follow that person, authorize this application, forget about the spambot that started following you last week (Quick Tip: @HotGuy4U is not actually a hot guy for you), and before you know it you start feeling overwhelmed by the junk you have to wade through to find anything good.

In no particular order, here are three things you can do to easily spring clean your Twitter account and start fresh.

1. Review Your App Permissions

While doing some research for this post, I came across a Lifehacker article that suggests cleaning out your Twitter app permissions. I did this recently and was reminded of some of the dumb applications with access to my account.

To clean these up, head to your Twitter “Settings” (drop-down menu in the upper-right hand corner) and click “Apps” on the left sidebar. You should be able to see a list of the apps that have your account permissions – you can “Revoke Access” on any you don’t use.

2. Use Handy Twitter Tools

There are a multitude of Twitter tools out there designed to help you manage your account. Pretty much all of them will require access to your account (see above), but now you know how to clear them out when you’re done.

My favorite tool so far has been Tweepi, which lets you do things like mass-flush unfollowers, clean up inactive users, reciprocate followers, and force people to unfollow you. While Tweepi worked for me, it’s far from the only option — check out this great Mashable article for other suggestions.

3. Give Your Profile a Facelift

In a previous post, I suggested five social media tactics you can try right now to boost your presence, the first of which was to brand yourself. Take some time to reevaluate your handle (I’m looking at you, @HotGuy4U), photo, profile information, background, etc. Make sure that your Twitter profile accurately represents your interests and what followers can expect from you.

Do you have any other suggestions for people looking to spring clean their Twitter account? What has and hasn’t worked for you?

In a previous post, I explored 4 Reasons Your Employees Should Be Active on Social Media. There are many benefits for an organization that has socially engaged employees, but how do you get employees engaged with social media? You can give them all the guidelines and tactics in the world, but ultimately it comes down to you, the marketer, who (hopefully with leadership buy-in) will be the one prioritizing it.

The way I see it, the secret to getting employees engaged isn’t so secret:

You have to make it as easy as possible.

I almost wrote “you just have to make it as easy as possible,” but that implies that making it easy for people is easy for you. It’s not. This isn’t because your coworkers are lazy or dense. It’s because they’re busy and have different priorities. If you’ve decided having socially engaged employees is good for business (and I believe it is), then it falls to marketing to take the lead and help people get started.

The thing about putting in this initial legwork is that it quickly gets ingrained into people’s processes. It gradually becomes natural for employees to exchange knowledge in LinkedIn Groups and/or Tweet about things that interest them or their company. It appears to be a lot of work upfront for the marketer, but it starts to require less management over time.

So get the ball rolling! Here are three quick ways you can make it as easy as possible for employees to navigate the social media world:

1) Incorporate “Suggested Tweets” into Your Regular Employee Communications

Many employees have social media accounts but aren’t always sure what to say. Whenever OpenView releases a major piece of content, we share it with the entire firm. Along with an email talking about the content and why it’s important, we include suggested tweets that employees can copy and paste. These tweets follow character limits, utilize hashtags and handles, and include pre-shortened links (I usually use Ow.ly). Let your employees know that they can copy and paste these into LinkedIn and Google Plus as well.

2) Offer Concrete Suggestions Regarding Where and How to Engage

Marketers, know your coworkers’ social media presences. When you produce or encounter a piece of content that would interest them, give them a head’s up and provide a couple of specific examples of where and how they can share and engage with it.

Let’s say you’re developing an eBook on company culture and you want to get the HR team’s involvement. Send individuals an email when it’s live, provide some suggested tweets, and offer up an outside article they can comment on and a LinkedIn Group they can share it in. This should only take you a few minutes and you’ll see it start to pay off.

3) Sit Down with People Individually

This is the most time consuming suggestion, and probably the most effective. If you can sit down with one or several employees interested in building up their presence, take stock of where they are now, and help them come up with a game plan, you have a valuable opportunity to offer ideas and measure impact. This is obviously not a quick and easy project, but it’s one with a lot of potential.

Have you had any luck getting employees socially engaged? What has worked (or hasn’t worked) for you?

Ah, April Fools’ Day. That magical time of year when we basically get a hall pass to prank our customers, coworkers, family members, and friends as much as we like. In the spirit of the day, I dug up three infamous tech pranks from a few well-known CEOs. Jobs, Zuckerberg, Page: tech pranksters at your service.

1. Steve Jobs and the 4,000 Starbucks Lattes

In January 2007, Steve Jobs revealed the iPhone to the world. Technology, communication, and our collective ability to take selfies everywhere we go has been transformed ever since. In order to demonstrate the iPhone’s power, he opened up Google Maps in front of a rapt audience, quickly found a nearby Starbucks, and called in an order for 4,000 lattes. The recipient of the iPhone’s first prank call, Ying Hang “Hannah” Zhang, was tracked down by Fast Company recently and had this to say about the incident:

I have never heard somebody order 4,000 lattes to go. I didn’t say anything because I was shocked. But my first impression was that he was just being humorous. He sounded like a gentleman.”

Hannah still works at that Starbucks, and she occasionally gets orders for 4,000 lattes to go.

2. Mark Zuckerberg’s Wirehog Pitch

Once upon a time, Mark Zuckerberg pitched a side project called Wirehog to Sequoia Capital, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm. Zuckerberg’s partner at the time, Sean Parker (Napster co-founder and first Facebook president), had a personal ax to grind with Sequoia and knew “there was no way we were ever going to take money” from the firm. Regardless, Zuckerberg and Parker showed up to the meeting, late and in their pajamas, to present, ”The Top Ten Reasons You Should Not Invest in Wirehog.” The number one reason? ”We’re only here because [a Sequoia partner] told us to come.”

Zuckerberg would go on to regret the pitch, saying, ”I assume we really offended them and now I feel really bad about that.”

3. Larry Page Announces Google TiSP

Google is infamous for its annual April Fool’s Day pranks, but 2007′s TiSP — The Toilet Internet Service Provider — has to be among the best. Google issued a press release announcing the “dark porcelain” project, offering self-installed plumbing-based Internet access by dropping a fiber-optic cable down the toilet and flushing. The gem of a press release “quotes” Larry Page, who said he was pleased for Google to be “leading the way through the sewers, up out of your toilet and — splat — right onto your PC.”

Honorable Mention: Bill Gates and the TED Mosquito Release

At the TED 2009 conference in California, Bill Gates released live mosquitos into the audience during a presentation about malaria education and prevention. I don’t think this qualifies as a “prank” per se, but it definitely deserves a mention. The mosquitos were malaria-free, of course, but that’s one way to get your audience’s attention.

Have any good pranks, CEO-related or otherwise? Let us know in the comments!

She might be able to enter the tech beauty pageant someday if she’s pretty enough!

Thanks, Complex Magazine! Finally, someone is talking about women in tech from a brave, new angle: hotness. If you haven’t seen it yet, “The 40 Hottest Women in Tech” (“hottest” as in “sexiest”) is a mess on many levels, denouncing the cultural patriarchy in the first paragraph and proceeding with a disorganized slideshow of 40 women whose accomplishments rank second to physical attractiveness. Many commenters and bloggers have already taken Complex to task (Gawker, The Atlantic Wire, MTV, and some of the women themselves included), but one more voice can’t hurt.

My colleague Salima Ladha recently wrote a great post for the OpenView blog: “Using Creative Approaches to Inspire More Women in Technology.” Salima explains that despite impressive achievements by women in the technology sector (some of which are noted in Complex, under the sexy pictures but above the “technology” and “hottest-women” tags), very few women are entering the field. She goes on to highlight some inspiring initiatives aimed at combating this, none of which include listing women in tech based on hotness. Welcome to the technology club, women, where your professional accomplishments will still be viewed through an aesthetic lens.

Ugh. Two steps forward, three steps back. If there was any doubt regarding Complex‘s intentions, I present to you the Tweet announcing the list’s release:

Got that, ladies and gents? Men are the owners of the tech world. They decide who gets let in. Good thing these women are pretty and good at stuff like being CEOs of Fortune 500 companies! Otherwise who knows if they would be welcome.

This should be insulting to everyone in tech, not just women. Both women and men are working hard to change tech’s gender bias, and it is irritating pieces of link bait like this that they have to combat every day (luckily this piece is so poorly done and difficult to justify that it’s an easy job).

It seems like bewildered defenders of this article have three main questions. Let’s dissect each one in order:

Why are people offended?

The current reality of the tech world is that not enough women are entering it, and that should change for innovation to grow. Technological innovation requires a diverse set of experiences and skills working towards a goal, and we can’t reach our goals when half of the world’s population isn’t participating. The reasons for this are complex and varied, and I don’t mean to suggest otherwise, but lists like Complex‘s aren’t helping.

“The 40 Hottest Women in Tech” reduces the accomplishments of the women that are contributing as secondary to their hotness. Sure, Complex makes a half-hearted attempt at highlighting their impressive achievements (thankfully not many of the actual descriptors elaborate on appearance), but let’s not maintain any illusions here — the many inspiring women on this list are there because of how they look first and what they’ve done second.

People are offended because technology is not a sector one enters expecting appearance to be a determining factor in success. People are offended because women are already underrepresented in technology and are now being further alienated. People are offended because the article advances nothing, helps no one, and further contributes to the “boy’s club” mentality it both embraces and pretends to condemn.

What if there was a “The 40 Hottest Men in Tech” list? Would you be offended then?

Oh, it’s been done. I would prefer neither list existed, but this question implies that being a man in tech and being a woman in tech carry the same weight and challenges. It’s a false comparison that doesn’t do anyone any favors. Women in tech are already fighting an uphill battle, and publishing this kind of article is like throwing stones at them from the top.

As Salima notes, we’re living in a world where women hold 60 percent of all bachelor’s degrees and yet they make up only 20 percent of students pursuing bachelor’s degrees in computer science or engineering. Not to mention the troubling cultural attitude towards women in general, which I won’t touch here but I’m sure you can research a bit on your own in light of recent events like Steubenville.

The bottom line is that listing professionals based on hotness is generally not a productive endeavor, and listing female professionals based on hotness in a male-dominated field is particularly toxic.

Couldn’t “hot” just be referring to “successful” or “current”?

Sure, but that’s not what’s happening here. I think the tweet above is pretty clear on that point. Plus, the author had this to say about his own article:

I was assigned to write the 50 Hottest Women in Tech by Complex and it really bummed me out, because the idea of perpetrating the same old gender divisions in an area like tech — which has predominantly been a boy’s club throughout history — seemed like kind of a messed up thing to do. It represents the most banal form of internet content that exists. But it’s hard to say no to a paycheck.

So what I tried to do was see if it was possible to make something called “The 50 Hottest Women in Tech” earnest and empowering and an actual good thing. I pretty much only included normal looking women, who were involved in something really crucial or exciting in the tech space. I made no allusions to their looks in the blurbs, and ended up with simply a long list of very exciting women.

Of course when the piece actually ran, I discovered that over half of the women I had included were replaced with people like Morgan Webb, complete with the usual lascivious dialogue. Sigh. It’s hard to win when you’re writing for Complex, but please know that I tried.

I mean, fair enough. We’ll even try and disregard the fact that he’s failed to produce the list of “normal looking” women who were cut and chalk it up to a writer in need of a paycheck. Regardless, this article is not about success. Want further proof? Just check out the additional content under the “hottest-women” tag. Anyone up for reading “The 11 Best Asses in Videogames” after we’re done?

Sigh.

This woman in tech is tired now, but I’m interested in your thoughts: What did you think of “The 40 Hottest Women in Tech”? Surely I’m not the only one bothered by this?

photo: daniel_iversen

Social media can seem a bit … exhausting. Check out that word cloud up there — there’s so much to think about, so much you can do, that I think a lot of people get overwhelmed and so they do nothing. I recently gave a presentation to my OpenView colleagues on 5 Social Media Tactics You Can Try Right Now, and in doing so I tried to isolate the main benefits of having employees active on social media. When people understand the why, hopefully the how becomes more manageable.

Here are four reasons why having socially engaged employees is important to OpenView, and in turn why every business should be encouraging their employees to explore the possibilities.

1) Thought Leadership

With OpenView Labs, OpenView brings operational expertise and insight to its portfolio of expansion-stage companies. It’s understandably crucial for organizations in the business of consulting to clearly establish their expertise, and one way they can do this is by building their professional brands using social media. Consultancies aren’t the only ones getting value from this, however. Any business can benefit from having well-established thought leaders who are active on social media. Here are a handful of examples how:

A good office remodel doesn’t come cheap, and it probably shouldn’t. Office design can affect an employee’s mood and health, and it can physically convey your company’s culture and values — not exactly areas to skimp on. When a remodel is in progress, cheap shouldn’t be the first word that comes to mind: value should be. The goal of an effective remodel project should be improving design while managing costs.

When OpenView went through its recent office remodel, Erin McDonald led the charge in prioritizing ways to reduce costs and maintain quality. She ended the project with three easy office remodeling tips for improving your workspace without breaking the bank:

1. Focus on the Paint

This is the least expensive but most effective starting point for transforming any office space. Color plays an important role in mood and productivity and should be carefully considered, plus its placement and contrast can immediately make a space feel more open and welcoming. Look to your company’s logo, website, and branding materials for inspiration, and do your research (Google is a wonderful thing).

At OpenView Labs and Expansion Lab, Erin chose various shades of purple and green to match our branding and create an energizing space. She asked for opinions from employees and design professionals before settling on the colors and hiring painters.

2. Be Smart About Your Vendors

You don’t need to go to expensive vendors to get the highest quality. While nothing can replace a seasoned expert, if you’re working with a tight budget there are resources you can utilize to reduce the expense of hiring consultants and labor professionals.

First, tap into your current vendor’s knowledge — your painters may give you some good advice regarding color choices, and your electricians may know common lighting trends. It never hurts to ask, and experts are usually happy to share what they know.

Next, look to nearby design schools for students learning about interior design and eager to gain experience. Most schools have career offices that will gladly share opportunities with students looking to expand their portfolio. Engaging design consultants this way can benefit both parties — the student gets experience and the company saves money. A word of caution: you get what you pay for. Don’t hire someone just because they’ll accept a low offer. Make sure your goals and vision align.

3. No Need to Buy Brand New

While most of OpenView’s furniture pieces were new, that doesn’t mean they were all delivered to the office neatly packaged in bubble wrap and cardboard. Erin was able to purchase some used or refurbished pieces from showrooms at a reduced cost, which is a great option to ask furniture dealers about.

Many sellers offer gently-used office furniture, and frequently checking sites like Craigslist can result in great finds from companies and individuals getting rid of old office furniture. No need to spend thousands of dollars for that ergonomic desk chair.

I’d love to hear your ideas and suggestions for saving money without sacrificing quality during an office remodel. What would you add to the list?

Erin (right) and myself chat in the newly remodeled kitchen at Expansion Lab.

When Erin McDonald started working at OpenView, she was surprised by one of the first questions OpenView’s founder Scott Maxwell asked her:

What are you passionate about?

After answering “design,” Erin soon found herself tasked with choosing new lighting fixtures for the Labs office. And with that, OpenView’s remodel projects were underway with Erin at the helm.

When was the last time you asked your coworkers and employees what they were passionate about? What they went to school for? What they spend their free time doing?

Imagine if Scott hadn’t taken the time to ask, and more importantly act on, the answers to those simple questions. We might not have known that we already had the design talent and knowledge to manage our remodel in-house!

It’s crucial for anyone managing a remodel (or any project for that matter) to gain a thorough understanding of the resources that are already at their disposal.

Here are the two main resources that Erin tapped into for help during the remodel:

Employees

It’s often said that a good manager knows what they don’t know. While managing the remodel of OpenView’s Labs, Expansion Lab, and Investment spaces, Erin found that leveraging employees was the first and most valuable tool for providing insight into anything that was unclear to her. Her initial approach was asking her coworkers questions: What are your needs? What do you want from the space? What are your complaints? In doing so, she quickly learned that someone had a contact in the lighting industry and would be happy to put her in touch as a starting point.

You won’t know the sort of network and knowledge you have around you unless you ask. Who and what your own coworkers and employees know might surprise you, so don’t be afraid to leverage them!

Current Vendors

Your lighting vendor probably has a preferred electrician and building management likely has a painter they already use. The vendors you’re already working with will gladly put you in touch with experts in the industry.

Once Erin was in touch with the experts she needed, she asked as many questions as she could, “even if they sounded really stupid.” The first thing to remember is this: experts usually love talking about what they’re experts in. Even if you decide not to work with a particular vendor, most will happily tell you what you should be considering and who else you should be talking to.

Have you gone through an office remodel? Who and what was particularly helpful during the process?

Lesson #3: Prioritize Easy Ways to Reduce Costs coming soon!

photo: khalid Albaih

A marketer’s best resources are often the people he or she works with.

Bob Apollo recently published a piece speaking to this sentiment, writing, “Business social media is too important to be left to the marketing department alone — it requires a team effort between marketing, sales and other customer-facing employees.”

Exactly! The more people in your organization participating in social media, the better. Your organization’s reputation as a thought leader will increase, and your company’s network will grow.

Each year at OpenView, members of the firm are asked to focus on a specific area of improvement and growth. With this year’s focus being leadership, I’m taking the reins of helping my fellow OpenViewers build up their social media presences. I’ve found that by researching and suggesting ways to help my coworkers, I’ve made progress toward my personal goal of building my presence and expanding my network. While I’m still learning as I go, I’d like to share five social media tactics that have worked well for me, and that anyone can try right now to enhance their social media presence.

1) Brand Yourself: Make Sure Your Image is Consistent Across Your Platforms

Use a professional name and photo for your public accounts (this means you may have to ditch your old AIM screen name as your Twitter handle), mention your professional/personal interests, and make sure people know what to expect from you. Basically, your community should be able to alternate between your public profiles and know who you are and the sort of content they’ll get from you.

2) Give Yourself a Posting Goal

Commit to an achievable daily goal. For example, make a daily resolution to tweet 3x, share one LinkedIn update, and share one Google Plus update. Increase your goal once you have that down — add Twitter RT/interaction goals, LinkedIn Group posting goals, etc. Here’s a good read on creating a social media editorial calendar that might help your organization.

You won’t get followers or expand your network if you’re not putting out regular content. And your content should appeal to the type of community you’re trying to build.

3) Get Connections by Connecting (Then Share Their Stuff!)

Follow and connect with other people in your field whose opinions you care about. A lot of people will reciprocate if you’re sharing content that’s interesting to them.

When you follow people on Twitter, check out their Lists and also follow members who are in the same professional space. Beware of mass following a ton of irrelevant people at once to increase your presence — Twitter has limitations to prevent you from doing this, and it won’t get you the type of high quality followers you’re after.

Once you start following relevant people, interact with them. Share their content, get them to notice your name. They’re more likely to follow you back that way, plus they might start sharing your content too.

4) Don’t Forget about the “No Brainer” Networks

Don’t overlook the obvious. Are you connected with your coworkers from your professional accounts? Vendors? Customers? Influencers whose expertise aligns with your own? These are all important connections and easy ways to expand your network. They are also individuals who are likely to recognize your name and connect with you, and now you have another way to stay in touch.

5) Join Communities and Post Relevant Content

Once you’re comfortable with your posting schedule and you’re putting out regular content, start joining communities and sharing things there. LinkedIn Groups are a great place to start. Join some Groups that you notice your connections are members of. Start by commenting on other people’s discussions, and then start adding your voice.

Note: for LinkedIn Groups, pay attention to the Group rules and general etiquette. Some Groups don’t allow links to articles and blog posts, but present great opportunities to participate in a discussion and build name recognition.

Your turn: Have any of these tactics worked for you? What did I miss?

There are few things that appear as hectic as a complete office remodel.

For weeks or months, employees are working (or trying to work) in a construction zone. Multiple vendors are in and out of one space. Building codes need to be followed, budgets need to be adhered to, and design decisions need to be made. It can all seem very overwhelming, very quickly.

The person whose job it is to manage such a project needs to be the calm before (and during) the storm. This is not a project for the faint of heart … or the scatterbrained. The secret is staying organized to stay successful.

Always Have a Workplan

Erin McDonald kept OpenView’s storm to a light drizzle during 2012’s remodel by managing the moving parts involved with a comprehensive workplan. Of the workplan, Erin said don’t even consider a remodel project without one.

“A workplan came into play immediately. It’s the first thing you have to do, even if it’s jumbled and out of order and completely confusing. You need something.”

Not completely sure where to start with a remodel? Erin wasn’t either. After spending some time in Interior Design school, Erin had a foundation of design knowledge but quickly found that nothing could substitute real world experience. As it turns out, a remodel is best achieved by flexible planning and a lot of doing (isn’t that the case with most worthwhile things?). Erin stressed that your initial workplan can itself be a work in progress.

Developing Your Workplan

Start your workplan by tracking who you’re going to need to talk to, starting with the building owners. Property owners can give you information on any design limitations. For example, does the building require that you install special blinds or stay within a certain color palette? Get a thorough understanding of the confines you’ll be working with so you can plan accordingly.

Presumably you have a good idea of the scope and budget of the remodel before you start – the more extensive your remodel and stricter your budget, the more detail your workplan will require. With that in mind, start tracking everything in your workplan as it evolves. Note correspondences, dates, and outcomes. Keep copies of all paperwork.

Did the vendor send an invoice? Keep a copy. Did the lighting company give you the name of a good electrician? Record it. Did the furniture retailer give you a delivery date? Mark it down. This will come in handy as your contacts grow.

Some other organization details to keep in mind:

• If the remodel is taking place in a working space (as OpenView’s did), consider timing. Work with your building’s facilities manager to allow vendors access to complete work outside of business hours. Organize your vendors around you employee’s schedules and not the other way around. It will likely be a longer remodel process, but don’t sacrifice productivity if you can help it.
• Overcommunication is key when it comes to vendors. Ask for specifics, push for dates, and record everything. Generate and track weekly update emails to vendors so you know you are all on the same page.
• Consider ongoing maintenance while developing your workplan. Are the vendors doing the work the same vendors fixing things if they go wrong?
• If something goes wrong, record exactly how it was resolved. This will be useful in future vendor dealings and when conveying your progress to your managers.

Stay tuned for Lesson #2: Leverage the Resources You Already Have.

Do you have additional tips for staying organized? Any questions for Erin? Let me know in the comments!

I struggled writing this post because I wanted to get the words right. Like most people, I stared at my computer screen last Friday afternoon, blinking back tears as I read about the Newtown shooting. You don’t need me to rehash it. It was horrifying and wrong and heartbreaking and the only thing I read that gave me any sort of catharsis was from a fake news outlet. I struggled writing this post because there are no right words for what happened.

And yet, never have I read more words about an event. The words were pouring out of everyone – Twitter and Facebook were hemorrhaging them. I oversee OpenView’s social media presence and found myself drowning in collective grief and anger. And I didn’t know what to do or how to handle it. Post something? Leave it alone? Carry on as usual?

I ended up posting one corporate tweet, one tweet with an offer of “thoughts and condolences” that felt utterly useless. I tried a “business as usual” approach from other accounts but it felt forced, like a shout out to no one. I don’t know if I handled it correctly, and that bothers me.

Brian Zimmerman, our Managing Director, gave me a great suggestion recently regarding blog posts: write about what you wish you were doing better. In addition to thinking a lot about what we could all be doing better after Newtown, the tragedy was a valuable reminder at an unspeakable price: your social media presence is your immediate, humanized brand. Never is this more apparent than when something like this happens. Keep that in mind and use it accordingly.

A friend of mine who works in social media texted me last weekend:

“Did any of your professional social profiles post about the shooting?”

Yup. Conflicted. Didn’t know how to handle it.

“I ended up not posting anything because I thought it wasn’t my place. I’ve been thinking about it all weekend and I feel like I should have. It makes me question if I’m good at my job. And I’m questioning how I performed at my job, so does that make me a terrible human?”

No, of course it doesn’t. It just makes those of us in the social media realm human, period. People who want to do their jobs well, even when the context of their jobs changes.

The most eloquent words I read through any medium this week came from a first grader named John. John lost his best friend Jack Pinto on Friday. He wrote:

Jack,

You are my best friend.

We had fun together.

I will miss you.

I will talk to you in my prayers.

I love you Jack.

Love,

John

Simple. No motive other than grief and love. There doesn’t seem to be much else to say.

I wrote this post to share these thoughts, but also to hear how others handled their personal and professional brands in the aftermath of Newtown. What did you struggle with? What did you notice other businesses doing?

Meet my colleague Erin McDonald (surveying her work in the photo above). Along with the rest of OpenView’s Operations Team, Erin ensures our office stays fun and efficient. Without her we couldn’t keep our jobs and our sanity (I imagine we test Erin’s sanity daily).

In addition to helping us stay organized as a team, she is literally responsible for the roof over our heads. For the better part of 2012, Erin has overseen three OpenView remodel projects from start to finish. She has experienced the best (and the worst) of the remodel process, and has much to share with expansion-stage companies looking to update their space.

The biggest challenge in developing this series is consolidating Erin’s expansive design knowledge and experience. Taking an idea as general as “office remodel” and turning it into a reality is a complex process involving dozens of moving parts. Throughout each phase of the process, Erin gained several takeaways that will be explored in individual posts:

OpenView Office Remodel Lesson #1: Stay Organized

This is both the most important and most difficult lesson. Any remodel is going to require vendor communication, deadlines, paperwork, etc. Keeping everything in order and tracking all actions and expenses may seem overwhelming, but it’s crucial to the success of the project and any remodel projects that come after.

OpenView Office Remodel Lesson #2: Leverage the Resources You Already Have

Do you know what your fellow employees are passionate about? What they went to school for? What sort of connections they have? You might be surprised by the answers. The people and vendors you already know will be one of your greatest assets.

OpenView Office Remodel Lesson #3: Prioritize Easy Ways to Reduce Costs

No matter how much (or how little) money you’re working with, you want to be as cost-effective as possible. If you have a tight budget, there are simple steps you can take to get the most out of the money you have.

Keeping these lessons in mind during your remodel will result in a livelier and more productive space for your team. Stay tuned for more!

People are generally surprised when I tell them that, too.

A post from Inc. last week called “The Return of Writing” by Jessica Stillman did a good job of highlighting high-profile business leaders like Jeff Bezos (Amazon) and Phil Libin (Evernote), who are working to make sure that their employees and candidates “flex their atrophying writing muscles.” If you ever find yourself leading a meeting with Jeff Bezos, prepare to write several pages of narratively-structured memos for your coworkers to review. If you apply for a job with Phil Libin, you better be ready to turn in a writing sample.

I loved Stillman’s article, but I wish that placing a high value on writing skills in the business world didn’t merit a highlight. As my colleague Kevin Cain has eloquently conveyed, “words still matter, and more than most of us think.” I would even add that long-form words still matter – that is, the ability to string together numerous paragraphs coherently and correctly. Narrative still matters. Grammar still matters. Your company’s story matters more than ever. How are you telling it?

This post will not shock content marketers, but they may identify with the frustrations inherent in getting the business world to care about writing quality. We live in a world of 140 characters or less, where there is more information and seemingly less time to consume it. So we shorten it to the bare bones, and I worry that what we’re ending up with are skeletons of ideas.

I don’t think Jeff Bezos or Phil Libin are looking for the best writers – I think they’re looking for people who can completely flesh out their thoughts, think critically, and communicate effectively. Completely writing out your ideas forces you to do that. You don’t have to be Ernest Hemingway, but you do have to know what you’re talking about and why it’s important.

As I mentioned, I’m lucky to find myself at a firm that highly values writing. The result of this focus is a team of experts. My colleagues know their fields and share their successes, failures, and lessons learned. In writing about our work, we are better able to analyze and understand that work. It makes for a highly-effective, thoughtful team.

Stories like Amazon’s and Evernote’s and OpenView’s are notable because they are, unfortunately, rare. But they don’t have to be. Take a page out of Libin’s book next time you’re interviewing, or test out Bezos’s strategy for your next executive meeting. You might end up with better employees and stronger ideas.

What do you think of the current state of writing in the business world? Have you worked somewhere that highly valued writing skills? Somewhere that didn’t?

As 2012 winds down and next year’s planning begins, you no doubt have stakeholder feedback on the brain (it’s in there somewhere between holiday planning and seasonal illness concerns). I focus on portfolio communication at OpenView Labs, so I spend a lot of time seeking feedback from our portfolio stakeholders regarding both specific projects and more holistic assessments. A survey is the natural way to go about this, but while the survey concept is straightforward, effective execution requires a bit of finesse.

My stakeholder likely differs from yours, but our question is probably the same: how do you create simple, effective surveys that stakeholders don’t ignore, delete, or wish they could set on fire? After my share of successes and failures, here are five factors to keep in mind as you develop your surveys.

Note: this article is best suited for those creating basic stakeholder feedback surveys. For more heavy duty, customer-specific information browse more articles from my OpenView Labs colleagues.

1) Know Your Stakeholder

The first rule of any initiative, whether it’s designing a survey or picking out Mom’s Christmas present, is to know your audience. Imagine you are your stakeholder. How would you like to be spoken to? How much time do you have? What do you know? What do you care about? When sending a survey, your recipient shouldn’t be hearing, “Please, tell me more about myself!” He or she should be hearing, “I value your opinion.” So whose opinion are you looking for? Craft your survey accordingly.

2) Choose the Right Platform

There is no shortage of survey tools available to you. Some of them are great, some of them … not so much. I use Instant.ly, which is an OpenView portfolio company and (in my humble opinion) a terrific product. For my purposes, Instant.ly is ideal – it has a clean interface, plenty of customization offerings, and it’s free. It really depends on your needs. Do some research, and test before you purchase.

3) Keep It Simple

Thomas Jefferson said, “The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.” My addendum: never ask two questions when one will do. Complexity usually masks uncertainty. If you’re confident about your audience and goals, there’s no need to ask a question five different ways or be overly explanatory. Plus, simplicity shows respect for your stakeholder’s time.

4) Consider Your Question Types

This gets into the nitty-gritty of survey creation: how you’re asking your questions. Most survey tools will offer numerous “question types,” or opportunities to choose your question structure. Get familiar with each question type available to you – perhaps one multi-select matrix would make sense where you have multiple lists. This requires some thought and experimentation, but it ends up being easier for your recipient and better for you when it comes time to generate your results report.

5) Get a Second Opinion

This is crucial and has saved me from error more than once – have a colleague test your survey beforehand. There are a lot of things that can go wrong – incorrect question logic, typos, ordering issues, etc. Most people will be happy to take a few minutes and be your second set of eyes.

Do you have anything to add to the list?

“Yeah, my feeling is that the modern workplace is structured completely wrong. It’s really optimized for interruptions. And interruptions are the enemy of work.”

-Jason Fried | Co-founder, 37signals 

This post is based on Jason Fried’s excellent BigThink interview, Why You Can’t Work at Work. Please watch and proceed!

I remember the first time I watched Jason Fried’s video on workplace interruptions. It was a few years ago and I was working in a typically-structured modern workplace. After a full day of meetings and impromptu discussions and “urgent” emails, I was exhausted. I had worked a full day, spending much of it talking about implementable ideas and process improvements, and when it was time to go home I felt like nothing was complete. What happened?

Interruptions happened, and interruptions keep happening in practically every office in corporate America (and beyond). The email stream. The social media feed. The shoulder tap. The desk knock. The quick meeting. The long meeting. The mere anticipation of an interruption. I could keep going but you don’t need me to. You’ve probably already been interrupted since you started reading. This very post could be an interruption you’ve allowed into your workflow. A constant state of interruption seems to be the one we’re living in, and it’s not doing us any favors.

The study of the effect of disruptions on job performance is known as “interruption science,” and there is much evidence legitimizing what we know to be true: interruptions make us less productive. We think we’re multitasking, but we’re just getting nowhere fast. We’re working longer, but not smarter. We’re more stressed, tired, and distracted. Take this infographic from Atlassian, which estimates up to 60% of work time is spent unproductively. That may seem high, but given the amount of emails, meetings, and interruptions that the average worker has to endure daily it’s not that hard to believe.

So what’s a worker to do to minimize interruptions and maximize productivity? I humbly offer a few ideas here, and encourage you to supplement this list with what has worked for you:

1) Have a process in place.

This is #1. I don’t care what the process is, but you need something built in to your organization to minimize distractions as much as possible. We use Scrum at OpenView. It doesn’t always work perfectly, but it instills a respect for our colleague’s time that seems rare in the modern workplace.

In Jason Fried’s video, he advocates using software that works for you (he mentions his own, Campfire). Do some experimenting and see how a new framework or software might make all the difference.

2) Practice awareness and set an example.

Now that you’re more aware of interruptions and their effect on productivity, don’t go hollering your coworker’s name across the room when you need something. This is especially important for managers to keep in mind. Fried laments that “management means interrupting,” but management should also mean respect for, and trust in, your employees. Management has the power to determine expectations and culture. Ultimately, Fried says “quality is the leader, and everyone has to understand that that’s what this is all about.”

3) Close. The. Browser. Seriously. Close it.

Forty percent of distractions are caused by us choosing to stop what we’re doing to do something else. So close Outlook. Close Firefox. Close Twitter. Close it and commit yourself to a period of uninterrupted work. This might not be realistic in all office environments. Do what you can. Your time is valuable and it is a commodity. Manage it accordingly.

How do you deal with workplace interruptions?

If you use Spotify, you can subscribe to the Top 10 Playlist: Songs for Entrepreneurs. Happy listening!

TOP 10 Songs for Entrepreneurs

1.   Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band – “Express Yourself”

Why? This song has a lot of soul, just like you, intrepid entrepreneur. There’s no better spirit to infuse into your endeavor – express yourself!

Best Lyric “Whatever you do, do it good”

2.   M83 – “Steve McQueen”

Why? Never has a song about a famous dead actor sounded more epic and inspiring. “Steve McQueen” is about triumph in the face of everything that knocks you down in life, a sentiment that most entrepreneurs can relate to.

Best Lyric “I woke up stronger than ever!”

3.   The Temper Trap – “Sweet Disposition”

Why? “Sweet Disposition” is a song about love, but it’s also a song about new ideas, new beginnings, and what inspires us.

Best Lyric “We won’t stop ’til it’s over, we won’t stop to surrender”

4.   The Rolling Stones – “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”

Why? Hey, a lot of the best ideas are borne out of frustration – businesses start because someone wants to change something. Channel your dissatisfaction into good! It worked for Mick Jagger.

Best Lyric “I can’t get no satisfaction”

5.   Kanye West – “POWER”

Why? Just like most things that come from Kanye, “POWER” is all about Kanye. Regardless, if this song doesn’t make you want to go out and conquer the world then we need to check your pulse. Thanks to Martin Lieberman for this suggestion!

Best Lyric “I’m livin’ in the 21st century, doin’ something mean to it”

6.   Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – “I Won’t Back Down”

Why? There are a few Tom Petty songs that could have taken this spot, but this one really captures the attitude it takes to succeed.

Best Lyric “Gonna stand my ground and I won’t back down”

7.   Spoon – “The Underdog”

Why? “The Underdog” is about sticking it to the man, man. This song talks about the arrogance of the establishment and why the little man can win.

Best Lyric “You got no fear of the underdog, That’s why you will not survive”

8.   Aloe Blacc – “I Need A Dollar”

Why? Preach, Aloe. I think a lot of entrepreneurs can relate – just don’t start singing it at your next VC investment meeting.

Best Lyric “And if I share with you my story would you share your dollar with me?”

9.   Jill Scott – “Golden”

Why? “Golden” celebrates freedom, and Jill Scott uses her powerful voice to get that message across – put it all on the line and take chances.

Best Lyric “I’m living my life like it’s golden”

10.   Bob Marley & The Wailers – “Three Little Birds”

Why? With all the stress that can come with entrepreneurship, it’s good to remember every now and then that things usually have a way of working out.

Best Lyric “Don’t worry ’bout a thing, ‘Cause every little thing is gonna be all right.”

BONUS

11.   R.Kelly – “I Believe I Can Fly”

Why? I’m a 90′s kid and it makes me laugh to include this. Also, don’t pretend you haven’t sung this song aloud and really felt the lyrics.

Best Lyric … “I believe I can fly”

I’m sure you have some additions of your own. Leave them in the comments!

That change hasn’t happened by accident, either. Aside from being a comedic visionary, Louis C.K. is also quite the savvy businessman. And if companies pay attention, they can learn quite a bit from his techniques.

Here are three business lessons we can learn from Louis.

1. Cut out the middleman when you can.

In late 2011, Louis C.K. made over $1 million in 12 days by selling downloads of his Live at the Beacon standup special, and during the summer of 2012 he sold 100,000 tickets to his live show in two days (to the tune of $4.5 million). He pocketed all of that.

The reason? As an experiment, he released everything in one place: his own website.  He paid all Live at the Beacon production and posting costs out-of-pocket and charged fans only $5 to download. It was this same technique that led to his sold-out performances. He avoided using a ticketing service, charged everyone a flat rate of $45, and kept the profit. Soon, other comedians began to follow suit. Thanks to Louis C.K., the traditional comedy distribution model is beginning to change.

In expansion-stage companies, a middleman is hopefully there for a reason – to facilitate what seems impractical or impossible. But every company should constantly be looking for ways to streamline their processes. Simplicity can be difficult to achieve but extremely valuable when embraced. Look at your company – is there a vendor slowing you down? Is there a communication breakdown along a chain of command that’s too long? Is there a piece of software that’s supposed to help but actually hinders? If so, get rid of it.

2. Be direct with your audience.

Don’t forget to speak honestly to those who are already listening. Something that Louis C.K. and expansion-stage companies have in common is an engaged audience. You want that audience to grow, but being direct with your current customers is crucial. They should know who you are and what you’re about.

When Louis C.K. released Live at the Beacon, one concern was illegal downloading. Of that, he had this to say to his buyers:

“I’d just like you to consider this: I made these files extremely easy to use against well-informed advice … I chose to do it this way anyway, because I want it to be easy for people to watch and enjoy this video in any way they want without “corporate” restrictions.

Please bear in mind that I am not a company or a corporation. I’m just some guy. I paid for the production and posting of this video with my own money. I would like to be able to post more material to the fans in this way, which makes it cheaper for the buyer and more pleasant for me. So, please help me keep this being a good idea.”

It worked. Honesty and a quality, reasonably priced product made people happy to pay. He didn’t condescend or underestimate his audience, which ranks among the most important business lessons you can learn from him: Demonstrate confidence in your product and your consumer, and they will respond in kind.

3.    Humanize your brand.

I was inspired to write this post because of one of Louis C.K.’s latest offerings. When fellow comedian Tig Notaro performed in August 2012, shortly after being diagnosed with breast cancer and a few weeks after her mother passed away, her raw set was quickly elevated to legendary status. There was just one problem – no one but those in attendance could experience the set. Enter Louis C.K.

Louis C.K. got a hold of the audio and made it available for a $5 download with $4 of that going directly to Notaro. Notaro donated some of her portion to breast cancer research and benefited from the exposure. Louis C.K.’s distribution model worked once again – Notaro is now cancer-free and has a book deal.

This isn’t to say that your company needs to start a charity tomorrow (these are business lessons, after all), but you should be asking yourself what else your consumer likes and supports. A good company knows that it’s not always about them and is in a better position to build a positive image and customer loyalty because of that. This is especially important to remember as a marketer – create a conversation, share content, engage in mutually beneficial endeavors. Your customers (and your bottom line) will thank you.

Of course, perhaps the most important lesson from Louis C.K. is to have a sense of humor.

No company is perfect. Openly acknowledging a mistake can improve your image and your relationship with your customer. But first, you have to fess up.

On Friday, September 28^th, Apple CEO Tim Cook issued an apology on the company’s website for their disappointing Maps app. In doing away with Google Maps and launching their own software, it soon became apparent that Apple had released a product not up to their usual standards. The world of iOS 6 Maps was a scary one in which cars melted away and giant plants roamed loose on the streets of New York.

It was not an unprecedented move (see Information Week for Apple’s Top 20 Public Apologies) but it struck me as unique in offering solutions to the problem while Apple worked on perfecting its software. It’s a valuable lesson in customer communication and worth a read.

Here is the apology in full:

To our customers,

At Apple, we strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers. With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better.

We launched Maps initially with the first version of iOS. As time progressed, we wanted to provide our customers with even better Maps including features such as turn-by-turn directions, voice integration, Flyover and vector-based maps. In order to do this, we had to create a new version of Maps from the ground up.

There are already more than 100 million iOS devices using the new Apple Maps, with more and more joining us every day. In just over a week, iOS users with the new Maps have already searched for nearly half a billion locations. The more our customers use our Maps the better it will get and we greatly appreciate all of the feedback we have received from you.

While we’re improving Maps, you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app.

Everything we do at Apple is aimed at making our products the best in the world. We know that you expect that from us, and we will keep working non-stop until Maps lives up to the same incredibly high standard.

Tim Cook

Apple’s CEO

Anyone who has anxiously awaited an Apple product knows that the company is traditionally pretty tight-lipped. As OpenView blogger Nick Petri pointed out in a previous post, Steve Jobs was not in the business of apologizing for his product. And for the most part he didn’t have to. Apple products are revered for their simplicity, beauty, and efficiency. So when Maps failed to live up to consumer expectations, Cook knew it was time to be honest or risk an even stronger backlash.

There are valid criticisms of Apple and how they’ve handled their position in the marketplace. I’m sure if you asked Google about the Maps fiasco, they would say Apple had it coming. (In fact, Google chairman Eric Schmidt did say something to that effect.) However, Tim Cook’s apology is notable for suggesting alternatives in their competitor’s products and assuring us that they would not be happy until their customers were happy.

Incidents like this one are a reminder that honesty and humility are generally good policies to adopt. When you screw up, fess up.

As it turns out, they’re everywhere. They’re in (and making bids for) the White House. They’re running companies (they may even be running yours). They’re leading revolutions. They’re changing the way we view the world and how we interact with each other. Extroversion* and leadership needn’t be inextricably linked.

Author Susan Cain during her TED talk.

A recent opinion piece by Susan Cain in the New York Times, “Must Great Leaders Be Gregarious?” explores the issue of the introverted leader and the misconceptions about what leadership entails. Politics aside, it’s a thought-provoking essay on what it means to be a leader – Cain argues that an outgoing persona is not a necessary leadership attribute. What matters more is the “charisma of ideas.”

It makes sense that we often associate effective leaders with big personalities – their voices tend to carry after all. Many of the world’s leaders have been extroverts and it has served them well – their people skills and energy can draw crowds and inspire action. But as Cain writes, we often “prize leaders who are eager talkers over those who have something to say.” A skilled talker isn’t necessarily a skilled leader. If one’s talk of ideas is just that – talk – there can be no real leadership.

“We prize leaders who are eager talkers over those who have something to say.”

Dismissing introversion as a character flaw instead of a valuable personality type and communication style is to do a disservice to a substantial portion of the population. A very scientific Google search reveals that anywhere from 25-50% of the population are introverts, simply meaning that they draw their energy from within instead of externally. Ideas, memories, reflections – these are the things that make introverts tick. They tend to put thought before action, exercising a natural caution and restraint. “Shy” is not a synonym for “introverted.” Introverts like people, but they may not want to be around them all the time.

When I think of the leaders who have inspired me, I believe that the majority of them are introverts who have been able to socialize and collaborate when necessary. Cain cites personality psychologist Brian Little: “we all need to act out of character occasionally, for the sake of work or people we love.” An effective introverted leader knows how to talk to people, but more importantly knows how to listen to them.

Jobs and Woz, two cool guys.

For better or for worse, our society prizes extroversion as the ideal. Most of our school and work environments are designed to facilitate constant social interaction, and enabling teamwork certainly isn’t a bad thing. In fact, some of the best ideas are the result of an introvert-extrovert team. Think Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Sheryl Sandberg and Mark Zuckerberg. Sergey Brin and Larry Page. What we should be cautious of is alienating introverts in the interest of bolstering social interaction. We won’t produce the thoughtful, informed leaders we need if introverts don’t feel empowered to lead in the first place.

So please, introverts take heart and extroverts take heed: quiet power is still power, and charisma and charm matters less than ideas and actions.

*For the purposes of this post, I’ve settled on the more common spelling of “extrovert.”

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”

- George Bernard Shaw

Tell me about it, George. Communication, the good and the bad, is the thread running through every professional and personal experience. It’s crucial and is perhaps the most important aspect of your personal and professional life, yet so many of us fail at it. What does it mean to be an effective communicator? How can we do better?

These are questions I want to answer, and I suspect OpenView’s readers do too. Effective communication is especially meaningful at the expansion stage, when new ideas and steady growth define so much of what a company does. How do you make sure new ideas aren’t dead in the water? How do you communicate with your investors, clients, coworkers, managers, employees, vendors, stakeholders, etc. to ensure steady growth?

When I was working in marketing at a nonprofit, my manager told me about a 1990 Stanford University study that changed the way I thought about communication issues. Psychology graduate student Elizabeth Newton assigned her subjects to one of two roles: “tapper” or “listener.” Tappers chose a popular song and tapped out their song on a table for the listeners. Listeners had to guess the song.

Out of 120 songs, listeners had a success rate of 2.5%. Out of 120 songs, tappers predicted a listener success rate of 50%. This disparity is known as the “curse of knowledge” – we can all hear the song in our heads and we assume everyone else can too.

This is at the heart of most communication problems. If we can better convey our messages, then we can get others to sing along. If we can become skilled listeners, we might learn new songs. We have to remember that communication requires mutual understanding – otherwise we may as well just be talking to the office wall.

Your communication skills are just one tool in your toolkit, but they could be the most important. You take them with you wherever you go and use them for all of your interactions. They define your relationships and could determine your business success (or failure). With my blog, I will explore communication issues and how they can be approached at the expansion stage.

Basically, I’ll try and tap for you – let me know if you can hear the song.