This particular doodle is a continuous doodle thought…

Okay. I woke up this morning – a gray day in Green Vegas – but the sun was shining in my heart. Can’t explain it really. Maybe it is because I am getting out of town.

Austin. One of my favorite cities.

And I have decided I might stay the weekend and play around.

With that smile in my heart, I read this direct message from someone on Twitter. I won’t give his name but I want to share.

Indulge me:

yrs ago, i sent my wife a link to your site and said, one day i’m going to build my company like that: “a tribe of true believers”

Those of you that read our blog know I blow very hot and cold on this twitter craze. Or daze.

Whatever you want to call it.

It is additive and sometimes weirds me out when I find myself getting completely sucked in. You got to know how silly I think it for people to twitter to each other at dinner. (Geez, as I write this I realized I did that with Geno last night. Shouted out to my friends that I was with Geno have a really cool little drink before bed. See, it sucks you in. Guess there are something you just long to share…)

And if you hang out here often, you probably know this about me too. I get my jollies by inspiring others to believe in themselves. I read somewhere that leaders create leaders. That is my job here on this planet. To inspire strong and powerful leaders to lift others up in life. To elevate and empower their employees and their customers. To find the shared passions. To connect people. To give everyone a voice and supportive venue to use their time and talents wisely.

Period.

So that message from Twitter only intended for my eyes is proof in a funny sort of way that it’s working. That Brains on Fire is a movement and and not just a place to work. Those kind words from someone I may never meet but we have inspired feels like “twitter love”.

Forgive me if this post feels like horn tooting. But see in a funny sort of way, I get it now. Connecting with people you don’t even know can be a powerful thing.

So today. I will love and appreciate the value of twitter. Silly, silly twitter.

Now you go: tell me your favorite “twitter love story”.

P.S. I actually wrote this yesterday but didn’t get to post until Friday morning. Now I am in Austin with the amazing + delightful @genochurch at one of the most soulful little hotels I have stayed in long time. Check it out. Hotel Saint Cecila. I recommend this to all my friends. All of you. Even the ones i don’t know. Yet.

Who’s heard of Robin Dunbar? For those of you who haven’t, his most widely known work as an anthropologist is called “Dunbar’s Number,” which proposes that the ceiling of ’stable interpersonal relationships’ that the average person can maintain is 150. Though his initial work studied groups of people offline, he has recently moved his research online to study the same principle in social networks.

Aside from being thought-provoking in and of itself, the variety of responses that Dunbar’s research has drawn is also interesting. Some people use the measure to decry the online frenzy of friends and followers, others use their idea of the massive influence of social media to discredit it. Many people approach their interpretation of the number through personal networking experience and some have even made it their goal to ‘beat’ the number.

One thing, however, seems to be consistent among both supporters and critics: the number of deep, meaningful, trusting relationships that you can have, either online or offline, is a much smaller figure than gigantic number of acquaintances you can achieve.

And I think many people (and companies for that matter) could be missing one of the most important lessons in the conversation. On some level, it doesn’t matter as much whether Dunbar’s number validates or invalidates connections in social networking, it’s a reminder that you can cultivate a core group of fans that have a vested interest in you.

It begs the question, what are you doing to fascinate, inspire, reward and engage that smaller number of people who have the closest connection to your company or brand?

Case in point, if you’re a runner and like to run outside in public places (like downtown), more than likely you’ve been stopped and asked directions by pedestrians or even drivers. At that moment, you have a decision to make. Because in that moment, you can choose to be an ambassador for your city. You can choose to take the time to stop and get them where they need to go and wish them well on their way. You just became an ambassador. You just gave that person a “customer experience.”

My point is that you don’t have to be involved in a formal program to be considered an ambassador. You don’t even have to be a loud and proud evangelist to be considered an ambassador. We make decisions everyday when we interact with others. And many times, brands are a part of those interactions. So take the time to become aware of your conversations. Because those are the same ones your customers are having. And each and every one of those are an opportunity to make both your lives better.

I’ve been thinking about my life. My family. And how I choose to spend my time.
I have been thinking about Brains on Fire and what success really looks like for us.
About how on earth can you fairly compensate such a wildly talented group of people who see Brains on Fire as a passionate cause and not a job.
I have been thinking about the work we do and the big opportunities in front of us.
It’s all sort of been running together for some reason.

So, yesterday I had an interview. (Yes, we have are considering a new hire and that feels good.) And when I asked this smart, bright lady if she had anything she wanted to ask me she replied, “What do you expect of me? What are your expectations?”

Hmmmmm….

I told her we are all in grad school now. Exploring new ideas. And the learning you choose to do every single day of your life is completely self directed. You’re driving the ship and collecting ideas and inspiration every single day. Read. A lot. Write. A lot. Think out loud and share with others. Even when you aren’t sure you’re right.

Let yourself experience life with your eyes and heart and mind wide open.

I know I am lucky and rare. I love what I do everyday. Especially the work we have found ourselves doing now. Connecting people. Lifting people up. Inspiring. Helping them fall in love with what they do again. Helping them find the shared passions that connect the dots.

Cordell has this great story about this lady he met in a bar many, many years ago. (I promise I’ll get him to tell it to you some day, he does a much better job than me…) Anyway he was well, intoxicated (Jagermeister was involved). And he was having a hard time hearing her. She asked him what did. And he said, “Advertising.” Then she looked at him and said, “Pretty trash.” So he said, “No. I am okay. I’m not trashed.” And then she said “You make pretty trash.”

Hmmmm.

Learn something new today.

Listening is great. And doing is even better. But there’s a step in there that a lot of companies miss. Yes, you can tune in to those conversations with the likes of Umbria (now JD Power Web Intelligence), Radian6 and ScoutLabs and get all the number of mentions, sentiment and other basic information that you need to check off your list. But before all that, you really need to know what you’re listening for. Because it’s one thing to listen. And it’s quite another to know what you’re listening for. It’s even beyond “active” listening.

Around these parts, we call is the “passion conversation.” That’s what we’re listening for. Not the conversation about your product, but the conversation about people’s lives and how you might be lucky enough to fit into it. Because you can do something with those conversations. Not just try to get people to talk louder and more about you. That strategy will fail every time.

So sure, listen. But be open to what you’re listening for. Don’t monitor the conversation, learn from it beyond what your competition is learning from it. Listen in a way that will help you reframe how what you do and why you’re doing it. Because when you do, listening becomes the launching pad for a movement, ya hear?

*Photo by Alyssa via her Flickr.

Whenever I hear  people talk about how to view and treat customers, a memory comes to mind that was burned into my head: In my first few weeks at Brains on Fire, I remember Robbin leaning back from her desk, looking at me, and almost yelling, “Eric, I’m going to scream if I hear the words ‘Cost Per Acquisition’ one more time - these are REAL PEOPLE, not just numbers!”

I was reminded of that story the other night I went out to hear local band Andy Lehman and the Night Moves. Andy didn’t say much during the show, but the one thing he did say really caught me off-guard - and made Robbin’s words echo in my ears.

“I think a lot of bands have it backwards these days - somehow they get to a place where they think that the audience should thank them for playing. Well, it’s the other way around. I want you to know that it’s a privilege for me to be here - for you to take time out of your night to come and hear us play a few songs, and we’d be honored if you joined us on our journey.”

Andy didn’t look at the crowd and calculate his estimated takeaway in CD sales - he looked at the crowd and saw real people who were there to hear good music - people he could inspire. And he thanked them for giving him that opportunity.

No matter how great or unique you think your agency, company or product is, it is still a privilege to serve the customer who has chosen you out of a sea of unlimited choices and given you the opportunity to rock their world. And the opportunity to rock your customer’s world should never go to waste.

I had an ah-ha moment today.

I like to think of myself as someone who sees the bright spots (to borrow a phrase from the Heath Brothers). But today I had a conversation and in the middle of my sentence, it struck me.

My words were falling on dead ears. And in some ways that makes them sort of negative. Empty. Make sense?

I was trying to get this person to see MY point of view. Instead of inspiring them with a new thought – a new vision. I wasn’t trying to share with this person or even find the common ground, but persuade or push them over to my point of view.

I had to stop myself from smiling as I realized how pointless my words were. Even if I were to talk this person over to my way of thinking, he would not own that view for very long. Nothing would really be accomplished at all. It would a temporary win.

And that got me thinking about the work we do as marketers. So many of us are still trying to persuade others to join us or buy our products and services.

See things our way.

Instead of inspiring and supporting and lifting up the conversations that are real and shared and true.

I believe we are all looking for the higher purpose in the work we do. We are looking for emotional connections to others and the mark we make on the world. And that means putting yourself as a person and a company — out there. Flying your passion flag. Letting your spirit show.

Cordell said in a meeting today. I hate the word “tagline”.

Amen.

Think about it, what a silly little word. What if instead of spending so much time looking for your company’s “tagline” or “slogan”, you ask yourself “What five things do we know to be true? What do we stand for? How can we make our customer’s world a bit better?”

Are you a company that inspires and makes emotional connections with your employees and customers or company that is still trying to persuade?

I love this TED video from Tim Brown at IDEO. I seriously have a business crush on the man.

After Tim asks his audience to sketch their neighbor in thirty seconds (geez, I wish I had thought of that one) he realizes that upon revealing their neighbor’s pictures in this group of adults there’s a lot of “I’m sorry” going around the room.

He goes on to say that we fear the judgment of our peers. We’re embarrassed to show our ideas to our peers and this is what makes us conservative.

Don’t you love that?

He quotes his partner and one of the founders of IDEO, David Kelly, as saying “I set out to start a company of best friends. Friendship is a short cut to play. It allows us to trust.”

Trust is good for a company’s soul.

I have been thinking about that lately. Brains on Fire is a company of best friends. We love together, fight together and play together.

But more importantly we trust each other.

And we are lucky to work with clients who get this. I can often feel in the very first phone introduction if a company feels relaxed with each other.

Spike and I had a call the other day and when we entered the call the tone was set as we listened to this group joke about the wii fit someone had just gotten for the holidays. They laughed when we realized they didn’t even notice we had joined the call. But no one apologized. We all just laughed. It was a nice way to start a relationship. At play. Trusting each other. No one taking themselves too seriously.

What can you do today to help break our adult habits?

Hmmmm….

Okay, okay, I know the premise of it is true. That we are supposed to go out of our way to accommodate our customers so they will have a uber-positive experience. And positive experiences get talked about. You know - word of mouth in action.

image via paloaltosoftware from flickr

BUT, people can be um, let’s say, “difficult.” And some of them just want to see who can scream the loudest. Some have ulterior motives. Some WANT to have a bad experience so it provides fodder for their blog or Twitter stream. And some you’ll never, ever please no matter what. Now that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try, it just means that there’s always going to be those handful of people out there that think they know more than you. And that’s okay.

So back to my point: The customer is always right. But in some instances, it’s okay to tell them “no,” or at least educate them in the nicest way possible. And sometimes the only thing you can do is say, “I’m sorry, we can’t help you.” But be sure to tell them why. They might walk away (maybe even angry), but you’ll know that you did everything you could to help. If you’re really in the game to help your customers have a great experience and a better life (yes, and make some money), then when that one guy who goes online and starts to complain about you shows up, you’ll have plenty of fans come to your rescue.

And THOSE customers - the ones that defend you - now THEY are the ones that are always right.