#sixpixelsofseparation

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Mitch Joel’s – Six pixels of Separation : Book Report

Mitch Joel has been classified as one of the top 100 Marketers in the world, he has also made the highly regarded top 40 under 40 list. As the president of Mirum (Twist image) a global digital marketing agency, he steers the company to specialize in driving change within the digital marketing realm at a brand level.

Playing on the notion, Six degrees of Separation, which indicates we’re all connected by 6 or few steps. Joel insinuates the connection is much more noteworthy to the point of only Six pixels of Separation. With a quick google search we have the world at our finger tips. It’s a dwelling ground of real people looking for real interactions, where we can connect with communities, individuals and groups to form a voice.

In the B2C world, we’re now part of an era where consumers have the same voice as corporate companies. Feedback and reviewing platforms encourage people to be transparent, allowing the opportunity for communication, in turn encouraging the thoughts and ideas of both business’ and consumers to flow.

This book endorses the tactics, insights and tools to empower entrepreneurs to create an online experience, and be engaged with the online community.

There will be 5 posts summarizing some key points throughout the book:

1) I Google you..Just like you Google me

2) The channels, the opportunities

3) Entrepreneurship 2.0

4) Viral Expansion

5) Know Control

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Your brand is not what you say it is..it's what Google say it is

Chris Anderson

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I Google you... Like you Google me!

So far Im intrigued by Joel’s writing style. He starts by tells a storey to set the context of his examples. In the first chapter he tells a story of a man by the name of Juan Mann (Pseudonym form “One Man”), he was a man who was feeling down and depressed, so he decided to make a sign that read “Free Hugs”, and walk around in a busy public area. At first he would get stares and snickers, but eventually one patron came forward and offered Juan a hug. Immediately after, a trend developed and others followed by giving hugs, and making signs of their own. While all this was happening, it was all being recorded. A local band connected with Juan and they decided to put music over the video and upload it to YouTube. Today this video has more than 40 million views, which has sparked the free hug movement in many places all over the world.

Mitch Joel insinuates that Juan Mann’s situation is in fact inline with “your business”. The core values of a business is about connecting with real people, and once your products and services get through to the intended audience. the next step is to spread the message as far as possible.

The traditional channels of advertising and marketing are generally costly, a large chunk of a budget can go into advertising with little ROI. This is why it’s beneficial to leverage these free online tools like Youtube to get your name out there, and maximize your resources.

What do people do when they hear about something new for the first time? They go to the Google machine and do a search! So if you open a new business, update your LinkedIn profile, or even create a profile on Facebook. Chances are you’ll surely show up in the google search results. Joel says in the book “Your brand isn’t what you say it is, it’s what Google says it is.” 

Not a day goes by that someone out there is not checking out who you are, or deciding  if they’re willing to invest in you or not. The idea is to pay attention to how your brand is being maintained on these online channels. It’s always good to do a digital-footprint audit every once in a while.

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The Channels, The Opportunity

With social media today there are so many channels which you can use to get to your target audience, and the primary objective should be to drive consumers to make contact and stay engaged. Which ever social tool you use as a platform for your business, should have a path that connects to your main website. There are 2 important factors when building your business through a digital channel. 

1) Permission - Be sure to gather comprehensive permission from the consumer to connect with your channel. Canada's anti-spam legislation (CASL) came in to effect in 2014 to put guidelines in place to protect Canadians and confirm that businesses can continue to compete in the worldwide marketplace. The option to opt out of emails, social media, instant messaging, and or promotional information about your company should be available.

2) Content - The ability to create compelling content i.e. text, audio, video  should be essential. This will help the excitement build around your brand, and encourage loyalty.

There are also several traditional advertising and communication tactics that have been tailored for the online community.

• Cross-Channel Promotion - Directing potential consumers from advertising and communication campaigns to your business’ website.

• Banner Advertising - which is usually displayed in various places on a website.

• Email Marketing - Gathering an array of email address from consumers to let them know about offers and or e-newsletters from your business.

• Search Engine Marketing (SEM) - Buying ads that contain specific keywords searched by consumers, who will then pay a cost per click. So the advertiser will pay only when the consumer clicks that ad.

• Affiliate Marketing - Are companies who offer a commission for every product that is referred back to them from the other business’ website. Amazon is a company who participates in Affiliate Marketing.

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Entrepreneurship 2.0

As business owners you have to think of the most effective way to reach your customers, and maximize your efforts and resources. Let’s say you had the bright idea to open up a retail store at a prime location, in the middle of Time Square, NYC for instance. Would you simply set up shop, and open a basic website to let people know about store hours, sales, events, and contact. NO! I would imagine the savvy way to go about it, would be to penetrate the e-commerce market, and put your product out there for the world to access! Joel put it this way – “As an entrepreneur you don’t need to be a pure-play on-line business, BUT you need to be better as creating an online experience.”

It is no longer feasible to be hesitant about putting your business online. Mainly because the tier-one companies are already on the web. In the book Joel mentions that the tier-two companies are not even next inline as competition, but in fact, it’s the small hungry entrepreneurs who are the market leaders. They’re the ones who have taken advantage of SEM (Search Engine Marketing), purchased the keywords and engaged with the community.

Define your strategy!  Everyone is always busy worrying about which channels to use, and they completely ignore the strategy and brand. The most important questions to ask is “Why?”

• Why should you be on Facebook?

• Why should you make videos on YouTube?

• Why should you do a blog, and why would anyone care?

• Why should you try Twitter?

When you understand why, you’ll understand the love people have for your brand, why people buy from you, why people spread the word about who you are as a business, and why they should stay loyal. Having a brand strategy will enable you to decided which tools and tactics to use to aid in the growth of you business.

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Viral Expansion

Word of mouth is an effective method for information to reach people about your business. When it comes to Viral Marketing people can pass on the word about your business because they’re enthusiastic about it. When it comes to a Viral Expansion Loop, it involves the engagement of an entire personal or professional community. In which case, the growth is enormous because your community is expanding through large networks of people. Facebook Twitter, eBay and google are examples of the viral expansion loop.

In the book Joel explains that the ideas behind viral expansion loops are very social media and Web 2.0 . The core rules of new marketing are established by embracing the power of individuals, and their online communities to create a united experience. As more and more individuals enter, they expand their networks even further, when they bring others to connect. 

Why is the power of the Viral Expansion Loop so much more engaging? It’s the effects of real people creating real interactions and connections, which is what great marketing is all about. For people to pass along content that they find engaging, where it will also make them look good to someone else is one aspect. But to invite other like minded individuals to take part in something they’re truly interested in, is way more powerful. 

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Know Control

These online social networks are completely empowering individuals to develop strong personal brands, where the online ecosystem is connecting them in ways that are boosting them to great levels of fame and wealth. Think of Apple for instance, Apple is considered the most successful technology driven company in the world. So how would you expect a company like Apple to deal with a crisis situation? Well, Joel gives us an example of this in the book. In 2007, Engadget a high-traffic web based magazine covering news surrounding consumer electronics, received leaked information from Apple, about there being delays with the launch of the next iPhone and Leopard OS. The news spread to the media, and Apple stocks plummeted. Apple immediately informed  “Engadget” that the leaked information was false, and in fact there were no delays at all. Engadget posted a blog titled “False Alarm: iPhone NOT Delayed Again until January”, and Apple stocks bounced back the next day. 

Joel gives another example of how Kryptonite, a bike lock company handled a crisis. A video of a network security consultant / bike enthusiast putting the company’s toughest product to the test surfaced on the web (before the days of YouTube in 2004). The video showed the gentleman using a basic pen to jimmy the expensive lock open. Kryptonite’s brand took a huge loss of over $10 million, and their brand was basically left scared with a long list of google search results showcasing the negative incident. The New York Times also featured the company with the headline, “The Pen Is Mightier than the Lock”. 

My thoughts on how I would aid the situation would be, to put out some sort of acknowledgement about the incident on the website’s home page. Providing the opportunity to establish the best course of action for the consumer, while also creating a connecting point to provide a resolution for the consumer.

The moral of the story here is that these days everything said or reviewed online is taken as truth, and if Apple had not reacted so promptly they may have experienced the damaging effects that kryptonite had endured. So it’s important to pay attention to the online channels and be aware of what’s being said about your brand. Be on the look out and ready to respond when something arises.