#and I feel like fear truly is the lowest common denominator for 'a good leader'

[llycaons]

I'm trying not to vague posts I disagree with anymore so this is the last one I promise but I really don't think it's very impressive for a leader to terrify everyone around them and I don't think its anything to be proud of either

[befoundonlinemarketing]

Behind the Marketing Curtain: An Interview With Comedian, Marketer Tim Washer

As we marketers long to make meaningful connections with our audience, we often look deep into our figurative crystal balls in hopes of finding a way to lay an irresistible field of content that will trap their attention. Unfortunately, we can end up putting our audience to sleep—leaving the door open for more colorful characters to swoop in and carry them away. So, how can we take to the sky and get our audience to surrender to our content? By crafting a  narrative that has empathy, humility and wit. And there’s certainly no better person to look to for inspiration than comedic treasure Tim Washer, Creative Director of Marketing for the Service Provider Division for Cisco. As part of our Wizard of Oz-inspired Behind the Marketing Curtain interview series, today we’ll pull back the fabric and get to know more about how Mr. Washer arrived in the wonderful world of marketing, and share insights that can help you harness the power of comedy to humanize your brand and connect with your audience. Enjoy!

The Man Behind the Curtain

Tim grew up in Houston, TX and attended college at Texas A&M University, majoring in—you guessed it—marketing. But after graduation he took a sales job at Xerox—which was certainly not in his original plan. “As I was getting close to graduation, there was one thing I knew I didn’t want to do: work in sales,” Tim recalled. “But as I was looking at marketing jobs, most open positions seemed to be promotional jobs—and I wasn’t turned on by that.” “Then a professor of mine mentioned Xerox, and said their sales team was rated No. 1,” he added. “So, then I thought: ‘Why not start there?’ This seemed like the perfect opportunity to get a better idea of how customers think and what their needs are, which is essential in marketing. It was a total one-eighty for me.” After snagging a meeting and shadowing someone for a day, Tim landed the gig at Xerox—laying the foundation for what would be a long career in the software and technology space. A few years later, he went back to school to get his MBA. Then, in the late 1990s, he made his way to New York City and has been there ever since. But shortly after his move, Tim realized he wasn’t exactly working in his calling. “What I really enjoy doing is comedy and improv, and making people laugh,” he said. “That’s where I feel at home. That’s my Kansas.” As it stands today, Tim has been able to merge his practical sales and marketing experience with his true passion. As previously mentioned, he’s currently Cisco’s Creative Director of Marketing for the Service Provider Division, and specializes in corporate humor and video content. Here’s a little taste of his work: [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8MWl9UGwQo[/embed] Prior to Cisco, he spent about six years doing similar work at IBM. In addition, he’s still active in the comedy arena, with writing and acting credits for his work on Saturday Night Live, Conan, The Onion, and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. But how exactly did he get here? We’ll get to that in the next section.

Following His Yellow Brick Road

Like Dorothy Gale, an unexpected twister hit Tim without warning, sending him on a long and winding path. “I know the exact moment it happened,” Tim remembered. “It was March 3, 1998.” It was the season of Lent, and Tim said he was thumbing through a devotional guide that his church— Fifth Avenue Presbyterian—had created for the season. “In there, I saw a Frederick Buechner quote that said: ‘The place where God calls you is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger coincide,’” he recited. “And there were a series of reflection questions, the first one was: ‘What is your spiritual gift?’” For Tim, that answer was easy. It was making people laugh—but he asked around just to make sure others felt the same way. But it was the next question that sealed his fate. “The question asked: ‘How good of a steward are you being to this gift?’” Tim explained. “And at that moment I had this feeling of obligation come over me. I realized it was no longer a choice. It wasn’t something I wanted to do—it was something I had to do. I was going to be a comedian.” [bctt tweet="#Comedy wasn't something I wanted to do. It was something I had to do. @timwasher" username="toprank"] After that, Tim joined the Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) in New York City, and studied improv under the incomparable Amy Poehler. She actually helped him get one of his first big breaks—writing for SNL. “She was extremely influential and helpful,” Tim said, likening her help to the kind Dorothy received from Scarecrow, Tinman and Cowardly Lion. He had a few other trusty helpers along the way, too, including Tony Hale, known for his role as Buster Bluth on Arrested Development and Gary Walsh on Veep, as well as film director Scott Teems. “Scott is without a doubt one of the most influential people on my career,” Tim said. “When I pitched my first comedy video to IBM, I didn’t have any budget, but I called him up and he worked with me on it. And they loved it. He’s been a dear friend, and whenever he’s available I ask him to work with me.” Nearly two decades later, and several of his signature and wildly successful PowerPoint bits later, Tim has carved out a unique career niche for himself and he’s turning out award-winning corporate work.

Meeting the Wizard

Without further ado, let’s dive into Tim’s tips and insights for infusing comedy into your marketing strategy. That’s a horse of a different color. How can comedy and content come together to create a unique audience experience and bolster brand voice? Comedy is the most powerful way to humanize a brand because it demonstrates empathy. Let’s face it, a lot of true comedy comes from pain. So, when we can come out and touch on a customer pain point, we show them that we understand their point of view. When we do something that is self-deprecating, when we look vulnerable, and when we let our guard down a little bit that’s when we make a connection. These days, there’s so little content out there that truly connects with people. So often we start off with a good idea, it goes through a committee where everyone wants to have a say in something, and the idea begins to soften. Then you end up with the lowest common denominator of something safe. So much of marketing is telling people how great we are. But with comedy—especially in the form of video—we can show them that we’re not always going to tell you how great we are. And if you can make someone laugh, that is the most intimate connection you can make. [bctt tweet="If you can make someone laugh, that is the most intimate connection you can make. @timwasher" username="toprank"] The Wicked Witch was defeated with just a pail of water. What creative tactics and tools can marketers use to create an engaging video experience? If you’re going to do comedy, it’s critical to get a comedy writing and a video production team that are experienced with producing comedy. One of the biggest mistakes people make is saying: “Let’s make a funny video. Our in-house video guy can probably do it.” But when it falls flat, they often think comedy just doesn’t work for their brand. Comedy is very much a social sport. You need to have a partner with the right chemistry, and someone to bounce ideas off—and someone to tell you when something just isn’t funny. This dramatically enhances the work. As a more general rule for creating great video, you need to be able to tell a story—a story that doesn’t focus on hitting all your product talking points. For example, we did a mini documentary for Cisco that showed how smaller service providers are serving third-world countries. It focused on how our customers are making a difference, and of course inferred that our technologies are helping them make that difference. [bctt tweet="If you want to add #comedy to your #marketing, get an experienced team. @timwasher" username="toprank"] Dorothy’s ruby slippers were the key to achieving her end goal of returning home. How can marketers leverage their existing resources to unlock creative video content ideas? These days budgets are being cut, yet we still need to produce more content. So, we need to transition from marketers to content creators—and those are two very different skillsets. But the bottom line is that you need to focus on telling the story. Get away from the product and focus on finding out how people are actually using your product or service. Ask yourself what people want to watch. Ask yourself how you could make something visually interesting and compelling. If you don’t have a big video budget, invest in a cheap light, tripod and camera, and start shooting. Make 10 videos, and then publish the 11th one. Once you get comfortable with it, great things can happen. [bctt tweet="When doing any kind of video #content, you need to focus on telling the story. @timwasher #marketing" username="toprank"] Good witch or bad witch? What’s a bad habit all marketers should drop? Letting fear have too much influence over their decisions—and dropping this habit certainly requires some deep personal reflection. Ask yourself how does fear hold me back in my job? Is it a risk-averse boss? Is it fear of failure? You need to figure out how fear is impacting you right now, in this very moment. Then you can start to find solutions to work around it. [bctt tweet="Ask: How does fear hold me back? Once you figure it out, you can look for solutions. @timwasher" username="toprank"] What’s one thing you would ask the all-powerful marketing wizard for? (More budget, more resources, better data?) Well, I’d always ask for more budget. But I’d also ask for a committee of “yes” people. Those who are more open to risk-taking. I’m fortunate to work for a company that is open to all of that, and wants to be leaders in the creative space and embrace risk-taking.

We’re Off to Meet More Wizards

I’d like to sincerely thank Tim for taking the time to open up about who he is, where he comes from and how he approaches content and comedy. Thank you so much, Tim. Of course, TopRank Marketing’s journey to Emerald City is still underway. In the coming months, we’ll be bringing you more exclusive interviews and insights from industry wizards to add some smarts, heart and nerve to your marketing efforts. Stay tuned for our next installment, my pretty! What’s one thing you’d ask the all-powerful marketing wizard for? Tell us in the comments section below.

The post Behind the Marketing Curtain: An Interview With Comedian, Marketer Tim Washer appeared first on Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

Behind the Marketing Curtain: An Interview With Comedian, Marketer Tim Washer posted first on http://ift.tt/faSbAI

[christopheruearle]

Behind the Marketing Curtain: An Interview With Comedian, Marketer Tim Washer

As we marketers long to make meaningful connections with our audience, we often look deep into our figurative crystal balls in hopes of finding a way to lay an irresistible field of content that will trap their attention. Unfortunately, we can end up putting our audience to sleep—leaving the door open for more colorful characters to swoop in and carry them away. So, how can we take to the sky and get our audience to surrender to our content? By crafting a  narrative that has empathy, humility and wit. And there’s certainly no better person to look to for inspiration than comedic treasure Tim Washer, Creative Director of Marketing for the Service Provider Division for Cisco. As part of our Wizard of Oz-inspired Behind the Marketing Curtain interview series, today we’ll pull back the fabric and get to know more about how Mr. Washer arrived in the wonderful world of marketing, and share insights that can help you harness the power of comedy to humanize your brand and connect with your audience. Enjoy!

The Man Behind the Curtain

Tim grew up in Houston, TX and attended college at Texas A&M University, majoring in—you guessed it—marketing. But after graduation he took a sales job at Xerox—which was certainly not in his original plan. “As I was getting close to graduation, there was one thing I knew I didn’t want to do: work in sales,” Tim recalled. “But as I was looking at marketing jobs, most open positions seemed to be promotional jobs—and I wasn’t turned on by that.” “Then a professor of mine mentioned Xerox, and said their sales team was rated No. 1,” he added. “So, then I thought: ‘Why not start there?’ This seemed like the perfect opportunity to get a better idea of how customers think and what their needs are, which is essential in marketing. It was a total one-eighty for me.” After snagging a meeting and shadowing someone for a day, Tim landed the gig at Xerox—laying the foundation for what would be a long career in the software and technology space. A few years later, he went back to school to get his MBA. Then, in the late 1990s, he made his way to New York City and has been there ever since. But shortly after his move, Tim realized he wasn’t exactly working in his calling. “What I really enjoy doing is comedy and improv, and making people laugh,” he said. “That’s where I feel at home. That’s my Kansas.” As it stands today, Tim has been able to merge his practical sales and marketing experience with his true passion. As previously mentioned, he’s currently Cisco’s Creative Director of Marketing for the Service Provider Division, and specializes in corporate humor and video content. Here’s a little taste of his work: [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8MWl9UGwQo[/embed] Prior to Cisco, he spent about six years doing similar work at IBM. In addition, he’s still active in the comedy arena, with writing and acting credits for his work on Saturday Night Live, Conan, The Onion, and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. But how exactly did he get here? We’ll get to that in the next section.

Following His Yellow Brick Road

Like Dorothy Gale, an unexpected twister hit Tim without warning, sending him on a long and winding path. “I know the exact moment it happened,” Tim remembered. “It was March 3, 1998.” It was the season of Lent, and Tim said he was thumbing through a devotional guide that his church— Fifth Avenue Presbyterian—had created for the season. “In there, I saw a Frederick Buechner quote that said: ‘The place where God calls you is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger coincide,’” he recited. “And there were a series of reflection questions, the first one was: ‘What is your spiritual gift?’” For Tim, that answer was easy. It was making people laugh—but he asked around just to make sure others felt the same way. But it was the next question that sealed his fate. “The question asked: ‘How good of a steward are you being to this gift?’” Tim explained. “And at that moment I had this feeling of obligation come over me. I realized it was no longer a choice. It wasn’t something I wanted to do—it was something I had to do. I was going to be a comedian.” [bctt tweet="#Comedy wasn't something I wanted to do. It was something I had to do. @timwasher" username="toprank"] After that, Tim joined the Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) in New York City, and studied improv under the incomparable Amy Poehler. She actually helped him get one of his first big breaks—writing for SNL. “She was extremely influential and helpful,” Tim said, likening her help to the kind Dorothy received from Scarecrow, Tinman and Cowardly Lion. He had a few other trusty helpers along the way, too, including Tony Hale, known for his role as Buster Bluth on Arrested Development and Gary Walsh on Veep, as well as film director Scott Teems. “Scott is without a doubt one of the most influential people on my career,” Tim said. “When I pitched my first comedy video to IBM, I didn’t have any budget, but I called him up and he worked with me on it. And they loved it. He’s been a dear friend, and whenever he’s available I ask him to work with me.” Nearly two decades later, and several of his signature and wildly successful PowerPoint bits later, Tim has carved out a unique career niche for himself and he’s turning out award-winning corporate work.

Meeting the Wizard

Without further ado, let’s dive into Tim’s tips and insights for infusing comedy into your marketing strategy. That’s a horse of a different color. How can comedy and content come together to create a unique audience experience and bolster brand voice? Comedy is the most powerful way to humanize a brand because it demonstrates empathy. Let’s face it, a lot of true comedy comes from pain. So, when we can come out and touch on a customer pain point, we show them that we understand their point of view. When we do something that is self-deprecating, when we look vulnerable, and when we let our guard down a little bit that’s when we make a connection. These days, there’s so little content out there that truly connects with people. So often we start off with a good idea, it goes through a committee where everyone wants to have a say in something, and the idea begins to soften. Then you end up with the lowest common denominator of something safe. So much of marketing is telling people how great we are. But with comedy—especially in the form of video—we can show them that we’re not always going to tell you how great we are. And if you can make someone laugh, that is the most intimate connection you can make. [bctt tweet="If you can make someone laugh, that is the most intimate connection you can make. @timwasher" username="toprank"] The Wicked Witch was defeated with just a pail of water. What creative tactics and tools can marketers use to create an engaging video experience? If you’re going to do comedy, it’s critical to get a comedy writing and a video production team that are experienced with producing comedy. One of the biggest mistakes people make is saying: “Let’s make a funny video. Our in-house video guy can probably do it.” But when it falls flat, they often think comedy just doesn’t work for their brand. Comedy is very much a social sport. You need to have a partner with the right chemistry, and someone to bounce ideas off—and someone to tell you when something just isn’t funny. This dramatically enhances the work. As a more general rule for creating great video, you need to be able to tell a story—a story that doesn’t focus on hitting all your product talking points. For example, we did a mini documentary for Cisco that showed how smaller service providers are serving third-world countries. It focused on how our customers are making a difference, and of course inferred that our technologies are helping them make that difference. [bctt tweet="If you want to add #comedy to your #marketing, get an experienced team. @timwasher" username="toprank"] Dorothy’s ruby slippers were the key to achieving her end goal of returning home. How can marketers leverage their existing resources to unlock creative video content ideas? These days budgets are being cut, yet we still need to produce more content. So, we need to transition from marketers to content creators—and those are two very different skillsets. But the bottom line is that you need to focus on telling the story. Get away from the product and focus on finding out how people are actually using your product or service. Ask yourself what people want to watch. Ask yourself how you could make something visually interesting and compelling. If you don’t have a big video budget, invest in a cheap light, tripod and camera, and start shooting. Make 10 videos, and then publish the 11th one. Once you get comfortable with it, great things can happen. [bctt tweet="When doing any kind of video #content, you need to focus on telling the story. @timwasher #marketing" username="toprank"] Good witch or bad witch? What’s a bad habit all marketers should drop? Letting fear have too much influence over their decisions—and dropping this habit certainly requires some deep personal reflection. Ask yourself how does fear hold me back in my job? Is it a risk-averse boss? Is it fear of failure? You need to figure out how fear is impacting you right now, in this very moment. Then you can start to find solutions to work around it. [bctt tweet="Ask: How does fear hold me back? Once you figure it out, you can look for solutions. @timwasher" username="toprank"] What’s one thing you would ask the all-powerful marketing wizard for? (More budget, more resources, better data?) Well, I’d always ask for more budget. But I’d also ask for a committee of “yes” people. Those who are more open to risk-taking. I’m fortunate to work for a company that is open to all of that, and wants to be leaders in the creative space and embrace risk-taking.

We’re Off to Meet More Wizards

I’d like to sincerely thank Tim for taking the time to open up about who he is, where he comes from and how he approaches content and comedy. Thank you so much, Tim. Of course, TopRank Marketing’s journey to Emerald City is still underway. In the coming months, we’ll be bringing you more exclusive interviews and insights from industry wizards to add some smarts, heart and nerve to your marketing efforts. Stay tuned for our next installment, my pretty! What’s one thing you’d ask the all-powerful marketing wizard for? Tell us in the comments section below.

The post Behind the Marketing Curtain: An Interview With Comedian, Marketer Tim Washer appeared first on Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

[mes-pe-blog]

How Far We Have Come

I marvel at our Country and our ability to remain independent and a place that so many others look to as an example. It is a wonderful and truly amazing thing.  Many predicted that our “Grand Experiment” would fail within one or two generations.  And yet, we have prevailed.  No individual President, disagreeable Supreme Court Justice or Nefarious Legislator has brought down our great Republic. 

Through our more than 240 years of history, our Constitution and Bill of Rights have survived, in spite of the human failings of our voting public, those we have elected, and those who have been appointed and approved by our elected leaders. So I maintain tremendous optimism for the future of our Great Country.  We have advanced Civil and Women’s rights, the legal system, and our quality of life beyond most, if not all of the other nations on earth.

And Yet…..

And yet, we have also sunk into petty bickering, name-calling and putting of self-interest ahead of the good of our nation time and time again. And like a beetle pushing a ball of dung, the situation keeps getting bigger and more disgusting the harder we push.  So I have some thoughts that have occurred to me as I have tried to navigate my own feelings about our leadership situation.  I have to admit; they were brought to a head this morning as I watch the Circus Maximus that our Senate Confirmation hearings have become.  But they are more general than that instance alone and bear broad consideration.

First of all we are a republic, not a democracy. Our founding fathers, in their wisdom, put that system of government in place, bluntly, to protect us from ourselves.  And whether or not we like the current or past occupants of office, that system does seem to have stood the test of time.

Second, we are all human. As voters and political supporters we sometimes let our emotions and self-interests lead us to mistakes.  Our leaders in their human frailty sometimes fall prey to poor decision-making or even greed. 

Through time, the positives of our system have been powerful enough to overcome our human frailties and the United States has prevailed and prevailed well. But now we have hit such an emotional and polarized tenor that we can no longer make any progress.  Meaningful change to social and economic systems are polarized by our partisanship.  This does not simply happen in the chambers of our government, but it is carried onto our streets, into our businesses, homes and places of worship. 

We have lost our vision. Merit and integrity no longer are serious decision making criteria, and characteristics such as gender, skin color or race become substitutes for human value.  And while I am a successful, middle-aged white male from the south, I am not just talking about “reverse discrimination” here, but also the fear of growth and loss of the status quo that has fueled so many of our failed policies that were intended to provide the appearance of “helping”.

Although I am blessed with some success in my life, I don’t claim to be smart or wise or profound. I am fairly simple man with simple desires.  I want a future for my children, some degree of financial security, a safe place to live, and the freedom to say and practice what I believe.  While I live nicely, I really don’t have an emotional attachment to large houses, cars with six figure price tags or the like.  In short I’m a pretty normal, though blessed, guy.

So here’s what I see happening as we look ahead of us. And note, I am not going to focus on the past successes or failings of our previous four or five administrations in detail other than to make a blanket statement that; based on where we are, regardless of political persuasions,  whatever it is we have been doing has not really worked.

Given that, I, as most other humans, have some opinions.

Change is at hand. We need change.  We have become deadlocked.  No ….. moribund.  We are drowning in our own political excrement.  So things are long overdue for a serious shakeup.  Whether or not I care for the individuals that have come to power as a result of that change, that change has occurred.  Both in the immediate past administration, due to the needed destruction of racial barriers in our most senior leadership, and in the current one in that it is not “Business as Usual” on the hill.

We have lost sight of what our Government is and should be. By the people and for the people.  Not by lobbyists, or for special interest groups or to provide lifetime lucrative employment and benefits for a group of beholden, gifted manipulators.  Now in making that blunt assessment of our government leaders, I must also confess that there are doubtless many ethical, dedicated and honest ones as well and I hope they remain.  But Government service was never intended to be a gravy train.  Neither was it intended to be a dishonorable profession inhabited by the lowest common denominator.  Instead, it was in the early days of our country, deemed to be an honorable pursuit and in many cases a means of giving back to our country.

Which brings me to the point that hit me in the face as I watched the condemnation, er, confirmation hearings this morning:

It was common for the early leaders of our country to have been very successful in their own right.  They unselfishly walked away from their own pursuits to apply those skills and talents that made them successful in business to the welfare and progress of our nation.  Those men are still revered to this day. 

They also tended to know and respect each other, even when they disagreed as in the case of Adams and Jefferson. 

They had human failings, such as Ben Franklin’s supposed womanizing. 

They did things that while repugnant from different perspectives of status in society, were somewhat the norm in “pollite circles” such as owning slaves.   

I am not excusing those failings any more than I find some of the behaviors of our current leaders and leaders-to-be to be praise-worthy.  But as we look to the future, we are looking at potential leaders in the case of the pending cabinet, who are brilliant businessmen, typically in the areas that they have been nominated to address.  They are putting their careers on hold to share their expertise and learnings with us.  And in return we are treating them in some places as vermin, not to be trusted and with superficial respect that actually reeks of unbridled distrust.

If someone came to me today and asked “Mark, we have huge challenges is this area in which you are an expert. We need your help.  Would you put your life on hold for mediocre compensation compared to your current income, and come help us?  And oh by the way, you will be reviled by the media, distrusted by everyone who has to approve your every move, and in general a target for unkindness and slander.  I wouldn’t have the stomach to say yes.  And yet our President to be, and the folks who have agreed to serve with him as cabinet members have done just that.  And for far higher personal stakes and risk that I can't even comprehend. 

In my usual fashion I have gone on far too long in this world and context of short phrases. But I believe these things are important enough to bear real thought, not just sound bites on MSNBC or Fox.  And I also believe with all of who I am that we need to give this change a chance to work, instead of sitting like a pack of jackals waiting to kill it.