Getting better pictures

As a jack-of-all marketing guy, I often find myself having to work with photos. Website, flyers, emails to reps, and more. Some are professionally taken, others are quick snapshots with a digital camera. I still need to re-adjust size and formats, and other minor formating. Just today I was trying to adjust the coloring of two pictures that I want to use together, but one is blueish and one is redish. It ain't easy!

Here is a great article reviewing the picture process, from shoot to file-prep. If you don't like her DIY light-box, you can find some decent ones on eBay.

Check it out: Taking Professional-looking Photos Without a Professional

BTW: Here's my image-handling toolbox:

• Older camera similar to Canon A610 with a pivoting screen. The pivot feature is essential if you are taking pictures of larger equipment, so you can go low or high.
• Irfanview basic image handling program. Great for quickly viewing images, cropping & reducing file sizes, plus basic color adjustment. Its free, everyone should have it!
  
• Photoshop LE version that came with the camera. I use it for working with TIF files I get from the pros. Its not the easiest to use, but has the best functions for managing outlines and colors.
• Fireworks for creating composite layouts and adding text. It's preview mode for export to jpg makes it essential.

Marketing/PR Nitwit: SAE PR

Here is the email I received from the SAE show which we are attending (formating modified for compactness):

SAE International Corporate Communications
invites you to participate in a
SAE 2006 WORLD CONGRESS PR TELECONFERENCE

Monday, Jan. 30, 2006, 2:30-3:30 p.m. EST
or
Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2006, 9:30-10:30 a.m. EST
* You only have to be on one or the other! *

To participate in this session, call ... and dial pass code ...#
You help us so much - we want to help you!

Okay, the chances of me joining a PR teleconference are almost nill to start with, but this email does nothing to get me there. Here are some snowballs at the writer of this one:

• Why the cutsy GIF image with the cutsy saying? How about an SAE logo instead?
  
• Why say "you only have to be on one or the other" when there are better ways to communicate that there are two different sessions?
  
• And why, why, why, invite folks to such a teleconference without telling them what its about??? "We want to help you!"--how???
  

Aren't PR professionals supposed to be experts in communication? In creating buzz and interest in what they are doing? Look out snowmen, looks like you'll be the only ones at this call!

There's still insanity in corporate america

I've been reading the Slow Leadership blog, which I've found to be helpful to keep thinking about how to do my job better...and sanely. The blogger, Carmine Coyote, has been running a survey about readers' needs for slow leadership. I dutifully filled it out.

I was not prepared for the type of responses he got. Here's one sample:

"Problems are delegated, not tasks. There is a culture that says 'If you can't meet the deadline it must be because you're not trying hard enough', rather than 'You're not meeting the deadline. Is there a problem? Can we help?'"

He finishes the post of comments from the survey with this thought: "Eventually, the pressures reach those who can delegate no further." Is that any way to run a business or be a leader? That's insane!

Read more: Slow Leadership: First feedback from our survey

GTD PHP Steps to Install

I never really revealed my new year's resolution this year. That's because I haven't followed Larry's steps to make it SMART yet. What I want to to is become a GTD person. A 'Getting Things Done' organized person.

In The GTD book, David Allen says that we need a trusted tool to record our Next Actions so that our brain can relax. I've wanted a web-tool to do this, but everything I've found was set to just run on my PC or a thumb-drive. I want to easily access my GTD tool from home or work. Today at LifeHack there was a link to a new GTD tool running on PHP.

I downloaded it and started looking at installation. All the instructions are based on installing an SQL server on your own Mac. Ack! I'm no PHP/SQL geek, but how card could it be? Here's what I had to do to install it on my website.

1. Created database on the server using tools from my host's DirectAdmin program. Made sure to note username and password (note username and database name format is like this: b2blog_gtd).
2. Edited the config.sample.php file per the instructions, but also modified the database name, then saved as config.php.
3. Uploaded all the files to a directory on the server (you can probably guess the name of the directory).
4. Tested the index.php page and remembered I also have to create tables in the database.
5. Used web host's tool myphpadmin and clicked to load an external SQL script. This script is part of the files that come with GTD_PHP.
6. After getting error messages, I edited the sql script to correct two things: 1. corrected database name (shows up only twice, I think); 2. corrected one line in the script that wasn't compatible with my version of SQL.
7. Re-ran the script until it worked.
8. Used my host's tool to password protect the directory. If I wasn't writing this post, I probably wouldn't have done this.
   

My version of SQL is older (4.0.16) and what I had to do is change the last line of each table-creation step to read like this:

) TYPE=MyISAM CHARACTER SET latin1;

It took me a while to figure this out, so I hope I can help someone else whose host isn't running the latest and greatest.

Now, if I can finish the book and do the SMART steps, I can start getting things done...online!

From the inbox

Its B2B spam written with the skill of a 419 (Nigerian) scam...

"Hello Sales,
We saw a placement of advert of your products so we decided to contact you for the product and we want you to know they will be shipped to our company for the New Year Sales and new products to be market for our customers. We make the payment for all Items we bought with our Company Account Credit card informations so we will like to konw if you ship to London,Uk i mean in SHOREDITCH, LONDON where our company is location.We want you to give us the goahead to pick the Items we need if you accept our proposal. "

Bizarre!

Have you heard of Jigsaw?

I've been interested in blogging about Jigsaw, but I haven't had the chance to use it except under a trial account. Jigsaw is a database of business contacts that the users, primarily salespeople, jointly add to and keep updated. I imagine that for marketers and salespeople who need to generate new contacts on an ongoing basis, the service could become very valuable. It looks revolutionary and is well designed.

John Blossom of Shore Communications talked to the president of Jigsaw and posted a report. He says they have 2 million people in their database. Here's one snip:

"This is especially important for keeping up with middle management contacts who are oftentimes the doorways in to corporate accounts, contacts that are far less likely to crop up in updates from Web mining services and traditional database services tracking more senior management positions. "

I wonder about the classifying of contacts beyond their title. Is anyone out there actively using Jigsaw who wants to share a short review? (Just leave some comments here.)

Warning from Semicon newsletter

The Semicon West show is months away, but they are already sending out exhibitor newsletters. Today's had a link to the following Exhibitor Warning:

"Please be aware that there is a company operating out of Austria, Fairguide.com/Construct Data Verlag (Fairguide) that have been preying upon exhibitors in Europe. Based on recent information, they are now moving into the U.S. market. "

They are apparently sending out exhibitor directory forms that appear to be from the show, then hook you into a $3,000 contract. That's a nasty trick.

Have you really changed your mind?

Jim Seybert at Fool's Box came back from a seminar with a great question by Reggie McNeal (author of The Present Future):

"'Have you recently discovered that an assumption you keep, or a belief you hold is based on knowledge that is no longer true?'

...You shouldn't be able to come up with a quick answer to McNeal's question. I think he posed it as reminder that success in the future will require you to vigilantly examine your assumptions against current realities. What works today will not work tomorrow and trying to build your successful future with today's ideas is a recipe for failure."

I think that this kind of change is slow and less obvious, and not an 'aha' moment.

McNeal's book is about how churches should fit into today's society. Part of this change-of-mind is the fact that the world is changing and that deeply held beliefs (or marketing methods, etc.) need to change to fit this change.

The real kicker for us marketers is that we often face changing the minds of people who have already set to buy someone else's stuff. How possible is it to get a Coke drinker to start drinking Pepsi, after all?

Read more: Fools Box: I resolve to change my mind

Sales & marketing focus for 2006

Brian Carroll at B2B Lead Generation Blog tells us to watch out for the following sales & marketing challenges in 2006:

1. Fewer sales opportunities unless you're top of mind
2. Commoditization will continue
3. Increased selling at the executive level
4. More outreach required to the sphere of influence
5. Less selling time
6. Return on investment measurement difficulty

Maybe these are more perennial challenges to manage, but it is important to stop and think how you can better deal with these issues (including preparing your salespeople) to be more successful this year.

Read what Brian says about each: Top Six Lead Generation Challenges for the Complex Sale in 2006

Landing pages should be different for 'complex sales'

Recently I said that we had to pay attention to our B2B landing pages since Google is rating them. Well, Tim Young has done some experimentation with landing pages and came to this conclusion, rejecting the one-path no-link landing page that tries to hard to capture a 'conversion':

"Complex sales requires education and information because it's complex. Prospects need to know specifically what you do, how you do it, for whom you do it, what your track record is and so on, before they're willing to talk with you. Often this is because they want to arm themselves with the knowledge needed to ask relevant questions. Sure, they know what their problem is, but they don't know how to best solve it on their own, and they don't want to risk 'being sold'. So they need education.

The marketing implication is that landing pages, whether within a site or micro-sites, need to be more education focused than sales focused."

Read more: Tim Young's B2B Lead Generation & Management Blog: Landing Pages and Lead Generation

A relapse or an episode?

I promised yesterday that I would veer off-topic today, and here it is. It is also personal and may ramble a bit. No apologies, just FYI.

My son Robert spent a week in the hospital last year with a curious disease called ADEM for short. I shared about here at B2Blog, but essentially the neurologist described it as a form of encephalitis that acts like a one-time MS-type (Multiple Sclerosis) event.

Tuesday it became clear to me that he was having similar symptoms (low dexterity in his left hand and foot) and was probably suffering from a relapse, which the internet soon confirmed is possible. I also found some other articles with medical descriptions of many different related causes, some with dire outcomes. So Robert is now back at the hospital doing a new course of steroids and waiting for a spinal-tap and MRI. Unfortunately, we feel comfortable at the hospital...and we feel upset because this wasn't supposed to happen again.

Despite not having new tests done, the neurologist was ready to make his own prognosis. Basically he saw this as one continuous problem, as there were signs that he didn't fully recover from the first event, especially an MRI last August that showed new lesions. 'I really see this as more of a case of MS' he finally told us. It didn't come out of the blue...we were warned in August that it was a possibility.

CRAP!

He went on to describe how even though Robert is a statistical lottery winner (most MS cases are female, and onset is usually in early adulthood), it doesn't mean it can't happen to him. The doctor was more confident in his diagnosis without being influenced by the numbers. This makes this hospital event an MS Episode, or flare-up, not an ADEM relapse.

For right now, we are dealing with the day-to-day recovery of this episode, but we will have to make some long range decisions about treatment. And the worry about his long-term prognosis--will this be degenerative or not (some people suffer under MS, others just struggle, if you can understand the distinction).

So from yesterday's post (which I started before we went to the hospital and finished when I got home), here are why those three Men's Health articles have new poignancy:

• The article about "How Happy Are You?" should have an obvious tie-in.
• The article about flu quarantines reminds me that the long-term strategy to deal with this (via medication) will be a hard decision to get 'right'. Well, there is no 'right'.
• And the interview with Robert Rodriguez causes me ache because my Robert is creative and I wish him success like Mr. Rodriguez. Now it hurts to think that far ahead.

The best advise came from a fellow MS sufferer, my Mother...but its not what you would expect. She told me this after his August MRI: "Remember that whatever the diagnosis, he still hasn't changed. He is still Robert."

While I am obviously accepting the diagnosis (which comes from trusting the expert and recognizing the significance of the many clues that lead to his opinion, as there is no definitive test), I am suffering what can only be described as resignation and buyer's remorse. But at the same time I feel empowered...to keep this positive and help lead Robert to a satisfying life. He has been given a special opportunity to live life with the importance and passion that not many healthy people have. God bless him.

A sleeper management rag

Okay, this blog isn't about being a manager, or motivation, or your health. But its my blog and I can do what I want. Besides, if I find something of value to me, I think it might be of value to you.

So what's the recommendation? Men's Health magazine. Okay, I've recommended it before. But this New Year's issue has a lot of good stuff that is worth reading and acting on.

This time I found it especially provides some good content for being motivated and being a leader. Here's a peek:

"Take it from me" interview with filmmaker Robert Rodriguez with this hot list called a Riot Act:

1. Creativity only lets you dream. Match it with technical expertise and you can build.
2. Cash is a crutch. Buying away problems is not the same as solving them.
3. Include your kids in you work and watch their confidence blast off.
4. Perfection is a crapshoot. The more projects you finish, the better your odds.

The "If the Flu Becomes a Crime" article openly questions President Bush's endorsement of enforced quarantine as a strategy to contain a flu-like pandemic. The article's study of strategy and the hidden risks of quarantine is emphasized by the compelling story of John Early from almost a hundred years ago. A great management lesson that the obvious and/or popular solution is not always the one that should be used.

The best article is the one called "How Happy Are You?" I think its just terrific to see happiness treated as such an important topic, a topic of health. To us marketers, it helps to understand the behavior of our customers, and to leaders, the behaviors of their followers and themselves. The challenge from the article is that because happiness is part of our health, it can change...which means we can actively exercise it and improve it.

The topic of all three of these articles have a particular weight on me today. I'd like to veer a little more off-topic tomorrow to tell you why.

Watching the numbers

I 'run the numbers' at the end of every month, to see how traffic was at our website. Its fun, and I always try to dig a little deeper to see if the numbers mean anything. Using Google Analytics has increased my fun. I still use FastStats to crank thru the log-files for additional detail.

Here's the thing, using an unnamed online directory (as this is a common problem):

Clicks the directory has recorded going to my website: 48
Referrals counted by log files: 39
Referrals counted by Analytics: 35

I know there are reasons why each number is different, but which is the number I should track?
Seems this always comes with the directory showing a higher number, in one case almost 4x higher. Phooey to all those who say that web traffic is measurable!

Which leaves me to quote Mark Twain (or Segal, or someone else)..."A man with one watch knows what time it is. A man with two watches is never sure."

Starting the new year at level 4

Every blogger it seems, needs to say something important about the New Year--me too. I have a couple posts I want to write, but this first one is easy...

I've not made a list of goals (yet), or changed any behaviors (tho I am thinking of a few). What I have started doing is cutting things. Unsubscribing to some newsletters and a few blogs, deciding to give up a couple projects/tasks, and trying to quit a couple distractions that aren't in my goals (like playing America's Army).

This morning I started unsubscribing to a newsletter and noticed that 'cutting' was Level 4 of the Seven Levels of Change posted on my desk (and here linked to my nearly forgotten-but-not-cut '40-days of purpose blog'). Interesting that I also found a post there regarding cutting with this nifty thought: "How much does one cut?"

Someone here at the office is having their dog put to sleep this morning. That is a deep cut, and maybe not even voluntary, but it makes you think.

>>>This activity of mine is just a habit that I heard mentioned in David Allen's Ready For Anything book. Something along the lines of 'if you aren't sure where to start or how to jump-start your productive activity, clean your desk'.