What's that noise?

Several years ago, while living in Las Vegas, I was standing outside and having a chat with my neighbor. Suddenly, something didn't sound right. We both stopped talking, and looked at each other with a concerned look. We both knew something was wrong, but couldn't put a finger on it. It was unsettling, unfamiliar, and mysterious.

Moments later, his wife came outside and announced that the power was out inside, and that answered the question we both couldn't answer. You see, it was July, which means the outdoor temperature is somewhere between 110-120 degrees. To make life possible, every house is equipped with an air conditioner, and from May-October these are running almost 24 hours a day. When you have hundreds of air conditioners running in a very close proximity, there is a constant hum in the air from the motors. The mysterious sound that we couldn't figure out was silence.

Noise doesn't just come from motors, and regardless of the source, if it is consistent we learn to ignore it, especially when there is nothing we need to hear. Think about the programming on many TV stations, the commercials, your marketing messages, even your blog. Does your message sound like something everyone has heard many times before? Are you saying something new, or communicating simply for the sake of putting your noise out there?

When we hear the same commercial repeatedly, we learn to ignore it. Billboards along our commute just become part of the backdrop. The bank talking about free checking? It's just noise to us. When I see someone blog, tweet, or otherwise talk about the top 10 SEO tips/tricks/mistakes, I shut down. It's been said, it's been repeated, and now it's just noise.

Think about your message, is it really a unique thought, or a break-through message? Are you finding a new way to tell a story? Or are you blogging, advertising, writing, or broadcasting simply because it's time to do so? Remember what happens when we can count on the noise. It just gets lost as part of the background.

User-review sites, when shills go wrong

Urbanspoon, the user review site and social network for foodies, has been running a contest to find the "most romantic restaurant" in cities across America. Great idea with Valentine's Day coming up, this could guide a lot of people to try new restaurants they may not be aware of. The problem is that many of the results across the nation are indeed not at all romantic.

I first noticed the problem in Salt Lake, where a bar was leading the vote for several weeks. Not a romantic one by any means. After discussing with many of Urbanspoon's prime members (users who make significant contributions in each city) it was discovered that the problem was very widespread, and frequently due to restaurants inflating the votes themselves by encouraging customers and employees to vote for them. Now I totally condone restaurants asking customers to make their vote, or write a review on these sites. But employees are definitely crossing an ethical line, and asking for a vote that is truly undeserved is not only unethical, but it will backfire on the restaurant, the site, and the credibility of the users.

Shill reviews are always a bad idea. A shill is a positive review for your own business, or posting a negative review for a competitor. People often take advantage of the anonymity of the web, thinking they can say whatever they like with no consequence. The problem is that it is really easy to spot a shill, and once discovered you will feel a worse fate than just a few bad reviews.

In regards to this Valentine's Day contest, if someone looked to this poll to make a decision on a date-spot, then found themselves at a very unromantic place, it's not going to sit well in their minds. There are few experiences in life that carry worse feelings than a failed date. When a restaurant is a factor in a bad date, the customer typically won't give that spot another chance because of how disappointed they were on their visit. The total experience matters when customers are trying a new business, and a bad first impression is a lasting feeling that is not easily cured.

You may think it's all out of fun, or believe that some good attention may get you new customers, but if you get customers under false-pretense the backfire can spread quickly and will turn that target audience against you.

Ranting about the snake-oil sellers

Search engine optimization has been a major buzz-word for a number of years now. While there are a handful of good practitioners out there, there are also a great number of people who are the equivalent of yesteryear's snake-oil salesmen. They know all the keywords, they have all the answers, yet they haven't worked a day in an actual brand-marketing environment. Once you're at the top of the search results, are you actually delivering anything to keep the customers thinking positively about you?

The barrier to entry is low for the internet, which attracts all of the get-rich-quick crowd. It can be very frustrating for a business who is looking for help, when so many seem to have all the right answers. These snake-oil pushers are now excitedly entering the social-media market. They can set up a Facebook fan-page, a Twitter account, and tell you about sites like Urbanspoon, Yelp, and Foursquare. They have quick-tricks with tools to get you thousands of followers. But once you get past the talk, have you really made a meaningful connection with anyone?

There is a great likelihood that they can make you feel great about everything you are paying them for, and they likely can tell you all about the thousands of businesses they have helped. Just like the street-side vendors who could make your hair grow, cure leprosy, and fix all of your problems with a simple elixir, these SEO or social media "gurus" will be quick to sell you tools and tactics to promote your business and get you to the top of Google.

The problem is, being a top result on Google doesn't pay your rent and overhead. A communication strategy is needed, products must meet customer expectations, and customers must want to interact with you. Social media and SEO are a piece of the puzzle, but if that is the only focus of your consultant, you may be left with an empty bottle of snake oil.

The meaning of life, the universe, and everything

I hope everyone knows that the answer is 42.

Whether you learned this watching the BBC series many years ago, just learned about it from the adventures of Mos Def & Sam Rockwell, or actually read the iconic books by Douglas Adams, there's a message in there that is of great importance in life and market research.

You must know the right question to get the answer you want.

It's all about asking the right questions. Surveys and feedback can often mislead the direction of a company. Too many times I have seen companies invest in product development because a customer said they liked the idea, only to find their intentions were quite different when there was a price tag on that new product.

What good is knowing what people like, what channels they watch, and what websites they are viewing, if you do not know what will motivate them to support your business? Spend more time thinking about the questions you ask, the extra time is worth the wait.

Does Facebook think about security at all?

I'm not a big evangelist of the whole "personal brand" concept, as I believe many people can keep their business and personal lives properly separate. But Facebook seems to be forcing our private lives into the public eye more each day.

Their newest problem, the Facebook 3.1 app for iPhone scans your address book for phone numbers and emails in your contact list, scans Facebook, and syncs the profile pics with your contact list. Even for those people you are not Facebook friends with.

For an example of how this can be troublesome, an iPhone blog reader shared a story of a coworker who he is not Facebook friends with, but suddenly when she calls he receives a bikini picture of her because it is her profile pic. (The writer of the post was kind enough to mock-up an example image rather than further embarrass the unknowing coworker).

While Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg believes privacy is a thing of the past, how many of you want your profile pics scanned and sent to everyone's iPhones?

Addressing sports fans

I love to see business owners addressing their customers. Putting yourself in front of the public is a difficult thing, and hearing their feedback gives great insight to help understand what is important. Not every comment on a blog post will be productive, and a business certainly cannot change their strategy simply because one customer thinks everything should be different.

Utah Jazz owner Greg Miller addressed his fans & critics this week. He stated his love for the team, and a commitment to be a winning team. He also pointed out that the payroll is at its highest level ever, that doing business in the NBA is complicated, and that the team is working towards long-term goals.

It is true, I am pretty sure 99% of sports fans do not understand the intricacies of sports as a business. Just like most restaurant patrons don't know what goes on from the kitchen through the management of a restaurant, and shoppers don't know the life cycle of a product. But the owners and staff do need to understand how the business works. It obviously is not impossible to make trades and staff changes, other teams are doing it all the time. So the problem with Greg's explanation is that it just gives his critics more fuel for their fire, and the faithful fans will continue to be faithful regardless. It is nearly the same outcome as no message whatsoever.

It is tough to communicate to your customers, especially when there is general disdain towards your product. Something needs to be said, but it takes a very skillful person to come up with the exact message. I applaude Mr. Miller's concern to address the fans, it was a good move considering the situation the team is in. My only caution is to think deeply about every word and be sure the intended outcome of the communications are achieved.