Denting the Universe with NASA Astronaut Cady Coleman

Attending the Dent conference can be a life altering experience and I've been lucky enough to be present for the past two years. Dent is an invitation-only gathering held once a year in Sun Valley, ID for people who want to "put a dent in the universe," as Steve Jobs once said. It was founded by Jason Preston and Steve Broback, two forward thinking visionaries that have changed the landscape of technology for over twenty years.

Thoughts on International Women’s Day #OneDayIWill

International Women’s Day is March 8, and Google is encouraging women everywhere to share their aspirations that day on social media using the hashtag, #OneDayIWill.

The team from Google Doodle reached out to see it I wanted to be part of of the day, but I had to come up with a single aspiration. This, as a friend said, is a problem that happens too rarely. What could I possibly say that would, in one Tweetable sentence, say everything I wish for women everywhere?

I asked friends. I asked my daughter who works at a University. I asked millennials (thinking perhaps they had a better line on this than me). No one's input expressed exactly how I feel. There's no way I could be snarky. This had to be real. 

So, after a weekend of thinking and writing lots of notes; it was time to turn in my aspiration - for women everywhere.

After watching the Academy Awards, it came to me. It seemed like there weren't enough women represented. Where are the women ready to take on the projects that will be honored by the Academy?

Secrets You Need to Know Before You Write and Sell Your Book

If there's one question that I consistently get from friends and online acquaintances, it is one for advice on writing a book. It seems that everyone wants to write a book. People write books for different reasons. I think I was born wanting to write a book, I majored in English Literature for that reason. For other reasons, I ended up in marketing, but the need to write a book - to help people - never went away. The most common reasons I hear from people are:

• Establish themselves as an expert in their field (does that really work?)
• Get more speaking engagements
• Satisfy a heartfelt need
• Fulfill their ego to be a "published" author

Writing and selling my books is my main job (along with constantly researching my topics), it comes before everything else, even social media and speaking. I have been writing books since 1998 and sold a million by 2007. I don't count the numbers anymore, what counts to me is hearing from my readers. I am lucky to have been writing long enough to see the impact my books have made on my reader's lives.

Wanting to write a book and actually finishing the project are two vastly different things - just ask anyone who has written one. You also need to know, writing books are not for everyone. "Long form" content takes on a completely new meaning when you're expected to write not just 1,500 words - but over 300 pages on a topic.

Watson's Cognitive Computing Enables Trendspotting and Foresight

I was lucky enough to be a part of an IBM Signature Moment, the launch of Watson Trend App and web hub; the meeting of the world’s most famous super computer and consumer holiday shopping needs. Watson is the “Jeopardy” winning supercomputer that is capable of understanding natural language to reveal insights from massive amounts of unstructured data. This is artificial intelligence, or more exactly called, cognitive computing. Cognitive computing is self-learning and builds upon itself as it gathers more and more data.

Using Watson Trend as a gift guide this holiday season, shoppers will have a new way to understand the reasoning behind “why” certain items become “must haves” during the gift-giving season.

A retailer will also be able to examine Watson Trends to plan what inventory to ship where, whether to stock up and which products are likely to stand the test of time.

For the launch, on November 19, I interviewed Maria Winans, CMO, IBM Commerce, in a #WatsonTrend Twitter chat. She gave the Twitter participants further insights into how Watson will change the way people will benefit from machine learning.

Maria made it clear that unlike standard analytic analysis, through cognitive computing, Watson understands the human language.

Sharing Content isn't Enough, Enlist Employee Advocacy

Even in today’s era of social media, the number one marketing channel for new leads and customers is word of mouth.  In essence this means that you need to have people talking about your company.  When the world is talking; people are listening. According to Nielsen and Pew Internet, "Only 15% of people trust messages received directly from businesses compared to the 70% who trust messages received from personal contacts."

If we extend the personal WOM channel to social media, the amplitude of your message in a noisy world is magnified. It’s no longer a one-to-one conversation, but possibly one voice to tens-of-thousands. There’s a good chance your customers are on one of the major networks.  As a matter of fact, the people you want to reach demographically (whether you are B2B or B2C) are participating right now. Businesses and customers are reading messages on social media and you can’t watch a TV show without seeing a brand hashtag to follow.

Know that the days are gone where you as a brand can control your message, but you can intensify it.

Your customers and investors are talking about you online so why not join the conversation. If enough voices are speaking positively about your brand, there’s a strong chance your market share will raise.  No matter the size of your business; you can achieve a successful outreach and employee advocacy can be the key to get you started. 

According to a recent Inc article, employees have the most credible voices in the organization, so why not power them with the right tools? 

At Pitney Bowes for example, their employee advocacy program “The Insiders” has seen great success in only a few months. With over 200 employees already part of the program, this new approach to building more socially savvy employees and bigger WOM is catching up quickly.

The program has already been expanded to the UK, with plans of additional expansions before the end of the year.  Not only were The Insiders a big part of the new Pitney Bowes brand launch back in January, but they have been key to sharing the #NewPitneyBowes story.

“The Insiders initiative is an excellent opportunity to get employees engaged in social media, while spreading the word about the new Pitney Bowes and building our collective thought leadership in the marketplace." - Jason Bartlett, Vice President, Digital Marketing & eCommerce

At Pitney Bowes, the employee ambassador program is more than just a communications tool. It is also helping the company with the bottom line, creating sales opportunities, as they go. From building brand awareness and improving company culture, employee advocacy has also been proved to have a significant impact on revenue.

Bruce Gresham, VP Business Planning & Strategy had an amazing success story, clearly proving the ROI of the program.  

“I shared one of our new product innovations on LinkedIn, and several of my existing connections ‘liked’ the post. One of the ‘likes’ lead to a person outside my network ‘liking’ the information (in the post) as well. This developed into a sales opportunity of significant worth with a client with whom we normally would not have connected.”

Your employees are the face of your company. They can also be valuable promoters for your message, why not try a new way of return on human investment? Need additional WOM? Your employees are first in line to help, just ask them.

FTC disclosure: This is a sponsored post. I only work with and showcase products, events and/or companies I believe my readers will benefit from. Pitney Bowes has hired me as a brand ambassador. I am not formally employed by Pitney Bowes. All thoughts and viewpoints are mine. This is disclosed in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.