I could probably write a whole book about this subject, but I’ll make it as short as I can while still getting my main points across.
Be positive for your own enjoyment
If you manage to look positively at everything, it will bring happiness to you. You will generally have a better quality life if you manage to focus on the positive things in life.
How to change into a positive person
If you aren’t positive by nature (and most aren’t), this can be changed. It might not be easy, but it is worth it. My main suggestion is to try to look at everything as a challenge rather than a problem. This is the first big step in the right direction.
Don’t think “Oh no, I just got another task to finish before I go home today”. Rather, try to think of it this way: “How can I best finish this task in a good/creative and fast way?”. Don’t worry som much about the time and getting home fast, just think of it as another challenge! Making problems into challenges can even make boring tasks fun.
Positive = creative
If you manage to make this change, you will also find that you tend to come up with better and more creative solutions to challenges. Your brain will start to work better than before, and you will feel more awake and alive. Note: If your work is inherently non-creative (like assembly line work), this will be much harder.
If that is the case, I suggest looking for another job that you think will make you more happy. While you do, try to make these changes at home instead. Put on some music and make cooking fun. It is easy! Check out some of my recipes or watch shows such as Food Mob for inspiration. Listen to podcasts or music while cleaning. Make your life more fun, become more positive!
Positive as a job trait
In fact, if you work in marketing or sales, positivity is almost a required part of your job. So if you manage to be a positive person, your job will come more naturally and you will do much better. A positive and creative sales person is able to see the case from the customers perspective and help them find a solution. A marketing person should be able to transmit solutions to potential customers, not just product info. This can be a whole new post, so I’ll leave it at that.
Positivity is positive for everyone, not just you
When you are thinking positively about everything, it benefits both you and you peers. You’ll be the guy/gal that always brighten up the mood, and people love those people. You will even find that you succeed more at work, and you will even do better in job interviews.
Being positive is generally considered a good thing, and many businesses know that positive people tend to work more effectively also, as I talked about above.
Become the popular guy
If you manage to pull this off you will find yourself to be the go to guy/gal much more often than before. you will have an easier time getting friends too. If you think about it, wasn’t the popular kids at school always having fun? You should too.
My story
I figured it might be good to do a first hand example. I was pretty negative at my work the last half year of my last job. I didn’t get particularly well along with my boss, and my tasks were repetitive and boring. On my current job, I make much more decisions and I manage my own time and tasks.
The tasks in themselves aren’t always that much different, but the option to choose when and how to tackle them have been the big change for me. Together with getting things sorted out in my personal life, this has change me as a person and my life.
Learn from my mistakes, don’t replicate them
That said, I’m not perfect myself. I love to bitch about the local bus company, for example, since they are always late. I find this easy to do since I can’t change them. Ideally I wouldn’t do this, but it is better to do some semi-ironic bitching than really hating something, and it is much better to dislike the bus company than your job.
Where to go for more
Now this is only a short summary of ideas. I hope this was helpful, and I hope you gained some new ideas and insights. There are written many books about this subject, maybe you should check some of them out if you find it difficult to get started making changes. I wish you good luck, and one more advise: Believe you can succeed. You will.
This is a short lesson from the draft of my new e-book, working title “Cut the Crap”.
As of this writing, Old Spice Guy is an Internet phenomenon. Old Spice have succeeded in creating a viral marketing campaign which is immensely successful.
This isn’t just luck. What can we take away from this campaign?
The Old Spice Guy marketing campaign succeeds because of these factors: They use humor. They play on looks (that guy is handsome, everybody can agree on that). And they respond directly to users.
The last part is what took this campaign from a hit to a viral phenomenon. Even with the limited resources of one actor, they made a whole community feel connected to him because they responded to many random users and a few key people like Kevin Rose.
When people feel involved, they listen and care. Care back, and you’ve got a lasting relationship.
Here are a few select twitter replies from companies who know how to do modern marketing right!
Completely normal. Expected actually
RT @leonbarrettGetting quite excited for the arrival of the @drobo at work – is this normal?
Post by drobo. This is a great reply! Why? Many businesses just uses social networking to put out fires. They just respond to negative comments. This, however, is a great way to amplify a positive comment. You tell people in a ironic-but-not-ironic way that your product is very exciting, while giving a customer a personal response that shows them you care. Drobo has over 10.000 followers, and now they know about at least one satisfied customer and Drobo’s great humor.
Lesson: Amplify positive feedback, and do it with humor. Show that you care.
@dustinmathisen Uh oh, what browser/version are you using? And are you getting an error message?
Post by Revision3. Customer support via twitter. Great way to show that you care. And great way to help, fast.
Lesson: If people have problems, help them. Let your support department use the twitter account for direct support.
Hey, Nexus One users: Android 2.2 (Froyo) starts rolling out this week w/over the air update. More info:http://bit.ly/bTgsmp
Post by google. Not the best, but shows that even big companies can use twitter effectively. Google uses twitter to inform people about news and updates. They post a little more formal than I like, but then again they are one of the biggest companies in tech.
Lesson: Twitter is for big companies also. Let people in on the news.
Who will work for Opera? Help us choose!http://bit.ly/9zQH4m
Post by Opera. Letting people interact is great. This is a great way to get people to care about your company. You don’t have to take it this far, but votes on logos, events and more can be very effective.
Lesson: Let people interact through twitter. They will care more about you.
These are only a few I have noticed, there are a lot of good examples out there. Get creative and keep on tweeting.
We are fast approaching a day when marketing is no longer just about getting the word out there about your product. The “shotgun tactic” is no longer the best way to get customers. I believe this will be the rebirth of many companies, and the downfall of others. The ones who can see the coming trends and adapt will make millions or even billions, the ones left behind will slowly wither into oblivion.
Mainstream marketing today
Many companies have already started to change, but those who don’t still follow the current marketing strategy of trying to show their product to as many as possible. I call this “shotgun marketing“. You throw some money at a TV ad or billboard or whatever, and hope that someone sees it and buys your product.
This, however, is no longer the best way to do marketing. In fact, it is becoming worse than many people think. Not only are there better ways to do marketing now, but the traditional way is becoming less effective than ever. The exception is of course if your product fits everybody. Coke, Apple and Wall Mart may still advertise on TV, since they deliver products most people buy anyway. But if your product is in any way specialized, you should look into doing marketing in a better way. How?
Also read: About Apple’s marketing
Social, targeted marketing
Marketing on Facebook let's you target just the people you need.
Most of you have already heard about this. The trick is to target only people who is likely to buy your product. Many are reluctant to try this since it is often way more expensive per view. Advertising on Facebook and Twitter is way more expensive than advertising on TV, in a magazine or on Google relative to each viewer. But think about it. Why do you think other companies are doing this? And how can it benefit you?
If you know that your product sells best to middle-aged men living in Ohio you can show your ad only to them. This is worth way more than the extra money you pay. Not only are you targeting your key customers, you don’t hassle others with your ads. This can have more of an impact than you think.
Responding to your customers as a way of marketing
This one is a good one. There are small businesses now who use this as their only form of marketing. As Gary Vaynerchuk so aptly put it: The internet is word to mouth on steroids! If you can get people to talk positively about your product, you don’t need old-school marketing!
Wine Library TV is a perfect example of social marketing.
Gary is the man behind Wine Library TV, an online TV show about wine. It is free to watch, and the only point of it is to get people interested in wine and show how much expertise his store can offer. How much does it cost him? Nothing. Nothing but time. And this is important because anyone can do it. If you love your product, talking about it comes naturally.
So this is what you should do: Talk about your product like only you can. Write, put up audio or video content on the internet. If your product is interesting, people will come to you and they will listen. And when people ask questions and come with suggestions, you answer. Every single one. This may be time consuming, but it is completely viable now with today’s technology. Respond to mail on the plane. Update twitter on the bus or subway. What does this give you?
Your product is no longer just a product, and you are no longer just a company. You are a person, or several persons, who people respect and listen to. Now people will come to you because they trust you. Even if your product is more expensive they might go to you because they trust you and believe in you.
But I can’t do this! My product isn’t interesting, and it is built on traditional marketing!
"But I just bought this typewriter. Do I really need to upgrade to a computer?"
Then you have three options. First, you can fix it! Make your product interesting. Even lawnmowers can be interesting to the right people. Find out what is special about your product, what benefit your customer gets from choosing you. If you can’t do this, make your product better. We are approaching an age when even heavy marketing can’t help sell inferior products from people who don’t care.
Option two: Make a new product. A new type of product that you can be really proud of and that you want to tell the world about. Continue to sell the old one as long as makes cash, of course, but bet heavily on the new flagship product. This is your way forward into the new and more social world.
Option three: Bail or wither. If you continue to flog your inferior product, you will eventually die out. People will figure it out, tell their friends about better products and move on. Today’s social world has no place left over for people who don’t care.
