One website on the Internet that has one of the most unique stand out personalities is The Art of Manliness, and they recently put exclusivity and participation to work. The brainchild of Brett & Kate McKay, The Art of Manliness is a blog dedicated to uncovering the lost art of being a man with the goal of helping men be better husbands, better fathers, and better men.

Participation stimulates engagement

The Art of Manliness has a tight, large community of fans who helped them create a Lessons in Manliness ebook. The community submitted essays on the lessons they’ve learned from a man in their life and to encourage people to submit something to the project, they offered a Box of Manliness as a prize.

We received 46 submissions from men who shared stories about the grandfathers, friends, and mentors who have lived lives that showcase the very best in being an honorable man. I’ve finally put all the submissions into a nicely formatted eBook so that everyone can enjoy and hopefully learn from the lives of ordinary men who have helped pass the art of manliness on to others. At over 100 pages long, it’s pretty substantial for an eBook. And it’s completely free.

Exclusivity creates uniqueness

You see Hollywood do it with the Special Edition Movie Box sets where you get some insider information in a fancy looking package, The Box of Manliness works the same way. First of all it’s a very cool looking box indeed and it comes with some branded manliness arsenal that will make people go ‘what’s that?’:

• Merkur Safety Razor
• Taylor of Old Bond Street Sandalwood Shaving Cream
• Badger Hair Shaving Brush
• Mustache Handkerchief
• Case Pocket Knife
• An Art of Manliness t-shirt of your choosing
• A signed copy of the Art of Manliness book

Key takeaway:

As you can see exclusivity and participation are powerful word of mouth tools, they can turn your community into rabid fans. When you engage people in a product and make them feel as though it is their product, it translates directly into a desire to talk about it.

Engage your community and empower them to talk about you.

Two ways to get your community to talk about you is a post from: Blu Maya Digital Marketing Agency

Here a presentation Seesmic founder Loic Le Meur gave at Ad Tech a few weeks ago. Key takeaway is to invest in building a long term web presence instead of the traditional campaign.

How to promote your brand on social networks is a post from: Blu Maya Digital Marketing Agency

Well this past weekend I was across the border in Tijuana to visit a prospect and afterwards I went to visit an old stopping ground from my college days: Chabelas.

Chabelas is a little store in a corner of a street that prepares a combination of Michelada with clamato + tabasco sauce + a dash soy sauce and a piece of salted dehydrated plum to-go. This drink is called a Chabela.

Chabela’s always has people coming for a drink, it doesn’t matter what time of day it is and most of these people come from long distances. What Chabelas’s gets right is that they focus on doing one thing only: Serving the best Red Michelada out there, it’s that simple!

This little store was the first of it’s kind in Tijuana and soon other others just like it started sprouting all over the city, they’re no restaurant and no bar, they make Red Micheladas to-go. Others have tried different strategies to unseat them but have failed in doing so because Chabela’s has won a permanent place in people’s minds by maintaining that focus on just serving Micheladas.

The point I want to make is that they’ve conquered their market by being the most at preparing the best Red Micheladas.

What are you doing to be the most at something?

What are you the most at? is a post from: Blu Maya Digital Marketing Agency

Remember, ideas not content? If you don’t, click the link and then come back over here.

Great to have you back! I spotted a couple of tweets from Jane McGonigal (@AvantGame) that reflect this simple principle:

Applied towards your online brand experience the point is: Your content marketing strategy should be focused on ideas with a purpose for action not for consumption.

So if you’re planning on starting a blog about cooking, think about ‘why?’ you’re doing it (purpose of your blog) before you decide ‘what?’ content you’re going to publish on it. You stand a better chance of your content being shared and therefore being talked about if you create content for action not consumption. This simply means that, as Jane so clearly puts it, your content should help people achieve some goal that makes their life a lot more interesting.

Here’s a BIG idea again: It’s not what and how much you publish, it’s what people do with it that counts.

P.S. If you don’t know who Jane McGonigal is I recommend you watch her TED video below, I guarantee it’s well worth your time!

Does this resonate with you? What’s the BIG IDEA behind your content?

Content with a purpose is a post from: Blu Maya Digital Marketing Agency

Setting your sights on a target gives you power and direction

The web is full of ‘how to’ advice on better blogging and for the most part the recipe goes a little something like this: publish frequently, provide useful content (ideas) and 

I don’t disagree with the recipe, the problem is that for the most part anybody with something relevant to say can do this and so here then lies the problem: If everyone follows the same advice then what is distinctive about your blog? about you?

To counter this, the recipe I follow for my innovation blog is very simple: Declare war on your enemies.

Pick an enemy

An enemy can be a mindset, ideologies, concepts, another blogger or person with whom you don’t agree with, a brand, a competitor, etc you get the picture. For me personally my enemy is my country’s (Mexico) ‘more of the same’ ‘me too’ copycat behavior and fixed mindset. A recent post might provide you some clues into why this is the case…

Have a BIG idea

The key is to have a BIG idea that counters your enemies POV and then present it in a better or different way. The clarity of ‘declaring war on your enemies’ strategy fills you with direction and purpose which feeds your passion because when you have an enemy you have something you are displeased with to shoot at.

An example is Apple’s ‘I’m a Mac/I’m a PC’ ads that paint Microsoft as boring, people took notice because Apple took a stand and it ignited passion in their fans…people love a good fight!

Don’t be afraid to polarize people

Not everyone will agree with what you have to say and when you take opposites you’ll create enemies and as terrifying as this sounds, it’s actually a good thing because you’re making your stand and people take notice. The key here is to arouse yours and others emotions!

Brand yourself or be branded

This strategy is working for me and has resonated with some of my fellow tweeps such that a few weeks ago I was surprised to see @ThinkTank_ (innovation consultancy) tag me with the ‘innovation insurgent’ moniker on a tweet! I was extremely happy to see this as it clearly states what I’m about and soon other tweeps gave me their thumbs up

Although I know I don’t put enough useful information (in my opinion) and could do a better job of presenting actionable ideas, I think my blog presents a distinct and authentic POV as everything I post there is clearly directed at the things I’ve encountered in my young personal as well as professional life.

This strategy can work wonders for you too but there’s a difference between being useful and passionate, being useful can get you going but being passionate can propel you new heights! Any of the (___) for Dummies! books is useful, Leading the Revolution by Gary Hamel on the other hand is passionate; mix the two together and you have Seth Godin! 

Bottom line is be passionate in your blogging!

Action steps:

• Direct your energies towards a frustration you have and declare war on it. As stated above this can be a person, competitor, idea, concept, etc, we all have one.
• Search for people who fit your frustrations and pick a fight. These can be ‘opinion leaders’ who’s egos are getting too big and you might just be the one to give them a wake up call.
• Declare war on yourself and challenge your own assumptions. Keep your mind moving as you’re likely to spur some competition and you need to keep yourself on your heels to counter and learn.

To conclude I leave you with a quote that speaks the truth: Where all think alike, no one thinks very much by Walter Lippman

http://twitter.com/jorgebarba/status/11458881984

What say you?

Unconventional #blogging advice: Pick an enemy is a post from: Blu Maya Digital Marketing Agency

Talk about uniqueness, only Michael Jackson could pull this off! This got me thinking…

If you took any artist (pick any artist that tries to imitate MJ) and replaced him with MJ in his performances, would it be the same? Of course not. Now think about it this way, if you swapped employees with one of your competitors would your business change?

If your answer is yes then you’re on a good path because that means that your culture is unique.

if your answer is no then you’re a ‘me too’ because your people are a commodity (they can easily be replaced) and therefore your product and service also is.

What if you could change this? Start by having a point of view of how you think your product or service could be different and what the benefit to your customers would be. In short think about what makes you irreplaceable? Is it your customer service, how you deliver, how you create?

Takeaway: Inject what’s unique about the way you think into what you sell to make it something no one else can offer.

Where’s YOU in your product or service is a post from: Blu Maya Digital Marketing Agency

Setting up an account on Twitter doesn’t mean you have a strategy, it means Twitter is part of your strategy because you think it suits you.

Remember the very first mobile phones? Remember when you first got one? Did you actually believe that was going to solve all your business issues back then? Probably not. Leap forward to when you got a smart phone say the iPhone, did you get one because everyone else got one and you didn’t want to be left out or because it’s capabilities opened up opportunities for your business?

And here then is the point: the capability a technology enables you to do is what you should look at and then ask yourself what does this tool’s capability let me do for my business?

It’s imperative that in order to know how to use these tools as part of your overall strategy, first ask yourself ‘why’ are you are using these tools and how does they fit in our overall business strategy?

Once you know why you can then figure out the activities that take advantage of the tool’s capabilities and then you can get to work!

Twitter is NOT a social media strategy is a post from: Blu Maya Digital Marketing Agency

I’m a gamer and can value a great game when I play one because a great game produces a craving that I must have it, own it, play it and talk about it. There are lessons we can take and apply in business..

What do you get when you mix a great storyline, great gameplay, great graphics, great game design with greek mythology? You get God of War.

Did you notice I used the word ‘great’ not ‘innovative’ to describe this game? Santa Monica Studios didn’t set out to reinvent the wheel with the recently released God of War 3, they used the same formula that worked before (story + design + lots of action!) and brought in bigger and badder opponents that are simply a joy to look at. Look at the video in HD!

It really is all about the experience

If there’s one word I would use to describe the God of War games is memorable because it truly makes you feel you’re in another world. Everything about these games is from another world! It doesn’t do anything fancy, it’s just great. The experience you feel is what truly sets it apart from other games!

Just like there are only a handful of businesses that I consider memorable, so it is with games. But what then makes them memorable? I think it’s a combination of identity, something otherworldly and authenticity.

Identity because it provokes your feelings and you can empathize with it (think Kiva). Otherworldly because the experience you get is beyond anything you’ve ever imagined (think Disneyland) and authenticity because it just feels real, you can talk to anyone about it and it’s real to them too (think Avatar).

Raise your hand if you know anyone setting out to create a business that’s memorable? A product? A service?

To focus on the overall experience people get when interacting with your business, ask yourself: How are we being memorable?

What makes something memorable? Would love to hear your thoughts.

Don’t do anything fancy. Just be great is a post from: Blu Maya Digital Marketing Agency

If you spend a good amount of time on the internet then I’m sure you’ve heard and watched OK Go’s latest video masterpiece. These guys have built a following by their sheer video producing talents. I didn’t know who OK Go was until a few days ago, when I watched the above video, it was enough for me to do some research and conclude that their music isn’t appealing to me but I have much to say about their dedication to producing pretty damn good videos.

Their videos alone are word of mouth worthy!

The band OK Go is probably more famous for their videos than their songs. That’s more a testament to the greatness of their videos than anything else. When these guys put out a video, you can be sure it’ll make your jaw drop at least once or twice. "How did they do that," is a typical reaction.

And that, is exactly what you want. To be known for something!

Just like Common Craft has built it’s reputation on creating ‘explanation video that anyone can understand’ and own that space in people’s minds, OK Go is doing the same with their music videos.

OK Go probably didn’t set out to differentiate themselves with videos and most likely didn’t have a ‘what do we want to be known for?’ brainstorming session. Most likely they started experimenting with ideas and kept going at it until something stuck and became so good at it that they can do these videos on a single take!

The takeaway here is you want to experiment with ideas with the goal of doing something distinctive that pushes boundaries. Do you think you could produce videos like OK Go? You probably can but have you ever tried?

Ask yourself: What do I want to be known for? And experiment with something that will push your boundaries.

What do you think? What are you experimenting with?

To be known for something push boundaries like OK Go is a post from: Blu Maya Digital Marketing Agency

To help you answer the ‘Why’ we recommend you read Jay Bear’s 7 step process on how to develop a social media strategy and then come back here.

Thanks for coming back, now on to the ‘How’.

Framing the challenge

Since we’re always in the ‘let’s shake things up’ mood we’re testing a new approach to develop strategy, here are some questions to help you ideate a social media strategy around the most important things:

• In what ways might we spread the word about our product or service?
• In what ways might we create a following on Facebook and/or Twitter?
• In what ways might we create content?
• In what ways might we publish content?
• In what ways might we create engagement?
• In what ways might we help people subscribe to our newsletter?
• In what ways might we help people share our content?
• In what ways might we help people take useful action from our content?
• In what ways might we show people the benefit of doing business with us?
• In what ways might we prove to people the benefit of doing business with us?
• In what ways might we make our product or service be talked about?
• In what ways might we convince our customers come back?
• In what ways might we convince our customers to tell their friends about us?

These questions are meant to open your mind and create a list of possible options. The next thing you have to do is get a group together of no more than 5 key people and brainstorm around these questions and stop once you have enough answers for each question. At this point you have all sorts of ideas and now it’s time to start making choices depending on your strategic goals.

*For another approach check out Steve Koss’s comments below and clickthrough to his website for more depth.

Strategy should be unique to you

Next, to get really creative instead of going out and seeing how other businesses within your industry would answer these questions, think about how businesses in other industries would answer them. Why? Because all the good ideas in your industry are already taken and they’re called best practices.

The whole idea of strategy is not to replicate what your competitors do but to create a strategy that’s unique to you. 

We’d love to know what you think? What’s your approach to developing a social media strategy? What questions would you add?

13 Questions to help shape your social media strategy is a post from: Blu Maya Digital Marketing Agency