Companies are flocking to social media and crowdsourcing platforms in the hopes of finding cheaper or more effective ways to market their wares. This is understandable for we all need to make a living, however, I think the real promise of social media is bigger than just a financial transaction. People give their time and money for reasons above and beyond financial gain.

Crowdfunding site Kickstarter is a great example of non-financial motives for giving. Kickstarter is a platform to fund creative ideas. It is not investing, project creators retain complete ownership of their projects.

“Project creators inspire people to open their wallets by offering products, benefits and fun experiences.”

The great thing is that people do fund projects for “fun experiences.” There are many people completely willing to part with a little cash in order to play a small role in a community. And yes, each project is a community because like minded individuals are connecting around a single idea.

At the time of writing this post, Bud Caddell has attracted $6377 in funding from 88 backers for his book project, The Bucket Brigade: How Everything in the Attention Economy Actually Works and 10 Rules to Profit from it. Pledges of $25 or more get their name and URL in the book. More than $100 earns editorial membership. Backing of more than $500 gets “special attention from me (Caddell) far beyond the production of this book.”

Think about that for a moment, if you donate more than $100 you also get to edit the book for free. Caddell’s successful funding proves that money isn’t the only motivator. I think this is a positive and very powerful cultural advancement. Some professional connections and engagements are more valuable than a mere financial exchange.

That to me is the real power of social media. We are connecting around ideas and beliefs and not only trying to sell each other something. As we develop as societies and continue to climb Maslow’s Hierarcy, money is becoming less of a motivator.

Caddell was only asking for $5000 in funding, which is not a lot of money to write, edit and publish a book. Clearly it is not only about the money for him either. Lumi Co. on Kickstarter said,

“Kickstarter is an incredible platform. Its obvious purpose is funding, but we find ourselves gaining so much outside of collecting pledges. For us, Kickstarter has been a powerful tool to connect with a community passionate about our work.”

Many of us blog, upload videos and pictures, contribute to open source projects like Wikipedia and Linux with little or zero financial benefit. There is definitely more to life than money. Being part of a community and connecting with fellow humans has value in and of itself. We really are putting the ’social’ into social media.

Thanks to Edward Boches for inspiring this post.

It has been almost 600 years since Gutenberg invented the printing press, so next generation books are long over due. I have written several times about the inevitable revolution in book publishing. The introduction of Apple’s iPad is a major advancement  in the transformation of the idea of a book as printed words to a full multi-media experience. There is now an iPad application for three interactive children’s stories.

TheNextWeb has a great post about the interactive experience of games and animations within books.

This is nothing short of a revolution in children’s books. The adult can read while the child plays with the screen’s attractions, making reading not only a fun, but also an interactive experience.

This is just the beginning of what I have been calling unbooks. The real advancements will come when readers connect and form communities around the ideas in the books. Perhaps they will be ’social books.’ There are problems with using the word ‘book’ because these interactive experiences will be part book, part video, part discussion, part website, part curation, etc. I don’t know if the old idea of a ‘book’ encapsulates the new concepts accurately. One thing is certain; there are some exciting opportunities for authors and forward-thinking publishers.

More Links

Vook – Interactive books

TheUnbook A print based concept of the future of books as regularly updated and improved publications.

My Posts
The Future of Books
Unbooks: Leo Babauta of ZenHabits is an Early Pioneer of the New Model of Book Publishing

How do you market your business in this age of social media? There is no denying the impact of online marketing and social media but I think many companies are doing it wrong. The best social media strategy in the world is not going to help a poor quality business. On the other hand, companies that deliver amazing service probably don’t need to invest much in social media because their ardent fans will market their business for free. I think the Canadian printing company JukeBox Print Shop is one of those fantastic companies doing everything right.

I just ordered a rush order of business cards from JukeBox Print Shop and was completely amazed at the quality of service at every stage of the ordering process. This level of customer service and quality were so out-standing that I sent an email to thank them. Here is the text of that email:

Hello,

I am thoroughly impressed with the entire process of getting my rush order of business cards.

1. Your well designed and clearly organized website was the first surprise. There are so many graphic design companies who don’t even bother to maintain an appealing and updated website.
2. Your customer service staff were  very knowledgeable and helpful. I needed the cards quickly so I called several times to see what my options were and that it was possible to deliver by my short deadline. Your staff knew your product very well and clarified everything. It is so rare to find customer service reps that actually know and care about their company’s products.
3. Despite sending in my designs just before closing on a Friday, I still received the PDF proofs for verification minutes later.
4. Your email notifications and website kept me updated on exactly what stage my order was in. A minor misunderstanding was corrected in my order within minutes online.
5. The cards were delivered on time, exactly as promised, for half the price of local printers. Even the card stock you offered was thicker at this already discounted price.

You have a fantastic company. I have no doubt that you will be very successful. Congratulations on everything you have accomplished.

A very happy customer,
John Bardos

I was already extremely satisfied with my order of 250 of their inexpensive business cards, however JukeBox Print took it to the next level. In order to thank me for my email, they have offered 1,250 premium business cards for free.

I told my story with JukeBox Print in a presentation in front of 80 people, I have written this post, I have told everyone who will listen and I tweeted about the company several times with more to come. Is my promotion worth 1,250 free business cards? I am already planning my next order and several of my contacts are interested in using JukeBox Print in the future. I think their generous offer will pay off many times in the near future.

The key lesson is that social media is about the conversation. Real support from dedicated fans can be invaluable promotion and it can’t be faked. Companies should focus on delivering great products with exceptional customer service, then the online marketing will almost take care of itself.

Now go order some business cards or other print products, you won’t be disappointed. Of course, I am not getting paid to say any of this. JukeBox Print Shop is that good.

What do you think; should companies invest in great customer service before social media?

Here is short animation poking fun at our excessive preoccupation with productivity. Some of us spend so much time reading books and blog posts to try to be more productive; isn’t that defeating the purpose?

While it is important to be efficient I also think that real creative breakthroughs can’t be time optimized. So much of our lives are spent in front of screens that we can sometimes lose focus on what is important.

Please take a look.

Here is a fascinating video by the BBC called The Century of the Self. It is about public relations master and nephew of Sigmund Freud, Edward Bernays. Bernays was instrumental in creating our consumerism culture, invented PR, advised governments and was a key influence on the propaganda of Nazi Germany.

Edward Bernays took Freud’s ideas about the primitive aggressive and sexual forces driving people and used them to manipulate the masses.

He showed American corporations, for the first time, how they could make people want things they didn’t need, by linking mass-produced goods to their unconscious desires. Out of this would come a new political idea of how to control the masses. By satisfying people’s inner selfish desires, one made them happy and thus docile. It was the start of the all-consuming self which has come to dominate our world today.

Here are some high-lights of the video.

• Sold World War I to Americans.
• ‘Propaganda’ was the word used by Nazis so Bernay re-named it as Public Relations.
• He persuaded women to smoke by branding them as ‘torches of freedom’ and linking smoking to the suffrage movement.
• Helped link products and services to emotions and feelings and how people wanted to be seen by others. It was a shift from purchases based on needs to desires.
• Created the idea of cars as symbols of male sexuality.
• Started the shift from the notion of active citizens to passive consumers.
• Helped popularize President Coolidge by linking him to movie stars.
• Popularized Freud’s ideas in the US.
• Key influence to  Joseph Goebbel, the Nazi propagandist.
• Created the vision that democracy was only possible in a free-market capitalist society in the 1939 New York World Fair.

Here is a link to a free PDF version of  Edward Bernay’s 1928 book, Propaganda. (You may have to right click and save as to download to a PC.)

What does it take to find a job in this economy? Does sending out generic emails out to hundreds of companies work? How about using the popular employment sites and applying for all jobs vaguely interesting? You can’t differentiate yourself by doing what everyone else is doing.

$6 on Google Adwords to Get Your Dream Job

Alec Brownstein landed two job offers for his dream job with a $6 investment in Google Adwords advertising targeting the names of top New York creative directors. Watch the short video to see.

Create your Own Dream Job

Any sane business owner will happily offer employment to anyone who can prove they can offer more value than they cost. Unfortunately, larger businesses are not particularly sane. Focus on smaller, entrepreneurial companies and you just may be able to create any job you want. Check out Charlie Hoehn’s free SlideShare ebook to see how he managed to work with Seth Godin,  Ramit Sethi of Iwillteachyoutoberich.com, Tim Ferriss of The Four Hour Workweek and movie director Tucker Max.

Forget a Resume

Seth Godin wrote in his latest book Linchpin

Having a resume begs for you to go into that big machine that looks for relevant keywords and begs for you to get a job as a cog in a giant machine.

Godin goes on to say,

If you don’t have a resume, what do you have?

How about three extraordinary letters of recommendations from people the employer knows or respects?

Or a sophisticated project an employer can see or touch?

Or a reputation that precedes you?

Or a blog that is so compelling and insightful that they have no choice but to follow up?

Some say, “Well , that’s fine, but I don’t have those.”

Yeah, that’s my point. If you don’t have these things, what leads you to believe that you are remarkable, amazing, or just plain spectacular?

It sounds to me like if you don’t have more than a resume, you’ve been brainwashed into compliance.
Great jobs, world-class jobs, jobs people kill for – those jobs don’t get filled by people e-mailing in resumes.

Here is a fantastic hand drawn animated explanation of Dan Pink’s latest book Drive by the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA)

I have selected some excerpts of the animation but I highly recommend the 10 minute video for the content and the entertainment of watching the artist illustrate in fast motion.

For simple, straight forward, rudimentary tasks, bonuses work as expected; the higher the pay the higher the performance.

When a task gets more complicated, requiring some conceptual, creative thinking; larger rewards lead to poorer performance.

Money motivates people only if you don’t pay them enough to want to do the work.

There are three factors that lead to better performance and personal satisfaction:

• Autonomy – our desire to direct our own lives
• Mastery – our urge to get better at stuff (Like playing a musical instrument.)
• Contribution – making a difference (Linux, Wikipedia)

More and more corporations have a transcendent purpose. Partly because it makes coming to work better and partly because it attracts better talent.

We are purpose maximizers, not just profit maximizers.

I think we are all looking for more meaning in our work and lives but the research that Dan Pink offers is somewhat counter-intuitive on the surface. Money turns out to not be a very good motivator for more creative and cognitive work.

The question for each of us is whether or not we can create inspiring projects and businesses that attract talented employees and volunteers while giving everyone the freedom to choose what they want to work on. Could you create the next Wikipedia or Linux?

How would you like to create your own TV commercials and have them played on National TV? With Google TV Ads it is possible to find low cost times to place ads that can deliver traffic to your site.

SlateV.com has a great video about how they  created their own commercial that got 1000 visitors to a landing page for a total spend of $1300. While this example is not an overwhelming success story, it does show the potential to connect to an offline audience.

With low cost late night advertisements matched with appropriate TV programs, it is possible to cost-effectively drive traffic to a landing page and generate business leads. Blogging is very incestuous; it often seems that other bloggers are the primary readers and the only ones to write comments. TV ads may be a good way to extend your reach.

There definitely could be a lot of publicity for the first big blogger TV ad campaign and it probably won’t cost you more than a few thousand dollars. Does anyone have any video ads with the potential to go viral?

(This idea and video is via Direct Creative Blog)

Forget PowerPoint, presentations are getting a lot more fun. Prezi.com is taking those boring linear presentations to a new level. Watch this short video and take a look for yourself.

Book publishing is an archaic industry long over due for a revolution. In this Internet age, when information is instantly available from anywhere on the planet, it doesn’t make sense to go through a long publishing cycle only to have a product that is already dated. Books should be a work-in-progress of constantly enhanced and updated material. Books need to be a community, not a static product. While there are many experiments with the new model of publishing, Leo Babauta of ZenHabits, latest book Focus is most likely going to be one of the early large scale successes.

What is an Unbook?

Dave Gray and Jay Cross believe that unbooks are a ‘living book’ that ‘accelerates the path from idea to object’ and the ‘evolution of the living’ object. Watch the full ShareShare presentation below.

Focus, the Unbook

Babauta’s current book, Focus is a perfect example of Gray and Cross’s idea. Here is how Babauta describes his book model:

Write just the core content, in short chapters.

Publish this on the web in “beta” form. Share it with a small group of readers, for free.

Ask them to comment and even make contributions. I’ll decide what goes in, of course.

I’ll revise and expand on the book, based on input from early readers. Will publish new versions as they’re done.

More readers will be invited, and more feedback welcomed. More revisions will come out.

Finally, the book will be done, freely available on the web to read. Credits included for contributions from readers.

Will turn into an ebook, also freely downloadable, encourage people to spread it widely.

Will get a publisher to publish and distribute the print version, or failing that, self publish. Will sell this for a fee.

There might be some additional info in the different versions, to encourage people to check out all versions if they like.

When a Book Stops Being a Book

In a previous post, I wrote about what I think the future of books should be.  Babauta’s Future is one of those books, but there still is another dimension in the evolution of books and that is multimedia content. With the rapid adoption of Apple’s iPad, it shouldn’t be long before our concept of books as a container of text morphs into an experience complete with audio, video, animations, discussion forums, on and offline events and meet ups. Some books should be a service, not a product. Connecting people to people is the real value of ideas.  Reading is great but there are so many more possibilities on the horizon.