The Educated Emotion

An aerial view of downtown Ann Arbor, Michigan. Businesses without people are just buildings! Today, The Educated Emotion starts its People Talk Series. This series will teach you how to lose a good prospect, a good client, a good customer, a good employee, and a good referral in 3 days or less!  How to Lose a Prospect Last year, I went shopping for a new gym for the first time in years.  I am, by no means, a "gym rat". In fact,  I could probably live inside of a YMCA and still avoid working out on certain days. However, I do like to see energized, welcoming faces when I go to workout. This makes me think they will notice if I am missing in action - which is a good thing for me. Also, as a new entrepreneur, my time and budget are stretched.  In this quest to find the best fit for me, my lifestyle, and my budget I spent about 6 weeks taking tours of various facilities, taking advantage of complimentary guest passes, and hearing a whole bunch ...

Do you remember when you knew it all? When you had an answer for everything and everyone? If so, you probably recall that you were somewhere between the ages of 13 and 25. By the time you hit your 30's you realize that you know almost nothing - that this universe is much bigger than the human brain. As an adult, each day you are faced with more to learn, to know. As marketing professionals, it is important to make sure that you have knowledge and skill but wisdom to use them effectively. You may be "all tech" but that doesn't mean your customers are. Understanding your audience is as important as understanding your product or service.

As seen in the picture, shown left, I initially began this "short" blog post before going to bed over an hour ago...BEFORE my internet browser decided to go to sleep on me. Fortunately, I have developed tough skin (online). This past weekend I attended a writer's workshop on how to start and operate a blog efficiently. The presenter offered tips on how to start a blog following and increase blog traffic. Somewhere during the abbreviated Twitter tutorial, one of the students said that this (social networking) was like an entirely different world with its own language. It is surprising to me how many people subscribe to this way of thinking - that interacting online is totally different from interacting offline. After surviving the shift from Web 1.0 to 2.0, paying my respects to Myspace, and becoming flexible enough to almost keep up with Facebook changes, I have been through more emotions than the Hallmark Channel. No matter how much expertise you may have intera...