Listen to all those “bad” notes.

They are exactly the reason this experiment was a success.

And they are exactly how to get people to walk up your staircase.

Because if people are hitting bad notes it means that they are allowed to hit bad notes. And if they’re allowed to hit bad notes, then they have freedom. And if they have freedom, then they can choose to contribute. And once they contribute to something, then they are vested in it.

And if someone is vested in you, your history is changed.

None of this happens if you stay in control. How do you give up control? Enable your customers to be creators, sharers, collaborators, lovers, fools, fans, advocates. To put it another way, let them be themselves. Just make sure you’re a valuable part of the conversation along the way.

Practically speaking, what can you do? Make your content accessible. Allow comments on your blog. Respond. Give away secrets. Tweet. Ask for advice from your clients. Post that ridiculous photo. Put down your defenses. Talk about what you’re doing and how you’re doing it. Don’t just give the polished impression of yourself. Give the transparent one.

And follow it up with engagement. Prove you’re listening. This is a fundamental shift in the way most “marketing” has happened in the past.

The days of control are over.

The days of inspiration are here. Better start getting more creative… and more humble. Why? Because people have more options than ever. We are all more likely to be commodities. Most of us are staircases. Some of us are cool, flashy escalators. Few of us have the courage to let people walk all over us by turning ourselves into instruments.

But if you believe in what you’re doing in the world, if you believe your product or service makes a difference, isn’t that exactly what you want people to be doing? It’s the only way you can earn the right to be heard and gain influence. Why? So you can be the staircase that guides your clients to the light of day.

Inspire,

brody

P.S. If people are going to use your staircase for all its worth (and give you their time or their money along the way), they must be delighted to do so. There is no delight without surprise. It is incumbent upon us, not the pedestrians, to make our staircases surprising. That’s why Wordswell asks our clients to take risks. We help you create surprise. Wanna start 2010 well? Jump. We can push you if you need it.

One of the great minds of our time, Roy H. Williams, wrote this in this week’s Monday Morning Memo:

Control the signals and you control the perceptions.
Control the perceptions and you control the conclusions.
Control the conclusions and persuasion is accomplished.

The end: What do you want to persuade people to do or to think?

The beginning: What signals are you sending?

Learning
We all know how Pavlov could ring a bell and get a dog to start drooling.

But do you know about Pavlov’s second experiment? This time he tried to use shapes to stimulate salivation.

Over time, the dog was trained to salivate at the sight of a circle. But he was also trained to stop salivating when a long oval was on display.

Maybe Pavlov was a bit of a sadist when he started to change the shape of the oval to become more circular. When the shapes became very similar in shape “the dog became highly agitated and the previously conditioned reflex was lost.” Ultimately the confused dog ignored Mr. Pavlov entirely.

Mixed Signals
Here’s the lesson: If you want people to complete an action that you desire, your message must be singular, focused, clear, and repetitive. Your message must be bound to a need your audience already feels.

Are you sending mixed signals? Why don’t you figure out your own story and tell it over and over. Make sure your customer is the main character.

Otherwise, people might stop listening to you and you’ll be left with drool to clean up.

Here’s to an effective 2009. Happy New Year!
Brody