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Seriously, this bad boy should win awards…!  its the new entrance to “neverland”

Maybe my expectations were just too high, after all, this was a podcast with two bloggers on my “always read” list. However I just couldn’t handle more than 22-minutes of the Tony & Johnnie show. Sorry lads, I hope you take this in the spirit in which it’s given, but this didn’t work.

My guess is that perhaps Tony shouldn’t have chosen one of his best mates as his first guest, the conversation came across as somewhat contrived and at the times the rapport did seem natural, I felt like I was sitting in a coffee shop eavesdropping on two friends chatting.

The biggest thing for me was that I wasn’t sure why I was supposed to be listening. The objective of the podcast wasn’t clear and seemed somewhat random, maybe I just stopped listening too early. Sadly the Parky style interview, while nice in theory, simply doesn’t warrant an hour of my time, even between two of my favorite bloggers. Which brings me to another point, podcasting and blogging while similar in delivery are extremely different mediums, a star at one could easily be a dud at the other.

I’ll be looking out for the next one though, hopefully this was simply a poor dress-rehearsal…!

Today’s download is the prologue. According to iPodlounge, the novel will run 20 episodes.

I have a strong feeling that you’ll want to be getting on this bus early….!

To hell with Subservient Chicken. Hopefully we are seeing a trend being started here with a subservient bar-wench. Super, except that the inevitable nudity you’ll be hoping for, is blocked out. But, she does serve beer and, again, it beats the hell out of a guy in a chicken suit.

Bit of fun. Tell her to ‘kiss’, for about the most entertaining bit. Actually, the ‘starjumps’ weren’t bad, either.

Over at Brand Autopsy, johnmoore has been compiling a list of reader comments to send through to FastCompany, in the hope (I think) of bringing some of the speed back.

It’s been my favourite mag for a while now, but I nearly vomited when I heard (audible) this month’s edition touted “The courage issue”. I mean really, what the fuck? If I wanted this kind of drivel I would of bought chicken soup for the businessman’s soul. Not a single tidbit of worthwhile content, I’m hoping the printed version is a bit better.

Fingers crossed…!

So here’s the trick as I see it. People need to stop trying to differentiate simply on the product alone. They just shoulds Differentiate (like these guys ).

Let me use our company as a case-study here. I own a presentation firm, our clients are in big companies, in theory they just come to us. However when they come, we have a rule, and every employee knows it:

When someone visits our office we-have to make Such year print That People talk about us later at home, not just at Their office.

So we collect em in a stretch limo with hot-rod flames , we-have no corporate ID , business cards collectable goal ( here’s one ). My desk is a queen sized bed , D’ave: has a coffin for his, we-have a beach in the office, customers get doggy bags When They leave, and there are lots of –other little things.

None of this has anything to do with our product though.

Here’s the secret, the product rocks, it has to it, but it does not matter if they talk about the product or not, as long as they talk about us.

The human brain likes to compartmentalise things, so we set out to make an impression, a big one. That big impression gets tagged “presentation guys” in our client’s mind. Later When They chat to someone about presentations, That tag sets of an alarm and our guy will say, “You just-have to chat to this crew, they ‘re really good, and crazy too, they …”

So make sure your product is better than good enough, then differentiate on the simple day-to-day things that no-one else bothers with. Our visitors apologize that their business cards are so dull. That’s a cool conversation to have.

Graham , one of The Links , Had a late night altercation with aa fence That leapt out from nowhere Directly in Front de son since.

Today he gets a package from His insurance company, Outsurance , Containing a big toy football, and a card That read

We laughed out loud. Who woulda thunk it, an insurance company with a sense of humor?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Much respect …!

It’s simple, take time to make things personal.

Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to the master: Aaron, from 800-CEO-READ.

This year I bought some books from these guys, not loads, about 60 or so. Then today I got what is undoubtedly the single best corporate gift I have ever received.

Aaron contacted Helen, our office manager to find out the specific taste of every one of Missing Link’s employees, then went and handpicked books, CD’s, DVD’s and magazines, basically something for everyone (from metal, to punk, to goth, to house music, to art – I shit you not).

Putting aside the considerable monetary value of this gift, the time spent hand-picking these items is what really amazed me. It is so much more remarkable than the usual crap people send out, it is also extremely special and memorable.

To Aaron, Jack, todds, and the 800-CEO-READ team, you have just guaranteed yourself a very, very long term customer, thanks so much. The Missing Link hooligans salute you.

Bloggers, I’ve never asked for anything on this page, but do me a favour, spread the word, these guys rock.

To end this post, I want to quote Aaron from his card:

Be safe and well, be angry and raise hell…!

The front and back of one of our new business cards, there are now 10 completely different designs, we let our clients choose  Sure, we have no logo or CI, but we got a shit-load of brand…!