Insights from Nebo

Funny:

• Comparison of Jay Z to Tiger Woods

Thought Provoking:

• Is Marketing a Strategic Resource or a Procured Commodity?

Interesting:

• Does Your Favorite Brand Lean Right or Left?

Check back next Monday for some good reads and visuals, or follow us on Delicious for a heavier load.

Mario is the epitome of the successful video game. There have been challengers, but none have yet to overcome the little Italian. Even gamers engrossed in modern online games typically have some roots in Nintendo's iconic series. But what is it that made Mario so damn fun? What continues to make the series successful? Shigeru Miyamoto, now senior managing director at Nintendo and one of the original minds behind Mario, says it best:

a fun game should always be easy to understand — you should be able to take one look at it and know what you have to do straight away. It should be so well constructed that you can tell at a glance what your goal is and, even if you don't succeed, you'll blame yourself rather than the game.

Miyamoto's words aren't just a glimpse at what makes Mario fun, they are a valuable lesson in clarity that can be applied to many things.

For example, when users go to your website, they have a specific objective they are looking to accomplish. They may be researching a product, learning more about your company, or making a purchase. Just like a game, your site should be so well constructed that users can understand how to reach this objective at a simple glance.

As a marketer, your job isn't just to get users visiting your site; your job is to make their visits enjoyable, and at the heart of every enjoyable experience, whether on a game or a website, is clarity. In a good website there is no room for ambiguity or confusion. Instead, create clear and easy paths that help users accomplish their objectives.

Picture via: Dr Case on Flickr

Miyamoto interview found via Maki.

Bad habits are hard to break, and the practice of bad presentations is not only a nearly unbreakable habit but is sadly considered the norm. Ever heard the phrase “death by PowerPoint?” Most of us have, and we’ve all been forced to sit quietly, asking ourselves “when the heck is this presentation going to be over so I can get back to something important?”

Presentations don’t have to be terrible, they just mostly are. This month, you’ll be glad to find there is a better way.

The Beginning: Preparation

It starts with clearing your mind and letting go of all your preconceived notions of what a presentation should be like. Of course, we are all busy, and sometimes it’s hard to shut down your mind for long enough to focus on the task at hand. That’s why in Presentation Zen, this month’s book club choice, Garr Reynolds advocates going analog; stepping away from your computer, Blackberry, and other gadgets and using pencils or markers, paper, and your creativity to sketch out your presentation.

Now, you might feel silly to be sprawled out with markers and paper. In fact, you might even feel like a child who’s about to draw something for arts and crafts – that’s the point! In order to achieve greatness, you need to approach your presentation with a “child’s mind”. Remember when you would spend hours playing with crayons and construction paper? And you weren’t worried about what you were producing, or how people would perceive it? You were just happy to be hanging out and creating some art. That’s the first step in achieving “Presentation Zen”; approach your presentation with a child’s mind and don’t be afraid to make mistakes.

So, you have your child’s mind, and your materials. Now you need to start thinking about what the point of your presentation is. What is the message of the story? You should have one solid point that you want people to learn and remember from your presentation. Everything you put into your presentation should support that point. Great presentations present information efficiently and gracefully by eliminating the non-essential. Anything that doesn’t support your point is not needed. Keep it simple, clear, and brief.

Everyone knows the point of this story:

No one ever knew the point of this one:

Making it Pretty: The Design

Here’s where people get stressed. It’s easy to “prepare” your presentation, but not everyone is convinced of their design skills. Well, what happened to your child’s mind? You’re not afraid to make a mistake, remember! You don’t have to be a designer to create a great presentation. Continue on your path of efficiency and grace. In this case, design means making your main message as clear for the viewer as possible.

Some practical advice: focus on the essential and use visuals. You can always give a handout to explain the non-essential, and visuals are much easier to digest than bullet points. For example:

A thousand words:

A picture:

Don’t be afraid of empty space. Think “what can I subtract?” instead of “what else can I add?” Avoid clutter and use the graphic design principles of contrast, proximity, alignment and repetition to drive your message home.

Breathe Deep, It’s Time for: The Delivery

You’ve prepared, you’ve got your awesome design, and now comes the moment of truth: the delivery. There’s a reason public speaking is feared by more people than death; because, well, it can be scary. The way to make it not scary is to practice, practice, practice. The only way to build confidence in your presentation is to be fully prepared. Prepare like mad and you’ll be more at ease in delivery.

As you give your presentation, be fully in the moment. Give your audience your full and undivided attention. Be passionate about the subject! If you aren’t passionate, why should you expect the audience to be? Give your presentation, tell your story, and always leave the audience satisfied, but wanting more.

In Conclusion:

Presentations don’t have to be a dreaded thing; in fact, they can be fun and entertaining. This book has a ton of examples and more information which can be helpful to reference as you are creating your next presentation. The best way to learn is to get out there and do it. Go forth and create your own Presentation Zen!

The reason there are a lot of self-labeled social media experts and gurus is that people continually confuse tactics for strategy. Tactics are easy. A book on best practices will teach you 80% of what you need to know. Strategy, on the other hand, requires a blend of creativity and a ruthless determination for finding insights.

There's a place for social media best practices, and there's a place for individuals who can setup a social profile in the blink of an eye. But it's a small place. It's not an exciting place.

The real value of social media is that it gets people to think about their business problems differently. It makes companies think about their interactions with their customers and puts more emphasis on the customer experience. It provides an outlet for creative thinking, and sometimes even fosters solutions that make things better.

The reality is you don't need a social media expert teaching you tactics. Chances are you might not need a blog, a Flickr account, or even a Twitter feed. What you do need are more strategic ideas.

Use this current social media frenzy as an opportunity to rethink your interactions with your customers and gain insight on your brand. Sometimes you'll find an answer in social media, but just sometimes.

You are less limited by your innate abilities than you think. Design, music, and writing are all skills that people view as creative, but in reality the only thing they require is practice.

But, how do you get better, faster? All you have to do is follow a few simple guidelines.

Practice at your practice.

When you first start practicing a new skill, you're tolerance for practice will be low. You probably won't be able to stand more than 30 minutes to an hour of practice. The first step to gaining a new skill is learning to practice. By increasing your tolerance for practice, you'll be able to improve faster.

Set process goals, not outcome goals.

Outcome goals (eg. we will win the superbowl) are easy to set, but they're misleading because they teach you to focus on things outside of your control. The only area in which you have complete control is the process. So set goals related to the process itself, and give yourself a time frame to work off.

Don't blame anyone, but yourself.

If the presentation didn't go well, it's not because the crowd was tough. It's because you weren't prepared. If you're design wasn't well received, it's not because the client didn't communicate their goals. It's because you didn't elicit them. The first step to improving is viewing your performance in a completely neutral manner and being accountable for all the outcomes. Not just the good ones.

Compare yourself to your peers, but aspire for the experts.

If you spend all your time comparing yourself to the masters in your field you'll quickly get discouraged. Instead, compare yourself with peers who more closely align to your experience. This will give you the confidence to continue your growth in the field. Your first blog post is going to be awkward, your first design will be rough, so don't compare yourself to the masters in the field right away.

Push beyond your comfort level.

Always pick goals that are slightly beyond your abilities. If you're practicing design, then push yourself to use a different style in your next concept. Your goals should always stretch your abilities just beyond your current comfort levels.

These simple concepts are the first steps to improving your creative performance. The reality is — if you're dedicated to getting better at a creative task, you will. The only thing stopping you is your existing habits, and your belief in your lack of innate creative talent. Once you change your habits and your mindset you'll be on the path to reaching your goals.

What's a middleman? Someone who takes your profits. Someone who stands between you and your customers. Someone who marks up the product. Yes, a middleman can be all of these things, but, more importantly, a middleman can be useful.

When the internet arrived, there was a lot of talk of no more middlemen. Well, years later, they're still here. It's true, businesses like traditional travel agents and book stores may have taken a blow, but they haven't been replaced by direct sellers. They've been replaced by other middlemen.

Amazon is a middleman.

Kayak is a middleman.

Zappos is a middleman.

Itunes is a middleman.

This new breed of middlemen combines an understanding of culture, technology, and product to bring value to both ends of the supply chain. In fact, that's what middlemen have always done, but as culture and technology change, so must the middleman.

We can bid a fond farewell to the middlemen of old, the middlemen of the old economy and not of the digital, and we can welcome new middlemen with open arms: record labels that focus on live events, e-commerce stores that thrive within e-culture, and many more middlemen who are sprouting up to take the place of their predecessors.

Sure, there are times when middlemen just get in the way, but for the most part they're a valuable part of our economy. The internet has changed a lot of things, but middlemen are here to stay.