Find Your Voice

It's not the product you sell, it's the story you tell that sets you apart in the marketplace.   Think about it.  You are what differentiates your business, your product, your service, your job from every other competitor in the marketplace.  What's the story you are telling about the work that you do?  Is it the same story as the person in the cubicle behind you?  Is it the same story as the shop owner down the street?  The same story as the web page that appears next to yours on Google?  You have a very powerful differentiating force available inside you, your company, your work product that can transmit incredible positive energy and unique value to those who you seek to influence.    What is this force?  It's the power of storytelling.  Share your story behind your product, your business, your job.  It's not what you do it's how you do it and share it that sets you apart in the market.

PDo

Dealer Dilemma

I'm always interested in what local car dealers have to say about the economy.  When I worked as a local TV station General Manager the auto dealers were the lifeblood of our advertising business.   We tracked car sales monthly to identify target prospects for new advertising campaigns.  We also wanted to be the first to know how our existing clients were pacing compared to previous months.  In a good year, national auto sales would top 15-million.  Six years in the past decade, the figure topped 16-million.  That's when credit was flush, manufacturers were cranking out cars and incentives were driving traffic to the stores.  It all came crashing down last year when automotive news reported 3 million fewer cars were sold in 2008 compared to the year prior, triggering a panic among the big three and a $17 billion government bailout.  And this year?  The national car dealers association is predicting 12.7 million in sales with another 900 dealers going out of business.  Brutal.  

I have invited a couple car dealers to appear this week on a public affairs program I produce, called  Dollars and Sense  We'll get their take on the national crisis and how it hits home in their local community.  Should be a decent program.  I'll keep you posted.

PDo

Transparency

I'd like to see a talk show produced around the concept of transparency, where the host and executive producer would post online every conceivable personal agenda, hidden or otherwise, to give the audience a better understanding of their particular point of view.

Put it all out there, political affiliations, voting record, board positions, investments, income, work history, education, family, etc...

How much more credibility would someone have who is willing to publish their personal bias and hidden agendas before discussing or presenting the issues of the day?  Same thing for the guests of such a show.  If you want to appear on the program you would also have to disclose your own personal bias before appearing.

What we have now, in my view,  are two media worlds, online and traditional, where the one world is built on a foundation of transparency, openness and an explosion of viewpoints, while the other is tightly managed, with fewer viewpoints expressed by guests and hosts who appear to conceal a hidden agenda.

Here's a little more background about myself to add a little context to this particular posting:

PD

Getting Started

"Dream big Dreams"

- Barack Obama

He scribbled the message using a crayon on two pieces of white paper tablecloth torn off a table at a Biaggi's restaurant in Champaign, IL.   One note for Hannah, another for Sarah Rachel.

He hadn't yet declared his candidacy for president.  He was in town on an exploratory visit, testing the waters, drumming up support for his expected announcement.

Few people noticed when he entered the restaurant with one other person that night.  I noticed, however, and remember telling my family over dinner that it was quite possible the man who took a seat two tables over could very well become our next US President.  "Yeah right", came the response from my two teen aged daughters.  Even my young son looked skeptical.  My wife Susan, however, was excited.  Not because of my bold prediction, but Susan saw it as another learning moment for her children.

Following dinner I asked the kids if they would like to meet Barack.   "No daddy no," came the nervous response.   They didn't want to disturb him.   But I had covered enough political campaigns in my time and interviewed enough politicians to know that when they were running for office or even contemplating a run for office meeting new people and shaking hands was expected.  

So I walked over and introduced myself and family to Mr. Obama.  He was very gracious and asked the children their ages.  We were brief.  I asked the kids if they wanted Mr. Obama's autograph and he obliged.

 

A simple moment, fleeting but real.  He made an impression.  The impression resonated with me at the time and it's what I remembered most when I stepped into the voting booth in November.  It's no longer about politics with me.  The stakes are too large.  Our country, God knows my state, is in deep trouble.  I voted for the person who I thought gives our country the best chance of pulling itself together.  We'll see.

It's been two years now since that dinner at Biaggi's.  The scribbled notes are lost in the chaos that describes the bedrooms of my two teen aged daughters.   When the notes turn up I'll post them here.  

Meantime, it's my honor to get in this game and add my own Voice to this digital discussion.

PDo