What have you promised?

What was the last promise you made? Did you promise someone you would love them forever? Did you promise yourself you would go on a diet, be a better parent, give more to charity, watch less tv? Perhaps you promised to be more tolerant of others, call that friend you have been meaning to, or perhaps you just promised to enjoy life more and worry less.

Making Promises

We make promises all the time, to ourselves, to the ones we love, to others at work or school, even to our pets and through our spirituality. We fulfill these promises to a greater or lesser degree throughout our lives. Some require hard work, others are easy to fulfill, but we back out at the last moment driven by fear or the unknown.

Keep Your Promises

My view, don’t make a promise you won’t make every effort to fulfill. Be honest with yourself about your capabilities and measure if you have the bandwidth and potential to make it become a reality.

Promise Me…

Do you have the passion, desire, resilience, and guts to fulfill the promise you made, or are about to make?

Millennium Development Goals

In September of 2000, nine years ago, the nations of the world met at the UN Millennium Summit and declared in partnership to establish what was to become The Millennium Development Goals. In 2004, the first Millennium Village is launched in Sauri, Kenya by The Earth Institute to aide the poorest and most remote villages in meeting the MDG’s. In September 2005, four years ago, Millennium Promise, the only US-based international non-profit organization with a specific mandate to help meet the MDG’s is launched. In September 2008, one year ago, a high level event on the MDG’s is held in NY. Bill Gates remarks that the MDG’s are the best idea for focusing the world on fighting global poverty. In January 2009, this year, the Obama administration plan for foreign policy states they will embrace the MDG’s.

Our Collective Promise

You can help fulfill the world’s promise – a promise we all make to each other to take care of one another, to help those in need, to embrace that better part of ourselves and share our wealth, talents, strength, and hope.

Millennium Promise

Join me in supporting Millennium Promise.

http://www.millenniumpromise.org/site/PageServer?pagename=home

http://twitter.com/EndOfPoverty

http://www.standagainstpoverty.org/

Out of Touch, Me?

Most of us would tend to believe that we do not live sheltered or detached lives. We work, raise our families, travel, access the media, and continually interact with other people. So, the thought that we are somehow out of touch with reality is not only an insult, but beyond the pale of reason.

The Issues

This question, however is the most important one you should be asking yourself if you do not know enough about critical world issues such as: extreme poverty, the necessity of clean water, the scourge of malaria worldwide, patient capital, empowering women across the globe, bottom of the pyramid, social entrepreneurship, humanitarian workers at risk, The Millennium Development Goals, and more.

Time…To Act

If there were perhaps two, three, or more of the issues listed above that you might not be familiar with, or only have a passing idea of, then it’s time. Time to get more educated, time to take part, time to become a part of our common humanity and act.

The Real Deal

I am not here to diminish any other causes that you may be a part of or I may be ignorant of. I’m not trying to make you feel guilty or take praise away from the constant struggles many of us face daily, involved in the important work of our daily lives, far from it. These are not easy times for many of us who may have recently suffered a lay-off, medical emergency without adequate health insurance, or are living in situations or circumstances that are not of our choosing.

Join Together…Find Hope

What I am proposing is that alone, you are like that person living under the rock – scared, confused, disheartened, limited. However, if you band together, join with others who can share with you, educate you and you them, trade resources and support each other; it is there that we all find hope and a way out.

We Can Change The World

We are all citizens of the world, living here at the same time – some better off, some much better off, some on the edge, not really living, just existing. Yet, this movement, the availability of information and others to empower and connect with you can truly change and save the world.

Follow Me, Follow Us

If you’ve read this far, I ask you to please take the next step. On my Twitter account,http://twitter.com/JeffPed, I tweet regularly concerning many of these issues. Follow me and and begin to discover the true heroes behind this social media movement that will eradicate the worst of humanities social ills. Explore, challenge, dismiss, reflect – but, do yourself a favor and begin to crawl out from under that rock. I’ve begun to dig out myself and the feeling is life affirming!

I recently found out that you joined Millennium Promise as their CMO. For those reading this post, other then Mr. Kaye, the Millennium Promise vision is to end extreme poverty worldwide in our lifetime. The mission of Millennium Promise is to support the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals to halve extreme poverty in Africa by 2015. Millennium Promise works with impoverished communities, national and local governments, and partner organizations to implement high-impact programs aimed at transforming lives on the continent and engaging donor nations, corporations, and the general public in the effort. Their work is premised on the belief that, for the first time in history, our generation has the opportunity to end extreme poverty, hunger, and disease. Their website can be found here: http://www.millenniumpromise.org/site/PageServer?pagename=home

Most of us who have worked in marketing for an extended period of time know your work and achievements. They are stellar and your work building brands with Time Warner, Diageo, Vivaldi, Coca-Cola, & Nestle sets the standard for innovation, strategy, and digital media we all follow.

It is with great excitement that I read you joined Millennium Promise as their new CMO. Finally, an organization that is committed to instituting the vision of Ray Chambers and Jeffrey D. Sachs, among many committed others, has the leadership in the marketing realm to make it come true.

I speculated upon the process you undertook to come to your decision. You, like me, must share that common goal of thinking of what you want your legacy to be. I look at my family, into the eyes of my kids, and find no greater purpose or mission then to be an advocate and supporter of the vital work of Millennium Promise and other organizations that, “get it!”

Over the past year I have been deeply immersed, through social media and private outreach, in helping The World Food Program, http://www.wfp.org/, social entrepreneurship, micro-financing, and bottom of the pyramid ventures. I’ve had the great and recent pleasure of meeting Jacquelyn Novogratz, leader of The Acumen Fund, http://www.acumenfund.org/ and Tweet daily to help new ventures such as Melissa Richer’s Ayllu Initiative, http://aylluinitiative.org/ , transform lives in Brazil.

There is truly a transformation taking place in our global society, one that allows us to touch our deeper humanity and utilize our skills and passion to change the world. This is our time, with leadership such as yours in critical organizations, to make possible worldwide goals to end poverty. Naysayers be damned, our collective will cannot be defeated!

Thank you, again Mr. Kaye. I am on board in any way I can help.

Most sincerely,

Jeffrey Pedone

Today, I read a fantastic, albeit lengthy, post by Brian Solis titled, The State of PR, Marketing, and Communications:You are the Future. Solis can be found at www.briansolis.com and @briansolis.

Read the Piece

Few written commentaries in my career have impacted me the way Solis’ treatise did. I will pull out a few quotes from the piece that resonated deeply with me, but I urge you to read the piece in its entirety and follow Solis on his blog and Tweets.

The Quotes

“In the era of Social Web, a few key posts and articles in the right places, supported by an impassioned community bound by evangelism, success is significantly more profound, and immediately measurable.”

“The new world of influence demands customer empathy, evangelism, passion, expertise, and knowledge – everything else is disposable and takes away from your focus and potential.”

“Listening is the fundamental characteristic that separates the experts from the theorists.”

“Essentially you have to become the people you wish to reach.”

“It’s the poetry and power of brevity – the art of persuasion through sincerity and relevance.”

“We ARE becoming the new influencers and therefore we must redesign the communications ecosystem in which we operate and our roles within it in order to change, grow and thrive.”

Bravo, Brian!

Wonderful words that blaze a new path for all of us in marketing. Bravo, Brian!

The Quest for Greatness

It is a fact that everyone is not a great writer. We are not all great storytellers. This applies to every creative form of expression. We can all certainly practice those arts, but achieving greatness, that’s another matter. Few of us can truly be labeled great writers, artists, musicians, singers, bloggers etc…

What is Greatness?

Now before we begin the “us versus them” battle, or you think this is just snobbery, or perhaps you think this is being too critical and stunting free expression and initiative, let’s just examine this a bit. Is is subjective? Can anything be considered great? Is it great just because someone or a group or multitudes consider it so? Can something be great in one area and terrible in another? Should we even be measuring greatness? Isn’t initiative or the process, or what we learn the most important thing? Can an amateur even measure greatness? Should we reward greatness? Should greatness only be measured in how much we help or aide others? If you struggle and overcome adversity, isn’t that greatness? Raising a family, toiling in the day-to-day struggles of life, isn’t this the measure of greatness?

Great Bloggers?

In Blogs Falling in an Empty Forest, a recent NY Times article by Douglas Quenqua, the author details the disparity between the number of blogs that have been created and those that have been abandoned or not followed. He catalogues those cast aside as “public remnants of a dream – or at least an ambition – unfulfilled.” There are a number of reasons people abandon blogs – lack of interest on the part of the blogger or the public, the blogger being too busy, a quest for anonymity after fame or the spotlight, or others just give up after not making money (their original intent), some even tire of telling their stories.

The 5%

My belief is that the 5% of active blogs, those bloggers continually post to, and those that are read, can be divided into two categories – those bloggers who are truly great, and those bloggers who write for no other reason but self fulfillment. The latter are most likely the true writers, those who love wordsmithing, those who elevate the art beyond their contribution to it.

Where to find Greatness

So, to end my rant, here are some places to find quotes regarding greatness:

http://www.wow4u.com/greatnessquotes/index.html
http://www.motivatingquotes.com/greatness.htm
http://quotationsbook.com/tag/greatness/
http://www.answers.com/topic/greatness

Greatness in the Doing

I also think this quote by Helen Keller is great – “I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble.”

Changing Our World

My post today originally had at it’s heart a speech given by Michael Hoffman, Chairman and CEO of Changing Our World, Inc.. This is a fantastic organization dedicated to providing philanthropic services, worldwide, to a variety of organizations. Mr. Hoffman gave the commencement speech at Molloy College’s 2009 Graduation.

Treat Others The Way We Want to be Treated

There were three principals that he spoke of as goals for his audience. I choose to concentrate on the first one, and hope I can do some justice to it, because at the date of this post, it coincides with President Obama’s paramount speech in Cairo to the Muslim world. Both speeches hold as their foundational truth that we must always, respect and treat others the way we want to be treated. This central principal is highlighted and mentioned by both speakers.

Our Collective Faith

Both speeches are religious in nature, calling on the common areas of our collective faith to understand each other, respect each other, and treat each other well. Hoffman turns to the world religions and finds the centrality of how each of us should treat the other in Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism. President Obama speaks of the freedom of religion and how faith can bring us all together.

Our Responsibility

Both men acknowledge that it is our responsibility, in the face of those who would divide or those who are skeptical to make a difference in the world and make it a better place for our children. Michael Hoffman closes with this line, “…make a significant impact in making a difference in the world and make our world a more beautiful and peaceful place.” President Obama closes, “The people of the world can live together in peace. We know that is God’s vision. Now, that must be our work on Earth…”

Begin Today

Let us all begin today, this moment.

The Little Engine That Could

Many of us remember the children’s story of The Little Engine That Could. The story reappeared in my home when I began to read it to my own children before bedtime. It is a great story of optimism, hard work, and resiliency. Many adaptations and offshoots have been produced, yet the Watty Piper classic still holds the essence of hope for me.

I think I can

The classic refrain, ” I think I can, I think I can, I think I can,” is only placed in higher relief when after completing its mission, the little blue engine remarks, “I thought I could, I thought I could, I thought I could.”

Change The World

The Obama Presidency win could only be categorized in these terms, when the social media engine that helped get him elected acknowledged this same spirit and drive. Much the same type of movement is occurring all over the web as social media entrepreneurs are reaching out into the blogosphere and twitterverse to take on social ills and change the world.

Get The Word Out

I encourage all those who spend their days wrapped in their own bubbles of influence to spend a small amount of time each day getting the word out about these causes and their collective influence.

The Power of “We”

I think we can, I think we can, I think we can…I thought we could, I thought we could, I thou….

A Social Giving Starter Guide

Please visit:
Social Media for Social Change
50 Ways to Give
Change the Web
Social Actions

The moment of greatest clarity for me that defined my place in the annals of entrepreneurship was when I was mixing a large batch of Good Dog Foods Home Mix, in the CAFT test kitchen of Rutgers University. The product line was all human-grade food (meat, vegetables, rice, nutritional powder) made in a USDA approved facility. You begin to think about the choice you made as an entrepreneur when you’re shoulder deep in cold mixed meat and vegetables. I don’t regret a minute of it.

Today’s Social Entrepreneurs

I began to think about that again recently when I started to see Tweet posts (@JeffPed) regarding social media experts and those launching businesses in today’s social media landscape. When I launched my marketing consulting and gourmet frozen dog food businesses in the 1990’s, there was a prescribed and albeit “traditional” way of launching and marketing your business. Today the landscape has changed dramatically and few of the new entrepreneurs are versed in sustaining a business utilizing social media.

Yes, you can jump in quickly and begin to promote your business almost instantly, however due to the amount of information that needs to be processed, networking and marketing that needs to be done, and lack of truly trustworthy advice that you will receive, most businesses will wallow in relative obscurity, be a flash in the pan, or rise and fall quickly and dramatically.

Take a Cue from The President

The reason The President surrounds himself with a Cabinet and trusted advisors is that for all his wisdom and experience, he still cannot concentrate adequately on all the multiple areas of running the country at once. You can’t do this either, there is not enough time in your day nor will you be an expert on every area you need to, to be successful.

When to Seek Help

Find the key drivers of your business and your specialties, your unique value proposition. You should be the “specialist” or “expert” in these. That does not mean you should not be continually learning from others and perfecting your craft, social media is great for this. But, if social media is too big a challenge for you, the new marketing vehicles are changing too rapidly, or every vendor you meet or person you speak to has a varied opinion on the same question you are trying to answer, do this:

How to Work with Trusted Advisors

1. Get referrals from people you trust in your network to others who can help you.
   
2. Check their credentials thoroughly by speaking to clients and those they have worked with.
   
3. Ask them to provide answers to a short test case you create of how they would tackle your challenge.
   
4. Work with them on a trial basis before signing on for an extended engagement.
   
5. Communicate with them continually on your needs and expectations.

My concern is not so much with the natural progression of media, the birth and death of tactics and vehicles of communication and expression; my concern is regarding time. Most “traditional” media took some time to establish itself. The normal bell curve for print, newspapers and books encompasses many decades and longer. As we approach the newer forms of media, this curve becomes more flattened and the speed of adoption is instantaneous and amazing.

Email is an interesting study. Started in the 1960’s at MIT, email by 2008 had become, “..the bane of some people’s professional lives.” – NY Times. However, fifty years is certainly not a long time and email only really took off with wide adoption in the 1980’s. Is it now dead? The larger question is, ‘What will replace it, and for how long?”

If adoption to death is in hyper-drive, how can the consumer and marketer survive? For larger organizations and those still holding on to the past, it could mean the end of the road, the current auto-industry and many large print and newspaper publishers are a prime example.

How to survive and thrive can be found where the innovators are. Here is a place to begin or here or here. Drucker, Peters, Friedman, Gilbert, Godin, Anderson, Moddelmog, Kelley, Kawasaki, Handley – all innovators, all great people to study and follow. The list is extensive. Get busy!

You must, however begin the work. By being selective, Twitter can also be a great place to follow innovation. Only follow those who consistently give you great links to valuable information that propel your marketing programs forward. Also, your career is changing right before your eyes, so staying on the cutting edge will make you more valuable and marketable.

Remember, be selective…you don’t have much time to waste.