Along with the crisis in financial markets, there’s another ugly truth we need to admit: brands are dead, and it’s time for marketers to admit it.

Nobody carries brands around in their heads. Nobody has a relationship with a brand. Or lives a brand lifestyle. Brands aren’t conversations, and they’re not bought, possessed, or coveted. Companies don’t own them. Neither do consumers or shareholders.

Of course, if asked, most people can freely associate words with a name. Conversely, all of us can remember a funny commercial or mascot, even if we can’t connect it to a product or service. And everyone has opinions about marketing, primarily because it intrudes on our every experience.

But brands are simply irrelevant in a world wherein people know that one airplane seat looks like another, different clothes and PCs are made in the same factories overseas, and that most companies expect customers to help themselves. Or when price and availability matter.

In such times — just like in any times, really — human beings make purchase decisions based on their own experiences of real life, not on the imagined associations of brands. The Internet allows us to amplify the facts, opinions, and experiences of our lives, and elevates them to the role of qualifying, advising, and informing our choices.

We attach meaning to brand names, not the other way around. And we do it through the 24/7, real-time experiences of living. Companies can’t rely on hype, logos, funny creative, or any technological invention to influence, let alone overcome or control, what consumers know, think, or feel.

It’s wishful thinking to believe otherwise. It’s also unsustainable.

Those many billions of dollars spent this year in doomed hope that branding will somehow, sometime, somewhere, get consumers to ignore what they already know, and do something different? Don’t expect to see those budgets next year. I think the brand marketing world is destined for a whole lot of hurt.

Are we equipped to deal with it?

Or will we continue to make sure that there’s no shortage of newfangled ideas, mostly intended to distract consumers instead of interrupting them, and always staying far away from actually selling them anything? Will it be enough to repeatedly resurrect in social media, games, and other tools of technology the voodoo tenets of brands that were invented in strange, distantly different times (i.e. the Dark Ages of the mid-20th Century)?

Nope. I think we need to admit that brands are dead, and start asking different questions of ourselves before the answers get handed to us by our companies and clients. It’s not going to be tolerated any longer for us to pretend that they just don’t ‘get’ branding.

Well, neither do consumers. And that means we won’t get our budgets, or keep our jobs, next year.

As it stands now, the upcoming holidays and 2009 will not be a banner year for the branding racket: budgets will be smaller, patience will be shorter, and trust will become even a rarer commodity. Marketers will spend more time talking — participating in more conversations with consumers — yet reputations, purchases, and loyalty won’t necessarily follow, even as the pressures of the latest recession mount.

Why aren’t alarms being sounded? Where’s the soul-searching about the very foundations of how we define brands? Where is the Manhattan Project, sponsored by Brandweek (or some such other industry rag) challenging marketers not to find more proof for what they hope is true, but rather building entirely new models of what brands are, what they do, and then how they’re measured?

Think reality…financial measures that have existing credibility with businesses, and not more made-up numbers or acronyms that only we understand…and start thinking about awareness, intent, and the other intangibles as the tactics of branding, while seeing the behaviors they prompt as the brands themselves.

Again, where’s the siren call to action? Instead of finding new ways to do the same old stuff, you’d think somebody would be advocating doing something truly new. Loudly. Incessantly.

I don’t presume to have the answer. But you don’t have to be a dim bulb to wonder why aren’t more people asking the question.

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Baskin is the author of Branding Only Works on Cattle, published in late September by Business Business Plus. He is a columnist for Advertising Age, blogs at Dim Bulb, and consults worldwide with businesses on getting something tangible for branding.

MSNBC reported this week that the Bush Administration will leave at least half of the $700 billion bailout fund for President Elect Obama’s people to deal with. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has stated that he intends to leave $350 billion of the funds to be distributed according to the wishes of the incoming Obama administration.

Remember when passing this act was so urgent they were freaking out about waiting ‘until Friday’ to pass it? Remember when it was so urgent John McCain suspended his campaign to get in on the conversation?

I guess it wasn’t all that urgent after all. Or was the mere idea of economic stability the urgent component?

(Of course, this was all leaked on the condition of anonymity as the sources were not authorized to disclose the information.)

How to Spend $700 Billion

It may not be that Paulson and company aren’t interested in spending the money. They just might not have time to get it all done by Inauguration Day. According to MSNBC the bailout money is available as follows:

• $250 billion available immediately
• $100 billion can be spent without congressional approval
• $350 billion can be spent only with Congressional approval

The $700 billion package, which was to be used to purchase troubled assets that banks were carrying on their books is now up for grabs. Paulson declared last week that in fact none of it would be used to buy so-called ‘toxic assets’. Instead, the Treasury Department is looking into investing in banks for partial ownership as well as possibly lending money to failing American auto makers.

Does it seem to anyone else like the Bush Administration is passing the buck - $350 billion of them?

Congratulations President Elect Obama! The mess now belongs to you.

The lesson for the rest of us? Beware of those who claim the sky is falling!

Image Credit: Ricardo Carreon, Flickr

The scene: a nondescript office campus in the Seattle suburbs. It’s long past midnight but headlights from a late night coffee run enter the parking lot while assistants and interns scramble about inside.

In a large conference room that appears to have been the scene of many a recent strategy session, pizza boxes and Starbucks cups overflow a single trashcan in the corner of the room. The whiteboard is littered with numbers so large and formulas so complex that a team from NASA will be needed to calculate the totals. A few remaining people surround the conference table while one man stands at the head and listens to each point and counter-point.

If you guessed the company in question is Starbucks trying to figure out a way to sell us $4 lattes again, you’re wrong. The coffee run should have been a clue.

If however, you said Microsoft, then you are correct. But what’s keeping Steve Ballmer up on this night?

Select from the following list of choices:

1. Steve and team are deciding on a real drop dead date to kill off XP
2. Steve is signing off on an ad campaign to counter Apple’s…that works
3. The team is finalizing the details for Bill Gates return to Microsoft to save all the softies from mass extinction
4. Steve is evaluating another bid for Yahoo
5. None of the above

While all could be true, the correct answer is E, or none of the above.

So what is it, you ask? The answer is going to require you to suspend disbelief from this point forward. We all know (thanks to Apple) that the Windows Vista adoption has been quite unimpressive. In fact, Vista has been so disappointing that Microsoft continues to keep XP on life support.

This leads me to my point

The release of Windows 7 will be make or break for Steve Ballmer. It will be Steve who takes the accolades or the arrows for this launch.

Sure, Gates still hangs around the place like the crazy old uncle that stays too long at Thanksgiving, but Windows 7 is Steve’s baby. This is why he should do something completely unheard of at Microsoft. Something so outlandish, it borders on insanity.

Give Windows 7 away for free!

That’s right, give it away. Microsoft has spent the better part of ten years trying to fashion themselves after Google, while Google in turn has been zeroed in on Microsoft Office.

We are all aware that Google is the king of online advertising. Microsoft has wanted to compete in that space forever, which is why giving away Windows 7 makes so much sense. Let’s look at the numbers; Microsoft’s operating systems are on 90% of the world’s computers, or roughly one billion machines. That’s penetration on a massive scale. Even Google has to be impressed.

So give Windows 7 away for free as an ad-supported operating system using the Microsoft Ad Center network. That would mean Microsoft serves ads on a billion machines versus the twelve people that currently use MSN. Besides, free is an incredibly seductive word to IT departments, who just had their wishlists pushed back two years in the wake of the recent financial meltdown. Just in time for the launch of Windows 7!

Point being, Microsoft generated $17 billion in profits last year selling software the same way they have for 30 years. During that same time Google made $4 billion and has been developing an ad-centric operating system that will not only compete, but dominate if Microsoft doesn’t market software differently than they have in the past.

Is this model possible? Can Microsoft adopt an ad based operating system and make it work? Do you think it’s even up for discussion out in Redmond? The whole idea makes me think of the line from A Christmas Carol when Scrooge asks the ghost of Christmas future; “are these the shadows of the things that will be, or are they shadows of things that may be, only?”

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Robert Barr is tired of the way business news is presented to the general public. With all the spin doctoring and screen testing, no one says anything anymore. Blabrmouth.com is the melding of business news and one man’s opinion.

Here’s a story, of a lovely lady:

I was in the process of being laid off, but my managers kept saying different things. So I brought a voice recorder to work (during the last days) and recorded all conversations just in case something legal came up. I managed to hide the recorder under my sweater during meetings and thought no one was the wiser. One day I went on a break and left the recorder at my desk. When I returned, all of the content was erased. Was it legal for me to record conversations (without the other parties knowing) in the first place? Was it illegal for whoever erased the tape to do that?

Rule numero uno about lay offs: There will be wars, rumors of wars, lies, damn lies and maybe even some statistics thrown in for good measure. It’s a lay off and crap is flying every which way.

Expect to hear several different versions of the same story. Think of it as FUBAR or even SNAFU. Sometimes executives don’t even know what is going on–don’t expect your manager to be in on the haps.

I’m not a lawyer (I don’t have the luxury of making decisions & recommendations in a vacuum) but I’d be willing to bet that in most states, recording a conversation without the other party’s knowledge is probably illegal. Further, what could possibly be gained from suing a company that is going through lay offs?

Sure, if there is blatant evidence available for a class action suit for age discrimination (i.e. only employees over 40 are laid off) or something similar, then go for the gusto. But if all different “kinds” of people from across the company are being laid off and it is based on performance, tenure, or last in/first out, then you are wasting time & aggravation by attempting to catch your soon to be ex employer in “something (il)legal”.

Bringing an audio recording device to work may even be against a company policy. Think about R&D departments, trade secrets, legal documents, the eleven secret herbs and spices in the Colonel’s chicken. Some companies are even banning cell phones with cameras from their property.

A few years back some guy who worked for Microsoft took a picture of some boxes at work & posted it on his blog. Guess what? He was almost instantaneously fired. If Bill Gates could have appeared before him in a puff of smoke to do the firing himself, I wouldn’t be surprised.

Companies are competing on a global basis. They take this stuff seriously, yo.

When you know you’re going to be laid off, you really only have two choices:
• Ride it out (if it’s worth your while - think retention bonus)
• Polish up your resume and start looking for a new job

Don’t try to make a lay off about YOU. It’s not about you. It’s about money, honey. Cut your losses and go find your own green…elsewhere.

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HR Wench Jenn Barnes has worked in Human Resources since 2001 and loves to hate it. Feel free to email your HR questions to: hrwench at gmail dot com. She’s one of three Partners at HRM Today, LLC. Check them out at http://hrmtoday.com.

Judging from the photograph, what type of franchise would you say Leo Rivera has launched? A tattoo parlor? Auto shop? Art gallery? None of the above. Rivera is the brains behind Bishops Barbershop, the latest in a string of hair cutting companies that offer an alternative to high priced salons and low-end joints without a shadow of personality.

Swapping Chardonnay for Beer

Walk into a high dollar hair salon and you might be offered a glass of wine to go with your $60 haircut. IF you have an appointment that is. Walk into a Bishops Barbershop on any given Tuesday (no appointment necessary) and suck down the suds during your $12 buzz cut.

Rivera didn’t invent the idea of a different kind of hair salon. The niche is includes SportsClips, which features TVs blaring ESPN and stylists in NASCAR gear. Then there’s Cartoon Cuts, where kids get hosed down by a nozzle that resembles an elephant trunk. But Rivera’s joint is different. Partly on account of that beer, and partly due to the street art he supports which creates the uber-urban vibe. But mostly it’s because of the personality Rivera has infused into his brand.

Rivera told Oregon Live there are already two other nationwide outfits that call themselves rock-n-roll barbershops. Rudy’s Barbershop and Floyd’s 99 Barbershop have a presence in many cities nationwide. Competition is fierce, but in a recession proof industry, Rivera’s not scared. 

Taking the Franchise Nationwide

While franchising will allow Rivera to expand quickly, the personality that captured Portland, Oregon’s heart will have to be toned down. The trademark wall collages might not feature naked women anymore, but Rivera insists all stores will give away beer. He never wants to be another Supercuts.

Bishops debuted at the West Coast Franchise Expo on Nov. 7. Within five years, the company hopes to have franchises in 15 markets in the U.S. and Canada and, eventually, more than 200 stores.

Is real estate cheap yet? I may channel my inner street and buy one myself!

Image Credit

The powers of Presidents are often over-exaggerated. They are not, as many people seem to believe, king of the country. Our 3 branch separation of powers places firm limits on what the President can unilaterally do or change. This means that even if a President wants to change something, he may not have the “political capital” - that is, the support of those in Congress - to get it done alone. Still, we rightly look to the President as the most powerful person on Earth and at least hope he will try to change things for the better. In that vein, here are 25 things that President-elect Barack Obama should at least try to change.

1. Get us out of Iraq

Though many Democrats have overstated the necessesity to end the Iraq war, it does need to end. What began as a noble quest to depose a terrible and potentially dangerous dictator has metastasized into an open-ended sinkhole of American lives, time, and money. Unlike past legitimate wars like World Wars 1 & 2 (or even Desert Storm) there appears to be no clear goal or end-game in Iraq. No one knows what we are waiting for to declare victory or defeat. President Obama should either define such a goal and promptly meet it, or begin withdrawing our troops. If Republican pundits want to call that “cutting and running”, so be it. As John T. Reed writes, “adults do not make life-and-death policy based on whether “one of the other kids” will call them chicken.

2. Jump start the economy following the financial meltdown

Obama spent the latter part of his campaign stating that the current 2008 financial meltdown is the worst economic problem since the Great Depression. Maybe. Regardless, the onus is clearly on President-elect Obama to help jump start the economy and rebuild consumer confidence. One of his plans for doing this is offering tax cuts for “working families”, which Obama defines as the 95% of Americans earning under $250,000 per year. His “Making Work Pay” tax credit would give $500 in tax relief to singles or $1,000 to married couples filing jointly. Most economists agree that tax cuts do indeed boost economic activity, so hopefully, these will become law.

3. Eliminate capital gains taxes (at least for small businesses)

Another specific proposal for jump starting the economy is eliminating capital gains taxes, which are levied on investment income. While Obama dislikes rich people and big businesses (and so will most likely not eliminate capital gains taxes for them), he has promised to eliminate capital gains taxes for “startup and small businesses to encourage innovation and job creation.” Singling out one economic class for a significant tax cut while still subjecting another class to it is seemingly a class warfare tactic to curry favor with voters, but any elimination of capital gains tax will do the economy good. Hopefully this will get done!

4. Ease the burden on low-income seniors

The last thing low-income seniors need in a time of economic turmoil is a crushing tax burden. Accordingly, Obama has pledged to eliminate all income taxation of seniors who earn less than $50,000 per year. According to his campaign website, this would end income tax for some 7 million senior citizens, good for an average savings of $1,400 per year, per senior. In all, the website claims, 27 million American seniors would not even need to file an income tax return.

5. Simplify the tax code for all Americans

Another major headache we all face is complying with the maddeningly complex tax code every April. With the government’s never-ending maze of tax credits, incentives, loopholes, deductions and exemptions, it’s almost impossible to do your taxes without specialized software or professional help. Obama, according to his campaign website, will end this difficulty by “ensuring that the IRS uses the information it already gets from banks and employers to give taxpayers the option of pre-filled tax forms to verify, sign and return.” Experts believe that this would save Americans some 200 million hours of tax preparation work and as much as $2 billion in fees each year.

6. Ease the transition of dislocated manufacturing and service workers

Globalization is an inescapable reality in twenty-first century America, and it’s not going away anytime soon. That said, the government arguably has a responsibility to assist workers in industries that are being outsourced. President-elect Obama has promised to help displaced workers adapt by creating “flexible education accounts” and offering retraining assistance. This would help the displaced workers develop new skills that will allow them to find new, similarly-compensated jobs and ease the turmoil from losing their prior job.

7. Incentivize companies to create American jobs

While outsourcing is not the paragon of evil, capitalist greed that leftists claim, it still doesn’t hurt to encourage companies to create more US jobs. One of Obama’s plans (which he already introduced legislation for as a Senator) is to offer tax credits to companies hat maintain or increase the number of full-time workers in America relative to those overseas, keep their corporate headquarters here, provide health insurance, help workers prepare for retirement, and otherwise support their American employees.

8. Encourage continued research, development, and innovation

The above mentioned challenges of globalization (as well as the energy crisis) demand that we continue innovating. In recognition of this, Obama has promised to make the Research and Development Tax Credit permanent. This will send a clear message to startups and existing businesses that the tax credit is there, can be depended on, and will not be phased out before they launch their next blockbuster product. Such strategies are exactly what are needed to encourage innovation, and this should, hopefully, pass through Congress with ease.

9. Invest in clean cars

One of Obama’s more ambitious promises was to put a million plug-in Hybrid cars (which can get up to 150MPG) on America’s roads by the year 2015. Additionally, Obama has pledged that these million cars will be produced here in America, which appears to be part of his campaign promise to create 5 million “green jobs” in the quest to lighten our load on the environment. By this point, few sane people doubt the importance of switching to more eco-friendly vehicles. This simply must get done.

10. Increase the percentage of renewable, domestically-generated energy

Sadly, we are still relying overwhelmingly on oil for our electric and heating needs. President-elect Obama plans on changing that, promising that 10 percent of our overall electricity comes from renewable sources by the year 2012, and upping that percentage to 25 by 2025. It is commonly though that wind and solar will accomplish this, but these are actually not as cost-effective yet as many people think. An excellent interim solution would be to use nuclear power, which France is happily and cheaply using to power their entire country.

11. Restore America’s tarnished reputation in the eyes of the world

No matter how you feel about the current President and his administration, it’s tough to deny that America has taken a beating in the public eye. Much of that can be blamed on the blunder of the Iraq war and how it was carried out, but that is over and done with. What President Obama must now do (and says he will do) is engage in diplomacy with world leaders about terrorist threats and other issues. We must re-establish the habit of talking before fighting.

12. Ensure that Iran does not develop or use a nuclear weapon

One of the major, specific goals of engaging in diplomacy must be ensuring that Iran does not become a threat to us. Whether Obama opts to use direct talks, multi-party talks, sanctions, or a combination of the above, the goal of pacifying Iran is an absolute must. Despite the public’s lack of support for President Bush or the Iraq war, Obama has an unquestionable mandate from the American people to ensure our safety in the face of that dangerous regime.

13. Offer aid and support to Africa

Recent years have shifted our attention to the suffering and atrocities taking place in Africa, from the genocides in Darfur to the widespread disease and poverty that characterizes the continent in general. Obama can and must make this a priority. Fortunately, he has pledged to double our annual investment in foreign aid from $25 billion to $50 billion by the end of his first time. He also wants to make the Millenium Development Goals (cutting extreme poverty in half by the year 2015) into American goals. Many Americans support this type of aid.

14. Promote free trade throughout the world

Economists rarely agree on anything, but virtually all of them agree that we are better off with 100% free trade with all the world’s nations. Buy whatever you want from whomever you want, in any country. Obama has made some promises toward achieving this vision, preferring to support “fair trade” of excluding countries who tarrif our goods and such. He should abandon fair trade and support completely free trade instead. This alone will do more to ease the financial burden on Americans than 100 government giveaway programs and tax credits combined. Let supply and demand function!

15. Help ensure that all Americans have health insurance

An overwhelming number of people in America support a universal healthcare system. While this is questionable from an economic standpoint, the government can certainly make it easier and cheaper to purchase health insurance. One way of doing that is offering a tax credit that lets Americans write off health expenses like doctor visits and prescription drugs. Obama has also proposed creating a second tier of the healthcare system that lets people stay in private healthcare plans or, optionally, purchase it at a lower subsidised cost via the government. Some combination of these plans will no doubt make health care more affordable.

16. Allow us to import safe generic drugs from other nations

It is currently quite difficult to import safe, generic drugs from developed nations like Canada. President-elect Obama has correctly pointed out that this is an outrage, something being done to protect American drug companies from foreign competition. Obama has sworn to make it easier for us to import generics from other nations, thereby lowering the prices we all pay for prescription drugs and lightening the healthcare burden ever more.

17. Improve the appalling state of healthcare our veterans receive

Most of us are, by now, familiar with the Walter Reed scandal of atrocious healthcare that our veterans were recieving at that facility. As Obama has noted, this is an outrage and a monstrous injustice to the brave men and women who have devoted their lives to the cause of American freedom. To fix the situation, Obama has committed to strengthening VA care and upping federal funding for the treatment and comfort of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans. All but the most heartless would agree that this is urgently necessary.

18. Clean up the culture of corruption in Washington

A comical e-mail has made the rounds in recent years asking something along the lines of “there are 200+ men, many of whom are convicted felons, drug abusers, wife beaters, child porn addicts, and repeat criminals. Are we talking about a pro football team? No - we are talking about the US Congress!” While the e-mail was intended as as joke, it is anything but funny. Since Obama ran on a campaign of change and a pledge to clean up the culture of corruption in Washington, he must do just that. One excellent proposal of his is creating an Internet database of lobbyist reports, ethics records, and campaign finance filings allowing us to keep tabs on our leaders.

19. End excessive corporate welfare

In light of the recent financial bailout, everyday Americans are up in arms about “corporate welfare”, the practice of giving huge, immensely profitable corporations tax breaks, interest-free loans, and outright cash gifts for nothing but their own private gain. Obama has stated that he will end or reduce this practice by exposing special tax breaks to greater scrutiny, questioning the value of putting taxpayer dollars to work for private gain and ensuring the government gets what it pays for from its “investments.”

20. Prevent the Constitution from being amended to ban gay marriage

The far right has long been itching to impose moral code into the Constitution. This is not the purpose of the Constitution and would distort its purpose in a fundamental way. Additionally, this would be an unconstitutional outrage if it came to pass. It would arguably violate the 14th amendment’s equal protection clause, not to mention the ever-important separation of Church and State. Ultimately, under our form of government, this is an issue that should be decided at the state level.

21. Invest In A New, Redundant and Robust Flex-Grid

One of the biggest issues with alternative energy is transmission. Getting energy to the places that need it most. It turns out that the best sources of alternative energy tend to be in places with lower population, not in high-population centers where the energy is needed most. It is time for a fundamental restructuring of our country’s energy grid to improve long-distance transmission and also enable a sophisticated, redundant and robust network of energy users and providers, similar in structure to today’s Internet. There is no reason that our regional energy grid’s should be so vulnerable. It is a national security issue.

22. Allow the free, uninterrupted progress of science and stem cell research

Another religious crusade that conservatives refuse to give up is trying to get stem cell research banned. While many simply oppose federal funding of stem cell, others oppose it alltogether and wish to ban the practice of it. Clearly this is unjust, and to his credit, Barack Obama realizes it. His plan supports not only allowing stem cell research to develop at a scientific (as opposed to a political) pace, but calls for increasing its funding. Since we are discussing technology with the potential to cure vast suffering, this is most admirable.

23. Restore the ideal of “government by the people, of the people, and for the people”

As a charismatic populist, Obama should encourage the return of the “government by the people, of the people, and for the people” ideal. One way he has suggested doing this is to hold “21st Century Fireside Chats” in which he and his cabinet will hold periodic, nationally-broadcasted town hall meetings to discuss issues, plans, and approaches to the challenges we all face. The chats would be broadcast both over television and high-speed broadband connections via the Web.

24. Allow citizens to hold government spending accountable

In 2008, there is no excuse for us not to be able to track government the way we track news, sports, and finance. To bring government into the twenty-first century, Obama should (and has promised to) create a “Google-like search engine to allow regular people to approximately track federal grants, contracts, earmarks, and loans online.” This comes at a perfect time, coming off an election where 90% of the public participated and interest in government seems to be enjoying a resurgence.

25. Strengthen the education system

Last but not least, Obama should focus on cleaning up the disastrous after-effects of President Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act. The education system is in shambles, which cannot continue if America hopes to stay competitive in the global economy. Luckily, Obama has said that he will fix the school system, hire better teachers, pay them more money, and make it easier for students of all income levels to attend college if they want to.

The market has been a seesaw lately. Wild swings up, wild swings down. No one needs to tell you that though. As an employee you’ve watched your 401K get queasy with the ups and downs and as a Manager, you’ve worried one day about laying off your staff and the next about your own job. No one has to tell anyone there is fear out there.

Fear

Fear is wonderful thing – especially when fighting for our lives. Without fear we’d never have run from predators on the Serengeti and evolved to run billion dollar businesses. 300,000 years ago, fear kept us from becoming extinct and today fear keeps us from letting things like the current market situation put us out of business. Fear propels us to take actions – sometimes actions we wouldn’t normally take – but actions that could save our lives or our businesses. But fear has a habit of growing and feeding on itself. Fear can cause you to continue to make decisions and take action long after the need for survival exists.

Quicksand

In the 2000 movie “The Replacements” with Keanu Reeves, “replacement” players come together to play the last five games of the season after a professional football players’ strike. During a team meeting the replacement coach played by Jack Warden asks about the new players fears. “A real man confronts his fears.” says Warden. After a few funny comments about spiders and insects, Keanu says that he’s afraid of quicksand. Quicksand he goes to explain, is the feeling that everything is going well and then one thing goes wrong, then another and then another. Pretty soon you feel as if nothing you can do will help get you out of the trouble you’re in. In other words – you’re in quicksand.

Business has the same issue today. As the markets swing wildly from one extreme to another companies and employees start to do things to remove the fear. Unfortunately, the market keeps bouncing around. You try something different in the hopes it will fix the problem. And then another thing, and then another. Pretty soon you’re in quicksand.

As the old Tarzan movies showed us, the first thing you need to do to get out of quicksand is make sure you fall into it close to a strong vine. Grab the vine and pull yourself up out of the quicksand. But to successfully extract yourself, make sure you don’t struggle too much. Take your time, slowly pull yourself up and you will find your footing.

So where is the vine your business can grab onto to pull itself out of the quicksand?

Company Culture

Too often when faced with a market like we have now, companies try anything to turn their business around and typically, more than one thing at a time. Each department, group, or division initiates programs and plans to regain some control. It’s like an explorer grabbing at anything within reach to pull themselves out of the quicksand, flailing around and sinking in deeper. Unfortunately, they’re missing the big fat vine within easy reach.

Your company’s culture is that vine. Each successful business has a company culture; the core tenants that guide the behavior of its employees. Unfortunately, most companies ignore that vine and grab at the short grass that seems to be within easy reach. Avoid this pitfall.

Take the time to calm down. Identify the three of four things that form the foundation of your company culture. It could be innovation, it could be customer service, it could be a specific process. Whatever the key pillars of your company culture are – that is where you need to focus your attention.

Begin by reinforcing those elements of your culture through company communications. Create ways to focus behavior on those things through reward and recognition. Stamp out those that would ignore those foundational blocks. Don’t let people “try anything” in the hopes it will work. Don’t fall for the quick fix or the principle du jour. Go back to the things that got you where you are.

Simple is as Simple Does

Focusing on the core beliefs and values of your organization will help you do three things:

1. Minimize second guessing. Second guessing is wasted effort. Efforts tied to core values will never be wrong. For every idea put on the table bounce it against your company values. If it is a fit, go with it. If not, bounce it out of the room.

2. Focus behavior. Most companies have only two or three core values. By focusing on these values it eliminates the noise and elevates the signal. It is much easier to make decisions when you only have to worry about a few things. Don’t overburden yourself or your employees with extraneous effort. Focus on the few and you’ll be able to eliminate the flailing around that pulls you deeper into the quicksand.

3. Reinforces the past and establishes the future. Using your core values as your guide during tough times reinforces those values with your employees. When employees feel that the core values they believed drove the company are used to weather a particularly bad time they know you’re serious about them. When employees see you’re serious, they respond in a like manner. You will not only see a payoff today as your business weathers the storm but it will pay dividends in the future as we inevitably go through another cycle. Your employees will remember.

Grab the Vine

It is said that adversity doesn’t create character it reveals it. Focusing on your core values and company culture reveals the character of your company. Grabbing at any solution to pump up sales and profits or cutting critical assets to keep down costs will be seen as abandoning your core business beliefs and your employees (and you consumers) will notice.

Grab the big vine right in front of you – pull yourself out slowly – trust the lifeline you’ve built over time will save you from the quicksand.

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Paul Hebert is Managing Director of i2i - An Influence Consultancy and blogs at Incentive Intelligence.

Switching jobs more frequently has become more accepted, but is it good for your career in the long term? Job hopping has benefits, especially in the short term, but the long term consequences could go either way.

How Often Do You Hop?

According to Krsitina Cowan at AOL News, whereas a generation ago, the average person changed jobs seven times over a lifetime, today it’s more likely to be 10 jobs. And in five different careers. Job hopping is becoming so commonplace among workers in their 20s and 30s that managers are starting to expect people to leave after two or three years. If you stick around longer that’s icing on the cake.

When to Hop

Hop For Money
You will almost always see a pay increase when you switch from one job to another. This is sort of a chicken and egg thing, though because more money is a huge reason people want to change jobs in the first place. Don’t we all know someone who left one company for a big raise and a promotion at another, only to return to the first company for at an even higher rate of pay and responsibility a few years later?

Hop for Networking
The more people you know the easier it will be successful, or perhaps even get that next position - once you’re ready to hop again.

Hop for Professional Development
A lot of people are simple maxed out in their current position or company. A new employer can teach workers new skills and build on those they already have, maximizing potential.

One Oklahoma City recruiter thinks job hopping will become less of an issue as the Baby Boomers begin to retire.

This will create a large need in the marketplace where skills and experience will outweigh company loyalty and dedication. This is also coupled with the fact that those in these new positions of power who will be making these hiring decisions are also those who come from the generation where job hopping is commonplace and more accepted.

When Not to Hop

Employees should never leave a job solely to get out of a situation they are unhappy with. Instead, as Your HR Guy suggests, they should bide their time while preparing for another, better career path.

The solution isn’t to job hop and hurt yourself. That is dumb. People hate biding time so instead of doing this, they switch jobs (into another crappy job where they’ll want to move on) and perpetuate the cycle. It sucks, I’ve seen people fall into it.

You also want to make sure you’ve exhausted all opportunities within a job and a company before setting your sights elsewhere. It may just be that you can hop to another role while sticking with the same firm a bit longer.

The truth is that others’ perceptions of you are going to have an effect on the potential of any new position. If you’re perceived as someone who won’t be around in 6 months or a year, what kind of opportunities do you think will come your way?

When were the best and worst times you hopped?

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What woman wouldn’t want to embrace the likes of Captain Jack Sparrow or young Will Turner? What man doesn’t secretly wish they were one of these two? But that’s not exactly what I’m talking about.

What I am talking about is putting an end to doing things the way we’ve always done them. How businesses worked in the past aren’t necessarily what is going to make them work now or in the future. Instead, businesses should take a look at piracy to fuel their company brands and increase consumer support.

I got this idea after reading A Pirate’s Dilemma by Matt Mason, which I started awhile back. The book goes through various creative movements that have all begun by one “pirate” ripping off someone else’s work, particularly large companies. The conclusion that Matt Mason draws is that the whole piracy movement fuels creativity and has great potential in solving major problems.

One example of this is the prescription drugs market. Western drug companies don’t sell AIDS drugs to the developing countries that make up 90% of the people suffering from AIDS because they can’t afford to pay the price. Because of profit, drug companies use patents to ensure that cheaper, generic drugs do not enter into these developing countries as competition. (Page 62 if you’d like to read more about this particular example.)

The problem is that many lives could be saved, but fear of losing profit stops these companies from saving those who need it most. Mason suggests companies need to harness this creativity and collaborate with these so-called pirates.

OK, so this is an extreme case but just think about it: What would happen if instead of simply worrying about dollar signs and only the bottom line? Too often companies forget what customers are saying, how they perceive the company’s brand and how the product or service can serve creative thinking and the consumer.

More and more these things are what ultimately will affect your bottom line. Companies are more concerned with manipulating these things on the outside, instead of making a change internally.

Consider this quote about pirates by Chris Brogan. While the post is analogous, the idea behind it supports this point:

We need to focus harder on the goals than we do the infrastructure, the excuses, the labels, and everything else that gets between us and a goal…

This isn’t about chaos. It’s not about throwing everything away. It’s about knowing which parts are vital to moving through the waters, versus the pieces we keep around because that’s what we always did.

Too often corporations are quick to shut down the Scrabulouses of the world just to say they have control over the ‘infrastructure’ as Brogan calls it, instead of harnessing an opportunity for consumers to interact with a brand.

There’s a fine line in having control over a brand and stifling consumers from an opportunity to interact with a brand. An opportunity that could inspire them to act…or to buy perhaps.

Doritos’ Crash the Superbowl ad contest was an example of this idea. Contestants were converted into consumers because they had to go out and purchase Doritos to create an ad. Not only did they utilized their own creativity, but also connected with other consumers through advertising. To do this Doritos had to allow the audience to hijack the Doritos brand.

What’s even more interesting according to USA Today, the ad ranked 4th most liked among the Superbowl advertisements.

In a world where the same old corporate websites and the same old advertising campaigns are just not cutting it anymore, companies are turning to social media to pick up sales from consumers. 75% of online shoppers choose retailers based on social media feedback. It’s the same reason that most social media campaigns fail: because businesses are trying to go about new things the same way they’ve been doing the old things.

Let’s face it, trust in a company–a product, a brand–comes from regular people, people like your consumers. So why not get your consumers to help build your brand? Start thinking outside the box, and embrace your inner pirate. (Or at least make friends with them.)

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Rosie Reilman writes for her blog riveting rosie on social media, recruiting, career issues and branding and is a contributor for Brazen Careerist. You can learn more about her here.

The American Dream: that life should be richer and fuller for all, according to their abilities. For some, that means turning their abilities into their own business.

With unemployment rates increasing, there’s a lot of talk about a recession being the right time to start a business. The allure is clear: be your own boss, no worries of job security, more free time, etc.

Of course, then come the warnings that 80% of small businesses fail in the first five years.

This fate is even more common during hard economic times, despite the fact that many small businesses are run by obviously highly motivated, smart and successful people (who were usually their former employers’ best and brightest before they struck out on their own).

In the book Billionaire in Training, author and multi-millionaire serial entrepreneur Brad Sugars explains this scenario by pointing out that employees break out of their box by turning their specialty into self-employment. The problem with that, Sugars says, is that they are seeking to prosper from knowing how to make what their ideal company will sell, instead of knowing how to sell what their company makes.

Knowing how to sell, build teams and create systems are prerequisite for anyone who wants to start a business. As simple as that sounds, the amount of self-employed people who have not mastered this is staggering.

As a result, would-be business owners literally ending a job instead of a business.

Obviously, all is not lost.

Many small to medium business owners are learning to seek help for the present, to stay afloat, and to get ahead for their futures. During harsh economic times such as this, the prospect of buying out competition is alluring for business owners. Many take the decision to invest in someone who can also help them strategize to establish more revenues to do just that.

As a result, business coaching is an industry that gets the opposite impact of an economic downturn. According to Entrepreneur magazine, business coaching is one of the top five fastest-growing industries – along with IT.

Business coaching is unlike life coaching or even business consulting. Unlike a consultant, who can be fresh out of college and seeking to use consulting to gain experience and contacts, a business coach should know how to make any business successful from training and experience.

What else might business owners look for in a coach?

1. Congruent commitment, to times and to the actions that are important for coaching

2. Accountability

2. Transference of knowledge - unlike in consulting, where they keep the knowledge and you keep paying them for it - your coach should teach you to spread your own wings

3. Able to be an unreasonable friend

5. Frequent calls and check-ins

Most importantly, a business coach helps entrepreneurs work on, instead of just in, their businesses so they can have more time and lives of more freedom. You can learn more from the free iTunes podcast on the Six Steps to Success, How to Find Opportunity in a Crisis, Using Social Media to Build Your Business and many more … http://www.itunes.com/podcast?id=286221031

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Alexis Brown writes about social media strategies for business owners at ActionCOACH.