Influence has been on my mind lately (and not in a Klout sort of way). Of course, Robert Cialdini’s book, Influence, is in my large pile of books to read but I just haven’t had the time to read it or to even get beyond thinking that I need to dive deeper into the subject.

It is not that the subject of influence is a foreign concept; I am a marketing & PR professional after all. However, my thoughts regarding influence seem to always follow a linear downward slope that ranges from influence to propaganda.

Let’s take a look at the definition of each:

• Influence: The power to direct the thinking or behavior of others; usually indirectly
• Persuasion: The act of reasoning or pleading with someone to accept a belief or course of action
• Manipulation: To control or play upon by artful, unfair, or insidious means especially to one’s own advantage
• Propaganda: Ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one’s cause or to damage an opposing cause

Given human nature in the business world, do influence, persuasion, manipulation, and propaganda live independently and separately? Or, is it a domino effect caused by the successful use of influence and hunger for more control?

I am curious just how slippery the slope is from influence to propaganda and where ethics, values, morals come into play. How about you?

Saying What You Mean: Influence vs. Persuasion: A Critical Distinction for Leaders

“In time-sensitive circumstances, positive persuasion techniques are a handy means for expediting results. However, for most leaders, influence is the preferred means to a productive end. This is because influence is based on a foundation of trust and credibility that has been solidified over time.

Persuasion techniques, when applied with integrity and a sincere intention to make a positive contribution in an individual’s life or to the betterment of the group, are a powerful lever for moving the decision-making process along. In situations where we’ve made the proper investment in relationships, we can use persuasion techniques such as framing, fairness, and timing to show respect for the people who deem us influential.”

Copyblogger: How to Simplify Persuasion With Marketing Ju-Jitsu

“Changing people’s minds can be extremely difficult. And when core beliefs and values are involved, it’s downright impossible. Let’s face it… it can be tough enough to persuade people to act when they already agree with you.

Marketing Ju-Jitsu (a term I first heard from Clayton Makepeace) follows the same principle. You’re acknowledging and using the core beliefs and values of your prospects to persuade, rather than trying to change firmly set minds.”

Shannon Paul’s Very Official Blog: Is manipulation an essential part of business communication?

“Our behaviors as consumers and individuals are often based on lies – not lies told by marketers and PR professionals, but on lies that we tell ourselves.”

Kommein: 12 Manipulation Tactics Used in Business and Life

“Manipulation doesn’t have to be a negative thing, either. Sometimes it’s a strong, but positive sales pitch, or using pictures of emaciated children to guilt us into donating. Other times, some pretty pushy people use whatever means possible to get things to go their way, even if it’s not always legal. Everyone has their own methods of manipulation and if we’re not careful we can fall for some pretty dirty tricks.”

YouTube (observationspring): Edward Bernays on Propaganda and Public Relations

Conversation Agent: PR, Not Propaganda

Happy reading & watching!

[Image source: unwrapyourmind.com]

At last night’s Social Media Club Philadelphia we had Duncan Alney from Firebelly Marketing come speak to us on the corporate mullet (didn’t know mullets were back in style, did you?).

You can image the conversation, right? Business in the front (traditional marketing & corporate mindset) and party in the back (social media & mindset). Rather than me ramble on… here’s Duncan:

After the meetup we met for dinner and had an interesting conversation around how the Gen X and Gen Y folks in the room reacted to Duncan’s presentation. Here are the thoughts of business professionals who understand the corporate mullet (in order of appearance): Valeria Maltoni, Gloria Bell, Eileen O’Brien, Duncan, and Bill Lublin:

What do you think? Have you seen a noticeable difference in how both groups approach integrating social media? If you are a Gen Yer, what do you think of the assessment? Why do you think there’s a gap in professional social behavior as compared with Gen Xers? Or, are there Gen Xers that could also use a filter?

[Image: 80stees.com]

Customers and prospects searching the Internet for products, services-and conversation-and the world of marketing has changed forever. Your company, brand and industry are being discussed online… Are you prepared? We know times are tough, but we also know that business owners and marketers/communicators need to get a leg up on competition (whether you are competing for business or that new job). Now is your chance! We have three tickets available…will you be the lucky winner?

The Online Media Boot Camp is April 9^th, 2009 in King of Prussia, PA. The three lucky ticket winners will be picked on March 20^th!

For more details visit: www.onlinemediabootcamp.com

1. Want a chance at winning a free ticket to the Online Media Boot Camp (a value of $349 before 3/16 & $449 after 3/16), you have to be nominated by someone else.
2. A person can be nominated in one of four ways: a blog post, a video, on Twitter, via an e-mail sent to OMBC (beth [at] onlinemediabootcamp [dot] com). All four must include: Who you are nominating and why. You must include a link to the Online Media Boot Camp (www.onlinemediabootcamp.com) in your post. If you tweet it, use the #OMBC hashtag.
3. If you nominate someone, you can buy a ticket for $349 after 3/16. A savings of $100! (Code: OMBCFTW)
4. f you are nominated for OMBC and you want to go to OMBC, you must do one of the following to accept the nomination: a blog post, a video, or send an e-mail to OMBC accepting the nomination (beth [at] onlinemediabootcamp [dot] com).You must state that you will cover all travel costs, that you will attend and why you deserve to win. You must include a link to the Online Media Boot Camp (www.onlinemediabootcamp.com) in your post. If you tweet it, use the #OMBC hashtag.
5. All posts, videos and e-mails of those nominated will be posted to the OMBC blog too.
6. The three winners will be selected by the OMBC speakers. Criteria includes: creativity, passion, honesty, statement of how online marketing/social media will help you as a business owner or marketer/communicator/etc. and any other items that you think make your case to win a free ticket.
7. If you are nominated for a free ticket, but don’t win, you can buy a ticket for $349 after 3/16. A savings of $100! (Code: OMBCFTW)
8. If you win a free ticket and have already purchased a ticket, we’ll refund your money. Or, if you are feeling generous, you could give your purchased ticket to a friend…

It’s that simple! Have questions? Contact Online Media Boot Camp on Twitter: @onlinemediabc

Added 3/6: And because people don’t read…here’s a video to make the process a little bit easier to understand. ‘Cause, really, they are pretty straightforward.

Last night I had the opportunity to hear Bill McDermott SAP’s President of Global Field Operations (and member of the SAP AG Executive Board) speak at Villanova University’s 3rd Annual Marketing Professionals Showcase, a showcase for two student groups to present their marketing projects to local companies.

Bill kicked off the night talking about today’s economic crisis and how in his life he’s seen and worked through three others: the oil crisis (70s), the Wall Street crisis (80s) and the dot.com crisis (early 2000). During his keynote, Bill mentioned transparency as part of corporate culture (although in this sense he’s referring to Sarbanes-Oxley). During the Q&A portion his advice to the companies attending was that excellent customer service is what would help them to stand out and help them to survive…nothing new or earth shattering there, right? But then he said something that made me smile. He said that business is about people helping people.

I took that as an opportunity to ask Bill how he felt about social media and how it “pulls back the covers of a corporation so that ‘people’ were the face of the corporation, not the brand.” To which he replied (and not verbatim at all) that he embraced social media, social networks, etc. Of course, he also said that there are negatives. As an example, he went on to say that he’d rather have relationships with people online so that they got their information correct vs. someone writing something that wasn’t totally true (i.e. bloggers). He also mentioned online communities and how it’s important to be a part of them. And let’s be clear, SAP is walking the walk when it comes to implementing social media.

Next were two student teams that were presenting their findings after a semester long (I believe) project. One team presented a new product they developed for kids and the other a new marketing campaign for a company. The students did a great job and their marketing research, plan and presentation were really well done. However, when it came time for Q&A they really struggled with these questions:

Q: How would you use web 2.0 and Internet marketing in your promotions?

A: We have a website and a link to it so people can buy.

Q: How could you use social networking to spread the word of your new product?

A: We will have kiosks and the game at a camp and will use word of mouth.

Can you see the dichotomy at play here? SAP embraces online marketing and social media and I am sure if you were a new marketer looking to get on board, you would most likely be expected to understand it too. And yet, the kids who have lived in this “social” world all of their lives don’t understand what’s being asked from a business perspective.

It’s like convincing kids that a playground can be used for business and adults that business can be done on a playground.

I have blogged about this before…if marketers (apparently new & experienced) don’t take the time to learn how marketing is being changed forever by online marketing and social media in a few years they will be extinct.

So, how can that gap be bridged? Education, a renewed passion for marketing…and online marketing training.

And by “online” I don’t mean take an online class. By online I mean learn how online marketing is affecting how marketing and business is done today.

The Online Media Boot Camp

I hope you all know me well enough by now to know that I am passionate about marketing, communications, social media and education. The opportunity to combine it all to help fellow marketers (and companies) get a leg up in this horrible economy is important to me.

On April 9^th Liana (Li) Evans and I will hosting and speaking at the Online Media Boot Camp in King of Prussia, PA (right outside Philadelphia and convenient to NJ, NY, DE, MD).

The Online Media Boot Camp is limited to 65 attendees and offers the following online marketing training sessions:

• Social Media Fundamentals – Li Evans
• Selling On-Line Media Internally – Shashi Bellamkonda
• Corporate Blogging – Valeria Maltoni
• Public Relations 2.0 – Beth Harte
• Social Networking & Community Building – Mack Collier
• Online Marketing Workshop (Just to make sure that attendees confidently hit the ground running at the end of the day!)

Why the limited number of seats? Because as speakers we all want to make sure that we can spend as much time as possible with attendees to help get their questions answered, to help them bridge that gap I spoke about above, and to make sure that they leave with a new competitive advantage.

Online marketing and social media isn’t just for large companies with budgets. In fact, that’s not true at all! If you are a company, non-profit, agency (creative or government), college/university, etc. who wants to engage customers, prospects, shareholders, students, constinuents, etc. online, the Online Media Boot Camp is for you! Let’s face it, the Internet isn’t going away and even if you aren’t there…everyone else just might be. Why miss out on that opportunity?

To learn more about the speakers and what they are engaged in, check out their blogs:

• Liana (Li) Evans, Key Relevance
• Shashi Bellamkonda (The Social Media “Swami”), Network Solutions
• Valeria Maltoni, Conversation Agent
• Mack Collier, The Viral Garden

Registration is open and the Online Media Boot Camp is $349 per person. After 3/16 the registration is $449.

If you are already embracing online marketing and social media, how about passing on this information to a marketer that might be looking for a leg up or who gets it, but wants to learn how to implement it? You have my appreciation and thanks in advance!

If you have questions, please e-mail me at beth [at] onlinemediabootcamp [dot] com. Looking forward to hearing from you!

When my friend Steve Woodruff (yep, the guy of StickyFigure fame) asked me to participate in his ‘Five in the Morning’ series I was excited, yet immediately mortified. “Steve, I never get up at 5AM!” Steve insisted that it’s really “Five, in the Morning” but I don’t believe him! I think he is seriously up at 5am each and every morning hunting down the best posts for you all to read and then he has coffee (an amazing feat in my world). As well, you know me… I am not a fan of creating my own lists because I really hate leaving so many great blog posts out (and I read a lot!). For me it would be more like 50, in the Morning.

Well, it’s almost 8am and I’ve found some interesting posts for you all (and since I am playing catch up from yesterday, they all aren’t from today…):

Let’s face it, kids love piñata’s because they know once it’s cracked open there are a ton of yummy treats falling upon them. And it only takes one experience with a piñata to make them want to do it over and over (gee, sales people and business development people get this already). Geoff Livingston asks why do us adults make getting to the treats so difficult?

Risk aversion is everywhere these days and it’s important to make our communications and connections count. Sometimes the very uphill battle we face can be conquered with simply having the mindset, “If you can’t change it, promote it.” And Valeria Maltoni asks us to consider that very thing this morning and how conversations can help to get up that hill.

“‘Hmmm…how many phone calls and lunch dates do I need to have with her to make her my friend?’ Sounds crazy, right?” Why yes, Lisa Hoffmann, that does sound crazy!! So, why do companies think like this when it comes to social media? Why do they want the easy rules and short cuts to creating relationships?

Lots of people are losing their jobs and clients are walking away from the table, it happens from time-to-to-time and it seems to be happening even more these days. Daria Steigman shares with us 5 lessons we can learn from such situations to make them work in our favor (Hint: relationships and communications).

Susan Murphy shares with us a visual example of what living inside a bubble can do to our relationships, well, outside the bubble. And I don’t mean like the ‘Bubble Boy,’ he lived alone inside his bubble and well, we all know what disastrous outcomes there were once the Seinfeld friends arrived on the scene.

This 5, in the morning post was sponsored by “Relations & Communications LLC.” They have the hard job of always proving their worth, so why not give them a try…I’m sure they’d love the business!

And, finally, if you’d like more 5 in the Morning posts…don’t count on me! But, you can count on Steve Woodruff because he rises with the roosters!

Steve Woodruff’s blog: StickyFigure
And on Twitter you can find him at @swoodruff

[Image: The Consumerist]