WorkPuzzle

Why Facebook Will Always Underperform as a Real Estate Sales Tool

I came across a new technology a few weeks ago that I found to be profoundly interesting.  This is a little off topic from what we normally discuss on WorkPuzzle, but I think you’ll find it thought-provoking as well.  It concerns eye-tracking software.

While this technology has been around for awhile, it is becoming more useful to marketers because of companies like EyeTrackShop.   

This company has learned to harness the little webcams that are now nearly ubiquitous on laptops.  When marketers want to test an ad, they send it to EyeTrackShop and the company distributes it to thousands of volunteers/affiliates around the world.  In turn, the testers look at the ad while the software automatically tracks where their eyes naturally focus.  

For example, the ad below was recently submitted for testing.  The heat-map demonstrates where the consumers’ eyes focus as a person views both versions of the ad.

Ad example courtesy of FutureNow/ Bryan Eisenberg

As the red (hot) areas indicate, the ad on the left is much better at getting the consumers' eyes to focus on the product and the message.  Even small changes, such as where the model focuses her gaze, can make a significant difference in the effectiveness of an ad.  EyeTrackShop can complete research like this in just 48 hours, giving designers quick feedback on how to tweak their ads to make them most effective. 

Here’s another example:  One of the questions we often get in our business of recruitment advertising is…Why don’t you use banner ads to attract people to your recruitment opportunities?

We know these types of ads are not very effective because we’ve tested them.  But, now we know why they are ineffective.  Look how an average consumer views these three web pages:

Ad example courtesy of Jakob Nielsen/useit.com

The three examples demonstrate what happens during quick scanning, partial reading, and thorough reading.  Those green boxes are banner ads of various types.  The consumers' eyes have been trained to totally ignore these. 

So, what does this have to do with Facebook and real estate?  I’ve noticed over the last few years, that there are many real estate companies that are being encouraged to embrace Facebook (and perhaps other social networks) as a way to market to potential real estate clients. 

My question…what can eye tracking technology tell you about the effectiveness of such a strategy? 

Here is how the human eye processes a typical Facebook page:

 

Image courtesy of EyeTrackshop/Mashable

You’ll notice right away that pictures draw most of the eye’s attention in Facebook.  Once a picture grabs a person’s attention, the verbiage around the picture is then more lightly consumed. 

Many business strategists believe this is the reason that Facebook bought Instragram a few months ago.  Pictures are clearly the definitive “killer app” on Facebook, and having a “picture only” social network gain traction so quickly was a threat. 

What does this have to do with real estate marketing for agents?  I would argue that the large majority of successful sales/marketing strategies on Facebook are going to involve the creative use of pictures.  Pictures will be the only reliable mechanism for attracting a person’s eyes and garnering their attention.  And I'm not talking about just any pictures—the images would have to be compelling and engaging to compete with relationship-based images (i.e. I’m interested in a picture because it is a friend, relative, or acquaintance.). 

This kind of marketing strategy and execution is difficult to both conceptualize and maintain.  While a few agents will be able to make it happen, most agents will struggle to be effective. 

So, next time some consultant tries to sell your agents a Facebook marketing package, you’ll be better equipped to qualify the promised benefit.  Ask your vendor if they have done any eye tracking analysis on what they’re selling.

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

Books That Will Bring Out Your Inner Entrepreneur

A couple of weeks ago, I challenged you to start evaluating your candidates from an entrepreneurial perspective.  If you missed this discussion, here are a couple of links (1,2) that will get you up to speed.

The line of reasoning in these previous discussions was…if a person approaches becoming a real estate agent from a traditional job perspective, they will not be well-equipped to make the sacrifices and overcome the obstacles to be successful under the current marketing conditions.  The solution?  Find and/or inspire candidates to think like entrepreneurs. 

As I continued to noodle on this topic, it occurred to me that many hiring managers in the real estate industry may be a little rusty on this topic.  While many managers went through a start-up phase when they first became agents, for most that was many years ago.  And while most managers are successful day-to-day business operators, a large majority are running mature offices that are beyond the start-up phase.

So, could you use a little brush-up on what goes through an entrepreneur’s mind?  If so, I would suggest taking a look at the list of books below.  This list was put together by Aimee Groth and Kim Bhasin—both staff writers for BusinessInsider.   

They qualify their selections by saying, “ …we go through dozens of books each year here at Business Insider's War Room.  Many aren't worth a second glance, but there are some every business owner should read.  So, we've put together a list of the best books for entrepreneurs — either from our own recommendations or touted by big-time VCs, CEOs and startup founders.”

Here's the list:

1. "Predictably Irrational," by Dan Ariely
2. "The Four Steps To The Epiphany," by Steve Blank
3. "How to Change the World," by David Bornstein
4. "From Resource Allocation To Strategy," by Joseph Bower
5. "Losing My Virginity: How I Survived, Had Fun, And Made A Fortune Doing Business My Way," by Richard Branson
6. "How To Win Friends And Influence People," by Dale Carnegie
7. "The Zigzag Principle," by Rich Christiansen
8. "The Innovator's Dilemma," by Clayton Christensen
9. "Good to Great," by Jim Collins
10. "The Startup Game," by William H. Draper
11. "Innovation and Entrepreneurship," by Peter Drucker
12. "The Ascent Of Money: A Financial History Of The World," by Niall Ferguson
13. "Never Eat Alone," by Keith Ferrazzi
14. "The World Is Flat," by Thomas Friedman
15. "The E-Myth Revisited," by Michael E. Gerber
16. "Outliers," by Malcolm Gladwell
17. "All Marketers Are Liars," by Seth Godin
18. "The 48 Laws of Power," by Robert Greene
19. "Delivering Happiness," by Tony Hsieh
20. "Steal Like an Artist," by Austin Kleon
21. "Founders at Work," by Jessica Livingston
22. "How Successful People Think," by John Maxwell
23. "The Smartest Guys In The Room: The Amazing Rise And Scandalous Fall Of Enron," by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind
24. "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," by Robert Pirsig
25. "The Lean Startup," by Eric Ries
26. "Start With Why," by Simon Sinek

No doubt you’ve probably read some of these books already, but I would guess that there are at least a few that are new to you.  As a summer reading project, I suggest selecting at least five books from the list that you’ve not read yet, and try to get through them by Labor Day. 

Doing so will help you increase your own entrepreneurial skills, and will enable you to better connect with candidates who would make good entrepreneurs in your office.

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

A PROCRASTINATION OF PROSPECTING PARADIGM SHIFT

We are sometimes faced with uncomfortable situations or daunting tasks, both in our personal, and in our professional lives.  In real estate, or sales in general, prospecting seems to fall into this category.  Picking up the phone to cold call and deal with a potential negative interaction or rejection doesn’t resonate well with many people, so they do not execute, thus adversely impacting their overall success.

In past blogs I have discussed the notion of “re-framing” how we think about recruiting.  Specifically, I conveyed the benefit of shifting from our pre-conceived notion of the term recruiting, to the task of building relationships, which is something most real estate or sales managers do well naturally, and as a result enjoy.  It occurred to me that perhaps “re-framing” the task of prospecting could be beneficial as well, both in terms of recruiting, but also in your agents’ sales process.

I recently read a blog by Anthony Iannarino, Chief Sales Officer of a staffing firm and Director of a coaching consulting firm, that touched on the procrastination of prospecting paradigm.  Iannarino not only points out the importance and simplicity of prospecting in a successful sales business, but also touches on the ramifications of not picking up the phone.

“If you spent more time prospecting, more time cold calling and opening relationships, you would have more opportunities.  You’d even have a stronger pipeline.  But your resistance to prospecting keeps you from doing as well as you might.

Knowing all of this is true probably still isn’t enough for you to stop procrastinating.  You may not even be motivated by the fact that your fiercest competitors are prospecting, and they are calling your existing client and dream clients (just ask them).  There is a simple solution that makes prospecting easier.

Just start making calls.

If you run or do any aerobic exercise, you know how uncomfortable it is to get started.  My friends who run tell me that it takes them 3 or 4 miles to finally get their body to adjust.  That metaphor works for prospecting.  It’s just like that.

The most difficult call you make is the first call.  It has nothing to do with who you call or the outcome of that call.  It has everything to do with overcoming the internal resistance to starting.  Each call after the first gets easier.  You adjust.  You find your rhythm.  It gets easier.

This is why it’s important to prospect early in the day.  That’s when you have the mental focus and the greatest capacity to overcome your resistance.  As the day goes on, you will find other work to take the place of prospecting, and the world will start making demands of you.”

This new paradigm can be applied both in your recruiting process as well as in the training, coaching, and professional development of new and experienced agents.  Helping them to understand this prospecting framework may help them develop successful habits and a newfound commitment to prospecting in their own business.   

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Editor's Note: Lee Gray is the Senior Account Manager at Tidemark Inc. Lee is a guest contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

Measurement or Holes in the Head

My reading list turned up an interesting article about "trephination," an ancient practice of deliberately cutting holes in the skulls of humans.  Stone age people were especially fond of exercising this technique, for no apparent reason.  The practice appears to be a historical mystery.  "It was a delicate procedure, with stone tools used to carefully scrape away and remove the bone without damaging the tissue underneath."  The good news is that the survival rate for this operation was over 90%.  The bad news is that it was absolutely unnecessary. 

Usually these kinds of practices make their advance in medical history after someone experimented with a medically or mentally ill person, and the person miraculously recovered, at which point the procedure is seen as the cause of the healing.  The next thing you know, everyone is getting holes cut out of their heads.  In learning theory, psychologists call this "superstitious behavior," meaning that we tend to repeat behaviors that we believe have caused a specific outcome, regardless of their power to actually do so. 

Baseball players are famous for this.  They might go 4 for 4 in hitting one night and attribute their improved hitting to the fact that they tried a new bat size that evening.  That same player will tend to continue hitting that new bat size the remainder of the season, despite the fact that their batting average actually dropped subsequent to the change.  

So, what behaviors could be considered your organizations "trephination?" 

The only way you could possibly discover these is to examine behaviors and tasks, measure, and report them.  You've heard the old saying... "What you don't measure, you can't manage."  It could also be true that "What you don't measure, may be a hole in the head!"

We have the advantage of peering into many organizations.  Some measure tasks and outcomes, and some do not.  Most of our clients like measuring tasks, and being able to predict outcomes on past measurements.  Others sort of wing it.  The ones that resist us asking measurement related questions are typically the ones who have become attached to certain ways of doing business, defensively holding on to them, despite little evidence to do so.  Then there are companies who do indeed measure, but blame their result differences on factors beyond their control.  Whether it's getting stuck, "only hiring experienced agents" or "interviewing the same way I always have," behaviors might exist that once worked with some people at some point in time, that no longer are effective with most people at this point in time. 

Psychologically, organizations that measure and are open to others' interpretation of the results, tend to invite questions, and sometimes even scrutiny, about how they do things and the results they produce.  In contrast, organizations that don't measure tend to become uncomfortable around questions pertaining to tasks and outcomes.  I imagine that managers of single offices vary in a similar way, even within the same organization. 

Clearly, if you want to extinguish practices that don't get results, and increase tasks that do, everyone has to get on the measurement bandwagon, and be open to acknowledging the holes you might be pointlessly boring into heads. 

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

When You Can't Predict Talent; Foster It

While we make our living by assisting our clients through the murky waters of predicting a candidate's future performance, we've learned an important lesson:  there are always exceptions to every sourcing profile, pre-screening process, and well-intentioned interview.  And these exceptions come in every shape and size--good, bad or indifferent.  

So, if you can't always predict who is going to be successful, what can you, as a manager, do to foster talent?  Margaret Heffernan, an entrepreneur and author, explains how she was able to create an environment where those whom she selected to work for her were able to thrive.  

Margaret explains that it wasn’t so much her innate ability to see and select talent, but rather her ability to create the conditions in which her staff could grow.  So what were those conditions?  

An open atmosphere.  Every team Margaret ever ran had been profoundly democratic—which is to say that any good idea got attention.  She never cared about status, except in disliking those who did.  She took in good ideas from anywhere for anything...from making the lunch room more pleasant to improving the core technology.  Ideas didn't have to fight their way through a structure.  They could be blurted out.

Extravagant diversity.  It wasn't just that they employed Russians, Taiwanese, Indians, Americans, Brits, and Italians.  Their youngest employee was eighteen and the oldest was 68.  They'd worked in different countries, states and industries.  Some demonstrated enormous emotional intelligence; some had virtually none.  

Time didn't matter.  She never cared when the work got done—as long as it did get done and in a way that didn’t cause co-workers undue inconvenience.  Hours are not what count; productivity is.  The same applied to maternity, paternity, and family leave.  Individuals figured out what worked for them, and for their families—and that worked for the business.  Too many companies seem to feel they have to fight for priority over family life and in that jealous feud, vast amounts of energy and goodwill are dissipated.

Stretch goals were just the start.  Almost everything her team tackled was hard.  And if they cracked it, work got harder.  They liked big challenges and cheered anyone who met them.  People coming in for interviews witnessed that the company was fun, but not an easy option.  

Sure, you can see great potential and talent as you have candidates sit before you during interviews, but even the most talented people need an environment where they can grow.  This is not only true for hiring, but most certainly for retention.  One of our tenets is that people look less at compensation in career choices and more at where they feel they will fit and flourish.  Creating and showcasing that environment will draw talent to you, and keep it there.

Inevitably, you will hire a few exceptionally creative individuals who may then attract others like themselves.  “But none of that will matter if the work itself isn’t joyful and hard.  It may sound like a contradiction, but doing great work is hard—that's why great people love it.”

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Editor's Note: Lee Gray is the Senior Account Manager at Tidemark Inc. Lee is a guest contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

Are you a Trusted Leader?

Leaders who can be trusted have a tremendous impact on those they influence.  Trust is certainly a part of the "level 5 leader" that Jim Collins refers to in "Good to Great."  

In a recent article, Dan McCarthy lists...The 20 signs that you can't be trusted as a Leader:

"Are you a trustworthy leader?  Take the assessment below.  Sure, everybody may do a few of these now and then.  However, if there’s a consistent pattern of multiple behaviors, then I’d say there’s a serious issue of trustworthiness.

1. You don’t do what you said you were going to do.
2. You over-promise and under-deliver.
3. You’re unpredictable and inconsistent.
4. You always seem to have a hidden agenda.
5. You’ll agree just to avoid conflict.
6. You never share anything personal about yourself.
7. You never seem to finish anything you start.
8. You have a reputation that says you can’t be trusted.
9. You’re never willing to take a stand.
10. You won’t listen.
11. You don’t seem interested in what’s important to others.
12. You gossip about other people and disclose confidential information.
13. You make decisions but don’t explain how and why you made the decision.
14. You often change your plans or mind and don’t tell others about it or explain why.
15. You come across as uncompassionate and insensitive.
16. You won’t admit your mistakes or acknowledge your weaknesses.
17. You misrepresent other’s views.
18. You’ll say anything to achieve your objectives and results.
19. You sugarcoat the truth.
20. You see others as a threat when they are successful or come up with good ideas."

And here are some quotes that you might enjoy: 

“Trust is the lubrication that makes it possible for organizations to work.” - Leadership Guru, Warren Bennis

“In leadership, there are no words more important than trust.  In any organization, trust must be developed among every member of the team if success is going to be achieved.” - Duke Basketball Head Coach, Mike Krzyzewski 

“The lion and the calf shall lie down together but the calf won’t get much sleep.” - Woody Allen

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

How to be Fully Engaged

We, at Tidemark (and I, personally), are in the process of trying to simplify our daily workflow.  The purpose of this exercise is to free ourselves from extraneous, unproductive tasks, and replace them with more critical, strategically driven tasks, as well as free up time to think, imagine, and innovate.  This exercise has already taken an enormous amount of thought, and is likely to take even more.  But I'm optimistic that the end product will be worth it. 

I can already begin to imagine a more productive workday, where each task is laid out the night before; where I keep track of the time that I spend on each task (using the Toggl App); where I delegate tasks that should be done by someone else; and where I am freed up to research and develop new ideas.  

Our quest to achieve efficiency while maintaining the excellence in productivity that our clients have come to expect, has caused me to research and listen to experts, on ways that this can be done.  While I have written extensively on a number of research supported ways to improve engagement on a personal level, the following is a valuable exercise that we’ve found helpful for our staff. 

1. We re-worked and re-affirmed our key strategies for the next year.
2. We named three critical tasks that support these strategies.
3. We had everyone in the organization memorize these tasks so that they can improve anything that supports these objectives, and exclude the things that do not support the objectives.

Another exercise that I am personally integrating into the mix was found in the article “The Magic of Doing One Thing at a Time.” 

The author recommends being fully engaged at each moment rather than attempting to juggle several duties throughout the day.  I am fully committed to giving this a try.  The following are suggestions that I am most likely going to experiment with.  

“It's also up to individuals to set their own boundaries.  Consider these three behaviors for yourself:

1. Do the most important thing first in the morning, preferably without interruption, for 60 to 90 minutes, with a clear start and stop time.  If possible, work in a private space during this period, or with sound-reducing earphones.  Finally, resist every impulse to distraction, knowing that you have a designated stopping point.  The more absorbed you can get, the more productive you'll be.  When you're done, take at least a few minutes to renew.

2. Establish regular, scheduled times to think more long term, creatively, or strategically.  If you don't, you'll constantly succumb to the tyranny of the urgent.  Also, find a different environment in which to do this activity — preferably one that's relaxed and conducive to open-ended thinking.

3. Take real and regular vacations.  Real means that when you're off, you're truly disconnecting from work.  Regular means several times a year if possible, even if some are only two or three days added to a weekend.  The research strongly suggests that you'll be far healthier if you take all of your vacation time, and more productive overall.

A single principle lies at the heart of all these suggestions.  When you're engaged at work, fully engage, for defined periods of time.  When you're renewing, truly renew.” 

Just like our garages need a spring cleaning, by ridding ourselves of items that have become cluttering, so too our work lives require occassional cleaning to optimize talent, efficiencies, and focus.

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

5 Reasons You Need to Connect Face-to-Face with Your Clients

As I mentioned in our last discussion, Dave and I spent some time at a couple of national real estate conferences in March.  Each year, our company puts together a marketing and account management plan and there is usually some dialog among the partners concerning the benefit of such events. 

Attending a national conference means taking time away from our normal business activities, which produce the revenue for our company.  In addition, since no one in their right mind would schedule a spring time conference anywhere close to Seattle, there is the travel expense and inconvenience of uprooting for a few days to get to the conference location. 

So, why do we participate in these events?  Because we’ve come to the conclusion that there is an intrinsic value in connecting with our clients, face-to-face, as often as possible.  We’ve learned (in our business) that there is nothing that can replace this valuable interaction, and it’s worth the investment. 

Until recently, I thought this was something unique to our type of business.  But, as I’ve read more on this topic, I’ve found it is a common thread in the success of most companies.  And, I would suspect it is a necessity for a real estate manager as well. 

René Shimada Siegel, Founder of High Tech Connect, articulated some the benefits of face-to-face meetings in a recent article in Inc. Magazine.  Here is how she boiled down the topic: 

“No matter what industry we’re in, we’re all in the people business.  We’ll only be successful if we really get to know our customers and colleagues.  Many of my clients are so busy that they now prefer texting to even emails or calls.  

Skype, WebEx and audio calls are convenient and create the illusion we’re actually having a meeting -- but nothing beats the power of a truly personal, face-to-face connection.  What can you learn from an in-person meeting that you can’t from a virtual one?  

1. You're off the record.  Many of my clients work in cubes and can’t have private telephone conversations with me or anyone else.  This means that when I talk to them on the phone, I might not get to hear the most important information they can share:  the unique team dynamics, the executive’s personality quirks, etc.  Over sushi or a latte or a walk around the block, my clients can let me know more -- with more color -- than they can over the telephone or in an email.   
2. Make use of not-so-small talk.  Most business conversations are focused on solving a problem quickly and efficiently, while business relationships are built when people take the time to share and learn more about each other.  That happens more naturally in person than over the phone or in an email.  What cements a bond between people?  Small talk about a favorite team, passion for pecan pie, parenting challenges, and the other bits and pieces that make us unique and interesting.  
3. Make an impression.  I bought a new handbag.  It’s faux ostrich and it’s pink.  Really pink.  I’ve received compliments on it from every woman (and one man) I’ve met with in the past two weeks.  I had worried it was perhaps not professional enough for business.  But the style and color were bold, “spring-y” and made me smile.  Who knew my $60 knock-off handbag would be such a great conversation starter and deliver such a strong personal statement?  How do you do that over Skype?  
4. Read the body language.  Facial expressions often communicate so much more than words.  We host consultant coffees and invite a handful of independent consultants to our office in order to better understand the nuances of each professional in a relaxed setting.  We need to know what isn’t on the resume that makes each person unique.  In their eyes and in their body language, we can see confidence, empathy, fear, friendliness or sincerity.  That ability to “read” a candidate beyond their keywords is a huge competitive advantage for us.  
5. Learn where the action is.  I find out so much when I visit one of my clients in their office.  Is the lobby bright and inviting with recent accolades proudly displayed?  Do employees seem happy?  Is there free juice and healthy snacks in the cafeteria?  Brand new Herman Miller chairs in the conference room?  Is everyone moving in slow motion or is there a palpable buzz?  The environment speaks volumes and may factor into your business proposal or plan.  By understanding company dynamics, we can communicate more effectively to meet their needs.” 

As the use of technology continues to evolve in the real estate industry, don’t completely give in to the siren’s call.  Meeting with your agents face-to-face and encouraging them to meet with their clients face-to-face, is something that cannot be replaced.

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

3 Tips to Become a Better Speaker

Most of you who read our blog are frequently called on to speak to an audience.  Whether it's the agents you supervise and train, or the company you run, you’re called to motivate people through your words and what you have to say.

I speak to groups, both large and small, fairly often and must confess that I frequently trap myself with the erroneous idea that I have to convey as much information as possible with what little time I’ve been given.  When I fall into this trap, things don’t go well.  Often times, when I have little time to prepare, I force myself to drill down to a central truth and wind up driving home knowledge in a more inspiring way.

This faulty strategy of public speaking is exposed in a recent article by Daniel Pink, where Pink offers up three tips to help us better prepare for our TED presentations.  While few of us aspire to speak publicly at this level, the tips Pink discusses offer a much better alternative for all of us, regardless of the level of public speaking we do:

"1. Prepare . . . but not too much.

These days, very few TED speakers arrive unprepared and just try to wing their presentations.  That’s great.  Preparing is a sign of respect for your audience — and the only way to wrangle your ideas inside an 18- or 9-minute fence.  But lately I’ve seen a handful of people who were too prepared and too rehearsed.  Their presentations were so heavily shellacked that they seemed inauthentic; their ideas suffocated under all that varnish.  Remember:  Human beings, despite their imperfections (and sometimes because of their imperfections), are far more persuasive than expertly-tuned presentation robots.

2. Say something important.

There’s a big difference between saying some important things and saying something important.  Your goal isn’t to demonstrate how much you know or to catalog your many insights, but to leave the audience with one idea to ponder — or better, one step to take.   When people hear some important things, their heads nod.  When they hear something important, their souls stir, their brains engage, and their bodies prepare to act.

3. Say it like yourself.

Don’t mimic someone else’s style or conform to what you think is a particular 'TED way' of presenting.  That’s boring, banal, and backward.  Don’t try to be the next Ken Robinson or the next Jill Bolte Taylor.  Be the first you."

Keep the above tips in mind the next time you speak to a group, and please let me know how it goes...

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

UNDERSTANDING THE PINTEREST PHENOMENON—Part 2

So, have you had a chance to check out Pinterest?  If you’re like a lot people, maybe you got sucked in and spent more time on the site than you intended! 

To finish up the discussion we started last week, I’ll restate the question that I left unanswered: 

How can the Pinterest insights be used in your business? 

First, I’m not suggesting that your company establish a Pinterest account and start trying to use this avenue to accomplish various business objectives (marketing, recruiting, band building, etc.).  Instead, I’m proposing that we try to learn from their methodologies.   

I know that most real estate companies are already participating in various social networking initiatives.  Much of the involvement is early stage and there is much to learn as we all try to make these venues produce results.  So, what has Pinterest figured out, and how can you apply some of the lessons to your social networking efforts? 

Here are some ideas that came to mind as I pondered this question. 

1.  There is a difference between congregating around interest and congregating around relationship. 

Pinterest teaches us that there can be an appropriate (and sometimes necessary) separation between my interests and my relationships.  The personal nature of information that I share with family and friends is not interesting to most people.  

People seem to open up a little more on-line when they are communicating about their interests.  In doing so, there is more diversity in the types of people who can connect around a topic of shared interest.   

2.  Business more naturally connects with interest. 

You’ve probably heard the old saying:  People hate to be sold, but love to buy.  When there is a common interest that a group of people congregate around, it is natural for people to talk about the products and services they use to support that interest. 

However, it’s usually awkward to first have a relationship with someone based on a personal connection (ex. alumni of the same high school), and then have a conversation about a product or service.  I’m not saying that this never happens, but it quickly raises on-line privacy concerns for most people; Many people feel that a relational interest is being contrived for a business objective.  

3.  People are drawn to pictures.   

Pinterest didn’t discover this phenomenon, but they’ve certainly mastered its application.  There is something magnetic about an interesting picture. 

For example, one of my business partners has a 24-year old daughter who lives in New York City and works for a publishing company.  Now, I’m not overly interested in the publishing industry or the daily life of a young female who lives on the other side of the country.  But, this young woman takes incredible pictures. 

She writes a blog about what she calls her wonderful adventure in New York City.  My wife and I will occasionally pop on her blog with the purpose of seeing what cool pictures Heather has posted this week.  There is something very captivating about a person who has a passion and captures it with pictures. 

4.  Facebook and Twitter may get you where you want to go. 

There is a bunch of discussion among real estate companies in the last year or so about using Facebook and Twitter as avenues for promoting business interests.  The thought is that they are the largest and most prominent social networks, so it only makes sense to attempt to leverage their large membership bases. 

Pinterest may be teaching us something different—it is a social networking site that does just one thing really well.  For many real estate companies, it may be worth considering this idea as well.     

Can you really successfully compete in the Facebook arena, or would it make more sense to consider some less prominent social networking sites, or even create your own network?  For example, the music industry has largely benefited from the second of these options.  

Bottom line:  There is a lot left to learn when it comes to on-line social networking.  When a site like Pinterest scores a huge hit, it’s worth paying attention and trying to figure out what they’ve discovered.   

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.