“The legend of the brave Dutch boy – by others thought to be named Hans Brinker – who supposedly put his finger in the dyke to prevent a flood, was actually a literary invention by the American writer Mary Elizabeth Mapes Dodge (1831-1905), who was born in New York.”

I’ve been thinking about this story lately, because it’s all well and good if you can save the town by placing one finger in a dyke. Depending on which finger you use, you can still do a lot of stuff while you wait for help to arrive. You can play guitar. You can text someone on your g1. You can hold a knife and fork and eat dinner if someone brings you the food…..

However, things become more of a problem FOR YOU if you have to put TWO fingers in the dyke to stop the flood. It gets obviously worse if you have to put THREE fingers in the dyke, because now, you effectively only have one hand left to do what YOU have to do until help arrives to properly plug the holes and you can go about your business.
 
This is what happens to you when people JACK THEMSELVES UP and then ask YOU to get them out of it. People just LOVE to paint themselves into corners that they can’t possibly get out of on their own and then beg someone else to solve their incredible problem for them. On top of that, they still want to haggle with you as if YOU’RE the one with the problem and not THEM. They explain the issue to you, you inform them of what you CAN do and how long it’s going to take you and then they want to know how cheaply you can do it for them.
 
How about if it costs you ZERO and you DO. IT. YOURSELF? How about that? Meanwhile, I’ll have a brew, eat some pizza and kick it with some chicks and enjoy my time while you’re busy FAILING. Oh… That doesn’t sound good to you? That means we’re talking about regular rates PLUS “rush” rates. It’s a fascinating combination of amusing & annoying when people are in dire straits (the predicament, not the band) and they want to haggle over the price of a seat in the lifeboat while the Titanic’s sinking. My ship isn’t sinking. Yours is. Hope you can swim! *waves goodbye*
 
Unfotunately, it’s not always that easy for the person whom someone else is asking to stick three fingers in a dyke to save a town that they don’t even live in. Psychologically, for people that pride themselves on ALWAYS winning, this presents a real problem. This situation, which has NOTHING to do to them and wasn’t a result of their own mistakes or ineptitude/incompetence has now been dropped in their laps. This is a challenge which they are naturally inclined to consider, meet and defeat. Less than that would be admitting that they can’t handle the situation….
 
Well, the actual issue is a) It’s NOT *YOUR* SITUATION, and b) maybe you CAN handle it… but at what cost to yourself? O_o This is the middle ground… This is the mucus between her period and ovulation……. well….. never mind that. The point is that you REALLY have to consider how many fingers someone’s asking you to place in the dyke before you accept the challenge.
 
Another psychological burden is the fact that you’re doing better than someone else. They really need help and you’re about to eat pizza and hang out with chicks. Well… You know why I can do that? Because I HANDLED all of MY business PROPERLY. Had YOU done the same thing, you might be doing whatever YOU like to do right now. It’s very easy, however, to see the situation altruistically and see that it’s within your powers and ability to make this sacrifice for someone else’s well being.
 
Again.. That’s all well and good, so long as you’re not dragging yourself down in the process. I watched this REALLY, REALLY, REALLY STUPID MOVIE the other day about people that went out to the middle of nowhere on a yacht and someone fell overboard or something and then EVERYONE ON BOARD jumped in the water to save them and then NONE OF THEM could get back on the yacht. :/ Who did that benefit? Nobody. As is true for most stupid American ‘horror’ films, everyone died except for one person that survived to the end of the film and made it back on board.
 
It would have been BETTER for SOMEONE to retain a clear mind when the situation went down and say “You know what? If I help this person by jumping in the water, I can’t help MYSELF”. It would have been better if JUST ONE PERSON on that boat would have said “I’m going to make sure that I’m going to survive this, and AFTER THAT, I’m going to do what I can for whomever’s in the water”. This is what you need to think about when people are asking you to fix situations that they bungled on their own. It’s possible that even though you CAN help them, it’s too detrimental to your current position or your future plans to spend your time attempting to bail them out.
 
On top of that, it’s not always just one person. When you know a lot of people, you have a lot of people with their hands out, begging.
 
In a way, this is an even worse situation, because the things they’re asking you for seem like such a simple thing to do. However.. If you did all these small favors, whether you’re getting paid properly or not… All of a sudden, you fell behind on what YOU needed to do for yourself or your clients. All of a sudden YOU’RE in a hole you’re trying to dig yourself out of when you could have avoided that situation by letting them know you hope they achieve their goals, but you can’t be involved.
 
It’s also funny when people get MAD at you for not helping them with something that’s completely their fault and has nothing to do with you! What would you have done if I had never responded to your communication? That’s right. You would have failed anyway. You would have found someone else to do it, done it yourself or FAILED. Period. I listened to your idea. It wasn’t in my best interest. I passed. Bye! I’ll be eating pizza later and forgetting that you exist. Meanwhile, you’ll still be mad that you jacked up your position and thought you were going to get *me* to save you. Nope.
 
One of my favorite, FAVORITE signs when I used to be a 9-5er is:

Lack of preparation on your part
does not constitute an emergency on my part.

Learn it! Live it! Love it!
 
~ Bill Cammack | @BillCammack

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I think I’m starting to see why people think it’s important to gain Twitter followers. They think you can use Twitter in ways that you actually can’t. I touched on this in “Shilling Away Your Social Capital”, but I think we need to think about this a little more deeply.

Stop Begging

Begging on Twitter will net you diminished returns, and quickly. First of all, if you’re begging people to come to your site, event or live stream, that means NOBODY’S THERE to begin with. That’s YOUR fault. You didn’t pub it correctly. You didn’t let people know what was happening. You didn’t inform them WHY they should show up, which is the most important thing.

If nobody showed up to your live stream, take that as a hint that nobody cares. Instead of making yourself look even worse by begging and then STILL nobody shows up, accept the situation and roll with it. Also.. Do not alienate the few people that decided to check out your show by acting like they don’t matter. If you wanted more people than you got?… Keep. It. To. YourSELF and keep broadcasting. If there are more people in the room than on your live stream, that’s the way the cookie crumbled. The show must go on. Live with it.

If you insist on begging, understand that nobody’s going to click ANYWHERE just because you asked them to. Your task is to provide them INCENTIVE in the format of text which explains what they’re going to see, hear or receive if they show up. If you can’t do that, don’t expect any viewers, AND retain whatever integrity you have left by not begging at all. Inform people about what’s happening, and if they show up, they show up.

Stop Promising

Stop promising people that you’re going to provide them with an audience when you publicize them. Nobody cares about YOU. They care about the content that you’re providing them. If you’re streaming the UFC fights, fans of the UFC are going to show up. Do not regard this as any form of Social Media Clout that you personally have. They came for the content.

This is what people don’t understand about having Twitter followers. It doesn’t give you any actual influence over the people that are following you because you’re not an AUTHORITY in ANYTHING. I know about video editing, music, beer and chicks. If I Twitter something about an antique auction, NOBODY’S GOING TO SHOW UP!

Knowing that, I’m not going to promise an antique dealer that I can get ANY decent percentage of my 2,300 Twitter followers to view a stream about his or her business. I’ve seen people with TEN TIMES the number of Twitter followers that I have beg and plead for people to show up somewhere and have fewer than 30 viewers at any given time during the broadcast.

So promise people and companies what you can provide… A Stream. Period. Don’t promise them that you have 20,000 Twitter followers in your pocket, because you don’t. ‘Matter of fact, if you aren’t any good at providing the video stream, don’t even promise them that. Call it a day.

Stop Lying

Stop lying about what the topic is going to be if people show up to your show. Stop lying about who’s going to be on your show. Stop lying about contests where you can potentially win things. Stop lying about how much Social Media Capital you have. The more you lie the more credibility you LOSE and that’s what this game is all about.. Conversion of Cred.

People are so busy trying to convert that they’re alienating their viewers/readers with bad leads, bad links, worthless content and lies. This is why your returns diminish, practically immediately. People know after you dupe them a couple of times that either you don’t know what you’re talking about or that you deliberately lie to people to get them to show up so you can claim to a client that you’ve brought attention to their site or product. Meanwhile, the only people showing up are the ones that haven’t figured out that you’re using false pretenses to get them there in the first place.

Assume Curiosity

Out of the few people that show up when you announce something, assume that a number of those people are only there to watch the latest ‘train wreck’. Some of them are only there to see if you got it right this time. Some of them are there to see if you subcontracted the work this time to someone who knows what they’re doing. Some of them are only there to see if your tactics are gaining you more of a following or less of one. Some of them were there because they randomly select shows to watch all day and happened to select yours for the time being. Some of them are there because they saw your show in the “now live” section and wanted to see what was going on inside.

Also assume that most of these curious people are not people that you’ll be able to convert into passionate viewers, much less subscribers for your next event. Also assume that if you put a decent-looking female on the screen that half of your viewers don’t even speak English and are waiting to see if they’ll get to check out her ass.

Plan Effectively

If you want people to show up to your site or show, make sure you have the content and personnel on hand to attract viewers. Do not BEG people to show up. Inform them of what’s available for them and allow them to show up if they feel like it. Tell them that the creators of a site they love are in the house and taking live questions. Inform them that they can get a sneak preview of something in demand if they show up to your stream. Tell them that an expert in whatever is giving out tips on how to increase their efficiency or proficiency in that field. Tell them that you’re discussing a currently hot topic live for the next hour or so.

Let people know about these things ahead of time. Let them plan their schedules so they can make time to come see their favorite stars or check out something on a topic they’re interested in. Help the viewers plan to take that late lunch so they can watch your show in peace without the boss hassling them. Help the viewers help YOU by telling THEIR friends that so-and-so is going to be on your show tomorrow or next week. Give your guests time to let THEIR fans know too so you have a better chance of them showing up.

Carefully select the events that you endorse. It’s in your best interest that people perceive you as an authority on something so they feel like if you’re suggesting it, it must be something worth watching. If you endorse just ANYTHING, you’ll become known for that and nobody will care when you link something. If you have to, make separate accounts for each niche that you want to be known in. People don’t want to hear about the greased-pig competition on your blog theme coding account.

Parting Gifts

Social Media is your opportunity to inform people about things you think are worthwhile and build your own credibility with your fans & followers. A lot of people these days are trying to use it as a way to trick viewers into arriving at a location and simultaneously trick the location owners that they’re receiving visits from passionate viewers. This trick isn’t going to last long, and you’re going to develop a reputation as someone who misuses Social Media and has no idea what they’re doing at all. That’s not how you want people to perceive you when that big break shows up and you get passed over because due to your history of trickery, you’re regarded as a lying, begging clown and not the Social Media Hero that you thought you were.

~ Bill Cammack

Twitter: BillCammack
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Social Media Category: billcammack.com/category/social-media
 

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I’ve been planning on doing a few different shows for quite a while now. Just about everything is in perfect position… however, before going forward, there’s an important consideration… scaling.

My friend Tyme White is always yakking about scaling. “How does it SCALE?” “That’s not going to SCALE!” blah blah blah blah blah…… Unfortunately (fortunately?) she’s right IF you’re looking at your show being a success from when you’re still in the early planning stages.

The way I’m going to define scaling for the purpose of this article is the ability to grow your show, social site, whatever. Just GROW it. Increase your membership. Increase your viewership. Improve your google rank. Get more people interested. Receive more UGC (User-Generated Content). Get more page hits…..

The reason scaling is important… Rather, the reason that YOU should consider your project’s ability to scale is that you might be broadcasting to a niche market. Let’s say, for instance, you want to make a show about DiY Clothing (DiY = Do it Yourself). There are only going to be a certain number of people interested in making their own clothing. A segment of that population watches videos on the internet. A segment of that population will be aware of your show. A segment of THAT population will like your show and recommend it to other people and/or come back and watch it again. A segment of THAT population will become ‘passionate’ about your show and become your core fans.

Threadbanger.com => Rob & Corinne, Justin & Marissa

I remember when I became aware of / fascinated by the concept of scaling. I was hanging out in Bed, Bath & Beyond…. I know, I know. It wasn’t my fault. Blame it on Dan McVicar. :/

Bill & Dan

Anyway… I’m hanging out by the checkout line, and there’s this endless stream of people slowly making their way to the register to pay. So I start imagining how many people are passing me, and it occurs to me that it’s A LOT! :D Then it occurs to me that more people passed me in the last 5 minutes than the total number that subscribe to my show in iTunes. :/ THEN, it occurs to me that if I stood there all day, the number of people that passed me would be greater than the number of people that subscribe to many popular, established internet shows. What I took away from that contemplation was that even if you’re considered popular within your own space or echo chamber, there are still more people to reach…. A LOT more people.

One of the most successful internet video shows that I’m aware of is Rocketboom. In 2006, each daily episode was being downloaded ~300,000 times. Even with numbers like that, comparisons were being made to cable television shows, not network shows, which count their viewers by millions. Recently, this show called “Quarterlife” got booed off the stage for ‘only’ pulling in 3,860,000 viewers on NBC… Obviously more than ten times the daily Rocketboom viewership.

Of course, none of this means anything to people that are expressing themselves by putting video on the internet and have no interest in numbers, stats, revenue-sharing, sponsorships, etc. For those that do care, and whose show’s future may very well depend on scaling, it’s important to consider the “what if?” of potential success.

Actually, before you figure out whether your show is scalable, you need to figure out if your show is SUSTAINABLE, which is an entirely different issue. For the most part, there are no “seasons” in internet-show-biz. It’s a new week… You need a new show. Period. Whatever your cycle is… daily, weekly, monthly… you need to come up with a concept that you can produce consistently and deliver on a regular basis. If you can’t do that, scaling’s useless because your viewers will drift away due to lack of output on your part.

So, do like Tyme does… “Ask NOT, Will it Blend?… but Will it SCALE?”

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You just can’t believe me
When I show you what you mean to me
You just can’t believe me
When I show you what you cannot see

~ New Order ~

That song is entitled “Confusion” but I wanted to quote it here, because growing up, I thought it was “THE FUTURE!!!” hahahaha :D

I just visited my friend Amanda Gravel’s website, Social Honeycomb and read her new post about the future, which started out being about a tattoo, but evolved into a lesson everyone should pay attention to…

My takeaway from Amanda’s post has to do with progression… Progression, as she mentions, from Point A to Point B. There’s the progression from the past to the present and also the progression from the present to the future.

Progression from the past to the present is recognized via hindsight. You get to look at who you were in the past and how you used to act through the eyes of who you are today. You might not have recognized the importance of people’s actions back in the day, but having progressed to the present, often, one achieves a better understanding of what people did for them in the past. That might have been the friends you made that taught you how to deal in life, your parents who paid for your college education and made sure you had the best of everything, your best girlfriend that you’re still tight with while her last three boyfriends have come and gone…. It’s easy to not recognize these things and reach back and give thanks to the people that helped you become who you are today. Amanda’s post reminds us to give propers where they’re due and recognize those who planted the seed that you carried to fruition during your turn in the spotlight.

Progression from the present to the future, as she says, is inevitable… However, that doesn’t mean that you’re going to take advantage of that. Many people give up, because they don’t know any better. Many people assume they can’t do anything more in life and reach a plateau… never reaching their true potential because they stop believing in themselves too soon. The future’s coming… whether we act or not. This is *your* chance to be who you want to be and do what you want to do. Planning for the future and envisioning what you’d like to happen is the first step towards achieving your goals.

It will always be right now.

Right now, you have the chance to build your future the way you’ve always envisioned it.

Make It Happen…..

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