As someone who struggled for years to lose weight I finally just one day found my motivation – being young!  At 35 years of age I just felt too old.  I wanted to go shirtless at the pool and listen to hip-hop artists such as Black Eyed Peas and feel good about myself.  So I just decided to get off my butt and do it.

People soon began to tell me I should chronicle my journey and help others find the motivation they need.  I thought about it and one night while looking at domain names came across one that just sounded “right” – JoinOn.In.  So I decided that I’d invite others to “Join on in!” and find the motivation they needed to achieve their fitness goals.  I figured that together we all could be the motivator for each other.

So I’ve started working on the site and even hired a professional graphic designer to help come up with the logo – which I’m proud to debut for you all.  It’s simple, but I really like it – and it sums up what the site is going to be all about in one simple statement, “Get Motivated!”

Of course, I decided that I was going to do this right – and the marketer in me just started to have more and more ideas.  At work they recently handed our wrist bands for our new ad campaign and I thought “these are way cool” so off I went and ordered 300 wrist bands to get the site started – freebies that I plan on handing out to help people stay motivated! 

Of course now the fun part begins – creating the content and other materials that will actually make up the site.  I’m planning on doing both written and video content, but I’m going to be leaning heavy on the video content.  Probably around 60% video, versus 40% written content.  The reason?  We are living in a connected world, and video tells a story that text can’t.  Besides, I can talk in front of a camera all day and night long – so I might as well put that talent to use.

If all goes well the site should launch around the 2nd week of July.  I’m taking things slow because I want to make sure the launch is something I can be proud of.  No need to rush, and I’m still working with the behind-the-scenes stuff anyway.

Hopefully, if nothing else, the site will be a way for me to connect with others who need motivation and really do want to live a healthier life.  Hopefully together we’ll be able to encourage one another and reach out and form support groups no matter how far apart in real life we really area.

Together we’re going to Get Motivated!  So come on, JoinOn.In!

The closer you get to someone, something, some brand, some organization… the harder it is to demonize it, objectify it or hate it.

 

So, if you want to not be hated, open up. Let people in. Engage. Interact.

So many companies are scared to death to let customers interact with them — and then they wonder why they are hated.  Microsoft was all too famous for doing this, for being secretive and closed during a period when the rest of the computing industry was going to open standards.  They finally realized the error of their ways — but after how much damage was done?

Will it really hurt you or your company to develop an API that others can use to help make your product better?  What about hosting a forum or a blog for others to leave comments on.  One-way communications is dead in marketing, and trying to keep that method alive will lead to people finding ways to demonize your product and your brand.

I started hearing more good things about Ford, and checking them out, after I read about their upcoming presentation at Web Expo 2.0 on how they set their content free and connected with their employees, customers and suppliers.  Just reading this presentation outline makes you want to sit back and go “ooh” and “aaahh”.  A company the size of Ford making the leap to social media is just amazing – but shows that Ford does indeed “get it”.

It wasn’t long after I read that article that I stumbled upon Scott Monty’s twitter page.  Scott is the head of social media for Ford.  Now there is a job title I’d love to get!  Twitter is quickly becoming one of the more popular way for our mobile society to interact with each other.  The fact that he’s using it not only to interact with Ford customers, but also to present a face of Ford, is what makes it such a worthwhile venture in my opinion.  I feel that by being able to “tweet” him a message that I’m actually interacting with Ford on some level.

Ford doesn’t stop at Twitter, though.  Facebook, Myspace, Second Life.  These are all Ford media outlets.  I feel I can get more information about Ford products through these outlets than I could ever get before.  The beauty of it is that I’m getting information from all sides, and not just what traditionally would have been pushed to me by Ford.  The information is when I want it, where I want it and how I want it.  I’m in control of the content delivery!

I have to think to myself is it no wonder why Ford is weathering this economic storm much better than Chrysler and GM when they have forward-thinking leaders who see the value of social media.  They understand the value in connecting with their customers and hearing the good, the bad and the ugly.  They aren’t trying to make us buy a Ford or tell us how great they are – through their efforts they instead create evangelists, fans and enthusiasts who buy a Ford because they feel connected to the brand.  They feel they know more about Ford and its cars through the community and not just one-sided conversation.

Folks, you can’t buy better marketing then this.  When will other companies get it?