I’ve been involved with technology, media and advertising most of my 20+ year career, and, all along the way, I’ve been continually astounded by the constant morphing of these industries. Just when I think I have it figured out… THUMP! I’m hit over the head and again our world has changed. As a result of founding my own media company about a year and a half ago, and the ups and downs of this chosen terrain, I have come to the realization that this constant state of flux isn’t going to end anytime soon – which is a good thing right!?!
So I am learning to embrace it. But to stay ahead of the game, it’s not enough to just keep my head above water, treading the waves of what I think I understand to be social trends; I need to dive beneath the surface and really come to understand, appreciate and live the driving forces behind these trends. And so my blog was born – a forum for the exchange of information – a conversation about our life experiences.
To give a little background for those of you who don't know my company, (Active Athlete) specializes in the online social media around sports – a concept which has different meanings depending on who I am talking to.
Some ask “Oh, you’re a sports site like ESPN?” No, our audience doesn't just watch sports, they play them. Actually, they live them! We are all about Active Athletes – enthusiasts who are passionate about and actively engaged in lifestyle sports.
Others ask “Oh, so you’re an ad network?” to which I respond “yes, but not all ad networks are created equal.” I explain that our exclusive relationships with each of our grass-root partner sites allows advertisers unduplicated reach of, and targeted solutions to, highly engaged athletes in their zone. BTW we have 7+ Million of them as of March 2007 and 85% of our page views are created by these passionate users.
(No more sales pitch, I promise.) So back to the task at hand – first, swallow my pride, come clean and admit that I don’t know everything; and second, share a recent experience that illustrates this point all too well.
Yesterday, there I was, going about my day, as founder of this exciting social media company (sorry, caught myself before I digressed again, ha ha!) when it happened again – THUMP! Right over my head. Over the last couple of months I have been expanding our sales team to compliment our “national brand advertising” reps with sales reps who have a passion for a specific channel (such as Endurance Sports, Country Club Sports, Outdoors, etc.) and who specifically focus on endemic advertisers within that sporting category. Recently we hired someone to focus on Extreme Sports - Snowboarding, Skateboarding, Surfing and Kiteboarding. In just the few short weeks that he has worked with the Company, I have again been reminded that I still have a lot to learn about a lot of things. What’s hot? What’s not?
After spending time with our new rep, on the one hand I have regrettably never felt so old; but on the other, I have never learned so much. I have been re-energized.
Mistake #1– As a passionate Triathlete, I naively thought I knew all sports and what they were about. You snow down the mountain really fast. A big rush. Lots of people do it. What else is there to know, right!?! WRONG!
Lesson #1 Learned – I’m a triathlete, cyclist, runner. My rep is a "Boarder" (which, until recently, I didn't know what that really meant). The passion I share for my sports is the same as my rep's passion for "Boarding", and, at the end of the day, we are the same in that our respective sports are in a large part who we are. But as much as we share in common, we are also very different in that each of our sports has its own community, customs, lingo, likes, dislikes, etc. And we all need to better understand these differences. The key to success here is connecting with each Athlete. Talk the talk. Walk the walk.
Mistake #2 – As a pretty savvy and sophisticated Internet user, I naturally assumed that all people use the Internet like I do. I have mastered the art of search and I can surf with the best of them, but I don’t have a MySpace page and, at least until now, I had never had a blog. So imagine my horror when my new rep, proudly exclaimed to me that he not only uses his MySpace page as a social vehicle but as a sales tool. At the earliest possible moment, I went to check out his page, which gave me a glimpse into another world.
My first reaction was to get my rep to take his page down or significantly modify it. What if it hurt my company's image? This brought me to consider one of the big questions our industry has to deal with - do I have the right to ask an employee to change his personal content as an employer? I'd be interested in people's opinions.
Lesson #2 Learned – After the fear of the unknown subsided, and I took a minute to reflect on the content of my rep’s MySpace page, I saw life from the Boarder’s perspective. And what an amazing perspective it is. One thing is very clear - there is a new generation that is changing the rules and creating new ones.
After further consideration (and consulting with my attorney and PR firm J), I have come to believe that my rep shouldn’t change his page just because he is using it for business. It represents him – a Boarder, an Active Athlete, a savvy business person and well-rounded person. Endemic advertisers will relate to him and his page. They will get it. Touchdown!
