Mitch Joel Says Reboot, a Book Review
Do not throw the baby out with the bath water. Do not drop everything. Do not reinstall the operating system - just reboot.
Do not throw the baby out with the bath water. Do not drop everything. Do not reinstall the operating system - just reboot.
Nothing’s impossible I have found,
For when my chin is on the ground,
I pick myself up,
Dust myself off,
Start all over again.– “Pick Yourself Up,” from the film “Swing Time,” 1936
Mitch Joel is a masterful public speaker about this whole Internet thing. I keep him up on the pedestal alongside of Avinash Kaushik, Clay Shirky, and Ze Frank as the people I most like to see speak in public about almost anything. These are people with whom I am in violent agreement.
Mitch is on my list due to his seminal book, “Six Pixels of Separation: Everyone Is Connected. Connect Your Business to Everyone,” wherein he proved that he totally gets the intersection of social media and marketing.
And now, he’s written another.
“Ctrl Alt Delete: Reboot Your Business. Reboot Your Life. Your Future Depends on It” is a call-to-action.
Rather than just another tome about the marvels of the new world and what everybody could be doing or should be doing, this is a guidebook on what to do. And the first step is reboot.
Do not throw the baby out with the bath water. Do not drop everything. Do not reinstall the operating system – just reboot.
In a nutshell:
What to do: Make your own space, be it an app, a website, or a physical location. Whatever it might be, own it.
What to do: Use any and all data (big data, small data, doesn’t matter) in order to segment, personalize, and cater to individuals as best you can. Or at least better than your competition.
What to do: Create an app that benefits your customer in some insanely utilitarian way. Help them be themselves and your brand will become part of their life.
What to do: Be programmatically responsive, socially responsive, and personally engaging. Think “human relationship” rather than just making another sale.
What to do: Create a direct relationship to help your customers, in a useful way, interactively, in a way that is situation-ally appropriate for the screen of the moment. Communicate differently in each channel, but ensure the message is always in keeping with your brand.
We’ve moved from the promise of, to the reality of the Internet. It’s really time to up your game, and Mitch has written a book that will give you a better understanding of what it means to do business in a hyper-connected world and make you feel better about your options for maintaining marketplace relevance.
Fun fact: chapter seven is called “Sex With Data.” Reason enough to read this book.
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