How the Buddha Solved His Marketing Problem

How the Buddha Solved His Marketing Problem

When you think of the Buddha, you don’t think of marketing.

At least I hope not.

The Buddha was a spiritual teacher, with zero interest in profit. In fact, he forbade his ordained followers from even handling money.

But if we agree with Seth Godin that marketing is about spreading ideas, then you could say the Buddha was one of the greatest marketers of all time.

Over the last 2,500 years, his teachings have influenced the lives of millions of people, spreading first across Asia, and eventually to the furthest corners of the globe. For several hundred years, in the absence of written records, his ideas survived purely by word-of-mouth. And for well over two thousand years they crossed continents without the benefit of mass communications.

The Buddha’s example is particularly relevant if you work for a non-profit, in a ‘helping profession’, or if you want to change the world by communicating your message.

But even if you’re running a business for profit, you’ve probably noticed that generosity and purpose are critical to success in the 21st century.

It’s also a nicer way of doing things. So you may be surprised how much you can learn from the Buddha’s approach.

The story of the Buddha

Siddhartha Gautama – later known as the Buddha – was born into a life of privilege and luxury, the son of a king. His father did everything he could to shield him from the realities of life, bringing him up within the confines of splendid palaces.

Yet when the young prince grew to manhood and ventured outside the palace walls, he was jolted out of his complacency by three troubling sights: first, a wrinkled old man; next a man suffering from a terrible illness; and then a dead body being taken away for cremation. Finally, he saw a wandering holy man, a symbol of an alternative way of life.

Realizing that all his pleasures and possessions would be taken from him by old age, sickness and death, Siddhartha abandoned them, along with his family and royal status, and set out on a quest to find a way of transcending suffering and death.

He travelled across India, learning from many different teachers, and trying many different philosophies and approaches. He meditated, fasted, practiced yoga and experienced all kinds of weird and wonderful states of mind.

But like all the pleasures of life, he discovered that sooner or later, these blissful states soon came to an end.

He even tried torturing his body by denying it food, sleep, and any kind of sensual indulgence. He wasted away until his body was a living skeleton, but this brought him no nearer to the truth. So he gave up extreme asceticism and started eating properly again, restoring his body to health.

Having exhausted the paths taught by the gurus, Siddhartha retired to a quiet spot in the forest, sat down cross-legged under a tree, and resolved to stay there until he had found the truth. And after 49 days of solitary meditation, he found what he was looking for.

The word Nirvana literally means ‘blowing out’ – the extinguishing of the fires of greed, hatred and delusion that are the roots of human suffering. Once these are gone, there is no more suffering, no more fear of death.

After he had experienced Nirvana, Siddhartha was known as the Buddha, meaning “the awakened one”.

Now, I’m not going to presume to talk to you about the Buddha’s teachings after his enlightenment. (If you’re curious, I recommend Steve Hagen’s excellent book Buddhism Plain and Simple.) Instead, I will show you some of the ways he transmitted his teachings, and got his ideas to spread to millions of people, for thousands of years after his death.

If you want to get your message across in an ethical and effective manner, whether you call it marketing, teaching or simply communication, here are some suggestions for following in the Buddha’s footsteps.

Even enlightened masters have marketing problems

One of the first things that occurred to the Buddha after his Enlightenment was a marketing problem.

Sitting under the tree, reflecting on the experience of Nirvana, he said to himself:

This cannot be taught.

Having known the unfathomable experience of Nirvana, and looking at the levels of ignorance and confusion among human beings, he concluded it would be futile to even try to educate them.

So if you’re feeling discouraged by your lack of success as a marketer, take heart! You can have great knowledge, amazing skills and a lot to offer the world, but marketing is a whole different ballgame. It’s not rocket science, but it’s a different kind of expertise to the one you already have.

If an enlightened master like the Buddha can own up to a marketing problem, it gives hope for the rest of us!

Don’t try to reach everyone

When the Buddha concluded there was no point trying to explain his discovery, he was visited by the god Brahma, who encouraged him, saying there were some people “with only a little dust in their eyes” who would be able to see the truth.

So the Buddha set out to find these earnest souls who were actively seeking enlightenment and would be receptive to his message.

A classic marketing mistake is to look for everyone who could benefit from your product, service or message, and try to persuade them of its value.

The problem with this is that however much someone may need what you’re offering, they won’t be receptive to your offer unless they want it. Otherwise we’d all be super-organized, fit and healthy, and financially secure, thanks to the helpful marketing of productivity gurus, health and fitness coaches and financial advisers.

If we follow the Buddha’s example and focus on the people who actively want what we’re offering (not just the ones who need it), we’ll have a much smaller potential audience — but a much better chance of a positive response.

Telling the truth is not enough

The Buddha’s first attempt at teaching is generally considered a failure.

Walking back into town from the forest, he met a wandering ascetic who could instantly see there was something unusual about him. The ascetic asked the Buddha what he had discovered. Here’s his reply:

I am the perfectly enlightened one, the Buddha!

The other guy scratched his head. “Sure you are,” he thought, as he made his excuses.

The funny thing was, the Buddha was telling the plain, unvarnished truth. He wasn’t being egotistical. (By definition, a Buddha has transcended the ego.) And he was giving his teaching away for free.

But that didn’t make any difference to his audience.

In an ideal world, you wouldn’t have to sell. You’d just tell the truth, or show people your product, or describe your service, and people would instantly see the value and accept your offer. But even for Buddhas, this isn’t an ideal world.

And even if you’re making a free offer — say a subscription to your blog or newsletter, a free trial of your software or even a free consultation — you still need to sell it.

People are busy, overwhelmed or just plain confused, so it’s up to you to cut through the mental clatter and persuade them of the value of your offer.

Packaging makes a difference

The Buddha tried again.

Meeting five of his friends and fellow seekers in the Deer Park at Varanasi, they asked him what he had learned and he told them about The Four Noble Truths — fundamental principles that explained the nature of suffering and how to transcend it.

This was much more successful — the story goes that all five achieved enlightenment, and became the first Buddhist monks. To this day, the Four Noble Truths are the foundation of Buddhist teaching.

By breaking his teaching down into four basic steps, the Buddha made it easy for his listeners to understand, remember and share with others.

This was especially important given that he was teaching in a pre-literate culture — it would be several centuries before his teachings were written down, so until then they had to spread via word-of-mouth.

The Buddha’s teachings contain several other examples of complex concepts broken down into numbered elements, such as The Noble Eightfold Path, The Triple Jewel and the Five Aggregates. It’s almost as if he’d been reading Copyblogger’s advice on writing headlines.

So if you’ve ever looked at headlines with numbers and thought they were too cheesy or simplistic for your audience, consider that the Buddha’s teaching is one of the most subtle and profound ever expressed.

If he wasn’t too proud to use a numbered list …

And if you provide a complex service or sophisticated product, you will get better results by breaking it down into simple elements when talking to prospects. Give them three key benefits, or talk them through the three stages of your training program.

You can explain the fine detail later, but packaging your offer in this way makes it easier for people to grasp.

Positioning is critical

The Buddha described his path to enlightenment as the Middle Way.

This was to distinguish it from two popular alternatives he’d tried himself.

As a rich young prince with abundant possessions, servants and a beautiful wife, he had had plenty of opportunity to indulge in sensual pleasures, but he came to realize he couldn’t find relief from the suffering of the human condition in external pleasures, or even a loving relationship.

Later, as a spiritual ascetic, he had tortured his body by fasting, meditation and denying himself any kind of pleasure.

But that didn’t work either.

Finally, he adopted a more balanced approach, steering clear of the two extremes of indulgence and self-mortification. He learned to see pleasure and pain as two sides of the same coin, and to transcend them through the experience of Nirvana.

When he set out to teach, he knew he was entering a crowded marketplace, with all kinds of gurus, yogis, swamis and other teachers eager to attract students. Calling his approach the Middle Way allowed him to instantly differentiate it from competing philosophies.

Just like the Buddha, you need to position your message so that it stands out from the crowd.

You need an effective business model

It might seem strange to think about the Buddha having a business model — after all, he and his disciples had renounced money and possessions.

But just like everyone else, they needed food and basic necessities like clothing, medicine and shelter. Which meant they needed a business model — i.e. a system for coordinating transactions with the people who could supply these things.

Unlike most of us, however, they didn’t depend on commerce.

Instead, they were supported by a gift economy, driven by donations and generosity instead of money and desire. Each morning the monks went on an alms round, taking their food bowls for the local villagers to fill up. Their clothes and other equipment were all donations. In exchange, the monks provided teaching and conducted ceremonies for the laypeople.

This system survives to this day among Buddhist monks and nuns, not just in Asia but in the US, Europe, Australia and other advanced capitalist economies.

If you’re wondering what this has to do with you, consider Seth Godin’s proposition in Linchpin:

The hybrid economy we’re living in today is blending the idea of capitalism (‘do your job and I won’t fire you’) and the gift economy (‘wow, this is amazing.’)

If you want to thrive in this hybrid economy, you’ll need a purpose that goes way beyond making money. You’ll also need to be genuinely generous — not just handing out ‘free gifts’ in the expectation of a payback:

the essence of any gift, including the gift of emotional labor, is that you don’t do it for a tangible, guaranteed reward. If you do, it’s no longer a gift; it’s a job.

(Linchpin)

Community is the bedrock

When we think of the Buddha, we think of a solitary figure sitting cross-legged in meditation. And it’s true that he attained Nirvana alone.

But he also realised that most of us need a little more help along the way.

So he established the Sangha — a community of truth seekers, comprising monks, nuns and lay followers. Members of the Sangha supported and encouraged each other, in a community that persists to this day, with millions of members worldwide in the various branches of Buddhism.

One day, the Buddha’s closest disciple Ananda, realizing how much he had come to value the Sangha, said to the Buddha:

Lord, I think that half of the of the Holy Life is spiritual friendship, association with the Lovely.

And the Buddha replied:

That is not so; say not so, Ananda. It is not half of the Holy Life, it is the whole of the Holy Life.

(Quoted by Ajahn Amaro, Spiritual Friendship)

If you aspire to make a positive difference in the world, by working through your business, your profession, or your nonprofit organisation, ultimately your success comes down to the difference you make to people around you.

So one of the first steps you should take is to find your village of like-minded people — the people you can help and support, and who will help and support you in their turn.

The people who will be most receptive to your message.

The people who make all your efforts worthwhile.

How about you?

Does the Buddha’s example resonate for you? What can you learn from it?

Have you ever solved a similar marketing problem? Let us know about it in the comments.

About the Author: Mark McGuinness is a Coach for Artists, Creatives and Entrepreneurs. For a free 26-week guide to forging a remarkable career, sign up for Mark’s creative careers course The Creative Pathfinder.

Whiteberry.com : A Review

We always believe that technology can be used to solve our problems and whiteberry.com does the same.
In a group of friends we always plan out things and while planning nobody`s plans and timings matches with each other and at the end of the matter we dont end up having a plan together with everyone.

Whiteberry offer a nice tag system to tag friend and events which people plan to do. By the first look of whiteberry.com( it felt some spin off of "Blackberry") was that it was some event creation or somewhat like events app on facebook. But it has more than just event creation. It has tagging of activity, place, friends interestedd and even they make people to comment on it.

Cheers whiteberry.com

EdgeRank and Facebook Pages.

EdgeRank is an algorithm which is defined by Facebook which filters the news feeds to a FB users based on parameters. These parameters are later sum by the below formula.


This image is shown on most of the blog posts which explains EdgeRank Algorithm.

The edge rank algorithm is explained in terms of Fb Page rather than user.

u = it the number of times user and page interacts.
w= The weight of priority of the user in terms of page. The higher the u  higher the w
d= Time between the user and page has interacted. The longer the time less the d.

We can come to conclusion that number of likes to a fan page is not the priority but the number active users would increase the page views of the fan page. Hence increasing the visibility of the page.

One of our client had not more than 60 like in his page views but still was able to achieve 13k page views in 45 days.

It is important to interact more with users rather than finding new users.

Page Tagging in FaceBook

We got an update that, we can tag pages in photos or videos in pages. As predicted earlier this year that "Tagging" would create a greater level of engagement and then Facebook has taken the step in that direction.
The four possibilities which would help small business would be.

Greater Engagement of People

• People would be able to use the Page tagging as a new way to engage with business as they used to post videos or text in wall. This tagging of pages would give them a new way to engage with people

Greater Visibility

• Even though we know that Facebook is not friendly towards small business as they fear the misuse of this social platform. This type of tagging would create a level of greater visibility towards small business. Especially to the fans and non fans.

Increase in Page Views

• Apparently increase in the view of page would apparently would impact deeply in the terms of pages views. As there are no research in terms of  what would be percentage increase in page views. We would be working on the impact of Photo Tagging in terms of Page Views.

Cheers Facebook for started working towards tagging which is future of social media marketing.

Rohan`s List Press Release

Rohan`s List would be spending more time on social media in coming days. You would be able to spend more time on social media updates from now on.

Cheers

5 Reminders For Social Media Job Candidates

5 Reminders For Social Media Job Candidates

Social media and community jobs are a hot commodity right now, and in demand by both employers and job seekers. And there’s no question that social media has changed the way individuals not only look for jobs, but how employers vet potential candidates and consider their qualifications.

If you’re in the market for a role like this, keep in mind a few key things as you respond to openings and opportunities.

1. Social media is an asset, but it’s not a shortcut.

Adhere to protocols that have been established for submitting your qualifications, application, or interest. Most of us have them not just to be a pain in the butt, but because we have processes and approvals of our own that we need to adhere to internally. A heads up that you’re applying is fine, LinkedIn connections are good too or a Twitter follow. But be mindful of the line between making and introduction and presuming a level of familiarity that’s not yet there.

Like most things, the more established your relationship in advance, the more likely that connection is to work to your advantage during a job search (hint: build your networks before you need them). But if you’re not familiar with the person in the hiring role, the social network connection does not suddenly imply an inside track. Work on establishing that connection in a professional and friendly manner online, but while respecting the processes that have been laid out by the company that’s hiring.

The resume may have a different role than it once did, but it’s not quite dead. It’s still the first glimpse many employers will have at your experience and skill set. Supplement that with online content or recommendations as you like, but make sure you’ve still got stuff on paper or PDF that’s polished and professional.

2. Read the job description carefully.

Be sure you have the requisite skills, and be upfront about the qualifications you might not meet. Be mindful of instructions contained therein about submission of qualifications, or supplemental materials you’ll need to be prepared to provide. And most of all, be honest with yourself about whether you really want a social media job.

Job descriptions, when done well, really are written for a reason and with an emphasis on both skills and personality attributes that are needed to suit not only the role, but the company culture and appropriate level of responsibility and authority. They’re usually written to the ideal, meaning some of them are flexible and open to compromise, but the more you can help hiring managers evaluate the potential fit and where your strengths are, the more smooth the evaluation process can go.

Social media jobs might be all the rage, but many still carry with them a level of professional experience (even if it’s transferrable rather than direct) and qualifications that go beyond having a few active online profiles. Being really honest about whether you’re a good fit for the role at hand is better for you in the long run, and sets you up for a great deal more success.

3. Social media moves fast, but the hiring process doesn’t.

In all but the smallest and most nimble of companies, the hiring process is a considered one with many steps and points of communication both internally and externally. There can be multiple candidates, multiple stages of interviews, and approvals and all sorts of things that have to happen within the walls of a company.

Most companies will only contact qualified candidates for interviews, so if you aren’t contacted within a few weeks, a follow up note is great, but don’t keep hammering the company on every social channel (especially in public) seeking a response. If you’ve sat for an interview or two it’s perfectly fine to ask for a status update on that process, but do so in private channels (email works best) and only with the people who have been involved in your interviews.

It’s hard to be patient when you’re eager, but HR processes can move slowly and too much follow up can actually smack of desperation. If you’re a top candidate for a role, it’s a pretty sure bet that the interested company will make sure that you’re in the loop and be in touch. Like it or not, you’ll have to adapt to their timelines, not the other way around. Don’t feel like you’re being well communicated with? That’s something to consider when deciding whether that company is the right fit for you.

4. If you’re on the market, be on your best behavior.

It’s surprising that this still needs to be said aloud, but if you’re a job seeker in the social media realm, your potential employers are going to look at more than the resume you send them. They’re going to check out your blog, your Twitter page, your LinkedIn profile. If you’re currently representing a company online in some capacity, they’ll likely have a look at that too.

Oh, and if you currently have a job? Take care with posting your interest in new roles online lest your current employers be listening. It’s amazing, but it happens. And it doesn’t make anyone look very good at all.

Have a good look at your avatar, bios, the tone and tenor of your posts and content. There’s no question that personal and professional collide online, but that can be good or bad. How would you feel about what you see there if you were the one deciding whether or not to interview you?

5. Culture fit is everything.

You can learn skills or technologies. You can get an education around processes or best practices. But you can’t really teach personality, work ethic, or values if they aren’t already there.

The job seeking process – and the recruiting process – is as much about finding an alignment of ideals and mindset as anything else (at least it is for us). Sure you’ve got to be qualified, but finding a company that suits your personality and attitude is really key, and companies want to find people that feel like they fit. That doesn’t mean hiring clones, but instead finding people with similar values that can grow and adapt with the organization and the people within it.

You can be the most qualified person on the roster but be a disconnected fit from a culture standpoint, and that’s okay. Social media can help both employers and job seekers in that regard; you can take a peek at the companies you’re looking at to see how you feel about their online representation, interaction, and presence. They in turn can get a feel for whether your personal and professional online personalities mesh well with what they’re all about, enough to want to bring you in the door for a closer look.

On that note, social media is a great door opener, but it’ll never replace the in-person interview entirely. There’s plenty we get through non-verbal communication and interactions that just can’t be diagnosed through a computer screen. Keep that in mind as you’re out there looking.

What Would You Add?

If you’re looking for a social media gig, what’s new about the process from how it used to be? What’s the same? What are you finding the most challenging, interesting, or helpful? What would you tell employers about improving their processes?

And if you’re hiring, what are the challenges and opportunities you’re finding as a result of social media? Is it helping, hindering, or both? What advice would you have for those on the job market?

Look forward to hearing from you in the comments.

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The Single Thing That Can Sink or Save Your Brand Reputation

The Single Thing That Can Sink or Save Your Brand Reputation: "

You can have the most amazing product in the world, provide an incredibly valuable, useful, important service…but it can be tarnished in an instant by a single thing.

Conversely, a difficult situation or a disappointed customer can be remarkably helped – even completely turned around - by that very same thing.

What is this magical mystery element of which we speak?

The attitude and demeanor of your front-line employees.



Companies invest hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars each year in things like product training, marketing campaigns, and customer service training. But so much of the first impression or lingering taste that people have of your brand is in the hands of the people that they’ll interact with on a daily basis. The folks at the front counter, on the phones, manning your social media channels.

They’re the ones holding the reputation of your brand in the palm of their hands.

The smart @PeterMoorhouse perhaps said it best on Twitter during a discussion on the topic:

So here are the questions at hand:

How careful are we about who we put in those roles? Do we put enough emphasis on them? Do we treat these people and positions as though they’re pivotal to the brand perception we’re trying to build?

Traditionally, front-line jobs aren’t the ones that pay the most. They’re usually lower on the corporate ladder. They might not have visibility into important discussions about company vision, culture, or innovation.

Some of these roles might be downright thankless. Or, we might have absolutely the wrong people in those positions, and we’re not doing enough to evaluate that or correct problems or issues when they arise.

So what do you think? What are the ways that businesses can embrace this critical truth (or is it a truth)? What sorts of ideas, solutions, or innovations do YOU have in mind that can help us rethink the importance of the first touchpoints our customers have with our companies?

Rather than positing my own solutions, I want to hear from you.

How should we be thinking about the front-line roles that impact our brands?

Sound off. The comments are yours.

The New Normal of Work Includes Social Media

The New Normal of Work Includes Social Media: "

Read enough about productivity on the internet – especially in social media circles – and you’ll undoubtedly find counsel to cut down on “distractions” like Facebook and Twitter, or to stem content creation in favor of doing the “real work”.

The Real Work Thing

Ostensibly, this Real Work of which we speak (and I’m sure I’ve probably said something like that myself) is about doing the things that are concrete, tangible, and most likely relative to a day job or whatever work pays the bills. For me, it would be work that’s pertinent to my day job as VP of social strategy for Radian6. For you, it might be dealing with clients as a PR exec, or managing your team, designing websites, or any number of things.

In short, it’s the stuff that you’re supposed to be able to point to and see some kind of “real” result that moves your business or other goals forward. By whose standards we’re judging “real” I’m not quite sure. But there’s something very important to remember.

I have an incredibly demanding job, as I’m sure all of you do. If I wanted it to, it could easily consume my days completely for as many hours as I’m willing to dedicate to it. Plus, I have a home and a family and friends that I want to have time for.

So, things like blogging or time just connecting on Twitter or browsing my feeds for interesting content seems like a luxury. Something that doesn’t have a place amongst the rest unless I want to admit that I’m “wasting” time.

The Reality of New Work

The truth of the matter is this.

These things - this creation and connection pattern – is a tremendous part of the new normal of work today, and even more so in a job like mine.



Writing helps me explore ideas that in turn lead to practical applications of strategy for my job, exploration of new ideas with peers and colleagues, or even the makings of a book.

Connecting on Twitter allows me to participate in awesome conversations (yes, I still have them all the time), say hello to dear friends that don’t share my geography, meet new people, and help or connect with people in relation to my work, speaking, or otherwise. Hopefully in the meantime I might add or share something valuable myself.

Browsing content helps me learn new things, test my assumptions, discover new voices and rediscover familiar ones. It gives me perspective, information, knowledge. And while there’s tons of it out there, I know I’ll never absorb it all, so I take what’s good and make peace with leaving the rest. And having it means I can pass it along to someone else.

The Reset

This IS real work. These things aren’t merely distractions to be easily dismissed out of hand as wasteful or empty. They are a core part of my work, and not just because I work in and around social media (my job also encompasses things like executive management and leading professional services). They’re just different, and slowly replacing things that might not be as relevant anymore.

To claim otherwise would be hypocritical at best (how can I express how important these things are if I’m not dedicating my own time to them?) and selling the value of it all short at worst.

So I’m rebalancing again by allowing time in my day – deliberately and without remorse – to include and continue to integrate these elements, just like meetings and phone calls and project work. They’re important to the new normal, my new normal, the way that work exists for me today. And they’re integral to what and how I do what I do.

I think I might have started to lose sight of that a bit in the quest to balance everything myself, so I’m going to make a concerted effort to put that back to rights. Hey, even those of us who believe whole heartedly in the value can require a reset.

What’s Your New Normal?

And you? I know I used “I” a lot in here because it’s a perspective I’m exploring for my own universe. But I want to hear your take on this, your variations on the theme.

What’s the new normal of your work balance today that might not have been there a few months or a few years ago? I’m curious about how social media has changed the way that you work, or if. Is creation and engagement a nice-to-have, or is it woven into your work?

Thanks, as always, to all of you for making this adventure so utterly and completely rewarding and worthwhile. Let’s talk some more.