Month: August 2009

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Simply Remarkable!

photo: Kenneth Cossin

photo: Kenneth Cossin

by: Kenneth Cossin

Ok, so you may say, “What does this flower have to do with your blog?”  Well, I wanted to post a photo that I think is quite remarkable to prove a point.

Our blogs are not simply for stating the obvious, regurgitating other peoples’ thoughts, or simply to rant about something that doesn’t grab your audience.  They are about trying to get out a powerful or remarkable message.

For example, as an amateur photographer, I love to share my photos with others.  But I skip over the average, typical, and possibly boring photos and head straight for the remarkable ones.  Thus the photos of the flower above.

Well, how remarkable this photo is may be in the eye of the beholder.  But I believe that it captures several important aspects of the word “remarkable.”  It’s beautiful, it has depth, clarity, intrigue, mystery, sincerity, honesty, and most of all love.

My point: make your blogs, captivating, inviting, fascinating, thought-provoking, and passionate!

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Putting Group Work to Practice

by: Kenneth Cossin

Enzian Tickets

photo: Kenneth Cossin

Full Sail University students should be very proud of their course directors and Internet Marketing Department.  Today, we met as a group to discuss our marketing ideas with the Enzian Theatre in Winter Park, FL, USA.

Our Internet Marketing Directors, one of our course directors, and the Enzian coordinated an event that culminated not only in a great group experience, but also into a cooperative between Full Sail University and the Enzian.  Our objective was to to analyze the Enzian’s and the Florida Film Festival’s Web sites to determine what they could do better.

We analyzed how the Enzian and Florida Film Festival could improve their Web sites to increase traffic.  We offered up not only several strong metrics on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and other Web analytics but also branding, collaboration, and affiliate marketing ideas to grow their business.  The ultimate goal of creating a great project management team and a stronger bond between these entities was quite successful!  Therefore, we all departed having learned several new things that we did not know before.

In closing, we will continue to help the Enzian and the Internet Marketing Degree Program to grow thereby helping you, the students, to get the best education that any university can provide.

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3 Personal Objectives on Collaboration

by Kenneth Cossin

Whether we work for a corporation or for ourselves, we need to understand the importance of collaboration.  My definition of collaboration is working directly with your colleagues, affiliates, and competitors in an effective way that will accomplish a common goal.

1. Working with colleagues

It is imperative to develop strong relationships across departments, divisions, and even sections of your business.  How many times have you dealt with a company where you felt that the “left hand didn’t know what the right hand was doing?”  My example is credit card companies.  I will receive letters from one department telling me what a wonderful customer I am, and the next day I receive a letter telling me that my annual percentage rate (APR) is going to jump up to 24.5% interest.  What?  Need I say more?

2. Transparency

There is a certain level of trust that is built by being transparent.  Now, I don’t mean giving away your trade secrets such as Coke giving Pepsi their formula for creating their products.  What I mean is that you explain why you are making the decisions you are making.  Let’s face it.  As an adult, is it not insulting to your intelligence when your company comes to you to tell you of a policy change but does not give a reason why?  In addition, isn’t it also extremely suspicious when your competition refuses to work with you to solve common problems?  Sure, let’s both reinvent the wheel.  That makes sense.

3. Trust

Don’t you find it really aggravating when companies that are affiliated with you play the game of “you pay me, I pay you?” I’m not saying that we should give our work away for free, but why do we want to do business with someone that is only concerned about the “almighty dollar?”  What ever happened to trust?  Why are we always suspicious of people around us?  Now, I do not recommend throwing caution to the wind, but simple research and intuitiveness will relax your fears.  And if someone does you wrong, then remember they won’t last long in our global sea of entrepreneurs and brilliant ideas!

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Why Should I Listen?

by: Kenneth Cossin

I had a very engaging conversation with a coworker today regarding blogging.  The conversation came about by me mentioning some course changes that I want to implement in my class.

While we were talking, I realized several key communication aspects that we were using that we sometimes take for granted:

1. Create a communication bubble

Despite all of the sounds and distractions around us, we focused on the topic at hand.  We essentially created a “bubble” around us where we were purposefully ignoring extraneous input.  This not only allowed us to have a meaningful conversation, but to also brainstorm some great ideas.  We weighed the pros and cons of each idea by maintaining the one single focus.

2. Ask meaningful questions

Our questions and ideas were open-ended in our conversation.  Why?  Well, because we needed to obtain more information than a simple yes or no answer.  We needed to explore the substance of the conversation rather than simply the superficial aspects.

3. Listen without talking

When each of us was talking, interjecting ideas, explaining opinions, etc., we simply listened.  By doing so, we found that we were not only answering some rather profound questions but also looking at the different perspectives that exist.  In addition, we found that listening to one another helped to generate more questions and ideas.

4. Take notes

I took notes of our discussion to refer to later, because the discussion was too long to remember every topic, idea, thought, or additional question.  Thus, at a later date, we could revisit the questions and ideas with “fresh eyes.”

So, why should I listen?  Because the best ideas, thoughts, and actions that I have learned in my life have come from the people around me.

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My Photo Credit in People Magazine

 

Deborah Gibson at Fatone Family Foundation Event 30 July 2009

Photo: Kenneth Cossin

by: Kenneth Cossin

After many years of hard work, after thousands upon thousands of photos, I have made it into People Magazine!  Click HERE to view photo and People Magazine story.

I recently attended The 4th Annual Rock on the Moon & Sing with the Stars charity celebration with the Fatone Foundation on 30 July 2009.

My photo of Deborah Gibson has hit one of the top Hollywood publications across the globe!  The story had over 4 million hits in just three days.  Thank you, Elizabeth, for the invitation to the event!

Note: Per FTC Rules – No money, products, or services were exchanged for this photo credit in People Magazine.