Three years later, I achieved what I wanted academically. I will share with you my personal strategy on keeping motivated and ways to build a base of confidence to pull you through your adult learning life. As with any long-term project, you really need to start by building a solid motivational storehouse as a foundation to keep you anchored along the way.

These are my five key sources of motivational energy.

Focus on Wanting Change

Seriously ask yourself this, “Why do I need a higher education? Why would I want to be in Statistics class at 7pm on a Friday evening?” I imagined some would answer, ‘”My boss wants me to study so that I can get a promotion”, others: “I need a paper qualification so that I will not lose out in the future.” Without a doubt, for most people, higher education equates to a better salary ie. more money. It actually does, but money isn’t a real motivation.

What you should be telling yourself: I am ready for Change and I want it.

Simply, if you are NOT ready for change and a disruption to your regular lifestyle, then the road ahead will be fraught with worries and resentment. I’m saying this with the benefit of hindsight, of course. But after three years of examinations and numerous study project cycles, what really kept me going was the fact that I had changed dramatically with every turn. My thinking had evolved, my comprehension of the external world had grown and I learned how to deal better with difficult people. The more knowledge and learning I gathered, the more change took place within and around me. So it is really a win-win situation.

Make sure you want change bad enough and, in time, the transformational power of new knowledge and learning will make you yearn for more change. But of course, this will only work if you put in your share of effort in deep studying.

Set Clear and Specific Targets

Start thinking of clear and specific targets that you want to achieve while in school. These could be statements such as, “I want to achieve perfect As at the end of the program” or “I want to graduated with a First Class Honours with Distinction.” In fact, those were the exact lofty objectives that I had set for myself.

Simply saying “I want to graduate with a degree” or “I hope to pass all my modules” is doing yourself a huge disfavour. If you are a football club declaring a fight for an end-season mid-table league position, one of two things will happen: you’ll never fight for top honours and, if you do, very likely you’ll attribute it to ‘just lucky’. But get this, it wasn’t Lady Luck kicking a ball on the field, it was really YOU.

Without specific achievement targets (ideally difficult and lofty in nature), you will continue to under-perform and never quite realise your true potential. You are also likely to miss out on top grades you are actually capable of. I can assure you now, the difference in rewards between first and second place is remarkably vast.

You may ask, what if I fail after setting such high targets? As long as you know you really tried hard enough, this disappointment will not last. Lofty targets are meant to be so that you can truly achieve the next level of high achievement. Just beneath the clouds is still a lot of sky.

In practice, I did not achieve perfect As but I still graduated top of my diploma cohort. Also, I did not attain a Distinction degree but I ‘settled’ for a First Class Honours instead. Just beneath the clouds is really not that bad after all.

Have a Future Master Plan

For a majority of adult learners, their main motivation once they started on an adult learning program are the ‘visible’’ end-objectives: ‘Let’s nail the final exams and graduate!’ or ‘Finish this and I’ll get my life back’. Fair enough. An adult learning program is tough, with many sacrifices along the way.

However, I had a different approach. I simply looked beyond the final exam and the last project submission. I asked the questions, ‘What am I going to do with a degree?’, ‘What shall I study next?’, ‘What kind of career path should I have?’, ‘How can my family benefit from this?’ etc. Not just the tasks at hand, but I wanted to take care of ‘What’s Next’ as well.

My strategy: I nurtured a Future Master Plan as a source of motivation.

Two weeks into my 18-month diploma class, I was already making plans on enrolling in a degree program. Weeks into the degree program, I was already devising my career path and making concrete choices. What kept me super motivated at every stage was a concern that went like this:

‘’If I don’t do well enough this time, I won’t be able to (fill in the blanks) next time”‘. (Example, ‘getting considered for a quality MBA program’ or ‘land a job I really want’)

I am pretty sure each of you will complete your programs eventually but, with a little re-engineering of thinking, you’ll be better focused at motivating yourself for the present moment AND making sure you start with a bang on whatever you are up to next.

Tell Everyone Your Plans

Formal adult learning is a tough road to be on. Most of you are likely to be juggling career and family commitments. At some point when it gets really tough and a little weary, you will feel like the loneliest person in the world.

My advice is, tell everyone about your plans. Share more with people who really care about you.

Everyone being your family, colleagues and friends. Share with them about your plans for school and beyond. Not constantly (you don’t want to irritate them), but at least once. (After the initial sharing, they will likely to be the one asking you about school.)

Two reasons why you should do this: 1. When people you care about check in to ask about your studies occasionally, that should, at the very least, spur you on and keep you on track. This was very true for my former bosses at Oracle. I told them once about school and they continued to ask and remained interested in my progress.

2. At some point (especially near the end), people who really care about you will be your only pillars of support. They are your spouses, girlfriends, boyfriends and your parents.

Your objective is to have them believe in you and be part of your journey. By being frank about school and the future you are working towards, they will better understand what you are going through and ‘see the bigger picture’. This will really help, especially if you are going to be constantly missing at family gatherings or social meet ups with friends.

Create Benchmarks and Healthy Competition

In order to do well at anything or even improve on something that is already good, you will need to set quality benchmarks. Find the person in class who is really rocking with great grades and set yourself against this person’s standards. Motivate yourself to ensure your performance is either comparable or better than the person’s at every stage (eg. test, semester, project, etc). This alone should keep you awake at night.

Another good way to create motivation is to have a healthy competition among your peers. You can do this within your working or project groups. One real benefit of this is, your group will naturally perform above average because everyone is motivated to ‘beat’ each other. The converse is true as well, find yourself in an unmotivated and ‘run-of-the-mill’ group and your collective results will turn out mediocre.

++++++++

And that is my motivational secret. Tell me what you think, will these work for you? Or why not share your own motivational strategy that others and I should know about.

Forget ‘success’? ‘Contribution’? Like Mother Theresa?

Then it all made sense.

All our lives we’ve been told to be ‘successful’ and ‘over-achieve’ (a default if you’re a Singaporean). Our success is measured on the kind of education that we receive, the grades we hauled home, the jobs we land, the lifestyle we adopt and the property we live in. A very singular pursuit indeed.

Nothing wrong with personal wealth and accolades (perhaps some of you contributed a few million dollars to your company’s bottom line that enriched the lives of your colleagues.) But can we do more? Can we make a daily difference to the lives of others? Can we help others achieve and replicate our own success stories? Can we contribute meaningfully?

Success Through Contribution

No debate, we are part of a society, surrounded by family, friends, colleagues and even strangers. Hence, I truly believe it is only natural that our success is measured through our contribution to others around us. Remember that war movies’ refrain? ‘Leave no one behind’. Drucker is right, only if we ‘contribute first, achieve later’, will we be able to collectively move forward.

As a society, as an organisation (commercial or otherwise), as a generation. And what’s a great way to contribute? Sharing. Believe and do it often enough, it becomes natural (just like on Facebook).

The good news: the tools of contribution and sharing are already in place and in our hands.

Here’s a little of my story.

How I Caught Up With the World

I had dropped out of film school at 19, spent the next 8 years on concert stages and in theatre halls, ran a pioneering music label startup for a while and finally landed my first corporate job at Oracle at 28. I was off the starting line but it felt like I was really late to the corporate game. I needed to grow fast!

To make things even more interesting, I started school again. I believed I needed a formal education in corporate business and marketing. Again, I felt late to the game (although running a startup did impart some key learning, for instance, listening to customers is really important.)  I needed knowledge fast!

No surprises here. I looked around the internet (circa 2007) and instantly felt ‘a new social movement’ brewing. The music label business I had ran with the wife was built on the back of the internet and Myspace (I have been online since mIRC (1996)), but this was different. Blogs were really coming into prominence, social networks were coming into life and suddenly, opinionated content are being shared everywhere! It felt like everyone decided to come onto the internet and ‘do something’ (*my theory on this digital tsunami? Generation Y’s coming of age + Generation X’s late adopters finally discovered the lure of social networks)

So with all these contributing of knowledge and sharing of content, there can only be one obvious outcome:

Learning on The Social Internet

If I needed an honest and reliable opinion on a marketing topic, I didn’t need to look further than the blogs of industry experts, even the self-proclaimed ones. The thinkers among them usually have links to academic research I could follow through and the active ones are typically discussing relevant and current issues of the day. Beats learning about business and marketing from an academic textbook (typically a year behind reality).

Need to get a grasp of the news-worthy developments every morning? I discovered my own Twitter community and has since been served with news and fresh knowledge daily by others who share the same passion or industrial affiliation.

Want to know what others are reading and find useful for learning? Try social bookmark service, Delicious.

Need answers to difficult questions on business, technology or any knowledge area you fancy? Ask on LinkedIn Answers. Someone somewhere will be happy to help you out.

Want ‘free’ carefully-researched academic papers or presentations? Try Slideshare or Scribd.

As long as we keep sharing openly and meaningfully on the social internet as I have discussed, I am certain we are all contributing to others around us, enriching their lives and collectively move forward.

Social Sharing is Your Contribution to The Lives of Others

Let’s get personal. Recently, I completed and earned my first degree, a First Class Hons in Marketing Management, at the ripe old age of 31. For a teenage dropout, I suppose that’s a big accomplishment. I am sharing this with you because, apart from my family and my circle of friends, you have contributed immensely to my learning experience and my achievements.

I can only thank the many people (some are friends, most are strangers) who blogged on topics that enriched my learning, posted academic papers on Slideshare or Scribd, shared links to rich content on Twitter, engaged in tweet conversations with me, and gave encouragement and support on Facebook and through this blog.

Since this is my professional and personal blog, I hope you will allow me to archive some highlights of my academic adventure. I hope this will also be a showcase of that experience, to show that my methodology in learning and knowledge gathering through social means can be easily replicated and, hopefully, will contribute to someone else’s achievements.

Berita Harian, Tuesday, 29 June 2010 : National Malay-language daily newspaper, front page header and page 3 article (click to enlarge) MyPaper, Tuesday, May 18, 2010 : Nationally-distributed daily newspaper Click to download and view quote A central theme in my convocation speech (pg. 5) touched on the virtues of open social sharing, especially in knowledge and collaborative work. Convocation Speech, Northumbria University, 22 May 2010

So how about sharing your experience on social sharing? I look forward to hearing from you in the comments.

Among Anol’s many questions, one particularly touched the very foundation of my arguments for enhancing social connectivity in the workplace. Here it is, paraphrased.

Not an easy question to answer. I have argued for leadership figures to lead and implement fundamental changes to encourage open discussion and endorsement of employer’s brand. It is a tall order, as Anol pointed out, because the undertaking seeks to overhaul culture that has probably been ingrained for years within an organisation (especially true in a Singaporean context, many examples of conservative people structures exist). Is there another way in then?

Finding out later that Anol is an Apple fanatic and aficionado was an important discovery (particularly in that moment). The immediate answer then (not the answer, but probably one of many probable answers and solutions) became more apparent to me.

Selling Cool

About a month or so ago, I swallowed my ‘Google boy’ ego, bit the bullet, took a vow of geek celibacy and resolved to remain above the fray:

Technology serves a purpose in making our lives better, so the more of my peers, seniors at work and people in general adopt the smartphone as a tool for learning, the better I will feel. Everyone has the right to access real-time information and knowledge, just as I do, for work or daily life. In any case, I do openly admit that the iPhone is such a usable, intuitive and easy-to-use device. And most certainly not everyone needs a ‘WIFI hotspot’ in their pocket.

But I also realised something that will not keep Apple down or weaken it in the face of competition from the likes of Motorola, Samsung, HTC or any of the other mobile device manufacturer. Simply because…

You can only fight cool with cool.

Let’s face it, Apple is the epitome of cool. No doubt about it. The real hook in their messaging to customers and their admirers is that ’you can be cool’. Anol mentioned a Don Norman’s concept about us wanting to see ourselves in the objects that we own (correct me if I’m wrong). That’s exactly what Apple addresses in its ads. Apple sells you ‘cool’, a state of mind enhanced by how you think others will perceive ‘you’. Here’s a comparative study using video ads. Watch this iPod ad from Apple.

I brought back the iPod ad because it was the beginning of Apple mad love for most ‘non-design’ people that ultimately led to the current obsession with the iPhone. Now contrast that with this Motorola ad for the Droid. “Android 2.1”? “Xenon Flash”? Only the geeks will truly appreciate it. Sterile.

Here’s where Apple triumps again. Nothing in the following video mentions the iPhone (except the end caption). What Apple did was to connect that delicate human moment with the iPhone 4. No hard sell, but gentle tugging at our emotions. Cool.

Now this is my phone. In my opinion, if OS is a winning criteria, quite possibly the most powerful phone in the world right now. However, I’m in no doubt that Google sucks bad at marketing its products (other than their cash cow  aka internet ads) and this video reflects that. This video is all about features, features, features. No ‘you’ or ‘me’ in it.

‘Selling cool’ has certainly helped Apple to maintain its mystique.

So if ‘selling cool’ works for products, can it work in an organisational context? Can companies sell ‘cool’ to their employees?

The Cool Organisation

I say, why not? What’s stopping anyone from internally marketing their company’s brand as ‘cool’? Isn’t communicating the virtues of the company’s brand, in relation to market competitors’, a sure way of keeping employees’ morale up? No one wants to work for a No. 2 or No. 3 brand.

Or am I wrong? Or ‘cool’ is just not feasible in employee relations?

But if you agree that ‘cool’ has its merits in creating employee brand ambassadors, the challenge is then, how do you create a ‘cool’ organisation? How do you create an organisation’s brand that employees will talk about openly and passionately?

Here’s another quick case study on ‘cool’.

Is YOG ‘cool’ enough to be passionate about?

In this CNA article, Zainudin Noordin implied that the Youth Olympic Games is not getting the kind of passionate support that it needs. That what is needed now is people “coming to action” to be passionate about the YOG. After the JJ Lin YOG cheer fiasco, I am sure YOG ‘cool factor’ has lost some of its shine. Is there a fix? Can ‘cool’ be produced on demand?

But most certainly not if someone’s brilliant idea of YOG cool is Ris Low, as in the next video.

What do YOU think? Is ‘cool’ cool enough to change how we perceive our employers’ brands? What will be the stumbling blocks? Is it the type of products or services that will determine ‘cool’? Can management folks appreciate ‘cool’? Do share below with your opinions, I would love to hear from you.

Look Who’s Back

For the second year running, the folks from Six Degrees are back to present Social Media World Forum Asia 2010 in Singapore. This year’s event promises to be bigger than last year’s and will present a host of speakers from many sides of the social media story.

Among the many distinguished speakers I look forward to hearing are:

Brian Solis : Acclaimed original thought leader on social media and writer of the new book ‘Engage’

Blake Chandlee : VP & Commercial Director at Facebook, EMEA

Thomas Crampton : Asia Pacific Director, 360 Digital Influence, Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide

Shalabh Pandey: Leading digital marketing personality in Asia. Author and founder of Chasingthestorm

I Am Interested in

What I really am excited about is to hear how businesses are transforming their organisations through embracing ‘social media’ within their organisations. Or is it all merely outwardly PR- and marketing-focused? What are the initiatives taken by business leaders to empower their employees to engage in social media? Is it ‘See & No Touch’ approach? Have they built ‘social media-like’ infrastructures in their organisations to facilitate social conversations and learning? Are their employees allowed to be on ‘social media’ in the office?

After all, ‘social media’ is really all about ‘online conversations around bits of information and new learning’.

I look forward to meeting these folks in person with these ‘difficult questions’.

Derek Yeo : Head of Marketing, Tiger Airways

Pooja Arora : Brand Manager, P&G

Jeremy Khoo : Deputy Director, Marketing & Communication, NTUC Fairprice

Disclosure: A Groovyweb will be at the two-day forum as an official blogger, courtesy of Six Degrees. If you would like to follow the live coverage of the event, follow me on Twitter via @ismantanuri

Singaporeans like to complain, right?

We complain about everything! Why is it flooding in Orchard Road? Why are MRT fares expensive? Why watching World Cup on cable is so expensive? Why is the weather so hot/cold? Okay lah, let’s say we call these: ‘feedback‘.

Now look at the photo on the right. This is the message from  the video display screens around Gatwick Airport in London:

Feedback is Good

But really, there is value in all of  these ‘feedback’. For businesses who are ‘listening in to these feedback’, it is a way to find out what is wrong with their products or services. For customers, complaining is a ‘healthy way’ to voice your unhappiness. If we don’t say it, we can only suffer in silence and businesses will never improve or give us what we pay good money for.

The SingPost Experience

Here is my personal story on why complaining is good. When SingPost lost my wife’s US$400 parcel (they cannot explain why, gave us totally crap customer service and didn’t want to admit to losing the parcel) I decided to blog about it .  I shared the story on Facebook and Twitter and we received so much support from friends and strangers that eventually SingPost had to come to our home, apologised and refunded the whole amount. Moral of the story? Never keep quiet as a customer.

(Honestly, I really salute SingPost for having the courage to talk to us directly and doing what we feel is within our rights as a paying customer.)

Complaints Are Inevitable,  Take Them Positively

In any industry, complaints are inevitable. Just as you and I like to complain, customers and clients are in the habit of doing it too (we are in Singapore after all!). But let’s take a moment and look at complaints differently, and positively, in these ways.

So that’s it:

Complaints are good, complaining is positive.
And certainly good for business.

Pink is the author of the best-selling book ‘Drive: The Surprising Truth of What Motivates Us’, a study that argues long-held conventional beliefs in human motivation are actually hampering effective, high performance.

This is a continuation on my series of posts that discusses the intrinsic needs of employees in a new social environment that is increasingly connected through digital means and how businesses can relook its stance on employees’ engagement in social media and derive positive branding opportunities along the way. Pink’s works and ideas have been a huge recent inspiration and motivation for me to continue discussing the need of social engagement through digital means, especially within organisations, in achieving business objectives.

Now what exactly does science knows and business is doing wrong?

Monetary Rewards Do Not Guarantee Performance for 21st Century Work

Here’s the gist of Pink’s argument on what really motivates us, based on scientific findings from a Dan Ariely study sanctioned by the Federal Reserve Bank of America :

The Scientific Solution

In brief, Pink argues the solution to better and effective performance from modern employees are rooted, not in increased monetary rewards, but in providing the right conditions for these three intrinsic motivational factors to take shape:

There are a lot more discussions that can be had based on Pink’s arguments and these scientific findings, including parallels that I am developing in my mind for my own arguments that social connectivity through digital means will aid in providing these intrinsic motivations for employees (for eg. social media providing us with the control to direct our personal and professional communications (Autonomy) and the abundance of real-time information on social media and on the web that can help all of us get better at our work (Mastery)).  But let’s keep that for later.

For now, what better way than to have Pink explains his argument to you in person. Here’s Pink’s hilarious talk at TEDGlobal fully discussing the inspiration behind Drive with case studies and anecdotes.

This next video is a helpful rendering of the same motivation argument made by Pink. Using ‘on point’ caricatures, this visualisation is a great tool to easily understand and absorb Pink’s refreshing perspective on what motivates us.

Connect with Pink on social media via Twitter

The Short Answer

The Beatles said it best. Money can’t buy you love.

That is my sole conviction. Just as the practice of paying bloggers in dollars to endorse products is a thorny and questionable issue, providing employees with monetary incentives to engage on the social web comes with considerable risks to reputations, both employer’s and employees’. The integrity of the corporate and personal brands will be questioned. Don’t forget, we are dealing with social media, everyone is ready to pounce on you at the whiff of a questionable practice or the slightest mistake (see Google search results on ‘I Hate Tiger Airways’).

Furthermore, to quote Daryl Tay:
‘Will paying get the same kind of emotions and authenticity? Will your paid post even be remembered a week from today?’

But I know you will still ask, why would employees openly and willingly talk about their employers on social media when they are not compensated for it?

Let us assume my argument here for ‘happy employees make the best brand ambassadors’ is true and that you buy my theory that employees are the best assets for ‘spreading the employer brand love’.

High Pay = Employee Ambassador = Result of Love & Belonging

Let’s look at it from another perspective, ‘Will high-paying employees be brand ambassadors for their employers on the social web?’ I sincerely doubt it. With the internet as a window to opportunities, employees are increasingly mobile. A high-paying employee paid to market or promote the employer’s brand are compensated to do so. But what about the rank-and-file? What will trigger employer brand endorsement? What can we cultivate internally within the employee network and ecosystem to encourage employee ambassadorship?

Now, you may ask, how can I justify that? Let’s go back into history and revisit the work of Abraham Maslow, in particular his theory on ‘Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory’ (credit to @thangdynasty again for putting this into my view). Here is the most common representation of this motivation theory:

In short, Maslow theorised that we progress through different levels of self-need in seeking satisfaction and motivation. But only if a more pressing need is fulfilled first, for example, food and shelter before employment, family before friends.

So What Does Our Employment Address?

Our safety and security needs. All of us probably feel we are not being paid enough (who doesn’t?!) but ultimately our family and our own’s safety and security are ensured by the monthly salary we receive. The salary pays for our property and daily expenses and keep us on a social equilibrium. Can this sense of security be replicated in every workplace in the world? More likely than not. So what else do we seek for happiness?

Love and Belonging As Social Glue

If Maslow is right, we yearn for love and sense of belonging. Put aside family and friends you grew up with, we are more than likely to seek fulfilment in these needs through our colleagues: fellow employees we spend most our daylight hours with. Discounting colleagues you’re in dispute with and office politics aside, there is very likely a group of colleagues at work you would consider as ‘friends’ (if you don’t, then I’d suggest you re-look your relationships in the workplace.) All of us wants to belong to a group or be affiliated to like-minded individuals.

When we have determined these friends and established trust, what do we do next?

We literally get into each other’s Facebook and we establish Twitter communes. Vice versa.

Managers and leaders cannot pretend that this does not exist. Because it does and it is happening everywhere. Even in the most unsophisticated of workplaces.

Employees Are on Social Media and They Are Happy

Now that we have established the fact that employees use social media to interact with one another (sense of belonging) and with their family and friend (love and friendship), we can now firmly conclude that social media is not going anywhere because these online social channels fulfil and satisfy employees’ needs for belonging and affiliation. Belonging can actually means multiple choices of lunch partners to hang out with. So these positively equate to the following:

So here’s the good news and conclusion: Employees are more than happy to hang out on social media with their colleagues. And employers don’t have to pay for it because their self-needs for belonging will take care of that.

Agree?

Now The Bigger Picture

The not-so-good news:

1. Employees are not talking enough about their employers’ brand (or products) because they are told not to mix work with personal.
2. Employers are not seeing the big picture on employees engaging on social media and the opportunities that it represent.

Let’s address the more immediate issue 2 for now. Here’s a comment snippet (on a blog post by Belinda Ang) from Anol Bhattacharya who fully explains issue 2:

And Belinda’s response highlights the exact sentiments I would expect from many business leaders today:

The Business Leaders Challenge

If you agree with Anol’s and my own argument that ‘happy employees can be the best brand ambassadors’, then the immediate challenge for business leaders is to identify the value of social media internally and how it can contribute to their organisation’s growth and visibility. We have all heard about the huge buzz that is ‘social media: the weapon of unhappy customers’ but what about ‘social media: the ‘creating happy employees’ tool’?

To consider:

• cultivate social engagements from within the workplace by providing access to social platforms
• extending trust and empowering employees to engage in conversations that involve the employers’ brand
• use employees’ social media engagement as a tool for promoting the corporate brand
• use social media as an internal culture- and team-building tool

What are you thoughts? If you are a manager or a business owner, then I would love to hear your opinion on this issue. Do you feel there’s value in social media for your employees and your brand? Or social media is more risk than necessary for your business?

*Image credits for Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: The Skool of Life

‘Can treating employees like customers increase job satisfaction?’

The Satisfied Employee

Here’s my initial response to Brenda’s question (with edits):

Peter Drucker said ‘management’s duty is to preserve the assets of the institution in its care’*. In that respect, all employees must be equally treated with the same care typically reserved for customers. In today’s information-producing workplaces, even more importance and care must be given to increasingly-mobile employees. Unlike the manual worker (who peddles his strength and energy), today’s information-driven employees retain their practice’s knowledge and developed skills and sought to bring them along to the next employer (and, in some cases, including knowledge of the ex-employer’s strategic and operational secrets).

Now watch what Tom Peters had to say about ‘treating your employees like customers’. Peters recounts a story about an American Airlines’ annual meeting in Dallas being picketed by the Airlines Pilot Union. On the same day and in the same city, the same pilot union took out two full pages of advertisement in USA Today to honour the contribution of retiring Southwest Airlines’ co-founder, Herb Kelleher. Why? Because of Southwest’s differentiated support and care for its pilots. In Herb’s own words, the secret of Southwest’s success is “You have to treat your employees like customers.”

The Employee Ambassador

Further, I continued in my reply to Brenda and the main focus of this post ‘Employees as Brand Ambassadors’:

Rakesh Ojha asked this Twitter question on LinkedIn Answers recently:

A fair number of people on LinkedIn mentioned ‘Buy your Twitter followers on eBay’ and I totally agree with that. It is fairly easy to increase your followers count if you are really keen on doing that and there are published methodologies on how to go about doing it. An example, certain keywords that you tweet on will somehow automatically get you followers, for instance, ‘social media’, ‘holidays’ and the very popular ‘sex’.

Personally, I do not really care about my followers’ count on Twitter. A third are probably bots and another third are friends who were wondering ‘what’s this Twitter hype’ and have since left the conversation. I do have to admit a fair number are probably still lurking and mostly reading. They are the quiet audience.

Building a Community on Twitter

Here’s my published answer on LinkedIn Answers (with some edits):

So, above all, build a Twitter community, not your followers’ count.

I don’t think I have covered all there is about building a valuable interactive community on Twitter. If you have any suggestions or would like to share your own personal experience on cultivating your on Twitter community, I hope you will kindly do so by leaving a comment below. Keep on tweeting!

My Malay barber’s a quiet man. Apart from pleasantries, Vespa stories and the weather, we hardly got personal. But all the same, my sessions with this guy had been very pleasant. We had a well-established, mutually-beneficial relationship. His colleagues knew that and respected this relationship well to never court me to sit in their chairs, even if the place was swarmed. I was this guy’s regular and loyal customer.

Loyalty is Painful Sometimes

I have loyally continued to patronise this place all these years, even after moving back to my folks in Pasir Ris (briefly before marriage) and now in our matrimonial home (Toa Payoh).

Yesterday, I made a Sunday morning trip to the barber shop for a haircut. I was looking forward to the occasion because a while ago (the Saturday before my convocation on May 22, to be exact), I had gone there wanting a trim. Unfortunately, he did not turned up as per usual and did not answer any calls to his mobile. I waited an hour for him to arrive (I really didn’t mind waiting at all) before reluctantly letting my hair to be trimmed by one of his colleagues. Yesterday, I had wanted to ‘playfully chide’ him for making me wait.

On arrival, I saw his spot remained empty and enquired if he’s late again. The news that greeted me at the door left me stumped and speechless.

My Malay barber guy had passed away on 6 June 2010.

A long-term loyal relationship has ended for good. And there was no opportunity to say goodbye or to express my deep gratitude for all these years.

What Made Our Relationship Great?

Nonetheless, I still needed a haircut yesterday and I received one from the same guy that stood in the last time. In all honesty, I wasn’t terribly thrilled with my haircuts, not that I wanted something fancy (my idea of a haircut is merely getting my hair trimmed to a length that will allow me to style it any way I want later on).

Unfortunately, I did not receive a memorable experience with this guy. It was just not the same.

So what really made the difference? You might say a haircut is a haircut.

Well, the difference is my late Malay barber guy listened. And again and again and again.

From the first time and every time since then, he would ask once before each session what I wanted (despite knowing very well what I wanted), listened to my request and proceeded. If I thought my hair needed a little more trimming (just like my dad’s, my hair burst into life and starts growing wildly the moment I step off the barber’s chair), I would make regular requests (in a single session) to have the sides trimmed to the length I wanted. He would listen, never let out a sigh or complain and gave it to me every time.

I also have a (call it peculiar) belief that buzz machine-cut hair do not grow out well and had insisted on a traditional scissors-cut the very first time I patronised his services. All these years, he remembered that very first request and never gave me a full haircut with a machine (only touch-ups).

The new guy left me disappointed. Crucially, he did not ask what I wanted or listened close enough to what I had to say.

All Great Marketers Listen to Their Customers

First rule of marketing: Give what the customers want. And that is only achievable by listening to what they really want.

That, in essence, is what my late Malay barber did. He asked what I wanted and continued to listen every time. He was a marketing guy in the most simple and effective way. He did not put forth fancy hairstyle ideas or suggest a new hair colour. He did not lavish me with in-store perks or loyalty points. He never called me by my name.

But he listened and listened. And gave me what I really wanted.

Truly a hallmark of any great marketer.

Farewell

I regretted knowing and calling my late Malay barber only as ‘Pakcik’ (Malay for uncle) (I’d love to give you a name here). I probably knew his name at some point but we had gotten on so comfortably, we never did have a need for names. Nonetheless, he’ll be greatly missed.

May God give strength to his family and friends and bless my Malay barber’s soul in the ever-after.

The simple guy who listened and listened and listened.