Often when I talk to clients about their messaging, creative, advertising copy and such, I have to ask if they are talking to themselves – meaning they using too much jargon or industry-speak in their copy.

One of the hardest things to do as a marketer is to get outside of yourself, the company’s four walls, and the industry so that you can talk/think like a customer.  Especially a customer who has a limited attention span and is not interested in becoming an expert in what ever it is that you do, but is interested in themselves and solving their own problems.

I’ll save that for another blog post.  Today, I wonder if you are talking to yourself in a way to build yourself up and get you focused for the day ahead of you.

Self-talk, the conversations you have with yourself in your mind, is one of the primary ways you direct your focus.  Self -talk falls into two categories: positive self talk, and negative self talk.

Negative Self Talk:

• Why am I so stupid?
• I am fat.
• Why does this always happen to me?
• I can’t do this.

Positive Self Talk:

• I am healthy.
• I am on top of my game.
• I am loved.
• I want to make a positive impact on my family.
• I am great at what I do every day, and getting better.

Focus on what you “Want” – not what you “Don’t Want”.  Your subconscious mind does not know the difference between what you want and don’t want – it will focus on the “thing” you are thinking about.

• “I want to keep my job”, NOT “I don’t want to get fired.”
• “I want to be healthy”, NOT “I don’t want to get sick”
• “I want to spend my money wisely”, not “I don’t want to waste money.”

Do you see the difference?  If not, read it again and again until you do – this is the key point.

Your positive self talk should be expressed in terms of the things you WANT, and the things you ARE which are consistent with your IDENTITY.  You have to work hard at this to keep the negative thoughts out of your mind, and to get rid of the internal “critic” who cuts you down, or reminds you of something somebody said to you a long time ago.

Your positive self talk should be consistent with your “big rocks” and your definite major purposes/goals in life.

Using positive self talk and visualization, you should create a picture of yourself already in possession of the goal you want.  For example:

• My team members respect me.
• I have total financial security.
• I am loved.
• I am going to do great today.

If you are unable to fully see yourself fully in possession of these goals, then ask yourself “How Can I?” questions so that your subconscious mind will go to work on obtaining the answer:

• How can I get people to respect me?
• How can I get my team to work together better?
• How can I become financially secure?
• How can I WOW people today?

The way you talk to yourself, and condition your mind, will determine your outcome for the day.  Try it for a week and see what happens – I guarantee you’ll carry yourself differently, see things in a more positive light, and become a better marketer because you have DECIDED you are one.

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Generally with technology products like this I like to be an early adopter of version 2.0.   I am not geeky enough to really want to be the early adopter guy who gladly puts up with buggy software, user interface issues, and other typical problems associated with the first release.

This time however, I needed to get a new phone and the Storm had just come out.  So I took a chance and got one and became one of the early adopters of the phone.  You can read my initial review of the Blackberry Storm here.  And now I am having a classic case of buyers remorse (or as we marketers learned to say, cognitive dissonance).

First Phone was buggy

For all the cool features, the first Blackberry Storm I got had one fatal flaw – it failed to give me meeting reminders.  This was really surprising to me as this is really core functionality that the Blackberry does well.  After missing several appointments, I got Verizon to replace the unit.

Replacing the phone was a bit of a chore – once I got through the complaint  process and got them to agree to replace it, it took several days for the phone to arrive, and then required another visit to the Verizon store to have the chips swapped, phone activated and contacts moved over.  Then it was my job to take the original phone to Fed Ex to be returned within the 10 day grace period.  (Note to Verizon Customer Service – make my life easy and take the phone back while I am still in the store.  Don’t make me go on another trip to ship it back to you!)  Total time spent on this: 3 hours.

Second Phone Was Buggy

The second phone they sent me solved the calendar alert issue, but had another twist for me.  This unit decides to randomly recycle itself and reboot for no apparent reason.  Not cool at all, especially when I am in the middle of making calls.  This phone routinely did this during calls with clients, who all empathized but also reminded me to never buy the first release of a technology product.  Duh.

So, back to the Verizon store I go to repeat the steps I went through the first time.   Additional time spent: 2 hours (I am getting good at this now and cut the process time down by 33%!).

Third phone……

Well I just got it, and so far so good.  But the whole thing that gets me is that the Blackberry Storm is supposed to make me MORE productive and right now I have to make up 5 hours of lost time just to break even.  Hmmm……

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So here are my top likes and dislikes about the BlackBerry Storm – I’d really love to hear from other folks who have one and get your thoughts.

Top Things I Like About the BlackBerry Storm

• It’s cool. There is no denying the coolness factor of a touchscreen phone and all the online capabilities it has.  It looks cool, it feels cool, it’s a little bit fun.  But it’s not as cool as an iPhone.
• The screen is beautiful. It’s bright, its clear, and its highly readable.
• The screen clicks. Another cool factor, and a highly functional one,  is the tactile feedback you get when you type on the screen.  Light finger pressure highlights the button, and a slight “click” confirms the action.  This alone may be the reason to keep the phone.
• It’s easy to lock and unlock the screen. Keeps me from dialing people when the phone is in my pocket.
• It works like a BlackBerry. If you already have a BlackBerry, then you will know how to use the Storm.  Unlike Microsoft, who decided that we all need to relearn the menu’s and shortcuts in the latest version of Microsoft Office, Research In Motion (RIM) has kept the BlackBerry Storm commands the same as always.  Love them or hate them, you know how to use them.
• The phone is good. Clear, loud, works great.
• The camera is good. 3.2 mega-pixels and its easy to use.  I think it is way better than the one on my old BlackBerry Curve.
• Shortcut Menu. On the screen you get the whole collection of menu icons, and you can customize the top two rows of icons which becomes a shortcut to your most used buttons.  It’s not easy to customize, but once you do it you’ll be happy.
• Speakerphone is strong.
• Third party stuff. I bought a custom rubber case to protect the phone when I drop it (which is often), and a screen protector to prevent scratches.  The screen protector is fantastic – it’s taking the abuse from my keys and other items, and doesn’t seem to make it any less responsive.  If you’ve ever had a scratch on your screen you know how awful it is.  Verizon had a few accessories, but I found more at a lower price at the Cell Phone Shop.

Things I don’t like about the BlackBerry Storm

• It’s a brick. The phone is heavy and large, unlike an iPhone.  A friend of mine who is the head of training for the Detroit Lions likes the way it feels, but he is 6’3″.   On the plus side, it feels substantial and you don’t feel like its going to break in your pocket or if you drop it.
• Browser is slow and awkward. I understand there are third party browsers for the Storm, but I honestly don’t want to work that hard to find them.  BlackBerry should give me a kick ass browser that has been well researched and integrates with the rest of the functions on the phone seamlessly.
• Browser doesn’t scale pages well. When I get on a text heavy page and need to zoom in to read the small fonts, in most cases the browser doesn’t scale the page to fit  the screen.  This means I have to slide left and right to read a paragraph.   Which really means I don’t read web pages much on this BlackBerry Storm browser.  Kind of defeats the purpose.
• Browser doesn’t support video. I can’t watch stupid human tricks on YouTube with the Storm.  What am I paying for?
• Icons are hard to move. In general, the user interface is hard to customize, including alerts, screen preferences, icon placement and so on.  The system should be highly intuitive for people like me who don’t want to read manuals or have to scrounge web sites to find little tips and tricks (which I cant read on the Storm browser anyway!).
• Lots of little User Interface things that no one fixed. For example, adding a new phone number to an existing contact.  If I want to add an incoming call phone number to an existing contact, it takes a series of clicks and copy/paste actions which are silly.  All they have to do is give me an option when I want to save a new phone number to either create a new contact, or add it to an existing contact.  Things like this make me crazy because it’s so simple and I expect a big company like RIM to know how their customers use their products in real life.
• Where are the apps? Maybe it’s not fair to compare the BlackBerry Storm to the iPhone, but the availability of third party applications is  one of the key differences.  A client of mine showed me some of her apps on her iPhone – she has the Shazam app that recognizes songs (and works great) and a fun app called Coi Pond that has fish on her screen with all kinds of customizations (how many fish, day or night, sounds, etc).  These apps are really cool and fun – where are they for the BlackBerry Storm?
• Too many clicks. Back to the user interface,  they really need to streamline the number of clicks needed to make things happen.  While in the phone mode for example, once the call is connected the numeric pad goes away for some other options.  This now means I have to activate the screen, find the small “keypad” button, click on the button, and then input numbers or the # sign.  Its a minor thing, but the phone needs to work the way I work.

So I could come up with a lot more little things, but you see where I am frustrated with the phone.  Its cool, but not the coolest.  It works well, but not great.  I feel marginally more productive with this phone compared to the BlackBerry Curve, but I expected more.   And of course, I am locked into Verizon’s “sell your soul to us forever” family phone plan which means a major disruption and expense if I were to switch to AT&T to get an iPhone.

Anyone want to talk me out of returning it this week?

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Google sends weather reports to your cell phone

1-800-GOOG-411 is a voice activated system offering directory assistance Google Search results from any phone (mobile or land line, it doesn’t matter) for free. Which means you can now stop paying $1.50 to the phone company every time you need a phone number.

Dial 800-GOOG-411 and give the location and name of the business you are looking for. If there is a direct match, the service will connect you with your match. If you don’t know the name of the business, the service will provide a list of options in your area. And if you are calling from a mobile device, 1-800-GOOG-411 will send you a text message with more details and a map.

You can also send a text message to GOOGL (46645) to get search results. I have found this very handy for current stock quotes, flight status, sports scores, movie times and for directory assistance. It’s also great for weather forecasts – just type in the letter “W” and the zip code or city name to get current conditions and a three day forecast. For a full list of search options, visit the Google SMS page.

You may find this service addictive, as I have. So here are a few insider tips on how to get the most out of it:

• To receive an SMS – say “text message” or press 9
• To navigate between results – say or press the listing number
• To receive a map – say “map it”
• To enter a zip code – say it or enter it with the keypad
• To receive more details – say “Details”
• To start over – say “start over” or press the * key
• To go back – say “go back”

I hate paying for 411 calls – keep a few bucks in your pocket and get better results with 800-GOOG-411, and Google SMS.

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The fact that I have perfected this little dance says something about how much travel I have done in the past year, but that’s another story.

So here is my solution to getting through the line – in this example you have a briefcase with a laptop, cellphone, jacket, roller bag, quart sized Ziploc bag with all your personal items under three ounces each. If your airport offers the “Clear” Card lane, I highly suggest spending $100 to get one and spare yourself the anxiety of waiting in line and go right up front. If you avoid one missed flight you have more than made back your investment, not to mention the peace of mind . Once you get there, here’s how to do it:

Step One: Before you get to the conveyor belt, put all your metal objects (cell phone, money clip, keys, coins, etc) in your jacket pocket. DO NOT walk through the scanner with these items, and do not use the grubby plastic cereal bowl they offer for your pocket items.

Step Two: Grab two bins.

Step Three: Strategically place items in each bin. In Bin One, you will place your shoes (slip ons, not lace ups), jacket (with all your metal and small electronics), and your Ziploc bag. The Ziploc bag goes ON TOP of your jacket so that it can be seen, and quickly grabbed to put back in your roller bag. Bin Two is for your laptop only.

Step Four: Begin with the end in mind, meaning send your stuff through in the order in which you will reassemble yourself. Bin One goes first, followed by the roller bag, briefcase, and then Bin Two with the laptop. I have observed that the security agents spend most time scanning the laptop, so you want that to go last so that you can reassemble your other items while the laptop is being scanned.

Step Five: Reassemble. Ziploc bag goes back in the roller bag, which now is ready to set down and pull. Jacket and shoes now go back on. You are wearing slip on shoes, so you don’t have to bend down to tie laces and waste time. Briefcase is ready to grab, and by now the laptop has made it through and is ready to go into the briefcase. You are ready.

Try this. I guarantee you will see the guy in front of you still putting his belt back on as you trot off to go stand in line at Starbucks for 10 minutes.

Got another way to do it? Please share!

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