…with the Melrose blues again.
I’m going to launch a regular radio podcast first thing next year. As part of my prep work, I’m interviewing various high-tech marketers to dig out pain points, urgent issues, pressing demands, etc. (If you’d like to be part of this process, please shoot me an email.)
To start, I drew up two lists: one of high-tech clients, the other of high-tech contacts I have on LinkedIn. Frankly, this is the first time, in the many years I’ve been on the service, that I’ve found a use for LinkedIn. At last! Out of 24 requests (between the two lists), I’ve already heard back from 6 people (not a shabby response rate); one has changed careers and become a teacher, the remaining 5 are eager to talk to me.
A few observations:
- If you haven’t given your LinkedIn contacts much thought, take a look. There’s something charming about the confusion you’ll experience as you ask yourself, how on earth do I know this person? Where and in what context did we meet? Maybe I should cut back on those whiskey and sodas at those late-night conference cocktail mixers.
- People change jobs often. Yeah, I know — no news there. But as a guy who has held steady for 17 years, I still find it shocking to see how fluid the world is.
- Everyone is passionate about something. Yay.
- Big surprise: the people who responded are among the BUSIEST on my list, with the least time to spare. Yet they’re willing to take time out to talk to me. Interesting. It confirms my longstanding impatience with the “people don’t have time to read, yadda, yadda, yadda,” bullshit I often hear. It’s not about time — it’s about relevance and value. When people see them, they make time.
While the podcast format is still I work in progress, I anticipate 5 or 6 segments within a 30-minute weekly program, each aimed at an issue or idea important to high-tech marketers. In some, I’ll fly solo; in other’s, I’ll interview experts and in-house marketers. If you have suggestions regarding topics — or want to recommend interviewees — drop me a line.