You write.  It’s really that simple.

Writing comes more naturally for some, but it’s still the most powerful, most efficient, most leveraged way to build and foster an active professional network.

It’s always been a powerful tool, but access to a wider audience was previously restricted to those either with a printing press, or those who could buy or cajole their way into said publications.

Today we have blogs, email newsletters, comments on other people’s blogs, Twitter and various other channels available to us – not to mention a wider array of online and offline publications always on the lookout for good content.  The writing isn’t any easier, but the platforms and means of discoverability have improved dramatically.

Write something noteworthy today, and it’s around forever.  Write something on a weekly basis for five years, and you have hundreds of breadcrumbs demonstrating your insights, smarts, thought leadership and capabilities all over the Web.

Write on a regular basis and people will start to follow what you have to say.  They might not read every piece, but they’ll get enough to stay engaged, keep you top of mind, and accelerate pass-along of you, your interests and ideas to countless others.

Even if writing isn’t your strong suit, it’s a good habit to get started.  It’ll pay you back for a long, long time.

Did anyone else notice the near lack of social media integration in Super Bowl ads this past weekend?  Only a couple ads included a specific and trackable call to action (including Dockers, whose site immediately went down in the minutes after their spot aired), and none that I could see referenced anything on Facebook, Twitter or any other social network.

With a significant percent of Super Bowl viewers simulateously on their computers, and a further opportunity to engage customers and prospects well after their 30-seconds-of-fame, I was surprised to see so few advertisers specifically invite viewers to continue the conversation.

Last night, Expedia brand manager Julie Lowe gave a good explanation at a local Super Bowl Ad Replay event:

"Big companies that spend money on Super Bowl ads have too many different and separated marketing groups, with not enough communication and coordination between them.  The brand or advertising teams likely managed the Super Bowl strategy largely on their own, without thinking about integrating efforts from the social media or direct teams that sit next to them."

Your company or marketing department may be organized into functional groups, but your customer doesn't think that way.  Today's increasingly multi-tasking customer requires a different way of operating, and a new level of cross-platform integration from marketers.

Your company just spent three million dollars on thirty seconds of air time.  Why not capture more value than that?

Of course, most of us aren't running those kind of ads.  But how well does your marketing today take into account the multi-faceted ways customers want to interact with you and each other?  How easy are you making it for them to engage, share, participate - and buy?

The means by which most of us measure customer loyalty is a bit flawed.  Retention is up, attrition is down, and we think all is well.

With sales, it’s easier to boil performance & success down to a number.  Either you closed the sale, or you didn’t.  New revenue is booked and realized, or it’s not.

With retention, it’s a little fuzzier, because not every customer is alike.  Yes, you may have retained 95% of customers last month.  But how many of those customers are raving fans?  How many are frustrated and just sitting out the rest of their contract?

Those are very different customers. One is willing to sing your praises to other current & prospective customers – helping sales and solidifying retention (and possibly success) with some of your other customers.

The less-satisfied customer, unfortunately, may be doing the opposite.  Their frustration is simmering, and they’re telling others about it.  They’re sharing with their colleagues, with peers and other customers via their social channels, and literally closing the door on future revenue opportunities – possibly without you knowing about it.

Our spreadsheets tell us these two customers are the same.  But they clearly are not.

How are you identifying these two customers in your business?  And how are you using that insight to address and improve both the less-satisfied customers, as well as the potential weak points in the product or service itself?

Here are a few links I thought particularly worth a quick read the day after:

Hulu:  See every ad from the Super Bowl again here

USA Today: Which ads scored best with viewers?  Check out the AdMeter

AdWeek: Four reasons why Super Bowl ads are still among advertising’s best bets

AdRants: Summarizing several roundups, there’s no clear winner in this year’s Super Bowl ads

BrandBowl:  How the Twittersphere ranked the advertisers

AdWeek: Super Bowl Ratings & 30-Second Ad Costs since 1969

SearchEngineLand: Great analysis of Google’s ad strategy, reactions, comparisons to Bing, etc.

CNBC: Super Bowl ads the NFL didn’t want you to see

Social Media Journal:  “Advertisers, you really missed the mark this year”

Was it me, or were there very few ads in last night's Super Bowl with a call to action?  There were some memorable images and concepts, as always, but in general there was very little effort placed on driving the viewer to a next step, to a Web site or social media presence where the experience and engagement could continue, where identification, registration and/or sales could happen.

Yes, there were a few URLs at the bottom of ads at the end.  But most appeared to be placed as an afterthought, or at least as a mere boilerplate with very little reason for viewers to go there.

You spend three million dollars on 30 seconds of air time (let alone the cost of creative and all the internal soft costs associated with executing the campaign), and you end up with a nice ad, some nice gameday buzz on Twitter, then what?  When the advertising world is buzzing about which ads were the most creative, what's happening to your brand?  What's happening to sales?

Driving ROI from that investment has very little to do with what the Madison Avenue elite think on Monday.  Is't about what Main Street does on Monday and beyond.  That's where the real value and ROI is created.

Pepsi was absent during the game last night, of course, because they've put that money into a massive social media effort instead. 

Is this the consumer brand equivivalent of having the courage to forego exhibiting at your industry's big trade show?  At the show, a few people may wonder why you aren't there, and you do miss out on grabbing the spotlight (briefly) when everyone's looking in the same place.  But you smartly save your money and divert it to quieter but more effective marketing.  Long-term, are your sales (and strength of your business) better as a result?

Everything had a story.  Every person, every product, every sales opportunity, everything.  Where it came from, how it evolved, why it exists and where it’s headed. 

As a business, you need to know your story.  Where you came from, why you exist, what benefit you provide.  And before you can effectively market and sell your product or service, you need to know that story. 

But before you can do that, you need to know your customer’s unique story.  Not just the story they’re telling the world, but the story behind why they might need you.  What got them to where they are today, what challenge or need or pain has that created, and where are they headed?

Then, your story becomes their story.  You create and communicate a story that takes your prospect from present to future, by telling a story of how wonderful the future will be with your product or service as the enabler of that future.

Stories aren’t about features, or new releases, or tactics.  Your story needs to take into account the past and present, then predict the future.  If done right, your prospects will directly connect with and start to believe that story.  Now you’ve created value.  And it’ll be hard to say no to a good story like that.

I believe you treat everyone with respect.  You give everyone the time of day.  You don’t just intentionally blow people off.

That doesn't mean you take meetings everytime someone wants to "pick your brain", and it doesn't mean you necessarily treat everyone you meet the same (same time, same depth, same attention).  It's just important to remember that we live in a small world, roles change constantly, and your good will today will pay dividends - directly or indirectly - down the road.

Case in point:

Twelve years ago I met John Cook for the first time.  He doesn't remember, but I do.  He was a technology reporter for the Bellevue Journal-American, a small suburban newspaper with a limited circulation.  He gave a talk at a local PR firm about working with the media.  I thought he was a small-timer. 

Thank goodness, despite my lack of maturity and perspective, I didn't share that sentiment with him or anyone else at the time.  Today, John is one of the most influential technology reporters in the Pacific Northwest.  We all start somewhere.

Today's intern could be an influential peer, or even manage your division, in a few years.  She could start her own company and become an important, revenue-generating partner to your business.

The sales rep you blew off at the last trade show?  You might have something you want to sell him in your next job.  And the reporter for that third-tier trade publication may get a job at Business Week down the road.

You never know.  Why risk those opportunities in the future by blowing them off today?