Maurilio Amorim

Author: Maurilio Amorim

  • Learning vs Arrogant Organizations: A Lesson in Survival

    Learning organizations grow and live. Arrogant organizations die while looking back at the glory days. In my work as a consultant I can quickly assess if I am dealing with a learning or arrogant organization. No matter the size or age, learning organizations find themselves relevant to their audiences, while arrogant ones might continue to provide a product or service that fewer and fewer people seem to want. But when asked, no business, church, ministry would identify itself as arrogant. But here’s how I differentiate between them.

    learning leading organization

    Learning organizations ask the right questions. While we all want to do what we do better, sometimes that’s the wrong question to ask. “How should we do what we do better?” is a good question but “what should we be doing?” is a better one. You can improve your product or experience to the point of, not only diminishing returns, but obsolescence. You can manufacture the best typewriter in the world, but why would you?

    Learning organizations know what they don’t know. The danger of success is the error of the transfer of expertise into areas where the leading team has none. it’s the arrogance that says, “we are so talented, smart and wise that we don’t need any help from the outside.” Trust me, what you don’t know will eventually catch up with you.

    Learning organizations are led by life-long learners. Leaders set the culture of what they lead. That’s ever so evident when it come to a business or ministry’s ability to continually grow, ask the right questions and not become defensive when challenged by new ideas. If a leader is insecure, or non-teachable, he or she will create a culture of arrogance that will eventually stunt the growth and even kill the organization.

    What’s your experience with a learning organization or an arrogant one?

  • How to Decide If You Can Trust Someone

    There are times you instinctively know you should not trust someone. I have learned to trust my first gut reaction after getting in a business or personal relationship with someone I had second thoughts about only to be burned by them later. While I don’t think I can teach anyone how to develop an intuition on such matters, I can share some of the signs I look for in a person when I first meet them.  Here’s what I watch for:

    How to decide if you can trust someone intuition

    How they treat people whom they perceive “beneath” them. I watch closely the reaction to a restaurant server or an assistant when he or she messes up or fail to perform to the person in question’s standards. I remember one man who wanted to invest in one of my ventures yelling at a woman who served us the wrong beverage. It was an honest mistake. His reaction was clear enough to let me know I did not want to have this man as a partner.

    How they treat animals. I know this sounds crazy.  You don’t have to be an animal lover, but people who are cruel to animals are usually even more so to humans. Stay far away from them. I once did not hire someone who joked about shooting the neighbor’s cat with a BB gun for fun.

    Their business and personal history.  If the person you’re considering partnering with does not have business relationships that are long term that’s usually for a good reason: they have burned too many bridges and now you might be their next victim. Check their friendship network. If the important people in their life are all brand new, that should be a red flag as well.

    How they talk about their previous relationships. If the he quickly talks negatively about his former boss, girlfriend, business partner, without much prodding, chances are you’re the next in line after your deal goes sour.

    What’s important to them. Someone’s world view matters. A lot. If you are trying to align with someone whose priority, sensitivity and belief system is divergent from yours, think twice about it. Well, I’d go even further to say, just don’t do it. At one point I had people working for me who had great skills, but whose worldview were so different than mine that the longer we worked together, the more difficult our work environment became.

    What do you look for as you are trying to figure someone out?

  • Selling Tomorrow’s Ideas to Yesterday’s Generation

    “How do I convince my boss to try new ideas and technology?” That is  one of the most popular questions I get during my speaking engagements. It’s often the young staff from businesses, churches, and organizations wanting to venture out into a social media campaign or a dynamic new mobile tool or app who face push back from leaders who don’t understand or are threatened by the new and unfamiliar. So how do you get your point across to yesterday’s generation without frustrating them and getting shut down?

    If I have learned anything in 20 years of marketing is this: you must speak the language of your target audience. And that goes for the people you have to help adopt a new vision or strategy.

    Often you have to use yesterday’s language to sell today’s idea to accomplish tomorrow’s mission.

    Church marketing is a perfect illustration for this principle. While some  leaders might argue whether or not churches should be in the marketing business, most will agree that every church should be in the evangelism business. Often in my conversations with church leaders I speak of an outreach, or an evangelism plan instead of a marketing and branding campaign. At their core they are the same–how can we reach more people with the message of the Gospel–but language makes a huge impact in the way an audience responds to them.

    If you’re having a difficult time getting buy in for your idea, try rethinking the way you’re communicating it. Describe your new concept in a way that resonates with your audience. Use a frame of reference that makes sense to them. While you might need to revamp your website, what you are ultimately trying to do is to reach and connect with more people. It’s hard for someone to shoot down “digital evangelism” or the creation of a stronger “sales channel,” as you make the  case for an e-commerce site. In certain circles, a social media campaign, might be framed as a “new acquisition strategy.” Don’t underestimate the power words have to persuade.

    What has been your experience in selling new ideas to an older generation?

  • The Mobile Church: Text Giving

    Text giving is an important tool for the growing church. This post is part 1 in a new series, The Mobile Church. In this series, we explore the way the mobile phone is changing the way people connect and the way churches minister. What was once seen as a potential threat to community is now the great connector of people, creating new opportunities for churches and ministries to reach audiences, minister, and raise funds. Follow this series to learn about the trends in technology that can no longer be ignored.

    texting, text giving, text give, giving text

    Jennifer is a 26-year-old loyal churchgoer. Each Sunday as she leaves the house, she checks to make sure she’s not forgetting one thing – her phone. She doesn’t bring her Bible and notebook. She certainly doesn’t bring her checkbook. She follows along with the sermon on her Bible app, tweets a verse that stood out to her, then texts her friends to meet for lunch. How do churches motivate people like Jennifer, who now communicate and manage their lives almost entirely through their smartphone, to be a part of the mission and give to the church?

    One technology trend that is quickly gaining traction is text giving and purchasing. By simply texting an organization’s keyword and a donation amount, users can easily give in just a few steps from the palm of their hands. First introduced through disaster relief campaigns, new text giving platforms have streamlined the process, cutting out carrier fees and long turn around times, making text giving a viable option for even small organizations. It’s also not limited to young audiences; people of all ages are more and more relying on their phones to manage their lives. Churches that have instituted mobile giving are seeing quick audience adoption and remarkable results.

    text giving, cross Point,

     Cross Point in Nashville, Tennessee, recently adopted text giving through Textify Mobile, an easy-to-use text marketing and giving platform designed with churches and nonprofits in mind. The church launched its text giving by creating a campaign that asked the question “What would happen if everyone gave something?” The pastor, Pete Wilson, walked the congregation through how to give and asked everyone to give just $1, illustrating how a little bit can make a big difference.

    In just one Sunday, Cross Point engaged more than 700 first-time donors through Textify. By making it easy and accessible to give, and by centering it around a compelling campaign, people who normally did not donate were motivated to do so.  The church was even able to promote the campaign on Facebook, since text gave people an easy way to give throughout the week. Another church offered text giving as an option for their Christmas Eve giving and raised nearly $10,000 via text alone.

    “We started Textify and saw almost 700 new donors to Cross Point in one week!” said Stephen Brewster, Cross Point creative arts director. “It is so simple, the user experience is great, and it is well designed. Even creative people will enjoy using this platform.”

    These incredible results do not just bode well for church tithing; they also show how comfortable modern audiences are with text messaging, not hesitating to even transfer funds through a mobile phone.  In fact, they are often more likely to engage with it than with something requiring the old checkbook (assuming they even have one). Text giving is here, and it is not only critical for staying up-to-date with the current donors, but it represents a unique opportunity to reach a brand donor base of people who have never given before.

    Have you thought about a text strategy for your church? Do you have one?  

  • Bad Church Signs Get Their Own Music Video

    I love church signs. As a matter of fact I have shared a few posts worth of some of my favorite signs over the years. But this video is simply brilliant.
    I’m sure you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.

    What’s the funniest or most inappropriate church sign you’ve seen recently?

  • 32 Reasons to have a Mobile Marketing Strategy

    While one of two reasons should be enough for us to pay attention to our mobile marketing, here are 32 reasons to have a mobile marketing strategy:

     mobile marketing digital

    1. In 2014, mobile internet usage will overtake desktop internet usage

    2. Adults spend more time on mobile media than they do on newspapers and magazines combined

    3. 91% of adults have their mobile phone within arm’s reach 24/7

    4. 81% of U.S. cell users will have smartphones by 2015

    5. 75% of mobile users use their mobile device for shopping

    6. The global mobile market will grow from $3.4 billion in 2010, to $22 billion in 2016

    7. Close to a billion smartphones were sold in 2013

    8. 53% of American consumers use their smartphones to access search engines at least once a day

    9. Four out of five consumers use smartphones to shop

    10. Over 75% of mobile users respond to mobile-optimized sites when making purchases

    11. 79% of small businesses feel that mobile sites boost customer engagement

    12. Tablets are to outsell PCs and laptops in 2014

    13. 64% of smartphone owners are now using their mobile devices to shop online

    14. 75% of Americans bring their phones to the bathroom

    15. $22 billion is being spent on mobile advertising in 2012, compared to only $3 billion in 2010

    16. 52% of smartphone users prefer receiving offers on their mobile device

    17. 70% of Americans would like to receive exclusive specials right on their mobile devices

    18. Mobile ad spend has quadrupled since 2009 and is expected to keep growing at the same pace for the next 2 years

    19. 40% of marketers are using mobile coupons

    20. 95% of text message coupons are opened within the first 5 minutes

    21. 22% of mobile coupons are shared with at least one friend

    22. Text marketing coupons are 10 times more likely to be shared than magazine and newspaper coupons

    23. Mobile search queries have grown five times in the past two years

    24. 52% of all local searches are done from a mobile device

    25. 95% of mobile users use their devices for local search

    26. Nine out of ten mobile phone searches result in a purchase or visit

    27. Three out of every five searches are conducted on a mobile device

    28. 50% of travel or restaurant mobile queries result in a purchase

    29. 52% of adult mobile phone owners use their devices while in a store to get help with purchasing decisions

    30. 99% of smartphone owners use their mobile browser at least once a day

    31. 71% of mobile browsers expect web pages to load almost as quickly as or faster than web pages on their desktop computers

    32. 74% of consumers will wait 5 seconds for a web page to load on their mobile device before abandoning the site

    Source: http://broadsuite.com/the-time-for-mobile-marketing-now/

    What is your organization doing for its mobile marketing strategy?

  • My Loss of Entitlement Saved My Future

    I know entitlement first hand. My Brazilian mindset had prepared me for a privileged life where I expected my parents to pay for college, find me a high-paying job, pay for my wedding and set me and my future bride in a new house they would build for us. Nice, isn’t. But that’s not the way it all happened, and for that, I’m most thankful.

    On my 19th birthday I got a call from Brazil letting me know that the government had frozen any money transfers going outside the country. And even without that restriction in place, my parents could no longer afford to pay for my college education. Therefore goodbye,

    free college education

    wedding,

    first house.

    easy job.

    I was crushed. It was the best thing that could have happened to me.

    I have thanked God for that disappointing news many times over the years. In a conversation, my sense of entitlement suddenly disappeared and I was forced to take charge of my own life and trust God for my future. It was traumatic but powerful in a positive way. Whatever little success I have in life today, I trace it  directly to that conversation and the shifting of my expectations and mindset. I still battle entitlement often. When I hear these words come out of my mouth, I know I’m headed down the entitlement road: “I just deserve more. I worked harder than that person; therefore I should be further ahead. These are rules for other people. They don’t apply to me”

    What about you? Have you ever felt a sense of entitlement? Has adversity made you a better person?

  • The Danger of Being a Critic

    Negativity always comes with a price. A big one. It’s easy for me to be a critic. I grew up in a family that prided itself in finding what’s wrong with the world and each other. It was sort of a sport around the dinner table to see who would outwit the rest and deliver the best put down. We all laughed, but someone always got hurt.

    Now I’m a professional critic whose livelihood is partially funded by my ability to discern what’s wrong or what’s not working and help organizations figure out how to communicate in order to move to the next level. Being a critic is dangerous, and I’m very aware of the negativity that can creep in and suck the life out of every experience.

    critics criticism

    I have to work hard on being positive because cynicism and negativity are the first ones at my gate. I don’t want to end up like a lot of the angry people out there whose lives are dedicated to criticizing, denouncing, exposing, and judging people, who most often, they don’t even know. Sadly, the internet has given them a perfect dark place to hide and hate.

    Henri Nouwen writes about his encounter with an angry man and the effect it had on him. This is a long passage, but worth the reading.

    He sat in front of me. He was in his early sixties. The deep lines in his face, his unkempt hair, but mostly his burned-out eyes showed he was a very unhappy man. We talked about the weather, “It’s hot” he said, “Much too hot, I can hardly breathe, the humidity kills me.” I tried to cheer him up a little by saying, ‘We can use a little sun, and the humidity, well think of it as a free sauna.’ But he did not hear me. No smile came to his face. He began to talk about a colleague who left him many years ago. About a friend who had not called or written to him for two months, and about his neighbors who kept him awake during the afternoon when he wanted to take a nap. My presence was little more than an occasion for him to pour out his many complaints.

    He pointed out to me the corruption in our government, the war in Bosnia, the hunger in Somalia, the violence in South Africa. “The world is falling apart all over the place”, he said, “the television, the radio, the newspapers, they all show it. And they don’t even show the full truth.” I felt a sensation of darkness creeping around me. Where is this darkness coming from, I wondered. I am face to face with an angry man.

    So, I said nothing. I remained silent out of a deep feeling of powerlessness in front of so much rage.

    When I returned home and found myself all alone, I noticed that my body was shaking. I laid down in my bed and stared at the ceiling. And then I saw the angry man again. I saw him, not sitting in front of me, but walking slowly, bent over, pulling an enormous load behind him. He groaned and moaned as he moved forward. At times he seemed to lose his balance.

    As I continued to stare at the ceiling, I saw them all. Men, women, children emerging out of his long past. Chained to each other and to him. And while I kept looking in horror at the old man and his burden, the voice returned to me and said, “You are the man. You are the one you just met.” I didn’t want to hear those words, but the voice went on. “Don’t you see that you can’t let go of your burden. Don’t you see, you are the burden carrier. Don’t you see that without your burden, you don’t know who you are.” I protested, ‘But I don’t want such a burden! I don’t care for such a load.’ But gradually, my heart caused me to see that taking away my burden from me would be like taking the boat from the fisherman or the keys from the janitor or the car from the chauffeur or the bricks from the builder. Who would I be without my anger? Who would I be without anyone to judge or condemn? Who would I be without my complaints, without my feelings of rejection? Yes, without enemies? I am the victim. The one who cannot survive without my burden. I have become my burden.”

    It’s easy for me to hide behind my professional duty to see what’s wrong, broken, the mediocre and let the insidious work of negativity to shape me in to the angry old man Nouwen encountered. I fight it every day. Sometimes I think I’m losing that war.

    Are you a critic? Is it easy for you to see what’s wrong in a situation?

  • Persuasion and the Two Types of Motivation

    What motivates you? That’s the fundamental question for every communicator, sales person and for all us in marketing and communication. While there are a lot of different motivators in our lives, we all fit in two big general motivation categories:

    1.  Those who look at what they can gain from life: what can I get out of this?

    2. Those who look at what not to lose in life: what am I missing and how can I avoid loss?

    two types of motivation

    Often both groups  of people will come up to the same conclusion and course of action, but they will arrive at their decision through completely different motivations.

    This classification goes beyond the “half-full or half-empty glass” perspective of positive and negative people. In my experience, those who look at life for what it has to offer them are always trying to push their personal and professional boundaries in search of the next best thing. Their motivation is tied to achievement and gain. They went to college to gain knowledge and experience and to prepare themselves for a better future. They are always interested in the possibilities and taking chances in search of greater returns for their investments. When I meet people in this category I usually say something like “imagine if we could improve efficiency and reach more people. Look at what this kind of growth this new tool could produce.”

    Those who look at life from an avoiding loss mindset often will take the same course of action as the previous group but will do so not to be left behind and to avoid failing at their business, job or calling. Their fear of loss, irrelevance, or failure will drive them to take risks. People with aversion to loss usually go to college not so much to prepare themselves for an adventurous future but to make sure they don’t end up digging ditches or flipping burgers. Often when talking with people whose motivation starts from an avoiding loss perspective I might have a conversation that starts with something like: “the consequences of not moving forward could cause you to begin to lose ground, but if we close the back door and reach more people we can make some great strides soon.”

    Understanding the person you’re communicating with and their natural bent will help you be more persuasive and get your point across in a way that has the most impact.

    Which type of motivation do you lean towards?

  • Why We Need Humor

    We need humor because we need laughter. It’s a part of what it means to be human, and I believe it’s a great gift from God. Researchers have found that laughter has health benefits beyond the psychological well being it generates. From WebMd.com

    What we need humor laughter

    In the last few decades, researchers have studied laughter’s effects on the body and turned up some potentially interesting information on how it affects us:
     
    • Blood flow. Researchers at the University of Maryland studied the effects on blood vessels when people were shown either comedies or dramas. After the screening, the blood vessels of the group who watched the comedy behaved normally — expanding and contracting easily. But the blood vessels in people who watched the drama tended to tense up, restricting blood flow.
    •  
      Immune response. Increased stress is associated with decreased immune system response, says Provine. Some studies have shown that the ability to use humor may raise the level of infection-fighting antibodies in the body and boost the levels of immune cells, as well.
    •  
      Blood sugar levels. One study of 19 people with diabetes looked at the effects of laughter on blood sugar levels. After eating, the group attended a tedious lecture. On the next day, the group ate the same meal and then watched a comedy. After the comedy, the group had lower blood sugar levels than they did after the lecture.
    •  
      Relaxation and sleep. The focus on the benefits of laughter really began with Norman Cousin’s memoir, Anatomy of an Illness. Cousins, who was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, a painful spine condition, found that a diet of comedies, like Marx Brothers films and episodes of Candid Camera, helped him feel better. He said that ten minutes of laughter allowed him two hours of pain-free sleep.

    Humor is a big part of my personality. It brings me great joy and gets me into trouble from time to time, but even that is worth the benefits of spending more time smiling than frowning.

    Do you laugh enough?