What do they have in common? Besides the fact that their music is played in my house on a regular basis, they are experts in their business.

Around Grammy time I read an article about Lady Gaga, and just last week I posted a link on my dad’s Facebook about the Grateful Dead. Now, I know everyone’s been hearing about Lady Gaga, but you may be asking yourself, what can a business today learn from the Grateful Dead?

Social media in the business sense is all about conversing with your customers, making them feel important, and in return generating sales and leads. Here’s how both of these artists do exactly that.

Connect with Customers (or Fans)

Lady Gaga: She goes where they go. Online. She debuted one of her latest singles, Bad Romance, on her own website, not on TV.

Grateful Dead: Before a public announcement was made about an upcoming tour, the Grateful Dead’s most loyal fans received a phone call from their hotline alerting them of the upcoming shows.

Build a Relationship with Fans

Lady Gaga: She has nearly 3 million followers on Twitter, updates her status regularly, and even has a pet name for her fans that she tattooed on her arm, she calls them her Little Monsters.

Grateful Dead: Die-hard fans, referred to as Deadheads, became a sort of social community. The band reserved the best tickets for their fans, but made sure to cap the prices for their 4 hour long shows. Deadheads were actually allowed to tape the shows because the band believed that sharing the tapes would increase their fan base.

Generate Sales

Lady Gaga: Album sales have reached at least 8 million and digital single sales surpassed 20 million. She just became the creative director for Polaroid and is a spokeswoman for Viva Glam lipstick (proceeds go to Mac’s AIDS fund).

Grateful Dead: All of the special treatment and focus on community encouraged Deadheads to buy merchandise. They are one of the most profitable bands of all time.

Social Media isn’t just about putting as much content online as you possibly can, and being on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Foursquare, Buzz, and any other number of sites. Fundamentally, treat your customers and fans well and they will treat you as well as they do Lady Gaga and the Grateful Dead.

Julie Novak
Marketing Coordinator
RedZebraWorks

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I started to notice that my energy was diminishing over the course of a workday. I wasn’t sure why I was feeling so tired, but then I realized that when I have gym time planned into my busy day, it seems I’m more productive in everything I do.

I started my Monday off knowing that I have spinning class with my triathlon coach at 7 in the morning, work, and then yoga class. After my spin class, I got ready for work and felt like I could accomplish anything. When I got to work I realized I need to write a blog post. So here I am, feeling wide awake ready to get things done and I come across an article on Entrepreneur.com called Physical Fitness Is Good for Business: Use these lessons from triathlon training to improve your work performance.

Perfect. This is exactly how I’m feeling today, so I just want to summarize the article and relate it to the work we do at RedZebraWorks.

Some analogies between entrepreneurship and endurance sports:

• Strategic Planning: How do I approach the race, event, or marketing campaign?
• Competition: Who are my rivals? How can I beat them? What qualities do I have that they don’t?
• Measurements: Am I improving my times, stroke efficiency, product sales, or brand awareness?
• Transition Management: How efficiently do I move between race segments, projects steps, and how is my site’s optimization?
• Financial Investments: How much should I spend on race gear? How much of my resources should I allocate to social media or eMarketing?
• Contingency Plan: What’s plan B if I fall on my face or our marketing strategies don’t get the results we hoped for?

The author, Aaron Kwittken, also gives a list of tips to achieve your Game Plan (or Marketing Plan):

• Look for inspiration: Subscribe to a magazine or email newsletter that relates to your industry.
• Start out with a small goal: Allow for more reliable growth by starting small and building up. An Ironman doesn’t start off competing in an Ironman.
• Set Goals: Always set performance based goals, something that is measurable. Always attempt to be better.
• Never become a Did Not Finish: No matter what setbacks you encounter, you always need to finish. Even if you fall off course, just keep picturing that finish line.

This article left me feeling like I am making good choices in my life, both personally and professionally. What do you do to stay motivated at work?

Julie Novak
Marketing Coordinator
RedZebraWorks

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I was on my Twitter account the other day and saw a Tweet about focus groups being dead for Ad Agencies. I was curious because we were talking about them in my marketing class, so I clicked on the link.

The post on fuelingnewbusiness.com is interesting to me not because I’m surprised that focus groups are becoming less relevant, but because if I’m learning about that in my class, there’s some kind of disconnect. A quote from the article says, “Our industry will experience more change in the next 5 years than we have in the past 50.”

That means by the time I graduate and get a “real job”, the changes in the marketing and advertising industry will be completely different. Marketing is changing now more than ever, people are getting thrifty with their techniques. Social media is playing a huge role in this, because it’s very cheap, you can connect with consumers on a more personal level and in return gain more insight than you ever could by sitting people in a room that is totally unnatural and asking them questions.

Dana asked me the other day, “Have you talked about anything you learned here at work in class yet?” I said, “Honestly, no.” I’m really hoping that Drexel does have a marketing class that focuses on eMarketing and some more recent methods. I’m not sure if it does though.

I suggest that colleges should have a class dedicated to comparing what was marketing like 5 years ago? 2 years ago? Last year? And compare that to what’s going on right now- what might be going on next year and what we think will be going on when we graduate. I understand that it’s critical to learn “The History of Marketing” and a lot of the basics are still relevant. But where’s the innovation and forward thinking?

For an industry that is constantly changing and evolving, why aren’t our marketing classes changing with it? Does anyone know of a marketing class that discusses current trends and methods?

Julie Novak
Marketing Coordinator
RedZebraWorks

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On CNN Money the other day was an article about more experienced workers having to take hourly paid jobs that typically go to younger people who have no experience. This means the jobs that teenagers and college students typically qualify for are being taken by over- qualified people. The article claims that the unemployment rate for 16-24 year olds peaked in October at 19.2%.

One thing the article mentions that I never thought of is that because the younger workers are not getting the experience in these hourly paid jobs, they are missing out on building those basic work skills, such as communication skills, responsibility, and time management. This could be bad news for their career development. If people my age don’t have this, what are they going to put on their resume when they are looking for a job?

I remember my first hourly job was when I was 14 at the local ski resort. I haven’t been without a job since then, and I’m thankful for the experiences I’ve had. I worked for hourly paid jobs in everything from fast food, ice cream scooping, and even stacking wood. These are jobs that I included on my first resumes because I learned valuable skills that relate to any career path.

I decided to go to Drexel University for college because of the co-op program- I’ll have 1.5 years of work experience related to my major but the time I graduate in 2012. Again, I feel lucky that I’m having this experience of working, when people in my age group are experiencing a high unemployment rate.

If you’re in the group of 16-24 year olds is having a hard time finding hourly wage jobs, consider getting more involved in school. If you’re currently in high school or college, getting involved in organizations and groups is a great way to get experience. You can develop leadership skills, take on responsibility, and gain knowledge in an area you’re interested in.

I know getting involved in clubs and organizations usually doesn’t pay, but there is the added benefit of meeting awesome new people. Plus, if you take on an active role, it’s something that will stand out on your resume.

Julie Novak
Marketing Coordinator
RedZebraWorks

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