How to Get Away With a Lie

You can run for President. When you run for President, especially in 2012, you can get away with lying most of the time. The reason? Because the lies get more attention than the fact that it’s a lie does. And because people are voting for one person or another, so you just have to be more appealing than one other person.

In business, there are times when it’s tempting to lie. It’s tempting for a marketer to promise the world, knowing your product can’t deliver, because that might mean more sales. It’s tempting for a business owner to overpromise the opportunities that will exist to employees in order to attract the best possible talent.

The problem is, in the business world, those lies are temporary. Someone somewhere will come along and point out the lie, and the lie will no longer work for you. In fact, in most cases it will work against you.

Open competition is good at weeding out the liars. So don’t take that risk.

An Email Worth Sharing

Friend (yes, we're friends) --

In 2007, I spent a few months in Iowa before the caucuses, getting all sorts of folks fired up to cast their vote for this guy named Barack Obama.

What I remember most: It was shockingly, painfully cold. And fun.

Actually, super fun. And easier than I thought, to talk to total strangers and ask them to vote. That's why I traveled to 25 other states for the President in 2008, and why I'm volunteering again. Well, that and because we don't want to see the progress we've made on everything from student loans to health care get turned back.

You could play that role this year, by joining Vote Corps -- a group of the most dedicated organizers out there.

If you join, you'll be doing exactly what I did -- going to one of the most critical states for a few weeks leading up to Election Day, and making sure people there go to the polls.

You'll make phone calls, knock on doors, and have one-on-one conversations with people about why you support President Obama. It's important, fun stuff.

Yeah, you'll be a volunteer, but the local staff, fellow volunteers, and people you meet will make it worth your while in donuts, love, and appreciation (and let's face it, donuts are legit).

Whenever you arrive, they'll want you to stay through Election Day -- and take my word for it, that'll be the best part. On Election Day in 2008, I was in Florida with a bunch of awesome young volunteers (and their sweet robot, pic below). Where will I go this year? Where will you go?

Sign up now to join Vote Corps, and a really nice organizer will drop you a line to tell you more:

http://my.barackobama.com/Vote-Corps

Just tell them Kal said you should do this. Because I did. And then fist bump and hug it out with your new friends. Smell that? It's freedom.

Thanks,

Kal

Learn to Think for Yourself

As much as I might boast on this blog that I know what works and what doesn’t in the marketing world, I’m sometimes (maybe more) wrong. As much as any self-proclaimed expert spurts ideas and opinions as facts, you have to take all of it with a grain of salt.

Republicans are SURE Obama won’t be reelected.

Investors were SURE Facebook was a good bet.

Social media marketers were SURE email was dead.

When you’re sure about something, you don’t leave yourself any room to question it. You ignore 50% of the equation. And it’s when you ignore 50% of the equation that you end up regretting your “expert” advice.

Don’t buy the hype. Learn to listen to different points of view. Learn to research and form your own opinions. In marketing, and in life.