Constant Beta

Q/A with Rohit Bhargava

Since May-June of last year, I have been assisting Rohit Bhargava with research and marketing for his very first book, Personality Not Included. The process was intense, fun and an amazing learning experience. Rohit is not just a fantastic writer and a brilliant visionary, but also an compassionate and generous mentor. Sometimes though, I cannot help but think that he lives multiple lives! I don't know how he wrote the book in less than 10 months, managed his blog and grew it to be one of the top read marketing blogs and continues to succeed at his full time job as SVP of Digital Marketing at Ogilvy PR!


As part of the marketing promotion for the book, Rohit issued an open call on his blog where he offered to answer 5 questions from any blogger about the book. Here are the few questions I asked but click on the graphic alongside to read all the other interviews. Enjoy!


1) How long has the 'Personality Matters' idea been brewing in your head?

Since I realized I couldn't use the title of the book for the marketing! Actually, the reason I called the marketing campaign for the book "personality matters" and will be using it as the title for the book blog is because if I use "personality not included" then I need to also have the subtitle, otherwise it doesn't make sense.  Why is personality not included?  Where is it?  Etc.  So "personality matters" became the tagline ...


2) And what/ which incident first inspired that idea?

It was essentially driven by my desire to have a strong "elevator pitch" for the book.  Personality matters pretty much summed it up, and if I can convince readers and others that it does matter, then getting the book is the natural next step to find out why and how to have one.

3) How are you using this big idea in your professional life?

 

The most interesting thing about writing a book on personality is the pressure that it puts on you to always have a personality!  Seriously, it has actually encouraged me to think more about how I portray myself and how I write online.  I used to think that using "I" was a big no-no because it was egotistical, and then I realized that writing in the first person was the most personal way that I could portray my ideas online

4) How can I apply this idea to make my own personality stronger/ better?

 

Great question - there is a definite relationship between creating a personality for an organization and using it as part of your own personal brand.  Sorry that I have to be cryptic to answer this one, but check my blog next week and you'll find a pretty comprehensive answer to this question ... :-

5) Lastly, what is going to be the extension (the idea of your next book!!) of this book?
I was thinking about writing a dating book about how to use marketing principles if you are single to attract the perfect mate.   Everything from writing a great profile on an online dating site to making sure you "give good google" so when they look you up you will have positive stuff out there.  Basically I want my next book to be something that could actually get me on Oprah!

 

Web apathy

I haven't written here in so long and I think now, I am okay with that. I don't feel the need to put my voice, thoughts and opinions out on the public forum so frequently anymore. I never was quite able to figure out how people maintained such active lives on twitter, blogs and numerous other smaller groups with a full-time job, family and life. Maybe I'm an introvert ? Or maybe the other's don't have a life apart from their online lives and jobs? I don't mean to sound condescending - but I am truly was curious.

People's nonsense (or their personal PR) on twitter just annoys me now. I'm also being a hypocrite on many levels because I go through phases of total immersion and then total isolation from twitter. But now that I've been hearing many top bloggers bullshit so much on twitter, I find myself boycotting their blogs and not being interested in their writings anymore.

The web has become a cacophony of voices - and I don't want mine to be lost underneath them. I still want what I write to provide value and be meaningful. And my god - it feels so good to make that peace with myself!

Life in New York is fast. I'm working on some fun projects at work and some fun side-projects too. My parents are also visiting from India so the past month has been great. I'm always amazed at how much I learn at work from just observing how other people work and think. But I want to move it a step further now and take my thinking capabilities to the next level.

There's an idea I've been toying around in my head.... but I have to formulate it and think through it. Stay tuned though - I will share soon!

Drawing from history

Last weekend, I watched a new Bollywood movie based on the life of the Mughal Emperor Akbar. King Akbar  often dressed as a regular layman to see and his listen if his subjects were happy. He believed that he could only understand true sufferings of his subjects if he was amongst them and not isolated in his castle. Akbar would then return to court and act upon his observations to make his kingdom happy and satisfied.

I re-tell this story because it is a great metaphor for what brands should be doing right now. The Web has made connections and communications fluid, abundant and easy. So if you are a brand - chances are, your customers are talking about you online. And the only way you can keep them happy is if you are listening and more importantly acting upon what you listen.

:D Happy tuesday!