God's Marketing Plan

So what business lesson can we learn from this week's Parsha or section which is read this week? Veira starts the process of Moshe (Moses) being told to take the children of Yaakov (Jacob) that had become a huge nation of slaves, estimated at over 2.5 million people, back to the land of Israel and freedom. And Moshe and Aaron his brother start a sales process that would last through next weeks reading as well.

Everyone knows about the 10 plagues but did you ever stop to think about what a great Marketing plan this was? It went viral BIG TIME! God decided not just to follow up on his promise to Abraham but to do it in a way that would be remembered throughout history. God didn't just send out spam messages ("Tired of slavery yet?", call people ("I'm calling on behalf of the Supreme Being..") or invite them to the "Largest Webinar Ever" no, God asked one man. Sure he used the Burning Bush but how else would you get someone to believe you were God. Moshe then asks natural questions and God provides some answers and proofs for the slaves to believe in him.

Now what is your marketing plan? Or in term's Michael J. Fox used at Lotusphere 2012 this week, "A Lady gave birth in a tree, what have you got?"

Does your marketing plan really blow people away? Do they ask "are you for real"? Or do they shrug and go back to Googling odd RFC numbers?

You need that 1st person, your Moshe to convince and once you have done that they tell their friends and soon millions of people are on the go. Think of it this way. Moshe grew up in the palace of Pharoah and knew everyone and then got run out by the next successor who was a paranoid Pharoah and he went to the desert. The desert is about thinking, change, sometimes isolation and loneliness but he is out there and then BOOM! God talks to him and tries to convince him to go back to Egypt and fight a "relative" to save his proper family and nation.That is a lot of persuading.if you ask me. God asks Moshe to go back to the person who wants to kill him in Egypt, ask him to let all the workers/slaves leave the country because God and not the Egyption ones, asked him to and expects Pharoah to comply.

Freewill or not, the plan had to work because otherwise God would not have had his fun with the 10 plagues which he told Moshe he was going to do anyway. But God wanted to be seen, known and heard, at this time...but why?

It had been a long time, 430 years the Jews were slaves, since God had been doing anything out of the ordinary like flood the world or destroy the first skyscraper building in Babel among his earlier well known efforts. Maybe God had other planets to work on, maybe he was behind in writing his  "New World Administration for Dummies" book. God needed a new Marketing plan and this one really took off and continues to today.

Not every Marketing plan will go as well, but think about what you could do to present yourself to a new generation who either forgot or never heard about you..No one will beat God at his game but Coca Cola is still going strong because they want a Coke in everyone's hands. That lasts forever as a marketing message.

Hope you find your greatness as well.
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Parsha Vaeira in the book of Shemot (Exodus 6:3-9:35)

It is said that the Torah or Bible could be interpreted in over 70 ways. More likely these days 100's of ways. In light of this idea, I am writing some posts that bring a business sense to what we can learn on a weekly basis. Enjoy, Shabbat Shalom

Thoughts on the IBMConnect Conference

I didn't see much posted aside from the obvious people in the social areas, probably because many were focused on client needs, as was I, but I did manage to get to some IBMConnect sessions.

I had looked forward to them and got to meet some great speakers and people. Unfortunately the rooms were not filled and in some cases rather sparse which leaves some questions as to its return next year.

Dr. Burns should come back next year and provide updates on what they have done in 2012. His story from the OGS and in his session his feeling is open and honest and something we all should think about. Are you in this for the money or to help people. The answer is not simple but if you want to play in the greater Social Sphere you need to be straight with people or you lose fast and we are seeing this in the marketplace lately.

While my thought was IBM may change the name of the Sphere to Connect, that was changed when I realized I was on a short list of committed people to the event. Naming being such a difficult thing in this day and age. A great idea but perhaps better to have done it not during and thus conflict with Lotusphere itself. Maybe append it before or after in the future? Also keep it to one day if it is just theorists/customers. And I would prefer not to have any IBMers speak at it, they have Lotusphere, this was expected to be about customers experiences and social leaders.

Guy Kawasaki should have been part of the OGS on one day but to run his session in parallel to so many others deprived many of the chance to hear him.

As a Business Partner I realize the IBMConnect event was not aimed at me per se. However as a BP I represent our interests which also include our clients needs and if the choice is between a technical session because of a client request and a good theory or customer reference session, theory, and unless it is in our clients vertical, will always lose to the money

Should IBM do it again, I would still attend because they did make the effort to get speakers we would want to hear and although I can't promise to be in all of them, they at least were the ones I clipped to my calendar to not miss. They were thought provoking and led to great discussions over the conference but maybe the audience that attends Lotusphere has immediate and production needs that push these sessions lower on the "must see" list.