As the nation watches Iowa today, businesses should watch the conversation. Caucusing is social networking. While the forum is not online today, precinct groups will interact much like consumer groups do when they converse online about a product or service. Like members of a social network, caucus-goers will be influenced by voices that look and sound like they do (not like pollsters or advertisers).

Increasingly, consumers are nominating (buying) products and services this way. As B.L. Ochman predicts, “social networks will be the key driver of brand success as consumers increasingly trust each other’s opinions and distrust advertising and corporate crap.” Today’s caucusing will provide a big clue for how best to participate in social networks. Namely, business must learn to speak to its customers with a citizen voice.

What does that mean? Adopt a company voice that sounds natural, honest, real and human, and give up the industry (party) line. Communicate with your customers like you’re one of them, a citizen of their network. The Cluetrain Manifesto says that the best way to do that is to “empower real human beings to speak on [your] behalf.” Much like the Iowa caucus will today.

Announced on NPR today, the Lake Superior State University 2008 List of Banished Words is out. The words and phrases on the list are well-worn or overused. Some of them are real groaners:

• Perfect Storm
• Back in the day
• Sweet (you got that report done, sweet)
• It is what it is
• Pop (that color really makes it pop)

Others reflect what’s trickled down from current national and international political affairs:

• Post 9/11
• Surge
• Emotional (the scene was emotional)
• Waterboarding

(We’ve worn out the word waterboarding? That’s not good.)

Webinar is also on the list, which seems harsh to me. I think that word has bandwidth. Maybe bandwidth should take its place. What words do you think should get the boot?

voluptuous magnificence
sumptuous
chandelier
gilded
giblets
poultry stuffing
a pendant bunch of grapes
a dash
a fifth
a coffee spoon
crème brûlée

May the language of feasting entertain you this Thanksgiving.

There’s a thoughtful Bill Virgin editorial in today’s Seattle P-I: “All those cliches aside, momentum is a real force in business”

Highlights of the column:

- A brief look at Starbucks loss of momentum, which Maija has talked about.
- How the success of momentum can result in the 3 Cs: “cockiness, complacency and carelessness.”
- Apple’s marketplace momentum and their triumvirate of design, functionality and marketing.
- Most importantly, momentum is a “self-fueling mechanism both internally (with employees) and externally (with customers and competition).”

From a creative standpoint, loss of momentum is disastrous when you’ve got a team of writers, designers and programmers hurtling away at your project. The best ideas come from riffing off of one another under tight deadlines.

I know many small business owners and I’m always amazed when they fail to mention the name of their business during social conversations about work.

The question “What do you do?” replaced “Where do you work?” some time ago. Probably because it’s a more open question and it allows for the possibility that the answeree does something non-traditional. But don’t miss the chance to say the name of your business just because that isn’t exactly what is asked of you. Consider the following:

Q: What do you do?
A: I’m a copywriter.

Vs.

Q: What do you do?
A: I work for Wordslinger. We write corporate poetry. I’m a copywriter there.

The later introduces the name of our business and provides more information of interest, which encourages continued conversation about our business. If you own the small business you’re marketing then by all means say that, “I own a company called Wordslinger.” It’s a simple way to build interest and brand recognition.

People who work for brand name companies don’t face this challenge. For example, “I work for Starbucks.” Or, “I work for Microsoft.” Get those people talking about you and your small business by introducing it at your next social gathering.

Charles Schwab struck brilliance with its tagline “Talk to Chuck,” inviting us in and promising no airs. The company’s marketing team is at it again with copy that expresses exactly what its target customers are thinking. For example, their Schwab New Client Concierge ad reads:

I need a new investment account.
I just don’t need the hassle of opening one.

The word hassle is loaded with emotion. Who doesn’t fret the task of opening a financial account of any kind? The idea of a financial concierge is brilliant.

How do they know what we’re thinking? Forrester blog, Groundswell reports that that the firm gained insight from their “Money and More’ private online community made up of 350 25-to-40 year old Generation X non-Schwab clients.” Since then, Schwab has “added 32% more Gen Xers YTD when compared to similar timeframes last year.”

From a copy perspective, Schwab competitors Ameritrade and Scottrade are trailing. Scottrade boasts “More broker for your money.” If you don’t know what a broker does or if you don’t have much money, the tagline is meaningless. Ameritrade focuses on providing you with the tools you need to “pursue success as an independent investor.” Huh?

Schwab has mastered the art of connecting with their customers through words. I say bravo to the copywriters. They have helped Schwab eliminate the product-killing gap known as “them and us.”

I love the fact that so many parents are teaching their young children a second language. Sign language and Spanish seem to be the most popular with the parents I know. Their children are delightfully creative and playful with speech. And that prompts a creative response from their parents. This morning, at the school across the street from my house, a young boy said, “Mom, you are Momma Weirdo.” To which the mom replied, “No, I’m Momma Weirda.”

Starbucks put signage that features their version of the famous Egg McMuffin® in stores this week. I wrote about the sudden appearance of McDonalds-like breakfast at Starbucks three weeks ago, before the new signs went up. Seems that my hunch was right.

I wanted this to be a clever competitive move by Starbucks but the new signs are flat and uninspired. The copy reads, “Your morning coffee’s kindred spirit.” That line needs to work harder. Kindred spirit sounds recycled and the whole line feels like a product push. Why wouldn’t they use language that announces their breakfast offering with pride? They call it an “oven-roasted morning sandwich.” That could fit with the word “culinary,” which they introduced at the beginning of the year but they didn’t make that connection. In fact they made the name hard to read at the bottom of the sign. Before I noticed the name, I turned to my friend, and pointed to the sign and said, “Look, an EggMcMuffin®.”

I tried to take a picture of the new sign to share with you but the store manager asked me to stop—copyright issues. I left feeling like they’re just pushing another new product. There is no spark.

“It’s the economy, stupid.”

Ever since that famous saying from 1992, I’ve been a student of political campaign language. It fascinates me that elections boil down to just a few words.

Yesterday, here in Seattle citizens voted down Proposition 1, a joint package developed by the Regional Transportation Investment District that, if passed, would’ve raised $17.8 billion in taxes to build bridge, light rail and transit projects up and down the Puget Sound corridor.

I’m not surprised this failed. It desperately needed to pass, and I won’t go in to my feelings about Seattle traffic or the lack of vision most constituents display in solving, and ponying up, for long-term transportation issues. It’s going to hurt and everybody will pay eventually.

Alas, I believe the reason this proposition failed is flaccid word choices. The marketing campaign for the proposition came down to this:

Roads & Transit. Move on.

How uninspiring is that? Move on? Isn’t that a left-leaning PAC? Is that supposed to motivate me to add $400 to my family’s annual car tab costs or comfortable with upping an already bloated general sales tax to 9.5 cents on the dollar? And 10 cents on the dollar for restaurants? What did the poor restaurants ever do the roads and bridges to deserve this?

Compare “Move on” to the opposition’s consistent stance:

“It costs too much, it does too little and it takes too long.”

Ouch. This prop didn’t stand a chance. The opposition was good. They framed this around money and road rage. “Move on” versus a rally cry that tugs at the core of every voter who is tired of their Ship Canal/Michigan Street/520/405 slog. “You mean, I’m gonna pay to sit is this for the next 25 years of my life?”

The words “regressive tax,” also flew around. Even if you don’t know what that really means, it just sounds painful. And people don’t vote to inflict more pain on themselves.

Plus, the opposition was consistent. They all stuck to the same script, starting at the top when King County Executive Ron Sims came out against the prop. I knew they were in trouble when Sims uttered these 13 words on the 6 o’clock news. The Sierra Club repeated the mantra, and it filtered into letters to the editor.

So until the RTID can craft a compelling zinger to get us to unclench our checkbooks, it’s going to suck to get anywhere in this region on time.

It took an alumni group for a former employer to get me on Facebook. I spent almost 10 years working for this place (in my most formative years) and was curious about what certain people are doing with their lives. So I joined Facebook.

Until now, I didn’t see the value in joining another social network since I maintain only a passing professional interest in LinkedIn. My network over there is spindly. I have many good friends whom I already spend way too little time appreciating, and I’m still dubious about LinkedIn’s ability to yield new business. My perception of the typical Facebook user was a drunk co-ed broadcasting weekend exploits or an early 20s hipster avoiding real work in order to post their deep thoughts on the latest obsessions and indie bands. While I have some spice to my interests, if I do say so, I don’t feel compelled to share my lust for pistachio ice cream, rollercoasters, Jeff Tweedy, Kevin Cole, shoes and cashmere sweaters with millions of strangers (wink). Although I did eat a great meal at Lola the other night. I contemplated taking a picture of it. That was definitely worth sharing.

The point is that I changed my behavior to re-connect with former colleagues. To communicate with them. On Facebook. Clearly, Facebook is a communications platform. As a communicator, I will now stop rolling my eyes and take it more seriously. Microsoft is (a $240 million investment). And Yahoo tried (the $1 billion brush off).