Using Tweetglide With Twitter To Add Traffic

I just downloaded this new Twitter App and it has already made tweeting a lot
simpler and less time consuming. The one thing I will warn you about is that the application contains a viral tool to add AOL addresses - I BLOCKED that part of the application as Kapersky felt it was a Trojan virus intrusion into my system and I agreed with that logic and have other ways to share products and links with my list of contacts than trusting an application to do it for me that I just started using. Just use your Kapersky and you'll be cool with the install.

However, once installed I feel that Tweetglide is potentially a valuable application to expand the way you might advertise, grow your followers, and also possibly monetize your Twitter accounts. It is released by Mike Filsaime, who is one of the top Internet Marketers in the world.

Get Tweetglide here

And the best part of it all is that by using it, you actually get free traffic
that can grow viral pretty fast.

Yes, there is a built in traffic generation feature that allows you to display YOUR AD inside of the app that ALL users will see. It's also a way to monetize twitter more... I've been investigating ways to maximize Twitter professionally and will continue to report on tools to monetize and grow your blog and online business with Twitter as I discover and use them, myself.

Check out how it works here, then start using it if you like it:

Get Tweetglide now: Tweetglide

Add ARRiiVE to your twitter here: ARRiiVE Twitter

Please let me know what you think of Tweetglide:
Thumbs up? Thumbs down?
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King Solomon's Wisdom and Building an Organization

I'm working on a new book based upon an article I published at AspireNow called "Great Leaders Series: How King Solomon's Wisdom Built a Kingdom" that I'll be rolling out along with several other books and workbooks this next year. Articles related to leadership, sales, and success are now published here at the ARRiiVE: Innovations In Business blog.

Have you seen the article on using King Solomon's Wisdom To Build A Team?

In the article, I bring up several issues and questions entrepreneurs face:

1. How to align your organization for optimum chances of success?


2. Where to focus your efforts to succeed?


3. What way to gather resources?


4. How to organize for selling and profit?


5. How to eliminate strife internally?


6. What type of partnerships to build?


7. How to ensure your leadership role will last?


8. How and when to inspire and celebrate?


9. How to avoid extravagence to maintain bottom line growth?


10. How to ensure longevity of the organization?

Yes, all of these questions are answered by studying King Solomon, who according to the Bible, was the wisest of men. King's Solomon's wisdom definitely shows in how he built his kingdom. If we are to learn how best to lead an organization, why not study the very best?

So, I encourage you to review the article on King Solomon. If you have any questions you'd like me to answer in the book that are not listed here, or perhaps to enhance or further investigate other aspects of Solomon's approach to leadership, please suggest them in the comments here at the ARRiiVE: Innovations In Business blog, or contact me directly.

(Note: above image provided courtesy wikipedia, Solomon and Queen of Sheba, by Giovanni Demin.)
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Are Sales and Relationships Synonymous Terms

I am talking to a bank manager about the possibility of creating a sales training program for her bank.

It's an intriguing opportunity, for several reasons. For one, she mentioned to me that she likes the idea, because her firm currently does not have any formal sales training.

"We call it customer relationship skills but same thing," she corrected herself.

"Is it?" I replied.

"Well, in the end, we want more business," the bank manager said.

This comment is causing me to think about sales in the way my client thinks of sales: where each sell is not really so much about the sell, itself, but about the relationship with each client.

Are sales and relationships synonymous terms?

You see, if the bank has built a strong relationship with you, any time you need to store money (most current "savings accounts"), transact money (checking accounts), save money (with "money market" accounts), or get more money (such as through loans) you will likely consider the bank where you handle your checking or savings account for that new transaction. Am I right or wrong? So, it IS about the relationship!

Imagine if banking approached sales from the perspective of "wham, bam, thank you Ma'am!" and just got their money and then got out, how would they ever succeed? Rather, the bank must deliver upon the promise of (1) being there, (2) offering good rates, and (3) offering outstanding service. If a bank does these three things, and does a better job of building relationships than peer banks, they are likely to grow.

There's more to it than that. The bank also has to offer unique banking products at the right time. But no matter what products they offer, if you don't know who they are how will they sell you anything? It starts with relationship!

But when we think of sales as a relationship building process, or even a "relationship" in simple terms, how else might that impact the way we approach the sales process?

When I consider how to answer this question, I realize that a bank relationship could be like any relationship we build with our friends. How do we form friendships? We find things in common, right? We do things together! If a bank is to be a friend, we must find ways to "relate" to each other. How many times to friends invite each other over or out to do things? With that being the case, banks ought to invite people over. Perhaps having an "open-house" for businesses. Or, participating in "Art After Dark" nights... or having "meet our new business" breakfasts. Anything like this would be valuable, from the relationship-building perspective.

What other things do we do to build relationships? Do we compliment each other? If a bank runs a newsletter, the bank ought to compliment certain customers. Perhaps awards for various things like innovation, creativity, good use of money, outstanding accounting habits, or other creative things like this would be valuable in the process of strengthening a relationship.

When do people need banks the most? This is another area I feel needs focus.

When prospecting, how would banks prospect? If I were a banker, I think I'd be looking for who moved to the area, for one. Or, perhaps, the bank could seek out families who just gave birth to a child. Maybe they could offer a "new child college fund" to parents in the area. Or, parents of kids entering 1st grade could be offered a "first account for a first grader" program. As we know, the earlier you start a savings account, the more that account will be worth by the time the child enters college.

I remember how Citibank built their credit card program by offering cards to college graduates. At the time, many banks wouldn't issue you a credit card unless you already had one (an oxymoron, huh?) and Citibank saw the wisdom in being the first bank to offer you a card, you'd likely keep their card for the longest time. It was true, I had my Citibank card longer than any other credit card.

These are all things I'm starting to think about regarding this program for the bank. What ways is your business unique? How can you relate it to other parts of life? This is how we must think when we are selling. Because sales and relationships can by synonymous.

Do you run a sales team? Are you seeking innovative ways to help your people succeed more?

Implementing a sales training program is a wise idea. The most successful organizations I've ever been part of or led always offer people who interface their customers training. It is a key to your success. I'm going to relaunch Concepts of SellingTM and Cold To GoldTM in the next month (November 2009), so stay tuned for ways ARRiiVE Business Solutions might assist you in this process.
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Focus: Starting A Business

Utilizing the power of FOCUS is key to starting a company or launching a product successfully.

If you're an idea person, as many entrepreneurs tend to be, you're likely at some point to attempt starting a business. Hey, it's challenging, it's fun, there's a thrill in the success, and well, there's also a bummer downside. But, nevertheless, if that spirit is inside you, there's probably nothing you can do to fight the urge.

Now, if you're like me, an idea person with so many ideas it is hard to keep up with them all, then your biggest challenge in starting a business might just have to do with FOCUS!

Yep, I'm admitting it. Sometimes a blog is the best therapy. But, seriously, if you notice friends comment that you have ADD (attention deficit disorder) and/or say "maybe you ought to focus" you just might consider they might be giving you words of wisdom.

Starting a business requires FOCUS!

For example, when I launched my first website, AspireNow, I had someone tell me to focus on just one thing, and do it well. I ignored her advice. While some other websites launched at the same time as AspireNow thrived, AspireNow struggled in the early years. I think if I'd done a better job with my focus, I'd probably have succeeded with that website much sooner.

I recently helped an entrepreneur launch a large digital screen network in California. One of the challenges we faced was myriad ideas from the entrepreneur that caused distraction amongst the sales team and made it difficult to sell what we needed to sell. Again, this was an issue of focus.

If you focus properly on what must be done now to win, you will often succeed where others may fail. Do you need every bell and whistle? In 1901, Henry Ford founded the Cadillac Motor Company. This company tried to be the most luxurious car, with all the bells and whistles, and failed (although pieces of this company later bacame part of General Motors).

During a time when most automobile manufacturers were selling all kinds of odd cars, Henry Ford later chose to focus on ONE DESIGN, ONE COLOR, for ONE TYPE OF CAR (part of the reason for the color, black, was because Ford ran into a bottleneck producing paint that could dry fast enough).

Ford later became the number one automobile manufacturer in the world. Why do you think that was? I think it had a lot to do with focusing in on doing one thing and doing it the best.

How about you? What are you selling? Can you tell me in thirty words or less? When you tell me, do you know for sure that I will understand what you're selling? Are you focused enough to execute on that promise?

Henry Ford focused on producing one car so well his ideas on manufacturing automation became known by 1914 as "Fordisms" and today Ford is a $146 Billion company with over 200,000 employees, producing over 5.5 million automobiles.1 And, although Ford Motor Company is experiencing decline over the past ten years, part of their plan to get back to a top position is to simplify and re-focus. Do you think focusing might help you, too?

When Sara Blakely formed Spanx (initially a form of hosiery products for women without the feet), she created a number of product innovations, but mainly focused on creating a new type of hosiery addressing a market that wanted to wear hose to give them shape, but not hose with FEET. I'm sure if I was a woman, I'd want Spanx, too, because I hate having my feet covered!

(left: photo courtesy of Spanx.)

If you're starting a business, I strongly success you FOCUS on ONE THING and do it very, very well. Do it to the best of your ability. After that one thing is thriving, maybe then add on that other swanky idea. In the meantime, why not just keep an "idea journal" to store all this fancy thoughts?

If you're failing, re-write your business plan, and re-focus. With your new focus ought to come a rejuvenation in your success.

If you're not sure what to focus your energy on and where to direct your clients, let me ask you a simple question: "What do you want clients to remember you for?" In the case of Henry Ford, it was a great, simple, well-built car you could rely upon. If it's your website, it might be "a great, simple, well-designed site you can easily navigate" (with the added clarity of what "type" of site, for sure!).

See how you can simplify, build quality, price, and product into your description in as few words as possible. Then, run it by a few clients, or potential clients, and see how they react. Test it out. As your employees what they think of it. Get feedback, then focus on what you choose. Stay with it for an extended period of time, and prove you can succeed with what you know will win.

Let me know what you're going to focus on - I love to know what entrepreneurs are doing! If you're looking for someone to review your business and see how you might simplify, I'd be happy to help. Drop me a note and we'll schedule a half hour or hour for us to review what you've got going on. I've done it for others and their business thrived after these meetings, so I am confident you'll benefit, too!

In the meantime, make a sign with "FOCUS" as the key word. Cut it out and post it places (like the fridge, by your computer, in your car, etc.) to remind you of the importance of this key to success in starting a business.

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1 Ford information courtesty of Wikipedia

Best Time To Post To Twitter

As someone who advises people on their blogs, people often ask me "When is the best time to post to my blog" and now with the emergence of Twitter (micro-blogging) "When should I post to twitter."

I did a little research on Twitter and, yep, sure enough, it's pretty much the same answer for Twitter as for Blogging.

Best traffic days are TUESDAY through FRIDAY. If you post updates those days, you'll have highest exposure for re-tweets and shares, just like your blog.

Best time periods are between 10am PST and 2PM PST. This is because that's the highest period of people online to access your content, and their highest period of usage.

Now, that does not mean you shouldn't post during other times; however. I'll tell you why.

If you assume that the person who reads their blog posts and twitter updates is always online at 7:00 a.m., then you're assuming that everyone is a morning person. At the same time, if you assumed that the person who reads blogs and tweets is up at 1:00 a.m. because they're a night owl, then you'll miss the morning people. So, my advice is to post twitter tweets THROUGHOUT the DAY.

There is powerful software to help you post multiple times a day. It used to be called "Tweetlater.com" and now is called SocialOomph. Check it out - there's a PRO version that gives you even more control, and if you're going to be professional about sending email welcomes, and want to add other twitter management features, then upgrade and pay the money. Otherwise, the free version is fine for just tweeting later.

In addition, if you, like me, are busy and can't find time every week to add each follower to your twitter, one, by one, by one (tedious, huh) then I suggest you use Tweepular software, that let's you bulk add big chunks of Tweeps at a time. (Yeah, that's what they call Twitter users: TWEEPS). So, happy Twitting, Tweep!
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$190-Million Antibody

Are you working on an antibody? Perhaps you have a company focused on bio tech solutions, and either need help with your launch, business growth, or perhaps even an infusion of cash.

Whichever the case, ARRiiVE Business Solutions might be able to help. I'll share a crazy story that just might inspire you to contact me:

While updating my Facebook self help group (AspireNow), Facebook offered me a chance to type in "captcha" words proving I'm human and not a spam-bot. Normally, these words are totally random and mean little or nothing.

But these two words stood out like a total "aha" moment to me:

$190-Million Antibody

I decided to act upon this information. I posted a discussion group at AspireNow. And, now, I'm posting an ARRiiVE article inviting people working on antibody solutions to contact me.

Now, mind you, I've never worked on an antibody. I don't really know that much about science. In fact, science is probably my education weak spot (although I've been working to strengthen that knowledge). But, as someone who helps people launch products, companies, and services (see ARRiiVE.com), this one stood out.

Perhaps a scientist is going to approach me in the next month, quarter, or year with an idea for an antibody that will help cure a disease or something. Or, perhaps a company will contact me to help them grow to the next level. Maybe they haven't launched yet, and need soup-to-nuts help to get off the ground. Whatever the case, $190 Million is nothing to sneeze at, no pun intended! Therefore, you're reading about it.

What random events of manifesting dreams are happening around you? Are you paying attention? Join my discussion on random events either over at AspireNow's Facebook group and share your experiences! Or, just comment on this article.

I know, it's a bit random and wacky, but isn't life like that sometimes?
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Twitter: They Just Don't Get It

Without naming names, here is evidence of what I'll call the most FOOLISH people on TWITTER, ever:


This chart was snapped using my trusty FastStone Capture software off a website called TWITTERHOLIC. In case you're wondering what this "list" is all about, well, it basically shows who has the most followers, friends, and who POSTS the most. I focused this shot on who posts the most. Now, you'd think the people who post the most would be movie stars, stations like NPR, or maybe even Yoko Ono (who does have quite a few followers for her peace movement). But no, the truth is, the people posting hundreds of thousands of TWEETS are random people and companies who I've never heard of before. They're probably using auto-tweet software to post that much, but regardless, with only 1 - 40 followers, doesn't it seem stupid to you to post that much? To have between 1 and 3,000 followers and tweet 500,000 times is nothing less than SPAM, in my opinion, and certainly not the way to market anything of value. Yet, the top 10 in the list of "top tweeters" all are between 1 and 5,000 followers, without exception.

You'd think they'd get, it, after especially the first 100 tweets or so. At least, after 1,000 twitter updates, they ought to realize that (a) yes, I have an audience, or (b) no, I don't and I'm talking to THIN AIR! Seriously.

If this is how your company is marketing, I suggest you fire your marketing director!

So, what is a better way to manage Twitter?

The people with the most success on twitter seem to use a ratio. I'll share it with you here:

1/5 to 1/10 for the average business person, Internet marketer and 1/1,000 the number of "tweets" to number of followers if you're a celebrity. That's it. If you're tweeting more than that, without building your list, you're likely not providing VALUE high enough to warrant the followers at the right levels. It's all about VALUE, right?

For example, a minor God of Internet Marketing, Frank Kern, currently has 1,576 tweets and 16, 817 followers (as of September 16, 2009). That works out to roughly 1/10 tweet to follower ratio. Chris Brogan, on the other hand, has 49,314 tweets to 98,184 followers. Roughly 1/2... okay, that skews my theory a little. But let's view a corporate account, like IBMdesign: 970 to 5188 or about 1/5... HP News: 1581 to 7436, or 1/6...

Now, how about a celebrity, like the #1 celebrity twitter, Aston Kutcher?

3,592,888 followers as of this writing. That, with a total of 3,366 tweets. Amazing, huh? That ratio is crazy: 1/1000. But, guess what? It is typical of celebrity tweet to follower ratios! I was shocked, too. They really don't have to work that hard to have people love them, do they! ;)

My friend Guy Kawasaki, a notable business author, speaker, entrepreneur, and former Apple Mac evangelist: As of September 16, 2009, Guy has 171,249 followers and 30,096 tweet updates. Again, there's that 1/5 - 1/6 ratio. And, I consider Guy pretty active.

Robert Scoble is one of the most respected technology reporters. What is his ratio of tweets to followers? 23,733 tweets to 95,479 followers, or a .24 ratio. In other words, a 4 to 1.

You might be asking, "Why does all this matter?" Well, considering Aston Kutcher not too long ago gained his one millionth follower and Oprah, of all people, just sent her first tweet in the past year (although she already has over two million followers), there's a huge range of those using Twitter and those who couldn't care less.

Now, as for my theory of 1/10 to 1/100, well, ARRiiVE is not yet publishing at that ratio. One of the reasons is I've automatically "twitted" my blog posts without bothering to build traffic. The reason is because I only recently (as in today) decided to start targeting growing my twitter list. I'll mark this date and see if my strategy makes sense.

As of today, I have 93 followers and 183 tweet updates. Watch this change now that I've targeted adding twitter followers as an active campaign. I'll report in on the growth in about three to six months.

Okay, let's digress for a minute. If I say you're downright stupid to post 400,000 tweets when you only have 4 or 40 friends, why would I say that? Well, because you're wasting time. You're talking to nobody. And wasting time is almost always stupid. Time, after all, is our number one resource. Wouldn't it make sense to tweet to a huge list, say, at least 40,000, before tweeting 400,000 times? After all, doesn't it take TIME and ENERGY to post that often?

So, before twitting away like crazy, I suggest you build your list. But even before that, I suggest you RESEARCH the top tools to know how to best MAXIMIZE Twitter, especially if you're a corporate or celebrity twitter user.

Here's an excellent resource from Mashable regarding top 10 enterprise twitter tools: http://mashable.com/2009/08/17/enterprise-twitter-tools/

Review each of these tools. Here they are, simplified:

1. Forrester social profile - learn the demographics of who follows your site: http://www.forrester.com/Groundswell/profile_tool.html

2. According to the Mashable article, listen before you engage: Radian6 and Techrigy’s SM2 offer tools to help businesses find out where their customers are really talking. It’s important to figure out which social media tools your customers are using before you begin planning a social media campaign. Listen first before you engage."

3. Use HootSuite or CoTweet to give you the capability to have multiple twitter users feed content into one corporate twitter account. Also, you can use it to "test market" tweet topics to determine which topic best resounds with your audience. HootSuite also gives you the ability to schedule your tweets, something I'm a huge fan of because there are optimum days and times to tweet posts. HootSuite appears to be free, I just joined it today, myself.

4. For the desktop, the two most popular clients among enterprise users are probably TweetDeck and Seesmic Desktop, which also give multi-user tweet capability.

Make sure to read more about each of these at the Mashup article.

Regarding other ways to maximize your traffic (add followers), try these top five methods I'm using:

1. Target adding other people with huge lists. Why? Because Twitter offers a feature called RT, or "Re-Tweet" meaning, someone felt your tweet worthy to share with others. When followers RT your tweets, THEIR list gets exposed to your stream of posts, links, and updates, and then those followers can easily ADD you. It's as simple as that.

2. Follow me, follow you. Make sure you have an "auto-follow" feature added so that you automatically follow anyone who adds you. Why? Because people who use auto-adders often will un-list you if you do not add them. Why fight it? Just add them, it boosts the total number of eyeballs who MIGHT see your posts, and that is all that matters in the social media game of numbers, anyway, right?

3. Add value. How do we make our twits valuable? Well, it is like anything online:

• Give information - how to, related "finds", tidbits relevant to your enterprise, ideally
• Be witty or funny - people who make us laugh are attractive
• Tell a story - believe it or not, your twits can tell a story if you use them effectively
• Use clever headlines. If you don't know how to write good COPY, I suggest you either start learning how to write clever headlines, or hire someone who can.
  

4. Use a tool, like Twittergetter. Another powerful tool is to place a "follow me" or "twitter badge" on your blog or website.

5. Put a "www.twitter.com/arriive" in your email signature, and many people will follow you that way, too.

Let me know how you're using Twitter with your social media strategy.
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Sell What Your Clients Need Most

If your business is struggling to make sales, you're probably asking your self or your sales team "What's wrong? Why aren't we making the sales we need to hit our objectives?"

The answer to this question may be varied, with such challenges as:
1. The economy sucks.
2. Our product is confusing to customers.
3. Our prices are too high.
4. They don't have the money.
and so on...

Are you buying the excuses? In most cases, the reasons why you've stopped selling have little to do with the excuses and everything to do with your PERSPECTIVE and FOCUS.

With the right perspective and focus, your salespeople don't have to be Pedott from the classic The Twilight Zone episode entitled, "What You Need", where Pedott is a salesperson who hands each character in the show exactly what they need to catch a bus, get a job, save their life, and so on.

For example, if you say "the economy sucks" you could stop putting out the same effort you did in an average or good economy, which would cause your business to stop selling even more than the lack of economy. If you run the numbers and the economy is truly affecting your business, then lower your expenses as low as possible to still make it with adjusted economy, and then continue as aggressive as ever because a down economy is an OPPORTUNITY for salespeople who are creative to capture larger market share from those who fail to respond and manage their business appropriately.

If your product is confusing, simplify it. Customers buy when it is SIMPLE and EASY. Again, this is a perspective issue. If you're educating the potential client and offering too many choices, narrow it down and offer them TWO or THREE CHOICES. But keep it SIMPLE.

If your prices are higher, that may be a problem, but more than likely it is a problem of the salesperson than the problem with your product. IBM routinely charges more for their products than their competition. How do they do it? By SELLING what their clients NEED MOST! For example, when a Chief Information Officer (CIO) of a large corporation is considering a new mainframe computer system, when comparing the choice of IBM versus competitor A, who offers the same mainframe (as far as speeds and feeds go) for less price, or competitor B who offers a better mainframe for slightly higher cost, or competitor C who offers a distributed computing approach across multiple computers for significantly less money, how is it that IBM wins?

The answer is that IBM sells what the CIO needs the most: PEACE OF MIND. You've heard the expression "They say nobody ever got fired for buying IBM." The reason for that saying is that the CEO has peace-of-mind that IBM will keep their business running if anything goes wrong. That's what matters most to the CEO, and that also is priority number one for most Chief Information Officers, too.

As CEO of a much smaller company, I can assure you that I'm quite unhappy when my business' server is down. If I cannot send or receive email, it is a nightmare. I can only imagine how the CEO of a larger corporation sees the dollar signs flashing by the thousands in his or her glasses when their system is down!

If you're selling a vacation package, what are you really selling that client's need? Most likely more time with their loved ones, better health, rejuvenation, seeing the world/exploring cultures, living the good life, and things like that, right? So, don't focus on the details of YOUR program, focus on the details of WHAT THEY NEED.

If you're selling banking services, what is it your clients need the most? Most likely, they want easy access, better rates, security that their money is safe, and so forth. I also like to have NO FEES. If I'm late, if I'm overdrawn, if I forgot to transfer that chunk of money from one bank to the other, whatever, I don't want to be penalized for it. I hate bank fees. If I were running a bank, I'd eliminate most of those fees! Maybe you charge more for a monthly account or whatever but find out what your client's need and sell them that solution.

In an interesting study on whether clients "have the money" or "don't have the money to buy" a company I worked with determined that clients "HAD THE MONEY TO BUY" over 80% of the time, but decided NOT to buy because of some other reason (the salesperson was either annoying, failed to listen, or failed to sell what they needed that interested them).

So, sell what your clients need most and see if your sales don't go up, starting right now.

Extra Bonus Video:

For fun, watch The Twilight Zone, 1st Season, Episode 12:

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ARRiiVE Business Solutions offers sales training, acting VP of Business Development services, sales plans, Diamond-Circle and Sales-Diamond Team Structure models, and other marketing and selling related services. Contact info (at) ARRiiVE (dot) come for more details.

Copyright © 1999-2009 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. SUBSCRIBE.

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ARRiiVE Radio: Rabbits, Deer & Elephants

The ARRiiVE: Innovations In Business Show is BACK!


Episode 76 - ARRiiVE Show - Rabbits, Deer & Elephants!


Mark your calendar:

When: July 29, 2009 at 5PM EST / 2PM PST (length 30 - 60 minutes)

It's back! Join Scott, CEO of the ARRiiVE Business Solutions, on the ARRiiVE: Innovations In Business Show, as he describes a way to make selling more fun through the concept of Rabbits, Deer, and Elephants he created from his Concepts of Selling sales training program.

About Scott: Scott is an author, speaker, and professional business development expert who is often called a master of the sales process, cold calling, and building sales teams. His background includes "Summit Club" levels of success with IBM/Lexmark, Data General, EMC2, DecisionOne, Sunterra (now Diamond Resorts), Worldmark by Wyndham, Elements Inc., and more. Scott currently helps organizations write business plans, build strategy, develop sales process, and launch products and services through a variety of marketing services. He also is the creator of the business and team models called Diamond-Circle and Sales Diamond models of business success.

How to Participate: Call (724) 444-7444, enter show 37798 # 1 #
Visit http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/37798 to participate online.

Look forward to seeing (hearing) you on the show!
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Symbolize Your Success: A Lesson From Nabisco

Business launch quiz of the month:


Q: What does a circle, a cross, and a four-leaf clover have in common?


A: They are the symbols held within the design on top of every OREO cookie sold.

To date, human beings have eaten over 18 billion Nabisco Biscuit Company OREO cookies. Clearly, Oreo cookies are a success, by any standard.

Does the recipe of the creme filled chocolate biscuits matter? Sure. But how about the symbols they chose on each cookie?


I recently read an article by Tima Vlasto (The Examiner), published July 14, 2009, that digs into a possible holistic secret to Nabisco's success with Oreo cookies. Tima claims the Oreo name, which possibly means "mound" or "beauty and goodness" surrounded by symbols of "infinity and unity" and the communication cross perhaps a "communicating a crusade" of "good luck" to each person who shares the fun.

I actually have another viewpoint on this important logo, which is originally comprising a cross-shape with two bars of unequal lengths (shaped in a pyramid) atop an elliptical-shaped circle.

First of all, Nabisco promotional materials (from Nabisco's website, according to Wikipedia) claimed that the logo represented "an early European symbol for quality; it may be derived from a medieval Italian printer's mark that represented 'the triumph of the moral and good over the evil and worldly.'"

You'll notice this logo of the double cross, with different lengths on cross-bars, and the circle, is in the Oreo cookie, but Nabisco replaces the word NABISCO with OREO in the middle of the Oreo cookie. But let's take a closer look.

First, the name OREO. According to the article by Wikipedia, the origins of the name can be traced to "gold" and yes, "hill or mound" and the Greek word OREO, which means "beautiful" or "nice'. So, the name offers a positive connotation.

Second, the circle, which surrounds the name Oreo. In the article, Tima mentions that a circle is a symbol of unity. That's nice, but when I study logos, I've always maintained that circles indicate change. In fact, the very shape of Oreo cookies is round, therefore, indicating you'll be changed by eating one.

But, digging deeper in studying circles, I found an interesting image:

In this 13th century image, you find the act of creation symbolized by the circle (as a compass). Keep in mind, this is an era where icons definitely held meaning for believers. There is also a pattern shaped almost like a mandala contained within the compass. I also noticed the halo, also shaped like a circle. So, the circle can have many mystical meanings, including change, circle of life, creation, and so on. A circle may also mean infinity.

The Patriarchal Orthodox cross, a symbol of holy Jesus, or the cross of Lorraine, an early symbol dating to Joan of Arc, became incorporated into the cookie as part of Nabisco's logo in the 1950's, some thirty to forty years after the original cookie was created to offer the British a more exciting cookie to dip in their coffee or tea. The symbol as I evaluate it means 'perseverance" which can certainly be said of both Nabisco (through Kraft) and Oreo cookies. They've been around now for a hundred years! It could also mean holy, as in saintly, but I wouldn't go that far as to say I'm a saint for eating a box of double-stuffs!

Then again, a conspiracy theorist's interpretation of that cross is the "Pontifical Cross of Lucifer which is linked with Satanism and [apparently] possibly Freemasonry" which is possibly partly true. Another video I've seen says Oreo cookies are "illuminati cookies" and shows the symbols of the crosses and connects them to masonic ceremonies. Upon my understanding of the bankers that rule this world, this assertion is possibly quite correct, as the founder of Nabisco was said to be a member of a banking family connected to the Rothchild family. However, the pontifical cross is equal-length bars and second, that cross is not necessarily representative of Lucifer, either. An analysis of cross symbols brings up religion and occult so that connection is suspect.

You could say a cross represents evil because so many heavy metal bands use crosses as "reverse" imagery today. However, I dispute that theory, as the particular cross on the Oreo is the Patriarchal Cross, which is the cross of the Orthodox church, a holy symbol. And, yes, although many of the founding fathers in America were said to be Freemasons it would have been popular for a business leader to join that organization, too.

The Freemason connection could mean that the founder of Nabisco was a Freemason and therefore plugged into the "big business" establishment of his day. Therefore, they were putting a symbol on their cookie to show they were part of the "in" crowd with the establishment, too. Big business is, well, big business for a reason. Looking at the clover and inverted clover patterns on the cookie, it is clearly possible that the "reverse clover" design on the cookie is actually a masonic symbol of the "Maltese cross" shown in this link. What relevance that has with eating a cookie is, well, questionable. Perhaps it was simply good for business?

The four-leaf clover is a symbol of good luck and definitely considered a rare find. However, there is a deeper meaning as I examine each petal, historically, represented hope, faith, love, and luck. I like that meaning even more. So, in eating each cookie, you could really hope to have the very best in life, right?

Last, a circle can represent unity. But a circle also represents "change" of some sort. So, by eating an Oreo cookie, you can expect the unity of perseverance, beauty, hope, faith, love, and luck, and hopefully to be changed by eating one.

I would say Nabisco was trying to combine symbols of holy, good, luck, business success, and health into their cookie, by evaluating all of the symbols used by them on this small wafer sandwich.

It is fun to study symbols. If you haven't studied symbols before creating your own business logo, I strongly encourage you to do so. Or, hire an expert to help you understand what symbols might best represent your own organization or product.

I've always loved Oreo cookies. And, as you know, with our Diamond-Circle model, ARRiiVE is on our own crusade to change the way business is done in the world - from a numbers, top-down oriented approach, to a holistic, inside-out approach in how we manage people. We're finding in the companies we help launch that the model works quite well when implemented properly. Find out for yourself: contact us to learn how to implement the Diamond-Circle model in your business.
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