It was a frigid morning. Weeks have passed since I had a warm meal. After scaling the snowy white mountain tops of Mt. Versace, I finally arrived at Gucci – holy temple of coolness.
I was greeted with hospitality. Despite not speaking Prada, we communicated effectively with hand gestures. Finally, a translator approached me, “what is it that you seek, Lawrence Chan of Los Angeles?”
I cringed as my tongue burned from the hot tea, “I seek Milan – the wise one.”
A man with what I assumed was a handbag acknowledged my request. “I am Milan. You’ve traveled far. This must be important.”
It was very important. Time was fleeting. I needed an answer. “Milan. Many of my peers use mediums called Twitter and Facebook. They tweet and update day and night. In fact, I just tweeted about meeting you whilst talking! I did not mean to be impolite, but I’m addicted.
Ultimately, how is all this social media going to help our businesses? Is success equated with friends/followers?”
The wise sage stepped in a circle as he pondered. Occasionally, he would rub his chin as if the friction caused some form of kinetic brain juice.
When he was ready to speak, the room fell silent. Even the birds knew not to chirp. Everyone closed in.
Milan said in a deep deep voice, “being busy does not mean being productive…”
“Obviously, I know that!” I rebutted with haste.
“Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh,” everyone chimed in at once. Uh oh. Taboo. Before I had a chance to apologize, a kid zipped through the crowd and kicked my shins.
Turd. I will get you!
“As I was saying,” Milan continued paying little attention to my injury, “it is a two part process.”
I quickly whipped out my notebook.
“The first step is to understand your target audience. The second step is to understand your business model. Combine the two and you will be able to ‘tweet’ — you called it — effectively.”
It was like playing sudoku. I finally got the missing piece and things are just falling into place.
“Come, Lawrence. Let me show you my laboratory.”
I followed without hesitation.
Three Days Later
“You are armed with my wisdom. Now share it at the next coolest hangout meet-up. If it isn’t cool, don’t speak for it will tarnish the brand of Gucci.”
“I understand.” How fortuitous – LA Smug is coming up this Thursday, February 18th. I will remember this indelible journey and now must spread Gucci’s good graces.
Date: Thursday, February 18, 2010
Time: 7:00pm – 10:00pm
Location: The Global Cafe
Street: 11002 Ventura Blvd
Studio City, CA
20 Questions
Peter Garr – LA Smug Leader played 20 questions with me. You can entertain yourselves here until Thursday.
You’re all going, right?
Lawrence Chan
P.S. You could probably tell that I’m a sucker for designer stuff. I can’t justify the value, but for some reason the price dictates my perception. Interesting…right? So if someone’s rates start at $12k for photography coverage, he/she must be be pretty good, right? Ruminate that thought…nom nom nom.
P.P.S. Writing this article as a story was a whim concocted at midnight. Do you guys like it when I mix it up or just keep it straight-up-down-the-throat-style like, “I’m speaking here on this date and this time. See you all there!”? Thanks for your feedback 
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
What, did you say something? Sorry, the picture of the legs already sold me.
Hahaha….it’s 6:30 in the morning, and I still laughed at this little story.
Makes me wish I could be at the SmugMug!!
good stuff, too bad I am in FL and not LA, love the “holy temple” angle, very fun.
Lawrence, You continue to inspire. I enjoy the quirkiness, and distilation of how your brain thinks. Looking forward to listening to you profess on Thurs. at the Smug. Brining my 12 year old daughter too. She speaks fluent Prada! Thanks for the recommend on “Confessions of a Shopaholic” by Sophie Kinsella I’m having my team translate it into Italian so I can enjoy it with a bottle of Chianti and fava beans. Slurp, slurp, slurp.
Ack! I hope I won’t disappoint.
Your daughter speaks Prada? That is so cool. She can be my translator.
love it, so well written, really kept my attention,
hope to get some of this wisdom at WPPI, see you there
Just a side note, I’m not pretentious. That’s simply because I can’t afford to do so. However, I am fascinated by how the industry operates, so don’t expect me to come this Thursday all blinged out because, to be completely transparent, I still drive a Civic.
See all of you this week!
I’ll be there! My first one- I’m a virgin SMUGMUG goer, so please be nice! ;0)
Smug Meet Up Mini Review: Reporting from Milan
Lawrence Chan (L.C.) didn’t look nervous at all after his ascent from Mt. Versace. In fact, he exuded a serene calmness and comfortability on stage. L.C. has the unique gift and the ability to distill complex social and psychological issues, as in the case of last night’s talk {Using Social Media and Understanding Your Target Audience} and break them down into cogent, easily digestible, bite size pieces.
Speaking with ease L.C. laid out an easily adoptable, step by step, strategy for gaining a foothold in the market place through leveraging niche social media. The first step is to clearly identify your target market. The second step is to connect/relate online with your target market through social media such as facebook and twitter. Be clear who you are connecting with (a) your peers or (b) your target market. There is a clear distinction. A key ingredient to successful marketing according to L.C. is transparency and personality. Both transparency and personality can be achieved through genuine blogging whether you have 1,000 or only 20 followers.
Much like Jeffery Gitomer, author of the Little Red Sales book, it is essential in your blog and in your sales presentation to answer every possible objection that your client may have, even before they present their objections. Much like Steve Jobs prepping for an Apple keynote {case in point the release of the iPad, a production planned months in advance} practice makes perfect.
What i really enjoyed most about L.C.’s talk was his personable presence and sense of humor. He has thoroughly thought out the entire shopping need and want process of the sales experience and easily relates it in an engaging format answering audience questions along the way. Even though I’ve been in the business for myself for the last ten years, last night I learned several things that I can implement immediately and have measurable, tangible results from.
Some times in business and in life you get a gift. Listen to L.C. share his views on Using Social Media and Understanding Your Target Audience was like stringing together a fine set of pearls. Singularly they are an anomaly. When polished and strung together their esthetic value is greatly increased.
“It was like playing sudoku. I finally got the missing piece and things are just falling into place.”
Thank you Lawrence for a fascinating evening and a peek into your brilliant mind.
P.S. Lawernce, don’t worry about speaking Prada. You have your own unique dialect and you eloquently teach others how to speak it.
Wow I don’t even know how to respond. Thank you for your graciously kind words! See you at WPPI!
Haha! Such a cheap form of entertainment you are.
Wish I was in the area. Will see you at WPPI-woot!
Love the story format! And I’ll be there
I just moved to Hollywood from Oregon and looking forward to my very first photography meet up! Thanks for all your helpful information Lawrence