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June 10, 2006
A Little Communications Math...
Okay, people in our field are notoriously bad at math. I’m sure there are a couple of you out there who live for a Sudoko puzzle, but suffice it to say most of us would rather turn to the crossword instead. That said, here are two pieces of math that every communications professional should have handy:
Equation 1: Advertising is neither <, > or = to PR.
They’re different disciplines in the same field. Advertising is the strategic purchase of space (and I mean any kind of space) in order to place strategic messages designed to persuade or sell. Public Relations is the planned effort to use action and communication to build relationships with people important to your success. Are they related? Absolutely. Are the substitutes for each other? Absolutely not.
Equation 2: V = N squared.
Huh? This one’s a little less obvious, but those of you who are networking geeks will recognize it as Metcalf’s law. Bob Metcalf was the guy who invented Ethernet (think of that cable running into your laptop that’s connecting you to the Net). According to Metcalf’s law, the value of a network is equal to the square of the number of nodes on that network. A single fax machine (you remember those, right?) is useless. Two fax machines have value. Three fax machines form the basis of a network. The same holds true in human networking – a relationship among two people is great. A relationship among three is better. A relationship among thirty people is powerful. So, you ought to be thinking about continuously looking to add nodes to your personal and professional networks. Doing so increases your value and your marketplace competitiveness.
Enough math for now. Back to my crossword puzzle…
Posted by Matt Kucharski at June 10, 2006 9:38 PM
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