Monthly Archives

September 2009

Social Media

How Will You Engage Your Community?

September 24, 2009

Engage Your Community

An important part of a companies brand is how they engage their community. Your community can help you climb to new heights, but can also bring you back down to earth. With consumers becoming less receptive to brands that market themselves through traditional forms of marketing such as television and print, companies have begun to embrace social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook as powerful tools for engagement. As the number of companies using social media continue to rise, companies must be prepared to answer the question “how will you engage your community?”

This past week I was able to listen and interact with some of the great minds in social media at the Social Media Marketing Strategies Conference. Some of the big names included keynote speakers MC Hammer and Ian Schafer, as well as Rohit Bhargava [Digital Strategy & Marketing, Ogilvy], Michael Bissell [President, Conquent ], Jun Loayza [President, SocialMediaMarketing.com], Brian Solis [Principal, PR2.0 & FutureWorks], and Shiv Singh [VP & Global Social Media Lead, Razorfish]. From the event I was able to learn about the direction of social media and more importantly, the growing role it will play in a companies success. Continue Reading…

Business

Is Your Business The ‘Popular Girl’ At School?

September 16, 2009

popular girl

Do you remember high school? If so, you probably remember the ‘it’ girl. She was the girl that every guy wanted to date and that every girl wanted to be. While high school maybe over, we are still chasing the popular girl at school. In the business world, being the ‘popular girl’ comes with the same perks as being in high school. People still open doors for you and asking for help on ‘homework’ is still easy. While not everyone will like you, in one way or another, most will either want to be you or be associated with you. As a business, one should ask themselves if they are the ‘popular girl’ or if they are the ones chasing then.

Meet The ‘Popular Girls’ At School

In each ‘school’ or market their is a different ‘it’ girl. In the entertainment industry for example, one could argue that Disney is ‘it,’ and when it comes to information and technology that Google is at the head of the class. While their are plenty of businesses that feel that they deserve a piece of the pie, what it comes down to is who is sitting at the head of the table. Continue Reading…

Life

Can You Eliminate Fear?

September 8, 2009

One of the most famous quotes in U.S. history is by Franklin Delano Roosevelt when he said that “we have nothing to fear but fear itself.” While the words he spoke are nearly 70 years old, the meaning remains the same. For many of us, fear is our greatest enemy. The fear that Roosevelt refers to is the same fear that surrounds us and confronts us everyday.

For one to truly be successful they must learn to handle and ideally, eliminate fear. Failure to do so allows fear to paralyze one from progress. Roosevelt understood this best. With the coming of an economic depression, Roosevelt could sense ‘fear’ overcoming the nation. To this he confronted it head on. He made it clear that we must not allow fear to keep us mired in self-pity and loss but that we must eliminate fear. Continue Reading…