Last year at the MarketingProfs Digital Mixer, I attended Rohit Bhargava‘s book signing, along with a bunch of other fun folks, for his new book, Personality Not Included. He explained how he came up with the idea and what makes it different than other marketing/business books. The biggest thing that you’ll notice is that the book is split up into two parts. Part I consists of several stories and real-life examples on why personality matters. Where Part II brings it to life as every story in Part I is linked to an action guide in the second part. It definitely makes for an interesting read and one you’ll be able to pull actionable items from.
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As layoffs continue to hit a lot of us, it means that even more of my friends and colleagues are feeling the effect. What’s tripped me out lately is the lackadaisical attitude that people have had on networking. Those being laid off are just now creating LinkedIn profiles, wanting to build sites/blogs and joining Twitter. I’m, by all means, supportive and will help them out in any way possible but networking is a thing that doesn’t happen overnight and takes time to build mutually-beneficial relationships/connections. (more…)
I had the pleasure to talk with Marc Meyer over the phone yesterday. We had a great chat as we talked about an issue that’s been on his mind of late – the lack of context on Twitter. He had some deep thoughts on the matter and got the perspectives of several other great people as well. The main thought I shared with him was that the minute we begin questioning what we tweet about because someone might not understand the context of it, is when we, and the industry, begin to take a step backwards in our growth. We were born into this Social Media world with this word tattooed on our foreheads:
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We all heard about it, while many others were taken advantage of, as a phishing scam hit Twitter last weekend. The scam spread DMs that told people to click on a link that went to what looked like the Twitter login page, which is where many gave away their sensitive account information. It quickly spread and everyone was encouraged to change their password. What had me thinking though was the thought about trust and our seemingly lack of understanding and adhering to that word. I was quickly reminded about an interview I did at the MP Digital Mixer with Chris Brogan, in regards to his upcoming book, Trust Agents. Though the clip was probably full of bloopers on my part, I remembered being asked what I thought a ‘trust agent’ was. The answers Chris got during his interviews were great but what I’ve realized is that we all have a vital role in creating trust and this little fiasco that happened over the weekend shows that many of us have forgotten that.
The role has more to do than just who you trust personally but is more so associated with one action, such as this past weekend’s, and its related/adverse effects. These relations encompass the services you use on a daily basis, the perception companies have on social media, and the communities you interact with.
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As I sit here, back home in Cleveland for the holidays, I reflect on what’s been a very interesting year for me – actually, the most interesting than any in the past. I’ve learned a lot about myself, on personal and professional levels, as I’ve gone through a lot of changes this year with family, friends, and my career – with most recently, my lay off. But even with all the highs and lows, I’ve enjoyed every second of it and wouldn’t change it a bit.
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There’s no hiding from it. Everywhere you go, you’re bound to hear someone talking about the recession and more specifically, the recent record breaking numbers of unemployment in the U.S. Yours truly wasn’t even recession proof – but there’s got to be some sort of light at the end of tunnel, right? Well, there’s no reason to wait until you get to the end of the tunnel. With the staggering number of people that are getting laid off, we all need to remain vigilant on what could happen and take the necessary steps to be ready if it does. (more…)
Looks like I was thrown into the meme mix of sharing 7 things you may not know about me by Kellye Crane, David Mullen and Beth Harte. A little different than what you may normally read here but hey – I figure it’ll help you all get a better grasp of who I am (or just become a bit more scared). Either way – here it goes: (more…)
There’s been a lot of talk and controversy recently within our online media realm and specifically with one, Chris Brogan. He came under heavy fire from a sponsored post he did on his Dad-O-Matic group blog on behalf of Kmart, which seemingly only caught wind after Jeremiah Owyang posted this tweet over the weekend. It undoubtedly yielded a flurry of responses (good and bad) on Twitter that led to people questioning his authenticity and trust (which is absurd to begin with if you know anything about Chris and his contributions to his community). (more…)
Yes, I know Thanksgiving is gone and past but I don’t need just that day to give thanks. I had a rather large thought that finally came full circle yesterday, which happened to be my birthday – but this post isn’t for the fact of that joyous day 27 years ago. This thought came about as I woke up yesterday and turned on the good ‘ol lappy that seems to want to croak any day. Anyway, I woke already to numerous messages wishing me a great birthday and shout outs from friends and family, online and off. Then the day progressed and the messages multiplied and I eventually spent about 30 minutes last night thanking every single person. As I reflected on everyone’s thoughts and wishes for me, I realized several things that took me back through the last crazy month of mine.
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Community Manager. It’s a role that has evolved into a must-have position for any company wanting to connect on a deeper level and communicate directly with their consumers. With today’s new media technologies, it’s the perfect way to find brand advocates, solve customer issues and ultimately, build meaningful relationships. There are many qualities and skills to be had by a Community Manager and I could easily list them out myself. Instead, what better way to find what makes a CM valuable than by asking my own community on Twitter.
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