Branding Your Business or Yourself Is More Than A Hot Iron Meets Skin

Personal Branding

View more documents from Ted Murphy.

“Three Rules of Work

Out of clutter find simplicity;
From discord find harmony;
In the middle of difficulty lies
opportunity.”

Posted via email from Media Collective -Social Marketing, Advertising And Nerdy Things MindShare & Beyond

Big Hands & Small Dogs - A Visual Metaphor Of A Effective Social Network

Social Networking, I like this image as a metaphor representing what happens when you, businesses & brands
engage in social stratosphere the right way.

The kid in the blue suit represents you on social media:

• You adding value in a genuine and transparent way. If your selling something say so the bait & switch technique of teaser information that results in  a squeeze landing page full of your friends video testimonials that takes a week of scrolling to get to the "OK How Much Is It" frustrates most and discourages future engagement with you. If you add value your network is more likely to help, participate and create the viral buzz or engagement that you seek.

• You engage your audience in two way conversation  This means that you listen and respond especially if your spoken to directly because if you don't it will soon become evident that engagement is more of a "me" situation rather than a "we" resulting in a "why bother" attitude of your audience. Good example of "we care about what you say" is @Zappos they are a big brand yet they manage to genuinely respond to their networks engagement with them.

• You provide support and solutions to your audiences needs. Think of this as the relationship builder. Is your goal to build a one time sale, contact or are you looking to build brand loyalty, repeated business? People buy and are more prone to brand loyalty and advocacy when you develop a knowing, trust and a affinity for you and your business. This results in future growth, a sustainable businesses and a repeat market. Because businesses are run by people, people buy from those whom they know and trust.

• You participate outside of your box and engage with businesses big, small and just starting out. Form relationships with the major communicators within your niche these alliances can help to pull you up (note the hands in the image) add value to your knowledge base and network and could potentially pull you to your next level of growth. Yet, don't discount the smaller customer, alliances or businesses engagement either.

• Loose the mindset that the small business, solo-penure's with in your demographic, segment or mindset may not add value or are worth focus. Collectively if your focused on complementary businesses, audiences and networks relative to what you do or whom your trying to reach and serve - adds value to your bottom line ( note the puppies gathering to push) too.

  Often times the collective village adds greater value and sustainability. In your business, you want to create a network and or customer base that is not dependent on any one source there by reducing risk to your bottom line or communication channel.

With the understanding that social media for business is virtual networking and like in person networking and relationship building as the image represents,

It's a give and take, big and small, push and pull,  when joined together creates a powerful force to help you, your business and your message get on its feet and stay there on your path to growth and success.

And that's the purpose right?

Posted via email from Media Collective -Social Marketing, Advertising And Nerdy Things MindShare & Beyond

Is this You on social media?

Social Media and connectivity is a two edged productivity sword.

Hatch video award winner says it all.

Posted via email from Media Collective -Social Marketing, Advertising And Nerdy Things MindShare & Beyond

Here's your sign

The first form of twittering? Church style

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Unpaid bloggers not protected by Shield Law

By Andrew LaVallee

A recent amendment to the federal shield bill being considered in the Senate will exclude non-”salaried” journalists and bloggers from the proposed law’s protections.

Associated Press

Sen. Charles Schumer

The law, called the Free Flow of Information Act, is intended to prevent journalists from being forced to divulge confidential sources, except in cases such as witnessing crimes or acts of terrorism. The amendment, introduced by Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.) last week, limits the definition of a journalist to one who “obtains the information sought while working as a salaried employee of, or independent contractor for, an entity–

a. that disseminates information by print, broadcast, cable, satellite, mechanical, photographic, electronic, or other means; and

b. that—
1. publishes a newspaper, book, magazine, or other periodical;
2. operates a radio or television broadcast station, network, cable system, or satellite carrier, or a channel or programming service for any such station, network, system, or carrier;
3. operates a programming service; or
4. operates a news agency or wire service.”

Journalism organizations noted the narrower scope of the bill, which appears to exclude journalists and bloggers who are not paid for their work by a separate entity. “The amendment is a sharp departure from Schumer’s previously preferred definition, which focused on the covered person’s engagement in the practice of journalism rather than employment status,” wrote Cristina Abello, a legal fellow at the nonprofit Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

Nieman Journalism Lab’s Zachary M. Seward, who previously noted the House’s different definition of journalist, also expressed concern. “The shield law obviously needs a definition that limits its scope, but the professional definition, which now seems inevitable, would exclude student journalists as well as bloggers with a day job,” he wrote.

It’s not over yet: The Senate Judiciary Committee delayed its vote amid concerns from both Republicans and Democrats.

via blogs.wsj.com

Posted via web from Media Collective -Social Marketing, Advertising And Nerdy Things MindShare & Beyond

Seth the Blogger Guy jumps on his sword for the good of AT&T

via brandfreak.com

In a world of instent communication this is a good example of customer service on a national scale, Where obviously social media negative or complaint comments prompted the same format media to deliver a message back to its market community.

Before twitter, facebook, friendfeed or others many customers felt like they were in a vacuum of a half full glass.

Not anymore
As this example shows, an individual does have a voice and combined together via the social speak stream, companies will notice.

Companies glass half full
While some companies are intimidated by the social speak others see it as an effective opportunity to quickly engage their markets concerns, service issues and to let their customers know that there voice had been heard.

Posted via web from Media Collective -Social Marketing, Advertising And Nerdy Things MindShare & Beyond