Brands are hiring people to lead their “social initiatives“. Armed with some perceived power afforded by the new position these individuals charge forward with initiatives to help the brands become more social and responsive to customers.
They engage in Twitter, get their brands positioned with a blog, gain presence in “communities” and try to position [...]

Social Media, blogging, social video, networking etc. can be confusing for those just entering the space. Added to this confusion is the daily releases of new technology, new sites, new bells and whistle and the ongoing onslaught of business jumping into the space. Many individuals and organizations react to the hype and jump in unprepared, [...]

The word ridiculous means literally, laughable, from rid?re to laugh, arousing or deserving ridicule : absurd, preposterous.
Everyday we watch the news and announcement of developments surrounding the social web. Some of what we see is ground breaking progress while other stories seem absolutely ridiculous.
Subsequently we’ve decided to write a periodic [...]

Sometime you wonder how the minds of leaders were programmed to think, or should we say, not to think about the customer experience first. The blogosphere screams with stories of major brands being anti-social to the customer.
Check out this one: Want To Win Customers? Don’t Be Like A Wireless Carrier Posted July 11th, 2008 [...]

When people discuss all this “social stuff” it sounds like a different language to a lot of other people. The virtual world has a language all of its own. Learning a new language takes time, practice and understanding. Business leaders don’t typically have a lot of extra time to practice and understand a new language. [...]

If you are blogging for business, blog promotion has to tie back in to the overall sales and marketing strategy of your company. I see mistakes all the time where, essentially, the business blog becomes a news feed. Your customers, or potential customers, need to see value in your blog and there is [...]

There are hundreds of ways to promote your blog, and the very idea of blog promotion is becoming more sophisticated each day. There is post frequency, SEO, PPC, email marketing, link building, and so many more things you can do to grow traffic to your blog. The one promotion that never ceases to [...]

Adweek covered a recent study conducted by Universal McCann that shows some interesting things about US consumers and social media. The survey was a repeat of one done in September 2006 by the research firm. The second survey showed that the number of survey respondents who regularly read blogs jumped from just over 50 percent [...]

Blogging is an essential component of a new marketing strategy, but how do you let the world know about your blog? If your blog is part of your Web site, some readers may find your blog by looking at your Web site. That’s one way to generate traffic, but a more effective way to promote [...]