PR has been a priority for most major corporations whether they retain a team inside or hire an agency outside of the business. “According to the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR), public relations is about reputation – the result of what you do, what you say and what others say about you. …” In some cases PR specialists were some of the first to embrace social media, in other cases PR specialists have stuck to their more traditional means of fostering relationships with key media in respective areas of print, radio, television and used the news wires to distribute their press releases with follow-up to their ongoing contacts to whom they have formed relationships. Read the rest of this entry »

We are back from taking a break with our posts and look forward to connecting with you again weekly – as we have done over the last few years. It is always interesting to hear how many companies are still fearful – of leveraging social media and use negative responses from customers as a reason to not dive in. As you have seen via many large companies Nestle, Motrin, Boeing to name a few – avoiding those customers who are complaining and or unhappy – can create issues that may become far bigger than they ever began. If you think of how you personally feel – when you are unhappy about something, speak up to that business immediately and they then find a way to fix the situation – you usually walk away not only satisfied – but far more passionate about that business or brand then you were prior to that particular situation. Read the rest of this entry »

Muhammad Ali

Networking is the epicenter for new contacts, sales leads, friendships and new clients. Social media has been a magnificent platform for networking and sites such as Linkedin – have created a community – that has been a well respected platform for businesses and professionals. Twitter has now also become a great place to connect for all genres of interest both business and personal and lets not forget Facebook! Read the rest of this entry »

In light of the world cup soccer FIFA – taking place as I write this in South Africa – I thought it might be fun to write about sports and social media. As many sports fans know ,there are many sports that have embraced social media from NBA basketball ( which is in the midst of a nail biting finals), hockey congrats to the Chicago Black Hawks who won the Stanley Cup after a record draught of 49 years! WOW that is worth the celebration that took place on the streets of Chicago! Yes my beloved tennis just finished the French Open and all of these sports have embraced social media. Read the rest of this entry »

I read a great article today that I am going to SHARE with you at the end of this post. It talks about brand promise vs brand experience. Social media as we all know – has now broadened the net for reach and allows not just a brand, but anyone to SHARE anything their hearts desire and have it spread like wildfire by leveraging social media tools. Many businesses are finally waking up to the power of these tools and better yet -  it is the customer that is now driving much of the power – by being able to clearly articulate and SHARE with those that will listen, to their wants, needs and benefits of doing business with them. In return the business in question must be able to not only listen – but stand tall on what their brand promise, product, service and value is and stay true to their word. Read the rest of this entry »

Before there was social networking there was real-world networking. And you know what? It came with drinks and hors d’oeuvres, so it wasn’t all that bad.”

–Rich Brooks, president of Flyte New Media

I have written many articles about Twitter in the last few years that I have been writing this blog. There are many out there -that are still trying to figure it all out – along with many other social media sites such as Facebook and Linkedin. While you continue to ponder or assume that many of the people you are trying to connect with and target may not be there – guess again. On Twitter alone there are more than 100 million users and many small businesses have already begun to use it as a free resource to market their business. I tell our clients all the time that even if you are not ready to use social media – I can almost guarantee (I still go by the adage that their are no guarantees in life!) – that your current and potential customers already are and better yet they are talking about YOU. The question becomes are you reaching out and talking to them? Read the rest of this entry »

Happy to be back after taking a short break. Happy Victoria Day to our Canadian readers that just passed and Happy Memorial Day to our American Readers.

Since we began writing this blog we have talked about the importance of creating brand connections with your customers. We have called it brand evangelism or brand evangelists- creating and cultivating that connection to your product and or services with those customers who love and care about what you do. It is this connection leveraging social media tools that can begin not only initiate a relationship – but become the engine – that viral engine that can spread the word,  about your products at a speed that appears to make traditional marketing ancient. Read the rest of this entry »

Not sure if you are familiar or not – but there has been a surge of websites pop up with alot of media attention relating to group coupons. The idea behind these sites is that discounts are offered and a specific number of people must take part in purchasing the coupon for it to become active. This takes place via social media and there are several sites that have popped up. Groupon is one of the larger ones Wagjag and LivingSocial.com are others. Groupon has grown from 400 subscribers in 2008 to over 4 million. For bargin hunters or those on a budget – this is a great way to access all sorts of deals from restaurant coupons, to spas, to cooking classes and so much more. Read the rest of this entry »