About Social Media Today
Start ’em young
But one critical thing that I know I must do, and that I need help with, is teach my kids how to respect and manage money. This doesn't come naturally to me, as a liberal arts major with a free spirit and aversion to accounting. But I will boldly say that if they do not learn how to manage money, it will be the single biggest source of stress in their lives which will impact their health, relationships and career. I think that part of the reason why our entire country is going through economic strife and chaos is that we do not teach our young people how to responsibly and realistically handle their finances.
One more time, what is…?
I blame everyone who claims to be a social media expert when no one can even begin to imagine what social media is going to become... I blame everyone who says social media when they really just mean Facebook... I blame everyone who asks for a social media marketing strategy when they really want a mass-media strategy without having to pay for it...
Don't strive for perfection
People aren't perfect, and that's expected in the social web. In fact, the more perfectly something is written, produced, or executed—the more suspicious it becomes. Communication and interactions on the social web should be similar to those in real life. Imperfect, messy, spontaneous, and occasionally personal. Zappos understands this well. After a conversation with one of their representatives from their call center, we received a handwritten note that referenced something personal that was discussed during the call. You don't get more human than that.
Don't forget the weaknesses
Although I had no research – only my own experience in working with hundreds of managers and executives – I’ve never really bought into the “leverage your strengths” movement. In the leadership development work I’ve done, weaknesses matter a lot – and if not addressed, can mean the end of the road for a promising high potential leader.
—Dan McCarthy: “The Perils of Accentuating the Positive”
That personal branding thingie
I was teaching a class on personal and professional success the other day. We spent a lot of time on personal branding. I made the point that personal branding is pretty simple in concept. First, figure out how you want others to think of you. Be very clear. Second, constantly and consistently do the things necessary to get them people to think of you in that way. Some of the people in the class were struggling with figuring out how they want others to think of them. It’s not as simple or easy as it first appears.
It’s about time
…unless they can interpret this very creatively, they are pretty much out of luck to start. There is a severe need to reform the vast array of crummy tax breaks, from hybrid car credits to the umpteen educational credits and deductions. You can't clean this stuff up without hurting somebody under $250,000 without making an already top-heavy tax system more unbalanced and dependent on the income of the top 5 percent of earners.
Are you ready?
Content strategy is a necessary element for nurturing campaigns. Most marketer's plan for the email message and the content offer, design a landing page and ship out the communication. But, what happens if [gasp] a recipient of that communication takes action? What happens if your content gets spread around online? Are you ready?
—Ardath Albee: “Stimulate Prospect Interactions”
