Like Mindedness

I have a series of questions.

Why does it take a natural disaster -earthquake, flood, or hurricane- to pull us back together as a community? Why can we not maintain a like-minded pursuit of "I've got your back," through the course of the daily grind? When did we our default position as a nation, state, region, and community become individualistic?

Do you have the answers?

A Southern Hospitality Infusion

I experienced, as I have on previous trips to Texas, some of the greatest measures of customer service and hospitality that I've encountered. You'd be surprised how far these simple gestures will carry you in business, and in life.

• Smile, even when you don't feel like it. Every person I encountered in Texas from the concierge at my hotel to the police officer whom I encountered while strolling downtown Fort Worth, offered me a genuine smile.
• If someone takes an interest in your day, take an interest in theirs. Enough said.
• Treat everyone-absolutely everyone-with respect. I witnessed a man in a business suit stop and assist another man (the latter was dressed in tattered, worn-out clothing and saddled with numerous plastic bags) in his efforts to clear the Fort Worth sidewalks of littered cigarette butts.

Think about this next time you pick up the phone to answer a service call you don't really want to deal with, or the when your co-worker shows up at your office door to ask you the same question for the umpteenth time.

Folks, this isn't rocket science. It's common courtesy.

Will you join me in an effort to treat others how we want to be treated?

Blogging Entropy ends with Christmas Ponderings

To begin with, it would seem that I've lost all energy and momentum for maintaining my blog of late and for that I apologize to anyone that may take the time to follow my posts.

Usually I finagle as much snark into my posts as possible, but alas that is not the case today. Instead I'd like to take pause and reflect on the meaning of the season upon us.

I've been saddened to watch consumerism run its stealthy course through the ranks of social networks, broadcast advertising, and the like. Christmas is not found under the tree, or in brand names, or in the number of techy gadgets amassed... it's found in the hearts and spirits of those in our families, friends, communities, congregations, etc.

Christmas had become commercialized, consumerist and cold. No, Baby it's Cold Outside is not the cold I reference. I am referencing the coldness that leads to all too quickly forgetting the Reason for the season.

So I challenge to you ponder, what are you doing to hold true to the Real meaning behind our celebration of Christmas?

Mechanics of Social Media

I like social networking, but what do I like even more? Learning about it from professional strategists that have full time hours to immerse themselves in all aspects of the various media. I pay close attention to a number of the "big names", in hopes of finding the golden egg, the silver lining, etc that I sometimes miss due to not having 50, 60, or even 70 hours a week dedicated to strictly tweeting, facebooking, blogging, etc. My job responsibilities are a blend of the traditional, new media, public relations, communications, and more.

I've sat through many webinars, am a member of the Inbound Marketing University graduates, know the ins and outs of SEO/SEM, have a love/hate relationship with Google, and other miscellany know-how that you'll hear shared by those making a career out of social media. You can know all of this, be credentialed with the best of them, but if you don't know how to build relationship and function as a member of a community, you've not got much of a foundation.

All of this to say, there are a few tenets that were shared in a recent webinar I attended, that I'd like to share with you. The host of the webinar was Peter Shankman, an internationally known social media strategist. I've read the books & blogs, taken the classes, and picked many a brain over a cup of coffee, but think these points from Shankman are the clearest communication I've heard on the mechanics of social media, to-date.

• Now anyone, thanks to social media, can have a soapbox. problem with this? Not everyone is interested in listening. Be relevant.
• Social Media Rules of Engagement: transparency. relevance. brevity. connect with your audience.
• Remain top-of-mind by finding 10 different people in your network everyday and saying "hello" to them.
• Be a provider of "Finders Candy": finding something interesting and posting it to twitter and Facebook.
• Limit the number of posts, tweets and content that start with "I".
• Everything you post increases or decreases the credibility of your personal brand.
• It's never anyone else's fault if you're not perceived as you want to be.
• Your personal brand is your professional brand nowadays. There's little difference any longer in this digital age.
• Ask yourself: What value can you offer in everything that you post?
• Say thank you! Thanking people is the most underrated action in the world.
• If you don't have passion for what you're doing, don't bother promoting it.

The emphasis on the latter two points is because I find these to be the two guiding principles that most businesses forget. Don't use social media just to keep up with the Joneses, and avoid being status quo. People will follow your content, and it's your privilege to have those followers. Remember to thank them!

What do you think is missing from the mechanics and tenets of this post? How do you insure that you're not just vanilla in your approach to social networking?