Kathie Melocco - Finding your passionpulse for Business Success

It starts with business strategy and then flows into YOUR Story - are you on target?

noreply@blogger.com (Kathie Melocco & Diane Collington) — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 00:37:00 +0000

Digital Media Storytelling (aka Social Media) -Use storytelling to pitch better, sell faster and win more business using the storytiser methodology

Your actual ‘Brand YOU’ story is something you might not realize you’re missing. When you first started your business, you probably had a long checklist. Things like: Build a website. Find more clients. Secure speaking gigs. Establish your expertise. And set yourself up on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIN and more.If you’re still struggling to describe what you do and who you serve, you’re probably overlooking some aspect of your story. When someone can see themselves in your story — the need to persuade, convince, or sell them disappears.

Everything depends on your story. If your story is not clear to you and to your clients, your business will not thrive. When your story gets aligned with your mojo (finding the magic in what you do), you’ll automatically start playing on a bigger platform. It leads to more sales, better speaking engagements, and a growing pipeline of opportunities.

Telling your Digtal story matters today more than ever. When people Google you, or visit your website – they go straight for the story. If you’re an entrepreneur – your perceived value is directly linked to that personal story. Especially when you’re an expert professional — blogger, author, speaker, coach, consultant, designer, etc. Getting paid what you’re really worth comes down to sharing how you see the world. Remember, people are you buying your ideas and opinions (i.e. your story of how things work).

Get a Coach
The most efficient way to move from dead brand walking to a powerful Brand YOU story is to get a coach who will help you succinctly refine your strategy and identify what story you have to tell. You'll learn to wrap facts up with emotions as stories (human beings are actually biologically hardwired to remember stories), share case studies as stories that people remember and how to tell a compelling story that your customers that compels action.

One that encompasses audio, visual and kinaesthetic positioning. We discuss the relevance of LinkedIN, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, the importance of the Social Website, Blogging, Podcasts and more. It's not about sharing what people 'had for breakfast' but a strategic groundswell of relevant stories you have to tell that fits your business purpose and goals.

Case Study: How Digital Storytelling is being used in healthcare for patient management

noreply@blogger.com (Kathie Melocco & Diane Collington) — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 05:48:00 +0000

Pip Hardy and Tony Sumner founded the Patient Voices Programme in 2003 with the intention of bringing more humanity into healthcare through the creation and sharing of digital stories.

Through its carefully developed methodology, the programme facilitates the telling and sharing of reflective stories of care by all stakeholders. The innovative model of free distribution of resulting stories for use in health and social care education and quality improvement ensures that those voices are heard, and that the investment of storytellers is nurtured to develop maximum social capital.

Some 500 people have participated in workshops to create their digital stories and the model of free distribution of stories via the Patient Voices website has resulted in their use in healthcare education throughout the English-speaking world and beyond.

“The Patient Voices programme aims to facilitate the telling and the hearing of some of the unwritten and unspoken stories of ordinary people. The goal is that those who devise and implement strategy in health and social care, as well as the professionals and clinicians directly involved in care, may carry out their duties in a more informed and compassionate manner.  We hope that, as a result of seeing the stories, patients, their carers and clinicians may meet as equals and work respectfully together for the benefit of all.”

So let’s tell a story - Al Pacino signed four –ad deal for Vittoria Coffee on the condition he tells his story!

noreply@blogger.com (Kathie Melocco & Diane Collington) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 22:22:00 +0000

He never has and he never will. That’s the response Rolando Schirato, sales and marketing manager at Vittoria Coffee and the grandson of the original founder of Australian iconic brand Vittoria Coffee, received when he approached Al Pacino’s management about signing on the Oscar winner to endorse the Australian owned super brand.

Needing to compete against Multinational Nestle who had dropped millions on its George Clooney campaign for Nespresso, and Lavazza who is planning to pay Julia Roberts a cool $1.6 million to flash her smile for the brand, it was important for Vittoria to gain similar celebrity applause and they wanted to something really special for the company’s 50^th anniversary.

Vittoria stuck to it’s guns and six months after the initial knockback, struck a breakthrough when the 70 year old actor agreed to read a brief from the company.

Schirato said he focused on the similarities they shared with Pacino. Vittoria is a family owned company, now in its third generation of family heritage and both families were Italian migrants. Both Pacino’s and Schirato’s families are from Sicilian roots. That fact made Pacino take note and he tried agreed to try the coffee.

Having known the Schirato family personally now for some years I have to add to this story that it is simply impossible not to note the family’s complete passion for their product. It is contagious to just about anyone who meets the family. Les Schirato is known as Australia’s coffee king.

Pacino, a hardcore coffee fanatic, liked the product and as anyone who has seen the ads on television ‘you get that’ when Pacino taps his fingers against the neatly branded Vittoria Coffee cup on screen and simply says, “This is good coffee.” The vocal inflection of sincerity, even for an acclaimed actor is hard to avoid.

What makes this story even more interesting is Pacino signed a four ad deal on the condition that he would develop the scripts himself with the help of Oscar winning director Barry Levison of Diner, Rain Man, Wag the Dog film fame. Pacino wanted to tell the story.

That fitted Vittoria’s ethos generally of avoiding high cost ad agencies and who has built a vast empire by being master of ambush marketing strategies.

The four ads were all filmed in New York’s Greenwich Village in one day complete with four Vittoria Coffee baristas, two coffee carts and five coffee machines all shipped from Australia. The ads went to air in Australian in August 2000 and the results were staggering.

Vittoria Coffee sales reached an all time high by late August (a 20% boost) and the company secured a 67.3% share of the $137-million market in Australia.

Vittoria says whilst the peaked sales were great it was really about brand recognition. The campaign delivered worldwide recognition. On the drawing board are plans for the company to push into the US. They already do a small amount of business there.

Vittoria Coffee’s campaign further used publicity to tell the story of how they came to get Pacino and what happened when he came on set. You can’t make those stories up, they develop naturally.

Not bad for a corporate success story of David and Goliath in business. It’s also a story of family values, of heritage and of a father’s pride in son’s achievements.

How to keep your audience engaged at your next presentation - tell a story!

noreply@blogger.com (Kathie Melocco & Diane Collington) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 06:38:00 +0000

There are lessons for business to learn from storytelling rather than text heavy
powerpoints that sends your audience to sleep.

Firefighters swap stories after every fire, and by doing so they multiply their experience; after years of hearing stories, they have a richer, more complete mental catalogue of critical situations they might confront during a fire and the appropriate responses to those situations. Research shows that mentally rehearsing a situation helps us perform better when we encounter that situation in the physical environment.

Similarly hearing stories acts as a kind of mental flight simulator, preparing us to respond quickly and effectively.

Stories put knowledge into a framework that is more lifelike, more true to our day to day existence. Being the audience for a story isn’t passive. Inside of us, we’re getting into the act.

Neurocore tip:
Research, including high tech real time brain scans, is now showing that emotions, triggered in the limbic area of the brain – also known as the mammalian brain – lock a story in memory and that our memories are holistic. The more fully we engage the audience’s entire brain in what we say – the more we get them firing on all cylinders – the more easy our story is to remember. Words and verbal constructions tend to be stored in the left hemisphere of the brain, spatial relationships and visual images in the right hemisphere.

Use storytelliing to add emotion to a fact and embed in audience's memory
Audiences check out after ten minutes, but you can keep grabbing them back by telling them narratives or creating events rich in emotion. In other words your brain has a tendency to tune out after 10 minutes, ignore ‘boring’ subjects and requires a lot of pictures to retain information. Tip: tell a relevant story, or video clip and embed it with emotion. If you’re presenting via a webinar you can use a tool to push a poll or a question to your audience. Plan exercises at ten minute intervals. Conventional text heavy powerpoint should be thrown out and replaced with image rich slides. The brain doesn’t see letters.

Extend your story with digital storytelling strategies
Positioning your organisation as a story telling space, is a smart move. You might have the best ideas in the room but if they are only ideas expressed, you won’t have fully harnessed the creative power of your team. When it is time to make a decision communicate it through a story. That why the idea will be completely understood and absorbed. Telling your story digitally allows you to tap into a variety of compelling mediums allowing the listener to tap into the emotions of the story either via images on Flickr, Youtube videos, blogs, podcasts and many more mediums. If you’d like to learn more sign up for our free teleclass

Learn how to use digital storytelling to pitch better, sell faster and win more business.

noreply@blogger.com (Kathie Melocco & Diane Collington) — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 21:50:00 +0000

"Every great leader is a great story teller," says Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner.

Storytelling relates to every industry and business today. All successful stories have five basic components: the PASSION with which the story is told, a HERO who leads us through the story and allows us to see it through his or her eyes, an ANTAGONIST or obstacle that the hero must overcome, a moment of AWARENESS that allows the hero to prevail, and the TRANSFORMATION in the hero and in the world that naturally results.

The importance and relevance of storytelling in the twenty-first century is demonstrated by the research of individuals such as Donald Norman, Mark Turner and Daniel Pink. Memory is preserved and the dissemination of information enriched through the application. Research, including high-tech real time brain scans, is now showing that emotions, triggered in the limbic area of the brain - also known as the mammalian brain - lock a story in memory.

This is particularly important in a sales story. I will go so far as to say the days of static brochures are dead. Customers want t engage with your business, to hear the stories of your business.

Take for example how your company started? A story usually most employees know and one that is often told and retold to others. Imagine if you could harness those great stories within your business to gain customers, build rapport and turn them into evangelists for your stories too! The viral nature of a story is a compelling argument to learn how to do it.

I've helped businesses tell stories for over 25 years, be that a unique USP, a story of how a certain company offers a product that enhances a customer experience, health promotion even the importance of going green indoors to clean air and aide workplace productivity.

People often confuse story telling with the elevator pitch. A good corporate story is just that, a story that follows the formula of PASSION, HERO, ANTAGONIST, AWARENESS and ultimately TRANSFORMATION. It compels the listener to embed the story to memory.

Photo courtesy of langwitches.org - Silvia Tolisano

Storytelling is undergoing a renaissance globally as thought leaders and corporate entities realise that communication and creativity both in education and the workplace relies on more than just the transmission of information. Storytelling lends itself to teaching languages, social sciences and the arts. Yet, in fields such as business, marketing, engineering and science the art of storytelling can be utilised to inspire, promote an idea and emphasise the human element of a subject. It allows the organisation to collaborate, communicate and connect with the audience in an engaging manner and builds rapport.

Storytelling can give life to a presentation and a lecture. Forget boring powerpoints! Storytelling can be utilised to add the human element to a dataset and a report.

Storytelling can gain the attention of the audience and inspire others to share their stories.

Social Media allows the extension of the corporate story to be told through a range of digital media that can be employed to inspire the individual and enrich the imagination and so set the stage for the telling and re-telling of stories via a digital medium. There are a variety of online tools and desktop applications including Posterous, Comic Life, Picasa, Audacity and VoiceThread that can be used to tell the corporate story in innovative and creative ways.

The rise of corporate storytelling as a compelling USP tool

noreply@blogger.com (Kathie Melocco & Diane Collington) — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 23:18:00 +0000

"It is my simple mission: to help everyone in our company understand the power of a single relationship and how to grow relationships to support our business. In almost every account we have ever lost, if we look back it is due to somewhere along the way we lost touch with the relationship."

These words were written by a social media coaching client of mine, Jane, She is a senior product manager with a major multi-national and her words resonate with the truth of experience both within internal corporate culture and with key customers. Jane is a warrior who loves to move into the trenches with her people and get up close and personal when helping them solve problems.

Jane is focused on the outcome she is seeking and builds relationships not because she is nice, kind, and compassionate. She actually is all of those things. She builds and nurtures relationships because she uses her brain. Jane is a pragmatic warrior who has been through countless battles with competitors, clients and upper management. Her philosophy of relationship building is based on what works. Her strategy will beat out more aggressive, brutish approaches over the long haul every time. But why does her strategy work?

She understands the value of networks, relationships and stories both in the online world and offline world. She knows that telling real human stories and embedding those with her stakeholders will win every time. And she is authentic, she uses story telling in a compelling real manner to boost the product she is responsible for into the mindset of her stakeholders. In short she allows them to participate in her story and that is what works. In this three part series we will explore the power of corporate story telling as a compelling tool and look at whose using it well.

But first let's look at the science of all of this, receent brain research suggests that the human brain is not so much a “thinking brain” but a relationship making brain. Dr. Gerald Huther, who leads the Dept. of Neurobiology at the Psychiatric Clinic of Gottingen, Germany, says “Until quite recently, it was held to be self-evident that human beings have a big brain to make it possible for them to think. However, the research results of the last years have made it clear that the structure and function of the human brain is especially optimized for building relationships. Our brain is thus much more a social organ than it is a thinking organ.”

Our brain has evolved over millions of years and our closest ancestors, the great apes, have much to teach us. Apes will fight and even kill members of other tribes who try to invade their territory. However, when scientists observe these animals in the wild they report that for the majority of time these animals spend much more time cooperating then fighting. Great apes have learned that building relationships increases the chance of success for all members of the community. By cooperating and specializing on essential tasks like food gathering, rearing the young and watching for dangerous invaders, they all benefit.

Jane is using her brain when she pays attention to building these interpersonal networks and she reminds her team that relationships take constant attention. She knows that especially in times of stress, building and strengthening relationships will win out over blame and arrogant behavior every time.

I'd like to give credit for much of this post,to a wonderful book which is well worth the read - The Elements of Persuasion Using Storytelling to Pitch Better. It's available on Amazon.

When was the last time you sat down with your troops and cascaded powerful stories of your USP related to your business into a warm human story? Have you integrated this into your business both offline and online, particularly social media?

Does your company leadership ‘get the business case’ for digital word of mouth (aka social media)?

noreply@blogger.com (Kathie Melocco & Diane Collington) — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 21:30:00 +0000

Social Media Workshops

According to futurist Dr James Canton the top 10 workforce trends necessitate employees commit to continuous learning particularly up skilling their technological skills if they are to attract the cream of the crop positions in a global workforce.

As the global war for talent heats up, new key skills will be required of the C Suite. ‘Smart Talent’ has been identified as the top driver of competitive advantage. Highly educated, skilled and experienced employees will be in demand.

Finding, training and retaining high-tech skilled employees from a global talent pool will be the greatest challenge for every organization. And that is the dilemma; many C Suites are failing to embrace the fundamental shift in stakeholder collaboration that has dramatically turned our customers into our collaborators with the rise of Web 2. We no longer communicate outside our office walls with linear messages and just the ‘old media’ as the commentator. Our customers are now commentating on our every corporate move, many with powerful followings who can literally make or break a product such as a bad review that can in a split second resonate with their followers and go massively viral.

Learning this lesson the hard way has cost some companies dearly while some savvy CEO’s have identified the business shift that is not an option but, an imperative holistically within the organisation similar to the days when the first PC’s were introduced to all employees desks adding the benefit to the bottom line of improved productivity and labour cost controls.

That same paradigm shift is now once again required of business.

Just as businesses in 2010 are having to adapt to a rapidly changing world and are embedding innovation into the organizational DNA as a key driver of future competitive advantage, so too is the imperative upon organizations to commit to employee development, continual education and training in the social media arena, returning to the organisation new skills and new competencies.

The philosophy is very simple, if your customers are in this new social media space and populate it with ever increasing daily time habits, then why too aren’t you?

This business process transformation can’t be delegated to low level functional roles if the company is to reap the true benefit of active engagement with your customers and stakeholders. It must be owned at leadership level. Social media affects the entire business, and should be looked at Board Room and CEO level.

So what exactly is this ‘thing’ called social media? Firstly I like to refer to social media as digital word of mouth. It is easier for C Suites to get their head around that definition and takes away from the often confused recreational image of Facebook and other social networks.

Fact is many C Suites are missing the point entirely about social media and are lagging far behind many innovative small businesses and competitors. I will go as far as saying many of the larger enterprise organisations don’t even allow employees to access their emails using Smart phones. Only yesterday I heard of the frustrations of one young savvy product manager who was frustrated with her organisation’s leadership and understanding of where and how their customers are ‘hanging out’ as she said to me rightly about the 18-35 market. “They are online, not listening to drive time radio.”

To ‘get it’, you must understand, social media is NOT just a marketing activity, it is a fundamental shift in almost every purchase or conversion process. It is the next generation of business engagement. Whether consumer facing, B2B, for profit or non profit, people are turning to people like themselves for the information they need to make smart choices and are talking about products, causes and activities BEFORE they will even consider the purchase process. They form opinions, talk with their communities, share news and more.

The advent of Web 2.0 and the social web is clearly a game changer, on numerous fronts. It is most effective when it is applied in a holistic manner – take the Zappos case study as an example a company growing from Zero - $1.2 billion using social media strategically rather than simply operationally. To illustrate this let’s take a look at the role of Chief Operating Officer which of course differs from industry to industry and from organisation to organisation. However in most cases the COO is responsible for the daily operations of the company.

As we know many COO’s have worked their way through the company holding different positions of responsibility and are now being groomed to take over the CEO position.

Key functions of the COO often include:

1. Organise resources as set by the CEO with the aim of creating maximum value for the company’s stakeholders

2. Lead by developing and cascading the organisational strategy and mission statement and aligning personnel with company goals

3. Plan by prioritising customer, employee and organisational requirements

4. Maintain and monitor staffing levels and key knowledge requirements that align the organisational goals

5. Drive performance indicators for the measurement of the organisations results.

Need convincing then consider the following hypothetical meeting.

Here are some thought provokers:

CEO – Is this a PR function OR whole of organisation function? What’s the business case, what are our competitors doing?

CFO –Will this strategy increase revenues and what about costs?

CIO –Network security will be an issue.... all these desktop social applications downloaded by every employee is a nightmare to manage.

Legal – Our risk exposure could be huge. We’ll need to consider procedures, standards, workplace law requirements around social media. Definitely a social media policy is needed.

HR – Are we giving all employees access? Who’s training the whole organisation? Can this be used for recruiting?

CSO – Is this going to generate sales leads or is it just about customer service. Do I need to involve the call centre for customer complaints resolution. How are we going to monitor this?

What are your views? Do you think social media discussions need to take place in the boardroom and with company leadership?

Apply the new science of happiness in: • Education • Health • Business • Your Life.

noreply@blogger.com (Kathie Melocco & Diane Collington) — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 21:32:00 +0000

You can change your personal capacity for happiness. Research psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky's pioneering concept of the 40% solution shows you how.

After yesterday's blog post where I discussed that we all have the ability to be creative, I thought I'd keep the focus on emotional well being and the importance of using tools that we now know scientifically improves our happiness quota. Being creative and innovative at work requires us to address our lives in very different ways, to invest in our emotional well being. In fact, I continue to be astounded how companies can expect the best from employees when so many work surroundings are dull in atmosphere, many even lacking a window to the world. The space you occupy to do your most creative and innovative work is important and so too is the way we savour our lives.

It is for this reason that I thought I'd share with you The How of Happiness. I heard Sonja Lyubomirsky speak at the Happiness and its Causes Conference in Sydney last year and her book The How of Happiness is an excellent read and guide to how to increase your own happiness in life. I know it's sounds trite to some who think happiness is a given but try it for yourself, it really does work. There is also an excellent and fun app available for the iPhone that can assist you on your happiness journey.

You can change your personal capacity for happiness. Research psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky's pioneering concept of the 40% solution shows you how.. Drawing on her own groundbreaking research with thousands of men and women, research psychologist and University of California professor of psychology Sonja Lyubomirsky has pioneered a detailed yet easy-to-follow plan to increase happiness in our day-to-day lives-in the short term and over the long term. The How of Happiness is a different kind of happiness book, one that offers a comprehensive guide to understanding what happiness is, and isn't, and what can be done to bring us all closer to the happy life we envision for ourselves. Using more than a dozen uniquely formulated happiness-increasing strategies, The How of Happiness offers a new and potentially life- changing way to understand our innate potential for joy and happiness as well as our ability to sustain it in our lives. Beginning with a short diagnostic quiz that helps readers to first quantify and then to understand what she describes as their "happiness set point," Lyubomirsky reveals that this set point determines just 50 percent of happiness while a mere 10 percent can be attributed to differences in life circumstances or situations. This leaves a startling, and startlingly underdeveloped, 40 percent of our capacity for happiness within our power to change. Lyubomirsky's "happiness strategies" introduce readers to the concept of intentional activities, mindful actions that they can use to achieve a happier life. These include exercises in practicing optimism when imagining the future, instruction in how best to savor life's pleasures in the here and now, and a thoroughgoing explanation of the importance of staying active to being happy. Helping readers find the right fit between the goals they set and the activities she suggests, Lyubomirsky also helps readers understand the many obstacles to happiness as well as how to harness individual strengths to overcome them. Always emphasizing how much of our happiness is within our control, Lyubomirsky addresses the "scientific how" of her happiness research, demystifying the many myths that unnecessarily complicate its pursuit. Unlike those of many self-help books, all her recommendations are supported by scientific research. The How of Happiness is both a powerful contribution to the field of positive psychology and a gift to all those who have questioned their own well- being and sought to take their happiness into their own hands.

Here are some tips for getting started:
(1) Count your blessings: Expressing gratitude for what you have (either privately,
through contemplation or journaling, or to a close other) or conveying your
appreciation to one or more individuals whom you've never properly thanked.
(2) Cultivate optimism: Keeping a journal in which you imagine and write about the
best possible future for yourself, or practicing to look at the bright side of every
situation.
(3) Avoid over thinking and social comparison: Using strategies (such as
distraction) to cut down on how often you dwell on your problems and compare
yourself to others.
(4) Practice acts of kindness: Doing good things for others, whether friends or
strangers, either directly or anonymously, either spontaneously or planned.
(5) Nurture relationships: Picking a relationship in need of strengthening, and
investing time and energy in healing, cultivating, affirming, and enjoying it.
(6) Do more activities that truly engage you: Increasing the number of experiences
at home and work in which you "lose" yourself, which are challenging and absorbing.
(7) Replay and savor life's joys: Paying close attention, taking delight, and going
over life's momentary pleasures and wonders – through thinking, writing, drawing, or
sharing with another.
(8) Commit to your goals: Picking one, two, or three significant goals that are
meaningful to you and devoting time and effort to pursuing them.
(9) Develop strategies for coping: Practicing ways to endure or surmount a recent
stress, hardship, or trauma.
(10) Learn to forgive: Keeping a journal or writing a letter in which you work on
letting go of anger and resentment towards one or more individuals who have hurt or
wronged you.
(11) Practice religion and spirituality: Becoming more involved in your church,
temple, or mosque, or reading and pondering spiritually-themed books.
(12) Take care of your body: Engaging in physical activity, meditating, and smiling
and laughing.

Footnote: The new science of positive psychology has a lot to offer us to enhance our lives. It is a pity with the wealth of scientific research now available to us that more of these tools and techniques are not mainstream yet and so many unproven self help courses and books still survive.

What is this thing called.. ‘Creativity’

noreply@blogger.com (Kathie Melocco & Diane Collington) — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 01:08:00 +0000

What is creativity? The dictionary defines creativity as “to make or bring into existence something new.” You’ve probably heard of right- and left-brain theory. That is, the right hemisphere of the brain is the intuitive, abstract thinking part of the brain, while the left hemisphere is the seat of rational, logical thought. The right side handles big-picture stuff, while the left handles the details. Creativity is commonly thought of as purely a right-brain activity... head in the clouds, nothing logical about it at all. Well, through my own research and personal experience, I’ve discovered that creativity is actually a three-phase process. It’s the right and the left hemispheres of the brain working together in a balanced way combined with a physical act to bring the idea into form. It’s a holistic process of body, mind, spirit. My definition goes like this: Creativity is to make or bring into existence something new by generating ideas (right brain); developing, reorganizing, and refining them (left brain); and taking physical action (body).

Creativity began about 40,000 years ago when our ancestors first made tools out of bone and ivory. Before that they just made do with whatever they could find. A rock for a hammer, a sharp stick for a knife. Once human beings began making things, they began to take control of their own destiny –– thus embarking upon a path of intelligence and consciousness separating them from other animals. Human beings used creativity to survive and prosper, as well as to express themselves through art, music, and dance.

Human creativity grew steadily over the millennia until something rather interesting happened in the not too distant past –– the Industrial Revolution. Creativity brought forth incredible scientific discoveries, including the invention of the steam engine which lead to railroads and factories. These changes did much to add convenience to our lives, but there was one problem. People were needed to do the monotonous, non-creative jobs of operating the machines and working in the mills. Ironically, human creativity had gotten us to a place where creativity itself was no longer a requirement for survival –– we could exchange our time doing a repetitive task for a day’s wages. Creativity became optional, some might say a luxury, and like an unused muscle, creativity began to atrophy in the masses.

Even in the days of the Industrial Revolution, those with a more rural existence often expressed their creativity through music, quilting, and storytelling. Then another product of our amazing creativity, the invention of the radio, caused an even deeper divide between the “creatives” and “non-creatives.” Now, rather than telling stories or bringing out the instruments after dinner, the family would gather ‘round the radio and passively listen to music played by the most accomplished musicians in the world. We began to believe that creative expression was for the truly talented –– not for regular people like us. This “great creative divide” was further deepened by the advent of television. Now we were not only passive listeners, but watchers too. The steady stream of images and sounds from an outside source (when taken in on a regular basis) tends to numb our senses and diminish our creativity, while on the other hand, active entertainment –– like going to a concert, dance, or theater event –– stimulates creativity. Don’t get me wrong, I love radio, and I think both radio and TV have an important place in our lives, but it’s interesting to notice how they’ve affected our creativity.

So where does this leave us here in the beginning of the 21st century? If you take a look around, you can see that we live in a society in which about 90 percent of the people are left-brain dominant –– really good analytical thinkers –– and many people don’t think that they’re creative at all. Now this isn’t much of a surprise since we’re just beginning to come out of the Information Age. For the better part of a century, success has been defined by our ability to manipulate and analyze information, and as a result our educational system is almost entirely focused on developing left-brain analytical thinking. So, yes, it’s not surprising that we live in a world where creativity is indeed undervalued.

Can you see that there’s an opportunity here? As someone who has based her entire professional career on using creativity I can tell you that creativity was often undervalued until recently. The tide is turning.

Take note of all the rapid innovation appearing around us, often it is the result of the young rejecting the sometimes stifling education system and using creativity and innovation to surge forward. Take the rise of Facebook for example, or Google. Both at their lowest denominator are simple concepts using technology to facilitate and both are outstanding examples of creativity.

If creativity is seriously lacking in our society and indeed your business, wouldn’t we have an advantage if we just invested a little bit of time and energy into exercising our creative muscles and tapping into our inner creative brilliance? Think of the advancements we can make around sustainability, social good and of course, the planet. Creativity and innovation are needed. Your thoughts... •

The inspiring story of how one man found his 'passionpulse' in life and is changing the world, one school at a time!

noreply@blogger.com (Kathie Melocco & Diane Collington) — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 23:43:00 +0000

The inspiring account of one man's campaign to build schools in the most dangerous, remote, and anti-American reaches of Asia Three Cups of Tea is a must read adventure and a great cause

In 1993 Greg Mortenson was the exhausted survivor of a failed attempt to ascend K2, an American climbing bum wandering emaciated and lost through Pakistan's Karakoram Himalaya. After he was taken in and nursed back to health by the people of an impoverished Pakistani village, Mortenson promised to return one day and build them a school. From that rash, earnest promise grew one of the most incredible humanitarian campaigns of our time—Greg Mortenson's one-man mission to counteract extremism by building schools, especially for girls, throughout the breeding ground of the Taliban.

Award-winning journalist David Oliver Relin has collaborated on this spellbinding account of Mortenson's incredible accomplishments in a region where Americans are often feared and hated. In pursuit of his goal, Mortenson has survived kidnapping, fatwas issued by enraged mullahs, repeated death threats, and wrenching separations from his wife and children. But his success speaks for itself. At last count, his Central Asia Institute had built fifty-five schools. Three Cups of Tea is at once an unforgettable adventure and the inspiring true story of how one man really is changing the world—one school at a time.

Instead of a corporate hamper give the book “Half the Sky” this Christmas and take action to change the world

noreply@blogger.com (Kathie Melocco & Diane Collington) — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 23:24:00 +0000

Women hold up half the sky

Chinese Proverb

Books make excellent Christmas gifts. Not only are they great for book lovers, but almost anyone will appreciate a book that deals with a subject they enjoy. I was going to write this blog post about my top book recommendations as inspirational gifts this Christmas but when I wrote my first recommendation I considered it inappropriate to compare other wonderful books with the massive movement my first recommendation, Half the Sky, endeavours to inspire. So my post on top books for gifts will have to wait until next time. Instead here is a suggestion for a unique and thought provoking gift this Christmas 2010 that just might inspire others to take action.

Half The Sky – How to Change the World – by Nicholas D Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn

This may be one of the most important books I have ever read. It is a book about amazing women who have overcome unimaginable hurdles in order to change the world.

How do we tackle poverty, disease and conflict? Half the sky shows that women are the solution. As the chief economist of the World Bank once wrote: ‘Investment in girls’ education may well be the highest return investment available in the developing world.’

I heard Mr. Kristof on the radio not so long ago and the title caught my attention. After the first page, the book caught my heart. This is such a well researched and well written book that I could not put it down. We all realize that women the world over face challenges that women in Western Countries never have to face. Prepare to have your eyes opened when you open this book. I dare you not to be moved, and I dare you to do nothing after reading it. The women who share their stories here are some of the most courageous and strongest women ever, and they are changing their world for the better.

Here’s what others too have said about this New York Times Bestseller.

A call to arms against the most shocking and widespread human –rights violation of our age. In the nineteenth century the central moral challenge we faced was slavery. In the twentieth century it was the battle against totalitarianism. In the twenty first century it is the struggle for equality for women and their daughters around the world.. Fierce, pragmatic, full of inspiring stories of courage and determination, Half the sky is essential reading for every one of us – whichever gender, wherever we live.

Angelina Jolie said ‘These stories show us the power and resilience of women who would have every reason to give up but never do – you will not want to put this book down.:

George Clooney said “It’s impossible to stand by and do nothing after reading half the sky.”

The Washington Post said “Sensationally interesting.. I really do think this is one of the most important books I have ever reviewed.”

All I can say, is this is one of those life changing books, it makes you think about the power of movements and what we can do to change the plight of millions of woman and children around the globe.

Give a Christmas Gift with a difference– At that back of the book are four steps you can take in the next ten minutes – a couple of those steps would be great additions to your Christmas gift to others – in fact this book is so good that I’d simply wrap it up in plain brown paper and put a big picture of the world on it with women’s faces and simply say with the card – This year our company decided to make a big difference, we want to change the world one woman at a time – will you join us?

Oh and if you can’t wait until Christmas time, you can buy the book now, here’s the link.

Changing the world one woman at a time.

Footnote: Update: It's worth visiting Half the Sky's website to learn more. It's a movement that needs everyone's support to change the world, one woman at a time.
http://www.halftheskymovement.org/accolades

Marketing Mastery Bootcamp – a passionpuslator event

noreply@blogger.com (Kathie Melocco & Diane Collington) — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 22:41:00 +0000

I was reading Sir Ken Robinson’s wonderful book ‘The Element’ and was struck by a wonderful story he led with as his opening and to illustrate that all of us have a natural wonder about us, it is just that over the years life experiences, education and our own belief processes eventually get in the way of us being creative and thwart for many of us our own natural talents and passions.

It goes something like this: ‘An elementary school teacher was giving a drawing class to a group of six year old children. At the back of the classroom sat a little girl who normally didn’t pay much attention in school. In the drawing class shed did. For more than twenty minutes, the girl sat with her arms curled around her paper, totally absorbed in what she was doing. The teacher found this fascinating. Eventually, she asked the girl what she was drawing. Without looking up the little girl said, “I’m drawing a picture of God.” Surprised the teacher said, ‘But nobody knows what God looks like.”

The girl said, “They will in a minute."

A beautiful story,it certainly reminds us young children are wonderfully confident in their own imaginations. Sadly most of us lose this confidence as we grow up. Ask a class of first graders which of them thinks they are creative and they’ll all put their hand up. Ask a group of university students this same question and most of them won’t.

We are all born with tremendous natural capacities, and we simply lose touch with them as we spend more time in the world. Ironically, one of the main reasons this happens is education. The result is that too many people never connect with their true talents and therefore don’t know what they’re really capable of achieving.

This week I spoke to a large group of business owners keen to learn the in's and out’s of social media. All attendees had participated in a 7 day social media learning intensive from how to use twitter, facebook, linkein and so on.

My presentation was about putting it all together and guess what? All the training in the world won’t deliver results unless you put together a creative campaign that is different, innovative, fresh and inspires others to take action.

So I spent a lot of time during the presentation talking about creativity, innovation, the long tail and social media best practice campaign models. Why? You can learn all the how to’s of social media but if you fail to develop a creative campaign that resonates with your audience you miss a wonderful opportunity to inspire others to take meaningful action.

Why am I using the words inspire and meaningful? Maybe because I have yet to meet a business owner that doesn’t have a real purpose that they enjoy sharing and, this purpose has the potential to transform their brand into something that adds value and makes a difference. Be it a cause they contribute to, the way their culture provides service, a unique product offering and so on.

Just look at the great case study of Zappos. They sell shoes! But their whole customer and cultural experience is about delivering a unique customer experience no matter the channel of communication and in so doing they have empowered their employees and customers as evangelists for the brand. Be it on the phone, via email, in social media and more.

At our forthcoming Marketing Mastery Bootcamp in October we are going to explore exactly that with each attendee identifying what is the unique selling point of their company and how can this be turned into a campaign that makes a difference. Sure we’ll cover the nuts and bolts but it is my goal to ensure that everyone leaves with a complete A-Z blueprint for how they are going to drive marketing through their business to deliver the results they are seeking to achieve. That requires tow things: 1. The uh huh moment of what communication can truly make a difference and 2. A sense of personal passion to stay the course to deliver that and not get sidetracked by other things.

I’m really looking forward to working with 50 dynamic business owners and hoping you will join us too.

The Origins of Six Degrees of Separation and the power of social media for business

noreply@blogger.com (Kathie Melocco & Diane Collington) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 19:15:00 +0000

Yesterday I spoke to a terrific group of people about developing a social media strategy and programme. The event was organised by that super networker Sean Grobbelaar. I spent quite a lot of time talking about innovation and the importance of connecting with tribes as you plan your social media campaign. The concept of tribes and finding super connectors is not new. We all feel closer together because of the power of the web and indeed more so than ever with the advent of new social media platforms that bring us together often with networks and friends that we may even have lost contact with at some point in our lives. So when we casually say 'gosh isn't the world a small place and it only takes six degrees of separation before I meet someone we mutually know' what does that really mean?

In the late 1960's well before the advent of the internet, psychologist Stanley Milgram conducted an experiment to find an answer to what is know as the small world problem. The problem is this: how are we humans connected? Do we all belong to separate worlds, operating simultaneously but autonomously, so that the links between any two people, anywhere in the world, are few and distant? Or, are we all bound up together in a grand interlocking web?

What Milgram was asking has a great deal of relevance to the success or failure of some social media programmes, that being how does an idea or trend or piece of news - travel through the population?

Milgram's idea to test this question was a chain letter. He got the names of 160 people who lived in Omaha, Nebraska, and mailed each of them a packet. In the packet was a name of a stockbroker who lived in Sharon, Massachusetts. Each person was instructed to write his or her name on the packet and send it onto a friend or acquaintance who he or her thought would get the packet closer to the stockbroker. If you lived in Omaha and had a cousin outside of Boston, for example, you might send it to him, on the grounds that - even if your cousin did not himself know the stockbroker - he would be a lot more likely to be able to get to the stockbroker in two or three or fours steps.

The idea was when the packet finally arrived at the stockbroker's house, Milgram could look at the list of all those who hands it went through to get there and establish how closely connected someone chosen at random from one part of the country was to another person in another part of the country.

Milgram found that most of the letter's reached the stockbroker in five or six steps. This experiment is where we get the concept of six degrees of separation.

This phrase is so familiar to most of us today that we lose sight of how surprising Milgram's findings were. Most of us don't have particular broad and diverse groups of friends.

When Miilgram analyze his experiment to determine how did the packet get to Sharon in just five steps, the answer was not all degrees are equal. He found that many of the chains from Omaha to Sharon followed the same asymmetrical pattern. Twenty four letters reached the stockbroker at his home in Sharon, and of those sixteen were given to him by the same person, a clothing merchant Milgram calls Mr Jacobs. The balance of the letters came to the stockbroker at his office, and of those the majority came through two other men, whom Milgram calls Mr Brown and Mr Jones.

In all, half of the responses that came back to the stockbroker were delivered to him by these same three people.

Think about it. Dozens of people, chosen at random from a large Midwestern city, send out letters independently. Some go to college acquaintances. Some send their letters to relatives. Some send letters to old workmates and so on. Yet in the end when all those chains were completed, half of those letters ended up in the hands of Jacobs,Jones and Brown.

Six degrees of separation doesn't mean that everyone is linked to everyone else in just six steps. It means that a very small number of people are linked to everyone else in a few steps, and the rest of us are linked to the world through those special people.

These people who we rely on heavily are 'connectors', people with a special gift for bringing the world together. We'll talk more about the traits of these special people in a later post, that too is a fascinating insight.

However I wanted to share the relevance of this experiment dating back to the 1960's and the rise today of the phenomena known as social media. Imagine if you could and can tap into these special connectors to communicate the benefits of your product or service with passion and with meaning for their lives. Who will they tell, I wonder...

This in itself is a strong argument for networking on linkeIN, facebook, twitter and so on. Have you observed these special people on social networking sites and met them in the real work perhaps? I'd be interested in your thoughts and observations. One person who comes to mind is Iggy Pintado. He has written an excellent book on what he calls the Connection Generation. He says 'Connection Generation reveals how individuals, groups and networks have progressed beyond their intent to communicate - but to a tangible connection between people, information, experiences and ideas. Due to the advent of internet and mobile technology, this dynamic transcends traditional thinking about societal generations. It proposes that anyone who had access to a computer or mobile device since 1995 - regardless of age - is part of the Connection Generation'. Personally I think what he is showing, albeit in a technology driven society, is how true Milgram's basic experiment was, that the power of social networks offers enormous opportunities to grow our businesses in ways many of us do not tap into.

Stay out of social networking and you may miss one of the greatest business opportunities you have to reach new customers and in some cases turn them into powerful evangelists for your product or service. Of course six degrees of separation also means the reverse is true, a lousy experience and your tribe may tell their friends and so on...

Focus on a great customer experience whatever social media platforms you use: service, customer satisfaction, innovation and brand essence, delivering on the promise remain paramount. A great social media example of doing it well is Zappos, the shoe company. You can read their case study for more information.

For further reading on Six Degrees of Separation, I highly recommend reading The International Bestseller - The Tipping Point, How Little things can make a big difference by Malcolm Gladwell.

Is your business innovative enough in this era of social media?

noreply@blogger.com (Kathie Melocco & Diane Collington) — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 21:24:00 +0000

The inexorable rise of web-based content, social media and mobile devices is forcing marketers to take a long hard look at their online brand presence and digital reputation. And this digital influence is happening at such a rapid rate that it is often hard for businesses to mobilise their efforts fast enough to keep up with the online consumer evangelism now taking place.

Smart businesses are reorganising resources, skills and processes to adjust to the new reality of conversational and participative media. Concepts of paid, owned and earned media provide a useful prism through which to plan campaigns and attract new customers.

This re-engineering, if you like means that no longer can you delegate your digital requirements to your resident ‘geek’. We are now in the era where everyone is a marketer and, a geek by default given the rapid offering of new technologies being launched almost daily.

But how do you know what technology and communication needs are suitable for your business. The offering is so diverse that it can be overwhelming. It starts with what you want to communicate and how? Mobility is the key. One company who specialises in assisting businesses assess their communication needs independent of any of the carriers or vendors is Team Telecom.

According to General Manager, Tony Carrozza, “Every business from 20 people to those employing thousands has productivity challenges. There is little place for off the shelf and customisation sends fear into the hearts of the finance manager. The market is highly customisable but sometimes the innovation is ahead of what the business actually perceives is possible. It is surprising how much technology out there that was designed for one purpose but deployed and viewed in another application can deliver significant productivity and financial benefits. The bottom line is to provide what the customer needs to communicate in this new digital era, not what the vendor has.” says Carrozza.

The other area business needs to get its head around is the notion of big brands continuing to establish complex and expensive marketing outposts in the form of corporate websites. These ''owned'' media formats provided a safe and controlled environment where brands could lay out their stall. This was the first phase of the web and is now outdated and restrictive to operating in the web 2.0 landscape.
Why? The game changed completely with phase two. Social media today consumes more than six hours of the average online Australian's time every month. Confronted, almost affronted, by the empowered customer many brands are soul-searching for a reason to engage and a manageable social media strategy.

Consumers, your customers, in every form are drawn to social media because it allows them to create their own experience. The opportunity to generate ''earned'' media in the form of word-of-mouth recommendations and advocacy within social networks, forums and blogs has sparked a gold rush with each marketing discipline laying claim to what will be a major source of income for the industry.

The successful brands online will be those that understand their customer, optimise their various marketing channels, identify the connection points between media types and deliver a consistent message or experience. The metaphor is a river, with a source of strategic messaging that trickles down to a variety of channel connection point.

The branded website, an owned media format, will play an important role in this mix but not in its current form. In most cases, traffic to branded websites is in decline. It's no wonder given the brand-centric rather than user-centric nature of most and their poor search functionality. Today's branded websites are, in the main, Web 1.0 hangovers, which prioritise presentation and usability over content and interaction. Content today is king.

The theory behind digital PR and marketing is that relevant experiences facilitated by brands will build relationships which make customers more inclined to take action, such as share content, click 'Like' in Facebook, make a recommendation to a friend or colleague via Twitter or make a purchase.

The mistake branded websites make is to act as e-commerce shopfronts or online brochures. They fail to understand the user and bury the subtle relationship-building content. Social media is user-centric; its currency is human voices and entertaining content. It provides brands with a platform for conversation. Here, value lies in the content as opposed to the context. There's no need for high value production. The human voice is, however, almost completely absent from branded websites.

A recent social media study by B&M found that just 20 per cent of the top 20 brands in Australia have a company blog. Yet we have seen the rise of super bloggers who influence your customers about everything imaginable. Suffice to say, if you don’t have a dialogue with your customers via a blog then you miss a powerful opportunity. Further, only 10 per cent of corporate newsrooms offered video downloads, yet You Tube dominates consumer and business downloads not just for fun but for intelligent insightful commentary. With social media, customers build relationships that shape discovery and add features that personalise their experience. Branded websites treat every customer equally, presenting each with a limited number of choices and predestined workflows. Future efforts will be highly personalised.

At the end, the same the same principles apply. It all starts with vision, strategy and innovation. Where do you want to be as a business. Not what have you been doing to date...Think outside the box, because anything is now possible. And that is the very issues, those that adapt cleverly to the new digital world with innovation have tremendous commercial opportunities. It is however challenging for old school businesses to move away from the linear mode of communication to the new interactive dialogue with customers and business.

If we crystal ball gaze it is fairly obvious that we will see the rise of a new band of trusted advisors in micro niche specific areas working with business. Why? Change is so rapidly upon us that it is simply impossible to keep up to the minute with every relevant change and that’s where these new micro advisers will emerge. Ensure you have trusted and expert counsel in the area of technology provision, marketing counsel who are abreast of new web 2.0 developments, establish appropriate social media policies and guidelines but make them empowering, you have the opportunity to turn everyone in your organisation into a sales person. And of course, work to make your customers your evangelists. There will be times when you have dissatisfied customers in the social media space too, take note, respond and work to correct their concerns quickly and transparently.

But to succeed in this new digital era it must start at the top, the CEO has to embrace this new paradigm of communication and rapidly to compete. Make sure your make it your business to explore the future and innovation is the key.

Using YouTube 101 - for Business

noreply@blogger.com (Kathie Melocco & Diane Collington) — Sat, 15 May 2010 23:54:00 +0000

YOUTUBE IS AN ONLINE VIDEO PHENOMENON AND A CHEAP AND ACCESSIBLE TOOL TO PROMOTE YOURSELF AND YOUR BUSINESS ONLINE.

Online video advertising and marketing is experiencing rapid growth with the popularity of YouTube.

Take your business marketing to the next level with online video advertisement and your own channel. YouTube is an interactive worldwide community, there are numerous ways to use the platform to inform people, get them to participate and broaden awareness of your business.

Television commercials have largely been beyond the reach and affordability for small businesses, NGO's and business, a YouTube channel can offer you a new and inexpensive marketing medium.

Setting up your YouTube channel is far from complicated, as your channel is automatically generated for you when you sign up for a new YouTube account. To set up a basic channel follow these steps:

1. Sign into your YouTube account and click the Account link (at the top right hand corner of the page).

2. Click the large blue My Account link in the top left hand corner of the screen.

3. From the My Account drop-down menu, select the My Channel option.

4. In the left hand navigation section, click Channel Info.

5. Add the information you'd like to appear on your channel

6. Don't forget to click the 'Update Channel' button to save your changes!

7. You can then click the 'View your public channel' hyperlink (in the top right hand corner of the page) to see the edits you have made on your channel.

You can now customise your channel to push your business branding, product advertisement and offer support features. Go to Channel design to choose a colour scheme to match your logo. Go to Branding options to add banners, icons and URL's linking users to your business website or other relevant businesses. Choose your top video, the top video on your channel automatically plays each time someone visits your page.

Update this regularly to keep it fresh, or keep your most important video there as an introduction. Use a video to push your company's brand, just the way you would with traditional television advertising. You can also take a more direct approach and use a video to promote individual products. Keep your videos informative, educational or entertaining. Include a lot of close up shots of the product and a link back to your own website where further product information is available.

A YouTube channel can be used for more than just the business to consumer relationship, it can be utilised as a tool in streamlining business to employee relationships for product training, employee communications and recruiting new talent. A YouTube channel can offer your business both value and opportunity as one of the lowest cost marketing tools you can find.

LinkedIN - the power of connection and social media influence

noreply@blogger.com (Kathie Melocco & Diane Collington) — Sat, 15 May 2010 22:38:00 +0000

Your web site may be sitting there waiting for visitors to come along but not so for LinkedIN because it has 55 million users who regularly visit representing 150 industries around the world, LinkedIn is a fast-growing professional networking site that allows members to create business contacts, search for jobs, and find potential clients. Individuals have the ability to create their own professional profile that can be viewed by others in their network, and also view the profiles of their own contacts.. The best thing is that you don’t even have to pay to reach these 55 million people. You just need to figure out a way to attract their attention.

The paradox with online networking is that it is difficult to put into practice the usual nine influencing tactics of; reasoning, inspiring, inquiring, make them feel good, strike a deal, swapping favours, using silent allies, authority and force. There are three reasons why this is the case.

Firstly, most people joining LinkedIN are focused on themselves and use a discussion or comment as a disguise to leave their ‘online’ business card. Secondly, most people tend to fallback on reasoning to get their point across and a discussion then ends up as a verbal arm-wrestling contest. Thirdly, they underestimate the time, effort, and skill required to engage in a fluid and dynamic conversation.

To get benefits from online business networking, you need to invest time and energy to build your reputation. It is your reputation that influences and attracts people. People want insight instead of Inmails. The more insights you share, the more people will see you as an expert. The more valuable you become in your network, the more people will be attracted to you and so your reputation grows. Over time, people starts to look to you to make connections with other people. In short, you become more than your CV, you become an invaluable asset in your network. In benefiting others, you become the benefit of online business networking.

Social Media - the basics, getting started

noreply@blogger.com (Kathie Melocco & Diane Collington) — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 22:04:00 +0000

Companies including start-ups have shown that one can approach social media marketing in a diligent manner.

Be it for identifying the best skill set or reaping real benefits, such companies have set several benchmarks. The way such companies approach and handle social media marketing initiatives have ensured that social media has now taken its rightful place in the suite of marketing initiatives. Such campaigns can be evaluated using some traditional ROI metrics, plus there have been some new takes on what ROI means in the context of the social web.

Aligning a company’s social networking strategy with that of a company’s brand and then integrating social elements into the fabric of everything you do online:

I think, first and foremost, you have to understand your business goals and the metrics you are trying to influence, be it traffic, members, revenue. Next figure out which social networks your market uses the most and how best to promote your brand. A big challenge is justifying resources towards a social marketing strategy so you can manage, monitor, measure and integrate what you do. It’s better to concentrate on a couple of initiatives and not spread yourself too thin. This will also make it easier to take an integrated approach and allow you to effectively cross promote your initiatives.

How should you approach social media marketing as an ongoing initiative:

Once you’ve launched your initiative, you do have to invest time into monitoring how it’s going so you can feed the fire. Listen and respond to tweets or blog posts. If something isn’t working, be honest, change it fast and let people know, whether it’s a small bug, or an oversight (e.g. Google Buzz) with regards to their privacy settings. The community will let you know and it’s important to acknowledge and communicate fixes or progress to resolution. Listening to feedback is a valuable way to inform the product. Also, measure what you can on the likes of bit.ly or Google Analytics, and apply tracking codes to events, such as Facebook Connect, so you can make changes and track improvement.

What makes people contribute to a social site/ why do people get excited about using social media:

Why do people talk to each other? This is just another way of exchanging information and having a conversation. Whether it’s your friends on Facebook or a group of people who share a common interest, social networks facilitate the conversation. It’s immediate so you can give and receive feedback. A response can also spark ideas, suggestions or debate from other participants. This also makes it fun and engaging to those who are participating and those observing from the sidelines. There’s also fulfilling the basic desire of human nature of recognition, attention and reward. That holds true both personally and professionally.

Countering low social media perception:

Again, people talk and listen to their friends. Social networks just happen to make those conversations more public. As a company or a brand you have to tune in where you can, participate where it’s appropriate and respond. Again, use tools like Google Alerts to monitor blogs and Twitter to monitor what's being said. Let people know as you roll out new enhancements or features that help solve issues that have been raised. View social media as another vehicle for customer service.

What are the best ways to measure the ROI of advertising campaigns in a social media environment:

In making their investment, I think most marketers are more concerned with building a presence on social networking sites rather than paying for advertising. That being said, ad spending on Facebook is soaring and expected to grow 34 percent in the United States in 2010 (eMarketer). The best opportunity exists in tying paid media to earned media. This is unlikely to come from classic banner ads but more through engagements ads, which are more viral and encourage people to interact with the brand. The most popular metric to measure ROI from advertising is still traffic, although engagement and softer metrics like number of followers and fans are important to track.

Traditional online campaigns that are either CPM or CPC based, though familiar, not necessarily being the optimal marketing tactics to use in the social media world:

Yes. Most marketers are looking to invest in building a social presence and capitalise on earned media—what consumers are saying and sharing about your company and brand. This way you have trusted, influential third parties talking about your brand and getting your message out for you rather than relying on paid placement alone. For that to happen you need to at least provide tools and buttons to allow information to be shared, offer something people feel compelled to share such as good content, trips, deals and contests, and invest effort in reaching out to influential bloggers for reviews.

How should companies differentiate between revenue and tracking:

Again it comes down to what your objectives are, which are not going to be the same for everyone. There are at least three categories of social media metrics: exposure (your reach), engagement (interactions) and outcomes (revenue, cost per lead, profit). Although hard metrics are desirable, it’s important to track soft metrics too, such as followers and friends because this contributes to building trust and goodwill towards your brand.

Have you determined who 'brand you' is?

noreply@blogger.com (Kathie Melocco & Diane Collington) — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 22:31:00 +0000

I was at a workshop last week, at which I gave an impromptu “from the heart” mini-talk on personal branding in the era of social media.

People often question if they “need” a personal brand. Here’s the news – you already HAVE a personal brand. The only questions are, what is it? Are you projecting it effectively? And with the rise of social media, you also now have to think about your personal brand online. Is it congruent with brand YOU!

When people see you, think of you, and relate to you, words and images and feelings come to mind. That is your personal brand. If people who know you think “friendly,” “helpful,” “kind,” when they see you and talk about you, you are well on your way to possessing a positive personal brand. Of course, you can easily see the flip side of this as well…

So, you have a brand. Do you know what it is? What distinguishes you from the teeming hordes of humanity? What are you known for? Here, you need some self-examination, maybe some personality profiling (I found the Gallup books on Strengths to be particularly helpful), and some honest friends to help you distill it down.

What you’ll find is a constellation of qualities, and perhaps 1-5 characteristics that really stand out. Those are what you build your brand on. And, once you really have a grasp on it, you can communicate to people much more effectively what you’re all about. Where you fit in. Even what your future business endeavors should look like. You project your brand NOW – but you can project it more effectively when you actually know what it IS, and feel comfortable in your own skin.

What is my personal brand? I listen, analyze, distill, and rapidly find the core, then communicate it fairly effectively. This becomes my brand voice.

Let’s make one distinction. There is your personal brand essence, which is that grouping of personality traits, character traits, strengths, and capabilities that make you you. Then there is your personal brand role, which is how you function in the world and marketplace. Your role may change, but your essence remains the same, and hopefully, your functional and professional role is increasingly aligned with who you (essentially) are.

I’ve had live and on-line conversations with several people in the last few months who are wrestling with how to define themselves, and project their personal brand. As it turns out, my core competencies of analyzing, distilling, and expressing makes that a very enjoyable and meaningful exercise.

You don’t have to be a personal branding guru, or a consultant, a blogger, or an entrepreneur, to have and project a brand. You simply have to have a pulse. And a willingness to discover what really makes you tick. You DO have a brand, and you DO have something to offer. What endeavor could more rewarding and noble than identifying that brand and running with it?

Are you following your 'passionpulse'?

noreply@blogger.com (Kathie Melocco & Diane Collington) — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 22:13:00 +0000

Evere wondered why really successful people are passionate about what they do and why it is so important to them. They seem to do everything so effortlessly. How is that?

It's realy simple. If you are not passionate about an activity, it means that activity isn’t providing you with growth, satisfaction, joy and expansion. Passion and success are inseparable to me. Passion is born of success – and the progress that comes with success.

People are drawn to that activity because when they tasted that activity, they immediately experienced growth and progress in that direction. Typically it’s where their talent lies. It’s a natural channel of creativity for them.

Pursuit of passion is so basic to life, so intimate to life, that if you’re not pursuing your passions, you’re not going to be happy for very long. You’re not going to be able to sustain that direction for very long. Yet one does have control to some extent, over what constitutes one’s passion.

Lack of passion costs you dearly, and sometimes you don’t know the cost because it is a compound bill. When it comes due it is very painful. Passions need to be balanced and passions need to be universal in your life.

What you put your attention on grows stronger in your life. You can culture an interest for something. You can develop a talent in an area, which then allows you to succeed in that area and thus enjoy progress, success and evolution through that channel. That area will become more and more of a passion for you when your activity in that area rewards you with joy, progress, expansion and evolution.

People have freedom and it’s probably the greatest human freedom – over what they give their attention to. And that area will become more central, more important in their life. I would recommend that everyone exercise that freedom – to put their attention on projects that are truly worthy, with the potential to bring maximum happiness and evolution to their life and society as a whole.

The more global and far reaching the project, the more happiness and evolution that project could potentially bring. We have control over what might become a passion for us, and that’s an important freedom we exercise. But there are obvious constraints on what could ever become our passion, based upon our core predispositions and genetic makeup.

So we have some control, but there are constraints based upon our own individual natures. For example not everyone is going to be a great, teacher, doctor or lawyer. We each have certain predispositions towards this notion we call our passionpulse. What lights our inner fire, what excites us and brings joy and satisfaction to our lives.

By aligning our passions and desires with the natural evolutionary flow of universal intelligence, virtually any impulse of thought can meet with tremendous success. Aligning individual intelligence with nature’s intelligence is what is called enlightenment.

Developing the brain and rising to high states of consciousness is absolutely key to achieving individual fulfilment and is the key to contributing maximum to the evolution of society toward an enlightened society.

We are all united at our core, and that truth, the unity of life, is the most precious and crucially important understanding to emerge in this scientific age. This is the same reality that has been celebrated since time immemorial in all the great spiritual traditions of the world. But now the same truth is open to objective verification through the empirical approach of modern physics, and open to personal verification through the experiential approach of consciousness and specifically for me in pursuing my passions.

When I do, my own personal fulfilment and happiness seems to be contagious. My excitement for projects takes on a life of their own and, enrolling people into a higher vision happens with ease. Try it, you will be amazed and humbled with the difference following your heart and passions makes to your life and indeed to others.

Nearly 20% of Marketing Dollars Will Go to Social Marketing in 5 Years

noreply@blogger.com (Kathie Melocco & Diane Collington) — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 20:36:00 +0000

Social media networks are a marketers dream. With over 500 million active users on Facebook today, there’s no doubt that Facebook is a social media powerhouse. And although Facebook is a social networking favorite, it’s not alone.

Marketers are actively taking note of many different social media opportunities and beginning to implement new strategic social initiatives at a higher rate than ever before. Here are 3 new studies that show social media is on the rise. As a business you cannot afford NOT to participate:

#1: Small Business Doubles Social Media Adoption

At least one positive result from the economic downturn is the rapid growth of social media marketing.

A recent study, “The State of Small Business Report,” sponsored by Network Solutions, LLC and the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, points to economic difficulties as the catalyst for social media’s rapid popularity.

The study results show that social media usage by small business owners increased from 12% to 24% in just the last year, and almost 1 out of 5 actively uses social media as part of his or her marketing strategy.

Here’s a breakdown of what the small businesses reported as the main uses of social media marketing:

* 75% have a company page on a social networking site
* 69% post status updates or articles of interest on social media sites
* 57% build a network through a site such as LinkedIn
* 54% monitor feedback about the business
* 39% maintain a blog
* 26% tweet about areas of expertise
* 16% use Twitter as a service channel

According to the study, different industries are adopting social media marketing at different rates, and while many industries have started using social media marketing in their efforts to reach more customers, many still have not positioned it as their top priority.

According to the survey, “Professional services firms, real estate businesses and entertainment/food/lodging businesses rely more on email marketing than other types of small businesses. Firms in the education/health/social services sector rely more on social media marketing and direct mail. Not surprisingly, retailers depend more on print and broadcast advertising.” Those slow to adopt to the new way of communicating via social media may remain in the backwoods for years and may simply be unable to catch up with their more aggressive and savvy competitors

The report also measured small businesses’ expectations of social media. While 58% feel that social media “met expectations,” 12% feel it has “exceeded expectations,” while 25% feel social media has “fallen short of expectations.”

Some of the reasons given for social media’s shortfalls were:

* 50% feel it has used up more time than expected
* 19% believe social media has lost them money
* 17% feel social media has allowed people to criticize their business

Overall, social media use by small business is a major growth area. The report says it best: “This dire environment has not stifled innovation. The most successful small businesses are competing by offering superior service and creativity and small businesses are rapidly embracing social media as a way for keeping engaged with customers and tapping knowledge resources.”

#2: Nearly 20% of Marketing Dollars Will Go to Social Marketing in 5 Years

In just the last 6 months, marketers have shifted their attitudes toward social media marketing spending. This was recently affirmed in the new study, “The CMO Survey”, from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and the American Marketing Association. A key finding: Social media marketing budgets continue to rise. According to the results, businesses currently allocate 6% of their marketing budgets to social media, an allotment they expect to increase to 10% during the next year and 18% over the next 5 years.

Back in August 2009, marketers had already planned on devoting more money to social media. However, in February 2010, marketers reported that they plan to allocate one-fifth of their marketing budgets to social media marketing in the next 5 years. This is a definite increase from the 2009 projections. The study features the following comparison from August 2009 to February 2010:

Current marketing budget spending on social media:

August 2009: 3.5%

February 2010: 5.6%

Marketing budget spending on social media in the next 12 months:

August 2009: 6.1%

February 2010: 9.9%

Marketing budget spending on social media in the next 5 years:

August 2009: 13.7%

February 2010: 17.7%

According to the director of the survey, Fuqua Professor Christine Moorman, “Even though many are still experimenting and learning how best to use social media tools, these results indicate that marketers think social media marketing is here to stay and will play an increasingly important role in their work in acquiring and retaining customers in the future.”

#3: Mastering Social Media: A Top Goal for Marketers

Anderson Analytics and Marketing Executives Networking Group recently released a report titled “Marketing Trends 2010” with some interesting insight into the minds of marketing executives.

Marketing executives were asked to choose the most important trends and buzzwords to pay attention to in 2010, marketing ROI (getting a good return on marketing efforts) was number one, with 58% saying it was the most important trend to keep an eye on. But what’s even more interesting is that social media made the top 10 list, with 42% choosing it as one of the top trends to watch. In addition, 72% said they work for companies that are planning social media initiatives in 2010.

The study also explored social media presence and reported interesting findings when comparing personal social media use among marketing executives and their company’s social media use.Individual executives are most likely to use networking tools like Facebook and LinkedIn, while companies are more likely to keep a blog than individual executives.

Equally interesting is the consensus on how to carry out the social media initiatives. Marketers turn to internal employees, social media consultants and interactive agencies for support and are less likely to use PR and ad agencies. The growth is certainly in social media marketing agencies.

When selecting a supplier for social media initiatives, marketing executives focus on the influence over a target market and the extent of a consultant’s network as major deciding factors.

These three surveys are great indicators that we will continue to see social media marketing rise and perhaps over time see less of the traditional marketing strategies. Social media is here to stay so for those still working within organisations where it is a low priority your challenge is to show how linear marketing is no longer the norm. Your customers hear about your products from many, many different sources.

Have you seen a major shift to social marketing initiatives in your company? Is there still a hesitancy to make a substantial leap to this new way of marketing or has the shift been an easy transition?

Tips for creating great Blog content

noreply@blogger.com (Kathie Melocco & Diane Collington) — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 22:36:00 +0000

I often get asked how do we keep our blog interesting and topical. Often the solution is simly a matter of brainstorming with your team. You will be surprised by the stories that abound within your organsiation that will indeed interest your audiences, customers and add focus to your business. Here are some tips.

1. Industry News – whats happening this week, this month

2. Industry Trends – where is the industry going, what are the emerging hot segments

3. Customers Pain Points – Write posts that provide solutions for your customers
problems

4. Customers successes – Write up a case study about a clients successful project,
they will often let you publish their name

5. What not to do – highlighting where something hasn’t worked (the names shall
remain anonymous of course)

6. Create a video blog post by interviewing a successful client – this can a
powerful providing authentic evidence of authority and credibility for both you
and the client

7. Write articles for the different types of customers that are relevant for each
of your vertical markets

8. Brainstorm blog post topics with colleagues and management and create a list for
future reference and planning

9. Subscribe to the top industry blogs in your market, both company blogs and
personal blogs for ideas

10. Look through your latest news releases for ideas

11. Sign up other staff to write on topics in your industry or market that they are
passionate about

12. Develop a series of how to blog posts

13. Turn the “how to” blog posts into short videos

14. When you have a great idea, go straight to your “add new” button and write the
headline and save it as a draft or write it down before you forget it.

15. Include a great iconic image at the start of the blog that catches the eye

16. Case Studies are always popular to write about and not just your own

17. Place Powerpoint presentations on your blog by posting and then embedding links
from Slideshare

18. Run polls and surveys on your blog

19. Create great headlines that catch people attention and makes them want to read
the rest of the article

20. Add credbility banners such as how many subscribers, number of hits, blog grade
and any awards

21. Provide “share this” buttons to Facebook and Twitter as a minimum

22. Implement “subscribe” buttons via RSS and Email

23. Write in bite size chunks and use bullet points so readers can quickly and easy
consumption

24. Break up large blocks of text with iconic and interesting images

25. Take screen shots to place in your post using Software like Snagit to highlight
points .. a picture is worth a 1000 words

26. Be yourself even if it is a company blog.. be authentic.

27. Optimize your blog for SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

28. Promote and distribute your posts on to other social media platforms such as
Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn

29. Make the blog easy to find on your company’s web page with a large bannner or
button

30. Finally, have fun, mix up the types of posts and add some humour occasionally

What makes your blog hum? Look forward to hearing your suggestions

How are you as CEO using Social Media

noreply@blogger.com (Kathie Melocco & Diane Collington) — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 22:19:00 +0000

A Harvard University study “Society For New Communications Research” (SNCR) in November 2009, is a great insight into the rise of social media and usages by CEO's

I thought that a summary of their findings would be a great backdrop and insight into how the CEO and major decison makers are using social media, particularly as CEO's now have to consider themselves personal brands as well.

In the survey they asked questions like

* Are professional networks being utilized by decision-makers in business?
* Is social media typically regarded as a trustworthy source of information for
professionals?
* In what ways do professionals rely on social networks to support business
decisions?
* Will social media change the business and practice of enterprise-level
operations?

The survey was administered online to 356 participants via online survey with close to a quarter (23%) are CEO of their organization, 50% are “Director” or “Manager”.

Company size ranged from less than 100 to over 50,000 full-time employees and age was well distributed with the greatest proportion in the 36-45 range, 25 countries were represented, with 58% of respondents living in the US and all respondents were either the decision makers or influenced the decision process.

So what were the “30 Key Findings”

1. Professional decision-making is becoming more social, traditional influence cycles are being disrupted by Social Media as decision makers utilize social networks to inform and validate decisions.

2. Professionals want to be collaborative in the decision-cycle but not be marketed or sold to online, however online marketing is a preferred activity by companies.

3. The big three have emerged as leading professional networks: LinkedIn, Facebook & Twitter.

4. The average professional belongs to 3-5 online networks for business use, and LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are among the top used.

5. The convergence of Internet, mobile, and social media has taken significant shape as professionals rely on anywhere access to information, relationships and networks.

6. Professional networks are emerging as decision-support tools.

7. Decision-makers are broadening reach to gather information especially among active users.

8. Professionals trust online information almost as much as information gotten from in-person.

9. Information obtained from offline networks still have highest levels of trust with slight advantage over online (offline: 92% – combined strongly/somewhat trust; online: 83% combined strongly/somewhat trust).

10. Reliance on web-based professional networks and online communities has increased significantly over the past 3 years.

11. Three quarters of respondents rely on professional networks to support business decisions with reliance increasing essentially for all respondents over the past three years.

12. Social Media use patterns are not pre-determined by age or organizational affiliation with younger (20-35) and older professionals (55+) are more active users of social tools than middle aged professionals.

14. There are more people collaborating outside their company wall than within their organizational intranet.

15. Professionals tend to belong to “Multiple Social Networks” for business with

* Half of respondents report participating in 3 to 5 online professional networks
* Another three in ten participate in 6 or more professional networks
* More than 7% used more than 10 professional networks

16. The Big Three Social Networks Have Emerged as Professional Networks, so popular social networks are now being used frequently as professional communities with

* More than nine in ten respondents indicated that they use LinkedIn (91%)
* Half reported using Facebook (51%)
* Twitter followed closely with (41%)

Note: The closest next channel only scored 13%. Blogs were frequently listed as ‘professional networks’

17. Mobile Is Emerging as a Frequent Professional Networking Access Point with 94% using a PC and 44% using a Mobile.

18. Usage Of Professional Networks Is Increasing

* Three quarters of respondents visit their social networks at least daily
* Four in ten visit many times each day
* All indicated that their usage has increased over the past three years
* Those who belong to more online professional networks are more likely to
visit many times per day
* Small companies are more likely to indicate that they have increased their use
significantly

19. Professional Networks Are An Increasingly Essential Decision-Support Tool

* Three quarters of respondents rely on professional networks to support
business decisions
* Reliance has increased for essentially all respondents over the past three
years

20. High Levels of Trust Exist in Information Obtained From Online Networks

* Offline is strengthened by online engagement – to extend relationships and
collaborate
* Information obtained from offline networks still have highest levels of trust
with slight advantage over online (offline: 92% – combined strongly/somewhat
trust; online: 83% combined strongly/somewhat trust)

21. Connecting And Collaborating Are Key Drivers For Professional Use of Social Media.

22. More than half of respondents expect that in 1-2 years their company will increase social media use to share more content.

23. Over half the respondents will increase social media use to do more company-wide communications.

24. Changes in Company External Use of Social Media with More than half of respondents foresee more marketing programs and content distribution in the next one to two years.

25. Social Media is supplementing the traditional professional decision-making cycle with great affect.

26. The era of Social Media Peer Group (SMPG) has arrived and information will travel at a business velocity that has never been seen before enabled by the Internet and Web 2.0 technologies.

27. Challenges are facing marketers who endeavor to mange or control social media network content.

28. Traditional cycles of decision-making are being disrupted by Social Media Peer Group (SMPG) .. I like this new acronym!

29. Managing and influencing professional decision-making will be the major challenge as professionals often do not seek the information that marketers want to share online.

30. The greatest opportunity business has is to engage collaborative influence – via immediacy of impact through social channel.

So how are you as CEO using social media?

Social Media Strategy - The Basics

noreply@blogger.com (Kathie Melocco & Diane Collington) — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 22:11:00 +0000

Social Media Marketing has the presented the marketer with so many choices in the last few years.

* What platforms should I be using to promote my blog or company?
* How many channels will I select to achieve my goals?
* Should I stick with what I know or what should I push the boundaries and
test something new?
* What channels should I use to to communicate to my target markets?
* What are the messages I should send out?
* What listening tools should I use?
* What apps should I use to increase my effeciency?
* What analytics tools are the best for our situation?

So where do you start?

First: Define your audience – get very clear on who you are communicating to (eg Is it Gen Y, Gen X or Baby Boomers?)

Second: Set the goals (they don’t necessarily need to be all financial in nature) – Leads, brand awareness,quality of leads, increase in dollar value of the sale and number of sales

Third: Develop your social media marketing strategy

Fourth: Then the tactical level of selecting the different social media platforms that are appropriate for your audience .. where do they hang out? Facebook, YouTube or other channels? You then can calculate what resources you need such as financial, tools and people.

Fifth: Optimize and Integrate Your Social Media Channels such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and LinkedIn as well as Optimizing your website and blog for search and don’t forget the PR. Many companies are now cranking up their PR efforts as this skillset has probably a better understanding of social media than most.

What makes a good communication trailer for social change

noreply@blogger.com (Kathie Melocco & Diane Collington) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 22:03:00 +0000

There is only so much marketing copy you can write about your cause before you have saturated your target audience. But in one minute or less you can tap into the visual, auditory and emotional senses of your potential supporters with a trailer. Like its cousin the movie trailer, a social change trailer is designed to get the buzz going and drive sales, or at least more interest.

What makes for a social change trailer?

* Make it brief: Getting and keeping a viewer is essential, so respect their time and their attention span and keep it under three minutes. Consider that most television commercials only last for 30 seconds and even that can feel too long.
* Keep it real: Make sure your message is authentic to your overall brand. The tone and feel of the video should reflect your content.
* Make the connection: It should be fairly transparent how the trailer ties into the cause content. No explanation should be needed for your viewer to "get it".
* Maintain balance: Your images, text and audio should all flow well together and not feel like they are separate pieces being pasted together.
* Create good pace: A trailer that consists of a slide show with still images and music scan be effective, but the pace has to be just right. It needs to allow the viewer time to read any caption but not put them to sleep or make them anxious.
* Tap into emotions: Make sure you remember that the essence of any video is to entertain the audience as well as inform. Earning a laugh or a tear makes for a powerful message.
* Name drop: If you have strong, recognizable endorsements, don't be shy about dropping the testimonial into your piece.
* Manage the money: When deciding on a budget for your social change trailer, you don't have to think box-office smash to get results. With the right images and editing, you can produce a quality trailer that does not look like it came out of Warner Brothers studios or your garage.
* Soften the sell: It is fairly understood that the intent of the trailer is to illicit a sale and call to action, but it does not have to be a strong call to action to ignite interest. The desired result is to get the viewer interested, either in offering support or in finding out more.
* Finish strong: As simple as this may seem, you would be surprised at how many people forget the minor (rather major) detail of ending with an image of the cause and convenient hwo to suport or join instructions.

YouTube has played a huge role in the viral brand expansion for many social causes and social change campaigns and it is well worth the time to develop an engaging piece.

You may remember this trailer as it created a viral explosion. Different versions of the video were forwarded to so many in-boxes around the world that it had more than 30 million views on YouTube. It is a homemade video telling the story of Christian the Lion, a pet lion released into the wild and his reunion with his "parents". Within it's 1:18 running time, it spurred so much interest for the 1972 non fiction book entitled A Lion Called Christian by Anthony Bourke and John Rendall that it was the sixth most wanted out-of-print book of 2008.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVNTdWbVBgc Enjoy!

Ensure your brand essence shines with your social media strategy

noreply@blogger.com (Kathie Melocco & Diane Collington) — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 07:47:00 +0000

Every enterprise has its own unique personality. When it comes to social strategies, this personality shines through loud and clear. Just as we learn to identify and embrace our individual personalities, we must also recognize that no two organizations are exactly alike. Which stands to reason, then, that enterprise social media is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. When it comes to social strategy, there is no universal formula or magic bullet when it comes to driving ROI.

I find this to be a major source of contention with the brands I consult. They've read an article or they've consulted with an "expert," and they've learned all about what they should be doing. But winning internal executive support proves to be daunting, and attempts to sell the concept typically end at a brick wall. Is this because executives just don't get it? To the contrary, it's because in most cases, they're trying to turn the enterprise into something it's not.

To be successful, a brand's social strategies must complement its personality -- not compete against it. The most successful social media initiatives occur when the strategy is aligned with the core values and personality of the brand itself. We don't ask a wallflower to be the life of the party, nor do we expect a social butterfly to thrive without wings. Whether your enterprise is the thrill-seeker or the strong and silent type, this article is intended to provide both the inspiration and the tools needed to start driving value through your social strategies, in ways that are genuine, realistic, and attainable.

Discover your brand's social personality, along with the keys to unlocking the potential within.

You flitter, you flutter. You are drawn to those with the power to increase your popularity. Taking pride in being on the cutting edge, you were probably one of the early adopters of company blogs and Twitter. You like to be where the action is, darting from one trendy application to the next. On the surface, you've created an impressive following and have successfully led your organization through unchartered territories. But when the conversation turns to ROI, your attention is quickly diverted to a new tactic.

The risks:
Every marketer understands the thrill of winning the attention of customers. But a strategist needs to understand what comes next. "One million fans on Facebook" is only important to your business if you can effectively leverage those connections to drive to a conclusion based on your goals as a business.

Consumer networks are constantly changing and highly dependent upon numerous uncontrollable variables. Social butterflies have a tendency to gravitate toward the buzz-of-the-day without considering the ramifications of "here today, gone tomorrow." Banking enterprise strategy on shaky ground, or superficially scratching the surface of what should be a deep strategy, does not promote the sustainability needed for longer-term success. Without focus and dedication, you can end up disappointing your networks, and will likely fail to receive executive support for future campaigns due to your inability to garner and prove results.

The opportunity:
With a widespread social media presence, you have breadth. But do you have depth? Consumer activity is taking place on consumer networks such as Twitter and Facebook, and it is essential to position your brand where the interaction is happening. Your curiosity and open-mindedness ensure your ability to remain on the cutting edge of consumer engagement strategies, usually out in front of your competition.

Anchoring your social media initiatives in an enterprise-wide strategy will help you strengthen your connections and add depth to your campaigns. Consider ways that bridge your vast social interests with your enterprise. Open authentication, for example, can inspire your fans and followers to leverage existing credentials they may already have from Facebook or Twitter to join your own branded online community.

As trendy consumer networks come and go, your brand presence will remain.
You will gain some serious momentum when you can keep those 1 million Facebook fans engaged from one campaign to the next. And when you've shown the rest of the enterprise how it, too, can capitalize -- providing sales with new leads, or identifying customer concerns and proactively handing them over to customer service while the account can still be saved -- you will be the enterprise's rising star.