He’s so focused on control he has arranged Facebook ownership to ensure his unwavering command.  By the time of the social media site’s IPO, Zuckerberg had arranged to maintain one-fourth of company shares.  Additionally, he made ‘friendly’ negotiations with investors, enhancing his voting power to reflect almost 60% of total shares.  As the New York Times article reflects, that’ more control than Bill Gates had during Microsoft’s 1986 IPO (he had 49 percent) and Google’s cofounders had in 2004 (16 percent each).  Traditionally, fresh-faced entrepreneurs have smaller investments and less say regarding their companies.

As anyone who has watched his personality’s depiction in the film, The Social Network knows, Zuckerberg is comfortable facing scrutiny.  His degree of ‘control’ is met with some objectors; as one University of Delaware professor offers in the Times article, “You’re willing to take someone’s money but not willing to invite participation.  It makes meaningless the notion of investor democracy.”  Is Zuckerberg, the head of the biggest social site (800 million active users and rising) in the land, not interested in ‘sharing’ control?

His stock and control ‘arrangements’ are not so uncommon; Google and the New York Times have orchestrated similar structures.  Additionally, aside from Zuckerberg’s core personality, maintaining control is a sentiment advised by his peers as well.  Sean Parker, a close and experienced adviser to Zuckerberg, advised him on the subject in 2005 when a stream of investor capital put the two in a position to make decisions regarding ‘board seats.’  Parker insisted himself and Zuckerberg control three of the five seats.  When Parker left the company, he insisted that “no one” (except Zuckerberg) could take the seat because as Parker put it, “…he’s the only one I trust to steer the company.”

Perhaps Zuckerberg, the one who has championed his idea and its potential from the start, knows what he’s doing and should maintain control.  In the beginning, Zuckerberg envisioned Facebook being “…the first place people went to in the morning and the last thing they went to before they went to bed.”  Can you relate to his primary visions?  Many people can.  Maybe Zuckerberg has observed the post-IPO behavior of other brands and CEOs;  David Sacks, formerly of PayPal, admits there were negative sides of the company’s public offering, stating in-house employees became obsessed over stock value and the overall brand experience ongoing anxiety regarding investor expectations.

As Facebook must face its immediate IPO, bringing with it a whole new bunch of financially-minded friends, the world awaits its effect and affect on the brand.  Thus far, we have to give Zuckerberg credit for growing the social media empire and maintaining tight control of its reigns.  Even Zuckerberg knows nothing lasts forever; recently Facebook had to consider what happens after death.  As for the throne, after Facebook’s ‘prince’ sheds these ‘mortal coils,’ Zuckerberg has that covered too.  The fine print in the IPO designates Zuckerberg in control of electing a successor “in the event that Mr. Zuckerberg controls our company at the time of his death.”

While brands can spend a lot of time addressing online marketing and search engine optimization needs, it’s likely the pursuit of data-driven results, bumps in rankings, and links attached to ‘coveted’ words and phrases are creating a tunnel-vision-like perception.  The irony: while your brand keeps its eyes on the ‘prize,’ the ‘views’ of others may get neglected.  Don’t forget about consumers and associated perceptions.

I watched Rand Fishkin’s Whiteboard Friday segment on an associated topic earlier today, elucidating ironically-hidden factors related to online marketing success.  I say ironic because as referenced in the opening, with so many online options, tactics, and suggested tips, a brand could invest a lot of time considering how to improve elements of marketing while forgetting about overall brand perception.

Be Who You Say You Are

I used to be a teacher of English and writing.  One of the first things I learned regarding teacher-student relations is to be who you say you are; young kids are savvy and quickly ascertain contradiction and ‘deception.’  One point raised in the Whiteboard post was ensuring your brand can ‘deliver’ on marketing promises.  This is important to consider across the board, and holds true down to the tiniest minutiae of brand sentiments.  For instance, is marketing text and links structured to render what a browser likely desires or is it somewhat (mis)leading them to some sort of brand-serving landing page?  While facilitating ‘conversions’ is at the heart of online marketing, it’s important to gain trust.  While ‘link baiting’ may produce desired results, it’s likely building sentiments of mistrust with browsers.

Building Trust

I consider ‘branding’ to be the process of creating and solidifying associations to your brand.  What comprises a brand?  I think services, products, executives, employees, behaviors, logos, slogans, just about ANY ELEMENT directly (sometimes indirectly – read how misunderstandings between an established SEO and business partners may influence future perception of the former’s brand) associated to your brand is a reflection on the brand and perceived by immediate consumers and the public at large.

How to build trust:

-          Make your team transparent.  Make executives and team members visible from your Web site and marketing material.  Don’t hide behind company logos.  I think this is especially true regarding social media.  How many brands have generic, company logos as Twitter and Facebook accounts?  I understand, you want to expose your brand, but would a person (CEO, PR rep) build more trust regarding social accounts?

-          Internal news can help build trust.  Traditionally, press releases did this in the past, but in modern times, a brand could use ongoing blog posts (ironically, less corporate brands are blogging these days) to build ongoing trust and familiarity with immediate consumers and the public.

Balance

Of course, a brand must find a fine balance, especially online.  You could be the most trustworthy, genuine brand on the planet, but if the brand is not making online strides regarding social media fans, rankings associated to keywords, and producing linkable, informative copywriting, then it’s difficult to gain exposure, attracting enough attention to build a level of ‘trust.’  However, is it easier to make ongoing progress related to online marketing and search engine optimization or build trust?  I think both are slow, methodical processes, but while a claw on the wrist by a Panda may set your site back a few initiatives a reputation is a lot harder to ‘update.’

Thanks for reading

SEO services is a portal for SEO experts and novices alike to share and learn about search engine optimization.  SEO Services (aforementioned as the expert community) has an interactive interface that lets users create unique log-in credentials and become free members.  Once an individual becomes a community member, they can post articles, submit guest blogs, and contribute to forums.

“SEO Services has rapidly grown in the amount of community members and online engagement,” states Bailey.  “This year specifically, we have seen a significant increase in the amount of internet users, advertisers, and marketers who crave SEO related information.  We launched the expert SEO community website to provide resources to those wanting to learn more about SEO, and help decision-makers learn what best practices can increase their online rankings.”

About SEO Services:
SEO Services is an expert SEO community website, providing industry-related information to members.  Managed by SEO expert Todd Bailey, the community site hosts a wealth of information for industry novices to experts and decision makers in some of the world’s largest companies.  Visit http://www.seoservices.com/ for more information.

I read an awesome post today by Neil Patel, receiving ten insightful tips related to seeking and acquiring link opportunities.  Does your brand want to brook more time within a winter of ‘dissed’ content or do you want your content to gain more attention?  I don’t need to wait for a reply or a groundhog (I’m definitely not waiting for a ‘PR Panda’) to rear its head to know your brand is ready to spring into action regarding link building.  However, you should wait before composing your next piece and consider the following; if you release your content without some pre-consideration, you may find no one’s popping their head out of their respective days’ work to give your content a look, prolonging the winter of dissed content.

Before You Write

Okay, you wrote some good content.  Now, it’s time to give it a social nudge.  Which social sites is your brand leveraging?  Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, all of the above?  Go ahead and push them through…  Oh, you’ve done that before but didn’t see much traction?  Let’s consider some “social” things you could do before you compose a piece.

Influencers

Rand Fishkin suggested contacting ‘influencers’ in your field before composing a piece.  An ‘influencer’ is a ‘big fish’ in your industry (CEO, popular blogger, etc), one who can augment the piece’s immediate exposure.   If more people see the work, it’s likely you’ll attract more links.  In addition, as Dr. Pete advised on his Twitter account, building relationships with influencers far exceeds a one-time, link building purpose.  If you can get influencers and industry cohorts to recognize your brand delivers quality and wants to add to the ongoing conversation, that social connection is priceless.

Topics

What are the hot topics going on right now in your industry?  It’s important to voraciously read sources of information.  It may be popular newspapers like the New York Times or niche bloggers, aligned with your industry.  While writing upon currently-popular topics is a good way to attract attention, make sure you pay attention to timing; understand with each passing moment, tons of other brands could be generating similar content; you need to ‘get there’ first.  However, as Neil suggests in his post, you could find a ‘window’ of opportunity, making the hot topic ‘your own’ by adding something ‘new’ to the ongoing conversation.  You can do it; get creative.

Guestpost

Your brand is looking for more links and exposure.  While your copywriting team is entrenched in deep discussions with each writer’s respective muse, your savvy link building team member is contacting several other brands and bloggers, asking if one or more team members could inspire readers via a guest blog or column.  If your brand is seeking more exposure then maybe copywriting endeavors could ‘hit the road’ in search of new hosting destinations.  Does the process sound like a good idea?  It is; that’s why Ethan Lyon wrote a post on how to use Twitter to secure more guest blogging opportunities.

Thanks for reading

Does your brand have something to add to the ‘conversation’ or just desiring attention and exposure?  The latter sentiment is shared by all brands (what brand does not want attention?!), yet the former sentiment is really the most effective means to the latter’s end.  I read a good post today on bootstrapping and brand awareness.  The author addresses ways to formulate an effective PR campaign.

Increasing PR is a lot like search engine optimization efforts.  It takes time, effort, and methodology.  While many of us know how a brand can get into trouble on the Web in its quest for better SE rankings, there are no direct ‘PR Panda’ updates;  however, calling attention without ‘adding’ is likely to leave your brand bewildered, inert, and possibly ‘blackballed’ by reporters, amongst other violations.

Update your in-house PR sentiments with these ‘PR Panda’ updates:

Update 1 – General PR Campaign – PR or Link Building?

In modern times, public relation work is a lot like link building.  In the past, what were the main goals of PR efforts?

-          Spread brand-related info

-          Gain consumer attention

-          Build brand authority

-          Attract future interest

Link building efforts, complemented by modern-day social media engagement does all of the above.  Many of the same ‘do not’ and ‘best-practice’ sentiments of link building apply to PR efforts.  Before making a PR move, think about your brand’s intentions because ulterior motives are transparent and don’t make much traction. 

Update 2 – Press Releases – Is.It.News.?

This is a bitter pill for many press-release hopefuls to swallow; is the release sharing ‘worthy’ news?  Of course, ‘worthy’ is a relative term, but think outside your brand when asking yourself this question; think like a consumer; would you be intrigued by the news?  Unfortunately, this ‘PR Panda’ update is not going to be applied by news sources; it’s going to be applied by readers (consumers) and your release’s traction (or lack thereof). 

There aren’t many obstacles obstructing a brand from orchestrating and distributing a press release to the masses; however, dispersing a release, offering very little news of value, is deserved of ‘PR Panda’ penalty and may hurt your brand’s reputation or future efforts to call attention to ‘news.’

Update 3 – Reporters – What are you doing for them?

Do you want to contact a reporter about your brand?  Ask not what this reporter can do for you, but…  I know – the irony of it all!  That’s right; if you’re going to contact a reporter, you should be contacting them because you have something for them and not vice versa.  Sure, contributing to a story or adding insight is likely to get your brand mentioned; you’ll get credit for your work. 

Are you just looking to arrive at the PR party with nothing in your brand’s hands?  You’re likely to put the kibosh on any future relations with the respective reporter (and likely their brand too).