When something isn’t right at a business, usually you tend to find that the person viewed as responsible takes the fall.

So, for example, a marketing campaign that fails could be tied back to the agency, or Marketing Director, or team lead. Similarly, a new employee appointment that turns sour can be traced back to HR, or the manager that interviewed the candidate for the position.

Yet, while there’s definitely accountability to be taken by those directly in the front line, there’s (increasingly) also the option of some accountability and involvement going back to the top, at CEO level.

Pipe dream? Maybe. Unrealistic? Maybe. But it can be (and is) done on a growing basis. And when the CEO takes an active role, everyone benefits.

The Jugnoo Example

Here at Jugnoo, for instance, because we’re in beta we seek to gain as much feedback as possible from our users, so we can improve the product and bake in the solutions that users want as we gear up to come out of beta in the second half of the year.

Very recently, we received immensely helpful feedback that showed us where we could improve in certain key areas.

While our Senior Manager of Social Media and Retention Julie Tyios was liaising with the user to walk through the feedback and ensure it went to the right team, our CEO Aamir stepped in personally to thank the user for the feedback, advised these changes were being implemented, and invited him to continue to be a “sounding board” as we move further into the product.

The Ford Example

My friend Marc Girolimetti will always be happy to tell his Ford experience if you ask him and, given the story, rightly so.

Marc was in the market for a new car, and as a staunch Audi supporter until then, was looking to release from the German manufacturer again. Unfortunately, the local dealer wasn’t great, to say the least. So Marc looked around.

He noticed Scott Monty talking about “the new Ford” a lot on Twitter, and decided to check out their cars for himself. Again, though, he had a less than stellar experience at two local Ford dealers.

So, for fun, he tweeted Scott and advised he was in the market for a new Ford and asked him to get Alan Mulally (the Ford CEO) to call him to discuss. And guess what? Call him he did. That’s led to a great relationship and loyalty between Marc and Ford, and probably over $250k in sales from Marc’s referrals.

It’s Not Easy, But It Can Be Done

Now, I’m a realist. I know CEO’s are busy people, and they hire smart folks like Julie and Scott to do the work that they can’t do themselves, due to time constraints and other business needs.

But knowing exactly what your customers are thinking, and acting on it, doesn’t (shouldn’t) need to be left to the front line folks all the time.

Sure, they’re the guys that can often dictate a business’s success from their reactions and actions. But they can only do so much.

Often, the real change comes from the very top, or at least the power to make the change real. And, as our experience and Ford’s experience shows, having an active CEO immediately adds another bow to your business arrow – especially in the social media-led world we live in, and the public image that can be both created and destroyed in a heartbeat.

Something to keep in mind the next time your customer reaches out to you.

Why Excellence Starts From the CEO Down – Or Should originally appeared on Danny Brown - under a Creative Commons license.

“How do you make the right decision?”

Now, obviously they were asking about their business, but for me, it came down to one thing: Will your family be proud?

No matter what you do during the day to make things happen, can you go home and face your wife/husband and children and look them in the eye, and say “I did the right thing today.”?

If the answer is yes, you made the right decision.

Making the Right Decision originally appeared on Danny Brown - under a Creative Commons license.

This is a guest post by Ryan Hanley.

The Internet is a canvas for Creativity…

Using the Online tools of today’s age, thought-leaders the World may never have otherwise known are given the opportunity to paint their picture of success.

It’s amazing really…

But for as much as I love the Internet and the possibility for greatness it presents, there is a dark pattern forming that troubles me deeply.  This may not be news for those of you that’ve been in the blogging game longer than myself… But its systemic and horrifying none the less… A true Internet nightmare.

The black plague of idea…

The rape of creativity…

The death of original thought…

The Commoditization of Expertise!

Everyone’s an Expert

So what’s this scourge of the Internet?

What could be so horrible that I would give it such a dramatic intro? Here it is…

Online… Everyone’s an expert. All you need is the most basic computer skills and an Internet connection and anyone can become an instant expert in the Online world.

How? 

Easy… You call yourself a Guru.

That’s it.

Read a couple A-List bloggers like Danny Brown or Marcus Sheridan, regurgitate a few of their concepts, throw the word Guru on your About Page and BOOM… You’re an expert.

It’s that easy.

Now the truth is your blog will suck.  But some people will find you and read your writing and consider you a thought-creator… then a dog will be kicked, a baby’s candy will be stolen and an Angel will lose its wings.

Well maybe that last bit is an exaggeration but certainly all the rest.

The result is the Commoditization of the Expertise.  A few great minds creating ideas and concepts that get chopped up and spit out over and over and over again…  Their ideas, thoughts and creativity exploited by a thousand hacks trying to capitalize on a knowledge thirty public.

For a visual, picture the Pits of Hell scene from the movie Constantine (yes… I’m an unashamed Keanu Reeves fan), now hold that image except replace the demons with bloggers and the lost souls with content.

Gruesome…

Why is the Commodization of Expertise a problem?

Over time it’s hard to discern the Expert from the Hack…  Marinate on that thought for a couple minutes.

Never Trust a Guru

In my very humble opinion… Guru is a terrible term.

I put Guru in the same bucket as Rockstar and Ninja.  The first person to call themselves a social media Ninja was wickedly awesome and creative… everyone else since then is simply lame.

So my advice… Don’t trust the Guru, trust the person.

“Ryan… A Guru is a Person?!”

Technically… Yes.  But really they’re not.  People who pump themselves as a Guru or Rockstar or Ninja are trying to play a roll.  Guru is a costume… Guru is a character…

Guru is a front that attempts to tap into your inner desire for inspiration and success…

…and that makes a Guru dangerous.

The Guru calls themselves a Guru because they’re own content isn’t interesting enough or original enough or inspiring enough for people to see them as a Guru.

So they brand themselves Guru and instantly become an expert Online

Why Expertise Commoditizing Gurus are Bad for us All

(If this were my blog and not a Guest Post I’d call this section “The Rub”, but it’s not, so I won’t, but I guess I kinda did anyways)

Right now you’re probably thinking to yourself:

“Ryan… Don’t hate the player, hate the game.”

or

“Ryan… You’re drinking some Hater-Aid”

But the truth is I have no intention of playing the Guru game and I have no idea what Hater-Aid is.

What I do know is Expertise should be Celebrated.

We all know about Malcom Gladwell and the 10,000 hours thing, right?  Basically, in his book Outliers, Malcom Gladwell (Google him if you’re not familiar) theorizes that it takes a person 10,000 hours of practice to master a task.

10,000 hours is a lot…

What I want… What purpose of writing this post was when I first started is to provide a simple and sincere warning to those of you that thirst for knowledge Online.

Beware the Guru.

Don’t let the commoditization of expertise cloud your judgment when putting faith in a resource.

There are dedicated, inspiring individuals who’ve put in the time, who’ve done the work and deserve the title Guru.

Celebrate their Expertise.  Learn from them.  Allow their thoughts to help you shape your thoughts so you too can Succeed Online!

Thank you and Good luck,

Ryan H.

About the author: If you found value in this article, I encourage you to connect with Ryan on Twitter at @RyanHanley_Com or visit his website to read more about Content Warfare – Win the Battle for Attention Online. You can also subscribe to Ryan’s free newsletter, How to Blog Your Business.

The Commoditization of Expertise and Why You Should Never Trust a Guru originally appeared on Danny Brown - under a Creative Commons license.

There’s no doubt that influence is a constant hot potato.

But sometimes, influence comes from the strangest of places. Sometimes influence comes from folks we might never look twice at. Sometimes influence comes from nothing but emotion.

Look at this video from Australian Juan Mann. One guy, who started a campaign offering free hugs to try and bring a touch of humanity back to the city of Sydney in his native Australia.

He wasn’t an A-list blogger commanding an audience of thousands. He wasn’t a celebrity with a million-plus Twitter followers. Instead, he was just a guy with an idea built on emotion.

Yet as you can see, not only did he influence folks in his city (as seen by the fast collection of petition signatures), he also influenced millions of people worldwide (almost 73 million and counting on YouTube).

There are also a ton of Free Hugs movements worldwide, both online and offline. All from a single guy’s belief in humanity and emotion.

Funny how influence works, huh?

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The TRUE Power of Influence and Emotional Impact originally appeared on Danny Brown - under a Creative Commons license.

A friend of mine went to a Social Media for Small Business conference recently. He’s a small business owner, and has been thinking about using social media for a while.

He enjoyed the conference and made some great connections while there. Yet something he said worries me, and that’s the need to be everywhere.

According to the social media expert that was speaking at the conference, businesses need to be on as many social media channels as they can. Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, LinkedIn, Foursquare, Ning, blogging, Facebook Places, Tumblr, etc – the list goes on.

The reasoning? You never know where your customer is going to be, so you need to be in all the places they could be.

Bullcrap.

You can (and do) know where your customer is going to be by doing the research – a social media audit, for example.

Because of this map, you can tell demographics, spend decisions, social network use, optimum time of day for social network use and promotions, and much, much more.

You can then use this information to understand where you need to be, when you need to be there, and what you need to be saying/doing while there. This targeted approach makes sure no-one’s wasting their time, and goals can be set and results measured.

It’s not rocket science – it’s a marketing strategy.

Saying you need to be on every site because your customers might be is like saying you need to advertise in every single newspaper because some of your customers might read it.

Sure, they might. But if your customers are vegetarians, would you advertise in Slaughterhouse Weekly?

No – so why take that approach with your social media strategy? Instead, be where you need to be.

Make sense?

Be Where YOU Need to Be, Not Where “They” Say You Should originally appeared on Danny Brown - under a Creative Commons license.

This is a guest post from Yvette Pistorio of Cision.

Two shifts have dramatically changed the way media and public relations professionals interact over the past few years: the move away from email in favor of online social channels, and the emergence of versatile, freelance content creators who are as comfortable writing magazine articles as they are blogging for brands.

For PR pros, that means media outreach will soon be more likely to take the form of a Twitter conversation with a freelance writer than an email exchange with a full-time reporter. With these shifts in mind, Cision has created a space for today’s content creator…journalists, bloggers, and PR and marketing professionals.

For those wearing multiple hats, we don’t force you to choose your role.

True Community Takes the Lead

In mid-April, Cision launched Seek or Shout, a new online community for media and PR professionals.

We built it to help journalists, bloggers, public relations, marketing professionals and other professional communicators research and promote their content while connecting with each other in a productive, relevant way. It allows you to connect directly on what is most valuable to you whether it be a story, blog post, video, podcast, etc.

You don’t have to choose a role, you can be both. The site isn’t just a listserv or dashboard, but an interactive community with photos, live comments and direct collaboration. It appeals to social and real-time sensibilities.

Inside Seek or Shout you can…

• Seek products for review, experts to interview, and research materials for an upcoming news article or blog post. Choose to make your requests anonymously, or syndicate them to Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn for maximum response.
• Shout about your latest content, campaign or product. Users who follow you or the tags you place on your Shout will see them in their News Feed.
• Communicate privately with other users about exclusive inquiries and offers.
• Define your interests and find relevant messages from other users in your News Feed.
• Maintain a profile outlining your roles and background.
• Search editorial calendars, like CisionWire and PitchEngine, to spark content ideas.

Seek or Shout the Anti-Spam?

We hope the site helps alleviate the deluge of email pitches for journalists and bloggers. The “anti-spam” if you will.

Receiving pitches through the site provides a more manageable environment to work in allowing you to see pitches easily without other correspondence cluttering your view.

Since you choose the tags you’re interested in, you are deciding what you want to see on your homepage. They can be modified to narrow or broaden your feed. They can represent the industry you cover or just the news you want to read.

“As a freelance reporter covering health, caregiving, antiques, and other topics, I’m inundated each day with pitches from PR professionals who want me to incorporate their client’s product, service, expert, or angle into a story,” says Elizabeth Hanes, freelance writer and a sponsored Ambassador for Seek or Shout.

To help clear out her inbox, she began requesting that PR professionals only pitch her through Seek or Shout.

Gini Dietrich, CEO of Arment Dietrich and author of Spin Sucks, agrees. “I also really love that I can push pitches to come through there instead of to my inbox.”

More Than Just a PR and Blogger Tool

It’s been really great to see how members find new ways to use Seek or Shout and engage in ways we didn’t necessarily anticipate. There’s a diversity of users including book publishers and literary agents seeking experts and other writers.

We’ve also seen more universities and students signing up which is great since they are coming into the field and will be the new content creators. They need a tool like this because the marketplace is evolving, expects versatility from communication jobs, and helps craft a wide content experience to stay competitive.

“We’re fostering a relevant exchange between public relations professionals, journalists, and influencers who need to find sources and information quickly on deadline,” says Jay Krall, business development manager for Cision.

We want Seek or Shout to become a community, a valuable space for everyone to interact, build relationships and collaborate directly on stories, blog posts and any other project members are working on.

“It’s a lot easier to find an expert source to interview on short notice when you leverage the power of a strong community, rather than a few friends or colleagues on an email thread,” adds Krall.

About the author:
Yvette Pistorio is the social media manager for Cision, and a blogger for CisionBlog. She is a lover of cupcakes and HGTV, and enjoys a good laugh. You can find Yvette on Twitter tweeting on behalf of Cision.

Is Seek or Shout the Holy Grail for PR, Bloggers and the Disconnected Media? originally appeared on Danny Brown - under a Creative Commons license.

Dear Klout – I have uninstalled your shitty service and blocked your access to my info, period. And yet you’re still trying to get friends to invite me to your crud, never mind invading my sidebar with your stupid app. Be a grown-up business with adult management – stop this outdated shit now.

Note: I’m posting this out of frustration, but truth be told, I don’t expect anything to change. After all, why change something when you have so many suckers buying into it, no matter how invasive your approach..?

A Very Short Message to the Shitdiots at @Klout originally appeared on Danny Brown - under a Creative Commons license.

Years ago I worked in retail on both sides. I started out working for an electrical goods chain store, then moved onto a smaller local one.

Both jobs were great (at least for me), because they satisfied the tech geek in me. Surrounded by home theater kits and massive TV’s? Sign me up!

But as much as I loved working at the big chain store, it never felt fulfilling.

We had to pretty much stick to a sales script and only if we were lucky could we occasionally offer our own take.

We weren’t encouraged to be ourselves.

Same went for special promotions. If a brand was paying to be highlighted that month, you had to sell toward that brand, even if another product was clearly the better one for the customer. It was snake oil salesmen tactics at their worst.

Jump to the little store, however, and the difference was palpable. You actually talked with your customers; asked what they wanted; offered your advice; agreed on essentials versus luxuries; and built an understanding.

Most of all, you were talking as if you were the customer.

No BS; no sales crap; no false advertising. Just simple customer-to-customer selling. And it worked. And continues to do so today.

Think about it. When you last went to a record store, or DVD store, or video games store that belonged to a chain, did you come away with just a purchase or a transaction? Because there is a difference.

Did you feel that you had bought your purchase yourself, or had bought it because it was sold to you? And I don’t mean because the salesperson picked it up and showed you what was on sale; I mean it was really sold to you.

The Indie Effect

From my experiences, independent retailers score every time over the chain stores. Sure, you get the occasional bright spark at a major retailer who lets their passion shine through. But generally, it’s just a job to them.

Indie retailers, on the other hand, love what they’re doing. They live the atmosphere that the small store brings. They know customers by name. They know the difference between Product A and Product B because they use it and learn about it, and not because they’ve read some manufacturer spiel. Then they pass that learning on.

Sure, the major stores might get the big deals from the manufacturers, but as the collapse of some of the big brands in business show, it’s not always about the best deals. At least, not price-wise.

Instead, a lot of the success is coming from the little independent guys jumping in and making people know about their service. By talking to them. By listening to what their customers want. By being the customer.

Sound familiar?

Be an Independent Retailer

Social media. Marketing. PR. Advertising. Customer service. Business deals. Business building. Branding. Unbranding.

Everything you do day in, day out – are you being a major retailer or are you being the independent retailer? Are you saying and doing what all your competitors are doing or are you doing what you’redoing?

There’s a big difference in approach and sales time is fast approaching. So. What are you?

State of Independence originally appeared on Danny Brown - under a Creative Commons license.

Water is free, but we pay for the privilege of filtering.

Air is free, but we pay for the solution of conditioning it for summers in our homes.

Natural gas is free, but we pay for the importance of safety in its use.

Oil is free, but we pay for the welling and distribution.

When we get down to it, all the things we could have for free we’re willing to pay for, because where needs are met, value is gained.

If you meet the needs of your audience, why would the value you bring be free?

Your Value originally appeared on Danny Brown - under a Creative Commons license.

If you’re in the Toronto, Ontario area on July 26, make sure you keep the day free for what promises to be one of the city’s leading social media and business events this year.

Top business and marketing folks Gary Vaynerchuk and Amber Mac will be keynoting at the inaugural Social Mix, presented by Jugnoo (hey, that’s where I work!). They’ll be sharing their insights and expertise on what it takes to succeed both online and offline, and how to build your business for long-term success.

Alongside Gary and Amber, we’ll also be bringing the highly respected Gini Dietrich and Geoff Livingston, co-authors of the new Marketing in the Round book, and two of the most influential voices on marketing in the social media world today.

As well as shaping up to be a kickass event, there’s a great cause we’ll be donating all proceeds to in the Remix Project, a Toronto organization that helps marginalized youth become the creative change makers of tomorrow.

It promises to be a great event, and one that will offer great insights to all attendees, from solo entrepreneurs to small-to-medium business owners and much, much more.

Check out the full Social Mix website for more details on the event, as well as the schedule and how you can buy your ticket(s) to join us on the day.

And as a special bonus, all JugnooMe users will be receiving a 20% discount on ticket prices – so if you haven’t signed up yet to try the JugnooMe beta, now’s the perfect time.

Cheers!

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Join @GaryVee and @AmberMac in Toronto July 26 for Social Mix 2012 #SoMix2012 originally appeared on Danny Brown - under a Creative Commons license.