Laura Bergells is Maniactive

 

I'm working on a new math puzzle concept called MathSuey.

If you have an answer for the math puzzle you see below, I'd appreciate it if you could type it in the Posterous comments section.

And if you have any questions, please pop me a comment or Tweet me @maniactive.

Thanks!

Three questions:

My dad recalled a story from over 50 years ago. Seems that a grocer friend of his put a sign in the window:

 "Cartoon of Eggs. Ten cents."

photo credit: adamwilson

Dad's not the family shopper, but he knew the grocer personally. So Dad went in to tell him that he misspelled "Carton".

The grocer smiled.

"I make sure to misspell something every week. Dozens of people come in to tell me about my mistake. I thank them and compliment them on how smart they are. They always buy something."

Purposely misspelling is an old advertising trick. Small stores and large brands frequently use this technique.

How many times have you seen purposeful misspellings in advertising -- today?

A student asks a wonderful personal branding question. I'll paraphrase:

"How can you project a personal brand online without coming off as arrogant? If all you do is go online and brag about yourself and how wonderful you are, doesn't that make "arrogant, self-absorbed, narcissistic jerk" a big part of your personal brand?"

photo credit: probabilistic

To help answer the question, let me give you an example. Let's say you've decided to project a personal brand that embodies the characteristics of  "Smart. Funny. Friendly."

How to Erode Your Personal Brand. So, what can you do to erode your personal brand online? Well, you can persistently repeat, "Hey, I'm smart. I'm witty, too. And I'm a terrific friend."

Because, you know, that's not smart.

And it's not funny or friendly.

It's jerky braggadocio.

What to try instead. So what can you do to positively project your chosen brand characteristics of smart, funny, and friendly? Why, you can publish posts that are -- well, smart and funny! You can point to others' posts that are witty, as well. You can also interact with your community in a tone and voice that exudes friendliness.

How it might play out. So let's say that's the personal brand building strategy you decide to deploy. You publish smart and funny posts. You point to other people's smart and funny contributions. You keep a consistently friendly, positive, and upbeat tone. Over time, perhaps other people in your community will come to appreciate your contributions. You may find them saying,

"Hey. You're smart. You're witty. You're friendly."

After all, your personal brand isn't what you say it is. It's what other people say it is!

Bottom line? Don't repetitively tell me what your brand characteristics are. Demonstrate your brand through consistent thoughts, images, tones, and interactions.

How else do you build -- or erode -- your brand?

When it comes to using social media for business, I often run into two camps of people. One camp views social media as a threat, and another camp views it as an opportunity.

• Those in the threat camp have an alarming tendency to put knee-jerk policies into place. "No employees will be allowed to have FaceBook or LinkedIn profiles. Absolutely no Twittering. If you blog, use a pseudonym, and under no circumstances will you identify yourself as an employee of XYZ company." (Yes, really. Well, pretty close, anyway!)
• Those in the opportunity camp also have an alarming tendency to hurl themselves zealously into a zillion different social media activities, without any thought to potential communication, brand, employee, or reputation implications. "We just  learned how to get 2,000 new followers every day! We're popular!" (Well, popular with spammers, anyway!)

Those in the middle. Fortunately, I also come across folks in the middle of these two extremes. I meet a growing number of business people who understand that social media represents a huge opportunity for their organizations. They are also concerned about how reckless use of social media may lead to a damaged reputation or brand. They realize that without policy for acceptable use, it can be a major resource drain.

photo credit: h.koppdelaney The Social Media Balance Challenge. These smart business people invest in growing their organization's social media literacy. They realize a major shift is fundamentally changing the way they do business. They know that social media isn't just a marketing thing,  it's not an HR thing, or a customer service thing -- it's an "everybody" thing. Appropriate social media use needs to be embedded into every aspect the the organization. Here are 8 ways the smart organization proceeds with using social media for business:

1. They listen before they talk.
2. They do not participate in goofy social media marketing schemes.
3. They update their HR and communications policies to include appropriate employee use of social media channels.
4. Their brand guides include an employee section on appropriate tone and image to use in social media channels.
5. They build real relationships through authentic conversations.
6. They outline consequences for employees when they fail to live up to policy guidelines.
7. They do not outsource social media activities to marketing agencies.
8. They invest in employee training (after all, employees need to know more than how to use the technology, many also need communications training!)

Undoubtedly, there are more activities than the 8 listed here. What else does your organization do to successfully navigate the sometimes tricky tributaries of social media channels?

Your company's first step with social media? Listening. (Listening is also known as "social media monitoring.) And 90 days from now, guess what? You'll still be listening! Still monitoring. A year from now? Still listening! Oh, you'll be doing more than just listening in a year -- maybe you'll be interacting and energizing, too! But ongoing listening is at the very heart of your corporate communication strategy. In fact, your first 30 days of organized social media monitoring should lead the way for developing a much tighter, stronger, and effective organizational communication strategy. When I work with companies on developing social media strategy and communication policies, I recommend that the company listen first for 30 days. By this, I mean that someone in each business unit (HR, Customer Service, Engineering, Manufacturing, Marketing, Finance, etc.) needs to first learn the basic how-to's of monitoring internet chatter -- and then set about to the task of listening for at least 30 days. After these structured 30 days, we can meet again to discuss what we've been learning. By listening first and noting comments and trends along the way, an organization is in a better position to map communication strategy and policy. I've only recently used the term -- "listen until it hurts...and beyond". While the first 30 days of organized, strategic listening can enormously expand organizational learning about customers and markets -- what if the company listens for 30 days and only hears good news -- or no news? Keep listening. Listen until it hurts...and beyond. After 30 days, one of the questions I ask is, "What have you been hearing online about your brand that you don't like?" Often, I'll hear about a well-intentioned employee who is responding inelegantly to customers and prospects in social media channels. That can be painful -- but this pain helps a company uncover key policy points -- who are the company spokespeople? What is an appropriate tone and image for responding in social media channels? I might also hear about a chronic online brand complainer -- noisy, irritating, negative. How do we deal with online brand haters? But I also might hear clients say, "Nothing. We haven't heard anything bad. So we're good." Hey -- keep listening! Listen until it hurts...and beyond. PS -- How your organization responds to negativity can be a defining moment for your brand. Watch for the pain. Be vigilant. Pain is not a nice friend, but pain can be your very good and helpful friend!

When almost everyone has a video cell phone, sometimes the CEO gets caught doing something in public that needs some explaining! Or, perhaps your brand fans are rolling out product videos and tagging them with your name. Or maybe brand haters are showcasing your product in strange ways... Try searching for your company name, CEO's name, and product names at video.google.com. You’ll get more than YouTube results – video.google.com delivers videos that may be posted on 100’s of sites you never heard of in your life.

PS -- what if no one has posted a single video about your company (or your social media expert!) on the entire internet? Highly unlikely! But if you don't have at least one video about your company somewhere online -- face it.  You've got no buzz! Go out and get yourself some online video buzz today!

So. Are you a Twitter artist? Twitter is a new medium. No question. And like any medium, people can use it to create art and build community.

photo credit: Torley What’s up with this image? Think 1922, Paul Klee. It’s no coincidence that Twitter came to be in an era of economic uncertainty. Many use this simple new tool to build a community around ideas and emotions. They’re reaching out to others. They’re expressing themselves. They’re creating new social groups. These people are the Twitter Artists. When centralized mass media outlets cherry-pick stories to tell us how others are feeling, we are often led to believe these outlier feelings are mainstream and normal. But when we read first-person narratives of the life that occurs in between the big stories, we tend to see a more finely nuanced portrait. Twitter artists provide this nuance. Tweet by tweet, they create a portrait. Their perspectives provide a balance. Are you a Twitter artist? Or do you know someone who is? Who are they? (I really want to know! Please comment…)

Give people ONE contact number on your personal or business card. Maybe two. But not three. Not four. It seems I've read at least 3 articles this month advising people to put every possible contact number on their business cards! Yikes!

photo credit: justgrimes Um, no. Don't do that. Here are three reasons why:

• You have the technology. When you leave the office, transfer your phone to your cell. When you give clients ONE number to call, you reduce confusion and frustration. You make it easier for people to reach you. This demonstrates that you are customer-focused. It also shows that you have a grip on current communication technology.
• Reduce voicemail frustration. If clients get your voicemail, it means you're not available. This means they don't have to call yet another number, only to get another voicemail, only to leave a redundant message -- that you also have to listen to -- twice. With one number, everyone saves time & frustration.
• Make it simple. It's easier for clients to remember one number. And it makes your business card look clean and less cluttered. Now, you may argue, "But Laura, now I have to remember to forward my phone every time I leave the office! That makes it harder for ME!"

Get used to it. It's not about you, and showing off all your fancy numbers. It's about your customers, and making THEIR lives simpler. Capish? ;)

Here is this week's most oft-asked question: "In social media, how do you separate your personal life from your professional life?"

photo credit: Kelly Hau Photography The questioners explain that they thought LinkedIn was professional and FaceBook was personal -- but now that people are using FaceBook for professional reasons -- what is one to do? (And what about separating Twitter accounts: one for personal, one for professional?) The answer: Think in terms of your "personal brand." What is your brand personality? Quick! Name your three personal brand attributes. Don't know what they are? Find your personal brand attributes with an easy exercise! In branding exercises, we know that "your brand is what people say it is." Find out what your customers, prospects, and markets are saying about you -- that's your personal brand. Balance this with the image you'd like to project to the world. When you know your personal brand attributes cold, go to FaceBook. (Or LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, your blog, et. al.) Before you post hastily, ask yourself, "Is the content I'm about to post consistent with my personal brand attributes?" If it isn't, don't post! Your brand is what people say it is. You may not like it, but when you participate in social media, you have a personal brand. Choose to present your brand wisely! Future employers are listening. Your customers are listening. Your prospects are listening. Represent! Be yourself! Be your best self.