Twitter is all about promoting yourself or your business. It’s basically a broadcasting tool, so it is a natural outlet for public relations. Use Twitter to build a following. To be seen as an expert, regularly tweet about your opinions, the latest facts and any happenings. Provide links not just to your articles but also to articles written by others in your industry or profession. Be an expert commentator and a resource for others. Try to provide value in your tweets—which we admit can be quite challenging at Twitter’s limit of only 140 characters!
One cool aspect of tweeting is that you can easily set Twitter to publish your posts on your personal blog, your MySpace blog and your Facebook account simultaneously. The best thing about tweeting is that you don’t have to read or respond to all the tweets you receive. In this respect, tweets are quite unlike e-mail, and you don’t have that “Oh-no-I’ve-got-to-catch-up” feeling hanging over your head if you ignore Twitter for a few days. Who cares what everybody did yesterday? Tweeting is very much a “happening now” kind of activity.
One MMI client that tweets regularly serves as the primary economic development catalyst for North Carolina’s Wake county and its 12 municipalities. Wake County Economic Development’s purpose is to encourage businesses from outside Wake to expand and relocate there as well as assist local companies with their business expansions efforts in the county. To accomplish those goals, WCED provides a bounty of data about the great lifestyle and economy you find in Wake County, one of the fastest-growing counties in the nation.
For example, one WCED tweet says, “Over 100 summer camps are offered by Parks and Recreation Department of Raleigh.” http://idek.net/4bh Another tweet says, “Forbes Magazine ranks Raleigh #1 ‘Best Place for Business and Careers’ for third year in a row.” A third tweet: “The New R Line in Raleigh provides FREE energy efficient transportation around downtown Raleigh.” And a fourth: “Check out the Carolina Hurricanes upcoming schedule.” http://idek.net/4be
In short, tweeting is a natural form of promotion for government entities seeking to promote their regions and encourage tourism and economic development.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Live Your Personal Brand
Domesticity diva Martha Stewart has a personal brand that has survived adversity. Convicted of conspiracy and obstruction of justice in an insider stock trading case in 2004, Stewart spent five months in federal prison, then launched a highly publicized comeback and returned to daytime television. Her business made a strong comeback right along with her. What did Stewart do that "Swindler of the Century" Bernie Madoff didn’t?
She kept living her brand.
Through adversity, obstacles, personal attacks, smear campaigns, big mistakes and any kind of personal crisis—you must continue to be faithful to your brand’s promise of value to your customers and your public. Madoff’s personal brand promise was one of financial protection and prosperity for his clients. What he dished out instead was financial ruin. The emotion he promised was peace of mind. Now many of his clients feel anguish and despair.
Stewart, on the other hand, got out of prison and doggedly returned to providing the familiar products, tips and entertainment promised by Martha Stewart Living. She salvaged her personal brand—but Madoff cannot possibly salvage his.
If your brand is that you are the “Banker With All The Answers,” be ready to deliver on that promise. Even if you don’t have an answer to a customer’s question immediately, follow through by finding the answer, and get back with that customer as soon as possible with the information. If you don’t follow through, then you’re not living your brand.
She kept living her brand.
Through adversity, obstacles, personal attacks, smear campaigns, big mistakes and any kind of personal crisis—you must continue to be faithful to your brand’s promise of value to your customers and your public. Madoff’s personal brand promise was one of financial protection and prosperity for his clients. What he dished out instead was financial ruin. The emotion he promised was peace of mind. Now many of his clients feel anguish and despair.
Stewart, on the other hand, got out of prison and doggedly returned to providing the familiar products, tips and entertainment promised by Martha Stewart Living. She salvaged her personal brand—but Madoff cannot possibly salvage his.
If your brand is that you are the “Banker With All The Answers,” be ready to deliver on that promise. Even if you don’t have an answer to a customer’s question immediately, follow through by finding the answer, and get back with that customer as soon as possible with the information. If you don’t follow through, then you’re not living your brand.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
The Jekyll and Hyde Personal Brand
Bernard Madoff — the guy who “made off” with so many people’s money — is a dramatic example of a personal brand turned topsy-turvy. Once a trusted, even beloved, advisor, Madoff now has been dubbed “The Swindler of the Century” and “The Most Hated Man in America.”
His personal brand promise turned out to be a monstrous and hideous lie.
What’s fascinating and disturbing is just how diametrically opposed his new personal brand is from his old one. The perpetrator of a $50 billion Ponzi Scheme was a man who had been highly respected and well-connected, a rock of respectability. Talk about Jekyll-and-Hyde! How could a man undergo such a transformation?
But I’ll leave the psychological analysis of Bernie Madoff to the psychiatrists. What I see here is something more akin to mythology than anything else. I see an archetype known to all of us — the fallen angel. The downfall of someone powerful. The story of wretched excess. The classic fall from grace. It’s the Garden of Eden. It’s The Godfather. It’s Apocalypse Now.
Bernie Madoff’s personal brand is the stuff of legend. He is in a sense already larger than life and his story will be told for generations — a dark tale of power and corruption and greed. It's the journey of man into moral abyss. A cautionary tale for all of us.
His personal brand promise turned out to be a monstrous and hideous lie.
What’s fascinating and disturbing is just how diametrically opposed his new personal brand is from his old one. The perpetrator of a $50 billion Ponzi Scheme was a man who had been highly respected and well-connected, a rock of respectability. Talk about Jekyll-and-Hyde! How could a man undergo such a transformation?
But I’ll leave the psychological analysis of Bernie Madoff to the psychiatrists. What I see here is something more akin to mythology than anything else. I see an archetype known to all of us — the fallen angel. The downfall of someone powerful. The story of wretched excess. The classic fall from grace. It’s the Garden of Eden. It’s The Godfather. It’s Apocalypse Now.
Bernie Madoff’s personal brand is the stuff of legend. He is in a sense already larger than life and his story will be told for generations — a dark tale of power and corruption and greed. It's the journey of man into moral abyss. A cautionary tale for all of us.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Giving Feels Good
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have found that charitable giving activates the same part of the brain stimulated by sex, drugs and money. Giving also activates the part of the brain that influences social attachments, trust and economic interactions. NIH researchers used MRIs to monitor brain activity, and their imaging study is said to support an actual biological basis for the existence of those warm-and-fuzzies you get whenever you donate money to your favorite charity.
Charitable giving just plain makes you feel good about yourself. And you don’t have to donate money to feel that way—you can donate time instead.
One of our clients has volunteered to serve as a judge in the North Carolina Education Ball, to help decide the winner of a dance competition among Raleigh business leaders. The seventh annual Education Ball, hosted by Communities in Schools of North Carolina, includes a progressive dinner, a silent and live auction, dessert, champagne, music and dancing for all attendees—and a dance contest featuring seven North Carolina leaders. The Ball will have its own version of "Dancing With the Stars!"
Because our client has volunteered to serve as a judge for this event, we are sending out a news release announcing the fact. When you are doing good deeds for the world, why not trumpet it? You gain goodwill from the public and you serve as a wonderful example to others.
If you have ever wanted to volunteer for a charitable organization, but are unsure which one or where to start, take a look at Charity Navigator, a 501© (3) non-profit organization that provides information on over five thousand charities. One or two of those charities will probably pull at your heartstrings. Find one that means something to you.
Charitable giving just plain makes you feel good about yourself. And you don’t have to donate money to feel that way—you can donate time instead.
One of our clients has volunteered to serve as a judge in the North Carolina Education Ball, to help decide the winner of a dance competition among Raleigh business leaders. The seventh annual Education Ball, hosted by Communities in Schools of North Carolina, includes a progressive dinner, a silent and live auction, dessert, champagne, music and dancing for all attendees—and a dance contest featuring seven North Carolina leaders. The Ball will have its own version of "Dancing With the Stars!"
Because our client has volunteered to serve as a judge for this event, we are sending out a news release announcing the fact. When you are doing good deeds for the world, why not trumpet it? You gain goodwill from the public and you serve as a wonderful example to others.
If you have ever wanted to volunteer for a charitable organization, but are unsure which one or where to start, take a look at Charity Navigator, a 501© (3) non-profit organization that provides information on over five thousand charities. One or two of those charities will probably pull at your heartstrings. Find one that means something to you.
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