brand

Sarah Worsham / Jul 17, 2009

Be Careful What You Say – It May Affect Your Permanent Record

While I was teaching a Blogging for Business class out at Insights Group in Brighton yesterday, I mentioned that you need to be careful what you say online because it lasts for eternity (or you should consider that it does). People were pretty shocked to know that just because you delete something, it may still be available on the Internet somewhere.

Sarah Worsham / Apr 30, 2009

9 Ways to Lose Business Using Twitter

Companies and inviduals alike have been flocking to Twitter. Many companies are using Twitter to enage their customers in meaningful conversations, helping with support issues and questions, and gathering feedback to improve their products and services. But some companies are just using Twitter as another broadcast medium, which can actually be harmful. When using Twitter for business here’s what you shouldn’t do:

Talk only about your company and products – Twitter is a social media for having conversations (that means two-way communication).
Ignore what people are saying about you – Twitter gives your customers a voice. Pay attention to what they’re saying.
Fail to Respond – For very large companies with many followers, it can be difficult to respond to every request, but you should try as hard as possible.
Talk about inappropriate subjects – This happens most often when personal and business subjects mix, but it could also be talking about controversial subjects. Just keep in mind that whatever you say is out there for everyone to see.
Sell to followers – Obviously some self-promotion is fine, but it should not be the main use of your Twitter account. And you shouldn’t direct message every follower with links to your product or promotions.
Ask for contacts – If people are interested in your products or services, they’ll contact you. If you provide useful and helpful information, people will start to follow you. People are very protective of their coworkers, friends and family, so don’t violate their trust.
Ask people to promote your stuff – If they find what you say valuable enough, they’ll tell others. Asking for a rt occasionally may be ok, but constantly bugging people to promote you will just annoy them.
Don’t do anything constructive with feedback – Your customers are offering feedback because they care (if they didn’t, they wouldn’t bother). If you don’t do anything useful with the feedback, they’ll stop giving it and it’ll be much more difficult to satisfy them.
Take more than you give – If you fail to offer useful and helpful information, offer support and wisdom, and give information, your customers will stop listening and go elsewhere.

I think a lot of it comes down to acting the same on Twitter as you would in person.

(photo by hansvandenberg30)

Technorati tags: social media, brand, social networking, business, marketing strategy, marketing

Liked this post? Consider subscribing to our RSS feed or our weekly newsletter.

Sarah Worsham / Apr 16, 2009

Personal vs. Business Branding

There’s been much to do lately about the effect of personal branding on businesses and the importance of personal branding for small and medium businesses. I think both personal and business branding are important – and they certainly have an effect on each other. How much will depend on the influence and reputation of the brands.

Now, I’m not against personal branding, as I said it may offer some people that ability to create the best job going, but a business is an asset, something that gets more valuable over time and, here’s the biggie, can be sold. It is very difficult to sell a personal brand. Some of biggest personal brands you could name on twitter right now would be worth very little without the person behind the avatar. – John Jantsch – Business Isn’t Personal – Duct Tape Marketing

Businesses certainly can benefit from having a bit of personality. Customers want to have experiences, not just purchase products, and they want to interact with brands and businesses. As Scotty Monty, who works for Ford, said:

It’s a lot more difficult to screw a brand when there’s a real person that you know that’s associated with the brand.

Some of the most popular business brands today have strong personal brands behind them. Apple, for instance, is undeniably tied to the personal brand of Steve Jobs. But a personal brand is not the same as a business brand. While Steve Jobs may work for Apple, there is more to his personal brand than just a CEO. Apple is more than just Steve Jobs (at least, so the investers hope).

In an era when transparency is much easier, it is important to be aware of the effects of personal brands on business brands, and vice versa. What you say and do as a person is linked to your business, even if you’re building separate brands. What a company does while you own it can also be tied to your personal brand. Instead of a black and white division – there are many shades of grey.

(photo by Mister Wilson @ Flickr CC)

Technorati tags: brand, branding, branding strategy, business, marketing strategy, marketing

Liked this post? Consider subscribing to our RSS feed or our weekly newsletter.

« Previous Page