Up Late
Who Are Your Business Heroes?
Business Heroes from frank gorton on Vimeo.
Who are your business heroes? Who are the people that you look up to in the business world. For me I have two, Richard Branson and Gary Vaynerchuk.
I have been a fan of Richard Branson for a number of years. I have read a couple of his books, and admire how he got started, and all that he has accomplished so far. In the interviews that I have seen with him he always seems very grounded, and seems to have a good heard on his shoulders. He is very successful, and yet still does not come across as a snob.
Gary Vaynerchuk is just awesome. I first came across him looking at Twitter and have been a fan ever since. I have seen numerous presentations that he has given at conferences, and have bookmarked almost all of them. I find his presentations to be very motivational, and his everyday common man approach makes him blend in with the crowd.
When you look at these two people, they have a true passion for the work that they are doing. They are willing to do whatever it takes to get what they want, and they have fun doing it. In addition they have a strong sense of family, and know what is really important.
Who are your business heroes? WHo do you admire? Let me know below.
Peace
Frank
Lifecasting
Lifecasting from frank gorton on Vimeo.
Twitter - A Social Media 4 Me presentation.
Change….sometimes it is a good thing
Over the last couple of weeks I have been falling into a rut. It is something that I cannot seem to explain, and not sure what the heck is going on. I have been a bit more tired then normal and just have no desire to take all of the various projects that I am working on and move them forward. If you had a chance to know the real me you would learn that this is enough to drive me insane.
So I amn watching a show on tv tonight where Micheal J. Fox is interviewing optimistic people from all over the world, and I am ready to drink the koolaid. I have always tried to stay on the positive side of things where posible, but I think it is time that I stepped things up a bit. Sometimes at my day job I get a bit carried away when people start to complain about work. Well I think I am going to try and change all of that.
WHY? Well I am just tried of this rut, and think this is just one of many things I need to help get me moving again. I need to feel like I used to, and staying happy is contagious. So what do you do to stay positive?
Be Well
Frank
Major Brands Must Embrace Social Media Or Die
In media today companies cannot ignore Social Media. Statistics now show that more people are using social media then are currently using email. That figure alone is staggering! Social media has changed the way we look at things and how we communicate with one another. Thin about it, how often have you send a video that you thought was funny to a friend, or they have sent one over to you. We all heard about the Domino’s video and how viral it went. I heard about it on Twitter before I ever saw it broad casted on the news or the Today show. Like it or not Social media is here to stay.
So what do companies due about? There are a number of simple tips to help get them started:
- Decide to fully invest in a Social Media awareness and presence. There is no half way here folks commit and go all in on this one.
- Begin to listen to the general Internet community and see where you target audience is talking. I cannot stress this enough, you MUST listen before you get started.
- Begin to start a presence on all of the major sites. When you start a presence you should at this stage just establish an account and then sit back and watch those around you with that service.
- Places you need to have a presence on:
- Linked In
- YouTube
- Google Profile
- The sites listed above are just the start, there are many mainstream sites that are being used in Social Media these days and you will have to determine which ones you will need to have a presence on based on where your target audience is socializing.
- Start to slowly engage with your audience on all of these sites. Create a Facebook fan page, start reaching out to people on Twitter…etc.
- Monitor your company on these sites EVERYDAY! This is crucial and is a must. Since you are now connected you need to see what others are saying about you, and watch it often.
- When you see negatives turn them into positives. If people are stalking bad about your service or product, reach out to them and try and find out what they dislike. Offer them a free trial, or correct and fix the issue if possible.
- When a crisis occur react swift and honest with your customers, it is the only way.
- Be personal it is the actual communication that counts, after all this is SOCIAL media right.
So now it is not a matter of if you will embrace Social Media, it is more like when will you embrace Social Media, so come on in the water is great.
Be Well
Frank
Domino’s and Social Media
The marketplace of today is always go go go and companies are always concerned about their brand. In the past companies relied on more traditional advertising, but things are changing drastically and companies must be ready to reaft at lightening speed.
Take for example Domino’s and the videos that were recently surfaced on Youtube about 2 staff members doing inappropriate things to food items while they prepared food for customers. In the past a story like this would have broken on the TV and if people did not get a chance to see it they would have had a much easier time cleaning up the bad press. Now people are taking video clips of everything and sharing them on many different socail network sites, like YouTube. The staff members that did these acts posted their videos on YouTube, and they were sent like wildfire all over the internet. I got emails, and Tweets about them and had already seen the videos 12+ hours before there even made headlines on the traditional TV media programs.
So now that the videos are surfaced on the internet and starting to spread like a plague, it is time for Domino’s to kick it into high gear. They are on a Social Media frenzy campaign to try and get the word out that they do not condone these types of actions. Word of mouth is a very powerful thing and companies need to recognize that they need to stay tuned into what their brands are doing each and every minute to avoid potential brand crushing situations.
They have released a video from the president of the company apologizing for all fo the things that the staff members did in the video, which while the video was a great step, they should have not had him reading a script. In Social Media there is a big push to be authentic, and not scripted and corporate. Had he actually did a candid apology looking straight into the camera, the video would have been more compelling and sincere.
Making a video with positive spin is not always enough though. In more cases then not a positive reply from a company does not draw anywhere near as much traffic as the original video in question. In these situations company’s need to put the full court press in all of their customer service and PR campaigns to reach as many customers and reassure them they have their best interest at heart.
So the jury is still out on how bad these videos have hurt the Domino’s brand, but one thing is for sure. Good News, as well as bad news travels a whole lot faster in this new age of Social Media.
Be Well
Frank
What is your comfortable?
With all of the things going on around us today with the economy and other recessionary times it is time for each of us to regroup and focus. I think it is time for everyone to sit back and look around them and realize what is important to them. Each of us have different things that we cherish. I like to have images around me that help to bring a calm state to all of the stress. The image of Buddha for some reason has always made me feel centered and relaxed. I took a class in college that talked about Buddhism, and it was one of the best classes I ever took. I have never been a person that has a strong religious background, but find a great deal of comfort with the idea if Buddhism. I like the idea of focusing more on one’s own journey to enlightenment. I think we each hold out own destiny in our own hands.
So what makes you feel comfortable? Is it an image? Is it a song?
Be Well
Frank
Pandora is Now Available for Blackberry
If you have not yet had the chance to look at Pandora (http://www.pandora.com) I would highly recommend you go over and take a look at the site. It is a free Internet radio station that will allow you to select your favorite artists and then it will review their database and find similar artists based on the genre.
Now they have taken it a step further and how have created an application that will allow you to have all of this on your Blackberry. They had previously released Windows Media version but this is not available for Blackberry users. I know of users that have installed this on their phones and have said goodbye to satellite radio, and are now addicted to this service.
So, are we moving in a direction where all of our entertainment needs will all be included in our mobile devices. People are increasinly able to access more on their mobile phone, making them almost like mobile communication/workstations.
Download the Application Here - http://www.pandora.com/blackberry
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-03-15
- Happy Thursday Peoples…..who is working on something great today? #
- ahh twitter where have you been all day….to busy at work to spend time on twitter today…hope you all are well. #
