My deepest apologies, but I did not get around to doing a full write up for this week’s analogous friday. Feel free to shout,  yell, degrade, and insult me in the comments for this #FAIL of epic proportions. Or you can just enjoy this awesome video…

Have a terrific weekend!

In the words of Anchorman, “Hey everyone, come see how good I look!”

That’s right, as you can see, today is the day that I mark something off my to-do list as I unleash my pretty new threads here at The Curbside Marketer.

So whatchya think?

After debating for quite a while over whether to use Thesis or Headway, both very highly regarded WordPress themes, I decided to go with Thesis and I’m really pumped about how it’s turned out. I’ll be honest and say that I’ve been visiting a lot of your blogs, looking for inspiration and ideas, so if something looks familiar, consider it the highest of compliments!

Also, if you’re digging the design and are interested in maybe redesigning your own blog, take a look at the consulting link in the nav menu. I’d be happy to either walk you through how to get started or design it for you!

So, make yourself at home, take a look around, and let me know what you think in the comments. Does the font look stupid? I want to know. Is it hard to read something? Give it to me. Feedback is awesome because it can only make it better. Tune in tomorrow and I’ll be giving a review of Thesis.

Photo by TheTruthAbout…

Some of the Rock Star Brands in Social Media

Yesterday I had the chance to speak with Reggie Bradford, the CEO of Vitrue which just compiled their second annual list of the top 100 “Most Social Brands.” To clarify right off the bat, this isn’t measuring the level of social activity of the brand, but rather the sheer number of mentions the brand has across social networks, photo sharing sites, and video sharing sites. It doesn’t take into account whether the sentiment is negative or positive, it’s strictly the number of mentions.

Having said that, there are a some pretty interesting insights you can gather from the list that I wanted to talk to Mr. Bradford about.

I first asked him what surprised him about this year’s list. Did any brands make the list you didn’t expect? Bradford said that what really surprised him were some of the brands that were omitted from the list, namely CPG and travel brands. He mentioned that CPG brands haven’t really jumped on the social bandwagon just yet, which hasn’t exactly helped encourage social mentions. The way I look at travel is that consumers see travel brands as a means to an end as opposed to a tangible product or noteworthy experience of any kind, therefore, consumers don’t mention the brands in their social networks. However, if you look at the Roger Smith Hotel, it’s evident that creating a buzz worthy travel experience IS possible, it’s just that not many are concerned about it right now.

It certainly wasn’t surprising to see quite a few tech brands on the list because, as Mr. Bradford explained, they tend to be the first of the early adopters when any shiny new technology comes out.

I was interested to ask Bradford about any changes he noticed from the 2008 list to the 2009 one and he said that domestic auto companies saw a big drop in mentions. The reasoning for this is that in 2008, the auto industry was a very hot topic with everything that was going on in Capitol Hill, which generated a lot of conversation around the companies. So, the decline in mentions is actually a welcome sight for these companies.

What’s very interesting to me is how there is very little correlation between the number of brand mentions and the level of social participation from that brand. Apple has multiple brands on the list, but they’re famously absent from social media. What this tells me is that social media will not save your brand (gasp!). What it comes down to is having great products. If you can do this, there WILL be buzz around your brand.

This isn’t to say that social media is a fruitless venture. If you are active in the space, you’ll be able to interact with and engage all of these mentions, which will only increase their affinity towards your brand.

So, some effective use of social media may not get you in the top 100, but it can ensure that once you do crack the list, you’ll be getting the most out of your stay.

What are your reactions to the Most Social Brands list? Any surprises?

Thanks to Reggie Bradford for taking the time to chat with me yesterday and to Gretchen Miller (Go Heels!) for setting up the phone call!

Photo by -= ierkof =-

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Today’s post comes from Elisa Doucette, who is a regular contributor to The Curbside Marketer’s comments area. Elisa writes at her own blog, Ophelia’s Webb, where she contributes her “musings and ramblings from a not-so-average girl next door bumbling around the gorgeous metropolis that is Portland, Main.” You can subscribe to her blog here.

It’s easy to watch The Office and decide quickly that Michael Scott is a complete and bumbling idiot.  He never seems to say or do the right thing, his management style is laughable, and his business acumen is in line with a lumberman’s knowledge of the Prada fall line.  You almost have to wonder how Michael got into a position as manager (well, co-manager now) of the Scranton, PA branch.

One theory is the Peter Princicple.  Even though Michael got his job by stalking followinggoing to the same place as a woman who’s hair he was smelling on the bus, he quickly rose to the highest ranks of paper and office supply salespeople in the company. Before long there was no place higher for him to go, so they promoted him to management.  With no experience or acumen.  He surpassed a level where he was superior to instead fall into a position where he is thought to be incompetent.

It’s tough to be in management, especially when you used to do the same job that the people you manage do now.  It’s even worse when you were pretty damn good at it.  Because you know how succeed in the position, but you can’t just tell them.  You are beaten down constantly by the stupid beaurocracy of corporations and you try to shield your employees from those realities.  And managing employees can be somewhat akin to being a high school hall monitor.  You’re always dealing with cliques, puppy love relationships (where Angela somehow dates half the office,) report cards and various other teenaged issues.

You have to look at the success of the Scranton Branch of Dunder Mifflin despite the idiocy of some of the employees (Hello, what the hell does Creed do other than be “that creepy guy?!”)  Additionally there has been very little turnover at the branch, the employees stay loyal.  And they all seem to actually enjoy each other for the most part.

Frequently David Wallace and the upper quadrants of management review and analyze Michael and the branch, wondering how they “do it.”  But no one can ever figure it out.

Perhaps the truth is a little harder to believe.  And that truth might be that Michael Scott is, for the most part, actually a good manager.  I’ve learned this especially this season as Jim offers insights into the world that is management since he was recently promoted himself.

Leaders have charisma and appeal

Michael may be the satirical stereotype of clueless management, but no matter how many times he says stupid stuff, how many politically incorrect sexual harrassment seminars he hosts or how many murder mystery dinners he hosts, you just can’t help but like the guy.  We’ve all tuned in for five seasons now.  If he was unbearable, no one would care.  Did anyone watch more than four episodes of “Cavemen?”

Leaders have innate ability to analyze situations and utilize resources

You’ve gotta wonder how the heck it is that Michael is knocked down again and again but somehow manages to bounce back up like one of those punching bag clowns.  Even when he is attempting to randomly place promotion flyers for a Golden Ticket in paper boxes and it backfires horrifically badly, the client turns around and makes Dunder Mifflin their exclusive office supplier.  Sure, some of it appears to be dumb luck.  I’m not much of a believer in luck, though.  We tend to make our own luck, taking advantage of opportunities we recognize.

Leaders create an “Inner Circle” of colleagues

No matter how much Dwight tries to suck up to Michael and earn his respect and accolades, Michael just won’t serve them up to Dwight.  He can tell what Dwight’s alterior motives are, and he won’t have any part of it.  Thought the admiration may be nice, Michael knows that Dwight is just not someone he can trust and rely on.  Thus why he has always chosen Jim to be his right hand man, even though Jim has spent the majority of the series painstakingly glancing at the camera and shaking his head at Michael’s actions and statements.

Leaders “pay it foward” and empower their employees

There is no greater testament to a great manager and leader than the advancement of their employees.  You’ve got Ryan getting promoted to Vice President, Pam chasing her artistic dreams and eventually stepping out from the receptionist position, Jim taking over as co-manager of the branch, and many more examples.  More recently after Michael spent an entire episode berating Erin, the new receptionist, for now being “as good as Pam” he realizes that she does, in fact, have a lot to offer and encourages her to pursue her accounting interests.

So yes, Michael Scott might be an idiot most of the time.  But really, other than the idiot stuff that actually provides a bit of amusement, don’t you kind of wish you had a manager with traits similar to him?

What do you look for in a manager?  What are the good, the bad and the ugly sides of a manager’s face?

This week’s vid is going to take you back to your school days and drop you into a math classroom. For those of you who that didn’t scare away, enjoy the video.

Not too shabby for a college math class, huh? What can we learn from this overachieving professor? Funny you should ask…

DON’T GET STUCK IN YOUR ROUTINE

I’d be pretty safe in assuming that not every day in this class is done like this one was. Sometimes, we get pretty bored with our daily grind and we need to spice things up a little bit. Do something as simple as trying to get some work done outside one day or as drastic as switching jobs. Sure, change is scary which is why people get stuck in routines a lot of the time, but change is also healthy. So, have a little fun and break away from  your norm.

MAKE AN IMPRESSION

This professor went the extra mile for his class. Instead of doing something small like saying “Happy Halloween” he decided to go all out for his students. In return, they will probably remember him and that class for years to come. This is the same when working with clients or customers. If you can show them that you care enough about them to take the extra steps to do something out of the ordinary, you’re going to leave a lasting impression on them.

So I took two of the easier ones today. Now, it’s YOUR turn. What analogies can you make so that we take away even more lessons from this clip?

For more analogousness, check out last week’s edition, “Trick Without the Treat.”

So I’m very excited to tell you that tomorrow I’ll be leaving on a jet plane heading to Las Vegas for Blog World Expo 09. No, I am not saying this to rub it in your face (although you know you’re jealous!) I’m saying this because you’re going to get to attend Blog World vicariously through my updates both here on The Curbside Marketer and on Twitter. I know I know, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but we’re going to make an exception for you. I’ll be sharing notes, thoughts, and wicked sick videos with you throughout the rest of the week.

If you are going to Blog World, be sure to let me know so that we can meet up some time! If you will not be there, let me know what you’d like to see/hear about from the event! Also, if you have any tips for how to dominate in the casinos, those are welcome, too.

Recently I read a report of the top and bottom 10 companies for customer service. The #1 top company was Apple. The #5 worst company was AT&T. The elephant in the room was the iPhone.

The Metaphorical iPhone

In AT&T’s defense, I’ve heard very few people ever say they were in love with their wireless carrier (no wireless carrier made the list for the top 10 in customer service). But, instead of blending into the crowd with other “mediocre” wireless brands why didn’t AT&T (or someone else, for that matter) step it up and over-deliver on their services?

There are a couple of points I want to make here. The first is that if you have a tremendous product backed with poor customer service and a poor framework of support, you can probably succeed in the short term. However, sooner or later, your customers are going to get fed up and someone else is going to come in with a product that’s just as good with even better service and leave you in the dust.

This brings me to my next point: inefficiencies are simply areas of opportunity. Take a hard look at your company or your competitors and look around for what you suck at. What does everyone suck at? When you can find that area and turn it around, you just found your competitive advantage.

It just makes you wonder: are wireless companies oblivious to their inefficiencies?

I’ve used golf analogies before in a blog post, but I’m pretty convinced you could write an entire book comparing golf to business practices. Maybe today’s post could be a chapter…

Kids, don't try this at home.

You always hear the saying “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Well, turn this around and you have “if it is broke, you sure as heck better fix it.” Right? Stay with me…

I’ve played golf for a long time. Unfortunately, I’ve never played it consistently enough to actually get good at it, but I’m fairly confident I can play 18 holes without embarrassing myself. The thing with golf is that so many people just pick up a club and start swinging on their own, the way that they swing the club is automatically putting them at a disadvantage. Their head moves all over the place, their arms swing like they’re noodles, and they practically fall over when they swing. The funny thing is how many people think that they can get better by keeping their current swing and just doing it better.

What?

If you swing like Charles Barkley, I feel pretty confident saying that you will never reach your potential as a golfer. Adjustments need to be made. You need to take lessons from an expert. If you don’t do this, I hope you’ve got some extra money because you’re going to be losing balls left and right.

This seems pretty obvious, doesn’t it? Then why are there businesses out there that have a poor business model that think that if they can just operate more efficiently and work harder, they’ll be successful? If the principles your business operates on suck, then you’re results are going to suck too! I’m not sure if I can put it any more simply than that.

I started to address these questions in the post, but I really want to see what everyone thinks about them in the comments (I’ll throw some ideas out there too!) So, our topic for discussion today is: What are some good ways to identify if your business’ “swing is broken?” and how can you go about fixing it?

Photo from Flickr user Voyou Desoeuvre

Welcome to my new home! I’ve been blogging over at “That’s All I Have to Say About That” for close to 6 months now and I’ve decided to take this shindig to the next level and switch to a self hosted blog here at my brand spankin new URL. Along with this comes a new look and a new name, “The Curbside Marketer.”

Why this name you ask? Well, it comes from a Jason Mraz song titled, “Curbside Prophet,” but I think it embodies what I want this blog to be. This is a space where you can stop by 2 or 3 times a week to hang out and talk with me about all sorts of marketing, social media, and business topics, just like I was a friend you just ran into on the street  throughout the week.

The key here is that I want to be able to learn from you as much as you learn from me. That means that when you read one of my posts, don’t stop there, leave me a comment with your thoughts. Ideally, the actual blog posts will only be a starting point for a whole other discussion we’ll have in the comments section.

If you’re new around here, I’m super excited you stopped by and really want you to keep coming back. I’d encourage you to subscribe to my posts either by RSS or by e-mail, whichever way you swing, in the sidebar on the right. If you’re still not sure whether or not I’m worth your time, here are a few of my previous posts that you can check out:

• Luck Favors the Prepared
• Bacon is good for…marketing
• What if you were a goldfish?
• How to Double Bogey Your Marketing

I’m really excited about my new threads that I picked up here at The Curbside Marketer and what is to come around here in the future. Again, thanks for stopping by and I’m looking forward to connecting with all of you readers!

Image from Flickr user mag373