Brand

So you’re a community manager in charge of growing online engagement for your brand. Now what? Where’s the manual for this thing? What else should you be doing? The concept of community is an evolving one and may carry a variety of responsibilities at every company, depending on size and basic organization. But by overlaying the time-tested 7 deadly sins on the most general of community management job descriptions, we can build  an initial list of “Don’ts.” The 7 deadly sins of community Lust If...

Funny thing about communities. Sometimes they spring up in spots you haven't been watering. Because they're not clustered in nice fat groups claiming a proud central space in the garden, they're not complimented by neighbors of other carefully-groomed organic matter. They're insubstantial, really. These wild communities may be lone, thriving on a long-thought-dead channel with small membership numbers. It may be easy to discount the discovery of a wild community as unintentional, lacking organization...

This is a guest post contributed by Princess Jones, owner of P.S. Jones Communications. The story of your brand is a love story. It starts with a spark and you flirt with the idea of making into something more permanent. As the  relationship develops, you learn more about what works for your brand and what doesn’t. In the end, you and your brand become tied together in something that resembles a flourishing marriage. But as with every marriage, it takes continuous work to build and maintain...

Brand bibles, FAQs, and troubleshooting guides can provide general outlines of Do's and Don'ts, policies and common steps to issue resolution. As helpful as these resources may be to a social media specialist (or customer service rep), they can't replace personal experience and direct exposure to an assigned product or service.  A more dimensional and holistic training approach is critical to help front line staff make smart, informed, and controlled choices. Several high-profile brands gained...

Recently I covered 5 immutable laws of community-centric organizations.  Below are four more to consider. Make Your Community Character Count Make good choices.  Set the standard. Coaching community members to abide by codes of conduct may be a bit more challenging than censoring your own behavior as a manager. After all, it's your job to moderate what goes on.  You're the eye in the sky.  Set a tone and religiously maintain it.  Most participants will understand where the boundaries...

"A principle isn’t a principle unless it costs you something".—Bob Goldstein, former P&G Vice President of Advertising Today is the first day of the work week and as usual we ended the day with our company meeting.  There's only a small number of us, so we can be efficient with the 45 minutes we've allotted. As usual, each team member spent a few minutes touching on the more complex, urgent, or higher-profile tasks facing them this week. Sometimes they relate those tasks to specific...

Some say image is everything.  I don't believe that's wholly true, but just as I believe I feel a little stronger when wearing heels instead of my New Balance , I believe that a company with an intentional, deliberate image has greater control over its future because its stakeholders are mindful of the company's personality, voice, tone, and posture.  When those are all familiar and well-woven into the culture, ensuing decisions and actions come with ease. The Cobbler's Children Hath No Shoes It...

Funny Title for Building Your Brand Appeal I had a notion strike me, likely spurred by my informaniac-like consumption of written material (articles, reports, posts, papers, editorials, presentations, webinars, books, cereal boxes, the list goes on.  It's like a compulsion).  Lately I've been pondering the aggregated net effect of one's involvement (commitment is implied) and participation in UGC (user generated content). Where does it get you?  What does it give you?  Maybe moreover, What...

If you’ve ever read the great book Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott, you know that she asserts people are smart. No, really, they are. Or maybe just intuitive. They know by the second time the office manager compliments them on their outfit that it’s really an opener to that tedious print/collate/bind/ship project, 50 sets please. They also know that “opportunity area” is a high-falutin euphemism for what amounts to a C- on your annual report card. So by now, after a few decades...