If you follow me on Twitter or follow my blog, you probably have seen updates about my ongoing involvement with leading the Timberland Earthkeepers website project (at Digital Evolution Group). We just launched the redesigned blog for Earthkeepers (click here to visit the blog). I’m really proud of the team that put this together, it’s built with a WordPress backbone, and is integrated with YouTube, Twitter, DISQUS and Facebook.

It’s exciting to help lead part of the effort Timberland has dedicated itself to (and I’m not just saying that because they’re my client). They’re doing incredible things, like planting 1 million+ trees around the world, and drastic things like banning the use of bottled water (by their CEO) at all their corporate offices.

Personally, since I’ve started this project, I’ve learned so much and started to take steps of my own: I now use a reusable water bottle at work and at home, I use reusable grocery sacks, I’ve convinced our office to not buy styrofoam cups or plates, I even created an Earth Day video blog last year to get the good word out.

FYI: if you’re wondering what the term “Earthkeeper” means, it’s a person who cares about the environment. Timberland describes Earthkeepers as people who do small things- like recycling, biking instead of driving, and using energy-efficient light bulbs. Earthkeepers are also people who do BIG super cool things like replanting eroded areas or retrofitting their engines to run on bio fuel.

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Tonight, I watched a segment that aired on 60-minutes, that made me think of the quote that sits at the top of my personal blog.

“If at first the idea is not absurd, there is no hope for it.”

This quote, is there for a very personal reason. It’s a motto that I strongly believe in because several things I’ve experienced or accomplished in life, at first- were just crazy thoughts or seemingly unattainable notions. Tonight, when I watched this interview, I couldn’t help imagine what it was like for K.R. Sridhar, and his team when they first set goals and expectations for his company, Bloom Energy. Even now, with as much progress as they’ve made with the technology, some of his predictions sound 100%, completely, and utterly absurd.

I even found myself laughing out loud at some of the things Sridhar spoke of, it sounded so unbelievable.

But I love it.

His challenging aspirations to change the energy industry had me captivated and motivated just listening to him.

So what is it? This company is a startup, that has developed the “Bloom Box”, a fuel cell technology that provides clean electricity. Google, Bank of America, and Wal-Mart are already testing the devices. Over $400 million has been invested and their goal is to have this device sitting in your backyard, powering your house.

Sridhar who used to work for NASA, and is someone who refuses to live with the results of other people’s thinking. He’s blazing his own trail and redefining everything you know.

Do yourself a favor and watch the segment. You’ll enjoy it.

Let me know your comments, what do you think about this? Did this get your attention?

I came across an article that declared, “…your brain can’t handle all 5,000 of your Facebook friends, humans’ brains are capable of managing a maximum of only 150 friendships.” It’s an interesting study revelation right? I think so. However, I want to point out the benefit of using a technology like Facebook.

Even if 150 friendships is all the ‘ol noggin can hold, I don’t think that means you have to limit the social circle of friends you have. This doesn’t mean you should start deleting friends and limiting who you’re connected with online. One of the benefits of social media is while we might be physically limited in managing the number of friends we have in our head, using tools like Facebook, we can stay ambiently connected to everyone else. Furthermore, as situations are relevant and of interest to us, we can then choose to interact with friends.

This notion, is what’s called “ambient intimacy“, I’ve discussed before on my blog. Ambient intimacy is about being able to keep in touch with people with a level of regularity and intimacy that you wouldn’t usually have access to, because time and space conspire to make it impossible.

For example:

• Facebook helps me see what my friends are thinking, doing, projects they’re working on and what they did this weekend.

• Twitter tells me what websites to check out and the opinions people have about news and current events.

• Flickr lets me see the latest family photos or pics from a recent trip. And it also shows me their latest haircut.

• Friendfeed tells me their activity stream of my friends online, what they’re looking at, what they’re reading and videos they’ve favorited on YouTube.

So while, yes Robin Dunbar, the professor of Anthropology at Oxford is probably right, 150 friends is the max for your brain, utilizing tools like Facebook and Twitter allows you to “feel closer to people we care for but in whose lives we’re not able to participate as closely as we’d like. Knowing these details creates intimacy (via @leisa).

And the best part about all this is …we don’t have to store it in that ‘ol noggin resting between our shoulders. After all, I have a hard enough time remembering to pick up my dry cleaning.
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My last blog post mentioned online influence. I explained that your influence offline vs. online doesn’t always transcend and cited an example of Bill Gates tweeting vs. the power that Ryan Seacrest has online. So it got me to thinking, why not compare recent tweets between Gates vs. Seacrest to see who really has “pull” online. Who would really win? The results were surprising and not what I had guessed.

(BTW, I never thought I’d ever write the phrase in a blog post, “Gates vs. Seacrest” …which come to think of it- would make for an awesome pay-per-view boxing fight).

In this unscientific comparison for online influence, I first wanted to establish and compare # of followers:

Bill Gates has 477,645 followers.
Ryan Seacrest has 2,952,473 followers.

As you can see, by measurement of pure followers, Seacrest easily overpowers Gates by 2,474,828 followers. You could say based on these numbers, the perceived reach and influence is much greater for Ryan Seacrest.

Measurement Methodology
My next step was to reviewed both Twitter streams to find a Tweet, older than 7 days, with a bit.ly URL, paired with verbiage from Gates or Seacrest that was along the lines of “i created this, and I want you to check it out by clicking the bit.ly link”. My intent was to find an older Tweet that isn’t active (so the numbers are fairly static), and the Tweet must be persuasive with a clear please “click my link” call-to-action.

Bill Gates:

Ryan Seacrest:

Initial thoughts: case closed?

Seacrest had 15,181 more click-throughs than Gates. My point is proven! Right? Bill Gates who arguably has more influence offline than Ryan Seacrest, has less infleunce online. Case closed?

This was the first comparison of many. When I performed other comparisons of bit.ly URLs between the two, the results were much different…

Bill Gates:

Ryan Seacrest:

What’s going on here?

The more links I tested and compared, I noticed that even with Ryan Seacrest’s 2,474,828 more followers …his click-through numbers weren’t that much more significant than Bill Gates (who has only 400,000+ followers). Most of the link comparisons placed them fairly comparable in terms of numbers.

• Does this mean followers counts don’t matter? (some people say to ignore #followers)
• What’s the right messaging/ communication for a conversion click?
• Does the time of day matter in which these tweets are being sent?
• Is there be a better “quality” or high signal to noise ratio for Gate’s followers?

What’s your opinion? What are your thoughts on online influence? What’s going on here between Gates and Seacrest? Make a comment.
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Many of the blog posts you’re likely reading about Kevin Smith (the dude in Mall Rats) getting kicked off the plane for “being to fat” are centered around discussion if the policy is fair or possible to objectively make the decision that someone is too fat …I’d rather not talk about that (the full story / tweet recap is here).

I want to make 3 points about things you might not have considered when tracking this story:

1.) Kevin Smith, is a C-list actor offline, but online, he’s got major influence (over 1.6 million followers on Twitter). My point is your influence offline vs. online doesn’t always transcend (e.g. even when people like Bill Gates tweet, he doesn’t have the influence that Ryan Seacrest has online).

2.) When you read the official corporate response -then- the blog post from Southwest, it’s interesting to note the tone, language and style difference used between the official corporate communication response vs. the blog post- which is written from a “human” (not legal speak), it’s opinionated, self-deprecating and translates the situation to the lowest common denominator. The blog post just uses common sense towards the situation. Southwest has a clear understanding of the tools and how to communicate with them.

2a.) If you review the comments on the blog, what’s evident is their efforts of engagement directly with their fans is playing to their advantage. MANY of the fans are speaking on their behalf, coming first to the defense of Southwest …all because of their loyalty and connection to the brand.

3.) There is something is to be said about the powerful effect of building relationships and connections online. In this case, Southwest’s online community was quick to assemble and defend them even in the mix of a PR mess. If Southwest wanted 1 proof-point ROI on social media, they could take this one incident and just measure the positive sentiment from it’s fans, it’s incredible to watch (so is the exchange between fellow loyalists).

What’s your opinion? Do you think Southwest is handling this properly?
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Recently, I’ve been getting emails and messages from friends telling me, “HEY, you’re on the first page of Google when I searched for X or Y. I see your photo and a link to your blog”. In my opinion, this is a big darn deal for anyone who creates content online AND is well connected online. Let me explain why…

This feature that people are seeing on their search results page is called, “social search“. And, people like my sister and my mom, who aren’t tech savvy, are likely missing the heading that explains “results from my social circle”. See below.

Google explains what “social search” in more detail:
With Social Search, when we search for [baby sleep patterns], [swaddling] or [best cribs], not only do we get the usual websites with expert opinions, we also find relevant pages from our friends and contacts. For example, if one of my friends has written a blog where he talks about a great baby shop he found in Mountain View, this might appear in my social results. I could probably find other reviews, but my friend’s blog is more relevant because I know and trust the author.

This seemingly small change is smart for Google and more importantly aligned with people’s behavior and the shift in our culture. When you perform a search, you are asking Google to give you back, relevant, credible information. That said…

…consider the following about trust + influence:

• More than ever, people do NOT trust businesses, corporations, government and institutions (2009 Edelman)
• More than ever, we highly trust the opinions of our friends and family.
• Trust in news media is down in double digits (2009 Edelman)
• Strangers are trusted more than celebrities and advertising (2008 McCann Survey).
• 85% of people who sit down at a computer are likely to first perform a search on Google

Do you get where I’m going with this? I make a point to tell you 85% of activity on a computer for any given person is searching for something on Google. AND now Google is placing links to your friend’s content based on the keywords you’re searching for, which is inline with the status quo of trust and influence shifting to individuals and strangers.

So, back to my original point at the beginning of my blog post: this change is a big darn deal for anyone who creates a lot of content AND is well connected online …because your visibility online just increased exponentially.

Every time a friend performs a search on Google, your content is eligible to appear if it’s relevant to their search …on the first page of their search results.

This is big.

What content do you have published, created, or exists that will place you on the first page of search results for free? Those that have content will benefit- and with little to no effort required.
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I gave a presentation on Personal Branding at the IABC Business Communicators Summit last week. Instead of just regurgitating all of the long-winded points I rambled about in my presentation, I’ll just give you the short and sweet version in 10 easy digestible points.

If you still have questions or want to complain about something after reading these (below) or viewing the PowerPoint …tell me in the comments. I’ll reply with answers to anything you ask. I promise.

1.) Personal branding, if understood and practiced well- can establish trust, credibility and more importantly define and distinguish you among your friends, family and work colleagues.

2.) Everything you do communicates a message- the first step is to recognize and be cognitive of that- the second is to provide definitive, consistent positioning with that message so people understand what you’re noteworthy and remarkable at.

3.) Consistency facilitates recognition. Don’t forget that. Be consistent.

4.) Step #1, Understand how your friends, family and work colleges perceive you.

5.) Step #2, Do a search, find out how Google perceives you.

6.) Step #3, Define your objectives and mission statement for your personal brand (what do you want to be famous for?).

7.) Step #4, Get to work and make a plan with how you can achieve those objectives.

8.) Some of the objectives you set for yourself might be really hard- and require you give up your free time to do your homework to achieve them. Stop watching Lost. You must be willing to make sacrifices.

9.) Step #5, Share right (don’t brag) and share often. Tell the story, so someone else isn’t telling it for you.

10.) Step #6, Water the trees in your social graph / network. Be helpful and feed social capital. Have real interactions with real people online, don’t just publish content (via social media).

Note: To achieve success you need to continuously learn, evaluate, and adapt. IMHO, you should repeat steps 1 – 10 at least x3 times a year.

OK, I’ll admit it. I was the disappointed with the launch of the Apple iPad. It didn’t change the face of computing as we know it today. And it doesn’t revolutionize your life either (or fold your laundry).

But, that’s exactly the problem.

The expectation that this device would do exactly that made for huge buzz-kill for most of us techy-geek-heads. But, again- that’s exactly the problem.

Perhaps this device isn’t for techy-geek-heads.

Has anyone considered that since this is an “instant on” device (no startup waiting) the many practicalities and convenience of being able to instantly browse the web or open media files. There isn’t a netbook out there that performs as quick or as beautifully as the iPad.

Perhaps there many practical uses for this device we have yet to consider, take for example; graphic designers showing their portfolio at a coffee shop meeting, real-estate agents working with clients using it to show photos and their properties, photographers portfolios, or anyone who sells anything could use this device in a meeting (I already show friends and clients photos and portfolios with my iPhone and I’m confident the iPad likely does it better).

Perhaps everyone has “office space syndrome” and we are just hopping on the jump-to-conclusions mat before anyone really actually has used the device besides the techy-geek-heads out there.

The verdict is still out in my book until I actually get to physically hold it- touch it- use it and put it through my own tests. And for the record, I would still camp out for this device. I want it.

What do you think? What was your reaction to the iPad? Do you want to buy an iPad? Leave a comment.

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If you don’t think I’m a geek (already), you will after you get done reading this blog post.

Back, in July of 2008, I was 1 of the few crazy people who waited over 10+ hours to get the 3G iPhone. I even video blogged it and took photos.

Several people have asked me, was it worth it? (i was interviewed on Fox and NBC and was asked this same question). What are my thoughts now?

I would do it again.

When I tell people what I did- it sounds 100% crazy: 10 hours of waiting in line overnight, outside, I took a 1-hour nap on the concrete sidewalk, with only 1 Starbucks donut and Frap to eat and drink. All this, just to be 1 of the first people to buy a new phone.

But I’m telling you, I’d do it all over again. And like Scoble, yes, I am a fanboi too.

Many blogs are quoting Steve Jobs in saying this new tablet (still unconfirmed) release is, “the most important thing I’ve ever done.” Considering his achievements, that’s a powerful quote. The release of this product has taken years in the making- which I’ve followed closely.

Will I camp out when it goes on sale?

I want to. Half the excitement from a major release like this is the people you meet. There’s only a select few who are dedicated and passionate enough to do this. It’s completely idiotic and wonderful in every respect. The experience of the camp out is worth it- and the privileged of getting to use first whatever this device might be- I want to be apart of it.

PLEASE NOTE: once a release date is set, I’ll formalize my offer in a blog post that is open to anyone: the open proposal for sponsorship of my camp out at the low cost of whatever the device selling price is. This will be in exchange for the rights to a video blog and photos from the camp out experience (the sponsor gets full rights to the video and photos I take, more details later). Furthermore, I’ll wear t-shirts / hats / signs or whatever swag you’d like during my camp out. Heck, I’ll setup a tent with your logo on it if you want. I’m open to ideas. Drop me an email if you’re interested (email@ramseymohsen.com), I’ll be posting details later.

You might think I’m going out on a limb here- I am.

Some of you follow me on Twitter, my tweet explains my thoughts and expectations for this week’s rumored Apple tablet launch:

So now we all wait till Wednesday …and I’m totally pumped for it. Do you think I’m crazy? Tell me all your thoughts good AND bad in the comments.

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I’m a big fan of podcasts. Recently, I learned you can stream podcasts without having to download them on your iPhone! I’m sharing this with you because it’s seems to be such a “hidden” feature that I certainly wasn’t aware of (but it’s been available for a while). Launch the iTunes app and just search for any podcast and click on the title to start playing it. Simple and easy. I have a 20-minute commute into work each day, which is the perfect time window of time to catch up on my podcasts without having to dock my iPod and download them first.

Some people think podcasts are dead. I don’t agree with them. The podcasts I follow I are my own personal “virtual teachers”. I consider it my free continuing education tool. It helps me stay up with industry knowledge, teach me how to be better communicator, they provide motivation and I always enjoy comparing notes on how others “tell a great story”. Mitch Joel’s Six Pixels is one of my favorites to follow.

Do you listen to podcasts? What are your favorite podcasts to follow and why? Make a comment and share it with everyone. It’s great discovering new and interesting podcasts. Tell me your what are your favorites.

I have one more thing to say about CES 2010 that somehow I didn’t cover in 1 out of the hundreds elevendy +plus video blogs I posted

3DTV at your house is stupid.

No really, it’s dumb. Ok, I’m being a bit Jersey Shore dramatic, but I viewed the best 3DTV’s in the world at CES this year from every major manufacturer (Panasonic, Sony, Samsung, yade-yada) and I’m telling you it’s over hyped and it under-delivers.

Consider my 3 simple reasons:

1.) Imagine you’re at home, the sun is out on a gorgeous weekend- and you’re watching your favorite college team play football. John, Susie, Lebron and Kim who are all best friends are sitting on the couch having beers and snacking on some food. You’re watching the in game in 3D on ESPN and you turn to John and high-five him after a big touchdown. You then scan the room and look around and realize all of you sitting on the couch are wearing big black bulky 3D glasses.

Can you picture that? I have a hard time believing that John, Susie and Lebron and Kim are going to be cool with wearing 3D glasses comfortably and watching the big game, don’t you?

2.) No one looks cool in 3D glasses. Period. Look how dumb I look:

Annnnnnnnnnnd this is why I’m proud to announce my start-up “designer” 3D glasses company (just kidding, but seriously- someone should).

3.) At CES there were several varying sizes of 3DTV’s. I demo’ed the 42″, the 60″ the 50″ and even the 20″ and 8″ TVs. I came to a realization that fundamentally sets apart 3DTV in the movie theater vs. 3DTV at your house.

3DTV’s are too small.

The reason why Avatar looks incredible in the theater, is you’re watching it on a huge screen that engulfs you into the movie. When you watch 3DTV on a 50″, the experience doesn’t compare. And you can forget the small 3DTV’s, it’s not worth the hassle of wearing the 3D glasses for what you get out of it.

IMHO, 3DTV at your house is simply a novelty at best and I would argue it will never go mainstream. In retrospect, I do think that movie theaters are the appropriate place people want to experience 3DTV, primarily because you’re focused on nothing else in the room but screen …not to mention the lights are off and it’s pitch black.

There was one type of 3D that did catch my attention at CES that I do think will be a hit. That’s 3D gaming for your computer and XBOX 360. I played Avatar on 360 at the NVIDIA booth and that experience was incredible. If 3D has any kind of chance, it’s the gaming sector that will benefit the most from it.

You can forget seeing a 3D movie at your friend’s house anytime soon. It’ll be a fad before you can say “Sony Mini-Disc“.

Am I crazy to think that 3DTV at your house won’t ever be the norm? What do you think? Is it just a fad? Make a comment.

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Erin Byrne from Burson-Marsteller shares a quote so dead-on I wanted to share it with you:

People talk about online, online, online, it’s really about integration. Conversations go online, then offline, then online again. The most successful PR professionals use traditional PR to build awareness and then use social media relations and digital tools to drive from awareness to action.

Many times I first meet with clients who are so caught up with the shiny objects (e.g. social media, iPhone apps, Flash on their website) they easily forget the bigger picture. I often have to remind them, the entire touch-point experience your customers and audience has with you and your brand is multidimensional, multilayered and multifaceted. Don’t forget that. The read, they click, the search, they watch video and TV, they talk to their friends and work professional/colleagues/competitors. Understanding the flow of these customer experiences is critical to know before you can even begin crafting a strategy for desired outcomes, conversions or positioning of your brand.

Your “footprint” online, offline, on TV, in-person, even what’s said about you by other people- these are all are apart of a larger narrative that tell a story. Ensuring this story is consistent, cohesive and aligned with your larger organizational objectives will ensure you follow one of the fundamental marketing / branding rules: consistency facilitates recognition.
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If you follow me on Twitter, you probably see my Tweets talking about Timberland’s Earthkeepers (www.earthkeeper.com), a website project that I lead from concept, design to development which launched earlier this year. Recently, it won the Gold award in the “Green” category of the Davey Awards! The contest is an international competition and has over 4,000 entries every year- so I was stoked to hear the great news of winning the gold!

I thought use a blog post entry to share with you some details about my involvement in leading this project full disclosure: this is not a paid blog post- I’m writing this on my accord.

The Timberland Earthkeepers website project was is exciting to me since the goals and mission are something I personally believe in. To help you understand- let me explain the word “Earthkeepers”. First of all, it’s not a real word- Timberland made it up. “Earth”- where we all live, plus “keeper”- a protector or guardian …when combined, basically means someone who cares about the environment.

If you want the corporate mumbo-jumbo description, here’s the official Timberland take on the Earthkeepers mission:

“We at Timberland started Earthkeepers because we love the outdoors. Making outdoor boots, shoes and gear is what we do for a living. No more outdoors means no more living. For us—or anyone else. Of course, we realize that by making our products, we’re part of the problem. We believe it’s time for companies, like ours, to take a look at how the way they do business affects the environment and do something about it. Earthkeepers is one way we’re trying to do exactly that. Our goal—inspire and engage one million Earthkeepers.”

Pretty cool huh? I think so. If you’re curious for more information, take a look around at the website for more information. There are several exciting updates and enhancements on the road map.

When I first started working on this project, I was aware of the popular environmental issues and general steps you can take to help- but I certainly wasn’t exposed to the deeper niche topics. It was is a fun education process learning about all the aspects of the eco-conscious mindset. There’s a quote that I learned that I share with others that really hits the nail on the head of why a movement like this is so powerful:

Small changes, when aggregated on a large scale, can make a big change in the world.

What’s even more interesting is the positioning of Timberland’s Earthkeepers program is seeing a retail company not only embrace this attitude- but running with it and taking actions quickly. This movement is being driven by everyone in the company, including the person at the top, their CEO, Jeff Swartz. If you’re lucky enough to hear Jeff talk, he describes so fluidly his personal passion and mission of the eco-concious mindset companies should adopt. Furthermore, he uses Twitter to affect the masses of people and/or other CEOs.

Seeing and hearing all the things Timberland has dedicated itself to is exhausting (and I’m not just saying that because they’re my client). They do everything from planting over 1 million trees worldwide, to things like Timberland’s CEO banned bottled water at all their corporate offices.

Personally, since I’ve started this project, I’ve learned so much and started to take steps of my own: I now use a reusable water bottle at work and at home, I use reusable grocery sacks, I’ve convinced our office to not buy styrofoam cups or plates, I even created an Earth Day video blog earlier this year to get the good word out …just to mention a few.

I’m really excited to be leading the Earthkeepers website development- there’s lot of exciting things happening now and lined up for the future. For example, Wyclef Jean recently was announced as our celebrity spokesperson!! Keep tabs on www.earthkeeper.com for updates.
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A popular local blogger here in Kansas City, Tony, called me out RE: not being critical in regards to my recent blog post + video blog “Press Access to Chiefs Football”. Good for him. I not only appreciate being called out- I’m going to respond to it directly and update the original blog post. Friends, clients and other bloggers have told me that sometimes I’m not as candid in regards to detailing my experiences. This isn’t intentional. Fact is, I don’t get paid to blog. I don’t get paid for my video blogs either. I do this because I enjoy it. Furthermore, I want to provide my audience the “real” take on things I cover. The stuff you won’t get from traditional media. I certainly am not out there to just make everything seem “happy go lucky”. I discipline myself to post quality content in a perspective that’s real- not influenced by anything other than what my opinion is.

If this means I need to up my game in regards to injecting more critical opinions (good or bad), then I need to do it. I’ve been trying to do this more and more- but it’s not to the level I want it to be. Friends, clients, bloggers and Tony- consider your critiques of my blogging officially heard and action is being taken from here forward.

That said, here is additional information on my experience with the Chiefs I should have originally published with the initial blog post (which will be updated):

• Arrowhead certainly is in the mix of being renovated. That said, the facilities are certainly not high-end or very nice for that matter. The press box has a GREAT view of the field, but it was shocking to see how outdated things were for an organization like the Kansas City Chiefs.

• I was initially really excited to meet Jason Whitlock. Let me stress the word “initially”. First, let me acknowledge that I admire his successes and his ability to get attention with his columns he writes for the Kansas City Star and Fox Sports. But I certainly don’t always agree with everything he writes- BUT I do think he’s good at what he does. My expectations when I pictured Jason Whitlock is that he would be like ESPN’s Stuart Scott- someone with a vibrant upbeat personality who is quick on his feet and provides insightful intellectual commentary. I was wrong. From my observations, Jason Whitlock walks around the press box with arrogance. People had to approach him and he’s hailed as the “cool kid” among his press peers (or at least it appeared that way). When I introduced myself to Jason, I simply asked if he’d be willing to do a video interview during half-time, which he was actually quite receptive and open to. When I asked about his thoughts before halftime- he commented something along the lines of, “the Chiefs will screw this up somehow.” (which given their record, it’d be hard to argue they wouldn’t, and they certainly did by games end). All in all- for me it was a lot of high expectations with a disappointing ending in regards to meeting Jason. The takeaway for me is just because you can write well- it might not necessarily mean you’re an interesting or engaging person in real life.

• When I was there, it angered me observing the waste of paper that was used to print “stats” at the end of each quarter. These are handed out to every member of the press- it’s a sheet that details player and team information. This is 2009 and it would make much more sense for the environment to have a website exclusive to the press or plasma screens to project that information. Furthermore, I observed that most of members of the press threw the paper away without even looking at it.

• While it’s great the Chiefs do have objectives and are engaged with social media- they are certainly in the infancy or adolescence stage of understanding how to leverage it to their full advantage. They are trying to congregate the Chiefs community to their website- this means just getting traffic to their site. However, what they have working against them is the painful obvious; when you have a struggling team with a losing record- it is difficult to keep fans excited or positive about the Chiefs. Which means- traffic their website suffers. Sure responding to chat comments during the game, providing correct credible/verified information to fans and engaging on Twitter with fans seems to be the right strategy …but one could argue that’s just fundamentals when it comes to engagement and presence online the Chiefs should have. It’s the first of many steps the Chiefs website team has left to go in regards to their presence online.

• Throughout the game everyone in the press box experienced connectivity and internet speed issues. You would assume the press would need reliable and fast internet bandwidth since time and connectivity is of the essence for the press. However, this certainly wasn’t the case. It was sorta frustrating even for me who was just updating on Twitter and Facebook.

Sitting the press box was interesting and certainly a perspective I’ve never seen. However, I can’t say it was super exciting. Interesting yes- but not thrilling. The fact is, the press is there to get down to business (as they should be). I was excited at the opportunity and enjoyed it.

All of these comments are my personal opinion. For the most part they’re fairly detailed and perhaps overly critical. However, it’s the truth and real perspective from my point of view. The acceptance of the Chiefs letting me attend the game with press access is noteworthy and telling of their willingness to let a blogger provide a candid view of what it’s actually like behind the scenes. I do want to apologize to my readers for not including this insight in my original blog post- but consider this my ‘make good’ action that has immediate implications of the types of critiques you’ll be seeing in blog posts to come in the future. Everyone’s continued feedback via emails and comments is the only way I’ve been able to evolve as a blogger- for better or worse. Thank you.
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The Kansas City Chiefs football team called me and asked if I would be interested receiving press access to an NFL game. To which I eloquently said, “Uhhhh- yes, I’m interested.” (duh!) I was stoked at the opportunity- and the Chiefs gave me full press access with free reign to capture whatever I deemed worthy during my experience to broadcast to the Internets. I got to sit in the press box, interview members of the press, attend the post game conference and even go into the locker rooms! Put simply, the experience was awesome.

Full Disclosure: The Chiefs provided me free access /tickets. I was not paid for my time or for the content I produced and published.

With my press access, I decided the angle I wanted to share was the “inside” experience of an NFL football game from the “press” perspective. It’s certainly something not everyone gets to see or experience.

Here’s the video blog I put together of my experience:

(It’s interesting to think about the idea of asking bloggers to come capture, document and broadcast content. It’s a great tactic for embracing influencers or your super-fans who already are creating content and have a community. Furthermore, the outside perspective gives a fresh new angle.)

If you follow me on Twitter- you might have noticed, I live Tweet’ed during the game to provide anyone who was interested the ability to ask direct questions to me or the Chiefs. For this blog post- I’ve weaved a few of my live Tweets and will elaborate on them.

The first thing I noticed was the amount of conversation and chatter that goes on in the press box. ESPN, USA-Today, local morning TV shows- they’re all packed into this one room. When key plays happen like fumbles, touchdowns or sacks- the room echos loudly with confirmations of the players names (who made the play) or the yardage # gained. What I find interesting is the larger implication of all this yelling- these people of the press are the ones who disseminate out the information to websites, TV channels and other outlets as the mothership “source” of data. They punch in the numbers on their laptops. And it’s interesting to think about the effects that ripple down and start in just this one room. Imagine if you could map the pyramid of all the communication connections the press box touches. Something else that’s interesting- when you are in the press, you’re instructed to refrain from cheering on either team outloud.

Arrowhead certainly is in the mix of being renovated. That said, the facilities are certainly not high-end or very nice for that matter. The press box has a GREAT view of the field, but it was shocking to see how outdated things were for an organization like the Kansas City Chiefs. Throughout the game everyone in the press box experienced connectivity and internet speed issues. You would assume the press would need reliable and fast internet bandwidth since time and connectivity is of the essence for the press. However, this certainly wasn’t the case. It was sorta frustrating even for me who was just updating on Twitter and Facebook.

The Chiefs had two members from the web team dedicated to updating www.kcchiefs.com. Lance Brown and Josh Looney- who were both simultaneously watching the game and monitoring Twitter and the website conversations as they happened. I asked them what their objectives were, they shared their current goals in using social media:

1. Create and/or engage a community and stoke them. Prior to the recent update to kcchiefs.com, conversations happened in several forums. The goal is to both embrace the fans and unite the fan community in one place, the KC Chiefs website.
2. Provide accurate exclusive information. There’s unique access to data and information that is credible that the Chiefs web team can provide. Furthermore, the ability for the fans to interact and ask specific questions is something that can’t be done when watching it on TV or sitting in the stands.

While it’s great the Chiefs do have objectives and are engaged with social media- they are certainly in the infancy or adolescence stage of understanding how to leverage it to their full advantage. They are trying to congregate the Chiefs community to their website- this means just getting traffic to their site. However, what they have working against them is the painful obvious; when you have a struggling team with a losing record- it is difficult to keep fans excited or positive about the Chiefs. Which means- traffic their website suffers. Sure responding to chat comments during the game, providing correct credible/verified information to fans and engaging on Twitter with fans seems to be the right strategy …but one could argue that’s just fundamentals when it comes to engagement and presence online the Chiefs should have. It’s the first of many steps the Chiefs website team has left to go in regards to their presence online.

I was also excited that I was able to finally meet and talk to someone here in Kansas City and on the national scale is recognized as a great columnist writer, Jason Whitlock. Here’s a couple Tweets RE: Jason

I was initially really excited to meet Jason Whitlock. Let me stress the word “initially”. First, let me acknowledge that I admire his successes and his ability to get attention with his columns he writes for the Kansas City Star and Fox Sports. But I certainly don’t always agree with everything he writes- BUT I do think he’s good at what he does. My expectations when I pictured Jason Whitlock is that he would be like ESPN’s Stuart Scott- someone with a vibrant upbeat personality who is quick on his feet and provides insightful intellectual commentary. I was wrong. From my observations, Jason Whitlock walks around the press box with arrogance. People had to approach him and he’s hailed as the “cool kid” among his press peers (or at least it appeared that way). When I introduced myself to Jason, I simply asked if he’d be willing to do a video interview during half-time, which he was actually quite receptive and open to. When I asked about his thoughts before halftime- he commented something along the lines of, “the Chiefs will screw this up somehow.” (which given their record, it’d be hard to argue they wouldn’t, and they certainly did by games end). All in all- for me it was a lot of high expectations with a disappointing ending in regards to meeting Jason. The takeaway for me is just because you can write well- it might not necessarily mean you’re an interesting or engaging person in real life.

While I was shooting video blog clips at the game, Lance (from kcchiefs.com) noted that some of the aspects I was capturing he’s never thought twice being something of interest to fans. He realized that since he’s been doing this job for a while- it’s easy to miss valuable “behind the scenes” content that might be of interest with fans.

When I was there, it angered me observing the waste of paper that was used to print “stats” at the end of each quarter. These are handed out to every member of the press- it’s a sheet that details player and team information. This is 2009 and it would make much more sense for the environment to have a website exclusive to the press or plasma screens to project that information. Furthermore, I observed that most of members of the press threw the paper away without even looking at it.

All in all, the entire experience was great. I remember thinking to myself when I was exploring the locker room- a blogger getting this type of access is pretty darn cool! The acceptance of the Chiefs letting me attend the game with press access is noteworthy and telling of their willingness to let a blogger provide a candid view of what it’s actually like behind the scenes. I’ve blogged about it before- bloggers and press can both exist- but it should be a partnership, not fighting against each other. Thanks again to the Chiefs- I’m always stoked to see any organization who understand the right way to tap and engage with bloggers.
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This week, I attended a presentation given by Brian Solis, a thought leader in the social media space (principal at FutureWorks). While his presentation was introduced as “an updated look at trends and ethics within the PR profession”, a large portion of his presentation focused on the ability to find niche influencers online and “inspire action and measure it”. It was interesting seeing some of his data, considering he’s in the agency trenches doing social media for major brands and not just a “talking head” in the industry.

After the presentation, we had a chance to talk- and I whipped out my flip cam and asked him to share his thoughts RE: social media and PR. He also provided some teaser information about the subject matter of his next book- which from the way he speaks about it, it should shake things up for some companies and analysts. Check out the full video blog interview on my YouTube channel (thanks to the Greater Kansas City PRSA for organizing a great event).

I’ve often been asked the question, is it possible to have too much of a presence when using social media? Recently, I noticed this same question on a LinkedIn group discussion so I thought I’d share my take here on my blog.

The answer to this question requires you to take a step back and understand first WHY should you have a presence in the first place. You first need to be able to answer simple questions like; Why should we be on Facebook? Why should we have a company blog and who will care?

It’s important to identify a relevant need (the “why”), then take the proper steps to set objectives, understand your audience, devise a strategy and execute tactics (which is simple to say, but hard to do right). However, when you know all that, then the answer to “how often” you should physically post content will reveal itself.

Having a profile on every social network that exists on the Internet is not the right strategy. You must first truly understanding your customers / clients behavior and where they are online. This can and should be done through as many measurable activities as possible (pending budget constraints, of course). Some examples I would suggest are: focus groups, polls, surveys, social media monitoring software, email marketing analysis, web analytics analysis, SEO analysis and direct competitor analysis. When this data is combined and analyzed, you will then have a more complete technographic assessment of your audience to help inform your decision.

If you understand why you’re here in the first place and what the landscape of “where YOUR fish are” is- then a well constructed strategy should outline the quantity of how much and where (tools) you should post to achieve the objectives you have (that’s the hard part). Furthermore, social media monitoring tools, comments and feedback from your users should help you understand the frequency that’s acceptable to post and what your audience responds to. Personally, I find myself frequently tweaking + testing my content and interactions to get things just right.

“How much social media presence is too much?” <– at first glance, it seems like a simple question- but it requires some prerequisites to be answered before you can answer this question correctly.

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I’m in the business of consulting and strategy. That said, I’m quick to give props to other companies that “get it” and have executed things well. Through super-magical-powers of ambient intimacy, my eye was drawn to an image that popped into my Facebook newsfeed today from my friend Amber. It was one of those moments where I find myself smirking thinking to myself, “This is great- and it’s well executed.”

This print AD is simple- concise- timely, relevant and more importantly is aligned with the Levi’s Go Forth cause marketing effort (I was compelled to read more online after seeing this AD). Kudos to the team who executed this, job well done.

A friend at work passed along an article that made me so furious- I almost couldn’t believe it was allowed to be published. The article was on MSN, entitled “Is Facebook Past Its Prime?” Now before, I go on- this blog post isn’t intended to be a rant on how horrific the article is. Instead, I want to rationalize some concepts I believe are easy to forget.

The article, makes some very definitive points that seem to be written as facts and NOT as opinion:

• “This may mark the beginning of the end of Facebook’s enormous popularity.”
• “After that 25 things note, there’s not much left to say.”
• “People who actually have lives don’t use Facebook.”

Wrong, wrong and wrong. I couldn’t disagree more with each of these points. The author of this article (Hillary Rhodes) is failing to recognize a broader construct. Great technology takes different forms and has different life cycles of use for any given person. Just because Hillary (the author) has found herself finding Facebook less relevant- doesn’t mean the masses out there are graduating from it (after all, 250 million still use it frequently). I’ve always said, the value of Facebook and Twitter is dependent upon the people you follow (or are friends with). If you follow or are friends with people that suck- your experience with either of these websites will suck. It’s as simple as that. The websites themselves are dependent upon sharing and creating content- so it’s a direct correlation. YOUR participation and your friends participation is what makes it valuable. If you logged into either Twitter or Facebook and no one updated or did anything- there wouldn’t be anything there. It would just be a blank page. Your friends in these networks defines what you experience with Twitter or Facebook.

Facebook is a networking tool. It’s a tool that connects real people. Twitter is a tool that also connects real people. Both of these tools can be worthless if you aren’t able to augment existing relationships or create real interactions with people of like interests. Real interactions with real people who contribute in these networks is the real value in using Facebook or Twitter.

That said, in my opinion, it’s important to understand two things when it comes to the usage of social media:

1.) People’s experience with social media tools is unique to each individual.
There are so many variables that contribute to how your experience using social media tools (e.g. Facebook and Twitter) will play out. For example, things like; are you an influencer already?, does your social network already exist in the network, do you frequently update, do you interact or just sit and troll on the website, are your expectations to use the network for business or personal expectations- or mixed. These factors all contribute to your experience with any given social media tool.

2.) Understanding HOW to get the most out of a social media tools and WHEN to use it is also important.
Similar to knowing the right time to send a text message vs. picking up the phone to call someone is important- the same is true for social media tools.

Facebook and Twitter are both great social media technologies that facilitate social networking. Neither of these communication tools are going to be extinct anytime soon. Bottom line, understand your experience with Facebook and Twitter are unique to you and it is not going to be the same for everyone else. Something Hillary Rhodes should of thought about before concluding that the “end” Facebook is near. It might be for her- but not for the other 249,999,999 of us.
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The term ambient intimacy is more than just a definition- it’s a construct that helps make sense of why the usage of social media appeals to the masses. Many often struggle in rationalizing SM’s value in corporate board rooms and company meetings everyday- or even when you’re talking to your friends. And it’s common for people to throw questions at you like; I don’t get why people use Twitter? Do people even read your blog? Isn’t social media just a bunch of narcissistic noise? Why do people use that website?

First, let me share a quick story about a friend, Sam Meers. Until recently- Sam and I had never met. However, we shared a mutual friend. She recommended I Google him and consider getting to know him better. Sam and myself share common interests in that we both blog and work in the agency world. Beyond that, we’re really quite different people. I started reading his blog and instantly was hooked at his ability to be such a graceful story teller with his words. I posted comments and my thoughts on blogs and we became acquaintances that was limited to just interactions online. Now- fast forward- the company I work for, engaged Sam to provide us consulting in regards to our marketing and brand. It was only then that I met him face-to-face for the first time. Yet, the first thing we both agreed was that the first question he asked, “What have you been up to?” was really irrelevant because of the interactions we share online. We already knew the answer to that question yet were only meeting for the first time! Our conversation was greatly augmented because we are able to jump right into relevant conversation we’re interested in.

Ambient intimacy is about being able to keep in touch with people with a level of regularity and intimacy that you wouldn’t usually have access to, because time and space conspire to make it impossible. In the case of Sam and myself, it is a perfect illustration about how social media facilitates this term, ambient intimacy.

• Facebook helps me see what my friends are thinking, doing, projects they’re working on and what they did this weekend.

• Twitter tells me what websites to check out and the opinions people have about news and current events.

• Flickr lets me see the latest family photos or pics from a recent trip. And it also shows me their latest haircut.

• Friendfeed tells me their activity stream of my friends online, what they’re looking at, what they’re reading and videos they’ve favorited on YouTube.

So who cares? @leisa summarizes it well; It helps us get to know people who would otherwise be just acquaintances. It makes us feel closer to people we care for but in whose lives we’re not able to participate as closely as we’d like. Knowing these details creates intimacy. (It also saves a lot of time when you finally do get to catchup with these people in real life!) It’s not so much about meaning, it’s just about being in touch.

When people have asked the ways social media has helped me- I always make it a point to mention that social media has the power to greatly augment (not destroy or lessen) existing relationships you have with friends, family and businesses (corporate use) you have in your life. Like anything, you must understand how to integrate it appropriately- but once you do, it’s powerful stuff.

Take my mom for instance, she’s likely my biggest fan of my flickr feed and video blogs (note: she lives in a different state). It is almost down to a routine for me to get a phone call from her once I upload something. Furthermore, I myself regularly reference in conversation with her, “Did you see that photo from my trip? [insert story here]“. She enjoys the ways my usage of social media provides intimacy even though the physical distance exists between us.

So if you think that “my mom” isn’t good enough justification- social media works wonders for businesses too. Take a look at the recent revenue Dell is making by using Twitter or the successful brand ambassadors Cirque Du Soleil has.

In my opinion, the term “Ambient Intimacy”, is an important psychological and communication construct that provides the WHY in how the technologies can enhance peoples behavior for the better.
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Last week, a website project I managed won an unexpected national award (we didn’t even enter it into the contest!) and I wanted to share the great news! I know that many of you are familiar with the video blogs I do for fun– but by day I’m a web consultant at Digital Evolution Group. We’re a 30′ish person e-consultancy in which I lead and manage the strategy, development, creative design and deployment of Projects (largely socially website focused).

A few months ago, we were tasked to redesign the corporate website for Entertainment Properties Trust (EPR). They are a publicly traded REIT and is the largest owner of entertainment related real estate in North America, owning megaplex movie theater properties, entertainment retail centers and other specialty properties in the US and Canada. Their portfolio has over 7.1 million square feet of properties and over $1.4 billion of assets. Translation? They’re a pretty darn-big-deal. Chances are if you have ever been to an AMC, you walked on property they own. Specifically here in Kansas City, they own the AMC 20 in Leawood, AMC 30 in Olathe and Snow Creek.

Anyways- I’ll jump to the good news. The website was awarded second place (silver) by the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT). One of the more exciting parts is that all REITs and publicly traded real estate companies were included in the competition. The “best website” category was the 1 of 3 captions they honored. Furthermore, we didn’t even enter it into the contest! NAREIT discovered it on their own!

For this project- it was a bit of a challenge. Think about it- how do you make a Real Estate company compelling? Buildings and land isn’t necessarily sexy stuff. We first set out with some ambitious Project objectives. Then we took careful time following our persona methodology and getting that right. One thing I’d like to note, we mapped out the expectations and context of visit to the website between a retail investor and an institutional investors or analyst. This uncovered some gaps of resources that needed to be present on the website, as well as influenced the naming convention of sections and pages of the website. These are two of our primary personas visiting the website, and while there are overlapping needs- there’s also clear differences in what they expect to find. One final note about the process, the entire Project team made sure the creative execution captured the personality of the brand that is greatly influenced by the leadership team. Anyone who has come in contact with the gentleman who run this company know it’s an experience in and of itself (meaning, in a great way).

Check out the website and judge for yourself. Be sure to check out the interactive flash properties map. I was pretty pleased and proud of the output. We’ve got some work to do to make it even better- but it’s a great start.

P.S. for what it’s worth, the 1st place winner Avalon Bay and 3rd place winner Post Properties aren’t even CLOSE to the quality execution of www.eprkc.com but that’s just my opinion.
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Today, I gave a social media presentation to the American Institute of Architects and didn’t get a chance to elaborate on a finding that I found fascinating regarding a finding about “continuous conversation”. So I figured, I’d blog about it . During my portion of the presentation (powerpoint here), I cited a report published every year called the Edelman Trust Barometer. It is a survey conducted every year to measure consumer trust in businesses, government and other industries. Within that report there’s a finding that concludes, “Regardless of channel or voice, the majority needs to hear a message 3-5 times to believe it.

Whoa! Did that just blow your mind like it did mine!?! 60% of people need to hear information about a company 3-5 times before they believe it. If you deconstruct this a bit more, you can see how as a company, while you may be marketing 1 message (or shouting it, if you will) in order to really be effective, people must here this message echoed before they really believe it.

Think of this from a more integrated communication strategy (e.g. online, print, face to face). If your message or information needs to be reiterated, multiple times, by multiple sources- employing a strategy that reaches out across multiple mediums is essential. The long-term goal would be that people will promote/discuss that message or information for you with others (who you could call your “cheerleaders”).

There are a lot of elements that people evaluate in order view someone as trustful. However, I found this finding somewhat of a “Seinfeld eye-opener”, that illustrates you should never rely on 1 communication channel to achieve a goal. Things are all integrated and it should all be consistent (golden rule: consistency facilitates recognition). Given these findings, I believe that utilizing social media (which is a set of communication tools) you can reiterate that message in several areas in order to fulfill that 3-5 time requirement in order for people to believe it.
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You can go to business conferences, talk to “experts”, consult with agencies- but one angle in regards to social networking tools that isn’t being emphasized enough: do not overuse the tools. The definition of what “overusing the tools” actually means is debatable- but we all can agree it’s easy to get addicted, become excessive with usage of the tools and ultimately can translate into being counterproductive. Don’t get me wrong, I flippin’ love Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, [insert the next big social tool here and here] but I’ve also am cognitive that there is a right way to integrate these tools into your life without it taking over your life. It can help you, not drown you. It should augment your life not make it harder. It can make things easier and not be a burden to your already long list of things-to-do. But also realize, like everything else, it does take practice, retooling and lots of self-evaluation. Unfortunately, no one can really teach you how to do this because how you should use the tools depends on what YOU are trying to achieve. I would argue it’s not the same for everyone.

That said, I wanted to share a great article I came across from the NYTimes of view points that are totally on-point in my opinion. Take the 5-minutes to read it here. One of my favorite excerpts from the article:

“The bottom line is: We have to learn when and where multitasked social networking media actually help us carry out our daily tasks rather than interfering with them. Because these media are ubiquitous, tempting and potentially addictive, we must strive to manage them better than we do now.”

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I wanted to pass along the good word about a great book called Web Form Design. If you’re designing a website, good form design is essential. The book is over 200 pages- however, I wanted to share the “CliffsNotes” lesson in regards to alignment of text labels for a website form. This is the fast and furious version I put together (below), but go buy the book if you want the longer explanations and research/data behind the tips (i’m just trying to save you some time).

Label alignment is vital to form design and there are basic rules on when to use top-, right-, or left-aligned labels for input fields.

TOP ALIGNED
Use this method if you want to reduce form completion time for users. This design is quick and easiest for users to complete because the labels are close in proximity to the fields themselves. Users will quickly scan to see see the only direction their eye has to move to complete the form (down). The book goes into in-depth eye studies about top-aligned design- which prove it’s consistently the fastest type of layout / design to have users complete a form. Again, since it’s all compacted together, this makes it easy for users to see a clear path to completion.

RIGHT ALIGNED
This method is good users and the minimal vertical screen real-estate used. This method still allows for fast completion time, but not as fast as Top-Aligned.

LEFT ALIGNED
If you’ve got a form that you really want people to take special care and time in what data they are entering, Left-Aligned is the way to go. The amount of area the eye has to travel from the label on the left to the field on the right- this is the reason for this being the slowest of the options. However, if you have several ‘optional fields’ or ‘preference’ dialogs this is the best method to choose. Again, if you’re asking for specific uncommon data input (address information for example is NOT an uncommon data request).

Have you read the articles buzzing around this week quoting Google co-founder Larry Page and his concerns that Google needs to be in the business of real-time search? Here’s an example of how I’m already turning to Twitter for real-time search (depending on what I’m searching for). If you’re skeptic of the value Twitter can provide, this mini-mini-micro-case study is easy, clear, simple example of how it can actually be useful regardless of your participation in the Twittersphere. Take that Google

Here’s a tip I came up with: whenever I’m shopping for things online- right when I’m about to checkout, I go to http://search.twitter.com and search for “[company name here] coupon code” or “discount”. So far, 3 out of the last 5 I’ve purchased online, I have found coupon codes to use.

The idea or principle of “not having a plan in life” has been reiterated by multiple people the past couple of weeks. I remember at first I thought it was stupid advice, you need a plan, duh- right?  I heard this first at the BIG Omaha conference a couple weeks ago by Jason Fried of 37signals and then again tonight while watching Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt give the commencement address at Carnegie Mellon (worth your time, if you’ve got 11 minutes and 55 seconds). So what does this “do not have a plan” advice really mean? I wanted to take some time to reflect on this crazy notion.

In Eric’s speech, he says, “Live your life and forgo your plans- and you can also forgo fear.”

It’s important to not stop yourself from doing something because you’re unsure on it’s possible outcome. Not knowing how it will “end” shouldn’t be reason to stop you from trying it. Far too often do people cross things off their list or dismiss their ideas because they think of 1 negative possible outcome. Figure it out, don’t hold back from trying something, learn from it, tweak, then keep trying again.

Originally I thought the idea of “do not have a plan” was a ridiculous notion- but I’ve realized that I have adopted and practiced this myself already. Personally, when I started blogging, shooting my video blogs, trying out photography or started planning the Ugly Christmas Sweater Party benefit- I did not have experience, a road map with instructions, or even the slightest clue where it would end. And I still don’t. But I do have more information now than I did before- which has influenced what step to take next. More importantly, not knowing outcome to each of these activities didn’t stop me from trying.

For people who are linear thinkers and require rationale for everything, it’s hard to exercise this “no plan” mindset. But, I believe John Lennon got it right when he wrote, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”
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Yesterday marked the day for the launch of website redesign Project of mine, Ferrellgas.com [cheers, loud noises!]. These guys are the leading retail propane company in the U.S. and are a publically traded Fortune 1000 company. Just to back up a bit first- for those of you who may not know, I work at Digital Evolution Group. We’re a 30′ish person e-consultancy in which I lead the concepting, design and implementation of Projects (largely website focused). I really love what I do and who I work with- no day is ever the same. It’s awesome.

Anyways, back to the website launch. The short and sweet gist is we were tasked to redesign the website in order to satisfy the organization’s marketing and overall strategic goals. Their old website did not completely fulfill these basic, mission critical needs. Furthermore, the overall aesthetic of their old website wasn’t reflective of the fact they service over 1 million customers nationwide (they’re a big deal).

This is the old website (left) vs. redesigned website (right)

So we focused on formulating a plan by integrating objectives from all aspects of the organization- not just marketing and sales. This meant meeting with every department in the organization and understanding internal objectives and the customer perspective as well.

In addition, we analyzed the persona of the visitors to Ferrellgas.com. We believe that every successful web project prioritizes the end-user experience above all else. As such, you must design the website from the end-user’s perspective.

This is what a persona is by our definition: “A persona incorporates the demographic and psychographic attributes of a type of website end-user (“target audience”), as well as that end-user type’s context of visit, expectations, and business situation.”

If you just use demographics or target audiences to design a website — you are likely to find yourself short changing or leaving your visitors with an unfulfilled experience when they visit your site. By identifying persona you are able to take it a step further by understanding needs and context of the users visit (download a free whitepaper I wrote about Persona here).

For Ferrellgas, we identified that our primary personas that guided the design of the website were;

1. Prospective residential/business customers
2. Existing residential/business customers
3. Potential employees

That said, I’m extremely proud of the execution and output- it’s reflective of a smart, clean, customer focused website that fulfills the expectations of our personas. Check it out and let me know your thoughts at www.ferrellgas.com!
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This past weekend I was in Chicago attending SOBCon (Biz School for Bloggers). This was my first year attending and overall the entire weekend was great time with some pleasant surprises (like riding a scooter in downtown Chicago). In my opinion, the difference in this conference is it has a more intimate, interactive, feel and makes it easy to really get to know almost everyone who attends (view my video blog). While we all had a common interest of utilizing the Internet, the people I met were made up of such an eclectic mix of focuses it was interesting to hear the different perspectives.

I’m a proponent of going to conferences and doing as little talking as possible (which for those of you who know me, it’s hard for me to do). Ask, ask, ask questions is what I say. There were several presentations, but the most engaging part for me at this conference was all the conversations in between. This is where I got to hear the stories of what works, what doesn’t, what struggles others have faced was interesting- and motivating.

It was also interesting to ask how people were either making money marketing social media or utilizing social media.

One thing I’d like to share that really resonated from people and presentations was the concept that social media is more than just marketing.

Social media is just a way where people can talk to each other and that can affect the entire company. Marketing just so happen to be where the money is, that’s why people are talking about it. It’s much more than just marketing.

BINGO; social media can touch everything in a company like: customer service, operations, research and development, compliance, human resources, public relations, product development, etc. etc. So while marketing and lead generation may get most glitter and attention- it’s not the only consideration when executing strategies as a company. For example, consider what a social media HR strategy has to it: In what ways do potential employees engage looking for jobs at your company? Does having a presence in certain existing online networks help facilitate recruiting? Does this require that you not only ‘fish’ for candidates in social networks- but also contribute in order to positively position your brand in the long run of potential candidates?

Your objectives dictate how strategies should be executed and formulated (online and offline). And the bigger point is that these objectives involve more aspects of the company other than marketing or new business- understanding this is the first step, but executing and measuring (then repeat) is vital in order to see success.
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Your online profile photo(s) is a great form of self-expression. Even if you’re not intentionally trying to communicate a message, the profile photo you choose is communicating one for you. It is powerful and selecting a photo is typically a subconscious thought process to most.

One could argue, what you choose as your profile photo, reveals what is most important to you. For example, some people utilize their profile photo for their: pets, kids, cars, hobbies — but essentially it’s something that illustrates “them” or “you”. It’s also one variable in the formula to your personal brand.

Yesterday, I updated my profile photo on Facebook and I wanted to share it with you. Last year, I took it upon myself to make a t-shirt on zazzle.com (great website btw) using our company logo. I’m proud of where I work and I wanted capture that in a photo. I posted it to flickr also. If you want to learn more about where I work as a web consultant, hop on over to www.digitalev.com for more info.

FYI, this wonderful red backdrop in the photo is actually our kitchen. I was pleasantly surprised with the results, it was fun experimenting with my Canon 40D and this rich color as a background. I’m trying to get better at photography and add more to my photo portfolio.

There were some great abstracts from the presentation I gave regarding “personal branding” to the Social Media Club of Kansas City. First — let me start by explaining MY definition of the phrase: Personal Branding is about building and managing the associations/images the public has in regards to yourself about a specific field(s) or topic(s).

The focus of of my presentation was centered around 4 fundamentals to maximize your success in your personal branding efforts:

• Authenticity
• Consistency
• Sharing
• Adding Value

I felt the discussion was fairly interactive in the sense that the group asked lots of questions. Each principle listed was questioned, rationalized and ultimately one, if not the biggest takeaway was naturally extracted by the group discussion: “following ALL and not just 1 or 2 of these principles is essential“.  In order for these principles to work, they must be exercised in tandem.

If you’re looking for more, I have a lot more to say about the concept of personal branding in a previous blog post. Or you can check out the 5 slide PowerPoint from my presentation at the meetup.  Enjoy!  As always, I love to hear your thoughts, so drop a comment below or send me an email.