Social media moves like the Flash. Zip! Bang! Boom! It’s fast – really fast. Stop paying attention for a couple of days and you feel like you’ve missed an entire movement. There’s always innovation – new technology, cool sharing tools, new ways to monitor and manage. Heck, there are new platforms and applications seemingly dropping [...]
Read moreWhy Outsourcing Social Media is Critical for Brands
I often meet with brands from all over the country – mostly big, global brands, but also mid-sized and smaller companies. Here are the two biggest challenges they have with social and digital communications: 1.) Knowledge. When you work at a single company it is difficult to get expertise on areas where you aren’t actively [...]
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Is Extreme Economics Infecting Social Media?
In her fascinating book “The Watchman’s Rattle,” Rebecca Costa talks about a super meme known as “extreme economics.” For those unfamiliar with the concept of memes (rhythms with “seems”) they are units of cultural transmission or imitation and like real genes they compete for survival, some winning and others dying out. They also evolve with [...]
Read moreIt’s Not About Social Networks
At a recent client meeting Google+ came up in conversation. The client asked: “Do we need a strategy for Google+ yet?” I started to answer, but then I stopped myself. “No,” I finally said. “You don’t. You don’t need specific strategies for social networks. They are channels and at the end of the day channels [...]
Read moreReality Check: Social Media is a Slog
Here’s the harsh reality: Social media is hard work. It can be tedious, time-consuming and a grind. It can also be expensive. Yet one of the most persistent myths about social media among brands is that it is free, easy and can be done part-time. Trust me. It doesn’t work that way. As a result [...]
Read moreThe Failure of Corporate Technology
I can’t send one of my clients large files via YouSendIt, a free online file sharing service. Why? Her company blocks it. So when we share videos with this client we have to burn the videos onto a DVD and mail them to her. Even with fastest delivery times, it can take up to 24-hours [...]
Read moreLess Phone, More Quiet
Yesterday, sitting on my front stoop, enjoying the fade of the day, a jogger ran by. I heard him coming before I actually saw him because he was jabbering on his mobile phone. Headset on, huffing and puffing, engaged in a long and detailed conversation. He gestured to me with a head nod without breaking [...]
Read moreSocial Media is a Group Effort
One person should not own a brand’s social media presence. Yet, amazingly, this is often the case at many brands, including huge global corporations. Giving the keys to the social kingdom to one single person is – to put it bluntly – crazy. Would any brand give the authority to write and publish press releases [...]
Read moreBrands Should Not Pay Bloggers
If bloggers want to make money with their blogs they should sell advertising – or charge readers for their content. But they should not expect brands to pay them for writing or producing content. This is an issue that has been around for years – and it never seems to go away. Yet it’s my [...]
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January 3, 2012


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