I read a recent post from Frank Emanuele on the Likeable Media Blog  about how easy it is to fall into a simple mistake when preparing your traditional media for new media users.

Over and over again at my workshops, I remind marketers and development personnel to add their Facebook and Twitter locations on their traditional flyers, print media, brochures, bus-stop signs, billboards, etc.  And, over and over again I’ve seen nonprofits and companies do this:

These are badges to be used online where people can click on them. They are calls to action when you are on the Internet and are fine to use and you obviously want to look for badges that fit your brand.

These are not helpful on the bottom of a menu in a restaurant or on a brochure.  When only in print form, these badges become assignments to do, like homework.  I don’t want to see this on a billboard driving down the interstate and then have to come home a search for your company in order to say that I like you… that’s not time that I have in my life.

Solution:  

• Join The Conversation @mytwitterIDgoeshere

• Get tips and share storys with friends on fb.com/myfacebookPageNamegoeshere

If you are planning an extensive hashtag campaign – just give me that, if I’m in your audience, I’ll know what to do.. heck it’s all over  my TV shows now.  Give me a hashtag I’m good to go. #carpediemtips

photo: creative commons

When is the last time you washed a rental car?

No one does, there is no ownership

The saying comes from an aircraft-maintenance crew chief, and it was initially popularized in a bestselling book in 1985. The general asked him what the difference was between the old, specialist organization and the new organization, in which the plane and the sortie are the “customer,” where the supervisor (“designated crew chief,” remember) “owns” the plane. The NCO’s to-the-point reply: “General, when’s the last time you washed a rental car?” We think that may say it all. None of us washes our rental cars. There’s no ownership. And there’s no ownership if you’re a specialist, no matter how well trained, if you’re responsible only for two square feet of the right wing of a hundred planes. Only whole planes fly. – The quote investigator

Over the past year I have had the pleasure of working on several projects that I don’t “own”.   I’ve learned new lessons in community and new lessons in the simplicity and complexity that is the paradox of  truly loving one’s neighbor.  More people are volunteering now.  Or are they?    Both the number of volunteers and the volunteer rate rose over the year ended in September 2009, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. About 63.4 million people, or 26.8 percent of the population, volunteered through or for an organization at least once between September 2008 and September 2009. In 2008, the volunteer rate was 26.4 percent.  Economic New Release in January of 2010 It is important to note that in 2005 it was at 28.8 percent.

As I talk to people in my district here in Madison, TN and throughout Nashville I see an optimistic desire to create opportunities.  Even if you don’t have a child in that neighborhood school, you need to know that you own it.  Do you use one city park but not another, do you have that sense of ownership in the entire park system?  If homelessness is an issue in one part of town, it’s time to own the problem no matter where you live.  If the use of mass transit is something you want to be relevant to you, speak up and own the vision of the future for your region. Do you want more public art and music classes?  How do you own these things?

It’s easier to just pull out of the rental lot – use the service and bring the car back dirty to leave for someone else to clean.  Maybe if we all find the time to  find ownership in our communities we will all see them shined and polished like never before.

This post originally appeared on this blog September 2010

Using all the tools available for online communication for any of your projects may seem daunting.  That’s because it is.  Just because it looks tasty, doesn’t mean it’s nutritious. You don’t need to do everything just because if seems like everyone else is doing everything.  Trust me, they aren’t. I spend a lot of time with my clients returning back the to core questions:

• “Who is the audience?”
• “Where are they gathered?”
• “Have I taken the time to listen to them before I speak?”

I was recently interviewed by  Stacy Nunnally Consulting via Skype into a breakout session at the conference Advancing Tennessee Women in Public Service & Politics on the use of Social Media in political campaigns.  We talked about using the tech available while knocking on doors and we talked about why I’ve chosen not to have a Politican Facebook Page but rather encourage my friends on Facebook to like my Campaign Website Page instead.

When I first started reading Charlene Li’s book; Open Leadership I was sure that I would discover some helpful tools for my clients.  I use a five step process to help small business and nonprofits learn how to formulate simple short term strategies that can help propel them forward with their communication goals. This process is simply enhanced by businesses and organizations that already have an open policy amongst themselves.  It is very hard to find the necessary  transparency level for outside communications if your own business structure is closed and tortured with micro-management.

I will be giving a workshop in Nashville on May 19th at the Bridge to Excellence Conference from the Center for Nonprofit Management. If you are near Nashville, I encourage you to attend.  By attending the workshop, you will be entered to win a copy of Charlene’s book!  And, by just attending, I’ll give you a coupon code to get this book that I helped write with the folks at Cool People Care .  Sweet deals.

A video invitation preview of the workshop on Open Leadership and Transparency using key tools from Altimeter Group’s Charlene Li’s book on the subject.

Can’t see the video? Please Click Here

Have you read this book yet? How have you learned to lead openly and transparently?

On the first Thursday and last Thursday of the month I will be posting some helpful ‘bits of tid’  that I used to post on the soon to be redone Cool People Care Blog.  All of my posts from 2010 are now found in the category cloud to the right of this post.   You can  click  the Social Media tab on the menu bar for a good sampling at anytime.  —–> Go ahead and explore.

I’ll be taking common questions from Cool People Care Partners and Carpe Diem Management clients about Blogging, Facebooking, Tweeting, Branding, Mobile Tech and Creative Marketing and share what we learn along the way.  I’ll also have guest posts and share good reads that we find.

Where you land does matter

Lately I have been helping quite a few organizations with Facebook Landing Tabs.  You can get quite elaborate and do some extremely cool things.

Here are 2 good posts about it that use numbers in the title:

• 8 Powerful Ways to Use Facebook Landing Tabs

• 5 Stagering Ways to Create Custom Facebook Landing Tabs

We like to keep it simple at Carpe Diem Management. We use the FBML Ap provided already by Facebook. We help the client create an image, store it on the webiste or blog,  drop the code in and  BAM .. great landing tab!

You do have to really think about the content, the purpose, the audience and the action you are trying to solicit.  Actually, that is the important part.  We’ll talk about that in a couple of weeks.

Here are some sample Facebook Pages where our clients are using  brand new landing tabs:

Cultural CAFE LOVE THE CAFE

AEC Southern Lit Conference WELCOME

Bristol Rhythm CONCERT SERIES

The Transit Alliance of Middle Tennessee 3 WAYS TO HELP

Public Art Kingsport CHOCOLATE CONTEST

Do you have a landing tab on your Facebook Page? Do you have more than one custom tab?

photo by F18E777 all rights reserved.