The MOST HATED COMPANY ONLINE is…

Posted by Rhea Drysdale

Where does your company fall in the social media spectrum?

Jeremiah Owyang, Sr Analyst at Forrester Research, was recently interviewed about building online communities by Shel Israel.

Despite of all of the drama surrounding Shel Israel’s interviewing skills I really enjoyed what Jeremiah had to say.

Jeremiah Owyang Interview Take Aways:

• Power has shifted to the participants.
• Conversations = marketplace. Corporations shouldn’t miss out because they’re scared of giving away control.
• Understand the difference between marketing and community managers.
• Should you build your own social network? Or join others like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc.?
• Your brand doesn’t have to be the face of your community presence, instead empower your employees or supporters.
• Widgets and social networks aren’t going anywhere.
• Don’t just hype yourself, show value. What problem did you solve? That sticks more than fluff.

Posted by Rhea Drysdale

What is Online Reputation Management?

Dictionaries cite corporate reputation management or public relations as synonyms, but for me that doesn’t paint the full picture. So, I polled some friends and got their definitions of online reputation management:

“Realizing that the perceived value of your brand is defined by information found on the Internet; therefore requiring your constant monitoring and participation in these web conversations.”
- Andy Beal, Author of “Radically Transparent: Monitoring and Managing Reputations Online“

“Monitoring the buzz and chatter about you or your brand on the Internet, proactively seeding good stories and information, and proactively addressing or correcting bad buzz/info.”
- Carolyn Shelby, Online PR Expert

Lesson #1 – Do Your Homework

The BEST strategy for online reputation management is to not need it! You can avoid problems by simply doing your homework. A quick search on Google, Yahoo or even Mahalo can return thousands of potential weaknesses in your product, service, brand, campaign, etc. Did someone already think of your idea? Is there another service with your one-of-a-kind name? Is your concept perhaps in poor taste given recent industry or news? Is a certain technique or language out of date?

This is focusing on half of the old school SWOT Analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats. In today’s web 2.0 world we spend ridiculous amounts of time marketing our strengths and forging our opportunities. How often do you not just think about your weaknesses and threats, but also collect specific information to support your strategy and understand your place in the greater world? I would wager that if you truly consider the missing pieces of the puzzle and account for them early on you will be ten times more successful.

So, take 5 seconds out of your busy day to do your homework and you could avoid a potential reputation management disaster. You have enough on your plate to begin with, tackle the small stuff before it grows.

And, help manage our reputation by adding us to your favorites: Technorati Profile

Posted by Allan Branch

These two blogs are the killeriet blogs on the tubes, if you don’t have them in your rss reader you’re seriously losing out. I promise, read them for a week and see if your mind doesn’t explode.

Seth Godin

Seth Godin’s blog articles are quick and short about marketing, they make you think. He empties your head of any marketing garbage that is in there and fills is with straightforward opinions about reaching people in a real way. A no-nonsense blog that every entrepreneur should be reading. He posts an article everyday, no bs and no fluff. Seth’s books are killer too. He’s not supplying information about being good, he nudges you in the direction of the light.

Gary Vaynerchuk

Gary, Gary, Gary, watching/listing your blog is like drinking 15 espressos in a row, mixed with crack and shot out of a cannon into your mouth. Gary is so freaking awesome, he makes my veins pump FRESH blood. Gary breathes confidence, so much so that he makes you KNOW you can karate chomp a tree down with your bare hand. I haven’t been a long time reader/watcher of Gary and I regret it. Daily after I watch his vlog, I stand up and do a triple air punch and double air kick combo because I am so pumped from it. It’s safe to say I have a “man crush” on Gary and my wife is cool about it.

Posted by Rhea Drysdale
Steven Bristol, aka He-Man:

There are three things needed to make a great web app:

1. Great design
2. Great code
3. People to interact with it

Allan and I have the first two covered, but we were struggling with the third. No longer! We decided to hire our very own Princess of Power; our proverbial She-Ra who can be our Director of Traffic and round out the three keys to success. We are pleased to announce that Rhea Drysdale is joining the “Guys at Less Everything.” I first met Rhea at the Refresh Jacksonville group, but when she presented I immediately thought “we need to hire her!”

Allan Branch, aka Man-At-Arms:

Rhea, who we nicknamed She-Ra, will be a powerful asset to our team. She’s a deadly SEO ninja with skills in social marketing and other traffic driving ninja-foo. Plus, Steve and I are kinda on the chubby side so she’ll be able to lower the average weight of our team to closer to 200 pounds.

Rhea Drysdale, aka She-Ra:

After weeks of wooing and one Princess of Power hidden identity, I am excited to finally join the Less team! Allan, Steve and the rest of Less have mad skills in the design and ruby on rails development areas. I’m still trying to figure out what I bring to the table, but I have no doubt that our skills combined will make us Masters of the Universe!

Posted by Allan Branch
I purchased this book because we love Seth's blog. Seth Godin posts these short powerful blog posts, they're a great way to start the day. "The Dip" is about quitting, it's about how quitting is good and how it frees you to do the things you're good at or the things you can succeed at.

This is a great book, here's how I can relate to it. I played division 1 college football at University of Alabama in Birmingham (UAB). I played offensive line and was one of the better linemen on the team. College football is an 80 hour a week job that wears you down both mentally and physically. I devoted 7 years of my life to football, winning numerous awards in high school (All-State, All-Star Games). I quit football my junior year in college because it literally owned me, my grades suffered because of it. It pulled me away from my true passion, ballet and rhythmic gymnastics. Okay bad joke, my passion is business, design and technology. I didn't have the time to allocate to both, so I picked my passion which wasn't bashing my brains in everyday. Looking back I made the right decision, I probably would have never learned anything and I wouldn't have had time to explore my passion. My advice and I think Seth would agree - try everything, quit most, find your passion and run with it.

Posted by Allan Branch
It seems no matter where you go the local tv commercials are painfully bad. I've seen people in grass skirts selling mattresses, men dressed as Charlie's Angels selling cars and a rap video for a flea market.

Why are they so bad? Lack of money? Lack of creativity? Both?

Since when has acting like an idiot been good for business?

Posted by Allan Branch
This is a beautiful, simple, elegant website design.
No Limit Studios Website Link

I love their designs/style but their name "No Limit" isn't really reflective of the internet. Web design IS about limits...living within and embracing them. Back to topic, it's a beautiful design, excellent colors, spacing and alignments. Enjoy!

Posted by Allan Branch
I am sick of dreadful copywriting on websites. The only sites that warrant an excuse for being boring are banking and hospital websites. Most web design companies write copy around their design. I think this is backwards approach. However some design companies really think about copywriting, even still their copy makes me frown. Designers, if you like it or not copywriting can effect your design, make sure its doesn't bring your design down.

Today I ran across a site and thought the design was good and the copywriting was very clever, enjoy.

fortysevenmedia.com

Posted by Allan Branch
Recently while enjoying an overcooked under-seasoned steak at Outback, I noticed the drink coaster. When copywriting is so horrible/unfunny it makes you sad, thats just plain bad copywriting.

I also dually noted that Steve likes it, however Steve has bad taste.

Posted by Allan Branch
Burger King has a tv commercial where they tell real Burger King customers the Whopper (a hamburger) is no longer available. The commercials show their customers getting mad, being totally distraught and flabbergasted. I've seen this tv commercial several times, they didn't strike me as outstanding. At the end of their tv spot they display an url, last night I went to it. There I found the full length video of the "setups" its so much better than the actual tv commercial.

So why is the commercial not-so-great and the full length video is funny?
Is it a case of bad editing?
Over-editing? I think the concept of the marketing is brilliant, but perhaps its a case of bad execution.



whopperfreakout.com

I also love Beer TV Commercials because they use humor, what's your favorite marketing campaign?