It was pointed out to me today that I haven’t been blogging much at all. And a lack of blogging for me means a lack of Twitter or Facebook interaction and a general sense of missing-in-action for my followers and for me, personally as well. I miss it, and being busy with client work, while true, is not an acceptable excuse. Writers’ block doesn’t suffice as an excuse and isn’t the case, either. It just happens, once in awhile. My appetite wanes, I guess.
So how to re-energize the process?
I’m mixing up my content by adding a couple of contributors: Jaggers Communications team members Rusty Speidel and Erika Gennari have recently contributed blog posts. I’m also thinking philosophically about what content I want to post, categorically, and thinking about reorganizing categories to reflect the firm’s capabilities. I also know from a look at analytics that the more personal I am in my posts, the more reflective about my business or the more fired up I am about a particular communications issue, the larger the audience.
You guys sure like it when I get pissy.
So I’m considering all of that, and working on getting back to posting much more often.
Suggestions, demands and questions will be entertained by the management. Comment below.
Last year the most popular post on this blog was, sadly, not written by me. My good friend Rusty Speidel wrote it. So when it became apparent that it was time to expand the Jaggers
Communications team, I didn’t have far to look; the right person for the job was right here all along.
He is the Felix to my Oscar; the Ernie to my Bert. I’m so happy to have him as part of the team!
Rusty brings a wealth of experience in brand positioning and management and a specialization in bringing products to market. A long-time digital communications expert, Rusty’s experience has focused on designing or improving user experiences and business processes that drive revenue, increase brand affinity and attract users.
Rusty’s background includes the creation of Rowdy.com, the social network for NASCAR fans. As the vice president of social media for Rowdy, Rusty grew the network to more than 1.5 million views per month and launched the award winning #1 ranked iTunes podcast, which has more than 60,000 downloads per month.
As part of the team at Jaggers Communications, Rusty will be involved in client plan development, brand positioning, project management and client services, content creation and strategic communications planning and execution. His capabilities, interests in technology and the environment, and thought leadership in community development and go-to-market strategy enhance the firm’s product offerings and complement Jaggers Communications’ client service.
My friend Nick Sargent wrote about the Chipotle commercial that debuted during the Grammy awards. The commercial is causing a lot of buzz among those interested in agribusiness, the local food movement and Chipotle fans in general.
It was appropriate to bring up and share during a discussion with a client whose work is at the center of the local and natural foods movement yesterday. We watched it together and shared some reactions. Someone commented, “Isn’t Chipotle owned by McDonald’s?”
McDonald’s, often villified (see Supersize Me) and taking it on the chin often, as the symbol of the entire fast food industry WAS in fact, the majority owner of Chipotle from 1998 to 2006 but it is no longer.
Since, clearly people still associate the two (oughta work on that aspect of your reputation management, Chipotle), McDonald’s wisely chose this opportunity to release the news that they are phasing out “tiny cages for pigs,” the very image the television ad offers up.
What do you think of the campaign?
You’ve all gotten this message: “I’d like to add you to my professional network.”
Here are 6 reasons why you should never, ever send this default message.
- It demonstrates to the contact that you don’t really know much about social networking.
- It is a lazy approach — you should put some thought into it instead of using the default message.
- It doesn’t give the contact any context at all! You owe people in your network a reminder of how it is you are connected and why you should share your professional world. Tell them WHY you want to add them. You owe them that much.
- It makes me think that you’re just trying to build your numbers and don’t represent any value to my network whatsoever.
- It doesn’t give me any detail about you — I’d love to know that I’ll be connecting to you to help you find a job or endorse your work or introduce you to a connection of mine.
- You’re part of a professional network; act like it. Is a default message a professional invitation?
P.S. The image above is from an actual invitation I received from someone I’ve never met or heard of. I did not accept the invitation.
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