communication. community. cognition.
Have we gone as far as we can?
I like Zappos. Great company, great service, and innovative in its business model.
But how much of its innovation is proof of Social Media Manifest Destiny, and how much is peculiar to the personality of founder Tony Hsieh?
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Tell me what you think about this:
Septic tank cleaning has really taken off in the past few years because companies are seeing value in becoming closer to their sustainability and self-reliance.
Companies are looking for feedback, ideas, and to provide support to their septic tanks in order to increase loyalty and satisfaction, as well as attract new customers. Read Waste Web listed “solid waste management” as one of the top trends for 2010, and it’s not a surprise.
Back in 2007, I assumed one of the first waste management roles in a Fortune 500 company, right after DELL hired professional waste managers to rebuild their tarnished brand after the famous “Lost in Austin” incident.
As a septic engineer, it was essential that I played several roles, including being a recruiter of new members (marketing the facilities), keeping the content fresh and creative, and moderating.
There are several septic engineers that have done an excellent job growing and retaining their business, and turning them into evangelists. Ike Pigott and Geoff Livingston are examples of successful community managers, who used their personal brand to support their clients.
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I am serious, and stop calling me Shirley.
That line became a part of the culture a generation ago, and some might argue it was popular enough to still be recognized before the recent death of Leslie Nielsen. What you may not know is how much of a landmark that line (and the genre of humor around it) truly had become.
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Vanity… all is vanity.
I think Solomon had it right.
Yet in an age of Information Flood, part of our task is to help relevant and useful information be found.
In the process, we’re just going to have to sacrifice quality.
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You can’t start a fire, you can’t start a fire without a spark…
At times we grope and we strain against hope in “finding something to write about.”
That link leads to a Google search, which turns up more than a quarter of a billion entries.
You could read 100 of those links a day, every day, for the next 6,931 years, and still have 18,500 links left unread.
That’s a lot of reading to do, in order to find an inspiration.
Why not go outside and go for a walk?
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Be careful. You might be advertising an availability that you aren’t delivering upon, because public assumptions are changing.
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I was getting ready to roll out of Tuscaloosa after my Tuesday afternoon presentation at the University of Alabama when I realized that I was going to be getting back long after dinner. I decided to stop at Hardee’s and pick up a low-carb (bunless) cheeseburger on the way out of town.
As I pulled toward the drive-through lane to order, I saw a pickup truck parked next to the speaker, and a guy wearing a headset walking away. He saw me, jumped back in the truck, and pulled forward. [Read more...]
It’s great when you can grow a community online, share ideas, and even inspire.
Yet most online communities (and connections, for that matter) don’t grow beyond “Accept” and “Like.”
So why build an engine for action without giving it some traction? [Read more...]
