#HecklersHangout 20 – ArCompany – Seriously Experienced Without Being So Serious

Last night’s Hecklers’ Hangout with some of the ArCompany Leadership Team was another one of those very enjoyable gatherings where the chaos just added to the fun. We had scarves, kids up past their bed time, CANADIANS, and a guest who swore her camera was not working…even though that camera worked brilliantly after we stopped broadcasting.

No farm animals were hurt during the filming of this Hecklers’ Hangout – but they were referenced repeatedly!

Sometimes snark is the highest form of respect, and there was plenty of snark to go around in this Hecklers’ Hangout. In fact, Danny Brown and one of our resident hecklers – Sam Fiorella – are currently authoring a book together called Influence Marketing. Several of us met each other via 12 Most, and we’ve continued to build relationships and business opportunities together.

You get to pick your friends folks – and we’ve picked some good ones here!

You can immerse yourself in the Hecklers’ Hangout video below, but here are some of the highlights to take away:

• ArCompany is suited to work with clients of any size, but mid-to-large clients are likely to see the biggest impact of corporate-wide change.
• ArCompany works on changing company cultures to transform them into “social businesses” that understands how social can impact both customers and employees.
• ArCompany is not a “Twitter” or “Facebook” or “Content Marketing” consulting company. They are a fully integrated marketing and management solution company. That means they also understand “imploding the silos” between PR, Sales, Marketing, and other organizations within a company.
• ArCompany comes in and determines gaps in resourcing and where existing (or new) resources may best serve the company’s digital strategy. I enjoy that perspective because it is very similar to Jim Collins’ approach in Good To Great. Find the right seat for the right resources on the bus. Not every employee is suited for representing your company on social channels!
• ArCompany recognizes that some companies still struggle with understanding marketing in general – and many companies need consulting around how to incorporate digital channels with other more traditional marketing channels. One of the great #HecklersHangout Twitter comments was “Traditionalists are not a dying breed, but they need to diversify their channels and legitimize social media.”
• Amy Tobin said the ArCompany leadership team was “egoless” – umm, we are not buying it. But these outgoing egos are what’s necessary to effect corporate change.
• Danny shares my love for data and the resultant analytics that are possible when you have good and relevant data.

When you take individually accomplished professionals, and let them “stack a team” that leverages their complementary strengths, great accomplishments are bound to follow.

We look forward to following the accomplishments of this new ArCompany venture!

I Give In – Baltimore Ravens QB Joe Flacco Is The Real Deal

For the second year in a row, I find myself writing my begrudging respect for an NFL quarterback after his Super Bowl performance. I tipped my hat last year by writing Eli Manning – 2x Super Bowl MVP – a Leader’s Journey. This year’s NFL playoffs made a believer out of me as I watched Joe Flacco put up the best numbers at the quarterback position. And in this case, the stats do not lie! Check out the graphic shown below courtesy of ESPN. Notice the 11 Touchdowns to 0 Interceptions! And that longest pass play of 70 yards…yeah, that was against my beloved Denver Broncos to tie the game at the end of regulation. It still hurts – give me a moment, will ya.

With a pedestrian 87.7 quarterback rating during the regular season, Joe Flacco withstood intense criticism even as Ravens management pondered his contract status. Many a fan, and perhaps even some teammates in the Ravens locker room, wondered if he was the long-term solution at quarterback.

But real leaders prepare for the big stage, take motivation from criticism, and rise to the occasion to become champions.

Flacco’s quarterback rating in 4 playoff games:

• 125.6 Against the Indianapolis Colts
• 116.2 Against the Denver Broncos (somebody wake me from this nightmare)
• 106.3 Against the New England Patriots
• 124.2 Against the San Francisco 49ers – on the biggest stage, the Super Bowl

So what can we learn from Joe Flacco?

1. Listen to your naysayers – but only for motivation. I do not believe in disregarding criticism because there are nuggets of truth to be found and leveraged. Correct what you can, and move on.
2. Adapt to adversity – in addition to the naysayers, the Baltimore Ravens fired the offensive coordinator in the middle of the season. Rather than use it as an excuse, Flacco quickly adapted to the new coordinator’s more aggressive play-calling.
3. Trust in your skill set – Flacco always had a strong arm, and he used it for some bombs when receivers got behind pass coverage (great, now I’ll be dreaming about that 70 yd reception again). However, he also showed mobility to avoid sacks in the Super Bowl, accuracy to hit his receivers when they were open, and that “muscle between the ears” to make good decisions. Those good decisions show up on the stat line with the zero interceptions against 11 touchdowns.
4. Sign the big contract – The Ravens shelved contract talks in the middle of the season as they mulled over whether Flacco was a top-tier quarterback…or a middle-tier quarterback. When it came time to “put up or shut up”, Flacco put up astounding numbers against great competition (including two hall of fame quarterbacks in Peyton Manning and Tom Brady) in this postseason. Do your job well, and the rewards will come.

What did you learn from this improbable Baltimore Ravens run to Super Bowl victory? I hope that next year I’m writing another Denver Broncos Excellence post shortly after Peyton Manning hoists another Super Bowl MVP trophy. C’mon, let a sports fan be an optimist for a bit…this post was tough to write!

Photo of Joe Flacco By Keith Allison via Wikimedia Commons

#HecklersHangout 20 – About ArCompany with @DannyBrown

Originally, our plan this week was to talk to our friend Stacey Hood. Unfortunately, we found out this weekend that Stacey won’t be able to make it. Brian and I talked about who we could schedule on such short notice, and we remembered that something very exciting happened. Hessie Jones announced the launch of her new company, ArCompany. This company is not just a launch from Hessie Jones. Hessie has brought in an amazing team to make her dream become reality. That team includes Andrew Jenkins, Amy Tobin, and Danny Brown. Given the timing, we thought it would be cool if some of these ArCompany folks could come on and talk about their new venture, and in fact, that is just what is going to happen this week!

You can read more about the mission statement of ArCompany in this introductory post by Hessie herself, who unfortunately can’t make it this week but who will be on later in the year. You can also learn more by reading this post from Danny Brown, who WILL be on the show this week.

Brian and I are really excited that we can help spotlight this new effort from so many of our friends. That’s pretty much what we wanted Hecklers’ Hangout to be about. And we are only a little concerned that for the first time we may have Danny Brown and Sam Fiorella on a hangout at the same time.

Buckle your safety belts!

As always, here are the details on how to participate:

Date: February 7, 2013
Time: 7p EST / 6p CST / 5p MST / 4p PST
Guest: Danny Brown (and perhaps more ArCompany peeps)
Topic: The launch of ArCompany
Tips:

• Circle Brian Vickery and send a note on Google+ or Twitter for him to add you to the Hecklers’ Hangout circle. You can circle me too, but Brian has all the power 🙂
• Make sure you have a good webcam, microphone, and lighting
• Join the Hangout 15 minutes early for the camaraderie and to resolve any technical issues.
• If you cannot attend the live Hecklers’ Hangout, then you can watch the LiveStream on Brian’s YouTube channel or Google+ page. You can continue to tweet your heckles to #HecklersHangout. The recorded hangout will be available on Brian’s YouTube channel shortly after the conclusion of the live event and we also post it right away to our Facebook page.

We’re sure this is going to be a great conversation. We hope to see you there!

#HecklersHangout 19 – @BrandFlair, Guns, and Culture

Today was a very different sort of topic for us at Hecklers’ Hangout. Rather than talking about a new book or new technology, which was sort of what Brian and I had envisioned when we started this whole thing, today’s topic was about current events – namely, the gun control issue. John Boyle has been working on putting together a proposal for gun regulation (along with other efforts) and he asked us if he could use our platform to present his ideas and get some feedback. We said heck yeah! We knew that while our hecklers can be rowdy sometimes (Ok, most of the time) that this would be a good, safe environment to talk about a very tough issue.

We were not disappointed!

John presented some very detailed ideas about how his gun regulation proposal would work, why he believes in what he is proposing, and why he feels the current options on the table in Washington, D.C. are not ideal. From there, we discussed a lot of things ranging from whether our culture is driving gun violence to whether talking about banning guns is really the best approach.

In addition to thanking John for coming on to present his ideas, Brian and I want to extend special thanks to Angela Daffron, Jure Klepic, Sean McGinnis, and Sam Fiorella for joining us. This was a tough issue that not a lot of people like to talk about in public streams. We thank you for doing so and doing so with civility. To watch the conversation as it unfolded, just play the video below. We hope you enjoy! As always, if you have any feedback or thoughts you want to add, let us know here or on our Facebook page.

You can follow along with the slide deck that John presented. You can also review the Texas Concealed Handgun Laws that John references during the hangout.

Thanks to everyone for an outstanding Hecklers’ Hangout.

#HecklersHangout 19 – a @BrandFlair Perspective on Gun Regulation

This Thursday, January 31st, Hecklers’ Hangout tackles one of its most controversial subjects: Gun Regulation. This highly volatile topic has passionate supporters on both sides of the regulation argument – from “I should be able to own whatever I want” to “we should remove all firearms from society”. We expect to have hecklers representing both sides of the debate. Unlike the protestor lines, we will have a moderated and respectful discussion. We do not necessarily expect either side to “see the light” and fully accept the opposing view. We do expect everyone to go home with a broader perspective, though.

John Boyle is a responsible gun owner who feels outrage, despair, and helplessness when confronted with tragedies like Columbine, the Aurora theater shooting, and Sandy Hook. Hearing the resultant backlash against gun ownership, John took the initiative to draft a proposal for gun regulation to present to his congressman. In fact, his proposal extends beyond just the gun regulation aspect of this social issue. Margie and I are going to let John present that proposal on Hecklers’ Hangout, and then we will see where the discussion leads. It is John’s goal to gain valuable feedback and insight on Hecklers’ Hangout. Ultimately, he hopes to post his proposal to the White House petition site to see if a common-sense and collaborative approach can gain traction.

Here are some of my own notes (and personal history) as we prepare for this discussion…

• I am not a gun enthusiast, but I am a gun owner. Those guns have been passed down to me through a couple of generations, and I treasure them – even though they primarily collect dust now.
• Growing up in a simple country life in south Texas, hunting and fishing was the way we “filled the freezer”. We did not hunt for sport…we hunted for food. In fact, I almost cried every time I shot a bird/rabbit/deer. Part of me hated it, but it was food on the table!
• Besides food, the knowledge and training for hunting and fishing is a rite of passage for many young men and women with a country lifestyle. My aunts were some of the best shots in our family (and they let us know it). Young people are taught gun safety and responsibility at an early age.
• I do not believe any private citizen should own fully automatic weapons. Gun hobbyists will tell me it is their “right”, and I definitely do not favor a lot of government regulation of any kind. I do find myself wishing the hobbyist would find a different hobby, though. I understand and appreciate the Second Amendment to the US Constitution.
• I believe any new gun owner should go through a full background check and possibly a psychological workup.
• I originally thought “magazine size” was an appropriate restriction until someone pointed out that the bad guy will simply bring more magazines!
• I believe the bad folks in our society will always get their hands on the weapons. The only people who would obey a firearms ban are the law-abiding citizens who were never a threat to misuse the weapons. Confiscate all firearms, and the bad folks will use bladed weapons, blunt objects, or let their own creativity be their guide. Does anyone remember the “captive bolt”, air-driven weapon used in No Country for Old Men?
• I believe violent movies, books, and games contribute to desensitized individuals who then act out their fantasies. FYI, I watch and read some of those books myself…but I’m not inclined to become a psychopath that would take other lives.
• I do find myself struggling with “due process” and loopholes when bad folks are caught committing atrocities yet they become a part of our sensationalized media and pop culture for months or years. This process makes them heroes and role models for the next person considering similar atrocities.
• I am not an activist. I’m just a guy who loves his family and wants them protected from the bad guys out there.

Hecklers’ Hangout Essentials

• Date: January 31, 2013
• Time: 7p EST / 6p CST / 5p MST / 4p PST
• Guest: John Boyle
• Topic: Proposed Gun Regulation
• Tips:
  • Circle Brian Vickery and send a note on Google+ or Twitter for me to add you to the Hecklers’ Hangout circle. Circle my co-host Margie Clayman, too.
  • Make sure you have a good webcam, microphone, and lighting
  • Join the Hangout 15 minutes early for the camaraderie and to resolve any technical issues.
  • If you cannot attend the live Hecklers’ Hangout, then you can watch the LiveStream on my YouTube channel or Google+ page. You can continue to tweet your heckles to #HecklersHangout. The recorded hangout will be available on my YouTube channel shortly after the conclusion of the live event.

See you this Thursday at 7p EST – bring your respectful heckles regarding gun regulation! Diverse opinions are appreciated – disrespect is never condoned or appreciated!

#HecklersHangout 18 – Mark Babbitt, YouTern, and Kids Today

We were very fortunate this week to have as our guest Mr. Mark Babbitt of YouTern. Brian and I have both known Mark for a couple of years now. I think we both met him via 12most, but the really amazing thing about Mark is that his blog, The Savvy Intern, consistently churns out high quality posts (as in multiple posts every day), nonstop, and with no fanfare.

We covered a lot of different topics. I was excited to learn about how YouTern and the Savvy Intern blog got started, and I was surprised to learn that it was all rather much a happy accident. The same holds true for the highly successful #InternPro Twitter chat that Mark started about a year ago. It is all a testament to the fact that ultimately, people will gravitate towards content that can truly help them. The folks at YouTern don’t believe in self-promotion or making it all about just one person. Instead, it’s all about their customers.

After talking about the origins of YouTern, we talked about social media a lot – including whether it really does make sense to “scrub” your Facebook page of any potentially damaging pictures. It was interesting to hear Mark say that a Facebook page that is “too” clean can be just as suspicious as a few suspect pictures. Be yourself, just try not to post anything that makes you look like a social deviant. We also touched again on the seeming decrease in understanding of basic human values and whether social media has had a role in that. This is a topic we seem to return to again and again on Hecklers’ Hangout, which is interesting in and of itself.

This just offers a brief glimpse of what we talked about. If you want to see the rest of the story (and we know you do) take a gander at the whole episode!

When You’ve Got the Tools – Take the Throne

I watched a very compelling Australian Open tennis match last night between Serena Williams and Sloane Stephens. I’ve watched over a decade of excellence, and drama, from Serena. She has been brash and humble, rude and gracious. She has battled injuries and the strain of a too-long tennis calendar for almost 18 years while amassing career tour earnings over $40 million dollars! That does NOT include endorsements.

Serena Williams is incumbent tennis royalty – the undisputed queen of women’s tennis!

On the other side of the net was the young upstart Sloane. As a long-suffering US tennis fan, waiting for that “next great” to take the place of Sampras/Agassi/Courier/Chang and the Williams sisters, Sloane has been refreshing. I can see why she claims Serena, Venus Williams, and Kim Clijsters as role models. She has the raw power of Serena, the grace and range of Venus, and the perseverance and defense-to-offense mentality of Clijsters.

Sloane Stephens has all the tools – to be a challenger to the throne!

This match was a tale of three sets…

1st Set

In professional tennis matches between champions and teenaged challengers, the champions frequently break the confidence of the challenger quickly. In fact, Serena had not lost more than 3 games in a set at this Australian Open. Sloane not only held her own, she didn’t lose a point on her own serve for the first three games.

Then…she blinked! She got down 0-40 on her 4th service game and was eventually broken. Serena served out the set to win it 6-3, and announcers began to wonder if this would be a routine beatdown by Serena.

Moral: Don’t blink! If you are holding your own against an incumbent competitor, derive confidence from it. Trust in your tools, and do not let doubt creep in to your thoughts. YOU BELONG!

2nd Set

Serena won the first two games of the 2nd set, and it was looking bleak for the challenger. However, Sloane did break back and Serena sustained an injury to her back. Serena could barely move, and her invincible serve disappeared. As much as I hate taking advantage of an injury, all Sloane had to do was get her returns in play and make Serena cover a lot of court.

So…Sloane got tight! She badly missed returns, mishit balls off of her frame, double-faulted multiple times, and put the ball right in Serena’s “wheel house”. Serena could not move, but she is lethal if she gets a racket on the ball because she is still the most powerful tennis player in the women’s game. Sloane saw the opportunity, and she began to choke. To her credit, she did just enough to survive and win that 2nd set 7-5.

Moral: Don’t choke! When you realize the competition is “on the run” and wounded in some way, you must grasp the opportunity. Do not abandon your fundamentals, over-think your strategy, or lessen your efforts because you think “I’ve got this”. Incumbents are successful because they’ve been there. They know how to persevere and how to adapt when Plan A fails.

3rd Set

The muscle relaxants kicked in, and Serena was back to serving at 118 mph and moving well. If the upstart Sloane Stephens was going to win, she was going to have to trust her tools and forcibly TAKE the victory. The quality of the tennis match improved dramatically as both players hit winners from all over the court. Sloane showed remarkable defense, and she unleashed her full arsenal of versatility with volleys, screaming winners, and thoughtfully constructed points. Serena was Serena – incredible power with a champion’s heart on full display. Serena may not have been at full capacity, but Sloane truly WON that 3rd set to win the match.

Moral: If you stumble and fall, get back up. If you make a mistake, own it without beating yourself up about it. Get back to your winning ways and resolve to compete at a level you can respect and never regret.

At the post-match interview, Sloane was her typically engaging and gracious self. She complimented Serena, and she enthusiastically welcomes the next challenge. However, she said one thing that concerned me: she said she didn’t let Serena’s condition affect her play, and she just tried to play her game.

Moral: In any retrospective, be honest with yourself. Serena’s compromised physical abilities did affect Sloane’s game. She needs to acknowledge that impact and then learn from it. True champions do!

Are you enjoying the Australian Open? Who is your favorite player? And do any of these morals apply to your own career or competition experiences?

Photo Credit: By Keith Allison via Wikimedia Commons

#HecklersHangout 18 – Mark Babbitt Knows Internships and Young Careers

I love my job! As a principal in a software solutions company for almost 12 years, I’m not hitting the job market anytime soon. However, I still find myself reading and sharing SavvyIntern content everyday. The About Us page of YouTern says “We have helped thousands of college students and recent graduates successfully ascend into the workplace…with passion, clear direction and humble confidence.” Those characteristics shine through each blog post on SavvyIntern, and they compel me to share with the hope they have positive impacts on young careers.

Mark Babbitt is the CEO of YouTern, the creators of the SavvyIntern blog, and he is our special guest this Thursday night on Hecklers’ Hangout. In addition to the SavvyIntern blog, YouTern also holds a weekly #InternPro Chat (Mondays at 9pm ET) on Twitter and an #InternPro radio show every Tuesday at 9pm ET. YouTern’s goal is to “connect emerging talent to dynamic leaders and mentors at start-ups, entrepreneurial small businesses and non-profits!”

If you are a college student looking for internship opportunities, or you are in the job market and want to prepare yourself for success throughout the job search process, you want to attend this week’s Hecklers’ Hangout. I am confident you will get great advice and input from Mark Babbitt – expressed with passion, clear direction and humble confidence!

Hecklers’ Hangout Essentials

• Date: January 24, 2013
• Time: 7p EST / 6p CST / 5p MST / 4p PST
• Guest: Mark Babbitt
• Topic: Internships and Career Strategy
• Tips:
  • Circle Brian Vickery and send a note on Google+ or Twitter for me to add you to the Hecklers’ Hangout circle. Circle my co-host Margie Clayman, too.
  • Make sure you have a good webcam, microphone, and lighting
  • Join the Hangout 15 minutes early for the camaraderie and to resolve any technical issues.
  • If you cannot attend the live Hecklers’ Hangout, then you can watch the LiveStream on my YouTube channel or Google+ page. You can continue to tweet your heckles to #HecklersHangout. The recorded hangout will be available on my YouTube channel shortly after the conclusion of the live event.

See you this Thursday at 7p EST – bring those career and internship questions!

#HecklersHangout 17 – Angela Daffron Discusses Dangers of Stalkers

This week’s Hecklers’ Hangout covered a much more somber topic than usual: the dangers of stalkers. We appreciate Jodi’s Voice founder Angela Daffron coming onto the show to discuss this real issue that we frequently joke about online.

Angela not only summarized Jodi’s story, but she even has a personal history with a stalker. It was shocking to hear the impact to Angela’s family, that even required a physical move to a different state, because laws are not punitive enough for stalking.

Here were just some of the questions and comments on this Hecklers’ Hangout:

• Jodi Sanderholm (the victim that led to Angela founding Jodi’s Voice) did not know her stalker…yet he was on record as having stalked 20 other women, and the law could not do enough about it!
• You do not have to be a celebrity to have a stalker, and it is frequently impossible to determine how a stalker fixates on a target.
• Angela has worked aggressively on legislative changes in Kansas, New Mexico and Nevada around identifying and arresting stalkers. The goal is to take the legal definition from “credible threat” to “course of conduct” consistent with stalking. The goal is to also get national attention on this issue, so there is a consistency state-to-state.
• Angela’s stalker was arrested on felony stalking charges, and the stalker still got back out on the street and proceeded to stalk Angela again…even across state lines.
• The burden-of-proof is on the potential victim to document stalking incidents.
• Social media has changed the interpretation of “stalking” to be akin to a game (teenagers “facebook stalk” new friends all the time).
• Social apps like Foursquare now provide capabilities to check-in to your location, so you can let everyone know exactly where you are at all times.
• Social media lowers our inhibitions when it comes to personal transparency and banter with people we do not truly know. Someone predisposed to stalking could easily fixate on someone in social media simply because they are nice and inclusive online.
• What safety measures are appropriate for victims of stalking? Some people now choose to carry firearms for protection, and that brings a conflict of social issues: protection against potentially dangerous stalking versus gun control/regulation.
• Angela has spoken at colleges, but she would love to see Jodi’s Voice chapters at colleges to increase stalker awareness on college campuses.

In conclusion, both stalkers and potential targets need to understand the power of “no means no”. Stalkers should cease and desist when told they are inappropriate. Meanwhile, victims of stalking should take swift action in reporting stalkers who do not respond to “no”.

We hope this video helps increase the awareness about stalking, and please visit Jodi’s Voice website for more information.

Social Media Lesson from a Denver Broncos Loss – Support Over the Top

I thought I would write one more “lesson post” based upon the inexplicable Denver Broncos loss to the Baltimore Ravens in the 2013 playoffs. Rather than riding a Mile High to the AFC Championship to face the New England Patriots, the Broncos coaches are now available to watch the “does anybody ever watch this” NFL Pro Bowl.

My first post after this debacle (can you tell I’m a Broncos fan?) was the Leadership Lesson from Denver Broncos Loss – Fear of Failure Leads to Failure. This post will focus on a valuable social media lesson:

You must have support “over the top” for your company’s social media strategy to succeed.

The first “over the top” support you need within an organization is for leadership to believe that social media should be part of an overall marketing and customer service strategy. If leadership does not put the support system in place for your social media efforts, then you are just banging a gong with social media engagement. You will lack the infrastructure to support lead generation, customer support issues, brand advocate nurturing, or crowd-sourced product development ideas. And many digital marketing thought leaders will tell you: “Better that you were never on social media than to make a half-hearted effort and walk away…you will leave an angry and vocal following.”

The second “over the top” support you need within an organization is a social media usage policy. You can read this Mashable post as a launch point for reviewing sample social media policies. Keep in mind that a social media policy is meant to protect both the company and the employee, so keep the language easy-to-understand versus legalese. Look at answering the 5 W’s with an H thrown in:

1. Who

Not everyone has the personality to maintain a consistent, non-threatening, non-defensive, and engaging presence on social media to represent your company. Make it clear that employees can’t simply represent your company without going through a vetting process (or being hand-selected based upon past performances).

2. What

Will employees be sharing cat pictures or other humor to simply put a smile on the face of their fans/friends/followers? Will they give advance product announcements, take polls that lead to crowd-sourced product development, do customer service triage before taking issues offline?

3. When

Will employees be granted permission to browse and post to social media channels throughout the day? Will you put guidelines in place to permit this multi-tasking as long as it doesn’t interfere with their overall job performance? This implies an integrated model where employees are tasked with other responsibilities besides social interaction. If you go with a dedicated model, then the employee’s primary responsibility is to maintain a consistent and engaging presence on social channels while representing your company.

4. Where

Where are your customers? Your customers want to be engaged wherever they choose to be. A monitoring tool like Mantis Pulse Analytics can help your company find those conversations. You then determine the appropriate resources to engage for that particular social channel. The most common channels will be Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Google+. However, your customers may be on Amazon, TripAdvisor, Yelp, Instagram, Pinterest…or some other specialized forums.

5. Why

Back to the first “over the top” support, leadership must answer the question: Why are we doing this? There must be a strategy, goals, and a measurement system in place to determine progress towards those goals. Are you increasing brand awareness, are you developing citizen influencers as advocates, are you monitoring to prevent customer service issues from going viral, are you doing what you can to increase the lifetime value of your customers?

Knowing the “why” is crucial to support the “long view” of a social media strategy when results are not immediate.

6. How

Will you only engage through established social media channels? Will you take the next step in “Owned Media” by hosting your own blog site where you can brand the content and not worry about it becoming prey to the whims of changing usage policies on channels like Facebook and Instagram? If curating content besides your own, will you support automation tools to provide the best experience to your readers versus bombarding their feed with 20 posts at 8am each morning?

If we do our jobs as company leadership, then we can protect against any one of our employees getting “left on an island” and burned like the Denver Broncos secondary. The Broncos didn’t get burned just once…they got burned three times for long touchdown plays.

The Denver Broncos playoff run did not survive the experience, and our companies will not survive getting burned in the media repeatedly. Provide support “over the top”!

As a bonus, here is a screenshot from Mantis Pulse Analytics that provides a glimpse into fans’ sentiment after Rahim Moore got burned for that tying TD (Champ Bailey got burned for two TDs). Notice that the conversation happened on several channels (Twitter, Facebook, WordPress and Blogger just on this page of results). Let Pulse Analytics help your company find where customers are already talking about you!

Note: These Pulse Analytics collections are for demonstration purposes only and do not imply client relationships between Mantis and the teams mentioned. Schedule a demonstration to see what consumers are saying about YOUR brand!