It’s no secret that I, like just about everyone else on the planet, am in love with Pinterest. But in conversation over virtual coffee this morning, my very erudite friend Daniel E. Agee pointed me to a post by Josh Davis that got me to thinking about the way Pinterest is quietly monetizing the links posted there in a way that I’m not sure I love.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for startups making money – especially startups that I really like and enjoy using. What I might not like as much is the thought that someone is modifying links that I post and adding their own affiliate code to it, and making money as a result. I’m thinking out loud here, so bear with me. It’s not the making money part of the equation that gives me pause instead it’s the doing it without any disclosure that annoys me.

As an aside, I was reading about Path, another startup darling, the other day and noticed some uproar about the fact that the service apparently uploads your entire iPhone address book on its servers. Blech. I remember my immediate thought was “Oh no, that sucks. And I really liked Path, too. Too bad they’re not as cool as I thought.” The danger here is that when it comes to consumers, perception is reality. And my immediate perception upon reading the Path news was that what they were doing wasn’t cool and that I might need to rethink using the platform. And I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Therein lies the danger for brands and failing to think their TOS and disclosure policies through before publishing them.

I kind of feel the same way about the news about Pinterest. The news? In a nutshell, if you post a pin and it links to an ecom site that has an affiliate program, Pinterest modifies the code using a service called SlimLinks (which is essentially a slick affiliate marketing technology) and gets paid when anyone purchases. It’s not that I mind Pinterest making money, it’s that I just wish they were up front about it, so that when everyone is extolling their virtues, I’d have a clearer picture of who they are, what they do and why it makes sense and, most likely, why I don’t have a problem with it.

Here’s a for instance. It you post a pin to Pinterest from Amazon that’s some really cool product you want to buy, after you make the pin, the Pinterest team (probably more likely SlimLinks peeps) slide in and modify the link to include their affiliate code. Ergo, anyone who clicks on your pin and ultimately makes a purchase results in money being put into Pinterest’s pocket. A bad thing? Not necessarily. I’m cool with affiliate links. I’m less cool with not knowing it’s going on.

I’m thinking here about the strict requirements for bloggers on disclosure and can’t help but wonder how this kind of disclosure isn’t something that’s required of SlimLinks and Pinterest with regard to this cozy relationship. In fact, considering the great lengths that I and other bloggers go to to make sure we disclose everything, it really kind of hacks me off.

And knowing about this relationship also explains a lot about Pinterest’s growth to me. comScore reported that Pinterest just hit 11.7 million monthly unique visitors, getting to that 10 million mark faster than any other standalone site in history. Holy catballs! And Shareholic’s recently published report shows that Pinterest is referring more traffic than Google+, LinkedIn and YouTube, combined. Double holy catballs!

Everything I’ve been reading talks about the totally organic growth of Pinterest and how amazing it is, but I think that this affiliate marketing twist might just have something to do with that growth. Am I crazy? In my experience, affiliate marketers are pretty smart – and a lot like piranhas. When they see an opportunity, they dive on it. And I understand – and appreciate that. But I would venture a guess that part of the reason for Pinterest’s exploding growth is not only because users think the site is fun and cool, it’s because affiliate marketers are mining every opportunity to make money through linking. Doesn’t it only make sense?

As an agency, we’ve been paying a lot of attention to ways that businesses can potentially use Pinterest, and we’re not alone on that front. If you want to know more on that, read this comprehensive post from SocialMouth’s Francisco Rosales, Pinterest: Everything You Need to Know is in this Massive Post.

But when I’m advising clients on the benefits of using Pinterest, I need to know all the facts. And this affiliate code fact is a doosie. In fact, it could be a great way to convince a client engaging in ecommerce to take a chance and experiment with the site. But I can’t evaluate what I don’t know about.

What do you think? Is this something that consumers (and Pinterest lovers) won’t really care about and it’ll just be geeks like me who are annoyed by this. Or is it a privacy issue that users of the site (many of whom are bloggers who are bound by disclosure requirements) might actually care about? Would love to hear your thoughts.

Pinterest: Quietly Making Money From Your Pins? is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

LinkedIn is like any other social network; you have to put time and effort into your LinkedIn presence if you hope to make connections, generate business leads or accomplish other business-related goals. Creating a profile is a crucial first step, but after that, you’ve got to spend time optimizing your profile, as well as maintaining an active presence on the site in order to stay visible—and relevant—in a fast-moving stream of content and activity.

The good news? There are a number of changes you can make to your LinkedIn profile now that will make your experience on the site more fruitful and productive. Ready to dive in?

6 Changes To Make To Your LinkedIn Profile Today

• Update your profile. When’s the last time you updated your LinkedIn profile? Even if it was yesterday, it’s always a good idea to keep your LinkedIn profile updated. After all, every time you perform any activity on LinkedIn, that information is shared with people in your network and you appear in the stream. And with each appearance, it’s like a little tap on the shoulder to all of your connections that says, “Hey! I’m here! Check me out, won’t you?”

• Explain your positions and experiences. I do a lot of LinkedIn training for clients, and one of the most common mistakes I see is that people treat their profiles as resumes. Stop it! This is the place to show what you’ve done and what you can do. If you’re looking for a job, this is the perfect space in which to demonstrate your skills to a prospective employer and help that person get a better idea of what you bring to the table. Even if you’re not currently looking for a job, it pays off to give your connections a complete and comprehensive view of your professional skill set.

• Write a recommendation. Take a few minutes to write a recommendation for a friend or colleague. Not only is it a great way to pay it forward, but you’ll also likely get a recommendation in return. These testimonials are effective additions to your LinkedIn profile because they give your connections a glimpse into the experience that others have had while working with you, and regardless of the social networking platform, word of mouth testimonials are undeniably powerful.

• Add an application. LinkedIn offers a number of apps to help you add depth to your profile. Share what you’re reading, embed your SlideShare presentations, showcase your WordPress blog or add a poll. Other applications are available for specific industries, including Legal Updates, Real Estate Pro and Lawyer Ratings. I usually recommend placing these apps toward the bottom of your profile so that they don’t distract from your work experience and history.

• Expand your connections. When’s the last time you sent requests for new connections? Let LinkedIn do the work for you by entering your email address and password, and the site will automatically scan your address book for contacts. You can also click on the “People You May Know” section at the top right of your homepage. A piece of advice? Don’t send someone the generic request to connect. Take just a few seconds to write a personalized message—that little effort will go a long, long way.

• Join a group. LinkedIn Groups not only offer networking opportunities, but also a place in which to demonstrate your skills and expertise. Find a group based on your education, your industry, your interests or other criteria. And once you’ve joined, stay active! Post content that you think group members will enjoy. Participate in conversations. Make additional connections. Again, anything you can do to stay active and visible on LinkedIn will make your experience that much more worthwhile, regardless of your goals in using the site.

Now that you’ve got your work cut out for you, head on over to LinkedIn and spend some time on your profile. I can’t emphasize enough how powerful a tool LinkedIn can be when it comes to making and maintaining professional connections, as well as generating business leads and new business development, but it’s all about what you put into LinkedIn that determines what you’ll get out of the site.

Image courtesy of smi23le via Creative Commons

6 Changes You Need To Make To Your LinkedIn Profile Now is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

The invitation-only site encourages users to post photos, videos and other content. Not surprisingly, the content is male-oriented; a recent look at the Gentlemint home page reveals photos of sports, character tees, quotes and an infographic entitled “How Would You Like Your Graphic Design?”

“Nothing against Pinterest, but it’s definitely not a site built for men,” Glen said in an interview with the Daily Dot. “We wanted to build something that was almost the opposite, focusing on fun stuff that gents would like.”

Fueled by passion and the beginnings of what they were sure was a good idea, after a mere 12 hours of work, Gentlemint was born—and has been adding a heaping helping of rugged manliness to the Internet ever since.

As Pinterest’s popularity continues to explode, it’s no surprise that Gentlemint is quickly catching on, too. Judging by the traffic on both sites, there’s an inherent appeal in these digital mood board/scrapbook hybrids—and brands are jumping on the bandwagon, too.

Since Gentlemint is in its early days, the site boasts far more personal users than businesses. But we suspect it won’t be long until brands incorporate Gentlemint as part of their digital marketing strategy as a way to forge a connection with a larger audience and leverage a new method of content marketing. Sites like Pinterest and Gentlemint demonstrate that many of us have an urge to collect and share, and what better way to showcase the lighter side of your business than by joining in? Plus, Pinterest has also proven itself as an unstoppable referral engine, and we suspect it won’t be long until Gentlemint becomes a significant driver of online traffic, too.

Ready to join the fun? Simply head over to the homepage and enter your email address to sign up. Ladies, don’t be shy—Gentlemint won’t bar you from entry. There are a whole lotta women out there who aren’t all pink and girly, and this site just might contain some pretty cool info. We know we’re having some fun over there – that’s for sure.

And if you’re already using Gentlemint, we’d love to hear what you think. Grab a beer, a glass of Scotch, a couple of cigars and we’ll meet you in the comments for a virtual discussion.

Gentlemint Offers A Manly Alternative To Pinterest is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

With the recent designation of the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) Bloch School as No. 1 in the world in innovation management research, this is yet another step in city leaders’ focus on economic development, job creation and spurring innovation and tech development.

The “Will It Be You?” PSA highlights entrepreneurs’ contributions to the economy, job creation and innovation, an especially poignant message given the economic challenges of recent years. It’s also a timely message, given the selection by Google of Kansas City for its much sought-after Google Fiber Initiative.

The road to the designation as America’s most entrepreneurial city was the result a collaboration between the Kauffman Foundation and the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, among other organizations, as part of the Chamber’s 5 Big Ideas Initiative.

The Kauffman Foundation plays a large role in the Kansas City community. Founded in the mid-1960s by the late Ewing Marion Kauffman, the Kauffman Foundation focuses its grant making and operations on advancing entrepreneurship and improving the education of youth.

If you’ve seen the Kauffman Foundation’s “City of Entrepreneurs” sketchbook video, you’ll recognize the style in which the upcoming PSA was created. During the spot, aspiring entrepreneurs will be directed to visit Will It Be You, a Kauffman-created website that provides a number of resources to help entrepreneurs get their businesses off the ground. The PSA is scheduled to run in several major markets, including Kansas City, New York City, Washington, D.C. and San Francisco. You can get a sneak preview below.

As both an entrepreneur and a long time Kansas City resident, this is pretty exciting. Starting and running a business may be one of the hardest things you will ever do, but it’s also one of the most rewarding. And Kansas City wouldn’t be where we are today without our entrepreneurs, including Kauffman himself, founder of Marion Labs; Henry W. Bloch and Richard Bloch, founders of H&R Block; Joyce C. Hall, founder of Hallmark; Cleyson Brown, founder of Brown Telephone, which would eventually become Sprint; Neal Patterson, Cliff Illig and Paul Gorup, founders of Cerner, and Gary Burrell and Min Kao, founders of Garmin, to name just a few.

So as you’re watching the Super Bowl (or, if you’re like me and are more interested in the commercials), keep your eyes peeled for the Kauffman Foundation PSA. And if you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, consider this an official kick in the rear to start pursuing your dreams. That sort of victory will be a lot more meaningful than a football score. Oh, and if you’re really smart, you’ll come to Kansas City to do it.

Go Giants!

Kansas City’s Kauffman Foundation To Air Super Bowl PSA Honoring Entrepreneurs is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

A friend sent me a link to this video yesterday entitled Stuff Social Media People Never Say. It made my day and I’m pretty sure it’s going to make yours, too.

For those of us who are immersed in the digital space, it’s easy to forget that a large percentage of our family and friends, not to mention our clients, often have no flipping idea what we’re talking about – on any given day. The world we live in has a language all its own, filled with things like @messages and DMs and Hangouts and Scoops and Pins. Nodding, aren’t you? Well, it’s confirmed, you’re a geek. As if there was really ever any doubt.

Without further ado, here you go. Note that after the jump I’ve jotted down some of my favorites, just so you won’t have any trouble remembering them.

“So, I would say that Friendster is one of the most effective marketing tools.”

“No, I don’t think we need WiFi in here” (Seriously. Who would ever say that?)

“Ohhhhh, I love CAPTCHAs”

“Who’s Mark Zuckerberg?”

“Do you know how to get my client on FourSquare?”

“Where’s this plug in?”

“The Mommy Blogger! An uptapped audience!”

“Do you know if a laptop comes with Google?”

“Does anyone know how to install Internet Explorer? I really need it.”

“I just hit 50,000 unread emails in my inbox!”

“I miss MySpace!”

“Huffington Post …… Okay great. I will have my client give you a call right away (what’s that?)”

“Bill Gates wasn’t THAT influential.”

“No, no, no no! Make sure ALL that traffic goes straight to our LiveJournal.”

“Steve Ballmer is a true visionary!”

“Okay. Thanks for cc’ing me on all those emails!”

“Do you know who Robert Scoble is? I can’t figure it out.”

“Go SOPA!”

“Can I get Facebook updates on my pager?”

“Oh no! I have too many Twitter followers!”

“Do you know I’m the mayor of this bathroom on FourSquare?”

“Oh yeah. I found that error message really helpful!”

“Who is Mark Zuckerberg?” (worthy of a double mention)

And the number one thing that social media people say all the time:

Please DO NOT share this!

Seriously. You know you laughed at this just as much as I did. Thanks to my goofy PR buddy Robb Yagmin from PS Public Relations for always being on the lookout for things that will make me laugh. And kudos to GregoryFCAfor creating the video — it was awesome!

Oh, and because I’m really nerdy, when I published this post at 9:40 am this morning, the video had 418 views. Let’s see how we can rock that baby!

Stuff Social Media People Never Say is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

A quick note? Before we dive in to how you can generate leads from LinkedIn, keep in mind that, as with other social networking platforms, one of the keys to LinkedIn success is to use the site often. I’ll talk about this more later, especially when it comes to your profile, but you’ll want to get yourself in the mindset to check in on and engage with LinkedIn on a daily basis, if not more often. Sure, it may be tough to find the time, but in my experience, diligent use of the site can pay off in a big way, an incentive that likely makes up for the investment of your time and resources.

Without further ado, let’s dive in to the 12 most effective ways to generate leads on LinkedIn.

1. Your profile

Sounds like a no-brainer, right? Yet the profile is the core of your LinkedIn presence, and if it’s not up to par, you need to make time ASAP to refine and complete your profile. A common mistake is to treat it like a resume—don’t do it! Don’t be afraid to give an in-depth look at your current experience and career history. After all, you want to give other LinkedIn users a complete look at all you have to offer when it comes to a certain industry or skill-set. Think of your LinkedIn profile as a valuable piece of real estate—maximize the space you’ve got to get the best results. A couple of other tips? Use a professional-looking head shot as your profile image, crop it closely so someone looking at your profile can almost look you in the eyes and don’t speak about yourself in the third person.

2. Connections

Aside from your profile, your LinkedIn connections are one of the most important tools you can use. After all, the more connections you have, the wider your reach, and the more likely you are to be exposed to potential leads and business opportunities. Enter your email address if you want to let LinkedIn find users with whom you’ve already connected. Or look in categories such as current and previous employers, the college you attended or your geographic location to find connections. When you find someone with whom you want to connect, don’t just click send on LinkedIn’s default invitation – that’s the epitome of impersonal (not to mention lazy). Take a few minutes to write a brief message. Maybe you met this person at a conference or event, or know him or her through a past project. Remind this person of your connection and express your enthusiasm at the opportunity to stay in touch. Those little details can translate into a big first impression, and set the stage for future communication.

3. Share content

I mentioned earlier that one of the keys to LinkedIn is remaining visible and active. Think of LinkedIn as a fast-moving information stream. Every time you make a connection, edit your profile, post content or participate in a group, you (and your profile) show up in LinkedIn’s stream. This is a mini-marketing message to your connections and the fact that you’re visible and active on the platform lets them know you’re serious about LinkedIn and it’s power. An easy way to maximize visibility is to share content on a daily basis (or even more frequently, if you can.) You probably consume a lot of content throughout the day, so why not share what you’re reading with your connections? If you want to highlight your expertise or skills, stick to sharing information that aligns with a particular industry or subject matter, and take time to write a couple of sentences that detail your thoughts on the piece when you post.

4. Answers

One of the more overlooked features of LinkedIn is Answers. Just as you can post content to your profile to highlight your expertise, you can answer questions posed by other LinkedIn users. This is a great way to demonstrate your knowledge. You’ll also be communicating with people who are outside your immediate circle of connections, giving you the chance to expand your reach. How to do it? That’s simple. Just browse the current questions, whether you look at those posed by your network or narrow them down from one of LinkedIn’s recommended categories. When you find one that you can answer, go for it! You’ll help yourself emerge as a knowledgeable source in that field, which opens the door for others to contact you regarding prospective opportunities. Aim to allocate time to do this a few times a week and you’ll be amazed at the benefits you can reap.

5. Groups

If you haven’t already joined LinkedIn Groups, consider this your wake-up call. You can find groups for certain industries, schools, cities, interests and other criteria. Join the groups that look interesting to you and start participating – just like in real life. Imagine that. Weigh in on existing discussions or start your own. When you post content to your LinkedIn profile, you can also specify that the link be shared to certain groups, which is a great way to cross-post to several different areas at once.  Think of groups as a smaller, more niche networking opportunity, but equally valuable in helping you maintain your LinkedIn visibility and demonstrate your expertise.

6. Events

Here’s a novel idea—take some of your online interactions offline! Scan upcoming events in your area that are posted on LinkedIn to find potentially valuable networking opportunities. After all, as tempting as it is to conduct all of your interaction online, there’s an intrinsic value in meeting up with people face-to-face. Once you’ve established that initial bond, you can continue to build the relationship on sites like LinkedIn and will be top-of-mind if a new job, prospective client or other growth opportunity becomes available.

7. Research

If you’re heading to a sales or other business meeting, it’s not a bad idea to spend a little bit of time doing some preliminary research. Look up the meeting attendees on LinkedIn to familiarize yourself with their backgrounds and work experience. You’ll also be able to see if you have any connections in common and, if so, can mention a mutual friend’s name as a conversation starter. Any time you can demonstrate that you’ve done your homework and have taken the time to get to know the people and the businesses with which you’re working, you make a far more effective impression.

8. Company page

Do you have a LinkedIn Company Page for your business? If not, set one up! This allows interested parties to get a snapshot of your business as well as your employees. And just as you post content links on your personal profile, you can post them on your business page, too — yet another way to establish yourself and your company as an expert in a particular industry. LinkedIn recently rolled out the ability for a company to post status updates and in our experience, this is a drastically under-used tool. Set up your page, make regular status updates – you’ll be amazed at how your brand presence on the platform might grow.

9. Applications

Applications are what I like to consider the “pimp my profile” part of LinkedIn. You can choose from a number of different apps to add features and personality to your profile. One of my favorites? SlideShare, which displays your presentations in your LinkedIn profile. I’ve landed several business leads from presentations alone, so the ability to publish your presentations so that they’re visible to your LinkedIn audience is a key tool when it comes to lead generation. We’re also big fans of feeding your corporate blog into your LinkedIn profile, which is another app and very easy to do. As you add apps, choose them with a discerning eye. You don’t want your profile to become too cluttered and hard to read. You may also want to consider installing the apps toward the bottom of your page so that your work experience, skills, recommendations and other pertinent information have a more premium placement on the page.

10. Recommendations

Speaking of recommendations, these are nifty tools that add a richer level of engagement to your LinkedIn profile. Don’t be afraid to approach current and previous colleagues and superiors and ask them to write a brief LinkedIn recommendation. You’ll want to be sure to return the favor, and you can also volunteer to write a recommendation for someone else, which will likely result in a reciprocal write-up. Recommendations are built-in testimonials, so the more you have, the more information someone can get about you, your work habits and your strengths, increasing the chance that a business prospect will approach you for an upcoming project or similar work. And you can’t get a recommendation unless you ask for one – so get going.

11. Mobile

If your schedule is anything like mine, you’re constantly on the go—and you probably always have your phone in hand, right? There’s no reason why you shouldn’t maximize the LinkedIn mobile app to stay up-to-date with your profile and connections. LinkedIn has done quite a bit of work on the app over the last year, and I think this latest version is downright snazzy. What’s more? It’s convenient. You don’t necessarily have to be at your computer to update your profile, do a bit of research or find out what’s happening with your other connections. It all goes back to maintaining your visibility on the site, and the mobile app is a key tool when it comes to facilitating a steady stream of LinkedIn activity.

12. Promote

Now that you’ve put all of this hard work into creating your LinkedIn profile, building your connections and establishing a more robust presence on the site, it’s time to promote your efforts! Make it easy for people to find you on LinkedIn. Publish a link on your other social networking profiles, your website, your blog, your business cards, your email signature—wherever applicable. And if you write a blog that contains business-related content, make sure you’ve installed a LinkedIn sharing button so that others can more easily publish your information on their own profiles.

When it comes to generating business leads, it’s all about staying visible and increasing your reach, two fundamental components that can be achieved with LinkedIn. The site undoubtedly requires a time commitment – but so do any networking or new business development efforts. There’s no easy button when it comes to building credibility and a network. And, for us, LinkedIn is one of our number one sources of new business leads.  I can assure you that your investment in the site is one of the better things you can do for your company or personal brand.

How else do you use LinkedIn to generate leads? Do you have trouble making it a part of your daily online routine, or as the site become a regular part of your digital marketing strategy? And if we’re not yet connected on LinkedIn, feel free to stalk me.

Featured image by Nan Palmero licensed via Creative Commons

Republished with permission, courtesy of 12 Most

12 Most Effective Ways To Generate Leads On LinkedIn is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

Feel free to let down your guard—a post in Facebook’s help center confirms that the messages are part of a recent Call Tracking Study outreach to better understand how many phone calls local businesses receive as a result of their Facebook page.

Obviously, Facebook is serious about wanting participation. They are offering a $500 credit for Facebook advertising if you sign up for the month-long study—not too shabby of an incentive, right? Once you’ve confirmed your participation, you’ll receive a special phone number from Facebook that you’ll need to put on your business page for one month. That way, Facebook will be able to count calls that occur as a result of the page, while also ensuring that the calls reach their recipients.

Here’s a copy of the message, courtesy of All Facebook:

With Facebook spam and hacking so prevalent, it’s no wonder that even a legitimate message like the one above was tagged as possibly suspicious. Yet it’s a smart move on Facebook’s part to stay up-to-date on these issues and let users know of legitimate correspondence—especially when it comes to a potentially valuable offer for small business owners. After all, free advertising is a pretty powerful perk.

In the meantime, we hope that Facebook will publish results of the study. Tying Facebook exposure to phone calls received can provide yet another valuable metric of what Facebook marketing can do for a business or brand. It’s our bet that businesses might not actually receive many calls as a direct result of their Facebook pages, but the proof of that will, of course, be in the pudding.

There’s a lot to be said for a well-designed business brand page on Facebook, and offering relevant information, shopping, great, entertaining, informational or otherwise valuable content on Facebook. Obviously, if you’re a small business that has a brand page but isn’t doing that, you’re probably not getting many calls. And signing up for the promotion will be a great test of that and can perhaps set you on a path to making some modifications that might make a difference.

Bottom line – it’s all about the data. The more data you can collect about the effectiveness of various platforms, the more you validate your digital marketing strategy—and can help sell skeptical parties on your efforts, too.  If you’re a small business with a brand page on Facebook and decide to participate in the promotion, we’d love to know about your results after the test period is over.

Image via Stock.Xchng/otjep

Recent Facebook Emails To Small Businesses Are Research, Not A Scam is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

Yet there’s no denying that Google+ can elevate your brand’s digital marketing strategy, especially if you put some thought into your Google+ presence before you build it. To help jumpstart that thought process, check out a recap of the recent Focus roundtable, “Getting The Most Out Of Google+ For Your Business.”

The online discussion, moderated by Janet Fouts of Tatu Digital Media, featured the insight and expertise of Community Organizer 2.0’s Debra Askanase and V3’s own Shelly Kramer. The hour-long session explored the business applications of Google+, as well as some things to think about as you establish and maintain your brand’s G+ presence. For example, what value are you adding through your business page? And why should people add your business or brand to their G+ circles?

It’s not enough to simply recycle content that’s already appearing on sites like Facebook and Twitter to build out your G+ presence. Instead, focus on the unique strengths of Google+: the ability to send separate messages to specified circles and host interactive gatherings through Hangouts, to name a couple.

Shelly, Debra and Janet also presented some great examples of businesses and non-profits that are making an impact on Google+. After all, sometimes it’s best to learn from those who are blazing a trail, then you can refine and tweak those tactics to fit your own brand or business.

The discussion was also guided by audience questions posted through the interactive Focus dashboard. Audience questions flew so fast and furiously, in fact, that the dialogue inspired a follow-up event to take place as a Google+ hangout. Stay tuned for details, and in the meantime, check out the audio recap of the roundtable to learn more about how you can harness the power of Google+ to elevate your digital marketing strategy.

A Recap Of The Focus “Google+ For Business” Roundtable is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

We have shifted to this Age of Mass Customization, a term coined by Stan Davis in his 1987 book Future Perfect. The most challenging reality of this shift is that it comes right on the heels of a 100-year long era that is almost in every way its complete opposite…the Age of Mass Production.

In the Mass Production days, scientific management was applied to minimize movement (through time and motion studies) as man did the work that machines could not. The management class was born, with its job being to ensure that workers complied with the proven ways to get work done. Decisions were centralized and innovation was the job of the functional experts. This management method made sense in an era of Mass Production.

However, like a spark to gasoline, the change ignited by the Internet accelerated everything. Customization was becoming more commonplace and technology helped make it possible—in today’s wired world, everything you want is only a click away. And as consumers we have nearly infinite options. Thirty years ago, if I wanted a logo design I would call my sister’s girlfriend who was a graphic designer. Today, I search Google for “logo design” and I get 211 million links to sources. And businesses like www.99designs.com offer crowd-sourced logo designs from competing designers from around the world in a couple of days for an amazing price. It’s all about instant gratification.

But there’s trouble in River City. The shift in the economy demands a shift in how we manage our businesses. We are moving from centralized innovation and decision making to decentralized innovation and decision making. Could any shift be more radical? Could any shift call more loudly to leaders today that doing business as usual is no longer viable?

As stated by Jeffrey Immelt, the CEO of General Electric, “This economic crisis doesn’t represent a cycle. It represents a reset. It’s an emotional, raw social, economic reset. People who understand that will prosper. Those who don’t will be left behind.”

The slow recovery may not be a slow recovery at all, but instead may well be the grinding of gears as we shift from one system to another. In my book Business at the Speed of Now: Fire Up Your People, Thrill Your Customers, and Crush Your Competitors, I make the point that the shift is both challenging to see and even more challenging to address.

These challenges are complicated because one of the downsides of Mass Production management is its debilitating track record of employee engagement, which is an essential element of real-time customer service. The Gallup Organization reports that only 30 percent of employees find their workplace engaging (meaning, they willingly take action without being told to help the business succeed). The remaining 70 percent show up and do what they are required and often less. Shockingly, these numbers have not changed in 25 years.

With so many disengaged workers, the chances of succeeding in a Mass Customization world borders on impossible. So what’s a leader to do?

Making the shift to Mass Customization begins with seeing it; then, as a leader, you must face the reality that you must re-engineer your management system. Lean, Six Sigma, Kaizen, Team Building, Change Management and all the other tools will not transform your underlying logic for how you manage the enterprise.

It begins by recognizing management’s new job is to enable its people to say “Yes” before that real-time, value-creating moment arrives with a customer. That demands clear direction, a line-of-sight for every employee to that direction, healthy accountability, a common business language everyone understands, complete issue transparency, and it demands that employees have the appropriate resources, tools and skills to engage. That’s what a modern management system must do.

Our modern economy operates under a new set of rules. You need to understand that to understand its implications to how you run your business.

John M. Bernard is the best-selling author of Business at the Speed of Now, a top-rated speaker, consultant and chairman and founder of Portland, Oregon-based Mass Ingenuity.

Upside Down: The Shift That Is Changing All The Rules is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

It may still be a man’s world when it comes to technology, yet we take for granted how far women have come since this industry’s infancy. If you’ve never heard of Anita Borg (pictured at right), allow us to introduce you to a visionary who embraced technology and began her computer programming career in 1969. In 1987, after years of feeling like the only girl in the room (and often times she was), Anita, along with several other smart women, formed Systers.

Systers is a prolific and diverse group of women from all over the world who share one thing in common: computer science. Systers is an email community for an exclusive group of women, and membership is considered based on a person’s level of technical training. Throughout its existence, Systers has also tackled several social issues pertaining to women in this field that has long been dominated by men. Remember the uproar over Mattel’s Barbie that declared “math is tough”? The flames of the opposition were fanned by an email list that began on Systers, sparking an outrage so widespread that Mattel eventually removed the sound byte from Barbie because of the resulting negative press.

A community that started as a small group of women sharing common experiences of their time in the computing industry has grown to over 3,000 women throughout the world. Systers members agree to various sets of rules, and must provide a short essay that details their qualifications before they are considered for the list.

This year, Systers will celebrate the 25th anniversary of its email community. The Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology is hosting meetups to celebrate this anniversary globally and in several US cities, including Atlanta, Dallas, Madison, New York City and St. Louis. Systers is also in the midst of creating more meetup cities, too.

This group of smart and talented women deserves our accolades. If not for these visionaries and pioneers, women might still be intimidated by technology. Because they paved the way, women in IT are becoming more and more commonplace. These women help to erode gender stereotypes, and show us that women can do anything. Even math.

Congratulations on 25 years, Systers.

Image via the Anita Borg Institute

Systers Celebrates 25 Years Of Supporting Women In Tech, And You Can Join Them is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency