Life has a funny habit of neglecting the worker bees. But as technology continues to transform our interactions with customers, your Social Media Manager, not your CEO, is the one who will make or break your organization. Here are four reasons to be nicer to them, seek their input and show more respect for their opinions. 1. They shape your brand A company is only as strong as the sustainable alignment between a brand and […]
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5 Branding and Rebranding Lessons Learned by the Big Brands
This is a guest post by Steve Blue. Lesson 1: Don’t fix what’s not broken Coca-Cola learned not to tamper with a beloved brand in 1985 when it decided to re-stage its iconic brand with “New Coke.” The public was outraged and let Coca-Cola know they didn’t want a “new” Coke. They wanted their old Coke, literally a quintessential icon in American popular culture. Coke responded within a few months and brought back “Classic Coke.” […]
Read MoreAre Your Meetings a Waste of Time?
In survey after survey, meetings get knocked by everyone from employees to senior executives as being among the biggest waste of work hours. In one poll, by Office Team, 45 percent of senior executives said their firms would be more productive if they banned all meetings at least one day a week! “The problem that often occurs – beyond the obvious, like lacking a clear agenda – is the underlying current of competition that each […]
Read MoreHow To Avoid Having to Fire Employees
In this economy, or any economy, most people don’t look forward to having to fire anyone. Do you find yourself in a position where one of your employees has gotten to the point where their job performance is substandard? Where there is little chance of re-habilitation? Where termination is the only option? How did this happen? Did the organization outgrow their competencies or was there an organizational change and they no longer fit? Was it […]
Read More3 Reasons Sleeping with A Co-Worker is a Bad Idea
Boy meets girl. Girl meets boy. Boy meets boy. Girl meets girl. And unfortunately, they’ve met each other in the office that they’ll be working in together because, well…they’re co-workers. And we’ve all been there. You make flirty eyes as you walk past the bleak, colorless cubicles, or gently brush hands as you’re reaching for the day old coffee in the break-room. It’s a scene right out of a Danielle Steel novel. But once boy […]
Read More7 Types of Office Co-Workers You Have to Deal With
1. “THE GOSSIP” “Did you hear that Sandy is getting a divorce from Steve? And Steve has secretly been having an affair with their mailman? And Sandy is so upset that she dyed her hair, but put too much bleach in the dye and she had to shave it all off and now she’s wearing a wig?” Honestly, I just came here to borrow your stapler. I don’t even know who Sandy is. 2. “THE […]
Read MoreThe Meeting Has Started Please Turn Off All Electronic Devices
Your marketing team is assembled and you’re ready to brainstorm that big new campaign direction. A guy at the table giggles. You think he has a good a idea. He doesn’t. He just got a funny text from his buddy. OK, moving on. Someone blurts out a current event they just saw on Twitter while two others act focused on the meeting, but keep darting their eyes at their laptops every time no one is […]
Read MoreHow To Stop Someone From Stealing Your StartUp Ideas
There’s a temptation, and even a trend out there, for startups to share their intellectual property, namely their ideas, concepts and inventions, in the early phases, even crowdsourcing suggestions and feedback as they go. Some startups are out there pre-marketing on social media sites before they even have physical products or services to sell or a website to sell them on. But what if someone steals your idea? According to the new patent laws under the […]
Read More5 Reasons Not to Ask for Everyone’s Creative Input
Have you ever found yourself in a meeting wishing some of the people would take their ideas and go back to their desks? I run a digital creative and social media agency, and I like to think that I take an all-inclusive approach to many of the marketing, creative and business decisions we make within our own company. That’s going to end today. Social media has taught us that everyone has a voice and many brands, […]
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