“And let’s also add a blog to the new site design,” he said as if it were an afterthought, which I was sure it was. Knowing his propensity for delegating, I probed further, “That’s great. How often are you planning on blogging?” “Oh, I’m not going to write the blog myself, ” he said assuredly, “my secretary is going to take care of that.” Unfortunately, I find myself having this conversation with Pastors and business leaders more and more often. What ensues is usually a long argument about what a blog should or shouldn’t be. Here are some thoughts on the matter: Your blog should be your voice. It’s telling your story or the things you’re passionate about. No one else can do it for you. Are you sure you want your assistant speaking for you? If you have a corporate blog than, it’s a different matter. You can even…

I have been puzzled about Google’s inability to do well in the social media space. I have watched them take over Blogger and instead of making it better and more relevant, they managed to lose market share. There were another string of failures like Dogeball, Jaiku, Lively, Buzz and Wave. Even Orkut, the largest social network in Brazil, is now losing the Brazilians to Facebook. I have seen several of my friends migrate from Orkut recently. It wasn’t until a recent article in FastCompany profiling Larry Page, Google’s CEO, that I got a clue into the search giant’s ineptitude at social media. As it turns out, Larry does not use social media. Now it all makes perfect sense. Organizational culture is driven from the top. It makes sense that what the leadership values, their passion and interests get researched, funded and developed. It’s interesting to me that such a large…

Social media has changed my life. That’s a bold statement but I really mean it. The latest impact has been on how I travel. It has created an entire new dynamic experiencing that has enhanced the joys of discovering new places, meeting new people and eating well. Recently I was planning a trip to eastern Europe which I’m currently on, and tweeted that I was going to visit Prague. One of my tweeter followers Jennifer Lyn King, saw the post and reached out to me. She’s a Texan living in Prague with her family. Since she has followed me for a while she knows my love of good food and recommended several great local restaurants most tourists would never find, and where reservations a week ahead are a must. She also took time to meet us face-to-face and give us a tour of the city. What a great way to…

I was recently reminded of a failed social media campaign that started with a lot of promise but went nowhere. For all practical purposes the campaign is still going because there are “posts” being created everyday. As I reflect what went wrong, here’s my assessment: Blog content is never fresh. It is re purposed from old material. It’s edited, sanitized and packaged but it lacks soul and relevance. There are no personal posts in the blog, twitter or Facebook. And the reason why there are no personal posts is because the author delegated his entire campaign to someone else. The few people who began following early on quickly figured that the author was not the one posting and stopped following. Readers were ignored. Early on when people commented on posts, they were ignored. So they stop commenting, and eventually reading it. Posts are monologues. There are no questions, no interactivity,…

If you’re a communicator, you cannot afford not to be engaged in social media. I know this sounds like a mandate, and it is. Even if only a part of your job is to communicate the vision, mission and direction of the organization you lead, you, more than anyone else in your organization, should lead the social media charge. I meet with leaders who refuse to embrace any social platforms. Their excuses are always the same: I don’t get it. I don’t have time. I’m a private person. I have nothing to say. Until recently I used to go down a list of why it didn’t take that much time and how to manage time. I patiently talked about how even a private person could have a dynamic online presence, and how even the most introvert of leaders has something to say to his or her organization as well as…

Yesterday I attended the memorial service for Bert Tippett.  I met Mr. Tippett during my first week of college. He was a teacher, a dear friend, a mentor, and role model to me of what meant to be a kind, genuine, graceful man who loved God, his family and those around him. A few years ago I had the privilege of working  alongside him in a few projects. He was one of the few people, perhaps the only one I have ever known, who was loved and respected by every person he met. His life was a true testament of God’s grace. He lived well and during the last few years, fought cancer valiantly. But Bert didn’t die alone and unappreciated. Interestingly, Facebook had a lot todo with that. Mr. Tippett’s 1,904 friends on Facebook kept a steady stream of encouraging messages posted on his wall day and night since…

First the news, then the music industry, now advertising: the digital revolution is bringing down Madison Avenue like no other force has in the history of the Ad Agency. Some estimate that over 160,000 people have lost their jobs in the advertising industry in the past 2 years. I don’t think that’s the recession’s fault. Not completely anyway. The slow down in the economy just accelerated the demise of the old  advertising agency model, but the new ad world looks vastly different than the bloated budgets of the 30-second spot and national media buys. Here’s what I see happening: National spots will fade into individually customized pitch. Interestingly, I sent out a tweet this past weekend that showed my displeasure with the Audi/Jaguar/Porsche dealership in Nashville: A few hours later, I heard from a dealership. It wasn’t from the Audi/Jaguar/Porsche but from the local Cadillac twitter account, Crestgroup: I’m quite…

This is a very funny video parody on why social media will ruin your family. Are you or a family member at risk?

I love social media. It has changed my professional as well as personal life. I have made new friends, found new clients, and re-connected with my Brazilian high school as well as my American college friends. It’s by far one of the most significant shifts in human interactivity I have ever experienced. Because of it the world has become small, very small.  In most cases, I recommend and encourage my clients to be active in social media whether they are business leaders, ministry heads, authors, or performers. I have taught social media seminars for years to leaders all over the world. But even at its best, social media was never intended to replace face-to-face interactivity, and the sooner we understand that, the better off we are. As I considered how far we have taken our online interactivity, here’s a few things it can never do for us: A post on…

A few years ago, social media was mostly an annoyance to most businesses IT directors who tried to keep employees from accessing social networks during working hours. Well, that still goes on today. However, most organizations have began tapping into the power of online communities. Dell has made millions from its Twitter account over the years and that number continues to grow. It’s hard to find any organization without a Twitter account or a Facebook fan page. But as social media has grown and developed has your online strategy grown as well? Fast Company’s latest issue features an article on CSOs (Chief Social Officers). These are not interns who “play around” the internet for companies such as Ford and Virgin Atlantic. These are highly skilled, highly compensated professionals who are setting strategies and directing teams to harness the power of online networks.  So if you haven’t taking this thing seriously…