In the wake of all the AIG news, I’m becoming quite intolerant of greed.  Recently, I read Schaefer’s Blog, which talked about personal responsibility http://tinyurl.com/6nkau5.

Cameron Schaefer hit the nail on the head.  What did happen to personal responsibility?  Schaefer continues , “I believe in America and what it stands for.  This is why something needs to change – and instead of demanding it from everyone else it has to start with us.”  But what do we stand for?  Status and power seem to be the popular vote.

Last month at a cocktail party, a gentleman was commenting on having to cut hours and wages of his employees due to the slowing economy.  He later proudly spoke of a major luxury purchase he got for his family.  Good for him right?  How’s that for personal responsibility?  Company is slow, wages are cut, let’s go to the beach house kids!

We are appalled at what Bernie Madoff did, but how is that so different?  Power, status, wants becoming needs, sound familiar?  Maintaining image thru greed and power is no different than those homeowners buying that house they couldn’t afford.  Once you get caught up, it’s hard to get out.  Knight Kiplinger  Editor in Chief for Kiplinger Publications wrote, “Most of our economic wounds are self-inflicted, stemming from our inability to live within our means.”

In the end, it all washes out anyway.  I wonder at what point, individuals accept responsibility for their actions.  What would have been the taxpayers’ reaction if AIG publicly announced the issuance of bonuses due to contractual agreements and senior management will be giving that money back immediately?  AIG’s image wouldn’t be so tarnished.

I welcome any thoughts and comments you might have.

As expected, I’ve heard a lot of buzz recently that Twitter is just a “fad”, “a waste of time”, “not for business”, etc. In fact, on Monday here in Chicago I had to laugh at the report from Bob Sirott at NBC 5 who completely misses the mark about the value of Twitter saying it is, “a place to tell other people what you’re doing.”  Such a one way dialog is quite obvious when you look at Bob’s Twitter page .

I’m not at all surprised about Bob’s reaction as this is bound to happen when you see such a surge of stories in the media. To validate this increase in media conversations, I did a quick Google News search on the top social media platforms including Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and YouTube.  Here’s what I found:

• #1 – 62,000 media mentions of Facebook
• #2 – 44,000 media mentions of Twitter
• #3 – 43,500 media mentions of YouTube
• #4 – 26,000 media mentions of MySpace

In fact, I’ve started doing a series of Twitter 101 sessions with individuals, businesses, organizations, etc. My goal is not to “hook” them in our wonderful world of Twitter…but to educate them about how they might be able to leverage Twitter as a valuable networking tool.

What do you think about Twitter? Is it hear to stay or just a lot of hype? Also, what are some of your best practices around using Twitter? Thanks!

I remember reading something on Twitter a while ago from a reporter who said there’s no such thing as media relationships. Based on my daily experiences with reporters, I totally disagree. Media relationships do happen when a reporter can rely on you to bring him or her a trusted source when needed.

Just last week, I worked with a Chicago TV reporter who gave me two hours notice that she liked my story idea and wanted to set up two separate interviews to create a package for that day’s 5 p.m. newscast.

My colleague Matt Batt and I quickly acted and got her the sources she needed, directions on their locations, and backgrounds and bios to give her confidence that she was getting great resources. We also provided  all of our cell phones in case one of us was temporarily out of reach.

By that afternoon, this reporter had a fantastic segment for her newscast and our clients had great coverage that positioned them as experts in the field of finance. They also quickly posted the placements  on their web sites, shared with their clients, and made plans to use the content for their marketing collateral.

When I contacted the reporter at day’s end to see if she needed anything else she had only one question…”Tell me about your other clients?”

In just a few hours, we proved to her that we  and our clients can provide her with newsworthy material AND work to meet her tight deadlines and logistical needs.  If that’s not the start of a great relationship, please tell me what is!

Like most of you, I am hard at work trying to make a good living amidst all of the stress and negativity surrounding each of us every day. If it isn’t the recession, unemployment, financial distress, loss of home, or a slew of other negative things…it is something else. Earlier today, I was slapped with a quick dose of reality that I wanted to share with each of you.

As most of you have probably seen from my Twitter & Facebook profiles, a friend of mine that I went to college with at Drake University passed away yesterday afternoon. To put some context around this story, Shawndra was a 33 year-old mother who has been fighting colon cancer for the past 3 years. Her fight was miraculous as she became a role model for her young daughter, husband, family and the thousands of friends (like me) that have been honored to call her a friend over the years. 

So why in God’s name do I bless you with yet another dose of “bad news”…you might ask?!

It’s really quite simple. As much as we get wrapped up in our daily lives of work, blogging, social media, networking, etc. I wanted to take a minute to share Shawndra’s story with each of you in hopes that you might pass along just this one bit of advice…even though you may not know her…or me for that matter.

Folks, please remember that life has its many turns and bumps and we often get sidetracked by every such obstacle. Do me a HUGE favor and please take a minute tonight to reach out to someone (or many) that means a lot to you and your life. Tell them how much you love them and what they mean to you.

Sunday was Shawndra’s last opportunity to do this with her daughter, husband and family. They shared the love…and I felt it. Hopefully you and those you connect with tonight will feel that same love.

Thanks.

How many times over the past several months have you been asked about social media (i.e., blogging, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.)? Perhaps your family heard you talking about your Facebook page, a client overheard you mention something about your blog or perhaps a neighbor just learned about YouTube because a friend forwarded them a hilarious video. For whatever reason you have all of a sudden been singled out as an “expert” because you are participating across multiple social media platforms.

I’ve recently had this exact thing happen to me and I typically respond by saying, “I’m certainly not an ‘expert’ but I consider myself and advocate.”  Unless you’re Chris Brogan or a small handful of others that have been playing in this space from the very beginning, you likely aren’t an expert. Plus since this space is evolving every single day, just by nature of participation, we are all learning as we move along.

I would recommend that each of you reading this post strongly consider how you are positioning yourself in this ever changing space. I think there is an amazing opportunity to advocate (specifically to the business world) the basics of social media so folks aren’t jumping into these platforms without a clear understanding of how they work & how they work to your advantage.  Here are 5 speaking points I use with anyone to educate them on the basics of using social media:

1. What is social media? – I like to tell folks that social media are platforms for interaction and relationships, not content or ads (like traditional media). Don’t get me wrong, content is very important but only in the context of adding value to the interactions & relationships;
2. The State of the Social Media Industry – I also like to tell people that if you’re willing to be (1) consistent & (2) transparent, you’ll likely do well in the social media space.  People also love stats, so it is important that they understand the reality of today’s social media landscape – here are some great industry stats from Mashable;
3. Common misconceptions about social media – In order to best relate to someone that hasn’t yet explored social media, it is very important to discuss the most common misconceptions such as: it’s just another online fad, it’s just for teens or tech geeks, it’s not for business or it’s a BIG waste of time;
4. Corporate examples of social media programs – I was recently introduced to the good folks over at Blog Council who work with the largest corporations currently leveraging social media. They have some amazing case studies from companies such as Walmart, Intel, UPS and The Home Depot. I think this answers the question is it right for businesses:);
5. Develop a social media strategy – If at this point they are interested in moving forward, this step is a MUST. Like any good business goals, you must also be able to measure what you are doing across these social media platforms. I like to help them develop a strategy with realistic goals and measurements before they even start experimenting across these platforms.

What do you say to people who ask about social media as a whole or these specific platforms? Do you consider yourself to be an advocate? Personally, anyone who is willing to share their best practices and has proven (measurable) success should be talking to everyone experimenting with social media. If we don’t, this space that we all cherish and appreciate could quickly be flooded by folks that DON’T get it…and that would suck:).

Have you set expectations with Social Media?  If you haven’t, perhaps you should.  1to1 Media’s blog, http://bit.ly/G4wbQ has a cool post about setting social media expectations and the social media standards:

“They called it the 1/9/90 rule.  With blogs, message forums, user-generated content, or other social media tools, 1 percent of users will be “super users,” generating their own content, coming up with new ideas, and constantly sharing their thoughts.  Another 9 percent will be “active users,” who comment once in a while.  The last 90 percent will be “passive users,” taking in all the information available, but never commenting themselves.

I don’t see myself as a passive user but more of an active one, yet I certainly don’t have thousands following me and vise versa (yet J). So I may just fall into the 90 percent category.  How do you view yourself in the Twitter, Facebook world?

Point is, if you don’t set your goals and expectations from the onset, you may just find yourself “tweeting” around, accomplishing not much of anything and being disappointed.  Sure you’ll read interesting conversations but are you actually “joining” in?  I agree, if this is new to you, it can be a bit intimidating and overwhelming.  Remember, you choose to be in social media, so you must have a purpose.  Enter with your own expectations and your presence in the Twitterverse will have a purpose and (eventually) measurable results.

Like me, I’m sure you’re also learning as you go, but I’m comfortable knowing that when I’m less active, I can’t expect my followers to engage with me.

This past holiday season I conducted a pseudo study of all the holiday or Christmas cards I received. Much to my sjogren, I discovered that almost 75% of the cards received hadn’t one bit of personalization on them except for the handwritten address. And probably half of those that weren’t personalized at all didn’t even have a handwritten address…but a printed lable. 

Please don’t get me wrong, we had a nice family photo card made via Shutterfly this year, last and probably the year prior.  But my wife and I usually sit down and sign each card typically writing a little personalized note on each. Besides, for many, this may be our only interaction with them all year!

Unfortunately, I believe we’re in a new era of “Template Personalization.” The dichotomy of the phrase is on purpose as ”template” and “personalization” are as opposite as “night” and “day.” Yet we see examples of this being used across all mediums of communication today. Here are 3 additional examples of “Template Personalization”:

• Blast Emails – We see this one all too much within the business world and in particular within public relations as many PR firms and professionals see a need to blast a pitch and worse yet, a release to hundreds of journalists…hoping for something to stick.
• Evite – I’ve used Evite’s many times and will continue to do so as they’re a great way of managing a party or event. But when you have a small group of friends, family or even coworkers your inviting for an event…why not use print invitations and write a personal invite on each?
• Automatic Direct Messages on Twitter - When you start following someone on Twitter (kind of like your “friends” on Facebook for those of you not using Twitter) there are many services out there that allow for you to send a template response or direct message to those that started following you. I’ve recently started calling attention to these via my Twitter account (here is a link to these tweets).

What are some good (or bad in this situation) examples of “Template Personalization” that you’ve seen? I look forward to adding to this list as I definitely plan on tweeting & posting on this subject often…consider it a pet peeve of mine:)

I’m one of the growing millions who is addicted to Twitter. I’ve been an active Twittizen for over a month. While I haven’t amassed a following of tens of thousands like my favorite tweeps, I have learned one key point: If you’re actively engaged in Twitter, it doesnt’ take much to be an expert. I’d rather just be a Twitter advocate instead.

I recently taught a friend how to navigate Twitter using Tweetdeck. It took less than an hour and she exclaimed that I was her expert. I laughed.

If she spent a 30 to 45 minutes daily on Twitter, she’d get comfortable following tweets & replies and keeping track of folks who share her passions. She’d also find endless ways to pump value out ofTwitter.

The Twitterverse is immense and learning to harness its power through the world of like-minded or not-so-likeminded Tweeps will take time.  Look at every Twitter-minute as a learning experience.

However, the beauty of Twitter is that you’re never alone. There are thousands of strangers more than willing to help. In fact, I agree with colleague Matt Batt –@storyassistant. Make it a mission to help fellow Tweeps. In his short time on Twitter, I’ve seen how Matt’s Twitterosity has returned multiple riches.

As one of his followers, I’ve receive great business advice, personal inspiration, deep connections and – yes-new business. It will eventually land on your doorstep. 

Earlier this week, I was once again reminded of the reality facing our “traditional media” landscape as 33 of the top daily newspapers sought out bankruptcy protection.

Among those in the “who’s who” list of papers included The Philadelphia Enquirer, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, and Minneapolis Star Tribune. Honestly, I’m not one bit surprised by this news nor should anyone in the media or PR industry be shocked at these recent events.

Late last year the New York Times published a story entitled, “Newspaper Circulation Continues to Decline Rapidly.” The only positive (neutral) news coming out of last year’s study was the following excerpt:

“The exceptions among the nation’s biggest newspapers were USA Today and The Wall Street Journal, two national papers and the two largest in circulation, which were virtually unchanged, at 2.3 million for USA Today and 2 million for The Journal on weekdays. Neither paper publishes on Sundays. Among more than 100 papers with weekday circulation above 100,000, none had more than a fractional increase.”

Do you think it’s a coincidence that USA Today and The Wall Street Journal are also two of the earliest adopters of a strong online presence?  In fact, I remember the exact day (October 17, 2005) when The Wall Street Journal decided to shrink its print edition pushing readers to their website for the most up-to-date news and in-depth stories.  I also remember people complaining that the WSJ was moving towards a tabloid format and it was a risky move.

The reality is without an online presence (or focus), these daily newspapers don’t stand a shot.  In fact, unless these surviving daily newspapers can dive into the local grassroots journalism to differentiate thier papers…they too will be one of the many newspaper casualties.

What are your thoughts about the future of newspapers? Will we be down to a handful by 2012? Anxiously awaiting your thoughts & perspective!

Today I have to share a personal story with you & I ask each of you stop after reading this post and ask yourself, “how can I make a difference…today.”

Like almost half of American families, my parents were divorced and my loving mother took on the burden of raising her two boys by herself ever since I was 3 and my brother 5. She worked two jobs for as long as I could ever remember & her parents (my grandparents) chipped in as much as possible to make sure we were raised with good morals and ethics while she supported us financially. Ultimately, my brother & I had everything any two boys could ever want throughout our childhood – more love than most kids could ever ask for, a stocked fridge, new clothes on our backs and a role model for the ages. My mother didn’t just support our family financially and emotionally, she was also a “serial philanthropist” and was always donating her time and effort to a new cause in the community, for area churches and families in need.

My life suddenly changed my freshman year in college as she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had a tumor removed the size of a volleyball. Doctor’s said she would be fortunate to live another 3 months given the magnitude of the cancer & tumor. Two years later she had another tumor removed the size of a medicine ball (I believe this is in the medical record books…or so we were told by the doctors). Through it all, she was planning the first festival of its kind in my hometown…which ultimately raised several thousand dollars for local charities. The summer after my graduation & almost 3 years after the doctors told her she had 3 months to live, the fight ended at the tender age of 53.

The reason I share this story with you isn’t for sympathy or sadness but to remind you that we are all put on this earth for a mission and purpose. Although we all have our specific passions in life, I believe that EVERY person has a desire to give back & help others in some way, shape or form. My mother faced adversity in the face – being a single parent, working multiple jobs to keep her family together, and constantly giving back to the community all while fighting the illness that ultimately took her life. 

In the spirit of my mother & belief in the power of social media, today I am making it a personal goal to recruit at least 250 people to join a cause that I know will make a huge impact on a number of people’s lives called 12for12K. The goal is quite simple:

• 12 months
• 12 charities
• 1,200 caring people
• $10 per person each month
• $12,000 per charity

We are all looking adversity in the face today with these challenging economic conditions. However, I would ask that each of you dig a little deeper to ask yourself if you could do without just one of the following each month to change someone’s life forever?:

• 2 Starbucks coffees;
• 8 gallons of gas;
• 2 Subway sandwiches;
• 2 Happy Meals from McDonalds;
• 1 ticket to the movies;
• 1 DVD;
• 1 CD;
• Etc……

Please take a minute to think about how you could support 12for12K…and pass on the legacy someone your life who has inspired you to do good for others. Thank you in advance for paying this message forward to others!