I went for a run the other day. It was a warm, sunny day so I decided to run along the roads near the gym where I work out. I left my iPod in my locker because I knew it would be safer to listen for the sound of approaching cars and trucks while navigating around the traffic I was likely to encounter. Then something amazing happened. I started listening. I encountered a stretch of road where there was no traffic. There I was, just a single runner making his way along a quiet road surrounded by an open field on…

Yahoo recently published an article, "Body Language Signs to Watch During the Debates."  This particular paragraph sums it all up nicely: "The mistakes the presidential candidates have made over the years are numerous. Poor body language has been a common blunder. As much as candidates focus on perfecting the substance of what they say before the cameras, a large number of Americans are really most interested to see how they say it," CNN contributor and history professor Julian Zelizer wrote for CNN. The article goes in depth on various body language tendencies of both candidates. And the article ends with…

A friend of mine was recently called out for entering something into his iPhone during a meeting. What do you think? Does using your mobile device during a meeting constitute rude behavior? Or is it a way for you to further engage the speaker? While recognizing there are no absolutes here, I’m going to take the position that audience members who use mobile devices during presentations by others are, generally speaking, more engaged than those who do not. My experience tells me that people who use mobile devices tend to be more tech-enabled and connected than their less social-savvy counterparts. As…

According to the State of Social Media Marketing Survey conducted by Awareness, Inc. in July 2012, 462 marketers across a wide variety of industries rated the top four business objectives for social media marketing as: • Better customer engagement (78%) • Revenue generation (51%) • Better customer experience (47%) • Increased thought leadership (41%) These same marketers also listed the top social media marketing platforms as: • Facebook (89%) • Twitter (84%) • LinkedIn (77%) • YouTube (71%) • Blogs (61%) If you're like me, you'll connect the dots fairly quickly. Businesses looking to engage customers, grow revenues, improve their customer experience and position themselves as thought leaders within their industries ought to have an engaging presence on Facebook,…

I downloaded the new Twitter app for iPad (and iPhone) last week. As a brand manager, one of the newest features I am most excited about is the header photo users can now add to their profile. While allowing me to keep the profile image I’ve been using to brand myself across all of my social media platforms, Twitter has expanded the branding experience by providing me with the ability to display another image that appears consistently above my Tweets on Apple devices, mobile apps and twitter.com. In a word, this is awesome! Now, when you encounter me on Twitter, the…

LinkedIn is transitioning away from gamification of connections or the perception thereof. In the beginning, the friendly competitive/personal incentive to have more connections served LinkedIn very well. The results are astounding. - Over 1,000,000 people join every month, which is more than two per second. - More than 175 million members worldwide. - "Operates the world’s largest professional network on the Internet" - "Sixty-two percent of LinkedIn members are located outside of the United States" [Dominating the U.S., LinkedIn aggressively expanded Internationally and the statistics show its success] It is no surprise to see the under-the-radar announcement, "Your Network Statistics…