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Why You Gotta Be So Mean? The Rise of Cyberbullying in the Workplace

I’m sure everyone has experienced at least one instance of bullying by email, text, or Facebook. It’s a lot easier to be mean to someone when they’re not standing in front of you and with the increasing use of technology as a means of mainstream communication, we’re seeing a rise in horrible conduct – and not just by adolescents. It’s also happening in the workplace.

According to Cnet.com, researchers discovered that 80 percent of surveyed subjects claimed to have experienced some sort of form of cyberbullying at work. Whether it’s a cutting sarcastic comment or social media gossip, employees are bringing a little playground to the boardroom.

I’ll never forget an incident I had a few years ago with a senior executive who had a reputation for passive-aggressive behavior and who became upset by an email response from me on some issue.  He responded furiously in ALL CAPS for several paragraphs (and included several other executives on his response), and I still remember the awful feeling I got in the pit of my stomach over the interaction. This person was clearly “yelling” at me, and when I responded by pointing this out, the CAPS and the language in the next response became even more furious. I finally made the trip up a couple of floors to speak directly to this person and talk the issue out like adults.

Why does ALL CAPS come across as shouting? In What People Think When You Type in All Caps, Kathryn Vercillo explains:

The traditional thing that “all caps” writing has come to mean on the Internet is that you are doing this because you want to convey a tone similar to yelling. A message or article that is written entirely in capital letters is jarring to look at because we don’t typically receive messages that look this way. This is comparable to hearing yelling when what we normally hear is quiet speech. The message that is sent in ALL CAPS comes across as yelling or threatening. This will often cause people to react to the message negatively out of a defensive posture even if the actual words that are in the message are not angry. The situation is exacerbated when the content of the written piece is negative or angry because this fuels the fire of “yelling” that appears to be going on here.

Vercillo also argues that there are other negative assumptions coming from the use of ALL CAPS including:

  •  People assume that the writer is trying to demand attention;
  •  People may assume that you have a lack of skill with technology;
  •  People may assume that you are an immature writer;
  •  People may assume that you are lazy;
  •  People may wonder if you are trying to be a rebel.

And if this weren’t enough, according to Miles Tinker, renowned for his landmark work, Legibility of Print, using ALL CAPS inhibits the reader’s ability to effectively digest the information one is trying to convey:

All-capital print greatly retards speed of reading in comparison with lower-case type. Also, most readers judge all capitals to be less legible.

So what exactly is workplace cyberbullying? According to Northeastern University, cyberbullying is just like traditional workplace bullying and harassment in the workplace, but involving electronic devices and online communications. A report by the consulting firm CQR states that cyberbullying includes but is not limited to:

  • Malicious or threatening emails, text messages, and tweets;
  • Electronic communications that contain jokes about ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any other topic that would make an individual uncomfortable;
  • Public shaming via a mass email;
  • Sharing embarrassing, offensive, or manipulated images or videos of an individual;
  • Spreading lies and gossip – social networking sites and blogs are usually the most common ways people become victim of another person’s cyberbullying.

What should employers do to prevent cyberbullying:

  • Promote a work culture where all bullying is not tolerated;
  • Establish a clear written and well communicated policy regarding bullying and acceptable use of technology;
  • Provide training for staff and management in how to deal with bullying in the workplace;
  • Remind staff that anything posted on the internet is out of their control is and potentially there forever;
  • Remind people to stop and review an email before sending and consider the reaction of the receiver;
  • Encourage people to talk to each other rather than continuing the disagreement over email. A face to face conversation will remove the emotional ambiguity of email.

In Cyberbulling in the Workplace: A Growing Epidemic, Oliver Lin outlines how from a business standpoint, cyberbullying has undeniably negative consequences. According to Psychologytoday.com, demotivation reduces workplace productivity, while happiness, job satisfaction and motivation promote productivity. Professionals who have been harassed or put down online may feel that no matter how they perform, they won’t be able to gain esteem at work, which diminishes the force driving hard work.

I know first hand that following the ALL CAPS email onslaught I received from that senior executive, I avoided future contact with him when and if at all possible – going to the idea of demotivation. And this is unfortunate since he was one of the brightest and savviest executives I have ever known. But that point was completely lost by the approach he took to giving me his feedback.

A loss for the company, and a great lesson to be learned.

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The Brain Trust Weekly – CRM in Professional Services

I’m a strong advocate of the concept of maximizing existing relationships first when undertaking business development efforts – 80/20 rule and all. It’s obvious that those people you know and your company has already served are more likely to bring in new and additional business than those who have no connection.

So how to evaluate the relationships (friends, family, etc) that your employees have in a way that maximizes your ability to turn them into customers or increase their business? There’s social media of course, but that’s for another blog post. First, you must evaluate what the relationships are – then you can strategically determine the influencers who can turn the relationships into new or additional business.

That’s where a CRM comes in. A CRM (customer relationship management system) is a system long-utilized by large companies to manage customer and sales information and communication functions. In Why and How Using a CRM is Important, Contemporary Analysis says:

For Salespeople: If used properly a CRM should allow agents to provide an excellent and often customized experience to every customer while being able to scale the sales process and reduce stress. On the agent level, the key to using a CRM is to record every prospect, deal, task and customer service statistics, so that the agent can focus on the sales process and not on trying to remember every fact and figure.

For Sales Management: A CRM should allow Sales Management to focus on developing forecasts, training materials and coaching salespeople, instead of directly monitoring everything their sales teams are doing.

Lead prioritization and brand management are secondary benefits of using a CRM.  Without a CRM, it is difficult to collect the structured data necessary to prioritize leads based on profitability, loyalty and purchasing activity.  It is also makes it difficult to manage communication in the most effective way.

For Marketing: By watching the conversations that your clients are having with your salespeople and customer service representatives, you can collect testimonials, determine pricing, schedule promotions, identify key words, determine ROI of marketing campaigns and improve lead generation activities.

For Customer Service: Customer Service should use the data contained in your CRM to provide customers with well researched guidance and a seamless experience between sales and customer service.  By taking a moment to pull up a client file when they email or call, your Customer Service staff can provide a customized experience that relies on the information collected during the sales process and previous customer service calls.

For Operations: If used properly a CRM should allow Operations to improve the quality of their output by allowing employees to know exactly what is expected of them.

According to CAS Software, companies traditionally receive the following benefits from using a CRM:

  1. Story data centrally creates a company-wide user network
  2. Customer dossiers provide all the information
  3. Customer knowledge reveals potential for development
  4. Customer value can be determined and communication measures specialized
  5. The strength of the data and knowledge it provides motivates employees
  6. Provides ability for staff efficiently manage projects
  7. Increases customer retention, thus reducing long-term costs
  8. Brings together all existing data applications for one source

Coming from the professional services sector, however, there’s an additional functionality that can be extremely beneficial to law firms, accounting firms, and the like – moving beyond just a database of sorts to manage customer data. While that and the other benefits listed above are important, a firm can also leverage its CRM to identify potential clients through the firm’s employee and practitioner base. By syncing with a firm’s Outlook Contacts system, business development professionals can identify the companies and contacts that their employees and attorneys/CPAs have (and that may be personal in nature) and facilitate an introduction to its services via a trusted source.

Although there are admittedly some complex issues to overcome in successfully implementing a system in this kind of environment (chief among them cost, buy-in by partners, and transparency/sharing of trusted client and contact info), the benefits outweigh the challenges and when done right, can improve the bottom line.

The Brain Trust sources below provide additional information on the opportunities:

Law Firms Utilizing CRM Systems to Leverage Relationships and Improve Business Strategies (Delaware Valley Marketing Group)
Like their business clients, law firms–large and small alike–see the value in using sophisticated technology programs to implement client or contact relationship management (CRM) systems.

Top 12 Evaluation Criteria for CRM Professional Services Selection (Forrester)
In a survey of 119 companies: nearly 28% used PSPs to help develop their strategic vision for CRM, 42% used PSPs for defining business objectives for CRM, 44% for aligning business processes with the CRM strategy, and 56% to define the conceptual design for CRM technology solutions. PSPs were used by 60% of enterprises to establish detailed design requirements and by 64% to implement CRM solutions.

Leveraging your CRM (Society of Marketing Professional Services)
In its essence, CRM is the ability to leverage intelligent connections among people, companies, relationships, experience, and expertise through technology to deploy your business objectives.

The Secret of CRM Success in a Law Firm (Law Firm 4.0 Blog)
Experience database implementations are among the most challenging of all marketing technology initiatives – not because the technology is hard, but because gathering such data in a law firm culture is.  But the challenges and obstacles are far from insurmountable.

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That Awkward Moment When You Can’t Read Your Boss’s Cursive Handwriting

“Help! I feel like I should tell people that I work with that I can’t read cursive, but I can’t really think of a way to do this without sounding like an idiot. But, really…I cannot read cursive, at all! 2nd grade was a long time ago and those skills are gone forever…What to do?”

This Facebook post by a 20-something bright young professional whom I mentor really resonated with me recently – as a parent of a teenager in the public school system, I know there are literally millions who are not being taught how to read or write cursive handwriting. I had thought about it in the context of how she would sign her name or write hand-written thank you notes, but never until this had I considered how it would affect her generation’s ability to work effectively with others who, like me, were taught cursive handwriting as a matter of course, and are still using it in the business setting.

This millennial had received edits to her work from a senior executive and couldn’t implement them. Of course it’s not her fault, but she still didn’t want to chance losing credibility by articulating that she couldn’t read cursive. So, what to do? When meeting with her recently, another colleague and I discussed it and counseled her to just say “I’m having difficulty reading your handwriting” or better yet, work with the executive’s assistant to decipher the edits. She was able to do this effectively, but the issue has larger implications.

According to Cursive a Puzzle for Many Young Students, Melissa Nix writes:

The digital age has pushed to the periphery a penmanship skill used for generations. The world of personal computers, email and texting has rendered the handwritten note an anomaly, something that many of today’s students get only from grandparents. Some parents complain that their middle schoolers can’t sign their names.

Linda Spencer delves into the national trend away from cursive handwriting in her excellent article Does Cursive Handwriting Need to be Taught in a High Tech World outlining how the Department of Education’s Common Core State Standards for education, developed in 2010, lists keyboarding as a required skill, but excludes cursive altogether.

Today the Common Core State Standards allow each state to decide whether to include cursive handwriting in their curriculum. Given the choice more and more states have been choosing to eliminate cursive handwriting instruction from their schools.

So aside from the obvious difficulties in communicating effectively between generations, what other impacts does eliminating cursive have on those not learning it? Serious ones, according to the research outlined in Spencer’s article.

An Educational Summit titled “Handwriting in the 21st Century” held in Washington, D.C. included the attendance of professors, neuroscientists, teachers and interested citizens. Presenters shared cross-disciplinary handwriting research and attendees voiced their opinions about whether—and how—this skill should be taught. Several neuroscientists presented findings ranging from handwriting and occupational therapy to neuroscience research that documents the impact of handwriting on kids’ learning. One of the most remarkable findings came from Karin Harman-James at Indiana University. She presented research she conducted using MRI scans of children’s brains. Her research, conducted in 2012, showed that writing by hand activated parts of the brain associated with language development, while keyboarding did not.

And then there are the historical impacts.

“Who, when several generations have chosen the keyboard over cursive, will be able to read handwritten love letters or historical documents?” asked Dennis Williams, the national product manager for Zaner-Bloser, an education publisher that produces popular cursive instruction curriculum. Certainly Zaner-Bloser has a bias, but he makes a valid point.

“If students can’t read or write cursive, there will be parts of the world they will not be able to access,” stated Patrick O’Neill, an assistant principal in Sacramento, CA. “They have to be able to access the forms of communication available today.”

It will be interesting to see if the art of cursive handwriting can be saved, or if we will become a society where thank you notes are only received via text, Facebook or email, or if in hard copy form, with chicken scratch signatures.

Call me old fashioned, but as I type this post (and am admittedly grateful that I don’t have to do so in long-hand or cursive), I’m somehow still rooting for cursive.

 

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My Brain Trust Weekly: Pinterest for Business

Okay I have procrastinated long enough on the subject of Pinterest – digging in and figuring out the benefits and uses of this emerging social medium has been on my to-do list for a while, but now that I’ve seen the newest stats from TechCrunch:

Pinterest has practically caught up with Twitter, with 15 percent and 16 percent of adult U.S. Internet users on each network, respectively. Pinterest, which launched in 2009, has experienced explosive growth, especially with a white, female and affluent user base. Women are five times more likely to use Pinterest (5 percent vs. 25 percent) and almost twice as likely to be white and college-educated.

I knew I needed to get busy and learn more about it so I can provide quality counsel to my clients. Given I also needed a new Brain Trust Weekly, I thought I’d kill two birds and cover Pinterest for this one.

So, exactly what is Pinterest? eCreativeIM’s Amy Kilgour explains:

It’s an online bulletin board where you share images from around the web. The value for online marketers, in addition to brands and businesses is not only the ability to share, comment and “re-pin” within one’s  increasing Pinterest network, but the ability to display your brand or businesses’ products and drive them back to the brand or business’s website, driving sales or conversions.

In Why Pinterest by Rebbekah Radice, there are several reasons to make Pinterest one of the core social mediums to employ in business:

1. Link Building Capabilities – enhances your SEO;

2. Pinning Your Own Content – allows you to promote your proprietary work and track its popularity by number of repins;

3. Keyword Targeting – Effective use of keywords allows you to be easily found in searches;

4. Syncing with other Social Mediums – You can sync with your Facebook page, and tweet your pins;

5. Commenting on other Pins – Similar to LinkedIn, you can gain attention for your area of expertise by commenting on others.

Pinterest recently launched a business application, and provides an easy, step-by-step tutorial of how to get set up for your organization (aside from the verifying your website function that I still have not figured out for my WordPress blog and Pinterest doesn’t seem to have any kind of help line… I will update this post once I’ve gotten some assistance).

Below are some useful sources with more information on why you should care – happy pinning!

Exploring the Benefits of Pinterest’s New Business Accounts (anchorwave.com)
It features the ability to create boards, promote your brand, and connect with other influencers on the website. The goal is to increase traffic to your company site and help you increase sales.

10 Reasons Your Small Business Still Doesn’t Use Pinterest (smallbiztrends.com)
A tongue in cheek list of reasons small businesses might not be adopting Pinterest, just for fun.

How to Use Pinterest for Advertising (everything-pr.com)
Pinterest can offer significant advantages for advertising too, provided that you know how to use it for this purpose.

64 Pinterest Marketing Tips and Tactics – Infographic (jeffbulas.com)
Here are 64 marketing tips and tactics that you can apply to your Pinterest account to get you started and refine your strategies.

How to Reap the Full SEO Benefits of Pinterest (getsocialeyes.com)
Since Pinterest creates new ways of having your content found and shared, optimizing your Pinterest presence is a great way to improve your rankings in the search engines.

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Recovering the Lost Art of Human Communication

A business trade organization is recognizing Board member contributions during a recent breakfast meeting. Hundreds are in attendance, but there are so many awards that the audience is losing interest and starting to chat with others at their tables. But then the speaker introduces one Board member by saying “when she needs to talk to you, she does it in person…. which is SO POWERFUL.”

The inflection of awe in the speaker’s voice is so strong that it gets the room’s attention and speaks volumes on how as a society we have lost the art of human communication. It seems that every day there are more articles and blogs posts on the subject of technology and how it is impeding our ability to communicate, rather than enhancing it. There are even medical opinions that show a real cost to the human race in the form of a lack of emotional maturity of our young.

In We Never Talk Anymore: The Trouble With Texting, TIME magazine discusses how developmental psychologists studying the issue worry about its impact:

Not just because kids are such promiscuous users of the technology, but because their interpersonal skills — such as they are — have not yet fully formed. Most adults were fixed social quantities when they first got their hands on a text-capable mobile device, and while their ability to have a face-to-face conversation may have eroded in recent years, it’s pretty well locked in. Not so with teens. As TIME has reported previously, MIT psychologist Sherry Turkle is one of the leading researchers looking into the effects of texting on interpersonal development. Turkle believes that having a conversation with another person teaches kids to, in effect, have a conversation with themselves — to think and reason and self-reflect.

In Forbes’ Is Social Media Sabotaging Real Communication, Susan Tardanico relates the tragic story of a teen who sounded fine when posting on Facebook, texts and tweets, but then committed suicide that same day. She goes on to cite:

As human beings, our only real method of connection is through authentic communication. Studies show that only 7% of communication is based on the written or verbal word. A whopping 93% is based on nonverbal body language. Indeed, it’s only when we can hear a tone of voice or look into someone’s eyes that we’re able to know when “I’m fine” doesn’t mean they’re fine at all…or when “I’m in” doesn’t mean they’re bought in at all.

Of course, the benefits that technology provides in the forms of cost and time efficiencies cannot be disputed, and I’m guessing no one would want to lose the ability to email, text, tweet, like, post, pin, or insta. But certainly we have to recognize that human beings are built for personal relationships and that a true connection cannot be duplicated any other way but in person.

This phenomenon is playing out in the business setting as well, and offers an opportunity for those who take the time to connect with colleagues and prospects in a way others can’t or won’t. The Young Entrepreneur Council says in The 7 Pillars of Connecting with Absolutely Anyone that “personal relationships run the world”, and that’s spot on.

So for those who may have forgotten, or for those who have never known anything else but how to communicate via technology, here’s how it’s done:

  1. Meet in person regularly: Don’t conduct all business via email; rather, meet with colleagues regularly. The same applies to service providers – check in with your clients and prospects regularly and in person.
  2. Use your mouth instead of your fingers: Walk down the hall to say thanks; use the telephone to ask a question. Even if you get their voice mail, they hear your voice, and know exactly where you’re coming from because of your tone.
  3. Give your full attention: Actively listen, ask questions, and maintain eye contact to show your authentic interest. Do NOT look at your phone or answer emails at any time.
  4. Send hand-written notes: Say happy birthday or thank you with a hand-written note; receivers will notice and appreciate the fact that you took time to do so.
  5. Find that commonality: When meeting someone new, ask about their business, family, interests, etc and find something in common that connects you. It’s there, and is typically easy to find.

Yes, it’s more time consuming at the front end, but you will avoid misperceptions that communicating via technology invariably creates, leading to your success long-term. And, you may just make some new friends along the way.

 

 

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The Brain Trust Weekly: Video Marketing

If you’re still in the camp that thinks video marketing is not an important component of your marketing strategy, you should think again.

According the Business.com Blog, “It’s no secret that online video has become one of the hottest trends in content marketing.”

The data on online video usage certainly backs up that claim:

  • Over 100 million Americans watch online videos each day, an increase of 43% since 2010. By 2014, online video could account for 50% of all internet traffic.
  • 46% of people say they’d be more likely to seek out information about a product or service after seeing it in an online video.
  • 70% of marketers cited video as their top investment priority for 2012.

Video provides an relatively inexpensive and powerful opportunity to tell your company’s story in a variety of ways, and should be an important part of your strategy. For individual practitioners, video is an excellent way of showcasing personalities and expertise, thus connecting with potential clients so they’ll pick up the phone and call.

In doesn’t matter your industry – video can be used effectively no matter what you do. Still a skeptic? The following resources provide more proof and information on how to get started:

5 Reasons You Should Use Video in Your Content Marketing (One Spoon at a Time)
Paul Wolfe makes a strong case that video should not only be a natural part of any Content Marketing strategy, but also that it has several distinct advantages over the kind of content that most content marketers use – written content.

5 Clever Ways Your Business Can Use Video To Drive Traffic (Unbounce.com)
This entertaining post explores some businesses that are using video in clever ways and in unusual places.

How To Generate Leads with Video Marketing (Mark Huber, SuccessontheFly)
Mark’s informative slideshare presentation outlines how to enhance your social media marketing by creating a short, shareable video – and implementing a mini-campaign around it to drive opt-ins.

3 Keys to Driving Demand with Video (David Rose, COO, MagnetVideo)
David makes the point that not all video is created equal, and reviews the importance of production. He provides several steps to follow to integrate video into your next demand generation campaign.

How To Use Online Video for Marketing (Hubspot)
Last but not least, Hubspot offers a free Video 101 e-book and kit to get you started.

So, what are you waiting for? Tell the world your story.

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Yes, Virginia, Networking Can Be Fun

[As published in the Winter 2013 issue of Defense by the Washington Defense Trial Lawyers.]

The most surprising thing I noticed about lawyers when I first started out in legal marketing was the high number who were not comfortable networking. I had assumed that the legal profession would naturally attract extroverts — and yes, there are some who have, it seems, an intrinsic sense of how to work a room; making immediate connections with all they meet. But a surprising large number are introverts who prefer to spend their time keeping their heads down and doing their job.

A job well done, however, is only one component to bringing in new clients and hitting billable hour expectations; in an increasingly competitive industry, getting out of the office and in front of referral sources and potential new clients is more important than ever.

The good news? There are several ways for even the most introverted to effectively network… after all, no one will be successful if they’re so uncomfortable in a situation that it’s visible to others. The better news? You don’t have to sell anything or meet with anyone you don’t enjoy to develop new business.

But it requires commitment – you must do it consistently, no matter which activity you choose.

Overcoming the common misconception that effective networking means becoming a salesperson and conducting cold calls is a good start. The Business Dictionary defines networking as “Creating a group of acquaintances and associates and keeping it active through regular communication for mutual benefit. Networking is based on the question “How can I help?” and not with “What can I get?”

So, no sales and no cold calls… that’s right, you can have fun building your network simply by being yourself, having conversations with people you like, and the work will come.

But where to start?

First, determine how you get the majority of your work – is it from in-house referrals from other lawyers at your firm? From attorneys at other firms? Opposing counsel? Or perhaps your targets are in-house counsel or business executives?

It’s crucial to understand where most of your work comes from, as you’ll want to make sure you’re spending your valuable time in a way that has the best chance of serving your business.

Once you have that list, start scheduling regular meetings, coffees or lunches with them. One every week is a good start, and this includes those attorneys within your firm who refer clients to you….sometimes attention to enhancing these relationships is overlooked because they work down the hall. If they never see you and hear about the type of work you’re doing, you’re missing an opportunity to update them on new services you offer or issues/legislation they should be aware of, and doing so solidifies their confidence in sending clients your way.

When scheduling meetings, select those with whom you have a connection and are already comfortable. This allows you to be immediately at ease in the situation and have a good conversation. A simple “it’s been a while since we’ve seen each other and I’m interested in hearing how you’re doing” is all it takes to get the meeting set and conversation in motion.

The meeting itself is easy – prepare by considering the following proven attributes:

1) Listen to them – It’s about the target (“how can I help” vs “what can I get”) and opening the conversation with questions about their family, interests and how things are going with their business will not only please them but will give you some valuable insight for the future. Don’t rush this part and let it take you wherever it goes.

2) Be authentic – Be present and focused on them during this conversation (put away the phone!) and show your genuine interest in the information being shared. Make mental notes for possible follow up later if you learn something that may be applicable to your practice.

3) Find commonalities – You will undoubtedly find commonalities as the conversation progresses which helps cement the relationship and reminds the target of why he/she has worked with you in the past.

The conversation will turn at some point to you and what you’ve been doing. Do your homework beforehand and be ready to talk about your work as it directly relates to what you’ve done for them or what you think may be of use. You won’t have to ask for work and quite often, they will think of something for which they need legal advice during the discussion.

Make sure you follow up afterward with a quick ‘thank you/great to see you’ email; for even greater impact, attach a link to an article or blog post related to something you discussed.

If you conduct meetings like this weekly, you’ll become much more comfortable talking about yourself and your practice, and the returns will come. Personal relationships and human connections are still key to business development for lawyers; in fact, making the effort to connect personally in a world that has gone so digital will make a positive impression in and of itself.

While personal meetings are always the best way to connect, there are many other ways for the more introverted to show their expertise in ways that include:

1. Articles/Blog Posts: Write articles about your area of expertise for Bar Journals, association newsletters, business magazines, etc. Again, refer back to your list of targets and write for those that reach them directly. Better yet, determine your practice niche and launch a blog where you become the expert in your field. You can supplement these activities by commenting on related blogs posts as well.

2. Nonprofit Boards/PTAs/School Sports: Already have a personal connection to a nonprofit whose mission is important to you? Involved in your child’s school or sports? This is a natural way to meet prospects who have business connections and could become future clients.

3. LinkedIn Groups: Assuming you’re on LinkedIn (and if you’re not, DO IT as it’s the #1 referral source for all professions; you should be connected to all of your clients and referral sources here), dig deeper by joining appropriate groups and commenting on questions that come up as part of group discussions.

In the end, it’s about determining the connection, passion or knowledge you already have and capitalizing on it – your authenticity and expertise will shine through. And, you just might find that you’re having a good time as well!

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Business Lessons Learned from 55th Grammy Awards

As a PR practitioner I’m always thinking about how current stories and trends can be tied to my clients’ work – being able to effectively do so usually results in media coverage. The same goes for ideas for blog posts, something in which I’m always searching for inspiration. Given my passion for music, and the Larson household’s annual tradition of camping out in front of the TV for not just the nearly 4-hour Grammy telecast, but for the E! Red Carpet and preceding (gasp!) E! Countdown to the Red Carpet, I thought it would be fun to share insights on business lessons that can be learned from some of the performances and shenanigans that took place Sunday night.

1. Your Connections Give You Instant Cred: In business, many times it’s about who you know, and their credibility rubs off on you. No one proved this better at the Grammys than Justin Timberlake. Amid non-stop hype leading up to the broadcast about Timberlake “relaunching” his music career, the former Mouseketeer/Boy-Band Heartthrob was introduced by none other than TV’s #1 talk show icon – Ellen Degeneres – and, fresh off her acclaimed Super Bowl half-time show performance – Beyonce. If this weren’t enough, in the middle of Timberlake’s performance who should saunter up on stage from his front row seat to join in but the music industry’s biggest force – Jay-Z.

No matter what you think of Timberlake’s music, just by virtue of association he is back with a vengeance. (Editor’s Note: Late breaking news is that the pair are planning a stadium tour together this summer.)

2. An Effective Tease Can Make All the Difference: Either CBS execs were truly concerned about a “revealing” attire trend at the Grammys or the network’s marketers cleverly knew that an accidental “leak” of a dress-code memo would pique the curiosity of millions and help lead to the show’s strongest ratings in years. “Please be sure that buttocks and female breasts are adequately covered,” read the memo, distributed to awards show attendees and their representatives.”Thong type costumes are problematic,” it said, first published on Deadline.com. The memo went on to specifically address various body parts that were not to show up uncovered.

Of course, the memo was the laugh of the Red Carpet, as musicians delighted in showing how they were not in compliance. Moral of the story: a provocative leak can get you a lot of exposure (pun intended).

3. Don’t Forget Your Gameface: Nobody likes a sore loser, and in business we never win them all. And neither do musicians. Resident bad boy Chris Brown was at it again Sunday night, this time not joining in the standing ovation for Frank Ocean who beat him out for the Urban Contemporary Album nod.  Admittedly, I’m not sure why Ocean was getting a standing ovation anyway, but that’s another subject.

No matter how you really feel, when it comes to your competitors keep smiling and stay gracious – you never know when their clients may become dissatisfied and come to you for help. You can never go wrong by acting with class – you can cuss them out at home behind closed doors.

4. Honor the Trailblazers: When you’re young, ambitious and clawing your way up the corporate ladder you think you know everything. But it’s those senior executives down the hall who built the foundation upon which you and your company stands. Listen, learn, show respect and honor them – as Kelly Clarkson did so beautifully in her tribute to Lifetime Achievement Honorees Patti Page and Carole King.

5. The Early Bird Gets Visibility: E! Entertainment broadcasts for several hours before all the big awards shows, including the Grammys. They interview celebrities about who designed their clothes, what projects they’re working on, and invite them to strut their fingers down the “Mani-Cam” (for nails of course) and the “360-Glam-Cam” (for a 360-view of the celeb in their glory). There are several smart publicists who get their people to the Red Carpet early every time and thus reap the benefit of extended camera time because the majority show up much later.

It’s the same in business. Try arriving at networking events right when they start before the crowd and you’ll find opportunities to really engage with people.

6. Update your Dress Code to Match Your Personal Brand: A shout-out to Frause President Erika Schmidt for this one. The CBS memo notwithstanding, when selecting attire attention should be paid to balancing your desire to be cool and trendy with how your fans will react to how you look. Case-in-point is country/pop music darling Taylor Swift’s increasingly provocative dress choices. While admittedly it’s not easy to grow up in front of the world, she is a role model to millions of teens and attention must be paid to the image that has been carefully crafted and monetized if she wants continued adoration by this group (and their parents). Just ask Miley Cyrus.

At work it’s the same… dress appropriately. Keep the hot and trendy look for your personal time and your professional wardrobe choices in line with the level of respect and success you desire.

7. Staying Connected with Pop Culture? Priceless. I’ll admit that as I get older, I don’t understand the appeal of some of the acts or music. But I do know that keeping current on the music scene keeps me connected with my teenage daughter, as well as with what’s going on in the social media realm. Social media was being used to market everything from the show itself (if I had a dime for every time host LL Cool J said “hashtag”) to the artists, to the songs. Not to mention the lessons to be learned about planning your next event – check out 7 Social Media Lessons to learn from the Grammys for the Event Organizer.

It’s very possible that this market may end up being your market, or that of your next client. If nothing else, you’ll get one less eye-roll from the kids.

 

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The Brain Trust Weekly: The Quest for Integrity

There have been many recent examples of public figures and companies who, through lapses in judgment and a thirst for success, have shown that they have not come by their success honestly. In fact, it has been quite to the contrary. As a result, their empires have been significantly damaged, if not completely destroyed – a la Lance Armstrong.

Acting with integrity is not easy, especially when we’ve all personally known and even worked with those who get to the top without having any. But in the end, karma does hit as the examples below show. Whether personally or professionally, integrity will make or break you – it defines your personal brand, it defines your company brand. And as troubling as the recent news has been, I was heartened to find as part of my research an educational institution – The School for Ethical Education – dedicated to teaching ethical principals. There is hope after all.

Personal Integrity is in Your Hands (Edmonds Consulting)
Lance Armstrong’s fall from grace gives us the opportunity to examine our own personal integrity. I define integrity as keeping your promises – doing what you say you will do. Personal integrity is not subtle; there are no shades of grey. You either demonstrate personal integrity or you don’t.

Wal-Mart Cheer: I-N-T-E-G-R-I-T-Y (Wall Street Journal)
International division chief Doug McMillon emphasized that despite pressure to grow, employees and management needed to comply with government laws even “when no one is watching.”

ESPN’s Journalistic Integrity Coming Under Close Examination (Awful Announcing)
As one of the biggest, most valuable media companies in the entire world, ESPN can be all things to all people.  They air the games, report about the games, debate the games, and all on global platforms of TV, radio, and the internet. But in the last year and a half, that trust factor has eroded for fans who follow the sports world and the world that covers sports closely.

Success Will Come and Go, But Integrity is Forever (Forbes)
A great article by Amy Rees Anderson who rightly points out that it’s not just about your integrity, it’s about those with whom you keep company as well. “Inevitably we become more and more like the people we surround ourselves with day to day. If we surround ourselves with people who are dishonest and willing to cut corners to get ahead, then we’ll surely find ourselves following a pattern of first enduring their behavior, then accepting their behavior, and finally adopting their behavior. If you want to build a reputation as a person of integrity then surround yourself with people of integrity.”

Maintaining Honesty and Integrity (Jim Rohn)
Do you think there’s anything your people don’t know about you right this minute? If you haven’t been totally aboveboard and honest with them, do you really think you’ve gotten away with it? Not too likely. But if you’ve been led to believe that you’ve gotten away with it, there might be a good probability that people are afraid of you, and that’s a problem in its own right.

The School for Ethical Education (SEE)
SEE recognizes the need for an increased focus on ethical behavior within human interactions. SEE provides classes and seminars to educators, parents, student leaders and community members. SEE collaborates with school districts, parent organizations, professional education centers, and institutions of higher and continuing education. SEE instructors teach, facilitate projects, research, write, and speak at events and meetings, and consult with relevant educational organizations to advance strategies that promote ethics in action for comprehensive character education in support of positive character.

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Stale Online Content? Freshen It Up Stat – Or Lose Business

I spend a lot of time on the internet researching various markets for myself and clients. I have been shocked by how many websites, blogs, and social media accounts of well-respected professionals have been left to languish for not one, not two, but in many cases - several months. As my teenage daughter would say…… OMG seriously???? 

Believe me, I know how hard it can be to keep your online content updated… I sit here today writing on a Saturday because I’ve gone two weeks without a blog post and it’s been eating at me. I’ve been busy doing client work (yay!) but I also know my efforts to market myself for future work will be undermined if I don’t regularly blog and share marketing musings on Twitter and Facebook. Those to whom I am pitching must be impressed when they visit my site and they must see me as current and relevant.

The same goes for you. However, there are many out there who are not paying attention and it is really damaging their personal brand and reputation. And further, it’s costing them business. Jay Jaffe wrote about this in his white paper A realistic look at lost opportunity costs connected with website content writing delays, specifically for the legal industry:

The website only becomes top-of-mind when a partner learns that a prospect turned to another law firm for representation when it saw that this newly merged law firm’s website was unimpressive and out of date.

It happens, and it happens a lot. Like the rest of us, lawyers get busy with billable work and put off updating their web bios and practice descriptions, and time flies. The impression it leaves is damaging, but is easily fixed. Even something as simple as having a prior year’s copyright date at the bottom of your site can make a potential client scratch their head. Not keeping current implies that you’re out of touch or worse – that you’re no longer practicing.

In Losing crediblity because of outdated website content?, Cybervise recommends putting together an editorial calendar with planned content revisions on a monthly frequency schedule at the very least. Not only will this keep your content relevant, it also improves your SEO rankings:

Search engine performance will suffer if a website remains unchanged for 30 days or longer. Website updates that will improve performance include adding new content, updating keyword information and updating and validating html code.

There are other types of updates you can make that freshen up your site as well, and keeps up with current aesthetic trends. In 10 Signs Your Outdated Website is Due for a Redesign, Rocketmedia outlines how flash, fonts, colors, photos and other design elements have changed and how continuing to use them can negatively impact your brand.

Further to your web presence, you can also show clients you’re “with it” by adding social media icons to your home page. You’d be surprised by how many websites I’ve come across who have blogs and Facebook and Twitter accounts, but who neglect to put the icons on their home page so visitors know they’re there! But if you’re going to do this, make sure you’re regularly posting on these accounts.

In Five Common Social Media Mistakes, GenerateUK says:

Infrequent social media posting or scarce blogs or content offerings can quickly lose whatever customer audience you have acquired.

Tip: Remember to post consistently.  Social media updates should be consistent on a daily basis with a minimum of ten posts (including retweets and replies) on Twitter and a least two original posts on Google+ and Facebook.

Bottom line, you absolutely must commit to putting time in each week to review and update your website, and post to your social media accounts. If you don’t have time to do them all, drop the social media accounts altogether because it’s better not to have them there than have them neglected. But your website is non-negotiable. Get your professional information updated, highlight recent accomplishments, and ensure all information is accurate — including the list of team members who work with you (yes, I just came across an agency website with staff profiled who left years ago according to their LinkedIn pages. What a surprise to new clients who may base decisions upon that information).

It’s about more than content, it’s about your reputation.