You are your brand.  Everything you do in life is a representation of who you are.  Whether you own your firm or work for a company, you are your own brand.

From the way you dress, to where you work, to the people you hire, to the car you buy, to the neighborhood you live in, to the health club you belong to, to the way you speak… all of this can either build or diminish your personal brand.

Spring is almost here, and it is time to do a little bit of  “Spring Cleaning” for your brand.

Get out there and draw some attention! Delivering  a speech or speaking on a panel is a great way to re-vamp your brand.  Giving expert advice sets the tone of your company and yourself.  Pick a topic that is timely and post new tips weekly on a blog, like this one!

Stay current. Make sure your head shot is current, along with your bio, resume.  You should also give your linkedIn and other social media profiles an update.

Be a great communicator. Research shows communications skill is the top determinant for upward social and professional mobility.  Join Toastmasters or hire a communications coach to ensure that your written and verbal skills are at their best.  Being able to have meaningful networking conversations are key to building a positive brand.  Practice social interaction wherever you go, even at Starbucks… did your barista understand you clearly?  Were you being clear and concise when you ordered?  Or did you dance around what type of latte you wanted and did they give you a funny look?  Beaware of how people react to you.

Build your contact list. Make new business contacts and stay in touch with them. Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook  are great for this.  Most people with powerful brands have powerful friends.

Dress for the job you want, not the job you have. Balance your individual style with clothing that will appeal to those you are trying to impress.  Today’s relaxed business attire has lead a few people astray.  Designer jeans are the new slacks for many offices… they have become my favorite professional look, especially for men.  If you do not know how to dress up your jeans, or aren’t sure what I meant by “designer jeans” please seek a fashion consultant.

Select “significant” significant others. Who you date or who you marry affects your brand. Studies suggest that single people should not take their dates to company events.  If they do, they will be judged by the outcome of every romance.

Give something back. Giving your time, talent, and money to charitable causes is a brand-builder especially when it complements your brand strategy. Find a cause you are passionate about. I’m passionate about helping others grow their brands, so I spend countless hours working with the PRSA.  Through this commitment my name (brand) is associated with the PRSA and vice versa.

You and your brand, and as your brand, are your biggest assets.  Nurture your brand this Spring and you will flourish in the benefits.

By now we are all familiar with the top social media sites; Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. We see each other tweets and notice that CEO’s like Mike Peter of Campus Advantage tweeted about the National Apartment Association conference 5 times in less than an hour on January 12.

You’ve heard it before, these sites can be powerful resources, help gain exposure and increase your online presence. For some, tweeting and other social media platforms come easy, but for most of us, we learn and explore before hitting the tweet this button.

There are no written rules on how to play the social media field, here are some simple ways to unleash the power of social media and design your own plan for success.

1. Share interesting content
Effective social media practices involve engaging your audience, which means figuring out what they want to know and what purpose you want to serve with your posts. Content can come in many forms, including articles, blog posts, video clips, quick tips, statistics, photos, news, industry resources, special offers and so much more.

2. Share information from other sources
Share what you find interesting and you will see your network grow with those that share the same interests. Share content from other websites, blogs, magazines, news outlets and other social media users. Remember, it’s about engaging your target audience. When you develop a reputation for providing interesting, useful content, even when it’s content from an outside source, you still benefit greatly.

3. Provide links
One of your goals should be to increase traffic back to your Web site or blog. You can do this by sharing compelling headlines alongside a link to further information on your site. You don’t need to include links with every post, but do distribute them often. Ever wonder how people get those tiny links? There are several link shortening service such as http://bit.ly, which shrinks long links.

4. Engage often
Commit to engaging as much as possible throughout the day, if that sounds like too much, try engaging at least once a day. Share a post first thing in the morning, then check in between meetings and at various intervals to respond to your audience, share new content and get engaged. Remember that your goal is to be a resource.

resource.

I’ve always been fascinated with Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs in life… checkout his pyramid.  Are your needs being met?   This sequential hierarchy of needs doesn’t usually happen in today’s society.

When I think of needs, I think of:  Starbucks, whitening tooth paste, Google search, and  my iphone.  I actually have all levels in the pyramid covered multiple times.

How amazing is it that Starbucks found its way into being in my life’s pyramid of needs?  Now that is impressive Branding!  Starbucks provides every level of the Pyramid.

Let’s start with the basics, Physiological, they provide food and water.  Moving along to Safety, I stay alert and productive because I get my Starbucks coffee every day and my co-workers are safer once I have my coffee.

Next is Love/belonging, this is my favorite one! When I order a tall half-caf, skinny vanilla latte, it shows that I am an insider and belong in “the club” I often ramble my long obnoxious order carelessly as I update the Baristas on the latest celebrity gossip.  I feel like a Rockstar (loved) because they remember my name and know how to spell it.

Now we are really getting into the magic of this brand, Esteem, watching those Barista’s aim to please me is exhilarating and when they call out my name I get that giddy feeling like Bob Hope just called me up to the Price is Right. The first sip of the not-so-great tasting coffee, shoots my confidence sky high and I am ready to take the day.

The last need is Self Actualization, I accept Starbucks for what it is… it’s mediocre coffee with long lines and no parking… but it brightens my day everyday, sometimes twice a day.

What’s my point?  Not only should we all have invested in Starbucks in the 70’s but Starbucks is a strong brand because they meet numerous core needs simultaneously.  Does your Brand do that?

We want to wish all of our friends and valued clients a Happy New Year.  2009 was a success and we are looking forward to another prosperous year for our clients.

Congratulations to Campus Advantage for ending 2009 very strong, despite the economic downturn.  Campus Advantage continues to be the market leader in Student Housing Management, and was able to grow its portfolio over the past year at the same growth rate as previous years.

Mike Peter is the CEO of Campus Advantage and not only is he the driving force behind the company’s ambitions, he also has a personality that lights up every room.   Haven’t met him yet?  Feb. 22 – 23 is your chance!  Come to the National Apartment Association Conference in Las Vegas.  Meet Mike Peter and other top executives from the Student Housing Industry as they share tips and outlooks for a successful 2010.

c.a.k. + associates will be in Vegas on the trade show floor, so please come visit us as well.  We have some very exciting plans for our firm and innovative plans for our clients and future clients. We would love to chat with you about growing your business.

If you can’t join us at the blackjack tables in Vegas than come by our offices in Westlake.  We have fresh coffee and a killer portfolio.

The way you play the social media field has a huge impact on you and your brand.  Here are few tips I find useful, they actually apply to everyday life as well.   Send me your tips.  Enjoy!

1. Give More than You Receive- If you want positive attention, like most of us do, in the on-line world, than you have to be willing to give it first.  I can hear my dad saying it now “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine” he’s usually right and that is a great rule to live by.   Respect is earned on-line not a right.

2. Treat others as you would want to be treated- Sounds easy right?  Yet somehow there are those few who thinks its okay to post a nasty facebook status about a co-worker, friend, family member, even a client.  Come on now! You catch more bees with honey… I hate bees and certainly don’t want to catch any, but it’s still a cliche to live by.

3. Contribute!- Just showing up to the office doesn’t get you anywhere, and neither does signing up for Twitter and ignoring all your DM’s or tweets of fellow twits.  Sorry couldn’t resist that one.  Don’t be shy, join the conversation and have fun with it!  Please don’t just promote your brand, I may stop following you.   Before you ever submit anything to a social media site, ask yourself “Does this article really add value to the community?” If not, reconsider submitting it.

5. Cheating is Wrong- Be faithful to yourself and don’t cheat or take short cuts. Focus on building a successful social media presence as you would a friendship with a networking group.  Sure, you might be able to get thousands of followers and fans by cheating, but eventually, you will lose credibility.

6. Build Quality Relationships- People are more willing to help those who they really know. By building quality relationships with other users, you’ll always have someone in your corner to back you up. Remember, relationships require the participation of both parties, always be a willing partner your social media relationship.

I’ve been working my magic in public relations for several years now.  I don’t put much faith in magic, especially when it comes to my career and my agency’s reputation.  I do, however, believe in the power of networking.  Once you feel comfortable networking, you gain a profound advantage in business and that is when the magic happens.

Networking is a huge part of any communications based career, from advertising to marketing to public relations. Even with social media, networking is a crucial skill to possess. You may already think you are the master at networking; you never miss a grand opening, you have over 1,000 Facebook friends and three times as many Twitter followers, and you were recently asked to speak at the black tie children’s shelter benefit. Bravo!

Even if you are the creme de la creme… and trust me, I meet a lot of you, there are still a few key points to keep in mind when you network. Whether you are attending an event, or joining an on-line conversation (social media) or having a one on one encounter, these tips should help you be a bit more aware and prepared.

1. Always think about your intention when you enter into any networking situation. Ask yourself if your intention is genuine and if it will shine a positive light on yourself, and your company. Are you there for new contacts? Sponsorships? Resources? Friends?

2. Knowing your intention leads to the next tip, which is to remember that networking is a two-way street!  Be genuine about your intentions and think about how you can help others.  How you can add value to others. Don’t be afraid to offer up a resource or contact that might help them.

3. Go early and stay late.  This is a tough one with our busy schedules and loved ones, but often some of the best connections come from the quieter moments of the events with less chaos.  I am usually one of the first to arrive at events.

4. Always be present and engaged.  Look people in the eye when you meet them, stay present throughout the entire conversation.  Stop checking your cell phone for e-mails or texts.  I see a lot of people doing this during luncheons or awkward moments of silence. I used to do it myself, now I breathe through the uncomfortable silences.  Our cell phones have become this security blanket people use when they are at a loss for words or have just entered an uncomfortable situation.  If you stay present and remember your intentions, those few moments of discomfort will be worth all your new connections.

Contributed by Joie Tamkin, Associate Director of Public Relations, c.a.k +associates

We are happy to announce that we were ranked the #9 design firm in austin by the Austin Business Journal. This accomplishment is due to the fantastic work of every member of our team and the dedicated clients we have the fortune of working with. Just shows what a little creativity and a lot of sweat equity will do for a company.

We often counsel our clients on the importance of shortening their marketing messages to the “golden nugget” of information needed for their customers to engage and take action.  Everyone knows that we live in a hyper-connected media world and that every message is competing with billions of others…so how do we break through isn’t really the question, it’s why we need to stand apart.

The following article, by Kara Trivunovic, senior director of strategic services at StrongMail Systems, hits the nail on the head.

“Does anything we do today get 100% of our attention? Not likely. Let’s take me, for example: I am a mother of three, a four-year-old daughter and two year-old twin boys. My husband and I own a bar, we have a home and I have a full-time email strategy gig. Not to mention dance classes for my daughter, preschool, travel for work… you catch my drift.

I half-joke that having twins has been the ultimate lesson in multitasking. I have never before done more things simultaneously than I do today. I’m taking a conference call with a client with one baby on my lap, getting gum out of my daughter’s hair, responding to an IM and wondering where my other kid toddled off to. But I am not unique; people everywhere are stretched thin. As email marketers, we look at many aspects of our customers to best identify the most relevant email experience we can deliver — but do we ever take life into consideration?

I work in the email channel, so sometimes I think my perspective on personal interaction with email marketing messages may be a little skewed. I tend to pay closer attention to some of the things that hit my inbox, as I am always looking for inspiration or a great idea. But if I look at my email behavior with the brands that I personally interact with, interesting observations begin to bubble to the top. So as email marketers look to get more relevant, here are five considerations that influence email interaction that have little to do with email and more to do with life:

Life happens. Life is unexpected — that’s what makes it fun, or so I am told (as a consummate planner, I may disagree.) But as much as you would like to, you cannot predict the unpredictable. You could have the best-laid email marketing strategy, with the most relevant content, going to the most targeted and engaged list of email recipients and it will still fall flat. Why? Don’t know for sure, but sometimes we need to consider that it could just be circumstances outside of our control.

You’ve been triaged. With the continued adaption of PDAs, more and more consumers are reading email on handheld devices — and there is no indication this trend will change. The added challenge here is not how to make the message render properly on the device; it is, rather, how do you convey enough information that a recipient on a handheld device would need to decide whether or not to convert against your message at a later time (when they log on to their computer, for example)? Let’s face it; I am not going to order a new couch from my cell phone, but if I get a compelling offer on my handheld from a furniture company, I may save it for later and spend some more time with it when I am back at my desk. or…I may delete it.

You’re not multitaskable.

At least your message isn’t. You’ve probably heard others talk about the fact that you have 3-5 seconds to really grab an email recipients attention-like driving by a billboard at 65mph. It’s not because recipients only glance that quickly at a message – it is because your message is only getting a fraction of the recipients’ attention – limiting the ability to completely comprehend what you are saying (much like when I ask my husband to wash dishes for me). And if your message isn’t designed and written in such a way that is easily scannable – you are not multitaskable.

There is always family. As much as I would love to believe that recipients are sitting with bated breath awaiting the next email from one of my clients, let’s face it – that just ain’t happening. You are competing with email from other marketers in the inbox, as well as newsletters from the local Gymnastics Center, electronic statements from the bank and the occasional request from Mom to help her figure out how to download photos off her newfangled digital camera. Just be sure to keep in mind that you aren’t necessarily competing with your biggest competitor in the inbox. Rather, you may be in competition with Aunt Tilley — so you better have something important to say.

Squeezing the most out of every moment. Your budgets are shrinking, headcount is being slashed and you are trying to get the most out of each message you send. We’ve all seen newsletters riddled with banner ads, offers, product announcements, an overwhelming amount of content. But if your message isn’t focused in its objective, then, given the innate multitasking that the reader is no doubt doing — there is little chance that anything you’re saying is being digested.

And on that note, I am going to finish watching “Top Chef,” get the laundry folded and see what’s interesting in my inbox.”

By Aaron Baar

The economy may be causing marketers to scale back on expensive, high-production efforts, but one area is still likely to see some growth this year: cause marketing.

According to IEG, North American companies will spend about $1.55 billion on cause marketing efforts in 2009, a roughly 2% increase over 2008. That is down from previous year-on-year increases in the cause marketing arena, but in the current economic climate, any increase in a marketing program is worth noting, says Dan Kowitz, vice president of IEG Sponsorship Consulting.

“As consumers, if there’s anything we want to see a company spend money on, it’s a cause that’s important to us,” Kowitz tells Marketing Daily. “And marketers know that.”

As evidence of consumer interest in sponsorship, Kowitz cited a Performance Research survey from February 2009 in which 41% of Americans said companies should increase their spending on cause marketing, compared with 13% who said they should increase spending on sports sponsorships and 20% who said they should increase sponsorship of cultural events.

Plus, cause marketing is generally cheaper than sports sponsorships, Kowitz says. Mott’s, for instance, has said it will contribute up to $134,000 (the equivalent of feeding one million people through the Feeding America non-profit), which is much less expensive than the many millions it might cost to put a company’s name on a sports arena.

“When you talk about subjects outside of sports, they come at a much more cost-effective price-point,” Kowitz says.

Cause marketing, however, can be tricky, particularly among a public that has grown jaded and cynical, Kowitz says. The key for marketers boils down to one thing: authenticity.”

“Companies have to do this in an authentic way,” he says. “You can’t claim to be a green sponsor just by putting your logo on a recycling bin.”

And with consumers more empowered than ever to find and call out companies on how their business practices don’t live up to their cause-marketing initiative, companies have to put a lot of time and effort into their chosen programs, Kowitz says. The good news is that many marketers have caught on and are living up to their promises.

“Companies have done a better job [with cause marketing] than in the past 12 months,” Kowitz says. “What they could have gotten away with six years ago, for instance, was to throw money at something and say they’re supporting it.”

Great article by Rob Garner (strategy director for iCrossing) about changes in Google’s search results – must read for anyone involved with SEO.

Last week Google informally gave a heads-up that we should all be expecting a change in its main Web search results, based on a new update to search technology that mostly affects its indexing process.  Dubbed  Google Caffeine, it is a “secret project” considered to be next-generation architecture for Google Web search. And in addition to shaking up the results a bit, it may also pave new roads toward the goal of real-time search results.  Early reviews in  preview SERPs indicate that there will be noticeable differences in the results pages for many terms and brands, so those paying close attention to their SEO campaigns are advised to watch this update closely.  Overall, here are some observations as Caffeine prepares to roll out:

Significant displacement is revealed among big brands for some broad terms. After reviewing a number of high-volume category level terms, we found many big brands have swapped places in the results for individual key terms, while others have risen to new heights, and others have gone down to new lows.  This is no small news to either the winners or losers, as some of these category-level terms may be generating millions of dollars per year in revenue, per term, alone.

Less emphasis on universal results. While it appears that universal results like video and images may be displaced by more blue text links in this update, don’t expect them to go away, and don’t stop optimizing various digital assets types.  In fact, they may eventually come back at a greater frequency in future updates, as Google continues to test the right balance of universal in paid placements.  Google has reported previously in interviews that organic universal results were cannibalizing paid results, and a future rollout of universal paid placements may help offset this issue until video and images can reappear more prominently without as much impact to revenue.
Some social media sites may gain in favor, while others decline. If there is any consistency in search updates like this, it’s that positive and negative favor toward certain sites changes constantly.  While big brands will eventually feel the algorithmic impact of the shift, sites like Facebook and Technorati generally seemed to have benefited, while Wikipedia may be slightly less emphasized throughout the results.  Twitter may also get dialed up a notch or two in this update.

For enterprise marketers, the same SEO principles still apply. At the end of the day, what enterprise marketers get from natural search is impacted by 1) how you maintain your digital assets (things marketers control on- and off- site); 2) user behavior; and 3) the level of algorithmic bias toward your site.  Number three can’t be controlled, and I would advise readers to stay away from any SEO who says it can be; two is also not fully in our control, as evidenced by the major massive changes in search behavior as a result of the economy.  But number one is in our control, and at the end of the day, best practices still apply.  Staying focused on this area keeps your program focused on gaining sustainable long-term natural search benefits, and not taking a reactionary approach that might jeopardize future returns for the sake of trying to spare last week’s positive algorithmic bias.  This means staying focused on core elements like content, link structure, site architecture and structure, promotion in the right offsite networks, and all other general best practices.

So for those who are already taking the best-practices approach, step back and prepare to observe the change.  For those shifting with the wind, I would strongly recommend moving to best practices, and also taking this update somewhat in stride.  While the best-practices strategy is always subject to good days and bad, it is still the best and most sustainable long-term approach.  Again, note that the observations above come from previewing results, and may be subject to change upon final rollout.  Just be ready to analyze the impact when this happens — which, for your business, could end up meaning nothing, a little, or a lot.