Social Media can be a bit like a bunch of people with megaphones blurting out their messages one-way. People will cover their ears (unsubscribe) and tune that out. Use Social Media to ‘listen’ to and learn more about your audience.
- Brian J Carroll, CEO of InTouch

The more interested you are in people, they more they’ll appreciate you and what you have to say when ever you say it. Show interest by asking questions and genuinely wanting to learn more about the individual(s) you’re speaking with.

This is a photo of Teddy Roosevelt from the Theodore Roosevelt Island National Memorial in Washington DC.

Response is one of the five keys of successful direct marketing. And if you have that, the other four don’t matter.
- Dean Rieck

On Memorial Day, my wife and I went to Great Fall National Park and caught a glimpse of this lizard being the attraction of several photographers. During the time I was at the look out watching the great falls, there was someone taking a picture of our scaly friend here.

Lesson:
When you’re directly engaging people either to means of advertising or PR, be different from what’s already there. Be outstanding in your presentation. You’ll know you were successful if you got the viewers to respond (take action as a result).

Social Media is about the people! Not about your business. Provide for the people and the people will provide for you.
- Matt Goulart

The above photo is of my little sister when she went to Barns and Noble one day to get her James Patterson book signed by the author. The guy tells her that she needs to buy the NEW book to get it signed.

It makes more sense to reward past customers than to force them to buy another one. Mr. Patterson didnt get a sale out of this family that night, hasn’t since and probably wont ever.

If you don’t support your fans and existing customers then you’ll lose in the long run.

Ultimately, brands need to have a role in society. The best way to have a role in society is to understand how people are talking about things in real time.
- Jean-Philippe Maheu, Chief Digital Officer at Ogilvy

Doing business without doing your research is risky business. Before engaging, build a profile for your target audience.

Understand this profile’s lifestyle. Describe it from head to toe, inside and out. It takes a little bit of time, but it’ll allow you to get into their head and understand what makes them tick. What their likes, dislikes, passions and fears are. All together enabling you to figure out how to best impact them.

The photo is of one of the doors to the Masjid Nabawi in Medina, Saudi Arabia. I took it when I went for Hajj back in December of 2006.

A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well.
- Jeff Bezos

One of the foundations of strong business strategy is developing a distinctive competency. A strength that is nearly impossible for any other competitor to duplicate.

A great example of this is RED, the company that brought high quality digital motion picture cameras to film at now over 4x the resolution of your typical HD camera making theater quality images just within reach for aspiring filmmakers.

This photo was taken on my way to Banff, Alberta in Summer of 2009. They have some of the most magnificent mountains I’ve ever seen.

The purest treasure mortal times can afford is a spotless reputation.
- William Shakespeare

The image of a brand is built by publicity over a period of time. Social media has put a turbo charger on that wheel allowing brands to be built (and destoryed) faster. When you engage your audience, do it with integrity and in a manner that’s praisworthy. Otherwise life will become difficult.

This is photo of the minerate of the Islamic Center of DC.