The Good Old Cadbury Easter Bunny

I have never eaten a Cadbury Easter Egg, think of it as you will. But I always look forward to the classic Cadbury Egg commercials every Easter, and yes I know I am a little late. This morning I came across this new Cadbury commercial running in the UK and I found it amusing, but does it sell chocolate? I don't know, but it does make me want to strengthen my eyebrow muscles... give it a try!

Twitter... has it been lost in the Twittersphere?

Have you tweeted lately?

I have been a tweeting for a few month now and it seems that I lost my twitterbug. There are two main reasons for this. First, I got really busy and wasn't able to update my status. Second, I have an old school flip phone with no internet access. Now I use twitter more as a resource than anything else. I pull information off of my feed and rarely post.

I think that if I had a new aged cell phone things would be different and I would tweet more. What is important about this is that the majority of people don't have fancy phones. But also I suppose it is important to note that the people who twitter are technologically savvy and have phones with internet access. Don't get me wrong, I would love to be one of those people... but I am waiting until I have a job that will pay for me to have a fancy phone and expects me to be available 24/7. So, until then I will be answering calls and sending text messages via my old school flip phone that functions like a phone should.

Funny twitter video:



Oh, and if you want to follow me on twitter click here: http://twitter.com/j_freedman

How do you use media?

The face of media is ever changing, much like our world today.

How often do you pick up the phone to call someone vs. sending them a text? Newspapers are going digital, are magazines next? People read books on hand held devices and listen to music 24/7 thanks to internet radio and MP3 players.

When does it become to much? Is facebook getting over saturated? I have friends who are done and closing their facebook accounts. They don't want to patrol what people know about them and don't. I police my phone calls. (That is different than screening them, please don't be offended next time you call me and I don't pick up.) I don't like to ALWAYS be available. When I am busy my phone is on silent or vibrate. Who wants to be annoyed by random ring-tones anyway, not me!

What is going to happen in the future? Well there is the theory that people could interact through media, but never actually interact with each other face-to-face. I think that is a sad and extreme thought. There is still something about face-to-face interaction that I can't get from my computer/internet, cell phone, or iPod. While marketers are trying to figure out how to interact more with consumers using these modern media outlets, I wonder if eventually we will all take a step back and think, what were we doing? Do all those anti-cell phone people have it right? I am all for social media. It fascinates me because so much is still unknown. But I wonder if it is the new end all be all or just a fad passing through.

Remember Facebook?

I got to together with some friends last night for happy hour. Among our conversation topics were weekend plans, love lives(or lack-there-of) and twitter... Sorry, I'm only going to dish about our twitter convo.

We are all on twitter for different capacities: work, personal, networking and research. Not once did Facebook come up in our conversation. I began to think to myself, is Facebook dying? Facebook is one of the most visited websites in the world. Yet, they still can't turn a profit. The highest growing segment is women age 55+. Facebook will most likely be around for many years to come, but just like the jock who peaks in high school, Facebook's days of being popular are numbered. That is a big statement I know. Unless Facebook can bring some new life to its site and bring back the intrigue we all went there for in the first place, I think Facebook is a sinking ship.

Admitingly I am a Facebook user, but since I opened my twitter account, I am on twitter all day and check Facebook once or twice... Because Twitter is so new and fresh to so many they have the advantage. Twitter can learn from mistakes of other social media sites and soar. Twitter the ball is in your court. Facebook, you are in the last set, don't go down without a fight!

Sweet Events Happening in Portland to Help YOU!

Here is a list of upcoming events around Portland. These will be great networking events and help you build your brand. Don't forget to bring you business cards with you!

Thursday April 9, 2009 PAF Interesting PDX

Friday April 10, 2009 UO Events: Turning Attendees into Community Members

Wednesday April 15, 2009 YPOP Networking Event and Blazer Game

Thursday April 16, 2009 PDX Social Media Club Tweet Up

Thursday April 16, 2009 PAF Extreme Happy Hour

Tuesday April 21, 2009 PRSA Personal Branding 2.0

Tuesday April 22 and Wednesday April 23, 2009 E-Marketing Summit

Thursday April 23, 2009 SoMe Awards

Tuesday April 28, 2009 Dr. Schultz Lecture Media Generations

Mark your calendars now, so you don't forget...

What is 'the man' doing for you?

In this stress-filling economic time, we are all trying to get the best deals right? So, what is the man doing for you? I want more for less, NOW!

From crazy merchandising deals, to loyalty program benefits, to restaurant meal deals, everyone is catching the bargain wave. I understand this philosophy that people want more for less these days, but where does the line get drawn? I still want a quality product and good service no matter where I am and how much I am spending. The bottom line is I AM SPENDING. So if I am spending, wouldn't you think I should get excellent service, so I will continue spending? Not the case. I have had several experiences lately where I was spending money and received poor service or a poor product. I will not be going back.

Take advantage of this situation! Draw customers in with your wonderful deals. Then, make the experience a wonderful one, so they will come back. Eventually things will turn around, and don't you want those customers coming back when they do? I just don't understand getting bad service at a restaurant or while shopping. It is truly inexcusable anytime, and especially when every penny counts. True colors come out when people are pushed to their max. Maybe the company doesn't care. Well people do care, so step it up. It you don't your company/store/restaurant will be the next on the chopping block on the evening news.

I challenge you to be aware of the service you are receiving and decide if it is truly worthy of your hard earned money. If not, think twice.

You are your own Customer Service Representative

You are your own customer service representative and there is no getting around it. You and only you are responsible for your brand image.

If you are a brand, then why are you driving your brand into the ground? When a brand says they are going to do something, they do it. Why? Because if they don't, there will be negative backlash, and a negative image will be associated with their brand. Then why when people say they are going to do something and don't do it, it is an acceptable practice?

There maybe different levels of this, but there shouldn't be. It is a simple philosophy of doing what you say. You are responsible for your individual brand, why would you want to hurt it, well, you wouldn't knowingly. Much like my "Year of the Doer" outlook, people that do what they say are going to really stand out these days. It is as simple as calling a person you say you are going to call, or following up on a conversation.

Be an excellent customer service representative for yourself. You can take the steps today to start standing out at work and with your friends. You want your brand to be top-of-mind and seen as high quality right? It is important to put yourself first, and I mean the brand of YOU!