Here’s the graph:

Glad to be back!

Your brand is not in your hands anymore.

The internet possesses powers that can turn you into a celebrity overnight. But the great god that giveth, doth also taketh away. In other words, deal with your business honestly or you won’t own a business anymore. Think this sounds dramatic? It’s true.

Take the example of Brian King. Brian is media editor (video mostly) and also a podcaster. He’s a freelancer. He lives in LA and does great work. Brian had the opportunity to help someone who needed, more-or-less, a quick and dirty video done. Cheap, fast, you know the drill. Brian had some connections and offered to work on the project. After multiple editing rounds, the client paid. Well… kinda. Brian got a letter from Bank of America saying the client in question had stopped the check. It wasn’t for a whole lot of money, but Brian had paid out of pocket to use facilities and now he was in the hole. Of course, the amount isn’t what matters, its too small of a check to bother hiring a lawyer, but its the principle of thing. So Brian decided he wanted payment, and he was going to do what it took to make that happen.

Brian turned to the internet. First he bought a domain. It just so happens that his client does not own his-name.com: philconti.com Then he promoted the page to his blog. Then he posted it to twitter. Within 2 days he had over 100 retweets and dozen of people making comments on their own blogs and personal websites. If you now google performers Phil Conti & Marlene Arden, mostly negative press shows up.

I found out about Brian’s plight from a webcomic I read: Candi by Starline X. Hodge. She posted about it in her daily update because,

“He’s a good friend of mine, so when he posted it on his blog, I decided to help. I just didn’t like hearing that he got ripped off. Figured if more people knew about it, then maybe they’d pay him for his work.”

I contacted Brian and asked if he’d tell me a little bit about why he chose this course of action (putting pressure on the client through the internet). He said

“They’re entertainers, and I know that entertainers’ web presence is extremely important. If they realize that the internet dislikes them, and their google/twitter/whatever search results are negative, they’re going to have problems.”

Which I agree, it’d be a problem for anyone! I asked Brian what kind of outcome he hope for. He said he’d just like to make up the difference, if they pay in full, he’ll pull down all the pages he wrote mentioning them.

Brian is just one freelancer in California and he completely changed the personal brand of Phil & Marlene. So the next time you deal with a customer or hire a company, be above board. Make sure you hold the keys to your company’s image. Never underestimate the power of the internet and what that means for your brand.

So what do you think? Do you think smearing someone’s brand is justified? Is it too much? Not enough? Have you seen the internet eat another business alive?
If you agree with Brian’s approach be sure to spread the word, ReTweet, blog, link on Facebook. Show his site some love. And Starline too!

Image by AndYaDon’tStop

(Make sure to leave your link-love in the comments!)

Just a quick update. I’m now writing for a UK-tech blog. So if you are a fan based in Europe you may want to subscribe over there! The blog is a little less web design-based and will have more “tech” writing (which should be fun since I’m no IT pro). It will deal with online media based on the UK market and also fun techy news. Please check it out and leave some love.

Let’s make it a link-love day. Got a blog? Share it in the comments.

Twitter made some subtle design changes recently and I couldn’t help but comment on them.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about sleek designs. Except the new bird is kinda weird. But here’s my problem: why is Twitter spending money on a redesign when they could put that cash towards greater/smoother functionality or finding a monetization strategy? Or, you know, adding a “ReTweet” button, like other apps have (TweetDeck, Tweetgrid, so on…). That’d be cool. Hello?? Twitter? Are you listening?

What awesome feature would you have spent Twitter’s money on?

(Also, go rate that video. I lost the password to my YouTube account and I can finally get on it after a year! I need some love.)

I got some great feedback on the post Want Free Advice? Join a Freakin’ Meetup. Most of the feedback didn’t show up as comments on the post but showed up on Facebook, in my inbox and even over the phone. Its probably been the most discussed post I’ve ever written.

One of the best comments I got came via email from someone who you should know if you don’t yet. I met him at Word Camp Dallas, where he was a speaker, he’s also an active member of the WordPress Meetup, and gave a presentation there in April. Lovely readers I’d like to present to you the Now-Famous Randy Hoyt!

First, I’d like to tell you a little bit about Randy and then I want to share with you the most FANTASTIC link he sent me! (Seriously, if you read any business blogs and want to get spotlighted, email the blogger the video I’m about to share, its like omg-I-peed-my-pants good.)

Randy gave me a little bio when I asked about him: “Randy Hoyt is a web developer and myth enthusiast living in Dallas, Texas. He offers his web development services through his freelance company Amesbury Web. He studies mythology and literature in his free time, editing and writing articles for his online myth magazine Journey to the Sea.”

What Randy means by all this very nice, demurely written information (its okay, he’s not used to being famous yet) is that he is a seriously ROCKING programmer. Like to the point where I’m gonna say if for some reason you don’t want to pay us, you should pay him to do your work. In fact, we’re hoping Veribatim will be able to use Randy in some future projects because its always great to know someone who creates user-friendly plug-ins. Randy gave the most technical presentation at WordCamp without scaring everyone. And to top it all off, Randy has this mythology site which is awesome. As a former creative writing major, I am crazy about this site of his. And let me tell you, a programmer who enjoys writing in any literary capacity is a rare find indeed.

So, GO CHECK OUT HIS SITE. Do it! Do it now! (Or, at least right after you watch the clip.)

Now, let me share with you the main reason Randy earned his spotlight. After I ranted about clients expecting things for free he sent me this youtube video:

If you are in business and that didn’t make little rainbows come out of your nose because you were laughing so hard you are just. not. human.

Now, go! Go check out Randy and give him some love! Here’s a post of his that I enjoyed, you might like it too. Leave him a comment and let him know where you’re from!

I’ve got this really bad habit of gushing about things I love: Wordpress, Twitter, kittens… well I have a new and brilliant tool I want to share with you. The problem with many browser plugin/apps/downloads is that they clutter and aren’t very user friendly anyhow. But not Shareaholic! Observe:

Before Shareaholic.

After Shareaholic.

But what does this wonderful and non-space hogging button on my browser do?? you may be wondering quietly to yourself. It might as well be a portal to the end of the universe as far as I’m concerned, its just that spectacular. No really, it lets you share stuff… everywhere! You know how it goes. You’re on a site, or reading an article and you are like “Wow, this is brilliant. Everyone should see it.” Then you have to copy the url, open an email or Twitter or Facebook, paste it and hit send. And you have to do that for every place you want to share it to. No longer! Just click the Shareaholic button and a drop down menu appears, select where you want to share your info and bang, done. All that’s left is customizing and waiting for all the feedback. (Random Tip: you don’t have to just share publicly, Shareaholic will let you link to your email or to private Facebook messages as well.)

I know what you’re thinking: “Okay, I’m sold, how do I get this amazing button of awesomeness?” Easy. Just go to Shareaholic.com and pick your browser. (It even works for those shameful people who don’t have Firefox.) Then download, and the happy little green icon will appear on your browser. Note: downloading this will not hurt your computer, not spyware or anything like that, your hard drive is safe!

Not convinced yet? Shareaholic works with about 50 services already and there’s even a video I found on their lovely blog:

Let’s say, for sake of example, that you are a baker. You spend hours slaving over the most fantastic chocolate cake known to man. You gently place it in your display window. Sooner or later a customer comes in. “Could I try that cake in the window?”

“Well, the cake costs twenty dollars.”

“But I want to taste it first,” he repeats adamantly.

There’s no way you are cutting into that cake unless someone coughs up some cash. “I can’t give you just one bite.”

“Yes, but how do I know its any good?” replies the customer earnestly. “Can you give me the recipe? Maybe I should try to make it on my own first, and then I’ll know if it’d be any good or not.”

“Well, I could give you the recipe, but unless you have all the tools that I use in my kitchen–”

I bet you know where I’m going with this story by now. Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not saying you should pay up-front for every service and never ask for proof of results. That’s not what I mean at all. But the expectation that things should be done for free seems come up more and more often. I’m not just writing this for myself either. Before I typed this post, I did some research. These are all examples of people who get asked for free advice in their field:

• Doctors
• Lawyers
• Photographers
• Editors
• Coaches
• Business Consultants
• Accountants
• Political Campaign Managers
• Programmers

The basis of this post is why you shouldn’t expect your marketers to plan a strategy for free, but go ahead and apply it to any business you work with. Point to Remember: Everyone has rent to pay.

Each person on the list above is a professional. They have credentials, experience or both. Their ideas are valuable. Also, they have rent. Someone pays them because they are GOOD at what they do. And they will probably give you tons of great advice. Many will go above beyond their price tag to give you awesome service. That does not mean you should take advantage of them. Lots of them do give out freebies. They do a cake-tasting just for you by blogging honestly about their industry, speaking for free at events, and sharing tips with you over coffee. However, they aren’t going to hand you the entire cake and say, “Well I hope you enjoy eating it as much as I enjoyed making it!” (That’s your mom, not your lawyer.)

I think one of the reasons I’m seeing more of this give-me-free-stuff mentality is because of the economy. People are looking for things they can do cheaper and faster. I totally understand that, but let me level with you a little. THE ECONOMY SUCK FOR EVERYONE. Yet, I feel, that’s all the more reason why you should pay someone for their time. It keeps the economy going and makes sure one more person gets to have a job and feed their family.

Most of you reading are probably cheering quietly from your office, knowing you are the baker in the story. We all want to think we would never treat someone that way, but its hard not to have the “what can you do for me today?” thought in the back of your head. Really search yourself. Are you always the baker? Who are you using? Are you trying to pull extra time out of a good service? Do you expect to be catered to? I know I’ve done it in the past, when I was just getting started I met with an accountant and he gave me a ton of advice (way above and beyond) in good faith. I really did plan on using his services. But time passed and I ended up just cutting corners and doing things myself. Later, I tried to send that person 20+ referrals to make up for it but I still believe I did him wrong. Take a moment to consider when you’ve taken advantage of someone. If you do catch yourself doing it, at least don’t get angry when someone draws a line in the sand and says “No, you have to pay for that.”

So let me conclude with this. There are lots of ways to get free advice. One of the absolute best ways is through a Meetup. Seriously. Get on Meetup.com and just search for whatever you want for free and go learn it. People are more than happy to share. If you have the time to do everything yourself, that’s a great way to do it. Maybe you get lucky and land someone willing to work for crumbs at those events. I’ve seen it happen. But don’t expect me to draw up a five year marketing plan for your business and teach you all the basics of Wordpress in an hour and then not even pay for my coffee. Buy the whole damn cake.

If you’re willing to share, who have you not bought a cake from and how do you plan to make up for it?

*** Update ****

Sent to me from a friend in reference to this post. Just had to share. Possibly, the most awesome and true video I’ve ever seen.

I don’t know about you, but my life exists at the speed of the keyboard. So when we decided it was time to hire a new sales team (new meaning we tried this before, unsatisfactorily), I knew we wanted to do something a little outside the box.

Don’t be this Guy

I’ve heard lots of success stories about people finding jobs or hires just through social media. Since so much of what we do at Veribatim is related directly to sites like Twitter, I thought this might be worht a try. Plus, no one likes reading resumes. They rarely show people’s real strengths, anyhow. Recommendations (like those on Linked-In) are way more accurate. A resume shows you on a perfect day, a recommendation is what you’re like in the trenches, and its the trenches that matter.

So here’s our plan. We put out info on Linked-In, Twitter and Facebook. We don’t want resumes or phone calls. Email us recommendations, email us why you think we rock (flattery gets you everywhere) we want to connect with YOU and the people who know you. Then, we just want to talk! We’re less interested in where you worked and more in what other people think about you, because, let’s face it, often times its who you know in sales! If we feel like you’d be an asset to the team we’ll do a personal interview.

If you are interested in this position or know someone who might be, we posted a few details on our Facebook page. Check it out and connect with us. We’re looking for passionate, focused people who love social media. Find details here. Also feel free to ask us questions on Twitter.

We’ll keep you updated on how this goes!

We’re excited to share that we’ve been mentioned in an article as one of the top 10 Internet Marketing companies in Dallas.

Neil Lemons at Level Ten Web Design wrote an article last Thursday discussing the popularity of internet marketing. There are thousands of searches being done every day using the key term “internet marketing”. So obviously, someone is looking for our services. We’re just happy that a huge company like LevelTen thinks that we’re doing all right. Thanks Neil!

Image by eecue

The Plot: I had my car worked on this past month. Took it to Midas for a tune-up and they did a wonderful job, I was impressed (no small matter!). I even registered for my appointment online which earned them extra points. I left pleased with my experience and ready to recommend them. But then…. it happened! (dun, dun, duuuuun)

The Villian: A week later I’m sitting in the middle of dinner,  6:30pm on a Thursday night and my cell phone rings. I’m expecting a call from a client so I excuse myself and answer. The man on the other line works for Midas and wants to know if I will take a survey.

The Dilemma: I wanted to give Midas a nice review but my family was waiting for me and this didn’t seem like a good enough reason to be rude. So I politely asked, “Is there some way you can email me a survey? I’d love to give you feedback but I’m in the middle of dinner.”

“It will only take 5 minutes!” he promises.

Grudgingly I agree and spend ten minutes on the phone.

The Conclusion: My immediate reaction was one of resentment. How dare they call my personal number in the middle of the evening! And why bother me on the phone when they have a perfectly good email address which I’m more likely to respond to? I made my appointment online so obviously I’m open to interacting with them that way. It seemed like case in point to me.

The Other Side of the Coin: After stewing on this for about a week I decided I could see their point of view. Its easy to ignore an email. Its much harder to ignore someone on the phone. And it has a “personal” (if you can call it that) touch.

The Other, Other Side of the Coin: However, more and more people don’t answer numbers they don’t recognize. Quite a bit of resentment still exists towards telemarketers, and even friendly phone calls can get lumped into that category. So maybe they need to offer an incentive so people will take the survey online… it still probably costs less than having someone call and then correlate the data. You only have to write one email and direct everyone to the same survey.

The Conclusion: Over all, I still think email would have been the best way to contact me. And Midas lost an awesome review because it. I can see their side, but I think more people lean towards email nowadays or even text messages!

The Question: What do you think? If your business uses surveys how do you distribute them?