Yep. I’m a jerk… a snob… a ruffian (just look at my profile photo). Or maybe I’m just a little more prudent with the people I associate with in my social and professional networks than some?

Case in point:
LinkedIn is a great business-networking tool. I’ve only been a member for a short time, but from what I’ve seen, the opportunities are endless.

So, when prompted to import my contact lists from Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo, I was very particular about who I invited. Why? Heck, my retired dad doesn’t need to be in my LinkedIn network, nor does my kids’ school nurse! Call it caution – maybe respect?

So, I filtered… and filtered. I evaluated and built a strong network of contacts that had RELEVANCE to my PROFESSION and ME. I chose people that I could help and in-turn may help me. Thus, the result of the requests I sent out was somewhere around 99% acceptance. And that network grows more and more every day by my diligent research and requesting of introductions by my approved contacts to their network members – as intended (I assume).

Jump ahead a couple of months… I recently received a request to be in someone’s LinkedIn network. GREAT! But after reading it, I was somewhat surprised, because I’d never met this person. I’d never even heard of him… And to top it off, not only was this guy a complete stranger, but his request was the stock,

“I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn. – ‘Name Namerson’”

Hmm. Completely foreign AND impersonal. Not such a great start, “Mr. Namerson.”

So, in typical “Jerky” fashion, this was my response:

Hi “Mr. Namerson,”

I have to apologize if we’ve met, but I don’t seem to remember you. This, of course could be a gross mistake on my part, but if you could remind me of how we know each other, I’d be greatly appreciative. Then, I could accept your invitation and benefit from networking together.

That said, If we haven’t met and you’d like to have me join your LinkedIn network, maybe we should get together and see if there is some common ground on which both of us can benefit.

Thanks so much for your invitation, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Andrew B. Clark

Yep. Jerk. Told ya’.

Shortly after I shot off my response, I thought, just maybe, I was a little too harsh. Maybe I was being a jerk. After all, my response wasn’t very “social” was it? I left my office that day with the expectations of never hearing from “Mr. Namerson” again…

The next morning (Saturday), my Blackberry buzzed me out of a sound sleep at 6:30 a.m. As I tried to focus on the little, glowing screen, I saw; “RE: Join my network on LinkedIn”.

Surprisingly enough, he didn’t respond just to call me a jerk. In short, “Mr. Namerson” was abashed. Sure, his response included an apology but better yet, it included the information that should have been in his initial contact:

A quick overview of his background
A logical connection to others in my professional network

He went on to list:
Benefits of being in HIS network
His purpose and interest in being in my network
Directions for fostering a relationship

This morning we met for coffee. I now have, what I would consider, a good friend and valuable asset in my professional network.

So, maybe it wasn’t such a jerky move. Maybe it made “Mr. Namerson” more aware of purposeful networking vs. number gathering.

I see people out there with 50K contacts or followers and wonder are they networking with value and purpose, or are they just gathering numbers to win some sad, strictly mental, social contest? How well can they even know 50,000 people?

What kind of networking professional are you? Do you network with value and purpose? Do your contacts feel they can trust and respect referrals from you – and vise-versa?

Please comment and let us know your thoughts. Maybe I’ll let you into my network.

Until Next time…
Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
–The Brand Chef

A picture is worth a thousand words. We’ve all been told that since we could speak. But, what if you turned it around. Have you ever wondered what our thousands of words actually portray?

Let’s take a look…

I write – sometimes all day, every day – everything from ad copy to outlines for annual reports to blog posts, comments, and tweets. But not until I started reading did I learn that the words could be saying more than what was being read.

Confused? So was I until I saw a couple of posts (here and here) over at Angela Maier’s Blog, making me pause.

Are the words you’re using really portraying your message?

Wordle is a great visual tool to see if the actual words you’re using are communicating your story. Or are you using words that confuse and distract from the overall picture?

Try this. Have Wordle crawl your latest marketing piece. It’s easy, just cut and paste the copy into their Web site. Or if you have an RSS feed, just paste that into the space provided. It’s eye opening.

Here are a couple of examples:
(Click on the thumbnails to view larger images)

The Brand Chef blog:

My LinkedIn page:

This post:

Go ahead and try it. Try it on your marketing copy. Try it on your Web site. Try it on your competitors’ Web sites.

Are your words portraying your brand? Are they True, Relevant, Unique and Engaging?

Run a couple of tests and email me {thebrandchef(at)gmail(dot)com} your link.

I’d love to SEE what you have to say!

Until next time…

Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
-The Brand Chef.

Over the past several days I’ve been having conversations with my fellow Twitter-ers about the aspect of Corporate Social Media and its role in this new world of communications and brand extension. Many of them, as I, agree that the ease and accessibility of social media tools are making the conversations quicker, more direct and rewarding. But as soon as I started asking about corporate branding in social media, the conversations turned quite serious.

I asked a simple question to a select few that I thought would have the position and backgrounds to give honest, insightful answers.

“So, What’s your “position” on 3rd party twitterers? (i.e.- hiring someone to tweet & track on behalf of your company?) Ethical? No?“

The responses (35 in all) received from that question were pretty clear. In no uncertain terms would “posing” or “positioning” in social media be accepted. Transparency is key.

Microblogging professional, Mike Templeton‘s (on Twitter as @miketempleton & @microblink) answer was indicative of the overall tone of the mini-survey.

“…people like to know who it is. If you say you work for them (liaison), that’s ok”

And another social media stud, Andy Brudtkuhl, (on Twitter as @abrudtkuhl & @48web) says that “…as long as they maintain a consistent message…“ the ethics question should be a mute point.

So, with that, I want YOU to sound off. When you’re on FaceBook, YouTube, Twitter or any number of social media venues, do you expect real corporate/brand connections (i.e. – @Starbucks, or @TheHomeDepot) Are those actually Starbucks / Home Depot employees? Are they a marketing firm hired to “Brand” those companies into the social media stream? Heck, check out @DisneyWorld, @DisneyLand, and @Mickey_Mouse — I bet Walt and Mickey are curious about that, hum?

What is your position on Corporate Social Media? Are there issues that concern you about integrating brand (further) into our online conversations? How about ethics and transparency? Do companies have a greater responsibility for truth when utilizing these tools? More than Joe-surfer?

AND NOW, THE POLL RESULTS (poll ended 11/26/08):


Thank you all for taking part in the poll. Please check back for more!

Until next time…

Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

It’s not that I condone listening to others talk while in restaurants (guilty). Nor do I condone wiretapping or spying (no comment). But when developing marketing plans or strategy for clients, I like to get as much information – fill in the who’s what’s where’s why’s and how’s – BEFORE I make a conclusion or a pitch. I prefer to have these questions answered as thoroughly as possible BEFORE I walk into a client’s office and make promises… How about you?

So, let’s ask five simple questions:

Who are your customers?
What is your customer passionate about?
Where can you find those passionate customers?
Why are those customers passionate (or not passionate) about your brand?
How can you make the passion grow?

Now, take a look at a screen shot of a simple feed I created for Caribou Coffee.

How many of the above questions were answered? All of them. And that was just a couple days of a Twitter Search feed. Imagine if your company really put the effort into social media monitoring.

Like the Boy Scout’s motto: “Be Prepared.” Sounds logical, right? So, why is there so much resistance from companies to get involved with Social Media?

Eavesdropping has its advantages. Food for thought.

Until Next time…

Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
–The Brand Chef

A week-or-so ago, I had a quick Twitter conversation with Terry Starbucker comparing play lists on our iPods. I asked him if what we had on our iPods helped to define our personal brands. Here’s the conversation (top down)…

In subsequent tweets I’ve seen by Terry mention artists such as Neil Diamond, Elton John, The Bee Gees as well as an overwhelming compilation of music trivia and general musicology.

So, what did this tell me about Terry’s personal brand?

He has a propensity for lightheartedness and is a complete nerd (Yoda-speak?). He’s open, caring and sentimental (Doris Day). He’s passionate (AC/DC to Elton John). He grew up listening to the best FM radio the 1970’s could offer (Neil Diamond, Bee Gees). And finally, he has a thirst for knowledge and sharing knowledge with ANYONE that will participate.

Does his iPod reflect his personal brand? Yes. And if you read his blog or followed him on Twitter, you’d agree. (I’ve GOT to meet this guy face-to-face!)

So, with that, I’ve taken a closer look at my own iPod. Just how would it define my personal brand?

Here’s what I found…

From a content standpoint, you’ll find everything from Mozart, Vivaldi and Rachmaninoff to Jimi Hendrix, The Band, and Led Zeppelin. Heck, I even have some Plain White Tees and Gnarls Barkley thrown in there. On any given rotation you may hear Jimmy Durante’s “Make Someone Happy” and have it followed up by Steve Vai (as with my trip into work this AM).

What can this tell me about my personal brand? Diversified? Flexible? How about Creative? Open-Minded?

One thing that really stood out was the balance of “rockin’, driving, pulse-pushing songs” to the more “serene, cerebral and melodic tunes” tallied up at about 3 to 1 in favor of the melodic. Meaning?!? Sensitive? Reflective? Moody? Emotional? Sure… I could see that. How about Cerebral? Intelligent? Maybe.

Now, my iPod is organized. I mean ridiculously organized. I have broken down 7,875 songs into play lists by Genre, by Date, and then I have those broken down by Artist (starting with 4 Non Blondes and Adam Ant and rolling through Nirvana, No Doubt and Nora Jones to Yanni, Yes, and Yo-Yo Ma). I’ve also begun to break them down in order of preference (by # of stars), but I’m finding that hard because from day-to-day my opinion of a song or artist changes… (e.g. Andrew Lloyd Webber has good and bad days, but The Beatles will always be 4-stars).

So, how does this define my personal brand? Organized? Detail-Oriented? Methodical?

What do you think? Have I defined (at least a snapshot of) my personal brand? For those that know me personally, did I hit the nail on the head? For those that know me professionally, how did I do? In all actuality, I’m a Schizophrenic with OCD! (Or something very close)

Take a look at your iPod/Mp3 player. I think you’ll be surprised with how well it defines YOUR personal brand. Tell us all how your iPod defines you.

Better yet, if your company had a play list, who would we find on it? Howard Jones? Melissa Etheridge? Or something closer to Frank Zappa?

Thanks, Terry, for letting me pick on you.

Until next time –

Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
– The Brand Chef

Yoda Image Credit: SwordChucksYo