Promoting and Protecting Your Image/Brand

Image is in the Eye of Everyone

As I produce more and more trade shows and receive tons and tons of business cards on-site, post-event here is what I do for networking and business development:

• Visit the Company Website
• Request to Become an Individual’s Contact on LinkedIn (if appropriate)
• Look a Person Up on Goog, Bin, … okay, Actually I Look Them Up on Facebook.

I’ve been asking colleagues and clients what they do post event/business meeting with contact and how they “check out people” afterwards.  More often than not its on LinkedIn but almost everyone I asked admitted that they look on Facebook.

Facebook has become an easy way to see what people look like as “Image” searches don’t always find exactly who you are trying to find.  I personally like the “human” factor this lends to all of us, unfortunately it also allows for more detailed personal information in the hands of many more people.  I go back and forth on FB and what I allow and don’t allow. 

Sometime soon Facebook will have more raw data on each of us than any single governmental, private or other public agency.  What to do with that info??  Time will tell.  In the meantime, make sure that your Profile Pic is looking good… and you have your privacy settings they way you want them.

A Rose By Any Other Name.

A colleague asked me about naming her new company and found that every time she thought of a great name… it was already taken.  She asked me what I thought about this and what I thought about securing one of the names she likes by changing an existing name up a bit… 

I am of two minds about this… There are many cases of image and names being the same or reflective of another company.  These things happen, good ideas overlap all the time tis the theory of memes (a unit of social information) and you have to embrace it.  Other times people are either lazy, unethical or figure if you didn’t secure it – snooze/you lose.

Embracing the Similarities!

There are two other legitimate business out there that we share a similar name with:

We Are Maven (a cool bunch of design guys in Florida).  I love their website and they do a ton of sports web design and slick ad campaigns.

Maven Creative (located in Irvine, CA – their website has been static for a long time with “New Website Launch – Sept 2010″).  I’m assume they are still going but not much has happened in about 8 months, they are also print and web design.

We don’t interact with either of these companies and seem to co-exist just fine.  We are different enough that it doesn’t really matter and frankly I’d recommend the We Are Maven guys to my clients as we don’t do what they do and I like their stuff.

On the Flipside…When Imitation is Not Flattery

Going up to GoDaddy and putting “the” or “a” or “new” in front of another companies name and trying to pass it off as legitimate is unprofessional and just bad business.  Which is the advice I gave my colleague.  If you like the name “DreamWorks” or “Microsoft” or “Sunrise Identity” you should not purchase ”thedreamworks.com” or “amicrosoft.com” or “newsunriseidentity.com” – and try to pass it off as new or that you did not realize, etc…  Bloggers, e-shopping companies, this applies to you too, with putting “blog” on the end of an existing brand.  Expect a friendly cease and desist letter and you should be embarrassed and go find another name. 

With the glut of people who buy and hold domain names it is tough to find something that is not already taken or being held hostage.  We have had to go out and spend a decent amount of money to protect our brand by looking at suggested names from GoDaddy or Dotster and hold them (this is one of the many ways Domain Registry companies make money). 

With the new .co that Domain Services are pushing there is a whole new way for your brand to get diluted.  If companies do purchase their .co name then it validates the usage in the marketplace.  So to buy or not to buy is the question.  If .co become popular what is next?   ”.c” then becomes de rigueur?  Let us hope not.

All in all like the T-Shirt from our local Sebastopol coffee shop (My Friend Joe) says:

Ethics Get Your Further

Pretty simple.  Happy Monday!

Heather

About Heather Newman, Owner & Head Maven, Creative Maven Inc.

@creativemavens, @heddanewman

Overwhelmed with personal responses….on “Too Short” not the rapper…

I have been overwhelmed with personal responses to the Integrity blog post, I guess I struck a nerve on a bunch of different issues.  Everyone agrees, don’t be a jerk and word of mouth is where it’s at. (two turntables and a microphone).  Not a shocker…

Social networking is TIMECONSUMING and nebulous. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that some of the bigger companies that I work with still don’t have clear policies on Facebook, Twitter and the like. And who is in charge of it? Is it the PR person, a product manager, marketing person, events manager (ala me?) which has been the case sometimes…. Honestly we are all making up the policies as we go along, but there are best practices. And you and your companies should be aware of them. And I will admit the best way that I’ve learned especially on Facebook is that I’m essentially the Facebook Admin for both my Mom and my Mother-In-Law, they want to see pictures, etc… but don’t want everyone to know their bizness.  Literally playing with settings on their sites early on taught me how to navigate THE BOOK, and keep private things private.

This is not new information but you would surprised at how much information is out there about you. Go ahead, Bing yourself (I know I’m a PC gal), do it right now…. I found my entire family their ages and how they relate to me. Well enough about privacy. Just do it, like Nike says. Businesses out there – if you need help let us know, we do that sort of thing.  And there’s a ton of great free guidance out there again, start at Mashable.com – they rock.

Happy Socializing!

Now More Than Ever – Integrity & The Golden Rule as Life is too short…

Integrity has always been important, but it seems to me with the economic times, job loss, etc…. now more than ever businesses and people in general are relying on personal recommendations as well as social networking sites.  Resumes are now scanned but LinkedIn and other social networking sites are being studied and references are definitely being checked.  

After working in the Corporate Event Industry for close to a decade, I know a ton of people and because of that I am receiving job inquiries, resumes and requests for recommendations on a daily basis.  Fortunately I have many repeat clients which means I work with many of the same event managers, venue managers, catering people, even the janitorial staff so I’m  constantly reminded of how small the web is that each of us weave as individuals and as businesses.  

I am continually thankful for the loyal and professional clients, partners and colleagues that Creative Maven has in its network.  The old adage “Life is too short so surround yourself with good people”  has never been more true.  Okay, the true “old  adage” as my Father (and Warren Buffet) would say is “Life is too short to work with a–holes”.  Mr. Buffet’s other quote that I like is  “In looking for people to hire, look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence and energy. And if they don’t have the first, the other two will kill you.” — Warren Buffett. 

I Binged the “too short” phrase a couple of days ago and found book on the subject… I’ve downloaded it on my Kindle, I’ll let you know how it is  The No A–hole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t.

Another great article that I have bookmarked is this one:  ”If I were to ask you what attribute is the most influential in regard to the success of a business, would you know immediately which one is the most important?” – The 7 Principles of Business Integrity.  http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2004/07/13/the-principles-of-business-integrity

There have been many people (you know who you are ) who recommended me and gave me a chance when I first started working in the corporate world and am more than happy to “pay that forward” and make connections both B2B, B2C and people looking for project work. 

SO – when asking anyone for a reference or recommendation, be sure to have all your social networking up to snuff – we are all being Binged, Googled, Facebooked, Twittered, etc…  Business and personal are merging at a lighting speed paced, so be ready for it.  Mashable is a great social networking site that can help you navigate keeping your private affairs private.  Highly recommend you follow them on Twitter and Facebook if you aren’t already. 

I mentioned my Dad before and he worked for JCPenney’s for 4o years – he retired two years ago and I have the utmost respect for him as a businessman.  He is/was always so proud of and ran the stores he managed following Mr. Penney’s Golden Rule –  do unto others as you would have them do unto you.  My Dad and Mr. Penney are smart people.  Pretty much works for everything doesn’t it?    Happy Hunting!