Our conversation makes up your brand. We talk about our experiences with your product, your services, your customer service reps, your employees… We talk about you. Your brand is our conversation! Our perceptions of your company affect how we talk about you, how we influence other people, and how we open our wallets. We put our money where our mouths are!

Branding & Reputation Management

A brand is what someone associates with something else.

• What do people associate with you? Is it positive?
• What is your company trying to project?
• Who are you in the minds of your audience?

I just attended an online seminar, a Twebinar titled, “Who Owns Your Brand?” This was the second of a Summer Series on Social Media by Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan on Twitter).

Below are my top four nuggets from the Twebinar and my “take” on the importance of branding and reputation management.

Nugget 1: Social Media is like the Gutenberg Press for the Bible.

The Bible was once owned by the church. The people didn’t have access. Reading and interpretation of the Bible was controlled. The Gutenberg Press put the Bible into the hands of the people. It became cheap enough for them to have their own Bibles. Social Media and blogging have paralleled the power of information. Companies used to own and control their message. The Internet and blogging has redistributed control. We, the people, now have access - a voice. (more…)

Social Media is now an alternative news source! Social Media offers ways for people to get their message out, to acquire and share information. We are the reporters and news aggregators! We’re helping others. I’m going to quickly cover how Twitter has become one alternative news source.

Broadcasting Twitter News

Twitter is a microblogging platform where people, world-wide, are communicating and broadcasting news. News is sent out as “tweets,” messages sent to Twitter. Each tweet is like a bird chirping, short and hopefully sweet – 140-characters or less. The conversation on Twitter may be as simple as updating what you are doing, posting links about informative or fun website articles, to providing information about fire and evacuations.

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Were you at the 1st “Game Changing Moves Twebinar,” the webinar on Twitter?

Did you sense the adrenaline of the conversations on Twitter?

Did you tweet and follow hashmarks for “#tweb” or “#tweb2″ on Summize?

On June 26, 2008, people interested in Social Media participated in a global conference of taped video interviews, live audio commentary by Chris Brogan (shown right), while texting their comments and perceptions into Twitter. The free event was so popular that it was live rebroadcast three hours later.

“Social Media Game Changer” was the first of a summer series. Visit Twebinar to learn more and decided if you want to join upcoming conversations. (more…)