Social media marketing: Can I trust you?

by Urs E. Gattiker on 2009/12/30 · 61 comments 20,529 views

in c blogging - case studies,d business ethics,e marketing 101 KISS

Some believe today’s students are savvy social media users who are more trusting of organizations than older users and don’t care for ambiguity. If that’s true, Dan Zarrella‘s The Social Media Marketing Book (233 pages) is the perfect gift for the uninitiated trying to make sense out of all the social media options.

Yes, we got a free preview copy, including the press material from publisher O’Reilly. Below we discuss issues of personal brand versus reputation and how they relate to personal branding and building trust, as well as Zarrella’s book.

1. It’s all about make-believe
The press material for Zarrella‘s book came with several quotes.

Mr. Kawasaki’s quote insinuates that spending US$ 27 (includes shipping and sales tax) and about three hours reading the book will save me 167 hours of hard labor (if one were to work about 170 hours each month), what we consider a super Return on Investment (ROI).

As any business owner knows, the key question for using social media is what purpose it will serve, so the book should help a manager answer the following questions:

Key Performance Indicators

SMART objectives

Spending 170 hours will certainly help accurately answer these questions as far as your business is concerned. This book is a good start. Nevertheless, after spending three hours reading it, I am not convinced it will offset 170 hours of serious research.

Lesson 1: Sometimes things are less about what they are and more about making others believe. The reality check comes after purchase, when you realize that what you bought is not what others made you believe you would get.

2. Keep it simple, Stupid! (KISS), or ‘Where’s the beef?’
Highly respected social media guru Chris Brogan’s comment confused me as well (see right): was it based on Chris’ personal acquaintance with both Dan Zarella and Brad Pitt? Even assuming the quote is true, how relevant is it to the book’s content?

Brian Solis certainly has it right: there are endless options to choose from when it comes to using social media.

Nevertheless, we know that neither Twitter nor Facebook are scalable. Hence, the real clincher for an individual or a small business is to decide which channel to use for the biggest bang for your buck. As Solis puts it, counting down the options without providing much more additional insight does not mean anything quod erat demonstrandum (which is to be demonstrated).

Lesson 2: Social media evangelists or power-users increasingly act as shepherds on the web. In turn, it is hoped that their quotes or first product reviews will get the masses to adopt a product or service. But just because they influence mob-opinion does not make them a trusted brand.

More resources about social media marketing, personal brand and ethics:

Corporate philanthropy inspires trust

Personal brand or personal B.S.

When banks abuse customers’ trust

Bottom line
The publicity material we received from O’Reilly starts with:

“Are you looking to take advantage of social media for your business or organization?… Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, this book will help you choose the best – and avoid the worst – of the social web’s unique marketing opportunities.”

This is my response regarding Dan Zarrella’s book and yes, I am aware that nothing I wrote here will be forgotten in the digital age:

Dan Zarella’s book provides the uninitiated with a helpful and quick introduction to the opportunities offered by social media, IF you see things from a US perspective.

As a business person, the book does not tell me how to choose the best social media channel for my products and services. Nor does the author address the five questions listed above that need to be answered before I adopt a new technology as part of my goal-driven business.

Press material received from O’Reilly (2-page download) – you be the judge.

Take-aways
There are some crucial things to remember about social media, quality and personal brands.

Reputation is more important than personal brand

Brand is what we want people to believe (i.e. appearances), while reputation is how others see you and your actions over time

consumers and industrial buyers want to be sure that your quotes, product reviews and endorsements can be trusted

Personal reputation must be protected to hold up over time

what matters is what you do while representing your brand

Please, leave a comment! We love to hear your thoughts: how do you feel about these issues regarding personal branding, social media and trust? Here is a chance for anyone with first-hand knowledge (this means you!) to please share your insights.

P.S. – You can get updates on this blog in Twitter by following @ComMetrics. You can also get a free subscription by RSS or:

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Tagged as: best practice, brand building, branding, building trust, buzz marketing, personal brand, trust

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Guest

Urs,

I got your gist but in this case I choose to comment this way b/c of the names involved, some of whom I do admire but do not care to get riled up. What can I say, that's how it is. I have seen some of their rants when others call them out and will steer clear. Still, you may benefit by noting the b.s. in this instance — it's a bold stance.

Meanwhile, I actually had to pay for that book (have not yet figured how to get on the press lists) and found it disappointing. Skimming the surface, if that. Most of what's in it you could find out from Wikipedia and perhaps a few choice blogs (this would not take hundreds of hours, either

As for the quotes… have heard/read endorsements by same bunch and others of their vaunted ilk and think most of the time they have not actually read the material they are touting. This is likely rather common in the publishing trade.

You are right; so-called experts in personal branding/trust are not really living up to their own words. Shows to go, so much of it is pure marketing.
Guest

FYI,

this whole thing reminds me of what we here in U.S. call the old boys network (even though the parties involved are not old).

They're a bunch of backscratchers where the circle of love helps everyone involved whether it's deserved or not. You can just smell them all smoking cigars, figuratively, at least
- http://My.ComMetrics.com Urs E. Gattiker
  
  I want to thank you and the previous guest commenter for sharing your insights.
  
  If what you state is true, then I am worried how much crowdsourcing and personal branding efforts including endorsements can be trusted.
  
  Hopefully, consumers and readers will respond to this situation by starting to be more sceptical when reading endorsements. Maybe we need to rate those herding the social media masses — using a trust index.
  
  Thanks again for coming forward and sharing your insights.
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http://twitter.com/rharris Roger Harris

Urs, you have pointed out one of the key principles of social media marketing — that it relies on trust.
- http://My.ComMetrics.com Urs E. Gattiker
  
  Roger, thanks this comment.
  
  I agree that social media marketing relies on trust but the latter is a very elusive concept. The case here indicates that we are still looking to find a way to make it easier for readers to get the information they need to make a better purchase decision.
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http://www.pookymedia.com/ pookyamsterdam

With attention split at near atomic levels being able to get to the heart of what needs to be known given the tools of engaments are crucial. Being able to understand what is presented is also not the same for eveyone, just as what makes a strength for one person isn't always the same for another.

There are always going to be different interpertations of the same materials. People in this new and breakneck media landscape have well deserved reputations, because they are making it happen daily, and we are reading it. You can't dispute the sheer success of it, so it remains to us as in all things, to figure out how best to use it.

Social media is driven by people and communities, not a faceless engine. How we interpert and implement what advice is given will be different, and new methodologies weill develop in this decade almost certainly.

Interesting question- is the social media shoe the same for every foot?
- http://My.ComMetrics.com Urs E. Gattiker
  
  Pooky
  
  I always knew you were a nice person but now I also believe you would be a great addition to any country's embassy staff – very diplomatic. Thank you.
  
  I agree that we have to interpret and implement what advice is given. Unfortunately, if you call a spade a spade I want to trust that you really meant it.
  
  With the ever increasing flood of information and our inability to check things out carefully before we tweet about the story, for instance, how much a statement might apply to a particular user group is difficult to know.
  
  Product reviews and information about how the product evaluation was conducted (e.g., I assessed this book from how useful it would be for a social media novice in Los Angeles) are critical. Especially, if we consider the globalisation of social media marketing and the Internet.
http://karenpurves.com karenpurves

Sorry, I don't think social media marketing is about pushing at all. People who are currently using social media are particularly sensitive to the pushing of products. They want to be informed and then make their own mind up. And, this is one of the most interesting aspects of the marketing revolution now. The change form the pushing of messages to the pulling in of prospects through content.

By people engaging with you, your expertise shows through – you become your own testimonial along with all the others who contribute.

I agree that having a long list of testimonials is a pretty poor way of assessing whether these people are REAL and whether what they are writing is REAL so assisting the buying process.

The change in marketing now is a blessing for all professional services firms as there is now an easily ready outlet for people to make tangible the intangible, to have conversations opening up new ideas and opportunities for solutions where people may have thought there were none.

Getting my crystal ball out, we will have information forwarded to us from different sites by the search engines – that is not quite the same as happening today. But, Google is making inroads now. It is awarding higher “points” to pages that humans like rather than those that have been optimised.

The winner is the information seeker and all those firms who create content that people love!
- http://My.ComMetrics.com Urs E. Gattiker
  
  Social Media is not always used to push product but @karenpurves we can agree, ever more often it sure is.
  
  In my blog post I was trying to refer to the fact that people provide what the FTC calls 'endorsements' but I am not sure if I can trust them. If personal brand matters I should be able to trust a person that says something is wonderful or fails the acid test. Put different, if she says the book is good I would like to believe that she really means this. In turn, I go out purchase the product and will hopefully also enjoy reading it.
  
  There is no question that the people providing the testimonials I referred to in my post above are real people. In fact they, are all social media gurus I read and admire for their insightful work they do. I am certain you know them as well.
  
  Nevertheless, this still leaves the question open if I can trust such statements and if it does not damage their personal brands.
  
  If product endorsements or quotes for product reviews are meaningless (e.g., Dan Zarrella is smart than Brad Pitt, okay but what does this have to do with the book), what usefulness do personal brands have for people like us.
  And if stupid remarks do not have consequences (e.g., being unethical and breaking the law got Martha Stewart in jail but her business is doing better than ever now), who cares about the concept of personal brand
  
  Maybe those those pushing their workshops or books on the subject?
  
  What you think?. Karen, thanks for sharing.
Chris McGeehan

Urs:

Your original post raises a couple of issues:

(1) Dust jacket blurbs and quotes from movie reviews reproduced in ads are notorious for laudatory language and puffery, which is why no one pays attention to them. [Of course, Sony still managed to get in trouble a couple of years ago for inserting fake movie reviews in an advertisement.]

[If I want a more realistic assessment of a book, I typically read the longer reviews on Amazon, the Reading List on Amazon reviews here on LinkedIn, or Nil's Book Fanatics group.]

(2) The quotes that you identify in your original post fall into the category of statements that American law refers to as “puffery.”

Puffery is a defense to fraud in the US. A fraudulent statement is false statement regarding a factual condition intended to induce the hearer to take some action to the hearer's detriment (typically enter into a contract for a purchase of goods or services). In contrast, puffery are statements that the hearer could not reasonably have believed to be true. “This car runs like a dream” is an example of puffery.

A person reading the Zarella book is intelligent enough to know that Kawasaki's statement that “reading this book is the equivalent of month of Internet research” is not true and is intended as hyperbole.

(3) I think part of this issue may be cultural. In the U.S., there is an emphasis on “authenticity” in social media. In part this means being yourself, even if your real self is something of a joker.

For example, if I wrote review for a book it might go like this:

“Stories of a New Jersey Boyhood” is an exceptional and poignant tale of the authors's Garden State childhood, proving once again truth of the Jesuit motto “Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man.”

***

But to go back to your original question, it sounds to me like the three people you singled out were doing favors for a friend/acquaintance and providing blurbs for the book. While it is possible that someone who hangs on Guy Kawasaki's every word could be disappointed in the Zarrella book, I can't see these blurbs making a difference in a person's opinion of Kawaski unless the Zarrella book is unreadable dreck.
- http://My.ComMetrics.com Urs E. Gattiker
  
  Thanks @Chris_McGeehan: “A person reading the Zarella book is intelligent enough to know that Kawasaki’s statement that “reading this book is the equivalent of month of Internet research” is not true and is intended as hyperbole.” nnThanks for sharing your insights in the comment above.
- http://My.ComMetrics.com Urs E. Gattiker
  
  Thanks @Chris_McGeehan: “A person reading the Zarella book is intelligent enough to know that Kawasaki's statement that “reading this book is the equivalent of month of Internet research” is not true and is intended as hyperbole.”
  
  Thanks for sharing your insights in the comment above.
Chris McGeehan

Urs:

Your original post raises a couple of issues:

(1) Dust jacket blurbs and quotes from movie reviews reproduced in ads are notorious for laudatory language and puffery, which is why no one pays attention to them. [Of course, Sony still managed to get in trouble a couple of years ago for inserting fake movie reviews in an advertisement.]

[If I want a more realistic assessment of a book, I typically read the longer reviews on Amazon, the Reading List on Amazon reviews here on LinkedIn, or Nil's Book Fanatics group.]

(2) The quotes that you identify in your original post fall into the category of statements that American law refers to as “puffery.”

Puffery is a defense to fraud in the US. A fraudulent statement is false statement regarding a factual condition intended to induce the hearer to take some action to the hearer's detriment (typically enter into a contract for a purchase of goods or services). In contrast, puffery are statements that the hearer could not reasonably have believed to be true. “This car runs like a dream” is an example of puffery.

A person reading the Zarella book is intelligent enough to know that Kawasaki's statement that “reading this book is the equivalent of month of Internet research” is not true and is intended as hyperbole.

(3) I think part of this issue may be cultural. In the U.S., there is an emphasis on “authenticity” in social media. In part this means being yourself, even if your real self is something of a joker.

For example, if I wrote review for a book it might go like this:

“Stories of a New Jersey Boyhood” is an exceptional and poignant tale of the authors's Garden State childhood, proving once again truth of the Jesuit motto “Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man.”

***

But to go back to your original question, it sounds to me like the three people you singled out were doing favors for a friend/acquaintance and providing blurbs for the book. While it is possible that someone who hangs on Guy Kawasaki's every word could be disappointed in the Zarrella book, I can't see these blurbs making a difference in a person's opinion of Kawaski unless the Zarrella book is unreadable dreck.
elishiawindfohr

The Hype isn’t most of us are guilty of it at one time in our lives? I’ve been there throwing out the big hat no cattle, But having faith the cattle will come. Puffing is a form of faith on those big hats no cattle comments. But I have to agree with Chris the public will decide the fate in the end. Longer reviews etc. But by then Puffing boys already got their cash and ran.

We live in a world of vague statements so ridiculous and outrageous that most consumers really don’t take them seriously. The American dream is a home in a great neighborhood and a nice name brand car, People like status and status is usually hype. A few car companies Benz; Bmw, Porsche quote “successful people drive our vehicles”. But they can’t prove there the ultimate driving machines. A good friend who’s a famous producer of rap videos said to me. If sparkling ciders was more a bottle then crystal then all the rap videos would be pimping sparkling cider.

And usually a plaintiff or defendent, would have to prove that the consumer was misled in their decision to purchase. Meaning if the consumer knew the facts of the hype they wouldn’t purchase. So how can you prove misrepresentation of hype? Most can’t prove this evidence, but it does not mean that this evidence does not exist. Because the consumer in the end is the evidence. People need to stop buying into the Hype! But please call me if you got shipwrecked heidsieck 1907 I’ll buy what your selling. lol

Elishia Windfohr
- http://My.ComMetrics.com Urs E. Gattiker
  
  Dear Elishia
  
  Thanks for this comment. Okay so we all have been guilty one time or another being part of the hype exercise.
  
  Nevertheless, I do wonder whom am I to trust …. if a person's reputation should represent what he or she stands for, these quotes surely are not reflective of that, are they.
  
  For me, social media marketing has not clarified this issue so far. In fact, it may have made it worse.
  
  To illustrate, besides the people living on the alp next to ours whom I know very well and can trust, I now also have to figure out whom I can trust in cyberspace – globalization…. (e.g., different language, culture, values, etc.).
  
  Your comment just made me more cautious.
  
  Elishia, thanks for sharing.
cgreen23

I think this is less about social media, more about the psychology of influence, branding, reputation and so forth. The medium is decidedly not the message here.

Much of this sort of talk reminds me of similar discussions eons ago when voicemail came out. There was much ado about whether it was a new vehicle for sales, how the business model would be defined, whether or not one could make money using voicemail, and what the cost/benefit ratio was to justify it.

In the rear-view mirror,it's obvious. Voicemail is plumbing. The “business model” is simple–it's an expense for the buyer, a software service for a provider. Period.

The example is an interesting one. If I see a book with blurbs from both Guy Kawasaki and Chris Brogan, that tells me–me, personally–a lot. I know that Kawasaki easily lends his name, and is given to puffery, as someone noted. No problem, I know the Guy-code; it's useful information to me, and most useful of all is the fact that he blurbed it. I think I understand what he blurbs and what he doesn't, and I understand what he means when he says what he says.

Even more useful is Brogan; I do know him, I've spoken on platform with him, and I follow him closely. His choice to blurb I view as quite different, more meaningful in its particular: I think he is more careful about who he blurbs, and about what he says. I could be wrong, but those are the opinions and perceptions I bring. It is all useful to me. Both I find useful information.

There is nothing particularly relevant about the fact that those recommendations came through social media. As Brogan consistently tries to point out, this is not new wine–this is old wine, wrapped in new bottles.

Charles H. Green
Trusted Advisor Associates
(author Trust-based Selling, co-author The Trusted Advisor)
- http://My.ComMetrics.com Urs E. Gattiker
  
  Dear Charles
  
  Thanks so much for this comment. I find your voicemail example quite interesting… But it also shows that what you point out about Chris Brogan might be very correct. Nevertheless,
  
  1) making a comparison between two people's level of intelligence is one thing, and
  2) making this relate to the book's content is a totally different matter.
  
  So I am still left a bit puzzled and wondering if I can continue trusting what this people tout into cyberspace. Based on the above examples, I doubt it.
  
  Thanks for sharing.
elishiawindfohr

Trust? When i post on linkedin i trust the site and the rept of the site. Here i've posted on a blog that i don't know the rept of the blogger. And here my name sits in full view. Urs how am i to know about your rept in trusting my goodie goodie name on your blog? I only posted because i do like you and i know your building your social rept. But lets face it, your pimping on linkedin for personal gain for your blog and name. Do you really care about the questions you ask? Or were you thinking wow lets gets em to post on my blog.

So dear your actions have made me cautious of where i will post. So just defining your choice of words because there was nothing wrong with my comment.

Elishia Windfohr
- http://My.ComMetrics.com Urs E. Gattiker
  
  Elishia
  
  thanks for your comment. I think I probably failed to make my point clearer. Your comment got me thinking but it did not mean it started me to distrust you as a commenter.
  
  Instead I began to reflect on the hype issue and if I had not done it myself. And yes, starting a discussion on LinkedIn is surely to get people to comment and if they leave interesting comments I love to also have them on the blog, of course.
  
  I still believe that comments is what adds the color (see your comment 😉 ) as well as different views and important insights to a blog post.
  
  I have a learned a great deal from these comments and the differences between marketing, public relations and social media marketing including hyping things up to gain attention.
  
  Thanks and have a great day.
http://karenpurves.com karenpurves

I think there are a few things going on here.

There’s a mass marketing effort where endorsements help the lesser known to become better known.

A lot of marketing is about how easy and effortless the solution is, if you take this silver bullet – Insert what ever is being pushed here. This taps into people wanting to get something for nothing or very little. Truth is that very little is gained through little effort.

I see this is part of a game played by people who are in that “club”. And, would I play the game too? If I was there – possibly. Providing the [silver bullet] offered value because it raises my credibility while it raises the credibility of the [silver bullet].

The fact that you have written a blog post about it, people have commented and we are discussing it here has meant that the book and endorsements have possibly reached people who it might not have done otherwise.

But the book/silver bullet has to stand on its own merits. Some people will love it while others won’t. The people who love it may go on and buy other products from the author or not depending upon who else is serving them at the same time.

Personal branding and building a reputation is very important and, increasingly so.

Do I believe the list of testimonials on websites? No. For the simple reason is that I have googled the names of people endorsing and their websites to find that they do not come up in the listings. I do take more heed of testimonials where it can only have come from the person eg Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook to name three.

For those of us who are not in the “club”, it is extremely important that we support and recommend people, products or such like, where we can really vouch for them, product and delivery. Any backlash can leave some mud on the referee or supporter.

So, while recommending others becomes more difficult. The flip side is that people are able to demonstrate their own worth, depth and values through the content they post. And, this is coupled with endorsements helps with raising credibility and positioning within the market.

This brings me back to employing a pull strategy rather than push.
- http://My.ComMetrics.com Urs E. Gattiker
  
  @KarenPurves I like very much:
  
  “A lot of marketing is about how easy and effortless the solution is, if you take this silver bullet – Insert what ever is being pushed here. This taps into people wanting to get something for nothing or very little. Truth is that very little is gained through little effort.”
  
  Especially the latter part about little being gained by doing little is right on the money. Even with the pull strategy (or pull readers to your website/blog Twitter account), without good content and comments of the calibre you write, a blog (or Twitter account) has little to offer to its target audience. Hence, without content one will never ever draw in the masses. Creating good content that pulls people requires that we invest time.
  
  Alls I find the following point you make quite enlightening – to me for sure:
  
  “For those of us who are not in the “club”, it is extremely important that we support and recommend people, products or such like, where we can really vouch for them, product and delivery. Any backlash can leave some mud on the referee or supporter.”
  
  Again, this refers to your personal reputation and if I trust your assessment. It is easier to trust people one knows better and have a reputation of calling a spade a spade.
  This requires that we know people which again is based on time having exchanged e-mails, comments or shared ideas in groups on social networks like LinkedIn or Xing. The easiest but sometimes more difficult way in a global world is doing it face-to-face:
  
  http://commetrics.drkpi.ch/articles/twitter-wake-up-…
  
  If I trust a person's review or assessment of products and services this person's work can help me a great deal when making a purchase or other kinds of decisions at work and elsewhere.
  I conclude from your insights that we need to develop our trusted group of people in cyberspace as well as off-line whom we trust.
  In turn, we can all benefit from each other's wisdom and honesty. Surely enriches our lives as well I would say.
  
  Karen, thanks so much for taking the time to write this very interesting comment.
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http://www.bizpodcasts.com/ Debs Williams

I agree with you Urs and think that it’s time that we worked on making brand = reputation. Personally I believe that they should be one and the same although I know this is highly unlikely to be 100% achieved in the society we live in
http://www.bizpodcasts.com/ Debs Williams

I agree with you Urs and think that it’s time that we worked on making brand = reputation. Personally I believe that they should be one and the same although I know this is highly unlikely to be 100% achieved in the society we live in
http://www.bizpodcasts.com/ Debs Williams

I agree with you Urs and think that it’s time that we worked on making brand = reputation. Personally I believe that they should be one and the same although I know this is highly unlikely to be 100% achieved in the society we live in
http://My.ComMetrics.com Urs E. Gattiker

DebsnnThanks so much for your comment. For me brand and reputation are different sides of the same coin.nnBut reputation is how others see you while brand is what we want others to see. Therefore, reputation is key and unless I can trust somebody’s judgment, verdict or opinion, statements made to endorse a product or service are difficult to judge.nnI appreciate your comment – you can read more comments about this blog post here:nnhttp://commetrics.drkpi.ch/articles/following-best-practice-and-business-ethics-would-help-improve-an-intransparent-situation/nnDebs, thanks for sharing your thoughts.
http://My.ComMetrics.com Urs E. Gattiker

DebsnnThanks so much for your comment. For me brand and reputation are different sides of the same coin.nnBut reputation is how others see you while brand is what we want others to see. Therefore, reputation is key and unless I can trust somebody’s judgment, verdict or opinion, statements made to endorse a product or service are difficult to judge.nnI appreciate your comment – you can read more comments about this blog post here:nnhttp://commetrics.drkpi.ch/articles/following-best-practice-and-business-ethics-would-help-improve-an-intransparent-situation/nnDebs, thanks for sharing your thoughts.
http://My.ComMetrics.com Urs E. Gattiker

DebsnnThanks so much for your comment. For me brand and reputation are different sides of the same coin.nnBut reputation is how others see you while brand is what we want others to see. Therefore, reputation is key and unless I can trust somebody’s judgment, verdict or opinion, statements made to endorse a product or service are difficult to judge.nnI appreciate your comment – you can read more comments about this blog post here:nnhttp://commetrics.drkpi.ch/articles/following-best-practice-and-business-ethics-would-help-improve-an-intransparent-situation/nnDebs, thanks for sharing your thoughts.
http://www.bizpodcasts.com/ Debs Williams

Cheers Urs,nnI appreciate what you say about reputation being about how others see you and brand being about what we want others to see, that’s why I think it would be a good thing if we could work on bringing these two more into line..nnBusiness dealings are greatly improved when people base their brand on their reputation because they are far more careful about how they represent themselves. It’s a slower but ultimately far more effective way of promoting yourself.nnShouldn’t we be aiming to create a business environment where what we want others to see = how they see us? It’s possible to achieve this if people live up to the brand they are creating for themselves and refrain from over exaggerating or over inflating their advertising…
http://www.bizpodcasts.com/ Debs Williams

Cheers Urs,nnI appreciate what you say about reputation being about how others see you and brand being about what we want others to see, that’s why I think it would be a good thing if we could work on bringing these two more into line..nnBusiness dealings are greatly improved when people base their brand on their reputation because they are far more careful about how they represent themselves. It’s a slower but ultimately far more effective way of promoting yourself.nnShouldn’t we be aiming to create a business environment where what we want others to see = how they see us? It’s possible to achieve this if people live up to the brand they are creating for themselves and refrain from over exaggerating or over inflating their advertising…
http://www.bizpodcasts.com/ Debs Williams

Cheers Urs,nnI appreciate what you say about reputation being about how others see you and brand being about what we want others to see, that’s why I think it would be a good thing if we could work on bringing these two more into line..nnBusiness dealings are greatly improved when people base their brand on their reputation because they are far more careful about how they represent themselves. It’s a slower but ultimately far more effective way of promoting yourself.nnShouldn’t we be aiming to create a business environment where what we want others to see = how they see us? It’s possible to achieve this if people live up to the brand they are creating for themselves and refrain from over exaggerating or over inflating their advertising…
http://www.bizpodcasts.com/ Debs Williams

I agree with you Urs and think that it's time that we worked on making brand = reputation. Personally I believe that they should be one and the same although I know this is highly unlikely to be 100% achieved in the society we live in
http://My.ComMetrics.com Urs E. Gattiker

Debs

Thanks so much for your comment. For me brand and reputation are different sides of the same coin.

But reputation is how others see you while brand is what we want others to see. Therefore, reputation is key and unless I can trust somebody's judgment, verdict or opinion, statements made to endorse a product or service are difficult to judge.

I appreciate your comment – you can read more comments about this blog post here:

http://commetrics.drkpi.ch/articles/following-best-p…

Debs, thanks for sharing your thoughts.
http://www.bizpodcasts.com/ Debs Williams

Cheers Urs,

I appreciate what you say about reputation being about how others see you and brand being about what we want others to see, that's why I think it would be a good thing if we could work on bringing these two more into line..

Business dealings are greatly improved when people base their brand on their reputation because they are far more careful about how they represent themselves. It's a slower but ultimately far more effective way of promoting yourself.

Shouldn't we be aiming to create a business environment where what we want others to see = how they see us? It's possible to achieve this if people live up to the brand they are creating for themselves and refrain from over exaggerating or over inflating their advertising…
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http://www.webdesignmu.com/ mauritius web design

Excellent post enjoy it some very interesting point thanks for sharing
- http://commetrics.drkpi.ch/articles/2011-trends-get-better-roi-with-facebook-twitter-and-youtube/ Urs E. Gattiker
  
  Hi @220307a94f586ab278bea809ec9500dd:disqus
  
  Thanks for stopping by and commenting on this somewhat older post. I had nearly forgotten that I had written this entry a while back.
  
  I am glad that you found it useful. I hope you stop by again soon and give us feedback, its always useful to get that.
  
  Merci Urs
http://twitter.com/mauseo_seo/status/120703332577841152 SEO Mauritius Mauseo

Social media marketing: Can I trust you? » personal brand, branding, trust, confidence, KPI, software, http://t.co/4P4KVtGv
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http://twitter.com/e_mahaa/status/129620861778006016 Maha

Social media marketing: Can I trust you? http://t.co/P9DCytTV
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