Bryan Landaburu (aka Reno Bryan, Willie Vega, and Fuze) | Dont call me a blogger

But, what if customers say something bad about us? Intel wants to know.

I came across this post from David Griner that is a-buzz in the Social space because it outlines what Intel's Social Media Strategy/Policy is.  Suffice it to say, its pretty awesome and very ballzie.  When we talk to clients about developing a strategy, even a simple one, they often push back with comments like:

"What if people oppose us, or worse, say something nasty? How will we deal with that? What will people think? What if our customers/competitors/my aunt Peg/etc. see what people are saying? Cant they use it against us?"

While this apprehension is understandable, the answer to all these questions is...so what! Transparency and authenticity are all that matter in business and life. Davids post about Intel shows a truly forward thinking company embracing the new rules and giving their employees liberty and procedures for getting involved.  Its actually amazing, really amazing.

Here are a couple of my favorite elements (or you can read the entire post here):

On transparency:
If you are blogging about your work at Intel, use your real name, identify that you work for Intel, and be clear about your role. If you have a vested interest in something you are discussing, be the first to point it out.

On perception:
In online social networks, the lines between public and private, personal and professional are blurred. Just by identifying yourself as an Intel employee, you are creating perceptions about Intel by our shareholders, customers, and the general public—and perceptions about you by your colleagues and managers. Do us all proud. Be sure that all content associated with you is consistent with your work and with Intel's values and professional standards.

On starting conversations:
Don't be afraid to bring in your own personality and say what's on your mind. Consider content that's open-ended and invites response. Encourage comments.

There are a lot of examples of businesses embrasing this. I have had direct conversations with people (even executives) with Zappos, BestBuy, Crutchfield, and many others.  These big and agressive companies are realizing what power in the hands of few mean.  They monitor things being said, and dont try to control a conversation...rather they participate, interact.  That's what it's all about right?  For instance, over Twitter, I gave Tony (Zappos CEO) feedback on his new iPhone interface for the Zappos site. He sent out a note for folks to test the new iphone.zappos.com and I, much like many of his followers, provided him instant feedback. Here it is:

Tony can take this feedback, along with the surely hoards of others from consumers, geeks, UI folks, etc. and give it to his developers.  He also, replied to me here:

If big companies can do this, why then, if you work for a small/medium business would you not follow suit?  No time? No talent? No interest?  I'm telling you, everyone, every business, if you don't participate in this new game, you can turn in your iron, shoe, and race car, not pass Go, and not collect your $200.

Live social.

B

PS
instead of copying this post, how about commenting on it. pricks. you know who you are.

Fortune Small Business: Anxiety, Fear, Good? (I am "Sherman")

If you own a small business and don't read Fortune Small Business, you are missing out on a great publication. As i have stated before, I get more publication/article/blog/rss/email/twitter/facebook/linkedin/plaxo/everydamnsocialmediasiteontheplanet/etc., overloaded every hour, day, week, month, year. Part is a craving to be in the know, part is insanity, part is morbid curiosity. Whatever it is, i still have literal boxes of magazines (dating back to my original post) that I have not read. I dont have time. I do, however, read Fortune Small Business, for some reason, the day it shows up. I read it because I find the publication real, and speaking directly to me, and frankly more than ever before with this article on Entrepreneurs and Fear/Anxiety.

Article Link: What entrepreneurs are feeling: Fear
by Alexander Stein

In this article, I am the "Sherman" which the author refers to. I am him. Read the article and you will understand.  I realized that I have become him, within the last year. There is one particularly telling paragraph in this article:

"Business owners may be particularly susceptible to the corrosive effects of fear and anxiety because they're professionally more isolated than most, having no peers or superiors, only employees, clients and competitors. Especially in high-stress situations, having a trusted confidant can make all the difference..."

I'll add to the list above: vendors, contractors, and the government (local & federal). This isolation is absolutely the feeling I have every day I go to work so I rely on my confidants as well. Mine are a mix of mentors, friends, like minded colleagues...people who understand me on the levels that I let them. They help talk me off the ledge, metaphorically of course (Fuze occupies the second floor so a ledge-leap, is nothing more than a faster route than taking the stairs). Still, this feeling of incredible isolation does come into play from time to time, and with the current state of economy and business, I feel these feelings more than i used to.

The article continues and i arrive at these paragraphs that describe why "Sherman/I" think and behave the way I do:

"As a group, entrepreneurs are more likely than not to feel comfortable in crisis situations...that's fine, as long as being an adrenaline junkie works for you...

What's not working for Sherman is his unconscious confusion of the past and the present. Emotionally, he's convinced that his business isn't temporarily faltering in a recession environment but failing altogether because he didn't heed his father's dire warnings about financial overextension. He identifies late-paying clients with his domineering, unappreciative mother. Frustrating business transactions become recurrences of traumatic rejection. No wonder he's anxious."

In these dramatic examples the article hit home for me. I am riddled with anxiety and fear from time to time, but in the same respect, I thrive in the face of chaos. I cannot think of a single presentation/pitch that i didn't wrap up seconds before jumping in the car, on a plane, or in the case of my last presentation to a group at Artown, I was updating the slides as we were setting up. Not to say I don't research, pine over, and prepare, but when I put my thoughts down and decide what to present, its always at the last minute. I think its because i know my propensity to be distracted by shiny objects.  When you have no time, you cant accept distraction. This is how I work best, the greater the pressure, the more I focus. The more challenging the situation, the more I shine. It works for me, and its how I do MY best work. This doesn't work for everyone.

I often joke here on my blog and in person about the joy/curse of owning your own business and running your own show. There is no safety net, no gov'ment cheese, and you have many, many peoples lives in your hands. The Fuze family is over 30 peolpe, when you take into account our kids, spouses, significant others, etc. That's a lot of responsibility...and we're the small guys. This is my balance act and something that I feel causes me the greatest anxiety: one day, will my race to the finish come up short on the face of the landing and will i let down all these people around me who see me as the leader, friend, partner to which they've hitched their wagon. More[most] importantly, what example do I set for my own son if I fail? There, friends, is the source of all my stress/anxiety/fear.

I encourage any would-be or current small business owners to read this column, and to pick up FSB. The article here wont solve your problems, but it may help you understand some things about yourself as you relate the words to you. Ive got a late night here tonight...with 20oz of wonderful Americano by my side, i will plow through some bills, organize tomorrow, and keep looking forward to the future.

Have a happy Thanksgiving all. 

B

PS
I think we are launching a new website(s) next week...that's the rumor is anyway. We're actually doing ours a little different than most. You'll get to watch us do the whole thing. Riveting.

Zhiing is a new way to connect, we all need that.

Hey, look, I'm writing about what I actually do around here all day! So, I'm typically a bandwagoner and a little nerdy for new releases of anything social (form an orderly queue ladies).  I am personally fascinated with Geo-based applications that connect people, businesses, etc, and the possibilities they present are endless, IMHO.  The new breed of mobile apps are popping up with great regularity but one we recently had the opportunity to be involved with at the Alpha phase is a new app called Zhiing. 

With Zhiing you have the ability to communicate your location to anyone with a mobile phone. As you say so what, in that same message you are providing turn-by-turn directions to where you are (see how it works). You are also able to broadcast your location to a group of people...something you cant do with other Apps.  Surely there is Brightkite, Loopt, WhosHere, Plazes, to an extent, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Plaxo, etc, etc. but all require the recipient to ALSO HAVE THE APP or be "in da club". Zhiing doesn't require this.  Zhiing also works as a Firefox plugin, so you can Zhiing folks from your desktop as well.  Here's a little video on how it works...

They have thought through a lot in this initial release.  I'm going to play with the public version and see what i think, utilizing it with my friends and family.  We have our PR and Project teams on it as well.  Will be interesting to see how we find uses for it.

There are fully functional apps for iPhone, and Blackberry available for download now.  This just released TODAY so in the App store you will need to search for Zhiing to find it until the index picks up. You can learn more about the uses of the product on their website or their blog.

This is a public service announcement and I get NOTHING for the success or failure of this app.  I am pimping it because I had the opportunity to provide my input on the development (after all I am a Thetan Level 10 Social Media App Sherpa). I have always enjoyed playing with the various location based, friend-to-friend apps that are out there, but they've all left this reviewer limp. So, I hope that our influence on the development and our evangelism leads to a fast moving app. Best of luck to the guys at Zos.

Send your feedback and comments here, oh loyal readers, or in the iTunes App Store, or wherever you like. Or if you dont want to try it, then you, sir, are no friend of mine.

Rays in 4.

Bryan

ohhh our transparent lives...

Via AdRants I was passed along this funny article about our newly transparent lives.  I personally am more than overloaded with the barrage of social media, uber connected services that are out there.  I put myself out there to an extent, others take it even further, but below is an example where your social network addition bites you right in the ass.

• From the ValleyWag - Busted by Facebook

Getting noticed, quoted, indexed is the easy part, I say, lets see if you can make yourself invisible to the world of search & social media.  That's a REAL challenge.

Globetrotter...does that mean nothing to you??

WBV