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(Five in the Morning will take a break for Thanksgiving…be back on Monday!)

Geoff Livingston with some pithy lessons learned after 10K tweets on Twitter. Good stuff here. Geoff calls it likes he sees it.

Sticking with a Twitter theme, Pistachio‘s blog on Twitter means Business (with brief case studies).

Louis Gray makes the case that sharing and self-promotion in social media are a 2-way street. Good perspectives here. Plus a link to his earlier post on 35 tips to get started with social media.

Common Mistakes in Starting a Blog. From that recent transplant from the great Northeast to the wilds of South Carolina, Matt J McDonald.

An interesting customer service (or lawsuit avoidance, or…) initiative by Infiniti, from Jason Baer. Would you resist this bribe? Quite a story…

PLUS – So you suffer from Idea Heartburn? -from Jeff Pulver. And, a feeble attempt at a one-sentence summary of the financial meltdown (strange things come to mind when you awake in the middle of the night, I know!)

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The Financial Meltdown in One Sentence

People with an incentive to re-define risk for short-term gain will deceive themselves and others, distort the marketplace, and destroy value.

(this includes politicians who force institutions to make risky loans through market-distorting policies like CRA; institutions and individuals who willingly ignore long-term risk for the sake of short-term fees; and individuals who make commitments they cannot realistically expect to fulfill)

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From Jennifer Laycock – the influence of Twitter links to grow blog conversations. Twitter is like that outgoing guy or gal at a party who draws others into the convo… (btw, Jennifer’s blog posts about Twitter finally got me off my duff and into Twitter. I owe her.)

WebSuccess Diva (Maria Reyes-McDavis) gives us 10 Sinfully Good Social Media Marketing Diva blogs. Ah, but then Toby (Diva Marketing) Bloomberg spotlights 31 Social Media Marketing Communities for Women. It’s a diva y diva link fest, and everyone wins! Gender fairness would lead us to the conclusion that we need 15 Smash-mouth Marketing Maelstroms for keyboard-pounding Men – but I haven’t seen it yet…

Jim says: 37 Marketing Ideas in 140 characters. You tweeted it, Jim Connolly collected it.

The “Re-Tweet” and WOM marketing, from the always-thoughtful Jeremiah Owyang. One reason I re-tweet – I do not assume that all my subscribers are following everyone I follow. It’s a very time-effective way to expose your network to different voices.

Laura Fitton, aka Pistachio, is assembling Twitter for Dummies. And you can help!

PLUS – are you way geeky? Like, you really want to know what strange and hard-to-pronounce techie stuff is on the 2009 horizon? I thought so. This is for you.

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How NOT to: Build your Twitter community. Good tips from Sarah Evans. Oh, and the other side of the coin – How TO.

Growing through delegation/outsourcing – valuable thoughts here from Chaitanya Sagar. I’ve walked this same path and probably have other decisions to make in the future…and I agree that outsourcing (rather than do-it-all-yourself or hiring) is a very valuable and important strategy. There is potential business strength and growth on both sides of this equation.

Drew McLellan on the Best Way to Grow your Business. You might be surprised at his answer – but then again, I hope you’re not. Plus, this poignant remembrance of an effective leader.

42 Content-building ways to Attract and Retain Customers. From Joe Pulizzi over at Junta 42 blog.

Building your Brand through Networking. Walter Akana interviews Liz Lynch, author of just-released book Smart Networking: Attract a Following in Person an Online.

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Well, I’m back from a 2-day trip to Chicago, and it looks like my little experiment in time-queued blog posts and tweets for Five in the Morning worked OK (yes, the last 2 days had been prepared in advance on Tuesday). I know, I know, this is hardly a cutting-edge technology advance, but I’m of a generation that still marvels a bit when stuff like that actually works!

So, without further ado, some fresh posts for your Friday:

I have lived in New Jersey for many years (still cannot bring myself to say I’m “from NJ” – sorry, but I’m from Connecticut). Anyway, there’s a lot that happens in this state that can make a resident grind his/her teeth into gnashing nubs, but Spike Jones points out this fabulous – and creative – and really helpful – promotion by the New Jersey Nets. Wow – now that’s how to take care of your fans!

The AdverGirl (Leigh Householder) has a series going on How Companies are using Social Media. A number of posts are already up – this link is to the first one. Tune it!

Legendary customer experience marketer and wanna-be rock star Doug Meacham has begun his own series on the Transaction vs. the Customer Experience (in retail). Here’s the first entry.

Seek criticism. From the creative David Airey. Sound counter-intuitive? Not if you want to keep improving!

Mack Collier writes a helpful post about GE’s initial foray into blogging/Twitter. What I want to point out here is Mack’s tone of helpfulness and his call for patience. After the Motrin fiasco of the past week, I think we all need to take a deep breath and be sure not to crucify companies that dip their toes in the social media water. Mistakes will be made, initial forays will be incomplete or askew. Let’s follow Mack’s example and be helpful, instead of battering newcomers and scaring them off. It’s a supportive tone of understanding and support (which has always marked our community) that will grow utilization. We all stumbled our way into this not many months/years ago, right…?

PLUS: Every blogger will understand why this is funny! Do not sip coffee before reading lest you snort it all out on your keyboard…

Oh…and did you know that you’re owed a free Dr. Pepper?

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Has your company’s social media cat meow’ed yet? The glass-half-full guy, Terry Starbucker, has some valuable thoughts on this.

Is There a Hierarchy in Social Media? (as in: where should you start?). Nice overview of the basics from Jeff Paro, over at Small Business Branding blog.

Seth Godin has a free download for you – the Tribes Q&A book.

Brian Clark over at Copyblogger talks about strategic collaboration. I include this because I think it is the most important emerging business model for talented entrepreneurs to tap into. Many new businesses, and business models, are waiting to happen…

Socially fatigued? Interesting thoughts (that we can all relate to!) from Karen Swim.

PLUS – Andy Nulman having a little fun priming the market for his upcoming “Pow! Right Between the Eyes!” book.

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Twitter XR (eXtended Release)

Twitter is a great platform for sharing. But there is a bit of a problem – you can only be on it so much, usually in certain time slots – how can you share resources and links at other times, for audiences that “tune in” during other time slots?

Answer: Twitter XR. Or, in other words, time-delayed tweeting.

There are two tools that I use for this, each with strengths and weaknesses. Tweetlater is the incumbent, Twuffer is the newcomer. With both of these tools, you compose your tweet, choose a downstream time for it to appear, and forget about it. The tweet shows up in the Twitterstream later, maybe when you’re not even on-line or awake.

I tend to compose my Tweets in TweetDeck (my favorite desktop client) because it has integrated URL-shortening – then I cut/paste the tweet into Tweetlater or Twuffer. Because my best time for writing, finding resources, and composing tweets is early morning, I tend to blog, scan RSS, and load up tweets between 5:30-7:30 am to show up during the rest of the day.

Here is a very brief rundown of each tool.

Twuffer (Twitter buffer) has a more limited set of capabilities, and a very straightforward interface design. The learning curve should be nearly non-existent for most people. It also allows you to store a tweet beginning with the @ sign, a function not supported by Tweetlater. On the downside, it only allows tweet scheduling for “on-the-hour”, and once you’ve queued a tweet, you cannot edit. Both of these are serious weaknesses. If the tool can be beefed up slightly while maintaining its simple interface, it’ll be a winner.

TweetLater is a far more robust setup, allowing you to schedule tweets by the hour/minute, but also giving you the capability of setting up an auto-DM reply for new Twitter followers, and an auto-follow if you wish. TweetLater does not support timed @ replies out of a fear of spam abuse by the tool. The tool also now provides you with e-mail alerts about your user name, and key words, showing up in Twitter. You can support multiple Twitter accounts. It’s a strong feature set, but the major downside is the clunky interface design. Some improvement has occurred in the last couple of weeks, but the layout and navigation are still non-intuitive and confusing.

For tweet-scheduling, I would abandon both of these tools in a millisecond if TweetDeck supported a timed tweet feature (Iain -are you listening?) – how much simpler to have the option, composing in TweetDeck, of sending a tweet now, or choosing a later publish time! But for now, I’ll continue to use both tools, because they fulfill a genuine communication need – sharing resources at varying times in the day (in fact, if you came to this post via Twitter, it’s because it was pre-scheduled for today, while I’m away in Chicagoland!)

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You do know that Social Media is not a Fad – Right? From Dawud Miracle.

CMOs – Time to Evolve. From MarketingVox.

15 Rules for Business Bloggers. Good review of the basics, by Ian Lurie.

How to be the Social Media Champion at your Office. Good stuff by Jason Falls.

Toby the Diva asks: What would you do if you could Just Do It? And here are the answers.

PLUS – you know your brand is successful when…(you’ll chuckle at the pictures)

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One of my favorite local (NJ area) bloggers, CB Whittemore, on Social Media, the Elections, and what it all means for Marketing – Part 1 and Part 2.

At MarketingProfs Daily Fix, a post which is probably closest to the heart of what makes me tick – maybe more than anything I’ve previously written. What’s your Value-Add?

Amber Naslund says, Give it Away. Good stuff.

Everything is risky. Truthy thoughts and a great graphic from David Armano.

Will Twitter start to charge for Tweets?

PLUS…of course you’ve always been annoyed at how Starbucks names their cup sizes. This quick video (quite well done!) pokes a little fun. From the Swiss Miss.

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Taglines. Examples of the good, the bad, and the ugly. From Brandsinger blog.

Anna Farmery does a podcast with “Director Tom” (Thomas Clifford) on Bringing Brands to Visual LIfe.

From the NY Times – the Brand-ness of Strangers. How does seeing logos and brands among the teeming masses impact us?

Lewis Green on Why Social Media isn’t a Requirement for Every Marketing Campaign. A lot of valuable links to high-impact bloggers included in this post.

It’s been updated and expanded. Do you want to see a large number of Marketing/Branding/Social Media/PR blog feeds, all in one visually engaging interface? The Marketing Bloggers Portal is for you!

Just for fun – check out the tongue-in-cheek design work at this coffee shop. I love offbeat humor as an attention-getter! Plus, 10 Half-baked Advertsing Ideas.

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My Value-Add

If you’ve subscribed to my blog(s), followed me on Twitter, met me in person, or all three, you’re probably…well, a very gracious and patient person! So who is this Steve Woodruff dude, anyway?

Being somewhat analytical, and having undergone decades of compulsive self-examination over the decades (including trying to understand my unique professional strengths), I’ve decided to try to narrow down my core strengths – my value-adds – to some key terms, as an adjunct to a post I’ve written for MarketingProfs Daily Fix.

So, for what it’s worth, here goes:

1. I am an aggregator. I am very curious, like to pull together lots of information, map out the big picture in my mind, and then put it together in some kind of sensible way. This can have strange manifestations – for instance, when I go to a shopping mall, I almost always walk through the entire thing. That is a weird thing, I know. But it can be useful too – see this Marketing Bloggers portal.

2. I am an opportunist. I always look for what is not there, and try to figure out how to make things better. I am wired not to be content, but always to look for improvement – a good trait for an entrepreneur, an occasionally problematic one for a husband and father!

3. I am a planner, a strategic thinker, a designer/builder. I don’t do random.

4. I like to help people, in my own way, which usually has more to do with figuring stuff out (consulting, counseling, branding, finding resources) than feeling-level stuff. I do wish I could take an empathy pill sometimes.

5. I’m a connector, which is somewhat bizarre considering my native introversion. Whatever – nothing makes me happier than helping people by connecting them with the right people/resources.

6. I’m a communicator. Best at writing and public speaking; still overcoming my awkwardness in large crowds and unstructured environments. My strongest gift in communications is clarity. However, I envy great storytellers and hope that that little muscle will grow with time.

7. I’m a curious learner and thinker. This blog (StickyFigure) explores branding, marketing, business, social media, and related themes. My Impactiviti blog covers pharmaceutical training, communications, and marketing (that’s my paying business). My personal blog (Steve’s Leaves) has various rants and ruminations about parenting, philosophy, politics, personal stuff, wine, and whatever else. And if there was time, there are lots of other areas I’d like to explore and share!

8. I’m loyal. Persistent. Stubborn. Principled. Call it what you will. I don’t believe leadership is shown by giving up or giving in.

To sum up – give me a fallow field, and say “It’s yours – create what you will and maximize it.” I don’t need a lot of help or guidelines. Just a chance to make something.

And, taking all those things together, I’ve created my own business – as a consultant/connector, helping pharmaceutical clients and vendor-partners find each other. I make money by creating win-win business connections – and I grow my business and brand by networking and by writing (blogging, newsletter, etc.) Seeing a market opportunity, I created the business model, and, by the grace and blessing of God, persisted to make it a success. After 20 years of working for others, it was time to build a business around me – my own personal/professional brand. And 2 1/2 years later, I couldn’t be happier.

What about you – what is your value-add? What are the key terms that define your personal and professional value to the world? Where can you maximize your success – within someone else’s business, or by creating your own?

(P.S. See how my friend and colleague Jane Chin identifies herself here with key terms)

Discard this ACE

I saw a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal this week. The prominent logo provoked a feeling that was so contradictory to the company purpose and message that I was flabbergasted.

One glance at the logo make me immediately think of two things:

1. Disorder; and

2. Toys R Us

Unfortunately, the ad is for a global insurance company. And in these days of financial instability, I don’t think that a financial services/insurance company should give the impression that it is not serious. Yet that is what ACE Insurance does with this awful logo.

Surely these folks make enough money to project an image that connotes stability, seriousness, heft. This thing looks like it was whipped up in Powerpoint in 10 minutes by a Muppets designer. Please.

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Six ways to Build your own Personal Developmental Network. From the smart and always-helpful Liz Strauss.

What is Passion anyway? From those folks with their Brains on Fire.

Laura Ries on It’s the Category, Stupid. What do you think of her thesis here?

Free Social Media for Small Business e-book, put together by John Jantsch and Microsoft. Cool!

A simple reminder from Drew McLellan.

Discard this ACE. From Stickyfigure blog (ummm…that’s me).

New e-mail tool: AwayFind. Reviews by Chris Brogan and Sarah Perez. I could see this being very useful for some folks…

Just for a little Friday fun – nice looks can deceive! 50 very strange buildings. And, from TechCrunch, an imaginative way to get some exposure, if you can spare a shirt and $75!

And big congratulations to Ian Schafer!!

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The headline is lying today. WAY too much good stuff this morning to restrict it to 5 posts. Enjoy!

Comments are not ads. A good reminder from Shannon Paul.

Jim Kukral goes live with his new business model and branding. Plus video launch.

C.C. Chapman‘s interesting take on the recent Pepsi new logo social media campaign.

The Catchup Lady on lessons from Mars Rover on Twitter.

Doug Karr asks – and attempts to answer – how many words per post is “right”? The answer(s) may surprise you.

Chris Wilson wants you tell him: Who was listening in 2008?

So you’ve decided to follow me on Twitter? My Twitter Full Disclosure.

What’s in your Marketing Arsenal? Which tools? Toys? Tell Jay Ehret!

Big Changes for Microsoft Live – now a social network! Plus, a great photo sharing service launched.

PLUS: 15 stunning images using blur. Yahoo testing new front page (and – new Yahoo Deals). A little fun from Todd And: PNG vs. JPG. One graphic tells all!

BONUS: Check out the new BusinessWeek on-line app, Business Exchange. I did a search on Social Media Marketing. Here are the results.

My Twitter “Full Disclosure”

So you’ve decided to follow me on Twitter. Thanks for tuning in, and I look forward to tweeting with you!

I cannot provide you with all the answers to life, nor can I make all your relationships better or even guarantee improved hair control. Here, however, is what you’re in for:

:: WYSIWYG. Hopefully you’ll like what you see, warts and all. If not, feel free to unfollow. I won’t be hurt.

:: If you’re interested in pharma/healthcare, social media, branding, marketing, humor, and life, well, I do that.

:: I point to stuff on my blog(s) when I publish. If I didn’t have something to say, I wouldn’t be here.

:: I point to a LOT of other people’s stuff. Most of them are smarter than me.

:: I don’t auto-follow. If/when I do follow you, there’s a good reason for it. I think you’re interesting, funny, smart, engaging, a value-add, or some combination thereof. There’s a much higher likelihood that I’ll follow you if you @me with something directly.

:: Sometimes I’ll tweet or blog about things personal, philosophical, even political. And post pictures. See WYSIWYG.

:: At various times I may get a bit snarky, make puns, and engage in banter. Especially on Fridays. I even do spoofs at times, with some assurance that the victims have a thick skin. My followers deal with it; or better, enjoy it, and join right in. You might also get a wine recommendation or two, including pictures.

:: I do this because I like it, it’s a fulfilling creative outlet, I enjoy writing and sharing, and I’m seeking to build an opportunity network. I hope you feel the same way. We’re all evolving this space together, and it’s a lot of fun!

Oh, and if you haven’t yet followed me on Twitter, here’s where you can remedy that! If you want to know about my various footprints and networks on the web, it’s all at SteveWoodruff.com.

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More Twitter followers? Forget about it! Good tips from Lisa Hoffman.

50 ways to increase your blog subscribers. Wow – I need a 53-week year!! From Daniel Scocco.

David Meerman Scott on that pesky ROI-of-social-media question from the boss.

From those Duct Tape Marketing folks – a fine (free!) download. The beginner’s guide to Using Twitter for Business. Thanks, John Jantsch! Plus, here’s an article from ComputerWorld on tapping Twitter for business use.

Are you keeping up on the unfolding series of podcasts with Age of Conversation 2 authors? Here’s the spot to go for these meaty audio nuggets!

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Louis Gray gives us 30 uses for RSS. Who’da thunk it? I just kinda thought you drop it into a feed reader and you’re done…

How to Pick up Followers on Twitter, from the guy who should know, Guy Kawasaki. Tip 2 highlights a pretty funny neologism; Tip 4 is  something I don’t necessarily agree with but everyone has their own practice…Good stuff!

Your blog is your resume. From Joseph Jaffe. I agree. Our aggregated on-line profiles (LinkedIn, Facebook, blog, other stuff) will increasingly be the portrait others look at to figure out who we really are. So don’t be fauxthentic! See this related article from Krista Canfield over at the LinkedIn blog, about using LinkedIn to find your next job. And, Mario Sundar gives a very important tip about being findable via LinkedIn.

Choosing Social Media Platforms that work for you. Good stuff here from Des Walsh, with important link to B.L. Ochman’s post about Twitter.

Thanks for Following…Now Click on my Junk. A funny perspective from Amber Naslund.

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Instead of the usual roundup of top social media posts for the morning, let’s just have some fun today.

Beautiful bridges – some of these are truly spectacular – list of 10 with pix, list of 18 with pix (some overlap, but not that much). This is one of the coolest shots of the Golden Gate bridge I’ve ever seen.

Very, very cool microscopic images from medical research. 15 amazing ones!

What does a collage of 36 days of the New York City sky look like? Actually, pretty cool!

This photo asks the only appropriate question – Why?

The best finishes in college sports history. Five videos. Full cup of coffee or lunch-at-desk required!

Great wines for under 15 bucks.

Want a free and full resource for finding quotes? Here it is: QuotesDaddy.

:: PLUS, 2 posts from the personal blogs of bloggers you know:

Punk’d, by Ann Handley (blog: A n n a r c h y).

The Thrill of Victory, by yours truly (blog: Steve’s Leaves).

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Twouble

I’m thinking this might be an indication of a serious disorder. My Eye, Ear, Finger and Keyboard doctor has diagnosed me with TWINJE – TWeeting In NJ Excessively.

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Hey! Do you think we’re stupid? Drew McLellan‘s just askin’…

Why Start a Blog and 25 Tips to make it work. From the esteemed Valeria Maltoni. Great stuff here!

Ann Handley takes off on 5 in the Morning, with a 9 in the Morning! And these are some great posts…check them out!

Straight from the Web Success Diva herself, Defining your Business Goals in Social Media. Ripe thoughts here – definitely see what Maria Reyes-McDavis has to say.

From the Idea Sandbox – Create Customer Excitement with Traditions.

FRIDAY BONUS: A quick and timely reminder, from the camera of David Armano (while you’re there, check out this lovely shot also).

Oh, and on a positive note – Lego provides a great customer service story. Close to home, for us. Way to go, Lego!

A Boy and his Legos

It was his 7th birthday, and his heart was set on a particular Lego set. You know – one of the pretty big boxes with an elaborate outer-space thingamajig and lots and lots of pieces.

Except when he opened up, there weren’t lots and lots of pieces. Only lots – even though the box was properly sealed, many of the bags of pieces were missing. Worse – this was the last set in the store where it was purchased.

When things go wrong, this boy’s Mom is not afraid to call a company to give them a chance to make things right. And so she called Lego. And lo and behold, a few days later, a box arrived with an entire new set – with lots and lots of pieces.

Boy – happy. Mom – happy. Dad – happy to share a good customer service story. Way to go, Lego!

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“Income Security” – an interesting thought from Jason Alba (he of Jibber Jobber fame). What do you think? Oh, and part 2 is now up, with a bunch of good input from the clowd. (the virtual crowd, the cloud, get it? Never mind…)

You DO know about Mack Collier’s “Viral Garden Top 25 Marketing and Social Media Blogs” – right? If you don’t, go there NOW and find out where lots of the cool blog readers hang out.

Facebook, and Obama’s success. Some numbers shared by Louis Gray.

Into Logo design? The you probably want to check out LogoDesignLove. Just sayin’…

Interested in SMR (Social Media Releases)? Of course you are! And so is Todd Defren. So find out from him if they work…

BONUS – Way to LIght up Your Booth. What was the most creative booth promotion I saw at Ad-Tech this week? You might be very surprised…

PLUS – Want an insanely complete start page portal? Check this beastie out!

HEY! Have you found – or written – a Five-worthy post? Feel free to suggest entries for the next day’s Five in the Morning (stevew at stickyfigure dot com) or DM me via Twitter (@swoodruff)

Way to Light up your Booth!

I was at Ad-Tech NY this week, where I indulged one of my favorite pastimes – wandering the exhibit area to see who had a remarkable booth design, or marketing campaign, or giveaway.

I wasn’t too inspired, frankly – that is, until I came upon the Elite Commission booth. Rubbing my eyes in disbelief, I saw – yes, right there on the exhibit floor – two guys hand-rolling cigars with tobacco leaf, and giving them out! And sure enough, they had an audience.

This was incredibly effective because:

1. It had the “circus sideshow” effect – come see this bizarre act! Excellent way to stop people drifting by, and great word-of-mouth impact.

2. It was unique and remarkable. No-one else was giving away cigars, let alone letting you watch them getting made.

3. There was an enduring element. In the giveaway packet was a logo-fied lighter and cigar-cutter.

Brilliant. I came back the next day for another one (yes, I love marketing swag). And, even though I don’t have a need for Elite Commission as a provider, they’ve just gotten some free advertising. Because out of the hundreds of companies there, they were the most creative. And that is marketing that smokes!

Ad-Tech AWOL

Was planning to be at Ad-Tech NY again, live-blogging. Unfortunately, I’ve had a laptop malfunction (the keyboard may be permanently on the fritz) and so I can’t follow through on my plans to do another day of “reporting.” Sorry about that – technology happens!

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It’s over. And I’ll bet a lot of folks aren’t getting up anywhere close to 5 in the morning!

Truth be told, I wasn’t up then either. Closer to 6 am. But here are your 5 fresh posts to start the day…

MarketingShift brings us two interesting lessons. British Airways finds out about the power of social networking (and not in a good way). And, by seeking to “do good” with free election day giveaways, did some companies “do wrong”? Didn’t see this one coming…(I did get a free cup of Starbucks yesterday…does that make me and a few million others accessories to a felony?)

Rohit Bhargava gives us a nice visual on how one Obama branding strategy was quite effective. I agree with him, though I am usually more of a branding/logo “purist” – what do you think?

Rick Turoczy drinks some Juice. Have you tried it yet? I plan to!

Seth Godin summarizes some interesting marketing lessons (yes, with “tribe” angles) from the U.S. election.

The speed of Twitter. An interesting example from Mack Collier, along with a link to a good post from Mike Sansone.

PLUS: The power of a simple graphic. Really neat. From Todd And’s blog.