TRUE Tapas

This is an OPEN INVITATION to ALL of my friends, colleagues and extended network!

(please read all of this post…  kinda long, but VERY important.)

I wanted to make sure I invited all of you to this amazing event, the 2012 Business Growth Summit coming up on the 31st of January!

It’s put on by a group started by some associates and myself about 2 months ago called Above The Line America. We’re a networking group like no other - (no fees, no forced referrals, no stupid clapping - unless you feel like clapping…  :) ).

Above The Line America is focused on building and supporting community first and fostering “Above The Line” business relationships second. It’s geared to bring like-minded leaders and business owners together to change the conversation from “below the line” (blame, denial and irresponsibility) back “Above The Line” (Accountability, Ownership, Respect).

The event is an ALL DAY Business Summit, focused on YOUR business and connecting you with some of the most innovative thought leaders in business and emerging business today.

        Tony Brigmon (formerly with Southwest Airlines)
        Geoff Wood (Silicon Prairie News)
        Jordan Lampe (Dwolla)
        Major Sean Quinlan (US Marines Bronze Star recipient)
        Angela Maiers (Maiers Education Services) and more!

Learn the process and allow yourself to Dream, Set Goals, Make Plans, and Take Action! Leave the day armed with your overall 2012 Plan and next steps for the first 90 days. Have FUN and connect with 400 of your AboveTheLineAmerica™ partners for success! Eat, drink, plan and CONNECT with the BEST and BRIGHTEST in Business!

Let’s get this out of the way…  1/2 PRICE TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE. GO TO REGISTER AND USE THE DISCOUNT CODE “VIP.” (no quotes, of course)

I know this invitation doesn’t give much time to decide and some of you may not be in Des Moines, Iowa for the 31st, but I wanted to send out invites to everyone I thought would be able to get value from this amazing event. 

If you can’t attend, PLEASE let me know your thoughts and if you’d be willing to attend another event like this on a regularly scheduled basis. And if you know of someone that SHOULD attend that I haven’t reached, PLEASE forward this on to them!

This is a group and an event that is VERY close to my heart. If you can attend, or are interested in Above The Line America membership (go to www.abovethelineamerica.com for more info on that), I’d be MORE than happy to welcome you with OPEN ARMS!

Thanks for your time!

Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

Yep, it’s the obligatory, “End of the year” post, not for my business and not to help with SEO and not to gain market share, though. I want to close 2011 with a huge THANK YOU to those that have graced my life and are the root of my “success.”

Thank you for gracing my profession:

To all of my co-workers and contractors of whom without, I would be a sad, sad man in the cold, dark, dank basement of my home. You have been the power to my engine and the inspiration for my ability to fearlessly say “Yes, WE can do that.”

Names that are included (but not limited to):

Sharon L. Clark ( @sharclark36 )

Gabrielle Gribble ( @gabrigirl )

Haley Meckstroth ( @HaleyJ )

Anastasia Taber

Doug Mitchell ( @Mitchgroup ) of Secret School Of Business and PCCentral

Joe Soto ( @JosephSoto ) and Barb Osier ( @BarbOsier ) of One Social Media

Chris Seiberling ( @ChrisWithETC ) of ETC! Graphics

Angela Maiers ( @AngelaMaiers )

Brent Williams ( @1BrentWilliams )

Natalie Spitzig and Greg Thompson

Kyle McCullough ( @IowaWebGuy ) of HostIowa.net

To the CreateWOW customers, needless to say you make it possible for me to live. Not only by paying for CreateWOW services, but by the willingness to let me vocalize your brands, your visions and your passions as my own. I have been blessed to have found myself in a career where I GET to be creative for you every day. That alone, is worth so much (but please keep paying …) :)  I can’t wait to see how 2012 evolves.

Thank you for gracing my passions:

This year, besides being the first “Whole year” for CreateWOWmarketing, has seen some amazing milestones, beginnings are changes in the ventures that I focus my “extra curricular” attention on. Some are silly whims of creative fancy, while others have touched my heart and opened my desire to be a leader and mentor like no other. Below are the passions I have been blessed with and communities of which I’m honored to take part:

Meals from the Heartland

You Matter

Above The Line America

Another 100 Pages (coming 2012)

TheBrandChef (of course, where this all began)

Thank you for gracing my heart:

2011, like not other year has been a testament to the love I share with my family and my friends. I am continually amazed at the love I receive from my wife and children as well as the support they give me in all of the crazy endeavors I take them through. Every breath I take because you give me life.

And for the first time ever, my wife Sharon and I share office space at CreateWOW (see Sharon Clark, above).  Her innate intelligence and passion for people continually amazes me and I know her contributions at WOW will continue to grow and flourish with every leap and bound we make together. Some can do it. Others wouldn’t think of it. But I’m thrilled to be working every day with my best friend.

And to all of my friends new and not-so-new, some of you listed above. I look forward to making 2012 a HUGE success and changing the world with you. I never realized how rewarding a true community of compassionate, driven individuals could feel until I was in your midst. You make it easy(er) to get out of bed and face the challenges of each and every day.

And to those I have yet to meet, understand that because of the people and what is written above, this man is no longer not afraid to be in your presence. I embrace your character, I encourage your thoughts and I look forward to the day when I can call YOU my friend.

Without grace such as this, I coud not exist.

Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

When it comes to SOCIAL media, I’m often asked by cutomers and peers alike “What can I do to really manage my brand’s reputation through social media?”

(Yes, somewhat a redundant question, but I’ll get to that in another post…)

Well, a lot of that answer depends on the circumstances in which your “reputation” finds itself.  In the case below, I had a conversation about a peer’s client wanting “Edit” reviews on FourSquare… Hmmmmm

As always, I try to keep my advice “Above The Line” and beneficial to all parties, but the implications of what the client wanted to do seemed pretty drastic…

This is how it all went down:

Original Email:

Andrew:
Have to ask you a question. I just had a client tell me that if you “claim” your location on Foursquare, you can remove unsavory reviews from a user…has something changed that you know of with Foursquare that enables that function? I “claim” the location and can manage all the check-in specials, but certainly can’t access that edit function at all.

What the hell?

My “PC” Response:

No, you’re not crazy…  at least when it comes to the whole FourSquare thing…  :)
 
From what I can tell, you can add / edit campaigns and specials and even add comments and “to Do” items on Foursquare, but to edit or delete negative comments on your account would be …  well …  unsavory in itself…  I don’t know of any geo location marketing service (DexKnows, YellowBook, etc.) that will allow the editing or deletion of submitted content by users.
 
I advise clients to respond to any possible negative comments with a positive clarification of details or an offer to make amends. Once that has been done, ask the critic to append or add a new review stating “All is good in the world.” If the request goes un answered, at least future viewers will see that the client made an effort to serve the customer (if it is a customer) in a positive way.
 
Such is the life of SOCIAL media marketing.  :)
 
Mind if I use this email as a post / case study in my blog?

Of course, she approved…

Ethical business practices aside, if you COULD go in and censor posts about your company, would you in favor of better reviews? Certainly the desire is there, but what happens when “Disgruntled customer X” sees his comment was deleted?  Would you be in line for a hailstorm of negativity then? Where would it stop?

Where I work (shameless plug), we use an array of Social Media Monitoring tools to assure our clients that they are being kept “On Top Of” any brand mentions, discussions, tweets, articles, etc… but when it comes to managing those remarks, where is the line drawn?

So, what do you do to help clients manage their brands and reputations in social media?

Food for thought…

Keep Cooking,
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

YEP, I said it, “WordPress has Balls.”  Well, at least int he sense that they are in the season and monetizing on their geekery and popularity with the tech crowd.

Now, to have this posted on Tumble is a bit of a no-no, since WordPress and Tumbler are two separate blogging platforms, but in the long run, aren’t we all geeks of a feather?

I’m off to buy me some balls.  I hope you all have a happy holiday season and share the love with those you care for the most.

Keep Cookin’!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef