Jeffrey Rosen has a terrific, thought-provoking article in last week’s New York Times Magazine about the end of privacy in our new digital era. In it, he writes:

We are only beginning to understand the costs of an age in which so much of what we say, and of what others say about us, goes into our permanent—and public—digital files. The fact that the Internet never seems to forget is threatening, at an almost existential level, our ability to control our identities; to preserve the option of reinventing ourselves and starting anew; to overcome our checkered pasts…

The truth is that, for a great many people, the permanent memory bank of the Web increasingly means there are no second chances—no opportunities to escape a scarlet letter in your digital past. Now the worst thing you’ve done is often the first thing everyone knows about you.

Rosen looks at the implications of this digital identify and explores potential legal and technological solutions to help us manage and protect our reputations. The article is long–but it is well worth taking the time to read.

Hat tip to Tim Taylor for alerting me to this one.

Photo by graphia (Flickr).

©2010 Independent Thinking. All Rights Reserved.

I’ve talked before about how picking up the phone is a key component to customer service. But that’s really only the starting point for building customer loyalty.

If you’re lucky, your best customers are evangelists for your brand. Here are four ways to earn that loyalty:

1. Be the solution. OneWorldHosting gets that most small business owners don’t just want a place to park their Web sites. We want (and need) tech support. So when a recent service upgrade messed up access first to my WordPress dashboard and then later to my ability to upload blog photos, I could make a call and get the problems solved.

RNJ Sports is another example. While lots of stores sell running shoes, RNJ sells peace of mind. I know that after watching me walk and run that they’ll recommend a shoe that will decrease the likelihood of injuries ranging from shin splints to hip pain.

2. Make it easy. Is it easy for customers to connect with you? I’m not talking about social media per se, just whether you’re socially accessible. If I have to jump through hoops to find someone who can talk with me, I’m going somewhere else. Companies that that have made it easy for me include Eddie Bauer, Dell, and (usually) Verizon.

3. Value me. I’m very loyal to my local GNC store because the owner knows me, remembers what I purchase, and chats with me when I stop by. Ditto for my local Robeks franchise, where the owner and employees know my name.

4. Be remarkable. You don’t have to be Zappos to wow your customers. When I mentioned to Lee Watts that I’d backed off slightly on my workouts because of ligament pain in my left tricep, he cleared time on his schedule that morning to bring me into his studio to tweak my routine. This is a guy who primarily trains elite athletes, but he  made time for me. Not only does this go to #3, but he also created a wow moment.

What is your business doing to get talked about today?

Photo by PD Breen (Flickr).

©2010 Independent Thinking. All Rights Reserved.

Mike Greenberg said on ESPN Radio this morning that “you need to separate the decision from how it was done.” (He was talking, of course, about LeBron James.)

He’s absolutely right.

My friend Justin Goldsborough has a terrific post on James, Joe Mauer, and brand legacies in sports. His key point:

If he was still hoping to be the biggest brand in the world or the biggest brand ever, that chance is gone. In fact, he won’t even be the biggest brand in Miami. That’s Dwayne Wade’s team.

I agree, but I think–disappointment in Cleveland aside–we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that James made a business decision. And it was a fascinating one.

1. We’ve known for several years that James, Wade, and several top NBA players took shorter deals in the past in order to time their arrivals on the free agency market. It was a (then) subtle way to level the playing field a bit in a sports world dominated by team owners.

2. One man cannot be responsible for the economic well-being of an entire city. I’m very sympathetic to the people of Cleveland, especially the small business owners who have benefited from great pre-game crowds. But let’s step back and recognize that a business model dependent on one person, one client, or one product being an unending success is a bad business model.

3. One player cannot be responsible for an entire franchise. Plus Dan Gilbert’s classless response on losing his star player tells me he’s the last person I’d want to work for.

4. James is taking less money to work with people he likes and admires. (While we don’t know yet what he’ll earn in Miami, there’s no question it will be far less than the max contract he’d have had in Cleveland.) Isn’t this the type of decision we’d typically be applauding?

What do you think?

Photo by David Shankbone (Flickr).

©2010 Independent Thinking. All Rights Reserved.

Often, it’s the unsung employee that can make or break your brand. Especially on days when everything is just a little off kilter.

I popped into my neighborhood Staples recently at the end of a very long day to get something printed out. Standing by the copy counter waiting, I observed three customer interactions:

• A man staring at the cheap plastic bowl holding a ballpoint pen collection asks where he can buy the bowl. He’s on his way to a networking event, and he needs something to hold company giveaway pens. The copy guy tells him to just take it, adding that “if anyone asks, I’ll tell them someone stole it and I was too lazy to run after them.”
• A woman walks in with her dog and says, “Dogs are allowed, right?” “They are now,” replies the copy guy.
• A customer asks to talk to the manager. The copy guy pages him: “Customer connection at the copy center.” I observe that it sounds like they’re auditioning for the dating game.

It’s been a week, and I’m still smiling (and telling people) about my wacky customer experience in that one store.

What customer interactions are you creating?

Photo by Migraine Chick (Flickr).

©2010 Independent Thinking. All Rights Reserved.

Have you see the Windows 7 Was My Idea ads?

The concept is great because it strengthens the “I’m a PC” tag that did a good job at humanizing the Microsoft brand. Plus any ad that has people envisioning themselves as hunks makes me smile.

But there’s another reason they work: because Windows 7 is user-friendly. It’s the first version of the operating system that seamlessly transfers all your files–and keeps your settings and accounts intact. I know, because I went through setting up my new computer just weeks ago. And best of all: Windows 7 recognizes existing local networks, so that all I needed to do was put in my password (at the prompt) during the initial set-up phase and I was online with no business interruption.

Now I’m a PC, and that was my idea.

©2010 Independent Thinking. All Rights Reserved.

Google’s announcement that it would stop censoring search results in China is huge news–and smart strategy.

In exploring the background, the Financial Times reported:

Google argued internally that while censoring was an unpalatable compromise, it would at least make it possible to open up more of the Web to Chinese Internet users. But the decision was unpopular with many members of Google’s rank and file and never sat comfortably in particular with co-founder Sergey Brin, whose own family’s hardships in the former Soviet Union had heightened his sensitivity to human rights issues.

While causing internal angst–and leading to frequent debates about whether or not to pull out–the Chinese compromise has not helped Google to gain the sort of position inside China that it enjoys in many markets around the world.

Google’s decision might get the company kicked out of the Chinese market. But it seems likely that Google is poised to reap huge reputational gains globally from taking a principled stand. Given a choice to do business with Google or Yahoo (whose actions in handing over e-mails to the Chinese government helped put a leading Chinese dissident in prison for 10 years), for example, which one would you choose?

Update: Umair Haque has a terrific post about Google, China, and the fact that “an ethical edge just might be the ultimate cause of advantage… It’s a radical new definition of ‘advantage’ that blows past the stale, tired idea of competitive advantage.”

©2010 Independent Thinking. All Rights Reserved.

We’re getting to that time of year when holiday cards start rolling in. And every year I notice the same thing: lots of cards, very little personalization. Sometimes it’s a generic “Seasons Greetings” e-mail blind copied to who knows how many people (no effort); others send paper cards with no note and often not even a signature (marginal time expenditure in running off address labels). If you’re thinking about doing this: DON’T.

©2010 Independent Thinking. All Rights Reserved.

Like many people, I was impressed yesterday by how effectively the Obama transition team had worked behind the scenes to rebrand the U.S. government. By 12:02 p.m., the first tweets were showing up alerting people that whitehouse.gov now belonged to the new president.

I realize that every new adminstration, like a corporation after a merger, moves quickly to slap its name up on the door. But the Obama team has already gone one step further by setting up a blog, identifying the White House’s director of new media (Macon Phillips), and creating an opportunity for ordinary Americans to provide feedback.

Time will tell how effective President Obama and his team will be in creating a truly participatory process. Governing isn’t easy, and the mechanics of government can, at times, be unwieldy. On his Innovation Insights blog, Scott Anthony offers three lessons from the corporate world to guide government transformation: 1) you can’t just get better at what you’re already doing; 2) start small; and 3) invest in human capital.

In his inaugural address, the president said that the question “is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works.” If he can successfully harness 21st century tools to bring more voices to the fore, and to incorporate into policy our collective views, expertise, and experience, our nation will surely be better for it.

©2010 Independent Thinking. All Rights Reserved.

Making tough business decisions is … tough. But you can protect your brand and mitigate the impact of your decisions if you can define your reasons and present a cogent argument.

Colin Powell did this in making the case for his endorsement of Barack Obama, says leadership consultant John Baldoni in a recent blog post. Baldoni argues that Powell’s approach offers a guideline for business leaders:

1. describe the big picture
2. make the case
3. declare the moral imperative
4. look to the future
5. play nice to the other side

Read Baldoni’s post here.

©2010 Independent Thinking. All Rights Reserved.

It’s clear that more and more people are going online, and that companies and the consultants that advise them are using social media tools to recruit, network, market, sell, build brand reputation, and more. But not everyone is online.  That doesn’t mean you can’t use social media tools to reach them.

Check out ReadWriteWeb lead blogger Marshall Kirkpatrick’s list of five strategies for using social media to reach people who still think that Digg is something dogs do and that Delicious is just an adjective.

©2010 Independent Thinking. All Rights Reserved.