I wrote here about the secret to a great client relationship (hint: it’s about how you communicate). Now I want to talk about a related issue: understanding how your audience is listening.

For example:

• Have you ever had someone say, “Well, I tweeted about that”?
  Okay, but I didn’t see your random tweet at a random-to-me time in a sea of tweets from the 500+ people I’m following.

• Have you ever had someone tell you they posted the event to their LinkedIn Group?
  Great, except I get a weekly digest and your event was three days ago.

• Have you ever had multiple people send you Facebook notifications for the same event, even though you’re on the organization’s distribution list and so have obviously received at least one event invitation (and possibly signed up already)?
  Gee, now you’re spamming me.

Here’s the problem: When you do this, you’re making assumptions about my behavior and how I use various social media channels. Get it right, and we’re cool. Get it wrong, and your message is lost. You become irrelevant. Or worse, I unfollow, unlink, or unfriend you.

Whether you’re asking directly, monitoring online behavior, or accessing analytics, it’s important to understand how people consume information.

What strategies do you use to understand how your audience is listening?

Note: This post originally appeared on IABC’s Communication World blog.

Photo by cogdogblog (Flickr).

©2010 Independent Thinking. All Rights Reserved.

Have you ever wished you could skim through a video post?

I have a secret. I don’t like watching videos. Send me a link to a 5,000-word article and I’ll dive in. But send me a video link and odds are high I’ll click it off in a few seconds.

There are some notable exceptions. Videocasts that break out the discussion into timed segments are okay, because I can move to exactly what I’m most interested in. Chris Brogan‘s force of personality occasionally lures me to watch him–but only when the video posts are short. And Ike Pigott has a wonderful series of 12-second videos that speak to the audience and give you that hmm moment that spurs further discussion.

For the most part, however, I’ll stick to print. Written posts put me in charge–of my time, and how I consume the information.

What about you? I’d love to hear why you do–or don’t–like videoblogging.

©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.

A lot of companies are enamored with social media and looking for new ways to interact with their customers. Comcast, for example, boasts about its Twitter presence. But what happens when you phone customer service? I shouldn’t have to call the CEO’s office in Philadelphia to get a service issue resolved.

Another case in point: Carefirst BlueCross BlueShield. It took me four minutes of voice mail hell to get through to a live person this morning–for a customer service call that lasted less than one minute. And half of that time was me pointing out politely to the rep. that their voice mail system is abysmal.

Customer service has to start with how customers connect to you. All the social media tools in the world are worthless if you neglect the basics.

©2010 Independent Thinking. All Rights Reserved.

Google’s new browser proves the power of the brand: it has received instant attention and was in short-order downloaded over one million times. Plus the blogosphere’s been buzzing with a mix of browser reviews and discussions about Google’s business strategy.

But is Chrome a good browser? It installs and loads quickly, but there’s nothing there to give me that WOW factor. But maybe that doesn’t matter–at least for now. Google’s accomplished key business goals already with Chrome: 1) media attention; 2) user interest; 3) a new platform for innovation for both Google products and other applications. That seems like a pretty good week to me.

©2010 Independent Thinking. All Rights Reserved.

The Washington Post published a very interesting pair of word clouds recently of the McCain and Obama campaign blogs. The visualizations are stark — both campaigns talk about Obama a lot, McCain little (his blog) or not at all (Obama’s blog).

Visualizations can be a powerful tool for getting your message out and making sure you’re getting the right message out. And word clouds are just the start. Check out these 10 great data visualization tools.

©2010 Independent Thinking. All Rights Reserved.

Business Week’s Heather Green has a very interesting Blogspotting post on the strategy behind the “leaked” Steve Jobs memo about the underwhelming customer reaction to Apple’s new MobileMe application. She writes:

By doing this through an internal email he gets to control the perception of how Apple is dealing with the issue, rather than opening himself up to any pesky follow-up comments or reporters’ questions if he did this on a blog or through a news interview.

A smart communications strategy indeed.

©2010 Independent Thinking. All Rights Reserved.

Whether or not you like Barrack Obama, you’ve got to love the way he and his team manage their communications strategy. Every communication is on message, from his speeches to the daily e-mails to supporters. The Obama campaign operates with a discipline that’s difficult to achieve and rarely seen in the marketplace, the boardroom, or the campaign trail. It’s a communications strategist’s dream to have a client stay so focused. It’s short. Sweet. Perfect harmony.

©2010 Independent Thinking. All Rights Reserved.