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Personal Branding > Learn How to Brand Yourself at ClickZ Live NY

In 3 weeks time I’ll be in New York for ClickZ Live, the digital marketing conference programmed by digital marketers.

ClickZ Live New York

I’m teaming up with the fabulous Erin Zefkeles from Bing Ads to give an expo theater presentation:

Personal Branding – How to Stand Up and Stand Out as a Digital Marketer

The internet is not just crowded with brands vying for consumers’ attention at every turn, it’s jam packed with gurus, experts and aficionados who claim to be “AdWords Obsessed” or “Social Media Divas” who promote themselves as the thing you need to take your business to the next level through digital marketing. In this session, Mel Carson from Delightful Communications and Erin Zefkeles from Bing Ads, will explore why taking care of your personal brand is so very important in the digital age, and how you can position yourself as an authentic, educated and trustworthy source of advice to your clients and potential customers. There won’t be a whiff of snake oil, we promise!

The session will definitely be different by focusing on how individuals can enhance their personal brands through digital, and in turn help the brands they work for.

The ClickZ Live team are a valued client of Delightful’s, and Erin and I are grateful they’re so enthusiastic about letting us bring this kind of wisdom to their audience!

Learn more about how to register for the event here, follow ClickZ Live on Twitter for the scoop in the run up to this awesome event and do check out what Delightful offers in the way of personal branding services.

Do CEOs Get Digital Media? Here’s an Infographic That Tells You When They Do!

Spotted this from Gal Borenstein on The Hub Comms where, ahem, I write an article every couple of weeks.

Sums up a few of the ways I’ve been persuading CEOs and senior executives they need to be thinking.

It pains me when I get pushback from exec comms people who say, “he or she just doesn’t have time”!

We all make time to listen and learn and, in my opinion, industry leaders need to lead this understanding from the front.

Relying on trusted advisors is ok for detail, but not understanding the general landscape or being oblivious to the latest trends in your industry is corporate suicide, when those trends change daily!

Video: A Delightful T-Shirt Airbrushed by “Paint By a Girl”

One great thing about my wife still working at Microsoft, is the odd invite we get to a sumptuous party.

Just before Christmas, we went to her team’s holiday soiree at the Bellevue Art Museum where there were a number of funtivities going on as people mingled with wine and started winding down for the year.

Delightful T-Shirt

We made a beeline for the crew from Paint By a Girl who do all sorts of airbrush art and even create custom Ugg boots!

I handed over my business card with the Delightful logo on it, and this is what happened!

Home Depot Kids Workshops > Great Branding But Where’s The Social Activation?

We had the best Saturday morning this past weekend. My father-in-law suggested we take our daughter, Maggie, to the Home Depot Kids Workshop in West Seattle and we had a blast.

Home Depot Kids Workshop

Maggie is actually smiling in this photo!

The idea is that, for a few hours on a Saturday once a month, parents can take their children to their local Home Depot DIY store and make something cool using wood, real hammer and nails, glue and even get to paint their creation.

On Saturday they made a little desk calendar which used wooden blocks, and next month it’ll be a little racing car.

DIY Workshop for Kids

One of my new year resolutions is to really enjoy the small things in life, and this little outing was first on my appreciation list.

Not only did we have a fun morning, but it struck me what a genius marketing initiative this was to use creativity to get families into the store at no expense to them, have children start understanding the importance of woodwork, craft and DIY, and have them start seeing having a good time making things they can be proud of synonymous with the Home Depot brand. What was also apparent was the amount of families that then wandered off into the store to buy stuff, so they must make a few additional sales of the back of the program.

My only tiny grumble from a social point of view, was the lack of social activation. There was no hashtag on any of the collateral and I would have thought, given the rise in “sharenting”, that the store is missing a trick by not nudging proud parents to share their little ones’ creations on social channels.

Do you know of any initiatives like Home Depot’s that resonate like this? Let us know in the comments below.

Kmart “Ship My Trousers” Commercial Video Creates Jolly Good Christmas Cheer

Following on from their hilarious “Ship My Pants” video that has generated over 20 million views this year, US retailer Kmart has released a Christmas version using characters from Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” who talk about shipping their trousers!

As you can see from the link map from Majestic SEO below, the original ad was very popular in the UK and Europe, and I expect this version will see a similar pattern!

Majestic SEO Heat Map

Majestic SEO Heat Map – Click to Enlarge

Ship My Trousers Kmart

Great stuff from a store I have always associated with Dustin Hoffman’s underwear!

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Webinar: Beyond SEO – Loving Link Data for Social Media Digital PR and More

Some of you might know that one of my many Delightful hats is actually more of a crown.

A Majestic SEO crown.

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For over a year now, I’ve been lucky enough to act as Brand Ambassador for Majestic here in the USA, and speak at conferences about their incredible “big data” toolset.

My remit is to help broaden the audience for the brand and get other digital marketers enthused about getting smart with link data and using it for more than just SEO (search engine optimization).

I’ve done a couple of presentations this year and a couple of blog posts too about how best to use what Majestic has to offer, and on Friday 6th December at 9.30am PST (5.30pm GMT) I’ll be delivering a webinar on how businesses can use their tools for influencer discovery, digital PR and competitive analysis.

If you’re interested in hearing some top tips, feel free to register for FREE below:

Beyond SEO – Loving Link Data for Social Media Digital PR and More

If you know anyone in PR or social media that you think might benefit from a talk like this, please share this post!

Video: Coca Cola Brings India and Pakistan Together Through Exchange & Touch

Played this stunning video in a presentation I did last week for AXA Wealth at a gathering of their partner independent financial advisors last week.

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When trying to explain the power of digital and the necessity of businesses to really start infusing into every nook and cranny of their organisation, I often use extreme examples to provide an audience with inspiration.

I’m obviously not saying that the relationship between the IFA and consumer is as strained as that of India and Pakistan, but if you listen to some of the voice overs in the final minute, there are a number of keywords that mirror what consumers want from brands in this increasingly social and mobile age.

Take a look and let me know what the video says to you in the comments below.

Tweet A Coffee Launched by Starbucks – Send Your Friend Caffeine via Twitter

Starbucks have launched a cool new way to gift a friend a skinny latte via Tweet a Coffee.

This morning, I’d just sparked up my laptop and logged on Twitter to find a very clever surprise from my friend Kelley Myers.

Tweet a Coffee Starbucks

Kelley, who is a friend and former colleague from Microsoft who now works in digital marketing at Starbucks, is jolly generous (as well as smart), so I clicked on the link and kaboom:

Tweet a Coffee Starbucks

To set it up and Tweet a Coffee, you have to connect your Starbucks account with your Twitter account and Tweet.

Tweet a Coffee Starbucks

That’s it! Genius?

Love how more people are getting creative with Twitter.

What will we see next? Tweet a Pizza? Tweet a Hug? Tweet a Beer?

Might have to put a bigger order in for some of those Twitter shares!

Oh…..and thanks Kelley!

Pubcon 2013 >> Speaking on Brand Management Strategies

Next week is my birthday and I’ll be spending 4 nights in Las Vegas at Pubcon too!

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This must be about the 6th Pubcon conference I have attended and I’ll be there with Dixon Jones and the guys from MajesticSEO.

Brett Tabke, who founded the conference way back when, has kindly asked me to speak at a session on Thursday about online brand management. I’ll be focusing on digital PR and social media tactics and weaving a little bit about search too!.

They’re also letting me sign some of books with Barnes and Noble as well, so I’ll have an action-packed week.

If you’re going to be in sin city, drop by and say hello.

I’m looking forward to catching up with you all again!

How To Use Social Media For PR Tips & Best Practice from #SESSF

Social Media & Digital PR – A Marriage Made in Heaven #SESSF from Mel Carson
SES San Francisco was as awesome an event as ever, full of some of the best advice on search engine marketing, social media and digital advertising from thought leaders from all over the world.
I was speaking on the first day on Social Media and PR Best Practices in a session called The Marriage of Social Media and PR. It was great fun and the audience was very engaged. Lots of head-nodding and activity on Twitter.
The essence of my presentation was to show how digital had changed the landscape of how business does public relations, and that it’s all about putting the public back into PR and not focusing so solely on press.
According to Experian, we spend 27% of our time on social networks and just 2% on news sites, so optimizing your PR  content for social channels has become more and more important.
Take a look at the presentation, and if it resonates take a look at what Delightful can offer your business in the field of Digital PR.
I also encourage your to buy Lisa Buyer’s new book Social PR Secrets. She’s one smart lady!
Thanks for your time,
Mel

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