I’m not talking about the newsletters from magazines that promise 847 NEW ways to please your partner/fake great abs & cook meatloaf all while spending quality time with your kids, but rather sanctioned corporate communications from corporations or organizations.  Instead of keeping to their formerly professional tones, they seem to erroneously believe that by adapting an overly familiar bordering on smarmy tone peppered with awkward pop culture references, they’ll seem more hip and relevant.

I say ugh.

Don’t get me wrong, part of my personal brand includes frequently dropping my professional tone, regularly referencing pop culture and being fairly chatty with all of you – but that isn’t mutable simply because I seek to cash in on a trend. After years in my field(s) I understand which parts of my professional personality attract readers and/or retains clients.  Or at least that’s been my experience until now.  To keep relevant, I regularly evaluate my personal & professional brands & tweak as necessary.

But that’s what works for me- that doesn’t mean it works for my accountant or bank manager.  In fact, adapting the wrong tone can alienate people and make it hard for them to take you seriously when you segue to serious topics.

For that reason, before you hit send on the next e-mail in which you declare yourself the undisputed king of Social Media consider this:

1. Betty White & Lady Gaga are equally hot on the pop culture spectrum these days. Know which reference suits your demographic.
2. You can be funny on your own time.  If your career of choice requires serious behavior, you’ll need to find another outlet to display your fluency in Klingon.
3. Not every company has to appeal to the 21 and under set.  Tailoring your tweets to appeal to a demographic that doesn’t suit your product or messaging only serves to makes you universally irrelevant.

Rachel, who would rather be Betty White than Betty Draper

Like what you’ve read? Need a marketing expert, opinion column, pop culture comment, fun speaker or snappy sound bite? rachelblogs@gmail.com

I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the more popular blogs and methods of attracting readers/commenters. Similar to the old school web 1.0 methods of inflating visits through page refreshes (still widely used) and other html tricks of the trade, many bloggers seem to be most interested in upping their visitor numbers if not necessarily the quality of visitors.

A friend once invited me to join an online group which existed solely to have bloggers visit each other’s blogs and comment on each other’s posts thereby driving traffic, raising per view ad rates and conveying the impression of immense blog popularity. Like the friend trains on Twitter or the mass friending on Facebook, it doesn’t just feel artificial to me, it feels counterintuitive in the long run. I’ve always been a quality over quantity person and politely declined.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s something to be said for mass popularity, but as someone who for all intents and purposes manufactures hype for a living, I tend to question any over the top fads and seek out authenticity.  And yes, I fully appreciate the irony of that statement.

It occurs to me that I’ve had this blog going for just over a year, after leaving its earlier precursors to fade into an ignoble and mostly forgotten past. For me at least, my blog is a way of sharing thoughts that might not make it to articles I write and offers a venue for commenting on popular events in marketing or pop culture.  I’m not an obsessive blogger to say the least, nor am I using this platform as a venue for a hoped for next book deal or to raise advertising revenue.  What I am doing consciously though, is putting myself out there on another level and as a communicator, a business owner and someone who is not only knowledgeable about popular and social issues, but one who can articulate her thoughts clearly or challenge popular perceptions.  I’ve repeatedly told colleagues that if only one client went from maybe to yes after reading one of my posts, my blog has served its purpose.

What fascinates me the most about this blog is the quality and level of interaction.  While I doubt that I’ll ever boast 100+ comments a day, I do receive a steady stream of comments on other networks (i.e. Facebook, Twitter and the like) and a welcome daily dose of e-mail from people who feel empowered or comfortable enough to connect with me directly to discuss, argue or seek out my professional counsel.

My point being, there’s more to blogging than pages full of comments or hundreds of thousands of visitors- both are nice, but not necessarily the only measure of your blogging success.  Too many people don’t think about the potential to alienate or annoy their prospective audiences with too many requests for comments, invitations to join inane fan clubs and more.  If we like you, we’ll probably find you and if your work speaks to us- we’ll probably keep coming back for more.

Rachel, who is grateful to each and every one of you who keeps coming back for more

Blame it on the endless gray weather or pretty oppressive workload, but I’m feeling a bit burned out, which is kind of scary since my default setting is annoyingly perky.

I have no words of wisdom to offer on the subject, other than directing you to this past Sunday’s Career Couch column in the New York Times.

When Stress Flirts With Burnout was written by one of my favorite business writers Eilene Zimmerman and quotes one of my favorite sisters Rebecca “Kiki” Weingarten, (okay. my only sister, but still my favorite sister) an executive coach and extremely smart cookie. Read it, you’ll learn something- I did.

Rachel, who is too burned out to think of an amusing sign off

I know that I’m constantly studying new software releases trying to find the one bit of complicated code that will simplify my day to day work life.  I’m embarrassed to think about how many trial versions of software I’ve downloaded after reading someone’s raves about Service X, which is generally followed by my own- Why?  Come to think of it, I’m also more than a bit remorseful thinking about how much money I’ve shelled out over the years on applications  which almost always turn out to be a bust.

Based on the search terms that bring many of you to this blog, I can tell that you’re searching for your own holy grail of business secrets and tools, so I’ll share one of my own. Hands down, the best money I spend year after year on my own business is…

(cue drumroll)

A spiral bound desk college calendar/planner.

It’s far from fancy, it’s about as low tech as it comes, unlike professional planners there’s a lot more wiggle room for customization- and best yet there are stickers!

Seriously though, in addition to the myriad aps that clutter my mental work space, I’ve found this to be my best tool for:

• Keeping track of appointments – and being able to easily refer to them year after year
• Keeping track of holidays in our country and overseas – which suddenly reminds me of the huge bash we once planned which coincided with Ash Wednesday. Luckily our observant Catholic clients and friends were forgiving of our faux pas and looked rather mysterious if somewhat smudgy in the photos.
• Easily analyzing the trajectory of a project or professional relationship.  Hey, if it goes from a weekly lunch to a twice a year phone call, you know it’s time for some serious client hand holding
• Vacation time, mental health days or lack thereof – ’nuff said
• How much time you really spend on sneaky projects – you’d be amazed at how many short phone calls can clutter up an otherwise productive day
• Documentation – we all hope that it never comes to it, but sometimes in business an e-mail trail is necessary.  It’s also great to have short notes of contact and communication to back you up as well.

The list goes on, but for about $15.00 a year, I can’t think of a better tool to keep track of my professional life.  And did I mention that there are stickers?

Rachel, who knows for a fact that on Sunday they’ll be celebrating Father’s Day in New Zealand.

Like what you’ve read? Need a business productivity column, fun speaker or snappy sound bite? write to me at rachelblogs@gmail.com

In NYC, and in many big cities where much business is discussed over lunch, there seems to be the fairly standard expectation that first time plans never take. In fact, there’s generally a lunch or cocktail pas de deux in which people make up to meet and then once cancels.  They reschedule and then the other cancels. Sometimes this can go on for weeks or months but generally all ends well with a face to face catch up and promises to meet and greet and eat again post haste.

This afternoon I had plans for a business lunch with someone I’m quite eager to meet.  We’d gone through the requisite plan/cancel/reschedule and settled on today.  Only a late summer cold seems to have gotten the last word and instead of being raring to go, I’m ready for bed.

I was faced with a dilemma, did I go ahead with our plans and then cough and sniffle my way through a great opportunity, or would it be preferable to reschedule yet again and risk annoying my colleague and potentially blowing an amazing opportunity?

I had a flashback to my first trip to Nashville a few years ago. The really inconsiderate person seated near me at a business dinner seemed to be suffering from some sort of respiratory plague. She insisted on shaking hands with everyone at the table, before coughing her way through every course.  Needless to say, I went home with not only great memories and inspiration, but a raging case of the flu.

Back to this morning.  I called my colleague and explained that while I was excited to meet her for lunch no matter how crummy I felt, I was far more concerned that she might catch my cold and left the decision with her.  I decided it was more important to risk mildly annoying someone by shifting plans yet again, than really annoying them by passing on this evil bug.

So far so good. We’ve scheduled a call for later today and a follow up lunch for later this week.

It can seem like such a small thing, but it’s far more considerate if not completely professional to cancel your plans and postpone making the right impression- than heading to a meeting, sharing your cold and making the wrong lasting impression.

Rachel, who promises to love you in sickness and in health

Like what you’ve read? Need a business etiquette column, fun speaker or snappy sound bite? write to me at rachelblogs@gmail.com

Cute, forced and so very Disney.

Visitors to the recently opened High Line park in NYC reported seeing seemingly unaware guests of the nearby Standard Hotel in various states of undress or engaged in acts best attended to behind closed doors (instead of in front of floor to ceiling windows).  Tourists snapped photos, local residents smirked or were appalled and just about everyone gawked or talked about the random acts of nudity.

According to a ‘friendly bellhop’ quoted in the NY Post, employees at the Andre Balazs owned hotel were encouraged to pose in front of the windows in various states of undress in the hopes of creating a buzz.  “One of the managers even got naked in a room, and filmed it — they were considering a live feed for the Web site,” the staffer said. “She’s an exhibitionist, too.”

No kidding.

It’s a great idea to want to show off your hotel’s great design, excellent amenities or covetable guest list.  It’s a pretty lousy idea though, to disrespect not only your employees, but also random tourists who might not want to be party to quite that level of exposure.  A stunt like this one also flirts with breaking the law in an incredibly smarmy fashion.

Whoever said if you’ve got it, flaunt it, probably didn’t intend for that to include the private parts of those on your payroll.

In the elusive and ongoing quest for buzz, it would seem that people have lost sight of the idea of creating something superior and allowing its reputation to speak for itself. I for one am incredibly tired of shameless PR stunts and aggressively over the top buzz generating tactics.  I’m much prefer seeing worthy companies or products embracing the slow burn method of marketing, rather than risk getting caught with their pants down.

Rachel, who promises never to bare all

Like what you’ve read? Need a timely pop culture opinion piece, fun speaker or snappy sound bite? Let’s connect – write to me at rachelblogs@gmail.com

There’s a lot of righteous anger and indignation in that post- and anyone who has ever been unfairly fired from a job by an incompetent boss will likely be cheering for Mr. Romero.  There’s also a point where the tale becomes awkward, uncomfortable and decidedly less coherent as it morphs into more of a vengeful screed.  The post rambles on  complete with increasingly disturbing accusations questioning not only Ms. Cosper’s ability as editor in chief, but on her mental health among other things.  At that point, I both stopped reading and fully sympathizing with Mr. Romero.

Some years back,a close friend unfairly lost his high profile job in city government.  His immediate inclination was to slink out with his tail between his legs and avoid all future contact with former co-workers.  Instead, I worked with him to craft a letter to his former colleagues, employees and managers (in this case highly placed government officials) thanking for them for their friendship over the years and most importantly highlighting his individual accomplishments during this time.  In this way, he was not only taking ownership of his successes and ensuring that unscrupulous colleagues could not lay claim to his work, but also leaving with his reputation intact and the door wide open for future employment possibilities.  It was a fairly audacious move for a self defined cog in government, but it worked better than expected and instead of his old 9 to 5 existence, he’s currently a highly paid consultant for his former employers’ employer.

While the instantaneous outreach of immediate media from FaceBook and blogs to the Twitterverse can make it tempting to publicly and unwisely rail against the fates and your current or former employer, it’s usually a better idea to first spend some time thinking about your priorities and your future.  In this case, it isn’t only the management of Entrepreneur magazine that comes across badly, but rather Mr. Romero himself.  Instead of strengthening his case he weakened not only his reputation, but his credibility and future viability in the workplace.

As Skittles candy learned earlier this year, it’s never wise to let others completely manage your brand and even dumber to be the one loudly and very publicly doing the most damage to your reputation.

Rachel, who wonders what comes next for all involved

Over four decades ago Volkswagen revolutionized both car making and the advertising industry with their exhortation to Think Small.   This call to action was the polar opposite of the common car ideal of the time which consisted of boat sized vehicles with bells, whistles and most notably- fins.

It isn’t just the car industry that’s going through intense growing pains these days.  Marketing, corporate & small business, B2B & B2C engagement needs to continue to embrace change and evolve to seem fresh, crispy and delicious again.

When considering the next big marketing idea, consider the micro-revolution as part of your overall and long term plan. The beauty is in the immediacy of interaction, feedback, results, revisions and brand evangelism by new converts.  Conversely, the pace has picked up on margin of error as well.

Rushing to Twitter and the 8,000 social networking sites that have popped up like mushrooms since last night seems de rigeur for consumer hungry brands.  It’s more prudent to create the right immediate presence than simply a boring or ill formed one.

I’ll leave you with three micro thoughts for today:

1. Micro-communities, micro-content & one on one engagement are marketing luxuries:  Don’t denigrate or take these new mediums for granted, respect what they offer while taking advantage of these new consumer conduits.
2. Quality is more important than ever: The right presence, followers, brand ideals and excellent customer service still make or break a brand- only now it can be at the speed of a tweet and sometimes in 140 characters or less.
3. Things will change: and when budgets once again become bloated it’s key to remember the micro-ideals that allowed for ongoing consumer engagement during even the toughest times.

Rachel who knows that big things frequently come in small (marketing) packages