Three weeks after I posted this video, Chris Brogan posted this article, where he gives a quick, honest perspective on following, friending, and fanning. (Please note that his article was not in response to mine, nor is it any other way connected other than by the link in the previous sentence.)

In the post Brogan writes:

If I invite you to join the Facebook group for Trust Agents, it’s because I think you’ll get some value out of participating there. Say you join the group. If you now invite me to join your real estate company’s fan page after you’ve joined my book’s group, what should I do? Should I say yes because you said yes to me?

I’ve personally invited Chris to join me elsewhere online. Though he’s a friend on Facebook, he hasn’t joined me elsewhere. And so what? It’s his choice and his time — and every single one of us has the same finite amount of it to give.

Chris and I still connect on many platforms and on many levels as I’m sure thousands upon thousands do. Quite frankly I don’t know how he has the time — or makes it — but his enthusiasm and attitude are always inspiring.

We can’t take this stuff personally, or worse, make the person who didn’t join your group or become a fan feel awkward or at all uneasy about their choice. It is, after all, their choice — not yours.

What do you think?

A client told me about his suspicion regarding a competitor lifting copy from his site for their own web site. In about 20 seconds, his suspicion was confirmed.

Here’s how:

1. Go to your web site.
2. Select a section of text and copy it — two to three sentences should do* (see below for more).
3. Head to Google, paste the text into the search bar, and put quotes around it.
4. Hit search.

If you see only one result (yours), you’re golden. Move on. If you see more than one result, however, it’s likely someone’s been hijacking your copy — or, umm… the reverse may be true (in which case, cut it the heck out).

What some people may not realize is that duplicate content can hurt search ranking.

Check out this page on the Official Google Webmaster Central Blog for more detailed information on that. Want do something about it? Visit this page on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act where you can file a notice of infringement.

Original content these days is more valuable than ever. We all need to take advantage of the uniqueness of our personality and the uniqueness with which we express it.

Cherish it. Use it. And yes, profit from it.

*When selecting text from your site, be sure to copy enough original text — in other words, text and syntax created by you. For example, if I select and search Google for the first sentence of this paragraph “When selecting text from your site, be sure to copy enough original text — in other words, text and syntax created by you.”, you’ll see it only exists in one place: on this post, meaning I didn’t lift that copy from anywhere other than my own noggin’.

Easy and cheap access to stock photography is nothing new. Sites like istockphoto.com, photos.com, and shutterstock.com have been around for years, providing a low-cost, royalty-free alternative to original photography and professionally shot stock photos from companies like Jupiter Images.

What is new is the level to which it continues to spread. More and more I’m noticing the same photos being used by different companies, blurring the distinction between them. If you yet haven’t seen two or more advertisements with the same photo, you will. Maybe it’ll be your business.

In my opinion, local photographers are under-utilized for business image needs. Sure it takes a little more effort to get a real human being to shoot your photo, but the return will be worth it your efforts. By going with a local photographer, you’ll:

1. Visually differentiate your businesses marketing material from all your competitors’. Talk to the photographer you choose about exclusivity or full ownership of photographs. There are many ways usage can be negotiated. You and the photographer just have to be willing to explore possibilities.

2. Get a different visual perspective of your business and its service(s). Good photographers ask questions and explore requests from different conceptual and visual angles. After all, there’s more than one way to photograph a paper clip.

3. Promote your business on a personal level. Don’t look at a photographer as someone you’re going spend money on. Look at them as a place to invest your marketing dollars. Aside from differentiating yourself among competitors, your photographer may actually have a need for the very products or services you provide. Who knows? If that’s the case, perhaps you can even explore a barter agreement. Additionally, it opens a new line of communication with a person who may tell their friends about the kinds of things you do.

4. Support your local economy. It’s becoming more important these days to spend where you live. Helping each other and finding ways to work together is much more beneficial in the long-run than downloading images from a server. Do you have any idea where that money’s going? I’ll bet they’re not sending it back here.

Explore the work of some local Tallahassee photographers. I think you’ll be surprised at what you get from the whole experience.

Why do we all have to put up with bad quality video? YouTube, although it’s provided a huge service to humanity — tongue planted slightly in cheek for that one — has conditioned us to accept bad video. Well, we shouldn’t.

As a guy who makes a living creating good video, the trend is pretty alarming. Bad video is never good video. Sure, content is king, and content will always triumph over video quality. But, if you’re providing blog viewers with great content, why not get the edge and give them something worth watching that won’t make their eyeballs bleed?

Here are a few tips:

1.)    Lighting: A light source from the outside (sunlight) is different from light from any interior source. They are different temperatures to your camera. Most webcams (and even professional video cameras) can’t handle the mixing of the two different sources of light. If you’re near a window when you record, TURN OFF your interior lights. Or, close all the curtains and shades and ONLY use interior light. Mixing light on video is as equally stomach turning as mixing beer and liquor — and something that always looks amateurish.

2.)    Want even better lighting results? Go to Wal-Mart, Target, or any other inexpensive retailer and buy one of those small make-up mirrors with the lights surrounding the outside – round – square – doesn’t matter.  And mount it either above and behind your computer monitor or aside of your monitor. Most of these make-up mirrors have daylight balanced bulbs. Plus, most of us look better with more light on our face.

3.)    Move your camera: Just because the original web cams were mounted on top of monitors doesn’t mean you should keep it that way. Put it just below eye level — maybe even to the right or left so that you have a slightly less than straight-on view of your face.

4.)    Up, up, up: Finally, if you have a system where your camera is permanently mounted high and central on your monitor, raise your desk chair up to the highest it can go, or stand up if you have to.  Most of your video blogs should be 60 seconds or less, so if you can’t stand up for 60 seconds to record your thoughts, maybe its time to push away from the computer and get some exercise. Mental or otherwise.

Happy vlogging!

Chris DesMarais is Senior Producer at Mike Vasilinda Productions in Tallahassee, Florida, a company producing HD televison and video for corporate and retail clients nationwide. Have more questions about video for Chris? Contact him on twitter.

transplant and the conversation factory believe the agency commission system — as defined below (and here) — neither fairly nor honestly represents the best interest of any client.

What’s it mean to your business? Media placement services rendered by us will be approximately 15% lower than those of traditional agencies.

It’s about building trust.

Buying media should be based solely on strategy, not commission. We want you to trust us to make the right decision for your brand, your company, and its future. Doing away with this standard agency commission fluff is absolutely a step in the right direction for all agency/client relationships.

We think you’ll agree (well, unless you’re a traditional agency).

agency commission:

1. fee that an advertising agency charges a client for time and effort spent in selecting and supervising production work done by another company (e.g., printing, photoengraving, photography, commercial recording, filming, and film editing). The amount charged the client is usually 17.65% of the gross production cost.
2. compensation paid to advertising agencies by the media (broadcast or print) for purchases of time or space made on behalf of clients. Since the ad agency saves the media the expense of direct sales and billing, the media allows the agency a 15% discount (16.67% for outdoor advertising), based on the gross advertising rate billed to the client. (The discount also serves as incentive to the agency.) For example: If XYZ Corporation spends $1 million on advertising placed through a recognized ad agency, the agency commission is $150,000 and the balance of $850,000 is paid to the media. The agency commission system represents the basic financial structure of the ad agency business.

During our last night on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, I uploaded this photo to my Facebook profile and my twitter account. The response I got back from their twitter presence (@HiltonHeadSC), was this:

Great photo! The beaches on Hilton Head have great critters such as ghost crabs, fiddler crabs, starfish, sandollars, etc.

Hmmm…. felt like an awkward, forced response. I responded:

thanks — what kind of crab was the one in my photo?

I asked that question 20 hours ago. As of this writing, I still don’t know what that crab is, but from the choices they offered, I’ll assume it’s a ghost crab.

That’s the thing about social media: presence isn’t enough.

Hilton Head’s online persona was quick (within minutes) to tell me offer information I didn’t ask about, and but neglected to directly answer the question I subsequently asked. Their response to my first post offered information about them, but was not really about making a connection with me.

It The exchange got me a little more than curious, so this morning, I went through their twitter stream and found this response pattern to be the norm. It’s apparent that they see a question or post by an individual not necessarily as an opportunity to connect, but as an opportunity to tell that individual more about the island and their offerings. If that’s the strategy, fine, but it’s not about getting to know me. Maybe that’s not important, and that’s okay.

What could they have done? Here are a few suggestions:

1. “Great photo of a [blank] crab! We’d love it if you uploaded it to our critters flickr page! <link>”
2. “Nice photo. Joe Blank provides a guided island tour where you’ll be sure to get more stunning photos <link>”
3. “Nice photo! We’re going to post it on our Facebook page for all to see!”

(Of course, I don’t know if the services I described on #1 and #2 exist, but you get the point.)

Big difference in tone and approach — and even bigger difference in effect.

What do you think?

I-10 east
I95 north
traffic on 278
Hilton Head South Carolina
Beachside Tennis
meat lovers pizza
booboos & band-aids
shrimp & grits
crabbing
biking on the beach
swimming
biking to harbor town
lighthouse climb
114 steps
smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers, chopped onions
Savannah, GA
Paula “not eatin there” Deen
river street
dockside southern style buffet
cornbread fried chicken collard greens mac and cheese stuffing
a salad
tiny beers with tiny limes — yes, coronitas
Claire Ben Ashley Julie Brandon
Myra Virgil
Jen Ruby Michael
Nicki — and Josh via text
stacy’s pita chips
ahi tuna salad
salty dog
missing Rodney
green ice cream with chocolate chips
chocolate ice cream
you really want cotton candy ice cream?
cool water currents
happy dolphins
shark!!
low tide rivulets
like walking in a dryer full of wet clothes
tandem bike drag
Italian night
grampa
stroganoff
effen raspberry vodka
canceled golf
early departures
i’ll-fitting merrells
low country boil
she’s eating broccoli & hot dogs?
beach walks
crabbin’
crab hats
hello kitty kite
butterfly kite
bi-plane kite
mushy sand
pizza flavored pretzels? yea, gross.
hummus
Italian night
fried calamari
diet sunkist & vodka? really?
bananagrams
cranium
harbour town
signe’s heaven bound bakery
traffic on 278
I95 north
I-10 east
get the dogs at MoJo’s
i don’t wanna cook either — Lucy Ho’s, please
that was a great vacation.
good night.
love you ruby.
love you mommy and daddy.
love you too.
can’t wait till next year.

There was always fire in Laurel Blackburn’s eyes and belly (aka abs). Alongside the passion for fitness, however, there also existed a timidity for business. Lately, that timidity has turned into outright tenacity. A recent Facebook posts read like this: Signing 2 leases this week. One for our 5,000 sqft facility and 1 for a new location in Crawfordville. Life is good!

Laurel Blackburn’s BootCamps to Go is definitely a Tallahassee small business success story. A few years ago, she contacted me to help refresh her logo. She then hired me to create a brochure and business cards — the typical stuff a new business needs to get off its feet — or as Laurel would probably say, “get it off its ass.”

Truth be told, Laurel was a self-sufficient business person. She was never was someone to call me for every little thing she needed — or thought she needed. If she had questions about marketing, she’d call for advice; but most of the time, she was on her own, running her business with the same intensity that fueled her workouts.

She posted signs on the side of the road. She sent emails. She blogged. She posted testimonials. She shot and posted pictures and video. She printed shirts with headlines even seasoned copywriters would have a tough time coming up with. Most importantly, though, she connected with her customers on a human level. She asked what they wanted from their experience with her business, and she delivered on their requests. Dietician? Sure. Alternate workouts? Sure. Nutritionist? Of course!

How’d she do it all? Laurel understood her business, her brand, her tone of voice, and her customers (whom also became friends over time). Once any business understands those basics, executing tactics successfully comes much more easily.

Over time, she gained a following and earned people’s trust. Now, she’s opening in new locations during the toughest economic times we’ve seen. This is the new breed of business in our brave new world. Small, hungry, passionate, engaged, and unwilling to let anything stand in its path (I pity anyone that does).

Way to go, Laurel Blackburn, Mike Alvarez, and the entire BootCamps to Go team and fan base. Continue to kick ass and take names. Tallahassee is in better shape because of you.

Disclosure: As stated above, BootCamps to Go has been a client of transplant. I have also been a client of BootCamps to Go (though it may not show it). Neither myself nor my business is being compensated in any way for this post.

Since joining the Trust Agents Facebook page, I’ve seen some really interesting, thought-provoking posts on trust and its role in the new economy. This morning, I posted the question: How often do you trust your gut?

The first to respond was Chris Brogan, who wrote:

Not often enough. There was a book about fear that came out in the late 1990s that said we humans often push down our gut feelings. In my personal case, I find that my gut is usually wrong. I tend to trust people a bit too quickly, and I like people before I realize whether they’re friend or foe. With that in mind, I don’t. ^cb

A few minutes later, the term gut-alytics came to mind. I thought, wouldn’t it be interesting to see how your gut fared against the reality of an evolving  relationship? Could we track our first impressions of people/ relationships and compare them to subsequent interactions to gauge our initial accuracy? With that knowledge, can we learn enough about our gut feelings so that they become more reliable?

What do you think?

We have no shortage of crisis headlines, and as long as we keep paying attention to them, the media will keep feeding us. But do they have to be your business’ headlines? After all, it’s your business.

You can begin turning things around by working hard on just two things: presence and trustworthiness.

These two words (concepts in this context) are cornerstones of the new economy. One without the other simply won’t work. What’s the point of engineering presence on and offline if people don’t trust you enough to click or call? What good is it if people trust you if they can’t find you when they need you?

Gone are the days of the fast-talking deal makers — the wink-wink accompanied by the fake-gun point. Oh, I know those folks are still out there, and boy are they becoming much easier to spot. You may know one, but the new economy will be their Ice Age.

While you’re building your presence online, think about fitting trust-building opportunities into your strategy. Can you give a talk? Can you host a breakfast? Can you be super creative and do something no one’s done before?

It’s a brave new world, and it’s wide open. It’s up to you to make things happen.

For some great insights on trust, consider joining Chris Brogan and Julien Smith’s Trust Agents Facebook page here.

What do you think? What do you see as important to-do’s of the new economy? Leave your comments here or at The Conversation Factory’s Facebook page.