Is a man with a truck sexier than a man without a truck?  According to the folks from Chevrolet the answer is yes.  Take 30 seconds towatch the videobelow and listen to their focus group discuss the matter.  So, how much do trucks costs these days?  After all, I might need to haul something!  I also found a survey byInsure.comthat states that women say that attractive men tend to drive black Ford pickup trucks.  While men reported that attractive women drive red BMW sports cars.

In September at the beginning of the season I posted a short article related toNFL teams Follow-to-Follower ratios on Twitter.  In short, NFL teams like most major brands do not follow back their fans or customers:

As you can see, the average NFL team was following back just 0.46% of their fans in September.  That ratio now stands at 0.40% which means the average follow back strategy didn't change much over the season.  Now that the Super Bowl is over I've taken the time to update these statistics to see how the league performed in other areas.

It was a lively face-to-face business networking event.  As you might guess, social media was a hot topic.  Of course business cards were exchanged as many of the attendees represented agencies that promise to be able to bring social magic to a brand.  But what I found most interesting happened later, when I visited several of their corporate social media pages.  What became clear was that many of the profiles had not posted content in several weeks, and in some cases, months.

Has rational ignorance impacted your organizations social media activity yet? Rational ignoranceis the decision not to become more informed about something because the perceived cost of the additional intelligence in terms of both effort and expense is more than the expected return on the knowledge gained.  It kicks in for most of us when we believe we have reached the point of diminishing returns in relation to the value of acquiring additional insight.  More than likely, your organization started its social media journey with great excitement, and a willingness to invest and learn; now most of your staff barely knows about the changes to the InMail policy on LinkedIn, and it’s been weeks since they tweeted.

That doesn’t exactly sound like a customer-focused or engagement-ready organization or individual does it?  And yet, that’s basically the perception you get from many major social media profiles.  Simply stated, they don’t fully consider how their actions, related to the questions below, impact the perception of their brand or the customer experience:

Way back in November 2009 Twitter launched an interesting feature called Twitter Lists.  In short, Twitter Lists allow you to organize the profiles you’re following into groups.  The filtering aspect of this feature is helpful if you are trying to zero in on something specific, such as Twitter users based on location, employer, or any other relevant categories.

Creating a new Twitter List is a simple process.  In fact, the first thing you’ll be asked is to provide a name for your list.

Most people will agree that practical experience is a good thing. In fact, if you’ve been around the block a time or two, the old adage “experience is the best teacher” is probably anchored in your mindset. When I reflect on my lessons learned through practical experience I always find Will Rogers’ perspective insightful, but also at times, troublesome:

Why troublesome? After all, at one point or another we all start out as greenhorns. And let’s face it; there are situations we occasionally experience that are really not possible to prepare for.

Well, not if you use the Follow-to-Follower ratio on Twitter as the measure.  In fact, here is how NFL teams compare:

As you can see, the average NFL team follows back just 0.46% of their followers.  Sure, some of those accounts are bound to be bots and other type of junk profiles.  And anyone who is managing a major (brand) profile knows that it takes a lot of time and is hard work to follow back your targeted audience.  But still, these numbers suggest that each team is passing up an opportunity to show their fans how much they really appreciate their support by following them back.

As soon as I bit that piece of candy I knew it was trouble.  Yes, I chipped a tooth and that meant a trip to the dentist.  The process of getting a crown wasn’t that bad though.  Then again, I used noise cancellation headphones to drown out the sound of the drill.  I also asked the dentist to use both Novocaine and Nitrous Oxide.  In short, you could say that I really didn’t want to be there.  So where does the phrase…

 

“I’d rather go to the dentist than[you fill in the blank

“Made you look!” When my kids were little I could play them with that phrase.  

When they were teenagers, “I’m watching you,” was my serious message for don’t break curfew.  And now today, in our world of social media networking, I find myself wondering, “is anyone looking?!” 

 

Well, the “Who’s Viewed Your Profile?” module on LinkedIn is perfect for answering that question.  This feature can be playful and serious when it comes to sales and business development.  It’s designed to help you understand who’s been looking at your profile recently, and what you can do to fine tune your profile in order to show up in more search results.