The Drive And My Crash.

Yesterday, I was in a pretty bad car crash

It happened while I was driving home to Lexington. My mind was racing 100 mph, the rest of the world was pulling me in 50 different directions and yes I was on my iphone. As could be expected in the midst of chaos I stumbled into an intersection where a driver in control of the road slammed hard into my car crushing the entire front end of my vehicle. Instantly, the airbag smashed against my chest, then quickly unraveled over my head and throughout the car. The impact took my breath away.

Now this will sound terrible but honest..

My first thought: “I’ve completely lost control and my car it is about to explode. I have to save my computer.”
My next thought: “Are the passengers in the other car ok?”

Everyone was safe and unharmed but frantic, my Mac and I were still in mint condition but my sexy car was mangled beyond repair. I stepped out of the car into the chaos and debris and waited for the lingering nightmare to end.

Flashback to five days ago: I had the reverse experience.

Driving along the coast of sunny California, while taking some much needed “Amanda time”, iphone shutdown, I stumbled upon a drive so beautiful, so peaceful, so overwhelming, that it took my breath away. Several times along the way, I had to just stop, get out of the car, and convince myself that it was real. The calmness, the serenity completely captivated me and for moments that seemed to last forever, everything seemed perfect. Not wanting the feeling to end I decided to I drive for miles and miles.

Now this may sound to good to be true but..

My first thought: “I don’t know if I’ve ever felt so free, so liberated behind the wheel.”
My second thought: “I could lose myself on this road, on this path, forever.”

Flash forward to the present.

I’m still shaken and overwhelmed by both experiences. And while it’s hard find the nerve to get behind the wheel again, I’m definitely ready to drive down the road with less chaos.

Sometimes, I think the universe speaks to us in the most painful, the most powerful, and the most deliberate ways.

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CAUGHT ON TAPE: “Drive By, Raid into Twitter Headquarters”

For about a year now my Twitter Handle @sexythinker has not shown up in Twitter search. I sent multiple emails, tweets to twitter help and even had someone on my team call Twitter HQ.

Nothing worked.

On a recent trip to San F-R-A-N-C-I-S-C-O, the morning after a late night on the town (as you can tell from how rough I look) I decided to take matters into my own hands…

I am not ashamed of my actions.

Twitter: “I’m your biggest fan I’ll follow you until you love me…”

@sexythinker

The Social Media Revolution: A Power Shift from Brand to Customer.

This week, I discovered this powerful video, “Bigger than TV? Social Media’s Power Shift” produced by Radian6 . I’d like to pass along and summarize my interpretation of that message here.

Is the Social Web really all that revolutionary? Or is it a fad?

Make no mistake, we’re in the midst of a revolutionary shift in how brands and customers do business. If you don’t start taking this seriously, you will find yourself lonely and without a voice.

Let me explain.

If you’ve studied marketing, you’ve heard the phrase: “The medium is the message.” This is stunningly true. The medium itself has a significant social impact on business and in our lives regardless of the message being communicated through that medium.

Think email.

It’s changed our work lives. And, it’s not because of a particular email that we’ve received. It’s just the fact that we have email that’s changed the way we work and how we do business.

Here’s the thing. Up until now, the medium has been owned and sold by the gatekeepers who controlled it.

Think TV, radio.

It came at a price. With your purchase, you got to tell the story the way you wanted to tell it. And for a long time, that worked. But the Social Web is very different because it’s owned by the Community. No one controls it, you can’t buy it, and everyone is an equal participant.

Now, a customer has as much of a voice as the brand. That is a revolutionary shift in power.

The messages are no longer controllable.

The days of sitting in a room with your Executive, PR and Marketing teams, defining a message and pushing it out there, are over.

Your brand is defined by the conversations that are happening about it. Communicated in the language, shaped by the voice and in the words of your customer. You can influence it but, ultimately, your customers will shape it.

The reign of the dominated, one-way conversation has come to an end.

And you’re better off for it. Because when you isolated the conversation, you never really knew what was happening on the other end, whether people believed and trusted you, if it struck up a conversation, if it inspired an action or idea.

Now, in real time…at your finger tips…if you choose to tune in…are all the reactions, all the ideas, recorded and living here on the Social Web. Right. Now. You have the opportunity to talk directly to your customers.

But…

You’ll have to humanize your brand. You’ll have to be more authentic and more engaging to earn their trust. You’ll have to care enough to listen, and do so fanatically. And, you’ll have to be ready for disappointment, be open to change, because what they tell you may not be what you wanted or expected to hear.

If you do, and if you are, one day you’ll look back and see that this single medium has revolutionized the way you do business.

I’d like to invite you take action now and join us in Dallas February 24th and 25th for TR Live: Designing Your Companies Social Media Strategy.

Question to ask in 2010

So far this year I’ve spent a lot of time asking questions and doing some soul searching.

This is a question I was asked by Kathleen Wood a Business and Leadership Growth Strategist who is doing some work with our team. It’s a question that I think we should be asking ourselves for our business and our careers in 2010.

If you were to reinvent your business or career today based on everything you’ve learned since you’ve started, based on all you know at this very moment, what would it look like? What would it be?

Answer that question. Then..

Be that now. Do that now. Ask yourself that question often.

What question’s do you think we should you be asking In 2010?