Online Communication Etiquette

One of the first guidelines of business communication I ever learned was to respond in like kind. This means that if someone contacts you via phone, you reply with a phone call. If they contact via email, you send an email and so on and so forth. In the age of social media, this rule still holds true. If someone contacts you via Twitter or Facebook, then it's fine to reply via Twitter or Facebook.

Here are a couple of thoughts I have about this rule and how it ties in with new media:

1. If managing multiple inboxes is slowing you down, it is perfectly acceptable to reply to a Facebook or Twitter business inquiry and ask them to email you instead. I do this in order to keep all of my correspondence organized and in one place.

2. If someone contacts you via a private channel (email, Twitter DM, Facebook private messaging or through a phone call), ALWAYS assume that the information provided is privileged and confidential unless they note otherwise. It is not okay to publicly reply to an email or phone call on Twitter or Facebook and reveal information from those conversations. In this day and age of such open communication, it is still important to respect another company's or client's right to privacy.

Understanding Your Advertising Options

Last year Saundra Hadley wrote two guest expert articles for Think Splendid on the topic of understanding advertising options. I'm reposting those links here since advertising can be a sticky area and one that is often misunderstood.

It's important to remember that while you should be measuring the return on investment (ROI) of each ad you place, that return will take time. You most likely won't see a return from advertising on a blog for just one month and you may not see a return from just one magazine ad. Having a strategy that includes a combination of placements and a longer time commitment may help you.

Here are Saundra's articles:

Understanding Your Advertising Options Part 1

Understanding Your Advertising Options Part 2

What have been your experiences with advertising?

Splendid Sundays Volume 29

A handful of splendid finds and interesting tidbits from around the worldwide web:

*Ami at Elizabeth Anne Designs has started a new blog called Edit and Post with tips and advice for the modern entrepreneur. My favorite feature so far (and one I've been nagging politely asking her to do for months) is the "Wordpress Plug-in of the Week".

*Will you be emailing this column? It's awesome.

*Your logo is not your brand. 

*Wedding fashion expert Randy Fenoli is going to be talking fashion on the red carpet before tonight's Academy Awards. You can watch here on Livestream.

*Tomorrow I'm heading out to Las Vegas for a couple of days for the annual Catersource + Event Solutions conference and tradeshow. If you're attending, I'd love to see you. The official Twitter hashtag for the event is #escs10.

*Quotable: "I wonder if real art comes when you build the thing that they don't have a prize for yet." - Seth Godin

Do you have any splendid finds to share?

Passion Manifested

Many people equate passion with a feeling. You won't always feel your passion, but that doesn't mean it's gone. Passion manifests itself in many ways; sometimes loud and outgoing, sometimes quiet and cautious.

Passion is what makes you get out of bed in the morning. Passion makes your eyes light up about a topic, it makes your brain turn with new ideas. It won't always mean going full speed as if you had just downed a case of Red Bull.

A car gets the best mileage not when it's accelerating, but when it is driving at an even pace. Don't worry if you're not fired up or feeling like a cheerleader all the time. It doesn't mean your passion has fizzled, it just means that you're focused on the long road ahead.

Making Money in Business

I was raised to believe that there is more to life than making money. I still believe this. I also believe that if you own a business, you have to make money.

Somewhere along the line it seems that it's become trendy to run a business as a hobby and there is an almost sanctimonious attitude towards anyone who dares make a profit from their business. This is ridiculous.

What you choose to do with whatever money your business earns is your prerogative, but at the end of the day, the point of having a business is to free you to have the lifestyle you want, whether that means designer shoes and luxury vacations, more funds and time to donate to charity, all of the above or even something else altogether.

There's no need to apologize for doing what it ethically takes to build a successful business and certainly no need to apologize if that business makes money. 

Burnout

I was recently asked if I had any thoughts on burnout to share, so I wanted to post these previous articles in an easy to access spot:

*Zen and the Art of Social Media

*Do You Have a Team or an Entourage?

*Lessons from Burnout (free ebook download)

*Mental Detox (free ebook download)

Burnout is a slippery slope and having burnt out before (to a crisp), I am a strong advocate of recognizing the signs before it's too late. Have you dealt with burnout before? If so, how did you handle it?

Splendid Sundays Volume 28

A handful of splendid finds and interesting tidbits from around the worldwide web:

*Two scholarships for Engage!10 are available. You can apply here.

*10 Tips for Entrepreneurs.

*Listening to customers vs letting them steer the product.

*The IRS is cracking down on companies who classify employees as subcontractors.

*Quotable: "Talent is in such short supply that mediocrity can be taken for brilliance rather more than genius can go undiscovered." - Charles Saatchi

Do you have any splendid finds to share?