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Culture: Your Organization’s DNA and How It Drives Everything Else

Organizations must transform their culture in order to become collaborative social businesses.  It’s no longer a debate that culture and values are the winning components of the business of tomorrow.  Technology is leading us in terms of what we must do with our workflow and behavior but it is not the central component. Technology tool selection happens after a proper strategy and roadmap are formed or the road to change and adoption are difficult or doomed.   Further, public image and brand value are now at the mercy of your organization’s character, responsibility and “humanness.”

Papa John’s Pizza recently experienced the brand damage that can be caused by one single tweet. That tweet of a photographed receipt containing an ethnic slur spread to millions of people in days. The digital social web has connected us. Social media marketing and digital PR efforts pale next to today’s real-time magnification of behavior no matter where or when it takes place.

Marissa Levin, Founder and CEO of Information Experts, Inc., and author of the recently released “My Company ROCKS!” Eight Secrets to a Growth-Driven Culture That Keeps Employees Happy & Engaged,” identified eight cultural strategies that her book expands upon:

  1. Commitment to a Non-Toxic Environment
  2. Commitment to Fun
  3. Safety Outside the Comfort Zone
  4. Employee Input
  5. Join for one position, stay for another
  6. Continuous Learning
  7. Responsible Flexibility and Work-Life Integration
  8. Employee Empowerment & Accountability
Culture is how an organization makes sense of the world, a set of assumptions internalized by all its members. Marissa Levin, with seventeen years of experience growing a successful business, has an outline worth sharing and a valuable conversation that will inspire you.  You are welcome to join her for an online webcast with the same title as this blog post, “Culture: Your Organization’s DNA and How It Drives Everything Else,” on Tuesday, March 13, 2012. Register here. It’s part of our 2012 Business Thought Leadership series.
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Moving the Needle. Using Social Media to Advance Your Business by Jason Falls

Did you get to participate in the live session of Moving the Needle. Using Social Media to Advance Your Business by Jason Falls? We’ve uploaded the video and the slide deck and opened the comments for discussion.

In this webcast you will learn about:

  • Developing a strategic plan for social media
  • Case studies of businesses using social media for business purposes
  • Tying the “conversation” with the “conversion” (more…)
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Social Learning as an Employee Development Solution

Guest Post by workplace learning, performance, and communication expert Halelly Azulay, President of TalentGrow and author of  Employee Development on a Shoestring

Photo by arvindgrover via Flickr

What is Social Learning?

Social learning, or Learning 2.0, is a general name given to multiple collaborative online tools for sharing knowledge, building relationships, and interacting with content and with other members of the online community. These tools allow learners to learn independently, more quickly, and more efficiently, and to be more productive and effective as a result. Most of the content in these systems is user generated and user rated for interest, relevance, and helpfulness. The tools most commonly used by organizations for social learning purposes are wikis and social networking tools such as discussion boards, blogs, video uploading platforms, and podcasting. (more…)

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Saving Customer Service Costs [Infographic]

Today’s socially enabled web is changing customer service and support. In fact, it is the very thing that has so many in Public Relations and Marketing scratching their heads. Service and support are the result of a medium (social media and social networking technology) that is bidirectional. Customers are not just in control of the message, they are expecting you to listen and act upon what you hear. (more…)

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5 Reasons Not to Miss A Webcast Featuring Jason Falls

Act now button to register for Jason Falls webcast brought to you by C7groupHave you heard Jason speak or seen him online?  Social Media Marketing is talked about a lot – not often with this kind of value, fun or authentic, candid style.  Lets just say he’s our kind of guy, but we’re a biased bunch and have no shame when it comes to kissing up to our favorite Forbes Magazines’ Top 50 Power Influencers in Social Media.

Our apologies to respected friends and thought leaders we love who also made the list like, Scott Monty, Amber Naslund, Pam MooreLori Ruff, Jeff BullasSteve Farnsworth and Ann Handley*

Register for tomorrow’s webcast, February 7, 2012 10 a.m. PST, featuring Jason Falls, founder of socialmediaexplorer.com and author, No Bullshit Social Media. 
Five reasons that you need to be on Jason’s Falls’ webcast, Moving the Needle: Using Social Media to Advance Your Business,” tomorrow:

1. You will learn how to move from “conversation,” to “conversion.”

2. You will learn how to protect your reputation.

3. You will learn how to build community. 

4. You will learn how to enhance your brand and build awareness.

5. It’s free and will be way more fun and educational than whatever you had planned.

 

Register for this webcast now or get some more information here.

*More kissing up

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Why We Love Slow Donnie (David Cross) on “Just Shoot Me”

Work should be fun.  That means a lot of things  – like caring about your work, being more engaged and being more productive. You can accomplish some of this by working on things you love and enjoy (making work less work?). You can accomplish it by communicating in less frustrating ways and making it easier to find information that matters. You can also accomplish it by laughing more and not taking everything so seriously.

My great friend Jim Pelley travels around the globe as a keynote speaker and expert on laughter in the workplace. He talks about using humor to embrace risk, manage change, provide better customer service and more.  You can do great work and be productive without feeling like you want the day to be over so you can move on to something more fun.

So today, if you’re stressed and feeling the pressure of deadlines and commitments. Just say, “Chicken pot, chicken pot, chicken pot pie!”

Have a laugh today and everyday!

 

Share something that makes you laugh at work!  Do you have permission for work to be fun?  Please share your experience with us!

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Become A Business Change Agent: Thought Leadership Webcast Series

Image: hand deposits coin in piggy bank on grass outside with cloud backgroundSocial business requires change in more than your marketing department, are you ready?

There is a fundamental change in how we do business. Driven by the networked communication tools flourishing on the web, tools like YouTube, Facebook and LinkedIn, how we communicate with those who benefit from our services and how we organize ourselves productively are changing.

Being aware of these technologies is a very different thing from understanding them, actually using them, and knowing how to get the best out of them. This is before we even begin to touch on the subject of how to use them in a business context and how to “manage them”.

There is a genie that has been let out of the bottle and, just as with the invent of the wheel, the printing press or eight-Printing Press transition to social technology and social business workflow and culturetrack tape, there is little doubt that things will ever be the same again.

So given that this change is happening, and is almost certainly already beginning to happen inside and around your organization, what are you going to do about it? Are you going to revert to “business as usual” and continue to run your business in a conventional command and control way and talk to those you serve as passive consumers? Or are you going to embrace this new networked world, learn the ropes, and get ahead of your competition by getting those conversations with your staff and your customers started as soon as you can?

C7group is proud to present the 2012 Business Thought Leadership Webcast Series featuring foremost experts with leading perspectives about the social tools, technology and changing workflow in business today.

Registration is FREE.

2012 Business Thought Leadership Webcast Series featured presenters (As of Jan 20, 2012):

Jason Falls, Founder, Social Media Explorer
February 7, 2012 – 10:00 a.m. PST
Moving the Needle:  Using Social Media to Advance Your Business
Jason Falls will discuss developing a strategic plan for social media, case studies of companies using social media for business purposes and tying the “conversation” with the “conversion”.

Euan Semple, Director, Voice and euansemple.com
Thursday, February 23 – 3:00 p.m. PST
The New “Business as Usual”
Euan Semple will talk about about driving business by leveraging social media to change culture, re-design workflow and grow profit.

Halelly Azulay, CEO, TalentGrow
Tuesday, March 6 – 9:00 a.m. PST
Social Learning and Employee Development
Halelly Azulay will discuss the realities of employee development, leveraging social networking and media for learner-driven, learner-generated learning

Jon Ferrara, CEO, Nimble
Wednesday, March 21 – 10:00 a.m. PST
Social Media and Sales Relationships
Jon Ferrara will offer tips about how to work as an effective team by tracking and managing contacts, prospects, and activities. Specifically, how to maximize marketing impact, make more revenue in less time and the benefits of unified communication.

You can Register Here. or Learn more about C7group Services.

Do you have thoughts on questions you’d like a featured presenters to answer? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter!

You can also email learn@c7group.com if you have a request or recommendation for thought leaders that should be a part of the 2012 Business Thought Leadership Webcast Series .

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News Release: Ending Homelessness in Sacramento with Better Social Business Workflow

December 29, 2011 (Sacramento, CA) — Sacramento Steps Forward is a non-profit tasked with a critical mission of ending homeless in Sacramento by 2020, serving as a national example of how to end chronic homelessness.  Beginning in January 2012, C7group will partner with Sacramento Steps Forward staff and volunteers to implement social business strategy and tactics for their organization.

(more…)

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Social Media for Business Podcast Interview: Kat Maudru and Jeff Marmins

It always helps when an interview turns fun and entertaining. When our CEO, Jeff Marmins was interviewed by Sacramento radio legend, Kat Maudru, listeners got some great value and tips along with their laughs.

Social Media Business Interview podcast Kat Maudru Jeff Marmins

Social Media for Business: Kat and Jeff yuck it up

Kat and Jeff had a lively discussion at Entercom Sacramento Radio about social media for business. The program originally aired on November 28, 2011.

The conversation serves as an introduction to social media in business, including the importance of the communications channels available through the internet, what tools to use and how to use these tools to improve workflow process and drive sales.

C7group is transforming the services marketplace by helping organizations realize the potential of their business from a “customers and people first” perspective. We integrate strategy with social business technology and workflow practices to provide you with a complete, integrated custom business solution.

Please listen to or download the podcast of the interview below.

Is your business using social technology in a unique way? Tell us how!

 

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Sacramento Social Media and the end of SEO

It’s our opinion that the practice of SEO continues to evolve just as it has since attempting to gain high search results for keyphrases in the 1990’s on sites such as Alta Vista, Excite and Lycos. Unfortunately for SEO practitioners, especially those in small to mid sized markets like Sacramento, SEO is becoming SEM or Search Engine Marketing.  This means that getting a high serch return on your keyword or phrase will have to be based on content of relevance and value to the subject matter.  It’s already happened to some degree with, for example, the change in Google’s search algorithm in 2009 to not use the keywords meta tag  in web ranking.

Organic search results are becoming more driven by relevant content, sharing, social media interaction and the credibility and influence of the author.
(more…)
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