According to Steve Jobs, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So, you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, karma, whatever. Just follow your passion and stay hungry, stay foolish.

Hitting the reset button on marketing communications begins by accepting a new perspective on what marketing communications needs to accomplish. Switching a company’s perspective from that of a traditional advertiser to that of a tightly disciplined, personalized publisher can help a company join the online conversation. The company’s Web site can generate dramatically more sales leads than it ever has before by offering more-timely, personalized, and useful content.

One way to communicate directly with a targeted audience is to create a company news site, one that focuses on the company, its news and events, and industry issues. Maples Communications proposes creating a news site to the company’s global content onto a single page, updated and prioritized each day and laid out much like a newspaper.

The Lakers have their legacy – another NBA Championship. What will be your legacy? Are you willing to figure out what it is going to take for you to accomplish your goals? Are you willing to miss some shots and take some risks to find success? For me, I found my niche in life and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to be successful and to make my clients successful. I have passion, commitment and loyalty to my family, my friends, myself and to my clients. I may get knocked down from time to time, but I will never, never give up.

Maples Communications is launching a “Flat-Rate” PR and social media program to help companies build brand visibility, attract new customers and boost their businesses. The program is about using the power of the Internet to lead customers through the buying process.

Every company, every marketer often dwells on the ROI for social media, and there’s a popular misconception that relevant metrics are lacking. While it’s true that standard metrics are evolving, there are many ways to measure the impact of social media on a company’s marketing performance.

When looking at the value of social media tools like Twitter, we need to realize the real value isn’t the tool itself; it is the information the tool has to offer.

Step one: Before you start, establish clear business objectives and metrics.

What surprises me is how many blogs and podcasts or even Facebook groups and Twitter sites are started as an executive pet project. That may relieve some pressure to demonstrate ROI, but as a marketer responsible for social media initiatives, you should never move off the starting mark without clear and measureable business goals.

For Maples Communications, it is an honor to be called a wingman. We want to “check your six”-the six o’clock position where the jet is most vulnerable, the pilot’s blind spot.

A few days ago, a friend sent me the “Social Media Revolution” link from YouTube knowing that I believe the traditional media model for companies to communicate to customers is broken.    We are in the middle of a revolution.  The tools may change over time, but social media is here to stay.   
You and I both [...]