tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83939053354311210672011-11-27T18:41:49.541-05:00Creating a thought leadership dialogueSally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.comBlogger391100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-18234393744876769792009-07-30T19:49:00.005-04:002009-07-30T20:03:09.015-04:00

Are you utlizing videos on your website or blog? Then here's an interesting stat for you from the folks at Social Media Today. Videos promoted with links from Twitter are viewed much longer than from Facebook and Digg. Social Media Today says, "Users clicking onto videos links sent via Twitter spend significantly longer watching those videos than those arriving from Digg or Facebook, according to

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-2737469023658636062009-07-12T07:40:00.005-04:002009-07-12T08:00:20.828-04:00

As we see advertising revenues dwindle in traditional media, particularly magazines and newspapers, we'll be soon seeing an opposite shift in the form of a tipping point happening in new media, particularly the social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. In this story from Reuters on July 6th, Silicon Valley entrepreneur and Facebook board member, Mark Andreessen, tells Reuters that while

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-42320023679807937322009-07-09T08:14:00.009-04:002009-07-09T10:15:48.169-04:00

This graphic came from Joel Comm's twitpic account. It shows the growth relationship of Twitter, Facebook and MySpace. It may be difficult to read in this graphic (although you can click through to his twitpic and view much larger). But the green line is Facebook and you can see the incredible volume there. Twitter is the orange line at the bottom -- while the numbers aren't as big, the % growth

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-30174868456631755792009-06-27T06:35:00.003-04:002009-06-27T06:46:30.480-04:00

I ran across this wonderful reminder this morning that was printed in one of Stephen R. Covey's "portable" books entitled "Choice: Choosing the Proactive Life You Want to Live" and thought it was well worth sharing. A reminder that our lives are a series of choices we make every day in each moment. What are you choosing, right now?Choose to do the right thing, the tough thing -- not the

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-29091519658730280792009-06-11T21:50:00.002-04:002009-06-28T07:29:51.333-04:00

This is an excellent article sent to me by Mari Smith about updating your Google Profile and a great reminder for us all to take ownership of our online brand and reputation, as well as to increase search engine results.Click on the link above for more information and to see the NY Times article on "how to manage your online reputation." Excellent read.Don't forget to use the Tell-A-Friend button

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-26685711250585881682009-05-26T07:13:00.001-04:002009-05-26T07:16:26.794-04:00

The FASTForward Blog » The Return On Investment in Interaction (ROII) - Using Twitter for Purposeful Contextual Social Search in Social Medical Networks: Enterprise 2.0 Blog: News, Coverage, and CommentaryOne of the most interesting and thought-provoking articles I've read in a while about the use of Twitter and Social Media Networks, particularly Social Medical Networks for Enterprise 2.0.Take a

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-51646768402709805972009-04-12T11:58:00.004-04:002009-04-12T12:12:19.210-04:00

I've been keeping up with Dan Schawbel on Twitter but hadn't had a moment to grab his book -- so it was great to run across a quick summary of Me 2.0 on Fast Company blog.Whether it's GenY or Boomers, personal branding is becoming so critical these days -- especially with people losing their jobs and having to start their own consulting or freelancing businesses, as I've witnessed so much lately.

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-12356464817564760442009-04-04T20:36:00.006-04:002009-04-04T20:57:25.736-04:00

"Entrepreneurs are finding the fast-rising microblogging site to be a useful tool for reaching out to customers" ~ Business Week Small Biz TechAs a marketing strategist and personal branding director for both small businesses and speakers/authors, I've found Twitter to be invaluable to my clients. Not by itself, but in conjunction with other social networks like LinkedIn and Facebook, along with

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-82113289202490441202009-03-18T16:17:00.002-04:002009-03-18T16:23:25.624-04:00

In case you haven't seen it yet, I have a new blog that is designed to record my recommendations and favorites of products, services, resources, affiliates and, well, anything else I think is cool.Check out MyFavesList blog! Enjoy.

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-83121422681448873902009-03-16T22:43:00.009-04:002009-03-16T23:16:21.202-04:00

Inc. Magazine published a slide show today entitled "How two friends built a $100 million company." The two guys are childhood friends Adam Lowry (left) and Eric Ryan (photo credit Inc. Magazine and Emily Nathan).The photo story is about the rise of Method Home, a company they started in 2000, and their four points of advice for anyone else with entreprenuerial spirit. That same spirit is what

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-79217908727875151812009-03-05T07:58:00.004-05:002009-03-05T08:22:51.156-05:00

One must provide a great product or service to get referred and overdeliver on value add. And one must ASK for the referral which many biz owners haven't incorporated into their daily communications or routine and I think one has to remind people that you want to grow your customer base and/or take your business to the next level. Real estate professionals are awesome at asking.For those people

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-27829303768457746882009-02-28T18:12:00.008-05:002009-02-28T19:44:57.183-05:00

Believe it or not, a 160-character bio can say a lot about you and your personal brand. Not only that, but it can either encourage or discourage people to follow you in a split second, which may mean that someone you want to follow you won't. And second chances don't come easily.There are thousands of aspects of Twitter that I could write about but it seems people are not aware of how much impact

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-22668360585845277022009-02-21T20:33:00.001-05:002009-02-21T20:36:25.009-05:00

I was intrigued by an article in the November 2008 issue of Entrepreneur magazine about Richard Branson and his views on business – and life. Certainly, no one could say that he isn’t a risk taker. In talking about cheating death in some of his personal stunts, he says “…just like in business, I have to stay completely focused. I haven’t got the time or the energy to spend getting scared.”

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-71775386404631889982008-11-19T16:56:00.002-05:002008-11-19T17:04:03.980-05:00

Ever since Tom Peters talked about the importance of “brand you” and long before, people have been developing their own personal brands. Whether its celebrity brands of Tiger Woods, Donald Trump or Richard Branson – or perhaps lesser known personal brands of a host of authors, coaches, dancers and songwriters, we know that there is a way to cash in on the success of a personal brand.For years,

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-15524830231720980252008-11-09T06:59:00.008-05:002008-11-19T17:06:11.228-05:00

I'm definitely making progress on adopting Web 2.0. Slow, but moving forward.I've chosen LinkedIn, Plaxo and Facebook as my social networks. I use all three because their purposes and applications are different -- and certain groups of my contacts tend to use only one or two of the three. Most of my business contacts use LinkedIn, many traditional network marketing folks use Plaxo (it's been

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-40198456894022323882008-11-03T11:11:00.012-05:002008-11-03T12:37:17.634-05:00

There are many reasons why people start their own blog but for those of you who haven't gotten the hang of it yet -- or just think it is too overwhelming -- I'd like to share a few reasons why I blog.Reason #1: It's healthy.First, there's the health benefit of the act of writing itself. Yes, writing -- like laughter -- is simply good medicine. Our forefathers wrote in leather bound journals and

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-16270925822337559562008-10-28T14:52:00.006-04:002008-10-28T15:43:04.733-04:00

We only have one body, one identity, one life. Our uniqueness is ours alone, and doesn't belong to anyone else but us. It's easy to hide behind the company we work for. Or the people we associate with. Some people just don't want to "put themselves out there." Living under the radar, so to speak, seems more comfortable. And yet we long for some level of personal success, achievement, satisfaction

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-49819377194124792792008-10-14T20:35:00.004-04:002008-10-14T21:18:31.932-04:00

This weekend, I had the honor of working an event in Orlando with a handful of really terrific people. And I'm amazed at the level of commitment and service these folks brought to this event. They are used to working with people like themselves, somewhat outside of the corporate and traditional business world. So I know that working 18- to 20-hour days non-stop is almost commonplace for them.

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-55670675895778613302008-10-08T12:39:00.008-04:002008-10-08T21:20:42.091-04:00

I've been stewing for a few weeks on the leadership efforts displayed by that of the U.S. Ryder Cup captain, Paul Azinger, admiring both his dedication and courage to set up the underdog team for a win.For two years, he worked diligently on both the strategy and setting the vision. The strategy included getting what he felt was an antiquated selection process fixed so that the players who were

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-82756852807891195842008-09-17T11:36:00.009-04:002008-09-18T07:36:58.210-04:00

One of the best speakers at last week's World's Greatest Marketing Conference was media coach, Joel Roberts. As a media coach, his job is to get other people to listen to your story which means he has to help you create a compelling, impactful story in the first place. So here are 5 things that I learned from him last week that I thought I'd share:Don't go to the media expecting to get

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-45243276101170585972008-09-05T07:48:00.010-04:002008-09-05T22:21:41.867-04:00

I'm still being inspired by Randy Pausch's last lecture, the meaning behind his life lessons and what he accomplished by sharing his beliefs with the world (well, he might not have known it would be with the world but YouTube had a different idea).And certainly the political season is in full force and, no matter your views, we know that it is time for both candidates to take a stand on their

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-9216016165777150482008-08-24T07:02:00.006-04:002008-08-24T11:32:31.796-04:00

Most of us know when our computer is starting to run slow, to gag and to just not work as well as it used to that performing a simple hard disk defragmentation process is often all it takes for our computer to run better and for us to regain our sanity. Now I'm definitely not an IT pro, but I believe the process can take an hour or so and it basically finds all the free space that is in very

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-21153886140453481832008-08-19T20:01:00.017-04:002008-08-20T08:56:31.494-04:00

I'm getting ready to embark on a new chapter of my career to help people do what Les Brown says, "own your greatness." What inspires me are the people who are seeking more, those who ask "is that all there is?" or "How'd I get here?" or who say "I'd really like to be doing something else." Those who want to do more fulfilling and rewarding work, not being satisfied where they are.Then there are

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-72510630086015398862008-08-17T06:41:00.005-04:002008-08-17T18:25:45.825-04:00

If you haven't yet read Time magazine's article on on Nelson Mandela, it's an impressive recap on Leadership from the man who's now 90 years young. I've listed 3 out of his 8 leadership lessons that I'm most passionate about -- you can read the article and choose your own.Lesson #1: Courage is not the absence of fear -- it's inspiring others to move beyond it.That is so true. Often we have to

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-78590846224487406942008-08-15T19:14:00.013-04:002008-08-16T08:05:12.407-04:00

I've really never thought too much about the word "exuberance" until I met a land developer in northern Virginia by the name of John Clark. We were talking about ways to describe his passion for land development and in particular for his vision of Haymount, a new urbanist community near Fredericksburg -- a project he's been working on for many years. It was more than passion and certainly more

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-3072992951208118842008-08-11T21:31:00.010-04:002008-08-17T07:37:57.211-04:00

We've often heard that doing something is risky. Our society pressures us to play safe. Stay where you are. Go down the path of least resistance. Don't rock the boat.Yet boats are made for rocking. And great sea captains never become great sea captains by sailing calm seas. Sometimes we can't see that staying put or playing it safe is the biggest risk we could ever take. That fear of the

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-85298473019259688442008-08-08T05:35:00.007-04:002008-08-08T06:24:29.033-04:00

Last week, a colleague gave me a brochure for the upcoming 10th annual Forbes Executive Women's Forum, Building Bridges. Quite a few great speakers on the line up, including Shelley Lazarus, whom I had the pleasure of hearing speak at the DMA last year.But I enjoyed reading the agenda details for speaker Annie McKee, co-author of Resonant Leadership: Renewing yourself and connecting with others

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-12569182365743402462008-08-06T19:52:00.006-04:002008-08-07T06:29:52.512-04:00

"Each indecision brings its own delays and days are lost lamenting over lost days...What you can do or think you can do, begin it. For boldness has magic, power, and genius in it."- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,1749-1832, Poet, Novelist and ScientistAnd that's all I've got to say about that.

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-20237855526116129192008-08-04T22:47:00.012-04:002008-08-05T05:57:49.337-04:00

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom."- Viktor E. FranklWords to live by, literally. If we could only learn to live this lesson -- that we have a choice in our responses to people or situations. We can choose to react or we can choose to respond, the latter often coming to us by

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-22841969308296965272008-08-03T21:36:00.008-04:002008-08-08T06:26:55.044-04:00

Most people would probably agree that we can't run our businesses or our lives on intuition or gut feel alone. Facts, figures, information, competitive environment, past success or failures all play a part in our decision-making. But when faced with a choice where all things seem relatively equal, learning to trust our intuition can be extremely valuable.There are many successful business

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-76023719099355183952008-07-30T05:57:00.005-04:002008-07-30T20:30:48.646-04:00

I'm reading and being inspired by Robert E. Quinn's book, "Building the bridge as you walk on it: A guide for leading change." Not a weekend read (too deep for that) as there are many thought-provoking leadership concepts to digest. One so far really stood out, and that is the concept of appreciative leadership, as quoted here."It could be argued that all leadership is appreciative leadership.

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-12814637452402907752008-07-27T06:56:00.008-04:002008-08-17T07:35:28.859-04:00

Several years ago, I was with a group of managers and we were talking about leadership and our role as leaders. We talked about the word inspire, and I remember one fairly young manager saying "whoa, I never thought of myself as someone who inspires." He responded as if the word was sacred. But by the end of the session, he began to really grab hold and accept the idea, and walked away looking

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-91346398777978027162008-07-26T08:22:00.009-04:002008-07-26T11:31:11.478-04:00

For those of you who know me, you know I'm not shy. I say what's on my mind. I'm candid, frank and direct. And of course, I'm always encouraging other people to speak up and do the same.But I still get people who tell me to "be bold" or "how could you walk away and not tell them" or "people really want to hear your opinion" or "there are people who want and need your guidance." You're kidding

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-47015537600620816022008-07-18T06:02:00.018-04:002008-08-04T18:43:42.055-04:00

When I was about 18, I was driving my very first car -- an olive green '69 grand prix -- home late one Sunday night when I fell asleep at the wheel only to wake up finding myself going up a hill at 45mph in the oncoming traffic lane with the nose of a semi-truck right in front of me. Miraculously, he was able to swerve over toward the lane I should have been in and I stayed out of the ditch,

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-11629945601017878502008-07-16T05:37:00.004-04:002008-07-16T06:40:58.145-04:00

Gas prices are up, stock market is down, financial institutions are struggling, consumer confidence is waning at best, home values are declining, spending is down... and marketing budgets have been either cut or reallocated. Those of us in marketing -- both corporate or agency side -- know that, now more than ever, the advertising messages have to cut through, they have to resonate with the

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-60099381066870507952008-07-13T07:48:00.008-04:002008-07-13T12:42:12.425-04:00

A few years ago, I read the book "Mavericks at Work: Why the most original minds in business win." So I was delighted to see co-author and Fast Company co-founder Bill Taylor on the Maximum Impact simulcast in May as I wanted to hear what this business futurist had up his sleeve.While his message didn't stray too much from the book, his passion and belief about originality was about as

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-64622132690003739002008-07-12T13:26:00.005-04:002008-07-12T14:00:46.597-04:00

John Maxwell's view of leadership is so simple. He boils it all down to the fact that leadership is nothing more than influence. And if you can simply influence people in positive ways, they'll discover through their own abilities that they can accomplish more in both their personal lives and in business. And when each member of the team changes individually, the whole team changes

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-24251275306127078642008-07-12T10:03:00.007-04:002008-07-12T10:56:18.782-04:00

Many of us have been to team building events but Seagate's week-long event for 200 if its employees seems to just top them all. A week in New Zealand practicing lessons based on the book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, by Patrick Lencioni. Unbelievable. The blog title links to the article that appeared in Fortune magazine back in May -- which starts with "Everyone here's going to die..."

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8393905335431121067.post-16899252988397985892008-07-12T09:13:00.004-04:002008-07-13T12:43:44.964-04:00

Yes, that's right. I'm finally a blogger even though I've been dabbling for a while. The blog was really easy to set up and configure. Welcome -- and please don't be shy about adding comments!

Sally Witzkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08094044618042097641noreply@blogger.com0