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The year 2012 would have been public television cooking instructor Julia Child’s 100th birthday. To celebrate, PBS Digital Studios (@PBSDS) commissioned John D. Boswell, aka melodysheep (@musicalscience), to produce the above video, auto-tuning Julia’s cuisine phrases through the years. The result is more than 1 million views. Do you have content you could repurpose to advance your brand?

Also see our previous blogpost, “The 3 Qualities That Make A YouTube Video Go Viral.”

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you produce a viral video.

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And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard; especially the Marketing tab.

According to Wikipedia, “Infographics are graphic visual representations of information, data, or knowledge. They present complex information quickly and clearly.” They are an excellent tool to communicate a brand message. Neil Patel (@neilpatel) co-founder of KISSmetrics.com (@KISSmetrics), has written an article explaining 5 ways to help Infographics go viral:

Step #1: Submit an SEO optimized press release

Step #2: Create a social media release

Step #3: Create a social media sharing plan for your Infographic

Step #4: Submit your infographic to directories

Step #5: Start the manual outreach

Read this in full.

Let Somersault (@smrsault) help you effectively communicate your brand message.

Learn about online marketing with SomersaultSocial.

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Be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard, especially the Branding tab.

Apple, Walmart, Google, Target, and Microsoft are the brands which US shoppers regard as being the most "inspiring."

The consultancy Performance Inspired (@P_inspired) asked 2,175 adults to name the companies they perceived as meeting this criteria.

"Apple is the most inspiring again this year because it has become a part of the consumer's personal identity," said Terry Barber, chief inspiration officer for Performance Inspired.

The main terms associated with Apple include "innovative," "fun," and the idea that it lets customers be more "creative.”

Walmart is praised for its low prices, diverse range of products, and friendly atmosphere. Google is seen as "informative," "good," and "nice."

Target is lauded for the contribution it makes to the local communities it serves. Microsoft is valued for its products at work.

Other brands in the top 25 are Amazon, Chick-fil-A, Starbucks, McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Macy’s, Costco, Nike, Disney, Kohl’s, Ford, The Home Depot, TOMS, jcpenney, Whole Foods Market, Best Buy, Johnson & Johnson, Goodwill, Trader Joe’s, and Pepsi.

• 86% of consumers would recommend a company they find "inspiring" to friends and family
• 71% would be willing to pay a premium for goods offered by such firms
• 54% think about the brands they find "most inspiring" at least once a week and 38% talk about them with a similar level of frequency.

"Consumers are not only feeling inspired by certain businesses, but are acting inspired by spending more with these companies while evangelizing to others about their inspiring experience," says Barber.

Read this in full.

How inspiring to your consumers is your brand?

Let Somersault (@smrsault) help you strategically communicate your brand message.

Learn about online marketing with SomersaultSocial.

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Be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

Originally written solely for the news media (“the press”), press releases (aka news releases) today regularly appear on the Internet for anyone to read. As a result, the audience they’re written for include consumers online, search engines, bloggers, and retweeters, as well as traditional journalists. And they consist of not only text, but links, Infographics, charts, photos, audio, and video. At more than 100 years old, the press release continues to be a useful tool in marketing communications.

See our previous blogpost, “Social Media News Release Template Step-by-Step Guide.”

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you maximize the communication of your brand’s content through news releases and electronic press kits.

Learn about online marketing with SomersaultSocial.

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Be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

Image by Colin Craig, The Big Orange Slide

In Adweek (@Adweek), Tim Nudd (@nudd) reports on a panel of advertisers who said only 7 types of stories exist and the “challenge becomes finding which one best suits your brand, and then telling it skillfully, believably, and — if you're going to invite consumers to join in the story — extremely carefully.”

The discussion was based around author Christopher Booker's contention, in his book Seven Basic Plots, that 7 archetypal themes recur in every kind of storytelling

1. Overcoming the Monster. The classic underdog story.

2. Rebirth. A story of renewal.

3. Quest. A mission from point A to point B.

4. Journey and Return. About transformation through travel and homecoming.

5. Rags to Riches. From obscurity to prominence.

6. Tragedy. The barren human experience

7. Comedy. Emotionally elevating.

At the core of every brand, said one marketer, is a good story waiting to happen.

Read this in full.

Social media marketing speaker Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan) encourages his followers to “Tell Big Stories.”

In a post on the HBR Blog Network (@HarvardBiz), Rosabeth Moss Kanter (@RosabethKanter) says people remember stories more easily than numbers, and if told in the right way and with the right message, they can motivate action. She says, if you want to transform your organization (brand), start by challenging the stories you tell about the company and how it operates.

Read this in full.

And MarketingProfs (@MarketingProfs) has a brief slideshow on “How to Tell Your Company’s Story:”

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you tell your brand's story.

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And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

Since we’re only human and we all make mistakes, it’s important to know when and how to effectively apologize. This practice is especially important for business leaders who seek to maintain positive public relations (reputation management) for their companies among their constituents.

Tom Peters (@tom_peters), author of In Search of Excellence, encourages business leaders to become students of apology. In this video he says, "Learning how to apologize effectively is the real essence of strategic strength."

In their Forbes (@Forbes) article Creative Leadership: Humility and Being Wrong, Doug Guthrie and Sudhir Venkatesh say:

We are frequently taught that leaders, especially aspiring leaders, should hide weaknesses and mistakes. This view is flawed. It is not only good to admit you are wrong when you are; but also it can also be a powerful tool for leaders—actually increasing legitimacy and, when practiced regularly, can help to build a culture that actually increases solidarity, innovation, openness to change and many other positive features of organizational life.

Read this in full.

In another Forbes article, Courageous Leaders Don't Make Excuses...They Apologize, Erika Andersen offers an “apology primer”:

·         I’m sorry: this is the core of a genuine apology. Communicate that you truly regret your behavior.

·         Stay in the first person: don’t say “I’m sorry...you didn’t understand me.” A true apology sounds like, “I’m sorry I....”

·         Don’t equivocate: don’t water it down with excuses.

·         Say how you’ll fix it: if you genuinely regret your words or actions, you’ll commit to changing.

·         Do it: when you don’t follow through, people question not only your courage, but also your trustworthiness.

Read this in full.

In her article for the Ivey Business Journal (@iveybusiness) titled: Should Business Leaders Apologize? Why, When, and How an Apology Matters, Linda Stamato writes:

Questions of timing are critical. The longer it takes a business leader or a section manager, for example, to acknowledge his or her mistake, the more likely the undecided folks will turn against him or her. Business leaders need to understand that if, in the end, it is going to be disclosed that they have erred, it's better to own up as quickly as possible in order to have a hand in making repairs.

To acknowledge a mistake is to assert secure leadership; to take responsibility and prescribe a corrective course of action is wise management. Taking responsibility for an error earns the privilege of being forgiven, and thus granted a second chance.

Read this in full.

And for CNN (@CNN), Marsha Sampson Johnson decries the slippery new term “double-down’ that politicians are using in place of “apologize.”

Read this in full.

On a related note, pastor and author Max Lucado (@MaxLucado) writes in the article Coming Clean for Leadership Journal (@Leadership_Jnl) (from personal experience of enjoying beer too much but not admitting it) on just how honest and open confession is the right thing to do.

Read this in full.

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you authentically and strategically manage your brand’s reputation.

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And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

Some book authors have a tendency to minimize the effectiveness of social media marketing. And, because of that perspective, they neglect to fully engage with it as a way to advance their personal brand among their readers and to introduce themselves to new readers. So let’s take a look at why Pres. Obama and Gov. Romney believe social media marketing is so important and how they approach it.

The New York Times Technology (@nytimestech) journalist Jenna Wortham (@jennydeluxe) reports that “both [parties] rely heavily on Facebook and Twitter to solicit donations, blast out reminders of events, and share articles and videos conveying their stances.”

If the presidential campaigns of 2008 were dipping a toe into social media like Facebook and Twitter, their 2012 versions are well into the deep end. They are taking to fields of online battle that might seem obscure to the non-Internet-obsessed — sharing song playlists on Spotify, adding frosted pumpkin bread recipes to Pinterest and posting the candidates’ moments at home with the children on Instagram.

At stake, the campaigns say they believe, are votes from citizens, particularly younger ones, who may not watch television or read the paper but spend plenty of time on the social Web. The campaigns want to inject themselves into the conversation on services like Tumblr, where political dialogue often takes the form of remixed photos and quirky videos.

Read this in full.

Replace “votes” with “book purchases” and you see that social media marketing should be taken seriously by authors.

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you plan your social media marketing strategy. And to learn more about SomersaultSocial.

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And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

In this Fast Company (@FastCompany) article, Ryan Holiday (@RyanHoliday) says authors are increasingly writing non-fiction books, not as a means unto themselves, but as a means to the end of being a professional introduction of themselves for speaking, consulting, and deal-making.

Faced with declining sales and the disappearance of book retailers like Borders, authors have diversified their income streams, and many make substantially more money through new business generated by a book, rather than from it.

Today, authors are in the idea-making business, not the book business. In short, this means that publishing a book is less about sales and much more about creating a brand. The real customers of books are no longer just readers but now include speaking agents, CEOs, investors, and startups....

Call it a business card, a resume, a billboard, or whatever you choose, but the short of it is that books are no longer just books. They are branding devices and credibility signals.

Read this in full.

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you communicate your brand message.

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And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

Whenever you communicate, start by keeping your audience in focus. Your main message will only be well received when you position it in such a way as to clearly answer your audience’s ever-present question, “What’s in it for me?”

In this Forbes (@Forbes) article and video, communications coach Carmine Gallo (@carminegallo) emphasizes the importance of message-mapping to ensure that you strategically and effectively communicate the essence of your brand or book.

Step 1: Create a Twitter-friendly headline.

Step 2: Support the headline with three key benefits.

Step 3: Reinforce the three benefits with stories, statistics, and examples.

Read this in full.

Let Somersault (@smrsault) coach you in media & presentation skills and help you craft your core message so that it stands out in today’s media-saturated environment.

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And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

The American Christian Fiction Writers (@ACFWTweets) conference (@ACFWConference) (#ACFW) is being held in Dallas, TX and Somersault (@smrsault) is here telling authors, agents, and publishers about

• our online dashboard for publishers and marketers, SomersaultNOW
• this blog as a telescope helping industry professionals “see around the corner” to prepare for the future of publishing
• and SomersaultSocial, our new program to educate authors and speakers in the strategic and effective use of social media marketing.

Congratulations to Allen Arnold, winner of the ACFW’s 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award “in recognition of his impact on the Christian fiction industry, its authors, and its readers.” He’s the former publisher and senior vice president of Thomas Nelson Fiction, having launched the Fiction group in 2004.

ACFW’s other awards are Julee Schwarzburg - Editor of the Year, Nicole Resciniti - Agent of the Year, Allison Pittman - Mentor of the Year, Genesis winners for the best unpublished Christian fiction projects, and the Carol Awards for the best Christian fiction published in the previous calendar year.

If you’re attending the conference, please come to our exhibit booth and say hi!

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