Schaffner Media Partners

Just a few weeks ago, at the urging of client Facebook, two executives at Burson-Marsteller tried to spread an anti-Google smear campaign suggesting that bloggers and advocates criticize Google’s privacy policy. Rather than stir up media outrage, their awkward emails were turned against them by the same bloggers and newspapers they were pitching. Three brands were hurt–who is recovering?

Just a few weeks ago, Sony’s Playstation network was hacked, compromising the identities and credit card numbers of millions of customers. The event stirred anti-Sony reaction worldwide among techies and gamers. What has Sony done to inform the global audience of tech consumers that it is ensuring the online gaming economy is secure?

Just a few days ago, The New York Times and other media reported on a brand crisis for the consumer review site, Yelp: underground entrepreneurs are selling fake ‘good’ restaurant and product reviews and corrupting Yelp’s credibility. Haven’t many consumers already wised up to spamming and astroturf of consumer reviews?

Protecting and managing brand reputation is a major issue for leaders and marketers in every business. A new book offers valuable strategies and tactics to help you protect your brand, manage risk, and stage a recovery from attacks in our hyper-connected info-economy. CONTINUE READING…

My last post discussed the takeaways for entrepreneurs contained in UK mogul Felix Dennis’ incisive assemblage, The Narrow Road: A Brief Guide to the Getting of Money (Viking Portfolio US, April 2011), a handbook of 88 short chapters modeled on the essays of Francis Bacon.

I’m excited about so much of the information here for entrepreneurs that I’m dipping into Dennis’ collection to share his guidance on how to raise, keep, and grow capital–and avoid the disasters that take it from you.

If you need to raise money for yourself or a client, for your business, or an associate, keep these in mind: (Continue reading)

How many times in your career has your team decided they needed a bold new strategy to recapture lost momentum or get unstuck from the myriad hassles of daily operations? So you go on a retreat, get a facilitator, talk for hours about a strategic plan, form committees, summarize your findings to the group. Someone writes the plan, doles out assignments, and you’ve signed up for a burst of change.

How often did that work?

In his new book Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries (Simon & Schuster Free Press April 2011), Peter Sims suggests starting very small, with just a “little bet.” As he explains:

“a little bet is a low-risk action to discover, develop, and test an idea. Little bets are the at the center of an approach to get to the right idea…without getting stymied by perfectionism, risk-aversion, or excessive planning.” (CONTINUE READING)…

Does someone on your team or in your family struggle with a long-standing habit that makes that person less productive, less able to change effectively, and a distraction or worse to your organization or family? The problem could be obesity, smoking, inappropriate work relationships, or internet addiction. It might include procrastination, social unease, toxic gossip, poor written work, or one of many difficult behaviors.

Do you have a lot at stake in changing this behavior? Does this behavior keep you awake at night?

As someone who reads many business books, I am careful of using too many superlatives about a single book. After all, many authors address similar material and offer helpful advice from various points of view. If you single out one book above many others, you potentially limit the reader’s options.

But Change Anything, The New Science of Personal Success by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, David Maxfield, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler, leaders of the organizational development and corporate training firm VitalSmarts, just might become an enduring classic in how to turn problem behaviors into productivity and happiness. (CONTINUE READING)…

The publishing world has been shaken by 60 Minutes’ expose of possible fabrications in Greg Mortenson’s best-selling memoir, Three Cups of Tea, which was co-authored by David Relin (I also recommend Jon Krakauer’s own account, Three Cups of Deceit). There are many lessons here but especially for authors, who aren’t professional writers, and share a goal of educating readers and building their brand through a book.

I have my own perspective as I know another American who, like Mortenson, had a life-changing experience while traveling through the Himalayas when he encountered poverty and the desperate needs of children for literacy and education. He also left previous career and began a nonprofit organization that would-as of this writing-ultimately bring well over 10,000 libraries to remote areas in Asia and Africa. He also wrote a book about the journey. published, coincidentally, the same year as Three Cups of Tea. CONTINUE READING…