Let’s Face It, You Suck...

Tweet …at something. We all do.  While we could quite possibly spend hours and blood, sweat, and tears trying to improve our weaknesses, all of that effort may move the needle, a little bit. Despite being a fierce competitor on the football field, my father had a smaller build than many of the collegiate atheletes. He always wanted to beef up his “chicken legs.” He did squats, calf raises, and lifts but his legs never seemed to get much bigger. His true, natural-born, strength was in...

Become More “Influential” (i...

Tweet Use http://Klout.com to identify “influencers;” engage with 50 of them; and raise your Klout score by 20 points. Klout uses “influential about” to determine the topic areas where you are considered most influential. For example, my twitter account @jfloyd is considered to be most influential about the following topics: Knoxville Social Media Legal Business 1. Identify 50 people that you believe are influential about topics that you want to be influential about...

Look Ma, I got a ‘B’ in Blog...

Tweet Here’s the checkup: ‘better, but still needs improvement.” After spending the last 60 days working on  regular blogging, I had a conversation with Mark Schaefer and asked “so, Mark what suggestions would you give me to make me better?” Mark’s response resulted in a post that he put on {Grow}. I agreed to not steal his thunder, but here is the summary specifically as it applied to me. ‘Sweat the Headline’ – Spend twice as long working on the...

Did Google Stick a + in the heart of Fac...

Tweet Like others in the social sphere, I’ve been playing around with Google+ since its release last week (thanks to James Herbert). Like the Google Buzz experiment, I’ve been casually playing with it to see how Google envisions their second stand in the social sphere. So, I’m a bit cautious to make any predictions as to whether it is truly the Facebook-Twitter-All-Things-Social killer. If you can imagine the cosmic dust swirling around the big bang in the world of the social cosmos, you...

Guest Post on Business Grow...

Tweet My good friend Mark Schaefer is featuring my post 8 Steps to help you reach the marketing gold on his blog today. Please take a stroll over there and check it...

The Changing Face of Marketing Firms...

Tweet A few weeks ago another partner of Bluegill and I spoke with a recent college graduate seeking one of those non-existent, executive level, no-experience, marketing jobs. She had a number of questions for us about the industry, and the opportunities that she might pursue while tracking down a job. Then she asked, “what does the agency look like in 2015?” Today, I blogged a response over on the Bluegill...

We’re All In the (Customer) Servic...

Tweet [wp_connect_like_button href="http://www.jeremyfloyd.com/?p=771" send_button="disabled" layout="standard" width="600" show_faces="enabled" verb="like" colorscheme="light" font="arial" ref="" /] Several months ago, I read Tony Hsieh’s Delivering Happiness. The words on the page were comfortable like slipping on a pair of broken-in house shoes. As I have transitioned in my career from a front-line customer contact to a consultant, I have met so many people that consider customer service to be...

Part II Tale of Two Travels...

Tweet Only one week after the American Eagle situation, I had an experience on a Delta flight from Atlanta to Knoxville that was truly remarkable. Image used via creative commons license via @kevinkluu After boarding the plane, my business partner and I were seated directly in front of the bulk head (the same seat as the other flight). The flight attendant leaned against the flight cabin door with perturbed demeanor. With each question, he would roll his eyes and say something under his breath like, “If...

Customer Service & The Tale of Two ...

Tweet We are all in the customer service business. Sometimes we don’t correctly identify our “customers,” but we are all in the customer service business nevertheless. In the course of the next three posts, I am going to tell two personal customer service stories, and in the third I’ll reflect on some of the principals that deliver a remarkable experience. First Story About three weeks ago, I was returning from Tijuana, Mexico where I spent a week with a group of about 10 guys working...

What Does ‘All In’ Look Like...

Tweet You’ve heard the phrase: “I’m all in.” It’s a poker reference; it means I’m betting all my chips on this hand because either it is so good (there’s no losing) or they’re playing the ultimate bluff. In life, however, being all in means that an idea is so powerful that you will make any sacrifice to protect it. I hear people say, “I’m all in” or “I’ve drank the Kool-aid” or “I’m sold out.” I assume that...