Jaggers Communications

What to Do When You Goof on Facebook

Marijean — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:17:55 +0000

Here’s the deal: we all “like” stuff we don’t necessarily want people to know about. Like, is naturally in quotes here because it refers to the practice of blithely clicking a button that says “like” on an image, a video, a blog post, an article, an essay, etc. What we forget, sometimes, is that we’ve previously given a website permission to interact with Facebook and to let the Facebook universe know about our “likes.”

It DOES come to our collective attention when a “friend” (and yes, now I’m just being silly with the superfluous quotation marks) “likes” something that uh, I have to cover with black boxes to both hide that “friend’s” identity and the nearly naked body of a “public figure”/sexy model.

It may have happened to you. It may be happening right now, without your knowledge. I’ve done it (well, not quite THIS badly), and close friends (minus quotes) have done it, too. So given the inevitability of the situation, what do you do, when you “like” something private out loud?

Manage the situation. If it’s brought to your attention, or you suddenly notice, get into Facebook and UNLIKE that page.
Review your “likes” to make sure they’re appropriate for public sharing. If you don’t like what you see, fix it.
Take note of the privacy shortcuts and settings — the little “lock” icon in the top right hand corner of your Facebook profile. Pay attention to who can see what you post.
Go into App Settings (under settings) and make sure you’re comfortable with what apps have access to your Facebook account, and who can see what’s cross posted from those apps. You may be surprised at permissions you’ve unknowingly given in the past.

The Glorious Response of Miss Utah During the Miss USA Pageant

Marijean — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 16:09:10 +0000

Everybody loves a verbal train wreck! Especially from someone we’re putting on a pedestal for some other reason. How do we avoid blasting others when they have this kind of public brain melt? How do we prevent ourselves from experiencing same?

If you have made the choice to speak publicly and there’s the SLIGHTEST CHANCE that you’ll be broadcast answering a question or waxing philosophical on any topic with a potential audience I have ONE phrase of advice for you: prepare, prepare, PREPARE!

And in the event your brain shuts down right in the middle — don’t just smile winningly, for Pete’s sake — ask the interviewer to repeat the question, and buy yourself some time to get back on track.

Managing Interruptions: How to Escape the Drag of E-mail

Marijean — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 14:47:09 +0000

E-mail drives me nuts. At times, I used to feel completely overwhelmed by it. I’m so reluctant to sign up for anything using my e-mail address because I know the end result is more junk clogging my consciousness.

Several years ago I decided to get organized and learn everything I could about managing e-mail. It was then when I adopted the use of rules, sometimes complicated, decision-trees that ended up sorting mail just the way I wanted it. I unsubscribed to everything possible and for e-mail I should keep, but not necessarily read, I set up automatic sorting and storage for that as well.

The tough part is ignoring the call to be slave to the incoming message. I refuse to do it! Texting and calling is immediate response technology, and even with that, if I’m meeting with someone in person, they have my full attention, and you’re going to get a call or text back later when I can give YOU my full attention.

I’ve learned that the best way to manage e-mail is to check it 2-3 times a day. I’ve noticed on days when I have several meetings, I end up checking it only twice anyway — and nothing bad happens!

The second tip — which is even harder to accomplish than the first and is my daily challenge — is the “touch it once” philosophy. When a message comes in, you either trash it, respond to it, or flag/move it to an action list.

What tips do you have for managing e-mail? Do you hate it as much as I do?

Your Brand is Often Your People

Marijean — Wed, 29 May 2013 19:11:16 +0000

In a client meeting, we were working to identify what makes our client really stand out in its industry. They referenced their collective experience, the deep level of knowledge some team members possess and overall, that the individuals within the company are what make the company different from others that do the same thing in the same market.

Huh.

So what you’re saying is, your people define your brand?

Exactly.

The dentists of Charlottesville Dental Health Partners

What image do you think your customers have when they think of your business? A logo, or the person (or people) who represents that logo to them?

The team at Rebecca’s Natural Food

Yeah, but we’re really a business-to-business organization. We don’t serve consumers, so …

So, the people who work here don’t have relationships with one another and with the people at the businesses with which they work?

The HemoShear team

Right.

Your brand is your people. Share your people with your community.

PHOTO CREDIT: the inimitable Sarah Cramer

When Horror Hits the Headlines: Tornadoes in Oklahoma

Marijean — Tue, 21 May 2013 17:15:00 +0000

I grew up in the Midwest, land of Lincoln, corn, and tornadoes. We had tornado drills in school as often as we had fire drills, and I certainly experienced more tornadoes in my lifetime — and in fact, never a fire.

I’ve noticed, this week, as reports file in and are updated and revised on the death toll, the estimated damage, that no matter how I receive news, an event of this nature overwhelms and

Image from the Daily Beast

overshadows all other content. It’s hard to even see or hear news beyond the tornadoes — even important news — when the consumers of news demand more pictures of devastation, stores of the survivors and the lost.

I can appreciate the focus on this and other tragedies, but I can’t help but wonder, at what price? When we narrow our vision to reflect on tragedies in our backyards and spend, perhaps, too much time looking at images or listening to interviews from the “ground zero” witnesses, what are we missing?

There are no artificial filters to help with this — it comes down to choices we make as consumers of news, but I think we should be cautious, and wary, that in the wake of tragedies such as this, our underbelly is exposed, and we need to still be vigilant in all other arenas, even while the first responders are still on site.