I’m looking forward to embarking on a new adventure as a corporate tweeter. As such, I’ve taken a good deal of time accumulating best practices for corporate accounts. Many of these are the same as I would recommend for anyone operating a business Twitter account for themselves:

1. Have a mission/message in mind before you post your first tweet.
2. Your message should also consider your target audience.
3. Twitter directories are a good way to gain some followers initially, but there is no get followers quick solution.
4. Be selective in following. There is no need to follow everyone who follows you.
5. Be careful of your language. This is even more important for corporations than for individuals.
6. Your posts are 100% public. Remember that bad news travels faster than good news and anything your shareholders wouldn’t like will travel out of the Twitterverse and onto TV screens and into newspapers.
7. Corporations need to select a voice. It’s best if one person, or a couple of people, man the account, for consistency, and to be sure there’s no redundancy. Most corporations invoke the royal ‘we.’  Other more customer-service oriented Twitter accounts have used an individual speaking from the first person.
8. A regular stream of content is important to any Twitter feed to maintain followers. Appropriate corporate topics include:

• • respond to follower/customer inquiries
  • retweet satisfied customer tweets
  • link to updated/interesting information on corporate websites/blogs
  • retweet updates from affiliated Twitter accounts
  • Twitter contests
  • advance notice of corporate news
  • Twitter discount codes
  • stimulate Twitter discussions with product-related questions
  • product-related trivia
  • run online surveys
  • photos of corporate events

Have some other ideas? Please share in the comments!

Bird art by Triax Mills.

I have always been good at standardized tests. I realize this is no small gift.

One part of standardized tests that I never minded, ever since grade school — almost enjoyed — is the beginning, which is almost always the same, with little variations.

Even now, filling out job applications and health forms, it’s always: Name, (last name or first name first), Address, City, State, (two letter abbreviation or spell it out?), Zip code, (plus the extra four digits or not), Etcetera.

Over the years the demographics section has gotten more complicated. I remember way back when it used to be just male or female, black or white, and married or single (well, they didn’t ask that in grade school).

But those who create our forms came to the realization that America is much more complicated than that.

It is clear to anyone who takes a walk around the block in my neighborhood that black or white doesn’t cover my neighbors. I’ve come to realize that even male or female isn’t an easy question for some people to answer.

The marriage question is a totally different debate. Of course, since this is America, we need a ‘Divorced’ box to check on most forms. But for some poor souls who happen to have married someone of their same gender, they need to check state law before they know which box they can check.

I find that tedious and intrusive. The government lets you decide which race box you want to check. And some forms have dozens of race boxes, no proof of heritage required.

This past weekend’s National Equality March in DC was about evening that playing field for lesbian, gay and transgender Americans. The civil rights fight isn’t over yet.

Of course the marriage issue is only a small part of it. Learn more at the National Equality March website.

Has this ever been done before? On June 4 the site already had 2,300 signatures. The count at the time of this post is 27,148 signatures. Citizens of the UK are begging their leaders to change the signal they are sending to the world.

Online petition – Change The London 2012 Logo

Today the new logo for the 2012 Olympics, to be held in London, was unveiled. “‘This is an iconic brand that sums up what London 2012 is all about — an inclusive, welcoming and diverse Games that involves the whole country,’ said Olympics minister Tessa Jowell.”

Um, OK. It looks to be something I wrote on the back of my notebook in 9th grade that I thought was really punk rock.

Supposedly this logo is designed to be instantly recognizable worldwide. It’s based on the numbers 2012. Did you see it? I had be told.

Read the story on Yahoo.

More commentary at AdRants.

Next day update:
The Washington Post picked up on the yuckiness of the logo:
“Jeers and Loathing Over a New Logo”
UK sport blog’s reaction: “London’s new brand of bother“

Has our paranoia really gotten so bad that some Lite-Brite panels can bring a city to a grinding halt? Is Boston the only city on its toes enough to catch such things? Or are we just at the tail end of a generation gap? I’m voting for the tail end of the generation gap. And hoping that I’m right.

Looking at the evidence I’ve been able to gather from YouTube and Fox News, I don’t see threatening devices, but crudely decorated panels. And even if one isn’t familiar with the character from Aqua Teen Hunger Force, the rude character is derived loosely from the video games of my childhood, and there have to be some folks that remember Nintendo on Boston’s police force.

I just have a hard time believing that all of Boston’s law-enforcing and homeland security folks are that uncool. Why fulfill the stereotype? It doesn’t have to be true! Or perhaps we need to have pop culture classes at the academy now. Something to reintroduce all the square cops and federal agents into the mainstream of American culture? It seems that they’re just not ‘with it’ enough to recognize what’s a joke and what’s real danger, going on right under their noses.

Don’t make Turner pay the fine. Make the first idiot that called a Lite-Brite a bomb pay the fine. That’s the person that cost Boston all the panic and all that cash.

See the videos for yourself at Advertising Age: http://adage.com/outofsite/post?article_id=114675

Buy a T-shirt to commemorate the event

Update: Cartoon Network executive VP and GM Jim Samples resigned over this mess.

I love this word — thanks to Springwise for pointing it out, re: one of the newest Snobmoddities, honey.

That’s right. Honey is now exclusive, Nuevo-chic. Do you prefer domestic or imported? Have you been to a honey bar, honey? They’re all the rage!
Read about it at Springwise…

After you’ve seen what honey is doing right now, be sure you understand the power of Snobmoddities. (See Trendwatching)

You’ve seen this in action before. Think about:
• Coffee
• Water
• Homemade dog biscuits

Snobmoddities are all about marketing, and they’re moneymakers. Can it work for you?

I was recently asked to define celebrity service. Donna Cutting is writing a book on Celebrity Service.  Hmm, what makes me feel like a celebrity ?

Outside of immaculate cleanliness, perfumed tissues, and beverages offered at no extra charge for the full extent of my stay, what are we really talking about here?

I think it gets down to a definition I included in my last post: gracious …

I have been to upscale establishments where the staff are aware that they are supposed to be providing 5-star service to me, but I don’t quite look like the 5-star customer, so they provide a reluctant, snobbish version of the service. They are meeting all the minimum requirements, but not with the enthusiasm they would for, say, a rock star.

What a shame. I found myself surprised this weekend. I was at a rock concert this past weekend that happened to offer table service. We had a table for two next to a group of 3 girls and a guy. I overheard the ladies talking about how the guy might be able to get them backstage passes, and I didn’t really think anything of it. Imagine my surprise when the show started and he was on stage, playing the bass!

Our server may well have known who he was, but we had no idea. Cheers to our server, who provided excellent service to both tables. Also — remember that all so-called ‘important’ people do NOT go around with neon signs on their foreheads, whether the people that are important to you are rock stars, CEOs or journalists.

Elements of celebrity service ( in my opinion)

• Eagerness to please
• The customer is always, always, right
• Extra touches: in packaging, purchasing assistance, follow-up
• Listening vs. telling: giving your customer the floor and following through with their requests

Of course you walk a fine line: especially if you are a consultant, like myself. You need to be able to listen to a client and be able to tell them if they are steering themselves wrong. That’s not easy, but it can be done tactfully. Or should I say, gracefully?

Check out the book: The Celebrity Experience: Insider Secrets to Delivering Red Carpet Customer Service