Initially I will be Consulting, Speaking, Writing, etc. More to come soon 
In the words of Collective Bias Co-Founder John Andrews…
Collective Bias
The Power of Community in Social Media ~via @GenFabulous
by Chloe Jeffreys on July 11, 2013 in Coffee with Chloe, GenFabTV, Social Media – VIDEO interview below
Last year at BlogHer I had the chance to meet Ted Rubin, co-author of Return on Relationship
Give your Brand a “Personality Test”
Have you given your brand a “personality test” lately? When you think of big brands that stand out, what comes to mind—just their product, or how their communications make you feel about them? It used to be that mass advertising was the way brands developed a personality, but that’s no longer the case. With today’s social communications being so important to a brand’s reputation and perception in the marketplace, finding a way to involve your friends and followers in building that personality is essential.
I’ll give you a few good big-brand examples (personal disclaimer… Duane Reade and Mastercard are Collective Bias clients).
The Content “IS” the Ad
There’s a lot of angst in marketing land right now. With Google’s Panda and Penguin changes and social algorithms that favor engagement, it may look as though SEO is dead, or that traditional ads will soon be going the way of the dodo. What’s a marketer to think? Are we supposed to throw out everything we learned about marketing and advertising to date and learn to ride a new horse? How the heck are we supposed to get in front of customers now?
Well, things ARE changing. Traditional advertising isn’t yet extinct, but there is simply too much noise out there, and people are sick of it. They’re shutting out the blast advertising that has crept into every aspect of their lives and centering in on the things they truly care about—friends, family, and social connections. You need to take a step back and study this shift in order to take advantage of it.
Building Customer Relationships with Branded Story-Telling
There are some new buzzwords in marketing going around, everything from “Collaborative Marketing” to “Relationship Marketing,” and even “Branded Content.” But what do those phrases really mean and how can today’s businesses take advantage of them?
Well, we all know that consumers are becoming more and more contemptuous of push advertising, which has traditional marketers scrambling to find a magic bullet to replace it. But with what? When social came along and marketers mistakenly tried to force push advertising messages there, the failures were huge.
Some Top Social Hits & Misses of the Past Few Weeks
It’s a wild and crazy social media world out there. Small businesses, big brands, celebrities and everyone in between continues to struggle to find the right balance of engagement and sharing in social media (some with grace, others… not so much). So, who knocked it out of the park and who struck out in social media in the past few weeks?
Here are a few notable items that gave me cause for pause:
Missed the Mark (by a mile)
Social Media has Played a Significant Role in the Rise of Marketing to Women… better keep an eye on the Latinas from #LATISM12
Social has taken away numerous connection barriers between brand and consumer, giving brands more direct access to not just push information out to consumers, but to actively engage in ongoing conversation with consumers and their networks. Since women, who control 85% of household spending, are the majority of social media users, it makes sense that marketers naturally have turned their focus to marketing to women. They hold the purse strings AND have the highest and most interrelated social media presence.
My New Title, CHO… Shifting Your Mindset by Shifting Your Focus
I recently circulated a Facebook Post where I announced that my corporate title at Collective Bias was soon to change from CSMO (Chief Social Marketing Officer) to CHO. But I didn’t explain further, and it got everyone guessing what CHO stood for.
It was a great exercise. People guessed all KINDS of things, such as:
Return on Relationship, The Book, is a Reality!
Last year I embarked on a journey with my friend and co-author Kathryn Rose to put into words what Return on Relationship really means. And after months of hard work, I’m very excited that our new book, Return on Relationship: Relationships are the New Currency; Honor Them, Invest in Them, and Start Measuring Your ROR has finally come to fruition, and will be launched January 29th!
Now, you’ve heard me talking about ROR for years, but this is the first time that the concept has been thoroughly discussed from more than just my point of view. Kathryn brings a fresh, practical perspective, and together we explore the depth and breadth of relationship building for businesses.
The Decline of Machines – Why Social Media is not Technology and Vice Versa
Originally posted at Collective Bias Blog
by John Andrews
Most of today’s senior business leaders and marketers developed much of their perspective during the dot com boom of the late 90s and early 2000s. It is little wonder then that when approaching social marketing the solution for most folks is rooted in technology. The same with most start-ups that are still pursuing the model of aggregating a huge audience, using “Big Data” to spot patterns of groups and selling ads. People buy more stuff and we get a ridiculous valuation.