Cristal Carrington

With so many social media applications out there and so little time, how does one manage to utilize them all effectively? I have recently come upon this dilemma and decided to create a social media calendar to assist the juggle between all that I have to do with what I need to do technologically. Some of my favorite social apps are Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, but a few others that may be relevant to you and your business are: 1. Reddit: Upload stories and articles on reddit to drive traffic to your site or blog. Submit items often so that you'll gain a more loyal following and increase your presence on the site. 2.Digg: Digg has a huge following online because of its optimum usability. Visitors can submit and browse articles in categories like technology, business, entertainment, sports and more. 3.Del.icio.us: Social bookmark your way to better business with sites like del.icio.us, which invite users to organize and publicize interesting items through tagging and networking. 4.StumbleUpon: You'll open your online presence up to a whole new audience just by adding the StumbleUpon toolbar to your browser and "channel surf[ing] the Web. You'll "connect with friends and share your discoveries," as well as "meet people that have similar interests." 5.Technorati: If you want to increase your blog's readership, consider registering it with Technorati, a network of blogs and writers that lists top stories in categories like Business, Entertainment and Technology. 6.Ning: After hanging around the same social networks for a while, you may feel inspired to create your own, where you can bring together clients, vendors, customers and co-workers in a confidential, secure corner of the Web. Ning lets users design free social networks that they can share with anyone. 7.Squidoo: According to Squidoo, "everyone's an expert on something. Share your knowledge!" Share your industry's secrets by answering questions and designing a profile page to help other members. 8.Furl: Make Furl "your personal Web file" by bookmarking great sites and sharing them with other users by recommending links, commenting on articles and utilizing other fantastic features. 9.Tubearoo: This video network works like other social-bookmarking sites, except that it focuses on uploaded videos. Businesses can create and upload tutorials, commentaries and interviews with industry insiders to promote their own services. 10.WikiHow: Create a how-to guide or tutorial on wikiHow to share your company's services with the public for free. 11.YouTube: From the fashion industry to Capitol Hill, everyone has a video floating around on YouTube. Shoot a behind-the-scenes video from your company's latest commercial or event to give customers and clients an idea of what you do each day. 12.Ma.gnolia: Share your favorite sites with friends, colleagues and clients by organizing your bookmarks with Ma.gnolia. Clients will appreciate both your Internet-savviness and your ability to stay current and organized. These are just a few of many sites that will allow for greater exposure of your company and its core mission/values. Enjoy! *Sites and descriptions compliments of InsideCRM -Cristal Carrington

Pinterest is fast becoming the hottest little website on the net. Users are allowed to pin their favorite pictures to a virtual board and share those pins with others seeking to express themselves through visual replicas of things they want, need or desire. Don't know how to use the application? Don't worry,with this diagram you will be well on your way to building your brand while utilizing the latest social networking tools. Find me on Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/thesocialiteprj/ Find me on Twitter @thesocialiteprj and on FB at Cristal Carrington Smooches & Stay Fabulous! -Cristal Carrington

The power of brainstorming. Brainstorming sounds like such a tiresome work, but it doesn't have to be. Brainstorming can be such a rewarding and eye-opening experience that truly opens doors to possibilities and concepts. This weekend, I was blessed to be in an intense brainstorm session with a family member. It was really unlike any session I had been in before. It was truly amazing. Here are a few tips I found helpful to utilize before meetings: - Play soothing music (New age, Classical or Jazz works well). - Get comfortable. - Ask your guides and higher power to bless the session and allow yourself to sit in that space for a while before beginning. - Use a mind map technique to write down ideas - Relax, sit within your space and allow yourself to create. These tips are just some of the ways that you can use Zen to enhance your collaborative thought sessions. For more information, or to reach out to Cristal Carrington, find me at @theuptowndiva @thesocialiteprj or on FB: at Cristal Carrington

Enthusiam is a must each and every day. We are encouraged to be enthusiastic with our brand and our personal journey. Smooches & Stay Fabulous -Cristal Carrington

Have you ever called a company with a comment/concern or suggestion and felt like you never got a response? How did that make you feel? Unappreciated? Taken for granted? Did it make you feel like the company really valued you as a customer? Did you decide to purchase that product again, or did you abandon the product/brand of choice for a more responsive, comparatively priced product? How did the choice company’s non-response affect your thoughts about the brand? Did you still believe wholeheartedly in the brand? Could you?

Brand loyalty is a hard thing to build and even harder to keep. New brands are developed each and every day with the desire to replace other brands, even yours. So how do you keep your brand loyalty campaign in tip-top shape? Some of the easy ways to do this is to keep your customer engaged into the core philosophy of your brand and what it stand for, as well as taking the time to reply to your customers, especially the most important ones that are brand loyal, yet are feverishly courted by other brands for their business.

Sometimes it’s not about a company producing a better product as it is the effectiveness of its relationship with its customers and clients. Everyone wants to feel appreciated and the companies that actively apply the Marketing 101 adage that the customer is king rules the roost.

Brand Loyalty Campaigns are much more than loyalty rewards programs or awarding discounts. Yes, customers love gifts and discounts, but true brand loyalists enjoy the thought that their chosen brand cares about them in an individual way instead of just being one in the number. This is where many companies have gone wrong. Compromised brands think that the easiest way to keep a customer around is to dangle discounts as a trade-off for loyalty, when in reality certain consumers prefer not to have a discount, but a more solid relationship with the brand itself. Everyone loves discounts, but people (myself included), love superior products more.

However, just having a superior product is not good enough. Customers value the engagement that a brand provides and this is a deal breaker when it comes to brand loyalty. If the customer feels un-valued, it won’t be long before they find a comparable product that values them. Customers that have proven to be brand loyal don’t mind working hard, paying top dollar, or being a champion for the brand as long as they feel appreciated in the end.

Stay tuned for more fabulous branding commentary at www.theuptowndiva.com and don’t forget to find me on Twitter @thesocialiteprj and Facebook at Cristal Carrington
Smooches & Stay Fabulous!
- Cristal Carrington

This year, Burberry announced that it will allow customers to create their own trench coats and tap into their own self expression on Burberry's sister site located at http://tiny.cc/BurberryBespoke.

The coats, that can range from $1,800-8,800, are just an example of how brands are putting the customer in charge and giving them the power to create a more personal look.

Some ways this can be done by you and your firm are through rewards programs, surveys and online customization.

Start with the three above mentioned tips and stay tuned to www.theuptowndiva.com for more tips on how to enhance your brand.

Smooches & Stay Fabulous!

- Cristal Carrington

According to Al Ries, Author of the famed book, The 22 Laws of Branding, Ries suggests with the third law that a brand must consistently seek publicity to remain healthy.

Leadership is the most important motivating factor in consumer behavior. Leadership makes the difference between you and other brands. Being a leader means you will attract all types of attention, good, bad and even uneccessary snide remarks. However, I recommend that you take imitation of your brand or snide remarks as the highest form of flattery; it just means that you are that good and highly sought after.

Building publicity means building your subject matter expertise to the point where people recommend you for it. It doesn’t happen overnight, but with consistent hard work and dedication to your dreams, you will be well on your way to the success you desire.

There are many small ways to gain publicity, because quite frankly you may never get on the front cover of Vogue, but with consistent articles written about you over time, you will gain a reputable name with your target market.

Consistency is just as good, if not better than landing the front cover. How many times have you seen professionals of any industry on the front cover and never heard of the next? Many. This is why having a consistent approach is more important that being on the front cover. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t shoot for the cover, it just means you need to be in as many issues as possible over time.

A few ways to gain publicity right now:
Hire a professional PR/Branding Consultant to enhance your branding campaign.
Hiring a professional to oversee your campaign is an effective way to get your name in the media. Companies such as Aqua Promos have landed brands and social causes that had no name on large news networks such as ABC and your brand should have a piece of the spotlight. Hiring a professional doesn’t have to break the bank, but it can yield dividends as you become noticed.

Write a blog about your subject matter.
Blogging is an easy and economical way to push your product and services to your target audience and another way to enhance your rankings on Google and Bing. Use a blog service such as Blogger or Wordpress and try to post fresh articles at least 3 times per week.

Chat with other bloggers and pitch stories to them surrounding you and your expertise.
Chatting with other professionals and influential bloggers is a great way to tap into the framework of technology and build alliances along the way. Make it your business to seek out professionals that write about your field and alert them to trends in your industry. This is a great way to become a leader in your profession. Those that spot the trends ahead of time are those that are valuable to the marketplace.

These are just a few ways that you can enhance your brand power right now and remain a healthy brand.

For more information on Aqua Promos and what how we can enhance your branding campaign effortlessly, find me, Cristal Carrington at aquapromos@gmail.com. Shoot me a line about your company and let’s find cost-effective solutions for your Branding/PR needs.

Find me on Twitter @thesocialiteprj and on Facebook at Cristal Carrington.

Smooches & Stay Fabulous

-Cristal Carrington

As a busy professional, I find it hard to consistently promote my various campaigns on social networks. If this is happening to me, I'm sure all of you marketers out there are probably having the same problem. With that said, I had to do further research.

I found out that the best days to promote your brand, product or service on Twitter is on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Apparently this is when the most people are online and actively participating on the site.

The worst day to promote on Twitter is on Mondays and Saturdays. One would think Saturdays would be optimal, since most people are not at work, but apparently not. So since it is Tuesday, I will take this opportunity to promote a campaign that rewards its patrons. I have literally found the worlds easiest way to have a personal shopper for all your favorite brands. I discovered it years ago, but decided to kick back up my promo campaign and tell all of you today.

Guys and dolls need apply, for they have clothing and accessories for all.
Feel free to share this link.

http://tiny.cc/YourFavoriteBrands - Just tell them The Uptown Diva sent you.

P.S. - Don't forget to find me on Twitter @thesocialiteprj and on Facebook at Cristal Carrington

Smooches & Stay Fabulous!

- Cristal Carrington

I recently read in the book Managing Brand You by Ira Bluementhal that to perfect your brand you must begin with the basics of self-evaluation. One of the ways to do this is to create an adjective list of who we believe we are. He suggests creating a 25 word list to do this and I must say it has helped me tremendously.

He was sure to point out that we should be brutally honest with ourselves, not only mentioning the awesome adjectives, but the not-so awesome adjectives as well. As we all have negative and positive traits, it is important that we examine both.
Learning more about yourself helps the process of branding and allows you to concentrate on how to become a better you. This is what the branding process is all about and since I'm also doing it, I find it quite rewarding.

Below is a link to a list of adjectives for you to mention on your personal list. http://tiny.cc/ComprehensiveAdjectives Out of 25, there will probably be at least 8-10 negative traits that you know of. Taking a look at where we fall short, even if our friends think we do no wrong, places us well on our way to a more fulfilling life and a more viable and fabulous internal brand position. It's the inside that counts. Be your best self.

Find me on Twitter @thesocialiteprj and on Facebook at Cristal Carrington

Smooches & Stay Fabulous

-Cristal Carrington

What a busy week. Hope all is well for my fabulous brand builders out there. As promised, I will briefly talk about the second law of branding: The Law of Contraction.

In the masterful book written by Al Ries, The 22 Laws of Branding, the second law of branding suggests that a brand becomes stronger when you narrow its focus. Ries expounds on the first law of branding: The Law of Expansion, reinerating that when you put your name on everything, you lose your brands essence and power, at least with those of us with discerning tastes. A powerful branding program always starts by contracting the category, not expanding it.

For more fabulous brand chatter, follow me on Twitter @thesocialiteprj and on Facebook at Cristal Carrington.

Happy Monday to all my readers.

Mondays most people dread, but I find them to be quite rewarding. For me, this monday has been fun and overall a joy.

Here is how to have a fun-day branding monday.

Visit the library for a new branding book related to your niche.
Find events in your area that will take place later on in the week.
Believe in your brand, no matter what.

Sometimes there will be events that seek to move you from your happy and on Mondays that can be so easy to do. However, believing in yourself and your brand, no matter what diffuses hectic mondays and turns them into fun-day mondays.

Enjoy!

Find me at www.Twitter.com/theuptowndiva or on Facebook at Cristal Carrington

Smooches & Stay Fabulous

Cristal Carrington