More...

In today’s post, we will cover step-by-step how to implement the +1 button on your individual website. I will discuss how to avoid a potentially hazardous result associated with using Google default code. The simple workaround I will reveal also carries the benefit of allowing you to control which URL is being +1′d and registered in Google’s organic search results.

The code and process is very simple.

Place the code below in one of two places on your website theme or website:

1. Just above the closing </head> tag; or
2. Just above the closing </body> tag.

More…

Yet there are a few corporate tweeters who instinctively get it right, and when they do, they add tremendous value to their enterprises. Those that do it the best authenticate their brands, and add to the bank of customer goodwill every business depends on. Executives that have mastered Twitter have pioneered a new way for people to connect with the companies that want their business.

Of course, when they get it wrong, it can be damaging to the brand experience their company works to cultivate. Whenever I see executives using Twitter detrimentally, I’m reminded of a time I boarded a plane and a dapper fellow strolled on behind me, fired up the PA system, and introduced himself as the president of the airline. He thanked us for our business — which was cool — and he proudly informed us that his airline was the most profitable in the world and shopping for expensive new jets — which was not. Whether he realized it or not, he became part of the passenger experience that day, and talking about profits and capital expenditures didn’t reflect the customer focused brand we’d all put our faith in. Corporate leaders on Twitter face the same potential pitfalls as that airline exec.

Those who know how to use Twitter well consistently demonstrate five truths about how a CEO –- or any leader — should speak when they step into the Twitter spotlight. Emulating how they do it can help other executives get a huge return on their investment when using Twitter and avoid doing any damage to their brand.

1. They are their brand’s conscience

For most consumers, an ideal CEO is someone who uses their power to make sure a brand keeps its promises. As a business leader on Twitter, that should be your platform. What people sense in an effective company executive on Twitter is not the echo of marketing, but the principles by which they lead the company behind it, and their passion for the job. Skip the brand rhetoric. Your brand will thank you for it.

2. They don’t sell – They share

Twitter isn’t advertising, it’s a conversation. Great executive tweeters don’t try to sell to their followers, they try to engage them in a personal way. They share things about their company’s corporate culture, their leadership values, the great people around them. They help followers with problems. They make business competition personal, and sometimes even funny. Each tweet should be a window into the life of the company behind the marketing, which will make the marketing stronger as a result.

3. They are real human beings

On Twitter, what you talk about is who you are. Every Twitter user’s update history paints a true portrait of their character and what matters to them. So, the best executive tweeters are real people and sound like real people — always. They know the responsibility to keep their brand honest is a duty they owe their customers, but they also know that baseball practice, Saturday errands and that great burger they had at their favorite local eatery last night are the things that make them human. In moderation, share some of those things, too. People will be able to relate to you on a personal level and as a result, they will like and trust you more.

4. They write well

Nobody will say so out loud, but believe me: Bad grammar and punctuation, or hasty abbreviations to get the character count down to 140, are just a little too humanizing. Great leaders are characteristically great communicators, and it’s no different on Twitter. Sure, informality is fine, charming even, but confident prose is one way people recognize leadership in this forum. Nobody wants to do business with a sixteen-year-old CEO, and the best executive tweeters don’t write like one.

5. They commit

The best executive tweeters are people who have decided to join the party. They tweet a few times a day, and do so at least a few days a week. They build a community and become familiar with their followers. They establish relationships, running jokes, and a personality that defines them. Corporate leaders on Twitter that don’t tweet often can seem distant, or worse, when they do. We don’t feel like they’ve joined the party. We just feel like they walked into the room to make an announcement, and then left. I won’t go so far as to say that you shouldn’t be a Twitter user if you’re not prepared to commit. But almost.

Via: Mashable