A new report, “Beyond Trust: Engaging Consumers in the Post-Recession World,” defines “trust” and “recommendation,” as the key ingredients to brand success. Amazon.com, a site where customer reviews influence buying decisions, is number one. To measure results, the researchers developed the TrustR factor; 27% of brands scored above average. Compare these results with another study of the most valued brands in the U.S. and you’ll see two different lists.

The Top 10 Most Trusted and Recommended Brands in …

Adding another layer of personalization, LinkedIn now lets you present your profile in the order that best represents you and your profile.

Customizing your profile’s section ordering is quick and easy. You will notice that the headers of each of the sections on your “Edit Profile” page now have handles that can be dragged. To reorder a section, all you need to do is click and drag one of these section headers up or down the body of your profile. …

How do you handle negativity, privacy, branding, security on Facebook? Thanks to a reader who asked these questions about Facebook and their business. Have IRL [in real life] questions you need answered? Leave them in the comment box, text 630.207.7530 or email corywestmedia @gmail.com.

1. How do we manage negative feedback about our product/services?
Monitor comments, respond immediately online and contact personally. Most blogs give you the option of approving all comments before they go up. On Facebook, you can delete …

Butterflies used to be my visual brand. Why? Because I like photographing them and with the tagline “Marketing Transformations,” I though they were a natural fit. So I posted a series on my site: one for every page. But, did the images fit the brand? Here’s a replay of an article about branding methods, updated to merge with today’s contemporary takes.

Ten Branding Methods: Butterflies and Rainbows Optional

by Barbara Rozgonyi, founder of CoryWest Media, LLC

To request permission to reproduce or …

Gary Vaynerchuk is coming to Chicago tonight! I’ll be there. Because it’s Gary V Day in Chicago, I’m sharing this post from October 9, 2008 with 20 tips and a video. Enjoy! And…yes, I’ll be back with a report on what it’s like to meet Gary live. Thanks and congratulations to Kally Olexa for bringing Gary to town on his Crushit! book tour.

How does DNA relate to personal branding and community building? Read this post to find out.

On twitter, Gary …

The call was set for 10. We had a list of questions for them. But, before we could interview them, they wanted to interview us.

Thanks to Mark and Robert for taking time [almost an hour] to talk to Jeff Willinger and me about their take on social media. During our interview, Mark and Robert share stories about international entrepreneur successes, how they use social media and what they’ll cover when they speak to Social Media Club Chicago.

If you’re in …

It’s not everyday you get an invitation to have breakfast with a CEO – of a major company. But, that’s what six Chicago social media types got to do this week.
[Note: GM paid for my breakfast and parking.]

We met with Fritz Henderson, CEO of GM. After we introduced ourselves, we got to know Fritz, whose former addresses include Asia, Brazil and Switzerland. Now in his 25th year at GM, he has 14 more to go until he matches his father’s …

Approximately 100 posts ago, I wrote about how I wanted to redesign and rebrand this blog.
Before: All that’s left of my former blog is this screenshot I grabbed from Technorati.
Qualities Before: Messy, unorganized, text-heavy, out dated and totally not reader [or author] friendly.
After: What do you think?
Qualities After: What do you think?

Blog Rebranding Advice: A Before and After Podcast on Post 650

The first post that talks about Wired PR Works’ rebranding. Literally.

Jason Pelker of item-9 Consulting is who …

You could call this a high-click post. It gets more traffic than some blogs will ever get. It won a trip to BlogWorld. A national association just asked for republishing rights. More sites link into “Becoming a Subject Matter Expert on LinkedIn: The Top Ten Ways” than any other post on my blog. And, now it’s in a book.
In the video [I still can't believe I had the courage to make this with NO makeup - at all!], you’ll …