On any given Monday-Friday I expect nothing less than a tutorial on how to write a blog post to stimulate comment flow.

shhhh! Not all the readers here know the Lifetime-channel-esque-slash-marketing-support-group-emotional-engagement is really a ploy for comment generation!

Me, I love me some Lifetime: Social Media Edition, so go on. As consumers get more and more consumeristic and brand aware though, they are also catching on to marketing ploys quicker and this may no work for the mainstream soon – but for now, being loud, out (spoken) and proud is probably not a bad idea. If your customers enjoy Lifetime, anyway.

Ironically, I am an introvert that was raised in an extrovert family. Growing up, I never had a voice because I couldn’t get my voice above the level of my Italian New York family. So, I sat quiet for so long and let everything just unfold around me.

Today I am a VERY vocal woman and work in helping bring companies to their customers where they live – online. My specialty is in “Human SEO” – meaning that I bring not only the science of analytical data to the table but bring together the human side of all parties to build that relationship.

I applaud you for a post well-done and will most certainly be passing this onto my online clan!

I completely agree with “the hottest places…” sentiment.

Speaking up doesn’t have to be aggressive – knowing your foundational principles and living in accordance with them gives you “calm, assertive energy” (sorry, been watching the Dog Whisperer). In my personal branding practice, I don’t have clients begin to work on marketing/communications until we’ve discussed personal mission, goals and values – and then explored their target audience(s). By learning to speak our truths, we often become more willing to listen to the truths of others – and find that we have more common ground with others than we might otherwise have thought.

That said, there are times when we need to invoke the “hottest place in hell” concept and respectfully decline work. This happens when we’re asked to help a person or organization put out ideas that we believe will result in harm to others. We can only serve one master – and we each have to determine what that will be (I recommend Covey’s 7 Habits for info on principles-based “branding”) A huge (and sometimes loud) discussion about when that would be can be accessed off-line at many local pubs and coffee shops at any given time ;D.

That’s one huge advantage to being a freelancer. In my last office job, I had to work for a client that will remain nameless, but was in my opinion pretty much pure evil. I had a good enough relationship with my bosses that I could tell them how I felt about it, but we were a small enough company that I still had to do the work.