Focus on connecting with the people, and the tools will all make sense.

–Chris Brogan & Julien Smith
authors of “The Trust Agents”

The “cheese is constantly moving” in Social Media (SM) and Social Media Marketing (SMM).  Change in these areas is ongoing as new ideas and advancing technologies give rise to new and innovative platforms, communities, networks and tools.  There are no experts in Web 2.0. There are only good students learning new things daily; critiquing these things; and teaching others how best to leverage them.  Change comes at a dizzying pace on the Web.  However, there are a few timeless constants that every successful Social Media Marketer knows to adhere to:

ORIGINALITY
We are not interested in being the best at what others are already doing to market their clients in Web 2.0. Instead, we are constantly seeking different and better ways to get you the results you need.  To us, ORIGINALITY means attaining those results, not by following someone else’s game plan, but by changing the rules of the game and winning!

LISTENING
Hearing and listening are two completely different things.  All children crawl before they walk and anyone involved in Social Media must LISTEN before they comment.  Active listening begins at our first client meeting and never ends, even after you rate our performance!   We need to understand every aspect of your business and industry to help you gain any possible advantage over your competition.   We are much more interested in knowing what you know than in trying to impress you with what we say we know.  The best results come from listening, asking good questions and gaining a complete understanding of what makes your business better than others in your segment.

INTEGRITY
The culture of social media is based on authenticity and transparency.  We adopted the name Integrity Consulting Associates because we recognize that the web is a huge and constantly growing community, in which relationships and reputations are based on developing trust.  We know that our actions and deeds live on the Internet forever.  We are not interested in risking those relationships or our reputations and surrendering the capital we are building from our honesty, integrity and commitment to caring.  Our clients value all of this, and take comfort in recognizing our strong business ethics and adherence to the core values that most people admire and respect.  They further recognize that the messenger must be credible and trustworthy.