Probably most of us wouldn’t do those things, but in a business, it’s important to be able to take a risk or step out of your comfort zone.  If we don’t, how will we ever know if there was potential for something more?   David Javitch makes a valid point though- the risk should be appropriate, and moderate, and if you fail, acknowledge it, and think about what could have been done differently for the next time.

To read more Tips for Leadership, click here.

Now, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia teams up with Yahoo, creating a program that extends across the Web, TV, print and radio. It marks the first time MSLO has created customized online video segments, which will appear on MarthaStewart.com.

The eight segments appear as rich media banners on the site. Topics include saving money online and the kind of Netiquette advice expected from the queen of gracious living.

Yahoo, seeking to promote its suite of online products, tools and services, wanted to get the attention of Martha Stewart fans who wield an extreme amount of clout in family matters.

So, back to an original post… can you bounce back from negative publicity? Martha proves that you can with the right plan.

Tiger, fess up to it and ask to be left alone on a network where 250 million people are listening. Regain your respect. (BTW, Tiger’s team has not yet figured out the benefits of Twitter. He has 3 tweets.)

We have many clients skeptical about using social media as a marketing tool. They are worried about negative comments or unhappy past customers sabotaging their Facebook and Twitter pages (or in celebrity terms, a “scandal”). However, this actually presents an opportunity to respond to issues. Show that you are listening, you are reasonable, and you do your best to satisfy every customer. (If the harassment continues, you can always block a user from your pages.)

Social Media breaks down the barrier – it no longer has to feel like customer vs. business. Instead, it gives the customer the option to express their opinion. Your response is what determines their ultimate opinions and satisfaction.

Now you have the opportunity to exhibit the values and qualities of your business, take control when problems occur and build your reputation. If someone has something bad to say about your business, they’re going to say it. You might as well create an open platform so you can respond.

Take for example the rise and fall of the celebrity products. There are so many to chose from, but let’s start with singer Chris Brown, who is now more famous for beating up his then girlfriend, singer Rihanna, than he is for his music career. After the assault, Chris Brown said he did not remember hitting her and can’t believe that he would do that. So far I am not listening, not admitting your fault. Brown later said in a statement, “Of course I remember what happened.” Stick to the truth! It’s a good lesson learned in Kindergarten. 

Now, of course Brown is trying to rebuild his image with various interviews and tweets about how sorry he is. What he needs to do is fix his faults in the same way a tire company would go back to the drawing board and find out what made their product faulty in the first place. Then, and only then, you relaunch your product out to a skeptical market. If the product is fixed, then we will buy again. 

Consumers have choices and base their decisions on many factors – word of mouth, character of company and quality of product. Will we ever love Chris Brown again? That depends on how great his PR firm is and how willing he is to fix the problem. We have, in the past, taken a break from products that made mistakes, and when they fixed what was broken we returned, but even a Tiger can’t change his stripes!