Simon S. Tam's Blog, page 13

Leadership Lessons from the Lion King

While watching the Lion King last night, I couldn’t help but think of Simon Sinek’s quote, “There are leaders and then there those who lead.” It’s like the old leadership proverb “He who thinks he leads, but has no followers, is merely taking a walk.”

For those unfamiliar with the story, Scar is the disgruntled brother of the king. In his scheme to take over the kingdom, Scar tries to kill his brother and his nephew at the same time (Simba, the heir). During Scar’s brief reign, everything fall...

Start With Why by Simon Sinek

I’ve been out sick most of this week so I decided to pick up Simon Sinek’sStart With Why and Guy Kawasaki’sEnchantment. Hoping to read them tomorrow when I’m feeling a little better.

I love Sinek’s notion that people don’t buy what you do but rather why you do what you do. It’s the reason why many non-profit organizations succeed with their cause marketing and others do not.

Here’s Sinek’s TED video that has inspired millions of viewers already:

Creating the Right Team: Passion Makes the Difference

During the past month, I’ve been a part of two hiring committees and served as an advisor for the recruitment efforts of four other groups. I’ve combed through hundreds of resumes, read responses to supplemental questions that have been asked, and have had the privilege of meeting some incredible talent.

Anyone who has been a part of any kind of hiring committee will tell you that one of the biggest challenges is distinguishing the contributions or effectiveness of individual applicants. While...

Penn Law APALSA Recap

This past weekend, I had the honor of presenting at University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Law APALSA conference. It was an incredible event with an impressive array of speakers, including Judge Pamela Chen (U.S. District Court Judge, Eastern District of New York),Helen Wan, Associate General Counsel, Time Inc., Deeana Jang (Chief, Federal Coordination and Compliance Section, Civil Rights Division at U.S.Department of Justice, Phil Yu (Angry Asian Man), and many more.

During the panel that I was a...

Broad Advertising vs. Targeted Ads

Last week, I was talking to my father about one his favorite pastimes: fishing. When talking about where and how to catch fish, I realized that it served as a perfect metaphor for digital marketing, especially how people treat social media.

Whenever I get asked what the best social media site to use is, I always ask what the purpose and the audience is. Otherwise, it’s impossible it’s impossible to determine what the best fit is.

Broad advertising is like trolling the ocean with nets, in hopes...

Stanford University Recap

This past weekend, I lectured at Stanford University on the “Reclaiming of Words and Ideas.” Reclaiming cultural icons, symbols, language, and ideas (otherwise known as reappropriation) has something that has been occurring through nearly every social strata of human history for thousands of years. In recent decades, social justice activists have been using this tactic to call out institutional racism, to empower their communities, and to reduce the negative impact of racial languages or ster...

Answers to Popular Questions About Social Media and Business

I recently received two very common questions about businesses and social media. Here are my answers:

1) What are the top socialmediaskills every business executive should possess?

The most importantsocialmediaskill that every business executive shouldposses is the ability to connect with their target audience. This involvesbeing able to write well (and succinctly) as well as the ability to driveconversation. Knowing how to pull audiences to deeper levels ofconversation builds a relationship wit...

When Google Alerts Doesn’t Work

If you are responsible for brand monitoring,vanity searching(aka Googling yourself), or measuring social media temperament for your company, you’re probably using Google Alerts. If you aren’t, you should go and sign up for their notification system. It’s pretty good.

If you have been using Google Alerts for a while though, you might notice that things sometimes slip through unnoticed. I’ve seen entire news articles, blogs, and other publications missed by Google Alerts (including a feature fro...

7 Ways to Improve Your Email Response Rates

My new piece for HuffPost Tech is now up:7 Ways to Improve Your Email Response Rates

It was inspired by the many emails we all receive that could all use some help.

How to Reach Out to a Diverse Audience Without Being Offensive

In the world of marketing and communication, the words ‘diversity,’ ‘inclusion,’ and ‘representation’ are often thrown around and emphasized but in a very superficial manner. Specialists will look at a catalog or commercial and suggest to include more people of color, nontraditional gender roles, or different body types. While all of these things are important, it’s even more important to consider the context of this messaging and how it s actually received from the point of view of the targe...