Do You Ever Do Any Real Work? That’s a question I used to get all of the time in the early days of this blog. I don’t get it so much anymore. Because slowly but surely people are wising up to the fact that blogging is work and its a very valuable use of my time…the time and energy I’ve put into this blog for the past five years has built a unique and very sophisticated audience. You are connectors and hubs of influence..But in the world of social media, word of mouth and word of link marketing, it is connectors and influencers like all of you that make the difference. And that’s one of the main reasons I keep writing, commenting, discussing, and participating in blogs, tumblr, twitter, disqus, and the social media world at large. Its about the “realest” work I do.

And I share these sentiments precisely. You, my readers, are connectors and hubs of influence. You’re also my neighbors, friends, family, colleagues and sometimes harsh (but helpful) critics. You share your ideas, build on mine and help shape context in my world. You’re an important presence in my professional and personal life, which, for better or worse, blurs more everyday. You are why I keep writing, commenting, discussing and participating. For these tremendous gifts, I thank you.

Importantly, I also thank Fred for leading with progressive thinking on how businesses and individuals must interact and manage relationships in this age of open connections and online reputation. He leads by example. It also happened to be his blogging that brought me together with him, and then me together with Clickable, which his firm backs. Of course, I’m grateful for that as well.

MySpace is saying that my account inactivity is prompting a reset of my URL, which would allow someone else to assume this “valuable piece of MySpace real estate.” (Who else but me would consider myspace.com/maxkalehoff valuable real estate?) Then it concludes with a directive to log into my account, as well as activate a “people you may know” feature to enlarge my network.

This is one of the more aggressive reactivation notices I’ve ever received from a social network or free ad-supported service. Could you imagine Facebook sending a letter like this? Could you imagine Google sending a warning letter to prompt Gmail reengagement — or else risk losing your address?

Perhaps this tactic is working — I mean, I fell for it. Yes, I immediately logged into my MySpace account for the first time in many months. The service is not relevant to me right now, but I decided it was better to keep my profile URL in case it aligns with my future needs. I cherish “maxkalehoff” and want to ensure I own my profile URL on what is still one of the most important online venues. It’s online reputation.

While this left me feeling uneasy, it also brings up valid questions about URL and profile ownership, and dormancy on social networks. Anyone have any knowledge in this area?

You’re losing it, Max!

Your MySpace URL is about to be taken away, so you may lose it forever. This is the unique URL you chose for yourself (such as www.MySpace.com/Tom)

It’s been some time since you’ve logged in and used your MySpace URL. You’re holding a very valuable piece of MySpace real estate, which is the URL you chose.

Since it doesn’t look like you’re an active user on this account, we will be resetting your username/URL so that someone else can use it.

How do you keep it for yourself? Simply login to your account right now by clicking here. That’s it!
While you’re there, check out the new feature that lets you automatically find people you may know. Just click the link: http://www.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=peopleyoumayknow

NOTE: We are only resetting the URLs of inactive accounts. We will *not* delete your account. We are simply trying to free up the username/URLs for people who actually want to use them. Thanks!

I am so glad to hear someone else is willing to fight the “norm” of hand washing in the kitchen sink. I was brought up with this as the standard, and not until I was a teen did I even see anyone wash their hands in the kitchen sink, and when I did I was so grossed out. No wonder they find feces on kitchen sinks!!! I cannot understand why people assume that the health department standards of not washing hands in the food prep or dish washing sink is wrong. Don’t let anyone make you feel bad for doing what you know is right, and respecting your home and your rules.

Originally posted as a comment by Jessica on AttentionMax using Disqus.

But things are changing. I now find marketing leadership to be more an art of humility, affinity and open confrontation of weakness. Instead of instilling forceful brand and messaging guidelines, I find that the most effective marketing leadership comes from instilling strong values and good intentions – up, down and across the organization. Instead of acting the sergeant, I now often find myself inspiring colleagues to search within, and then channel their good intentions through personal and authentic actions and communications. It’s a decentralized model that requires trust and emphasizes visibility and accountability.

I’m sure part of this is my own maturity. But I also think it has a lot to do with a growing hunger among customers to do business with companies that act and talk this way. I also know that my ability to evolve and practice this higher form of marketing is contingent upon the progressive management team I work with. I’m lucky for that.

Marketing leadership is shifting from command-and-control to cultivate-and-coach.