Box Scores: Sept. 14-20 – “Control, Inspiration and Burger King”

The weekend is over and that means that for most folks, it’s time to kick off a whole new week full of opportunities and possibilities. And we wouldn’t want to you to head into the week’s upcoming excitement without some knowledge of what the blogosphere’s brilliance had to share throughout the past week. To prove it, we have Box Scores for you here, but we have one announcement to make first.

If you guys missed it Friday afternoon, Deep Bench is proud to announce the OTA Sessions. We want the creative talents and passion of this region to receive its due, and we’re not holding back with our plans. Check out the new site here to see what’s going on. Hopefully it makes all of you as excited as it makes us.

Anyway, back to Box Scores. First up, some inspiration from Chris Brogan.

-“Finding Your Inspirational Code”

This post from Chris discusses some of the inspirations in his life. While it’s interesting to see who has influenced him in his path to becoming who he is now, the final points he makes are the best part of the post. From “Find people who inspire you, especially outside your field” to “Test, experiment, enact what you’re learning. Learning without execution is a big engine with no wheels,” Chris’s advice is certainly worth taking.

-“The Three Spheres of Web Strategy – Updated for 2009”

This is an impressive post for many reasons, one of them being that Jeremiah Owyang put together the post’s diagram graphic way back in 2006 (and it’s still very applicable). His breakdown of each sphere is worth the read, so pull it up and read his thoughts on what it takes to be a good web strategist.

-“Social Media and the Reality of Control”

Amber Naslund comes through with a smart post on why companies want to control the message (and why it’s somewhat foolish to assume they can). As she puts it, “You can’t dictate how people think, period…You can present yourself and hope to influence that perception, but you cannot control it.” There’s certainly more to it than that, so read up and be ready to discuss it the next time your boss complains that you can’t “control your brand” if you’re using social media.

-“The Complete Newbie’s Guide to Marketing”

Copyblogger has done a great job of creating both writing-centered content as well as overall marketing and advertising industry insight. This one falls into the marketing/ad industry insight category, and it’s a post that everyone in the industry should read. For many, it will simply be refresher, but for others, it could be much more helpful than that. Read up on Sonia Simone’s thoughts, newbie or not, and let us know what you think in the comments below.

-“Burger King’s School of Endorsements”

This post from Rohit Bhargava discusses how to pick the right celebrity to endorse your product, but it could just as easily apply to the marketing industry in general. Focusing on Burger King’s recent campaign featuring Tony Stewart, Eric Estrada and Carrot Top, Rohit breaks down the “three big reasons that brands so often choose the wrong people to endorse their products, and launch ineffective marketing campaigns around this mistake without realizing it until it’s too late.” Don’t be that brand. Learn from Rohit and see if you’re able to apply his insight soon.

-“21 Must-Follow Tips For Optimizing Time Spent in Social Media”

This is a smart list from Adam Singer on the Online Marketing Blog. From easy ones like “Learn to skim” to downright blasphemous tips like “Unfollow those who don’t add value,” Adam provides a ton of great tips (with appropriate explanation for each) in an easy-to–read list that is certainly worth checking out. It’ll be a great way to start your Monday with a better social media time management schedule for the rest of the week.

Box Scores are done (and, as usual, worth reading in full), so read the posts and then share your thoughts with us in our comments section, start a discussion on our Facebook fan page, or send us a tweet and we’ll talk on that Twitter thing the kids keep talking about.

And, one more time, don’t forget to check out the OTA Sessions and tell us your thoughts after you’ve given them a look.

Happy Monday, everyone. Let’s make this an awesome, awesome week.

Photo (“Deep Impact on Planet Color”) by spettacolopuro.