What’s the difference between a Starbucks shop around the corner and your local coffee joint?

Personality.

Well-run, small businesses have personality. Large companies often lack that competitive advantage. Large companies replace that with a brand. Large companies are also not social organizations, that’s why they have massive problems integrating social throughout the organization. Big brands will learn over time and advanced brands will transform into a social business.

Small businesses are already social businesses.

When you are a small business, stop with the Social Media already. You don’t need to copy tactics of big brands or try mimick their behavior on social platforms. Rather, build relationships. Be yourself. Use the platforms to amplify your personality.

Stand out by being yourself.

There’s always the air of change swirling around whenever a year end approaches quickly and a new year with new opportunities start to evolve.. Mistakes made last year are filed away as learning experiences; things you haven’t accomplished last year and new objectives for the upcoming year; and new opportunities are just waiting to be taken advantage of.

I believe 2012 is going to be a year that will stand apart from many others.

After the economic despondency we had to experience the last 4 year and the numerous, destructive decisions we have made over the last few decades, I believe 2012 will be the landmark opportunity for change.

2012 offers the chance for common sense and redemption for all that’s wrong with corporate greed and mismanagement. In 2011, people became aware of this inequality. 2012 will be the year where change will begin.

Yet perhaps more than anything, 2012 offers a chance to change the world around us. Wherever we are, whatever we’re doing, if there’s something that can be done to improve both our own fortunes and those around us, we should grab it. I see a groundswell of people distrusting institutions and renewing their belief in the power of their community. And the strong belief in their own power to make a difference.

Social platforms continues to open up new areas and teaches us that greatness and bettering ourselves and our fellow man is infinitely preferable to selfish needs.

2012 we all need to travel into greatness. Let’s make sure to connect along the way.

It’s the time of the year where we reflect on the year almost passed and, at the same time, we are in desperate need to find last-minute gifts. Below are a few of my favorite books of the year, insightful readings that shaped my year. (All links are non-affiliate)

Shift & Reset

Brian Reich, SVP/Global Editor for Edelman, is not happy with the state of non-profits and how many brands utilize Social Media to advance their objectives. Brian reveals a deep narrative that gives you a better understanding why the current methods of marketing increasingly fail and how to embrace the new paradigm. What I especially liked about this book that he doesn’t leave it to theory and big words. The book is filled with inspiring and clear action steps for non-profits and commercial brands.

The Flinch (Free)

Need a swift kick in the butt? Get this book now. It will kick you into action.

So, what is “The Flinch”? As author Julien Smith explains: “It’s a reaction that brings up old memories and haunts you with them. It tightens your chest and makes you want to run. It does whatever it must do to prevent you from moving forward. (…) Whatever form it takes, the flinch is there to support the status quo.”

The Flinch is not a marketing book, it’s a personal improvement book. When you read this book, you will learn something about yourself. And, who knows, you might just discover you have more guts and gumption than you ever imagined.

We Are All Weird

Any book list without mentioning Seth Godin’s work is not a complete list. Part of the Domino Project, “We are all weird”, nails what many have been saying is broken about marketing. The old days of blasting out your message to the masses and having it succeed are doomed. People don’t want mass marketing, they want me marketing.

Sure, mass markets will always exist and generic products and services will continue to garner profits, but they will become a minority and be outgrown by the new norm of being weird.

“The weird set an example for the rest of us. They raise the bar; they show us through their actions that in fact we’re wired to do the new, not to comply with someone a thousand miles away.”

It’s a quick read but one that will stick with you for a while.

Read This Before Our Next Meeting

Let’s face it: We all hate meetings, dread the weekly status, the meetings that exist for no reason, just to satisfy a corporate agenda. This book not only taps into this feeling and our meeting culture, but also suggests how to make meetings more effective, efficient, and worthy of attending.

So, if you’re sick of feeling like your time is being wasted by pointless meetings or are simply looking for ways to improve your professional capacity and productivity at work, then I highly recommend getting a copy. Buy one for all your co-workers, you might just transform your company in 2012.

Lost Decades: The Making of America’s Debt Crisis.

As a marketing professional, you need to understand the mechanics and details of our global economy because they determine behavior of current/future customers. “Lost Decades” is a comprehensive exploration of the political and economic roots of the current crisis as well as its long-term effective.

The authors show how financiers, politicians, and ideologues ushered in the crisis, and highlight the challenges we need to overcome to avoid more lost decades.

It’s a not an uplifting book but it gives you an understanding how silly the arguments and positions of our current breed of politicians are. If we get policy right, we’ll be fine in 10 years. If we continue on the current path of the two-party system ideologues, we might be in a permanent crisis.

Before I Go to Sleep

Let’s end on a positive note: “Before I go to sleep” is my favorite fiction book of the year.

Imagine waking up every day not knowing who you are. All memories disappear every time you fall asleep. Your partner is a stranger, explaining your life each and every day all over again. You used to have a normal life and now a mysterious accident forces you to live this bizarre existence.

I finished this book in one reading because of the strength of writing, and the way the author is able to transcend the basic premise and present profound questions about memory and identity. For me, this was the book of the year.

I get up in the morning, check my email first and then explore what happened overnight on Google+, Facebook and Twitter. My streams are littered with reactions to some software updates or a new app release, musings about social platforms and why they’re dead or half-alive, food posts, complaints about flight delays, snarky remarks about politicians or pundits.

It’s my fault. I created this virtual world.

These are friends, colleagues, acquaintances, thought leaders. I chose to follow them. I created this stream. Sometimes it seems silly.

We have so many problems in this world. Our institutions don’t work anymore. We have a crumbling infrastructure. Debt everywhere. People kicking cans down the road. I’m worried about our future. I’m even more worried about our kid’s future.

Social Media was supposed to change the world

We finally had a voice. We finally could speak out. But we tend to talk mostly about entertaining issues: TV shows, sports, weather.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not blaming anyone. I’m just blaming myself. We’ve been given this fantastic technology and we tend waste it on trivial matters.

Since I called myself out…

Over time, I will try to make a meaningful effort to add more compelling content into the stream. And stop bothering people with the triviality of my existence.

The Arab Spring, the London riots, the storm in Los Angeles: Examples were Social Media was used beyond marketing.

Take this video:

A racist woman on the tram.  The viral video – named My Tram Experience – shows a white woman racially abusing Black and Polish people on a train from Croydon to Wimbledon.  The video, which is extremely uncomfortable to watch, sparked millions of tweets on the subject.  The hashtag #mytramexperience was the top trend one day and soon the video had been watched million of times.  Later, following outrage from the general public and many celebrities, the woman, later named Emma West, was arrested.

That is the power of Social Media. And we should remember it when we tweet or post the next time.