5 Questions with….Amber Naslund

Q: I read a post of yours at AmberNaslund.com, called Reassurance and Insecurity. Very powerful post about the human need to be accepted. You strike me as a very confident person, how do you get over personal needs and show us your great strengths?

A: Truth is, I don’t. I don’t think you ever get “over” the need to be accepted or reassured that you’re a good person. But what I have learned over the years is to quit trying to be everything to everyone. I’m a certain type of person, full of quirks, and I’m not everyone’s taste. It’s taken me a while to learn that that’s ok. And in business, I’ve become relentlessly focused on doing the things that I can do well and leaving the rest to others with those strengths. Doing that gives me the confidence that I can be reasonably successful in what I do, and the reassurance that I can get back up if I stumble. And on a personal level, I try very hard not to take myself too seriously. Laughing at yourself is usually the best way to keep a little perspective. I find reasons to laugh at myself almost daily. :)

Q: Our twitter guest question comes from @heatherrast, who asks “How does Amber maintain a post’s focus (no tangents)?”

A: It’s a funny thing about that. This one time, when I was backpacking, I was exploring this cave. There was this turtle, and ….oh wait. Sorry.

Seriously though, I think it’s a function of my being a bit anal retentive. Once I get an idea in my head, I feel like I need to explore it in a very comprehensive way. But I wouldn’t always say that’s a strength. I envy the ability that others have to draw parallels and associations between things that are, on the surface, unrelated. To go in interesting, non-literal directions. I struggle with that sometimes. But I typically approach posts on my business blog with a question in my head that I’m trying to explore first, and the post becomes the path to get there. Writing is often my way of organizing ideas. Sometimes I’m more successful than others. :)

Q: You have a very effective writing style, can you tell us where you learned to communicate so effectively? How long have you been communicating online?

A: Writing is something I’ve always loved, and I can thank my mom for that. Whenever I wanted to know what a word meant, she told me to go look it up. But I’ve never been a fan of “fluffy” writing. I feel like written communication serves two purposes: to inform, or to entertain. If it’s the former, dispense with the filler and use real words. If it’s the latter, you’ll find few people that appreciate eloquent writing more than I do. I read voraciously – sometimes as many as two or three books at a time – and so I imagine I pick up elements of good writing in lots of different places.

As for online, I don’t know that I can backdate that. I started my career as a professional fundraiser for non-profit organizations, and well-written communication – both online and off – is really key to success in that industry. I suppose I first started writing email newsletters and fundraising appeals over a decade ago. Because we’re not going to talk about my adventures in true geekiness and cite BBS and chat rooms of old, right?

Q: Altitude Branding is your Social Media and Marketing consulting business, can you tell us what you offer you customers? Is this part of The Brand Box or just a re-branding?

A: The BrandBox is the name of my blog itself, which used to be a separate site (note to others: dumb move. Don’t do it.). Altitude was always the name of my company, but the sites were separate until I smashed them together earlier this year. For someone who executes crystal clear branding for other people, I sure managed to make mine confusing as hell (shoemaker’s kids and all that). When I relaunched the site, I kept the BrandBox as the title of the blog portion. Clear as mud? Okay, good.

As a consultant, I’m typically engaged to help companies learn about social media by providing workshops and training, and assist them with building the framework for their social media plans. And I help with the project execution too, from doing internal education to launching blogs and building social media newsrooms (with the help of some awesome technical partners). I do some speaking too, both for conferences and private events, usually around social media topics. It’s all designed to help companies better bridge their brands from the analog world to the digital one using online and social media tools. Whatever helps businesses be more successful in online communication, that’s what I’m here to help do.

Q: Ok Amber, no foofy drinks is how you communicate your alcoholic desires in your profile. So what are your top 3 favorite beers and why?

A: Man, three? But there are so many. Ok, if I had to pick, I’d probably go with:

Ayinger Celebrator Dopplebock for it’s sheer asskicking complexity and deliciousness
Chimay Red (or Rouge if you’re a true beer snob) because you can’t go wrong with beer served in a goblet
And for a good anytime beer, I’d go with either Magic Hat #9 or New Belgium’s Fat Tire Amber Ale.

I tend to like complex, hoppy beers. Unless it’s a Cubs game. Then it’s Old Style, all the way.

Tags: amber, ambercadabra, beer, chicago, craig, naslund, Social Media, sutton, Tri-Cities, writing

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 at 8:38 am and is filed under Interviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.