I can’t believe it has been four months since I last wrote an entry for Kristie’s Korner. A LOT has happened in the last 4 months. Here are a few quick highlights:

5/8 – Celebrated my 2nd Mother’s Day as a Mom

5/24 – Our weeks of hard work paid off at the USGBC-LI Gala, which the HJMT team planned

6/10 – Went with the family for a long weekend trip to Maryland

6/25 – My husband celebrated his 40th birthday with a party of close family and friends

6/29 – The HJMT team threw another event, this once in NYC for the New York Enterprise Report

7/7 & 7/8 – We threw an office tag sale to get rid of lots of extra stuff before the big move

7/28 – the big move

8/12 – The HJMT team all attended the wedding of our very own Lori Alexy (now Lori Peterson)

In addition, we got in new clients and my role slightly shifted. With more clients coming in I needed to focus more of my time on client work. Once I started doing that I realized clients were staying with the agency longer and we were getting more referrals. Therefore I decided to abort the A2A plan (which was a lot of fun but also very time consuming – http://www.hilarytopper.com/?p=3498). I am now focusing more on building client relationships and trying really hard to proactively ask for referrals. So far, so good.

I promise to start guest blogging again regularly, so keep a look out….

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The way we do business today is different than the way we did business five years ago.

And, Gary Vaynerchuk’s new book, The Thank You Economy, gives business owners a hard look at the ever-changing landscape.

Here are some lessons learned:

• Your business doesn’t have to have a Facebook, Twitter page or Blog.  However,  it’s a big risk not to be on these social networking sites.  Vaynerchuk uses the example of Amazon.  If Border’s watched closely instead of being distracted by the numbers, they may have been able to survive in this economy.

• Look at customer caring instead of ROI (return on investment).  According to the Customer Experience Impact 2010 report, 40% of the population switched to buying from a competitor because of their reputation for great customer service. 55% say customer service is more important than price and 66% say that good customer service is their reason to buy.

• With the influx of new social networking sites, there is a greater need for one to one customer service.  The long term rewards outweigh the short term extra effort.

• Make sure you give your community enough relevant information that they can relate to in order to keep coming back.

• Stop worrying about how many people are following you. Communities are important but the individual is more important.  Make sure you engage each individual.

• Once you start with social media, you can’t stop.  Keep watching, listening and engaging.

• Bloggers are important.  If you give away products during a product launch and you treat bloggers with respect, their posts will help spread the word.

• Make sure that your online customers and your offline customers get the same quality customer service.

• Instead of spending big on billboards or expensive ads, consider spending it on consumers and making them happy. (Look at Zappos.  They enhanced their customer service by providing free shipping and hassle free returns.)

• The Thank You Economy only works if you don’t sell to your consumers instead you build a community.

• Consider spending time interviewing your customers and giving them a little something extra.  In the case of the Joie de Vivre Hotels, Vaynerchuk writes about how a woman staying at the hotel tells the manager that her son was dying.  To do something extra, the manager left sunflowers and chamomile tea in her hotel room with a little note telling the customer that she cares.

• Brands should push less and pull more.  This means that a post about a deal only will not engage your community.  Show that you care about your community.

• Everyone in business can benefit from a social media program including dentists, doctors, lawyers and accountants.

• Offer each of your customers an experience.  Vaynerchuk says “if you are small, play like you’re big.”

• Big brands need to listen and engage in conversation.  Smaller brands need to watch their area of expertise and jump in on the conversation.

Vaynerchuk has a lot of good information in this readable book.  One of the most important lessons learned is the mistakes companies make when using social media.  He says, don’t use tactics instead of strategy; don’t just use it for damage control; don’t just brag; don’t use it as a news release; don’t just retweet others information – instead use your own material; and don’t expect immediate results.

The Thank You Economy is a worthy book to keep on your bookshelf.

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We’ve been in our new Melville office for just about a month. During that time, we’ve experienced a lot of new things — new clients, new commutes, even new furniture, but something new for all of us in the office on Tuesday, August 23^rd, was the earthquake.

It wasn’t anything like the 5.9 magnitude earthquake that hit Virginia the same day, but for the offices in 145 Pinelawn Road it was scary and a first for most of us.

“Ellen, did you feel that?” said Kriste Galvani, HJMT’s Senior Vice President. Little did she know, I had already bolted out the door and was outside calling her from a stranger’s cell phone telling her to get out of the building.

“Kristie, get out of the building! I was too scared to stay!” I said.

Soon after, Kristie arrived outside and we figured out what had happened. We tried getting in touch with our loved ones, but most of the calls weren’t going through.  We stood and chatted about it with the other workers in the building. Eventually, we got in touch with everyone and all our friends and family were safe and unharmed. Phew!

Although it was completely frightening, there were some benefits to the earthquake:  We found out where the stairwell is in our building (always a good thing to know), we got some fresh air, and we got to meet the other companies in our building, which adds one more thing to HJMT’s list of new experiences in our new office– making new friends!

We hope that everyone in the earthquake is safe and sound. If you felt the earthquake share your experience with us.

I think I first heard about not wearing white pants after Labor Day from one of my High School friends, Abby Alexander.  She was so sure about this fact that she even showed me magazine articles about it.

So for years, I didn’t wear white after Labor Day.

I was recently looking through my closet and found that I have almost two dozen pairs of white pants — cropped pants, capris and long pants.  Am I really not going to wear these after Labor Day?

In recent years, white has become a popular color in the winter.  Designers don’t call them “white” anymore,  they call them “winter white.”  Does anyone know the difference between white and winter white???

So if white is a popular color in the winter, then it’s just not a popular color in the fall and spring?

I think this Labor Day thing is limiting us.  We should get out there and protest.

As a matter of fact, I would love for you to join me and wear white pants the first day back in the office after Labor Day.  Now wouldn’t that be cool?

On Thursday. I went to San Diego for Blogher; a conference primarily for women bloggers. This weekend’s event consisted of seminars and workshops to help bloggers advance in their careers. It also had a huge trade show with lots of key brands from McDonald’s to Procter & Gamble.

On Friday morning, I decided to go for a run. It was a beautiful blue sky and the sun was shining brightly with no clouds. The front desk staff at the San Diego Marriott told me there was a running trail and gave me a map and off I went.

When I was outside, I noticed there were a lot of women jogging and running. I looked closer and noticed they all wore the “Blogher ’11″ badges. I walked over to the registration table and asked what was going on.

“We’re having a 5K run this morning,” she said. “You can still join us.”So I did. The starting pack had already begun, and I felt like I was the last one, but there were some walkers and, as some of the joggers/runners slowed down, I caught up.

With my Sennheiser PMX 680 Sports Earbud Headphones on, I followed the trail along the marina. There were lots of boats and calm blue water. This was a truly beautiful setting.

I kept passing women wearing tutus. It reminded me of the Disney Half Marathon. It’s so funny how runners like to dress up in costumes for these races!

I ran along the water and tried to take in the peace and loveliness that surrounded me. It was a perfect day – not too cool and not too hot. I was surprised that the event was so well organized. There were volunteers along the path telling the runners where to go (If they weren’t there, I would have gotten lost!).

I wore my NIKE WOMEN’S TEMPO TRACK RUNNING SHORTS and top and my new Nike Black Featherlight Dri-FIT Cap I just purchased from the Nike outlet store. I didn’t wear compression sleeves. I just didn’t need them. On this run, I wore my Mizuno Women’s Wave Rider Sneakers. While I was running, I wished I had brought my Brooks Women’s Adrenaline GTS or my Women’s Newton Neutral Gravity Trainer, but, my Mizunos are also good sneakers.

As I ran and took in the wonderment that surrounded me, I couldn’t help but think to stand straight and lean forward, as in Chi Running. Even though I did it, it was still hard. The backs of my legs were aching but I pushed through. Although I walked a little, I still felt great when it was over. The run ended back by the registration stand. Volunteers were giving out tee-shirts and water bottles.

Sometimes everything just comes together: a surprise event, perfect weather, magnificent scenery, and when it does there is something magical. It’s days like this that make it easy for me to understand why I love running.

Article first published as A Runner’s Diary: Running at Blogher on Blogcritics.

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I have a marketing connection to a brand, topic or product herein. Through the use of affiliate links contained herein, I may collect fees from purchases made.