It’s all in this week’s top five most-clicked links in SmartBrief on Leadership:

• Why companies love “cool” office spaces
• Why Jeff Bezos has a 7-year plan
• How Mark Cuban went from bartender to billionaire
• How smart bosses stop “scope creep”
• When it comes to innovation, are you Scott or Amundsen?

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American Express is all caught up now and engaging on a variety of channels, but Sobbott’s advice to other companies is to not “let over-caution keep you out of the spaces where every business should be today.” For example, Facebook should be your first stop because “people are listening to their friends” there; the next stop should be Twitter.

But you know your business best, and you can identify the social media channels and technology that are best to help you get where you want to go, said panelist Claire Hughes Johnson, Google’s vice president of global online sales.

Although the lack of control over everything that happens on social media channels can be scary for company leaders — especially those who aren’t comfortable with the technology in general — social media can be a boon for business.

For example, all businesses face difficulties, and you can use social media to develop a good relationship with customers before you face a crisis, said Susan Lyne, chairman of Gilt Groupe.

You can also take all of the positive messages people post about your business and highlight them, said Chris Maguire, co-founder of Etsy, Waffl and Postling.

At the social media breakout session earlier in the day, Naked Pizza co-founder and Chief Brand Architect Robbie Vitrano told attendees they don’t gain by being over-controlling of social media and the conversation that’s going on there about their businesses.

Of course things can go wrong, but “if things go badly on social media, respond to it immediately with honesty and openness,” and have fewer secrets, advised Vitrano, explaining he and Naked Pizza’s other leaders have found it works better that way.

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Brogan offered tips for small businesses looking to ramp up their marketing plans.

• Get a website and establish yourself online. Brogan said 60% of U.S. businesses are not online in any fashion — a huge mistake in an age in which most people rely heavily on search engines to find information about businesses.

• Invest in modernized Web design that’s optimized for search. Many businesses are still relying on techniques from the 1990s, including Adobe Flash — which isn’t recognized in Google’s search algorithms.

• Facebook doesn’t constitute an online presence. Brogan compared businesses that rely on Facebook pages as their “website” to people who would call a hotel room their “home.” Like a hotel, Facebook doesn’t allow the complete customization you would find in your home — plus, it can kick you out whenever it wants. Facebook is where you congregate fans and reach out to them, but a website is where you establish your identity, Brogan said.

For more, view Brogan’s interview.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Last week, we asked: Do you review Facebook profiles as part of recruitment background checks?

• No, we believe Facebook is personal and not relevant to recruitment decisions — 68.09%
• Yes, we want to get to know the whole person — 19.15%
• Yes, but this does not influence our recruitment decision — 2.13%
• What’s Facebook? — 10.64%

Is Facebook useful as a recruitment tool? As more companies use social media as a recruiting tool, the debate rages on about the reciprocal use of social media to ascertain background information about candidates in the recruitment process. Some call it snooping; some say it’s risk minimization.

However, Ellen Weinreb, CEO of Sustainability Recruiting, a leader in executive search, says that using Facebook would “compromise the integrity of [her] search.” Over 68% of survey respondents appear to agree and regard Facebook as personal, whereas only 20% make use of insights that can be gained from candidates’ open, freely accessible and often very revealing Facebook activity.

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As much as we revere these big-name entrepreneurs for their huge successes, Americans don’t look highly on entrepreneurship as a career aspiration, according to the findings of the latest figures from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. It turns out American parents want their children to pursue success through more certain avenues, such as being a doctor or going into business with a well-established corporation — not by striking out on their own.

But it’s the people who do strike out on their own who will create new jobs and revive the U.S. economy — as well as those around the world — said the researchers who presented the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2010 Report last week. The report, in its 12th year,  includes data gathered from 59 countries, including the U.S.

In those countries, there are 250 million people between the ages of 18 and 64 who are working at starting or running new businesses and more than a quarter of them plan to hire at least five employees in the next five years.  More than 10% plan to hire 20 or more people to work in newly created jobs.

Those are impressive numbers, but figures GEM would like to see increase. Moreover, they say government action and support is necessary to encourage entrepreneurial activity. “Governments must encourage those with great ideas to pursue the opportunities they perceive. In so doing, entrepreneurs and governments build a foundation for future jobs,” said Ignacio de la Vega, GEM oversight board member.

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It’s all on this past week’s top 5 most-clicked links in SmartBrief on Workforce:

• 5 ways to make your workers love their jobs
• Google fires worker who broke news of 10% pay raises
• 10 items that should be on your crisis checklist
• 4 ways to seize control of your attention span
• What young job seekers think of recruiters on Facebook

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• How to develop a culture of innovation
• How to use social media to enhance engagement

• Facebook comments lead to NLRB lawsuit
• 3 tips for hiring a top-notch team
• McDonald’s in Ohio makes paychecks political
• How to turn around a problem employee
• Do suggestion boxes kill productivity?

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If you’re just starting out in your career, you don’t have much experience to tout in your online profiles. What can you do to stand out?

I say quit focusing on your experience.  Instead, focus on your ideas.  Fresh ideas are something that a 10-year vet can’t touch.  Blog with the passion and energy that so many experienced professionals have lost over the years.  Embrace the fact that you’re green.  It’s a good thing.

What’s the biggest mistake anyone, whether newbie or veteran, can make while networking online?

Don’t get bogged down my social media.  The rockstars aren’t spending any more than 15% of their time managing their online presence.  The rest of the time they’re doing REAL work.  Read my lips: If you’re talking to strangers on Twitter all day then you’re not accomplishing anything.  Control your online presence.  Don’t let it control you.

The best — and worst — thing about Internet networking is its transparency. How can someone, looking to advance their career, network online without giving it away to their current employer that they’re looking?

Keep those conversations private.  I don’t talk about business propositions on my Facebook wall.  That’s what e-mail is for.  Social media is numero uno for networking, but real business is still done behind closed doors where it’s safe.

If Steve Jobs publicly joined LinkedIn, he’d have thousands of connections at his fingertips without taking a breath. What are some basic steps for someone new to the game looking to foster their own connections?

Think quality not quantity.  Even if Steve Jobs has thousands of LinkedIn connections at his fingertips most connections would be absolutely worthless.  The most talented people have small business networks that consistently bring them value rather than large business networks that don’t bring any.

To learn more key tips and actionable steps for developing your career from Ryan Paugh, Alexandra Levit and Anita Bruzzese, and recruiters from major employers such as Starbucks, Facebook, and Microsoft, sign up for the Career Summit today! (SmartBrief is a partner in this event.)

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But as sick as I was, I also watched what I said. I recognize that what I post online, even in personal contexts, could have a direct impact on my career. So while I’m always honest, I’m also as discreet as I possibly can be.  I suppose we’re all public figures now, thanks to social media. But, judging from the messages I see from my friends in HR, I often wonder if you guys get just how your social media activity might be hurting your HR careers in the long run.

You might think you’re just posting to your peeps, but you’re not. Even on Facebook, you start unwittingly collecting a motley crew of people who are reading you without your knowledge — including the employees in your company. Or your boss. Or a headhunter. We all know to keep our clothes on on Facebook and refrain from mentioning illegal substances and activities. But that’s not enough when you’re in HR.

So I thought I’d draw up this checklist for you to keep in mind as you tweet your heart out.

• No whining. I have a couple of HR friends in my Facebook circle who are always complaining about their jobs.  Ugh. It’s Monday. TGIF.  If you’re in HR, one of the most powerful things you can do is set the tone for enthusiasm in the workplace.  How effective will you be if your people know you don’t want to be at work any more than they do?

• No gossiping. You know not to talk about your employees in the workplace. What makes online any different? Maybe it feels good to vent (yes, it does), and maybe you think you’ve hidden the person’s identity (no, you haven’t).

• No talking about openings, closings, shifts in business direction. The slightest thing you say about a meeting with the C-suite or a site selector could send your staff into wild speculation.

• No discussing religion or politics, unless you’re willing to stand by your beliefs even if it means the end of your on-the-job effectiveness. As an HR pro, you draw much of your effectiveness by creating an atmosphere in which everyone feels they belong, and  very little is as divisive these days as politics.  How can you provide essential guidance to your workplace constituents when they secretly loathe you because of your stance on health care, immigration or climate warming?

• No vulgarity. There’s one HR blogger who is smart and entertaining. And she can be revolting in the vivid ways she expresses her political outrage. It started out as a refreshing, surprising change of voice in the HR blogosphere, which can be pretty bland. But some people are really uncomfortable with her style, and have stopped following her — which means her valuable messages and insights are being lost.

I don’t want you to be phony — and a little edge now and then is great for seasoning. But when you keep in mind that your social media voice is becoming an increasingly important element of your professional and personal brand, why not put your best foot forward?  The long-term results may give you even more good news to share online.

Martha Finney, president and CEO of Engagement Journeys, helps companies build authentically engaging workplace cultures.  She is the author of more than 15 books, including “The Truth About Getting the Best From People.”

Image credit, MikLav, via Shutterstock

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Here’s how to get started:

• Know exactly what kind of culture you want to create inside your company. This way, you’ll be able to identify the social media experience that will promote that culture.  Do you want an egalitarian, collaborative environment?  Then set up an online community in which everyone can contribute information, ideas and opinions.

• Draw up a terms-of-use policy. Assuming you want that collaborative community, you will want to open the social media tools up to everyone throughout the company. They should feel free to speak their minds. But that doesn’t mean they can be rude, abusive, give away proprietary information, be libelous, etc. Set the ground rules in advance, so people will know what the boundaries are.

• Don’t punish your people for speaking their minds. You may not always like what they have to say, but you can love the fact that they’re saying it.  Trust is alive in your organization and people care enough about what’s happening to go out on a limb.  This is a good sign.

• Limit the layers between the CEO and the “publish” button. It’s becoming fashionable for leaders to hire ghostwriters for their blogs, even Twitter posts. Big mistake.  Of course, great corporate leaders may not be great writers. But to make social media really work as a culture builder, the messaging must be authentic, with a feel of immediacy.  You’ll lose the advantages of social media technology if it’s ghosted and vetted into a bland mush that only your legal counsel would appreciate.

• Keep your promises. If your leadership has committed to posting updates and blogs according to a schedule, keep those posts coming.  A stale site will dry up your culture.  Operate your site according to the principles and rules that you established at the beginning.  Remove abusive comments but publish all the others. (If trust is an essential component to your culture, if a comment comes to your site that feels especially hot-headed, do the contributor a favor and double-check with him or her to make sure it’s still okay to post.)

• Don’t spy. Other social media outlets (like Facebook) are rife with opportunities for people to show their most unprofessional selves. Their resumes may be posted on various job search engines. Leave that stuff alone if you want a trust-based culture.

When it comes to using your social media tools to support and enhance your culture, there is no universally correct way.  Know what’s right for your culture. And then be specific about the choices you make.

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