Chris Reed: LinkedIn censored me over ‘bikini entrepreneur’

Showing titties just to get noticed…..very in keeping with the mohawk brand

They’re bikinis…….

You could have chosen any image/any industry whatsoever, yet deliberately decided to use bikinis for an event that was about promoting careers for girls-in-tech. To manage anyone’s public image, an expertise you claim to have, you need to demonstrate maturity and judgement.

Not sure why Mumbrella wastes their time on this dribble.

Because it’s interesting….you’re commenting on it aren’t you…..

Hi Chris
What’s your take on the TMG stock dive?
Any downside?

Thanks

I was waiting for this, what took you?

As you know I can’t comment on that. I’m only commenting on this….

No, I don’t know. Why can’t you comment? You certainly had no problem shouting from the about it in the past. What’s changed (apart from people’s lives getting f*cked up).

This has covered thoroughly by Mumbrella in their very in depth article last week.

This was all covered least week in Mumbrella in the very in depth feature that they did. Try reading that.

Linkedin realized anyone modeling their personal brand image on Microsoft Paint, was too out of touch.

I like that, classic and colourful!

Chris isnt it concerning that you have built a product around a platform that doesnt like you! I would think that people wanting to employ your services would rather you have good relationship with LinkedIn so that you are abreast of their latest changes. You have managed to antagonise the proverbial hand that feeds you!

Agreed ^^! Seems that you’re hurting your “professional” brand.. agree with LinkedIn’s POV!

In act the reverse is true. I have been inundated with new clients wishing to buy my book, pre-order my new book on personal branding, become clients, want to have meetings, book me for workshops and every post I have written about it has been getting tens of thousands of views.

I went to a packed function on Friday and everyone was talking about it and more to the point sympathising with me against the powerful GIT, LinkedIn and trolls on here. Many have already set up meetings this week to become clients. Couldn’t have planned it better myself and it cost $0.

Controversy enhances your personal brand and sells like nothing else.

There really is no such thing as bad PR in Singapore…..

Good question and actually I do. Just last week I was awarded Official LinkedIn Power Profile for the 6th year running, one of only two people who have been awarded that.

I also speak regularly to the team’s here, in the centre’s across the region and most importantly in San Francisco and London where actual decisions are made about the platform as those are unfortunately never made in Asia.

We also generate hundreds of thousands of dollars for LinkedIn through our clients. I think it’s better to have a professional relationship with them rather than having any need to be liked.

Quote: I also speak regularly to the team’s here, in the centre’s across the region…

Team’s and Centre’s: you love apostrophes, even where they aren’t warranted? Any particular childhood LinkIn to flunking English?

Chris, you’ve (with an apostrophe) addressed posts later than this one. Come now, don’t be afraid. English scores in school, please?

OK, what about TOEFL then?

crying out for attention aren’t you? i’ll give 2 seconds worth… is that it? is that all you got?

Can’t write grammatically correct English, yet expects you to hand over your Linkedin brand presence to him and his company. #speaksvolumes

“Just last week I was awarded Official LinkedIn Power Profile for the 6th year running, one of only two people who have been awarded that.”

no one cares.

You cared enough to post that….if no one cared LinkedIn wouldn’t do them….

Can you prove that you “regularly speak to the teams here” and around the globe? What teams? Are they decision makers? Be good to see some sort of confirmation from LinkedIn otherwise this is likely to be rudimentary.

And generating hundreds of thousands of dollars for the platform through your clients – we’ve all seen your TMG/Black Marketing business numbers. They hardly reflect a company that would also handle clients driving robust sales for LinkedIn.

Power Profile award metrics are different yet again. Nothing to be proud of when they’re meaningless connections.

You berated people for not believing you about TMG when they queried your hubris. Your word without proof is now useless.

I don’t have to prove anything to you. Try showing yourself instead of being anonymous and then we can have a real chat.

I saw this on LinkedIn the other day, and I thought it was childish to make it a big fuss.

Now this gets spread to Mumbrella?

And Chris, looking at your comments, I was like, are you kidding me?

Grow up!

And I don’t know how you can blame Girls In Tech for this, it’s obviously LinkedIn’s fault in getting back to them late. To me, they are just relaying the message. But you chose to pick on the little guy. Have some balls and go all the way to get LinkedIn.

Can’t believe that I’m wasting my time typing all these.

Oh wait, maybe that’s all about “Black Marketing”. Becoming famous and promote yourself by being scandalous.

I have to agree with you on this James.

I had the exact same feeling when I saw this on LinkedIn earlier. And my friend just sent me this.

This isn’t the right way to do things, and we shouldn’t be promoting this any more. This is the shame of marketing.

and yet you are…

and in any case this raises issues of censorship which are very relevant to marketing and organisations like Girls in Tech and what they stand for, seemingly not female entrepreneurs who sell bikinis….

Asked and answered….

Plus Girls in Tech are hardly small, they can look after themselves and you missed the point that they wanted me to censor my presentation and remove all the female examples of what not to do on LinkedIn and yet keep all the male ones in and they also wanted to censor the No.1 female tech entrepreneur on LinkedIn Candice Galek just because she markets bikinis and they were worried that their audience of “girls in tech” would be easily offended. Laughable.

The Marketing Group is listed on the Euro-Nasdaq, not Black Marketing, which is one of many component companies.

Chris Reed is not the CEO of the Marketing Group. So Reed is not a CEO of a Nasdaq-listed company.

Also, getting into a public row with LinkedIn on LinkedIn is what I’d look for from a LinkedIn marketing agency.

Haha. Let’s see the slippery eel address this.

Already did, catch up.

and yet I am….

fact:
I am CEO of the company

fact:
that company is listed on NASDAQ

The Marketing Group is listed, Black Marketing is not listed. Otherwise it would have its own ticker symbol, which it does not. You are not a CEO of a Nasdaq listed company, you run one of the subsidiaries.

Jealously will really get you no where. Let me explain it very simply to you so that you can understand.

Black Marketing is part of TMG which is listed on NASDAQ. I am CEO of Black Marketing. I am therefore a NASDAQ listed CEO. I never claimed to be TMG’s.

It’s not rocket science.

Lol

Just another spineless self censoring Organization peopled by the kind of yes men and women who have zero to offer. Reed is right to take this to the top.(nice barnet by the way).

Indeed and thanks, wow a positive comment on Mumbrella!

Fair play to Candice, she’ll do what’s best for her. But the audience for the presentation is young women who are in a heavily male industry in which sexism, unwanted sexualisation and sexual harassment is rife, and this issue is particularly high profile right now in the media. It’s ill-timed at best for a presenter – knowingly or unknowingly – to get up at an event celebrating the smarts of young women with a presentation where the “example” of female success is openly using sexualisation to build their personal brand on LinkedIn. It reinforces all those sexist tropes that women in the industry are struggling against, and are which in the news every day. I can see why Girls In Tech and LinkedIn would uncomfortable with this. It just seems a bit tin earred given the number of women bravely speaking out.

As for censorship and free speech, it’s hardly Tiananmen Square.

And yet I have done and continue to do this very same presentation celebrating female entrepreneurs to audiences across Asia Pacific including 100 Singaporean females at The Marketing Institute of Singapore yesterday who loved the example, loved that they could do the same thing and were able to see for themselves how females can freely express themselves how they wish in order to build their own personal brands and their businesses.

Rather than look negatively at why not look at it positively. Censorship of any kind is never good and in this context even worse. Are you really advocating the females should be frightened of wearing what they want and should cover up? They should be able to wear what the hell what they want.

I’m absolutely not advocating that women shouldn’t be able to wear or do what they want, which is a complete red herring on your part, only that there are huge opportunities for influencers in tech to present a vision for young women of success which isn’t sexualised.

Anyway, I’ll be sending a donation over to Girls In Tech to support their important work, and would encourage others passionate about encouraging and empowering young women in STEM to do the same. Thanks for giving this valuable organisation the publicity.

Totally agree with AD.

Non-profit organizations like Girls in Tech do wonderful things to promote, educate and empower young girls and women in areas of STEM. Shaming them online like this is telling of one’s character under adversity, let alone biting the very hand (platform) one’s career is established on.

Will definitely be donating to Girls in Tech and related causes. Thanks to the awareness brought up on this.

#heforshe

Go for it, clearly a worthwhile cause considering that they couldn’t even organise a piss up at LinkedIn! Since you have money to burn how about donating it somewhere that actually might make a difference like fighting world hunger and poverty, curing cancer and releasing political prisoners? Or do you think GIT is a better cause than them?

clearly more money than sense

pleasure, now more people know that they couldn’t organise a piss up in a LinkedIn office and that they are more worried about bikinis threatening the pour souls who come along to their events from some sheltered upbringing….than actually celebrating female tech entrepreneurs….

The woman sells bikinis. How is she supposed to advertise them? On coat hangers? It’s not illegal to show women in bikinis in Singapore so what’s the rumpus? One woman’s feminism is another man’s sexism is another woman’s liberation. Read your Greer.

Precisely

Fabulous response

Hmm, LinkedIn influencer marketing gone wrong? Social media marketing is more about number of followers but more about building relationships with the right influencers and with the platform itself.

Just food for thought.

Thanks Mark but the strategy is working a treat, i am being inundated by people offering me work, speaking engagements, wishing to connect. I agree it’s about building relationships with people on the platform which I do constantly and many talks are part of that,

#BrandingplusTeaser nothing to be banned or removed.Wat’s wrong with market bikinis.?So many Sporean gals wearing bikinis and why the personal branding becomes a *******!?How else can we market bikinis,right?Bikinis are #legalinsg

Indeed….

Test if I can post here

like that, ha ha, yes you can!

So Chris are you saying the public filings from TMG is lying? That Adam Graham isn’t the CEO of TMG but you are? That’s very interesting, I’m sure NASDAQ Nordic and regulatory folks would like to find out more.

Jealously will really get you no where. Let me explain it very simply to you so that you can understand.

Black Marketing is part of TMG which is listed on NASDAQ. I am CEO of Black Marketing. I am therefore a NASDAQ listed CEO. I never claimed to be TMG’s.

It’s not rocket science.

Hi all, I do think LinkedIn has a case and it is a professional one.

We have seen women and even men using sexy shots to build a following on Facebook, Instagram and even Pinterest to front their social commerce activities, so there is really nothing new or much to learn from Candice Galek.

The issue for LinkedIn is that it is more about corporate and professional branding which is unlike most any other social media network that is popular in the world. So it is probably looking for better case sharing than superficial ones that is more about follower recruitment than actual professional or corporate branding on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn has always been keen to feature users who are really professional or industry subject matter experts who can build a professional following. I am not looking down on bikinis but it is a small subset of the fashion industry.

Not my intention to offend but I have been doing social for almost 10 years and I’m just speaking my mind.

Btw, tplease be on topic. Do question someone’s CV or designations when you are willing to divulge your real name and role in your company.

Thank you for considered contribution Mark. While I see your point I think you miss several points about Candice and why I showcased her (and many others doing similar things in similar areas). She is first and foremost an entrepreneur and as such now does many things beyond bikinis but it’s thanks to her infamy in creating controversy on LinkedIn by using her product as content marketing that she has shown how anyone can go from 0 to millionaire through enhancing their personal brand and using content marketing and generating a loyalty and engaged following on LinkedIn to do so.

Hence why, getting back to why I objected to her being censored, I thought that she was actually a great role of how anyone, any female can do this in the tech business as an entrepreneur. She now has a clothing range, skin care range, books out, podcasts, manufacturing deals across the world, beyond bikinis and does talks to budding entrepreneurs and social media marketing people on how to use content marketing and your personal brand to build a business brand.

Only have one last comment. Is this your best or only case to share?
Just food for thought.

Hi Mark, not at all and that’s the point, this was only one of dozens of great examples of entrepreneurs developing their personal branding strategy to enhance their business brand using content marketing and social media that I use to demonstrate the power of Linkedin.

MIS saw all examples this week as did a couple of private clients and GIT didn’t see any due to their short sightedness over this one case study.

Linkedin should have the last word on how their brand is managed..and if they don’t want to use a bikini entrepreneur to showcase the power of linked in then those wishes should be calmly respected….or sever ties due to differences. But lambasting them in public does not bode well. Imagine if agencies took to shaming their clients for not buying a creative idea.

Methinks it’s just a matter of time now before the collective might of linkedin descends on this fellow.

Hi Chris, I am making a point. You seem to be avoiding it.

Do consider sharing much better examples for example a real entrepreneur with something real to share: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/298014

The future of LinkedIn marketing has far more to offer than the example you wanted to share.

This is my last post here. No need to reply.

I think after, all this proves that censorship makes everyone even more wildy interested and opinionated about content that otherwise may pass by unnoticed…….oh my God, I am a “victim ” too as I am posting on it :))). Jokes aside, people got brains, no need to censor anything….censorship means amplify and viralize it in the social media world and maybe this was just a witty “good cop, bad cop” marketing strategy (i said “maybe”). Last question: why linkedin allows this thread to exist and paint them as the bad censorship guys again? 🙂

No at all Mark, as I said “this was only one of dozens of great examples of entrepreneurs developing their personal branding strategy to enhance their business brand using content marketing and social media that I use to demonstrate the power of LinkedIn”.

Yours is a great example too, thank you for sharing and there are plenty more which are both on LinkedIn and in my presentation as the thousands of people who have seen it will testify….

The future of LinkedIn depends on members engaging and feeling appreciated for engaging. They have a 1 in 5 engagement rate i.e. 500 million members but only 1/5 are actually active each month. That’s the biggest danger for LinkedIn. They need to embrace people like Candice and I because not only do we engage but we bring others in to also engage. That’s the future of LinkedIn. Or not as the case maybe.

Giuseppe Mennella excellent points and totally agree. Plus there was nothing to be offended about….!

I’m not painting LinkedIn as the bad guys but the first post being censored/banned needed highlighting to others so yeah they were the bad guys but just for the original censorship and banning of my post which was uncallled for, unnecessary and OTT considering the subject matter. But they had the sense to put it back.

Candice has had dozens of posts banned as you can imagine. Apparently bikinis are the most controversial things you can use on LinkedIn!

More like hundreds. ? I post up to 25 times a day. I schedule 100 posts at a time with buffer. Persistence is key!

ha ha epic Candice, thanks for sharing

I think our business does not need people who exaggerate greatly and have, at best, a flimsy grasp of the things they profess mastery at. Take for instance, personal branding. What exactly is this unicorn and why is only one person the best qualified to talk about it?

Here are my views, as a lay person, on what it takes t create a genuine, endearing and enduring personal brand:

1. BE SINCERE….don’t be a shallow douche who tries to spin nothing into something. Eg. If you’re a CEO of a language academy who happens to have a lisp and a stutter, don’t use a byline that says: The only CEO of a language academy with both a lisp and a stutter…. like it’s some kind of flair badge. You will come across as a tool and people will not only hate you but go out of their way to disagree with you forever because you are so eminently dislikable.

2. BE SMART….if you’re talking to an audience like GirlsInTech, then pick examples of girls in tech. That’s called relevance. A woman who sells bikinis online is not a tech person, even though she uses instagram and linked in. If you’re addressing a seminar entitled How to succeed by courting controversy, then use the bikini woman.

3. BE GENUINELY GIVING …. what that means is, give people something they want and appreciate, and give selflessly. Stop showing off and re-posting nonsense about how great you are….that does not grow your personal brand, it just makes you the guy everyone sniggers about.

4. BE HONEST WITH OTHERS AND YOURSELF….don’t dishonestly try to interpret everyones criticism and disgust to mean that you are an interesting person.

What is your business? I’m an entrepreneur, I’m in everyone’s business. Marketing crosses over every business. You sound like you’re in hippy/charity business.

Try reading my new book “Personal Branding For Mastery” and you might learn a thing or two about it. You may actually be able to build your own personal brand and a business or two on the back of it.

Personal branding is the secret sauce of every business nowadays. Catch up or miss out. Up to you.

Listen to yourself talk….no one needs your help to build a personal brand. It’s all about common sense and most importantly, initiative.

If that were true why did I have to launch a separate company, The Dark Art of Marketing – Personal Branding For Entrepreneurs, (separate to Black Marketing), to cope with the demand from entrepreneurs wishing to have their personal brands enhanced? And why have we just taken on more employees to cope with demand?

And why was I asked to do a book on Personal Branding? This book will undoubtedly become the number one bestselling book internationally about personal branding for entrepreneurs just like my first book LinkedIn Mastery for Entrepreneurs is the bestselling book about LinkedIn marketing for entrepreneurs.

No one’s taking the piss here. I’m building businesses and providing value to clients who need our service. It’s called being an entrepreneur.

If it was that easy why aren’t you doing it? If it was that easy how come there is hardly anyone out there doing it for themselves? If it was that easy why aren’t you building the business and reaping the financial benefits from doing so?

What service have you provided lately? What value have your built? What businesses have you founded to cater and cope with client demand?

@hop on the bus, Gus BRILLIANT! loved your comments….absolutely spot on!

yeah spot on if you don’t want a personal brand of any kind, if you don’t want an enhanced personal brand that resonates and wins clients and investors, coverage and ability to contact anyone anywhere for anything, if you don’t wish to be successful and if you wish to be anonymous and invisible, go for it and we’ll see who the success is… oh wait it’s already working for me…. how’s not having one working for you?

I’m curious, from your perspective as a ‘personal branding expert’, how do you believe your personal brand comes across through your interactions here as well as the Linkedin post referred to?

Do you believe this gives a positive impression of your own brand and importantly your ability to manage other peoples’ personal brands?

I’ll let my client acquisition numbers since the story broke last week do the talking. I had my busiest week for both Dark Art of Marketing and Black Marketing last week in terms of potential clients coming to us wanting our services and in terms of clients signing up and some who literally signed up on the day I met them last week. More than I have had for months.

We’ve just taken on more people in both companies to cope with demand. You seem to be missing the point of who Dark Art targets, it’s not you.

We have some extremely high profile, often very controversial entrepreneurs and CEO’s globally who are our clients. They know we understand how controversy sells and enables a personal brand to go beyond normal personal branding and normal visibility. Last week demonstrated that perfectly.

Others come to us because they want that kind of coverage and engagement and understand that we can get it for them to enhance their personal brands. Others merely became aware of our services through the controversy, bought my book as a result of it, connected or followed me on LinkedIn or booked me in to do a talk (I had a record week for that last week too) or booked in for sales meeting.

Not everyone is in the miniature world of marketing, most of our clients are global or regional entrepreneurs across industry. Not just in marketing.

My personal brand is only being enhanced and used to market the company brands and services. Both my companies, but especially now Dark Art (being the newer and faster growing one) have benefited enormously from this money can’t buy coverage.

Better to be Marmite and have an equally passionate negative and positive reaction that leads directly to mostly positive actions that lead to client acquisition than be a boring personal brand that no one notices and therefore it never inspires or enrages, incites or encourages and no potential client is won as a direct result of it. The negative ones, as have appeared here, merely fuel the positive ones and actually generate sympathy for me and empathy for me from peers and potential clients so they also achieve the desired objective, thank you for being part of that.

The fact that this story is still being commented on a week later and people in my network are still talking about what happened and are still coming to me with enquiries as to what we do, how we can help them with their personal brand and how they can take us on speaks volumes. Actions speak louder than words. $ in the bank speaks louder than words too.

The story and controversy is giving me that point of difference, that brand awareness that leads to people becoming advocates or clients, or both. Couldn’t have done it without you all.

Now onto the next one.

Can any of this be independently verified?

“I had my busiest week for both Dark Art of Marketing and Black Marketing last week in terms of potential clients coming to us wanting our services and in terms of clients signing up and some who literally signed up on the day I met them last week. More than I have had for months.”

can anything you say?

no

as you’re anonymous…..and hiding

so no, but I’m happy with the results, so thank you for helping me!

So, we just have to believe you?

Like we had to believe your views on your NASDAQ glory?

Ok.

Hey you don’t hear my complaining about selling a 2 year old business for millions in cash and shares…even at today’s share price it was a remarkable deal from my point of view. My multiple was the best of anyone who got bought as I was the first….what’s not to like?

Keep posted, I’ll be selling Dark Art in a couple of years time…..you can bitch and moan about that then too…

Still waiting for you to create a business first before you even thinking about selling it…..

Is this your on-the-record comment in response to Mumbrella’s many articles on ongoing The Marketing Group fiasco? I note up thread you said you were unable to comment, so to hear your perspective on the deal in a public forum such as this is very interesting.

I’m not commenting I’m just repeating a couple of facts which are in our annual report…that’s public knowledge not me commenting…

buy me a glass of wine and I’ll happily have a chat with you about it but then you would have to reveal yourself first…..

Worth reprinting the real story counter any BS in the name of personal branding:

“At its height, Reed’s fortune was worth €24m (S$38m). Today, having disposed of more than a million shares as part of a divorce settlement and with the share price hovering at €0.70, his 1.4m shares are worth just €984,000 (S$1.57m).”

You’re missing the point yet again. No entrepreneur counts paper money. I sold at an above average rate. Therefore anything above that was amazing but not real (hence my comment what’s the downside) but even today’s rate is fantastic considering it was a 2 year old company and only one of my companies…..you have to look at the bigger picture, this was one of many of my companies globally. Someone offers you millions for a 2 year company what would you do?

Mumbrella, please do a “24 hours with…” on this guy.
Love to see how much time he spends replying to every post about him. Truly revealing of his personal brand.

wtf?

A genuine question.

How does a book that’s only recently launched get to have ‘International Best Seller’ plastered over it at the first press?

not all hero’s wear capes..

I’m sure this truly is a one man crusade for equality and very sure this is not a narcissistic rant by a guy who’s ego was dented after he got dropped

FYI if you run an event you have the right to change whatever you like for whatever reason you like

People are generally smart enough to realise whether an event/group is suitable for them and decide not to go if these guys are so terrible/evil

i think everyone is missing the point….this guy has a Mohawk, pretty cool!