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Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
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Here's some free advice that I use myself and have found it to be immeasurably beneficial at least in my own circumstances.
If you're into detailing as a business or even a serious hobby for the long run, then either brand your name or brand your business name and when you choose a business name, see if you can work your real name into your business name and that way you'll be branding both.
My name is Mike Phillips and on all discussion forums I belong to I use my real name. I don't post anything that I would not want other's to see or read so I don't have anything to hide or keep secret. I've never had my identity stolen, (knock on cyber-wood), and I've never had any problems on any forum related to using my real name.
My main website is called ShowCarGarage.com and without trying much I've also branded it, at least in the online detailing world.
In the Cyberworld, on detailing discussion forums, your forum buddies get to know you by your forum nickname whether it's your real name or not, but in the real world where you make your money, nobody knows who FuzzyBunny77 is and nobody's ever going to know or care who FuzzyBunny77 is, so to some degree, investing your time posting under a cute nickname like FuzzyBunny77 or fill in the blank doesn't ever really help you, especially if you're in this for the long run.
Because you use your real name in the real world, it can only help to use your real name or a portion of it in the online world, not always but it depends upon how you market yourself and your business and discussion forums can be great ways to get new business. The problem is that non- forum people, (a portion of your customer base, maybe even the largest segment of it), may find it difficult to relate to you in the forum world and the last thing you want to do is make it hard for your customer to relate to you and recommend you to their friends.
Here's an example,
Mr. Smith can relate to you as a person in the real world and then later if you somehow introduce him to your online presence he will still know and UNDERSTAND who you on online, or if he found you online first he can easily relate to you and associate a real name with you in the real world.
That doesn't work as well if you go by a forum nickname. It's not to say that you can't brand a nickname as you certainly can, but it will take longer, it will require more work on your part and it will never have as much impact as meeting people in person and having to try to explain who you are via your nickname in the online world.
Your name as a forum name, business name and domain name
This would also apply if your forum nickname is your business name or if you have worked your real name into your business name. Here's a few examples of people that have worked their real name into their business name,
Nickname - Real Name - Business name + Website name
Scottwax = Scot Hair = Scottwax.com
Jimmy Buff-it's Auto Detailing = Jim Schliebner = Jimmybuffit.com
Nick's Custom Detailing = Nick Chapman = Nickscustomdetailing.com
See how they all tie together seamlessly?
They brand themselves, (their real name), their forum name and their business name.
If you're reading this article and you're in the detailing business for the long run, (I am), then consider the above when choosing a,
- Forum Nickname
- Business Name
- Domain Name
If you do good work and you take pride in your work, then brand yourself...
Quote:
Here's an interesting and true story,
One time while doing a Half & Half, Before & After for an upcoming Miata club, I was in the Meguiar's Garage around 11:00pm on a week night buffing out just one half of two Miata's for the event, a black one and a red one.
No one was around as it was way past closing time and the garage doors were closed. Because I was running a rotary buffer I never heard the garage door go up or down in the next garage over so when Barry Meguiar walked into the garage it caught me by surprise.
He had just returned from the John Wayne airport after returning from a trip overseas to visit many of Meguiar's overseas Business Partners and usually these were the prime distributors for a specific countries.
He asked me what I was doing? I said, buffing out a couple of cars for a car show for a before and after, side-by-side demonstration.
He said, very good. He then turned to walk down the hall that leads to some stairs to his office when he turned and said,
By the way, I just returned from an overseas trip where I probably visited around 20 international distributors and at least half of them told me to,
"Say hello to Mike Phillips" .
(This also caught me by surprise).
My take on his comment was that it may have caught him off guard because he probably didn't realize at that time, how strong my reach was into the car enthusiasts market through my articles on the MeguiarsOnline.com discussion forum since at that time it was still fairly new. This would be back in the spring of 2005.
In the bigger picture of Meguiar's Corporate structure, I was a long ways down the food chain from upper management and certainly of no regard in the hierarchy of that business that I should have received any recognition from very diverse people around the world.
The point being, my name was known or branded by my posts on a discussion forum and I honestly don't think it would have meant much, or had as much value had I been using a forum nickname like FuzzyBunny77 or Speeder88, or fill-in-the-blank.
If you're reading this and you're using a forum nickname that is undecipherable to just about anyone but yourself, AND you would like to change your forum nickname to something that has more value and is more brandable, you can usually send a polite request to most Forum Admins asking for the change and I know at least in my experience, I would always accommodate the request and change their name for them. You don't lose your post count and now all your past posts and future posts will be branded with your new name.
Here's a brand for you and an end to this article...
Just do it!
Related Thread
How to choose a name for your detailing business
:)
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
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Originally Posted by
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek
If you're reading this and you're using a forum nickname that is undecipherable to just about anyone but yourself, AND you would like to change your forum nickname to something that has more value and is more brandable, you can usually send a polite request to most Forum Admins asking for the change and I know at least in my experience, I would always accommodate the request and change their name for them. You don't lose your post count and now all your past posts and future posts will be branded with your new name.
Man oh man are the forum admins gonna hate that you just said that! :)
Great thread of advice Mike. :props:
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
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Originally Posted by
VR8
Man oh man are the forum admins gonna hate that you just said that! :)
Actually, the number of people that ever take action on a suggestion like this is usually so negligible that it's nothing to worry about.
I've shared this idea with a lot of people in the forum world over the years, most people don't want to use their real names in any way, shape or fashion and that's understandable.
My good friend Nick Chapman is a good example of someone that took the advice and now he has a fairly well recognized name, his forum name use to be some type of "airplane reference", it was n737nc and I kept telling him no one would ever be able to remember it, recognize it or say it. :D
http://www.autogeekonline.net/galler...ickChapman.jpg
I won't take credit for convincing either of the below friends of mine to brand their real names but I do remember having conversations with them about it.
Kevin Brown started out as iamwaxman on the forums and now goes by Kevin Brown
http://www.autogeekonline.net/galler...KevinBrown.jpg
And I don't remember that Renny ever used a forum nickname on the forums I've seen him posting to but he also goes by his real name and he too has a stellar reputation in the detailing world.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/galler...RennyDoyle.jpg
One thing I've learned for sure though is good branding has value in a good way and bad branding has value in a bad way... always try to brand in a good way...
I also recommended this to other online detailing personalities, at least one guy tried it for a while and then switched back, I never knew why though?
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...lies/smile.gif
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
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Originally Posted by
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek
My name is Mike Phillips and on all discussion forums I belong to I use my real name. I don't post anything that I would not want other's to see or read so I don't have anything to hide or keep secret.
:iagree:
I do the same on Forums, e-mail addresses... the works... for similar yet different reasons. Back in the days of Compuserve you were identifiable and accountable for what you posted. Then with the advent of any number of online services and the explosion of the WWW it became fashinable to become anonymous and spout all kinds of flames and crud. I believe if you're going to open your yap or post something you ought to have enough belief in your words to put your name on them and be accountable, simple as that. I get tired of all the "FuzzyBunnies" hiding in the ether behind their cowardly anonymity after spouting crap.
My $.02.
Does this make me "branded"? :confused:
TL
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
As soon as I get through my New business name dilema I will be doing just this.
Thanks Mike. I sure hope they learn how to download brain data soon because I'd pay for a 100TB hard drive full of your knowledge and insight!
Kris R
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
Awesome write up! I think I'll be doing this, too. Don't have a detailing business, but I've thought about it...Plus I already have a name picked out! :D
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
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Originally Posted by
Clutch34
Awesome write up! I think I'll be doing this, too. Don't have a detailing business, but I've thought about it...Plus I already have a name picked out! :D
Same here. I don't really want to change my user name, but I do have a name in mind for a detailing business that I feel is unique.
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
Ive always used my name so I could build up a reputation just off of my name.
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
Quote:
Originally Posted by
CieraSL
Same here. I don't really want to change my user name, but I do have a name in mind for a detailing business that I feel is unique.
I hope it's not similar to what I'm thinking... :bat: lol
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
This is some great advice and for free...priceless. Thanks Mike!
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
I really don't remember when I read it, but when I joined MOL I was always impressed that Mike used his real name, that ment I always knew him and made all his post kind of personel. It impressed me so much that to this day I always use my real name on all forums. Being that my name is such that it is, sometimes its good sometimes not so good, but I promise that I did not use steriods. HEHEHE. See what I mean. Mike I think its a great idea, and you convinced me a long time ago. Oh and being that I'm 58 years old I was him before he was. :dblthumb2:
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
Good read Mike! I don't post by my real name but if this was my profession then there would be no doubt it is the only way to go. As it is I first picked a nickname back when xbox live came out. I'm not really busy on the forums and Autogeek is the first one that I frequent. So anyway when Xbox Live came out they requested you create a "Gamertag". Now therre were a couple reasons not to use my own name on there. The first of which there are some real suspect characters! Better safe then sorry! A little bit of risk and absolutely no reward (for my situation at the time) Anyway, I just decided to use a name that some guys that I worked with in my youth had given me and the rest was history. After reading your article and thinking about it I suppose on this particular forum there isn't any reason I shouldn't have used my real first name but as you made reference to I am leary of putting myself out there unless there is a reason.
As always-Thanks for the read!
C
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
You left me out Mike lol JK. Great Write up
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
Well my last name is Raskovich and I've always gone by the nick name Rasky. I started out on a Yamaha forum when I had my R1 and I've always just kept it as RaskyR1 on all the forums. :props:
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
Point well taken and applied!
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
Ugh...Mike, sometimes I hate you. lol This is the poster formerly known as "Adrock2003".
I even have a new avatar for my account coming from the guy who made my business cards that will look like my business card.
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Sal
This is some great advice and for free...priceless. Thanks Mike!
Agreed. Priceless info. Although I do not have my name in my business name. I know people associate Showroom Shine with me. Richard
Thanks again Mike. You are Awesome!
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Clutch34
I hope it's not similar to what I'm thinking... :bat: lol
Well, unless I can read your mind, I doubt it. :buffing:
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
Advice Taken and applied....thanks!
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
Mike, thanks for including my Shop in your outstanding article. Even after 8 years we still get compliments on the "cleverness" of the Brand. Most importantly, it is very memorable.
Road Show in the Spring?
Jim
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Jimmy Buffit
Mike, thanks for including my Shop in your outstanding article. Even after 8 years we still get compliments on the "cleverness" of the Brand. Most importantly, it is very memorable.
Your welcome... and it is a memorable name and when it comes to marketing getting people to remember you is vitally important.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Jimmy Buffit
Road Show in the Spring?
Jim
You offering your shop?
:)
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
Okay, so today, though I'm sick as a dog, I received my custom-built forum avatar from the Graphic Designer who did my cards. I took all of your advice to heart Mike. Changed my forum name AND my avatar to be more professional.
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
Quote:
Originally Posted by
O.C.Detailing
Okay, so today, though I'm sick as a dog, I received my custom-built forum avatar from the Graphic Designer who did my cards. I took all of your advice to heart Mike. Changed my forum name AND my avatar to be more professional.
I like your Logo/Avatar, looks very good...
http://www.autogeekonline.net/galler...logoavatar.jpg
Get feeling better!
:dblthumb2:
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek
Your welcome... and it is a memorable name and when it comes to marketing getting people to remember you is vitally important.
You offering your shop?
:)
Yes sir, I would love to host... Call me. Indiana's nice this time of year.
Jim
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
:cruisin:
How can I improve my postings on AGO? I need to put those little sayings at the bottom of my post but I've never set it up before.
Derrick
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Derrick
:cruisin:
How can I improve my postings on AGO? I need to put those little sayings at the bottom of my post but I've never set it up before.
Derrick
You want to go to your User CP, that stands for User Control Panel and on the left hand side of the window look for an option that reads,
Edit Signature
And click on it and then add what you want in your Signature Line
For mine, I have
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
Hey everyone I am new to the detailing business..as in new to doing it to others cars..and would LOVE some good advice about it..from business name, prices, products, etc. I am a freshmen in college and want to have a job I actually like and can make good money doing.
Teach me ;)
Kristyn
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Krstynmaur
Hey everyone I am new to the detailing business..as in new to doing it to others cars..and would LOVE some good advice about it..from business name, prices, products, etc.
Kristyn
Hi Kristyn,
Since this was your first post to our forum...
Welcome to Autogeek Online! :welcome:
To start with read everything in this forum group,
How to make money detailing cars - Auto Geek Online Auto Detailing Forum
Then start posting questions. There are a lot of seasoned detailing pros on this forum that will be happy to share what they know to help you be a success.
Have you a name idea already?
:)
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
well i was talking to my brother about it because he is thinking about doing the business with me and he said since my uncle has had a lawn company for 30 years named Maurer Lawn Care that maybe we should call it Maurer Car Care or Maurer Detailing...thats our last name lol but eh i mean its hard lol i want it to be catchy and not lame....
any ideas would be nice haha
-kristyn
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Krstynmaur
Maurer Detailing...thats our last name lol but eh i mean its hard lol i want it to be catchy and not lame....
any ideas would be nice haha
-kristyn
Read this article,
How to choose a name for your detailing business
(It's actually in this "forum group" our posting to).
It talks about making it easy for your customer to say, spell, type and remember. You can make personal names work but off the cuff, Maurer is harder to say, speak, type and remember, also pronounce than say, Smith or Wilson.
Also read the other tips in the article for choosing a name...
:)
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
Who do I talk to about changing my user name?
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Labster
Who do I talk to about changing my user name?
Anyone with Admin Privledges...
I can change it for you... what do you want your new name to be?
:)
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
New article written yesterday, (8/12/2010), that ties into this thread...
How to put up a website for about $20.00 a year
:)
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
Mike;
Just a quick note to say thanks, you have no idea how much help you have been in setting up my new business. Tropical Reflections will be up and running soon.
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
Mike , I go under the user name Polishdoc when I post a thread I will post with my real name which is Mario!
My business name is Eurogloss Prestige Eurogloss Prestige - Car Detailing - Home on all other forums I post with my real name even if the user name is different !
Your advice is priceless :iagree: with you that your real name will get you business I am a member sponsor of another forum and they all know me as Mario as a result of me posting my work on this forum I have already done detailed six cars which I will be posting on AG soon!
Thanks once again you are an inspiration to us all !:dblthumb2:
Mario :)
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
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Originally Posted by
bret
Mike;
Just a quick note to say thanks, you have no idea how much help you have been in setting up my new business. Tropical Reflections will be up and running soon.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
polishdoc
Mike,
Your advice is priceless :iagree: with you that your real name will get you business I am a member sponsor of another forum and they all know me as Mario as a result of me posting my work on this forum I have already done detailed six cars which I will be posting on AG soon!
Thanks once again you are an inspiration to us all !:dblthumb2:
Mario :)
Gosh... I blush...
Thanks Bret and Mario for the kind words...
:xyxthumbs:
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Krstynmaur
well i was talking to my brother about it because he is thinking about doing the business with me and he said since my uncle has had a lawn company for 30 years named Maurer Lawn Care that maybe we should call it Maurer Car Care or Maurer Detailing...thats our last name lol but eh i mean its hard lol i want it to be catchy and not lame
Kristyn,
I do a good bit of branding as part of my job. If your family name still has good recognition where you're going to open the detailing business, I would definitely use it. I would probably go with Maurer Detailing or something like that, maybe Maurer's Custom Detailing. "Car Care" sounds more like a service garage, so it may confuse potential customers on the service you are offering.
If I was going to do this as a business, I'd get a website up ASAP. Use photos of your car, family or friends cars you've already done. Choose a good logo and get professional business cards from the start. Establish on-line advertising. These steps are very cheap and very effective. Later on you can add a color brochure and I'd really consider an IPad or other tablet for in-person promotion - I use it and the impact is incredible.
Aside from that, Mike's recommendations are excellent. Develop your on-line presence using your name or your business name. Branding is one of the most powerful tools a business can use and it needs to be consistent for maximum effect.
Best of luck.
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
***Bump***
Just though I would bump this thread for everyone thinking about getting into the car detailing world for the long run...
Think about your forum name and your real name or your business name and leverage everything you do... including posts to ANY forum.
Also... read this article...
Do you want to have a career in the car industry?
:)
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
Mike,
This thread was very helpful. :xyxthumbs: Thank you for attaching and sending me the link. I am glad to say I have read this information, and I look forward to seeing positive results with future branding.
P.S. I feel the same way in the fact that if I am going to post something, post something nice and that everyone wants to read, or don't post anything at all. You can only benefit yourself and others by giving positive feedback and comments.
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Re: Brand Yourself, Brand your Forum Nickname and Brand your Business Name
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Bodedetailing
Mike,
This thread was very helpful. :xyxthumbs: Thank you for attaching and sending me the link. I am glad to say I have read this information, and I look forward to seeing positive results with future branding.
P.S.
I feel the same way in the fact that if I am going to post something, post something nice and that everyone wants to read, or don't post anything at all. You can only benefit yourself and others by giving positive feedback and comments.
You can run into all kinds of "characters" on any type of forum. I like to practice something my old manager Mike Pennington, at Meguiar's used to re-enforce to me when he knew I was dealing with "bad characters" on the MOL forum and that is to...
Take the high road...
Keep it clean, keep it nice and keep it professional. This is the time-proven path to the top and mud wrestling is the time proven path to staying at the bottom.
Also see this thread,
How to judge the character of a person by their posting history...
:D