Making The Most Of A Twitter Chat
Huddle, huddle, roil and muddle
I remember the first Twitter chat I attended. It was #journchat, one of the first, if not the first, Twitter chats created.
Image: Maria Johnson via Flickr, CC 2.0
It drove me nuts.
The stream moved so quickly, it was really hard to keep up with what was going on. And if there’s one thing I pride myself on, it’s being able to keep up with several things at once or, as the jargonites would put it, “multi-task.”
And if I’m being honest, some of the tweets people shared seemed so puerile, I said to myself, “Do they really work in public relations?”
Hey I can pull a Simon Cowell with the best of ‘em, though I try – for the most part – not to. And I suspect you can too.
As I started participating in more chats such as #pr20chat, #soloPR and then starting my own (#measurePR), I’ve come to learn a few things about how to make the most of a Twitter chat.
And that puerile is as puerile does.
So, especially if you are new to Twitter chats, I hope this will be helpful.
No barriers to participation
The beauty of Twitter is its democratic nature. Press conferences are held for the media. Professional development conferences are held for professionals in their fields.
But a Twitter chat? It’s there. It’s open. Anyone can participate if they jump on to the hashtag, regardless of whether they specialize in that particular field or not.
As a result, you have the potential for all sorts of comments – from seasoned professionals in the field, to curious onlookers or folks who dabble in the biz.
So no, all tweets will not be equal.
But I think that’s a great thing, since it gives us an opportunity to hear from many different voices… some of whom might become clients, if you’re nice to them.
What you can do: be willing to share (or re-share) information that might help explain the topic at hand to them, and point them to additional resources if they are interested in learning more.
I do this by keeping links to the introductory #measurePR post, as well as to the MeasurePR category on my blog handy. Then, when someone asks, “What is #measurePR?” I can give them a much better answer than I would be able to in 140 characters and the moment.
Resource bingo
Alex Talbott put it best:
Echoing Alex’s thought, Jodi Gersh said on Facebook:
And John Friedman:
This is one of the best things about Twitter chats.
When you go back and look at the transcripts, you’ll find people share a wealth of resources… blog posts, websites, and most of all, their own thoughts, often artfully captured in a perfect sound bite.
Most of the Twitter chats I’m aware of take place for an hour or so. But the great thing about them is that that hour is jam-packed with so much additional information, you could pretty much download all the additional resources shared during the chat and make it your own little handbook.
What you should expect: that the chat moderator(s) will provide a recap of the chat. All that I know do.
If they don’t, go to the WTHashtag page for the chat, like this #measurePR WTHashtag page, and pull a transcript for the chat. Save it as a .PDF file, and you’re good to go.
Bonus tip: sometimes WTHashtag acts funky and doesn’t catch all the tweets, especially if you let a couple of days go by before pulling the transcript. So try to do it as soon as the chat ends.
The other thing you can do is to go to Twitter Search, plug in the hashtag, and save all the tweets that were generated during the time of the chat.
This is a PITA, and I’m not talking bread, but it gives you a record of what was said.
Props to Kellye Crane for reminding me of this during the most recent #measurePR with Don Bartholomew.
The other thing that’s smart to do is, when the transcript is generated, look for any URLs that have been shared during the chat. If they’re resources you will find useful, bookmark them (I use Delicious or Evernote) for future reference.
Rules of engagement
This is an easy one.
What you should expect: anything and everything.
Like I said before, it’s Twitter. Anyone can jump in, jump out, and pretty soon you have the hopscotch and Hokey Pokey rolled into one.
Image: Philippa Willitts via Flickr, CC 2.0
All together now: you put your right foot in, put your right foot out, put your right…
This is actually a lot of fun, if you’re prepared to deal with it.
What you can do: make sure that you’re including the relevant hashtag with your tweets. A good way to do this is to participate in the chat using Tweetgrid or Tweetchat, which automatically include the hashtag with your tweets.
This way, you’ll see interesting tweets from Twitter users you might not be following, but who are also using the hashtag to participate in the chat.
By doing so, you can engage with them, continue your conversation outside of the chat, and the next thing you know, you’re on a plane to Alaska.
Bonus tip: most chat moderators will number the questions, e.g. Q1, Q2, and so on.
When responding to specific questions, start off by saying, “Re Q1,” or “A1,” etc.
You will help the moderator out immensely by doing both these.
First, because unless you include the hashtag with your tweets, they won’t be indexed in the transcript/search.
Second, numbering your answers helps others understand what specifically you’re responding to, as well as the moderator, which will help her (ok, “or him”) point you to previous answers that may help you get up to speed (if you’re asking a follow up question), as well as additional resources that help you out.
This is some of what I’ve learned by participating in, and moderating, Twitter chats. I’m sure there’s much, much more, because I’m not Simon Cowell, and I don’t know everything.
What have you learned about making your Twitter chat participation more effective and useful? Do share!
Filed under How To, Social Media, Twitter | Tags: #measurepr, #pr20chat, alex talbott, jodi gersh, john friedman, kellye crane, solopr, twitterchat | Comment (0)
Weekly Roundup: Around The World
Tura-lura-Luray
By the time you read this, I will be on my way to Virginia’s Luray Caverns. Maybe I’ll even come back with photos like this one.
Let me rephrase that. I hope I will be on my way to Luray Caverns.
This assumes that while I was sipping my morning tea on my deck, Back Yard Squirrel hasn’t chucked an acorn or several my way to brain me into buying a new bird feeder he can get into.
He broke the last one. Cheeky little booger, isn’t he?
Anyway.
Assuming BYS did not brain me, and assuming I am on my way, I thought I’d leave you with seven great travel-oriented blog posts to whet your wanderlust.
See, I love traveling. Road trips are the best.
I haven’t done a proper road trip since last year’s homage to country music/Elvis, so the prospect of the relatively short – yet not too short – drive to LC has me drooling like a mariachi in a music store.
Fasten your seat belts. Off we go.
1. Passports with Purpose 2010 – Travel Bloggers Raising Money Together, from Chris Gray Faust‘s Chris Around the World.
Why: Peregrination + philanthropy using social media = paradise.
2. British holidays are not that bad, from Darren Cronian‘s Travel Rants.
Why: If I could, I’d make every holiday a British holiday. But I thought this was a great reminder of how fun times can be had without going halfway around the world (like Luray Caverns, heh).
3. Dealing with ants in your house in Thailand, from I Travel About.
Why: Forget about Thailand, I periodically get ants here.
4. Pet travel lessons learned from one couple’s DIY pet move, from PetRelocation.com.
Why: PetRelocation is a great resource for folks who like (or need) to travel with their pets. Plus, they were stellar at trying to help me find an orphaned German Shepherd a home last year.
5. Pitfalls on travel writing from the road, from the Travel Tart.
Why: It’s funny. And it’s a good reminder of what not to take for granted.
6. Cow in a car, from April Wendy Hollands’ Le Franco Phoney.
Why: The photo says it all.
7. The Shrink-Wrapped Traveler, by Eric Weiner from World Hum.
Why: The Geography of Bliss is a great book. And this is a great read on why we travel… and why, at the end of the day, we all need some place that feels like home.
So. Where are you going next?
Image: Flickr user John Menard, CC 2.0
Filed under Weekly Roundup | Tags: luray caverns, travel | Comment (1)Five Productivity Tools for PR Pros
A few months ago, I wrote a piece on communicating effectively with a virtual workforce for IABC’s monthly e-zine, CW Bulletin.
You see, I’ve been there, done that.
Silent Night
The night was silent. So silent that she could almost hear the dark, as it enveloped her in its belly.
“It’s time,” she heard it whisper.
She turned just a smidgeon, but enough to allow her to press the pillow just a tad closer to her ears in an effort to block out Dark’s unwelcome reminder.
“It’s time,” she heard again, this time more forcefully.
Friggin H, she said to herself, with not a little irritation.
“You can cuss me all you want, but it’s time, and this is the last time I’m going to tell you.”
With a sigh, eyes squeezed to try and wring the sleep from them, she arose, shaking her head ever so slightly, to begin the necessary rituals of ablutions, packing and boarding a train that would take her far away from her loved ones, but closer to her daily bread.
Image: rubyblossom., Creative Commons
To Love Yet Not
OK. That’s a little dramatic, but I went through that every week for two years since my job (before I went out on my own) was in New York, not DC.
I loved my job and most of the people I worked with. But the weekly commute was tough, there’s no denying that.
When I wasn’t commuting, I worked remotely – much as I do now – so I needed to find ways to connect with my team, which grew rapidly over the years, and keep them motivated… without wasting time.
And that led to the article.
Cha-cha-change
Of course, things have changed a lot in just a few years. We have so many more tools at our disposal that we’re spoiled for choice.
Here are five productivity tools I really like; a couple that I included in the aforementioned article, and a couple more. If you haven’t tried them yet, have a go.
1. Tungle
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I love Tungle. When people use it instead of email to schedule meetings, it really saves time.
I’ve been including it in my e-signature for a while now, and have incorporated it into my website as well as this blog (you’ve probably noticed the Tungle widget on this blog, even if you haven’t used it).
Check it out and I’m pretty sure you’ll become a fan.
2. Plaxo: contacts, calendar and e-cards
As a social network, I think Plaxo is pretty dismal, no matter how much it tries to Face-Twit-book-terify itself.
Its strength, to me, lies in its original offering, the “universal” address book which allows you to keep your contacts current even if you switch jobs, i.e. email services, and so on.
Now they’re offering a direct sync with Google (beta) if you’re a premium user (read, give them money, currently just under US $60 a year).
I am, which means I can keep my contacts current in both places, which will be useful should I ever stop using Google Contacts. GC also syncs with my BlackBerry, which means I really do have my contacts at my fingertips (I don’t know why Plaxo still doesn’t have a way to sync with BlackBerry’s directly).
These are great time savers – remember when you had to export your contacts as a .CSV file, import them, snore…?
The other thing I really like about Plaxo’s offerings are its ecards. I use them all the time to schedule and send mostly birthday greetings to my friends, family and business contacts, which is another way of networking with a twist.
This was one of the reasons I signed up for Plaxo’s premium service some years ago.
I figured the resulting selection of additional ecards (you’re limited in your selection if you use the free service) would more than offset what I would otherwise pay to actually buy a card, mail it to someone, etc.
I also now use Plaxo to make and send our own holiday cards, which has cut down significantly on holiday postage.
Yes, I send a lot of cards.
I don’t like their default settings, which make your card “social” (i.e. anyone in the recipient’s Plaxo network can see it) v. private (which is what I always select).
It is also nuts that Plaxo itself doesn’t know when I’ve already scheduled ecards and keeps emailing me reminders about various birthdays, etc., coming up.
But that aside, the ecards are cool.
3. Boomerang for Gmail
This is something I’ve just started using and I really like it. Essentially, Boomerang for Gmail lets you draft and schedule emails to be sent at a particular time.
This is an excellent way of ripping through your work when you’re on a roll, yet not scaring people into thinking you’re a sleepless work demon when they receive emails from you at 2:43 am.
You can also decide when you want to respond to email by telling Boomerang when you want to “receive” it, i.e. read something that’s already come into your inbox.
I’m not quite sure how useful this is since, if I’ve already read it, chances are I’ve already decided whether or not I’m going to reply to it, whether it’s spam, or whether I label/star it, etc.
But I’ll go with the flow.
Right now, BfG is in beta, which means you have to sign up for an invite code either via Baydin’s website or request one via Twitter, and be patient as they work through bugs. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
When I did this, I got my invite code in a couple of days. I tested it almost immediately and after a couple of missteps – I had a pop-up blocker that I needed to disable – it worked perfectly.
Note: if you look at your draft after you have saved and scheduled it, it will NOT work. So don’t do that.
Their customer service is also pretty good; when it wasn’t working for me, I emailed them and got a reply almost immediately from their CEO.
Nice!
4. Toggl
If you need to track your time for your clients or projects, want to move up from a basic spreadsheet but don’t want to lay out a lot of cashola, try Toggl.
It’s easy, free (up to a point) and lets you track multiple projects, clients, etc., including those that are billable and those that are not.
Even if you don’t have to track your time, it’s still a good exercise to undertake. Doing so lets us see how we spend our time… assuming we are disciplined and truthful about it.
And this can help when negotiating or renegotiating client agreements (or when you need to push back on a client who’s demanding too much, though we all know we NEVER do that).
Bonus: it helps identify holes in your time management skills, including the amount of time you spend in/on social media.
Plus, you’ll have an answer for when someone asks you, “Just how much time DO you spend on Twitter?”
5. Google Docs
Another of my fave G-suite applications, because it lets me share and update documents in real time with as many people who need to be involved, without the pain that inevitably comes with people emailing each other different versions of a document that you have to keep saving and re-saving.
5. Evernote
I still like and use Delicious to bookmark stuff I come across on the Interwebs, but I find myself increasingly using Evernote because of the little notes I can write to myself.
This could be something I plan to send to a client, a cool blog post I want to use in a Weekly Roundup, or just something neat I have no idea what to do with at the moment, but I know I’ll want to come back to.
If you use Seesmic, you can also save items from your Twitter and Facebook streams.
I don’t. Hmpfh.
I realize this is a bit of a Google-heavy list, but many of the folks I know depend on the suite for their work (and more).
And if you don’t, hopefully you will find at least a couple of these useful in your daily work and play.
What productivity tools do you use frequently? Will you share below?
Weekly Roundup: A Chuckle Or Seven
My friend Jill Foster posted this great tweet the other day.
I thought it was a great goal. Only problem was, by the time the evening rolled around, I’d only had one really good laugh thus far.
When I opened the door
“How’s it going?” said Evening to me, in a most avuncular fashion.
“Pretty good,” I answered, “except for this laugh thing.”
Evening pushed his bi-focals up his Dumbledore-esque proboscis and inspected me with a touch of concern. Could this daughter of the East be losing her marbles?
“You know, the whole ‘laugh three times today’ thing that Jill got me into.”
“Ah.” He pondered a while and then said, with a flash of enthusiasm, “Any Back Yard Squirrel antics recently?
“In this weather? You must be joking!” I responded hopefully.
But it wasn’t enough of a joke to break out the giggles, let alone the bubbly. Back I sank on my stoop, jokeless and laughless.
“Oh.” After a few minutes of companionable silence, he cleared his throat and rose, shaking his voluminous sunset robes, tinged with gold and mauve, around him. “I’d best be going, then.”
And he did. Wafted straight into the sunset, did Evening.
A nice enough chap, but I’ll tell you something. If he stops by for a cuppa, don’t expect to discuss more than the weather with him.
Image: Zen Sutherland, Creative Commons
I finally did get my laughs in before the clock struck midnight, thanks to Bill Murray’s exquisite performance in The Man Who Knew Too Little. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it.
The Chuckle-icious Seven
If you’re looking for some great blog posts for when you need a chuckle, here they are:
1. Fabulosity comes to those who weight, from Fun and Fit: Q and A with K and A.
Why: A new discovery of mine thanks to Brian Meeks, twins Alexandra and Kymberly dole out fitness advice that will exercise your laugh muscles along with everything else.
2. Anti-self-deprecation is the New Black, from Nanny Goats in Panties.
Why: when social media “gurus” – or any “gurus,” for that matter – are self-deprecatingly stumbling over themselves all over the social Web, just point them to this.
3. Larry is furious about this Mark Hurd thing, from The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs, published by Fake Steve Jobs.
Why: Dude. Seriously. You know why.
4. I’m replacing his chair with a throne, from dooce, aka Heather Armstrong.
Why: Anyone – including a famous mommyblogger – who can successfully tie the words “tyrant,” “Bach,” and “dog-butt-wiping-angle” – with a video to boot – gets my vote.
5. Pretty much everything from Sh*t My Dad Says.
Why: I know SMDS made the rounds a while back, when the S hit the C, but how can you not read any of these without clutching your sides in agonizing glee?
6. Note to Vivek Oberoi: now would be as good a time as any to get your head out of your a$$, from The Secret Journal of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala
Why: I’m not keeping with the fecal orifice theme intentionally, believe me. This one’s especially for my Indian (and those who “get” India) peeps and tweeps.
Feringis, be warned, your delicate sensitivities might be shocked by this one. Didn’t know I had a wicked sense of humor, did you?
7. The ultimate collection of Twitter cartoons, from Technically Personal.
Why: Though Twitter’s managed to rid itself of its “shiny new” somewhat since this post was published, the cartoons are still funny. Especially this one from Geek & Poke:
Chuckle away, my friends. Especially you, Jill.
Weekly Roundup: A Tryst With Destiny
Today is India’s 63rd Independence Day (image: Rupal Vaidya, Creative Commons).
In tribute to my country of birth, this edition of Weekly Roundup focuses on writings by, from and of Indian authors (or authors of Indian descent).
1. Innovation and HR’s quest to be strategic, by Gautam Ghosh.
Why: Gautam is an excellent and prolific writer (and friend). He’s managed to parlay his social media savvy and business smarts into the realm of human resources, an area not typically known for either (sorry, HR people, but there you have it).
2. The age of surveillance from The Comic Project.
Why: First Saudi Arabia, then India, made the news by threatening to clamp down on RIM’s BlackBerry service. Anyone interested in transparency – what we deem one of the pillars of social media – should read this post.
3. The ideas of India, by Shashi Tharoor.
Why: A former diplomat, politician and prolific author, Tharoor is anything but shy when it comes to sharing his ideas. And he’s taken to Twitter like a tar ball to tennis shoes. Especially if you’re unfamiliar with India’s history, you should read this.
4. Day 831, by Amitabh Bacchhan. 
Image: Kanishka Gangopadhyay, Creative Commons
Why: If you’re unfamiliar with Bollywood (it’s been around much longer than Slumdog Millionaire), the “Big B” is one of the most iconic and influential living Indians.
Think Tom Cruise and JFK rolled into one, then throw a crown on top. I’m not kidding.
The son of Harivansh Rai Bacchhan, one of India’s most beloved modern poets, AB shook the Indian silver screen once he climbed the Bollywood ladder, becoming not just everyman, but the quintessential angry young man.
Apart from being a terrific actor, he’s a gifted writer, both in Hindi as well as English.
This particular post is a poetic look at time and change. And if you can read Hindi, it’s even better.
5. The “Yes, and… ” culture, by Anil Dash.
Why: What if instead of saying, “No, but…” we said, “Yes, and…”? That’s what Dash of Expert Labs fame muses on here.
6. What can Steven Slater learn from a pillow fight on board Lufthansa, by Arun Rajagopal.
Why: first, Arun’s a friend of mine. Now that that disclosure’s out of the way, this is an interesting and different take on the entire Jet Blue ballyhoo.
7. A tryst with destiny, by Jawaharlal Nehru.
Why: I believe this is one of the finest speeches ever written, and given by Jawaharlal Nehru, independent India’s first prime minister, as the clock approached midnight on August 15, 1947.
Here’s a short clip:
What other great writings have you found from Indians and the Indian diaspora? Do share in the comments section below.
Happy Independence Day.
Filed under Weekly Roundup, Writing | Tags: amitabh bacchhan, anil dash, arun rajagopal, gautam ghosh, indian independence day, jawaharlal nehru, shashi tharoor, the comic project, tryst with destiny | Comments (3)Weekly Roundup: I’m Not Chuck Norris
Perhaps this is stating the obvious, but I’m not Chuck Norris.
Image: cloune 1X2+‘s Flickrstream, Creative Commons
I do not say this because I wear a watch
Sleep
Or read books, though I have occasionally tried to stare them down (never works for me).
By the way, you know where all those Chuck Norris facts came from, right? Just wanted to make sure.
No, I say this, because I’m going to shortly say something Roger Byrne reminded me CN would never have done:
What to do? I’m not Chuck Norris.
So, in case you missed them earlier, here are seven good posts I came across during the past several weeks that I saved to share with you:
1. Media psychology: what it is, and why you should care, from the Media Psychology blog.
Why: Psychology’s always fascinating. But particularly for us public relations practitioners, who are constantly trying to get into the minds of our audiences, this is a really good read.
2. Copyright – using other people’s content, from kilobox communiqué.
Why: Wedge is a great writer, so I pretty much read everything he writes. Particularly in light of Mack Collier‘s recent post (and the subsequent discussion) on being very careful when letting other sites run your blog content, I thought this a handy reference.
4. (No, I didn’t skip a number, you just got a twofer.) A column written in five minutes about stuff that mattered years ago from Paul Carr.
Why: Because it’s a great reminder that no matter how “groundbreaking” we might think we are, it’s almost always true that someone has thought/done/said it before us.
5. Has Twitter’s rise led to a decrease in journalistic standards? from Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics.
Why: Do I really need to answer that?
6. 3 popular image licenses you need to be familiar with before using someone else’s photos, from makeuseof.com.
Why: See #2 (and 3) above.
7. Thoughtful consumption and its beneficial consequences, from Constructively Productive.
Why: I’ve been a fan of CP ever since Thursday Bram and Ali Hale launched it, and I’ve been trying to let their remarkable thinking percolate my own work and life, so that I’m more heretically productive. I think I’m doing better than I was, and posts like this remind me to put more thought into everything, including heresy.
There you go. Happy reading.
If you’ve saved great posts that have made an impression on you, won’t you share them by leaving a comment below?
Filed under Resources, Weekly Roundup | Tags: chuck norris facts, favorite blog posts, recommended reading | Comments (5)Let Me Google That For You
… for some of the questions I get asked quite often (and I daresay you do too):
How do I start a blog?
How do I find a PR job in DC?
How do I get more followers on Twitter?
See? Easy.
It’s not that I mind being asked. I’m chuffed you consider my opinion worthwhile. But it will probably be more helpful to you if you’ve already done your – at least, some – homework, because then I can try to help fill in the gaps and not give you information you could easily find elsewhere.
And Google knows far more than I do. Trust me.
Filed under Business, Career, How To | Tags: google, lmgtfy | Comment (1)From Personal Relations to Public Relations
I had the good fortune to be a presenter at Social Commerce Camp DC in February, thanks to Shashi Bellamkonda and Kikscore. As I was looking through my deck, it occurred to me it would probably make for a good series of posts on PR best practices for small businesses:
On the other hand, it might all be old hat to you.
What do you think… shall I go for it?
How You Say It Matters Too: Lessons on Blogging via Geoff Livingston
A couple of days ago my friend Geoff Livingston threw the blogosphere – at least the PR/SM one – for a bit of a tizzy when he announced he would no longer be writing regularly for the extremely popular Buzz Bin.
This, Geoff said, is why:
“Why, you ask? I have run out of things to say (image: Elyse Patten, Creative Commons). I found last summer when I wrote the “for me, social media is dead” posts that I had run out of things to say. As we moved on to a group blog format again, Mondays were still a struggle to add something new to the conversation.
“Two years ago, I ended the Now Is Gone blog for similar reasons. I feel like I am repeating myself. For example, while you may think FourSquare is a great new thing, I already blogged about it eight months ago! Yes, there’s room for continuing coverage, but… You get my point.”
Several months ago, the Buzz Bin saw a change when it became a CRT/tanaka (Geoff’s former employer which acquired Livingston Communications) property. And then he told us that come 2010, he’d be starting anew; we now know that new venture as Zoetica Media.
Having had the pleasure of getting to know Geoff a little over the course of the last several months, I can tell you one thing: the man does not run out of things to say.
Moreover, what he does say, he puts across in a unique fashion.
I’m not going to argue with Geoff – after all, if he thinks he’s run out of things to say, who am I to question him?! – but I think we can all take classes from him on how to say things when we blog, regardless of whether those are our personal or professional blogs. Here are three (and there are many more) that have particularly touched me:
Nothing strikes a chord like brutal honesty.
Check out Geoff’s post from 2008 on his five worst professional mistakes. He goes into quite a bit of detail on his career progression, examining not his highs, but his lows, sharing what must have been agonizing moments from his past. For example:
We’ve all made mistakes, and they’re never fun to remember. When we’ve made particularly bad mistakes, the most we can hope for is that the sting of memory recedes with time. And Geoff not only goes into them, but shares his lessons learned, with equally brutal honesty.
Takeaway: When you share pieces of your life with others – and if you have the courage to do so frankly – it makes you more approachable and personable… and it helps to engage your readers. Look at the number of comments Geoff got on this post. If blogging is about two-way conversation, Geoff nails it.
Use multimedia to a fault.
I thought what Geoff did to raise money for cancer research – getting himself tattooed at SxSW – was a great approach to personal fund-raising (I think the queen of it has to be Beth Kanter, who’s inspired several people, Geoff and myself included, to generate support from their communities for causes they care about).
What Geoff does really well, though, is incorporate different media into his posts. He’s an avid photographer, plays with just about every tech tool you can think of and uses them, and even brings you video of himself in what must have been, at the very least, an uncomfortable situation.
Takeaway: the more ways you give people to understand what you’re trying to say, the greater the chance of them actually getting it. By now everyone should have gotten over their fear of creating visual content, what with Flickr, Flipcams, et al. This stuff is easy to do. Do it.
Be generous to a fault.
A hallmark of Geoff’s writing is that he links liberally to other posts and online references. Look at this post of his on sponsored media.
There are eight (count ‘em) links to other posts, including an image credit, as well as a screenshot of comments he got on Facebook when he posited the question there.
This isn’t rocket science, but we often forget to do this – or don’t take the time to do it.
Guess what? When you link that liberally, people appreciate it. Which increases the chances of them linking back to you and engaging with you. And if you use images you’ve sourced online to add some zest to your post, always, always make sure to give the photographer his/her due, after making sure the image is licensed in a way that allows you to use it.
Takeaway: People are generous by nature. Being generous to a fault when you’re blogging is one of the greatest virtues you can have. And if you haven’t as yet figured out Creative Commons, now’s the time to do it.
As far as not having anything to say goes… Geoff will still be talking. He’s just going to do it his way, in a different place. And I, for one, couldn’t be happier that you can’t shut him up.
I could go on for a while, but those are three of the greatest gifts Geoff has given us. What would you add? Which other master bloggers have inspired you, and why? I’d love to know.
GLEAM: A 5-Letter Guide to Polishing Your PR
A couple nights ago I sat in on #tweenPR, a Twitter chat targeted towards mid-level PR practitioners as the chat’s official mentor. I’m grateful that Nicole Nolte and Suzie Linville, creators of the chat, consider me mentor material, though one might reasonably ask what gaping hole exists in the development of afore-mentioned mid-level professionals that they felt the need to create this.
Read the explanation? Excellent. I don’t need to go into it then.
This week’s chat focused on the ABC’s (Assets, Benefits, Challenges) of managing junior-level employees. My answer? Make your junior team members GLEAM (image: photon’s Flickrstream, Creative Commons).
As in:
Guide
Listen
Empower
Attribute
Motivate
This seemed to strike a chord, as you can see from these retweets:
As I thought more about this, it occurred to me that you could take this same acronym and apply it in your day-to-day PR efforts for the benefit of your clients and/or organizations, not to mention yourself:
Guide
Ninety-nine percent of the time, when organizations seek outside counsel, it’s not because they lack PR skills in-house. What they really want is for you to provide an unbiased evaluation of their efforts, gently steer them away from temptation (shiny new toy, anyone?) and make sure they’re not losing the wood for the trees.
As a PR practitioner, it’s critical that you serve as a guide.
Not a “yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir” kind of agency. But a real guide who focuses on your client’s goals and measurable objectives, and delivers the know-how that enables them to achieve said objectives.
Listen
Think you’re the only one who had a bad day? The only one who had to dance around office politics? Think again. You’re far from being the only one to endure being left out of the loop, or trying to figure out ways to get ahead.
Chances are: your client is too.
So if you’re lucky enough to build up a rapport with your client and it’s clear she needs to vent – listen. Without talking.
I know it’s difficult, because we PR people seem to have a gene that’s geared towards trying to fix everything we come across (must be that measurable objective thing). But seriously – just listen.
It shouldn’t surprise you, but if you’re an effective listener, you’ll enable those talking to you to figure out exactly what they need to do. And the bonus: you get to wear a halo for being a problem-solving genius… without doing anything, not to mention possibly glean information on the work situation you’re involved in that can help make your strategies more effective.
Empower
Now you’re scratching delicately smoothing your head, wondering just how you can empower your clients (image: S. M. Ameli, Creative Commons). After all, they’re the ones who pay the bills, they’re the ones who keep things moving… right?
Right. But also not-so-right.
If your clients didn’t hire people like you to help them along, they wouldn’t be able to do all the great stuff they do, which enables them to pay your bills. And the best way to make sure they keep doing that? Empower them.
If they’ve hired you to perform a particular service for them… show them how you do it. If you serve as in-house PR counsel, make sure you pay as much attention to your internal audiences as you do to your external audiences. Educate them so that the next time they have to make an important decision, they know they can count on you for honest, supportive advice.
Show them what you’re doing, why it’s important and tell them how they can help.
Your most effective ambassadors are the ones you empower. Which means you must serve not so much as a director, or consultant, but as a collaborator.
Attribute
When you’re on the outside, most of the time you’re worried about getting credit for what you’ve done (come on, admit it). You’re the one who came up with that bright idea, not the other agency. (How else will you keep the account, right?)
But what if you all came up with the bright idea? Or what if – shock and awe – your client was the one who came up with the idea in the first place?
Give them the credit. More than that, make sure their supervisors know they’re the one(s) who came up with said bright idea. I’m not usually a fan of reply-all emails, but this is one case where you can use it well to blow someone else’s horn.
It’s not just generous, it’s the right thing to do. And it will serve you in good stead. Because when it comes time to renew the contract, guess who’ll put a smile on the client’s face?
Motivate
Across the board, human beings respond well to positive reinforcement (check out this extremely interesting deck on psychology and social media). This is not to say we should over-justify what we undertake.
But when was the last time you did something happily (image: Sean Dreilinger, Creative Commons) because someone yelled at you?
Or because they told you how much you sucked?
As PR practitioners, part of our charge is to educate and motivate those we work with to do better, quicker (or more efficiently) and wiser, to paraphrase “Citius, Altius, Fortius.”
So help your clients (or your “in-house clients”) be better, more educated, and more productive. In other words, motivate them to do their job better – and they will help you do your job better.
The Bottom Line
If you put a gleam in your client’s eye, chances are that gleam will bounce right back off of you. That won’t just make you a happy practitioner, it’ll make you a proud one; and what better reward could you ask for?
What do you think? What’s your mantra for PR excellence? Do share by leaving a note below.
More from:
- The Institute for Public Relations on ethics and PR
- Danny Brown on helping yourself to help your clients
- Lest you thought I was getting too Pollyanna-ish, the 5 myths of managing up
Filed under Business, How To, Public Relations
| Tags: #tweenPR, client management, gleam, polishing your pr, pr skills |
Comments (3)
