I’m Not A Twit Or A Twerp, I’m A Tweep

Catching up on my RSS reader (I’m woefully behind), I came across this post from Dirk Singer’s Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics.

It looks at an eMarketer assessment of why regular Twitter users, though relatively small in number (when you compare them to Internet users overall), make the platform I love – and many still love to hate – important:

A common answer to ‘why Twitter, it’s not a mass market tool?’, is ‘because the people who do use it matter.’ The influence over numbers argument.

That’s backed up by an ExactTarget study, reproduced in emarketer. US Twitter users in April 2010 were far more likely than general Internet users to post to forums (75% vs 25%), blog (72% vs 14%), comment on blogs (70% vs 23%) and post ratings / reviews (61% vs 20%).

The eMarketer article also says:

According to 360i, 75% of marketers’ tweets are informational, suggesting brands are responding to what consumers want—though they largely neglect to participate in conversations. Such deeper engagement might help them harness the power of frequent Twitter users across their other social activities as well.

This, it seems to me, is a lost opportunity for marketers or, for that matter, for any brand. Twitter is at its best when used as a conversational platform, rather than a means to push out information.

Because we tweeps? We like to talk.

And we’re not “twits,” thank you very much.

Nor are we twaddles or twerps, btw.

And then, what “happens on Twitter” really doesn’t stay on Twitter, but seeds several other platforms and networks ultimately supporting the company’s business objectives.

Unless, of course, what they’re saying (and/or doing) really sucks. In which case they need to relearn the whole conversation thing.

Virgin America is a company that gets this. So does Southwest. So do many others, but they’re still relatively few and far between.

So, dear marketers. Please start talking to, not at, us.

Because, doncha know, what happens on Twitter doesn’t stay on Twitter.

Image: John Roberts, Creative Commons

Bookmining on Twitter

Stuck for reading material?

Image: David Pritchard, Creative Commons

Just ask your social networks for their recommendations.

I had a $50 gift card to Barnes & Noble that was burning a hole in its sleeve.

I have a habit of using gift cards to get gifts for others, but this time I decided to treat myself.

W00t!

Look at some of the great recommendations I got (and am still getting)

on Twitter:

and on Facebook

I ended up buying:

Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond (I heard about it on NPR and have been wanting to read it),

Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh, who is one of the best Indo-Anglian writers EVER,

The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee-Divakaruni (ditto on the Indo-Anglian author thing, and because I think her take on the Mahabharata might possibly be better than that of Peter Brook’s), and

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard, which Leah Betty mentioned on Twitter while we were chatting:

And the $50 covered them all (including tax, free shipping).

Double W00t!

So now I have four great books coming my way, and a whole host of others to add to my “must read” list, especially when I need a new book fix.

Yes, I know I could use the library, but I’m one of those people who likes to keep the books they love.

They become some of my best friends, and there’s nothing like going into your home library and sitting down for a cuppa to get reacquainted with characters you haven’t seen in a while.

Just another way social media makes my life better.

So what if you’re not saving the world?

My social networks didn’t help me save the world today, or save a dog.

But they added immense value by opening up my world just a little bit more.

And it’s only by inhabiting an open, forward-looking world that we can progress, not one that shutters and bars the doors to change.

Thank you, SM; and thank you everyone who gave me such great suggestions.

I’m here because you are.

How Do You Say “Good Morning”?

One of the most important things you can do in social media is to say, “Good morning.”

Image: Mahesh Khanna, Creative Commons

It’s amazing who will respond, and what they’ll respond with.

Chuck Hester, for example, puts out a daily CHUCKle. Like this one from a few days ago:

Heh heh.

Today I saw Mike Schaffer saying, “Good morning, good morning to you,” which immediately reminded me of the song from “Singing in the Rain” (one of my all-time favorites).

Sorry about the closed captioning; it was the only embeddable version of the song I could find on YouTube. On the flip side, you’ll be able to sing along.

So I asked my tweeps which “good morning” songs they like the best, and got a range of answers. Here are just a few:

First, what a great way to expand my play list.

But more importantly, I find it a refreshing way to start my morning; by connecting with people I may not actually have met, but who are an important part of my extended circle online. And I get to know them just a little bit more by a simple interchange, after which we all go off to start our days (or, in some cases, nights).

These are people

Whom I might actually (I hope!) run into IRL one day… like I did Mary Barber.

Who might become business partners or clients … like Shashi Bellamkonda.

Who might become – and this one’s my favorite – good friends … like Mary, Shashi, Jill Foster and so many others.

And all of that from a simple “good morning” on Twitter.

So – how do you say “good morning”?

DMC10, Twitter and The Blue Ball

Earlier today I presented at the 2010 Digital Media Conference, put on by PotomacTechWire and DigitalMediaWire.

My panel focused on “Twitter and the Media,” and included luminaries such as Rohit Bhargava, Jodi Gersh, Kevin Dando and Chris McGill. If ever a panel made me feel smart…

It was a fun afternoon, for which I prepared by downing copious amounts of the delicious tomato/basil soup on hand. And I hope those who attended got something out of it too.

For me, it was great not just to meet/reconnect with my fellow panelists, but to see folks like Mike Smith, Liz Shea, Ashley Houghton and Stephanie Wonderlick.

We talked, as you might imagine, about various aspects of Twitter. And while I enjoyed all the comments, something Chris said particularly struck home:

Twitter is for everyone… even if all you do is use it to listen.

If you think about it, that’s really true. You can use it to gather intelligence, keep on top of your brand… and you don’t have to be an active user to do that.

Now, if you’re consider Twitter as a marketing tool, then yes, you have to really dive in and not just listen but engage, converse, yada yada yada.

And all that is stuff I say all the time.

But if you’re not ready to do all that, at the very least you can use it to listen.

I do think you should be smart about the social platforms you decide to use, and that’s what yesterday’s webinar/post was about.

If you don’t know what your goals are, you’re going to have a tough time figuring out how to reach them.

But if you’re just getting started… why not just listen for a while?

You might be surprised by what you hear.

The Blue Ball

After the panel was over, the beauteous Jodi (and she really is beauteous) gave me a personal tour of Gannett and USA Today‘s properties in NoVa. Here’s the famous “blue ball:”

Happy weekend!

Of Hard Drives, Hallelujah and Trust

Well, it’s finally done. My old hard drive is dead and I will shortly be giving it a funeral service. But, as they say, it’s an ill wind that blows no one any good.

Let me bring you up to speed.

As you may have followed, I had a bit of a meltdown last week, when my hard drive crashed. Having (stupidly) not backed up my data recently and being between laptops, I was ready to do anything – anything – to get my data back.

When the Geek Squad didn’t come up to snuff, I turned in desperation to Arthur Zilberman of LaptopMD, who was referred to me on Twitter by Janet Falk. Even though Arthur and I are not in the same physical location, I felt comfortable enough with him to ship my drive off to NYC, to see if he could retrieve what I needed.

I heard from him last night.

The bad news: my drive was in the 30-odd-percent of drives he receives that he can’t do anything for.

The good news: he works with a company in Canada that could probably – but no promises – retrieve my stuff.

The bad news: It would probably cost me $1k+ (factoring in customs, etc.).

The good news: This is less than what it would usually cost me, because of the connection we made through aforesaid Twitter.

(This is starting to sound like one of those bad news/good news jokes, isn’t it?).

Anyhoo, I told Arthur I’d think about it and get back to him today. Then I came home (I was teaching my summer class at Johns Hopkins when he called yesterday) and talked to my husband about it.

“What should I do?” I asked.

He sagely said, “If you can’t live without it, that’s a good price.”

Thanks, hun.

Having had a few days to calm down (and working on my beautiful shiny new MacBook Pro 15″, take that, Mr. PC), I realized that what I was freaking out most about was a particular document on the drive. Almost everything else could be retrieved since, at one point or another, I’d emailed it to someone… and all those emails are captured in my Gmail account.

And this morning, I found I had that document in my email.

Hallelujah!

(You gotta watch that video, btw, it’s hilarious.)

So I called Arthur this evening and told him I was going to pass. He was delighted for me, and I heaved a sigh of relief.

So, the good news: I’m (almost) back on track.

(I promise, there’s no bad news … at least, not now).

All this got me thinking, though.

I had such a bad experience with an organization that I have physically had dealings with, that I sent one of my most valuable possessions to someone I’ve never met, simply because he was referred to me by someone whom, again, I’ve never met, but whom I trust, because of her online reputation and dealings with me, limited as they have been.

In turn, I transferred that trust to Arthur, and his consistently reassuring and down-to-earth communication with me did nothing but bolster my trust in him.

And when I decided to go another way, he didn’t try to stop me; he was happy for me.

I’ve never met Arthur Zilberman. But I entrusted my digital life to him. And if ever I need someone to dig me out of a digital hole, Arthur will be the first person I call.

Can you say that for your company, brand, or PR agency?

In other words…

Got Trust?

Image: Tony Mann, Creative Commons

How To Lose A Girl With One Tweet

A few days ago, my pal Geoff Livingston tagged me in his meme, Ways to Increase Your Twitter Following Ethically.

When Geoff tags, you play (image: ClintJCL‘s Flickrstream, Creative Commons). But given the folks I was tagged with, such as Ike Pigott, John Haydon, Lauren Vargas, Allyson Kapin and Shashi Bellamkonda, all of whom I hold in high regard, I was left scratching my head as to how I could contribute without being repetitive.

Today, I had the perfect experience to set me off.

The last few days, I’ve been on the receiving end of tweets from complete strangers, demanding I follow them. How? By sending me an @ message saying, “FOLLOW ME!”

Er… why? Because you say so?

I got so irritated after receiving several of these in a row, I ranted on Twitter:

Apparently I struck a chord, as you can see from some of the responses I got:

@PerfectPitchPR told me this would be a great “rant” post, so, PPPR, this one’s especially for you.

Don’t be a carrier

To pick up where Geoff left off, there are ways to get people to follow you, just as there are ways to make people scatter wildly every time you approach as if you were the carrier of a deadly airborne virus that would cause havoc among the unlucky recipients’ gene pool.

And sending an @ to someone you’ve had no interaction with whatsoever saying, “FOLLOW ME!” is the online equivalent of punching your fist through someone’s window and narrowly missing their nose. Not to mention it’s mind-numbingly gauche.

Here are some other ways to turn people irrevocably off to you, on pretty much any social network as well as IRL:

Pick a fight on Twitter with someone you don’t know, and about something that’s really not important, in the hopes of “engaging” them. People hate rubberneckers.

Send them a Facebook friend request that says nothing about why you’d like to connect with them. So you were one year behind me in high school? So were a lot of people. That doesn’t mean I want to share my online space with you.

We didn’t hang out in high school; why would we start now?

Ditto re: LinkedIn.

Breathlessly retweet EVERYTHING someone says. That’s not flattering, it’s stalker-like.

Put them on an email list – because it’s easy to find their contact information – that relentlessly bombards them with badly-written press releases and email newsletters. What happened to the concept of asking permission?

Numbers are just numbers

We seem to shout ourselves hoarse saying this, but the number of followers, friends, or connections you have matter not a whit if you’ve bought them, bullied them into submission, or bamboozled them.

All they are, then, are numbers, that don’t mean anything, because you haven’t bothered to take the time to develop a connection. Sure, you’re not going to become best friends with everyone you connect with (and I don’t know why you’d want to).

But why not do all the things that sound so clichéd – engage, listen, contribute – to actually develop those connections into relationships?

It’s really easy to lose someone with one tweet. It’s really tough to bring them back.

Announcing #wgbiz Chats: Conversations By, For and Of Women in Business

Apparently some of our menfolk still don’t get this, but if there’s one thing we know -and love – about ourselves, it’s that we women like to talk.

(Image: Frits Ahlefeldt-Laurvig, Creative Commons)

We do a lot of that over at Women Grow Business, of which I’m editor, which is what makes it fun, don’t you think? Apart from useful, of course (and I hope you think it’s useful!).

Well, now we’re taking that to another level.

On April 12, we’re kicking off our very first Twitterchat for the #wgbiz community, which will take place on a monthly basis (the second Monday of every month).

Just as we do at WGB, we’ll chat about issues women entrepreneurs face, take questions on particular topics, and talk about anything and everything we need to grow as women entrepreneurs… and women.

I’m tickled, thrilled and triumphant that Tinu Abayomi-Paul (how’s that for alliteration?) will join us as our featured guest on April 12.

To put it mildly, Tinu’s a social media powerhouse.

Who better to talk about the benefits of inbound marketing someone who has the bona fides to show us how to generate leads and traffic from the WWW? The founder of Free Traffic Tips? I mean, why wouldn’t you ask Tinu?

As she’s been known to say, you “can’t knock her hustle.”

So please do join us on Monday, April 12, from 12-1 pm ET, to talk about all things related to inbound marketing. I’ll be moderating as @shonali, Tinu will be fielding questions as @tinu.

All you have to do to follow along or participate is jump on Twitter and watch (and/or use) the #wgbiz hashtag (that hashtag’s important, since it will allow us to capture all chat-related tweets in a post-chat transcript).

After all, there’s nothing we women like better than a good chat, is there?

Do spread the word among your cohorts, and I look forward to chatting in a week!

Cross-posted with minor edits from Women Grow Business.

The Terrible Twos: Keeping Up With #measurePR

When I started the bi-weekly #measurePR chat on Twitter last month, I had no idea how it would do.

Yes, I could tell there was a need for it (conversations in several chats I sat in on turned in the measurement direction), and yes, I’ve done a little work in the area – but even if you hope and plan till the cows come home, you never really know if they’ll deliver the milk, do you?

OK, that’s my terrible analogy for the day.

Taken off it has. From some terrific guests, to being adopted as “the” hashtag for conversations related to measurement, #measurePR is almost like an infant running towards toddlerhood – “terrible twos,” anyone? – before it realizes it can’t actually run (image: Tomás Fano, Creative Commons), it’s still crawling.

Part of this running/crawling thing means that I’m left with so many thoughts swirling around in my head at the end of each chat – or when I listen in on related conversations outside of our regular chat window – that I’ve done a terrible job of capturing them. So I need to do better there.

But it also means that you can find a wealth of PR measurement-related resources, thinkers, and sharers, indexed by the hashtag.

I’m going to recap some of our past chats in greater detail (promise!), but in the meantime, here are downloadable transcripts for the previous chats to date:

• The first #measurePR Twitterchat on Feb. 2 featured Katie Paine (of which I managed to do a recap, which you can read here) who, I’m sure you know, is @kdpaine on Twitter;
• The second #measurePR chat featured research and measurement powerhouse Sean Williams, who tweets as @commAMMO;
• Richard Bagnall and Kristin Wadge were a “twofer” in the third #measurePR chat; can I just say how lucky the folks at Metrica are to work with them? They’re @richardbagnall and @kristinwadge on Twitter, by the way; and
• #measurePR #4 was the “community chat,” where the community led – and answered – the questions.

Today we have a terrific guest who’s taking time out of what I know is a very busy day to chat with all of us, Kami Watson Huyse (@kamichat) of Zoetica Media. Kami’s bio and credentials are so prolific I wouldn’t be able to do them justice here, but suffice it to say she rocks PR, social media, measurement and pretty much everything in that area.

Please join us from 12-1 pm ET on Twitter today (remember, the chat is bi-weekly, not weekly); use #measurePR with Tweetgrid, Tweetchat or your search method of choice to listen or participate in the conversation. See you there!

3 Questions to Ask – and Answer – When Launching a Twitter Chat

As founder of the #measurePR Twitter chat, I was invited to, and participated in, #chatmixer last night (party image, David Domingo, Creative Commons).

The idea was to bring together folks who routinely participate in specific chats, in an online/Twitter “mixer,” in an effort to widen their Twitter circles (would that be Twircles?) – hence the choice of #chatmixer as a hashtag. Truth be told, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, though Justin Goldsborough, Heather Whaling and Valerie Simon were meticulous in their planning.

Turns out, I enjoyed myself thoroughly. It had a great party feel to it, and the last time I can remember the feeling of Twitter being such a party solely due to an effort like this (i.e. not related to an offline event) was the “kindness party” last year. I don’t even remember who organized that, except that Kim Wells brought it to my attention, and I had a whale of a time.

A chat is born

Anyhoo… during the course of #chatmixer, a new chat was born: #cookchat. (I cannot wait for that one.) And a few different people mentioned they were interested in starting chats as well.

This can be a very smart thing to do, especially from a marketing point of view.

But as with all bright ideas, you should play devil’s advocate and batter the heck out of your bright idea before you launch it. Better you find the holes in it & mend them before anyone else does, right?

First, read these excellent posts on participating in (by Jeff Hurt) and running (by David Spinks) a Twitterchat.

Now, just as when designing a PR strategy, here are three questions to ask – and answer – when launching a Twitter chat.

1. What gap will this chat help to fill?

If you look at What the Hashtag?! (now part of What the Trend™), you’ll see it’s currently tracking 9,900 hashtags. While not all of those are chats, that gives you a sense of just how many hashtags are out there.

Image: skipnclick‘s Flickrstream, Creative Commons

The primary reasons people participate in chats are, first, to learn something and second, to extend their networks. So if your chat is to be successful, it must fulfill these two desires.

If you look at this handy-dandy spreadsheet that Robert Swanwick created to track regular chats on Twitter, you’ll see a few chats that are fairly similar, as well as those that are quite unique.

There’s certainly nothing wrong in several people having the same conversation, albeit with different hashtags – it happens all the time. But if you want to give your chat a shot at succeeding (more on what this means in a bit), try to make it unique.

This is what Sarah Evans did with #journchat, what Kellye Crane did with #soloPR and, I’d like to think, what I’m doing with #measurePR.

What do the people you want to reach want to talk about? If you can answer that question – particularly with an answer that no one else has come up with yet – you’re off to a good start.

2. What will make this chat attract its target audience?

The quality of a chat – which is what will determine the perception of the chat and hence its profile – is dependent on who participates. You can design a great chat, but if you don’t have engaged, thoughtful and thought-provoking participants, it might end up being a one-hit wonder.

How do you bring the right people to the table?

Figure out what time of day and how often you’re going to hold the chat (this is particularly important if yours is not the only chat of its kind around)… and sustain it. Don’t set yourself up for failure; if your other commitments preclude a weekly chat, make it bi-weekly (or monthly, if you dare).

Whatever you decide, be consistent, since that is what will build your audience and community.

What you’re essentially asking people to do, as you build your chat community, is give up something else – work, family time, a movie, pizza – to devote their attention to your chat. Over and over and over again.

So make it easy and desirable for them to attend – that will go a long way in making it worth their while.

3. How will this chat become recognizable and identifiable?

Let’s face it, we in the social media sphere have the attention span of gnats. And I say that with no disrespect to gnats (image, Kaptain Kobold‘s Flickrstream, Creative Commons).

Like anything else in the branding space, repetition rules. So once you’ve figured out the name and aim of your chat, brand it well.

I’d go so far as to say, message the heck out of it.

Choose a smart, easy-to-remember hashtag that’s as short as possible; you want to make the most of those 140 characters of Twitter-estate. Register it on WTHashtag and add it to your bio.

Brand your chat frequently, but consistently. Because if you don’t, someone else might, and that will leave you considerably unhappy.

Which brings me to success – what does a successful Twitter chat look like?

It could be the dominant player in its niche with thousands of participants; it could be an extremely engaged conversation that leads to genuine discovery for a small but passionate group.

It could be the place where thought leaders in your field congregate; it could be people pitching you to be “on your show”; or it could be the generic use of your hashtag in conversations with a related theme.

Whatever the measure of success, you’re going to have to define it based on why you set out to build it… and if you really want to be successful, define this at the outset. I haven’t yet come across a Twitter chat that’s being sustained purely for fun, even if it was launched impulsively; if it builds, there’s a great deal of time and effort being put into it.

So figure out what you want to do with the chat, as well as what you want the chat to do for you (and it’s ok to want the chat to do something for you, that’s what business is about).

When you begin at the end, there’s a much greater likelihood you’ll get there.

What do you think, am I off the mark or on the money? If you’ve implemented successful tactics in launching and maintaining Twitter chats, please share them in the comments section below. All 9,900 hashtags (and growing) and I will thank you.

Who’s Guilty of Tweet-itis?

Even for someone with a thin skin when it comes to micro-blogging and Twitter in particular, I thought this was laugh-out-loud hilarious.

Image: Mark Smiciklas, Creative Commons

Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall

With IABC/Washington’s first chapter meeting of 2010 coming up next week, I thought it would be interesting to see what our moderator, Daria Steigman, had to say of the communication changes over the past decade (h/t Geoff Livingston for giving me the idea from the final BlogPotomac). That’s what our meeting’s focusing on, or “looking back, looking ahead,” as its title goes.

I know Daria will have a lot more to say come next Thursday, but in the meantime, here’s a peek into her grey matter to get you thinking. And I hope we’ll see you next week – it’s not often that Shashi Bellamkonda (Network Solutions), Torod Neptune (Waggener Edstrom), John Taylor (Sprint Nextel) and Paul Sherman (Tech Wire Publications) gather under the same roof. Early bird registration ends Jan. 12, so hurry, hurry, hurry!

What, in your opinion, is the most dramatic change we’ve seen in the communication landscape since 2001?

I tend to think that Web 1.0 and the democratization of access to information changed the landscape in the 1990s. That said, the arrival of Web 2.0, and the ability for everyone (or anyone) to be a content creator, publisher, and sharer of information transformed the communications landscape in the first decade of the 21^st century. If you think about some of the key developments and the tools we take for granted, they weren’t around when the century started. If you did a timeline of some of the key platforms, you have 2003 (WordPress, MySpace, LinkedIn); 2004 (FaceBook, Flickr), 2005 (YouTube), 2006 (Twitter).

How has this impacted you as a communications practitioner?

It’s clearly had an impact on how we do our jobs, but it has had less impact for me on how I approach it. Perhaps because I came out of the public affairs arena, I’ve always thought about audiences in buckets. By this I mean that no organization has One Audience—but instead multiple stakeholders. And while you need message consistency across your audiences, you need different language and different approaches to reach different people.

While I’ve always thought of this as “duh,” I’ve been surprised in recent years that so much of the social media conversation has been around this very topic.

From a day-to-day perspective, the biggest changes may be the speed of information and the volume of business intelligence that we need to track. It’s also the enormity of the task.

It’s not like blog posts and videos are replacing old-school marketing, because not everyone’s using social tools or using them the same way. So our jobs are just getting bigger.

At the same time, I’ve been really pleased to see the conversation move away from siloed work stations (i.e., public affairs, public relations, media relations, marketing, customer service, and so forth) to how these must be integrated for an organization to be successful.

As a business owner, I have to add one more transformative element: the democratization of access to people. These same tools that allow us to share our stories also enable us to identify and engage with people across the globe.

Is there anything you miss about “the old days”?

Not really, because I think that this shift to a more level playing field vis-à-vis access and information is a social good. And while some rail that we’re all spending our time online, I actually believe that this technology is making us less isolated.

Our communities may no longer be bounded by geography, but they’re just as strong.

What’s next?

Data, data, data. Data-driven research has always been critical, but we’re just starting to harness the enormous amount of information that is all around us. Two other big trends are mobile (of course) and real time. Real time is going to be increasingly important, both in the data context and also for reputation management.

Daria Steigman, founder of Steigman Communications, has been helping companies and other organizations tell their story for over 20 years. She’s also the author of a bimonthly column and a blog that both focus on the business of running a business, entrepreneurship, communications, social media, strategic thinking, and Independent Thinking.

Mirror Image: Carol Green

You Can Call Yourself a Social Media Guru If…

I couldn’t help but giggle when I read B. L. Ochman’s recent post on self-proclaimed social media experts, gurus, ninjas, etc. on Twitter “multiplying like rabbits.” Based on her search of Twitter bios, they went from 4.4k to almost 16k in seven months.

Wow. Rabbits indeed!

And then I saw this cartoon from HubSpot today.

At the same time, I couldn’t help but recall Lisa Hoffmann‘s post from earlier this year, when she posited that “if social media experts aren’t experts only the charlatans will be ‘experts.’” It sparked a great conversation on her blog, which you should read, if you haven’t as yet.

I do believe, however, that while expertise is earned, the title of expert is bestowed.

You Can Call Yourself a Social Media Guru If…

So, as far as I’m concerned, here are the top 10 things you’ll need to be able to do before calling yourself a social media guru. Counting down, now…

10. Make the sun rise in the West.

9. Along those lines, how about making the earth orbit the moon (thanks, Chip Griffin, for this one).

8. Speak Sanskrit backwards and forwards at the same time. (You’re calling yourself a guru, after all, gotta show some respek to the land from whence that term comes.)

7. Prove global warming.

6. Disprove global warming.

5. Leap tall buildings in a single bound.

4. Levitate on demand. Mine.

3. Get Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston back together again.

2. Make the Cubs win the World Series (direct your tomatoes to Colby Gergen for this gem, please).

And at #1 is:

1. Bring Elvis back from the dead. And no, the TCB concerts don’t count.

And When You Do…

… Please let me know so that I can sign up to worship at your altar?

Top image: Adrian Miles

Lessons Learned From the Obama Campaign

Now that I’ve been back in D.C. for a few weeks after the PRSA 2009 International Conference, I finally find myself sitting down to reflect on a couple of the sessions I attended. This is mostly because I wanted to be able to do so thoughtfully, and not rush through my posts.

The first of these was “President Obama and the Citizens’ Campaign: Lessons Learned,” which was conducted by Mike Smith of Mike Smith Public Affairs. Leave it to a PRSA conference all the way across the country to be the place where Mike and I finally met “in real life (IRL),” even though we both live and work in the D.C. area. Ain’t that somethin’? (By way of disclosure, you should know that Mike’s firm was a sponsor of #shonalitweetup, which was a ton of fun that weekend.)

Since Mike graciously agreed to have his presentation, President Obama and the Citizen’s Campaign, reproduced here, I won’t bore you with a blow-by-blow description. I will tell you that his presentation was standing room only, at least until the latter half of his session. When it came time for the workshop part of his program, he broke us up into four groups to discuss an assigned topic, and report back to the entire room. There was a beeline for the door when he announced this; I kid you not. C’mon, PR peeps, where’s your sense of adventure?!

What was Interesting? Well. . .

• It was interesting learning about Mike’s experience as a citizen journalist during the Obama campaign. There were some great examples about building communities and letting them run (which is a concept that, in my opinion, nonprofits know how to do particularly well).
• Actresses, no matter how well trained they are on messaging, can sometimes let blatant honesty shine through. Mike gave the example of an interview he conducted with Anne Hathaway where she admitted she doesn’t know anything about Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
• One of the most interesting parts of the program was when we were put in breakout groups (I’ll get to that later).

What Public Relations Practitioners Should Take Away:

• It’s about you… but it’s not about you. Focus on brand champions — the bloggers/influencers with the biggest networks that can make an immense difference to your campaigns. Leverage how you network and you can create a movement.
• Understand the media cycle (yes, “MSM” is still important), and realize that when you want to reach a local audience, local news crews and pools — the media locals are consuming — are always going to get preference.
• The old model of messaging was “top down.” Not anymore. Now, to be successful, you have to engage your community.

Breakout Groups:
As I mentioned earlier, Mike divided us into four groups. Each group went into a huddle to discuss a topic, and then reported back to the larger group. In a nutshell, these topics were:

• How do you turn your agency around so that it’s more nimble? Your agency can be nimble at any size as long as you’re bringing all aspects from the company to the table and everyone is represented. Doing this will break down silos, which will make you and your agency more nimble and efficient.
• If you’re doing an interview for CNN, who are you? Remember that it’s not just about you, so find local news hooks and media angles.
• How do you respond to attacks (or public relations Jiu Jitsu)? There’s real potential to use social media in crisis situations. Start with an audit across your different audiences; because once you understand how they use social media, you can make a case to use it. Learn from others’ case studies, and build your “battle plan.” Remember to incorporate social media tactics into your overall crisis plan.
• To tweet or not to tweet? (This was the group I was a part of.) There was much discussion on if and/or when to use “surrogates. While I didn’t necessarily agree with some of the others on “using surrogates when necessary,” I do agree that you need to have transparency at all times. Don’t think that you need to have your CEO tweet if she or he isn’t comfortable with it; as long as there is representation from your organization and it’s transparent, that’s fine.

I think the key point Mike tried to drive home was this: we live in a world that’s changing very rapidly, and the 2008 election showed how the adoption and smart use of new technologies energized a completely new audience. Those of us who are still resisting the adoption of these technologies might find ourselves on par with the dinosaurs. On the other hand, much of what Obama’s campaign did was grounded in Saul Alinsky’s principles of community organizing and the populist movement. So perhaps it would be wise to revisit our history books once in a while.

Marry history with new communication tools, and while you might not be the next president of the United States, you’ll probably pull off a darned good PR campaign.

This post, with extremely minor edits (only in the first sentence), was cross-posted on the PRSA ComPRehension blog. Thank you, PRSA, for being so welcoming to me both as a speaker and blogger in San Diego last year. You rock.

Image: pierrelord

Sometimes Silence *Is* Golden

I just came across this story about a new groom tweeting and updating his Facebook status from the altar (h/t Marc Girolimetti).

Apparently the groom also felt the urge to tweet about his bride’s undergarments. And, it would seem, is slightly perturbed that the story was picked up by Mashable.

Um. Ya think?!

I guess we’ll have to wait and see whether Mr. Hanna gets a sudden surge in Twitter followers, which wouldn’t surprise me at all.

To each his (or her) own, for sure, and I sincerely hope it’s all sunshine and roses for the couple from here on out. But sometimes silence really is golden.

Image: nirbhao

Thank You, Muppets… And You

I had grand plans of writing a Thanksgiving-related post. But then stuff happened, and the post won’t.

So when I saw this floating around on Twitter yesterday (h/t Jennifer McLellan), I knew it was the perfect way for me to say “thank you” to everyone who’s a part of my life; online and offline.. you know who you are. I hope this lifts your hearts as much as it did mine.

Thank you for sharing my life. You keep me going.

Tweetupin’ a Storm in San Diego

Disclosure: no one’s asked me to write this post, and I’m sure not getting paid for it, but I do thank sponsors of a certain event coming up. Now that you know all that… read on.

I don’t know what’s gotten into everyone lately, it’s tweetup this, tweetup that… oh wait, it’s that whole thing about moving your online relationships offline. My bad.

So in a few days, when I head to San Diego for PRSA 2009, I have not one, not two, but four tweetups to try to attend… and three of them are on the same day. Wow. We PR people sure like to party.

The one I’m doing a shameless plug for, though, is #shonalitweetup. Yup, you read that right. Before you start throwing rotten eggs at me, I didn’t come up with the name (I’m not that egotistical… I don’t think…). Here’s how it happened:

When I knew I was going to be in San Diego for PRSA09, I wanted to make sure I’d be able to meet up with some of my friends. A certain Jen Wilbur (who appropriately uses @rockstarjen as her Twitter handle) took on the unappetizing task of organizing it and next thing I know – she christened it with my name.

Whoa! And – wow!

So the long and the short of it is that from being a small get-together for a few people, we now have a possible 33 folks converging on Bar Basic from 5 – 7 pm on Saturday, November 11, to guzzle, greet and grin together.

I’m really looking forward to catching up with @Natalie_Joy, @DowntownRob, @richandcreamy, @JenMitch, @vargasl and so many more, and meeting @EricLeist, @nicklucido, @tressalynne and many others for the first time.

I’m also psyched that PRNewsire, Mike Smith Public Affairs and dna13 have seen fit to sponsor this tweetup. I know I speak on behalf of the entire PR community (or at least the tweetup attendees) when I say, “Your generosity shall not go unnoticed… or unburped.”

If you’re attending the tweetup, get there early if you want to enjoy the hosted drinks and pizza before they run out. I’m told there’s seating for 12 (hey, we didn’t think this would get so big!), and after that it’s Squishing and/or SRO. Don’t say I didn’t warn you! Ditto if you’re a late RSVPer.

And please say “thank you” to our sponsors by leaving a comment below and/or giving them a shout out on Twitter (don’t forget to include the hashtag #shonalitweetup). Where would we be without them?

See you in San Diego! And I found this great photo of fireworks in Serithian’s Flickrstream.

Dilbert Talks Twitter

Hattip to Mark Sofman for pointing me to this.

DC, #GrowSmartBiz Is Here

Update: This is a recap of my live-tweeting from the GrowSmartBusiness conference held today in DC. I did try to give everyone a heads up that I would be doing this, but if you didn’t get that (because I know you have better things to do than hang on every word I say), I apologize in advance for clogging your Twitterstream.

As far as the conference goes: in one word – WOW, what a day. But more on that later. I used the Twitter LiveBlog plugin for WordPress to populate this blog, which essentially means that all my tweets (which were duly hashtagged with #growsmartbiz) during the conference automatically provided content for this post. Hattip to Neville Hobson, from whom I learned about this.

8:42:09 AM: Roy Dunbar (Network Solutions) is welcoming everyone at #growsmartbiz. He’s got a cool accent.

8:45:04 AM: Roy’s presenting very interesting findings from SBSI (Small Business Success Index) at #growsmartbiz, find ‘em at http://www.growsmartbusiness.com

8:47:53 AM: Financial mistakes small biz are making: cutting prices, valuable employees & hurting company morale #growsmartbiz

8:50:58 AM: Learning: “If you have to cut expenses, cut early, deep, get over it and move on.” #growsmartbiz

8:51:36 AM: 51% of highly competitive businesses are businesses with multiple owners. #growsmartbiz

8:52:54 AM: Roy’s giving props to chambers of commerce for the networking & relationships they facilitate #growsmartbiz

8:54:09 AM: “Goals should be carved in stone, and plans written in the sand.” #growsmartbiz. LOVE it!

8:55:01 AM: Highly competitive businesses differentiate themselves (from their peers) by mastering 6 or more Internet tools #growsmartbiz

8:58:26 AM: Tools like co. email, co. site, online adv. in industry directories => leads, productivity, customers & mgmt of customers #growsmartbiz.

8:59:20 AM: RT @shashib: #GrowSmartBiz Live cast by @livestreamCOM at http://livestream.com/networksolutions Pls RT

8:58:26 AM: Tools like co. email, co. site, online adv. in industry directories => leads, productivity, customers & mgmt of customers #growsmartbiz.

8:59:20 AM: RT @shashib: #GrowSmartBiz Live cast by @livestreamCOM at http://livestream.com/networksolutions Pls RT

9:00:52 AM: Almost 60% of Internet users make a purchase online as a result of a local business online search #growsmartbiz

9:03:00 AM: Common barriers to setting up a site: don’t know where to start, fear of cost & time, lack of technical knowledge #growsmartbiz

9:04:12 AM: One of the tools Reston Limo’s using successfully: wireless access in limos = employees are productive, so are customers #growsmartbiz

9:07:00 AM: I think Roy Dunbar could sell ice to an Eskimo. I’m sold. #growsmartbiz

9:10:46 AM: Love love LOVE that all the presentations are on the jump drives handed out w/badges at #growsmartbiz.

9:11:46 AM: And… Chris Anderson is up! #growsmartbiz

9:13:51 AM: “This is the golden age of small business,” says @chr1sa at #growsmartbiz.

9:18:38 AM: Most of our life, we live partly in the head and partly in the tail says @chr1sa. #growsmartbiz

9:20:31 AM: “The smallest sellers can have the most influence, because they can be most targeted & distinct” – @chr1sa at #growsmartbiz

9:23:24 AM: The Internet allows you to participate in a global dialog, find who’s just right for your business. #growsmartbiz

9:27:41 AM: Most companies don’t address the long tail. #growsmartbiz That’s the most interesting space.

9:42:09 AM: Not quite sure what’s going on with wi-fi at #growsmartbiz, I was kicked off.

9:47:48 AM: Chris has been talking about the “power of free.” #growsmartbiz

9:49:00 AM: “Freemium” allows you to sample the product, find its utility & understand the value proposition precisely. #growsmartbiz

9:49:52 AM: Customers whom “freemium” convert are more loyal; this is the alternative to traditional advertising. #growsmartbiz

9:59:48 AM: “Free” and “paid” work very well together, they don’t go head to head. Just requires smart thinking. #growsmartbiz

10:02:40 AM: Personal offerings are turning into software (e.g. Legal services, accounting). @chr1sa says next will be healthcare, LOL. #growsmartbiz

10:04:08 AM: Roy’s introducing Sen. Warner now. #growsmartbiz

10:07:50 AM: Love the way Sen. Warner says as a “new” senator, was “hired” last Nov. #growsmartbiz

10:18:56 AM: After much grappling with my laptop, I *think* I at least have TweetDeck access again. @rickdassler is very patient. #growsmartbiz

10:21:41 AM: Sen. Warner: Small businesses are the only people who pay retail. #growsmartbiz

10:28:54 AM: It “blows his mind” that IT has revolutionized almost every industry except healthcare, says Sen. Warner at #growsmartbiz

10:32:09 AM: RT @gwickes @DaniloB: Live feed of Mark Warner speaking at #GrowSmartBiz conference http://bit.ly/L75um #fb

10:37:33 AM: Disappointed in Sen. Warner’s address. Glad he commits to us as a “bipartisan radicalist,” but not much use for #growsmartbiz.

10:59:13 AM: I’m headed to the #growsmartbiz learning center now. Laptop, stay on table.

11:52:54 AM: Sneaked back into the #growsmartbiz room for a bit. Marissa Levin’s talking about the importance of face-to-face connection.

12:06:00 PM: RT @rickdassler: John Arnold says #growsmartbiz communication needs to be 80% educational value and 20% promotional.

12:08:16 PM: Pick up the phone & call 2 customers/clients a week JUST to check in, says @londonink. Don’t sell anything. #growsmartbiz

12:09:30 PM: “Leveraging customer relationships” is calling, says @londonink. #growsmartbiz

12:16:30 PM: Q: is it ok to put together an email list of people you meet at a conference like #growsmartbiz using something like Constant Contact?

12:17:37 PM: Both John Arnold & @londonink are basically saying it’s ok to begin with but to get permission…. did I get that right? #growsmartbiz

12:19:13 PM: I personally would hate to be added to a “formal” list by someone I meet for the 1st time at a conference. Get to know me 1st. #growsmartbiz

12:23:26 PM: Randy Windsor from Network Solutions up now, on SEO. #growsmartbiz

12:24:09 PM: RT @JayFleischman @cc_chapman @gloriabell ABE: Always be eavesdropping. Make yourself a student of what is going on around you #growsmartbiz

12:24:41 PM: Top 10 SEO tips. #10: use keywords in your internal page URLs if possible. #growsmartbiz

12:25:39 PM: #9: Use a descriptive domain name. #growsmartbiz

12:26:22 PM: #8: use a logical & simple navigation structure. #growsmartbiz

12:27:54 PM: #7: Create theme-based pages. #growsmartbiz

12:28:11 PM: #6: use tags & meta tags properly. #growsmartbiz

12:29:56 PM: #5: Use keyword rich anchor text for all links. #growsmartbiz

12:30:51 PM: #4: Target effective keywords; understand how your potential customers search & what words they use. #growsmartbiz

12:31:06 PM: #3: Create good original content, don’t copy. #growsmartbiz

12:32:37 PM: #2: Linking, linking, linking! 7 / 10 factors impacting natural search rankings have to do with links. #growsmartbiz

12:33:37 PM: #1: Know what you’re up against. Don’t think about beating the engines, beat your competitors. Use competitive analysis. #growsmartbiz

12:35:07 PM: Randy Windsor was very good. Kept it sweet and short. Nice job. #growsmartbiz

12:44:44 PM: Jeremy Brown of Rapid Advance says a bank loan is your best option, so if you can get that, go for it. #growsmartbiz

12:47:25 PM: Edward Tuvin (Capital Bank): have a clean application (don’t use 1 bank’s form with another) including a business plan. #growsmartbiz

12:47:50 PM: Tuvin says his pet peeve is that people don’t know what they’re asking for. You have to understand the talk of the lender. #growsmartbiz

12:50:13 PM: Good question from @restonlimo: Does every business need a business plan? Tuvin says no, but it’s a good exercise to do. #growsmartbiz

12:55:08 PM: Denise O’Berry says to do a cash flow budget where you’re looking ahead 6 – 12 months. Also, have a cash target every month. #growsmartbiz

12:55:48 PM: “Do a cash flow budget and actively participate in it.” #growsmartbiz (I like that).

12:57:23 PM: You are not a bank, and you need to do whatever you can so that you collect your receivables in a shorter timeframe. #growsmartbiz

12:57:47 PM: I love that. “You are not a bank.” Nice one, Denise O’Berry! #growsmartbiz

1:07:31 PM: RT @LDpodcast: Small business development counselors; womens business centers- all great small business resources #growsmartbiz

1:08:51 PM: Y’know, the thumb drive itself will be worth the price of admission at #growsmartbiz.

1:36:48 PM: Getting to know @CoachLynneB over lunch at #growsmartbiz.

2:16:19 PM: Great catching up with @debbieweil @geoffliving @angellino @digitalsista @dariasteigman at #growsmartbiz!

2:19:12 PM: After lunch, Rieva Lesonsky is up. Says most entrepreneurs are really uncomfortable with that term. #growsmartbiz

2:23:39 PM: Brands aren’t that important any more to consumers, they’re looking for value. #growsmartbiz Look at what other people are doing, add value.

2:28:32 PM: RT @LDpodcast: Do an ROI on potential clients, make sure you’re taking on work wisely, be willing to say no. Reiva Lesonsky #growsmartbiz

2:33:05 PM: Next up: Branding 101 by Anthony Pappas. #growsmartbiz

2:36:28 PM: Branding 101: Not about logo. About making an impression (emotional connection creates value). #growsmartbiz

2:39:54 PM: Make sure you understand what makes you different, says @anthonypappas #growsmartbiz.

2:42:05 PM: A customer needs to identify with the brand. A brand needs to identify with an audience (@anthonypappas) #growsmartbiz

2:45:55 PM: One of the main goals of a brand should be to influence “the decision” (@anthonypappas) #growsmartbiz.

2:47:11 PM: LOL! RT @chrisabraham: Can I hear a “shameless plug” from Anthony Pappas @AnthonyPappas @PappasGroup #growsmartbiz

2:48:30 PM: Tangible v. intangible: you want your brand to be more valuable than the sum of its parts (@anthonypappas). #growsmartbiz

2:49:57 PM: With @rajmalikdc & @newpr a short while ago. Food at #growsmartbiz is GREAT. http://tr.im/A86J

2:50:45 PM: RT @debbieweil: @growsmartbiz blog write-up of @chr1sa’s keynote for #growsmartbiz conference in DC today http://bit.ly/280V4P

2:53:37 PM: Measure, measure, measure, measure, measure, says @anthonypappas, see how you’re doing & constantly change. #growsmartbiz

2:55:38 PM: I have to run back to the #growsmartbiz learning center for a bit. Gotta make sure I catch @alexorfinger’s presentation.

3:42:45 PM: Back at the #growsmartbiz conference room. They’re going through findings from the SBSI, I think, is that right?

3:43:24 PM: Key strengths of small businesses; customer service, compliance (w/laws & regulations, etc.). #growsmartbiz

3:48:51 PM: Now: effective use of the Washington Business Journal from @alexorfinger. #growsmartbiz

3:50:52 PM: “Always Be Eavesdropping” for us, says @AlexOrfinger.

3:51:50 PM: Go to WBJ’s site: find out information on competitors, go on client visits w/information, says @alexorfinger. WBJ has most local biz info.

3:52:16 PM: Go to WBJ’s site: find out information on competitors, go on client visits w/information. WBJ has most local biz info. #growsmartbiz

3:53:04 PM: 5-5-5 process: Try to find 5 leads in each section of the WBJ #growsmartbiz.

3:55:02 PM: Just to clarify, news, people moves & lists are the sections @alexorfinger’s talking about re: 5-5-5. #growsmartbiz

4:11:54 PM: Steve Fisher’s 10 Rules for Killer Business Cards. #growsmartbiz #1: Tell me what you do. Quickly.

4:13:41 PM: Rule #2: Include the ways you want to be contacted. #3: Don’t use your personal email address. #growsmartbiz

4:14:56 PM: #4: You can be cool, but be relevant to your audience. #growsmartbiz Loving the post-divorce counselor card example, LOL.

4:16:02 PM: #5: Biz cards make great promos, BUT promos don’t make great biz cards. #growsmartbiz

4:19:50 PM: #6: Make your business cards scannable. #growsmartbiz. #7: have an area on which you can write a note.

4:20:16 PM: OK, #growsmartbiz attendees, how mnay of you are surreptitiously examining your business cards RIGHT NOW?

4:21:13 PM: #9: Use a professional printer. Your laserjet does NOT count. LOL! #growsmartbiz

4:22:24 PM: Rule #10: Give out 2 cards (they might be able to pass one along, but tell ‘em why so that they don’t think you’re a loony). #growsmartbiz

4:23:24 PM: #11 (bonus rule): Don’t include your cell #. If you write it on from time to time, it’s a way of personalizing it. #growsmartbiz

4:24:05 PM: RT @bjw72: Streaming live – The #GrowSmartBiz conference by Network Solutions. http://www.livestream.com/networksolutions

4:25:32 PM: Last panel getting ready to take its place at #growsmartbiz. Yea @jillfoster!

4:30:04 PM: According to @jillfoster, social media is “content published online by technology with the intent to provide value.” #growsmartbiz

4:40:12 PM: Great job organizing #growsmartbiz; would have helped to have speakers’ Twitter handles on tentcards/conf site so that they were handy.

4:50:36 PM: Uh, with all due respect, @jmpineda, $2.5K is not a lot to pay for “PR.” Ask anyone seasoned pro who’s been around agencies. #growsmartbiz

4:55:18 PM: Btw, folks on the last panel at #growsmartbiz: @jmpineda @brentleary @creativeblogs @danilob, moderator @jillfoster.

4:57:51 PM: Tips for newbies on Twitter (per audience qn) from @DaniloB: If you don’t know something, just ask. Don’t let it turn you off. #growsmartbiz

5:11:57 PM: We’re being bad in the bloggers corner at #growsmartbiz. Tellin’ ya, you want to be a fly on the wall near us.

5:13:40 PM: Last panel at #growsmartbiz did SM101 well. Not sure it addressed integrating traditional w/SM. @jillfoster’s a terrific moderator, tho’.

5:15:07 PM: Roy Dunbar’s wrapping up here at #growsmartbiz. It’s been a long day but a really great one. @shashib @geoffliving please pass kudos to all.

If you followed my tweets, were they interesting or irritating? Is this blog post helpful or not? Whatever your reaction, do let me know by leaving a comment below.

Job Hunting? Give JobShouts a Holler

I came across JobShouts the way I seem to come across many new things these days: on Twitter. I’m not looking for a job (hey, my boss is very good to me), but I know many people who are, and for them, it’s definitely worth investigating.

According to its website, JobShouts is “no longer just a job board in the traditional sense,” but “a job search engine integrated with social media, helping to create connections and deliver better matching results for both employers and job seekers.”

Basically, you can search for jobs – and receive real-time postings – across multiple social networks with one click, which is a huge bonus for job seekers. Recently, it introduced a similar feature for those looking for candidates called Talent Search.

I thought this was a very smart use of social media, particularly Twitter, so I sat down virtually with Robin Eads, the co-founder, and asked her to tell me more about it.

Who’s behind JobShouts?

Robin Eads & Michael Quale. (AKA @imjustagoyle & @tall_geek). Michael has 20+ years working in technology, with a strong focus on technology integration. I have more than 15 years of experience in IT/telecom staffing, business development, resume writing and career coaching.

What inspired you to do this?

As a user of job boards all through my staffing career, I knew that every year job boards got more expensive; and every year they delivered less quality and more restrictions. I was so fed up with job board results that I quit using them and resorted to using only my strong Boolean skills.

Late in 2008, after my second layoff that year, I decided to start my own recruiting and career consulting company. Demand wasn’t nearly as high for recruiting due to economic conditions and I found myself providing a lot of pro bono assistance to job seekers, mainly via Twitter. I felt Twitter was a great tool for interacting and receiving real time information.

That’s when the idea was born. Michael and I were discussing the need for a better job board; one that provided fresh information about real jobs, in real time.  We discussed that the “pay to post” job boards would have to evolve with demand, which was rapidly moving away from that model. Michael came up with the name JobShouts when we talked about integrating with Twitter and it stuck.

We decided Twitter would be our first platform, since it was fastest way to receive information about jobs being posted. We liked that we could “tap in” to the API as a means to providing information more quickly. So JobShouts.com was born in January of 2009.

What can job seekers to do to optimize being found via JobShouts?

They can create a free (and private) user profile, that will allow them to receive notification via Direct Message on Twitter whenever a job is posted that matches their profile.

We’re working on a solution that will also allow them to choose how they receive that message (email, Facebook message, etc). For now, all job seekers that sign up for a profile must also have a Twitter account. However, they can set their Twitter DM settings to forward to their e-mail or phone so that they don’t have to monitor Twitter actively.

What PR and marketing efforts are you putting into JobShouts?

All PR and Marketing is home-grown, trial by fire. During my career I’ve had plenty of marketing experience including business development. The PR is all new and self taught, with the help of some great friends on Twitter. We’ve experienced a tremendous amount of support from some key industry people; namely Alison Doyle, Job Searching Guide from JobSearch.About.com. Her help and exposure landed us in the L.A. Times only 2 weeks after our launch!

Eight months later, we’ve been featured in the Baltimore Sun, New York Times, Tampa Tribune and on FOX-TV across the country. Most of this effort has been largely due to my own learning and relationship building. I write all of our press releases as well as our blog. I create and maintain relationships with people in PR, HR, Recruiting, News Media, etc and I pay attention and learn from them.

Our marketing plan is being refined as we currently take on the task of writing a formal business plan. JobShouts.com needs capital to continue to grow and pursue more innovation, so our business plan is crucial in developing investor interest.

How are you planning to measure success?

I think success has multiple levels. Personally, I consider what we’re doing as a success already – we’ve already done what the big job boards don’t do. We’ve already given recruiters, employers and job seekers a better and more cost effective resource.

As far as monetary success, there will be an enhanced set of features available to paid subscribers in the very near future. Some features will always remain free – but even the subscription costs will be reasonable. We strive never to be a Monster.com, so I suppose the ultimate success for us would be to us to eventually gain market share from them.

***

I imagine aggressive job seekers will be leery of focusing their efforts on just one service, but I do think JobShouts is worth a shot; if nothing else, for the time it can free up for them online, allowing them to focus on networking and relationship-building, which are still incredibly important, perhaps even more so today. (And if they’re still part of the “I don’t think Twitter’s much use” brigade, this might change their collective mind.) Their blog is fun to read as well, and if you’re not already doing so, follow them on Twitter here, here and here.

If you’ve been helped by JobShouts, would you let me know? How are you using social media in your job search? Do share by leaving a comment; successes and failures, we can learn from them all.

The Power of a Tweet

This is what Lance Armstrong can do with one tweet.

What can I/you/we do? Gets one thinking, doesn’t it.

Photo: KezSLR

Want to Freelance? TwitterSource

I had a lot of fun co-hosting the first #soloPR chat on Twitter today. It was a shame that my co-host, Heather Huhman, was locked out of Twitter for the duration, but pros like Kellye Crane, Jen Wilbur, and many more shared great tips on a career as a freelance PR professional, especially for new/recent grads. That’s right, I put “career” and “freelance” in the same sentence; because it can be a great one.

You can see the entire transcript of today’s chat at the #soloPR What the Hashtag?! page, but here are some gems from today’s chat:

It was great to meet new folks and reconnect with friends like Jennifer Mitchell, a feisty San Diego-based pro. Jen and I agreed to use the term “an agency of one” (which I first heard from her and promptly appropriated – with her permission – for my website earlier this year) on separate coasts. And Shane Kinkennon put me squarely in my place with a beautiful definition of “higher marketing”:

Many thanks to everyone who signed on today. I hope you’ll join the erstwhile Kellye Crane as she moves the #soloPR chat forward every Wednesday, from 1 – 2 pm ET. If today was anything to go by, we just tapped into an amazing resource.

You.

Do you have more tips you’d like to share on a career in freelance PR? Do leave a note in the comments, I’d love to know.

Photo: Photos8.com

Demystifying Digital Communications

Last week I had the pleasure of presenting a couple of workshops at Goodwill Industries International‘s 2009 Summer Learning Event in Grand Rapids, Mich. – an educational “retreat” of sorts for GII employees. I say “pleasure” because the event was organized beautifully, I got to visit Grand Rapids for the first time and, most of all, the workshops were a ton of fun.

The second class I taught (the first was on measurement) was on “social media 101.” What’s delightful to me about this kind of class is that you invariably learn as much, if not more, from your audience as they do (or you hope they do) from you. It was also one of the most engaged audiences I’ve spoken to, and I think the most fun part of the session was when attendees broke into a lively discussion on the pros and cons of social media adoption for nonprofits… all while we were exploring Twitter in real time. Remember this tweet from me that day?

Yes, it was so much fun that I couldn’t spell “sizzle” properly.

What was also interesting to me was that the attendees weren’t only GII employees in the marketing/public relations departments – there were folks from HR and IT present as well. What a great demonstration of willingness to break down intraorganizational barriers to communications to achieve a shared mission.

They also gave me some new phrases to incorporate into my vocabulary, such as “paying a personal visit” to employees who might be spending too much time online in the pursuit of personal pleasures, and “excusing them” if those suspicions turn out to be true. Ha!

Joking aside, the energy in the room was great; I wish I could have captured it.

If you’re at the 101 stage when it comes to learning about social media, here’s the presentation, sans a couple of slides I couldn’t get to (I told you the session was hot).

Many thanks to all my Tweeps who helped bring Twitter alive for the attendees that day, and to Scott Henderson for the great HungerPledge case study. You rock. And since the learning process is a continuous one, if you have tips to add for “newbies,” I’d love you to chime in and leave a comment.

~Photo: fsamuels

Don’t Dig Yourself, Lazarus

Yesterday I was millions of people taken completely unawares by Twitter’s DDOS (distributed denial of service). In plain English, that means that those of us who consider Twitter our virtual world were shut out from “talking” to our tweeps, conducting our informal focus groups and taking comfort from our cheering squads while the service was suffering from an outage.

Apparently this also affected Facebook, but since I’m one of those who streams content from Twitter to Facebook, rather than vice versa (or simply versa), the T outage hit me harder than the FB one. Just like Scott Monty tweeted:

Jokes aside (or gnashing of teeth, depending on which side of the fence you’re on), the outage reminded me of just how dependent fixated we communicators can get on our favorite channels of communication.

Seriously, if something did happen to permanently shut Twitter down… or Friendfeed… or whatever your preferred digital communication channel is – what would you do? And, more importantly, how would it affect your work?

I don’t know about you, but what I’ve learned over the years – and what was brought resoundingly home to me yesterday – is that good communication is not about using just one channel effectively (or simply very often).

It’s about using the right mix of channels to achieve your (or your client’s) objectives – and always having backups.

For example…

If you normally issue news releases via a wire service, do you also have a strong list of targeted media contacts whom you can connect with if the wire service fails… or if your client can’t afford it?

If your regular media monitoring service goes down, do you have a backup such as Google Reader?

If you communicate regularly with influencers via a medium such as Twitter or Facebook, would you still be able to reach them through good old-fashioned email, or not-so-old-fashioned Google Talk, AIM or Skype?

If you’re a company that uses Yammer, do you still have an alternate way to connect with your co-workers and employees?

Would you be able to pick up the phone and – be still, my beating heart – actually talk to someone who could move your communication plan forward?

When we talk about social media paving the yellow brick road to relationship-building, we’ve got to be able to walk the talk. Because if we don’t, the very thing we tell our clients we’ll help them do is at stake.

After all, it’s not about us; it’s about helping them achieve their goals and measurable objectives. And that means using what’s best for them, not for us.

That means being able to connect, with the right people, at the right time, no matter what the technology du jour is. It means keeping our communications alive, rather than digging into a deep and narrow hole from which might – just might – constrict us.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still a #twitteraddict. But I don’t want to be Lazarus.

What do you think? Do you have additional – or opposing – lessons to share on communicating in the 21st century? Do let me know and please tell me if I’m completely off the mark. This is your sandbox as much as mine.

Photo: Sarah G…

You, Who?

You know how, sometimes, you’re reading a conference line-up, trying to decide whether you’ll attend or not, and you see a name you’ve never seen, or heard, before? Happens to me every now and then. I like to think I know more than a few people in our “biz,” but sometimes I can’t help but go, “You, who?”

Yes, I get excited by events that are being headlined by the rock stars of our industry, or the folks I call the “WHOs.” These are the folks who – at least to me – are the real deal, not just big fish in whichever echo chamber they’ve taken up residence. They have terrific experiences and lessons to share, and it gives me a kick to meet them.

What I’ve started finding lately, though, is that the “whos” are often more exciting to me than the “WHOs.” Because they share new ideas and have fresh voices – the stuff that keeps our profession growing and relevant. And I’d really like to see and hear from more of them.

If there’s one thing you can do for yourself as a communicator and our profession at the same time, it’s to share what you know. Because that’s the only way others will learn, and we can continue to shape the body of knowledge that future generations will draw on. And what good are all those great ideas if you keep them inside yourself?

So if you’re a “who,” here’s my challenge to you: start doing something TODAY that will take you from a “who” to a “WHO.” Get involved with your local IABC or PRSA chapter. Look for and speak at local events. Share your thoughts on Twitter or your blog. Better yet, do both.

If you’re a “WHO,” are you paying it forward? Are you reaching to the “whos” of our world to help them climb the ladder you did so successfully?

Take it from a former “who” not quite a “WHO.” And if you won’t take it from me, take it from Smokie. Don’t be Alice… or the guy who lived next door to her.

Whether “who” or “WHO,” how have you been helped? What tips can you offer those trying to break the thought leadership ceiling? Do share, I’d love to know.

Photo: sfdavidz

London Calling

I love London, no two ways about it. And next week’s first Twitgigs Experiment is another reason I wish I lived a little closer (just a wee bit).

What’s Twitgigs, you ask? A Twitter-gig, of course. But for a more-than-140 character description, my friend Rax Lakhani (who’s organizing it) says it’s a Twitter-enabled experiment at organizing a great evening of live music, and using the platform to enhance the audience experience.

Three bands – Essay Like Nephew (@EssayLikeNephew), The Seal Club Clubbing Club (@thesccc), Mike Dingham (@mikedignammusic) – will be performing at The Vibe Bar in Shoreditch on Thursday, August 6. It’ll also be livestreamed on the Twitgigs Ustream Channel, there’ll be live Twitterfall projections around the venue with various Tweet-stations for those who need ‘em, lots of Twitpic challenges (with cool prizes, I’m told)… and a hashtag voting system for the audience to vote for the winner of the Battle of the Bands.

Pretty cool. When I hear of something like this, though, the first question that usually pops into my head is… why?

The ever-patient Rax said, “Have you ever been to see a band and wished that you could tell them (and the rest of the world for that matter) exactly how freakin’ awesome they are!? Well, that was the initial driver behind putting on The Twitgigs Experiment. Twitter is the perfect medium to bring together musicians and music lovers.”

YES! Like Elvis!

So – how do you buy tickets and get involved? You have to follow @twitgigs (hey, this IS a Twitter-enabled event), and then buy your £5.50 tickets here (and you have to be over 18).

The Billy Mays Moment

But wait, there’s more! Rax has generously given me five tickets to give away to folks in London. So if you’re in London and would like one, re-tweet this post, and you’ll be able to go to what looks like a ton of fun.

I’m just glad I’ll be able to follow the event from across the pond. Don’t you love technology and social media?

What do you think of events like this? Do leave a comment; I’d love to know.

Phone booth & Big Ben photo: jpvargas

Follow Friday: The Graceland Edition

One of the things that struck me about Elvis’ former home on our recent road trip through Tennessee was just how comfortable it looks.

Graceland’s certainly an imposing structure when seen from afar – or even the front. But once you get inside, the rooms aren’t vast and the furniture looks really comfy. It doesn’t look too much like a rock star’s home, unlike some of the mansions you see on Cribs; it looks like a place you’d want to hang out in.

So this week, I’m highlighting five of my Tweeps in the greater marketing communications community who aren’t just rock stars at what they do; but more importantly, they’re good, honest people whom I feel comfortable with.

1. Robin Lane (@robinhlane). I first came in contact with Robin a few years ago while she was still at Vocus, and have been a fan ever since. She’s an amazing PR professional but more than knowing the mechanics of the business inside out, she builds and maintains relationships.

2. Arik Hanson (@arikhanson). Arik and I started “talking” on Twitter, and finally met at BlogPotomac earlier this year. Boy, is he a nice guy! He knows who he is, but he won’t beat you over the head with it. And that’s saying a lot for someone of his caliber and standing in the community.

3. Leigh Fazzina (@leighfazzina). Will you look at this woman’s bio? My god, what a rock star! But what’s even more amazing about Leigh are her energy and generosity of spirit. Just looking at her avatar is a a pick-me-up.

4. Arun Rajagopal (@arun4). I don’t even remember how Arun and I came across each other, but he’s now one of my closest Twitter friends. He’s great at what he does – advertising – but he’s just FUN to talk to. And he cares; you can tell that from the minute you start talking to him.

5. Judy Gombita (@jgombita). As far as rock stars go, Judy’s at the stratospheric level. We could probably take everything the rest of us know and it would fit on her little finger. But the even greater thing about Judy is that she never lets you get lazy. She’ll challenge – and make you think – about everything you think you know.

There are many more Tweeps who give me immense value – these are just five of them. Even if you don’t work in the PR/MarComm areas, I believe you should get to know them. Because they’re like Graceland: imposing but oh so comfortable to be around.

Who’re your “Graceland” tweeps? I’d love to know.

Iron Hand, Velvet Glove

My friend Katie Paine, who’s at Bulldog Reporter’s PR Measurement Summit 2009 in New York as I type this (and which I’m not attending), sent me an interesting note via Skype. Apparently the conference notebook contains the following reminder to “Please Use Social Media Courteously during the PR Measurement Summit”:

Social media create powerful opportunities for communicating among a network of colleagues — which can be used constructively but can also lead to awkward and unpleasant consequences when used ill-advisedly. During recent conferences in a variety of industries, for example, participants have provided real time commentaries of the events that have precipitated misunderstandings, embarrassment and even anger. For this reason we offer the following courtesy guidelines for participants in this conference:

1. Avoid participating in social media conversations during presentations. It’s simply impossible to concentrate fully on speakers analyses and advice while participating in online conversations or creating social media commentary.
2. Avoid over-simplifying a speaker’s comments or position in any social media commentary. Most speakers offer a complex and nuanced perspective which cannot fairly be distilled into 140 characters or even 1,400 characters.
3. Keep commentary on a professional level and avoid commentary on personal issues relating to participants.

Again – I’m not at the conference, and typing what Katie sent me as printed in the handbook, so if there are any typos, they’re Katie’s and mine.

I couldn’t help but think, though: for “courtesy guidelines,” aren’t there an awful lot of implied dont’s around?

I have certainly come across speakers who prefer attendees not to tweet (since that’s the most prevalent way of participating in SM at least that I know of) during their presentations. Granted, they spent a lot of time (one would hope) preparing and no one likes to think their audience is not paying attention. But if they’re going to decide for me how much attention I can or cannot pay while attending a presentation – well, I’m going to be thinking of spending my money elsewhere next time around.

Avoid over-simplifying a speaker’s comment? Their “complex and nuanced” perspectives can’t be distilled into “140 or even 1,400 characters”? Good grief. What else do PR practitioners do but distill “complex and nuanced” perspectives into every day speak?

Should commentary be kept to a professional level? Of course it should be. But one would hope the majority of folks who attend such conferences already understand this. It’s called, er, being adult.

I don’t know if Bulldog Reporter provided attendees with a conference hashtag (I assume most attendees are following their guidelines and NOT participating in SM), but surely printing that in the handbook would have been useful as a way to track these conversations and, what’s more, open the door to a whole new potential audience.

I’ve lost track of the number of conferences I was unable to attend but which I was still able to learn from simply by tracking the hashtags. And as far as not being able to pay attention to speakers if we’re using SM: well, we work in PR. Multi-tasking is usually our middle name (or one of them). And most of us are smart enough to stop tweeting or Skype-ing if we’re losing the presentation by doing so.

I threw out a quick poll on Twitter: 1) Do you think conference organizers should dictate SM use (tweets, etc.) during conferences? 2) Would you listen?

Here’s some of what I got back:

I’m sure Bulldog Reporter had the best intentions in mind while drafting its guidelines. I just wish it didn’t come across quite so much as a way to control – or eliminate – the incredibly multidimensional facet that SM can bring to such conferences. Nineteen Eighty-Four was a long time ago.

What do you think?

~Photo: just.Luc

Drum Roll: Darby Has a New Home

When I started blogging about Darby the German Shepherd a little under a month ago, I had no idea if my question, “Can Social Media Find Darby a Home?” would be answered, let alone in the affirmative.

(If you’re catching up on the Darby story, you can find the earlier posts at the bottom of this one. In a nutshell, though, Darby’s a beautiful GSD who used to belong to my husband’s late uncle, who lived in Portland, Ore., and died suddenly on vacation in late April. My mission in life since that time has been to find Darby a home.)

I am SO happy and relieved that finally, the answer, is a resounding “yes.” Last night, Darby went home with Ron and Shawnee Ostrom, a lovely couple who live just outside Portland with their two sons, Garrett and Blake. The Ostroms were one of many animal lovers who saw the story Portland’s KOIN-TV did on Darby last week. After several rounds of meeting her, talking with the folks at Townhouse Pet Care Center and myself, it was clear that not only did they love Darby – but that Darby loved them.

KOIN-TV did a follow-up story on the Darby “chronicles,” as I like to call them, last night. You can see just how happy Darby is.

You know how it is when you’ve been working on something really hard, and then it all falls into place and you can’t quite believe that it’s over? I feel a little like that right now. I just wish Tom (our late uncle) could have seen all this. I think he’d have been tickled pink. (Of course, if he were here, none of this would have happened, so it’s a moot point. But you know what I mean.)

This is not quite Oscar-worthy, but I do need call out a few folk for their tremendous support and help during the last several weeks:

First, the folks at Townhouse Pet Care Center – where Darby has been living – particularly Stacey Scott and Kim Allgeier – have been absolutely incredible. They closed Darby’s account a couple of weeks ago so that we wouldn’t have to worry about an unending bill, and have cared for her as if she were their own. I can’t even begin to express how grateful my entire family is to them. If their love and concern for Darby is anything to go by, Townhouse is a great place to board your animals, so take note, Portland.

Susan Ragan, a world-class and ex-AP photographer I’m fortunate to call my friend, was one of Darby’s first visitors when we heard about Tom’s passing. She took the photographs of Darby that have helped so many of you get to know her, including the one in this post, and has been ready to step in as a foster-mom if a permanent home didn’t work out. If you need an ace photographer, you need to talk to Susan.

Megan Drake: thank you for writing about Darby and bringing her plight to the attention of KOIN. Janet Tobiassen, DVM: thank you for writing an extremely timely story on planning for your pets and continuing to drive attention to Darby. Jen Zingsheim and Chip Griffin: thank you for letting me talk about Darby on Media Bullseye Radio.

Rachel Farris and Kevin O’Brien of PetRelocation.com: thank you for stepping up early in the game with your incredibly generous offer of transporting Darby to a new home outside of Portland, if that’s where we found one. We never had to take you up on it, but it was a lifeline for me at a time I felt I didn’t have too many. Er, any.

KOIN-TV, especially Tim Gordon: thank you for showing Portland what a lovely dog Darby is and caring enough about her to come back a second time.

There are so many people I’ve been put in touch with over the past few weeks, from the Oregon German Shepherd Rescue, to the Oregon Humane Society, to caring individuals all over the country – I couldn’t even begin to list them all. Thank you, everyone, who took the time to help me make a connection – you know who you are.

And finally, my Tweeps. You’ve been an amazing source of support and a wonderful community. Twitter was where this whole thing started; I’ll never forget that. Thank you, each and every one of you.

The story has a happy ending. Darby’s found a new home. And social media did it for her.

P.S.: I have no idea if Darby will keep tweeting. You’ll just have to wait and see, won’t you?

Tom Farrell (second from left) with his siblings a few years ago. R.I.P.

Earlier posts:

• Can Social Media Find Darby a Home?
• Will Social Media Save Darby? The Saga Continues
• The Darby Chronicles: Part III
• Social Media Might Just Find Darby a Home

Follow Friday: The Cherry Blossom Edition

For today’s edition of #followfriday, I thought I’d highlight a few DC-metro area communications professionals I enjoy interacting with on Twitter. Here goes:

1. Jon Newman (@jonnew). Jon’s a partner of The Hodges Partnership based in Richmond, Va., and authors Jon’s PR 1.5. He’s one of the nicest guys I’ve met (as in, IRL). Incredibly helpful and very smart. He “gets” Twitter and other social media tools, but isn’t so bowled over by the shiny new toys to forget what good PR is really about.

2. Mark Story (@mstory123). You know those people who just have to open their mouths and you double over with laughter? Not because what issues is asinine, but because it’s hilariously pithy? That’s Mark. Social karma, for Mark, isn’t something you talk about; it’s part of his fiber (look at his #blogmonday posts). And he’s really smart.

3. Daria Steigman (@dariasteigman). I first met Daria when I moved to the D.C. area about five years ago. I was new to IABC/Washington and she took the time to get to know me. A couple of years later, I ended up serving on the chapter’s board under her. She’s a remarkable writer and skilled at people relations (something a lot of independent consultants are not). You’re going to like talking to her.

4. Debbie Friez (@dfriez). Debbie is one of those people you just can’t help liking. She’s an animal lover, incredibly connected and successful but hasn’t let that go to her head. She’s involved with several professional development organizations in the area, including IABC/Washington, WWPR and PRSA-NCC and generously paved the way for my first consulting project with BurrellesLuce (and I’m not currently working with the company, just in case you think this is a client plug). Just an all-round great person.

5. Nicole Nolte (@NicolePRexec). I first came into contact with Nicole a couple of years ago – pre-Twitter – when she contacted me for some advice, and I was impressed by the way she didn’t take my time, or response, for granted. We’ve stayed in touch ever since and I was delighted to meet her IRL for the first time at Vocus’ 2009 Users Conference yesterday, where we co-presented on a Twitter panel. This young lady knows what public relations’ bottom line is: people relations.

Five great communications professionals who walk the talk in the Capitol area, all these folks enrich my Twitter experience. I think they’ll enrich yours too.

Are there other PR and communications pros in DC you find engaging on Twitter? Give them props by leaving a comment. They – and I – will thank you!

~Photo: ishutterthethought

Pinch Me. A “PR Readers’ Choice Blog Award”?

The one thing I never expected when I started this blog was for it to be nominated in an awards program. Blogging, in and of itself, is an adventure for me, and while I’m thrilled with the warm reception “Waxing UnLyrical” has received, I’m also humbled by it. After all, I don’t blog as regularly as all the gurus tell you you should; so the very fact that anyone reads this blog is quite a thrill.

One of the great advantages about being active on Twitter is the excellent PR and communications practitioners I’ve met through it. More than that, it exposes me to excellent blogs and posts and is truly a great learning experience.

One of the said practitioners is Arik Hanson, APR; so I’m really flattered that this teeny tiny blog has been nominated in the “most thought-provoking” category (there are four) in the PR Readers’ Choice Blog Awards. Several of the blogs I read on a daily basis, and whose authors I admire greatly, made the grade as well, such as Danny Brown, Shannon Paul, Bill Sledzik and Ryan Stephens. If birds of a feather flock together, I’m in great company.

So to whoever nominated me, thank you. While I personally think hell will freeze over before I win, I’d be tickled if you’d scoot over and vote for me. And if you’d rather vote for someone else – that’s fine too. Just vote!

Pulling My Talking Shoes Out

I should probably have done this earlier. Don’t they say something about better late than never?

Right, then. I have a hectic couple of weeks coming up with no less than four conferences in two weeks (probably baby food for some, but for me, that’s a lot). If you’re going to be at any, I’d love to say hello in person.

June 3 is PRNews’ PR Measurement Conference at DC’s National Press Club, which I’m really looking forward to because it’s on… you guessed it, measurement. I’ve been to several great conferences but the measurement ones are always my favorite.

If you were thinking of coming, please let me know so that I can get you the speakers’ guests discount code. If you can’t make it, PRNews is on Twitter and will be giving out a hashtag soon.

June 4 is Vocus’ 2009 Users Conference, where I’m participating on a panel on Twitter.

Er, did I just see you rolling your eyes?

Seriously, I love this conference. This’ll be my third year as a speaker, and I can’t wait, especially since I don’t have to prepare any slides. I’m told the hashtag is #vocus, so if you can’t make it, follow along.

June 9 I’ll take a long-overdue Acela Express trip up to the Big Apple to speak at T3PR on – you guessed it, measurement. This one’s a first for me, but several Twitter and IRL pals will be there, so I’m excited about it. Plus, I haven’t been in New York in ages.

And then June 12 I’ll be attending – not speaking at – BlogPotomac. Phew. I’m really looking forward to meeting, and re-connecting with, several Twitter friends.

So if you’ll be anywhere in my vicinity, do let me know. I’d love to meet you.

~Photo: leafar

Follow the Fellow who Follows a Dream

Today’s #followfriday on Twitter. Since I invariably get asked at least once on Fridays what the heck that is, here’s an excellent explanation by Micah Baldwin on Mashable, for anyone who’s about to pop the question.

Beginning today, I thought I’d highlight a few people I like to follow and why, every Friday. Lauren Fernandez started doing this a few weeks ago and I thought it was a great idea, so thanks for the inspiration, Lauren.

As to the title of this post: if you know where it came from, you know where I’m going with the people I feature in this post. And there’s a treat in store for you at the end. Just keep reading.

1. Katie Paine (@kdpaine). Let me count the ways. She’s the measurement queen – I mean, literally. The measurement lexicon we use nowadays has been strongly influenced, if not entirely rewritten, by her. She’s pioneered the way we look at PR measurement today, because she knew, when she started out, there was a better way to do it. She’s a cancer survivor. To top it off, she lives in the dreamlike Shankhassic Farm, which has been in her family for over a century, and whose main house she literally rebuilt through sheer willpower.

2. Meghna “K” (@meghnak). I can’t remember how or why I came across Meghna on Twitter, but I’m hooked. She’s 13. She loves to write. She writes well; she puts a lot of adult bloggers I come across to shame. And I love her spirit. Did I mention she’s 13?

3. Laurie Ashton Farook (@LMAshton). I think Laurie and I connected during the Mumbai terror attacks. She has a killer sense of humor and is another great writer. And anyone who’s a redhead by choice, met and married a man in “jaw-dropping fashion” (I did too) and lives in Colombo – one of the most beautiful places in the world – hasn’t just followed, but is living her dream.

4. Rachel Farris (@MeanRachel). If her Twitter handle isn’t enough of a reason to follow her, Rachel is a prolific writer with opinions she’s not afraid to express. She’s also managed to combine her love of animals, PR and social media in her job at PetRelocation.com. That’s how I “met” her; she picked up on the Darby story and has been an incredible resource ever since.

5. Bhavin Patel (@beepso). I taught Bhavin years ago (oh dear, I’m dating myself), lost touch and then reconnected with him on Facebook. Even though I haven’t met him in many moons, I suspect he still has that same twinkle in his eye. You’ve got to give props to anyone who blogs as “beelzebubbles.” Plus, he loves what he does and is eloquent about it.

There you go. Five great people who are both dreamers and doers. I’d follow them if I were you.

Whom do you follow who inspires and delights you? I’d love to know.

“Finian’s Rainbow” fans, I haven’t forgotten. Happy Friday!

“Follow the Rainbow” image by Señor Codo

Will Social Media Save Darby? The Saga Continues

Since I first blogged about Darby the (female) German Shepherd, there’s been a lot of interest in her and her situation. There are so many people who have helped spread the word, and continue to do so, that I couldn’t begin to list them all here. But you know who you are, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

As an aside, almost all of you have connected with me through Twitter – what an incredibly effective communication platform (and guess what, Darby decided to get on Twitter too).

A few more details on Darby have emerged in the last few days, as well as answers to questions I’ve been getting. So here’s the Darby FAQ (remember, I’m not a dog trainer or behaviorist and am simply telling you what I’ve been told – any of this could change based on the environment Darby is in):

What’s the deal with the aggression?

A better way to describe this, according to the trainer at Townhouse Pet Care Center, where Darby is currently being cared for, is that she has a strong “prey drive.” This isn’t PR-speak; if you’re familiar with Shepherds (I grew up around them) and similar breeds, you know it comes with the territory.

The people who have had the most contact with Darby – the folks at Townhouse, my friend Susan Ragan and a good friend of our late uncle, all believe Darby can be re-socialized with the right attention and training. In other words, it’s highly unlikely that she’s un-rehabilitable.

What are Darby’s vital statistics and history?

Darby was adopted by our late uncle three or four years ago from a shelter. So she has the same history as just about any other shelter animal – not much. She’s a smaller GSD (between 60 & 70 lbs), spayed and from all indications in good health – she shows no signs of dysplasia, etc. But I don’t have access to any records on her, other than what Townhouse might have. Like any shelter animal, what you see is what you get.

Is Darby good with kids? What’s her temperament?

Yes, by all accounts she’s extremely loving and people- and kid-friendly. Like most GSDs, she’s extremely intelligent as well. She’s well-behaved, housebroken, and does not bark excessively.

Does Darby need to be an “only pet”?

I certainly think that would be an ideal situation, since she’d be in a non-threatening environment. However, if she does go to a home with other pets, she will likely settle down with the right amount of attention and training. I can’t promise you anything, though.

Have I tried to contact breed-specific rescues and other groups?

Yes. So far I haven’t had any luck in reaching them, other than the Oregon German Shepherd Rescue, who have acknowledged my emails and phone calls, but who have not made direct contact with me yet. (And yes, I’m still trying). The Oregon Humane Society has been extremely helpful in directing me towards certain rescue groups as well.

What if someone outside of Portland, Ore., wants to adopt Darby?

If this is the right fit, you bet I’ll talk to them. The folks at PetRelocation.com saw my earlier post and have made the incredibly generous offer of transporting Darby to her new home, wherever that might be, free of charge. So now we just need to find a home for her.

What’s going to happen to Darby in the next few days?

The perfect solution, of course, would be to find a “forever home” for Darby and move her there. Failing that, we need to get her into a foster home – of which there are potentially two right now – and continue the search for permanent placement.

Practically speaking, this would be a foster home in the Portland area. The folks who have stepped up so far, including her caretakers at Townhouse, have been incredibly generous with their time and support, but I would like to stop being a drain on their resources as soon as possible.

A couple of folks I’ve connected with through Twitter – both outside of Portland – are considering giving Darby a home as an option of last resort. But – and I can’t stress this strongly enough – they both have constraints and nothing is a done deal. So it’s critical that we keep looking for a home for Darby.

If someone’s interested in Darby, how can they contact me?

Email me at info@shonaliburke.com; if you’re on Twitter, tweet me. If someone you know or have passed the information along to wants to talk to me, please ask them to let me know how they got the information.

Will social media save Darby? I don’t know … yet. I certainly hope so; it has certainly been extremely effective in getting people around the country – and the world – talking about her.

I might add that Darby’s got more gumption than most people I know (including myself); she’s been hitting up Ellen, Oprah and Rick Sanchez as well (no response so far).

I can’t even begin to tell you how grateful we are for your support and concern for Darby. I hope you’ll continue to help put the word out there, however you can – by tweeting and re-tweeting this post, spreading the news among your online and offline networks, posting to your Facebook pages, etc. – so that we can put social media to use for Darby’s good.

Thank you.

Darby’s photo courtesy Susan Ragan

Social Media, Social Karma

There’s an awful lot of social karma going around lately.

JOTW: My First Experience With Social Karma

For the last few years, I’ve occasionally guest-edited the free “Ned’s Job of the Week” e-newsletter. If you don’t know about it, it’s a free weekly newsletter that lists job postings sent to Ned Lundquist, ABC, by subscribers (as well as many he finds himself) in the spirit of sharing.

For a couple of weeks every year, I experience what Ned goes through on a daily basis: sifting through job postings sent by readers, looking for them myself, telling people how to subscribe and unsubscribe (even though the instructions are clearly listed in the newsletter) and then compiling all the information, along with other announcements that would be relevant (such as communication/PR events) into a newsletter that’s sent out every Monday.

It’s a lot of work, and I’m exhausted and relieved when Ned returns; but I’m always grateful for the additional connections I make by filling in for him, as well as honored by his trust that I’ll keep JOTW rolling along.

And I always ask myself: how on earth does he keep doing it?

The answer is very simple: Ned believes in social karma. Or rather, as he puts it, JOTW is dedicated to the “positive, unanticipated consequences of nedworking.” And no, that’s not a typo.

Ned didn’t start publishing JOTW to get something out of it. He did it to help a few folk he knew, and figured he might – just might – help himself along the way. Since its inception with a handful of subscribers, JOTW has grown tremendously; at last count, there are more than 11,111 members of the JOTW network. It now has a home on the Web as well as advertisers and sponsors.

The WIIFM Factor

Is Ned getting something out of JOTW now? You bet. But that’s not why he started it, and not why he keeps it going, or why he keeps it free to subscribers. And that, in my opinion, is why he’s successful.

Mind you, all this started several years ago, way before “social media” became the “buzzphrase” it is today. But to me, Ned epitomizes the inherent karmic element of social media. If you send something good out to your world – with no expectation whatsoever – something good will come back to you.

Twitter and Social Karma

One of the reasons I love Twitter is that it’s a perfect platform for social karma. Want to know who can enrich your network? Head to #followfriday. Want to show someone some Twitter-love? Re-tweet something interesting they’ve shared.

And through Twitter, I’ve come across even more instances of social karma.

Mark Story, for example, has started #blogmonday, where he highlights bloggers who might not be very well known. Arik Hanson posts interviews with professionals he thinks are “PR Rockstars” on his blog. Heather Huhman provides a wealth of PR resources by tagging relevant posts with #PRadvice. And there are countless others.

As far as I know, Mark, Arik and Heather aren’t necessarily “getting” anything out of their efforts. But I’m pretty sure they are enhancing their reputations (don’t worry, I’m not going to get into the whole personal branding thing here), building their networks and sowing the seeds for “positive, unanticipated consequences” which will have a beneficial effect on their work.

What’s the Communications Angle?

The first thing that anyone – including the many “gurus” out there – will tell you about social media is that it’s about listening, connecting and sharing. Everything else comes later.

If you’re a professional communicator grappling with the amoebic nature of social media, try thinking of it as your path to social karma.

After all, our business is communication, right? Sharing information, educating and informing audiences and hopefully, at the end of the day, doing some good by using smart communications to help organizations (or clients) achieve their goals.

Listening, sharing, connecting – this is what we DO. Don’t get intimidated by the technology behind it, or the buzzwords that tend to change quicker than David and Dania.

Call me naïve, but I believe social karma is a large part of what we do for a living. Social media is just another way to get there.

(Photo: Miss Bliss 55)

What about you? Is social karma part of your approach to communications? Have you found social media has increased your social karma? If you want to give props to someone who does, a comment would be a lovely way to do so.

Of Job Hunting, Cologne… and Twitter

On April 2, a few friends and I put on the “Dream Team” hats that Ned Lundquist, ABC, bestowed on us some years ago, to help folks “Pimp My Job.”

What on earth is “Pimp My Job,” you ask?

If you subscribe to Ned’s free, weekly “Job of the Week” newsletter, which I sometimes guest-edit, you know what we’re about. But in essence, we’re a group of communicators from near and far who provide advice – sometimes mercilessly – to those brave enough to ask for it. They submit their on-the-job – or job hunting – nightmares to us, and we have at it, maintaining their privacy. Advice is compiled and published in the newsletter. You can read previous PMJs here.

PMJ Meets IABC

A few years ago, when I ran IABC/Washington‘s programming, I thought it would be fun to do a real world version of PMJ – and sure enough, it was. A couple of weeks ago, we reprised our “act” at IABC/Washington’s Senior Communicators Council meeting (disclosure: I’m President-Elect for the chapter, currently also Acting President).

Given how dramatically the economy has changed in the past few years, I wasn’t quite sure how the SCC meeting would go (it’s one thing to pimp your job while you still have it, quite another when you, and more and more of your peers, are out of work).

It was wonderful. Folks shared their experiences, asked for advice, gave advice, and I felt a tremendous sense of camaraderie among the attendees. We had some fun too: can you guess which Indian goddess the Dream Team is trying to portray here?

“It’s Not Rocket Science”

Now, none of what we said is rocket science (I couldn’t resist). Career advice abounds, especially these days. But there were two things that stayed with me:

1) It’s easy to get depressed when you’re in a go-nowhere job/laid off/have been job hunting for years, etc. But as Kate Perrin of PRofessional Solutions said, you cannot afford to let the “stink of desperation” cling to you. That’s when you’re in such a poor frame of mind that it comes across no matter where you are, who you’re talking to, or what you’re talking about … and that will come through in your interviews.  Do I need to give you examples? I didn’t think so.

2) Senior communicators must start understanding and using online social networks. Being… well, me, I gave the attendees a quick demonstration of Twitter which, as we all know, is just one of the many platforms you can use to connect with people. Time and time again, I hear “we don’t get it,” “I’m not technologically savvy,” what the heck is the point of (fill in your epithet network of choice) anyway?”

The point is two-fold: first, it’s networking. If you have experienced the advantages of meeting and communicating with your peers outside of your work, you cannot afford to ignore online venues that afford you the same opportunities. Yes, you have to then take your online network offline and put it to work for you. But you can’t do that if you don’t have an online network.

Second, you are probably finding that these days, more and more jobs require a knowledge of the online sphere and social media. How can you be competitive if you don’t explore the spaces potential employers need you to have an understanding of? It doesn’t matter if you don’t consider yourself an “expert” (there are too many wannabe experts floating around these days anyway, as Beth Harte points out in this most excellent post). But you’ve got to be able to talk knowledgeably about it – and you can’t do that if you don’t engage.

In my enthusiasm to bring a Twitter dimension to the meeting, I asked my tweeps to submit questions for the Dream Team to me via Twitter, hoping to be able to answer them live from the session. Many thanks to all of you who did (you can read the entire event-related tweetstream here). The meeting had so many facets to it that we weren’t able to get to all the questions, but they (and the answers) have been published in today’s edition of JOTW.

A final word: if you don’t subscribe to JOTW, I strongly recommend you do. It’s completely free and you will experience the “positive, unanticipated consequences of nedworking” first-hand. Subscription (and unsubscription) instructions are at the top and bottom of every email. The annual March 32nd issue itself is worth the price of admission.

The Bottom Line

Yes, it’s tough out there. But it’s tough for everyone, not just you. So check your desperation at the door and start using the networks around you. That’s what they’re there for, and you’ll be the better for it.

(Thanks, Ned for the use of your photo)

Balancing the PR Bubble

If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll know that I tweet quite a bit. (Today I apparently crossed the 8,110 tweet-mark without realizing it). But every now and then, I’ll “go dark,” as they say in the theater.

You’ll hear from me once, maybe twice a day. Sometimes I just don’t have anything to say; sometimes I don’t come across conversations I want to engage in. And sometimes I happen upon conversations that are so negative or ridiculous or (enter your adjective of choice here ______ ) that I just need to turn it off for a bit.

What I’ve realized, though, is that when I go dark, I am making my own little attempt to break out of my Twitter bubble. Because there are other bubbles that need attending to.

Please, don’t get me wrong. I love Twitter, the new connections and relationships it has helped me forge, and the incredible amount I learn through it each day.

But there are a lot of other bubbles that are equally important to me; my “IRL” bubble of people I’ve met and worked with over the years, my IABC bubble, my email bubble… you get the drift.

I’ve found that if I get too comfortable in one bubble, the others can suffer. Not in a drastic, bubble-bursting way, but if I don’t watch over those relationships too, they could atrophy, which would leave me immeasurably worse off, both personally and professionally.

Balancing the PR Bubble

PR, to me, is like a bubble. In fact, it’s made up of a whole lot of bubbles, i.e. tactics, that delicately wobble and bounce off each other. When the bubbles are released gently, they can make a very pretty picture; you achieve success for your client or organization using a variety of tactics in a planned, strategic and integrated way. When they’re not, they burst, and all one’s left with is soapy liquid.

There are a lot of bubbles for us PR professionals to play with these days, not the least of which is Twitter. After all, if Jon Stewart, Ellen DeGeneres and David Gregory are talking about it, it must finally be cool, right?

Twitter is cool, to many of us. But it’s not the only bubble out there.

So in our haste to make sure the Web 2.0 bandwagon doesn’t rattle away without us, let’s not forget that. Let’s not forget what PR is really about. It’s not about using the latest “shiny new toy” just because you can, or because everyone else is. It’s about strategic thinking, measurable objectives and using the best range of tactics that will achieve those objectives for your client or organization.

Take care of your bubbles, both offline and offline, and they’ll take care of you. After all, who wants to be left with a handful of soapy liquid?

(Photo: bobtravis)

What do you think? Do you think tried and tested PR skills are being discounted in light of all the “shiny new toys?” Or have you found a way to blow many bubbles at once? I’d love to hear from you.

PR, Please Think It Through

Twitterverse was buzzing about Skittles’ foray into social media this week. No, I’m not going to give you my take on that, there are quite enough of those already. I did find Laura Fitton’s early summary of it extremely interesting, though, and Lauren Vargas’ and Liana “Li” Evans’ posts summed up my opinion beautifully.

My point is this: when you embark on PR of any kind, have you thought it through?

In my mind, it doesn’t matter how edgy your tactics are, or how many layers you’ve put into your campaign (and let’s face it, we PR people love layers almost as much as a bear in Antarctica).

What does matter is whether you’ve thought it through. Because if you haven’t; if you haven’t configured a response or action for every possible scenario, your campaign could fall flat, and all that time you put into it will have been wasted.

What’s the Plan, Stan?

Before you get ready to pelt me with M&Ms, I’m not saying the Skittles campaign bombed. That remains to be seen, based on what their goals and measurable objectives were.

The success or failure of your campaign will depend, in large part, on the contingencies you put in place. If you’re planning a media tour, what will happen if your main spokesperson falls through? If your kickoff event is outdoors, have you considered the weather gods?

If you’re planning a new site launch, are all the additional bits and bobs in place and ready to be rolled out at the touch of a button – and what happens when something goes wrong? Do you have a communication network, whether it’s as simple as a phone tree, or a more sophisticated system of communication that includes mobile, so that the key players can reach each other?

Sometimes, It All Works

The other side to this coin is making sure you’re poised to take advantage of those rare moments when synchronicity rules – and everything works just right. Your live reveal is perfect, the weather doesn’t interfere, your key messages are beautifully represented in the media, your public is excited, and even the media wants more (shock and awe!). Are you ready to capture this excitement?

Or, will you bravely enter the “new world” of social media, turning your website into a platform for conversation – and then not talk to the folks who flock there?

Our plans don’t always work perfectly, but when they do, it’s magic. And if you’re not ready to roll with the flow (which you wanted, I might add), you could lose a great many opportunities to engage your audience further and prime them to be future customers, donors or evangelists.

Contingency planning is draining and time-consuming -  no arguments there. But it’s well worth the time you put into it because, believe me, something will go wrong… or unbelievably right.

Just ask Skittles.

(Photo: Chovee)

What do you think? How important has contingency planning been in your PR endeavors? Can you share tips on what has and hasn’t worked for you? I’d love to know.

Clicking Our Way To Ending Hunger

Yesterday I came across an interesting article: “What Would You Never Sell, Though Desperate For Money?” in the Chicago Tribune (hat tip to @ColonelTribune). That’s a relevant question in these times.

But what if you didn’t even have that option? What if you didn’t have anything you would never sell… to keep a roof over your head, or stay reasonably healthy, or put food on the table?

Not a pleasant thought, huh?

Through the Communicator’s Lens

As communicators, we don’t have all the answers, much as we’d sometimes like to think we do, to ending the world’s problems. What we can do, though, is harness the power of our networks to spread awareness that results in action.

This is why I’ve joined the Pledge to End Hunger, which launches today. I’m going to do my very best to motivate my networks to take simple, easy actions that could provide 140,000 meals for children in Austin during South by Southwest 2009 (SXSW).

Why Childhood Hunger?

Share Our Strength has some heartbreaking statistics here, telling us that one in six children were at risk of hunger at some point last year. Among them are:

• 5.1 million kids —43.6%—living at or below the poverty threshold.
• 5.9 million kids living with a married couple.
• 5.8 million kids -one-third—who live in single-woman households.
• 10.6 million kids living within metro areas—5 times the number living outside metro areas.

Just One Click

All it takes is a click via this online form. For each click, Tyson Foods will donate 35 lbs of food product, the equivalent of 140 servings (Twitter flashback, anyone?).

If 1,000 people take the online pledge, a semi-trailer filled with 140,000 meals will arrive at the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas in Austin during the SXSW ’09 Interactive Festival.

Of course, you can do more. You can take the pledge yourself, tell your friends about it, change your social network avatars, join the Facebook cause… and, if your pocket allows, make a donation.

You don’t have to do any of these things – but you can help me help kids by making one click.

Will you join me?

Home Is Where The Mouse Is… Maybe

A few days ago, Pew Research’s “Daily Number” was 38%: the percentage of Americans who, having lived in more than one place, don’t consider their current community home. Given that this is a country of immigrants, that isn’t surprising, and a feeling I (a naturalized American of East Indian origin) can relate to.

A couple of days later, we had a friend over for lunch. Canadian-born, he’s worked all over the world, including in several African countries, and now calls Liverpool, U.K., home. At one point he asked, “Where do you feel at home?” Initially, my answer was, “In this country, California” – because that’s where my husband is from, that was my first experience of the U.S., that’s where many of our good friends and family still live.

“Home” Is…

I kept thinking about that question, though. Where does one really feel at home? What is it that defines “home” from “away”? Can one feel at home in several places… or none?

… Where The Heart Is?

Pew’s report answers some of these questions, and the results aren’t surprising:

Among all respondents to the Pew Research Center survey, 57% say they have not lived in the U.S. outside their current state: 37% have never left their hometown and 20% have left their hometown (or native country) but not lived outside their current state.

The Pew survey finds that stayers overwhelmingly say they remain because of family ties and because their hometowns are good places to raise children. Their life circumstances match those explanations. Most stayers say at least half a dozen members of their extended families live within an hour’s drive; for 40%, more than 10 relatives live nearby. A majority of stayers also cite a feeling of belonging as a major reason for staying put.

(Emphasis mine).

Movers are far less likely to cite those kinds of ties. Fewer than four-in-ten say a major reason they moved to their current community has to do with family or child-rearing. Most movers have five or fewer extended-family members living within an hour’s drive of them, and 26% have none. The most popular reason that movers choose a new community, selected by a 44% plurality, is job or business opportunities, according to the Pew survey. About the same share of stayers (40%) cite job or business opportunities as a major reason for staying, but far more stayers choose reasons related to family and friends.

(Again, emphasis mine).

… Or Where The Mouse Is?

Where one feels at home certainly has to do with people and community – a sense of belonging. Which is why, as I continued to think about it, I realized that I feel at home in several places. This is not only due to the people I’ve met and relationships I’ve made, but because I stay connected to them through my mouse.

I keep up with them on Facebook and certainly via e-mail. And increasingly, my online home is Twitter, where I make new connections with fascinating people every day, taking offline relationships online and vice versa. Apparently there are quite a few people around the world who are interested in what I’m thinking about, in 140 characters or less, most of whom I’ve never met “IRL.”

That goes for me too. Because of the engagement I experience online, I’m fairly certain that should I experience another physical move, this community will help me root myself offline, to the point where I begin to feel at home – wherever I may be.

How Is This Relevant to PR?

One of the fundamentals of good PR is knowing your audience. And a key element of that is having an understanding of which media they consume, and which they don’t; where they like to get their information from. In other words – where they feel at home.

The media landscape is changing dramatically; today’s shuttering of the Rocky Mountain News has been drawing national attention. Will other traditional media stalwarts, such as the San Francisco Chronicle, follow suit? We’ll have to wait and see. What we know is that consumers have more choices than ever before, and the media outlets they call home – both traditional and “new” – are growing exponentially.

Let’s forget about the media for a second.

Consider the data from Pew’s Internet & American Life Project December 2008 survey:

Over half of the adult internet population is between 18 and 44 years old. But larger percentages of older generations are online now than in the past, and they are doing more activities online, according to surveys taken from 2006-2008.

Contrary to the image of Generation Y as the “Net Generation,” internet users in their 20s do not dominate every aspect of online life. Generation X is the most likely group to bank, shop, and look for health information online. Boomers are just as likely as Generation Y to make travel reservations online. And even Silent Generation internet users are competitive when it comes to email (although teens might point out that this is proof that email is for old people).

The Bottom Line

You may be an excellent PR professional who is not a Twitter devotee, Facebook junkie, or a fan of the countless online mechanisms that, for want of a better term, we call social media tools; and you are perfectly within your rights to remain so.

But as Internet users increasingly span generations, as millenials grow into their roles as business leaders and decision makers, I suspect you might be doing your employers or clients – and most of all yourself – a disservice if you don’t at least familiarize yourself with the online channels that help people meet, talk, work and grow – and where they feel at home.

Maybe, just maybe, home is where the mouse is.

What do you think? Where do you feel at home? Please share your thoughts and perspectives; I’d love to hear them.

Images: Pew Research Center

Five Ways to Show Twitter Love

It’s a cliché. A “Hallmark holiday.” “Every day should be Valentine’s Day.”

Ever heard – or made – any of those remarks?

I confess; I have, and I think they have a ring of truth. But cliché or not, Valentine’s Day is a way – admitted, perhaps born of artifice and over-commercialized – to show one’s appreciation and affection to those who make your life better.

To me, that includes my Twitterverse. So, for those of you who have fallen in love with Twitter, here are five ways to show your Twitter love on Valentine’s Day:

1. Mr. Tweet is a great way to find interesting people to follow, depending on what your interests are. I like to follow those in my profession (public relations), writers, social media savants, IABC members and, sometimes, folks who are just downright interesting, funny and who would probably rear up at being categorized in any way.

Take it one step further and give back to those you follow by giving them a recommendation on Mr. Tweet; this will help others find them. It won’t cost you more than a click, and there are more than enough of those to go around.

2. Re-tweet… with credit. Just as bloggers get a charge out of comments on their posts, because they show engagement, it’s very satisfying to see something you tweeted about spread through re-tweets, especially when you didn’t ask for it. If you frequently re-tweet interesting posts, links or news – good for you.

Give credit where credit is due by adding the original Twitterer’s handle when you forward the update. TweetDeck and Twhirl make this easy to do; if you’re just getting started on Twitter and using the Web interface, copy and paste in the original update, precede it with “RT @<whoever>” and boom, you’re off.

3. #FollowFriday. Increasing Twitter followers seems to be the be all and end all for some. I can’t deny it’s satisfying to see one’s follower numbers go up, but what I personally get more satisfaction out of is the engagement, the conversations I have with other Twitterers.

A great way to pay it forward is to participate in Twitter events like #followfriday, where you recommend Twitter users to others. It helps if you explain why, e.g. “Foodies: @<whoever> #followfriday” and so on. Using the hashtag with no spaces between the two words will help others find them.

4. Engage. Speaking of engagement, one of the most remarkable things about social networking is the ability to talk to and get to know people you might never have come across otherwise in the “real” world. Whether you choose to follow everyone who follows you is up to you. But one of the nicest things you can do is respond when you are mentioned in tweets, or when someone sends you a message.

For example, yesterday I recommended Paisano on #followfriday, because his updates make me think, inform me and, sometimes, he’s just very funny. I was completely unprepared for him to write back and thank me; let’s face it, he’s a pretty influential Twitterer. When he did, I was impressed and, as a result, I will be following him even more closely now.

5. Go offline. Twitter is a wonderful way to get to know people online. As you develop those relationships, take them offline. Meet up for coffee, attend tweetups in your area… get to know the people behind those avatars. We live in a uniquely multi-dimensional world. Take advantage of it.

Those are my five ways to show Twitter love; I’m sure you have many more. Won’t you share them with me… and the love?

Happy Valentine’s Day.

Photo credit: ~Athena

Through a Lens, Richly

Communicators: how do you use your lens to impact the world?

While channel-surfing a couple of years ago, I came across the documentary “Born into Brothels.” Having been born and brought up in Calcutta (now Kolkata), I was instantly captivated by the story. More than that, I was touched by Zana Briski‘s commitment to these children born, through no fault of their own, on the wrong side of the street; and her covenant to open their eyes and bring them the riches of hope – through a camera lens.

The original Kids with Cameras. Source: Kids with Cameras

The Communicator’s Lens

When “Slumdog Millionaire” swept last week’s Golden Globes, I was reminded of the “kids with cameras,” and the power an image has to convey what, often, 516 words cannot. That is the essence of what we, as communicators, should aspire to, isn’t it? To convey a message to our audiences in such an efficient and impactful way that they are moved to action, enabling our clients or organizations to achieve their goals.

As communicators, we each have a unique lens through which we reach out to, and touch, the world.

Just in the last several days, I have come across many passionate communications professionals putting their networks to work for the greater good. Take Beth Kanter, who raised more than $3,500 for the Sharing Foundation which helps kids in Cambodia. Or Danny Brown, who’s initiated the incredible 12 for 12K campaign. You need look no further than your e-mail inbox, Twitterstream or Facebook friends to find countless examples of how an image – coupled with the power of connection – can change lives forever.

As my tribe that has overwhelmed me with birthday wishes today, I’m asking you to use the power of your lens to make a difference for the kids with cameras. You can:

• Join the Facebook group for Kids with Cameras. (We can’t donate to them via Facebook right now, but we’ll find a way to help them.)
• Donate whatever you can – whether it’s $5 or $50, directly to Kids with Cameras. If you’re clicking through from this post, please select “Hope House,” since Avijit is already in the U.S. If you’d like to make the donation in someone else’s name, just check that box (and if you want to make it in mine, I’d be more honored than I can tell you; just make a note of that in your comment below so that I can send you my email address).
• If the amounts in option #2 above don’t work for you, you can make a donation of whatever amount is comfortable for you by either calling or emailing them a check.
• If you’re unable to donate or join the Facebook group (I know it’s a tough time) but would still like to help, just send me a note. We’ll find a way to put our talents to work for them.
• If this cause touches you, please tell your family, friends and colleagues about it. Spreading the word is the greatest power communicators have!

You can change the world through your lens. How you do it is up to you.

8 Letters, 60 Years, And A New Frontier

This is a story of how numbers and people intersect.

Yesterday was my mother’s 60th birthday. Since she lives 13 and a half hours ahead of me, I was up early to wish her. I typically log on to Twitter first thing in the morning, to catch up and generally confab with my “tweeps.” While I was doing this, I noticed a tweet discussing the fun one could have with a made-up hashtag like #SHTYMFM (Say Hi To Your Mother For Me).

I thought it would be fun to tweak that and ask people to wish my mother; she’s been grappling with the emotional roller coaster of officially retiring on her birthday from a long teaching career, while still a vibrant resource for her students. All they had to do was reply to me and include the hashtag #SHBTYMFM. (You don’t need me to spell that out, do you?)

I’ve experienced, over and over again, how generous “Twitterville” can be, but even I didn’t expect for 24 people, none of whom have ever met my mother, to wish her. That number includes a few who sent good wishes her way before I introduced the game, used #SHTYMFM as a hashtag, and one who sent her a virtual birthday cake.

My mother was touched and overwhelmed. She has also created a Twitter account. I don’t expect her to become a social media maven overnight, but I am excited that she is taking the plunge into what is, for her, a brand new frontier. On the other hand, she’s quite a remarkable woman, so I wouldn’t put anything past her. And to everyone who responded, again, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Eight letters flew my mother’s way from three different continents, spurring her to not consider 60 years as the end of her relevance, but as an opportunity to explore the limitless potential that awaits.

That’s the power of connection.

Point. Click. Connect.

Truth be told, I didn’t expect to be writing this post at this very minute; after all, one wants one’s first blog post to be slightly more than just “why I’m here” blather, doesn’t one? However, I was given so much help today in working out some WordPress kinks by Joe Perez of Zealous Marketing, it reminded me all over again of the power of connection that we, as communicators, possess.

Why do we do what we do? And by that I mean “public relations,” “social media,” whatever you want to call it… I’m going to call it “communications.” It’s not the easiest of lifestyles – one is often on call. And it certainly isn’t for the money, though of course there are those who have made a most lucrative business of it.

Well, I do it because I love being able to use my talents as a communicator to bring people together and figure out how to use communications to reach a shared goal, to achieve common objectives. It’s not always easy, since everyone doesn’t start out talking the same language at first. But it sure is fulfilling when we finally get there.

I believe – at least, I hope – that’s the reason most of us do it. Good communication enables powerful connection. And that connection can have a positive impact on lives at micro and macro levels which, in turn, can influence the way the world turns.

That power of connection blew me away today, when thanks to my Twitter community, I received expert help within minutes, and that was just for an issue I was having with this little blog (if you’ve been plagued by similar issues, by the way, check out Joe’s “Installing Google Analytics on WordPress” video). Imagine that power of connection at macro levels; what great possibilities lie within a communicator’s hands.

Point. Click. Connect. That’s all it takes.