Is “Been There, Done That” Arrogance Or Expertise?

by Jayme Soulati on 01/12/2012 in Thinking

When you say “been there, done that” to a crowd of peeps, what comes to mind as a bystander? Arrogance or expertise?

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve used that phrase in the past, but when I think about when and how, it’s usually in jest with someone who knows me well and also knows I’m not bragging or jockeying for position.

The blogosphere produces many arrogant people; you know who they are because you either elect to read them, or you do the eyeball roll and move on. I’ve been called arrogant before; I think it’s because that person mistakes my confidence for arrogance. Maybe they think I’m just an expert so my knowledge comes across as arrogance because that person regards themselves as slightly less confident.

There are so many of us who started our blogging journeys about the same time. Others shot to stardom quickly and made names for themselves; some are still plodding along trying to determine whether and how we want to make some dough on this thing. And, many, many are blogging without confidence.

Been there, done that! Heh.

See how easy it is to use that phrase when someone shares their trials and tribulations? Imagine how recipients feel when they hear that, especially if the delivery is done without genuine warmth.  Then it’s just plain old arrogance.

What I’m trying to say is the been-there-done-that mentality will come back to bite you in the patout when you’re least expecting it. The world is small; people talk, clients complain and gossip about one service provider over another, and reputations are made or undone.

Don’t be arrogant, people. Earn your expertise, but don’t laud your skills over others as loftier-than-thou. Having expertise and sharing the lessons  you learned whilst poking fun at your own expense are the best way to build true relationships. Getting preachy about it just doesn’t fly.

{ 27 Comments }

Should Health Of Blog Community Align To ROI?

by Jayme Soulati on 01/11/2012 in Blogging 101, Social Media Strategy

I had a post all ready for today, and then @TheJackB spat all over my blog in comments. I could not let that slide, so this post is a compilation of his musings and mine. (You get co-authorship, TheJack, but just not in the byline…heh.)

The Sales Lion wrote a post yesterday about why community is not Holy Grail of blogging that I’m sure is creating a slew of comments, not the most of which is Gini Dietrich (although I’ve not been over to comment myself). Marcus said something to the effect that “Gini shocked the blogosphere admitting her business almost went bankrupt in 2011 in spite of her healthy blog, Spin Sucks, and its huge community with lengthier commentary.” (paraphrase)

IMHO (In my humble opinion), Arment Dietrich is a service firm; it delivers professional services and seeks clients to pay it to stay viable. Gini is the point person, face, poster child, CEO, founder, biz dev artist for her firm, and, oh, yeah, she’s chief cook and bottle writer for her highly popularly ranked and accoladed blog, Spin Sucks. Her new product, Spin Sucks Pro, for which peeps will subscribe to content and teachings via webinars and writings from around the ‘sphere, launches soon (after a one-year delay during which she had to fire a tech team and start from scratch). (Never write sentences like these two.)

When you’re running a successful digital marketing/PR shop with staff and expensive headquarters near the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, and you’re launching a brand new online moneymaker that fails and requires an immediate new investment in tech dollars and clients refuse to pay you for six months and the economy sucks (like Spin), then what’s so surprising about a firm nearly going belly up (in spite of a successful blog and community)?

This dilemma is one many successful entrepreneurs face –  how to clone oneself. We are the brand and brain power clients wants, hire and require. Using Gini Dietrich was a poor example to showcase that a profitable business has nothing to do with a healthy blogging community, and here’s why:

The target audience for Spin Sucks Pro are PR, marketing, social media peeps; a healthy community of such is required to ensure that Gini’s new $ venture succeeds. Can you imagine if she had attempted to launch Spin Sucks Pro without putting all the sweat and tears into building a healthy and growing community at its precursor? Right.

 

Here’s what THEJACKB had to say in comments here yesterday:

Yep, I commented on Marcus’s post. I was half awake at the time and uninterested in picking that post apart but I am not convinced that there is a relationship between Gini’s biz and comments.

Fact is that if you can demonstrate to brands that your blog reaches the eyeballs that they want to get in front of then you can make money blogging. It happens, and any one of us has the opportunity to make it happen. It might not make sense for some of us to pursue that path but the opportunity is there.

Let’s circle back to comments and community. You and I (Jack and Jayme) have talked about this, and I’ll repeat that I don’t see comments as being currency. They aren’t always useful social proof for whether a blog is popular, influential etc.

But that doesn’t apply across the board. Fact is that many of the people that speak at blog conferences get their positions as faculty because of their community and the comments. It is not impossible to get a gig without, but it is much easier when you have it.

Data mining is useful for bloggers. When you start to break down who your readers are you can learn all sorts of interesting things. During the past four days more than 4k uniques took a moment to read my post.

Two PR agencies and several brands were camped out on that post for extended periods of time. I don’t believe that they hung out there solely because they loved the writing. There is something more going on. My job is to figure out why. Maybe it is because they are looking for a writer or maybe it set off a keyword alert, but I’ll put money down that there is a money making opportunity tied into it.

Let’s circle back to the question of can you make money and approach it in a more direct manner. Let’s pretend that blogger XYZ has a product/service that they sell and that there is a valid value proposition tied into it.

Blogger XYZ needs to learn how to close. Ask for the order. Stop pussy footing around with “you might be interested or want” and ask for the sale. Remember Alec Baldwin in Glen Garry Glen Ross- “Always Be Closing.” (Excuse me while I reconnect the IV, the coffee drip just ran out.) (Indeed, Friend, you exhausted yourself with that spittle.)

What say you? (This is edited; thank you, Marcus.) Are business success and community related? Need you have a thriving blog community to also have a thriving business?

 

{ 42 Comments }

Blogging Voice, Topics, Gifts

by Jayme Soulati on 01/09/2012 in Blogging 101

There are more than a million blogs and no way to hit them all; nor should you try. As a blogger, it is so hard to keep motivated and keep on publishing.

Someone paid me a huge compliment the other day about the quality of the content I publish, and it brings me back to these few things (probably alive and well in the echo chamber yet bears repeating):

Make Your Blog Yours

Your blog is what you make it. Only your commitment will make it successful. Doesn’t matter how many subscribers you have; peeps come because of what you say and the passion with which you write.

I have noticed many bloggers writing about life, depression, motherhood, struggle with medical issues or family woes who earn hundreds of comments and RTs. I try not to look at my less-than-10 RTs or 30 comments in comparison because it makes me wonder what’s wrong with what I’m saying and whether it has merit.

The answer is…NOTHING.

I write a specialty blog (not about life and emotion) about my profession in public relations, business, marketing, social media, and whatever strikes me in re current events and global affairs. The peeps who visit are similar or same. That’s a major point…what you write about breeds a community of likes. You will attract dog lovers if you write about dogs; you will find numbers guys if you promote analytics. More mommies will read your blog than non-parents when you write about kids every day.

Topics

When you write a blog that is a mash up of various and sundry topics, can you realistically expect your community to grow if they have no idea what they’ll get when they visit? Humans, by nature, appreciate few surprises. Goes the same with a blogging community…take a look at yours and see if you’ve been able to capture and keep 10 peeps in your community.  If I’m right, it could very well be that your content is too broad; test the waters for a few weeks and write about a theme or topic you appreciate. Watch your passion come alive and your community, too.

Motivation & Voice

Motivation and voice are huge factors to blogging success. Let no one tell you how frequently you have to blog; do what’s comfy for you. The very best tip I can offer is to strive to find your voice. I have two significant pieces on voice coming soon to Spin Sucks and Spin Sucks Pro. In one of them I say “I write like I talk and sprinkle f-bombs and flowers all over.” (That’s mostly in comments, but it’s very true.)

Do you write like you talk? I visited Jason Konopinski’s blog for the first time and was so shocked at his voice, I asked him in comments whether he always wrote in this style? My surprise came because his comments are laden with snark and cajoling; when I read his academic voice upon my first visit, I was blown away. Here’s the deal…it works for him! He’s the blogger, he owns his writing, style, voice, and ideas; so, too, do you. Have the confidence to put yourself out there because you can!

Blogging Gives Back

Blogging provides the opportunity to give back. I loved, loved the gifts I gave around Christmas inviting peeps to Share Your Blog Here and the subsequent follow-up post 50+Bloggers To Know Now. All over, peeps are saying in comments “I found your blog at Jayme’s 50 list.”

I received comments, thank you notes, tweets, a growing community, and more hidden gifts I can’t realize.  The best thing is I didn’t expect any of it!

Blogging provides these hidden rewards and the friendships you create and grow via the written word. So keep on, Friends, and if you have a question along the way, please ask. Every blogger’s journey is never smooth; when the twists and turns go straight, from there it’s a clean sail.

 

 

 

 

{ 35 Comments }

50+ Bloggers To Know Now

by Jayme Soulati on 01/05/2012 in Blogging 101

This is the culmination of the post I wrote, Share Your Blog Here. I have no idea how many bloggers listed their creations here; more than 50, for sure, and I’m so happy to have reached my goal. Thank you!

Some folks could be cross-referenced, but I put them into only one category. If I’ve made a mistake, please do apprise me; I’m expecting to have some problems especially with a project of this magnitude and detail (not whining!).

So, read on, folks, and please do try and visit your peers? I’m eager to meet many of you, and have already begun my journey to visit. Thank you again for participating!

ANIMALS

>>  Susan writes at Gemini Universal and is dedicated to feral cats, stray cats and shelter animals.  She also likes to attend charitable events for the local shelters and rescue groups, so you will find follow up commentary about her experiences.

BUSINESS & LIFE COACHING

>> Kaarina started blogging just nine months ago, but has had her business for 28 years. She is a business and life coach/strategist, and former Olympic level coach and television sports commentator. She parlayed her skills from the athletic arena to the business world, where she assists people to be the best they can be, in business and in life. She’s on Twitter @kdillabough.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

>>Adam Toporek blogs about customer service and the customer experience at the soon to be renamed Intense Fence If anyone has a great customer service story (bad or good) that has some CS lessons, he is open to guest posts.

ECO/GREEN

>>On her Facebook page for Terracom PR, Christine shares green tidbits primarily from and about Chicago. Sometimes they pertain to Terracom clients, many times not. Sustainability and eco are her things. So stop on by for ideas, news and curiosities.

FASHION

>>Lisa writes a blog called The Sparkle In Her Eye and (you guessed it), it’s about a combination of style inspiration, fashion marketing and small, independent indie designers.

>>I think this blog, Vintage Glam Gods is written by Cathy, but not too certain. Regardless, I went there and saw some fab photos of Florence, one of the most amazing cities in the world.

FINANCE

>>Hansjorg Leichsenring writes a blog in German about banking. He promises there is a Google translation service attached so you can read all about what he has to say. Hansjorg seeks more readers and commenters.

HUMAN RIGHTS & FREEDOM

>>Kacem Jlidi writes Kacem 4 Change at a blog which is a cocktail of news from Tunisia, Palestine, the MENA region, and it’s about human rights and Internet freedom. Equally he worked as a social media specialist and IT journalist but he likes to keep this blog to advocate for positive social change and human rights.

LEGAL MARKETING

>>Jay Pinkert writes Shatterbox a forum to share ideas and tools for legal marketing in the Social Media Age.

>>Bruce Macewen writes at JD Match Views about law student recruiting and law firms.

Life & Happenstance

>> Lori Gosselin writes about life, and she talks about it, dissects it, figures it out and comes to know that even though there is different perspectives and ideas, we’re all in it together! Visit her blog here.

>> Hajra writes here about personal experiences and how life is just a series of sarcastic events. She says the only way we can get across is to complain and move on!

>> Jack Steiner writes at TheJackB, and this is the blog where you learn the answer to every question you ever had but didn’t know. He provides a thorough explanation and education on how to blog, write, talk, cook, read, speak, code, and much more. Read my blog and you will become a better person and your IQ will increase by a minimum of 5 points (7 if you are Canadian) and not only that but God will love you more than he/she/it did before.

>> Al’s “blog” is The CARE Movement — Communicate, Appreciate, Respect, Encourage and try to Influence and Inspire Positive Change.  His main goal is to help improve morale in the workplace.

>> Sanjiva Persad writes random topics, although recently posts on favorite podcasts, thoughts on Google Plus, and sport and music are included.

>> Adam Clarke writes uniquely at Ditto Effect. While he’s not write a blog per se, he’s got a site oriented to guides as well as question and answer topics. He focuses on supporting others and networking with those who love to learn and help others. Not too long ago he started accepting guest posts to help authors get a little more online exposure. He is Canadian and loves connecting with people around the world.

Marketing

>> Erica Allison blogs at Spot On where she likes to think that what she writes is just that…Spot On. Her topics are mostly about marketing, social media, metrics and ROI of both; branding, small business, and PR. She often throws in a post or two about her kids and she’s friendly to newcomers.

>> Jon Buscall writes a blog for Jontus Media in Sweden. Guarded by basset hounds, stranded in Sweden, blogs (and podcasts) at http://jontusmedia.com about digital marketing, communications and occasionally rather worrying Norwegian pop music. Welcome!

>> Maranda Gibson writes a communications-related blog here where she sometimes talks about different and inventive ways to use her firm’s products and services. For the most part, she offers up public speaking tips, customer service related topics, and tips on writing effectively.

>> Jennifer Devitt writes at SYDCON Web Development and it has no one set topic.  It can cover web, mobile, technology, or current events.  She’s accepting guest bloggers, too. Jennifer works with companies in almost any industry and likes to offer a variety on her blog to showcase people her clients could potentially work with and learn from.

>> Jamie is part of a collaborative B2B marketing blog at Savvy B2B Marketing.

>> Margaret Molloy writes a blog at Posterous on digital marketing.

MOMMY BLOGGERS

>> MuMuGB writes at www.FrenchYummyMummy.com Her blog is about being a French Mum living in London and struggling to understand the Brits. (LOL!)

Jamie writes as part of the BabyCenter blogging team and is the primary writer as well as editor at Fans of Being a Mom here.

NOT-FOR-PROFITS

>> Jenn Whinnem blogs for the Connecticut Health Foundation. It is the largest independent health philanthropy in the Connecticut to improve children’s mental health, health policy/advocacy, oral health, and racial and ethnic health disparities.

PERSONAL & POETRY

>> Kathleen Krueger posts her original poetry at Patchwork Poetry.

>> Adriene blogs about personal items and poetry, and she talks about the writing life, personal observations, societal issues, and more.

Public Relations

>> Mary Barber blogs at Mary’s Garden Party on public relations, social media, communications and what makes a stronger community.

>> Davina Brewer is a blogger at 3 Hats Communications on all things marketing, public relations, social media, and small business. 

>> Ken Jacobs posts  about all things related to advising public relations and related communications agencies; growing business and better managing the business you have; and enhancing staff performance, motivation, communication, and leadership skills.

REAL ESTATE

>> Derek writes a blog about everything related to the real estate industry.

ROOFING/CONTRACTING

>> Joseph Heidler blogs about roofing, his travels, and life as a small contracting business.

Small Business

>> Tea Silvestre writes The Word Chef which aims to help small biz folks find and share their secret sauce with the world via online marketing strategies. She is a marketing consultant/coach, writer, foodie and has a slight WordPress fetish.   (Uhm, what does that mean?)

>> Justin Brackett launched a new blog at Biz Changerz.

>> Kelly Kautz writes a blog at One Woman Marketing.  It’s about marketing for small business owners and solo entrepreneurs, with a focus on real-life examples and inspiration.

>> Maranda Gibson writes a company blog, a fledgling blog launched in the last few months. It has a wide range of topics from public relations, small business, and some great organizational tips for businesses and personal needs alike.

>> Billy Delaney writes Social Tango and he’s also launching The Small Business Compass.com: a social tool for finding the customers who want the products you sell. He is chief navigator, educator-teacher-learning moderator for small business’s that have no direction, or have lost their directions.

Social Media

>> Ari Herzog explores new and emerging media — less about tools and applications and how-tos but more about analytics and deep thoughts.

>> Neicole Crepeau writes a blog for her firm, Coherent Interactive. The topics she covers are social media, website design and development, and mobile.

>> Mark Harai blogs from Costa Rica (I’m threatening to visit) on the topics of social media, entrepreneurs, and startups.

>> Gini Dietrich is our Queen, and we already know Spin Sucks, and she kindly wanted me to reach my goal of 50 bloggers and thus is participating here (I would’ve added her anyway).

>> Rebekah Bowen started blogging last year at Sociality and it is ramblings about social media sites, philanthropy, social activism, my job\internship, and “stuff she finds that’s cool.”

>> Jason Konopinski, (another King of Snark) blogs about topics including social media trends/tactics/tools, content creation, organizational and change management. A bit of a mixed bag at times, but he tries to stay on topic.

>> Monyelle Mingo writes here and is focused on breaking down social media marketing into chewable pieces and also developing skills to tackle fear evoking challenges.

>> Michelle Quillin writes New England Multimedia’s blog on powerful tips for combining social media, blogging, video and more to build relationships with and get your message out to your online audience. Every now and then they write go-after-your-dreams inspirational posts, or share experiences they’ve learned over the years.

STAFF/EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE

>> If you employ people, read Leon Noone. His special field is helping managers in small medium business to improve the on job performance of their staff without training courses. (Love this guy.)

TECHNOLOGY

Carolyn Nicander Mohr writes at The Wonder of Tech and it’s a personal technology blog designed to help explain the developments in personal technology to the everyday person. The blog is written in plain English, no tech jargon or geek speak allowed! If tech is fun and/or useful, she explains it in a user-friendly way.

TRAVEL

>> Amber-Lee Dibble writes Alaska Chick’s Blog and is a manager at Pioneer Outfitters in Alaska. She writes about living in the “bush” and a very remote, fly-in area in the mountains of Alaska. The blog provides her way to chat and get to know people in a way never before possible. It allows folks to see inside life in Chisana and what it’s like to live on site of the last historic gold rush and to home-school her children. She writes about the trainees that come to us for Survival & Guide Training and pretty much whatever else comes to mind…especially, grizzly bears!

WRITING

>> Kathleen Krueger writes a blog with random topics on freelance writing, book reviews, spiritual pondering and random life musing.

>> Erin Feldman writes about the writing life, entrepreneurship, and writing right. Find her here.

>> T. Shakirah Dawud writes at Deliberate Ink and is on Twitter, too. She is a copywriter and editor. She blogs about the usefulness of words and how to use them well in both regular and marketing/sales contexts. She has a regular compulsion to blog about social media as she  sees it happening, and to offer basic marketing tips to business owners.

>> Luke Brown’s budding business is Letters Done Right, and you can find him on Facebook under Luke Brown and his writing services as a retired attorney.

>> Stacey Myers works with authors and gives them ease and freedom in creating an online presence and also the odd newbie getting started online.

 

OMYgosh…here is the best list evah! Enjoy!

 

 

 

{ 37 Comments }

2011 Social Media PR Woman Of The Year

by Jayme Soulati on 01/04/2012 in Public Relations, Social Media

So, I’m a few days late with this post, but it’s gonna be a goody, and you’ll be happy you read along to the bottom; promise.

I sat across the table from Gini Dietrich in Chicago just before Christmas at the Southport Grocery (you can eat there, too, with blue-eyed waiters to flirt with), and the poor dear had all she could do to get out of her chair to jog down and keep our meeting.  (She’d been on the go for about three weeks in December speaking on a killer circuit while tweeting, blogging and FB’ing in sync with the jet engine reverberations.)

Then we hit the streets to find a bench to do Gini’s first guest video post (with moi, ahem) which we had to repeat and giggle through. It was after that that I knew Gini was a special someone I loved to be with (and so, too, does everyone else), and I wanted to gift her with a little something in return.

Gini Dietrich is the 2011 Social Media, PR Woman of the Year. (Normally, I’d stop there with a #RockHot and #ThatIsAll, but this time I’ll share why. Oooh, it feels good to blog again after two weeks off.)

>>No one keeps a schedule like she does, and no one has the pulse of PR and social media CONSISTENTLY.

>>She is a mentor to the young PR peeps up and coming, and she works hard to network and land everyone a job.

>>She’ll take time to listen to a business problem and offer solutions and tips to get you out of the trench.

>>She is the author of a new book with Geoff Livingston, called Marketing In The Round, set to publish in spring, and you can pre-order just as I did on Amazon by clicking the link here.

>>She is always accessible with banter, friendly commentary, snark, and giggles.

>>She caters to public relations and social media peeps with content oriented to tools, techniques, and training.

>>Her smile, personality, humor, and love for dogs and bikes know no boundaries, and her energy is ebullient and effervescent (oh, that’s so smarmy, but true!).

>>She gives gifts every Friday; read these posts here and here, for her popular Follow Friday series.

>>She is committed to the cause – changing the perception of public relations and encouraging practitioners to become more marketing-esque with knowledge of financials, business, analytics, and more.

>>She is the consummate social media leader for all things new including channels, gadgets, and tools. She throws the punches where they need to land, and stands tall to take the heat when it comes.

>>She is an A-lister, dammit, and she’ll deny this forcefully…but when her blog, Spin Sucks, sits in the top 35 spot on Ad Age Power 100 for months, and the peeps ahead of her are blogging communities, then why the heck can’t I call her an A-lister? I wonder if that’s a negative…? She’s a leader, and Spin Sucks Pro (her paid platform) is soon to launch for real; she’s taken content marketing to revenue-generation mode (something few have done successfully).

What other reasons besides these can anyone share? I’m sold; hope you are, too!

Love ya, Gin Blossom! I’m a proud twinster!

 

{ 60 Comments }

December’s Blogging Dilemma

by Jayme Soulati on 12/13/2011 in Blogging 101

No matter if you celebrate Christian holidays and New Year’s or not, December brings with it high-level stress to finish year-end tasks, send the books to the CPA for interim numbers, close the business on a high note, take left-over PTO days,  conduct a few business trips, and also spend time with family because schools are closed.

For we who do celebrate Christmas with Santa Claus, decorating of the home, card sending, baking, and throwing or attending a party or two, that’s another level of commitment that sends me into a tizzie.

Add the fact that I’m now at the gym nearly four times weekly directly during blog-writing time, and what part of that doesn’t wreak havoc on the blogging schedule?

This post is for me, and I hope you’re gonna nod  your head in time to mine and agree; take some ‘raderie from this community who all know how much life happens (and it’s OK).

If I go off the grid for two weeks in December, here’s what’s NOT going to happen:

>>My readers will understand for all the reasons above, and they will slowly come back when content (and me) are fresh in January.

>>My blog will lie dormant for a bit, or I’ll capture some fave old posts for newcomers here and arm the queue with oldies but goodies.

>>There’s no impact to my billable time if I don’t blog every day…blogging is an extra bonus, and added feature to my services (uhmm, for my own brand and not my clients’).

>>My SEO (ahem, for anyone who knows me, they also know how much I disregard that word) won’t suffer (really?) because if you don’t know what it is in the first place, then you have no idea if it’s going to suffer!

>>There won’t be any guest posters because a) I haven’t asked and b) everyone else is in the same boat.

>>My guilt for not delivering on content three times weekly may not be overcome; however, when inspiration has fallen off the cliff because of all that aforementioned I shouldn’t be blogging anyway, right?

Heh.

And, so, dear community, this is my December blogging dilemma and my lame ass blog post for this week. I was riding the comet from the success and ‘raderie of Share Your Blog Here, but that’s extinguished until I resurrect the comments into a fastidious post and literally share your blog again (which I plan to do, don’t you worry).

Did anyone nod their head in syncopation?

{ 18 Comments }

Share Your Blog Here

by Jayme Soulati on 12/07/2011 in Blogging 101

This post is inspired by new commenter in the Soulati-’TUDE! community, Adam Clarke. Thanks, Adam!

Today marks the first in what’s hoped to be a continuing series for bloggers to share their blogs. My goal is to get 50 bloggers to give a blurb about their blog, its topic(s), and of course some link love. I will visit each of the bloggers who share and try to keep those regular visits happening. If your blog is from a vertical other than social media, marketing or PR, then ALL THE BETTER!

If I already know you and you’re a part of this community now, no matter! We all can be reminded what you’re writing about and try to get introduced to new peeps. If you’re at all like me, my time is limited and I rarely get a chance to visit others as I want and need to. Perhaps this will make it easier (is that selfish?).

So, I’ll begin:

1. Soulati-’TUDE! was born in March 2010 and it’s all about whatever I want, heh. But, it’s highly geared to public relations, social media, business and marketing. I’ll write the occasional off-topic post because I’m inspired to share a rant or three, but generally that’s what you’ll find here.

2. The SMB Collective was a trial run for a blogging community launched October 2010 with about six core contributors. Its topics are aimed at small business owners and anything is game for the writing. The blog still exists yet is highly dormant due to time constraints and the need for fresh writing. If anyone wants to help me push this blog back to new heights, I’m game and interested! Please…!

Now, it’s your turn…please share…and let’s get to 50 new blogs we all want to know about! Thanks for playing!

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Is Pointing, Yelling Free Publicity or Just Awareness?

by Jayme Soulati on 12/06/2011 in Public Relations, Thinking

Today’s guest post comes to you from my dear colleague Shakirah Dawud, a highly prolific writer I admire greatly for her style, creativity, features (in writing), and genuine interest in provoking thought. She writes for Deliberate Ink, and you can connect with her here and here.

Shakirah Dawud Says:

This article was going to be much different than it is. I was going to name a campaign whose unscrupulosity (yes, I made the word up) totally blew my mind, the reasons it did, and raise your hackles about it as much as I could, too.

But I stopped because I wondered (as I often do about these things), when does pointing and yelling raise awareness, and when does it become the business’s use of my ire to play made-you-look?

Businesses and other public entities love publicity. They like getting in the news because people pay attention to them. Most of them prefer positive attention, but a few don’t mind negative attention one bit.

I have to make a decision: do I spread their news for them or do what I can to avoid giving them the clicks they’re seeking? More often than not, I choose the latter. If I see a need to mention it publicly, I usually limit it to an indirect reference. I don’t imagine it has much effect on the world at large, but it’s always been my policy to ignore people who do outrageous things only to get attention. I wonder if I’m alone.

My respect goes to people who speak up loudly when something untoward happens according to public record.  These people’s perspectives are bold, well reasoned, and well written as often as they are coarse emotional rants. I’ve read and written both types with gusto. But how much awareness is raised in these cases?  By the time I’ve found out about a controversial issue or event involving a business or public figure, it’s usually already a trending topic.

But my gratitude goes to people who research and provide information about the things happening right under our noses that most of us haven’t noticed–the patterns of activity, observations of interactions, and statistical trends that, as it has been famously said–”they” don’t want us to know. That’s more than adding a voice to the crowd of tsk-tskers.

As a PR professional, Jayme is an awareness raiser. I want to know–from her and from you–where the line is.

Is it futile to keep your silence on an issue you feel strongly about but refuse to provide free publicity for?

How would you raise awareness if you decide you should?

What factors do you look at when deciding to give someone or something a spotlight for your crowd to gasp and point at?

And since I have your ear, what do you think of the short-lived “Unhate” campaign?

Shakirah Dawud is the writer and editor behind Deliberate Ink. Based in Maryland with roots in New York, she’s been crafting effective marketing copy as a writer and polishing many forms of prose as an editor since 2002. Clients in many fun sizes, industries, and locations reach her through the Web.

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How To Migrate Blackberry Email to iPhone 4S

by Jayme Soulati on 12/05/2011 in Business

Everyone has varied experiences when they get a new device. For me, the only device I’ve never had issues ramping up is Blackberry smartphones. I got a Motorola Droid from Verizon, and my client’s email never worked; I stopped trying (Verizon couldn’t help me).

A year ago, I tried the Samsung smartphone and email was intermittent and battery life horrible. I reverted to Blackberry and was happy until recently. I decided to turn in the Blackberry (due to RIM’s recent global outages for email service) and try the iPhone 4S.

Synching two POP3 email accounts and one Gmail account to the iPhone has been an experience of ultimate frustration. As of this writing, I am still waiting for help on how to configure my client’s email account (which I absolutely must have) on the iPhone 4S; I was finally successful after five hours Saturday installing my primary business account (in addition to six more hours on this).

As said in the first line, everyone has varying experiences of success, so this story may not hold true for you; however, because this has been so challenging, it’s my duty to share and hopefully head you off at the pass with a solution rather than go down the ravine as I did.

Backstory: Migrating to iPhone from Blackberry

I’m going to recount each step I took to get to a solution, and you may wish to skip ahead to the juicy answer –whichever is best for you. I’m hoping I can help; here goes:

1. Gmail is easily installed in iPhone within two minutes; no problems. I believe Yahoo goes easy, too.

2. When installing a POP3 email account that works with Outlook, choose “other” on the iPhone under settings, mail, set up account.

3. When I installed my two accounts, I was able to get a few emails for a day. Luckily, I was near my PC all day and could compare what I was missing. I only received 10 percent of my emails on the iPhone after my first installation.

4. I returned to AT&T where I got the phone, but the salesman couldn’t help me.

5. Saturday morning, I began my quest for help via Twitter and Facebook. Thanks to Michael Schechter, Gregg Morris, Jenn Whinnem, Erin Feldman, Ray Andrews, and a gentleman from Malaysia for offering major support, tips, and interest in this problem.

6. It was suggested that I do a hard reboot, delete the accounts and reinstall them and look at push technology (which I had no idea about).

7. I did the first things first and at the same time issued two trouble tickets to the web hosts for the POP3 accounts; I had no idea they would be working weekends. I use ChiHost for my business and Successful Hosting for my client’s account.

8. The push thing was something I didn’t know, so I went to a Mobile Mail website and talked to live chat support. I thought this was my solution because the site stated all my emails could be combined, blah, blah. Turns out, it wasn’t, because my email was not hosted with this company. Wrong turn.

9. I went to Apple support community chat and saw tons and tons of people with the exact same problems I was having – migrating from Blackberry to iPhone. The push technology doesn’t exist on iPhone; it’s more like a pull. When I sit with my Blackberry near my PC, Blackberry ALWAYS gets emails first, and then my Outlook brings them off the server. With the iPhone, that does not work; emails are not automatically pushed; and there are only settings for checking for mail every 15 minutes, no more frequently.

10. Meanwhile, the ChiHost support team sent me a response and said that Outlook settings on my PC had to match those of the smartphone. Ah-hah! So, I went through the motions of deleting the account and reinstalling it with the exact settings. Still didn’t work; felt like mail was getting bogged down.

11. ChiHost was great; they said the following:

>>Turn off SSL or anything encrypted.

>>Use advanced settings and ensure ports match what’s being used in Outlook. To know what ports you have for incoming and outgoing mail, go to your Outlook email accounts and click on your existing email. Go to “more settings” and “advanced.” Check ports; often a default is 110 and 25, but another email account I use requires 465 and 995 so each host is different.

>>For the outgoing server, where it says optional user name and password on the iPhone; it’s NOT optional! Add this information in there.

>>Where it says “authenticate” check “password.”

11. I did get a response from Successful Hosting yesterday, but I missed it because I was mobile Saturday and emails were not flowing to client’s email. I just sent them a response back to ask for the proper port settings for the client POP3 account on the iPhone (because the settings I added still aren’t working). This has not been resolved yet.

12. I was told I get to upgrade my smartphone for my client, and guess what? I’m returning to the tried and true workhorse – Blackberry. I have to trust that RIM is going to get its kinks worked out because after this experience and everyone else’s who took time to go to Apple for help (and didn’t get it in the community chat), I have to think there will be a lot of peeps returning to Blackberry.

As for the browser experience? Hands down, it’s iPhone. I have been simply amazed this weekend (not to mention the awesome Siri technology – astonishing, astonishing) with the speed, clarity, mobile readiness of this smartphone.

And, so, the moral to the story is this – ask yourself what goals you have for your smartphone – I’d suggest Blackberry if you want workhorse email dependability for multiple accounts, and I’d suggest iPhone if you want awesome browsing experience and you’re fine with a Gmail or Yahoo email account.  Droid was not my favorite phone and Samsung a year ago – no way.

I hope this piece helps someone; goodness knows I didn’t have the time to waste on this, but perhaps I’m smarter for the next time than I was two days ago. I bet you can add your smartphone war stories and other solutions to add to this list. I can’t thank my colleagues enough who weathered this experience alongside and offered suggestions. Knowing I had that support was so helpful.

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Creative Traits Scorsese & Xerox Style

by Jayme Soulati on 12/01/2011 in Marketing, Thinking

What are the traits of creative people? Not sure I can nail this, but I’m going to present and discuss characteristics of two people, one a Hollywood producer/director, and the other a CEO of a Fortune company. These two respected professionals come to us direct from my fave ‘zine you all know, Fast Company.

Let me introduce you to some of the personality traits of Ursula Burns, CEO of Xerox and the “first African-American woman to lead a U.S.  company of Xerox’s size and influence,” according to Fast Company. Extracted directly from Fast Company, these are the words and phrases written to describe this accomplished woman:

>>She has the courage to tell you the truth in ugly times.

>>Being direct is her calling card.

>>She’s not a protocol kind of person, and is always willing to push the button herself.

>>She had an early aptitude for math; has guts and intelligence with outspokenness and keen business insights.

>>She has radical honesty she doles out, but with an overlay of Zen.

>>She has become a listener-in-chief, and she’s had to learn to temper her outspokenness with the help of good coaching.

>>Her mother influences her to this day, and Burns tells of the woman who washed and ironed clothes for money and bartered for services to provide healthcare for her three children. She says she recalls her mom as supremely confident and someone who expected great things from her kids.

You may wonder if Ms. Burns is really creative or just a #RockHot business woman. She has obvious traits that support that premise. In my earlier post this week, Thinking About Creativity, I ponder whether creativity is instinctual, innate or intelligent. With the example of Ms. Burns I’m thinking YES. (I could’ve featured Conan O’Brien here, too; another poster child for creativity.)

FROM HOLLYWOOD

Martin Scorsese is the December/January cover story for Fast Company, and upon reading half his story (How To Lead A Creative Life) he inspired this post.  After all, who else  can be labeled the most consummate creative and greatest film director ever? Interestingly, from the story on Ms. Burns it was easier to extract her exact character traits; however, this list, about someone  undoubtedly creative, is more esoteric about character. It ought to get you thinking, though.

(Again, these words and phrases are extracted directly from Fast Company.)

Martin Scorsese was interviewed on the eve of creating his first 3-D kids film, Hugo, and here are some of the things he and his colleagues were quoted as saying about him:

>>Panicked about hitting a deadline and has to tame the neurotic beast of self-doubt and frets every little detail.

>>Can’t make up his mind, still gets obsessed, still gets crazed by the same kinds of things that make any creative type nuts.

>>He’s in the business of crafting a creative life, and he adheres to a few rules:

………….Respect the past.

………….Trust your confidants, (a director’s creative process is largely collaborative) but not too much. (Important to know when a collaboration has run its course as well as when to accept criticism and when to say no.

………….Play the corporate game (Sometimes you have to give in to the system.)

………….Defy them when you must.

………….Find another outlet, or eight.

………….Give back and learn.

>>He was never interested in the accumulation of money and never had a mind for business (direct quote).

>>He is a generous mentor; a regular guy and finds something positive with everything.

If I didn’t know which list belonged to whom, I’d pick the Scorsese list for Burns and vice versa. My observation is that Scorsese adheres to a set of survival guidelines for his creativity to thrive, and Burns’s personality and character are from where she derives her creative business style.  After reading about Ms. Burns, she reminds me more of marketing or PR type (we’re often labeled as creatives).

This could be a royal stretch in futility, but it was fun — to quote my fave Aussie curmudgeon Leon Noone.

Certainly creative traits for “creative” (who says) people cannot be nicely packaged, yet there may be a common thread and I’m going to call that…(please complete this sentence…what word describes the common thread?).

 

 

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