soulati.com

Digital Marketing Strategy, PR and Messaging

Soulati-'TUDE!

The Power of Positive

By

Yesterday, I verbally connected to a Twitter follower with whom I’ve been exchanging a few tweets and blog comments for several weeks. How he connected with me, however, was to chide my slamming of another’s ignorance suggesting I should focus more on the positive.

At the time, I was unclear what his tweet implied and filed it away to digest further.  When he again suggested something similar, I hit his Web site to track a phone number and dialed.

David Bookout, owner of Effetti, Inc., is a business coach (at least one of the hats he wears is such). Not ever having the privilege of such a thing (business coaching) I listened closely (and if you’ve been listening to me, you’ll recall blogging enhances listening).

David suggested:

  • Energy is wasted when lamenting ignorance. Rather than chide people for not understanding public relations, for example, I ought to focus on the power of positives and communicate how public relations contributes and how I make a difference and deliver value to clients as a public relations practitioner.

Indeed.

  • In addition, David commented about the length of  my blog posts (as I referenced on Twitter “this blog is killing me”) and perhaps I provide a “read more” link to full stories others are writing (sort of like an aggregator of content with a sexy intro, or some such).

Wondering how that would work as I’m really enjoying the writing and quest for topical content?

As I keep this chat with David top of mind, I will be reminded of the power of positive, the opportunity I have to share my passion for public relations and back up my commitment to prove Public Relations Drives Marketing, and to possibly consider shorter blog posts (how’s this for starters?).

Apps Review: Gravatars and RSS

By

Sometimes there are just too many widgets, gadgets and gizmos for everyone to clearly understand their value.  I want to hear your suggestions about applications you might wish to learn more about.  I’ve had several people comment about RSS and another ask for info about a gravatar.

Hence, today I’ll start this regular feature spotlighting apps and tools; Gravatars and Really Simple Syndication (RSS) are first up.  I’ll research, test the application and present a simplified snapshot. I’ll also provide my recommendation based on first-time research (or current use of the tool). Please add your list to comments below so we can explore and learn together.

Gravatar

According to WordPress, “a globally recognized avatar, or gravatar, is an icon or representation of a user in a shared virtual reality such as a forum, chat, website, or other form of online community in which the user can distinguish from other users. Created by Tom Werner, gravatars make it possible for a person to have one avatar across the entire web.”

A visitor to Soulati-‘TUDE! asked how some guests had photos while others suffered the edgy monster avatars I selected to denote people without their own avatar. It had been awhile since I researched how I had done this for other sites yet did not have an avatar on my own site.

Here’s how you do this:

  • Head to a Web site accessible at this link Gravatar.
  • Create an account featuring the primary email address you use when commenting. Upload a photo or logo; whatever you’d like your gravatar to be (your globally recognized avatar).
  • When you comment on blogs, forums, chats, Disqus, etc. and you enter your primary email, your gravatar automatically uploads.
  • I went back to my account and added a new email address along with another gravatar. I uploaded a fresh photo and my logo, too. It’s now in use when I make comments on Soulati-‘TUDE!

Difficulty

Simple; any non-IT person can do this. Best news yet…no need to edit images in a photo editor. Gravatar.com uploads a full-size image and allows you to accept the cropped image.

Recommendation

Yes! I do recommend gravatars, especially if you are active in social media and blogging. Having a self-selected gravatar differentiates your brand and boosts awareness.

Really Simple Syndication (RSS)

Really Simple Syndication, or RSS, has been around awhile. It allows people to subscribe to content generated by bloggers and podcasters. It provides publishers (in this case bloggers) the ability to syndicate content throughout the Internet.

At the upper right-hand corner of this blog, there is a “subscribe”/RSS feed button. When you click this, it asks whether you’d like Soulati-‘TUDE! to be delivered by email or in a reader. Then it asks you to choose your reader (the channel by which your content will be captured and delivered to you.)

I receive Soulati-‘TUDE! by email each early afternoon, and I subscribe to the blog in my Google Reader. This way, I see what everyone else sees as a way of quality control.

What to do:

1. Set up a Google G-mail account. There are so many reasons to have G-mail, and it doesn’t hurt to indulge in one more address for tinkering.

2. On the Google tool bar, hit the “more” tab and find “Reader.” Set up a Google Reader account and explore the many blogs you can now subscribe to.  As a Web-based aggregator released in 2005, Google Reader is one of the best tools to have. When you subscribe to blogs, Google Reader captures all the content and saves it for you to read whenever you wish. It’s also easy to unsubscribe, too.

3. While on the road, you can log in to your G-mail account using any browser (preferably Chrome or Firefox) and read all the blog posts captured in your reader. When you’ve read each, “mark all as read” and the table of contents will show zero new posts. If you’d like to make a comment, link to the blog title and you’ll navigate to that blog to post comments.

Difficulty

Setting up a reader is simple for anyone. The tip is not to overload the reader with more than 15 blogs at one time. You’ll quickly know whether a blog is worth keeping up with, and you can refresh topics in queue any time by way of a topical search to pinpoint new content.

Recommendation

There’s no way I can manage to read all the content I do without a reader. I absolutely recommend Google Reader (because I’ve been using it awhile). Regardless of whose you use, I encourage you to register so you can easily subscribe to Soulati-‘TUDE! and not miss a future post!

Dow Jones and the Media Relations Ad Pitch

By

On April 2, 2010, a display ad in the Wall Street Journal caught my eye; the words “perfect pitch” stood out in the headline, and that being my language, I paid closer attention. The advertisement headline “Engage journalists and bloggers with the perfect pitch” declared that Dow Jones Media Relations ManagerTM was the right tool for media relations professionals to “connect with writers who are receptive to their pitch.”

The half-page below-the-fold advertisement to media relations practitioners was the first I’ve seen in a national daily. I read the ad several times because it struck me how odd it was for Dow Jones to waste ad spend targeting me and corporate “flacks” aka publicists. I was intrigued enough to tear out the ad and save it for my later response during which:

  • I attempted to hit the download url for a complimentary e-book called “Monitor and Engage.” There was a typo in the url. The last word “today” was in bold and appeared to be part of the link to access the book; however, it was part of the ad.
  • The download link url included “PRSA” and everyone knows the Public Relations Society of America is our profession’s venerable certifications and standards group.  My initial thought was “Oh, PRSA is collaborating with Dow Jones to offer this new media relations tool.” Oddly, the url re-directed to a Dow Jones url with NO PRSA mention. After Googling the product, there’s still no mention of PRSA on the Web page. Apparently, it may be a hidden affiliation?
  • I downloaded the e-book expecting to learn more about Dow Jones Media Relations Manager. I didn’t really need a dozen pages of tight, cluttered, repetitive information I already knew to ease me into the sale.
  • After hitting the e-book link, I remained confused. The e-book title was “How to Win Friends and Influence Audiences in the Age of Conversation,” although the words Monitor and Engage did match. The ad’s sales pitch told me I could “pinpoint influential writers and keep your executives singing the right tune.” Somewhere along the way, the creative team responsible for the ad lost site of the copywriting for the book. Seems like another disconnect to me.
  • After skimming the e-book, the product is mentioned with nice charts, but what I failed to see is any marketing collateral (e.g. how much does the dang thing cost already?).

Other Thoughts

I’m surprised I learned about the existence of this media relations tool via advertising; although, my take-action-on-the-first-viewing response should be an exciting statistic, eh?

I subscribe to the Wall Street Journal; these guys know my reader profile. Why wouldn’t they pitch me direct via e-marketing?

Dow Jones, you’ve got a boatload of marketing dollars in your budget. If you’re pitching PR people why don’t you treat us like influencers and sell the product like IT people do? Give some bloggers a beta and have them tweet and blog the heck out of it? (Or, perhaps you’ve already done that and I missed it. Or, perhaps we smaller fry can’t afford your product anyway.)

For my first time being pitched by a Dow Jones print ad in a Dow Jones sister publication for a media relations tool I probably need and would like to consider buying…I think a C- is in order. Let’s hope the product performs way better than the grade.

New Bloggers’ Q & A

By

Now that I have three full weeks of straight blogging under my belt, it means nothing. Seriously! There is so much to learn and do, it’s daunting. Along the path, I’d like to bring you with to share in my experience with questions I’m posing and that are being posed to me.

Here we go:

1. Why don’t I have a link to Soulati–‘TUDE! from my home page at ?

Exactly; long story. Simply, I have branding issues. The recent importation of a blog into an antiquatedly built site has created challenges (which are opportunities) to modernize. It’s an evolution and one that requires some IT dinking. There will soon be a link to the blog from the home page of Soulati.com; promise. (I needed to state that in a public forum to be my own leading edge…it carries some weight!)

2. Can I design an entire Web site in WordPress?

Yes, one can. offers the best of DIY for anyone interested in a simple, easy-to-edit content management approach. As I switched from Headway to Thesis, someone made a remark saying my blog resembled the look of others designed in Thesis. I suggested kindly in reply, it wasn’t the look that mattered, it was the content. (I still concur with myself.)

3. Is there a bloggers’ association at which I can review guide rules, etiquette?

What a surprise; nope. I found the , an association in Singapore, and niche bloggers’ associations for outdoor, theater, Iranian Muslim, and Afrosphere. Didn’t find a plain old weblog association on which I want to see copyright rules, etiquette, trademarks, how to link, sources for content, tutorials on SEM, blogging platforms and a social networking site.

4. Do you think question 3 and its answer just gave someone really innovative an idea to launch a business?

Resoundingly, yes, and please put me on the inaugural board of directors as a charter pioneer of a new bloggers’ association.

5. Do you think three-week-old bloggers should be so arrogant?

No, but since there are no guide rules on tonality, etiquette, or braggadocio to be found at a bloggers’ peer group, ignorance is bliss, as they say.

6. What is a blog roll?

A blog roll is just like a roll call in school (why was it called that anyway?). You can add links to blogs you wish to feature in a list as a side widget on your blog. Nice way to gift your peers. (Widgets, incidentally, are pretty important to a blog; they’ve come a long way from “company X that makes widgets” in academic examples found in college text books.”

7. How does one find topics of interest to write about?

There are endless opportunities for topics, and I find them this way:

  • Listening differently. Most conversations provide some topic for consideration. I jot down a buzz word in a rolling topical list in a manual spiral notebook on my desk. I’ve also taken to carrying paper with me to ensure I can capture a thought while driving, or standing in a line somewhere. (I’m sure there’s some fancy mobile app for my i-Pod 3G instead of paper.)
  • Reading newsprint and tearing stories. I pull from periodicals and do the same, keeping these in a manual folder. (Can’t tell you I’m reviewing the folder daily; I need to locate it on my desk.)
  • Watching current events and common themes on Twitter.
  • Asking Twitter friends about a topic they’d like to see or their opinion on what’s resonated thus far on the blog. Inviting experts for interviews, and asking pals to make comments on a blog post which can lead to a new post topic.
  • Reading others’ blogs, and reviewing shared links pertaining to my field of expertise.  When posting comments on others’ blogs, I consider that topic for later.

8. What part of a new blog is a bigger bite than chewable?

IT!! I’ve stated before, having some IT knowledge is hugely beneficial. As things unfold and there’s more to incorporate on the blog, IT expertise is a must. Of course, there are levels of expertise. I’m in the “I’ll-try-anything-eight-times-cry- then-try-again-and-get-it-done” category. If you’re in the “I’m-never-touching-IT-ever-and-I’ll-pay-someone” category, then you’re going to have problems. Try to find a happy medium.

9. Who is the founding father of the blogosphere?

From Dave Winer pioneered the development of weblogs, syndication (RSS), podcasting, outlining, and web content management software; former contributing editor at Wired Magazine, research fellow at Harvard Law School, entrepreneur, and investor in web media companies. A native New Yorker, he received a Master’s in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin, a Bachelor’s in Mathematics from Tulane University and currently lives in Berkeley, California.

10. Does it take time to blog?

Eh? What’d you say? You think thinking, researching, interviewing, writing, editing, writing, posting, tagging, previewing, fact-checking, linking, editing, marketing, responding, engaging and strategizing take time? Why, goodness, no.

Social Media Groundswell Tipping Point and Nestle’

By

Nestle’ SA is suffering a groundswell of negative social media commentary that began March 17 when Greenpeace International released a report about Nestle’s purchase and use of palm oil. Greenpeace alleges the palm oil comes from an Indonesian company that cleared rain forests to build palm plantations.

The Twitterosphere has been abuzz about this story, and the Nestle’ Facebook fan page (with more than 96,000 fans) has thousands of negative hits from activists, environmentalists, Greenpeace, animal rights supporters, and the like.

In the March 29, 2010 Wall Street Journal, the backlash against the company is reported as global and devastating (if you’re Nestle). This situation, more than the Domino’s Pizza incident I watched unfold on Twitter last year, is global viral. It’s buoyed by the digitally savvy who’ve used social media effectively to push a viral message that Nestle is killing orangutans.

If you sat in the corporate communications department of Nestle, what would you recommend as public relations strategy? And, to those of you who do do crisis communications, is this considered a crisis, in your opinion?

  • Nestle is an iconic global brand targeting audiences across the spectrum of age groups who consume infant formula, cereal, pet food, bottled water, energy foods, cocoa, chocolates, and more. Millions of brand-loyal people touch Nestle products. Similar to Toyota, apology and/or clarifications about the company’s products and stance on the environment should be immediately shared. On the Nestle Web site, there is a statement about the palm oil situation (see above link).
  • Executives should avail themselves to the consumer public in a Web forum to field questions. Digg features such forums for high-level executives (the Toyota U.S. CEO was interviewed on Digg).
  • Groundswell is a fabulous read. Ms. Li and co-author Josh Bernoff of Forrester Research suggest “groundswell thinking is like any other complex skill — it takes knowledge, experience, and eventually, enlightenment to get there.” In an early chapter of the book on strategies for tapping the groundswell, the authors offer “five strategies companies can pursue in the groundswell, and these include listening, talking, energizing, supporting, embracing.” (These are exactly what Nestle’ needs to be doing.)
  • I asked my Chicago colleague Christine Esposito of Terracom Public Relations, a 20-year-old environmental public relations firm, to weigh in on this discussion. I wanted Christine’s take on Greenpeace and what it might do (besides rejoice at the success of its global viral campaign).
  • Christine suggested Greenpeace could benefit its edgy activist image by recruiting more mainstream NGOs that are similarly concerned about palm oil production. They should sit together at the boardroom table with Nestle to spell out the allegations, listen to how the corporation responds, and hammer out a resolution. (Hmm, this sounds like mediation, and perhaps it’s very similar.)
  • Another thought is immediate elevation by Nestle of its cause-related marketing efforts. Whatever programs Nestle’ corporate communications has had in place, boost them up to engage with environmentalists and show the company does care about Indonesia’s rain forests, among other protected habitats and animals.
  • To round out its team of experts, Nestle’ should hire Paul Rand and his team at Chicago’s hot word-of-mouth marketing agency Zocalo Group. Paul is president of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association, and he is a high-level influencer in brand evangelism. (I worked with and for Paul in my Chicago agency days and respect his intelligence and ability to deliver in such situations.)

Nestle did not dally in its response to this situation. Regardless, it’s difficult to control the Tipping Point. As a teachable moment, this case study is one for the books, and it’s still unfolding. Once the first domino was tickled, the rest just fell into place.

What strategies would you offer Nestle and/or Greenpeace International to push this situation to resolution and repair a damaged brand?