Soulati-'TUDE!

Viral Music Video Boosts Brand And Social Marketing Appeal

02/04/2013 By Jayme Soulati

Image credit: Chicago Music Exchange on Google+

Knowing how much this community loves music, a story courtesy of Crain’s Chicago Business, shares how some businesses are benefitting from viral video to boost social marketing engagement.

In the January 28, 2013 issue of Crain’s, there’s a section Focus: Social Marketing and a story, “Chicago’s Social Marketing Standouts.” The Chicago Music Exchange owner challenged its staff to create a viral video. Alex Chadwick, a guitarist and salesman, made 100 Riffs (A Brief History of Rock N’ Roll).

Views of this video on YouTube are nearing 4.6 million (at the time of the print story, there were 4.31 million views on YouTube). Total views for the Chicago Music Exchange’s 223 other videos only amount to 6 million.

Elements of Viral Video

What made this video go viral? According to all the experts quoted in the story, the guitarist shows off his technical and musical prowess while taking the viewers through the history of music with 100 recognizable tunes. The video fits right in with the mission of the music equipment retailer, which doesn’t necessarily contribute to its viral nature, but it feels so right.

The Happy Friday Series: Creating Optimism in Traffic on Foursquare

02/01/2013 By Jayme Soulati

It is my great pleasure to welcome Paula Kiger, a 12Most.com author and blogger @BigGreenPen to today’s The Happy Friday Series. This story shows how you can create good vibes no matter where you’re stuck on life’s journey.

Paula Kiger Says:

Once I began using Foursquare, I quickly became intrigued by the check-ins that do more than identify a location. For example, the intersection of Capital Circle Northeast and Centerville Road here in Tallahassee could just be “Capital Circle NE and Centerville Road” but it has been dubbed “The Punishment Light.” I don’t know who created this name, but the wait for the light to turn at this intersection can be punishing, especially for drivers who are running late for work.

I am also a frequent visitor (and checker-inner) at “The Longest Light in Tally” (the intersection of Capital Circle and Apalachee Parkway). I view this check-in as a little “we’re all in this together” nod of commiseration to my fellow Tallahassee drivers who endure interminably lengthy waits at this intersection.

Because of my route to work, the Capital Circle intersection I can guarantee being at daily is the intersection of Capital Circle and Mahan Drive. The light is not quite as long as the two mentioned above, but it’s a major intersection that typically found me fretting about how late I was to work, how I was going to get everything done that I had committed to, how I was going to overcome the problems big and small in my life. It was yet another place to give in to worry and anxiety.

This image is a still shot from Traffic Camera Number 013

Which is why, on my birthday on November 28, I pulled over at a business at that intersection and created my own check-in: The Optimism Light. It is an alternative to the “Capital Circle NE and Mahan Dr.” check-in. It was a gift to myself. Having given myself that gift, it fascinates me how having one small symbolic homage to the positive makes a difference. If I am stopped at a red light there, I check in and take a deep breath. And then I:

Say a brief prayer of gratitude for the indisputably precious gift of another day
Send a positive intention for a friend or someone I know of who is ill or troubled
Give the person in front of me, beside me, or behind me the vibe that “it’s okay – we’ll all get where we’re going” instead of “what’s taking you so long to MOVE?!”
Hope that hope will prevail in the face of the world’s darknesses

I would be lying if I wrote, “and if no one else ever checked in here, that would be fine – I created this for myself.” Honestly, I want others to check in there (and I appreciate those FourSquare users who have). It’s why I tweet and post to Facebook every time I check in there.

When I find quotes that apply to this check-in, I add them as “tips.” They’re brief enough to take in while waiting for the light to turn:

Around 50,000 cars pass through this intersection every day. You could argue that taking two seconds to give your fellow driver a break or say a quick prayer/intention (whatever your faith tradition) for someone else is not even a drop in the bucket. But, in my opinion, 50,000+ drops could create some waves of tranquility.

And in a world where it’s all too easy to make waves with sarcasm and vitriol, waves of optimism surely couldn’t hurt any of us.

(Jayme Note: The Happy Friday series seeks new guest authors. What makes you happy? Please share with me, and you can be my featured guest!)

PR Strategy For Business: The Company Launch

01/30/2013 By Jayme Soulati

News crew setting up to report on the floods (Photo credit: max_wedge)

Economics and economies are contributing to the start-up and along with the great idea to launch a company comes the need for solid public relations counsel to strategize about the best way to distribute news.

Gone are the days when launching the company was straightforward. What we used to do was develop a media list, write a press release and get it approved, and then start pitching media one by one with phone calls, followed by executive interviews, and stories that appeared in media outlets.

I’m not going to say that was easy, but it certainly pales in comparison to what we do today (she said with excitement!).

Blending Traditional With Digital

Launching a company today requires in-depth strategy and a healthy regard for the social media sphere.

When a start-up is launching a company website at the same time it’s trying to establish a brand and reputation, there are elements to activate that enable a one-two punch in logical sequence.

A website with language by copywriters and marketers needs to launch with the appropriate optimization and back-end analytics tools.

Meanwhile, a should be orchestrated from which a few news releases and fact sheets are created.

The media list is trickier these days. Media outlets have fewer reporters on staff and also fewer print editions. Many publications are strictly online which means the lead time for publishing the news (especially if it’s hard news with a time element) is zilch. If an editor likes a story, he can clear a blank web page and run it! Funny, but true; you get the idea of the immediacy of the news cycle.

What that means is the PR team has to button up and think about every news angle, its impact on the company, how it should be communicated, and when. Please read this sentence twice; it is that important for your business’s success.

Factors To Consider

Should the news go on the wire, just online or both?
Should social media channels post the news same day and repeat it or wait?
Which social media channel should be regarded as primary for corporate news; how about consumer news?
Should bloggers be pitched? How about important journalists? Should you pitch them online via Twitter or traditionally via phone and email?
Do you want to field requests for interviews that are inbound or do you want to be aggressive and pitch and earn the hits?
Is your spokesperson trained using the message map? Is there a Q&A developed so spokespeople are prepared and not blindsided?
Has the PR team created a media brief of reporters who call requesting an interview?
When should a blog post news of a launch? Before or after a news release?

And, there is so much more.

The primary takeaway is not to confuse you, Ms. or Mr. Business; it’s to encourage you to hire a qualified public relations strategist with media relations expertise. Have no fear…

PR Strategy For Business: Blog Post Or News Release?

01/29/2013 By Jayme Soulati

The news release is NOT dead. There is no other way to formally announce company news that meets and adheres to traditional journalistic standards.

For those suggesting a news release no longer matters should take a look at whether they have hard news to share.

Start-ups, small-to-medium businesses (SMBs), and even established companies need to use a press release to issue news either online, via the wires, or sent as a pitch by media relations teams.

Blog Post Or News Release?

More companies are realizing the value of blogging. The blog, like the news release is owned media. You create the message, write the content and publish it, post it or distribute it via many channels.

But, here’s the $5 million chicken-or-egg question — which comes first?

Should a company write a blog post to launch news or should it write a news release to launch news?

A blog post seems like the easiest method to put news out there; albeit, the audience that sees the post is questionable (especially on a brand new blog with zero analytics).

If a company was to launch news of a new product, service or other innovation for the very first time via a blog, then that news is no longer fresh.

A blog is NOT the best place to announce major company news first unless a news release is included in that news strategy with strategic timing.

Here are the steps I recommend, and afterwards I share why:

1. To launch company news, draft a news release and blog post at the same time.

2. Get the content for each approved via the overall marketing and legal teams at the same time.

3. Set distribution of the news for both the blog and news release at about the same time. A blog post can be scheduled at any time of day.

4. The news release should hit the wires first, and the link to the news release should be included in the blog post just before clicking “publish.”

Rationale For This PR Strategy

If media get wind of a start-up’s news announcement and the company’s blog is the vehicle to share that news, then any attempt at issuing a news release, featuring the same content, and garnering attention is likely to fail.

When media relations practitioners pitch media, a blog post is not the vehicle of choice to inform media of news. It can complement; however, it is not an official vehicle.

Corporate blogs have a variety of authors and topics. To establish the company blog as the official word from the C-suite would take months of consistent writing with on-message topics. Media relations cannot be done via an occasional heavy-hitting blog post.

The news release must prevail first complemented by supporting vehicles with the content emphasized and packed with punch.

Thanks for reading Soulati-‘TUDE! Blog Post #400! Please subscribe, up and to the right, so you miss no more!

The News Release Is NOT Dead

01/28/2013 By Jayme Soulati

newsrelease Everywhere I read, someone speaks of the demise of the press release. Perhaps they’re right; we in media relations rarely put “press” in front of “release” to describe company-issued news.

We call it a news release, and the news release is NOT dead.

There were 137 news releases issued on PR Newswire today in the span of 30 minutes, the majority issued at 8 a.m. ET.

News, among those who don’t truly know what news is, can be anything a company announces; however, if it’s hard news then it’s oriented to facts, data, investors, publicly traded companies, major new products with mass appeal (Boeing’s failed jet), global issues, national crises, weather disasters, and other critical news of the day.

Soft news can be anniversaries, events, new books, babies, ribbon cuttings, christenings, restaurant openings, and other items without critically timed orientation.

Regardless of whether a company has soft or hard news to share, the news release is one of the best vehicles with which to distribute news. Here’s why:

If and when you’re pitching media with that news, a news release written in appropriate journalistic standard and AP style (follow them on Twitter @APStylebook) (typically) is most easily recognizable and accepted by media.
When a company issues a news release in the format as stated in #1, there’s credibility around that action which requires attention.
A news release usually goes through several rounds of editing by many layers of teams and professionals (marketing, legal, executives). Once it is approved and ready for publication, it becomes the official word of the company.
News releases are archived on websites as public record and as an historical queue of stories that inform audiences.
Media and other writers comb these archives to report on and understand companies, products, and people.
Executive quotes are readily accessible in news releases and can be printed in a variety of media with attribution to the spokesperson.
A news release is owned media; your company creates and controls the message. It is used to garner earned media…the story that appears in media outlets featuring much of the news and facts from company-issued news releases.

How is media relations done at your company? If it’s just via a personalized email to multiple email addresses via email marketing, then the message is harder to control.

If the team is using a pre-approved pitch and news release, then everyone is using official language approved by company leadership.

As I said, the news release is NOT dead.

The Happy Friday Series: Top Five Cheery Songs

01/25/2013 By Jayme Soulati

Simon and Garfunkel Ticket (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Susan Silver again brings us a fantabulously cheery post to mark our second installment in The Happy Friday Series. She shares the top five cheery songs to change your mood, and let’s see which ones she picks.

Susan Silver Says:

I have always been a pretty empathic kid, which means that I often internalize the emotions of the world around me. When the dark clouds start gathering, there is a friend who will always comfort me. I simply turn to the nearest internet radio and play my feel good playlist. These are my Top 6 in no particular order. You only need a hit of one of these to get you through the dreariest of days.

You Might Just be the One – The Monkees

I was initiated at a young age and this song has remained a favorite ever since.

I Love You More Today than Yesterday – Spiral Staircase

I can never get this song out of my head when I hear it on the radio, but the truth is I don’t want to.

Listen to the Music- Doobie Brothers

I started listening to a greatest hits album on Spotify and become hooked on their unique sound.

Commandante – Mountain Goats

This comes from John Darnielle’s Lofi period when he couldn’t afford to record in a studio.

Late in the Evening – Simon and Garfunkel

From the concert in Central Park, the album I grew up with.

Sure, these are not represented by many modern songs nor do they represent how diverse people’s tastes really are. I chose these songs because they have universal appeal. The positive energy drips from the musical notes and gives you a fine injection of positivity. The next time you are feeling rundown, close your eyes and drift away on a song.

What does your feel good playlist look like?

Susan Silver blogs at CirqueduMot and also 12Most.com. She is a copywriter and community manager. We enjoy having her post any time for this community!

Social Customer Service, Ruby Tuesday And Five Tips

01/23/2013 By Jayme Soulati

Screen Shot 2013-01-23 at 9.45.18 AM Checking in on Foursquare at Ruby Tuesday unlocked a $5 coupon for two entrees. Cool. I had to teach the manager all about Foursquare and show him the screens so he could see what happened.

Through the meal, a waiter (female) proceeded to tip my Stella Artois, which I caught before it emptied on the carpet. No offer to get me another one. The food came, and I was expecting mashed cauliflower as a side. It was cold, soupy and served in a bowl; I asked for a spoon. The bacon (I would’ve given to kidlet) was missing from my sandwich of hard chicken with brown avocado.

When the waiter returned to the table, I asked her if they had Stella on tap; she said, no, sorry. I said, “I really wanted to drink my full beer.” Still no offer of any small glass on tap to replace what she spilled.

The meal came to a close with me stewing and debating whether to speak with the manager about the wait staff, the poor food, customer service, and the last occasion I had gone there and experienced poor quality food, too. At the end of the meal, the waiter came and said, “We can offer you free cupcakes, would you like those?”

What Ruby Tuesday Missed

When a patron walks into your restaurant or establishment and shows you they’ve unlocked a special on Foursquare, what’s the first impression a savvy businessperson should make?

This person who has chosen my eatery for dinner engages in social media beyond just posting on Facebook.

…which means, treat that customer extra special. When you spill their beer, you immediately offer a replacement; heck, the patron doesn’t even need to be socially savvy. You make a mistake, you fix it. Enough said.

About Social Customer Service

Do you think the term “social business” is bogus? I don’t. Being a social business that exhibits social customer service is about the philosophy and strategy with which you adopt, plan and deploy social media.

Consider These Five Social Business Tips

1. Teach restaurant employees on the frontlines about the tools patrons have at their disposal throughout the entire time that person is in the confines of the establishment. These tools are any social media channel that enables a post. Foursquare, Gowalla, Yelp, Facebook, and other location-based marketing sites and tools. Camera, Instagram, Flickr, Twitter, and other social photo sharing tools.

2. What that means is the opportunity for patrons to post a negative Net Promoter Score anywhere during the dining experience and, heck, even 24-hours later via a blog (ahem) is not only possible; it’s highly probable.

3. Social customer service must be taught for anyone on the frontlines of a business and this includes clerks in retail establishments, too.

4. Patrons who leave poor reviews on dining review sites should be contacted directly and with an attempt to build a more positive rapport.

5. Your role as a business owner where customer service is first and foremost the crux of your revenue stream means paying closer attention to social media and becoming a social business where this new normal is incorporated directly into the core of your marketing strategy.

Social Media Presents 50 Shades of Wiser

01/22/2013 By Jayme Soulati

Happy Thanksgiving! 65 w dandelions growing! WTH? via soulati

Social media has not only leveled the playing field for small businesses, it’s enabled professionals of all ages to compete.

If you’re not learning, you’re dead.

The opportunity social media presents for learning is so vast that anyone, regardless of age, who has gumption, passion, and energy can compete with youngsters in a highly successful way. More and more, avatars with gray hair are populating Twitter. I’m making an assumption they are aging gracefully and wiser as a result of social media.

Someone on a Google+ Community posted a suggestion that we should petition Advertising Age for a Top 50 Over 50 instead of the customary Top 40 Under 40 feature. (I concur.)

What prompted this whole post is a short email from a woman I never met or spoke with. She mentioned she was 50+ and was feeling the light dimming on her career path because she was a former print graphics artist. She had little enthusiasm for PowerPoint graphics nor did she know where the road ahead would lead.

…which got me really thinking, and that’s always dangerous.

Mastering what social marketing presents for anyone in the at-large field of marketing communications would take a lifetime and then some. So, instead of saying you’re all washed up at 50, why not re-invent and re-invigorate and get excited about the learnings available for the plucking?

How I’m Reinventing

I’ve just signed on with Hubspot. Don’t you say a word, internet marketers and digital marketers and SEO folks; I’ve heard enough about your negatives about their poor technology. (I concur, and it’s terribly out of my control.)

I plunked down the money because I know myself. I know that I need to go large to ensure I do what’s required — the lessons, landing pages, website tweaks, buttons, and etc. to make the leads pour in and put my website to work.

It’s called inbound marketing or digital marketing, and it’s an area I’m investing in. Everyone who’s been a loyal member of this community knows I’ve written willy-nilly for three years on this blog. I’ve not needed to care about analytics and blogging ROI. Life has changed, and that’s prompted engagement in a whole different way.

I’m jazzed, nervous, worried, and 100 percent vested in making this thing go and grow. I’m greeting a side of marketing I’ve been circumnavigating.

With each accomplishment, I feel bolstered with energy and excitement about what the future may bring. When I get my first genuine lead in my dashboard I’ll rejoice; when I get my first slice of new revenue, I’ll celebrate and know I’ve made the right choice.

When you hit 50 as a professional, your career is not over; in fact, it’s just beginning. How many companies would relish hiring a mature practitioner at the leading edge of social marketing to guide them strategically?

Fighting Cherry Pits

With that said any of you who thinks life is a bowl full of cherry pits right now (no matter how old you are):

1. You have to find the strength from within and want it.

2. Set your goals and aim high.

3. Take little steps and do it right; earn confidence.

4. Consider obstacles a challenge; find a solution around them.

5. Align with a solid, excellent core team of IT folks.

6. Grow your business by investing when that decision is right for you; you’ll know.

7. Rejoice in each accomplishment, but do celebrate.

If you have any tips you can add about how you feel about getting wiser each year, let me know…this is a topic we may be revisiting soon!

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The Happy Friday Series: Power Of A Smile

01/18/2013 By Jayme Soulati

Smile fasdfdsfoiueire (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Thrilled to launch our first in The Happy Friday Series post kick off with none other than Peg Fitzpatrick, the most smilingist 12 Moster, blogger, Facebooker, and Twitter peep I have the privilege of knowing. You hang around her and there’s nothing you can do but smile; she imbues positive. See what I mean?

Peggy Fitzpatrick Says:

Which came first the smile or the positive attitude? Did you know that it can go either way? If you’re feeling stressed putting on a smile can actually reduce your heart rate and some studies also suggest that “smiling could reduce levels of cortisol, a stress-related hormone.” (from Simply Smiling link below) This is a case where “fake it ‘til you make it” is relevant.

“Lots of smiling can actually make you healthier. Smiling can help reduce the level of stress-enhancing hormones like cortisol, adrenaline, and dopamine; increase the level of mood-enhancing hormones like endorphin; and reduce overall blood pressure.” –Ron Gutman

TED Talk Ron Gutman – The Hidden Power of Smiling

The best thing about a smile is that if you share one with someone else, it almost always comes back to you. When someone smiles at you, your mind makes subtle judgments: they are happy, they like me, they are confident, and things along these lines. Take the opportunity to make a positive impression on others.

“If you want to make a good first impression, smile at people. What does it cost to smile? Nothing. What does it cost not to smile? Everything, if not smiling prevents you from enchanting people.”
? Guy Kawasaki from Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds and Actions

“Children smile almost 400 times per day.” This explains why people love to spend time at the park or other places where children run free. Smiling, laughing, and having fun come naturally to children and they look for ways to enhance or repeat things that they enjoy. Sure, kids have much less stress than adults but I defy you not to smile if you go to the park and get on the swing set. It’s still fun but it also probably brings back happy memories of recess and playing with your friends.

Three things that you can do today to bring a smile to your face:

Watch something positive like Jessica’s Daily Affirmation.
Listen to happy music, I wrote an article called 12 Most Must-Be Happy Songs if you need some suggestions
Smile at someone else

So, there you have it, many reasons why you should and can have a smile on your face. What are your favorite ways to make someone else smile?

Resources:

Simply Smiling can Actually Reduce Stress via Smithsonian.com

Responsive Design Primer For Bloggers

01/16/2013 By Jayme Soulati

Pleased today to welcome and She is a most amazing member of this community and our Bloggers Unite! Google+ community, may I say, who has a thirst for learning I rarely see. Please welcome her and her writings with a warm hello in comments with your input and questions.

SUSAN SILVER SAYS:

, also called mobile design, is a must for anyone with a website or blog. I am on this band wagon and have been slowly teaching myself some skills over the past year. Like many freelancers, the idea of hiring a designer is not in my budget at the moment. That is why I want to share a primer for others wanting to take the DIY approach.

I’ll start by explaining some of the terms you are likely to encounter and then give you some resources for further research.

Responsive Design Vocabulary

HTML5 – HTML is the structural foundation for a website or blog. It is the deeply embedded code that tells a browser how to render a document. HTML5 adds more ways to display content on various devices with native video and audio options.

CSS3 – CSS stands for cascading style sheets. We can make all sorts of changes to the superficial aspects of our website without having to change any of the structure. It’s just like painting the walls of your home. The only thing that changes is what is on the outside. You don’t have to touch the wires or insulation. CSS3 adds new rules for how these sheets behave.

Responsive or Fluid Grids– Responsive grids are generated by CSS code. They are what make responsive design possible. The designer creates rules for how “boxes” on the screen should behave on different devices. When you change the browser window size these boxes will move their position or disappear dynamically.

Jquery Plugin- These plugins are not like WordPress plugins. They have this name because they can be added plug-in-play style to a design. In general, you upload a java script file (.js) into a directory. You then insert a line of code into your designs that calls on that script and runs it.

Icon Font– Icon fonts are very useful for responsive design. This is because they are not image files. To make an image responsive requires a lot of work. With an icon font you can treat what would have been an image the same way as text, which is much easier to manipulate. is a great example of what you can do.

Framework or Boilerplate – There are a slew of these roaming around. They have names like “”, “” and “” (to name the most popular). There are also a few that are only responsive grids like “”. These are skeletons that you can build on that are prepped for responsive design. It takes the hassle out of starting new projects.

Starting with Responsive Design

Well, you probably are not feeling too pleased right now with the idea of doing something yourself. Many of these terms might be new. I won’t lie to you, I was pretty scared myself when I started.

The first thing I did on my journey was to start following the top design blogs. I listened to the discussions that developers were having about using HTML5 and CSS3. In these arguments it became clear what was really important to know and what was over my head.

Use these links to start your journey learning design and development.