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Is Pointing, Yelling Free Publicity or Just Awareness?

12/06/2011 By Jayme Soulati

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.

How To Migrate Blackberry Email to iPhone 4S

12/05/2011 By Jayme Soulati

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.

Creative Traits Scorsese & Xerox Style

12/01/2011 By Jayme Soulati

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?).

Thinking About Creativity

11/29/2011 By Jayme Soulati

Credit: MindysBookWorms.org

I’m on a quest to define creativity. Is it innovation, or are there differences between the two? I wrote recently about the need for PR and marketing to be more creative when it comes to putting a social media marketing plan together. Then I gave a list of nine tools available from which to select.

That’s really not creativity; that’s merely being smart about researching the space to see which tools fit the required strategy.

Then I read Inc. magazine about Stan Richards, founder of The Richards Group, an ad agency behind some of the most creative and controversial campaigns in advertising. (P.S. If you want to see one of THE MOST creative websites I’ve seen in awhile, hit his agency link, and here’s a link to his book, The Peaceable Kingdom.)

“Creativity doesn’t need a muse; it needs a drill sergeant,” he said. Richards’ firm adheres to strict rules:

>>8:30 a.m. prompt start to the day

>>Accounting for each quarter hour or be docked $8.63 from pay

>>On time to meetings or risk being shut out

>>Close of business is 6 p.m.; go home

The man posts billings of $1.28 billion; he owns the most successful independent shop ever. Hats off, Stan!

Is creativity innate? It’s my humble thinking that the mind hinders creative embellishment. When your mind blocks your actions, you become inhibited. There is no comfort in your own skin; you fear making the wrong move, saying the wrong thing, looking like a fool (to yourself) among company.

Now put these thoughts into a company brainstorm where the team is attempting to define the big idea. (PR is all about the big idea.) Instead of being the first to say, “what about…” you tag team off someone else and slowly open your mind to new ideas.

Perhaps creativity is confidence. Stan Richards says creativity is discipline and regimented rules.

As a blogger it’s more imperative to be creative than ever before. This is my 252nd post; not so sure it’s a milestone of any sort, but looking back on a bloggers’ life, each post came from somewhere. The inspiration people take so lightly is actually extremely serious.

So, creativity also requires the ability to be inspired.

I’ll share about me a bit because it’s relevant. My mind has always been creative; I visualize the look of interiors in color and how a brochure should be designed with the raw copy in front of me. I hammer a nail on the wall eyes only and plop art perfectly in place (heh, perfectly to me because slightly askew fits my out-of-the-box persona). A steady stream of ideas leads to the ability for strategic brainstorming and also the ability to drill into segments and enhance each with detail.

With all that said, can we assume creativity is innate? Born in some and not others? Given as a gift to right brain thinkers while left brains lead with logic? Here are some of the conclusions from above, and I’m hoping you’ll add your thoughts to help with this discussion:

>>Creativity requires an open and unhindered mind.

>>Creativity requires inspiration and the ability to be inspired.

>>Creativity is confidence.

>>Creativity is innate.

>>Creativity is not innovation.

Please share your thinking, because more thinking also leads to a higher level of creativity.

We’re Defining PR Again

11/28/2011 By Jayme Soulati

I know you saw the news that PRSA determined the timing is right to modernize its definition of PR. I was ecstatic about this (and life got in the way of my ability to blog quickly), and I’ll tell you why.

For those of you in the community who’ve been faithful followers, you’ll recall our endeavor to define PR in spring 2011. Not sure why I embarked on this journey, but it was amazingly frustrating and rewarding at the same time.

The culmination of the experience of some 15 blog posts by global input (including many, many insightful comments from PRSA, mind you) is this post right here, “We’ve Defined PR, By Jove!” Upon reading it fresh this morning, I am happy to say that I like/love the definition we toiled to create:

PUBLIC RELATIONS HELPS PEOPLE

SAY THE RIGHT THINGS TO THE RIGHT AUDIENCES

AT THE RIGHT TIME AND IN THE RIGHT WAY.

What do you think? Does this still resonate with you?

Throughout the entire intense series we tackled, one of the posts was about the very un-modern and archaic definition by PRSA of public relations. I directly admonished them, and others whole-heartedly agreed. May we take some credit for nudging PRSA to the edge on redefining our profession? I’m saying YES! (Makes me a proud practitioner to have had a hand in helping push this.)

Now, how can you help?

Make it your responsibility to be accountable to your profession. The original blog post at PRSA (although, strangely, comments require moderation) is here where you can see the campaign launch announcement.

Go directly to PRSA here and submit your definition of PR by Dec. 2, 2011. (Interestingly, and I fully agree, a commenter suggested this was a failure by PRSA to announce the campaign so close to and during a holiday week; indeed, timing is a bit odd.)

A word cloud is forming now on the PRSA website and tweets are being captured at #PRDefined with all the key words we’re coming up with. While I didn’t use a word cloud to help us come to somewhat of a consensus, I know how hard we toiled to make our definition as general and as specific as we could with respect to the purists and the integrated marketers in our midst.

Will be fascinating to watch what comes of this project. Anything is an improvement over what we’ve had for decades. Stay tuned!

Entrepreneurship

11/16/2011 By Jayme Soulati

I have always wanted to have a one-word title; here it is. I spoke yesterday on entrepreneurship to DeVry University in Dayton. The class was small, and I think I nearly gave one woman a conniption when I began to throw my energy into the classroom, but I had fun. No slides, just extemporaneous yak.

I helped one woman better brand her cake business; when she gave me its name, it sounded like kaka…so, I suggested something else, and she agreed. Another woman had a dream to be in the shoe business; I cringed and plowed ahead with these thoughts:

>>Research and understand your potential customer

>>Look at what’s trending in shoes today and how your product can be different (she wanted to be unique with shoes)

>>Conduct market analysis about the type of attire worn in the market (Dayton is a casual city)

>>Look at what people are buying that is different — textiles, artisan, African art and fair trade products

>>With all that on-the-spot thinking, I suggested she go into the flip flop business with all the matching accessories.

Here’s a bit of a debrief about my thoughts on being in business for yourself.

Marketer Alert: The Un-Coupon Campaign

11/15/2011 By Jayme Soulati

What’s in your mail every day? If you’re like me at this time of year, you’re (not your) being inundated with coupons — lots and lots of coupons. Every retailer is gearing up for Black Friday and the big box brick and mortars are even fighting about it with employees up in arms about having to report to work at 3 a.m. or stay until midnight.

The offers are amazing — free panties from Victoria Secret; 40% off at The Gap and its sisters; 20% off all weekend at Kohls and $5 off at Target if I buy its toys; LL Bean; JC Penney, Sears, Eddie Bauer, Fannie May, and the list goes on and on.

Exasperated

I am overwhelmed. Are you? As a consumer, I’m saturated with coupons, discounts and BOGO offers. I can’t even look at a catalog without wondering about which deal is best; heck, at the checkout, it’s the battle for the best deal, and you better hope the sales clerk knows how to navigate splitting your order so you can get the lowest price. The coupons I do bring in often don’t work because there’s a cheaper deal in the store. It’s astonishing, and I’m wondering how these companies will make revenue numbers?

I’m sick of discounts! And now consumers won’t shop without them, but I’m ready for a change — something like deleting all your Twitter followers, and it goes like this…

Marketer Alert

Here’s what I propose — the un-coupon campaign. Tell me, marketers and advertisers, that your retail and consumer products company:

>>Has no coupons

>>Has no deals

>>Has products of only the highest quality

>>Your customer service is off the chain

>>You value my business and appreciate me

I cannot spend enough money to take advantage of all the deals walking through my door. In fact, because I’m drowning in coupons, I keep them and never use them. They get lost on my cluttered table; I forget them on the counter, and then they expire. My over stimulation for deals means I don’t care any more.

I’m ready to pay full price if you just guarantee the quality of your product and the customer service that goes along with it. Anyone else feeling a bit of coupon malaise?

Nine Social Marketing Tools From Inc. Magazine

11/14/2011 By Jayme Soulati

Two of my favorite magazines for blog fodder (and learning, of course) are Fast Company (hands down) and Inc. I read the latter less, but it offers more small-business tips and case studies about entrepreneurs.

I’m using the November 2011 issue of Inc. to provide you with this expansive list of social marketing tactics by six companies. After reading the six case studies (Inc. always has amazing business case studies), it became apparent that marketers need to be thinking creatively to reach goals. This material comes from the article called Social Smarts with several links from it provided below.

>>Celebrity Tweets. We all know celebrities get paid to tweet, and there is a platform called Sponsored Tweets “that connects advertisers with celebrities and offers online analytic tools for gauging the success of campaigns,” according to Inc.

CampusLive is a website that lets college students earn rewards by playing online games. It used Lindsay Lohan and rapper Jim Jones in two campaigns. The company checked Klout scores (boo) before deciding to hire Lohan.

It paid her $3,530 to publish a tweet, and the rapper earned $1,950 for his tweet.

>>Wildfire. This is a DIY app “that lets you create interactive campaigns, publish them on social networks and view real-time results and analytics. Savored, an online reservation service in New York offering restaurant discounts, chose the Wildfire program costing $3,500 per month. The internal team created a sweepstakes promotion tying in with Facebook. The campaign goal was to sign on new members and gather emails for direct marketing.

>>Offerpop. Birchbox used this platform to help companies create and run promotions including quizzes and photo contests on Twitter and Facebook. There is an unlimited monthly plan which costs $750 for companies with 10K to 25K Facebook fans. Important to mention, Birchbox uses its customer service reps to comb social media for discontent among customers (i.e. product shipping delays) and respond to them immediately.

>>Foursquare. Many of us already sign in to location-based services with friends, but Luke’s Lobster wanted to launch its new location with Foursquare users. It created a Loyalty Special with Foursquare to give repeat customers a change to attend an exclusive launch party the day before the restaurant opening, according to Inc.

>>Twitter Followers. Recently, my friend Robert Dempsey ran an article on Tweet Adder. He provided a tutorial on how to automatically increase Twitter followers. In comments, I shared my disagreement with this tool, yet many bloggers are all about it.

>>eBay. The Inc. editorial team wanted to know how easy it was to buy Twitter followers, so it headed over to eBay and searched for a package. They got into a bidding war with someone else for 11,000 followers for $80. Instead, the research team “settled on a Buy It Now option promising 1,000 followers for $20.”

(Goes without saying, I’m against this practice; hands down. This, however, is what some businesses are relegated to if they’re late to the party. Probably some similar tactics happening over at Facebook, too.)

>>YouTube. I’m not going to share the merits of this channel. We all know the advantages of a video going viral. Probably about 90 percent of the time, though, the viral video campaigns with more than 1 million views are often produced by creative shops and more than just a flip cam.

>> Traditional PR. EZ Grill launched a media relations blitz using public relations agency services; however, the results (appearances on national media) didn’t garner the ROI in sales the company wanted. (And, nor should it have…my $.02 coming from a PR perspective.) Instead, the company engaged in a video (using some smart creative) coupled with press release that went viral. Alas, sales did not impress.

I have to wonder…how many people need a disposable charcoal grill? Especially when the small metal ones are very portable? Maybe it’s a niche audience of campers these guys should market to?

>>Blue Calypso. To secure paid referrals, The Sweet Spot in Dallas wanted new customers in its hair removal salon specializing in sugaring (what’s that?). It used the mobile marketing platform that rewards people for sharing ads via Twitter, Facebook or texting.

The Sweet Spot owner paid $2,500 per month to get 230,000 impressions. Blue Calypso helped her design an ad offering a discount on treatment. When a member posted the ads on social media channels or texted it, Blue Calypso paid them up to $.30 onto a Visa debit card. The campaign included coupons (a LivingSocial deal went sour), complimentary services, and rewards to first-time customers.

Conclusion

PR and marketing teams need to be highly creative with clients’ and companies budgets. There are so many tactics and tools to meet objectives in social marketing, but sometimes it takes trial and error to find the best strategy.

You can be sure, no campaign will succeed without a solid creative foundation. When this kind of money is involved (note the costs detailed by these companies in the case studies) to work with these social apps and platforms, there should be money in the budget for experimentation. Or, have a thick skin when the first attempt fails to reach goals and money goes down the drain.

11 Tips To Re-Invent PR

11/10/2011 By Jayme Soulati

I applaud for its latest edition, The Marketer Issue. Each page is dog-eared and marked up; what amazing blog fodder. This article, , is rich with tips on how marketing needs to re-invent for future success.

I’m taking the ideas herein, adjusting them with my spin and sharing them as tips for public relations peeps. After all, we in the PR profession must re-invent too if there’s a chance in hell for success down the road.

People who know me know I’ve been in the field of public relations since 1984. I entered the profession as a pure PR’ist and stayed as such for probably 10 years. That’s about when email entered the scene and slowly and surely all things changed. Pure/traditional public relations was turned on its head (for out of the box thinkers like me), and I slowly began to migrate towards marketing.

We all know what’s happened to the profession since the onset of social media and social marketing – that boundary between marketing and public relations has blurred to near non-existence. Step up, PR, and re-invent yourself for future success; your investment portfolio will thank you.

To push you in the right direction, here are 11 ways to re-invent, and I credit Ad Age’s Maureen Morrison for writing the article that provided this inspiration:

>> Be a multi-disciplinarian. Used to be back in my Chicago agency days that people asked, “Are you a strategist or tactician? Do you specialize or are you a generalist?” I was never a specialist; I wanted to know everything. That’s why I love being an agency brat – we get to service a breadth of clients from all walks of life and industries. This is amazing training.

>> Learn Data & Analytics. The old excuse has always been to leave the numbers to the marketers. No more, PR! We must interpret data as well as analytics to create better campaigns and programs. Do not leave the back-end analytics to marketing; without this knowledge you’ll miss the opportunity to make key decisions. Your leadership ability will also suffer.

>> Master social media apps and tools. No brainer, right? (Aside: I wrote that once in a corporate article and was never hired again, so now I get to use it and no one will fire me.) Just when you think you’re getting tired of keeping up with the Jones’s, push the gas and plow back in. Social media is NOT going away, and developers will keep tossing new apps/tools at us every day. You have to walk the talk.

>> Be technology centric and driven. The new generation of tablets, digital readers, smart phones, personal health monitoring devices, and other new gadgets are being developed at an amazing pace. Be well read and informed about these; in fact, incorporate budget to buy the devices and play (if you get that opportunity).

>> Understand ROI. No doubt about it, PR has to contribute to ROI, and we’ve always skirted that issue. Setting up metrics (I don’t care if that word is over-used; it’s the word to use) and measuring how our programs affect the bottom line is a critical success quotient for practitioners’ value.

>> Be nimble, agile and a quick study. Teams are strapped for time; training budgets are out the window, and it’s up to you to be agile enough to learn on your own. Being a quick thinker with wit, problem/solution solving, and flexibility to roll with the punches are what will earn you success.

>> Less tactical; more strategic. I’m unsure if strategy can be taught or if it’s innate. I’d like to think that with maturity as a professional, a strategist orientation unfolds. As a youngster in PR, you will be assigned tactics to execute; ensure you align yourself with a senior mentor who can help you with ideation. Observe how these peoples’ minds deliver and then emulate that example.

>> Search marketing. This arena is no longer strictly under the guise of digital marketers or internet marketing specialists. Trust me when I tell you, “PR people must understand the basics of search marketing and then some.” Whether you master this is not critical; however, understanding and contributing about this topic is important. The impact search marketing has on a PR program influences the entire integrated campaign.

>> Keep “traditional.” I am absolutely against using the word “traditional” to differentiate what others deliver as PR practitioners over what I deliver in a blended offering (PR and social with marketing). While I firmly advise losing “traditional” to describe PR services, don’t lose sight of how our profession evolved and became viable. When I see youth in the profession suggesting the , I cringe. In no way will the press release die; it (along with other PR tactics) will continue to evolve.

>> Focus on the audience. It’s the role of PR to keenly focus on all stakeholders and craft and deliver messages targeting each. Consumers’ outside-in communication orientation with business requires a higher level of creativity and strategy for PR programs. We have to continually understand from where and how consumers comingle with business. This will drive strategy as we execute integrated marketing programs.

>> Be financially savvy. Yet another numbers request and this one is serious. Ensure you are savvy about interpreting profit-and-loss statements. Understand issued by your company so you can influence business objectives with communications strategy.

It’s a tall order, friends, and no one is suggesting you learn it overnight. Tackle each one as soon as you can and then master the areas you like more. Staying fit as a PR person requires constant learning. Those who adopt a approach like this, or similar, will enjoy a storied career in this exciting profession.

(I think I need to print bumper stickers – “Proud To Be In PR.”) What can you add to this starter package?

New Trend: Get Off The Grid

11/07/2011 By Jayme Soulati

I don’t know about you, but I’m seeing more and more peeps getting off the grid for a week’s respite and even longer. There’s a general malaise, at least in my community, about the time we’re spending to remain connected across channels while coming up with something fresh and exciting to say (that’s not an echo).

>>When my friend Queen D (that’s @3HatsComm to y’all) decided to pull way back, it seemed like she disappeared for good. Upon a query, she insists she’s lurking and around, just not as front and center as she used to be. I have to say, I miss that comment energy. She left an indelible impression; more than she knows. (But, she’s not gone…just more quiet!)

>>Kaarina Dillabough, my north of the border pal, announced she was going dormant (that’s dormant, not Dorman) for a week and then announced upon her return she escaped on a 33^rd anniversary with hubby to the Caribbean. (I missed her in my stream; but she was not gone…just taking family time.)

>>My dear friend Erica Allison still has her “summer off” post on her sidebar on the blog (one of the highest PostRank scores she’s tallied) which said she would be encumbered with mommy duties while running her business in summer months. These weeks, her booming business has her focused on areas like billable work and not her blog…she laments this turn of events but also recognizes the need to earn money. (She isn’t gone, just not as accessible to her community.)

>>And, the most ~~famous~~ infamous of all, NittyGriddy, went MIA for more than two months! Gasp! And, to inform her community she’s baaack, she hit up the Gin Blossom to announce her comeback on @SpinSucks.

>>When Danny Brown (along with a team of writers) launched his Punk ~~Rock~~ Views on Social Media blog about the new tonality in social media, he added to my thoughts about what is going on here?

Look around your community. Per chance you’re amplifying messages within your own peer group; I’ve heard many a friend mention this more than once (me included). I’m hastening a guess that most of us launched our blogs with every good intention of attracting new business from small-to-medium enterprises and laughing all the way to the bank.

Alas, our blogs (at least the bloggers with whom I’ve spoken) agree we’re writing and messaging in an obvious comfort zone – right amongst our own peer group and network of service-oriented professionals (likely playing in the social media, marketing and public relations space).

Does this resonate with you? If it does, here’s what I want to say:

>>We are social media leaders following other social media rock stars just ahead of us pioneering and testing the next new app, tool, channel, platform, connector, game, and more. It’s so easy to become jaded and tired in this leadership position, but guess what?

WE CAN’T!

We have to keep the energy and vibe and positive spirit high…WHY? Because our clients, customers, peer bloggers, entry-level professionals, and others in our communities expect us to be that way – helpful, teaching, positive, thoughtful, inspiring.

>>You bet it’s challenging at the top. We’ve put bloggers on pedestals for years; wanna bet they’re tired too leading the pack as they do? Sometimes they show it; other times they don’t.

>>The point here is this…when you’re tired from being smack in a leadership role in social media and your messaging begins to show those rough edges (because your community recognizes that), then do get off the grid. Take a breather already; no one will fault you for a little R&R because when you return you’ll be back like a spring breeze to tell us all about it.

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