| Was combing Google Reader last night for content to help me with today’s topic. I really had nothing to write about, or so I thought.I zeroed in on Charlene Li, co-author of the best-selling Groundswell, and her free webinar series on open leadership.You can register for number three happening TODAY at 10 a.m. PDT on Finding and Supporting Your Open Leaders. But, that’s not what I want to write about… I noticed Charlene had launched a new personal Web site that is home to her blogs, calendar of travels, book info and more. While she did not leave Altimeter Group, she said her company is her work. She wanted a chance to speak about her children without compromising her work content or professionalism. I can vouch for that. Also tonight, I had a discussion with a colleague about Twitter IDs and whether to keep it professional or personal. When I tweet now, I think twice before posting about whether the content is professional enough. There are too many opportunities to be regarded offensive with an off-hand remark. Does your professional life control your social media identity? Are you finding it challenging to always be “on” and to carefully and thoughtfuly craft the message? Yes, yes, yes. Social media, social networking and SEM have made the world open. Just like Charlene suggests – open leadership requires transparency. It’s a push-me/pull-you sort of thing. If you want to play ball in the majors, we all need to let go of a little privacy and adopt a bit of celebrity. So, when are you you? |
How Does PR Happen?
Excellence is defined by the ability to deliver one’s craft with leading-edge knowledge. It’s the ability to strategize a program quickly based on current events. Problem solving is part of the equation; as a strategist one needs to know the steps to make things right, improved, and fail-safe (in a perfect world). High-quality public relations is knowledge gleaned and tapped that adds to credibility and reliability as a counselor.
So, how does this happen…the attainment of public relations excellence?
The Public Relations Society of America has a rigorous certification course that puts a nice little acronym after your name – the APR designation (accredited in public relations). If I dug deeply, I’d be able to find the number of folks who’ve elected to join the group locally and nationally, apply for and be accepted into the course, pay, study and receive the deserved commendation.
As for me, PR happens because I have a thirst for knowledge about everything. The periodicals that arrive at my house are as varied as my college education (anthropology to zoology). I receive Scientific American, Legal Technology News, B to B, Advertising Age, Bloomberg Businessweek, U.S. News & World Report, The Wall Street Journal, Vegetarian Times, Body & Soul, More, Health, Food & Wine, Cooking Light, Fresh Home, and (no wonder I supply second-hand zines to every school, waiting room and salon in town!).
Beyond reading (including the blogosphere I attempt to get to 3x/week in my Google Reader and fail), I also self-educate. When I first began hearing “PR is dead” from bloggers, I knew I wasn’t. By then, I had already enrolled in several Dreamweaver (Web design) classes, a Photoshop course, and one on HTML.
More than a year ago, I began to tweet. Twitter was the best thing that ever happened to me. Beyond meeting some of the most fab people I now can ring at any time for counsel or to say hello, my learning rate increased five-fold. I am serious when I say this. There’s no way to immerse in social media faster than on Twitter.
You learn early on whose links to click, and when a learning pot of gold greets you at the other end, every minute of time is worth it.
I also buy access to communities like Marketing Sherpa, and I’ve joined Social Media Today on which my blog gets posted, too. I listen, I engage, I learn.
My favorite learning environment right now is Lynda.com. It is a wealth of tutorials on the illusive knowledge we in public relations do not have – it’s tech and software oriented to the Internet. If you never spend a dime on your education, I recommend you stop the bleeding and rush to Lynda.com. I’m not even an affiliate! I just value what I’m learning off this site so much, everyone else in integrated marketing should know about it, too.
How does public relations happen for you? What rich resource am I missing to enhance my intelligence quotient?
Blogger’s Reflection
Today’s post is much about balance and harmony – finding that Holy Grail of work/life balance that feels so unattainable. The news does nothing for that – Greece, oil and environment, terrorism plots foiled and more coming, financial reform, Congressional fighting, product safety, health fears and obesity, greed and need of money, taxes and audits.
And, then, there’s the blogosphere. I’m new; this is my 45th post. I’m a mere babe still trying to find a voice and perfect a direction and target audience.
Blogging is thrilling, pressurized, heady, demoralizing, and a confidence boost or confidence bother. It’s exactly what you make it, how you regard it, and how you address the emotions that come with it and people who insert their opinions.
Those whom you’ll meet on the path may love what you say, disagree wholeheartedly, perplex you with a comment, suggest foolishness to content or writing style, and pressure you to think outside the box. It’s what makes blogging real, and pushes you to improve with every post.
Reading others’ blogs religiously may be a blogger’s biggest idea killer. Keeping up with the Jones’s and developing a topic that resonates with everyone is impossible. Writing style either nods heads or provokes consternation. Content ticks someone off, or pushes someone to tell a story of their own in agreement.
Here are more of my Blogging 101 tips to add to those I developed early on:
- Select a topic that jazzes you, not one that everyone else is writing about that day or week.
- Regard comments as enrichments to the conversation; consider these perspectives as fodder for thought, further content, an opportunity to stick to your guns or alter your own opinion.
- Be of healthy mind when opening yourself to the world. Comments can get under your skin and raise doubt or make you soar with the excitement of the post (I loved the Nestle and Greenpeace posts).
- Be wary of those who seek to dismantle your inner serenity and sense of self but be open to the perspectives that push thinking to a higher plateau.
- Take a day off; no one is asking for 7-days a week of posts. Find your own healthy rhythm, and when it feels like a chore, take a closer look at from where those emotions are coming.
Attaining 100 percent compatibility with the world is unattainable; if that’s anyone’s blogging goal then find another way to express yourself.
Thinking Social Media
Danny Brown’s blog post April 27 “Are you a shadow or beacon?” was my first ponder of the day yesterday. His reflective content and imagery was about choosing a social media path of leader rather than follower.
Through the day, I RT’ed a Danny tweet, and then clicked on a link he thought important enough to RT. I was directed to Social Media Today; lo, a Danny Brown comment just ahead of mine.
It sure felt like I was Danny’s shadow yesterday, and I don’t always mind. There are leaders in social media I appreciate rubbing shoulders with as I’ve a long way to go to reach that echelon; or do I?
Mack Collier posted at Social Media Today “Want to be a social media expert? Break stuff.” With his 2500+ views and 76 tweets (at the time of this writing), he encourages social media is still new, the “rules” are meant to be broken to see what works and what doesn’t. Mastery, says Mack, is inconceivable (paraphrasing here); “when you think you’ve got it mastered, mix things up.”
According to Mack, I might be an expert already. In the name of social media:
- I’ve broken the Headway WordPress theme (my blogging nightmare).
- I lost a domain name once and had to pay exorbitantly to buy it back.
- I uploaded some php files onto my shared server only to forget which are active and which ought to be deleted.
My actions yesterday bumping in to Danny Brown position me as somewhat of a follower, but not by design; Mack Collier’s post suggests I’m a jack of all trades and master of none. (That’s why I’m in public relations — blending social media with traditional public relations and marketing to positively influence business strategy — so I get to know a little about a lot.)
My attempt here is to bridge two musings, both apropos, that offer thoughts on social media engagement, leadership and mastery. Is it necessary to affix a label and define oneself? I believe human nature drives us there; case in point — the objective statement on your very own resume.
Maybe you can provide a deeper dive from your own experiences and help me spring this conversation loose? There’s a germ of something here, I tell you.
Pepsi & Whose Accountability?
I wrote recently about Pepsi and Waste Management’s big thrust into kiosk recycling with points awarded to those who deposit their trash. My post was on the strength of the media relations results I saw supporting the launch strategy; impressive. This week’s newly designed and jam-packed Bloomberg BusinessWeek also boasted a story hit for the partnership’s new recycling program – another huge win for public relations.
On the flip side, my blog post sparked a comment that Pepsi was contributing to obesity in the U.S.; the writer was none too happy with my “good job, Pepsi marketing public relations kudos.”
He got me thinking.
Via Fast Company, April; "Made to Stick" Courtesy of New York City Health Department
When I saw the April Fast Company “Made to Stick” column written by Dan Heath and Chip Heath, it was time to put these brain spurts into a semblance of something. The Heaths suggested soda pop may be the next venue for health wars. Gotta love Fast Company headlines that tell the whole story, “After seeing a strikingly effective ad campaign, (the Heaths) wonder whether sodas will be the next cigarettes.”
Back in my Chicago agency days, I represented the National Association of Concessionaires when the Center for Science in the Public Interest attacked the food chain one fat gram after another. The NAC was targeted for theater popcorn – the highly salted, loaded-with-butter, heart-attack-waiting-to-happen snack. Chinese food was next in line.
Where’s corporate responsibility in this world? Is it a company’s mission to ensure the products it manufactures are healthy, low-fat, low-sugar and contribute to the overall wellness of the nation? Or, isn’t it?
How about the other factor in this equation = you + me. What we place in our mouth has a lot to do with choice. Whether we elect to live life on the couch is all about self-accountability. Is it a corporation’s business to ensure my healthy future or should I be accountable, too?
(P.S. In my late-night reading, I tore from the May Scientific American a Perspectives column, “Underage, Overweight; The federal government needs to halt the marketing of unhealthy foods to kids.”
It’s a can of worms, Folks; you be the judge.
(Thanks to Michelle Hellyar for her low- calorie, low- sugar, low-fat brain power on this.)
