If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell 6 friends.
If you make customers unhappy on the Internet, they can each tell 6,000 friends.
Jeff Bezos

Customer service is truthfully king, there will always be issues, imperfections and problems with a service or product, but the way that you deal with your customers after the problem occurs is key, along with the relationships you build before the problems arise.

The way we treat our customers really determines how they feel about us as a brand, and how they feel about our products or service. The way we treat our customers has always been important, after-all without customers you have no buyers, and therefore no company. However, now with the popularity and speed of growth surrounding social sites, it is even now more important. One upset customer can reach thousands of others to voice their complaints.

Customer service is essentially listening and being able to respond to the needs of the customer. Some companies get this, they have had made extra efforts to give superior customer service, they have inserted their selves in the conversation by creating profiles where their community gathers and have actively responded to any issues. However, it seems more than not, a lot of companies don’t get it.

Some are good enough to supply customer service in-spite of the failed organizational structure, but I do believe this is the culprit, the system that is put in place, the training, the lack of mentorship, etc.

Furthermore, great customer service makes the largest issues small, while terrible customer service makes the minutest of issues huge.

Are you providing good customer service, are you listening – off-line and on-line? If not then you will not survive, especially not now, not when people can find out about your product or service with the click of their mouse.

Photo by: Lumaxart, via Flickr

What works better for you, being self-employed, making your own hours, being your own boss, or being in an energized office where you can collaborate in a hands-on environment and work as a team?

I know some brilliant, knowledgeable communications pros that are freelancers. They love being self-employed, and they are great at what they do. However, it has become very clear to me, for a few reasons that freelancing is not for me.

I am currently looking for the right opportunity, and because I want the right opportunity and not just a job, I am doing freelance work now on a project basis and writing for Examiner.com.  Just like most of us, I too have to pay my mortgage every month and take care of my family, so something is needed for the meantime.

With this said, what brought me this clarity was working in the self-employed capacity for the last three years. Prior to this I had always been in in-house positions, and have always loved the hands-on environment. Things that bothered me and had me thinking maybe I was more suited for working independently was simply the politics of it all. The rumors, the back stabbing, and the blatant laziness and sub par effort that was just accepted.

I have learned that there are two core parts of my personality that make me not the best fit for freelancing.

- The fact that I am loyal to a fault
- That I thrive when working in a hands-on environment.

For the first two years that I was self-employed I worked technically as a freelancer but with only one company. Therefore, the loyalty aspect of my personality did not cause issues. I only had to be loyal to this one organization and thereby the clients of the organization that I worked with.

This position at the time worked out great for me, I had the opportunity to stay home with my son and watch him grow, an option I did not even know existed with my first two. I did not need nor really want a 40 hour week at that time.

However, when I did become ready for a full time schedule, I realized I would need to look for other freelance work. This would not work for my personality, I work for people not companies, and the people I work with is what motivates me to keep giving my best. I feel that when I spread myself too thin I am not able to give my best, and it just becomes work on a project to project basis, and not something I am really involved in or invested in.

The other reason is something I have been missing for a while, but it has become impossible to ignore over the last six months. This is the need to work with others, to wake up in the morning and be energized at what the new day holds for me, to be able to come home and spend quality time with my family, because I now have that work-life balance that was missing before.

I really feel lucky to have experienced both, being employed and being self-employed. Although there are things that bother me about both worlds, the experiences of both have brought me clarity. It has made me see, that the moments when I am at my best, when I am the happiest, are moments when I am part of a team, part of a bigger picture that I can touch and feel. I am so anxious for that moment, that moment when I am part of a team again.

Where do you prefer to be? Working for yourself or in-house at an organization?

Why are reality shows so popular? I am guilty of tuning into Survivor every Thursday night, American Idol every Tuesday and Wednesday and I will be tuning into Big Brother when it comes back on this summer. So why are we so captivated by these types of shows?

Admittedly, I can only think of about four singers that I thought did well from the girls and guys these past few nights, and although my singing ability does not hold a candle to any of the current or past singers, I can remember many other seasons were the talent was not that great, but I still looked forward to watching.

I am not the only one that is intrigued and attracted to reality TV. Per Wikipedia, American Idol brought in 29.8 million viewers on its premier night, and it is still a trending topic on twitter 12 hours after the last show. Per TV by numbers, other shows bring in numbers not quite as high but high enough, with the last Survivor pulling in 14.11 million viewers and Big Brother averaging 6.85 million viewers.

What do these shows have that others don’t?

Authenticity – The show is not scripted you are seeing real people react to real situations, maybe not everyday situations, but real nonetheless.

Interactive - We are no longer just viewers; we are part of the action, part of what makes things happen. On American Idol, we vote for who we want to stay, on Big Brother we have control through America’s Player, and on Survivor we get to vote for who we want to win the extra cash prize.

Rooting for the Underdog -  We like to see the person that is not expected to do well wind up doing great things. We like to root for the person that is being ostracized by others, the ones the judges don’t like and say won’t succeed.

Relatable -  There is usually always someone we can relate to, that we identify with and we want them to do well for that reason, it also takes us to a place where we think of what we would do in that situation.

Success Stories -  We want to be privy to others stories, and see where they come from which makes watching them succeed even more appealing.

Nosey-  We are just nosey, we like to see what we normally would not be able to see, what is behind closed doors, specifically when this includes drama and controversy.

Why do you enjoy watching reality shows, which ones doe you like and why?

A survey of more than 100 national advertisers illustrates marketers’ continued lack of confidence in the effectiveness of television ads.

(joint survey done by ANA (Association of National Advertisers) and Forrester Research Inc)

I fast forward through commercials when I can, however if there is a program I am watching that I have not recorded, then I usually will stay and watch the commercials. I enjoy seeing creative, well thought-out commercials, but I do think because of things like the DVR and the 5 + commercials that are crammed into one spot, that integrated commercials/sponsorships will become more and more common.

There are the humorous commercials that make me laugh, and although these commercials have been shown to work, a lot of the time I am left clueless on the point they were trying to convey, or what the commercial had to do with the company or the product.

Per an essay on Direct Essays.com done on commercial effectiveness it is a common belief that commercials make consumers want to buy a product, to the contrary psychologists believe that commercials make consumers more ready to buy; I would have to agree with this.

All of these commercials below that stuck with me make me more ready to buy, not just to buy the product in specific, but to buy into the message they are selling. A more economical, eco-friendly hybrid vehicle, I know for my next car I wanted to look at a hybrid, but this reinforces that feeling, and when I am ready to purchase, Ford will be one of the cars I look at.  Same for the Stouffer’s commercial, and I am already enrolled in my undergraduate program through a distant learning program.

These three below commercials stand out:

I love this below Ford Fusion commercial, it is redefining what Ford is in the eyes of the consumer, it is uniting the words, sounds and images; they are all related to each other, and enhance one another.  This is one of the best commercials I have seen done by Ford in a while.

The reason that I think this Stouffer’s commercial is brilliant is because it is part of a larger campaign, a bigger picture, which is sitting down with your family and having dinner, doing it together. I know this resonates with me, as it is hard to find enough hours in the day to get through all of my responsibilities much less have time left to spend with my family. This commercial also does something else, it takes the message beyond the 30 seconds, and it takes you to their website (www.letsfixdinner.com) where you can join the ‘Let’s Fix Dinner Challenge’ and can see the benefits of eating dinner as a family. This also immediately gives you a way to not only see how other families are meeting this challenge but also allows you to connect with your family to start establishing goals right away. You are also entered to win prizes, so you are rewarded for updating your progress and working towards your goals.

Lauren Greenfield TV Commercial – Stouffers “Let’s fix dinner” from Lauren Greenfield on Vimeo.

This Kaplan commercial again is built around a bigger picture, so there is a corporate message of what they stand for, extending the limits of the traditional way of going to school, flexibility, etc. The value is clearly offered, and the message is powerful. They identify their target audience in their commercial by showing students in different situations.

What do you think of these commercials, is there a commercial that stands out to you?

“Do more than is required. What is the distance between someone who achieves their goals consistently and those who spend their lives and careers merely following? The extra mile.”
Gary Ryan Blair

I have always been told to start any type of cover letter or e-mail to a prospective employer by pointing out what I can offer their organization. I was told that I am asking for their consideration and I should always show them what I can offer them first, and then once I make it to the interview I can tell them what I want from a company.

Contrary to what has been ingrained me, my instinct has always been to start out by stating what I want in an organization and in a position, and then telling them what I can offer them. However, I have always felt they go hand-in-hand, when I tell a prospective employer what I am looking for, I am also telling them a bit about who I am, and what they can expect from me.

I am going to start with what I want and need from a company, because at the end of the day if it is not a good fit, then it does not matter what I can offer you.

In a PR firm, I want an agency that listens to their clients, but that realizes that they do not have to agree with everything they say to keep them on board. I want a PR firm that realizes that the success of their clients and their happiness go hand-in-hand. I want a firm that is forward thinking, that has open communication with their clients and that has an organizational process already in place. I want to work for a firm that goes beyond PR 101, and that challenges me daily.

In a Marketing Communications position with a company I want similar things, empowerment, leadership by management, team members that are motivated, an organization that rewards achievements but that gives me honest constructive criticism so I can continue to grow, an organization that controls rumors and realizes when a strategy or process is not working so they can make changes and continue to grow.

I would strongly prefer the non-profit sector or a position that allows me to give back, to make a difference and to have a positive impact on others.

I have five years of experience in the marketing and public relations industry. Through my hard work, determination, resourcefulness and insatiable appetite for success I have climbed the ladder at each organization I have worked for and have moved up through various positions. (See positions on my resume here)

Through what I have learned I can offer:

• Sound research and analytical skills. (Used to create in-detail local market fact sheets for a major wireless broadband provider along with researching all opportunities.)
• Understanding of Emerging Technologies (Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Ning, Wordpress, etc. Increased number of individuals in multiple communities for a beauty client by 80%)
• Trade Show support (e.g.; NECA, ISH, IEC, etc.)
• Competitive analysis
• Development of marketing materials: News Releases, Sell Sheets, Internal and External Newsletters, Media Kits, Banner ads, and other marketing material.
• Event planning for annual client and user events (Increased attendance by 20% for a software companies annual user conference.)
• Creation of successful strategies to build Community Engagement. (Strategy and execution of an ebook campaign for a B to C client and a written strategy for a 90 day health and wellness program.)
• High level of organizational skills, multi-tasking and keen attention to detail.
• Media outreach (secured placements in the Baltimore Sun, WBAL TV, H2o, and other online outlets and blogs)
• Proficient in the MS Office Suite.
• Proficient with the Adobe Suite
• Proficient with software tools used in the public relations industry (MymediaInfo, Cision, Vocus, Factiva, etc.)

I am anxious for the opportunity to speak and meet with an organization where the relationship is mutually beneficial, where we can help each other continue to grow.

You can see my full resume, writing samples, creative samples, and recommendations here.

Therese Pompa
410-870-0215
@tlockemy
http://www.linkedin.com/in/theresepompa

To find out more about HAPPO go here:  http://helpaprproout.com/

A survey conducted by New York-based GfK Roper Consulting Group found that 76% of small-business owners think that social networking sites are not helpful in generating business leads or in expanding their operations.

This exact thinking is just why they are not seeing results. They are still looking for something measurable, such as business leads and sales. Social media is not a direct mail campaign, you are not telemarketing and this is not intended to serve as a platform for a product push.

In my opinion, social media is a tool we can use to build relationships with people that we normally would have never met, for companies it is a chance to directly connect with their target audience, and to appreciate their customers. Companies pay tons of money to find out what consumers think and this is an opportunity to listen, to connect and to find out directly from your audience, from your customers.

It is all in the way you think: So when you sign up for these online networking sites, the first thing to do before creating a profile is to change the way you think. If you are thinking how these new tools are going to benefit you, your pocket and the company, then you are not going to succeed.

What you should be thinking about is how can I be useful to my audience, what are their needs, their problems. How can I show my customers that they are appreciated, that their feedback matters to our organization and to the decisions we make.

Although there are companies signing up for social networking sites, I have noticed two things missing:

• Humanizing the organization and the faces behind it.
• Efforts spent on new prospects vs. current customers.

Some recommendations on how to humanize your organization:

- On your social networking sites use a photo of the person tweeting vs. a logo, if you would rather use your logo or if there are multiple people tweeting, you can include pictures of the ones tweeting on the twitter background, or in a photos section of the tool you are using. Here are twitter profiles where I feel like the company is more personable:

• Kodak -http://twitter.com/kodakCB
• Ford – http://twitter.com/scottmonty
• Communispace – http://twitter.com/CommunispaceCEO

- Build genuine relationships with people in your network and connect with them. Give them valuable information; ask them questions on what they think of your products/service.

- Within reason show vulnerabilities, none of us are perfect.

- Show that you have a personality, what are you views on things that are happening in the industry or in matters that your network is talking about.

- Have a link to a picture account such as Flickr or a place on your website where company events and the people that make up the company are shown. People can relate to a culture they can see vs. an invisible person behind a logo.

- Invest in a cause, one that you are passionate about and one that stays true to what your company is about, the same passion, the same emotion that led to you building your company.

Focus on your customers:

I have also seen a lack of appreciation for current customers, with all of the promotions and rewards being targeted to new customers.

So many companies forget who is there every day buying their cup of coffee over the coffee shop down the road, who every month buys their skin care regiment when there is a less expensive systems right within reach.

I think that all companies should work on tracking their consumers, whether the product is bought online or in a store. Start a campaign that goes with the packaging that will bring your in-store customers online, make sure you know who your current customers are so you can show them that you appreciate them and learn from them.

Listen, and truly engage with your current customers and followers, I have always felt that your current customers and your employees are your best brand ambassador. When the whole crisis situation happened with Dominion’s, the first things I thought were, eww that is gross, what a pr disaster, and that they needed to go back to basics and figure out why their employees had not one ounce of loyalty to the company.

A Customers First trends report notes that “Market research has proven that loyal customers or repeat customers represent 80% of your business.” So why in the world do companies only focus on new customers and leave their loyal fans behind. We all know that happy customers talk, that is why word of mouth is so powerful, and companies drop the ball on this time and time again.

Per btobonline.com only 15.5% of b-to-b marketers are counting customer retention as a top goal, this is a big mistake.

Take some of your current marketing dollars and invest them into a customer only campaign, hire your fans as brand ambassadors, gather their insight to make your next product or offerings even better, it will pay back dividends.

If you want to be a PR rock star I recommend reading all the great information I learned at this past PRville conference and also make sure you are at PRville 2010 next year

I was super nervous to go to this conference, between this being my first 3 day PR conference and between my plane ride to Jacksonville being my first flight, well needless to say I had to mentally prepare myself for this trip way in advance.  I can say that although I still have a reason to fear being thousands of feet in the air, I should have had no fears about going to this awesome event, everyone was great and I got to learn and absorb all the great information.

The event was so well put together thanks to Anne Duboius (@adubois08) and Bonnie Upright (@bonnieupright ).  I had a great time and learned so much, which I am now going to take the time to pass forward, to give back as Mike Cherenson said in his Thursday night speech.  So first I am going to put the top 10 tweets of the event, these are just some tweets that stood out to me, you can see all of the great tweets to get a peak into Prville using the #Prville Hashtag on twitter. Then I will do a small recap of each session I attended

I got to the Omni Hotel at about 2:00 PM on Thursday, and although I did have a small issue with the shuttle reservation I made, they promptly fixed the issues and not only was the Omni Hotel beautiful, their customer service was outstanding.  Just 3 things they did that stood out – My shoes where kind of thrown by the bed when I left on Friday morning and when I came back they were all neatly lined underneath the desk, I also came back to some makeup wipes in the bathroom, now that might of been because my makeup ended up on their towels, but I really tried to not get much on there.  Then right before I left they did something else that made them stand out.  My feet were killing me, I forgot my shoes, but I still wanted to walk the Riverwalk, so I attempted it in my sandals, yeah, not the best idea.  So I called down to the front desk to get help with my luggage, but was running late since this great woman, Diane I met at Prville was giving me a ride to the airport therefore leaving me 5 minutes to make it downstairs, so the lady at the front desk called me back to tell me the bell boy could not make it up in 5 minutes, so I told her I walk.  She said nope, don’t do that I will personally come up myself, within 2 minutes max she was there, that is stand out customer service, I will make a point to look for a the Omni Hotel wherever I go. Oh, and no – I did not get anything free or discounted for writing this review, I just thoroughly enjoyed the stay there, and you should try their sliders, so yummy!

So as soon as I registered, I get this awesome Goody Bag with a shot glass, compact mirror, note pads a disc that had all of sessions, speaker’’s bios, etc on it and much more.  PRville went Green this year, I loved it, because all those papers I would have lost by now, I still have the disc which includes some of the ppt’s that were used.

Then on Thursday night I got to head over to the Jacksonville Stadium which was very cool, we got to see their workout room, their locker room, we stood out on the field.  I did feel like I was betraying the Ravens a little bit, but I still had a good time.  Here are some pictures that were taken from Ljohnson9’s photo stream on Flickr, I am hoping she does not mind, but the ones I took on my phone pail in comparison.

This is me and some lovely ladies I met at Prville.  This is at the MPS Group Terrace Suite where we had a fablous Island Buffett and listened to the opening speech of Michael Cherenson, APR PRSA President, AKA @ @mcherenson

Some highlights from Michale’s (@mcherenson)

• Authenticity is more important now than it has ever been.
• He talked about an ad that was placed in the 1900’s for a PR firm and how on the ad it did not even have the last name, he spoke to how PR has evolved.
• Study that said that PR is more recession resistant than ever before.
• We enter PRSA to learn and grown, but we must go forward and serve, we must give back, we must plant a tree for the next PR generation.

Then on Friday morning I started the morning with a yummy breakfast that everyone at Prville could enjoy and got ready for the opening sessions “Managing the Media when there is no place to hide” In this session the Hudson Miracle was talked about, yeah, did I mention I just got on a plane the day before, seriously thought about taking a train home Listening to a survivor of the Hudson Plane Crash was a neat experience, it truly was a miracle.  Panel Speakers were Don Jones, Laura Brown, and Peter Knudson.

Some Key Highlights:

• You do not want to say different things about the same accident, that could get you in trouble.  Via Laura Brown, Federal Aviation Administrator. (Try to speak in simple facts until you know what the full story is.)
• They thought the plane crashed, they did not know it was a forced landing in the Hudson.
• NTSA’s Peter Knudson first heard about the crash from Lisa Stark on ABC News. (My thoughts are that this is why every company should have twitter and a blog , to have a quick way to update consumers, clients, the general public on what is going on.)
• Someone else was twittering under the NTSA’s name, it was accurate but still not okay, they are looking into getting a legit twitter account.
• How do you control the crisis? You cannot control it, you can only respond.

AND my favorite quote from the session

Then I chose the workshop: “The camera is rolling, 20 skills to develop your teleconferencing/media skills.” by Steve Clements. I did pick up some from this, but I was hoping it would go over tips for giving clients presentations, and it was more so focused on speaking in front of the camera in all of its fashions. What I loved was that I got a takeaway from this session, I wish I got this for all sessions. Some great tips, and afterwards I realized I can put these tips to use in vlogging.

• Avoid staring at the camera the whole time, blink, look natural.
• Pretend the camera is a friend, this will make you a more natural speaker.
• If you use notes, print them in large font.
• Maintain and animated and pleasant facial expression, don’t let your face ‘go dead’

After this workshop we had a awesome lunch while we listened to Peter Shankman (@skydiver)  talk about social media

• The problem is, is that no one really knows what social media is?  Social Media is nothing but the ability to screw up to a much larger audience in a much shorter amount of time.
• Can’t make anything go viral, what you can do, is make something good, if you make it good, it will go viral.
• Ones that are the most creative win.
• Social Media is nothing more than trust, chance that someone will see it and pass it on to their friends.
• If you blog for your client, then be transparent about it.
• Reporters get 5000 e-mails a day so you better be brief and relevant, you have 2.7 seconds to make an impression.
• We talk to less than 3% of our network contacts so that means we are missing opportunities to connect with 97% of our network.
• You lost control of the conversation years ago, the best you can do now is to get involved in the conversation.
• If you have someone that is reluctant to embrace social media, run their contact by other social media mediums such as Facebook, show them how much of their network is already embracing social media.

Then I went to “PR and Passion Rule the Gator Nation” ran by: Joe Hice

• Have the same passion for your work that you want your customers to have for your product.
• People you develop that passion with will support you through the good and bad.
• Create an Emotional memory.
• Pepper everything you do with creativity, differentiate yourself or DIE.
• You cannot sell a product like everyone else, then your competition grows exponentionally.
• 100 million readers a week for Google & Yahoo vs. 7.4 million a week for ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox.

And my favorite workshop of the entire event was: “Strategic Corporate Communications and Execution”, this is my favorite because this is an area I need help with, I have lots of thoughts and ideas, and I can execute them, I just have a hard time with organizing them into a strategic plan that others can look at and see exactly what I am trying to convey.  This is why I love David Meerman Scott’s book The New Rules of Marketing and PR, it is so well written, and in a very organized manor. If you do not have his book I recommend getting it, it is a small and very worthwhile investment of $15.72

My takeaways from Sharon Wamble – King on Strategic Communications

• You have to drive value, not just make plans.
• When sitting down with your clients, ask questions so you two are learning together, don’t act like you know everything.
• Need to think about the sound strategy so you get results and not outcomes.
• Strategic thinking, that is just the thoughts, strategic planning comes afterwards with the organization of your thoughts.  If I have to execute on this, what are the levers I have to push?
• Have a business process that aligns, connects, and engages stakeholders to the business.
• Tools should be the last thing you talk about.

Then we were all Guitar Haro Rockstarts on Friday Night!

Then Saturday morning I sat in a very informative session on APR accreditation and taking your exam, which I am now looking into becoming a PRSA member, checked out my local chapter today, then I am going to start the process towards taking the APR exam.

Our last session was by Dayna Steele on ‘Finding Your Inner Rockstar”

• Got to let people know what it is that you need
• You have to say Thank You
• Give back to your community, show appreciation.

Overall this was a great conference with great people and I plan on seeing everyone again in 2010.

Just over a week ago I was mentally preparing myself for not only my first plane ride ever, but for my first PR conference and my first conference by myself.  I am going to PRVille on June 18th in Jacksonville, FL.  Then last Monday I see @jessicaknows post that she is getting excited for Blogpotomac, so I Google ‘Blog Potomac’ to see what it is that I am missing.  I find it is a social media conference and it is in Virginia, there is a conference in my backyard, I did not think there was anything going on around here, so I click on the register button, and alas, they are sold out.

The next day I start seeing people offering up their tickets stating they cannot make it. I tried about three people and by the time I got to them the ticket was gone, I started feeling like I should have placed ‘blogpotomac’ in my ‘TweetBeep‘ so I did not miss another ticket, fortunately Maggie (@maggielmcg) sent me a DM me telling me I was in luck, and as corny as it may sound I cannot tell you how excited I was.

Then the excitement wore off, and the anxiety set in, I am a bit of introvert. Have you ever took one of those personality tests that your employer gives you, well I came out as a INTP, these are the analytical folks that live inside their own minds – that is me, yeah I know – public relations, what was I thinking, aren’t you suppose to be an extrovert in that field.  However, most of the facets of this industry I thoroughly enjoy and I enjoy change and growth so it is great to be in an industry that challenges who I am as a person, I will always have to push myself.

Needless to say I pulled it together, knowing this was an opportunity to get my feet wet before PRVille and stepped outside of my comfort zone. Guess what………

I was fine, I am alive, I networked with a few awesome tweeps, and I met Jessica Smith in person, learned a lot of great information and honestly built my confidence as things were said that I have always thought I knew but always questioned myself on just the same, that is another INTP trait by the way.

So the highlights of each speaker for me were:

The wording may be part in their wording and part in mine, if I am pretty certain, I heard exactly what they said then it is in quotes.

Shel Holtz – @shel – Spoke on Cultural Barriers to implementations of Social Media in Organizations

Cultural Barriers

1. Legal – the law is whatever your general council says it is. The lawyers have assumed importance beyond what they contribute to the organization.  A lot of people have been in agreement with everything that the lawyer says, and it is not always the best advice for an organization.  So to change the culture you are going to need to make sure you can demonstrate that the results that were generated by your council are better than the lawyers but that the risks are still minimized.
2. Loss of control - the culture of the organization wants to be in control of everything that is said; we do not have that control anyway, we never did have that control it was just hidden. Their operating under a fantasy that they have control just by issuing a press release, etc.
3. Responsibility: Wrong – Ownership and responsibility for the organization should go to the ones that are really good with face book and twitter.  This does not mean that you are really good at developing a communication model that identifies the right communities that you need to be engaged in to communicate the business goals of the organization.  If you don’t start with the business goals first then you could be engaging with the wrong people, start with business goals first.
4. Regulation is another issue, specifically to the Pharmaceutical and Financial industry, they do not want to violate any regulations. Very few blogs dealing with Investor Relations. If you are representing these companies and careful with what you say in all other dealings what makes them think that you are not going to use the same approach when having these conversations over the net. Communicators need to stress internally that the rules that apply everywhere else apply online as well.
5. Resources: Lack of resources to utilize these new tools, if we don’t set the base point and show how much time it takes to produce the communication then we are not going to be able to show them how much better it is using these new tools to engage socially. When Southwest launched their blog, just moderating the comments warranted two more employees, but the pay off just from seeing the tickets that were bought that came over from the blog to registration was all they needed
6. One Voice – right or wrong? there is something wrong with making sure all the employees know what the organizations story is from the Director’s point of view. Culture says we only speak through the voice of the Director. There is a failure to recognize that people are having conversations with or without you and we need to overcome those barriers.

Notes:

• We get so fascinated by all the tools that we forget that we need to first know the organizations goals and to set a strategy, need a metrical objectives to take back to the organization.
• Every employee is a frontline PR person and needs to be empowered as such.

Shireen Mitchelle – @digitalsista – Political Blogging

Talked about Social Media and how that played a role in the last election.  She went to both conventions, her goal was to cover both parties and to give a balanced approach and view on the running of the two women in particular at the time Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin

The most impressive thing was twitter, the debates the protest, most of everyone in the room at Blog Potomac followed the debates. She talked about the differences of each convention, when she was at the RNC – police where jumping out on people and you would not know they where they were coming from, they used the  hashtag as a way to let people know where the police where jumping out at.   The RNC did not embrace twitter and blogs where as the DNC embraced social media, she was allowed to bring her camera, her laptop, etc.  Social Media allowed everyone to see the real story, as the national news never projected the screen at the RNC, and what people on TV were seeing was something different than the people in the convention were seeing, it was not fair and balanced, so pictures were taken and put out on twitter.

Some of the Hashtags she uses are: (I did not catch all of them)

• Conservatives: #tcot
• Liberal: #rebelleft
• Libertarians: #tlot
• Progressives: #topprog or #p2

Now by women talking about issues that were important to them, you are now seeing more woman organizations getting on twitter than ever before.  By using the hashtags when you talk about these issues you can communicate across the different groups.

Scott Monty – @scottmonty – Social Media in Crisis

• Crisis in an opportunity to take a negative and turn it into a positive.
• Responding and being transparent and letting them know what is going on and inviting them into the process.
• Leveraging that community for the ones that want you to succeed, ask them for help, your community will have a far greater reach through the networks they know then you will on your own.
• Have a place where you can quickly post updates or comments, etc. (This is why I agree with those that say every company should have a blog)
• The notion that people are talking about your brand is key, everyone has a horror story with a vehicle. People have always talked about these, now these conversations are talking place online. People are going to go to other sites to find out about vehicles, want to give people the value to hear what Ford has to say but to also hear what other people have to say on their site.
• You don’t have to respond to every tweet or comment, let the community defend your brand and correct things that are wrong. You can only read so many blogs, comments, etc.
• The tools are irrelevant, they will always change, we are talking abut creating a culture of open communication and letting people talk about the company.
• If you can engage people that have spoken negatively about your company and if you can get them on your side then they will be your best brand advocates.
• People care about themselves, they care abut being part of a success, they care about being part of something bigger.
• Respond in context within the medium that was the starting point of the crisis and move on to other mediums from there.
• “Never going to win a battle in crisis communication by negating what the other person is saying”

Scott presented a mini version of Ford’s Code of Ethics for their communications,  loved these!

• I will tell the truth
• I will write deliberately and with accuracy
• I will try to be inclusive of all ideas and points of view
• I will acknowledge and correct mistakes promptly
• I will not delete posts
• I will not delete comments unless they are spam or profane
• I will disclose conflicts of interest.
• I will stay on topic

Liz Strauss – @lizstrauss - The Business Aspect of Blogging

Relationships: we have been doing this for years, before we had to get on a plane to maintain these relationships, now we have new social media tools to do this, should be able to do it a whole lot faster now but we have been doing it for years.

“The two things every company needs are: More products to buy, and more opportunities to buy them.”

“If you want to do social media well, don’t lead with the tools, lead with relationships, if you want to lead with relationships, start by knowing who you are, because knowing who you are is even more important than knowing what you do, cause knowing what you do is a subset of who you are, and when you know what you do, you know it really well…”

You will no longer be selling you will be talking about what you do, like you talk about it with your friends.

Aaron Brazell – @technosailor & Amber Naslund -  @ambercadabra Personal Branding

(Aaron also expands on his thoughts at Technosailor.com)

Amber: It is the idea that personal brands have become a shortcut for building a real relationship that is not cared for.  You are listing these bullet points about yourself and then others are just suppose to buy it.  Your personal brand is not your own, it is not what you say it is, it is what the community says it is.

Aaron – the fundamental flaw is the concept of a personal brand, a personal brand is more about ego.  A brand should be bigger than an individual person. Where do you position yourself, are you positioning yourself for yourself, or are you positing yourself for your company. Never allow your personal brand to eclipse the greater initiative, the greater goal of your company.

Amber: you cannot separate a personal brand with your professional personality, it’s about knowing who you are and representing it across everything you do. Your company is paying you to do your job, your reputations are tied together because it is for both of your benefit, it’s not about you, its about the company, can it enhance that, if you can-  that means that you are being a good employee.

Aaron - It is okay to have a personal brand, but does not like the word personal brand because there is a cockiness about it that says it’s all about me vs. all about us. Your brand is controlled by your customers.

Amber – You can’t control what is put out there about you. Doesn’t matter what information you put out abut yourself, it matters what others say. We have a personal responsibility to know what is being said about us, should be doing vanity searches on Google to see what is being said about you.

Shashi Bellamkonda – @shashib – Network Solutions

A social media practitioner should be independent, free thinking, and always active.

Most people in management are resistant, but through effective communication change is still possible.

Customer Service is the most important; if you are good to your customers then they will spread the word about you.

Do not use tools just for the sake of using them, they should be a tool to communicate and engage with others.

Mahdi Gharavi did a excellent recap Here

I attended Chicks Who Chat on last Tuesday night at MOM TV (I think it was Tuesday, don’t quote me on the day) and the discussion was blogging, what made you want to start blogging and did you take a break and then come back, etc.  There were a few comments talking about the number of visitors not reflecting the number of comments, like there will be way more visitors than people who actually leave comments.

So let’s look at the obvious reasons why this might be:

1. Your post is not interesting, relevant or useful enough, and when I say this, I mean to your specific niche/audience, everyone has their own version of interesting.
2. They were directed to your site through a keyword, but your content was not what they were looking for. For this you can get an idea of what percentage to eliminate by looking at your bounce rate – those who are on and then off. I have heard that you do not want your bounce rate above 30%, but I am not in SEO, so not sure?
3. The title of the post was not interesting/captivating enough for them to click on the post to read it.

On the note of tips that can help your blog get shared see Chris Brogan’s post, it’s a really helpful post.

So, what if none of these fit you and you are still having people come to your blog and not leave comments, well I have good news for you! It’s most likely nothing you are doing wrong. I am not saying that there is not a strategic process that goes into place to figure out who your buyer persona is and how to reach them, how to engage with them, i.e. which technology to use, etc.  I am just addressing my observation of seeing bloggers who are good, they have good content for their niche and they will get anywhere from 7 to upwards in comments per post, but they still are focusing on the number of visitors and the percentage that is not commenting.

Some people just do not comment, or they do not comment unless they are extremely passionate about the particular topic.

I attended an Awareness/Forrester webinar not too long ago and I learned some interesting statistics:

• 18%  – publish a blog, write articles or stories and post them, upload video and music they created.
• 25% -  post ratings reviews, comment’s on blogs, contributes to online forums
• 12% -  uses RSS feeds (Really, I was shocked at this one), adds tags to web pages or photos, votes for websites online.
• 25% – maintain a profile on a social networking site.
• 48% – read blogs, watch video from other users, listen to podcasts, read online forums.
• 44% – do none of the above.

So there you have it, more than half of people in the online community are just reading, listening absorbing. After they do one of these, they are either coming back or they are not?  Comments, interaction is important, you want to engage with your readers, but engaging does not always mean your audience leaving comments.  If you are engaging them they will come back, and as far as looking at numbers – that is the one I would focus on, are my readers coming back? How many want to see more?

Although the ‘spectators‘ are not the ones that are commenting, this does not mean that they are not spreading the word some how, this does not mean that they are not creating buzz for you.

It’s also great practice to track your short URL to see how many clicks you are getting; it might give you an idea of how many are sharing your information.   Bit.ly is one you can use, there are also some other ranking/tracking tools you can gather from this Mashable article by Ben Parr.

Also to give you a little demographics on the spectators so you can see how they fit into who your audience: (Via Forrester)

• 70% – Under 25
• 67% – 25-34 (Single, no kids)
• 62% - 25 -34 (Married, no kids)
• 66% – 25-34 (with kids)

As long as you are blogging about what is relevant to your audience and they are coming back for more and passing on your posts, creating buzz, etc. then to me the comment part is not on the top of the priority list.  Everyone loves getting comments, it is what helps us grow and lets us know that what we are writing is something of use.  I just wouldn’t want some of the people that I have heard have concerns try to fix something that is not broken.

What do you think is more important, comments, others creating buzz, or readers that cannot get enough and come back again and again?

Want to now how Uncle Ben’s is my LifeSaver? Read on….

This may not be the norm for a productivity/organizational tip, but it has been a lifesaver for me. My husband was laid off for a while so as a mother that works from home I forgot how hard it can be to balance taking care of my son and working. Not to mention before my husband got laid off my son could not crawl or walk, so it was much easier. Now my husband has been back to work for a month, and although I am getting back in the grove when it comes to work and chasing my son around, I am still missing that necessity – FOOD.

About two months ago I won three bags of ‘Uncle Bens Ready Rice’ and well – lets say I do not enter the kitchen much, so my husband made the other two bags, and although they tasted yummy, back then I never experienced the best part of ‘Uncle Bens Ready Rice’ and that is making it.

This past Monday I was in the kitchen making Jackson lunch, he is fussing at me because I am not moving fast enough and I am scouring the cabinets for something quick to make, and there is nothing.  Some days I can just go without eating lunch, well today was not one of those days. Thankfully I came across the bag of ‘Uncle Bens Ready Rice’ I can’t tell you how good the words ‘ 90 seconds’ looked.

Of course I added some butter, because I am incapable of being healthy it seems.

As odd as it is, this is my productivity tip ‘Uncle Bens Ready Rice’ I know it bought me a number of things, bought me 30 more minutes in the day, bought me less of a headache from my 16 month old screaming for his mom to come feed him, bought me a happier day as I was not grumpy due to lack of nutrition.

What is your Productivity Tip? What helps you get through the day?