Archive for the ‘General Ramblings’ Category

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Competitive:

PR and Social Media – We are all vying for attention, attention from that key influencer in our niche, acknowledgement that our company or client exists and has something to offer, a story that will secure a placement in the publication that would put them on the map, the most creative idea and the list goes on.

WOW (World of Warcraft) -  a very competitive game, you roll on gear in the game, the person with the highest roll gets the gear, characters with the highest gear score get into the most raids. You can also do PVP (Player vs. Player) where you have the Alliance on one side and the Horde on another, whoever wins the battle obtains the most honor points which can then buy you better PVP gear.

Team Work and Independent Work:

PR and Social Media – you have to be able to work independently and make things happen and also work as part of a team. I have written out some great strategies, but they were implemented at their best because of the team I worked with. There have also been times where something urgent arose and I have had to make decisions and get done what needed to be done with minimal direction.

WOW (World of Warcraft) – you can do so much more when you are working as a team, you have to have open lines of communication to complete a raid, and there is also the quest part of WOW where you have to act independently.

Strategy:

PR and Social Media – To be successful you have got to have a strategy in place, it helps to keep everything on track and all pieces top of mind. It also helps to ensure that all communications efforts are going off of the given strategy. There also needs to be room for altering  or adding to the strategy based on new information, new products, new developments in a story, etc.

WOW (World of Warcraft) – In WOW the more strategy there is, the better off you and your guild will be. You need no more than a certain amount of each character in a raid, for example you only need two tanks for each 25- man, and certain specs, being destruction, affliction, etc will benefit a team when fighting a specific boss. Also when you are leveling your character you obtain new spells and abilities, and you have to learn how they fit into your overall strategy/rotation.

Relationships/Reputation:

PR and Social Media - Part of PR is building relationships and reputation, what you do and say, and what others say about you. If participate in something that is shady or unethical, chances are it will make it to the internet and everyone will know about it within hours.

WOW (World of Warcraft) – In WOW, the more relationships you build the more successful you will be, you will get more invites for raids and in general others will want to help you continue to grow and enhance the skill set of your character. If you steal gear in a raid, you will be labeled as ‘Ninja’ in chat and will be blacklisted for guild invites and everyone will know and will not let you into raids or into their guild.

Does anyone else play WOW, can you think of any more similarities?

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?

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 is a photo that was 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.

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.

“Social Media and What Gives” was the topic of this past Spin Cycle with @ExtraordMommy

Two days later I find myself still thinking about this topic.  I know what gives for me, my kids, my husband, my me time, well wait a minute – I guess social media has become my ‘me’ time. I really hate admitting that I spend less time with my kids because I am on the internet, because reading my own words make me cringe, but it’s the truth.

When I first found twitter and used it for a few weeks, my mind was strictly on work, another way to network.  In the first month I was addicted to twitter, there were so many great minds to pick, so many great articles being posted.  Then I am not even sure how it happened, but twitter switched from only being a tool I could use while at work to becoming part of my social life.  People share their lives, their goals, their tragedies online and you grow to develop friendships with them, you feel a connection that you never thought would be possible just from communicating online.  I have learnt so much on a professional level and on a personal level from being on twitter, but it is amazing how time consuming social media in general can be.  There are tweets, and then the tweets link to an article or blog posts, then posts lead to engagement and so on it goes.

I have tried to pull myself away from the computer time and time again, and there are weekends where I succeed, there are weekends when I spend time with my family and barely touch the computer and there are times where it is the opposite.  However, I think I might have found a way to help me get more ‘me time’ and more time with my kids…

There are two things I am addicted to – Work and the Internet. I have an obsessive personality; it is one of those things I try to balance or curve often.  So I thought what if I take what I know I am already obsessed with and try to translate that into a way to spend more time with my family.  I know that probably sounds backwards huh. But I think it will work.  About 6 months ago I came across a forum/networking site called Baltimore Mommies:

I signed up, and like I have done with quite a few memberships or networking sites, I never went back.  So after taking a second look I thought that this may be a good way to network with other moms in the area, which will lead to more activities I can do with my kids and also for play dates where they can play with other kids.  They also have GNO, and although I love the #GNO that I join on Tuesday nights, I do feel at times that I need a GNO where I actually see other people.  My close friends although I love them much, for the most part are far away or single. They have bowling, scavenger hunts, library trips, orioles games and all kinds of fun stuff I can do with the kids that will not cost me tons of money.

I am not one of those creative moms that can think of neat, crafty ideas to do with my kids, so to have others make plans where I and my kids can go and interact is perfect.  Also, my kids are 16 months, 6 years’ old, and 10 years old.  They are never on the same page with what they want to do and what they consider to be a good time.

I am super excited that I have now just become active in this group.  I am supposed to go meet a group of mothers tonight, which should be interesting.  This is new to me, as I have never just gone and met a group of women that I did not know. I will tell you how it goes!

What gives for you for you?  Have you joined a network like Baltimore Mommies before?  What was your experience?  I am a tad nervous so any tips, stories would help.