Latest posts from Danny Brown

Enjoy the latest posts from Danny Brown, and feel free to add your own thoughts in the comments after the post.

The More We Connect, The More We Lose Touch

?You can?t please everyone, so you?ve got to please yourself.? ? Ricky Nelson.

It?s been an interesting last 24 hours. Abusive emails, character attacks on Twitter and questions about my ethics. Just another day in the life of.

Time is an interesting commodity.

On the one hand, we love it when time passes quickly so we can see a new movie, or buy a new product, or see a new date. On the other, we complain there?s never enough time in the day.

Online connections simply increase this problem. As we connect with new people on new networks, our availability factor goes down.

You don?t mean it to; you try avoid it; but it?s a simple fact that as we connect with more, the less we can offer. This may be less time for people you used to converse with more; less time for generic conversations; and less time for things in general.

Sure, you can use tools to help you manage your time better. Yet at the end of the day, the tools are only as good as the person using them, so perhaps I need to brush up on my time management skills.

Yet the attacks/criticisms that came my way over the last 24 hours would probably have come regardless of time management, by the nature of them. The suggestion of ?having time for some people but not for others? being the main theme.

Again, it comes back to where to try and divert your time. While this isn?t an excuse as such, a lot of my time at the minute is taken up by:

12for12k
Legal clearances for promotional materials for this month?s charity
Conference calls with charity partners
Social change events
Client projects (since all 12for12k efforts are free of charge)

If you add in personal time, offering help where possible to people asking for advice and residency issues in Canada to name just a few, you might see where I can get sidetracked.

As I say, it?s not an excuse but an explanation. I appreciate the connections we have and I?ll try my best to manage them as best I can and help wherever I can. However, there will be times that some people and actions slip through the cracks.

So, here?s a suggestion.

If you?ve sent me something or asked me something and I haven?t responded in a couple of days, send me a nudge. Failing that, email me ? my contact details are on this blog, or my website, or on my Twitter background. I?ll try my damnedest to respond.

And if I haven?t replied straight away, please don?t take it personally.

With regards the ethics question, I certainly don?t always make the best decisions but I always believe that whatever they are, they are for the right and ethical reasons. Of course, it?s anyone?s prerogative to doubt this, but I?m happy to live with my decisions.

How about you? Are you finding yourself with less time for the stuff that needs more time? How are you managing your conversations?

photo credit: Joshua Davis

How PR and Bloggers Can Help Each Other

There’s been a lot of talk about the relationship between the public relations industry and bloggers. I’ve written about it in the past as have others, yet still there’s this feeling of a barrier between the two mediums.

As someone on both sides of the fence, I can understand each side’s views.

Yet I can also see where both sides could improve. So, with no bias to either the PR industry or bloggers, here are some suggestions to help both PR and bloggers help each other.

PR People – Think Like Bloggers

Consider starting a blog if you don’t already have one. Unless you blog yourself, you probably won’t understand the mindset of a blogger. It can be a lonely and time-consuming business – the last thing we want is added workloads through misunderstanding or laziness. If you blog, you’ll have a better appreciation of how we work and how our time can best be used.

Treat us as a bona-fide media source in both your pitching and follow-ups. True, we may not have the name of a New York Times or CBS journalist or reporter. But we often are more visible, thanks to Google and search engine awareness, which means our story could potentially have a much wider audience. Doesn’t that deserve some respect?

Find out who we are and what we do. You have a gardening tool to promote for a client. So why would you send your news release to a tech or music blogger? Don’t just grab a bunch of names from a blogger list – do a little homework, find out what we write about, our style, etc. Trust me, show me you know about me and my readers and you’re almost home dry with me.

Invite us to participate in what your clients are up to. Bloggers love to be involved early on – after doing your homework on who would fit you client base, invite bloggers into your inner circle as your official blog partners. Let us tell your story (without any major interference) and you’ll have a primed marketing team of bloggers ready to go.

Bloggers – PR is Not Your Enemy

Bloggers are wary of PR people. Lazy pitches, poor communication and being treated as second-class citizens are just some of the complaints. Yet there are ways to help yourself be more appreciated by the PR industry.

Have either an About Me page or an area that describes what your blog is about. This may seem like common sense but the amount of reviewer blogs I’ve seen without this simple addition is mind-boggling. How can you expect a proper pitch when you don’t advise on what you write about?

Display a PR-friendly badge to let us know that you’re open to pitching. Todd Defren and the folks over at Shift Communications have come up with some badge designs you can use. Clean and clear, they save both PR people and bloggers a lot of time.

Be ethical at all times and true to your beliefs. This works both ways. Your blog is your voice and your readers should trust that voice. Keep your views honest and untainted by PR pressure. And if someone in PR is pressuring you into a positive spin when their client doesn’t deserve one, don’t be afraid to call them out via your blog.

Contact us and offer your services as part of a PR agency’s blogger outreach program. Many PR firms and professionals are still far behind on the benefits of a blogger outreach program. Use Google, Twitter, O’Dwyer’s blog and other resources to find agencies in your niche. Then send them an email about your expertise and how they could benefit from it. Pro-activity never hurt anyone.

These are just some examples of how the PR industry and bloggers can help each other. I’m sure there are countless more, but it’s a start.

How about you? Are you a blogger? If so, how can PR professionals improve? Or are you in the PR industry? Where would you like to see bloggers improve? Feel free to share your views and let’s get the conversation going.

photo credit:?lepiaf.geo

Blogging Me, Blogging You

A-ha! Okay, now that the ABBA/Alan Partridge reference is out of the way (and sorry, I couldn’t resist!), I’d like to ask you a question. Okay, a few questions, I guess.

What do you want to read?

What do you want to know about?

What can I help you with?

How can I help you improve (and, in doing so, continue to improve myself)?

I write about social media. I write about PR. I write about marketing. I write about community, and tools, and people. Yet there is always something to write about that I might miss.

I’m guessing you come here to learn and be entertained. If not, if you just find me by accident then I apologize for the assumption.

However, if you do come here to either learn or be entertained, hopefully I do a decent enough job to keep you coming back. And maybe have you asking yourself questions as you leave.

Yet I know that’s only half the story. You guys, from the regular readers to the occasional visitors, are the other half and one of the main reasons this blog exists.

So, tell me what more I can do for you. What can I write about that will help you more? Do you want to know more about the tools or the people behind the tools? How about business versus personal interaction and connection? Networks or solutions? These are just some ideas – how about yours?

I see a blog as the author’s house. I’ve just actually moved into a new home, and while I have things to put in various places, there are some spaces that are open to suggestion. So, my doors are open.

Come on inside and show me what you’d put in these spaces. I’ll try my best to accommodate. And if it’s something I’m not aware of, we’ll learn together.

Sound like a plan?

photo credit:?Michel Banabila

From Twitter to Blog – #FollowFriday Vol. 2

Recently I wrote about why I was moving my #followfriday recommendations from Twitter to this blog. So, without further ado, here are my recommendations for this week.

I hope you check them out – they’re all worth getting to know.

Community. John Haydon (@johnhaydon). John is a massive influence on me. From his sterling non-profit work to his social media smarts, and his incredibly friendly demeanour, he’s the true spirit of community. He also plays a mean guitar. One of my “must meet in 2009” people.
Ladies of Twitter. Gina LaGuardia (@GinaLaGuardia). Did you know Gina has Mafia connections? Granted, it’s the Twitter Mafia, but still… Gina is an editing genius – so much so that she’s known as the Content Pimp. Got typo issues? Speak to Gina! She’s also funny as heck, as her exchanges with people on Twitter testify.
Gentlemen of Twitter. David Holliday (@_djh). David is one of these guys that everyone should know. He has a hand in many pots – photography, marketing, social media and it’s all mixed up with dry UK wit. His Twitter feed is a mix of laughs, questions and information. Which makes David great for Twitter parties.
Non-Profits. Mark Lovett (@GlobalPatriot). Mark is incredibly inspiring, both on and off Twitter. I’ve spoken to him many a time and always come away revitalized. He’s a Californian on a mission to end poverty and hunger, and offer sustainable solutions to many charitable problems. Basically, the guy’s a saint.
Marketing. Maria Reyes McDavis (@websuccessdiva). For anyone that relates Internet marketing to spam emails and pyramid schemes, let me introduce you to Maria. Brilliant online and offline marketer, Maria is a bundle of great information and tips that will help anyone looking for marketing advice and business success. Oh, and she’s a really nice person too.
Public Relations. Dave Fleet (@davefleet). Another Brit in the list yet deservedly so. Dave is to PR what Industrial Light & Magic are to George Lucas – inseparable. A genuine expert in both traditional and social media-led public relations, Dave also has one of the must-read PR blogs around. He’s also probably one of the fittest Twitter users I know. The swine.
Social Media. Scott Henderson (@scottyhendo). Incredibly knowledgeable due to his wide-reaching travels, Scott approaches social media from not what it can do, but what it can achieve (and there is a difference). He’s a connector in the truest sense and will help you see social media uses that will surprise you. Underrated star.
The “Everyone Should Know” WildCard Entry. Patrick Badstibner (@PBadstibner). Pat is one of life’s good people. He hardly has a harsh word to say; he obviously loves his family; he never fails to offer help wherever he can (both online and offline); and he has a great wit to boot. If you’re looking for a gentle giant on Twitter, Pat is your man.

Cheers guys, for being who you are every day of the week.