Journal

Conversation Is Good

: Image by Clearly Ambiguous via Flickr

Recently, I found a blog post from Paul Seaman, a? PR professional from Zurich, Switzerland. In it, Paul makes predictions about the future of social media and how it will fit in with traditional media and PR.

At the time, while I agreed with some of his points I also disagreed with quite a few. I posted a link to the article on Twitter and asked for people’s opinions.

The responses were varied, but generally they were of the opinion that some of Paul’s predictions were skewed. Not necessarily wrong, but maybe just looking at the subject matter in a slightly offhand manner.

(For the record, I have nothing against Paul – and I’m sure the same goes for the people who responded on Twitter – and his credentials in his bio certainly offer his authority on a number of topics).

Like most things, it’s an “agree to disagree” situation and that’s normally the end of it. Except Paul feels his reputation is being questioned, and has written another post responding to the comments made on Twitter and a blog post by Jeff over at Swatting At Flies. Now normally I’d respond to Paul’s post via his comments section – unfortunately, you have to register at his blog to make a comment, and as I’ve mentioned previously, I’m not a big fan of this type of comment moderation. Judging by the comments on that particular post, neither are most people.

So, unfortunately, I’ll have to respond here. I say unfortunately, since I don’t want this to appear as, or turn into, a “you said, he said” type of affair – fingers crossed. Paul’s initial views are in Italic.

I did say, the term social media will fade, because all media are social, otherwise they are not media, and because old media will converge with new media.

While I agree that “old media” will converge with “new media”, I’m not so sure about all media being social. The basis of social media is the mass interaction it offers users. Compare that to newspapers, where the only interaction might be a letter to the editor, or TV news channels that simply broadcast news with no interaction from viewers, and you have to ask how social that type of media is. Conversation is the difference here – anything else is pretty much just a broadcast.

?Old-fashioned? CNN is already the fourth most followed Twitter. The number one spot is held by President-elect Barack Obama. That shows how the real world elitist institutions are already dominating the Twitter-sphere.

While these figures may be correct, the CNN Twitter account is a perfect example of the older-style media’s non-interaction when using Twitter. Their account is simply a news feed which, while commendable that they’re on Twitter, anyone could get the same information from CNN’s site.

As far as Barack Obama’s concerned, while his backroom team’s use of Twitter and other social media platforms was undoubtedly excellent during the whole election campaign, the last Twitter message was a victory one on November 5 2008.

The opportunity for Obama (or at least his communications team) to really show his willingness to interact online with his voters looks increasingly like an election tool. Time will tell. In the meantime, for an example of how leading institutions are truly engaging their audience online, look no further than the Zappos Twitter account.

Moreover, any medium that is so limited is never going to be ideal for communicating serious ideas.

I’m not so sure Twitter is limited. Every day you see business-to-business interaction and new client/company relationships forming. You see worthwhile causes like Tweetsgiving and the 12for12k Challenge taking shape and bringing together communities to help millions worldwide.

You see events like JournChat bringing journalists, PR professionals and bloggers together to foster inter-media relationships, as well as initiatives like PRIntern connecting PR students looking to intern and companies looking for these interns. There are thousands of other ways that this “limited medium” is opening up the minds of thought leaders and business owners every day so, yes, I disagree that Twitter is limited.

Human interaction is all about networking and being social. Online discussions today will get better, but I doubt that Danny Brown and his friends will play a significant role in making it so.

Here we seem to agree – although I’ll leave the part about me and my friends for other people to decide.

Human interaction is all about networking and being social, which is exactly what social media is all about – the interaction. Look at Twitter, where there are millions of conversations taking place – personal, business, technical and others. Look at FriendFeed where more conversations are happening; or Stumbleupon, where people are interacting with each other by recommending sites they feel their friends might like.

This is the opposite to the ?not-very-social? digital access to ?broadcasters? and ?narrowcasters? future that Paul predicts.

As I mention earlier, I really don’t want this to turn into a tit-for-tat debate; Paul makes some good points in his initial blog post, and others in his follow-up post. I guess I’m just confused that someone with Paul’s expertise and forward-thinking would pretty much discount one of the most valuable tools in business branding and promotion today.

Of course, we can always agree to disagree – can’t we?

When Does Embellishing End and Lying Begin?

: Image by ATENCION: via Flickr

Let me ask you a question – what’s your view of the PR industry? It doesn’t matter if you’re involved in it professionally, someone that uses its services or just an average person on the street – is it a positive or negative view?

I’m guessing that the majority of views about the industry I love and work in are fairly negative. There’s the belief that we’re charlatans who are just after a client’s money, we don’t tell the truth and we have an over-inflated opinion of ourselves.

Sadly, all of that and more is true of some of the “professionals” in the PR industry.

Yet for every one bad egg, I can pretty safely say that there are many more good and ethical PR professionals who are trying desperately to rid the industry of the individuals who give it a bad name.

By working differently; having our practices transparent and open for anyone to see; and encouraging the new breed of PR professionals and interns coming through to have more say in our industry. It’s a slow process, but it is happening.

Which is why this press release from Melrose Jeweler’s disgusts me so much.

According to the release, Hollywood actor Owen Wilson was contemplating suicide until he realized that the quality of his own life must be good because of the quality of his Rolex watch. That’s right – his watch proved to him the value of his life.

What. The. F**k?!?

Now, I don’t know how serious Owen Wilson’s issues are, or his state of mind – I’ve never been a big follower of celebrity news. But whatever his problems (or anyone else that feels so desperate in their situation that they consider taking their own life), I’m pretty sure a piece of jewelry isn’t going to mean a whole lot to them, no matter how luxurious.

At first, I (like many others) thought that the blame for the morally-lacking release laid at Rolex’s feet. But when you actually take a little time to look into the story and the background of it, you realize that it originates from the blog of Melrose Jewelers. Dig a little further still, and you see that Melrose Jewelers are only selling pre-owned Rolex watches – which kind of makes them little more than a second-hand watch shop.

Taking all that into context, and the sheer crassness of the blog post and subsequent press release, I wonder if Rolex are even aware of the statements being made by Melrose Jewelers on behalf of their brand? Since the original blog post was published on December 15 2008, and I can’t find any rebuttal online from Rolex, it looks like they’re not aware of the release. Which then has me asking more questions:

If one of the most well-known companies in the world for luxury watches isn’t aware of something as bad as this story, what does it say about their brand monitoring strategy?

Are the owners of Melrose Jewelers so insensitive they’ll resort to measures such as using someone’s suffering to try and boost profits? Didn’t they learn anything from the Back-Up Shotgun Rack fiasco?

Does the editorial process of newswire sites need looking at if they think this kind of release is acceptable? Or are our morals no longer part of approval?

There’s a lot wrong with this story and I’m sure there’s a lot more to come, particularly if Rolex is still to find out about it. (And I’m hoping that’s the case and that they’re not part of the whole mess). On early viewing, it does look like it’s a horrible PR stunt taking advantage of someone’s suffering and that only helps confirm people’s negative views of the industry.

Looking at it more, though, it’s clear that it’s the jeweler that’s at fault – even the media contact on the press release is a “Mike D.” from the Melrose sales team. Which makes me question whether there was any PR guidance given at all – personally, I doubt it. No PR professional – no good one, that is – would have touched this with a barge pole. Additionally, there are no direct quotes from either Rolex or Owen Wilson – another sign that the press release lacks any authoritative backing.

Lessons learned? Know how your brand is being represented online. Monitor your name at all times. Your reputation depends on it, and that’s your most valuable asset.

As for Melrose Jewelers? I ask you this – what do you think this does for your reputation?

Update. Following this post, I received a Cease and Desist letter from an attorney representing Melrose Jewelers. You can read all about it and my response here.

Accentuate The Positives

: Image via Wikipedia

Can you remember when television was called the root of all evil? How it was blamed for desensitizing kids and breaking up the family fibre? American author and cultural critic Neil Postman wrote a book about it in 1985, called Amusing Ourselves to Death.

Postman’s argument was that television lessened the educational growth of people, as well as dumbed down arguments, by going for entertainment and images over political discourse and more serious issues.

While there’s no denying that television can be one distraction too many at times, there’s also no doubting its educational uses as well – National Geographic and The History Channel being just two examples.

Jump forward a little more than twenty years, and there’s a new target – the Internet.

It’s being blamed for everything from turning kids into zombies to the disappearance of social skills in the “real world”. But is it really that bad?

Hey Teacher, Leave These Kids Alone.

Far from turning kids into online-addicted mindless zombies, a new study shows that the Internet-savvy youth of today are far more creative than we were. The Digital Youth Research report, funded by the MacArthur Foundation, uses social network giant MySpace as an example. Just creating a MySpace page and customizing it shows a level of creativity and basic programming skills beyond most offline equivalents.

Of course, this report isn’t on the front pages of traditional media for one simple reason – it offers a positive view of the very medium that sells newspapers when the headlines are screaming negatives. If the report had said the Internet and social networking was hurting our kids’ education, you can be sure it would have been a lead story with quotes from “experts” all too willing to lend their view.

But you know something? We’re just as bad at times.

Pot. Kettle. Black.

One of the foremost sayings about social media is how it’s bringing people together. Opening up doors that had previously been locked, and offering help and encouragement to anyone that needs it. Simply put, the caring medium. But it’s not always like that, is it?

How can it be when bloggers are vociferously attacked for writing a sponsored post? Or when people take being “unfriended” by someone so seriously that they decide to investigate to almost stalker-like proportions? Add in the antagonistic comments that bloggers receive for their points of view, and you have to wonder if we really are that social.

So here’s what we need to do.

Accentuate the Positives.

It’s all too easy to be negative about something. By our very nature, human beings are happiest when we’re complaining. We love it when someone jumps the queue so we can open up on them, or our heroes make a mistake so we can bring them down.

Let’s stop this. Now.

Instead, let’s celebrate the good that social media can offer and concentrate on making that the norm, as opposed to the excuse. Let’s tell everyone about the positive thing that happened to us today because of social media.

Here’s an example. Yesterday, I met with a potential new client that found me through Twitter. His company is in the same city as me, so we met up for coffee and discussed a potential project. And even if I don’t win that project, the product he wants me to promote is so good I’ll be using it myself anyway. Without Twitter, he wouldn’t have been aware of me, and I would have been missing out on a great application.

That’s just one example from one person. I’m sure you have tons of examples of your own.

The question is – are you sharing them?

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Get Your Thundercats Groove On To Market Yourself

: Image via Wikipedia

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I’m a bona-fide geek who has a lifetime subscription to the comic book industry and fantasy creators everywhere. I’m not ashamed of it (although my wife may laugh and tell me to grow up), and I also know it’s not for everyone. It is for me, though.

Yet before you join in the laughter (if you’re about to – maybe you’re a fellow geek too?), let me ask you something:

How much are you being creative with the tools that you have around you?
Are you exciting people with your plans both current and future?
Are people talking about you in the communities you share?
Are you taking existing tools and technologies and turning them into something even better?

If you don’t have a positive answer for any or all of these questions, you’re missing out on great opportunities to expand your name, your brand, your business and your community. Especially when it’s free or, at the very most, a few dollars a month.

We Can Rebuild It – We Have The Technology.

Look at any of the advances we’ve made and it’s usually someone taking an existing idea and running with it. Making it better, stronger, more complete. Brakes on a car becoming anti-lock brakes; vacuum cleaners becoming bagless cylinder cleaners; phones becoming wireless. Everything using already good products and making them great.

Use the same approach for yourself. Look at what makes your life easier, online and off, and see how you can improve that for both yourself and those around you.

Take inspiration from someone else and re-invent it for yourself. See what your peers and contemporaries are doing and ask yourself why you think they’re enjoying success in whatever they’re doing. Is it because they’re more experienced, or more open, or more communicative? Look, listen and learn. And then take the best parts and make them even better.

Be Creative.

How are you getting your message out? How do people know about your experience, your services, your difference from others around you? Maybe it’s time to take a step back and look at differentiating yourself and offering another way for your talents to shine.

There are plenty of tools to help you. Want an all-in-one place to link to your most important places, profiles or examples of your successes? Use a MeeID account to give people a 10-line snapshot of you. It’s easy, it’s free, and it’s entirely up to you how you use it best. Go all out and set up multiple accounts – personal, social networking and business. Really, the choice is yours.

Or update your resume and use a Visual CV instead. It’s using the same basic information you’d have on a normal resume and then some. As a tool for marketing yourself , it’s hard to beat. Have it on your blog, or link to it from your MeeID profile. Use the tools to connect with each other and you’ll answer anyone’s questions before they’re even asked.

Time is one luxury very few of us have. We can’t always come up with great new ideas and tools from scratch. Using the tools from those already a few steps ahead of us and making them our own is the next best thing.

This fan video shows just what can be achieved with some existing resources and creativity. How are you using your Thundercats groove?

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Discussing Social Media with… Jacob Morgan

A little while back, I sent out a request via Twitter asking if anyone would be interested in being interviewed for a discussion on social media. With the medium meaning so many different things to so many people, as well as how it can be used, I was interested to hear the views of the people I connect with.

My original plan was to run a ?round table? style of blog post – raise the questions and then have a mix of views as the responses. However, the answers I received back were all excellent, and showed why social media is the mix of interesting people and views that it is. So, I decided individual posts would be far more effective in an on-going series of interviews.

Sharing his views today is social media marketing consultant Jacob Morgan. Jacob runs a team of Technical SEO’s and has worked with brands such as Adobe, Conde Nast, Sandisk and Salesforce. He has also been a guest author on this blog. My sincere thanks to Jacob for taking the time to reply and share his views. To connect with Jacob, or find out more about him, please visit his social media marketing blog or connect with Jacob on Twitter.

If someone was to ask you for your definition of social media, what would it be?

I would define social media as any tool, platform, or site that allows for collaboration or the sharing of information. Pretty much anything that allows people to talk or have a conversation with each other online.

What is your reason for using social media?

I use social media to build relationships with people. I build these relationships by sharing information and experiences and by interacting with people online. Social media has been a very valuable resource in terms of building trust and authority for me. Social media is also the most effective way to build and create an online presence. If you have the best product or service in the world but nobody can find you, then you don?t exist. It?s not enough to be great, you have to market great too.

Do you feel that social media is being used to its maximum effect?

Depends on who you ask or what you do. If you take a look at the Obama campaign then I would say yes, they did an excellent job. If you look at corporate social media as a whole then I would say no. Social media will never be used to its maximum effect because we don?t know what that is. Since the field is so dynamic it?s just not possible to say that we are achieving our maximum potential. There is always going to be something else we could do to improve.

At this point I think we should be asking ourselves: is social media being utilized? If so, how? Was it successful? Why or why not? How do we repeat success or mitigate failure?

What social media tools or applications do you use? Why these ones in particular?

I use WordPress, Twitter, LinkedIn, delicious, Feedburner, Google Reader, Google Alerts, Social Median, Flickr, Friendfeed, Facebook, and probably a few others I just can?t remember. I use each one of these tools to accomplish a particular goal, task, or objective. Overall all of these tools allow me to be an effective relationship builder.

WordPress is my the tool/platform I use to host my blog. I use Twitter to share information and content instantly, yet I also use it as a learning device and information source. LinkedIn has proven to be a great resource for business relationships and partnerships as well as client opportunities. Delicious is a very valuable tool when it comes time to save information that I feel I will use at a later time.

I use Feedburner to keep track of my blog’s RSS subscribers and I use Google Reader to organize all of my RSS feeds. Google Alerts is a great way for me to monitor target key terms or phrases as they pertain to me or clients. Social Median is a great information resource as I receive daily emails with content and information on my desired topics and categories. Flickr is my primary photo sharing tool which I am actually going to begin using more regularly soon.

Friendfeed is a social network aggregator that I mainly offer to users as a way to connect with me (for convenience), I actually don?t use Friendfeed actively. Facebook is just a great meta network – it?s a place where I can connect with friends, build business relationships, share photos, find out about events, etc.

Where do you see the future of social media, both in general and for you?

It?s always tough to predict the future of social media but at this point I think it?s safe to say it will grow. Over time companies will continue to see the value of building relationships with users and customers and we will see new and creative ways of doing so. We have a few great social media tools to do so currently such as Facebook and Twitter, but look for more tools, more platforms, more features, and more creative ideas that will actually tie in social media with business goals and objectives.

I also think that we are going to see a tools that begins to show a more accurate Return on Investment (ROI) of social media, and perhaps tools that will be able to integrate social media with search engine optimization (SEO). Overall social media has a long way to go but it will grow.

Are businesses effectively using social media? If not, what can they do to improve?

Some yes, some no. Comcast and Dell do an excellent job monitoring conversations on Twitter, while Victoria’s Secret is struggling to utilize their one million Facebook fans to achieve a business goal. This is a relative question and it depends on who you ask. It?s always easy to say that a business is not using social media effectively, but from the business point of view if they are seeing the results they want, then yes, it?s effective.

Overall, though, I think businesses need to focus more on personalization not automation. Relationships and brand evangelists aren?t built with robots, they are built with real people with real ideas and passions. Businesses need to be more clever and more creative!

What do you feel are the best and worst features/uses of social media?

I think the best part of social media is the ability for anyone, anywhere to build and online presence and relationships with the world. Social media is not bound by geography, race, religion, or sex. The instantaneous communication and open sharing of knowledge and information has changes the world we live in, this is amazing.

Just think, through Twitter I can find a client in China, even though I?m based in San Francisco. I can use Flickr to share a photo with my grandparents who live around the world.

As far as the negatives go, I would say that we are starting to see an increased number of spammers and hackers out there who are trying to take advantage of social media sites. It?s also tough to manage an increasing amount of connections and relationships across multiple platforms all of the time.

You can find more ?Discussing Social Media with?? interviews here.