AHA Creative Strategies - B Seen B Heard B Known

Communication is a wonderful thing, and as a communication specialist, I am happier than most people (I think) for blackberries, wireless Internet connections in coffee shops and that my clients, my business partner, our strategic partners, our staff and the media can reach me when they need me.

It’s a bit of a running joke with clients and friends that if I don’t have my blackberry nearby, I go looking for it … if someone needs to speak to me immediately, I want to take that call.

However, I think that people need to respect the levels of need, urgency and expectation when it comes to being able to reach someone 24/7. Just because I have a blackberry with me all the time doesn’t mean that everyone has an all access pass to me all the time. The interesting thing is that the people that have the right to call me at all hours (especially our clients…) are much more respectful than those who are almost strangers. Many of the people I deal with on a regular basis go out of their way — unless it is immediately important or urgent — not to call me on off-hours, if a subject or question can be answered in an hour or two or even a day or two, they email me. If they call me at the office and I am not in, they leave a message. They don’t just call me on my cell expecting me to drop what I am doing and turn my focus to something that is not urgent.

However, there are others out there that don’t seem to understand this approach. They call the office and if I am not there, they chase me down on my cell phone. I recently got a call from someone I had met briefly at a business event where I presented. She called me on my cell in the middle of a particular hectic workday. She hadn’t even bothered to email or call me at the office. She wanted to know if I would be her guest at a BNI meeting three weeks from the day of her call. Not an urgent call. And the truth is, in the middle of the day, going from meeting to meeting, dealing with media calls, talking to my colleagues at the AHA office, discussing projects and initiatives with clients, it was pretty challenging to focus on this woman.

On the other hand, several years ago, I spoke to a class of new business entrepreneurs and one of them, a graphic designer, kept in touch with me. She would email once in a while and update me on what she was doing, remind me that she was talented, hungry and looking for work – all in a very respectful way that was convenient for me. That allowed me to actually focus on what she was doing in her business and think about how I could be of assistance to her. She and I met for coffee last week and if the opportunity comes up, I will go out of my way to recommend her or to work with her. This is a vast improvement compared to the woman who made the assumption that her call would be good for me at any time.

In our work, we are always thinking about how the person on the other end will best receive our information. For the media, we know their deadlines and what the best times are to call and pitch them. For our clients – we ask them how they would like us to communicate with them. Even within the AHA team, when we call one another, we almost always say – is this a good time? I have something that I need to run by you right now.

Immediate, instant communication is a great thing if used respectfully, properly and effectively. Remember – just because you have someone’s cell or home number doesn’t mean you need to use it. Would you want people calling you at home or on your cell if it wasn’t urgent or immediate? If you treat people the way you would like to be treated, it really does deliver results.

I have a profile on MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. I spend time on all these sites – sometimes for fun, often in looking at them through the eyes of my clients – thinking if this would this be a good place for them to be.

There are several new sites out there including xanga.com (link) and another one I have just heard of – which is a take off on Facebook for dogs… I haven’t found it yet – I heard about it on the news and didn’t catch the URL. So if anyone knows it, please send it my way! I really want to see what a Facebook for dogs looks like – and what its reason for being is…

I LOVE social networks for a lot of reasons. One of my favorites is Project Opus (link) – and not just because they are a client J. In my mind, Project Opus has a reason for being – the love of music. When I go there it’s going to be about music, listening to it, talking about it, searching it out.

I am still working out the role of some of the other social networks in my world. For some clients, they are great ways to reach out to groups that have showcased their interest in a topic. In my leisure time, I surf through the networks because I like to know what people are thinking and talking about… but, I keep getting invitations to be “friends” with people that I don’t know very well or have maybe met once … as well as invitations to link to people I do know well. The people I know well are easy to say yes to. I know them, I am comfortable in a personal or professional sense in introducing them to others. And – I have to admit, some of these networks have reintroduced me to people that I really like and respect and have lost touch with … BUT …what happens when an acquaintance or the acquaintance of a friend of a friend sends an invite to connect on a social network. How do I gracefully get out of that? And should I?

There seems to be a need for people on social networks to have a large number of friends. Professionally, I can see this for musicians or any other role that needs to showcase that you have a fan base. It helps get the word out about gigs, performances and events. That makes sense. But if I say yes to an invitation to be “friends” – am I endorsing that person – either obviously or in some subtle manner? Am I saying to the online social community that in my opinion, this is someone who has something to say? This is someone worth listening to? If at a networking event an acquaintance came up to me and asked me to introduce them to a respected colleague, strategic partner or client – I would make sure that a) I was comfortable doing that and b) that I let the person that I was introducing the acquaintance to know that they were just that – AN ACQUAINTANCE. Someone that I have met before, but have no real life knowledge of, that I am not endorsing or encouraging them to connect with…it’s just a neutral introduction at an event. And the truth is, if I was the least bit uncomfortable, I wouldn’t do it.

If someone I didn’t know well asked me to introduce them via email or to give them the phone number of a respected colleague or client, I wouldn’t do it without doing my due diligence and checking the person out.

Social networks are still working out some bugs… this, I think, being one of them. I find that since I am often in the public spotlight because of speaking events and workshops and when I take on the role as spokesperson for a client, that I have to deal with a larger group of acquaintances in my professional life. I would say that 90% of “acquaintance” phone calls, emails or requests to be “friends” online are from people who want some kind of favor from me or from AHA. I don’t think that is the way social networks were made to work. I believe that there is a two-way street out there … where people connect because they can benefit each other. Don’t get me wrong, we also get calls from people who have recommended us to someone looking for a great PR agency or who want to bring something to the table that will mutually benefit both companies…but for the most part, I think social networks are being overrun by people who haven’t started to live in a world where you go out of your way to show your value and what you can bring to the table to another entrepreneur first, before you ask for something from them.

I think social networks will evolve and it will become the business utopia we all hope they can be. Right now, I worry that this mad scramble to connect is creating some disengagement on the part of people and companies that want real, strong, authentic connections rather than phony, “I don’t really know you but will accept your invitation so I don’t have to reject you” kind of things.

So – while social networks find their rightful place in connecting people for the right reasons – I will say this here and now… just because I am connected to someone on some social network doesn’t mean I am recommending them, know them well – or in some cases have met them more than once. If you want a vote of confidence in someone I know, call me. Don’t believe everything you read online.

By now, many people have heard about (or seen) the on-air fight that View hosts Rosie O’Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselbeck had in front of millions of people.

Naturally, like anything embarrassing, controversial or amusing, the video ended up on YouTube.

This is a perfect example of how people can lose it in front of a camera. These women are seasoned professionals – and yes, I am sure their mandate is to discuss and debate, but I would doubt that the producers wanted their conversation to disintegrate into this mess. These two women are on television all the time, they know how to behave in front of a camera, they are (agree or not with their view) TV professionals. But what happened here hit their hot buttons and common sense and logic went out the window and it turned personal. Except for that feeling of watching a train wreck happening, nothing good came of this fight. Did you learn anything specific about their opinions or was your mind opened to a new fact or information you didn’t have before?

Dealing with controversy is not easy, especially if someone is hitting your hot buttons. A good reporter who wants a passionate or dramatic response will know how to hit your hot buttons. How do you manage it if you find yourself losing your temper during a conversation with the media, on a panel or answering questions after a speaking engagement?

Many people think that it’s easy. It’s not. One of the components of our media training workshop is identifying the hot buttons and working through how to manage your personal feelings and emotions. Think about what your hot buttons are, what sets you off, how you can manage your message while lowering your blood pressure. Practice the key points that you would like to communicate. That is what is important, not biting at every controversial push from someone.

A few tips, if you feel yourself heating up.
• Before answering any questions, count to three. Visualize the answer on the evening news. Do you want your clip to be of you yelling?
• Put yourself in the shoes of the person asking the question, what is their agenda?
• Breathe deeply.
• Acknowledge that this is an important, personal or emotional question for you – and then focus on the three points you want to make about this issue.
• If the person asking the question is emotional – acknowledge it respectfully, (“I see that this is an emotional/personal/important issue for you and I appreciate that…”).
• Do NOT get into a yelling match, no matter what. If voices are escalating, take a deep breath, ground yourself and respond by saying something about the emotional nature of the issue and that perhaps a short break might be needed so that everyone can collect their thoughts and return to the question at hand more calmly.

Disagreement is not easy. Conflict is not easy. And it has splashback. For the women of The View, it went farther than the fight between Rosie and Elisabeth. Guest star Alicia Silverstone was on as a guest right after the fight and she completely snubbed Elisabeth.

If I was Silverstone’s publicist, I may have given her grief about that snub. That fight was between Rosie and Elisabeth – and Silverstone put herself into it. But – you have to remember when you let your hot button get pushed – that it is usually in front of more than one person and you may negatively influence other people by losing it.

What will a blog do for me? (That’s the question right?)

I spent a couple of hours yesterday speaking with a roomful of lively and smart women at the Professional Women’s Network group in downtown Vancouver. Notice I say WITH not to … it was an interactive exchange of ideas, experience, thoughts and even some skepticism about blogs and blogging and the value – or the Return On Blog (ROB).

There were several women who have obviously drank the Kool-Aid – they see the value of blogs and want to learn more about how to effectively use them for their business or career. Several more seemed interested and I could see the light go on as we chatted and several others I think are still concerned about the value – and the time it takes to blog. After hearing some of their experiences with blogs and blogging, listening to their concerns and their very thoughtful questions – I realized that there is a whole topic for a blog right there. That blog will come next week.

For today, I promised to put up my speaking notes and to provide some reference points to begin checking out blogs, searching to see who is blogging in their industry and getting a feel for the blogsophere. Here they are …long-winded alert – this is a longer than normal blog – so please don’t think a) that all my blogs will be this long and b) that your blogs need to be this long. Happy reading.

Business people, from one person home-based entrepreneurs to CEOs of multinational companies, often ask me if they should have a blog – and what the benefits are to blogging. If you are wondering the same thing …here is some info that might interest you.

Think about having a blog – and of posting on other people’s blogs – as a convenient way to build relationships. It is one great big global (or local, regional or national, depending on your needs) cocktail party that you don’t have to dress up for, where you don’t need to find parking or buy a ticket to attend. And – here is the best part – you also don’t need to put up with any of the pylons or sharks that also attend these events and waste your time trying to “sell” you or “convince” you or find a way to benefit themselves without ever considering your side of things.

The blogosphere provides the opportunity to meet like-minded people, to discuss and collaborate, even to disagree or debate in (for the most part) a respectful, open and incredibly interactive environment. Blogging is much like having a great networking event, where people are pre-qualified in a certain topic before they arrive. In this blog - I talk about Public Relations and PR 2.0 (blogs, podcasts, wikis, etc.) While I don’t have many posts to my blog, I have a strong RSS subscriber list who want to see what I write about public relations. Someone with no interest in PR isn’t going to subscribe to my blog or even get past the first page of our website.

Whether you start your own blog or post on other blogs that are discussing topics you are interested in, you are expanding your network and building positive relationships within your area of interest or expertise. You are having discussions and conversations about subjects that you have knowledge, experience and expertise in. It never hurts your professional relationships to be seen as an expert. As importantly, reading what others are thinking, doing and discussing is a great way to keep up with changes, trends and new paths in your industry.

Being present in the blogosphere – as a blogger, a poster or a reader is important. The truth of the matter is, you can either blog or be blogged. If there are conversations happening in the blogosphere about your industry, your company or your customers and clients and you aren’t a part of that discussion, you are missing out on a huge opportunity. You can’t control what is said in the blogosphere, but if you aren’t out there – you can’t respond, discuss or engage in it either, and I would bet at least a few of your competitors have already joined the online conversation.

According to several surveys, including one in October 2006 by Technorati one of the best online blogging resources, there are more than 57 million blogs with an average of 100,000 more being added each day. By my calculations, that takes us closer to 70 million blogs. That’s a lot of ideas, thoughts, discussions and conversations going on. The great thing about a blog is that it can have an audience of a million or an audience of ten and it still matters.

A blog can let your clients or customers know your approach to business, it can help you showcase your expertise. A blog can be used to discuss challenges in your industry or put out questions to your readers and ask for their input. It can open up a conversation with a potential customer or client – a conversation that might not happen without a blog.

For larger companies, a blog can put a human face to an organization. It can improve the company’s reputation or perception in the industry and the community. If the CEO chooses to blog, it can create dialogue with staff, customers, strategic partners, suppliers and communities.

A blog has to be authentic, with a true voice. The marketing team can’t be the bloggers unless they are willing to drop the marketing copy and the sales pitch and engage on a completely different level with customers, clients, and others. And it’s hard to do when you have spent your life thinking, writing and speaking “marketing.” Companies don’t blog, people do.

When you hit an authentic note with your audience you will feel it. It doesn’t mean you have to put forward every little problem that your company has – it just means that your blog isn’t for “selling” – it’s for discussing, it’s for telling who you are and who the people in your company are and for being authentic and honest. But if a challenge comes up and someone asks you about it on your blog – talk to them. It’s amazing how supportive people will be if you give them the chance and are honest with them. We’ll forgive a person or a company that makes a mistake if they acknowledge it and do their best to make it right.

A blog is a direct connection to your target market. It’s a way to really talk with them and to listen to them. For years, large companies have paid tens of thousands of dollars to hold focus groups to find out what people think. Now, that conversation with consumers is at your fingertips.

I’d be interested to hear if you think it’s worth it, and if you do – to read your blogs.
Great (in my opinion) Entrepreneurial Blogs
http://www.chrisflett.com/
http://www.sethgodin.typepad.com/
http://www.englishcut.com/
http://www.stonyfield.com/weblog/
http://www.signsneversleep.typepad.com/
http://badpitch.blogspot.com/
http://scobleizer.com/

Great (in my opinion) corporate blogs
http://www.onlyonce.blogs.com/
http://www.edelman.com/speak_up/blog
http://www.blogmaverick.com/
http://blogs.sun.com/jonathan/
http://fastlane.gmblogs.com/

Resources

Where Do I start? Well, at the beginning, of course.

Choosing blogging software

To get started, visit a site like TypePad.com, Blogger.com or WordPress.com and sign up for an account. TypePad has a nominal monthly fee, WordPress and Blogger.com are free.

They’re out there talking …

Check out what is being said about you, your industry, your mother on the blogosphere.

http://www.technorati.com/
http://www.blogpulse.com/
http://www.feedster.com/
http://www.icerocket.com/

There is so much more to talk about … We are also developing short one-hour seminars that will be held in a series over a 5-week period on PR 2.0 and using the online world to promote your business, your career, your association, your passion. Let us know what you would like to see in these seminars. We will be posting the content of the first series shortly – so send me an email ruth@ahacreative.com or put post your two cents worth to the blog!

Thanks for stopping by and checking out what we have to say.

I am often asked why an entrepreneur, small business, CEO or multinational company’s employees should blog…is it worth the time and effort, does it have a return-on-investment or a ROB (return-on-blog)?

YES!

According to a wide-range of surveys, it is estimated that there are more than 80 million blogs on the Internet. That’s a lot of communication going on. And either you are a part of this conversation or you aren’t. I would bet that several of your competitors are out there.

If you aren’t blogging, and that includes reading and posting and linking to other blogs, you are missing out on a huge opportunity to connect with an audience that has similar interests, that wants to know more about what you do, how you do it and wants to tell you what they need.

Blogging gives you:
• An informal way to talk about your company.
• A place to ask for feedback – about your service, products, promotion and your approach. (Marketers used to, and still do, pay huge amounts for focus groups for just such information. Create an audience for your blog and you have an incredible opportunity to hear directly from your stakeholders.)
• The opportunity to showcase your expertise, knowledge and know-how. Give away some of your knowledge on your blog. Prospective customers or clients will love you for it and come back for more information – and to work with you when the opportunity arises.
• Sales tools – send a link to your blog out to everyone you can think of. Hopefully, they will see the value in it and sign up on your RSS feed so that they can receive new content when you upload it.
• The opportunity to create an authentic conversation with your readers. (Don’t just talk at them, listen to what they have to say as well.)

For decades, companies have worked hard to generate media coverage and while it’s still very important – a blog gives you the opportunity to have your own media. And along with your blog, you can produce a podcast or a vodcast. This gives you a huge opportunity to start the conversation with your consumer base.

Over the next few weeks, I will be posting “how to” information about blogs – from who should blog to when you should blog and what you can write about. I will include some insider tips on blogging. Let me know if you have anything you would like me to write about. Or if you have tips you would like to include, send them to me! I would love to hear what you are doing at your blog!

Public Relations has changed drastically over the past two years. Blogs and blogging are a part of day-to-day life, so are podcasts (audio files that can be downloaded to an MP3 player) and vodcasts (video files that can be viewed on your computer).

And – like it or not – as a company or as an individual this new era of citizen journalism means that your mistakes, moments of temptation or greed and wrong doings can be completely exposed within seconds of it hitting the fan. (Look! The Emperor Has No Clothes!) We have seen a great many “celebrities” get exposed via the Internet (and I’m not talking about Pamela Anderson and the Tommy Lee tapes). Michael Richards and his racist rant at a comedy club in L.A. is a good example. Don Imus was fired from his high profile job at MSNBC because his racist comments on his shock radio show made it to YouTube and was viewed hundreds of thousands of times.

Recently, actor Alec Baldwin had the Internet turn on him after his ex-wife, Kim Basinger, released a cell phone message that Mr. Baldwin had left for his 11-year old daughter. There is some debate on whether Ms. Basinger actually released this audio file to the media and if she did whether she should have, but whether she did or should have done it – it got people talking about Alec and how abusive he was to his daughter in that message. I have heard the message and find it appalling that anyone would ever speak to another person that way, let alone a child. But – that isn’t the point of this blog.

It damaged his personal brand – and given that the Baldwin brothers don’t exactly have the most polished brand in Hollywood – that says something. What do you think NBC, the company that produces 30 Rock, the comedy series in which Mr. Baldwin stars, thinks of this voicemail being out there for anyone to hear? (Google Alec Baldwin, this topic comes up in the first five links.)

What would happen if something you thought was private ended up on YouTube or MySpace or was being passed around via email by your colleagues and competitors. What if it was something that was a mistake you made or what if it was wrong and you were being unjustly accused of something? How could that hurt your company, your professional reputation and your life? What would you do about it?