Summer Resolution #1: Start Reading, Listening

If you're thinking about getting started in social media and have designated "this summer" as a chance to do so, the first thing you should do is start reading. Find 10 or 20 (or more) blogs that cover areas of public relations, marketing and social media that you're interested in and start reading.

Not sure how to begin? Two PR agencies (and me) have created tools to get you started.

Ogilvy 360 Digital Influence's Daily Influence: Powered by Netvibes (also my feed reader of choice), Daily Influence has tabs for categories in advertising, public relations and social media and subscribes to a lot of the most influential blogs in each. You can create an account on Netvibes and customize your page based on Daily Influence. Keep what you like, delete what you don't and add in your own.



MWW Group's M.Insight is a mobile app, which rules. You can get it on the iPhone, Blackberry and phones with Windows Mobile. Again, the application is a starter pack of the best blogs to read - and now in an on-the-go variety. The application is free (yay, free!) and is also customizable. I have it on my iPhone and really like it. It's a good mix of stuff, most of which I subscribe to and the application is quite intuitive.


Finally, I've taken my social media, PR and PR educator tabs and created a public site. It works a lot like the Ogilvy Daily Influence because it's on Netvibes, too. Compare all three recommendations here and you'll get a very full list of PR and social media blogs that are worth reading.


Create a habit of checking your feed reader regularly (make it your home page!) and you'll be on your way! Questions? Just ask!

For those of you who are vets at this stuff, leave your tips!

Eliminate Weak Verbs Once & For All

Ises and ares and to bes.

Blech.

Weak verbs can make your writing boring and wordy. In one of my first agency positions after I graduated from college, my manager went so far as to call them "lazy."

This same manager and her (sometimes) harsh feedback drove me to make changes in my writing style. But catching weak verbs before they come off the end of your fingers onto the screen or paper challenges even experienced writers.

I developed a trick that I used until I'd retrained my writing brain. My only tool? A highlighter.

• Take a printed copy of the assignment (work or school) and a highligher in your choice of color.
  
• Start at the top of the page and highlight every form of the verb "to be": am, are, is, was, were, will be, has been, have been, had been, etc. Focus primarily on is, are, were.
  
• Work to change as many of the highlighted verbs as you can from weak verbs to active verbs. To be verbs do serve a purpose and it isn't necessary to change every single one, but strong, active verbs should dominate your writing.
  

Some other tips:

• Use your imagination to substitute more interesting words.
• Don't start sentences with "There is" or "There are."
• Use the simple forms of your verb of choice (listens vs. is listening, for example).
• Embed the adjective before the noun you're modifying rather than dragging the sentence out (brand-new baseball stadium vs. the baseball stadium, which is brand new).

Go forth and write well!

*note: you'll only find one "to be" verb in this blog post. :-)

What am I Reading?

I recently switched from Bloglines to Netvibes for my feed reader. Netvibes is just more visual and also makes it easy to access recent posts. One of the other cool features is that I can share my subscriptions with you pretty easily.

I've set up a public page with three tabs from my personal feed reader. There are two for public relations (one tab for professionals and one tab for educators) and one social media. You can check it out here. Please feel free to use it to start your own reading habit.

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life...Promoting Spamalot in Eugene

I was recently approached by Heather Fornataro of Powder Hound Marketing with an offer of two free tickets to Spamalot in exchange for a tweet or blog post about the show and specifically a tweet or blog with a promotion code for others to get tickets. The show was at our local performing arts center, the Hult Center. It didn't work out that I was able to take Heather up on the offer - I'd already bought my tickets for the next night.. blah, blah, blah. But on Twitter and in my classes, I heard students chattering about the same offer. So I thought it would be interesting to ask Heather about the promotion and how it turned out.

Here's our Q&A:

Q: How did you decide who to reach out to in Eugene with the ticket offer?

This was our first time experimenting with this type of outreach and promotion. I focused on trying to connect with people who were chatting about Eugene entertainment (especially Broadway related), local press (tv, radio, newspapers, critics), and people who have a large following.

Obviously, people who only met the “large following” criteria weren’t the most qualified for the promotion, but it only takes a few from this group to respond to create a buzz. I did my research on Twitter search & Twitter directories (like LocalTweeps & WeFollow), and found bloggers through Google & blogrolls.

I gathered about 3-4x the number of names than we had tickets and prioritized by # followers, relevancy, and how easy it was to connect with them (were they already following me, could I find an email address). This is the piece of the project that took the longest & from there I was able to stagger invites up to the day before show opening. We’ll use this list for future promotions in the area, though.

Q: Did you get a good response for the tickets?

Actual tickets sold using the coupon code communicated were relatively small, but it did not apply to all seats or showtimes. From reading the resulting buzz, it seems that people were interested in going after opening night & were purchasing tickets. It’s impossible to know if people saw a tweet and purchased a more expensive, better seat for the show. We ran a similar promotion around the same time in Seattle and the code used there sold a significant number of seats. The code was not unique to the promotion I was running, though.

Q: Have you seen much response from the promotion yet? (this may be hard to gauge at this point, I know.)

I tried the best I could to follow up on all of the people who accepted the tickets and record the blog postings & Twitter mentions. It’s extremely difficult to measure the impact of a viral marketing buzz, but the promotion did seem to help bring awareness of the event to people on Twitter.

There were several RTs of the promo code and it was picked up by a couple of media accounts. (Again, this was amplified in the Seattle example). The blogs helped, but didn’t seem to make much of an impact for organic search since indexing of content isn’t immediate as it is in Twitter. The most useful blog postings appeared on media & entertainment websites.

One thing happened that was extremely interesting to me. I also manage locally targeted paid search accounts in Google for each event. Typically, show specific keyword searches in Eugene tend to be relatively small (keywords like “Spamalot” or “Spamalot Hult Center”). I rely on more broad searches, like “Eugene Musicals” to bring in visits. As soon as I started to notice some buzz about the show on Twitter, there was an immediate spike in Google search traffic for the keyword “Spamalot”.

"Spamalot" ended up being the second highest click volume keyword for the entire campaign and there was relatively little traffic prior to the Twitter promotion. While I cannot prove anything, I have to assume that the Twitter buzz did drive some curious people to learn more about the show through Google. It was very interesting to see first-hand how social marketing can contribute to and fit into a larger, more comprehensive online marketing strategy.

Q: Is your "client" the Hult Center? Or the show?

My client is the presenter (NewSpace Entertainment, or Broadway in Eugene). They help to coordinate with the show, venue, & producers to bring shows to venues, like the Hult Center. They also produce several other shows & upcoming tours (101 Dalmatians, Wedding Singer, Walking With Dinosaurs).

Q: Any particularly challenges with this promotion?

Yes!! In short, the biggest challenge was trying to create credibility for the company & offer. I found some great potential invitees that were relevant & had a high number of followers, but had no way to connect with them. I tried to avoid publically inviting others on Twitter so if someone didn’t follow back, I had to ask them to follow me.

As a business, you want to be careful to protect your reputation and I worried a bit about the “creepy factor” in reaching out to people out of the blue. I got a few questions like, “are the tickets really free?” and I’m sure quite a few people were skeptical. The project was also a bigger time-sucker than anticipated. There was quite a bit of follow-up & coordination required with individuals who RSVP’d. In sure this is something that long-term will become more streamlined with experience. I did not get any negative feedback about the campaign, though, other than one person who mentioned that being called a “tweeter” was patronizing!

You can follow Heather at @BroadwayTweets. The season finale of Broadway in Eugene is May 30-31 (Spelling Bee Musical) and you can expect a tweet from me about the show. My tickets are waiting at will call. It's fun to support my fellow PR and marketing peeps in their efforts and who doesn't love a good show?

Guest Post: Embracing the Next Phase

This guest post is from my Twitter friend, Kellye Crane. Kellye is one of those PRos that I always recommend students follow. She's super smart and has good advice for PR people at all levels.

As the school year draws to a close, I’m sure many PRos in Training are thinking about the future, and pondering what Modern PR means today. Whether you’re on the job market, starting an internship, beginning a new position or just trying to keep up with the latest advancements, you’ve no doubt heard and read a great deal about the vast changes taking place in the approach to public relations.

As current students know, whether it’s called PR 2.0, New PR, or some other catchy label, it’s clear that public relations is moving into a new age. At the forefront of this evolution is PR’s incorporation of a more conversational approach to communications, made possible – and necessary – by social media.

All this change can feel a bit intimidating, but the good news is this is truly an exciting time! Those who stay abreast of the changes and adapt to the evolving climate will thrive. If you’re worried, I’m going to let you in on an open secret:

Today’s students are every bit as prepared as the more experienced PR pros to succeed in this fast-changing environment.

For most of the class of 2009, adapting to new technologies, conversing online and being authentic is second nature. Much of what my colleagues and I are trying to learn – from the social norms of texting to the unspoken rules of Facebook – is old hat to you. PR is going to look very different in the near future, and the truth is some of the experienced pros are set in their ways.

Of course, the fact that the methods of communicating have changed doesn’t alter the fundamentals of public relations we should all be practicing. This is where the PR veterans have much to teach new PR pros.

These circumstances create a unique opportunity for emerging and experienced PR pros to join forces for a perfect partnership of wisdom and new ideas. While it’s essential to give appropriate respect to your managers, at the same time you should feel comfortable to share your perspective. The best workplaces will welcome your input and – whether it’s used or not – you’ll be credited with thinking strategically.

Your fresh perspectives combined with the expertise of your senior colleagues will be a powerful alliance. Together, you’ll be unstoppable!

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Kellye Crane founded Crane Communications, LLC in 1995, and has 18 years of experience in strategic public relations and marketing communications. Her blog is Solo PR Pro and you can find her on Twitter at @KellyeCrane.

Beautiful Blog Posts Have Great Bone Structure

Image by Kounelli via Flickr

Creating a beautiful blog post isn't difficult. Following a basic structure formula that gives your posts great bone structure will give you more room to drape with creative style, solid information and desirable resources.

1. Craft a Great Headline. Include an active verb and try to squeeze some of your key topic words in as well. The search engines love the headlines and a strong headline will not only attract Google, but will also compel your visitors and regular readers to read on.
   
2. Write a Compelling Lead. Provided your readers hang around to see what the headline is all about, a compelling lead will keep them reading. Establish what the post will cover, of course, but also flex your best writing muscle and write something people want to read.
   
3. Start with Bullet Points. Use bullets to outline your ideas in an outline form. If you're writing a list post, keep your bullets as your core structure. If you're not, use your bullets to...
4. Develop Sub-Headlines. Sub-heads help create a scanable page and make it easier for people to read on a computer screen and digest the information. (pssst... Google loves sub-heads, too).
   
   ***Now is also a great time to ask your friends on Twitter what they think. Chances are you'll get some great feedback that will mean a strong post in the end.***
   
   
5. Fill in the Detail. Flesh out your bullet points and/or sub-heads to really bring the point home. Keep yourself on track (rambling is way too easy to do, especially if you feel passionately about something) and keep your readers in mind.
   
6. Find a Great Image. I recommend Flickr. Under the "advanced search" link, check the creative commons button and make sure you credit the photographer. If you want to go with stock photography, istockphoto.com is low cost and has the best selection. Stock Xchange is free and you can usually find something decent.
   
7. Double-Check Your Headline. Now that the post is complete, make sure your headline still reflects what your post is about and gets a reader's attention. Can you refine it to be even stronger and more effective?
   
8. Edit, Proof, Correct, Polish and Revise. Errors in grammar can kill a blogger's credibility and traffic. Take time to make sure you're putting out your best work. There's a certain immediacy to blogging, and a stray comma or run on sentence doesn't typically have dramatic consequences. But avoid the five grammar errors that make you look dumb.
   

Resources:
10 Tips for Writing a Blog Post

Guest Post: Creating the Job You Want

This is a guest post from UofO alum, Sarah Essary. You can follow her at @ConsumingPR.

I like to think of job descriptions as simple suggestions. Coloring outside the lines is perfectly acceptable in the workplace, but only if your art becomes a masterpiece.

Not too long ago, I was hired as a Reservationist at The Citizen Hotel. My job duties included answering the phones, filling reservations, assigning room numbers and routing payments. After a few weeks, I offered to develop the hotel blog and Twitter account. Soon, I proved to be knowledgeable in public relations and took on more responsibilities. Before I knew it, I was launching a social media campaign and taking a dual position as Public Relations Coordinator.

Currently, I am the Reservationist and Public Relations Coordinator for both The Citizen Hotel and Grange Restaurant & Bar. My duties include updating and writing all social media content, handling media inquiries, working with our public relations agency, editing all press materials, coordinating local media outreach, media monitoring and brand awareness, as well as writing and distributing the restaurant newsletter.

Practicing public relations during a dodge ball game is the best way to describe my typical day. It is imperative that I stay on top of all public relations activities while answering the phones at first ring. I may fill 10 reservations while at the same time edit an entire public relations plan.

This dual role is the best way for me to understand the market first hand. I’m in the trenches and the lookout tower all at the same time! It’s fulfilling when customers choose to stay at our hotel after noticing our Web site, news coverage, blog posts or even our Twitter!

As a Reservationist and Public Relations Coordinator, I am able to pitch and position my business with a first-hand understanding of the current market. There is nothing like disseminating a message to media and observing the impact on the target audience. It’s a blessing to have both worlds at my fingertips.