Mike’s Points

Updated 9/2/2008 approx. 2 p.m.: Mack Collier has a great related post. Not so much about being judged based on political views, but about using discretion while on Twitter and other social media.

Just with the post when I asked if companies can be too transparent, people can, too.

Let me explain.

ToledoTalk.com is an active, local discussion board. A more politically-focused one — SwampBubbles.com — grew out of it when politics seemed to be reigning on ToledoTalk.

I’ve stayed away posting and commenting my political and other potential emotionally charged views on SwampBubbles, as well as local blogs.

Why?

Because I didn’t want a current or potential client to make a judgment on my employer because of my political or other personal views. Of course, wherever I post or set up a profile, I post who I am in my profile, including my blog and on my blog, I post my employer. So, it’d be easy to find out my employer by checking in on me.

Real, serious, professional prospective and current clients very likely wouldn’t have let my views affect how they view my employer. But, some may. And, that’s not a chance I wanted to take.

So, I stayed — and stay — mute on emotionally-charged topics like politics, religion, etc. I don’t even post my political or religious views or classification on places like Facebook. It shouldn’t matter to others.

However, while hearing Barack Obama’s acceptance speech last night (my wife was watching while I was at our computer), I let some political views slip on some tweets.

While I doubt it, there may be some potential employers — I am seeking, you know — and future clients who may judge (against) me because of my political views. I sincerely doubt it, but can’t be 100% positive. It’s not a chance I can afford to take.

So, I should’ve pulled back on my transparency mode.

Of course, some could argue that my political and other, more personal views could have a positive affect. Well, because you can’t have it all, I prefer to let my professional experience and credentials speak for themselves.

Not my personal views.

-Mike

It’s been awhile since I’ve done an “other great points” post, so without further delay, here’s one for today:

Not Everyone is as Amazing as Jason Calacanis, Christine Perkett/PerkettPRsuasion Blog

‘It takes a Community, not a Campaign to Build a Brand’ and the 18 Steps to Building Successful Brand Community, Sean Moffitt/BuzzCanuck

Companies: Put social media in the hands of your connectors, Mack Collier/The Viral Garden

Inside // Out: Fire Eagle, Matt Dickman/Techno//Marketer

The Dream Job, Ike Pigott/Occam’s RazR (HHMM. Never thought of that job-search exercise. It looks like a simple way to graphically crystalize what you seek in a job.)

The medium may change, but the message still has value, Brad Marley/Airfoil Public Relations

Take care and enjoy the day!
-Mike

Any dad will tell you — even if he at first won’t admit it — moms rule the ol’ castle. Well, if not “rule,” then moms make most of the decisions.

Maybe it’s a hormonal or evolutionary thing that kicks in once women have kids. I dunno.

While I am partial to moms, since I am married to one (note: she became a mom after we married), actually, moms are just a subset of the larger group among us known as women.

Yes, women may not often be in formal positions of power and can be quiet or unassuming (well….okay, skip the bad, sexist jokes). But, beware: There’s a lot out there and they are strutting their influence more and more.

Don’t believe me? How’s this:

• Women purchase upwards of 80% plus of consumer products (and that jumps to 94% when you’re talking about home stuff).
• According to Nielsen Online@Plan, there were 32.4 million women online with children under 18 in their household as of winter 2007/2008, making up 22.6% of all adult Internet users. From that same eMarketer report: “Mothers are part of an adult female Internet user population that will grow from 80.9 million in 2008 to 91.3 million in 2012. Adult females outnumber adult males in both the general population and the Internet user population.” (My emphasis added.)
• Echoing the above stat a bit, in the growing importance and role of social media, women are naturally more socialable. “RapLeaf studied over 49 million people based on the publicly available data to understand social networking trends and their relation to gender and age of internet users….The 49 million of people in the selection were split between 24.8 million women, 20.6 million men while 3.9 million preferred to keep their gender to themselves.” (Source: Profy.com.)

Still don’t buy it? Try these other posts:

Hell hath no furry like a mom with a blog

Five Reasons Why Mom Blogs are the Blogs to Watch

The Ultimate Mommy Blogs List–Blogs for Moms by Moms (okay, it’s list — but look at that list!) 

Cision Lists Mommy Blogs (The key is the end paragraph by Will Flavell, starting with “Those bloggers influence so effectively because they are truthful, sometimes brutally so.”) 

So, what can we take from all this XX Chromosome power?

First, there’s a good chance that women in total or moms (more specifically) are in your target audience. But, don’t treat them like a number. In social media, it’s about the relationship (stupid). See the Profy link for good commentary about how women use social networks compared to men.

Well, there’s a lot of other things we can take from this. But, the one above is enough. If you are going to be good in social media (heck, PR and other marketing communications, for that matter), know your audiences’ tendancies and preferences. Develop ways to best communicate with them, ways they want to receive; not what you want to do.

And, remember, it is really about the relationship. While it may be “business” to you, it’s likely personal to them.

-Mike

NOTE: This post is similar to one I recently did for my TalentZoo Marketing Moxie column.

Image courtesy of Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls

At first glance, I’m going to say that Wednesday, Aug. 20, stunk.

I was laid off.

However, as far as I’m concerned, I’m parting on good terms. I have good feelings about my time at Hanson Inc., and would recommend the firm. (A bit ironically though, Hanson is seeking to hire solution architects, designers and programmers. If you want a contact name, let me know, or use the email or form on the site.)

But, it’s time to move forward.

I am looking for gainful employment, project work, freelance assignments — whatever can legally, ethically and morally generate income for my family while adding value to the company signin’ the check!

If you are looking for someone who offers experience in:

• Newspaper journalism (4+ years and periodic freelance since that early part of my career)
• Public relations, with emphasis in media relations, and experience in other marketing communications (12+ years)
• Social media monitoring and outreach (3+ years)
• Strategic planning and proposal development, mixed in with some project management, budgeting, etc. (8+ years)
• A solid work ethic
• And, a whole bunch of other good stuff…here’s my resume.

You can also see more about me (though, I still have to update that employment part).

So, if I can help you, I would appreciate it if you’d drop me a line.

-Mike

There seemed to be a lot of talk this morning on Twitter about Dell listening.

Okay, actually Dell and Radian6 listening. But, that’s Radian6’s job so that should be no big deal. And, hasn’t Dell been listening? It’s made great, positive headway for how it has become involved in social media — and connecting with and listening to its marketplace.

Within a short time span, I counted six tweets about the Dell listening post.

• http://twitter.com/mmanuel/statuses/892189084
• http://twitter.com/kamichat/statuses/892178331
• http://twitter.com/lebrun/statuses/892154310 (Okay, that’s from Radian6 CEO Marcel Lebrun. So, that one is rightfully expected.)
• http://twitter.com/jowyang/statuses/892143804
• http://twitter.com/zenaweist/statuses/892132780
• http://twitter.com/conniereece/statuses/892128590

And, I’m sure there are others I missed.

My point is about why Dell needs to tell me how it’s listening. Should we really care about the how?

I know it is listening because I’ve experienced it* and have read about it. (*Shortly after I noted my wife and I purchased a Dell Dimension E510 in a comment a couple years ago, a rep or two contacted me.)

I’m not picking on Dell. Essentially, do we really need to know what vendors any company uses?

Some years ago, I coordinated a client meeting and new product demonstration with a bunch of publications at Meredith. The morning of the meeting, the client’s VP of marketing ask me how everything was going. I replied, “Perfect — as far as you know.”

As I do, he understood that it didn’t matter what last-second tasks and other issues I had to deal with to get the job done. Just as long as everything was perfect for the meeting. And, it was.

Hey, if companies want talk publicly about their vendors, go ahead. But, to me, unless there’s another point, it’s a waste of  resources.

In the end, it doesn’t matter how you do it, just get the job done – ethically, legally and morally.

-Mike

(In the big scheme of things, Dell’s post was no big deal. It just struck me funny how many people gave a link to a post announcing a company’s vendor and why Dell would even publish it. And, I in no way mean to rag on Radian6. My company doesn’t use it, but from the demo I saw earlier this year, it’s a worthwhile service. Relatedly, if you are looking at social media monitoring tools, have a look at a rundown I did in March, which was picked up by Media Bullseye.)

As we see on a cyclical basis, public relations pros take a beating. While many are sticking up for their profession, we don’t always help ourselves. So, in the spirit of a PSA, have a look at the below words and phrases that should be banned from every PR pros’ vocabulary and branding brainstorm session.

Buzz: What are you a bee? Buzz implies short-attention-span, fleeting. What about generating conversations, talk, exposure, etc.

Spin: Tops spin, I don’t. Being a “spin doctor” or other usage of the word implies you’re not being straight, avoiding the truth.

Flack: Like spin, it sounds flaky, sounds too much like plaque and just sounds derogatory.

Hits: When talking about the success of a news release (see next) or story pitch, we often talk about the hits or number of media placements it received. (Guess, if you’re going to pitch, you want hits?) In some cases, hits is a good term, but there are better terms. Particularly, in social media, you’re dealing with people. Not hits. So, keep that in mind and don’t dehumanize your media audience.

Press Release: Use news release instead. Maybe I’m picky, but we don’t deal with just newspapers (as in printing presses!). It’s a news release. It’s about news, not a press. I’ll accept media release if you want to be PC. Same goes for press conferences. They’re news conferences, please.

Now that I got that off my chest, what words and terms did I miss that we should ban?

-Mike

(UPDATED 8/13/08 approx. 7:20 a.m.: Revised the headline to reflect new thoughts on the subject had this morning. Original headline was: “When should personal branding take a backseat to corporate branding?” and added some additional points at the bottom.)
Paul Chaney has a great post with even better comments on personal branding. Go over there and read it, if you haven’t already. I’ll wait…

Okay, welcome back!

In your reading, you probably saw what I think is a great summary of the benefits of personal branding — and the problem with personal branding. It was a comment by Chris Brogan:

“[P]ersonal brands are best when used in synergy with an organization that understands them…. I think that Jason Falls is a god amongst men, and if he quits his job tomorrow and joins Jaiku, I’ll leave Twitter in support. “

Personal branding has tremondous benefits to the employer of the person.

Robert Scoble was almost as synonymous with Microsoft (before he left) as Bill Gates is.

Steve Rubel probably brought more recognitiion to CooperKatz while he was building Micro Persuasion than the firm had before (and since?)

But, when each gentleman — and I’m sure many other gentlemen and ladies — left their respective company, they took their personal brand with them. They didn’t “leave” it with their employer. Heck, that personal brand is what made them so valuable.

So, while the employer definitely benefits from the personal branding effect, it loses some of its own business branding when that employee leaves. Just like Brogan said of Jason Falls: “[I]f he quits his job tomorrow and joins Jaiku, I’ll leave Twitter in support.” (I don’t mean to imply that Falls works for Twitter; just meant to show the potential power for a personal brand.)

For a business to be successful in social media — and personalize, put a face on the cold, hard corporate image — it must establish its own blog or other social medium. It’s that simple.

Look at the tried and true Bob Lutz at GM FastLane Blog. Or, the original Randy at Boeing. Or, more recently, look at Dell’s Lionel Menchaca. These are corporate blogs — with a personal front. Not personal blogs that give a by-product benefit to the corporation.

However, when Randy Baseler left Boeing, did “Randy’s Journal” and Boeing have the same perception? Or, did it take some time for the new Randy to establish his — and hopefully enhance Boeing’s — brand?

When Lutz and Menchaca and other corporate bloggers leave their respective employers, how much will the company suffer? That’ll depend on how closely those bloggers are associated with the company, who else is blogging (and their personal brand), and the strength of the corporate brand.

I’m not being critical of either personal branding or definitely not corporate branding. But, companies tend to last a lot longer than individuals do with those companies. Personal branding ultimately benefits the person. Companies should take advantage of that, but don’t be surprised when that person leaves — and there’s a social, personal void.

-Mike

My oldest son turned 10 last weekend. It was an Indiana Jones theme party (my wife throws great kids’ parties), and he received Indiana Jones toys, plus Star Wars and other commercialized toys. He’s already enjoyed playing with them and will in the future.

He (and his siblings) have also enjoyed playing with two airplanes one friend bought him (one pictured here). They’re not tied to any movie or TV show. They’re what I would call traditional, tried and true toys. Airplanes.

Just like it’s easy to get caught up with toys that echo the hotest new movie and forget about the fun you can have with such non-commercial toys, it’s also easy to get caught up in the latest trend in our professions.

But, let’s not forget about some tried and true basics:

• Know what goal(s) you want to accomplish, and set objectives to achieve the goal(s). Then, develop supporting strategies and tactics to achieve those objectives. Don’t do just do what you did “last time.”
• Objectives, as a smart man once said, are measureable. Once you have your plan in place, make sure you have ways to track and measure your objectives. Having certain levels you want to achieve (like X number of mentions per month, XY number of inquiries, etc.) is ideal, but not always possible, particularly for a new campaign. In public relations, there are many ways to do this. A few examples include Techrigy’s Social Media Manager (which my employer uses), BurrellsLuce (which I have used in the past), Google Analytics (which I use for my blog), and even customizable search tools like Rollyo.
• Social media, like its sister media relations, is about…relationships. Social media allows for the greatest ability to target your customers and prospects. Use that advantage. Research the blogs, boards and other social media you wish to target. Read and learn about the bloggers, members and participants. You can only connect your company, clients or cause with the people you want to reach if you know them. Otherwise, you’re one of the few giving PR a bad name. Remember, it’s about people and relationships; not about “hits.”
• Communicate often — with your client, supervisor, co-worker, and everyone else who should know about the plan you’re involved in. We don’t work in a vacuum. This tidbit is more for internal purposes –  but it’s likely the single biggest sin I’ve seen marketing and communication firms commit. I’ve been guilty of lack of communication as well. In this business world of digital communications, it’s an easy task to CC someone and let him/her know what’s going on.

Just like the airplanes my oldest son received for his birthday, there’s really nothing flashy or all that new in the above.

It’s basic, 101-type stuff — stuff that’s tried and true.

-Mike

Recently, I received a request to remove an old blog post because one of the people in it didn’t like the fact that I blogged about the person making a mistake. (I’m keeping it vague because the subject of that particular post doesn’t really matter for this post.)

I didn’t remove the post, but did update it, and changed the headline to tone it down some. (Even that wasn’t needed, but I was trying to be nice.)

On Twitter, I posed the question if there’s any reason to remove a blog post. I didn’t get any public response (yay or nay and why), but did get some private messages. One person said he’d remove the post.

Yes, I know blogging and the stuff I write about isn’t earth shattering. And, removing an old post won’t cause WWIII.

Still — and maybe it’s the former journalist in me — I just don’t like changing history. (Though, every once in a great while, I will delete a tweet.)

The Internet is filled with people doing stupid things or things they might regret later — for whatever reason. (Yes, even I’ve made a stupid mistake or two, but didn’t delete my own post.) Other than maybe a one-on-one interview, there’s no better tool to check on someone than doing a simple search for his or her name.

Maybe I’m being too self-righteous but I just don’t see any legit reason to alter history.

Barring some legit court order, do you have any genuine, good reasons to remove a blog post?

-Mike