Mike’s Points

Okay, if you’re an individual, naked launches are okay. I mean, just go already and do it. No planning really required.

But, if you’re a business or a similar organization, naked launches are not needed. Planning and work are required.

I define naked launches as a business or organization starting/publishing a blog, Facebook Page, YouTube channel, Twitter profile, etc., in name only. No or very little content, or solid thought as to what the heck to do with it.

I’ve seen many companies and organizations publish Facebook Pages with little more than their name, URL and logo.

Before moving on, let me say that I understand the need of businesses to protect from name squatters. Okay, save your name even if you have no plans for it — but then state your corporate ID/brand protection intentions so it is clear, and visitors know that it’s not a dead account or that you don’t know what to do with it.

So, what can you do to prevent naked launches? Here’s some help with select popular social media tools:

Twitter: First, be sure your audience (customers, prospects, influencers, etc.) are using Twitter or that you expect they will in the soon enough future.  Because Twitter is so fluid, you don’t need a detailed plan. You do need to have a plan for the types of information you will tweet. Sure, some will be broadcast, but most should be informational — adding value to the legions you hope full follow you.

Also, track key terms around your product, industry, audience, etc., so you can respond to those who have a similar interest. This will help grow your followers and help you find new people to follow. Also, be sure to fully fill out your Twitter profile. See Ford for a solid corporate example. The Toledo Museum of Art has a solid one, too.

Corp/Organizational blog: A lot of planning needs to go into a corporate or organizational blog: Decide why you should, and who you want to reach; who will blog; design (so that it mirrors your corporate look); your blogroll; and objectives to measure to gauge effectiveness.

Also, prior to launch have a couple posts done and published — one an introduction to state why you started the blog, and then a first real one. You must also have an editorial calendar or schedule of posts for the next upcoming time period. If you plan to blog daily, have the first two weeks planned and posts pretty much done; if you plan twice-a-week posts, have the first 3-4 weeks of posts in mind and started; if weekly, have the first month’s worth or more planned. And, then keep up the schedule so content stays regular.

Facebook Page*: Before publishing a Facebook Page for your organization, be sure you complete the pertinent tabs: Information on your company others will want to know; Photos of interest — and more than just your logo; Links to not only your organization but also that your fans would find helpful and of interest; and details on any Events you may have coming in the near term. For Discussions, you don’t have to start any off the bat — though it’d be nice — you should prepare a list of topics to initiate in the coming weeks and months. This is similar to the planning you should do for a blog. Having regular discussion topics will help keep the Page fresh and engage your Fans. If there are no or very few replies, switch to another form of engagement on the Page.

AND, please refrain or control your organization, communications agency and others with a vested interest from fanning your page right off the bat. Those are tainted and don’t come off as being real fans. Most other fans may not know it, but those who do will look sadly upon you. I’m not saying employees and your agency’s personnel should never do it, but when they do at first and months later, they still make up a sizeable portion of your Page, it doesn’t look favorable upon the company.

YouTube: Yes, most companies will simply upload commercials. Guess that’s okay. IF you can do other videos — like from a news conference, how-to, a commnunity volunteer effort you’re involved in, etc., — please do. YouTube offers a lot of customization for your channel to ensure it matches your corporate colors and look. Take advantage of it — before launch. When you do launch, have at least a couple videos ready. Also, keep on the look out for other channels to subscrbe to — could be customers, vendors, prospects, other organizations of interest and that could provide value to your own subscribers. A couple good examples of YT profiles include Pickens Plan (good tie to branding, but would like to see some comments — or haven’t there been any?) and Domino’s (not as strong in corp branding but plenty of positive and negative comments allowed and many non-corp favorites).

If you have other social media tools that should not be naked upon corporate launch, please share your ideas in the comments.

Take care, and thank you for reading.
-Mike

*In most business cases, you’ll want a Facebook Page, not a Group. To decide the best for you, see a post a Mashable and at Inside Facebook. AND, if you’re an organization, business, etc., DO NOT create a Facebook Profile — it’s not allowed. See the 4th question in the FB Help Section.

A little while ago, I published a post about personal branding versus corporate branding. It was based on a post by Paul Chaney. Later, David Binkowski wrote on a different perspective about it. There’s still a lot of great potential for great discussion about the pros and cons of an employee who blogs at his/her own blog, gets a huge following and that impact on the employer, and on and on and on.

While thinking (again) about it Tuesday morning, it hit me. It’d be fun to take a little test.

Below are lists of well-known bloggers and corporate blogs. For the bloggers, can you name the employer? For the corporate blogs, can you name the blogger (or any, for those with multiple authors)?

Name that employer!

1. Steve Rubel (okay, gotta include some gimmes)
2. Jason Fallis
3. Chris Brogan
4. David Binkowski
5. Kevin Dugan
6. Josh Hallett
7. Paul McEnany
8. Matt Dickman
9. Leo Bottary
10. Robert Scoble (don’t ya still first think MSFT?)

Note: While there are many great female bloggers out there, the ones I’m most familiar with who have their own blog have their own agency or a solo practice. All of the bloggers above work for a company. For the next Name that list, I need to expand my blogger reading list.

Name a blogger!

1. BlogWorks
2. GM FastLane (yeah, that’s a gimme, too)
3. Airfoil Public Relations’ Clear the Air blog
4. Authenticities
5. Randy’s Journal (last name required for this answer )
6. Graco Blog
7. National Association of Manufacturers’ ShopFloor
8. Dell’s Direct2Dell (yeah, should be another gimme!)
   
9. Molson
10. Adobe Blogs (a collection of all Adobe blogs)

So, how’d you do? (Remember, we’re on the honor system here.)

-Mike

Whenever you “try to pull a fast one” over someone, you run a huge risk of ruining that relationship. That is, if you get caught. And, sooner or later, you’ll get caught. You’ll pay a huge price by losing that person’s trust. Word of your deceitful deed will also likely spread so that you lose the trust of the previous fools you’ve fooled and have no credibility going forward.

Monday morning, MediaPost had research from a great study that showed which products benefit the most from product placement, and which demographics are most influenced.

It’s a short article, with informative charts and such focused on product placement. But, the kicker that we all should pay attention to came at the end:

Gary Drenik, President & CEO of BIGresearch, said “Advertisers… are attempting to get their brand message out in non-traditional ways. However, today’s consumer knows when they are being manipulated and product placements must be carefully planned… or… risk being ignored…”

So, here’s a friendly warning:

For those bloggers who are paid for product posts and don’t disclose;

For those anonymous commenters who are really promoting a product, company or cause;

For those marketers who treat bloggers, social community members, etc., like traditional media;

For those companies that set up fake blogs (without disclosing);

And a host of other social media sins and scam . . .

You’re not fooling anyone.

– Mike

This social media stuff is all about getting personal. Becoming familiar with and sincerely, honestly engaging people on a grass-roots level who are customers, potential customers or key influencers of one of the first two groups of people mentioned. And, hoping, through how you treat and involve them, that they’ll spread the word to others about you, your product, service or cause.

On the corporate blogging side, it’s also the personalization of corporations and asssociations. Putting a personality and a name (or names) to a corporation. Think of Bob Lutz with GM. Think of the Randy Baessler of Boeing. (Yes, I know GM has expanded the FastLane blog to include others more than Mr. Lutz, but no one else seems to get the response he does. And, I know there’s a new Randy at Boeing.)

But, what happens when the person behind the personalization moves on (fired, resigns or retires)?

And, what about the individual blogs? In the PR world, it’s well known that Steve Rubel/Micro Persuasion is with Edelman, and, though not a lot, there is a visual connection on his blog. Seeminly, at the other extreme, many?/most? know that Jeremy Pepper/POP PR! is with Webber Shandwick, but you’d never know it by his blog.

But, when Rubel goofs, Edelman also gets the bad publicity. IF Pepper ever would goof, would WS share in it?

In social media marketing, rash mistakes and people coming and going can be very public.

So, blogging and other social media and the personalization that comes from it gives audience/users/consumers more of a connection. A relationship. And, (hopefully) positive feelings or thoughts tied to a product or company.

But, at what cost? If that personalization is tied to a person — Randy Baessler at Boeing or Bob Lutz at GM — what impact will them leaving have (or what did it have in Randy B.’s case) have on its audiences’ perception of the corporation?

Ultimately, being able to connect on some level and developing relationships — even if only on a cyber level — benefits us. However, like everything else in life, there are downsides that need to be dealth with.

And, that’s where great planning, the right communication and the proper medium can make those downsides not so down.

– Mike

One of the early corporate bloggers — and one that doesn’t seem to get as much press as GM and others — is retiring as of the end of April.

Boeing Commercial Airlines Vice President of Marketing Randy Baseler announced his pending retirement on March 9. He is leaving Boeing as of the end of April:

So I’m coming down for a landing, and looking forward to enjoying more time together with my wife, Linda, and our family and friends. Those of you who’ve met me might have guessed that I’m a “country boy”at heart. My plan is to settle into my cowboy boots, blue jeans, and flannel shirts, and stay closer to the ground ….

Of course, I’ll still be sticking around Boeing for the next couple of months, and continuing with the blog until then.

Mr. Baseler started blogging in January 2005 — the same month that GM’s Fastlane blog debuted.

I’ve read Mr. Baseler’s blog periodically, but mostly early on in my own blogging efforts. I’m ashamed to say that I had forgotten about it, until something sparked a memory this evening. Maybe fate, but I’m glad I did check in, and will most definitely do so through April.

And, to see who or if Boeing will have a new corporate blogger.

Doing corporate blogging the right way.

– Mike