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Inspired Hustlers Live Long – Here’s How

Posted in: Inspiration Junkie, Random

Lifestyle Design Guru – Tim Ferriss – tweeted this today. So coincidental since I just watched an amazing Science Channel episode last night on Superhumans, which featured modern thinker – Ray Kurzweil – who was attempting to reverse his aging process and was so far succeeding with the help of 8 cups of Green Tea and several supplements and hours of exercise a day. However, I prefer Dan Buettner’s lecture below which takes us to Okinawa, Sardinia and even California for secrets in physical longevity and spiritual happiness. Watch. Enjoy. Adopt.

Todd Defren Post- Bad Apples in PR

Posted in: Blogosphere Activity, PR, social media

Bad Apples in PR

IStock_000007908093XSmallLast week Next Fifteen’s Tim Dyson blogged about “Why companies should use PR agencies,” echoing many of the points I had also raised last year (and which have been solid justifications all along, in good times and bad).  In the comments of Tim’s post, he wryly noted, “funny how this issue keeps coming up.”

Except it’s not funny.  And before you suggest that the issue wouldn’t be raised if PR had a better way to demonstrate ROI, let me assure you — it’s not about ROI.

Let me say that again: the reason PR agencies feel the need to continually justify their ROI has nothing to do with Return on Investment or other forms of measurement.

No, the reason that PR agencies must continually defend their value is because there are a lot of shitty PR people.

Look at the legal profession. “First thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers,” right?  Yet lawyers are an important, valuable resource for those who have legitimate grievances.  And for every lawyer that loses a case, there’s a winning attorney, too — so the legal profession has a built-in 50/50 track record of success.  Any baseball fan will tell you, “batting .500” is pretty darned good.

Yet we hate lawyers, because there are a lot of shitty, ambulance-chasing attorneys out there, giving a bad name to the perfectly nice, helpful, talented professionals trying to earn a decent living as legal eagles.

It’s both better and worse for PR pros.

It’s better for us (i.e., we are not despised nearly so much as lawyers) because our role in society rarely leaves a lasting mark. PR pros are not going to impact case law, a.k.a. people’s lives, whereas a landmark legal case can have huge impacts on the populace.

IStock_000009447077XSmallIt’s worse for PR in that any schmuck can call themselves a PR pro.  At least lawyers need to pass the bar exam to join the ranks; there is no need for APR accreditation to join an agency.  There is no enforceable code of ethics, either.  So while PR’s rapscallions are less odious in terms of their ability to hurt people, they are also too easily minted, and have little incentive to mend their ways.

There are plenty of fantastic PR agencies whose clients rarely question the value they receive.  Their clients know that their agency provides much-needed counsel, relationship-building expertise, and unique resources.  But, most corporations get burned once or twice by bad agencies along the way.  Similarly, members of the media and blogosphere are pummelled by bad pitches, which far outweigh the good.

Is it getting better for PR?  I think so, actually.  As I noted back in April 2007:

“(Thanks to Social Media), PR pros lose the luxury of working behind the scenes.  More and more often, in these early days of the blogosphere, a bone-headed pitch will be instantly revealed/reviled.  The crappy PR firms, the dialers-for-dollars, will get smart or get out.  Those that remain will likely have faced up to the fact that more and more of their agency’s work will be disinfected by the sunlight.”

We are in an era now in which Public Relations is increasingly talked about as the core driver of Social Media — which as we know is a huge game changer for culture in general, and Marketing in particular.  We couldn’t be reasonably expected to rise to this challenge if there weren’t enough good (or rehabilitated!) PR practitioners slogging their way — through smart & successful work — to improving our industry’s own reputation…

So maybe someday we’ll see fewer of these “justification” posts.  Maybe.

My Response:

Great points all over this article, Todd.

I’d add that one root for bad pitches that get PR peeps in trouble is poor management of client expectations. I’ve exchanged battle stories with colleagues who claim that they pitched Oprah/Time/Economist because their client demanded to. Instead of managing that (ridiculous) expectation, some PR managers even assure them, “Will do, I think they’ll love it!”

I’ve seen and heard this time and again, and it’s never a good way to build relationships in this business. It’s hard to bite the hand that feeds you, but bad pitches (and pitching strategies) are biting the entire PR industry in the can.

Thanks for the topic. It had to be said.

T

Todd’s Reply:

Oh, man, yea, Tallulah – you’re right about Expectation Setting. It is the agency’s responsibility.

One Question That’s Got PR Pros Dizzy

Posted in: Blogosphere Activity, PR, Random, social media
One Question That Get's PR Pros Dizzy

One Question That Get's PR Pros Dizzy

After reading Chris Brogan’s “Trust Agents” this winter (also found on my Required Holiday Reading List for the Inspired Hustler) I’ve been making a daily visit to his blog and reading his and his readers’ comments, and finally jumped into the conversation on a topic that has some PR folks in constant wonder: How do I reach out Bloggers?

Here’s Brogan’s post that got a lot of responses, please read if you haven’t already:

You can find my response in the comment thread below the post, but here is my exchange with Chris Brogan who responded to my initial comment. What are your thoughts?

My Initial Post:

I’m so very glad you attacked this topic, Chris. I do have to add however that a lot of the guidelines you listed are applicable when approaching even traditional media. I’m in PR myself, and a lot of journalists I meet complain the most about the “pushing” and the endless emails from PR pros, so being the 3 C’s – concise, clear, and courteous should remain as a guiding rule, so thank you for pointing it out.

But with that said, there are some differences with reaching out to traditional media and with bloggers that I would love discussed. For instance – Is the Social Media Release relevant? SMR’s are usually a webpage of a release wherein social media associated with the announcement (such as youtube videos, flickr albums, or podcasts assisting the campaign/news) are included all in one page. SMR’s are supposedly geared towards bloggers, but i’m wondering, do they really catch your attention? Would they help distinguish the announcement from any other plain old press release?

Last question – and this is a little personal to me. I have this long-held ideal that social media could be very beneficial for not only PR clients but PR agencies and pros themselves. PR isn’t the most glamorous job, as I’ve said: we’re notorious for certain practices, primarily those you listed above. I think social media could be helpful for PR agencies and professionals to get to know THEIR audience more – journalist and bloggers. Like you said – to make that connection before we need it. I think the best connections and friendships I’ve made with journalists were very organic, grown because we talked beyond the client, beyond the work – usually about common interests, their favorite online games, or music. I would then begin getting requests from journalists for my clients’ news. I also began sending those reporters news or facts that had nothing to do with my client but everything to do with their beat, and they would sometimes write about it, thanking me for the tip.

So the question — Would you be more attentive to pr pros you meet who engage in your blog, who may have a genuine blog or podcast of their own? Do you think this ideal that I speak of can exist? Is social media a good way to humanize even the PR biz?

Thanks in advance for your feedback, and for anyone who jumps into the discussion. Really appreciate it.

Tallulah

Chris Brogan Responded:

Everything I do has more than one audience. : )

I think SMR’s are useful. Not sure if they’re a requirement. I prefer them myself, but that might just be because I’m a blogger turd. They don’t catch my attention, though (to your second point). PEOPLE catch my attention.

PR people need to live their stories. See also @tdefren, @missusp, @briansolis, and several amazing examples of PR people who live as people between the stories.

I’m thinking if more PR pros were already in our space (One of Us in Trust Agents), then yes.

My Response:

Thanks for a direct reply to the SMR question. I prefer writing SMRs myself, so glad to know they please some folks. Although…”blogger turd”? I think you just coined a term some bitter PR folks can use. However, I doubt it would apply to you. : )

Thanks for the references too. I follow @briansolis, but wasn’t familiar with the others. I’ll check them out. I was going to add @dmscott, but I see from the comment thread that David Meerman Scott is following YOU. I’ve been learning loads from him, and I suddenly feel like I’m in esteemed company.

Lastly, I actually just finished reading Trust Agents, and that “One of Us” concept stuck with me throughout the entire read. I find it such a paradox that PR is based in soliciting trust, and yet a lot of traditional PR is thought to be synonymous with “spin”. I think Social Media is changing that, urging PR people to, as Mr. Scott says, “lose control of their own marketing” and render “messaging” obsolete.

Thanks again for such a great chat. Love getting blogger-related questions answered by actual bloggers.

Tallulah

Puma Penguin Army – Ellen, Take Note

Posted in: PR, social media
Puma Penguin Army Strikes

Puma Penguin Army Strikes

This post is in response to my post on Ellen, regarding her fair-to-say, “Markety” approach to social media call to action campaigns. Here’s an example of something that is catching on without even meaning to: The Puma Penguin Army. Supposedly these are popping up like the Nome in Amelie and later adopted as the mascot for Travelocity.

tallulah has shared: EMAIL: Remove Your Site From Google or I’ll Sue | MakeUseOf.com

Posted in: PR, Random
If there’s one thing I wish for you this year, its to not act to this point of desperation. More on SEO later…for now enjoy reading this.
EMAIL: Remove Your Site From Google or I’ll Sue | MakeUseOf.com
Source: makeuseof.com

 
tallulah sent this using ShareThis.

Posted via email from tallulah’s posterous

Ellen’s Social Media Strategy: World Domination

Posted in: PR, social media
Ellens Plot for World Domination

Ellen's Plot for World Domination

Interested to see how this social media campaign flies. I’m a fan of Ellen but I am not sure if I would follow these instructions to help her achieve “world domination”. I mean, in a way, she’ll be closer to reaching that goal just by being the highly anticipated new judge on American Idol. But I ask, when I come across these types of Social Marketing Call-to-action campaigns, what is the goal and what is the incentive?

If the goal is to find and target  her quality, loyal fans, then this might work. If she’s looking to garner more fans, she may run into some difficulty. Why? The call to action asks for a lot: download, print, cut out, pose, take a picture, upload on Facebook. That’s a lot – for what incentive? Ellen’s attention and maybe a chance to be featured on her show? I don’t know. Interesting to note that this campaign was launched 2 days ago and I find no uploaded photos on her page yet.

How could have this call to action been tweaked?

- something more specific about the picture

- creating it into a contest – “Best Picture will be featured on My show”

- less about Ellen and more about her fans – ask to tell Ellen their wants for 2010 and maybe Ellen can help with one of the wishes this year.

Keys to social media call to action campaigns – be they non profit donation appeals or marketing stunts like this: Make the call about your fans, Make what they need to pass around cool in itself (passing around a picture looks really “markety”),  and Make it SIMPLE and/or FUN to participate.

Another helpful and very obvious thing to do would be to add a link or announcement of the campaign on the Facebook page itself. Could not find it anywhere on Ellen’s FB page which is where it should have started. Instead the call stays on the corporate site.

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