Posted via web from tallulah’s posterous
I LOVE Ikea, especially their As Is section. It is bargain hunter’s delight. This French Caffe Press i snagged for–wait for it– $1.75. Makes great tea and coffee. For those of you who like to see Ikea Inspired Hacks – check this blog out: Ikea Hacker.
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.
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
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I'm a bit ritualistic with New Years. I tend to crave for a new calendar or journal every start of the year to plan plan plan. I am like the Monica Geller of planning – which can be a good or bad thing. Good because I tend to never procrastinate. Bad, because I sometimes spend so much time planning, and less time actually executing. That 80/20 Pareto's law really does hold true in this case.
This is a great time to assess what worked this past year, what didn't and how to redirect your energies. What is that 20% of your work that produces 80% of the results in your life or business? Here's a radical approach to planning that I want to share as you evaluate: I recently ran across an old post from lifehacker that talked about Jerry Seinfeld's method for using his calendar to keep him faithful to his writing regimen. His method?:He told me to get a big wall calendar that has a whole year on one page and hang it on a prominent wall. The next step was to get a big red magic marker.
He said for each day that I do my task of writing, I get to put a big red X over that day. "After a few days you'll have a chain. Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You'll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job next is to not break the chain."
"Don't break the chain," he said again for emphasis.
For plan-o-holics like me, failure is painful and constant. Painful because we plan too many steps or projects, and constant becuase…well..we plan too many steps or projects. Is planning just a form of procrastination? Rooted in the fear of failure or imperfection? If planners are so afraid of failure, maybe the "Don't break the chain," method is just what we need, or revise that…all that we need. If I see a red chain in my living room that's threatened to break because of my inconsistency – I would DO something.
What is it about your year you don't want to break? What's a practice, or skill' or material you don't want to lose? What habit do you want to form? Much of PR is skills oriented – not much need for technical know how really – it's a people business. You are what you produce, network, and finesse. Here are some PR related habits I myself would like to cultivate, but I think the key is simplicity so I will probably start with just one of these, but feel free to hi jack any of these for your own practice. – Read and comment on a blog related to PR Social Media everydaySo a few of my friends got Guitars for Christmas and I’ve been asked what’s a great first lesson? What song should I learn? What chords do I try first?
Four numbers: 1 5 6 4 or I V vi IV
These numbers represent the most common pop chord progression. Knowing how to play it will unlock hundreds of songs. Well maybe about forty, according to this great YouTube clip: Axis of Awesome 4 Chords.
If you want to learn this chord progression quickly without knowing any theory, learn this:
Play that progression along with the video above and you’ll be your own Karaoke machine in no time.
Now for the Theory:
A Chord Progression is just a fancy way of saying a sequence of chords. The numbers or roman numerals mentioned above represent the root note of a chord in a specific key. Below you will find the Diatonic Scale, most easily recognizable and understandable by looking at the Piano Keys:
Major Chords = Root + Major 3rd(3 half steps) + Minor 3rd(2 half steps)
C Chord = C E G — Note: There’s 3 half steps between C & E; there’s ONLY 2 half steps between E & G
Minor Chords = Root + Minor 3rd + Major 3rd (It’s reversed. Essentially, only difference is the middle note: Flatten the E in C E G so that it becomes C Eb G)
If you played all the chords in the key of C without the use of the black notes, you get the Diatonic Scale:
I = C Maj = C E G
ii = D min = D F A
iii = E min = E G B
IV = F Maj = F A C
V = G Maj = G B D
vi = A min = A C E
Upper Case Roman numerals = Major Chords; Lower Case numerals = Minor Chords
I ii iii IV V vi vii(dim) VIII (or I)
C Dm Em F G Am Bdim C
So…
I V vi IV
C G Am F
———–
Why this Chord Progression?
You gotta wonder why this particular progression is just so popular in Western Music – there’s something sticky about the swell and fall of the chords, how the STORY of the chord progresses. I heard once that many comedians were musically inclined, and since comedy is much about timing, I would like to think that a lot of marketing, PR, and writing for mass media could benefit from studying music, specifically Pop Music. Messages that spread and stick well contain a certain musicality. Think of jingles, think of slogans, or even titles: “Twitter” and “Tweet” caught on quickly, “YouTube” rhymes. “Google” sounds like a vocal exercise.
What are the Four Chords to a Viral Campaign? Viral Video launch, Micro/Macro Blogging , and User Generated content (video or comment), Social Bookmarking? In what sequence? What tone? I think that secrets behind sticky and spreadable messages can be found in modern pop music and pop icons. How to translate those techniques are key. Find that you will have found gold. For now, you have a key chord progression that unlocks dozens of songs. So, start singing your heart out.
T
