Mainstream Madness

For a lot of us, mainstream media and social media have been, and continue to be, two completely different entities.  We here at Real Public Relations are here to tell you, not so fast there, buddy.  Don't believe me?  Look no further than this past weekend for proof that the lines have been blurred, and mainstream isn't just about your tv set and morning paper anymore.  We here at Real Public Relations love examples and we have three good ones today.  But first, a little perspective.

What can Betty White tell us about the power of social media?  Turns out, a lot.

When I worked as a journalist, social media was still just a twinkle in the eye of some college tech-geek somewhere.  We used the internet to dig for information, track down interview subject, play Risk online.  We used our computers to write stories, get emails and do research.  It was a tool, like a typewriter and beat sources used to be.  Even when I left in 2004, the internet couldn't replace good old fashioned legwork.  Going out, asking questions face to face, knocking on doors, lunch dates with "those in the know" were still the best ways to get information.

Traditional vs. New Media:

Today, with the advent of social media, reporters don't have to leave the newsroom as much as they used to.  Sourcs can be mined online.  Information comes in almost instantaneously in the form of tweets and Facebook IM's.  Newsrooms can cover stories across the world without stepping out of their door.  And that news comes in the form of first-person insight or even on-the-spot video, shot and uploaded minutes after a particular event.

Today, mainstream news relies upon social media more than at any other time in its history.  Kind of like how the phone changed communication in an irrevocable way, social media and the internet has done the same thing.  This matters because I clearly remember some heated arguments about bloggers when I was working in the newsroom.

At the time, blogs were the biggest form of social media online.  There were whispers that bloggers were going to overtake traditional news as the primary source of news and information in the U.S.  I railed against that thought, believing that an individual blogger couldn't replace a newsroom of experienced journalists with oversight, journalistic ethics and editors.  Fast forward six years and the entire world has changed.

I don't have statistic, yet, but it's a safe bet that million upon million of American, not to mention the rest of the world, get their daily information fix from the internet.  Some of it's in the form of online media sites to be sure.  But niche sites that focus on everything from the vegan lifestyle to government investigations to all things Jersey Shore now provide Americans with all the information they want or need to know.

A Viral Culture:

Let's take a look at three internet stories making the rounds this morning that shows the continuing explosion of social media and the merging of social media as mainstream.  Betty White, LOLCat and the BP Oil Spill.

First, let's start with LOLCat.  If you aren't familiar with this phenomenon, check out the site here, or take a look at this YouTube video.  Sure, it may just look like a bunch of cat photos with some clever copy added, but it has become an internet superstar with millions of viewers and a money-making machine for its creator, Ben Huh.  His site, I Can Has Cheezburger, is a string of lucrative network of profitable pages just like LOLcats.  Clearly, the guy understands what people like to see, read and hear online.  So let's take a minute to listen to what Mr. Huh has to say about the blurring lines of mainstream media and social media.



To read the entire article surrounding this video, click here to see the Mashable post.  

Agree or disagree with what Mr. Huh says, but I believe he touches on something very important when thinking about social media.  We're all familiar with the concept of a viral video.  Who hasn't seen a video and almost immediately forwarded it on to friends and family or posted it onto your Facebook page and Tweeted it for the whole world to see?

Huh makes the point that social media has, essentially, created a viral culture.  A culture where information is so easily passed from one person to another that it is ingrained in us now to send those items we like to anyone we choose with a simple click of a mouse.  If you like this post, and I hope you do, you can send this off to all of your friends (hint, hint) and they can do the same.  In theory, this blog could end up on the computer screen of anyone within typing distance of a Mac, PC or mobile phone.  That's power my friends.  That's even more powerful than the traditional mainstream media outlets.

Information Overload:

When talking about PR, a lot of clients talk about getting a hit in the NY Times, ABC World News Tonight, a cable show, Oprah, of course.  But even if you combine those audiences, you still don't reach the potential audience a viral posting can reach.  A hit on Oprah might net you, what, a million viewers?  Two million viewers?  Let's say the segment is very popular and you get some follow up on a rerun or some local news channels.  Let's even assume you get a write up in the popular O Magazine.  At best you're looking at, maybe, five million views.

Now let's look at some of the more popular viral videos, say, The Star Wars Kid.  If you haven't seen this video you haven't been paying attention.  Click on the link above to see the video on YouTube.  That video alone has 16-million viewers.  That's not to mention the myriad of remakes, remixes, TV show hits (Tosh.0, news broadcasts, etc.).

But that's just some kid with a staff.  How about something that matters?  Try this on for size.  This is video of the Nashville Flood.  It's just one of many videos featuring the flood on YouTube alone.



That video has registered nearly 800,000 viewers since it was posted on May 4th.  Think about that.  That's more viewers than the major networks pull in for their prime time newscasts.  Combine that video with the numbers for the other Nashville Flood videos and you're suddenly in the millions. 

This means that significantly more people are watching the user-generated videos online, sharing the stories with friends and family than are watching the traditional newscasts.  Does this mean that these people are ONLY getting their information from YouTube?  Of course not.  What it means is that people are now looking online to gather additional information and perspective from internet resources. 

So I ask you, if more people are turning to social media and the internet for information, who exactly is the mainstream?  Is it Good Morning America?  Is it YouTube?  Is it the Wall Street Journal?  Is it Hulu? 

Betty White and SNL:

Speaking of Hulu, here's another example of the shifting mainstream.  On Saturday, Betty White hosted SNL.  I missed it.  I was out with friends.  But I have since been able to watch the episode, on Hulu.  On Mothers Day, my mom actually asked me if I had seen Betty White on SNL.  My MOM!  She knows little about pop culture and probably even less about SNL.  But by goodness she was there watching it.  And not because of a commercial, or ad promoting the event.  She watched it because all the folks in her office were talking about it, posting about it, voting in the Facebook group, Betty White as host of SNL. 

And that's a phenomenon unto itself.  Campaigns by everyday people to promote an event or person or idea.  We've seen it with cancer drives, prayers for or against Obama, and a huge push to get Betty White installed as host of SNL.  Certianly White never really disappeared from hollywood, and her recent celebrity roast appearances have kept her in the spotlight a little bit, but I think even she would admit that the whirlwind of social media support has helped boost her career when most women her age are sitting on porches recalling the "good ole days" or fighting with others in the buffet line on the retirement cruise.  

Hulu doesn't reveal the numbers of viewers, but they did say that the Betty White SNL Hulu offering was the second most viewed video since the President Obama 2008 nominee acceptance speech.

More people have seen the Betty White episode online than actually saw it when it aired, and it was one of the most watched SNL episodes in a long time, according to Mashable.  Once again, the internet, social media and its various options and tools outreaches the mainstream broadcast. 

A Day Late:

Finally we look at the BP Oil Spill.  All weekend, we were inundated by stories of how their dome had failed, how ice crystals formed in the hoses and pipes and the whole venture had to be scrapped.  I got the information on my mobile phone, in my stumble updates, on Facebook posts and in Tweets.  By the time I picked up the Sunday paper, it was old news to me.  I was already looking to see what the next step would be for BP as they deal with this crisis.

Mainstream media is behind the curve for the most part.  They just can't keep up with the tweets and FB updates and RSS feeds.  That's okay, kind of, when dealing with entertainment and appointment viewing like SNL, LOST, and sporting events.  But when it comes to information gathering and actual news, people are meeting their needs more and more online.

So what does all of this mean to you as a small business owner and non-profit.  First, let's go back to Mr. Huh's observation.  It's a viral culture.  You  now have an opportunity to reach more people and potential customers than ever before.  Your social media efforts are no longer part of a niche fad trying vainly to live in the shadow of mainstream media.  In my opinion, you ARE working with the mainstream when dealing with social media, and the numbers are starting to bear that out. 

Your reach today is longer than ever before.  You can distribute information, fun facts, interesting video and brand your organization to more people than you ever thought possible.  Certianly, there is a place for PR and traditional media outlets, don't get me wrong.  But to those still thinking that social media is a fad or is a niche market or can't influence people in the same way that advertising or major media hits can, you're  falling farther and farther behind in the race for audience.

In a world where social media tools like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are on nearly equal footing with more traditional mainstream media outlets in terms of audience, you have to be prepared to use these powerful tools to reach out to potential customers.

Using Your Video Tool

You're a creative person.  You're always thinking "out of the box" during meetings and finding different, unique and, well, creative solutions to problems facing your team or your oranization.  You keep your budget in mind and work around the constraints to produce quality results.  You could have been a writer, or an actor and your friends think your funny, always cracking jokes like you do. 

So it makes sense that when your organization has a need to create a video for social media purposes, you're the one tagged to put it together.  Now you're faced with the huge task of creating a video that has to be interesting, useful and, most likely, funny.  Suddenly your muse has left you and what once felt like a challenging but fun project is looking more and more like the daunting task of climbing Mt. Everest.

Never fear.  Your friends at Real Public Relations and Growing Communications are here to help you through this social media dilemma.  And it is a dilemma since you're faced with so many options, so many alternatives, so many questions.  But creating a company video doesn't have to be a huge task.  It can, and should be, fun. 

First, you have to know what your options are.  As we've covered in this space before, you really have three options for video when considering it for your various social media platforms.  To review:

1.  Third-party generated video - This is video created by outside sources that relate to your product or service.  Generally you can link these videos from YouTube to your platforms with no problems.

2.  User-generated videos - This strategy encourages your users to produce videos themselves and post it to your site.  Your users can take videos of your product in action or or a testimonial.  

3.  Self-generated videos -  These are videos you create, shoot and edit yourself.

There are pro's and cons to each option.  Obviously when you use third-party videos, you have to worry about copyright issues, plus you're at the mercy of the creativity and production skills of someone outside your organization.  Lastly, using third-party videos doesn't really say anything specific or unique about your organization.  More than likely, even though it might feature a product or service that is similar to yours, it will focus on another organization, which does little for you.  On the plus side, it's easy and fast and cost next to nothing.

User-generated videos can be a huge boost to your efforts.  To begin with, it encourages interaction among your base, and others outside of your circle of friends and customers.  This is particularly true if you offer a regular prize to the best videos.  This is also a very cheap way to build up your bank of videos to use.  You don't have to spend any money or time to create separate videos, you simply let your base do that for you.  For instance, the Bovine Metropolis Theater in Denver that has its performers create individual videos telling viewers about themselves, about the theater and about specific shows. 

This is a great use of user-generated videos because it not only introduces the players, the theater and the shows to the general public in a fun and interactive way, but it gives the theater a low-cost way to build up its in-house video library.

The biggest risk for user-generated videos is that you have to be very careful about what you post from outside parties.  They won't always be on board with your overall message or it might not fit the style or look you are trying to achieve.  As long as you're careful about what kind of user-generated videos you post, this is always a great option.


Self-generated videos:

Now we're into the meat of the issue here and really, the purpose of this entry.  Frist, the downside of creating your own videos; cost.  Really, that's the biggest issue when putting together your own video.  cost in terms of equipment, cast, crew and the time involved in shooting and editing your own video. 

Even if you have your own equipment, including editing software, you can safely assume you will have to spend a number of hours to produce a high-quality, interesting and fun video.  Let's say you have an idea for a video that will run, say 3-5 minutes.  For every minute of useable video, you will likely shoot an hours worth of tape.  These are industry estimations, by the way.  You can also figure that for every minute of finished product you will end up editing about an hour per minute. 

Of course with proper planing and experience, you can cut down that time significantly.  But even the most experienced videographers I work with estimate an hours worth of time for every finished minute of finished product.  So if you have a five minute video, you should figure it will take approximately ten hours to produce this video.  Time is really the biggest obstacle for small businesses and non-profits when producing self-generated videos.


Your Style:

Now that you understand the time issues involved you can begin to create your video.  You can go any number of routes from funny to serious to infomercial.  It's really up to you.  One of the things I encourage clients to do when they're considering creating their own video is to take a look at their organization.  How are they perceived in the community?  How do they WANT to be percieved.  What is their "style"?  It's a little like dressing for success.  If you want to be considered as a mover and a shaker, you dress like one.  You want your video to express a similar message. 

Maybe you want potential customers to think of your organization as a fun, exciting place to do business with.  Maybe you want to be thought of as a very professional, more conservative organization.  Your video should reflect your image as much as possible.

You also have to take your message into consideration.  What are you trying to do with your video?  Are you attempting to motivate people to become involved as part of a call to action?  Are you simply letting people know what product and services you offer?  Are you raising awareness for an upcoming sale or event?  The purpose of your video is important when trying to decide how to put it together.  It will combine with your overall message and style to guide you when choosing your story and characters.

The Details:

Which, of course, leads me to the next step; story and characters.  Not all videos have to have amazing characters with tons of backstory and depth.  We're not shooting a movie, this isn't Star Wars.  But your story should be clear and concise with your message in full view at all times.

One of the things I encourage clients to do is to consider a series of videos.  Shooting and posting a single video is fine, but it's a lot like a newspaper article.  It's big news for one or two days and then it disappears.  Instead of spending your entire budget on a single five minute video, why not produce five one-minute videos instead. 

This allows you to actually create a character that viewers can follow with interest, plus you can develop a storyline that will keep viewers coming back to see what happens.  This will help you build an audience and hopefully a following.

An example:

I'm working with an animal spay and neuter organization in Colorado.  They are producing a video series designed to raise awareness of spaying and neutering dogs and cats.  Instead of blowing their budget on a single video, they have decided on a storyline video that features a primary character.  The video will be campy, fun and interesting. 

This is important because the campaign is focusing primarily on individuals 35 years old and younger.  Since this demographic seems to be the least likely to spay and neuter their pets, the focus is on raising awareness among this demo.  This means the video has to be fun as well as interesting all while giving a call to action.  A staid, buttoned up video wouldn't get the job done.  At the same time, you can't go the other route and make it some kind of extreme video, as if you were selling energy drinks to skateboarders.  By staying true to their organizational message and style, but packaging it in a video that is funny and interesting, the video will appeal to members that fall into the target age range.

This is an excellent strategy for a number of reasons.  First, because the video will be built around a primary character, this character can now be folded into other social media efforts.  You can build a Twitter for the character, a Facebook page, even a blog.  You can do a photo shoot with the character and make this character a kind of ambassador for your organization. 

Another benefit for a video series is that it's easier to tell compelling stories in a series than it is in a singular video.  Think of those old serials they used to show at the movies years ago.  The Lone Ranger, The Shadow, etc.  Every week there was a new cliffhanger and people would come back just to see how the hero survived or got out of the mess. 

Finally, a series of videos won't cost you anything extra in terms of time or money, you'll end up spending about the same as you would for a longer single video, but you'll get more bang for your buck.


Toot Your Own Horn:

When you get right down to it, your self-generated videos are, in essence, little commercials for your organization.  And, just like regular commercials, your creativity will help you stand out from the others.  Consider the crowded and competitive world of insurance.  If I were to ask you to name three insurance companies off the top of your head, it's likely you would list your own, followed by Geico and/or Prorgressive.  Geico has used a variety of commercials to appeal to different audiences very successfully.  From the caveman, to the celebrity spokespeople to the Geico lizard, they're campaigns have been both fun and successful. 

Progressive has reaped huge rewards from their "Flo" series of commercials.  What started out as a simple three set commercial contract has now blossomed into a series that is now the face of the organization, expanding into print ads and radio spots. 


You can do something similar with your own videos, you just have to keep a few basics in mind when creating your masterpiece.  

1.  Keep your organizational style in mind
2.  Keep your message at the forefront
3.  Determine the purpose and make the purpose clear in the video
4.  Consider your audience when creating your video
5.  Be prepared to spend some money and time to produce your video
6.  Have a clear and understandable storyline
7.  Have a strong character, even if that character is your organization
8.  Work with videographers you trust.  Don't leave this project to just anyone, the final product 
     is too important.
9.  The lighting may not be the best, and the picture may not be HD, that's fine, but make sure 
     the sound is top notch.
10.  Incorporate your video into other aspects of your social media efforts whenever possible.

There you have it.  If you keep these things in mind, you'll be able to produce a quality video that meets all your requirements and will attract viewers and, hopefully, new customers.  You don't have to be George Lucas to create an excellent video.  And you don't have to go viral for your video to be a success.  It's nice if it does, but as long as your video reaches the audience you're targeting, you'll reap the benefits.

When "Legalese" and PR clash

I've held off writing or commenting about the giant oil spill just off the Louisiana coast, until today.  In my experience, the initial incident, whatever it may be, is really just a percursor, an opening act, if you will, to the rest of the show. 

What can small businesss and non-profits learn from the BP disaster?

Generally, I like to take a wait and see approach before coming to any concslusions.  But I feel that the time has come to, at the very least, make some observations about how BP is handling this current PR nightmare. 

I've covered some basic crisis communications practices in this blog in the past.  In reality, crisis communications is very simple.  To review, there are four things you have to do when confronted by a crisis, any crisis. 

1. Acknowledge
2.  Admit
3.  Apologize
4.  Fix

If you do this, you can move past almost any crisis you'll come up against.  And let's face it, as small business owners and non-profits, you probably face a thousand mini-crisises every day.  Whether its an irate customer or a missed delivery or a faulty product, you will have to deal with a crisis at some point.  Most of the time, these will be smaller issues that you can quickly and easily move past, but even in these cases, the above strategy will help.  And if you ever find yourself in the middle of a growing scandal, or blasted by a newspaper article or faced with a tragic situation (i.e. a shooting in your establishment) you'll be best served by remembering those four points.

I reiterate this because, A) it's so important to small businesses and non-profits to be prepared to handle any crisis, large or small, and B) even the smallest situation can balloon into a crisis of monumental proportions if not handled correctly at the very beginning.

Now, it's highly unlikely that any of us will have to deal with the kind of nightmare that BP is dealing with in Louisiana.  And we're thankful for that.  For the most part, I think BP is doing an "okay" job in managing the PR aspect of this.  BP has come out and said most of the right things about helping and aid and clean up.  But there is one aspect of their handling of this which is troubling, and it's an aspect of major crisis PR that isn't unique to BP, or oil companies or large corporations.  It's a uniquely modern-day issue and one that is generally the biggest stumbling block when dealing with a crisis:  I call it "Legalese".

This excerpt from an editorial in the Capitol Hill Blue newspaper sums up the "Legalese" problem nicely (click on the link to see the entire story)

The name of a disaster can be critical, both as a historic matter and the more immediate matters of image, public relations and legal liability. BP has said it will honor “legitimate” claims from people and businesses seeking compensation from disruption caused by the spill. But since there are likely to be many disputed claims (“This is America — come on,” BP chief executive Tony Hayward told the Times of London on Wednesday), having your company’s name inextricably linked to a disaster can’t help when a jury begins assigning damages.

The editorial was in response to the fact that President Obama has started calling the disaster "The BP Oil Spill."  He has now attached a name to this, and that name has, as the editorial states, leaves no doubt about who is to blame for this "epic mess".

Clearly, BP isn't happy about this label.  Because in instances like this, there's much more at stake than simple company image, consumer confidence and brand loyalty.  There's money, lots and lots and LOTS of money, mostly in the form of the numerous lawsuits that are sure to follow.  This is where the legalese starts to take over, and as much as I understand the thought process, it's still a mistake.  The bold section of the quote says everything you need to know about BP's mindset.  While I understand Mr. Hayward's sentiment, I'm not sure I'd be very happy that he said it if I were handling PR for this crisis.  It belittles the many quality claims that will be filed and it comes across as a bit of a slam on Americans.  This isn't exactly how to win friends and influence people when mired in the middle of a disaster.

I've done work for Shell Oil in my career and I have a sense of how large oil companies think.  Believe it or not, it's not always about the bottom line.  I was impressed with Shell and their willingness to be open about their company.  They were eager to reach out to all kinds of groups and were happy to spend money when it was necessary.  I never saw any kind of underhanded activity or processes while I worked with them. 

But Shell was also very careful about the words they used, for legal reasons.  And this kind of wordplay sometimes sent the wrong message to the public.  Often it looked as if they were talking around an issue instead of simply coming forward and saying what they meant.  Regardless of what the words themselves said, people couldn't look past the legalese.


Another example:

I was part of a team handling a major crisis for Kroegers/King Soopers a few years ago.  We were faced with a potentially devastating crisis that could have had ramifications on thousands of people across Colorado.  As we were briefed on the story, I knew as a former journalist, this could be a blockbuster story for any journalist wanting to dig up some dirt and raise legitimate concerns about the security and safety of their local pharmacies. 

Fortunately, we were in front of the story.  The DEA was in the middle of their investigation and we had some time to prepare before the government released their report and levied fines.  As we worked on implementing our strategy, crafting our press releases and preparing to hold our own press conference, Kroegers, the parent company for Colorado's King Soopers and City Market, sent a team out to give us a hand.

This was their lead crisis management team.  They had experience and knowledge.  But they were lawyers, all of them.  It turns out their main job was to make sure that our work fit into their legal constructs. 

It was a frustrating experience.  I would write a press release and send it off to Cincinnati or hand it off to the lead team and it would come back completely rewritten, full of legal terms and phrases of avoidance.  It took time, which we had, thankfully, but we were finally able to convince the lead team that their legalese would cause more problems and that our wording was not only better, but safer.

Don't Raise The Flag:

Here's why the legalese can cause more problems than it helps.  In short, it raises suspicions.  There are two reasons why this happens:

1.  The general public is wary of anyone who speaks in legalese.  It makes you look as if you're trying to hide something by using legal terms and phrases.  You want the public to embrace you and trust you.  But you're hiding behind legalese, people are naturally going to question your sincerity and it will be harder for them to forgive you and trust you again.

2.  Journalists are muckrakers.  As a former journalist, I say this with all honesty and admiration.  Journalists are supposed to dig and look for the truth and expose lies and fraud.  The minute they see a press release filled with legal jargon, it immediately sends up red flags.  Something's not right, they'll say to themslves and suddenly you have a journalist doing exactly the opposite of what you want them to do; digging further into the story.  A good press conference answers all the questions, and explains the situation without raising further suspicion.  If done right, a press conference and release will leave journalists feeling that there is nothing left to the story.  They'll move on to something else and you'll soon be forgotten.

If the crisis is bad enough, you'll likely have to pay out something to lawyers and maybe even lawsuits.  But would you rather spend some money up front and be honest and open so you can begin to rebuild your image and community trust?  Or would it be better to try and CYA by using legal terms, raising the red flags of journalists and then be hounded by reporters for months or years.  You MIGHT save a few bucks in the short term by taking the second option, but in the long run, your image will take a beating, you'll likely be the focus of numerous news stories all putting you in a bad light, and you'll lose customers. 

Short vs. Long Term:

Obviously, BP is willing to take a hit by using legalese right now in their PR efforts.  This makes sense because, as an oil and gas company, they're already used to being portrayed as a bad guy.  They know they're going to have to pay a lot of money to clean this mess up, the question is, how much. 

Unfortunately, small businesses and non-profits don't have the deep pockets that a BP has.  You rely on the public to keep you afloat.  One of the biggest issues when handling a crisis is getting a company to admit that they made a mistake.  Too often they feel as if they admit something, they open themselves up to a lawsuit.  And maybe you will, depending on the situation. 

But rebounding from a crisis is largely a game of image.  A crisis can tarnish your public image.  However by handling the situation correctly you can often come out of a crisis looking better then before.  If you made a mistake that had financial ramifications, then the public will admire you for standing up and taking the hit.  They'll view you as a company that lives up to its committments.  If you start to get overwhelmed by frivolous lawsuits, the public will be on your side since you have already come forward and righted the wrongs.  The fact is, as a small business or non-profit, you're less likely to be hit with frivolous lawsuits.  Those are generally reserved for large companies with deeper pockets. 

If you do the right thing, even if it means taking a short term financial hit, you'll come out stronger and with a better public image than you had before the crisis.  Whatever you do, certainly watch how BP handles this crisis, but also understand that their situation and their long term goals are vastly different than yours.  Don't try to copy what they do and don't use legalese when confronted by a crisis.  It's a trap that will only make the situation worse.

Games, Not Just For Kids Anymore!

We love games, and by we, I mean I.  Although I have a distinct feeling that I'm not in the minority here.  Let's face it, we all grew up playing games of one kind or another.  Sometimes it was Monopoly, sometimes it was card games, sometimes it was football in the street with the other neighborhood kids.  Games are just a part of growing up. 

But somewhere along the way, we stop playing games.  Sure, there are a number of 30 and 40-somethings that still dabble in some video gaming now and then.  And the explosion of Rock Band is testament to the fact that, yes, even grownups like to cut loose from time to time. 

But games have become big business in the social media world, particularly for small businesses and non-profits.  You can't avoid the fact that Facebook games like Mafia Wars and Farmville have been a thorn in the side of many FB users while simultaneously being a source of "hours of fun for the whole family," for others.  A day doesn't go by that I don't get numerous pleas from friends asking me to help them wipe out a rival gang or to help them farm cabbage or fight rabbits or something along those lines.

But there's a new kind of game starting to take over social platforms like Facebook and Twitter and these games are starting to have some serious impact on the bottom line of businesses all over the world.  This isn't your father's game of LIFE, it's real life and these games are helping many organizations grow by leaps and bounds.

Say it with me, FOURSQUARE!

I have to offer a disclaimer here.  While I'm familiar with Foursquare, I haven't really played it very much.  It's not really my bag, baby.  Plus, so far at least, I haven't figured out a way to use it to help this blog or my company.  Although, if I DO figure it out, you can bet I'll be the Mayor of something within a short period of time. 

Games like Foursquare are a stroke of genius, really.  It allows businesses to build brand loyalty and develop a following simply by maintaining a presence online.  In some ways, when I first saw the game, I saw it as a natural outgrowth of virtual reality games and environments like SecondLife.  I may be off a bit on that assumption, but the fact is, businesses are using Foursquare to help grow sales by offering real-life incentives.  In a way, the game is like the 21st Century of those old coupon books you'd get at Subway or at barber shops or at ice cream parlors.  If you frequent a business enough, you get rewarded with a free sandwhich or free haircut or free sundae. 

While Foursquare might be the largest location-based game on the market right now, it's not the only player out there.  Businesses are finding new and innovative ways to use social media as a game platform to generate interaction, grow interest and build an audience.  Gowalla looks to be eating into Foursquare's market share and a California-based company called Shopkick has recently rolled out a location-based game called CauseWorld.  In each case, the idea is to encourage consumers to spend money as an incentive to gain rewards (as well as "Karma" points in the case of CauseWorld).

Then you have companies like Pepsi, who had to do something social-media-wise to combat Coke's recent social media blitz involving millions of dollars in donations to everyday people with good ideas.  This has been a spectacular success so far given the fact that millions of consumers everywhere are voting regularly on the myriad of ideas Coke has gathered.

But back to Pepsi.  They've actually created their OWN game.  Here is an excerpt from a recent article on InventorSpot discussing Pepsi's new venture.  As always click the link to view the entire article. 

Similar to the established location-based social networks that exist like Foursquare and Gowalla, "check-ins" will be an important component of this application. Customers that check-in to restaurants that offer Pepsi will begin to earn loyalty 'loot' points which can then be used to obtain downloadable songs from artists such as Keane, Katherine McPhee and Jamie Cullum. Additionally, Pepsi customer restaurants have the opportunity to provide exclusive Pepsi Loot offers to their patrons, such as a free drink with an entrée purchase.

The iPhone App called "PepsiLoot" is already on the market.  No word yet on the success of the program.

Even Non-Profits Benefit:

But social media games aren't just for businesses, large or small.  Even non-profits are getting in on the action as this article on Mashable illustrates.

4 Ways One Non-Profit Uses Location to Increase Engagement

While many non-profits are embracing social media for fundraising, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) has found social media to be essential for bringing value to its members, raising public awareness, and building community online.
As the United States’ largest non-profit conservation, education and advocacy organization, with over four million members, NWF relies on recurring membership revenue to create change in the world. Social media helps NWF create this change by encouraging staff to personally communicate and engage individual members, new supporters, and wildlife lovers on a regular basis.

This is just one non-profit that is using a variety of social media platforms to develop an audience and encourage participation and interaction.  But, depending on the kind of non-profit you work with, there are a lot of great ideas that are still out there that you can use to grow your organization.  The article above listed three other location-based social media tools that the NWF is using that doesn't involve game playing so much as it encourages participation.  And your strategy doesn't have to involve a location-based game, either. 

Some organizations are simply using the game to build brand loyalty by handing out "badges" to regular users.  This article from Cnet shows that the online social media gaming fad has even reached into local newspapers and services of all kinds.

Game mechanics," as this sort of points-and-achievements gimmick is called, is tough to get right: Turning everything into a contest may grab some extra attention at first, but it can easily veer into the annoying. Leaving a well-researched comment about foreign policy on a news story only to earn a cartoon badge for your effort, for example, may seem a little bit inappropriate. But don't be fooled. Gimmicky game mechanics aren't really the "World of Warcraft"-ization of marketing: they're the first entry of customer loyalty programs, long the sort of thing that even the customers themselves didn't know much about, into the age of Facebook and Twitter. This business tactic is here to stay, even though the "Animal House" badges might not be.

"I like game playing when it comes to really any kind of service," Gravity Chief Product Officer Steve Pearman told CNET. "It's just a question of identifying what are the right kinds of games to play." At least for now, the games du jour involve racking up what often amounts to little more than bragging rights.
Sometimes, though, there's money involved. HomeRun CEO Jared Kopf says that the still-in-beta start-up's various gaming features--from the "private reserve" achievement unlocking to a feature called "Avalanche," in which buyers can watch the price of a deal drop as more people spring for it--are designed to legitimately make commerce more exciting.

Getting In On The Fun!

Now, you might be asking yourself, how can I cash in on this social media gaming phenomenon.  That's a good question.  Chances are, you don't have the time or know-how to develop your own iPhone App.  And your budget probably won't allow you to give away the kind of incentives that will drive customers to your business in droves.

The good news is you don't have to develop an iPhone App or have an unlimited budget to play the game and reap the rewards.

Take a look at your business or non-profit.  It's likely that you already have some sort of reward system in place for your regular customers.  If you don't, put one together.  The whole idea of these games is to reward customers and users and attract potential customers with these rewards.  Maybe you hold a monthly contest, maybe you use a point system or maybe you use the aforementioned badge system.  Whatever it is, you have to first create a program that offers rewards that both won't break your budget, but at the same time will appeal to consumers.

Sometimes, as the previous article mentioned it can be a simple case of "bragging rights" but most likely customers will be drawn in by promises of future discounts and freebies.  The trick is finding the game that works best for your organization.  If your business is in the service industry, then a simple reward or point system for regular patronage might work.  But get creative and find some new, fun and unusual ways to get your patrons involved.

For non-profits, where participation is the name of the game, find ways to encourage interaction not only with volunteers and the organization, but among the various shareholders among themselves.  Maybe it's a geocaching game, or perhaps it's a giant game of "Scavenger Hunt".  Whatever you do, you want to get people involved, and, more importantly, you want them to get their friends involved as well.  Because these games not only build loyalty among your existing base, but they can even grow your base as others hear about it from friends and acquaintances. 

As Foursquare has made clear, people like to play games.  They like to win and they like to be recognized.  Using social media games is a fantastic way to cater to these needs and grow your business.  Now, get out there and let the games begin!

KEY is the word!

Please help us spread the word about Growing Communications, as well as this blog.  Join up, send to friends who you think will benefit, and help us become the pre-eminent blog and communications agency for small businesses and non-profits.  Your help is greatly appreciated!

Now, Onto the Entry:

With all apologies to the classic song, "Bird is the Word," there's a new sheriff in town, and the word, today, is KEY.  As in keyword.  Get it?  Okay, lame attempt, but the facts speak for themselves and in todays online world, keywords are, well, key, to growing your audience and your bottom line.

For many small businesses and non-profits not already immersed in the daily activities of the online world, keywords can be both confusing and intimidating.  But they don't have to be.  They shouldn't be.  In fact, you should be using keywords not only for your website, but for everything you do in the social media environment.

This kind of thinking is a little different than it used to be just a couple of years ago.  Now, with the advent of so many social media platforms, along with the emergence of the "Big Three" (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn) SEO keywords are being used to raise the profile of all your social media efforts.

This blog has emphasized continuously that every post you make, on your blog, your Facebook and your Twitter, should have a purpose.  Whether it's giving useful information, tips or simply disseminating your message in an entertaining fashion, there must be a reason behind every entry.  This method will help you attract new viewers and readers and, hopefully, customers.  You can, and should, be using your other social media platforms to drive people to your primary website, thus, raising your site visibility during websearches.

But imagine if your various social media platforms also use keywords to attract visitors and raise its public profile in the same way your website does.  Suddenly, you have keywords working for you not only in one location, but on every single platform you use.  It's like increasing your keyword power by the power of ten and it can mean taking your audience from a few hundred, to many thousands.

Let's start at the beginning, though for those not fully aware of what keywords are or how they work.  This short video from Vertical Measures does a great job of explaining what keywords are and how to use them.  Click the link above to view their website:



A quick note:  I am not a customer, nor am I being paid to endorse Vertical Measures.  It was simply a nice, well-done video on SEO and keywords I thought you might find useful.  You can view other videos about keywords and SEO management at this YouTube page.

If I Can Do It...

What I've discovered so far is that while clients might understand what keywords are, and how they work, there is still some hesitation and even fear about actually inserting tags and keywords into their sites.  I get this.  I'm not a computer programmer.  Heck, I use a Mac so I don't ever have to worry about the inner workings and strange computer language programs use to converse with each other.  But I promise you, if I can do it, you can as well.

Messing with HTML code can be a nervewracking experience.  But basically you're inserting your keywords into only a few specific lines and you don't have to know HTML, since you're simply typing words, English words, into the target lines of code.  If you get confused, or have questions, do a general search online, ask a friend, or use the help function on whatever site you're using.  Once you locate the specific lines of code you need, all you have to do is type in your keywords. 

Pretty simple stuff, actually.  But that's just the internal SEO/Keyword side of the equation.  As the video above showed, there's an external or "Off Site" aspect to your SEO/Keyword activities as well.  And this is where your Facebook, Twitter, Blog and LinkedIn platforms come into play.

While you can't input keywords into the HTML code of your Facebook page or Twitter account, you can view most of your social media efforts as if they were separate websites.  This means the more links you have to your Facebook page, the more visible it will be on most search engines. 

For instance, if you have a business Facebook page, the more friends, the better.  The more links you have on your page, the more visible it will be.  This kind of SEO process works for some platforms, such as Facebook, but it's not as effective for other platforms such as Twitter.

So how CAN you use keywords to increase the visibility of your Twitter posts?  Simple; by watching and reading.  Keywords are still most useful when it comes to raising the visibility of your primary website or blog.  But when you go onto Twitter or Facebook or LinkedIn, don't just post an entry, but take a moment to actually see what others are talking about.

Here is an excerpt from an article on Gather.com about social media keyword useage:  Click on the link to view the entire article.

Fine-Tuning Your Keyword Strategy
Consumers are using a variety of social media platforms to reveal a wealth of valuable information about themselves and what they want.  This information is so valuable because it can be used to help small businesses better optimize their websites and improve rankings in the search engines.  So how do you adjust to the social chatter?  Find out what consumers are saying about your product, service or brand.  This can be done by doing things like viewing the tweets associated with your Twitter hash tag and following those conversations.  You could also search Facebook with your existing primary keywords to figure out what other terms your contacts and potential audience members are using in their social discussions.


Do a quick keyword search on Twitter and look at the trends.  For example, as of this writing the top rated trends on Twitter included: Cinco de Mayo, Mother's Day, TeenThings, JustinBieber, IdSmash, Don't Be Scared.  Now, what can you do with this information?  First thing you can do is make sure that some of the top trending Tweet topics mesh with your organization.  I can't really use Justin Bieber as part of this blog (although I just did, so you just KNOW I'm going to use it as a keyword in my Twitter posting, LOL).  But I CAN post something about Mother's Day, Cinco de Mayo and probably TeenThings. 

Read and Observe:

By using one or more of these keywords in my Tweet post, I can suddenly reach a larger number of readers than I would have otherwise.  But you can also do something similar in your Facebook, blogs and other social media platforms.  When you go onto FB, take a few minutes to see what people are talking about.  Maybe it's Foursquare, maybe it's the Arizona Immigration law, maybe it's last night's American Idol show.  Once you get a sense of what people are talking about, you can craft your posts to appeal to that conversation. 

In this way, you can increase your overall number of readers and, hopefully, drive people to your website.  Plus, you can take these keywords and install them into your website HTML and gain more visibility that way.  Because if people are talking about it on Twitter and Facebook, they're probably also looking it up online.  Having these keywords in your site HTML and you could pop up on any number of search engines. 

The trick here is that you HAVE to make sure that whatever your post is for the day, or blog entry or overall site content, it HAS to align with the keywords you're using for a particular page on your site or for your site in general.  Otherwise, search engines like Google will basically ignore your keywords.  You can fool some of the people all the time, or all the people some of the time, but you can't fool Google at all.

A Brand New Day!

I've been out of the loop for a couple of days, but there's a good reason why.  That logo you see is what has been taking my time away from you the past week.  The logo belongs to a new company I and a colleague have started called Growing Communications.  Take the time to read what we're about.  I promise you, if you're a small business owner or non-profit, you will find it could change the way you do business.

Imagine going to a restaurant.  We've all done it.  We sit down at the table, someone tells us the specials and we begin to peruse the menu.  The lobster looks great, but a little on the expensive side.  Besides, I don't need lobster, I really just need something that tastes good and won't drain my wallet of all my cash.  I mean, there are other things I could be spending my money on, no need to blow it all on a single dinner, right?

In fact, a number of businesses run this way.  Go to a spa, or a cleaners, or every retail store in the world, and you find you are confronted with choices, tons and tons of choices.  I COULD buy the brand name product, but I could also buy the generic.  Same product, different price. 

One has to wonder why Public Relations and Communications agencies don't work this way.  Too often, small businesses and non-profits go into an agency, tell them they have a project they need help with and the agency comes back with a full package of services that, more often than not, is full of "extras" that aren't necessary.  The price tag also reflects this full service package.  This is one of the reasons why small businesses and non-profits generally have a hard time justifying the price tag when it comes to hiring a PR firm.

But that doesn't negate the need these businesses and non-profits have for quality PR and social media outreach.  Wouldn't it be nice if you could simply walk into an agency and simply choose from a menu of services, like you do at a restaurant?  Wouldn't you love to have the kind of choices for your PR and social media efforts that you do in other aspects of your life?

Now you do. 

This blog has been focused on helping small businesses and non-profits learn about the many aspects of public relations and social media.  In many cases, my posts have been focused on helping the small business owner or non-profit handle their own efforts.  But it has also been focused on education in general; helping you understand how the industry works so you will be better equipped to make decisions when considering hiring a PR agency.

As a natural extension of this blog, a long time colleague of mine and I have created a new company designed specifically to help small businesses and non-profits meet their PR, social media and internal communications needs. 

Our new company, Growing Communications, uses an innovative menu of services concept that provides options and choices for all of your PR and social media efforts.  Now you can choose only those services you need and pay for only those services. 


If you only need a press release writte, you can choose that.  Need more?  You can choose a number of different choices as well.  Growing Communications also provides packages designed to meet a variety of different needs. 

Because Growing Communications has no storefront, uses only quality, experienced professionals on a job-by-job basis and works in a primarily virtual environment, we are best equipped to meet your needs quickly and expertly without the overhead costs usually associated with most PR firms.

Take a look:

Take a moment to look at our website, join us on Twitter and link to our Facebook page.  This blog will continue to provide quality insight and advice for small businesses and non-profits regarding public relations and social media.

You can always reach me for more information and a complimentary consultation to evaluate your communications needs. 

Send me an email at cdgallegos01@earthlink.net, or at chris.cdlane@gmail.com, or reply to this blog.  You can find our temporary website at, GrowingCommunications.wordpress.com.  And, of course, you can link to our Facebook page and Twitter from our wordpress site.

Let's move forward together and help bring quality public relations and social media to as many small businesses as possible.  Share this with friends who you think might need our help.  We look forward to working with you in the years to come!

Be Patient and Persevere

And now, a bit of a change up for you all.  Just a few days ago, I posted an entry called BE Aggressive.  Now, you look at the title of today's entry titled "Be patient..." and you might be wondering, "what in the world is going on?"

Never fear, I'm here to explain.  You see aggressiveness and patience in public relations aren't mutually exclusive.  You can be aggressive in your outreach to media outlets and on various social media platforms, but at the same time, you have to temper your aggressiveness with patience and realistic expectations in order to be truly successful.

Too often I have dealt with clients who simply roll out a singular public relations push or try a social media plan and then get immediately frustrated when their efforts don't show immediate results.  Like advertising, there has to be a long-term plan involved and you have to either stick with the plan or make tweaks along the way in order for you plan to have a real impact to your bottom line.


I bring this up for a couple of reasons.


1.  My local football team is driving me nuts (explanation to soon follow)
2.  An interesting story a colleague of mine related to me recently

Let's tackle the first reason.  I know, it may not sound like it fits, but bear with me.  We all follow different sports teams, even if you don't like football, you might be a fan of baseball or basketball or even, gasp, soccer.  Let's look at the teams that are generally successful.  They are the teams that have an established identity, they have a plan, they stick with that plan, sometimes to the bitter end.  Even teams with bad plans generally are more successful than teams with no plan at all.

Public Relations is a Team Sport:

Take the Pittsburgh Steelers, for example.  They're not my team, but I respect them very much as an organization that has proven to be very stable and one that understands its identity.  They play mean, tough, hard-nosed football.  They run on offense and hit you in the mouth on defense.  They've played that way for as long as I can remember.  On the opposite end of the spectrum you have the 49-ers who played swift, finesse, high scoring offense while having a defense that was generally good but not great.  Nevertheless, they were great teams.

Two teams with completely different plans, two teams that have experienced a great deal of success over the years.

Here's something that good teams, in any sport DON'T do:  They don't scrap a plan after a year or two.  They see it through.  They give the plan a real chance to succeed or fail.  Good teams don't change head coaches and general managers every two years because the "plan" isn't working.

Good teams have a vision, they have a plan and they have patience.  For instance, ask the 1979 49-ers if it was a good idea to keep head coach Bill Walsh after a dismal season.  Or how about the 1989 Dallas Cowboys after new head coach Jimmy Johnson went 1-15 with a new QB.  Or maybe last years Saints, who won the SuperBowl after a subpar 2008.  The fact is, all of these teams had a vision and a plan that they believed in and they were patient enough to see that plan to its fruition.

Let's face it, running a small business or non-profit is a bit like a team sport.  You need talent, you need hard workers, stars and role players.  You need a smart general manager and a quality coach.  But you also have to have a vision and a plan.  This is where your communications plan comes into play.

Certainly there will be slow times and bad times, there always are.  But your vision and your belief in your plan will see you through these dark times.  Having a communications plan, both PR and social media will play a major part of that vision and plan, or at least it should.  Knowing how you are going to market yourself and get the word out to potential customers should be at or near the top of your priority list.

A Plan, An Identity, A Vision:

But if you change your plan completely at the first sign of trouble, you can do more damage than you might imagine.  Staying with a communications plan can help you build an identity, it can help you stay focused on a direction instead of trying a million different things and getting nowhere.  Constant change confuses and frightens potential customers.  They won't know who you are or what you're about.  Yes it takes time to build an identity, you don't just roll out a logo and catchprase and suddenly you have an identity, but that identity built over time will help you in tough times.

I say all this because my team, the Denver Broncos have been very frustrating to me.  For the longest time, Denver had an identity, a potent offense that won more than it lost.  Now, under a new head coach, that plan, that vision, that identity is changing.  I haven't bought into it, not at all.  But the new regime clearly has a plan and a vision, even if I don't seem to see it or agree with it.  So even as frustrated or upset as I can be about the changes to my favorite team, as much as I dislike the head coach, I have to give these guys at least three years, if not four, to let the plan and vision play out.

This also speaks to another important element; listening and responding.  One of my biggest frustrations with the new Bronco regime is that they don't seem to listen to anyone outside of the room and they don't seem to have any intention of letting the fans in on their plan.  This leads to anger, resentment and confusion among fans.  Think of sports fans as current customers and employees.  Both are vital to your success.

This leads us to an important fact:  In order to be successful, you should let your "team" in on your vision and your plan if you want them to buy in.  Now, I don't work for the Broncos, but I do support them.  So I feel as if I, and all other fans, are a part of the team.  It's hard to buy into a plan when it's so secret, and it looks like a carbon copy of similar plans that have failed so miserably in other places.  That's a second important factor to take into consideration.  It's okay, it's a good idea in fact, to look at other successful plans and incorporate them into your own plan.  But don't just try to copy the other plan.  Be your own person, make it your own.  Adapt it to fit into your philosphy and your company's culture.  Otherwise, you're just copying and not really doing anything innovative with your plan.  Also remember that what worked for one organization may not exactly work for yours.

Here are some tips you should keep in mind when creating your PR and social media plan:

1.  Be patient - I can't stress this enough.  It takes time for things to come to fruition.  You probably won't see the fruits of your efforts for a few months, but that doesn't mean it's not working.  Don't give up on a plan simply because you didn't see a spike in sales overnight.

2.  Assemble a team - Take advantage of the talent you have around you.  Find the volunteers or employees that you feel confident enough in to help out with your plan.  You can't do it all by yourself, it takes a village, you know.

3.  Don't just be a copycat - Go ahead and create a plan that resembles successful PR and social media plans from other organizations.  But then tweak it to fit your organization's culture, needs and goals.  Also take into consideration the people you have to work with.  Don't try to make a square peg fit a round hole.


4.  Communicate - Funny that we should have to mention this in an entry about a communications plan, but even some of the best PR people I know have trouble communicating sometimes.  Let your employees and customers know what your plan is.  This will allow them to feel as if they are part of the plan and they will buy in, or at the very least they will give you a chance to see if it will work.

5.  Adjust, don't overhaul - Three months into your plan, you might start to see where you're plan isn't as successful as it should be.  Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.  Instead of scrapping the plan entirely, take a look at it and see if there are some simple adjustments that can be made to strengthen the overall plan.  You don't have to completely change direction when it's likely only a few tweaks will get the job done instead.

I leave you with this final story:

A friend of mine works for a PR agency in Los Angeles.  He's frustrated because he's dealing with clients and a boss who simply don't seem to understand PR.  Just yesterday he received an email wondering why he hadn't been able to contact a specific reporter.  My friend replied that he'd emailed several times and placed several phone calls, leaving several messages.

All in vain so far.  But the client wants to know if he's working hard enough, which nearly exploded the head of my buddy.  Listen, you can only do so much.  As I've said before, PR is a risky venture.  There are no guarantees.  It takes time to reach out to a reporter, to build a rapport with them and get on their list of immediate "call backs". 

You'll run into the same problems when you start handling your own PR efforts.  You'll make phone call after phone call and sometimes, they'll never call you back.  There are just some reporters who never do.  At some point, you cut your losses and move on.  This isn't a reflection of failure on you or even an indictment about the quality of your story.  Some reporters simply are impossible to reach. 

You have to be patient, whether you're doing your own PR or if you've hired someone to do it for you, you have to understand that there will be times when some reporters won't respond, period.  It's easy to get frustrated when a reporter doesn't respond or doesn't pick up a story you think is quality.  But don't get angry, and be patient.  Chalk it up to a singular failed effort and move on to other reporters that will respond or pick up the story.  Focusing too long on one reporter or a couple of specific reporters will hinder your overall PR efforts.

Again, it's a bit like sports.  I have always thought of PR kind of like baseball.  in baseball, if you fail 60-percent of the time, you're in the hall of fame.  If you fail 70-percent of the time, you're an all-star. 

In PR, it's about the same.  You're going to fail more than you succeed.  For every yes you get, you'll hear 5, 6, 7 no's.  Those are the averages.  If you know that going in, you'll have a much easier time simply moving on to the next reporter pitch instead of dwelling on the rejections.

If you take the approach that being patient, while persevering with your overall plan, you'll find success WILL come your way.  Hey, it's what all the best teams are doing these days.