A different kind of audience

A quick note:

First, thank you to those of you who commented on my Martin Luther King entry.  Please note that neither the King entry, or the Haiti entry was designed to minimize the achievements of a great man, or lessen the impact of the tragedy taking place in Port Au Prince. 

When I first started working in news, I had a news director tell me once, after a particularly disasterous day, that every event is a learning experience.  I believed it then, I believe it now.  For small business owners and non-profits, learning lessons is always best when it doesn't impact the bottom line.  By being able to look at what is happening in Haiti from a distance, or by looking at the accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. from the distance of time, we can learn some valuable lessons hard-earned by other people. 

Careful study of past and present events only serves to make us wiser and smarter, whether it's in life, or as a small business owner or non-profit director.

Okay, now that that's out of the way, let's get to topic at hand, shall we?

Business to Business:

So far, I've spent an awful lot of time focusing on how small businesses and non-profits can reach out to potential customers and shareholders.  But what if your business doesn't often deal face to face with customers?  What if you're most important business partners are other businesses?  Do the rules of public relations and social media still apply? 

In short, they do.  The biggest difference between the two is the audience, and hence, the media outlets you target.  For most of your public relations and social media efforts you will be targeting outlets that do one of two things; cater to the largest possible audience, or cater to a select, focused audience that will find your product or service appealing.  In this way, you're doing pretty much the same thing when targeting other businesses with your social media and public relations efforts.

From a traditional media public relations standpoint, reaching out to other businesses is fairly simple.  You will still stay true to your message, create your story and pitch that story to producers, editors and reporters.  The major difference will be the outlets themselves.  Instead of pitching your story to outlets such as The Denver Post, KOA radio, Channel 9 News (for the locals reading) or NBC, New York Times and NPR, you'll be pitching your story to a much more focused media. 

Business for Breakfast, The Denver Business Journal (again for locals), MSNBC, Entrepreneur Magazine; all will be at the top of your pitch for business to business coverage.  You don't have to drastically change your pitch for these outlets, just keep in mind their audience.  Instead of pitching a story that appeals to general mass public, pitch stories that interest other business owners.

How does your product or service save them time and money?  How can you help them with staffing issues?  Accounting issues?  Governmental red tape?  These are questions you probably ask yourself all the time, so it stands to reason other small business owners are wondering the same things and looking for solutions. 

It's when we get to the realm of social media and online media that things start to get a little trickier in regards to business to business outreach.

Social Media Impact:

We KNOW, for a fact, that social media is successfull in reaching the masses, generating interest and creating buzz.  The question really is; how much is social media impacting business to business interaction?  Short answer...we just don't know right now.  Certainly there is an active business to business environment online.  But how much does it truly impact the bottom line of small businesses?  It's really too early to tell.  Business analysts agree that social media is impacting small businesses, in mostly a positive way, but how much is still a mystery.

One thing can be assumed, however.  As social media continues to grow and we learn how to use it more effectively, it will continue to have a growing positive impact on profits for small businesses.  Already there are a multitude of online e-zines, blogs, podcasts, vodcasts and sites dedicated specifically to business to business ventures and interaction.  And more are sure to follow.

You can pitch your stories to many of these already existing sites in the effort to get your message out before a focused audience.  But what about sites such as Twitter, Digg, Meetup, Facebook and other social media sites that seem more designed to reach the general masses than specific business entities?

Segmentation:

One of the wonderful, and scary, things about the internet environment is its swift changing nature.  It didn't take long before specialization started to emerge.  Like the segmentation experienced by broadcast entities when digital began to take hold, social media underwent the same kind of change structural change almost immediately.

Groups pages, specialized Facebook sites (such at Petbook and Catbook) began to take hold.  Special group segments on Flickr and and focused search tools for Digg and Google have long been in place.  Even Twitter has group Twitter tools small businesses, entrepreneurs and non-profits can use. 

The point is, social media is just as segmented as most other media these days.  The trick is finding the right groups to become a part of and start being active in those groups.  In many ways, it's similar to the brick and mortar world of business that most of you operate in every day.  Chambers of Commerce around the country now can be accessed through most social media sites.  The same goes for many of the other "traditional" business groups you've probably been associated with, or worked with in the past. 

What is different today is that instead of meeting once a month at a meet n greet, you have access to all the members daily through social media tools.  You can interact with them constantly if you wish, instead of just intermittently.  Use this to your advantage.  You don't have to suddenly abandon the proven business groups you have been involved with over the years.  Instead, use social media to enhance those group interactions.  If a business group you belong to doesn't have social media access, take the initiative and start a Facebook page or Meetup group.  You'll find that not only will the current members likely become more active, but you'll begin attracting new members and potentially breath new life into your group.

Perhaps you won't be able to motivate a flash mob, or create a viral video that will spread like wildfire among fellow business owners, but you don't have to.  Your target is much more focused.  You don't need to dazzle with silly videos or with trumped up online gimmicks.  In some ways your job is easier online with fellow businesses because you already speak the same language.  You already have one important thing in common, and that is your business experience.  Social media simply will allow you to speak that language to more fellow owners at one time than ever before.

Here are some tips to using social media for B2B outreach:

1.  Target your audience - Just as in general social media and pr outreach, your audience matters.  You need to make sure that your message is reaching the right individuals.

2.  Target the correct media - This includes online media and traditional media.  Make sure you're pitching your story to the right online publications if you're looking for business specific story coverage.

3.  Find your niche - Search the social media tools that you use regularly.  Find the segments within those tools that focus specifically on other businesses.  These can be groups, meetups, twitter pages, separate websites, anything that speaks directly to your audience.

4.  Institute social media in existing groups - Social media can help an existing business group grow and help you stay in contact with other businesses that might be beneficial to you.

5.  Look for potential business partners/clients in unique places - One of the great things about social media is that like minds can gather virtually whenever they want.  If your small business does a lot of work with specific charities or regularly participates in or sponsors an event, you might find that other small businesses do the same.  You can find potential business everywhere.  Use social media tools to join groups dedicated to the kinds of charities or events you actively participate in and make sure others know who you are and what you do.  You might find other businesses involved in the same activities and relationships could grow from there.

Non-profits benefit, too:

Non-profits aren't excluded from this conversation either.  Obviously, individual donors are the lifeblood of most non-profits.  But there are a multitude of businesses that are run by owners who believe in the same causes you do.  Find business groups that believe in the same things you do, or have members who participate in the kinds of events or charities that your organization supports. 

In the end, business is about relationships, and social media is about building relationships.  Running a successfull non-profit is about building relationships as well.  It seems like a natural fit to use social media to help grow the relationships to improve the success of your small business or non-profit. 

And the good news is that the opportunities will continue to grow through 2010 and beyond.  Any small business not utilizing social media in their everyday outreach or in their business to business outreach will likely lose out to those that use it effectively within a very short time.

The Wonder of King

I sit here today, enjoying a beautiful afternoon, having taken the dog swimming, not too much on my plate to deal with, and watching a documentary on Martin Luther King Jr. on the History Channel (one of my favorite stations ever, by the way). 

I thought about not posting today.  I also considered posting something about the power of social media to create a virtual "flashfire" of pop culture from time to time.  The focus was going to be the "Pants on the ground" song that seems to be everywhere I turn, and, inexplicably, more popular that even Simon Cowell could have imagined, even after he prophetically claimed the song could become a "hit".  And so it came to pass.

And I think I will still make a comment on the phenomenon of "Pants on the ground," only I'll juxtaposition it with a look at the the historic accomplishments of MLK Jr. 

Just as in the tragedy of Haiti, and even the viral explosion of "Pants on the ground", there are lessons to be learned from what King and his civil rights movement achieved in the turbulent 60's.  Small business owners, and particularly non-profits, can look at the movement made over a relatively short period of time and adopt some of the strategies used by King to promote their own agendas, whatever they be. 

The Lessons of King:

Just as generals and CEO's of today study the lessons and techniques of Sun Tzu's "Art of War," business owners of today and agents of social change (non-profits) can study the lessons and techniques of King, even though the times, and methods, have changed drastically.

I'll get into the differences in a bit, because the differences matter.  In some cases, the changes empower us more than ever.  In some cases they hinder us more than we might have been 40 years ago. 

But let's look at the basis for success that King used that still matter today, and will forever matter when it comes to meeting success.

King had a vision - He knew what he wanted to accomplish.

King had a plan -  He knew how to achieve his vision, and stuck to his plan even when things went wrong.  He certainly adapted his plan when necessary, but he never wavered from his overall plan, nor from his overall goal and vision.  His plan of peaceful resistance, made famous by Ghandi decades earlier, was successful, perhaps even beyond his expectations.

King had infrastructure - King built an organization with leaders spread out across his target states who helped in making decisions, and organizing the youth and activist members of the community into a single, unified force.  He was the leader, but he delegated and communicated with all the leaders within his organization.

King picked his fights - King knew what he wanted to accomplish.  He knew he couldn't change the hearts and minds of all bigots and racists in America.  But he knew he could help enact legislation to protect and uplift minorities.  He didn't fight everywhere, he chose his battles and more often than not, won them.

King was inclusive - Listen to the "I Have a Dream" speech if you have time.  More than once, he spoke of justice for everyone.  Not just African-Americans, but for all the downtrodden, the poor, Protestants, Jews, Catholics, White, Black, Hispanic; all people of America.  His message wasn't just equality for Blacks, but equality for everyone.  A message the resonated with a great portion of the American population.

King used his contacts - Obviously, MLK had contact with the President of the United States, whether it was Kennedy or Johnson.  He communicated with them and used his contact with the most powerful men in the world to help create legislation that eventually became law of the land.

King listened - MLK had his visions, his goals and his plan, but he also listened to what those around him were saying.  He wanted to be informed at all times.  He not only listened to those he was trying to help, but also to his advisors, he listened to his enemies, he listened to those with power and without.  He listened and he digested, and he moved forward with all of this information in hand.  He rarely moved forward without being informed from all camps.
 
King sacrificed - I'm not sure I need to explain this at length.  Safe to say, MLK sacrificed time, money, energy, blood sweat, tears, freedom and even his life, to achieve his goals.

King believed in what he was doing - Simply put, it's outrageous to think he, or anyone would have done what he did without truly believing, deep down, that what he was doing was right. 

Look at that list, and I'm sure I missed some things that should be included, and understand how all of those characteristics can be directly applied to success in any venture you take even today.  If you're a small business owner or a non-profit, if you apply these same characteristics to your organizations, it's more likely than not, you'll be a success, particularly in your public relations and social media efforts.  If you truly believe in what you are promoting, have a plan, stick to that plan, listen, communicate, sacrifice, pick your battles, remain inclusive and use your staff effectively, your outreach campaign will succeed, period.

Media then, media now:

But one has to wonder how a single man was able to mobilize millions of Americans in the mid-60's without the use of the internet, a small budget and little to no advertising.  Seriously, ask the best PR person you know and ask them to create and grow a national grassroots movement with those restrictions, and they'll laugh you out of the room.  And yet, this man from humble beginnings, accomplished all that and more.

And let me be the first to say, I'd laugh you out of the room as well for the simple reason that it can't be done today.  America is a different place now than it was four decades ago.  It's dramatically different than it was just ten years ago.  Americans today have more options about where they get their information.  Today we are bombarded with messages from all around us.  We are more picky, more cynical and more distracted than ever before. 

Let's take a look at the media world in which MLK lived in during his civil rights movement.  Outlets of information were limited at the time.  Television was essentially just hitting its stride as a major influencer of American life when King began his campaign.  Kennedy was the first President to truly realize TV's potential and to use it to help become elected.  King learned from Kennedy.  At the time, the big three networks dominated news and information.  Every city had one, maybe two major paper and most likely one or two major news radio outlets.  What did this mean?  It meant King and his organization didnt' have to reach very far to reach the majority of Americans. 

Get covered on NBC's Nightly News, or ABC with Walter Cronkite, and you've reached a vast majority of the American population with your message and story.  King didn't have to do much to sell his story, obviously, because what he was doing was truly newsworthy, historic, in fact.  It was a no brainer for news executives at the time, much like it would be today.  The difference is, today the message would get lost, muddled and possibly obscured in the swirl of constant information being pumped out daily by television, cable, radio, satellite radio, magazines, online sites, blogs, podcasts, vodcasts, social media websites, ezines, daily and weekly newspapers and various other focused publications.  It's nearly impossible today to reach the kind of saturation that King's movement reached in the 60's.  Even if an event were able to reach that level of awareness and coverage today, the ever-changing news cycles would quickly make it a non-story in a short period of time.

By being able to catch and maintain the focus and attention of the handful of major media outlets in the U.S., King was able to capture the imagination of a new generation of Americans and spread his message fairly quickly.  He was then able to use his on-ground grassroots organization to recruit participants for his marches.  He was able to publicize his struggle through effective use of the few major media outlets available to him at the time.  On top of that, the media of the day had fewer news cycles.  Once a major story or personality emerged, the news of the day took more time with a story, went more in-depth, gave the viewers, readers and listeners more to digest and understand.  King and the Civil Rights Movement remained a major news generator for years, something very hard to do in today's media environment.

Look at another historic sea-change taking place in America today.  Agree or disagree with the current administartions plans to change health care, one has to agree that a change of this magnitude is historic.  It's a complete paradigm change in how the U.S. handles health care for its population.  It should be a constant presence on news outlets everywhere, everday.  But it isn't.  It shows up every now and then when a vote is taken, or when something major happens, otherwise, it gets ignored or buried in the middle somewhere behind the latest Hollywood wedding.

And yet, these same media outlets that make King's kind of movement nearly impossible today, also can be used to inspire an outpouring of emotion, wonder, amusement, social change and assistance never before seen in our history. 

Going Viral:

Social issues such as conservationism, aid to Haiti, support for Olympic athletes, local schools, the war on poverty, the legalization of pot, all have been relatively successful in terms of getting their message out online and organizing grassroots movements through social media.

And this is where "Pants on the ground" comes into play.  I have been shocked, amazed and bemused at the explosion of popularity for this snippet of a song, based on the short performance of a man on "American Idol".  I received several postings of it on my Facebook page, as well as Twitter.  It was even sung by Brett Favre, the QB for the Vikings in the locker room after their big win over the Cowboys in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs.  It blew up, but big.  And why was that?

Only one answer is adequate; the internet.  People saw it on TV during the broadcast, the AI folks put it up online and let human nature and social media take its course.  I'll admit the song is quirky, it's unique, it's slightly funny.  Like the opera singer from Britain, the video made the song and its performer an instant success.  But, like most pop culture fads in the U.S. today, it has no lasting power.  Within a month, the song will be long forgotten, replaced by some other overnight sensation.

This is the kind of thing that would hinder MLK today, and it's the kind of "flashfire" phenomenon that makes your job doing pr and social media for your organization both easier and harder than it's ever been.  You not only have to figure out a way to get your name and message out to the masses.  But once it's out there, you have to figure out a way to KEEP it out there.  And that's really the hard part.

You CAN organize successful grassroots movements using social media today.  You CAN reach a large portion of the public using traditional and new media outlets today.  You CAN keep your name in front of your potential audience using proven PR and community outreach methods today.  The trick is using them all together and using them wisely. 

What this means to you:

Perhaps, from a basic PR and communications standpoint, that's where we can learn some valuable lessons from Martin Luther King Jr.  His basic strategy was successful then, and something tells me, given his charisma, intelligence and drive, it would have been just as successful today.  Something to think about for anyone considering trying to implement social change in the U.S. today.  Certainly Obama is trying.  He's the most successful online President so far, and others will follow.  Even non-profits are figuring it out.  One need only look at the Haiti online presence to know that it's changing how Americans respond to those in need and get the message out for social issues. 

The reality is that the online world homogenizes and empowers us all to make change, to find happiness, and pursue our own vocations, vices and pleasures as we see fit, regardless of who we are or what we look like.  Perhaps today we are closer to MLK's dream than ever before, and it's thanks, in part to a world and technology that no one 40 years ago could ever have imagined. 

Lessons from Tragedy

The tragedy in Haiti has dominated news coverage since information first began pouring out of the tiny island nation about the massive earthquake that rocked the country and killed hundreds of thousands.  For small business owners and non-profits, trying to pitch a story the past week, at least in Colorado has probably seemed like "Mission Impossible."  Now, before we move on with this entry, let me assure you that is is NOT an entry on how to take advantage of others people's suffering for personal gain.  It's not that.  We are not carpetbaggers.  We are human beings who empathize with those who are suffering and struggling in the wake of this awful incident.

Let me also say that there are lessons to be learned from this event, and others like it, if you take the time to sit back and watch.  As a small business owner and non-profit the Haiti tragedy might seem like an opportunity to do something for the people of Haiti and, in the process, raise the profile of your organization.  And for some, it is just that.  But there are major hazard signs and roadblocks for any business or non-profit choosing to take this route.

Let me start by saying I've been there.  I've been on the ground at horrible events such as the Columbine shootings, working as a reporter and producer.  I've seen the public relations machines kick into gear, I've seen the botched press conferences, I've heard the spokespeople make remarks I know they wish they could take back.  I've also been in the newsrooms when releases have come across my desk trumpeting humanitarian efforts from every group from the local deli, to schools, to major and minor non-profits.  Many of the pitches were genuine and the groups involved were truly interested in helping those in need.  But, like with any major event, there were those that were simply trying to take advantage of the situation.

I've also been there working as a public relations professional, working with a non-profit trying to raise money to help people in need.  And let me tell you, this kind of community outreach and public relations effort is a road filled with landmines that could explode in your face if you're not very, very careful.

A Case Study:

I was working with a firm in Denver during the Katrina Hurricane devastation in New Orleans.  Let me say that this PR firm was, and is, run by professionals, highly knowledgable and genuinely wonderful people.  I have nothing but glowing things to say about them and the firm.  I respected them then, I repsect them now.  So when the owners approached the staff about dropping some of their daily work to pitch in for a client putting together a major fundraising effort for the people of New Orleans, of course we enthusiastically jumped in.  Another side note:  this was a completely pro-bono deal, all the work was done for free, and believe me, there was a lot of work done on the project.

The goal of the client was to raise one-million dollars, with the non-profit organization matching dollar for dollar every donation.  In other words, if the campaign raised one million dollars, the organization would match it with another million, making the total amount given, $2,000,000.00. 

We put together radio ads, we drafted print ads, we established media partnerships, created messages, and made a full blitz in the traditional media, including live interviews with the non-profit leaders on radio, tv and print.  We organized a press conference with specific members of local and state government on the steps of the state capital in Denver.  And we did all of this in about a week.  We helped the non-profit reach its goals and we felt pretty proud about our work and had a sense of satsifaction that we had done our part to help those truly in need.

So imagine our surprise when we started to hear about, and receive some backlash for our efforts.  Not from the organization, or from the company owners, but from some prominent members of the public, some of the masses and even some in the local media.  Here is where I have to tell you that the group in question is a prominent gay, lesbian and transgender non-profit organization in Denver. 

Suddenly the organization was being accused of grandstanding during a time of crisis.  We had used a photo of a family stranded on top of a car during the flood to illustrate the plight of the people of New Orleans in some of our print ads.  We were accused of being insensitive.  We had to squash rumors that the money was only going to help GLBT groups in New Orleans, which wasn't true.  And, despite the amount of money raised and ultimately given, the efforts may have actually hurt the non-profit in terms of public perception.  Notably, though the organization continues to work actively to help people in need in times of crisis, they have never been as highly visible as they were during the Katrina crisis.

Looking back, there are certainly a few things we could have done differently, starting with a less intrusive media blitz.  Our line of thinking was that the media blitz would get the word out quickly and help raise the funds needed in a short period of time.  What we didn't realize was that, since every print ad, radio ad, and television appearance was branded with the non-profits name and logo, it must have seemed to some that the organization was more interested in self promotion than actually giving a helping hand, which wasn't true.  However, if I had to do it again, I would think twice about such prominent branding in the print and radio ads.  As for the television appearances, well, the organization was partnered with the American Red Cross.  In hindsight it might have been a better idea to simply let the Red Cross representative take most of the airtime.  By allowing the Red Cross to thank the organization, it makes the non-profit in question look humble and simply happy to be helping out.  That would have been a better choice than having the non-profit take the lead all the time. 

I would also rethink the print ad photos.  You can see an example of the photo used in the print ads above.  Perhaps using scenes of devastation, rather than a family in real peril would have been a better choice.  I, personally, thought the photo would slam home the real need and the dire situation faced by the people of New Orleans.  I thought the emotion clear on the faces of those on the car would pull at the heartstrings of potential donors.  While the photo DID accomplish all those things, it also angered many, who didn't want to see a family facing death on the hood of car in the middle of a hurricane.  I know we lost some potential donors because of that photo, fortunatey, it didn't impact the overall fundraising efforts, but it could have; we probably dodged a bullet on that one.

One final change I would make if I had to do it all over again would be this:  I would definitely do more outreach online.  Certainly, social media wasn't as big as it is today.  MySpace was still the dominant social media outlet, but blogs were already established and websites were already extremely important to the success of an organization. 

Fast Forward:

Now let's take a look at what is happening today, five years later, as organizations scramble to reach out to the people of Haiti.  One of the things I've done consistently since leaving the newsroom, is to sit back and watch how major events like these unfold.  What I've been fascinated by is how much more involved the general public seems to be now than it was even just a few years ago. 

For instance, community groups have always come forward to help out when needed.  Church groups, civic groups, school groups, non-profits, even small businesses; all have pitched in and done some extraordinary work. 

But I took a look at my Facebook page this morning and counted over 100 messages asking me to donate to help raise money for Haiti.  That's one third of my entire friends list.  My email was full of requests to pitch in with money, canned goods, clothes, anything that might help.  Go click on Google and type in Haiti earthquake.  You'll find hundreds, HUNDREDS, of websites dedicated to helping those in need, many newly christened for this event alone, many others belonging to non-profits making the Haiti tragedy their current focus. 

The event is still too new, the news still too fresh, we're too close to the tragedy still to see the entire pitcure.  But I'll be truly fascinated to see the numbers when it all shakes out.  I would be willing to bet that the amount of money raised through social media outlets will dwarf any previous social media fundraising efforts and may actually be bigger than many of the more traditional fundraising routes.  We'll see, but I wouldn't be surprised.

Lessons Learned:

So, as a small business owner or non-profit what can you glean from the events taking place in Haiti?  There are several:

1.  This is not about you, or your organization:  This is about helping people.  If you are able to put together a fundraising program, please feel free to publicize it as much as you want, but be aware, the effort has to focus on those in need, not you.  If you continually praise yourself during your efforts it will turn people off.  It will look like grandstanding.  Trust in the people that donate to you.  They'll make sure they know who is getting their money and you will benefit from their charity, even without blowing your own horn constantly.

2.  Find established partners:  This is especially true for small businesses, but it can also be important to established non-profits.  Finding a partner such as the American Red Cross, credible media outlets, or other groups that have a history of helping those in need, will allow you to accomplish a few things.  First, you'll be able to help, which is most important.  Second, you'll be linked with already established, well-known and credible organizations, who, most likely, already have a pretty high profile.  This means you don't have to work as hard to meet your goals because you'll be part of a team, not striking out on your own.  You'll also get the benefit of learning from an organization with experience.  Seeing how they handle these situations will help you down the road if you choose to pitch in again.

3.  Speak softly, but carry a big stick:  Okay, well, this isn't really in the spirit of exactly what Roosevelt the First said, but the concept is the same.  Through social media efforts, any organization can have a big impact in humanitarian efforts, particularly when the tragedy is so recent.  Making a big push online is a great idea, but, again, do it without trumpeting yourself too much.  This is where a viable partner can really help.  People will be more willing to donate online to organizations they are familiar with.  

4.  Make sure your story works:  If you insist on pitching a story to traditional media outlets during  a time of crisis, you had better be sure that your story is somehow linked to the crisis in question.  And that link had better be solid.  Because if it's not, newsrooms will see you as an organization trying to get personal gain from the tragedy.  That's a bad thing.  If you lived in Haiti once, you might be an excellent interview, and if they get you on, focus on the topic, not your business.  You can certianly mention if you're raising money, make a plea for donations even, but don't spend any time talking about what your business does.  


An addendum...let's say you own a salon or barber shop.  You might decide that you'll raise money by taking the cost of every haircut for a full day and donate it to a particular non-profit.  This is a great humanitarian effort.  You can pitch this to local newsrooms looking for interviews, but you might be better served to simply let the newsrooms know you're doing this, don't necessarily make a request for interviews, just ask them to note it in their newscast or in a short blurb.  Then make a big online/social media push to let your customers and friends know what you're doing.  Then let the social media aspect take over.  Let your customers and friends tell their friends and hopefully, you'll be packed with customers on the day in question, and hopefully, the people who come to you for the first time because of this effort will become longtime customers.


If you insist on pitching this as an interview and then manage to get one, but then get on tv or the radio and spend your time talking about your salon or shop or hairstyles or products, you will not only turn away potential customers, but you'll anger some folks enough you'll likely lose current customers.

5.  If you're only helping out for media purposes, don't do it:  For all the grief we used to give the vewing, listening and reading audience when I was in news, we as journalists still respsected the general public.  And we respsected them because, as a group, they were always going to be smarter than we were.  The American public has a pretty decent sense of right and wrong and they have a wonderful bullshit detector.  If your only goal in helping a fundraising effort is to gain some notariety or raise the profile of your organization, then you'd be better off served by doing nothing at all.  The public will know.  They will see how you react, they will hear your words and they judge you by your actions.  And if your actions are more about your and your organization than actually helping out, then you're doomed.  Even if you really want to help out, but you're still focused on your own organization, you'll suffer the wrath of an angry public.

In the end, what it comes down to is helping for helping sake.  With the social media tools at your disposal today, you can really have a positive impact if you want to.  Remember that partnerships can be beneficial, whether it's in traditional media outlets or in social media circles.  Join hands with your fellow small business owners and non-profits and do what you can to help out.  If you do that, everyone wins and once again, we can stand witness to the power of social media, public relations and, more importantly, the goodness of the human soul.

Daily Article of Interest for Thursday, January 14, 2010

Ooops, I missed yesterday's daily article of interest entry, and for that I sincerely apologize.  So today I'll be giving you, basically, TWO articles of interest.  I know, you might say it doesn't count because both articles are from the same place and they both address the same thing, but the information in both is very good and I think you'll find it extremely educational. 

Todays' two articles come from the HARP Social website.  There's a link to the blog on the side, plus you can just click on the link and it will take you to the article in question. 

Here is just a snippet of the entire article.  Note, this is the second of two articles dealing with the subject of monitoring your social media efforts.  The website will take you to part one of the articles as well.

Online Reputation Monitoring can be as simple as creating alerts on Google or as comprehensive as subscribing to a syndicated monitoring service like Radian6 that  gives you a complete platform to listen, measure and engage with your customers across the entire social web. You can hire a Social Media Monitoring company who will not only use syndicated or subscription tools like Radian6 and employ a combination of techniques and report on what’s being said but will also formulate effective response strategies and implement reputation management techniques.

The subject of monitoring really hasn't come up in this blog as of yet, but it is very important, particularly to non-profits who have to account to various shareholders and donors.  Not that it isn't important to small businesses who are watching every penny as well.

Successful monitoring efforts will let you see how effectively your money is being spent.  Since the whole purpose of this blog is to give small businesses and non-profits inforamation on harnessing the power of good public relations and social media without having to break the bank, knowing who is seeing your information and responding to it, is valuable information.  I hope these articles help you gain some insight into the ever-changing and fluid world of online media monitoring.

A TV Executive Talks, more video

Sorry about the delay on the video.  I got caught up in the Mark McGwire story, and I've been working on another entry about the Earthquake in Haiti and how Social Media is making a huge impact on the fundraising and humanitarian efforts there.  In the meantime, here are two more videos from last week's interview I conducted with KCNC Executive Producer, Duncan Shaw.

I was talking to a colleague the other day about this blog and, in particular, the video interview with Shaw and others I plan to do.  One of the questions asked of me is if I thought the interview was relevant to small businesses and non-profits given that it gives one opinion of one TV executive plus the diminishing impact of traditional media outlets and the growing power of social media.

My response was, and is, a resounding, "YES!"  Granted, this is one interview with one point of view, however, Mr. Shaw is a professional, who has worked in newsrooms from California to Denver and has exposure to newsrooms and journalists across the country every day.  While he doesn't speak for an entire industry (who could?) the thoughts and opinions and insight he offers are generally speaking, those of journalists across the country.  Additionally, while traditional media outlets have indeed lost some of their impact as compared to ten years ago, it still plays a vital role in any public relations efforts you might undertake on behalf of your small business or non-profit.  In other words, traditional media is still viable, and if you overlook or ignore traditional media outlets as you go forward with your campaign, your chances of success are much smaller than if you included them.

Social Media and the News:

With that said, here is the first video today.  In this snippet, Mr. Shaw discusses the impact that, gasp, social media is having on the way newsrooms gather and disseminate information.  He also talks about how they are using Twitter to not only keep the public informed, but also to give viewers an insight into the decision-making process.  I discussed this in an earlier entry, but his station is also using social media as a conduit to the public to let their voice be heard and, in certain cases, find interview subjects and experts.



As I stated previously, if you have a small business and aren't connected to your local media outlets via the myriad of social media tools, you are missing out on potential opportunities to grow relationships in newsrooms, pitch your story and gain much needed exposure for your ogranization.

Remember, it's not a commercial:

In today's second video, Shaw talks about what newsrooms do and don't want when dealing with a pitch from a small business or non-profit.  The points he makes in this short clip is extremely important to keep in mind when dealing with any media outlet, whether it's a traditional venue or a social media/online site. 



Much like the Krispy Kreme example Shaw uses, your appearance on television or in a newspaper or online doesn't have to mean you completely ignore your product or service.  You just have to make sure that if you're pitching a product or service, there has to be a news peg, a headline, a real news angle to your story.  If you can manage to do this, then your media appearance can become a kind of paid commercial, but even in these rare cases, there has to be a real news angle to your story that will interest their audience.  If you can't find a news angle, then you'll have to find another way to pitch your story, or find another outlet for your story.

I have a few more clips to upload from Duncan, and then I'll be posting some clips from some social media professionals, as well as some radio news and talk show host interviews and so on.  If you have any suggestions or ideas for who I might interview, please let me know. 

I'm always open to hearing from professionals in their field.  This includes other small business owners and non-profit directors who have their own stories to tell about their forays into self-organized public relations and social media efforts.  Every story helps inform and educate, so feel free to tell me yours.  I'm looking forward to hearing from you.

The power of "I'm Sorry"

Just a note.  Sorry about the delay for the Duncan videos.  I have some more ready, but I wanted to adress something else today before adding more snippets.  Please be patient.

So, by now you've all seen, or heard, the admission from baseball slugger, Mark McGwire, that he did indeed use steroids during is career.  Now, all the records, the achievements, the accolades, they're being questioned, just as we now question Clemens and Sosa, and several others involved in the scandal over the past decade in America's Pasttime.

After the announcement on Monday, I had many discussions with friends and even family about my reaction to the news that McGwire was a steroid user.  I have to say that while I was disappointed, I wasn't surprised.  But this isn't an entry about my take on the situation, it's really an entry on how to handle a crisis.

Every organization goes through a crisis at some point.  Whether it's a large corporation, or a small non-profit, every manager, CEO, director or owner will be faced with a crisis of some size at some point.  The question isn't if, but when will it happen.  The bigger question is, are you prepared?

I've covered some basic crisis pr in previous entries, but I thought the McGwire situation would be a great opportunity to delve a little deeper into how to handle such situations and how to turn a crisis into a positive.

Let's start with McGwire.  I think it's safe to say that many believed he used steroids.  There were also many who believed, or at least hoped, that he hadn't.  In 2005, McGwire sat before Congress and didn't confess.  We now know that he had admitted a day earlier, but wouldn't do so before congress publicly because he wasn't guaranteed immunity.  So he testified, and then went on about his life, as questions continued to swirl around him and others involved in the steroid scandal. 

Now he's come forward and the fallout will continue long after we crown next season's baseball champion.  I have to wonder; could this all have been avoided?  What if he had simply confessed when all the steroid hulabaloo began?  Certainly his records would still be tained in many people's eyes.  But would we even spend much time thinking about McGwire?  Would he eventually have been voted into the Hall of Fame based on his numbers as well as his honesty?  Perhaps. 

As a friend said to me last night.  Who is talkinga bout Petit, or Palmiero?  Two guys who admitted early on that they took steroids.  They admitted their mistake, apologized and moved on.  We dont' spend a lot of time focusing on those guys because, well, there's no story there.

How about former President Clinton?  Many of my Republican friends, as well as my Democrat friends say the issue wasn't really whether he had sex with an intern, but the fact that he lied about it to Congress.  I liked Clinton, voted for him twice, and we can debate all we want to about the legitimacy of the proceedings at the time, but the fact still stands that he skirted the issues and eventually lied. 

Bad move.  One wonders what might have happened if he had just said, "yes, I had sex with an intern."  End of story.  People could question his integrity, his decision-making skills, is choice in women, but they wouldn't be able to catch him in a lie, which is often worse than the actual indescretion itself. 

Now let's take a look at another political figure that didn't lie when called on the table for crimes and misdemeanors; Ollie North.  You remember him, right?  The general caught up in the Iran-Contra scandal during the Reagan years?  Say what you want about him, he didn't lie.  Or if he did, no one could prove it anyway.  He sat in front of Congress and laid out what happened, his role in the process and took his lumps.  Some may call him a fall guy for the administration, but regardless, he didn't try to hide, or duck the media or Congress.  He stood up, spoke his peace, apologized and moved on.

We don't spend a lot of time thinking about him nowadays.  And that's because there's no story there.  No more dirt to be dug up, no more scandals to expose, no more skeletons in the closet.

Are you starting to see a pattern here?  A friend of mine, Patricia Demchak-Billinger, who handles communications for the Denver Red Cross, summed it up when she asked if it's better to tell the truth and have one story and be done with it, or to duck the issue and have many stories hounding you.  I'm paraphrasing, but the sentiment is accurate.

Not all crisis situations are major incidents:

I know, some of you are sitting there saying, "But Chris, I'll never be called before Congress, I never used steroids, or broke major Constitutional crimes, how does this apply to me?"  The answer is, not all crisis situations are major incidents.  Certainly your office or business could be subject to something tragic, such as a shooting or suicide or explosion or fire, and hopefully you'll never have to deal with any of that.

But what about the smaller crisises you face nearly every day.  I'm talking about problems with dissatisfied customers, or questions from donors or even false accusations from disgruntled employees or sharholders.  These can, and do, happen frequently.

Here's an example, I posted it in an earlier entry, but it merits revisiting.  A Sears driver, delivering a refridgerator runs over a families small dog.  The dog owners are upset, but they're not looking for financial compensation, simply an apology from the store manager and driver.  For some reason the store manager not only refused to apologize, but blamed the family for the incident.  Certainly you can, in hindsight say the family should have kept the dog inside and out of the way of the large moving truck.  But that's not the point.  A simple apology was warranted but not forthcoming. 

The family was so upset, they put up a website called, www.Searskilledmydog.com.  Take a second, go to Google and type in, Sears killed my dog.  Do it, I'll wait.  Okay, back?  Surprised to see how many listings you found?  You shouldn't be.  The site received millions of hits.  Suddenly, millions of Americans were aware of the incident and Sears was getting a very black eye over something that could have, and should have, been handled in a much classier manner. 

Once Sears upper management heard about the situation, they moved promptly and took care of the problem, quickly. 

There are horror stories all over the net about companies making a mistake or an employee treating a customer poorly and suddenly it's being talked about in chatrooms and blogs and other social media sites.  It today's world, something seemingly small can snowball into a major crisis for a company.

How about the Dominoe's Pizza video showing some employees doing some disgusting things to the food about to be delivered.  Certainly this isn't a "small" issue, but it's a video that went viral and millions of Americans will probably no longer dial dominoe's for their late-night pizza call. 

Ask yourself, do you know everything your employees do when you're not there?  Are you aware of how your employees or staff treat customers or other shareholders when you're away?  What if they do or say something that reflects negatively on you or your organization?  It only takes a minute for someone to post a blog or video.  It could ruin everything you've worked so hard to build, in a blink of an eye.

Companies like Dominoe's or Frontier Airlines or The Westin Hotel Chain or Sears can absorb the kind of business loss (even if only temporary) that a crisis can inflict.  Can your small business handle the impact of losing customers based on a crisis?  Can your non-profit rebound if suddenly donors question whether they want to donate time or money based on a crisis?

Most likely, the answer is no.  So what do you do?  How can you make sure that a crisis won't destroy your organization?

Be Prepared:

Let's face it, your organization is going to face a crisis at some point.  It might not be on the magnitude of lying before Congress, but for small businesses and non-profits, even a small crisis can inflict major damage to future success.

The answer is to be prepared for any crisis situation.  Have an infrastructure in place to quickly disseminate information and communicate with customers, donors, shareholders, and even employees in case of a crisis.  Just a side note, often small businesses and non-profits forget to communicate to staff or employees during a crisis.  This is a mistake.  Employees and staff carry the banner for your organization not only when they're working, but also when they're off the clock.  If they are confused or in the dark about an incident, they'll make assumptions, fill in the gaps with information that might not always be accurate.  During a crisis, friends and family will ask them what's going on and they'll explain to the best of their ability, whether they have all the information or not.  Then, like a game of telephone, that information will be passed on from one person to another, often with facts being skewed or wrong and it spins out of control.  Take care of your employees and staff, let them know what's happening so if they are asked, they can tell the real story, not a wrong one.

Okay, so you have a communications infrastructure in place, a way to respond to a crisis, quickly and effectively.  You have to make sure that your message remains focused and strong, even during a crisis.  Stay true to your roots, so to speak when dealing with a crisis.  Too often, companies and organizations suddenly want to become something they aren't when a crisis happens.  Again, mistake.  Your best asset during a crisis is the stability and message that you have built up.  Lean on that base to help see you through.

What to Do:

Here is what you need to do when a crisis comes your way.  These rules hold true whether you run a non-profit, a small business or a major corporation.  These rules are tried and true.  They work, commit them to memory and use them when putting together any kind of crisis communications plan.

1.  Admit -  Don't duck the issue, don't hide and don't try to blame others.  Admit if you made a mistake.

2.  Apologize - If your organization messed up apologize.  Americans have a great capacity to forgive.  What they don't like is when you lie to them or won't fess up to your mistakes.  A simple apology goes a LONG way towards mending fences with upset customers or shareholders.

3.  Move Forward -  Fix the problem.  If it's a problem with employees, make sure you communicate a plan to make sure you have better customer service training, or hiring practices.  If it's a product issue, let the customer know what you're doing to make sure the product works correctly.  This allows you to move away from what happened and let people know what you will do looking forward to make sure it never happens again.  Don't make promises, but DO let people see you actively working to fix the problem and let them know that, no matter what happens in the future, they still come first.

Sears, Dominoe's, Westin Hotels, all earned high praise for how they handled their particular pr crisis situations.  Remember, stories like these don't just end up in front of customers, they also end up in front of potential customers and shareholders.  These people are sitting there making decisions based on not just what happened, but on how the company responds. 

In other words, a crisis situation is also a great time to reach out to new potential customers and let them see how you handle adversity.  It's a time to get the word out that you are, indeed, a quality organization that they want to do business with or donate money to. 

A crisis doesn't have to destroy you.  It can actually help you in the long run if you respond correctly, take an honest look at the problem, and fix it.  By doing so, you will become a stronger organization for it.  And people will notice.  They'll hear your apology and often times give you the benefit of the doubt.  These people will also be watching to see how you follow up.  If you truly follow through with your fixes, customers will come back and new ones will suddenly appear. 

Here's another tip.  The same outlets and venues in traditional and social media that were used to hammer you, can also be used to help you.  Find out where you're being mentioned and talked about and hit those same sites and social media outlets to make your apology, to outline the fixes and to move forward. 

This shouldn't be handled by an employee or assistant.  For the apology to be sincere and accepted, it has to come from the top, period.  People will only accept the apology if it comes from the person in charge, if it comes without excuses or blam, and if it comes with a solution. 

Do this and you can overcome almost anything.  Don't follow these procedures and you could find yourself without an organization as fast as it takes for a video to go viral.  And in case you haven't noticed, that's pretty damn fast.

Article of Interest for Monday, January 11, 2010

Here is today's article of interest.  We spend so much time focusing on the things that we HAVE to do in order to make our social media efforts successfull, we often don't take the time to look at what we SHOULDN'T do. 

Today's article comes from the GISuser website, click on the link to see the entire article.  It was written by Glenn Letham of the GISUser.com site.  It features five things you should avoid when working with social media.  Here are the tips:

1. Not responding to @mentions or request/questions sent directly to them. This is particularly frustrating when experts ask for an opinion, feedback or information from their followers. You take the time to reply and help them out only to never hear back from them. I’m sorry but if Guy Kawasaki can effectively reply to almost everyone that reaches out to him then so can you!

2. Boasting about the number of followers they have. Its cool to have large numbers, however, given that there’s many ways to attract auto-followers, on Twitter quantity isn’t everything and a true expert is all about sharing and caring, not all about them!

3. Re-Tweeting the same people all the time and constantly Re-Tweeting only those who have huge followings. This is somewhat honorable, however, if all you do is re-tweet Gary V, Mashable, Guy Kawasaki, or other “celebrity” Twitters come on, you’re likely just kissing ass… try coming up with your own words of wisdom and own advice.

4. Auto-follow everyone that follows you and automatically send your followers a message that reminds them how great you are. Unless you happen to be a robot, what value is there in automatically following anyone that follows you? As more and more automated and robotic functionality gets incorporated into Twitter this is going to become hugely problematic in the future.

5. Tweeting only about “buzzword” topics. Sure, Twitter, facebook, the iPhone, Google, and Ashton Kutcher are all popular, trending topics, however, if these and other trending topics of the day are the only thing you tweet about then you are clearing trolling and begging for followers and re-tweets. If you are truly knowledgeable about the trending topic then prove it!
You may have no desire to become an "expert", however, to increase your chances and to become a little more productive with your social media efforts watch some experts or social "die hards" and observe what they do, how they do it, and most important, check out the tools that they use. If Mashable  uses the Disqus comment system on their site then I'd say it's likely good enough for your blog too! If your favorite news outlet tweets using Hootsuite then chances are good that its a decent tool. If you notice many mobile Tweets coming from Echofon or Tweetie then they are good tools to investigate.


This is a great example of things that too often we do, without thinking about the real benefit.  We all make mistakes, and the only problem with making mistakes is not learning from them.  Having a list of things NOT to do, alongside a list of "TO DO's" can be very helpful as you put together your PR and social media efforts.