Here’s why PR folk aren’t up to speed about social media

I think I’ve figured it out. PR folk have not jumped on the social media train as quickly as we could have because learning about social media for PR purposes takes time, a lot of time. It takes resources. It takes learning about how to apply certain tactics to certain strategies. It takes learning about the ethical implications of using social media. It takes money and other resources. It takes learning how to use the technology.

I know, I know. We’re not supposed to focus on the technology. But you have to know something about it. You have to know how to use certain tools yourself. For example, it’s easy to set up a Twitter account (I just did last week, yeah!). But how do you use it for a larger communications effort? In another example, it’s easy to create a Delicious account. But how do you create a separate ones for particular PR efforts. I’ve attended several workshops, but none were hands-on.

Then there are the biggies: How do you know which blog platform to start with? How do you edit audio for a podcast? How do you set up a new RSS feed on your company web site?

There are places you can go to take a class on how to use word processing and graphics software. There are designers you can hire to create a web site for you. And there are generous bloggers like Todd Defren and Bryan Person, who provide detailed steps on certain topics.

But for some things, we need more direct instruction. When I started my first job in D.C., my boss paid for a designer to spend three hours teaching me to use PageMaker. That was all I needed to get going. Of course I learned more as time went on. But that initial, focused instruction changed the learning curve dramatically.

So that’s my first point: Technical how-to (here’s a business opportunity for anyone who’s looking).

My second is about the time. I coordinate a podcast for my organization. Here’s what I had to do to get it running (based on my own estimates).

• Take two multiweek webinars = 16 hours
• Buy and read or scan three books = 6 hours
• Listen to podcasts about podcasting = 20 hours
• Write a plan, build a staff team, hold meetings about goals, get approval = 30 hours
• Work with internal IT folk about technical needs and processes = 10 hours
• Figure out web site features, designs, SEO, etc. = 20 hours
• Research outside consultants = 15 hours
Total = 117 hours

In the end, we hired a consultant to help us with other technical details like setting us up in iTunes and registering us with directories (in addition to editing the podcasts, working with music, and recording intros and outros). If we hadn’t done that, we would have had to figure out those details too.

My organization was willing and able to spend resources and staff time for this learning process. But if I worked for an agency, how would that be done? Much of this legwork would have to happen prior to connecting it to any particular client project. How would that be billed?

As much as we like to say social media has a low barrier to entry, this just isn’t true in using it for public relations. Time is money. And if you don’t take the time to do your homework, you can screw up royally -- on your client’s dime.

So, we either have to all become like the early adopters and spend much of our free time and our work time on trial and error, or we can be deliberate about providing hands-on training for our PR employees. That will require seeking it out when it’s not knocking at your door.

When something is important to your business, you do what it takes to make it happen

PRSA San Antonio Senior Practitioners Breakfast

If you are a PRSA San Antonio member with more than 15 years experience in public relations or a past chapter president, I hope you will plan to attend this breakfast on Thursday.

The topic is: The Fight Against Fake News

Description: In the context of FCC fines for use of video news releases on the one hand and fake news conferences on the other, how do public relations professionals build trust in our profession? How do these news stories affect our practice?

Date: November 8, 2007 ~ 7:30 a.m.

Location: Mama's Cafe #2 on Loop 410 and Nacogdoches, San Antonio

Even though this event is free, RSVP so we can reserve your space.

Co-Blogger Kami Interviewed for Podcast

As you may have heard, our own PRSA board member Kami Watson-Huyse, APR, was instrumental in integrating social media into the PRSA international conference last week. She and Eric Schwartzman gathered up a team of heavy hitters to live blog the event, post photos, record videos and produce podcasts during the conference. It was a pretty impressive feat. If you couldn’t attend the conference, you can still get a taste of it at the conference blog.

What I am really excited about, though, is the series of interviews conducted at the event that Eric will be releasing. I’m sure you can find them somewhere on the conference web site. But I know you can hear them through Eric’s On the Record Online podcast (which is a good one to stay subscribed to).

The first interview he released is of Kami to boot. And it is a really good interview. (Yes, Kami is my friend, but I really mean it.) Among other things, she talks about the importance of using social media as a tactic in ways that tie it to the overall goals of the program.

So click over there now and listen!

Rock star bloggers and bylaw amendments

By David Snowden, Assembly Delegate for PRSA San Antonio (and former chapter president), October 20, 2007

At today’s assembly, I had the honor of sitting next my fellow San Antonio chapter delegate and a social media rock star – Kami Watson-Huyse, APR. While she was busy “tweatering” with her motley crew of hot shot blogger friends, I tried to figure out the real issue behind Bylaw Amendment #1, which would have changed the way PRSA national board positions are determined.

Today, the majority of the positions are aligned with various regional districts. The proposal would have done away with the district representation and turned the majority of the board positions into “at large” positions. There was actually a lot of debate on the issue. Some say the new model will allow for a greater pool of talent to be considered. And others, well, I’m not sure exactly what they were trying to say, but there was a lot of debate on the issue.

Here’s what it looks like to me… It looks like the contingent who’s advocating for the new bylaw really wants to run the PRSA national board like a corporation with all directors working on behalf of all members. The old model is almost like a form of representative government where most of the board members are there to first represent the interests of their districts, and second to work on behalf of the entire membership. Is one model really that much better than the other? I don’t know. But, to tell you the truth, I like the idea of having a representative from my district on the board. And since the bylaw amendment didn’t pass, I guess that’s how it will be in until next year when this issue comes up again.

Of course, there were lots of other issues discussed. Military PR practitioners were honored and so were the PRSSA board of directors, but the most informative time for me was getting rock star blogging advice like:
• “You can’t hire a 20-year-old to run your social networking program just because he knows how to navigate Second Life.”
• “Big companies should start their social networking programs by testing the waters with small projects.”
• “The biggest challenge for big companies wanting to participate in the social networking space is overcoming the internal culture that often wants to control the messages.”

The list goes on and on… thanks Kami.

Lesson Five: Online Social Networks – A Review

Lesson Five Review: Next Installment of Learn About Social Media from Your Desk

Here’s a review of what we’ve covered to date about online social networks.

Social Networks: Lesson 5 in Learning About Social Media from Your Desk (Sunday, August 05, 2007)

Data on Social Networks (Wednesday, August 08, 2007)

ABCs of Facebook (Sunday, August 26, 2007)

Business Use of Online Social Networks (Wednesday, September 05, 2007)

Some Social Networks Are Bad for Your Reputation (Tuesday, September 11, 2007)

A Social Network Just for Communicators: MyRagan.com (Monday, September 17, 2007)

If you’re fairly new to this blog, let me explain that I started this series of “lessons” about tools of social media in January. I had planned on doing a different subject each month. But most subjects simply required more time. Below are links to the summarizing posts for each topic:

• January: Exploring Newsfeeds and Webfeeds (RSS)
• February-March: Getting Acquainted with the Blogs
• April-May: The World of Podcasting
• June-July: Using Delicious (I forgot to do a summary post for this topic)
• August-September: Online Social Networks (this post)

Headlines Must be Descriptive or You Lose Readers

My husband is stopping his subscription to Entrepreneur magazine. The main reason he gives is that when he reads the story headlines, he can’t tell what the story is going to be about. He’s a normal busy person. He doesn’t have time to solve mysteries just to read a magazine.

Here are some samples from the September 2007 issue:
• Tuned In
• Buh-Bye
• Come on, Defense!
• On the Rise
• All They Need
• So Long, Big Guys

Print magazines and newspapers can use images, photos and other design elements to draw readers into a story. But times have changed. In today’s world of RSS feeds and online news that link headlines to stories, cryptic and teaser headlines just don’t cut it.

I even find the puns in AdAge irritating. If I can’t tell in a few words what it’s going to be about, I’m gone.

You’d think Entrepreneur would have figured this out by now.

Here’s what the stories were about by the way:
• Tuned In: “alpha moms” (which I find is an offensive term)
• Buh-Bye: firing employees
• Come on, Defense!: securing your web site
• On the Rise: employment and salary growth
• All They Need: Blackberry users
• So Long, Big Guys: handbag designer

PRSA Launches a Conference Blog: '5 Reasons to Launch a Blog'

Tuesday, the Public Relations Society of America published a blog post by Paul Gillan, Remind us again why you aren't blogging, to kick off its 2007 International Conference Blog, PR|Evolution.  The conference will be held October 20-23, 2007 in Philadelphia.  You can register by clicking here. 

In the first post, Gillan gives five reasons for launching a blog backed by examples of companies that have capitalized on each.

Influence policy: General Motors, Google and the National Association of Manufacturers

Reinforce an image: Southwest Airlines' frothy, fun Nuts about Southwest blog

Support customers: Intuit, Microsoft, Dell

Give advice: Kodak, Extended Stay Hotels and Owens Corning

Educate: English Cut custom-made suits and The Tinbasher sheet metal artistry

The blog will have two or three posts a week from conference presenters as we lead up to the conference and Paul Gillin, Katie Paine, Josh Hallett, Peter Himler, Eric Schwartzman, and myself will be live blogging during the conference. 

We plan to use Flickr, YouTube and Twitter to catalogue and communicate with those of you that are there and those that aren't.  We also plan to include a few podcasts.

tags: PRSA, International+Conference, Live+Blogging, PR, Public+Relations

Happy Birthday Smiley!

Whether you love them or hate them, emoticons are celebrating 25 years this week. Happy Birthday Smiley :-)

How does one person take credit for "inventing" such a pop-culture phenomenon? And how did he know it was important enough to remember when he sent the first smiley?

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/tech/news/5146612.html

Looking for a job in a new city? Network, network, network! And also? Network!

After living in San Antonio for nearly a decade, I made the decision to move back to my hometown of Corpus Christi in February of this year. It was a hard decision to make personally (I love my friends and having access to more than one Target) and professionally (I loved my work, my colleagues, and an active PRSA chapter). Besides those very important reasons, I also wasn’t looking forward to the job hunt in a city where I didn’t have many professional contacts.

Most of the things about looking for a job in another city are very similar to looking for a job in the place you live in now. The things like looking at the city’s Chamber of Commerce, looking at the city’s economic development corporations, etc, those are the same. So, for the purposes of this post, I’ll talk about the most important part of looking for a job in a new city: making friends and influencing people.

I had exactly two professional contacts in Corpus Christi when I decided to make the move. Even though I grew up here, and had childhood friends, I had one friend in our area of work and one contact I had made 10 years before when I graduated college. So, I did a lot of calling friends and colleagues from around the state (and even one in California) to find leads on jobs; and I reconnected with people I only spoke to every few years to see if they knew of openings.

Until my current position, I’d never gotten a job in our field that didn’t have some connection with PRSA. Whether it was a PRSA friend making an introduction, or interviewing at a PRSA luncheon, or linking up with a PRSA colleague who told a friend of a friend about me, my PRSA connections have been invaluable. I think the PRSA folk in San Antonio are especially awesome. I’ve never seen a group of people more willing – and able – to help someone find a job or make a career change.

Network outside public relations. Especially in small communities, you’ve got to be flexible, so go to groups that aren’t strictly public relations. Visit with human resources groups, advertising groups, philanthropy professionals, etc. You cannot afford to have a close mind when you are moving to a new place. Time to put your creative skills to use!

Informational interviews, ask for them! I’ve had a couple of jobs now where there wasn’t really a position open, but one was created for me after talking with the person who became my boss. I went on informational interviews wanting to get to know the industry or area and ended up getting hired because a position was created for me. If nothing else, you’ll get some good networking from it and get your name out there.

Oh, and sometimes the most important part of looking for a job in a new city is plastering said city with your resume. If everyone in the city recognizes your name, you’re bound to find a position. Remember too, that the number one guarantee for finding a job is to quit looking for one. Give up. As soon as you do, you’ll get 18 offers and one of those will be perfect.

Happy hunting!

A Social Network Just for Communicators: MyRagan.com

Learning About Social Media from Your Desk

By far, the online social network that I’ve found most useful is MyRagan.com.

Like other social networks, you sign up for free and create your own profile page. But it’s also easy to join topical forums to discuss common issues. (Facebook is so big, it’s really hard to find groups that you might be interested in. And there are a lot of creepy groups.)

In MyRagan, I’ve answered some folk’s questions and have had my own answered. It’s easy to navigate. There are also free downloads and links to useful resources.

Before this, I hadn’t used Ragan services, publications or conferences. They seemed targeted to really big corporations and were way too pricey for this non-profit employee. But MyRagan.com doesn’t have those limitations.

I strongly suggest you try it out.

For the record, there is another online social network for communicators that launched a few weeks after MyRagan. It’s Melcrum's Communicators' Network. But I’ve not tried it out yet. If you have, let us know what you think of it!

Some Social Networks Are Bad for Your Reputation

Learning about Social Media from Your Desk

During this lesson about online social networks, I’ve listed several that I think are worth trying out, depending on the type of network you are looking for. But there are some that are best avoided.

The latest new one is called Quechup. And it is apparently a front for a spam service, at your contacts’ expense. Read more at “WARNING: Do NOT load Quechup” by Robert Scoble and stay away.

One great thing about social media is that you and I are finding this out through our online networks mostly made up of people we’ve never met.

Remember when your favorite teacher finally said that it’s not about knowing all the answers; it’s about knowing where to look? We’ll never know all the technology, not even the types used most in our industry. We just won’t ever catch up. What matters today is having networks (online and in person) to draw upon and to share with.

Redesigned San Antonio PRSA Web Site Launched

I am happy to say that our chapter was finally able to launch our redesigned web site last week. I was in charge of the site last year (and previously), and one of my goals was to upgrade its look and functionality. But I just didn’t get to it.

We first went online in about 2000 I believe. We used a free Yahoo account and Front Page software. It was not attractive and not easy to update. But at least we were online. The world was different then.

Then we got a new volunteer to create a real design and set up a real domain for us. That’s when we moved from Yahoo to prsanantonio.com. We used a web-based editing software for updating called Web Edit Pro. It was a bit cluncky and limiting. But it worked for us.

That is, until it died this past December. Had I done my job and gotten us upgraded like I was supposed to, the fate of Web Edit Pro would not have affected us. But I didn’t, and it did.

I set up a Google web page to get us by while we looked for a professional designer. (There’s more to this part of the story that I will share later.)

That’s when we found Gray Graphics, who was happy to set up a partnership agreement with us. Gray Graphics specializes in web site design, web site development and content management.

They listened to our needs and developed several options for us that were all consistent with PRSA’s branding requirements. When we picked a design and provided the content, they went to town.

The other part of the picture though is the system we will use to update the site. At the suggestion of Gray Graphics, we are using a CMS (content management system) called SiteFinity. It’s easy to learn and will help us keep the site looking professional and up to date.

So at our luncheon, we had a little celebration. We finally have a web site that accurately reflects the professionalism of our membership.

But the best part is: I’m done!

Business Use of Online Social Networks

Learning About Social Media from Your Desk

The eMarketer Daily newsletter reported in June that “nearly two-thirds of U.S. business professionals use personal and professional social networking web sites, according to the Social Network Practitioner Consensus Survey from the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp), conducted in conjunction with HR.com.”

The survey found that social networks are used in large proportions to:
• keep internal staff and remote employees connected,
• connect with potential clients and showcase skills,
• job-hunt,
• share best practices with colleagues, and
• get answers to issues they were currently facing.

eMarketer quotes Jay Jamrog of i4cp: "We expected to see a number of respondents utilizing social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook for personal reasons, but we were intrigued at the high percentage of business professionals that use social networking for professional purposes."

New pic for Christie

Great things happening with the PRSSA Steven R. Levitt Chapter at UTSA

When I was asked to be a student contributor, I was excited. I hoped to be able to post at least twice a month, maybe more. That has not happened. Last week I began my final semester of undergraduate studies at UTSA as well as my final semester as the Chapter President of the newly named PRSSA Steven R. Levitt Chapter. Our Chapter is well on its way to a greater semester than it has ever seen. Below is a list of upcoming events that we are planning:

• On September 5, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. we are hosting the Annual Fall Pizza for Poverty Fundraiser at the UTSA 1604 campus under the Sombrilla. The spring event raised enough cash and food to provide 750 meals for the needy serviced by the San Antonio Food Bank. This was done with the generous donations of CiCi's Pizza, Dominos Pizza and Wal-Mart.
• September 24 and 25 we will be taking nominations for the executive board positions being vacated due to upcoming graduations.
• October 5; 6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m we will be hosting the 10th Anniversary of the UTSA PRSSA Chapter and Roast of Dr. Steven R. Levitt at the UTSA 1604 Campus' Laurel Room (UC2.01.28). The evening is shaping up to be a great networking opportunity for our members. The night kicks off with a non-alcoholic mixer for the students and PRSA professionals. Will include a look back at the Chapter with raffle drawings throughout the evening. Dinner will include herb crusted chicken, roasted rosemary potatoes and a house salad. It ends with a Roast of Dr. Steven R. Levitt and the official announcement of the new name.
• October 9 we will elect the 2007-08 Executive Board and begin the transition period.
• October 14 - 18 and 21 - 26 in a joint collaboration with the San Antonio PRSA Chapter we will be enjoying the Fall '07 PRSSA/PRSA Shadow Days. This is an opportunity for our student memebers to be mentored by a public relations specialist at their place of business. If you would like to host one or more students or have further questions, please contact PRSSA Liaison, Robert E. Sheldon, APR at (210) 828-1880 or (210) 241-5139 (mobile); fax (210) 826-9974; email: rsheldon@cccinc.com.
• October 19 -23 a delegation will be attending the 2007 PRSSA National Conference in Philadelphia.

As you can see We will be very busy over the next couple of months. I want to mention that over the summer I was picked to serve on the 2007-08 PRSSA National Subcommittee for Internships/Job Services. I have been assigned the states of Alabama. Kentucky and Nevada. My responsibilities include contacting public relations businesses in these states and providing them detailed information on PRSSA JobCenter, a FREE tool for employers seeking public relations interns or PRSSA recent graduates. I am asking that if you know specialists in these three states that would benefit form utilizing PRSSA JobCenter, please have them contact me at (210) 639-8800 or by e-mail at glfrieden@sbcglobal.net. They can also contact our subcommittee chair Denise Kreft at denisekreft@gmail.com.

ABCs of Facebook

Learning About Social Media from Your Desk

While Facebook was originally designed as a tool for college students to network online, today, more than half of its 35 million active users are not college students, as reported in the August 20 issue of Newsweek, “Facebook Grows Up.” The growing population of Facebook users are above college age, and many are professionals.

Two things occurred in the last year to stimulate its dramatic growth. First, registration was opened to everyone. It no longer requires that you be invited by a current user. Second, developers started filling Facebook with tons of applications that people can use within Facebook. Many of those applications are rather silly, but some are quite practical.

So how can you use Facebook in a communications function? Interestingly, in many companies, employees are using Facebook to connect with each others in ways that they need but their Intranets won’t facilitate. In fact a few companies didn’t know this was going on until their IT departments banned use of Facebook at work and were met with huge outcrys from employees who were using Facebook to get their jobs done better.

Several of the podcasts I listen to have created fan groups in Facebook. I find it an interesting idea, though I think each is still toying with ways to make their groups more useful to everyone involved.

For more on this subject (and as your homework), listen to the New Comm Road episode #033 “Building Facebook Communities” by Bryan Person.

Top Media and Marketing Blogs Ranked by AdAge

Earlier this month, the folks over at Advertising Age kicked off a real-time ranking of media and marketing blogs. There are almost 400 on the list called the “Power150,” even though the list has quickly grown beyond 150.

Todd Andrlik created the list and automated it, as Ad Age reports, using three objective measures: algorithmic metrics based on Google PageRank, Bloglines subscriptions and Technorati ranking. There is also one qualitative measure of some sort.

So if you are looking for something to read, check out the list at AdAge.com/Power150. Some of the ones I’ve recommended are there – as are many that I’ve never heard of.

What I find interesting is how frustrating it is to want information on how you’re doing (your web site, your blog, your podcast, your whatever), to have access to reams of data and still to just be able to get a general idea.

For example, using Bloglines subscriptions is verifiable data. It is based on something real. Yet, just because someone subscribes, doesn’t mean they read.

The same is true for my organization’s podcast. I can count page views and certain kinds of subscriptions. I can even count downloads of each audio file. But I don’t know if any of my downloaders are listeners.

Become a Byline Blogger

Our chapter established the San Antonio PRSA Byline blog in February 2006 in order to
• provide and experience professional development for public relations professionals,
• advocate the profession of public relations and its ethical practice,
• conduct outreach to professionals and students (particularly in the San Antonio area), and
• foster an exchange of ideas regarding public relations and related topics, including use of social media.

If you are interested in writing for the San Antonio Byline Blog, here’s your chance. No blogging experience is required. In fact, pretty much all of our current bloggers had never blogged before.

The chapter will provide a brief training session to get you started. Bloggers in our group are asked to post at least twice a month – though work and family can come first. This is a chance for you to dip your toe into blogging without a huge commitment or risk. Plus, it’s fun!

Contact Christie Goodman for more information. Office team bloggers must be members of the chapter. The training session will be held on August 31 at noon (brown bag lunch) at the Northside ISD Learning Center, at Bandera and Grissom Road, Building D (on Bandera north of 401).

Data on Social Networks

Learning About Social Media from Your Desk

In June, Advertising Age reported on the growth of online social networks (June 11, 2007, page 14). Here are some key points they made.

MySpace = 57 million unique visitors
Largest and most diverse of the social networks. Audience is still growing. Unique visitors up 49 percent in the last year. Airs Fox TV shows and is a partner in NBC-News Corp. joint venture.

Facebook = 14.4 million unique visitors
Opened up membership last year. Unique visitors up 152 percent over the past year. Claims 85 percent of market share at universities, but more than half of users are out of college. Fastest growing group is 25 and up. Founder built the site while at Harvard. Recently started allowing developers and advertisers to create applications and widgets for use in Facebook.

Bebo = 1.7 million unique visitors
Unique visitors up 109 percent since last year. Has a younger audience than the previous two sites. Popular in Texas and the U.S. Midwest. International expansion is expected.

Gather = 1.7 million unique visitors
Average age is 42 and 72 percent of audience has a college education. Grew 11 percent in May alone. Trying to become more portal-like with content from Harvard Medical School and soon-to-launch partnership with CareerBuilder.com.

Friendster = 1.3 million unique visitors
Ad Age says this was the original social network (though Wikipedia gives the honors to Classmates). Experiencing a small resurgence. U.S. visitors doubled in the last year. But time on the site and page views are down. Still carries some kind of stigma.

Flixster = too small to count
Median age is 18. Focuses on movies. Currently trying to grow the audience before tending to making money.

Ad Age states that while MySpace is in front of them all by far, others are growing faster.

Note: Ad Age did not report on Zooped, which was mentioned by a commenter to my previous post. I had never seen it until tonight. It has quite a variety of features, including business networking. But I have to admit, I was a bit creeped out by someone’s raunchy profile photo on the home page.

Social Networks: Lesson 5 in Learning About Social Media from Your Desk

So far in this learning about social media series we have covered RSS, blogs, podcasts and Delicious. I was going to talk about something else this month, but social networking has seen a surge of interest of late.

First, what is a social network? In this context, it’s a way of networking online. When you go to a PRSA meeting, you catch up with people you know and you meet new people. The same thing happens online. In social networks, people tend to find others with similar interests.

According to Wikipedia, the first social networking website was Classmates.com, which began in 1995. Many others have sprung up since then. Some are focused to a particular demographic or industry. Others, like MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn are more broad.

When you join a social network – typically for free – you will be able to set up your own profile page and start looking for “friends” who are also in that network.

LinkedIn’s profile pages are designed mostly for resume-type information. It’s designed for professionals to find each other.

Facebook has garnered much attention lately because it has opened up its infrastructure to allow for users to bring in non-Facebook applications, like to-do lists, Twitter posts, maps and movie ratings. (Though I did find it a little creepy that the sign up page asks if you are interested in men or women and if you are looking for a relationship, dating or random play. Hopefully, that will change as more and more professionals are using Facebook.)

Homework: Your first assignment this month his to ask three to five people you know if they are using a social networking site. Find out what they like and don’t like. Share it in the comments to this post. If you are using one, share what you like and don’t like.