An aftershock of a Trapani incident tends to be a wave of best practices posts (this great one by Jennifer Mattern/Darren Rowse came before Trapani). In reality, bloggers are people, and because each person has unique aspects to them and no blogger has to adhere to any journalistic code, blogger relations really comes down to individual relationships. As a result, many conversations deal with basic principles of listening and not overselling, oops, over-pitching (image by nickstone333).

Rather than rehash old content here, I thought it’d be fun to share some unorthodox ways to build relationships with bloggers. When you have a relationship, said acquintance (note word choice) is likely to listen to your pitch. All of these tactics require time investments so if you are looking for instant hits, go buy a list and spam some bloggers :P

Before I begin, these tactics are not for everyone. In fact, one I wouldn’t even recommend to my staff. But I’ve found they work, repetitively. So in homage to Todd Defren, I classified these by Jedi skill set.

Blog Crush: Use your magic middle blog to get targeted blogger to pay attention to you… How? Crosslink. Frequently! But your crosslinks must be relevant and meaningful to the person with whom you want to develop a relationship. Also be sure to comment on their blog, too. Skill level: Jedi Knight.

Interviews: This is a no brainer. Most bloggers want to be read, they want to be recognized, and they need visibility. Use your blog to help them. Further it recognizes that you have respect for others’ thought leadership, making your blog a larger community vehicle. The Buzz Bin features at least one interview every week, and this tactic really introduced the blog beyond the DC region. Skill level: Padawan.

The Challenge: Most bloggers have strong opinions, some of which you likely believe are incorrect. Call them out. That’s right. Call them out, challenge them. Publicly, perhaps in their blog comments, a social network, or even your blog. Make sure you have factual information to back your point, and don’t cave in.

It’s important that your views are sincere, that the tough conversation is a genuine one that you care enough to speak out on. To do so faithfully is in line with the force, but to make hay for the sake of generating attention borders on astroturf. Be careful young Jedi, the Sith are often attracted to the dark side of the force by its power. We don’t need any more uncouth PR people.

In your second or third discussion point, make sure to be deferential and pay proper respect to the blogger. Afterall, while you disagree, you also want to build a relationship here. The blogger will remember you engaged and did not slime him him/her with shameless PR shmooze. If you use strong relationship skills afterwards, you can use this challenge as the point where the blogger begins listening to you.

This is not a recommended tactic as it requires great skill, can corrupt you, and you must not be afraid to lose. Skill Level: Jedi Master/Sith Lord (Don’t be a slime bag).

Socialize: Use conversational social networks to begin talking and building a relationship with said blogger. In essence, use the medium to your advantage. An increasingly common tactic, but one that is not as easy as it looks. You actually need to have relationship building skills, not spamming skills. It’s about them, not you. Skill level: Jedi Knight.

Give: Ahhh yes. Give shamelessly, not just to your intended stakeholder, but to the general community that you want to play in. The fact of the matter is that social media is bigger than individuals and pitching. Building relationships often means being a good member of the community. With a good reputation through listening, comes a willingness to listen. In essence, you are paying karma forward.

Where to start? Here are ten tips with some more in the comment section. Make no doubt about it, this is the true way of the force. While easily recognizable, it’s hard to master. Skill Level: Jedi Master.

Everybody likes to talk about work-life balance. In a constantly connected and hyper-social, always on and always open world, it’s become increasingly hard to strike a balance. Whether you work in an office, at home, or on the road, there is a lot of pressure for high availability.

Always On

The fact that we have the ability to be constantly connected to work, e-mail, the Internet and social networks is great.

But what about those times when you just want to be alone, or with loved ones? It can be hard for some people (especially tech geeks/Web 2.0 types) to stop for a minute and put down the Blackberry, turn off the computer, and go dark.

It becomes even harder when you consider that many of us do this for a living. When and how do you separate blogging, reading, Twittering, and social networking for fun and personal use vs. for work? Most everyday social network users and bloggers don’t have the added dilemma and pressure to do it all the time.

Tips to Turn it Off After Hours

• Leave the laptop at work. Unless you have a huge deadline, pressing project, or are expecting something critical to come in that you need to work on…it can usually wait until tomorrow. Besides, you will feel much less stress if you work hard during the day (or stay late), and can go home worry free.
• Try to avoid Twitter. I have a problem where my brain functions in a way that I am always thinking I should tweet something, or I should blog about something. Random thoughts pop into my head that I want to get down. In the end, does it really matter? Will my snarky and witty comment on Ironman change the world? Probably not. Talk about it later.
• Know your boundaries. I’m much more likely to check my Blackberry and Twitter on weeknights than on weekends. I’ve learned over the past few months that you just can’t do it all, all the time. Know when you need to work hard and be available, or when to stop and avoid burnout.

Privacy

Where do you draw the line on what you do or don’t share with the general public? Being out there in the public eye, some of us are almost required to be accessible and available. Not only that, but in order to be successful in social media, you have to be yourself. But, how much of yourself are you supposed to share?

Giving a little glimpse into your personal life is important, whether it’s through personal interactions, sharing favorite restaurants or movies, empathizing about car or work woes or using your personal thoughts and ideas to participate in general crowdsourcing. (Thanks @rmoede for the links.) But, there are a few things to keep in mind to help define the line between oversharing and undersharing.

Tips on Privacy

• Don’t write anything you wouldn’t want a future significant other or employer to find. The Google spiders are powerful forces. Consider the consequences (for yourself and others) of what you write and share online in blogs, comments, Twitter, or personal website profiles.
• Talk to your significant other and employer about what they are comfortable with you sharing. Make the decision together. Often an open discussion or a simple disclaimer on your blog or profile can make a big difference for your job and personal life.

It’s a big, interconnected web world out there. And it’s about to get even more connected with the launch of Google Friend Connect.

Imagine what will happen to the web when any website has the ability to become its own social network. What will that do to our current networks? How will it help or hurt social media and web 2.0 evangelists?

Certainly then, we will have to make even more of a conscious effort to unplug, establish privacy boundaries, and consider the fact that we are moving towards an even greater socialized web.

Ford Motor Company Communicator Whitney Drake caught up with Geoff Livingston at NewComm Forum a couple of weeks ago. She gave the Buzz Bin’s readers some insights into Ford’s Twitter activity, which is an excellent demonstration of crisis PR, as well as the more public Black Mustang Calendar issue. Whitney also teased us a little about Ford’s social media future…

Social media marketers love words like conversation. Authenticity. Transparency. Interaction. Participation.

But what does that really mean?

It’s all about being yourself.

(Photo Credit: Fresh Webs)

As PR professionals we are constantly pitching media to fight for a our 15 minutes of fame. In a world where there are numerous ways to connect with reporters and media (Twitter, Facebook, e-mail, LinkedIn, etc.), how do you make yourself stand out?

Establish rapport. And mean it. This is the most important part of standing out when initiating conversation. Remember  Dale Carnegie said to "become genuinely interested in other people." This doesn’t mean taking a quick glance at someone’s blog or recent articles and firing off comments like, "hey I like the picture of your dog". It means looking at what they put out there and finding something to really relate to. Rapport is best when it’s real.

Tell a story. Don’t string together a series of related but impersonal paragraphs. You should arouse in the other person an eager want to hear your story, but balance it by making sure you’re not droning on and on about yourself. Make sure that you are being a good listener, encouraging and letting the other person do a great deal of the talking. (More Dale Carnegie)

Have a personality. Rohit Bhargava wrote a whole book on it. Companies and brands fail because they are ordinary and boring. If you present an exciting, enthusiastic, and friendly face - then you’re likely to get a similar reaction in return. If you’re passionate and truly believe in what you’re doing, selling, pitching, or talking about…others will be too.

Overall it’s about being yourself. Blogs, Twitter, and every other Web 2.0 technology only work with the strength of the people in the community behind it.  If users are being fake and not authentic, then these great ways of connecting with others and establishing relationships will become stale.

Twitter will become just another site for spam messages, Facebook will become one big advertisement, and users will be left searching for the next great site that will offer what they’re really looking for: a real genuine person.

The Goodwill Fashionista campaign, for which Livingston Communications designed the social media strategy, took home three AMA-DC M awards last night.  Awards were given for integrated marketing: best consumer/retail campaign, integrated marketing: best campaign on a shoestring budget, and best internet marketing campaign (picture features Fashionista Blogger Em Hall).

Since we published our case study, this campaign has been featured in several prominent news outlets, including CNN, NPR, Dow Jones, American Public Radio, AARP, the Washington Post, and a clean sweep of local broadcast media.  Then there are the speaking engagements.

Congratulations to our friends at Goodwill DC. You did fantastic work and deserve every ounce of this success.  Also congratulations to Catherine Meloy and Brendan Hurley (below) for all of their success. Catherine was inducted into the AMA-DC Hall of Fame yesterday.

Do you have strategy-envy over the groups that have it together in the digital badlands? You should.

• Zappos takes its shoes the extra mile with more than 250 diligent, twittering staffers, all part of a full-immersion dive into Twitter sanctioned by blogging CEO Tony Hsieh.
• Everyone at the Indianapolis Museum of Art is down with integrated social media, too - even the curators.

[Photo credit: “Envy” by Bright Star]

It’s your job to follow suit & get your own team on board.

Arthur W. Page Society’s “Authentic Enterprise” states that one of the four must-have responsibilities of Chief Communications Officers is to provide “Leadership in enabling the enterprise with ‘new media’ skills and tools.”


The digital lifestyle is one part enterprise ambassador, three parts personal brand. Even if you have one of the mythical blogging CEO’s on your side, and even if your efforts are endorsed by the board, you still need the hands and feet of your organization to take interest and initiative. [Photo credit: “colourful” by partykitten77]

How about setting a mandate for engagement? Really. Don’t forget to be encouraging and provide incentives. Take it one step further with this [draft] of a “personal digital covenant.” (These are initial ideas to simultaneously rally and rein in the faces of your organization. Suggestions for improvement are very welcome.)

Personal Digital Covenant

I choose to support [The Company’s] desire to become more relevant in this digital age. I promise to give my best shot at upholding the following tenants of progressive online engagement, and will encourage my colleagues to do the same:

• I won’t hold us back. Even if I’m fearful or a lazy sack, you have my blessing to try this out, for the sake of all of us. I’ll be honest about my concerns, which I expect you to address. (If you don’t address them, kiss my support good bye.)
• I’ll ramp up. In the spirit of “not holding us back,” I will give this a whirl. If it is my first foray, I’ll sample and ask questions, committing to at least one new space in which I’ll regularly play. Maybe LinkedIn is good enough for now.If I’m feeling frisky, I’ll find friends on Facebook, del.icio.us or Digg something (”and be dugg in return”), and maybe even tweet on Twitter.
• I do not have to be - and will not be - everywhere, all the time. There is real work to be done, obvi. Besides, the novelty of my online know-how will wear thin over time, especially if the bubble bursts or people think I’m screwing around.
• It won’t kill me to read or comment on blogs. I’ve experienced much more pain in my life than setting up a Netvibes account. In fact, if I feel so inclined, I’ll start my own blog on something that I personally care about. Of course I’ll abide by [The Company’s] Blogging Guidelines, which exist to help me blog smarter and cover my tail. If you don’t support my blogging ambitions, I need a new job.
• I’m not the Lord of 2.0 Craft. There will always be people who know more about this stuff, innovate cooler ways to put it into action, and have more digi-friends than me. At best, I will try to learn from them and share what I know with others. At worst, I’ll ignore you and everyone else.

Lindy Dreyer warns us:

Any association that refuses to adapt and leverage their community in this new medium is at risk.”

Your community includes your staff. All aboard.

There are times when it becomes necessary to set expectations. Unfortunately, one by-product of social worlds seems to be a certain set of the population believes that because an individual or an entity participates in open conversation that their entire business should be openly accessible. The two — open and accessible — are not synonymous (open access image by Ron Layters).

Think about these things, all of which I have personally experienced or counseled clients on:

• Competitors asking you to write their business plan or shape their value proposition
• Potential clients or just general people who follow you asking you to read their marketing or business plan
• Competitors asking you to review their new social media theory
• An assumption by PR people that you must write about them — and anger when you don’t
• Requests for open sourcing trade secrets
• Friending of spouses through Facebook from contacts you’ve never met or heard of (check out see one teenager’s experiences)…
• Claims of a business conversation from folks you’ve never even talked to on the phone. Nevermind that you have never done business together (See Shel on this).
• Friending and then immediately spamming/DMing with links for review (If you do this, I always delete).
• A new online follower who suddenly demands inordinate amounts of personal attention (see the parasocial phenomena)

Open does not equal access.  Expectations like this are just crazy, both on the personal front as well as the business side.

Sometimes it is best to simply import common sense into the equation.  What doesn’t work in the brick and mortar world in social situations will not likely work online. Just because it’s behind a keyboard doesn’t suddenly make it OK.

These occurrences are certainly the by-products of success. So here is the world’s smallest violin playing a sad, sad song. At the same time, followers and friends should have expectations that such claims and requests will not be met with open arms ("Artistic Violin" by midimen).

Phil Gomes was right. There is too much focus on tactics in the business, currently.  Consider the over-attention blogging receives as opposed to strategy and integrating social media into larger communication plans. But the lack of strategic focus goes beyond social media. It’s an industry problem, and I’d even go so far to say the problem is deeper than just the communications business (image by Metrognme0).

Strategy is not valued as an independent thing. Instead, we try to teach it as part of a profession, or hope that good mentorship will lead young minds into strategic thinking. This is a mistake. Based on many of the people I have met in this business, based on the extreme value placed on a great strategic thinker in agencies, we have failed.

And it’s a failure on the part of our education system. I can just see agency execs as well as communications and PR professors’ fingers twitching on their keyboards in angst. They believe they are doing the right thing.

Systematically, this is a failure.

Strategy is not part of a profession. It’s a way of thinking.

…just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare there are no constant conditions - Sun Tzu

When you think strategically, you think about how to get from A to Z. You do not think of tactics like blogs or press releases.

The farmer does not think I like this hoe, we should use it. No, he/she thinks I need to yield an 8 megaton crop of tomatoes. Given that my soil factor is X, the climate is this, and these are the external elements and diseases common in this land, what are the right tools to get there?

Applied to communications: Who are my stakeholders and what compels them (research)?  Do we have the ability serve them (can we win)? If so, given my resources, what’s the best way to do that? Which tools should I use, traditional, social or experimental? Is this strategy fluid enough to adapt to changing market situations?

I believe every University education should include a basic course on strategy itself.  Every profession can benefit from strategic thinking, not just communications. Books like the Art of War, Musashi’s Book of Five Rings, and Machiavelli’s The Prince (though I detest its lack of morals) contain the fundamentals with which to begin.

In Now Is Gone, we close with a chapter on strategy “Think Liquid.”  Liquid or water is a basic strategic philosophy outlined in both The Art of War and The Book of Five Rings.  Think Liquid applies this fundamental theory to social media. You can listen to the entire chapter on podcast here.

Measurement continues to be a hot topic for social media marketing these days, and rightfully so. Without accurate measurement, it’s hard to determine ROI for marketing campaigns, brands, and traditional PR outreach.

There are many tools available, Buzz Metrics, Buzz Logic, Scout Labs and Collective Intellect. Radian6 is a fast growing tool aimed at marketing and PR professionals, to help them manage and monitor their own brand and their clients.

Jason Falls already posted a great video and interview with Radian6’s CEO Marcel LeBrun, and Kami Huyse showed off its capabilities with the media snackers meme (remember that?). Even Todd Defren is discussing why he chose Radian6 for his social media monitoring.

I had the opportunity to be introduced to Radian6 at NewCommForum last week, and now that I finally got a chance to see what all the buzz was about, and I’m glad I did.

Radian6 in essence allows you to:

• Easily define topics you wish to monitor. Keywords could include names of brands, companies, products, competitors, issues, campaigns, spokespeople, executives or anything else that requires monitoring.
• Understand the impact of each piece of content on a client’s interests. As content is discovered, the solution automatically and continually tracks comments, viewership, user engagement and other metrics, 24/7, so that you can clearly see the reach and affect each post has on the community.
• Easily export data and analysis using a variety of formats for use in reports, presentations and spreadsheets.

The main appeal of Radian6 (for me) is the ability to generate, then send out search results that make sense. For example, I can set up a profile to monitor “social media” and “Radian6″, and get a variety of results from blogs, video, photos, and micromedia sites (Twitter). I can take this information and turn it into a chart that shows trends over time through frequency of mentions, or one that compares frequency of keywords through an easy to read cloud. I can compare information over time, and narrow my search as tight as I need to.

Set Up

Configuration of keywords is easy. Radian6 also allows you to filter by language, region/country, and media type (blogs & forums, video, images, online mainstream news, and micromedia). You can enter in keywords similar to how you would execute a Google or Technorati search, and a nice preview function allows you to see if you should narrow your search.

There is also an equalizer option that allows you to weight posts, number of comments and unique comments, inbound links, and average engagement (length of comment).

Tools for Measurement

The Dashboard is where you will spend most of your time, and the left sidebar (or widget doc) hosts the tools you will use to view your search results. A Topic Cloud, Comparative Topic Monitor, Topic Trends, River of News, and Influence Viewer are all at your disposal. This is where you will be able to easily generate charts and graphs to show frequency of results and comparative data by date.

(Click for full size picture)

Buzz Meter Ranking: 3 out of 4 Buzz Bees

Positive: Radian6 offers cool charts, comprehensive search functions, and the ability to share your results with colleagues. It’s easy to configure your searches, and you can even dig deeper through the individual widget tools. Radian6 offers results in a 3 month rolling calendar, so you can have a snapshot of how your keywords are trending.

Negative: The tool is user friendly…if you are technically-savvy. It is a little difficult to figure out, but if you consider the general audience for users (PR and marketing professionals), most should be fairly comfortable with a computer. Otherwise, it’s a little bit difficult, as the widget windows flip back and forth and you have to know how to do that to edit information.

Most people in the Web 2.0 tech community know what Twitter is. We love it so much that we use it for work and for fun, and consistently tout its advantages despite long periods of unplanned downtime and the overwhelming nature of 24×7 microblogging.

(Photo credit: Geek and Poke)

But, is Twitter really the wave of the future? Will the general public be quick to adopt this as a new tool to keep in touch, keep track of, share links, and converse with their networks of friends and family?

I’m in my 20’s, supposedly one of the main adopters of Twitter and like services. None of my friends have a clue what Twitter is, and many aren’t even on Facebook (or, if they are, they rarely log in and interact).

Will this continue to be another Web 2.0 service for the “tech elite”? What about the other Web 2.0 companies that are fighting for a piece of the pie? From Sandhill.com:

Something like Twitter is ground breaking in terms of breakout adoption, but what about the other 10,000 startups?

Twitter has received so much press and start-up hype because it’s largely used by a community of influencers, which is fueling its growth. According to top tech bloggers, media sites, PR firms, social media marketers, and more, it appears that Twitter IS the wave of the future. It’s proven to be changing the way we communicate with each other, gather information, and network. In terms of the larger picture of technology and innovation that’s set to change the world, is Twitter really that important?

For businesses, it may be that important. Companies have an even bigger stake in getting involved with Twitter. ComcastCares proves it’s a unique way to engage customers. Are they reaching a large majority of their customers this way though? Comcast is barely reaching 1,250 users on Twitter. How did they communicate before Twitter? Before blogs? What was their disaster plan?

It’s easy to get caught up in something when your entire community is engaged. But, consider life beyond the glowing reviews, fast-track adoption rates and VC funding. If the greater Web 2.0 and tech community suddenly moves away from Twitter, then how will that impact the service? While our community is certainly attached to Twitter, is the rest of the world? That remains to be seen, and so far the jury is out.