I saw the post, I read the comments, I respect the author. But the PR agency versus stand alone social media agency title seemed, well, kind of like an old topic. To be fair, Todd asked a lot of questions about the blurred lines, and what it really means to the definition of his firm: PR or social media. And one very smart answer from Julie Wright said a communications firm (image: Gumbo by fooey).

For the purpose of this discussion, let’s add the advertising firm, just to get the whole group of competitors in there. Sound like a familiar discussion from, say, about a year ago?

Let’s cut to the chase. What we really have is a new media form that requires convergence from a wide variety of disciplines. Here are some ingredients in this fantastic gumbo:

1) You need PR to garner earned media and serve as an ombudsman between parties.

2) You also need advertising. Yes, you do. Good, snappy calls to action need to be integrated as companions to social media, and brief copy writing skills are critical! The problem with advertising is the lack of authenticity.

3) Which brings us to the social media wonk. The wonk, expert, or personality gets the media form from a networking perspective, but without some sort of relevant professional experience, couldn’t communicate their way out of a box in a real marcom job.

4) The old 1.0 boutique — the interactive agency — is needed. Why, can you the reader design? No, online design is an art in itself and you also need the SEO portion of the formula. We are thrilled to have had Viget design this site and blog.

5) Every gumbo has its spices, and here on the Buzz Bin we give away our recipe secrets. How about some customer services, business developments skills (you know, Networking), a dash of legal to avoid trouble, and finally just some good old fashioned non-business writing.

Communicate!

Welcome to the new era of communications. It’s a virtual jumbalaya of disciplines and you need a little of everything. All of the semantics are the various business owners (like myself) and professionals trying to get their slice of the pie.

It’s all irrelevant because some PR firms like SHIFT will evolve and take a slice. We still get a lot of business from companies that have been burned by PR firms in this regard so I’ll add that SHIFT is not the normal firm. But sooner or later PR firms will integrate.

Ad agencies will get some, and so will interactive firms. And they, too, seem to struggle, more with conversations and communities. At the same time they excel at design, SEO, applications, and social network marketing.

Boutiques like myself or the Social Media Group’s Maggie Fox will become social media stand-alone boutiques. Many of us have a background in journalism, interactive, PR or advertising (For example, I have all three, but mostly PR). But we’ll be specialists, and we’ll always be forced to integrate into larger marketing and communications initiatives. We’ll always be forced to play nice with big PR firms and ad agencies. We may even get swallowed up by them.

And we’ll all fight over the semantics. That’s a conversation that doesn’t really matter to me any more. It is what it is.

Fame, (fame) makes a man take things over
Fame, (fame) lets him loose, hard to swallow
Fame, (fame) puts you there where things are hollow
Fame (fame)

- David Bowie, opening lyrics to Fame

You’re Internet famous! So what?

Seriously, so fricking what?

Does it really matter? Apparently so, or at least that’s what WIRED wants you to think based on the cover of this month’s issue.

But perhaps the catch comes early in this How-to celebration of Julia Allison’s rise to fame. It doesn’t raise money, it’s not part of her day job, and there is no financial reward. But, hey she gets invited to lots of parties with folks that most people  read about in US or People.

I guess if that’s what you want, great, but I see no value in it. Too many of the daily business activities that occur in creating social media brands are really thinly veiled disguises to pursue personal Internet Fame (a.k.a. Personal Brand). And that’s a management error, as well as a youthful mistake on the part of the individual.  Because quite frankly, if it doesn’t have a business objective, that junk belongs on the p.m. dial for the ambitious seeking to reclaim their high school popularity contests.

Nothing screams bubble to me more than social media activity for the sake of people getting to know you. That’s a waste. Have an objective, find the people that matter, build value for them and your organization, and make a real difference that will keep you in your seat for a long time. 

Or you can have a lot of "friends." That can work if you want to be a parasocial type headed to the parties, and if I was younger that may still appeal to me. But it doesn’t. For me, branding and relationship building online in social media is the 21st century equivalent of networking and relationship building. And popularity doesn’t necessarily pay the bills.

Doug Haslam is a great example of a personal brand that matters. He is not Internet famous for sheer popularity. His brand means something in the social media marketing world because he brings value to the table. I respect what he brings to SHIFT (see his take on personal brands here).

Think about it. Is it business or personal? Does it make you valuable?