Tag Archives: personal branding

How Not Improving Can Help Your Business

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Why Mess With a Greatness

Did you happen to catch today’s Wall Street Journal front page feature on paper clips? Yes, I just wrote paper clips.

At first I thought this was an odd, boring choice for a story selection, and I pondered why this premier publication would devote prime real estate to such an ordinary product.  It didn’t take me long, a couple of sentences, to get its point.  I learned that a paper clip is rare because it has withstood its classic design for over 100 years. How many things can you say that about?

This thought led me to further thought about whether we should keep certain things that work well alone and stop slapping “new improved” stickers on just about everything that gets sold or consumed.

DOES EVERYTHING HAVE TO BE NEW AND IMPROVED?

I mean we’ve all heard this statement before, if it ain’t broken don’t fix it.

I don’t like that statement – but, in this case it certainly applies. Paper clips are still as relevant today as they were the day they were introduced into the marketplace in 1903. Sure, you can add colors to them or designs or coat them in plastic. But at the end of the day is there any better tool to fix papers without leaving a mark, to un-clog glue bottles or clean under your finger nails in a pinch?

With that being said, are there things about your business or the work that you do that you shouldn’t improve upon because they work well?

A CLASSIC BUSINESS PLAN

Here’s what I would say about my PR business. No matter what new whiz-bang social media tool that comes out, I don’t want to lose personal connection and phone calls. My business success lies in having connections with real people, journalists, and I’ve built up those relationships through the years by having conversations with them over the phone or in-person. That’s really my business secret, my paper clip, if you will and one that I hope to never change.

 

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Can You Be A Brand?

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A savvy award-winning marketing colleague of mine took me to task today regarding my incorrect use of the word “brand.” He especially brought attention to how I’ve been using the term “personal branding” wrongly, for according to his experience a brand is not a person, but an inanimate object. And as it turns out he’s right. Here’s the definition of “brand” from netlingo.com

brand

A logo, corporate image, or distinct product or service identity that can become firmly rooted in the public’s mind. Its purpose is to establish a meaningful, differentiated presence that will attract and retain loyal customers.

To drive it a bit more home, here are some illustrations for you.

Are You One of These Products?

Products are Individual Brands

Bleach and Clorox Are Co-Brands

*An Author is Not a Product, But His Books Are

So if brands are products, like the three to the left. Then what do people have, if not personal brands?

It was explained to me that people have reputations. They have personality. They have interests, desires, ambition, talents, integrity and passions.

They are not objects like Q-tips, or Valvoline Oil or bread crumbs or WordPress Themes.

However, as the definition states above, the purpose of brands are to attract and retain loyal customers. Couldn’t the same be true for individuals?

Let’s look at the case of real estate executives for they are a perfect example. Realtors often work for a firm, (i.e., First Team Real Estate), but they act as individuals and are chosen by consumers for a variety of reasons. They pick up clients via referrals, online presence, personality and/or knowledge of the area.  Like branded products, “trust” plays a major part of their sales. (BTW-Trust is important for every professional by the way.) So if there are branded products that we “trust” couldn’t we say the same for people that they have “trusted” brands as well? Or is it more correct to say that you “trust” a person’s reputation instead?

I thought this topic was delicious food for thought and one I’d love to hear your opinion on…Are We Brands or Not?

Do tell.

*(I recently attended a speaking engagement featuring super savvy and smart social business consultant Gary Vaynerchuk, hence, the reason why I used his new book “The Thank You Economy” as an example of a brand product. This was my way of giving him a nod and a way to promote his efforts. I’m a big fan and will blog about my him in upcoming posts.)

Foursquare Needs Some PR and PC Cleaning

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Foursquare is getting a potty mouth

How were you punished when your mom caught you saying a “not so nice” word? Did she make you wash your mouth out with soap? Did you get sent to your room or were you grounded for a week?

FOURSQUARE’S BLUE-NESS

As I was using the geo-tagging, hyper-local service Foursquare today, my eyes stumbled upon names and words that I normally do not like to read – and I was offended.

I know some peeps will call me old-fashioned with this post – and I do understand freedom of speech – but I never expected to see what I read today and the volume.  For you see, I simply wanted to check into my local grocery store this afternoon on Foursquare and in doing so I had to scroll through so many crazy dumb names before I landed on Vons.  Such places were listed like “Whore House,” “Sexy room,” or the “Sex Cave,” etc., etc., etc. I even noticed that someone in my vicinity listed her home as “the town drunk lives here!” What’s wrong with people?

I’ve noticed this happening for some time, but it wasn’t as prevalent as it is now.  Try searching the word “whore” on Foursquare and you’ll be astonished what comes up! You will see what I mean.

There's Always Some Rotten Apples that Taint A Good Thing

With potty mouth taking over this platform, I would like to recommend Foursquare start to enforce some policies where certain terms (i.e., whore) are not appropriate and thus are banned from the service.  Other services do watch what’s posted, like Facebook and myspace. Sometimes we have to police people for themselves.

I do like Foursquare and have enjoyed it, but if it continues to get more and more vulgar, I will stop and recommend others do so as well.  It’s getting quite the potty mouth lately.  Have you noticed it too?

FOURSQUARE MAY NOT BE GOOD FOR BUSINESS

I have a been a giant fan of the application and think it is a tremendous service for businesses. I would hate for it to become a place where childish blue humor hangs out.  I’m all for creativity…but seeing ho and drunk and sex all over the place isn’t good for business. For what business wants to be listed being near “the town drunk?”

Note to Parents: In addition to checking in on your kids Facebook comments, also check about how they have listed your crib on Foursquare.  You may be surprised what they’ve labeled your lovely home as and more specifically, their bedroom.

I wish Foursquare would issue a badge for good behavior on Foursquare! Now that’s an idea I would endorse.

Cindy

PR AND SOCIAL MEDIA GO HAND IN HAND

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Social Media Conferences Provide Valuable Education

I’ve been asked to join a panel on Saturday at ProductCampSoCal addressing this particular topic: Social Marketing Panel: The Social Spectrum- Social Strategies for Both Large and Personal Brands. I am joined on this panel with some of the industry’s best brand practitioners, including Scott Schang of Broadview Mortgage; Stacey Harmon of Harmon Enterprises, Kirsten Wright of Wright Creativity and moderator Mel Alcaro, author of The Social Media Marketing Essentials Guide For Small Business Professionals.

In preparation for this panel, we gathered together last weekend to talk about what we wanted to address and as such I wanted to give you all a little precursor to what I would like to convey in the hour discussion.  I will be speaking from the point of view that public relations is an integral part in any branding process. That’s the hat I’ll have on Saturday and it’s one I’m comfortable wearing.  But, from what I experienced from our pre-meeting is that this is going to be an information-filled panel chock full of valuable take-aways. It will be a panel not to miss.

Did you know that if you participate in social media, then you are also doing the function of PR?

Yep, that’s absolutely true.  By putting yourself or your company out there, exposing it to the public (consumers) and allowing them to comment back…you have now opened yourself to handle customer service and public relations. Whereas, a few years ago, if a company wanted to advertise say either on radio or TV, an ad would run and it would be static.  The call-to-action was simply buy the product, not comment on its performance.  With social media, you are now giving your customers a pipeline to express their views and opinions about your efforts. And when social media is done right and people become engaged that’s when you need to ask yourself if you are ready to hear what they have to say, even when it isn’t nice or sometimes untrue.  However, once a comment appears that is negative against your company, that’s when you need to put on your PR hat and ask yourself questions such as:

  • How are you going to handle the complaint if its legitimate?
  • Will you take the comment offline?
  • Will you remove it completely?
  • What will you do if it becomes viral?

Social Media Isn’t for Everyone

I believe a company, nor matter the size, needs to take a hard look at whether or not it has the bandwidth to take on social media.  Social media isn’t just having a Facebook page and updating it occasionally. To do it well,  a strategy must be made, social policies need to be thought out (i.e., how you will handle off topic comments, trolls and negativity) and a staff must be in place to “listen” to what others are saying about your company online. It’s not something you simply can assign an “intern” to handle. It must be supervised by an employee who understands your product and one who understands messaging.

The Internet is Chock Full of Helpful PR and Social Media tips

If you are not prepared to start interacting with your customers online, then its best not to utilize this communication platform until you are ready.  By not entering into social media at the moment, it one of the wisest decisions you can make until you feel confident.

Social media isn’t easy and one that requires a learning curb. However, to help you understand if its for you there are workshops, meetups, clubs and camps like ProductCampSoCal that can help you navigate these waters and often at no cost.

It’s well worth the investment.

If you are attending the conference, be sure to say come and say “hi.”

Socially,

Cindy

Mari Smith – A Great Social Media Role Model

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Mari Smith is a Premium Brand

Mari Smith is a Premium Brand

There are so many great elements associated with Social Media, but one of the best examples of how wonderful it can be is being in the presence of Mari Smith. I first became aware of Mari Smith through Social Media Examiner when she would supply posts providing practical tips about Facebook. From that, Social Media Examiner featured her on several webinars and and although, we never saw Mari, we heard her. Not only is she beautiful with a great smile, her voice is interesting as it mixes in Canadian and Scottish accents with San Diego California speak.

But, because her branding was so strong and well done, I knew what she looked like and what her personality was through all my interactions with her. I’ve asked her questions on her Facebook wall and she’s helped me immensely. I’ve listened to her webinars and have grown my skills exponentially.

But, I was finally able to see her at the Blogworld Expo a couple weeks ago and once again she was spot on perfect knowing who she is and what her brand is. No wonder they chose her to headline the session “The Brand of You.”

I attended over two dozens sessions at this three-day conference and I must say Mari’s stood out for the following reasons.

1) She was the only speaker who introduced herself to everyone attending her session in the minutes before the presentation began. That was classy. She walked over to each person and introduced herself, asked what our name was, shook our hand and then gave us a “branded pen.”

Mari's Branded Giveaway

2) She conveyed her personality by using her favorite color “turquoise” throughout the session. Now, I will always associate that color with her brand.  The pen she handed us was that color and she decorated the dais with a boa that color. She also used turquoise in her presentation and wore a turquoise jacket.

3) She is a great communicator for she comes across, friendly and helpful and makes anyone who asks her a question feel special.  Not only is she a great Facebook resource, she communicates in a practical manner and as a result, her information is useful. She is a great teacher.

So, if you are not familiar with Mari, I suggested you become her fan on Facebook and look up her articles on Social Media Examiner.  You’ll be much smarter by having her in your life, especially on Facebook.

GOOD PR STARTS AT HOME

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The Best PR Starts at Home

Do People Feel Welcome Working With You?

Imagine knocking on a friend’s door and your friend just opens the door for you to walk in. They don’t say hi to you nor call you by name, they just let you in and walk away. No, hellos. Nice to see you. Thank you for coming over. Nothing.

This is what happened to me recently when I volunteered at a major conference. I volunteered to work the event for a rather long time period. For this duty, the volunteers would be furnished lunch…it all sounded good to me and I was happy to be of some help.

But….as soon as I reported to duty things went awry.

I was told to be there very early in the morning and thus, was the first one on the scene. The staff I reported to showed up a hour later. And if that wasn’t enough, they never said hello, or thanked us for volunteering nor did they even care to know our names. And lunch, forgetaboutit. One of the volunteers had to remind them of their offer so they ordered a pizza.

This poor experience reminded me of this hard fact - the best PR starts at home. Here’s what I mean by that.

1) When working with volunteers – it is imperative that you make them feel welcomed and valued. They are as important to your event as the event. Without them, you would not be able to produce the event on a shoestring budget. So do your best to make them feel special.

2) PR people need to be friendly. I am embarrassed that I even have to write this statement. But, I am mortified to meet other colleagues that are not friendly to the press nor to people around them. Being relational in this field is a must.

Are you really Friendly

Are You Friendly or Just Appear to Be?

So, this little lesson isn’t just applicable to working with volunteers, it also applies to your Facebook page, website and reactions to the media.

Therefore, when people visit your Facebook page – do they feel welcome there or do you turn your back on them? Do you know their names? Do you not only listen to them, but do you truly hear them.

When a visitor lands on your website, how are they greeted? Can they easily access the information that they need most like how to contact you. Is your phone number prominently displayed or are you just selling them something?

As you can see a friendly welcome will go a long way in life and business. Check your attitudes online and in-person to make sure you are putting your best foot forward.

There’s no risks involved in being friendly and it all starts at home. Make sure when you put your feet on the floor to start the day, that you remember a warm hello and greeting will go a long way.

Thanks for reading and I hope you know that you are always welcome to leave messages or comments or can contact me directly. If I can ever be of any assistance, I hope you know my door is always open. You will always be greeted!

Thanks for the read.

Cindy

Twitter is the New Wire Service

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Tiger Woods learned about his Ryder Cup standing via twitter.

This morning while I was working out ESPN reported that Ryder Cup Captain Corey Pavin denied that Tiger Woods was getting one of the four wild card spots on this year’s 2010 U.S. Team.  Pavin further went on to say that the official announcement will be made September 7.

OK, you may be saying, big deal, Cindy – this is just an another announcement.  But, it wasn’t. This story broke on twitter. Yes, the Ryder Cup Captain held his own presser (press conference) via twitter. He controlled the news by breaking it –which led me to think about how different the present PR practices are from the past.

In the past, news was usually broken by a scheduled press conference. But, today, celebrities/politicians and those in the public eye are taking matters in their own hands.  No longer do these public figures need to rely on an establishment or a PR firm to announce their latest endeavors.  Now, they can just tweet it and the results are just as effective as a press conference.  Heck, besides messages, you can tweet out images, videos and power point slides too. twitter does it all.

So the question really is …are press conferences things of the past? The answer to that is definitely no.  However, they are not as prevalent or necessary as say last year.  Not only is this sad news for PR agencies, but for the news media.  I mean – how in the world is the news media going to monitor every one’s twitter account? You need a mighty big tweet deck to do that to catch breaking news.

Ryder Cup Captain Corey Pavin's tweet

However, if we unravel how Pavin was able to get the word out successfully today (@RC_Captain_2010), I’m sure that among his nearly 7,000  twitter followers, some of those folks were members of the golf media.  Thus, they must have seen it and retweeted and reported it. With one little 140 character message, Corey Pavin broke news in less than a minute and then went about his day. There was no need to set aside a block of time to phone the sports media.  All it took was a one short message to get the message out. I personally think this is marvelous.

This was a great case study and it’s only the start.  I think the journalists of the future will have large monitors on their desks and be assigned certain people to follow on twitter. I can only see this area growing…twitter has now become the new wire service.

Fake But Fun PR

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Fake but fun twitter accounts - A PR Nightmare

In the past about the only fun a publicist could have in her messaging would be writing a creative lead paragraph in a press release.  Yes, all press releases are creative…but sometimes you get to work on a product or content that lends itself to a more informal tone in your missives.  For instance, if I was publicizing “The Last Comic Standing,” I’d probably start the release with a joke from one of the comedians.  But, I’m seeing a whole new arena now open up for us PR folks thanks to twitter with fake PR accounts.

Case in point – the @BPGLOBALPR twitter account-I first found out about it through an article in Wall St. Journal. It’s a great read and I highly recommend it — But, if you can’t take a look at it here’s the opening paragraph  for you –”A Twitter user with an account dubbed BPGlobalPR is posting satirical entries about the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico — and already has more than twice as many followers as BP America’s actual account.”

Oh, the real BP PR team is not happy about this counterfeit account. However, at the same time, BP acknowledges that people are using this vehicle to express their views about this catastrophe and they are not shutting it down. The other surprising antidote about this fake PR account is that several people thought it was the real deal!  This is an interesting idea for citizen protests and something PR pros need to think about and figure out how they would handle it if it happened to a client.

To give you an idea about what they’re writing — here’s some example tweets from BPGLOBALPR :

  1. We respect your outrage, we just don’t believe it’s sustainable. #exxonvaldez #bpcares 9:52 PM Jun 13th
  2. Investing a lot of time & money into cleaning up our image, but the beaches are next on the to-do list for sure. #bpcares 8:19 PM Jun 13th v
  3. On behalf of England, I declare war on the United States. Now, does anyone need fuel for their tanks and jets? ^Tony
  4. Opening more wells in the Gulf! We’re drilling for ALL the oil down there to ensure this never happens again. #4yoursafety
  5. Millions of people live in the gulf. If each one donated just a few thousand dollars, we’d have enough $ to fix this mess. #bpcares 2:11 PM Jun 11th
  6. We are not killing animals in the gulf, we are creating fossils in the gulf. Have a little perspective. #bpcares

These fake accounts are all over the web.

In the film industry, there’s @FakeParamount. Some recent entries include:

  1. Congrats 2 Weinsteins on acquiring Michelle Yeoh film Reign Of Assassins. It’ll look good on the shelf with the other films U never release. 4:19 PM Jun 11th
  2. Wanted: Brilliant foreign directors to direct bland & boring action movies. Just like John Woo, you too can direct movies like Paycheck! 12:15 PM Jun 11th
  3. You weren’t suppose to know that selling toys comes before the script. Doh! (via @arlenecharris) you mean this one? http://ow.ly/1XmtR 12:05 PM Jun 11th v
  4. Ever wonder what would happen if the Titanic was a Transformer? Wonder no longer! James Cameron & Michael Bay unite for TitanicFormers 3-D! 10:38 AM Jun 11th

Or my personal favorite…@facebookPR. Take a look.

  1. Moving all of our servers to Sweden next week so we can really go rogue with our privacy policy 7:06 AM Jun 14th v
  2. Working hard on our new Bing-like backgrounds 6:56 AM Jun 14th
  3. Instead of location, age, relationship status, we’ll be showing advertisers your pics so they can tailor ads to you further 4:20 AM Jun 13th
  4. Great morning. Just found a way to give more of your personal info to advertisers. 4:19 AM Jun 13th
  5. Typical girl on Facebook: Hey, friend me so I can see if that girl I didn’t like in High School got fat. 7:57 AM Jun 12th
  6. Typical guy on Facebook: Hey, friend me so I can see pics of your hot friends. 7:56 AM Jun 12th

And individuals are getting there’s as well….poor Carol Bartz, CEO of Yahoo!…there’s a fake account for her too….I guess it’s the ultimate form of online flattery right? That’s one way to spin it….Anyway, @fakecarolbaratz….you’ll see activity like this:

  1. RT @ivan_d Yahoo is serious about social: cafeteria sandwiches named Status, Update, Connect :) http://twitpic.com/1wta2x All in a yrs work 12:25 PM Jun 14th
  2. Announcing 2 company wide bans effective immidiately: Google as default homepage setting and combovers. 11:52 AM Jun 11th
  3. About the $0.00 check @LeanBlog We’ve recently started letting users know exactly how much we value them. You got your answer, now scram. 9:17 AM Jun 11th
  4. The hype for that new Apple thingamajig is deflating faster than my futon. 1:18 PM Jun 8th
  5. <3′s Bourbon Watermelon Fridays! 4:25 PM Jun 4th
  6. I consider much of what Google does to be on par with plastic cutlery. Cheap, poor usability and disposable.

There’s a lot of people who have extra time on their hands don’t you think?  But, here’s my PR tip for you…go ahead and register a fake twitter account for your company and top CEO-but never use it.  That way, you’ll own the account names and others can’t use FAKEcompanyname for your business.  That won’t stop them, it will just make it a bit harder for them to gain some followers using a name that isn’t as recognizable.

I’m off to read some more fake news….

The real not fake

Cindy

Hardest PR to Do – Your Own

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Publicists are Company Cheerleaders

Tonight I spoke to a group of PR students about the hardest PR to do and in my opinion, your own publicity is the most difficult. Just as your resume is painful to write as is cleaning your own house.  I’d much rather do someone else’s PR than my own and I’d rather draft their resume and even help clean their home or garage.  When I do it these things for myself, it’s drudgery for some reason. It’s just less fun.

But, I wanted to point out to this energetic group how important it is to do your own PR, especially when looking to start a career.  This must never be overlooked.  I have seen these stats lately that 97% of all jobs are found through networking.  If the only way you will find your next job is through another person’s assistance, then it becomes imperative for you to be able to tell others what you are looking for in a position and what companies you are targeting in a 30-second elevator speech.  You need to have a clear, concise answer as to your work desires.

And after you’ve gotten down your elevator pitch, then you need to make sure your brand is reflected in everything you are posting online. Once branded, you need to stay true to that brand in all that you do on-and-off the record for as it was so aptly put in an article in today’s Wall Street Journal written by Jeffrey Zaslow-we need to think that cameras are always watching us.  Whatever appears on the web about us-is part of our brand-so it’s best to control it through blogs, comments, tweets and video.

The best comparison that I can make regarding publicity is that publicists are cheerleaders for a company. We’re standing out in front of the crowds yelling to the top of our lungs, touting the company’s accomplishments. We have their emblems on our sweaters and we are a walking sandwich board for them wherever we go.

It’s my calling and I love it.  But, I do act as a publicist in all that I do.  I’m constantly filtering what I’m saying, posting, shooting or visiting.  Because of my profession, I also edit what I think to make sure what I say is exactly the right words.

And when I’m not doing that I’m reading and observing how people engage with each other.  When I read a newspaper article, I’m looking at the responses to see how others counter attack.  That’s why you’ll see me write about such events as Toyota’s crisis, or Tiger Woods or now I’m watching BP Petroleum.   I look at how PR is being practiced in all areas around us.

Me In Action Doing Personal PR

All this leads to the fact that it’s important to have a sense of who you are so you can help others become who they want to be. And the field of public relations has a bright future, because of the harm that others are inflecting through digital abuse.  There will always be some mess for publicists to clean up whether that be a giant oil spill, a high-profile divorce or tainted aspirin.

Publicists will always come to the rescue.

Who Do You Portray Online?

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How Would You Describe Yourself?

Headlines are supposed to grab your attention…but, the cover of Parade on Sunday, March 21, captured my eye, but not exactly in the way this newspaper insert would have imagined.

The cover featured a story on Miley Cyrus, truly the new top teen celebrity, but it wasn’t the profile that got my attention, but its headline that made me chuckle. The editors of Parade gave it this title “I Know Who I Am Now.”

Which begged the question – do we ever really know who we are at any age?

For me, at age 10, I wanted be a cartoonist.  At 17, I wanted to be a sportscaster.  At 21, a TV news writer.  And now today, I am transitioning from a life in publicity to social media.

But I love this question and I’m posing it to you like I do with my clients — Do you know who you are?  And if so, is that brand projected online through all your syndicated products?  This is my favorite subject – my passion – personal branding. I enjoy working with people to help them define their uniqueness and authenticity and then have them project it through their online personae.

As we mature through our life our brand will change as our interests and passions do.  Therefore, our brands are always fluid and ebb and flow as we do.   I like to give my clients the same freedom to mirror themselves as they are currently are today.   Next year, your personal brand may change to support a new cause. Also it does take a time to find your brand.  It doesn’t come overnight.

Finding your brand is one of the best practices you will ever do and by knowing it – it will make you more profitable in business and assist in increasing your followers and community members.

I’ll be offering some advice to help you define “who you are” in later posts, but  until then, I want to you to be keep changing and taking on new challenges.  For that’s what life is about…it’s a wonderful journey with zig-zagging roads.

All My Best,
Cindy