While the audience here is parks and recreations agencies, much of the information ...]]>
Three out of four marketing and PR workshops for IAPD IAPR went well: lots of space, time and room for conversation. When I saw the room for my Social Media Sampler presentation, I got a bit concerned. Fifteen minutes before I was set to start, it was already almost full. When the crowd started spilling out of the room, I offered to record my presentation for playback.

While the audience here is parks and recreations agencies, much of the information is all purpose. You’ll find the slides and the recording posted for replay. I’ll leave these up for a week or so. Thanks for stopping by and feel free to ask your questions in the comment box.

Please note that this information is copyright protected.

Image: Barbara Rozgonyi for www.thesociallens.com of Dr. Ted Flickinger, accepting an award from Jesse White, Illinois Secretary of State, which I used as an example of how to share images. View the award luncheon photos here.

Looking for a social media marketing or PR workshop presenter?
Contact me at corywestmedia @gmail.com or on twitter @wiredprworks.

Who’s who on the Web?

Forbes recently released its fourth annual 25 top Web Celebs. To be a contender, you had to meet this criteria . . .

Each candidate was ranked in four areas: Web references as calculated by Google, traffic ranking of their home page as calculated by Alexa, TV/radio mentions and press clips compiled from Factiva, and number of followers on microblogging site Twitter. These four categories were totaled and weighted to produce a final score, then ...]]>

Who’s who on the Web?

Forbes recently released its fourth annual 25 top Web Celebs. To be a contender, you had to meet this criteria . . .

Each candidate was ranked in four areas: Web references as calculated by Google, traffic ranking of their home page as calculated by Alexa, TV/radio mentions and press clips compiled from Factiva, and number of followers on microblogging site Twitter. These four categories were totaled and weighted to produce a final score, then sorted to produce our rankings.

Forbes 2010 Web Celebs

1. Perez Hilton
2. Michael Arrington
3. Pete Cashmore
4. Evan Williams & Biz Stone
5. Kevin Rose
6. Guy Kawasaki
7. Heather “Dooce” Armstrong*
8. Tila “Tequila” Nguyen
9. Gary Vaynerchuk*
10. Cory Doctorow
11. Om Malik
12. Leo Laporte*
13. Frank Warren
14. Robert Scoble*
15. Chris Brogan**
16. Wil Wheaton
17. Matt Drudge
18. Danny Sullivan
19. Jeff Jarvis*
20. John C. Dvorak
21. Ana Marie Cox
22. Ree Drummond
23. Jason Calacanis
24. Seth Godin
25. Shane Dawson
* attended a live event where this Web Celeb spoke
** met Chris Brogan several times, subscribe to his newsletter and recommend you follow him all around the web and at conferences

Congrats to Chris. Even though he’s now a Forbes Web Celeb, something tells me he’s still the same guy who casually asked Liz Strauss about product development in this video from SOBCon09.

How about you – who do you recognize on this list? Who do you follow?

Adding another layer of personalization, LinkedIn now lets you present your profile in the order that best represents you and your profile.

Customizing your profile’s section ordering is quick and easy. You will notice that the headers of each of the sections on your “Edit Profile” page now have handles that can be dragged. To reorder a section, all you need to do is click and drag one of these section headers up or down the body of your profile. ...]]>

Adding another layer of personalization, LinkedIn now lets you present your profile in the order that best represents you and your profile.

Customizing your profile’s section ordering is quick and easy. You will notice that the headers of each of the sections on your “Edit Profile” page now have handles that can be dragged. To reorder a section, all you need to do is click and drag one of these section headers up or down the body of your profile. When you release the mouse, the section will drop into place where you dragged it, and your adjustment will take effect immediately. LinkedIn Blog

Former LinkedIn Profile Layout
Summary
Applications
Experience
Education
Recommended By
Additional Information
Personal Information
Contact Settings

Now, it’s up to you to rearrange your profile in the way that best represents you.

Want more connections? Move personal information up.

Have some really cool app action? Put it at the top.

Profile brimming with recommendations? Size it up first to see how the list looks to the reader.

And, while you’re at it . . . check out the top 10 ways to quickly become a subject matter expert using LinkedIn.

What will you place first, last?

Looking to add some PR blogs to your reader? Check out this list.

Matthew Watson recently updated the World’s Top 100 PR blogs list. Here’s how Matthew came up with his list . . .

The list is by no means perfect since it only features blogs on the AdAge Power 150 with PR, Public Relations, Publicity or Flack in the title, and a few others that have been suggested to me by commenter’s. Although it’s just a bit of ...]]>

Looking to add some PR blogs to your reader? Check out this list.

Matthew Watson recently updated the World’s Top 100 PR blogs list. Here’s how Matthew came up with his list . . .

The list is by no means perfect since it only features blogs on the AdAge Power 150 with PR, Public Relations, Publicity or Flack in the title, and a few others that have been suggested to me by commenter’s. Although it’s just a bit of fun I think it’s still a fairly decent indicator of the world’s top PR blogs. Matthew Watson, From PR to Eternity

Here are the top 40 PR blogs by rank, name, AdAge Power 150 rank and country. Who’s missing from this list?

PR Rank Blog Name AA Rank Country
1 Danny Brown 33 Canada
2 PR Squared 37 US
3 Dave Fleet 59 Canada
4 A Shel Of My Former Self 78 US
5 Everything PR 93 Germany
6 What’s Next 96 US
7 KDPaine’s Measurement Blog 161 US
8 PR Communications 161 US
9 PRoactive 177 US
10 Valley PR Blog 188 US
11 Faster Future 203 UK
12 The Flack 214 US
13 Eyecube 228 US
14 Hispanic Marketing & PR 232 US
15 A PR Guy’s Musings 243 UK
16 PR Blogger 244 UK
17 Pro PR 256 Canada
18 POP! PR Jot 258 US
19 Denver PR Blog 283 US
20 Communication Overtones 287 US
21 Strategic PR 287 US
22 PRNewser 307 US
23 Spinning Around 324 UK
24 Publicity Hound’s 342 US
25 The New PR 345 Canada
26 Profectio 355 Canada
27 PR Couture 356 US
28 Profitable Business Edge 2 396 US
29 Public Relations Matters 407 US
30 10 Yetis PR Blog 408 UK
31 Wadds’ PR Blog 424 UK
32 PR. Differently 430 US
33 PR Disasters 433 Australia
34 PR Media Blog 441 UK
35 Brendan Cooper 446 UK
36 Online PR Thoughts 449 US
37 Wired PR Works 461 US
38 Pierce Mattie PR 475 US
39 Young PR 498 Australia
40 DrewB’s Take On Tech PR 533 UK

Submit your blog to AdAge Power 150

Image provided by www.shutterstock.com

Lincoln, Mark Twain & Lightning: Choice Words On Word Choice “Eighty-seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation….” The Gettysburg Address

Chances are your ...]]> Today’s guest post comes from Ernest Nicastro, a direct marketing consultant, copywriter and lead-generation specialist who heads up Positive Response, an award-winning marketing firm based in Dublin, Ohio. We’re members of the same mastermind group. When I asked if anyone wanted to be a guest author, I was delighted to hear Ernest say “Yes!”

Lincoln, Mark Twain & Lightning: Choice Words On Word Choice
“Eighty-seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation….”
The Gettysburg Address

Chances are your reaction to the above “quote” is something along the lines of, “No, no, no! You’re wrong, wrong, wrong!”

And, of course, you would be right.

Because Lincoln was not only a great leader, he was a great writer. So instead of beginning his Gettysburg Address with a cold, lifeless number, he opens on a prayerful note with a turn of phrase adapted from the 90th Psalm of the King James Bible: “Four score and seven.”

Clearly, Lincoln knew the difference between the almost right word – and, the RIGHT word.

A distinction famously defined by Mark Twain some 25 years later as…”the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” With that thought in mind, I’m going to offer you a few choice words on word choice to help you get more of the right words into your communications. And, make your writing more effective.

Let’s start by looking at a miscue that appeared in the sports section of my local daily, The Columbus Dispatch. A story by AP reporter Tim Reynolds describes Dick Vitale’s reaction to being voted into the Basketball Hall-of-Fame.

Vitale, writes Reynolds, “admitted he ‘cried like a baby’ upon learning he was induced.”

Now maybe Vitale’s use of the word baby clouded the writer’s thinking. Because induced is so NOT the right word choice is it? (And yes, in all fairness maybe it was simply a typo. Either way, the end result is the same.)
Which leads us to today’s big idea:

For more effective word choice think harder about the words you choose.

For example, while it’s obvious that Mr. Reynolds made the wrong choice, what about the people who penned these lines?
• This is literally the equivalent of Microsoft coming to your house and locking a CD in your car CD player.
• More CIOs are disinterested in Linux
• And I know you didn’t do this just to win an election. And I know you didn’t do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead.
• WasteWise has collected the following environmental factoids to help you understand the impacts of waste prevention and recycling. (From the web site of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency)

How many of these writers made the right choice?

Actually, that’s a trick question.

Because in each instance the highlighted word is used incorrectly. Yes, you may have read or heard a word used a certain way – even in a prestigious publication, by a noted expert or on a federal government agency web site or by the leader of the free world. But that doesn’t mean the word was used correctly.

As to why the above words are – in Mark Twain’s manner of speaking, lightning bugs – I’ll go over one of them: factoid.

According to Webster’s a factoid is –
“something fictitious or unsubstantiated that is presented as fact, devised especially to gain publicity and accepted because of constant repetition.”

Therefore WasteWise is actually telling us they have fictitious or unsubstantiated information to help us “understand the impacts of waste prevention and recycling.” The writer could have prevented this mistake with a little more thought and a quick trip to an online dictionary. That’s what I trust you’ll do if it’s unclear to you why the other examples are incorrect.

Now for a couple of specific word choice tips:

1. Choose small, simple words
The Gettysburg Address is 271 words long. Two hundred and twenty of them, 81%, are just one syllable. My advice? For more effective word choice think like Lincoln. Think small:
Utilize Use
Peruse Read
Ascertain Find out

Now am I advising you to never use big words? No, of course not. But in most cases small words will serve your purposes better.

And here’s why:
“The more simply and plainly an idea is presented, the more understandable it is – and therefore the more credible it will be.” Words That Work: It’s Not What You Say, It’s What People Hear – By Dr. Frank Luntz

My second word choice tip is this:
2. Use mainly nouns and verbs and active-voice words
Strunk and White in their classic book, The Elements of Style, put it this way:
“Write with nouns and verbs, not with adjectives and adverbs….It is nouns and verbs that give to good writing its toughness and character.”

As to the active voice, legendary copywriter Herschell Gordon Lewis lays down the law in his “Active/Passive Rule.” “Unless you specifically want to avoid reader involvement in your message, always write in the active voice.”

For instance:
Instead of writing . . . Once the button has been clicked, the order is generated immediately and an e-mail confirmation will be sent automatically to you.
Write. .
When you click the button, we immediately generate your order and automatically send you an e-mail confirmation.

Notice the difference the active voice makes?

Notice also how the active voice makes the writing more “you-centric.” Simply put, active verbs keep your reader involved and improve credibility and response rates.

For example, I seldom use the word “allows” because it’s a passive, “permission granting” type of word. I prefer enables or makes it possible. Unlike “allows,” these words communicate action and empowerment.

For example:
Instead of writing . . . Study Software allows you to learn faster by organizing exam notes as concept maps….
Write . . .
Study Software enables you to learn faster by organizing exam notes as concept maps….

Words are powerful tools.

And regardless of who you are – Bill Gates or Bill Bailey – you have the same access to these powerful tools as anybody else. Words, properly used, can help you grow your business exponentially. Conversely, used without proper thought and skill, words are about as helpful to you as, well, lightning bugs.

So, to greatly improve your odds of catching lightning on a page (or a screen) and gaining your desired response, remember today’s big idea and two tips:
For more effective word choice, think harder about the words you choose.
1. Choose small, simple words, and
2. Choose mainly nouns and verbs and active-voice words.
Keep the above idea and tips in mind when you write and while your words might not make history, they will be duly noted, better remembered – and most importantly, more effective.

Ernest Nicastro, a direct marketing consultant, copywriter and lead-generation specialist, heads up Positive Response, an award-winning marketing firm based in Dublin, Ohio. For more information visit http://www.positiveresponse.com. Contact Ernie directly at ENicastro@positiveresponse.com or by phone at 614.747.2256.

Recommendations for additional reading:
The Eloquent President: A Portrait of Lincoln Through His Words, By Ronald C. White Jr.
Words That Work: It’s Not What You Say, It’s What People Hear, By Dr. Frank Luntz
On the Art of Writing Copy, Third Edition, by Herschell Gordon Lewis
The Elements of Style, by William Strunk and E.B. White

Your Turn: What recommendations do you have for toning writing?

Image: Mark Twain from http://free-stock-photos.com

I’ve been searching So long To find an answer Now I know my life has meaning

Chicago

What if your search engine asked: Did you find every thing that you were looking for? Of course, there’s no need to do that.

Why? We’re in constant search mode. Do you agree?

With 29 million searches – per minute in 2009, it’s no wonder the global search market grew by 46%. The annual total? 131 billion searches according to Comscore’s latest search report.

Where are you in your ...]]>

I’ve been searching
So long
To find an answer
Now I know my life has meaning

Chicago

What if your search engine asked: Did you find every thing that you were looking for?
Of course, there’s no need to do that.

Why? We’re in constant search mode. Do you agree?

With 29 million searches – per minute in 2009, it’s no wonder the global search market grew by 46%. The annual total? 131 billion searches according to Comscore’s latest search report.

Where are you in your search marketing?

Want to know how marketers really feel about social media?

Check out these statistics from Alterian’s seventh annual social media marketing survey.

- 70% work with 3 or more suppliers to accommodate marketing services such as digital marketing, database marketing, data hygiene, creative & brand, strategy, web analytics etc. - 23% work with a “staggering” 7 or more suppliers - 66% will invest in social media marketing, known as SMM - 40% will shift more than 20% of their traditional marketing to SMM - ...]]>

Want to know how marketers really feel about social media?

Check out these statistics from Alterian’s seventh annual social media marketing survey.

- 70% work with 3 or more suppliers to accommodate marketing services such as digital
marketing, database marketing, data hygiene, creative & brand, strategy, web analytics etc.
- 23% work with a “staggering” 7 or more suppliers
- 66% will invest in social media marketing, known as SMM
- 40% will shift more than 20% of their traditional marketing to SMM
- 36% invest in social media monitoring and analysis tools

The marketing industry is undergoing a dramatic transformation. Set against a backdrop of tight budgets, increased demand for accountability, the explosion in social media and informed, active and connected consumers, marketing is moving from mass communication towards multichannel customer engagement. While consumers are driving this change, marketers also are expecting their service providers to keep up and streamline and connect the services they offer Source: Alterian study.

One sentence stands out: a new type of partner is emerging – a Customer Engagement Agency (CEA) as does this quote:

“We’ve hinted before that agencies that can’t transition from pushing out messages to nurturing customer connections aren’t long for this world. Agency readers, heed our warning. Services firms that lack data management, analytics, listening, social media execution, and strategy expertise will dry up.” – ”US Interactive Forecast”, Forrester Research, Inc., July 2009

To learn more, download your copy of Alterian’s seventh annual social media marketing survey – registration required – then come back and let us know what you think.

Your Turn: What do you think is getting shifted out of traditional into SMM? How do all of those suppliers integrate?

Image: Barbara Rozgonyi copyright 2009 for www.thesociallens.com

So, where is all this digital stuff going?

Edelman’s Digital team gives us a preview of their opinion of what’s to come in their recently released white paper, Digital Visions: Ten Ideas for the New Decade.

The bigger opportunity for clients, we believe, is to identify the global societal and technological trends that are reshaping how we think, act and buy – and to pivot into them early. Trends today tend to develop more slowly and are harder to see, ...]]>

So, where is all this digital stuff going?

Edelman’s Digital team gives us a preview of their opinion of what’s to come in their recently released white paper, Digital Visions: Ten Ideas for the New Decade.

The bigger opportunity for clients, we believe, is to identify the global societal and technological trends that are reshaping how we think, act and buy – and to pivot into them early. Trends today tend to develop more slowly and are harder to see, allowing clients to take a more thoughtful, thorough and systematic approach. Steve Rubel, Edelman

A collection of essays from thought leaders, it’s worth reading. And, Steve’s quote is really what it’s all about. While convincing businesses to invest in or even think about infusing digital into their business was almost impossible even a year ago, now it’s a conversation they not only want to start, it’s an area they want to invest in.

Why? In some cases it’s the iPhone. Apps change the way the way businesses run: quicker, in real time, customized, on demand and more accurate. In other cases, it’s search. Being where your customers can find you is no longer optional, it’s critical. For others, it’s an affordable marketing and customer service option that sets up an outpost on a popular place where clients congregate. Now, everyone is starting to get why they need to have a digital profile that wires business, branding, marketing and social.

Image: Barbara Rozgonyi from the MSI collection copyright 2009 for www.thesociallens.com

What do you think: How is digital impacting your business?

1. How do we manage negative feedback about our product/services? Monitor comments, respond immediately online and contact personally. Most blogs give you the option of approving all comments before they go up. On Facebook, you can delete ...]]>

How do you handle negativity, privacy, branding, security on Facebook? Thanks to a reader who asked these questions about Facebook and their business. Have IRL [in real life] questions you need answered? Leave them in the comment box, text 630.207.7530 or email corywestmedia @gmail.com.

1. How do we manage negative feedback about our product/services?
Monitor comments, respond immediately online and contact personally. Most blogs give you the option of approving all comments before they go up. On Facebook, you can delete comments on your page. The biggest concern here is not monitoring mentions. You can almost always reply. If you don’t then there’s a comment out there against you.

2.How do team members manage security of their personal information vs. business information?
Set profile views to friends or connections only. Companies may choose not to list employees in their profile. Employees will show up automatically on a LinkedIn company profile. People may choose not to list their employer on Facebook or twitter.
Educate your team members on how to protect their privacy with resources like these USA Today on Facebook privacy and Facebook on privacy.

3. From a business ethics perspective, how do we keep from telling team members what they can or cannot put on their Facebook profile (which might be viewed by people coming to the company site?)
Unless team members are listed on the company fan page, people will need to search the company name to see who’s profile it pops up in. If the team member has an open profile, yes, everyone can see it. You really can’t control what people post on personal social media platforms. You may want to offer some suggestions like the ones in this Tech Republic article on Facebook company policies. You may want to let them know how much information they can share that relates to accounts, clients and business practices.

4.There is concern about the amount of time it takes to keep the site relevant. Who manages it?
Depending on how active your company wants to be, managing social site interaction can take as little as a few hours a week to a few hours every day. For most companies, having a main communicator and an alternate works. You can also share the responsibilities; having a consistent strategy will save time and be more effective.

5.What about the time management issue of team members spending business hours on personal Facebook?
Ask your team members for their input and think about giving them time for a social media break here and there. They can help monitor and report what’s going on within their own personal networks.

6.As for team members establishing their own personal Facebook “brand”, which face do we show our business audience? Our personal brand or the company brand?
ersonal and professional are merging into a hybrid approach. Presenting an online persona requires some thought and strategy. It’s okay to block off personal information from your business site. Every update reflects on you, personally and professionally.

Images: owl on van [in my driveway 01.18.10] copyright 2010 Barbara Rozgonyi. All rights reserved.

Your turn: How do your protect your privacy while promoting your personal brand on Facebook – or any other social media platform?