All posts by Jason Mollica

Age Doesn’t Mean Jack in Social Media

Aged © by tonyhall

We like to think that we (sometimes) know it all. In this age of gurus, jedis, and ninjas, it is easy to have a sense of social entitlement. I’m sure you are thinking about a time you thought you were BMOC (Big Man on Campus). Maybe a blog post blew up; maybe you had a tweet shared by a celebrity.

On Friday, Cathryn Sloane had an article posted on NextGen Journal, titled, “Why Every Social Media Manager Should Be Under 25.” Sloane, a recent graduate of the University of Iowa, writes. Continue reading

When a Thanks isn’t a Thanks

Two words in the English language are sometimes very hard to say. That would be: Thank You.  Now, before you click off to another site because you think I’m going all Emily Post, let me explain.

You see, as we become more social, we are becoming more impersonal. It shouldn’t be that way. Just because we interact on Twitter, Facebook, etc., it doesn’t mean we should forget what it means to actually talk to someone. Quick texts from an iPhone or brief emails from your office desk may say, “Thx” or “:-),” but is it really a thanks? Continue reading

Stop Telling Me What is Dying!

Bring out your dead!”  “I’m not dead.” “’Ere, he says he’s not dead.” “Yes he is.”

”I’m not.”

-Monty Python and the Holy Grail

How many times have we read about the end of times for Twitter and Facebook? Hundreds? Thousands? What ever the number has been, it’s getting a little exhausting.

The latest version of “social media Taps” was an analyst saying that Facebook would “disappear” in five to eight years. Eric Jackson, the founder of Ironfire Capital said, “…(t)hey are going to disappear in the way that Yahoo has disappeared. Yahoo is still making money. It’s still profitable, still has 13,000 employees working for it. But it’s 10% of the value that it was at the height of 2000. For all intents and purposes, it’s disappeared.” Continue reading

Media Training: The Forgotten Part of Client Service

All too often, we see CEOs put their foot in their mouths. Remember Netflix CEO Reed Hastings’ “apology” last year? Or how about former BP CEO Tony Hayward and his “relatively tiny” Gulf oil spill comment? These types of words cannot only stain a chief executive; it can also hurt a company. In the cases above, both Netflix and BP suffered mightily.

These types of instances are very preventable though. One of the things that are often forgotten about in our PR planning is media training. Continue reading

Fine Tune Your Social Focus

I’m old enough to remember the days of bringing a Walkman into my bed at night to try and listen to baseball. On the clearest of nights, I could hear the radio home of the Chicago Cubs, the St. Louis Cardinals, and sometimes, the Boston Red Sox from my New Jersey bedroom. However, most times, I’d have to deal with plenty of static and interference.In our social media world today, we have the same issues. While we can “hear” some of the most influential PR/social media/marketing folks, we still need to get through the “static” to actually listen. Why? Our Facebook and Twitter streams are clouded with too much noise and clutter that affects what we take in.

So, how can we better listen and engage our followers? Here are five tips to fine tune your focus on social networks. Continue reading

Survey says… Independent PR Firms Have Surge in New Biz

This year is off to a roaring start for independent communications/public relations firms, according to a new study by Worldcom Public Relations Group. The partner agencies of Worldcom forecast the hiring of new staff and are experiencing an increase in business and budgets.Worldcom Public Relations Group surveyed CEO’s from national and international partner agencies servicing clients ranging from small to mid-sized businesses to Fortune 50 companies.  The survey indicates a high percentage of new business growth in the technology, consumer, healthcare, professional and financial service sectors. Continue reading

Building Relationships Through Marketing

How many times have you heard it: You need to grow your followers and fans on social platforms to foster trust and growth of your brand.

Maybe you are sick of hearing this, but it’s very true. Someone who I have enjoyed following on Twitter and her blog for a while now is Mari Smith. She recently published the book, “The New Relationship Marketing.” If you didn’t believe the italicized sentence above, you will by the time you finish Mari’s book. Continue reading

Giant PR Lessons from the Super Bowl Champions

“We’re humble enough to prepare, confident enough to perform.”– Tom Coughlin, head coach, New York Giants

It goes beyond saying that I was on top of the world seeing the New York Football Giants come out the winners in Super Bowl XLVI. The story is well known: At 7-7, the Giants needed to win out to get into the post-season. Well, the rest is history, as Big Blue rolled their way to Indianapolis and defeated the New England Patriots for their second title in four years. Continue reading

Google’s Privacy Issue Isn’t Really an Issue

Over the last few days, I’ve been doing a fair amount of reading about Google’s new privacy policy. It has received some positive and negative views. Privacy, to many, is a premium; we don’t want our information shared or sold to anyone. Of course, I enjoy privacy, too.

Here’s a (not so) little secret, though. When you log onto Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc., your information is out there. You signed up for a Gmail account or to have a Twitter profile, you understood there was a risk. So why so many complaints about your privacy being infringed upon? Because we all need something to take issue with nowadays. Continue reading

The Battle Over SOPA won? Hardly.

Last week, Wikipedia shuttered, Google used its homepage to protest, and countless bloggers’ sites went dark all because of a little controversy over the Stop Online Privacy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA). It was nice to see the solidarity of the online community.  Many came together to take a stand against something they believed was and is wrong.

Twitter was a virtual protest ground for SOPA and PIPA, with folks going as far as to show their avatars with “censored” or “Stop SOPA.” Shortly after the protest, it was announced that both SOPA and PIPA were being shelved. Time to celebrate, right? Hardly. It may have seemed like a big win, but let’s be honest. SOPA and PIPA can- and will- be brought up again. Continue reading