Haters gon’ hate. That’s what they do. And in our industry, we’re going to see the haters popping up all over the interwebs. Chances are, unless you’re flacking for fuzzy baby lambs, someone out there is hatin’ on your client, your client’s product, or your company. (And even baby lambs may have made enemies; you never really know.) So what do you do with the haters, the negative comments, the angry bloggers, the furious tweeters, the disappointed Yelpers, the flaming Facebooker?
You could ignore them. Or you could do your job and handle the hate. Continue reading →
As I spend more and more time gaining experience in the PR industry, and as I continue to befriend other flacks and get to know them professionally, I’ve managed to catch a “glimpse” so-to-speak into a wide variety of PR agencies. Large, small, public, private, corporate, and consumer, it’s astounding how different every firm is.
Unfortunately, as much as I get to know about all of the things that my acquaintances love about their companies, I also tend to see the negative side as I cross into the “confidante” territory. One unsettling trend that I’ve started to see more often is agencies who don’t value their employees and treat them as replaceable hit machines who are expected to treat their job as their entire lives. This is by no means the standard of the industry, but it’s something I see more than should ever be the case. Continue reading →
As a recent Financial Times article noted, companies are looking to spend more money in terms of marketing over the next calendar year. While we would love to say that a large piece of the pie would be allocated towards branding and public relations, we are realists and know that the money—for the most part—will go towards ever more advertising efforts.
And that is a damn shame. While advertising may be the flashy cog that looks good in media forms, what does it all mean? Your company is much more than a singing fish, talking baby or another gimmick. Sure you can name what companies are associated with the previously mentioned gimmicks. The question is, do you know what these brands really stand for? Continue reading →
On occasion a PR pro makes the wrong decision about taking a job. Whether it was the money, or the potential opportunity for growth, changing jobs might not always end up how you envisioned. I know this all to well from past experiences.
Let’s say you have taken a job you’ve come to now realize was the wrong move, and you have only been there a short few months. Or you recently took a position and the company was forced to do layoffs and you end up on the cutting room floor. More than likely your next step is to look for another job ASAP.
Obviously a short job stint isn’t necessarily a great thing for the resume, and it also could be a red flag to potential employers. How do you approach short job stints? Continue reading →
Even though I know better than to wonder why my follower count is what it is, and I’ve come to let it rise and fall on its own accord, I couldn’t help but be a bit irked by its vacillation between 699 and 700 multiple times over the course of just one afternoon. Was it something I tweeted? Something I hadn’t tweeted? In the end who knows and who cares. That said, it’s still fairly annoying, especially to someone who dislikes odd numbers.
My own ridiculousness aside (yes, Cog, I did read and do recall your post about Twitter 101 and getting over the importance of the follower count. And, yes, I do agree that Mack Collier’s recent post ‘The Fast Food Approach to Social Media’ said all that needs to be said about counting your followers) there must be an art to the unfollow. I’ve done it on occasion, mostly to correct what I consider to be an error or my early days – following celebs. I’m not talking one or two, I’m talking dozens. Continue reading →
I’m talking about Twitter here, people. Your follower count does matter. Admit it – it’s addicting and you want more.
In a recent post by Mack Collier titled “The fast food approach to social media,” he stated:
Getting 5,000 fans on a Facebook fan page is NOT a social media strategy. Getting 200 followers on Twitter is NOT a social media strategy. Facebook and Twitter are tactics used to execute a social media strategy, getting on Facebook and Twitter is not a social media strategy.
Mack worries that a shady agency or consultant will take any willing candidate who just wants a lot of followers and wants them now and that many assume follower and friend counts on Twitter and Facebook are the metrics to determine a successful social media strategy. Continue reading →
Chocolate. Alcohol. Cheese. Cursing. Typical things that one would give up for Lent. I’ve tried to all of them for the full forty (read: forty-six when including Sundays) for Lent. In the Christian faith, Lent is to remind us of the temptation that Jesus endured in the desert from Satan. Lent is a time for us to give up one of our vices. I’m not religious. I go to church on the “important” holidays but this year I really wanted to give Lent a valiant effort. For the first time ever, I can truthfully say I survived Lent without cheating. I gave up Facebook. When people heard I was giving up Facebook there were a lot of questions: Why not Twitter? What do you miss most? Obstacles? Will you go back? etc. I can tell you this, life was better without Facebook. Continue reading →
What would it take for you to marry a brand? In Brian Solis new book, “Engage,” he lays out his rules for businesses, brands and individuals who are looking to utilize this newfangled contraption called social media to boost their bottom lines.
I had an opportunity to not only read the book, but also to chat with Brian about it.
If social media has taught us anything, it’s that describing platforms and apps as being ‘of the moment’ and ‘the next big thing’ are as common as having a Facebook profile. While I am typically intrigued to hear about the new and better that lay around the corner, my threshold for the teasing and waiting are minimal at best. Consequently, the announcement of Twitter’s Anywhere left me looking everywhere on the web for details that were to be found nowhere.
A succinct post on Twitter’s blog offered minimal insight. Focused heavily on the conceptual aspects of the new open platform and walking readers through the rationale behind it, I was craving the when (not just a ‘mid April,’ but a March 27th at 10:01:35a.m. EST level of detail) and wanting the answer to be ‘now.’ Continue reading →
Recently, TechCrunch featured a post about an e-mail they received from a PR firm, which the publicist obviously didn’t mean to send. To summarize, the firm accidentally left an internal exchange at the bottom of the e-mail that discussed the actual art of pitching TechCrunch.
Since I started out in the PR industry, I’ve quickly seen more and more publicists get blasted throughout the interwebs for their mistakes. Granted this public exhibition of PR faux pas has made communications professionals more aware and cautious about what they send out for mass consumption. One could also argue that at the same time, it’s made us totally terrified. Continue reading →
Haters gon’ hate. That’s what they do. And in our industry, we’re going to see the haters popping up all over the interwebs. Chances are, unless you’re flacking for fuzzy baby lambs, someone out there is hatin’ on your client, your client’s product, or your company. (And even baby lambs may have made enemies; you never really know.) So what do you do with the haters, the negative comments, the angry bloggers, the furious tweeters, the disappointed Yelpers, the flaming Facebooker?
What would it take for you to marry a brand? In Brian Solis new book, “
