Lyn Mettler, Forty Under 40 winner 2009

Social Media Baby Steps

By Lyn Mettler

You’ve certainly heard Andra tout the benefits of social media by now, and it seems Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are every other word on TV and in the paper these days.
 
But for many people, the mere mention of a tweet makes them want to run screaming in the opposite direction. Why? Well, people fear what they don’t know, and it can also be easy to get overwhelmed with the volume of information and constant conversation that occurs online. But don’t let that keep you from learning about these tools that can reap huge benefits for your business. 
 
So how to delve in? Don’t do it all at once. As with many things in life, sometimes baby steps can be the best way to adjust. Don’t just jump in the freezing cold water; dip your toe in, then your foot and pretty soon you’ll find yourself swimming in a sea of social media.
 
Here’s a few baby steps that you can take to start learning about the world of Web 2.0. I’d suggest trying one a week for the next month and see where you are. I’m betting you’ll be intrigued and ready to learn more.
 
Baby Step 1: In Google, type in a topic that you’re interested in together with the word “blog.” Find a link to a blog that looks intriguing and read the last 3 posts. Now you’re a blog reader!
 
Baby Step 2: Go to Facebook.com and open an account. Put as much or as little information in as you’d like, but go as far as uploading your email address book. I bet you’ll be really surprised at the number of people of all ages that you’ll know on Facebook.
 
Baby Step 3: Set up an account on Google.com/reader. Find a Web site that you like and look for the orange RSS button. Click on the button and select the Google Reader option. Go back to Google.com/reader. Now you can read that site’s updates, along with any others you choose to add, all in one place — and as soon as they’re posted. That’s call RSS!
 
Baby Step 4: OK, you’re ready to graduate to Twitter! Go to Twitter.com and set up an account. Be sure to put in some basic information about yourself and your interests. Follow 10-20 people at Twitter’s recommendation, from your email address list or by searching for people you know. Watch what people are saying for a week or so and then decide if you want to enter the conversation yourself. Post your first tweet!
 
Congratulations! You’ve made some great headway toward engaging social media and learning what it’s all about. If you think you see some benefit for business, keep on taking baby steps at your own pace, so you don’t get overwhelmed. Notice what’s bringing you business and what isn’t and invest your time in what’s working. If you feel yourself starting to drown, call Positus or Step Ahead Inc. and we’ll throw you a line!

(Some) PR People Are Annoying (written by a PR person)

OK, let me start by saying I am a PR person. And there are certainly plenty of us out there who know what we’re doing and are making great strides for our clients and companies. But good god, there are still an awful lot of us who give the rest of us a bad rap, who don’t understand PR but who think they do.

I wrote this post after doing a media interview on the site of a local shopping center. The “PR person” for the center sauntered up during the middle of the interview to inform the journalist that she was “supposed” to check in with them and that no footage of the shopping center was to be used. Hello? You don’t want publicity about your shopping center? Isn’t that your job?

Let me say that I do understand that media isn’t always nice, so we do have to be cautious about what they do, but to say that under no circumstances was video of the shopping center to be used seems ridiculous to me. She could have stood there and listened to the interview to know it was completely innocuous. I come from the camp of thinking of media as friends rather than always assuming the worst. I think an attitude of constant mistrust will not get you far when working with media.

Here’s what else I don’t like about (some) PR people:

1) Not getting back to journalists in a timely fashion.

2) Charging an arm and a leg and not getting anything besides a local TV talk show appearance for a client.

3) Being overly controlling about every word said about your company or client. For example, insisting you be a part of every interview your client has with the media. Here’s a tip: Journalists don’t like that and most will not want to work with you again if they can avoid it.

4) PR Speak – Please, no subjective language (unique, very, excellent, truly) in a press release. It’s up to the reader (the journalist) to make a judgement about what we’re saying based on the facts we present.

5) A lack of news judgement. Don’t pitch a journalist on something that is not newsworthy! They will forever not pay attention to you, whereas if you bring them something newsworthy every time, when you call, they will answer and better yet — listen. Isn’t that our goal?

I’ve certainly made some of these mistakes in my career, but I learned from them and changed my behavior. I wrote this post in the hopes that more of us will do the same. What bugs you about PR people? How can we improve to better represent our industry? What makes for a good PR person?

Fabulous Facebook Pages

I’ve been asked a lot to share examples of Facebook Pages that are done well, so I thought I would highlight a few and share my thoughts on why they work.

Charleston – 500+ fans

OK, I have to preface this by saying that my company runs this page, but it’s a good example of what to do with a Facebook page. What I’d like to note here is that we give people a reason to go to the page. We did not just set it up and every now and then update it.

Instead, we’re on there everyday producing some type of activity: updating the status, commenting, posting links, photos, videos, etc. We also do fun things like polls, contests, promoting other companies to keep people coming back.

Home Team BBQ – 1100+ fans.

The main thing here is that they keep their page updated, just like the above. So there are always new photos, events info and discussions going on.

Hilton Head, S.C. – 7200 fans!

What the Hilton Head, SC page has done brilliantly is again kept it very updated and given people lots of reasons to interact on the page. The more you can get people to take action on your page, the more it shows up in their newsfeeds and the more their friends see it. Hopefully, those friends will become fans of the page and also take action and on it goes…

So let the lesson be here: Creating a Facebook fan page that works is work! You have to update it frequently and be creative to keep people coming back. Don’t set it up and expect it to magically produce results without constant maintenance.

Learn about yourself with Google

There was a meme on Facebook a while back, encouraging people to Google their name plus is, to see the funny results. For instance, Googling “Simon is” (with quotes) brings up:

Simon is an Intergalactic Hardware Visionary (cool!)
Simon is not a metal or a fuel or a food or water (true, I guess)
Simon is a cheese/hamburger worker (um…)
and so on.

So, kind of funny I suppose, but it got me thinking about what Google can *really* tell you about yourself.

Hopefully everyone reading this is aware of reputation management (if not, please contact us ASAP for a consult!). I have Google alerts set up for my name, just to make sure there’s nothing said about me I wouldn’t want my mom to read. A quick search for my name brings up my website, LinkedIn page, Facebook, plus the darned Hacker thing (it’s not real. And if it was, it’s not me, I swear!).

All well and good there.

But there’s plenty more that Google knows about you, from your searching habits.

If you have a Google account, and it’s getting hard to do much on the Internet these days without one, and providing you didn’t opt-out, then Google can show you a *lot* you may not be aware of.

Go to Google.com right now. In the top right corner, click on My Account > Web History. You’ll have to sign in – Google does like to create the illusion of privacy at least – but you’ll find a treasure trove of info.

The first thing to notice is the breakdown of all your searches, dating back years. You can view all together, or break it down into the different components – Web, Images, News, etc.

Once you get over the initial shock of just how much Google has been recording quietly in the background, it’s quite interesting to flick through. Almost like reading your old diary – Burns Night 2007 for instance I was searching Yahoo Answers for ‘how do I cook a turnip’. On May 21, 2007 I googled:

‘the name hannah is far too common’

Why? I have absolutely no idea! I am intrigued though. Lots of fun stuff to look back on.

You can also see your trends, and figure out just how much of your life you owe to Google. My searches are fairly consistent during weekdays, but I search a lot more in March (average of 2098 searches) than November (1091 searches). And considering that I would never call myself a morning person, it’s odd that my most active hours are between 8 and 10am.

These trends also show you the phrases you most often search for, the sites you usually click on (Wikipedia, Youtube, IMDB and Amazon, if you’re interested) and lots more.

If you ever had any doubt about why Google is the number one search engine, this should put those to rest. Just thinking about how much they know about me, and multiplying that by the billions of searches they handle every month, well, I’m more surprised they can’t just send me what I need each day in an email, without my having to bother with all the searching at all.

Anyway, check it out. Let me know if you learn anything interesting or unexpected.