PR For Your Personal Brand

I had the opportunity to sit and think about what has worked for me over the past 16 years when it comes to personal branding through public relations. And then I put together this presentation to use when addressing a group of local women in business. Do you have some personal keys to success that you have identified over the years? Let me know, I'd love to hear what has worked for you.

Social Media Learning

 

"I'm so excited about what I'm learning today on social media I called my PR person over the break and told her we are getting started!" Now that's the kind of comment I like to hear during a presentation.

Last week I was in Maine to present social media at St. Joseph College for their health care symposium and this was the comment I heard from an attendee. I was thrilled with her reaction. But she also commented about one of my key take-aways from the presentation: Implementing social media at an organization takes continuous  learning through education.

However, I'm not sure many organizations understand this when they decide to take the plunge.

Here are some things to keep in mind as your organization moves forward:

Your internal audience is critical to your social media engagment but they need to be kept up to speed through continuous learning. This could include social media overviews, technology updates and in-house workshops on how to set up a Facebook account and more.

On-going education can and should reach as many people as possible throughout your organization. If employees are your best ambassadors, why would you restrict learning to a select group? Social media is not just for the marketing folks. Remember, it's for anyone who has a voice, opinion and Internet access. Take it far, wide and deep!

You want to also accommodate the many different levels of social media understanding present throughout your organization to tailor the education. For example (and forgive me while I generalize), while the Millenials might have a firm grasp of the tools, they may still need guidance on how best to represent the organization online through communications. And while Baby Boomers understand the intricacies of communications they might be a bit more unsure of how to use the tools. One shoe size does not fit all.

Give ongoing education some serious consideration as you move forward. You might even find there are more benefits to providing ongoing education than you anticipated.

Product Reviews With a Transparent, Social Media Twist

 

About six weeks ago I received an email from Klout asking me if I was interested in receiving some free make up products from a big name brand. I was confused to say the least. I couldn't understand how they got my name and contact information until I remembered. I had voluntarily signed up on the Klout web site.

I remember seeing people post their tweets from the Klout web site. These tweets included a "Klout" score or rather showed what their ranking is when it comes to influence among their tweeps. While I was signing up to see what my influence was, Klout had another purpose. Klout's clients are companies or businesses who want to get their products or services in the hands of influential people online. There are a number of factors they review such as true reach, amplification, engagement and more. At my low Klout score of 41 out of a 100, I'm still a little stumped why they approached me but they did.

After I read through the first email from Klout, I decided to experiment and agreed to reviewing the CoverGirl products. After all, I do love my makeup! I also thought it would be interesting to see how Klout implements the process of soliciting reviews and subsequent policies requiring disclosures. I was pleasantly surprised.

Each email clearly stated that there were no expectations. I could simply enjoy the product and not say another word. Or, if I did talk about it I should include this link: http://cmp.ly/2 The tone of the emails was engaging, personal and lighthearted. I was definitely intrigued.

And of course I wrote a full review of the make up on my personal blog, you can read it here.

What do you think of their approach to product and service reviews? Does it make you uncomfortable? Do you think it's OK to do as long as people abide by full disclosure? Will the social media sphere accept or reject this approach? I look forward to your opinions.

In the meantime, I'll keep using my CoverGirl lip gloss and eye shadow. I'm a woman, I can't help it!

Google Alert: Bing falls short on content and public relations

 

 

 

 

 

A couple of weeks ago I tweeted that I was only going to use Bing as my search engine tool of choice for the next five days. As a result of my experiment, this blogpost will be short.

I did my best to break my Google habit but, wow, is that hard. Every gadget I own is set up to naturally access Google. Funny enough, I found myself Googling Bing to get to their homepage. 

Available Wisconsin news was also very limited. Only news generated out of Milwaukee or the Journal-Sentinel came up in searches. I know for a fact we generate quite a bit more news from around the state so I was surpised at the lackluster search results.

Many in my social media circles had plenty of opinions as I set forth in my non-scientific experiment. The majority sang high praises for the map offerings. Which I admit are pretty cool. But, my life requires a bit more than beautiful maps. I need content at my fingertips--quick! 

Another interesting thing that I became aware of during my five-day odyssey? Bing has no credibility. Because I don't hear anything about it since it launched, there's no social media chatter ... nothing. Which equates to little if any credibility and that lead me to doubting my search results. And then wanting to double check my searches with a comparison of Google's results.

Google searches are a great reminder that content is truly king when it comes to the Internet. Forget the imagery, bring on the content.

My observations are also a good lesson for any company: Don't forget the power of generating continuous buzz --especially when you are launching a new service or product. But you better have the product or service to back up the buzz.

 

 

The Role of Social Media in Disaster Communications

Tommy and I give some thought to how social media can play a role in communicating with loved ones when disaster strikes. Sitting at Red Shoes PR chatting it up we decided everyone needs to think beyond phones for communication needs.

Red Shoes Speaks No. 22 Social Media Role in Disaster Communications from Lisa Cruz on Vimeo.

Red Shoes Speak No.20 No buyer's remorse: They didn't buy an iPad

Red Shoes Speaks No. 20 No buyer's remorse: They didn't buy an iPad from Jessica Dennis on Vimeo.

SlideShare Presentation: Social Media for Communicators

The UW-Oshkosh PRSSA chapter invited Jess Dennis and Karen Buckoski in to speak about social media and the impact it is having on the public relation industry. Here is the presentation that was given.

Red Shoes Speak No. 18 FourSquare & Geo Location Tools

Red Shoes Speaks No. 18 FourSquare & Geo Location Tools from Jessica Dennis on Vimeo.

Red Shoes Speak No. 14 Kevin Smith & Soutwest Air Crisis Communication

Red Shoes Speak No. 14 Kevin Smith & Soutwest Air Crisis Communication from Jessica Dennis on Vimeo.

Kevin Smith (@thatkevinsmith) was asked to step off a Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) flight on Feb. 13, 2010 due to his size. With over 1.6 million followers, Smith’s Tweets about the situation quickly hit mainstream media and blew up in social media. The Southwest Twitter account responded very quickly and appropriately with multiple apologies. As companies continue to engage in social media, how do they prevent or respond to crisis situations such as this? Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash tag #redshoesspeak.

Don't forget company culture when evaluating next career move

Right after my initial contact with Red Shoes PR, I knew that their company culture must be a little different. As hardly any PR agencies had entry-level openings or internships posted at the time of my job search, I began emailing different places asking if there were any openings. I probably emailed about 25 agencies, and Red Shoes PR was the only place that didn’t send me a generic, “No, we have no openings at this time. Please check our Web site for postings.” Karen responded to me and said that while they didn’t have any openings, they were always up for connecting with PR students and invited me in for a meeting.  I was impressed with this response and with their openness.

After my first informational interview with Red Shoes PR, the vibe I got about their company culture was confirmed. I immediately went home and told my roommates that Red Shoes PR was exactly the type of place I wanted to work. Observing the way employees interacted with one another, dressed and even the colors of the walls made me excited about the possibility of working there.

I believe that company culture plays a major role in the attitude, productivity and motivation level. Some aspects of company culture that I think are important are:

1.  Mission and purpose of the organization. Does everyone in your company understand the overall big picture and long term goals of the organization? If employees know what the company’s goals are and feel like their role in the company is valued and contributing to the big picture, they are more likely to have a positive attitude towards their job. Red Shoes PR does an excellent job of communicating to employees what the long-term goals are and how employees contribute to the big picture.

2. Organizational structure. Is your company structured as a traditional vertical hierarchy or is it more horizontal? Are employees encouraged to be competitive with one another or take on more of a team approach? Red Shoes PR aims to lean towards a horizontal structure and definitely takes a team approach. For us, this really seems to work well. Being able to share ideas and have candid conversations has helped me to learn at a much quicker pace than if it were a strict hierarchical structure.

3.  Work environment. Do people in your office sit in their offices with their doors closed? Do you work in cubes? What color are the walls? Do you have strict office hours? These are all details that can affect your productivity and attitude towards work. Until August, all five of us at Red Shoes were packed into 400 square-feet. So, we had no choice but to work closely together. Even as our space has expanded, we try to work collaboratively and spend time working in community spaces. We also have a bit of fluidity when it comes to work hours. We do not have a strict beginning of day/end of day. Everyone works hard and is accountable to one another.

4.  Work/life balance and values. Does your company take a stance on this? Is work supposed to come first? This is one of the most important aspects to think about when seeing if you will fit in with a company, yet often times I think it is overlooked. Red Shoes PR aims to be a company where employees and their families come first. People perform better at their jobs if their lives are balanced and other areas of their life are in check. It is also important to take vacation time and personal time. If work becomes the number one priority/only priority in your life, it is only a matter of time until you are burnt out.

While it may be tempting to get caught up in simply searching for the highest salary during a job search, company culture should definitely be considered. If you are able to find a company whose culture aligns with what you want as an employee, you are going to be much happier and successful in your job.