Posted by redshoespr.com Admin on Wed, Aug 18, 2010 @ 07:25 PM
Our interns, Patrick Casey and Sara Jeffers, did a great job of capturing the spirit of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition community support for the Arboleda family.
The Power of the Community ... and Ty! from Lisa Cruz on Vimeo.
Posted by Lisa Cruz on Tue, Aug 03, 2010 @ 03:28 PM
"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.
Posted by redshoespr.com Admin on Mon, Jul 26, 2010 @ 08:13 AM
Red Shoes PR Idol - Sara Jeffers from Jessica Dennis on Vimeo.
It was the biggest audition of my life. Well, at least since the last time I auditioned.
“You only get one shot, make it count,” Ryan Seacrest said. “These 25 seconds could change your life forever.” Great. I was having enough trouble getting in and out of the bathroom every 20 minutes because of all the “voice-healing” water I was guzzling. Now Seacrest was adding another layer of nausea to the mix. I had full-body shakes.
You would think I would be used to the grueling process that is American Idol auditions. I was in the same position for season three: same never-ending lines, same extremely talented competition, same high-stakes potential. Only this time I was confident I was going to take it. I’d been the lead singer in two bands and sang for dozens of weddings (and a few funerals) since season three, and while that doesn’t make me a pro, it gives me the poise I need to sing for this random producer.
After waiting for eight hours in the Bradley Center stands with my competition, my turn was up. Myself, along with three others sitting next to me, lined up to make the best first impression. I had been watching table 11 all morning; so far he had given away three golden tickets to advance, so my odds were stacked against me. The three others sang before me, and all were given one chance to sing. It was my turn to knock his socks off.
I sang my first choice, “Billionaire” by Travie McCoy. “Great,” random producer said. “Give me another one.” Another one? Yes! Next up was my rendition of “Dance With My Father” by Luther Vandross. “Excellent. Can I have another?” Another? Absolutely. Next I sang “Natural Woman” by Aretha Franklin. I officially had almost two whole minutes in front of Mr. Random Producer, and I was convinced I killed it. In a very good way.
“So…unfortunately you’re not what we’re looking for, “ Mr. Random said. “Good luck.” And just like that, it was over. But before leaving, he grabbed my arm and said, “Seriously. Don’t stop.” Really? Then why are you stopping me?
So now I’m back to the real world. Back to being an intern and back to singing for people who want to listen. And you know, I’d rather be at Red Shoes PR anyway. :-)
Posted by Lisa Cruz on Mon, Jul 12, 2010 @ 04:11 PM
You probably weren't expecting me to include AARP.org in my blog post about my recent column! But here it is. One of my social media tips in this week's column in The Post-Crescent includes not overlooking the baby boomers when it comes to social media.
Click here for the complete column: The Post-Crescent. Let me know what you think. I always welcome feedback.
Posted by Lisa Cruz on Mon, Apr 26, 2010 @ 10:35 PM
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.
Posted by Lisa Cruz on Tue, Mar 23, 2010 @ 03:00 PM
Posted by Lisa Cruz on Fri, Mar 12, 2010 @ 03:20 PM
Small Business And Social Media
Lisa Cruz, co-owner of Red Shoes PR, shares her thoughts on social media and how it is working for small businesses. The presentation includes case studies, social media tips and what the future will bring.
Posted by Rachel Wollersheim on Mon, Jan 25, 2010 @ 07:00 AM
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.
Posted by Jessica Dennis on Thu, Jan 14, 2010 @ 09:22 AM
Red Shoes Speaks No. 8 Social media, strategy or communication channel from Jessica Dennis on Vimeo.
Jess and Tommy talk about Jess' blog post called Social media, not a strategy or a tactic…a communication channel. How should companies be using social media and incorporating it into their marketing plans? Jess and Tommy discuss best practices for corporate social media use.
Be a part of the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtag #redshoesspeak.
Posted by Lisa Cruz on Sun, Dec 27, 2009 @ 08:18 PM
For years big brands have been telling us, the consumers,
how to feel about products or services. If you drink this Coke, you will feel like
you could solve the world’s problems. If you spray your body with Enjoli, you are a woman
who can do it all. And if you crunch these Doritos,
your wishes and commands come true.
Fortunately, over the years, consumers have gotten smarter.
We now know that we can’t save the world by drinking a Coke. And we have also
found out that it’s more than just a perfume that makes the woman. And what do
Doritos actually do for us besides add a little extra padding to a body?
What we are witnessing today for brands is actually quite
the opposite. We, the people, are telling the brands what they do for us or
what we want them to do for us. But, are the brands listening?
Through social media consumers have the opportunity to
express themselves like never before. However, if some brands are still trying
to figure out the social media movement, and doubting its sincerity in staying
power, they will be left behind. These companies will simply be left standing
with no one left to tell their message to.
What has been missing all of these years from the brands’
position is that there was little, if any, humanization of the brands. It was a
stagnant logo. A cute, catchy jingle. Actors acting. We may have had a fleeting feeling of emotion but that's all it was ... fleeting.
Today, consumers expect brands to demonstrate “the who”
behind the logos – that brands are actually people just like you and me … we want to relate. Consumers want their
brands to mimic human nature with all of the emotions we experience: joy,
sadness, failure, honesty, integrity and yes, humility.
It’s strange and exciting, all at the same time, to think
that the humanization of brands is thanks to technology. Really, the answer has
been in front of brands the whole time. My advice to companies today? Don’t
look in a mirror but stick your head out through an open window to see and hear
what’s really going on.