Subscribing on Facebook

Facebook has a new subscribing feature. You may have heard. While it will have very little implication for most of us in our personal usage, it could directly impact how you use it for your business or organization. Do you want to know when you get a new subscriber? Do you want everything you post to be viewable? The key to everything we do should be this: strategy.

Read "The Complete Guide to Facebook's Subscribe Button."

Distractions Detract from Work

Ironic that I'm blogging about distractions detracting from work, when I probably could be doing something more productive myself. I just saw this article being tweeted about by Vocus, and I was intrigued.

Once, after a loss, former Tennessee Titans’ coach Jeff Fisher made this statement to the media about his team’s effort:

“I think you have to be able to deal with distractions, put them in perspective and move on. Distractions are the primary reason for losing football games. ”

He didn’t chalk up the loss to a poor planning, a bad strategy, or lack of effort. He pinned the losing effort on distractions.

Read more about "Why Distractions Mean Failure in Football and Marketing."

Are you ready for a digital crisis?

I'm preparing for a crisis communication presentation next week, and this Forbes post listed on today's "PRSA Issues & Trends" caught my eye. Maybe it caught yours, too.

What do you think? How prepared are you for a social media/digital crisis? Do you have a social media crisis communication plan?

So many choices

Facebook, in a seemingly never-ending quest to become the "be all, end all" of social media, is launching a competitor to Groupon and LivingSocial. The blog "Search Engine Land" has the details this morning.

There are so many options with these national programs and the local media-based program. I'm curious what kinds of success you have seen if you have used them for your business.

And, do you buy them personally? (I do!) What's your pattern - businesses you already frequent? Places you'd like to try out, and the discount makes it more attractive?

Ladies, you get what you grab for!

Public relations is a field for both men and women, but this article is geared specifically toward helping women get noticed and promoted for their own abilities. I think the content is worthwhile for anyone, though, so take a moment and read Sarah Evans' piece, "Five Social Tips for Women to Increase Media Exposure." You'll see how you can gain credibility to draw in business - especially for those who choose to freelance or work in an agency (rather than working for one organization).

Share the Wealth and Spread the Word

Many of us from the chapter were lucky enough to attend the Social: IRL Boot Camp with Sarah Evans on Feb. 8 - learning tips and tactics to keep on top of all things in the communications world. If you are interested, you can download the presentation. In it, you will find tutorials on jargon, setting up accounts, making them interact with each other as well as more advanced examples of extracting results in the real world.

If you don't have time to sift through the entire presentation, I'd still recommend you ooking through some of the sections that you're less acquainted with - for example, the information on social media releases. Great stuff there!

If you are still trying to convince your organization or client to even use social media, you might try these basic Social Media 101 guides Sarah provided:

• Facebook
• Foursquare
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

How restrictive is your social media policy?

Disparaging Facebook comments are always a concern for image management. In response to these concerns, employers have developed social media policies that run the gamut of restrictiveness. I came across this article through a link on Ragan's PR Daily that may cause some employers to rethink or retool restrictions stated social media policies.

What do you think? How restrictive are the social media policies for your employees?

Hyper Alerts - the notifications Facebook doesn't provide

For all it's benefits for organizations, Facebook lacks function to notify page admins when someone posts to a "fan" page. I came across a Facebook post from Social:IRL linking to a Hubspot blog post about Hyper Alerts, a free service that sends these missing e-mail notifications.

Note: Apparently, because of its popularity, the "ASAP" option on e-mails is temporarily suspended while they move to a new server. But, once it's back functioning, won't that be nice?

Keep up!

You've all heard that the zodiac chart changed recently leaving some people with a new astrological identity. Read this Journalistics article that uses this recent discovery as a case study to showcase how quickly news moves and how traditional news stations are being left out.

It's not going away - so find your voice!

You may be tired of hearing about social media, the value of Twitter, the need to be social, etc. There is a reason to put effort into this arena, though: it's not going away. Even if it is not the BEST way to reach your target audience, it is a valuable avenue for reaching at least part of a segment.

As we've talked about before, it's all about who you follow and maintaining a consistent voice. You don't need to share the minute details of your day - especially if your audience is primarily clients. Know your audience and share something valuable.

Read this article about sharing valuable information - and how to make yourself re-tweetable.

Sports fans utilize social media to stay updated on World Series

Social networking has changed the way people communicate - we all know that. But did you ever think how it has changed the way we watch sports? I know I didn't. But this article focuses on how people will stay up with the upcoming World Series - and it even discusses the types of "voices" people use on Facebook vs. Twitter. It's not the same audience.

I'm not posting this article because of the World Series angle. I'm posting about it because if sports fans are following these conversations (and they are), you or your organization could gain something from these media. Think about it, and make a strategy about the types on information you want to disperse, who you want to talk to, etc.

Read the article here

How serious do you look?

For your reading pleasure, I recommend this Journalistics blog post entitled "Is social media the cause of the casual office?" I think it brings up great points about how social networking has changed the job of customer service and public relations - to a more friendly and casual style. Can you adequately represent your company in jeans and flip flops? Do you think you have to be in a suit to be taken seriously? Or is there a happy medium?

Think about it.

Social: IRL Coming to Springfield

After a great presentation by Ben Smith (@benasmith) at the recent professional development conference, he decdied to bring one of his Social: IRL events to Springfield - now, do yourself a favor and don't miss it!

Social Media Marketing Boot Camp with Sarah Evans (@prsarahevans)
7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Thursday December 9, 2010
Veridian Event Center, 309 South Avenue

Limited tickets will be available.

You'll spend a full six hours of session time with Sarah, taking an in-depth look at the role of social media in marketing your business or organization.

You won't just learn effective social media marketing techniques, but will look at how social media works in conjunction with traditional marketing and public relations and why that's important. This includes practical ways of engaging customers and prospects, case studies, help with creating a social media based marketing plan, hints and tips, ways to make your brand stand out online, effective engagement, latest trends, tools and resources, and plenty of opportunities for discussion and Q & A. This will be a very hands-on event designed to give you lots of practical experience and learning, and for you to leave with new ideas and tools you can implement in a very real way.

With attendance being limited there will also be some great opportunities for quality networking and building valuable relationships.

Discounts are available for multiple registrations. Special discounted rates are also provided for members of the PRSA or Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, for non-profit organizations, and for students. Standard registration is $225. PRSA members, Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce members, and non-profit organizations receive a discounted rate of $195. Discounts available for multiple attendees. Special registration $125 only for full-time students.

Registration includes breakfast pastries on arrival and a day long refreshment station with coffee, tea, water and sodas. Lunch is not included. The Veridian is located in the heart of historic downtown Springfield with great lunch options within a very easy walking distance. We encourage you to use your lunch break to explore the downtown area and connect with other attendees.

A post event meetup will take place in the evening after the event. This will be open for anyone to attend. Watch for details!

Click here for more information about the event or to register. http://www.socialirl.com/events/.

Define your audience

Market segmentation or defining target markets has always been important in reaching our audiences. Facebook now has made it easier to do so, too! Read this piece from Ad Age to learn more.

Accountability? Ethics? Who knows?

I stumbled across this article on Mashable this morning, which addresses online ethics in teenagers. While it's a short piece, it definitely made me think: how has technology changed the work we do? How does it change with different generations? And how do we maintain credibility as we lose some of the control of the information?

Check it out

Remember: our chapter now has a Delicious account in order to share articles, too!

What about when the world tires of Facebook?

While no one is claiming that it has happened yet, there is a distinct possibility that the public will tire of Facebook. Growth slowed over the summer, and this article notes that "Some are concerned about privacy, certainly. Younger users, meanwhile, are probably irked that there parents are using the site too." What can we learn from Facebook? Where do we go from here? This article explains how an organization should build in the principles of Facebook to their own website.

Don't forget: our chapter has a Delcious account where we can share and bookmark great articles!

Influential tweeters

Want to know who to follow on Twitter to keep up with the latest news? Here's a list! I've found that if I follow too many of the same type of organization, I end up with a lot of redundancy, so pick and choose....but this is a great place to start if you're starting out on Twitter.

Don't forget: our chapter has a Delicious account to share and bookmark great articles!

Register for "Buzz for Your Business"

Ready to take your PR skills to the next level?

The southwest Missouri Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America presents our sixth professional development conference, "Buzz for your Business: Be Seen, Be Heard, Be Read." It’s a chance to learn from the best. You’ll discover how to use new media to create excitement for your business or organization, how to improve your relationship with the media—then get everyone talking.

"Buzz for Your Business: Be Seen, Be Heard, Be Read," a Professional Development Conference presented by the Public Relations Society of America

Thursday, Sept. 30

8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, 202 S. John Q. Hammons Parkway, Springfield, Mo.

REGISTRATION

$85 – PRSA, Chamber, Ad Club and AWC Members

$99 – Non-member

$40 – Student

EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION before Sept. 10: Save $10!

REGISTER ONLINE at http://www.swmoprsa.org/prsa/index.php?/seminar or send a check payable to Southwest Missouri PRSA, PO Box 4807, Springfield MO 65808. Registration deadline is Thursday, Sept. 23, 2010.

CANCELLATIONS must be emailed to lcox@servproofspringfield.com no later than 5 p.m. Monday, Sept. 27, or subject to $40 cancellation fee.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Paula Ringer, Plank Productions, paula@plankproductions.com or 417-865-7981.

How can we use location-based social networking

While this article is focused on how journalists can use location-based social networking, I think it's worth a look for all of us. We all need to know how to harness these technologies to improve our processes and to stretch what we ever thought was imaginable.

Read "Location! Location! Location!"

Don't forget: our chapter has a Delicious account to bookmark articles to share!

Get in the Game

Ever wonder what all the jargon means? Feel a little out of the loop? Read through this "Idiot's Guide to Understanding Today's Marketing Catchphrases" and get on the same page.

Don't forget - tomorrow is the PR Boot Camp - you can register now!