The one that got me thinking the most was this Social Media Statistics infographic demonstrating a study conducted by Pear Analytics, where 2,000 random tweets were analyzed for content. Long story short: the majority of tweets consist of completely pointless babble. Surprisingly, considering the number of companies getting on the Twitter train, only 10% are spam or self-promotional. Not surprisingly, under 10% were considered interesting with pass along value. It’s also interesting to note that conversational tweets were a close second in frequency. In other words, people like to chat on Twitter, putting the social in social media.

So, as a PR professional and active Twitter user concentrating in food and beverage business, what does this mean for me? It definitely means I’ll look to up the ante in my interesting and unique content to stand out in the crowd. For our clients, I’d say our best bet is to strike up some meaningful conversations with all the foodies out there in Twitterland. As a smart colleague once said, participate in the conversation.

Here are some thoughts on how to improve your or your clients’ Twitter communication:

• Be a resource: Tweet useful bits of information and links to educational or interesting blogs and Web sites, or drive people to useful parts of your website for educational purposes. This is an occasion where self-promotion has a purpose.
• Be funny! Encourage retweets and community interaction with a little bit of funny. Humor goes a long way in grabbing people’s attention. A good example: I posted a picture of an empty glass of Rioja and tweeted “Sad Times.” This was retweeted and followers of @RiojaWine went up significantly that day.
• Chat ‘em up: Following people within the foodie community, there are countless opportunities to strike up a conversation. This is grassroots PR at its best, and a great way to engage and create a loyal following. Is this time consuming? Yes sir! Is it absolutely necessary? You betchya.
• Jazz it up a little: Don’t just post words and random thoughts. Post pictures, a GPS location of whatever cool place you’re tweeting about or a link to an interesting article. If you’re sipping a nice glass of wine, take a picture of it, post a review or talk about what you’re pairing it with.
• Make it searchable with #hashtags: This is an oldie but a goodie. Journalists searching for trends and people searching for communities and Twitter friends will more easily find you in the sea of information out there.
• Make friends: This seems obvious, but invite 25-30 followers in your respective community per week. They will follow you back, especially if you follow some of the above rules to tweet by.

Today, former ESPN baseball analyst Steve Phillips came clean. Phillips was involved in a sex scandal (ala Tiger) involving a 22-year-old production assistant last fall. He was immediately fired by the network and the story died. Or, so it seemed. This morning, just a day or two after leaving a treatment program for sex addiction, Phillips surprisingly decided to come clean on the Today Show. What is interesting about his appearance is the fact that not only did he take responsibility for cheating on this wife and kids, he also tried to describe what “sex addition” really means. I’m sure there are many who feel he’s just looking for an excuse, “…ask for forgiveness and move on.” But this morning, Phillips became the face of the issue. It’s a risky move if he hopes to rebuild his career, and one in which you have to question the true motive. He spent a lot of time talking about the need to repair his relationship with his family, which poses the question, was this effort really about saving his marriage, or was it about saving face? While getting out in front of the issue makes sense from a PR perspective, does it really help his kids who will likely face a new round of whispering behind their backs? According to Google’s story “hotness” scale, this story is “on fire.” That’s what happens when you put a little hot air on simmering coals. While it makes Mr. Phillips a hot commodity, I question whether the appearance aligns with his stated goal of winning his family back.  

 
photo credit: Greg Timm

 There are two types of people in this world: snow angels and snow crabs.

Snow angels embrace the snow. They eagerly anticipate its coming, stocking up on hot chocolate and brownie mix. They get out their snow gear–and they have a ton of it–so they can be ready for snowball fights and romantic walks in winter wonderland. For them, snow is full of opportunities. It’s a welcome and well-loved friend.

But all that snow just makes snow crabs, well - crabby.  They complain about how messy it looks after the first day. They gripe about the fact that schools are closed and they can’t get to work. They mope about not being able to get to the gym. They whine that they’re cold. For them, snow is something to be simply endured until it goes away.

I admit it–I’m a snow crab. The foot of snow blanketing central Virginia has not made me happy. It’s screwed up my carefully planned agenda and caused me to rearrange my priorities. It’s forced me to think differently about how to accomplish what I need to get done for my clients, colleagues and family. It’s required me to find new tools and new people on whom to rely. It’s made me slow down (gasp!) and think about what I’m doing and how I’m doing it.

But really, is that all bad? Most people rarely take the time to examine what they’re doing and how they’re doing it. In our rush to get things done, we don’t make time to really listen, learn and absorb. But that listening, learning and absorbing is critical to creative ideas and transformational thinking. It’s essential for bringing value to our relationships, whether they be with clients, classmates, coworkers or even family.

I hear we’re going to get wallopped with another snowstorm this weekend. This time, I’ll be prepared. Instead of fretting about what I’m not getting done, I plan to leaf through some art books, dig around on the Web to see what more I can learn about clients’ industries, bone up on  the details of what’s going on with our legislative session, call professional colleagues whom I respect just to chat. I’ll think about different things in hopes that it will spur me to think differently about ordinary things.

With any luck, my inner snow angel will whack my outer snow crab with a great big shovel.

Bring on the snow.

Here it is the last week of January and I can already see the New Year’s resolution bandwagon starting to lose members at my local gym. I’ll have to admit, I’m not exactly following my resolution at 100 percent, but a campaign I’m working on is giving me added incentive to stay engaged in my goal of improving my wellness. It’s called America’s Wellness Challenge and you can learn more about it at www.lifesupplemented.org.  Right now we are running a $15,000 sweepstakes to incentivize Americans to take that first step in improving their wellness – kind of like health care reform at home. 

All you have to do is take the free My Wellness Scorecard which measures your  overall wellness. I’ve been a WannabeWELL for years but with the big 50 around the corner, it’s time to make a change.  The best way to lower our health care costs is to take better care of ourselves. Now you have a chance to win $15,000 at the same time!

Tiger Woods is a phenomenal golfer – no question about it, and no one will ever take that away from him. He used his athleticism to build an amazing personal brand that stood for excellence on and off the course. For years, people have associated Tiger with integrity, honor and family. And companies have paid big bucks to associate their brands with this “one-man brand.” Apparently, however, the “brand” was all just a well-orchestrated illusion.

Tiger’s recent “transgressions” have resulted in late night talk show fodder and generated a tremendous amount of online chatter. According to information reported by the New York Times, 91 percent of buzz about Tiger pre-accident was positive. The Friday following the accident, that number dropped to 43 percent. And those late night jokes? Not so funny if you’re one of the companies paying Tiger millions to represent your brand. The same New York Times article cites Nielsen research that states that through Dec. 7, there were more than 20 Tiger jokes pairing him with at least one sponsor by name. Of course, there’s always going to be someone out there that claims any publicity is good publicity. But, in today’s digital age where reputations can be built and destroyed faster than ever before – and consumer trust and credibility are increasingly harder to earn – companies have to be that much more careful of the personalities they choose to represent them.

What would you do if your company had a multi-million dollar sponsorship agreement with Tiger? Companies like Accenture and P&G have decided to cut – or at least loosen – their ties with the iconic golfer. Other sponsors like Nike have decided to stick by him, citing this as a “blip” in his career. Meanwhile, Tiger’s decided to take a hiatus. When he returns – be it six months or a year from now – will people – and sponsors – be willing to forgive and forget?

photo credit: James Jordan

Two potential clients came by the other day for what I like to call a “chemistry check.” In the course of our conversation, they asked an interesting question: when we have found that we have not been successful with clients in the past, what did we think was the reason for that failure?

It’s a great question. In an industry that has its fair share of egos, it’s easy to point the finger back at the client for not listening to our wise counsel. But if we’re honest with ourselves, many of our client “challenges” come down to one thing: unclear expectations.

In the excitement of starting work with a new client, it’s tempting to rush to begin without doing the proper homework. But those first few meetings with clients are critical; they set the stage for the rest of the relationship, which often succeeds or fails based on what is decided in the beginning.

Several years ago, we put in place processes that ensure that we are providing top-notch value and service to all of our clients. Key in this initiative is a process for determining what the client expects from us right up front so there are no surprises down the line. We sit down with clients and walk through a process designed to uncover their communications preferences, measurement milestones and overall goals for their organization so we can not only be a seamless partner but provide on-target strategy. The most important part of this conversation centers on establishing realistic expectations about progress and results. This can be challenging when we have a client who, for example, wants us to guarantee a story on the front page of the New York Times within two weeks. But it’s incombent upon us as counselors to manage those expectations right up front. If we don’t, it almost always leads to disappointment on the part of the client and frustration on the part of the agency.

Let me point out that this conversation shouldn’t be one way. The wise potential clients whom I referenced above also asked us what they could do on their part to ensure success. It was a great opportunity to talk about the importance of access and timeliness, among other things. These gentlemen understood that expectations are a two-way street. If our clients don’t think to bring this up themselves, then we shouldn’t hesitate to let them know–up front–how their actions can contribute to a successful outcome.

Charles F. Kettering said, “High achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectation.” You do indeed get what you expect. So let’s continue to focus on setting clear, realistic expectations in all of our engagements rather than having to clean up the mess later.

photo credit: yark64

Today marks the 68th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that initiated World War II. More than 2,400 Americans were killed, including 1,177 crew members on the USS Arizona. Part of this vessel still rests at the bottom of the harbor to serve as a memorial to the people who perished in this tragic attack.

In 1997, I was able to visit the memorial constructed at Pearl Harbor in person. At the time, my husband Kevin (who served in the U.S. Air Force for 10 years) was serving a one year unaccompanied tour in Kunsan Air Base, Korea. We were meeting up at his 6-month, mid-tour mark in Honolulu for a 2-week reunion. The clearest memory of this visit to the memorial site was seeing the oil from the USS Arizona still rising to the surface of the water around us.

Although I was not born until the 70’s, I had learned about Pearl Harbor through history classes and personal stories from my grandfathers who had served in both the U.S. Navy and U.S Army. It was extremely important for me to honor and acknowledge this sacrifice made by so many of our military. I feel fortunate to have not lost anyone personally, but as a military spouse for 10 years, I had experienced what it felt like for my husband to get sent away twice to foreign countries for more than 6 months at a time and return safely on both occasions.

Please keep the military in your thoughts today - both past and present.

Tips to Optimize a Facebook Page

The following four tips will help a Facebook administrator quickly update their account and load various types of multimedia:

1. Add your own multimedia and creative content in a customized tab with the Static FBML (Facebook’s Markup Language) app
2. Add the Facebook Flash Player app in order to upload Flash Files to a unique tab/box.
3. Posted Items Pro lets you upload many types of video files
4. Facebook Notes and the Twitter app repurpose content streamed through an RSS feed into your Facebook page and then messages your network when content is published

Facebook Connect

Companies are beginning to get creative with Facebook Connect, a tool that makes it possible for developers to transform a Website into a community. Facebook Connect’s greatest advantage is its simplicity: one click connection and no new profile or password needed. Visitors can now interact directly with your Website and share what they find with their friends on Facebook or other social networks. For an in-depth look at Facebook Connect read Jesse Pickard’s post on Inside Facebook, and also check out TechCrunch’s post about how Qlipso is using the tool to allow visitors to connect from the Qlipso site directly with friends on MySpace, AIM, and MSN Messenger. (Image from Facebook Connect)

Advertising on Facebook

Though Facebook receives a lot of criticism for dismal click-through rates, an AdvertisingAge post a Vitrue study that found “click-through rates for content on brand pages’ walls are as high as 6.49%.” Moreover, creating a Facebook ad is not difficult, and it doesn’t have to be expensive.

To create a Facebook Ad, you will first need to upload an image, including a short title (25 characters) and the main text (135 characters). Then add a link to your landing page – where you’d like the target audience to click through to – and select the targeted demographic for the ad. Facebook provides advanced demographic filters, information gleaned from user profiles. These filters include age, location, keywords, language and even relationship status.

Next, select your pricing scheme; pay per day, pay per click, or pay per view. Select the maximum willing to pay – running ads can be as cheap as $1 per day – and Facebook will provide suggested bids based on your target audience. For more information see Facebook’s Suggested Best Practices and Common Reasons for Ad Rejection.

In Becoming the Alpha Dog in Your Own Home, Times reporter Alex Williams examines that ways in which parents employ the techniques of Cesar “Dog Whisperer” Millan on their own children. Of course no one goes as far as smacking little Johnny on the nose with a rolled up newspaper, but take into account Millan’s mantra that exercise, discipline and affection are the keys to happiness.

 The Dog Whisperer’s various techniques make a lot of sense for childrearing, but also, make a lot of sense for our daily interactions with co-workers, friends and family. So with the holidays, and the inevitable stress that comes with them I thought I’d pass on some of his tips which I happen to think are not only useful but really capture the whatcanbe spirit.

Imagine that this is your boss.

Exercise: Each of us have a different amount of time and effort that we can dedicate to exercise, but rather than worry about making it to the gym everyday, why not simply go for a 15-20 minute walk during your lunch break. For us Type-A’s out there this may seem like a waste of time, but you’d be surprised by how energized and focused you’ll feel after a short walk. A great benefit before that afternoon conference call!

Discipline: Millan has a term that I love: “calm and assertive energy” which he defines as:

 “This is the energy you project to show your dog you are the calm and assertive pack leader. Note: assertive does not mean angry or aggressive. Calm-assertive means always compassionate, but quietly in control.”

 Now replace “dog” with “co-worker” or “client” or “mother-in-law” and you have got a great lesson to live by. Rather than constant deferral, backing down or feeling like maybe your ideas aren’t the best in the room, be confident, assert yourself and express your ideas. Everyone around you (including yourself) will benefit.

 Affection: Here’s where you remember to treat yourself everyday. As a naturally affectionate person, I’m happy to dole out hugs and compliments all day. Kindness towards others is very important, but it’s also key to be good to yourself. Brag on yourself in a meeting when you know you did a great job, eat that extra 5g of carbs for lunch, or just spend a few minutes a day not thinking about an impending project and just “being.”

five is the one rule that will save your hide in the first 24 hours no

matter the incident.

3.  Know What You Want To Say Before They Ask.   

4.  Admit That You Are Wing-It-Challenged.

5.  Three Key Messages For Every Crisis

In all of the years I’ve been working in crisis management, I have come to understand the true power of the rule of three. As a journalist, I used it all the time, but it took me nearly a decade to see how it applies to crisis management. If you remember nothing else from these crisis rules, remember this: there are three key messages you can depend on in the first 48 hours of any crisis. It doesn’t matter what the crisis is, these messages apply:

·         “We have a plan to deal with …” You really do need to have a plan – that is why creating a crisis plan in Rule 1 is so important.

·         “Our hearts and prayers go out to those …” You need to show compassion for those that have been killed, hurt or simply inconvenienced.

·         “We immediately began our own investigation to make sure that we …” You need to commit to finding out what went wrong and taking the necessary steps to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.

For these messages to work, it is critical that you back them up with actions. Saying you care about your employees doesn’t work if you don’t demonstrate it. Over the next two weeks, read the quotes from those facing a crisis and ask yourself if one of these key messages would have worked just as well.