13 Ways Social Media Can Improve Your Career

November 19, 2008 – 8:00 am

I write a lot about how social media can help companies to engage better with their customers. Today, though, I’m taking a different tack and thinking about how social media can improve your career.

Here are twelve thirteen ways that I can certainly say social media has helped my career already, and can help yours too:

Job hunting

1. Expand your network - Social networks like LinkedIN, Facebook and even Twitter are a fantastic way to get to ‘know’ people in your industry but it goes beyond that. Search out their blogs. Find relevant forums. Comment on their work and get to know them. Create your own high-quality, regular content and they will come to you, too.

2. Obtain references - More and more companies nowadays look online when recruiting. If your co-workers, clients or partners are on LinkedIN, ask them to write a recommendation for you. It reflects well on you and, if the recommendation matches the person, it reflects well on them too.

3. Own your online brand - Your homepage may be what Google says it is, and so is your personal brand. I went as far as re-locating this site from a different URL in order to reclaim the top spot when you search for “dave fleet.” What does that matter? Well, when a client recently Googled me when we proposed some social media work for them, they came back saying “you know your stuff” rather than “what do you know?”

4. Find jobs - Most jobs aren’t advertised - they’re filled through networking and recommendations. My job certainly wasn’t advertised - I got to know the team here at Thornley Fallis through social media tools and related events. When the time came for me to move, I already had that connection. Without that, I would likely not be in this job now.

5. Build thought leadership - By creating your own content, you can (over time) develop yourself as a thought leader in your space. (This one could fall under ‘job hunting’ or ‘job performance)

Job Performance

6. Stay on top of industry trends - If you haven’t already, get yourself a Google Reader account and search out the places where people are discussing your industry online. Subscribe to them and read voraciously. My number one tip for agency newbies was to “be a sponge” but that really applies to everyone.

7. Stay on top of breaking news - You can do more than just stay on top of your own job or industry through social media. Pretty much all of the major news outlets have RSS feeds; subscribe to them and set aside time to skim through the latest news each day. Read what’s relevant; discard the rest - the ability to filter out the noise is one of social media’s big benefits. On Twitter, subscribe to feeds like @breakingnewson and any media feeds that you like to stay on top of news by the minute

8. Demonstrate you’re on the leading edge - Whether it’s internally with your boss, co-workers and internal clients, or externally with suppliers, clients and stakeholders, knowing what’s going on will go a long way to improving your reputation. Staying plugged-in helps you get there.

9. Improve your productivity - I subscribe to a couple of hundred sites; I read about 40 on a daily basis (although a couple of them are aggregators). To go to each site individually and search for new content would take most of my day, and catching new posts as they come up throughout the day would be impossible. My RSS reader lets me get through it in a few minutes before work, during the day and in the evening. It’s a huge productivity boost for me.

10. Learn from others - One of the best parts of writing this blog, posting on Twitter, listening to podcasts and all of the other tools out there is that I get to benefit from other peoples’ experience and knowledge. If I’m not sure of an idea I’ll throw it out there for input. When I have an opinion, I let other people challenge it. In the end, I’m that much more sure of what I do and think because of the input of the social media community

11. Improve your writing - When it comes to writing, practice makes perfect. I’m told my writing has improved immeasurably since I started this site (although I still have a way to go). You simply can’t beat the benefit you get from editing your thoughts down to 140 characters for Twitter, or constantly structuring and re-structuring your thoughts as you write blog posts.

12. Become a better editor - In order to have good writing you generally require good editing. With social media, you rarely have someone else to do that for you so you’re forced to teach yourself.

13. Clarify your thoughts - Putting my thoughts, opinions and approaches to problems down on ‘paper,’ as it were, forces you to get your head around them. As a result, you’re more effective when confronted by those issues in your work.

These are just a few of the ways that social media can help you along in your career. What would you add to the list?

By Dave Fleet | Posted in social media, social networks | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (26)

Are You Remembering Your Target Audience?

November 18, 2008 – 8:00 am

When you come up with a communications plan or a cool new initiative, do you think about your target audience or do you focus on the bright shiny ideas?

Every morning when I get up I switch on CBC News Morning. Every morning for the last few months, without fail, I’m confronted by this ad from Grey Power  in the commercial breaks:

I won’t lie to you – I’d rather pull my teeth out than watch this commercial one more time. However, it’s quite possible that part of the reason for that is because I’m not the target.

It’s all a question of targeting

The commercial above isn’t aimed at me – it plays on a stereotype of young people that, quite frankly, annoys the hell out of me. However, that same stereotype may appeal to the people it targets – the 50+ age demographic (and people who like bad commercials… but I digress…).

Meanwhile, I think this riff on the old Budweiser "wassup" ads is great, but my parents would likely change the channel – they’re not the target audience:

Think: personas

Next time you’re in a brainstorming session or sitting down to write a communications plan, ask yourself:

  • Who are we targeting?
  • How old are they?
  • How educated are they?
  • How connected are they?
  • How much do they earn?
  • What do they care about?
  • Where’s the best place to reach them?
  • Why should they care about you and what you’re doing?

Think about these questions; develop personas for your target audience. Get inside their heads. Give them a name. Develop communications that reflect their wants and needs.

Once you’ve done that, you might be able to target your communications effectively.

Think differently

Since starting my career in public relations I’ve trained myself to stop and think every time I see advertising that I don’t like:

"Am I the target? Who is the target? What might they think of this?"

It’s surprising how often that leads me to view the advertising completely differently.

What do you think?

By Dave Fleet | Posted in marketing, pr, public relations, strategy | Tagged , , | Comments (2)

Quality Matters

November 17, 2008 – 8:30 am

When you finish a piece of work, are you willing to put your reputation on the line for it?

I hope so, because that’s what happens.

Every time you finish a piece of work, your reputation is on the line. Hand over exceptional work and your reputation will improve. Hand over sloppy work and it will worsen.

errorIt’s like the old line about trust: it takes a long time to build trust, but just one moment to lose it all.

No-one is perfect - we all make mistakes. Still, every time you produce sub-standard work, your reputation suffers. If you produce something that requires additional work from the recipient because you didn’t pay attention to detail, your reputation suffers even more.

This goes for work you pass-on to your manager, as well as to clients.

Proof-read your own writing. Double-check those media contacts. Play devil’s advocate with your strategy.

Don’t expect other people to fix your work for you. Fix it yourself. Make the quality of your work an asset, not a liability. Excel and your reputation will get better, not worse.

Are you willing to stand behind the work you produce?

By Dave Fleet | Posted in miscellaneous, writing | Tagged , | Comments (2)

A Poorly Thought-Out Sponsorship?

November 15, 2008 – 1:04 pm

The Globe and Mail newspaper reports today that at the launch of Waste Reduction Week, hundreds of schoolchildren were given souvenir bags containing bottled water from Nestlé.

To their great credit, the students reacted badly to the Nestlé promotion (Nestlé Waters Canada sponsors the Waste Reduction Week). They wrote to both the recycling council, the corporate sponsors and to the two Ontario government ministers attending the event.

As one student noted:

"Isn’t it strange to talk about not wasting when you gave us a water bottle to waste?"

Meanwhile, although a Liberal MPP’s private members’ bill to ban bottled-water sales was defeated, the City of Toronto is considering whether to ban the sale bottled water in city facilities and the Toronto District School Board is considering banning their sale on school property.

A useful reminder to companies that if your message doesn’t match your actions, people may reject both.

(Image source: Green Union)

By Dave Fleet | Posted in branding, pr | Tagged , , | Comments (3)

The Ethics of Ghost-Writing in Social Media

November 13, 2008 – 7:03 pm

ethics_session Last night I co-hosted a session on social media ethics with Michael O’Connor Clarke at the Talk Is Cheap 2 conference in Toronto.

Ethics is always guaranteed to generate discussion, as much of it comes down to where you draw your own personal line in the sand. To my delight we had a standing room-only crowd, and we got into some interesting discussions around the ethics involved in engaging using social media (slides are at the end of this post).

One of the more interesting discussions arose around the ethics of ghost writing online.

Ghost writing?

In case you’re not familiar with the terms, “ghost” writing in general refers to (usually professional) writers creating content and then attributing it to someone else.

Note: there’s a difference between ghost blogging, astroturfing (bad) and character blogs like Captain Morgan (dodgy execution - in fact they seem to have packed the blog itself in now - but ok ethically).

Undisclosed ghost blogging is unethical

Undisclosed ghost blogging, while tempered somewhat by the intention behind it, is unethical in my opinion.

Unlike ghost-written speeches, where the spokesperson lends their name and approval to the writing by actually saying the words, ghost-written blogs can be published without the named person ever seeing them. Think, for example, of Kanye West’s blog, which kept publishing posts even after he was arrested this year. The result: brand damage.

When you’re online and especially when using social media tools, I think the expectation is that when you see someone’s name on something then it’s actually that person. That’s the point of “social media,” right? It’s social. If I’m not building a relationship with the person I think I am, there’s something very wrong with that. What’s more, when it becomes apparent that you aren’t who you’re pretending to be, you lose all of the trust you’ve built up with me.

One participant asked why, if ghost blogging is bad, is ghost micro-blogging ok? Twitter accounts like Barack Obama and Stephen Harper aren’t written by those individuals (unless Harper likes to write in the third person), but the participant thought people seemed to think it was ok.

My response: it’s not ok.

I don’t think either of these accounts is ethically sound. Neither are the many accounts like them, whether political or non-political. The staffers are pretending to be someone they’re not. They aren’t ‘hurting’ anyone per se, but they are misleading them.

Disclose

The key point for me is simple: disclose what’s going on. Be transparent.

I’m not completely naive. I don’t expect every politician, most of whom are probably cynical about these tools, to use them personally. I’d love it if they did, but I’m ok with other people writing on their behalf. They just need to disclose that fact.

If these accounts, or the many similar ones to them, simply inserted a quick “Written on behalf of PM Harper by [name]” I’d be absolutely fine with it.

If your CEO doesn’t have time to blog, don’t offer to write it for him and pretend he did it. Either be open and have a disclaimer from him that acknowledges “I don’t write these posts, but I do read them and I stand behind them” or just have a company blog. Then again, consider whether blogging is the right forum for you.

Isn’t it obvious?

One argument that I heard last night is that no-one really believes it’s Obama on the other end of the account anyway.

On Twitter, that might be true as it’s still largely early adopters on here. They’re savvy about this kind of thing. However, I don’t think that excuses it. What’s more, if you consider ‘older’ social media platforms such as blogs, you’re not dealing with people who live and breathe this stuff - you’re dealing with people who are much more likely to take things at face value.

As I said earlier, much of this topic is personal. What do you think? Is ghost blogging unethical to you? Is ghost micro-blogging different?

Slides - The Ethics Of Social Media PR

(Image credit: George Saratlic via TwitPic)

By Dave Fleet | Posted in ethics, events, social media | Tagged , , , | Comments (18)

Should Principals Really Do Media Clippings?

November 12, 2008 – 8:30 am

In a recent episode of Inside PR, one of the excellent podcasts I mentioned yesterday, the panel members talked about the importance of senior executives in public relations agencies continuing to do the “grunt work.” I meant to phone-in a comment but kept forgetting and decided, in the end, to write about it here instead.

Maintaining your skills is important

I completely agree with most of what the Inside PR crew said.

As Julie Rusciolelli mentioned in a related blog post:

“Senior PR practitioners should never feel so self-important where they don’t need to make a media call or draft a press release.”

For one thing, as they point out, staying involved maintains your executives’ skills. Writing takes practice, and it’s easy to forget how you used to go about it. Media calls are the same, as are many other aspects of communications.

Aside from the practical benefits to the executives, continuing to do the practical work also motivates the more junior employees who see that their boss is still willing to get stuck-in and do some of the heavy lifting.

However…

I think there are some things on which senior execs shouldn’t spend their time, and that wasn’t communicated effectively in the conversation.

One of the panel mentioned media lists. I’m not sure that clients would want to spend $300 per hour for you to create media lists or cut clippings when they could spend $100 or less per hour for the same result.

This isn’t about being too good or too senior to do something, or having worked your way out of having to do it; it’s about providing good value for money to clients.

Experience does matter

Don’t get me wrong - as I said earlier I agree with most of what the team said. In some cases it does make sense for senior practitioners to stay involved and I certainly don’t think you become “too good” for tasks as you move up. What’s more, in some instances experience can result in a superior product. For example:

  • Experienced writers add value by knowing how to structure their work
  • Experienced media relations pros know how to effectively communicate a story to reporters
  • Experienced event planners will see the gaps in event plans before they jeopardize the event.

It also makes sense for experienced team members to stay involved when they’re coaching others. That kind of learning is invaluable.

In other cases, though, this kind of thinking just comes across as people trying too hard to sound humble. Sure, when you’re short-staffed it’s great to know that people are willing and able to chip in. The rest of the time, however, wouldn’t it be better to oversee those things while helping the more junior employees to develop?

Long-term that will provide your client with better value.

(Prior to publishing this post, I contacted a couple of the members of the Inside PR panel to get their reaction. Dave Jones reinforced his valid point from the show that as people move up the ladder they can delegate work, but the responsibility for that work ultimately continues to rest with them. Martin Waxman, meanwhile agreed with my concern about billing rates and suggested that principals lower their rates for that work or provide a blended rate to clients. Thanks for your input, guys)

By Dave Fleet | Posted in public relations | Tagged , | Comments (3)

Top 12 Communications, Marketing And Social Media Podcasts

November 11, 2008 – 8:30 am

I’m a podcast junkie. I listen to them whenever I’m outside, and I get through a lot. It helps that I run marathons, so I spend an hour or two on the trails most nights and have plenty of time to listen.

If you’re into PR and social media and you’re new to podcasting or are looking for a few new shows to check out, here are my current favourites, in no particular order:

Six Pixels of Separation

As I said in a call-in comment to this show last week, Mitch Joel’s ‘Six Pixels of Separation’ is one of the shows that got me into listening to podcasts. Mitch’s enthusiasm for his subjects is infectious. What’s more, his commentary, insights, interviews and useful tips make for essential listening if you’re even remotely connected to digital marketing.

For Immediate Release

This is another one of the foundations of my podcast playlist. Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson, together with a plethora of regular correspondents, lead their listeners on a bi-weekly tour of the world of communications and social media.

For Immediate Release is divided into several ’streams’ - the Hobson & Holtz report; book reviews; interviews and live call-in shows. They’re available individually or aggregated together as a single feed.

The regular shows are usually about an hour long, so if you don’t have lots of time for your podcast listening it can be a bit infeasible to listen to them all (I quickly fall behind when I’m not training every day).

Inside PR

The first of several Canadian podcasts on this list, Inside PR is one of the shows that I make a point of listening-to as soon as it is published each week. Hosted by Dave Jones, Martin Waxman, Julie Rusciolelli and the guy-next-door-to-me, Terry Fallis. The show focuses on public relations from an agency perspective, and was actually the first podcast to which I ever listened.

Managing the Gray

Along with Mitch Joel, CC Chapman has one of the most energizing, infectious voices in podcasting. He can be sporadic in posting new episodes sometimes, but the energy level alone makes them worth checking out. I had the pleasure of hanging out with CC at PodCamp Montreal this year, and the energy is there in real life as well. The marketing thoughts in his show are helpful, too…

License to spyCBC Search Engine

This is the first show I listen to every week. Unfortunately Jesse Brown’s lively, insightful show got cut from the CBC’s regular schedule and the length has suffered from the lack of resources Jesse now has. Regardless, it’s still essential listening for me. It doesn’t hurt that I love the way the show is structured - the music, the tone, the topics all fit together perfectly.

CBC Spark

Nora Young hosts Spark, another CBC podcast which explores issues in technology and culture. I met Nora and her colleague Dan Misener at Podcasters Across Borders this year

Media Bullseye Radio Roundtable

The most recent addition to my list (as the folks at Custom Scoop just added it to iTunes); every week Jen Zingsheim and Chip Griffin invite a different person from the social media sphere to join them for a discussion of the latest news in the blogosphere. The different speakers each episode mean there’s always a new perspective on things. Well worth checking out.

PRobecast

The cast of PRobecast has changed over time as people have come and gone from the Topaz Partners team, but the show has retained its focus on social media and public relations. Nowadays the cast includes a couple of people who are new to/haven’t bought-in to the social media ‘thing’ so there are plenty of interesting discussions.

Marketing Over Coffee

Christopher Penn and John Wall meet at a Boston-area Dunkin Donuts every week to discuss the latest in marketing trends and techniques. I have a habit of referring to the show as “Spam over Coffee” due to their focus on email marketing, but whichever way you cut it, there’s more knowledge jammed into each show than I possess in total.

(Also check out John’s other show, The M Show, for his take on recent news and entertainment happenings; and Christopher’s Financial Aid Podcast for… well… financial advice.)

Trafcom News

The lovely Donna Papacosta’s podcast is one of the more irregular shows on my listening list, but it’s worth it for the useful, practical podcasting and audio production tips, and Donna’s dulcet tones (she’s like an audio massage).

Shill

One of the more irreverent shows on my list, this one makes it on here due to its occasional tangential mentions of PR and marketing. I primarily listen to Shill for amusement while telling myself it’s educational.

With an apparently random show schedule, Dave Jones and Doug Walker take a tour through whatever catches their attention at the time. Throw-in the occasional F-bomb, plenty of self-mockery and copious ribbing of their listener, and you’ve got a thoroughly amusing show (to me, anyway… but what do I know?).

Tip: The show notes are often as amusing as the podcast itself.

Media Driving

The show title is apt, as Jay Moonah quite literally drives while recording this podcast (I wonder how that will work with Ontario’s proposed new cellphone driving law…)! The shortest show on my playlist, the ever bubbly Jay usually gets into just one topic within the umbrella of “communications, content, messages and marketing” on each show. This makesMedia Driving perfect for when you’ve got a spare minute or 10 on your hands.

So now you know what I’m listening to. What about you?

By Dave Fleet | Posted in podcast | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (23)

Eight Tips For Difficult Client Conversations

November 10, 2008 – 8:30 am

Kerri Birtch, our latest hire in the Toronto office of Thornley Fallis, wrote a post on the PR Girlz blog recently talking about the art of consulting from the perspective of a new account coordinator.

One of Kerri’s more insightful thoughts:

…it’s not nearly as easy as some might think.

Here’s why:

We work for them, but we may not always agree with everything they ask of us. I think the key is balancing their wants with what you as the consultant feel they need.

Kerri neatly summarizes one of the founding principles of our firm - we tell our clients what they need to hear, not what they want to hear.

Unfortunately, sometimes that means having difficult conversations with your clients. Here are seven tips for making those conversations as conflict-free and effective as possible.

1. Explain the implications of their approach

Organizations bring us in to offer our expertise in communications and social media. They aren’t necessarily experts in these areas. As a result, they may not realize the implications of some of the ideas they have. Chances are, they don’t really want to act ineffectively or unethically; they just don’t realize that they’ll be ineffective or unethical. Remembering this fact enables you to approach potentially awkward discussions delicately so you can avoid any embarrassment on either side.

2. Find other solutions

Try to avoid saying a straight “no” to the client if possible. If possible, come up with palatable alternatives that leave you closer to a solution than “no” would do.

3. Remember that they are the experts on their business

Your bright new idea may sound great to you, but remember that while you’ve studied-up on your clients, their expertise in their business is still an order of magnitude higher than your knowledge. They may know of factors that affect your work, about which you know nothing.

4. Don’t be afraid to disagree

Your clients may come to you with ideas that you believe simply won’t work. It’s your job to tell them that. Simply agreeing to implement ill-advised ideas does them - and you - no favours. It wastes their money and lowers your credibility, both with the client (who doesn’t see any good results) and perhaps with your media contacts (who see you pitching non-news to them).

You offer the best value for money when, rather than being a “yes man,” you offer useful, honest advice.

5. Think it through in advance

If you have the opportunity, take five or 10 minutes to think the conversation and your approach through in advance. Jot down a few notes if it helps. It’s much easier to have those tough conversations when your case is clear, organized and well presented.

6. Look to maximize the length of your relationship, not the budget

As I’ve often heard around the office, being a full-service agency it doesn’t mean we’ll suggest every service for our clients. Throwing-in a bunch of tactics that don’t fit the situation might maximize your short-term budget, but if you suggest the appropriate tactics you’re more likely to have a long-lasting relationship with a satisfied client.

7. Remember it’s their choice

This was something I learned early-on in my time in government: regardless of whether your client is a government minister or an organization, your job is to give them the best advice you possibly can, then carry out their wishes.

Sometimes clients will take your advice. However, sometimes they’ll listen, thank you and choose to approach things differently. When the latter happens, as long as it’s ethical, within your contract’s scope and budget and as long as you’ve explained the likely outcomes, you have to respect their decision and implement it to the full extent of your ability.

8. Stick to your principles

Sometimes you may be asked to do things that go against your principles. My advice is to politely but firmly stick to your principles. While doing so, respect point #1 above - they may not realize the implications of their approach.

If necessary, tell them you’ll get back to them on their ideas then talk it over with your manager, but don’t compromise on your principles.

How do you approach those difficult client conversations?

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By Dave Fleet | Posted in consulting, public relations | Tagged | Comments (4)

How Often Do You Question Assumptions?

November 7, 2008 – 8:30 am

We began a brainstorming session at work yesterday by going over a list of a potential client’s strengths – community presence, relationships with suppliers, and so on. Part-way into the discussion, I stopped and asked, "are these really their strengths?"

The potential client gave us that list of strengths; people had assumed that they were correct. Once we’d started to question that assumption, we were able to consider: were they really strengths, or just how the client wanted people to perceive them?

Last month I structured a proposal around a challenge to one of the potential client’s assumptions. We walked into the room and suggested that the situation wasn’t as they saw it.

We progressed to the next stage of the bid.

Not questioning assumptions… not asking the tough questions… can be dangerous. It allows falsehoods to go unchallenged and allows ineffective approaches to continue.

Is that really…?

Frequently ask yourself:

  • Is that really the situation?
  • Is that really the only approach we could take?
  • Is that really a good tactic?
  • Is that really worth their money?

Challenge your assumptions and challenge those of others. Often the assumptions will be right, but it’s worth doing it for the times when they aren’t.

By Dave Fleet | Posted in strategy | Tagged , , | Comments (1)

Integrated Communications - Not Social Media - Won The Election

November 5, 2008 – 6:51 pm

Jennifer Leggio wrote today that Obama won the election - not social media:

I believe the big snake oil spotlight shines down upon us brightly — and justifiably — whenever we try to credit social media with a success that isn’t really a rightful success for it to claim. The 2008 election, and President-Elect Barack Obama’s triumph, is one such example.

Once again, as Jennifer often manages, she got me thinking. Ultimately I both agree and disagree with various parts of Jennifer’s post.

Social media didn’t win the election

To claim that social media won the election for Obama would be ludicrous. As Jennifer points out, the economy, candidate choices, platform positions and other factors had much more of a direct impact (in my humble opinion) than the videos, networks and other forms of media that the Obama campaign used.

Social media did play a part

With that said, I do believe that to claim that social media had no part in the victory is also false. Consider the Obama campaign’s ability to motivate young people or their astonishing ability to raise donations through small individual contributions. Social media likely had an impact on these factors, which in turn had an impact on the broader campaign.

The importance of Obama’s tightly-integrated communications strategy

It would be almost impossible to single-out one thing that won the election. The political environment alone, with an unpopular president and an economy in disarray, likely had a large impact. The choice of Sarah Palin as McCain’s running-mate was another. Neither of these was under Obama’s control.

Like it or not, the best policy in the world can be useless if it’s not communicated effectively. One thing was clear - that Obama’s campaign featured a tightly-integrated, well-produced communications campaign from start to finish.

Todd Defren described the Obama campaign’s roll-out as “meticulously planned” and I have to agree. As Media Bistro’s PR Newser noted today, it was disciplined and on-message throughout. That strategy (not just the social media) enabled his team to ride over the bumps, to capitalize on his opponents’ mistakes and to communicate his messages effectively.

I’ve argued for a while that social media can’t stand alone; that it has to be integrated with other communications tactics to increase the chance of it being successful. Social media was an integral part of Obama’s campaign - it was integrated throughout the strategy.

Social media didn’t win the election. However, a tightly-integrated communications strategy, of which social media was an important part, went a long way towards it.

By Dave Fleet | Posted in social media, strategy | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (4)