Public Relations Princess

Iowa IS Social Media

Leave it to our friends at Ad Maverick to say it best. Iowa has a ton of social media game! Lessing Flynn is locked in a competition with a few other ad agency blogs for the title of best social media agency among 45 competitors on Michael Gass' Web site. One of the competitors suggests that Iowa has no social media. Far from it, my friends! And they also make the ridiculous assertion that since North Carolina is closer to New York City, they're more relevant. Talk about an identity crisis. Iowa is just fine with being Iowa, thank you very much. Check out the video and see if you agree that Iowa truly has a great diversity of companies and individuals using social media. Be sure to vote for Ad Mavericks in the poll. It's the only Iowa agency represented.

Getting Buy-in From the C-Suite on Social Media

Tuesday I was privileged to be invited by my friend Andrew Clark to be a part of a social media panel. The audience of more than 80 people was highly engaged in the topic. Here's Andrew's follow-up post and video montage of some of the Twitter comments we received.

One question popped up after some audience members had already snuck back to work.Delicately put, it was basically this: How do I get my boss and board of directors to pay attention to social media and allow me to implement a social media plan?

I've been thinking more about this question and have some pointers on getting the C-Suite to pay attention to social media. For purposes of this article, I'm defining the "C-Suite" as CEO, CFO, CIO, etc. and also vice presidents, directors, board members and other members of senior management.

Here are my Top Ten ways to get the C-Suite more engaged with social media as a marketing and public relations tool:

1. Introduce social media in a "non-techie," non-threatening way. This might include sending links and screen shots of comments on Twitter or blogs that involve the company. Be sure to provide context in your message so they will know what they're looking at.
2. Talk individually with execs or board members before you put it on the agenda at board meetings. Know who the supporters and detractors are ahead of time. Have answers for some of the detractors' stumbling blocks before you bring it up.
3. Keep your passion for social media to a low flame. If you go into a meeting with demands and failure predictions, you will get shut down quickly.
4. Offer to do a "Lunch and Learn" presentation for your leadership team. Keep it focused on results and not too technical.
5. Point out successful social media programs in a "case study" format, showing that social media is measurable and generates results.
6. Showcase how other companies in the same industry are already using social media. Chances are someone is already using it well, which may spur a call to action or a competitive response.
7. Start listening to the brand in social media as part of your normal duties. You should never need permission to do this. Report any good things you're hearing, and alert your boss if there is a crisis brewing somewhere.
8. Get a third-party expert to present to your board. Sometimes you will not be seen as an expert in your own organization (and that's too bad, but don't let it trip you up).
9. Ask your current agency or public relations professional to bring it up as part of a strategic planning session or brainstorm.
10. Anyone who's spent time around executives knows that "allowing" them to take credit for concepts and ideas is a way for things to get implemented quicker. Play the game and you'll eventually get credit for the ideas.

Here's a link to the Des Moines Register's coverage of the event, which includes excellent tips from my fellow presenters: Andrew Clark, Doug Mitchell and Ben Stone.

Des Moines Catholic Worker and the Homeless - Can You Help?

Dorothy Day is someone most people don't know about. She's neither a saint (yet) nor a Nobel Peace Prize winner. She was a feminist before that was a common term, she was a tireless advocate for the poor, and she was a radical socialist.

Dorothy Day was a flawed human being who used her life to provide comfort, food and shelter to those who walked the line between proper society and the edge. She used her writing skills her whole life to communicate her thoughts.

Dorothy Day was the founder of the Catholic Worker Movement in the United States. There is a Catholic Worker here in Des Moines. People who live at the "Worker" are known as "workers." And that's what they do. They carry on Dorothy Day's vision of living in peace, promoting social justice and providing hospitality to those who are in need. This is a stunningly simple concept, yet most of these goals are elusive in our very complex society.

Tracy Robson from the Catholic Worker House in Des Moines is my guest today on Public Relations Princess. Listen in from 4-5 on macsworldlive.com and find out what you can do to help Des Moines' most vulnerable population.

How You Can Help the Homeless in Des Moines

The Des Moines Catholic Worker House, located just North of downtown Des Moines, is in need of quite a few things to help its homeless and underserved population. The unusually cold and rainy fall whether have depleted its supplies of blankets, socks, hats and gloves, candles and personal hygiene items.

I invite everyone in the Des Moines social media community to participate and respond to this urgent need in their own way. Here are my suggestions for the most needed items, according to the staff of the Worker:

1. Blankets
2. Socks/hats/gloves
3. Hoodies/Sweatshirts
4. Tylenol/Ibuprofen
5. Disposable razors
6. Feminine hygiene items
7. Coffee/Creamer/sugar packets/artificial sweetener packets
8. Soap
9. Candles
10. Deodorant/shampoo/conditioner/toothbrushes/toothpaste

I'll have a date soon that we can prepare and serve a meal for the Worker, but until then donated items will be a big help. The donations can be dropped off at my house anytime (just leave stuff on the front porch) and I will deliver it to the shelter. Please call me if you cannot drop stuff off and need it to be picked up.

The Catholic Worker serves all people regardless of religious affiliation. The selfless people who volunteer there often give up months or years of their lives in service to the poor.

Thanks,

Claire

Chocolate Storybook and Des Moines' Best Coupons

Are you a supporter of locally owned businesses? Then this week's Public Relations Princess show is one that you shouldn't miss.

Every city has "entertainment books." But did you know that those are most likely produced by out of state and that's where the profits go, too?

Steve Shearer, the co-owner of Chocolate Storybook (a great locally-owned operation!) had a great idea...to create his own "entertainment-type" coupon book. There's several differences, though. One, it's a local effort and therefore the profits stay local. Only locally owned businesses are allowed in the book...no chains.

Steve and his wife Meg and their great staff at Chocolate Storybook worked very hard this summer to pull together the first book, which is now available for purchase. Steve will be on my show today on Macsworldlive.com at 4:00 to tell me where he got the idea for the book and about all the great businesses represented. Tune in!

Bed Bath and Beyond's Wedding Registry Sooo Much Better Than Target's "Club Wedd"

In case the FTC is reading this post, I am not being paid to write this. :~)

I admit I drank the Target Koolaid. Since deciding to boycott Wal-mart more than five years ago because of their labor practices, workplace discrimination and pricing strategy, Target seemed like a palatable alternative. Since then, several of my readers have pointed out that Target has been accused of some of the same things as Wal-Mart. So my eyes have been opened.

This post is simply about the superiority of service and product selection of another of Target's competitors in the home goods arena.

For some reason, I have been slow to recognize Bed Bath and Beyond as a category leader. The only reason I even ventured there in the first place was to buy gifts for friends who had registered for weddings there. This weekend, I chose a couple of things from my cousin Melisa's registry. I was impressed by the vast selection and attentive service I received.

As I left the customer service counter with Melisa's registry in hand, I was approached twice by observant sales people who must have noticed that I was searching for gift. I was pointed to the proper section, even though the clearly marked sections would have led me there soon enough. Found what I needed quickly and went to the check out. Checked out even quicker because there were actually enough checkers on duty to help a Saturday crowd. Conversely, Target rarely has extra sales people on hand to actually help customers in the aisles.

The checker asked if I needed a gift wrap for my items. I did, and lo and behold, they were ready to go in less than five minutes. The "wrap" was a nice purple and white box with a purple ribbon. I'm into minimal packaging waste and recyclable boxes, so that was cool with me. Target does not offer a gift wrapping service, which assures them that I will have to leave the store with at least another $5.00 in wrapping paper and tissue.

I've written quite a lot about Target's nasty return policy. Now that I've found my friends at Bed, Bath and Beyond, I see no reason to ever go there again for a wedding gift. If someone is not registered there, I'll just buy a card and give them money.

What Goldman Sachs Can Learn From Bill Gates and the World Food Prize

Yesterday, Bill Gates was here in Des Moines to give the keynote address at the World Food Prize. It's a very prestigious prize, given annually to the person who meets these criteria:

The World Food Prize is awarded for a specific, exceptionally significant, individual achievement at any point along the full range of the food production and distribution chain.

This exceptionally significant achievement must be shown to have resulted in a demonstrable increase in the quantity, quality or availability of, or access to, food for a substantial number of people.

This year's honoree is Dr. Ebisa Gejeta, of Ethiopia, whose sorghum hybrids resistant to drought and the devastating Striga weed have dramatically increased the production and availability of one of the world’s five principal grains and enhanced the food supply of hundreds of millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa.

Bill and Melinda Gates, through their foundation, have committed to helping end world hunger and poverty and improve the lives of billions of people. They've donated millions to many causes that support the foundation's mission. The World Food Prize qualifies for Gates' time and money because it recognizes and rewards altruistic behavior and it "Thinks Big."

Compare that noble mission to the unofficial slogan of Goldman Sachs: "Greedy, but long-term greedy." The phrase, coined by Goldman Sachs director Gus Levy, is a conspicuous symbol of the excesses of Wall Street. Goldman has become the poster child for the bonus culture that got us into trouble earlier this year.

Goldman is mulling over giving $100 million dollars to its own charitable foundation. Here's where Goldman's leaders could borrow from Gates' playbook. Instead of handing out little dinky awards to its favorite charities, Goldman should set its sights on one protracted problem on Earth and use its considerable resources to solving it.

Here are some problems that still need solving. Goldman, take your pick:

1. Educational achievement gaps between rich and poor children
2. Lack of math and science achievement in the U.S.
3. Financial literacy in the curriculum of U.S. high schools
4. Violence in the inner cities of our largest cities
5. Opportunity to attend college for all who want to go
6. Chronic homelessness
7. Affordable daycare
8. Easing dependence on foreign oil
9. Affordable parking in Manhattan (kidding)
10. And of course...WORLD PEACE

Microblink co-founder and Highlight Midwest organizer Rob Jensen My Guest on Public Relations Princess Today

Next week, technology and social media aficionados from all over the Midwest will descend on Des Moines for the second annual Highlight Midwest. I've invited Rob Jensen to be my guest today to talk about it. Rob is the co-founder of Microblink and an organizer of Highlight Midwest.

Highlight Midwest is an annual gathering of some of the best and brightest minds in the world of technology and entrepreneurship in Omaha, Kansas City and Des Moines and these cities take turns hosting every year. I only became aware of Highlight Midwest last year, just by seeing the tweets of people who were attending.

So tune in today at www.macsworldlive.com at 4:00 and Rob and I will be talking about the event, which is being held this year on October 23 at the Des Moines Social Club. There's also a pre-event called "Movement Bash" which will be held at Impromptu Studio the night before, October 22nd at 7:00 p.m. My company, The Public Relations Project is one of many sponsors of that event.

What is Public Relations? Top 10 Things PR Can Accomplish

The number one question people ask me, bar none, is simply: What is public relations? A close second and third: What does a public relations practitioner actually do and what benefits do businesses who hire me get in return? I'm going to try to address the answers to all of these questions in one post.

My best answer to what public relations is: Public relations is a process by which the attributes, benefits and stories of an entity are highlighted in the news media or in other arenas.

Public relations tactics are specific actions that are taken to bring these stories to life.

I've never seen a business that does not need public relations at all. When sales are up and business is rolling in, many owners and managers see no need to spend money on PR or marketing. If fact, they say, we couldn't handle the extra business if it came our way.

This reflects a somewhat twisted view of the fundamental reasons to practice PR in business in the first place. Perhaps the most prominent role of PR in a company should be to build the reputation of the company and increase its "store of goodwill." Increased sales and monetary gains are possible outcomes of public relations execution, but in my opinion should not ever be the sole reason for a PR campaign.

The ongoing reputation management is the ultimate reward for consistent public relations efforts. Media relations campaigns are also part of the mix and should be planned on a regular basis, when there is news to tell. However, I often advise my clients work their plan, but ALSO take advantage of more on-the-spot opportunities. For example, if my client was a car dealer, I would have recommend less sales-y pitches during the "Cash for Clunkers" government rebate. I tell them to try to tie your PR efforts to a national trend when possible. And, keep your stories people-oriented, not "thing" oriented. Story telling is alive and well, and the best stories, of course, feature real people.

Here are the top ten things that PR can do for an organization.

1. Provide credibility: Using relatively non-biased third party sources
2. Promote community involvement: Prove your organization cares about others
3. Show thought leadership and expertise: Smart people with good ideas always have something valuable to share
4. Showcase corporate culture to potential employees:  Future employees use the web to research your organization
5. Praise employees: Awards, promotions, human interest stories
6. Increase sales: PR can create the atmosphere for increasing sales and creating demand for a great brand
7. Boost advertising and social media programs: PR works best in cooperation with an advertising or social media effort and (obviously) repetition creates a more lasting impression
8. Create top of mind awareness: People may not need you now, but they will think of your biz first when they do
9. Protect the organization's reputation during a crisis: This cannot be emphasized enough! Every business needs a "store of goodwill" to cushion a hard fall
10. Use storytelling to convey how the organization benefits its customers/constituents: As I tell all my clients, if you have a story about a real person and how your business helped, TELL IT!

Did I miss anything? Share your thoughts!

Great Class Today at Drake!

My friend Professor Ronda Menke was sick today, so I got to take over her 2:00 PR Principles class today. The subject of my lecture was working in agencies. We had a little fun at the end and made a video for Prof. Menke! Check it out.