By Michael Sebastian
michaels@ragan.com
Ranging from who should write your blog to the value of images, here are 10 lessons from business blogs that have flourished
Why reinvent the wheel, or in this case, the blog?
Countless companies have launched blogs, and while many have failed, others have flourished. You can learn from the best blogs. Here are 10 lessons and related tips for blogging from 10 top business blogs.
Lesson #1: Never underestimate your audience
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the people who make you remove your shoes at the airport, write a blog called Evolution of Security. Individual posts have attracted hundreds of comments—many of them critical of the TSA.
No one would take this site seriously enough to leave even a blistering comment if Evolution of Security didn’t respect its readers.
For instance, one post begins: “Throughout the ages, there have been many unanswered questions that continue to baffle the human race. Who built Stonehenge? Is there life on other planets? Why does the TSA make me place my liquids in a clear sealable baggie?”
What? TSA knows it’s annoying? It has a sense of humor? Audiences appreciate that wink and nod—the knowledge that everyone is in on the joke. It makes the message more palatable.
Tip: Think about something your company does that might irk customers and employees and write about it—or at least mention it. Your audience will appreciate it.
Lesson #2: Your blog should ooze voice
The award-winning blog written by Southwest Airlines employees, Nuts About Southwest, is as irreverent and humorous as the airline’s frontline employees.
How does Southwest do it? They pick bloggers from across the company.
Paula Berg, the director of emerging media at Southwest, told SearchEngineWorld the airline began the blog with a team of 20 people, “who represented a mix of all Southwest employees, frontline and behind-the-scenes.”
She continued, “We selected people that just oozed Southwest; that just know our company and love it and have been here for a while.”
Like Nuts About Southwest, your blog should ooze voice.
Tip: Think your company is too dull to create a blog that oozes voice? Nonsense. Tell your bloggers to get their creative juices pumping by tying the theme or plot from one of their favorite movies or TV shows into a business objective. For instance, the déjà vu-themed movie Groundhog Day could provide material for a blog post about spicing up meetings.
Lesson #3: Feature passionate employees
Chipmaker Intel has a niche blog about one topic, corporate social responsibility efforts at the company. It is titled CSR@Intel. Like Southwest, the blog features numerous authors from across the company. Most, if not all, of these bloggers are passionate about the topic.
Take, for example, this post from Intel blogger Raju Doshi about a science project by Portland, Ore., teenager Michael Loy that could increase the life of concrete and steel. The outcome would be both lower infrastructure costs for companies and fewer waste materials.
“Michael’s work is to be published in two international journals and he is only 18—how amazing is that!” Doshi blogged excitedly
Whether or not that topic intrigues you, the blogger’s enthusiasm is palpable. Intel selected employees passionate about CSR. Readers can see that.
Tip: Reach out to every department to find your passionate employees.
Lesson #4: Tackle the tough stuff
If bad news descends on your company and the blog ignores it, then that blog will lose credibility among readers.
Randy’s Journal, a blog by Boeing’s vice president of marketing, Randy Tinseth, has confronted tough times at the company. In January, Boeing announced layoffs and Randy discussed them in a February blog post.
“I started at Boeing in 1981—just before what turned out to be one of the biggest downturns we’ve seen in this industry,” he blogged. “I’ll never forget going through the process of watching many friends and colleagues—some who’d just started working at Boeing, and many with whom I’d developed strong relationships in the work environment—having to change jobs or go on to other things outside the company. It makes a strong impression on you.”
If your blog avoids these tough topics the employees will find it gutless, boring and not trustworthy—more company propaganda.
Tip: If your company has had layoffs, blog about them once everyone inside the company has learned about the news. The blog should provide more information on the layoffs than the initial company message.
Lesson #5: Join the community
Unbreakable Bonds, the blog from Kryptonite Locks, understands its niche audience of cyclists. In 2004, that audience burned Kryptonite after word spread among bloggers that someone could pick these locks with only a pen cap.
In Unbreakable Bonds, Kryptonite employees reach out to cycling enthusiasts and engage them with posts that tackle issues specific to their communities. For instance, one post discussed bike sharing programs at the Rhode Island School of Design. It was a targeted, and timely (given the recession), topic.
Identify your blog’s online community. Then, if you want to feel your community’s embrace, tailor content for the audience.
Tip: Find 10 blogs that are part of your industry or community and make sure you link to them and comment on their posts.
Lesson #6: Your blog should have a method
Ever wonder what happens behind-the-scenes at a blog? For instance, how do posts from the internal blog at Dow Chemical, Access Andrew, by CEO Andrew Liveris, go from his head to the screen?
Liveris writes the posts and then sends them to his communications team. The communicators run the content past the legal department; attorneys do not copyedit the material. Communicators then copyedit the post and publish it to Access Andrew.
Whether you’re the sole author of the blog or part of an enormous corporate hierarchy, you should determine exactly what the process is for getting the content posted.
Tip: If your CEO thinks blogging will eat up too much time, volunteer to type it and post it.
Lesson #7: It doesn’t have to be your blog
Sometimes your company doesn’t need a blog to join the blogosphere.
Ford Motor Company doesn’t have a blog, but its director of new media, Scott Monty, has one—The Social Media Marketing Blog. It precedes Monty’s tenure at Ford, which means it has an audience and a solid reputation.
On occasion, The Social Media Marketing Blog addresses issues at Ford. It spreads news about the company and the CEO, and provides a behind-the-scenes glimpse of life in Ford’s communications department.
Consider finding a trusted employee at your organization to dedicate posts about your company to his or her personal blog.
Tip: Make sure any blogger who writes for your company indicates clearly, somewhere on the blog, that his opinion is his or her own and not that of the company.
Lesson #8: Embrace photography
As you might imagine, Kodak’s blog, A Thousand Words, is all about photographs. Each post features pictures from employees and customers that are based around various themes.
Like Kodak, your blog should embrace photography: post pictures of employees, your workspace — you name it. Pictures will help break up text and beautify a blog’s layout.
Remember, the rules of good photography apply to photos posted on the Web.
Tip: Start a weekly or monthly photo contest or photo caption contest on your blog for employees or customers.
Lesson #9: Provide readers with useful and relevant news
LinkedIn, the professional networking service, has an employee-penned blog that offers readers practical advice on how to best use LinkedIn.
For instance, one post explained how someone can display his or her professional network on other Web sites, while another post offered three ways to leverage a professional network while job hunting.
Your blog should provide relevant and useful information for it readers.
Tip: Pay attention to which topics attract the most views. You can track your blog’s page views, and other stats, through Google Analytics.
Lesson #10: Start a Twitter feed instead
If you want Web 2.0, but don’t want to commit to a blog, consider Twitter. This service allows you to write messages 140 characters long that people who elect to follow them can read. Twitter is like “Blogging Lite.”
Countless companies already use Twitter. For instance, Home Depot and Bank of America each have Twitter accounts for customer service issues.
Tip: Even if you don’t want to use a Twitter feed, go to the site to check if your company’s name is available. If it is available, grab it—even if you’re not going to use it. The last thing you need is for someone to hijack your company’s name and send erroneous updates attached to it.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
Ten lessons for a better blog
By Michael Sebastian
michaels@ragan.com
Ranging from who should write your blog to the value of images, here are 10 lessons from business blogs that have flourished
Why reinvent the wheel, or in this case, the blog?
Countless companies have launched blogs, and while many have failed, others have flourished. You can learn from the best blogs. Here are 10 lessons and related tips for blogging from 10 top business blogs.
Lesson #1: Never underestimate your audience
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the people who make you remove your shoes at the airport, write a blog called Evolution of Security. Individual posts have attracted hundreds of comments—many of them critical of the TSA.
No one would take this site seriously enough to leave even a blistering comment if Evolution of Security didn’t respect its readers.
For instance, one post begins: “Throughout the ages, there have been many unanswered questions that continue to baffle the human race. Who built Stonehenge? Is there life on other planets? Why does the TSA make me place my liquids in a clear sealable baggie?”
What? TSA knows it’s annoying? It has a sense of humor? Audiences appreciate that wink and nod—the knowledge that everyone is in on the joke. It makes the message more palatable.
Tip: Think about something your company does that might irk customers and employees and write about it—or at least mention it. Your audience will appreciate it.
Lesson #2: Your blog should ooze voice
The award-winning blog written by Southwest Airlines employees, Nuts About Southwest, is as irreverent and humorous as the airline’s frontline employees.
How does Southwest do it? They pick bloggers from across the company.
Paula Berg, the director of emerging media at Southwest, told SearchEngineWorld the airline began the blog with a team of 20 people, “who represented a mix of all Southwest employees, frontline and behind-the-scenes.”
She continued, “We selected people that just oozed Southwest; that just know our company and love it and have been here for a while.”
Like Nuts About Southwest, your blog should ooze voice.
Tip: Think your company is too dull to create a blog that oozes voice? Nonsense. Tell your bloggers to get their creative juices pumping by tying the theme or plot from one of their favorite movies or TV shows into a business objective. For instance, the déjà vu-themed movie Groundhog Day could provide material for a blog post about spicing up meetings.
Lesson #3: Feature passionate employees
Chipmaker Intel has a niche blog about one topic, corporate social responsibility efforts at the company. It is titled CSR@Intel. Like Southwest, the blog features numerous authors from across the company. Most, if not all, of these bloggers are passionate about the topic.
Take, for example, this post from Intel blogger Raju Doshi about a science project by Portland, Ore., teenager Michael Loy that could increase the life of concrete and steel. The outcome would be both lower infrastructure costs for companies and fewer waste materials.
“Michael’s work is to be published in two international journals and he is only 18—how amazing is that!” Doshi blogged excitedly
Whether or not that topic intrigues you, the blogger’s enthusiasm is palpable. Intel selected employees passionate about CSR. Readers can see that.
Tip: Reach out to every department to find your passionate employees.
Lesson #4: Tackle the tough stuff
If bad news descends on your company and the blog ignores it, then that blog will lose credibility among readers.
Randy’s Journal, a blog by Boeing’s vice president of marketing, Randy Tinther, has confronted tough times at the company. In January, Boeing announced layoffs and Randy discussed them in a February blog post.
“I started at Boeing in 1981—just before what turned out to be one of the biggest downturns we’ve seen in this industry,” he blogged. “I’ll never forget going through the process of watching many friends and colleagues—some who’d just started working at Boeing, and many with whom I’d developed strong relationships in the work environment—having to change jobs or go on to other things outside the company. It makes a strong impression on you.”
If your blog avoids these tough topics the employees will find it gutless, boring and not trustworthy—more company propaganda.
Tip: If your company has had layoffs, blog about them once everyone inside the company has learned about the news. The blog should provide more information on the layoffs than the initial company message.
Lesson #5: Join the community
Unbreakable Bonds, the blog from Kryptonite Locks, understands its niche audience of cyclists. In 2004, that audience burned Kryptonite after word spread among bloggers that someone could pick these locks with only a pen cap.
In Unbreakable Bonds, Kryptonite employees reach out to cycling enthusiasts and engage them with posts that tackle issues specific to their communities. For instance, one post discussed bike sharing programs at the Rhode Island School of Design. It was a targeted, and timely (given the recession), topic.
Identify your blog’s online community. Then, if you want to feel your community’s embrace, tailor content for the audience.
Tip: Find 10 blogs that are part of your industry or community and make sure you link to them and comment on their posts.
Lesson #6: Your blog should have a method
Ever wonder what happens behind-the-scenes at a blog? For instance, how do posts from the internal blog at Dow Chemical, Access Andrew, by CEO Andrew Liveris, go from his head to the screen?
Liveris writes the posts and then sends them to his communications team. The communicators run the content past the legal department; attorneys do not copyedit the material. Communicators then copyedit the post and publish it to Access Andrew.
Whether you’re the sole author of the blog or part of an enormous corporate hierarchy, you should determine exactly what the process is for getting the content posted.
Tip: If your CEO thinks blogging will eat up too much time, volunteer to type it and post it.
Lesson #7: It doesn’t have to be your blog
Sometimes your company doesn’t need a blog to join the blogosphere.
Ford Motor Company doesn’t have a blog, but its director of new media, Scott Monty, has one—The Social Media Marketing Blog. It precedes Monty’s tenure at Ford, which means it has an audience and a solid reputation.
On occasion, The Social Media Marketing Blog addresses issues at Ford. It spreads news about the company and the CEO, and provides a behind-the-scenes glimpse of life in Ford’s communications department.
Consider finding a trusted employee at your organization to dedicate posts about your company to his or her personal blog.
Tip: Make sure any blogger who writes for your company indicates clearly, somewhere on the blog, that his opinion is his or her own and not that of the company.
Lesson #8: Embrace photography
As you might imagine, Kodak’s blog, A Thousand Words, is all about photographs. Each post features pictures from employees and customers that are based around various themes.
Like Kodak, your blog should embrace photography: post pictures of employees, your workspace — you name it. Pictures will help break up text and beautify a blog’s layout.
Remember, the rules of good photography apply to photos posted on the Web.
Tip: Start a weekly or monthly photo contest or photo caption contest on your blog for employees or customers.
Lesson #9: Provide readers with useful and relevant news
LinkedIn, the professional networking service, has an employee-penned blog that offers readers practical advice on how to best use LinkedIn.
For instance, one post explained how someone can display his or her professional network on other Web sites, while another post offered three ways to leverage a professional network while job hunting.
Your blog should provide relevant and useful information for it readers.
Tip: Pay attention to which topics attract the most views. You can track your blog’s page views, and other stats, through Google Analytics.
Lesson #10: Start a Twitter feed instead
If you want Web 2.0, but don’t want to commit to a blog, consider Twitter. This service allows you to write messages 140 characters long that people who elect to follow them can read. Twitter is like “Blogging Lite.”
Countless companies already use Twitter. For instance, Home Depot and Bank of America each have Twitter accounts for customer service issues.
Tip: Even if you don’t want to use a Twitter feed, go to the site to check if your company’s name is available. If it is available, grab it—even if you’re not going to use it. The last thing you need is for someone to hijack your company’s name and send erroneous updates attached to it.
michaels@ragan.com
Ranging from who should write your blog to the value of images, here are 10 lessons from business blogs that have flourished
Why reinvent the wheel, or in this case, the blog?
Countless companies have launched blogs, and while many have failed, others have flourished. You can learn from the best blogs. Here are 10 lessons and related tips for blogging from 10 top business blogs.
Lesson #1: Never underestimate your audience
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the people who make you remove your shoes at the airport, write a blog called Evolution of Security. Individual posts have attracted hundreds of comments—many of them critical of the TSA.
No one would take this site seriously enough to leave even a blistering comment if Evolution of Security didn’t respect its readers.
For instance, one post begins: “Throughout the ages, there have been many unanswered questions that continue to baffle the human race. Who built Stonehenge? Is there life on other planets? Why does the TSA make me place my liquids in a clear sealable baggie?”
What? TSA knows it’s annoying? It has a sense of humor? Audiences appreciate that wink and nod—the knowledge that everyone is in on the joke. It makes the message more palatable.
Tip: Think about something your company does that might irk customers and employees and write about it—or at least mention it. Your audience will appreciate it.
Lesson #2: Your blog should ooze voice
The award-winning blog written by Southwest Airlines employees, Nuts About Southwest, is as irreverent and humorous as the airline’s frontline employees.
How does Southwest do it? They pick bloggers from across the company.
Paula Berg, the director of emerging media at Southwest, told SearchEngineWorld the airline began the blog with a team of 20 people, “who represented a mix of all Southwest employees, frontline and behind-the-scenes.”
She continued, “We selected people that just oozed Southwest; that just know our company and love it and have been here for a while.”
Like Nuts About Southwest, your blog should ooze voice.
Tip: Think your company is too dull to create a blog that oozes voice? Nonsense. Tell your bloggers to get their creative juices pumping by tying the theme or plot from one of their favorite movies or TV shows into a business objective. For instance, the déjà vu-themed movie Groundhog Day could provide material for a blog post about spicing up meetings.
Lesson #3: Feature passionate employees
Chipmaker Intel has a niche blog about one topic, corporate social responsibility efforts at the company. It is titled CSR@Intel. Like Southwest, the blog features numerous authors from across the company. Most, if not all, of these bloggers are passionate about the topic.
Take, for example, this post from Intel blogger Raju Doshi about a science project by Portland, Ore., teenager Michael Loy that could increase the life of concrete and steel. The outcome would be both lower infrastructure costs for companies and fewer waste materials.
“Michael’s work is to be published in two international journals and he is only 18—how amazing is that!” Doshi blogged excitedly
Whether or not that topic intrigues you, the blogger’s enthusiasm is palpable. Intel selected employees passionate about CSR. Readers can see that.
Tip: Reach out to every department to find your passionate employees.
Lesson #4: Tackle the tough stuff
If bad news descends on your company and the blog ignores it, then that blog will lose credibility among readers.
Randy’s Journal, a blog by Boeing’s vice president of marketing, Randy Tinther, has confronted tough times at the company. In January, Boeing announced layoffs and Randy discussed them in a February blog post.
“I started at Boeing in 1981—just before what turned out to be one of the biggest downturns we’ve seen in this industry,” he blogged. “I’ll never forget going through the process of watching many friends and colleagues—some who’d just started working at Boeing, and many with whom I’d developed strong relationships in the work environment—having to change jobs or go on to other things outside the company. It makes a strong impression on you.”
If your blog avoids these tough topics the employees will find it gutless, boring and not trustworthy—more company propaganda.
Tip: If your company has had layoffs, blog about them once everyone inside the company has learned about the news. The blog should provide more information on the layoffs than the initial company message.
Lesson #5: Join the community
Unbreakable Bonds, the blog from Kryptonite Locks, understands its niche audience of cyclists. In 2004, that audience burned Kryptonite after word spread among bloggers that someone could pick these locks with only a pen cap.
In Unbreakable Bonds, Kryptonite employees reach out to cycling enthusiasts and engage them with posts that tackle issues specific to their communities. For instance, one post discussed bike sharing programs at the Rhode Island School of Design. It was a targeted, and timely (given the recession), topic.
Identify your blog’s online community. Then, if you want to feel your community’s embrace, tailor content for the audience.
Tip: Find 10 blogs that are part of your industry or community and make sure you link to them and comment on their posts.
Lesson #6: Your blog should have a method
Ever wonder what happens behind-the-scenes at a blog? For instance, how do posts from the internal blog at Dow Chemical, Access Andrew, by CEO Andrew Liveris, go from his head to the screen?
Liveris writes the posts and then sends them to his communications team. The communicators run the content past the legal department; attorneys do not copyedit the material. Communicators then copyedit the post and publish it to Access Andrew.
Whether you’re the sole author of the blog or part of an enormous corporate hierarchy, you should determine exactly what the process is for getting the content posted.
Tip: If your CEO thinks blogging will eat up too much time, volunteer to type it and post it.
Lesson #7: It doesn’t have to be your blog
Sometimes your company doesn’t need a blog to join the blogosphere.
Ford Motor Company doesn’t have a blog, but its director of new media, Scott Monty, has one—The Social Media Marketing Blog. It precedes Monty’s tenure at Ford, which means it has an audience and a solid reputation.
On occasion, The Social Media Marketing Blog addresses issues at Ford. It spreads news about the company and the CEO, and provides a behind-the-scenes glimpse of life in Ford’s communications department.
Consider finding a trusted employee at your organization to dedicate posts about your company to his or her personal blog.
Tip: Make sure any blogger who writes for your company indicates clearly, somewhere on the blog, that his opinion is his or her own and not that of the company.
Lesson #8: Embrace photography
As you might imagine, Kodak’s blog, A Thousand Words, is all about photographs. Each post features pictures from employees and customers that are based around various themes.
Like Kodak, your blog should embrace photography: post pictures of employees, your workspace — you name it. Pictures will help break up text and beautify a blog’s layout.
Remember, the rules of good photography apply to photos posted on the Web.
Tip: Start a weekly or monthly photo contest or photo caption contest on your blog for employees or customers.
Lesson #9: Provide readers with useful and relevant news
LinkedIn, the professional networking service, has an employee-penned blog that offers readers practical advice on how to best use LinkedIn.
For instance, one post explained how someone can display his or her professional network on other Web sites, while another post offered three ways to leverage a professional network while job hunting.
Your blog should provide relevant and useful information for it readers.
Tip: Pay attention to which topics attract the most views. You can track your blog’s page views, and other stats, through Google Analytics.
Lesson #10: Start a Twitter feed instead
If you want Web 2.0, but don’t want to commit to a blog, consider Twitter. This service allows you to write messages 140 characters long that people who elect to follow them can read. Twitter is like “Blogging Lite.”
Countless companies already use Twitter. For instance, Home Depot and Bank of America each have Twitter accounts for customer service issues.
Tip: Even if you don’t want to use a Twitter feed, go to the site to check if your company’s name is available. If it is available, grab it—even if you’re not going to use it. The last thing you need is for someone to hijack your company’s name and send erroneous updates attached to it.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
PHRs are operating systems
http://healthcare.zdnet.com/?p=1742
User Centric has a white paper out comparing the usability of Google Health and Microsoft HealthVault.
The news is not good. Both rated poorly in terms of user experience. User Centric has followed up with a set of recommendations.
It occurs to me all this misses a rather important point, namely that Personal Health Record software is not really an application.
It’s more like an operating system.
A PHR has to do many different things for many people. It must be able to take in data cleanly and seamlessly, sometimes automatically. That requires interfaces with hospital records, and with a host of consumer devices. It may also require taking input from alternative therapists, like chiropractors.
Second it needs simple security, so that patients have notice and the ability to easily control who gets access to PHR data, and audit downloads. That’s not as easy as it sounds, because lots of people should only get a portion of the record. Standards for giving the right people the right data have to be automated.
Finally a PHR needs a host of new user interfaces to make its data truly useful. Not just PC interfaces, but interfaces to iPhones and other devices. Ticklers to remind us when to take different pills, or when to check different conditions like our blood sugar. Applications that let us interpret data and take appropriate action, or that might alert those who need to take action.
Look at all these needs, all these interfaces, and a PHR quickly moves from being a form, to an application, to a personal health operating system. Building such an operating system will require an ecosystem of suppliers, projects built around database management, user interfaces, and around security.
So I think it’s vital that the code be accessible by all the many stakeholders in this process, and that compatibility be assured. There is a long road ahead. The company which can manage this process best is going to win the market.
In this effort both Microsoft and Google have real assets to offer.
Microsoft has always been great at developer relations, and at helping developers build their business models through sales channels. Both these things are vital in the coming competition.
Google has shown a talent for gaining publicity, for using the open source process, and for building quality APIs. These, too, will be important.
Both competitors, as the illustration shows, also have a problem. Competition can lead to secrecy, can lead to proprietary differences, can lead to incompatibility.
So here’s my final idea. The first of these to get their code, and their ecosystem, integrated with Open Health Tools is going to have a big advantage in this space.
User Centric has a white paper out comparing the usability of Google Health and Microsoft HealthVault.
The news is not good. Both rated poorly in terms of user experience. User Centric has followed up with a set of recommendations.
It occurs to me all this misses a rather important point, namely that Personal Health Record software is not really an application.
It’s more like an operating system.
A PHR has to do many different things for many people. It must be able to take in data cleanly and seamlessly, sometimes automatically. That requires interfaces with hospital records, and with a host of consumer devices. It may also require taking input from alternative therapists, like chiropractors.
Second it needs simple security, so that patients have notice and the ability to easily control who gets access to PHR data, and audit downloads. That’s not as easy as it sounds, because lots of people should only get a portion of the record. Standards for giving the right people the right data have to be automated.
Finally a PHR needs a host of new user interfaces to make its data truly useful. Not just PC interfaces, but interfaces to iPhones and other devices. Ticklers to remind us when to take different pills, or when to check different conditions like our blood sugar. Applications that let us interpret data and take appropriate action, or that might alert those who need to take action.
Look at all these needs, all these interfaces, and a PHR quickly moves from being a form, to an application, to a personal health operating system. Building such an operating system will require an ecosystem of suppliers, projects built around database management, user interfaces, and around security.
So I think it’s vital that the code be accessible by all the many stakeholders in this process, and that compatibility be assured. There is a long road ahead. The company which can manage this process best is going to win the market.
In this effort both Microsoft and Google have real assets to offer.
Microsoft has always been great at developer relations, and at helping developers build their business models through sales channels. Both these things are vital in the coming competition.
Google has shown a talent for gaining publicity, for using the open source process, and for building quality APIs. These, too, will be important.
Both competitors, as the illustration shows, also have a problem. Competition can lead to secrecy, can lead to proprietary differences, can lead to incompatibility.
So here’s my final idea. The first of these to get their code, and their ecosystem, integrated with Open Health Tools is going to have a big advantage in this space.
New Info Shoppers
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123144483005365353.html?mod=djemMM
With so much attention on psychological marketing these days -- finding new ways to tap into people's heads -- perhaps the single most neglected trend out there is the move towards more hard-nosed information-based shopping and purchasing.
While elites were busy shoveling money into Madoff's black box these past few years, strapped consumers have been poring over product spec sheets, third-party reviews and expert blog sites. This past holiday season they watched every dollar. A special kind of consumer has taken a major role in the marketplace -- the new info shopper. These people just can't buy anything unless they first look it up online and get the lowdown.
These shoppers have the Internet at work, typically hold information-based or office-park jobs, have some college or grad school, and are often making ends meet with two jobs, kids, and pets on a middle or upper-middle-class income.
They have become highly suspicious of many TV ads: in a shoppers survey we did, 78% of them said that ads no longer have enough information they need. So many of them search online for virtually everything. Window shoppers have become "Windows shoppers." They want, in the phrase often attributed to Dragnet's Joe Friday, "just the facts, ma'am."
Of course, there is still a healthy role for big emotional brand appeals and mega-advertising campaigns. For every trend there is a counter trend. But that's not the real new thing in consumer behavior.
A whopping 92% of respondents said they had more confidence in information they seek out online than anything coming from a salesclerk or other source. They believe the information they find, not in the information that is spoon-fed to them, and the vast number of clicks today prove that they really are devoting time and energy to ferreting out detailed info before they buy.
A good example of how information can transform a marketplace is the series of ads a few years ago for the Dyson vacuum cleaner. Founder and inventor James Dyson took a commonplace item and explained how he had transformed it with new scientific principles. Consumers weren't bored with the technical approach. On the contrary, sales took off -- and changed the marketplace for vacuum cleaners.
When we asked shoppers whether they would do online research before buying a vacuum cleaner today, a surprising 58% said that's exactly what they would do. His ads helped turn vacuum-cleaner buying into a largely information-based marketplace.
We have seen many of the big market areas convert to an information-driven model -- cars, homes, personal computers and medical care are areas where nearly 4 in 5 shoppers say they gather information on their own from the Web before buying. "Do-it-yourself doctors" (that is, info patients) show up at their doctor with the Web-derived diagnosis in hand, and a list of the medicines they need prescribed. Customers appear at the car dealership with the wholesale price and the model already picked out.
Information-seeking is not just an activity, it's a way of looking at the world. New info shoppers are proud of the progress they have made in putting facts over pablum. More companies should treat their customers as Dyson did and let them in on the secrets of their unique success. And they should invest more than ever in helping form their consumers into citizen corps, arming them with PCs, cameras and even asking them to use the phone's new video cameras to document their product usage and put them online.
But how many marketers today work back from what this new consumer is thinking and doing? Not many. Based on the advertising budgets in the U.S. where a typical company will spend 60 times as much on advertising than they spend on generating publicity, most lag way behind in creating a new model of consumers and the steps they take before they buy.
Some industries got it right away. Movies and restaurants have huge word of mouth and impulse components, but they are also very information-driven. Zagat's pioneered the concept of survey ratings and reviews, and smart restaurants use them. We're seeing the same in entertainment, where Metacritic and others provide professional and customer ratings of every movie.
Now this trend is spreading down the product chain. In our survey, 24% said they are doing online research before buying shampoo. The Breck Girl is being replaced by a shopping bot.
And they have questions. How does this shampoo work on different hair types, thicknesses and colors? Are the bottles recyclable? Has the product been tested on animals?
It used to be that the only time people expected 30-page, pre-purchase, inspection reports was when they were buying a house. Now some people want them just to buy a tube of toothpaste.
The point is that advertising isn't just moving to the Web, it's got to grapple with an entirely new kind of shopper and way of shopping. Marketers now have to balance traditional media, online media, and content that is generated by experts, bloggers and consumers themselves. An astonishing 70% of Americans now say they consult product reviews or consumer ratings before they make their buying decisions. Sixty-two percent say they spend at least 30 minutes online every week to help them decide what and whether to buy. Among Americans under 45, that number shoots up to 73%. Seventy-three percent -- that's more than four times the percentage in that age group who go to church every week. For some, smart shopping is more than a hobby. It's a religion.
Information aggregation sites – the ones that don't generate content themselves, but link to others' content, weaving a story about the industry and its products -- will become even more important. Much as the Drudge Report tells its readers where to find stories they will like, so consumer aggregation sites could grow and do the same for car buyers, PC buyers, and other consumer groups. Most of the sites so far have been too cheesy to really catch on.
Information shopping also means manufacturers have to get back to generating more information on their products, even offbeat factoids that are highly memorable if not always useful. Timex sold a lot of watches by showing its watches were still ticking after being thrown into a washing machine. To catch the eye of the info-shopping consumer, manufacturers should start hauling their wares up to Mt. Everest, drop them out of windows, put them in boiling water and reporting on how they do. In an info-seeking world, facts can again become the great differentiator.
New Info Shoppers are bigger than a microtrend. They represent a broad shift in the marketplace brought about by the Internet, higher education, and changing economic times. But the question is when is the marketplace is going to really catch up to them.
Penn, Schoen and Berland conducted a New info Shoppers survey of nearly 300 U.S. adults October 15-21. Margin of error is +/- 5.69 points. Detailed Results available at www.psbresearch.com/files/ResultsOfMicrotrendsNewInfoShoppers.pdf
With so much attention on psychological marketing these days -- finding new ways to tap into people's heads -- perhaps the single most neglected trend out there is the move towards more hard-nosed information-based shopping and purchasing.
While elites were busy shoveling money into Madoff's black box these past few years, strapped consumers have been poring over product spec sheets, third-party reviews and expert blog sites. This past holiday season they watched every dollar. A special kind of consumer has taken a major role in the marketplace -- the new info shopper. These people just can't buy anything unless they first look it up online and get the lowdown.
These shoppers have the Internet at work, typically hold information-based or office-park jobs, have some college or grad school, and are often making ends meet with two jobs, kids, and pets on a middle or upper-middle-class income.
They have become highly suspicious of many TV ads: in a shoppers survey we did, 78% of them said that ads no longer have enough information they need. So many of them search online for virtually everything. Window shoppers have become "Windows shoppers." They want, in the phrase often attributed to Dragnet's Joe Friday, "just the facts, ma'am."
Of course, there is still a healthy role for big emotional brand appeals and mega-advertising campaigns. For every trend there is a counter trend. But that's not the real new thing in consumer behavior.
A whopping 92% of respondents said they had more confidence in information they seek out online than anything coming from a salesclerk or other source. They believe the information they find, not in the information that is spoon-fed to them, and the vast number of clicks today prove that they really are devoting time and energy to ferreting out detailed info before they buy.
A good example of how information can transform a marketplace is the series of ads a few years ago for the Dyson vacuum cleaner. Founder and inventor James Dyson took a commonplace item and explained how he had transformed it with new scientific principles. Consumers weren't bored with the technical approach. On the contrary, sales took off -- and changed the marketplace for vacuum cleaners.
When we asked shoppers whether they would do online research before buying a vacuum cleaner today, a surprising 58% said that's exactly what they would do. His ads helped turn vacuum-cleaner buying into a largely information-based marketplace.
We have seen many of the big market areas convert to an information-driven model -- cars, homes, personal computers and medical care are areas where nearly 4 in 5 shoppers say they gather information on their own from the Web before buying. "Do-it-yourself doctors" (that is, info patients) show up at their doctor with the Web-derived diagnosis in hand, and a list of the medicines they need prescribed. Customers appear at the car dealership with the wholesale price and the model already picked out.
Information-seeking is not just an activity, it's a way of looking at the world. New info shoppers are proud of the progress they have made in putting facts over pablum. More companies should treat their customers as Dyson did and let them in on the secrets of their unique success. And they should invest more than ever in helping form their consumers into citizen corps, arming them with PCs, cameras and even asking them to use the phone's new video cameras to document their product usage and put them online.
But how many marketers today work back from what this new consumer is thinking and doing? Not many. Based on the advertising budgets in the U.S. where a typical company will spend 60 times as much on advertising than they spend on generating publicity, most lag way behind in creating a new model of consumers and the steps they take before they buy.
Some industries got it right away. Movies and restaurants have huge word of mouth and impulse components, but they are also very information-driven. Zagat's pioneered the concept of survey ratings and reviews, and smart restaurants use them. We're seeing the same in entertainment, where Metacritic and others provide professional and customer ratings of every movie.
Now this trend is spreading down the product chain. In our survey, 24% said they are doing online research before buying shampoo. The Breck Girl is being replaced by a shopping bot.
And they have questions. How does this shampoo work on different hair types, thicknesses and colors? Are the bottles recyclable? Has the product been tested on animals?
It used to be that the only time people expected 30-page, pre-purchase, inspection reports was when they were buying a house. Now some people want them just to buy a tube of toothpaste.
The point is that advertising isn't just moving to the Web, it's got to grapple with an entirely new kind of shopper and way of shopping. Marketers now have to balance traditional media, online media, and content that is generated by experts, bloggers and consumers themselves. An astonishing 70% of Americans now say they consult product reviews or consumer ratings before they make their buying decisions. Sixty-two percent say they spend at least 30 minutes online every week to help them decide what and whether to buy. Among Americans under 45, that number shoots up to 73%. Seventy-three percent -- that's more than four times the percentage in that age group who go to church every week. For some, smart shopping is more than a hobby. It's a religion.
Information aggregation sites – the ones that don't generate content themselves, but link to others' content, weaving a story about the industry and its products -- will become even more important. Much as the Drudge Report tells its readers where to find stories they will like, so consumer aggregation sites could grow and do the same for car buyers, PC buyers, and other consumer groups. Most of the sites so far have been too cheesy to really catch on.
Information shopping also means manufacturers have to get back to generating more information on their products, even offbeat factoids that are highly memorable if not always useful. Timex sold a lot of watches by showing its watches were still ticking after being thrown into a washing machine. To catch the eye of the info-shopping consumer, manufacturers should start hauling their wares up to Mt. Everest, drop them out of windows, put them in boiling water and reporting on how they do. In an info-seeking world, facts can again become the great differentiator.
New Info Shoppers are bigger than a microtrend. They represent a broad shift in the marketplace brought about by the Internet, higher education, and changing economic times. But the question is when is the marketplace is going to really catch up to them.
Penn, Schoen and Berland conducted a New info Shoppers survey of nearly 300 U.S. adults October 15-21. Margin of error is +/- 5.69 points. Detailed Results available at www.psbresearch.com/files/ResultsOfMicrotrendsNewInfoShoppers.pdf
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
100 Ways for Hospitals, Health Systems to Twitter
Several times I've heard experts talk about how hospitals can use new media for promotion and public relations. The advice: Get on Facebook, start a blog, post to YouTube. And I'm always left wondering—OK, then what? So let's get specific. Since I started posting on Twitter, I've been watching several different hospitals and health systems to see what they're up to.
And, wow, are they doing some cool stuff.
Look who's tweeting
Backus Hospital, a community hospital in Norwich, CT, recently got me to click through to its site merely by mentioning it had posted pictures of its first baby of the New Year. Who doesn't love babies? The photos are really sweet and also show the hospital in a warm, intimate, friendly, and caring light.
Some other ways the community hospital is using Twitter:
Asking general questions to engage its audience. (If Sanjay Gupta becomes the U.S. Sugeon General, what would you ask him?)
Posting safety tips (change those smoke alarm batteries).
Posting health reminders (get those flu shots).
Providing links to cross-promote other products (read our monthly health magazine).
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, TN, always catches my attention with teases to stories about patients, volunteers, donors, and events. The marketing team at this organization really knows how to tell a good story.
Some other ways the hospital is using Twitter:
Announcing accomplishments (St. Jude Ranked No. 1 Pediatric Oncology Hospital).
Generating excitement about successful fundraising events and thanking fundraisers (marathoners raise $2 million for hospital).
Posting new research findings and overviews of topics such as cancer diagnosis and care.
The Office of Communications is a non-profit creative resource that serves organizations including the University of Texas Health Science Center and Texas Medical Center in Houston. I like their approach to Twitter. It's creative and diverse and full of personality. For example, they link to an article about why kids are terrified of Santa. (Many hospitals only link to their own sites. I think that's a mistake.)
Other ways the organization is using Twitter:
Internal communications. (What's on the agenda for the next faculty meeting?)
Links back to its other online sites (including its online newsletter, Scoop).
Fostering good customer relations. ("Taking time to thank our clients and all those who work with us for another great year").
ScrippsHealth in San Diego is an early adopter. They've posted more than 185 updates and have 409 people who follow their posts. After my last column on how hospitals can use Twitter for marketing, they commented that they've set up an account to syndicate out news stories and events. "It has been going well so far with lots of industry, media and community people following the account," they wrote. "The real opportunity," they added, "is the ability to speak directly to and hear directly from your consumers."
Other ways the organization is using Twitter:
Posting dates, times, and fees for healthcare-related classes (I could use a mindfulness-based stress reduction class).
Bolstering recruitment efforts (Scripps honored as top San Diego employer).
Some Twitter mistakes
A few things I've noticed since I've been poking around the site:
Too many organizations link repeatedly or even exclusively to their own Web sites. This comes off as very self-serving. If one of your experts in quoted in a news article, link to the news article—not your own press release about the article.
Too few organizations are asking open-ended questions to promote dialogue with their internal or external audiences.
Some organizations go overboard trying to include fun but meaningless posts along with useful, hospital-specific posts. An occasional light note—thanking everyone who's been following your Twitter account or who helped with a certain event—is fine. But don't wish everyone a cheery good morning every single morning.
On the other hand, some organizations aren't showing any personality at all in their posts. Robotic messages with the same kind of content (links to press releases for example) is boring and repetitive. Throw something in there every once in a while that proves your posts are written by a human being.
Keeping an eye on it all
I promised you a list 100 ways that hospitals and health systems can use Twitter, but you're going to have to do a little homework to round out what I've offered so far. Ed Bennett, director of web strategy for the University of Maryland Medical System, keeps an updated list of hospitals on Twitter—just click the "following" link to see them.
Meanwhile, Bennett has done some more work to help us find 100 ideas, with his extensive online list of hospitals that are on Twitter and Facebook. It's extensive. Start looking at what others are doing—and then figure out what works for your organization.
And, wow, are they doing some cool stuff.
Look who's tweeting
Backus Hospital, a community hospital in Norwich, CT, recently got me to click through to its site merely by mentioning it had posted pictures of its first baby of the New Year. Who doesn't love babies? The photos are really sweet and also show the hospital in a warm, intimate, friendly, and caring light.
Some other ways the community hospital is using Twitter:
Asking general questions to engage its audience. (If Sanjay Gupta becomes the U.S. Sugeon General, what would you ask him?)
Posting safety tips (change those smoke alarm batteries).
Posting health reminders (get those flu shots).
Providing links to cross-promote other products (read our monthly health magazine).
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, TN, always catches my attention with teases to stories about patients, volunteers, donors, and events. The marketing team at this organization really knows how to tell a good story.
Some other ways the hospital is using Twitter:
Announcing accomplishments (St. Jude Ranked No. 1 Pediatric Oncology Hospital).
Generating excitement about successful fundraising events and thanking fundraisers (marathoners raise $2 million for hospital).
Posting new research findings and overviews of topics such as cancer diagnosis and care.
The Office of Communications is a non-profit creative resource that serves organizations including the University of Texas Health Science Center and Texas Medical Center in Houston. I like their approach to Twitter. It's creative and diverse and full of personality. For example, they link to an article about why kids are terrified of Santa. (Many hospitals only link to their own sites. I think that's a mistake.)
Other ways the organization is using Twitter:
Internal communications. (What's on the agenda for the next faculty meeting?)
Links back to its other online sites (including its online newsletter, Scoop).
Fostering good customer relations. ("Taking time to thank our clients and all those who work with us for another great year").
ScrippsHealth in San Diego is an early adopter. They've posted more than 185 updates and have 409 people who follow their posts. After my last column on how hospitals can use Twitter for marketing, they commented that they've set up an account to syndicate out news stories and events. "It has been going well so far with lots of industry, media and community people following the account," they wrote. "The real opportunity," they added, "is the ability to speak directly to and hear directly from your consumers."
Other ways the organization is using Twitter:
Posting dates, times, and fees for healthcare-related classes (I could use a mindfulness-based stress reduction class).
Bolstering recruitment efforts (Scripps honored as top San Diego employer).
Some Twitter mistakes
A few things I've noticed since I've been poking around the site:
Too many organizations link repeatedly or even exclusively to their own Web sites. This comes off as very self-serving. If one of your experts in quoted in a news article, link to the news article—not your own press release about the article.
Too few organizations are asking open-ended questions to promote dialogue with their internal or external audiences.
Some organizations go overboard trying to include fun but meaningless posts along with useful, hospital-specific posts. An occasional light note—thanking everyone who's been following your Twitter account or who helped with a certain event—is fine. But don't wish everyone a cheery good morning every single morning.
On the other hand, some organizations aren't showing any personality at all in their posts. Robotic messages with the same kind of content (links to press releases for example) is boring and repetitive. Throw something in there every once in a while that proves your posts are written by a human being.
Keeping an eye on it all
I promised you a list 100 ways that hospitals and health systems can use Twitter, but you're going to have to do a little homework to round out what I've offered so far. Ed Bennett, director of web strategy for the University of Maryland Medical System, keeps an updated list of hospitals on Twitter—just click the "following" link to see them.
Meanwhile, Bennett has done some more work to help us find 100 ideas, with his extensive online list of hospitals that are on Twitter and Facebook. It's extensive. Start looking at what others are doing—and then figure out what works for your organization.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Eight ways to befriend journalists via e-mail
By Christine Kent
chrisk@ckeditorial.com
How to approach and build reporter relationships, one e-mail message at a time
Back when PR pros schmoozed with journalists at a local bar, or bumped into them at events around town, it was a lot easier to make connections and start lobbing a few pitches their way. Now, years after e-mail took over our lives, PR people have to rely on an impersonal and easily disposable method of communication to make these crucial connections.
Since e-mail is what we're stuck with, how can you engage a media contact in few words, and without the force of your personal charm? PR pros say that getting too chummy in an e-mail—especially a message to a journalist you've never met—usually has the opposite effect (i.e., you sound a bit like a stalker). And a too-formal tone comes off as extra-stiff in an e-mail.
Here's some guidance on hitting the right note in those first-approach e-mails.
1. Show you're a fan. "I can't think of a more simple, intuitive or appropriate approach to building relationships with journalists and editors via e-mail than actually reading their content, and then commenting to them via e-mail," says David Muise, vice president of PR at Full Spectrum Media in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
"It's a great introduction, requires no fluff and shows that you are practicing due diligence. It also shows that you are an active player in the story, and that you're not just sending materials blindly when you need something."
2. Give it the personal touch. Along those same lines, Kevin Aschenbrenner, senior account supervisor/PR for Jaffe Associates in Victoria, Canada, says to use names in your e-mail pitch, and not just the ones you get from a mail merge. "Even if you're working off of a huge media list, start it with their name," says Aschenbrenner. "I actually think it's better to use Outlook and not some mail merge program because, wearing my other hat as the editor of the Jaffe Legal News Service, I've seen e-mail pitches that are so obviously mail merges it's painful."
3. Spell-check makes perfect. Christine Hohlbaum, a Munich, Germany-based PR consultant for U.S.-based Wasabi Publicity, relies heavily on e-mail relationships given the distance between her and her media contacts.
She says that a polished message is key to making a good first impression. "I avoid typos," says Hohlbaum. "Using improper grammar and spelling in an e-mail is like stuttering."
4. Just the facts, ma'am. "E-mailing press isn't writing a love letter," says David Libby, principal of Libby Communications in Oakland, Calif. "It's akin to a job application.
The information should be factual, pertinent to the reporter's audience, quick to the point and mirror the reporter's style. If the information in an e-mail, to a reporter, carries these qualities, consistently, e-mail after e-mail, then the reporter will develop trust for the PR person and might respond."
5. E-mail to help out, not just to pitch. Dylan Powell, a PR writer at Houston's Origin Design, practices the "three to one" rule. He contacts journalists three times with helpful background info or comments before sending them one pitch.
6. The need for speed. "If a PR representative replies to journalists' questions with lightning speed, it automatically shows diligence and a commitment to assist," says Matthew Zintel, managing director of Zintel PR in Los Angeles. "That goes a long way in forming a relationship outside of e-mail. I can't tell you how many times an editor or writer has thanked us for quickly answering e-mail questions just minutes after receiving them, no matter the time."
7. Chill out. "Relax your tone," advises Kevin Quartz, PR director at Harrisburg, Pa., ad agency Pavone.
"Many pitches sound too polished, like every word has been agonized over and scrutinized by a team of writers, because they often have. The most effective and personal e-mail communications read like conversations between two friends—as if you wrote the e-mail just for them."
Kacie Main, an account executive at O'Connell & Goldberg PR in Hollywood, Fla., says she imagines she's chatting up a media contact over the phone.
"I think as PR professionals we get into our 'writing modes' and write e-mails as if we're drafting an overall PR plan we are going to send to the CEO of a major company," Main says. "In order to build relationships through e-mail, you have to write them as if you're on the phone. You would never call someone and immediately jump into your pitch. You would say 'hi, how are you?' And when hanging up, you wouldn't say 'best regards,' you would say 'thanks' or 'talk to you soon.'"
But don't get too friendly: "Don't act like someone's best friend in the first e-mail," says Karen Campbell, senior public relations manager for Zondervan, a publisher based in Grand Rapids. Kevin Quartz agrees: "Keep it professional. There's a fine line between conversational and awkwardly personal. Don't ask how their family is doing if you've never met them."
Think hard about that subject line: "You need to make your subject lines count," says Aschenbrenner. "'New Partners Join Firm' is something I see a lot. They don't even put the firm name in the subject. I try to write subjects like headlines. You want to snag a reporter so they open the e-mail, or at least read the first few sentences in the preview pane."
8. The five-second scan. Elizabeth Robinson, president of Volume PR in Centennial, Colo., got a grateful response to a short-and-sweet pitch she sent to a Fortune Small Business reporter who liked the fact that she didn't waste his time. "This is not an age where people curl up with a cup of a coffee to read e-mails," says Robinson. "We scan everything."
Robinson gives her pitches the "five-second scan test" to see if they're succinct and short enough to be digested in just a few seconds. "Set a timer, and see if the pitch entices you to read on," she suggests.
In her pitch to Fortune Small Business, she reduced the news to a few bullet points. The editor contacted her within three minutes, telling her that he was thankful he "didn't have to unpack paragraphs of text."
Kevin Quartz also likes the bulleted approach. "We've moved away from the 'pitch and attached release' format towards a series of easily digestible bullets of information incorporated into the body of the e-mail," he says. "This makes the entire e-mail look like the information is being delivered directly to the recipient."
Aschenbrenner also believes in the Gospel of Keeping it Short.
"When it comes to the body of the e-mail, the way you're going to let a reporter know that they're dealing with a flack who will be an asset and not a pest is to keep it short, and to the point," he explains. "I write out all my pitches ahead of time and make sure that they are no longer than five to seven sentences. That ensures they don't run beyond the first part of an e-mail. Reporters don't scroll."
chrisk@ckeditorial.com
How to approach and build reporter relationships, one e-mail message at a time
Back when PR pros schmoozed with journalists at a local bar, or bumped into them at events around town, it was a lot easier to make connections and start lobbing a few pitches their way. Now, years after e-mail took over our lives, PR people have to rely on an impersonal and easily disposable method of communication to make these crucial connections.
Since e-mail is what we're stuck with, how can you engage a media contact in few words, and without the force of your personal charm? PR pros say that getting too chummy in an e-mail—especially a message to a journalist you've never met—usually has the opposite effect (i.e., you sound a bit like a stalker). And a too-formal tone comes off as extra-stiff in an e-mail.
Here's some guidance on hitting the right note in those first-approach e-mails.
1. Show you're a fan. "I can't think of a more simple, intuitive or appropriate approach to building relationships with journalists and editors via e-mail than actually reading their content, and then commenting to them via e-mail," says David Muise, vice president of PR at Full Spectrum Media in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
"It's a great introduction, requires no fluff and shows that you are practicing due diligence. It also shows that you are an active player in the story, and that you're not just sending materials blindly when you need something."
2. Give it the personal touch. Along those same lines, Kevin Aschenbrenner, senior account supervisor/PR for Jaffe Associates in Victoria, Canada, says to use names in your e-mail pitch, and not just the ones you get from a mail merge. "Even if you're working off of a huge media list, start it with their name," says Aschenbrenner. "I actually think it's better to use Outlook and not some mail merge program because, wearing my other hat as the editor of the Jaffe Legal News Service, I've seen e-mail pitches that are so obviously mail merges it's painful."
3. Spell-check makes perfect. Christine Hohlbaum, a Munich, Germany-based PR consultant for U.S.-based Wasabi Publicity, relies heavily on e-mail relationships given the distance between her and her media contacts.
She says that a polished message is key to making a good first impression. "I avoid typos," says Hohlbaum. "Using improper grammar and spelling in an e-mail is like stuttering."
4. Just the facts, ma'am. "E-mailing press isn't writing a love letter," says David Libby, principal of Libby Communications in Oakland, Calif. "It's akin to a job application.
The information should be factual, pertinent to the reporter's audience, quick to the point and mirror the reporter's style. If the information in an e-mail, to a reporter, carries these qualities, consistently, e-mail after e-mail, then the reporter will develop trust for the PR person and might respond."
5. E-mail to help out, not just to pitch. Dylan Powell, a PR writer at Houston's Origin Design, practices the "three to one" rule. He contacts journalists three times with helpful background info or comments before sending them one pitch.
6. The need for speed. "If a PR representative replies to journalists' questions with lightning speed, it automatically shows diligence and a commitment to assist," says Matthew Zintel, managing director of Zintel PR in Los Angeles. "That goes a long way in forming a relationship outside of e-mail. I can't tell you how many times an editor or writer has thanked us for quickly answering e-mail questions just minutes after receiving them, no matter the time."
7. Chill out. "Relax your tone," advises Kevin Quartz, PR director at Harrisburg, Pa., ad agency Pavone.
"Many pitches sound too polished, like every word has been agonized over and scrutinized by a team of writers, because they often have. The most effective and personal e-mail communications read like conversations between two friends—as if you wrote the e-mail just for them."
Kacie Main, an account executive at O'Connell & Goldberg PR in Hollywood, Fla., says she imagines she's chatting up a media contact over the phone.
"I think as PR professionals we get into our 'writing modes' and write e-mails as if we're drafting an overall PR plan we are going to send to the CEO of a major company," Main says. "In order to build relationships through e-mail, you have to write them as if you're on the phone. You would never call someone and immediately jump into your pitch. You would say 'hi, how are you?' And when hanging up, you wouldn't say 'best regards,' you would say 'thanks' or 'talk to you soon.'"
But don't get too friendly: "Don't act like someone's best friend in the first e-mail," says Karen Campbell, senior public relations manager for Zondervan, a publisher based in Grand Rapids. Kevin Quartz agrees: "Keep it professional. There's a fine line between conversational and awkwardly personal. Don't ask how their family is doing if you've never met them."
Think hard about that subject line: "You need to make your subject lines count," says Aschenbrenner. "'New Partners Join Firm' is something I see a lot. They don't even put the firm name in the subject. I try to write subjects like headlines. You want to snag a reporter so they open the e-mail, or at least read the first few sentences in the preview pane."
8. The five-second scan. Elizabeth Robinson, president of Volume PR in Centennial, Colo., got a grateful response to a short-and-sweet pitch she sent to a Fortune Small Business reporter who liked the fact that she didn't waste his time. "This is not an age where people curl up with a cup of a coffee to read e-mails," says Robinson. "We scan everything."
Robinson gives her pitches the "five-second scan test" to see if they're succinct and short enough to be digested in just a few seconds. "Set a timer, and see if the pitch entices you to read on," she suggests.
In her pitch to Fortune Small Business, she reduced the news to a few bullet points. The editor contacted her within three minutes, telling her that he was thankful he "didn't have to unpack paragraphs of text."
Kevin Quartz also likes the bulleted approach. "We've moved away from the 'pitch and attached release' format towards a series of easily digestible bullets of information incorporated into the body of the e-mail," he says. "This makes the entire e-mail look like the information is being delivered directly to the recipient."
Aschenbrenner also believes in the Gospel of Keeping it Short.
"When it comes to the body of the e-mail, the way you're going to let a reporter know that they're dealing with a flack who will be an asset and not a pest is to keep it short, and to the point," he explains. "I write out all my pitches ahead of time and make sure that they are no longer than five to seven sentences. That ensures they don't run beyond the first part of an e-mail. Reporters don't scroll."
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Why the executive interview is a fraud
By Digby Whitman
Of all business media practices, the most dreadful, the most decayed, the most hotly embarrassing, the most palpably offensive to the nostrils of God, is the executive message in the form of an "interview" with the company president or Chief Executive Officer.
You know the kind of thing I mean.
Q. "Mr. Huffnpuff, how would you rate our company's performance profitwise for the year just ended?"
A. "Well, Jim, as you know, it was a very difficult year for our industry. But on balance, I think I can say ..." and so on.
I have seen answers beginning "That's a very good question" or even "I'm glad you asked me that."
In a further and equally fruitless attempt to lend credibility to the incredible, the "interview" pages are often studded with photos—Huffnpuff leaning forward, Huffnpuff leaning back, Huffnpuff frowning thoughtfully as he ponders a reply.
A genuine interview is an exchange between a questioner who doesn't know the answers and a respondent who has no control over the questions. The phony "interview" is nothing of the sort. Both questions and answers are carefully tailored to the convenience of the CEO. Indeed, no actual question-and-answer session ever takes place. It's purely a paper exercise.
To me, the most irksome aspect of the exercise is not its fraudulence but its naivete. Nobody old enough to read could for a moment be deceived by it.
Successful fraud may be by general standards deplorable, but at least it has the consolations of success. What can be said for a fraud that exposes itself as it goes along? The inverted commas around the word "interview" in this article are sneers, inserted with the hope of persuading editors (at least) to cast executive or institutional messages as straightforward monologues.
I am not trying to steer you away from fraud; it's an indispensable editorial tool. But stick to honest fraud.
The late Digby Whitman was the director of communications for Employers Insurance of Wausau, and an essayist for The Ragan Report for many years.
Article comments:
Tuesday, December 09, 2008 9:13:37 AM by pat
I'm put in mind of an episode of "The Simpsons," in which Homer's boss at the nuclear power plant, Mr. Burns, is running for governor, and wants to appear to have the common touch. So he agrees to have dinner at the Simpsons' home, and one of his advisors preps Homer's daughter Lisa for the dinnertime conversation:
Advisor: Little girl, do you think you can memorize this by dinnertime tomorrow?
Lisa: "Mr. Burns: your campaign seems to have the momentum of a runaway freight train. Why are you so popular?''
Advisor: Very good.
Lisa: Mm. Well, as long as I'm asking something, can I ask him to assuage my fears that he's contaminating the planet in a manner that may one day render it uninhabitable?
Advisor: No, dear. The card question'll be fine.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008 11:39:56 AM by Jay
As a counterpoint if done well, without the glad-handing and ham-handedness described above, the Q&A can be a very effective format.
It's very concise and easy for the reader to scan, allowing the crisp delivery and retention of key messages.
Like all executive communications, it ought to actually sound like the executive otherwise, it's worthless.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008 11:58:24 AM by John H
Q & A should be an anathema to writers. It's a poor substitute for writing. If it's a transcript, it needs editing. If it's edited, that's dishonest.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008 12:20:03 PM by Vic Morales
I agree with Jay, if done right, it's effective. However, I've done a lot of video and recently a podcast interview. Each time, the interviewee wants a scriptwhich I say no. The reason being is that employees appreciate the non-scripted, real-life answer approach.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008 12:42:35 PM by Steve Lachowicz
Interviewing the general manager about these tough financial times and making the interview available as a minimally edited video on our Intranet has been highly successful for us. We don't shy from the tough questions about pay raises or budget cutbacks, and employees have responded favorably. They say they appreciate seeing the GM respond and want to hear what he has to say.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008 1:19:53 PM by Barry Nelson
Has anyone bothered to research this subject with actual readers? How would they prefer to have the exec's thoughts presented in written form? Which presentation style actually gets the information through? If your audience has already seen it handled more than one way, an objective questionnaire might be useful. If not, maybe a focus group review of alternative formats? Might seem like a lot of bother, but if it settles the question for you, probably worth it.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008 1:46:07 PM by Jay
"Has anyone bothered to research this subject with actual readers?"
I can tell you that a regular Q&A feature on the intranet site I ran for three years was always a pageview leader each month.
I think Q&As still have their place, and while podcasts have risen to occupy that space as well, hits on a Q&A or story almost always outweigh podcast downloads by a factor of 10.
Not such a big fan of online video Q&As the audio is generally fine, but the visuals are pretty static and dull. Better to do a podcast, IMO.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008 3:05:01 PM by Paul Long
The ultimate point here...make the Q&A candid and unscripted. In terms of video, I produce a lot of "soundbite driven" narratives (both internal and external) and even get hired to interview and not ask questions but get good soundbites.
The key is to have authentic and credible soundbites (or in the case of print, those kinds of quotes). The Q&A format can be especially effective if it's an outsider doing the interview and its clear the answers are not prompted or memorized. Even better is to have many different soundbites from key people (and not just C-level) to tell the story.
Otherwise, the author is right...people pick up on that in a nano-second and creates a huge downside.
Of all business media practices, the most dreadful, the most decayed, the most hotly embarrassing, the most palpably offensive to the nostrils of God, is the executive message in the form of an "interview" with the company president or Chief Executive Officer.
You know the kind of thing I mean.
Q. "Mr. Huffnpuff, how would you rate our company's performance profitwise for the year just ended?"
A. "Well, Jim, as you know, it was a very difficult year for our industry. But on balance, I think I can say ..." and so on.
I have seen answers beginning "That's a very good question" or even "I'm glad you asked me that."
In a further and equally fruitless attempt to lend credibility to the incredible, the "interview" pages are often studded with photos—Huffnpuff leaning forward, Huffnpuff leaning back, Huffnpuff frowning thoughtfully as he ponders a reply.
A genuine interview is an exchange between a questioner who doesn't know the answers and a respondent who has no control over the questions. The phony "interview" is nothing of the sort. Both questions and answers are carefully tailored to the convenience of the CEO. Indeed, no actual question-and-answer session ever takes place. It's purely a paper exercise.
To me, the most irksome aspect of the exercise is not its fraudulence but its naivete. Nobody old enough to read could for a moment be deceived by it.
Successful fraud may be by general standards deplorable, but at least it has the consolations of success. What can be said for a fraud that exposes itself as it goes along? The inverted commas around the word "interview" in this article are sneers, inserted with the hope of persuading editors (at least) to cast executive or institutional messages as straightforward monologues.
I am not trying to steer you away from fraud; it's an indispensable editorial tool. But stick to honest fraud.
The late Digby Whitman was the director of communications for Employers Insurance of Wausau, and an essayist for The Ragan Report for many years.
Article comments:
Tuesday, December 09, 2008 9:13:37 AM by pat
I'm put in mind of an episode of "The Simpsons," in which Homer's boss at the nuclear power plant, Mr. Burns, is running for governor, and wants to appear to have the common touch. So he agrees to have dinner at the Simpsons' home, and one of his advisors preps Homer's daughter Lisa for the dinnertime conversation:
Advisor: Little girl, do you think you can memorize this by dinnertime tomorrow?
Lisa: "Mr. Burns: your campaign seems to have the momentum of a runaway freight train. Why are you so popular?''
Advisor: Very good.
Lisa: Mm. Well, as long as I'm asking something, can I ask him to assuage my fears that he's contaminating the planet in a manner that may one day render it uninhabitable?
Advisor: No, dear. The card question'll be fine.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008 11:39:56 AM by Jay
As a counterpoint if done well, without the glad-handing and ham-handedness described above, the Q&A can be a very effective format.
It's very concise and easy for the reader to scan, allowing the crisp delivery and retention of key messages.
Like all executive communications, it ought to actually sound like the executive otherwise, it's worthless.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008 11:58:24 AM by John H
Q & A should be an anathema to writers. It's a poor substitute for writing. If it's a transcript, it needs editing. If it's edited, that's dishonest.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008 12:20:03 PM by Vic Morales
I agree with Jay, if done right, it's effective. However, I've done a lot of video and recently a podcast interview. Each time, the interviewee wants a scriptwhich I say no. The reason being is that employees appreciate the non-scripted, real-life answer approach.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008 12:42:35 PM by Steve Lachowicz
Interviewing the general manager about these tough financial times and making the interview available as a minimally edited video on our Intranet has been highly successful for us. We don't shy from the tough questions about pay raises or budget cutbacks, and employees have responded favorably. They say they appreciate seeing the GM respond and want to hear what he has to say.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008 1:19:53 PM by Barry Nelson
Has anyone bothered to research this subject with actual readers? How would they prefer to have the exec's thoughts presented in written form? Which presentation style actually gets the information through? If your audience has already seen it handled more than one way, an objective questionnaire might be useful. If not, maybe a focus group review of alternative formats? Might seem like a lot of bother, but if it settles the question for you, probably worth it.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008 1:46:07 PM by Jay
"Has anyone bothered to research this subject with actual readers?"
I can tell you that a regular Q&A feature on the intranet site I ran for three years was always a pageview leader each month.
I think Q&As still have their place, and while podcasts have risen to occupy that space as well, hits on a Q&A or story almost always outweigh podcast downloads by a factor of 10.
Not such a big fan of online video Q&As the audio is generally fine, but the visuals are pretty static and dull. Better to do a podcast, IMO.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008 3:05:01 PM by Paul Long
The ultimate point here...make the Q&A candid and unscripted. In terms of video, I produce a lot of "soundbite driven" narratives (both internal and external) and even get hired to interview and not ask questions but get good soundbites.
The key is to have authentic and credible soundbites (or in the case of print, those kinds of quotes). The Q&A format can be especially effective if it's an outsider doing the interview and its clear the answers are not prompted or memorized. Even better is to have many different soundbites from key people (and not just C-level) to tell the story.
Otherwise, the author is right...people pick up on that in a nano-second and creates a huge downside.
Online content: What—and whom—does the law protect?
By Michael Sebastian
michaels@ragan.com
Wonder whether you can sue an online commenter for libel or if you can be sued for anonymous comments on your blog? We have the answers
An anonymous commenter on your company’s external blog attacks the CEO of another organization. That CEO calls the comment libel and threatens a lawsuit. Your executives want your head on a platter. After all, you, the communicator, started the blog.
You tell everyone not to worry. Your company is probably not responsible for that comment.
“[Federal law] says … your Web site cannot be held liable for user-generated content,” attorney Bruce Johnson, a media privacy and law expert, explained. “You are not deemed to be the publisher or speaker of that content.”
Johnson, a partner in the Seattle office of Davis Wright Tremaine, spoke to Ragan.com in October at Ragan’s Corporate Communications in a Web 2.0 World conference. He provided eight legal tips for communicators.
1. You are not responsible for user-generated content on your Web site. If someone leaves scurrilous comments on your company’s external blog, you, the site owner, are not considered the publisher or speaker of that content. A court will not hold you responsible for the content of those remarks. As a result, you are safe against lawsuits—unless …
2. If you take an active role in producing third-party content, then you can be held responsible for it. A recent court case ruled that the federal law protecting Web sites (section 230 of the Communications Decency Act) does not shield Web site owners who take an active role in the comment process. For instance, if your site asks visitors to leave answers to specific questions instead of just providing them with a blank space to write comments then you can be held liable.
Bruce Johnson tells CEO Mark Ragan how—and if—companies should respond to rogue Web sites.
“The extent to which you get more and more involved with third-party content, you may risk losing that immunity [provided by section 230],” Johnson said.
3. Avoid filing lawsuits against Web sites that criticize your company. It is very difficult to sue the person who starts the Web site, Yourcompanysucks.com, Johnson explained. For instance, Ford motor company filed a lawsuit against the owner of the Web site, Fordsucks.com, alleging he misused the company’s trademark. The court ruled against Ford.
“The court went out of its way to basically say there is a First Amendment right to use the name of the company and to criticize the company on the part of consumers,” Johnson said.
4. The courts protect anonymity. Want an anonymous commenter’s real name? You better show the court good reason why. The courts, Johnson said, usually protect anonymity.
“There’s a whole series of court cases requiring the plaintiff to show he has good reason to get access to the name of that individual,” he explained. “The courts [in the U.S.] have created a new protection for anonymity.”
What is “good reason”? You must prove the comment has somehow broken the law.
5. Suing an anonymous commenter is probably not worth it. A company must prove to a judge it has good reason to demand an anonymous commenter’s name. That can be time consuming and expensive, Johnson said. And there's a chance the person lacks assets. So what’s the point of filing a lawsuit? Johnson asked
“You’re effectively squashing a flea with a sledge hammer,” he said. “Filing such a lawsuit is a waste of time.”
6. Sock puppetry is dangerous. What is sock puppetry? It’s when someone, maybe an employee or CEO, adopts a fake online identity and leaves a trail of comments on the Web.
John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, was a sock puppet. Under a phony name, he made comments online celebrating Whole Foods and denigrating Wild Oats, a company Whole Foods ultimately said it planned to purchase.
Don’t do this, Johnson insists. Beyond the brand damage Mackey inflicted when people learned of his online shenanigans, it was potentially a legal issue because Mackey made disparaging comments about publicly-traded companies, according to Johnson.
7. Internal communications is protected from defamation lawsuits, because the courts consider internal communications to be the company talking to itself. So something you write in an internal publication is most likely protected against lawsuits.
8. Don’t falsely advertise in a blog. The authors of your company blog are granted First Amendment rights to spout their opinions. However, when you enter the false advertising arena you lose those protections, Johnson said.
False advertising is when a company includes a false or misleading message in an advertisement. For instance, if a shoe company publishes an ad claiming proceeds from the sales of its shoes go to charity—when in fact they do not—it is false advertising.
That said, blogs have not been subject to this false advertising liability—yet. Why? “Technology is moving ahead of the law,” Johnson said.
Article comments:
Tuesday, December 09, 2008 10:28:25 AM by Tim S
Posters on blogs and blog owners are often protected by "Anti-SLAPP laws" (see Google for definition) being enacted by a number of states - where entities can't sue to quash critisism and can be required to pay the legal fees of those they attempt to sue.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008 10:30:33 AM by Matt
Thanks. Very valuable stuff. People in my company are nervous about the Web in a way that regularly surprises me. This type of information can help calm them.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008 11:04:43 AM by Amanda Vega
We have an attorney client that specializes in this type of thing and also guide us as a social media agency (for over 15 years) to ensure that we aren't putting ourselves or our clients in jeopardy. He also has presentations on this that he can give other firms (shameless plug, I know.) I personally like #3, as you see many clients, especially large brands try to do this. If you try and remove all the bad stuff, then you aren't harnessing the power or opportunity to actually LISTEN to your customers and change accordingly. Also, with regard to liability, there is also something to be said for the liability of your company for what your employees do - so that's another story to be told.
As for sock puppeting - I'm not completely in agreement. Social media participants and zealots are OK with hired hands. They just want it to be transparent. And for the times you use personas to help spread the word - there is value and need for that. Specifically, we have some clients where we are using fake names and pictures of model children for profiles to help with social media response marketing for some clients. The reason being you never want to post your real name/kids pics just in case there are psychos out there stalking you. However you have to note that the person behind the profile is the same identity in essence. If "kate smith" is defined as a mom of three, then the lady behind the name is indeed a mom of three. Another interesting follow-up may be the new laws that are floating around the UK to this regard. Last we heard, it's actually illegal to have a persona!
Amanda Vega
http://www.amandavega.com
michaels@ragan.com
Wonder whether you can sue an online commenter for libel or if you can be sued for anonymous comments on your blog? We have the answers
An anonymous commenter on your company’s external blog attacks the CEO of another organization. That CEO calls the comment libel and threatens a lawsuit. Your executives want your head on a platter. After all, you, the communicator, started the blog.
You tell everyone not to worry. Your company is probably not responsible for that comment.
“[Federal law] says … your Web site cannot be held liable for user-generated content,” attorney Bruce Johnson, a media privacy and law expert, explained. “You are not deemed to be the publisher or speaker of that content.”
Johnson, a partner in the Seattle office of Davis Wright Tremaine, spoke to Ragan.com in October at Ragan’s Corporate Communications in a Web 2.0 World conference. He provided eight legal tips for communicators.
1. You are not responsible for user-generated content on your Web site. If someone leaves scurrilous comments on your company’s external blog, you, the site owner, are not considered the publisher or speaker of that content. A court will not hold you responsible for the content of those remarks. As a result, you are safe against lawsuits—unless …
2. If you take an active role in producing third-party content, then you can be held responsible for it. A recent court case ruled that the federal law protecting Web sites (section 230 of the Communications Decency Act) does not shield Web site owners who take an active role in the comment process. For instance, if your site asks visitors to leave answers to specific questions instead of just providing them with a blank space to write comments then you can be held liable.
Bruce Johnson tells CEO Mark Ragan how—and if—companies should respond to rogue Web sites.
“The extent to which you get more and more involved with third-party content, you may risk losing that immunity [provided by section 230],” Johnson said.
3. Avoid filing lawsuits against Web sites that criticize your company. It is very difficult to sue the person who starts the Web site, Yourcompanysucks.com, Johnson explained. For instance, Ford motor company filed a lawsuit against the owner of the Web site, Fordsucks.com, alleging he misused the company’s trademark. The court ruled against Ford.
“The court went out of its way to basically say there is a First Amendment right to use the name of the company and to criticize the company on the part of consumers,” Johnson said.
4. The courts protect anonymity. Want an anonymous commenter’s real name? You better show the court good reason why. The courts, Johnson said, usually protect anonymity.
“There’s a whole series of court cases requiring the plaintiff to show he has good reason to get access to the name of that individual,” he explained. “The courts [in the U.S.] have created a new protection for anonymity.”
What is “good reason”? You must prove the comment has somehow broken the law.
5. Suing an anonymous commenter is probably not worth it. A company must prove to a judge it has good reason to demand an anonymous commenter’s name. That can be time consuming and expensive, Johnson said. And there's a chance the person lacks assets. So what’s the point of filing a lawsuit? Johnson asked
“You’re effectively squashing a flea with a sledge hammer,” he said. “Filing such a lawsuit is a waste of time.”
6. Sock puppetry is dangerous. What is sock puppetry? It’s when someone, maybe an employee or CEO, adopts a fake online identity and leaves a trail of comments on the Web.
John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, was a sock puppet. Under a phony name, he made comments online celebrating Whole Foods and denigrating Wild Oats, a company Whole Foods ultimately said it planned to purchase.
Don’t do this, Johnson insists. Beyond the brand damage Mackey inflicted when people learned of his online shenanigans, it was potentially a legal issue because Mackey made disparaging comments about publicly-traded companies, according to Johnson.
7. Internal communications is protected from defamation lawsuits, because the courts consider internal communications to be the company talking to itself. So something you write in an internal publication is most likely protected against lawsuits.
8. Don’t falsely advertise in a blog. The authors of your company blog are granted First Amendment rights to spout their opinions. However, when you enter the false advertising arena you lose those protections, Johnson said.
False advertising is when a company includes a false or misleading message in an advertisement. For instance, if a shoe company publishes an ad claiming proceeds from the sales of its shoes go to charity—when in fact they do not—it is false advertising.
That said, blogs have not been subject to this false advertising liability—yet. Why? “Technology is moving ahead of the law,” Johnson said.
Article comments:
Tuesday, December 09, 2008 10:28:25 AM by Tim S
Posters on blogs and blog owners are often protected by "Anti-SLAPP laws" (see Google for definition) being enacted by a number of states - where entities can't sue to quash critisism and can be required to pay the legal fees of those they attempt to sue.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008 10:30:33 AM by Matt
Thanks. Very valuable stuff. People in my company are nervous about the Web in a way that regularly surprises me. This type of information can help calm them.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008 11:04:43 AM by Amanda Vega
We have an attorney client that specializes in this type of thing and also guide us as a social media agency (for over 15 years) to ensure that we aren't putting ourselves or our clients in jeopardy. He also has presentations on this that he can give other firms (shameless plug, I know.) I personally like #3, as you see many clients, especially large brands try to do this. If you try and remove all the bad stuff, then you aren't harnessing the power or opportunity to actually LISTEN to your customers and change accordingly. Also, with regard to liability, there is also something to be said for the liability of your company for what your employees do - so that's another story to be told.
As for sock puppeting - I'm not completely in agreement. Social media participants and zealots are OK with hired hands. They just want it to be transparent. And for the times you use personas to help spread the word - there is value and need for that. Specifically, we have some clients where we are using fake names and pictures of model children for profiles to help with social media response marketing for some clients. The reason being you never want to post your real name/kids pics just in case there are psychos out there stalking you. However you have to note that the person behind the profile is the same identity in essence. If "kate smith" is defined as a mom of three, then the lady behind the name is indeed a mom of three. Another interesting follow-up may be the new laws that are floating around the UK to this regard. Last we heard, it's actually illegal to have a persona!
Amanda Vega
http://www.amandavega.com
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
How to keep your blog out of court
Avoid legal snafus when creating a corporate blog; some thoughts on why corporate blogs are such a bore; Obama’s own speechwriter in the spotlight
Keep your blog out of court: Marketing Sherpa offers advice for avoiding legal snafus when you’re creating a corporate blog. One suggestion: Don’t be too quick to get involved in editing comments. “The more you monitor and regulate user content on your site, the more you’re liable for what is said. … As soon as you begin deciding which comments stay and which comments go, you become more responsible for every comment on the site,” says the article.
Why are corporate blogs so lifeless? Robert Scoble, blogging evangelist and former high-tech exec, says moist companies don’t quite know what to do with their blogs. “Some blogs are like press releases,” Scoble tells CIO Insight. “New, friendly, cuddly press releases, but they’re still only talking about what’s happening in the company and its products. The really hard thing, the thing I haven’t seen too many people do, is what I was trying to do: Be an authority on the marketplace. That really helps a lot.”
Obama as First Speechwriter: In a post-election article called “Battle Plans: How Obama Won,” Patrick Gaspard, political director for the campaign, says that when he was interviewing for the post, the president-elect said, “I think that I’m a better speechwriter than my speechwriters. I know more about policies on any particular issue than my policy directors. And I’ll tell you right now that I’m gonna think I’m a better political director than my political director.”
Focus on Favreau: Curious about Obama’s speechwriter Jon Favreau? The 27-year-old speechwriter was profiled in The New York Times earlier this year (thanks to Ian Griffin’s Professionally Speaking blog for the link). The Politico.com Web site speculates that Favreau will land a senior position in the new administration.
Keep your blog out of court: Marketing Sherpa offers advice for avoiding legal snafus when you’re creating a corporate blog. One suggestion: Don’t be too quick to get involved in editing comments. “The more you monitor and regulate user content on your site, the more you’re liable for what is said. … As soon as you begin deciding which comments stay and which comments go, you become more responsible for every comment on the site,” says the article.
Why are corporate blogs so lifeless? Robert Scoble, blogging evangelist and former high-tech exec, says moist companies don’t quite know what to do with their blogs. “Some blogs are like press releases,” Scoble tells CIO Insight. “New, friendly, cuddly press releases, but they’re still only talking about what’s happening in the company and its products. The really hard thing, the thing I haven’t seen too many people do, is what I was trying to do: Be an authority on the marketplace. That really helps a lot.”
Obama as First Speechwriter: In a post-election article called “Battle Plans: How Obama Won,” Patrick Gaspard, political director for the campaign, says that when he was interviewing for the post, the president-elect said, “I think that I’m a better speechwriter than my speechwriters. I know more about policies on any particular issue than my policy directors. And I’ll tell you right now that I’m gonna think I’m a better political director than my political director.”
Focus on Favreau: Curious about Obama’s speechwriter Jon Favreau? The 27-year-old speechwriter was profiled in The New York Times earlier this year (thanks to Ian Griffin’s Professionally Speaking blog for the link). The Politico.com Web site speculates that Favreau will land a senior position in the new administration.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
How Marriott communicators responded to Islamabad bombing
Fast response, regular updates and an established crisis plan were key
Roger Conner was passing by his family room television on the way out the door to the dry cleaner and the car wash when something on MSNBC’s news ticker caught his attention.
“It was the first alert that hit the airwaves here, about a bombing in Pakistan at the Marriott. Eight people dead,” he recalls.
The vice president of communications for Marriott International, Conner scrapped his plans for “all those errands people run on Saturday mornings” and immediately called Kathleen Matthews, the company’s executive vice president of global corporate affairs.
After he gave her the news, she called Bill Marriott—“there actually is a guy whose name is on the door, who runs our company,” Conner says—and put a crisis plan into action.
Communicators camp out at HQ for the weekend
By the time the suicide bomber smashed his explosive-packed truck into the main entrance of the Islamabad Marriott Sept. 20—killing at least 40 people, severely injuring hundreds more and setting off a natural gas leak that eventually ignited and destroyed the entire hotel—the crisis team was used to spending weekends at the office.
“We’d been at headquarters for something like three weekends in a row,” says Conner, referring to the team’s response to hurricanes Gustav and Ike. “Fortunately, a crisis communication team exists; unfortunately, there’s a need for it, because our hotels have faced crisis situations before—the most traumatic, or impactful, was 9-11, when we lost a hotel between the two towers in the Trade Center.”
The good news/bad news result is that everyone knew exactly what to do after the Islamabad bombing.
“I live five minutes from Marriott headquarters and within the half hour, I was the first person in the office,” says Conner, who’s been at the company since 1977. “While we can all work remotely, there is more at your disposal at the office in terms of equipment and technology.
”
In the next half hour, five teams of crisis communicators (in addition to many other non-communicator crisis responders) gathered in the Bethesda, Md., office.
The research and writing team is responsible for being in touch with the incident location, “so not a whole of people are calling and bothering the general manager,” Conner says. They’re also responsible for writing the initial statement within 15 minutes and then something more explanatory within the first hour.
The media team receives info from the research and writing team and uses it to communicate with the media.
The internal communication team gets information to employees.
The community relations team is responsible for communicating with the Red Cross or FEMA or other outlets associated with the given crisis.
The logistics team runs around setting up the “war room,” making sure the team has laptops, BlackBerrys and all other necessary tools and technology. “And snacks—they make sure we have snacks!” Conner says. The team also stocks and oversees a remote location in case Marriott headquarters is inoperable.
On stand-by were high-level representatives from a number of departments, like HR and Operations, who could be contacted to make quick judgment calls.
“You need to make decisions quickly in a crisis, so we have pre-identified high-level leaders who must be at our immediate disposal,” Conner says. “For instance, we have a top lawyer ready to clear our statements quickly. He knows we need to be able to get to him. And since not everyone is immediately reachable, there’s more than one on the list.”
First response released in first 15 minutes
Within the first 15 minutes of meeting, the team had its first statement of response up online, a comment from Bill Marriott expressing incredible sadness and empathy at the loss of lives and the injuries to people.
http://www.ragan.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=MultiPublishing&mod=PublishingTitles&mid=5AA50C55146B4C8C98F903986BC02C56&tier=4&id=91B34AD7F33643A2A1844267E47C30FF&AudID=3FF14703FD8C4AE98B9B4365B978201A
Roger Conner was passing by his family room television on the way out the door to the dry cleaner and the car wash when something on MSNBC’s news ticker caught his attention.
“It was the first alert that hit the airwaves here, about a bombing in Pakistan at the Marriott. Eight people dead,” he recalls.
The vice president of communications for Marriott International, Conner scrapped his plans for “all those errands people run on Saturday mornings” and immediately called Kathleen Matthews, the company’s executive vice president of global corporate affairs.
After he gave her the news, she called Bill Marriott—“there actually is a guy whose name is on the door, who runs our company,” Conner says—and put a crisis plan into action.
Communicators camp out at HQ for the weekend
By the time the suicide bomber smashed his explosive-packed truck into the main entrance of the Islamabad Marriott Sept. 20—killing at least 40 people, severely injuring hundreds more and setting off a natural gas leak that eventually ignited and destroyed the entire hotel—the crisis team was used to spending weekends at the office.
“We’d been at headquarters for something like three weekends in a row,” says Conner, referring to the team’s response to hurricanes Gustav and Ike. “Fortunately, a crisis communication team exists; unfortunately, there’s a need for it, because our hotels have faced crisis situations before—the most traumatic, or impactful, was 9-11, when we lost a hotel between the two towers in the Trade Center.”
The good news/bad news result is that everyone knew exactly what to do after the Islamabad bombing.
“I live five minutes from Marriott headquarters and within the half hour, I was the first person in the office,” says Conner, who’s been at the company since 1977. “While we can all work remotely, there is more at your disposal at the office in terms of equipment and technology.
”
In the next half hour, five teams of crisis communicators (in addition to many other non-communicator crisis responders) gathered in the Bethesda, Md., office.
The research and writing team is responsible for being in touch with the incident location, “so not a whole of people are calling and bothering the general manager,” Conner says. They’re also responsible for writing the initial statement within 15 minutes and then something more explanatory within the first hour.
The media team receives info from the research and writing team and uses it to communicate with the media.
The internal communication team gets information to employees.
The community relations team is responsible for communicating with the Red Cross or FEMA or other outlets associated with the given crisis.
The logistics team runs around setting up the “war room,” making sure the team has laptops, BlackBerrys and all other necessary tools and technology. “And snacks—they make sure we have snacks!” Conner says. The team also stocks and oversees a remote location in case Marriott headquarters is inoperable.
On stand-by were high-level representatives from a number of departments, like HR and Operations, who could be contacted to make quick judgment calls.
“You need to make decisions quickly in a crisis, so we have pre-identified high-level leaders who must be at our immediate disposal,” Conner says. “For instance, we have a top lawyer ready to clear our statements quickly. He knows we need to be able to get to him. And since not everyone is immediately reachable, there’s more than one on the list.”
First response released in first 15 minutes
Within the first 15 minutes of meeting, the team had its first statement of response up online, a comment from Bill Marriott expressing incredible sadness and empathy at the loss of lives and the injuries to people.
http://www.ragan.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=MultiPublishing&mod=PublishingTitles&mid=5AA50C55146B4C8C98F903986BC02C56&tier=4&id=91B34AD7F33643A2A1844267E47C30FF&AudID=3FF14703FD8C4AE98B9B4365B978201A
Thursday, October 2, 2008
from The Swamp
(Anonymous comments will not be posted. Comments aren't posted immediately. They're screened for relevance to the topic, obscenity, spam and over-the-top personal attacks. We can't always get them up as soon as we'd like so please be patient. Thanks for visiting The Swamp.)
Why Southwest communicators don't fear Southworst.com
Experts say buying domain names for potential “gripe sites,” like YourCompanySucks.com, is due diligence for communicators
So someone doesn’t like your company. Twenty years ago, disgruntled consumers like this had letters to the editor and bullhorns to communicate their dissatisfaction; today they have the Internet.
Don’t like Starbucks Coffee? Head over to Ihatestarbucks.com to vent. Bank of America ever rubbed you the wrong way? Visit BankofAmericaSucks.com and join numerous other griping customers.
Maybe Southwest Airlines’ open-boarding policy placed you next to the toilet? Type in SouthWORST.com and … Wait a second, Southworst.com directs me to a page on Southwest.com, the company’s official site. OK, try the classic—southwestsucks.com—and … Southwest.com again. How about Ihatesouthwest.com? You guessed it, Southwest.com.
This is no accident. Southwest Airlines bought an undisclosed number of potentially toxic domain names, or Web addresses, in an effort to prevent disgruntled customers from creating “gripe sites” like BankofAmericaSucks.com and IHateStarbucks.com.
“[Web addresses] are really inexpensive, for the most part, so there’s no harm in buying the usual suspects” like SouthWorst.com, Southwestsucks.com and, recently, domain names of company executives, explained Paula Berg, Southwest’s head of emerging media. “What’s the harm when it can help prevent some PR crises down the line?”
A recent study by FairWinds Partners (reported on byThe Wall Street Journal) showed that among Global 500 and Fortune 500 companies there are 20,000 domain names that end in “sucks.com” and 2,000 “stinks.com.” FairWinds found that 35 percent of those companies owned these nasty domain names; 45 percent remain unregistered.
So what are you doing to protect your company’s online image?
Talk with your disgruntled customers
As Berg noted, Web addresses are cheap—about $10 or less—so the cost for companies to buy several domain names is minimal. Simply visit any number of online vendors to purchase a domain name.
NetworkSolutions, GoDaddy and Register.com are among many places to buy domain names. A WHOIS search, part of NetworkSolutions, will quickly and easily show which domain names are available.
Once you purchase the domain names, the next step is to create landing pages for Web surfers looking for “YourCompanySucks.com.”
The page where consumers land after they type SouthWorst.com, or any number of Southwest-related gripe URLs, makes it clear the page is part of Southwest’s official Web site. It also displays a short message that says:
“Southwest Airlines strives to maintain a high level of customer service and is proud of its corporate reputation and responsiveness to its customers. As part of that effort, Southwest wants to control the release of inaccurate and irresponsible information about the company via the Internet. If you would like more information on Southwest, please go to http://www.southwest.com/.”
This message lacks one important element—an easy place to vent.
Ragan.com asked Berg about that, and it seems Southwest certainly provides outlets for customers. “Between our blog, our customer relations departments and our 24-hour reservations line … we provide plenty of channels for people to contact us to vent or to share their concerns with us,” Berg said.
But the problem is the landing pages don’t directly link to those sites.
Citing “Internet consultants,” The Wall Street Journal said companies should use these landing pages as vehicles to solicit feedback from customers. “Otherwise, angry customers … will find another site on which to complain about the company.”
Shel Holtz, a social media expert and consultant, agrees. Registering these sites is a good strategy, he said. It is part of due diligence as a communicator. He suggested building a landing page that tells consumers where they can air complaints.
A landing page should say something to the effect of, “You entered a domain that clearly, if someone owned it other than us, would be used for complaints and possibly misinformation,” Holtz explained. “We have a variety of resources on our site that invite you to join a conversation and address the issues that we know are out there.” List those resources on that page, he added.
Better yet, he explained, redirect customers to a site where they can complain, read facts about the company (not rumors) and generally start a dialogue with the company.
For instance, General Motors maintains a Web site called, GM Facts and Fiction, on which the company “tells it like it is.” The site lists a variety of rumors and gives an official response. Visitors can also submit a question for the company to answer.
Keep in mind: Sites that allow venting and encourage dialogue also capture priceless information consumers about consumers’ likes and dislikes concerning your product or service.
Protect the C-suite
There are countless ways someone could construe your company name into something nasty. Don’t beat yourself up trying to find and purchase every negative URL possible.
“You could spend many days coming up with [Web addresses],” Holtz explained. “You have to think about what people are going to type in, people aren’t going to spend a lot of time thinking it out. Go for the obvious ones and get those.”
For Southwest, the obvious site names included SouthwestSucks.com, SouthWorst.com, and IHateSouthwest.com. The company also moved beyond the obvious. “Recently, in light of some of the news affecting others companies, we’ve bought the URLs of our executive names,” explained Berg.
The news she is referring to is that of the creation of GlennTilton.com, a Web site operated by United Airlines pilots locked in negotiations with the company. The site calls for Tilton’s resignation.
http://www.ragan.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=MultiPublishing&mod=PublishingTitles&mid=5AA50C55146B4C8C98F903986BC02C56&tier=4&id=E1E279A81D8F4D708969B1667075C7D9&AudID=3FF14703FD8C4AE98B9B4365B978201A
So someone doesn’t like your company. Twenty years ago, disgruntled consumers like this had letters to the editor and bullhorns to communicate their dissatisfaction; today they have the Internet.
Don’t like Starbucks Coffee? Head over to Ihatestarbucks.com to vent. Bank of America ever rubbed you the wrong way? Visit BankofAmericaSucks.com and join numerous other griping customers.
Maybe Southwest Airlines’ open-boarding policy placed you next to the toilet? Type in SouthWORST.com and … Wait a second, Southworst.com directs me to a page on Southwest.com, the company’s official site. OK, try the classic—southwestsucks.com—and … Southwest.com again. How about Ihatesouthwest.com? You guessed it, Southwest.com.
This is no accident. Southwest Airlines bought an undisclosed number of potentially toxic domain names, or Web addresses, in an effort to prevent disgruntled customers from creating “gripe sites” like BankofAmericaSucks.com and IHateStarbucks.com.
“[Web addresses] are really inexpensive, for the most part, so there’s no harm in buying the usual suspects” like SouthWorst.com, Southwestsucks.com and, recently, domain names of company executives, explained Paula Berg, Southwest’s head of emerging media. “What’s the harm when it can help prevent some PR crises down the line?”
A recent study by FairWinds Partners (reported on byThe Wall Street Journal) showed that among Global 500 and Fortune 500 companies there are 20,000 domain names that end in “sucks.com” and 2,000 “stinks.com.” FairWinds found that 35 percent of those companies owned these nasty domain names; 45 percent remain unregistered.
So what are you doing to protect your company’s online image?
Talk with your disgruntled customers
As Berg noted, Web addresses are cheap—about $10 or less—so the cost for companies to buy several domain names is minimal. Simply visit any number of online vendors to purchase a domain name.
NetworkSolutions, GoDaddy and Register.com are among many places to buy domain names. A WHOIS search, part of NetworkSolutions, will quickly and easily show which domain names are available.
Once you purchase the domain names, the next step is to create landing pages for Web surfers looking for “YourCompanySucks.com.”
The page where consumers land after they type SouthWorst.com, or any number of Southwest-related gripe URLs, makes it clear the page is part of Southwest’s official Web site. It also displays a short message that says:
“Southwest Airlines strives to maintain a high level of customer service and is proud of its corporate reputation and responsiveness to its customers. As part of that effort, Southwest wants to control the release of inaccurate and irresponsible information about the company via the Internet. If you would like more information on Southwest, please go to http://www.southwest.com/.”
This message lacks one important element—an easy place to vent.
Ragan.com asked Berg about that, and it seems Southwest certainly provides outlets for customers. “Between our blog, our customer relations departments and our 24-hour reservations line … we provide plenty of channels for people to contact us to vent or to share their concerns with us,” Berg said.
But the problem is the landing pages don’t directly link to those sites.
Citing “Internet consultants,” The Wall Street Journal said companies should use these landing pages as vehicles to solicit feedback from customers. “Otherwise, angry customers … will find another site on which to complain about the company.”
Shel Holtz, a social media expert and consultant, agrees. Registering these sites is a good strategy, he said. It is part of due diligence as a communicator. He suggested building a landing page that tells consumers where they can air complaints.
A landing page should say something to the effect of, “You entered a domain that clearly, if someone owned it other than us, would be used for complaints and possibly misinformation,” Holtz explained. “We have a variety of resources on our site that invite you to join a conversation and address the issues that we know are out there.” List those resources on that page, he added.
Better yet, he explained, redirect customers to a site where they can complain, read facts about the company (not rumors) and generally start a dialogue with the company.
For instance, General Motors maintains a Web site called, GM Facts and Fiction, on which the company “tells it like it is.” The site lists a variety of rumors and gives an official response. Visitors can also submit a question for the company to answer.
Keep in mind: Sites that allow venting and encourage dialogue also capture priceless information consumers about consumers’ likes and dislikes concerning your product or service.
Protect the C-suite
There are countless ways someone could construe your company name into something nasty. Don’t beat yourself up trying to find and purchase every negative URL possible.
“You could spend many days coming up with [Web addresses],” Holtz explained. “You have to think about what people are going to type in, people aren’t going to spend a lot of time thinking it out. Go for the obvious ones and get those.”
For Southwest, the obvious site names included SouthwestSucks.com, SouthWorst.com, and IHateSouthwest.com. The company also moved beyond the obvious. “Recently, in light of some of the news affecting others companies, we’ve bought the URLs of our executive names,” explained Berg.
The news she is referring to is that of the creation of GlennTilton.com, a Web site operated by United Airlines pilots locked in negotiations with the company. The site calls for Tilton’s resignation.
http://www.ragan.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=MultiPublishing&mod=PublishingTitles&mid=5AA50C55146B4C8C98F903986BC02C56&tier=4&id=E1E279A81D8F4D708969B1667075C7D9&AudID=3FF14703FD8C4AE98B9B4365B978201A
Pond Scum or Citron: What color is your hospital?
Sometimes we get so close to our own industry's jargon that we forget that those outside the healthcare system don't always speak the same lingo. Every industry does it. Car dealers don't sell used car anymore—they sell certified pre-owned vehicles. Grocery stores don't stock prunes, they sell dried plums. Catalogues don't describe a garment as green, they call it jade, emerald, fern, mint, citron, peridot, or stem. When you see a sweater in a catalogue described as "stem," what do you think?
Now put yourself in your customer's shoes. Do they know oncology means cancer and that neurology covers the spinal cord in addition to the brain? Do they know what you mean when you call your cardiac service line a heart academy or your ortho program a bone and joint institute or either one of them a center of excellence? Do you think that most people know the difference between a medical center and a hospital?
I'm guessing the average person either doesn't know or doesn't care. And those who do know the truth—that there really isn't a difference at all—think hospitals are just calling themselves a fancy but meaningless name, like saying they're stem when they're really just green.
So why do it? There are several reasons: to add cachet to the product, to avoid negative connotations, to instill consumer confidence in the service, and to stand apart from the competition. It's so much nicer to eat a dried plum than it is to eat a prune. And it's so much less frightening to get care at an academy than it is to be admitted to the hospital.
Monday, September 29, 2008
‘Crap’ contest spurs 100 percent employee message retention
‘Crap’ contest spurs 100 percent employee message retention
Ragan communications
Ervin & Smith pokes fun at traditional employee communication with a cleverly named contest
A couple years ago, the executive management team at Omaha, Neb.-based Ervin & Smith Advertising and Public Relations came up with new company core values.
The hope, naturally, was that the values would help boost employee productivity and motivate teams to produce breakthrough advertising and marketing ideas for the agency and its clients.
But the agency didn’t want to take the usual path in communicating the values to employees.
“We knew we wanted to implement an internal employee motivation campaign, but we felt the typical corporate ‘mission-vision-values’ communications would be viewed as cliched and wouldn’t work in our culture,” explains Kristin Petrick, director of strategy. “So we flipped the traditional employee communication campaign upside down and came up with C.R.A.P.”
The team hoped that the acronym—short for creativity, resourcefulness, accountability and passion—would get employees attention. To keep it, they launched a kick-off contest.
http://www.ragan.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=MultiPublishing&mod=PublishingTitles&mid=5AA50C55146B4C8C98F903986BC02C56&tier=4&id=A533EC5AFFAD480397FE9CB6A02C479E&AudID=3FF14703FD8C4AE98B9B4365B978201A
Ragan communications
Ervin & Smith pokes fun at traditional employee communication with a cleverly named contest
A couple years ago, the executive management team at Omaha, Neb.-based Ervin & Smith Advertising and Public Relations came up with new company core values.
The hope, naturally, was that the values would help boost employee productivity and motivate teams to produce breakthrough advertising and marketing ideas for the agency and its clients.
But the agency didn’t want to take the usual path in communicating the values to employees.
“We knew we wanted to implement an internal employee motivation campaign, but we felt the typical corporate ‘mission-vision-values’ communications would be viewed as cliched and wouldn’t work in our culture,” explains Kristin Petrick, director of strategy. “So we flipped the traditional employee communication campaign upside down and came up with C.R.A.P.”
The team hoped that the acronym—short for creativity, resourcefulness, accountability and passion—would get employees attention. To keep it, they launched a kick-off contest.
http://www.ragan.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=MultiPublishing&mod=PublishingTitles&mid=5AA50C55146B4C8C98F903986BC02C56&tier=4&id=A533EC5AFFAD480397FE9CB6A02C479E&AudID=3FF14703FD8C4AE98B9B4365B978201A
Friday, September 26, 2008
Nonprofit site maximizes social media
Nonprofit site maximizes social media
By Gabe McDonough
Breast Cancer Foundation creates many ways for Web visitors to interact with each other.
ragan communications
By Gabe McDonough
Breast Cancer Foundation creates many ways for Web visitors to interact with each other.
ragan communications
Internal site encourages employees to go green
Internal site encourages employees to go green
By Melissa Underwood
SAS communicators create internal Web site to showcase company green initiatives
By Melissa Underwood
SAS communicators create internal Web site to showcase company green initiatives
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Sour tweets get sweet results
BrandWeek, September 24, 2008
More and more companies are monitoring social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, and blogs for negative customer feedback and then responding directly—sometimes publicly—to the comments within minutes. Southwest Airlines, Boingo wireless, and Edmunds.com are among the companies that are forming informal response teams to deal with unhappy and verbose customers.
http://www.brandweek.com/bw/content_display/news-and-features/crm/e3ie41d3cb71a4f0067e94f9435ad58fd8c
More and more companies are monitoring social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, and blogs for negative customer feedback and then responding directly—sometimes publicly—to the comments within minutes. Southwest Airlines, Boingo wireless, and Edmunds.com are among the companies that are forming informal response teams to deal with unhappy and verbose customers.
http://www.brandweek.com/bw/content_display/news-and-features/crm/e3ie41d3cb71a4f0067e94f9435ad58fd8c
Thursday, August 28, 2008
MADA for CPM
Beth Hatcher,
Hi Beth,
I have uploaded the MADA presentation along with the Top Dx and Px codes spreadsheet to CPM.com. Please let me know if you have any troubles accessing them and I will be happy to help. Thanks!
Chris
Chris Besting has uploaded the files listed below to this folder:
Job SCHC9935 - MADA - Annual/
Files:
File 'SCHC MADA - FINAL.ppt' was uploaded successfully as 'SCHC_MADA__FINAL.ppt'.
File 'Top PX and DX Codes Other, Gen Med, Vascular Surgery.xls' was uploaded successfully as 'Top_PX_and_DX_Codes_Other_Gen_Med_Vascular_Surgery.xls'.
To access the files listed above, follow the instructions below.
1) Follow the link below. You will be asked to log in using this email address and your CPM Single Sign On password. This is the same password you use to log in to www.cpm.com. You will then be taken to the file listing page.
https://www.cpm.com/crm_applications/file_delivery/
Hi Beth,
I have uploaded the MADA presentation along with the Top Dx and Px codes spreadsheet to CPM.com. Please let me know if you have any troubles accessing them and I will be happy to help. Thanks!
Chris
Chris Besting has uploaded the files listed below to this folder:
Job SCHC9935 - MADA - Annual/
Files:
File 'SCHC MADA - FINAL.ppt' was uploaded successfully as 'SCHC_MADA__FINAL.ppt'.
File 'Top PX and DX Codes Other, Gen Med, Vascular Surgery.xls' was uploaded successfully as 'Top_PX_and_DX_Codes_Other_Gen_Med_Vascular_Surgery.xls'.
To access the files listed above, follow the instructions below.
1) Follow the link below. You will be asked to log in using this email address and your CPM Single Sign On password. This is the same password you use to log in to www.cpm.com. You will then be taken to the file listing page.
https://www.cpm.com/crm_applications/file_delivery/
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Sign up for these newsletters
iMedia Connection
http://www.imediaconnection.com/
patient safety monitor, quality monitor, etc
http://www.hcpro.com/
IT news
Marketing news
Quality news
http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/
ragan communications
http://www.imediaconnection.com/
patient safety monitor, quality monitor, etc
http://www.hcpro.com/
IT news
Marketing news
Quality news
http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/
ragan communications
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)