CustomScoop's PR Blog Jots

The Whopper Freakout (and Other PR Blog Jots)

Is Time the New Metric?

Six Pixels of Separation

Responding to the fascinating new online video commercial from Burger King, “The Whopper Freakout,” Mitch Joel wonders if there isn’t a new metric when thinking about measuring influence in social media. The video is more than seven-minutes long, 14 times the length of a normal TV spot, and yet it has over 90,000 views on YouTube. The personal nature of the video, which examines how people would react if Burger King decided to pull the Whopper from its menus, requires a commitment from the audience, is this commitment the new metric that should hold our attention? “That’s the new currency of the Social Media space and the new metric we need to understand and learn from. Spending 7:35 with Burger King (something I would never normally do) is what inspired me to Blog about Whopper Freakout Commercial.”

Pick a Category, and Category

PR Studies

Blogging has evolved rather quickly in the few years since it became popular, peaking as 2006’s Time magazine person of the year was revealed to be “You.” Richard Bailey ponders the evolution of the blog from meaningless chatter to well-reasoned, respected contribution to the media landscape. He notes that rather than comparing blogging to traditional print journalism, we should be comparing it to the conversations taking place in the social media world, and wonders where exactly blogging “fits” in the “publishing ecosystem.” “Compared to the semi-public (and barely literate) conversations on social media sites like Facebook (2007’s ‘new new thing’) blogs seem considered, valuable and highly literate. The froth has gone, but there’s something substantial left. Yet rather than being too quick and easy, the criticism now comes from those who find the process of blogging too ponderous, too dull and without an immediate feedback loop.”

It’s Not the Conversation

Now is Gone

Suggesting a repositioning of the “old formula” set up for communication and interacting with stakeholders, Ike Pigott lays out the idea of throwing out the old definitions of audience and community. He argues that the word “conversation,” a favorite buzz word in social media that has been overused to the point where it’s become cliché, has become the focus of far too many efforts in the social media environment. Ike points out that conversation can mean many different things, and the focus should be on interaction, yes, but also credibility. “So, I’m officially calling off the “conversation” as the be-all end-all unit of exchange. You don’t need to have a “conversation” to succeed in business. You do need to earn the credibility required to be granted the Final Word regarding your product, performance, or service. Because people are talking, whether you’re listening or not.”

Blogger Outreach, in Plain English (and Other PR Blog Jots)

Look Before You Leap
Web Strategy by Jeremiah
The correct way to conduct PR outreach to bloggers (or if you even should at all) continues to be a hot topic in the PR blogosphere, and Jeremiah Owyang offers some simple, common-sense tips to anyone looking to get into the game. Aiming his post towards entrepreneurs and startup companies (from whom he’s been receiving a number of pitches lately), Jeremiah boils down the keys to pitching bloggers as simply taking the time to listen, target an audience, and engaging in dialogue. “It still amazes me that even after books like Naked Conversations and Cluetrain have come out that people haven’t figured out how to join the conversation. Sure, a very overused term the ‘conversation’ still is about dialog between two or more individuals. Want to prove your worth as a vendor or consultant? Leave savvy comments on blogs (joining existing conversations) that add to what’s already been said, and start a blog (lead your own conversation).”

Does Anyone Really Care About Privacy?
The Buzz Bin
It was a pleasure to meet Geoff Livingston in person this morning at the fourth Social Media Breakfast; he gave a great talk about the differences between audiences and communities, and a keen participant asked about whether social media enthusiasts can honestly expect privacy. Geoff directed us to this post, regarding the recent Pew study that shows Americans aren’t as vigilant about keeping tabs on their online privacy as one might think. The study reveals that while 47 percent of Americans are checking on their online footprints, they aren’t doing so with nearly enough regularity. “Technology marketers must be thrilled about this now proven lack of concern on privacy.  This eases the adoption of data intense applications like location based services, new semantic web technologies as well as initiatives like open identity. They keys to success for companies using identity data is to clearly communicate information usage, garner permission, and follow through on their commitments.”

Stealth Social Network
Chris Brogan
I officially admit that I’ve been linking to Chris Brogan too much lately, but his “100 Posts” series has been yielding such great fruit I’ve been unable to help myself. Perhaps I will place an official Brogan embargo on the rest of this week—right after today’s Jots. Today he points out the clever nature of what appears to be a new social networking platform from Google. They’ve been slowly adding features to their various popular applications, all of which just might add up to a social network you’re already automatically using, and some potential competition for the closed garden of Facebook. “When Facebook started to make a difference over 2007, and people started hiding inside the very closed walls, Google came up with this, a way to do a lot of the same social features without making us dig up our Orkut account IDs. In fact, think about it, your social network is your contact list. No invitations necessary. That’s the coup de grace. You’re already bought in, at least insofar as Google can help you convert your friends to your new social network: your inbox.”

Don't Block Me, Bro! (and Other PR PodJots)

The Rundown, With Shel Holtz – Stop Blocking Campaign

The Rundown host Luke Armour welcomed respected podcaster and half of the For Immediate Release duo Shel Holtz to the show this week. Shel appeared to discuss the Stop Blocking campaign, designed to prevent employers from blocking employee access to social networking websites. Shel argues that sites like these can be beneficial, and that if employers aren’t checking their workers for hard copy versions of things that may be distracting, then why should they discriminate against web-based content? Strumpette’s Brian Connolly called in to join the discussion, questioning Shel as to why any rules (such as speed limits and traffic signs) exist at all if most people aren’t breaking them.

I must agree with Shel on site-blocking. Most of us in salaried positions (versus employees paid by the hour) have spent plenty of evenings and even some weekend time devoted to work tasks. Whether it’s a big project or a new campaign, or an internal presentation, work can often encroach on our free time, particularly in the days of Blackberries, laptops, and home Internet access. Therefore, if an employee spends a little time on sites like Facebook each day, is productivity really going down as much as employers claim? Not to mention, as Shel rightly points out, blocking access to certain Internet sites shows a complete lack of trust between the employee and company. If you don’t trust your workers, why’d you hire them in the first place?

PRobecast – Live-Blogging Conferences

In a reference to his excellent article for Media Bullseye, Doug Haslam (joined by his Topaz colleagues Adam Zand and Tim Alik) discusses the Society for New Communications Research Symposium, which Doug spent live-Twittering and Seesmicing. He points out that live-blogging events used to be considered a faux-pas, but that through Twitter’s emergence at South by Southwest, things have changed. The Topaz guys debate the topic, with Tim and Adam a bit more skeptical that it’s possible to truly pay attention to a speaker while tapping away at a keyboard.

This debate is pretty interesting. On one level, you can argue that it is disrespectful to be focused on your laptop while someone (who probably spent at least some time if not a lot preparing for their presentation) is speaking. It’s also a distraction for those in the audience. On the other hand, for those of us who don’t have my boss’s grueling travel schedule, we’re not going to make it to 90 percent of the conferences that interest us. People live-tweeting or blogging an event can get the themes and interesting aspects of a conference out to the masses in real time. What are your thoughts?

Also discussed:

• Social Media Club Boston event
• The Blog Council
• Word of Mouth vs Viral
• Media Bullseye
• Facebook’s Beacon apology

Around the PR Podcast Horn (in alphabetical order):

10 Golden Rules of Internet Marketing – Jay Berkowitz features live interviews for WebmasterWorld’s PubCon 2007 in Las Vegas. He speaks with Matt Cutts of Google, among others. He also discusses LaunchPR’s Top Ten PR Launches of 2007, Squidoo lenses, Facebook, and “how to tell if you’re a web old timer.”

The Client Side – In the second episode of a two-part discussion, Michael Seaton explores the elements of effective client-agency relationships. He looks at the idea of the Balanced Scorecard, which can help set appropriate expectations and both clients and agencies determine which measurements are the most important.

FIR #300 and #301 – Congratulations to Neville and Shel recording their 300^th FIR podcast on Monday!  To celebrate their milestone, the dynamic duo reflects on previous shows and offers updates on a number of hot topics covered on past shows, including corporate blogging, ethics, and Second Life.  On Thursday’s show, the pair features a report from Eric Schwartzman of On the Record … Online podcast who discusses how traditional media sources are factoring in online searches when writing and titling articles.

Inside PR – In line with the spirit of giving during the holiday season, this week Terry and David discuss the benefits of pro bono work, and some tips on how to get a public relations firm on board with your philanthropic cause. Terry argues that doing pro bono work can be good for an agency, and that it gives them a chance to hone their PR skills and perhaps be used as an opportunity to make new contacts, develop employees, and even generate a solid case study.

Managing the Gray – CC Chapman continues his discussion on “little f” friends versus “capital F” Friends. That is, who do you really know, and who is just an online acquaintance? Managing relationships in real life is hard enough, but blogging and podcasting can cause an audience to think they know someone quite well, which a caller refers to as “one-way intimacy.”

Marketing Martini - Bill Sweetman reposts his inaugural podcast in which he discusses the importance of optimizing search engine search terms.  Sweetman relays a humorous story of a client who was curious as to why the searches for “baseball videos” didn’t direct traffic to the client’s website, only to realize that there were no plural mentions of the word “videos” anywhere on the site.  Sweetman recommends people use Google AdWords Keyword Tool to avoid common search term snafus.

Marketing Over Coffee – John and Chris offer up their usual robust blend (see what I did there?) of topics on this week’s episode, including a discussion of marketing automation (I didn’t know what it was either), Google Reader stats for Marketing blogs, and an excellent breakdown of web analytics tools such as Google analytics, Heatmap and Crazyegg.

On the Record - Eric Schwartzman goes “on the record” with Colin Farrington, General Director of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.  Farrington reveals that he has an aversion to blogs because blogging has not improved the political climate in Britain.  He argues that knee-jerk reactions may prove fatal to many students’ future careers and advices that “people think before they blog.”

Six Pixels of Separation – Mitch Joel also touches on a diverse set of topics this week, with listeners chiming in with great comments from all over the world in this episode. Speaking of comments, Mitch’s six tips this week involve creating compelling audio comments. He recommends keeping it relatively brief (two minutes or less), and ensuring that you’re adding a fresh perspective to the conversation.

Not That There's Anything Wrong With That...(and Other PR Blog Jots)

Yada yada yada...
Chris Brogan
In the 1990s, NBC Thursday night programming was a veritable powerhouse. It wasn’t until “CSI” came along on CBS in 2000 that any other network could compete with the “Must-See TV” lineup. Chris Brogan takes a look at NBC’s formula of sandwiching less popular shows between their three all-stars, “Seinfeld,” “Friends,” and “ER.” He thinks the same concept can be applied to growing your audience on blogs. Among other tips, he recommends trying to engage audiences that already engaged elsewhere, a “crossover audience” from another popular site may be drawn to yours if you write about similar themes. “I mentioned above that your product had to standalone and that crossovers stunk on TV and comics, but what I didn’t say and should is that AUDIENCE crossover is magic. Wherever you can find ways to get a big product’s audience to interact with you, it’s good. Don’t get onto someone else’s blog and just pimp the hell out of your blog. That won’t work. It just comes off as seeming wayyyyy too self-serving. But it doesn’t hurt to write a follow-on topic really quickly that augments a blog whose audience might really love your stuff.”

Tips To Improve Your Googleability
Personal Branding Blog
Now that we know some excellent tips for growing your audience, how do you improve searchability? If your personal brand is doesn’t turn out well in Google search results, continuing to expand your audience may prove challenging. Robert David Hunter offers some excellent tips for improving your “Google visibility,” including establishing a presence on business networking sites such as LinkedIn, and making sure your name appears somewhere in your blog’s title. “You will notice that some popular social networks carry a lot of weight (see picture above) in Google. From what I’ve noticed, Facebook, LinkedIn, Lyro, Technorati, YouTube, Twitter and Blog Catalog are favorable. You should join these popular services, so that you can “own your brand” on Google. If you have negative publicity associated with your brand, by joining these networks, you can push those results down, so that if someone Google’s you, your personal brand will be secure. Also, purchase your domain name immediately (yourname.com).”

Dear CEO Blogger...
PR Squared
In an open letter to CEOs thinking about jumping into the blogosphere and participating, Todd Defren lays out some specific advice for them to ponder before doing so. He urges CEOs to spend at least a month just listening and reading other blogs before starting their own, and getting to know a few bloggers in their field. He points out that many a CEO ego has the potential to be crushed by the somewhat cliquey nature of the blogosphere, and that they can’t expect to shoot to the top of Technorati as soon as they put thoughts to keyboard. Todd recommends easing in, and keeping expectations in check. “Same with blogging, Chief.  Think of it as an extended block party.  You’re certainly invited, but please don’t expect to be Mr. Popular right away.  Giving freely of your attention in the form of commenting & linking liberally to your peers’ blogs is the equivalent of handing out your BBQ goodies.  It could take YEARS, but sooner or later your neighbors will come to respect, expect and love your contributions.”

Thunderdome: Target and Wal-Mart
The Buzz Bin
Wal-Mart in Target already battle it out for their share of the mainstream retail consumers (though I’m not even convinced they are in the same league, Target’s audience seems to be young adults with money to burn whereas Wal-Mart targets—heh—the lower income families), and they may be taking that fight to social media. Both have suffered well-publicized astroturfing gaffes (though some may argue Wal-Mart’s was more egregious). Larissa Fair think that now is the time for Wal-Mart to take advantage of the bad publicity hit Target is taking and make a social media comeback. “Though Wal-Mart may (or may not) have learned from their mistakes, they keep trying to prove their willingness to listen and engage their customers. Hopefully Wal-Mart will be able to get it right this time, and really become a part of the community, as we have seen with Dell, SouthWest, and other companies that have successfully engaged the public through their blogs (and willingness to acknowledge their downfalls).”

The New Super Tuesday (and Other PR Blog Jots)

Super Twitter Tuesday
Web Strategy by Jeremiah
I think everyone in the social media circle understands the value of microblogging platform Twitter, but it is sometimes helpful to explain to those new to the platform why it might be (or might not be) a good fit for their needs. Jeremiah Owyang caused a “Twitter explosion” yesterday by Tweeting a post about the value of Twitter conversations and urging his readers to leave their Twitter names in his comments, and add him as a friend. The result? A huge wave of new connections throughout the Twitterverse, and a broad response from the blogosphere. Talk about power of the community. “This is a good test of what could happen in an emergency, as folks were using Twitter to get messages out during the South CA fires a few months ago. The viral activity in and around Twitter was amazing, people of like minded interests were leaving their twitter profile below, then connecting to each other at a rapid rate, it then spread the the blogosphere slowing both twitter.com and my blog.”

Alone at the Top?
PR 2.0
In the wake of Jeremiah’s successful Twitter experiment, Brian Solis argues that Twitter is truly a conversation hub (or ecosystem, as some are calling it), but is quick to point out that it is hardly alone in this function. Conversations are happening throughout the Internet, and Brian reminds users not to ignore other social networks in favor of Twitter. He does underline, however, that the service is an extremely useful resource, and the top platform of its kind operating today. “And conversations are not unique to Twitter, it's just one of the places where you can start and join discussions that matter to you. Conversation hubs are everywhere. That's the entire foundation of Social Media. Twitter just happens to be the most popular microblogging network out there right now and it represents the first micromedia tool that will have mass appeal. But, depending on the market demographic and segment, those hubs are stationed across the Web.”

Does Social Media Lend Itself to Astroturfing?
Now Is Gone
Does the loosened editorial nature of social media, and its adoption by major news outlets (comments on newspaper stories, for example), lend itself to an increase in “homespun” astroturfing? Ike Pigott examines the issue, considering the idea that the Internet has created its own self-styled “experts” on any topic, out there tossing ideas and arguments as proven facts without any citation, or leaving comments with similar arguments under several different names. He calls it human nature to attempt to manipulate others into our way of thinking. I’m not sure this necessarily counts as astroturfing, per se, but it is an interesting point. “The impulse to Astroturf is in our DNA. It’s always been there, lodged in the part of our brain that makes us social creatures. If we don’t recognize that, we run the risk of enabling non-genuine activity on the sites and communities we build. This lack of vetting is what places “lowly bloggers” so far down the food chain of news. It takes time and effort to build a reputation for accuracy, neutrality, and consistency.”

What's On Your Social Media Bookshelf?
Pro PR
While blogs are some of the best up-to-the-minute information and news in the social media and public relations world, there are also many excellent reading choices out there. Joe Thornley offers some micro-reviews of the books on his social media bookshelf, including “The Cluetrain Manifesto” (a must read), “Naked Conversations,” “Everything is Miscellaneous,” and (a book whose relationship to social media I’d yet to consider) “The World is Flat.” What social media books are you currently reading? “Thomas Friedman explores the potential for the ubiquitous Internet to transcend geography and transform the global economy. My children are no longer in competition with the kids in their school or city. They now can look forward to a life in which they compete and share with people on the other side of the globe. Sweeping changes for North Americans and Europeans who have taken for granted an economic order that emerged in the mid-fifties.”

Forgive and Forget? (And Other PR Blog Jots)

Forgiving Facebook
Marketing Conversation
While many in the blogosphere are still feeling the sting of Facebook’s much-maligned Beacon program, Jonathan Trenn reports that there’s at least one group that’s ready to forgive and forget: media buyers. He points readers to an article in Mediaweek reporting that ad buyers are essentially satisfied with Facebook’s mea culpa and alterations to their Beacon program. Jonathan points out that this mentality may be misguided, but is unsurprising—media buyers, after all, aren’t necessarily concerned about privacy, but about selling. “Beacon didn’t push the envelope, it used technology to interfere with the traditional buy/retailer relationship, causing many to feel that their privacy was compromised.  And, as an advertising vehicle, it did nothing for the recipient of the ’story’ unless the thing that was purchased was something that the end reader had expressed an interest it.”

SNCR in Review
Social Media Group
I’ve been meaning to write my own rundown on the SNCR Symposium in Boston last week, but in the meantime please check out Maggie Fox’s excellent summary. She gives some of the highlights of the event, with descriptions of the panels that ranged from non-profit groups and social media to healthcare 2.0. She also gently chastises the representative from Coca-Cola present to discuss the company’s collaboration with Eepybird, the creative group responsible for those mesmerizing “Diet Coke and Mentos” videos. “In his presentation, the gentleman from Coke pretty much glossed over the fact that the company’s initial response clearly indicated they had no understanding of the power and value of the video and excitement it generated, focusing instead on their subsequent efforts to engage. I asked him about what it had taken Coke to get from dismissive to directly involved, it would have been an interesting perspective on the issues facing large, less-than-nimble companies. However, his answer contained mostly platitudes and excuses, which was a bad move with the SNCR audience.”

If You're a Blogging Egomaniac and You Know it, Clap Your Hands (clap clap)
Blogstring
After a long day at the SNCR event, I didn’t stick around for the Social Media Club Boston event organized by Todd Van Hoosear, and it seems I missed an excellent discussion. The attendees voted on several “debate topics,” including a few that assert not-so-complimentary viewpoints on social media and blogging. For example, are bloggers and social media enthusiasts really just big-headed egomaniacs looking for affirmation of their own superior thinking? Nathan Burke (whose blog, full disclosure, I co-author) summarizes the event, and tries to answer a few of those provocative questions. “I don’t think social media is the cause of a cult of personality and egomaniacal tendencies. I don’t think that egomania is necessarily a result of using these ego-broadcast platforms. Egomaniacs have existed for the span of human existence, with or without digital communications. The social web has simply made it easier for self-promotion on a worldwide level in a fast, nearly effortless, free way. Another thought was this: When everyone is using social media for promotion, people need to build a “personal brand” out of necessity just to stay competitive.”

DIY Twitter Improvement
Six Pixels of Separation
In an examination of the continuing evolution of microblogging platform Twitter, Mitch Joel considers the best strategies for building a solid Twitter community, one that will provide the most benefit. He notes the circumstances that often result in someone “not following you back,” something that some of the Twitterati find most offensive. I’m split on this issue--when I recently picked up a slew of new followers I followed them all back, and found that not everyone Tweets about things I’m especially interested in. There are others that argue that Twitter is a conversation, and to not follow back those that follow you is to eschew that conversation and miss the point. Mitch suggests achieving balance by not trying to do too much too soon, adding friends gradually, and starting with only those you truly know. “Twitter is easy to use, but it's becoming increasingly more challenging to build a substantial community - which is what makes it most valuable. I'm fearful that we're entering an era where there are lots of people on Twitter, but not that many connected to one another. Twitter is useless if you don't build a community, and it's hard to build that community unless you've already provided value in your feed.”

A Council By Any Other Name (and Other PR Blog Jots)

What's in a Name?
Buzz Machine
While Jeff Jarvis likes the idea of the Blog Council, recently formed by several major corporations looking to embrace blogging (including Dell, Microsoft and Coca-Cola), he hates the name. Jeff points out that corporate blogging practices shouldn’t just be about pumping out blog posts, but about engaging with other blogs, becoming a part of the conversation. He argues that if you only think of a blog as a blank space to fill up with content, your content will probably not turn out very well. Only through interaction is success possible, and he suggests a new name: the Conversation Council. “It’s not about them writing blog posts. It as much about them reading everybody else’s blog posts. And, besides, there are all kinds of new tools for the conversation: Twitter, Pownce, YouTube, Facebook, Dell’s IdeaStorm, and more being invented in dorm rooms coast-to-coast.”

Finding the Right Agency
Conversation Agent
What makes a good agency? In a time when new communications technology is changing the face of today’s PR and marketing agencies, how do you select one that works for your needs, and what can an agency do to ensure your business? In a terrific in-depth analysis, Valeria Maltoni takes on the role of an agency, citing the steps she would take to acquire new business—and keep it. “If I were an agency today I would not take my clients for granted. Even when a retainer or contract is arranged, there is a need to continue to provide value as perceived by the client. It's human nature to want to go with the flow and follow the path of least resistance, yet the very reason why you were hired in the first place was because the company needed to keep the conversation about its brand fresh and relevant.”

Learning From Mistakes?
Communication Overtones
FEMA has taken plenty of heat in recent years. From the fallout over the botched handling of Hurricane Katrina to their recent PR gaffe in which the communications team staged a phony press conference (using FEMA employees posing as reporters lobbing softball questions), it seems that no government agency has dealt with more reputation problems. Kami Huyse covers a recent workshop conducted by PRSA for the FEMA external affairs team, and questions what advice you might have for the beleaguered division. “According to the PRSA press release, the agenda included an analysis and discussion of the PRSA Code of Ethics; societal expectations for ethical communications, trust and reputation in the age of new media; response strategies for hostile stakeholder groups; crisis communications management; relationship-building with partners in government; addressing the specific needs of multi-cultural and multi-generational groups; and case study analysis for applying the PRSA Code of Ethics day-to-day at multiple levels of decision-making.”

Notes from the Kiddie Table
Gischeleman
I had the pleasure of attending the Society for New Communication Research Symposium on December 5 and 6, which featured numerous terrific speakers and some lively panel discussions. Though I must admit, no table was much livelier than what Doug Haslam refers to as “the kiddie table.” Doug, Chip Griffin, Laura Fitton, Scott Monty, David Parmet and myself parked our laptops at a table up front for an energetic day of Twittering and Seesmic, live-blogging and taking in the conference. Doug posts links to the Twitter back-and-forth, as well as several Seesmic videos. “Today’s SNCR symposium provided a lot of insights, but this is the place for a personal observation: my table, the ‘kiddie table,’ served as social media central- Pistachio, David Parmet, Chip Griffin, Sarah Wurrey & I were constantly sending dispatches all day via Twitter, Seesmic, etc. That’s how events are today in our biz.”

CustomScoop's PR PodJots

Welcome to another edition of PR PodJots, our weekly rundown of the best of the PR and marketing podosphere. It was a light week this week, perhaps some of our favorite podcasters were attending conferences, such as the excellent SNCR Symposium that Chip Griffin and I attended on December 5 and 6.

The controversial Facebook Beacon program continues to garner coverage, as the guys from Marketing Over Coffee, among others, report on the program’s troubles this week.

Marketing Over Coffee – Fried Beacon

Aside from their usual wide array of topics (I think I honestly use that phrase to describe this podcast in each edition of the Jots, does anyone have another way of saying, “These guys talk about everything”?), John Wall and Chris Penn discuss the heavily covered controversy surrounding the Facebook Beacon. They give a rundown of the problems involved, that Facebook users’ purchases were automatically populating to their public news-feeds, alerting friends and family to their Christmas gifts. After a strong reaction from the blogosphere, the program has been altered to be strictly opt-in.

John questions why the idea of “social shopping” was even considered a good idea in the first place, with Chris chiming in that the concept of people making similar purchases as their friends has been around a while. I agree, if there were a less invasive way to apply this concept, it may actually be an excellent marketing method. But I can’t see how, even with the newly opt-in nature of the Beacon, this type of program can be implemented without raising the ire of privacy advocates. What do you think?

Around the PR Podcast Horn (in alphabetical order):

Forward Podcast – Yahoo Finance columnist and writer of The Brazen Careerist Penelope Trunk joins the Forward Podcasters this week, and offers an astute perspective of how people in their twenties should manage their careers and deal with different obstacles in the workforce.  Paull interviews Penelope on her personal experience, including starting a business and working with her young “Ryans.”  Penelope advises younger workers not to derive happiness from a job, but instead realize relationships truly bring joy.  She also recommends that workers shouldn’t be overwhelmed with finding the perfect job or fitting into a specific mold that their parents or other mentors have previous set forth for them.

For Immediate Release – While it seems like just yesterday that Shel and Neville passed the 250 episode mark, this week marked their 298^th and 299^th podcasts, making Monday’s episode their 300^th. On Monday’s episode, they also cover the Beacon complaints, as well as touching on the recent social media gaffe from retailing giant Target (see our coverage here for details). On Thursday’s show, Shel and Neville discuss “live Twittering” while at events and conferences, the re-launch of Technorati, and of course plans for the 300^th episode.

Inside PR – After a brief listener comment-prompted discussion of advocacy work in public relations, David Jones and Terry Fallis cover the launch of com.motion this week, a “social media boutique” from Veritas Communications. They discuss the particulars of the launch, which naturally included multimedia elements and a social media news release, as well as blogger outreach. Terry compliments Veritas for effectively using social media to launch their social media practice.

Managing the Gray – Calling this week’s show “Friends” vs “friends,” CC Chapman discusses the difference between social networking “lowercase friends,” and “uppercase Friends.” With lowercase, you may know quite a bit about them from following them online, but may not actually know them in the sense that you have a deeper relationship, and are important to each other’s lives—the definition of Uppercase Friends.

On the Record – Eric Schwartzmann welcomed PR blogger Josh Hallett to the podcast this week, for a discussion about how social media has changed the face of communications. I’ve been a fan of Josh’s blog for a while now, he is one of the best voices out there discussion the effects of social networking and communications on PR and marketing. Eric and Josh discuss how he came to be involved in new media technology and how to best implement it for client communications strategy.

Six Pixels of Separation – Rather than a featured interview for his 80^th episode of SPOS, Mitch Joel changes up his format a bit and discusses a number of topics. On his Six Points this week are tips to get the most out of your Facebook profile. This is something I think a lot of folks will be interested in, as Facebook is sometimes one of those applications you sign up for and then sit with, saying “now what?” Mitch recommends a number of widgets for optimizing your profile, including importing del.icio.us links and Twitter statuses.

Snake Oil, or the Real Deal? (and Other PR Blog Jots)

The Real Deal
What’s Next Blog
One of the debate topics at last night’s Social Media Club Boston event was whether anyone could actually call themselves an “expert” in social media—it’s a consistently discussed topic, with solid arguments on both sides. BL Ochman argues that the term is perhaps overused, and argues that there are specific criteria one needs to meet before they can say they are the “real deal” in social media marketing. Notably, that marketers are actually creating ROI campaigns that produce results (that is, traffic and sales). She highlights a few examples of experts out there that are the real deal. “Social Media Marketing is helping companies to add tools including blogs, wikis, widgets, audio and video broadcasting, social networks, user-generated content, and peer to peer ratings to their communication mix. The purpose of social media marketing is to engage enthusiasts and existing customers in an interactive community in order to drive more traffic and sales. This creates a highly involved audience who recognize and interact with the brand clearly.”

"O", Really?
Media Guerrilla
The task of measuring social media—be it results of a program, influence or reach—is a constant topic of discussion and debate in the PR blogosphere. Mike Manuel lays out three “O” rules for social media metrics, breaking it down into “outputs,” “outgrowths,” and “outcomes.” He admits that his approach is simple, but that’s what I find compelling—I think occasionally social media measurement becomes more complicated a task than necessary. “Keep in mind, all of this is just one approach to measurement — an admittedly simple one for an increasingly complex web. I tend to think social media measurement will always be half science/half art, and maybe for that reason, always be a headache too, but hopefully this gives folks one guy's framework to pivot and build on.”

Comcastic?
Crisisblogger
The new anti-Comcast site Comcast Must Die has caused a flurry of blog posts about what the Bulldog Reporter is calling Comcast’s "PR nightmare.” Gerald Baron notes with some concern that what is truly troubling from a crisis management standpoint is that the anti-Comcast blog wasn’t started by a no-name youth with too much time on his hands. Instead it’s run by Bob Garfield, a highly respected marketing expert and writer. Since Jeff Jarvis’ much-publicized victory against “Dell Hell,” Gerald wonders if Comcast might have a problem on their hands with a legitimate voice complaining so loudly about their service. “So, bright, entreprenuerial writers like Garfield who know the weakspots of corporate leadership, can accomplish two things at once. They can build an tremendous audience and their own celebrity by becoming the next Jeff Jarvis and get the self-actualization satisfaction that they can change the world for the good by getting Comcast to respond.”

Here to Serve
Common Sense PR
In another rapidly spreading meme, bloggers are questioning the relationship between PR and customer relations. Kami Huyse, Brian Solis, Susan Getgood, and Todd Defren have all posted on the subject, and Eric Eggertson gives an excellent rundown of their thoughts as well as his own. Eric argues that the line between customer service, and PR is definitely blurring. Putting the right people as the face of your company is as important as ever, but PR teams need to be more involved at every level. “Influencing how people perceive your brand is a contact sport that requires active listening and honest discussion aimed at making the customer’s life better (and hopefully earning a profit while doing it). That’s not something you leave to the CSR, or to the CEO. You have to get in the game and do your part.”

A New Jedi Council? (and Other PR Blog Jots)

Big Companies Blogging Now Have a Council

Now Is Gone

Quite a few PR and Marketing blogs are discussing the creation of The Blog Council, a group of large companies that are actively blogging. The group’s release states that “[it] exists as a forum for executives to meet one another in a private, vendor-free environment and share tactics, offer advice based on past experience, and develop standards-based best practices as a model for other corporate blogs.” While some question the validity of holding meetings about an open medium like blogging “behind closed doors,” others, such as Kami Huyse, point out that these meetings could be beneficial and she hopes “they choose to use their closed garden to develop things from which the community can benefit.”

Marketing and PR are different

Tough Sledding

Bill Sledzik, in a post that has apparently been percolating for roughly 15 years, examines how PR and Marketing became interchangeable in the vernacular, and states: “Blame it on the blogosphere. I see too many 30something PR bloggers who don’t or won’t differentiate between PR and marketing. Most use the terms interchangeably, and I worry that a generation of practitioners may come of age not knowing the difference.” He further explains the differences between symmetrical and asymmetrical communications, and asks at the end of the post whether it matters what the discipline of Public Relations is called.

Hey! A Wal-Mart Blog!

Valley PR Blog

Angelo Fernando at Valley PR Blog points to Wal-Mart’s new—and fully transparent—blog called Check Out. There are a handful of reasonable policy guidelines on commenting (no bad language, no personal attacks, stay on topic, etc.). Does Wal-Mart now “get it”? As Angelo points out, by putting the blogger’s photos on the main page, they are clearly trying to prove that they do indeed “get it.”