PR for Start-ups!

Time for Change... Taking a Page from Entrepreneurs

Today marked one of the most important days in our history with the inguration of our 44th president, Barack Obama Regardless of your political interests, our country is in dire need of change and some fresh ideas. Looking at the current administration, I can't help but compare our president to a modern day entrepreneur and it is only fair given  a post several months ago about Obama and his start-up-like campaign.

In the past 10 years or so, I have had the incredible opportunity to work with a number of entrepreneurs and start-up companies. What is fascinating is the amount of work that actually gets done in the smaller companies and the joy that comes with a highly productive "burn the midnight oil" kind of culture. We celebrate, work hard, take risks and keep an optimistic spirit in everything we do.

Doing more with less is somewhat of a mantra for the state of business today. The same is true with the state of our nation. It is time for new and fresh ideas from those who come with a new perspective. And if the administration has any question on how to execute with limited resources, I am sure that the large number of entrepreneurs would welcome your call (I, for one, am ready for my duty).

As we heard several times this evening, it is now up to all of us to drive the change that we so desire.
And with that, a few of us have started a database of ideas to share with the new administration. Join us and add your ideas to the  Businesses for Change database.


 



 

Whuffie - the social currency?

I came across a great video today by crowd favorite Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee). In this video he talks a bit about "whuffie" a concept described by wikipedia as:

Whuffie is the ephemeral, reputation-based currency of Cory Doctorow's sci-fi novel, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. The usual economic incentives have disappeared from the book's world. Whuffie has replaced money, providing a motivation for people to do useful and creative things. A person's Whuffie is a general measurement of his or her overall reputation, and Whuffie is lost and gained according to a person's favorable or unfavorable actions.

As a consultant, I often share advice as well as seek it quite a bit. Rarely in these situations is currency exchanged but I always walk away with a great feeling and the hope to pass it on. Sort of a "pay it forward" but with knowledge. Although I didn't have a term to wrap around this exchange before, hearing and learning more about the concept now makes me want to acknowledge the people who I believe have grand social capital or "whuffie" cred.

The first person who comes to mind is Dave Taylor (@davetaylor). Dave is a person, who in my mind, has exemplified the meaning of whuffie. Dave maintains three weblogs, The Business Blog at Intuitive.com, focused on business and industry analysis, Ask Dave Taylor devoted to tech and business Q&A and The Attachment Parenting Blog, discussing topics of interest to parents. As part of the number of books, projects and speaking events he is a part of, Dave always shares what he has learned and coaches others on the power of educating and sharing what you know.

My point isn't to do a public service announcement about the greatness that is Dave Taylor but more to demonstrate what he does for the community and for me. I have been having coffee with Dave for years and in every situation, I was asking for advice, comments and suggestions on different things I was working on. Dave always made the time and I always left with a great deal of information. The other thing I walked away with was the urge to pass it on or help someone in the way that he helped me. No obligations, no currency exchange and no expectations.

We are seeing a great number of examples of how "whuffie" is creating a positive impact on the way that we work. I understand that there are points to this economic system that are subjective but for now I would like to focus on the positive.

Who would you nominate for a whuffie award and why? You know mine.

Look for a book on the subject from Tara Hunt (@missrogue) in April or order the Whuffie Factor early on Amazon.

Something amazing happened on Twitter tonight...

Just when I thought that our so called "conversation" on Twitter was more or less a bunch of people talking and not listening, a wonderful thing happened this evening...

David Armano, the VP of Experience Design at Critical Mass and well-known in the "Twitterverse" made a post asking for donations to help a friend whom, with her three children, fell victim to domestic abuse and most recently, without a home. His post suggested that he would like to find an apartment for the family and raise enough money so that they wouldn't have to worry about rent for at least a few months. His actual Twitter post:

His plea did not go unnoticed, with over 8,069 followers on Twitter (a number that is growing by the minute) and a huge number of "retweets" he was able to raise over $5k in the first hour for his friend Daniela and her children.

Within three hours of the post, the social community had banded together to raise more than $8k and the story itself was the top trending topic on Twitter (higher than Apple on Macworld's opening day).

The people that know me well can tell you that I am a big sap and this story was immediately touching. I found myself refreshing Tweetdeck faster than the updates were coming in just to see what was going to happen next. This outpouring of support is one of the most wonderful examples coming out of the social networks, microblogging sites etc. I am sure there are other stories like this one but I was just lucky enough to be on Twitter while this was happening.

Even as I write this, I am wondering what is happening now...

I am sure it will be a nice night's sleep for Daniela and her family.  As for David, I can only imagine what he must be feeling after what he experienced in the last few hours.

Thank goodness for tools like Paypal, Twitter, FriendFeed, Chip In etc. Technology and people working together.

Tips and Tricks for PR Pros and Mobile Workers

I have been guest blogging lately on TrackVia's site. TrackVia is an online database company that provides solutions perfect for us consultants and mobile workers. Included below are links to two of my recent posts.

.....................

 A Few Clicks from Your Data
December 26th, 2008 

As a so-called mobile warrior, I have put together a few tips and services that I use for surviving those times when you are away from the office but may need to check in from time to time:

1. Wi-Fi Hotspot List - If you are traveling, find out the local Wi-Fi spots before heading out.
2. Twitter/ FriendFeed - Stay connected with clients and friends using frequent updates.
3. MobileMe - Sync your calendar between multiple devices and save copies of those important documents that you may need later.
4. FlickR - Upload all photos that you may need to access later for presentations and the like.
5. GoToMyPC - connect from anywhere to your computer in the office.
6. Skype - make cheap international calls when you have Wi-Fi access.
7. And of course, TrackVia - Save all contacts, excel files and sales leads in the web-based database.

.....................

Next Generation PR - Meet Your Database

In PR it isn’t always about “who” you know… In today’s world where voices are a plenty, tracking “who” you should know is just as important. With a rise in social media and the growing influence of bloggers, the days of relying on a media subscription for your PR activities are long gone.

Most PR professionals subscribe to at least one media database but like me, you probably aren’t using the notes features. I, for one, use a number of media databases and would rather not store my information in a service that I may not continue using- not to mention that many of these services have limited sharing functionality.

I have used a number of databases throughout the past decade or so. Most were server-based and made it difficult to keep records updated in real time given out-of-office requirements. Today I run a virtual firm, Digital Idea Media, with two partners and a number of contractors. What we thought would just be a nice alternative to saving our contacts in Excel has quickly turned into a platform with unlimited ways in which we can track client programs and our business activities.

I decided that it would be best to share a list of the few surprises that we found in using TrackVia for our business:

1. Influencer Database – track all media, analysts, bloggers and record all PR activities (it isn’t just media relations anymore); run target lists and reports on activities per quarter; include images of contacts for tour briefing books

2. Media Database – track all audio, video and blog posts and upload stats for quarterly reporting; provide clients with a quick and accessible record of all media

3. CRM: Prospect/Client Database – track people who work for companies of interest; include background information; add notes for touch points; send holiday cards

4. Client Reporting Tool – keep an editorial or activities calendar and house documents that need approval; house final documents where all information can be assessed by the client or the firm at any time

5. Newsletter Database – track newsletter issues and calendar of ideas; use the mail merge feature to send the newsletter to the contact database

6. Blog Planning Database – create a list of blog ideas and final posts to keep on top of regular posting

7. Planning Database – track all PR activities for the year in one place; record how you did against your goals and keep your “PR Plan” in a living database

As you can see, there are many different ways in which you can use an online database solution like TrackVia. What we didn’t expect when we started using the database was the value in sharing the status of activities with clients, not just with our team as we had done in the past. The TrackVia database allows us to create the fields that are most relevant to our business and, we are able to customize a solid database that allows us to stay organized and our business well managed. We are just getting started and would love to hear how others are using it in our industry or others.