It feels like yesterday when Angela Hernandez (@angelahernandez) asked me to contribute to her blog interview series, “Is PR Right for Me.”  What blossomed out of a blog post is our dynamic PR community, #PRStudChat.  Valerie Simon (@valeriesimon) and I are both happy that our community, which is dedicated to collaboration and educating students and PR professionals, has grown from a few to over 1,100 people (according to the @PRstudchat profile and number of followers). Hundreds of PR enthusiasts routinely participate in the monthly conversations creating more than 1,000 tweets in each hour-long session. Within this active community countless professional and personal relationships have evolved.

The very first #PRstudChat took place on August 19^th 2009. With our one-year anniversary quickly approaching, we wanted to do something really special by inviting a guest that everyone would know; someone who has made an incredible contribution to learning and collaboration. We’re honored to have this extremely busy social media professional and Internet entrepreneur join us on August 25^th at 8:30 p.m.  Our special guest is Jimmy Wales (@jimmy_wales), founder of Wikipedia!!

I met Jimmy a couple of years ago when he interviewed with me for my book, PR 2.0 New Media, New Tools, New Audiences. I was so impressed with his contribution to communications and the story of Wikipedia.  Jimmy joins us to answer questions about social media, collaboration and how PR professionals can participate in Wikipedia (the right way).

We’ll have more information shortly on the details of the session and more about the questions we will be asking.  For now, please help us spread the word that Jimmy Wales will be our #PRStudChat special guest for a super special one-year anniversary celebration!

I guess I have a disclosure to make:  I was the “connector” between Justin and his acquisitions editor at Pearson. Justin was actually on his honeymoon when I reached out to him and asked him if he was interested in writing a book.  The rest is history….

I also want to note that Pearson sent me a review copy so that I could review the book and share my thoughts.

Facebook Marketing is a very helpful book.  Here’s what I liked the most: although Facebook can be intimidating, Justin walks you through easy steps from how to get started with your profile and setting up privacy settings to how you can effectively use Facebook advertising and Facebook Connect to enhance a consumer’s experience with a brand.

I also really appreciate a book that makes a point of reminding the reader that Facebook is just a tool and it’s what you do with it.  It’s up to us to discover functionality by experimenting and to commit ourselves to practicing the best techniques to build community.  These are the underlying principles for success and a very strong message threaded throughout the manuscript.

One of the most helpful parts was the privacy area.  I learned a few things myself about how you have different options for privacy and can control who can see your profile, post to your wall and who can interact with you on Facebook.  Justin also gave a very good explanation of the differences between the personal vs. professional profile and when to blend the two.  I’m finding many professionals are struggling with this question.

Overall, Facebook Marketing had excellent examples, however, if I were to offer helpful criticism with respect to this book (and this is really more so for Pearson and the production team), it would be to enlarge the graphics to support the great examples.  It was difficult for me to see the visuals, which were a bit too small to decipher.

I’m giving Facebook Marketing two thumbs up and calling it a “must read” for people who are new to Facebook or who have jumped into Facebook campaigns but haven’t taken the time to really explored all of Facebook’s unique possibilities.  This book will show you a better way!

Let me start with one of the chapters in the second half of the book that dealt with energizing the Groundswell.  Chapter 7 was an excellent chapter as the authors went into detail about the steps to harnessing the energy and momentum generated by a Groundswell.  I particularly liked the way they offer techniques for “energizing your enthusiasts” and a breakdown of complex information into helpful case studies including the following: Dell, ebags, Constant Contact and Lego.  Another favorite part of Groundswell, several of the case histories throughout the book included an “ROI Ratings and Reviews” section.  I love a book that can break out a cost analysis and a profit analysis at the end of each example.

I might be slightly biased toward this subject, but I thought an internal organization look at the groundswell was covered nicely in Chapters 10 and 11, “How Connecting with the Groundswell Transforms Your Company,” and “The Groundswell Inside Your Company,” which gets your employees involved and participating in groundswell thinking.  I am a firm believer that anything you want to achieve externally, must be accepted and valued within the organization first. Your own employees are the greatest brand champions and should be used to the organization’s advantage. However, culture can be one of the toughest challenges.  Even if you listen, plan and set social outreach programs in place, a lack of buy in or participation on behalf of the organization’s employees will prove counter productive toward overall social success.

Groundswell outlines the best approach to getting your entire organization on board.  A few of the helpful hints in Chapter 10 included:

• “First, start small” and pick your battles strategically
• “Second, educate your executives” by showing them the research
• “Third, get the right people to run your strategy” who are usually the people who are the most passionate about relationships with customers
• “Fourth get your agency and technology partners in synch” and make sure they understand the groundswell
• “Fifth, plan for the next step and the long term” so you know exactly where the groundswell thinking will take your company

I know that Groundswell was first published in 2008, but there’s a reason why the book is a bestseller.  If you pass by this book because you think you should be reading newer titles (and, yes, you can still read them too), you are missing an opportunity to hear excellent advice from two very savvy technology focused, social media professionals, who back up everything they say with concrete examples.  I think this book is well worth the read and is now on my recommended or “must read” list.

Groundswell Part I

As I read through the chapters I found myself saying, “I can’t believe I haven’t read this book.”  Here’s my first bit of advice to you.  If you haven’t already, go and pick up this book or if it’s available on Kindle, then you should download a copy.  It’s critical that our brands understand how to traverse the social landscape, and that starts with our own understanding of how to advise them. First and foremost, before I go on, for those who don’t know the concept of the Groundswell, it is (as defined by the authors):  A social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions like corporations.” Groundswell is a book that provides a roadmap and it does this in a number of ways.  I like a book that offers readers more than one way to grasp a concept and learn a new approach.  Li and Bernoff have successfully managed to instruct through helpful higher-level concepts, great case study examples and useful graphics and diagrams that support their work.

Let’s take a look at the first part of the book, which captures chapters 1 through 7.  I really had the feeling that the authors were very careful to introduce ideas and concepts and help the reader to learn each one before moving to the next chapter.  Although there are many, the most powerful concepts and the critical points that I want to stress to you in the first half of the book are the following:

• The Social Technographics Profile:  I find this tool tremendously important and think that it helps to identify the behavior of your target public.  Li and Bernoff introduce Forrester’s profile tool, which enables you to enter the demographics of your audience (age, country, gender), so that you are able to gauge their social participation (See screenshot below.)

The tool compares your audience’s participation as creators, conversationalists, critics, collectors, joiners, spectators and inactives, as compared to the average US consumer.  The results of using a simple tool will guide you with your social media strategy.  It’s critical that your target public’s participation matches the efforts that you want to put in place.  For example rushing to build ratings, reviews and social networks when your target public is mostly adult spectators will not produce best results.  Chapter 3 of the book talks in great detail about the Social Technographics Profile.

Below is Forresters Technographics Ladder with an explanation of how the average US consumer participates in social networks and a breakdown of the activities on each rung of the ladder.

Click to enlarge

• Strategies for Tapping the Groundswell (Chapter 4) is one of my favorite chapters in the book.  The authors introduce an acronym for their four- step planning process – POST.  POST stands for:

• People – What is your target public ready for?  Here’s where they tie in the Social Technographics Profile.  By taking a good look at the people first you can assess the level of engagement based on the type of participation in social networks that is familiar to them.

• Objectives – Here’s the one that I find is missing quite often.  The authors ask outright, “What are your goals?” They want to know if you are more interested in talking to groups of people, energizing or supporting them, and that means both external as well as internal employee groups.

• Strategies – How do you want your relationships with your customers to change, and what exactly do you want them to do?  Carry messages? Become more engaged?  If you don’t map out your objectives, you cannot measure the change in activity once the strategy begins. The authors offer five helpful types of objectives including: listening, talking, energizing, supporting, and embracing.

• Technology – After you determine the people, objectives and strategy, it’s a lot easier to identify the technology whether it is a blog, wiki, social network, etc.  Technology is extremely important to your strategy, and the authors discuss poor technology implementation (we see this happen all of the time with lightly trafficked communities).

• Listening to the Groundswell (Chapter 5) can never be stressed enough and that you must have a listening plan.  I’m a huge proponent of listening.  Li and Bernoff breakdown listening into two listening strategies. The first is to set up your own private listening community, which is more costly, but definitely worth the investment.  The second listening strategy is a more frequently used strategy and that is to begin brand monitoring through “blogs, discussion forums, YouTube and everything else…”

They use case studies to illustrate the listening strategies in Chapter 5 and include stories from National Comprehensive Cancer Network to USA Mini.  I also think it’s excellent the authors address how listening will change your organization. They go as far as saying that once you start to listen “your company will never be the same” and I agree with them.  In the past market research departments have been set to the side as a resource used by other areas of the company. Listening/research are now a focal point of the organization, which means that the marketing, PR and communications department take on a critical role with the listening function in social media communications.  Of course, all of the information obtained from any listening exercise must go beyond marketing and PR to other departments in the organization.  Social media is a shared responsibility.

I’ll let you absorb all of this information and then you can look forward to Part II of my review.  Let me know what you think about Groundswell and if you’ve read the book if it has helped you in your efforts to tap into the Groundswell.  Part II!

One of the reasons why I like World Wide Rave so much is because it’s one of those little books that offer great higher-level concepts with practical examples.  The book gets you thinking so much that your mind feels like it’s going to explode with ideas on how you can create your own world wide rave.

One very clear and strong message stood out and was reinforced throughout the book: World Wide Rave teaches readers to think differently and that you…yes you…can create a world wide rave of your own.  When I first heard the title I thought how many people actually create something worldwide?  But, that’s the beauty of a world wide rave; it could mean a rave that captures a town, a region, a community online, the United States, another country or the entire world.

David gives great advice on how to start a world wide rave with several key concepts:

No one cares about your products and services

I love that David reminds us that “no one cares about your products and services.”  I’m in PR and marketing for 21 years and I couldn’t agree more! It’s never about what you want to tell people or what you think about your own products and services.  But, it is up to you to figure out what people need, what they want from you, what will help them in their daily lives and ultimately make them feel better (solve a problem, give them a solution, make them smile).  This is about people. As much as marketers think clever campaigns (and often very expensive ones) directly from the boardroom result in leads/sales, that’s not what makes people want to do business with a company.

No coercion required

A world wide rave is about offering something selflessly.  Giving away great content that helps someone or group of people.  For example, Lisa Genova, who wrote the book Still Alice, which is a novel about “a young women’s decent into dementia due to early onset Alzheimer’s disease” and shared it with the National Alzheimer’s Association, or the story of Matt Harding who invited people to dance with him in 42 countries from Bhutan to Zanzibar, which made people happy and feel good.  They both created a world wide rave by giving good information and/or in Harding’s case sharing his silly dancing on video and inviting others to join him. When you lose control, another really strong message in the book and give more to the people that matter, you’ll see your content spread virally.  It’s that principle of give to the universe and the universe will give back to you.

Lose control

It was great how David talked about how companies/executives need to open up their frame of reference to their employees’ use of social media. He asks the questions:  do you trust your employees?  Companies need to trust their employees with social media and allow them to participate.  If you close off Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, for example, you will never achieve a world wide rave.  He even says that as an employee of a company, if you take your reasons to the top and the company still wants to shut the social networking down, then it’s time to find a new job.  I couldn’t agree more.  Social networking and employee participation go hand in hand for a brand.  The greatest example (which is the example that I tend to use myself in my presentations) is IBM and how this global brand trusts its employees, empowers them to use social channels and gives them the tools to be a part of the social sphere.

Another excellent message in the Lose Control section of the book is that executives should stop using Return on Investment (ROI) as an excuse. It’s so true…I hear this all of the time and David is right that it’s making marketers way too “cautious and boring.”  Creating a world wide rave can lead to tremendous value for an organization.  But, the rave is new and experimental and sometimes that is difficult to “sell” to the executives who sit at the top of the company.  I laughed out loud when he gave an example in the book discussing when CEOs push back about ROI.  He says, “What’s the return on investment of the army of landscapers who are constantly at work on the plantings around your corporate headquarters.”  I think a lot of people are going to be “stealing” this very question and using it to fight the ROI battle!

Create triggers that encourage people to share

In this section of the book, David makes another interesting point. You have to think like a Venture Capitalist (VC).  I never really thought about social media and the VC way of thinking.  David’s point, which is well taken, is that VCs know that only one out of how many ventures will end in a profitable company.  You invest in many start ups to actually land one big (that’s the one that goes public).  Well it’s the same principle with the world wide rave.  You may have many ideas (and this is all about great ideas and content) but perhaps only one will take off and make you recognized for the information you’ve shared.

Overall, I like David’s writing style.  He is honest and very transparent.  Toward the end of the book, he admits that if someone had Googled his full name when he started his business, the result would have turned up zero hits.   After The New Rules of Marketing & PR was published as an ebook, it was downloaded over 250,000 times, was recognized by marketing & PR professionals, and by bloggers and the media. It became a world wide rave.  And, to this day, his book is still #1 in the PR category on Amazon.  As a result, a subsequent search for his name revealed over 200,000 entries about David, his ideas and his work.

There are so many reasons to read this book.  I feel energized and motivated to do more (and I only get 4.5 to 5 hours of sleep each night as it is).  But, when you read a book like World Wide Rave you realize that you can easily create that great content and get your own rave under way.   David is right when he says, “Anyone can trigger a world wide rave.”

World Wide Rave is a book that introduces some powerful ways of thinking and provides some great, simple and easy to digest examples of how people were successful in their world wide raves.  The examples and the people cited in the book could have been you or me.  It’s not because the people involved had lots of money, spent their years in the marketing profession or had acute knowledge of social media.  And, it’s not because these people were necessarily highly respected visionaries or well-known public figures. Regular people, who grasp the concepts in this book, can find themselves generating some great ideas that just may be the next world wide rave!

On the first day of the year, I wanted to provide a preview my 2010 book-reading list.  I read some excellent books in 2009 that I’ve shared in earlier reviews, from Chris Brogan and Julien Smith’s Trust Agents to Gary Vaynerchuk’s Crush It (both must read books).  As mentioned in my post, “PR New Year’s Resolutions,” one of my resolutions is to read and review more books on my blog.

Here’s my hit list for the first six months of 2010 (in no particular order):

• Twitterville by Shel Israel
• Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff
• World Wide Rave by David Meerman Scott
• Free: The Future of a Radical Price by Chris Anderson
• Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin
• The Truth About Trust in Business by Vanessa Hall
• Windmill Networking: Understanding, Leveraging and Maximizing LinkedIn by Neal Schaffer
• 2011: Trendspotting for the Next Decade by Richard Laermer
• Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business by Erik Qualman
• Facebook Marketing:  Designing Your Next Marketing Campaign (2^nd edition) by Justin Levy (to be published in May 2010)
• Engage:  The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate and Measure Success in the New Web by Brian Solis (to be published in March 2010)

If you’ve read any of these books, I’m hoping you will share your thoughts (but don’t give away the endings!)  And, feel free to make book-reading suggestions to me for the last six months of the year.  What books will you be reading this year?

I’m happy to report that Social Media Marketing For Dummies by Shiv Singh does a good job in the education department.  Two thumbs up for a book that is focused and really pinpoints an easy and understandable approach for those individuals who are just starting out and want to learn how to effectively participate in the social sphere.

Now, here’s my disclosure:  I am a Pearson Education author and Financial Times published my last couple of books.  I also have to let everyone know that Wiley approached me to write this review, and sent me the book free of charge.  Nonetheless, I hope that I’m able to provide you with the highlights or best parts of the book and as well as points of difference.

There are many reasons why I like Social Media Marketing For Dummies:

• The book never strays from teaching readers the best approach to Social Media Marketing or Social Influence Marketing (which are used interchangeably by the author).

• Social Media Marketing for Dummies provides a broad overview but also digs into details.  For example, one of my favorite parts of the book is Chapter 3, “Getting in the Social Influence Marketing Frame of Mind.” This chapter breaks down the Social Media Marketing Funnel or the stages a consumer goes through during the purchasing process (Awareness, Consideration, Preference, Action and Loyalty) and how you can use social media marketing in each one of the stages to enhance the process.

• Singh gives helpful hints or a “Tip” identified with a bulls eye icon and “Warning” messages, which are easily recognized with a bomb icon.  These icons appear in every chapter.  For example, with respect to establishing a social influence marketing voice (SIM Voice) in Chapter 5, he says as a Tip, “Sometimes the best way to discover whether you need a SIM voice is by scanning the conversations about your brand across the social web.” And, he points out as a bomb icon Warning in the same chapter, “If you do offer discounts and special promotions, you must be prepared to redeem them.”

• The author helps the reader to understand that social media marketing is very different than branding and the social influence marketing (SIM) voice varies from that of the people communicating in the brand voice.  He also provides a very helpful chart to show the differences between the two voices.

• Singh does a very good job discussing how to work with new influencers, how to find them (I especially like how much the author refers to the importance of listening first), learn more about them, and most importantly how to interact with them.

• Other favorite chapters include Chapter 9 on “Practicing SIM on your Web Site,” Chapter 12 on “Energizing Employees within Your Company for Social Influence,” (I’m a huge advocate of teaching employees the value of social media and creating a culture of participation), and Chapter 13, “Applying Metrics to the SIM Realm” (the author points out that social influence marketing is just as measurable as other forms of marketing).

• In my opinion, if you’re a beginner reading this book, you will not feel lost in the chapters.  It’s very easy to understand the big picture and take actionable steps to accomplish a social media marketing campaign. The author also points out how social influence marketing can fit into other marketing efforts and/or how it integrates with other areas of marketing and branding.

Now, here are a couple of parts of the book where my opinion differs. Of course, my perspective comes from my own personal participation in the social sphere as a communications professional.

The author states, “Some of the social influence marketing philosophies are in conflict with traditional public relations …” I believe that this statement appears to be true, only if you look at the sole function of public relations as media relations; where the shift of consumer behavior from mainstream media to new influencers lessens the PR professional’s role.  In this case, then public relations is interacting less with traditional media for a credible third party endorsement.  However, public relations is not synonymous with media relations and is focused on building relationships with an organization’s public (many different groups, in addition to the media), making social influence marketing an important part of our communication roles and responsibilities.

In the chapter on the SIM voice, Shingh states, “Establishing a SIM voice may appear in conflict with brand and public relations objectives…” He also says that the people closest to the brand or brand communication, in most cases, the PR department may not be the best choice for the social media voice of the company.  There could be a conflict between the SIM voice and the brand voice. Although he later states how the PR manager can take the social media lead role, he has already cast doubt on the PR professional’s participation in this manner.

I find that social media allows anyone and everyone to show their openness and humanness (from the CEO and the CMO to the PR department and customer service).  Through social media, PR people, just like anyone else have the ability to take their marketing/PR hats off to become the people that they want to reach.  Public relations has taken its lumps over the years regarding brand communication and broadcast messaging. I believe social media changes all of these stereotypical opinions and makes it possible for us to engage on behalf of clients/brands in a unique, human and transparent way.  Those were my two biggest points of difference with respect to public relations and social media marketing.

Overall, the book is really good, and I would recommend it to individuals who are about to take their first steps in social media marketing and for those who are looking for a helpful resource that’s easy to understand.

The event took place at De Unie, a lovely café and restaurant with a personal and intimate ambiance. The night started with a meet and greet with the audience followed by my presentation, which was held in a theater located directly behind the lounge. It was such a wonderful experience to discuss the industry with my Dutch PR and communications colleagues.

My presentation covered the state of PR, focusing on the following topics:

• Moving from PR 1.0 to PR 2.0 and the major differences
• How to tell you business story in today’s changing media landscape
• Building relationships with new influencers is key, including A-list bloggers, Tastemakers, the Magic Middle and with consumers
• The PR 2.0 approach and the do’s and the don’ts of social media outreach
• The next wave of technology
• 10 tips for PR 2.0
• Helpful resources (my favorite books, resources/tools and blogs)

The evening concluded under the lights with Jody, Jos and myself sitting in three chairs on stage participating in a lively Q&A session.  At one point, the audience joined in on the Q&A discussion, going beyond the three of us, and the individual who asked the question (similar to what happens in our social networks). I thought the audience provided fantastic information; they were engaged and it really felt as if a new community started from this very special event (and perhaps the conversation will continue on the event hashtag, #AEW09).

@jodykoehler, @josgovaart and I came up with an idea to give away three books to the people who asked some of the best PR 2.0 questions.  So, congratulations to @javerver, @rnaat and @YvonneVB for your thoughtful questions.  Coopr will be sending each of you a signed copy of my book, Putting the Public Back in Public Relations.

Here are the questions and my answers:

1.  My company, MTV, is social networking.  What can the press department do to help?

This was a great question and very common in organizations. There are often times when the social media effort of the entire company takes place with certain groups participating and perhaps other groups not as active.  Social media affects many different areas from sales and customer service to PR and marketing. And, different groups should be participating for different reasons.

In the case of the PR department, it’s so important to be listening and connecting through social media for a number of reasons.  PR people can be actively monitoring the social media landscape and engaging in conversations that are relevant to MTV, for brand awareness and reputation management, as well as editorial opportunities and new influencer coverage.  For instance, there are plenty of journalists, as well as bloggers, in the long tail of the web looking for stories and the PR department needs to follow and interact with these influencers.  It’s really important to listen, identify and observe the conversations, whether they are on Twitter or another platform, and then have the PR team engage by offering helpful information about the brand/programming and building relationships with the people who will then, in turn, discuss the MTV brand within their communities.

2.  I do public relations for a police department and was wondering who from the department should be blogging?

I thought this was an excellent question.  I mentioned a personal example of my brother, who is the Chief of Police in the small town in New Jersey, where I grew up.  I discussed how it would make sense for a Chief of Police to be building community online through social media outreach because it mirrors his responsibilities offline.  My brother is very active with various organizations, constantly attending affairs and working with groups in the community.

I was also very pleased that there was significant audience participation on this question.  @AmazingPR was able to help with the answer. He stated that it’s important to think out the “why part” first.  What is the purpose of the social media communications (the objectives) and then it’s easier to determine who should participate.  I agree and think that’s great advice.

3. How do PR Agencies add value through Social Media because Social Media can be best done from within an organization?

This is definitely a key question asked worldwide. The PR agency adds value as we help our clients with the strategy and planning behind the social media programs, which includes the monitoring/listening, channel or distribution strategy, strategic communications/content, as well as determining the type of engagement and measurement of the desired behavior.  Agencies can also help their clients with blogger relations, brand reputation management in web communities and at times, damage control.  We should also continuously counsel brands on appropriate communications strategies and be proactive, not waiting for issues/concerns to arise in the social sphere that will affect the brand.

In public relations, we have always worked to build relationships with groups and we will continue to counsel our clients on the best ways to foster and maintain better relationships and community building in the social sphere.  Because of social media, we’re more involved and integrated into customer service, web and viral marketing, and we are viewed as social media listeners and conversationalists.  Social media, although can be done internally by the client, is a team effort and the PR agency can be a strong part of the team.

Traveling to Holland was a fantastic experience and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting so many interesting professionals.  Practicing PR is both exciting and challenging all over the world and it’s very interesting to learn and discuss the various global challenges with other professionals.

Thank you, Coopr, Bijl PR and the many Dutch PR professionals who participated and contributed to the success of the Coopr PR 2.0 launch event.