It was the greatest feeling to neatly pack up all of my chapters in a zip file and ship them off to my executive editor.  It took about three months to write the introduction and 10 chapters for my book, “Social Media and Public Relations: Eight New Practices for the PR Professional.” By far, the quickest writing process for me yet. About a week ago, I publicly thanked my husband on Facebook for “putting up with me” during the writing process homestretch. And, now it’s time to give thanks to the note taking software that kept me organized from draft outline through to final chapter edits – the software that enabled me to be more efficient, remembering everything, and capturing snippets of information, which most certainly would have been lost otherwise.

Thank you Evernote for helping me to remember, save and then access information later.  I used Evernote everyday and everywhere (on my laptop, Kindle Fire, iPad and Droid to add so many interesting quotes, facts, case studies, technology tools, and pieces of research into my book.  If you’re not familiar with Evernote, you certainly don’t have to be an author to use it.  I recommend Evernote to those who love to write lists and check them off completed tasks.  I also think Evernote is perfect for busy professionals who uncover interesting information all the time, but because they’re on the go want to save the information to review later.  Evernote is also terrific for recipe keeping, accounting of your monthly expenses, and a place to document progress on any project.

For me, Evernote was the first step in my book. As soon as I received my contract from Pearson Education, I started my chapter outline and also set up notes for the many experts I wanted to reach out to for interviews.  I used Evernote as a step-by-step “To Do” list as I contacted, interviewed, and wrote expert passages. I’ve written four other books in the past, and working with a number of people, it’s very easy to let deadlines slip through the cracks.  With Evernote, I reached every deadline with ease. I also used Evernote as a way to capture the footnotes for each chapter. I’ve learned to add the footnotes in at the end, after using one single note to keep track and to neatly organize every citation by chapter.

Here’s a screenshot of several different notes I used during my book writing process:

Evernote was an everyday, almost every hour, tool and I would not have finished my manuscript in such an organized and expeditious manner if it wasn’t for this note taking software. Just for the record, I have no affiliation with Evernote other than I’m a huge brand champion!

I hope you will check out Evernote and let me know some of the creative ways you are using it to help with your projects or your daily tasks.

A Guest Post By Jim Joseph

Last week I had the distinct privilege of being a guest host on #prstudchat.  At first I was excited to be invited, thinking that someone out there thought I was a stud.  But when I realized it was going to be full of students … well as a professor at NYU I jumped at the chance!

I am a big believer in the overall brand experience as a way to think about marketing a product.  But the truth is there are lots of people who have theories about marketing.  For me, it’s less about theory and more about practicing and observing and learning and reapplying.  Marketing is a spectator sport, and we can all learn from the marketplace and from each other.  Twitter chats are one great way of getting together and sharing.  And when it’s quick and 140 characters, all the better!  I so enjoyed the “experience!”

QUESTION ONE:   How does PR contribute to a customer experience that builds loyalty?

We are the lucky ones!  I believe that public relations is actually the closest to the consumer.  Especially with social media, we are the part of the marketing mix that is talking directly to consumers as they live their lives.  We have been trained to talk WITH our consumers, not AT them (as in advertising).  We seek out the influencers who they trust, even when it’s just their other girlfriends!  In that way, our efforts seek to build relationships that lead to loyalty and ultimately create a lasting brand experience.  That puts us in charge of building the brand experience and ultimately for me, the brand.

QUESTION TWO:  What are favorite examples of companies with strong and consistent branding?

In my books, I discuss a number of examples where a brand has created a consistent and relevant experience that has created long-lasting loyalty.  J.Crew is one of my favorites because they’ve been able to tailor their experience, yet keep it consistent across all of their venues be it retail, web, social media, or catalog.  Every interaction is uniquely J.Crew, yet specific to the touchpoint.

Lady Gaga also comes to mind.  She’s not just a marketer, but also a brand.  Perhaps one of the best at having a strong mission for the “underdog”, consistent messaging about her fans, and a compelling experience that evolves and evolves.

I would say that brand Paula Deen fell off the wagon this month.  She had a very consistent experience (like it or not) but she took a very sharp turn and it is jarring for her fans.  Let’s leave it at that!

Can’t talk about the brand experience without talking about the magic of Disney – across all of their theme parks, movies, tv shows, merchandise – it’s all about the magic of childhood and recapturing it with your family.  They own it!

QUESTION THREE:  What communications touchpoints engage customers the most?

The answer to this one depends on the consumer and how they live their lives.  But in general, I would say that the most effective touchpoints are the ones that seemingly naturally pop up when the consumer is in the right mindset for your brand.  I’ve seen touchpoints in gyms that are more relevant than mass advertising or PR!

The best touchpoint is the one that bumps into your consumer at the time they might consider you. The other day I was at the gym and saw a poster in the men’s locker room for athlete’s foot.  Now that’s a touchpoint and a brand message that is “right place, right time!”  And you know what, they had samples at the front desk as well.

The best way to pick touchpoints is to know your consumer and how she specifically lives her life.  Figure out ways to get in front of her when she needs you.  That’s how she’ll jump onto your brand experience and then hopefully share it with others.

QUESTION FOUR:  What advice would you give to PR students & pros about creating a better brand experience?

We could write volumes about this, and in fact I have!  But to keep it simple, the first step is to know your consumer and to know her better than your competition does.   To know her is to know how to market with her.  The second step is to know what you, as a brand, are capable of offering her. You can’t give your consumer something that is outside of your brand’s skill sets and abilities.  So the key is to match what she wants and needs with what you are uniquely able to offer to her.  Then build the experience on her terms – when and how she needs you.

QUESTION FIVE:  What are the secrets to finding success at a New York PR firm? 

I think you need to be willing to do anything to learn.  My best advice is to start out working on a smaller brand where you can play a bigger role.  There’s not as much staffing on the small brands so you can become more of a leader and do more strategic activities sooner.

Make yourself indispensable to your clients and to your teammates.  Be the “go to” person for the brand’s information and you’ll find yourself in the middle of all the meetings where decisions are being made.  You’ll be in the middle of the action, not on the sidelines waiting to hear what’s going on.

Don’t expect anything to be handed to you.  Use some sweat equity to build your own brand.  Others will start to figure out that you are a future leader and they will gravitate towards you.

Think about what you want your own brand experience to be for the people you work with and for – make yourself valuable for them and you will rise!

Jim Joseph is the President of Lippe Taylor, the Author of “The Experience Effect” series and a professor at NYU

www.lippetaylor.com

www.jimjosephexp.com

On February 9, 2012, I’ll be joining my colleagues in Amsterdam to deliver a keynote on Eight New Strategic Practices for the PR Champion.  As a part of the preparation for the event, The Social Conference 2012, I was asked to discuss a few topics.  My video focuses on several of the “hot” topics in PR and how professionals today are taking on new roles and responsibilities. These topics include: the differences between the old and the new PR mindset, the impact of social media on the relationship between journalists and PR pros, how social media requires a unique and powerful new communication approach, why social networking changes the approach of crisis management, and what’s going on with corporate messages and the good “old” press release.

I’ll be touching on these topics in my presentation, which is also the subject matter of my new book with FT Press. I’m also very excited to announce that my book, “Social Media and Public Relations: Eight New Practices for the PR Professional” is available for pre-order on Amazon.  You can learn more about my book here.

If you’re in the Amsterdam on the 9^th of February, I hope you will visit me at The Social Conference 2012!

Happy New Year #PRStudChat friends!  We’re ready to kick off 2012 by focusing on the customer experience.  On Wednesday, January 18^th 2012 at 8:30 p.m. ET, the #PRStudChat community will discuss how using public relations creates a better brand experience.

Joining us on the 18^th is our special guest Jim Joseph (@JimJosephExp), President of Lippe Taylor, and the author of The Experience Effect: Engage Your Customers with a Consistent and Memorable Brand Experience.   Jim is an expert in building brands that offer consumers unforgettable experiences. He will share his expertise on how to help companies create a simple yet powerful brand experience, one that resonates purpose fully, consistently, and continuously with their customers.

Here’s a little more background info on our special guest:

Jim Joseph is an award winning marketing professional who has specialized in helping blockbuster clients including Kellogg’s, Kraft, Cadillac, Tylenol, Clean & Clear, Aveeno, Durex, AFLAC, Ambien CR, and Wal-Mart create successful brand experiences that engage consumers and add value to their lives. His first book titled “The Experience Effect” is aimed at helping marketers build consistent brand experiences across multiple touch points.

Prior to joining Lippe Taylor, Jim started his own agency, which he later sold to Publicis and then merged it with two others to create Arc-NY, the largest integrated marketing services agency in Manhattan, at the time. He later took over Publicis’ Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness, where he led the transformation of the agency from traditional advertising to diversified marketing.

We’re thrilled to have Jim join us for the January 18^th #PRStudChat session. We’re looking forward to a dynamic discussion on the best ways to create a more engaging brand experience. If you have any questions for our special guest, please feel free to post them on our LinkedIn Discussion Group.  Hope to “see” you on the 18^th!

A Little More About PRStudChat:

It began with a simple question asked by Angela Hernandez, then President of PRSSA at Central Michigan University (CMU). “Is PR Right for me?” A follow up blog post by PR 2.0 expert Deirdre Breakenridge inspired a series of direct messages on Twitter between Breakenridge and fellow PR industry pro, Valerie Simon. This was an important question and one that should be explored beyond one student or one blog post. Why not build a community to help students across the country, and even the globe, learn from the experience and perspective of industry professionals… A community where everyone can learn and grow together. Read more

One of the first things I learned in marketing was to “mirror” my audience’s behavior.  For example, working at an agency for years, we learned to watch the body language of the executives in the room. Lean forward at the boardroom table if they lean forward, be more relaxed if they are more relaxed. If the client was visiting and he or she was a “corporate” type and wore a suit, the entire marketing/PR team would suit up for the meeting. Mirroring your audience goes further today to understand their experience.

It’s all about the experience.  Listening, making connections, sharing what’s relevant and of value to build stronger relationships.  You can do this online and in the physical setting. There are audiences that you should think about daily so that your experience with them grows into a trusted relationship.  One of the most important relationships is the one you have with executives and/or the CEO of the company.  In order to move your relationship to the next level, you need to think about their experience and what they expect from you.

Let’s start with the CEO or the executives that you work with.  It doesn’t matter if you’re on the same team (in-house marketing for a brand, non-profit, etc.) or you’re the agency partner, the amount of relevance and value the executives experience with you and your interactions will determine your level of relationships success.  It’s important for you to think like the executives to deliver what they need from their communication professionals.

Here is your list of things to think about when you interact with the CEO to make his or her experience better:

• Leads, sales, and the sales cycle
• Employee recruitment
• Employee productivity
• Strategic partnerships
• Customer service satisfaction levels
• Company coverage and endorsements
• Crisis mitigation
• Brand reputation
• Competitor activity in the market

These are a few areas when highlighted and measured, as a part of your communications programs enhance the executives’ experience with you.  Now, this does not mean that your executives don’t care about the many other important areas related to communications and your job function, or the programs you create and implement.  Executives only have so much time in a day, and they’re focused on specific indicators that move the business toward profitability and a more favorable reputation in the eyes of the public.  If you only have a brief window of opportunity with your executives, then you want to be prepared to make their experience with you as relevant and valuable as possible.  Organize the information that’s a part of their world and bring it to the table. You will see your relationships with executives grow to new levels of trust and respect.

What valuable information do you think about and share with your executives to enhance their experience?

As I was working on my New Year’s resolutions, I came up with the “4Fs” to help guide my accomplishments in the 2012.  The 4Fs include: Fix it, Focus, Forward thinking and Fire it up (with Follow through).  My video details the 4Fs and how you can use them to stay on track with goals in the New Year.  I hope you’re all working on your New Year’s resolutions to make 2012 the best year yet. I look forward to many more exciting discussions and continued learning in 2012. Happy New Year!

My December 7^th Vocus Webinar on “The Techniques of the New PR Champion,” sparked many questions from participants. Here is the fourth and final part of the Q&A.  Parts I, II and III are also available on my blog for review.  I hope that I’ve answered everyone’s questions from the Webinar.   If I’ve missed any, or you have more, please don’t hesitate to post your question and we can answer them together.

1. How does record retention work on social media for government agencies?

There are resources that allow you to archive your tweets and Facebook updates for record retention.  For example, Backupify is a service that provides automatic daily backups, archiving, and export of Google Docs, Facebook page updates, your Twitter feed and Flickr streams, and comments in your other social media channels.  In addition, if you’re using a monitoring platform, such as Vocus, Sysomos, BurrellesLuce Engage 121, Alternian, or Radian6, you should ask your service provider if you can archive manually (by exporting a PDF report), or if there’s a way to automatically archive updates to your social media sites.

2.  Do you have a DVD included with the book with templates for helping to chart a businesses progress?

I’m still working on how exercises will be presented in my book (if they will be at the end of the chapters or in an additional guide).  However, with respect to charting business community progress, there’s one tool I used in my presentation to show how a business can “Chart a Social Map.”  This tool is called Mindmeister, for mind mapping and brainstorming.  It’s a very easy (free) online tool to use and it shows growth of social communities over time.  You’ll want to have an updated chart in your social media plan.

3. For a major hospital, what are some metrics to analyze using social media?

Hospitals are an extension of community, so you will want to look at growth in a number of ways.  In addition to looking at how many people follow and friend the hospital, you should also be tracking how people move from your social media sites to your website to find out more information about the hospital, doctors, areas of specialty medicine, community events, etc.  It’s really important to tie your social media efforts to your website analytics (traffic to pages, views, time spent on site, referring location, etc.)  You should always be driving to your hub, which is your website, because it houses the most important ways for people to interact and to find out more information.

Sentiment is another really important community measure. You should be looking at the sentiment of conversations about the hospital and comparing your positive, negative and neutral sentiment over time (making sure that the positive is on the rise).  You can also track other hospitals in your area to see a comparison in sentiment.  I would recommend doing the same with Share of Voice (SOV) in social networks.  How does your hospital’s SOV compare to that of a competitor on Facebook or Twitter.  These are just a few metrics that are useful as you increase your social media participation.

In addition, if your hospital has a foundation, you will want to track how many members of your social media communities become aware of your foundation, request more information and interact on your foundation’s website, as a result of social media participation.

4. How do you start in the right direction, if you have the responsibility to be the PR Champion, but not the authority or upper administration support?

If you are tasked with the responsibility of social media, but need to get the buy in, then you have to put together a “formal ask.”  Social media is not something that can be approached loosely in an organization.  Here’s one approach:

• Step One: Find research and highlight similar types of organizations with respect to how and why they are using social media.  Be sure to document any success stories, as well as any negative situations, due to the lack of a social presence.

• Step Two:  Begin tracking competition to show that direct competitors are out there using social media effectively and your company may need to play catch up.

• Step Three: Audit your own company’s efforts to show that there are people already talking, maybe even your own employees, and, in this case, proper guidance and training would benefit the company. You may also uncover a few social media fires that need to be addressed immediately.

If you document and present this information in a more formal way to upper administration, it will become more of a priority and hopefully an eye opening experience to get you the buy in that you need.

5. Is it best to ignore and delete comments on company social media pages or respond to them?

No. The only comments that should be deleted are the ones that violate your social media policy, if they are defamatory, harassing, abusive, etc.  Otherwise, any comments that are negative need to be addresses based on your Comment Response Chart. A Comment Response Chart shows you how to move through situations from misguided information and bad experiences to handling “Deterrent Detractors” and “Angry Ragers.”  It’s okay to have some less than flattering comments on your Facebook wall or company blog.  It actually humanizes the company and makes your organization more transparent to the community.  If someone visits a company’s Facebook wall or blog and there’s nothing but glowing remarks, they may be skeptical.  It might appear the company only keeps the positive comments and deletes the negative or helpful criticism.

6. How do you find editors respond to social media releases?  Do editors want to be reached via Twitter or through email?

The answer to this question always varies based on individual preferences.  With respect to the first part of the question, editors want a really good story with factual and credible information. If you can deliver this information packaged in a helpful manner with additional resources, then they will like whatever tool you’re using.  I remember one editor who interviewed in my book, PR 2.0.  He said that if you don’t have a well-written release, with information that his readers would find useful, then don’t bother sending a tool with fancy bells and resources (he was referring to a social media release). It’s really important that you deliver good information regardless of the format.

To answer the question about Twitter vs. email, you’ll learn quickly how a journalist prefers to receive information. If you are unsure then make sure that you ask.  Most journalists are still very comfortable with email, although I’ve come across instances where conversations with a journalist move to Twitter DM, upon request.   Everyone is different, so you want to make sure you accommodate based on a person’s individual preferences.

7. How aggressively do you pursue these types of strategies in a more methodical organization, where process is ingrained and slow to change?

When you uncover the need for new processes and procedures, you will have to aggressively show why social media is important to business communications.  However, that doesn’t mean that the change will happen quickly.  In a more methodical organization, where culture is embedded, and historically change is slow to occur, you will have to take a crawl, walk and then run approach.  One of the most important steps to spark the change will be to use a social media audit.  The audit usually uncovers the issues or areas of liability, which then results in the writing of a policy.  Slower organizations feel more comfortable with a policy in place so that employees understand how to participate properly and that there is guidance or training involved.   Chances are many employees are already participating, so the practices outlined in my webinar will actually help the organization move to a more comfortable level of participation.

8. How do you institute the handling of personal information protection while pushing for PR and marketing product?

A good social media policy will instruct employees, as well as the company’s public, on how to participate properly including the use of personal information.  Some policies have a section that discusses the personal vs. company use of social media.  I look at examples of organizations using social media effectively including the United States Armed Forces and many hospitals across the country. They handle both propriety and personal information that can’t be divulged to the public.  If these types of organizations can participate successfully, then it’s just a matter of getting the right guidance and training in place, so people know what’s considered an acceptable use and unacceptable use of social media.

I’m still working on the Q&A from my December 7^th Vocus Webinar on “The Techniques of the New PR Champion.” Below is Part III of my responses.  The questions from participants range from strategy and planning to the best tool and techniques of the New PR Champion.  Parts I and II of the Q&A are also available for review.  I’m thrilled at the level of participation from webinar attendees!

1. Which social media tools should you put the most focus on if you have limited resources?

If you have limited resources, the listening or monitoring tools are really important. You want to make sure you can respond in real time to questions, comments and engage in dialogue related to your company.  You can also address any negative sentiment as it occurs, and not wait until complaints spiral out of control.  A few of the free tools to monitor include Hootsuite, TweetDeck, Social Mention, BackType, Boardreader, CoComment and, of course, Google Alerts.

2. In protecting a company’s reputation and dealing with crisis, what advice would you give in creating internal social media policy guidelines for company employees.

It’s really important that your social media policy guides your employees’ social media participation. You have to let employees know the best way for them to engage as well as educate on some of the practices that they should avoid.  Many policies discuss the use of acceptable content, personal vs. professional use, legal issues including copyright, intellectual property and privacy, IT issues to protect the company’s network and to mitigate risk, proper procedures such as an account management process, and the best practice guidelines on the rules of engagement.  By spelling out, training and updating your employees, you will put a system of participation in place; one that works to prevent crisis from occurring based on your own employees’ interactions.

3. Where does the time come from to be a new PR champion? Is there a lot of sharing and delegation involved?

Being a new PR champion is an investment in your future and also an investment in your company’s social media growth.  Years ago, when PR professionals were first introduced to social media, the notion of becoming the “Research Librarian” surfaced. PR professionals learned that they had to bring information into the organization and rally for change.  I suggested back then that sometimes it might take some “after hours” effort to make social media a greater part of the company’s culture.

The same is true with the new practices and becoming a PR Champion.  Of course, as you research and share information internally, it often creates a grassroots approach that grows participation as others to pick up on accepted practices.  By involving additional champions from different departments in your company you will create synergy and more impact.  It’s also important to seek out buy-in from an executive who is extremely enthusiastic about social media. Having acceptance from the top down truly lends support for your efforts, and the new processes you are suggesting.

Eventually this type of buy-in leads to increased internal sharing practices that make your job more efficient and suddenly there are other champions who will share in your efforts and work toward common social media goals.  The more people you can involve and efficiencies you can reach through sharing internally, the more you will be able to delegate responsibilities and increase your own productivity.

4. Which sentiment analysis do you recommend, especially to measure competitor sentiment?

There are several platforms that help you to measure your brand’s sentiment vs. the sentiment of your competitors.  They include the following:

• Vocus Social Media Monitoring
• SentimentMetrics
• Alterian sm2
• Sysomos Heartbeat
• Collective Intellect

5. How often do you engage dialogue through social media platforms? How often should this be done? Daily? Weekly?

The question should always be what type of engagement are you trying to achieve and how often do your stakeholders want to interact with you.  I could say you should have three to five Facebook posts and Twitter updates a day to keep your profiles active, but if you have people interested in the information you’re sharing, then the conversations may double, triple or quadruple in size.

Before you can determine how many times to share, think about your audience and their behavior/participation. What interests them and what do they want to hear from you.  By listening first to the conversations and studying the behavior, it will give you a better idea of how you should participate.  Then determine exactly what type of engagement you want from the groups you want to reach or specific individual influencers.

When it comes to engaging in dialog, for example, you might be asking questions, monitoring trending topics to develop meaningful content to share, or even crowdsourcing with your customers to have them solve an issue and you’re using their intelligence.  The dialog will largely depend on what you want to achieve.

6. Should a company do social media if it can’t show return – leads, sales and success stories?

Not every social media program in the organization is directly tied to leads, sales, success stories or registration, although executives want this type of reporting. In many cases, it’s a series of strategies and outputs that eventually show the return the executives what to see.  You should keep in mind, there are other important reasons for companies to participate in social media, which includes: recruiting the best talent, thought leadership in the market, reputation management, customer service through social media platform participation, and social good or cause related efforts through social media. Many of these activities affect good will and public confidence, which is an extremely important measure that’s tied to higher-level company goals.

7. What’s the best way to measure traditional media exposure through newspapers, magazines now that social media is a part of the reach for each of those outlets?

There are turnkey solutions that include the ability to monitor and measure both traditional media, as the reach of these outlets extend digitally and through social media.  At the same time you can measure the conversations and comment via newer media, such as blogs and new influencers, which are also reporting on your company and the market(s) in which you compete.

8. We have a web-based business and know that 40% of our traffic comes from social media.  What is the number one thing that we can do to convert people to paid registrations on the site?

When a visitor gets to your site, the #1 thing you can do to move him/her from click to the conversion is to make it easy to understand, “What’s in it for me?”  Every website should be set up for the different buyer personas.  If you’re able to drive people to your site through meaningful stories and content, then they will expect you to engage with them on a more intimate level, based on their expectations and needs. In addition, they should never feel lost on your site.  The value-add you will provide to any group should always be present, front and center, and it should be easy and immediate for them to find ways to engage more intimately.

9. What is the most effective means to neutralize negative conversations about a product when the complaints are reaching critical mass?

There are several steps you should take when negative comments surface and especially as they are reaching critical mass.  These steps include:

1. Acknowledge the situation.
2. Fight social media fire with social media water by answering where the negative conversations surface.  For example, don’t communicate through Twitter, if the complaints are coming in through Facebook.
3. Be sorry and mean it!
4. Create an FAQ to answer those questions that people are asking frequently about the situation.
5. Create a pressure valve or an area devoted to answer questions, address complaints and ease concern.
6. Know when to move the conversation offline into a more private method of communication (i.e., Direct Message, Facebook Message, email).
7. Provide information company-wide so your employees are not in the dark and know when to refer comments and questions to official representatives.
8. Learn your lessons and don’t make the same mistake twice.

10. What advice do you have for fostering internal collaboration among departments?

The first step would be to figure out what level of sharing or internal collaboration is right for your department or organization.  Sharing can be on different levels from simple document editing and project management alerts for your programs all the way to enterprise collaboration and social computing, where you may have employees connecting through an internal social network by sharing videos, blogging and using innovative idea generation in wikis.  Similar to how you participate externally in social media, you have to find out how people want to share internally and what information would be the most valuable to them.  By researching or doing your homework first, you will develop a best practice approach to sharing internally with the most helpful tools and educational resources to engage your peers, whether they are in your department or you’re working cross functionally on a larger company initiative.