The New Year is off to a great start.  We’re focusing on our resolutions and trying to accomplish many tasks in one day.  With school and work projects, and family responsibilities too, the biggest question is always: How do you manage your time to be more efficient and to achieve your goals?

Recently a PR student and fellow PRStudChat community member, Keith Hayes, who attends Flagler College in St. Augustine Florida, reached out to me with a time management question. He wanted advice on “juggling a number of different projects at one time.”  I emailed him my list of time management “Do’s” and “Don’ts.” However, to fully answer Keith’s question and a question on the minds of so many PR students and professionals, we decided to turn to our community for some best practices.

On Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 8:30 p.m. EST, get ready to share your best tips on time management. Help your peers with your ideas about project management, apps to get you better organized, managing your calendar, and, most of all, selecting and committing to the right projects (and, not every project that comes along). I recently wrote a post about my favorite note taking software, Evernote, and how it helped me to write my new book.  If you want to share some “advanced” tips now, on your note taking software, we’ll highlight your favorite(s) and ask you to elaborate with the community the night of February 16^th.  Please feel free to comment on this post, or to start a discussion in our LinkedIn Discussion Group.

We’re looking forward to hearing your thoughts on time management and how you find more efficient ways to juggle the many exciting opportunities and projects in 2012. We want it to be a busy, yet productive year.  Join us for a dynamic discussion filled with helpful tools and resources to get you more organized. Hope to “see” you on the 15^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

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.

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?

Happy New Year! I wanted to kick off the year with my book review of the End of Business as Usual by Brian Solis.  The video review is almost 10 minutes long so grab a drink and a snack   If you’re looking for a book to read in 2012 that challenges your thinking and makes you want to learn more about the consumer and information revolution, then watch this review.  Hope the information presented is helpful. Enjoy!

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!

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.