Relationships.  It’s about relationships.  We know.  Talking about “relationships” is so 2008.

But to be TRULY successful in social media land, brands need to communicate.

Great. Let’s Talk About Relationships.  More.

In its pure definition, a relationship is a connection, association, or involvement.

And that’s nice.  Right?

But relationships can be shallow. Relationships can be fleeting.  And worse, a relationship can be one-way.

One Way Relationship: Image by the|G|™

Social Media Land is a Breeding Ground for Meaningless One-way Relationships

It’s awesome how Twitter and Facebook give brands the opportunity to share all the cool stuff they are doing.  When done right, brands share, ask and interact.

But many brands are participating in meaningless one-way relationships by doing things like:

- Talking to everyone, but responding to no one.
- Recruiting thousands of possibly irrelevant followers, but not following people.
- Blasting their information. Everywhere.
- Asking for help (publish my story) but not helping others.

Brands have the opportunity to build meaningful relationships with internal resources more today than ever before.  And yet, so many companies are missing the boat.

Social media success cannot be measured by numbers of followers, numbers of self-affirming posts or even by impressions.

Perhaps I’m Just Sensitive?

In 2007 Chris Anderson put out his now infamous blog “Sorry PR People: you’re blocked” wherein he blacklisted PR professionals who had spammed him with irrelevant pitches and press releases.

This brought home a lesson every PR professional needed to hear: Good PR is about reciprocity. Journalists (traditional and bloggers) rely on public relations practitioners who share relevant newsworthy stories.  And PR folks certainly rely on the media to tell our stories. But when the PR industry utilized tools that enabled us to send our news to hundreds of journalists in one click, it annoyed the recipients. (Rightfully so.)

The PR industry learned the lesson of relevancy.  Focus was put back on crafting individual pitches to appropriate reporters.  Once again, public relations activities were about building meaningful relationships.  The blacklist was a turning point for the PR industry.

What Social Media Folks Can Learn from PR Mistakes

One-way relationships are annoying.  They really are.

REAL relationships are hard to find because they inherently require two parties that have something to give each other, and gain from each other.

Real relationships hold great value.  And they take a lot of work to obtain and maintain.

It is a great use of corporate time to build these relationships properly.

Brands, I cannot say enough that blasting news, messages, and opinions into cyberspace without listening to and responding to others does not work. Using tools to auto-generate followers is a waste of time. More is NOT better.  Faster is not better.

There have never been, and never will be shortcuts to obtaining meaningful two-way relationships.

Two-way Relationships FTW: Image by: Alfon...*

BlogWorld 2009

I am headed off to BlogWorld today.  I have been awaiting this day for months, and am so excited to hit the road.  But let’s face it, going to a large conference all by yourself can be extraordinarily intimidating.  I am definitely nervous and I don’t think I am alone.

Instead of focusing on my nerves, I thought I’d create a list of the top 5 reasons I’m excited to go to BlogWorld.

1. I will be attending 20 sessions ranging from “B2B  Social Media” to “How Social Media is Changing the State of News” to the “ROI Smackdown.”  I will have the opportunity to hear about 20 relevant issues for me and my clients, from 20 different perspectives.
2. I will be able to learn… from everyone who attends.  It’s nice to step out of your own box as often as possible.
3. I have the opportunity to sit in on sessions with some of my social media heros like Chris Brogan, Brian Solis, Robert Scoble and more.  I have read books by all three, and it will be enlightening to hear them speak in real-time.
4. I will be making connections, some new, some previously existing on Twitter, all valuable.  Some of these connections will be made at the event itself.  Some will be made at the parties (which are sure to be amazing) wherein I will have the opportunity to connect with folks in a personal way.
5. It’s in Vegas!  Really, being in Vegas alone is reason to be excited.

For all that are going, I look forward to meeting you there.  For all who miss it this year, I look forward to sharing what I learn.

I admire the way@JenMitch started JMPR Communication, deciding it was time to branch out and “start her own thing”.  I am grateful that I am now a part of her dream because watching someone with so much passion put heart and desire to work, it’s truly something to behold.  I know there are others out there just like @JenMitch – in many different fields of work.  For the last month or so, I have been listening and watching as another individual I find quite interesting shows how passionate he is about his product.

Perhaps you have heard of Tucker Max?

For some, the name Tucker Max will illicit a cringe. For others, it will bring about a wry smile.  Tucker Max is a self-admitted crude, rude, womanizing, lewd individual.  His stories are true, and yet somehow he is almost likable.

One thing is for certain.  No matter what the public thinks, Tucker Max believes in himself, and his “brand.”  His brand, is his persona- the “character” of himself in the 2006 book, and soon to be released movie, “I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell.” (IHTSBIH)

Tucker Max believes his movie is a product that the general public will enjoy. Unlike highly promoted and anticipated blockbuster movies, Tucker Max is putting HIS money where his mouth is.  (The very same money he earned in book sales.) The book IHTSBIH has been on the NY Times Bestseller list for three straight years, and continues to hold strong.  The movie IHTSBIH is set to be released this Friday, September 23, 2009.  I am not promoting the content of this movie, though personally I find @tuckermax quite hilarious, but I am promoting the process he has gone through to make this movie a reality.

Leveraging the money he made from book sales to promote the movie is a gutsy move. To me, this is the epitome of passion.  Passion is something that many will search their entire lives for; the desire to find a purpose in one’s life.

Tucker has to work on a budget that was far less than ANY other motion picture release.  He hand selected the lead character that is playing him, and he talks about the struggles of getting the actor to truly bring out the “persona” of Tucker Max here:

Tucker also blogs about how the movie will be released here.

Tucker has a total budget totaling around 1/8 of the budget the movie “The Hangover” had.  Tucker will be releasing this movie on 125 screens the first week.  Then the second week it will be 300 screens.  If after two weeks, the movie is popular enough, he will then be able to release it on the 2,000 screens nationwide.  However, if it doesn’t generate enough revenue the first two weeks, Tucker Max will be left holding the bag.  How many individuals nowadays take the leap of putting themselves out there on a venture?  It’s rare, and it’s to be admired.

@TuckerMax has spent the last 30 days on tour for his new movie screening it for free in 30 different cities.  This is old school public relations folks, getting out there and meeting people and promoting your product.  Don’t get me wrong, @tuckermax is on Twitter, he’s on Facebook, and he is doing social media promotion for his movie. But he is also out there banging on doors to get people to check out his movie.  Honestly, he probably doesn’t even need to do this, but he truly loves his product (himself), and promoting it to his fans.  He could be a really good actor, but I doubt it given his attitude about pretty much everything.

Given what Tucker Max is risking, it’s hard not to root for a guy who is willing to lay it all on the line because he believes in himself and his product.  I think what he is doing is fantastic, and quite remarkable.  I may not see eye to eye with some of the things he has done (even if they are quite hilarious). But I am rooting for Tucker Max and the movie version of I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell.

Will you see this movie? What do you think about Tucker’s promotion methods?

As you know, Twitter is not about the numbers.  Twitter is about building relationships with relevant people.  I found that when I started, finding people, listening and generating conversations via @replies was the best way to connect.  But Twitter has grown in leaps and bounds in the last year (1,444%!) and the way I tweet today reflects that growth.

Twitter: Build Relationships. Image: MichielGaas

Broadcasting or Information Sharing Platform?

It is my opinion that Tweeting via your Twitter-stream to your followers is a very effective means of broadcasting both your own messages and messages that inspire you. A year ago, few were talking about Twitter as a broadcasting platform.  Twitter was strictly seen as an information-sharing/collaboration platform.

But over the past year, as the number of valuable tweets increase in volume, how much of what you say really gets read and/or digested by those in your network?

The truth is, people are probably missing your tweets.  But if you build a solid network of related people, even a few eyeballs per tweet can provide immense value.

I made the decision last month to engage with Twitter in a different way in order to continue to utilize it as an information sharing/collaboration platform with a focus on building relationships.  Today I use Twitter as follows:

1. I use TweetDeck to group important conversations so I never miss a beat.
2. I am very careful with who I follow, focusing on those who most closely relate to my business.
3. I broadcast messages through the Twitter-feed, on a limited basis.
4. I re-tweet articles/blog posts/interesting opinions on my stream each week.
5. I make a concerted effort to engage more people in conversation.
6. MOST IMPORTANTLY: I have joined a few niche Twitter groups specifically related to my business.  Because I follow relevant people, I was able to find these groups through my regular Twitter stream by following hashtags such as #solopr and #prstudchat.  By adding these hashtags to my TweetDeck search, I never miss a chat.  This is a great way to learn from others!

So, is Twitter a Broadcast or Information Sharing Platform?

Both, and more.

As Twitter continues it’s growth spurt, try new tactics to determine the best way for you to build meaningful relationships and share your thoughts with others.  I use Twitter as a broadcasting platform, a venue to share information, a place to learn best practices, and most importantly, a forum to build relationships with like-minded individuals.

How do you use Twitter?

Within minutes of Mr. Wilson shouting at the president last night, my Twitter-stream began filling up with requests to call Joe Wilson and tell him what you think. I was seeing phone numbers before Obama’s speech was over.  Not only was the news fast, but it provided something a network news team never would: personal contact information.

Check this out:

Joe Wilson Trends on Twitter

I have to say, I was surprised.  I expected people to be angry.  I expected people to trash him.  I even expected people to refer to him by Twitter-name.  But distributing his phone number and cell phone number (and later his fax number)? WOW. “Joe Wilson” is still the number one trending topic on Twitter as of 4:00 pm the next day.

I shouldn’t be surprised.  When we as people get upset about anything nowadays, we shout it to the rooftops, and we post post post as much as we can.  We want everyone to know we are upset!  Most want to both vent and protect others from their misfortune.

And in this case, people even stepped in and altered the message telling folks to call Mr. Wilson to show their support.  That’s a lot of phone calls between the angry and pleased, don’t you think?  (And I hear the phone lines were all busy last night.)

Joe Wilson put out an apology on YouTube today wherein he acknowledges that his outburst was wrong and that he apologized to President Obama immediately after his speech.  Mr. Wilson then goes on to ask for a donation to support his stance on the Health care option.  I don’t know about all of you, but I am tired of these YouTube apologies that aren’t REALLY apologies.  (See Chris Brown.)

All this to say:

In 2009, everything you say and do in real life could easily show up on the Internet.  Think before you speak, and be prepared to apologize and/or defend your actions.

If you communicate on behalf of a corporation remmeber, bad things may be said about your company, but it’s how you respond that matters.

Oh, and if you set out to apologize- actually apologize.

Build Relationships to Gain Trust: Image by: notsogoodphotography

This morning, I was quoted in the San Diego Union Tribune in the article: Social Network Put to Work.  This was especially exciting for me because after years of placing articles for clients, this was the first time I’ve had an article placed for ME. And even cooler, the media came to me.  I didn’t pitch anything.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but it’s hard for me to go out and proactively promote myself.  Promoting clients is easy- and fun.  But right or wrong, I haven’t taken the time to push my own messages to others.

Call Them to Action with Inbound Marketing

This is the beauty of inbound marketing.  Inbound marketing is the idea that all the marketing you do is with the purpose of being found by potential customers.  This isn’t to say that outreach isn’t still relevant, just that you also have to provide content that drives people to action.  The actions could be visiting your blog, sharing your news, or scheduling a meeting with you.

Be Passionate

I have a passion for social media and public relations.  I believe nearly every corporation and individual should be sharing best practices via social networking.  We are living in a time of amazing opportunity.  We can collaborate and share information with strangers turned trusted allies from our living rooms! Passion speaks, and passion sells.  While I have never pitched my business to the media, I’ve still been found.  I’m my own case study: social networking works!

Social Networking: Fear Not

Corporations should not fear blogging or social networking.  Social Media is 100% about building relationships through participation.  Relationships are built upon trust.  And when people trust you, that’s just good for business.

Like many out there, I don’t believe Chris at all. This is one of the most insincere apologies I’ve ever seen. Worse, it’s all over the Internet- and that was his PR team’s plan. According to the Washington Post, Chris Brown’s team posted this video on their Website, and sent the video to various media folks for coverage. Is this a case of social media tactics gone wrong?

What Chris Did Wrong:

1. Chris waited way too long to issue an apology.  I can understand needing to keep silent for the purposes of testifying in court, but he first went to court back in April.  It looks to me that information was released regarding his plea bargain in June.  At the latest, an apology should have been issued in June.
2. Chris makes excuses within the public apology.  By referencing that his attorney wouldn’t let him apologize sooner in addition to his childhood of domestic abuse, Chris loses immediate credibility.
3. The apology appeared to be scripted.  There’s nothing like a script to demonstrate an apology from the heart.
4. The apology tried to re-focus our attention. Chris references how until recently, he did a good job of living in a way that made others proud.  Really?  Is that supposed to help us re-focus on the good ol’ days?

How to Apologize:

1. Apologize in a timely manner.  Really, some statement should have been issued sooner.  Immediately if possible.  And at worst, in June.
2. Apologize sincerely.  I would have felt better, as a former Chris Brown fan, if his apology had been non-scripted and from the heart.  Isn’t sincerity best?  Especially when you’re going to release a video into the social media realm?
3. Don’t make excuses.  Saying you won’t make excuses, and then making excuses is a major fail.  Take total accountability for your actions, regardless of your history/reasons.
4. Don’t apologize for the public.  Apologize for yourself. The public may not accept your apology, but do so in a way that enables you to move on in your life and heal from the experience.

This video could have been really powerful.  With an early and sincere apology, some of the negative press may have been deminished.  Chris Brown was correct in apologizing.  He was even correct in posting a video.  Reputation management is important.  The execution, however, provides PR folks with a great example of what not to do.