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Why You Need ‘Everybody Writes’

Cover of the Everybody Writes book by Ann HandleyI’ve been having lunch with Ann Handley several times a week for the last two months.  Well, it feels like I’ve been having lunch with her.  I’ve been reading her new-ish book Everybody Writes during my lunch hours.  But now, I’m done with her.  It was a sad day when I finished the last page of her book.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been excited about a writing book.  I can’t get enough of Zinsser’s On Writing Well and I adore eats, shoots and leaves, but everybody needs Ann’s book. It focuses on writing for marketing and business, yet acknowledges the importance of the writing process. It is aptly subtitled “Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content.”

If you are doing any kind of business writing – traditional, digital, social, whatever form, this books takes you through the “must-knows” for audience, publication and outlet. It takes you through common projects that public relations practitioners and marketers are writing TODAY. She talks you through each one — like landing pages, infographics, blog posts. Plus Ann addresses content length, tone and style for many social networks. Everybody Writes also focuses on the writing rules which will make your work stronger.

I’d like to buy it for everyone I know, but since that’s unrealistic, instead I will share my favorite things from the book. Then you can buy it too and improve your writing.

My 8 Favorite Things from Everybody Writes:

  • Why you should LOVE your first draft – page 41
  • Rewriting web copy with better customer focus – page 49
  • Looking critically at your opening paragraph – page 56
  • Writing ledes and kickers – page 61.
  • The hassles of writing by committee – page 76
  • Using readability scores to improve your writing – page 82
  • The art of the interview (because you forgot!) – page 152
  • Breaking grammar rules (because someone will take a red pen using what they learned in 7th grade grammar) — page 107

Her book is proof that our language is fluid, that the writing environment has evolved since 7th grade grammar or high school journalism class. It’s time to refresh the knowledge and skills necessary to be a competent writer today. If it’s been awhile since you’ve read or polished your writing, now is the time to take Ann Handley to lunch, or at least her book.  Put it on your summer reading list.

 

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Is Improv the Latest PR Trend?

LOL !Communications professionals are geared to be planners.  We do research, create plans, make road maps, all in the name of being thorough.  Certainly our timelines are more condensed than they’ve ever been before.  But what if we should be doing the opposite of planning? The nature of today’s communication environment makes planning more difficult, maybe even obsolete.

In a recent interview for The Strategist, editor John Elsasser interviewed Fred Cook of Golin, the recipient of PRSA’s Gold Anvil last fall.  He believes that improvisation is the key to success. His comments about improvisation made me pause.

“Because things are happening so fast in all parts of our lives, we don’t have time to research and do focus groups and message testing on every single thing that a company says or does.  You have to be much more improvisational in how you operate.  You have to play it by ear, and be willing to say and do things when you don’t have all of the information at your fingertips.”

This is a huge challenge for uber-planners.  What if you get it wrong?  How fast can you recover?  Or can you even recover?  And while communications professionals have always espoused the need to be responsive – especially with the pace at which  messages move through social channels — Cook’s thoughts are scary for the communications planner.

“It’s a much more instinctual kind of communication, and you have to be able to move quickly in order to be relevant to the conversation.  The research that we’ve done shows that a company has about four hours to participate in a conversation and still be relevant.”

Later in the interview, he likens this preparation to that of stand-up comedians as opposed to the uber-preparation of movie actors.

It turns out that improvisation is being used in some business schools and companies. In 2010, CNN focused on how improvisation was being used in several business schools. 

 Slate Magazine subsequently covered how corporations were beginning to use improv groups and comedy troupes to improve internal dynamics, customer engagement and even energize new business pitches.

“At first glance, zany improv and the straight-laced corporate world might seem to be unlikely bedfellows. But the cross-pollination between comedy and business has led both to fruitful managerial skills development for executives and to fruitful employment for funny folks. Comedians have not only led training workshops, but have begun to infiltrate marketing departments and advertising agencies,”according to Seth Stevenson in the article.

As communicators, we want to stay on top of the story and we want to stay relevant.  And we might actually be more prepared for this constant state of readiness than other professions because we’ve always been “think on your feet” kind of people. For others, though, using improvisation in a business setting will be a challenge.  Think you’re ready for this trend? Wait, let me go get my joke book and costume box.

Read The Strategist article. 

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Are You Hiding From Your Customers?

Are You Hiding From Your Customers GraphicWhile social media has enabled widespread conversations between brands and their customers, for some organizations, it’s also an opportunity to hide behind social channels.  These organizations are still struggling with how to manage the 24/7 nature of online customer service.  Here are some signs that you may be hiding from your customers:

  1. You never have humans answer the phone– all calls go to voice mail.
  2. You do not respond to Facebook posts or Twitter feeds or use any social listening platforms.
  3. There’s no obvious contact method on your website or it’s buried at the bottom.

Are Customer Expectations Changing or Just Changing Channels?

But customers expect you to be there and many expect a response from you when something goes wrong. Some expect you to respond within 30 minutes and, according to the Sprout Social blog, 26% of consumers post a negative comment on social networking sites after less than stellar customer service.

“Customer service is not about speed. It’s about expectations and satisfaction. For businesses, setting and managing customer expectations may be the single most important step to improve customer service,” says Alan Berkson in a recent post on Social Media Today.

A third example, in a recent infographic by KISSMetrics, shows that the majority of customers still want a response within one day. This makes doing customer service via social media very manageable for many organizations.

Customers Still Want to Be Heard

Customers still want to know that someone hears their problem. And if you can respond by saying “I’m working on it” within a day, your organization will stand out.  Look at all your digital sites and see how can make them more obvious. Is it a form, a button, a phone number or an email? How about using all of them? Now you are on the road to being more visible with your customers.

Related Post: Using Cheat Sheets to Cut Social Response Time

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Note-Taking is Good for Your Strategy

books2croppedNearly everyone I know takes notes in some form or fashion. Most of us were programmed to do it as students, when we faithfully tried to hang on every word the teacher said in case it showed up on a test somewhere.  If you want to make sure you are counseling your clients in their strategy, maybe a new note-taking strategy will get you there.

Research on Note-Taking

Educators call the first stage of note-taking  a “regurgitate strategy,”  If note-taking evolves to the next level, the person taking notes actually reformulates and interprets the information.  In a Sept. 2005 edition of the WAC Journal, published by Colorado State University, Boch and Piolat found that note taking helps students to learn, but also helps them learn to write.

The authors also offer three benefits of note-taking.  First, note taking aids in reflection, which allows the note-taker to synthesize the information. Second, it helps the note-taker remain attentive and finally, creates stronger connections to the material which is being noted.

“It contributes to the carrying out of a range of intellectual processes, such as making judgments, resolving issues, and making decisions. The taking of notes can aid time-consuming, real-time thought processes…” Boch and Piolat.

In Praise of A Notebook

Ann Quinn with her Notebooks

Ann Quinn, Director of Education for SeaWorld San Antonio, with her Notebooks

I am a note-taker, but the veracity of my work varied greatly from day-to-day and project-to-project.  Several years ago, I found myself with loose papers, scribbled ideas, and stacks of sticky notes of different sized and shapes all over my notebooks until Ann Quinn.

Ann is the Education Director for SeaWorld San Antonio and a devoted note-taker. She is a gifted teacher, but before she was a gifted teacher, she was (and still is!) a gifted student. Ann and I were in lots of meetings together and one day, I couldn’t recall part of a discussion from a meeting we’d been in and after consulting her notebook, she quickly and easily filled in the missing information. AND she made a copy of the page out of her notebook and dropped it off in my office. That’s when it hit me:  Ann had a NOTEBOOK. One notebook, carried everywhere, with every meeting titled, dated and timed and all contents summarized.   My approach to note-taking changed immediately because, I, too, adopted THE NOTEBOOK.

Note-Taking as a Strategy

In his piece on the Lost Art of Note-Taking, Michael Hyatt gives 5 good reasons for taking notes, including the fact that it provides “a mechanism for capturing ideas, insights and questions.”

Many of my Solo PR Pro colleagues  are big on note-taking too, but using an actual notebook is not necessarily how they accomplish it. Many are using tools like Evernote and Notability or are making audio recordings of actual meetings from which to make notes.

Since adopting the “Ann Quinn Notebook Strategy” I find that whatever form my notes take, they give me a point from which to review my week. They assist me to follow up on to-dos and make assignments to team members.   I can jot down ideas and concepts and the mere fact of writing it down, clarifies my work and my thinking. I can’t imagine life without my notebook.

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Television Interviews STILL Require Preparation

I'm on Television! Sure, I took time off during the holiday season.  Entertained friends, enjoyed time with family, read a little and yes, I watched TV.

Around the holidays, television viewers are treated to the full force of the personalities who, with great professionalism and familiarity, anchor our news shows – national and local. But something also happens around the holidays. Those same news shows have significant time to fill in slots with lower ratings and so the content – and how it’s delivered – changes significantly.

The fumbles and stumbles always make me smile because I know how hard it is to get everything right for live television. Those minor flubs remind us that it’s live television and that robots are not delivering the 6 p.m. news- yet.

What really makes me wince about this time of year is the seeming lack of preparation by some of the interview subjects.  Where is their PR professional, helping them to prepare? Did you not run through the anticipated questions? Did you not discuss what the little light blinking above the studio camera means and where you should look when it does?  Did you not discuss taming your hair, what shirt to wear, the need for shaving?

Even though our continuous onslaught of incoming media makes it feel spontaneous, there’s still a great deal of preparation which can and should be part of getting ready for every TV interview.

Here’s a couple of observations from my week of holiday television watching.

1. Finish your sentences.

I listened to a very long (6 minute) interview in which the man being interviewed about a new program for job hunters did not finish one sentence without stopping mid-sentence and starting another. About 2 minutes in, I left the room because I couldn’t connect the dots

2.  Have a game plan.

Did you chat with the person who was going to interview you prior to the live portion of the interview?  Of course you did.  So instead of wasting time talking about the weather or a football game, use the time to get an idea of where he or she will start the interview. That way you have time to craft a semi-coherent answer to the first few questions, which will make you look so much smarter than that “deer in the headlights” look I saw the other morning.  (PSST: those papers that the news anchor has in her hand – they are her QUESTIONS!).

3. Use Normal People Words

Sure, you’re familiar with the definition of ‘obsequious’ and can handle using the word ‘presumptuous’ in a sentence, but on television, it comes off as arrogant and disconnects you from your audience. Next time, use superior and arrogant instead.

4. Get Help!

This is what a public relations professional can do for you. It’s one of our finest skills. We can walk you through what the set looks like, who you will be speaking to, why you shouldn’t wear white and prepare you for how blindingly fast a three minute interview really is. We have strategies to keep you from being on the next blooper reel.

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How PR Pros Can Use ‘The Invisible Sale’

Book image

This week I read a new book called The Invisible Sale by Tom Martin, founder of Converse Digital and a longtime advertising agency professional. I first heard Tom speak earlier this year at the Solo PR Pro Summit in Atlanta, in which he talked about Painless Prospecting.  That presentation became part of his new book. Despite its name, I highly recommend that PR Pros read this book.

What is the focus of The Invisible Sale?

This book focuses on using your website in a more meaningful way to empower the “self-educating buyer” with helpful information, in the form of blog posts, white papers and videos, to name a fe. Over time, The Invisible Sale advocates building a digital powerhouse to prospect and qualify leads and clients. Tom has figured out a system for doing all of this while running his own agency.  He has used it for himself and for his clients.

I strongly believe it should be on the bookshelf of every public relations pro. It will change how you think about marketing your own business. It will change how you counsel your clients. Here’s why I liked this book.

Uniting Online Selling and Social Media

First of all, The Invisible Sale takes two disciplines within marketing — online selling and social media, and unites them into the useful compatible tools that they should be.  When I work with clients to develop social strategies, they always want to know if their efforts are paying off.  They want to know how this investment in time, money and resources will actually help their business.  Far too many digital strategists will say “don’t ask questions, just get in the game.”  Now, with Tom’s book, you have a blueprint for uniting and tracking these two disciplines together.

 Telling, Not Selling

The second thing I liked about Tom’s book is he talks about helping instead of selling.  This spirit of generosity –giving away what you know — is what attracted me to network in the digital world back when HARO was a daily email to a couple of hundred people and Twitter was where you could talk about issues, trends and new things. It is the main premise on which the Rackspace social media customer service team got its start under the leadership of Rob LeGesse. Now that there are millions more people “marketing” in the space, the spirit of generosity is often lost.   Tom pulls us back there.

It’s STILL About Your Network

The third thing about Tom’s book which I found most valuable is that he emphasizes over and over again this very salient point:  it’s about building a network.  Tom doesn’t suggest that you abandon traditional methods of developing new clients (at least not right away!)  and this is the key takeaway for public relations pros.  Tom advocates developing volumes of content for current and potential future customers with each piece targeted to their needs.

Why PR Pros Should Understand this Book

Here’s the real opportunity for PR pros:  we are perfectly positioned to develop this type of content. Many of us are the “writers” in an organization so turning the raw materials of our intellectual property into helpful materials is what we thrive on. If you are a solo PR Pro or part of an agency, you should be asking yourself:  What have we done for our clients that WE or THEY could benefit from? And then get to work using Tom’s system to build your business.

Tom’s got the business track record to back up everything in his book:  his Converse Digital firm has experienced double digit growth year over year during the worst recession of our time.  Need I say more?

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Break the Measurement Logjam

In September, I spoke to the Public Information Officers who work for the Veterans Administration.  These professionals are challenged in several ways with systems and methods for which they have little control.  Yet, they are deeply committed to demonstrating success to their leadership.

While we talked about trends in measurement and industry best practices, it occurred to me that many organizations have similar challenges. If you have little time, control or any budget for measurement, where should you start?  Here are two ideas to break the measurement log jam in your organization.

Do a Benchmark Comparison

Every organization has competition.  By benchmarking against your competition at regular intervals, you get an indication of a trend up or down.  Here’s an example I used to benchmark a destination against its similar size competitors on Facebook.

Twitter benchmark pic for blogWhat You Will Learn:

  1. You will learn if your output is higher or lower than your competitors.
  2. You will learn if you are growing or shrinking against your competitors.

 What You Won’t Learn:

  1. You cannot measure quality of output.
  2. You cannot measure engagement.

 Why You Should Try This:

  1. It is often valued by leadership because they are measuring the competition in other ways.
  2. It might give you the opportunity to measure other things.

 Impact of Key Messages

 

Message Measurement chart picture

This is a simple chart to identify if your key messages are being used in your distribution points. This is especially useful if you are trying to determine if “the word is getting out” in your public relations campaign.

 What You Will Learn:

  1.  You will learn if your plan is working.
  2. You will learn which outlets/ distribution points are picking up your information.

 What You Won’t  Learn:

You will NOT learn if the consumer has actually embraced the message.

 Why You Should Try This:

  1. It will help you assess success.
  2. It will help you to make quick changes or adjustments to your plan.

While these two ideas are far from comprehensive, they are accessible to practitioners in organizations with limited funds and both methods use publicly accessible information.  If you try one of these ideas, share it here or send me an email with your success story at franstep09@gmail.com.

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Marketing Plans: Dust Collector or Useful Tools?

Last week, I facilitated a session by the same name at the Texas Travel Industry Summit in Corpus Christi.  It was a “shirtsleeves” session designed to help travel professionals talk about their successes and challenges and draw sessionphoto1from the collective group to find solutions or ideas they could take back to their organizations.

Our panel of experts included Beth West of Meredith Corporation, Daryl Whitworth of Madden Media and Shanna Smith of the San Antonio Convention and Visitors Bureau.  Each panelist brought a different point of view and had past experience creating marketing plans for different types of travel organizations or clients.  Prior to our session, the team curated a list of resources for travel organizations on building marketing plans. You can see the list here: http://bit.ly/mktplansrock.

Here are some of the best practices we discussed.

Make your Plan Relevant

It’s a key challenge to make sure your plan is relevant to your current marketing challenges and the audiences you are trying to reach. To be relevant, your plan should include a variety of disciplines including public relations, social media, advertising, sales and stakeholder outreach.

Give Your Plan Context

This is the starting point for a marketing plan.  It should include your mission and vision or statement of purpose as well as an assessment of where you are. That might be a SWOT Analysis or assessment of how last years’ plan turned out.  This sets the stage for your new ideas to follow in terms of creating goals and objectives.

Do Some Research

Before writing next years’ plan, reflect on what happened this year.  Which stakeholder groups are up or down? Which events had better attendance? Can you attribute success to a particular channel or campaign? What happened in similar destinations? What research findings from US Travel Association and TTIA are relevant to your plan? This should form an entire section in the early part of the plan.

Create a Timeline

Many travel organizations traditionally plan one year out.  While some use a calendar year, others are forced into a fiscal calendar which begins in October and spans one year.  Rapid changes in technology make this timeline challenging. Many tech companies only plan one quarter at a time. Since that’s not an option with travel organizations, the timeline is tough.

Build Flexibility Into Your Plan

Having a plan with flexibility is one way a travel organization can beat the timeline crunch.  One destination manager shared her agreement with a governing board which allows for discretionary spending on a percentage of the annual budget.

Integrate Your Plan

Media Spending is NOT a marketing plan.  Media spending should be PART of your marketing plan.  Integrating all the functions of your marketing team makes your plan richer and sets up your organization for success.  It also minimizes the possibility of missing a consumer touchpoint, too.

Have a Contingency

Contingencies are a great way to leverage a last minute opportunity.  They are also necessary for travel organizations in the event of a disaster.  Most travel organizations have a small spending contingency, we had no consensus as to what that level should be.

Engage Your Partners

Destinations have specific partners which they must engage for a successful marketing plan.  One new destination group shared that they have a day-long  workshop with their hotels and attractions to talk about the successes and challenges of the year and begin planning for the next year. This early buy-in from their partners guarantees that everyone is happy with the final result.

Be Visible to Your Stakeholders

One destination at the session shared that they meet with their stakeholders monthly to take a pulse on attendance and revenue. This goes a long way to informing the key elements of next years’ plan.

Incorporating one or more of these themes into your next marketing plan should take your travel organizations’ marketing plan from dust collector to useful tool.  Do you have best practices in your travel organizations’ marketing plan that you can share?

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Consider the Source

Microphones in a RowA disturbing media trend emerging the past few years really came to light for me last week while scanning the morning news programs: media interviewing other media. I’ve noticed it on two occasions: celebrity news and breaking news.  Here are two scenarios.

Scenario 1: Celebrity News

Celebrity A is divorcing Celebrity B.

The news coverage includes B roll of celebrity A emerging from a night club and Celebrity B leaving a hotel or restaurant.  The story also includes file footage of the couple – together—in happier times as well as clips from their last hit record, blockbuster movie or product release. But what the news team really wants is the celebrities talking about the break-up, which celebrities almost NEVER do. Not if they have a good PR team and legal team.  So, when the editor is screaming, “Get me someone, anyone, who can talk about the divorce” what’s a reporter to do? Call in the editor of a celebrity magazine who may have the inside scoop on how the relationship unraveled.

Scenario 2: Breaking News

Tragedy Strikes and All Hands Are On Deck

A horrible tragedy occurs and news organizations are interrupting regular programs to cover it. Every news organization wants to offer in-depth coverage by going beyond the basics of what just happened. So they start to develop sidebar stories to fill in the time already allotted to enhanced news coverage while they are waiting for a development, press conference or official information.  They might develop profiles on people, location or work the angle on the economic impact.  This buys them time and makes it appear as if they are advancing the story.  Another solution is to compare and contrast this tragedy to others.

Why Do the Media Do This?

First, it’s a question of access. There are only so many good spokespersons to go around, so if another network or newspaper gets hold of them first, you are stuck.

A second issue is expertise. There are fewer beat reporters on the job today and general assignment reporters have less in-depth knowledge to cover a story beyond the basics.

The last issue is vanity.  It’s pretty easy to fill time by calling your friend who edits the celebrity publication and get them to agree to an interview.

Why This Practice Should Stop

Media outlets using this practice are highlighting sources and information that should serve as background. The celebrity publication editor and industry watcher are being elevated to primary sources of information, which they are not.  Viewers are seduced into thinking the source is important because they have a slot on national television.

So the next time you’re watching the morning news, pay attention to who is being interviewed and consider the source. It may not be as credible as it seems.

That’s what’s on my mind today.

 

 

 

 

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Manage Your Next Website Redo Like a Boss!

Is your organization’s website redo managing you?

Has this happened to you? You decide to redo your website. You ask around, get a couple of quotes and next thing you know, you are in the middle of a project that’s going off the rails. It takes too long, you don’t know how to work with the web team who’s designing and developing the bloomin’ thing and you don’t have time in your day for all the details to get it going.

Organizations small and large have this problem.  But it doesn’t have to be that way.  Here are four things you can to do keep your project moving.

1. Make a detailed RFP

An RFP (Request for Proposal) outlines everything you need from the firm who will design and develop your site. The more detailed it is, the more accurate your quote will be. This helps to keep your organization on budget. First, you will want to express your organization’s mission and vision as well as goals for the re-design. Who is your target audience? If you know, it should be in the document. Do you have websites you admire for look and functionality? Put those as examples in the RFP.  Other items to add are website requirements, time frame, key players, creative direction. Tech Soup has a complete RFP library. It’s targeted to nonprofits, but is very useful in crafting one for your organization.

2. Get internal approvals first. And Always.

The biggest time suck in any web project are internal approvals.  You look at a design, give feedback to the designer, send feedback to the designer, then the boss or team changes its collective mind. This is a HUGE time waster and has the potential for driving up costs to you and to the web firm.  The best thing you can do for your web firm is secure all internal approvals first, so everything you send to them is final.

3. Appoint a Strong Project Manager

It might be a member of your team. Or it might be an independent consultant.  It should NOT be someone at the web firm.  They are already managing the design and development. A project manager organizes the flow of copy, tracks all the approvals and the job flow. She makes sure photos are sent, organizes to shoot new ones, tracks down the details to keep the project moving. Without a strong project manager, deadlines can be missed and it is easy for the project to go off the rails.

4. Spend More Time on Content than on Design.

Don’t get me wrong. I love good design. But content —  the text, photos, forms and links on your pages — are what will bring people back to your site time and time again. Strong, frequently-changed content, will make search engines happy and make your page views soar. If you are really smart, you already have a content strategy for your web presence AND you know that even though your web redesign is done, it’s truly never done. It’s a dynamic hub and should be updated as often as you can.  Daily or weekly is best, but monthly can work for smaller organizations.  It’s best to bring in your content team as you are kicking off the project, not when design is complete and you are close to launch.

So what’s the worst that can happen?  The timeline can stretch out, turning that three month project into a year-long nightmare.  The budget can overrun because of delays and in the end, no one seems happy.

On the other hand, if you combine a strong RFP and project manager, with a content strategy and a great web firm, you completely change the game.

 

 

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