“You need 1.0 before you can have 2.0″

     I recently had the fortunate opportunity to hear David Thomas, social media manager for SAS Institute, speak at a Triangle (NC) IABC meeting about what this high-tech giant of an organization is doing in terms of using social media.  Among many pearls of wisdom, he passed along four important points that have resonated with me as a small business owner myself and as one who consults with them, and I quote:

• Social media is a set of tools, not a strategy;
• Content is king;
• You need 1.0 before you can have 2.0; and
• Only you know what will work for you.

     Since this blog is particularly targeted to fellow small business owners, I’d like to discuss each in turn and offer my humble suggestions for how his wisdom is so true, especially as you consider using social media in the context of your overall communications strategy.  For this post, I’ll jump to the third bullet first.  Yes, that does make sense.

     “You need 1.0 before you can have 2.0.”  One can interpret this two ways.  If you are already feeling inadequate and lagging behind others in your understanding or use of social media, it may be tempting to feel even further behind. 

     On the contrary, I prefer the more reassuring interpretation that it is okay to moderate the pace and get your 1.0 house in order before blundering into 2.0.  After all, in another part of his talk he referred to it being better to have no blog than a dormant one. 

     Busted!  Mine has lain dormant lately as I have worked out some other lower-tech, but vitally important, bugs in my business (like a faulty landline wire that is now getting replaced, but which had me without regular telephone or high-speed Internet for some time, and another, separate, bug in my e-mail that got resolved this very afternoon).  I’ll save my rant about certain major telephone companies for another day . . . this is supposed to be a happy, encouraging blog for small business owners, right?

     Thomas’ good point was that you don’t want to be out there Twittering and blogging and attracting people to your Web site, if your Web site still needs some serious attention.  So true. 

     As a communicator, I’ll take it a step further in that you also don’t want to be out there doing all these things until you have a clear message and a clear marketing position and a clear reason for doing it.  In other words, be careful the attention you attract and make sure you are ready for it.  I couldn’t agree more and am chomping at the bit to overhaul my own Web site to have it better reflect the nature of my business and the energy and creativity behind it.

     So, I take this as an invitation to step back and look critically and constructively at all of our 1.0 activities.  Does it really matter how snazzy the new e-newsletter is if we don’t have a well-scrubbed database for targeted distribution?  Does Twittering and blogging make sense when a short period of planning and development is more in order to prepare for a holiday marketing push?  Does any of this make sense when what may most affect the bottom line in the next few weeks or months is about upgrading basic office software and learning how to use it to improve efficiency and help keep priorities straight? 

     This provides the perfect segue into discussion of another of Thomas’ points:  “social media is a set of tools, not a strategy.” 

     In the meantime, I propose several questions to consider:  What is your message, no matter what the platform, and is it clear and consistent across the fundamental areas of Web 1.0?  If the answer doesn’t come easily then grant yourself well-deserved planning time to invest in your message before worrying about mastering a new set of social media tools.  And if you are ready, then have at it — and let me know where you are on Twitter, etc.

     Until next time, with the help of David Thomas, I hope my 2 cents has helped make some sense and will ultimately help your bottom line.

Working At Home Without Distractions

     Okay, so this isn’t really a post about how to improve your PR or solve some knotty communications problem.  It starts with shameless self-promotion — but then, aren’t all blogs that in one way or another?  Anyway, let’s get the self-promotion part out of the way first, then I’ll tell you how it got me to thinking about improving the business bottom line and how I hope my 2 cents worth will help you.

     I answered a query for the Toilet Paper Entrepreneur website (go ahead and laugh) which wanted tips for “How to Work At Home Without Distractions.”  Yes, mine got picked up (scroll down to #82 in the list of 155 at http://budurl.com/nodistractions).

     As I perused the others on the way to verifying where mine was in the line-up I saw a pattern.  The specific mechanics varied a little, but the refrain was the same: treat your home office and home work life like a real job.  Common sense, you say, but in this economy where between actual paying gigs the pressure is on to network constantly, it is easy to slip down that all-too-slippery slope of twittering, Linking-in, blogging (like right now), and next thing you know it is no longer networking to stay visible for the next paying gig, it is busy work to justify staying at your desk under the false pretense that if you are at your desk you must be productive.  Not true!

     Oddly enough, the genesis for this blog and its title came on a power walk in the neighborhood after launching my children aboard the school bus one morning.  Another query idea came a few minutes ago because I answered the phone to a recorded message from a retailer and thought about some changes in the business landscape that would make a good article.  My most recent paying gig came when I was rewarding myself with a few minutes in a book store and happened upon a news scoop because I chatted up the management.

     My point is, some “distractions” of working at home are a good thing.  They get you out of a rut and lead you to more creative thinking away from your desk, which gives you a real reason to go back to your desk.

     No doubt about it, I do turn off phones when I am writing, have dedicated time (predawn) and space that I carefully safeguard.  I’m just saying, depending on who you are and how your thought process works, some decidedly non-professional time spent switching laundry or taking an exercise break during a work day at home may actually make more sense/cent$ in the long run sometimes.

     Here’s to happy and productive distractions or avoidance of same, where ever you work.

PR 101: What is public relations?

This morning I gave a brief presentation to a group of women small business owners, titled “PR 101: What is Public Relations?”  Although I chose the topic because I knew it was needed and desired by this group, I was nevertheless struck by how surprised many were that public relations is a complex management function, not just the one or two tools (i.e., news releases) that often spring to mind.

Rather than finding this discouraging, I see this as an opportunity to educate new and upcoming small business owners on the merits of research, evaluation, planning, action, communication and evaluation (the old REPACE model of yore to those who have formal training in PR).  Many expressed relief that there is such a framework, even as they realized — and became a bit overwhelmed at the thought of — how much more vast PR is than mailing a news release to the local newspaper. 

Budgets are slim and competition fierce for those clients who can and are willing to pay for PR services these days.  I am heartened, however, that today an opportunity, however humble, presented itself to grow the number of business owners who now have a better understanding of an appreciation for the value of PR as a core management function.

Manage Your E-Newsletter So It Doesn’t Manage You

The other day I met with the owner of a small business.  She is a very together business woman — talented in her core skill, professional, organized and eager to try new tools to improve her profitability.  One of the new tools she has embraced is an electronic newsletter.

She bashfully admitted that the next edition of the newsletter wasn’t quite ready to launch, even though her self-imposed deadline is very soon.  The first thing I did was reassure her that she is not alone.  As we talked I realized she is far from alone and struggling with this basic communication tool like so many small business owners whose talent and skills are at the core of their business and often, understandably, do not encompass public relations. 

One of my recommendations — besides, hiring me to edit and manage her newsletter, of course — was that she develop an editorial calendar.  In other words, invest some time planning the lead topic or theme for the next 12 months of newsletters rather than struggling month-to-month up to the last minute with each edition.  My other suggestion is to develop standard departments, just like you see in major magazines and newspapers.  That way if you know you are always going to recommend a book or include an interesting quote or feature a how-to tip you can start collecting them as you go about your regular business.  You may actually find you can fill out almost a year’s worth of certain departments in a short time, once you are organized with a filing system and start thinking in those terms.

The key is to develop strategies and tactics for managing your newsletter so it doesn’t manage you.  Do you have a tip worth sharing?

Hello world!

Welcome to my new blog!  In this space I plan to share practical tips on communicating, be it the nitty gritty of word usage, helpful hints for using your public relations tools, or, occasionally, bigger thoughts about strategy.

You can play a vital role by posting comments and questions.  I look forward to the conversation!