Aggregation elation

Aggregating social media empowers members of your target audience

It’s a question I hear often: How do you get people to become fans of your organization’s Facebook page, follow its Twitter updates, listen to the BlogTalkRadio show, watch your YouTube channel…

There’s not a simple answer.

For one, you need to develop a strategic social media plan — one based on research, planning, implementation and evaluation. That will help you set goals, develop objectives, select target audiences, create content… and strategize ways to invite followers and fans.

For us (at the Hamilton County Department of Job and Family Services), this has included putting links on our Web site and in our online newsletter. Doing press releases. Including in PowerPoint presentations. Attending events and networking….

This week, we took another step — aggregating our social media feeds (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, BlogTalkRadio, RSS feeds) together in a Social Media Center. This allows target audience members to quickly view all of our latest posts — and, hopefully, subscribe to them if they haven’t already.

Here’s a link to the Social Media Center.

I’d really appreciate your feedback.

Kudos goes to Randall Reese of LVX Communications. Randall, a graphic artist, developed the page.

Swimmin’ in SEO

Cincinnati-based SEO firm did a free Webinar called Optimize Everything: SEO and Social Media

Took a swim with a big fish in the Cincinnati social media pond recently. In a free Webinar, Steve Phillips of Purple Trout shared some tips for getting your Web site, blog and social media (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) at the top of search engine results.

Steve said to keep in mind that people search by word, topic, event and product/service. He then filled an hour with lots of good information. Here are some highlights from my notes and Twitter stream.

Web site

• Tag pdf files: Put keywords in them, using Properties. (I tried this. It’s simple to do). You can tag videos and pictures like this, too, through Properties.
• Look up XML Site Maps with Google. (Google it.) Helps Google crawl entire Web site.
• Use Google Keyword Research Tool to find popular keywords.
• Ask as if each Web page is its own Web site. Should have own title and description to optimize.
• Important to put keywords in pay-for-click campaign ads to optimize for Google searches. Also landing page.
• Tag everything on your Web site — videos, pictures, PDF files, flash.
• Keywords placed strategically within Web site help with search engine optimization.

Blog

• It’s all about content and keywords. Tag posts.
• Put your blog’s URL in Google, Yahoo!, Bing. See if being crawled.
Do link-building: Feedburner, Technorati (Submit to Technorati), comment on blogs.
• Put keyword in headline and post entry. Put headline in Google and search for results.
• Don’t just say “I agree” when commenting on other blogs. Contribute to the conversation.

Facebook

• Facebook has real-time indexing. Keep “posts by everyone” in mind Use keywords when doing status updates.
• Use all tabs (links, photos, video, events boxes…).
• Ask questions to engage participants.
• Invite people to Events

Twitter

• Optimize Twitter: Use keywords in Tweets – company name as much as possible. Include helpful links. Use company name, products, services. But be helpful.

LinkedIn

• Participate in Answers section. Can search keywords for questions in your industry. Be helpful. Answer Q’s.
• To improve search results, have profile 100% complete. Use targeted keywords in headline.

Hope this wasn’t overly technical. Not sure I understand everything! Thanks to Steve for sharing this good information. It was nice swimming in his pond.

 

E8QE3JS8TU5E

 

Ustream and Facebook and LinkedIn, Oh My!

Streaming video from adoption ceremony helped build awareness about important issue.

Imagine if Dorothy and the gang would have had social media. Instead of lions and tigers and bears, it might have been Ustream and Facebook and LinkedIn. Oh, my! Here are some of my recent experiences while skipping down the yellow brick road of social media.

Ustream

Yesterday morning, my Communications teammates at the Hamilton County Department of Job and Family Services and I streamed live video from the third-annual “mass adoption” ceremony in Probate Court. Five families adopted children from the child protection system in a moving event held to build awareness about the need for adoptive parents. Although my employer recruits more than 100 adoptive families each year, the need never goes away. About 200 kids — mostly school-aged youngsters in sibling sets — await adoptive families as this is being written.

I’ve really appreciated watching live streams from Cincinnati Social Media, New Media Cincinnati and other events — on those occasions when I can’t attend. I’ve brought up the idea of us streaming from happenings such as the mass adoption to get more value out of them. My boss, Brian Gregg, thought this was a good idea. Penny Hedrick, a video expert, set to work on the AV end. And John Cummings of Foster Care and Adoption Recruitment, a former radio guy, got ready to do on-air talent work. Meanwhile, Communications teammate Laura Van Houten and administrative assistant Kathy Pflum agreed to monitor the online stream back at the office. I served as laptop techie, working Ustream, Twitter and Facebook.

Well, it was an adventure, to say the least. Kevin Dugan, Mr. Social Media in Cincinnati, warned me at the most-recent PRSA meeting to test the AV. I know from watching that Ustream almost always blips off during a stream. We had tested the laptop, wireless card, camera… in advance. Penny made several trips to the courtroom to do test streams.

Still, we encountered technical difficulties — probably indicating we needed a more stout Internet connection and a more beefed-up laptop. Also, more experience by the Ustream operator (which will come in time) would have helped. What happened was that I stopped the stream during “dead air” time. When I hit the “stream” and “record” buttons to restart the broadcast, only “stream” worked. Record was grayed out. Then, after two of the five adoptions had taken place, I clicked on the Facebook tool in Ustream and the stream stopped.  Ustream would blip off in a split second every time I hit “stream.” We couldn’t get it to work until John was doing the recap.

Despite these glitches, we consider the first-time try worthwhile. About 25 people got a chance to view the first two adoptions. One viewer commented on Twitter that he clapped along with the audience! Another, a former social worker with our agency, offered praise for the fine work our Adoptions staff is doing. Side note: I sent a photo to Twitter using TwitPic on my BlackBerry — and it got more than 50 views.

Bottom line: We built awareness about an important issue, even though we were basically doing a test-run.

Here’s a little tale about Facebook. Less than three weeks ago, I started a Facebook page for my place of worship — New Thought Unity Center in Cincinnati. I put on a logo, basic information, video clips and photos from services. I invited members of the congregation who also are Facebook friends.

Already, we have more than 160 fans!

One person, who attended Unity years ago, said the Facebook updates are prompting her to return. Another said it makes her feel great to see a Unity update in her Facebook stream. People are commenting and giving thumbs-up.

One point: I’ve had to educate people on our volunteer marketing committee that a Facebook fan page isn’t like a Web site home page. Rarely do people come to a fan page. Instead, people see updates in their Facebook streams. You need to do daily, in my opinion, updates. Space them out –  morning, afternoon, evening. Do one at a time. Don’t do six or seven (as one administrator did) at once, or people will hide your posts or unfollow.

Finally, as we near a return to Kansas, here’s a note about LinkedIn. I learned about the power of LinkedIn groups recently by posting a link to this blog on PR-related groups. I shared my notes from the PRSA Media Day — the previous two posts.

Wow! The posts got 10 times more visits than the average for this blog.

A point to make: I shared something that I thought viewers would appreciate and benefit from — not some spam about an unrelated event. Unfortunately, most of the shares I get on LinkedIn discussion and news feeds are from people promoting something unrelated to the group’s mission.

Hope you found these experiences helpful. I’m off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of… social media?

What the traditional media had to say

Traditional media relations tactics still important

Although there’s been considerable focus on “new” media, the “old folks” still play a vital role in our strategic public relations efforts.

For example, we generally get a lot more activity in our live online chats at the Hamilton County Department of Job and Family Services when the local newspaper, TV or radio outlets do a blurb or mention as a result of our press releases. Our communications director has established good working relationships with the media, so they know he’ll provide newsworthy material.

At the heart of Media Relations is getting to know the needs of individual journalists — and striving to meet them. One might want video, photos and fact sheets. Another might prefer a two-paragraph e-mail. It’s important to learn their preferences and then read, listen to and/or view their reports. Offer story ideas of value to their readers/viewers/listeners.

With that in mind, here are some highlights from the traditional media portions of the recent Cincinnati PRSA Media Day event:

National Media Panel
* Bob Driehaus, former Cincinnati Post reporter who freelances for New York Times
* Dan Sewell of Cincinnati AP bureau
* Carolyn Forta, Good Housekeeping

Sewell covers P&G, Kroger and breaking news. Likes brief pitches. E-mail best. Subject line critical. Contact info. Couple lines and bullet points. Whatever helps sell the story to editors. Relevance. Statistics. Trends. AP reporters like Sewell heavily involved in Twitter. Facebook to lesser extent, but evolving quickly. Use to develop contacts, get story ideas, see what people are talking about.

Driehaus does not use HARO to get sources. Will use Twitter, Facebook in a pinch. Pitches more stories to NYT than they assign. Likes brief pitches. E-mail best.

Forta does a speed cleaning page. Tests products in lab. Does a blog. Drives traffic with Twitter and Facebook. Web work adds to workload.

All use bloggers for tips or background. May become a source. Never lift from blogs. Good Housekeeping getting info from Webinars.

Local Media Roundtables

James Pilcher, assistant managing editor, technology
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Covers economy, aviation, technology Get to know me. Don’t do a cold call. Example: PR person had read his Twitter stream and was familiar with him before making a pitch. Keep pitches to 4-5 paragraphs with no attachments Think multi-media: Enquirer does as much video as TV Also does podcasts 24-hour news cycle. Give to us first . A well-told local story will get picked up by AP. National reporters check with local journalists first while researching stories. Utilizes online newsrooms on Web sites every day. Likes contact info, financial info, top executive bios/photos

Chris Graves, assistant managing editor/digital-online
Cincinnati.com
Cincinnati.com primarily fed by Enquirer. Enquirer.com no longer exists Her job fundamentally changes every six months In the last four months, the Enquirer has been putting virtually all of the printed paper online a day in advance. Competing with Google, AP, blogs… Use Share first. Editor could flag for Community Press, Enquirer Also e-mail editors and localnews@enquirer.com Get to know reporters Don’t put solely on Share. Send to editor/reporter, too. She does the Enquirer’s live chats. Not regularly scheduled. As needed. Also, they’re looking at BlogTalkRadio

Stew Hirsch, assignment manager
WLWT-TV
Started June 1. Had been in Columbus market for 20 years Doesn’t like pdf attachments. Doesn’t want a suit. Wants real people.

Hope you find this helpful. Please feel free to share your thoughts about this.

PRSA Media “transition” Day

Cincinnati PR pros embrace media: old and new.

Out with the old. In with the new. Actually, it’s not that simple — especially when you’re considering evolution of news media and its impact on strategic public relations. We’re in such a transitional period.  Got a great taste of that evolution at the Cincinnati PRSA Media Day on Oct. 29.

More than 100 PR pros attended the event to learn about the latest in traditional and social media. Here are some highlights from my Twitter stream and paper notes. I’ll always have a foot in the old and one in the new. (Must be comical watching me juggle from BlackBerry to pen/paper notepad.)

Social Media Panel
Jory Des Jardins of Oakland, Calif., founder of BlogHer
Jon Cronin, director of digital media at New York-based Devries Public Relations
Krista Neher, CEO, Boot Camp Digital
Michelle Lentz, blogger, Write Technology  

• Traditional newspapers will not go away. Format will change. They will adapt.
• Power of mobile technology will come more into play.
• Apps that will go away are ones that push spam. Will be a move to aggregators. Conversation and connecting.
• When talking “media relations,” 99% of PR agencies include blogger relations.
• Bloggers love getting exclusives, and/or having special invitations to insider parties at conferences.
• FTC is pushing for transparency and truthfulness on blogs.
• Bloggers like to get “social media releases” with video, photos, text. Saves them time, so they don’t have to dig up photos, etc.
• Bloggers love launch events. Make it a soft sell, an experience with the product. Bloggers love to connect, to get into conversation with their peers. Layer in another reason to attend than the product alone. Example: PBS allowed women bloggers to shoot video with characters while launching a new Web site. Bloggers played with the site while waiting for their turn to do the video.
• Send a personal note before you send a press release.
• Find people who already like your product and work with them, even if they don’t have the largest audience. More efficient than trying to win over others.
• Don’t start a Facebook fan page and just let it sit there. Make it conversational. Share industry trends. Comment back.
• Find the bloggers who are relevant and commit to following their blogs, Twitter, FB…
• Implement Facebook Connect on your Web site. Integrate Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms throughout your Web site. Create an ecosystem. Make it interactive.

BONUS From Cincinnati Social Media, Thursday evening, where Des Jardins spoke (watched on livestream and attended by my wife). Actual wording from a friend on Twitter:

• Starting out, blog 3-5 times per week. Roughly 500-750 words. Lists good for companies that blog. Links are important.

If you’d like, I’ll share notes from the old-school media in a future post. Let me know in the comments.

Framing the issues

Dr. Lawrence Wallack

Last week, I had the honor of giving an hour-long presentation about social media at a breakout session at Prevention in Progress: Domestic Violence Prevention Summit 2009. About 150 domestic violence prevention experts from across Ohio attended the conference at a lodge about 40 miles east of Columbus.

I thought I’d learn more about root causes of domestic violence while hearing keynote speakers. Instead, I got a compelling lesson in using public relations to address the problems that plague our society.

Dr. Lawrence Wallack, dean and professor of public health, College of Urban and Public Affairs, Portland State University, delivered the compelling talk. He has appeared on Nightline, Good Morning America, the CBS Evening News, the Today Show… even Oprah!

His keynote presentation was titled Framing Issues Using America’s Second Language: Community, Prevention and Social Justice.

Wallack called individualism the first language in American culture. He said that a second language, community, contains the values that can be tapped to drive social change. We can come together to advocate for policies and programs that proactively address core issues such as lack of affordable health care and education. It won’t be easy, though, in a culture that stresses individualism and a strong mistrust of government.

His talk was mostly academic, so I asked for concrete examples. He pointed to smoking and drunk driving as areas where a sense of community mobilized advocates to push for major changes. He suggested that I share stories that don’t just portray people as victims of domestic violence, poverty and child abuse. I can include a call to action in the stories.

Of course, I was tweeting his comments on Twitter and status updating them on Facebook. Social media provides us with a great toolkit for building powerful communities, groups that can advocate for positive change he suggested.

What do you think about this — social media as a method for building community and ultimately addressing the ills of our way of life?

More social media party animals

Effective use of social media builds powerful networks

Within minutes of last week’s post, I started thinking about other Cincinnati-area social media enthusiasts. Here are a few more to add to the list. Please feel free to add others — and don’t be offended if you’re not here. I’ve literally met dozens of great people here in Who Dey Land.

Julie Bogart (@julieunplugged) — One of the premier bloggers in the area. Really knows how to build a community online: In her case, around the area of home-schooling. Huge Bengals fan.

Karen Gutierrez (@1cincymom) — Manager of MomsLikeMe.com. She’s into online communities, special needs advocacy and Cincy stuff.

Mandy Jenkins (@mjenkins) — She is on the cutting edge of the future of journalism, leading the Cincinnati Enquirer’s online efforts. Funny. Shares insightful info. Steelers fan.

Joe Wessels (@cindaily, several others) — Joe has been blogging, podcasting and otherwise reporting online for a loooong time. He is a well-known local personality who shares lots of great info.

Barbara Baker (@barbaraKB) – Barbara is passionate about social media. She’s always up on the latest trends. Like most of these folks, she’s a regular at meetings of Cincinnati Social Media and other old-style face-to-face social media events.

Jim Sutter (@JamesRSutter) — Jim is a video/Web producer with more than 20 years of experience. He does a nice job with an online newsletter — and puts a lot of energy into Clermont County meetings. He organizes Tech Tuesday and pulled together a Clermont County Social Media bootcamp.

Jason Bayer (@jmanstudios) – Knew Jason personally before continuously crossing paths on the social media trail. Found out he’s been doing Web development for a long time. Very respected. Great guy who knows a lot about social media.

Melissa Currence (@currencem) – Has done a great job with social media for Talbert House, a major Cincinnati-area social service provider.

Katy Crossen (@kate_the_great) — Does a lot of fine work for the United Way and other social causes.

Chris Kemper (@chriskemper) – Incoming president of the Cincinnati chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). Thanks to Chris, I’ll be back on the chapter’s leadership team six years after serving as president. He invited me to fill a new role — social media chair. Chris does a great job promoting Cincinnati in social media.

Well, I’ve got more popping into my mind now, but I think I’d better cut it off. Feel free to suggest more in the comments, or to add yourself. The more the marrier!

Welcome to the (social media) party!

Celebrate good times!

When Cincinnati-based public relations pro Kevin Dugan (@prblog, Strategic Public Relations blog) introduced me to Twitter, he sent a tweet saying something akin to “welcome to the party.”

I’ve heard others since compare social media strategy to attending a party — and the way you interact with people at the gathering.

Who do you speak with? How long do you talk? What topics do you discuss? Are you serious, or playful, or both? Are you hoping to share something with someone, or ask them a burning question? And so on…

With that in mind, here are some of the Cincinnati people I love to have at my social media party — whether on PC, wireless laptop, BlackBerry or (best of all) in person:

Kevin Dugan (@prblog) – I make it a point of reading every post on his Strategic Public Relations blog. His tweets are very informative and fun. He gives great talks. Just a good all-around person.

Daniel Johnson Jr. (@danieljohnsonjr) – Daniel knows a lot about social media tools from firsthand experience. He does a fantastic job uniting social media enthusiasts through New Media Cincinnati (@newmediacincy). A sincerely good, genuine person.

Krista Neher (@kristaneher) – Krista speaks around the world about social media, especially how organizations and individuals can use it to further strategic goals. Yet another great person, an internationally recognized social media guru who is kind and nice. We’re lucky to have her in Cincinnati.

Debba Haupert (@girlfriendology), Shannan Boyer (@mommybits, @shannanb) and Laura Deaton-Moriaity (@lmdeaton) – Founders of Cincinnati Women Bloggers (@cinwomenblogger). Three amazing woman who use social media to better our world. Knowledgeable, hard-working, fun… Great folks.

Michelle Beckham (@michellebeckham, @c3createconnect) — Excellent social media trainer. Had the pleasure of speaking on a panel with her this summer. Also very community oriented. Learned a lot during a successful career at P&G.

Jennifer McClure (@cincyrecruiter) – Shares lots of great info for job seekers through Twitter and her blog. Seems to be attending a workshop or seminar somewhere all of the time, and educates others about what she’s learned. Another friendly person.

Dan Lally (@DanielLally) – Lots of great knowledge about strategic public relations and social media’s role in it. Wonderful sense of humor. Excellent presenter.

Jacke Reau (@gamedayjreau) — Has helped bring Cincinnati PRSA into the social media world. Gives lots of workshops. Share insightful PowerPoints on SlideShare. Went to a great school! Ohio University.

Kendra Ramirez (@kendraramirez) – High energy social media expert who gives many presentations about the topic. Was on a panel with her at Bold Fusion earlier this year. See her at events hosted by New Media Cincinnati, Cincinnati Social Media…

Tami Boehmer (@tamilb) – My wife has been using her new Miracle Survivors blog to inform and inspire those affected by cancer. Of course, I think the world of her — and love to have her at my parties.

Gosh, I’m just getting started. Don’t worry if you’re not on the list. I’m going to add to it in upcoming weeks. There are lots and lots of you who will be invited. I admire and appreciate many of my new social media pals, such as you!!!

PS: I would love for you to invite others. Please use the comments section.

Social media strategy takes teamwork

A quarterback captures an MVP award and rewards his linemen with dinner, a ring or a vehicle.

An actress wins an Academy Award and thanks her agent, publicist…

A doctor secures a huge research grant and insists that her lab staff get recognition.

A public relations professional gets accolades for researching, planning, implementing and evaluating a social media/networking strategy and…

Hey, that’s what this post is all about.

Thanks to some very supportive folks at the Hamilton County Department of Job and Family Services — especially Director Moira Weir and Communications Manager Brian Gregg — I’ve gotten some unexpected recognition this past year or so.

Moira has been very supportive of social media/networking as we look for innovative ways to serve strategic audiences during a time of staff reduction and record workloads.

Brian continues to encourage me to forge ahead in this pioneering area — helping me stay focused on the vast potential that lies ahead.

And my Communications teammates efficiently carry out their important roles, freeing me to work with social media.

Laura Van Houten stepped right in and took over the internal communication program that I managed for nearly a decade — until taking on external communication strategy in August 2007. Penny Hedrick does a fantastic job helping us do more with video. And John Cummings contributes impressive work in his role as adoption and foster care recruitment manager, despite major layoffs in his unit.

Our Information Systems team has been a major help. When we lost our Web developers to layoffs, IS’ top manager (Brian Frondorf) educated himself about Internet development and took on the work that they did. He has always been an advocate of using the Web to serve our clients. Our PC techs do a wonderful job of helping me as I test all sorts of software platforms. They’re always up for the adventure!

Our program experts, some leery at first of this new technology, have come to see its value and dedicate their time and energy to it.

The list goes on and on. At the higher level, county leadership has embraced social media — a low-cost, highly effective way to communicate with strategic audiences.

Yes, it takes teamwork for an organization to carry out a social media strategy. Thanks everyone!

Are you a part of a great team? I’d love to hear about it.

Tweet, tweet… some guiding principles

After being on auto-tweet for a few months (as @MikeBoehmer57, @HamiltonCoJFS, @NTUnityCincy), I've been rethinking my Twitter strategy in recent weeks.
As I mentioned in the previous post, Twitter has helped me build and nurture a number of positive relationships. I’ve had the opportunity to learn a great deal from many people and, hopefully, share some of my knowledge and experience in return. We’ve had some laughs and offered support as we advanced in our professional and personal lives.

Twitter also has allowed me to keep strategic audiences updated at work, through @HamiltonCoJFS. It has permitted me to let people know about upcoming events at my church, @NTUnityCincy.

After reading dozens of articles and blog posts, attending many workshops, talking with a wide variety of social media pioneers, and using Twitter pretty-much daily for almost 18 months, I'm formulating some guiding principles for my use of Twitter. I want to stress that these are subject to change as I walk a bit further along this path of discovery.

(1) Stay away from politics and religion, except maybe in direct messages (DM) with like-minded folks.

(2) When someone follows me, follow them back. Unfollow if they over-post, offer information not relevant to me, do mean-spirited tweets… Possibly follow again down the road to see if they've changed. Maybe connect on LinkedIn or another social media network.

(3) Be positive. Don't use as an outlet to vent or complain.

(4) Offer encouragment to followers whenever possible. Thank them when they retweet (RT).

(5) Try to share helpful links related to public relations, marketing and social media every day. Give more than I take.

(6) Help people promote worthy causes, especially those related to cancer research or support.

(7) Build and nurture relationships that will help maintain a positive image for my employer. Share information that will help our customers, especially those looking for employment or services to help them during extended unemployment.

Those are some that come to mind at this time. I'll add more as time goes along. I welcome any ideas, and would love to hear your guiding principles when it comes to Twitter.