The Wax Blog

A decade ago I sat in meeting after meeting in Silicon Valley hearing about the new economy and how the ‘old school’ IT companies were dead. It’s so funny to me now, listening to all the social media experts and Web 2.0 pundits say that ‘traditional PR is dead.’ I venture to say that lazy people hope by saying traditional PR is dead, maybe they can make it so. After all it’s a whole lot easier to sit in your jammies and tweet and facebook the night away than it is to call Patty Neger at Good Morning America to find out if she likes the latest book you’ve sent her. Believe me, I would much rather be trading snarky barbs with folks like @CLE84 than getting rejected for yet another story idea by a crusty print reporter. (more…)

Bart the Dumpster Dog

I realized right away that @bartthedog was gaining followers at a much faster rate than @waxgirl333 , my twitter handle. Not to mention the fact that he has more than ten times the number of Facebook fans for his Bart the Dumpster Dog fan page. Neither of us are megastars in the social media stratosphere (yet!) but I thought taking a look at how @bartthedog pays attention to his social media might give you an idea of how he’s added more than 3000 followers in such a short time – with very little effort.

1. Bart has a GREAT back story. Not everyone can say they were rescued starving and frozen from a dumpster on an Indian reservation.

2. Bart has a unique and consistent voice. This is probably because I have anthropomorphized Bart and his brother for the past three years to such an extent that I’m fairly fluent in Dog.  His followers call him “cutey” and “sweetie” and “lovey” so I guess it doesn’t matter that he’s over 90 pounds – his voice is crystal clear to them.

3. The dog lover niche, particularly for rescued dogs, is really strong, if not zealous. I told a car dealer once that if he supported his local humane society in a big way he’d have more customers than he could handle and I was right. One woman drove from South Dakota to Minnesota to buy a car from the guy – for helping rescued animals.

4. Bart’s not selling anything. He’s just a friendly guy that sends out tweets about interesting dogs for adoption on petfinder, cool doggy news and stuff he’s been doing lately.  He’s also very good at RT’ing information for animal rescue groups, so there’s a certain altruistic side to the boy.

5. Finally, Bart is always positive and never controversial. He doesn’t take sides and has no politics.

I started Bart’s accounts as a way to test some of the programs and apps for Twitter and Facebook, not to grow his profile.  Before long he’ll be writing a book and signing pawtographs.

Thank you to professional writer and blogger Beth Graddon-Hodgson for giving us the insider info on how pro bloggers work…and how to pay them. Check out her website or follow Beth on Twitter

As many companies jump on the blogging bandwagon, they’re faced with one major dilemma as they wonder “what the heck do we pay these people?” The problem is that there are companies and independent writers who have set standards that go to two extremes – those who accept bottom dollar rates just to get the business, and those who gouge their clients for all that they’re worth. With this in mind, most companies have the wrong idea about reasonable payment. (more…)

Hopefully you haven’t had a crisis that made you pull your hair out but chances are, if you stay in business it will come sooner or later. Communicating during crisis is a big topic – but content is scarce on this one so I’m going to write about it in at least a couple posts. For this one I’ll define crisis in the PR 2.0 world, give you an example of a couple bad responses to crisis – and a few ideas for devising your own crisis plan. Would love to hear any stories about crisis you’ve got as well. (more…)

Flacks get a lot of, well, FLACK. Some of it deserved and some of it not. If you’re a new product, new author, small business or otherwise lower profile brand it can take a long time to establish a media footprint, digital or otherwise. Getting placements right away isn’t always the best measurement as things can take a long time.

It’s time to give new buyers of public relations services a checklist for separating the rock stars from the ones with rocks in their head. Please add your own thoughts but let’s not rant. We’ve got the Bad Pitch Blog for that! (more…)

I talk a lot about the need for the right “mix” when you promote your product, business, book, whatever it is – engaging in social media is no different. To get a good result you have to find the recipe that’s 100% ALL YOURS. But just like the hard-to-bake souffle, there are some ingredients I’ve seen in of the work of ALL successful social media contributors.   Here are the components I believe you should always use for your  social media recipe…and some of experts who cook it up just right. Feel free to add your favorite folks – let’s get a good list going! (more…)

I  found a company willing to share a true, B2B social media case study complete with strategy, tactics, and heavens to betsy, they even measured it!  As I perused my newly invigorated LinkedIn account I discovered Ed Loessi CMO and Chief Strategy officer for Boston-based RapidInfluence, a consulting company that focuses on the implementation of strategic plans. (Boy does every company need this!!) RapidInfluence embarked this year on a social media strategy and not only successfully implemented their strategy, they’ve documented it on their blog

Ed has kindly allowed me to re-blog their social media post here on the Wax blog – but I would strongly recommend you read the full blog on the RapidInfluence site here to view all the graphics and visit more links.  Please add comments with suggestions you might have for RapidInfluence on new things they might do or things that have worked for your firm. We’re all going to be learning new stuff forever in this world!

From the  RapidInfluence Blog, October 6, 2009 (more…)

Since we all just had a good time talking about what NOT to do on LinkedIn I thought I’d post some things you SHOULD do. LinkedIn, according to Mashable just surpassed 50 million users. Although it’s clearly not the sexiest of social networks (the media loves them some Facebook and Twitter) LinkedIn is incredibly valuable, especially for the B2B set.  You can definitely market your business but remember – you’re building relationships one to one. That means there are no shortcuts.

These are things that are working for me but I would love to hear any cool ways you’re using LinkedIn successfully. Remember,  there are no experts in social media just the intellectual capital of the collective. (Seriously I just made that up ) (more…)

I got a message on LinkedIn today that pretty much shows what you should never, ever do on LinkedIn – or on any social media. Before you read it consider this:

1. I have over 500 contacts on LinkedIn -( if you want to link to me click here but let me know it’s cuz you read the blog)

2. I’m an active member of many groups on LinkedIn

2. I have never met this guy

We can learn more from these kinds of posts than any tip post I might do. Add a comment and tell me why YOU think this is bad – would you buy from this guy’s company (or him?) How much damage do you think he’s done, assuming he spammed this everywhere?

Here’s the email text…of course I’ve deleted his name and company.

Dear Bonnie:
I’m LinkedIn! Are You? I took the plunge and joined LinkedIn. I’m not certain if you already have a profile on LinkedIn, or if you are even using LinkedIn, but if you are, I’d like to take this opportunity and add you to my professional network.

If you’re not already using LinkedIn, what are you waiting for? Relationships Matter! Your professional relationships are key to your professional success. LinkedIn strengthens and extends your existing network of trusted contacts.

LinkedIn is an online network of more than 25 million experienced professionals from around the world, representing 150 industries.

Thanks for your consideration!

Thank You,

(Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

Sorry old school journalists, savvy advertising experts and prickly control-freak publicists but it’s time to realize something. To survive you can no longer be storytellers – you have to be information managers.  Here are some examples:

Rachel Maddow is an information manager. She takes the current news trends, analyzes them and offers up her opinion. She translates and disseminates information using a liberal, celesbian lens. We know it, we’re fine with it, we’ll watch her if we like that slant – and her numbers are through the roof.

Katie Couric is a storyteller. She takes the current news, tells the story she thinks we will find most interesting (called a HOOK or ANGLE) and puts a pretty package together hoping no one else has that same ANGLE.  Boring, yawn, her numbers are in the toilet.

Jon Stewart is also an information manager. He takes the current news, translates and gives it to us with using the funny lens. His numbers are great. Even Perez Hilton, as much as we love to hate him, is  an information manager. Perez takes the celebrity news and translates it with a snarky, ‘I used to be a geek and now I’m more powerful than you’ lens. His traffic numbers are still incredible.

Just try to ‘package’ a story or launch a brand these days with a clever message and a nice dose of spin. What happens? The public’s immediate attitude is that ‘WE WILL TAKE YOU DOWN, MOTHERF*&#ER’. (Remember Motrin Moms?) Today’s social media/citizen journalists love nothing better than to debunk a story, expose an exclusive, steal a headline from a print paper, or do whatever else it takes to prove they can get there faster and more provocatively than traditional media. And guess what? They’re winning the race.

It’s time to admit what we haven’t wanted to admit for a long time -  information is  too real-time and too accessible for us to believe the ’stories’ any more. We want to pick our chosen lens and get our information there.

Who’s your favorite information manager?