When old media and new media play together in the sandbox

‘This is a very simply game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Sometimes…it rains.” Bull Durham

As I see it, one of my roles on this blog is, for lack of better words, to play the fool. For you that is. In other words, I’m taking one for the team. I’ve said time and time again that I’ve wished, both when I was starting out and still as I find my way, that I had someone like me who I could ask for advice or learn from. But I didn’t when I was starting and I frequently forget to ask for help now…so here I am as a result, sometimes doing it right, sometimes doing it wrong, sometimes…just doing it.

And last week, I did something wrong. So I’m here to tell you about it so that you, hopefully, don’t do it wrong if the opportunity should present itself.

Swimming around the freelancers’ pool

Freelancing has placed me in wide variety of situations at this point, I’m assuming you could say the same. By definition, we get thrown into all matter of circumstances where we may or may not have any clue how to act or be or do. Over our heads, soaked to our ankles, blowing bubbles, treading water or swimming speedily through the course – sometimes within a span of 5 minutes. Right?

Currently, I’m working on a massive project with a sizable team, we’ve got a little bit of every role you could imagine. Specific to my ‘doing it wrong’, we have two publicists. They’re Big deals. (It was suggested that I add the capital ‘B’).  One of them is French – and I imagine her sitting at a huge mahogany desk with a toy poodle on her lap and a long, thin cigarette hanging off of a long porcelain cigarette holder between her long thin fingers. Her hair is piled on top of her head and she’s wearing Chanel. But I have no idea if that is even a little bit true.

Anyway, I pissed her off.

You see, on a regular basis, the publicists send out emails to the team alerting us to news breaks or product mentions. And I, in my blind ignorance and bloggy haze of ‘we’re all in this together’, figured they were just letting us know whenever we were featured in the media. Since I’m running the social media campaign, I’ve engaged many listening tools – effectively holding my trusty stethoscope up to the internet – so that I know every time we ‘appear’ online. Obviously, then, I thought I should contribute to these emails as well. You know – one for all and all for…

Oops.

I got told off…and how (and quickly) for this gaff. Those press breaks they were sending were gigs the publicists themselves had landed. The break is there metric for their work for the client. Had I secured the mention I just emailed? (she asked). Um…nooooo, not so much. I just thought we were all spreading the good news. It turns out, we weren’t. Not even a little bit.

All worked out fine, I apologized, I never did it again, I returned to my corner to do my job. And I learned some things, which makes it all worth it in the end:

1. Now that I know why what I did wasn’t okay, it seems blaringly, glaringly obvious.
2. This is true of most lessons learned, except maybe those gleaned from a calculus textbook.
3. When entering a new situation, take a good look around and identify things that might not be familiar.
4. Find someone, either within the fray or without, that is familiar with those things.
5. If you feel like doing a certain something that is out of your general knowledge area, ask this someone for guidance: Run it by them first.
6. Keep your wits about you – did you just break a cardinal rule? ruin a business? step over a cultural line? threaten someone’s place on the totem pole? Put your mistake in perspective.
7. Life is very interesting when the old media and the new media play together in the sandbox.
8. My skin is getting thicker. Once upon a time I might have been mortified or at least obsessed about my faux pas. This time I said ‘whoops!’, laughed and moved right along.
9. What’s next? (Thank you, President Bartlett). The only way out of an error is forward. Fix it, change your behavior, don’t do it again.
10. When you have the best readers in the world, it isn’t that hard to tell them about the times when you’re stupid.
11. I really do love to share. It’s how I got myself into this mess…and it’s how I’m getting myself out.

Image credit: Banalities

Filed under Critical Copywriting, How To, Social Media, The Business | Tags: Blogging, copywriter, freelance copywriting, freelancer writing, freelancing, PR, social media consultant | Comments (20)

how does social media work?

I gave a workshop this weekend on blogging and social media, and this inevitable question was asked: ‘how does social media work?’ It’s a great question. I only wish it had been asked today instead because while I had several, perfectly good examples/answers at the ready, this weekend offered up the ultimate case study.

At some point on Saturday, a woman saw an add for Motrin. And it pissed her off. You can watch it below – but the gist is that they mock babywearing as a passing fad that ‘supposedly’ helps you bond with your baby and they belittle the mom experience.

In fact, babywearing is an age-old practice that:

• promotes the baby’s health and well-being,
• (and the mother’s because she can have a life and move while still maintaining contact with her child),
• supports and energizes all life systems (neurological, respiratory, digestive, etc.),
• helps develop strong trunk and leg muscles (babyworn babies stand and walk earlier),
• stimulates the brain with real life learning as the view and activities change consistently as opposed to staring at the mobile attached to a car seat or playset,
• encourages independence by establishing a sense of trust and safety (being close to mom) during the totally dependent months

…I could go on for days, but this isn’t my point. And yes, I wore both of my babies. Here’s the ad:

And, here’s how social media worked – in both big and small ways:

1. Word spread like wild fire through Twitter, a group was organized with the hashtag ‘#motrinmoms’ (On Twitter, hashtags are identifying tags making tweets searchable and findable).
2. An onslaught of complaints hit the Motrin site.
3. Many blog posts were written across the blogosphere (like this one) bringing attention to what was done wrong (and sometimes going against the women upset with Motrin because everyone gets a voice).
4. Because of the discussions, a countless number of new connections were made – people found new contacts on Twitter, readers found new favorite blogs and these sparks will undoubtedly roll into hookups on other social networks.
5. The case against Motrin took to social bookmarking sites like Digg, Delicious and Stumble – spreading the word even further.
6. The case against Motrin took to the social media sites when the ad appeared on YouTube and blogs.
7. Motrin took the ad down within 6 hours. (Now it only lives on YouTube and blogs).
8. Motrin took it’s entire website offline (as of Sunday night, still down at the time this went to ‘press’).
9. Moms who complained to Motrin directly received emails from the marketing company in charge of this campaign with an ‘we meant no harm’ apology.
10. A Motrin boycott was launched.
11. PR professionals, such as Sarah Evans and Peter Shankman are rolling out smart plans for Motrin to come out of this alive – other companies would be smart to take note of these plans and USE them to avoid the same fiasco. The fallout for people like Sarah Evans and Peter Shankman to get work from their insights are high.
12. Personally, my conversations and tweets about the #motrinmoms with people on Twitter have led me to multiple exciting contacts (including one with a magazine I’ve always wanted to write for), interactions that will benefit some of my clients and some follows from some folks on Twitter that I deeply admire.
13. What happened is, I’m sure, being replicated over and over and over.
14. As this story gets picked up, I can only imagine that it will bring a broader understanding and acknowledgment of social media and it’s potential to bring change, or at least shake things up.
15. Increased awareness of babywearing and why proper fit and position is critical to avoiding motrin and mom tears.
16. Backlash…just wait…especially when women speaking out are involved, it always rears its ugly head.

One situation, huge results and effects -that’s how social media works.

I’m positive there were more results than I could possibly know…feel free to use your imagination and add your thoughts in the comments below (and play nice, of course).

Update: Motrin’s mis-step makes a perfect reminder: * It’s still International Babywearing Week (Nov. 12-18). * There are still needy mamas out there who don’t have slings to help them hold their babies close. If you felt Motrin’s misdirected ad was worthy taking the time to complain about, don’t forget to take a positive step, as well: donate a sling to a needy family.

Filed under How To, Marketing, Networking, Social Media | Tags: advertising, moms, Motrin, Motrin moms, PR, social media, Twitter | Comments (10)

the importance of having promotional materials at the ready

What if Dell announced their amazing new laptop computers, got people highly excited, but then, when we all said, ‘So let’s see it!’ They said, ‘Okay, hold on a sec, we have to build them first…’

Not good, right? Perhaps you’d even walk away and head over to Apple because their computers were ready and available for viewing and purchase. (Amongst other reasons. Sorry , couldn’t help that, it just slipped out.)

So, that’s an extreme example, but I like to make a point.

And here’s my tip for the day (stretch on over here with me, if you will). As a marketer, business owner, freelancer, product pusher, service seller or whatever you are: before you start making calls to people about your product, you must have your promo package in place:

• Standard copy (one page and one paragraph)
• photos, logos, images
• press releases
• links, urls
• live, working web sites, blogs, pages
• print collateral (biz cards, brochures, etc.)
• partner info (if you have any)

As a matter of course, if you have these things ready, you can send them instantly to waiting prospects who won’t have time to look at your competitors because you’ll be right there in front of them. Being prepared ensures that the time – from the moment you make contact to the moment you deliver the goods – is only a matter of seconds. And timing is ever so often the factor that closes the deal.

But, really. Doesn’t this apply to most aspects of our professional lives?

Filed under How To, The Business | Tags: business preparation, copywriter, copywriting, PR, promotional materials | Comments (3)

web 2.0: if I give it away for free, how do I make my money?

I admit, it does seem a bit backward, this whole 2.0 thing. Basically, you give away top-notch information, via your content – articles, video, etc. – and then you become a wild success…but the question that comes up over and over again, is ‘HOW?’ How do you make money if you are giving away your expertise for free?

I love what I just found, because it gives such a great example of how 2.0 works and it essentially answers this question. Ron Miller spoke to David Meerman Scott, who is the author of the bestselling book The New Rules of Marketing & PR (and also a fellow Contributing Editor at EContent Magazine)…and David illustrated the point with this:

“This idea is not new. Starting in the 1960s, the Grateful Dead encouraged concertgoers to record their live shows by establishing “taper sections” where fans’ equipment could be set up for the best sound quality. The band encouraged Deadheads to trade tapes and make copies for friends. The cult of a Grateful Dead concert became a pre-Internet World Wide Rave driving millions to the band’s live shows over thirty years of touring and generating hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. “

Brilliant. That’s exactly it. You give it away for free, so people take it. IF THE CONTENT IS GOOD (mind you this is a rather large necessity for success), THEY GIVE IT TO ALL OF THEIR FRIENDS. All of these friends want more now that they know about you…so they come and they see you for themselves and they tell their friends and they want more…and they ALL buy your goods and services.

If you want to read Ron and David’s entire interview, “The Press Release is Dead: How Web 2.0 Could Save PR and Marketing” click here.

Filed under Marketing | Tags: copywriter, copywriting, Julie Roads, Marketing, PR, press release, social bookmarking, Social Media, social media, social networking, viral marketing, web content, Writing Roads | Comments (5)