July 20, 2010

Adventures in taking a Fortune 500 social

My client, Norfolk Southern Corporation, recently announced it is actively engaging with stakeholders on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr, as well as offering RSS feeds and links to all its social media pages via the corporate home page. While this may not seem like news relative to what consumer businesses have been doing for years, this is unprecedented in the railroad industry and for many other Fortune 500 companies in the B2B sector.

I have been consulting with Norfolk Southern for several years on developing their social media communications strategy. It’s taken a lot of training to get the corporate communications department on board. I put together several social media 101 presentations and training sessions with along with Amber Karnes of Chop Chop Design (Norfolk Southern’s Webmaster at the time).

Shortly after, the company put together a New Media Team, composed of employees across the company to advise the company’s social media and new media strategies. Karnes and I offered more training sessions and presentations, and with the support of the New Media Team, launched these social media initiatives.

Our biggest challenge was not gaining the buy-in from management (the widespread adoption of Facebook and Twitter eventually made that case for us), but ensuring the legal department there would be no problems. The best way to handle that obstacle was to approach social media cautiously and show success through baby steps. For example, Norfolk Southern’s first YouTube video was a 30-second commercial that had aired nationwide on television. Once the lawyers could see there was little need for concern, we began slowly posting more content.

Check out Norfolk Southern’s social media profiles, for a first-rate example of how social media can work for a large B2B organization. The Thoroughbred of Transportation is taking the lead on social media engagement in the freight rail transportation industry. So far, NS has more than 9,000 fans on Facebook, more than any other railroad. We’re engaging with rail fans across the country, and this is just the beginning as we are continuing to set forth a strategy to enhance our community outreach. In fact, Norfolk Southern has recently added a position to the Corporate Communications department that handles Community Outreach, both online and offline. I look forward to sharing more as Norfolk Southern continues engaging stakeholders online.

Tags: b2b, clients, facebook, Flickr, Norfolk Southern, social media, Twitter, YouTube
Posted in Campaigns, PR Strategy | No Comments »

---

June 2, 2010

Social media profiles can help you prepare for an online crisis

It’s the Thursday before a holiday weekend, and I’m fortunate to be interviewing for what I think would be an amazing freelance writing opportunity. The phone interview goes well. I’ve given the company the link to my website to see some samples of my work and client testimonials. Only the unthinkable happens. I go to post a blog update, and my site’s down! Panic ensues. Why does this always happen to me at the most crucial times?

Well, I figured out part of that reason was my web hosting provider. I switched providers to Dreamhost, and that problem is solved.

But the point is, this scenario offers another great reason for multiple social media profiles. If you are relying on one site on the web for all of your marketing and public relations exposure, you are putting yourself at risk.

I recently encountered an ad agency that, I suppose in an effort to be cutting edge, has no website–just a facebook page. Would you really want your business hinging solely on facebook’s success?

In a crisis –your site is down, facebook is down, one of your profiles or your website has been hacked, the Twitter fail whale has come up for air–you should be prepared to communicate with multiple alternatives. Even when my website is down, clients can see that I’m actively engaging online by following my social media profile links, which I post everywhere online as well as on my e-mail signatures, business cards, resume and invoices.

As you develop your web presence, consider multiple avenues for content distribution. Go beyond your own website, and post everywhere it makes sense for your business. You’ll be better prepared to handle whatever mishaps the Web throws your way.

Tags: crisis, social media, Social Networks
Posted in Best Practices, PR Strategy, Social networking, Uncategorized | No Comments »

---

January 28, 2010

foursquare, my new favorite game on the social media playground

I had a sad realization in the past few weeks…I’m slowly growing tired of twitter. It’s been four years since I became @chelbycat. It’ s been a great four years on twitter, but the shiny newness has worn off. Enter foursquare. I signed up for an account earlier this morning, and I’m already addicted. It’s fresh and exciting and intrinsically intuitive to those of us used to being on twitter.

foursquare is a location-based mobile social network that allows users to “check in” at their favorite hangouts–restaurants, bars, stores, etc. Using an app for your mobile phone or sms, foursquare determines your location and posts the check in to your profile as well as to twitter and facebook. Each time you check in, you can offer a tip: I’m @ Food Dudes – Thursday nights are the best dollar tacos in obx. It’s a little bit like Yelp meets twitter, in the sense that you are providing a tweet-sized review of an establishment. Once you’ve checked in, you can see who else is nearby. You can also use foursquare to see where your friends have checked in and keep track of places you’d like to visit.

Add to this the game aspect that each time you check in you earn points towards badges. I’ve earned my “Newbie” badge (so will you when you join and check in for the first time). If you check into a place more than anyone else, you become the Mayor (until someone else tops you). The gang at foursquare knows just how to stroke an early adopter’s ego!

I’ve only checked in twice now (work and Starbucks) and already I love it. I’ll post more as I get using and enjoying foursquare. For now, I’m already seeing tons of opportunity for marketing and public relations. I’ll be including foursquare my social media plans for clients. As the site explains, foursquare is a great way to run a customer loyalty program. By offering coupons and giveaways to your establishment’s Mayor, you encourage customers to check in and tell their friends what they like about your place. By encouraging customers to check in, you can get the equivalent of “word-of-mouth” exposure for your business. And, I can imagine as they monetize the site, there will be lots of room for advertising.

If you sign up, please friend me: foursquare.com/user/chelbycat

Tags: foursquare, marketing, social media, Twitter, word of mouth, Yelp
Posted in Social networking, Twitter, Uncategorized, Web/Tech | 1 Comment »

---

January 13, 2010

Studio Rio: how radio publicity is enhanced through social media

Last year, I helped Studio Rio, a women’s-only gym in Virginia Beach, Va. that offers pole dancing classes, enhance their marketing and public relations efforts. During that time, they developed a new Web site, established a blog and developed a Facebook, YouTube and Twitter presence.

This week, the local radio morning team at WNOR FM 99, Rumble and Shelley, started talking about pole dancing on the air. When Studio Rio heard they were mentioned, they quickly responded to invite the morning team in for a free private pole dancing class. The morning team took them up on the offer and had a blast. The morning show hosts shared their experience with listeners this morning and it was hilarious and entertaining. Studio Rio could not have asked for better publicity.

But it does get better. The morning team has uploaded a YouTube video of their pole dancing lesson as well as an audio clip of the radio bit that aired. That extends the reach of publicity far beyond listeners who happened to tune in to the radio this morning.

The best part is that Studio Rio has been consistently communicating with its members and prospective members through online social media. Because Studio Rio actively engages with customers via Facebook, Twitter and text messaging, they were able alert customers instantly to tune in and listen. Then after the radio exposure, when the clips were posted online, Studio Rio used social media to share the links and get the word out even more. Congratulations to Studio Rio for getting some great publicity and for effectively using online social media to make the most of it.

Tags: Best Practices, facebook, publicity, social media, Studio Rio, Twitter, YouTube
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

---

January 11, 2010

Back from my Orange reunion in NYC

Had a great time in New York City meeting with alumni of Syracuse University’s Newhouse Executive Master’s in Communications Management. I graduated from the program two years ago and hadn’t been back to their NYC facility, Lubin House, since. It was great to network and enjoy a fantastic line up of public relations speakers including Richard Edelman and Dierdre Breakenridge.

When I started the master’s program in 2005, I chose my field of research to be Web 2.0 communication (that research spawned this blog). My capstone research focused on best practices in Web 2.0 public relations. Back then, I remember having to convince the professors and academic director that this was a worthy topic of academic research. Thankfully, they were open to the idea (that’s the great thing about the program, you can tailor it to your interests). Amazing that two years later, Lubin house is filled with talk of digital media and enthusiastic tweeting. I just love it!

I highly recommend the Syracuse University master’s in Communications Management program to anyone looking to take their public relations practice to the next level. You’ll meet incredible people and make lifelong friends.

Tags: executive education, New York, Newhouse, professional development, social media, Syracuse University
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

---

January 1, 2010

Tech and social media New Year’s resolutions

With the holiday hustle bustle, I have gotten completely behind on being productive online. Aside from shopping, I haven’t had much time to network, stay updated on the latest tech trends or share content online (updating this blog or my Tumblr, for example). So, I’ve made some resolutions to help me be more productive online as well as some overall tech resolutions that are just good practice. Here’s what I’ve come up with.

1. I will get a handle on my e-mails. Personally, I hate dealing with e-mail. I would prefer friends to Facebook me, everyone else out there to tweet me and subscribe to RSS feeds rather than e-mail newsletters. Still, everyone uses e-mail, which means I need to be better at handling the inbox influx. I remember when I was in graduate school at Syracuse University, my professor Brenda Wrigley guaranteed to her students that if you e-mailed her, she would respond within 24 hours. In my eyes, that made her amazing. Just think, she was making everyone happy while at the same time, never getting behind on her e-mails. I’m going to follow her example. The trick is, keeping your responses short. I like the three.sentenc.es idea of treating your e-mails like sms messages or tweets and limiting them to only three sentences. That would seem to work well, especially if you are checking e-mail on your phone. I’ll experiment and let you know how it goes. I also plan to unsubscribe to unnecessary e-newsletters and notifications.

2. I will share create and share good content on a regular basis. With all the time I’m saving by not writing long e-mails, I’ll be able to spend more time sharing content and updating my Web site, blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Vimeo, etc. It’s takes a lot of commitment to have a blog and create content. Admittedly, I end up doing that more for my clients and neglecting my own blog. This is a tough one…just gotta find more time.

3. I will use Twitter lists. Twitter lists allow you to create your own categories of the people you follow. What a great way to manage Twitter, especially if you are following thousands of people. I haven’t taken full advantage of this feature. But I know if I max it out, it’s gonna be another time saver!

4. I will clean up my hard drive, back up regularly and run updates. This is nothing new, and it’s so simple. Yet, I always give everything else priority. I remember when my iBook hard drive failed a few years ago, I vowed never again to be left in a lurch without a back up. But I honestly can’t say that I’ve backed up regularly. In fact, I have turned off scheduled back ups and updates many times because they’ve gotten in the way when I had something timely to work on. Very bad!

5. I’ll review,  update and reorganize my RSS feeds for blogs and podcasts I consume. My feeds have gotten out of control. I remember the time when I was addicted to my Google Reader. Now, I can’t find the blogs I want to scan each morning because I haven’t kept up by categorizing them with folders. So I’ve abandoned my feeds for the most part, which causes me to miss out on so much information. Time to get organized.

These are my tech resolutions for 2010. Wish me luck, I’ll need it. I hope these will inspire you to make resolutions of your own. Happy New Year and all the best in 2010!

Tags: blogs, e-mail, goals, New Year, resolutions, RSS, social media, tech
Posted in Twitter, Web/Tech | No Comments »

---

November 20, 2009

From Social to Mobile to Global – New Media Conventions 2010

That’s the slogan for our next  New Media Conventions event, which I’m pleased to be planning with a team of amazing professionals in Hampton Roads. Plans are in fast motion, and we have identified our mission and value proposition for what is sure to be the biggest new media event that’s ever taken place in Virginia Beach.

Mission Statement

Provide a select audience innovation in marketing and customer engagement ideas through new media.

Value Proposition

Learn how to get your customers speaking for you through social media by getting your entire marketing message out across all new media. If you’re new to this concept, you can find your way amongst the best, from numerous industries, which are prepared to help you get started. If you’re looking enhance your new media presence and initiatives, the best in marketing will be sharing ideas that can help you take things to a whole new level. Marketing is New Media and you need to be enhancing it – New Media is today and tomorrow.

A Call for Sponsors

We’re now identifying outstanding sponsors for this unprecedented event in Hampton Roads new media networking. If your organization would like to be a part of this dynamic event and have a chance to get social with professionals who are learning about and using new media to propel their business marketing strategy, please contact me for more information.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

---

November 2, 2009

Getting started in the social media space with GumdropLane.com

Reina Communications is helping Gumdrop Lane step up its social media marketing efforts. Gumdrop Lane is an online children’s clothing boutique, somewhat new to the social space. Here are some tips I offered Gumdrop Lane to get social. Hope they help you as well. Also, please check out Gumpdrop Lane’s twitter and facebook pages as well as their new blog. Let us know what you think!

• People should tweet, not businesses. Twitter is about personal communication. Consumers know there is a person behind each business, and we want to see who they are. While you are representing a brand, tweet about personal experiences — those experiences are what make your business unique! Just make sure the people representing your business have fun personalities and you can trust them to represent your brand.
• Share information and promote interesting finds, even if it doesn’t directly relate to what you’re selling. You want to be an information resource for your customers. Read other blogs and seek information your customers would seek. If you see something that would be helpful for them, blog about it or retweet it without the expectation of sales in return. You’re building a relationship, and that’s a two-way street.
• Don’t underestimate the power of blogs. Good bloggers know their audiences and can recognize when your products or services are a good fit for their readers. Word-of-mouth advertising can be as effective as Google Adwords in gaining exposure for your business. Identify the influential bloggers in your market and use sites like Alexa to see what kind of traffic they get. Bloggers love hosting giveaways for your products, but if you have limited resources, you need to be sure you offer products to the most influential blogs first.

Tags: blogs, GumdropLane, marketing, social media, Twitter
Posted in Best Practices, PR Strategy, PR Tactics, Twitter, Web/Tech | No Comments »

---

October 15, 2009

Planning New Media Conventions for April 2010

I’m excited to announce I have joined the New Media Conventions team and plans are in the works for another social media conference in Hampton Roads for April 2010. I was privileged to be a speaker on “The Role of Public Relations in Social Media” and attend their first event in September at the Cavalier Golf and Yacht Club in Virginia Beach. The next New Media Conventions is going to be even bigger, and I’m looking forward to planning the program with many talented, social media savvy professionals from throughout Hampton Roads.  We’re going to put Virginia Beach on the social media map!  Be sure to follow @NewMediaConv on Twitter as well as the hashtag for the next event, #NMC10. Also, check out the New Media Conventions blog for more information as plans for the big day are announced.

Tags: conventions, hampton roads, New Media Conventions, Presentations, professional development, social media, virginia beach
Posted in New Media Conventions, Presentations, Web/Tech | No Comments »

---

September 17, 2009

Reasons you need a blog

A number of my clients still do not have blogs as well as many major companies, and while other social media like Facebook and Twitter are stealing the spotlight, it’s time to revisit this oldie but goodie. Blogs offer several advantages and just about every type of business can benefit from the communication tool. Here’s what a blog can do for you.

Keep your audience regularly engaged
As consumers, we all have short attention spans. To stay top of mind, you have to communicate a consistent message often. Updating a blog daily or weekly offers an opportunity to reach out to stakeholders on a regular basis.

Search Engine Optimization
Blogs offer rich fresh content for search engine spiders as well as the opportunity that others may link to your posts. Just remember your blog should serve a purpose to communicate with your publics first and foremost. The SEO benefits should develop naturally from that. Saturating your posts intentionally with too many keywords will not win over many readers.

Share content with people who want to connect
Blogs offer a way to connect with customers who want to read your content. By subscribing to your RSS feed, consumers are proactively pulling information. Stakeholders who seek out your information are much more likely to become advocates than passive recipients of marketing e-mails and advertising.

Simple and efficient interaction
Blogs are a tool for two-way communication. By opening up your comments for readers to participate, you empower your stakeholders to communicate and reap the rewards of gaining valuable feedback.

Another tip, blogs can be very time consuming to maintain and post updates regularly. The PR department doesn’t have to go it alone. Consider having several employees from different departments contribute to the blog each week. Varied perspectives will keep it interesting for the reader while helping you balance out organizational resources.

Tags: blogs, PR Tactics, SEO
Posted in PR Tactics, Weblogs | No Comments »

---