An Alternative to Cold Calling

In the past, a blind e-mail to a name in a large directory was the standard way to source new work. With Twitter, it’s now easier to gain direct access to those same people without a filter. Responding to their tweets through @ replying and re-tweeting is your in, and building your own informative feed that blends your current work with your unique voice is your sell. It shows your work and unique personality, something lost in a one-shot e-mail.

Build Your Sources/Employers

Sharing your current work through your twitter feed serves a two-fold purpose. It shows that you’re busy (and reliable), and showcases the topics you cover. If you’ve done your due diligence connecting with editors, content managers and marketers in position to hire freelancers, they know you’re out there and more importantly, know how to connect with you. As well, connecting with other freelancers in your industry is a great way to gather new sources and information for your current projects by asking pointed questions and responding in kind.

Utilizing a few minutes of your time a day building a network in 140 characters or less could yield work and sources down the road.

Lou Perseghin lives in Providence, RI and works for a non-profit managing volunteers, recruiting members and handling marketing efforts.

Image from media.giantbomb.com

Even Chris Brogan,  an undisputed master of social media,  admits to a few pitfalls as his operations have grown. “My first attempt at managing my inbox was a failure because I wasn’t very human about it,” says Chris.  And just by admitting his failure, he shows how great he is at being, well, human.

“In every case that you build tools and process into your business,” says Chris,  “work out how you’ll keep it a human business: relationship-minded, sustainable, and friendly.“

Wise words for any budding entrepreneur. But automated responses aren’t always the culprit. In an effort to gain credibility and come off as a no-nonsense professional, you may want to stay all business. Dry.  Formal.  Never erring from your corporate message. But social media in particular seems to reject that approach. In our last blog post, Dawn Alcott explained that heavy hitters like Seth Godin, Chris Brogan, and J. Money succeed because “they aren’t afraid to be themselves.” Platforms like twitter and facebook provide the means to establish a friendly face for even the largest corporation. Take advantage of these faculties. Crack a joke. Share a (relevant) anecdote. Sometimes all it takes is an appropriately placed “?!?” or even, dare I say it, a telling emoticon to show that yeah, you’re a person. A person who, apparently, when necessary, can  curl their mouth into the shape of an S.

This isn’t a new concept by any means. But it remains relevant whether you are a fledgling company preparing to hire your first employee, or a multinational conglomerate. If you are struggling to establish not just your company’s identity, but its personality, keep trying. Emote. Add a conversational tone to your auto-responses. Or, if either a) you’re a bit on the bland side yourself or b) you really don’t have the time to be human, try hiring writers (who tend to be bottomless pits of personality) for your content marketing needs.

And If you absolutely have to use  robots, why not use Wall-E as a model? Develop robots that will bring grown men to tears!

Nicola Fairhead is an ideaLaunch editorial intern with a ferocious appetite for writing, editing, and consuming content.  She has quickly become a content marketing evangelist.

image courtesy of http://www.hooversbiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/sadrobot.jpg

Team Conan is in the Lead. Image from BittenandBound.com

In life and business, things are not always sunshine and lollipops (and if that’s news to you, I’d like to switch places with you for a week, please). While public relations is most frequently used to announce good, fun things like product launches and events, PR is also utilized to deal with tough issues.

As you’re probably aware, NBC has one of these tough issues on its hands: it has three evening variety shows and a schedule that’s not working well for anyone. To combat this, NBC suggested bumping everyone back – a move that greatly tests peoples’ interest and ability to keep their eyes open late enough to catch their favorite funny man (be it Leno, Conan or Fallon). Jay Leno agreed and NBC pressed Conan O’Brien for his response. It came this afternoon in the form of a public (aka PR) statement. I’ll let you read it for yourself:

People of Earth:

In the last few days, I’ve been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, I’ve been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I’ve been absurdly lucky. That said, I’ve been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision.

Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over The Tonight Show in June of 2009. Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004 I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future. It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule. Building a lasting audience at 11:30 is impossible without both.

But sadly, we were never given that chance. After only seven months, with my Tonight Show in its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime-time by making a change in their long-established late night schedule.

Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move the Tonight Show to 12:05 to accommodate the Jay Leno Show at 11:35. For 60 years the Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn’t the Tonight Show. Also, if I accept this move I will be knocking the Late Night show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.

So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of The Tonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet a time slot doesn’t matter. But with the Tonight Show, I believe nothing could matter more.

There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next. My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work.

Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; it’s always been that way.

Yours,

Conan

Is that not a well-crafted statement or what? Here’s what you can learn about PR from this event and this statement:

• Online, news travels fast – and it travels quickest by people on social networks. Within an hour of the statement being sent to the “People of Earth” it was trending on Twitter feeds. For the most part, blogs were some of the first to carry it with online media coming in a close second. This is a chief reason why using an online news wire like ideaLaunch client, PRWeb, makes a lot of sense.
• Keep it sincere. One of the top complaints people have about official statements is that they sound as if they were crafted by a department (and they often are) rather than an individual. This release is Conan O’Brien through-and-through. The classic self-deprecating comment at the end seals it for anyone in doubt.
• Know your audience. This is important for all aspects of content marketing. Understand their issues (like not likely watching a late night program on Tivo) and communicate to them.
• Understand that it’s not all about you. While this was a statement from Conan about his participation in the NBC TV line-up, the point that is most driven home in this release is about the interests of the audience and the integrity of the show for their viewing pleasure. The concept of putting one’s ego to the side and speaking about what matters to the audience is something that every content marketer should remind themselves of.
• Nail down the facts. This statement reviews the situation and the history of The Tonight Show succinctly, giving the reader excellent context for the rationale behind his decision.
• Be a professional. Whining, name-calling and all-around bridge burning won’t get people on your side. Writing and acting with class always will.

With one, simple, well-crafted piece of PR writing, Conan O’Brien has a slew of “Team Conan” supporters that will likely follow him wherever he goes.

NameChk: We might have some work to do ourselves!

Fellas, zip those flies back up – that’s not what we meant.

In the world of content marketing, it’s important to establish your brand name and have consistency in how you use it. When you came up with your company’s name you were smart enough to capture a good url for it (uh, we hope) – but what about all those other social media platforms?

A great way to easily find out if your username or brand name is available on various mediums is to try NameChk. It’s free, simple and brings up 54 different social media websites in seconds. There, you can easily see if your desired username is available – and if not, you can click on the site and see how it’s being used (which is also a great way to keep tabs on any possible identity theft if you’re looking up your business name).

Do you need to go out and secure your username on all of these sites? Probably not – but it may be a good idea to secure your name on the big ones that you may use in the future – such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and blogging sites. This way, when you are ready to expand your content marketing efforts, the brand name is already taken care of (because nobody wants to be BrandName1 … or worse, BrandName2).

May 8, 2009 The good people at Junta42 manage to give “10 Steps to Personal Branding Success,” without becoming obnoxious.

May 12, 2009, Ian Lurie walks us through “27 Steps to Successful Analytics,” in his characteristic tongue-in-cheek humor.

May 13, 2009 Connect the Docs blogger Ambal Balakrishnan shares “The Four P’s of Content Marketing.” Her post is the ultimate DIY-it is virtually a list of questions that makes readers fill in the content.

May 15, 2009 Chris Brogan gives tips on “Speaking and Presenting- Your Next Actions,” so you dont bore them to sleep.

May 15, 2009 Smashing Magazine breaks up Click Confusion with “Optimizing Conversion Rates: It’s all about Usability.”