Strategic Public Relations

Ignore Everybody | BOOK REPORT | 08.25.09

If I had to sum up Hugh MacLeod’s first book as a Twitter post, it would be “to thine own (creative) self be true.”

MacLeod sums it up a bit differently in his final chapter: “Work hard. Keep at it. Live simply and quietly. Remain humble. Stay positive. Create your own luck. Be nice. Be polite.”

Not Your Father’s Business Book
MacLeod’s 40-chapter creative manifesto is a quick, inspiring read -- peppered with salty language.

This is only worth mentioning due to the rare cussing in business books. But in fact it reinforces a point the book makes about “drawing a line between what you are willing to do and what you are not willing to do” and the cost of commercial success.

How do you maintain the authority to draw that line? This answer involves one of my favorite parts of the book, “the sex and cash theory.” Creative folks have a job to pay the bills and a job that is sexy and their true passion.

Another interesting piece from the book discusses how once your creative idea starts to take root and get momentum people join your cause. Do they understand the idea and agree with it or do they just want to share in the momentum? If it’s the latter your cause could derail. I'll note that hangers on like to steer the train.

Ignore Everybody and 39 other Keys to Creativity
Both of the above examples make a point that this book is applicable to a wide swath of folks that are creative, consider themselves creative and want to be (more) creative. There’s some good stuff in this book and worth picking up a copy.

Pay It Forward
This book landed in my hands thanks to the generosity of David E. Bowman. So I thought it only fair to also pass it along in the hopes we can keep it travelling. I’m sending it North to Colin McKay, also known as Canuckflack.

Meanwhile at The Bad Pitch Blog…

While Summer Hours are in effect, Richard Laermer and I are getting ready to do a Bad Pitch blog teleseminar to help folks with their media relations skills.

The pitches seem to be getting worse vs. getting better as they become the story. Personally I’m blaming the misuse of tools vs. the tools themselves.

Learn more about Bad Pitch Night School (during the day) at Crappy PR.

We have 10 free scholarships we’re giving out to some folks between jobs as well as some students (who I guess are before jobs). And every single registrant gets a free copy of the “Full Frontal PR” e-book. So it’s a pretty good deal.

If you’re interested, make sure you register in time for the Wednesday, June 29^th event. It’s from 1-2pm edt. And I should probably note you can follow the Bad Pitch blog on Twitter. Cause all the cool kids are doing it. Well, the older kids anyway.

Satisfied Customer Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000 | BOOK REPORT | 01.03.09

Pete Blackshaw is a tireless evangelist detailing the power shift between company and consumer.

In the early 90s, Blackshaw began tapping into new technologies to increase the level of consumer engagement while working in the California legislature. From there he began to see the shift that inspired him to found Planet Feedback in 1999.

In his book, “Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000,” Blackshaw offers left-brained insight into doing more than simply reacting to the power of word or mouth, the changing consumer and the quickly evolving social media landscape.

Conversation Must Be Earned
What I enjoyed most about this book is that Blackshaw makes it clear that there are no short cuts to being transparent, authentic and having a solid product and customer support system.

“Business is no longer in control. The relationship between a company and empowered consumers must be built on two-way communication and mutual respect.”

WOM How-To Manual
The book outlines several tools readers can use to organize themselves for this new relationship with the customer.

Credibility Quadrant: This tool serves as a gut check, telling companies if they’re prepared to actively participate in social media.

Indexed Searches: Blackshaw walks readers through creating indexed searches on several sites to track conversations around relevant keywords and issues.

Troubleshooting Playbook: Are you prepared to defend and protect your brand in a time of crisis? Blackshaw briefly outlines the steps to do so, including listening, identifying an issue and responding to it.

Know thy Customer
One of my favorite ideas Blackshaw provides is fleshing out customer profiles to determine if they are an online influencer. Threadless does a great job of this. Threadless knows I’m not spending a ton of money on their t-shirts…not as much as I would like anyway. But they also know I have an online presence. Done gracefully, companies could create expanded customer profiles and rely on influencers to help spread the word about important brand news or issues. Any company with e-commerce capabilities could easily create these profiles in short order and help inspire word of mouth about their brand.

Bottom Line
This book is designed to help marketers get what they’ve wanted all these years -- a better relationship with their customers. Pete Blackshaw’s left brain approach to the fuzzy, “2.0 social realm” makes for a helpful read for anyone trying to connect social and metrics.

050905.wom_n uploaded by Tom Fishburne
tags | public relations | PR | advertising | marketing | consumer-generated media | brand | Pete Blackshaw