7 ways to keep people interested

Rich or poor, there will always be one item everyone needs more: TIME. The inevitable suffocation of email, text messages, voicemails, newspapers, TV have streamlined the methods of communication. For both the everyday consumer and businesses, it is increasingly important to be as concise and relevant as possible in messages to both one another and to target audiences. This concept, of course, is not just relevant to the Social Media guru. It applies to virtually every available avenue of communication delivery.

7 ways to keep people interested in what you have to say:

1. It's not about you. Define your message and stick to it. EXAMPLE: If you wish to be followed on Twitter because you fancy yourself as legitimately knowledgeable in a particular category, 90% of your tweets should be relevant to that concept. A fellow Tweeter may originally chose to follow you because they find the links you post are helpful - not because they want to know your favorite and coffee and "are ready for Friday to be here." Analyzing any social media profile is an easy way to find the narcissists traversing the Earth.

2. Avoid abbreviations. It just makes your message sound amateur. No one wants to take the time to decipher your invented hieroglyphic language of shortened words. Similarly, sEnTeNcEs LiKe tHiS aRe eNdLesSly oBnOxIoUs. If you passed the 8th grade, use proper grammar. If you feel it is absolutely necessary to abbreviate, chances are, there is a more concise way to get your point across.

3. Headlines are king. (particularly in microblogging and texting) Your content may change the course of history, but if the headline is trash, your own mother won't even both reading it. Imagine scrolling down a list of hundreds of headlines all pertaining to the same subject... which link would you care to read? Use that formula for your own headlines.

4. You are not the CNN army of one. Message blasting is ego-tastic. Think of the little boy who cried "wolf". Don't be the little communicator that cried "everything I say is important, because I say so." Screen how much you share. Avoid the self-proclaimed experts, and don't become one. Timely, relevant and succinct messages sell themselves. Throwing up fifty new posts, headlines and press releases an hour will not earn you a big following... much less will it do much for your credibility. Peter Kim makes an excellent point regarding the building and maintaining of relationships through social networks.

5. Your brand is not your alter ego. This ties directly into credibility. If web authority is what you want, don't create a false identity. Be your brand - it's not your turtle shell.

6. Listen, listen, listen, jump in. You must give respect to receive it, but ALWAYS be willing to listen first and speak second. A target audience is a small town and people know immediately if you are new to the area. Don't immediately try to be the life of the party or you will become the new neighbor who wasn't invited to the 4th of July.

7. Expect the expected. Consciously build your brand, or people will do it for you. Contrary to guerrilla marketing, it it can always help to appear where your audience EXPECTS to see you. Call it the gray area of permission marketing.

If you have an insight or thought to share, please feel free to comment or drop me an email at pauljmatson@gmail.com. Find me on Twitter @PaulMatson.

Five ways to keep up with Social Media

Web interfaces such as Twitter, Facebook and Google have been stealing news headlines left and right, and there are now enough Social Media phrases to fill a modern dictionary.

If you chose to go on a social media binge, it can be a challenge to keep four personal profiles updated with accurate information. Much less, do most people have time to stay ahead of new trends and tools that become available. How does one stay on top of social media without inducing a coronary or aneurysm?

Five simple methods that require little effort:

1. Stop watching Lost. Obviously, you have to make SOME time to learn. One can only begin to fathom the amount productive free time possible if one stops watching mindless TV.

2. Start an RSS feed. Instead of surfing web sites, simply set up Google Reader (it takes 60 seconds or less, proven) and start following relevant blogs, sites and developers. Each day, check it once for new content and read what appeals to you.

3. Google Alerts. This is how it works: type in a few key phrases (Social Media and Web 3.0, for example) and have Google do the research for you. You will receive emails, at an interval of your choosing, listing links and sites where your key phrases have appeared. Companies also use this method as a way to keep track of who is talking about them in the blogosphere.

4. Del.icio.us and Digg. You're not going to find everything by yourself. Social bookmarking provides an enormous advantage to peer into what others have (dugg) up. The Internet is too big for anyone to navigate solo.

5. Talk to others and pose questions. Word of mouth is still one of the most effective communication tools. Start conversations with people who are interested in similar topics and ask questions. Even if you don't think they would know the answer, brainstorming is the first step toward original ideas!

Three blogs to add to your RSS feed (these are all PR, marketing and social media pros):
Seth Godin
Brian Solis
Todd Defren

There couldn't be a more appropriate video for this post:


Helpful? I hope so. Send me an email at pauljmatson@gmail.com or leave a comment!

What (and) When to Twitter

As a senior PR student, it has been exciting to watch so many freshmen and undergraduate students get into social media. Even though I have been studying public relations since day one of classes, it took me two years to begin to understand why social media matters.

I frequently receive questions about what some social media tools are and what purpose they serve. Some still say that they think Twitter is "creepy" and that blogging "does not make any sense."

Sounds like a generation that has been jaded by Myspace.

Somehow I doubt we'll be watching a Dateline episode of "To Catch a Tweeter" any time soon. On the topics of Twitter and blogging, the two most frequent questions I hear are usually either:
What do I Twitter/Tweet about? (or) What should I blog about?

The most succinct answer I have about Twitter is this: use the 70-20-10 rule. (Thank you, Angela Maiers) Generally speaking:

--> 70% of your tweets should be about sharing articles, tools or helpful links;
--> 20% should be a personal thought or insight;
--> 10% should be personal conversation or responses

If you ever need to send someone a message that applies ONLY to them, a direct message is more appropriate 100% of the time. Simply type "d + their username" followed by your message.

The best advice I've ever heard about blogging comes from Seth Godin (granted, he is host to one of the most widely-read marketing blogs on Earth). Read it here. This was the last article I read before I began blogging in 2006.

Got a question? Please drop me an email at pauljmatson@ gmail.com or follow me on Twitter username: twitter.com/PaulMatson. Please subscribe!

No such thing as an expert

"Nothing is sacred anymore."

Ironically, people must have been saying that 200 years ago. With the explosion of the Internet, there have been just as many inherent pitfalls as there have been benefits. Communication, commerce and efficiency are all common advantages when it comes to going digital. Unfortunately, the Internet is also intricately woven with misleading content, outright lies, and cyberspace traps. But you already knew that, right?

One of the biggest ongoing struggles facing the web today is establishing a standard for ethics and information distribution. While there are stories of predators, scams, and data theft, an unusually common annoyance is the self-proclaimed expert.

No one likes a know-it-all

From entertainment, to politics, the economy, or advertising (and the list goes on), no industry is safe. People everywhere on the Internet, and even in person, claim to have an expertise on some topic, but according to whose standards? Their own?

People are only experts on their own opinions. One may know a plethora about the medical field and have four Ph.Ds, but they will never know everything about the subject. Of course, the question becomes obvious; what is an expert? According to Webster's expertise: Expert: a person who has special skill or knowledge in some particular field; specialist; authority.

Because every individual interprets "expert" differently, it would be more accurate for a person to say they have "very specific experience and knowledge in a particular field." Otherwise, there might as well be no credibility to the title whatsoever.

The Bottom Line

It's as though some people claim expertise the same way that Knights claimed a kingdom in medieval England - by force, and mostly without the consent of others.

Love or hate what you have read, please leave a comment or feel free to send me an email at pauljmatson@gmail.com!

The Morality Myth

For both the daily news aficionado and the occasional newspaper headline skimmer, it is easy to recall some of the biggest media blunders throughout history. Being the 21st century, America has experienced everything from a simple Freudian slip from a news anchor to disastrous copy editing errors in a newspaper headline. More than not, these mistakes are accepted as reminders of our human imperfection and parodies are even made to commemorate some of our favorite public slip-ups.

The 2007 controversy with Don Imus, however, is an entirely different story. Shock jock or not, we all know that the radio veteran found himself unemployed and in the middle of national social backlash after a brief inappropriate comment made about the Rutgers women's basketball team.

The details are not difficult to unravel; most of MSNBC's advertisers associated with Imus in the Morning pulled out within hours, media statements were prepared, and personal apologies began to hit the airwaves.

The Corporate Tremble

If one knows anything about both corporate and private media, a colossal amount of revenue is generated from network ad space sales. Simply put: no advertisers, no show. More than a year after Imus' radio faux pas, he is consequently back on the air. However, this time advertisers are timid to commit their financial loyalty. Big surprise. Most Americans would like to believe that Imus' being fired, public embarrassment, and slow return to the spotlight are all part of his moral punishment.

Not so fast. Put yourselves in the shoes of MSNBC. If Imus' dispicable comments resonated with less controversy throughout society, it's almost guaranteed that he would never have been removed from his show. Furthermore, advertisers would be just as eager as ever to throw cash at the radio show. Timid behavior from the news corporation's leaders and their advertisers is simply a reflection of how the public might react and not necessarily a reaction of their moral code.

The bottom line is this: Living in a capitalist society means everyone is in the business of something. And that, of course, means you either turn a profit or get out squeezed out of the industry. A corporation's dramatic decision to cancel a show such as Imus' or make major changes in the company are decisions made on grounds of perceived profitabilty, not moral standards.

I'm not saying that MSNBC or any other conglomerate is bigotted or racist, but the truth is companies will tend to choose their path in the marketplace based on risk management and profit potential... not necessarily moral grounds.

Cutting Imus was, in essence, a move to cut a severe loss in ratings. Advertisers on the show pulling out was a natural reaction to save face in public association. No one wants to be caught talking to the kid on the playground that everyone hates. Furthermore, bringing Imus back is in part a result of financial analysts predicting a monetary comeback if Imus was reinstated.

Get the picture?

Love or hate what you've read, please leave a comment or feel free to drop me an email at pauljmatson@gmail.com.

The Social Media Lifestyle

From Internet forums, message boards, weblogs, wikis, podcasts, vlogs, to Twitter, Facebook and Second Life; the sky is limit when it comes to Social Media tools. Today's PR practitioner not only has the task of being knowledgeable about what tools are available, but must know which programs to use at what time. With the wide variety of Web 2.0-driven software, it can be a hot mess trying to discover the best social mediums for a brand.

Technology, of course, is only going become more advanced with time and will do so at an ever-increasing pace. An avid news junkie may even have trouble keeping tabs on the latest Social Media trend or daily Web 2.0 fad. A RSS feed of new SM tools and reading industry advice is not the end all solution. To be most effective, an industry practitioner needs to make Social Media a part of their daily lifestyle.

Your grandmother's Facebook

It's no secret that some of the Baby Boomers still have trouble understanding "the Google." Much less would you expect to be talking to your grandmother on Facebook chat, sharing your favorite sites with her on Del.icio.us or finding her blog on Technorati. There's nothing wrong with that, of course- it's just not a part of her lifestyle.

The Internet is a common ground for all information seekers with technology at their disposal. Unless one is immersed in Social Media tools on a regular basis, no one can expect to know the lingo, trends, or rules associated with every SM tool out there. Twitter may be easy to use, but there is an etiquette to be followed and methods to reach broader audiences that are not obvious to a first-time user.

No such thing as an expert

The bottom line is this: it takes time to learn how to EFFECTIVELY use Social Media. You wouldn't pick up a hammer out of your tool box and start whacking away unless you knew how to use it. Social Media can be profoundly effective or equally destructive if utilized poorly. Having a user name and password to every latest SM site does not make you an expert on to use it!

Take time to read about the programs, but not just from the homepage. Read blogs about the SM tool, scroll through public forums, and pay close attention to mainstream headlines when they happen to pop up in the news. Most importantly, use the tool regularly and pay close attention to how popular users operate their account.

Don't forget that the one characteristic that makes Social Media unique is the fact that it is user created and driven. Companies make the algorithm and concept, but people make the content.

And that, fellow blog reader, includes you.

Love or hate what you've read, please leave a comment or drop me an email at pauljmatson@gmail.com.

Back off, evil marketers: the danger of over-delivering your message

The angle:

Read this blog because I wrote it, and you know me. So pretty please?
VS.
I write about it... because I think you should know.
Props, Seth Godin.

As most marketers know, the number one rule to "cool" is not to let your marketing show. MTV may be one of the most recognizable companies to fit this niche. After all, the network is one humongous advertisement - something is being sold; CONSTANTLY. If their primary TV audience all realized this at once, the network could potentially tailspin. When was the last time you looked forward to talking to an uninvited salesperson?

That being said...

THE MANTRA: MTV represents you in all your pop culture glory - they would never tell you what is cool. You tell THEM what's cool, and they'll happily sell it back to you in every imaginable way. It's a classic example of selling ice cream to Eskimos. The trick is making consumers feel as though they're not being duped (er, sold) - money spent on concert tickets, online music videos and countless hours watching meaningless reality shows is simply allowing consumers to participate in "cool" culture. A chance to fit in. In essence, MTV could be called Marketing Television. People will talk and propagate their messages and programs without the feeling that MTV is paying for any of it.

So, you already knew all of that? I'm glad someone is paying attention. So what business WOULDN'T want people to think the world of them? Why wouldn't you want to want to appear to be the number one brand?

Anti-brand

The irony is that having all the positive free publicity in the world can hurt you. Making promises and over-delivering doesn't work every time. Take the latest Indiana Jones installment (set to be in theaters May 22). Steven Spielberg is actually downplaying his film, worried that spoilers and other media will have people expecting too much from the latest Jones whipping action. The result of high expectations? Big letdowns. Simple as that.

Not to slight his own production, but Spielberg knows the danger in over-promotion.

The bottom line is this: a good product can help sell itself, but don't let everyone believe you're #1 unless you really ARE #1.

Last words of a dying father

Although I wouldn't consider myself an avid Oprah enthusiast, this is undoubtedly a clip worth 10 minutes of your time.

Randy Pausch is a Professor of Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction, and Design at Carnegie Mellon, where he was the co-founder of Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center (ETC). He was a National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator and a Lilly Foundation Teaching Fellow. He has done Sabbaticals at Walt Disney Imagineering and Electronic Arts (EA), and consulted with Google on user interface design. Dr. Pausch received his bachelors in Computer Science from Brown University and his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University. He is the author or co-author of five books and over 70 articles, is the director of the Alice (www.alice.org) software project, and has been in zero-gravity.

He's also married with three young children.

Welcome to the Abercrombie & Fitch Emergency Department & Trauma Center

Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio was constructed with help from a 50 million dollar donation from the insurance mecca. It's no surprise that any legitimate organization, particularly a children's hospital, is more than happy to accept such a generous donation. Children's hospitals are an illustration of innocence and a hope for brighter futures- an affiliation plenty of companies would pay top dollar of which to be a part.

Clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch agrees. Nationwide Children's Hospital is about to break ground on the Abercrombie & Fitch Emergency Department & Trauma Center after receiving a 10 million dollar donation from the clothing giant. On the way in, you can also stop by the Limited Too and Justice Main Lobby. No, seriously.

Maybe we could build a new home for the President of the United States and call it the Ronald McDonald House. White is a boring color anyway.

As most are aware, A&F has a reputation for utilizing increasingly risque advertising, and is often accused of targeting young adults and adolescent teens with sex appeal.

You don't have to be a Seth Godin to realize the conflict of interest at hand. Advocacy groups have collaborated in a minor uproar against A&F's strategy. It's easy to see Abercrombie's motivation behind such a donation (there's only so many times you can hear "clean up your act" before the corporate PR team has to do something). Nevertheless, a donation to a Children's hospital just gives Abercrombie's image a little bit of sleaze. A donation fueled by guilt, even.

Not to take it to the extreme, but basic psychology tells us that people often are the strongest advocates for a cause in which they secretly partake. Let's go down the list:

Mark Foley
Larry Craig
Eliot Spitzer

It's anyone's argument whether NCH should have accepted the donation. To be the devil's advocate, that money is going toward something that will truly benefit society. But a question of ethics? Definitely. Although it would never happen, an anonymous donation would have been best suited.