Author: Becky Green (was McMichael)

are you PR-friendly?

Posted on by Becky Green (was McMichael)

pr-friendly

I am.

Apparently.

In fact, according to Brendan Cooper, I am the 90th tallest midget in the UK PR circus (blatantly ripping off David Brain’s expression there btw).

Anyway, I do love a good list and it is clear a lot of hard graft went into this one so thanks Brendan for including me and well done to other newcomers to the PR world order such as David Brain and Paul Stallard. Am off to have a nosey at the other 99 in the list….

how do you do social?

Posted on by Becky Green (was McMichael)

Ever wondered how much overlap there is between your social networks or contact groups?

I always find it amazing that when I hit the “find people to follow or find your friends on X” button and add my email address such a relatively small number of users comes up.  Yet with fairly healthy numbers on each of the services I use, why is there so little overlap between the services?

Having received lots of “follows” on Twitter recently from friends on other networks, I started to examine how and why I use each service.

Here’s what I discovered (apart from the fact I need to pay a babysitter and get out more often and have a MASSIVE sort out to get all my contacts in one place at some point, perhaps when my daughter leaves home):

  1. I am currently active in several email or social network apps/services (such as FriendFeed, Delicious, Twitter, LinkedIn, Gmail, Flickr, Facebook, MySpace, Huddle, wordpress, Yammer, Photobucket, Google Reader, Technorati, Slideshare, MS outlook)
  2. Email aside, I began using many of these services in 2004/2005 – the oldest are MS Outlook, Photobucket and GMAIL and the newest is FriendFeed.
  3. When I compare the friends I have on each service, only approx. 15-20% are shared across social networks, the remainder is distinct to an individual network.
  4. Only approx. 40% of my social network friends are represented in my email contacts.
  5. The exception is FriendFeed that has no distinct friends – all are shared with other networks.
  6. Facebook has the highest amount of family and close personal friends.
  7. LinkedIn has the highest percentage of colleagues and ex-colleagues and the highest percentage of overlap with my email contact book.
  8. Twitter has the highest percentage of people I have never met IRL but feeds into the largest number of other apps (blog, email, IM, delicious for example)
  9. The order in which I tend to use to strike up meetings IRL are Facebook/Facebook messaging or Twitter/Twitter DM->Email ->IM-> RL -> Phone
  10. I use Twitter DM almost as often as email/phone to set up / confirm RL meetings nowadays (work related, not personal).
  11. Connecting with people you don’t know varies in both etiquette and ease.  The easiest network to contact or connect with people on are Twitter, FriendFeed and blog networks.  I find LinkedIn slightly less easy in terms of approaching people you don’t already know.  For me the big no-no is Facebook in terms of approaching strangers you’d like to contact – I feel it is a personal network and I don’t accept invites there from people I don’t know and wouldn’t expect others to either.
  12. With IM,email and mobile numbers, my rule of thumb is if you put them on your blog, it is fine to use them…providing it is relevant.
  13. Very few of mky closest friends and family are on Twitter but the majority are on Facebook
  14. In terms of the monetary value/benefits outside of the community and conversation loveliness of these services:-
  • I’ve found work via LinkedIn
  • I’ve saved recruitment costs by using LinkedIn and twitter
  • I’ve been approached for new business leads via Twitter
  • I’ve had press coverage because of the blog
  • As a remote worker, Huddle saves me money on conference /long distance calls as does IM
  • Email is by far the biggest time (and therefore money) drain

How do you do social?

The Apprentice 2009: the return of Suralun

Posted on by Becky Green (was McMichael)

apprenticelogo2He’s back.  Along with 15 hapless hopefuls trying to prove their business acumen and professional worth in order to win a year long contract working for the grumpiest man in business ™

The latest series starts this coming Wednesday (25th) at 9pm on BBC1 and can be caught on the iplayer for anyone who misses it. This year’s line up can be found here . I love the apprentice and my fave things to look out for:

  1. The shameless and usually nonsensical comments contestants use to “sell themselves” that really just make them appear deranged. (see this year’s contestant – Ben Clarke – and his quote “To me making money is better than sex” if you need an example)
  2. Margaret’s facial expressions – usually to the side of the shot when she doesn’t know she’s on camera – regular yet priceless
  3. Nick’s visible despair at the hopefuls’ lack of initiative and nous – seen in most episodes
  4. Weekly tweetwatching from the likes of me and wadds and my failure to make up my mind about the winner until the final every year (what’s the hashtag then? #theapprentice09 and #apprentice09 both seem to be in the running)
  5. The Apprentice “You’re Fired” show with Adrian Chiles straight after the regular show on BBC2 for weekly analysis and an interview with the latest reject

Based on the initial info, my money is on Yasmina and James for the final…how’s that for a total stab in the dark?!

PR proposal writing checklist

Posted on by Becky Green (was McMichael)

deskWriting a PR proposal for a new client is always a challenge. You don’t know the business but you want to deliver results…..you haven’t yet experienced the culture and personalities first hand yet you have big ideas for them…and so the list goes on.

You’d think that writing a new proposal or programme for an existing client would be so much easier?

In theory, yes, however there are some things to remember that can make the finished article have much more impact and much more success down the line.

  1. Rethink…don’t just re-hash a previous proposal or campaign. Ever. Keep learning and keep sharing that learning. Look at how stuff you have learned could solve the new comms challenges an organisation has.
  2. Improve…use the opportunity to review results for the previous year/existing campaign and make sure you tweak any areas that aren’t working and build on those that are
  3. True…to the organisation and its customers. Their values and demands are what counts at the end of the day.
  4. Remarkable…Seth Godin’s mantra has never been more relevant. Make sure the content, communities and conversations you are aiming to create will cause people not only to take notice but to want to get involved and spread the word.
  5. Measurable…no brainer. If you can’t prove value, be prepared to be cut.
  6. Transparent…think of new ways your team and your client’s team can collaborate and be open about practices, processes, costs and activity
  7. Valuable…it’s what you are aiming for and what you should be measuring. Press cutting numbers or Twitter followers doesn’t even come close….we’re talking genuine value to the business and its customers and employees.
  8. Efficient…what can you cut from the programme? What can you share? What can you recommend the client does in-house?
  9. Challenge…the market, the competition, the organisation and yourselves. Your client needs new stuff? Then learn it. Find it. Invent it. Create it. Practice it. Then propose it.
  10. Interesting…because if the proposal is dull then chances are the programme will be…

*I deliberately haven’t put creativity here because if you are doing this stuff, you should be creating something fresh, new and exciting anyway.

digital rubbernecking or a natural interest in news?

Posted on by Becky Green (was McMichael)

Seems that opinion is a little divided this morning on whether tweeting from the scene of a disaster and forwarding Twitpics of plane crashes etc is either bad taste and nothing more than digital rubbernecking or is just an honest interest in seeing news stories unravel, whether about disasters or not.

I’d like to know what you think, please participate in the survey.