Toluu

Shannon Paul's Very Official Blog

A beginner's mind approach to public relations in a world of communication experts.

Social media outreach is not a toolJanuary 4

Since so many blogs have called for the death of everything from press releases to the PR industry-at-large and embargoes, I would like to jump on the bandwagon and begin 2009 by calling for the death of social media tools.

Allow me to clarify: I am NOT calling for the death of social networks, or any kind of communication on the social web, but what I AM specifically calling for the death of the use of the word “tool” as it pertains to social media outreach for business.

I began thinking about this awhile back and included it in a comment on Dave Fleet’s very smart post: Social Media Outreach Won’t Work for Everyone.

From my comment to Dave:

More than a tool, lately I’ve begun using the “instrument” analogy to describe

5 Very Official Tips for Building an Online PresenceDecember 28 2008

The other day Arik Hanson, someone I met recently on Twitter, asked me if I could provide 5 tips for cultivating an online presence.

Now, with that in mind, please let me preface this by saying that in many ways, I feel like any kind of online presence I have began by accident. I never really set out to cultivate an online presence, I was only ever trying to learn: I didn’t have a business, or even a blog, to promote.

I probably did a lot of things wrong in the text book sort of way. In some ways, I probably still do. But, since people seem to be interested, here are the tips I have to offer. Please feel free to add to this list in the comments.

1. Leverage Twitter
I realize Twitter is just one social network; a social network without a viable business model that could disappear tomorrow, but while it’s still around use it! There’s no other platform out there that lets you access people who are already where you want to be with so little acquaintance.

On Twitter, you can have passing conversations with a

The art of listening 2009: it’s not just for customers anymoreDecember 23 2008

When it comes to pitching new ideas, or new business, do social media evangelists follow their own advice?

Convincing businesses to use tools and strategies they barely understand can be challenging at best, even for the most respected social media experts.

Before we even begin to have the dreaded ROI discussion, we often have to explain the basics of how social media works; the basic paradigm shift necessary to deliver company messages within a dialogue, instead of a monologue, as well as some of the technology that facilitates this process. But, what would happen if instead of jumping into the whys and wherefores of social media, we actually listened to the needs of our client or upper management?

Let’s face it, the words, user generated content mean absolutely nothing to 95 percent of the population whether or not they generate content as users. Right?

Those of us who practice and/or preach the value of social media like to talk about

Cultural immersion in 9 Steps For Social Media TouristsNovember 29 2008

Lately, I’ve tried to stop thinking like a marketer, or a PR professional, and I’ve started thinking more like an anthropologist when it comes to reaching out to people in social networks.

I haven’t completely done away with my marketer/PR hat and I’m not recommending you do away with yours either, since you’ll likely need it to speak in terms of ROI and objectives with your boss and/or clients.

However, any good wardrobe needs variety, and I think when it comes to approaching people, we need to borrow some good tactics from those who study what it means to be human: anthropologists.

I’ve always been resistant to shiny object syndrome, the phrase a lot of us use to describe a sole focus on particular social media tools, platforms or networks. Instead, I’m in favor of a more people-centric approach.

In my last post, I put forth my belief that social media is changing our culture by changing the way we communicate with one anoth

Comments are not adsNovember 12 2008

Last weekend’s Podcamp Michigan was the first real experience I had giving a presentation about social media at an event like that, so I am very grateful to Mark Ijlal for the invitation and all the work he put into organizing Michigan’s first-ever Podcamp.

In my last post I gave a brief overview of my presentation and shared my slide deck, but some of the questions that came after my presentation were very interesting and not quite what I had anticipated.

The first question from someone in attendance was whether I thought it was a good practice to include an extra link at the bottom of a comment that leads back to the commenter’s site/blog/whatever.

My answer is no, and although I think I made it clear that I definitely don’t think this is a good practice, what I didn’t do so well is explain why I don’t think it’s a good practice. Thanks to Ken Burbary for helping to clarify this in our offline discussion.

Leaving comments on other peoples’ blogs should not simply be a way to get clicks to your site.

Other people do not write blog posts to give you a free spot to place