I'm usually not a big fan of shameless self promotion. You know, the whole "look at me...I'm kind of a big deal". Well, sometimes a little self promotion isn't a bad thing. Especially during the infancy of a new business venture. Hell, most people would argue that shameless self promotion is one of the biggest keys to a young business' success.
Anyway, at the end of July, I promised a video tour of the new Rock Solid Media office in Galion, Ohio. So, without further delay, I present the official video tour!
Since the beginning of August, I've been participating in a Twitter chat with other public relations and marketing professionals. Twitter chats aren't a new phenomenon in the social media-sphere. In fact, there are 2 other Twitter chats that I know of happening on Tuesday nights at 8pm.
Even though this concept isn't new, it is for the target audience of this particular chat. School PR Chat was started by Shane Haggerty (follow Shane on Twitter). Shane is the Marketing & Communications Director of Ohio Hi-Point Career Center and he's started a new venture called Social Learning Lab. I encourage you to check out Hi-Point's website and Social Learning Labs.
One of the goals of School PR Chat is to bring together school district public relations and marketing professionals to share insights about a very challenging area of communications and marketing. Since its inception in early August, the venture has struggled to get a high level of participation. One of the biggest reasons is that school PR professionals are still slow to embrace Twitter as a viable channel for communications.
So, what's the point of this post? First, I wanted to bring attention to a chat that, as I write this, needs more participants. School district public relations professionals need to work together to keep up with the rapidly changing landscape of the internet and social media. School PR Chat can help connect school PR pros with one another
The other reason is to encourage you to think about starting a Twitter chat for your area of expertise. Use Twitter as a way to network with other professionals in your field or with current and prospective clients. Use the social media channel to show your knowledge or to learn more to expand your knowledge. Don't be scared of Twitter. You never know when it might just lead to your next client!
If you're a school district public relations professional, I'd like to invite you to the next School PR Chat. Just search #schoolprchat at twitter.com!
When you were little, did you ever wish you could be a super hero? I’ll be honest; I was obsessed with action heroes like Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. I would always daydream about having some life-altering experience like Spiderman and suddenly having my own super powers. Sadly, I could never seem to pin point what my power would be if I had the ability to choose. After 22 years and one State of the Schools Address later, I think I’ve finally figured it out.
I’ve decided that my super power would be……Drum roll please…...
The ability for things to run PERFECTLY the first time around; I’m talking smooth as a baby’s bottom, fly off the handle, no issues here, PERFECT!
Why out of everything in the world would I choose this, you might ask? Have I bumped my head? How could I turn down things like immortality, the ability to fly or the strength of the Hulk? Well, first things first, I don’t think green is really my color and I don’t know how I feel about spandex, but second after Rock Solid’s first shot at the Bucyrus City Schools State of the Schools address it might have come in handy and brought a little ease into our lives. Too bad my hopes and dreams are unrealistic, right?
Now, don’t get me wrong, the night went well and we were thrilled with the turnout, but we did learn a few things. A few things that I think we can improve upon and while allowing us to do bigger and better things at next year’s event, without any “outside” help.
Practice Makes Perfect
Practice, practice, practice and then if you have time practice again. I realize we are all busy and never “really” seem to have time for extra meetings or run-throughs, but think about it this way, would you rather set aside some extra time to make sure you get things right on “game day”, or be humiliated in front of a crowd of people because you didn’t put enough time into perfecting your presentation? I don’t know about you, but I’ve never enjoyed giving a speech and looking out at a group of people falling asleep or even walking out because I couldn’t keep their attention and interest. Adequate practice will help you blow them away and keep them asking for more.
Don’t Assume
Never assume people are on the same page with you. Whether it be PowerPoints, layouts or overall presentation skills, it’s dangerous to just assume everyone knows what you are talking about or that they understand the way to effectively accomplish the task at hand. Talk with them one-one-one, ask questions and don’t be afraid to give suggestions. Remember, assuming makes a you know what out of YOU and Me. Don’t fall victim to this old, yet important life motto.
Timing Is Everything
Remember to give yourself enough time in advance, that if problems or issues arise you have time to fix them. Always allot time for changes, mistakes or an overall revamping of your presentation; sticking to a well-planned time schedule will allow you to do things with ease and avoid the horror of literal, “last-minute” changes. Take it from us, fixing things the day before is much better than dealing with them five minutes before an event is about to begin.
So let’s be honest, you can’t leap a tall building in a single bound and you’re not faster than a speeding bullet, but who cares! You don’t need those silly super-hero powers to pull off a top-notch affair, it’s as simple as 1,2,3. I bet super heroes wished their jobs were that easy!
T-minus 30 minutes and counting, palms sweating, heart thumping and the smell of spaghetti in the air, myself and the other members of the Rock Solid crew anxiously await the kickoff of the first annual Bucyrus City Schools State of the Schools Address. The question on everyone’s mind, will we achieve success, or will our hard work and dedication have been done in vain?
If you know what I’m talking about, please raise your hand. I think it’s safe to say we aren’t alone on this one. Anyone that’s ever planned an event feels like they are in the hot seat moments before the kickoff begins. There are so many unknowns that just seem to drive you crazy. Do we have enough food, will the media show to cover the story, are there enough chairs, will the presentation run smoothly and of course the most important question, but the one no one really wants to ask, will people even come? So how do you get through this “stressful” situation without feeling the need to grab a beer or chew off the few remaining nails you have left? The keys to success; stay calm, keep cool and always appear collected.
Breath In, Breath Out
Staying calm is good for your health. It allows you to think clearly, quickly react to unexpected events and keep everything in perspective. Remind yourself you aren’t in a life or death situation, no one will get hurt if things don’t go the way you’ve planned and at the end of the day you’ve done everything within your power to make the event, whatever it may be, a success. If you’ve done your best, there is no sense in stressing yourself out for nothing. Remember, if there is a fire you don’t run around like a chicken with your head cut off, you stop, drop and roll. Sometimes in a situation like this you need to do a mental stop, drop and roll just to put out any “mental flames” that may have ignited inside your head. (I do not suggest a literal stop, drop and roll. As your fire safety instructor might be proud of you for remembering after so many years, your client may think you’ve lost a few marbles.)
Never Let Them See You Sweat
Keep cool, literally! No one likes a sweaty, pit-stained professional running the show. If you need a few minutes to “cool off” excuse yourself to the nearest exit or restroom, and take a few minutes to put yourself back together and freshen up. If you’re not sure how long is appropriate to be out of the room, sing your ABC’s (probably better to sing them in your head rather than out loud, again, people might be concerned) look yourself over in the mirror and head back out to oversee what’s happening.
Be Confident, Not Cocky
Lastly, appear collected. Confidence is KEY! If your client believes you have control of the situation or are unnerved by whatever chaos may be happening around you, they are able to fully trust and rely on you for answers. Now, I understand you may be having an internal “oh shit” moment, but probably better you keep that to yourself. Remember, you’re the professional, you’ve been trained for these moments and the client looks to YOU for advice.
So the next time your worrying about the unknowns, ask yourself three questions. Am I calm? Am I cool? And most of all, do I appear collected? Master these three keys and you can handle just about ANYTHING that might get thrown your way.
Sit back, relax and close your eyes. Sorry, I’m not going to play any Jedi Mind games, I just want you to think. Think about a time that you went to an event, party, outing or function on the sole premise that you would get something free in return. Perhaps it was some hot, new item like an iPad, or cell phone. Maybe it was something big like the chance to win a large sum of money or go on a five-day vacation. Or maybe, it was something small and simple like a koozie, t-shirt or gift card. Does any of this ring a bell? The truth is, people will do just about anything for free stuff, no matter how big or small it really is.
Companies that know this use it to their advantage all the time. Let’s face it, the way the economy is, consumers don’t seem to mind one bit. It doesn’t take much to get their attention, keeping it is the hard part. The million-dollar question, how do you keep that interest? What is it about your particular product or service that keeps them constantly coming back for more? Now that my friends is the real kicker.
We think the answer is actually very simple. In fact, it’s an approach we used recently at the Bucyrus City Schools Administrative Center Media Tour. We invited local media to come tour the newly renovated Lincoln Building, and invited them to stay for a catered lunch. Nothing fancy, just deli sandwiches and chips, while providing them with a chance to ask questions. Do you remember the old saying, “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”? Well, what about the media’s heart? Seems as though the same concept applies. We used something small and inexpensive like food, let’s be honest who turns down a good meal, to get them interested. However, we didn’t stop there. We realized it wouldn’t be enough to just satisfy their appetites, we needed to satisfy their need for must-have, behind-the-scenes information they couldn’t find anywhere else. Attaining that goal was easy thanks to the following rules we laid out for ourselves:
Do Your Homework
Research your media outlets. Identify reporters’ likes and dislikes, or which topics fall under their designated “areas” of coverage. Look at old stories they’ve written. Does the pitch you are going to present them seem to fit. If it’s too far off the beaten path, try to connect with someone else who might seem to have a closer fit, or consider another angle. It’s also important to find out how you can contact them in the future, along with the best times they can be reached. You don’t want to reach out to them on the day of your big event and discover they aren’t even working that shift. Lastly, know how they like to communicate. Is it best to call or e-mail them? Do they like to chitchat or get right to the point? This will allow you to better communicate with them when the time arises. Doing your homework preps you for the big day.
Get the Facts
Take time to collect the facts about the event or function you’re holding. Compile a list of things you feel might be important or seen as special or unique about your event, venue, speaker or audience. Remember, the media want something different. Providing them with something new and fresh just might be your ticket to getting that coverage you’ve been looking for. If you don’t know the answer don’t be afraid to ask another source, just make they know what they are talking about. There is nothing worse than giving out incorrect data; it makes you look foolish and unprepared. Check and then double-check the information. Check for grammatical errors as well as format issues. Remember, everything you create is a direct representation of who you are as a company. What kind of image do you want to portray? Try to keep it concise by narrowing down the most important facts. Once completed, check your RSVPs and see how many copies you need. Make sure to bring along a few extras, just in case media show up unannounced.
Reach Out
Don’t be afraid to reach out to the media. Use your resources. Prepare some sort of invitation for your upcoming event and personally ask them to be a part of it. Keep it simple, and remember the basics, your: who, what, when, where and why. Ask for RSVPs and set realistic goals for responses. Give them adequate time to respond, but make sure to follow up with an e-mail. Don’t be afraid to follow up your e-mail with a phone call. Be kind yet assertive. Remind them of the event and why you think their audience would appreciate the information, but don’t be too pushy. You don’t want to sound like your begging. Confidence is key; you want to make them fell like they would be missing out if they couldn’t make it, without really saying it.
So the answer to that million-dollar question; It’s all about the basics, but I guess a little food doesn’t hurt either. Sticking to these very simple, yet effective tools will ultimately set you apart from your competition. Take it from us, if you do these small things your results will be sweet. Now, that’s being one smart cookie!
Photo from othersideoftheplanet.com
Since April, we've been pretty consistent in writing new articles for our blog. We've had a bunch of people read our posts, and we appreciate you taking time to read our posts.
So, where the hell have we been? We're changing in several different ways. First, we've added Tegan Ellis to our staff, and are bidding farewell to Bryan Mulvany. Bryan, over the last 12 months, has been a great catalyst for helping Rock Solid Media grow. He's decided to pursue another career path, and we wish him all the best. Tegan is a 2010 graduate of Ohio Northern University, and we're excited to have her onboard. She'll be working primarily with the Bucyrus City Schools as their Communications Specialist. We hope to have her bio page added soon!
Second, we're moving. Rock Solid Media is "movin' on up to the East side." Literally! We've found a new home in the old JcPenny building, now the Lincoln Way Professional Building, in Uptowne Galion. We're excited to be making the jump to our first "true" office space. Pictures and a video tour will be coming soon. One of the first tasks after we move in will be to host a "Stock the Rock" party with our friends and current clients. We'll make sure to share pictures!
So, while we make these changes, we hope you'll be patient with us. We've got a lot of new information, ideas and other great stuff we want to share with you. Stay tuned for more!
Earlier this week, we took a look at what we termed the "positives" and the "challenges" to one local government social media initiative. We generated some good feedback from the readers of the post, and we were also contacted by the IT Manager for the City of Mansfield to chat some more about their foray into social media. A big virtual pat on the back to the IT Manager for listening! Wish more people would do that! We couldn't be happier that the City of Mansfield has taken on the task of engaging their community through social media. Our hope is that they're successful and that other municipalities develop their own presences.
The positives we mentioned are just that: positive. The challenges, however, could have extremely negative consequences for the future of the City of Mansfield's social media efforts. We want to offer three tips to the City of Mansfield for their social media campaign that could help them achieve the goals they set. For the sake of full disclosure. We've been contacted by, and will have a phone chat with, the IT Manager for the city, but are in no way affiliated with them.
- Give It Time - Unfortunately, social media isn't the "be all, end all" of communications. Unless you're Lebron James, Lady Gaga, or some other famous celebrity, you won't get 1,000 followers or fans in a short period of time. There's a saying that applies really well to social media. "Anything worth having is worth working for." Social media growth, and more importantly engagement by fans and followers, takes a great deal of time. It won't happen overnight. If there's one thing that plays into Mansfield's favor, it's emotion. Citizens of the city have an emotional attachment to what happens in their local government. Use that attachment, not in a bad way, to help you achieve your goals. Don't be afraid to throw a little gasoline on the fire every now and again just to make sure people are listening. But have the fire hose on standby to make sure the blaze doesn't get out of control!
- Bring It All Together - While we're not priviledged to the City of Mansfield's website traffic, our guess is that they have a fairly high volume. If you visit their website, you'll see that they have some really great video content in the form of a Video TourBook. One really easy thing for them to do is to provide links on EVERY SINGLE PAGE of their website to their Facebook Fan Page and Twitter account. Heck, why not create a separate landing page with widgets from Facebook and Twitter and invite people to "like" and follow. Ultimately, the city's website needs to be the central hub of all information, and the social media "outlets" are venues for driving more visitors to the website.
- Patience is A Virtue - We sort of touched on this in the first point, but it's so critically important that it's worth repeating. Success in social media requires a great level of patience. You're not always going to make the right moves or post the right content. Anyone who says they are a "guru" is crazy. Social media is still so young and still evolving. Don't be afraid to fall down, because you will. If your strategy is sound and your determination strong, you will succeed in social media.
What tips or ideas would you give to the City of Mansfield based on the newspaper article and their current efforts on Facebook and Twitter?
A story recently ran in the Mansfield News-Journal that highlighted the City of Mansfield's venture into the world of social media. The City has launched a Facebook Fan Page and a Twitter account. To say we're pleased by this development would be a massive understatement. Mansfield is about 25 minutes from our headquarters, and is the largest city within the North Central Ohio region. Their presence in the social mediasphere could have a positive effect on other entities, both private and public, and encourage these groups to take the "leap" into utilizing Facebook, Twitter and other social media tools.
Before we give too many more virtual high-fives or pats on the rear, we need to take a deeper look at Mansfield's social media efforts. The good and the bad. We'll start with the positives and then identify challenges Mansfield will need to overcome to achieve success.
The Positives
1.) In the Game - No matter what people say or think, positive or negative, about the social media efforts by Mansfield, the mayor and his staff are to be commended for taking the leap and getting in the game. Many of the city's contemporaries are still "scared" to make the jump because of fear of public criticism, among others.
2.). Goals Set - One of the biggest challenges of many organizations lies in goal setting. Social media is such a new venue that goals are difficult to set. According to the article, the Mayor's goal is to "inform citizens and area businesses of fun happenings in Mansfield, by showcasing the best of what Mansfield has to offer to the current residents, visitors and future residents." So the tone of the page has been set, and visitors have an expectation of what they're going to find. Excellent.
3.) Media Coverage - The only reason we found this story was that the News Journal ran it in their online edition. While the article didn't provide a direct link to Mansfield's Facebook Fan Page, it did cause us to open a new browser tab, log in to Facebook and do a search for "City of Mansfield". So, if for no other reason, the buzz that's been created from the article should help this local government social media initiative gain momentum.
The Challenges
1.) Timing - After finding the Page, we discovered it had actually been created at the end of May. The article ran at the beginning of July with the statement that "Mayor Don Culliver launched a campaign Thursday to use social media websites." So the Page was started over a month ago, but yet it is just now showing up in the media? A press release should have been sent the day the Page and Twitter account was launched. In an area like Mansfield, or North Central Ohio for that matter, organizations are still gun shy about using social media. Make a big deal about it.
2.) Expectations - This one is HUGE. In the course of the News Journal article, the city's IT manager (we'll get to that one next) was quoted as saying, "the campaign's future will depend on how well people respond. If the Facebook page hasn't attracted a certain number of friends by Aug. 1, the city won't put any more effort into it." First and foremost, how are you measuring "how well people respond?" Is it an arbitrary number of followers? Where are you getting those figures? Hopefully the IT manager didn't pull those numbers from his rear end. Another point is the length of time. The City is only going to give this initiative a month, really, to work. Story runs July 1, one and only measurement will be taken August 1. Final piece to this is that the IT manager only mentioned Facebook and didn't mention the Twitter account. He doesn't seem to have much faith in either channel.
3.) IT Manager - You waited for it, and here it is. Why the hell is an IT manager running a social media campaign? A great friend of our company is the IT Manager for a professional sports franchise in Columbus, and the last time we had drinks, he never mentioned running that franchise's social media efforts. If you read his initial comments in the article, which we quoted in the last point, it would seem he doesn't want this campaign to be successful. Why would he? It takes time away from his switches, ethernet cables, hard drives and spyware. Don't get us wrong, we love "propeller heads", but their job shouldn't be to manage communication channels with the general public. Nor should it be his place to comment publicly in the local newspaper.
Ok, so where do we see this going? Frankly, if Mansfield's presence on Facebook and Twitter still exist after August 1, we'll be shocked. There are too many challenges and roadblocks that the city's administration has put in front of this campaign for it to be successful. We want it to be a success, please don't misunderstand our statements. There are just too many factors and indicators that point to this campaign's demise before it even really gets started?
Read the entire Mansfield News Journal article, and then check out the City of Mansfield on Facebook and on Twitter. What do you think? Do you agree with our perspective? Are there other challenges to, or opportunities for, success? We'd love to get your feedback.
And if you're reading this and happen to be Mayor Culliver or the IT Manager for the City of Mansfield, feel free to give us shout. We'd love to chat more!
According to
Hubspot,
"lead generation is the science of converting site visitors into leads. In inbound marketing, visitors become leads once they fill out a form in return for some sort of offer on a targeted landing page. These leads can then be qualified and distributed to the sales team who will work to convert them into customers."
We work a lot with school districts in various ways to assist them in their marketing and communications efforts. We're also a Certified Hubspot Partner. So, it just became a natural progression to question whether lead generation can work in school districts. Let's start answering this question by looking at the first 2 parts of Hubspot's definition and apply them to school districts.
Lead generation is the science of converting site visitors into leads.
School district websites, the good ones, typically have a high volume of traffic. Especially if the district is constantly creating compelling, search optimized content. Many districts don't capitalize on their high traffic volume for one simple reason. They're not focused on generating leads. Why? Because a school district believes it isn't selling a product or service, which isn't entirely true. School districts are in the business of educating young people and equipping them with the knowledge or skills required to graduate, maybe go to college, or in some cases, enter the workplace. So, a district is selling a service; education. Career technical centers kind of understand this idea because they have to actively recruit students into their programs to survive. However, traditional k12 schools are missing a huge opportunity because they don't see the education they're providing as a service to their students or the students' parents. Traditional k-12 schools should focus on lead generation for no other reason than to increase the reach of their e-newsletters and social media efforts.
In inbound marketing, visitors become leads once they fill out a form in return for some sort of offer on a targeted landing page.
The whole idea behind inbound marketing is to pull your best customers and prospects to your website by creating great content, promoting that content through social media, and then converting site visitors to leads. I talked about it earlier. School districts that are creating great content are already pulling their "customers" (students, parents, alumni & community members) to their website. They need to take the next step and create calls-to-action that link to landing pages. These landing pages need to offer the visitor something they don't typically get by visiting the website on a regular basis. So, if a school district is utilizing e-newsletters, they need to create a call-to-action (CTA) and place it on the web pages that are getting the highest amount of traffic. Place the CTA above the fold of the web page, and link it to a landing page where visitors can sign up to receive the district's e-newsletter. Tell the visitor exactly what they're going to get from receiving the e-newsletter, how often they'll receive it, and reiterate your privacy policy that you're not going to share their personal information with anyone, and that it will be used for the sole purpose of keeping them informed about the district and its activities.
Can school districts use inbound marketing? Absolutely! While districts aren't trying to sell a product or service like a business, they are selling themselves to a specific group of customers who have a strong emotional connection. The idea of using inbound marketing techniques to grow a district's e-newsletter database is just one example.
What other ways can school districts use inbound marketing in their marketing & communication efforts? We'd love to hear your feedback!
On the night of April 18th, 1775, the most important message of the United States was delivered on horseback under the cover of night by Paul Revere. His simple "1 if by land, 2 if by sea" system gave the American forces time to rally and eventually defeat the British Army.
Fast-forward to 103 years later...
In 1878 David Hughes noticed that sparks could be heard in a telephone receiver with a carbon microphone. Hughes developed his carbon-based detector further and eventually could detect signals over a few hundred yards. Radio later became the media outlet on which Adolf Hitler made his famous declaration of war.
Fast-forward again, this time 131 years...
On Tuesday, January 20th
2009, the world witnessed the inauguration of the first African-American President of the United States of America. Over 23 million people watched the inauguration... ON THE INTERNET!
Let's review. What have we learned from our brief history lesson that pertains to school district communication?
At first glance is doesn't look like much, but hear me out!
Imagine trying to explain to Paul Revere the concept of a computer. Or maybe you would like the task of telling Hitler that there would someday be an African-American President of the United States. In either case, both messages would have been met with tremendous uncertainty.
The message I am trying to convey is simple. If school districts are going to survive in the ever changing world of communication, THEY MUST LEARN TO ADAPT!!!
This is not a knock on any specific school district, or even any particular demographic of citizens. Instead, think of this as a request to all people in charge of school district communication. Our schools are too important to let their communication slip by the wayside. Students across the country are excelling in ways like never before, yet negative stories dominate the headlines concerning today's education system.
Today's traditional and social media outlets have spoiled audiences. People no longer rely on the Sunday paper to fill them in on what is happening in their community and around the world. Today's media audiences want their information on their terms, and they want it now.
One way cutting-edge districts are combating this problem is by infusing user generated content (UGC) into their communication efforts. (Look here for a great example www.hipointjourneys.com) With the demands of today's media audiences, user generated content allows students, staff and even alumni the chance to provide positive messages about their respective districts.
However, user generated content is not the "end all be all" for school communication, and that is exactly my point. Confused yet?
User generated content is not new to the communication world. Unfortunately, it is still relatively new to school districts across the country. This only further reinforces the significance of my previous request. Lagging behind most other organizations can't become a trend with school districts. Schools, especially public schools have an image problem. The only way to combat this problem is by becoming as transparent in communication efforts as possible.
To bring this post full-circle, nobody knows exactly what the future holds for school district communication. But then again, nobody knows what the future holds either. What we do know is that the most successful industries and companies are the ones who best communicate with their target audiences. Just imagine the fate of the United States if Paul Revere would have tried delivering his message on his own two feet. The results would have been catastrophic. A similar fate can't be shared by our schools, they are simply too important!
Start Your Journey Today
Start your journey today to become an Inbound Marketing Certified Professional with resources from IMU and Rock Solid Media LLC.