The Byline: PR and Marketing Insights from Eiler Communications

The continued boom of various social media sites gives me some reason for concern. As an employer I question if employees become so addicted to using the sites that the main function of their jobs suffers. I’d be interested in others comments. Expectations in our business is that employees are 80-90% billable. How does that happen if a lot of time is spent on Facebook, Twitter etc.

Sandy

Watchdog Function Disappearing

“As Americas newspapers shrink and shed staff, and broadcast news outlets sinks in the ratings, a new kind of web-based news operation has arisen in several cities, forcing newspapers to follow the stories they uncover.” The New York Times, November 17, 2008, Richard Perez-Pena.

See www.voiceofsandiego.org, which provides a brand of “serious, original reporting by professional journalists….” In the past few years, similar “papers” have been started in Chicago, New Haven, Seattle, St. Louis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New Haven… and ANN ARBOR.

Newspapers have for many years been the watchdog over government, business, society in general.

But as newspapers ebb in their influence and new and social media – more immediate and deliverable and in demand by us all – there is a growing presence of community web sites that are picking up the function and watching what officials do.

One of these is exemplified right here in Ann Arbor – The Ann Arbor Chronicle. It covers offbeat and eclectic topics, but also covers what people are hearing and saying. Its audience is now small, but growing rapidly and covering a space that needs to be served.

And this type of digital publication is appearing across the nation in large cities and medium and small cities. As people’s quest for sound information remains, so these new methods of delivering news on the Internet is coming to life.

While these sites do not fully fill the void left by lack of coverage, they do provide a start to another new way people will get information in the future. A future of new and social media that have current problems with monetization, but which nevertheless continue their appearance and develop into one more way people get news in new digital delivery forms.

Last week I wrote about President Obama and the debate over whether or not he was able to keep his BlackBerry now that he has been officially sworn in as President. As of Friday, the decision had been made and it was publicly announced that President Obama is going to be the first to email while living in the White House.

It only made sense that he would be able to keep it. He had just run the most technologically sophisticated presidential campaign in our nation’s history. Then, as soon as he won, he was asked to give up what helped get him into office in the first place. The rest of the White House has email and Obama’s aids all have a BlackBerry. Members of Congress were all given the device after 9/11 when it was realized that even after cell service had failed, BlackBerrys still continued to work. If everyone else is able to communicate online, the President certainly should be able to do the same.

In order for him to keep the device, he made a deal that it would only be used on a limited basis and to communicate with friends and some senior staff members. He will mainly use the device to read incoming messages and then later respond to them once he has access to a computer. Security has also been increased on the device to prevent others from hacking into his account and information from being leaked to the public.

Now that the president can officially communicate using the technology that the rest of the country depends on, it made me think about how this could increase the popularity of the already popular communication device. The device has been mentioned a great deal lately in the media nationwide; from a Public Relations perspective, this is good marketing. All of this exposure could interest the public to get a BlackBerry of their own. I mean, who is a better individual to create interest in the device than the President of the United States?

Amanda Deluca

I studied a sales program that taught us how to identify people’s styles and sell to what they needed to hear because of their personal style.

The course was called Meyers and Briggs and it featured four “styles” of people: Thinker, Intuitor, Sensor and Feeler.

I have discovered over the years that if you figure a person’s style and can appeal to the kids of thinking that style contains, you often move a sales opportunity along nicely.

I recently have relearned this technique with a program run by Joe Marr, a former vp of sales and marketing for a $100 million filter company, now a savvy sales training consultant.

Joe covers personal styles with DISC.
D is dominant — decisive, competitive, results-oriented. Move fast. Take risk. In control.
I is an inter-relater — sociable, talkative, lively. Good team player, eager to help.
S is a steady-relater — stability and security, needs help with change.
C is compliant — logical, analytical, precise.

Your job is to figure someone’s style, adjust your own to match it so the person will feel comfortable with you. This will tend to make the discussion more open and honest.

You can do that simply like this:

* Assess the kinds of question someone asks. Determine what a respondent means by an answer in discussion.

* Get a sense of where the person is in a decision process.

* Check out the person’s office to see how it is decorated. Family photos. Photos of self. Graduation of other personal recognitions.

* Discuss what the person likes to do.

If you get vague or weak replies, best move on because this is likely someone who just drives hard all the time … or someone who wants to get back to work and thinks your discussion is wasting time.

We will next discuss doing business with companies that find you on the Internet – and with whom you have no face-to-face contact.

Larry Eiler

What is the fifth era of marketing – The Wired Era – going to look like when we get well into it in the next couple of years?

This illustration depicts what a bunch of clients, friends, colleagues, students told me when asked how social media fit in business. It is like a bunch of clouds to many. All social media are emerging and not many are yet proficient at using the right forms to bolster their businesses.

Hardwired phones will be gone. Cell phones will abound even more than today.

Go back 5-10 years ago when home phones were dominant over cell phones. Then, home phone bills were expensive and you had to pay for long distance calls. Now, many people only have a cell phone or a PDA and the home phone is becoming extinct. Cell phone bills are expensive with all of the different features such as being able to access the Internet or text messaging.

Services to customers will broaden and enhance as companies try for an edge in reaching and serving customers.

There will be more research and development so that companies have services and products that people want and can get them to market very rapidly.

Brick and mortar stores will turn into warehouses to ship goods that people buy online.

If stores are to maintain customers, they will have to provide ever-better service and deals for people who visit and do not do their comparative shopping online.

Global markets will abound as Internet users will learn of products from far-off nations that they can easily get.

Many new online businesses will be founded because the cost to begin does not involve machines, factories, shipping and all else associated with traditional ways of reaching customers. Some will founder and fail and many will take off and soar.

Soon all DVD’s and games will be bought online and held in mass databases. Material goods will begin to vanish and hard drives will take over. Think about it, what takes up less space, an iPod with 20,000 songs or 2,000 CDs with 10 songs on each? An iPod can be stored in your pocket while the CDs take up an entire wall space. In the next few years this will happen with DVDs and video games.

The reduction in amount of material goods will be environmentally friendly with reduced amounts of waste.

What’s your take on what The Wired Era of marketing will bring forth?

The first four areas of marketing over the past century (per Boone & Kurtz Contemporary Marketing 2009) are:
Production Era – 90-100 years ago when companies believed “a good product will sell itself.”
Sales Era – 1940s-50s new technologies improved production and companies needed sales people to call on their market channels and end buyers.
Marketing Era – 1950s-60s saw the shift to making what people wanted, not what a company thought they wanted. Sellers had to adopt a consumer orientation and provide what people wanted.
Relationship Era – 1990s-now companies got into strategic partnerships so they could provide their products through new channels covered by their partners, or provide new products their partners made and they did not.

A few weeks ago, I walked across the stage at Miller Auditorium, shook the president of Western Michigan University’s hand and received the diploma that officially made me a college graduate. As I walked back to my seat, I had a million thoughts running through my head. It all seemed like a dream rather than reality. I felt like I had just moved into the dorms with my entire college career ahead of me. I thought about the amazing times and friends I had met along the way. I realized I was about to leave this place that I called “home”. Then another thought came across my mind- “Now what?”

Like many other college graduates, I plan to look for a job. With that thought, I realized how searching for a job has changed due to the Internet and social media.

Searching for a job today is different than 30 years ago. Back then looking for a job consisted of sending out your resume and cover letter by mail and looking in the classified section of the newspaper. Today its all done online. Most companies have a website where they list their current openings. Sending your resume out is now as easy as the click of your mouse. Websites like Monster and Jobster update openings daily. These websites allow you to search by profession, location and job level or allow you to post your resume. Search engines like Google also come into play while job searching by allowing you to search for a company or for companies located in a specific area that you would like to work in. The Internet makes looking for your dream job a whole lot easier than it was years ago.

Social media has also had an impact. Websites like Facebook and LinkedIn allow you to network with others. These websites can also have a negative impact on your job search. For example, on Facebook you are able to post pictures and write about interests. This makes it easier for potential employers to seek you out and learn more about you before they bring you in for an interview. If you have unprofessional information, a company may no longer be interested in you.

Trying to find the right job is a stressful time for anyone. I’m sure there are plenty of other recent grads like me who feel unsure of what’s ahead. Everything up to this point has been clearly laid out for me and now I have to decide what to do next. It’s been said that this country hasn’t faced a recession like this since the Great Depression. With the economy and job market the way that they are, I decided to do an internship at Eiler Communications to gain more experience in Public Relations while I look for the right job. Like they say; with every ending, there is a new beginning. I’ve had my ending and now I’m just waiting to find the right job for my new beginning.

Amanda Deluca

We’ve discussed the importance of branding yourself and given some keen examples.

Now, here are some ideas on what you can do specifically to build your name awareness.

Make a target list of 20-25 people and organizations you need to know. These may be individuals, businesses, non profits, media, organizations that strike you as important to what you want to achieve. Figure a clever way to get known with these. Here are some ways that have worked for me.

I wanted to get to know the CEO of a large manufacturing company. His office was on the same floor as mine and I saw him from time to time in the hallway or parking lot. We got acquainted by this small talk and I told him of my plan to start my business. An entrepreneur, he asked me to tell him about it. So I went over at 6 one evening and gave him by business plan. He critiqued it, gave some counsel … then asked if I would help with his annual report. I did and he became a solid client for many years as well as a friend.

I caught the eye of some professors at the Michigan Business School by being asked to give a few lectures on high-tech marketing. I began these in a creative way: “Who wants $10?” I would ask. Hands flew up and I rewarded the first with the money. “In marketing, the first thing you have to do is get your audience’s attention,” I explained. The trick still works.

I wanted to meet a top executive of a large pizza company in my area. He attended the same church as I did and I made it my goal to get some eye contact with him, then introduce myself. I did this and a while later was asked to a meeting where my firm got an assignment to help with a major new PR project.

There is a lot more to branding yourself and this Christmas week, I’ll write a new blog with more creative ways you can enhance your effort to become known and recognized.

Larry Eiler

Branding yourself is the new form of networking. Only now you are not confined to a group attending a program or event. The world can see what your brand is.

Following on the earlier post of “The Magic of Branding Yourself,” here are some questions to answer to get you going on building your name’s brand.

Why do you want to brand yourself?

What is your purpose?

What do you want to achieve with branding yourself? Is it to know lots of people, or be known? Is it to help with your reputation?

Whom do you need and want to get to know? Is it just anyone … a specific group of people …educators … business prospects?

What do you want this group to think of you? What are your key messages to impart? Why do you want this group in particular? Nice person? Smart and confident? Knowledgeable expert on a certain topic? Come to you with an issue or for counsel?

Remember: it is all about focusing on who you want to reach that can help you lead to your goal. Here is this post’s example.

Dr. David Mielke, dean of he noted College of Business at Eastern Michigan University. Dave was named Dean in 2005 and needed to differentiate his college from numerous others in he Midwest – his competitors.

He chose to do it by branding statement “Innovative. Applied. Global.”

He set a series of guest speakers at a periodic business breakfasts for regional business and other leaders. He targeted key media in the college’s market area and met with them to tell the story of what he was doing to let people know of the college’s affairs.

He built the college’s international presence by signing relationships with universities in China, India and elsewhere to bolster the multinational and cultural aspects of the CoB.

Think of your key words to brand yourself. Then create your action plan to do it.

Larry Eiler

Why would anyone want to brand him or her self? It seems quite self-serving. It implies arrogance to believe anyone would care.

Branding yourself is the way to become known.

Given the fact that we all now can be commentators, “journalists” if you will, because of the Internet, and especially blogs, it is simple logic to be able to create a “name” of your name. This new movement in PR has helped to establish a bunch of names – people in their 20s to 90s and all between. It is a movement not just for companies doing PR in Michigan and the Midwest, but the world. Not just for techies doing PR, but for business people and executives.

If you can make a “name” for yourself through your commentary, you get more audience for your blogs or other writings. You make a name for yourself, your business through an article or book you author, organizations to are involved with, teaching speaking to various groups.

It is wise and prudent in this situation to create your own brand, build and promote your own name by branding yourself.

Paul Gillin is one of the pre-eminent brands in the blogosphere. As a former editor of Computerworld, once the core computer trade pub, Paul got into speaking, writing books, blogging and becoming an expert commentator on new media over the past decade. He does it right, authoring books and blogs at these sites:

Paul Gillin Communications

New Influencers book

Secrets of Social Media Marketing book

Innovations (Ziff-Davis Enterprise)

Mediablather weekly podcast

Geocaching Secrets (my next book)

Newspaper Death Watch

Paul and Dana’s Blog

He also speaks across the nation and here are a few current examples.

PRSA Teleseminar: Secrets of Social Media Marketing – Dec 2
New Marketing Summit, San Francisco, April 28-29, 2009
Getting Started with Social Media – Lessons from the Frontlines – Dec. 11, 2008
Secrets of Social Media Marketing Webcast with Paul Gillin – Listrak
How Businesses View Social Media – Gilbane Boston 2008, Dec. 4, 2008

I’ll write lots more about “the magic of branding yourself” — including tips from speeches I’ve given — in coming blogs.

Larry Eiler



Picture this; your mother is urging the boy next door to ask you out on a date. She is trying to convince him what a pretty and special child you are… Hmm..This might be true, but the information source seems to be a little biased, and after all, she is your mother. But, if your other neighbor approaches the boy next door and hails you as that sweet and pretty darling your mother has claimed you to be, you have just been backed with third party credibility, and that is a fundamental strategy of public relations.

In applying this scenario to business, you are the product, your mother is the business that is advertising you, the boy next door is a customer, and your neighbor is the third party credibility (newspaper journalist, magazine reviewer, health reporter, etc.). The boy next door can’t trust alone in your mother’s advertisement, she would never advertise anything negative about her own creation. With another opinion, the boy next door would be more willing to take you out on a date. It’s an easy concept to understand, that is why companies need public relations firms to help find third party/editorial credibility through releasing news and advances to the right media and objective journalists who then carry out message to the target customers. Public Relations help find that neighbor to give you the credibility that you need.

What customers want from any business is to be able to trust that what they are buying is credible. People are much more likely to believe a media source rather than a paid advertisement. This is why PR is so crucial to any successful business.

Connie Chung