From the monthly archives:

May 2008

What Flying Can Teach You About Social Media

by Jason Falls · May 30, 2008

Wright Model A Flyer flown by Wilbur 1908-09 and launching derrick, France, 1909

Image via Wikipedia

Orville and Wilbur Wright were nuts. I’m talking crazy, cuckoo, bats in the belfry nuts. They took some bed sheets and 2X4′s and somehow thought, “We can actually project ourselves through the air with those and live to tell about it.”

They were nuts. But they were right.

I took off from O’Hare last night and realized that companies who have tread the untested waters of social media to this point were also nuts. “Turn our brand over to the consumer! Let random members of the public make comments on our website! Let front-line employees, not CEOs or communications VPs respond to customer complaints or issues!”

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5 comments

4 Ways To Save The Newsroom

by Jason Falls · May 28, 2008

I took this picture.

Image via Wikipedia

Everywhere you look, traditional media outlets are dying off. Okay, not dying, but laying off staff, being devalued at sale, cutting budgets, trimming corners and falling all over themselves trying to figure out web strategies to save their collective asses. There’s even a new website to track layoffs in the newspaper business. Subscription rates are falling. Advertising sales are sinking as well. The American consumer has moved online and the only news she’s getting via ink and paper is the row and seat number of her next flight, which she prints out herself.

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16 comments

Join Me In Twit2Fit – The Twitter Wellness Experiment

by Jason Falls · May 27, 2008

It started with an innocent Tweet.

JasonFalls Wife and I are discussing a family YMCA membership. Could it be that I might start exercising? Stay tuned …

And, after a couple of responses, I threw this out there:

JasonFalls If I, Mr. 275 pounds and no exercise since 1988, will commit to a consistent exercise program, I want 50 followers to do the same. Takers?

Never understimate the power of your Twitterati. As of 10 p.m. ET Monday night, just five hours after calling on takers, I counted 28 different folks who either said, “I’m in,” that they’re already involved in a fitness goal but are with me or wanted to lend support in some way. Several others chimed in to say, “You go!” or offer other insights or suggestions.

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50 comments

Letting The Kat Out Of The Bag

by Jason Falls · May 26, 2008

On April 23, I offered a job posting here on the blog. Doe-Anderson‘s social media activity has grown to the point that we need more hands on deck. We’ve come quite a ways from last summer when one client said they wanted some additional thinking for their online efforts. Now we have a small staple of clients asking for that same thinking and we’re bringing social media strategies to the table where it makes sense for clients, current and potential.

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4 comments

Bloggers Misunderstand PR, And Vice Versa

by Jason Falls · May 23, 2008

In thinking about last week’s blogosphere outburst with another public relations blacklist, this time accompanied by a loud reaction from the PR and blogging world, it occurred to me that the root of the problem lies in a misunderstanding on both sides of the equation. Public relations folks don’t understand the old-school ways of outreach come across as spam, frustrating bloggers. But bloggers also don’t seem to recognize that most public relations folks don’t yet possess the understanding of Web 2.0 technology to cater to them ideally.

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5 comments

Evangelizing Social Media

by Jason Falls · May 21, 2008

NOTE: This post is cross-posted here and on the Social Media Club Louisville site.

In January, Todd Earwood and I officially founded the Social Media Club’s Louisville chapter. We had about 35 people show up for our first meeting. Since then, we’ve met monthly and had a great time learning and growing our networks together.

[flickr style="float: right"]photo:2510810016[/flickr]Last night was our May gathering and the format was an open discussion. I started the group of 25 folks off with a general topic: What do you want to get out of the Social Media Club?

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5 comments

Perhaps Social Media Measurement Shouldn’t Matter

by Jason Falls · May 19, 2008

Proving value in social media is much akin to doing the same in public relations. This is precisely why so many CEOs and CMOs are hesitant to commit dollars to efforts there. When the bottom line determines every decision, much of what a company or brand should do winds up on the wrong side of the ledger.

Social Media MeasurementShould we spend more money on the more eco-friendly heating and cooling system? On recycled paper? On diversity training? On dental or optical coverage for employees? Yeah, you should. But none of those are a given because when it comes to running a business, bigger margins trump bigger heart every time.

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25 comments

Pitching Bloggers: An Interesting Case Study

by Jason Falls · May 16, 2008

My recent list of tips on pitching bloggers garnered a fair amount of attention and comments. One reaction that caught my attention was from Allison Blass, a public relations pro (her title is New Media Coordinator) at MWW Group. She disagreed that pitching as if you’ve read the blog is the right way to go, saying, “The one problem I had was with your suggestion that PR people should act like they read the blog on a regular basis. While this might work for some people, some bloggers can see right through this.”

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10 comments

Are Media Database Companies Complicit In PR Spamming?

by Jason Falls · May 14, 2008

NOTE: This is a joint piece, co-authored by John Cass and Jason Falls. It is cross-posted on PR Communications and SocialMediaExplorer.com.

The blogosphere has been abuzz this week here and in other places about Gina Trapani’s PR Spammers wiki and the blacklisting of public relations professionals and firms. As the discussions have progressed, we have seen the issue of media database companies and their research practices come into question.

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14 comments

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