Steve Jobs once told a story at a Stanford commencement ceremony about connecting the dots that led him from graduating from high school to co-founding Apple Computer and his eventual falling out with the Board of Directors.  He said you can connect the dots looking backwards, but you cannot connect the dots looking forward.  Connecting the dots backwards slowly began to reveal who he really is and what he really cared about.  And even though he was rejected for a time by the industry he helped found, he still loved what he did. It is his passion.

Seeing this talk recently inspired me to take a step back and follow Steve’s process of connecting the dots backwards.  How if it were not for a lunch with my girlfriend’s mother would I have found my passion for public relations at age 20. So, I decided to re-examine my dots — the successful public relations and social media campaigns I performed for different companies.  Here’s a quick recap of some of the companies and how public relations made a difference to their bottom line:

eMachines:  An incredible turnaround, eMachines had a perception of using used parts and going out of business.   We turned the tide of public and industry perception in favor of eMachines - within three months, the company received several positive media stories and the stock price increased by 700 percent.  eMachines went from going out of business to a consumer value brand.

(ISC)²:  In this information age where computers run everything from power grids to flight systems and stock markets, (ISC)² looked to stave off cybercrime by taking an aggressive role in setting global Internet security standards.  The organization turned to us to change attitudes about the importance of their professional certification program and computer security in general.  The organization grew from 3,500 members to more than 70,000 worldwide.  This is a client who has kept their confidence in us for more than 10 years.  

Toshiba Notebook Computers: Although Toshiba produced the first battery-powered notebook computer, they began to lose market share as the company’s reputation went from technology leader to technology laggard.  We executed an aggressive public relations program aimed at knowledgeable influencers and decision makers by leveraging the company’s R&D innovations and technology integration.  The campaign moved Toshiba from a leader in building “boat anchors” to a technology leader in notebook computers.

Archive Corporation: In the wake of a recession, Archive Corporation wanted to increase its visibility and credibility within the financial community.  They called upon us to develop an Investor Relations Program to establish, maintain and expand day-by-day communications with Archive’s diverse equity holders, analysts and the media.  The stock price reached an all-time high of $14 per share from 4 ½ and the company received more than 15 analyst research reports.

Fujitsu Computer Systems:  Can you teach an old doctor new tricks?  With its Stylistic ST Series Tablet PC, Fujitsu sought to increase sales and capture dominant position in the burgeoning healthcare technology market with the help of longtime business partner Microsoft and with a PR campaign focused on old-fashioned house calls with a 21^st-century twist.   

In PR, Silver Anvils are pure gold - and I have been fortunate to have earned seven.  The Silver Anvil, the Oscar of the PR industry, is awarded annually for communications excellence.  The Public Relations Society of America has honored me, and the companies I worked with seven of them - more than any other PR practitioner in Southern California - as well as with a Bronze Anvil.  To earn these coveted awards, a public relations program must meet the highest standards of performance in research, opportunity identification, planning, strategy, tactical execution and results.

I look at these dots of success and think of others: running the international branding program for Texas Instruments, or riding the rocket at AST Research from a small PC enhancement company to a billion-dollar worldwide PC manufacturer.  And, I can drop names of companies who I’ve worked with such as Acer, Hitachi, Western Digital, Sanders & Associates, Networks in Motion, and many more. 

I learned along the way that there are no two companies alike, every company has its challenges, and each opportunity is unique.  And, I appreciate all these companies giving me the opportunity to pursue my passion in making a difference in their company.

As Steve said, you cannot connect the dots going forward, you can only connect them looking backwards.  So, you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect your future.  You have to trust in something - “your gut, destiny, life, Karma, whatever.”  This approach has never let Steve or me down, and it has made all the difference in my life - even during these tough economic times.

Public relations is in an interesting situation right now with so much of the traditional media world moving to digital media.  The thread of public relations is being interwoven with social media, creating a powerful new hybrid form of communications.  Instead of only working for coverage in the Wall Street Journal, we are leveraging optimized content for search engines and developing and managing social networks to engage customers and promote content.  The tools are changing but the goal remains the same - helping our clients reach their customers.

As I connect these past dots of success and move into a hybrid communications model, will you and your company be my next dot of success?

Since the dawn of the Internet, marketers have regarded it as a vast laboratory, launching experiment after experiment to crack the code that generates sales and customer loyalty.  Not surprisingly, most have failed.  Consumers adopted digital technology as they themselves saw fit, in the process fundamentally altering the way they make purchasing decisions.  As I have said many times, it is all about the customer.

Companies that understand this evolution are now carefully moving digital media toward the center of their marketing strategies, rethinking their priorities and budgets, and substantially reshaping their processes and skills.  They realize they must talk to the customer without relying on market-speak.

At the simplest level, we’ve always known customers tend to go through a multistage journey as they make purchasing decisions - awareness, consideration, preference and purchase.  Yet most companies still concentrate marketing resources on only two stages: brand marketing up front to woo customers when they first consider products, and promotions at the final point of sale to sway them as they are about to make a purchase.

Digital media is changing all that.  Customers who once could only rely on corporate materials and professional reviewers now read online customer reviews, compare features and prices on Web sites, and discuss products via social-networking sites with family and friends, or as I refer to it: ‘word-of-mouth on steroids.’  This information flow not only empowers customers but also allows marketing communications to be part of the conversation customers have as they actively learn about product categories and evaluate choices.

In this new environment, how should a company approach its communications? Switching a company’s perspective from that of a traditional advertiser to that of a tightly disciplined, personalized publisher can help a company join the online conversation.  The company’s Web site can generate dramatically more sales leads than it ever has before by offering timely, personalized and useful content.  Digital media is giving every company the opportunity to enhance the customer experience and relationship.  For the company engaging in digital media, this new approach will improve efficiency and raise returns on assets and on investment.

Taken together, digital media forces companies to step back from tactical, day-to-day execution and take a more strategic view of where to invest and make changes in how a company communicates with its customers. Naturally, they want more eyeballs on their brand and products.  In doing so, tough decisions need to be made, such as who takes the lead in new product introductions; how budgets for content creation are reallocated across global, regional, and local groups; and how to rebalance the roles of traditional and social media.

Marketing communications will understandably demand more resources, but they should come at a price: higher accountability for sales, innovation and operational efficiency.  Management should demand better visibility into metrics about digital delivery and greater clarity about how marketing communications plans will directly improve performance.  In return, marketing communications will drive value as their brands cease to be mere names and instead become central to helping customers get what they want.

Hitting the reset button on marketing communications begins by accepting a new perspective on what marketing communications needs to accomplish.  It requires marketing executives to step up to a broader, cross-functional coordination role, armed with deep insights about the decision journey customers are undertaking and the tools needed to guide it.

The question is, are you ready to make the necessary changes to become more agile, more productive, and accelerate company revenue growth?

Since I began working at Maples Communications last year, I have become more and more enthused about social media marketing and how it can impact a business.  While I had a basic understanding of how to build a Twitter profile, YouTube page, etc. before I started working here, my goal at this position was to learn the business applications of social media and build a more socially-connected brand for our client.  Last month, I finally got my chance.

My awesome boss decided I was ready to take on our newest account, Hapa J’s.  As a laid back, surfer-esque, contemporary Hawaiian restaurant in San Clemente, the restaurant had established a steady customer base over the last year and a half and was looking to bring in more patrons as well as new catering business.  My inner social media tiger was about to be unleashed.  While a million ideas came to mind, I knew we had to focus on a few main outlets to get the ball rolling. 

My first focus was Twitter.  I developed a background for the page that resembled the website so there was a continuity of design. I added the website URL and a short bio to the Twitter page and then went after the bloggers. I researched food bloggers in the Southern California and followed them.  Then I found local community members in the San Clemente/South County area that might be interested in a new restaurant spot and followed them.  I tweet daily specials and respond to all mentions of Hapa J’s.  Soon I will begin tweeting about tidbits of Hapa J’s history, staff and Hawaiian culture.  It’s all about moving their story forward to create a dialogue and relationship with their patrons.

Second, Facebook.  While our client maintains the administration position for its Facebook page, I have not been short of recommendations to create an engaging experience for fans.  I recommended that they create four key areas of content as albums: Staff, Atmosphere, Community and Culture.  All the albums will reflect the spirit of the restaurant - the friendliness of the staff, the extra effort put in at charity events, the cool décor and fun-filled happy hours.  I also thought their ‘wall’ could be more interactive by responding to all fan comments, asking questions, taking polls, and posting links about new happenings at the restaurant.  In addition, I also recommended that they ‘like’ other pages so that they can cross promote with other organizations that they are affiliated with.

Third, Foursquare.  This is one of my favorites.  I think it is so cool how restaurants and cafes like Starbucks are using Foursquare to reward their customers just for checking in! Since I have become the manager of the Hapa J’s Foursquare account, I can work with my client to develop discounts and specials to offer to customers that check in the most.  It is a great way to build a rewards program for your most loyal customers as well as entice newbies to check in more often.

Fourth, email marketing.  While it is more of a traditional marketing tool, it is a great way for fans of Hapa J’s to opt-in for specials and news about the restaurant, as well as be introduced to the restaurant’s social media sites.  With an eye on my social calendar for Southern California events and national holidays, I like to send out emails when friends and family are looking to celebrate.  Just this past Father’s Day we sent out an email blast with a short paragraph about the special menu for the day and a message from owner Justin Hose-Shea wishing everyone a happy Father’s Day.  I think messages like these give customers that warm fuzzy feeling that creates restaurant loyalty.  I know I still get that feeling when Ruby’s diner sends me an email offering a free milkshake on my birthday.

While this is not a complete list of all the things we can do for the restaurant, I think these are the most effective tools for our audience and our goals.  In the future we plan to establish a YouTube channel for Hapa J’s.  The posting of video will expand Hapa J’s presence, tell the restaurant story, educate people on Hawaiian culture and food, strengthen the brand and thought leadership, and quickly build a searchable online video resource center.  We plan to include a variety of videos, including cooking demonstrations, special events, customer reviews, and other relevant information to keep the content fresh and the audience engaged. 

As for right now, Hapa J’s just started their Taco Tuesday and I got a kal bi rib taco and a Li Hing Mui margarita to enjoy.  

If you’d like to keep up with my work on Hapa J’s, follow me on Twitter.

Small and large companies alike are aware of the impact of downsized editorial newsrooms.  Publications are shrinking in pages, some are going out of business, and others such as BusinessWeek are being sold to serve totally different purposes.  Every company’s public relations efforts have been transformed because reporters and other media contacts have either been laid off or are faced with increasing workloads, meaning more and more companies are competing for what space is available for editorial coverage. 

Downsized editorial newsrooms also mean the news quality and breadth of coverage suffers.  Spreading the company’s messages is daunting as traditional editorial newsrooms grapple with how to handle the social aspect of online media.

As a solution to this problem, Maples Communications, who previously could only go through the prisms of journalists to convey its clients’ messages to a targeted audience, is recommending companies enhance their traditional media efforts by communicating directly with their customers, their influencers, and other targeted audiences.

One way to communicate directly with a targeted audience is to create a company news site, one that focuses on the company, its news and events, and industry issues.  Maples Communications proposes creating a news site to the company’s global content onto a single page, updated and prioritized each day and laid out much like a newspaper.  It is a great way to lead the company’s audiences into different content posted elsewhere on the Web site and various social media sites, such as a blog(s), an event video, a newly released whitepaper, Twitter feeds, a recent journal article, published media articles, etc.  We can reach out globally for relevant content to post, with little modification, the news that we receive.  By recruiting industry bloggers, we can obtain original content, including commentary, reviews, event coverage, interviews, videos and photographs.

The news site readers will determine whether or not the news is relevant.  The most viewed stories are listed in order of popularity at the top of the site, and readers are allowed to comment on stories if the discussion is kept civil.

For the right company and situation, the news site can accept banner ads for a fee, which will be changed periodically, and support nonprofit organizations’ ads free of charge.  The right-side of the page will be kept open for banner ads.  In a BusinessWeek article titled “Bigger Bucks for the Blogosphere”, John Battelle, president of Federated Media, said that a relevant blog or site he works with can on average profit $500,000 by selling banner ads.  And that is after Federated Media takes its commission.

Creating a company news site is different than creating a traditional news site - but should be held to the same standards as traditional journalism.  This is a similar process that Maples Communications goes through each day when writing, sending out and posting its clients’ news releases.  The main difference is that we will be posting news, global information and internal content rather than just press materials.

Setting up site analytics will help monitor how it is being used and determine the page views each month.  We also recommend linking all the company’s social media tools to the news site.

Remember as you produce relevant content to help your customers through the buying process, you need to optimize it in a manner that will allow it to be found by your audiences online, improve your position in search engine results over time and encourage customers and their influencers to click through to your Web site.

It is time for brands to become their own publishers of relevant content.  What is your plan to deliver your company’s messages to customers and influencers?

I was honored to witness the historic NBA Championship game seven between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics.  I want to publicly thank my host Bob Carrigan, IDC president, for including me in his suite.  The energy level in Staples Center was electrifying.  Being a Lakers fan, I am glad they won.   If I was a Celtic fan, I would be scratching my head asking myself, “How in the world did we lose that game?”

The Lakers played less-than-spectacular basketball and still came away with a victory.  They made less than 25 percent of their shots in the first quarter and only half their free throws.  The superstars were having troubles with their shooting and it was the unexpected players - Ron Artest and Derek Fisher - who brought life back into the Lakers and the crowd.  Despite these challenges, the Lakers never gave up.

What stood out to me was watching a team who did hours and hours of preparation for the game and how they left it all out on the court.  They did whatever it took to win the game.  Hard fouls.  Diving on the hardwood floor for loose balls.  Playing through the shoving, the elbows, the missed calls, the bad calls, and other too-many-to-list obstacles of the game.  The Lakers stepped up even when things were not going as planned.   The Celtics had them down through three quarters.  But the Lakers never dropped their heads.  They may have been down emotionally, but they continued to look up, always got up, and never, never gave up.

The Lakers have their legacy - another NBA Championship.  What will be your legacy?  Are you willing to figure out what it is going to take for you to accomplish your goals? Are you willing to miss some shots and take some risks to find success?  For me, I found my niche in life and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to be successful and to make my clients successful.  I have passion, commitment and loyalty to my family, my friends, myself and to my clients.  I may get knocked down from time to time, but I will never, never give up.

I challenge each of you to figure out what it is going to take to be successful and leave a legacy.  No one said it would ever be easy.  Let your passion lead the way and stay committed.  As I’ve said before, there are some people who make things happen, some people who watch things happen, and some people who just wonder what happened.  Which one are you?

Our young, hip and social media savvy account coordinator came to me with interest from a podcaster to interview our client for a full hour.

Instantly, my traditional PR radar came to the forefront.  What legitimate media would want to talk to our client for a full hour that a) isn’t trying to get something from them, or b) has no audience, or c) both?

But then my growing new media intuition kicked in.  I told Juliette to do some digging and find out more about the site.

It turns out the podcasters are sincere and highly committed parent advocates that want to protect children online.  They had already posted interviews with top spokespeople in the field, including Nancy A. McBride, national safety director for the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), and Donna Rice Hughes from Enough is Enough, a child Internet safety program.

The site’s audience is minimal, as far as we can tell.  Then I thought, who cares?  We have audience.  Our client has 12,000 members on a LinkedIn Group, 3,000 followers on Twitter, several thousand on Facebook, and more.  We can post the interview on all these sites.  The interview would give us a chance to show that a third-party, informed and credible advocate thinks enough of us to give us a full hour of attention.  And, unlike the 30 seconds of a traditional radio interview, this would give us time to go into detail about our program and why it’s important.

Additionally, that podcast could then be found and heard by potential partnering organizations, traditional media and other target audiences for weeks and months if not years to come.

Win-win-win.

At the beginning of the social media revolution, traditional media and many PR people derided the impact of the “pajama blogger/podcaster.”  My advice is, don’t underestimate their power.  If they’re sincere, professional and have interviewed world-shakers in your industry, it doesn’t matter if they have audience, especially if you have audience.  They offer third-party credibility, which has always been the main benefit of public relations.

Photo courtesy of spark_editor.

On June 1^st, I had the opportunity to lead a discussion with 200 entrepreneurs on social media at the Irvine Entrepreneur Forum.  It was an honor for me to share my social media and public relations knowledge and experience with passionate and committed people who want to make a difference.  As they say, “Life without risk is no life at all.”

My primary messages: social media is continuing to evolve and that you do not need a big budget to deliver a big message.  According to Regis McKenna, a mentor and pioneer in high technology PR, stated that public relations is all about word-of-mouth, the most effective and efficient way to build company brand awareness.  You add social media and you now have word-of-mouth on steroids.  It is all about making your customers and their influencers aware of your brand and products.  It is all about the power of the Internet and the credibility of word-of-mouth and having your customers communicate your points of differentiation.  It is about moving customers from awareness to consideration, to preference to purchase.  And as I say, when it comes to building brand, word-of-mouth is priceless. 

Entrepreneurs and small business owners need, and should, focus on their business, but they also need to get eyeballs on their brand and products.  They can have a great company with innovative products but if no one knows, they may find themselves out of sight, out of mind, and out of business.

After addressing the group, I realized how much I miss the spirit, passion and commitment of working with entrepreneurs and small companies who want to make a difference.  I have always been about putting more eyes on my client’s brand and products.  Making sure there is a call to action all the way through the buying process.  Persevering to push the company story forward.

By the close of the Irvine Entrepreneur Forum, I decided to develop a word-of-mouth on steroids communications program to put more eyes on these small companies’ brands.  A program to build buzz without the big bucks.  It is a “Flat Rate” fee, pay-as-you go program for $1,000.  Visit the Maples Communications Website for more information: www.maples.com.

In business as in life, some people make things happen, some people watch things happen, and some people wonder what happened.  Which one are you?

What is uncensored customer opinion worth to your organization?

For many companies in the not too distant past, it seemed like quite a lot.  Just a few years ago, several clients I worked with spent tens of thousands of dollars on customer surveys and focus groups.  Of course, these projects only resulted in a few hundred responses from the survey and a few dozen from the focus groups.  But the companies felt they got their money’s worth from the outside vendors.

Move to the present day and you will find customer opinion is everywhere online.  What makes these opinions different from surveys and focus groups is they are freely given by customers without company influence or manipulation. 

Case in point, one company recently received over 100 responses to a somewhat inflammatory question in a LinkedIn Group about their service.  The responses are detailed, providing a cornucopia of customer opinion that could help improve customer service, marketing, planning, product development, and more. 

And we’re not talking about the usual anonymity of a survey or focus group.  We’re talking LinkedIn where essentially every commenter’s biography and resume is online for anyone to view. 

Opportunities like these present themselves often in social media.  And if organizations don’t take advantage of them, richly detailed customer opinion will float away in the wind.  Organizations should invest the time to mine dynamic, real-time customer data and opinion found in social media.   We are definitely encouraging our clients to do so.

But what, you may ask, happened to the perceived value of customer opinion? What changed from just a few years ago? 

I don’t know the answer to that question other than the information is “too easy” to find and as such loses its perceived value.    But I do know that, like most opportunities in life, value isn’t ‘found,’ it’s made.

As Director of Social Media, I know I am supposed to champion new media communications tools such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. but sometimes I think in the midst of all the hype around social media we forget to use the most social of tools-the telephone.

It first started with e-mail, the godfather of social media, which made it easy to contact someone easily and send information without having to take the time to make a phone call. Social networking tools have taken this one step further, allowing people to contact many friends or followers almost instantly without having to use the phone. This ability to connect quickly and easily is very useful and without a doubt the way communication is heading. However, there is still a time and a place for a simple phone call, especially when contacting the media.

The media are inundated with e-mail pitches on a daily basis, many of which are not relevant to them. A quick read of The Bad Pitch Blog will give you some of the more extreme examples. As a blogger I am now getting pitched by other PR agencies-I even got a free pack of gum with 3D glasses! The sheer quantity of pitches being send via e-mail makes it all that much harder to deliver a relevant pitch to the media, but if you take the time to “work the phones” and talk to the right media for your story, you’ll find they will often be receptive to your pitch or helpful in finding someone who might be interested in talking to you.

Of course, you first have to do your homework and be prepared:

• Make sure the media you are calling are interested in whatever it is you are pitching! Read what they have written and have it handy when you call.
• Do not trust Cision, MyMediaInfo, Vocus, etc. to do your research for you. They are good starting points, but many times the information is incorrect or outdated.
• Be prepared to deliver your pitch quickly and simply when you get someone on the phone. Get to the point and don’t waste their time.
• Have any backup materials ready to be sent if requested and send them immediately after finishing the call.     

Once you have finished your call though, don’t forget to send a thank you e-mail, follow those media contacts on Twitter, set up RSS feeds on their blogs, and share any coverage on Digg!

I’ve got a problem with social media.

As a former journalist, I appreciate the discipline of editing.  I like the idea of someone else taking in all the content for me and deciding what I need to know most.  It’s a service, like Subway making me a sandwich.

There is so much content online these days that to find the good stuff myself would take me all day.  That’s not an efficient use of my time.  Maybe there’s a new profession awaiting - personal editors.  Editors who search and deliver the ‘best of the Net’ to me every morning. And don’t leave it to search engines.  Search engines can’t determine quality or utility.

I think there’s something important for companies to learn from here as well. 

Take a look at the websites of the biggest firms.  While some companies, such as Apple, are hesitant to engage in social media, others have jumped in head-first and are creating a great deal of content. IBM, for instance, has hundreds of bloggers posting as well as press releases, events, research, and numerous other initiatives going on all the time.

As an information consumer of IBM’s, do you think it would be too much trouble to ask for a brief digest of the news the company considers to be the most significant each day or each week?  Could they hire someone to edit all that noise down to something that I can digest and use and that gives me the latest perspective on IBM as a company?

That something is going to resemble a newspaper.  Online, albeit, but a newspaper nonetheless with featured stories at the top that the company feels are the most important for me to read each day descending into other news, views and features toward the bottom.

The stories can “jump” after a couple paragraphs, but give me just enough that if I only read that one page, I would come away with a pretty good idea of what the company is thinking and doing that day.  Embed podcasts and video as well but make sure they’re not too long unless I want more information.

I know smaller companies will read this and think, “We don’t have that much news.”  I’ll bet you do.

When I worked on the college paper, we put out an issue a day.  An issue a day just on what the faculty, administration and students may be doing. 

When I worked for a tiny community weekly, I wrote 7-10 stories each week on everything from the people mad about crumbling sidewalks to the latest store opening.

Don’t tell me your mid-sized company doesn’t have enough news.  When your CEO gives a presentation to investors, that’s a story.  When your sales team has a new promotion, that’s a story.  If your industry is being affected by the Icelandic volcano, that’s a story.

And if you honestly don’t have enough content, just update your online company newspaper once a week.  But just make sure that the page is entirely new every month so people will be looking to see what’s coming next for your company. 

And of course, use all the wonderful sharing tools available to you.  Especially make sure that any employee named in a story has their full social media business card:  LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.  Just think of it as a company newsletter on social media steroids.

I truly believe if you bring the best of what your company is doing in one place, this old school form of journalism will help your customers, partners and other stakeholders better understand who you are, what you stand for, and who they should talk to.  It will also provide fodder for third-party stories to be published in newspapers, magazines, websites, and/or blogs.