Fashion Entrepreneur Report – Delivering the business of fashion from Nolcha: Fashion Busi: social networking

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Walls Coming Down: How Social Media Breaks Down Barriers and Optimizes Communication

Posted by fashionentrepreneurreport On Saturday, April 17, 2010 0 comments

Heidi Sullivan VP of Media Research and Jay Krall Manager Global Product Management at Cision dissected the ins and outs of getting your brands out there through social networking. Public Relations professionals and solo business owners alike were taken through the guidelines and best practices for the rapidly growing media phenomenon.

Which Walls are coming down?

• Between Traditional media and social media

• Across types of social media

• Between your personal life and your professional life

• Between Public relations and the public

• Across job functions

1) Between Traditional Media and Social Media

“All media is social and all social is Media – Steve Rubel, Edelman Digital

90% of the blog sites are amateur, 10% professional journalists. Most bloggers don’t work for media professionally but that doesn’t mean that they are not passionate about their topic, or researching the proper information. Develop a relationship with anyone that has a bullhorn

There is more transparency in social media. People seek compelling content from social sources and journalistic sources equally as much instead of in the past where they got news content from journalistic sites only.

Facebook now drives more traffic to Perez Hilton and the Huffington Post than Google does. – WebProNews, May 2009

2) Social sites are increasingly interconnected between each other.

• Sites seek to be sources of content rather than destinations

• A variety of applications help users syndicate across multiple networks, but beware: this can look robotic and unsocial.

How do you measure success results in social networking across many outposts:

Is a Facebook friend worth as much as a Twitter follower? For measurement purposes, yes, a person you’ve reached with a message counts the same on every platform. Ask questions like…

• How sticky is my content

• What will make people come back?

• Does my content incite people to take action or share something rather than just read or watch?

• Can those reactions be counted?

3) Between Personal and Professional lives:

Be as different as you can be when it comes to social media” – Scott Kleinberg, Social Mediaologist and Buzzmaster, RedEye Chicago

• Best practices when engaging personally and professionally

• Pick the right representatives

• Keep it clean (and do it regularly) (like old high school friends vs. work colleagues, you can limit what each group sees, there are ways you can do that)

• Be careful with syndication (if all you’re doing is pushing your own content you will look like a robot and people will not come back and read you

• Group your friends

• Embody the personality of your brand

People don’t want to engage with a logo. People don’t want you to just spit info out to you and then not have responses or communication. Be a VOICE of the brand.

Once you start to communicate you will see people start to push your message out for you.

4) Between Public Relations and the Public

Putting the Public Back in Public Relations

There is now a conversation shift. The traditional way of getting a brands message out there used to be (PR to the Media, Media to the Public)

Social Media is now looked at as “US” a community, where you basically take out the traditional roles of PR, Media etc. and just have a group of people discussing and commenting on like things. Which allows you to tap into consumers directly.

5) Social Media for Internal Communications

But I don’t work in…Customer/Client Services, Product Management, Marketing, Public Relations, Sales, Support yet I am in charge of the social networking for the company… What now?

• Integrated Engagement Best Practices

• Don’t be afraid to respond quickly and say “I don’t know” (remember to follow up though!)

• Communicate with other social media brand representatives

• Create a social media policy for your company

• Use others’ expertise to provide great customer service

• Open up internal communications to provide consistent messaging

For more information go to:

Blog.us.cision.com

Navigator.cision.com

Journalisttweets.com

-Lynn Furge

fashion marketing, social media, social networking | |

Success is the Company You Keep

Posted by fashionentrepreneurreport On Thursday, April 15, 2010 0 comments

Seasoned entrepreneurs and CEO's start to face the same question with the development and growth of their companies: "How do I keep the success within my company"? As your business starts to grow it's important to find strategic ways of hiring talent and partnerships. Whether you utilize outsourcing, freelancers, contract talent, or other non-staff service providers, finding a way to keep everyone motivated and passionate is a constant struggle.

New York Entrepreneur Week April 2010 brought together a panelist of seasoned entrepreneurs to conquer some of these questions, and give advice from their first hand experience.

Nancy Johnson, President of Optimyze

Marc Cenedella, Founder of TheLadders

Kevin Scott, Director of Global Outreach of Global L.E.A.D. Program

Kate Atwood, Founder of Kate's Club

Ben Lerer, Co-Founder of Thrillist

One of the most valuable things you can do as an entrepreneur is to keep your vision at the forefront of your company. Figuring out what you're good at early on in the game so you can be more efficient is important. Yet, how do you find people who share your same vision?

Ben Lerer explained how finding the right passion to leverage and vision will attract motivating people. When you're collaborating with people from early on, look to build potential successful partnerships. "It's a tough personal situation to be in when you're starting a company. The development over the years, if you find the right person, can allow you to find someone to share the success along with the set-backs", said Marc Cenedella.

Contrary to your personal beliefs, Marc strongly stated, "You just can't do it alone. You need co-founders, support, insight, and feedback from others". It can definitely be a challenge to have a person being your partner, but the benefits are key.

Along with co-founders, Nancy Johnson suggests have a board to keep you emotionally stable. "Having a sound board that mirrors your values and priorities, but that can also come at it from a little bit different perspective, is key to success", said Nancy.

Once you find your partners, develop a board to channel your ideas, and you will see your business prosper. Yet, your hiring process will be crucial to the success of the functioning of your company. "If your team doesn't work, it can bring down the business and tear down all the relationships", said Kevin Scott. Hiring well and learning relatively quickly with what works and what doesn't can potentially save your company down the road.

Your start-up team has to be okay with change because your team constantly changes. In the beginning, you don't have enough experience to know what is working for your company. Develop a trust within your team and with the people closest to you. Make sure your team is aware of the expectations set and that they know what they're signing up for.

Lastly, know when to say "no". The panelist stressed the importance to saying "no" to partnerships that may sound good, but don't strategically add up. "Trust your gut, and take a step back", said Ben Lerer. Fix the situations you're in efficiently and move on if you're wrong. When generally making changes, the panelists said, if you have the feeling that something is off, it probably is.

Ending the event, Nancy Johnson stated, "You have to be completely honest in the fact that starting a business, growing, and functioning is not a 9 to 5 job. You set the expectation to them (your partners) to what this going to be like, but if you don't go into the business with a partner with that same drive, they shouldn't really be a partner".

- Katie Evans

fashion business, fashion entrepreneur, social networking | |

Targeting the Media to Build More Productive Relationships

Posted by fashionentrepreneurreport On Thursday, April 08, 2010 0 comments

The title entrepreneur makes it mandatory that you wear many hats, including that of being your own PR agent. But with Public Relations there is protocol, and even within the "rules" there is the expanding world of Social Networking who plays an entirely different game.

Here's some things helpful tips from the experts at Cision of what to do- and NOT do- to improve your hit rate with the journalists who really matter and in return target the media to build more productive relationships.

What's the Problem?

Journalists are consistently complaining about misdirected pitches. Some professionals have gone as far as blacklisting inappropriate pitchers. Chris Anderson wrote a blog post entitled, "Sorry PR people: You're Blocked", and actually listed the names and emails of those he had currently blacklisted. While a Contributing Editor from Wired said, “Pitch me stories. I write features, which means I need good characters, conflicts, tensions and interesting pitches". Make sure you are doing your homework and giving properly directed pitches to the correct people.

Journalists still need PR pros

Current research has discovered that 44% depend on PR pros for interviews access to sources and experts. Although the rise of social media and blogging has helped journalists tremendously, public relations is still something they rely on.

Finding and Hitting Your Own Bull's-Eye

News is consumed differently now so make sure your content is mobile friendly and easily assessable for your audience. There are niche sites for pretty much any topic you could think of, if you do your research correctly, you can get the closest to your target.

Social Media's impact on PR & the media

Remember that the focus is on the social capital of the journalist, not the outlet. Since news is consumed differently and through various different outlets, make your sites available to everyone. By targeting your specific audience you become more direct-to-consumer friendly. But most importantly, remember you're dealing with communities, not audiences. You have the power to directly have a relationship with your consumers.

Key facts that make up your New Media Mix

- What is my goal?
- Who is my target audience/community?
- How visual is my story?
- Is my idea timely?
- Is my news actionable - and how?

Blogger Outreach

Just because you can reach out to a blogger, doesn't mean you should. Building relationships with bloggers takes time. You have to fully understand their specific niche. Truly influential bloggers are made up of almost 10% professional journals and 90% independent freelances who are passionate about their topics. Do not ignore the little guys since there is no such thing as "off the record".

Research the Outlet

Take time to look at writing style, voice, and tone. After understanding everything they cover, research what they don't cover since this could potentially save you time down the road. Here's a tip from a Managing Editor at Popular Woodworking; "Send us information that is useful to our readers. If you look clearly at our Web site and (pitch the areas) in which we cover, I will look at your pitch. If the sender does NOT do their homework, I will not look at the pitch".

Identify the Right Contacts

"Pitchers should do their homework. I often get things that are completely out of the realm of what I do." - Movie Editor, Philadelphia Daily News. By looking at past bylines, reports, and posts you start to identify the right contacts and can target them more efficiently.

Developing Relationships

Start developing relationships by researching past coverage of the individual you're pitching to. Find a current article they've written and reference it. Send an introductory e-mail complimenting their work. Or start by asking about current and upcoming story ideas. Comment on their blog posts or online articles and follow them on Twitter.

Quality VS Quantity

A Reporter from Modern Healthcare says, "The ideal package is a press release attached with a personalized message: here's why you should care, here's the newsworthy element...". And an Entertainment Reporter from WABC-TV agrees by adding, "...a great pitch, shortly done, gets me to do things, and that makes me happy, because that makes the client look good, you look good, and me look good". It's better to send out fewer, personalized releases and never send a release/pitch without an introduction. Your introductions should be clear and brief and even if your release isn't used, your contact will appreciate effort.

Respect Preferences

Through surveys, researchers have discovered that most contacts prefer e-mail. Don't leave long voicemail's or follow up via phone unless you are required to do so at your job. And, if you haven't heard back, don't panic, but also know when to step back and when to push.

Deadlines

A Reporter from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said, "Earlier in the day is always better, as opposed to calling me with some huge store idea at four in the afternoon, when I'm on deadline". With this being said, be aware of lead times/editorial calendars. Do some research on their companies to recognize their usual business hours which will help you determine the best time of day. Also, know their policy on embargoes.

When in Doubt, Include an Opt-Out

Your subject lines must be accurate. For example, if sending a press release, don't be shy about identifying your message as a press release. Also, share with recipients how to opt out of receiving future emails from you and honor their opt-out requests promptly.

Be Prepared, and Follow Through

Have the right spokesperson available and the necessary product information lined up. If you are suggesting a story that needs to include opinions from several different people, have their contact information and availability ready for the journalist

Steps to follow to create a great pitch:

- Know your pitch inside and out
- Find contact on Twitter; do a Google Byline search
- Send a brief e-mail to introduce yourself and why your pitch is a good fit for them
- Be transparent, for example, tell them if you're pitching the story elsewhere
Make all your resources available and even if the pitch isn't used, you've still established a relationship!

Here are some tools and resources provided by Cision to help you target productive media relationships even more...