I love what social media has done to the traditional birthday. As I celebrate mine today — hey, age is not a number, it’s a dance track, baby! — I’m greeted by not just phone calls, emails and text messages (as if that wasn’t enough to make a girl feel special), but the warm wishes of all the fun, interesting, smart, cool, crazy, talented, lovable, cranky, accomplished, about-to-break-through, thoughtful, passionate, hard-working, courageous, creative, delicious, hustling, inspiring, multi-tasking, muscial, artful, soulful… people who make up my social networks.
Which word describes you? Doesn’t matter, I love you for what you bring to my life…and for the gifts of knowing you, sharing with you each day. For those that share back, you are the cherry on top of this birthday girl’s social web sundae. IMO, social media is at its best on a day like today, bringing the gift of sweet messages from people who comprise the fabric of my life: whether you knew me in grade school, high school or college, or we connected from my professional world, my mom world or my “let’s be friends” world…today is a day that reminds me of the laughter, the tears, the dreams, the memories, the work, the wonderful connections that bind us in this new social media world.
Tonight, I will continue the celebration with exactly what I wished for: a quiet, electronic-free, dinner at home (cooked by my favorite chef/caterer Michael Batt of Food Design), birthday cake (chocolate layer, with vanilla buttercream icing from Buttercup Bake Shop in NYC, another obsession), and the warm love of my husband and kids, who already started this day off in the most thoughtful and caring ways. Yep, life is good.
Data is a very validating thing. My husband, Dan McCarthy, who writes an established and well-regarded blog titled, ViralHousingFix.com, and is Chairman & CEO of Network Communications, Inc. the world’s leading provider of content and information on the housing market, recently walked me through how my website and blog were performing based on the content I was generating, and the social media marketing strategy I was implementing for my agency. He was generous to also write a case study on what we learned, and convincing enough to get me to let him publish it.
You too, can take these steps to build your digital footprint and only then will you see and experience the tangible results — increased traffic, new business leads, engaging dialogue with those in your own community of interest — the social web has to offer. Everything can be tracked and analyzed, so you will always know what’s working and what isn’t.
If this post and case study are helpful to you, please feel free to share.
And here are the two key take-aways that got my attention:
Results:
Tami McCarthy’s BuzzCloud was launched in November 2009. Results for the subdomain buzzcloud.tmgpr.com were tracked separately from the results for the www.tmg-media.com domain so that the impact of the new content strategy could be accurately measured.
That impact was immediate.
In the six months following the launch of the blog, TMG increased web traffic to its TMGpr.com agency site and to its new blog, Buzzcloud, by 198%.
Hidden within this gain are a couple of data points that demonstrate the impact of a well-executed content marketing and social networking program.
Visits to TMGpr.com, the agency site, increased 32% in the six-month period following the blog launch;
Search engines drove 61% more traffic to the agency site in the six-month period;
The number of keywords that drove traffic to TMG’s agency site gained from 425 to 1,178 in the six-month period.
One of the best things about doing what I do is the awesomely talented people I get to collaborate with. Jim Cameron, the best media trainer in the business, is president of Cameron Communications Inc., and one of the folks that I feel fortunate to know and work with.
As a brand storyteller, I work closely with my clients to help get them focused on what their story is and how to tell it to their stakeholders to ultimately help them achieve their business objectives. Jim is my go-to guy for getting my clients fully prepared for the media. It’s such a treat to watch him work, but it’s even more gratifying to see our clients transform into great spokespeople who can easily handle an interview with Diane Sawyer as they can with The New York Times. For a few examples of top interview segments we’ve lined up for clients check here.
Since Jim’s input is always invaluable to the process and spot on for me, I asked him to share some of the key fundamentals with Buzzcloud:
Jim, why do people generally fear the media?
It’s the fear of not being in control. But not all media interviews need be frightening. In fact, knowing how to get your message across to the media can do a lot to actually promote your business. The trick is to be prepared. Questions aren’t ‘obligations’, they’re ‘opportunities’.
You must go into every media encounter with your own messages… two or three points that you want to get across regardless of the questions you’re asked. What that message is depends a lot on who is reading / viewing / hearing the interview and when. You should tailor your messages for that audience in terminology they can easily understand.
So, you are saying what works for a print interview won’t work for a TV interview?
Not all media were created equal. Print interviews, for example, are much harder to control than broadcast despite their lack of intimidating cameras and recorders. Print reporters take advantage of this seemingly conversational approach and can keep you chatting for hours… if you let them. You must set the guidelines for interviews: who will speak for your company, on what issues, where and when.
Radio interviews offer an opportunity to narrowly focus your message to a particular demographic or psychographic niche audience reached by the station you’re on. On call-in shows you’ll have plenty of time to deliver your messages… even from the comfort of your own home, as stations now can have guests by phone as well as callers.
Television is perhaps the most challenging of the media because of its brevity, complexity and reach. Even a lengthy interview may be distilled down to a “sound bite” of but a few seconds. But, with training, you’d be surprised at how much information can be conveyed in that limited time… and how well you can control what gets electronically quoted from your interview. Being a visual medium you’ll want to keep viewers focused on your message rather than your flashy attire, ineffective body language or shifty-eyed glances off-camera.
Know the points you want to get across in the interview. Build a bridge of words from the reporter’s question to your messages… and deliver them several times during the interview.
Don’t be afraid to admit that you don’t know the answer to a question but instead offer to find the answer and get back to the reporter before their deadline. Never respond to questions based on unfamiliar facts.
Don’t be rushed into answering. Don’t feel obliged to fill “dead air” after a tricky question. Just pause, think… and then answer.
Avoid professional jargon. Keep your message simple, but not condescending.
Find out as much as you can about the reporter and his/her story before you agree to be interviewed. Have they covered your business and its issues before? Who else are they talking to for this story? Do you really want to be in that mix? You can always politely decline an interview. Nobody can force you to talk if you don’t wish to.
On TV, always dress your part, projecting a cool, clean-cut professional image.
Don’t look into the camera. Instead, look at whomever is talking. Avoid the temptation to look at the monitor or acknowledge other distractions out of camera range. And remember: you are always potentially on camera, even if someone else is talking. TV Director’s love “reaction shots” of your expression or body language when someone else is verbally skewering you.
Project your messages with enthusiasm. That attitude is contagious. And if you’re not excited about your message, the reporter and audience never will be.
With a little practice, these interviewing skills will become second nature.
Jim’s bottom line: having a proactive media strategy and the proper training to handle any media situation can help promote your business, and take it to the next level.
JIM CAMERON is President of Cameron Communications Inc. in Darien CT. He has trained hundreds of CEO’s, authors and celebrities for everything from “Sixty Minutes” to The Wall Street Journal. An award winning journalist and former News Director at NBC, he was also the founder of JFORUM, CompuServe’s online service for journalists. He can be reached at (203) 655-0138, on the web at www.mediatrainer.tv or by e-mail at JIM@MEDIATRAINER.TV
Are we surprised that the Tiger Woods story is dominating the news cycle? No. But all I can think to myself is – I wish I could have 10 minutes with him! Better yet: David Letterman, please call Tiger immediately. You, of all people, know quite well it’s better to be out in front of the story than to let the story get out in front of you. I don’t agree that his current situation (infidelity, marriage troubles, car wreck at 2am) will not affect his endorsement deals. For starters, he’s creating a major credibility issue for himself.
Tiger’s tanking his reputation, and the longer he retreats, the worse the damage. He needs a person he can trust to help him through his mess. Lawyers don’t know anything about PR. Sports agents certainly never want to admit their star talent’s future is now tainted. He’s caught up in the wrong spin machine.
I see this all the time with celebrities, and particularly, for whatever reason: celebrity athletes. Perhaps they are the ones with the biggest egos out there, hate to say it. But the media storm is only going to get bigger.
Rachel Uchitel is getting all the airtime, and getting more and more space for all the cagey details, meaning Tiger and his family are now forced to confront this drama whether they want to or not.
Even if he never speaks another word, think about his next televised golf appearance. Think about his lucrative sponsorships. Think about the Tiger Woods brand.
As a professional athlete, a public figure, Tiger needs to come out of the cage, go public, not just make cryptic canned “statements” and ‘fess up in some detail. We all make mistakes. But the media is on the prowl, the “other woman” is all over the press with comments, stories and photos, and frankly, Tiger, lots of folks including your family have a lot invested in you.
So come out Tiger.
It would have been so much easier if you stepped up and shot a hole in one, but now you’ve got to dig your way out of the sand-trap. You’ve done it before, but now, you need to muster up the courage to do it for the sake of your future and your children’s future. If you need help, call me. (Quick! before Rachel gets a book deal, then possibly a movie (or, gasp a reality TV show!) will be made and that means at least 2 more very visible PR campaigns for her, even if she claims she’s a “recluse” — ooooh, the recluse who caged a Tiger and lived to tell about it.)
See, stories have a tendency to live a very long life, even when you don’t want them to.
TMG Brand Communications is a New York-based full-service marketing communications agency with specialized capabilities in public relations, brand positioning and social media marketing. You can reach TMG at 212-750-5755 or e-mail tami@tmg-media.com.
Oh, poor Tiger.
Even if he never speaks another word, think about his next televised golf appearance. Think about his lucrative sponsorships. Think about the Tiger Woods brand.
