Month: March 2012

Social Media Tidbits

The social media platform continues to evolve. In the past few weeks, I’ve read several good articles and found some helpful apps. I’ve collected several of them in this blog to share with you.

Linkedin Follow Company Buttons

Companies will be adding this button to their websites, making it easier for any consumer on the web to begin following companies of interest, on LinkedIn. Whether you are looking to stay up-to-date on company news, career opportunities or industry trends, following companies on LinkedIn is a great and easy way to gain insights and stay connected.

Copyright Issues and Pinterest

I love Pinterest. It’s fun to get inspiration. For the most part I’ve been pinning photos I’ve taken, but I’ve repinned photos of others that I liked. I don’t always know the copyright of those photos, and I suspect you don’t either. And that’s a problem. Pinterest’s Terms Of Use itself requires that “you either are the sole and exclusive owner of all Member Content that you make available through the Site, Application and Services or you have all rights, licenses, consents and releases that are necessary to grant to Cold Brew Labs the rights in such Member Content as contemplated under these Terms.” Megan O’Neill wrote a clear piece on the problem for Social Times.

Telling a Story Using Video

I started my career as a print reporter. A photographer was assigned to capture an appropriate image to accompany the story. When I moved into PR, I took my own photos for newsletters. I had studied photography so it wasn’t too much of a stretch, although I would have preferred a professional photographer on staff. Today, I have to think about videos to go on my company’s blog, Facebook page and website. I do the same for my personal blog. If you want to learn more about how to tell a story through video, Poynter has an article with 9 helpful steps.

Favorite Apps

Trello organizes all of your projects and tasks.

Trello organizes all of your projects and tasks and who is assigned to them in an easy-to-view format. Even better, the mobile and web versions contain the same features.

Now that the weather is getting nice, my trainer is encouraging me to get outside and run. I want to know my distance so MapMyRun is my go-to app.

I’m always finding articles to read. Sometimes I go down scary rabbit holes and forget what I started off searching for. Now I use InstaPaper, an app that lets me bookmark interesting web pages for later reference. The best part is I can read it on my phone when I’m waiting for an appointment or stuck in line.

What have you read lately that’s worth sharing?

Author Ellery Adams Stays Busy Plotting the Next Kill

Ellery Adams, who also writes as J.B. Stanley and Lucy Arlington, told a group of mystery writers and readers, that having worked at a bookstore, she was convinced she could write a mystery better than most that were on the shelves. “I was feeling very snobby about it.”

She also was a school teacher for eight years so “you can see why I wanted to kill people,” she said with a friendly laugh.

She chose the name Ellery Adams because she loved the works of Ellery Queen and because she wanted to be in the front of the bookshelves.  The name Lucy Arlington originated when she was in Arlington, Va.

The different nom de plumes are helpful, Ellery says. “You can completely fail and come back as a different author. You start with a clean slate.”

She does, however, get confused when she attends writer conferences. “I’m never sure who I am.”

Ellery follows a strict schedule, writing 1,000 words a day. Then she revises those words. She aims for 4,000-4,500 words each week and edits on the weekend. She writes blog posts while she watches TV.

She blogs, even though it takes away from time on her books, because “people getting to know me sells books.” Editors also are requiring authors to blog and post to Facebook and Twitter.

Because she has three separate series, Ellery works in chunks and marks her calendar with the topics of her series: Pies, Agency, Beach.

“I’ve got so many people to kill,” she said, before dashing off to another appointment and then home to write.

Integrating Social Media and Advocacy

Several months ago I attended a social media conference. One of the sessions focused on integrating social media into an organization’s advocacy strategy.

Dionna Humphrey, senior online strategist for Greenpeace USA, shared that social media can help push the message to a wider audience. “It has the power to take leg and take off,” she said.

Ken breaks up with Barbie because of her role with deforestation. (Photo by Cynthia Price)

Greenpeace created a campaign targeting Mattel because the packaging for toys was from Indonesia’s rainforests. Its campaign created greater visibility and additional pressure on Mattel.

In the campaign, which played on social media platforms, Ken breaks up with Barbie. @Ken_Talks: “Barbie, it’s over. I don’t date girls that are into #deforestation.”

Humphrey said that the hashtags start a buzz with followers and allows a company to track conversations. When possible, tell followers about hashtags ahead of time, which will make it easier to follow and engage in the conversation. To determine if the hashtags are relevant, you can check on search.twitter.com.

Not everyone in the audience, though, was a fan of how Greenpeace targeted Mattel. Tweeted Geoff Livingston of Zoetica: “Not sure I like the ethics of Greenpeace stalking Mattel Facebook fans with green messages.”

Wendy Harman of the Red Cross cautioned about such public tactics. “It’s just so easy for that tactic to strike right back.”

Such campaigns work when there is a “crisitunity,” or a situation that is both a crisis and an opportunity. Humphrey said it worked because all the members on the social media platforms can become ambassadors.

In part, because of the social media campaign, Mattel has instructed its suppliers to avoid wood fiber from controversial sources, including companies that are known to be involved in deforestation.

“This is really the kind of power that you have,” Humphrey said.