Archive for Twitter
Yes, You Can Buy Friends and Followers. But Why?
Posted by: | Comments
Here’s a tactic that’s been out there for a while but has recently been gaining traction – buying Twitter followers.
We’ve heard of some companies that are pushing their agencies and PR teams to up the Facebook likes and Twitter follower numbers. Bigger is better, they say. Quantity over quality.
But wouldn’t you rather have an “organically grown” set of prospective customers, industry influencers, bloggers and members of the mainstream media as followers? Real people who care, who want to read your information and – if it’s any good – share the content with their audiences?
If the answer is no (or if the boss is still demanding big numbers now) head straight to eBay, search for “Twitter followers” and you’ll find all sorts of deals. Caution: this violates Twitter’s terms of service so there’s a chance you could be discovered and banned, but if the boss wants likes and follows, you can deliver big time – in just days.
Below is copy from one of the ads appearing on eBay right now – they can also up your Facebook likes, Google+ presence and more, including ‘INSTANT’ online credibility for your brand. It’s that easy!:
Now on eBay – $29.99 – 30,000+ Twitter Followers
Fastest Delivery! I will add 30,000+ Twitter Followers to your Twitter account in less than 96 hours! No admin access is needed just give us your Username. All Followers look real since they have profile photos and Bios and NO EGGS. Establish INSTANT Credibility Online For Your Brand With An Extra 30,000+ Twitter Followers!
‘Arrested’ and Other Real World Lessons from Social Media
Posted by: | Comments
In recent months I’ve participated on several panels with the media where we discussed using social media tools in crisis communications situations.
Last week I was on a panel, “Crisis Communication in a Social Media World,” with CNN political commentator Maria Cardona and The Washington Post‘s James Buck. Cardona, also a principal with the Dewey Square Group, provided insights into political scandals and the need to be prepared to move quickly with social media as a key part of your crisis PR plan. Since former Congressman Anthony Weiner is “old news” in the Twitter world, we focused on the Herman Cain controversy and the impact of social media.
Buck talked about how the Post uses social media in its reporting, including live-tweeting meetings and events and verifying sources via Twitter by looking at Klout scores and level of engagement among other factors. Buck has first-hand experience with the power of social media. While covering protests in Egypt in 2008 he was detained by Egyptian authorities and placed in a vehicle that was to take him to a prison. In the back seat, he tweeted one word - “arrested” – which triggered a response that eventually led to his release. Twitter’s founders use this as an example of how one word tweeted to a handful of followers can have a big impact.
Still think social media is for following Justin Bieber or Snooki? It’s so much more, and you need to have a plan and tools in place – before the crisis hits.
Use Earthquake Lessons to Shake Up Your Crisis PR Plan
Posted by: | Comments
Here’s a crisis communications lesson from yesterday’s East Coast earthquake – if your crisis PR plan relies on using a telephone or cell phone, you had better insert an alternative method for reaching out to people.
As Gus Sentementes reported in today’s edition of The Baltimore Sun, “As Marylanders reached for their cell phones to communicate with their friends and family, they found it easier to get peace of mind through text messages, emails and Facebook updates than through calls.”
That’s because just about everyone has a cell phone in their pocket – and the first thing they do in an emergency is call family and friends, so the phone system cannot handle such a high volume of calls. To actually work, your crisis communications plan needs to rely on other means to get the word out – tweets, texts and Facebook updates.
As we counsel clients, now is the time to set up those social networking accounts and the related policy and protocol – not during an emergency! [Gus's photo sent via Twitter, left, shows an evacuated Sun staff yesterday after the earthquake shook up the building.]
Assignment Desks Look to Twitter for Updates During Crisis
Posted by: | CommentsAn interview with an assignment editor at KSDK in St. Louis highlights one reason Twitter is an important – maybe the most important – tool in the crisis communications toolkit. During a four-hour lockdown at Missouri University of Science and Technology on May 12 when a gunman appeared on campus, telephone updates were not easy to obtain, but the university’s stream of Twitter updates allowed the TV station to get the latest info and share the news with viewers.
For more details and to view the interview, check out the blog post by Andrew Careaga, director of communications for Missouri S&T.
Merry Christmas, Hon
Posted by: | Comments
Laura Vozzella’s column in the Baltimore Sun does a great job of capturing the PR firestorm over a local restaurateur’s decision to trademark “Hon.”
Rather than debate the merits of the decision to claim rights to the word and the way the restaurateur went about defending her point of view, look at how PR missteps and social media are intensifying this storm.
Many people continue to say “any publicity is good publicity.” BP doesn’t think so, and the owner of this restaurant (and gift shop and festival) surely won’t believe it when this fiasco eventually fizzles out.
The mishandling of the news led to a spoof Twitter account, boycott the restaurant Facebook page, blog posts, newspaper comment section posts, a protest and a string of critical Yelp “reviews,” all within hours of this firestorm. Fanning the flames even more, the restaurant’s graphic design (and presumably not PR) consultant weighed in with a profanity-laced post (click on comments to find the one from “springray“) that went viral, while a rejected Yelp review found a new life and many more eyeballs on countless blogs.
In the meantime, Buzz is dying to hear what counsel the unidentified “publicist” referenced in The Sun‘s column offered when the the idea to trademark “Hon” was discussed!
Updates to ‘Sawmill Guide to Baltimore Media on Twitter’
Posted by: | Comments
We’ve added more updates to the “Sawmill Guide to Baltimore Media on Twitter.” Click on the link to the right of this post to access the listing we started in 2008, launched on New Year’s Day 2009 and kept updating ever since!
This version adds Patch.com, a new hyper-local online news source, a few anchors and reporters from WJZ-TV as well as some additions from The Sun.
To see what all 235+ people on the list are collectively tweeting, follow the list Jeff created. It’s your single source to track what’s happening in the region.
Crisis Communications Tip #15: It’s Rarely Straightforward
Posted by: | Comments
The incredible coverage in the traditional media, posts on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other online venues of the recent Jet Blue flight attendant’s bizarre reaction to a less than civil passenger brings home the point that a crisis is rarely, if ever, straightforward in the facts surrounding what happened.
IMO, what’s getting lost in the accolades for the flight attendant’s way that he quit his job are the bigger, more serious issues of the safety risk he put the passengers in when he deployed the evacuation chute and the complicated state of today’s customer service.
It will be interesting to watch how Jet Blue moves forward and how it incorporates the incident into its customer service training. It should make for an important case study.
Sawmill Marketing Public Relations Sponsors ‘Stoop Stories’
Posted by: | Comments
We fell head-over-heels in love with Stoop Stories minutes into one of their shows.
If you haven’t checked it out yet, each Stoop show features seven storytellers who get seven minutes each to tell a true, personal story about a specific theme. No notes, no scripts, no actors — just true stories, artfully told. The shows are charming, unique, always unexpected and almost always a sell-out.
Some months ago we became a sponsor by providing our Baltimore PR firm’s social media services to them pro bono — most notably posting regular Tweets at @thestoop — a key strategy for promoting their shows as well as their weekly radio show on WYPR, Stories from the Stoop.
Hope to see everyone at an upcoming Stoop Stories! Here’s info on the next one, June 3, 4 and 5 at Centerstage.
Reminder: Twitter is ALWAYS a Conversation
Posted by: | Comments.
Oops, my bad.
I recently bumped into an acquaintance that I hadn’t seen in months who explained her absence by telling me how consumed she is with the ongoing woes of the company she has been with for nearly 15 years. The shining example of these woes is the dramatic drop in headcount since the first of the year.
Later that day I tweeted about this update using “local, one-time high profile, fast rising firm’”as the descriptor of her company. I hit “update,” never giving the tweet a second thought, other than it was more substantive than “…can’t wait for this day to end” sort of post.
In a flash, I received a DM (direct message) from @robterry26, associate editor/Web editor of the Baltimore Business Journal, asking me for details about that tweet, including the name of the company. Then, and only then, did the reminder light bulb go off in my head that Twitter and other social media tools are all about conversations!
Also, this tweet could have had serious consequences. However, the information was accurate, verifiable and caught the attention of a good reporter who knows the source of it as well as the value of the information he was handed.
In addition to being reminded that Twitter is all about the conversation, I hope this also serves as a an elbow in the ribs to think before I tweet and then think again before I hit “update.”
‘Social Media Road Show’ – Links from My SMEI Presentation in Baltimore This Morning
Posted by: | CommentsHere are links to some of the Web sites and resources I mentioned this morning during the 2009 SMEI Conference and ”Social Media Road Show” in Baltimore. These are good, basic social media and PR tools to get started, and everything listed here is free.
For those of you who were not there, I covered some of the latest thinking in Twitter and PR before a national audience at a conference of the Sales and Marketing Executives International. 
Have anything else to share? Leave a comment!
There are a number of directories to find Twitter followers. A good place to start is Wefollow, where you can search by topics such as ”Celebrity” or “Social Media” or “Baltimore.”
Looking for a dashboard that allows you to better manage your Twitter follows and set up searches for key terms or competitors’ names? Try Hootsuite or Tweetdeck.
To follow the media on Twitter, try this great compilation of national journalists by Jeremy Porter. Interested in Baltimore? Click on our ”Guide to Baltimore Media on Twitter” link on the right.
Want to engage in a weekly Twitter conversation involving journalists, bloggers and PR professionals? Check out #journchat every Monday 
from 7 to 10 p.m., CST.
PitchEngine is a social media news release builder that enables PR pros to effectively package stories and share them with journalists, bloggers, and influencers worldwide via the social web.
Sign up for HARO to receive free daily summaries from media seeking sources for news stories in development. For urgent source needs, follow the companion Twitter account, @HelpAReporter. You can also follow Profnet on Twitter for leads.
And 10 people in PR and social media worth following on Twitter? Love ‘em or not, here’s a variety pack to get your own list going (in no particular order): Scott Monty, Jason Falls, Todd Defren, Geoff Livingston, Amanda Chapel, Chris Brogan, Shel Holtz, Annie Heckenberger, Bill Sledzik and Katie Paine. [Update - here's a great list of 100 PR people to follow, compiled by Valeria Maltoni.]
[Photo, above right, shows my view from the SMEI panelists' table as Gus Sentementes, technology reporter with The Baltimore Sun, makes a point while Greg Cangialosi, CEO of Blue Sky Factory (center), and Steve Kruskamp, head of social media for 1st Mariner Bank, wait for the mike.]
