David Meerman Scott's Blog, page 82

Obama says his biggest mistake as president has been communication

Yesterday, President and First Lady Michelle Obama spoke with CBS This Morning anchor Charlie Rose in the White House Blue Room, where they discussed the failures and successes of his administration as he heads into another election, among other things.

Rose asked President Obama about his biggest mistake as president.

"When I think about what we've done well and what we haven't done well," the president said, "the mistake of my first term - couple of years - was thinking that this job was just about getting the policy right. And that's important. But the nature of this office is also to tell a story to the American people that gives them a sense of unity and purpose and optimism, especially during tough times."

Direct link to Obama reflects on his biggest mistake as president on CBS.

After the election in 2008, I wrote a post Ten marketing lessons from the Barack Obama presidential campaign. My number three was: "Clearly and simply articulate what you want people to believe."

It's fascinating that Obama has identified his failures in this area as president. (While the President used the phrase "tell a story" in the interview, I am expanding it to "communicating" in this post.)

While I think he did an excellent job during the 2008 campaign, I certainly agree with the president that he hasn’t done a good enough job communicating over the past three and a half years as president.

Learning from the President Obama's mistake

These lessons are applicable to all. Many companies don't do a good job communicating. They don't focus on buyer personas and use the techniques of brand journalism and content marketing to tell a story.

Or, like the president, CEOs communicate during a product launch to make sales (the election cycle in Obama's case) but not once the product is released and used by customers.

Unlike the President however, many CEOs don't recognize this as a failure. Often, the people at the top think a good product is enough.

What can your organization learn from the President's mistake?

Note: This is a marketing blog, not a political blog. These are not political observations, but thoughts about marketing and communications.

The pay phone business and looking to your future

This morning I noticed this headline New York starts turning payphones into free Wi-fi hotspots. I thought it was cool so I tweeted it at 2:51 am EDT. Very quickly more than twenty people retweeted and added their comments. It seems the idea of turning the old pay phone infrastructure into a modern use interested many people.

Looking to the future

The idea of reusing old infrastructure got me thinking. In my town, there is a bike and jogging path called Minuteman Bikeway. The old train line from the Western suburbs to the center of Boston was converted to a new rails-to-trails use. Like the old pay phones converted to wi-fi hotspots, old railway rights of way are now re-used to become wonderful exercise spots.

Clinging to the past

But think about how many organizations cling to outdated technology and business models.

Also near where I live is the old Polaroid facility in Waltham, MA. A few days ago I shot this photo of the site, a sad visual reminder of what happens to once great companies that cling to old technology.

Polaroid was the leader in instant photography but missed the digital instant photography revolution and on October 11, 2001, Polaroid Corporation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Polaroid brand name - purchased as part of the reorganization - lives on, but the once great company does not. It didn't have to be that way had management looked over the horizon.

What about your business?

Are you looking to what’s new? Or living upon past successes?

So, what about you?

Nearly every day, I read a great blog post or find some other content that I like and I want to learn more about the artist who created it.

Remarkably, many people don't bother to tell me who they are! Why? Because these folks haven’t developed an effective "about" or bio page.

Often when people visit you for the first time, we want to know about you, so it is important to provide background.

How to make a blog "about" page

If you are taking the time to create content, you need to have a great About or Biography page that might include such things as your photo, a bit about who you are (with a focus on your passions), maybe a short biography, perhaps a few affiliations, and anything else you deem important for people to know. You might even do a a short video introduction. Here's my bio page.

Make it easy for people to contact you

You never know who might want to reach you. Sure, you'll likely get a few unwanted messages. But you may get invited to speak at a conference or a request be interviewed by a journalist. So you should include contact information such as an email address.

If you are worried about your email being available on the public web you can cleverly mask it. For example, I sometimes list mine as david (at) DavidMeermanScott (dot) com. Humans know what this means but machines do not.

Avoid the About page template that ships with your blog platform.

The worst About pages tend to be ones where people use the template. Try to avoid this because these frequently force you into categories of information that may not make sense for you like "gender" and "hobbies." Instead, make a page on your blog and create an original About listing.

Why PR pros need to watch The Newsroom

I've quickly become a fan of Aaron Sorkin's new HBO drama The Newsroom. It's a fast paced look into broadcast news much like Sorkin's other projects including The Social Network and West Wing. In fact, I thought the series premiere was so good that I watched it again the next night.

If you haven't seen the show, here is the official trailer.

While this is certainly fiction, and by necessity the drama-factor is turned up quite a few notches, I do think there are fascinating insider insights into how a newsroom works and how news is put together. These glimpses into what happens in a newsroom should prove valuable for many people who want to get news coverage.

Real-Time breaking news

Much that I recall about putting news out quickly and under intense pressure is portrayed on The Newsroom. For six years I worked in the real-time news division of Knight-Ridder, at the time one of the world's largest newspaper companies. I sat in the Tokyo bureau and Hong Kong bureau during the go-go years of the Japanese and Hong Kong economies.

I've never worked in broadcast news, but I have appeared in live interviews both in-studio and via remote on many news programs at networks like CNN, FOX, and ABC, and MSNBC. From my (limited) perspective, much of The Newsroom is accurate.

No, The Newsroom is not perfect. There are plenty of critics such as this from Huffington Post The Newsroom: Women Problems Abound In Aaron Sorkin's HBO Series.

But so much is right. If you're work in PR or run a business that could use some media attention, The Newsroom is certainly worth studying.

In the first episode, there are extensive scenes of how the news team covers a breaking news story. At several points, Jeff Daniels as anchor Will McAvoy, interviews spokespeople from various government agencies and corporations. We also see the producers and bookers scrambling to find qualified people to speak on-air. Interesting stuff for PR people to see.

I kept thinking how valuable Newsjacking would have been during the breaking news scenes! I was expecting a company to insert their ideas into the cycle.

Direct link to The Newsroom trailer

Watch The Network complete series premiere on YouTube.

Have you caught the show? What do you think?

Salespeople's brains vs the public web

Prior to starting my own business speaking and writing about marketing strategy, I ran several global B2B marketing teams. This was in a world prior to the ability we have today to create content on the web and have it be indexed by the search engines and shared via social networks.

Prior to the web, salespeople were in power positions because they were keepers of information.

With B2B products and services in the old days, the only way for buyers to get detailed information was from salespeople. Buyers had no choice.

To illustrate the point using an expensive consumer product example, think about the process of buying a car in, say, 1995. You'd be exposed to television and magazine ads. Perhaps you'd purchase a buyers guide such as Consumer Reports. You could ask friends and coworkers for advice. But to get detailed information on models and options and pricing required the dreaded visit to the dealership to "talk" to the salesperson, who smugly knew he had all the information power.

Today, buyers find information on the web

When researching a B2B purchase today, buyers just hit a search engine and their social networks. Tons of information is available.

Now how do you buy a car? Do you blindly go to visit the dealership to ask the salesperson? Or do you spend hours on the web learning as much as you can and only visit the dealer when you are ready to buy?

Are you still forcing your buyers to interact with salespeople?

The problem I see is that nearly all B2B companies are still operating in a world as if the salesperson is the king of the information kingdom. Companies insist on driving all online interactions to a salesperson.

One manifestation of this behavior is the insistence by most B2B companies that buyers supply personal details such as an email address before they can get information such as a white paper. When I question marketers about this practice, they tell me the reason is that they need sales leads and that salespeople follow up on the information requests.

Circa 1995 calculus

The idea that you cannot give your information for free pre-dates the web. Requiring email registration is simply applying what we did in the past to the new realities of how people research products. This is not as effective as making information freely available to be downloaded and shared.

Are you managing your B2B sales and marketing process using 1995 calculus? Do you assume that salespeople are the fonts of all knowledge and all information flows through them? If so, I think you are less successful than you could be.

Assume buyers are already educated

Your salespeople should assume they are the last place a buyer goes, not the first. They must assume that very little of their knowledge is proprietary. They need to facilitate the sale, not control the information.

Think back to buying a car. How do you want the dealer to interact with you when you walk in? Do you want a confrontational relationship where they feel they have the information power? Or do you want the dealer to assume you have already done your research and are ready to close a deal?

photo credit: dharder9475 via photo pin cc

When free is not free

As consumers, we know that "free" does not mean free. So why do we forget those lessons as marketers?

Clearly, costs include more than just money:

The free mobile phone requires a one-year contract. Obviously the cost of the phone is built into the monthly fee.

Waiting in line to get a free ticket to an event requires an opportunity cost (the value of your time while waiting), and therefore the ticket is not free.

Filling out a form to get a free white paper means the company now has your email address and perhaps other personal details. You have given the company something valuable so the white paper is not free.

Make it as close to free as possible

I offer a free ebook library with downloads at no cost and no registration is required. Even this has a (small) cost because it takes a second to click a link and maybe two are three seconds of wait time for the 1MB file to download on a high-speed connection (more on slower speeds). But this is quite close to free.

As you work on your content marketing plans, push back on those who misuse the word free.

My research shows that a totally free white paper offered with no registration form will generate as much as 50 times more downloads as the same white paper with a registration form.

Which would you rather have: One email? Or 50 people exposed to your ideas?

Penn State University Football: Social media and crisis management lessons learned

The jury reached a verdict in the high-profile Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse trial. Sandusky, a former Pennsylvania State University assistant football coach was found guilty on 45 of 48 charges. Sandusky faces potentially hundreds of years in prison for molesting 10 boys over 15 years.

The story has been at the forefront of the news cycle many days since it broke in November 2011. There are many parts of this difficult story that have been analyzed for months in the media.

I wanted to take a look at a part of the story that has not gotten much attention - the social media aspects.

Imagine you are responsible for social media within an organization faced with a major crisis like this one. How would you handle it? How would the senior executives handle it?

The right approach is to be honest and forthright. Communicate the facts quickly and don’t hide. Assign a visible spokesperson. Silence and “no comment” are the enemy.

I spoke with Kelly Burns, a recent Penn State MBA graduate. While a student, Kelly interned with Penn State Football Marketing & Promotions from May 2009 through April 2012, and for the past three summers (2009-2011) she ran the Penn State Football Facebook and Twitter accounts.

“I was very lucky to have the opportunity to assist in developing the Penn State Football Facebook page back when it first launched in summer 2009,” Kelly says. She posted content (information, photos, videos, and the like) that fans enjoyed. “Having the opportunity to interact with Penn State Football fans was incredible because Penn State Football has a history rich in tradition and 'Success with Honor,' and its fans literally wear their pride on their sleeves.”

The Penn State Football Facebook page, currently with nearly 350,000 likes, targeted students, recruits to the football program, alumni, and Penn State football fans in the community. Kelly also developed the @PennStateFball Twitter feed. She read each tweet and Facebook comment and responded personally to many. In her role she frequently put in 40 hours per week on a voluntary basis (!!).

Then the story broke

The grand jury investigation was initiated in the spring of 2008 but had been kept quiet. In the summer of 2011 Kelly was told to remove photos of Sandusky from the Facebook page.

On November 4, 2011 Sandusky was indicted and the next day he was arrested and charged and the story went worldwide instantly. “Our Facebook and Twitter lit up but that was difficult because initially we were not allowed to post,” Kelly says. “We were not permitted to post anything about the scandal, nor were any other people working for the University. We were told to wait until Old Main [Penn State's administrative center on campus which includes the university president's office] made a statement before we could say anything. So we went completely dark.”

On November 11, the social media team was permitted to post about The Blue Ribbon Campaign against child abuse and then on November 16 they were allowed to post some simple messages about football but still nothing about the crisis itself was allowed. Even today, nothing about the scandal has ever been talked about on Penn State social media.

Fan engagement and trolls

“Penn State Football fans were never permitted to post directly onto the Facebook wall, but during this period fans were engaged on Facebook by commenting on posts that were already there, including the Blue Ribbon post. There were as many as 500 comments on some posts that I moderated. Many people aired their opinions whether positive or negative.”

While the majority of people were thoughtful, some were not. “We patrolled for foul language, rude jokes, and other disturbing comments and removed them,” Kelly says. Negativity was fine but with such a sensitive issue, inappropriate language was not allowed. “In several cases we needed to block individuals who insisted on continuing to make fun of Penn State in very inappropriate ways,” she says.

What should have happened

Kelly says that the scandal was discussed in several of her MBA classes, including crisis management discussions with MBA marketing professor, Dr. Ralph Oliva in her brand management class. The class went though classic crisis management steps: Gather facts, report facts (even if the fact is that they don’t know anything), put a name to a spokesperson, say that the incident is isolated and does not reflect the football program as a whole, and acknowledge the deep emotions tied to Penn State Football that fans have, and communicate regularly.

These steps were not taken at Penn State Football. Kelly says it took days before the Board of Trustees issued responses and put a face to leadership.

“We should have done a better job providing a way to communicate with the fans,” Kelly says. “That's not something critical about Penn State Football because it goes up to Old Main, who decided what was allowed to be said. I think in our day and age of social media, that silence was not the right response. Keeping information private is not the way to go when people are talking 24x7 on social media and need reassurance.”

A surprising aspect of the situation

Kelly told me how fans of Penn State competitors (such as the Ohio State Buckeyes) also used social media and the Penn State Football Facebook page to show their support and understanding for the victims, the PSU Football players, PSU students, alumni, and fans.

She shared one of the best examples of a positive fan post from what is usually considered the enemy, Ohio State. “In this situation the fan laid aside the on-field rivalry to support a much greater cause (to say the least),” Kelly says. Robert Benson, a Buckeye fan, posted in the Nov. 11 comment thread:

"When people are so quick to make sick references to Penn St. I am disgusted. How can anyone label an entire group of people in a negative way and feel good about it? Taking advantage of people who are down, weakened and heartbroken for your own sick pleasure. Does that remind you of someone?

What I see is a community shell shocked and hurt, trying to find their way through all of this. A horrible situation for them. Surely, among them are kids attending Penn St. who themselves have been victims. Your negative comments about Penn St. must hurt them more than anyone would ever know. They want their university to stand for something better than this.

The whole world is watching Penn St. You will find your way and will come out on the other side to represent something good, and maybe something much bigger and important than before.

Keep your chin up Penn St. When we meet you next week, win or lose, we want you at your best.

A Buckeye fan"

Advice from Kelly about crisis management for other organizations

Interestingly, Kelly says that Penn State Football social media, even today, is not back to “business as usual” like it was before the scandal broke. Currently the football accounts are being updated infrequently by Penn State athletics staff only with innocuous press release type content and the fan engagement is minimal as a result.

“At Penn State, there was no crisis management plan in place whatsoever," Kelly says. "I think it’s crucial for organizations to have crisis management plans with a social media component. Set up timetables to issue responses and statements. You need a plan so that people know how to communicate.”

Kelly’s internship ended several months ago. She says that the crisis experience was terrible in many ways and was certainly *not* fun in the time since the scandal broke. But it was a tremendous learning experience. “I just wish things had turned out differently. Even today they are not communicating openly. It remains to be seen if Penn State Football will address the verdict and engage with fans again now.”

Here is the official statement released by Penn State University immediately following the verdict.

What's next for Kelly

Kelly is now looking for a full-time position in the general fields of marketing, PR, and social media. Having spent time speaking with her, I’d highly recommend her for any communications position. If you’re looking for a social media savvy entry-level employee with extensive crisis communications skills, you need to speak to Kelly. Here are Kelly's social coordinates: blog, Pinterest, Twitter, LinkedIn.

Thank you Kelly for sharing your story with us.

And good luck in your career.

Who do you compare yourself to?

As you create products and services as well as the strategies to generate attention for your business, who or what do you compare yourself to?

Most executives have a relentless focus on the direct competition and use that as a benchmark for comparison. They look at the competition's products, price, marketing and try to do the same but with an incremental increase.

But the strategy of comparisons to your close competitor means that you are likely to become a "me too" that’s just a little better, faster, or cheaper. That's no position to be in.

Microsoft tablet computer anyone?

Compare to people and companies in other industries

True leaders forget about the competition.

Many look to other industries to compare to.

For example, in highly regulated industries like pharmaceutical, healthcare, and finance, the competition is very likely to follow the pack and be fearful of engaging the market with compelling content and social media. Comparing to this market means you’d also be fearful and say "no". If all the hospitals in my area don't have a YouTube channel, why should we?

Smart marketers like Chris Boyer and companies like Inova Health System don't worry about other healthcare providers. If they did, they would say no to blogs, twitter, YouTube and the like. Instead, they look to the best of consumer products companies as their model for success.

Learning from outside your comfort zone

It's always fun when nonprofits look to for-profit businesses. Successful B2B outfits take a page out of B2C playbooks. Service business look to product companies for inspiration (and vice versa). A lawyer markets like a novelist. And a novelist communicates like a journalist.

Try to get away from the comfort of your own peer group and see what you can learn from those outside your industry.

As for me...

I'm a huge live music fan. I've seen nearly 500 bands live and am interested in how musicians and bands perform as well a how they market themselves. So that's who I compare myself to.

I've learned a great deal from people like Amanda Palmer and bands like the Grateful Dead.



When I go to a live show, I watch how the musicians interact on stage and I adopt some of the moves in my own live speeches.

As an example, at the top of this post is a photo I took (iPhone 4S tweaked with Instagram) of Tyson Ritter of the All-American Rejects at a recent Boston show (thanks to my friend Jodi who manages the band and invited me to watch from the photo pit). Tyson is way out front standing on a monitor and interacting with the audience.

The photo of me by Jay Blakesberg is at my NAMM keynote this year. I'm also way out front standing on a monitor and interacting with the audience.

I've got no musical ability but have always loved watching how rock stars move and interact. How cool that I can do the same but in a different business!!

I've never seen another speaker in the hundreds of events I've spoken at jump onto a monitor. I learned the move from someone outside my “competition”.

Another example: I looked to the Grateful Dead for inspiration about sharing content. Learning from the Dead, I give lots of content away for free (with no email address required).

I'm convinced that by learning from musicians and bands, I've developed a more personal style than had I just copied other business authors and speakers.

How about you?

Do you copy the direct competitors? Or do you look outside your industry for inspiration?

Why Make Art? And how to fund it

This morning, Seth Godin announced his newest book The Icarus Deception and a fascinating Kickstarter Project to fund it.

Seth's new book is about the mythology of success (and failure) and how our economy rewards people who are willing to stand up and stand out.

Seth writes: "For too long, we've been seduced into believing we should do less. It's time to redefine what we're capable of. We are all artists now, and the connection economy we're living in relentlessly rewards those who do work that matters."

I'm a Seth Godin fanboy and enjoy reading each of his books the second they are released.

I'd certainly read The Icarus Deception anyway. But this book is also interesting because of how Seth is funding it.

Kickstarter and Seth's art

Seth has a Kickstarter project to fund the new book. Like Amanda Palmer, who raised over $1 million to fund her new album through Kickstarter (I wrote about Amanda's project here), Seth is tapping his loyal fans to help him fund his new book – using the proof of support to convince his publisher and bookstores to back it in a big way.

As I write this, it is just a few hours into the project and one funding level has already sold out. It looks like Seth is on a similar trajectory as Amanda was in the early days of her project.

Seth is betting (rightly it seems) that his fans are willing to fund the book even before it has come out. People like me are going to buy it anyway, so why not get a commitment up front and use the fan support to make the book even more successful.

Supporting your favorite artists

Yes, I am a backer at one of the higher pledge levels. Sure, I want all the stuff that comes with being a backer.

However, more than that, I want to support the artists, like Amanda and Seth, who I believe in. I want them to live well so they can continue to produce art and enrich my life.

People want YOU to succeed too!

If you provide great art, even in the form of products and services, your fans want to support you. That's why people line up to buy new Apple products without even trying them. Do they line up for your art?

If you make great stuff, people will take a chance on you. They'll order the software upgrade, visit the chef's new restaurant, reserve a room in the resort on a different island.

Friending cats and following eggs: On social networks you ARE your photo

On social networks, you ARE your photo.

Your image is important!

The photo you choose to represent you says a great deal about who you are as an individual. It is your personal brand.

I love meeting people in person at conferences or cocktail parties and then connecting with them on social networks like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Sometimes I search people out and connect and other times they find me.

But when somebody has an image that is not an actual photo of them, I hesitate and usually do not connect.

Why are they hiding? Why use a dog or flower or building, or famous person, or logo instead?

The images in this post are all Facebook profiles of people who requested to become friends with me. Who are they? I don’t know because the photos are not of them. So I did not connect.

Same thing happens on Twitter. And then there’s the default "egg" on Twitter and silhouette Facebook. The default says: “I can’t be bothered to upload an image.

There are many choices when it comes to an image to use:

You can use a casual shot taken by a friend.

This is a great option for many people. But there are many different approaches and each says something important about you. Are you in a casual setting (like on a beach)? Or more formal like an office? What are you wearing?



Always think: What does this photo say about me and my personal brand?

You can have other people & things with you in the photo.

Your child and/or boyfriend. A random famous person. Props like your dog, a fishing pole, or a beer in your hand. What about your company logo?

Always think: What does this photo say about me and my personal brand?

You can use a formal portrait.

This is what I do. But the choice of style and clothing says a lot about who you are. Close-up or wide shot? (Wide shots are difficult to see in the postage stamp size on sites like Twitter). Smile or no smile? How close do you crop? For men: tie or no tie? Jacket?

Always think: What does this photo say about me and my personal brand?

Many people use an avatar such as a graphic representation of themselves.

This approach is appropriate for some people.

Always think: What does this photo say about me and my personal brand?

I just don't connect with random images is also used by some. Your cat. Bart Simpson. A surfboard. You're certainly narrowing down what you want people to think of you if you go this route. Always think: What does this photo say about me and my personal brand?

You ARE your photo