Being a Know-it-All Isn’t Such a Bad Thing

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By: Molly Borchers, Sr. Account Executive

@MollyBorchers

The know-it-all: you know that person. It seems everyone has one or two in their life. The not-so-humble person who elicits an eye roll every time he/she begins to speak. The person who pontificates on everything, and the minute you bring up something new, they claim to have known about it yesterday. They’re annoying, right?

But in the field of communication, we have a responsibility to be know-it-alls in the least obnoxious way. What do I mean?

The other day, Chance Shay and I went to a presentation on influencer marketing where Mark Fidelman quoted Google’s Eric Schmidt, saying that every two days we create as much information as we did from the beginning of time up to 2003. Every day it seems that there is more and more information to be consumed, and it’s tougher and tougher to cut through the noise. That presents a challenge for marketers because it makes it more difficult to reach customers in a meaningful way. But it’s also a challenge because technology is forcing us to do more than ever before. We have to be the experts. We have to filter through the junk for our clients so they don’t have to. We have to be ahead of trends so we can present the best possible ideas for our clients. Phew!

It’s a tall order, but that’s why I make it a personal mission to be a know-it-all. And in the best way possible: you won’t find me bloviating at the water cooler. But I do like to share trends and important articles with my clients the second that they’re relevant. I also think it’s important to incorporate up-to-date information into my work in real-time so I’m serving clients to the best of my ability.

That means taking time daily to stay on top of it all. But I’m no magician and I don’t have a 25^th hour in my day. To make it work without being a time suck, I use a number of resources and work-hacks. Here are some of my favorites: 

·       

The Skimm: a daily enewsletter that skims the headlines & provides the most important information in a simplified manner.

·        The Muckrack newsroom: I visit this once a day to read the stories that are the most tweeted by major journalists.

·        To accompany that, I subscribe to the Muckrack enewsletter. I hate email newsletters just like any other schmuck. So if I sign up for one, I like it to do multiple things for me. This one also highlights the day’s most important news but it also reports on changes at major publications.

·        Newsle: enewsletter with news stories that feature your Facebook friends & email contacts. This serves as an alternate way to monitor for client stories, but it’s also a great tool for networking. What better way to reach out to a contact than by sending a quick note? “I saw your article in Forbes! Congratulations! And by the way, I’d love to catch up soon.”

·        Twitter lists: I have created twitter lists for media, colleagues in the industry, brands I’ve got my eye on, and clients/partners. I also get push notifications to my iPhone every time @BreakingNews tweets.

·        Feedly: the RSS reader of choice to keep up on all my favorite industry blogs, including but not limited to: Mashable, TechCrunch, PRDaily, All Things D, The Verge, Fast Company, Venture Beat, Forbes, NYT Bits, Inc., Waxing Unlyrical, Sarahsfav.es, Spin Sucks, Brian Solis, and more.

·        MediaGazer & TechMeme: MediaGazer aggregates the day’s top news stories and TechMeme does the same for the tech industry.

·        Cir.ca iPhone app: a beautiful iPhone app with the day’s top headlines, presented in a user-friendly format. Perfect for when I’ve got five minutes in between meetings or I’m waiting in line at the grocery store.

·        The Li.St: One of my favorite enewsletters from media veterans Rachel Sklar and Glynnis MacNicol (Huffington Post, Mediaite, Business Insider, Mediabistro). It comes out only a few times a week, but I read it to the end every time.

·        TED and NPR iPhone apps: I only have time to consume my beloved TED talks or NPR while I’m driving, running, or at the gym. These apps make it possible.

What are some of your favorite tools for being a know-it-all? Feel free to tell me in the comments. 

5 Reasons it Pays to Pitch the Competition

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When I suggest pitching your competitors, you might think I'm talking about pitching them overboard.

I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but including information on your competitors when you pitch your company/client to the media can be a best practice.

Here are at least five reasons:

1. They will look at your competitors anyhow
Any journalist worth his or her salt is going to dig around to see what other company, venue or event is similar to yours. Save them the time while also putting your competition in context. [TIP: Never say anything distasteful or disparaging about your competition.]

2. You need other examples to show a trend
Trends are newsworthy--they're current and topical, but one company's experience is not evidence of a trend. Go ahead and share data in your pitch like market growth statistics or scientific research to substantiate a trend, but also share examples of other companies or events that prove out your point. If the reporter does the story, typically he or she will lead with your client/company as the primary example. [TIP: It takes three exampeles to support a trend.]

3. Profiles are the exception, not the rule
Journalists occasionally profile companies and leaders, but typically that is a once per publication opportunity, and even in a profile of a successful company or CEO, you'll see the reporter cite examples of similar companies or the experiences of similar executives. If you don't have a stand-out product, service, event or leader to submit for a profile, try positioning your story in terms of trends in your industry (see #2) and seek to be the lead example. [TIP: This is particularly effective in more mature industries or with products or services that are viewed as commodities like financial services.]

4. It enhances your credibility
When journalists see that you've included competitor information in a pitch, the very fact that you acknowledged other companies builds your credibility and shows you understand the information they need to do their job.

5. It works
When I have used this technique, I've had journalists respond telling me how much they appreciated it. Plus, it has produced coverage, and each time, the coverage focused on my client, and the effort and extra work paid off.

It's not always the answer but can be an effective technique when needed.

A Taste of PR and Guitar

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Why is SDSU senior and classical guitarist Pauline France serenading the (W)right On team? Call it a quid pro quo.

I spent the morning of Oct. 29 sharing my passion for PR with Pauline through the "Taste of PR" program organized by the local PRSA New Pros committee. The program matched seasoned professionals as mentors with young, promising professionals just starting their careers. In exchange, after lunch, she rocked our world with a taste of her passion for music.

Pauline was an excellent candidate for this kind of program. She shared in advance what she hoped to get out of the experience so that we could do our best to deliver. And she asked terrific questions. Best of all, she captured the experience in a great blog post of her own. She seems to have taken away some of the key principles of agency life and, possibly even more impressive to this agency president, knows how to use the plural possessive (*swoon*):

"Some of the things I learned at the firm include time management, managing conflicting priorities, managing clients’ expectations and developing PR proposals. A topic that was often brought up was keeping a healthy balance between your personal and professional life, something that Julie does admirably well!"

Not sure where she got the idea I've figured out how to balance the agency with having a life. Let's just say I try...

Having her job shadow me and lunch with Chance Shay, Heather Hinman and I was a pleasure. Kudos to the New Pros committee for this program, and I encourage other agency executives to consider supporting it next year. You'll get as much as you give!

P.S. Shout out to Sandy Young for the push I needed to participate.

Newspaper column born from social network

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Today I helped launch the San Diego Union-Tribune's "Social Media Monday" column in its business section by authoring its first weekly installment. (I shared tips for local businesses trying to grow their following on Twitter.)

But how did I get such an opportunity? After all, authoring a social media column in the market's major news daily is pretty sweet.

The opportunity was all the result of my social network, and I thought it would be fun to show how that worked:

• June 2008: Get on Twitter. Figure out how it works. Make friends.


• March 2009: When Twitter friend @tawnypress in Orange County offers up her ticket to hear @chrisbrogan speak at @bryanelliott's SoCal Action Sports Network event, I go. I enjoy meeting and learning from Chris Brogan as well as hanging out IRL with another OC Twitter friend @kirstenwright. But I also meet @ronploof. Ron is an author, blogger, storyteller, and speaker who helps executives understand the business of new and social media. I stay connected with Ron through Twitter but also subscribe to his blog. Ron shares great insights and advice, which I often ReTweet or post to Facebook to share with my network. It's really good stuff.


• May 2010: Ron suggests I take his place on a social media panel at Cal State Long Beach's Journalism Day since he has a conflict. It's a fun experience, and I enjoy meeting the other folks on the panel including OC Tweeter and blogger @tednguyen. A former Orange County Register reporter, @mcdiana a.k.a. Diana McCabe, is auditing the panel, and we connect after the event on Twitter.


• June 2010: @mcdiana becomes a business editor at the San Diego Union-Tribune, with a focus on the interactive side of the paper's business reporting. We share advice and observations on running in San Diego, among other local tips.

When it's time to kick off her idea for a "Social Media Monday" column, I come to mind. Why? Because in 2009, @tawnypress Tweeted that she had an extra ticket to an event, and I went. Because @kirstenwright Tweeted that she would be there too so I wasn't going alone. Because @ronploof and I connected there and then stayed connected via our shared social networks. This led to a shared mutual respect which resulted in a speaking opportunity that led to a column opportunity.

See how that works? It might sound like a lot of work or a long time to work, but it's just one example of the many great connections and opportunities that social networking activities have produced for me and my business.

If you missed it, here's the column:

How to grow your Twitter network

Welcome to the San Diego Union-Tribune’s first installment of Social Media Monday, a new weekly feature that helps businesses and consumers understand how to use social media tools to their best advantage. This week's tips come from Julie Wright, president of (W)right On Communications, a San Diego public relations agency. She frequently speaks and consults on social media best practices. (Find her on Twitter at @juliewright).

SOCIAL MEDIA MONDAY: Building quality connections

The social networking site Twitter has allowed me to make new connections at a pace that I could not possibly have achieved in person or, as they say on Twitter, IRL (in real life).

This ability to connect with others so easily is a seductive feature of online social
networks, but they are not simply about collecting followers. It’s the quality of your connections that makes your social network valuable...: https://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/sep/26/quality-of-connections-content-can-help-grow-your/

5 Qualities Communicators Need Today!

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The barriers to entry in the communication, publishing and broadcasting fields have crumbled thanks to ubiquitous, user-friendly and largly free web-based technologies. With Twitter, anyone can be a pundit or a pitchman. On LinkedIn, anyone can build a massive professional network. And using YouTube, anyone can share original film productions or star in the their own reality TV show.

But just because you CAN does not mean you SHOULD! (Seriously.)

Since technology is no longer the barrier to entry in our field, what is?

Well, it's many things, but I've boiled it down to what I see as the top 5, and if you've got 'em, you've got it.

1. Talent: natural ability as a communicator -- you can write and present. Plus, you're constantly thinking about how to do these things better and more often as well as share your talent with others.

2. Common Sense: you can work it out for yourself. You've got 'critical thinking skills' and aren't afraid to use them.

3. Motivation: you want to learn, grow, challenge yourself or be challenged by others and are intrinsically curious.

4. Creativity: you approach old problems in new ways or find new ways of saying the same ol' thing. When you're presented with a problem, your first instinct is to find a creative solution.

5. Adaptability: Where others find variety and change threatening or frustrating, you thrive.

If you've got these qualities, you can always learn the technical steps required to become an accomplished communicator. However, if you don't have them, by all means use the technology, but find someone who does have them to guide and coach you (and listen to them).

By the way, if you have a degree in communications or a related discipline and some fantastic life and work experiences that would help you hit the ground running, (W)right On Communications would like to hear from you for our open Account Coordinator position!

In this position, you'll support the agency’s consulting team in coordinating various client activities as well as some of the agency’s own branding and communications activities. You'll also work directly with clients, the media, and vendors and support social media activities across a variety of web-based platforms.

Be prepared for an environment that will have you working your magic on topics of an extremely technical nature to lighter fare such as music, entertainment and hospitality. (Did I mention 'adaptability' is a requirement?)

This is a full-time position and includes benefits. Please review the responsibilities below to get an idea of what the job entails and please forward your resume to career@wrightoncomm.com if you're interested in it.

RESPONSIBILITIES
Provide client account team with professional account coordination support including:
o Gather, compile and research competitive and market information including secondary research and occasional primary research
o Research, update, and maintain listing of public relations opportunities and deadlines via editorial calendars for press opportunities
o Review HARO and ProfNet daily feeds for client PR opportunities and follow up as needed
o Research and maintain the agency’s media lists
o Manage media monitoring activities including reviewing/capturing client press clippings, broadcast coverage, Google alerts, and media monitoring services and generating monthly summaries and reports for client review
o Manage social media monitoring activities including reviewing/capturing client conversations and coverage via the agency’s social media monitoring service and generating monthly summaries and reports for client review
o Coordinate artwork development, production (print & mail), photo shoots, trade shows and other meetings, and PR events as needed
o Coordinate client approvals on collateral and public relations copy and designs
o Contact editors and reporters as directed by consultants to research or ‘audit’ media interest and needs on a per client basis
o Coordinate the dissemination of PR materials through newswires, online sites, and social media outlets
o Assist with drafts of press releases and editing of public relations support materials
o Assist with social media communications to support client programs
o Attend client events and provide on-site event coordination as needed
o Support consultants through handling Constant Contact emailings and other online tools and web-based updates including tracking results

Social Media for Community Leaders

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I've presented on social media to the San Diego Press Club, Southern California electronics industry pros, and, as of today, community leaders from across North San Diego.

Leadership North County is a nine-month program for government, business and nonprofit leaders that takes 30 students from across North San Diego County . I took the program in 2003.

The event was at Oceanside's KOCT studios. Before my talk (see slides below), they heard from a panel led by KPBS's Alison St. John with Tom Fudge of KPBS, Catherine Garcia of NBC 7/39, and Kent Davy of the North County Times. Later in the day, Dick Daniels of RMD Communications led a session on interviewing with traditional media and Brett Sondrup of NCTimes.com shared the innovations taking place at their local daily newspaper (check out http://my.nctimes.com for example).

This was a room full of very smart, motivated and connected people. I really wondered how this group of very involved community members would respond to the seachange in communications that they were being presented.

Social Media For Community Leaders Ss

View more presentations from Julie Wright.

Mark Tucker with AECOM Energy in Solana Beach suggested that whereas newspapers used to drive many of our beliefs and behaviors, the recommendations of 30 regular people on Twitter now seemed to have a mini-Oprah effect, as he put it.

David Tarr, Director of Career Technical Education at Escondido Charter High School noted that with this explosion of outlets for your message, you have to be more careful than ever about what you post because it's going to be there forever. Others echoed that concern, but Tarr also saw the benefits of using social media for communicating with a limited budget as did others.

Tarr was concerned about letting students loose on social media sites which was interesting because several others suggested high school students could be hired to help them get this work started. (I understand people thinking that some young kid is going to make all of this easy for them, but that's a fantasy. FYI, if you're looking for the easy route and that's driving your communications decision-making, you're destined for disappointment.)

Jim Farley, who runs a family foundation, noted that new social media tools allowed you to skip the media and go directly to your audience or stakeholders.

Ligeia Heagy, who works for the City of Vista as a Management Analyst in the Engineering Department, suggested that municipalities need to communicate using whatever tools their residents expect.

Janene Shepherd, Aide to the Deputy Mayor for the City of Oceanside, noted that as soon as you discover what works for you that tool may fade out of fashion.

Jeremy Raimo, an orthopedic service line administrator with Tri-City Medical Center, felt that so many diversified outlets meant that you had to now carefully choose the right one to reach your audience. For instance, Twitter is a great medium for connecting with people aged 45 to 54--a fact that I'd shared and that apparently changed his perception about who's using social media.

Troy Strand, Executive VP of Independent Energy Solutions in Vista, said it's all about time more than anything. He could use that same time to work on the company's strategic plan, for instance, although he could see the value in raising his company's profile via social networks.

After a lot of discussion, it appeared that social media policy was the missing link for this group of leaders--which is the subject of a blog post of its own.

San Diego media on Twitter - Part II

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I originally drafted a list of San Diego media professionals on Twitter via the San Diego Metblog that I also write for. It has become the most popular blog post on that site because it's information people want.

More journalists and media personalities have joined Twitter, so I have drafted an update here and included the original post below.

Note that some of the additions are because of a new online breaking and local news source, San Diego News Network which launches March 18:

@sdnewsnetwork - News from SDNN
@sdtips – Travel editor for SDNN
@carondg - Food editor for SDNN
@sdradio – KGB radio reporter
@ericcollins - Channel 6 weekend news anchor
@culturelust – KPBS FM news reporter Angela Carone
@michellemowad – San Diego Business Journal real estate and development reporter
@mjdavis – leads strategy and interactive at SDUT
@joshkopelman - publisher of Dining Out San Diego
@krdavy - editor of the North County Times
@tkarnold - editor of Home Media Magazine
@sdmetblogs - citizen journalism site



ORIGINAL POST - "San Diego Media Takes to Twitter"
By juliewright February 26th, 2009 @ 8:04 AM

Whether you call it real-time conversations or microblogging, Twitter is a tool that San Diego’s media are picking up and putting to use. You can follow individual reporters or on-air personalities in San Diego as well as subscribe to Twitter news feeds:

Media Tweeps
@dodgemedlin – San Diego Union-Tribune assistant news editor
@RickyWhy – San Diego Union-Tribune local government editor Ricky Young
@ninagarin – San Diego Union-Tribune ‘Street’ reporter Nina Garin
@jimtrageser - North County Times reporter
@drolland – San Diego CityBeat editor David Rolland
@ericwolff – San Diego CityBeat reporter Eric Wolff
@catherine739 – NBC 7/39 anchor Catherine Garcia
@carondg – San Diego Foodstuff blogger, freelance food, travel and tech writer Caron Golden
@lcaloh – KPBS convergence editor Leng Caloh
@culturelust - KPBS arts and culture producer Angela Carone
@tmack01 – KNSD 7/39 photographer
@helenchang – San Diego News Network business editor (launching in March)
@michellemowad - San Diego Business Journal real estate reporter Michelle Mowad
@Hula933 - 93.3 FM AJ’s Playhouse personality Hula Ramos

San Diego News Feeds on Twitter
@sdut - San Diego Union-Tribune
@utstreet - Union-Trib’s Street section
@sdbackyard - Union-Tribune’s SD Backyard community social media news site
@nctimes - North County Times
@sdcitybeat - San Diego City Beat
@kpbsnews - KPBS FM news
@nbcsandiego - NBC 7/39 News
@10news - KGTV 10 News
@sandiego6 - San Diego Channel 6
@SDSU_NewsTeam - San Diego State University news / media relations
@UCSDNews - UCSD news / media relations
@bizsandiego - BizSanDiego
@sdbloggers - SDBloggers.com

If you’ve got other local media or newsfeeds on Twitter to suggest, send them to @juliewright. And thanks in advance for any contributions.

San Diego's Growing Twitter Community

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If you didn't already know this, San Diego has a great, enthusiastic and powerful Twitter community.

Currently, the city is ranked 13th worldwide for its Tweeples' activity.

The top Twitterers in this region are also some of the top in the world. Twitter Grader refers to them as San Diego's 'elite' Twitterers. @marismith, for instance, is ranked #1 in this region and in the top 100 of all ranked users.

Naturally, many of the people most active on Twitter are 'social media mavens,' so I personally suggest that if you're looking to keep your Twitterstream fresh, diverse, and relevant, be careful not to jump in by following only the top Twitterers. You'd be missing out on a lot.

Mix it up with great San Diego attractions and venues like @gaslampquarter or news media like @sdut. Or how about both with @sdtips which combines local travel tips, news and a lot more. Or journalists like @dodgemedlin who you can always count on to post topical and timely links.

Follow San Diego Metblog authors like @juliewright (me), @thepegisin, @viss, @morrisato and more.






There are personalities to follow here too like @chriscantore who's a fount of local music knowledge and as entertaining ever. Or @sddialedin if you're looking for recommendations on the local music scene--in real-time, by the way, which often means 2 a.m. for her. If classic rock is more your bag, you can't beat @sdradio for his encyclopedic knowledge.

If you're a morning person and preternaturally perky, you'll enjoy the good natured posts of @marismith (see link above), @sugarjones, and @lotusamy.

You can stay connected to the city of San Diego via @mayorsanders.

And if you're interested in San Diego's culinary community and what's fresh, follow @carondg, @aliceqfoodie and @pinchmysalt.

I suggest you chase those food posts down with a beer post or two from @stonegreg of Stone Brewing and @beermolly.

If you're interested in San Diego's biotech industry, follow @sdbn. And if you're interested in the future and health of its fast food industry and leading spokesperson, follow @jackbox (who's apparently in a coma but you can count on his staff to keep his account updated.)

It really helps to get out and meet your Tweeps in person, and for that, you need to follow @jbruin who organizes San Diego TweetUps like the one last Saturday night that brought out over 200 people. Read her blog post and see pictures too if you wonder what a TweetUp looks like. http://www.meetup.com/sdtweetup/ (I wish I could go but I have a 'thing'... I just love saying that.)

This list is just a start. I'll try to share more links to local San Diego Tweeps in the future. And I encourage you to share your favorites by commenting below or reaching me on Twitter @juliewright.