Chicago's social media scene is being shaken up by taxi driver Rashid Temuri. Rashid has seen his business increase with countless repeat customers thanks to his embrace of Twitter, FourSquare, Google Latitude, and more. He generously spent an hour with me last night to discuss his story and social philosophies, as well as reveal his new Twitter account. You heard it here first!
How do you come up
with new ideas to give your customers value?
I began by packing an iPad and iPhone. I had wifi in my car for my use, and is limited to iPads and iPhones only. It’s a device that is not made
anymore; it was locked for iPad and iPhones. When I got the wifi, I thought that it was something I could share it with my customers. That’s something that people
find very attractive, that they don’t need to use their own bandwidth.
I also have a Ford Escape hybrid car. My hybrid is one way
of letting people know that I am different and have a save-the-trees mentality.
People call folks like me a tree hugger, but why not be open about it? Hybrids are good for business, and being environmentally
friendly is something I truly believe in as well. For the record, I’m looking
to buy a hybrid for my personal use in the next 6-8 months.
As far as multimedia goes, for my personal use I have Hulu and
Netflix accounts. They are available for my customers if they want to use them.
I also have XM radio in my cab.
These are the little things that really differentiate my
business, even if people do not use them so much. What is important for me is
to use all the resources I can to promote my business while enjoying the
technology. I use my @chicagocabbie Twitter account to mention my location, talk to my customers, give weather and traffic reports, and talk about whatever is on my mind, like jokes.
I still don’t know how much I made today. I noticed that the
more I focus on doing my job and providing a service, the less I have to worry
about money. If cab drivers are directly connected to the customers and give
them what they want, the cabbies will be fine.
What are you up to next
that you haven’t revealed anywhere else yet?
I can reveal that the second account I will be running on Twitter will
be @hailodriverschi, a driver’s phone and smartphone app. It’s not open to the
public, because it is only for the cabbies using the Hailo app so that they can
better communicate. Although it is not that active now, I will be running it
soon.
I think Hailo is the best thing for
cab drivers and customers.
One thing that you do
is allow your location to be tracked using FourSquare. Are you ever concerned
about you or your family’s safety?
I have had people ask me about allowing myself to be
tracked. Tracking is a little complicated.
First of all, I’m a public figure. It’s not my private life
that I’m tweeting about, for example, my daughters’ names. I’m very strict
about keeping out my personal life from Twitter. My wife is on twitter but I
hardly talk about her, because it has nothing to do with my profession. I track
my location using my iPad, but I don’t carry it around with me. The iPad stays
in the car.
I do think that it is ok to use FourSquare to check in to restaurants
and movies, but I don’t give other details about what I’m doing. If you have a
question about the restaurant you can ask me, or a movie that I’ve checked in
on. It’s still part of my business, because it’s about what I personally like,
and my business has a strong personal brand. Of course, there is a fine line
with sharing, so I always try to think carefully about what I’m about to do.
How did you come up
with the idea that social media could help your business? Did a friend tell you
or were you inspired by someone? Did you have a role model?
I was a cab driver for 15 years. I didn’t have any problems communicating
with my customers because I was raised in the US.
I never wanted to be a “chatty cabbie”, a cabbie that never
shuts up with customers. But I did discover that a lot of people wanted to talk
and tell how their day was or hear how my day was.
What I started learning from talking to customers was that a
lot of people didn’t know much about the cab industry. They were also very
unsatisfied with the taxi industry.
Believe it or not, there are still people who think that
cabbies pay a cut out of what you make to the head cab office. That is a 30 or
40 year old model. Today, we pay a weekly lease rate and the owner doesn’t care
if I work as long as I make the lease. Our goal as taxi drivers is to meet the
cost of the lease in 2-3 days, and then we try to earn in addition to that.
I decided to use social media to communicate with customers.
My wife works for a technology company that is very savvy in how it uses social
media. In the beginning I was all about using Facebook. But my wife pointed me
towards using Twitter. Up to this point I used to tell people that “I use FB
and will respond more quickly with that then with phone calls.”
With encouragement from my wife, I opened a Twitter account.
At first using Twitter was very difficult, like for most people, but very soon I
discovered it might be the most powerful social network.
When I opened my @chicagocabbie account in 2011, I just wanted
to communicate with people. I just looked at Twitter as a doorway to talk to
people and get the consumer’s point of view. I was very lucky, because I ran
into some very good social media people who are well known, like Leyla Arson
(@leyla_a), and as soon as they found out about me they thought that what I was
doing was unique. I just kept going and now I have nearly 4,500 Twitter followers.
Twitter is the best tool to find out anything about
literally anything as soon as possible. It gets to twitter before anywhere
else. The first thing you get from twitter is the info. The second thing is
staying connected to celebrities, or movies or politicians. For most people, it
is difficult to believe that the celeb on twitter is real. Of course they don’t
respond to tweets 95% of the time, but when they do it’s, like, WOW.
I thought all the attention I got for using social media was
funny, because honestly until today I don’t think that what I do is all that amazing.
My new social media pals never gave any structured lessons.
Of course there were little tips they dropped here and there, but I mostly
learned by just hanging out with people, for example at Social Media Club (http://socialmediaclub.org/chapter/chicago).
Social Media Club’s Chicago chapter meets once or twice a month. Before I used to go to learn. now I mostly
attend to meet friends.
The most popular question I still get at Social Media Club
is “Are you really a cab driver?” And of course I just smile and say, “Yes, I
am.”
Well … yes. But PR is also notoriously stressful. As social
media expert Glenn Raines (@socialmoves) said at a presentation at Northwestern
University last week, “you almost have to sleep with one eye open” with all the
ongoing developments in the field. No surprise then that PR professionals are in particular danger of pooping out.
Stress and fatigue can give you more than just a headache.
Stress and fatigue can hurt your productivity, ruin your peace of mind and
ultimately shorten your lifespan. Luckily, there are ways to deal with stress,
some involving mind over matter and some involving ... well ... matter over mind. These techniques all
revolve around clearing the mind of clutter through better use of time, more exercise,
embracing healthy eating and periodically unplugging from the internet.
As always, these are my opinions and do not replace the
advice of trained medical professional. Always check with your doctor before
engaging in new physical activity! My lawyer thanks you. :)
1. Breathe
Controlling our breathing is one of the best ways to defuse
tension, stress and anger.
When we take a deep breath and exhale slowly, we slow down
our heart rate. It is physically impossible to stay stressed when we control
our breathing in this way, according to a friend who is a medical student.
My friend, who asked to remain anonymous, suggested taking a
deep breath in and slowly exhaling. The breath in and breath out should be the
same length of time. Even better is to focus on a boring distant object, such
as a dot on a wall, and just thinking about it.
With time and practice, controlled breathing can be a quick
ticket out of a stressful situation.
2. Work-life balance
Do you know what is the second-most regret the dying think
of, as witnessed by a nurse who counsels those on their death beds? “I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.”
The number one reason for having stress and fatigue is poor
work-life balance. 120 hours for working, 5 hours for sleeping, 20 hours for
coffee, etc. Sound familiar?
This is not healthy behavior for our bodies and spirits.
It is important to realize that we should not be consumed by
our work. We need to try giving equal time for play and rejuvenation that we do
for being on the job. Of particular importance is spending time with family and
friends.
The fourth-most regret heard by the nurse mentioned above?
“I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.”
Two out of five regrets should tell us something. If we have
any choice in how much time we devote to work, we need to give more time for
other activities also.
Try this: aim to divide your time into eight-hour chunks.
One chunk for work, one chunk for time with family and friends, one chunk for
sleep. We may not be able to keep this schedule all the time, which means that
we need to make up for lost time later. If you have heavy projects that eat up
family time, try to make up for that later.
Quantity of time spent unwinding is part and parcel of quality.
3. Chunk your time
Much time is wasted in frantic multitasking. Just check your
browser window. How many windows do you have open? And how many of those do you
really need?
It’s common that we clutter our minds with too much
activity, because we are taught that such activity is a sign of productivity.
But in fact, there is only so much activity our brains can handle at one time.
We cannot do 10 different things simultaneously without a direct loss of focus.
Worse, multi-tasking can be tremendously stressful, raising the likelihood that
mistakes will be made.
Here’s what to do. Prioritize your tasks. Which ones are
really important and require immediate attention? Which ones can wait? Write
down the list of items and stick to your schedule!
For me, email is a huge time suck. At the same time, it’s
rare that email requires immediate attention. So I set up two small chunks of
time early in the morning and late at night for replying and writing. I hold
myself to my time limits.
However, I first make sure that I have taken care of priority
tasks: my daily quota of reading, homework, spirituality, errands and housework,
family time, applying for jobs, getting exercise and social media time, including blogging. At times I move items around if something is getting neglected.
It might sound like I have a lot on my plate, but because I
prioritize tasks and limit how much time I spend for each chore I end up being able
to do everything, almost everyday.
Because I am keeping my mind on one task at
a time, rather than trying to do 50 things at once, the quality of my work is
higher.
Just think about it: our ancestors were hunting and
gathering for thousands of years. They spent the day moving and foraging. We
may have advanced as a species, but the benefits of exercise are still literally
in our blood.
The best workouts involve both strength-building and aerobic
benefits. I have a workout plan that you can do several days a week for as
little as half an hour at a time – all weight-bearing exercises are done as 3
sets of 8 repetitions with 90 seconds rest between sets.
You should lift enough
weight that by the end of each exercise you can’t do any more. As mentioned at
the beginning of this article, always check with your doctor before beginning
new exercises.
If strength-building and cardio are boring for you, you
might want to take up a sport. Sports involve competition, and are a fun way to
judge our athletic progress.
6. Eat right, drink right
Eating right means staying away from junk food and having a balanced diet,
but it also means avoiding alcoholic and caffeine-loaded drinks. Both of these
drinks can interfere with our peace of mind.
While pretty much everyone understands that showing up at
work inebriated is a bad idea, at least in word if not in practice,
caffeine is widely consumed as a lubricant for alertness and increased energy.
Caffeine tends to stay in the body for long after it is
consumed. The Mayo Clinic reports that even a little bit of caffeine can make you jittery,
and that increased drinking can increase the risk of insomnia, irregular
heartbeat, irritability, restlessness, and upset stomach. Not to mention those
awful caffeine crashes where energy levels bottom out.
Sound like Caffeine is a drug? That’s because it is. Cut
caffeine out of your diet, increase how much you exercise, and get a good night’s
sleep. You might have some withdrawal symptoms, but after a while you’ll notice
that your energy level is smoother, higher, and longer lasting.
Keeping perspective on personal boundaries can be tricky
when we spend so much time online. Unplugging occasionally can help us remember
that the individuals we interact with online are real people, and that
face-to-face contact is always going to be more important than digital relationships.
I think that unplugging can take on different forms. It can
involve just taking a 10-second breather to collect our thoughts and think
about what we are doing or going to do. You may feel that unplugging for vacation
or even longer might be in order.
I unplugged from Facebook once for an entire year. The
reasons why require another post, but basically it was because I felt that my social media experience was becoming my primary focus, rather than face-to-face interactions. Unplugging unexpectedly was one of the
best experiences I have had.
When I returned to Facebook, I felt that my
social media performance was more focused, not to mention that my posts became more about
providing quality content. Although I have always posted regularly, I now post less often on
Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn than I used to. Paradoxically, my Klout score has risen. Although Klout is by no means a perfect way of measuring
online engagement, I do think that my numbers reflect that my break has helped
me connect with people better.
What do you think of
these ideas and what do you do to relieve stress and fatigue? What things stress you out the most? I'd love to hear your ideas!
If you're interested in learning more about making social media a career, here is a name you should remember: Laurie Boettcher (@LaurieBoettcher). As a public speaker and trainer, she runs Laurie Boettcher Speaks, social media 'for real people and real organizations'. She is also a classmate in the MS in corporate communications at Northwestern University, making a nearly-six-hour commute down from Eau Claire, WI, to Evanston, IL, every week. Laurie has been interviewed many times, including by Farhad Manjoo in The New York Times, as well as quoted by US News & World Report. I'm hugely honored to have had the chance to interview Laurie this week for my social media blog!
Aatif Bokhari: Laurie, you’re clearly a social media maven. How do you describe your job title when people ask what that means?
Laurie Boettcher: In the beginning, my title was “Social Media Enthusiast,” because that is what I was – an individual very enthusiastic about using social media to communicate. Others were very creative in their titles, but I always hated the terms “ninja”, “wizard” and “guru”.
Now, when I introduce myself, I say I’m a speaker and trainer on the topic of social media, and thrilled to be adding author later this year as well – my business cards read Social Media Professional, Speaker and Trainer. Basically, I speak, train, tweet, and write on using social media to government agencies, municipalities, public libraries, educational institutions and groups/associations, and my niche services are for non-profit organizations.
Personally, I choose to be independent, so I am not employed exclusively by any single organization.
You’ve turned your passion for social media into a business. How did you do this, and what sort of demand is there for people with your skills?
In all honesty, my business was an accident. Here’s my story …
I became interested in the topic of social media while working as the Communication Manager for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. On August 7, 2007, the I-35W Bridge collapsed in Minneapolis, Minnesota:
Being in such proximity in St. Croix County, which borders Minnesota, my office fielded media calls concerning bridge integrity, safety, inspection schedules and so on.
As a communications professional, I could not help but notice that within minutes after the collapse, cell phone towers were jammed. People were unable to get word to their families and friends of their safety or otherwise. So instead of calling they were turning to social media – MySpace, Facebook and Twitter (the new kid on the block at the time). It was the first time I experienced people using social media tools for anything other than social. It was also the first time I saw the potential power of social media for my profession. It fascinated me!
After leaving WisDOT, I joined the library sector and taught 56 library directors and their staff how to use social media. I immersed myself into everything social. I used the tools from the perspectives of businesses and individuals, so I could anticipate questions and concerns. Many people who attended my workshops recommended me to groups within their communities. Word spread, and soon I was speaking all over.
I left the library world and went back to school to earn the education I desired to accompany my experience and expertise. I was hoping to garner enough workshops to get me through school, but was blessed with that and so much more. I found my passion and find speaking in front of audiences to be the greatest adrenaline rush ever.
LAURIE BOETTCHER DISCUSSES HOW IT'S NEVER TO LATE TO JOIN FACEBOOK
My audiences are truly phenomenal. They are super engaged, laugh, ask great questions and make me feel like I am giving them exactly what they need to be confident in their own efforts. There is no place I would rather be and nothing else I would rather do.
Some people feel that they can’t get into social media because of a lack of experience. Is this realistic? What jobs have you held and how do they help you in your role now as a speaker on social media topics?
Yes and no. Answering those questions is a little complicated!
If employees are averse to using social media tools, I always advise employers to appoint someone else to do the job. The reason is that social media is transparent. If someone does not like doing it, that is going to be evident in their engagement and will adversely affect their followings. That makes the effort a failure … and I don’t like to set myself or anyone else up for failure.
Since my professional background is in design and communications, with exposure to the public and private sectors, I felt better prepared to make the jump. I already had a deep understanding for communications as a whole and simply focused on social media. All of this helped me learn how to tailor messages for my audiences, as well as harness the newest technologies to reach those audiences. Individuals with no technical or communications experience may experience a more intense learning curve to acquire the necessary skills.
My personal story should not dishearten anyone who wants to get into social media but doesn't have a formal communications background. Here’s the heart of the matter: the essence of social media is knowing your audiences and engaging them in something they love. For example, if you sell boats and love selling boats, that is going to be evident in the way you communicate to your audience. Making sure that feeling of transparency and passion exists is key to connecting with people and being successful. If you can do this, you can do social.
How do you build a portfolio that shows your social media strengths? Is focusing on raising Klout and Kred scores really important to getting a social job?
Now that social media is no longer a novelty, there are more specific demands for social media professionals. Today, over 850,000,000 people have a Facebook account. The result of this explosion in social media use is that individuals who initially were able to sell themselves on their personal experience with social media are long gone.
Today, businesses want people who know how to use social media for business. Prized skills include knowing how to choose the right platforms for business needs, create a solid presence, listen to and monitor discussions and build an audience. Businesses also want people who know how to tailor messages, continuously engage with followers, analyze insights, communicate the social media experience and explain results to executive management. If this were not enough, social media specialists must adhere to and advise the company’s social media policy, as well as be fluent in social media research to stay on top of trends. It’s not a game anymore.
To build a stellar portfolio, you need to have credibility. Whom are you following in social media and who is following you? If it’s just in good fun, it will come across that this is a fun hobby for you, not a career. How are you engaging others? Who have you worked with? Who are you connected with on LinkedIn? Are your connections valuable to potential employers and are they a reflection of where you want to go professionally? My favorite aspect of social media is its transparency – you cannot hide your skills or lack thereof.
As far as Kred and Klout scores go, they are simply that – a way to keep score. Of course I like it when my Klout score spikes, but does it matter to my clientele or my audiences? Most of them don’t know what such scores are. If I provide value which is relevant to businesses, that is what they remember and find important.
What are the different roles that you foresee being hot for the next few years?
Community managers will continue to grow in importance and number. However, the demand for businesses to measure social media analytically, in terms of ROI (return on investment) and ROE (return on engagement), is increasing dramatically. Those with analytical skills will become more valuable. I also think that legal roles specializing in social media will be in demand as laws begin to catch up with technological advancements.
Above all, I think the most in-demand roles for social media expertise will be in education. We need educators to teach current and future generations about “being social”, that is the etiquette involved with social media communications, including rules, messaging, ethics, legalities and policies.
We cannot expect to fill the aforementioned positions unless we have a pool of educated workers to fill them.
How do face-to-face and social media contact relate, and can one replace the other?
I love social media – it’s my livelihood and my passion. However, for me, nothing takes the place of face-to-face communication. I prefer face-to-face communication, and encourage others to do the same.
It is easy to forget people and commitments in our busy lifestyles, but reaching out through a social medium makes me feel connected and lets my connections know that although I am not always in personal contact, I have not forgotten about them.
Knowing how to connect with people is a problem for many Millenials and Gen Cs. They are so immersed in social media that the human element is completely falling away. Unless we as a nation remedy this, we will produce a completely disconnected generation.
How do you make time for your family and social when both are 24-hour demands?
I love this question! I’d like to say I’m superwoman, but I would look simply dreadful in those tights.
The truth is that I have to practice balance. I follow blogs, participate in education, and read information that allows me to be efficient. I know my niche, and I know what is relevant to me and my audiences. As interesting as other information may be, I don’t have time to do it all. I try to remain focused and on top of my industry.
As far as my family is concerned, I believe in modeling behavior. During family time, we don’t allow technology to interfere. Cell phones are off and so are computers. We may play a game or an app as a family, but it is about everyone being together, not escaping. We go on vacations where we are digitally disconnected. That means no technology allowed, except my Kindle Fire for reading or an iPod for music. If I don’t practice balance in my life, then I can’t be realistic with clients. It also means I’m completely negating my responsibilities and passion for being a wife and a mother.
There is a lot of repetition in social media as more people try to get attention for causes using social media. How can social media specialists be both innovative and relevant to audiences?
Don’t participate in discussions about things you know nothing about. It infuriates me when I see people interjecting their opinions about something they are clearly not educated in just to be present and seen. Don’t get involved with interactions that are not relevant to your audiences or you are not qualified to speak on.
What kind of money is there for people looking to get into social media positions?
Honestly, it varies widely depending on what you do with the social media position:
Many organizations are understanding the importance of integrating social media into current communication efforts and are therefore hiring community managers. These individuals are responsible for handling online communities, including social networks.
Organizations that cannot afford the luxury of community managers seek out those with technical expertise that match their social media needs.
There are some businesses out there that stubbornly resist social media as being a “distraction”. What do you think about this? How do you convince companies to embrace social media, especially ones staffed by people averse to social media?
I approach the challenge honestly and realistically. I’ll explain.
You don’t have to like social media or even do it, but what every business does need to do is understand it. When email first emerged, many people thought it was a waste of time and effort. “Why can’t we just call someone on the telephone?” was commonly heard. Now, e-mail is how we do business. That is the same with social media.
Platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Pinterest will come, go and evolve, but the fact that they have changed the way we communicate will not. If businesses do not embrace social media and participate in online conversations, they will be isolating key demographics. This will affect their businesses.
Luckily for me, the organizations I have the pleasure of working with don’t generally need any convincing that it’s smart to be social. That is good for me, because my job is to train businesses, not convince them. However, that does not mean that there is no convincing involved! I need to sometimes convince businesses to use appropriate platforms and use them effectively. But, I personally only need to convince others about the need for using social media at specific speaking engagements.
Where do you see the future of social media going?
We will continue to see social networks grow and evolve. I think we will see more adaptation by smaller businesses because it has become attainable for them. Larger corporations will start to bring down the value of the platforms, and they will struggle to find ways to remain personable.
Social networks will find generating revenue to be an increasingly important factor, so those social networks not strong enough to resist will become over run by ads and promoted posts. Niche sites will increase and advertisers will better be able to target their customers on those networks.
All of these possibilities make sense to me and are natural extensions of where we are now.
What would it take for a new site to dethrone Facebook, in the way MySpace was over taken by Facebook?
That’s the million dollar question! It has to be something completely unique. Pinterest is rising through the ranks so quickly because it is social without being too social, while tapping into a dream demographic. Whatever is coming will have to cater to the instant gratification nation we have become, provide a piece missing from other platforms, be highly intuitive for the wide array of experience now present on the net, and be social in a whole new way.
Last question: what do you like most and least about social media, and why?
Most: The constant change and newness. It consistently keeps me intrigued and on my toes.
Least: Lack of education and laws not being caught up with technology. They both are doing a great disservice to all of us.
·Years of experience compiled in a value-packed volume
·Twitter handles are cited throughout
·Valuable advice for aspiring social media professionals
·Future of PR is explained clearly
What doesn’t work (-)
·Too many bullet points to go through when numbers would be easier to read
·Order of topics may confuse junior social media professionals
·The last few motivational chapters seem out of place, and are probably unnecessary for hardened PR pros
“Have you read this book?” raved Mike Nikolich (@mikenikolich), president of Tech Image (@techimagepr), a boutique PR agency in the Chicago suburbs serving technology firms. “This is the book that I always wanted to write, it perfectly describes what I want to do with Tech Image.”
I wanted to review the book for three reasons: I’ve always found book reviews to be a great way for me to absorb information; I love to read as much as I love to write and a book review is a good excuse; and anytime a player I look up to like Mike mentions a book, I take that seriously – I’m always looking for opportunities to grow and learn new things.
I received my first inkling that this was not going to be your average book review a few minutes after I tweeted Mike about what I was going to do.
Ping! My Android phone alerted me to a new tweet. It was a message from Paul Roetzer (@paulroetzer), author of The Marketing Agency Blueprint and the founder and CEO of PR 20/20, a Cleveland-based marketing agency.
“@aatifbokhari Hope you enjoy #AgencyBlueprint. Look forward to your blog post! @techImagepr @mikenikolich”
Ok, Paul had my attention.
Clearly Paul wasn’t just looking to make a name with his book – Paul was walking the walk, and that always gets my respect. I dove in, intrigued by what he had to say.
Having finished the book, I can say that Paul totally gets it. The book is not perfect – what book is? – but I think that it is very unique and useful.
Here’s why: If you are interested in knowing the future of digital PR, you could read several different books and try to connect the dots yourself, which is possible but time consuming. Or you could save yourself a lot of time and read The Marketing Agency Blueprint for a strong overview. Regardless of your choice, this is a great, slim summary of how PR is changing as an industry. It belongs on every digital PR professional’s bookshelf.
Clients come first
Paul begins his book by explaining that PR agencies need to focus on “a la carte services” for clients, billed by results produced rather than hours worked. To paraphrase, Paul says that hourly billing can disguise inefficiencies and distractions that prolong projects. Offering a flat rate is fairer than billing by the hour.
“There are countless factors that can affect a professional’s efficiency, but distractions, time tracking and motivation are three of the biggest culprits,” he writes. With hourly billing, “the client is actually penalized, and forced to pay for the agency’s inefficiency and professional development.”
I agree with Paul, but I also think that it cuts down on confusion and potential conflict over billing with clients who don’t understand the process of producing PR projects and/or campaigns. Having moonlighted as a freelance copy writer while working as a journalist, I can think of few headaches that are as easily avoidable as explaining hourly rates, not to mention the indignity of arguing with clients assuming that I am prolonging the project’s time so that I can be paid more.
Although I learned years ago that clients were happier to be working with writers who offered flat rates, Paul’s idea that agencies should offer flat rates was new to me. I think the book could have been stronger if it had explained how to deal with clients who drag their feet, taking advantage of the onus being on the agency to produce.
Hybrid vs. Traditional approaches
Paul then explains that traditional approaches, such as placing advertisements in newspapers, are dead in the water. The new trend is to focus more on a “hybrid” approach, focused not only on PR but also on content marketing, SEO and social media. The hybrid methodology is better because results can be easily tracked, unlike with traditional approaches. Hybrid agencies tend to be lean and can easily change directions for clients, unlike huge, traditional organizations. Hybrid agencies are thus in a better position to provide value in real time.
The hybrid approach also makes more sense for reasons not mentioned by Paul. Technology is removing barriers to competition and making it easier for organizations around the world to compete on a level playing field. Although this level field can be scary for traditional agencies that have relied on protectionism and size to rule markets, it is a great opportunity for smaller organizations. As long as smaller hybrid organizations can provide the same or greater value for clients as traditional PR firms, there is no reason that they cannot be successful and disrupt the old models of doing business. Simply put, hybrid organizations punch above their weight.
Leaders of the new school
Of particular interest to me in The Marketing Agency Blueprint was Chapter 3, “Think Talent and Teams”, especially because I am not an agency owner and I wanted to know what digital PR agencies would find attractive in social media employees. I have seen so many threads started on LinkedIn by people interested in starting careers in social media, but not sure what skills they should be developing. Luckily, Paul covered this as well.
“A Player Competencies and Traits” is about the qualities that make A players more valuable to PR agencies than their peers. These include being analytical, confident, detail-oriented, intrinsically-motivated, listeners, relationship-builders, risk-takers, social web savvy, tech-savvy, and writers. They also have a strong work-life balance and possess the “it” factor.
Most of these qualities are not explained in detail at this juncture, but reading through the whole book fleshes many of them out. For example, Paul mentions on page 167 that all employees at PR 20/20 must complete the Google Adwords Certification Program, which “fosters analytical thinking, refines budgeting skills, and expands knowledge of how search engines work.” Obviously completing this program would be a great way for social media specialists to raise themselves to a higher standard of professional excellence, as well as stand out from their peers.
Although I probably don’t have time to take the course now – I’m a student in Northwestern University’s MS in corporate communications program – I plan on investing time in it when I graduate soon.
If you build it they will come
Paul explains how to “Build a Scalable Infrastructure” in Chapter 4, “Devise an Inbound Marketing Game Plan” in Chapter 5, and “Control the Sales Funnel” in Chapter 6. Before starting these chapter, I thought that they would be of limited use. After all, I’m not looking to build a PR agency anytime soon! But I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was some relevant content for digital PR professionals not running an organization.
In Chapter 4, there are five lessons that Paul says make for a scalable infrastructure: 1. prepare for perpetual change; 2. build through trusted solution providers; 3. understand your limits; 4. find reliable advisers and mentors; and 5. create a funding runway.
Basically, the message I got here was that agencies need to be able to change technologies quickly, but at the same time make sure to stay grounded with services that are not likely to disappear soon. Also, it is important that agencies take “a macro-level view of how increases in revenue and staffing will impact” the organization.
Chapter 5, “Devise an Inbound Marketing Game Plan”, begins with an important lesson. “The marketing world is full of thinkers, talkers, and self-proclaimed gurus,” writes Paul, “but after awhile they all start to sound the same. What we need are more doers – agencies and professionals that drive change by practicing what they preach.”
This chapter covered different approaches digital PR agencies should use, and focuses on tried and true marketing concepts: differentiation, segmentation, branding, and so on. I didn’t find the marketing concepts to be very detailed – you would be better served by reading a dedicated marketing book if you want to know more on the subject – but it was still a good reminder, especially because people looking to get into social media often are unaware of how important marketing and business practices are.
Chapter 6, “Controlling the Sales Funnel”, is about “leads, prospects, and customers. Agencies need to fill the funnel at the top, nurture in the middle, and convert at the end.” Paul really focuses on sales in the section.
I was shocked to find that in a Kurlan & Associates study cited by Paul, “one hundred percent [of respondents] did not follow a sales process. Salespeople that do not follow a process encounter and wind up accepting lots of put-offs, stalls, and excuses.” “Although they might have taken some training or read sales books, there is something in them that is keeping them from executing as they were taught,” says Paul.
Although the results of the study were extreme, they were seemingly in line with what we learned in a Marketing class taught by Richard Kolsky at Northwestern last quarter – that sales personnel tend to use short-term, tactical, practical approaches closely integrated with people skills, while marketing personnel take a longer, predictive, more strategic view of business grounded in analytic reasoning.
Often these two groups are at loggerheads, because they don’t understand each other. We discussed ways to get both groups to work together and appreciate each other, for example, making marketing staff work in sales for a period and vice-versa, but it is definitely a major problem, not just in digital PR but in other industries as well.
Almost perfect
The Marketing Agency Blueprint: The Handbook for Building Hybrid PR, SEO, Content, Advertising, and Web Firms, is tantalizingly close to perfection, in my opinion. It suffers from a few problems that take away from an otherwise excellent overview of digital PR.
There are far too many bullet points, with the result that topics become more difficult to follow. After struggling to read several lists with 20 items, my mind started turning off. Also, the book makes more sense for individuals who have a comprehensive exposure to different aspects of digital PR, such as SEO, social media, marketing and business. If I was new to some of these subjects, I’m sure that it would be much harder to pick up on where the author was going. Finally, the last few chapters are about “commitment to clients”, “learning from failure”, and “delivering results”, which for senior PR professionals are unnecessary. I would suggest anyone in need of inspiration look for books dedicated to those topics.
However, the above are not very serious problems. Paul Roetzer has written a wonderful book that explains what is the future of digital PR in a way that will likely not be outdated for some time to come. He does this while ensuring his work will be useful to a wide range of interested readers, and provides additional valuable material, such as case studies, online at MarketingAgencyInsider.com.
Highly recommended!
You can visit the Marketing Agency Insider community on Twitter (@AgencyIn), as well as follow conversations about the book using #AgencyBlueprint.
I can reveal that the second account I will be running on Twitter will
be @hailodriverschi, a driver’s phone and smartphone app. It’s not open to the
public, because it is only for the cabbies using the Hailo app so that they can
better communicate. Although it is not that active now, I will be running it
soon. 
