Getting started with Twitter might be as easy as clicking a few buttons and typing a few letters for some, and as fear-inducing as watching a late-night horror movie marathon alone on a rainy night. The good news is that you can create a Twitter account by using the steps in the infographic below, and then just lurk around for a bit while getting used to the style of writing, the topics that are discussed, and the unwritten rules of this micro-blogging platform which has replaced the Dear Diary bit of many lives. When you're ready to start tweeting, visit our follow-up infographic for a few things to keep in mind, especially if you're tweeting in a professional capacity.
Twitter has done a great job of compiling a list of helpful FAQs as well as a more detailed guide on how to get started. Visit www.twitter.com right now to get started!
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We are very lucky to have clients that are incredibly well-informed and passionate about not only their own products and services, but also about what is happening in their industry and the world around them.
For any company aiming to create fortune through fame it is necessary to appoint as spokesperson someone with a unique set of skills. The Edelman Trust Barometer most recently indicated that the most trusted source of information is becoming "people like me" and it might therefore not be the best idea to appoint the CEO as spokesperson, especially if said CEO is uncomfortable with any of the below requirements. If you like stability, predictability and control, public relations (PR) might not be the best career choice for you. Why is it then that the PR industry filled to the brim with type-A personalities who are absolutely brilliant at what they do? In one word: influence. The well-known Serenity Prayer includes a plea for strength to accept the things we cannot change and the courage to change the things we can. PR professionals tend to ignore the first bit, and hold on for dear life to the “change what I can” bit ... and as tightly to our smartphones. Although the PR industry can’t, on behalf of their clients, force people to buy/vote/attend/#selfie (for that is called sales*), and although the PR industry can’t bombard people with messages that eventually make them buy/vote/attend/#selfie out of pure desperation to get rid of the message (for that is called advertising*), what the PR industry can do very effectively is influence. Now, just to make one thing very clear, by influencing I do not under any circumstances promote/advise/condone/like manipulation. My team and I firmly believe that there is a massive difference between PR and so-called spin. The stuff that gets the PR industry excited (publicity results, target market behaviours, reputation and perception changes, conversion rates etc) are all based on decisions by people who are soundly unaware of the goals and objectives neatly mapped out in a PR programme or campaign plan. It hasn’t mattered in quite some time what a company says about itself, but rather what employees and customers who deal with the company say to anyone who is willing to listen. People have become savvy to the marketing game, making it immensely difficult to break through the content cluttering our email inboxes and social media newsfeeds. Except when people WANT to know. Usually when people want to know something, they are prepared to spend time on finding and understanding information. And they prefer information in a format they can easily understand, such as stories about brands told by their friends or the media. Which is where influence enters the fray. PR professionals worth their salt do not influence the truth; that is called lying. They do not influence people, as that could easily, in this context, border on manipulation. PR professionals who understand that content is king work hard at influencing the entire communication process to balance their client’s expectations, goals and requirements with newsroom and other distributor needs in order to deliver the best possible stories in a timely and engaging manner to keep people returning for more. In short, true PR professionals enable those who would like to spread the word, to do so easily and accurately. A relentless drive for digging deep to get to the story behind the client brief, and finding a visual and a voice that can tell (not sell) that story to those who are desperate for content that doesn’t play the bait-and-switch game, and providing that information in a neat package to a customer or media practitioner ... THAT is how PR professionals can use their multitude of skills to keep clients happy, build trust with newsrooms, and keep the PR industry alive. Gone are the days where “lunching the press”, sending cheap gimmicky desk toys (or expensive bottles of imported anything), and press conferences that could’ve been covered with a simple media release. Gone are the days of the celebrity CEO, and even the celebrity brand, where everyone published everything just because. If you like life easy, don’t get into PR. If you don’t mind a fanatical dedication to learning, developing new skills on the go, and figuring out every single situation on its own merit in order to influence what you can, then this industry is the place to #LoveThisJob *Disclaimer: I have the utmost respect for both the sales and advertising professions, for both are practiced by some of the most hard-working, creative, tough nut people I know. The mentions in the article of the respective professions are therefore merely used as a tongue-in-cheek way of crudely explaining the differences between the verticals of the wonderful world of marketing. When I was still deciding what to study (leaning heavily towards graphic design at that stage), a friend suggested I phone a friend of theirs who had experience in the PR field. Never having heard of PR (public relations) but curious enough, I phoned, and a long story short am now writing this blog post at the other side of 10 years in the industry. After 10 years, there is one thing that I still wish that friend of a friend told me (not that it would've made any difference in my choice or career satisfaction). The greatest skill and PR professional can have/learn/build is balance. Balancing a client's wishes, objectives and preferences with those of the media is something that can not be taught by even the finest schools. Doing it all at a frantic pace with a journalist chasing a deadline just 10 minutes away, the client about to board a plane for a three hour flight, your cellphone battery bleeping for dear life, and simultaneously thinking of three backup plans at the same time isn't stressful, it's natural ... if you're in PR. Some days in PR are rewarded by having checked all the boxes (loads of quality publicity generated, happy clients, grateful and trusting journalists) and some days you have to let go with a hopeful "maybe next time". Some days it is as if you know your clients' diaries and movements better than their PAs and spouses, and some days you just keep on missing out on the crucial three minutes a journalist wanted for an all-important interview that would've included your clients' name in the biggest story of the year. Some days you feel like you've really cracked this hardball industry by knowing and working your stuff, and some days you just end up at home on the couch with a bag of chips and a box of chocolates. All to get back to the office the next day (for those PR pros who can wait that long to check e-mails) and try once again to achieve the fine balance necessary to succeed in this ever-changing industry. I worry sometimes that clients will think that I'm only pushing publicity for the sake of submitting a brilliant report at the end of the month, or whether journalists will think that they're talking to the "PR poppie" who doesn't want to help. I worry that by using common sense (leaning in favour of either the client or the newsroom) that I'm damaging the trust relationships we work so hard to build and nurture, or confirming the negative perception of the PR industry held by many. In the end it all boils down to doing your best each and every single second of each and every single day to achieve a balance that will build towards a greater good for your client, your media network, and the public who are at the receiving end of the stories told by both brand and traditional journalists alike. Think your marketing department won’t be affected by the launch of the Apple Watch earlier this week? Think again. The impact of wearable technology will impact far more than just fashion and digital design trends. Even if the adoption rate isn’t as high as is predicted, the trend that will soon cause a flurry of frantic activity in marketing offices around the world is the impending change in information consumption. Both studies based on formal research and those based on pure observation have proven that information consumption trends have changed significantly in a short period of time. These days the most popular written pieces tend to be those divided by sub-headings, as it helps readers who have learned the skill of consuming short bytes of information at lightning speeds, to stick to longer form content. Even the decision on whether or not to read the full written piece is sometimes based on the value of information received from reading only the subheadings. Long form content, although making a comeback this year, will always have a place, as people have an innate need to gather information. It is the format and length of lure that leads to informational long form pieces that has and will continue changing. Major shakeups in the recent past for content creators (writers, marketers, PR professionals, journalists, videographers etc) include: - Email, which required a less formal approach than handwritten letters and allowed for more visually striking communication - SMS, which negated spelling and grammar to force sales messages into 160 characters - Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram etc which forced everyone to acknowledge the importance of social relationships in communication - Twitter, which brought the # back to life, made @ buttons on devices wear out quicker than ever, and chopped messages length to a tidy 140 characters. Wearable technology, whether it is a smart watch or smart set of eyewear, has brought about a new disruption. With tiny screens, room for only a single message, adapted scrolling functionality, wearable technology demands extreme brevity like no tool before it. For content creators, who spend countless hours producing perfectly poised materials, the looming change in information consumption is a scary business. What many clients don’t realise is that it takes the same amount of time, if not longer, to create a piece of content that is suitable for the brevity demanded by developing mobile technologies, than a longer piece suitable for print or computer. Content creators need to become skilled in formats suitable for the extreme brevity that is demanded by wearable tech, and will also have to educate their clients on the need for messages in a variety of formats. Fame and fortune have been used in the same sentence for centuries. And when it comes right down to the bone, the publicity generation component of PR is all about creating fortune through fame. My textbooks on the subject heartily disagree with such a statement, and if you are a PR professional you might already be climbing on a soapbox. I would usually join you, but for the purposes of this blog post, please allow me the freedom to explain. PR, although not the most well-known marketing discipline, has also been around for centuries. Sometimes called propaganda (war), sometimes called spin (politics), sometimes called lobbying (activism), sometimes called stakeholder relations (corporate), PR is a complex discipline that can span a wide variety of industries, tools, and platforms. It however still (mostly) boils down to making a person/group/product/brand famous in order to create fortune for them. Whether the fortune be measured in finances or influence is a whole different conversation topic. The thing about fame is that the whole "overnight success" thing is a bit of a myth. Yes, there are flukes, but those "overnight success" stories have most probably been 10 years in the making. It's just overnight and new for those who never knew. The same (mostly) applies in PR. The problem One of the expectations we have to manage most often is the one of quick fame. "We saw the publicity Company X got in Publication Y and we want the same. Can you send me a quote for a once-off press release?" "Your press release will help me to fill all the seats at my (poorly marketed) event next week, right?" "How many sales can I expect from this radio interview?" "My competitor was on TV last night. Can you phone the presenter and tell her I want to be on the show tonight?" As an SME owner myself, I am very sympathetic to these types of questions, as money and time are both things that are usually in short supply. As a PR professional, I cringe at these questions, as I know it will be money in the water, and water under the publicity bridge in a heartbeat. The point The fact of the matter is that PR isn't driven by actions (press releases, events, media interviews etc) alone, but by the knowledge and experience behind the actions. While a once-off, short-lived PR campaign might create a fair amount of publicity, we find that the results with the most impact come from the clients who have an ongoing commitment to generating relevant content suitable for on of the most demanding target markets ... the newsroom. Editors and journalists don't care about the shiny features of your latest prototype, or the appointment of a new Assistant Junior Director of the mailroom. They quickly delete articles and invitations that contain puffery, lengthy paragraphs filled with technical jargon, and items that just generally break every rule in the courtesy book. What newsrooms want are valuable, relevant stories from reliable sources, not sensationalist announcements from those just looking for a spot in the limelight. The difference PR can most definitely help create quick fame that will end at the quickly forgotten "one-hit-wonder" stage. To gain the most value from PR, one should rather aim for the Hall of Fame. UPDATE - 11/09/2014
As luck would have it, the day after this blog post was written, we received a news clipping of an article that was included in the Corporate Governance feature of Business Day. The article was not written based on something we initiated, but rather as a result of a long-standing working relationship we have with the editor, who has on several occasions in the past contacted us to coordinate interviews with the IoDSA, one of our clients. How's that for the proof being in the pudding? We recently celebrated our company birthday at Mongena Game Lodge, and what a celebration it was!
After a day of hard slogging in a strategy workshop, with temperatures matching the howling wind, we were blessed with an incredibly beautiful sunset during our sunset boat cruise ... without even the slightest whisper of a breeze. As the sun set over the peaceful sounds of birds nesting in the reeds along the dam, we raised our glasses to many more sunsets and sunrises over the At That Point family. If you would like to become part of our golden circle of clients that are on the journey of creating fortune through fame, invite us over for coffee ... we'll bring cupcakes :) To all our wonderful clients and partners, thank you so very much for allowing us to take care of your brands, publicity generation and social media channel management. Without you, our jobs wouldn't be half as much fun as it currently is. For a few snapshots of our time at Mongena, hop on over to our Facebook page. The poor Comfort Zone. I've been neglecting it for years. Until I realised that instead of trying to break free from it (and essentialy who I am) is setting me up for failure. Popular activities for teambuilding include exercises to help teams think outside the box, workshops that force us outside our comfort zones, seminars on how to embrace discomfort in the name of personal growth ... I could go on. As with every story, there is more than one side to the tale of the Comfort Zone. In the zone When inside a comfort zone, the flight or fight response is significantly reduced, and therefore people can think and act with clear minds and passion in their hearts, because situations aren't clouded with anxiety or fear. Inside a comfort zone, a person can use all of their energy to be the best version of who they truly are, instead of a mediocre version of what theories and popular culture seems to demand. The result of this best version of a confident, relaxed and authentic person is an environment where high performance comes very naturally. Zone out For purposes of growth and balance, it is necessary for everyone to move to a place of discomfort every now and then, with the focus on "every now and then". When exposure to experiences outside ones comfort zone occurs in an environment where time and risk can be managed, and expectations are proactively communicated, the experiences can lead to high learning, which is why pushing the boundaries of ones comfort zone is so popular. The crux Very simply, my point is this: Bringing learnings from outside of the comfort zone together with high performance inside of the comfort zone makes for authentic personal and professional growth. No workshops, no seminars, no exercises necessary.
The practicalities Imagine if all workplaces had the privilege of ensuring during the recruitment stage to select team members with a perfectly balanced team of strength profiles that accommodate the weaknesses of others. A team that moves comfortably in and between a variety of comfortable skill sets, sensitivity levels, and life experiences. Imagine if leaders had the skills to guide their teams on the weaving journey between high performance and new experiences. Imagine if we all had the confidence to feel comfortable with feeling comfortable, and not fear the discomfort that goes hand in hand with growth. With the MASSIVE changes that struck the media, journalism, and PR fields in recent years, it is incredibly important that PR professionals learn to be comfortable with moving in and out of comfort zones. It is one of the most important Fundamentals of Future Marketing Success. At the recent #MMX14 we had the opportunity to check in with various of the top media practitioners in South Africa and hear their thoughts on the state of newsrooms. Although the conversations focused on the disruption experienced by global media due to the developments in the digital space, there was a "can-do" spirit among participants, rather than one of despondency.
When faced with disruption we can either choose to embrace and adapt, or fight ... and most probably die fighting. I'm usually all for fighting against the system, and finding ways to be a rebel, but when growth peeks over the horizon, I quickly change my tune in support of disruption. Disruption usually forces more open communication around issues that are usually shrouded in secrecy, politeness or competition. Disruption, while scary, is the stuff of which success stories can be made ... if only we can get past the inherent need for security, and grab with open minds the opportunity for growth and positive change that lies just around the next corner. I've jotted down a few notes using the age-old method of pen and paper, and include them below for your reading pleasure. You're welcome to give me a shout if something in indecipherable, or if you'd like to have some context around the scribbles. - Hierdie artikel het verskyn in Sake24 op 18 Maart 2014 - “Reputasie is ‘n belegging,” sê Juanita Vorster, eienaar van bemarkingskommunikasie agentskap At That Point. “Die reputasie van ‘n persoon beïnvloed hoeveel hy/sy vertrou word as vriend, raadgewer en werknemer. Dit is dus belangrik om deurgaans tyd te spandeer om jou persoonlike reputasie te bou en verfyn.” “Wanneer ons verwys na iemand se reputasie, verwys ons na ons eie direkte of indirekte ervaring van die persoon,” verduidelik Vorster. “Die beloftes wat die persoon maak oor ‘n tydperk, gekombineer met die uitvoering, of dan nie, van daardie beloftes, is wat op die ou end gesien word as iemand se reputasie.” Werknemers moet bewus gemaak word van die impak van hul persoonlike reputasie opdie van die maatskappy waarvoor hulle werk. ‘n Blasé benadering tot die impak van reputasie is baie gevaarlik, en het al vir menige flaters met ernstige gevolge gesorg, vir beide individue en maatskappye. Mense koop by mense, nie by maatskappye nie Bewyse hiervan word gestaaf deur die uitslae van die 2014 Edelman Trust Barometer, ‘n jaarlikse verslag wat aandui hoe vertroue van jaar na jaar verander, en hoe koper besluite gebasseer word op vertroue. Die nuutste verslag wys dat daar tussen 2009 en 2014 aansienlike groei was in die vertroue wat verbruikers het in gewone werknemers en iemand met wie hulle as individu kan identifiseër, eerder as die boodskappe wat deur middel van advertensie gekommunikeer word. Selfs die hoof van ‘n maatskappy het nie meer die grootste invloed op hoe verbruikers besluite neem nie. Nie net wat gesê word nie, maar wie saam praat Digitale platforms skep geleenthede vir individue en organisasies om te direk kontak te maak met persone en groepe wat gewoonlik ontoeganklik was. Die positiewe gevolg hiervan is maklike toegang na inspirasie, motivering en hulp van verskeie oorde, alles met ‘n minimum moeite. Deur aktief deel te neem aan digitale gesprekke bou ‘n individu sy/haar reputasie, beide in die digitale en fisiese realiteit. “Die gemak van interaksie op digitale platforms dra egter die risiko dat ‘n persoon se reputasie negatief beïnvloed kan word deur nie net dit wat hy/sy self op die platforms plaas nie, maar deur die mense wat hulle toelaat om saam te praat,” waarsku Vorster. “’n Vriend wie se kommentaar afbreek maak aan ander, of fotos van die naweek se sportspan prestasie vieringe wat effe verder gegaan het as wat betaambaar is, of selfs net ‘n boodskap met ‘n swetswoord in wat uit pure frustrasie geplaas is, kan ‘n andersins vlekkelose reputasie beskadig.” “Al hoe meer werkgewers gebruik digitale sosiale platforms soos Facebook, Twitter en LinkedIn om hulle te help om ‘n besluit te neem oor wie die ideale kandidaat vir ‘n pos is. Indien die werkgewer hul persepsie basseer op ‘n werksoeker se aanlyn reputasie, en dit strook nie met die kultuur of verwagting van die werkgewer nie, is die kans dat selfs die aanvanklike perfekte kandidaat nie verder in ag geneem sal word vir die pos nie.” |
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