INK PUBLIC RELATIONS

Two hours – a good chunk of time to make a point, or twenty.

I’m talking with the Central Texas PRSA chapter tomorrow morning in Waco on the topic of social media and will try to keep my points in that 1-20 range (I’m kidding – I’m a PR purist – of course there will only be 3 key messages ).

What do I have to say on social media you might ask? After all, I only joined twitter last November, my Facebook friends are those people I actually personally know and blogging is a fairly new tool in my arsenal as well. While all of that is true, it doesn’t make my experience any less valuable. I’m not a “social media expert” (nor do I want to be) – I’m a PR expert and use social media technology to do what I’ve always done – communicate with my (and my clients’) key audiences. From that perspective, I’ve got lots of fun stuff to share on how these great tools have made those conversations richer and made me more effective in my profession. I dig PR, I dig what these tools are doing for PR, and I dig sharing what I’ve learned with new people. And if all goes well, I bet I learn a little something along the way too.

Watch out Waco, me and my (less than) 20 points are on the way!

If you’ve got a tip, trick or trend you’d like me to share with the audience…you know what to do (use that little white box right there, yep, right there below this post…)

There are a lot of people out there with rules. I don’t want to pick fights (so I won’t name specific names) but there are lots of “I won’t follow you if…”, “I won’t read you if…”, “If you are advertising, get out”, “You can talk to me, but don’t pitch me…”, “You can pitch me, but don’t talk to me…” rules and regulations for ’social media.’ These people are making ‘the online’ a less than appealing place for beginners. You know who they are? They are the ripped/toned/sculpted bodies at the gym that make me want to run around Lady Bird Lake rather than lift weights in their precious house of worship. I totally understand – they get how the machines work…for them. They have clearly mastered dieting…for them. They would probably be happy to tell me how they did/do it…and expect me to want to do the same. But really, what works for them will not likely work for me. I feel a lesson coming on!

For every constructive advice driven post I read from folks about how they use twitter, blogging, 12Seconds, or whatever to connect with their audience, there is a snarky post written highlighting peoples’ missteps or how someone did it ‘wrong’. I got news for you people – there isn’t really a ‘wrong’ but there is a whole bushel full of ‘different.’ Different does not automatically mean wrong. Should you auto-follow – hell, I honestly have no idea. Is auto DMing good or bad – well, it isn’t my cup of tea, but that doesn’t mean it might not have some value for someone. Should you tweet three times a day or twelve? Should you blog every day? Should you comment? Should you digg? Should you re-tweet? How many re-tweets is too many? Look folks, this is the “messaging service we didn’t know we needed until we had it” and I honestly don’t think it should be this complicated. I can give advice (and I know I do this in excess, and often) but my last piece of advice is almost always: however YOU are comfortable using it is right. You might not always make everyone happy – in fact, I think it is kind of a sign of success when you start to piss people off – but if you find value, then keep on keeping on.

INK has three tenets for “social media” – and right now, I am talking about number two: One size DOES NOT fit all. And while we preach this to our clients to re-iterate that going after a space just because someone else did or someone else saw success is not always the best idea, I think it bears repeating for other leaders in this space. I am not condoning gaming the system to stockpile followers, but there are no hard and fast rules. This space is new and it is still evolving – just stick your neck out and get to participating – because you might find the better way. And if we all just follow the rules, it will become a boring, stagnant, USELESS space in no time.

I like the cut of this bird's jib

*the title is for my husband, who will likely not read this, but still…

For the past five years I have been building a monster. I have been working, no, slaving, away – dedicating every free moment I have to a creature that has always been stronger than my grasp. I have gone to countless seminars (I have even sat on a panel or two), dedicated a ridiculous number of catch phrases to memory, been a willing guinea pig (alpha and beta users UNITE), commented, blogged, digged, tweeted, hell, I have become transparent—all in an effort to understand and enable this crazy thing called social media.

Here at INK we have rolled out successful campaigns for clients using social media – from blogging to vlogging, and everything in between – and we have encouraged our clients to follow three key tenets of living in the social media space: 1) always give much more than you get; 2) one size does not fit all (just because Skittles did it doesn’t mean you have to), and 3) listen and participate (with a heavy emphasis on the former and a demand for the latter). But as is so often the case in client services, we have neglected our own participation in the social media space (there are only so many hours in the day, people), for the betterment of others.

It has been awhile in the making, but the lightning bolt has finally struck, the heart is beating and my monster is officially alive. It is with great pleasure and pride that I introduce to you my little army of creatures: @millionbaker, @karihernandez, @nashwilliams and @ckvincent. I would also like to note that already the monsters are stronger than I – with more followers, more friends, more fans, and far more presence and influence than they even know.

My name is Blair Poloskey (@poloskey) – I empower social media participation and passion.

I am Dr. Frankenstein.

“None but those who have experienced them can conceive of the enticements of science.” -Mary Shelley, Frankenstein