By Robert J. Geline, President, 144 Media

The CEO was surprised. “I need to look away in order to think,” he noticed during a recent coaching session to prepare for a panel discussion to be video webcast around the world.

The executive was referring to his habit of regularly breaking eye contact in order to organize his thoughts while responding to questions during videotaped role-play interviews. The habit made him appear detached and ill at ease, detracting from positive perception of his message, a real public relations no-no.

It is a discovery made many times in our work with executives to help them prepare for media interviews, discussion panels and live presentations. With video on the web gaining ground as a corporate communications medium, there’s more and more need for executives to master the medium with message-enhancing communications technique.

In fact, the need to “look away in order to think” might be the most common reason that speakers we have worked with over the years fail to maximize the communication power of making and maintaining strong eye contact with viewers and listeners. They might find inspiration by glancing at the ceiling, gazing at the floor, checking out the pen they might be holding or any one of a large number of other shifts of the eye away from their audience while they speak.

The problem, of course, is that when a speaker incorporates regular eye shifts in speaking, he or she runs the risk of being perceived by interviewers or listeners as “evasive” or “shifty” or “anxious” (or all of the above, or worse), even if he or she is not.

We must point out here that what we’re talking about is looking away to think often enough so that the breaks in eye contact begin to call attention to themselves. We are not talking about an occasional break of eye contact during an interview or presentation. In fact, when combined with a well-placed pause before reestablishing, breaking eye contact every now and then can be an effective way to reinforce a key point.

How to break the very common bad habit of constant eye shift?

To get the benefits of good eye contact, follow the S.T.O.P. rule.  Although I don’t like acronyms in general, I think this one is useful. It stands for:

 Single Thought One Person – S.T.O.P.

The technique is relatively simple to explain. What you need to do is make and hold eye contact with your listener through a full thought or idea. Usually, this requires making and maintaining eye contact for several sentences. This might require holding eye contact for 15 or 20 seconds. No problem. Let it happen. Don’t be in a rush.

Yes, this will require the mastery of the new skill of simultaneously thinking, looking at and speaking to a person. At first, it may well be a bit awkward.  But stick with it. The skill will build and eventually become reflexive.

It’s easiest to implement the S.T.O.P. rule when you are talking to one person. In fact, we normally make eye contact best when we are speaking to an individual. This is usually because if we don’t make and maintain eye contact through a full thought or expression, it can be taken as impolite, and most of us don’t want to be perceived that way.

For the most effective eye contact when you’re speaking to a group, all you need to do is transfer the one-on-one S.T.O.P. technique to the room. To do this, mentally divide the room into quadrants, and pick out one person in each quadrant of the room to make and hold eye contact with. As you go through your presentation, transfer your eye contact from quadrant to quadrant, implementing the S.T.O.P. rule with the person in each quadrant you have chosen to speak to as if it was a one-on-one conversation.

If you do it right, the S.T.O.P. rule will turn the entire room into a group that is listening to you as intently as the person with whom you are making and holding your eye contact at any given moment.

Are there cameras involved? Unless you are told to speak to the camera, forget it’s in the room. Talk to your interviewer or the panel you are part of person-to-person, “S.T.O.P. ing” all the way.

John Milton said the eyes are the window on the soul. They are.

To get the communication benefit of eye contact done the right way, just remember to S.T.O.P. it.

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Robert Geline is President of 144 Media LLC (www.144media.com), a New York consulting organization that specializes in media coaching, message strategy and presentation performance enhancement.144 Media clients benefit from Bob’s decade of coaching experience and his perspective as an Emmy-winning network journalist and former national newsmagazine correspondent and editor.

I spoke at a conference this week about affiliate marketing. I did my thing about digital reputation development and it was well received. Much thanks to the organizers for hosting me. Hanging out with those folks got me thinking. Add in the news story about GM pulling their paid Facebook ads and my mind is a smorgasbord of ideas.

The affiliate marketing audience focuses heavily on search engine optimization and traffic - driving huge numbers to their paid advertisements and appearing as high up on the page as possible in organic (non-paid) search. Sounds a lot like traditional advertising, doesn't it?

When I gave my talk, fewer than half of them had ever googled their own name (so had done little to build up their own digital reputation - unlike the very most successful guys in the biz)  and nearly none of them had heard of the Long Tail or network theory/science. They didn't seem to know that Google is using contextual filtering. They were particularly angry about Penguins and Pandas. Hmmm....they schlepping through the numbers and not noticing the environment that is shifting around them.

The first day of the conference, GM released info about pulling ads from Facebook. Many a PR, media, and blogging prognosticator are giving their point of view and I, frankly, am not in the mood to mince words - GM is being a bonehead. Whether they are looking to renegotiate their ad spend budget and using Facebook as a sacrificial lamb, or worried about lack of metrics tracking, or just...who knows. My evil twin thinks the truth is not out.

Asserting that they (GM) have effective content and it's just that Facebook is a bad platform...well, it makes me wonder. Their stuff seems kind of friendly, but for me, it feels contrived. They seem to inherently still be thinking social media is a media buy and an advertising stream. Much like the affiliate marketers, they are schlepping through the numbers and not noticing the ground shifting. You have to actually care, not just post things that seem warm and fuzzy. It might be intangible and I could be wrong, but I don't feel the social media love (even though I am a hardcore Chevy fan).

Rather than assert what I think further, I want to ask you: Love or hate Google? Like how they're serving you and doing their thing? Is your advertising PPC budget taking a hit from the changes happening over the last few months? Do you even notice or care?

And what about GM? Are they brilliant or bonehead for pulling their paid ads on Facebook (or something in between)? I want to hear what you have to say. Add in your comments and commentary below. What say ye?

Vicki

[graphic by epSos.de]

By Skip Mahaffey, Broadcaster, Media Coach, Owner, The Skip Mahaffey Show

Okay, don’t freak out that this is some sort of manifesto and please don’t send the FBI to my door, I’m just trying to get your attention.

I hate making predictions. Actually I love making predictions but I hate making them in a public forum because well, I’m a guy and guy’s hate to be wrong. But for probably the first time in my life, I’m hoping I’m wrong.

I predict that in less than eighteen months, Facebook as we know it will cease to exist, victim of its own success.

First and foremost, let me say I like Facebook. In fact, my wife will tell you I like it too much. Facebook is a once in a lifetime phenomenon, a game changer along the lines of the Beatles and Hiroshima. Like Hiroshima, this one event has changed how we look at the world forever. Take into account that since its inception, small businesses and major international corporations have created entire teams of personnel to cater to the Facebook world and create strategies solely for this forum. But unlike the Beatles, Facebook’s demise will not be the result of a tumultuous love affair between Mark Zuckerberg and an avant-garde performance artist; it will be because of us, you and me, cashing in on it.

The moment Facebook goes public will be the beginning of the end of the single-most important player in the social media game. I know it because I’ve seen it happen before.

Here’s how I see it: Once Facebook went public, the handful of people responsible for creating it became gazillionaires. I don’t care how passionate you are about a cause or your life’s work, when somebody dumps a pile of millions of dollars at your feet, the immediate feeling is to kick back and enjoy the ride. The burning desire that drives people to be an overwhelming success is replaced with a “we got this” mentality. In short, the fire that raged and drove its creation drops to a memorial flame (thirteen billion dollars will do that.) We already know that one major player has renounced his American citizenship to bug out and duck a few million in taxes (news broke yesterday, in fact, that senators are now going after Facebook's Severin for tax dodging). That tells me he’s not very interested in the overall continued quality and well being of what was once his life’s work.

Next, you’ll see the focus of Facebook drifting away from the consumer (you and me) and toward the shareholders (major investors, the guys who DON’T wear hoodies to corporate board meetings.) Innovating, creating and maintaining this little piece of genius will be cheapened for the sake of helping out the bottom line. Super-serving the customer will be replaced by maximizing profits for the shareholders as Job One. And really there’s nothing wrong with that as long as you don’t mind the death of what made Facebook so unique and brilliant from its inception.

In short I guess what I’m saying is the bigger and more successful you become, the more likely the danger of the quality of your product diminishing. Think about it, whenever two airlines merge creating a ‘super-mega airline’ does the service get better? Hell no. For the most part it gets worse AND you get charged more.

In my world (radio), there are countless stories of small broadcasting groups who did great things, succeeding way beyond expectations only to be bought by a corporate entity and neutered into something benign and irrelevant. The business of radio killed the art of broadcasting. All of which was done for the sole purpose of improving a profit margin.

You cannot argue that these companies are not successful but you can argue that when they get bigger than imaginable, they lose their edge, their heart and the unique qualities that made them successful in the first place.

It seems as though I’m not alone in this train of thought. A recent AP poll shows that a majority of Americans now consider Facebook a fad (http://newsle.com/article/0/18927640/) and while a vast majority of us still use Facebook every day, it’s quickly becoming obvious that we’ve begun to look for the next big thing. Look at it this way, the moment your mother or grandmother gets hip to the technology, it becomes past tense.

So now you must ask the question: What’s in it for me? What can I do now to prepare myself or my client for the post-Facebook world?

• Prepare: This isn’t like the Mayan calendar. Nobody is predicting a cataclysmic end of the faceworld scenario, but ask the ‘what if’s’ and have solid solutions.
• Diversify: Don’t put all of your company or clients social media resources into one facebasket. Google is doing a fine job of keeping up and if my twenty-five year old daughter is any indication, jump on Pintrest NOW! The more bait you drop in the water, the better your chances to catch fish.
• Innovate: Take some of that brain power you’re wasting on Mafia Wars and see if your team can develop a new, unique social media outlet or strategy.
• Back-up: Remember oh-so long ago when there wasn’t Facebook? What ideas and strategies did you rely on to communicate or poke your clients? Can you adapt them to the post-Facebook world?
• Do Nothing: (also known as the “Congressional Solution”) Let somebody else do all the heavy lifting then you show up just in time for the beer and pretzels. *Not recommended for those who wish to stay in this business for any period of time.

And if all that fails, start hanging out at your neighborhood high school: Creepy as that may sound, chances are good that eleventh-grade techno-geek has already been working on the next big thing. Today’s locker room goober could very well be tomorrow’s Jobs, Gates or Zuckerberg.

Remember, this is a good thing. This is only evolution. If you don’t evolve, you stagnate. If you stagnate, you die.

Best of luck and hey, ‘friend’ me while we still can.

Be Brilliant!

###

Skip Mahaffey in an award-winning broadcaster, media coach/consultant and author of "Adventures With My Father: Childhood Recollections of Divorce, Dysfunction and the Summer of Love." Contact him here: skip@skipshow.com.

By Zach Bonnan, Sr. Copywriter, Interaktiva Digital Marketing

When General Motors Co. announced on Tuesday (5/15) that it will stop advertising on Facebook, many marketers were surprised. Abandoning Facebook just days before the social networking giant was due to go public is an interesting move by the nation’s third largest advertiser (behind Procter & Gamble and AT&T Inc.).

GM's marketing executives have seemingly decided that Facebook's ads had little effect on consumers and will drop use of paid ads. Is this a smart move? Some apparently think so.

Nate Elliott, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research serving Interactive Marketing Professionals, said in a recent blog posting, “…as good as Facebook has been at evolving to serve consumers, that’s how bad it’s been at serving marketers.” And maybe this is true. He noted that in the past five years Facebook has staggered from one advertising model to another; none of which really achieved much success. Even its ‘major marketing announcement’ in February was more so the latest iteration of its existing ad model. Elliott also declared that Facebook often stands directly in the way of marketers’ efforts to measure the performance of their programs.

If GM's marketing chief says the automaker is pulling its advertising investment from Facebook because it does not believe there is a positive ROI, should other marketers start to reconsider their Facebook ad investments? Not necessarily.

I’m certain GM has heavily analyzed and scrutinized their Facebook efforts before making the decision to remove their presence from Facebook ads. It's also true that it is getting harder to stand out in the Facebook ad space since many more brands are advertising now.

Brilliant Examples: What Makes Some Campaigns Work Better Than Others

Creative copy, creative visuals and pushing the boundaries of how the ads work are the key ingredients to an effective campaign. This is how we can continue to successfully use tools like Facebook to reach large groups of people.

Consider some of the highly successful campaigns out there such as the very amusing Burger King “Delete 10 friends for a Whopper” or the “Ikea Showroom Giveaway” campaign - we can see that the difference is creativity in using the media. Ikea’s campaign produced multiple short- and long-term benefits, among them, brand visibility, new Facebook fans and a tool with which to maintain relationships with a large group of consumers.

Another brilliant example includes The Facebook Album Flipbook by Volkswagen Amarok. It utilizes more than 200 images in the Facebook Photo Gallery to create a very interactive and fun ad for the Volkswagen Amarok right on Facebook, engaging its 172,000 plus fans. On the philanthropic side, Kohl’s department stores last year gave away an unprecedented $10 million to 20 schools through its Kohl’s Cares program, which in turn generated 1.5 million new likes for the company.

Without the creativity factor, I agree that Facebook ads may not be 100 percent effective, but as digital marketers, it is our job to make them effective. Facebook is an incredible medium to reach vast audiences and deepen brand engagement and loyalty  – we would not jump ship. 

 ###

Zach Bonnan recently joined Interaktiva Digital Marketing, a leading digital marketing firm based in Miami, as Senior Copywriter. Bonnan previously worked for Euro RSCG Chicago.

Sooner or later it was bound to happen.  The “it” in question: The dissemination of sensitive corporate information by a high ranking company officer via social media channels.  Just such an instance came to light when Francesca Holdings’ former chief financial officer was caught tweeting non-public information about the Houston-based women’s specialty retailer; hence, the addition of the word “former” in front of his title.

For its part, Francesca's Holdings Corp.  (Nasdaq: FRAN - http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=FRAN) acted appropriately and terminated for cause the employment of CFO Gene Morphis, based on an investigation by the Board with the assistance of outside counsel, which has found that he improperly communicated company information through social media. The investigation was launched after the company discovered this activity on May 11, 2012.  Their announcement can be found here:  http://investors.francescascollections.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=672925.

According to various media reports, on March 7, Mr. Morphis tweeted “Board meeting. Good numbers=Happy Board.” The company was in the midst of a quiet period prior to the release of earnings scheduled for after the close of the market on March 13. The information had been non-public and the tweet, under the Twitter handle @TheOldCFO, helped boost Francesca’s stock price in advance of the release of earnings.  While Mr. Morphis’s Twitter account does not have his name, there were links to his personal blog.  Apparently, his LinkedIn profile links to the Twitter feed, as well.  It has also come to light, that Mr. Morphis has been doing this for some time.

There is absolutely no question that this activity flouts the SEC’s rules of disclosure, most notably Reg. FD.  While social media channels and their usage have grown exponentially over the recent past, information such as that posted by Mr. Morphis is not available to all despite the widespread usage of such channels.  Did he know that what he did was against the rules?  I don’t know the answer to that one; however, this situation provides a “teachable moment” for all involved with public companies.

Some helpful hints:

• Schedule Disclosure Seminars.  What to disclose, when to disclose, how to disclose and who discloses.  All basic stuff for seasoned IR pros; however, it is important that all employees understand the rules of proper disclosure to avoid instances such as the one described above.  This is particularly important given the growth of the social media channels and is relevant to all companies, particularly newly-public companies.  As the rules are subject to change and new employees join companies, it is advisable that refresher seminars be scheduled.
• Establish a Disclosure Committee.  This committee should include representatives from various corporate disciplines (e.g., legal, finance, communications, investor relations, executive, and outside advisors) to insure that the company is kept apprised of the latest developments in terms of the regulations, technology and compliance.
• Emergency Disclosure Plan.  Inadvertent disclosure can and does happen making the need for an Emergency Disclosure Plan essential.  Such instances can be magnified greatly given the round-the-clock reporting that occurs.
• Do You Know Your Employees Social Media Habits?  How about their Twitter handles and the like?  Should you have that information?  The Francesca case does point to need for public companies to know such information. I know, I know – I’ll probably hear from people complaining about “Big Brother” watching and all that, but there are legal ramifications as well as corporate reputational risks to worry about.  Companies need to have those details in hand so that breaches can be tracked and acted upon immediately.

By Marie Raperto, CEO, Cantor Integrated Marketing Staffing

As you know, recent jobs reports have given plenty of "fodder" to election campaigns on both sides of the aisle this year, and the latest numbers were no exception (as reported by The Wall Street Journal here). Amid it all, college graduates are entering the workforce looking for jobs this month, and competition for jobs therefore will only increase.

So how do you stand out for the crowd in this environment? Answer: Avoid common mistakes, for starters.

As I work with job seekers, I continue to see a number of mistakes they all seem to make. Job hunting is not easy and the path is cluttered with wrong turns. You can't avoid them all but you can minimize some and eliminate others. Here are four that I think should be eliminated from every job search.

1.  Casting a wide net will increase my chances. Not true. You are just wasting time and not concentrating on the jobs you can get. You must customize each resume to the job specifications and apply only for the positions that fit. Companies want to make the best fit they can, they don't want to waste time or money.

2.  Thinking you meet the criteria. Ads and job descriptions are there for a reason: to attract the right candidate. If you don't meet at least 90% of the criteria, don't answer the ad. In the hiring game, long shots don't come in.

3.  My resume doesn't need to say everything. It doesn't ... but it needs to sell you and give the reader enough information so they can see you as a potential match for the position. Your resume needs to be easy to read, have an attractive format and be concise.

4.  The interviewer will understand what I do. Definitely not. First, the person doing the first scan of resumes is probably someone in human resources who may or may not understand the job. Second, terminology and corporate structure can differ. Make sure everyone can understand what you do. Corporate names, abbreviations and explanations tied too closely to your employer/industry might not be understood by everyone.

To get to the next step, an interview, you must understand the process.  The four items above can keep you from getting there. Here are 12 other common mistakes to watch, as well, according to U.S. News & World Report.

By Don Middleberg, CEO, Middleberg Communications

First the news: In addition to my role as CEO here I have become a principal and the CEO of Laundry Service, a social media agency. Why? Because I am absolutely convinced that Public Relations is now inexorably linked to social media and content creation. I have felt this way only once before and that was about the Internet. I now feel the same sense of excitement and urgency, and with the same conviction.
 
Roughly twenty years ago, I told everyone and anyone that PR programs had to include Internet based communications. I totally dedicated my PR agency in that direction. It turned out to be the absolutely right move for our clients and for my agency. Today I feel the exact same way about social media. It is no longer good enough to simply help place client news in print and broadcast media. Communications now must encompass the tools of social media—to create exciting content covering video, infographics, games, blogs and mobile apps. All managed within the social media platforms that allow marketers and companies to reach and motivate their constituencies in new and exciting ways.
 
So we are in a new age of communications. One in which PR and social media must now be part of all communications programs. While many advertising and PR agencies say they have a social media capability, it is usually not a core competency. Few firms in the nation have the chops to do both public relations and social media really well and even fewer have the strategic skill and experience to create fully integrated communications programs the way we can.

In this new era, it is imperative to provide clients with communications programming that offers the very best of social media, public relations and interactive services to help companies build their brands and grow their business.

Below are a few tips on how to stay innovative in PR:

• Establish an influencer program. There is no better way to spread your client’s message than to do so through the most influential people in their industry. Do the research, find these folks online, follow them on Twitter, read their blogs and understand how they like to communicate. Forge relationships with them through exclusive opportunities, by sharing thought leadership platforms and simply talking shop.
• Make sure the CEO is on social media. According to a recent survey conducted by BRANDfog, “74% of respondents are more likely to buy from a company whose values are clearly defined through CEO social media participation.”
• Merchandize articles via social media. It’s no longer enough to secure a top-tier press placement. Today, you must share that article on social media sites – tag your client and share the content with the public.
• Understand newsjacking vs. context. In PR, it's called real-time newsjacking. In social media, it's called context – both offer immense value. News is breaking 24 hours a day in real time and there are conversations around it. Sites like Twitter make it simple to monitor the news around the clock – especially when reporters are breaking stories or looking for expert commentary in real time. If everyone is talking about something, you should be talking about it, too. If #Tebow is trending, post a photo of your office Tebowing. Better yet – have a Tebowing photo contest online as we did – it generated 20K impressions for our company in 72 hours!
• Establish relationships with the press via social media. Reporters are constantly interacting on sites like Twitter and LinkedIn [Facebook “friending” is a no-no]. Send a friendly tweet to a reporter you’ve been trying to connect with to no avail. Don’t just pitch them. Talk with them. Once you establish a relationship, then you can move the conversation to phone and email.
• Create video content. By incorporating video content, you have complete control over your message. These videos can be linked to websites and social media pages, and are easy to share with media. Video content is the best way to establish an emotional connection with between your audiences and your brand/organization.

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Don Middleberg is regarded as one of the nation’s leading public relations executives. He is widely acknowledged for his pioneering research on how journalists use technology and social media. Middleberg is the author of “Winning PR In The Wired World” (McGraw-Hill), one of the bestsellers in the history of public relations and printed in six languages. He is also co-author, first with professor Steven Ross of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and more recently with the Society of New Communications Research, of one of the largest annual survey of journalists in the world. Examining journalists’ use of digital communications and social media in the performance of their work, this study is recognized as the definitive work of its kind and its findings have been integrated into the curricula at major universities throughout the U.S. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and an MBA in marketing. Follow Middleberg on Twitter: @MiddlebergPR.

By Ashley McCown, President, Solomon McCown & Company

It’s vitally important to understand how beliefs have changed in the post-recession marketplace and how those changes shape your ability to engage with the consumers and influencers who hold the key to success in marketing communications. Our firm recently commissioned a national poll to better define behaviors and values in the “New Normal.”

Jump to the bottom of this article for a video and Infographic summarizing the findings.

In the meantime, the surprising results offer five insights that can advance your ability to navigate consumer engagement, reputation management and community relations:

1. Green is good: In the poll of 1,009 adults, conducted by Anderson Robbins Research, “living in an environmentally responsible and sustainable way” was rated very or extremely important by 72 percent of respondents as a key trait for achieving the American Dream. For those committed to sustainable business practices, there is a large reservoir of support that can be tapped.
2. Higher education gets high marks: Asked which would be “a better start in life for most young people today,” 71 percent of those polled chose “a high quality college education” over $250,000 in cash. This finding was universal across all demographics in every region. A college degree is seen as critical steppingstone in life, creating an opportunity for the higher education sector.
3. Health is top of mind: More than three quarters of those polled chose “a long and healthy retirement” as a very or extremely important aspect of the American Dream. “Good health” was rated as the third “most valuable” trait in today’s world in part of the nation – except the Northeast, where it ranked number one. Appeals to healthy living and longevity have traction in the New Normal.
4. Time for fun: Asked to choose between “more time” or “more money,” a majority ages 18-34 age chose more time, while a majority of those 55 or older favored more money. Asked to choose between “more activity and excitement” or “more sleep and relaxation,” two-thirds of the 18-34 group preferred more activity, while more than half of the older set chose more rest. Leisure time looks very different to different demographics.
5. Happy to help: Our poll also offered a boost for mission-driven appeals. Two-thirds of respondents consider “helping others through volunteer work or charitable giving” very or extremely important to achieving the American Dream. While financial gifts may be harder to come, people appear to be looking for other ways to contribute to the greater good.

In fact, the common thread of the poll findings is that non-financial goals are more prized in the post-recession era than the stereotypical, superficial measures of success.

The values that engage and motivate people in the New Normal can open a window of insight for marketing and communications pros.  It’s clear that the anxieties of the last four years – from the Wall Street bail-out and record unemployment to the BP oil spill and unethical mortgage practices – have left psychic scars significant enough to reshape our values and our definition of the American Dream.

Here's a video summarizing the results (please share)

All it took was a front cover headline about a gay president of the United States, the White House painted in rainbow colors and a bare-breasted mom with her suckling 3-year-old son to pump up the volume in the magazine industry.

It worked.

Coverage on TV and radio of Time, The New Yorker and Newsweek during the first two weeks of May was five times higher than the whole month of April, reflecting intense interest by broadcasters to comment on the sensationalist magazine covers. Milking the buzz for all it was worth, Newsweek yesterday also published the "gay president" cover concepts its editorial brain trust has rejected. You can see those here.

Samir Husni, director of the Magazine Innovation Center at the University of Mississippi, says the buzz has built to a crescendo, and for different reasons. TIME initiated a story while The New Yorker and Newsweek simply engaged in a little newsjacking, says Husni, known in the industry as Mr. Magazine™.