Back in college, my sorority had a rule when we were voting in new members: anyone who used the word “nice” to describe a rush candidate got sprayed with a Super Soaker.
Yeah, it’s weird. But we never made the mistake of voting in women just because they were nice. That’s the point.
It amazes me how many PR and marketing professionals talk about the importance of conversation – that numbers and fans and followers don’t matter, and that’s it’s actually about building relationships. I don’t disagree with them. The part I disagree with is the conversations they seem to want.
The conversations most people want are the ones where you nod your head in sheep-like agreement, write a comment like “Wow, that’s amazing!” and generally participate in the virtual circle jerk.
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When I worked at Brazen Careerist, Penelope Trunk was constantly watching the news at work.
“I don’t have a TV,” she said. And then she added, “The only reason people don’t have TVs is so they can tell other people that they don’t watch TV.” (This is also a Stuff White People Like post).
She’s right though. I never watched much TV anyway, but it was only with my recent move to Atlanta that I completely got rid of my television.
I am still alive, thank you.
Actually, I am really productive. I have more time to read, do good work, and generally conquer the world. So yes, I have become one of those intellectuals who is so above watching TV that I have to write a blog post about it’s demise. Here are 3 reasons cable television will be dead three years from now:
Click here for 3 reasons cable television will be dead three years from now
I read a post by beauty blogger Krizia on Problogger today who feels that PR people are getting pushier with bloggers due to the recession. The post left me with two questions: 1) Are PR people really getting pushier? and 2) Is it really the recession that could be causing this?
To address the first question, what are PR people’s expectations, and are we as bloggers meeting them? The factors I see here are:
- Do bloggers review products in a timely manner? The beauty blogger said she tests products for 2-3 weeks before reviewing them. In my experience, publicists send me follow up emails only days after I’ve received the book, asking when the review will be up. As a blogger, I need more time to read the book (because, you know, I actually do read it before recommending it). Are these timelines acceptable to PR professionals? Do they compare to traditional media timelines?
- Do bloggers say the right things in the review? Do PR professionals expect to see a review no matter what, even if the review is lukewarm or bad?
- What success indicators do PR professionals want to see? Comments, page views, social media mentions? Are we as bloggers communicating this information back to PR professionals?
For the second question, my intuition is that the “pushiness” is not due to the recession at all. Here are some other reasons PR professionals might come across as pushy:
- Bloggers don’t respond like traditional media - I’ve written before about the reasons that traditional media outreach is vastly different from blogger outreach. The main gist is that bloggers often have different goals than traditional media, so the incentives are different.
- Bloggers are getting greedy – It seems like every blogger wants a sponsorship deal these days. Whatever happened to blogging about things you like, as opposed to blogging about things so you can make money from them? The world of blogging sponsorships is about as fragmented as you can get, so it’s hard for companies to discern 1) who should get sponsorships and 2) what those bloggers should be paid.
- Bloggers are not a sure thing – I know many bloggers who say, “Send me a sample, if I like it I will write about it.” This partly due to the idea of disclosure, and it’s partly due to the idea of trust, and it’s partly due to the fact that bloggers have limited time and resources compared to traditional media. But if a company isn’t even going to get a mention from a blogger, why should they send the products? It’s a business, not a charity.
- Bloggers can’t deliver on ROI – PR people are extremely pressured to show return on investment these days. Even sending a book to review costs at least $5 – from an author’s perspective then, the blogger must be able to sell at least 5 books to see an acceptable ROI.
- Bloggers are numerous – It’s too easy to start a blog these days. While it’s not easy to build a community, it’s certainly not as hard as say, building a newspaper or a magazine. This means there are a lot of bloggers out there with a couple thousand subscribers who could get traction for a product. A company has to eventually ask, “If I keep giving my product away to anyone with a blog, who will actually buy it?”
What do you think?
- PR professionals, are bloggers meeting your expectations? Are bloggers producing the results you need to get the job done on behalf of your clients?
- Bloggers, are PR people getting pushier in your experience?
- How can we improve relationships between PR professionals and bloggers?
Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009. And while plenty of people are saying he doesn’t deserve it, I completely love the idea of someone winning a prestigious international award at the young age of 48.
It gives me hope that the workplace is actually changing from a stodgy focus on number of years at the company, to promotion and recognition based on ideas, leadership, and raw talent. The prize makes sense to me for these reasons:
There is no rule that young people can’t move up quickly
People keep harping on Obama’s age and experience as a reason he doesn’t deserve the award. Get over it. If the accomplishments warrant award, there is no reason to wait until a person hits a certain age.
I hate when companies do this. I worked at a Fortune 500 out of college and a position one level above mine opened up in my department. My coworkers told me to apply because I was already performing every single one of items listed under qualifications. It makes sense – why should they hire someone else, when I was right there doing the job already?I applied, but was rejected because I had only worked at the company for a 1.5 years and they didn’t like to promote people until they’d been there for 3.
Paying your dues is fine and necessary – but some people pay faster than others. Basing due-paying on age alone is lame. It’s for academics. It’s for old school thinkers. And I’m glad the Nobel Committee is not so old school.
Leaders who inspire people win
The workplace is nothing without strong leadership, and no company moves from good to great based on its products or services alone. Likewise, the United States would not be out of the global dog house if it weren’t for the way Obama represents our country to the rest of the world.
Truthfully, not much about our country has changed since Obama became President – we are not suddenly a better or smarter or more productive group of people. What has changed is our leadership – and the way Obama has inspired both the US and other countries makes him worthy of winning. And frankly, it’s amazing and shocking that one man can change global perceptions of an entire country.
Plus, now that Obama has been recognized as a leader of world peace, he has more clout to continue his mission, and more incentive to continue inspiring others.
You can’t grow without a stretch position
It’s career suicide to take on a role that’s past the breaking point of your talents and experience level. But we also know that the best way to advance in your career is to do the job you want before you have the title or authority to do so.
That’s where stretch positions come in. Obama has an aptitude for taking stretch roles that allow him to grow, without screwing up. US President was a stretch role for Obama, but he beat out several competitors with more age and experience than him, and he seems to be faring well.
While Obama hasn’t accomplished world peace yet, he’s a Nobel laureate for world peace because he has been executing on his vision of world peace all along, before he even won the presidency. This prize is yet another opportunity to grow into a stretch position – and I’m confident he’ll do just fine.
What do you think? Workplace revolution in the making?
Author’s Note: Feed subscribers, click through to view attached video.
Gas prices are going up. Again. So what?
Here’s the thing about rising gas prices – we still pay them. I still pay them, in some form. And truthfully, I’m done talking about rising gas prices, because I’m comfortable with my gas consumption and the costs associated with it. But I also don’t drive a car much these days, and people who drive a lot seem to be more upset about rising gas prices than anyone else.
What do rising gas prices have to do with personal development? Plenty. Because if you react negatively to rising gas prices that might give you insight to how you react in other situations too.
Do You Complain?
We don’t need as much gas as we consume to survive. Water definitely, food comes second, shelter is pretty nice too. But gas? Not so much.
We already know this, right? So what gets to me is people who complain about the prices of gas and then line up at the pump to pay them. Doesn’t make sense, when there are alternatives to driving your car everywhere, the least utilized of which are attached to the lower half of your body. For other cheap alternatives, try biking, skateboarding, roller blading, carpools, scooters, buses, trains, and planes. Some may still use gas, but the cost is lower or split.
And really, we complain because we think it’s justified. In all aspects of life, not just rising gas prices. But if we were justified in our complaints then we would have good reason to stop buying gas. Since we keep buying it, rising gas prices isn’t a good enough reason yet. Maybe when it hits $10 a gallon?
Do You Blame?
Who is responsible for rising gas prices? The government? Bush? The war on Iraq? SUV owners? Greedy gas companies?
I’m no economist, but I don’t think any of them are truly to blame for gas prices. We love to point fingers at others when things go wrong, but sometimes the problem is ourselves. So maybe the person to blame for rising gas prices is you. And him, and her, and me. Because each of us has the power to lower gas prices; we just lower our demand for it. For anyone who has studied even basic microeconomics, lower demand = higher supply = lower prices.
So shift the curves, not the blame. The beauty of free markets is the power lies with the people.
Do You Make Excuses?
Every time I talk about commuting or public transportation, I get people telling me reasons about why they can’t make the switch. Like their town doesn’t have public transportation, or their job/home is not on a public transportation route.
Here’s my response to those excuses: Move. Or change jobs. Because frankly, we each have our priorities, and excuses are for people who want to pretend something is a priority for them when it really isn’t. And if commuting costs are truly a priority, people have factored that into their work/life choices already, right?
So if using less gas is not a priority for you, that’s okay. Just admit it yourself. And stop worrying so much about what other people think. Be honest with yourself and others about why you chose whatever else you did over using less gas, because that something is probably important to you, and part of growing is knowing where your priorities lie.
Want lower gas prices? Do something about it. It may just help you succeed in other areas of your life too, like if you get stuck on an escalator.
Monica O'Brien is the Director of Digital at Fizz and author of the book Social Pollination, which helps businesses leverage social media for crazy growth!
