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Disclaimer: I have no legal background and do not claim to have any expertise in law. Below is what I ‘understood’ from listening to someone who does.

I had the pleasure this past week to attend a presentation by Glen Gilmore, a practicing attorney who teaches social media law at Rutgers. We were both speakers at SocialCrush, a conference for small to medium sized businesses.

Glen gave some very interesting insight into a couple of gray areas of social business. I found myself raising my eyebrows and wondering how many people are aware of this.

Here are a couple of issues Glen covered:

National Labor Relations Board  As a business, you can’t tell employees that they can not say anything negative about your company on social channels. He referenced unionization protection laws which specify that employees have the right to speak about their working conditions.

Cases have gone to court and have been won.

Understanding the rights the NLRB protects before writing your employee social media guidelines is a must.
Federal Trade Commission  The FTC revised endorsement guidelines a few months back. Many of us remember this. There was a lot of talk about bloggers being required to disclose ‘material connection’ for writing reviews.

But what I wasn’t clear on, and I think many are probably in the same boat, is exactly what material connection could include.

From what I understood Glen to say (and I am no legal expert so don’t quote me), if you give anything to a blogger and ask them to mention you, that relationship must be disclosed by the blogger.

And guess what, micro-bloggers can be considered bloggers.

So does that mean if you give an ice cream cone to a person who has a Twitter account and ask them to mention your ice cream shop you have a material connection that must be disclosed by the twitterer?

Glen said this also means that if one of your employees promotes one of your clients in their blog or Twitter, they need to be transparent about that relationship.

This part got a little hazy for me. What if you’re a large company and the employee doesn’t even realize the brand he’s promoting is a client of the company he works for?

And lets not miss the obvious. Glen said this also means that if an employee promotes his employer and his employer’s products and does not disclose that relationship, well that can get us in mucky water (not a legal term) with the FTC too. I’ve already sent notes to a couple of friends telling them they need to add who they work for in their bio since I know they sometimes promote their employer on Twitter.

For more clarification, here is the FTC’s “Guides Concerning The Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

To keep up with the legal aspects of doing social business, I encourage you to follow Glen: @GlenGilmore and @SocialMediaLaw1, and his blog Social Media Marketing and Law.

I’m definitely taking a more proactive approach to staying informed about these matters after hearing Glen speak. Does anything above concern you?

Related articles

• 5 Legal Considerations for Your Social Media Campaign (mashable.com)
• Feds Raise Questions About Employee Social Media Rights (socialtimes.com)

So last week when I was trying to think of something to write for Valentine’s Day I decided I would use the same non-scientific method to find out why people ‘love’ Twitter – - in one word, of course.

I have quite enjoyed reading all the responses, and have to say I personally love Twitter because of the instant access to a community that is willing to help me get some writing done.

I listed all the words that people gave me in a spreadsheet, sorted them, and then divided them into categories. Most responses could be boiled down to four main topics:

#1 Connection

Connection was given as a reason nearly four times as the next top reason. Along with the word connection, people used words such as camaraderie, networking, community, sharing, help, engagement, conversations, collegiality, support, and conversations.

#2 Information

People also used the word news.

#3 Speed

Several people used the word speed. The other words used were instant, instantaneous, and non-stop. I’m not quite sure why people love the speed, but I would venture to guess it has to do with finding information or getting responses to a question.

#4 Freedom

Other words used: open and Egypt.

There were also many words given once that didn’t quite fit the categories above. They included: access, authenticity, brevity, communication, desperation, entertainment, micro-blogging, precision, random, reach, requirement, shameless, simple, snark and spark.

I wondered about the person who said ‘requirement’ and asked him if he actually loved being required to use Twitter. His response was classic Twitter: “With all my #heart.”

Well said.

If your reason for loving Twitter differs from the ones above, please let me know your one word. You are equally welcome to tell me in one word why you do not like Twitter.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

“Engagement” is wearing me down, and apparently I’m not alone.

At the PubCon LV 2010 conference, a keynote panel which included Scott Stratten, Chris Brogan, Sarah Evans, and Brian Clark was asked where they feel they have made mistakes or have failed.

Scott boldly and very humbly said, “I’ve failed at engagement.” I was confused. Scott is Mr. Engaged in my book. He continued, “I preach to people about engagement and I myself can’t keep up.”

Chris then chimed in that the 24/7 engagement has affected his family life and business. Sarah agreed that it has become very difficult to be there for everyone.

Brian said he originally started CopyBlogger.com because he was going to work from his home and be there for his family. Instead he finds himself in the house, but not really at the house. He feels the family is being neglected.

All of them asked the audience to send suggestions on how to manage engagement better.

I sat in my chair in awe and amazement, and feeling a bit choked up. They’re right. I’ve been feeling the same way for a long time but have been too embarrassed to tell anyone. I feel guilt over not being able to focus on anything or anyone because I’m trying to focus on everything and everyone. I thought I was the only one.

Not so.

I ran into Scott in the hall later that day and thanked him for being brave enough to speak out. He said it’s a very real problem and “People just aren’t talking about it.”

So what are we to do?

Maybe we all need to just admit we’re not super-human and be patient with each other. Patient when someone doesn’t respond to our email as quickly as we want, patient when someone doesn’t respond to our witty @reply or comment on our Facebook posts. Hopefully others will reciprocate.

And the first step? Perhaps we just need to be brave like Scott and fill in the blank:

“Hi, my name is _____, and I can’t keep up with the demands of engagement.”

Twitter is fairly easy to master. Meeting objectives on Twitter is a different matter. That requires careful thinking and strategic planning. Throw multiple people into the equation of one Twitter account and you have to do some serious planning.

@PRNewswire is a serious effort by four dedicated individuals.

This coming Thursday, November 18, 2010, I’m going to be teaching a workshop at TWTRCON SF on the secrets of successful team micro-blogging. We’ll be discussing:

If you’re going to be at TWTRCON, I certainly hope you will join me for this workshop scheduled for 11:20 – 11:55 AM.

See you there!

Community!

That was one of the many a-ha moments of the weekend. Think of your blog as a community and treat your readers like members of the community.

Here are some other things that stood out for me from the sessions I attended:

@giovanni

• Use Flickr, StumbleUpon, Digg, Facebook, Twitter to drive traffic to your blog.
• On Flickr, state your photos may be used but your name and a key phrase you want associated with your name must accompany it. Example “Photo by John Doe, SEO expert.”  Be consistent about using this phrase elsewhere with your name.
• Flickr drives traffic better than other photo sites.

@calilewis

• 10 AM to 2 PM is the best time to send a promotional message.
• You don’t need a huge audience if you are a local business. Think about who your audience is.

@treyratcliff

• Go niche with your blog.
• Shock the eyes into action with photographs that grab the reader. Every blog post should have a photo or multimedia asset.

@scottycentral

• Analyzation + Optimization = Monetization
• Anchor text should only be keyword or phrase (leave out the adjectives, etc)

@sleary

• Use Twitter Importer for WordPress to archive your tweets.

@jerodmsf

• Go for the long tail search

@technosailor

• Use the Facebook ‘like’ button on everything you create.

@eswayne

• Concentrate on a ‘true’ audience rather than a large audience.
• Look at how people list you in their Twitter lists. Is this what you think you’re projecting? Is it what you want to project?

@mikeorren

• The bad economy was the best thing that happened to Pegasus News, a hyper-local news site. Advertisers that previously didn’t want to talk about doing anything different from the traditional ad placements started to look at new avenues to reach people.
• “The cockroaches of local media.”  That’s what an investor once called Pegasus News.
• At one point the finances were so dire at Pegasus News that they called payroll the “rent fund.” They literally only dipped in when someone was going to be kicked out of their home.
• Instead of wasting a lot of time with spreadsheets and graphs to impress investors, just start something. A tangible site sells better than an idea.

@paulaberg

• You need jaw-dropping reports to take into a boardroom to sell social media.
• You need an internal shared vision.
• Rather than agonizing over a corporate social media strategy, start with a philosophy and empower people to go out and make it happen.
• Who owns social media? Who ever is actually going to go out to ‘Do it!’

@frederickvan

• Find a product to sell on your blog (check out affiliate programs)
• Run a contest to ‘win’ one of the product.
• Remind people of the contest several times.
• Announce the winner and tell people who entered if they didn’t win they can still buy the product at a special price.

@chrispirillo

• Your blog is a nexus! All your social networking sites should lead back to the blog; should promote the content of the blog.

@copyblogger

• Online, people want content not advertising.
• Think like a publication. A trade publication. Have an editorial focus.
• Make your headline and opening compelling. Each phrase should encourage the reader to read the next one.
• Don’t go over 5.5% on keyword density. After that point the writing becomes bad.
• Don’t wrap things up neatly at the end of a blog post. Leave your topic open for discussion. Ask for comments and opinion.
• “The only thing that is going to make you a better writer is writing!”

@leeodden

• Optimize for customers first. Search engines should not be your first concern.
• Create a profile of your audience; the people you want to reach. Then build your keyword and content strategy around that.
• Automation has to provide value!

@dbferguson

• Create a community with your blog.
• Research what communities already exist in your niche and figure out how you will fill a need not already met.
• Calls to actions need to be easy!
• Show off community members that contribute. Email and thank them.
• “Connect” with the readers.

If I had to say what things were most talked about or discussed at this conference, other than the ubiquitous ‘blog,’ I would say:  multimedia, monetization, measurement and audience. But the most valuable take-aways for me centered around the subject of quality content. Content remains king. You can slice it and dice it and serve it in all sorts of pretty ways, but if it isn’t good no one is coming back for seconds.

What do you think is the ultimate key to a successful blog?

Dear local museum that I will not call-out by name (because I care about you):

I was very happy a couple of months ago to find you had launched a Twitter account! I have always been a big fan of yours. I love what you stand for and what you have achieved. I wish more people cared as much about preserving North Texas heritage and wildlife as you do. When you recently tried your best to fight bad legislation and protect part of that heritage, I signed the petition. (I found out about it because I was on your email list, by the way).

I smiled as I hit the “follow” button on Twitter. I was so proud. We were going to be good friends.

Fast forward. I looked at your Twitter account today. I was reminded of it because of said email list, not because of your engaging tweets (another subject to tackle later). You are following 764 people now. You have 439 followers.

My feelings were hurt.

I wasn’t one of the lucky 764.  So I decided to take a look at who you ‘do’ follow, those 764 very important influencers you chose. Yes, I admit jealousy of the 764.

I scrolled and I sighed.

My dear, following all those large, international organizations, and all those celebrities is not going to help you with any of your causes or get you any more attention than you already get. Why is there a dearth of local folks on your list? There are LOTS of very significant influencers on Twitter that live right here in North Texas. People that visit your museum and potentially appreciate you as much as I do.  You need to follow and engage twitterers who are significant to what you are doing and what you want to achieve. People who can truly be influencers for you.

@TheEllenShow and @FinancialTimes are very well followed Twitter accounts, but they are not likely to help you when you need another petition signed.

When I signed your last petition, I also posted it on my Facebook page and my Twitter account. I recommended it to people. Local people. I care about what is going on here in my county.  My North Texas. I care about you! I’m sure Ellen loves North Texas as much as the next person…in CALIFORNIA…but she isn’t likely to even notice you, and certainly isn’t going to go to any town-hall meeting for you. The town-hall meetings dear Ellen goes to are probably closer to home, in California.

You need local champions. You need North Texans who truly care and have a personal stake in what you are doing. Which, as I said before, is really important stuff.

Which brings me to that little “engagement” issue I previously mentioned. There is a character, right above the number 2 on your keyboard.

It looks like this: @

You should start 50% of your tweets with that little sign, followed by someone’s Twitter name. Example: @victoriaharres. You can and should substitute RTs (retweets) for some of  those @s. Follow me. Say ‘hi’ now and then. I in turn will remember you exist, will say ‘hi’ back so that my followers know I care about you, and I will retweet those informational tweets of yours about petitions and such. Other locals will do the same. Because I’m connected to a lot of locals on Twitter. I know their value.

I can assure you this will get you a lot more love and support than trying to broadcast to Ellen. She’s got too many people doing that already.

My dear friend, I hope you took this letter in the spirit it was intended, with lots of love and affection. I only get frustrated because I care about you and I want to see you succeed.

So go follow some local folks! You can use Twellow.com or Twitter.search.com to find them.

PS. I love you.

Warmest regards

@VictoriaHarres

But why?

I drive a lovely little black, 2004 Saturn Ion with leather seats, sun roof, a six CD player and tinted windows, which I brag about all the time. It gets great gas mileage and looks very sexy. And, most important, it’s fun to drive! People tell me it’s a cute little car that perfectly fits my personality. And it doesn’t hurt that in the six years I’ve owned it I’ve only put 45,000 miles on it and the finish still looks perfectly shiny and new.

So why am I so darn excited about the new Ford Explorer!?

It really comes down to some savvy marketing. Ford played their hand very skillfully with a few simple, yet powerful tactics:

1) They skipped the auto shows: An auto show requires people going ‘to’ the product, limiting reach and really not being very  inclusive of the ultimate audience Ford wanted to reach. Auto shows are mostly for enthusiasts. The Ford Explorer is a family vehicle for the parents who don’t want to be seen driving the soccer mom minivan. I would dare say it would also make a great long road trip vehicle, and come in very handy in escorting around my frequent out-of-town guests when I’m giving them the tour of Dallas and Fort Worth.

2) Reveal on Facebook: Facebook is where a large percentage of consumers Ford wanted to reach can be found. So, Ford took their product ‘to’ the consumer. They have been rewarded with nearly 57,000 ‘likes’ on their page so far. Personally, I love reading the questions and suggestions people are leaving on the Facebook wall. And I especially love that Ford is monitoring and joining that conversation. It makes me feel included in behind the scenes development of the product, since they are still testing the Explorer in different terrains and conditions, and planning what might be future versions or variations. The 2011 Explorer won’t be available until winter.

3) Execs on the road: Ford did some grassroots outreach by sending their execs on the road to talk to local dealers, media, bloggers, and local social media influencers in person. Here in Dallas we had: Sue Cischke, Group VP, Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering; Ken Czubay, VP, U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service; and Craig Patterson, Marketing Manager for Ford Explorer. I had the pleasure of spending some time with Craig who not only shared a wealth of information, but who spoke about the product and the company with such passion that I couldn’t help but get excited with him. I’ve personally owned two Explorers in my adult life and it was interesting to hear Craig talk about the ‘typical’ Explorer customer…yes, he described me to a tee! I was the mom who didn’t want to be a mini-van mom. I wanted to be hip and cool.

4) Reach beyond traditional media: Ford held in person “reveals” in several cities, inviting local Ford dealers and the media. But they also went a step further and did a bit of research to find out who had some social clout. Here in Dallas they contacted one of the leaders, Mary Anne Schweers, of our very active Social Media Club (the average monthly meetings attracts around 150 people). She in turn sent invitations to members who had good social reach. I was very pleased to be included. I must admit, it was super cool to sit with the Star-Telegram’s Bob Cox as he interviewed Craig Patterson, and was very patient in letting me join in that conversation. I love watching a pro at work.

5) Series of press releases: I can’t skip mentioning that to make all the above work, Ford did put out a series of press releases leading up to the reveal.

So in the end, Ford won me over because they came to me. They didn’t ask me to come to them. And they made themselves available, something Scott Monty got Ford started on and continues to lead them well in. You can talk to Ford on Facebook and you can talk to them on Twitter.

And by the way, I was mainly looking at the marketing strategies here, but I should also state that the features Ford showed us in the all new 2011 Ford Explorer are pretty darn exciting. That doesn’t hurt them a bit.

© 2009, The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. Reprinted with permission.

Bulldog Reporter‘s Media Relations Summit held in New York City, June 28th rocked! What a pleasure and an honor that I was given the opportunity to participate. The folks at Bulldog, especially Fay Shapiro, are a class act. And it didn’t hurt that NASDAQ invited us to ring the morning bell the Friday before the event. What an experience! This Texillian (Brazilian living in Texas) was made to feel like a New York celebrity by the NASDAQ staff.

So what did I get out of the summit?

Knowledge, knowledge, knowledge. Bulldog brought together an impressive list of journalists and industry stars that shared insight, pitching tips, and social media savviness.

Tina Brown of The Daily Beast, who gave us a tour of the site and said newspapers are dying due to the greed of the conglomerates that own them. She also stated that relevance and news awareness is key in pitching.

Ellen Levine of Hearst Magazines stated that the iPad would not replace magazines until one could read it in the bathtub without fear of it touching the water. She also said “Don’t give it away for free” in reference to both online content and advice her father gave her as a young woman. The crowd laughed heartily.

Alan Murray of the Wall Street Journal stated that a bad PR pitch might start with “You may have seen this in The New York Times…” He also stated that to go into journalism now you have to be at the cutting edge of your business (multimedia, technology, etc).

There was also a bit of mud slinging here an there from one publication to another, mostly centered around the sensitive subject of content aggregation, but no one seemed to take it too personally, or they were too high class to show it.

At a more personal level, I moderated round-tables for Daryl Chen of Parade in the morning, and Carl Sullivan of Newsweek after lunch. PR practitioners from far and wide gathered round like adventurers around a campfire listening intently to the storytellers.

Daryl said something that really struck all of us as enlightening. She was talking about how their readers are generally reading Parade on a Sunday morning with a cup of coffee, sitting with a spouse or significant other, and that anyone pitching a story should keep that in mind. Which, of course, made me think of the fact that this is something to keep in mind for all publications: where is the reader likely to be when reading a particular publication and who will he/she be in the presence of. Parade wants human interest stories. If you have a product to pitch, find the human angle. Is the inventor 85 years old and also invented the light switch?

Carl stated that editors at Newsweek will keep their eyes on Twitter and may even get story ideas there. He talked about the fact that the magazine is up for sale but things are running as usual for now. Carl said as a managing editor people really shouldn’t be pitching him stories directly. It’s better to form relationships with the section editors and send those story ideas in that direction. Someone asked him if he’d ever received a Twitter pitch and he said no but that he wouldn’t be apposed to it if it was done well.

Everyone seemed to be in agreement that you have to keep your pitch, whatever form it came in, brief and to the point. Make sure that the subject line on an email is telling of the content. Get to the point in the first paragraph and save the details for deeper in the pitch. No one seems to want phone calls either, especially not within 24 hours of sending the email pitch. It might take an editor a few days to around to an email depending on what is going on.

One last tip we heard from Daryl, if you do call an editor or journalist, don’t start the call with the question “are you busy?”