24: Mitch Wagner on Second Life for PR pros

Our guest this week is Mitch Wagner, who writes for various CMP online and print properties, principally InformationWeek.com. David and Paul talk to Mitch about what PR people should know about the virtual world Second Life. His five rules for Second Life article is posted here and talks about both good and bad practices that he has observed with businesses “in-world”. Meeting areas work better than billboards, for example. Once again, it is all about conversations and dialogs. As another example, host interesting, fun and offbeat events that will attract the media outside of their traditional beat areas.

Download the podcast here.

23: BL Ochman on social media campaigns and PR

This week, Paul and David’s guest is BL Ochmnan, author of the popular What’s Next Blog and the creative force behind such popular social media campaigns as EthicsCrisis.com and ClutterControlFreak.com. BL tells how her blog has been a huge driver of business and why she thinks blogs are here for the long term. She also discusses how she maintains her privacy in a world that’s increasingly open. BL also has some choice words for some of the seamier tactics she has encountered in the public relations profession.

Download and listen to the podcast here (15:10)

22: Surviving a blog swarm

What should you do if you’re at the center of a blog swarm? Fear of negative publicity or an attack by an angry mob of bloggers is enough to keep many companies from experimenting with social media. But these fears are mostly overblown, Dave and Paul believe. In this episode, they talk about how having a thick skin and a willingness to swallow one’s pride can create a revealing and rewarding experience in social media space. They also offer examples of how the blogosphere can be a remarkably forgiving and accepting place, if participants are only willing to listen and respond to what’s said there.

Read this article from CIO Magazine for more advice on how to handle a flame war.

Download and listen to the podcast here (11:29)

21: Shara Karasic, social media bonzana!

Our guest this week is Shara Karasic, the community manager at Work.com. She maintains a fascinating and very extensive directory of social media sites here. She talks to Paul and David about the sites that PR people should pay more attention to depending on their client’s goals such as Xing.com. Also, some of the more obscure sites that you may not have heard of, and specialty sites that might be relevant to particular market segments.

She talks about the reasons for the big uptake with businesses using social media for their own purposes and the ways influence is gained and maintained.

You can download and listen to the podcast here (16:05)

20: PR’s role in social media campaigns

This week, our guest is veteran PR professional Giovanni Rodriguez, co-author of a new white paper about the role of public relations in social media. The paper has stirred some controversy among PR bloggers who disagree with its authors’ findings.            

Among the surprises the research turned up are that PR people believe they’re competing with other marketing and even corporate disciplines to own the social media conversation and that new media may actually be weakening PR’s hold on its traditional function. Giovanni suggests there’s a bit of an identity crisis going on in PR as a result. Quite a few agencies have experimented with social media, but enough people are intimidated by the new influencers of social media that a debate has emerged over whether social media should be PR’s responsibility.

In reality, Giovanni says, social media relations isn’t all that different from media relations. You need to speak to the interests of the blogger as you would to a reporter. Public relations should really be about relating to the public, not just the media, and if PR professionals embrace the opportunity, their career growth will be enhanced.

Download and listen to the podcast now (18:10)