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How Social Media Turns Leadership Facilitation On Its Head

By Cheryl Snapp Conner @ Jun 19, 2013

This article originally appeared in my regular column at Forbes.com:

When friend and collaborator Tom Lowery talked to me several weeks ago about the growing impact of professional facilitation, he had my attention. But when we talked about what social media can add to the training and facilitation process for companies, a new world of possibilities emerged.

How are professional facilitators currently incorporating social media into their business? How could the addition of social media impact their future success? Tom has filled a variety of corporate training roles for a number of years. I invited him to dig a little deeper into this phenomenon this week.

“I’ve been in rooms with teachers, lecturers, presenters and managers/meeting leaders who were boring as hell,” he said. “Business owners in love with the sound of their own tepid voices are a recipe for disaster.”

What makes the difference between boring as you-know-what and a session with employees or customers that leaves participants alive and on fire? To find out, Lowery used his connections to gather some inside views on the art of facilitation. Here are some of the things he discovered:

“Every business incorporates facilitation skills in their day-to-day business, whether they realize it or not,” says Andrea Kennedy, Product Training Specialist-Lexus Division at Toyota Motor Sales. “Facilitation skills aren’t just for formal training,” she said.

That makes sense. A great business needs to be successful both externally and internally.

“Businesses want to keep a finger on the pulse of their companies,” says Tricia Vanderwill, Freelance Facilitator for Acura, General Motors, Lexus and Mercedes Benz and others. “Employees who are the face of these companies need to have continuous knowledge, and the ability to express those thoughts and ideas with skill.”

I’ve talked in past columns about the ways social media can boost brand awareness, improve customer relations and increase sales. But consider this formula: Social media and facilitation are a great combination for increasing an intangible commodity—employee engagement—as well. Increased employee engagement increases the profitability of every business. So where do we begin?

For these answers we turned to a leader in the world of facilitation: Bill Heacock, the founder of Heacock, Perez and Associates. Known for his iconic courses such as Train the Trainerand Death by PowerPoint, Heacock sees social media and facilitation as powerful twins for success.

Says Heacock: “Social media will play a huge role going forward. Surveys suggest that much more learning takes place informally than formally in a work environment. If you don’t know how to do something, you typically don’t wait for the next regularly scheduled class; you simply ‘go ask Bob.’ Wikis, blogs, IM, Tweets, Texts, etc.–every new technological innovation makes a facilitator’s tool box even more robust and gives organizations yet another way to enhance employee performance on the job.”

Leadership and Engagement

How do leaders achieve audience engagement? They are up against some formidable odds. According to Statistic Brain, people’s abilities to pay attention is lower than we thought, and appears to be getting worse by the minute:

· The average attention span in 2012—8 seconds

· The average attention span in 2000—12 seconds

· The average attention span of a goldfish—9 seconds

· Average number of times per hour an office worker checks their email inbox—30

To continue reading please visit my column at Forbes.com.

Author: Cheryl Snapp Conner | Google+

Why You Don't Need To Wait To Start A PR Program

By Jordan Karpowitz @ Jun 13, 2013

When is the right time to hire a PR agency? How can you find a PR agency that is right for you? If you are a start-up company your cash is precious and you may not be ready to commit to a relationship with a PR agency. But wouldn’t it be great to at least know where things stand with your online reputation, and to have a crisis plan ready before you need it?

Snapp Conner PR hears your dilemma and has some great tools to help you benefit from PR, well before you are ready to make the commitment:

The PR Scorecard is available now from Snapp Conner PR and within 60 seconds will give you baseline information about your online brand. It will assign you a score in six different areas that you can promote or keep secret. Even better, you will also be given tips that you can easily implement on your own to boost that score. Downloadable templates will guide you through the PR process and even help make sure you are ready with a crisis plan. This is free and something you can do on your own at any time.

A second tool, MyPRToolbox, is coming soon and will allow you to inexpensively create and execute much of your own PR strategies and benefit from increased visibility and business even in the early stages. MyPRToolbox will provide access to all the industry tools at an affordable rate.

Cheryl Conner, managing partner at Snapp Conner PR, says she has always “been compelled to provide a solution for the thousands of small organizations who reach out to us who aren't yet ready for a PR agency relationship and are unsure of how and when to begin.”

“As a progressive PR agency, we are thinking way outside of the box on the new tools we are offering and try to do ourselves everything that we tell our clients to do in terms of advancing communications as a core business strategy,” continued Conner.

What’s your PR Score and when will you start?

Five Basic Ways to Keep Your Clients Informed

By Kelly Wanlass @ Jun 11, 2013

Tags: communication, PR, stats reports, status reports

PR professionals are communicators. That’s our job. We communicate – in one way or the other - with the media, with partners, with colleagues and especially with our clients, who want – and need - to know what we’ve been doing to build their reputations.

Over the 17 years I’ve been in public relations, the methods of communication has changed or evolved with technology advancements (i.e. ubiquitous use of cell phones, texting, Skype, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, blogs). What hasn’t changed are the things you need to communicate – or how often. As long as you’re communicating with your clients in a way that works for them, often on a daily basis, you’ll go a long way in keeping them happy.

Here are five basic but important communications tools you need to implement now, if you aren’t already.

Weekly Status Reports: Create and maintain a weekly status report. On my very first day as a PR professional, I was sent an Excel spreadsheet that included the status of all of my client’s projects: press releases, contributed articles, media outreach, calls for speakers, etc. My goal was – and is - to update it each day, or at least each time I had something to update. With the latest technologies, instead of emailing the presentation to my clients, I now save the spreadsheet in Google Drive or DropBox (depending on the client) so we can all few it whenever we want.

Weekly Status Calls: Schedule a status call once a week or bi-weekly, depending on the client’s requirements. Try to keep to the agreed-upon time. Use your weekly status report as your agenda. Be prepared to share your successes for the week, get any information you need from the client, strategize for upcoming projects, etc.

Daily Check-Ins: If you need more immediate feedback, or want to share the article on your client that just appeared in the Wall Street Journal or speaker opportunity you just snared, don’t be afraid to call or email right away. They’ll love to hear about it. Do try to consolidate your requests into one or two calls or emails each day, if that. Make sure it’s important. Remember their job is more than just responding to your requests.

Office Visits: While phone, texts, emails and social media are great ways to communicate with your clients, you can never completely replace the value of a face-to-face meeting. In her Forbes column on the To 4 Benefits of Face-to-Face Meetings, SAP talent marketing specialist Grace Chiu said spending time with clients and colleagues face-to-face helped them “became closer as people and as a team, and this new found comfort makes collaboration much easier in the future." If you’re within driving distance, visit the office 2-3 times a month at least.

Stats Reports: Don’t forget to keep track of all of your successes and communicate them to your clients in a monthly “stats” report. This will remind them of everything you’ve accomplished for them and show them the value you bring to their company.

How else – and how often - do you communicate with your clients? Remember, there’s no such thing as “over-communicating” in a client/agency relationship!

Book Promotion Tips: Title and Cover Art

By Adam Torkildson @ Jun 6, 2013

I’ve helped my wife promote her first book, and many of my coworkers at Snapp Conner PR have helped a number of clients promote their first books as well.

During these book promo campaigns, I’ve learned a few things along the way that will hopefully save you some time and effort.

If you’re using a traditional publisher, they will choose your title and cover art for you, and there’s not much you can do about it as a first time author. If you’ve got a track record (as far as having sold a couple thousand books) you have some leeway when choosing a title and cover art.

As a self-published author, you have all the control in the world over the title and cover art for your book. Or do you?

If you’re writing a novel, whether fiction or non-fiction, there is a very handy tool I’ve used that will tell you what the title of your book should be. It’s not magic; rather it’s a survey tool by Google.

According to Google: “Target a representative sample of the U.S., Canada, or UK Internet population. $0.10 per response or $150.00 for 1500 responses (recommended for statistical significance)”.

From personal experience, you can get by with targeting at least 2000 of the general population to tell you if your proposed book title is good or not. There are some techniques on how to phrase your survey question to elicit a significant answer, so make sure you read the case studies and examples that Google provides.

After the survey runs (it lasts 7 days) you’ll be able to see some stats about the demographics of the people who responded, and what they liked or didn’t like about your survey.

For business books, or books that target a b2b audience, the Google survey tool has an advanced demographics selector which costs .50 per question. I haven’t used that one so I have no insight as to how effective it could be.

If you’re satisfied with the results of your survey, you can then move on to your cover art. There are 2 options for getting cover art done quickly and economically.

Cover Art Options

The first, and least expensive, is Fiverr.com (yes, with 2 r’s). This site is a marketplace for buyers and sellers to exchange goods and services for $5 per ‘gig’ (or service).

You can go straight to the section for cover art here. Most of the gigs will cost $5, and can take anywhere from 3-7 days to complete. It’s up to you to look through each gig, and look at the users’ rating (number of gigs successfully completed without a complaint).

Payments are made through paypal only, and funds are not released to the seller until you are satisfied with the work. It’s very well run, and their support team is excellent. However the creativity and concept work you’ll get is worth just about the $5 you’ll spend.

The other option for cover art design is 99designs.com. This is very similar in it’s model to Fiverr.com except instead of you doing all the work to find the designer, 99designs finds them for you.

You submit a ‘brief’ describing what you want accomplished, and within about 48 hours you’ll get design comps from 10-30 different designers. You can see which designs you like, and work only with those designers you prefer to come to a successful conclusion. Funds are not released to the designer until you are satisfied with the end product. Most designs will cost about $300 on 99designs.

At this point you should have a pretty good idea of a good title for your book, and a really good cover art design.

Next up in the book promotion tips series: 5 Sites All Authors Must Use for Book Promos.

The 15 Steps To 'Power SEO' (PR Is The New SEO)

By Cheryl Snapp Conner @ Jun 5, 2013

Tags: Authorship, content, PR, SEO

The following piece originally appeared in my regular column at Forbes.com:

I particularly enjoyed Jayson DeMers’ article on the 3 pillars of SEO in 2013 – and I especially add my vote of emphasis to his pillar #3 – Making Friends, Engaging and Sharing Content.

In fact, I would go so far as to maintain that public relations, in the form of quality content, is the New SEO. And I’m increasingly less alone in this idea and goal.

But for the sake of discussion, if we can accept at least in philosophy that PR is increasingly becoming SEO’s strongest vehicle and anchor, how can companies take best advantage of PR’s SEO role?

Here are my ideas (with help from a couple of resident experts) for the 15 Steps to Power SEO. Here we go:

1. Set up Google+ authorship

Jayson points out the growing importance of Google+ in your SEO stronghold as well. Why? Because Google’s search algorithm favors, understandably, the network it owns: Google+. Take advantage of that fact. Create a profile. Take the time to build and support an audience there. In particular, if you are involved in thought leadership and authorship in your area of expertise (as you should be), link your publications and your site to your Google+ profile. There are many great online resources that can show you how to create a Google+ author tag to attach to your posts and writing. Here’s just one. Next, publish quality content. This is not self or company promotion. Put the tag at the end of each of your pieces, to clue Google in to pick it up and aggregate it within your search results and automatically compile the results for you within the authorship portion of your Google+ page. It’s easy, but will yield high SEO rewards.

2. Get credible PR coverage (with back links when possible)

How do you define ‘credible’ PR coverage? In a couple of ways: The information is relevant, true, and non promotional. It appears in a credible location. It’s not “what you want to have heard.” It’s what you’d tell your best friend, person to person, if they wanted a real and unvarnished look at a viable idea or solution. Coverage can come from you or from a customer who is willing to tell a meaningful and genuine story that would benefit others (not a testimonial). The opinion of a respected columnist or expert is generally accurate and credible coverage. Is a guest blog post credible? Maybe–or maybe not. Think about the compelling value and the “a-ha’s” a guest post you write may provide for the audience you serve. Also remember that the coverage (with linkage) from strong media within the right targeted audience niche can potentially bear far more relevant SEO traffic than thousands of links from a general source filled with people who don’t know how or why they were directed to your site and who have no conscious desire or reason for being there. Think quality over quantity when you decide where to invest your “earned media” work.

3. Define a thought leadership campaign

Think about providing relevant information that serves your readers. Create a publishing schedule. Develop the content that serves your marketplace with an eye toward keyword and topic research. Develop an editorial calendar of the right content from you and others to serve your audience well. Then, as you write, be certain to write with a purpose. And no, the purpose in most cases will not be to become more visible and famous. It will be to become more visionary, more purposeful, and more trusted in the audience segment that can benefit from hearing and from engaging with the material you share.

4. Make your material compelling.

Choose strong titles, topics, and images. Brainstorm with customers and ask your readers for suggestions about the topics that are most relevant and interesting to them.

To continue reading please visit my column at Forbes.com.

Author: Cheryl Snapp Conner | Google+

Close Only Counts in Horseshoes and Darts

By Jeremy Kartchner @ Jun 4, 2013

I live in Utah where Spring is always a big tease. One day it’s sunny and warm and the next day it snows. After one recent April weekend of nice weather, we started the week off with a rainy and wet Monday. I didn’t realize just how rainy until I ran an errand with a colleague. On the way to the car we were both surprised at how rainy it was and how wet we both were in the short distance it took us to walk from the building to the car.

After running the errand, on the way back into the office, I had my head down to shield my eyes from the rain. As we climbed the stairs leading up to the office, I somehow missed the last stair and fell face forward on the wet, cold pavement. My colleague heard the noise I made as I fell. Other than my pride, I wasn’t hurt. My pants were wetter than I liked and I ripped the plastic bag I had in my hands. My colleague asked if I was ok and I told him that I was fine.

Later in the day, I called and talked to my wife and was telling her about my fall. I’m prone to exaggeration and I jokingly described my tumble as a face plant. My wife was immediately concerned. I’m sure in her mind, based on my word choice she had an image of me falling and my face bouncing off the pavement. Naturally, based on my exaggeration she was concerned that I was ok. I told her I didn’t really fall flat on my face and as I told her about what happened she was able to laugh at my clumsiness.

Later that night as I walked in the house, my seven-year-old daughter ran up and asked me if my face was ok. I said yes and was waiting for the punch line. Turns out there wasn’t a punch line, she was just concerned that I had fallen on my face.

I explained that I was able to put my hands down as I fell and caught myself before smacking my face on the pavement. She seemed relieved and happy that I wasn’t hurt.

After explaining this to my seven-year-old, I proceeded to walk into the kitchen and my five-year old daughter asked me the same question, “Is your face ok?” I explained to her too that I was ok and didn’t actually hit my face on the ground when I fell. My five-year-old also expressed relief that I wasn’t hurt.

My ten-year-old son was doing homework in another room and when he finished walked into the kitchen and the first thing he asked was if my face was ok. I was touched by the concern from my three kids and also more aware than ever before that it pays to be accurate. My joke about face planting while walking up the steps caused needless concern and worry to my family. Often jokes like that or other forms of exaggeration that seem commonplace in regular vernacular can regularly be misinterpreted and cause unnecessary concern or confusion.

A good rule of thumb is to remember to be accurate in the way you answer questions or describe something. You never know when somebody might take what you say literally. In the case of dealing with the media it’s especially important to avoid hyperbole, absolutes and exaggerations. In describing my family’s reaction to my fall, if I describe it as, “They asked me a million times if my face was ok” may seem innocent to most people but may also be interpreted as fact by someone else. In these cases where somebody understands my statement as fact, it could come back to prove embarrassing or may make me look even more foolish.

In my case, my fall, if described accurately, would sound more like, “I wasn’t paying attention as I walked up the stairs and was in too big a hurry to get inside and out of the rain. In my rush to get inside, I missed the top step and fell forward. As I fell, I was able to extend my hands and catch myself before falling on my face. I was ok, other than being embarrassed by my lack of grace.”

This description is accurate and leaves less chance of being misconstrued or misunderstood. Had I provided this description of my tumble it would have saved my family worry and perhaps provided them all with a laugh at my expense.

Author: Jeremy Kartchner | Google+

2 + 2 = 4. That's Basic Math

By Jeremy Kartchner @ May 30, 2013

My best friends dad is a mechanical engineer. He studied around the country and had a number of advanced degrees. He came to Utah when my friend and I were in the fourth grade because he was trained and had the expertise to do specific things within the aviation industry that very few in the country had.

He was always very good at math. In fact, on some days, he would spend an entire day working on complex math problems or imputing a math problem into his computer and waiting while it worked overnight and into the next day completing the problem.

On occasion, math problems would come up in conversation and my friend’s dad would quickly solve the problem in his head. It didn’t happen all the time, but often enough that we would be talking and he would calculate some mathematic problem in his head. I remember wondering how he did that so easily. My mind was not built to do that. Math never really made sense to me. I always thought with the other side of my brain and I’m sure that’s why I ended up in the field I’m in instead of a career as an accountant or engineer.

While I would marvel at his ability to calculate those things in his head, my friend would tease him about it. He’d look at him, shake his head and say something along the lines of, “What a nerd.” Or, if it was a particularly complex problem, my friend would laugh and ask, “How did you know that?”

His dad’s response was always the same, “That’s basic math.” It got to the point that we would routinely finish his sentence when the math problem would come up. In fact, it was common that we would embellish his “basic math” phrase and combine it with other common sayings he’d use. We even began using it on other situations at school or as we’d keep score in sporting activities we were participating in. If one of us was keeping track of our golf score in our head, it was easy to do because it was just “basic math.”

If the question came up about how many points Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls were beating our beloved Utah Jazz, inevitably we’d tell the other person the score and tell them to figure out the point differential it’s “basic math.”

Quite often, it wasn’t basic math to me. Like I said, I’m not a huge math guy. Sure, I can add, subtract, multiply and divide but anything past that, I prefer to use a calculator.

Many of the clients I work with are technology companies. Everybody uses technology, but not everybody is techy or understands how the technology works. One of the things I always tell my clients is to be careful as you explain your technology, product or service. Don’t take for granted that everybody you talk to is going to understand or have the ability to get technical in a discussion about the product or service your technology provides.

I wrote for my high school newspaper and our advisor taught me the KISS principle of writing that also applies to any number of other business functions. KISS stands for Keep It Simple Stupid. Write it or explain it in a way that an eighth grader can understand.

In the case of my clients, I recommend they explain things in simple to understand terms and if the reporter they’re talking to can or wants to delve deeper into the tech side of things then do that. I caution my clients to let the reporter initiate it or demonstrate to you that they have the ability to get into more technical detail.

From a media perspective, if you don’t talk at a level a reporter can understand you’ll significantly decrease your chances of securing the coverage and PR results you want.

If you start out too technical, a reporter may not be willing to stop you or may be to embarrassed to admit that they don’t understand what you’re saying. This doesn’t mean you should explain it as if you were explaining it to a five year old, but that you shouldn’t take for granted that a reporter is capable of getting real technical or specific.

With my clients, I will talk to the reporter and do some research in advance to know and understand how deep their knowledge is and whether or not they’re capable of getting technical or not. Once I know this I will guide my clients in the right direction and help ensure that the reporter is engaged in and following the conversation.

These same principles can be applied to any industry. Never assume that a reporter or anybody else you’re talking to possesses your same level of understanding or expertise as you. If you take the time to understand your audience and their level of understanding you’ll go a long ways to securing the results you desire. You’ll also avoid becoming the butt of ongoing jokes like my friends dad endured with us and our “basic math” jokes.

Author: Jeremy Kartchner | Google+

I'm On Deadline

By Jeremy Kartchner @ May 29, 2013

I can’t believe I’m starting a blog this way, with a definition. It makes me feel like I’m back in junior high again when everybody started term papers with a definition from Webster’s Dictionary. In this instance though, I feel that it’s actually appropriate because nobody seems to get or understand what a deadline is anymore.

So, without further adieu, here goes. According to Miriam-Webster, a deadline is:

1. A line drawn within or around a prison that a prisoner passes at the risk of being shot.

2. A date or time before which something must be done the time after which copy is not accepted for a particular issue of a publication.

I’ll admit, I like the first definition, but it’s the second that I’m more concerned with. Especially, as it relates to public relations and what from my perspective seems to be an inability to understand what a deadline is let alone the ability to meet a deadline. This inability spans all walks of business life, including the public relations industry that I work in that encompasses the media who are constantly on deadline to public relations professionals themselves and the clients that I deal with.

Several months ago, a close friend told me he uses an integrated PR/marketing/advertising agency. This friend has some of the best relationships with media of anybody I know and flat out told me that he doesn’t use the agency for any PR work because he can do it better than them. He uses them for the advertising and design side of their agency. The one complaint he has though is their inability to meet a deadline.

He assigns a deadline for a project and as the deadline approaches he has to follow up with them to see if they’re going to make the deadline or not. More often than not they say they will and then fail to do so. On the rare occasion that they are able to achieve the deadline it’s simply because he’s specified a date without an exact time. The project will be e-mailed to him at 11:59 pm the day of and the agency claims to have made its deadline.

In my experience, I’ve seen the same things happen and have experienced it from clients who promise certain things by a certain deadline only to have the day pass without delivering what they promised. In these cases, great opportunities for coverage in Tier 1 media outlets has been lost, all because a deadline couldn’t be met.

In one recent example, a Tier 1 media outlet was working on an article that related directly to an initiative one of my clients was pursuing and trying to actively establish itself as a thought leader. The editor told us what her deadline was and the executive who would conduct the interview couldn’t find the time in his schedule to accommodate the interview within the reporters deadline.

He had a vacation planned and wasn’t willing to do a simple 20 minute phone interview before he left for vacation. The executive asked for an extension and the editor granted the extra time requested. Upon the date agreed upon after the executive’s vacation, the executive decided he needed more time and asked for another extension. At this point, the reporter said she had enough information from other sources and wrote her story without including my client. The client was stunned.

I was not stunned. I was more surprised that the editor actually gave an extension to begin with. With this example fresh on the mind, here are a few tips to help set and meet deadlines.

· Give plenty of time. My son has regular book reports for his fifth grade class. He usually has about 30-45 days to read the book and then write his report. Forty-five days is plenty of time to read a book and write a review. His teacher has created her lesson plans and knows when the book reports are due and how much time she’ll need to review and grade the reports. She gives the students plenty of time to find, read and write the reports as well as enough time for her to grade the book reports. On a few occasions, my son has delayed telling us about the book report for a couple weeks and then worries that he won’t have enough time, but the teacher gave ample time for the assignment to be completed.

· Prioritize. Some projects or assignments are more important that others. When you have more than one project you’re working on you should know which ones are more important than others. If you don’t ask your boss or supervisor. In the movie The Shawshank Redemption, one of the characters is stealing a TV. He’s got the TV rested on his shoulder when the police arrive and one of the officers points his gun at him and yells, “Freeze! Put your hands in the air.” The thief stands there and the cop asks him why he didn’t do what he was asked to do, and he responds, “Well which one is it? Freeze or put my hands in the air?

· Communicate. If a boss or supervisor comes and gives you an assignment, don’t be afraid to tell him or her what other projects you’re currently working on. If they give you a new assignment with an aggressive deadline and you’re already working under another tight deadline with this boss, remind them of that fact. Provide them with a recommendation and strategy for how you’ll accomplish both but emphasis that it may require a delay in one of the deadlines. By talking to them and communicating these issues they can agree to your strategy or provide other input. Either way, they’ll be aware and you’ll have their buy off.

· Set milestones: I believe that milestones play a critical role in accomplishing and meeting any deadline. In the first bullet point I described my son’s book report assignments. When my son tells us about these assignments, my wife and I (usually more my wife than me) sit down with him and set goals and milestones for accomplishing the book report. We start by setting a date to have identified a book for him to read. The next step is setting a goal for reading the book followed by a target date for writing the report. If one of these milestones is not accomplished we can sit down and review why it wasn’t met and identify what we need to do to still meet the deadline.

The ability to meet a deadline is an important component to every aspect of life. By meeting deadlines you become a trusted resource to your company and a vital component to its long-term success.

Author: Jeremy Kartchner | Google+

Off the Record

By Jeremy Kartchner @ May 28, 2013

A colleague and I recently helped plan an event with a client. Our role was to help promote the event and invite the media to attend and report on the event. We worked on the event for several months and as a result had a strong turnout of both attendees and media.

At one point during the event, my client walked up to me, interrupted a conversation I was having and began voicing his displeasure at something one of the event sponsors had done. My client didn’t realize it, but when he interrupted I was talking to a reporter with one of the business magazines we had invited.

As soon as I heard him start to complain, I cut him off and introduced him to the reporter that I was talking to. As I introduced him he looked mortified as he tried to remember what he had said in his rant about the sponsor. His fear was that something he said might be remembered and used in an article the reporter planned to write about as part of her coverage of the event.

After my introduction we spoke for a few minutes before my client had to leave to take care of some other issues. It turns out the reporter didn’t catch or realize what my client was saying so it wasn’t an issue. Later that day as I spoke to my client, he expressed his fear that he may have said something he shouldn’t have. He asked, “I wasn’t on the record though so she can’t use that info, right?”

I used that opportunity to remind him that he’s always on the record. I let him worry a little more and run through how his comments may appear in the reporters article before telling him that the reporter didn’t hear any of it.

As I thought about this episode, it reminded me of the first and sometimes the most important PR advise I give my clients; you’re always on the record. Every company and every client I’ve ever dealt with over the last 15 or so years wants to be in front of and talk to the media. The hope is that if you talk to the media they’ll write a story about you, your company and or your product/service.

Talking to the media is a great opportunity but over the course of my career, I’ve found that most people don’t realize that, similar to being arrested and read your rights, anything you say can and will be used against you.

I share this examples like this one with all my clients to illustrate the fact that they’re always on the record. To prepare for this fact and to avoid mistakes like this client, here are some tips to help avoid saying something you may regret.

· Be prepared. Leading up to an interview, make a list of the key talking points you want to convey to the reporter. Rehearse those points in advance so you can communicate it effectively and naturally.

· If you don’t want to disclose specific information, don’t say it. I’ve had clients say something or give information they didn’t want to give and then try and tell the reporter, “that was off the record.” In reality, it’s not off the record. If you don’t want the reporter to know something, don’t tell them. In the rare instances that you want to have an off the record conversation, ask the reporter if you can talk off the record and then wait for them to confirm or agree to being off the record. When you’ve talked off the record, confirm when you’re back on the record.

· Remember that you don’t have to answer every question. If a reporter asks a question that is inappropriate or not applicable, you don’t have to answer it. Most of my clients are private companies and don’t want to give out revenue numbers. In these cases, a simple response to a question about revenues is, “We’re a private company and we don’t share revenue numbers.”

· Don’t guess. When you’re being interviewed, everybody always wants to sound smart or be seen as the expert. If a question comes up and you don’t know the answer, there is nothing wrong with telling the reporter that you don’t know but that you can check and get back to them. I recommend saying something like, “I don’t know the answer to that but I want to make sure to get you the right information. Let me check into it and get back to you.”

When I was in the second grade, my mom used to let me walk to my elementary school that was two blocks away from our house. She would watch from our house as I walked/ran to school. I used to think it was cool to be the first one there and would run as fast as I could to try and be the first to arrive. On one of the mornings where I was the first to arrive, Mr. Wilson saw me and asked me what time I got to school. I was in the second grade and had no idea what time I got there. I didn’t even know what time school started or what time it ended each day for that matter. I knew he wanted an answer though so I blurted out 6:30 am.

Mr. Wilson was shocked and took me to his office to call my mom to see why she would allow me to walk to school by myself at 6:30 am. My mom explained to the Principle that I had not left for school at 6:30 am and that she had watched me walk to school and seen him walk up and talk to me just as I arrived at school. Mr. Wilson should have known better than to believe an eight-year-old that didn’t know how to tell time, but the story illustrates the point about the importance of not guessing.

Interviews with the media add tremendous value and reliable third party validation to your company. By remembering that you’re always on the record and by following the tips listed above you’ll be better prepared to make the most of the interview opportunity and capitalize on the reliable third party endorsement that accompanies any article or coverage that results.

Author: Jeremy Kartchner | Google+

Utah Deals Grew Significantly in 2012 Lead by Big Name M&A

By A. Cory Maloy @ May 21, 2013

Tags: M&A, MWCN, Utah Deals

Last Thursday I attended the MountainWest Capital Network (MWCN) Deal Flow event. I’ve attended the event many times over the years, but this year’s was different. The 18^th annual Deal Flow report of all Utah deals conducted in 2012 grew substantially. It was in fact, the largest deal year in Utah in about 14 years.

In 2012, there were 292 deals conducted worth more than $11 billion. This was a significant increase over recent years. Even more impressive was the number of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) that took place. There were 110 M&A deals worth more than $10 billion – the largest deal category for 2012.

Of the 110 M&A deals, the largest seven comprised 75 percent of the total, or more than $7.75 billion for the category.

Those seven were comprised of some of the largest M&A deals in Utah history (beat only by the $11.7 billion Albertsons acquisition of American Stores in 1999 in a single deal) including, Vivint, the largest technology acquisition in Utah, who was acquired by Blackstone Group for $2 billion; Ancestry.com, who was acquired by Permira (the largest acquisition in Utah by a foreign buyer) for $1.6 billion; Schiff Nutritional International Inc., who was acquired by Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc. for $1.4 billion; CHG Healthcare, who was acquired by Leonard Green & Partners and Ares Management for $1.1 billion; 1800Contacts, who was acquired by WellPoint for $900 million; Accelerated Payment Technologies, who was acquired by Global Payments for $413 million; and MediConnect Global, who was acquired by Verisk Analytics for $349 million.

MWCN President Devin Thorpe said, “We believe the key driver of M&A volume in 2012 was increasing economic confidence among acquiring companies due to Utah's strong economy. It is also evident that some of the motivation behind mergers or acquisitions in 2012 was due to concerns about rising capital gains tax increases anticipated in 2013."

The Venture capital, private equity and angel-investing category continued to follow a steady year-over-year increase in 2012 with $831 million invested in 176 deals. Red Leaf Resource, Qualtrics and Progressive Finance were the top three investments.

Initial public offerings continued its weakening trend among all categories with none reported in Utah in 2012. There were only two in the past three years – both in 2011 totaling $423 million. Only six public offerings were conducted in 2012 totaling $106 million.

"We believe the poor performance of public offerings is due in large part to the large supply of capital in private equity," said Thorpe. "Current valuations, lower operating costs, lingering and increasing costs, and increased regulation associated with public entities have combined to make IPOs less advantageous."

The 2012 Deal Flow Report shows that $8.7 billion was gained from out-of-state investors compared to $1.4 billion spent by Utah companies acquiring out-of-state companies.

The 2012 Deal Flow was comprised of a diverse set of Utah companies. The software and technology sector lead all others with 22 percent of deals. Combined, software, technology, Internet software and services accounted for 39 percent of all sectors.

· Software/Technology 22%

· Internet Software and Services 17%

· Healthcare 15%

· Food and Beverage 14%

· Consumer Products/Retail 11%

· Financial Services 8%

· All others 12%

The Deal Flow report is put out by MWCN each year and represents the most comprehensive and complete annual assessment of capital raising and business transactions compiled in Utah. A PDF version of the Deal Flow Report is available at www.mwcn.org.

Author: A. Cory Maloy | Google+

Business Evolution: Natural Selection Favors Patience and Self-Awareness

By Kenny Caldwell @ May 16, 2013

Tags: cicadas, core strengths

Ok, I’ll admit it, up until about a week ago I didn’t know what a cicada (pronounced sih-KAY-duh) was. I really mean it; I had no clue. I recently read an article

about cicadas by Carl Zimmer in The New York Times that fascinated me. These large, extremely ugly insects interested me because of their abnormally long life span (at least for an insect). This group of cicadas (also known as Brood II) hatched 17 years ago! Until this year I had no idea there was an insect on the face of the planet that could survive this long. Once hatched, they promptly go underground to live off of fluid from tree roots. This spring they’ll emerge, mate and die; then the cycle starts again. To quote Zimmer, “Their time in the sun is short, but their 17-year life span makes them the longest-lived insects known.”

One thing I found particularly interesting is that the brood’s survival is rooted in its ability to stick to its strengths in order to survive and thrive. Each member of the group has to avoid the temptation to come above ground before the appropriate time. If a straggler ventures out, it’s game over. From the article:

“What makes this emergence truly remarkable, however, is how long it’s been in the making. This month’s army of periodical cicadas was born in 1996.

In any given species, the pace of life evolves. Natural selection is constantly shaping its genes, adapting it to its environment. How long a species lives and how much of that life it takes to reach adulthood are evolving just like every other trait.

For periodical cicadas, evolution favors growing up in sync. They can find protection from ravenous birds in huge numbers. There simply aren’t enough birds at any moment to eat a few billion cicadas at once.

This strategy has worked so well, in fact, that cicadas have lost their other defenses. They even fly sluggishly. When errant cicadas emerge in the wrong year, they are quickly eradicated by birds — along with their errant genes.”

So, how does all of this relate to business? You need to know yourself. By this I mean know your strengths and weaknesses and understand who you truly are and what you stand for. If you’re having great success with something don’t attempt to reinvent yourself and exit your element. I’m not suggesting you shouldn’t be looking for ways to improve yourself and your business, because you should. I’m saying you should never forget who you are and what caused your business to be successful in the first place. Don’t innovate at the expense of current successes.

Too many companies get the “me too” attitude and constantly worry about what the competition is doing. Everyone has to be aware of competition and look forward. It’s a good thing to have a five-year type plan in place but avoid the temptation to find the newest trend and continually jump on just because said trend exists. If you fight against your biology you will lose. Know your strengths and always strive to improve, just make sure your forward-looking goals don’t distract you too much from what’s working right now. Stick to your strengths, survive and thrive.

Google Glass: Just For Men?

By Cheryl Snapp Conner @ May 15, 2013

Tags: entrepreneurs, google, marketing, USA Today

This article originally appeared in my regular column at Forbes.com:

Friend and fellow communications writer Sarah Buhr just raised an interesting point this morning in a guest OpEd for USA Today: Hey, Google Glass—Where

the ladies at?

She makes a good point. While the marketing videos from Google show a fairly diverse set of “explorers,” the first wave of recipients are decidedly male.

In a statement to ABC News, Google said the following: “Glass is designed by and for people from all walks of life and we hope everyone will have a chance to enjoy it down the road. Our next step is to make Glass available to participants of our #ifihadglass initiative, which was designed to bring a diverse group of people into the Explorer program.”

Google wouldn’t comment on the ratio of women to men in the first round of distributions, but ABC notes that while the #ifihadglass initiative opened up Glass availability to the public, the current wave of glasses are going to those who signed up at the Google I/O developer conference last year, and not surprisingly, the entrepreneurial world continues to hold far fewer women programmers and product developers than men.

Are you listening, women entrepreneurs? Here’s your opportunity: Google’s contest allows anyone to submit their ideas of what they would do with the glasses. Also, Google is planning to hold a women in technology gathering at its upcoming Google I/O Developer Conference next week, May 15-17, in San Francisco.

I love Sarah’s article. I sense more than a few entrepreneurial opportunities here: in her OpEd, marketing professional Elizabeth Ziegler Murphy sheepishly admitted she would never wear GoogleGlasses because they were too unattractive. “Why couldn’t they put them in a frame style people actually wear?”

Salt Lake’s own Cydni Tetro, Entrepreneur in Residence for Disney and Executive Director of the Women Tech Council, will be demonstrating one of the prize Google Glasses at the Council’s May 23 networking event.

On a Facebook post, Tetro mirrored Murphy’s statement as well: “When will these be available in designs from Kate Spade?”

Are you listening ladies? Thank you, Sarah, for getting the dialogue rolling, and let’s hear it, Google, for women entrepreneurs.

Creating Good Conent is a Full-Time Job

By Clayton Blackham @ May 14, 2013

Good Content isn’t created on a whim…unless you’re Oreo

Businesses hear about content successes all the time and think after seeing it done, “I could do that.” What isn’t seen is the work and thought that goes into content creation on the back end. I joked in the headline about Oreo, and while they created that on a whim, they had 15 people on staff during the Superbowl to capitalize on things that were happening in the game.

Content creation is like a baseball game. You can’t hit a homerun all the time. Sometimes you score by getting a single here or a double there. Sometimes you don’t get on base, but move the runners. However, after doing that is when the runs come in and it makes the sometimes painfully slow game pay off.

Good content takes a while to master. It’s not always an overnight success, and that’s one reason I think some companies are skeptical to commit to it. They fear that they won’t succeed, and often these companies don’t have a lot of wiggle room for error due to tight cash flow.

If you are a company that really is interested in creating good content, here are some things to help you get started:

Get the execs onboard
The best content creation companiest are those that have upper management sold on the idea. This won’t go anywhere if your CEO is questioning what you are doing all the time and wondering what it is worth. It will end quickly.

Hire a full-time person to lead the efforts
While this might be taking money out of my agency’s pocket, I do realize that having someone internally to lead the charge will make the process go smoothly. I’ve worked with companies that had us leading it and others that had someone else that directed it with our assistance. For me personally, it ran better when it was someone’s dedicated job was to do that.

Create a content calendar
What tends to happen with companies that I’ve worked with in the past that assign the receptionist to “handle” their content is that they are often bogged down with work and post something thoughtless and sloppy just to mark it off their to-do list. The idea behind a content calendar is to get people thinking not about just tomorrow, but 6-8 weeks down the road and how they might hijack stories that other media outlets are writing.

If you are interested in content creation, then really you need to cannonball into it. It’s more detrimental to start and stop than to not create content at all. We’ve all had that friend that says he or she is going to lose weight. They start and stop over and over, and the next time they bring it up you roll your eyes and think “not again.” The same goes for your audience when they see you do this with your content.

5 Marketing Principles Bo Jackson Would Use

By Adam Torkildson @ May 2, 2013

Bo Jackson had nearly achieved superhero status by the end of his first stint in professional sports. Many of us will remember some of his more amazing feats (a 4.1-second 40-yard dash, jumping over the entire line of scrimmage in the Auburn/Alabama game, running up the back wall in a baseball game while playing for the KC Royals).

His exploits were all over the news. Every day, it seemed, for approximately 2 years.

Bo Didn’t Forget His Roots

Yet with all his fame, fortune, and skills, Bo Jackson was one of the most soft-spoken, humble, trustworthy players of his time. Many of his peers succumbed to drugs and other vices— it was almost expected because of their status.

Bo never forgot his humble beginnings in a small town with nine brothers and sisters in a 3-room, 700-sqare-foot home in Alabama.

What Does Bo Teach Us About Marketing?

There are 5 principles that Bo lived by in his life, whether on the field or off. If you took away Bo’s natural physical talents and speed, you’d be left with someone you’d still want to have come over and spend time around your family, friends, and loved ones.

Which brings up a question…

If you took away all the pretty pictures, sweet words, and amazing deals surrounding your marketing presence, what would be left?

Hopefully not a ‘Blank Slate’

To achieve the same level of success in your online marketing as Bo did in professional sports, you must rely on the principles of honesty, integrity, humility, trust, and agility.

Honesty Is About Being Proactive But Knowing Your Limits

Even if it hurts, always being honest about your product/service has proven to be the best policy in any situation, crisis or otherwise.

Bo Jackson left all professional sports when he was 28, after a hip replacement. He played for a little while as the only professional athlete ever with a synthetic hip. But he knew when to call it quits, so he did.

On your next social media campaign, if you don’t or can’t put forth 100% of the effort it takes to research, do outreach, and publicize your campaign, you can’t and shouldn’t expect to see a huge return.

Marketing Tip: Be the company that dispels the biggest myth in your industry, and address it head on.

Integrity Takes Communication Skills

Walk to the beat of your own drum, rather than copying other people. This has proven to be a time-tested technique for successful social media campaigns. And for Bo Jackson.

Bo was the 1986 #1 draft pick in the NFL. But he decided not to play because he didn't want to support a team that treated him like crap. Here’s the backstory:

Blackmailing never works….

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed Bo as the #1 draft pick in the NFL. But the only reason he was even in the NFL draft in the first place was through blackmail.

The Buccs told Bo that they could fly him out to their practice facility, while he was still an NCAA player, and there would be no repercussions. That was a bold faced lie.

And the Buccs knew that! They also knew that Bo would get suspended from playing NCAA sports. And would therefore have to take any option available to him if he wanted to play professionally.

Thus, he put his hat in the ring in the NFL draft. And the Buccs signed him. But he wouldn’t play a single game for them.

The key to having integrity is communicating the correct and proper message for the situation. No matter the cost to your bottom line or follower count. Stay focused on your core brand message. Bad things happen when you don’t.

Marketing Tip: You might be tempted to use a titillating, envelope-pushing, or slanderous message for your next marketing campaign. Don’t. You’re not Victoria’s Secret or Playboy.

Bo Knows Humility and Conversion Optimization

You might remember the big Nike cross trainer campaign “Bo Knows.” It featured star athletes like Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretsky, etc., all saying ‘Bo Knows.’

The thrust of the campaign was that Bo Jackson was a cross-sport athlete and was very good at anything he chose to do.

According to an interview with Bo in the documentary 30 for 30: You Don’t Know Bo, Jackson claimed “Nike had a 1,000% increase in sales on the cross trainer shoe.”

Fame and notoriety didn’t so much as make him bat an eye. He accepted the fact that people looked up to him, and he gave them his true self.

He never tooted his own horn.

Once when asked what a few of his hobbies were, he claimed one was “having as short a press conference as possible.”

From a conversion optimization standpoint, it’s actually a fairly accepted practice to put your awards and other trust symbols near or close by your main call to action.

But often you’ll see them greyed out and less prominent than they could be. InsideSales.com does a great job of this; and I know they have tested the placement, color, and size of those elements extensively because I know the president, Ken Krogue, personally.

Conversion Optimization Tip: Put your awards, trust symbols, and important achievements or testimonials by your main call to action. But grey them out. Make them understated, not overstated.

Bo Knows Trust, Authority and Super Heroes

If you say you're going to do something, do it. If you mess up something, be the first to admit it.

Bo Jackson was characterized in a Saturday morning cartoon as a huge crime fighting man with super human strength. That’s how people perceived him in real life.

His coaches and teammates often said from the sidelines, “If Bo Jackson was coming on the field, you did not go to the urinal or leave the field for any reason. You just knew something amazing was going to happen.”

Your brand may never get to that level of authority. But you can help yourself along by being consistently on message, with 100% factual data, and making interesting points when you do publish content.

Blogging Tip: Quality is better than quantity if you want to be a trusted thought leader in your space. Write 1,000 words of well researched, documented, visually rich content.

Bo Knows Agility

Bo was blessed with natural speed and hand-eye coordination. This isn't something you can necessarily learn; but if you're prepared to act quickly (like the Oreo tweet ‘you can still dunk in the dark’ during the XLVII Super bowl), even those of us without the innate abilities Bo had can see amazing results.

I don’t know how to teach agility, I’ll be the first to admit. But preparation is at least 50% of the secret formula.

We mortals need preparation time to be our best, whether as a major brand or a small startup.

Social Media Tip: Expect to spend at least 2 hours of preparation time for every 1 minute of potential national publicity for your social media campaign. You want 15 minutes? Do the math.

In the wake of the 2013 NFL draft, remember Bo Jackson’s qualities as an individual and try to bring those same qualities into your own marketing.

About the Author: Adam Torkildson grew up idolizing sports stars such as Bo Jackson, Michael Jordan, Muhammed Ali and others. Their strength and character helped Adam develop his own personal motivation for life. Torkildson is currently a Senior Associate at Snapp Conner PR,

He is on Linkedin and Google +

Reputation Management: When Your Business is Disparaged Online

By Cheryl Snapp Conner @ May 1, 2013

Tags: brand, reputation management, social media

The following post originally appeared in my regular column at Forbes.com:

Yes, we’ve come that far. The theme of internet reputation has even spawned a genre of jokes. Forbes’ Susan Adams has aligned the steps to take to protect your personal reputation online.

But what do you do when it’s your company that has gotten slimed and maligned unfairly in the press or on one of the prevalent consumer feedback sites such as PissedConsumer.com? Do you fix it? Can you fix it? Do you need to hire a pro?

It’s interesting that “Reputation management” has evolved from a catchphrase to a science to an actual industry. Has anybody run a search on reputation management agencies lately? Prepare to be buried—you’ll get at least 25 pages of Google results.

The industry divides its clients into two categories: 1) Proactive – the people and companies such as celebrities and major consumer brands who are actively seeking reputation protection, and 2)Reactive – the folks who are in the agency’s office because they’ve just been smacked with an incident.

(While the crisis firms may smile to see the Paula Broadwells and Monica Lewinskys of the world at their doorstep, as someone who’s appeared on the air in follow up to our clients’ occasional PR [mis]adventures, I can assure you it is not for the faint of heart. )

As any brand that’s been dragged through the internet mud can attest, it’s a dirty business, and there are far too many businesses affected to count.

As public-facing feedback forums gain increasing audience and traction, there’s an important lesson emerging: Consumer forums can be your company’s best friend or worst enemy. If you’re not proactively monitoring the tide of opinion, it may be too late to save a sinking brand.

While reputation management as an industry may not yet have de facto appreciation, the issues it addresses can instantly command your respect. Even if your business is too small for a reputation management department or program, the principle behind the science is one every company ought to master: Communicate.

When an issue happens, and ideally well before an issue can happen, your business should make the effort to communicate accurately, often and well. With this goal in mind, here are six tips to help you manage your venture’s reputation online:

To continue reading please visit my column at Forbes.com.

Author: Cheryl Snapp Conner | Google+

Exaggerations, Hyperbole and Embellishments Oh My!

By Jeremy Kartchner @ Apr 30, 2013

Last weekend I took my son fishing with two of my brothers-in-laws. One of the brothers-in-laws family has a cabin up Logan Canyon in Northern Utah where we fished the Logan River. When my son caught his first fish of the weekend and we were releasing it, he reminded me of the first time I took him fishing and the first fish he ever caught.

On that first fishing trip we stopped to take pictures with his first catch. After we took pictures I casually told my son to, “toss the fish back in the lake.” He was young, probably about five years old at the time and had just started playing little league baseball. He did exactly what I said. He wound up and tossed the fish into the lake. The poor fish probably flew about 30 feet or so before splashing back into the lake.

I turned and laughed as did my brother who was with us. My son didn’t understand what was so funny and I explained to him that I was laughing because he had done exactly what I told him to do. I don’t think he quite got it at that time but now that he’s older he realizes why my brother and I laughed.

I had a similar, more recent experience a couple of weeks ago. I live in Utah where Spring is always a big tease. One day it’s sunny and warm and the next day it snows. After one recent April weekend of nice weather, we started the week off with a rainy and wet Monday. I didn’t realize just how rainy until I ran an errand with a colleague. On the way to the car we were both surprised at how rainy it was and how wet we both were in the short distance it took us to walk form the building to the car.

I explained that I was able to put my hands down as I fell and caught myself before smacking my face on the pavement. She seemed relieved and happy that I wasn’t hurt.

My ten-year-old son was doing homework in another room and when he finished walked into the kitchen and the first thing he asked was if my face was ok. I was touched by the concern from my three kids and also more aware than ever before that it pays to be accurate. My joke about face planting while walking up the steps caused needless concern and worry to my family. Often jokes like that or other forms of exaggeration and or hyperbole that seem commonplace in regular vernacular can regularly be misinterpreted and cause unnecessary concern or confusion.

In my case, my fall, if described accurately, would have sounded more like, “I wasn’t paying attention as I walked up the stairs and was in too big a hurry to get inside and out of the rain. In my rush to get inside, I missed the top step and fell forward. As I fell, I was able to extend my arms and catch myself before falling on my face. I was ok, other than being embarrassed by my lack of grace.”

Author: Jeremy Kartchner | Google+

Cheryl Snapp Conner to Participate in Sales Superstarts Panel at The Great Salt Lake Business Expo

By Clayton Blackham @ Apr 29, 2013

The panel is May 1^st at Noon.

The show is May 1-2, 11 a.m. till 5 p.m. at the Southtown Expo Center

Stop by the Snapp Conner PR booth (H22) to check your PR Scorecard, spin the prize wheel and enter to win an iPad Mini!

Panel Description:

You know the saying. "Nothing happens until someone sells something." So what's more important to great business than great sales?

For the best sales training and information you've got to check out the "Sales Superstars Panel" featuring the very best around, such as Ken Krogue from InsideSales.com, Brandon Fugal from Coldwell Banker Commercial, Dallas Robinson, entrepreneur and founder of Kisstixx, Brad Jensen of Griffin Hill, Cheryl Conner, founder of Snapp Conner and Dylan Ferguson of SalesForce.com. If you know these people you know you want to be there. It's all moderated by our very own Tyler Dabo of Salt Lake's favorite business magazine, Utah Business. It's the perfect way to train the whole sales staff or find that hidden gem that moves your business sales forward. The keynote begins at noon in the main Keynote Area inside the show. Admission if free with Expo admission

For details click here Great Salt Lake Business Expo

You Don't Want To Be This Guy

By Jeremy Kartchner @ Apr 23, 2013

With his first two words on his first newscast with Bismark, North Dakota’s NBC affiliate, A.J. Clemente’s job ended and his career will probably never be the same. Rarely does a first day on the job end so quickly or go so badly, so quickly. It’s just that Clemente’s first two words happened to be two four letter words he uttered while his microphone was on and broadcasting to the entire state of North Dakota.

In PR we do a lot of what we call media training with new clients and on an ongoing basis with existing clients as we secure interview opportunities for them. The purpose of media training is to prepare clients for each interview so they’re prepared to make the most of each interview opportunity. One of the things we always tell clients is to be aware of what you say, who you say it to and, if there is a microphone, to always assume that it’s on.

Clemente should have known better, but he’s not the first, and I’m pretty sure he won’t be the last person to say something they didn’t want to into a live mic. A couple years ago CNN anchor Kyra Phillips left her microphone on during a live speech by former President Bush and went to the ladies room and began gossiping. The gossip in the ladies room was aired over President Bush’s speech and only ended when a producer alerted her to the fact that her conversation was being aired live on national television.

There are a number of other instances where people have been recorded saying things they shouldn’t have or didn’t want the entire world knowing about. Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney famously said that 47 percent of Americans are dependent on government, see themselves as victims and believe the government has a responsibility to care for them. Many feel that this drastically damaged Romney’s bid to be President.

In the PR world things have changed dramatically. The media doesn’t run around with a media credential around their necks or, as in the old cartoons, with a hat with a paper sticking out of it that says “press.” With social media like Facebook, Twitter and blogs anybody can be media and break news. Smart phones that enable people to take photos or record video and upload it to these social media platforms have made it even easier for somebody to get caught saying something they don’t want to.

To avoid these mishaps I recommend the following:

1. If a microphone or recording device is nearby, always assume it’s on. It’s not worth the risk of saying something and having it amplified via microphone to a room full of people or to a television audience of potentially millions. Wait until you no longer have a microphone attached to or in front of you or until you know who is in the room and that they don’t have any recording devices.

2. Only say what you want the public to know. If you don’t want anybody to know something then don’t say it. You never know who’s listening in so be cautious about what you say.

3. Ask who you’re talking to. If somebody approaches you and starts asking a lot of questions, ask them who they are and why they’re asking these questions. You should always know who you’re talking to and why they want the information they’re asking for and how they intend to use the information.

4. Be careful what you say and where you say it. If you’re on a plane or at a tradeshow, be aware of your surroundings. If you’re on a plane and say something in confidence and another passenger hears it, they can publish or share that information with anybody they want.

In any circumstance, not just in a media interview you should be aware of who you’re talking to, what you’re saying and whether or not a microphone or any recording device is on. If you don’t want something to be repeated or held against you, don’t say it.

Remember that anything you say can and will be used against you. If you don’t believe me, watch the links on the examples above.

Author: Jeremy Kartchner | Google+

Provo, UT Becomes Third U.S. Google Fiber City

By A. Cory Maloy @ Apr 17, 2013

Tags: Google, Provo, UV Chamber

John Curtis, Mayor of Provo, Utah, announced Provo will become the third U.S. city to get Google Fiber – behind Kansas City, Kan. and Mo. and Austin, Tx. Provo residents will begin receiving the service by the end of 2013.

During the press conference, Curtis said working on the agreement to bring Google Fiber to Provo was one of his career-crowning moments and is part of his vision for Provo to lead in innovation.

Google Fiber is an Internet based media delivery system (that’s fancy talk for Internet/cable provider). It’s touted as a ‘different kind of Internet’ with one gigabit upload and download speed and provides a channel TV lineup with HDTV, Internet service and a host of other services including Internet storage.

Following the Provo City/Google Fiber press conference, the Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce chimed in with it’s own statement in support of the move.

“While Google Fiber understandably has chosen not to divulge the precise figures of its anticipated investment in Provo’s network, our quick, ‘back of the envelope’ valuation reveals just how significant the company’s investment in our community could be,” said Val Hale, president and CEO of Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce, in the statement.

The statement clarifies some of the questions associated with the rollout of Google Fiber in Provo.

Google Fiber has committed to finishing the network build out of the existing iProvo fiber network to every home in Provo.
Currently there are 35,000 homes in Provo and only 9,000 are currently connected.
It costs $600 to $1,000 to connect each home.
To connect the additional 26,000 homes (figuring an average $700 per home) will be an $18 million infrastructure investment.
There will be a $30 activation fee, but basic Internet will be free for seven years. Additional services such as higher bandwidth, TV service etc. will have subscription fees.
The approximate investment Google Fiber will make in Provo is about $50 million.

Author: A. Cory Maloy | Google+

Forbes Post - Report: How Grammar Influences Your Income

By Cheryl Snapp Conner @ Mar 14, 2013

Tags: grammar, pr

This article originally appeared in my column at Forbes.com:

I’ve talked about the costs of poor grammar before. There are no good excuses. The world has two billion English writers, according to Brad Hoover,

CEO of Top Ten Reviews #1 ranked grammar software program, Grammarly. We can all attest, however, that it’s a far lower percentage of English speaking executives who communicate well.

But this week I came across a report that caught my eye (both of them, in fact): Grammarly recently completed a study of the LinkedIn profiles of 100 native English-speakers in the consumer packaged goods industry to see what they could learn. Among the 100 professionals examined, each had worked for no more than three employers over the first 10 years of his or her career. Half were promoted to director level or above within those 10 years, and the other half were not.

Here’s what they found:

Professionals with fewer grammar errors in their profiles had achieved higher positions.The profiles of those who’d failed to achieve director-level positions within the first 10 years of their careers made 2.5 times as many grammar mistakes as their director-level colleagues.
Fewer grammar errors correlate with more promotions. Professionals with 6-9 promotions made 45% fewer grammatical errors than those who’d been promoted 1-4 times.

Clearly this report was an informal study with a relatively small sample size. It is also unclear whether the individuals who progressed came into their careers with strong language skills or if they acquired progressively better skills as they rose. But the report clearly supports the premise that good grammar is a fairly accurate predictor of professional success.

Kyle Wiens, the CEO of iFixit, wrote earlier this yearthat he refuses to hire anyone with bad grammar. I agree with him (albeit my own company is a public relations business, so it’s fair to say that communicating effectively is the core of our living).

Wiens maintains that grammar skills typically indicate positive workplace traits. According to Hoover, these may include:

To continue reading please visit my column at Forbes.com.

Author: Cheryl Snapp Conner | Google+