All Posts By

Marijean

Marijean Oldham (Jaggers), a social media specialist and public relations professional, is president and CEO of Jaggers Communications LLC, a strategic communications firm based in Charlottesville, Va.

Sep 26
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Five Simple Ways to Manage a Reputation

By Communications, Crisis Communications, Public Relations

How do you manage the reputation of your company? It’s difficult, and there are many moving parts. That’s why so many hire help from a firm or solo practitioner. Not a week goes by when I don’t hear about a business owner fretting over a bad Yelp review or an article damaging to their business or industry.

There are a few basic elements to managing a reputation, such as:

  1. Publishing content that tells the story of your organization in an authentic way
  2. Monitoring what’s being said and written online, to react to opportunities to respond
  3. Proactively pitch media with real news about your business
  4. Position the leaders of your organization as thought leaders and experts; offer them to media members as interview subjects or authors of whitepapers and editorial pieces
  5. Generate conversation among fans of the business

Of course, if a company’s reputation is bad because its product, service or customer relationships are bad, you may do all of the above and the company will still earn the reputation it deserves. Consider carefully your clients, PR and marketing people. And companies? Don’t expect miracles when you’re unwilling to improve the way you do business.

And now, a little Joan Jett and the Blackhearts . . .

 

Sep 24
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Dig Your Gig: Why It’s Important to Love What you Do

By Communications

I’ve been having this conversation with friends and clients frequently — everyone seems to be at a crossroads in their careers, or pining to do something other than the status quo. Last year, I spent my “year of 40” — the year leading up to that “big” birthday — prioritizing, organizing and setting my ambitions free. It led to the decision to leave my employer and start my own business, now a nearly 10-month-old successful enterprise.

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/BalmatLaw/status/117321513555861504″]

I’m finding everything about what I do totally gratifying. I love helping people be successful through communications. The feedback I’m getting just fuels the fire of wanting to do more!

Do you love what you do?

What are you waiting for?

Sep 22
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Facebook Changes to Recapture the Emotional Experience: Get Ready to Get Uncomfortable

By Media, Public Relations

I had trouble sleeping last night, not an unusual condition but the unfortunate combination of Dexter in the background as I worked and monitoring of the Troy Davis story as it unfolded. When I did fitfully sleep between 4am and 7am or so (as has become my custom) I had nightmares full of murder and blood.

And I’m OK with that.

I don’t inject politics into my online presence; I’m a business owner and a PR person — I know that’s not appropriate. But as a human being I’m not bothered by telling you that I’m against the death penalty. As an American I will tell you that I think we (the Supreme Court, the justice system, America) failed last night and that troubles me, and it should.

It’s my custom (job, habit) to stay connect to my social networks almost constantly. I was fascinated, then, to watch a division of content unfold. The conversation on Facebook appeared wrapped up in the many layout changes the platform introduced yesterday. You may have heard; people didn’t like them. This series of status updates had a span of uninteresting to “eyeroll.”

On Twitter the conversation was vastly different. Troy Davis was the topic, by and large, with other content looking like an intrusion, an interruption from the guy who enters a room and starts talking before taking a glance around. I learned from it, was enriched by it, moved by people I follow and the passion they shared with the rest of us. That’s important, because if nothing else, a social network should have the ability to move, mobilize and activate people for change. It should be a tool to bind us together for a common purpose. It should be a vehicle for communication when news is taking place right now and help is needed to save lives and make the world a better place.

There are early reports that Facebook’s recent changes are just the trailer for a full-length feature of changes about to debut. Mashable, a trustworthy source for social media news, reports that we should be prepared to see beginning this week. Ben Parr writes,

 

I have seen what Facebook is launching on Thursday, and it’s going to change the world of social media. And while I won’t talk about the mind-boggling things Facebook will be launching, I will say this: The Facebook you know and (don’t) love will be forever transformed. The news that will come out of Facebook during the next few weeks will be the biggest things to come out of the company since the launch of the Facebook Platform.

Parr continues to address Facebook’s growing problem of being able to tap into emotional engagement (which was demonstrated beautifully, coincidentally, last night.) What’s going to happen, is that the platform will evolve with a way to do this, and do it better than any other currently active platform.

We’ll see.

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/cnnbrk/status/116711628363407360″]
Sep 21
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Publish or Perish: 5 Ways to Resurrect Your Blogging Efforts

By Communications, Social Media

Your business may have already taken up blogging efforts, but they’ve flagged, as many do, and you need a shot in the keister to get your online presence revived. 

As a reminder, small businesses that blog get 55% more traffic to their websites than businesses that do not blog.

No, silly — don’t just take my word for it — read the study for yourself.

I’m here to help, so here are five ways to get back to blogging and down to business:

  1. Feature your fans! The Charlottesville Albemarle Airport has begun a spotlight series featuring different members of the CHO family. See the spotlight on airport photographer Jack Looney!
  2. Invite a vendor or business partner to contribute a guest blog post. I was fortunate to have a great piece by Chester Hull of ProSound recently and my co-conspirator (we’re writing a book together) Ken Mueller is a regular guest on the Change the Conversation blog.
  3. Use video — seriously — videos that are a couple of minutes long, homespun (read: not professionally produced) and tell the story of your business are a fantastic way to connect with your audience.
  4. Read, read, read. Read other blogs — outside your industry. Read a newspaper (online or in print! I don’t judge!). Read a magazine. Read a book. Read with an eye for inspiration and you will find it.
  5. Brainstorm a bunch of lists. How many can you develop in an hour? 6 Ways to Bake a Potato! 3 Rules for Getting a Great Haircut! 5 Questions to Ask When Choosing  a Dentist! You can do it.
Now, get to blogging and down to business.

 

Sep 20
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Define Your Brand; it’s Not your Mission Statement or your Vision

By Communications, Public Relations, Social Media

What’s the difference between your brand position and your mission statement?

Sometimes when I ask a client about their brand position, they rattle off a mission statement, or the company’s vision. It’s great when employees know what these are, but these are both very different from the company’s brand position.

In short, a mission is the reason for the company’s existence. It’s vision is what it wants to be.

The mission of my company is to connect and apply my team’s experience to the communications needs of businesses with similar values.

The vision is to be a world-famous, highly respected communications firm that makes millions billions in revenue. (What? Let’s not pretend we’re not in business to make money. That’s just ridiculous.)

To define your company’s brand, try using the following formulas:

For target audience that have a specific need we offer your main offering unlike main competitor, your name provides your main benefit that allows users to . . . 

For Jaggers Communications, this brand position approach looks like this:

For businesses that want to grow by attracting new customers or inspiring loyalty through clear and consistent communications, we offer strategic communications planning, counsel and execution. Unlike firms focused solely on social media, public relations or marketing, Jaggers Communications provides applied experience in business communications counsel across disciplines and industries. We help clients reach their business goals through smart communications strategy and tactics.

This series of questions is also helpful in developing a brand position:

Who: Who are you?

What: What business are you in?

For Whom: What people do you serve?

What need: What are the special needs of the people you serve?

Against whom: With whom are you competing?

What’s different: What makes you different from those competitors?

So: What’s the benefit? What unique benefit does a client derive from your service?

Jaggers Communications offers strategic communications planning, counsel and execution to businesses  that want to grow by attracting new customers or inspiring loyalty through clear and consistent communications.  Unlike firms focused solely on social media, public relations or marketing, Jaggers Communications provides applied experience in business communications counsel across disciplines and industries. We help clients reach their business goals through smart communications strategy and tactics.

Give it a whirl in the comments (if you’re brave enough).