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.

Jul 29
Love1

WTF? Friday: News Sites Allowing Anonymous Commenters

By Communications, Media, Public Relations

I’m pretty angry this morning, so this is not your typical lighthearted Friday post. I was going to do a WTF? Friday video but I didn’t think anyone wanted to see no sleep, mad face Mj, so this is going to have to do.

Here’s what has me fired up: news organizations allowing visitors to their sites to leave anonymous comments. Think about it: the subjects of the news are called out by name; the reporters of the news are certainly not anonymous, but in some cases, newspapers, television stations and other news sources allow comments from people not required to enter their name (and an unpublished e-mail address).

I understand why it’s been handled this way; the thinking is that this fosters more open conversation and indeed, it often does stir the pot successfully. But what we’ve seen — for years now — is that the anonymity is only license for people to be real assholes.

Case in point: a friend and colleague tragically passed away in May of this year. Her parents have decided, as is well within their legal right, to take legal action in the case. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported the story.  This unleashed dozens (65 as of this writing) of comments, MANY of them cruel, thoughtless, insensitive, ignorant and downright insulting. What good does this do anyone? When I think about the additional harm to my friend’s parents as they will no doubt see the words people cast in their direction from behind the Post’s comment curtain, it makes me incensed.

The discussion is NOT what it could be, if comments were owned; about tort reform, the tragedy of sudden death or retailer responsibility. No. It is, instead just a forum for trolls, haters and idiots clinging to stereotypes and flinging words they don’t have the balls to sign their names to. We KNOW that when people use their names and when the conversation is joined by those being discussed, that the conversation is elevated; that it becomes useful, healthy discussion and that people are overall, more polite. Why not foster that, instead of hate?

Yes, I am angry.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, I challenge you to change your comment policy.

Jul 28
Love1

My Love for Charlottesville Reaches 4 Million Readers

By Communications, Jaggers Communications News, Media, Public Relations, Social Media

In September’s issue of Woman’s Day magazine (2011) you’re going to see a familiar face. In the feature, A Woman’s Day . . .  in Charlottesville, Virginia I contributed some of my favorite things to do and places to go in this beloved city I call home.

In a town like this, a feature in a major national women’s magazine is news . . . so last night I was on the local affiliates of both CBS and NBC, talking about the experience and how I chose what to share with the magazine’s readers, in case they plan on visiting.

I love the flow of this process: I blogged about 32 small things we like about Charlottesville –> that attracted a reporter to my blog when she was looking for a “woman in Charlottesville.” She said, while Googling, “I just kept running into you.” –> Interview completed, article developed, family portrait taken by local photographer Chris Scott (thank you, again Chris!) –> Article appears –> television coverage on two stations –> I’m blogging about the experience. Full circle!

Fun!

Here’s the TV news clip from CBS-19:

 

Jul 27
Love0

Make Your Bed: 40 Days to Create a Good Habit

By Communications

My dog, Clover, in a decidedly unmade bed.

Confession: I was horrible about making my bed. When our kids were young, it seemed like I was in and out of it so many times during the night that really, what was the point of making it all nice and neat before climbing into it again, later?

At some point, I decided to change the way I thought about making the bed, and to create the habit of just doing it. First, I changed the way I thought about it; making the bed isn’t a chore, it’s just part of your day. Instead of straightening sheets, I thought about creating a sanctuary; a pleasant place to return to and relax at the end of the day.

I was raised with the religious tradition of Lent and giving something up for 40 days as a way to refocus, purify yourself and understand the meaning of self-sacrifice. It was a Lenten season when I chose my bed as my focus.

Now, I know from all manner of consultants that it takes a certain number of days to create a habit; I’ve read 27, 28 and 21 . . . but I figured 40 days left me plenty of room for error. So I set out on the journey of tucking, smoothing, fluffing pillows and folding corners that would culminate, not only in the Easter season, but in a new, healthy habit.

Lately I’ve been focusing my habit-creating on writing daily. I remember the experience of creating the bed-making habit as a clear analogy to how challenging habit creation can be. If I think about my commitment to blogging as a chore: “I have to blog every day,” that becomes far less appealing and leads to whining.

If I approach the activity differently and say, “I will create content of value to my audience daily. I will share information that demonstrates my capability and thus helps establish my business every day,” I’m much more eager to commit.

What habits are you trying to create in your business? How can you change the way you think about and talk about them, to manage the approach to take? 

Jul 26
Love0

Burgers and Fries Don’t Lie, and Neither Do Poor Communications

By Communications, Public Relations

I’m borrowing from a conversation I had with my friend Drew yesterday. He said, “I can be your personal trainer, but if you stop at McDonald’s after every workout, I can’t help you.”

Let me clarify: Drew is not my personal trainer. And I don’t go to McDonald’s.

We were talking about business counsel, marketing plans, social strategy and the advice we provide to businesses trying to be successful. Drew is right; our firm can provide good counsel, a solid marketing plan and sound advice but if our clients have a bad product, or get distracted from their mission and the purpose of their business, we’re not going to be successful. How frustrating it must be for personal trainers who realize their clients are loading up on burgers and fries as soon as they step off the treadmill. Fortunately, the burgers and fries don’t lie; you can’t hide the lack of commitment to your business and its communications efforts any more than you can hide extra pounds.

It astounds me that businesses (or people hiring personal trainers, for that matter) are willing to spend money on counsel they ignore . . . but then I look at all the industries that are based on helping people who refuse to help themselves and I think, baby steps are sometimes all businesses can take. If we can make a difference in your internal understanding and communications and that helps your business learn to focus enough on the inside, it will affect your external communications for the better. If we can help you get your messaging solidified, nailed down and agreed upon, then consistency of your brand will be created. If we can tackle just 30 minutes on that treadmill and you ordering a salad at McDonald’s once in awhile, we’ll call it success in progress.

Businesses, like people, don’t change overnight.

Jul 25
Love0

Social Media Fatigue: Why Communications Professionals Should Pay Attention to the Overwhelmed

By Communications, Public Relations, Social Media

Rusty SpeidelToday’s post is from Rusty Speidel, vice president of marketing at Encell Technologies. Rusty is a 20-year veteran of the internet/online marketing space, specializing in alternative energy marketing and user experiences.

I’m a one-man Marketing department for an alternative energy startup. As such, I rely on a lot of consulting assistance to set and execute against my company’s marketing objectives. We use services from all types of vendors; IT consultants, software developers, web design firms, PR firms, even procurement and manufacturing firms. It’s part of being a startup and I actually relish the freedom it gives us to act quickly on ideas. I come from a user-experience background, so I like staying connected to the latest trends in marketing from the customer’s point of view, including social media tools, customer-controlled communication and transparency. In a former life I actually built an entire social network about auto racing, so I appreciate the philosophies and processes of connection and sharing.

But lately, I’ve been feeling a little fatigued. OK, a LOT fatigued. Suddenly everywhere I go there are “opportunities to connect.” Whether it’s loyalty programs like the CVS Card, Cardagin, and Groupon, location –based social tools like Foursquare or Places, any one of thousands of social media “experts” that claim to have all the answers for this new marketing paradigm (like Google+), or the hair-trigger salesmen that react to any request for online information with four phone calls and seven emails within 30 minutes, it’s all just getting exhausting. It feels like if I don’t react to all these “opportunities” it’s me that’s missing out, not plugged in, not up to speed. I can’t even order lunch or buy a quart of oil without being asked if I’ve joined this or that rewards program, or if I’ll go online to take a survey. I’m actually starting to get angry with these poor cashiers.

At work, it’s not a lot better. We make batteries. Large batteries. We are not a consumer brand, we are a large-scale energy wholesaler. While I agree that using the social platforms to create thought leadership in the alternative energy space online is appropriate, I am not particularly worried about reaching fans on Facebook. I don’t need a Twitter-based customer service department yet. And yet every PR and marketing assistance proposal I receive suggests I need just that. Everyone’s climbing on the social media bandwagon so aggressively that I just shut down.

Everyone just STOP. Stop now.

I don’t WANT to find my service station on Facebook. I don’t NEED a rewards program for toothpaste. I don’t feel particularly stressed over the fact that our company is not completely plugged in to every social network available RIGHT NOW. I do not need to share every little detail of my personal or professional life on YouTube. I DEFINITELY don’t need another lecture on “how to create a social presence online.” What I NEED is expertise in mapping my company’s needs to strategies that reach my customers where they are, not where the expertise is headed. None of our competitors rely much on social platforms and 70% of our customers still make buying decisions at trade shows. Why doesn’t that matter?

It feels like the old snake oil days, when gypsies roamed the west on covered wagons hawking the latest solution to whatever ailed folks back then. Today’s sarsparilla is SEO, social media monitoring, blogging advice, video production services, reputation management, letting the customer tell you what he wants, etc. It’s totally, completely overwhelming. Sometimes I think the industry likes to keep it that way so they can make a living explaining it.

I am sure I am not alone. Communications professionals take note: there are other disciplines out there besides communications. They don’t all see the world the same way you do, and the overload is starting to hurt the head. Soon it will start to hurt your bottom line.