INK PUBLIC RELATIONS

Lately, I’ve heard a lot of talk about Pinterest for business. What was once a small community for people looking to share recipes, crafts, photos and the like is quickly becoming a must-have component of any business’ social media strategy.

This infographic on Mashable shows that more than 100 of America’s most recognized brands (i.e. Whole Foods, HGTV, Gap) are using Pinterest as a forum for connecting with their audiences.  And why shouldn’t they?  Pinterest hit 10 million U.S. monthly visitors faster than any independent site in history – that’s a lot of potential customers.  While the seemingly logical option would be to follow the industry giants and create a presence on Pinterest, company leaders first must understand the benefits of a company Pinterest account.  I’ve called out some ways that businesses can maximize their company’s presence on Pinterest:

Actively engage with your community: Like all social media networks, Pinterest is a sharing community at heart.  Its idea is one based on the active discussion between users –as such, your business should not just push out content, which can come off as self-serving.  Focus your boards on relevant company material, with only a smattering of promotional content.  Over time, this will build credibility with your user base and you will find an increase in likes, comments and repins. Whole Foods does an excellent job of not only posting relevant content (think recipes, kitchen gadgets and sustainable tips), but encouraging followers to engage with their company by posting pins directly to the Whole Foods pinboards.

An example of a Whole Foods pinboard (found on pinterest.com).

Use Pinterest like a focus group: The way that Pinterest is set-up makes it an ideal sounding board for new products and ideas.  Use the site’s boards as a way to push new ideas and encourage feedback from followers through the use of comments and pins.

Promote a lifestyle: Some companies have begun using Pinterest as a way to promote a specific event or lifestyle that is relevant to their industry or location, but may not be specific to their work.  Take Austin advertising agency GSD&M as an example.  They created an entire site dedicated to pinning survival tips for the legendary South by Southwest Festival, and provided users with a diverse mix of SXSW related boards – everything from “The Eats” to “The Gear” to “The Parties.” GSD&M has found a unique way to increase their brand visibility by engaging with this specific event community.

Inspire your team: While Pinterest serves as a place to engage with your consumers, it can also be a great place to inspire employees.  Create pinboards that showcase employee work, highlight valuable team members and feature creative workspaces.  This gives team members a visual way to interact with the company and motivates them to continue producing quality work.  Plus, people are more likely to engage with companies who openly provide their employees with a positive work environment.

While Pinterest is a great tool to add to a business’ social media arsenal, it’s important to remember that it is not the right fit for every company.  Before spending the time and effort on the site, make sure that you have an appropriate audience to connect with, a relevant industry to promote and, above all, enough time and resources to dedicate to building a quality community. If you can confidently say yes to the previous requirements, Pinterest is absolutely an outlet to test out.

Personally, I think Pinterest is great, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the current concerns surrounding copyright infringement.  As majority of the content on Pinterest has been copied from outside websites without permission, content owners have questioned if the site is in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.  This article by The Verge provides a thorough explanation of the situation. Now, I don’t want to deter any company from leveraging Pinterest in their social media strategy; I just want to make sure that every company follows all legal procedures when contributing content on the site.

Happy Pinning!

We do great work around here. We should highlight it more. So, here’s a little story for your Thursday afternoon: 

Client CSID is an authority on all things online identity fraud related. INK thinks they should talk about these things more and position themselves as thought leaders in the space. Helen, account manager on our CSID team, took the bull by the horns on this recommendation and wrote three abstracts for panels at SXSWi. All three were chosen (via the gauntlet known as the “SXSW panel picker”). That’s pretty cool. 

And then there’s this from today:

Check out the share numbers of the blurb – 4446 on Facebook, 1386 on Twitter and 41 on Google+. Pretty sweet, and a good indication of a nice turn out at this panel.

It’s the idea – and the initiative – that just keeps on giving. Go Helen! 

Something happened yesterday that I was hoping never would (though of course there’s always the possibility) – INK’s client #1 resigned his position at the Bluetooth SIG. While we are excited for the new path that lies ahead for him, we are a bit shell-shocked right now to think of not working with the person we have had the pleasure of doing so with for 8+ years (Valentine’s Day marked nine years with the SIG – Mike joined the SIG, and thus inherited us, one year later). 

It’s taboo to have a favorite client in the same way it’s taboo to have a favorite child (well, perhaps the latter is more taboo, but go with me here). So in the words of my grandfather – to whom I am his “favorite oldest granddaughter” – let me reminisce about my “favorite longest client,” Mike Foley: 

Mike started at the SIG the same week Blair started at INK. That should tell you something about their relationship – it’s a bit like siblings in how he chides her, and she messes with his stuff (dare I say it: CES 2008 Best of CES PowerPoint). They also share a love of sports, and a dislike of Pepcom events that take place in the middle of the biggest sporting event of the year (yes, Texas won the national championship in football in January 2006 while we worked the Bluetooth table and Mike ate chocolate dipped rice krispie treats in front of the only TV in the place). 

(This is Mike wooing the crowd at the Bluetooth SIG Best of CES awards ceremony at CES 2011.) 

One month into Mike’s tenure at the SIG, he didn’t think he liked INK much – we were having a total failure to communicate. We turned that around by instituting Monthly Mike Meetings where we went through what we had done for him lately, what we were going to do next, and what he wished we had done better. We found that giving him a regular platform to say “hey, I thought you said we were going to do X – why hasn’t it happened yet?” helped him get whatever it was off his chest and helped us stay on track for what we were delivering. We were a one-year-old company at this time and had a lot to learn in terms of providing excellent client service (they can’t read our minds) – I thank Mike for not accepting anything less than our best. 

Other things Mike has taught me: 

- Don’t flip people off when driving your client around Las Vegas (they will never let you live it down) 

- Know your stuff – it makes it that much more likely you will be an excellent public speaker, media interview, leader

- Beer is good, and beer on St. Patrick’s Day even better

- Travel is where it’s at (I’ve had the pleasure of visiting Scotland, Hawaii, Paris, Hong Kong, Miami, New York, DC, Chicago, Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Seattle with Mike – thank you so much for that opportunity)

- Always answer the phone when your significant other calls like you are genuinely happy to hear from him/her (Mike always says “Hi Mar!” like he’s in college and his girlfriend just got home from a long trip – love it)

- I don’t know what his secret sauce has been (so there’s another lesson here I hope to still learn), but I hope to be the kind of parent that Mike is in that his girls still want to hang around him! And they are amazing, outgoing, smart, thoughtful girls – I can only aspire to the same for my girls. 

- It is possible to keep clients happy long term, you just have to keep pushing the envelope and not settling for status quo. 

- Clients like it when you tell them what you really think – and push them even when they say no the first time. 

- If you treat clients right, they will get you back. He has done it over and over again. 

- Change is good. Embrace it.

We love you Mike. We look forward to your next adventure. And you (and the family) are welcome in Austin ANYTIME! 

There’s much introspection throughout the industry right now as PRSA holds voting on a “new definition” of PR. Forbes blogger Haydn Shaughnessy covered his take on the industry yesterday, and another Forbes blogger and long-time communications trends reporter Jennifer Leggio posted an interview with Peter Shankman this morning on the state of public relations today.

Taking the same questions Leggio posed to Shankman, here are my thoughts on the topic – interested to hear yours in the comments:

What do you think is the single biggest mistake that PR people are still making? How can they rectify it?

Not listening. I honestly can’t count how many times I have heard a reporter, an editor, a media analyst, another PR person tell the PR people on the phone, on the webinar, in the room, to do some pretty simple things when it comes to engaging with reporters – be personal, be professional, don’t use the shotgun approach, get them what they need in a timely manner. If people are still saying it, that means someone out there still isn’t listening. Perhaps it’s a case of one bad apple and not the whole basket, but we’re held accountable as an industry for that one bad apple and it’s truly a shame. How to rectify it? Listen. Take the time to do it right. How many emails do you delete that start off “Dear [space for name]?” Yep, those go in your deleted folder immediately too.

Do journalists have a responsibility to learn how to better leverage PR people or is it all on the PR person to cater to the journalist?

I don’t know that I would say journalists have a responsibility, nor that PR people need to cater – we all have a job to do so their responsibility lies in writing the best, most informative stories; ours lies in ensuring they have the information to do so. If PR people are doing their jobs right then journalists wouldn’t have to learn how to leverage them, it would just be a natural outcome of a mutually beneficial relationship.

Age-old debate: is there a difference between journalists and bloggers? If so, what? If not, why?

Yes, but the difference lies in what outlet the person is writing for, not that they are one label or the other. The outlet dictates much of the need, the coverage area, even the style. PR people should still use the same approach – do your research, be personal, understand what the person is looking for – regardless, but the outlet may dictate timing, or news interest, etc.

What are some other common challenges you see PR people facing? Any tips on how to improve helps, too.

It’s time consuming to do media relations right, but do it – don’t skip corners and start sending out mass emails to faceless reporters who you have no idea if they would actually be interested in what you’re sending. That kind of work will come back around to bite you in the ass. Also, we’re talking a ton about media relations here, but that’s not at all the only thing PR people do – it’s just the most high profile thing, usually. Be an expert on your clients’ business, and the industry in which they play – it will help you do your job better with both your clients and the media. Be as fast as you can without sacrificing quality. And in the vast majority of cases, put quality over quantity (even better: mass quantity of high quality ).

Any ‘final thought’ on the state of PR in 2012?

I’m excited about discussions I’ve seen around PR owning more and more content creation. Many of us got into this industry because of our love of – and knack for – writing. I look forward to seeing where that goes.

Super Bowl ads cost a LOT of money. Start-ups are short on money to spend on ads, but long on time to spend on brainstorms asking themselves “how do we get our share of that attention, without paying for it?” Online start-up PawnGo thought they had the answer to that question in the form of a tongue-in-cheek attack on Patriots’ tight-end Wes Welker. Welker had an unfortunate case of the butter fingers during the Super Bowl and dropped what could have been the pass that got his team the win. PawnGo saw an opportunity and took it – having a truckload of Butterfingers delivered to a high traffic area in Boston with a gift tag for Welker and the Patriots.

Funny? I thought so. Smart? Eh, debatable. Here’s what went wrong:

- PawnGo underestimated its audience. Patriots fans are the hardest of the hardcore and didn’t really get the joke. The city charged PawnGo a $1000 littering fine and opened up the company to bashing from all sides. Lesson: know your audience.

- PawnGo didn’t do its homework. Apparently, PawnGo’s biggest competitor is a Boston-based online company – and you better believe the local media and Boston fans around the country published that fact (and promoted the company) at every turn. Lesson: evaluate the risks of your actions.

- PawnGo was caught off guard by the outrage. Just a few hours after the stunt, the CEO issued an apology (one that was a bit back-handed and insincere, in my opinion, and might have been better if it had been thought about beforehand). Lesson: be prepared for the worst case scenario.

So it comes down to the age-old question – is all press good press? Thousands more do know PawnGo’s name, and it will probably ring a bell for awhile yet. But does that awareness equate to a positive impact on its business? I doubt it. The company exists in the online world – the same online world where consumers search for recommendations from friends and strangers alike for the vast majority of purchases, and in the click of a button can get a perception of your brand that shapes their decision-making process. Would you do business with the company virtually hated by all of New England? Or check out its competitor instead? Let me know.

This post comes from our wonderful, new spring intern, Susie Reinecke.

Take a minute to notice your surroundings. What are the colors on walls; how does the air smell; what kind of ornaments do you see? Ask yourself: how does this particular environment make you feel? Sometimes we can go our entire lives without acknowledging our settings and the effect that they have over us. I am a firm believer that environmental factors have a tremendous impact on our behaviors and mindset. Especially at work, a place where we spend the majority of our time, countless studies have shown that a positive state of mind can boost problem solving and creativity. My current employers at INK PR understand this way of thought and have consequently cultivated a workplace environment worth reflecting over.

Last week I started my internship here at INK PR. While I have only been here for a short time span, I can already say that I am thoroughly in love with this place. For the past few days I have been mulling over the question of why I am so excited to come to work each day. After some thought, I am here to tell you that this positive feeling is a direct response to the beautiful work place environment that I find myself in.

At first glance, the INK office is like any other house on the block. The team recently moved out to a residential area back in August of 2011. It sits on top of a prominent hill, aside the busy Bee Caves Road. When you step inside, it is clear that the owners, Kari and Starr, thought carefully about the interior design. While maintaining a household atmosphere, they have successfully converted this home into a charming workplace. Leaving many of the traditional household amenities untouched, INK is equipped with a pool, gym, backyard deck, and a grill (not to mention a closed off, but still slightly functional jacuzzi bathtub in one of the restrooms). While I haven’t utilized everything yet, just knowing that these kinds of facilities are at my disposal makes me actually view INK as a second home.

Adding to this homey feeling, I love the idea that my office was once a bedroom—yet beautifully transformed into a unique workspace. Kari and Starr gave the employees a rug allowance and the creative freedom to decorate their entire office from scratch. For instance, amid the turquoise colored accent wall of my shared office is a beautiful Vasily Kandinsky print that my dear officemate, Allison Glass , selected to put up. The floor is adorned with a simple, African style rug that ties the entire room together. Allison told me that she was encouraged to bring in her own furniture and to personalize her workspace. The bookcase along her wall, filled with Jodi Picoult books and other fiction titles, is a testament to this push to truly individualize each space. This idea of customization turns INK into a place where employees want to come into work everyday. Each room is but an extension of the team’s interesting and lovable personalities—a place they can each call their own.

Lastly, in regard to the INK team, I must say that the people here make me feel completely at ease. The dynamic is nurturing, yet business focused. While the PR industry is demanding and highly involved, INK does a resounding job at finding that work-life balance. As a whole, this team supports one another, always motivating each other to exceed their creative potential and productivity. I feel blessed to have found such a rich environment that I can thrive in. It takes a level of self-awareness to ask yourself just how your environment affects you and your work. Make sure you know what makes you happy! If you need some help, check out this article on ways to find happiness at work. It is a moral imperative. Ultimately, I feel as though I can work best surrounded by a beautiful workspace and a vivacious and supportive team. It is clear that this home office is but a reflection of the creative capacity of INK’s work and honest makeup.

Susie standing in front of our yarn-covered INK letters