It Takes a Team to Blog

Many of GroundFloor Media's clients either have a blog or are ready to dip their toes in the blogging waters. We consistently explain to clients that maintaining a blog is similar to maintaining an editorial calendar for a newspaper or your internal newsletter. It takes a team of people to keep a blog relevant, interesting and up-to-date. Seth Godin's blog post, "Death of a personal blog?" makes some great points along those same lines. I hope you enjoy it... http://sethgodin.typepad.com/

Happy Thanksgiving!
~Ramonna

Too Small to Fail?

Once again, Seth Godin's post strikes a cord. If you are a small business owner or an entrepreneur, it's worth a quick read. In summary, Godin says the secret of 'small is the new big' thinking is that you won't fail and you can't fail and you don't need to worry about a bailout. Not because you're small in headcount or assets, but because you act small. If you act small and think big, you are too small to fail. You won't need a bailout because your business makes sense each and every day. You won't need a bailout because your flat organization (no matter how large it is) knows about problems long before they're too big to deal with. And that's just big thinking.

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/10/too-small-to-fa.html

We're #2!!

This morning, for the third consecutive year, GroundFloor Media, was recognized by the Denver Business Journal as one of the Best Places to Work in Denver in the small company category. In 2007 GroundFloor Media was recognized as the No. 1 place to work in Denver, and now in 2008 we were recognized as No. 2. Despite the turmoil in the marketplace, there is a lot to be thankful for these days. A team that sticks together during these tough times will most certainly come out ahead. Ramonna and I are thankful for the GroundFloor Media team members that make this truly a great place to work!

http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2008/11/24/focus24.html


GroundFloor continues to distinguish itself as a leader
No. 2 small-size company
Denver Business Journal - by Ryan Peacock Special to the Business Journal

Stephen Swofford | Business Journal
At GroundFloor Media, the No. 2 small-size company on the Best Places to Work list, employees participate in the Get Grounded program, which outlines a goal of committing 20 percent of services to nonprofit organizations and pro bono accounts.

This is the third consecutive year Laura Love — who founded public relations firm GroundFloor Media in 2001 — has seen her company being named a “Best Place to Work.”
“It’s so important for us because it’s an employee-driven award, and our people are our biggest assets,” Love said. “We grew very carefully. Most everyone on our team came to us as a referral from somebody else on our team.”

GroundFloor Media is comprised of senior-level talent that’s enabled the firm to achieve substantial success with a client roster that includes CH2M Hill, Qdoba, and the City and County of Denver.

“I think the hardest thing to find in any economy is top talent, and especially when you’re a company like ours who only hires senior-level people,” Love said. “I think we attract the best in the industry because of the work culture and flexibility we offer.”

Balance between personal and professional lives, along with community involvement, are core principles for Love and her employees. They’ve been strong partners with Tennyson Center for Children, providing public relations support. And the firm’s own Get Grounded program has a goal of committing 20 percent of services to nonprofit organizations and pro bono accounts.

There is yoga in the office every Wednesday, and some employees are training together to run a half-marathon in Las Vegas in December.

“For the size of the company that we are, we’re really proud to offer the type of competitive health care benefits that we do,” said Ramonna Tooley, vice president and managing partner.

Employees are encouraged to pursue professional-development opportunities that appeal to them.

An example of this occurred when a few employees were interested in social networking, and Love gave them full support to develop the firm’s capabilities in this area.

“From an employee standpoint, they have taken the program and built it from the ground up, and now it’s a major part of the services we can offer to clients,” she said.

Turnover continues to remain low, hovering at around 6 percent.

“When you look at it, we have broken every rule and done it in a way that works,” Tooley said. “We tend to err on the side of our employees despite what our business advisers tell us sometimes.”

Top PR Moments of the 2008 Election

Now that election fever has finally started to subside, the team at GroundFloor Media thought we’d throw our hat in the commentary ring and list the top public relations moments of the 2008 election, along with the lessons we can learn from each of them. Some are examples of PR greatness and others probably made you cringe, but they’re all worth reliving. Enjoy!

Note: To be fair, these are not listed in any particular ranking order.

Obama’s ill-chosen remarks about bitter working class voters who "cling to guns or religion"
PR Lesson Learned: Test your key messages before saying them in public.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-04-12-obama-comments_N.htm


Sarah Palin’s interview with Katie Couric
PR Lesson Learned: Don’t skip the media prep session.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vbg6hF0nShQ


Joe Biden’s prediction that “Obama will be tested by a crisis during his first six months of administration”
PR Lesson Learned: You’re never really off the record.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpiNfuG8YY8


McCain Spokesperson Michael GoldFarb on CNN refusing to name Obama’s so-called anti-semitic associates after repeatedly saying “We all know who we’re talking about”
PR Lesson Learned: Make sure your spokesperson should really be a spokesperson.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JdjZEfxk2w


Obama’s campaign manager David Plouffe publicly choosing his family over the election
PR Lesson Learned: If you hire people with the right priorities, you’ll rarely have to worry about cleaning up after them.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/11/02/obama-campaign-manager-would-choose-baby-over-obama/


Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live
PR Lesson Learned: Being able to laugh at yourself goes a long way with people.
www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/update-palin-rap/773781/


During the final debate, McCain saying to Obama “I am not George Bush. If you wanted to run against George Bush, you should have run four years ago.”
PR Lesson Learned: A good sound bite can silence even the greatest of spokespeople.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KmJlQcbIDI


Sarah Palin getting booed by Pittsburgh residents after congratulating them on the Phillies’ World Series victory
PR Lesson Learned: Know your audience.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nRR4PmyVKQ


Obama leveraging social media to rally and unite his supporters
PR Lesson Learned: Don’t underestimate the power of social media to help further your cause.

http://adage.com/campaigntrail/post?article_id=126336


Joe Biden bearing his emotions about raising his two young sons after the death of his wife and daughter
PR Lesson Learned: The more you can humanize a story, the better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbrFFHUlSlQ


Any other PR moments that deserve to be immortalized on our blog? Just let us know!

Award-winning Campaigns

I have to take a minute to brag… We were recently awarded the 2008 Grand Gold Leaf Award and 2008 Nonprofit Project of the Year Award from the Colorado Healthcare Communicators for work conducted on behalf of our clients, The Children’s Hospital and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, respectively. I was on the Colorado Healthcare Communicators board for five years and never even saw a Grand Gold Leaf. As one of our clients put it, “The strength and quality of our partnership was on full display at the ceremony with the wonderful acknowledgement by our peer professionals.”

Not only did GroundFloor Media and The Children’s Hospital receive the Grand Gold Leaf Award for the campaign, “The Children’s Hospital Makes 111 Miracles Happen,” but this campaign also received a Gold Leaf Award in the media relations category. This campaign consisted of an aggressive, proactive local and regional media relations strategy during The Children’s Hospital’s move to its new state-of-the-art facility at I-225 and Colfax in September 2007.

For the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s Emergency Preparedness and Response Division, we received the Nonprofit Project of the Year Award and a Gold Leaf Award in the new media category for the What If? Colorado social media campaign, which was comprised of both traditional and non-traditional public relations components, including a reality competition.

I’m extremely proud of our team members at GroundFloor Media and have to commend them publicly for continually generating fresh, strategic ideas to help our clients meet their marketing and business objectives!

Film For The Troops

In honor of our armed forces, individuals and companies continue to create programs that give thanks to the men and women who have served – and continue to serve - our country. Today is Veterans Day and it marks the date of an event that ended 90 years ago today: World War I. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, a defeated Germany ended four years of the bloodiest war in human history. As we continue to engage in present day combat, the service men and women may have different faces, but their commitment to our country does not waiver.



The members of our armed forces don’t enjoy the same luxuries we do and often we take even the smallest luxury from granted. There is a program called Films For The Troops that is collecting new and used DVDs for Colorado troops in action as well as wounded American soldiers. Films For The Troops, a program of the Colorado Film & Video Association (CFVA) and the Denver Film Society, and sponsored by Bellco Credit Union, collects DVDs annually and this year hopes to collect 1,000 DVDs to send out right after Thanksgiving to arrive to the Troops in time for the holidays.

If you have new or used DVDs (rated G through R) that could use a new home, please consider donating through Tuesday, Nov. 25. Here are some more details on locations:

Bellco Credit Union will accept DVD donations at all 15 of its Denver metro branches which are located in Aurora, Centennial, Denver, Englewood, Glendale, Lakewood, Littleton, Northglenn, Parker, Westminster and Wheat Ridge. A full list of branch locations, including hours of operation and contact information, can be found at www.bellco.org.


Five American Legion Posts will also collect DVDs. These locations include:
Post 1 - 5400 E. Yale, Denver, CO 80222
Post 178 - 1655 Simms St, Lakewood, CO 80215
Post 32 - 315 S. Bowen, Longmont, CO 80501
Post 22 - 11081 Irma Dr, Northglenn, CO 80223
Post 1992 - 16070 E. Dartmouth Ave., #6, Aurora, CO 80013

A semi-permanent bin has been placed in the box office of the Starz FilmCenter, which is located at 900 Auraria Parkway (9th St. & Auraria Parkway) in Denver, and DVD collection bins onsite at the Festival which runs Nov. 13 - 23.



GroundFloor Media also has a bin at our office: 1923 Market Street in Denver. We welcome you to stop by with a donation if you find yourself in our neck of the woods!



Thanks for your support.

Poop Happens

The write up in last week’s Denver Business Journal says it all. I’ve never been so proud while laughing so hard, so I have to share…

AND NOW, FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: Speaking of disgusting things, how ‘bout that “Animal Grossology” exhibit in Parker at The Wildlife Experience, way south of Denver, where South Peoria Street meets Lincoln Avenue — and the farther away, the better.

“I have a nephew who is 12, and he thought it was AWESOME!” says Amy Moynihan of GroundFloor Media, which landed this prestigious account. Animal Grossology features a number of interactive and hands-on exhibits, “and you can dissect owl pellets [in animated form], and there’s a big cow that demonstrates how their digestive systems work. There’s lots of game stations, so you can make slime and fake poop.”

School and children’s groups have toured the exhibit, and there are educators and volunteers present to help. More fun facts to be gleaned: A dung beetle can roll dung 50 times its weight, which rivals any politician. Also, cows are the gassiest animals on Earth, which also defies belief as we’re assaulted by political commercials this fall.

When the Gold Pick Awards come around next fall, someone oughta nominate GroundFloor Media for:

• Headline of the Year: “Animal Grossology Exhibit Lands at the Wildlife Experience Featuring Pooper Scoopers, Blood Suckers, Vomit Munchers, Slime Makers and More!”

• Company President Quote of the Year: “Snail slime and the dung beetle, otherwise known as ‘nature’s pooper scooper,’ definitely qualify as unique story angles!” says Laura Love in a GroundFloor Media news release.

The exhibit runs through April 26, with hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. It’s closed Mondays, and we’re guessing that’s when someone places a giant fumigation tent over the building and has at it. Info: www.thewildlifeexperience.org or 720-488-3300, if tiny bugs haven’t burrowed their way into your cellphone.

Fuse Me

In this insane world of PR, we’re constantly juggling multiple conversations with colleagues, reporters, clients and even our clients’ customers. In this age of instant connectivity, that usually means an inordinate amount of e-mails, Facebook wall posts and tweets. Maintaining these online conversations can be challenging, even overwhelming at times. I’ve tried adhering to the principles of Inbox Zero or GTD, but truth be told, the only time I clear out my inboxes is when I’m on a transatlantic flight. And usually, I just want to sleep or watch a few really bad movies with subtitles.

Enter Fuser.com. Fuser.com is an online tool that lets you to check your e-mail and social networking accounts (Facebook, Myspace and Twitter) in one secure place, so you don’t have to log into tons of different Web sites each day. Once you’ve registered your accounts you’ll get your messages delivered to one online inbox that you can access from any Internet connection. You can reply, send, forward – basically do all the things you’re used to doing already – from within Fuser.com. It’s free and you don’t have to download or install a program to use it, so you can access it easily from work or home.

Now, for the disclaimer… we began working with Fuser last year when they unveiled the initial version of Fuser.com. As one of the first companies to offer Internet users a way to avoid “inbox overload” while also helping them increase their connectivity, it was easy to understand why people instantly starting using it. Earlier this month, Fuser unveiled a new version of Fuser.com that is 40% faster, offers a completely new user interface and a slew of more message management features. Once again, the response has been great and we’re excited to be part of the Fuser.com fan club.

Fuser also has a cool viral marketing campaign going on that includes a microsite with some pretty hilarious videos and emails. You can see it at http://www.nevermissamessage.com/ (as in, “with Fuser.com, you’ll never miss an important message again). Here’s an example of what may happen to you if you miss a message:

Religion, Politics and Burritos

Two topics we’ve all been taught to avoid in business meetings and casual conversations are religion and politics. But when GroundFloor Media looked for a way for Qdoba Mexican Grill to enter the world of social media, we decided to enter a conversation already taking place, rather than trying to create a new one. And what better topic to enter than one about the upcoming election?

That’s how TasteBudPolitics.com was born, and nearly 100,000 unique visits later, it seems to be a great strategy. Qdoba’s campaign is a nonpartisan look at 1) how Mexican foods describe people’s personalities – or Q-dentities – and 2) which candidates and issues are important to those people who take the personality quiz.

Personally, I find it fascinating how closely the national Taste Bud Politics results have tracked with national voter polls. And I find it extremely interesting that the only Q-dentity that supports John McCain more than Barack Obama on the national front is the “chips & salsa” group and that, based on analysis conducted by Dr. Alan Hirsch, director of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation, Mc Cain is a chips & salsa personality. There are a couple of great articles about consumer product marketing campaigns that are playing on the election; if you’re interested see Joy Davis’ article in the Rocky Mountain News (http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/oct/25/companies-rev-up-ballot-games/) and Mike Beirne’s article in Adweek (http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/esearch/e3i6d1955ff988810b8dcab2f3399bcf90e).

No matter your Q-dentity or your political party, I urge you to get out and vote! In Colorado, you can vote early in a variety of locations through Friday. To find your early voting polling place, contact your County Election Officials (http://www.elections.colorado.gov/DDefault.aspx?tid=147).

Child Abuse is Not to be Ignored

A cause that is very near and dear to my heart is hosting its annual fundraiser event tomorrow evening. Like many people that get involved on a board level of a non profit, it is often easy to lose sight of the real issues at hand. Instead, we get caught up in the development plans and the lack of available grant money, HR issues, event logistics, and other areas that while absolutely necessary for the viability of an organization, are often a far cry from the real social issue at hand.

The Tennyson Center for Children (www.childabuse.org) is an unbelievable organization. It is Colorado’s leading residential and day treatment facilities, serving the most abused and neglected children ages 5 to 14. Why is this so important?

You may not know that Colorado has the ninth highest rate of children living in poverty and Colorado experienced the nation’s fastest rate of growth among impoverished children from 2000 to 2006, according to a recent study. Clearly, children in our state are not getting a fair shake – and the results can be downright devastating. Since 2001, the number of child abuse reports has risen by more than 60 percent in our state – yet the number of child caseworkers has only increased by 8 percent. Almost half of the child abuse reports made in Colorado in 2007 did not have the proper follow-up because our system is by all accounts over-burdened. Colorado continues to investigate 13 child deaths statewide that were reported cases of child abuse that “fell through the cracks.”

This haunts me. As a parent, I can only try in some way to understand the devastation these children must feel. What we do at Tennyson Center is to attempt to save these children from this dark place. We provide them -- most often for the first time -- unconditional love. We give them back their hopes and dreams. We try and become the stepping-stones to a life where again they can trust and love adults.

Board reports matter very little in the grand scheme of things. Don’t they?

How many boxes do you have?

Seth Godin is truly genius. And it’s not just because he says I don’t have to be perfect to succeed. The man just gets it. His recent post “Do you have 16 boxes?” http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/10/do-you-have-16.html puts it all in perspective. We can all sit around and focus on the failing economy and how the next 18 months are going to smell of the new-age-greater-depression or we can look at what’s happening around us and realize that good still exists – in our companies and in our personal lives. If you have built a strong foundation for your business, this economy simply cannot bring it to a screeching halt. Godin mentions that when something is going wrong, when the economy is out of sync, we panic. We obsess about just one of the sixteen boxes and ignore the others. We talk ourselves into hysteria about how, "none of our customers have any money," or, “in this bleak economy, we'll never make a sale." Instead of building up the other 15 boxes, we sit in the corner, worrying about that one box that's completely out of whack.

So let’s all focus on the 15 boxes that really, really work in our businesses and cut the conversation about things that are quite simply beyond our immediate control. Boxes are so much nicer that way.

Cause-related marketing still works, even if this economy doesn’t

With the Dow closing down 400 points today, its good to know that some things are still working. The 2008 Cone Cause Evolution Study, just released by Cone and Duke University http://www.bizjournals.com/bizwomen/index.php/2008/10/17/cause-related-marketing-still-works-study-shows/#more-462 showed that, once again, consumers feel that if everything is equal, they would switch from one brand to another if the other brand is associated with a good cause. The study also shows consumers spent nearly twice as much time looking at cause-related ads compared to generic ads and that the cause, the nonprofit organization associated with it, and the product itself are all important factors in the purchase decision.


So for those working to maintain their company’s cause-related marketing programs, the study shows that the causes Americans care most about include:

Education 80%
Economic development (job creation, income generation) 80%
Health and disease 79%
Access to clean water 79%
Environment 77%
Disaster relief 77%
Hunger 77%

GroundFloor Media clients including Qdoba Mexican Grill, Morton’s The Steakhouse, and Bellco Credit Union, are shining examples of how, when times get tough, they still embrace programs that support causes that matter to their employees, customers and key stakeholders. Now that is something to smile about as the closing bell rings.

Acting Smart by Acting Small

I just have a few minutes this morning, but I’d like to point people to Seth Godin’s recent blog post about acting small -- because it just makes so much sense, especially during these challenging economic times. As he explains it, “A small acting bank would never have invested in tens of thousands of loans that they hadn't looked at. And a small acting startup wouldn't hire dozens of people before they had a business model...” Check out the entire post at http://sethgodin.typepad.com/. It’s worth a few minutes of your time today!

~Ramonna

A Fan of Roadless Forests

Growing up in Oklahoma, I didn't really appreciate a good forest. Well, probably because the only forest was the one that my dad created when he forgot to trim the shrubs in our backyard. However, since moving to Colorado nearly a decade ago, I have grown to appreciate the roadless forests. They safeguard our watersheds, protect wildlife habitat, and allow us to hunt (even though I am not a personal fan), fish, camp, and hike. As you may have heard, the current administration is moving forward with an 11th hour attempt to open Colorado’s roadless forests to drilling, mining, logging and road building. We have until Oct. 24 to make comments.

Please take a minute and email U.S. Forest Chief Gail Kimbell and ask her to stop the roll back of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule and support the strong protections it guarantees for Colorado’s roadless forests.

http://www.environmentcolorado.org/action/preservation/protect-our-forests?id4=ES

It takes less than a minute and is well worth every second!

Tough Times Call for Strategic Measures

It’s hard to turn around today without hearing news about the economy, and companies large and small are taking precautions to ensure they weather the storm. We’re no different – tightening our belts a bit more than usual and examining each expense to make sure it’s necessary right now.

When it comes to communication strategy, we practice what we preach at GroundFloor Media. We know we must stay the course and focus on our own communication and marketing initiatives as we continue to hit rough waters. Like companies much larger than us, as business owners we all share the knowledge that cutting all efforts to communicate, both internally and externally, will certainly backfire. The messages may change in challenging times, but the communication channels need to remain open so that customers, shareholders and employees can remain confident in our companies.

Those of us who have survived challenging economic downturns in the past know that the first thing many companies cut is public relations and advertising budgets. While this somehow seems to make sense to some individuals initially, it is not a wise long-term strategy. Of course, it can’t always be “business as usual” during an economic downturn; however, strategic communication agencies can help clients make smart decisions and tweak programs so that companies are using cost-effective measures to reach out to their key audiences. For instance, this may be the right time to institute that blog strategy you’ve been considering for so long. Many social media tactics, like blogs, provide cost-effective ways to engage directly with your key audiences and provide your company with instant feedback from consumers, shareholders and/or employees. It may also be time to open up the internal communication channels so employees know their fears are being addressed and that management is available and open to questions and feedback.

Sure, now is a good time to reevaluate your overall communication strategy and shift priorities and dollars toward programs that are more targeted and cost-effective, but as with all decisions these days, it is not time to panic. Following are some links to insightful articles about communicating during tough economic times for entrepreneurs and agencies alike:
http://www.prweekus.com/Challenging-economy-demands-firms-to-focus-on-their-strengths/article/119549/
http://www.briansolis.com/2008/10/in-down-economy-tomorrows-leaders-are.html
http://www.pr-squared.com/2008/10/cut_the_pr_agency_are_you_sure.html

~Ramonna

Gotta Get Chipped

Get on the cat-wagon and take advantage of 150,000 free microchips for cats in metro Denver.



My colleague, Amy, will be the first to admit that her two dogs are microchipped, and her old cat (that she had for 16 years before he passed away) was not. She thought since her cat often never left the couch that he wouldn’t need to be found. But in reality, fewer than 10 percent of cats that are brought to shelters are ever reunited with their owners. The rate of reuniting dogs with their owners is two to five times higher than with cats.


So cat owners in metro Denver now don’t have any excuses. Time to get your cat chipped! Yesterday, the Denver Area Veterinary Medical Society (DAVMS), Dumb Friends League and participating members of the Metro Denver Shelter Alliance launched the CHIP YOUR CAT™ year-long program to provide 150,000 free microchips and lifetime registration for cats residing in the six county Denver metro area (Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson counties). The launch event was held at the Dumb Friend’s League Quebec Shelter and more than 28 cats showed up for free chips. The microchip procedure is simple, routine and virtually painless, and it doesn't require any anesthesia. The microchip is the size of a grain of rice and is injected just under the loose skin between the shoulder blades. The kitties at the event were braver than I was. The first time I saw a cat chipped I was waiting for the claws to come out. It was rather uneventful. The procedure is similar to a routine vaccination.

Want more information?

1. Go to www.ChipYourCat.com to find the nearest participating veterinary or shelter clinic near you
2. Print out a microchip coupon(s)
3. Make an appointment and take your cat in for a complimentary wellness exam and microchip
4. Maintain your cat’s microchip registration online by checking and updating your contact information on the appropriate Web site (You will get information upon registration)
5. Update your contact information on a regular basis

PICTURE CAPTION: Officer Kent Ferris of the Jefferson County Sherrif’s Office with Mr. Hudson the cat at CHIP YOUR CAT launch event at the Dumb Friends League. Mr. Hudson had been adopted by the Ferris Family eight years ago and lives with two German Sheppard’s.

The Seven-Year Itch.

The seven-year itch. Is it the same with a business as it is in a marriage? I honestly can’t speak to the scratching that allegedly occurs when one crosses the seven-year mark with a spouse, but I can tell you that having crossed that mark with GroundFloor Media, I am not sure how one would have had time to even stop and scratch.

For those of us in the PR world, it’s amazing to look back and see how our industry has evolved so quickly. Back in 2001…
• People heard “Facebook” and thought, “what a great new name for the yellow pages”
• VNRs were all the rage
• Local newspaper reporters had specific beats
• $25 gift limits for reporters were laughable
• PR agencies barely looked at a start up unless they were willing to fork over at least $20k per month
• Farm reporters and kindergarten teachers were being hired to run major accounts at technology-focused PR firms – because there were no other warm bodies to hire
• Press conferences were still in vogue.
• Tracking a crisis happened on the evening news; not on Twitter
• An opt-in SMS campaign sounded like a public health program for teens
• IM was cool and the word “blog” sounded like a bad bug bite
• The SEC didn’t dream of recognizing Corporate Blogs as public disclosure
• Newspapers wouldn’t have discussed integrating their online and print news operations
• Many of us still had dial-up Internet access
• Faxing press releases was still commonplace
• Telecommuting was frowned upon

Now, traditional advertising dollars are being siphoned over to implement strategic, creative, viral PR programs; clients are (rightfully) demanding a strong ROI on their PR spend; and as practitioners, we are constantly challenging ourselves to stay ahead of a curve that keeps bending by the minute.

My guess -- anyone who has time to even think about stopping to scratch that itch won’t need to worry about what’s next.

Chicken Little

It’s true. The more things change, the more they stay the same. It was just about this time, seven years ago, when our little world was inundated with visions of Chicken Little and his falling sky. Literally. The technology boom – turned bust – had swept through the nation as friends and colleagues in the tech world were scrambling to determine how to navigate the maze of the unemployment process while trying to find a new job that would pay half of what they had grown accustomed to; housing prices were softening (although no one told the folks in Boulder), and you couldn’t pick up the paper or flip on CNN without reading about the latest dot bomb crisis du jour. Then came September 11. I am fairly confident everyone remembers exactly where they were when the second plane crashed and New York erupted into mass chaos.



I can’t forget it. I had just decided to launch this consulting business called GroundFloor Media, hadn’t even taken the time to buy a real desk and was getting ready to launch a nationwide program for breast cancer survivors. Then it all stopped.



While today’s headlines “U.S. Bends the Rule of Free Markets” and “Leaders Meet to Plan a Rescue” fill the pages of USA Today, I realize it’s not too different than the stories that filled our morning papers back in the spring of 2001. Sure, the content is different. We didn’t talk about irresponsibility and greed and the government bailing out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; we focused on irresponsibility and greed with young entrepreneurs and the venture capital community.



As a country and as a community, we bounced back. When you start a business in the middle of one of the greatest tragedies to hit American soil, with unemployment rates peaking and not a good news story in sight, you begin to see that the more things change, the more they truly stay the same. Sit tight. Stay awake. This too shall pass.

Top 100 PR, Marketing, Advertising and Social Media Blogs

Get ready to start bookmarking... Our friends at Spotlight Ideas just posted a list of the top 100 blogs related to PR, marketing, social media and advertising. While the GFM Glog did not make the cut (don't worry, I'm not bitter), there are a number of great blogs listed that I highly recommend you add to your own blogroll or at least, to your IE favorites. All the biggies are included (i.e., Seth Godin, AdRants), but there are a couple of less notorious ones that I would also recommend, including Customers Rock!, Make the Logo Bigger and the Diva Marketing Blog.

You can check out the entire list here.

Enjoy!

Social Networks Get Down to Business

There has been a lot of discussion recently about whether B2B companies are really utilizing social media to grow their businesses. Given the fact that social media is about, well, socializing, it's a valid question. According to a new report released by eMarketer, the answer is a resounding yes. According to the report:

As the number of business users of social networks continues to increase, advertising expenditures will rise, too. In the US this year, advertisers will spend $40 million to reach a business audience on online social networks, and that is just the beginning. According to eMarketer projections, that ad spending will reach $210 million in 2012.

"As compelling as the ad growth is, marketers will spend far more over the next few years to create and manage their own social networks for business customers, partners, suppliers and vendors," says Debra Aho Williamson, senior analyst at eMarketer and author of the new report, B2B Marketing on Social Networks: Engaging the Business Audience. "These business networks will serve a range of purposes, from improving customer communication and collaboration to aiding product development."

A clear sign of the revolution in business thinking and behavior is the popularity of LinkedIn—the most widely known professional social network—where the audience has more than doubled in the past year, and the rise of additional business-oriented networks, including a raft of networks aimed at verticals.

Personally, I've witnessed numerous companies successfully leverage social media to help them build their customer base and reach new audiences - especially with blogs and creating their own social networking groups. It will be interesting to watch this trend continue.