For a long time now, whenever I’ve been discussing Social Media best practices with clients, there’s a brand that I champion, holding them in highest esteem thanks to their almost faultless record on Twitter. [Read more…]
Oh No! Not another Social Media Expert?!
The last post I wrote focussed on Twitter. It was a tongue in cheek attempt to break down some of the confusion that surrounds my favourite Social Media platform and it was gratifyingly popular. A small section focussed on business use but really it was a more high level attempt to allay some of the fears residing in individuals making their first foray into this brave new world. [Read more…]
caring and sharing….
My mum & dad obviously did a good job in dragging me up as (for an only child) I’m a great believer in sharing. I’ve often thought that if hard cash were not the currency of choice in our modern world then I’d happily do what I do for free – *Pauses* – Let’s be absolutely clear here, I don’t do what I do for free but neither am I so miserly that I’d refuse even to talk to someone unless I thought there was ‘something in it for me’.
night shifts…
I’ve talked before about my ‘working arrangements’ and the upshot of this style is that I’m often working when sensible folk are catching up on Sky+ / Facebook / Twitter / the pile of books on their bedside table (delete as…). Those who know me well will argue that I manage to put in a fair shift on FB/Twitter but that’s more to do with typing speed and availability of iPhone than commitment to the cause.
Working at night is a strange one, being freelance already places you in that vortex of self reliance, often paralysed by the absence of ‘water cooler’ moments to gain perspective. Someone much more talented than me put it perfectly this week (on Twitter) RT @susanorlean “Being a writer requires an awkward balance of utter confidence and abject insecurity. Both necessary, neither sufficient.” followed up with RT @susanorlean “You do need the nerve to think you have something to say, but also the humility to listen, and the neediness to want to be heard.” So, so true and somehow working antisocial hours makes you feel even more of a pariah in social / business commentary terms, which is why I have to work hard to develop skills that keep me current and relevant and useful on the 2009/10 marketing communications tour.
Ultimately for me, it comes down to two things:-
Feeling slighted….
Rejection. Never something to relish but, sadly, a necessary part of working in PR… you write an article or opinion piece and try to syndicate it to relevant publications to gain profile for your client, or for yourself. Sometimes, despite you feeling all zeitgeisty and flooding with confidence, the product of your tapping digits is rejected or, if it’s done nicely, not considered ‘relevant’ for the readership. It all amounts to the same thing – a big fat NO that sends you scurrying back to that little safe place where you try and persuade yourself that it’s not you, it’s them and they’ll be crying into their decaf rooibush when they see it placed elsewhere and realise with crushing clarity that they’ve just done the literary equivalent of Simon Cowell turning down the Spice Girls.
It happened to me this week, I’d just finished writing a piece about ‘The Female Future – a New Business Model’. My focus was on the Print industry, which is where I spend a good chunk of my time, but the points raised had a much wider application. I had fun writing this, it was factual, well researched and pertinent (if I say so myself) and more than that I was excited by it. “This is it” I thought to myself as I sent it off to the the publishing editor, “this is going to start a progressive discussion that might actually bring about positive change.” “Ha-de-Ha-Ha” any cynical onlookers would have thought, “here comes a living illustration of the fabled fall following the pride.”