As promised, here is the second post (and first tip) on how to build a first-class online reputation management group. As I have mentioned, this is a series of posts that offer what I think are the keys to success in establishing, promoting or defending your company’s issues or reputation in the online environment. And doing so within the corporate or agency environment. So here goes, dear readers:
Tip #1 Hire the best minds you can, regardless of age – and pay them what they deserve.
This one is a personal irritation for me. I spent 15 years in the agency world, and as I ascended the corporate ladder, I assumed a greater role in the hiring process. My ascension, however, rarely coincided with the sole ability to determine compensation. Recession aside, I cannot tell you how many times I argued with upper management about the compensation package for potential recruits who were top-notch people. It’s hard enough to find a stellar candidate, but then the dance begins. And you can bet your bottom dollar that your competitors are in the dance too.
The following conversation was one that I had years ago that was my first slap-in-the-face moment when it came to fighting the fight for top-notch talent.
MARK: Candidate XYZ is outstanding. The best I have seen in a long time. Why can’t we go higher on the salary? Or get more creative in the compensation?
HR LUDDITE: Mark, we did a survey of all of the agencies in our space and we determined that our salaries fall right in the industry average.
MARK: If we pay the industry average, how can we expect anything but AVERAGE EMPLOYEES??!?!?
HR LUDDITE: “[sputter, stammer] Well…well…” What she was really thinking: “F**K YOU, MARK.”
Writer’s note: stupid should hurt.
The conversation above was real (except for what I imagine the HR person was thinking, but I bet it was close), but it makes the point that if you want top-notch people, you have to pay top-notch salaries. Period. Full stop. I get that we are in a recession and profit margins are shrinking, so if you can’t pay top dollar, why not:
Give regular, merit bonuses for excellent work?
Offer working from home whenever your person needs it?
Give him/her every other Friday off?
Or get REALLY creative? I once managed to convince upper management that it was time to reward people by showing that we not only appreciated them, but understood them as people. So one woman got a full-day spa treatment, one got a trip and a pass for an industry expo, one got a plane ticket home ot Puerto Rico, etc.
You get my point. If your people have made money for you and worked above and beyond, then compensate them in ways that go above and beyond AND show an understanding of what they are likely to value most.
There are a zillion ways to get creative in compensation, but the bottom line is that if you want more than average, you have to compensate in more than average fashion. Period.
Coming Up:
Hire the best minds you can, regardless of age – and pay them what they deserve.
When you hire people, don’t bait the hook with “work-life balance” and then work people to death. And if they do have to work monstrous hours, compensate them creatively.
Give them the software, hardware and online tools to be successful. Don’t ask people to fight with one hand tied behind their backs.
Encourage intellectual curiosity in your staff. Push reading and conferences so that their minds are fresh and challenged.
When it comes to your client(s), select the right mix of tools that enables them to really — REALLY — monitoring the company/client’s online reputation. This means print news, online news, trade pubs, blogs, Twitter, TV, radio and attack sites. You must look at everything.
When you are doing the monitoring, pick the right people to assess the opportunity or threat. That means knowing that venues really matter, the potential viral nature of the information, and most importantly, how to calibrate your response to the threat or opportunity presented. And oh — they have to have an excellent understanding of the subject matter. So junior staff here, folks.
When you find a threat that is serious, use ALL of the tools at your disposal. That could be full-blown Web sites, dark Web sites that can be activated quickly, blogs, Tweets, third-party online and offline recruitment and activation as well as — yes, this is controversial — opposition research and, if necessary, opposition depositioning. That’s right, if you are getting attacked, attack back.
Look at social media like learning a language. The more that your staff (and you) know, the more that you will not know. This is where #4 comes in handy – if you and others are reading and listening to smart people, you will have a sense of what to be looking at for the future.
Given all of the tools in #8, do not be afraid to take the gloves off. If the threat is so serious that it could unfairly bring down your business or client, make sure everyone understands whats at stake; and what you should be doing about it. If the threat is so serious that people are going DEFCON 5, make sure that
Be a thought leader – if you do all of the above well, you are likely smart as hell. Engage in online conversations with others that a) further your learning and b) further your reputation.
I have owed all of you some of that irascible, original thinking and BlogWorld Expo really got me thinking –it’s time to get off my ass and offer up some original thinking. BWE 09 was the spark that made me realize that I owe you guys some decent, hopefully useful, thinking.
Fret no more, my friends, for I am going to try to offer you my purported keys to the kingdom in terms of getting what we want — and what is right for just about any organization that gives a damn about their reputation. GOOD ONLINE REPUTATION MANAGEMENT. And I have said it until I am blue in the face, but the seeds of a company’s reputation are sown in the online environment and harvested in the offline world. Sure, pitch the op-ed page of the Wall Street Journal, but your chances of success are a lot higher in the online environment.
So what am I talking about? I am composing an entire series of posts: “Top Ten Tips on How to Build a First-Rate Online Public Affairs Offering – Or At Least One that Doesn’t Suck.“ I will post the first one tomorrow, but expect upcoming posts that offer what I think are the keys to success in establishing, promoting or defending your company’s issues or reputation in the online environment. And doing so within the corporate or agency environment. So here goes, dear readers:
My Top Ten Tips:
Hire the best minds you can, regardless of age – and pay them what they deserve.
When you hire people, don’t bait the hook with “work-life balance” and then work people to death. And if they do have to work monstrous hours, compensate them creatively.
Give them the software, hardware and online tools to be successful. Don’t ask people to fight with one hand tied behind their backs.
Encourage intellectual curiosity in your staff. Push reading and conferences so that their minds are fresh and challenged.
When it comes to your client(s), select the right mix of tools that enables them to really — REALLY — monitoring the company/client’s online reputation. This means print news, online news, trade pubs, blogs, Twitter, TV, radio and attack sites. You must look at everything.
When you are doing the monitoring, pick the right people to assess the opportunity or threat. That means knowing that venues really matter, the potential viral nature of the information, and most importantly, how to calibrate your response to the threat or opportunity presented. And oh — they have to have an excellent understanding of the subject matter. So junior staff here, folks.
When you find a threat that is serious, use ALL of the tools at your disposal. That could be full-blown Web sites, dark Web sites that can be activated quickly, blogs, Tweets, third-party online and offline recruitment and activation as well as — yes, this is controversial — opposition research and, if necessary, opposition depositioning. That’s right, if you are getting attacked, attack back.
Look at social media like learning a language. The more that your staff (and you) know, the more that you will not know. This is where #4 comes in handy – if you and others are reading and listening to smart people, you will have a sense of what to be looking at for the future.
Given all of the tools in #8, do not be afraid to take the gloves off. If the threat is so serious that it could unfairly bring down your business or client, make sure everyone understands whats at stake; and what you should be doing about it. If the threat is so serious that people are going DEFCON 5, make sure that you CAN go to DEFCON 5.
Be a thought leader – if you do all of the above well, you are likely smart as hell. Engage in online conversations with others that a) further your learning and b) further your reputation.
BONUS: Rinse, lather, repeat.
I hope that all of you enjoy reading this series as much as I am writing it.
It’s not often — and I mean RARE — that I talk about my day job here. I’m Director of New Media at the Securities and Exchange Commission, a job that I love dearly. I love it because, sometimes, it gives me the chance to do some good. Not all days are sunshine and chocolate and there are frustrations, but on days like yesterday, I leave feeling exhausted but very good.
Yesterday was the culmination of nearly a year’s work on building and launching a first-ever for the SEC; Investor.gov, a micro-site devoted exclusively to investor protection and education. In my recent travels to BlogWorld Expo and meeting tons of wonderful people, what amazed me is that so few people even know that the SEC plays an important role in protecting investors — and helping to prevent fraud.
This is such a passion of mine because last year, I traveled throughout the U.S. filming video of seniors who had fallen victim to fraud — and in the process, lost nearly all of their savings. One poor woman told me that “a young man” came to her door who was “dressed so nicely and was so polite” that, by the time she had left, her life’s savings were in someone else’s hands. That enraged me but made me more determined than ever to use my skill set to try to make a difference.
So please — retweet this, bookmark it, do whatever you can to push it out. The more people who know how to avoid scams and fraud, the less sad headlines we’ll see.
Please.
Mark
P.S. – SEC Disclaimer: The views expressed in this post are mine and mine alone and do not necessarily reflect those of the SEC Chairman, Commissioners, or my colleagues. So there.
It was a whirlwind few days at #BWE09, and while, yes, Virginia, it was held in Las Vegas, there was a lot more “there there” than gambling and boozing it up. It’s amazing to think that the whole “Internet thing” (add your own air quotes) has become not only so big that it needs to be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, but that there is kind of graduate school for those of us in social media. And I consider myself lucky to be able to do it for a living – and to keep learning at events like this.
A couple of thoughts about the conference:
What struck me the most was, for the most part, the humility of some of the real A-listers out there. While here, I had the pleasure of meeting people like Guy Kawasaki, Brian Solis, Tac Anderson, David Armano, Shannon Paul and so many others that I’ll stop here. Everyone whom I met was happy to say a hello, chat if they could, and share a story or a laugh time permitting.
At work, often, speaking about social media still emits that look that your dog gives you when you are naked, so there is tremendous camaraderie amongst the attendees. It’s like one big group hug from people who get each other. And for the most part, we all share the same stories and frustration at work. And for the first time in my life, I did not worry when someone was on typing on their iPhone when I was talking – maybe I was actually getting tweeted (and was).
Being here is like learning a foreign language. The more you know, the more you don’t know. There were not many “well, duh” moments and I found myself soaking up the thinking of some really smart people. It’s nice to get an intellectual shot to the head every once in a while. No one can predict the future with certainty, but it was fascinating to hear people talk about where they think our profession is going.
Finally, the thing that I think struck me the most – and perhaps should have been the most obvious – was that many of the wonderful people whom I met were quiet and reserved. A couple of them, I think, were much more comfortable organizing their thoughts via a blog — expressing them that way — than having an extended conversation. Some folks are just more comfortable behind a computer than behind a podium.
So I feel like one lucky dude – I learned, I laughed and I got the opportunity to cement those friendship with all of the friends that I had not met yet.
See you next year. I’m comin’ if I have to walk from DC.
Mark
P.S. – A quick shout out to Jason Falls. He made it possible for me to come and enjoy all of the above. Thanks, Jason. Thank, ya, thank ya verr much.
Mommy Bloggers are, I think, probably the best demonstration of the fact that the Internet in general and the blogosphere in particular, is not one, big blob. It is made up of highly connected and powerful groups of people who share common interests and passions. Oh – and fear the power of the Mommy Blogger. Ask Motrin – blogged about this a few months back.
Colleen Padilla, re: FTC disclosure. Even before this came up, she has been extremely specific about disclosing what she does. “I bought this at Target,” or “Company XYZ sent me this product.”
The real gray areas are now Facebook and Twitter. How does that count for endorsement?
Lindsay Ledesco of Graco: You have to be honest and disclose that you got the product for free. We have never paid bloggers to work for us.
Ted Murphy: his company has actually developed a disclosure audit. Cool.
Colleen: if a tweet that “I’m sweating because I am playing Whack-a-Mole” disclosure-worthy if you are a mommy blogger A-lister? Good question. Is it a hash tag, #ns – “non sponsored?”
online reputation management group. As I have mentioned, this is a series of posts that offer what I think are the keys to success in establishing, promoting or defending your company’s issues or reputation in the online environment. And doing so within the corporate or agency environment. So here goes, dear readers:
time to get off my ass and offer up some original thinking. BWE 09 was the spark that made me realize that I owe you guys some decent, hopefully useful, thinking.
