Archive for September, 2009
The El Show Episode 8: Avoiding Safe People & The Female Economy
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
Warning: There’s significant profanity in this podcast.
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Richard Laermer returned for
Episode Eight of The El Show, which was broadcasted live from the GrowSmartBiz show. We had a couple of heavy conversations on safety in PR and wasting time, as well as The Female Economy that is expected to emerge when the recession ends. Here’s the full podcast lineup on
- Seth Godin was discussed on the El Show again thanks to his Squidoo scraping episode
- Senator Mark Warner’s decision last year not to run for President of the United States
- Conservative PR (and real world) types who don’t have balls (a.k.a. guts) to say anything
- The value of time and quid pro quo
- The new business of celebrity death
- The Female Economy that will emerge after the recession
- Richard’s session next week (Tuesday, Oct. 6 at 2:30), What Clients Don’t Know Will Hurt You
. How to choose “winners” to invest time in.
Download and/or listen to the El Show today.
Popularity: 17% [?]
Posted in Podcasts | No Comments »
SocChangeCamp NYC 09: 15 Ways to Fight Apathy with Social Media Tools
Sunday, September 27th, 2009
At SocialChangeCamp New York 09, I led a session with a dozen other folks on how to combat stakeholder apathy using social tools. Cause exhaustion and apathy remains a reality for many causes, especially in a recession year. While many people recognize problems such as climate change or homelessness, few people act.
We had fifteen tips or ideas on how to get people over the apathy hump:
1) Stakeholder stories: Instead of the organization pleading the cause, let the beneficiaries and donors do so through social tools. From photos and videos to stories and tweets, authentic stories can convince someone to act where even the best PR fails.
2) Make it easy to understand and take action. This is the one click principle, as Damien said chunking the issue down making the large issues, smaller and much more manageable. The key here is to make it easy to act daily with multiple options.
3) Make them heroes: Publicly laud people who act and make them heroes. Those on the fence will want to join them in the metaphorical winner’s circle.
4) Show them their pain: Many people will shirk off a problem as not theirs. Get them to experience how the cause impacts them. For example, film homeless people camped outside a Wall Street financier’s house. In essence, embarrass the guilty.
5) Remind them that in actuality the cause touches their life, too! For example everyone knows someone who has had cancer.
6) Bring it into the current time period. The holocaust is the great example here, but by citing current genocide situations like Darfur, activists can keep the situation real and current.
7) Show them doing good has rewards. In the September issues of Harvard Business Review, Bill Clinton said, “The belief that companies must choose between doing good and being profitable is outdated.” Show companies how sustainability and other social good initiatives actually impact their bottom line for the better.
Make sure the action meets their needs, too (event, entertainment, etc.). The Twestival series of events provides a great example. Twenty somethings got a great social event, and charities throughout the world raised much needed funds.
9) Educate and convert influencers into trust agents. Along the lines of #1, the best people to convince others often isn’t the organization. Converting already prominent influencers into brand ambassadors and trust agents can be a much faster route to word of mouth and action.
10) Show them the impact of their actions, particularly with large mega issues. For example, using a canteen can save xx barrels of crude oil from being processed over a year.
11) Factual, honest and simple (KISS): That’s for the PR folks. Don’t BS people, and tell the truth in plain English. People smell BS a mile away and it can be the thing that’s holding folks back.
12) Permutation of linear, mass action: Ah, the wing of a butterfly story. How does your touch impact another, who touches another, who touches, etc., etc.
13) No interruptions, instead provide relevant non-intrusive dialogue. You don’t need to get in people’s faces with your efforts (PETA comes to mind), instead provide a more meaningful conversation with real impact.
14) Piggyback on larger, related societal events and issues. This is an old PR strategy, but still relevant: Ride the coattails. For example, last week’s G20 meeting was a great visibility opportunity for socially savvy environmental organizations.
15) Mindfulness – Deep listening as meaningful communications. Don’t always be on, instead seriously listen to the community and add your two cents when it has value impact to offer. Your communications may be better received.
Popularity: 22% [?]
Posted in Cause | 4 Comments »
The El Show Episode 7: Seth Godin’s Relevancy, SM vs. Real Life Balance
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
Warning: There’s significant profanity in this podcast.
Episode of Seven of The El Show featuring Ike Pigott (who sat in for Richard Laermer) and I deal with Godin’s relevance and social media fame versus real life balance. Here’s the full podcast lineup on
- Is top-ranked marketing blogger Seth Godin still relevant or past his prime? Ike likened Godin to George Mikan, who became instantly irrelevant in the NBA with the advent of the shot clock.
- Balancing life with social media nano-fame
- The future of journalism as it melds with social media
- Tweeting on the toilet
Download and/or listen to the El Show today.
Popularity: 38% [?]
Posted in Podcasts | No Comments »
Video from Mashable Social Good Conference
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009
One of my most recent cause-oriented speeches was at last month’s Mashable Social Good Conference. The Summer of Good campaign, which raised a total of more than $55,000 equally benefiting LiveSTRONG, The Humane Society, WWF, and Oxfam America, came to a close at the Social Good Conference on August 28th, 2009.
In addition to the above video, below find my PPT for the event dubbed, “Movements Begin Within.”
Popularity: 16% [?]
Tags: LiveSTRONG, Mashable, Movements, Oxfam America, The Humane Society, WWF
Posted in Cause | 1 Comment »
Photos Make #lovetheclimate Easy
Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

One never knows how a social media campaign will evolve, and the Live Earth “Love, the Climate” effort is no different. One of the surprising aspects of the current effort is the popularity of photos, providing the top submission method over voicemails, videos and text messages on the Facebook page.
We’ve received well over 250 photos in less than two days on the Love, the Climate Flickr group (check out the Live Earth slide show here). The Facebook Love the Climate page has also received photo submissions.
I guess the old adage is true: A picture really is worth a 1,000 words. #lovetheclimate.
Just a reminder, if you are going to add your photos, a content submission alone does not constitute registration for the Giveaway. For a chance to win one must register at:
www.joinliveearth.org/page/s/lovetheclimate. Live Earth is giving away the Schwinn 2010 World NX 7 Commuter Bicycle as a grand prize. There are 10 First Prize Climate Love Packs up for grabs.
Popularity: 25% [?]
Posted in Cause, Green, Photography | No Comments »
The El Show Episode 6: Kanye West Staging, the Jackass Incident, and Personal Brands
Tuesday, September 15th, 2009
Warning: There’s significant profanity in this podcast.
Episode of Six of The El Show featuring Richard Laermer and I had a lot to do with brand images and PR. We discussed the Kanye West incident, and the likely staging of it as well as POTUS’s “jackass” remark. Here’s the full podcast lineup on
- Did Kanye West stage his Video Music Award stunt?
- Madonna’s fading star quality
- The deaths of Jim Carroll and Jody Powell
- Obama calls Kanye West a jackass, and what we thought about that
- The loss of civility in American society and the desire for PR via bizarre acts
- Character vs. image: A discussion of personal branding via Kami Huyse. We had a long healthy discussion on this, including narcissism online.
- A Star Ledger reporter escapes the biz only to return to journalism, an endangered business.
- Will universities go the way of newspapers?
Download and/or listen to the El Show today.
Popularity: 16% [?]
Posted in Podcasts | No Comments »
The El Show Episode Five: Obama, Underwear and Hot Dogs
Tuesday, September 8th, 2009
Warning: There’s significant profanity in this podcast.
Episode of five of The El Show featuring Richard Laermer and I was packed and wide ranging. We discussed everything from a bad Ad Age article on social media adoption and underwear to hot dogs and books we are currently reading. Here’s what we discussed on
- Ad Age says why social media isn’t resonating yet. We say BS, and really get into it
- Fruit of the Loom’s Cirque du Soleil performance advertisement
- Oscar Mayer weiner word of mouth (and the brilliant Andy Sernovitz)
- Bill Gates and the weenie mobile, Jewishness and why Hebrew National is better
- If your competitors are incompetent, does it hurt you?
- Apple has become a customer service monolith
- Obama’s great fight for health care, and the decline of the medical profession
- TV app stores (NY Times)
- Our favorite books (Geoff likes cyberpunk, Richard is into biographies)
Download and/or listen to the El Show today.
Popularity: 18% [?]
Posted in Podcasts | No Comments »
Virgin Islands Sunrise
Tuesday, September 8th, 2009
My most commented on, admired photo (by other Flickr users) was a complete accident. I took a Canon IS3 (6 megapixels), and got a lucky, beautiful capture. You can see the photo here. It just goes to show you, always carrying a camera is a good idea.
Popularity: 17% [?]
Posted in Photography | No Comments »


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