Authors Chip Heath and Dan Heath discuss a strategy to make any idea stick  in their book “Made to Stick”, and conclude that the main contributor in making an idea stick is a genuine story. Here is another food product that tells a compelling story.

Dave started making Dave’s Killer Bread after he completed his 15-year jail sentence for burglary and assault, which stemmed from his drug addiction. When he got out of jail he felt like he had been given a second chance and started making the bread that his father taught him to make as a boy. The bread became a hit in his home-state of Oregon, where organic and local food reigns.  Dave puts a simple message on each bag of bread “Just Say No to Bread on Drugs”, which ties in his story with the bread’s mission. If you are interested to hear more about Dave’s story then watch this video.

I’m bombarded by thousands of messages a day, most of which I don’t notice or end up forgetting. However, an unforgettable message caught my attention this morning as I was eating my yogurt; in fact, the message was on my yogurt. Siggi’s Icelandic yogurt called Skry contains simple ingredients and tells a simple, yet compelling message. The message is Siggi moved from Iceland to the states and began missing the healthy food from Iceland (haven’t you noticed all Icelanders are thin?). More specifically, Siggi longed to eat the simple yogurt of Skry – a product that’s made from non-fat milk into a creamy, thick yogurt. After finding the right dairy farm and the correct temperature to create Skry, Siggi began making and selling Sigg’s Skry.

This yogurt is now sold at most major grocery chains nationwide. I believe Siggi’s success came from his realization that he could share his simple story on the back of his yogurts to create a connection with consumers, which in turn can build brand loyalty and hopefully increase WOM (what I’m doing now!). It sure worked on me – I know I will continue eating Siggi’s Skry.

Also, since I’m on an Icelandic health kick I thought I would share this song that could inspire anyone to start running….

• • • • • Know Your Audience. Sometimes the most difficult aspect of a campaign is narrowing down an audience. Fortunately, I understood the qualities of the potential candidates that the the Real Estate company wanted to recruit. The next step was to understand how to approach and converse with the candidates. I viewed it as: “How Would I Want to be Approached If a Company Wanted to Hire Me?”. Also I applied some basic etiquette that I learned from pitching to journalists.
• Research, Research, Research. Before jumping on the social media bandwagon, it’s important to know what platforms your audience uses and for what reasons. For instance, I found that most real estate agents in the area were not actively using Twitter, but on LinkedIn instead to network with other agents. From there, I could devote my time and energy to LinkedIn and some other social media sites that they primarily used.
• Try it out. I monitored conversations circulating on LinkedIn to find key candidates then respectfully approached them about opportunities. Just like any good pitch, make sure to let them know what you can offer them, how you differ from other companies in that sector, and also why their qualities stood out to you.
• Evaluate. After a month of using social media as a part of the real estate company’s recruiting efforts, we took a step back and analyzed the results. Interestingly, there wasn’t a huge difference in the amount of real estate agent applicants. This occurred for several reasons, a few being the state of economy and the nature of a career in real estate. Also, most of the top-performing candidates were of the age demographic 40-55, so were not active online participants. However, the social media activity in the past month greatly increased the company’s SEO – especially in the area they are located, which means they can better beat their rivals on a Google search.
• Lesson learned. Even though their main audience wasn’t actively using social media, it’s important to have an online presence to gain credibility and heighten visibility. This solidified the company’s need to maintain their social media profiles. In the end, we turned the project around to helping train their current agents to use social media in order to promote their business and sell their homes. I hope by doing so, other agents will be attracted to this forward-thinking company who now has the resources to train employees on social media use.

Let me know about your experience being recruited or recruiting through social media.

1. Seek the information! I used to firmly believe in RSS feeds and alerts, but the more I subscribe to the more I neglect to read. Also, when I subscribe to blogs and information I become lazy about searching for new information, which leads to a lack of variety.
2. Set aside time. Instead of skimming the headlines, I save a chunk of the day to sift through blogs and news to read some in-depth articles about anything that catches my eye. I find that by doing this I’m able to retain more information and save the grief of scanning multiple headlines.
3. Save it. If the article is worth saving or I don’t have enough time to read the piece then I save it for later on my Delicious page, which neatly organizes the info into various tags.  So save yourself the headache by storing articles on a social bookmarking site.
4. Limit your social media use. So how much has changed on Facebook during the last five minutes? Probably not a whole lot! Living away from most of my friends and family, I use Facebook as a way to stay connected. If I don’t set a time limit on my social networking time then I will get lost in the abyss. I’m wary that social media addiction exists, but I think setting a time limit is a healthy approach.
5. Turn it off. Finally turn off all the news and gadgets. I give myself time each day to reflect and process the information I’ve received, whether that be through running, writing or chatting about the day with a friend.

Any other tips on modifying your information diet?

Clear communication seemed the obvious answer to one of the questions discussed: Should PR people e-mail bloggers? Matt Churchill of Edelman Digital brought up a good point when he said that whether the blogger shares its contact details or not, they exist somewhere on the web. The point is, if you are active on the web, don’t act surprised when someone contacts you, which highlights the importance of communication again. Bloggers should inform their readership of how they would like to be reached, the best way to contact them and what they do or do not accept. In the same way, PR practioners should understand their exceptions from the blogger interaction.

Stephen Waddington of Speed Communication said, “Bloggers can help PRs by clearly signposting their likes and dislikes on their blog. If you don’t want unsolicited pitches say so.” This eliminates any ambiguous expectations for PR practitioners.

On the ‘opposing’ side, Chris Osburn voiced that even though people suggest a restaurant doesn’t mean he will write rave reviews about it. Most bloggers – just like journalists – want the freedom to write without restrictions or contracts. Overall, keep the communication and expectations clear between both parties, and as Cate Sevilla from BitchBuzz said, “The approach isn’t black and white – everyone is human – just treat them that way.”

• The Future of Public Relations and Social Media: This article by Mashable’s Erica Swallow discusses the evolution from traditional PR practices to social media. For instance, the web provides more options than traditional formats to distribute press releases, such as Pitchengine. One of the most interesting points she brought up is changing dynamic in the push-pull relationship between PR practitioners and journalists. Instead of pushing information, platforms like Help a Reporter Out enable journalists to request an industry expert for an article  - allowing PR reps to respond to the inquiry.
• My Top 5 Shortcuts: #1 Use a Feedreader: My former Public Relations professor from the University of Oregon maintains a blog that offers practical social media tips as well as various best practice examples. I really like this post that highlights an organized reading routine – hence the GoogleReader kick that initiated this post. Kelli makes the point that while it’s important to skim through your reader daily, it’s more efficient to let the content come to you by subscribing to RSS feeds with filters and using notification alerts.
• New Red Cross Study Finds Web Users Would Turn To Social Media In Emergencies & Expect 1st Responders To Be Listening: This post by crisis communications blogger John Solomon highlights the importance of government bodies being prepared through all channels, including social media in the case of an emergency. The survey by the Red Cross reveals that most web users go online during an emergency and that 74% of those users expect a response less than an hour after their Tweet or Facebook post: Proof that the government needs a new level of crisis management and emergency preparedness.
• PR’s Use of Digital Media: Valeria Maltoni creates a clever progress chart outlining the level of social media that businesses conduct. The four stages of social media readiness explains different phases in social media implementation ranging from the “Crawling Stage” to the “Running Stage.” All in all, good report that stresses the only way you can measure results is if you establish clear guidelines and expectations of your social media use based on the different levels of engagement.

Recently, my account manager asked me to take meeting notes at a 6-month client review. I diligently sat in front of the computer and recorded the conversation points and information about the client’s new key messages. I felt like I was at University again – minus the sweatshirt – taking notes from the professor.

After the meeting, I e-mailed my ‘notes’ to my manager only to realise I neglected to record the most important aspect of the meeting: the action points! My account manager and our client were not interested in reading a recap of the key messages and target audiences. Conversely, they wanted to have a record of accountability. Meaning: What actions do we and our client need to make and by what date?

So, a meeting report should include:

• Client’s feedback about past work, which you can use to assess progress and prepare for future work
• Client’s upcoming expectations along with a timeline: What kind of work do they want produced? When do they expect this to be created?
• Our needs. Based on the client’s expectations, what do we need from them and by what date in order to produce the material?

Based on all this information, it’s useful to break down the items by categories, such as case studies, strategy development, releases and so on. Then create two columns: action needed by (either the PR agency or the client) then date needed by.

I know this is quite a simple outline of how to record a meeting, but I believe that both parties need a clear outlook on what their expectations are and this is a helpful, concise form of documentation.

What else have you learned in your job that they didn’t teach you at University? Any other effective ways to record meeting notes?

From this media attention I’m surprised by the lack of responsiveness from JetBlue. For being such a media-savvy company, they have neglected to engage in a two-way conversation with the community. Instead, JetBlue has attempted to downplay the incident by posting an article on its blog titled “Sometimes the Wierd News is About Us,”  in which they explain their motives: ‘The reason we’re not commenting is that we respect the privacy of the individual. People can speak on their own behalf; we won’t do it for them.”

I find their brutal honesty about not commenting refreshing but am still shocked by their disregard to the 148 comments left in reaction to the post. The beauty of  social media communities is that it’s a method of crowd sourcing. JetBlue has the potential to not only respond to its loyal customers but gain knowledge about how best to handle the situation. My favorite comment and idea comes from a guy named Matt who suggests they should hire Steven to make a series of YouTube videos that showcase the do’s and dont’s of carry-on luggage policies.

JetBlue similarly ignored multiple questions and comments via Twitter by replying with a no comment policy. With all this said, I’m disappointed by the lack of communication from JetBlue. JetBlue has the opportunity to capture the media attention while it exists and mould it in their favour. Furthermore, JetBlue has the chance to explore the broader implications of this incident, such as customer service on airlines and treating staff with respect.

Airlines continue to form crisis communication case studies for social media platforms – some bad and some good. What we can learn from all of these situations is the importance of being timely, transparent, and responsive. What would you do if you were in JetBlue’s position? How would you regain your customers loyalty?

Also, if you are thinking of quitting your job and want to go out with a bang, here is a blog that shares some tips! (Warning: will lead to unemployment)

Along with the social media attention, comedians have taken this scenario and mocked it in entertaining ways:

Any crucial sites missing? Please feel free to contribute to the list by adding a comment. Thanks to GoogleDocs, the content will automatically update when I make changes!