In IT, a black box is a program that measures output against input in complex systems.
This Black Box is designed to help companies achieve a similar goal in PR. Black Box provides our candid input—based on several lifetimes of experience—for companies that want to measure and improve the performance of PR programs.
After reading every social media book, I realize one can never have too much of this good thing. Wish I could contribute my own, but alas lack time for toming. So I encourage you to. Herewith some “how to” tips, that you yourself might join the SM immortals.
A friend who manages social media for a Fortune 500 company confided that he prefers traditional press because he can measure its impact. Given that social media is his job, hearing this seemed as anomalous as the thought of Henry Ford yelling “Get a horse!” at passing motorists.
Some people in my profession live by the maxim, “Never lie to the press, but don’t tell the whole truth, either.” I find it easier to follow the path set by Mark Twain, who said, “I used to lie but had to get out of that business — there were too damned many amateurs giving it a bad name.”
My last blog got me wondering whether there are good vs. bad times to post blogs. Many say to blog weekly, same day/same time, just like an old print columnist. Maybe I’m a hopeless contrarian: My gut tells me that such conventional ideas on output & deadlines don’t apply in social media.
Is there a right or wrong way to blog? Not when it’s personal. But in tech — an arena driven by engineering and science, which in turn proceed from factual evidence and rules — people expect more. By this definition, a key shortcoming of many tech “blogs” is that they’re not blogs, at all. They’re “blabs” or “brags.”
“Fantastic idea! – Let’s call a meeting of the entire team to hash it out,” burbled the hyperactive marketing veep. “Better idea: This IS the meeting,” I fired back. “Now let’s get to work.”
Anybody else dropping to their knees in worship of the social media “snake oil” peddlers? You know — the guys who promise fame and riches if we chug their elixir of techniques? I did for awhile. Now I call this rubbish “Self-Help 2.0″ — social media fortune-seeking advice for Everyman.
My old pal Ken called to say his life sucked and he was going to shoot himself. It wasn’t the first time. I’d heard Ken’s mantra for months. Infuriated at the idea of someone throwing his life away, I said, “The problem is you don’t have a gun. Stay where you are — I’ll be right over to shoot you.”
Howard the CEO was furious — “I want a correction!” The occasion: a biz journal cover story with side-by-side pix of 2 local business leaders — Howard + a drag queen restaurateur. “Correct what?” I countered. “It’s not like they mixed up the photo captions.”
The absolute last word on social media, economics and freeconomics. As they say, “if you read nothing else this year,” please do make it one of these tomes. And if shyness about writing is holding you back from SM, we’ve thrown in an essay recommendation that will help.
