Why You Should Hire a Female (part 1 of 2)

I am a female entrepreneur. And, if you follow our blog or read our site, you know that this is the second company that I have founded.

I choose not to talk much about me and let my staff and clients’ voices ring much louder, but being a female and running a company in a horrible economy has compelled me recently to consider—more closely—why and how we are surviving. Yes, we are unique and working in a niche industry, but I am thinking that the recipe for our success might have something to do with, dare, I say it, gender?

When I founded my first company, my fifty–year–old male business partner observed that I do not use my “sex” to succeed. That would be correct. More than anything, I tend to “use” my mind and words and not body and actions to get ahead.

My mother-in-law sent me an article recently from the Utne Reader. The first sentence of the article asks “How do businesses gain advantages in tough economic times?”  The answer the article offers: “promote more women.” The story discusses Pepperdine research which concluded that there is a correlation between high-level female executives and business success. The basic reasoning of the study findings is as follows: profitable companies have top executives that make smart decisions. One of the smart decisions these executives who run these successful companies make is to hire women “…so that regardless of gender, the best brains are available to continue making smart, and profitable, decisions.”

Is it regardless of gender or because of it? I would be interested to hear your opinion, men and women, in the comments.

Don’t Be Viral; Be Good

Pictured in the photo above are Carrie Barnes, Peter Shankman, me, Kira Loretto, Chrissy Buckley, and Laura Spaventa from Help A Reporter Out. We snapped it on Tuesday, after Peter spoke at a PRSA Philadelphia luncheon and we whisked him and Laura away to ELISE HQ to hang out and use our wireless.

But it’s not Peter’s visit to the office that I wanted to talk about—it’s what he said before he got here, during the luncheon. Peter was giving a talk called “Self Promotion Will Save the Universe,” and I couldn’t think of a better person to speak on the subject. Peter, more than anyone I know, is an excellent self-promoter. Sometimes, calling somebody a self-promoter is a bad thing, but not in Peter’s case. He’s been able to make himself into a brand, sure—but he’s done so by providing an awesome, free service that helps a lot of people (reporters and otherwise) out. When I first met Peter about a year and a half ago, HARO was still in its infancy, so it’s been fascinating to see how quickly and virally it’s grown, surpassing paid mailing lists that serve a similar purpose.

But if you ask Peter how you can launch a service that goes similarly viral, he’ll tell you you can’t—”But you can make something good.” Things that go viral on the internet go viral because people want to forward them around. Saying “I’m going to launch a viral PR campaign” won’t get you anywhere, but saying “I’m going to launch an awesome PR campaign” just might. And the campaigns with the best potential for going viral? They’re “designed to help,” says Peter. They could be helpful because they share important information or because they take a fun approach to addressing a problem or because they just brighten a person’s day—and help you remember a brand. If everything you post about yourself or your clients is of value, people will see that you produce content that’s worth sharing.

And one of the best ways to produce valuable content that people want to share? Good writing. I know: we’ve already said that on the ELISE blog, and more than once. But now Peter’s saying it too, and I think he carries some extra clout. If you want people to share your message, you need to give them something worth sharing. It goes beyond self promotion, even though that’s what Peter was there to talk about. It’s a general rule for PR, or it should be: if you’re sharing something that’s not news, or it is news but it’s not written well enough to be compelling, people won’t want to talk about your clients. And without that, how will you ever go viral?

Answer: you won’t.

ELISE at Clinton Global Initiative’s Annual Meeting

Whatever you thought of him while he was in office, it’s tough to ignore that former-President Bill Clinton is out there in the world, trying to make it a better place. Some of his individual efforts make big news—others make a big impact while flying a bit lower under the radar.

Somewhere in between is President Clinton’s work with the Clinton Global Initiative, which brings together members of the private sector, leading figures in philanthropy and government officials every year for its annual meeting. This year’s meeting, which began today and continues through the end of the week, will especially look at the current financial crisis, focusing on harnessing innovation for development; strengthening infrastructure; developing human capital; and financing a sustainable future.

Julia Novy-Hildesley, Executive Director of the Lemelson Foundation, will be leading a break-out discussion on the topic of “Becoming Embedded: Co-Creating Business With the Community”—and we just found out that our own Carrie Barnes will be heading up there tomorrow as well. Look for our updates on Twitter and wait for our thoughts right here on the blog, coming soon!

Social Media’s Gray Area…Toeing the Line Between Invasion of Privacy and Just Being Smart About It

In this day and age, it seems like everybody and their mother has a Facebook, and for better or worse, I’m being literal. My mom hasn’t hopped on the bandwagon yet, but the point is, you can’t keep track of everyone who is out there in cyberspace reading your posted information, be it an admissions counselor, ex-boyfriend, or employer. In fact, just this week, Facebook’s user population nearly equaled that of the U.S.

Social media allows you to create an impression on people, and just as with face-to-face interactions, you would like the impression to be a good one. This freedom of expression that the Internet equips us with, through sites like Twitter, Facebook, personal blogs and even professional networking sites such as LinkedIn—while it is certainly liberating, can also be dangerous if you aren’t careful (read: you don’t use common sense). In the last few years, social media has evolved from a largely personal tool for connecting with friends, new and old, to a universe in which it is uncommon for a major public figure, large corporation, or maybe your average socially conscious PR firm not to have a Twitter account. Social media is everywhere, and like Geico’s latest advertising campaign, the little money stack with eyes,  it’s watching you.

With this in mind, a few weeks ago I read an article on the dangers of social media for your career, and it struck a chord with me. We all have moments when we are frustrated with life, but there is something to be said for not airing dirty laundry in public. For instance, if you happen to follow the company Twitter, or are Facebook friends with your co-workers, it’s probably not the best idea to publicly complain about your job. When I see my friends do this, I cringe in discomfort for them. Even law enforcement uses Facebook these days, though they won’t be writing on your wall. Just the other week, an annual party at my alma mater was broken up by the police after they read details of it on a Facebook event page.

While some might consider this an invasion of privacy, if it’s out there, someone will find it. Hear me now, people, and thank me later. Use the old rule of thumb… If you wouldn’t want your mother to see it, read it, or hear about it, then don’t post it, because like I said at the beginning, chances of that are increasing.

Social media is meant to help you, not hurt you. Freedom of expression is one of the many great things about our wonderful country, but a little self-censoring never hurt anyone (and I bet it never lost anyone their job either).

First Dates and Social Media Courtship

A few weeks ago, I was at a friend’s housewarming in Manhattan, and talk turned, as it seems to do these days, to social media.

I don’t remember how the conversation started. Somebody probably asked if we’d seen something somebody else tweeted. At some point, though, the conversation turned to best practices when using social media for work, and a friend in attendance at the party, Alex Cohen (who, I should note, was instrumental in getting ELISE on Twitter) said that deciding what social media channel to use when initiating a professional conversation was kind of like dating.

Readers of this blog will know that I love a good metaphor, so naturally I was attracted to Alex’s comparison and decided that I had to write a blog post about it. And away we go…

Say you’re at a bar with your friends. One of your friends notices that one of his friends is also there and invites him over to your table. Suddenly, West Side Story-style, everything gets quiet and everyone in the room fades into soft focus. It may not be love at first sight, but it’s something. You spend the rest of the evening ignoring your friends and talking to the guy. All too soon, it’s time to go home. You exchange information… and then you wait. Which of you is going to make first contact? Are you going to call? E-mail? Facebook stalk? Follow on Twitter? Post a love song to your MySpace page? The possibilities for getting in touch with a potential paramour these days are endless—it’s just all about the approach.

In the world of PR, it’s not too different—minus the soft focus and softer music, that is. We become acquainted with a reporter or his work, either in person; via opportunities posted to ProfNet or Help a Reporter Out; through Twitter; or by simply doing our homework. If we’ve identified that reporter as somebody we’d like to pitch, we then figure out the best approach. Do we keep it simple and send an e-mail? Kick it old school with a phone call or a fax? Or do we embrace social media and shoot for a LinkedIn invite or post to a reporter’s Facebook fanpage? Is it déclassé to pitch on Twitter for the world to see?

Pitching, like dating, is all about the approach. Does the journalist we want to pitch often tweet out information on what he’s working on and ask for input? Then he probably won’t mind if we @reply him with a 140 character pitch. Is he connected to several other PR pros on LinkedIn? Then he would probably be open to connecting with you, too. Hasn’t updated his Facebook wall in over a month? Then maybe a more traditional method of pitching, like an e-mail or a phone call, might be best.

And just like in dating, if the approach is right and you begin to see more of each other, a beautiful relationship can result.

Three Reasons to Choose ELISE…

We continuously ask our clients: what differentiates you from the crowd? Why should people care about your mission, product or service? How do you want your customers and the public in general to respond to you? Why, in a nutshell, are you relevant?

So, it only makes sense that we discuss what differentiates ELISE, and what makes us unique, although we are not going to share all of our “special sauce” right here and now.

(1) Relationships matter to us.
I keep telling family, friends, prospective clients, etc., how fortunate ELISE is during this current economic turmoil. If we hadn’t been cultivating relationships over the course of the past ten years, starting with my first job in communications at the Lemelson-MIT Program , I am not sure if we would still be in business. As companies struggle to pay for healthcare, cover salaries and make a profit, outside marketing and PR are one of those budget line items that often get cut first (tune in next week for my thoughts on that).

We hope that once you know us, and work with us, you will want us around. We try to be “Made to Stick.” We like to be as integrated as possible with clients’ objectives and goals and find that our tactics must reflect this strategy. We prefer to work with clients on long-term contracts (six months or annual) even if we could make more money by recording our hours. ELISE takes this same relationship-based approach with journalists… we don’t view our job as transactional and don’t want any member of the media that we speak with to feel as though they are being pitched. We want to create a dialogue about our clients and hope that the public—including the media—will participate.

(2) We always do our homework.
How many of us have had anxiety dreams where we are unprepared to take an exam or haven’t done our homework? Well, ELISE stops the madness. We are thorough researchers, and the staff is comprised of liberal arts graduates who did a lot of reading and writing throughout their lives. We are naturally curious and this means that when we call a reporter we all but know what they like to eat for breakfast. Being thorough permeates the ELISE corporate culture as well. Every Thursday at 2:00 p.m. we meet to have “coffee talk,” an informal gathering to discuss the changing world of media and new journalists we would like to engage. Also, we invite monthly speakers to provide insight into their industry and share best practices. There is always room to learn more and operate better and faster at ELISE.

(3)  We have identified a niche industry.
ELISE focuses on innovative products and companies and organizations with a soul. What does that mean? If your primary objective is to make money, we probably don’t want to work with you. Why, you might say? Because we (and others) have found that people and companies solely focused on money, rank and power, fail. ELISE believes in clients that have something insightful to share with society. This could be a groundbreaking event, the publication of a book or a consumer product launch. It could be opening a museum or promoting a mission-driven organization. It might mean executing a public advocacy campaign, setting up a speakers’ bureau or conducting media relations.  Our clients take the shape of for-profits, non-profits or even hybrid organizations. The key is this: focus. By focusing on a niche industry—invention and innovation, entrepreneurship, science and technology—we get to work with interesting people doing interesting things. And that makes us relevant.

Musings of a PR Newbie, The Young Graduate’s Perspective

As a recent college graduate, I am brand spanking new to the working world, and I have to say I like it here. While at first the prospect of spreading my wings was a little daunting, I am finding that the adjustment is not as difficult as I once anticipated. In fact, it feels more like a natural progression than the culture shock I expected, so no complaints here. Not to mention, I am very grateful to have a job in the current economy, while many of my friends and fellow members of the Class of ‘09 were not so lucky. (Let alone a job I find challenging and enjoyable, but I digress…)

Working in PR is fast paced and exciting, and I learn new things every day with the assignments that cross my desk. Pitches, press releases, messaging sessions and marketing plans are all relatively new to me. However, there are some parts of my job for which I am already prepared, and I owe that to the four years I spent in college, both in and out of the classroom.

Thanks largely to professors who favored the Socratic method, I never knew when I would be called upon to deliver an impromptu analysis of anything from the Fed’s latest bailout to Cartesian Dualism. As a result, I feel comfortable discussing just about anything with just about anyone. This is often necessary in PR, when new ideas come to the table and need to be fleshed out, given direction and strategy, and sent into the world. I’m learning on my feet in this department, but it helps to be able to communicate freely and effectively. Thanks a mil, Socrates.

On another subject, who better than a recent college grad to tackle the developing world of social media? We know Facebook and Twitter inside and out and read countless blogs as a source of entertainment (read: procrastination). I can’t count the number of times I would be writing a paper while simultaneously updating my Facebook status to bemoan its existence. Ironic, isn’t it? And while it’s often true that college students get their practice with social media in order to put off work, we make it our business to stay on top of things. PR professionals take this to the next level, using social media to create meaning with every last character of the 140 that Twitter allots.

My work at ELISE allows me to use some of my old college tricks, but the end results are proving far more valuable than any Facebook stalking expedition ever did. Tune in as the weeks go by and I undoubtedly learn more as I get my feet wet in the world of PR.