Chris Lam

Recently, I spent a couple of phonecalls with prospective clients, getting the DL on their product or service, and figuring out where I could fit in as a consultant. It occurred to me that all of my prospective clients asked the same question, “How do I start?” (Second often asked question – “Where do I start?”)

Some of the questions I ask back are….

1. First things first – Where’s your plan? What are your goals? List them out. It makes planning your tactics so much easier.
1. Visibility, awareness?
2. Increase in website traffic?
3. Build your base?
4. Increase sales?*
2. What are you using now? Do you have a website, blog, email?
1. Use what you have.
3. Do a landgrab! Check your preferred username/URL on namechk.com.
1. Be sure you have a back-up list of usernames if yours is already taken.
2. Branding is just as important in SM as it is in “traditional marketing.”

Now that these three questions are answered, we get to move on to the next set of questions.

For the newbies, these are pretty basic questions you should have on your radar, especially if you’ve already in the process of writing a business plan or marketing plan.

* Note that while increasing sales is generally the name of the business game, the main role of social media is community. Call it what you want – but social media is part marketing, part customer service and 100% community.

I’ll be heading to my alma mater, the Drucker School of Business, today to speak on social media to the Student Marketing Association. The president asked if I could speak about my experiences in social media and the latest trends. While this is supposed to be an easy topic for me to delve into, it wasn’t. I ended up with a deck that I hope the students could take back to their employers (or for themselves) to use as ammo and back-up. Maybe next time, I can present a practical guide to starting a social media program!

I’ll be posting my deck on Slideshare as well as here. So check back later! I’ll post a recap of what happens tonight!

It occurs to me that I don’t know many social media folks who work in PR firms… IRL. Let me back up – I still consider myself a PR newbie. It just so happens that I ended up specializing and working on clients’ social media programs within a PR firm. How lucky am I?! I get to learn more about traditional PR and increase my social media arsenal.

So I tweeted to a few folks in the LA area and voila – instant tweet-up coming at ya during the first week of January. I’m thinking Monday January 4th or Tuesday January 5th. I like Bar Chloe in Santa Monica as it’s not that loud (read: you can actually hear each other).

I’ll post the date, time, place soon enough!

The PR firm I work for, Blaze, is looking for a few good interns for the winter/spring semester. I’m copying and pasting the social media intern description below. You’d be working with me!

SOCIAL MEDIA INTERNSHIP

In business since 1990, BLAZE is an, award-winning, strategic communications firm, with offices and affiliates in Los Angeles, New York, Washington D.C., and Santa Barbara. BLAZE believes in initiating “Smart Conversations” that facilitate consumer dialogue with a return to our client’s bottom line. BLAZE is owned by parent company DAVIES Communications and together with DAVIES offers a powerful combination of public relations and public affairs services for clients across the United States and internationally. BLAZE was awarded a PRSA Silver Anvil Award in 2008 and Platinum Hermes Creative Awards in 2009. For more information, visit www.blazepr.com.

Responsibilities/duties of intern:

Internship Program: The candidate has the opportunity to gain hands-on experience and learn the public relations business at a mid-sized public relations firm getting to know how media work and supporting teams on a variety of clients in the travel/hospitality, consumer and real estate industries. The Blaze internship experience incorporates conducting market research, researching marketing trends, creating personas / profiles, implementing initiatives in social networking, monitoring online conversations about our clients, and working with our Social Media Marketing Director to understand our clients’ business goals, requirements, and current marketing plans.

Qualifications desired:

Looking for interns to start immediately. Strong interest in public relations and to further pursue a career in the field, particularly in social media. Strong understanding of social networking, i.e., blogs, social networks, microblogging, podcasts/Web TV, and wikis/collaborative software. Must be skilled in either Microsoft Office, Macintosh or both applications. Excellent written communication and research skills are a must; good organizational skills and attention to details and deadlines. Enthusiastic and eager to learn; professional, ability to multi-task, flexible, accuracy and thoroughness are especially important.

Hours: 25-30 hours per week preferred (Flexible with schedule)

Compensation: College Credit and $1,000 stipend including travel expenses

Deadline for application: Ongoing

Please send cover letter and resume to Kat Calbes at kcalbes<at>blazepr<dot>com.