DO YOU CARE ABOUT WHAT CARVILLE SAYS, OR WHAT HE LOOKS LIKE? THERE'S A PUBLIC RELATIONS LESSON TO BE LEARNED HERE.

For instance, when CNN wants content from James Carville, they’re OK with him going on air via a camera on his computer in his home office. How important is the “design” of his appearances on CNN? Apparently not important at all. The video looks terrible. Carville looks terrible. Design is the least important criterion.

This never would have happened twenty years ago. To make it on air, the footage would have to be “network quality,” otherwise it would never have seen the light of day. But network quality no longer matters. The audience has changed. YouTube rules. And CNN knows its viewers are far more interested in what Carville has to say, here and now, rather than the minor glitches in his video.

Take a lesson from that. Sure, it’s OK to think about design, atmospherics and polish. But don’t let the quest for perfection in that realm stop you from self-publishing FREQUENTLY. My videos are far from perfect. They have glitches. So do Carville’s. It’s OK if yours do, too. What matters is that you publish frequent content, text or video, and demonstrate your expertise, here and now. That’s how people will find you on the internet. If you don’t know how to create that content yourself or you don’t have the time, hire somebody who can produce and publish for you.

• Given six choices for “Qualities Most Sought-After In Social Media People,” a lowly 18% ranked writing skills as the most important quality.
• Only 5% of companies are highly satisfied with their social media campaigns.

Anybody else see a correlation here? Is social marketing really “free,” just because it doesn’t cost anything to open Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook accounts? Is it really a good idea to assign social media to an intern, or to somebody who has never written marketing, PR or advertising?

Count me as one of the 5% who is highly satisfied with social media --- because with a careful strategy, it works. This morning I searched “Maine PR,” “PR Maine,” Maine public relations” and “public relations Maine.” My company shows up in the top 10 search results in all four categories, the very point of making this important investment. That's a direct result of frequent publishing. And every time I publish on my blog and push that content out to social media, traffic to my web site jumps noticeably. Those are potential clients.

• 75% of people searching on the web never scroll past the first page of search results.

Why not improve your own search results? I leave you with these thoughts:

• The marketplace has moved to the internet.
• Have you grasped this yet? You are now the media.
• Search engines place a premium on publishing good content on the internet.
• If you publish nothing, you are nothing.
• If you publish drivel, then your reputation precedes you.
• HAVE A STRATEGY. If you publish quality content, then your reputation as a quality company or organization is established as such.
• Use video as often as possible. YouTube is now ranked as the #2 search engine in the world.
• If you can't do all this yourself, hire somebody good.

Are you afraid to move your company into the aggressive and frequent publishing of video? DON'T, and follow this guy's example.

Very few companies in Maine are willing to make this decision. Advertising and PR agencies are also way behind on this thinking --- at least in Maine, they do not demonstrate their own competence online by publishing videos featuring the experts they supposedly employ. They will be dinosaurs.

Justin Chenette is a young state representative from Saco. As a politician, he is the CEO of his political career --- and he gets it. Check out the online video he just published. He’s delivering current news, and he’s talking to you in his own words, not in some stuffy newsletter that nobody will read. Like Justin, I’m the CEO of my own company. What better way for me to explain to you what I do than to talk to you directly, as I did in the two video case studies featured in this recent blog post?

A recent study found that the number of CEOs using video in social media applications has jumped significantly. Conducted by Weber Shandwick, the study concluded that, “Video is a powerful social tool and arguably the next big evolution in CEO sociability and transparency. More than ever before, CEOs are using video to promote their company narratives. An underutilized tool in 2010, video was used by only 18% of CEOs. Today, the rate of video usage has more than doubled, with 40% of CEOs now appearing in corporate videos.”

Are you an impressive CEO? Are you credible? If the answer is yes, my advice is to show people why. Don’t hide behind filters.

CLICK FOR VIDEO: The media LOVE this story.Cow power!

A family farm in Maine is now recognized as an industry authority on anaerobic digestion, thanks to its commitment to proactively communicate about the science of converting cow manure and food waste into renewable energy. CLICK FOR THE VIDEO.

CLICK FOR VIDEO: This PR campaign was comprehensive, complex and relentless.Never give up.

A few months ago I received an e-mail from U.S. Senator Angus King about a PR campaign I had launched that was drawing to a close, a campaign that lasted 13 years:

"Mark --- I taught my students each term that perseverance is an essential leadership characteristic and this is as good an example as I could imagine."

What seemed to be an insurmountable obstacle to economic revitalization in downtown Biddeford-Saco, Maine, is now removed. Conventional wisdom said nothing could be done, but PR helped mobilize citizens to demand a solution. CLICK FOR THE VIDEO.

Yup. Yesterday I wrote a blog post about CEOs and using video online. As my own CEO, I shot a very quick video to accompany the written content. This morning, I received a note that was critical of my production, specifically, the quality of the video. I absolutely appreciate the critique, but don’t regret for one second having published the video. Check out the relevant part of our exchange, after which I will make six observations.

Critic:

There are some nice inexpensive setups for doing video like this that drive the quality way up, one of my favorite new discoveries is a way to rig an ipad up as a prompter on a camera. A prompter and some simple lights keep these videos from looking so home-made, without having to hire a real film crew. Using the video function on relatively inexpensive dslr cameras can also help make these look sharp without the money, Amy Porterfield does a nice job with a similar setup. The DSLR lets you blur backgrounds just enough to make it look like it was done by a pro, again without spending much money. 

Anyway, my two cents.

Robinson:

The search for better quality will continue, and I will get better and better at it as I do more (I hope.) One of the points I'm trying to make to clients is that, in the "new" PR, content trumps design every time. I'd rather be online saying something about my business, than hiding out not saying anything at all as I wait to produce the "perfect" piece.

Google will rank me higher for having published, and it won't care a hoot that there's a snap, crackle or pop during 3 seconds in the video. I guess I'm saying it's a trade-off. I'd rather publish frequently, for me and for my clients, than crawl at a snail's pace making all the pictures as pretty as possible.

For instance, CNN and network news now routinely air footage of people who are wired in through Skype or similar technologies. Carville, for instance, checks in from his den or something, shaky footage and all. "Network quality" has been thrown out the window. Isn't the logical conclusion that it is content and immediacy, not design, in which the viewers are most interested?

For instance, your note prompted me to check out your web site. You are known as a consummate political operative. May I ask why your web site seems to function merely as online brochure? I couldn't seem to find a blog, or any video of you. You may be so established that you feel you don't need a wider audience, or perhaps a lower profile is more advantageous to you.

Have you thought about you on camera, as a principal in your company, or have you ruled it out for some reason (that you certainly don't need to disclose) ?

Just curious. If it were me, I'd be trumpeting your accomplishments, and airing your take on good political operations, with some decent frequency.

Good to hear from you, and I really appreciate the critique. One thing I do know --- you watched!

Best,
---m.r.

Observations:

• Publish, or don’t publish because it’s not perfect? Easy choice: publish.
• For example, I published my video yesterday. I did a quick survey of eleven PR companies in Maine this morning. None of those agency principals published a video, yesterday or today, talking about the PR business. I’m glad they’re completely mute and not publishing video online. That is, or soon will be, a competitive advantage to me.
• I want my clients to have that same competitive advantage in their industries.
• The quest for better “production value” is always worth it, and I take that criticism to heart. I will certainly pursue some of the suggestions my critic made.
• In the “new PR,” however, frequent publishing is perhaps the highest priority. And content is more important than design, especially when it comes to improving the results of Google searches.
• This exchange was extremely valuable as far as I’m concerned. It helped me re-write the central message of yesterday’s blog post: “Overcome obstacles. Get yourself on video, and get better at it, while your competitors sit on the sidelines." So thanks to my colleague who took the time to write.

This VIDEO is for other CEOs who are smart enough to use video.

If you’re one of the select few, a visionary, you’ll be interested to know a recent study found that the number of CEOs using video in social media applications has jumped significantly. Conducted by Weber Shandwick, the study concluded that, “Video is a powerful social tool and arguably the next big evolution in CEO sociability and transparency. More than ever before, CEOs are using video to promote their company narratives. An underutilized tool in 2010, video was used by only 18% of CEOs. Today, the rate of video usage has more than doubled, with 40% of CEOs now appearing in corporate videos. Growth in video is nearly evenly divided between CEOs appearing in videos on company websites and on corporate YouTube channels.”

Here are a few tips if you plan to use video. To be blunt, very few companies in this region understand the implications of this new PR model: self-publishing. But the handful I know of that do grasp the concept absolutely swear by it. If you want to see the study results, send me an e-mail and I’ll send you the PDF.

As quoted by Michael Gass, Hank Blank is provocative, but also right on the money.

Michael Gass is a new business consultant to advertising, digital, media and PR agencies. In his online blog, to which I pay close attention, he quotes Hank Blank of Blank and Associates, who nails a glaring truth: “My personal experience is that most agencies are social media posers. They do not embrace social media for their own agencies yet recommend it for clients.”

This is way over-simplified, but these are the basics of the new PR:

• Have a blog
• Blog often
• Use video as often as possible
• Who better than the CEO to do the blogging? 

I’ve already done this myself, but go ahead, survey all the ad agencies and PR shops in Maine and New Hampshire. You’ll be hard-pressed to find any that even come close to actually doing themselves what they are advising their clients to do. Which begs the question: how “expert” are they, really? I close by quoting Gass: “Agencies need to first get their own house in order when it comes to social media. Prospective clients will be looking for agencies with verifiable social media experience that practice what they preach.”

Amen, brother.

Ira Rosenberg presents a check to help Southern Maine Medical Center purchase a Dial-A-Belt for parental car seat use instruction. With Ira are SMMC RNs Jan Roberts, left, and Pat Camire, right, and childbirth educator Rebecca Sevigny.

Two local organizations are tackling the challenge head on. Prime Motor Group and its owner Ira Rosenberg recently presented Southern Maine Medical Center in Biddeford with a $1,500 donation to advance car seat safety for newborn babies.

The donation helped the hospital purchase a Dial-A-Belt, a full-size, lightweight automobile seat that can be easily moved from room to room at SMMC so that expectant mothers and fathers can receive training for car seat installation. SMMC requires parents to receive car-seat education before they can leave the hospital with their newborn.

“Different cars have different configurations, so it’s pretty important that parents use the technology correctly,” Rosenberg said. “We want kids to be as safe as possible, so I love what the hospital is doing with this training. What a great idea.”

Specially designed for use in hospital settings, the training seat is created from materials that are medical-environment friendly. The vinyl covering of the seat is the same medical grade material used in ambulances. The seatback is ABS plastic from top to bottom, preventing spilled materials or fluids from absorbing or staying in the structure. The whole seat can be washed or wiped down.

Prime Motor Group operates several automobile dealerships in Maine, along U.S. Route 1 in Saco and Scarborough. The company’s main phone number is 888-674-6809.

Just for chuckles I decided to look at all eight and pick the most important one (in my opinion.). I was torn between #3 and #7, but I ended up choosing #3: Self help. NTHP is focused on Main Streets, but their observation applies more broadly. “Only local leadership can produce long-term success by fostering and demonstrating community involvement and commitment to the revitalization effort.”

Having been involved in many community efforts over the last 30 years, truer words were never spoken. Of course that was all foreshadowed 40 years ago when my father used to survey my “work” in the yard, curse, and then say, “If I want it done right I guess I’ll have to do it myself.”