PR 2.0: Must Read Posts of 2008

It's easy to lose sight of the beacons and milestones that resonate, influence and guide us as we navigate through these evolutionary times. After all, we're deluged with education, lessons, and insight from so many brilliant leaders and inspirational voices, that it's practically impossible to retain and reference all that moved us when we're moved on a minute-by-minute basis. Our attention and relationships are more precious than ever.

As 2008 comes to a close, I wanted to share with you some of my favorite posts on PR 2.0 over the last the year. I hope they help you as you explore the new opportunities that will define your future in 2009 and beyond.

PR 2.0 2008 Top 40:

Free ebook: The Art and Science of Blogger Relations

Free ebook: PR Tips for Startups

The Value of Online Conversations

Transforming Customers into Evangelists: The Art of Listening and Engagement

The Definitive Guide to Social Media Releases

Social Media is Not The Final Frontier of Marketing

Gary Vaynerchuk Puts the Social in Social Media

Cultural Voyeurism and Social Media

PR 2.0 = The Evolution of PR, Nothing Less, Nothing More

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Conversation Has Left The Building

The Evolution of the News Business

Will The Real Social Media Expert Please Stand Up?

Distributed Conversations and Fragmented Attention

In Blogger and Media Relations, You Earn the Relationships You Deserve

PR 2.0: Putting the Public Back in Public Relations

Making Mistakes and Amends in Blogger and Media Relations

The Evolution of Press Releases

The Escalator Pitch, Going Up?

PR Tips for Startups - The Director's Cut

The Art of Conversation - It's About Listening Not Marketing

The Social Revolution is Our Industrial Revolution

Comcast Cares and Why Your Business Should Too - The Socialization of Service

SEC To Recognize Corporate Blogs as Public Disclosure, What This Means for Wires and Press Releases

New Communication Theory and the New Roles for the New World of Marketing

Introducing The Conversation Prism

PR is Not Dead

The Socialization of Your Personal Brand - Part I - III

Launching Your Company at an Event? You need PR

The State of Social Media 2008

Redefining the Echo Chamber to Excel in an Economic Crisis

Twitter Tools for Community and Communications Professionals

In the Social Web, We Are All Brand Managers

Reinventing Crisis Communications for the Social Web

Al Gore on the Social Revolution for Change

Barack Obama, The Social Web, and the Future of User-Generated Governance

Introducing MicroPR, A PR Resource for Journalists, Analysts and Bloggers on Twitter

Saying More with Less: A Directory of Short URL Services

TechCrunch Kills The Embargo, But PR Holds the Smoking Gun

Fear Kills Businesses, Dead

Introducing Social Syndication and Aggregation: Social Media Predictions for 2009

For a full table of contents of posts related to Social Media, New PR/Marketing, and Business, please click here.

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SolutionsStars Video Series Helps Businesses Embrace Social Media

During Blogworld Expo 2008 in Las Vegas, The Network Solutions Team shot footage for SolutionsStars, its online Web series designed to help small businesses harness the potential of Social Media to identify, understand, participate, and excel in the communities that impact their bottom line.

I was asked to participate by good friend Geoff Livingston (the man behind the book Now is Gone). Portions of the resulting footage were edited into two videos as part of the series, The Social Opportunity and Start with Listening.

The Social Opportunity

"Businesses now have the ability to become authorities on their subjects and also earn influence in the process, while building communities around their expertise."



The video also features:
Rohit Bhargava
Tim Ferriss
Steve Hall, Ad Rants
Toby Bloomberg
Ryan Anderson, Overlay TV
Darren Rowse
David Alston, Radian6
Mari Smith
Liz Strauss
Paul Chaney

Start with Listening

"Search terms that matter to you across the Social Web because it will reveal everything."



The video also features:
Chris Brogan
Robyn Tippins
David Berkowitz, 360
David Alston, Radian6
Toby Bloomberg
Ryan Anderson, Overlay TV
Matt Dickman, Fleishman-Hillard
Jason Falls

Be sure to save the date for the next BlogWorld Expo, October 15-17, 2009.

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Newspapers are Old News

Credit

As a follow up to my post, "Extra Extra, Read All About It! Newspapers Respond to the Social Web," new research emerges that documents the looming exit of print newspapers as a primary source of national and international news.

According to the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, a new survey indicates that 40% of respondents claim the Internet as their primary source for national and international news, versus 24% in 2007. In comparison, 35%, up 1% from 2007, rely on newspapers and 70% count on television as their main source for news, down from 74% in 2007.

Perhaps the harbinger of things to come is embodied in the response from Americans under 30. A staggering 59% indicated that they get most of their news from the Internet, up from 34% in 2007. In the group, television tied with the Internet at 59%, but for broadcast TV, it's a steep decline from 68% in 2007. As Dan Farber of CNET points out, these figures add up to more 100 percent because people have the ability to offer multiple answers.





Clearly, printed newspapers as well as television are under tremendous pressure to reinvent themselves in the social economy. It's not just about the socialized mechanisms and channels to source and broadcast news however, a successful metamorphosis requires the creation of an active and enlivened community supported by a profitable business model.

As I've stated previously, through social networks, blogs, and micro communities, consumers have access to information literally as it happens. Their peers become sources for news and information, reinforced by social frequency and reverberation. Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed, and other networks ARE emerging as trusted and oft referenced newsfeeds. And, they're fueled by immediacy, brevity, and connectedness.

You can download the study as a PDF here.

UPDATE: TechCrunch reports that content sites brace for 50% revenue loss

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Twitority & Twithority Rank Tweets and Keywords By Authority

As online conversations continue to gain in prominence and relevance to any customer and market-focused business, it becomes critically important for marketing and service professionals to listen. It's the listening that serves as the foundation for identifying, guiding, and establishing meaningful engagement.

Twitter is one of the more active and influential communities that can effectively recruit affiliates, incite action, and spark trends. Until now, the only way to measure conversations or keywords by authority in Twitter was either manually or through Technorati - assuming that the majority of people discussing any given topic had already claimed their Twitter. I suspect most haven't done this nor realize that this is even an option with associated benefits in doing so.

Enter Twitority.

Twitority is a new service that that facilitates the search and sorting of keywords in Twitter by authority, or in less controversial terms, popularity. At the moment, authority is measured by followers, but perhaps, Twitority will eventually create an algorithm similar to Twinfluence in order to more accurately measure influence.



In the marketing and service worlds however, popularity is still relevant. As is, Twitority is a simple, yet helpful service that will help brand managers, community managers, and communications and customer service professionals tier research and response strategies and programs. It’s also helpful to identify and measure potential opportunities and new trends based on the weighted discussions surrounding relevant topics.

UPDATE: Over the weekend, Sean Percival and Ryan Sit also developed a Twitter search engine based on authority popularity, with a twist. Twithority provides side-by-side keyword results ranked by authority and also time/authority.



For more on services available for Twitter, please read, “Twitter Tools for Communications and Community Professionals.”

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Related reading on PR 2.0:

- The Socialization of Your Personal Brand
- In the Social Web, We Are All Brand Managers
- The State of Social Media 2008
- The Social Revolution is Our Industrial Revolution
- The Essential Guide to Social Media
- The Social Media Manifesto
- Introducing The Conversation Prism

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What Inspires You?

I'm fascinated and inspired by the unity, education, and collaboration spurred by the socialization of media. The sources for insight, artistry, and influence have proliferated globally, giving voices to, and creating communities for, every day people who share ideas, passion, and aspirations.

The Social Revolution is Our Industrial Revolution

Intel is also inspired by education. The company recently created Inspire, a new community that spotlights education through innovation. It is a platform to celebrate the people, voices, and actions that are making a real difference and impact in our lives. It's also a resource hub that spotlights the remarkable programs, events, and projects around the world designed to improve education.

As an Intel Insider, I was asked to share my inspiration on camera for inclusion in the Inspire network. Inspire also features videos from fellow Insiders, Tom Foremski, Frank Gruber, Cathy Brooks, and Irina Slutsky.

So, what inspires you?



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Social Media Predictions for 2009 - Introducing Social Syndication and Aggregation

My good friend Joe Pulizzi, founder of the Junta42 content and custom publishing network, has compiled an impressive list of 47 social media and content marketing experts to share their advice and predictions for 2009.

The list includes insight from renown pundits and visionaries including:

Paul Bradshaw
David Meerman Scott
Scott Monty
Sally Falkow
Jason Falls
Toby Bloomberg
Marc Meyer
Ann Handley
Paul Gillin
Valeria Maltoni

Here's my prediction:

Brand marketers will continue to experiment with existing and emerging forms of social media, concentrating their efforts on substance and distribution and not frequency (maybe that's a wish and less of a prediction).

Social Syndication and Aggregation will be the new content syndication and participation. It is powered by the ability to publish "and" receive, process and respond to related signals when and where they transpire - from one place. It will envelope and rewire the social Web and your corresponding relationships to more effectively work for you as well as reciprocally.

Social Syndication and Aggregation will be key for rising above the noise and connecting with the very people who can benefit from your words, thoughts, ideas, and passion. It will also enable aggregated monitoring of all activity in order to not only "push" content at people, but also provide a hub for viewing, analyzing, and responding to their feedback, where those individual conversations transpire.

We will see integrated dashboards such as PeopleBrowsr and 8hands (and those not yet introduced) tightly intertwine the distributed web to enable true participation and cultivation of genuine relationships across diverse communities. The social web will expand and contract in 2009, but we will also gain access to the very solutions that will make the real and online world a much smaller place.

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2009, The Year of Social Aggregation & Syndication: Scrapplet Paves the Way

I have had the privilege to help guide, mold, and launch many companies over the years. The Social Web, and its supporting community, influence the development of innovative, rich and useful applications. The socialization and metamorphosis of content creation, discovery and distribution continues to inspire and strengthen my passion for participating in its evolution.

Recently, PeopleBrowsr made its Public Alpha debut to become the dashboard for your distributed social graph, starting with Twitter. Currently, I'm working with Steve Repetti on his latest brainchild Scrapplet, an emerging canvas for aggregating and mobilizing your distributed Web profiles, brand, and content.

Scrapplet is making its debut in public BETA today.



Scrapplets are customizable online canvases that break down Social Media walls to help everyone create, consolidate, and share their Web, their way. This is especially important, now in the future, as the social Web encourages us to proactively steer and manage our personal and professional brands as well the content we produce, discover, and distribute.

Unlike everyday, do-it-yourself (DIY) Web site builders, Scrapplet is a customizable slate for centralizing social profiles, the relationships maintained across each network, as well as a showcase for ideas, thoughts, experiences, and expertise.

Here's my Scrapplet.



It started as an application for Facebook and quickly evolved to provide seamless integration with MySpace, Twitter, FriendFeed, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr and more. Now as a standalone Web service, Scrapplet makes it easy to drag and drop content and functionality from each network, tying distributed connections together, while creating a new kind of virtual website.

Scrapplet users can instantly add their friends, pictures, videos, music, widgets, and entire web sites to their Scrapplets to create a central HQ for sharing, updating, and communicating with friends, family and associates. Each microsite is also portable and can be placed within individual social media profiles, Web sites, blogs, and wikis, to showcase a complete, consistent experience.



At the very least, Scrapplets empower creativity and can scale with individual imagination. Each canvas offers tools and default objects to add and create news feeds, flash objects, mashups, animation, sliding panels, custom menus, special effects, and more. You can even embed Websites and third-party widgets directly on a page.

Each Scrapplet automatically generates site maps, navigation, security, search engine optimization, tracking, and also supports data portability, a privacy standard that enables users to control, import, and export personal information between trusted networks.

For those who dread the thought of creating yet another site login and profile, Scrapplet supports logins from Facebook, Google, Yahoo, AOL, OpenID, Blogger, Flickr, WordPress, LiveJournal, Verisign, MyOpenId, among others.

Scrapplet is not just only for personal use; it’s also designed for business and application development. RadWebTech is a member of the OpenAjax Alliance and CEO Repetti sits on the board of director’s of the International Data Portability organization. These themes are embodied in the framework of Scrapplet and provide an extremely robust platform for business and developers as well as providing resources for the creation, hosting, and distribution of web applications, widgets, and mashups. And, to protect owners of copyrighted material, Scrapplets include embedded source information that can be used to track, monitor, and remove unauthorized copyrighted material if necessary.

Scrapplet is free and includes personal web address and a half dozen pages ready for customization. Additional pages are available for free through point acquisition. Points can be earned by referring additional users as well as getting great ratings for pages. Free pages include limited contextual ads. Scrapplet pages and premium content are also available for purchase as is Premium and Professional non-ad memberships for as little as $2.95 per month.

Version 1 may not be intended for the masses just yet, however, the vision and mission for Scrapplet is to ultimately help everyone more effectively manage and present their distributed brand and persona, regardless of technical prowess. For those who can't wait, just view the tutorials and explore the options and menus - everything quickly comes into focus. With a little ingenuity and creativity, you'll find the options almost limitless for creating and sharing a more engaging and centralized online presence.

For more on Scrapplets, please visit:
Louis Gray
Robert Scoble
TechCrunch
CNET
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Related reading on PR 2.0:

- Twitter Tools for Community and Communications Professionals
- The Socialization of Your Personal Brand
- In the Social Web, We Are All Brand Managers
- The State of Social Media 2008
- The Social Revolution is Our Industrial Revolution
- The Essential Guide to Social Media
- The Social Media Manifesto
- Introducing The Conversation Prism

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State of the Twittersphere - Q4 2008

HubSpot released a report based on the analysis of over 600,000 Twitter users who have utilized the company's Twitter Grader app. The full study is free and available for download in PDF.

Here are the highlights:

- Twitter has about 4-5 million users, about 30% are relatively new or unengaged users

- Twitter is dominated by newer users - 70% of Twitter users joined in 2008

- An estimated 5-10 thousand new accounts are opened per day

- 35% of Twitter users have 10 or fewer followers

- 9% of Twitter users follow no one at all

- There is a strong correlation between the number of followers you have and the number of people you follow

- The average number of followers is 70

For a deeper analysis and interpretation of the numbers presented in the report, please visit Marshall Kirkpatrick's post at ReadWriteWeb (notice the URL vs. the post title).

Since we're on the subject of Twitter, I was updating my post, “Twitter Tools for Community and Communications Professionals,” when I stumbled across a couple of interesting graphs that visualize the top applications for Twitter in real time.

In the following charts, you’ll notice that the Web accounts for almost half of all Twitter interaction and that TwitterFeed represents a strong second position. But that’s where the similarities between the two graphs end, and interesting differences arise.

TweetScan:

Stats by Funkatron.com:

More conversations related to the top Twitter apps on flickr, believe it or not!

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Related reading on PR 2.0:

- Introducing @MicroPR, A PR Resource for Journalists, Analysts and Bloggers on Twitter
- Twitter Tools for Community and Communications Professionals
- In the Social Web, We Are All Brand Managers
- The State of Social Media 2008
- The Social Revolution is Our Industrial Revolution
- The Essential Guide to Social Media
- The Social Media Manifesto
- PR 2.0: Putting the Public Back in Public Relations
- Introducing The Conversation Prism
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Fear Kills Businesses, Dead

What follows is the unedited version of my most recent post, currently live at TechCrunch.


Credit: Stuant63 via Flickr

It’s official. We’re in a recession. Recessions naturally inject fear and panic, which is only heightened by every discussion of market losses, layoffs, bailouts, and somber predictions. We’re only human after all; of course everything affects us personally and emotionally.

Fear is not a catalyst for productivity however.

With valuable advice pouring in from concerned and sympathetic entrepreneurs and proven leaders, businesses are indeed responding quickly to make decisions that equate to a secure and prosperous future - hopefully.

This constructive advice has helped businesses focus and weigh difficult decisions sooner than they might have without it.

However, over time, productive guidance has mutated into a glut of negative forecasts and grim predictions that pillage precious and vital airtime from contributing to the resolution of our financial predicament. Simply said, fear, and the dissemination of distress, slowly erodes hope, vision, and ambition, ultimately killing businesses instead of guiding them.

Fear inspires desperate actions. Hope combined with clarity and inventiveness galvanizes action and engenders opportunities.

Opportunity vs. Emotion

These are emotionally charged times which only fuel emotionally-driven decisions. Unfortunately, the advice shared from many experts now and in the past is subjected to both literal and open interpretation, and thus guiding or misguiding the next steps of established businesses and emerging startups.

“Don’t worry about getting ahead, instead, just survive...Cutting deeper and quicker is the formula to survive.” - Sequoia Capital


Credit: thisisanicephoto via Flickr

There’s a distinct difference between survival and real world business and without continuous expert advice specific to the landscape and climate of each business ecosystem, many companies may unwittingly lock themselves in an isolated panic room instead of taking strategic steps to evolving and growing the business opportunity that exists today.

General advice is just that, general. One prevailing set of strategies and recommendations doesn’t apply to all.

In a conversation with veteran CEO and financier Steve Larsen, currently co-founder of Krugle, Inc., he advised, "Of course, don’t be stupid. Have enough cash to run your business, but I think the doom and gloom crowd are getting too much airtime. Look for opportunities. Difficult times are when they’ll most likely occur. When we’re at ‘steady state’ and things are normal, good opportunities are much harder to find with GREAT opportunities nearly impossible. It is during periods of tumult and transition when you can spot things that lead to the greatest returns - if you are alert. So be alert."

In every recession, abundant opportunities are inherently rife. To simply believe that this is a generic time to step off of the playing field to warm benches or take a seat in the spectator bleachers in the hopes of emerging once again to readily have a shot at winning the game is illogical. Business, and customers, do not stop making decisions – they’re just more discerning during volatile economic climates. But make no mistake, if you choose to stop vying for customer attention, the world will move ahead – without you.

This is your time to vault ahead of your competition to earn rapid and sweeping visibility, for a fraction of the time and money that was required to excel during the “good days.”

Your rivals are retreating right now, so what are you going to do about it?

Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu, author of the world renown and oft sourced and cited mental warfare manifesto, The Art of War, documented proven plans and tactics to triumph during arduous circumstances, 'When weak, feign strength...Attack him [your enemy] where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.”

Or, perhaps we can refer to a more modern example of how to achieve your business goals while still outclassing your nervous competition. In the movie Glengarry Glenn Ross, Blake, a messenger from “Mitch & Murray,” teaches us motivation through tough love, “A...B...C..., A = Always, B = Be, C = Closing – Always be closing!”

Whoever inspires you, remember, tomorrow’s leaders are born, tested, and proven, today. This is your moment.

Development vs. Revenue Generation

“As a startup, you are now, officially, on your own. You can't count on your VCs saving you or some magical offer from Yahoo or Google showing up to bail you out.” - Jason Calacanis

Either you’re in business to research and develop a product or you’re in business to sell a product. Therefore the formulas, stratagem, and instruments necessary for operating and navigating a business vary and adapt to the specific near- and long-term goals on the horizon.

If your company is guided by a board of advisors or group of investors that are not actively in tune with the real world opportunities and hurdles of your business, then your advice and direction may be questionable. Either they’re investing in the development of a product/service or they’re investing in the development of a commercial business or acquisition opportunity.

Depending on goals and milestones, there’s a stark difference in not only how the company is run, but also how its leaders assess and implement critical cost cutting measures or where additional investment may be required. And, if users or customers are involved, the process of cost cutting isn’t necessarily a sweeping solution.

If resources are dedicated to research and development, assess the state of progress coupled with the runway of current cash and expectations. The key question is, “how can you get from here to there with less than what you’ve already been spending or planned on spending this year?”

For those companies who rely on customers to market products and either hit profitability or simply attain proof of concept through adoption, customers are not expendable. Cutting or freezing any program that connects your solution to your customers is dangerous and requires careful consideration. This IS the time when businesses must invest in the transcendence from survival to market leadership. This recession is temporary, but business is constant.

Do Not eliminate marketing or sales efforts. Cutting marketing and sales has a direct and reverberating impact on future income, so don’t be surprised if next quarter numbers are down. Without support, sales will continue to trend downward.

Be wise as you evaluate your sales and marketing efforts. With the right team, you may want to consider maintaining or increasing financial support in order to excel while your competition retreats. If you can’t make it in a recession, chances are you would get drowned out in a market expansion.

Do create an innovative and cost efficient formula for running a concentrated, sustained, and proactive outbound program that effectively creates a bridge between your core customer’s needs and your solution.

While companies are cutting costs to extend their runways, consumers and businesses are reducing spending in parallel. However, it’s important to remember that customers are not freezing spending altogether. They are and will continue to research, invest and procure the solutions, services, and products that will help them succeed, offer entertainment, or streamline aspects of their day-to-day workflow. And, they’ll also continue to make impulse decisions just for the hell of it.


Credit: Sam_UL via Flickr

Building Your Business in a Recession

Obviously, capital preservation and cost cutting do not necessarily equate to sustenance or growth. The driving factors are poles apart when striving to merely stay alive vs. building a business.

If you’re sheltering cash to focus on development, then cut the services and expenses that will not impede your ability to cross the threshold. If you’re conserving funds to prolong life, then realize that the only fountain of youth is cash itself. Focusing energies on generating revenue, increasing visibility, and enhancing customer loyalty are the most effective strategies for underwriting longevity, and hopefully growth, especially during an economic downturn.

The real question you have to ask yourself is, “How will my customers find me today and tomorrow?”

I’m not sure if this is a newsflash or not, but customers do not typically go out of their way to “discover” your products and companies. They have choices and it’s the job of any marketing and sales-centric business to reach their customers where they go for information – otherwise, they’re out of the decision making process by default. Marketing and sales are the conduits for connecting prospects to your business.

In a down economy, tomorrow’s leaders are born today. It takes vision, focus, and a hyper-connected sense of what customers are seeking, why, and where.

The reality is that there are hard costs tied to customer acquisition and retention. The key is to observe and listen to your markets to ascertain the most active and direct channels to reach and engage them.

Here are several, targeted and affordable suggestions:

1. SEO – Customers actively use search engines to find relevant solutions. Keyword and organic search optimization is an inexpensive and effective means for gaining strategic presence.

2. Blog Relations – It’s not just about news and pitching the A-List, creating a consistent and visible brand requires the inclusion of the authoritative, peer-to-peer blogs that your customers and influencers read for information, help and perspective. Oh, and be wise about using embargoes.

3. Media/Analysts – Reporters and analysts cover your space and by simply writing about your company or product, they can position you as an option among your customers; especially when they’re researching options to validate decisions.

4. Direct Sales – Some of the most successful companies right now are concentrating on direct outreach to the decision makers instead of hoping to influence them from the sidelines.

5. CRM – Building a customer-focused business saves money and increases revenue. Focusing on customers and empowering them improves business processes, product development, and also offsets marketing expenses as “involved and participatory” customers transform from a cost-center into an active surrogate sales force.

6. Participate – Social networks are much more than mere time killers. Participating across the social communities where you’re customers and prospects are active and vocal provide a looking glass into the thoughts, requests, opinions, dislikes, and recommendations. It also provides you with priceless opportunities to steer negative perception while also positioning your company as a resource.

7. Blog and Blog Comments – It may seem trite or perhaps even worthless, but I can guarantee that finding the time to host and contribute to a blog that demonstrates the expertise of you and your team is priceless. People are looking for information and direction, not just your blog but others as well. Go where they are and offer counsel, contribute to the dialogue and establish trust and authority in the process. Why wouldn’t you position yourself as a resource for your customers or prospects? Too busy you say? Empower your staff. Contract outside experts to contribute to creating a one-stop-shop for insight and direction – just be transparent about their involvement. It costs less than you think to build a community around your value proposition and your ideologies.

9. Thought Leadership – One of the best ways to demonstrate thought leadership is to actively share your thoughts where they count. Contributing articles and posts to industry publications, forums, and blogs increases visibility and unobtrusively contributes to your sales strategy by helping customers find you.

10. Network – Participation isn’t solely relegated to online networks. Opportunities to meet and cultivate relationships in the real world are abundant. Meetups, industry events, groups, unofficial lobbycons associated with your favorite events are continuous and more valuable with your involvement.

11. Humanize Your Story – Being human and humanizing your story are too very different, but complementary strategies for engaging customers and prospects in everything you do. It affects how you write, how you sell, how you speak about your company and products, and how others interact with the information you present.

12. Involve Your Community – Save money and time by involving your markets in the development process of your new and iterative products as well as your go to market strategy. Alpha customers are often ready to assist with the validation of your business model and also the honest feedback associated with your product benefits and features.

13. Websites are not Just Web Pages – Your Website must make an emotional connection with visitors, while also conveying stories and value propositions that specifically capture the attention of your customers – otherwise, all of your hard work and investment of time and money in sales and marketing campaigns will generate traffic, but lead to a dramatically reduced conversation ratios.

14. Innovate – Always learn and improve everything in order to stay relevant.

15. Contribute to the conversation and help businesses by sharing your experience and recommendations in the comments section please.

Think About It

If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it, is the surest path to obsolescence. Equally, swinging the axe without accuracy and grace will also send you to the Dead Pool. Constraint forces and inspires creativity. Operate not from fear, but from vision, determination, and ingenuity.

Listen. Innovate. Engage. Sell. Support. Learn. Adapt.

In a down market, generally speaking, this is the time to strategically cut dispensable expenses, but also invest in growth. It may appear as common practice, however, current actions demonstrate counter intuitiveness. You sell when people are buying, not when people are selling. You buy when no one is buying, not when everyone is frantically bidding the price up. These are indeed the times to invest in the success of your business and your personal brand.

Remember, the economy is a yo-yo on an escalator. It might go up and down, and down some more, but eventually, it’s always going up.

Any company that intentionally pulls itself from the radar screens of potential and existing customers will find itself on a direct path to the Dead Pool.

It is during these most difficult times when character is truly tested and defined.

To paraphrase Al Pacino from Any Given Sunday, the inches we need to be successful right now are everywhere, and it’s up to us, and only us, to fight for them. And when we add up those inches, it will make the difference between winning and losing. Find and keep the people who will fight for those inches with you. That’s a team. Either you win as a team or you all lose as individuals. But fear will not help you win at all.

Fear Kills Businesses by Brian Solis

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Suggested reading on PR 2.0:

- Redefining the Echo Chamber to Excel in an Economic Crisis
- Barack Obama, The Social Web, and the Future of User-Generated Governance
- Reinventing Crisis Communications for the Social Web
- The Social Revolution is Our Industrial Revolution
- In the Social Web, We Are All Brand Managers
- The Socialization of Your Personal Brand - TOC
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