Sponsored by the Chicago Headline Club, the Gridiron Show skewered local politics and media from 1987 to 1997. A labor of love by a kooky bunch of journalists, pr peeps and politicians, it was also a benefit for student scholarships. This bit between Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert is laughing out loud funny. Writing is attributed to Adam Ritt, with tweaks by the critics themselves. The video is out of synch but listen to the audience response.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Auf5scDKJ4M[/youtube]
Here’s a rare story about gay marriage and how Barack Obama’s views have changed since he has become President.
In 2004, Michael Burke and Robert Charles wrote a letter to then Illinois State Senator Barack Obama and enclosed a modest check of support for his campaign for the U.S. Senate.
In the letter they told State Senator Obama that they “enthusiastically” supported his candidacy for U.S. Senate, but were disappointed to learn “that while you support civil unions you do not support gay marriage. While we understand the political calculation of such a strategy … we are disturbed by the moral dissonance that such a stance tolerates.”
They mailed the letter off to Obama’s Hyde Park address, hoping to sidestep the hoops of his campaign office. Imagine their surprise when they received two to three weeks later what appeared to be a personalized reply from State Senator Obama explaining in detail the political history and strategy informing his stance.
Continue reading Thank you, Mr. President — Barack Obama supports gay marriage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MzcjC0_Wrk
Edward L. Bernays is said to be “The Father of Spin,” the creator of modern public relations. For his contributions, Bernays is both vilified and honored. He was a masterful manipulator of public image and wrote extensively about his ideas. During his long career, [Bernays lived to be 103] he profoundly affected the minutia of our spending habits in our daily lives while establishing standard practices for the public relations industry.
[Prior to World War 1] The pattern had been for firms to alter their product line or pitch to fit changing consumer tastes; Bernays believed that, approached the right way, consumers themselves could be made to do the adjusting. — Larry Tye in The Father of Spin.
This philosophy — consumers themselves could be made to do the adjusting— is shifting fast for businesses large and small. Customer review tools of the social Web are changing the equation of who is influencing whom. Now, because of services like Yelp, an unhappy knitting circle can gang up on your cafe. One poor hairdresser can cause an exodus from your salon. Or an increase in prices can shutter your dry cleaner. But just as your customers can walk with their feet and talk with their smart phones, you have equally amazing tools to continue the conversation with them after the cash drawer has closed and they have walked out the door.
You have Facebook, Twitter and dozens of other tools to attract potential customers, engage with the happy ones and hear the grumblers in the background and adjust if needed.
As a small business, you have the entire toolbox of social media at your command. And powering those tools is your unique brand, your reputation that you are painstakingly building over time. Branding is not a logo or an image imposed from above. Branding is your promise to deliver what is unique in your offering, whether product or service. Your brand emerges from the inside out.
Be clear on that and you can’t go wrong.
For a great read on navigating this power shift between customers and business, pick up The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk.
Follow the advice of Johnny Mercer‘s great song when it comes to working social media channels like Yelp.
Continue reading Accentuate the positive when using social media
By Sally Duros
If you are a local business and you want to advertise, where do you advertise these days?
It’s a great question. And one that many people are rushing to answer, because your advertising dollars – dear readers who are local businesses — represent billions of dollars in revenue for advertising agencies or media companies.
But for the small or medium sized business owner, this question is daunting. While you’re minding your business and budget, your advertising options are rapidly changing.
Your mission is to find out where your customers are hanging out these days and why.
Nearly every day of the week, you can see the knowledge — and confusion— advancing in this sphere.
This week, much-read newspaper world observer Newsosaur, issued a warning to local media companies that digital giants such as Google, Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft will be making a fierce push into their territories. Meanwhile, just today The Pew Internet and the American Life Project released its complete report on “Where people go to learn about restaurants and other local business”. I reported on an earlier phase of this research in October.
Among Pew’s findings:
People looking for information about local restaurants and other businesses say they rely on the Internet, especially search engines, ahead of any other source. [51% of the 55% of adults surveyed who say they seek this info.]
Newspapers, both printed copies and the websites of newspaper companies, run second behind the Internet as the source that people rely on for news and information about local businesses, including restaurants and bars. [31%]
And word of mouth, particularly among non-internet users, is also an important source of information about local businesses. [23%]
Let’s not forget the ·8% who rely on local TV, either broadcasts or websites. The study also found that a rather upscale 60% of adults say they get news and information about local businesses other than restaurants and bars. Of these, 47% say they rely most on the internet, ·30% turn to newspapers, 22% rely on word of mouth from family and friends, 8% rely on local TV and 5% listen to the local radio.
So this data shows that folks are looking for local businesses first on the Internet and then with traditional media, i.e. newspapers. [And hey! Google could be taking fun-seekers to a news site or listing] But that doesn’t mean that the big digital players are necessarily the winners in the advertising game, says Gordon Borrell, head of Borrell Associates, whose expertise is local advertising.
“There’s never been a case where an out of town media company – somebody without a physical presence in a local market – has been able to get and sustain a significant share of advertising dollars, “Borrell says.
“They can make the predictions all they want about Yahoo and Google coming in and stealing market share,” Borrell says. “ But in the end it will churn out. “
The big digitals are the bogeymen, and they won’t win the game,” says Borrell, who admits with pride that his firm “is pretty steeped in following the money.”
One winning trump card is physical presence in the local market vs. telemarketing.
Did you get a call from Facebook last week? I did. They are willing to stand at my side, virtually, and hold my hand for a full month so I can better learn to build my business on Facebook. All I have to contribute is – cough! – $2000.
And those telemarketing calls will be their downfall. Borrell says that local advertising tends to be sold, not bought. Big digital’s ideas of self serve and telemarketing just won’t pan out.
He attributes that to local businesses and their bad case of the John Wanamaker syndrome: “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.”
Local businesses don’t know what kind of advertising is going to work. They’re too busy flipping pizzas, selling haircuts and facials and in general paying the bills.
So they might try the next new thing — buying keywords etc — for a while, but Borrell says his experience tells him these forays generally don’t work.
That makes sense to me. I’d rather toss my dime to the ad rep who reads poetry on his Friday night at my local café than to the ad rep calling from Mountain View, Calif. It’s always been the case that local connections are more persuasive. We like our neighbors to have food on the table .
Borrell cites two other reasons Big D will fail:
1) Self-serve ads don’t work.
2) The big digitals would need a massive workforce.
Of the 91,000 local ad sales reps in the country, about 27,000 work for newspapers, Borrell says. Pure play Internet follows with 15,000, Radio follows with 17,000 and behind radio are directories like the Yellow pages with 14,000 sales reps. Reps for Cable, TV and misc. sources make up the 18,000 difference. [Figures revised 12/15/2011]
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, November 2011 © 2011 Borrell Associates Inc.
These 27,000 sales reps walk the walk and talk the talk of local, because they are local. As such they are trusted and highly influential. Over time, despite their ups and downs, local media brands are still the most trusted. And they are rapidly adapting to the Internet.
“I was talking with Warren Webster , the CEO of Patch, when he was on a panel I had set up,” Borrell said. Borrell asked Webster what local media companies have that he wishes Patch had.
“Webster said: ‘I wish I had their brand,’ ” Borrell says. Despite Patch’s physical presence, none of its sites are profitable, he added.
Borrell believes that in the digital sphere, events will roll out as they did with cable, with TV and with radio. In the end, local media/newspaper companies are adapting to the digital world and will win because of the strength of their brands.
“History is repeating itself,’ he says.
That’s one opinion, at least. More to come.
Originally published for Tribune Media 435Digital.
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[/media-credit]These are choice days for memes, which Wikipedia defines as
A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols or practices, which can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals or other imitable phenomena. Supporters of the concept regard memes as cultural analogues to genes in that they self-replicate, mutate and respond to selective pressures.
435Digital, Chicago Tribune.
I went for a walk in my old neighborhood the other day. I lived in Chicago’s Lakeview for about ten years. It’s a fun place with plenty of foot traffic, all kinds of shops, ethnic eateries and lots of cafes. It’s a prime destination for Black Friday.
I connect deeply with the mission of organizations like BALLE that promote the idea of building strong economies through local businesses.
That’s because to my mind there is no greater good than contributing to a great neighborhood shopping area or a vibrant, employed local community. To be sure, neighborhood businesses are learning they can easily extend their reach using social media like Facebook. But, still, to many smaller businesses, Twitter and its benefits remain a puzzle. To get some answers, I engaged Claire Diaz Ortiz, leader of social innovation at Twitter Inc. , in an email interview.
A confirmed do-gooder, Diaz Ortiz has earned 324,629 Twitter followers [and rising]. She writes about business, marketing, and being a force for good on her blog and is currently touring the world, promoting her book, Twitter for Good.
Q: ‘‘Be a Force for Good,’’ is the guiding principle of the service structure Twitter provides to non-profit organizations and causes. What advice can you offer to U.S. neighborhood businesses as they reframe themselves as forces for good?
Claire: Small businesses need to start thinking (if they aren’t already) about how they can help their customers. Ultimately, any enterprise (non-profit or for-profit) needs to cater to its constituents, and making sure that businesses are meeting customers where they are is essential. If you’re a small business, think of how you can provide support to your customers (via your products, or beyond them) in order to reframe the idea of how you seek to be a force for good in your community.
Q: How can the principles detailed in Twitter for Good (Target, Write, Engage, Explore, Track) help build a neighborhood one tweet at a time?
Claire: Twitter is a tool for businesses and organizations everywhere to better do their jobs of meeting the needs of their customers and supporters. The TWEET model shows anyone how to excel on Twitter to meet whatever goal your organization aims for. It’s about coming up with the specific goal for your Twitter activity (Target) and then implementing specific steps to reach (and Track) those aims.
Q: Can you give us a specific example of Twitter used to good effect in a US neighborhood?
Claire: Mark Horvath and his tireless effort helping the homeless populations throughout the US consistently prove some of the best examples of Twitter being used to uplift communities. Through new media and social media, @hardlynormal and @ invisiblepeople, Mark works to connect resources to those who need them most. He is a constant, on-the-ground voice and presence for not only meeting specific needs (this person needs this winter coat, for example) but for drawing attention to the important larger issue of homelessness, especially in times of recession.
Q: Many of our readers are smaller neighborhood businesses. It’s commonly said that small business is the bedrock of the U.S. Economy and strong neighborhood businesses are the bedrock of strong local communities. [I know this well from my local community development work here in Chicago’s under-served neighborhoods.] Given that, can you offer some thoughts for our readers about how they can learn to use Twitter to serve both their businesses and the greater good?
Claire: Again, running a small business is another way to help someone — well, really, to help a whole community. Small businesses provide support, services, or products that a community needs in a tangible, local way. Serving the community and making a profit are perfectly connected, and any small business (or large) operating ethically should feel confident that they are serving the “greater good” in their efforts when they try to meet the needs of their consumers.
Twitter is about relationships, and small businesses are built on the bedrock of (local) relationships. As such, social media and new media help local businesses to service their community more tangibly and consistently. If you’re a local business trying to figure out Twitter, think about the relationships you can be building, and it will make sense.
My conversation with Claire led to some thoughts on how to jump start TwitterThink and get it working for good!
You’re not just a café, you’re a gathering place where friends and family meet to catch up, relax and at times do business. Your clients come in to buy a cup of coffee or snack or maybe even lunch. What do you offer beyond the local doughnut chain to make your experience special and memorable and customized to them? That’s your Twitter stream.
You’re not only a grocer, but also a direct connection to good health and happy gatherings for the entire community. People come in your door thinking about recipes, quality of produce, brands and goodies! Most of all they think of the pleasures of feeding themselves and others as well as the time it takes. What information can you offer through your Twitter stream that touches this greater purpose?
You’re not only a dry cleaner, you also provide a fresh start to your client’s work day. You talk with your clients at the beginning and end of the day and they think of you every time they put on a fresh shirt or newly cleaned jacket. As a friend and service provider in their daily lives, what thoughts can you offer that connect them to a positive experience of your service?
You can catch Claire’s wisdom and that of others from Zynga, LinkedIn and Facebook for a fee at a special Social Media for Non-Profits event here in Chicago Sept. 27. Social Media for Nonprofits is a nationwide conference series with speakers from Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Chicago’s very own Groupon, Zynga and Community Media Workshop.
Add it to the smorgasbord of free events being held here during Social Media Week Chicago, Sept. 19 – 23, sponsored by the Chicago Tribune and Zocalo Group. And then mix in some affordable 435 Digital classes.
Here’s to more social media smarts this fall!
Originally written for $35Digital.
In the year 2000 — when I first came across it — Craigslist was an earnest site providing a deceptively simple service — free classified ads online— that was extremely useful to most everyone. Today, Craigslist is the 9th most popular website in the United States. As much as it is loved, it is also vilified. Some blame Craigslist for newspapers’ lost profits and decimation of the revenue model for news. If only it were that simple. If Craigslist hadn’t brought free classifieds online, some other web service would have. Personally, I credit Craig Newmark and Craigslist for setting a kind and gentle tone for the Internet. For him the Internet has always been about social change.
Today Craig can be found on Twitter with nearly 39,000 followers, Facebook with more than 120,000 and on his CraigConnects site. He converses constantly with his followers, chatting about the birds and other wildlife he sees on his deck in San Francisco’s beautiful Cole Valley. Craig’s current focus focus is on craigconnects, which he says is his “initiative to link up everyone on the planet using the Internet to bear witness to good efforts and encourage the same behavior in others.”
He will be speaking at 11 a.m. today at Chicago’s TechWeek at Merchandise Mart.
Q. Do you see the pressure from social media to change the culture of businesses as leading to lasting change or a new type of organization? What would that organization look like?
A. I do see that in large organizations, those with 150 or more people or more, that’s the Dunbar number. Currently, to get ahead in a large hierarchy, you tell your boss what he or she wants to hear, and then she or he tells her or his boss what they want to hear. That means that real company knowledge and possible improvements never make it to the top. However, social media tech can be used by line workers to combine knowledge and improve business businesses. In such situations, the boss has to back this up, and that often proves difficult.
I’m currently seeing the Department of Veterans Affairs using such methods to better serve vets and also provide better return for the taxpayer dollar.
Q. 435 Digital is all about increasing the capacity of smaller and local businesses to operate efficiently online to reach their customers and grow their businesses. What kind of tools do you see developing as an alternative to traditional advertising for local business? What other services do you see emerging?
A. I like the use of social media, where friends can help friends make better product choices, and that includes Twitter, Foursquare, Google+, Facebook, etc. Also, importantly, there are user review systems, like Amazon or Consumer Reports, which help.
The big problem is that sometimes such systems can be gamed, that’s already a problem. I feel that that might only be fixed with lots of reviewers, constant vigilance, and networks of fact-checking.
Q. You like to say trust is the new black, what are your thoughts for how local businesses can best translate the trust they have built on the ground into trust online? Services like Yelp might be part of the answer, but what else do you see?
A. I’d say that organizations just need to be straight with people in all presences, offline and online. Maximum transparency is good, within obvious limits. (There’s always stuff you can’t talk about, like customer private info.)
It helps to speak in plain language, and to get to the point, and then stop.
Q. You recently successfully launched a veteran’s initiative through craigconnects, and community building is another area that you plan to encourage under craigconnects. How do you plan to use the tools of the social web to encourage us to take more responsibility for our communities and neighborhoods. What new tools are you excited about?
A. We’re still planning that, but probably soon two areas:
networks of factchecking so that we can get trustworthy, reliable info.
use of nonprofit rating services to help us select good nonprofits to help and how to find bogus ones to avoid. We’re working with GuideStar, charity Navigator, and GreatNonprofits.org.
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[/media-credit]Recently, Internet privacy concerns erupted over Facebook’s introduction of facial recognition features. Most of us have some version of this on our home photo editing systems, and many people misunderstood what Facebook was offering and how to use it. The bottom line is that only photos by your friends will suggest that you are in the photo and only you can tag the photo.
To be sure, there’s potential for abusing some technologies but the facial recognition genie is out of the bottle and it won’t be going back in. That leaves us with the question of how we will marshal this and other technologies so that they are not abused by government despots or evildoers.
One of the cooler heads and sage voices on the Internet privacy beat is Tim O’Reilly. Continue reading Tim O’Reilly on Internet privacy and the promise of Web 2.0
