Inside PR 2.78: The plusses of Google+

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We recorded Inside PR 2.76 on the day Google+ opened its pages to businesses and watched as companies developed their G+ presence in real time.

Now it’s a couple of weeks later, and we thought we’d take a closer look. Gini kicks it off by referencing her blog post on the topic. She calls out Google’s transparency in admitting they helped several companies build their brand pages in advance of the launch. However, she’s noticed some of those organizations haven’t grown their followings or done much posting.

She goes on to say while the social media bubble may have wanted G+ to be a Facebook slayer, that’s not likely Google’s intent. She believes it’s to give us a social reason for using Google and that will provide them with more data.

Martin likes the interface, that you can share directly from Google Reader and that Google docs, calendar and Gmail are all there. He wonders if there’s more of a business application to the platform because G+ is so open and when you’re with friends you want to be in a less public environment – a private room with the doors closed, like FB.

Joe calls out the ability to organize circles by interest. And in his circles for journalists, marketers, web design and PR, people continue to publish interesting discussions. Joe uses the platform to follow posts on an industry by industry basis.

Martin suggests it could be a mini-blogging platform without the constraint of 140 characters; a place for companies to start a larger discussion.

Some recent updates: G+ can be managed by third-party apps like Hootsuite. Right now, there’s only one administrator allowed for business pages – that’s going to change in the new year, but currently it’s a drawback.

And finally, we want to wish all our American friends and listeners a Happy Thanksgiving!

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We’d love to hear from you.

Send us an email or an audio comment to [email protected], join the Inside PR Facebook group, leave us a comment here, message us @inside_pr on Twitter, or connect with Gini DietrichJoe Thornley, and Martin Waxman on Twitter.

Our theme music was created by Damon de SzegheoRoger Dey is our announcer.

This week’s episode was produced by Kristine Simpson.

Inside PR 2.77: Jay Baer Talks Corporate Culture

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This week, Jay Baer, of Convince and Convert and The Now Revolution fame, is our guest.

We interviewed him at the PRSA International Conference in Orlando last month and thought now was a great time to run it.

It’s 2012 planning time so we discuss with him the things people ought to remember when using the social tools, trends to watch, and what to consider for next year.

A few things you want to pay particular attention to while you listen:

– His keynote topic at the conference was the goal of corporate culture in speed, authenticity, and response, not about social media.
– He talks about how social media success isn’t about the tools and technology. It’s about corporate culture and being social instead of doing social.
– He wants you to remember that the tools always change. If you focus on the tools, when they die, go public, or get bought out, you’re going to be left with the smoking wreckage of a plan not focused on strategy.
– He says the goal is not to be good at social media. The goal is to be good at business, using social media.

We ask him what are the three things he wants you to take away and he outlines them for us.

We also discuss how, as consumers we have so much more information about at our fingertips, it’s important for companies to be sustainable, human, approachable, and engage to help us make our decisions.

Ending with what’s next for Jay Baer and the four words Martin takes away every time he hears Jay speak.

It’s been said multiple times during the podcast, but if you’ve never heard Jay speak, you’ll quickly understand why he’s one of the industry’s most sought-after experts.

He walks the walk, is highly engaging, and is really, really smart.

Enjoy!

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We’d love to hear from you.

Send us an email or an audio comment to [email protected], join the Inside PR Facebook group, leave us a comment here, message us @inside_pr on Twitter, or connect with Gini DietrichJoe Thornley, and Martin Waxman on Twitter.

Our theme music was created by Damon de SzegheoRoger Dey is our announcer.

This week’s episode was produced by Kristine Simpson.

Inside PR 2.76: The world of Global PR

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This week Gini DietrichJoe Thornley, and Martin Waxman talk about the new Plus in Google+, Google+ Pages for businesses. The team watches this breaking news as it unfolds. Gini checks out the Muppets page, Martin checks out the Pepsi page, and Joe checks out the Toyota page. The team looks forward to following the world Google+ pages and how it will develop.

But first, Joe starts off by sharing with everyone his adventures over in sunny, snowing Whistler, BC at the IABC’s Western Canada Regional Conference. Joe was very lucky because he actually won his pass to the conference, and he thanks the folks at IABC Toronto for that.

Then, Joe introduces an interviews from the Public Relations Society of America Conference with Dan Tisch, incoming chair of the Global Alliance. The Global Alliance is the confederation of the world’s major PR and communication management associations and institutions, representing 160,000 practitioners and educators around the world. The Global Alliance’s mission is to unify the public relations profession, raise professional standards all over the world, share knowledge for the benefit of its members and be the global voice for public relations in the public interest.

The Global Alliance is something Martin, Gini and Joe think will become very important very soon, so, make sure to check it out and listen to the full interview with Dan Tisch.

We would love to hear your opinion on the Global Alliance, or if you have any comments, insights or opinions on Google+ Pages. Send us an email or an audio comment to [email protected], join the Inside PR Facebook group, leave us a comment here, message us @inside_pr on Twitter, or connect with Gini DietrichJoe Thornley, and Martin Waxman on Twitter.

Our theme music was created by Damon de SzegheoRoger Dey is our announcer.

This week’s episode was produced by Kristine Simpson.

Inside PR 275: Counselors Academy – The place for PR execs

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This week on Inside PR, Gini Dietrich, Martin Waxman and Joseph Thornley interview Abbie Fink about the PRSA Counselors Academy Conference and what makes it special.

If you run a PR agency, you know that it can be hard to find expert advice that relates directly to our business. One conference fills this gap. The PRSA Counselors Academy Conference brings together owners and managers of public realtions agencies across North America for two days of sessions focusing on the business of PR.

Abbie says the Counselors Academy conference is about “being a better owner, a better manager, discovering new ways to do business development and revenue streams … the management side of running a public relations practice.” The magic of this gathering, according to Abbie, is that business owners come together and share their experiences and knowledge freely with one another on business issues. How do they set billable hours? How do they determine when to bring on another employee? How do they deal with problematic clients? Under what circumstances would they fire a client?

At Counselors Academy, business leaders set aside their status as competitors in order to advance the collective whole, the public relations consulting industry. Says Abbie, “If I can help another PR agency owner look at or do something in a different way and they become better at what they do, that’s good for our industry as a whole.”

The next Counselors Academy Conference will take place May 6 to 8, 2012 in New Orleans. And Inside PR’s Martin Waxman is co-chairing this year’s conference with Dana Hughens. You can be sure that I’ll be there along with the senior leaders of my company.

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Do you have an idea for a topic you would like us to discuss? Send us an email or an audio comment to [email protected], join the Inside PR Facebook group, leave us a comment here, message us @inside_pr on Twitter, or connect with Gini DietrichJoe Thornley, and Martin Waxman on Twitter.

Our theme music was created by Damon de SzegheoRoger Dey is our announcer.

This week’s episode was produced by Kristine Simpson.