Updating Your Social Media AND Communications Skills

Here are 3 tips just as applicable to those who were waiting to see if social media would catch on (it did) as they are for those who jumped on the social media bandwagon five years ago. (As it may be time to brush up, or catch-up.)

Inspiration for this post came from an article with the ironic subhead, The last in a series about Facebook. The article was published in 2008. Insert laugh track here. The article proved (once again) that while communications vehicles change constantly, the basics of communication don't.

Whether you're just jumping into Facebook and Twitter conversations or have been participating for years, it pays to observe what's working and what's not, and to borrow liberally from folks in the first category. 

For your consideration:

• Beyond the Hype offers a good look at what worked - for the administration and the people - in the lastest State of the Union address.  

Takeaway: Keep your message on message, and remember a little humor can help get that message across. 

• Comcast shows Twitter can be a powerful business tool. 

Takeaway: In business, you are not the message; your service is.

• The tech journalists at Venture Beat remind PR professionals that lessons learned in Pitching 101 still apply. 

Takeaway: Do your homework, provide your reader(s) with some clear benefits, and be honest.

>>>>and this just in>>>> Know your niche!
R.E.M. hits all the right notes with its free, re-mixable downloads. Read, then mix it up if you want to, here:
http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/08/r-e-m-remix-soundcloud-garageband

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Beyond the Hype's analysis of SOTU message, 

http://blog.loispaul.com/blog/2011/01/4-things-the-state-of-the-union-tells-us-about-the-issue-of-message-control.html 

Comcast's Customer Service Twittter feed, 

http://twitter.com/comcastcares

How to pitch to Venture Beat (or anyone else),

http://venturebeat.com/2011/01/24/pitch-to-tech-bloggers

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