Wednesday 30 November 2011

The Score: Education - 2 Experience - 6759345532

I get it - our society dictates that education is must (well, except in Alberta where you can make millions using a hot stick to make metal stay together), but as I have been out of university for a few years now, I am starting to get really pissed off at how much of that time (and tuition) was wasted on work that is now irrelevant to how I do my business.
Prime example: my media relations courses. in 2011? Almost entirely inaccurate. Being able to draft a perfectly crafted by-the-book press release is no longer a marketable skill when press releases now need to be SEO and Twitter friendly. When now, they need to include links, videos and images to get picked up. Today, no one notices if I put -30- at the bottom, as long as I include a link to the company website or a photo of the product that was developed. I learned none of these things in school, yet now, could not pay my mortgage without these adopted skills.
I also understand that that is ONE example, and I am sure that many people who work 9-5 drone jobs still utilize a lot of book-based skills that they honed in school. However, why are our schools encouraging this behaviors? Why aren't post-secondary institutions more focused on promoting entrepreneurship and giving us the skills the start and manage our own businesses, rather than teaching us to help someone else make money?
Granted, I do utilize one text book I got in school, but today, I could google it and find the same information, saving myself the $150 textbook, the tuition and wasted class time.
Any of you who attended university with me know I have always felt this way. I rarely attended classes, only when mandatory, read the texts and notes and still maintained a 3.85 GPA. No, not everyone can learn in that way, but there needs to be an education revolution away from the norm. Our society is evolving so quickly, information in available everywhere and universities will become irrelevant in some disciples. SOME! Med students - please don't follow the Megan method and just read the text.
But I digress, my point here is that now that I have created my own company and am doing fairly well at it, I am constantly striving to break away from everything I was force-fed in school, because in the communications and PR game, standard is not good enough.  Clients need fresh, creative and unique in order to stand above their competition. Therefore, I need to go against everything I was taught, break molds and be fresh in my own work in order to help my clients reach their savvy consumers.
Consumers themselves are demanding fresh tactics, normal and standard don't interest them anymore, because they are aware of all their options in our information age.
Am I saying forget everything you learned in school? Am I saying don't bother with school at all? Hell no. I AM saying, be savvy about what you apply to your career, to your clients and to your portfolio, as the standardized press release I was taught to write a mere 3 years ago is no longer relevant. I AM saying, be creative - take what you learn and modernize it, turn it into something worthy of a 2011client and consumer. But also remember that a lot of the richest people in the world got there without education. Be critical of your education, select relevant courses, not mandatory ones. And above all - do it your way. Our society now applauds those who step outside and crush the boxes they came from.

                                                                     - 30 -

Wednesday 16 November 2011

How to offer services you don't offer: Small Business 101

As of late, you may have noticed southpaw offering many fun new services such as web design, graphic design and motion graphic production. That was my way of announcing I now do motion graphic development and production - stay tuned for samples. But, if you are one of the few people who actually saw my face in a class in PR school, you are all "Whaaa..? Megan hated graphic and web design and well, didn't do it." You would be correct. So how do I offer these services without actually having the marketable skills to build a website or colour within the lines? I partnered with a great graphic and web designer who needed to be able to offer strategic content development, writing, marketing, communications, social media etc to her website clients. Clever, right?
The same could be said for the motion graphic videos. Obviously not a talent of mine (why the hell can't I embed a youtube video into powerpoint?!), and yet here I am - able to offer clever, fun, creative video creation to my clients as part of the actual implementation of the amazing communications strategies I wrote for them.
The key is in partnering with other small businesses to offer complementary services. The take home message here? If a customer asks you, "Hey, do you guys offer elephant preg checking?' You think to yourself: Can I make money offering elephant preg checking? If the answer is yes, then you respond to said customer, "Why of course we do!" Then you spend the next hours googling the hell out of elehpant preg checkers who will sub contract with you. Point made? I mean, don't go out of your way to offer completely irrelevant services because some Joe Blow asked you to help him plant a windrow of poplars around 30 acres, but make sure you don't limit yourself to your specialized service if you are just starting out. Wal-Mart is popular for a reason - its convenient and it has everything. So, if you can offer the services you are recommending clients use, or offer the services they are asking for - perfect. They are that much more likely to see you as a solution than a quick-fix.
That being said, I do not YET offer elephant preg checks. But, if you run a small business where your clients need help to market, promote and communicate to their audience, let me know. Chances are I have a need for you as well. Or if you are in an industry completely irrelevant to mine - this should still have some bearing on you. Don't try to do it all yourself. You are successful because people pay you to do what you do well.  Pay them to do the same, and make yourself look good at the same time.

Monday 7 November 2011

southpaw presents: How not to suck at Twitter

Seriously - how frustrating is it when a website says "Follow us!", or "tweet us!", but then won't respond to your mentions, your replies or your messages and only tweets about their sales?
Businesses - don't just use twitter as a free billboard to shamelessly self-promote. Utilize it to engage your customers - both current and potential. How you respond to people (or if you respond at all) will make or break your social media success. So, below are the southpaw tips to not sucking at Twitter (not listed in order of importance)
1) Follow relevant organizations, people and groups.  Don't be that guy who has 6578 followers but only follows 3. How will you know that the trends are or what people are saying? Search for people, interests, trends, take twitter's people suggestions, and follow those recommended by others in your feed.
2) Have a relevant profile pic and for eff sakes - fill out your description! I don't follow anyone with no profile description because, well, I have no idea who they are, where they are from or what their tweets will be about, or if said tweets will benefit or interest me. A good, comprehensive description (a clever, witty one is even better) and a legit profile pic instantly add credibility and let followers find you.
3) Don't be a kool-aid pusher.  Don't just promote your company's benefits, sales, services, products blah, blah, blah.... Discuss trends in your industry, spout useful tips and tricks of the trade, retweet good info that people might like, engage in #FollowFriday to promote interesting tweeters (and get promoted in return...). Helping others only ensures your own success...
4) Switch it up. Do you post nothing but links? Nothing but pictures? Nothing but retweets? STOP IT! To truly engage your audience, keep them on their toes. Don't be the tweep who only ever posts a link to his blog or a picture of his office. Mix up the type of tweets you post.
5) Respond. Respond. Respond. If you ignore customers, they will, in turn, ignore you. Watch for all mentions, messages and public comments. Ya, I know, everyone is busy but if you utilize twitter like the business tool it is - it is working for you, so dedicate resources to it.
6) Participate. Twitter is laden with relevant chats (small business chat, ag chat etc.) that are there to connect people to others in a relevant field or interest group. Find chats. Join in - don't just creep. Ok, you can creep the first time, but after that  - get in there!
7)  Diversify your tweeps. If you are running a company account - let a few people have access. It will keep the tweets fresh and not force one person to come up with all the content alone. BUT - do not give access to the janitor and his dog. Too many people can lead to duplicates, messages being missed, replies being skipped and people getting ignored. Everyone assumes someone else will do it. So, let a few people in, get them on a reply and posting system and let them loose!

Essentially - use your head. Be logical and promote the same customer service and information as you would at the store front. Even if you don't have a store. You know what I mean. 

Wednesday 2 November 2011

Muahaha... more (and longer!) rants unleashed upon the interwebs! Alternate title: southpaw communications inc. announces the addition of a blog

I mean *ahem* oh excellent, another business communications tool to utilize. That's right... I have added a blog. Well, ok. No I didn't. Clearly that is beyond me - what with the codes and the java and the HTML (short for hotmail, right?). This blog was added by the illustrious Phoenix Design Group, my fierce partner in communications and web crime. (www.phoenixdesigngroup.ca).
And watch for my website makeover soon too! Phoenix won't let a site go stale, and this one will soon be super easy to navigate and learn all the ways that southpaw can help you communicate. Tabs, categories and more - coming soon!
But now, back to your regularly scheduled internet browsing. I am sure to be far wittier, clever, cynical and enlightening tomorrow.