7 “must-have” iPhone apps for PR pros

Did you know more than are more than one billion iPhone apps have already been downloaded for your iPhone? (Note: Thanks to Don Bartholomew for the correction) ONE BILLION. So when Apple says “there’s an app for that” they really do mean it. I mean, they’ve thought of everything. Literally.

As consumers, we love apps that help us get organized (Evernote), make informed decisions (Urban Spoon), navigate a new city (Google Maps) and have fun (my new fave, Tiger Woods PGA Tour).

But, as PR pros, what are the apps that we absolutely have to have to do our jobs in this new media age? After a little research and polling a number of PR/social media luminaries who use the iPhone on a day-to-day basis, I identified the following seven “must-have” iPhone apps:

• TweetDeck. Seems to be two camps. Those who love Tweetie, and those who love TweetDeck. But, TweetDeck’s ability to organize multiple groups and multiple accounts makes it a little more valuable. It’s an essential tool for monitoring the brands you represent on Twitter while you’re away from the office.

• Facebook. An unquestioned staple. Like TweetDeck, the opportunity to monitor your brand’s fan pages, upload photos, and add other content on the run is invaluable.

• Bump. A new app, but one that’s gaining popularity by the day. Especially for you PR and social media conference-goers out there. Allows iPhone users to swap contact info simply by touching phones. Really. I’m not making this up.

• Google: Email, Reader, Maps. You need them all. But, you also need the basic search engine and it’s ability to help you find anything, anytime, anywhere.

• Evernote. Are you one of those people who does their best thinking in the car? Then this app is for you. Capture those ideas and sync them with your Mac back at the office. Grab screen captures of white boards after meetings and upload them to your desktop. Or, take notes at a meeting and upload to your files online later. Evernote does it all.

• Stitcher. An interesting new app that, like Pandora, allows you to customize your content. In this case, it’s audio—talk radio, news and information. The likely sources? CNN, NPR, TechCruch, AP, ESPN and a host of other online audio content creators. Imagine creating a content stream of personalized audio (news and information specific to your organization/clients) you could listen to each day on your way into the office. How valuable would that be?

• WordPress. The popular Web blogging tool now has an app for the iPhone (3G and original) and the Touch. Claims to be the only iPhone app that allows you to write posts, upload photos, edit and manage comments—right from your phone. A handy little tool when you need to manage a client’s blog on the go, wouldn’t you say?

Want more? Here are a few additional favorites from a number of PR/digital thought leaders:

Lee Odden, CEO, Top Rank Marketing—Twitterfon, Safari, Google, Facebook, Clicky Mobile,

Sara Masters, communications director, Minneapolis Synod—TweetDeck, Tweetie

Sonny Gill, founder of Community Chat—Twittelator Pro, Facebook

Jason Falls, vice president/director of interactive and online communications, Doe-Anderson—Tweetie, Evernote, Newsstand (RSS), Yammer, Bump

Sarah Evans, principal, SevanStrategy—Tweetie, Things, Facebook, USA Today, esnews, Bump, Air Mouse, Remote, Yahoo, WordPress

Albert Maruggi, president, Provident Parnters/Senior Fellow-Society for New Communications Research—TweetDeck, SimpleMindx, Tweetie, Wall Street Journal, NY Times, Google, Stitcher

Dave Fleet, account director-Social media, Thornley Fallis—TweetDeck, Evernote, Instapaper

Blois Olson, executive vice president, Tunheim—Stitcher, Facebook, Tweetdeck, Google

Ken Burbary, digital/social media lead for Ernst & Young—Tweetdeck, LinkedIn, Facebook, Evernote, Wordpress, Brightkite, Google, Yammer, iDrive, NYTimes, tipcalc

Chuck Hemann, research manager, Dix & Eaton—MarketingProfs

OK, now it’s your turn. What would you add to this list? What are the iPhone apps you can’t live without when it comes to conducting business on the go?

Photo credit: Neils Van Eck (FlickR)

Follow Friday–June 26, 2009

My Follow Friday recommendations for June 26, 2009. As usual, I provide context and rationale behind why I follow these three up-and-coming rock stars in the PR field.

@cubanalaf
@davidspinks
@lizgiel

PR Rock Stars: A Conversation with Lee Odden

I had the wonderful opportunity earlier this week to sit down and share coffee with Lee Odden, president of TopRank Marketing–one of the premier digital marketing and search optimization firms in the Twin Cities. As Lee and I chatted, I learned more about how he started his business, his passion for all things search and how he broke into the national speaker circuit. We also talked at length about how the lines between PR, marketing, social and search continue to blur–and what that means for organizations, agencies and consultants.

Like a few PR Rock Stars you’ve seen in this series before, Lee doesn’t have your typical PR background. But, because these lines continue to blur, I think he’s a perfect example of what the PR Rock Star of tomorrow will look like. Someone with a strong PR and marketing background. But someone who also understands the digital space and basic search concepts. Someone who can even write code, when necessary. And someone who knows how all the pieces fit together and how to bring that integrated mix to bear for the organizations he or she serves. 

Here’s a brief snippet of my conversation with PR Rock Star, Lee Odden:

A different Follow Friday approach…

Taking a different approach to Follow Friday today and giving you the “why” before I provide the “follow.” More context. More background. And hopefully, more value for you. Let me know what you think.

For more on my “follows”:

Danny Brown

Leo Bottary

Amy Mengel

Behind the firewall

The last few months, I’ve participated in my fair share of Twitter chats–Journchat, HealthSocMed, and my new faves Mack Collier’s BlogChat on Sunday nights at 8 pm and Bryan Person and Sonny Gill’s community chat Friday’s at noon. They’ve been invaluable as opportunities to meet and converse with PR and communications folks with common interests–and to share best practices.

It’s like appointment television for Twitter.

But, with so many chats out there now, it’s surprising to me that there’s not one that opens up the discussion about social media behind the firewall (at least to my knowledge). That is, a conversation about using social media internally with employee audiences. 

So, starting next Wednesday at noon CST, I’m starting #behindthefirewall–a chat about the challenges, opportunities and best practices of communicating with employee audiences using new media tools. 

I’m not going to go this alone either. I’ve asked my friend, and Twin Cities Social Media Breakfast founder, Rick Mahn to join me. We’ll co-moderate this conversation each week and delve into topics like:

* When is it right for your executive team/CEO to blog internally? How do you coach them through that process?

* How do you build momentum/engagement internally using new media tools?

* What are some of the change management best practices that will help you transform your culture–after all, it’s about the culture/people, not the tools, right?

* Using social networks internally to build employee pride and trust

This is just a sampling of the topics we’ll cover. More importantly, I want *you* to tell me what you want to discuss. After all, this will be a community conversation.

I know there’s a number of you out there that work in the employee communications space–even if it is for just a fraction of your job. I hope you’ll join Rick and I next Wednesday.

In the meantime, what topics would you like to see covered in the first discussion?

PR Rock Stars: A conversation with Shel Holtz

If you’re engaged in the online space as a communicator, there’s little chance you don’t know Shel Holtz. I mean, the guy is everywhere. From Ragan conferences to IABC events to social media boot camps across the country, Shel is as prolific as they come. And, quite honestly, he’s a legendary communicator. 

I had the wonderful opportunity to sit down with Shel at BlogPotomac last week and talk culture change, corporate blogging and employee engagement. Here’s what he had to say.

What I learned at BlogPotomac

You’re not going to find a summary of the BlogPotomac speaker presentations here (but, you can find two great summaries of Shel Holtz and Scott Monty’s presentations over at Matt Batt’s blog). You won’t find insights I gleaned from Amber Naslund, Shashi Bellamkonda or Rohit Bhargava (although I did pick up a few tidbits from these great minds). And you won’t see a list of quotes from speakers and conversation facilitators at the event either.

For me, BlogPotomac was more about the relationships than anything else. I don’t mean to imply that Geoff Livingston and crew didn’t put on one hell of a conference–because they did. I just found tremendous value in the conversations and discussions I had with my peers, colleagues and mentors during breaks, lunches and dinners over my three days in DC.

Here were a few of my key takeaways:

* The power of energy and positivity in developing relationships. No one demonstrates this better than my friend, Allan Schoenberg. Going on 10 hours of sleep for the week (he was locked up in London on business all week), Allan definitely brought his A-game to DC. Always buzzing with energy, Allan is a “connector” in every sense of the word. He met up with former Central Michigan grads (his alma mater), introduced a few of us to Scott Monty and seemingly everytime I turned around he was chatting with someone new.

* Technology is important in PR–more so today than maybe ever before. Amy Mengel continues to teach me this lesson every day (sorry, Amy, I know it’s painful being friends with me). I continue to be amazed by her ability to pick up technology so quickly–something I have to work hard at each day. As PR pros, the ability to understand and incorporate new technologies into our work is becoming more and more important with each passing day.

* No fear. No fear.  One of my favorite Rocky IV quotes, my colleague Matt Batt has really taught me the importance of working with no fear. Whether it’s overcoming the apprehesion of approaching a speaker at a conference or diving into a venture or career path, Matt is living, breathing proof that anything is possible.

* Always give more than you get. Shonali Burke continues to be a shining example of this lesson every day. Just look what she recently did for Darby, an orphaned german shepherd in the DC area. I admire Shonali for so many different reasons, but this lesson was the one that stuck with me over the weekend. 

* Don’t forget the little people. I’ve never met Geoff Livingston. Really never even interacted with him online. But, from the moment I shook his hand and introduced myself at the event last week I sensed a genuine warmth and compassion that you just don’t see that often in folks at his level. I mean, let’s be honest, Geoff’s a rock star. But, he doesn’t give off that impression. I noticed Geoff taking the time to chat with everyone–from the presenters to attendees to volunteers–at the event. And he did it with humility and a personal touch. Kudos, Mr. Livingston, kudos.

Live from BlogPotomac

What are folks learning at BlogPotomac, one of the more progressive social media unconferences in the country, today? Hear insights and thoughts from Matt Batt, founder of Pipeline Media Relations and Allan Schoenberg, director of corporate communications at CME Group.

My community…in real life

Tomorrow, I’ll be taking a jet airplane (thanks Southwest Airlines!) to meet up with what can only be described as an “all-star cast” of PR, marketing and social media rock stars at BlogPotomac in DC. 

The speaker list for this event is very impressive: Scott Monty, Shel Holtz, Liz Strauss and Geoff Livingston, to name a few. I’m looking forward to their thoughts and insights on a number of social media-related topics. But, for me, the real pay-off at BlogPotomac is the opportunity to meet up with the folks I’ve come to know so well online these last few months. For example:

David Mullen–one of the first folks I met through Twitter and now, one of my most trusted sounding boards. Feel like I’m meeting a long-lost brother in a way.

Scott Hepburn–one of two who made this trip possible with his generosity. And a hell of a guy. Looking forward to spitting coffee, beer, water and a number of other beverages across the table for two straight days (don’t worry, he’ll get that joke).

Amy Mengel–someone I’ve gotten to know pretty well the last few months and a rising star in the PR/social media space. Looking forward to hearing more about her work to start a Social Media Breakfast in the Albany area.

Shonali Burke–my certification partner in crime, I’m looking forward to talking professional development, going out on your own and life in general with this sweetheart.

Sonny Gill–the other half of the generosity train that’s making BlogPotomac possible for me. Can’t wait to talk NBA, blogging, and so much more with this social media star. We still on for a game of 21 Sonny?

Allan Schoenberg–I’ve spoken with Allan so many times now it almost feels like we’ve already met face-to-face. Looking forward to talking B2B, golf and microbrews with Allan. That is, if he can get his mind off the fact that his Red Wings are about to blow a 3-2 lead in Lord Stanley’s Cup

Lisa Hoffmann–A real sweetheart (Twitter’s Sweetheart, in fact, as coined by Scott Hepburn), I’m hoping to chat work/life balance and social media with Lisa.  

Beth Harte–Not even sure where to start with Beth. Can’t wait to pick her brain on a number of topics. Well, and I’m looking forward to tipping a few “Harte of Marketing” beers back with her. Oh, and you thought I forgot about that, Beth

Matt Batt–Looking forward to chatting with Matt about the challenges and benefits of starting and owning a small business and a little golf. In fact, we need to put in some serious time to planning that trip to Kohler to play Whistling Straits this fall/next spring.  

Amber Naslund–With a personality like Amber’s, how can you *not* want to meet this woman? Oh, and she’s smart as hell. I mean, I’m literally laughing out loud to myself at the prospect of what might happen when you put Amber in a room together with Beth Harte, Lisa Hoffmann and Shonali Burke. I mean, we may witness spontaneous combustion.

So, that’s what I’ll be up to Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Learning, listening, talking and building what I hope will be a number of mutually beneficial relationships that will grow and flourish for years to come. 

Can’t wait.

The role of today’s PR pro: Head coach

My friend, and PR Reader’s Choice Award Up-and-Coming Blog award winner, Lauren Fernandez had a great post last week about the role of social media within an organization. Which got me thinking how much a PR professional’s role has and will change over the coming years.

No longer can PR pros merely manage the message. Instead, we need to learn to facilitate the conversation in different ways.

No longer can PR pros tell audiences what to think. Instead, we need to persaude and influence customers and stakeholders.

And no longer cam PR pros “manage” a crisis–at least not the same way we used to do it. Instead, we need to join the discussion, correct facts (when appropriate), listen more carefully and adjust our approach accordingly (just look at how Domino’s handled their recent crisis).

These are different mindsets than the ones we were taught in college and in the workforce. Our role is changing.

The new paradigm: PR pros as “head coaches.”

Now, I’ll admit, most of us have some work to do to achieve ”head coach” status. But, that’s where were going, isn’t it?

After all, our new role requires many of the same attributes as a head coach:

* Understanding the power of team–and individual contributions

* Knowing the difference between “coaching” and “telling”

* Understanding the nuances that make people tick–whether its teammates, customers or key influencers

* Demonstrating outstanding interpersonal skills. The ability to have meaningful two-way dialogue is crucial to this role.

* Helping people (and customers) reach their true potential

* Helping others succeed (again, your customers) before yourself

* Serving as a mediator for crucial conversations–the kind you may have between your brand and an agitated or upset customer

It all points toward a massive role change. Are we ready for it? Are *you* ready for it? 

[Photo credit: MD1960; FlickR Creative Commons]