Follow Friday: 6 PR pros to follow--and why

Over the last few months, I've participated in the "Follow Friday" trend as a way to share connections and promote others over the Twitter airwaves. But, I'm going to steal a page out of my friend Sonny Gill's playbook here and provide a little more context behind my Friday Follow suggestions on a weekly basis.

Here are my six Follow Friday suggestions for the week of March 16:

* David Mullen (@dmullen). One of the first folks I connected with on Twitter--boy, was I lucky. David is responsive, smart and funny (for a NC guy). And a tremendous advocate for the PR industry--learn more on his blog: Communications Catalyst.

* Danny Brown (@dannybrown). One of the great PR Twitter voices. Danny's a busy guy. Whether it's helping kids by donating a Wii to a local hospital or assisting starving children around the world through his 12Kfor12 initiative that he jumpstarted earlier this year (just raised more than 13K in 12 hours yesterday!), Danny keeps a pretty tight schedule. Oh, and he also manages to blog daily. But, he's always willing to help. If you're lucky, you can catch him on #journchat Monday nights, too.

* Scott Hepburn (@scotthepburn). The Chris Rock of Twitter. Scott's tweets have made me spit up my coffee on more than one occasion. Huge 'Cuse fan (don't hold that against him). Smart PR guy. And always looking to engage in conversation. You can follow his thoughts and views on his blog--Media Emerging--where he discusses the intersection between PR, social media and journalism. Following Scott's a no-brainer.

* Allan Schoenberg (@allanschoenberg). I only met Allan two months ago, but in that time he's helped me develop multiple blog posts, advised me on professional decisions and collaborated with me on a soon-to-be-unveiled B2B project. This guy knows PR inside and out and he leads the corporate communications function for the largest financial exchange in the U.S. Oh, and in his "free time", he's an adjunct professor at DePaul University at Loyola University-Chicago. Why wouldn't you want to follow him?

* David Spinks (@davidspinks). He may still be in school, but David's as smart as they come when it comes to the social media/marketing/PR space. And he's going to make some organization very happy in the near future when he graduates and accepts that first job. For now, he keeps an active blog full of advice on social media, creativity and marketing/communications. He's also a big sports fan (we connect here--even though he is from NY) and an artist.

* Amy Mengel (@amymengel). World traveler, PR and social media junkie and fellow Bell's Beer fan, I took a shining to Amy right away. Plus, she adds great value through her blog, Mengel's Musings, where she discusses corporate communications, B2B PR/marketing and a slew of other topics. Always engaging and willing to share her thoughts, I'd highly recommend following Amy.

Who are your Follow Fridays today and why?

PR Rock Stars: A conversation with David Mullen

About a month ago when I started engaging more actively on Twitter, one of the first folks I met was David Mullen. Man, was I lucky. 

Right from the get-go, despite his enormous popularity, David's been approachable, accomodating with my questions and requests, and friendly. After multiple conversations online, we've discovered we have a lot in common (two young kids, passion for blogging and a spirited interest in PR and integrated marketing and communications). 

Bottom line: David represents many of the key reasons I continue to devote so much time to blogging and engaging through online channels. He shares. He advocates. He collaborates. In fact, I feel like I learn a little nugget from him virtually every time we interact. So many smart people out here. And today, I'd like to share with you all a little more about David--what makes him tick, how he manages it all and who he follows regularly online--as the first installment in an ongoing "PR Rock Stars" conversation series. Oh, and if you aren't already, start following David on Twitter and visit his blog.

1-You're a busy guy. Two kids at home. Full-time job at Mullen. You're active on Twitter. You blog regularly. I'm assuming you have a healthy array of hobbies. How do you balance it all? 

I'm not going to lie. It's really tough to balance work and family alone most of the time without even tossing hobbies and social media stuff in the mix. Twitter doesn't really take up that much time for me since I quickly dip in and out throughout the day. Blogging, on the other hand, does require some decent time.

There was only one way to add blogging to the plate and not sacrifice time with my wife and daughters. The vast majority of work done on my blog falls between the hours of 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. after everyone else in the house is asleep. It's wreaked a bit of havoc on my sleep schedule, especially since our youngest girl wakes up around 6 a.m. every day, but you do what you've got to do. Actually, the great thing about that was that it made me decide very quickly if I was serious about blogging or not.

2-I heard you mention at some point that you started your blog six months ago. Since then, you've evolved into a social media luminary online. Any advice for those aspiring to position themselves as authorities in different disciplines online?

You're way too kind. I'll leave the luminary title to Chris Brogan, Amber Naslund and a few other fine folks. My advice would be to blog about what you know and love, and find an angle on it that's a bit different from everyone else.

For example, I'm passionate about social media, but there are a LOT of already established bloggers who tackle that topic with much more background in the space than me. What I know really well is PR and integrated marketing. I write about social media from time-to-time on my blog, but the majority of time is spent on PR and integrated communications generally.

What I noticed about other PR bloggers is that many write about PR industry news and such. What I've done to have a different voice is regularly challenge the way we PR types do business to make sure we're doing things because they are the right way to do them, not simply because it's the way it's always been done. Challenging our profession in a positive way led to a lot of great comments on my posts, even early on, and solid growth in readers and subscribers.

3-You're a pretty savvy "Twittizen." Who are your "must follows"? Who do you make sure to check in with regularly? And whose blogs do you make a point of reading and commenting on each day?

Ah, you're going to make me name names... There are so many great folks I follow and I know I'm going to leave some off. But here are some of my "must follows," for various reasons. By the way, I'm leaving off the obvious A-listers (though a couple of these are inches away from that status). Those folks are pretty easy to find on Twitter.

@ambercadabra, @bethharte, @shannonpaul, @scottmeis, @sonnygill, @kellyecrane, @scotthepburn, @abneedles, @bradmays, @cubanaLAF, @evanspatrick, @rockstarjen, @dannybrown, @prjack, @susanisk, @researchgoddess and, of course, one of my new favorites @arikhanson.

I don't get to read as many blogs as I'd like or comment nearly as often as I should, but my must-read blogs right now are Amber Naslund, Shannon Paul, Chris Brogan, Danny Brown, Leo Bottary, Todd Defren, Jason Falls and Mack Collier. On the personal side, I also follow Desiring God , The Just Life, and The Resurgence. There are others that I read regularly, but these are the ones I read most often. I also get pointed to a lot of great posts by my Twitter peeps.

4-In your day job at Mullen, how have you been counseling clients who want to get into the social media space because "everyone else is jumping in?" How are you advising these folks to be prudent and strategic in their decision-making instead of taking the "me too" approach? Any best practices to offer?

I ask them a lot of questions during the first discussion that not only provide me with insight about their motivations, but also require them to stop and think about why they're interested. After getting all the answers out in the open, it's usually obvious to everyone if we're looking at social media tools as a strategic addition to our overall communications or if we've come down with Shiny Object Syndrome. It sounds simple, but asking the right questions - even if you already know the answer to some of them - can change a conversation.

5-Lastly, you mentioned the other day you paid off your second car and that you now have no payments. Nice. So, I'm guessing that means you won't be in the market for a new car anytime soon. However, if you were, what would be your dream automobile?

We are definitely NOT in the market for a new one car anytime soon! But if I could pick any set of wheels, it would either be a 1957 Chevy Truck, a 1956 Porsche 356 or an Aston Martin Vantage. Which car would depend on how I felt that day and whether or not my wife was with me.

My New Year's Resolutions: Five things I resolve not to do in 2009

As I thought about my resolutions for the new year, the garden variety goals came to mind: exercise more, eat better, spend more quality time with the kids, etc. But, there are a few others I've been kicking around that don't involve taking action. In fact, these five goals actually require a little different approach:

* I promise not to be "that guy"--Shannon Paul really put it best. As I continue to explore and engage in new social media tools online, I hope to build relationships within my preferred networks, be human (and hopefully, inspire a few laughs along the way), and promote others whenever possible. Not too tough, really.

* I won't have an intimate relationship with my Twitter account. Sometimes it seems we're all a little too close to our online activities. This was most evident to me over the long holiday weekend. Instead of spending quality time with the people that matter most to us, I noticed a number of folks active on Twitter, Facebook and other social networks online. Of course, I was out there, too (after all, how did I know the others were online?), so I'm just as guilty. But that's where my resolution comes in. Using Twitter, Facebook and other tools to develop relationships is great, but I also plan to get out of the house more and meet up with the great PR/marketing/communications minds in the Twin Cities in 2009, too. Nothing replaces good, old-fashioned face time.

* I won't do someting just because "that's the way we've always done it." This one applies not only to my professional life but my personal life. For example, I'm currently researching a way to listen to my music library throughout our home. Originally, I thought about the traditional approach and buying a new portable Bose Sounddock. But as I thought about it, what I really want is access to my expansive music collection in virtually every room of the house, without having to lug around the sounddock. I need a "wired" house--not a sounddock or a run-of-the-mill receiver and speakers. I'm guessing this is going to mean a fairly expensive trip to Best Buy in my near future. For business, this means not falling into the trap of taking the easy way out. I plan to challenge the status quo and never stop thinking of innovative solutions to my organization's communications challenges.

* I promise not to talk too much. Another goal with multiple applications. I need to be a better listener with my clients, my wife, my kids, my friends and my extended family in 2009. Why? Because good listeners are better friends, better dads, better husbands and better communicators. David Mullen seems to agree. Organizations should also make this a priority--listen more intently to your customers next year. Whether it's online through tools like Twitter or blogs or face-to-face through focus groups or personal one-on-one conversations, companies can learn a lot from their customers. Just ask Dell, Starbucks and Southwest Airlines.

* I will not go back to school. Ok that's an odd thing to say, right? Yeah, well I don't have an extra 15K lying around to pursue my MBA right now. Hey, you try it with two kids and 24K in annual daycare bills. What I will do, however, is passionately continue to learn. I hope to spend at least one hour online each night listening on Twitter, commenting on blogs I follow, developing my own blog content and discovering new tools. I plan to stay engaged in my local PRSA chapter as a board member where I've learned so much from so many smart people the last seven-plus years. And I plan to read feverishly. Books on my short list include Groundswell and Naked Conversations.

Those are my goals for 2009. What about you? What do you resolve not to do in the new year?