Do we have a language problem in PR?

When you think of PR, what's the first thing that comes to mind?

Admit it, you tend to think of media relations, right?

As I talk to business folks, I still get the feeling that a lot of people think PR is really just media relations.

Gee, I thought PR meant influencing and persuading attitudes, perceptions and behaviors of key stakeholders. More accurately, according to Wikipedia, PR is the practice of managing the flow of information between an organization and its publics. In that respect, media relations is just one way we do that. Hasn't it always been that way?

PR is much, much more than just media relations. It includes a number of other disciplines that we all practice on  a daily basis to help our clients achieve their business objectives. Community relations. Social media. Internal communications. Executive communications. Investor relations. And marketing communications, to name a few. 

I think what we really have is a language problem.

For the bulk of the non-PR population, PR=media relations. But we know it to mean and represent so much more.

The key here is that this is affecting our reputation with executives. If management only sees us as media relations experts, it doesn't get us the credibility we need to get a seat at the big table. And it certainly doesn't allow us to demonstrate our many skills and talents for influencing and persuading the attitudes and behaviors of key audiences (and ultimately affecting purchasing decisions, for example). In the end, it usually means we're left out of key management discussions and decisions and our counsel is not sought--a "lose-lose" situation for both management and PR professionals. 

So, given that, how do we start redefining PR for management? If you had 2 minutes to state your case, what would you say?

PR Rock Stars: A conversation with Lee Aase

When you work in the close-knit Minnesota health care PR/communications community, it's almost impossible not to know Lee Aase. He's widely known as a strong advocate of social media (I initially met Lee at a Ragan conference on social media presented by Shel Holtz back in June) and a pro's pro in the media relations and public affairs arena.

As manager of social media and syndication at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., Lee's helped this world-class organization foster and grow a strong community of loyal Mayo patients across the world who are more than happy to share their stories. In fact, Mayo counts on it. More than any other medium or communications vehicle, Mayo relies heavily on its patients to spread their stories of the outstanding care they received to others across the globe.

Interestingly enough, Lee and Mayo took yet another step in their social media journey this morning when they launched their new blog, Sharing Mayo Clinic. Designed as a way for patients and employees to share their stories about what makes Mayo Clinic unique, the new blog is another addition to an already impressive social media lineup that Lee has helped engineer the last few years. A Mayo Clinic YouTube channel, a Twitter account and multiple blogs and podcasts.

The other interesting thing about Lee: he's a chancellor. That's right. A little over two years ago, Lee started Social Media University Global as a way to help PR and communications pros learn about the burgeoning world of Web 2.0. The site is set up like an online university, complete with a full curriculum, videos of the "campus" (read: Lee's home) and tuition and financial aid. Tongue-in-cheek references aside, the site has been a great way for Lee to help educate PR professionals on the ins and outs of social media.

Clearly, Lee is a PR Rock Star. He's also a member of the famed Blog Council, so pay attention folks. And if you're not following him, start now.

Historically, the health care industry has been slow to adopt new communications tools and technologies. Yet, Mayo Clinic is on Twitter, has its own YouTube channel, Facebook group page, and multiple podcasts and blogs. How did you go about educating your internal stakeholders and building consensus around the merits of social media to your overall communications plan?

Word of mouth has always been the most important way for people to find out about Mayo Clinic. So we've emphasized that social media are just the new way word of mouth happens. We also had two external consultants, Shel Holtz and Andy Sernovitz, come to Mayo to speak and hold workshops to engage our broader Public Affairs department and through that our leadership.

How are you using social media tools at Mayo Clinic to listen to your patients and their thoughts, concerns and ideas? Any examples of instances where you've taken action based on something you heard from a patient through one of your blogs, podcasts or videos?

With our Facebook page, it's been wide open for patients to share their thoughts, and we're launching a new blog this week (Thursday) called Sharing Mayo Clinic where we likewise will be giving patients the opportunity to share their stories and their feedback about their experiences. We had a blog last year for our employee patient population that was related to our Mayo ExpressCare service (a walk-in retail clinic), and through the blog we got feedback on some issues we needed to address...specifically, because the demand was so much stronger than we expected, we needed to add more staff, modify some procedures and accelerate the plans for a second clinic.

How has the social media landscape changed the way you work with the media? Do you still work with traditional media outlets? How are you interacting with bloggers? Are you eschewing traditional channels to tell you story directly to your patients and other key audiences?

Social media tools make it easier for us to provide audio and video resources to traditional media, as well as to bloggers. After the stories come off embargo, those same resources are made available directly to patients. Working with traditional media is still extremely important, but sometimes we do a post on our news blog instead of a full-scale news release because we can do it more quickly and still provide improved resources for journalists.

Physicians, by and large, are not individuals that have a lot of time on their hands. Yet we all know blogs, podcasts and video interviews require time and commitment from subject matter experts like them to succeed. How do you manage those competing demands and keep these key stakeholders engaged in the process?

Our main strategy is to use video blogs, so our physician experts can answer questions on camera. We prefer that our surgeons use their hands for operating instead of typing. By using video, they can talk about their research as they would to a patient instead of taking time to write. It becomes a 10-15 minute interview instead of a lengthy writing exercise. This also proves that the physician participation is genuine and not ghost-written, because the blog viewers see the experts speaking for themselves. The level of ongoing interaction in the comments varies among the physicians, with some choosing to engage directly and others preferring to do summary responses based on the general tone of comments.

You started with your Medical Edge podcast back in September 2005 and have grown your use of social media tools extensively the last three-plus years. Any key lessons you've learned along the way?

Starting with something that's already approved for distribution to radio stations made it less controversial; it was getting another use for the same product. Then we continued to find ways to produce content tailored to the medium (i.e. longer podcasts) in a cost-effective way, as part of our TV production process. It's also helpful to have outside experts share the state-of-the-art with leadership, to validate that other companies and organizations are getting into social media without having major problems. The worst fears are almost never realized; everyone has nightmare scenarios, but you shouldn't let them paralyze you and keep you from seizing the potential (and much more likely) benefits.

Now the tough question--how have these tools helped Mayo Clinic further its vision and achieve its organizational goals? How do you measure results?

We look at traffic to our sites, comments, appointment requests coming through our social media platforms, and also how having these electronic resources has helped us better serve journalists and get coverage in traditional media. The activities would be worthwhile based solely on the increase in traditional media coverage, but we see significant word-of-mouth benefit too.

7 Life Lessons and Professional Pointers You can Learn from Twitter

I'll admit, I'm a relative rookie when it comes to Twitter. I just started really participating and engaging a few weeks ago. But, in that short amount of time, I feel like I've learned as much or more than I have during entire college courses. Or, even some of my post-grad classes for that matter. Hey, Chris Brogan said it best--maybe you don't have to go back to school to hone certain key skills you need for your dream job today.

Since my primary MO is sharing, collaborating and connecting on- and off-line, I thought I'd share with you the life lessons and professional practices you can learn--as I have this last month--by engaging with others using this tool:

1--Twitter will make you a better writer. Writing in 140-word chunks forces you to communicate more efficiently and effectively. It makes you a great headline writer, which is only going to become more important as brevity is stressed more and more in the online--and offline--communications world. Twitter also forces you to write interesting, engaging copy--you know the kind you should be writing for your clients and organizations? If your tweets aren't engaging and interesting, people simply won't read them and engage with you. Wow, seems like I've heard that before somewhere...

2--Connect and collaborate with today's great minds. You would be so lucky to have the opportunity to collaborate and learn from great minds like Chris Brogan, Shel Holtz, Jason Falls and Geoff Livingston. And those are just a few of the luminaries in the social media/communications industry. What about finance? Or, health care? Or, technology? They're out there folks. On Twitter, you can connect with these thought leaders instantly in 140 characters. Believe me, these people are more approachable and open to conversation than you might think. Try them.

3--Be a sponge. A big, fat, ready-to-take on the world, kinda sponge. Soak in information as fast as you can take it in. I participated in Sarah Evans' remarkable and wildly successful Journcat last night. With a non-stop stream of tweets running by at warp speed, it was tough to keep up. But, I tried to gather and learn what I could, connect with a few folks, throw in my two cents and move on (One of my lame tweets even landed on her "Top Tweets" list--Sarah, I'm blushing now...) Always remember: Do more listening and learning and less shouting and preaching and you'll do fine.

4--Twitter can make you a happier person. Yes, psychology majors, you read that right. OK, so I may be over-stating it a little, but I find myself laughing at many tweets throughout the day. Just follow @ambercadabra, @darthvader or @skydiver for a while--you'll laugh. Trust me. Doesn't laughing make you happier? I've also met a boatload of people from everywhere from New Hampshire to Australia to Utah on Twitter. Doesn't connecting with new people and building those relationships make you happy? Or, use Twitter to help others. Just look what @armano did last night on Twitter--helped raise more than 4K in two hours (running total is now around 11K, I hear) for a family in desperate need. Amazing.

5--Twitter will help you hone your "pitch" skills. If you're in the media relations game, you know what I mean. When you pitch a reporter or blogger on a story idea you have to do a little research before crafting your pitch, right? You need to find out what makes the reporter tick. What he or she writes about. What they're interested in. Twitter's the same way. Before connecting with others on Twitter, take a few minutes to review their profile and read their blog. Find out where they went to school and if they have any special interests. Mention some of those things in your tweet. It's the same skills--different arena. One more thing: reporters appreciate it when you send them a personal note after they've written a great story, right? Again, same principle holds true in Twitterville. Retweet a follower's recent post. Or, just send them a nice tweet saying how much you've enjoyed connecting with them. Makes all the difference in the world.

6--Twitter: The new post-grad degree. Of course, it's not all about Twitter. It's about the conversations you have, the connections you build, the stories you share. It's also about what you put into it--blog posts you write, comments you provide on other blogs, videos and podcasts you develop. Think you can learn all that in a classroom right now and in the next six months to a year? I'm not saying post-secondary education isn't useful or a smart thing to do. I'm just saying tools like Twitter now give YOU the keys to your future. Take it. Run with it. You might like where you go.

7--Be yourself on Twitter. Isn't that the first rule of dating? C'mon ladies, help me out here. I know it's been a while since I've been in the dating game, but I've always followed this mantra. Applies on Twitter, too. Be funny. Smart. Irreverent. Whatever. Just be who you are. People see right through the folks who are trying to be someone they're not--just like in the real world.

OK--your turn. What have you learned on Twitter? Any life lessons or professional tips you'd like to share?