Last week I was at a Women in Logistics event in Clitheroe. One of the speakers, a dynamic MD of a massive European freight company, was telling us, in no uncertain terms about her demand for remarkability. All her suppliers had to exceed her high targets.

In her presentation, she mentioned that she’d had real problems with her communications, and she was in the process of looking for a new supplier. “Aha!” I thought. “I’m in communications, I give a remarkable service. I’ll speak to her”.

What I should have asked, at the time of the presentation was “what do you mean by communications”? Because it turns out, she was having a problem with her telephones. Er, not my area of expertise at all.

Which reminds me of the story on the legendary John Peel’s BBC Radio 4 Saturday morning programme, many years ago, which had me in tucks. It went something like this:

Little boy: “Daddy, where did I come from?”

Dad (having prepared himself for this day): “Well… Mummy and Daddy love each other very much…” and he continued to explain the mechanics of making a baby.

Little boy: “Oh. I thought I came from Preston”.

So my top tip is this: Ask clarification questions at the time something is raised. It will save you time, energy and possibly embarrassment later.

As a business woman, it sounds counter productive to be turning away opportunities. After all, in this economic climate, every pound counts. But I’m a fervent believer in working with people who have a product or service which I feel comfortable promoting. PR is an odd sort of profession from that point of view. Although my clients’ businesses clearly aren’t mine, I feel very protective of them. I need to like the people I work with and the way they work. We need to have the same ethical stance, regardless of sector specialism.

In order to really get behind a business and make the client/agency relationship work, there has got to be that synergy. The way I work is more of a collaborative approach, which is a win-win way all round.

So, the fact is, this week I’m shorter on work, but longer on resolve – and it feels good.

David Edmundson-Bird, digital marketing communications course director at Manchester Metropolitan University spoke to The Preston Social about it on last week.

The consensus was “when something is out of your control, it’s worrying. And this issue of posthumous digital persistence of identity has the potential to be out of our control”

What are the issues?

Technology

We’re only 5 years into social media, but by the time we’re 80, almost everyone on the planet will be affected by it. Already children have their whole lives on social networks, right from the 12 week scans their parents post online.

The internet has a memory that never fades. It never forgets anything and is almost indestructible. You cannot delete it and there will always be a trace. And we are saying much richer, much more private things about ourselves.

So be careful!

Morality and ethics

Look at the Leverson enquiry – sometimes photos, news reports are totally out of our control. You can be tagged on Facebook, identified, even though you don’t have an account.

Law and practicality

Who owns our images and data? Facebook reassures us that we own our images, but through the small print it would seem there is no guarantee that we can ever totally remove things, because of sharing/back up copies etc.

Twitter does keep it all our tweets

Hotmail deletes inactive accounts

Linkedin has a deceased member death form

And the solutions?

100 years ago if you were no one special, you died and then were forgotten. Now, even though we might be no one special, but our ‘stuff’ is left. So years ago, the priviledged “left their papers to one’s estate”. Now effectively we all do that – unless we make arrangements.

Look at Memolane is a ‘scrapbook’ of your identity and your memories and offers a good cross network of your life. If you want it!

There is such a thing as memorialism. Facebook allow you to memorialise an account, which stops adverts or people hacking into them;  stops people from friending the deceased etc. And, if asked, they will remove the deceased’s account.

There are lots of firms who will handle your identity online on your death according to your wishes.

Here are some tips:

• write a will with details on how you can access accounts.
• If you change passwords you need to change your will.
• Name the networks you belong to (I’m sure it will be a shock, how many things we all join online). Keep a record of them all
• Use an online trustee (An Escrow for identity). You will have to pay for it but even if they go out of business, your estate will still have access.

So if you’re planning on dying soon (and I hope you’re not…) make sure you find a lawyer who understands the value of your online identity. Build it into your will . Make sure your estate and executors now.

And most of all, your banking password needs to be in that will too

Here are my 6 crucial areas to think about if you are pitching for business:

• Make sure you have Smart objectives (ones which are specific, measurable, realistic and timely)
• Do a comms audit beforehand, so you know the baseline you are working from
• Discuss how exactly the business will be managed.. The day to day contact point, and the reporting process
• Understand and manage client expectations
• Explain how you measure success
• Demonstrate your sector specific knowledge

And remember, pitching is a two way process.. Courtship needs both people involved, so be prepared to walk away if you think that spark is missing.

What aspects do you consider at a pitch?

Emotions are like that – they are contagious. It is important not to overlook this fact when conveying news of any sort.

This truism was particularly emphasised when my daughter’s school invited parents to a meeting about a significant change this week.  The atmosphere in the hall was initially courteous, upbeat and the questions posed were non-controversial.  The majority appeared accepting of the new situation and we could sense all was going well.

Until, that is, someone spoke out. They clearly articulated well thought-out objections.  Tapped into concerns that hadn’t yet been thought about, let alone communicated.

And the mood in the room changed. The animosity was palpable. Now it was not 300 parents who were overall accepting of the plan, it was 300 parents with real worries.

Have you ever experienced that?

So I thought it would be timely to share some crisis PR tips regarding communicating to a group of people.

1. Take the advice of a PR professional to see if your message might in any way be controversial. They usually have enough distance from the issue to be able to see pro’s and con’s in an unbiased way.
2. Avoid public meetings – remember, mood is very contagious. It is far better to have an ‘open house’.
3. Brief people with your arguments in good time – so everyone feels they have an opportunity to think about things.
4. Encourage feedback – it’s a massive resource to be able to harness the ideas of all those extra brains! Public meetings are a daunting forum to voice an opinion, and many choose to leave their views unheard.
5. Arrange for a day/evening or two of ‘drop-in’ sessions. This gives everyone the chance of having their individual concerns addressed on a one-to-one basis. These allow people to express their concerns without necessarily recruiting others to their cause.
6. Acknowledge the feedback you have received, thank people for their time, and act on it where appropriate.

So next time you want to communicate a big change to a group of people – think twice before holding a meeting on it.

If you want more PR tips, sign up for the Tigerfish PR newsletter.

Tip 6 – Create a Facebook business ‘page’

By accessing the ‘create a page’ link at the bottom of your Facebook profile page.

Don’t forget with social media, it’s not enough just to have it - tell people you have it too. Use profiles on business cards, website, letterheads, email signatures etc.

Tip 7 – Tweetdeck

I found this transformed my Twitter experience. Information comes directly to you, and you can post messages and monitor your other social media platforms too.

Tip 8 – Secure your social media name

Even if you choose not to use social media, secure your name on the main ones anyway. It’s like a URL. Once it’s been taken, that’s it.

I recommend at least securing LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr.

Check out www.namechk.com

Tip 9 – URL shortening with http://bitly.com

A fabulously useful tool to not only shorten unwieldy URLs but also (if you register) will give you analytics on how many times the link has been used.

And finally:

Tigerfish Tip 10 – Sign up for Google Alerts

You might choose not to engage with social media, but DO monitor what’s being said about your company online. Or your competition. Or industry sector. Easy to do, visit www.google.co.uk/alerts

Social media is a great way to learn, share, engage with your stakeholders.

What a resource – enjoy it!

Follow @amandatigerfish on Twitter and ‘like’  http://www.facebook.com/TigerfishPR

Social media is a great way to engage with customers, learn what they want, ask questions, establish your credibility – and keep in contact with not just 8, but 80 or even 800 people at a time.

It’s tough, but not impossible to streamline your social media. It can be very time efficient – but that takes discipline and a plan. Here are some handy tips and techniques for starters:

Tip 1 – Make sure your LinkedIn profile is 100% complete

This means photos, summary, three jobs, education and at least three recommendations. It makes you look more professional.

• Don’t forget to make websites specific (you have up to three, so direct people to specific pages)
• Add Twitter tag if you have one
• Modify your public profile so it’s less cumbersome.

Tip 2 – When connecting, use ‘done business with’ option…

… and always write a personal note

Tip 3 – If you don’t want to get updates from someone on LinkedIn…

…hover your cursor over their latest update and click on the greyed out ‘hide’ button which will appear to the right of the text.

Tip 4 – check who has visited your profile

(click through from lower right hand corner of your LinkedIn home page). Useful to see who is interested in you.

Tip 5 – Update your status on LinkedIn

Remember this will go to your business colleagues, so make sure it’s a) to do with business b) of interest c) not selling.

Join groups and participate to show your expertise.

If you would like to follow me on twitter for more tips and general chat, I’m on @amandatigerfish . It would be great too if you could ‘like’  http://www.facebook.com/TigerfishPR.  I’ll be posting information there too.

Now I’m no accountant, but that seems to make sense to me. Finances can be turned around with savvy management. Reputation however, is a different matter. As (possibly Warren Buffett) says, “it takes a lifetime to build a reputation, but a moment to destroy it.”

If you have a view on this, do please link up to the poll on Linked In and vote.

I suppose being a PR specialist, it will come as no surprise to you that I am firmly on the side of reputation. I am really full-on about the importance of nurturing reputation, and clearly, so is the wonderful Evan Davis with his BBC series on Business Nightmares. Watching again how big brands have mismanaged their good names was astonishing, and is well worth another watch if you missed it first time.

So my question to you is this. Are you taking steps to protect your business’ reputation?

Here are FIVE top tips to do just that:

• Create a social media strategy document. You can’t stop your team using social media, but you can establish expectations and standards
• Train your staff (who let’s face it, should be your brand’s most ardent ambassadors)
• Develop relationships with your publics. Not just your customers, but everyone who ‘touches’ your business
• Keep communicating the good things that are happening.
• Have a plan on what to do if things go wrong. Fingers crossed of course that they won’t; but better to err on the safe side. In these days of Twitter and rolling news, stories can travel very VERY fast. Be prepared.

1. Promote promote BEFORE the show

I always recommend customers modify their email signatures, 3 months before a show, to flag up the fact that they will be attending. And make sure the signature is consistent for all employees. That way, every time an email is sent, the recipient will be reminded of your exhibition.

2.Don’t forget press information

A preview release on what you are exhibiting should be sent to your key press 3 months before the show. (I speak from experience here… please don’t tell your press officer just one week before the show, and expect her to work her usual wonders!) Try to include something which will make your stand more attractive – a product launch, a key announcement are good news hooks, if relevant. At the show, bring along 20 press packs for the press office (unless of course there is a press office memory stick being issued). Afterwards… well, a review release is sometimes useful – but only if you have something interesting to say. (like £xK business done at show/booked again etc)

3. Make your stand attractive and professional

This is your shop window, make it count. I’ve seen massive companies with DIY stands – and small organisations with bespoke graphics and exhibition boards. We all know which look more professional. Exhibitions ARE costly, and particularly in terms of time for employees to organise and attend.  You do no-one any favours by skimping on the stand image. If you can’t afford a properly designed stand, you might be better to just ‘walk’ the show.

4. Capture details of everyone who visits your stand

I visited any number of stands these two shows, totally incognito. Few asked who I was. Yet it’s so easy to get peoples’ details. Some shows will rent out a ‘badge scanner’, but plain old paper does the trick just as well. Your team just need to be disciplined to fill the details in – AND FOLLOW THEM UP AFTERWARDS. One of the simplest ways to get details is to collect cards, in return for a prize draw. I’m delighted to say that the lovely people at Franceline did just that, and more to the point, phoned me up last week with those wonderful words “Amanda, do you like champagne?” Hurray, my name had been pulled out of the bowl and I had won a bottle of bubbly. However, Franceline Transport are the real winners, as cleverly, they have a record of everyone who visited their stand.

5. Do something to encourage people onto your stand

Just having your team, lovely though they are, on the stand is rarely enough these days. As I walked the shows, I was variously drawnto the wifi zones, the fabulous old motorbike, the working machines, the massive tankers.

They made me stop – and chat. The chocolate just made me guiltily rush in, and out again. One of the best examples of something good for the stand was the cartoonist on the Reynolds Logisticsstand. Unlike the various pens I’ve snaffled, this ‘give away’ I’ve kept. And will probably frame! (see below)  Thanks Reynolds – and I’ll probably hang onto your details on my cartoon longer than a branded pen or mug too.

Exhibitions are costly affairs – make sure that you use their PR potential to the max.

Amanda at FPS Expo

So I’d like to share with you the SEVEN business apps I use the most on my phone.

• Evernote As they say ‘remembers everything’. And amazingly it does. All those fab websites you think you’ll come back to… the odd typed note…a photocopied recipe….a crucial email. Yup, they can all be stored via Evernote, and tagged for easy retrieval. Brilliant.
• SplashID A password manager. With all sorts of websites needing logins, from shopping sites to magazine access, this secure way to store passwords etc a must. Especially if you have a sieve for a brain like me.
• wifitrak Remarkably simple, remarkably effective. Just flags up if there are any wifi networks nearby, and if they are open or not.
• Dropbox This syncs, stores and shares files online. Great if you are working from a couple of computers – or indeed if you want a colleague or client to amend a file/design. No more working from the wrong version – you’ll both have the most up to date one
• Teux Deux Gosh I just love this app. I use it on my desktop too – as it’s just the most simple, most effective to do list. And it has a great introductory video, well worth watching. I can quickly capture all those little to do items that crop up when I’ve just come out of a meeting. Or having a coffee at motorway services. Or frankly, when my mind is in neutral, shopping or whatever, and I have a brainwave. I also like the ’someday’ option. That’s for notes such as: someday – be awesome. Someday – be on top of your filing.
• Logmein This app was practically a life saver, (well, face-saver is nearer the truth to be honest) when I was able to access a file from my desktop…. It enables you to remotely control your office computer, as if you were sitting right in front of it. My top tip though, is to adjust the settings on your computer to prevent it going into ’sleep’ mode.
• Eventbrite And finally, this is a relatively new find. I’m running twitter courses and PR courses at the moment, and using Eventbrite to promote them. This is a really simple app which lets you make a record of who has attended a session. Ok, so it’s not desperately useful for my workshops which tend to have less than 10 on them… but hey, it appeals to my inner geek. Humour me!

So that’s a list of my most favourite business apps at the moment. What are yours?