The truth is, you cannot really predict what will happen next week in social media, but nonetheless here are 12 predictions and thoughts we have going into 2012.

1. Content is (still) King - Over the past few years we’ve seen brands become their own publishers and content curators. The trend will continue in 2012, and brands will find more and more ways to integrate content with commerce and their communities. Brands with the most authentic, engaging, integrated, and useful content will find the most success. Those who tumbl just to tumbl will not find the digital community they hoped to build.

2. Digital Punch Cards in the form of Recommendations and Rewards -  Have you noticed when you “like” pages on Facebook now you are offered the ability to recommend that brand to all of your friends? This feature and digital recommendation trend around social media will evolve in 2012, and brands, small businesses in particular will find a way to take advantage of it. Surprise and delight your fans perhaps? The key for brands will be to thank the audience they’ve accumulated and authentically encourage them to digitally recommend them to other friends. No need to carry those buy 40 get 1 free yogurt punch cards!

3. Brands will try to take advantage of Pinterest, and many will fail. – As any pinner knows, Pinterest is amazing for finding pretty things, new recipes, new looks, and overall inspiration. And many bloggers know that Pinterest drives a ton of traffic to their blogs. Brands are paying attention to this trend, but have not yet discovered how to use Pinterest as a proactive social media channel. 2012 will be the year of Pinterest for brands, “Like” will be replaced by many with “Pin it”.

4. Tumblr will roll out metrics (hopefully). – Early brand adopters of Tumblr have since voiced their frustration with the company’s business practices and its lack of an analytics dashboard. In 2012, Tumblr will should roll out some metrics, and/or brands will continue to devote more of their efforts to Facebook with its newer Tumblr-esque visual and re-sharing properties.

I heart glitterguide.tumblr.com

5. The 2012 Elections will be Social - If the 2012 election stays on trend with the 2008 election, increasing the votes cast by a demographic of younger voters, politicians will need to socialize. A recent Pew Research Center survey found that 83% of Internet users ages 18-29 use social networking sites, and 65% of adults use social networking sites, most of whom form opinions of restaurants, styles, and even politics amongst friends. Notice, even Obama uses F-commerce (Facebook commerce).

6. Less is More. As brands and social gurus continue to refine metrics, we believe 2012 will simplify the actions of brands and their respective social communities. Instead of being spread across multiple channels and being a little bit effective in each, they will find the channel(s) that is best helping them achieve their marketing goals, and spend less time with all the other noise.

7. Your web experience will become more responsive – Everything you experience online with your iPhone, iPad and computer will be optimized for that platform more and more. As more shoppers do their research with mobile, companies will invest more dollars enhancing those handheld experiences, and allowing you to quickly share that experience with all of your friends on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.

8. Social will continue to integrate with all arms of marketing. – Social media will be painted on all digital and printed collateral, and more CMO’s will be asking how social media is woven into their overall objectives. Remember Dodge’s Find a Journey YouTube campaign where they hid 3 cars throughout America? The big brands are on board already, small to mid-size businesses will follow suit in 2012.

9. Twitter will be less social - Gasp I know! As Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr and other niche communities continue to drive traffic and awareness to brands in 2012, Twitter just may become more and more what it really is. A place for quick information, news dissemination, and networking with like minds. Unless brands use Twitter as an in the moment customer service channel, or have a robust social media team, we think brands will devote less time and energy to the channel in respect to bandwidth and ROI.

10. The Olympics will be digital – In 2010, the Winter Olympics scratched the surface with fans experiencing the games through social media. Brands will roll out the red carpet for bloggers and fans to interact with them socially during the London games. Instagram will probably tell a pretty amazing story of the games.

11. Spotify will take over the world – Well maybe not the world, but it will definitely gain a serious amount of subscribers and go toe to toe with Pandora. There really is nothing like having a best friend miles away create a playlist for you and keep your tunes up to date. Not to mention your ability to see what all your friends are listening to constantly on Facebook. More companies and brands will try to find ways to follow Spotify’s lead in genuinely making their user’s experience “sharable”.

12. We can “like” Emails – This is really more of a wish of ours than a prediction. Although we do think more brands should pay attention to their email strategy and how it integrates with their social media efforts. We would LOVE if you had the ability to “like” an email instead of having to reply with “thanks”, “sounds good”, or the other. Could you imagine the time and amount of emails you could save if you just had to “like” it to send your “I got it and have read it all” message?

(source)

What do you think will happen within the realm of social media in 2012?

Sometimes, the agency biz feels like a highwire circus act. Not necessarily a bad thing.

The Bailey Gardiner team does some light stretching before a client presentation

At a recent TAAN meeting in South Beach (Transworld Advertising Agency Network), I had the opportunity to hear a presentation about creativity in the workplace from a senior executive at Cirque du Soleil. Jordan Fiksenbaum, Vice President of Marketing and PR, spoke to our gathering of some 50 or so ad agency owners from around the globe as we gathered together to share and learn from one another at our annual global conference. The story of Cirque du Soleil has been well-told and revered by many, and still I found much inspiration in hearing Jordan explain the company’s approach to creativity. Truth be told, their philosophy matches my own in the ways we try to encourage and inspire our marketing teams to forever top themselves.

You see, creativity both exhilarating and exhausting. It’s not a constant bubbling spring from which all great ideas flow – at least it’s not for me anyway (or any other creative person I’ve met so far). You’ve got to provide a nurturing environment, and atmosphere that breeds ideas – a place where creativity can grow and prosper. Cirque du Soleil has that going on, and then some.

Some things we can learn from their successful formula:

• Everyone’s a player – Every person in your company plays a role.  At Cirque, the behind-the-scenes creators of sets, costumes and soundtracks are treated with as much importance and respect as the performers.  Same goes for the admin staff, the janitors, the cafeteria ladies, etc – they are all playing key roles in helping the organization reach success. In the agency world, when was the last time you applauded for the accounting department, or the second account coordinator from the left?  Yep, you couldn’t do it without them either.

• Office environment – The Cirque headquarters in Montreal was custom designed for them as a creative playground. It’s their business offices and training center for performers from around the world, all wrapped into one. They do not separate the art from the commerce – they see no line drawn between the two. At your workplace, do the creatives sit in their own “department” or section of the office, walled off from the business side of the business?

• Individual workstations – Their offices literally look like a circus is going on inside (and it is). Each person has the freedom to customize their space with their own creations, surrounding themselves with their own interpretations of creativity.  Crazy colors and feather boas? Check. Wild masks and impossibly tall springy things made from god-knows-what? Check. Gray cubicles with standard issue manila folders and a 3-drawer file cabinet? Not so much.

• Work family – From the atmosphere in their headquarters, you can see the camaraderie and interaction between performers and business teams. All offices surround the performers’ practice areas, so at any time at your desk you can look up and watch some death-defying flyover or sweet balancing act. What a great melding of purpose, having everyone sitting together – creating. Doesn’t matter whether it’s columns of numbers on an excel spreadsheet or juggling fiery spears.

• Food – What’s creative inspiration without fuel? The Cirque offices have incredible kitchens, and a cafeteria serving the foods of the world for people from all around it. Twenty languages can be heard as people share their meals together – food serves as the great unifier. At our agency, we’ve found this true – ask members of the Bailey Gardiner Food Club about that.

Our accounting dept is extremely nimble.

• Freedom – Creativity is about exploring the boundaries and crossing them. This process requires freedom, and trust. Without it you might as well forget about seeing or hearing anything new. One Cirque example I remember was a story about a makeup artist and an eyelash fetish. She felt the performers in a certain scene needed to wear 14 pairs of eyelashes to get the desired effect. The bean counters could have questioned if they could get by on 7 pairs, or even 10 – this would save on production costs.  Management sided with the makeup artist, knowing this attention to detail is what makes Cirque a global sensation. Creative freedom.

We strive to do as many of these things at our humble little agency.  What’s working for you at your hive of creativity?

There has been a lot of talk in the past couple of week about the elusive social media expert. It started with Gary Vaynerchuk who called 99.5% of social media experts clowns. Then there was Peter Shankman who wrote an impassioned piece on why he would never, ever, hire a social media expert. While I agree with Peter on some parts (e.g. that social media needs to be integrated into every facet of marketing and cannot be silo’d) I respectfully disagree with a lot of what he wrote. I not only think, I know, that there are SM professionals who do a hell of a lot more than, “build you a fan page, and when all that work doesn’t convert into new sales, say, ‘Well, we’ll just post more.”’ To me, saying there is no use for someone who specializes in a rapidly changing industry makes very little sense.

After Shankman’s post garnered a ton of attention, Stanford from Social Media Today wrote a great post on how to spot a social media expert. His description of a true expert was dead-on, especially the part about the need to be a social scientist – someone who is a student of human nature and is fascinated by seeing what makes people tick. Stanford argues, and I agree, that while such a social media expert is hard to find, a truly good SM professional can be an asset to a company.

So the question remains, if your company is looking to step up its social media game should you look to hire a social media expert? My answer may surprise you, but I am going to say no.

The truth is, you’ll have much better luck if you “grow” your own social media expert.

Social media is still new, so if your employees haven’t reached SM superdome just yet, don’t think that means they never will. An expert can be created if given the right tools and direction. And the good news is – you don’t have to be the one to teach them. You can work with an agency to teach your future expert the lay of the land and to provide continued strategy and analysis. You can empower your expert to identify key blogs and influencers to read and learn from on a daily basis. You can send your expert to conferences, to hear from the best of the best, talk to like-minded people and become inspired by new ideas. And you’ll be doing all this with someone who already knows the ins and outs of your business. Someone who will innately understand how social media ties into customer service or marketing or sales, because that used to be their primary job role. In short, someone who gets it.

So if you are an in-house marketing manager or an agency leader, here are my tips on how to grow your very own social media expert.

Step One: Start with the right person. May seem like a duh, but it is amazing how many people miss this step. Your future expert should be excited to learn about social media. He/she should be smart, a darn good writer and ready to put in the work. This expert should share your vision of reaching social media star status and understand that it may take more than average effort to get there. If you are starting with someone who sees this as an unwelcome addition to their to- do list, they aren’t likely to become a star.

Step Two: Make sure that person reads – a lot. There is no shortage of blogs about social media, marketing, digital strategy, case studies etc. Part of your expert’s job description should be to read daily about what is going on. This will keep he/she up to date on the latest SM technology and trends as well as inspire them with new ideas. A few good ones to start with are Mashable (the SM and business section), Social Media Examiner (has a lot of great case studies) and Jay Baer’s Convince and Convert.

Step Three: Look for outside resources. The web is a great source of knowledge, but nothing beats talking to real people and asking questions. Agencies are an easy way to go for help with this. If you get a good one, they can help train your social media expert on best practices and stay on to assist with strategy.  If you don’t want to go the agency route – look for conferences, meet ups, classes, consultants etc. to help your expert learn.

Step Four: Encourage them to watch and emulate. Your expert doesn’t have to come up with entirely new ideas or figure out everything on their own. Have he/she look at what other companies in other industries, or what national brands have done, and see how it could be applied it to your company. Task them with looking at both the big picture ideas and the small tactics. The brands and people that are successful can teach your expert a ton.

Step Five:  Let them test. Guess what, sometimes your social media expert is going to get it wrong. Not all ideas are awesome. But testing is key in social media and even if an idea fails overall, there may be elements of it that work. Make sure to give your star the ability to try things, even when he/she isn’t sure it will work. Sometimes those risks will really pay off.

Step 6: Ask them to analyze. As they test and learn, make sure you are tasking them with not only reporting back what worked but why it worked. This will require them to think, a skill they should master if they want to reach expert level.

Step 7:  Share and teach. Nothing empowers an expert more than giving them the opportunity to teach others in your company. This is key to ensuring that social media isn’t operating on its own and that the rest of the team understands what your expert is doing and how their efforts can be integrated. It is also a great way to grow your experts knowledge and confidence. Social media is intimidating for many because there is no real “right” answer. But a good social media expert must be confident that whatever direction he/she suggests, is one that they can make work.

So there you have it – my seven steps for growing your very own social media expert. Perhaps as more companies adopt this strategy, we’ll see less articles that claim social media experts are a myth.

On a regular basis at BG, we read books relating to the advertising industry, covering marketing tactics, upcoming trends and research on campaign successes (and failures!).

Recently on a flight back East, I picked up Lead with Luv: A Different Way to Create Real Success by Ken Blanchard and Colleen Barrett.  Blanchard, author of the famed One Minute Manager and Barrett, President Emeritus of Southwest Airlines, discuss how to lead an organization and create success within your business environment. And no, I was not on a Southwest flight while reading the book.

Collectively Blanchard and Barrett approach leadership in a fashion that most would consider ill-suited for an office setting. Their approach is centered on “love” and how managers can use love in everything they do from leading the team to solving problems. There were a lot of takeaways from this book both personally and professionally but as I sat there, stuck on a six-hour flight, I couldn’t help but notice how many of these leadership principles apply to client leadership. My top three takeaways from the book are listed below.

Create a clear path
In our work environments we all have visions, especially as it relates to taking the next step in our careers, growing our clients or coming up with the next big idea. Blanchard and Barrett talk about the importance of having the proper direction or vision in everything you do, “visions tell you who you are (your purpose), where you are going (your picture of the future), and what will guide your journey (your values).” In a recent client strategy session, we started with these three main principles. Once the vision was defined, we were able to establish priorities, focus on where we were going and determine the steps it would take to get there.

Listen
Encourage your clients to provide feedback, and provide it often. Prior to recommending an ad concept, negotiating a network buy or choosing a paper stock, hold tight and allow your clients to speak their mind. Listen and attempt to find out more – where they are coming from, why they feel a certain way, and how you can help them accomplish their goal. After all, they are the client and although you may not entirely agree with their opinion, they know their brand the best. Take a lot of notes, ask questions and listen carefully.

Build a strong relationship
One of the biggest components of fostering a great partnership with your client is to service them well. Keep the lines of communication open. Get to know your clients on a personal level and “love” them. Respond to their inquiry in a timely manner. Be on the lookout for a potential problem before it arises. Look for ways to grow their business and be strategic in your decision-making. Instead of satisfying your clients or thinking of your accounts as status quo, view their organization as if it were your own. If you don’t take great care of your customers, somebody else will.

While these three principles are nothing new, it is always valuable to analyze your current leadership tactics and look for ways to improve.

Start with the basics. Paving a clear path, encouraging feedback and servicing your clients well are important elements with any partnership. Make a commitment once per month to take a few steps back to look at the bigger picture and evaluate your relationship. Surely there will be missed opportunities. Leading with “love” can happen on many different levels and if you make a conscious effort to think about how to blend some of these principles into your day-to-day decisions, you (and your clients) will succeed.

We’d love to hear from you as a client or marketing professional – what does it take to be a true leader and what traits do you look for in an agency/client partnership?

Back in January (seems like a long time ago), we held a one-day team building retreat with our friend Jeff Blum, Principal of TheTeamBuilding Company.

Team Building can be risky

We spent the day going through a series of exercises that taught us about teamwork and brought us closer together. We also spent a majority of the day laughing which was truly wonderful. All that oxygen! Here are some tips from Jeff on continually growing your team. Jeff’s advice is always spot on (he’s a former agency guy – he gets us).

Coaching Your Team Towards Greatness – Eight Simple Steps

By Jeff Blum, Team Facilitator

It would be wonderful if a one day team building event was sufficient to create the in-depth change in your group that you are hoping for.

Maybe the word miracle would be more appropriate.

Certainly, well facilitated experiential team building can be a powerful force that helps teams arrive at key discoveries and breakthroughs. However, effective team building needs to make the vital connection with the pulse of your team’s daily activity, its current objectives and immediate goals.

Experts say that 70% of the work we do these days is in teams and small work groups. If so, doesn’t it make good sense to regularly develop the best team skills possible? To improve the manner and the methods that can create the best collaborative work with steady effort?

Team building must be a part of the real time, day-in-day-out dynamic of the workplace.

So, team building ought not be confined to a singular event – but become a continual process.

Here are eight ways you can build a better team on a daily basis:

1.      Encourage and reward best practice team behaviors including: open communication, being accountable, meeting commitments, the willingness to engage in healthy conflict, reaching consensus and then cheerfully adopting the groups’ decisions.

2.      Model good team skills from your leadership position by being a good team player: listen effectively, delegate broadly and be willing to consider and accept the group’s direction over pushing your own dictates.

3.      Set up regular “Taking our Team Temperature” meetings. “What’s working?” “What’s not?” “What are we learning about ourselves and our team?” “What might we do differently?” “What’s keeping us from realizing our goals?”

4.      Use icebreakers to kick off meetings. This encourages playfulness, risk-taking and thinking creatively – all good team skills.

5.      Be willing to appropriately share some personal information about yourself. Ask the same of your crew. They will come to trust you and each other for displaying sincere vulnerability.

6.      Spend time brainstorming better communication methods for your projects. Brainstorm better ways of arriving at goals. Brainstorm everything. Brainstorm all the time. Encourage full participation. Ramp up the energy. Be willing to entertain even outlandish ideas so that great ideas have room to flourish.

7.      Debrief often, especially after a goal has been reached. “What worked?” “What might we have done instead?” “How can we avoid these mistakes in the future?” “How can we recreate this success?”

8.      Utilize a team coach or facilitator to work with your group on a periodic basis. The focus would be simply on the improvement of team skills. The best sports teams practice all the time. And, they all have coaches. Why don’t you?

Rather than thinking of team building as just a yearly event, you can create a solid team culture with your consistent daily efforts.

Improved team skills causes even a good team to work better together and become a great team, accustomed to regularly producing the very best of results!

Nearly every profession and every title requires one to manage up and down the chain of command. It’s especially critical in a marketing agency where there are dozens of balls in the air at any given time and multiple people touching every project.

The following are some of my tips for managing up:

• As with most things in life, effective communication is critical. The form the communication takes should vary based on who you’re managing. Familiarize yourself with your boss’s communication preferences. Some people are better with information in written form, and even that can vary. Figure out if the person likes a lot of detail or just the facts in a bullet format. Other people want information verbally. If you think about it, it’s a lot like managing clients. You constantly have to make sure you are providing the right amount of information and in a format that is conducive to their style.
• Squash the fear. Don’t be afraid to manage up. Whether you’re the account coordinator or the account supervisor you must be comfortable with managing those above you. Trust me, they want and appreciate it!
• Be dependable by not making them second guess whether something has been managed or seen all the way through. As you progress, your manager’s trust in you will grow and so will your value.
• If you are unsure of something it is always OK to
  approach your manager with questions. I strongly encourage you to come in with an overview of the challenge and the possible solutions you are contemplating. Try not to come into their office without having thought through the potential scenarios.
• Be proactive. As the saying goes, do the job of the title you want, not the title you have. Take the initiative and your boss will take notice.
• We’re all busy no matter what title we have. Do the person you’re managing up to a favor and headline whatever it is you want to discuss with them. As someone who has an open door policy, I never mind when someone pops in, but it is extremely helpful to get the quick overview. By providing top line info first, it allows me (and the person you’re managing up to) to ask for more details if they want or need it. Pouring out a stream of consciousness is not the way to go.

At the end of the day, you want to make the life of the person you’re managing up to easier, not harder. When in doubt, ask them how you  can help, what you can take off their plate and how they prefer to be communicated to.

If more than half of the meaning we derive from communication is based on non-verbal cues, then why do agency people spend so much time focused on the materials, and not on the delivery?

Throughout my career, I have had the privilege of working with some fantastic presenters, and they have taught me a great deal about how an agency person should communicate in a meeting. At our agency, we’ve put great emphasis on what I call the “theater of the room.” We strive to orchestrate every element of each meeting to maximize our success. Using the theater analogy, we are all players, the conference room is the stage, and it’s completely within our control to affect the energy, the movement, the visuals and the words to reach our desired outcome.

Now, a successful presentation can result in many different outcomes. It could be that our client accepts a new campaign concept or it might be that we win a new piece of business. Regardless of the goals for the meeting, they all share one thing in common – we are trying to sell something, and have that sale be accepted by whomever is on the receiving end.

Recently, I reviewed some of the key elements of a successful presentation at our weekly staff meeting, and I thought I would share some of those tips with you here. Some of this stuff might be old hat to a few of you, but I’m constantly surprised when the most senior people show little preparation or management of presentation elements:

12 Tips to Improve Your Presentation Techniques

1. Clearly communicate the meeting objectives in advance of the meeting.
2. Take control of the room from the moment you greet your guest until you wave goodbye at the door. It’s your meeting and you are in charge, even if you are not on your own turf.
3. Pre-plan the seating to maximize focus. Are you presenting creative? If so, how will your guests view the concepts so you don’t have to awkwardly shift back and forth, or force people to crane their necks. Where is the hot seat? Make sure you don’t sit a guest in the A/C downblast, or staring out the window at your gorgeous yet distracting view.
4. Get the coffee/water/snacks dance out of the way quickly. You don’t want interruptions with someone barging in to serve Sanka in the middle of your meeting kickoff.
5. Once seated, review the agenda for the meeting and CLEARLY STATE WHAT YOU WANT TO ACCOMPLISH. Plant the seed that you expect acceptance of your idea and a plan for next steps.
6. Review the time frame for the meeting – how long will be here? Does anyone have to leave early? Disaster strikes if your key decision maker has not communicated she needs to leave 45 minutes into the presentation.  Adjust accordingly.
7. Pass out any materials with hierarchy in mind – the senior-most guest gets the handout first, and down from there. Agency people get it last.  Hand it to each person – do not throw or slide it across the conference table. This is about showing simple respect.
8. Present with authority. You know your shit, so own it. If you don’t know your shit, YOU SHOULD NOT BE IN THE ROOM. Project your voice, be authoritative but not aggressive or brash.
9. Everyone from the agency side should have a role. If you have nothing to say, you don’t belong in this meeting.  This is where the client is thinking: “Am I paying hourly rates for all these people to sit here and add nothing?”
10. Watch your body language. Don’t slouch in your chair (you hear that, creatives?).  Stand if you have to, walk around the room, wave your arms for emphasis, use movement to make a point. It’s theater people! Channel your inner thespian.
11. Use visuals, use whiteboards, make origami if you have to in order to prove your point — it keeps their attention focused on you and your ideas.
12. At the end, verbally review the decisions that were made in the meeting.  It sets things in concrete and reminds people that you are a goal-oriented achiever.  Make clear what the next steps will be, and then follow up in writing to remind everyone.

There’s a lot more to it than this, but consider this a quick primer in Agency Presentation 101. If you need more training, hire a coach. We did, and she did wonders for polishing our communications.

What other tricks do you use in presentations? We’d love you to share your tactics and we’ll add to this growing list…

Last week I participated in a roundtable discussion with Karen Dillon, editor of the Harvard Business Review (HBR) while attending the annual retreat of Counselors Academy, a section of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) comprised of agency owners and leaders.

Dillon presented some of the top business topics being discussed at Harvard and, in particular, at HBR. She started by commenting on how much change has happened in such a short period of time and that she was a bit challenged in creating a manageable list for our meeting since there are so many hot issues at the moment.

Here was her eclectic list, with some relevant points that came up during our engaging conversation:

1. Analytics: I was delighted this was topic one, since we spend so much time focused on measurement at BG. This has become key at all levels of business and, interestingly, the push in academics is that it’s NOT just about numbers. While analytics is a growing science, there also needs to be judgment as a leading part of decision making. Without good judgment, analytics will not necessarily lead a company in the right direction.
2. Being the Good Guys Again: There is a huge emphasis on turning around the “bad guy” reputation of business. This month’s issue of HBR features a story by Michael Porter & Mark Kramer titled “Creating Shared Value” that focuses on the potential of shared values as a goal rather than just shareholder’s pocketbooks. It’s an interesting read about changing a company’s position from corporate social responsibility (CSR) to creating shared value (CSV). While the long-term gains for society would be quite positive, it will be interesting to see what percentage of business embraces this view.
3. Are Leaders Being Trained for the Global Economy? Many business leaders and academicians are worried about whether or not our future leaders are receiving the right training now. What are the skills sets that will be needed in ten or twenty years? Given how quickly business, economies and governments are changing, this is a moving target. It is being answered differently in different parts of the country and world.
4. Business Model Reinvention: This is another story in this month’s issue of HBR and one that we discussed in relation to the media sector. When, how and why should companies reinvent themselves? The media industry has been forced to reinvent itself and is still going through the process. Dillon believes that eventually we will move to paid models of news content as the free model is not sustainable. HBR and many other media organizations are experimenting with online models and Dillon emphasized the importance of Apps in particular as the public moves to a smartphone/iPad/notebook environment. She called organizations that are making these changes “disruptive innovators.” Isn’t that a wonderful phrase?
5. Connecting Strategy to Execution: This ties back to item 1 doesn’t it? Great ideas need real execution that can ultimately by analyzed for success or failure. Which leads to item 6…
6. The Issue of Failure: A topic that business does not like to talk about, but is critical for learning and growth. Seth Godin wrote about failure for HBR and the publication is always looking for failure vignettes that provide positive learning for readers (hint hint all you PR pros).
7. Collaboration: Over the next 10 to 20 years this will be happening more and more – across countries, governments and businesses. Business needs to collaborate in order to get in front of governments. They need to figure out creative solutions to working in emerging markets before government mandates it for them. Dillon points out we still don’t know how to do this well so there will be failures here.
8. Social Media: We already know all about this one, right readers? Dillon commented that many companies still do not understand how to develop an online relationship with customers. What an opportunity for those of us who understand and embrace social media.

My next step is to subscribe to HBR and start participating in its online Advisory Council. Oh and one more thing, this sort of falls under Analytics, but in a very meaningful way. Dillon said one of the most popular HBR story of 2010 was “How Will You Measure Your Life?” by Clay Christensen. That’s a subject I believe is worth analysis, right now.

*This post is part of Bailey Gardiner’s What New PR Pros Need to Know series, which offers advice, insights and guidance to students and new professionals who want to learn more about the PR industry. Topics and suggestions are welcomed.

One of my favorite things about my job is coordinating the BG PR internship program. As I search for our newest intern, it got me thinking about what new pros, college graduates and students vying for an internship need to know. I even asked some of my Twitter friends and mentors (in 140 characters) for advice to share with you.

Here were some common themes:

Integration is where it’s at- When I received a tweet from Deirdre Breakenridge (@dbreakenridge ) offering her advice to new pros, I knew I had hit social media gold. The author of “Putting the Public Back in Public Relations” and an adjunct professor, Deirdre said, “Grads should know that communications can’t work in a vacuum. It’s very important to be hybrid working with other marketing disciplines. And, in order to educate our brands we must be embracing social media, staying on top of technology and constantly educating ourselves.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Embrace Math – The age old, “I majored in communications because I hate math” no longer applies. Measurement and ROI are words we hear often in conversations with clients and among our peers. We are always asking how we can attribute our PR efforts to an increase in sales, awareness and bottom line. Brands are looking to each other to decide if allocating resources to a public relations and social media strategy is worth it.  Jay Baer, (@jaybaer),author of “Convince and Convert” & “The Now Revolution” thinks “the most important thing for new PR people to know is math and data analysis. Whomever keeps score, controls the budget.” In other words, “show me the money.”

Write Well- This was a common theme throughout my discussion with @PRProSanDiego, @BlockGreg, @RockStarJen and @hattrickscore. Writing is at the core of what we do as PR professionals. We should know how to write well and use appropriate grammar, punctuation and spelling. Gayle Falkenthal APR, president of the Falcon Valley Group (@PRProSanDiego) said, “Good writing is like good form in athletics. It is the foundation for success. No substitute for it. People notice.” And Mike Rose, vice president at Nuffer, Smith, Tucker (@hattrickscore) commented, “I wish newbies in PR would be passionate about writing. It’s the foundation for what we do.”

Manage your personal brand – Remember, what happens in Vegas stays on (insert your social media platform of choice here). Our profession continues to evolve as the world of social networking continues to grow. There’s a strategy behind it and it’s critical that new pros understand the basics of blogging and blogger relations, Twitter, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook, Flickr, etc. Show us that you’re engaged, interacting and networking- not just posting pictures of what you did on Friday night at the frat house. Melodie Tao, social media consultant & online marketing educator (@mymelodie) says, “Make sure your own ‘PR’ is optimized online to demonstrate your PR skills & experience.”

Start networking – It’s all about who you know now and who you don’t know yet. So much of what we do involves networking and relationship building…not only with media, but with our peers. The PR world is small and you never know who you’ll meet and how they may help you down the road.  Indra Gardiner, our founder & COO (@bgindra) feels, “Not developing and fostering relationships both off and online is a miss. Take the opportunity to meet people and really get to know them. It’s so easy to stay in touch with contacts now with Twitter and Facebook.”

Listen &  learn. And keep listening.- We graduate from college and think we know everything. But in reality, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Jim Brazytis, brand architect at Liggett Stashower (@jimbrazytis) says, “Continue to learn, learn and learn. Plus, no job is beneath you – gain from every experience no matter how minor.” Along the same lines, Rachel Kay, president of RKPR (@rachelakay) commented, “You won’t get a full time job without internship experience. It’s competitive right now.”

New pro Katie Levien, account coordinator at BG (@katielevien) encourages others to “enter with an open mind and eager attitude. Also, read A LOT about what’s going on in the industry, news, etc.”  Meredith Ann Epp, assistant account executive at Daum Weigle Inc. (@Mereepp) reminds those just starting their careers, “We need to remember we don’t know everything. You will probably get put in your place a time or two.”

The final piece of wisdom comes from, Jen Wilbur, principal at Rockstar Communications (@rockstarjen). She tells new pros, “As with everything, go with your gut.”

Thank you to all who contributed to this post. Your tips are invaluable. If you have any additional thoughts, I would love to hear them, whether you be a seasoned professional or someone just entering the workforce.

*By Guest Blogger, Alan Cohen

“It is our choices that show us what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

These profound words were uttered by a widely respected world leader – not a head of state, CEO or scholar, but by Albus Dumbledore, the head of Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a central character in the Harry Potter series, and a creation of the brilliant writer, J. K. Rowling.

This quote speaks to the idea that how we respond to situations says much about the kind of leader we are. It indicates that our actions are an expression of our values, and that our values reflect our true selves and who we want to be.

As an executive coach and trainer who works primarily with PR professionals, I’m always on the lookout for great examples of creative leadership, such as those demonstrated by the benevolent Dumbledore. Popular culture generally offers a multitude of amazing metaphors, principles and examples, which I love to explore and share.

The Harry Potter series, in particular, is packed with lessons to ponder.

A basic reason for my fascination is that I’ve been a Harry Potter junkie since the books came out 10 years ago. As a PR veteran, I marvel at how the brand has sustained the test of time and continues to grow but not saturate.

I also had the pleasure of being the Director of Publicity for the book series when it launched in America 10 years ago. Nurturing the phenomenon beyond imagination was truly the highlight of my PR career.

The lessons I learned came not only from the books themselves but from working on this remarkable series as part of a leadership team that embraced the challenge and stood together during an incredible, often stressful ride.

Here are a few of the great leadership lessons that can be learned from the books:

• Harry’s demonstration of humility; he’s reluctant to accept his greatness, but willing to use his strengths in service to others.

• Headmaster Dumbledore’s inspired leadership of the Hogwarts School, always encouraging each student to do his or her best and to tap into their own unique gifts and talents. Dumbledore was also adept at building consensus, being transparent, sharing good and bad news, and trusting that each student had the answer within.

• The superb teamwork of Hermione, Ron and Harry as they support each other through the most challenging times, always putting their friendship first and foremost.

• A clear, well-articulated vision and strategy (overthrow Voldemort!) was bought into. Difficult decisions were made accordingly and acted upon purposefully and speedily.

Beyond the lessons from the books themselves, there was much to be learned from working on the series with a superbly talented, engaged cross-functional team of professionals. At Scholastic, I was the first line of contact with J. K. Rowling. She is as wonderful a person as she is a storyteller and she was also a leader in the best sense – humble, charitable, focused and a true visionary.

Here are a few of the lessons I learned from working with her and the rest of the team:

• Believing in a vision, and not allowing ourselves to be distracted by naysayers or perceived limitations. Knowing we had a huge opportunity to turn the books into a mega-blockbuster franchise, we let nothing stand in our way.

• Each team member had a say, so ideas came from all levels, and creativity was encouraged and celebrated. The diverse talents of the team aligned to create better marketing, operations, publicity – and sales.

• Egos (for the most part) were checked at the door. The amazing books created an opportunity to excite millions of youngsters about reading. We stood in service to the books and to our customers (and, in doing so, grew a very profitable business).

• Leadership was collaborative. We supported and challenged each other. We celebrated successes and treated mistakes as opportunities to learn and do better the next time.

Reflecting on my experience with Harry Potter helps me clarify what some of leadership’s most important talents are, from all members of a team, regardless of position.

Leadership is like Harry Potter’s magic… It is elusive, and awe- inspiring. It is thrilling to experience. And, believe it or not, we all have the power to create that same magic if we dare to tap into our own unlimited potential. Remember, leadership is a living, breathing part of you, and it’s action, not just knowledge, Be willing to challenge your current thinking pattern, perceptions and behaviors to find new ways to lead.

In the words of an ancient sage, “Who is wise? He who learns from all people.” Harry Potter included.

Alan Cohen is the President of Acts of Balance Executive Coaching. If you’d like to hear more from him, you can download his free report, “The 12 Essential Talents of PR Leadership.”