Today’s guest post is written by Brian Carter. 

I bet you’ve heard plenty about the importance of conversation in social media.

We’ve all heard companies must engage their customers online. We’ve probably said it ourselves.

But is conversation the most important thing in social media?

What’s The Value of Conversation?

Few will question the value of conversation. It extends customer service and makes PR more personal. But does conversation improve the bottom line?

Case studies suggest social companies do better than their non-social competitors.

If we’ve proven conversational companies are more profitable, is it because conversation made them more visible?

There are more reliable ways to reach the masses. Continue Reading »

It’s a sad, sad day in Chicago. One year ago, we had so much snow the city shut down.

Today?

It’s in the upper 40s.

Mother Nature is clearly confused. As much as I love snow, I do not want it in June. Do you hear me, Mother Nature? No snow in June!

As a side note, Anne Weiskopf took the photo I use in every other Gin and Topics. I saw her the other night and guess what she ordered to drink?

That’s right! A Hendricks. It made me giggle.

And, on that note, I present you this week’s Gin and Topics. Continue Reading »

It’s Facebook question of the week time (clap, clap, clap)!

Except.

I didn’t record a video.

I’m not really sure what happened. Typically I get up long before the sun comes up. This morning, however, Mr. D’s alarm went off at 5:45 and it woke me from the dead.

It means I was a little more than an hour behind.

Which equates to no video. Well, no video from me.

Instead I thought I’d share a video with you that had me laughing so hard, I was crying. Continue Reading »

Today’s guest post is written by Anne Weiskopf. 

Shaw’s supermarkets (part of the SuperValu chain) launched a holiday giveaway in November worth more than $15 million in prizes and money saving offers across their 169 stores in five states.

The concept of the “Wish Big Win Big Holiday Giveaway” is simple and compelling: Shoppers are given a number of tickets based upon their total grocery purchase spend and specially marked items.

These tickets, when unsealed, reveal a 25-cent coupon for a product from a participating brand as well as four game markers.  Match the marker to a spot on the Official Game Board and you are “playing the game.”

I’ve never participated in a game contest or sweepstakes. But as the mother of two teenage boys, I shop for food – a lot (There’s a reason food is #2 on Maslow’s Hierarchy). And I hate going to the grocery store. Each step in the process from filing my cart, to packing the bags, paying (have you seen prices recently?) to loading my car and then unloading the groceries at home and putting them away – sucks. Continue Reading »

As I was trolling the web for a topic for today’s blog post, it occurred to me I haven’t covered many tips or tools lately.

I herby commit to change that.

Therefore, today I have created a list of 10 types of content you can use for your blog. When you have writer’s block (cough, Lindsay Bell and Jason Konopinski, cough), you now have something to jog your brain.

It’s not just a list, though. Obviously my examples are PR, marketing, or social media relations. But you can easily turn these ideas into something for your industry, blogging niche, or particular interests.

And now let’s see if I’m right about seventh tip. Will this blog post get commented on and shared more than some of our more popular blog post (Pinterest!) in January?

I’ll report back! Continue Reading »

Today’s guest post is written by Eric Wittlake.

Be Authentic.

A chorus of advisors and consultants that have beaten the authentic drum in recent years.

It only takes a brief look at the world around us to realize we really don’t want to see authentic in social media. What we really want is something carefully constructed, with enough personality and individuality to look real instead of robotic.

Before you jump back on the authentic bandwagon, consider what a real authentic social media presence would reflect. Continue Reading »

Well, I guess I have to do a real Gin and Topics this week that is all serious and PR/marketing focused.

Why, you ask?

Because NO ONE sent me funny videos this week. Here I sang your praises last week and then you let me down this week.

Bah humbug.

So you’re going to have to think this week. No fun for you!

If you want out of intellectual prison, you should send me videos or funny stories to feature next week. Continue Reading »

I’m not going to pretend I remember how I met Krista Giuffi.

I think it was because she kindly linked to a Spin Sucks blog post on her blog, PR in Pink. And, like I do with anyone who is nice enough to link to us, I headed over to her blog house to check things out.

When I got there, I discovered not only a smart communicator, but pink. Lots of pink!

And, let’s be real. Pink is my favorite color so I was drawn to her blog just because of the name.

Anyone woman who is confident in the fact that she likes the color pink is awesome in my book. Continue Reading »

Today’s guest post (and video) is by Lisa Gerber.

It’s Facebook question of the week time (clap, clap, clap)!

Today’s question comes from Barry Silver. Barry is a long-time Spin Sucks reader, the inventor of the name Gin and Topics, and a good friend.

He also is a Chicagoan (sort of – if you count Rockford as part of greater Chicagoland) and he blogs at A Life Well Lived Concludes with a Smile, where he discusses social media, happiness, life-affirmation, marketing, and some search. Continue Reading »

This post is running concurrently on Future Comms.

On Facebook just after the first of the year, Paul Sutton posted something about not understanding what the big deal is about Pinterest.

It won’t be a surprise to you that I commented. I said something about how he was off his rocker (except I think I was a bit more nice than that).

So he challenged me to a duel.

I’m not at all competitive (hahahaha!!) so I accepted.

See what you think! Continue Reading »