Facebook Goes Down. Businesses Panic.

A Forbes Magazine blog reported that when Facebook went down this week, any number of businesses became invisible. No Web presence. No opportunity to showcase their wares and converse with their customers. Panic ensued.

While social media is an important part of an overall communications strategy, no company should rely solely on it to communicate. And to rely solely on Facebook is so short-sighted as to be crazy.

It's understandable for small companies looking to spend zero on marketing. There's always a tendency to gravitate toward free media like Facebook. Let's face it, the only investment with Facebook is time. No big ad bills. No creative to pay for. But a social-media-only approach is not a clever communication strategy. It's more of a desperation strategy.

Social media has undoubtably helped many small businesses to grow and become better known. It's helped several larger businesses bond better with their supportive customers and soothe the savage beast in the unruly ones. It's even boosted sales so that some companies have parleyed social media into big rewards.

But this week's Facebook outage should be eye opening. A wake up call. Not because it was Facebook, but because a strategy that relies on one communication channel rarely works in the long run. As the old saying goes, don't ever put all your eggs in one basket.

Reports: Are They Really Worth The Time?

Client reports. Those monthly catalogues of what we did and did not accomplish for clients.

Are they fun to do? No.

Do all clients read them? No.

Then why do we need to spend precious time doing them?

Many client interactions are via email, leaving an electronic trail (stream) that can chronicle activity and results.

Post-it notes serve as handy reminders.

What about the highlights of important conversations jotted down in a notebook?

With all that information floating around, is it really worth the time to do monthly reports?

Absolutely.

A monthly report consolidates all of the month's activities in one place that's easy to reference if the client has questions.

More importantly, it can be a quick source of answers to questions that come up months down the road (who wants to sort through 20 emails trying to reconstruct what happened six months ago?)

A report can provide you with much-needed historical reference when staff has departed.

As a concise summary, it serves as an overview of activities, client approvals and outcomes. Your back-up includes the emails, little post-it notes, and notebook jottings carrying the daily details.

So what should go into a monthly client report?

The time you've put in on the client project. The results of that project. The steps you took to get there and your next steps. The media you contacted and the outcome of those interactions. A summary of other relevant business.

While you may hate reporting, it's a tool that turns out to be important when you least expect it to be — like when a retainer client has questions about direction, performance or approval.

That's when those dreaded monthly reports may just save the account.

How To Get Editorial Coverage – NOT!

Some things are just too good not to share. We recently came across this column by HARO founder Peter Shankman.

Here's his tonuge-in-cheek advice on take on how to get some goooood editorial coverage.

Don't Let Last Minute Changes Set You Up For Mistakes

Preparing for a press conference takes planning. If you're scripting everything that will be said, it also takes cooperation.

PR pros know it's best to get the details first and then script remarks. But what if your client is unsure of the details of what he wants to say? What if he's nailing down his details as you move closer to your drop-dead deadline?

Write the remarks, press release and fact sheets with blanks. Ask the client to fill in the blanks as you get closer to the press event.

Constant changes set you up for mistakes, misspellings or worse. The more you look at documents, the less you see. So tap someone outside the loop of writing to proof all documents.

If you prepare and proof as much as you can on your end, you'll be a little ahead of the game. But what if you have to stay flexible until the very last minute?

Ever seen the sign that says,”failure to be organized on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part?”

Don't let a client throw you into emergency mode. When you're prepared with everything except the small details the client can't seem decide on, you can always insert those details at the very last minute. It then boils down to a few fill-in-the-blanks.

That's another reason it's a good idea to do your press conference materials as word documents. It's easier to facilitate those last minute changes.

If you intend to have your press materials printed, failure of your client to plan, can constitute an emergency on your end.

It's About Relationships

It's easy to get focused on strategies, social media postings, press releases, measurement and all the day-to-day stuff that goes into PR. But, more often than not, the key to getting good publicity is good, solid, old-fashioned relationships.

Engagement with the media is the key if you need to get your message out through traditional media channels.

Email exchanges don't cut it as relationship builders. And talking to key writers only when you're pitching them doesn't help either. So, pick up the phone and touch base with writers. Find out what they are working on, what they might need. With a better understanding of their work loads and agendas, you can better streamline your future pitches.

Everyone is busier than ever, so be organized for these relationship calls – and be a good listener. You'll be surprised how many opportunities emerge when you're having a conversation that isn't based on you getting something out of a writer.

The Wild, Wild West Needs Sheriffs

There's a lot of talk about the demise of the media. About newspapers dying. About magazines teetering on the edge. Many process that paper chase as the impending death of the media. But what the talk is really about is not the demise of the media.

What we're really discussing are delivery systems for information — and the validity of what is delivered though those systems.

The channels of communication have expanded and that's a good thing. Writers who lose jobs in the paper world can re-emerge online. There's now more demand for content, not less. The Web's content-hungry, so good writers will always be in demand.

Good journalists will be needed too – it just may take a little longer for people to come to their senses and realize that they need the ethics and guidelines that journalists are trained to apply to news reporting. That it's way better for a rumor to be treated as a lead rather than a headline.

Right now, the Web is like the Wild, Wild West. And it needs a few good sheriffs.

Anyone with a keyboard can put his or her thoughts out for all the world to see. They can damage reputations and are immune from the consequences. They can foster and spread rumors.

But sooner or later, as happened 100 years ago, people will tire of such “yellow journalism.” They'll want to know that what they read has been vetted in some logical, ethical way.

Until that day comes, PR pros will continue to share news and work with media online and off to get the facts out.

And when the rumor mill is grinding, we'll be there to do a little crisis management whenever bad publicity travels on the net.

Remain Aware That The World Is Watching You

It's just a harmless comment, and it's my Facebook or Twitter account, so why can't I express my private opinions about my company, my boss, my clients or competing businesses?

Because you're not talking to your friends when you're on social media, you're talking to the world.

Surprised? Well, you shouldn't be.

But, you say, I use my privacy settings. My friends share my views. It's no different than sitting at a dinner party and conversing with close friends.

Wrong.

Savvy business people know that posting on social media is akin to being at a big, big party.

You know your host and some of the people there well. But you certainly can't say that you're close to everyone in the room. Why, you might not even know some of the people or be aware that you are linked to them through mutual friends.

Ask yourself:

Would you view everyone at the party as a confidant?

Which of the many partygoers knows your clients or customers?

Do you know all of the partygoers' friends and associates? Are they all your confidants?

Who might pass along your comment to others in the room?

Who might recall your comment later and share it with others after the party is over?

It's not like you're whispering into your best friend's ear with a request to keep your comment confidential.

You're essentially using a loudspeaker when you post on social media.

An increasing number of companies monitor what's said about them on the Web.

What if your clients or customers just happen to come across something you've posted?

Unfortunately, social media is a tailor-made outlet for letting your guard down as you chat away. And it's a danger zone for a lot of people who just don't get that “just because you think it, doesn't mean it has to be said out loud.”

Think before you post. And proceed with caution. Your career or your business may depend on it.