Alan Weinkrantz PR Web Log

Yes, Social Media Principles Apply to Musicians Too...

As an amateur musician, I think hard about social media applications for what I do with my love of music.  

I have been fortunate to help my guitar teacher, Steve Owens and have been given the opportunity to shoot videos of product reviews for my friends over at Red Bone Guitar Boutique in San Antonio.

Today, I am speaking to the Texas Music Coalition on Social Media for.... musicians.

Here is my presentation...

Texas Music Coalition 2009

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Before You Hire a PR or Social Media Consultant, Think About This...

So you've got your budget in place, lots of new initiatives under way and your company is ready to top the charts with news and buzz.

That's all fine and good, but you gotta have more than that.  

You have to have an internal resource - often not the VP of Marketing who can be a go to person who can take ownership of the client / agency relationship.

Years ago, PR was pretty much handled by a VP of Marketing or the Director of Marketing Communications.  We developed communications strategies, wrote traditional press releases, did outreach to the media and industry analysts and it all worked very well.

Now, with Social Media, the team and the nature of what we do has expanded.  There is a shift to voices - and having multiple voices in a company.  Often times, it's in real time. The voice of my clients are found on Blogs, conversations on other blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia and yes, in industry analyst reports and traditional media.  

Before you move forward, it's important to make sure that if I call on an internal resource for product information, technology clarification, input on messaging, availability to be interviewed, or integration with your IT department for social media initiatives, everyone on the team has buy-in and is willing to make the time to integrate strategic PR and Social Communications into the mix. 

Does Your Company Have Social Media Policy in Place? My Talk at Today's San Antonio North Chamber Luncheon

Today, I spoke briefly at the San Antonio North Chamber Luncheon on the subject of Social Media in the Enterprise.  Most of my talk was centered on internal policies, mostly dealing with employees and team members.  

Social Media Policies

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I think the overriding principle should be:  "use common sense and don't be mean or stupid."  Your mileage will vary, but at the very least you should have some type of policy or policy initiative in place.

The presentation is on SlideShare or you can download and print here:

Download Social Media Policies