Brad Marley

Becky Johns is one heck of a communicator.

Whether it’s through her blog, her photography, or a combination of the two, I have been impressed with the depth of style in how she gets her message across.

So smitten was I with her writing, and the passion she exudes from what she creates, that I dropped her a line a few days ago to see if she would be interested in participating in my ongoing “Five and One” series.

Thankfully, she was more than willing to let me pick her brain.

Brad: Many bloggers say that a blog has to have a specific purpose in mind to be successful, but it seems like you are able to toe the line between personal and professional quite well.  What is your take on the value of writing a blog that mixes both?

Becky: Blogs tend to be more successful if they’re written with consistency in terms of what readers get out of it. In many cases that’s consistency of subject matter but in my blog’s case most of the consistency comes from the point of view. I write about about I’m inspired by, what I think is interesting, things that confuse me or issues relevant to the industry I work in. I’m a young communications and PR professional working in Michigan, I’m a freelance photographer on the side, I love social media, I love interesting events and a nice mixture of all that comes through in my writing. It keeps it interesting, helps me think through ideas, hopefully inspires others or helps them look at an issue differently and provides an environment where I can write with freedom and work on developing my voice. My life is one big blur between “professional” and “personal” so I guess it’s just natural to write that way.

Your Influencers Series is pretty awesome, and it contains a veritable “Who’s Who” of stars in the social media space. Why did you start this series? And what have you learned about social media from talking with people like Chris Brogan and Christopher Barger?

The Influencers Series is one of my favorite ongoing projects. It started because Chris Brogan and I found an hour to grab a drink while we were both at a conference, and he let me run my video camera while we talked. I’ve looked up to him for a while and have learned a lot from what he’s written. I wanted to do a different kind of interview than what you normally see with social media thought leaders so I just asked them about something they are passionate about. It’s cool to see the kinds of things people love that aren’t normally associated with them professionally and it’s even cooler to see how those passions and interests inform what they do for a living. I knew it would be a good way to connect with people I’m influenced by and many of them happen to be prominent members of the social space. A lot of people ask how I’ve been able to connect with some of the “stars” and it’s really simple. I read their content, I talk with them and when the time is right I make the ask to do an interview and snap a few portraits. They’re awesome people and have all been more than happy to connect with me.

In terms of what I’ve learned from them, well, they teach me things all the time with what they tweet, write, record, etc. They’re influencers in the first place because they’re putting valuable and interesting content out into the world, and they’re all just incredibly intelligent people. I learn a lot by hearing how things like baseball, comic books and Sherlock Holmes connect with social media or marketing or communications. I learn how to be a better content creator by putting together videos, photos and words into the posts about them. And ultimately, they’re friends and mentors I can talk to. Chris Brogan has been happy to answer questions for me. Chris Barger and I grab a drink once in a while and talk about PR, Detroit or whatever else we’re thinking about that day. I think I owe Scott Monty a lunch one of these days and each time I see him I always feel smarter by the time we’re done talking. I can call Charlie Wollborg to talk through ideas and he always gets me to stretch my brain a little further. At the end of the day, I’m just trying to surround myself with people smarter than me and the learning happens naturally. It really is all about having real relationships with people through social media and the Influencers Series is one way of doing that. Meet cool people, get to take photos and get great blog content…works for me!

You are obviously passionate about photography and I love how you weave that passion into your blog, especially the “Friends in a Frame” project. What was the impetus for that idea?

I do love photography and do a little freelance work in addition to my full-time gig and plethora of other projects. Friends in a Frame started as a simple portrait project with a few close friends and has turned into sort of the signature of my photography. People love it because the shots are natural and show personality. So, its taken on a bit of a life of its own and I’m just continuing with it. Having a project that made me become more disciplined about shooting regularly made me a better portrait photographer. And creating something people like and want to be part of played a huge part in having freelance opportunities come my way.

It lead to my first speaking opportunity at the #140Conf in October where I invited the crowd to see the world the way I do, through a lens. There are tons of beautiful things and moments in the world and I wish more people noticed them the way I get to. I try to write about photography sometimes and in each post, I share my photography. It’s a nice way to share my art and sometimes I have to get pretty creative to find or create a relevant image to what I’m writing about. My favorite photography subject is people, so I write about people a lot so I can have another excuse to take portraits of them.

In your opinion, what is the most challenging aspect of being a young professional in the communications industry?

I think the most challenging thing young communications pros face is the expectation that we know everything about the digital world. Yes, it’s true that many of us are very comfortable online, can navigate it without much fear or confusion and are anxious to try new tools and networks. But, understanding how to use the tools is one thing and understanding how to use them for business is quite another. I can feel the intrinsic value of social networking but I need to also be able to prove it can generate revenue, save money or meet some other goal or metric. Digital communications is an essential part of any job in this industry so reading as much as possible, testing out tools ourselves and keeping track of the nuances in the way people communicate and spread information is critically important. We’ve got even more to prove sometimes while battling against a lot of really negative stereotypes about our generation. That, of course, isn’t limited to communications professionals, but I think it’s an issue that’s been pretty unfairly painting young professionals in a negative light.

Maybe it’s just because I’m from here, but I get the impression that there is an abundance of hard-working and creative people in Detroit, like yourself. Why do you think that is?

Well, technically I’m about an hour down the road in Lansing, but I spend a lot of time in Detroit because I love the community. Some of my best friends are there and you don’t have to twist my arm very hard to visit. Detroit is full of smart, motivated, creative, entrepreneurial people who feel strongly enough about the community to stay there and try to make it better. There’s an energy that draws people in and I think it’s undeniable that there are people making positive moves. Michigan is America’s high five. That’s not a coincidence.

Finally, the “and one” portion of the interview: I read an old blog post where you talked about receiving a seat upgrade from the fan club at a recent Dave Matthews Band concert. As a fellow hardcore fan, how life-altering was that experience?

In a word, it was incredible. I’ve been to a lot of shows, but the front row is a totally different experience. Maybe I had some good karma stashed up that day or something, but it’s definitely the type of experience that turns a customer into a fan and a fan into an evangelist. Just thrilled to have been so lucky.

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Huge thanks go out to Becky for participating in this interview. If you want to continue to read what she’s putting out there, I strongly encourage you to read her blog and follow her on Twitter.

When it comes to stating the perceived “importance” of sites like Twitter, I can be pretty cynical. While there’s no doubt of the role it plays in the life of a communications professional, it’s not the end all be all that some make it out to be. Therefore, I am amused when I see users overstating its importance.

But I can’t deny the fact that it has made me aware of people whom I never would have met, were it not for the power of the Internet, and today’s guest on the “Five and One” is one of those people.

Her name is Laura Scholz and she’s the founder of Scholz Communications and blogger over at The Weary Publicist. I “ran into her” a few months ago when I stumbled across a blog post of hers that really resonated with me. Even though I’ve never met her in person, I imagine her online persona is identical to her real life persona, and she exudes an honesty through her writing and tweets that I find both admirable and comforting.

Oh, and she knows her public relations and social media.

She was kind enough to take some time out of her busy schedule to answer a few questions.

Brad: The name of your blog is “The Weary Publicist.” I think most people in PR can relate to a feeling of weariness at one point or another in their career. Tell us a little about that name, and where you find yourself in life right now.

Laura: I was just telling someone that for me, the meaning of the word “weary” has changed over time. Initially, I think I was just weary from the work as well as from people’s perceptions of PR. Most people think of PR as this really high-profile, glamorous job that gets you invited to all the cool parties; in actuality, you’ll find me most weeknights sitting at home in my pajamas cranking out work until 2am. Nothing glamorous about that!

And eventually, I grew weary with traditional PR as it was practiced and used the blog to vent some frustrations about the industry and to figure out where I’m headed as a professional. Now, I’m just weary because I work all the time! But really, it’s totally energizing and exciting work.

You recently wrote a post that detailed your battle with low-grade depression. As somebody who has been diagnosed with anxiety, I’ve learned that planning and trying to stay even-keeled is a great antidote, especially in a high-pressure field of work. What’s your take on how this industry can affect us, good or bad?

That post was really important to me. I was having a particularly rough week, and I was just wishing I could say “sorry, I have to cancel that meeting because I’m depressed today” the way some people say they have a cold or a headache. I wrote it to just get it out there and move on, but it ended up resonating with a lot of people. In fact, it was my most read post to date.

I think any industry can be stressful, though certainly PR is not as stress-inducing as fighting fires or working in the ER. But sometimes the unpredictability factor can be high. I thrive on a certain amount of structure in my schedule, and I’m luckier than most, because I have much more control working for myself than I would if I were working in an agency on in-house. I can schedule days off, make sure I get my runs in, and I have great relationships with my clients, so if I have an “off” day, they are very understanding. I think in all things, it’s about finding your balance. Realizing that you’ll never really HAVE balance, but setting priorities that will minimize episodes, whether that’s getting in your daily yoga practice, getting to bed by 10pm every night or just taking time every day to get up and walk away from the computer.

I also read in another blog post that you felt traditional PR was dying. Do you still feel this way?

I think traditional PR practiced in complete isolation from new media IS dying. I just don’t know how you can practice effective PR and not be building and engaging with communities online, whether it’s through blogging and/or blogger outreach, platforms like Twitter and Facebook or just connecting with people in your industry. Traditional PR is now a very near-sighted way of looking at the profession.

What is the most challenging part of surviving in a profession that is becoming more and more driven by how we use social media?

Keeping up! The world has become infinitely smaller and more accessible, and that’s good thing. But a few years ago, my list of contacts for a certain story would have been limited to a couple dozen. Now, the possibilities are limitless. Which is exciting and exhausting all the same. There’s always someone new to meet and something new to learn.

How does social media aid in your day-to-day work?

It helps me reach potential clients; connect with people in my industry; keep up with the latest trends and thought leadership; reach audiences interested in my clients’ products and services; be a better citizen of my industry and community and meet and connect with reporters, editors, producers and bloggers on a daily basis.

The random question: What is the best meal you’ve ever had?

This is actually the easiest question to answer. I run marathons, so I LOVE to eat, and I’m so blessed, because Atlanta has an amazing food scene. Last year, we were extremely fortunate to have three local chefs competing on Top Chef–it’s all anyone in the city talked about for months and was particularly exciting because Atlanta really is a small town, so we’ve been eating at these restaurants and interacting with these chefs for a while. I ate at Kevin Gillespie’s restaurant, Woodfire Grill, a few times last year, but the best was a meal I had there was with my family for my birthday. Private room, complimentary champagne and dish after amazing dish. It really was an experience.

When I was new to the blogging game, one of the first blogs I started reading on a regular basis was The Writer’s Coin. I’m not sure how I stumbled across it, or what the post was that drew me in, but I liked it so much that I added it to my blogroll, and it’s been there ever since.

A couple of weeks ago, he wrote about the anxiety he’s experiencing as he and his wife get ready to welcome their first child into the world, so I grabbed the opportunity to submit a tongue-in-cheek guest post that probably did nothing to quell the anxiety. But he was a good sport about it and posted the entry on his site.

Because he was open to what I wanted to write, I thought I’d interview him for the “Five and One.” He’s always been on “the list,” so what better time than now to hear his thoughts on writing, personal finance and his favorite books.

Brad: What’s the story behind “The Writer’s Coin”?

WC: It all started with “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”, which was an eye opener for me. I had never thought of concepts like “making your money work for you” and “paying yourself first.” I felt like the blindfolds had come off and I was thirsty for more.

So I started reading everything I could find online and that led to The Simple Dollar, Get Rich Slowly, I Will Teach You to be Rich, and Frugal Dad. I read them religiously and started checking out books from the library too. After a while I felt like my head was about to burst because I had stuff I wanted to say too.

Plus I am a writer so I figured the daily practice would be good—I started writing three posts per day and eventually bought my own domain and everything. I originally wanted The Writer’s Wallet, but it turns out someone already had that URL and we actually were both from Chicago. We became blogging buddies although she doesn’t blog under that name anymore.

I’ve been doing it ever since. I used to write more about the traditional PF stuff but now I’m more into making more money and entrepreneurship.

Brad: What inspires you to write?

WC: Being interesting, being useful to the readers, and being entertaining. If I hit on two of the three I’m a happy camper.

Brad: If I put a gun to your head and said that you could read only five books for the rest of your life, what would they be?

WC: I love books so this is tough!
1. “Infinite Jest”: David Foster Wallace is/was my favorite author of all time and this book is so complex (but so great) that it’s an easy choice.
2. “The Odyssey”: I tried reading it once and didn’t get any of it. I seriously didn’t know what the hell was going on. But given as much time as “the rest of my life,” I’d hope I could get through what everyone calls a masterpiece.
3. The Collected Works of Shakespeare: I’ve been meaning to buy this and make my way through it…not time like a gun to your head to finally do it!
4. “A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again”: DFW again but this book is special because it’s awesome non-fiction and because it’s the book that made me want to be a writer. After reading it, I knew what I wanted to do with my life: write.
5. “Catch-22″: Probably the book that’s made me laugh the most…ever. And I love to laugh.

Brad:There are a lot of financial blogs out on the Web – what do you try to do to differentiate your blog from the rest?

WC: It’s hard…it really is. You’ll read a post from some random new blogger and be blown away (rarely, but it happens) and you wonder what the hell you’ve been doing for the past few years. It’s hard to stay motivated with all the talent out there.

I just try to be myself and pick topics that I’m interested in and hopefully others are too. I don’t claim to be the most interesting man in the world (Although I do drink Dos Equis), but I try my best to pick topics that are a little bit out of the ordinary and haven’t been done to death.

It’s the Michael Lewis/DFW formula of success: pick any topic and then go out there and make it fascinating for readers. That’s what I strive for.

Brad: Do you plan to incorporate more baby-centric stuff into your blog when the baby arrives?

WC: I’m sure I will. I’m already feeling the mental anguish and nerves that come with it, and the financial part of it is a HUGE concern for me. But I’m sure this will be a central part of who I am and what I’m dealing with.

Brad: You’re a Cubs fan. What is your favorite Cubs memory?

WC: Yeesh, that’s a tough one…I’d have to pick two: when Kerry Wood struck out 20 Astros in his rookie year. That game was amazing and he was my favorite player soon afterwards (still the only jersey I own), and nobody can take that game away from him.

The other is just all the games I got to see on TV with Steve Stone and Harry Carey calling the games. That was an amazing time to be a Cub fan and I consider myself extremely lucky to have witnessed it.

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In hindsight, I’m surprised it took so long for somebody to create a website focused on making fun of the chefs on the Food Network who fancy themselves purveyors of America’s favorite culinary catch phrases. (We’re all looking at you, Rachael.)  

Thankfully, the void we didn’t know existed until it was filled has been, uh, filled by the Food Network Humor blog. (You can follow them on Twitter at @fnhumor.)

I stumbled upon the site after somebody posted a link to the blog on Twitter, and it’s been in my blog reader ever since. (I now feel a bit self-conscious whenever my wife and I watch “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.”)

Because this is a blog I think you should spend a few minutes reading every day, I contacted the bloggers to see if they would be willing to participate in the ‘Five and One.’  They were.

Jill Madison, one of the bloggers behind this site, was nice enough to take a few minutes out of her day to answer some questions.

Q: To the average viewer, the Food Network is a channel about food; hardly one that merits mocking. So, where did the idea for Food Network Humor come from?

I think the Food Network USED to be a channel about food. Over time, it’s slowly progressed into a silly little channel filled with annoying personalities, many of whom are seemingly only there to offer repetitive cooking tips while showing as much cleavage as possible. After watching the channel for a few hours a day while cleaning the house or working out, I started to notice the most ridiculous trends… from Ina Garten constantly reminding us to use “good vanilla,” to Guy Fieri showing up everywhere with sunglasses on the back of his neck. I started FNH to parody the hosts, really more as an outlet for myself than anything else. I never expected such an overwhelming response from the public. As it turns out, lots of people noticed the same things I was noticing, and found themselves just as annoyed by them as I did.

Q: I would imagine you drive some decent publicity for the network. Has their PR team ever reached out to you to help with a post, or alert you to new shows? Anything?

Several of the chefs and personalities have written to me to tell me how much they enjoy reading the site, but the Food Network PR team doesn’t really seem to be too fond of us. Last year, I asked them if I could conduct some simple e-mail interviews with some of the upcoming contestants on Next Food Network Star. I was given a flat-out NO, and was told the contestants weren’t allowed to do interviews with my site specifically. Ironic, considering how much publicity we drive to the network on a daily basis. I’m constantly promoting their shows and keeping their personalities in the news, as well as directing tens of thousands of people per month to their website. I think ignoring us is a huge mistake on their part, considering FNH is frequented exclusively by people who watch their network. I often call FNH the Food Network’s free focus group, and I think that’s just what we are to them. They obviously read the site and listen to what our objective, honest readers have to say – but they don’t want to acknowledge our existence.

Q: What do you enjoy most about writing this blog?

The best part has been the positive comments from the readers. If I can make someone laugh out loud with a photo or a sentence, then I’m thrilled. Getting to publicly call Guy Fieri out for acting like a middle-aged douchebag comes in as a close second, though.

Q: Fill in the blank: When __________ is cooking on television, the picture captions will practically write themselves.

SANDRA LEE, for sure. Everything the woman does is unintentionally hilarious and worthy of mocking. Have you seen her Kwanzaa cake? It’s a crime against humanity! Oh, and Earth to Sandra Lee: no one’s shirt needs to match their Kitchen Aid stand mixer on a daily basis. It’s just not necessary.

Q: What would you be doing if you weren’t writing this blog?

I definitely devote most of my spare time to keeping the blog alive. If I stopped writing FNH tomorrow, I’d definitely have a lot more time on my hands and I’d spend it with friends and family! I’m actually a web designer, and I’m not getting paid to write or maintain Food Network Humor. Right now, it’s just a hobby that I will soon be trying to monetize.

Random question: What was the last movie you watched.

Avatar. I want those 3 hours of my life back.

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One of the better public relations blogs out there is written by a “group of hacks” who all share a passion for social media and blogging.

They call themselves PRBreakfastClub.

I’ve been reading their posts religiously for a couple of months now, and, most of the time, I find their content to be timely and oh-so-relevant to what I am working on in my little corner of the PR world. I’ll even nod my head in vigorous agreement when they hit close to home, which is a lot.

Keith Trivitt, executive vice president of Sternberg Strategic Communications and a founding member of PRBreakfastClub, was nice enough to answer some questions for me. Six of them, to be exact.

Q: How did the PRBreakfastClub blog come together?

A: [Editor's Note: This answer written by @PRCog] We can probably trace PRBreakfastClub (PRBC) back to a tweetup last July – Masquertweet. As it turns out, all the founding members of PRBC were in attendance. I had the chance to meet everyone, but as it turns out, some of the other members didn’t. In fact, we didn’t get everyone together physically until early March 2010 – the same week as our six-month anniversary. From there, a morning discussion (centered originally around the hashtag #PRBreakfastClub, and eventually shortened to #PRBC because, you know, Twitter’s 140-character limit kept getting in the way) ended up taking place daily on Twitter among the communications folks. Once we had too many usernames on a tweet we adopted a hashtag … and the rest can be picked up from the PRBC about page :).

Q: When I’m reading your new blog posts, I’ll often think to myself, “Wow – we’re going through the same exact thing at our agency.” Assuming you can’t read minds, where does the inspiration from your blog posts come from?

Inspiration from our blog posts comes from a variety of sources. For the founding PRBC bloggers (e.g. those who started the site in August 2009), some of our inspiration often comes from our daily e-mail threads, which can often run up to 150-200 e-mails per day. Often, those are about industry-specific topics, especially in the tech and B2B spaces, since many of us work in those areas. In fact, a post I wrote last weekabout Blippy’s #EpicFail with the release of users’ credit card numbers actually came from an e-mail rant I sent out to PRBC founder’s e-mail group about how poorly Blippy was handling its response to the fiasco. From there, someone in the group (I believe PRCog) wrote back, “Good ideas for a post …” and thus, another PR-related post was born.

Other inspiration comes from what we know and love, both within the PR industry and in our own, personal lives, as well as inspiration from the many mentors we, as a group and individuals have. We have been very fortunate that while many of us are relatively young in the business (the average age of PRBC-ers would probably be around 27-30), we each have a terrific group of mentors that we lean on a lot for personal and professional help and inspiration. Folks like Arik Hanson, Heather Whaling, Jeff Esposito, David Mullen, Rachel Kayand many others I’m sure I’m forgetting, have been terrificly supportive of the blog and helped us in many ways during the past eight months.

Q: In your humble opinion, what are the big trends that are going to drive PR forward in the next, say, five years?

One of the biggest trends I think you will see in the coming year is the continuing blending of public relations and advertising (which I addressed in a recent video interview with Jeff Esposito), and frankly, not to hurt the feelings of my ad friends out there, but the re-emerge of public relations as the dominant force for brand building, brand affinity and reputation management for companies. One only has to look at Twitter’s “promoted tweets” to see how while yes, advertising will always play an important role in the development of brands and the successful means they reach and engage customers, PR is going to have to take a dominant role in this effort, as promoted tweets, inserted Facebook updates with embedded ads and some other social media ad platform we haven’t even heard of yet will all require really strong and successful messaging to reach their target audience and maintain a relevance (what Twitter is calling “resonance”) with that audience in order to stay atop our ever-growing social streams.

That messaging requires a strong public relations professional to develop and massage over time to ensure it’s reaching the proper audience and with the right tone, syntax and appropriate proof points in order to make an overall impact on a company’s growth and sales. In short, look for public relations to take a big leap over advertising in terms of the overall brand-building efforts for most companies. In the future, what companies say, and how they say it, will mean a lot more to consumers and customers than how flashy a company tries to portray its product/service.

Q: Again, in your opinions, what are the biggest challenges that we are facing in today’s PR environment?

Like any business, public relations and communications will always face some type of challenge or shift in priorities and practices at various points. Given the fact that a major portion of our jobs are focused on finding those shifts for our organizations or clients before they take place, I really feel PR pros are in a good position to always face any challenge that currently stands before us, or we may find down the road, and tackle those challenges in a proactive and strategic manner.

One of the biggest challenge I think we will face in the coming year is continuing to blend traditional PR practices (media relations, speech writing, etc.) with social media PR practices (brand engagement, social media education/execution, etc.), particularly since more and more companies are beginning to realize that nearly all facets of their business will need to become fully integrated traditional and digital/social practices to meet the ever-changing needs of customers, investors and primary constituents. Our main focus, and the main test ahead of us, will be to be at the leading edge of this movement, as we must always keep in mind that one of our primary value points to our employers/clients is our ability to provide strategic counsel, and that can often only be done if we are looking out for their best interest a step or two ahead of where the business is currently placed. That means we have to be proactively practicing integrated communications techniques, while also counseling other departments within an organization on how they can best incorporate integrated techniques into their work to truly meet the consumer and B2B needs of the business.

Q: Ten years ago, a dream placement would’ve been the front page of the Wall Street Journal or New York Times. While those are still ideal, how is the term “success” changing how you, as up-and-coming PR professionals, operate?

For many of us at the PRBC, success still incorporates major placements in the Wall Street Journal or New York Times. I don’t think that will ever change, as both those publications are most likely always going to be business and industry movers and shakers. What is more important, though, to many of us, is that we are providing our organizations and clients with a much more rounded and integrated approach to communications counsel. That means, yes, getting our clients into The Times or The Journal when warranted, but also creating and executing terrific core message platforms and points of focus for key audiences, delivering those messages across multiple social and traditional platforms and key constituencies and ensuring that in the ever more litigious society we all live in now, our clients’ best business interests are always kept top-of-mind, and I, frankly, don’t believe a complete focus on traditional media relations will successfully accomplish all of that. In order to reach these goals, it takes a far more strategic and holistic approach to public relations, one that blends traditional PR strategic and tactics with today’s leading social and digital strategies, and that’s what many of us in PRBC are focused on.

Finally, random question: If somebody was recreating the movie “The Breakfast Club” using you guys as the cast, which actor would you want to play you? (doesn’t have to be the original actors.)

I’d go with Emilio Estevez. Of course, I’d want him to play me in his pre-“Mighty Ducks” days . . . those were just odd.

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