Personal Branding Interview: Brian Solis

Today, I spoke with Brian Solis, who is a globally recognized expert on Web 2.0, Social Media, and the new technology landscape.  He is the Principal of FutureWorks and his new book is called “Putting the Public Back in Public Relations: How Social Media Is Reinventing the Aging Business of PR” which comes out on March 2nd.  In this interview, Brian talks about how he’s branded himself by using a video camera at social media events, how public relations has changed in the past few years and gives you some blogger relations tips.

Note: The following has been paraphrased from an audio interview.  You can view the audio version here.

Brian, you’ve branded yourself in various ways to stand out and become known in your industry as the go-to-guy for social media, PR and more.  One tactic I’ve seen you use is to bring your high-end camera to events.  How has being an all-star photographer helped you get your name out there?

The camera is definitely not the one tool I thought that would lead me through a bunch of social circles.  It was something I had to force myself to learn, from more of a fan perspective.  I was really marveling in the emergence of web 2.0 and I wanted to capture it.  It was one of the reasons why I named my blog bub.blicio.us, so I could showcase all the entrepreneurs at some of the companies we all know today.  I was just not happy with the original camera I had and I wanted to capture the moments.  I wanted to share everything on bub.blicio.us and years later it has become the library that documents my web 2.0 journey.  The pictures appear everywhere, even Wikipedia.

You always have a lot of projects on your plate.  How are you able to manage everything and when someone asks you what you do, how do you respond so that you aren’t talking about yourself for an hour?

How I keep ontop of everything is essentially an art.  I’m one of those few folks that doesn’t have an assistant, yet everyone I know has one.  It’s definitely a struggle and I put in my time.  This is how I learn everything and keep in touch with everyone and everything.  I can share what I learn in this way.  I’m in so many different circles these days, such as social media, public relations and more.  I’m forever a student of the new media landscape and on a daily basis, I’ll change how I navigate through it.

Your new book is focused on how PR has changed, due to the rise of social media.  What was PR 1.0 like and how is PR 2.0 different?

The front of the book documents the transition from PR 1.o to PR 2.0.  How it all ends is that it all falls back into PR.  The difference is that it used to be a broadcast mechanism.  You would contact people and hope that people would write about it to reach the masses.  You could put a press release over the wire and it could reach people in one swoop.  Also, you could send a mass-mailer to a bunch of people.  Today, public relations has been reestablished.  You have to reach people on a one-off basis.  Basically, these tools and platforms allow you to engage with new influencers (bloggers).

What are your top 3 recommendations for blogger relations in this new web 2.0 world?  Can you name a few companies that are doing it right?

I think entrepreneurs and PR professionals have recognized the value in blogger relations.  There is a misalignment right.  They aren’t sure who they are tryin to reach and why.  For example, everyone wants to reach mommy bloggers or be in TechCrunch.  The best advice I could give people is not to think about the A-List. 

Most of the time, these people aren’t just journalists.  You want to look at people who can get your story out there, but they have their own lives.  You have to ask yourself “how are you going to do to stand out?”  You need to respect who they are and connect with them at a human level, before you even need something.  Look at the magic-middle.  They are the peers of your customers and are worth your time. 

As bloggers we get spammed all the time by PR people.  What do smart PR people do to pitch bloggers now?

There is definitely still the “old school” mentality, rather than the new way of doing things.  I get pitched every single day for my blogs.  The commonality is that they just don’t really take the time to figure out what I write about.  They don’t look at the pattern of my writing.  They only seem to look at my first name and think that we have time to read 100 page emails.  I don’t get a lot of emails such as “hey Brian, I love your blog.  What is the best way you want to be contacted”? 

I would love to see reciprocity in the way they connect with bloggers.

What are your favorite ways to connect with the media?  Does Twitter work well?

My favorite way is to connect with people the way they wanted to be connected with.  On a day-to-day basis, I talk to people across multiple social networks.  I do it traditionally as well, such as a phone call.  I go to people where they like to share information.  You have to listen first.

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Brian Solis is a globally recognized expert on Web 2.0, Social Media, and the new technology landscape.  He is the Principal of FutureWorks, an award-winning PR and New Media agency in Silicon Valley and San Francisco. He blogs at PR 2.0, bubilious, BrandWeek, Social Media Today and WebProNews. He coauthored “Now is Gone” with Geoff Livingston and his new book is called “Putting the Public Back in Public Relations: How Social Media Is Reinventing the Aging Business of PR” which comes out on March 2nd. In his “spare” time he speaks at industry events and networks with the best in the business.

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