Fortunately for you and me, Baer and Nasland practice what they preach and are offering the first chapter of their book as a free download on their Facebook fan page.

One area the authors delve into is the role of social media in a crisis. Many of our contractors have ample experience helping clients through a crisis and even have some experience with using social media in a crisis. Our own experience is that social media doesn’t really change best practices, but it does change the pace of response and the number of tools available to a communicator. Here’s Baer and Naslund’s list:

Acknowledge the crisis. Most people who are in a relationship should understand this one. If your spouse has a problem, then don’t waste your time telling aforementioned spouse there isn’t a problem.

Fight social media fire with social media water. In other words, fight the fight where the fight is happening.

Be sorry. That doesn’t require an explanation, does it?

Create a FAQ. This is a great time management technique and a great way to make sure the communications team is on the same page.

Build a pressure-relief valve. Make sure the public has a way to vent their frustrations…

Know when to take it offline.  …Up to a point. Don’t be the one of own and operate the forum that’s all about punishing your client.

Arm your army. Good communications start at “home” so to speak, and a good tool is only as good as how widely it’s distributed. Make your your entire communications team is well-equipped with the best information tools.

Learn your lessons. Capture, in real time and in retrospective, what you learn and how you’ll apply it next time. Next time? Yeah, there will be a next time.

One of the exceptions to the rule, as far as I can tell, it Tim Gunn from Project Runway.  Maybe it’s because Tim was a teacher and then the dean of one of the world’s most prestigious fashion schools and worked with so many kids in so many different stages of their careers, but Tim never comes off as too catty or negative. Instead, he seems to be sincerely interested in being helpful, honest, but helpful.

Recently, Tim came out with a book, Gunn’s Golden Rules: Life’s Little Lessons for Making It Work and I haven’t read it yet but it’s on my list.  Copyblogger, a blog for writers that I pay attention to, recently published a riff based on Tim and his “make it work” attitude.  Take a look at this sample:

5. Carry on!

Great blogs don’t just happen — they’re built.

A fantastic blog is crafted, just like a fashion collection that shows up on the runways. Designers and artisans spend hours painstakingly creating each piece that makes up the collection, and they all work together.

It amazes me that Tim Gunn isn’t a blogger, because he truly knows how to make it work. So if you’re looking to build a blogging empire (or simply one that makes you proud of what you’ve built), remember that it’s all about community and critics.

Your community needs to be built and nurtured. Your content needs to be shaped around their interests and desires. They’re the ones who will buy your stuff and wear it proudly.

Your critics will give you things to think about and ways you can improve. While some will be full of hot air and in love with the sound of their own voice, if you listen hard enough, there will be some pearls of wisdom worth stringing together.

And pearls go with everything.

Here’s a link to the post.  Let me know what you think.

How to fail fast

On or off the learning curve? New communications media: Fad or fact? It doesn’t matter. As a communication professional, you are obligated to learn new channels. Facebook? Twitter? LinkedIn? Blogs? YouTube? Are you still in denial about social media or did you jump in, learn from smart friends and suggest new ideas for your employer or client? Where are you on the adoption curve? Stay relevant. Don’t be a dinosaur. Just do it.

You are not your résumé. Your résumé is not a stone tablet documenting your career. Do you customize it every time to show the prospect you have exactly what she wants? Do you include links for your Facebook page, blog, Twitter account and LinkedIn profile? If you do not have a complete profile and recommendations on LinkedIn today, you do NOT exist to prospective employers and recruiters. Do you have a portfolio? Is it online and accessible 24/7?

Be responsive. How long did it take you to return my call or acknowledge my email? Is that how responsive you are to someone trying to give you a job? We are all competing in a global market and there are other candidates who are at least as smart as you, willing to do your job at a fraction of the rate and a lot more eager about getting the job done. Extra points awarded for responding quickly and providing valuable information. Instant disqualification for responding two weeks later with “I’m interested” and expecting someone to be impressed.

Listen more. Typically, your clients aren’t communicators. That’s your role and great communicating starts with great listening which leads to deep understanding which, best case, sets the stage for great thinking. So, listen. Probe with questions. Repeat back what you think you understand. You have two ears and one mouth. Use them proportionately.

“But I’m so experienced.” Your experience might be perceived as a price tag that puts you out of the competition. It can also be a great big “sell by” date indicating you need to be left on the shelf. Your experience might imply you don’t know about the latest, greatest marketing media (see above). Your experience might intimidate someone who graduated college 10 years after you did. And it might create the impression you’re too good for the job and will get bored and split at the first opportunity. Don’t assume it’s a good thing. Focus on results and value.

No whining. Life can be hard. Work can be hard. And a lot of things are unfair. But complaining about it doesn’t change anything except the perception that you can’t hack it. As Jerry Maguire says, “That’s not what inspires people.” People don’t pay a premium for someone who sees only half-empty glasses. Find a solution instead of finding someone to blame.

Think ahead. If you can’t play chess, at least play a good game of checkers and figure out what your client or manager wants next. I don’t know about you, but I get Big Points when I can anticipate what my spouse wants. Your client is the same way. If you earned a good result for the client, did you write it up so all your client has to do is forward it to her management? (And she might not do as good a job as you will.) Think ahead. Just one or two moves.

It’s not about you. There’s a very fine ego balance consultants need to strike with their clients. On the one hand, you are the Star Who Does Great Things. On the other hand, you’re equally attentive to the Little Things: you get the rental car, order the meal that’s just a little bit less expensive and listen with Total Fascination when she’s telling you about her cat (mom, ex, garden, shoes, etc.). You’ll hand your client breath mints and make eye contact to let him know he needs to take the mints. Your entire Reason for Being is to make your client successful and as a service provider you go to great lengths to make that happen. And you will be rewarded and your ego stoked when the client trusts you completely with their career and future.

A handwritten note: the gem of personal marketing. Who writes Thank You notes? People who know that the recipient might just tack it to the wall of her office and look at it every day as a constant reminder you are One Classy Pro. Anyone who refers a job lead or grants you an interview is worthy of personalized multi-media gratitude: email, voicemail, thank you note, Facebook wall post, etc. But when you write it, stamp it and mail it you always leave an infinitely indelible impression.

Keep your promises, keep everyone on track. Take notes. Flag action items. Send the action items to the people involved. Resolve any misunderstandings. Act on the action items. Report on the status of the action items. Reconvene and repeat. Simple? Yes. Effective? Absolutely. Common? Not at all. When was the last time you received timely minutes from a meeting? Or any recap at all from a meeting? Some one ought to be doing this and you have an opportunity to be the hero in this story. You are a communicator. Get it done.

Be interesting. Being an interesting person doesn’t compensate for you being unresponsive, not smart, or having out-of-date skills, but combined with great performance, being interesting makes you The Complete Package. Be involved in your community. Coach soccer. Play an instrument. Dance. Practice yoga. Volunteer. Sky dive. Write a book. Do a triathlon. If you are someone who is admirable, then you increase your chance of being admired.

Dress to impress. You can’t judge a book by its cover, but you can judge the cover by the cover. Are you dressed appropriately and with a sense of style? Are your shoes shined? Are your nails neat? Breath fresh? Glasses clean? Don’t make me be your mother.

Don’t touch the third rail. Politics. Religion. Sex. Do we really need to elaborate?

Pay it forward. Give and you shall receive. Leave an unsolicited Recommendation on LinkedIn. Share your contacts and resources with new colleagues or students. Send small, thoughtful news articles they might enjoy, or send something that made you think of them. Don’t be a stalker, and don’t expect anything in return. It will come back to you, tenfold, over the course of your career. Guaranteed.

Do you feel our pain? Are these tips a no-brainer for you? If so, you’re one of a few rare GEMS (Go-to Expert Marketing Superheroes) and we’d love to know you.

Need help and want us to send over somebody who “gets” it? www.htconnect.com

Adam Vincenzini, the senior communications consultant at Paratus Communications in London, has written a great post about the lessons Don Draper can teach us about social networking.  Here’s a great sample:

You are the product

People don’t buy things, they buy feelings. Feelings come from people. Therefore (drum roll) people must be at the centre of your social media marketing efforts. [more]

It’s a fun post and I learned a couple of things too.  So take a read and let me know what you think.

Over at Web Worker Daily, one of our favorite ways to keep on the cutting edge, has a great post today:  6 Ways to Revive a Dead Social Media Channel.  Take a look at this great tip:

5.  Post consistently and relevantly. Another aspect of gaining back the trust of your connections is to show a commitment to engaging in and updating your channels. Jumping in once every few months appears haphazard and careless. If you don’t show you care, why should anyone else?

Here’s the link to the story.

His post springs from Pizza Hut hiring an intern to manage its social media strategy and this sparks … well … a rant from Goldsborough that hiring an intern to manage social media is tantamount to hiring an intern to manage customer service. Take a quick look:

Would you ever put an entry-level employee in charge of your brand perception, advertising or customer service? That’s what you’re doing when you hire a twintern or someone who’s new to the professional world to manage one or more of your key online consumer touchpoints. Try putting that last sentence in a PowerPoint deck as your strategy and present it to your boss. Then let me know what the reaction was if you still have a job. [entire post]

At High Tech Connect, we’ve seen a dramatic surge in demand for consultants with social media skills and experience and we’ve drawn the conclusion that anyone in marketing MUST be fluent in social media.  But we’re also seeing an economic squeeze that’s driving the work to the millenials who may know how to talk social media but don’t have the more important skills of how to help a company create demand.

We’re watching this topic very closely.  What do you think?

6. Be more creative. Are you giving out thumb drives? T-shirts? Are they boring? How can you make them more interesting and creative? Are you allowed to be provocative? Think about who’s coming by your booth. What devices do they carry, and how could you interact with them in more original ways? My thoughts are just forming here, but I’ve got some ideas that include Google Goggles, Google Maps and your post show parties and events. . How about integrating a FourSquare, Facebook Places, or Gowalla activity that showcases your company? How about using the bar-code scanner app (Android or iPhone) to show prospects the super secret locale of your executive private round table and whiskey tasting event? Get creative now.. and hurry.

Now you hurry up and read Phil’s list and let me know what you think.

One of the challenges in our ever more connected world is that social media is one, full-on, constant coffee klatch.  The party’s on, whether you’re ready or not. Sign into Facebook and all your friends might know you’re there … and ready to chat.  Sign on to Gmail and Yahoo mail and the same thing happens and the next thing you know, you might be involved in two simultaneous chat sessions as you’re trying to clean out your inbox.  And nothing much good is going on.

One of the blogs I follow, Freelance Switch, had a great article last week about how to use social media and protect your focus all at the same time. Here are some of the lessons to learn:

1. Have a plan
2. Track your time
3. Maintain fueling stations
4. Take breaks
5. Delay reactions

…and here’s a link to the entire post. Do you have a way to manage the social media firehose? I want to know. Pass them on and I’ll share them with everyone here.

The Wall Street Journal has published an excellent overview on how people can find jobs online and I highly recommend you read it.  Here, in a nutshell, is the Wall Street Journal’s list of five mistakes online job hunters make:

1.  Forgetting manners

2.  Overkill

3.  Not getting the word out

4.  Quantity over quality

5.  Online exclusivity

One of the most important lessons from the article is this:

Many people make the mistake of joining LinkedIn and other social media sites and then just letting their profiles sit publicly unfinished, says Krista Canfield, a LinkedIn spokesperson. “Just signing up for an account simply isn’t enough,” she says. “At a bare minimum, make sure you’re connected to at least 35 people and make sure your profile is 100 percent complete. Members with complete profiles are 40 times more likely to receive opportunities through LinkedIn.”

Here’s the link to the full story.

Sharlyn Lauby writes: One of the keys to being a successful consultant is information – having it at your fingertips the moment you need it.

While some sources might come and go depending upon the projects I’m working on or the hot topics of the day, there are a few that I keep bookmarked and ready, because I seem to need them on a regular basis.

My top 11 suggestions for online resources that cater to the needs of consultants are listed here. This is just a starter list — add your own suggestions in the comments.