I’ve got 36 business days between now and then to assemble a tribe of people to come see him.

How am I going to do that?

In order to spread the word about this event, I’ve created a challenge for myself based on a key concept in the book (and one of my personal soapbox issues): engaging through effective social media content.

(And yeah, the title of the challenge is a nod to the movie, “500 Days of Summer,” too. Um … cause it’s summer and this dance number makes me happy).

So, why a content challenge?

As social media has grown in popularity, it has contributed to a rise in the art of “short form communications.” We’ve got a lot to say, but now we have less space to say it in and readers who will devote less time to reading it.

Applications like Twitter are forcing us to find new ways to make an impression and engage with our audiences. As James Poniewozik said in this week’s TIME, “Twitter is pure voice, an exercise in implying character through detail and tone.”

It’s a style of writing that we’re still learning to master.

If I were to tweet: “@BrianSolis is coming to Minneapolis on July 27. Register Now: http://bit.ly/aigVPP” every day for the next 36 days, the repercussions would be troublesome. And yet, this is how many people approach their social media content:

• Facts included? Check.
• Link attached? Check.
• Optimized keywords seeded? Check.
• Shorten for “retweet-ability” Check.

This is Brian Solis. We are quite fond of him.

But those qualities are just scratching at the surface of what makes good content for social media engagement, (It’s akin to thinking that you’re going to get lucky at a party tonight simply because you know for sure that your breath doesn’t smell.)

You devalue and dehumanize your social audiences when you limit yourself to a checklist of content logistics.

Think of the doors that you could open, and the relationships that you could deepen, if you were to ask yourself bigger questions, like:

• Is this content interesting?
• Will anyone want to read this?
• Does this content offer a solution to anyone’s problems?
• Is this content about/relevant to “them” and not just “me?”

Professionally, I’m often tasked with teaching clients how to artfully marry the answers to the questions above with the practical logistics of short-form communications. And I’ll admit, it’s not always an easy process.

The reality is that it takes practice to write 140 characters of content that is both optimized and eloquent.

The “36 Days of Brian” Challenge

To that end, I’ve developed a “36 Days of Brian” challenge for myself, as both an exercise and an illustration of the power/practice of writing for the social web.

Each day, for the next 36 business days, I’m going to share one post, tweet or update about Brian Solis through one of our Kane Consulting social media channels. (Most likely, many of these will be tweets, primarily because I like Twitter best.)

My goal is to produce content that people will actually take a moment to read (and, ideally, share), to take advantage of all the hallmarks of short-form writing and (of course) to entice you to come hear him speak next month.

I’m human and hardly a master of the form, so I’m sure I will write some clunkers during the next 35 days (this blog post is fulfilling my requirements for day one), so I hope you will hang in there with me. But, I hope you will learn with me, too.

As Poniewozik also said in his article, “give people 140 characters and they’ll take a mile.”

I’m going to try to run mine in 36 days.

I look forward to your feedback, participation and questions along the way and hope you can join me for Brian’s talk on Tuesday, July 27.

For more information on An Evening With Brian Solis, visit our website or check out the press release.

Read my guest post on the Minnesota Public Relations blog.

PR is in a state of flux. It’s teetering on the edge of what it was, and what it can be.

It’s opportunistic. As professionals, this is a time for us to break all of the stereotypes and “bad PR” that our industry has garnered (flaks, manipulators, schmoozers) and shape the future of our trade.

This morning, Sarah Evans posed a call to action to PR pros, “Jot down (or type) your perception on the current state of PR.” Well, thank you, Sarah, for finally giving me the motivation to pull this post out of my head and put pen to paper (err…key to screen…?)

Social media is allowing us to get back to the very essence of our craft – managing the communication between an organization and its publics by building rapport with key stakeholders – in a more meaningful and authentic way than ever before.

In her post on June 30, Beth Harte backs up the claim that “PR has never been truly authentic.” Think about it. We write articles for our clients and slap another person’s name on it so they can get the byline. We draft press releases and quotes that can be published for the public to read it as another person’s word. We craft key messages and train our clients on speaking points and ways to always incorporate these messages into interviews and conversation as though it’s natural.

To me, the very act of pitching any of this to a journalist has always felt terribly inauthentic.

SOCIAL MEDIA IS ALLOWING US TO EVOLVE

Sometimes in order to embrace innovation we need to blend it with existing methodologies and processes (what we know and how we do it) to eventually propel change, technology and comprehension across the bell curve of adoption. – Brian Solis

Everything evolves with time. Why are some PR pros so defensive of this natural progression? Technological advances are evolving (and revolutionizing) the medical field, the music industry, e-commerce – why should marketing/communications/public relations be any different?

And, let me state for the record that this evolution doesn’t necessarily make our job easier. In fact, if done correctly, it’s requiring us to take a more strategic approach. Clearly define our audiences. Tailor messages to individuals. And, (gasp) engage in ongoing, open, dialogue.

Using social media platforms, we can and are:

Evolving the press release.

Earlier this summer, Kane Consulting invited Jason Kinztler, founder of Pitch Engine to Minneapolis to deliver the keynote address of our PR 2.0 conference (an homage to the wonderful works of Brian Solis). During his keynote address, Jason asked, “Is the press release dead?” His response, “No, but it is evolving.”

Social media releases allow us to deliver a message in an optimized package (including images, podcasts, and additional resources) to add momentum to the conversation. Instead of blasting journalists on the wire, we can share the message unobtrusively (and, ideally with a well-targeted pitch) to bloggers, journalists, web writers, and even the public. And, with optimization and social sharing features, the message keeps on moving.

Evolving the pitch.

As a young(-ish) independent PR pro not working for a notable agency, I started to get very frustrated with placements always going to the big dogs. (Again, let’s think about Beth’s argument for how authentic we’ve been.) Enter social media. It has leveled the playing field. It gives us an ambient awareness of what journalists are interested in or working on. It enables the opportunity to engage with journalists, bloggers and influencers on everything from industry issues to taking the dog to the groomer. And guess what? When I have a relevant pitch, I’ve already established a rapport with this person.

(Easier or faster than blasting a release across the wire? Hell no. More effective in the long run? Hell yes.)

Evolving Measurement.

I’ve already argued that press reports, and the old-school way of measuring PR efforts, don’t translate to social media. How can it? If we’re evolving the press release and the pitch, and creating momentum through Social Media Optimization, the standards by which we monitor, report and calculate ROI must evolve. KD Paine has long been a thought leader and advocate for evolving measurement standards and looking at things like increased market share rather than trying to calculate the number of impressions and the ad equivalency of a blog or a Tweet. Additionally, PRSA is working to issue agreed upon standards (to which Katie also is contributing).

So, what is my perception on the current state of PR?

It’s evolving, and evolving at an incredibly fast and exciting pace. Incredible thought leaders have emerged, and we have the privilege and opportunity to contribute to the evolution – perhaps the revolution – of the very definition and techniques of the trade.

In Jason Baer’s (@Jaybaer) May 21 Twitter interview with Radian6’s Amber Naslund (@AmberCadabra), he asked, What do you see as the PR/ad/digital agency’s role in listening and social media?

To which Amber replied, “Translating intelligence into strategy and action. Being a guidepost and putting execution in the hands of the company.”

Beautifully put, Amber. I couldn’t have said it better myself.

The value in reporting on social media monitoring lies in how we as PR professionals steer our clients to appropriate action.

Whether clients are active in the social media space or not, we first advise them that at the very least, they need to start listening to the conversations happening about them, their brand, their competitors and their industry.

These conversations are taking place on platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, blogs, nings and more.

First, figure out what you need to listen for, and start monitoring.

• Establish keywords. Other than your company name, what do you want to listen for? People talking about industry trends? About your competitor? Establish a lean set of keywords that will offer glimpses into relevant conversations that can shape future communications strategy.

• Find your audience. Pay attention to where your key demographic is. If your primary audience is business women over the age of 40, you probably don’t need to spend a lot of time listening to the conversations happening on My Space.

• Observe search engine ranking. Think of SEO is the new “earned” PR placement. Pay attention not only to the rank of your company name, but to how the name ranks with key search terms.

• Consider opinion polling. Recently, I heard someone say they were working to establish a budget to poll a target audience. Gasp! Welcome to social media, where seeking the opinion of your audience is free, as long as you listen.

After monitoring the social media space, (and, making constant adjustments as needed) it’s time to start doing what Amber referred to as, “translating the intelligence.”

What can we glean from this information, and how can it be used to guide communications strategy?

• What is the tone of the conversation? (positive, negative, neutral?)
• Who is having the conversation? And, who is listening to them?
• On what social networks are these conversations taking place?
• How often do these conversations occur?

From this information, PR professionals can help clients to:

• Set benchmarks and establish goals.
• Determine and shape existing key messages.
• Make observations regarding timed release of information to coincide with when the conversations are taking place.
• Guide decisions on when and where to enter the conversation.
• Identify key influencers of your target audience.
• Recruit brand “evangelists.”
• Manage online reputation.
• Improve search engine ranking.
• Set benchmarks, goals and measure results.

So, are you ready to start listening?