SHIRTSHORTS

Well, in less than 2 years, I’ve had to completely redo my stripedshirt website. Ouch. A painful, long, expensive process where I’ve learned a lot.
• First, hire someone good, who really knows what they are doing and cares about you.
• Second, upgrade along the way and pay attention to the program you are using – Magento gave me fair warning!
• Third, always expect things to take more time and money than you first assumed.
• Finally, realize its never going to be perfect and celebrate improvements along the way!

And so, today, I introduce you to stripedshirt 2.0 – the new and improved website! It’s (hopefully), more polished, more professional, easier to navigate and quicker to shop and check out – performance improvement was the most key to this upgrade. I hope you like the new site, and welcome feedback, though asking you to be kind as just getting it to this was an enormous effort!

We also put out a press release today, on the new site, and its perfect timing, around Back to School, Fall and Football. Remember, stripedshirt lets you show your colors, for your school (whether college, high school, middle or elementary) and team in fun fashionable ways. With our 15 color combinations, we got you covered (colored!) for more than 50 top colleges, 20 NFL teams, and 26 of the 30 MLB teams! Stripe Up for Back to School now!

This week, Business Insider put out its Top 50 Communicators in Tech list: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-pr-50-the-most-effective-communications-professionals-in-technology-2012-7

Impressive and very proud to know a few of em. But kind of ridiculous and irritating that of 50, more than HALF are either at Google, Facebook or Yahoo or came from one of them (to land at hotties like Twitter, Pinterest, Klout, AirBnB, Square). Toss in a couple each from MS, Apple and LinkedIn, a few from VCs, and a small set of agency peeps and there’s your list.

Oh, and just over 10% of the 50 are from anywhere other than the SF/SV area. Seriously.

I’m not doubting these are awesome companies and SF does have a lot of tech marketing talent. I’m not arguing that these 50 are KILLER communicators. But there are good PR folks across the US, in lots of different companies and agencies.

Other PR friends, does this also ruffle your feathers a bit?

On my 41st birthday just a few weeks ago, I marked 20 years doing public relations, a reflective moment for sure. Then, right after, I had the pleasure of spending the day with the Ketner Group in Austin, to brainstorm and refresh all of us in PR fundamentals. To prepare, I spent some time thinking about what things I’ve learned in 20 years, what “secrets” (that aren’t really secrets, but pretty common sense stuff) I put into practice that other PR people sometimes forget. The result – 20 PR Secrets from 20 Years Experience. When I spoke at Texchange last night, with some other great marketers, including Cybele Diamandopoulos from Folio Communications, she convinced me to share! And so, with apologies for the length, here are my 20 secrets from my 20 years!

1. USE THE PHONE – call someone, surprise them, care enough. How many voicemails do you get these days? (just don’t expect a call back, but they will remember you)
2. SAY THANK YOU – when an article hits, follow up, drop them a note, tweet a thank you. Appreciate
3. READ THEIR STUFF – read their articles, and comment on them, drop them notes, do a blog response
4. GET TO KNOW EM – figure out opportunities to meet press when you are NOT in hard pitch mode, invest in/attend conferences, just to meet em. THEN, after you’ve met, do a follow up. “Lobby conferences” are a great value. Make a goal to meet one new reporter a month, outside of pitching/needing something from them.
5. BE A RESOURCE – share leads, story ideas; make introductions and pass good content along to press. Even if it has nothing to do with any of your clients. If they feel you are a value, they’ll come back to you again and again.
6. BE HONEST – if you are sharing a piece of news with 3 outlets at the same time/first, tell them. Level with them, and what your intentions, goals are. If you don’t know something, say so, but get em the info.
7. FREELANCERS ARE HUGE – freelancers may write for many outlets, and be looking for story ideas/leads. Especially outlets like the Examiner, it’s a great way to get a few names of writers based in a particular city
8. CONNECT THE DOTS – make it super easy for a journo to get all the pieces to the story, anticipate what else they’ll need, and have that info at the ready, including the tough Qs, the competitors, etc.
9. DON’T WASTE ANYONE’S TIME – train your clients, and push back on what is news, what is not. Sometimes a release is just to be put on the wires. Build relationships with the press where they know, when you reach out, its worth listening.
10. INTERACT ON BLOGS – get your client to engage, respond, agree or disagree, share their own links. Power of back links.
11. MAKE A COMMITMENT – don’t hang out a blog shingle unless you are committed to be active on it, and be active on other blogs FIRST, read, respond, interact. Establish a voice and THEN put up your own blog
12. ENGAGE ON SOCIAL – make sure your social strategies aren’t a one way street, just pumping out content. Interact, ask questions that get others to reply back and engage too.
13. ANTICIPATE LANDMINES – prepare your client’s for the worst, make them practice how to answer tough questions so they can do so evenly.
14. HARO THREE TIMES A DAY – read em all, and pay attention. Results are infrequent, but it’s a great resource for breaking news and stories in play at any given time, outlets and writers to target in the future.
15. STAY FRESH – get to know other people’s clients, and have them think about yours once and awhile, that outside perspective is critical
16. ONE NEW IDEA A WEEK – share a new idea, a pitch angle, a program, and approach with your client once a week, or at least force it among the team, to bring new ideas, pitches, targets to each team meeting, etc.
17. USE A CHEAT SHEET – especially for phone interviews, have a cheat sheet in front of you with the key messages, and points, and highlight or check off as you/your client say em. The most important points should have several checks (importance of repetition)
18. BE IN THE ZONE – during a meeting, on a call, in a press interview (and teach your client the same), remove ALL distractions, don’t look at your phone or your email. Be focused and in the moment. People will remember that.
19. BRING A WING MAN – yes to “clumping,” work a room, a conference, a press event with a colleague. Two people can engage with another, bring em in a lot easier than the pressure of one on one, and you can rif off each other and show that you are smart, but also playful.
20. HAVE FREAKING FUN – PR is a hard job, a tiring job, sometimes a thankless job. Work hard, play harder. Let your client see you care and enjoy working with them, enjoy your job.

Thanks to my dear friend Aaron Strout, aka Citizen Marketer, for posting my thoughts on businesses and Pinterest on his blog! Appreciate! Link here, and full blog post from me below: http://blog.stroutmeister.com/2012/03/reluctantly-pinning-my-way-around-another-social-world/

Reluctantly Pinning My Way Around Another Social World.

Last month, I finally broke down and joined Pinterest. I didn’t want to. I held off for as long as I could, for a few reasons: I have a hard enough time keeping up with Facebook and Twitter, my two social means of choice; I heard Pinterest is a time sink hole, hours suddenly vanish and you are still pinning away; and I heard Pinterest is for housewives with lots of time on their hands: that cannot be me!

But you see, it is exactly my customer. Now at nearly 1.4 million users DAILY, Pinterest users are nearly 70% women, 50% with kids, most in that coveted 25-35 year old age bracket, and most with upper middle class or above household incomes.

THAT is exactly my customer, my target. You see, not only am I personally almost exactly that demographic (thought aged out now at 40), but this is who I market my business to. I couldn’t afford to miss Pinterest, for my brand, especially now with the opportunity to get in and “get pinning,” while it is still evolving.

My business, stripedshirt.com, focuses on fan-wear for women, kids and babies. Two color combination striped shirts to support a team, school, cause, organization. Women, aged 25-35, with kids and with disposable income are my ideal target. Pinterest gathers them all for me. OH AND my product is extremely visual – multi color shirts. Pinterest is built for beauty, color, great images, physical goods, pretty products, designs.

I’ve been on Facebook and Twitter for my business since day one, simultaneously setting up these business table stakes while getting my URL and building a website. But, I had not yet taken the Pinterest leap as of a month ago, honestly, out of fear that I’d get personally sucked in and lose more precious hours of my already-too-short days to yet another online social time suck.

I was intrigued, of course, especially by the recent “tipping point” for Pinterest. See, Pinterest is hardly new. It started Thanksgiving 2009. It’s been around over two years now. But this one is a strange one: it took off very slowly, plodding along really until something magical happened that other startups would likely kill to replicate. Somewhere around September 2011, Pinterest started taking off like a rocket ship. (Was it truly the power of PR? Pinterest was included in a Time Magazine Top 50 Best Websites of 2011 list in August. Who knows. Again, if the magic trigger could be identified, oh, how others would jump on board!)

Per Wikipedia, in January 2012, comScore reported Pinterest had 11.7 million unique users, making it the fastest site in history to break through the 10 million unique visitor mark. And founder Ben is now a beloved name and face to thousands of Mommy Bloggers and average middle aged American women. I heard he was mobbed, rockstar-style, when speaking at the AltSummit conference in January.

Somehow, refreshingly, Pinterest ignored the latest start up mantra of “Fail Quickly” and stuck with it until that magic moment when it went viral about six months ago. Shouldn’t be a surprise, Pinterest was BUILT to be viral – pinning and repinning is all about the “network effect” and, like Twitter, you don’t have to be friends to follow, or like, or pin. Also like Twitter, search in Pinterest is great (unlike Facebook), to find what you like, dig into topics of interest, find other inspirations.

And, a bit like Etsy, Pinterest is super easy, and all-inclusive about “selling” – simply add a dollar sign ($) to your image description and it beautifully tags the image as something for purchase. And you can post and pin your own stuff with ease, pimp your own goods! (Please, Pinterest, take your time in monetizing this feature, I know you will, but for the poor start ups out there, take your time!)

For all these reasons, I broke down and personally joined Pinterest, to be able to promote stripedshirt, my ecommerce business, THROUGH my own personal account. That’s deliberate. I do believe there will be strict rules for businesses on Pinterest, soon, regarding ecommerce and affiliate programs, percentages of sales to Pinterest and others. And I know soon we’ll be hearing a lot more about trademark and copyright rules with images. The big guys, and brands killing it on Pinterest like Real Simple and Martha Stewart Living can roll with those punches. Little startup me wanted to be more cautious.

For now, I’m one of the 12 million pinning away in Pinterest, and my business images, my products to shill, are clearly featured on my own boards, with information, URLs, pricing details indicating they are products for purchase, easy clicks to transactions. My friends are repinning my stuff and the images are starting to spread beyond my personal network to the wider Pinterest world.

Have I gotten a sale yet directly from Pinterest? Not that I can tell. But brand building and visibility is king. And again, if I’m a brand that cares most about Moms with kids, it would be dangerous to dismiss the power of Pinterest and be absent from it. It’s where my customers are, it’s where I need to be.

How about you? Have you also reluctantly pinned your way into a new social corner?

I’m not kidding this just happened to me: this morning, last day of SXSW Interactive 2012, I get an urgent plea from a friend helping a friend who’s “PR firm dropped the ball” b/c the client was ticked no one wrote about them yet, and they needed to call in some favors, get some coverage. This client launched at SXSW (and I’m not making this up): a Smartphone app that’s a free mobile guide for events, complete with location based mapping and social media integration. iPhone only now, but coming soon for iPad, Android.

SERIOUSLY? You and about 2,000 other companies.

This one, is irritated with their PR people for not getting them enough coverage, especially after they got 50 requests for beta day 1. 50??? SXSW attracts over 20,000 tech people. 50? You are but a speck of sand on the beach, in so many ways.

Now, I feel for this PR person or firm, but really, ultimately, it’s their own fault, and here’s where this public service announcement blog post come in handy. Read it, believe it, remember it, and PLEASE please preach it from now on, for all the rest of us PR folks, and the press and bloggers, and the betterment of the tech companies of today and tomorrow.

DO NOT Launch at SXSW

The odds of you “being the next Twitter” are slim to none. And remember, that big moment for Twitter at SXSW 2007 wasn’t its launch anyway. Jack sent the first tweet a full year earlier. SXSW 2007 is just when that “hockey stick moment” happened for Twitter and everyone has been trying to replicate that magic ever since. YOU CANNOT. It was MAGIC. This stuff sometimes happens at SX, often times does not.

Last year, you could argue Group.me and Uber were the buzz, but holy cow they put the money down to do so, whether hundreds of free grilled cheese sandwiches or branding every pedi cab in town. This year, this sweet delusional mobile apps company is competing against Amex launching Sync with freaking JAY Z. Seriously? How can anyone compete with that?

So, again, DO NOT LAUNCH AT SXSW. Or at least do not come expecting traditional PR, press and blogger meetings or coverage. Just do us a favor, and do not come here with those unrealistic expectations that kill us all.

But come! SXSW is an amazing 10 days, 5 (or more) of just us tech folks. There are 20,000 people here, and over 2,000 of em are press, bloggers, influencers. And they are here to meet, and talk, and network. BUT NOT TO BE PITCHED, not to commit to a sit down briefing or meeting.

They come once a year to Austin to put faces with names, meet the companies they covered last year, get their research in for companies to cover in the future, LEARN, and network. They want to spend time with the tech community, with each other.

They will not commit to time with you or make a packed schedule (or shouldn’t) because at SXSW, you don’t know what’s coming at you when. You need to be fluid and flexible, and go with what happens. Enjoy the ride.

So PR people, please counsel your clients. And companies listen and learn. COME to SXSW, use it as an opportunity to talk to anyone and everyone about what you are up to, what you care about, and LISTEN to what they care about too. Talk with the masses, and tell them about your company, your apps, your tools, your location based social discovery smart phone apps. Do take advantage of the feeding frenzy that is 20,000 people combing the streets of Austin as awareness building, branding, marketing, stunts.

Enjoy the ride and that it is so crazy. Do not torture your PR person asking where “so and so” is, and why “such and such” didn’t agree to a meeting. Do not come here thinking you are the next Twitter, or Amex Sync. Just come, and enjoy the experience, and respect the rest of us (including the press and analysts) doing the same. With the influencers, meet them, let them know you love their writing or read their story last week. Build relationships that will last you your tech life time. But don’t pitch them or ask them for anything. Not this week.

I have done SXSW now since 2004. I have seen the show grow like crazy. I still love it. But maybe that’s because I play it right. Along with friends, I created an event each night for a smaller group of people, including national – and local – press, bloggers, analysts, influencers, VIPs where you can go to just talk with people, hang out, catch up. A “no pitch zone.” I do the same at any other events I hit, I enjoy the moment, don’t party hop or try to catch Leo or Tobey. I don’t look over my shoulder the entire time I’m talking with someone to see if anyone better is there. And I decline any PR project that comes my way that involves “launching at SXSW.” I have a lot of press friends who I hope respect and like me, because I will NOT call in favors or abuse their time here at SXSW (or anytime).

Please keep this blog URL, PR peeps and tech entrepreneurs, because I promise, if you’ve gotten to the bottom and agree with me, you’ll forget by SXSW 2013. Or you’ll talk with someone who doesn’t know, hasn’t been here, and will need this advice. It’s easy to get caught in the glamour of imaging you doing the PR for the next Twitter, being the “Next Big Thing At SXSW.” But those odds are very slim, rare and Magic! DO NOT Launch at SXSW. Rather, just come and enjoy the experience. It’ll serve you way better in the future, and over the crazy 5 days we live every March.

Now that we have passed 4th of July, and the official “Stars Wear Stripes” day, I thought I’d ponder some other favorite red and white stripes.

When I started stripedshirt over a year ago, I knew the name right away, knew the logo, what I wanted my marketing identity to be. I also knew MY colors. So many color combos, and over time, stripedshirt will literally have dozens of options. But red and white was my beginning, MY universal identifier.

Why? Especially b/c people could say MY colors should be maroon and gold (BC – coming soon), red and gray (Ohio State – avail now) or dark orange and white (UT – avail now). But red and white it always was to be.

Sure I like Nebraska, Wisconsin, the St Louis Cardinals, just as much as the next gal (unless they are playing UT, Ohio State, the Red Sox).

But this was really about the Power Of Red! And how cool and crisp, how sharp red and white looks together. Striking. Classic. High Impact. So, while just American Flags are on your minds, thought I’d remind you of a few other red and white stripe stand outs. What did I miss?

The American Flag!
Candy Canes
Red Stripe Beer
Where’s Waldo
Barber poles
Light houses
Popcorn containers
Olivia the pig
Raggedy Ann
Circus tents
The (red and) White Stripes

SXSW is a 25 year old 10 day (now more like 12-13 days) Music, Film and Interactive (tech) conference held in Austin each March. It started with Music, the event where bands were discovered. But a few years ago the tech piece – SXSW Interactive (SXSWi) – leapfrogged big time.

What happened to it?
I – through our Porter Novelli Austin relationship – started working with the SXSWi in 2005. This is my 7th year attending, and in turns out, working the show. When we started, it was likely 15K attendees, about 60 tech press. Last year, 2010, over 30K attendees came – registered ones that is. This year, I bet its more like 40K registered – and another 15K here just b/c the 40K are. Seriously. It is absolutely insane. As for press – bloggers, influencers, trendspotters – that number, for tech, is estimated at 1500. With brands like Pepsi and GE taking over whole parking lots, and CNN taking over a restaurant to broadcast all week; abundant brand peddling and tech brands in one-ups-man-ship-mode with parties with Matt and Kim or Big Boi playing, or Mike Tyson or Pee Wee Herman attending, you have to wonder: Has SX jumped the shark? Time will tell.

What happened to me?
Perhaps I’ve jumped the shark too. I didn’t think I could be any busier than my years with PN, taking care of SX the client, and all our clients in town for the show. Last year at SXSW, I had just put in my resignation, after 14+ years at Porter Novelli, intending to be retired from tech PR, and focused 100% on stripedshirt.com. I’ve been chugging along at that, but along the way, more and more PR happened to me to result in an absolutely insane 6 days. It has all been amazing, but a lot of balls to keep juggled in the air. Thus this run down, of what I’ve been up to!

1. First and the biggest highlight, honestly, speaking for the first time, with amazing folks – Tim Walker, Kyle Flaherty, Troy Nalls – on a panel on social media on steroids. I was scared to death and the audience was amazing! Loved every second of it.

2. I was also able to co-host the 4th annual Fogo de Chao Entrepreneur’s Lounge, which has a buzz that far exceeds the rooftop capacity of 200 people a night. This was a glimmer of an idea, 5 years ago immediately after SXSW, by Unwired Nation, ATI and me, to have a cocktail party where people could actually talk, and business could actually happen. I love it! And have a huge honor – and burden – to hand select 100 people to get VIP passes for all nights. To have stripedshirt’s logo on signage and badges ROCKED!

3. A bunch of us PR peeps in the ATX did a test run of a Schwag Suite for press to get some experiences with great ATX brands, like stripedshirt.com of course but also 5th and Lamar men’s shirts, Fleur de Stone coasters, Inca boots, Evie Evan cosmetics, Tikkr watches, etc.  All was very well received, I think.  Next year – gifting like the Golden Globes?

4. I helped my good friends at Spredfast with their cool idea for a C-suite, for executive co working and meetings. Also supported them with their smart idea of Social Savior hanging out hang over kits to SX attendees.

5. My colleague from years ago, Marissa, needed some on the ground support for her new company, Fandor, and its SX activities, including meets at the Spredfast C-Suite, presence at Fogo.

6. Similarly, dear friend Jim Louderback and his Revision 3 team with meets.

7. Ditto bud Patrick Ward and his SX experience.

8. Smack in the middle of it all, I sponsored the Texas Style Council Conference and had stripedshirt all over the 80 or so fashion bloggers in town, including sending them all home with a shirt. We’ll see what reaction I get from fashionistas!

9. And this afternoon, things finished up with Das IronGeek, in the works since last Sept, and I’m not kidding. Months and months later, we had 6 press bloggers – Amanda Coolong, Harry McCracken, Josh Baer, Larry Chiang, Lydia Leavitt and Nan Palmero – compete in contests 5 co’s set up to ultimately have Josh Baer crowned Das IronGeek of SXSW 2011.

PHEW. It has been a wild 6 days and as much as I love it, I’m happy to say adieu to SXSW until March 2012! Perhaps stripedshirt will be so big and successful, I’ll have no choice but to retire the PR side of things. Or maybe I can fit right in with the rest of the jumping the shark nonsense and have a stripedshirt carnival somewhere in downtown Austin for the week!

We are live! Release here. Thanks for all the support from all!!!

stripedshirt Launches Fan-wear Built Just for Women, Kids and Babies

Two Color Combination Horizontal Striped Tshirts Let You Show Your Colors

Austin, TX, November 26, 2010 – On Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year, stripedshirt officially opens for business. The retail brand launches first with an ecommerce website – www.stripedshirt.com – selling fun, fashionable fan-wear built just for women, kids and babies. Two color combination horizontal striped Tshirts will let wearers show their colors and support their favorite teams, whether college, professional sports, organizations, high school or little league.

Over time, the signature stripedshirt, a stylish, fitted crew neck short sleeve, will be available in over 30 different color combinations. At launch, the signature stripedshirt is available in:
• Dark orange and white, for University of Texas
• Red and gray, for the Buckeyes of Ohio State
• Red and white for schools like Wisconsin, Alabama, Arkansas, Nebraska, Boston University, Cornell, Miami University, MLB teams like the Cincinnati Reds or St. Louis Cardinals, and our favorite East Dillon High of Friday Night Lights or McKinley High of Glee; and
• Maroon and gray to cheer on Oklahoma, Texas A&M, and University of Massachusetts

Next up will be:
• Maroon and gold for Boston College, USC, Florida State, Arizona State, Minnesota, Iowa State and even the Washington Redskins
• Green and white for the Boston Celtics, Michigan State, Ohio University, Baylor, and to be a little Irish on St. Patrick’s Day.

Additional color combinations will be made based on user demand. The signature stripedshirt will be available in 13 sizes, from 3 month old babies to women’s XL. All shirts sell for $19.99, with flat shipping of $3 per Tshirt. Orders can be taken immediately at www.stripedshirt.com.

“I’ve had this dream, for 12+ years, to start a company to let sports fan women like me support our teams, and literally show our colors, in fun, fashionable ways,” said stripedshirt Founder, Laura Beck. “Until now, the team and school Tshirt options for me, and then for my children, were oversized men’s Tshirts with huge logos or names on the back. It’s time for fan-wear to be built for the rest of us! I’m so excited to have stripedshirt go live today and can’t wait to see where it goes from here.”

About stripedshirt
stripedshirt was founded in May 2010, and launched in November 2010, with a focus on fun, fashionable fan-wear for women, kids and babies to let them show their colors. The first products of the online retailer are two color combination horizontal striped Tshirts in dark orange and white, red and white, red and gray and maroon and gray. Additional colors, and products, will be added over time. Consumers can shop at www.stripedshirt.com. For more, follow www.stripedshirtblog.com or @stripedshirtz.