• Planning Your Personal Brand

    June 26th, 2011

    With sweeping changes affecting virtually every business, what’s your lifeboat to the future?

    Yes, that’s a huge topic, so you need a tool to get started.  In our strategic planning with corporations and individuals, we recommend you include this simple tool called SWOT.

    It stands for your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.  Since most of us our familiar with Nike, you can see how it frames their brand.

    Regarding your situation, fill in the sections.  For Threats, consider the fact if in you’re in broadcasting, the job you were hired to do may be eliminated in its original form.  That’s true for many reporter and photographer positions.

    If you’re in business, sweeping changes mean you need to get a grasp of social media and how companies are leveraging web video to dominate their category through search engines.  We’re working with several companies and individuals, so we like to begin our strategic walks with the SWOT analysis.

    One of their biggest mistake is to look at their direct competitors as threats.  It’s the same mistake a TV station can make thinking their competition is the other stations as opposed to something called digital media.

    Posted in broadcast journalism, Multimedia Journalism, Power Tools for TV Journalists, Social Media, TV news training, Web Video | No Comments »

  • Power Tool for Producers

    June 26th, 2011

    How do you avoid stuff falling between the cracks?  What about getting criticized for something while you were focusing on something else?

    These are real world questions we get from multimedia journalists, marketing executives, and the new breed of innovators launching web video via social media.

    Producers pull it all together under deadline pressure, so this is a good example to look at.  And these goals are specific to this producer and station.

    Adapt this tool to serve your own needs whether in news, sales, or achieving your interactive strategies.  Notice when you don’t achieve a goal or the person reporting you doesn’t, identify what you’ll do to avoid the same problem tomorrow.  It sounds obvious, but if you don’t know the solution, ask or brainstorm with your team.  It’s our experience most problems recur.  Rarely do we hear “This is the first time this has happened.”  It’s more like:  “Yeah, I have that problem every day.”

    When I developed this Scorecard, it was for a late night news producer in Kansas City.  He wanted a powerful tool to use to learn and grow.  He made it work for him.  Some are threatened when they think they’re being evaluated by a Scorecard.  Turn that around to show the progress you’re making because you’re identifying the roadblocks and tackling them promptly.

    Posted in Power Tools for TV Journalists, TV news training | No Comments »

  • Use This Tool To Succeed Faster

    June 26th, 2011

    Use this execution tool to get projects done. It’s simple, yet powerful.  Whether you’re a manager, a CEO, or a multimedia journalist, divide your goal into steps.  Lumping everything together overwhelms.  But this way you can make progress, step by step.

    This is an actual example of a partially filled in template for a powerful franchise, Crimetracker, which alerts viewers to crime trends so they can protect themselves.  Most stations tell us they want to launch Crimetracker because it pulls viewer in.  But they usually flounder because they don’t divide it into steps.  This is just the first page of a series of steps, but you likely get the point.

    This is one of several tools we help clients “install” as part of strategic planning or simply answering the question:  “Why is it so hard to get things done?”

    Posted in Multimedia Journalism, Power Tools for TV Journalists, TV news training | No Comments »

  • How to Put an Exciting Spin on Your Brand

    June 26th, 2011

    No matter what your business, this creative video by Perrier shows how to add excitement. It’s not the most exciting product in the world, so it goes to show if the possibilities of creative, interactive video. Perrier anyone? Partying anyone? Get ready for some excitement that might stimulate your creative video storytelling.

     

     

    Posted in Multimedia Journalism, Social Media Video, TV news training, Web Video | No Comments »

  • What Did You Learn Today?

    June 25th, 2011

    You learn alot by listening. In traveling the country and abroad, conducting workshops for multimedia journalists and leading strategic planning sessions, I get to see ” best practices” and some that aren’t so good.

    The quick lesson is to avoid this kind of “It’s All About Me” thinking.

    While we all like to be the enter of attention, and we sometimes think everything revolves around us, point your attention toward the people you meet.

    This simple advice works.  You learn very little by talking.  You do by listening and asking questions.

    This advice works not just for multimedia media journalists and business people, but for everyone.

    A couple of my MBA students at the University of Dallas College of Business took my suggested approach when visiting an advertising agency. Instead of pitching for a job, they asked a lot of questions, learned about the company, and discovered insights they could apply immediately.

    Result:  They were invited back.  The executive they spoke with was intrigued by their zest for knowledge and their ability to ask great, relevant questions.  “That’s the kind of person we hire,” he said.  And one of the students got the agency job.

    When I asked her “So what’s the lesson learned?”  She responded:  “You learn a lot by being curious, and you’ll stand out from everyone else.”

    For multimedia journalists, it should be part of your DNA.  For the growing number of business people reading this blog, you learn about your clients’ and prospects’ needs by asking.  Otherwise, you’re just guessing.

     

    Posted in Multimedia Journalism, Social Media Video, TV news training | No Comments »

  • 1+1= 3 When You Pair Up Kids

    June 22nd, 2011

    We’ve all seen how engaging kids can be — but what about two kids together?

    My colleague Regent Ducas and I thought pairing siblings at KidsRKids Academy, a daycare center that’s really a school, would create engaging moments.

    We wanted to capture their candid comments about the fun and education they were getting.  That would make for a great web video for their site, branded YouTube channel, and Facebook page.  Part of a social video marketing strategy.

    The dynamics were entertaining and funny.  But we didn’t capture nuggets that were on brand for KidsRKids.  And that was after we, then one of their teachers casually questioned them about their experience at the school.

    We’re certainly not going to tell the kids what to say.  That wouldn’t be right.  And it would look right!

    OUR TAKEAWAYS

    • You may not get exactly what you want, but the looks and comments are entertaining.
    • You don’t have to use what you get.
    • Try it.

    Here’s the link to the video:

     

    Posted in Power Tools for TV Journalists, Social Media, Social Media Video, TV news training, Web Video | No Comments »

  • Breaking Through What’s Holding You Back

    June 19th, 2011

    A news director, seeing the investigative “Watchdog” reporting about the government trying to hide where tax money goes, asked why it’s so difficult for reporters to cover these stories. He points out many MMJs have trouble with the basics and with going the extra step, and wants a solution.


    My response:

    Great question. Best practices point to seeing your station as a learning organization, looking at staff members as individuals in different stages of their development.  The idea is to identify where each person is in their learning/development, what their next step is, and to help them get there. Otherwise, many people flounder.

    A basic way of looking at it is “What’s holding each person back?” This is very clear as I lead a team across the country training new multimedia journalists. Each person is at a different level. Get them to the next level, and the improvement is obvious. Many of the learning videos on my blog address just that issue.

    For example, some reporters’ stories are weak because they lack a news hook. That’s why you’ll see several videos on developing sources, which generate more relevant stories, which engage viewers. If you go to www.kaplitzblog.com, you’ll see a search box just above Recent Posts where you can search “enterprise.”

    News directors who critique on a daily basis, sharing the best examples of people’s work and challenges at least weekly, find they can accelerate learning. Plus clients call on me to conference with small groups in person or by phone, so we can identify specific flash points and tackle them.

    You can see the original report the news director liked and is sharing with his staff:  Investigate Where Your Tax Money Goes

    And follow me on Twitter.  Search for “bobkaplitz,” and “Follow.”  Here are examples of tweets.  The links will be live at the Twitter site:

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    If you’re a multimedia journalist and news manager not getting the feedback you need to succeed, don’t complain. Ask for it.  Every news director I know welcomes those opportunities.

    You’re the one ultimately responsible for your own development, which builds your value and your personal brand.  Take advantage of every opportunity.

    Posted in Multimedia Journalism, Power Tools for TV Journalists, TV news training, Twitter | No Comments »

  • Strong Example of Investigative Follow-Up

    June 18th, 2011

    Ask the tough questions, and keep on asking. Even if you don’t get answers to all your questions, viewers appreciate your extra efforts.

    Here’s a strong follow-up from ABC News to an investigative report about how much tax money goes to a deeply discounted gym for U.S. Senators and Congressmen.

     

    Posted in Bob Kaplitz video, Power Tools for TV Journalists, TV news training | No Comments »

  • Practical Information Worth a Million Dollars

    June 18th, 2011

    Tim Carter provides practical and valuable information through videos on his blog. He’s a great communicator with a sense of humor. You can learn from him with my comments at bottom of screen:

    Posted in Social Media, TV news training | No Comments »

  • Smart Way to Create User-Generated Content

    June 11th, 2011

    It’s wonderful if you can do it.

    Getting users to generate their own testimonials in an engaging way.  That’s what American Airlines did, tapping into the loyalties of frequent flyers who want to create their own videos.  Everyone has a story to tell as you’ll see in the excerpt from the American Airlines Facebook page.
     

     

    Posted in Bob Kaplitz video, Multimedia Journalism, Social Media, TV news training | No Comments »

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