The Art of Hearing "No"

I think every student, regardless of what field they are studying, needs to take a class on the art of hearing "no." After all, I can't think of a single word in the English language that can have as much impact on the confidence of a professional. When heard over and over again, this word can undermine your confidence and slowly erode both your performance and psyche. 

Yet every professional, across every sector, in every field, has to learn how to hear the word 'No.'

I work as a grants manager. My job is to develop and sustain relationships with potential donors in order to secure long-term, project-based funds. Relationships take years to develop, proposals take weeks, if not months, to formulate and write, and review processes take up to six months as well. That's a lot of time, from a lot of people, so when a letter comes in the mail: "We regret to inform you..." it's a major blow.

So how do you deal with "no?"

Believe it or not, I've found the best way to hear 'no' is to think of all the other possibilities that could have just become 'yes.' For example, we might receive notification that we are no longer going to be funded by an established community giving circle. 

Well, that sucks.  

So what can we do? 

Let's work to build that relationship a little more so if we decide to ask again next year, they have a better idea of what we do. Or, let's host a donor reception and bring people together to share our stories and our mission and begin to cultivate those relationships instead. 

The bottom line about hearing 'no' in the professional world is that you can either accept it and move on or you can work to change that 'no' to a 'yes' through positive relationship development and cultivation. 

Hearing the word 'no' and parlaying it into something positive is an art form - and one that every professional should have. Best of luck, my fellow professionals. May the 'no's' be no more bountiful than warranted, and positivity work to your benefit.

Scaling the Groundswell

I am a big proponent of establishing a comprehensive online brand - whether you are a company, a business, an organization, or an individual. Online media and social computing has changed the face of business, not just communications, and we either need to get on board or be left behind. Don't believe me? Let me tell you a little bit about my current reading assignment.


I am reading "Groundswell" by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff for my Online Media Management class in the IUPUI Master's in PR program and I highly recommend it to anyone trying to understand the importance of getting their company, their business, their organization, or themselves online. The idea of "Groundswell" is to provide a comprehensive picture of the ever-growing social computing trend and that is just what it does. It provides an introduction and a subsequent analysis of various tools and techniques for social computing. It is written in an easily understood lexicon with anecdotal evidence interspersed with quantitative data. 


"The Internet is not some sandbox that can be walled off anymore - it is fully integrated into all elements of business and society." 
The groundswell is real. Businesses and companies can choose to ignore it, but that doesn't mean their clients, their partners, and their competitors aren't engaged. Ignoring the online community is, in essence, hobbling your business's ability to do business.  Do you want proof? 


Consider this: 

Today I went to the Mass Ave Wine Shoppe (MAWS) for a little lunch and a comfy place away from home to do some reading. I walked in, ordered my meal, and then sat at a table in a patch of sunshine. As soon as I had settled in, I pulled out my iPhone. I checked into the Wine Shoppe on Foursquare. I tweeted a picture of my Bellini. I updated my Facebook status complimenting the atmosphere of MAWS. And in my mind, I began composing a blog post about how much I love laid back weekends that allow me to enjoy a Bellini at lunch while I do a little reading. In essence, I mentioned MAWS three times, on three different social networks, in less than 5 minutes. When I share my newest personal blog post, I will share my experiences at MAWS again. Combine those direct mentions with this blog and all the locations I will share this post, and I will have shared information about MAWS to more than 1,000 people - several of them potential or current MAWS customers - twice in one day. This is the groundswell - on a very small scale. 


"The groundswell comes from the collision of three sources - people, technology, and economy."
The point is, people are online, talking about your brand right now. This means your brand isn't completely in your control anymore. Your brand is at the mercy of the online community. So what do you do? 


You tap in. 
You listen. 
You talk. 
In. That. Order. 


"God gave you two ears and only one mouth for a reason."
Start by getting online. If you're a business, a company, or an organization you need to be tracking your brand online. Start by building a strong RSS feed. The RSS feed is "the grease that lubricates the groundswell." Your RSS helps you monitor online content relevant to your company. It also lets you see what influential social computers - not just the media - are saying about you. 


Once you build your RSS, take the time to listen. 
Read blogs. Check Facebook. Track trends on Twitter. Watch LinkedIn. Assess what the online community is saying about you. And don't freak out if some of it is negative. The point of the groundswell is that it helps establish a tone about your company. Obviously, the online community's opinion is dynamic. This is why you need to monitor it. Crises can be avoided simply by being present online and listening to what is being said. Beyond crisis management, reputations can be built and relationships can be strengthened by listening and then contributing meaningful and relevant content to the conversation. This is engaging in the groundswell. 

One example of groundswell engagement is the work that Roche has done with the online diabetes community. Roche discovered the online diabetes community was not only talking about them online, but was actively seeking to engage with them. Roche identified several influential diabetes bloggers and brought them together to help develop a plan for Roche's online presence. Today Roche is an active presence in social media and the blogosphere. More importantly, they are engaged in and helping to energize the groundswell. 


Roche's success in social computing can be attributed to their commitment to listening to the voices of their online community and responding with thoughtful, relevant, and unique information. This engendered goodwill towards the company and helped establish them as the leader in diabetes device manufacturing. Roche used technology to connect with people, which lead to an improved standing in the economy. And that is, after all, the true bottom line in business. 


"The biggest challenge in the groundswell isn't whether you master the technology or whether you annoy or delight your customers. It's whether you are accomplishing a useful business goal...." 
Don't dive into social media without doing your homework. 
Don't post for the sake of posting. 
Don't communicate without a plan. 


BUT
Don't think that you can ignore the groundswell. 
The groundswell is unavoidable. What you do with it, is up to you. 

Getting Started

I have been dabbling in Public Relations since I was in college. While I was majoring in chemistry, I was interning in Public Relations. When I was pursuing a PhD in physical chemistry and biochemistry, I was volunteering as a Public Relations advisor to my sorority. And when I realized I didn't want to be a chemist and was feeling a little lost professionally, I all but fell into a Public Relations career. 


Now I am about to complete a Master's degree in Public Relations from IUPUI, pursuing my second career, and feeling both content and challenged every day. 


When I moved from chemistry to PR, one thing that I was a little excited about was the idea that no one was going to look at me and say "you do what?!?!" when we talked about my career. What I didn't know was I was entering a profession that quite possibly every person in the world thinks they understand.


What I have learned in the past five years is that there are a lot of misconceptions about what PR is. I think my favorite misnomer so far came from a friend. Her husband was recently promoted into a senior leadership position for a regional health network. As she was talking about the expectations the network had of her husband (and her) as public figures she said: "and we have to do PR every day. We can't wear sweatpants when we go to WalMart anymore."


Wait. What? 


OK, that's a bit ridiculous. 
The goal of this blog is to help facilitate an understanding of PR is and what PR is not and to foster conversations around the definitions of Public Relations. 


I will be posting periodically about topics and trends currently being discussed in the PR community. If you want to hear my thoughts more frequently, feel free to follow me on Twitter (@hollyeherbert). 


I look forward to sharing with and learning from you. After all, I'm all about relationships.