When Tom McFeeley started his public relations firm a year ago he had no idea how important social media would be to his business. Now his company is spending 75 percent of its time on Web sites like Twitter and Linkedin.

“Every business should be concerned about their reputation,” McFeeley said. “You can directly put yourself in front of people you care about and tell them your story.”

This is why the Stamford, Conn., resident’s company, Thomas J. McFeeley Communications, has put so much effort into social media. The results so far have been encouraging. Communication barriers have broken down allowing McFeeley’s clients to better connect with customers directly.

“Twitter is a virtual trade show every day and you don’t even have to leave your desk,” he said. McFeeley, who began his public relations career in 2001 as the press secretary for George Jepsen’s campaign for governor of Connecticut, gave the example of ticket reseller USTicketSearch.com’s recent effort to sell seats for the US Open through Twitter. A tennis equipment company picked up on the sales pitch and forwarded, or retweeted, it to their 1,300 followers greatly increasing USTicketSearch’s exposure among tennis fans.

USTicketSearch may have made a few extra sales but McFeeley said the real benefit in social networking is in a long term strategy that keeps customers coming back. He said the best way to foster this is by using Twitter as a conversational tool within an industry.

“If I follow you and you say something interesting then I’m going to retweet it to everyone,” he said. Retweeting exposes more potential customers to your message and product.

But it’s not something that just happens after signing up, McFeeley said. It took him time to figure out how to effectively promote through social networking.

“When I started on Twitter I didn’t see the value of it,” he said. “I didn’t have the vision of what it was capable of.”

Like many, McFeeley started off with no followers, no tweets and no idea what to do next. So he came up with a strategy. He figured out who he wanted to market himself to and what they were talking about. Then, instead of trying to control the conversation, he participated in what was already being written.

He likens this strategy to a cocktail party where everyone is talking about Michael Jackson. If someone  tries to change the conversation to Ted Kennedy they’re likely to be ignored. By jumping into the established discussion McFeeley found he was able to gain listeners and network. Now he’s just shy of 1,100 followers on his personal Twitter feed and has helped many others promote themselves online through workshops and his Web site, www.tommcfeeley.com.

“The role I have for any client is to help them craft a good message,” he said. “A short message but one that is going to help their bottom line.”

For McFeeley, helping the bottom line means more than dry updates. He wants to see personality, which he argues is a driving force behind successful social media campaigns. If he catches clients reposting the same Web site links over and over he threatens to change their passwords to lock them out. Instead, McFeeley encourages his clients to be colorful. Take, for example, his Twitter update from Aug. 27: “I guess if I’m working on the deck, I should skip over the Stephen Lynch songs when they come on my iPod for the sake of other unit owners.”

It’s a vastly different take on public relations from the press release — once the primary way for companies to get in touch with their customers.

“People do business with people they like,” he said. “They want to like the person they’re dealing with and they want to be confident in them. We should all show our personalities in everything we do if it’s appropriate.”

Still, he said that Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook are not the end all of public relations; simply tools that make up part of a larger strategy. There’s still a niche for the old-fashioned press release. After all, not every message can be conveyed in 140 characters.

Nonetheless, social networking isn’t going away and McFeeley said film and television are well suited to benefit. Already, fans have created huge buzz for TV shows like “Mad Men” and “24” by registering fake profiles for their favorite characters. Don Draper has more than 9,000 Twitter followers. Jack Bauer has 5,498.
It’s even gone beyond fan creations with some TV shows getting officially involved in social networking. “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” has almost 142,000 fans on Facebook. “Lost” has 985,000.

McFeeley said soon every network and movie studio will have to be on board.

“Those properties really need to step up and put their flag down and represent something,” he said. “It’s really the way to create a brand, articulate it and put it in front of the people you care about.”

-Timothy O’Connor

When I consult small businesses about their social media strategies I insist they create two different Twitter profiles — one for themselves and another for their business. Even if your business has your name attached to it — as does Thomas J. McFeeley Communications — you must keep a (virtual) wall between them. I realized two weeks ago that I merely had one Twitter account, @TomMcFeeley.

Followers of @TomMcFeeley were subject to rants about the Mets, running jokes with friends, trash talking of any fan of a team playing my beloved Jets, my edgy humor blog posts, general crankiness. Only occasionally would I tweet about public relations, social media, or the accomplishments of my clients. Actually, it was more than occasionally, but it was lost in a stream of my personal life. I’ve accumulated 1,200 followers in six months. So I created my business Twitter profile, @PRSocialMedia.

Immediately I followed dozens, if not a couple of hundred, PR and social media experts. I retweeted interesting content. I promoted clients, I joined a useful Twitter discussion between public relations students and pros (#prstudchat), and occasionally I showed my personality, which I hope is a stamp of my business too.

Nine days later: 771 followers.

What are the immediate lessons?

* People follow topics, not names. Unless I’m Jack Welch, people are not drawn to my name, but my area of expertise

* Be specific. By including my profession in my Twitter name, people “get it” right away, and I’ve eliminated at least one step in my conversation with each and every person on Twitter.

*Perception is reality. Though I really am an expert in PR and Social Media, having that in my Twitter name allow people to make that assumption. If I named myself @DryCleanerGuy, then I’m sure hanger distributors would have found me.

* Reverse strategy. A funny thing happened on the way to Twitterville. After I created @PRSocialMedia from @TomMcFeeley, then my personal Twitter strategy became clearer.  And, more importantly, I was more clearly communicating to those 1,200 followers – and picked up 75 more along the way.

We are all a brand. Perhaps most importantly, the experience reminded me that we are all a brand. Our companies are a brand. If you don’t have a strategy, and a plan, on Twitter, in the social media or in general, you are allowing the marketplace to dictate to you what your brand is. And then it doesn’t matter how many Twitter accounts you have, because then your marketplace has made up its mind about you, and your brand.