Beyond 2.0

Back in early November, Todd Defren of PR Squared wrote about the responsibility to share. At the time, I didn’t have my own blog, but I did share the post on Twitter and through Google Shared Items, and it really got me thinking. On Christmas Eve, Chris Brogan wrote “Take My Site – Please“, and it got me thinking even more. In fact, the two posts are probably what made me decide to start my own blog. So this is late, but still, here are my couple of øre (that’s cents to all you non-Norwegians)…

Sharing is the new secret, even in an industry such as PR, where client lists and intellectual property has been protected like Fort Knox. Only a couple of years ago, here in Norway at least (and feel free to comment on other countries), you couldn’t get a PR agency employee to tell you what his or her clients were at gunpoint. Today, it is a completely different matter, and it is for our clients as well. We are proud to show off what we have done for our clients, and our clients are proud to be using the agencies that fit their profiles.

Not only is it completely kosher to tell who you’re working for now, but you can even share what you are doing for your clients, down to the tiniest detail. Heck, some people, and maybe the best people out there, even write books about it, like Geoff Livingston’s and Brian Solis’ “Now is Gone”, which I started reading this morning. I think I learned more from the first ten pages than I have from all the one-day courses I have ever taken since I graduated way back in 2000.

Of course, we should still respect clients who do not want to be made public. After all, they pay our bills. But I think a majority of clients now are willing to share, just as we as PR professionals are willing to share, which in turn makes this entire industry both more transparent and better. If we continue to share, we will all succeed, however odd that sounds. So who will be the losers? I think the advertising agencies are scared beyond belief out there, and rightfully so. With television viewing and newspaper reading on the decline, what will they do? And do they understand people well enough to grasp social media? I don’t think so…

And by all means, please share this…