Kinzie

On a day like this, when sudden, sad news travels from the other side of the planet and a trip to say farewell and grieve with loved ones is not an option, I wonder what the fuck I am doing with my life … and then something wonderful happens to remind me this is the life I choose and this is the price I pay.

Cousins, aunties, uncles, family friends — please hold each other close and appreciate your physical presence and know I am with you in my thoughts and tears. Friends, tell your family you appreciate them and you love them.

They will leave before you are ready.

It helps to connect with people who have and will experience loss from afar who understand just how tough it can be. I have been learning how to grieve alone over these many years living far away from my people and the place I grew up and it doesn’t get easier but nor does it get more difficult.

Fortunately, I don’t have to worry about anyone from home understanding and accepting my absence. It is a double-edged sword, that one.

I recognize I have reached an age where this will become a more frequent occurrence. With friends and friends-who-are-family around the world, it will be impossible to be there physically to say good-bye each time.

Until, of course, I can shape-shift and time-travel so I can be anywhere in an instant.

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We grew up together, we did, and not being with you right now to say goodbye to Auntie Hilda is breaking my heart.

I love you, Kimptons. Always have. Always will.

In one of my first jobs as communications director for a school division, I met for coffee with a friend who is a journalist. During our time together, we talked about my ideas for a publicity campaign that involved the students. When we wrapped up, I offered to buy his coffee. His refusal came with an education in the ethics of journalism. No exchange is made for stories or articles. He loved my idea but would not be willing to write about it if I paid him anything. Not even a cup of coffee at 1980’s prices. I was impressed, not only by his values but by his willingness to educate me on how it worked.

Since that day, I have never entertained journalists other than provided beverages and snacks at a media conference as a matter of public courtesy. Media releases are distributed with enough information to attact an enquiry if the content fits with a piece they are working on. As a publisher, I am regularly disappointed by clients who ask for a feature before committing to advertising. It never happens. Either we agree to an advertising contract or I move on.

“I believe the most important thing for the media is to be objective, fair and balanced. We should not report something with preconceptions or prejudice.” Jack Ma, Alibaba

I am regularly offered free treatments in exchange for writing about them. I am not a reviewer. Unless I am a paying customer, there is a part of me that holds back on criticism, constructive or otherwise, if I have received something — anything — in exchange for editorial content.

5 media relations tips

1. Deliver a news release with an offer to provide additional information on request.
2. Send an email release with the content in the body, not an un-trusted attachment.
3. Provide a description with all relevant details and without ad-like hype or flourish.
4. Save the exclamation points, upper case and bold for your social media comments.
5. Ensure you include your direct contact details and double check the information

BONUS TIP : Never expect an article will be published

Real journalists value original content, fresh information and respectful relationships.

Today, there are plenty of social media opportunities and independent bloggers ready to write about a product or service in exchange for exposure. This is advertising — it is not objective content. It is not news. It is opinion and it is a paid opinion. That is promotion.

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This farm girl had fun hanging out with some local farmers today at the LOHAS Expo and Vegetarian Food Asia. Oh, and yeah, HK heartbeat is a media partner so it’s all business.  Did I mention the fresh tomatoes?

Here is some of the fresh produce in season in Hong Kong right now.

Enjoy!

I receive a lot of interest in the areas of business matching, content marketing, publicity along with media and communications training and workshops. Also popular at the moment is private consulting and corporate events delivering practical ways to manage in stressful environments by guiding individuals and teams towards sustainable life balance.

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Get in touch when you can use a little extra expert help.

From my early days growing up in a remote, rural community in western Canada, I learned the importance of relying on each other. When a stranger went off the road and came up to the house looking for help, we fired up the tractor and took time out from farm work to pull them out. No charges. It’s just part of life.

When my bachelor uncle lost his leg in a farming accident during harvest, every combine in the neighborhood arrived in his fields, putting their own profits in peril to ensure his crops made it into the bins. Our kitchen filled with women preparing food for the farmers from their own gardens and pantries.

Community was essential to our survival and our social network existed only among our neighbors and extended families. School was 16 miles west, services were 15 miles north in the nearest city and the next door neighbor was nearly a mile down the road. Digital social networks have helped me maintain connections with that community of my childhood.

In 2001, I launched HK heartbeat to share information with friends who approached me looking for natural lifestyle information in Hong Kong. It started as a weekly email newsletter, grew to include print publications and local events and I built the website directory myself in 2006. In recent years, I have added social media channels, integrating the information to reach members and keep everyone up to date with what’s new and what’s on in Hong Kong … naturally.

Companies recognizing the financial value of community are now attempting to recreate the magic under their brand and leveraging the network to sell their products and services.

Businesses beware — conscious customers recognize when a community is little more than advertising.

5 tips for building an online community

1. Set up your community around a shared interest
2. Encourage sharing of content, ideas and experiences
3. Present your brand as the community sponsor
4. Provide resources to develop the group
5. Extend special offers to your members

By adopting this strategy, you will expand participation to include people who will not be put off by commercial nature of the program and present the project as actual community rather than a business venture.

This approach also opens the possibility of using the community to brand other products in the future.

I am always thinking ahead.

Photo by Kinzie