As social media becomes more integrated with PR services, the need for mapping activity to strategic objectives, efficient tactical workflow, controls to ensure on-brand messages will continue to grow.

In a recent #SoloPR Twitter chat, we talked a bit about approaches and tools used by some community members.  While a few participants voiced their experiences, a lack of comment by many (plus a few questions by others) suggest there’s room on the table to lay some pieces out.

Birthed from the editorial calendar, the conversation (or social media) calendar can be instrumental for both the planning and tactical aspects of social media planning. Like many techniques, there’s no hard and fast “right way” to develop one. But there are several components many consider to be essential. I’ll list them here to get your brain going, then share more detail below.

1. Objectives
2. Vision
3. Voice, Style, Tone
4. Tools
5. Channels
6. Planning Content
7. Logistics
8. Closing The Loop

Objectives

If the scope of your client consulting arrangement includes social media, it’s critical to understand how that activity supports broader business objectives. Without knowing whether your piece of the pie is expected to serve as a preemptive move in the event of a crisis, or as a means to nurture open communication with brand advocates, you can’t be effective at your job.

Vision

It may sound hokey, but I think it’s important to establish an operating vision for the social and community-building work consultants do. Without a common agreement on vision between you and your client, it may be difficult for them to understand your recommendations for content. Be careful not to assume.

Voice, Style, Tone

Although the messages you’ll develop will be online and not a printed element you can hold, the import of how the brand is perceived is just as important. Ask for your client’s brand bible or style guide early in your planning. Learn accepted language, terms, tone (how it’s said), voice (what’s said), and style. A bank, for instance, may lean toward a conservative tone and voice, and avoid statements that might be construed as commitments or guarantees. A children’s clothing retailer might prefer to cover topics ranging from child rearing to choosing day care facilities, and might want to do so in a friendly, approachable tone.

Tools

Some of our community members reported liking Sprout Social for setting up work flow and identifying audience prospects. Others prefer Hootsuite’s feature set, and some folks like CoTweet.  All three (and there are others) offer free versions to try out while you determine which best suits your needs. The learning curve with each can take several days to truly grasp all features, so be sure to give yourself some time in order to make an informed decision. Plus, getting comfortable with a tool means you’re more apt to actually use it once you pull the trigger with your assignment.

Channels

When digging through your client’s brand bible to gather intel for voice, tone, and style, you’ll likely come across customer profiles or personas (if not, be sure to ask for them), or any demographic/psychographic research that may have been conducted. These things can help you determine which channels – from Facebook to Twitter to Pinterest and on – might be where your client’s ideal customers hang out.

Planning Content

Your client may be able to list some industry or trade publications which serve as information resources for them. Through some research, you should be able to identify competition and allied interests, and ferret out blogs, media companies, research, and other useful sources of content. Whether it’s appropriate to link to this content, re-broadcast tweets and other messages, or use the information as a springboard for new original writing, consider developing a broad mix of content types and sources. Google Reader can be used to collect and share RSS feeds from target sites, and Diigo or Delicious can be used to tag and catalog good finds for reference later.

Logistics

Who is the account owner? Do both the client and the consultant know the log-on credentials? Are the volume of messages so high as to warrant shifts or teams for updates and responses? What’s the ideal rate of frequency for sharing links versus carrying on spontaneous conversation? Logistics concerning the accounts to the firing of messages needs to be considered. It’s likely the process may need some fine-tuning so don’t expect to get it perfect right out of the gate.

As for the work product of all of these steps, I’ve seen conversation calendars in the form of Excel documents and Google docs. When combined with a tool like HootSuite, even shared Google Calendars can serve as a means to keep client and consultant stakeholders apprised of planned content. Another tool I’ve tried to capture dates and tasks is Tom’s Calendar which uses a Gantt-style approach to mapping out information.

Closing The Loop

Concentrate too much on the messages and activity that originates with you, it may be easy to overlook – or underestimate the attention needed – the return loop. Who is responsible for following up on incoming messages? Is there an escalation policy? What about routinely evaluating analytics to determine performance for ideal time of day, popular content, etc?

Planning and managing social media as part of a company’s overall communications efforts requires a lot of research, thinking, writing, analysis, and coordination. A conversation calendar can be a useful tool for you and your client when care is taken to cover the groundwork recommended above.

What would you add to a social media conversation calendar? Kellye has a couple of examples in one of her PR/social media presentations posted on SlideShare (see slides 15-16).  Other good reads include posts from: Arik Hanson, Ian Smith, Debbie Williams, and Joan Damico (be sure to check out her sample spreadsheet).

In addition to showing clients that yours is a “real” business and not a sofa sideline, the right kind of business insurance policies can protect you from a rainy day and give you peace of mind, too. Though this post is not a substitute for the advice of an insurance professional, by educating yourself now about the types of business insurance available, you can be ready if/when you need it.

Commercial General Liability
This is the “business liability” insurance that clients most often ask you to have. Why? Because this type helps covers them if, for example, you injure someone while driving on business on their behalf.

The first time a potential client says you must carry $1 million in general liability coverage (or more) to win their business, the tendency is to freak out! But, no need to worry. Fortunately, your homeowner’s insurance carrier can usually provide this for you, and it’s typically only a couple hundred dollars a year.

Professional Liability Coverage (Errors and Omissions)
Because of its relatively high cost, whether to purchase “E&O” insurance is a tough judgment call for many independent consultants. It’s designed to protect you from any financial loses your work may inadvertently cause a client, due to negligence or inadequate quality controls.

When you analyze your options, take into account the industries you serve and the amount of litigation in them, as well as your level of exposure. This type of insurance is best purchased through an insurance broker (as providers vary by state) – ask your homeowner or car insurance provider for a broker recommendation.

Business Property Coverage
This insurance protects your building, its contents, and against loss of income. If you work from home, a certain amount of business property coverage may be included in your homeowner’s policy, so be sure to ask. If you need additional coverage, the same company can usually provide you with both – at a discount.

Business Interruption Coverage
This coverage protects against losses due to a temporary shutdown (as with a fire), and provides reimbursement for lost net profits and necessary continuing expenses. Though it sounds good, be sure to crunch the numbers and read the fine print: sometimes you must be out of work for several months before it kicks in, and you’d be better off putting the money this policy would cost into savings (which you could tap in the event of an emergency).

Personal Liability Umbrella (Excess Liability Policy)
This insurance provides protection once the limits of a standard liability policy have been met. Though this is not technically business insurance, it can sometimes be combined with your other policies at a given insurance carrier (if you have both business and personal with the same company) at a steep discount, giving you more liability coverage in all aspects of your life.

What’s been your experience with business insurance? Do you have some minimal coverage? Any tips for saving money? Let us know in the comments.

This week on the Solo PR PRO Premium membership site, as everyone prepares for 2012, we’ve released Part One of a multi-part series called Show Me the Money!, which steps members through the process of managing expenses, setting rates, and maximizing profits with multiple 20+ page ebooks, worksheets and templates. Being able to produce resource-intensive courses like this is why we launched the Premium site in November, so we’re excited to birth this baby!

As we worked on this course, we’ve identified some of the most common mistakes consultants make when setting their fees. I had a chance to sit down with Show Me the Money! co-author, Jenny Schmitt (@Cloudspark on Twitter) and chat about this critical topic. (note: there were technical difficulties and the video on my end wasn’t recorded, but that’s OK — Jenny is the one you want to see!)

If you can’t see the video, you can watch it on YouTube here.

Do you agree? What mistakes have you seen consultants make, and what issues do you still struggle with when it comes to setting your rates?

This post was written by Heather Rast.

It’s that time of year again. The time where independent consultants think about this year’s work and how to move into the new year with sound footing.

Over the last three years, we’ve had several blog posts and Twitter chats related to reducing tax liabilities and managing expenses. Below are some highlights from the most-loved posts and the Solo PR Pro community.

Collecting on unpaid bills

Ensuring you’re paid for the work you do is a critical step to solo success. As you look to do this more effectively in 2012, a few top tips from our March 2010 #SoloPR Twitter chat on this topic include:

• Build collection term language into your contract
• Follow up repeat requests with notice that bringing in your attorney will be your next step to resolving the collection issue
• Screen new clients very carefully; request a deposit for services up front
• One accountant’s position: an LLC can write off tangibles, but not debts related to unpaid invoices for services

Tax and expense help

In a past post for for laid off workers, we shared these tips that apply to anyone:

• Be sure to track any and all expenses while performing work independently. Every parking stub, mile driven, and notebook purchased can help lower your tax liability.
• Be careful not to underestimate your taxes while solo. You’re now responsible for the full amount of FICA instead of half (when employed, your company paid the other half). This can be a rude wake-up call if you don’t set aside enough of your solo earnings for taxes when its received.
• Not sure how long you’ll stay solo, because it wasn’t part of your master plan? You can still earn income consulting if you operate under your own name and use a Schedule C when filing your taxes.

Passing along expenses to clients

During a recent #SoloPR chat, we discussed how to bill expenses to clients, and participants shared the following advice:

• Have a monthly “Administrative” line item for retainer clients that covers consulting-related expenses. Those expenses are built into the hourly fee charged project-based clients.
• Some advised that every expense is different. Some are direct billed, others split between clients, while still others are considered the cost of doing business (and accounted for within the rate).
• Consider passing expenses along as a clear, detailed line item on the invoice after pre-arranging in advance for the expense in the contract.

Accelerate Expenses

• Consider “accelerating your expenses” by buying things you know you’ll need (and can afford) now instead of early 2012. By doing so, you’ll enjoy the tax break of the expense now. Investments like desks, an ergonomic chair, a secondary computer, or new printer can be bought now so that the expense shows up on the 2011 ledger. If you pay for them in January 2012, chances are you’ll have incurred no interest on the credit card charge plus have received the tax break.

What are your favorite year-end strategies? Let us know in the comments!

In that time, there have been some opportunities missed because of the public nature of our various channels. Many of you have also stated this – there are things you’d prefer not to send out to the whole world, but you’d be happy to exchange this information with others in our community.

To meet these needs, we’re happy to unveil the premium Solo PR PRO membership site, now in public beta (at special beta pricing). Specifically for us, this premium PRO content offers road-tested deliverables and downloads, a members-only Forum, a special upcoming Show Me the Money! series on setting rates, and much more.

Why do we need a PRO membership site? I did a quick video to explain the reasoning, and some of the benefits:

If you can’t view this video, watch it on YouTube.

Though some of the Solo PR PRO membership site features won’t be available until after the first of the year, we wanted to go ahead and share this beta content with you at a low initial rate (locked in for life for those who sign-up early), which will increase slowly over time for new subscribers as more content is added. That way, you can start putting the current content to use as you plan for 2012 (never too early to start!).

What does it cost?
As indie consultants, price is always a key consideration – as it should be. Though we’ve seen membership sites that cost $50 a month or more (and they have generic content that often doesn’t apply to indie consultants like us), we’re doing our best to keep costs low so everyone can participate.

The deal: While we’re still in beta for the next few weeks, you can join for just $14 a month, and be a Charter member! The cool part is: you’ll lock in this monthly rate for as long as you maintain your PRO membership (but, at the risk of sounding like an infomercial, you can cancel any time). We’re also offering a money-saving Annual Subscription for just $120 for the year. In addition to the price break, the Annual Subscription offers the tax benefits of purchasing now for the year ahead.

For more details of all the offerings and to sign-up, just visit: Become a PRO Member.

We’re excited to offer something that can help you be more efficient, effective, and profitable in your business, and we fully expect that this content (especially the fee-setting info) will help many PRO members increase their profits by thousands of dollars in 2012. That’s the mission that will drive everything around this effort.

If you have any questions, just let us know in the comments. Hope you can join us!

As a follow-on to our recent discussion during the #SoloPR Twitter chat, this  guest post is from Atlanta-based #SoloPR community member Tiffany Rogers.

As a solo public relations professional, people always ask me, “What is PR, and what exactly do you do?” Depending on the person I am talking to I give them one of many answers, in a way that they can understand.  It is amazing that I do not already have one generic answer on reserve.

One evening as I watched the movie “Hancock,” Jason Bateman’s character described publicists as “Image consultants who change the way people see products, companies and people.”

That got me thinking. While I wouldn’t agree that “publicist” and “image consultant” are necessarily interchangeable titles for the same job, I would agree that the two rub shoulders.

After a little research, I created this infographic to show how PR pros who are publicists and image consultants compare to each other:

So while image consulting is not exactly the same job as public relations, PR professionals can use image consulting practices to do their own job better.

As a solo PR pro do you see yourself as an image consultant? Do some of your daily duties mirror those of an image consultant? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

This post was contributed by Tiffany Rogers. Tiffany is CEO and senior publicist at the Ephelis Agency. She assists business owners and entertainers in creating meaningful client and community relationships to spread their message and brand their image. You can connect with her online or by following her on Twitter @TRBizLady.

Would you take a minute  to answer a few survey questions to help define things better?

There’s no close date for the survey, but we do hope you’ll fill it out now since you’re here. Findings will be discussed in a future post. Thanks for participating!

1. Client’s focused on deliverable that may not meet his goal. How do I help him find value in other objectives/outcomes? #solopr

2. What are your best tips for garnering holiday press? #solopr

3. What if client only wants “big” coverage, and isn’t willing to speak with smaller outlets? #solopr

4. How would you recommend increasing clientele for ppl who are just starting? #solopr

5. Is anyone going to the PRSA Conference in Orlando? #solopr

Be sure to check out the transcript in PDF for the full discussion. Note that the transcript is in reverse chronological order.

If you weren’t able to join us this week, please let us know how you’d respond to the chat questions below!

The #solopr chat – held each Wednesday from 1-2 p.m. Eastern – is a weekly ritual for some of the most savvy Solo PR Pros on Twitter. Anyone with a Twitter account is welcome to participate – see Join Us for the #solopr Chat on Twitter to find out how!

Thanks to Jennifer Spivak for compiling this post.

1. Would you ever advise a client to blog negatively about a person or competitor? #solopr

2. I’m bored with my current work and feeling burned out. How do I get the mojo back? #solopr

3. I’m interested in working with an intern. Is it too late to get one for the fall? Things I should know? #solopr

4. Has anyone used MyMediaInfo? Thoughts? Any other similar svc you’d recommend? #solopr

5. What events are you doing to this fall? How do you choose? #solopr

Be sure to check out the transcript in PDF for the full discussion. Note that the transcript is in reverse chronological order.

If you weren’t able to join us this week, please let us know how you’d respond to the chat questions below!

The #solopr chat – held each Wednesday from 1-2 p.m. Eastern – is a weekly ritual for some of the most savvy Solo PR Pros on Twitter. Anyone with a Twitter account is welcome to participate – see Join Us for the #solopr Chat on Twitter to find out how!

Thanks to Jennifer Spivak for compiling this post.

If you can’t see the video, watch it here.

Do you have any tried and true methods for chilling out when the day gets overwhelming? Let us know in the comments!