The Hartsock Agency » David Henderson

5 Reasons to Read “Making News in the Digital Era”

Nettie Hartsock — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:51:36 +0000

Just finished reading David Henderson’s “Making News in the Digital Era” and I wanted to post the five reasons to read his book!

Five Reasons to Read: Making News in the Digital Era

1. Chapter Seven: Twitter Dispatches in 140 Characters

2. Chapter Twenty-Five: Be Clever and Be Bold – love this chapter!

3. Chapter Twenty-Three: The Price of a Forgettable Slogan

4. Chapter Twenty-Two: Mission Statements Are Useless – this is a key chapter filled with ton of good insight.

5. Chapter Sixteen: A Good Story Has Great Legs – quote “A great story has legs that in today’s world can travel many miles per hour.”

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Free tools to Grade Your Website, Press Release, and Gobbledygook

Nettie Hartsock — Fri, 01 May 2009 23:06:01 +0000

Today I received a missive in my email box touting an expert website analysis for the same amount that my family’s grocery bill is for the month ($300 plus). Because I’m thrifty and frankly prone to becoming agitated when anyone is selling something that as an author you can do for free (and still get great results), I’m now compelled to share again three fantastic FREE, FREE, FREE tools for you to use. (These tools can be used for any website, no matter what the product by the way.)

Here they are:

1. HubSpot’s superb and (did I say free) Websitegrader – it will take your site through the veritable ringer of analysis and give you actionable insight on how to improve your SEO in a nifty little report delivered right to your email box.

2. HubSpot’s PressreleaseGrader – cool FREE tool that grades your press releases for higher searchability and good usage of keywords. FREE!

3. The latest tool in their vast grading empire - co-developed with one of the finest brains on the Web today David Meerman Scott, this tool is the Gobbledygook Grader. Use it and be free of gobbledygook. (I have to give a Web-hat tip to David Henderson who talked about this tool last night at the IABCHouston Quill Awards during his keynote.)

And no, I’m not an affiliate of HubSpot – I just like Mike Volpe and think they are doing a great job of giving real tools that people can use…for FREE!

Now I’m off to go see a “two tix for the price of one” show at HydeParkTheater in Austin!

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Reinventing 2.0 Series – David Henderson

Nettie Hartsock — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 19:57:05 +0000

This Reinventing 2.0 Series features an interview with David Henderson, author of “The Media Savvy Leader.” David Henderson brings an intelligent and experienced perspective when consulting for clients, leading executive workshops or keynoting at conferences. As a veteran communications strategist, author, online publisher, and Emmy Award winning former on-air CBS Network News correspondent, he has extensive credentials in the field of organizational leadership through communications, image and reputation management, and media outreach, including today’s online digital revolution.

Our interview for Reinventing 2.0 Series covers his take on authenticity, storytelling and leading by transparency.

Nettie: What do corporations need to understand about the how to tell a story?

DH: In today’s Internet era – where people have infinite choices of where to get their information – the influence of traditional advertising, marketing and promotion has become greatly diminished. The discipline of storytelling, on the other hand, can energize (or re-energize) any business or organization. It becomes woven into the fabric, stimulates excitement and understanding of vision … builds consensus of purpose … and triggers sharing, far and wide. In today’s online world, the influence and payoff of good corporate storytelling can be staggeringly powerful.

Nettie: In this Web 2.0 frenetic age, how do folks balance transparency, honesty
and still engage a good brand story?

DH: The word “brand” has become, I believe, somewhat tarnished through overuse and attempts at manipulating so-called brands. So, there may no longer be such a thing as “a good brand story.” Image and reputation today are far more important and valued, created by authentic openness, clarity of message and consistent transparency. In such context, a genuine story that reaches out and gets our attention and resonates among us is a powerful tool for business to develop a sustained, good reputation, and to build trust.

Nettie: Can you touch briefly on how Steve Jobs and his passion make for a great and authentic story?

DH: When Steve Jobs takes a stage to speak of a new development or product, we share in his passion and excitement because — and this is very important — Jobs never talks about his company, Apple, or about the new development or product. He’s savvy enough to know that no one really cares about Apple. What customers, investors and stakeholders really care about is how the new product or development will enrich their lives or make life more productive. So, he speaks to the value and benefit to us, rather than about his company. It is a subtle but seismic shift in how smart companies are positioned in today’s world. As an aside, Apple never tags on boilerplate about the company at the end of press releases because no one really cares about such stuff. Besides, if they want to research the company for some reason, everything is online.

DH: What about “story fright” how can a CEO overcome his own trepidation
about being honest in how he relates the company story?

Nettie: Audiences in today’s world have become astonishingly sophisticated and savvy. They can sense a half-truth or see-through a disingenuous claim by a CEO. There is no such thing as a secret in today’s online world, as we’ve seen so often. If a CEO has story fright about openly communicating a clear and open vision of his or her organization, it can be a warning sign to everyone from employees to board members and investors. An executive who is reticent or uncertain about communicating vision in today’s world, may be relegated to the shadows, surpassed by a competitor who can communicate more effectively.

Nettiie: What about humor? Is there a place for that in story? (She asks because
she likes to laugh at good stories!)

DH: Humor is a valuable tool in effective communications. The ability to share humor builds a connection and trust but only if it is genuine, never contrived.

Nettie: What are three techniques you advise for giving a story real legs?

DH: As a culture, we communicate through stories, not slogans or marketing cliches. All of us have grown up hearing stories. In organizational storytelling, three elements are emotional, logical and analytical. The emotional connection can tug at heartstrings or touch our emotions. The logical connection is a shared bond that makes sense. The analytical connection contains facts and data to back-up what we are saying. Those three elements when woven into a story capture attention, create memories and lead to audiences repeating the story to others … and that’s the absolute best way to create leadership and an outstanding reputation in today’s business environment.

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David Henderson on Storytelling

Nettie Hartsock — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 02:00:35 +0000

Great post by the brilliant David Henderson on what really makes for a good story. Also hoping to wrangle him this week into being a feature on the Leading 2.0 series and talk about his book, “The Media Savvy Leader.”

If you’ve not purchased it yet, please do so and stay tuned for more from David!

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Loved this article on how to use Twitter

Nettie Hartsock — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 21:48:16 +0000

Fantastic article on how to use Twitter by David Risley, CEO of PCMech, as featured in Steve Kayser’s great Cincom Expert Access newsletter.

Steve also added a new expert to the roster, David Henderson, who I think is just a brilliant man and coming out with a new book as well. And for full disclosure…David Henderson is also the wonderful guru who re-designed my blog with all the bells and whistles and I’ve always been a great admirer of his career.

Now “go on” as Tracey Ullman used to say! Go and Twitter.

Oh and before I forget! Go and read Toby Bloomberg’s brilliant series on blogger relations. As a recovering tech journalist, current blogger and online publicist I can tell you the series she did is outstanding and illuminating. Let the bloggers be heard! Toby is just the best at discovering and deciphering for the rest of us how the best in social media are succeeding! Kudos!!

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Writers League of Texas Fall Workshops!

Nettie Hartsock — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 07:05:16 +0000

I’m extremely humbled to be included among the folks who will present the fantastic Fall series of classes that my friend (and new executive director of the Writers League of Texas) Cyndi Hughes put together! I’ll be teaching a class on “Blogging and Beyond” and I hope that folks in Texas turn out! For a full listing go to this link and support the Writers League by going to the classes!

Also I have to give a wonderful kudo to David Henderson, speaking of blogs, who is an extraordinarily brilliant 2.0 guy, who basically reformatted my whole blog for me! Savvy man! He also co-founded BoomerCafe.com which is celebrating its longevity on the Web and continues to grow by leaps and “boomer bounds.”

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