Archive for the ‘PR Tips’ Category
We all do it. We sit down to make a press list for a project. We start by putting our friends and family on the list then we set out looking for “influencers.” But how do you know who they are?
In the new era of blogs and social media, our influencers no longer sit behind the desk at a major metro daily or behind an anchor desk. So, what makes an influencer in today’s media landscape? Simple: An influencer is somebody who people listen to.
What’s worth more to your client, a mention on the business page of a newspaper with a large circulation and possible syndication or mentions on the blogs, twitter accounts and facebook profiles of several lifestyle bloggers that frequently do product reviews and have a robust community?
The task for you as a PR person is to find the right influencers and get your client in front of them.
Tags: influencer, PR Tips, social media, Tips
Sometimes life flies by so fast you look around and it’s been more than a month since you’ve posted a blog post. Well, maybe it’s just me.
But as a PR person and marketer, I know that fresh content is essential to staying top of mind with those that you want to be thinking about you. So how does one get back on the wagon?
Back on the pony, err, horse
Like Nike says, “Just do it.” Reemerging from the blogging black hole is as simple as opening your content management system and adding a new post. Now, I know this is over-simplifying things, but as a writer, it is your job to, well, to write. So start typing and hit publish.
One from the vault
We’ve all started a post, hit save and then forgot about it. Perhaps you just didn’t like how it sounded. Perhaps you called somebody out and your brain/keyboard filter engaged. Perhaps you thought you might be wrong with your perspective.
If you’ve hit a blogging wall, open your drafts folder and pick one to post. Take a risk and put yourself out there. After all, this is the Internet. Everybody’s right on the Internet.
I’m going to put my blog where my mouth is this week to back this up.
Short but sweet
I love writing short posts because they’re, well, they’re short. Write a quick post with no more than a link to something and three sentences with your opinions. We spend so much time worrying about if we’re right or if we’re in line with popular thought. If you think a campaign is dumb, say so. If you think a cohort’s blog post is nothing but genius, then say so. By keeping it short, you can turn the discussion to your commenters and get something off your chest.
Make a list
My Top 5 Reasons I haven’t Blogged Lately:
- Busy
- Working
- Busy
- Nothing to say
- Busy
In all seriousness, a Top X List post is about as cliché as they come, but they just work. They get you back in the flow of creating content and are easy to post.
Betting back on the blogging horse is difficult. I’ve had several lapses in blogging and each time I resolve to get back into it. What’s the longest you’ve gone without posting? How did you get out of your slump?
Tags: best practices, lull, ponies
Having your blog or Web site rank high in search engine is essentially a guaranteed way to convert sales. But as a PR person, how can you help your clients achieve number-one ranking nirvana?
While at the recent BlogWorld Expo, I sat in on a session that proposed the creation of a network of blogs with content specific to the various products or services your client sells. Relevant key words in the blogs’ titles and content will help it rank so that it does not dilute the keywords in other articles. The strategic use of keyword specific anchor text and linking structures will help as well.
Now, I’m not an SEO expert, but as a PR person, I see the many benefits to this. But there’s a side of me that asks, “Is this genuine?” There’s two sides to this. One of them is black, the other is white. So, I think it’s a gray hat strategy.
The Black Hat
From what I understand, the bad side of this comes in how the blogs are presented. If a network of blogs all have different designs, branding/names, domain registrations and IP addressees, then the assumption is that they are not related. But if all links and referrals point back to a single vendor, this is blatant link farming and search engines look at this extremely unfavorably.
This is a disingenuous method of boosting your page rank. And it does a dis-service to your readers. This will also, if identified by the search engines, end up hurting your ranking and site more as a result of being viewed as manipulative of the search engine results page.
The White Hat
Creating quality content is never a bad thing. But there’s a right way to do this. The theory is sound, but the practice needs to be executed properly.
If you keep the branding and disclose who runs the sites, then the benefits should still come. The underlying premise here is that the content is valuable. Provide information that helps guide a purchasing decision and that will help convert the traffic to revenue.
Technically, there’s more to good content than the words on a page. Ensuring that your site (or sites) is properly optimized with the appropriate links and anchor text, page structure (tagging, linking structure, focused keywords, etc.) and linking out to other quality content are just as important to helping your client’s blogs rank.
Sharing your content is where a different side of blogger outreach comes in to play. Spend time cultivating relationships with other bloggers and sites for content distribution and linking purposes, rather than develop this network artificially yourself. Develop authoritative sites that are on topic and link out to more sites than just your own.
So, in the end, it all comes back to “write quality content.” What do you think of this model, is it unethical? How would you improve upon this model?
~ Extra special thanks to Kristy Bolsinger for her help w/this post. Always good to have a fact checker 
Tags: bwe09, ethics, execution, PR, Tips
The new PR is simply about telling a story well.
Sounds a lot like the old PR, doesn’t it?
I would like to welcome TechCrunch to the world of actual journalism. Find a story, verify info, interview sources, write story, fact check, publish, repeat.
Here’s the quick background: TechCrunch obtained multiple documents from an alleged hacker who had broken into Twitter employee’s email accounts, Google Documents (There’s a reason it’s not compliant, but that’s a different issue) and other documents and information. TechCrunch verified w/Twitter and its lawyers the accuracy of the documents and even interviewed them. Then they published some of the documents. They were even kind enough to redact personal information.
Journalism 101
From the days of muckraking and yellow journalism, obtained documents have been one of the best sources of great information for reporters. The methods and tactics used to acquire these documents range from the legal (Washington Public Records Act, Federal Freedom of Information Act) to the potentially unethical.
But here’s an important step that separates journalist from sensationalist: The journalist attempts to verify the information before publishing. The Sensationalist does not.
As a holder of an actual, real-life journalism degree, I sat through hours of press law and have filled out my fair share of information requests. I have also obtained information through anonymous sources or obtained information in other ways. And I used those documents. But after verifying on my own.
The right to publish
Now, the debate over whether or not TechCrunch should have published or not is broken into two parts:
- Is the information newsworthy?
- Is the information “off limits?”
The newsworthiness discussion is for another day. I am focused on the ethics involved in publishing the documents. TechCrunch absolutely acted within the boundaries of accepted journalistic ethics in publishing those documents. If it had simply published the entire .zip file without making an attempt to check facts or redact personal information, it would have been very out of line.
Instead, it looked for the information it deemed “newsworthy” and ran with it. To recap, it verified the information with Twitter, attempted to elicit on-the-record comment from Twitter and published the information that was applicable to the story it accompanied. TechCrunch even solicited comment from third-party companies named in the documents.
One could also make the argument that Ev and Biz and some of the Twitter team are “Limited Purpose Public Figures.” This means that some of their information is subject to federal and state open records laws and that their expectations of privacy are a bit different than the average citizen.
In this case, the combination of a good journalist and a good lawyer are difficult to beat.
Should they have published
Well, in my opinion yes and no. If TechCrunch wants to use this as a standard for applying journalistic ethics to its reporting (coverage?), then great. But the fact is that TechCrunch is a blog. Its writers express opinion and insert themselves into the stories they are writing. Independant sources are a rarity, as is interviews with the subjects they’re writing about.
I’ve written about the difference between blogger and journalist before, and I think it is completely applicable here. And this gets right to the heart of the debate. If the New York Times had published those documents, would we have even flinched?
I’m sure my opinion is different than some, so tell me what you think.
Tags: ethics, journalism, journalist ethics, TechCrunch, Twitter
Disclaimer, I adapted this from my blog for Etelos, as one of our executives will be speaking there.
Do you know what South by Southwest is? Sure, it’s a great music festival, but did you know it is also one of the best tech conferences around?
SXSW Interactive is a compilation of some super quality speakers and panels as well as some of the best networking (read: parties) around. It is by far one of the best events I’ve attended.
Loading…This year’s event, however, has a different appeal for me. I was able to secure a pretty powerful panel for Etelos founder & CEO Danny Kolke. OpenID, OAuth, Data Portability and the Enterprise will explore the challenges enterprise class companies face over data ownership.
Featuring Joseph Smarr from Plaxo, Kaliya Hamlin, AKA “Identitywoman” and Bob Blakely from the Burton Group will join Danny to discuss if OpenID and OAuth are good for the enterprise and how to implement them.
Shifting the focus
I think this will be an excellent topic for this year’s event. Layoffs are piling up, mandatory furloughs are being enforced and startups are folding. As the emphasis shifts from true innovation to a successful business model, the debate over identity and data ownership becomes essential.
A prospect or sales lead is an invaluable commodity, and this is even more true in today’s economic climate. But who owns that relationship? Who owns that customer’s contact information?
Meetup Tweetup Restup
Lots of exciting parties have already been announced and dozens more will undoubtedly pop up as March approaches. I have an awesome idea for a smaller, more intimate meetup opportunity if anybody is looking for an opportunity to host something.
I look forward to meeting you all out there and discussing some public relations goodies. As an extra bonus, Kaliya is organizing a lunch that will follow the panel. Come, join us there too!
I’m in the process of building up a schedule, but I want to get your input. What sessions have you excited? What speakers must you see? What parties are already on your list? Fill out the handy-dandy form or post a comment.
Tags: Add new tag, conversation, Enterprise, friends, Kolke, OAuth, OpenID, party, relationships, revenue, socialmedia, SXSW
I’m of the opinion that two ways to approach a major conference or tradeshow exists.
All. Or nothing.
During shows such as Web 2.0 Expo or CES or SXSW, so many people are clamoring for attention you either need to completely stand out from the crowd or risk getting passed over. So, if you’re planning on making an announcement at a show, make it worth your while. And, the reporters, analysts and bloggers you’re looking to have cover you.
Otherwise, spend your efforts building relationships and connections. Then, you can reach out to those relationships after the show and make an announcement then.
Tags: best practices, business, PR Tips, relationships
Do you work for a company that hasn’t yet adopted social media practices? Perhaps you are the one implementing a strategy to stay connected to your audiences. But, what rules are there?
As I mentioned recently, social media and social marketing are in their infancies and we are defining the rules. But defining these rules is especially important for companies. Having clear guidelines makes a social media program versatile and transferable. Plus, it will make the lives of compliance officers a bit less stressful.
Don’t be an idiot
Sounds simple enough, right? If you are acting as a representative of a company anywhere that is visible to the general public, act as if your boss is reading over your shoulder (If you’re the boss, act as if your leading investor is over your shoulder). Having a little conscious whispering in your ear while you type should keep you clear.
Keeping a positive focus on the actions of the company should be a priority for the social media practitioner. It shares the spotlight with fostering discussion of the company’s activities.
Maintain your voice
When you operate as the voice of the company, it will be difficult to keep your voice out of the materials you generate — learn to embrace that. You will create “better” content if you keep true to your personal writing style and voice. Copy will come more naturally and your audiences will be able to better relate to it so long as you are being genuine.
Write what you know; write how you know and you’ll be surprised at the results. Plus, you will avoid the leading, unique tendencies to be a ground-breaking leader in your content vertical i.e. “marketing speak.”
Active or passive
When you are creating a content channel, make an overt decision on whether it will actively participate in any discussions that may or may not occur. Of course, I would recommend being an active voice within the community you are trying to create around your service or product. But it is sometimes necessary to broadcast.
What I would avoid, however, is simply being one or the other. If you only broadcast, no discussion, no community occurs. And that defeats the purpose of social media/marketing as a whole. If you are only responding to comments or external discussions, the audience controls the conversation. And, while it is important to participate, it is necessary that you lead the discussion as it relates to your product or service.
To delete or not to delete
Regardless of how you engage, be it broadcasting or conversing, I would strongly advise to proactively react to negative comments and feedback. Deleting the critical material is ultimately up to you, but I feel that addressing the issues is important. Unless the complaint is patently wrong.
Keep it current
Post, create content and keep it up to date. Not much to say beyond that.
Make it good
Making content that doesn’t suck is generally a good idea. If your job is to blog, make sure you read some of the popular blogs and see what makes them popular. Are they funny? Do they use lots of word play? How many links do they use? And so on. The point is to provide value to the people that pay your company money and the people you want to pay your company money.
Your tweets, blog posts etc… should be checked for grammar/spelling/typos. Your videos should have decent sound quality. Your podcasts should have a quick edit done to kill dead air or pregnant pauses. Posting solid content makes for a happy audience. It is frustrating to read through a post that is rife with errors.
Setting up social media rules is a difficult challenge to say the least. The problems compound when you add in the layers that are natural in a company. But I think that perhaps the most important rule should be “Don’t be afraid of change.”
What has worked in your company? How do you participate? What rules do you have? Share them in the comments.
Tags: genuine, Participate, relationships, socialmedia, Tips
I’ve bounced around on a couple of topics on this blog. But one of the most common cries for help/lashing out in anger I see around PR is over the pitch. I’m not sure how many PR people have actually been pitched before, but it can be quite annoying at times.
So, I want to offer my perspective on pitching. I used to be a reporter and, while I wasn’t on an TechCrunch or ReadWriteWeb scale, I did have a lot of other work to do and the pitches would frustrate me. That being said, I’ve come up with my Three S’s of Pitching: sincere, succinct and scalable.
Sincere
I talked about being genuine recently and sincerity goes hand in hand with that. You are asking a busy reporter to take the time to talk to/cover/link to your client. Provide that person some legitimate reason why you believe this is important. This is about believing in the brands/clients/products you represent. Here are some tips on sincerity:
- Avoid hype language. If you claim to be a leader, attribute the source.
- Be humble. Acknowledge the blogger’s position and that you appreciate any time they might be able to give.
- Be newsworthy. In journalism, it’s called the news hook. What is different or unique or special about this news or pitch that makes it newsworthy?
- Diction. The words you choose carry great weight. Only one product can be unique. It is not fairly unique.
- Show don’t tell. Remember that old axiom? It’s so applicable when pitching. Give details to support your claim and make sure they’re accurate.
Succinct
By keeping your messages short and to the point, you’ll endear yourself to, well, anybody really. When I was in college, I invented a word — “concisification.” A verb exists as well — “concisify.” The general premise is to take what you’ve written and rewrite it in half the space.
Simple enough, right? But to quote Mark Twain, “If I had more time, I’d write a shorter letter.” And it’s true. So how do you concisify something?
- Active, not passive. Avoid passive voice like the plague. That is all.
- Dead construction. This is a tricky one. Phrases such as “There is…” or “There are…” rob you of space. Instead of “There is new features…” Simply state “New features…”
- Be assertive. Phrases such as “This product could very well be the next big thing” shows weakness and is not compelling. “This product is the next big thing.” Is tighter, more active and easier to read.
- Avoid excessive similes and metaphors. Overusing these literary tools is like using a jack hammer to remove a tooth. Sure, it may work, but it can be quite painful.
Scalable
Let’s face it, we’re busy too. The expectation is that every pitch sent is a perfect, unique display of your PR prowess. But how realistic is this? The product pitch is essential and needs to be deployed at the ready.
So, a good pitch is scalable and can be sent out to different contacts but still be effective. I think that really, this is as simple as having a Word or Google Doc with the generic text in it. But deploy it from there. Don’t copy/paste from an email or use the forward feature. Mistakes can happen. Other tips on making your pitch scalable:
- Micro pitch it. Use social media to spread the word.
- Force it viral. Have your client send out a brief email to its contact base and ask colleagues/partners to post to Twitter and other networks.
- Incorporate the sincerity and succinctness described above.
So, there you have the three S’s of pitching. What methods do you use? What are some successful tactics you’ve used in the past?
Tags: PR Tips, Scalable, Sincere, Succince
Back in April, we were promised that the Twitpitch would be the future. And after eight months, it looks like the future is still on the way. The same can be said with a recent project called “MicroPR.”
These short, high-level pitches are great for putting a link out onto Twitter, but for targeted, effective pitches, they are merely an arrow in the public relations professional’s quiver.
I’ll start with Twitpitch. Stowe Boyd, whom I have met a number of times and always enjoy chatting with, devised a plan to streamline getting pitches. A great idea and if you want to pitch Stowe, and Stowe only, then get on Twitter and throw #twitpitch on there.
What this exemplifies more than anything is how each pitch must be customized, tailored and based on the person doing the pitching’s knowledge of the recipient. Stowe likes music, composes songs and also has a music blog. Did you know that or did you just know to put #twitpitch in a twitter message?
MicroPR
MicroPR is essentially a way for reporters to pitch PR and Marketing people via Twitter. The full story is on Brian Solis’ PR 2.0 blog (which, if you’re not reading, you should be). So, on the surface, sounds like a great idea. And a cursory search of Twitter, shows the beginnings of an effective discourse.
But my problem is that it seems to be a case of PR folks outsmarting themselves. Thanks to MicroPR and Peter Shankman’s Help a Reporter Out, PR folks are able to keep an eye out for opportunities to place their clients in front of attentive reporters.
But of course a lot of hard work is still to be done. Establish rapport, making a connection is still the name of the game. I think that email is still an invaluable tool for PR pros. MicroPR requires a journalist to alter an ingrained work flow in order to post to MicroPR, monitor the results and then choose the best source.
So, two tools that are trying to unite PR and journalists. But I think the true task is to keep the emphasis on the relations part of our career. What do you think?
Tags: best practices, MicroPR, PR, Twitpitch