As I recently had the great pleasure of attending SMX Advanced, I listened to a presentation on how to use elementary PR tactics as an SEO tool. In addition, SEOmoz recently published a post outlining the potential dangers of SEO managing PR and vice versa: “At the risk of writing with very broad brush-strokes, the PR world still knows nothing about SEO. This ignorance is reciprocal. …As SEOs, we know very little about how public relations actually work, but we should. Applying PR fundamentals can turn your PR Agency into Linkbuilders on Steroids…”

On the surface that is fine; press releases and media relations can produce a lot of link juice if squeezed correctly. But when you begin approaching reporters or bloggers and pitching story ideas with the sole intent of getting a link to your content, you enter into dangerous territory.

Good tactics gone bad

At SMX, the speaker presented several tactics for engaging influentials to garner backlinks. One that he was proud of was to “Position yourself to be a counterpoint to a story.” While this may play well as an immediate hit, you need to consider your image agenda. Do you want to be the perpetual counterpoint? The long-lasting hits on your brand’s reputation might not be worth the inbound links you receive as a source of controversy.

Instead, add value to the influentials coverage, even if it’s not about you. Some industries such as real estate, restaurants and home rennovations lend themselves particularly well to strong media relations, even if you don’t have a steady source of “news.” (yeah, that’s my realtor, my mom’s restaurant and my cousin’s construction company, everybody needs a little link juice)

The speaker also promoted the use of embargoed stories and even exclusives to encourage journailsts to link to your content. As a practice, embargoes are a tough sell. A lot of tech blogs have explicitly said they will not answer them, while others rely upon an explicit agreement and quality relationship before they are even proposed. And I think that “Exclusive” is almost as meaningful as a “yes” RSVP to a Facebook event invite. It is losing its impact as a media outreach tactic and in the world that has “hamsterized” journalism has been losing traction as a content strategy.

Keep SEO in mind

So, how can you make SEO an active part of your digital communications efforts? There are a few key areas to keep in mind when preparing your content:

Link building

As much as it pains me to say it, press releases are still a good way to collect inbound links. Most wires publish press releases to many of the nation’s metro newspapers and news aggregating website. This is pure speculation, but I would imagine that the major search engines are on to this tactic and have devalued those links.

But, what is important is taking a moment to ask the blogger or reporter you’re working with if they could link to your site or announcement and even provide them with the HTML that uses the keywords you would like to rank for.

Keyword optimization

When you look for coverage on your company or client, what words do you enter in the search box? Those are the keywords you want to rank for and use in your content. Chances are, you’re not the only one putting them in the search box. Search Engine Land has compiled numerous keyword research tools and methodologies. Two of its best roundups are Search Engine Land’s Keyword Research Guide and The Giant List Of Keyword Tools. In addition, this is an amazing guide to keyword research.

As I mentioned earlier, focusing on your key messaging (also known as keywords) will help you create content that not only naturally ranks, but is easily linkable and sharable.

Make content that matters

As Scott Stratten, aka Unmarketing is fond of saying, “People share awesome.” By creating content that is actionable, sharable, helps readers solve a problem, you are making something that people will want to share. This is one of the keys  to not only obtaining inbound links, but also acquiring readers and brand advocates, which can help boost your quality metrics.

Tight, grammatically correct content that tells a great story about your market, customers or opinions are content that people want to share. People don’t want to share your press releases. They may read them and you may see the readership metrics that some of the press release distribution services provide, but they don’t want to share them.

As with any aspect of your overall strategy, SEO is just that. A piece of the puzzle. It solves a problem, not all problems. If your messaging is unclear or if your product or opinions are flawed, SEO won’t help.

Let me know your best SEO tactic that communications professionals can utilize in the comments!

A variety of federal agencies exist to monitor the practices of these industries from FINRA, the SEC and even the ATF. But none of them seem to have kept up with the rapid evolution of public relations and corporate communications practices. In fact, the FINRA document regulating online marketing practices for financial services companies is nearly a decade old.

But some government agencies are making strides to enter the modern information age. The SEC recently hired Mark Story to help connect to the new media scene. And its recent launch of investor.gov, a microsite dedicated to protecting and engaging with investors, shows just how far its come.

But there’s still a huge gap between accepted best practices for the use of social media technologies and what the federal government says you can and can’t do. The confrontationalist side of me says, if there are no rules, how can you break them?

But that is a dangerous precedent to set. Instead, we must develop suond practices that help interact with the community, but protect the interests of a company’s investors.

My advice

My simple advice is to know the rules. Then, come as close to breaking them as you can.

For example, about two years ago, the SEC revised its rules regarding the release of material information to include the use of a corporate blog as a means to do releases. So, time to set up that blog network for your audience. I have yet to see a company completely turn off its use of a wire service, however.

Also, FINRA has proposed an update to its rules, which strike me as a bit much. What do you think?

My value add is this presentation. Some of the elements didn’t quite make it into the Slideshare, but they were hilarious. Thanks again to Mark and Shannon Paul for taking the time to do this panel with me.

“Social Media and Blogging in Federally Regulated Industries” isn’t a really sexy title for a conference session, but it’s one that is absolutely necessary. Industries such as pharmaceuticals, firearms and liquor are trying to figure out how to not only participate on the conversations that are happening, but also how they can capitalize on them.

The challenge

For some companies, the challenge is the disclosure of certain material information, or Regulation Fair Disclosure. Any publicly traded company is subject to scrutiny by the Securities and Exchange Commission and if a company were to publish a blog post committing to a new product and then not meet that commitment, it could be subjected to not only a costly shareholder law suit, but a costly SEC investigation.

Recently, the SEC relaxed its rules (or modernized them depending on your spin) to allow companies to disclose information through their blogs. This is a major step, but seems to be one companies are afraid of taking. I can not find any questionable uses so far, so it seems not many people are taking the risk. Companies such as Google regularly announce new products and Betas through blogs, but when was the last time a pharmaceutical company announced a new drug through it’s corporate blog?

The challenges aren’t specific to big business. Liquor companies need to check the age of their followers on Twitter, tobacco companies have to reign in their marketing practices. I’ve even had the Investor Relations person at a firearms company say they haven’t begun to use social media because they don’t know what’s allowed.

The solution

The solution is simply to take a risk and do something. I know this is a scary proposition for marketers and public relations companies, but by taking informed risks, you’ll find success.

I have advised companies to issue announcements through the blog only. An average distribution for one company I worked with would be nearly $1,000 based on the inclusion of a safe harbor statement and all the other knowledge. Customer wins, product updates and smaller announcements simply don’t need an expensive press release. A blog post with embedded multimedia provides the same value.

Molson-Coors is able to use Twitter to post stories about alcohol awareness and other positive stories, but the bio explicitly asks followers to be of legal drinking age. Ruger, Smith & Wesson and other firearms companies do not maintain corporate blogs. It looks like Ruger might have control of http://twitter.com/ruger, but it’s protected so it’s hard to tell.

Creative marketing and communications practices are important to the success of any campaign. In federally regulated industries, creativity is even more important. Do you work for a federally regulated company? Share some of your best practices in the comments!

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.

Kick ass

Simple enough, right? But let me expand upon kicking ass. I have found that it is simpler, more accurate and more rewarding to set micro-goals. Treat each task as an individual challenge and you will soon find that the end result will be better than you could have hoped for.

By simplifying and refining your goals, it will be easier to kick ass. And you’re kicking ass more often, which feels pretty good too.

Know your surroundings

Take a couple of hours and set up an RSS aggregator to monitor the fire hose of information that is pointed at your brain. Subscribe to new blogs and even delete a few of the old subscriptions. Google Reader or Yahoo Pipes makes it pretty simple to organize the information down to whatever level you want.

When you have your information coming at you in a controlled manner, it is easier to monitor trends, react to market demands and keep tabs on competitors. Which helps you stay ahead of the curve.

Participate

I can’t say enough about how important it is to be involved. Be involved with your users, your partners and your competitors. It is not necessary to have every conversation occur about you or your product, but it is pretty important to participate in almost every conversation.

By participating in events, blog posts and conversations, you are able to build a reputation and relationships that will only benefit you.

Enjoy life

I am a proponent of a work/life balance. I am hearing more and more stories of people burning out from trying to stay ahead of the curve. Don’t forget to enjoy life. If you have non-work hobbies, embrace them. If you have a family, embrace them. If you have a garden, embrace it.

So, what are your resolutions? What steps will you take to ensure your success for the next 12 months?

But what does it take to really tackle a fear or move past an initial hesitation? In our highly-social, highly connected world, it’s difficult to imagine that we have real emotions that cause us to pause, and have to stare something in the face.

But in reality, a lot of our daily decisions are, at a minimim, affected by fear. The fear of failure, the fear of not being acceped. Even the fear of success.So, let’s look at fear from a sociological perspective and determine how to fix fear.

According to a paper in the Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, fear can be divided into two primary types: fear as an emotion and fear as a consequence of or motivation for social relations.

Fear as an emotion is often times based upon learned or natural behaviors that external forces have no bearing on. But what about the fear we can control? The social and business interactions.

Social fear

In my opinion, situational and social fear is normal. Being hesitant to enter a situation, sign a term sheet or hit submit means that your brain is firing as it should. But the challenge is what methods can you use to conquer the fear?

Information is power

I’ve found that being knowledgeable helps to alleviate any fear or intimidation I may have been feeling. Make sure you are factually accurate and can defend your points and perspective. Then you have nothing to worry about.

Trust your gut

Making any decision is difficult. If you’re educated on the circumstances, then trust your instincts. Usually the first reaction is proper and won’t lead you too far astray.

Talk about it

Find somebody you trust. Having one person that can serve as a confident but is honest enough to provide a reality check is an essential business tool.

These are just three tips that I use and help me make decisions and proceed in the face of fear.

So, what do you do to confront fear? Let me know.

The author (Laura Fitton, who is AWESOME), has an interview with the two guys that developed a service for Best Buy called Mix. Mix is an initiative to get Best Buy’s employees micro-sharing and micro-blogging. This is absurd.

We’re all a bunch of geeks. Those of us on Twitter have adopted this way of communicating as a means to fool ourselves into thinking we’re interacting with people. For “micro-sharing” to be thrust onto an army of retail workers seems like an inherently bad idea. Now, I’ll be even more self conscious when I check out, wondering what they’re going to post about the 6’8″ guy that just bought a Wii.

But I’ll Twitter that, so you’ll find out I guess.

The other issue I have with this is the productivity suck these services are. Think about this. I work in a small office. But in a given day, I will email, call, Skype, IM and maybe have a Twitter conversation with people in my company. Now, compound this by expecting me to participate in a micro-sharing thing makes me wonder when any actual “work” will get done.

Am I completely wrong?

Now, I know this isn’t a unique post and I know my ideas are shared by many, but I felt like this would be a good introductory topic to this place and The Geek Giant.

Let’s look at this Press Release from Bungee Labs:

Bungee Labs ™ today announced federated hosting to expand adoption of Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) among enterprises and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) providers. Organizations developing highly interactive applications on the Bungee Connect ™ PaaS can now elect to host those applications on self-managed infrastructure running the new Bungee Application Server ™, or on the multi-tenant Bungee Grid ™ at datacenters in the United States, Europe, and on the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2).

Umm, huh? Let’s try a simple exercise in MarCom translation:

Bungee Labs announced that you can host your apps on their servers.

Seems simple enough. For naïve businesses and developers, this is great. Simply code your app in whatever language Bungee supports and they’ll host it for you.

Moving beyond words

One of my issues with public relations, marketing, social marketing, social media or whatever the buzz word du jour is, is that it’s so much more effective to just convey your message with plain and simple words.

Try this exercise the next time you’re thinking about drafting a press release or blog post: Take what you’ve written and re-write it using half the words. It sounds difficult, but it’s not, I promise.