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In Blogger and Media Relations, You Earn the Relationships You Deserve
2008-04-21 15:21:00
Every now and again a reporter or blogger decides to shake up the PR industry by showcasing how we FAIL, flop, or simply when we do things wrong. Some do so out of anger, others are genuine in their desire to help, while some are simply tired and do so out of spite.This time around however, Marhsall Kirkpatrick of ReadWriteWeb has started a conversation that proactively helps PR and communications professionals learn how to more effectively work with influential writers for future stories and maybe, just maybe, forge and cultivate ongoing relationships. In his post, “Five Wrong Ways to Pitch RWW and One Great Way,” Kirkpatrick gives us a glimpse into his daily routine for receiving and reporting on news and trends. Wrong #1 - Email the wrong email address Wrong #2 – Phone Calls Wrong #3 – Twitter, Especially DM Wrong #4 – Facebook Wrong #5 – IM Great Way #1 – RSS He summarizes what you should do this way, “PR people, please send us the RSS feeds of your clients'...
More About: Media , Relationships , Blogger , Earn , Relations

Encyclopedia Britannica Socializes Content, Takes on Wikipedia
2008-04-19 23:29:00
Encyclopedia Britannica ran its business for almost 250 without disruption, until of course, Social Media democratized content and new user-generated resources such as Wikipedia changed everything.Up until recently, if you wanted to utilize Britannica's services you could purchase the 32 volume Britannica, which has 65,000 articles, for just $1,400. Or, you can access it on the web for $70 per year.Britannica has just shifted the game back into its favor with the release of a clever and powerful new program, Britannica WebShare. If you're a web publisher, which is defined as someone who publishes with some regularity on the Internet, be they bloggers, webmasters, or writers, you can now access Britannica for free.The application process is short and sweet. It took me about five minutes to apply and I was authorized a few hours later.I can now research and share information from Britannica on the Web, whereas, until now, I've used Wikipedia for such services.For example, here's a...
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Local Broadcast News Goes Social
2008-04-16 15:11:00
I received a note from Andrew Finlayson, Vice President and News Director for Fox News Chicago - WFLD Television - myFoxChicago.comFinlayson is part of a small, but dedicated and innovative team of journalists in Chicago who are reinventing how we view broadcast news. Think of it as cable news TV meets Twitter meets uStream, meets Friendfeed. LiveNewsCameras.com is an online portal that lets people watch news as it happens anywhere in the world by aggregating the video feeds from participating networks. Driven by their motto, “Veritas odit moras,” from line 850 of Seneca’s version of Oedipus, “Truth hates delay,” the team has has aggregated live news feeds from journalists and stations. There are over 150 channels of live, 24/7 streaming video from major markets across the county and the globe - with more added daily.LiveNewsCameras.com started on Super Tuesday with only a couple of feeds focusing on the Republican and Democratic candidates. What started as a humble newsro...
More About: Social , Broadcast , Broadcast News , Local

Distributed Conversations and Fragmented Attention
2008-04-13 20:31:00
There's an incredible discussion circling the blogosphere aka The 250 aka The Echo Chamber regarding distributed conversations and the potential loss of control of our content.Normally I don't let myself get caught up in every popular meme cycle, but this is a informative and important conversation and personally I think it's worth your time. And, it just so happens to be a natural extension to my recent post, "Ladies and Gentlemen, The Conversation Has Left the Building," which explores how conversations are slowly migrating away from blogs and moving to micro social networks such as Twitter, Pownce, Jaiku, FriendFeed, and now, Shyftr (more on Shyftr later).Whether we're ready or not, conversations are fragmenting and quickly and increasingly becoming difficult for the content source to 1) host conversations and 2) engage commenters and stay connected to the discussion across networks - especially if they don't know where the conversations are taking place.When I publish this...
More About: Attention

Will The Real Social Media Expert Please Stand Up?
2008-04-09 14:01:00
Social Media is everything you know and nothing about what you think or do in marketing. Sounds strange eh? It’s true though.Think about how you approach marketing campaigns today and the picture will become a bit clearer.- You evaluate target demographics.- Develop strategic messages.- Conduct an audit or focus group.- Revise messages and fine-tune the plan.- Determine the broadcast mechanisms to push your content.- Go live.- Monitor the response.- Evaluate the ROI.- Repeat, enhanced by new information.There’s nothing wrong with this chain of events. It’s what we were taught and it’s worked over time. So, what happened?We blinked.Now, we’re entering an entirely new paradigm for cultivating relationships with customers as well as the people who may one day become customers. At the moment, it’s all anyone can talk about. There’s certainly no shortage of Social Media “experts,” yet there is a shortage of experts who can actually help us.Click here to see what I'm ta...
More About: Social , Real , Expert , Stand Up

The Evolution of the News Business - Did the New York Times Miss the Point?
2008-04-06 17:06:00
The Business of News Chapter I - The Town CrierChapter II - The Printing Press and NewspapersChapter III - RadioChapter IV - TelevisionChapter V - The WebChapter VI - Mobile AlertsChapter VII - BlogsOK, yes it's just a crude and simple representation of the evolution of news. My point is that blogs are merely the latest chapter, and not the only means for breaking news today. I think the New York Times neglected to write a more significant and complete story in its article, "In Web World of 24/7 Stress, Writers Blog Till They Drop."Yes, we are traveling at light speed and not even realizing just how quickly we're missing everything else around us. It's like the movie Click where Adam Sandler fast-forwarded through his life only to realize that he had missed everything.I had a heads up that the New York Times was going to run a controversial piece on blogging because they wanted to use one of my pictures in the story. I have yet to see the print version (although I hear my photo of...
More About: Evolution , The News

Making Mistakes in Social Media Marketing
2008-04-06 15:13:00
We all make mistakes. It's amazing how much saying sorry helps. But even saying sorry doesn't fix those affected 100%.We're all learning together, at least those of us who don't pretend we're already experts. Making mistakes in Social Media Marketing is a lot like sticking daggers into a wooden fence. Just because you apologize and pull them out, they still leave the visible scars for others to see, feel, or point to. Sometimes apologies help people feel better, but they don't fix perception, which is everything in Social Media. Thinking before engaging is critical to establishing and maintaining meaningful relationships. This is after all, about people. While intent is important, through daily experience, I'm finding that perception is outweighing intent. Just because you have the right ideas and principles in mind, how you participate and react says everything. It all begins with intent and the ability to learn and genuinely offer value along the way. Otherwise, why are yo...

TwitterLocal Connects You to Local Voices
2008-04-05 19:29:00
Twitter tools and services are hitting the market faster than they can be acquired, but that’s just a given for one of the hottest social tools to hit the Web. Introducing TwitterLocal , an interesting new Twitter service brought to you by Matt King. TwitterLocal essentially allows you to focus on Twitter voices within a specific region (from 1 to 50 miles around any given zip code or city). It generates a URL and RSS or XML feeds to filter geographically based Tweets. The feeds are viewable in any RSS reader. You can also download a desktop Adobe Air version of TwitterLocal to track Tweets from your desktop. The app also allows you to see friends and replies and also send updates. Download here. TwitterLocal is useful for a number of reasons. For example, I’m going to be in Los Angeles and I want to listen to interesting people within the area as a way of potentially meeting new contacts. From an "participitory" and not "spamr" marketing perspective, TwitterLocal could also chan...

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Conversation Has Left The Building
2008-03-31 16:23:00
Earlier this year, I wrote “The Value of Online Conversation s,” to share and talk through my thoughts related to improving the quality of online discussions in the face of potential degradation and decentralization of important online discussions.We live in the era of Social Media, which represents the socialization of content and conversations as well as the creation of communities around thoughts and ideas. People are the hubs of information and we’re witnessing the creation of mini-societies that expand, contract, and connect online and offline. This new paradigm for discovering, distributing and forging relationships based on thought leadership is inspiring and defining significant social and technological progression as well as conversational frameworks.As Social Media evolves, the value of online conversations is becoming distributed and decentralized. As the host of any given conversation, it is almost impossible to expect your community to discover or congregate around...
More About: Building , Left , Ladies , Gentlemen

PR 2.0 = The Evolution of PR, Nothing Less, Nothing More
2008-03-26 18:02:00
SourceThere are many of us running back and forth from the edge to the center who would love to drop "2.0" from new evolution of PR. Hey, it's even the name of this blog, and has been for years, but there’s a reason I haven’t changed the name yet.The subject itself is a catalyst for healthy, informative, and motivating conversations. I was reminded of this as good friend Kami Huyse shouted on Twitter recently, "I hate PR 2.0 I HATE PR 2.0. I can't say it any louder, you get my drift. Come on folks, we aren't software developers here."The irony is that when I first started using the term in the mid-to-late 90s during the Web 1.0 era, it was indeed inspired by software development. To reach a state of “2.0” after releasing the first iteration of software is a momentous step – a proof point that we’re on the right track, but that by listening to customers and also innovating, you could constantly release a better product.And she’s not the only one talking about the so...
More About: Evolution

Perception is Everything
2008-03-25 06:01:00
It's not just about what you want me to think, it's about what I hear and in turn, share with others.You can help shape my perception and perhaps, even influence it, but my perception is defined by my experiences, thoughts, beliefs, predispositions, and personal agenda.Tell me again why I should listen to you?Connect with me on Twitter, Jaiku, LinkedIn, Pownce, Plaxo, FriendFeed, or Facebook.
More About: Perception

Discovering and Listening to Conversations in Twitter
2008-03-21 17:15:00
We all know Twitter is an essential example of the conversations that help define Social Media. What if we could find the conversations that were important to us, even if we don't follow the people engaged in those conversations? I think it would transform one of the hottest conversation-based communities on the Web into a goldmine of information and and catalyst for forging new relationships.In August 2007, I wrote about a public discussion including Chris Messina, Stowe Boyd, and myself on the value of creating channels within Twitter. Its an important discussion because Twitter was and still is representative of a powerful form of emerging media - but it's missing something.Twitter leads the way for other forms of MicroMedia and represents a white hot medium for connecting people in a way that no one would ever believe possible. Along with its growth and continued rise in global popularity, the noise level in Twitter is also deafening. But up until recently, the conversations t...
More About: Listening

Brandweek: Brian Solis on Facebook Becoming a Hub for Personal Brands
2008-03-20 13:43:00
Brandweek has run my latest post discussing the role of social networks in framing and portraying your online persona.Excerpt:Social networks are becoming the very mechanisms for connecting with people, ideas, brands, news and information. But thinking of social networks as a personal playground will only come back to haunt you and any company you work with in the future.Facebook is the most legitimate and productive social network for business professionals on the Web today. This isn't a slight against LinkedIn, a service I also use to manage relationships with other business contacts. They can both co-exist seamlessly.This is about leveraging the so-called "social graph" and "social media" to more effectively cultivate online relationships and at the same time, leverage the network to increase visibility for your expertise, reputation and activity. As a marketer, your collective "brand" can extend to also impact and bolster the brands you may represent.More here.Connect with me o...
More About: Personal , Brian , Brands

The Wall Street Journal Recommends Now is Gone
2008-03-20 04:54:00
Co-Author, and very good friend, Geoff Livingston, emailed with great news. Now is Gone is listed in The Wall Street Journal as a resource for businesses looking to understand and embrace Social Media as an extension to their corporate marketing initiatives. Congratulations Geoff...I think we're truly contributing something very useful to the community.At the very least, and ideally, it's all we hoped for...to be regarded by those we want to help as a resource for them. Thank you to Scott Monty for helping with the story.Other resources listed:- MarketingProfs Daily Fix- Web Strategy by Jeremiah- What’s Next Blog by B.L. Ochman- PR Squared’s Jedi Training for PR 2.0 Tactics- For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report- "The New Influencers: A Marketer’s Guide to the New Social Media" by Paul Gillin- "The New Rules of Marketing & PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing and Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly" by David Meerman Scott-----...
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Cultural Voyeurism and Social Media
2008-03-17 15:06:00
Sociology - The study of human social behavior, especially the study of the origins, organization, institutions, and development of human society.About a year ago, I wrote an article entitled “Social Media is About Sociology and not Technology.” The recognition of people versus the tools is now more critical than ever. Although, it still isn’t necessarily embodied in many of the words and work shared by fellow Social Media Marketers.Less talk, more learning and action are required.There’s no shortage of people who understand and present existing and emerging Social Tools for us to use as a mechanism for “engaging” in “conversations.”Participation after all, is marketing right?Let’s change that. Informed, mutually beneficial, and genuine participation inspires relationship marketing.However, many purported Social Media experts are merely engaging in cultural voyeurism at best. They look from afar and roam the perimeters of online societies without ever becoming a t...
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How Should I Read This? Is This the Future of Social Media Marketing?
2008-03-14 05:12:00
Dear Brain solis, (Yes, notice the typo. I'm a smart guy, but I haven't flirted with changing my name yet.)XXXX provides holistic and synergistic blend of traditional online marketing and emerging social media based buzz marketing (wait, is that one sentence? And, is this a new category, Emerging Social Media Based Buzz Marketing ?!), to help its clients derive maximum value from their marketing dollars. For example, our understanding of the key words for any client will be useful not only in SEO and SEM but also in Social Media based marketing campaigns, as we can weave in same key words for better impact and enhanced SEO ranking. Similarly XXXX’s Buzz Tracker, can dig (surprised it wasn't "DIGG") into various online conversations and provide a clear understanding of the available opportunities, any warning signs, key influencers and how the target audience perceives a client. The insights thus derived can help us design more effective buzz generation campaigns, resulting in e...
More About: Future , Read

10 Steps to Building a Better Blogger-Relations Program
2008-03-12 19:02:00
Special thanks to Ann Handley at MarketingProfs for running my latest post on Blogger Relations , "10 Steps to Building a Better Blogger-Relations Program ."What was originally supposed to be an except from my free ebook, "The Art and Science of Blogger Relations," I wound up writing something altogether new, based on the same principles that are prevalent throughout the book.You'll need a premium account to read it. If you don't already have one, you can sign up for a free, two-day pass.Here's the intro:To genuinely approach blogger relations, or media relations for that matter, we must first deconstruct the process of the media ecosystem and reprogram ourselves to tap into the basic building blocks of what makes good content and sparks conversations, which in turn helps define why people should make the effort to talk with us. Like the press release, the PR industry has been stuck in a rut for so long that the industry is content with the existing manufacturing line of building ...

Keep on Rocking in the Free World - Why I Blog
2008-03-12 18:31:00
For the past year 18 months, I've been part of the Social Media Collective, a group of forward-thinkers sharing their thoughts, ideas, vision and observations on the rapidly evolving New Media and Social Media landscapes. The community is simply called, SocialMediaToday and it's a tremendous resource for veterans and emerging professionals alike.Co-Founders Jerry Bowles of Enterprise Web 2.0 and Robin Fray Carey of Carey Publishing Group have done a wonderful job of aggregating great voices into one action-packed place for everyone to share and learn together.I'd like to personally thank them for selecting me as their "Blog ger of the Week."Bowles and Carey have also created an online channel of influential voices who focus on business owners and Managers, MyVenturePad.I was asked to share my thoughts on why I blog...Blogging for me is a labor of love. I’ve never really had the knack for writing shorter posts. Most of my articles evolve into essays and usually consume a signific...
More About: World , Free

Sarah Lacy on Sarah Lacy and the SXSW Mark Zuckerberg Keynote
2008-03-10 21:46:00
I spent time with Sarah Lacy and we talked about…I’m sure you heard about the infamous Mark Zuckerberg SXSW keynote hosted by well known author, Business Week columnist and Yahoo TechTicker host Sarah Lacy. Just in case you haven’t, let’s just say that some of the audience wasn’t supportive of the casual, conversational format or her style of engaging Zuckerberg in public.From the get go, many believe that this interview was destined to fail. The angst and rebellion percolated to a boiling point and halfway through keynote, the mob revolted. Several attendees were more vocal than others, heckling her by shouting disruptively, “ask something interesting” and “let us ask the questions.”She was suddenly hurt and upset, finding herself alone on stage in front of hundreds of Facebook enthusiasts and zealots. They thought that they were defending him and did so by viciously tearing down his host.Lacy was now the story and Twitter lit up like a million dollar slot machine...
More About: Keynote

New ebook: Customer Service, The Art of Listening and Engagement Through So
2008-03-07 17:24:00
Engaging with and empowering your customers as an extension of your marketing efforts isn't new. However, in the era of Social Media, there are new tools and philosophies to more effectively listen and engage with customers and in turn, cultivate a more significant community, enhance your brand, build relationships, and hopefully create evangelists along the way. Participation is marketing.Intention is everything.Actions speak louder than words.Don't get me wrong. This isn't about spam or doing what marketing seems to do best, "market at" people instead of creating dialog or contributing value. This is about honest and genuine engagement and how to do so through a new level of PR, Social Marketing, community management, and customer service using social tools driven by a meaningful, value-oriented two-way program. It’s the only way to earn trust, incite word of mouth, and encourage loyalty.To help, I’ve released a new free ebook, “Customer Service , The Art of Listening and ...
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IABC, SNCR Take Lead in Standardization of Social Media Release
2008-03-05 23:04:00
Today, along with Shel Holtz, Chris Heuer, Todd Defren, Shannon Whitley, and the Society of New Communications Research (SNCR), we are officially announcing that the IABC will take a leadership role in the Social Media Release Workgroup.Through cooperation with IABC and SNCR, the Workgroup receives an incredible boost in resources and visibility to help define real world standards and provide usable and helpful resources for PR professionals to understand the intentions and role of SMRs and how to create and distribute them.Tom Foremski of Silicon Valley Watcher, and the gentlemen who started it all with his post, "Die Press Release, Die, Die, Die," commented in the IABC press release, "It is great to see all the work that has gone into transforming the news release into something that reflects the use of the many new media technologies that we use everyday."My quote, "The social media release is a catalyst for not only providing a new tool to share news, information and content, an...
More About: Standardization , Lead

Gary Vaynerchuk Puts the Social in Social Media
2008-03-03 16:51:00
If there's one person who personifies the words, "Internet Rock Star" or "Internet Famous," there's no need to look any further than Gary Vaynerchuk, host of WineLibraryTV.Gary is the epitome of the old adage, “If I can do it, anyone can do it.”Vaynerchuck’s passion, dedication, and perseverance has given way to success that has yet to reveal it’s full potential. He’s moving on up…The Web is fertile ground for those who can transcend its reach from computer screens into the homes, minds, and hearts of the masses. It’s no easy task either. Vaynerchuk is well on his way however. He’s already appeared on the Conan O’Brien Show, The Ellen Degeneres Show, and Nightline, as well as receiving coverage in the Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, New York Magazine, among other forms of major media.Not only is he “Internet Famous,” his activities have helped grow the family wine business to the tune of $50 million per year. But even more significantly, he has flipped t...
More About: Social , Media

Learn, Discuss, Debate The Social Media Press Release Live on March 4, 2008
2008-03-01 18:22:00
There is certainly no shortage of discussions related to the Social Media Release. It's like that old saying. For every one person who speaks up, you can bet that it represents a greater collective of sentiment within the public. So, for every post or article on the Social Media Release, you can bet that there are countless PR veterans, emerging professionals, and students are who are intrigued, confused, supportive, or against the notion of a new platform for sharing, distributing, and hosting news and ensuing conversations.Vocus and The Society for New Communications Research will host a free webinar offering marketing and public relations professionals advice on adapting the press release to meet the evolving needs of traditional and online media. Titled “The Evolving Social Media Release,” the webinar will be held on Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at 2:00 pm ET. To register for the webinar, click here.According to the official press release, yes there's a Social Media Release...
More About: Press Release , Press , Debate

Now is Gone is "Now" an Award Winning Book
2008-03-01 14:30:00
What a surprising and incredible way to end an unbelievably tumultuous week. Good friend and co-author Geoff Livingston and I were informed that our book, Now is Gone, was awarded Silver in Axiom's 2008 Business Book Award s. We tied Linda VandeVrede's book, Press Releases Are Not a PR Strategy, in the Advertising/Marketing/PR/Event Planning category.More than 400 books were judged for the awards, and a little more than a 100 won medals. The official awards ceremony is in New York on March 10!I am grateful and humbled.Other winners include, Beyond Buzz: The Next Generation of Word-of-Mouth Marketing, by Lois Kelly and Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking, by Andy Sernovitz tied for Gold. The Science of Spiritual Marketing: Initiation Into Magnetism, by Andrea Adler won Bronze. Congratulations Geoff! How does it feel to be an award-winning author? Thank you again for this opportunity to work with you! Also thank you to book publisher Jeremy Kay of Bartl...
More About: Winning

Discussing the Social Media Release
2008-03-01 14:15:00
I recently had the opportunity to discuss the Social Media Release with Shel Holtz for IABC's official podcast, Cafe2Go.As Shel asks, "Why are we talking about the Social Media Release on Cafe2Go?" The short answer is that the IABC is assuming a role in the development of SMR standards. An official announcement is slated for mid-week next week that will go into more detail.I also was invited by Valerie Combs and Sandra Ponce De Leon of BuzzLogic to participate in company's online video series, "The Vino Diaries." In vino veritas...Valerie's summary of the discussion is here.The episode of Vino Diaries is here.For more on Social Media Releases (SMRs), please read, "The Definitive Guide to Social Media Releases" and "Social Media Releases in Action." Also, here's the template that started it all, by Todd Defren.smr socialmediarelease social+media+release smpr social media release press socialmedia social+media media+2.0 media2.0 2.0 press+release media+release news+release ne...