Media Relations

Utahstories.com - Meet Utah's New Media

What do you do when you want to be a journalist, yet the world of journalism is in chaos?  Like many former or laid off reporters, you can always shoot for the stars and start your own news operation.  With some sweat equity, good journalism ethics and an eye for the hyper-local news no one covers anymore, you just might get a good reputation.  You just might one day make enough money to live on.

Here's one story, right here in Utah.

Meet Richard Markosian, creator of Utahstories.com.  "Read all about it" here.

Don't Disrespect Mommy Blogs - These Women Have Clout And Advertisers Know It

Do you have an attitude about "Mommy blogs?"  I've seen a few people, especially several men I know, roll their eyes when I mention the mommy blog phenomenon. 

Moms aren't just moms.  They can be CEOs, entrepreneurs, doctors, lawyers, or even simply a mom raising her kids.  All have incredible influence and power when it comes to how their household dollars are spent.

One Utah woman, who has a mom blog, also conducts weekly events called Girls' Night Out, on Twitter.  She has ad sponsors and 7,700 followers.  Her name is Jyl Johnson Pattee and she is showcased in a column on Utahpulse.com this week.

Her husband, who calls himself her "assistant" and has a great attitude about his wife's online obsession, once painted his toenails blue...just to see how long it would take for her to notice.  Answer:  One week.

Read all about Jyl  and her Mom It Forward network on Utahpulse.com

Newspaper Girl Janet Thaeler - Meet Utah's New Media

She's concerned about balance in her life, thus she only spends 7-10 hours a day online...not as much on weekends. She always wanted to be a reporter, but then learned how little it paid. She still misses the rush of writing in a noisy newsroom. Blogging is "so solitary," she says.

I went to her site and saw four display ads in the right column. She is making some money at this. I think she is an important facet of emerging new media.

If you'd like to meet Janet, here she is.  Thanks to UtahPulse for picking up the column!

Social Media Boot Camp Coming To Utah

As a member of the Social Media Club of Salt Lake City, I wanted to let you know we are bringing a nationally acclaimed Social Media Boot Camp to Utah this October.  I have a discount code you can use if you want to register or share this information with those in your office.

SAVE THE DATES – COMING TO SALT LAKE THIS FALL- REGISTRATION LIMITED TO 60 PER WORKSHOP

1. Social Media Boot Camp – Friday, October 23

2. Advanced Writing Workshop – Thursday, October 22

These advanced day-long workshops are tailored for senior management, government officials, marketing, internal/external communications and PR, entrepreneurs, business owners, non-profits and those who provide service and counsel to businesses.  Presented by Ragan Communications, the Social Media Boot Camp sold out in three cities so far this year.

Only 60 people can register for each workshop, to keep the setting intimate and valuable for those who attend.

Here are some links to both workshops – your cost will be less with this Social Media Club code SMCSL9 (entered at registration checkout).  Your cost is $595 per workshop (without your discount =  $745). 

October 23 Social Media Boot Camp Details

Have you mastered these skills:  Social networks, blogs, podcasts, YouTube, wikis?  Learn how Web 2.0 and new media can help you inspire employees, win media coverage and overhaul the image of your company.  This new age of interactive communications is revolutionizing the way we talk to employees, shareholders, the media and our customers.

This one-day workshop will teach you everything you need to know to get started. You'll return to your office with a complete understanding of why social media matters and how the most innovative companies have already tapped into this new communication technology.

October 22 Advanced Writing Workshop

What a great time to be a communicator! Important messages get printed, streamed, e-mailed and Tweeted. Our audiences are reading, watching, listening—and talking back.  Your words, and how you present them, are more important than ever. In our new, one-day edition of Advanced Writing & Editing, you'll learn how to:

1. Find good stories. Where are they? Hint: They're not sitting on your desk or in your e-mail.
2. Improve your reporting. You can't craft a good story—in any medium—if you don't have the raw material.
3. Get your readers' attention. Take your best shot through headlines that grab, leads that pull us in and quotes that convey an engaging human presence.
4. Layer your online story. Summarize your story for the skimmers and scanners, then let readers choose how deep they want to go.
5. Package your print. Use all the tricks to craft a compelling story and keep readers on the page.
6. Match words with sound and pictures. Enhance your audio and video with tight and engaging narrative.

Don't let your words fail you. Tune up your writing with this fast-paced, one-day workshop.

Information on the presenter, Mark Ragan

I plan to be there!  Hope to see you  :)

 
 

3 Topics: Meet Utah's New Media. What's The Best Measure Of Your Online Presence? And "Engaging The New Influencers."

Plenty to talk about!

1. We've heard, with sadness, about newsroom layoffs.  You may not be aware of the new Utah media outlets that are growing (not shrinking) and actually making money on their content and activities.  In tandem with my associate, Lisa Davis, we are writing a four-part series for utahpulse.com on "Meet Utah's New Media."  It starts in mid-September and I hope you'll join us there for profiles on:

• Newspaper Girl - Janet Meiners Thaeler
• Utah Mama, Today's Mama - Rachael Hersscher
• Utah Stories - Richard Markosian
• Mom It Forward - Jyl Johnson Patee

How influential are they?  How do you approach and interact with Utah's new media?  We'll tell you on www.utahpulse.com.

2. Boss still resisting social media?  Can she/he argue with this?

Edelman has done us all a great favor by gathering 100 professors of communications, journalism, business and public relations from North America and Europe.  All met for an event held in Washington, D.C. Sessions were led by 50 practitioners in charge of digital communications in companies such as:  AstraZeneca, CNN, eBay, Environmental Defense Fund, GE, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Starbucks, UPS, Whirlpool and many others.  The resulting report, "Engaging The New Influencers," is packed with best practices and insights into our future...online. Thanks to Steve Rubel for making me aware of it.

A great menu of topics:

• The State Of Media
• Employee Engagement: Encouraging New Conversations
• Every Organization Is A Media Company
• The New Era In Washington D.C.
• Health: Using New Media In A Regulated Industry
• Insights From The U.S. Administration About Engagement
• Crowdsurfing: Engaging Consumers
• Academia: Keeping Up With The Pace Of Change

3. Measurement, measurement, measurement. 

How can you determine how well you show up online? This short, sweet piece on "The Five Senses Of Online Measurement" makes good sense.  Thanks to the Cision bloggers for sharing it.

My Sudden Career Change And A New Golden Rule

I finally have a new career. 

Same PR business, same clients…but my toolbox is brand new and full of social media strategies.  Even better, my clients are stepping up and are willing to try them. 

I studied Web 2.0 for four years, engaged in a forced reorganization of my brain cells.  I’m so glad it finally paid off.   I’m no longer forced to focus only on news releases, public events, media training, and story pitching.  Now I roll up my sleeves and teach clients how to communicate directly with their customers, via social media.  This is as good as it gets, and it didn’t come easy.

The arguments were fierce.

1. "We’ll lose control of our message."

Did you ever really have control?  Your news releases, news conferences and community events were either read or witnessed by only a handful of people.  The reporter wrote your story. 

Also, if you aren’t currently talking with your customers online, you have already lost control.  Anyone can say anything they want about you and you won’t even know.

2. "Our industry has regulations that limit this kind of communication.  Or…we have a profession that will lose credibility if we blog, twitter, etc."

Top government agencies, publicly traded companies, businesses that normally cloak themselves from the light of day…they’ve gone online.   My friend’s son has a new job…he blogs for an attorney.

3. "We need to be able to measure our communications."

Yes you can!  Social media will overwhelm you with details: Numbers, activity tracking, interest tracking, unique visitors, partial but not final clicks, audience reaction, and regular feedback to help you sharpen your message.  In the past, our measurement depended on traditional media via circulation, subscribers or ratings.  Social media measurement is to business what DNA testing is to the criminal justice system. 

4. "We could hurt our reputation.  Employees could offend our customers with photos and even offensive posts."

Yes and yes. But measure this risk against not using social media.  Your competition is or soon will be.  Meanwhile, you will be perceived as hunkered-down and non-transparent.  Write a social media policy and open your doors to the world.

My new PR mantras:

1. BLOG.  Companies that blog have far better marketing results.  Blogging increases Web traffic by 55 percent and grows inbound links by 97 percent (HubSpot research).

2. Become the news.  Put a newsroom on your Website and link your releases to your blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn pages and others.  Oh yes, you can still send news releases to media but I’m warning you, reporters are overwhelmed.

3. Send your announcements to industry bloggers. Do it delicately and do it right.  Do not nag!

4. Buy a good still-camera, an HD video camera, a professional microphone and MP3 voice recorder.  These are so inexpensive it will make your heart sing.  Become the news reporter at your company and document, document, document.  Then post the visuals and your announcements on all of your social media pages.

5. Give your online customers something of value:  Research, prizes, product to sample, free Webinars, ebooks, white papers, a sneak peak at your latest whatever.  If you give, you will get back.  Almost sounds like a new Golden Rule, doesn’t it?

Quiz - Who Twitters More...Men or Women? Know The New PR Rules? And A Free Test Of Your Website Optimization Vs. Your Competition

With many thanks to Jeff Bulla's Blog, some real nuggets you need to know as a PR professional learning about the online world.  I highly recommend you subscribe to Jeff's blog. He is an excellent writer and gathers good material.  FYI, he has 20,000 subscribers.  Thanks to Jesse Stay for sending him along to me.

QUIZ

1. How good is your Website?  Get it graded for free in an instant...and enter the Website addresses of your competition to see how you stack up in the search engine universe.  Go here to test it out.

2. Do you know the new rules for PR?  Go here.

3. For the month of June, which gender used Twitter the most?  Men or women?  Go here.

Side note:  You and your management can't afford to ignore Twitter.  Even Nielsen has this to say:  "Twitter is no longer just a platform for friends to stay connected in real time, it has evolved into an important component of brand marketing in both the consumer and corporate worlds."

4. Confused about implementing social media in the workplace?  Take a look at what the top 100 brands are doing.  Go here.

United Airlines "Breaks Guitars" Nightmare. Part Two, Coming Soon.

Last week I told you about Canadian Musician Dave Carroll who tried to get United Airlines to compensate him for baggage handling damage to his $3,500 Taylor guitar.  A year later, he gave up the effort and got creative.  His YouTube video"United Breaks Guitars" has had more than a million hits.   Now, you can read his side of the story here, and below, you can watch a video response by Dave, explaining that after the release of "United Breaks Guitars," United did contact him and offer compensation...which he's turned down.  He's also worried about a United employee who he named in the video, and defends her professionalism...even if she didn't give him the compensation he wanted. 

Guess what?  Dave has written a part II video, which is in production now, and hopes to write a third version.  What a study in consumer activism.  If you were in United's PR department, what would you recommend?  Duck and cover?  Or something more creative?

Consumer Humor Creates United Nightmare

Wondering why your boss freaked out when you suggested she/he should move the firm towards social media?  Perhaps she/he has seen this.  In PR?  Prepare to wince.  This four minute music video by Canadian Musician Dave Carroll easily produces lots of LOLs!  Now,take your A.D.D. medication and see if you can make it through the whole thing  :)

...And, be sure to read the story surrounding the video. It puts the situation in perspective and gives United Airlines credit for responding well.  My apologies to United for continuing rip the scar off the wound.  The video is really funny.  I couldn't resist.  

1.4 Million People Apply For Marketing Job - Web Site Crashes

You get your own island, your own beautiful house, and a six figure income...and all you have to do is blog.  Watch the video, see how they did it, see why their Web site crashed, and see why the job opening was covered by news media around the world.

All for the price of some want ads...not bad.  Watch the video!