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

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?

Forbes Forming Network Of Women Business Bloggers

I just received an email asking me to join the ForbesWoman Blog Network (FWBN).  This is a very interesting trend - several months ago I discussed General Mills' efforts to creat a blogging network of individuals willing to try and write about General Mills products.

The Forbes proposal is very different.  Its team wants to be my "sales force" and approach blue chip advertisers...ultimately putting ads on this blog.  Think about it.  What if you had created a company blog and its content was so popular that you received a similar proposal from Forbes?  I'd call that good PR. 

The new world we've been predicting is here NOW.  The big guys are stepping into the non-traditional media mix.  I applaud this and plan to give it careful consideration.

A portion of the ForbesWoman Blog Network contract:

"We will promote the FWBN to our roster of blue-chip advertisers and while we will only run campaigns that are appropriate for your audience, our technology gives you the ability to review and approve every campaign, if desired.   Our advertising platform enables you to:
 

1. Review and approve any advertisement; 
2. Access to on-demand, real-time reports regarding the performance of campaigns and naturally your earnings; and 
3. You set your own rate card"

In addition, Forbes will provide me with a blog network badge to denote membership.  It then prompts me to go to a link to apply and accept the terms and conditions of the Ad Network Member Agreement.

This is the portion of the agreement that I REALLY liked - an effort to bring credibility to blogging content:

"You shall not display or make accessible on Member’s Site(s) materials that: (A) infringe or otherwise violate any copyright, trademark, patent, trade secrete or other intellectual property right; (B) are libelous, defamatory, indecent, obscene, threatening, libelous, abusive or hateful; (C) are fraudulent, deceptive or intentionally misleading, or (D) violate any applicable law, rule or regulation or any other right of any third party, or suggest, encourage or intended to incite any criminal conduct."  

 

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.

Research: The Influence Of Bloggers And The "Most Trusted" Media

How influential are blogs in the purchase process?  And what media wins when it comes to the trust factor?  Two interesting items sent to me by Saurage Research.

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!

Ready To Share Yourself With The World? Marketers Are Quietly Salivating

Do you enjoy Facebook?  Are you pretty relaxed about what you say?  Have you carefully walled off certain items, wanting privacy?

Marketers are anxious, waiting for a "let down" of the public guard.  When that happens, they'll be able to mine social media to a new level of research, a closer step to understanding the American consumer who has embraced online social activity.

So if you use Facebook, and you decide to click on "public" for your site....be prepared.

Full story here from BusinessWeek.

Big Changes At Utah Business Magazine

Utah Business is going through a big change.  It has a new publisher, Tyler Dabo, the magazine's former advertising director (photo below right), and a new executive editor, David Kennard.

The changes were announced by the publication'sowner, Utah Business Publishers LLC.  Longtime publisher Martin Lewis is no longer with the company, and a news release states he has left Utah Business to pursue other business ventures.

Here's the release:

 

Utah Business Publishers LLC. announced today the promotion of Tyler Dabo to the position of publisher of Utah Business magazine.  Dabo had previously worked as advertising director at the South Jordan-based magazine. He will take on management of the publication and business organization. 

The company also announced the hiring of David Kennard as the executive editor of the magazine. Kennard, who has an extensive news background, will direct the magazine's editorial staff.

Roy Brown, president of Utah Business Publishers LLC. made the announcement Friday, June 12, 2009, saying he looked forward to continuing a strong tradition of leadership in Utah's business community. “Going forward, we are confident that this talented management team will provide the useful information, that Utah business leaders have come to expect from Utah Business magazine,” Brown said.

Dabo said he looked forward to strengthening ties between the publication, its advertisers and industry leaders. “I’m excited to develop relationships in the business community and increase the visibility of Utah Business and the connections it has locally,” Dabo said. He also said he felt “properly groomed by Martin Lewis,” former publisher and editor-in-chief.

Lewis, former publisher and editor-in-chief, has left the company to pursue other business ventures. 

About Utah Business: Utah Business magazine is Utah’s only monthly statewide business publication. Utah Business Publishers LLC produces the monthly Utah Business, the Magazine for Decision Makers; annually the state’s only annual Book of Lists, comprehensive information and rankings about the state’s industries, from accounting firms to Web designers; the annual Business Utah, the official publication of Utah’s Governor’s Office of Economic Development; and the quarterly Wasatch Digital iQ, Utah’s Technology Magazine; UB Daily e-mail news briefing, and weekly industry-specific newsletters.

About Wasatch Digital iQ: Wasatch Digital iQ magazine is Utah’s only technology magazine. It is dedicated to helping foster the growth of Utah’s high-tech economy. We cover Utah’s high-tech companies and deliver timely news and information to local and national business leaders. We believe Utah has much to offer the world through its people’s innovative work in the hardware, software and life sciences fields. Wasatch Digital iQ provides a quarterly printed magazine, a Website featuring new articles daily and a Daily iQ e-mail newsletter. www.digitaliq.com.

Getting Paid "Twaid" To Tweet - Ad Dollars March Into Twitter

Imagine being paid, just like a celebrity who endorses product, to tweet about something?  According to today's ADWEEK,the same company offering bloggers compensation for writing about a product, IZEA, is moving into Twitter.  Call it: Pay per tweet.

New careers are being created.  Question is, will those who take payment be honest and credible?  Will they disclose their compensation? 

Those who venture into this new phase would be wise to treat their online reputations just as they do the ones they have in the non-cyberspace arena.  Let me quote William Buffet: "It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently."