Archive for social media
Podcasting can provide compelling content
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Farrell Kramer
Our guest blogger today is Farrell Kramer, founder and president of the PR firm Farrell Kramer Communications. We first met a couple of years ago when he conducted a podcast about my book, Press Releases are not a PR Strategy. He has been podcasting for himself and for clients since early 2006. You can find him on Twitter as @farrellkramer.
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The explosion in Twitter and Facebook by communicators of all types has created a desperate need for compelling content. In today’s world, you’re only as exciting as your last tweet or status update. But a steady diet Read More→
Search engine optimization and social media in 2010
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Sheila Koefkorn, President of KEO Marketing
At the recent #SMAZ conference in Phoenix, I had the pleasure of moderating a panel of experts that included Sheila Kloefkorn. She is president of KEO Marketing, a firm in Phoenix, Arizona that provides online marketing strategy and execution, including SEO, search engine marketing and social media. Her clients are in the U.S. and more than 100 countries around the world.
I asked her for some SEO tips for this coming year. Above all, she says, focus first on the content and the message, and don’t get so wrapped around the axle thinking about the social media vehicle.
“You’ve probably heard it said that there is nothing certain but change. Well that is certainly true of Search Engine Optimization and Social Media in 2010. Google is launching a new architecture for the back end of its search engine, code named Google Caffeine, in early Q1. While the details are kept private by Google, we do know that the algorithm, or mathematical formula, of how Google determines first page ranking for search queries, will favor ‘new, fresh, relevant content.’
This is great news if you have a content strategy that is focused on frequently updated useful information and if you are leveraging social media to get that word out and develop community.
Facebook news feeds on public company and fan pages, twitter streams and LinkedIn status updates are indexed by Google, Bing and some other engines in what is nearing real time. Blog posts are frequently showing up in search results within minutes and hours of being posted. Product reviews and comments on local search listings and sites like Yelp and Merchant Circle are also showing up quickly.
Today, effective search engine optimization and social media means having a content and engagement strategy that includes not only your website but all of the sites where your customers and prospects hang out online.
If you listen, you are authentic and helpful, and make your content compelling and easy to consume, you will reap dividends in both B2C and B2B marketing in 2010.”
How to use social media to promote your invention
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You can’t meet Peter Kertz without feeling some of his enthusiasm about his invention, The Sonic Seal. It’s a waterproof cover for electric toothbrushes, and he has been using social media successfully to get the word out.
- - Tell me a little bit about how you got the idea for sonic seal?
That clean feel of a Sonicare toothbrush has been a staple in my everyday routine, just like 10’s of millions of others around the world. One morning I was using my beloved Sonicare and noticed a very peculiar taste in my mouth. Peeking down my nose to the handle of the brush I noticed a brownish liquid coming out from under the replacement head. Immediately unscrewing the head, I saw a mess of bacteria and mold inside and it had been leaking into my mouth. The Sonic Seal waterproof cover was born. Read More→
New to social media? This conference is for you.
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MADCAP Theater, Tempe, AZ
The agenda is now up for the Social Media for Business event that will be held Monday, January 25th, at the Madcap Theater in Tempe. You can check it out here.
Organized by Fred von Graf, #SMAZ was first held in Tempe last August. It’s an informal conference where you have a veritable fish hatchery of people in AZ who are involved in social media. You should attend if you:
- are new to social media and have questions – sit in on the panel I’ll be moderating Monday afternoon 3:00 – 4:00 p.m., which welcomes questions from the audience
- want to hear the latest trends in social media
- like mingling with others who are interested in twitter, blogs, Facebook, search marketing, web analytics
- want to learn how to use social media to build brand evangelists
- are interested in how to make social media pay
By the way, the food is fantastic – breakfast and lunch are included in the fee. And parking is easy. And no restroom lines!!!
To get 45% off the ticket price, use the discount code VPRB.
Chappaquiddick in PR 2.0 instead of PR 1.0
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How would Ted Kennedy’s reputation have fared if PR 2.0 had been in existence in summer 1969, when the infamous Chappaquiddick incident occurred?
No cell phones, no camera phones, no Internet, no social media, no citizen journalists. Just a quiet dirt road on an isolated part of Martha’s Vineyard.
It’s a part of history that will always remain a mystery. To his credit, Ted Kennedy went on air to acknowledge his shortcomings. But so many questions linger…
The methods to convey information and initiate conversations are different now. But the PRSA ethics code is always a good guideline to follow. There can be as much deception in omission of key information as there is in slanted information. I’m a Ted Kennedy fan. But this is one part of his past that continues to trouble me…
My personal journey with social media releases
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Three years ago this month, the traditional format of press releases was turned upside down with the creation of a new “social media release” (SMR) template.
I was working with iMemories at the time, and remember looking at the proposed template and thinking, “wow, that is a very different kind of format, and I don’t know if I will be able to replicate that.” I’m a writer, not a graphic artist. But I realized the importance of the trend, and the significance and impact of social media on the traditional press release.
With the help of a seminar hosted by Businesswire, and a lot of online reading and research, I completely changed the way I wrote press releases to adapt to this new format. If you’re not familiar with the history behind social media releases, you can find a good summary here.
What I ended up with is what I will call a hybrid – Read More→
