Can anyone argue that the buzzwords for 2009 and 2010 aren’t “search engine marketing,” “search engine optimization,” and “content, content, content”? 

Frank Strong has written a nice post on writing for search engines and optimizing your client’s online presence.   Adding links and using key words are some of the tips he offers to help you be more “findable” on the web.

Have we forgotten the other critical aspects of PR, however?  I wrote my book, “Press Releases are not a PR Strategy,” to counteract the prevailing thought that issuing press releases at periodic intervals was all there is to a PR strategy.  In that vein, I would like to see equal emphasis on the other components of a successful PR campaign that often get little mention.  They involve research (studying up on an individual blogger’s style, reading books and articles on a particular industry) and outreach (meeting with reporters and bloggers for coffee or as part of a press tour or trade show).  

PR is such a complex field.  It’s not just content, and it’s not just press releases.  

Photo courtesy of dyoz

If you haven’t read “The New Rules of Marketing and PR” by David Meerman Scott, you’re missing out on a top guide on how public relations has changed and “how to use social media, blogs, news releases, online video and viral marketing” to reach your buyers directly.  You can find the book at his website www.webinknow.com or from Amazon and other online bookstores.

I re-read the book this past weekend (the revised 2010 edition), and there’s one section that I didn’t feel represented PR professionals properly – or, at least, not the PR professionals I know, most of whom are in Arizona.    In chapter 7, “The New Rules of News Releases,” he writes that “many PR professionals have a fear of the unknown. They don’t understand how to communicate directly with consumers and want to live in the past, when there was no choice but to use the media as a mouthpiece….I also think there’s a widely held view about the purity of the press release as a tool for the press.  PR professionals don’t want to know that hundreds of millions of people have the power to read their releases directly.  It’s easier to imagine  a closed audience of a dozen reporters.”

The book is brilliant and has helped completely change the way we look at public relations. I don’t think he has quite captured the issue here, however. Granted, he travels a lot more than I do and talks to way more PR people, so he’s probably a better authority. I’m just going on what I know about myself and the people in my networks. I don’t see fear of the unknown, and I don’t see an inability to communicate directly with consumers. What I do see are professionals who take pride in their career, and who don’t like the sloppiness and lack of fact checking that often happens when anyone and everyone can issue a news release. There really isn’t an editorial function anymore for what’s put out online. Most PR people I know are excited about social media and while they recognize there’s more due diligence involved in reaching so many more segmented audiences, they appreciate the convenience and reach of social media tools.

A recent incident involving NBC Anchor Brian Williams is perhaps one example that struck me about the lack of verification that most untrained people would conduct. Apparently a rumor circulated that Chief Justice John Roberts was going to leave office, according to a report on RadarOnline.  The rumor actually started in a first year law class at Georgetown University as part of a lecture about the necessity of verifying the credibility of legal informants. Fortunately, Brian Williams double checked the story before breaking it.

Now that the floodgates are open, we can’t hold back anything on the Internet, so while the benefit is that many more stories can get out there and conversations can be initiated between companies and their customers directly, true PR professionals fear not the unknown, but the deterioration of the integrity of information.

This isn’t to say that all PR professionals hold themselves to a high standard, but it is part of the ethics code for the profession. Wire services like Businesswire are quick to proofread releases and keep an extra layer of precaution before a release goes “live,” but so many more companies and individuals are using free press release sites that have no editorial function. The result can be a lot of promotional crap out there – crap that doesn’t instigate conversations, but is just annoying. This is what I fear – not that anyone can read a release, but that anyone can write one.   It brings down the whole profession.

One of my favorite blogs, www.repmanblog.com, posted recently about “introverts making a go of it in professions dominated by extroverts.”  Blogger Steve Cody admits that he has taken improvisation and stand-up comedy to get over his innate shyness.

How many of us in public relations are actually introverts and not extroverts?   In her post this winter about her shyness, blogger Dushka Zapata writes that “according to the Meyers [sic] Briggs type indicator, an ‘extrovert’ and an ‘introvert’ are defined based on where they get their energy. An extrovert is ‘energized by the outer world of people and things’ and an introvert is ‘energized by the inner world of thoughts and ideas.’”

This difference must be what makes some of us PR people gravitate towards writing (my favorite) and some of us towards event planning (would rather have a root canal).  What part of PR do you hate?   That will probably tell you a lot about which side you fall on, introvert or extrovert.

Graphic from http://myers.team-technology.co.uk

Whenever there is a revolution, something is often left in its wake, and that apparently is the U.S. postal service. 

In the words of the US Postmaster General, Jack Potter, there has been a macro change in society and all posts around the world are challenged by the diversion of hard copy to electronic medium. Unlike other postal services in other parts of the world, the USPS is constrained by regulations and cannot expand into other areas. Facing a huge mountain of debt, they are proposing that delivery on Saturdays be eliminated. Another likely possibility is a significant hike in postal prices after 2010.

While the speed and convenience of electronic delivery are well understood, nothing quite captures the thrill and quaintness of receiving a handwritten letter. Perhaps the USPS will eventually privatize somehow.   I would hate to see this element of American society disappear, but as I watch teens and twentysomethings with their individual smart phones, I don’t doubt that 30 years from now when my generation has gone, our modes of communication will be housed in museums as curious oddities.

I was contacted by www.prmoment.com, which analyzes UK coverage of the world’s leading brands, to offer my perspective on the effects and impact of the digital age on press releases.

I believe that its impact has been mostly positive. Press releases in particular are now shorter, full of interesting multimedia components, and much easier to disseminate to segmented audiences.  My prediction is that press releases will evolve in the next five years and will be called something else, and the traditional format we love to hate will finally dissolve.    The combined brevity and complexity of such social media tools as twitter will continue to force PR professionals to craft more highly condensed pieces of information in an ever-widening array of formats to please individual audiences.  

You can read the full article here, and find out what other highly regarded pundits are predicting.

Does this sound familiar?  “…a time phenomenon, a product of the greatly accelerated rate of change in society.  It arises from the superimposition of a new culture on an old one.   It is culture shock in one’s own society.  But its impact is far worse.”

This is the theme of many new social media books on the market now – the disruption of society, the inability to adapt, the loss of the industrial age as replaced by the information age as replaced by an even faster information age.   

Yet, Alvin Toffler wrote these words as long ago as 1970, when his groundbreaking work “Future Shock” was published.   He points out that “for most Peace Corps men (a bit dated gender reference there!), in fact most travelers, have the comforting knowledge that the culture they left behind will be there to return to.   The victim of future shock does not.”

The only solution to deal with it is to change your attitude, and that is why it is extremely difficult.  Raging against the machine is futile.   Only those who can force themselves to adapt will survive.    Here’s what I’ve learned:

• It is natural to wish for another scenario.   Spend a moment, honor the time that you treasured, and embrace the new.   
• Join organizations that are characterized by generations that are at least 15 years younger than you are.   If you spend too much time in church, book clubs, or other groupings that are either too small for innovation or too dominated by older, traditional mindsets, you will only absorb their inertia.
• Network (coffee, drinks) with younger people.  This will help you learn more about how they are coping, and what kinds of job skills they are applying. 
• Use social media tools such as twitter to stay informed about trends.   It could save your professional life.
• Beef up on your humor and wit.   Businesses equate negative, humorless people with those who can’t adapt.   Humor is perceived as flexibility and adaptability to any kind of situation.  
• Keep moving – cement trucks have constantly rolling barrels for a reason.

Even though the current roster of social media books is harping on a 40-year-old theme, they are crucial to getting a disbelieving society to change.   Repetition of message is key.

Don’t forget that social media tools such as Twitter are helpful for reaching the circles of influence on your target demographic.    Search Engine Marketing Specialist Anthony Kirlew has the guest post today about his experience helping a friend see the journalistic benefit of Twitter: 

Anthony Kirlew

Recently, I was speaking with a friend who is looking to launch a new website for his business.  He is extremely sharp when it comes to business but he is not fully dialed into the Web or social media.  His new business is an RV Park, so he immediately told me that he did not think that his audience would be on Twitter, due to the demographics.  I assured him that having a presence on Twitter may be more valuable to him than he might initially expect.

First, I told him that I could do some searches for him to find out if (and what) people were tweeting about RVs and RV Parks in the area he is looking to launch, and if so, what they were saying.  I also mentioned that lots of journalists are on Twitter and that I was recently at a social media forum where a reporter mentioned that she regularly gets tweets from those in PR circles. For the first time he had heard what he thought was a practical use for Twitter.

So what about you? If you had a local story to break, would you be prepared to use Twitter to get the job done? If so, then you are probably already leveraging this medium.  If not, I strongly advise the following:

-  Look at your list of media contacts and find them on Twitter. You can do a simple people search to find them. If not, you can often find their Twitter usernames in their bio on their company website.

- Start to “follow” them and watch to see if they follow you back.

- When they start to follow you, send them a simple message, such as, “Thanks for following me, let me know if I can be of help in any way. Anthony.” I don’t recommend using an auto messaging system on Twitter. A personal touch is far more effective.

- Make time to consistently read what they tweet or retweet, and help further their conversations by re-tweeting to your followers. Ideally, you should set a time to check into Twitter a few times per day, so it doesn’t consume your time. They should take notice when they are mentioned in the retweet, and may make mention of it or thank you.  The bottom line is that you are engaging in conversations, and building credibility with them.  You are also showing that you are genuine by “giving first” instead of just making it all about you.

This is essentially how you would build relationships with anyone on Twitter, but the fact is that if you are in PR, then you will want to have those trusted relationships with journalists that cover your local region as well as those who cover the industries that you serve.

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Anthony is an expert in the online marketing business.  He has successfully helped companies of all sizes outrank their competitors online, leading to increased profits through their websites.  Currently, he is the Business Development Manager for Web.com Search Agency in Scottsdale, Arizona and blogs at www.oldschoolseo.com

As more and more “citizen journalists” go online via Twitter, Facebook, blogs and other social media, there is greater likelihood of typos and misspellings.   In the online world as opposed to traditional media, there are no formal editors to proofread work.    Where do you stand on accuracy in PR 2.0?

Peter Faur

My friend Peter Faur of Phoenix-based “Right Point Communications” and I are of like mind.   In his blog, RightPoint, he writes about communications and includes a helpful grammar tip at the end of every post.   I asked him to provide his input on grammar and spelling, and he shared with me this guest post:

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“The Miami Herald’s ombudsman, or reader’s advocate, recently asked a veteran teacher to review the Jan. 18 edition of the newspaper for grammatical errors. He was shocked that Elaine Kenzel found 133 errors. She said the number seemed acceptable to her because of the large amount of content that gets printed each day.

Even the bastions of journalism, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, have seen their typos and grammatical errors increase in recent years. The explanation is both understandable and true: With staff cutbacks, there are fewer editors to read copy, and those who read often serve double and triple duty as wire editors, layout editors and processors of Web content. As the cracks widen, more errors slip through.

 Does it matter? I think so.

Writing is, among other things, a craft. People who read to be informed, educated and entertained expect the rules of the craft to be followed. As long as they are, the flow of words to the brain proceeds smoothly. Break the rules, and you break the flow. Break the rules often enough, and the work needed to extract the information becomes more trouble than the information is worth. The reader gives up, and the writer has failed.

The rules, of course, bend and flex and change over time, and that’s OK as long as authorities to keep people marching in the same direction. That’s why style guides are so important. If you care about writing, you should invest $25 a year to subscribe to the AP Stylebook Online. Learn it well and consult it often, and your writing will be clearer, simpler and more disciplined.

 I still cringe when I see typos in a Tweet or a Facebook message, but I suppose I’ll have to live with them. I have a low tolerance level, however, for errors in blogs, online articles and printed pieces. I sometimes make them myself, and it can ruin my day when they’re called to my attention.

Where do you stand? Do you cringe when you see typos and grammatical mistakes, or do you take them in stride?”

_________________________________

I couldn’t have expressed it better myself — writing IS a craft, and people expect the rules to be followed.  If we want our public relations profession to be taken seriously, as seriously as other professions such as medicine and law, we should make an effort to be as committed as possible to following the guidelines.

Photo found at www.boston.com

Henry Blodgett has an interesting post on the Olympic committee’s take on the unfortunate death of the Olympic luger Nodar Kumaritashvili.  After an investigation, they are laying the blame on Nodar.   As Blodgett puts it:

“In other words, Nodar’s death had nothing to do with the fact that, because of the track design, he was going 90 miles per hour (15 mph faster than older tracks), had only a few milliseconds to “make correct entrance into curve 16″ after exiting Curve 15 (which the lugers have dubbed the 50-50 curve on account of your odds of exiting it without crashing), and then flew out of a track that, with a small nod to safety, could easily have been covered with netting, Plexiglas, or higher walls and not flanked by immovable steel poles.”

We see this often when crises happen.   The company or organization immediately promises to “conduct an investigation,” and then the unfortunate victim is somehow blamed, rather than any responsibility incurred by the organization.   I’m not a luger nor have I ever seen the track up close.   I know it’s a dangerous sport.   I also think that if you’ve made it as far as the Olympics, you’re pretty much the gold standard and just about as perfect an athlete as one can be.   Errors would be few and far between.

It makes me wonder how many more organizations might be willing to own up and take some blame if there were no lawyers, no fear of culpability in terms of financial pain.    PR strategies aren’t perfect, but this response seems to be a little too much on the “let’s distance ourselves from any wrongdoing so as to avoid lawsuits.”

Here’s a good overview for anyone in business who wants to learn more about how to use a blog to create a relevant audience and drive more business.  As the authors point out, there are three parts to blogging:   1) the specific technical instructions to set up your blog and add information to it, 2) what you need to know to get eyeballs looking at it, and 3) how to leverage your blog with other marketing efforts.

Even though I have been blogging for Valley PR Blog for 2 years, I found this book helpful and more practical than some other blogging books I’ve read.    There are plenty of factoids in the book to persuade even the most reluctant blogger, such as the news that online media is the only area of media currently growing.   Blogging helps people communicate with large numbers of people quickly and publicly.  Blogs have grown from 5 million in 2005 to 133 million in 2008.  If one of your competitors is continually blogging about your industry and you aren’t, search engines will find your competitor’s blog and place it, not yours, high on the list of search results when someone searches for one or more terms in your industry.  By learning how to engage the public through open online channels, you can truly connect with your customers.   A business blog not only gets the messaging out to customers, but enables you to bring your audience’s comments in, making your blog the home base for these online conversations.   [This is the benefit of blogging that I think many business executives fail to understand - the ability to centralize where the conversations about your company are taking place].

There are 9 chapters which cover everything from why blogging is important to how to get more readers (77% of bloggers attract readers by commenting on other blogs, according to Technorati), how to choose your particular blogging platform, how to engage with your readers, what to write about, how to deal with negative feedback, multimedia blogging, and creative commons licensing.   The case studies are helpful and not too long – just quick bites of information to help support the text.  There is also an appendix of important blogging sites.  

If you are looking for more tips on urls, tagging, keywords, YouTube channels, photo-sharing services, polls, contests, and other blogging components, you’ll find it in this guide.

The authors are Eric Butow and Rebecca Bollwitt.   Eric is CEO of Butow Communications Group, a web design and online marketing firm in Jackson, California.   He has written several computing books, including “How to Succeed in Business Using LinkedIn.”   Rebecca is the co-founder of sixty4media, which specializes in WordPress design and development as well as social media consulting in Vancouver, BC.   She has been blogging since 2004 on miss604.com, and in 2008 was listed within the top 10 “Most Influential in Canadian Social Media.”

Note:   From time to time I’m offered complimentary review books from Pearson/Que/Sams.  If I like the book concept, I’ll review it.