Unlocking Social Media for PR: Part 2

Today we continue our series on “Unlocking Social Media for PR,” an ebook by PR Newswire.

If you missed the first part of the series, click here to read an excerpt from the ebook: the Introduction and table of contents of the ebook’s first part, “Wetting Your Feet in the Pool of Social Media.”

The second part of the ebook is entitled, “The Evolved Practice of Journalism and Earned Media Landscape.” In this installment, you’ll gain insight on how journalists use social media. You’ll also learn about “evolved media,” and why all businesses should strive for that ideal combination.

Below is the table of contents from Part 2 of the ebook:

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Unlocking Social Media for PR

PR Newswire recently released an ebook, “Unlocking Social Media for PR,” which I highly recommend you download, read, study, and implement.

Written for PR professionals who want to better understand and make the most of social media and how social media has impacted PR, it’s also useful for DIY business owners.

Below, you’ll find an excerpt from Part 1 of the ebook. To access the entire document, click here and register.

Introduction

by Jason Keller, Senior Vice President, Products, PR Newswire

So social media is changing the art and science of public relations so fast your head is spinning. It all may be second nature to kids with freshly minted degrees and new agency or corporate jobs. But if you’re a PR professional just a few years older than that, you may be dizzy.

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The Gift of Happiness Contest

With US Thanksgiving having just passed and Christmas around the corner, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I have to be grateful for. And when I think about all the things that I’ve been blessed to have (the best of which is my wonderful family), I feel quite happy with my life.

This is probably one of the reasons that I was drawn to Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project. I’m not sure about you, but being happy is something that I continually work at to achieve. I find that happiness is the ultimate paradox: it can be found in the simplest things, but at the same time it can be incredibly hard to find.

In her book, Rubin tests out different happiness theories to see which ones really work and which don’t. It is definitely an amazing read. Rubin has even created a fantastic website that helps you discover your own happiness project and ways to implement it.

One of my clients, Matilda Jane Clothing, believes that happiness is best kept by being given away, so when they decided to do a contest that gives “The Gift of Happiness” you can only imagine how thrilled I was to help spread the love! Read more

14 Ways to Get Liked on Facebook

By now there is no doubting the power of Facebook. With over 800 million users and over 50% of those users logging onto Facebook on any given day, it is absolutely necessary for you to have a presence on this social network if you own a business. A Facebook Fan Page is, to simply put it, your business’ website in Facebook form.

There are tons of ways to customize your page to fit your needs (there is a Facebook App for nearly everything), contain all your business information, and target your ideal customer.

Of course, the real challenge will be in trying to get even just 1% of those 800 million possible customers to come across your Facebook page and “Like” you. Once they’ve liked you, you will have a better chance of gaining their interest in your business as your updates will regularly show up on their newsfeed, you’ll be able to message them when you launch new products, engage with them better, and so forth. Read more

How Your Blog Can Get You More PR

You’ve probably heard by now that having a blog is a great way to boost your company’s online visibility and drive traffic to your website. When you blog regularly and post about something other than what you had for lunch, you build a community of fans and followers who will happily return again and again to learn from you and your business.

But do you know how to leverage your blog posts to get your company more media attention?

When you don’t have anything newsworthy to say about your company, your blog may be all you need to get your business some buzz or at the very least, keep you on a journalist’s top of mind. Read more

How to Write an SEO Press Release

In these Internet fueled times, nearly everyone has to evolve. The good ol’ press release is no exception. On the web, writing a stagnant press release just doesn’t cut the mustard. Instead, the SEO press release is much more dynamic. Not only does it get the word out, it can also call to action and even help your business in unexpected ways, such as boosting your website’s SEO.

If you’d like to tackle one of these press releases, there are a few ways that an SEO press release differs from a traditional press release:

Research

While most suggest starting with the body of the press release first, I actually think that’s jumping the gun a bit. Why? Because SEO press releases rely heavily on keywords. If you write the press release and then try to “squeeze” the keywords into the body somewhere, it will come off looking deliberate and possibly ridiculous.

Coherence is key. Just because you’re wanting to get your website to rank higher on Google doesn’t mean you can write mediocre copy and expect it to fly. Mainly, because you’re better than that, but secondly because search engines like Google take this into account now. Google wants its users to have a good experience and great copy is the way to achieve that!

So do proper research. Find out what keywords will work best for your company. These words may not be the most popular words, either; a more niche phrase (i.e. a long-tail keyword) could yield better results. But you won’t know until you do the proper research. The Google Keyword Tool is a great resource for such research.

Format

Because the SEO press release is an evolution from the press release, you’re going to have basically the same format. I say basically, though, because there is much you can play with. A press release is usually a set number of words, as low as humanly possible. This is due to the fact that a press release is used by editors to develop stories … and busy editors respond to concision.

But on the Internet, you don’t have to worry about space. You’re only bound by the limits of your imagination. Of course, don’t make it too long, as most web users don’t want to read some epic tome.

Another major difference between a traditional press release and SEO press release is you’re not limited to text – you have access to video, links, pictures, and anything else the Internet provides! So if you don’t want to just have a few boring paragraphs to describe your big news, you don’t have to.

When actually writing the press release, it’s best to keep the keywords you want to use in the back of your mind (and on a handy sheet nearby). This way, you can organically include them in the press release, so as to not appear, well, like a vehicle structured solely to influence search engines. The goal of all SEO is to get your content seen by actual eyeballs, so you want to pique your readers’ interest first and improve Google searches second.

 

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This guest post is by Mickie Kennedy, the founder of eReleases – home of affordable, next generation press release distribution. Mickie also publishes PR Fuel, a PR-centric blog that showcases advice and articles on all things social media, PR publicity, and online marketing.

 

Blogging: More than just what you had for lunch

Marketing yourself or your organization online can be tricky. There are so many technologies, tools and platforms available, and so many different people with often times contradictory advice on which areas to focus on and what strategies and tactics you should apply. However, through all this noise, one of the most time-tested and dependable strategies for bringing in more traffic and leads to your website is this: blog regularly.

Some business leaders might balk at such a seemingly mundane idea. After all, didn’t blogs start out as places for moody teenagers to write about their newest crush or favorite band, à la LiveJournal circa 2003? Indeed they did, but much like Twitter, blogs have grown beyond their initial hobbyist beginnings to become a serious marketing tool. Let’s look at their application specifically when it comes to search engine optimization and attracting online traffic.

Why does blogging work?

Now, technically speaking, a blog is nothing more than a series of web pages arranged in a chronological order. Each blog post has its own unique URL or web page address. Internet search engines like Google and Bing spend their days crawling the Internet and indexing all the URLs that they can find. Therefore, each URL on your website is a chance to be indexed by the search engines and to be found by people searching online. So, say one company has a website with about 10 pages: Our Services, About Us, and so on and so on. Their competitor also has a website with about 10 regular website pages as well, but they also have a blog that they update bi-weekly. Since each blog post is technically its own web page with its own unique URL, after one year the second company actually has 114 indexable pages on their website. That means the first company only has 10 chances to be ranked and found on internet searches, but the second company has 114 chances to be found – over 10 times more than the first company!

So where’s the proof?

A great example of the power of blogging comes from my friend Ken Schroeppel, an urban planner in Denver. Ken runs a blog on Denver urban land planning and urban construction projects called Denver Infill. He started it a few years ago as a personal hobby and began posting on it regularly. What he originally thought would be just a fun personal project, however, suddenly exploded into the Denver public scene — his blog now gets 30,000 visitors per month. His blog has won him several awards such as the Downtown Denver Partnership award, the Denver Mayor’s Design award, and two Westword Best of Denver awards. Because of his blog, he is also quoted in the Denver Post and other media outlets. He says strangers will even stop him on the street and say “Hey, you’re the Denver Infill guy, right?” What a great example of the power of blogging.

However, your blog will only be a success if you’re intentional about your subject matter. If you want to be found by people searching for Denver urban land planning, like my friend Ken, then write about Denver urban land planning. If you want to be found by people searching for Denver marketing, then write about Denver marketing. Don’t get on your professional website and write about what you had for lunch (nobody cares), and don’t get on and complain and moan about your ex-boyfriend or girlfriend (like the teenage Livejournal crowd).

Here’s what you do:

1. Write out a list of topics that are related to your organization’s products or services, or your professional goals.
2. Then sit down, open up your calendar, and plan out a schedule for regularly writing about these topics. Share your perspective on the latest developments in your industry, write answers to some of your customers’ frequently asked questions, and offer tips, advice and resources for people who are interested in the subject matter that you specialize in. Plan on publishing at least once a week.
3. Set aside a specific time each week to write your scheduled blog article — say, Wednesday at 9 AM, and hold to that schedule.

This will take some discipline, but then again, what in life doesn’t? Stick with it long enough, and you’re going to start seeing some great results.

 

Chris Strom runs a Denver marketing company, helping companies who are struggling to build their business online. He regularly writes about web technologies, inbound marketing and other topics on his company blog.

 

 

How is an SEO Press Release Different Than a Regular Press Release

Today we have a guest post by Mickie Kennedy of eReleases.com. Mickie writes about the difference between a traditional press release and an SEO press release, so read on!

While a regular press release can net results for your business for a short burst of time, an SEO press release has the potential to unleash the power of the Internet to your advantage. If you want to get your company’s website to the first page of search engines like Google, an SEO press release is just one tool in your arsenal.

So is there a big difference between traditional and SEO press releases? Sure, the aims are different, but other than that, aren’t they identical? Let’s take a look.

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Letting Go of Perfect

I have a confession to make:

I am a die-hard perfectionist.

Whew! Glad to get that off my chest

I think many entrepreneurs share this feeling of needing everything to be “just so” before we can send something off to a client or move on to the next project. I’ve talked before about how perfectionism affects your work-life balance, but it can also hold you back in your life and business if left to grow wild.

• Are you waiting for your business to be in that “right place” before you start going for the clients you want to work with?

• Are you waiting to get that “right project” before finally charging what you’re worth?

• Are you waiting for your work-life balance to be “just right” before you finally take that vacation?

Pam Slim once said that, “The enemy of a new entrepreneur is endless planning and perfection.” And it’s true! If you keep waiting and trying to get to this imaginary place of perfection, you may blind yourself to the opportunities that are presented to you right now. As much as we want to plan and time everything right, life rarely follows a straight and narrow path. Read more

The 3 Keys to Business Flexibility

Today we have a guest post by Matthew Toren, co-author of Small Business, BIG Vision.

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In a world where technology, social trends, and economies change continually, rapidly, and without warning, one of the most important things an entrepreneur can do to remain competitive is create an atmosphere of flexibility within his or her business. In fact, it’s not an exaggeration to say that your company’s survival may very well depend on your ability to be flexible.

What is flexibility, and why is it so important?

I define flexibility in business as the ability for a company to make whatever internal changes are necessary to respond effectively to the changing outward environment, as quickly as possible. In other words, you’re ready for whatever happens in the market, and you’re able to turn it into opportunity by adjusting to the new paradigm almost immediately.

The reason flexibility is so vital to small businesses is because of what I stated in the first paragraph. The world is changing; it’s changing rapidly; and it isn’t going to stop changing – ever. Technology advancements and other market trends are accelerating at an exponential pace, and they won’t wait around for companies to adjust. As my brother Adam and I talk about in our new book, Small Business, BIG Vision: Lessons on How to Dominate Your Market from Self-Made Entrepreneurs Who Did it Right, for those companies that don’t embrace flexibility, changes in the business environment can mean significant setbacks. For those who actually resist change, they can spell disaster.

What does it take to create a flexible company?

When it comes right down to it, flexibility within a company is an attitude – a culture. In our book, we discuss a couple of phrases that we never like to hear: “Because that’s how we’ve always done it,” and “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” What those common phrases are really saying is that we’re not only resistant to change, we don’t even want to explore the possibility that there might be a better way.

To get away from that limiting attitude and create a culture of flexibility within your company, follow these three keys for success:

1. Listen.

Listen to your employees, partners, vendors, and customers. Never be afraid of feedback of any kind, and welcome suggestions and ideas. A flexible company culture depends on everyone associated with the company feeling comfortable sharing ideas for innovations, process improvements, and correcting shortcomings. Not only will your company be more ready for any unexpected change that comes along, you’ll become stronger and more cohesive in the meantime.

2. Really listen.

Take it one step further. In addition to being open to hearing ideas, go ask for them. Start a “Bright Idea” award system for employees. Convene customer focus groups on a regular basis, and include employees, customers, and even vendors in internal mastermind sessions. It’s one thing to say your door’s always open – it’s another to walk someone through it.

3. Open your mind.

If you follow the first two keys, you have ideas coming from all over. This is a very good thing, but only if you receive the ideas with an open, creative mind. I say creative because creativity is what allows you to see possibilities – to envision things other than the way they currently are. If you truly have an open mind, you approach ideas and obstacle the same way: Instead of “It can’t be done,” you say, “What do we need to do to make this happen?” With that frame of mind, you welcome change as an opportunity to improve and grow. And that is what flexibility is all about.

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About the author: Matthew Toren is a Serial Entrepreneur (Co-founded YoungEntrepreneur.com), Mentor, Investor and award winning Co-Author of Kidpreneurs (Basic Principles of Entrepreneurship for Kids). Follow him on Twitter. Matthew is also co-author of the newly released book Small Business BIG Vision: Lessons on How to Dominate Your Market from Self-Made Entrepreneurs Who Did it Right.

Gymnast image by erin MC hammer

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