pr for smb presentation 9 09
TRANSCRIPT
Public Relations for Small & Medium Sized Businesses
Agenda
• Media Relations• Blogging for Success• Social Media 101
MEDIA RELATIONS
What is News?
• News vs Feature• Trend stories• How-to or help stories• Expert testimony on current
events• Good news vs Bad news (media
bias)• What’s in it for readers?
Media Relations
• The media cannot operate without PR!• The media are always looking for stories• The media are very busy and often abrupt• The media, particularly print, are not paid
well• The mainstream media will not let you
review a story before it goes to print – so don’t ask
• Respect their time. Call them back.
More About The Media
• Demographics• The Media love “experts” and go
back to the same source often– Become an “expert” by speaking,
publishing, association leadership
National News
• Trade magazines• Wire Services (BusinessWire, PR
Newswire)• Beat writers (newspapers,
magazines)• The World Wide Web
Hyper-Local
• Local news is sweet spot for SMBs– Television segments– Daily newspapers– Weekly newspapers– Magazines– Web sites
Local Television
• Six stations in the Phoenix market– FOX-10, NBC-12, ABC-15, CBS-5, 3TV
and AZTV-7/13– All have shows you can be on– Contact producers with ideas
• Concept/visuals– Contact info on Web sites or simply call
main line and ask for phone or e-mail
Arizona Republic
• The only daily left in Phoenix• Main sections
– National– Local– Business– Sports– Living
• Special sections– Calendar (Thu)– Yes (Sat)
• Regionals– East Valley, West Valley, Phoenix, Scottsdale
• Web site and bylines ([email protected])
Weeklies
• Best opportunities for SMBs– Business Journal– East Valley Tribune– Ahwatukee Foothills News, Glendale
Star, Mesa Independent, Jewish News– Auto Web posting
• List on Valley PR Blog• List at http://www.usnpl.com
Magazines
• Topic/geographic specific– Raising Arizona Kids, Scottsdale
Magazine, Square Foot Magazine, Phoenix Home & Garden
• Small staffs• Long lead times• Hard to get in• Must have visuals• Calendars
Local Web sites
• Topic/Geographic specific– http://www.technewsarizona.com/– http://phoenix.momslikeme.com– http://www.topix.com/city/scottsdale-az– http://www.westvalley101.com/
• Blogs– http://arizonanotebook.com/– http://zoniereport.com/
Press Release/Advisory
• Press Release– Standard Format– Five Ws– Inverted pyramid– News and feature– Social Media release
• http://www.pitchengine.com/
• Advisory– For events only
BLOGGING FOR SUCCESS
What Says Wordpress?
• Express yourself• No waiting on your webmaster• Be "findable" on the search engines• Dialogue with your customers
– Customers share their comments, feedback, ideas, and concerns
• Leadership through blogging• Showcase photo and image galleries• It’s fun *Source: Wordpress
Blogging for Business
• For company leaders to communicate directly with customers
• For employees to communicate with customers• To reinforce your brand• To produce organizational transparency• To keep customers updated on product issues• To serve as a channel to the public in a crisis• To report to a constituent audience on the
company’s positions• To establish yourself as a subject matter expert*Holtz & Demopolis: Blogging For Business
Get More Visitors
Get More Links
Get Indexed
Company Blogs
• Company blogs include:– Delta Airlines– Dell– Yahoo!– Boeing– EDS– General Motors– IBM– Johnson & Johnson– Microsoft– Salesforce.com– Sprint
Changing Hands
House of Sparky
Just Roughin’ It
Atomic Comics
Valley PR Blog
CEO Blogs
• CEO blogs include:– J. Willard Marriott Jr., CEO, Marriott International– Michael M. Crow, President, Arizona State University– Marc Cuban, HDNET & Dallas Mavericks– Bob Lutz, Vice Chairman, General Motors Corporation– Kevin Lynch, Chief Software Architect, Macromedia– Justin Rattner, CTO, Intel– Bob Parsons, President, godaddy.com– Jonathan Schwartz, COO, Sun Microsystems– Mike Critelli, Executive Chairman, Pitney Bowes– David Neeleman, Chairman, JetBlue Airways
Michael Dell
Mark Cuban
A QUICK TUTORIAL
Tools for Blogging
• WordPress• Moveable Type• Type Pad• Blogger.com• Live Journal• …and about 1,000 others
WordPress
• The most popular blogging tool• Simple to use• Free• Hosted or application
– www.wordpress.com– www.wordpress.org
A Word About Design
• Built-in Templates– Hosted version has more than 60
flexible designs• Custom Design
– Use templates– Have your web designer build it
• Function Over Form
New Post
Linking Text
Categories
Upload Image
Link to Image
BLOGGING BEST PRACTICES
Keys to Better Blogging
• Headlines are Important– Short Catchy Headlines– Use Key Words
• Keep it Simple– Single Topic Posts
• Keep it Short– Two to three paragraphs
• Have an Opinion– Be a “Thought-Leader” (Have a take, do not suck!)– Offer Advice/Best Practices
• Links• Photos
Headlines
• Facebook Music Rumors• Google Says It’s Making Reader More Fun• Impress names Luth VP• What Sold me on Twitter• Yahoo Answers To Go Mobile• Google’s Share of U.S. Online Ads Hits 40
Percent• Plaxo + LinkedIn + iPhone = Brilliant
*All Headlines from TechCrunch
Links
Photos/Images
Trackbacks
• An acknowledgment sent via a network signal
• Facilitates communication between blogs• Helps grow your audience
Tags
• Search optimization– Internal– External
• Use only a few on each post
• Helps people find your post
PROMOTING YOUR BLOG
The Basics
• Tell everyone you know!• Add link to blog from web site• Include a link to your blog in your e-
mail signature• Put your blog address on your
business card• Announce the launch of your blog in
customer communications– eNewsletters, eBlasts, Store flyers, etc.
RSS Feeds
• Feedburner– RSS feed– e-mail option
Free Blog Listings
• Technorati• Google Blog Search• Bloglisting.net• Icerocket• Mybloglog• Alltop• Buzzerhut
Viral Tactics
• Blogroll– Reciprocal Links
• Comments– Always register and include email AND
blog address– Get a “gravatar”
• http://en.gravatar.com/
Piggybacking
• Read lots of blogs• Write a post on your blog about
something you’ve read– Link to it in your post– Trackback to it
Social Integration
• Linkedin– WordPress module included
• Facebook– Third Party Applications
• Social RSS
• MySpace
Tweet Tweet
Get Social
• Bookmark posts on Delicious• Stumble posts on StumbleUpon• Post a teaser on Linkedin status• Use Sharethis or similar tool• Digg it
SOCIAL NETWORKING 101
Definition
A social network service focuses on building online communities of people who share interests and activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others.*
*Wikipedia
Popular Social Networks
• MySpace• Facebook• Linkedin• Classmates.com• Friendster• Meetup.com• Orkut
Specialty Social Networks
• TeeBeeDee (baby boomers)• Cafe Mom (mothers)• Black Planet (African Americans)• Good Reads (book lovers)• Out Everywhere (GLBT)• Yelp (restaurant reviews)• SciSpace.net (scientists)
Extreme Specialty Networks
• sjsualumninetwork.com• nurselinkup.com• paganspace.net• firefighternation.com• navyformoms.com• designrelated
Business or Pleasure?
• Both!• Virtual face-to-face• Comscore: fastest growing segment of Facebook was
25-34 demographic• Facebook has more than 100 million users• June 2008 Conference Board report: one out of every
four people online visits social networking sites (update: 35%)
• Business owners can reach customers directly• Targeted marketing• Networking• Career Searches/Recruiting
Six Degrees of Separation
• www.linkedin.com• 16 million users• Search by name, location, company• Get introduced to potential clients by
people who know them already• Online resume or business profile• Recommend and be recommended• Ask questions and answer questions
Groups
• Join and meet in groups– Public Relations Society of America
(PRSA)– Rae Waters for State Representative– San Diego Padres fans
• Create your own
Group Pages
Business Pages
• Essentially a visual business listing– Background– Photos/Videos– Links– Events– Discussion Board
Business Page
Doing business
• Set up a personal and business profile• Add content• Invite your friends and associates• Surf around, join groups, offer advice
and make new friends and associates• Meet friends of friends and grow your
network exponentially• Feed your blog to your Facebook page
10 Reasons to Use Facebook for Business– Meet your peers– Find business contacts– Instant gate opener– Build relationships– Raise visibility– Develop your personal brand– Target your niche– Get rapid top Google placement– Place targeted ads– No cost marketing Source: Mari Smith, Author, Facebook for Professionals
Why Tweet?
• Gain exposure for your blogs…and gain potential readers
• Market work, products, services, etc.• Answer questions/ ask questions• Learn new things from other industry
professionals• Seek out industry colleagues for assistance w/
special projects• Announce events• Share interesting articles• Live event coverage
Who is Tweeting?
• @barackobama• @richardbranson• @ceosunblog• @lancearmstrong• @snoopdogg• @the_real_shaq• @britneyspears
Twitter Tools
• Online at twitter.com• Via Blackberry or iPhone• Desktop applications
– Twhirl– Seesmic– BigTweet
• Auto update Facebook• Ping.fm
– Everywhere at once
Questions?
http://www.slideshare.net/lengutman