In a post from John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing, he talks about content being king. We’ve all heard this before of course. But it’s never been more true for marketers than in today’s Web 2.0, Social Media world. In fact, one could easily replace “marketing” with content, and PR with community. Francine Hardaway talks about this recently, calling it “Finally the Demise of PR” in a well done post on the state of PR. Yes. I am in PR. Yes, this is talking about my profession, my income stream at stake. Yes, this is what clients pay me to do. PR.Â
Francine suggests that PR Directors inside companies or at agencies be called “Community Managers”–get rid of the word PR itself. As a PR person myself, it’s hard not to cringe and agree at the same time. Nobody likes change, but this change has been a long time coming, so anyone not ready to admit that our roles have changed from “media relations” to “everything communications and relations” and “community builder” needs a reality check. And not getting on the bus means falling behind–and missing out on marketshare.
The world has changed. And in this case, for the better I might add. Content is king.
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Posted by kathy sacks
I’ve never been a big fan of emoticons. I hate when people use them to death in IM dialogue. And even more so when used in emails in place of !exclamation marks!, which on their own are the object of my disdain. So when I came across the emoticon look-alike contest from security giant, Symantec, I of course had to know more.Â
What emoticons have to do with security I don’t know. By the time it’s done, I’d bet hundreds or even thousands of people will upload their best resemblances to an emoticon for a chance to win $10,000 cash, or one of five first place prizes of $1,000 each. I am just trying to imagine the pitch meeting here at Symantec from their marketing team–…and it will be a photo contest for best resemblance to an emoticon!
Did anyone not realize there was no, absolutely none, zilch, nothing connection to security in this?
I’ll be following to see where this contest goes and what kind of press it gets–and how it will ever help boost sales of Norton anti-virus.
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Posted by kathy sacks
Saw this item on Valleywag talking about a rumor that Business 2.0 is going the way of the leg warmer. Apparently, it was a hot minute away from closing its doors, and recently got an extension while execs find a buyer. I am broken up about it–Business 2.0 is one of my favorite mags (yes, I do still read print magazines). Hmm, if I were a business publisher, I may be courting those editors and writers to get involved in my media biz.
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Posted by kathy sacks
Interesting article from Businessweek, MySpace, Facebook: A Tale of Two Cultures. It highlights the differences between Facebook and MySpace, and frankly I find myself confused by it because it paints a he said-she said picture, where both web 2.0 darlings swear their users are “better”, bigger, brighter, and have more money. I happen to prefer Facebook–though I admit to having only very recently (as in about a week ago) posted a profile. On MySpace I have one, or I should say my company has one that someone in my office launched. But Inever go on it. MySpace just feels well…seedier to me. Maybe I’m too old. Maybe it’s the dark background, I dunno. Facebook just feels better, cleaner.
Facebook has definitely kicked their PR effort into high gear in the past 3 months. You’ll see CEO Mark, I-wear-adidas-flip-flops-to all-business-meetings-and-big-conferences, Zuckerberg’s mug on every pub from here to Timbuktu. And with Facebook’s launch of application programming interfaces (API’s)and services that permit developers to introduce new features and content, the site is expected to grow user base bigtime and at some point usurp myspace in audience. What’s cool is that a Sacks PR client, Arizona-based Terralever was a part of the invite-only F8 launch having developed two cool apps, StuffCloud and FlipBook, available to users.Â
We’ll see how the whole Face/Space “My Face is Bigger than your Space” war plays out. Until then, you’ll find this gal on Facebook, and oh yes, LinkedIn.
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Posted by kathy sacks
I recently interviewed small business guru Michael Gerber for an article I’m writing for bizSanDiego. Sitting down with Gerber was a kick because he is so eccentric, yet wildly smart and thought provoking. Some think he is a whack job–I happen to personally love his in-your-face, ask-hard-questions style. IÂ wore my objective “reporter” hat for the meeting, trying hard not to get sucked into his spell. But it’s hard. He’s really good–and his philosophy infectious.
You see about a month ago I attended his “In the Dreaming Room” conference–a 2 1/2 day gathering in downtwon San Diego where 30 entrepreneurs gathered to talk about our dreams and the fact that none of us really knew what they were. For many, the session rocked their worlds–completely throwing your view of life and your business on its end. It had that same effect for me, but more on that later. Â
If you’ve been living under a rock, you may not know that Gerber is the author of the blockbuster entrepreneurial bible… er book, read worldwide, The E-Myth: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It . He’s got a following like the Stones or the Grateful Dead, except Gerber has more energy than Mick or Jerry combined. He was in Phoenix to speak to a new group here called Club Entrepreneur. I spoke with him on the eve of his 71st birthday last week.
I was talking with him not about E-myth, but rather about his latest venture, called “In the Dreaming Room”. He views Dreaming Room, this conference that he’s now done 23 times, as the prelude to starting any business–the idea being that rather than starting the next coffee shop or ad agency or whatever, Gerber dares the entrepreneur to push yourself to start a company with meaning. A company based around solving a problem. You have to go to and get Gerberized to truly appreciate what he means by that. It’s powerful. Impacted me tremendously, and as such I’ve tweaked some things in my life both personally and professionally.
“A business without a dream is like a life without a purpose,†explains Gerber. “Most entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs are dreaming with a small-d–dreams fashioned from personal expertise and by what is expedient in solving the problems of the moment, be they personal or business issues. This kind of incremental dreaming always becomes prison and can never bring the true freedom the entrepreneur seeks, or the true miracle he wishes to create.â€
Go check it out for yourself. I can’t do it justice. San Diego, two days, enlightenment–you’ll thank me for it.
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Posted by kathy sacks
Every year, a group of angel investors called Tech Coast Angels in Orange Country, Calif. holds a “fast pitch” competition in which aspiring entrepreneurs have exactly 60 seconds to pitch their plans. BusinessWeek wrote about it and recently ran an tipsheet kind of article that reminds us of the importance of brevity, with ideas for CEOs to keep in mind when giving the company pitch to would-be money folks.
It’s an excellent guide for communicating with any external auidence–be it a potential investor, reporter, industry analyst, potential partner, you name it.
In communications, being on message is a critical component to successful product launches and ongoing corp PR campaigns. CEOs and company spokespeople need to be succinct and to the point–and less is so very much “more”. Capturing the essence of a company in 60 seconds is not easy, but it can be done, and it’s an exercise every company exec should work on at perfecting. Sound hard to do? Try it and you’ll be closer to being ready for that media interview.
Some additions I have to their “60-Second Pitch” list, some things to consider when talking to the media:
1)Â AUA: Avoid using acronyms. Reporters don’t know your industry as well as you do. Technology CEOs should watch ever more carefully this habit.
2) Benefits, Not Features: Don’t get stuck on exlaining the whiz-bang of your technology. Instead focus on what matters most: the beenfits of your product or service to your customers, expound on how it makes their lives easier, why people, and customers care about your company.
3) The Magic is in the Message: Stay on message, prepare yourself with the top 3 main ideas that need to get across. Everything you say should somehow connect or as we say in PR “bridge” back to those top points.Â
4) Keep it Short: In the words of Donald Trump ”They [an entrepreneur or CEO] has to be enthusiastic, succinct, and fast.”
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Posted by kathy sacks
Ok, this is too much.
TechCrunch featured a mention on its homepage tonight that compels me to throw up a quick post here. It was a piece on a new service called FlickaDay (yes that’s right, strangely familiar to another photo related site you may have heard of). It’s a startup out of Boston and it’s smug satisfaction with oneself to the nth degree. I mean come on, pictures of yourself everyday? And it lets you update the world on your mood that particulat day–set to music no less.
It’s a bit much. I won’t go on about it and analyze the company’s merits as a viable business, applicablity of the products features/benefits, mainstream use, how quickly it will probably catch on, or even it’s use in social media and PR. I just won’t.
I think it’s just dumb.
Can we love ourselves anymore? And do we need another technology to further quench the self-obsession?!
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Posted by kathy sacks
A recent study confirms what many of us in the B2B world have known for some time–the majority of B2B buying decisions are influenced most heavily by organic search. Yup. Tell me something we marketers don’t already know. Yes PPC works. Yes, traditional advertising can work. Yes, PR works.
How these findings impact PR is that SEO rankings are influenced heavily by links into your site. So the more articles, blogs etc that are linked to your site, the better chance your site has of coming up in top rankings on google and the like on keyword terms. Most of your reading probably already know that though.
Here’s the link to the article on ClickZ that talks about the study. Some compelling numbers here:
In the awareness phase, 65.3 percent of users said they would start their research with a general search engine. That number dropped to 51.8 percent in the research phase, 42.1 percent in the negotiation phase, and 42.6 percent in the purchase phase.
The study found that in the researching phase, a purchaser is five times more likely to turn to a generic search engine for information than a B2B search engine. As purchasers enter the later research phase and start compiling information to begin the actual negotiation, many rely on B2B vertical search engines, such as Business.com, KnowledgeStorm, or Thomasnet, to help gather the detailed information they require. B2B search engines were the first choice of 22.1 percent of respondents in the negotiation phase, and 18 percent of respondents in the purchase phase.
The two factors that remain the most influential to buyers are a vendor’s Web site and a word-of-mouth recommendation by a colleague.
It’s why web content is critical. It’s why updating articles, adding whitepapers, case studies and a newsroom with press coverage are key to a site that gets traction on rankings. It’s why we counsel clients to push news releases out not only to media lists via email but also via Businesswire or PRNewswire It’s a good idea for most every business–not just Fortune 2000 companies. It creates an official timestamp of a newsworthy occurence, and when done well (meaning in a search engine optimized fashion) has a very good chance of appearing at the top of search rankings.
Check out the study for yourself.
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Posted by kathy sacks
Scott Karp’s recent post Google is an Ad Agency Competing with Madison Avenue is a good one. Yes, Google aims to dominate everything related to marketing. Scott’s view of it as he smarlty connects the dots is the first time I have seen the evidence so clearly. As a PR pro, I would like to think that there still is a place for the marketing agency, but for certain, the old model has changed–and will never be back again. It’s why the intersection of PR with technology is so critical. But there still is a place for consultative advice. Yes, small businesses prefer to try to do it themselves, which is where much of the DIY Google solutions will ring loud.
Here in Phoenix, we have seen massive consolidation in recent months as the with two recent examples local ad agencies of old hussle to bring interactive into their toolkits, not as an afterthought as we have seen for the last several years, but as a mainstay in the client’s strategy–a driver in most cases. Nationally, and internationally it’s the same story just with much bigger players.
So back to this Google argument–the players all want to own the kingdom, with Google having the most points on the board so far, despite Microsoft’s aquisition of aQuantive or Yahoo’s hopes and dreams.
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Posted by kathy sacks
Ink is Ink—a philosophy PR professionals live by. Â
Grammy award winning and original American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson is in a feud with her record label as reported by the Associated Press.Â
“There’s always this battle, and it’s not a bad battle to have,” she explained. “I mean, you obviously don’t want yes’ people around you. And, obviously, (Davis) and others at the label have been in the business far longer than I have. So you obviously take their opinions in,†said Kelly Clarkson.
Her outspoken disagreement with Clive Davis’ dislike of her new CD “My December†was originally discussed on MTV Radio. The result was a flow of media attention toward the pop star that could ultimately led to a jump in sales for the album slated to hit stores on July 7. The downfall is the possibility that critics and fans won’t go in droves to buy Clarkson’s new CD. Â
As Clarkson’s fans sit at the edge of their seats in anticipation, there is no doubt her publicist is or should be preparing for a crisis. Or should they?Â
While her reputation isn’t going down the drain like Brittany Spears or Whitney Houston, could the rejection of her new CD lead to a downward spiral of her career.  As an avid fan of Clarkson, I am anticipating to be first in line to buy her new CD. Disappointment is not an option, but for many this isn’t the case. While I don’t foresee her 15 minutes to come to a screeching halt, she will experience a slue of negative media attention if her CD isn’t what is expect from the Grammy Award winning pop star. Â
What would you do if you were Clarkson’s publicist? Â
By Daniel Moran  Â
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Posted by kathy sacks
