Are Blogs Important to My PR Campaign? How To Tell Which Blogs Are Bonanzas And Which Ones Are Busts

In the age of the Internet, everyone has a blog.

According to BlogPulse, there were 152 million blogs on the Internet at the end of 2010 and the trend doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Many of these bloggers have become opinion leaders in their particular areas of expertise, while others have next to no following at all and blog just to let off steam. So how do you know which bloggers to target when you’re promoting yourself or your company and which ones to ignore? I have a few tips that might help you weed out the followers from the leaders: Read more on why blogs are important to your PR campaign →

WGN Coming Up on 90th Anniversary: Flagship Chicago Radio Station’s Longevity Confirms Medium’s Vitality

In a media landscape that is growing and changing nearly every day, most of the players are relatively new. CNN is barely 30 years old and Fox News is a teenager at age 15. Even New York’s WABC-AM radio station is only 60 years old. So when Chicago flagship radio station WGN-AM announces that 2012 will be its 90th birthday, it’s cause for celebration.

But it’s not just about a big birthday or a dazzling history; it’s that WGN is a sterling example of why the medium of radio isn’t going away anytime soon. Over the course of its 90 years, WGN has been with us through some of the key stages of American history and with some of our country’s most beloved broadcasters.

After doing some homework I found that back in 1925, it was the first radio station to broadcast from a courtroom. WGN allowed the nation to listen to the famous Scopes “Monkey” Trial in Dayton, Tennessee, where teacher John Scopes was tried and convicted of teaching the theory of evolution in a public classroom, in violation of a local ordinance. Read more on WGN's 90th anniversary →

How Charlie Sheen’s Use of Talk Radio Demonstrates the Medium’s Influence over Everything Else

Have you noticed how Charlie Sheen has quieted down? It’s not that his public meltdown has slowed or that he’s run out of things to say. It’s just that he isn’t saying it on radio anymore.

I was actually surprised when I realized that Sheen’s daily presence in the news wasn’t just from his tweets or his videos that he posted online, but rather his radio interviews. The meatier comments the media used for their stories about Sheen actually came from his constant calls to national radio shows like The Dan Patrick Show, The Alex Jones Show and a wide variety of morning shows in different cities.

In fact, Philadelphia’s Wired 96.5 FM station – recognizing Sheen’s penchant for phone-in radio rants – flew a banner over Sheen’s house inviting him to call the station. He did and another news cycle ensued. Read more on Charlie Sheen's use of talk radio →

Hollywood Screenwriter, Pen Densham, Shares His Insights on Writing and Winning

How a high-school dropout became a Hollywood success with Back Draft, Moll Flanders and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

One of the things I love about my business is I get to meet the most interesting people who are luminaries in their industries. One person who fits that bill to a “T” is Pen Densham. You may not recognize his name, but I guarantee you’ve seen his work. Read more on Pen Densham, Hollywood screenwriter →

PR: The Engine Behind Social Media How SMM: Is Driven By Public Relations Campaigns

As companies dive headlong into the world of social media, like cliff divers who don’t wait for the tide to come in, I’d like them all to stop for a moment before they hit their heads on the rocks.

In cliff diving, there are no silver medalists. There are those who win and those who go to the emergency room. The same is true when using social media as a marketing tool. People either are embraced by the social network community because of their contributions, or they are shunned for being too commercial and pushy. There’s not a whole lot in between.

As a user of social networks myself, I have discovered that there is far more to social media than tweeting and liking. It’s not about how many times you update your status or tweet your company’s Web site. It’s about the quality of those communications and adding value to the community. That’s why I believe that a good PR campaign is the engine that can really drive social media marketing. Read more on The Engine Behind Social Media →

Talk Radio’s Industry Insider, Michael Harrison, Shares His Insights and Takes the Tough Questions

I love radio. I always have.

Just the variety of ideas and exchange of communications bouncing back and forth in the air; it’s so simple, so elegant and so vital to a country founded on the principle of free speech. I also love how radio has been a survivor. When TV was first invented, back in the days when people had become accustomed to gathering around the cabinet-sized radio in their living rooms to listen to news programs, The Shadow and The Jack Benny Show, everyone predicted radio’s rapid demise. After people saw these moving pictures on the TV screen, how could radio ever hold their interest again?

But radio persevered. When the Internet was founded, radio was once again thrown into the dead pool, with pundits writing the medium’s obituary in advance. But it didn’t happen, and I doubt it ever will. Read more on Michael Harrison →

It’s Not Enough to Use Social Media: It’s Knowing How to Use it Effectively

Imagine yourself at a big cocktail party where many of the people may be potential clients and customers. Everyone is milling around, enjoying the evening and you’re working the room to meet those who interest you. Now, which communication strategy do you think is going to be more effective? Going from person to person, giving them your “elevator pitch” while handing them your business cards? Or simply engaging in genuine conversations about current events and issues relevant to your expertise?

I’m sure you’ll agree the latter is a far more desirable approach to meeting new people at a cocktail party and the same holds true when conversing on a social networking site. I learned this concept from social media guru, David Meerman Scott, best-selling author of the #1 bestseller The New Rules of Marketing & PR when I interviewed him a few years ago. Read more on why it's not enough to use social media →

How Do I Gauge My PR Campaign? Why The Internet Hasn’t Changed The Rules

Recently, I received a question from one of my clients regarding how we track the success of our print and online PR campaigns. In the process of thinking through the question, I realized that the changing landscape of the media (due to the fast face of technology) really hasn’t changed the way we look at these kinds of campaigns.

Since time immemorial, the only way to actually gauge the success of a print PR campaign was to indicate where placements were made and then list the circulation of that print outlet. For instance, if the Tampa Tribune ran your story on a weekday, the print circulation would be in the 150,000 range. On a Sunday, it would jump to 225,000. Now, that’s not to say, nor has it ever been intended to say, that 225,000 people read your article. It simply rated the size of the news outlet that carried the piece. Read more on how to gauge your PR campaign →

Not Making Your Sales? Maybe What’s Lacking Is Trust

In the world of sales, trust is king.

You can advertise, promote, tweet, post, blog and sell like Dale Carnegie on steroids, but if you haven’t built trust with your potential customer, it’s truly a waste of good resources.

Regardless of what “behavioral research” professionals tell us is the reason why a consumer takes the leap of faith to make a purchase, I know from my 20-plus years in PR, that trust is one of the most essential ingredients. And, in today’s marketplace, I believe the issue of trust is even more significant than ever. Read more on not making your sales →

When Doing PR, How Do You Get Past the Gatekeepers to Reach Your Consumers?

I can’t tell you the number of clients who ask me, “How many press releases will you send out for me?” Some want us to put out numerous releases a month, using the tiniest of reasons as an excuse to reach out to the media in the hope that their messages will drive sales when read by consumers.

The problem with this strategy is that in order to reach the consumer, you must first interest the editor who holds the key to running your story. They are the gatekeepers. The disconnect for most people is they think writing and distributing numerous press releases chocked full of sales messages will get them the coverage they’re hoping for. And, it’s this primary misunderstanding that leads to the failure of more PR campaigns than I care to think about. Read more on how to get past the gatekeepers to reach your consumers →

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