I don’t know why the new service from Cision makes me want to play hide and seek. Perhaps because it’s named Seek or Shout? It makes me all juvenile.

But the service itself is not juvenile (apparently that’s just me).

For those of you who have been in the PR industry a long time, you likely know HARO, or Help a Reporter Out, created by Peter Shankman and then sold to Vocus in 2010.

Well, now Cision has a similar service, but it’s for journalists, bloggers, and PR pros. Continue Reading »

Today’s guest post is written by Brad Marley.

You can’t tell a great story without great characters.

Charles Dickens knew it.

Stephen King knows it.

Heck, even the dude who wrote “A Million Little Pieces” beefed up his life story to make himself more interesting to his readers.

While the premise of a story might be the impetus to take a book off the shelf, it is the characters that keep you turning pages.

And this idea of having a strong cast of characters is just as important in PR, an industry that is quickly being transformed from a group of news release-pushers into one of storytellers. Continue Reading »

Right before the holidays, PRSA embarked on a new initiative: Redefining public relations.

An admirable undertaking and one that surely was not to please everyone, they made an impressive decision to have the definition crowdsourced.

There were, of course, some flaws in how you could submit your definition. In an effort, I would guess, to make everything uniform and make it easier for them to get through all of the responses (nearly 1,000 of them).

Last week they announced the final three definitions and voting is open for you to participate.

I have lots of friends at PRSA so I hope they don’t take offense to this: The definitions suck. Continue Reading »

A couple of weeks ago, Steve Cody wrote “You Don’t Know Jack About Public Relations” in his Inc. column.

I know Steve. He and I both are cyclists and favor shipping our bikes to Counselors Academy every year so we can ride with a small group of friends.

I like him. A lot.

I respect the heck out of him for the agency he’s built in the last 16 years.

But he’s wrong about the difference between advertising and PR. Rather, he’s describing publicity, and that’s what is wrong with the perception of our industry.

We are not just publicists. It’s ONE tactic we use in an overall communication program.  Continue Reading »

Today’s guest post is written by Brian Carter. 

I bet you’ve heard plenty about the importance of conversation in social media.

We’ve all heard companies must engage their customers online. We’ve probably said it ourselves.

But is conversation the most important thing in social media?

What’s The Value of Conversation?

Few will question the value of conversation. It extends customer service and makes PR more personal. But does conversation improve the bottom line?

Case studies suggest social companies do better than their non-social competitors.

If we’ve proven conversational companies are more profitable, is it because conversation made them more visible?

There are more reliable ways to reach the masses. Continue Reading »

Today’s guest post is written by David Meerman Scott.

I’ve been in and around the real-time news business my entire career, both on the news creation side (working for Knight-Ridder and other publishers) and the PR side of the house.

The transformation I see in the news business right now opens the best opportunity ever for smart marketers to bypass all the spin B.S. and reach journalists when they are looking for what you have to offer.

Speaking of spin, because I write for a bunch of publications I get several hundred pitches a week.

Most suck.

Why?

Because people want to tell me about their stuff when it is convenient for them. The fact that so few people understand how to reach reporters when they need the information is why I love Newsjacking. Continue Reading »

Today’s guest post is written by Danny Brown.

There’s an old saying that too many cooks spoil the broth.

This is equally true for businesses, particularly smaller ones.

While it’s essential to grow to continue early success, it’s also important to keep realistic with your aims.

Whether it’s launching new products, starting a PR/marketing/advertising campaign, or adding sections to your website, taking on too much will leave you thinly spread.

And, ultimately, less effective.

Instead, concentrate on one or two growth areas, and make them as strong as they can possibly be. This will allow you solid ground for increasing activity at a later date. Continue Reading »

Today’s post is written by Linda Olatunde.

Most nonprofits stick to some of the tried and true fundraising events to support their organization, raise money, build supporters, and gain wider recognition throughout the community. These events are the annual 5K run and the banquet dinner.

As PR professionals and marketers, we take our clients’ requests to get the word out and promote these standard fundraising events in all of the traditional ways.

We get them the local media coverage and we increase awareness for their organization with new audiences and past supporters.

For the most part, we honor the request of our nonprofit clients by effectively getting their message and event to the masses and surpassing last year’s outreach numbers.

We have done our jobs successfully, more money has been raised, see you next year! Continue Reading »

Today’s guest post is written by Jeanine Black.

Gini Dietrich recently wrote about the pros and cons of working for a large or a boutique agency. It made me think about the same arguments for agency vs. corporate sides.

There is green grass on both sides; deciding which side you like best is key.

I have worked at a small marketing/PR firm, as a freelance writer and consultant, and now as the only in-house marketing professional for a CPA firm with 70 employees. Continue Reading »

Today’s guest is written by Jayme Soulati.

Public relations practitioners strive to develop authentic relationships; we want genuine and sincere romance with our tiered audiences, and we get there with engagement.

The word “authentic” itself begs for definition. It was used in a variety of ways by a variety of practitioners when I launched an effort awhile back to define public relations on my blog. Social media allows for creating real communities with give and take, with nurturing and education, and with growth by engagement. Combined, these contribute to authenticism (I often coin words).

Enter automation.

My growing fear is social media automation is quickly winning over authenticity. If you follow me online, this statement comes as no surprise. I have been lamenting scheduled tweets, the success of Triberr, and the disappearance of Twitter banter (nowadays that’s just about anything without a link!). Continue Reading »