PR for Start-ups!

Blogger Media Kit Worksheet

I pulled this together for the Savvy Blogging Summit in Breckenridge Colorado. 

Blogger media kit worksheet

Are people losing faith with Facebook?

THE NEW DORK - Entrepreneur State of Mind

Simply awesome - hat tip to Grasshopper.com

Twitter Discovery Tool to check out: Twubble

Check out Twubble - Twubble can help expand your Twitter bubble—it searches your friend graph and picks out people who you may like to follow. Click the button below to get started.

Very cool for individuals or companies who are interested in finding new people who may share common interests and networks.

Vaynerchuck and Kafka - Debate the Future of Twitter

I know that I go to Twitter before I hit Google these days for news, gossip, product recommendations, to understand what people are saying about one of my clients and well, just about everything.

What do you think? 

Oh no, Twitter, my love, my addiction, please come back to me. It has been almost an hour...

How can I get my fix? I feel an update coming on, or is it a tweet now, whatever it is, I miss you.

Do VC's Find you Attractive?

We all know that this is a tough climate for fund raising so today's post highlights some interesting articles for those seeking funding or simply working to move forward on an idea.

This week's reading list:

• VentureBeat: Get a board of directors – even if you’re not funded
• VentureBeat: 5 ways to make your start-up attractive to VCs
• The New York Times: A $3.5 Billion Effort Aims to Help Tech Start-Ups
• Harvard Business Review: How to Kill Innovation: Keep Asking Questions
  

The Entrepreneurial Hotbed - Yeah that's right, it's Colorado

People are starting to catch on... Colorado has a little something special going on and is attracting some incredible talent to take part in the entrepreneurial community and a growing number of startup companies are setting up shop here. Welcome to Colorado where the startup scene is starting to turn heads outside state lines for example, Fast Company did a recent piece, "Why You Should Start a Company in... Boulder." 

As the article highlights, Boulder's current entrepreneurial ecosystem boasts relocated second- and third-generation entrepreneurs like Kimbal Musk, who with his brother Elon (now CEO for Tesla), started and sold Zip2 and PayPal, and now runs real-time search engine OneRiot. One of Boulder's most recent entrepreneur transplants, Joe Stump, left a prestigious position at Digg to launch software firm SimpleGeo in Boulder.

...So yes, there are some exciting things happening in the town known for skiing and perhaps a layover here and there.

Having been born and raised in Colorado, I couldn't be more excited to play a small part in promoting the talent, ideas and concepts that are coming out of our town. To that end, I have joined a team that will unveil a new video podcast network and more specifically a show called NextCast. This show will highlight some of the talent, influencers and companies in the startup scene. Some of our initial episodes will include conversations with OneRiot, BlogFrog and SimpleGeo founders. Stay tuned for links and show information. 

Congrats Colorado!

Driving engagement with video

For today's post, I wanted to share an idea that I have discussed with a number of social media types recently... The idea is that through video, we can actually drive engagement through the use of video on blogs and social sites. This topic is an important one given the interest in customer and social engagement. Imagine if Tiger woods would have launched a video after his trouble began. He could have possibly neutralized the interest in his personal affairs by just posting his own apology video. The point is, people don't often skim through video, and yet we have all learned to skim content. Content can also be void of emotion, personality or sincerity. Video gives us the chance to express our ideas, opinions or observations directly and in a way that written words simply can't. If I wasn't having such a bad hair day, I would do a video of this post :).

To get the conversation started, we recently submitted a "Room of Your Own" discussion for the upcoming BlogHer event on behalf of our client, Gina Miccio, co-founder of Pixorial, and would love to get the conversation not only accepted but started.

Here is a description of the session:

Attendees will look at how adding video to your blog can add an additional layer of collaboration and engagement between you and your audience. Video allows you to share your online persona and engage your audience in a way that text and pictures can’t. Additionally, instructional videos give your audience a better understanding for a topic or how to use a product – in other words they provide an excellent way to show rather then tell.

Video consumption continues to climb drammatically. In August 2009, a whopping 81.6 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video, and the average online video viewer saw 9.7 hours of video in August alone. (source: comScore Video Metrix study: August 2009). Consumer interest is paving the way for bloggers to diversify the way they share information. Video on the Internet does two things — it provides bloggers with a rich medium for communicating with their audience, and with new collaboration tools, it allows users to connect, collaborate and share – thus providing audiences with a level and immersive playing ground.  With costs and size of video cameras diminishing, and camcorder technology improving, anyone can post video with ease. Also, the latest editing tools make it possible for anyone to add interesting text, transitions and titles to their captured video without spending a fortune on complex solutions that take hours to learn. Pixorial will discuss both the ease and benefits of editing and sharing video, whether it’s through Facebook, a blog or even YouTube.

If you are heading to BlogHer this year - go check out our suggested "room of your own" proposal - Driving Engagement with Video. 

5 Resources for Technology Startups - Version 1

If there is an upside to a down economy, it is the number of great ideas and companies that emerge. It is the time when the entrepreneur community reveals its finest through collaboration at meetups, coffee shops and word of mouth. Today's entrepreneur is not necessarily the same as the entrepreneur of the 90s. Today's entrepreneur mix can include the first timers, the serials, the build and flip experts etc. These days, it is nice to see that startups are taking the time to craft a solid business plan, bootstrap the organization and hire incredible talent in the very beginning.

My goals for 2010

My goals for 2010

1. Get email down to 100 messages or less (ongoing)

2. Get printer to work - damn thing (have an "Office Space" moment on a daily basis)

3. Meet one new person a week (IRL)

4. Update blog regularly

5. Clean up blog design (for multiple properties)

6. Hire a designer for MediaOnTwitter

7. Build a project plan to contribute to the PR and start-up communities

8. Better manage my stock portfolio - meaning actually looking at it

9. Work on personal brand - my identities are growing by the day, time to slim down :)

10. Start the book that I have been planning for the last 7 years :)

Okay, now I have them down and public. Let's see how I do.

PC World's Stroymeyer talks about Twitter for Mediaontwitter

In this "Voice of Mediaontwitter" podcast, we talk to Robert Strohmeyer, senior editor for PC World, to learn more about how he uses twitter:

PC World

***Interested in being interviewed for future Mediaontwitter podcasts, feel free to contact me at mhourigan (at) digitalideamedia.com

In this "Voice of Mediaontwitter" podcast, we talk to Robert Strohmeyer, senior editor for PC World, to learn more about how he uses twitter:

PC World

***Interested in being interviewed for future Mediaontwitter podcasts, feel free to contact me at mhourigan (at) digitalideamedia.com

Latest presentation - Twitter for NPOs

Social Media For NPOs

View more presentations from Digital Idea Media, Founder.

Yeah, I got my Google Wave invite - now what

I was so excited to get my Google Wave invite and now I don't know what to do. I came across this very cool video demonstration to the tune of Pulp Fiction. Now it all makes sense.

Warning: some explicit language

Hmm, viral or vile?

There are good viral campaign ideas and there are the examples where you wonder what was going through the heads of the people involved. One such campaign is the Toyota “Yourotheryou” campaign.

What part of stalking is entertaining, maybe I am just old school. However, Toyota is now faced with a $10 million lawsuit after a woman in L.A. was on the receiving end of the viral stunt that helps to promote the Toyota Matrix.

 

 

Viral Video of the Week: Piano Stairs

It seems that everyone is always asking about how companies can create a video that then becomes viral. Volkswagen's ad agency, DDB Stockholm, recently launched "The Fun Theory" campaign to get people to change their lazy behaviors - and nailed it. This video is brilliant and why is it brilliant?

This video:

• captures emotion

• makes a difference/ changes the way we look at things

• isn't outright self-promotional and yet the brand is carried throughout the campaign

What is the most effective social media tool for branding "You"

This Saturday, I will be presenting “self-branding with social media” at PRSA’s Engage ‘09 Event in Denver. The event is targeted at college students who are interested in learning more about self-marketing and tips for entering the workforce. In preparation for the presentation, I would like to hear what social media tools are proving to be most effective for branding YOU.

MediaOntwitter - New Podcast with @AmyFeldman, BusinessWeek

In this week's Voice of MediaonTwitter podcast, we talk to Amy Feldman, Associate Editor of BusinessWeek, to learn more about how she uses twitter:

BusinessWeek - Amy Feldman

***Interested in being interviewed for future Mediaontwitter podcasts, feel free to contact me at mhourigan (at) digitalideamedia.com

Twitter for Business - a presentation to narrow?

I was recently invited by the Denver Chamber of Commerce to Speak at the Business Excellence Forum. This particular forum was labeled as a Spotlight on Social Media and my presentation was specifically focused on Twitter for business.  Listening to the people at the event, it was clear that had the title been something more broad like Social Media 101, I would have had a much larger attendance.

I consider myself a student of social media and as such, believe that there are a number of layers to each social media tool available. I picked Twitter because I believe the opportunities are without limits and jump at the opportunity to talk about the benefits of Twitter and ways in which monitoring tools can dramatically improve the experience. I love to watch a naysayer begin to change their opinion and an advocate walk away with new ideas.

Twitter Talk Radio Interview - MediaonTwitter

Join @aaswartz and me today on Twitter Talk Radio at 12:00 PT where we will discuss MediaonTwitter, some new additions to the site as well as recent trends with media on Twitter and how social media is helping to evolve the PR profession and how companies and celebrities break news.

http:/www.twittertalkradio.com