PR for Start-ups!

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.

The Evolution of PR -- Integrating Social Media into the PR Mix

Here is a presentation that I gave at CSU last night to the University's PRSSA Group.

Evolution of PR

View more presentations from MelissaHourigan.

Dave Taylor and TrackVia -- Driving Awareness Online

Dave Taylor is widely recognized for his writing and speaking engagements on both technical and business issues. He has written over twenty business and technical books including The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Growing Your Business with Google and maintains several weblogs two of which are the The Intuitive Life Business Blog and Ask Dave Taylor.

What's in your social media toolbox?

Here is a list of tools that I have come across that are extremely useful in storing and promoting content whether it is audio, video or text. Feel free to pass on or add to the list.

Are you connected to MR. Peanut?

Was interested to see how the latest salmonella breakout was being communicated on social networks. This story demonstrates how the FDA and relevant agencies got to work online to get the word out.

Officials with Health and Human Services Department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  used widgets, blogs, Twitter, podcasts, mobile alerts and online videos to warn the public that peanut butter manufactured by Peanut Corp. of America for institutional use and for additives in other products such as snacks may be tainted with salmonella.

The FDA created a database of recalled products, which the public could search either by product name or category such as cookies, chips and crackers (sounds like a good case for a TrackVia database). The also used a blog, Twitter and video as well as social networks like MySpace and Second Life (insert flying peanut here ;) to get the word out.

Nice work, let's hope that we see this type of behavior continue!

Tips and Tricks for PR Pros and Mobile Workers

I have been guest blogging lately on TrackVia's site. TrackVia is an online database company that provides solutions perfect for us consultants and mobile workers. Included below are links to two of my recent posts.

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 A Few Clicks from Your Data
December 26th, 2008 

As a so-called mobile warrior, I have put together a few tips and services that I use for surviving those times when you are away from the office but may need to check in from time to time:

1. Wi-Fi Hotspot List - If you are traveling, find out the local Wi-Fi spots before heading out.
2. Twitter/ FriendFeed - Stay connected with clients and friends using frequent updates.
3. MobileMe - Sync your calendar between multiple devices and save copies of those important documents that you may need later.
4. FlickR - Upload all photos that you may need to access later for presentations and the like.
5. GoToMyPC - connect from anywhere to your computer in the office.
6. Skype - make cheap international calls when you have Wi-Fi access.
7. And of course, TrackVia - Save all contacts, excel files and sales leads in the web-based database.

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Next Generation PR - Meet Your Database

In PR it isn’t always about “who” you know… In today’s world where voices are a plenty, tracking “who” you should know is just as important. With a rise in social media and the growing influence of bloggers, the days of relying on a media subscription for your PR activities are long gone.

Most PR professionals subscribe to at least one media database but like me, you probably aren’t using the notes features. I, for one, use a number of media databases and would rather not store my information in a service that I may not continue using- not to mention that many of these services have limited sharing functionality.

I have used a number of databases throughout the past decade or so. Most were server-based and made it difficult to keep records updated in real time given out-of-office requirements. Today I run a virtual firm, Digital Idea Media, with two partners and a number of contractors. What we thought would just be a nice alternative to saving our contacts in Excel has quickly turned into a platform with unlimited ways in which we can track client programs and our business activities.

I decided that it would be best to share a list of the few surprises that we found in using TrackVia for our business:

1. Influencer Database – track all media, analysts, bloggers and record all PR activities (it isn’t just media relations anymore); run target lists and reports on activities per quarter; include images of contacts for tour briefing books

2. Media Database – track all audio, video and blog posts and upload stats for quarterly reporting; provide clients with a quick and accessible record of all media

3. CRM: Prospect/Client Database – track people who work for companies of interest; include background information; add notes for touch points; send holiday cards

4. Client Reporting Tool – keep an editorial or activities calendar and house documents that need approval; house final documents where all information can be assessed by the client or the firm at any time

5. Newsletter Database – track newsletter issues and calendar of ideas; use the mail merge feature to send the newsletter to the contact database

6. Blog Planning Database – create a list of blog ideas and final posts to keep on top of regular posting

7. Planning Database – track all PR activities for the year in one place; record how you did against your goals and keep your “PR Plan” in a living database

As you can see, there are many different ways in which you can use an online database solution like TrackVia. What we didn’t expect when we started using the database was the value in sharing the status of activities with clients, not just with our team as we had done in the past. The TrackVia database allows us to create the fields that are most relevant to our business and, we are able to customize a solid database that allows us to stay organized and our business well managed. We are just getting started and would love to hear how others are using it in our industry or others.

Social Media... See what sticks and do that again

One of my favorite sites to check for tips and tricks is Hubspot's Blog. This week they posted a fantastic presentation "Combine SEO, Blogging and Social Media to Optimize Your Marketing Efforts" (embedded below).

As I often say to my clients, try a few different things, see what sticks and then set a schedule. If you are seeing more traffic from Twitter when you post links in the evening, then continue to do that. If you find that podcasts are driving traffic, look at what time of day you saw the spike, the type of content you were pushing out and the referral sites that were responsible for the spike. You will most definitely find a few surprises and the best part about inbound marketing or social media or whatever you choose to call it is that you are marketing "in the moment," you can make changes, perhaps even a few mistakes but it won't hurt your bottom line if you are able to adapt quickly and produce content that is interesting to your audience.

Probably one of the best pieces of advice I have heard in a while is the idea of paying yourself first. In the context of your profession, this means, write a blog post first thing in the morning or do something that will help to push the things you are most passionate about in the beginning of the day. I hear that this sets the tone for the rest of the day and makes your professional life that much more rewarding. I am working on taking this advice starting in January ;).

How to Combine SEO, Blogging, and Social Media For Results HubSpot

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: business blogging)

ROI of Social Media... the conversation continues

A common question that I hear from clients is how do you measure your social media efforts. As part of this ongoing quest to understand the ways in which we can capture these efforts, I came across a great video from a recent event hosted by HubSpot for the 10th Boston Social Media Breakfast. About 100 people showed up to for a lively discussion. Check it out here.

Online Community and Social Media Events

John Cass has begun a great list of online community and social media conferences. Be sure to send him your event suggestions!

List of Online Community & Social Media related conferences for 2009.

1. Jan Social Media Conference, January 22 - 23, 2009, Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami, FL
2. Health 3.0: The Next Online Generation, January 26 - 28, 2009, Las Vegas, NV.
3. Feb 2009 Customer Reference Forum: 2009 Customer Reference Forum, February 17-19, Berkeley, CA.
4. FOWA Future of Web Apps, Miami, FL, 22-24 Feb 2009, Miami.
5. March O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference 2009, March 9-12, 2009, San Jose, CA
6. SXSW Interactive: March 13-17, 2009, Austin Texas
7. 2009 Media Summit, Date: March 18-19, 2009, McGraw-Hill Building, 49th St. & 6th Ave., New York City
8. Web 2.0 Expo San Francisco, Co-presented by O'Reilly Media and TechWeb, March 31-April 3, 2009, San Francisco, CA
9. April 6th International Conference on Information Technology: New Generations, ITNG 2009, April 27-29, 2009, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
10. May 3rd Int'l AAAI Conference on Weblogs and Social Media, May 17 - 20, 2009, San Jose, California
11. Where 2.0 Conference 2009, May 19-21, 2009, San Jose, CA
12. June TTIX Teaching with Technology Idea Exchange, TTIX 2009 will be held June 3-5 2009 on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.

Social media cliff notes

There have been a great number of compiled lists of tools that communicators can use to get the word out, better connect with journalists and just plain understand what is available in the world of social media. Without a lot of chit-chat, I have listed a few of those that I found quite useful.

• 10 of the Best Social Media Tools - Sarah Evans

• Use the New Google Web Search RSS Feeds - ReadWriteWeb

• Companies using social media - Peter Kim

• Twitter Tools for Community and Communications Professionals - Brian Solis

Thanks to everyone who has compiled and shared these helpful tools. In the spirit of community, let the sharing continue!