Posts Tagged ‘ blogging ’

Staying relevant and successful in the competitive public relations market

With the role of public relations continuing to evolve, it is important for PR professionals to stay on top of their game. We must continue to search for ways to brand ourselves and challenge ourselves to stay relevant and successful.

So, how do we do this? Matthew Royse, author of Knowledge Enthusiast does a great job of answering this question in his recent article on SpinSucks.com. The article is called“10 Tips to Become a More Successful PR Pro.”

Here are a few tips he shares with us…

  • Do your homework. A mass pitch never amasses a lot of coverage. Before you pitch a journalist or blogger, know what they cover. Research their past stories and fine tune your pitch to appeal to their audience.
  • Learn something new. Take a training course. Sign up for a conference. Go back to school. Take an online certification like HubSpot’s Inbound Marketing Certification. You may find out you know more than you think.
  • Become a better writer. Practice being a “headline communicator” by learning how to hook your audience with your first five words. Find creative ways to flex your writing muscle. Become a contributing author to an industry publication. Start your own blog or write for your company’s blog.

Want to know the rest? Read the complete article here.

There are also a lot of really good public relations blogs that will keep you connected to what is going on in the industry. I put together a list of great public relations blogs I follow. Check it out!

  • ComPRehension-This is the official blog of the Public Relations Society of America.
  • 360⁰ Digital Influences-This is the official blog of Ogilvy Public Relations.
  • PublicRelationsBlogger-An educational blog about public relations and its role in marketing, social media, advertising and more.
  • Bad Pitch Blog– This blog is a great educational resource for what to do and what not to do in public relations.
  • PR in Your Pajamas-The site is as fun as the title sounds. This site gives practical public relations advice that can be followed by PR pros and non-pros.
  • PR Squared– PR Squared does a great job describing how public relations, social media and marketing can all be used to create a better brand.
  • BrianSolis– Hands down, one of the most recognized names in the industry! Brian’s blog is a great resource for improving PR 2.0 practices and merging social media with business.
  • PR Sarah Evans-One word: #journchat! Twitter fans know exactly what I mean. Sarah’s blog is all about PR and new media. Participating in her weekly Twitter chat #journchat (Monday, 8 p.m. EST) is a must for social media savvy PR and journalism folks.
  • PRCouture–For the fashion friendly PR folks, this blog is also a must. The blog is also a great resource for jobs in fashion PR.
  • The Flack– This is a great blog for the well-rounded public relations professional. The Flack covers PR in various sectors, including politics, finance and consumer trends.

There you have it. Just a few of my faves! Feel free to add to this list!

2011
01/28
CATEGORY
blogging
communications
PR 101
public relations
Social Media
TAGS







3 comments

Blog posts not getting retweeted? Here are 7 things to consider…

Okay, so I’m still new to the blogging game. Very new. Although I appreciate my retweets and my new subscribers (I really do!!), I want more! Who doesn’t?!? I have a message that I want to get out to an audience of like-minded people. Can’t do that if no one is paying attention to you, right? So, if you are new to the blogging game like me and are interested in learning how to get your RTs up and get noticed, I suggest you check out the below list compiled by Stanford, a writer at Pushing Social.

1. Bad Retweet Button Placement:

Readers can’t click buttons they can’t find.  Also, people will not click a button that doesn’t say, “tweet”.  My retweets sucked until I quit being cute with the button.  I put a large green button at the top of my post. And…Voila! I started getting retweets.  Sometimes the best solutions are the easiest.

2. Boring Headlines

Savvy content curators could beat Lois Lane to a story any day of the week.  In order to stay relevant, twitter aficionados constantly hunt for the interesting, bizarre, paradoxical, and practical.  That means they make instant judgment calls about your post based on your headline.

Your utterly factual headline will get ignored.  However, if you write a neck-snapping work of art then you’ll get their attention.  This isn’t as hard as you think and the web is littered with great spots to find headline ideas.

3.  Mumbling

What?

A blogger mumbles when they write 3 paragraphs of plodding prose before they get to their point.

Most people don’t have time for you to slowly build to your “aha” crescendo.  If you make your reader wait for the punch line, you will never get the retweet.

That’s why I always tell my Blogging Bootcamp students to drop the first paragraph of their blog posts.  Many of them find that their post instantly jumps in quality.

4. Small Audience

New bloggers don’t have big audiences.  It’s simple logic.  No audience = no retweets.  So, before you set your expectations to high, work on driving traffic to your blog.  There are zillions of posts out there that talk about how to do this.

However, I do have one tip.  Start tweeting.  Find the big names in your niche and follow them.  Go one-step further and follow the people they follow.

Next find a tweet chat that focuses on your niche.  Actively participate in the tweet chat and start to build a quality crowd of followers.  Once you get to 100 followers, start promoting your posts.  It will take time but it will work.

5.  Shy Audience

Some people won’t retweet.  They may leave a comment or even link to your post, but they won’t retweet.  Why?  There are a couple of good reasons –

For example, business audiences have to be careful about affiliations. Retweeting your post could violate a company policy.  Other audiences may be less “Twitter-focused” than the social media crowd.  Although they appreciate your post, they hate using twitter.

Whatever the reason are you will need to switch strategies if your audience can’t or won’t use Twitter.

6. Wrong Type of Posts

Some posts are more retweetable than others. Deeply personal, diary-type entries have a tough type getting shared.  Readers feel that the post is semi-private and are unsure if it’s supposed to be retweeted.

On the other hand, the ever-popular (and effective) list post is the retweet champ.  Readers can immediately see the value of “resource” posts and quickly RT it to their audience.

Reviews are also great retweet material.  Last in the list would be the Opinion Post (or the rant).  If the opinion post has a great headline, then it will be spread far and wide.  But be careful, your rant can be so controversial that it could be too hot to handle. Most bloggers don’t mind a provocative post but many will avoid spreading personal attacks or controversy.

7. Your Post Just Sucks

I’ve written my fair share of posts that just fell flat. My muse decided to hide out. Or, I made the mistake of forcing a topic that just wasn’t there.

So, what did you guys think about this post? Good enough to retweet, eh? Well, you see those little buttons at the bottom of this post? Just click on the one that says Twitter and follow the instructions for me, will ya? Thanks a bunch!

2011
01/21
CATEGORY
blogging
communications
Social Media
TAGS








4 comments

POWER OF VIDEO: Video lets man with the “Golden Voice” chronicle a once in a lifetime opportunity with the nation

So, we’ve all heard his story by now. The man with the “golden voice.” He really does have an undeniably perfect voice for broadcast. His tale is amazing. Homeless for a decade, Ted Williams has overcome job loss and drug addiction. He made a living panhandling along an Ohio highway, until his now famous YouTube video turned him into an Internet sensation.

Let’s talk about the power of online video. In a past life, Williams had a career in radio and crafted his voice over the years. Had it not been for a short video that made it online, Williams would have just been another unfortunate story of homelessness in the United State. Online video introduced this man and his voice to the world and made us fall in love with him and his story. This video brought us all to the side of the highway in Ohio and gave us insight into Williams’s every day routine, up until that point. We’ve gotten to watch him chronicle this once in a lifetime opportunity, from the Today Show, his job and home offers to the reunion with his mother after 20 years apart.

So, why is online video so addictive? Are we a voyeuristic society? According to Pew Internet and American Life Project, (69 percent) have used the Internet to watch or download video. That represents 52 percent of all adults in the United States. Online video draws us in and connects people to a moment without having to actually know the person who might be on the other side of that lens.

So, why do you watch? What makes a good viral video? Your thoughts are welcome…

2011
01/07
CATEGORY
blogging
Video
TAGS






4 comments

Skirt! Magazine has a new blogger!

[tweetmeme]

I am proud to announce I recently began blogging for skirt! Magazine. You know skirt! right? It’s the nationally and locally branded Web site, magazine and book publishing company.  Currently, skirt! touch 23 local markets both digitally and in print.  Skirt! has a fast-growing community of women online that are incredibly loyal, thoughtful and fun!

I’m really excited to be blogging for the site. I think skirt! is such a great magazine that really empowers women. I look forward to all the excitement that comes along with this opportunity. I will not abandon MereElainePR, of course!! This is just another opportunity for me to spread the word. I hope you will continue to follow along!!

Check out my very first post!
http://skirt.com/user/20780/view

*Image courtesy of skirt!.com

2010
01/06
CATEGORY
blogging
TAGS









Leave a comment