Posts Tagged ‘ media ’

Blogging Tips: 8 tips to help you make a living from blogging

Blogging TipsYou spend countless hours in front of your computer researching, writing, brainstorming and editing your blog and blog posts. Now, it’s time to see financial gain as a result of your hard work.

The New York Times recently highlighted a few bloggers who are making a living from what used to be their hobby. Based off their feedback, PRDaily has put together a list of eight tips for anyone looking to make a living from blogging.

1. Choose a book- or movie-friendly topic for your blog. Most of the bloggers who are raking in the most dough are those whose journeys have been optioned for the bookshelves and big screen.

2. “My advice is to choose a topic you’ll never get tired of,” Stephanie Nelson, founder of CouponMom.com, told the Times. This makes sense. If nothing becomes of your blog, you might not be making money, but at least you’ll have some fun along the way.

3. Learn how advertising happens on the Web. A major source of income for paid bloggers comes from ad revenue. For most writers, however, the business side of publishing doesn’t come naturally. Learn how Google AdSense works, and become familiar with companies likeBuySellAds.com and Federated Media, which help sites generate revenue.

4. Incorporate video on your blog. This ads another vehicle for advertisers, and it increases your potential exposure.

5. Sell memorabilia. According to the Times article, Hak5.org blogger Darren Kitchen makes $5,000 a month selling stickers, T-shirts, computer hacking tools, and baseball caps through his site.

6. Charge for premium content. One blogger told the Times he brought in $150,000 a month by charging for tutorials and e-books.

7. Ask for donations. As long as you don’t mind resorting to the Web’s version of panhandling, it’s apparently OK to ask readers to donate to your cause.

8. Organize events. Bloggers are charging to lead destination workshops attended by readers.

2011
05/31
CATEGORY
blogging
communications
effectiveness
Marketing
public relations
Social Media
working
TAGS










2 comments

My Thoughts: 5 Essential Skills for Public Relations Professionals

PR Daily recently posted an article titled, “5 Skills Every PR Professional Needs.” Although I think this article does a great job covering the basics, I would like to add five more essential skills to that list.

  • Multi-tasking: As public relations professionals, we often wear many hats. We are graphic designers, writers, editors, event coordinators, webmasters, copy writers…the list goes on. It is important for us, whether on the agency or in-house side, to multi-task. Being able to multi-task well can definitely work in your favor. But, it can also be your downfall.  A good multi-tasker is organized, first and foremost. Need help decluttering your life so you can restore organization? Check out a post I wrote about decluttering your work life.
  • Researching: Public relations professionals need to be great researchers. In order to provide the WIFM (What’s In it For Me) factor for journalists, we must be able to provide the adequate research that lets them know why our news is important, why it’s important for the journalist’s audience, what our news could mean for the industry/community, etc. Research is also important in other areas of public relations, including speech writing, media or interview prepping and backgrounders.
  • Adapting: As marketing and public relations professionals, we must know how to adapt to our environment. Whether through the way we speak to consumers and the media or the extra roles we may take on, we have to be flexible at all times.
  • Understand the business: It has been said that communicators make poor business people and vice versa. Let’s dispel that myth. Communicators need to have a seat at the board room table. When making your communications or public relations plan for the year, you should be using your company’s business goals as a guide. If you can prove how public relations helped the business grow or generate revenue, you are essentially proving your value to the company as well.
  • Understand new media: Online video, podcasts, social media, QR codes, mobile and group coupons…have I lost you? Trends in communications are continuously evolving. As public relations and marketing professionals, we must have a thorough understanding of new media. It’s not necessary to be expert in every form, but we need to understand the uses and appeal of each.

It is important to remember that some skills may vary depending on the industry. So, what are your thoughts on this list? Anything you’d like to add?

2011
03/07
CATEGORY
communications
Marketing
PR 101
public relations
speech writing
TAGS










2 comments

What journalists want: A jam-packed press release

Signed, sealed, delivered…but not read. Gone are the days of using snail mail to deliver press release to your journo contacts. A new study conducted by PWR New Media found that 87 percent of journalists prefer press releases sent to them via email and 79 percent said they were more likely to cover the news if the release included a high-resolution image. So, what else can you include in this email to make it to the top of a journos “possible coverage” list?

When it comes to press releases, not only do journalists want them via email, but they want you to provide them easy access to relevant information. Here’s the breakdown:

  • 91 percent: Access via link to background, bios and supporting info
  • 87 percent: Hi-resolution, downloadable images
  • 76 percent: Verbiage from a press release that could easily be cut and pasted

So, how important is social media to journalists?

According to the survey, social media use among journalists is on the rise. Journalists appreciate the use of social media elements in press releases. Here is the breakdown of what they like:

  • 38 percent: Information about a brand’s social media platforms that made it easy to follow
  • 25 percent: A social media bookmark, enabling sharing and archiving of the release
  • 21 percent: A link to a brand’s RSS feed in a release
  • 16 percent: “Tweet this” icons, making it easy to share a release on Twitter

So, are you doing what needs to be done to have your press releases seen by journalists?

2011
02/28
CATEGORY
communications
consumer trends
Marketing
PR 101
public relations
Social Media
TAGS










3 comments

Optimization is key for search engine success

You do know Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is essential to generating significant exposure for your press release/news or announcement, right? Okay, just checking.

When it comes to building a strong search engine presence for your company or client’s news, optimization is key. Think of optimization as a ladder. The more optimized your release, the higher it will climb in the search engines.  Some other SEO optimization benefits:

  • Potential to gain more media attention
  • Generate more awareness about your brand or your client’s brand
  • Drive traffic to your site (embed those links!)
  • Position your brand or your client’s brand as subject matter experts

According to PR Web, estimates show that nearly 80 percent of Internet sessions begin with search. Here are some additional facts the site provides:

  • 80 million people get their news online every day
  • 100 million people use search engines every day
  • 64% of journalists use Google or Yahoo! to follow the news

Although 80 million people are not going online to specifically search for your brand, this is still a significant amount of eyes that have the potential to see your news or announcement through the right optimization.

So, how do you optimize? Well, it doesn’t take an SEO rocket scientist. Just remember these tips:

  • Keywords: Make sure you are creating great copy that is keyword rich. What are keywords? Keywords are popular search terms related to a product or service. By including popular searched terms in your copy, you increase the likelihood of your news being picked up by the search engine. Need help finding the keywords that work best for you? Try this free keyword finder tool from Google Adwords.
  • Links: Links, links, links! What better way to drive traffic back to your site than to add or embed the site URL in your copy! Keyword rich links will improve the search engine ranking of your copy.  Tip within a tip: In the first tip about keywords, notice how I embedded the Google AdWords link into “free keyword finder” as oppose to just saying “click here” and embedding the link. Remember to include the http:// when putting a direct link in your copy. Without it, your link won’t click through.
  • Online Press Room: If you don’t already have one, you should. An online press room is great for a number of reasons. It’s a great way to build a media library and house news about your company or your client’s company. It’s also a great way to leverage press release content on your company/client’s company’s site. This ultimately increases web site traffic and creates an additional page for search engines to crawl and index.
  • SEO Tools: There are some great SEO tools online that will help you reach your desired optimization results. Seobook.com has compiled a great list of SEO tools. You can find a link to that list below.

o   Search Engine Optimization Tools

When writing a release, make sure you optimize the first 250 words as well as the headline. You want to give the reader a reason to read. In addition to newsworthy content that is written well, embedding links will keep the reader interested in your release longer.

Got any other tips? Feel free to share them!

2011
02/11
CATEGORY
communications
PR 101
public relations
TAGS














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