The Lost Art of the Media Alert

by Jeremy Porter

You hear a lot of talk about press releases as a PR tactic, but what about the media alert (also commonly known as a media advisory)? Before the days or email and Twitter, media alerts were the short form way to alert news organizations about something timely you wanted them to cover. I’m sure newsrooms still get a ton of media alerts, but I’ve seen few posts on the subject. I think the building blocks of a good media alert translate well to email and social media, so here are some brief tips for you.

First, What’s a Media Alert?

There’s a good chance many of you don’t know what a media alert is. A media alert is an alernative format for PR writing used to communicate an event to the media in advance. Think of a media alert as a quick, at-a-glance summary of your event, which gives reporters, editors and producers all the information they need to decide whether or not to cover your story. Media alerts are typically one page (or less) and focus on the following information:

* An attention-grabbing first paragraph that summarizes your event
* Clear identification of all your event details (the who, what, where, when and why)
* Some value-add that makes it worth the time

Why Media Alerts Work

Now first of all, this event probably wouldn’t be much of a media draw, unless the attendees were true celebrities and the event was in a market like NYC, where there might be a large number of journalists covering marketing and social media topics. That said, the format works well for more newsworthy events, such as press conferences, grand openings, fundraiser events, public product launches, etc.

Media alerts work well because they take a “just the facts” approach to communicating the news. They work best when you have recognized individuals or organizations participating in the event. As media professionals are getting more and more comfortable with the 140 character Twitter pitch, it’s of increased importance to be brief, get to the point, and take as little of their time as possible.

If you post your media alert to the Web, you could easily tweet about your event with a link to more details. This approach is being used by smart publicists all the time. Rather than forcing a journalist to read through a news release to find what’s most important, boil your news down to its root details with a media alert.

Do you use media alerts or media advisories to communicate your news? Do media alerts work better for securing news coverage than traditional press releases? Please share your thoughts – or better yet, links to your media alerts.

Art and Social Media Marketing

Even contemporary fine art galleries can use social media for various marketing and public relations purposes. Whether it is sharing images on Flickr or videos on YouTube, there are a variety ways you can use social media.

Where and How To Sell Celebrity Photos

Anyone can join the paparazzi with a camera and a little ingenuity. Have you caught a celebrity in an embarrassing situation? If you have a camera you may be able to sell the pictures for hundreds of thousands of dollars, and even mundane celebrity photos can often be sold. Whether you're a professional paparazzo or you just happen to be in the right place at the right time, follow these steps to take valuable celebrity snapshots and sell them.




Avoid crowds. Pictures of celebrities at events, such as the Oscars or movie premiers, where all the paparazzi are present, will generally be worthless because so many people have the same pictures. The really valuable pictures are the ones that no one else has--pictures of the celebrity in casual or intimate settings--and you'll need to get away from the crowds to get those.

Do some research. Find out where celebrities hang out, what their daily routine is, and where they stay while on vacation. Reading the tabloids or entertainment news is a good start, but to get the rare shots, you'll need to do some extra investigation. Ask taxi drivers, nightclub personnel, and others who might have valuable information. Stake out the celebrity but keep a low profile.

Make your pictures tell a unique story. If you catch a celebrity in a compromising situation (cheating on a spouse, doing drugs, shoplifting, etc.), you've got pure gold. Photos of less damning activities can also be valuable. Getting the first picture of a celebrity baby, or simply catching a celebrity behaving in a way that is out of the ordinary, could earn you some big bucks when selling the photos.

Connect with someone who will buy your photos. If your photos are big news, sell them directly to tabloids and entertainment publications. Look up their contact information on the Internet or inside a copy of the publication. If your photos are rare, but not necessarily earthshaking, you may not have much luck going directly to the publications, so try going through one of many agencies that act as middlemen between photographers and magazines. These agencies can also be found with an Internet search. Keep in mind that they will take a commission for finding a buyer.

Sell your photos as quickly as possible. The longer you sit on a photograph the less valuable it becomes, because either others will have taken similar photos or it becomes "old news." Develop the photos immediately and get them onto the market immediately. In many cases, you are better off working with a professional photo marketplace that specializes in marking of celebrity images, e.g. Snoopd.com.

Establish ownership of your photos before sending them out. It's a tough business out there, and unscrupulous agencies and publications may attempt to steal your photos. Develop your photos and add a highly visible watermark or use a knife to score them obviously down the middle. Then scan them into your computer and e-mail them to the buyer. Once you've signed a contract, give the publisher the original photos without the watermark or score marks.

Negotiate a sale. If you sell your photos through an agency, the agents will attempt to sell them to several different publications in order to get the best price. If you want to sell the photos directly to a publication, you should follow the same approach and contact several publications to start a bidding war.

Make sure you understand the sale contract. What rights of publication are you selling to the publisher, and what rights do you retain? Will you be paid royalties and an advance, or just a flat fee? Read the fine print and make sure you know how much you'll be paid, when you'll be paid, and how your photos will be used. You may want to hire an attorney to get clarification, especially if you are selling very valuable photos or if you sell a lot of them.

Verify that your photos are being used only as agreed to in the contract. Don't let the publisher or agent cheat you out of money by reselling your photos. Check the tabloids and other such publications to make sure your photos aren't being used where they shouldn't be.

Article Source: http://www.wikihow.com/Take-and-Sell-Celebrity-Photos

Where are all the good publicists? Please protect our Black athletes and entertainers.

I am not mad at Larry Johnson, former RB for the Kansas City Chiefs. He tweeted what he wanted and how he felt-as ignorant as it may be. However, I am upset that his publicist let him get away with this social media faux pas. There have been red flags waving that he was on the path to image-destruction. Why wasn't it anyone out there protecting this star athlete who was on his way to breaking records with the Kansas City Chiefs? When your personal image gets in the way of making money-why even have a publicist who can't protect and control your brand? Isn't that what they are paid to do? If he was a "good guy" at least in the public eye, there would not have been a petition from thousands of fans to keep him from breaking a franchise record by removing him from the team.

I am just sick and tired of hearing about these star athletes and talented entertainers doing stupid things that are keeping them from making money-especially when the incident could have been avoided. Publicists what are you doing-or not doing- to protect our black athletes? I am a true sports fan and I love exceptional athletes, but you don't hear about Peyton Manning shooting himself at a club, Brett Favre owning a dog-fighting club in his home, Tony Romo sharing details of his arrest, suspension, and his incarceration on Facebook, or Matt Ryan in a heated exchange with someone on Twitter. I am sure they all have their troubles that are covered up immediately, so why can't our superstar Black athletes?

If Twitter is changing the PR industry, why aren't publicists monitoring what their clients are saying? There are several Twitter applications that help monitor brands and what people are saying. Use them! While the NFL has set up a new rule saying that players, coaches, as well as league officials are forbidden from posting tweets or Facebook updates 90 minutes before the game, the media and fans are still pay attention all of the time. Don't let something as simple as social media or bad judgment on or off the field prevent your clients from being successful. If you truly care, do everything in your power to protect them from making mistakes today that could effect their family, fame, fortune and future.

HuffPo Says the Press Release is Becoming Obsolete

Arianna Huffington To PR Pros: 'The Press Release Is Becoming Obsolete'
By Joe Ciarallo, MediaBistro

Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington addressed the PRSA International Conference in San Diego yesterday. Speaking to a variety of topics, Huffington took the time to call out PRSA for not having wi-fi on site. "Make sure people can interact next time," she said. (HAHA, I love it!)

Delving into PR tactics, Huffington made a bit of a contradiction in regards to press releases.

She stated, "The press release is becoming obsolete...even though we still do it at the Huffington Post." However, Huffington, in comparison to other media moguls such as Rupert Murdoch, is a firm believer in free and open content. "It's no longer about proprietary content anymore, ubiquity is what matters," she said.

She also had the guts to give out her email address to the entire audience, ensuring that her Inbox will be flooded with pitches for weeks to come. After her keynote, Huffington interviewed former health-care PR exec turned whistle blower Wendell Potter. "In my job, I was able to remove myself from the humanity of what I was doing," Potter told Huffington.

What the F**K is Social Media?

What The F**K is Social Media?

View more documents from Marta Kagan.

It all boils down to SEO

Today, I participated in my first speaking engagement teaching a group of real estate agents on how they can use social media for their business. My speaking engagement became more of a discussion and I quickly realized I had to start from the beginning. I called my presentation, "The Power of Social Media Networking."

Before I could begin my discussion, a few members started talking about a new movie released today titled, "Precious." One of them had never even heard of the movie. Since my presentation was more of a freestyle, I quickly pulled up YouTube and showed the trailer for the movie. Interestingly, it led right into my presentation. In just a few moments of watching the trailer, the young lady who had never even heard of the movie, was eager to go see it tonight! That's how easily, social media can translate into dollars. It was a great segue into my presentation.

Real estate, like most businesses and industries today, need a new way to market their products and/or services to new consumers or a larger demographic. While I wanted to highlight using popular social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube for marketing, search engine optimization (SEO) easily became the highlight of the discussion. I was able to connect the PC to a larger screen and I showed the audience real-time conversations about home buying on Twitter, quick searches on Google, home tours on YouTube and even found groups and relevant profiles on Facebook.

I am coming to realize that everything boils down to SEO. Whether it is Bing search, Search.Twitter or using a search engine on a blog or website, are you using the proper keywords and phrases to help others find you? Are you using highly searched keywords on your LinkedIn profile or tagging the necessary keywords on your professional or personal blog so your target audience will be able to view your posts?

Yours Truly, Ella Bee Social Media & PR, on Ragan.com

I was just featured in an article from Ragan.com-one of my favorite PR news resources. I've learned how to be a better communicator thanks to Ragan.com. Once again, thanks to HARO I was able to help my favorite writer from the company build a news story.

Dressing for excess: Is your Halloween persona the real you, communicators?

By Jessica Levco @ragan.com

MyRaganites divulge their planned transmogrifications for Allhallows Eve. This weekend, your co-worker might turn into a lion tamer. Or Cleopatra.

If you’re like me, the primary question you find yourself asking people in October is: What are you going to be for Halloween?

Besides asking friends and co-workers, it’s a good question for corporate communicators. In a MyRagan forum post, we wondered how your costume reflects your communication style and what it says about your personality.

At first, we were a little concerned.

Here’s an answer from one MyRaganite in Illinois: “I’m just gong to tape some angel wings to my ass and go as I do everything else: flying by the seat of my pants.”

But it turns out there’s a lot of you who are putting a lot of effort—and thought—into your costumes. This is a collection of our favorite answers.

And please, let’s keep the list going.

Media mavens


Extra, extra! Read all about it!
“I am dressing up as a reporter from the earliest days of journalism,” says Lila Brown, of Ella Bee Social Media & Public Relations. “I’m wearing a fedora with the paper sticking out of the top that says ‘PRESS.’ I’m carrying around a notepad with a pencil, and I have an old camera with a big flash tower at the top. What my costume says about me as a communicator is that even though I’m young, I wish I would’ve worked in a time when print media was king.”

Halloween 2.0Halloween, 2.0 style
“I’m dressing up as a social media maven,” Holly Frew, at MedShare says. “As a communicator, my iPhone is always in my hand, either tweeting, e-mailing, listening to NPR on Stitcher, watching the latest YouTube viral sensation and then communicating it. I will be wrapped in computer cables and will have Twitter birds and iPhone social media app logos stuck all over me. The premise is to say that I am bound by social media, both professionally and personally.”

You talk; I’ll listen
“One of my favorite costumes is when I dress up as a ‘Chatty Cathy’ doll,” says Carole V. Bartholomeaux, president of Bartholomeaux Public Relations LLC. “When [her string was] pulled, the doll would talk. I’d go to parties and would not speak all evening unless someone pulls my string. What does it say about me? That I try to listen to my clients rather than overwhelm them with preconceived concepts of what they should do.”

Don't Underestimate the Power of Blog Talk Radio

What is Blog Talk Radio?

BlogTalkRadio allows anyone, anywhere the ability to host a live, Internet Talk Radio show, simply by using a telephone and a computer.

BlogTalkRadio’s unique technology and seamless integration with leading social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and Ning, empowers citizen broadcasters to create and share their original content, their voices and their opinions in a public worldwide forum.

Today, BlogTalkRadio is the largest and fastest-growing social radio network on the Internet. A truly democratized medium, BlogTalkRadio has tens of thousands of hosts and millions of listeners tuning in and joining the conversation each month. Many businesses also utilize the platform as a tool to extend their brands and join the conversation on the social web.

Learn how an interview goes with Blog Talk Radio by tuning in tonight at 9PM to hear Elise 5000's interview with comedian Stevie Mack.

What in the world is a pingback and how can I use it for my company?

So, you are taking better care of your online brand. You have an SEO website and you are maintaining your blog. Great! Now what?

The point of establishing an online presence is to attract web traffic, so let's take a look at some tools to help gain attention to your site.

First, let's examine the the world of linkbacks.

A linkback is a method for Web authors to obtain notifications when other authors link to one of their documents. This enables authors to keep track of who is linking to, or referring to their articles. The three methods (Refback, Trackback, and Pingback) differ in how they accomplish this task.

Any of the four terms -- Linkback, Trackback, Pingback, or (rarely) Refback -- might also refer colloquially to items within a section upon the linked page that display the received notifications, usually along with a reciprocal link; Trackback is used most often for this purpose. Also, the word Trackback is often used colloquially to mean any kind of Linkback.

Pingbacks
Drost Designs explains that the pingback system is a way for your blog to be automatically notified when other Web sites link to it. It is entirely transparent to the linking author, requiring no user intervention to work, and operates on principles of automatic discovery of everything that it needs to know.

Pingbacks allows you to automatically ping all the RSS and blog feed directories every time you make a post. This is a very powerful feature if you want your blog to get a lot of web traffic immediately. You automatically gain backlinks to your blog.

Trackbacks
Trackbacks are ways for one site to notify another about an update.

A trackback consists of a link and optionally a snippet of text. On many blogs you do not have to enable trackbacks and just like comments the trackbacks are moderated.

Chris G explains how it normally works.

1. Mary Blog writes an article on cheese
2. Joe Blogger writes about Mary Blogs new post saying it is really cool
3. Joes blog sends a trackback to Marys blog
4. Marys blog receives the trackback and Mary sees the trackback in her comments moderation

In most cases this is all automatic, you just link to a post and it is all handled for you, in others you have to send trackbacks manually. If you use the scribefire firefox plugin you can send manual trackbacks for example. This involves pasting the special URL displayed in the other blogs post.

Why bother?
Trackbacks are like a kind of commenting. You are saying “I have written about this post over on my blog”. The hope would be that the blogger would notice and also if the trackback gets published that people will click through to read what you have to say. Many trackback links are wrapped in “no-follow” condoms but in some cases you get a clean link.

So, what's the difference?
While all of this may be new to you, trackbacks are the old, manual way of doing this while pingbacks are the more modern and automatic way. The old trackback way includes:

1. Getting the trackback URL for the other person’s content
2. Putting that URL into your blogging software’s editing interface
3. Writing an excerpt for what you said about their content

Pingbacks are much easier. All you have to do with a pingback is:

1. Links to someone else’s content

Daniel Miessler further explains that since pingbacks are enabled (both incoming and outgoing) by default on most major blogging engines. Here are a few other differences:

* Trackbacks contain more content, i.e. the excerpt, where pingbacks just have the source and destination links
* Pingbacks are less prone to spam than trackbacks, as incoming software checks to see if the source link actually exists before it allows it to be posted
* Pingbacks use XML-RPC while trackbacks use a standard HTTP POST

Pinbacks are essentially the newer and less time-consuming way of doing trackbacks.

Actress Jazsmin Lewis talks Hollywood career and shouts out Ella Bee PR

New client and Hollywood Actress, Jazsmin Lewis(Barbershop 1&2, Three Can Play That Game, Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns, Grapes on a Vine), was recently on Stevie Mack's Night Radio on Blog Talk Radio. She talked about the beginning of her career as an actress, making it to Hollywood, how young actresses can protect themselves, and gave a GLOWING shout-out to yours truly, Ella Bee Social Media & Public Relations. Listen here for the full interview:

Social media for business now is life or death

As my daily PR tasks focus on social media marketing, I've realized that I participate in social media everyday. There are no 9-5 hours with availability on Mondays through Fridays. Nope. I live and breathe social media whether I like it or not. Whether it is voicing my political opinion on Twitter and Facebook while watching Sunday's Meet the Press and This Week with George Stephanopoulos or finding new ways to get my clients media coverage through an online publication or on a blog, I understand the need and inclusion of social media in both my personal and professional life.

Still, I have come to realize that most companies still don't see a need for social media and search engine marketing. Social media marketing is crucial especially when it comes to managing not only an online presence but an overall brand both online and offline.

An article in the New York Times examines managing an online reputation. Whether you like it or not, your customers are online talking about you and the whole wide world is listening. According to the article, local review sites are reshaping the world of small business by becoming the new Yellow Pages, one-stop platforms where customers can find a business — and also see independent critiques of its performance.

The article goes on to say for some business owners, this is a terrifying prospect that seems more like mob rule than the wisdom of crowds. Negative reviews can hang an albatross around your neck if they appear prominently in search results. Happily, there is a big upside: referrals from happy clients are traditionally the best source of new business — and online forums are powerful word-of-mouth. The review process has been democratized.

But managing your online reputation requires a whole new skill set, including monitoring the online conversation and engaging with customers and the tech-savvy to promote yourself in the best channels. These skills are becoming essential for mainstream businesses. According to a survey by the Opinion Research Corporation, 84 percent of Americans say online reviews influence their purchasing decisions.

Here are some quick tips to managing your online reputation:

~Set up automatic alerts to notify you when your business is mentioned in a review or blog.

~Local search sites are the new Yellow Pages -- make sure your business is listed. The more complete your listing, the more likely you are to get good search results.

~Respond to reviews to show readers that you are listening and that you care about customer service.

~Online reviews are a gold mine of business intelligence. Analyze metrics to get a better sense of your customer demographics.

~Don’t write false reviews to puff your business or trash a competitor. You can severely damage your reputation...and look really silly.

New Social Media Company: Ella Bee Social Media & Public Relations

Random BLOG tip of the day:: Why? Because I care...

You've heard it all before, search engine optimization this, search engine marketing that. You may get it, you may not, regardless you should try it. Step outside the box and try one social media tip and trust me-you will notice a difference.

Sometimes, throughout the day, RANDOM blog, social media and SEO tips pop into my head. (It's a lot going on up there so I have to get it out somehow.)

Tip: Use SEO keywords and phrases to name and tag your images (even if you took the image from Google)

This tactic became very useful to drawing attention to my site Media and Money. For whatever reason, I wanted to blog about Woodstock 1969. I found an interesting story about how Sirius XM created a channel on the 40th anniversary of Woodstock. I found this awesome image on Google to add to the story. I named it Woodstock 1969. I thought nothing of it. I normally don't name the images I post to my blog. Within a couple of hours, this image captured the attention of more than 500 online users. As the 40th anniversary of Woodstock drew nearer, I gained up to 1,000 new online users. I realized it was because of this awesome picture. Since I started to attract a crowd, I added a picture of Jimmy Hendrix and a rare Youtube video of Janis Joplin singing Can't Turn You Loose. Since I first published that blog post on August 8th until today, I have gained nearly 2,000 new site visitors thanks to a wonderful picture tagged by a highly searched term.

Ella Bee Social Media & Public Relations

Lila Brown is the owner and founder of Ella Bee Social Media & Public Relations, a company that specializes in combining new media tactics with traditional public relations strategies. A graduate from Georgia State University with a B.A. in Journalism: Public Relations, Lila has worked in broadcast radio, print and online media and corporate communications. Lila has more than three years of public relations experience from working with companies like 180 Urban Design, American Football Coaches Association, Bloomingdale's, Belk, Comcast, The TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola, and the Atlanta Press Club. Not only has she work with large companies, but has been a great contribution to boutique firms like Public Affairs PR, The Spizman Agency, and Hope-Beckham Inc.

In less than one year of operation, Ella Bee's clients have been featured on numerous blogs, print publications and broadcast outlets. With a specialty in social media marketing, Ella Bee doesn't play by the OLD PR business model. It's all about finding new ways to get your message out to your public audience. Since social media is still so new to so many companies, brands and individuals, we will teach you how to make social media work for your ideas and goals. Still, even with the simplicity of social media comes an even complex model of beating the odds and breaking the rules to find what the best fit is for you. Simply put, we are the social media gurus so you don't have to.

Promoting an Indie Film through Social Media

Currently, I am promoting an independent movie, Grapes on a Vine, through using social media platforms. Based on my research, I have not found too many independent movies promoting their film through social media. I am using tools and social networking sites like Facebook fan pages, Twitter, and YouTube to increase awareness, promote sales, generate a buzz and engage with the independent film community.



See the Grapes on a Vine movie blog.

10 Easy Steps to Increase Your Twitter Following...What are you waiting for?

Everyone wants more Twitter followers, but are you putting in the time and effort to actually attract a larger following? When you first join Twitter, it is okay to to let your account sit for a couple of days to get a natural following, but after that, it is up to you to increase your Twitter following.

Here are ten easy steps to increase your Twitter followers:


1. Let's start with the basics.
Have you listed your Twitter profile with relevant keyword for your bio? If you are a make-up artist, but your bio-which only gives you 160 characters- says you love your dog, Pookie, then you might attract other animal lovers or animal doctors. Your bio is a chance to summarize who you are, so use targeted keywords instead of sentences or phrases. In the make-up artist example, the bio might look like: Beauty Expert | Make-Up Artist | M.A.C lover | Esthetician | Cosmetics | Lipstick | Eye Shadow | Beauty Products | Make-Up Tips | Facials | Salon | Skin Care. All within 160 characters and are highly targeted keywords.


2. What's in a name?
Does your name reflect your brand/profession/industry? I work in PR. My Twitter name is EllaBeePR. When I first joined, the easiest way I found other PR Twitter profiles was by simply typing in PR in the Twitter "Find People" search. Twitter searches profiles by name results. Also, don't be afraid to include your real name on your settings.

3. Follow, follow, follow- oh and did i mention to FOLLOW
Follow as many people as you can. Although Twitter put restrictions to stop spammers, you can still follow as many relevant profiles until you reach your limit. There is a very high chance that at least half of those followers will follow you back. Once a higher percentage of people start following you, you can then continue to increase your following by searching and adding.

You HAVE to search for people. If everyone was waiting around expecting to be discovered, then we would never find each other on Twitter. Social media is all about being active and getting involved. It's a two-way street. They don't call it Web 2.0 for nothing. Find relevant profiles by searching for highly targeted keywords. For PR, I use keywords like marketing, social media, and media to continue to find new profiles to follow. Don't ever get comfortable with who you are already following. Keep it fresh and continue to look for your target audience.

4. Tit for tat
You should have the mind of "follow me and I'll follow you back." It's very useful to building meaningful relationships on Twitter. You never know who you could possibly be ignoring if you don't live by this concept. Just because you don't know someone doesn't mean that person doesn't know someone who could help build your business or share your comments with their Tweeps (Twitter + People).

5. ...somebody's watching me
Monitor what other people are saying by searching for keywords. If you are a non-profit consultant and you want to find non-profit organizations who need help with fund raising, you can use Twitter Search to see what people are discussing with real-time conversations listed in the results. Follow those profiles, offer advice and most likely they will follow you in return.

6. Get rid of the dead weight.
Because Twitter has put a limit on how many people you can search, use sites like Twitoria to find out who you are following, but are not actively using Twitter. Twitoria will tell you which profiles have not posted in as little as two weeks or as long as two years. Stop following people who are not even using Twitter. Also, stop following people who have not followed you back. To find out if someone is following you on Twitter, check to see if you can send them a direct message. If you can't send a message, they are not following you in return, so get rid of them.

7. List your profile on Twitter search directories.
There are many Twitter search directories, but I will only promote two right now. We Follow will let you add tags to your Twitter profile with three simple keywords. For example, my PR profile is tagged under a directory listing for #PR, #SocialMedia and #Marketing. The great thing is that you can change it as much as you like and also search for Twitter profiles under a variety of listings. Also, list your business on Twitter's yellow pages, Twellow.

You can also search Twitter bios with Tweep Search which makes searching a whole lot easier.

8. Bigger is not always better.
Sure, The Ellen Show has 3,123,278 followers and The Real Shaq has 2,145,515 and counting, but unless you are a die-hard fan, I would not recommend following these profiles. Why not? Because unless you are Gayle King, Oprah is NOT going to follow you back. Sure there are larger than life Twitter profiles that you can follow, but be careful not to load-up on too many high profiles if your goal is to have someone follow you in return. When you are looking at lesser known profiles, check their follow/follower ratio. If it's not likely they will follow you in return, then don't bother following. Also check to see if they comment to their followers. Chad Ocho Cinco (@OGOchoCinco) may have 150,000 followers and is only following 400 people in return, but he ALWAYS comments to his fans for his other followers to see. Use the @ sign with the person's profile name for example @EllaBeePR.

9. Shout, shout, let it all out.
Announce to your Facebook friends that you are on Twitter. Anytime I see a Facebook friend update their status saying, hey check me out I'm on Twitter, they automatically get tons of comments of people providing direct links to follow them also. List your Twitter name on all your social media profiles. You can also include your Twitter name in your e-mail signature. If you are in sales or pitching a new idea, it's a great way to track who is interested in you and wants to learn more.

10. Have fun and get involved.
The most effective way to gain Twitter followers, is to actively use the micro-blogging site to interact with other people and brands. If you see an interesting link, click on it and thank that person for sharing. If you are following them and they are not following you, this may prompt a conversation and new follower. Re-tweet (RT) other comments that you think are funny, helpful or that you think should be restated. Always thanks others for re-tweeting your updates and comments. Think about it, if someone RTs something for you, ALL of their followers have a chance of not only seeing your message, but your profile name. You never know who will re-tweet your update and there you have it, an opportunity for others to find out more about you. Participate in #FollowFriday and follow other interesting profiles. Look at the trending topics and engage in the conversation.

Get in there, get involved and happy tweeting.

Don't be afraid of social media

I just participated in a helpful webinar from HubSpot and Shift Communications that focuses on PR for inbound marketing .

Inbound marketing is a style of marketing that focuses on being found by customers. Being found by the customer nowadays means getting picked up by search engines like Bing and Google. You want to be in the top results listed. Since the media landscape has changed from a top-down approach to real interaction and engagement with an audience, social media creates opportunities for PR pros and marketers like never before.

New media uses tools like blogs, micro-blogs, podcasts, RSS feeds, videos, and social networking sites to increase awareness to a product or service.

With more people joining the social media community, it's the perfect time to explore ways to implement social media into your marketing efforts.

The webinar used a great analogy: Think of social media as a neighborhood potluck. Who doesn't love a potluck, the real question is, what kind of neighbor do you want to be? So, even if you want to use a Twitter profile, create a blog, or just read the Huffington Post.com, what will you bring to the table?

You could be:

~The Wallflower who just listens and observes. While this is important for research, without participating in the online discussion how can you expect to get involved with your prospective clients or target audience. You may end up seeming to be scared and insecure. You have to get in there, meet new people, and build meaningful relationships.

~The Blowhard who does no research, participate in social media with no real purpose and has no regard for a target audience. Realizing your personal brand will help eliminate confusion with a more direct focus on a message you want to convey. Even on Facebook, I have friends that I have profiled for advice, a good laugh, inspiration, or just to discuss the day's news stories. How did I come to profile my Facebook friends- many of whom I've never met? Through active conversations, comments, sharing links and other news. If you don't know who you are, how will anyone else?

~One of the gang. This is someone who has done the research, understands their target audience, and is ready to offer insight and advice.

Is graduate school the best way to avoid the recession?

By Lila Brown, Examiner.com

Fall means back-to-school time, but for the recent college graduate, the fall after graduation is a sigh of relief- no more classes. By this time, young professionals would have already adjusted to a new work environment; however, in this current job market, you’ll be lucky to get an interview. Although the economy is slowly recovering, former students who have never considered continuing their education are now giving graduate school a second thought. Many realize a better tomorrow means obtaining an even higher education today.

During a recession, graduate programs see an overwhelming response of applications because people are not finding work or have settled for a gig to make ends meet. According to a 2008 survey by the Graduate Management Admission Council, 77 percent of full-time MBA programs reported that they received more applications than the previous year. Application and enrollment rates are expected to increase again this year. With the unemployment rate at 9.4 percent, are students doing the right thing by attending graduate school to avoid the job market or are they delaying an opportunity to get relevant work experience which may matter most to future employers?

Read more from Lila Brown on whether graduate school is the best way to avoid the recession.

Why you need an SEO expert

Watch this video explaining simple SEO services that can help your business grow:

Why SEO Services and How To Get New Clients Part 1 on Howcast

How Twitter can help your business

Twitter launched a special how-to guide to educate businesses on how to effectively use the social networking service: Twitter 101 for Business.

Every day, millions of people use Twitter to create, discover and share ideas with others. Now, people are turning to Twitter as an effective way to reach out to businesses, too. From local stores to big brands, and from brick-and-mortar to internet-based or service sector, people are finding great value in the connections they make with businesses on Twitter.

If you want to learn what this social networking site can do for your business consider that Twitter is a communications platform that connects businesses and their customers. Now, your business can use the service to quickly share information with people interested in your company, gather real-time market intelligence and feedback, and build relationships with customers, partners and other people who care about your company according to the guide. Individual users can use Twitter to tell a company (or anyone else) that they've had a great--or disappointing--experience with a certain company. Consumers can also offer product ideas, and learn about great offers, deals and coupons.

The guide also offers case studies. Here is a Twitter 101 Case Study from @DellOutlet.

It's never too late to hire an SEO expert

Finally, your web site is complete. It looks great, the content is appealing, but web traffic is not where you want it to be. There may be a problem that you have not considered: search engine optimization a.k.a. SEO.

What is SEO?
Search engine optimization is the process of driving traffic to a website by weighting algorithmic search results in a site's favor. Typically, the earlier a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine. SEO may target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, and industry-specific vertical search engines. This gives a web site web presence.

As an Internet marketing strategy, SEO considers how search engines work and what people search for. Optimizing a website primarily involves editing its content and HTML coding to both increase its relevance to specific keywords and to remove barriers to the indexing activities of search engines.

Hire an SEO expert
If you haven’t completely exhausted your online budget on the web build or online media and can carve a bit more room in the budget for assistance with SEO, by all means do so. It is not nor is it ever too late to hire an agency, consultant or in-house expert to assist you with getting your website up to par and ready for indexing with the search engines. In fact, there are certain barriers that your newly designed website may have that can be overcome swiftly with a bit of hired help. In the long run, this can be worth the additional investment for your website.

Consider the following when deciding whether or not to hire yet another vendor or outside consultant to assist you with the next phase of your website’s development as recommended from SEOChat.com:

-If your website is very large and complex and contains deep content and variables in the URLs, then an SEO or programmer who is knowledgeable in URL rewriting can help you overcome this barrier quickly and effectively.

-If your primary navigation and/or site structure is in Flash, hidden behind frames or composed mainly of images, a seasoned SEO can work with you and your programmer to optimize the site as much as possible and assist you with major overhauls, if necessary.

-If you do not have much actual content on the site (e.g., product numbers but not descriptions), then an SEO copywriter can work with you to create relevant keyword-rich content that ensures people will find your site for your targeted keywords.

-If you are overwhelmed by the laundry list of SEO tasks that must now be implemented, you may want to hire an SEO for a few hours of consulting to help guide you. Remember, you do not need to be the expert here. You are already an expert in your chosen industry. A professional SEO can provide you with a game plan based on their own expertise in the field, which will save you time and money in the long run.

Just because you did not plan for SEO in the first phase of your website’s development does not mean it cannot be effectively implemented after your site has been made live. Always keep in mind that SEO is an ongoing process and can be incorporated into your annual online marketing budget along with things like regular website updates, newsletter mailings to site subscribers and online and offline media planning.

It can be overwhelming to discover that your work is not done once your website is live, but learning about SEO at the end of the project curve, rather than the beginning, is not as much of a setback as it seems. Most website owners already have the tools in place for good SEO and with some relatively simple tweaks to code and copy for the short term, and a comprehensive SEO strategy for the long term, you’ll do just fine.

For more information on how I can help your website or blog with SEO, contact me at 816-267-0678 or by email at EllaBee PR @gmail.com.

Outsource social media to increase online sales

Here is a great article from the New York Times that shows how even musicians are no longer trying to sign major record deals to sell records. Instead, they are looking to create a marketing strategy with an online presence. Artists are reaching out to their audience through online selling platforms like iTunes because the old business model is no longer working. I hope this article inspires you to look into outsourcing your public relations efforts to someone who specializes in social media. Don't underestimate the power of online sales.

According to the article, much of the success of artists rising to the top without signing to a record label has to do with the rise of the Internet as a means of promoting and distributing music. Physical album sales fell 20 percent, to 362.6 million last year, according to Nielsen, while sales of individual digital tracks rose 27 percent, to 1.07 billion, failing to compensate for the drop. Mindful of these changes, in the last few years marquee musicians like Trent Reznor, the Beastie Boys and Barenaked Ladies have created their own artist-run labels and reaped significant rewards by keeping a larger share of their revenue.

Under the Polyphonic model, bands that receive investments from the firm will operate like start-up companies, recording their own music and choosing outside contractors to handle their publicity, merchandise and touring.

Instead of receiving an advance and then possibly reaping royalties later if they have a hit, musicians will share in all the profits from their music and touring. In another departure from tradition in the music business, they will also maintain ownership of their own copyrights and master recordings — meaning they and their heirs can keep earning money from their music.

“We are all witnessing major labels starting to shed artists that are hitting only 80,000 or 100,000 unit sales,” said Adam Driscoll, another Polyphonic founder and chief executive of the British media company MAMA Group. “Do a quick calculation on those sales, with an artist who can tour in multiple cities, and that is a good business. You can take that as a foundation and build on it.”

Is that social media expert, really an expert?

Here is a great article by Peter Shankman of Help a Reporter Out.

There’s a new phenomena of people declaring themselves social media experts. We’ve actually heard from firms who pushed someone to become their resident social media expert because the person was on Facebook. There is no endorsement or accreditation to set apart legitimate industry leaders from bandwagon opportunists.

Social media is a hot topic. We get it. And we don’t want to see people getting scammed by self-touting experts ready to make a quick buck.
There are very few people who could, or should in all honesty, be called social media experts. We’re sharing this list with our networks, including those not yet involved in the social media world to give them a helpful guide.

25 Ways to tell your Social Media “Expert” Might Not Be An “Expert” After All

Social media can teach you any and everything

By Lila Brown, Examiner.com

A new social media platform teaches anyone how to do anything through brief instructional videos. The how-to idea is basic, but the lessons offered provide expert advice to someone who is looking to learn everything or simply looking to learn something new. Watch here:


Founded by veterans of Google and YouTube, Howcast.com shows consumers engaging, useful how-to videos and guides wherever, whenever they need to learn how.

Howcast brings together the personality of user-generated content with the quality of a professional video studio to create engaging, informative, and free how-to videos for consumers. It also offers emerging filmmakers an opportunity to gain experience, exposure, and income.

Howcast partners with leading video sites and experiences across web, mobile, and emerging platforms to show consumers useful how-to videos wherever and whenever they need to learn how to do just about anything.


For the full article.