MicroPR Personalizes Public Relations

New media is forcing the rapid evolution of communications and is reinventing the science of public relations into the art of “personalized” relations. And, with micromedia further refining and improving how we communicate with each other, PR is going to learn the hard way, that the days of blasts and untargeted spam pitching will get us nowhere with today’s influencers.

Stowe Boyd placed a stake in the ground during the Web 2.0 Expo with the introduction of #TwitPitch, a very streamlined way for using Twitter to simplify the process of booking briefings with companies during the show. It forced PR to distill their message in 140 characters, which, in the process, tightened and streamlined the typical elevator pitch. As Stowe says, “I think twitpitch takes the elevator pitch to new brevity: the escalator pitch.”

It worked so well that Stowe has officially decided to only accept PR pitches via #TwitPitch.

In this turbulent climate of blogger and media relations – or lack thereof – with PR people, brevity inspires and dictates forethought and relevance. It’s what PR should be practicing whether it’s 140 characters for 200 words.

PR not only stands for Public Relations, we’re now expanding it to also represent the era of Personalized Relations. This is the practice of matching our stories with the preferences of those we wish to reach. Yes, it's what PR should have been all along, but it's not.

Twitter is proving to be a marvelous representation of people coming together online to share and discover new information in ways that weren’t possible, or predictable, before today. It has effectively created a new channel for casual conversation as well as a full-blown broadcast network for breaking news as it happens. For many of us, we’ve heard “it” first on Twitter.

What if Twitter also became a hub for newsmakers and influencers to seek information before the story was officially news? With the globally diverse and connected community, Twitter harnesses the true wisdom of the crowds to ask and receive specific information instantly.

Introducing MicroPR.

Stowe Boyd and I are collaborating to find and share new and helpful ways of using micromedia, starting with Twitter, to connect journalists, bloggers, analysts and PR/marketing together in an efficient, unobtrusive, targeted, and productive way.

We’re starting with Twitter in large part because Stowe is already proving that the concept works and also, because journalists, bloggers, and analysts are flocking to Twitter – actively using it more than much larger social networks such as Facebook. (see partial working list below). MicroPR will become the epicenter that connects information, sources, and stories on Twitter and eventually across other social networks.

In Stowe's words...

MicroPR: forcing PR firms to approach us in the open, on open social flow apps like Twitter, and in the small, where they have to jettison all the claptrap of the old press release model. In the open, that can't lie easily, or they will be caught on it. In the small, they have to junk the meaningless superlatives, the bogus quotes that no CEO ever mouthed, the run-on phrases, the disembodied third party mumbo jumbo, as if the press release were edited by God.

Using MicroPR

PR people, subscribe to the @MicroPR feed and definitely follow it on Twitter. You can also run active searches or feeds on Summize or TweetScan.

Bloggers, journalists, analysts, send a public message @MicroPR when you want to reach PR professionals. The @tweet will get an auto retweet from the MicroPR account.

In its Alpha form, MicroPR will help channel information, starting as a service for media to source stories, share their preferences for receiving information, announce change of beats, call for speakers or awards submissions, or anything that needs to hit a very focused list of savvy and connected PR professionals.

If you’re asking why you would need to use the service if you already have followers on Twitter, MicroPR will connect you to a broader, more effective network of resources for stories today and in the future.

Examples of usage:

- Reporters looking for help with on story development can send a tweet, “@micropr Need startup recommendations for story on new micromedia tools. Reply via public tweet to @reportername” (112 characters).

- Journalists and bloggers can declare that they do or do not want to be pitched via Twitter and other micromedia tools. They can also announce their specific preferences for contact.

- They could declare what sorts of microPR they want (or don't want) to receive, and in what mode -- @public messages or direct/private.

- A writer can share relevant beats @micropr beats = #social #micromedia #networks #media #infrastructure #hosting.

- Conference and awards organizers can call for speakers or submissions.

- Media can also block certain PR people who are doing it wrong.

- Other services could include scheduling calls and or meetings, etc.

The options, capabilities, and feature-set will expand over time (with input from the community), but in the meantime, MicroPR is an effective channel to connect people to relevant information in order to be more productive. And, it also serves as one of the necessary foundations that will help shape the future of more personalized and effective communications, teach PR professionals how to listen, respond, and pursue more targeted and relevant outreach.

NOTE: PR, please do not send @micropr messages unless you want that note to be broadcast to other PR people. If you want to refer to it on Twitter, please use the hashtag #micropr.

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Journalists and Bloggers on Twitter Alpha v1.0
Please note that this list is in the process of being updated and corrected and will ultimately reside on a public wiki. In the meantime, please contact me with changes and suggestions, or if you wish your name to be removed from the list. PR, be sure to follow your favorites.

Warning: Only contact reporters and bloggers using their preferred methods and channels. Do not send spam. Doing so will not only get you blacklisted, but will also get you blocked on Twitter.

Stowe says it best, "On Twitter, I will simply block people that abuse my willingness to have an open dialog about products with PR folks, or basically anyone else, for that matter."

Reporter	Publication	Followers	Twitter ID

Adam Boulton	Sky News UK	93	@skynewsboulton
Allen Stern	CenterNetworks	2408	@centernetworks
Amanda Congdon	AmandaCongdon.com	1398	@amazingamanda
Ana Marie Cox	Time.com	1733	@anamariecox
Arthur Germain	Brand Telling	35	@ahg3
Bicyclemark	Citizen Reporter	396	@bicyclemark
Brent Terrazas	Brentter.com	152	@brentter
Brian Morrissey	Adweek	911	@brianmorrissey
C Kirkham	Times-Picayune	40	@ckirkham
Caroline McCarthy	News.com	1329	@caroliiine
D Sarno	L.A. Times	103	@dsarno
Dan Farber	CNET	704	@dfarber
Dan Thomas	WSJ	48	@danthomas100
Daniel Terdiman	Cnet	452	@greeterdan
Darren Waters	BBC News	539	@djwaters1
Dave Slusher	Evil Genius Chronicles	409	@geniodiabolico
Dave Winer	Media Hacker	8760	@davewiner
David Griner	Luckie.com	151	@griner
David Lidsky	Fast Company	34	@ASTfan2006
David Wescott	Its Not A Lecture Blog	435	@dwescott1
Dawn Foster	Fast Wonder	497	@geekygirldawn
Doc Searls	Searls.com	1938	@dsearls
Duncan Riley		2164	@duncanriley
Dwight Silverman	Houston Chronicle	839	@dsilverman
Elisabeth Lewin	PodcastingNews	565	@podcastmama
Etan Horowitz	Orlando Sentinel	209	@etanowitz
Gabe Rivera	Techmeme	1478	@gaberivera
Ginny Skal	NBC 17 Raleigh	413	@ginnyskal
Graeme Thickins	Tech~Surf~Blog	140	@graemethickins
Harry McCracken		239	@harrymccracken
Heather Green	BusinessWeek	282	@heatherlgreen
Henry Blodget	Silicon Alley Insider	169	@hblodget
Houston Chronicle	Houston Chronicle	57	@houstonchron
Hugh MacLeod	Gaping Void	5704	@gapingvoid
Jason Calacanis	Mahalo	22998	@jasoncalacanis
Jemima Kiss	JemimaKiss.com + The Gaurdian	1301	@jemimakiss
Jim Long	NBC	5362	@newmediajim
Jim Louderback	Revision3	1129	@jlouderb
Jimmy Wales	Wikipedia	2017	@jwales
John Dickerson	Slate	1060	@jdickerson
John Dvorak	Dvorak Blog	12720	@therealdvorak
Justin Beck	SF Chronicle	6	@sfc_justinbeck
Kara Andrade	Maynard Institute	120	@newmaya
Kara Swisher	AllThingsD.com	611	@karaswisher
Katie Fehrenbacher	Earth 2 Tech	71	@katiefehren
Kevin Allison	Financial Times	92	@kevinallisonft
Kevin Rose	Digg	23335	@kevinrose
Kristen Nicole	Mashable	761	@kristennicole2
Laura Lorek	My San Antonio Blog	117	@lalorek
Lee Sherman	Avenue A -Razorfish	174	@lsherman
Leo Laporte	Leoville.com	26717	@leolaporte
Lisa Picarille	Revenue Magazine	408	@lisap
Liz Gannes	GigaOm	511	@ganneseses
Loren Steffy	HoustonChronicle	111	@lsteffy
Louis Gray	LouisGray.com	814	@louisgray
Marc Canter	Marc’s Voice	668	@marccanter4real
Mark Glaser	PBS	267	@mediatwit
Mark Hopkins	Mashable	954	@rizzn
Mark Krynsky	Lifestream Blog	326	@krynsky
Marshall Kirkpatrick	Read Write Web	2670	@marshallk
Mathew Ingram	MathewIngramBlog	1035	@mathewi
MG Siegler	Paris Lemon + ReadWriteWeb	1062	@parislemon
Michael Banovsky	Banovsky Blog	105	@michaelbanovsky
Mike Arrington	TechCrunch	13777	@techcrunch
Mike Butcher	TechCrunch UK	1627	@mbites
Molly Wood	CNET	5483	@mollywood
Natali del Conte	CNET	130	@cnetloaded
Nick Gonzalez	TechCrunch Contributor	228	@nickgonzalez
Om Malik	GigaOM	2401	@om
Owen Thomas	Valleywag	113	@owenthomas
Pete Cashmore	Mashable	6611	@mashable
Peter Rojas	Engadget	740	@peterrojas
Rafe Needleman	Webware	3427	@rafe
Richard MacManus	ReadWriteWeb	1602	@rww
Robert Scoble	Fast Company	22034	@scobleizer
Robert W. Anderson	Expert Texture	114	@rwandering
Ryan Block	RyanBlock.com	2493	@ryanblock
Sam Whitmore	Media Survey	250	@samwhitmore
Sarah Lacy	BusinessWeek	2516	@sarahcuda
Sarah Perez	Read Write Web	837	@sarahintampa
Saul Hansell	NY Times	133	@shansell
Steve Baker	BusinessWeek	363	@stevebaker
Steve Gillmor	eWeek	2004	@stevegillmor
Steve Spaulding	How to Split an Atom	857	@sbspalding
Stewart Alsop	StewartAlsop.com	362	@salsop
Stowe Boyd	/Message	2866	@stoweboyd
The Guy Report	ESPN, Playboy	21	@theguyreport
Tod Maffin	CBC	695	@todmaffin
Tom Merritt	CNET	4241	@acedtect
Veronica Belmont	Revision3	14147	@veronica
Wayne Sutton	NBC 17 Raleigh	3387	@waynesutton

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I’d also like to specifically thank Chris Peri (on Twitter) for helping us with the process of retweeting and also Todd Defren, Sam Whitmore, Chris Lynn, Brad Mays, and many, many others for contributing to the directory of media actively using Twitter today.

Additional Resources on PR 2.0:

- In Blogger and Media Relations, You Earn the Relationships You Deserve
- The Evolution of Press Releases
- Making Mistakes and Amends in Blogger and Media Relations
- PR 2.0: Putting the Public Back in Public Relations
- Free ebook: The Art and Science of Blogger Relations
- Dear Chris Anderson, an Open Letter to Make Things Right

Connect with me on Twitter, Jaiku, LinkedIn, Pownce, Plaxo, FriendFeed, or Facebook.

twitter micropr stowe+boyd pr public+relations pr+2.0 public relations 2.0 brian+solis blogger blog blogger+relations micromedia pitch expert guru communications marcom media2.0 media+2.0 social+media social tools sociology marketing publicity promotion publicist influencer

TechCrunch: The Evolution of Press Releases

Thank you to Erick Schonfeld and Michael Arrington for giving me the opportunity share my vision, and experience, on the evolution of the press release on TechCrunch.

There's certainly no shortage of opinions on where we are and where we need to be in order to improve the working relationships between PR and bloggers, journalists, and analysts and the brands we ultimately represent - including our own.

There are just better ways to share information, and hopefully, this post helps you.

Press releases come in different flavors and serve different purposes. Well-written press releases are far from dead. In fact, when developed strategically, their opportunities, appeal and benefits are only expanding in conjunction with the groups of various influencers and consumers who rely on them for relevant information.

The disruption of the Web has splintered press releases into a variety of formats to serve different audiences and different purposes: Traditional releases for media, SEO (search engine optimized) releases for customers, and Social Media Releases for press, bloggers, and also customers.

Customer-Focused News Releases

Companies and marketers can use distribution services to complement releases written for journalists and bloggers to reach customers directly through traditional search engines as well as news aggregation services such as Techmeme.

Over the course of the last several months, BusinessWire and PRNewswire have consistently ranked in the top 100 sources for news in Techmeme’s Leaderboard.

And, according to a recent Outsell study, over 51% of IT professionals reported that they get their news from press releases in Yahoo and Google news over trade journals.

It’s not just tech. When implemented with calls and links to action, and if they read in a way that’s compelling to people aka customers, you’ll find that they’re usually compelled to act.

The trick for this new breed of press releases is to write it as the article you want to read. Keep it clean, clear, pseudo impartial, but definitely focused on benefits for specific customers. Basically, humanize the story.

Here’s a rundown of the different formats of press releases:

Traditional Releases

Standard press releases are what many reporters and bloggers use to build their stories. Let’s help them help us in the process.

When expanding your news or story into a press release, it’s also important to recognize that a majority of the wording templates that we all use still suck. But, there’s room in our activity for a well-written release that conveys value, benefits and a story that’s relevant to each recipient. It’s easier said than done however. Most press releases are driven by product development, which begets an inward and narrowly focused view from life inside the company. The final release usually winds up riddled with adjectives, tech jargon, and hype with very little value stringing everything together.

The best releases are going to be outward-focused and reflective of the state of the market, how you fit in it, and what’s in it for the potential stakeholders (customers).

Oh, and please, can the “canned” quotes. We all know you’re excited and thrilled at whatever it is you’re announcing. But, if the quote isn’t genuinely from the person saying it and bears little or no value to the implications of the news, then it only takes away from it. It’s OK to leave it out.

I guess the best advice is to make the release read like the article that you would ultimately like to see, worrying less about structure and format and more about news, the story, and the supporting facts (and media elements) that help writers build the story more effectively. And, try to keep the release between 400 – 500 words or lower.

SEO Press Releases

Releasing press releases on wire services such as PRNewsire, BusinessWire, and MarketWire offer additional value in the form of SEM (search engine marketing). Integrating key words, phrases and embedded links optimize their “findability” and rank within traditional search engines such as Google or Yahoo. In this case, the greatest targets for SEO releases are actually customers, not journalists.

As noted previously, customers use search engines to find solutions and often, press releases provide them with the information they need to make decisions.

Many say that if you’re not on the first two pages of search results, then your company is losing the battle for online mindshare. SEO releases contribute to the authority of related search results, but keep in mind that other factors contribute as well, such as keyword buys, keywords on your Web site, affiliate strategies, as well as other tools and campaigns.

When drafting the release, ensure that your top keywords are included towards the front of the release, especially in the headline and subhead, as well as the boilerplate. Choose up to three words and repeat through the release – especially in the boilerplate. Search engines seem to pay more attention to the natural bolded words as well as the repeated words toward the top of press releases (first half).

It’s also extremely helpful to use those keywords as anchor text to link back to strategic landing pages on your Website, ensure that those pages are also keyword optimized as well. It’s important not to overuse each word or over link.

Keyword density, the number of times a keyword or phrase appears compared to the total number of words in a page, is optimized between 2-8% according to experts. I’ve erred in the middle of that ratio.

Include industry and product names and categories in place of generic descriptors such as, “the product,” “the solution,” and “the company,” throughout the release, without ruining the flow. We want to match our keywords to correlate with the real world patterns of how people search.

Also, be sure to link rich media so that your key words show up in content-specific search engines as well.

If you need help determining the best keywords for your business, here are some resources:

SEO Tools (my favorite)
- WordTracker
- Google AdWords
- Google Trends
- BlogPulse Trends The ideal length of this release is usually sub 400 words.

Social Media Releases

You may have heard about the latest new shiny object in PR…no not Twitter, I’m talking about the Social Media Release. Originally introduced by Todd Defren in response to Tom Foremski’s call for the death of press releases, the SMR represents a new socially-rooted format that complements traditional and SEO press releases by combining news facts and social assets in one, easy to digest, and repurpose, tool.

Giving everyone what they need and how they need it, requires a different approach. Almost every press release issued today is done so without video or audio, and many still do not include links to additional information or supporting content. While these multimedia pieces are underlying components of SMRs, it’s not just about multimedia content, it’s about connecting information across social networks, the people looking for it, as well as the conversations that bind them together. And, SMRs also help bloggers and online journalists more effectively write a rich media post using one resource that provides them with everything they need.

Picture an everyday blog post, with a headline, intro paragraph, news facts, genuine quotes, and supporting market data (with links) combined with embedded socializable content, such as video from Viddler, pictures from flickr, screencasts hosted at YouTube, supporting documents piped from Docstoc, the use of social tools to bookmark, relevant tags for indexing and discoverability, subscriptions via RSS, friending company contacts via LinkedIn or Facebook, and most importantly, the ability to take compartmentalized components of the SMR to use as building blocks for a new story (embed codes).

SMRs can also include other social elements such as trackbacks, the ability to track and host comments, and also they’re findable within social media search engines such as Technorati, Google Blog Search, BlogPulse, Yacktrack, and Ask Blog Search.

Like SEO releases, SMRs also offer a new and perhaps unforeseen benefit. Much in the same way that SEO releases provide assistance to customers seeking solutions through search, SMRs offer similar benefits through social channels. The difference is, how people interact with it, discover it and also the tools they use to share and re-broadcast it.

Basically a Social Media Release should contain everything necessary to share, discover, and retell a story in a way that is complementary to your original intent and context.

Social Media Releases should not cross the wire though. They should, however, be hosted on a specific company blog channel dedicated to SMRs in order to complement traditional releases, SEO releases, company blog posts, and all other outward focused communications. Any customizable blogging platform will more than serve as an effective, and social, platform. Note, that a traditional web page isn’t necessarily social, so any published SMRs on a standard Web site will most likely not appear in social search.

My personal “secret” on SMRs is to create a fully dressed up social release under a private, non-indexed URL to share with key contacts in advance of the announcement. This gives bloggers and journalists everything they need to create an online story while minimizing the need to force additional research. Once the news is public, the SMR goes live with links to the traditional and SEO releases, company blog posts and in turn each also link back to the SMR. Also, wherever the social content is hosted, i.e. YouTube, Flickr, Scribd, Utterz, etc., should link to the SMR in order to create a seamless conversation bridge.

Click here for everything you ever wanted to know about SMRs and more.

In regards to all of the releases above, there is a note of caution however, the same tools that help you expand visibility, can also set up for failure. Wire services only edit for typos, not for content. This means that you can publish a release riddled with hyperbole, spin, buzzwords, and hype that will only serve to confuse and dissuade your customers from doing business with you. It will send them to your competition.

Connect with me on Twitter, Jaiku, LinkedIn, Pownce, Plaxo, FriendFeed, or Facebook.

social+media+release social+media social media release smr smpr pr press+release brian+solis techcrunch pr+2.0 pr2.0 media+2.0 media2.0 2.0 public+relations publicity news+release news press communications blogger+relations blogger blog socialmedia hrelease seo search

Making Mistakes and Amends in Blogger and Media Relations

In the rapidly shifting era of blogger and media relations, we can expect one thing to occur as we forge ahead, mistakes. It happens to the best and the worst of us.

This isn’t a generic post on how not to make mistakes, or if you do, how to apologize, per se. This is an example of true transparency and public soul searching that will hopefully help and inspire PR practitioners, journalists, and bloggers to learn from the mistakes of others – and hopefully work together when unintentional or harmless mistakes are made.

Let’s talk about transparency for a moment. You hear that word a lot across the socialmediasphere – almost to the point where it may be losing its original value and intent.

Transparency = sharing the bad things as well as the good.

Here’s an example of transparency in action:

I blog passionately and incessantly about how to work with media and bloggers in ways that foster relationships and humanize the process of storytelling. I also run a public relations agency. It cuts deep when one of your own makes a mistake.

Yes, I’m one of the louder voices on media and blogger relations, so there’s a sense of irony here when someone who works with me is the subject of this post. For this to be verbally called out to me, as if I already didn’t make the connection on my own, well, it hurts. But, it’s fair and I’ll take it on the chin.

Nowadays, any mistake made in PR is really an occupational hazard where one wrong move can cause a domino effect that has the potential to eradicate months or even years of hard work.

In (their) defense, this person did not blast a generic media list generated through a PR database, nor did this person send information to someone who doesn’t cover or write about products in the space. This predicament is representative of something many of us haven’t really discussed, but it’s worth exploring – as this is likely to occur industry-wide.

So here’s the question:

Is any form of unsolicited email considered spam even if you’re sharing relevant information to one person or a group of people? Or, would you consider the sharing of related content more along the lines of “Bacn,” and if so, would you react differently knowing that the person reaching out to you at least went through an initial exercise of connecting the dots?



Let’s take a quick look at the differences of each:

Spam is intrusive, shotgun-style blasting that usually favors quantity versus quality – meaning, that it doesn’t take into account your interests or preferences.

Bacn (introduced to me by Chris Brogan) stems from the idea that it is better than spam, but not as good as a personal e-mail. Bacn differs from spam in that the emails are not unsolicited: the recipient has somehow signed up to receive it. Bacn is also not necessarily sent in bulk – Wikipedia.

Tofu (new category – suggested name) is email that is sent individually to people who are pre-qualified or identified as being related to, or interested in, a particular category or topic. Or, they have made their email publicly available on their site, thus intentionally or inadvertently inviting contact. I’m not sure what to call it, but the idea for tofu was inspired by the fact that we can almost make it taste like something else, but at the end of the day, it’s still not the real thing.

The difference between Bacn and Tofu is that these emails are somewhat personalized and related to a particular event or milestone, but are usually unsolicited and sent to multiple people as an update, a request for meeting, or seek other forms of response. It isn’t categorized as spam because it is not an automated process and the lists of people (recipients) are hand-built and individually sent.



There’s a fine line between outreach being categorized as “not unsolicited” and getting aligned with a particular topic (pitch) based on employment, experience and writing history. In this case, one more step of due diligence would have brought the thin line into focus and prevented this issue altogether. That lesson was immediately learned and heartfelt.

But in this case, and I have to imagine it is not unique, this is email aligned more with the definition of Bacn and Tofu versus Spam. Now, at the end of the day, the devastating response and ensuing fallout clearly indicated that the differences didn’t matter. So in a world where perception is 9/10ths of the law, then “personalized," yet unsolicited email is still regarded as Spam. Even if thought and research went into the process, it is still unacceptable – as it should be.

What do we learn from this?

If you’re following the recipe to success in blogger and media relations, then you can’t stop short of following the most important steps of doing things the right way. You can still deviate from the original steps in order to add personal flavor, but cutting corners only ruins the experience and the taste with which we’re ultimately left.

Truth is, many, if not most, PR people still spam. I have an inbox full of examples of real PR spam, with only 10%, at best, showing signs of promise, and maybe another 5%, falling into the Tofu category. The honest answer is that if you’re looking at the process of shifting from automated outreach to one-on-one pitching, then the road from here to there may seem endless and improbable. If you start on the path and decide that 1/2 way is sufficient, then you may want to glance ahead and realize that the right way to do things is just ahead of you. That’s where you need to be.

There are real consequences for not truly engaging with people one-on-one with a real sense of purpose.

The differences, and the answers, are discoverable by reading the work of bloggers and reporters before you reach out instead of simply aligning them with particular topics or industries. This is about building relationships and rising above the fray. If you’re not interested in the industry, product, or service you represent, or what the most influential voices have to say about the subject, then do us all a favor and pursue your dreams elsewhere.

This isn’t about collecting a paycheck. We represent companies as if they’re our own. We’re entrusted with the responsibility of carrying that brand forward and protecting its integrity. And, it’s also about your personal brand too. It’s yours to define. Own it. Shape it. Cultivate it.

I’d like to think that we’re intelligent people, and I truly don’t believe that the only way to learn new things is by burning our hands on a hot stove until we finally figure out that we’re doing it wrong.

We’re all in this together.

When mistakes are made, and no, we’re not perfect, it’s how we address them that define character – on both sides.



Sometimes saying sorry is not enough. However, saying sorry should count for a lot, especially when the intent was genuine. And an apology is the first step in learning a lesson and mending the relationship. We’re only human, and as long as there are real people on both sides of the equation, then an opportunity for understanding, empathy, and advancement should prevail.

As stated earlier, there’s a difference between spam and pre-qualified outreach and it’s all rooted in genuine (albeit partial) intent. Nothing beats homework and real one-on-one conversations that show; 1) You know who you’re talking to and why what you represent matters to them and their readers; 2) You packaged the story specific to their preferences; 3) You are an expert in the field in which you work and you are knowledgeable about the playing field and the players who also define the space; and 4) You disdain the taste of spam, bacn, or tofu – in principle anyway.

I don’t know about you, but I’m always learning and observing each and every day. Today, we learned a lesson the hard way and I’m sharing this experience to help raise the bar industry-wide.

The tolerance for mistakes is razor thin and the attention span of those we wish to reach is even thinner. If the pressure is on you to generate results in bulk, then the onus is on you to also push back and contribute to the resetting of a dying breed of unrealistic expectations and relationship-damaging pressure.

Gone are the days of the boiler room and the blast mentality associated with faceless PR. Now more than ever, relationships count for everything and nothing substitutes for personal experience, wisdom, expertise, and perspective.

The future of PR is personal and conversational. Get used to it.

UPDATES:

All Things Digital runs this post in the "Voices" column.

Stowe Boyd shares his thoughts in, "The Growing Backlash Against PR Spam, And The Rationale For MicroPR."

Jeremy Toeman adds his voice to the subject, "Hey bloggers, tell us how to pitch you!"

Additional Resources on PR 2.0:
- In Blogger and Media Relations, You Earn the Relationships You Deserve
- Free ebook: The Art and Science of Blogger Relations
- The New Rules for Breaking News
- The New Rules of Breaking News, Beware of Embargoes
- Building Relationships with Bloggers
- Dear Chris Anderson, an Open Letter to Make Things Right
- PR 2.0 = The Evolution of PR, Nothing Less, Nothing More

Connect with me on Twitter, Jaiku, LinkedIn, Pownce, Plaxo, FriendFeed, or Facebook.

Pr pr+20 pr2.0 brian+solis public+relations media2.0 media+2.0 social+media guru expert social media 2.0 conversations conversational blogger blog press relations relationship marketing publicity communications marcom blogger+relations sorry bacn tofu spam email

Social Media Continues to Rival Traditional Media

As each day passes, we're presented with new information that documents the decline of traditional media in favor of online counterparts and new media competitors. It seems that newspapers are among the hardest hit with circulation and print advertising down - forcing layoffs across the country.

The Newspaper Association of America (NAA) recently released a study showing newspaper Web sites attracted an average of about 66 million unique visitors in the first quarter, up about 12 percent over the same period a year ago.

The problem for publishers has been turning that online traffic growth into revenues. Online advertising at newspapers grew 18.8 percent last year, according to NAA figures, but that wasn’t enough to offset a 9.4 percent decline in print advertising. Total newspaper advertising last year, print and online, declined 7.9 percent.

Is Social Media to blame for the erosion in traditional media consumption and advertising revenues? Is the appeal of participating in news and relevant stories or the prospect of content creation more attractive to the thin attention span of today's Web-savvy consumer?

Facebook vs. Youtube vs. Twitter vs. Blogger vs. New York Times

While we hear often about the rise in traffic and revenue at the more popular social networks such as Facebook, Bebo, LinkedIn, and MySpace, we rarely hear about adoption and engagement metrics associated with the evolution of Social Media.

Theresa Houlihan and Tom Smith of Universal McCann, a division of the Interpublic Group, sent over an interesting global study of how Social Media is challenging traditional media supported by numbers.

The survey features the responses from 17,000 people, between the ages of 16 - 54, in 29 countries. The end result, no surprise, is that social media is moving from the edge to the center of global media consumption

In South Korea – the market that’s leading the world in digital trends – 77% of internet users read blogs each week compared to just 58% reading the mainstream press.

Globally 73% of internet users are reading blogs with 48% including these consumer-generated content in their weekly media diet.

Some of the adoption rates are simply staggering:

- 83% watch video clips, up from 62% in the last study in June 2007
- 78% read blogs, up from 66%
- 57% of internet users are now members of a social network
- RSS consumption is growing rapidly up from 15% to 39%
- Podcasts are now mainstream digital content, listened to by 48%

Social media is a global phenomenon, and the U.S. is not leading the evolution:

- Top markets for blogs – China 70% of Web users write a blog, Philippines 66%, Mexico 60%
- Top markets for social networking – Philippines 83%, Hungary 76% and Poland 76%
- China is the worlds largest blogging market with 42m bloggers versus 26m in the US
- Social media is connecting the world and globalising media consumption

I asked Tom and Theresa about the numbers in user consumption vs. creation.

In terms of creators vs. consumers, they shared two examples, one for blogging and one for video:

Watch Video Clips: 83%
Share Video Clips: 64%
Upload Video Clips: 38%

Read blogs: 70%
Leave comment on a blog: 55%
Create a blog: 38%

Of course, no survey on Social Media would be complete without a review of Social Network usage. Like blogs, Social Networks have been instrumental in driving the popularity of Social Media and user generated content. Members of social networks such as MySpace and Facebook are using these platforms as the hub of their online experience:

- 22% of social network users have installed a widget or applications
- 55% have shared photos
- 22% have shared their videos
- 31% have started a blog
- MySpace is the world’s largest social network with 32% weekly reach, Facebook is second at 23%

The numbers are incredibly revealing and insightful. Social Media will only continue to rise, but traditional media should not be ruled out. There is still a tremendous opportunity to leverage years of resources, expertise, and capabilities when combined with a more socially-aware, and adaptable, business model. With economic boundaries vanishing, business seeking to join conversations must look globally as many of their prospective customers may also be the early adopters that are in and outside of the U.S.

For a copy of WAVE3 Report please visit http://www.universalmccann.com/

Connect with me on Twitter, Jaiku, LinkedIn, Pownce, Plaxo, FriendFeed, or Facebook.

social network media media+2.0 media2.0 social+media socnet facebook myspace socialmedia pr pr2.0 pr+2.0 2.0 advertising decline revenue bebo linedin blogger blog blogging newspaper publishing publisher broadcast media+buy

PR 2.0: Putting the Public Back in Public Relations

Have you ever met someone so energetic, positive and incredibly smart - someone who exudes passion and someone who "gets it" in an inspirational way?

I'm lucky to know one such person, Deirdre Breakenridge, and she has just published a new, must-read book, PR 2.0: New Media, New Tools, New Audiences. I'm honored to have my ideas, philosophies, experiences, and vision shared throughout the book. I'm even more humbled to have been asked to contribute the foreword.

PR 2.0, as I defined it many years ago, is the realization that the Web changed everything, inserting people equally into the process of traditional influence. Suddenly we were presented with the opportunity to not only reach our audiences through gatekeepers, but also use the online channels where they publish and share information to communicate directly and genuinely.

The book includes other thought leaders who are actively shaping the New Media landscape including Jeremiah Owyang, Jane Quigley, Thom Brodeur, Todd Defren, Tom Foremski, Phil Gomes, Chris Heuer, Anne Holland, Shel Holtz, Jeremy Caplan, Jonathan Schwartz, Jimmy Wales, and many more.

Deirdre has graciously allowed me to share the foreword I wrote in its entirety with you here. Thank you again Deirdre and congratulations on publishing a fantastic and incredibly helpful book!

Foreword: The Road from PR to PR 2.0 to Public Relations
by Brian Solis

Welcome to what just may be the greatest evolution in the history of PR. Modern Public Relations was born in the early 1900s, even though history traces the practice back to the 17th century. The term public relations was said to be first documented by U.S. President Thomas Jefferson during his address to Congress in 1807.

It wasn’t until World War I that we started to see the industry crystallize and spark the evolution of PR as an official profession.

Ivy Lee and Edward Bernays are credited with creating and defining the art and science of modern-day PR in the early 1900s. That’s almost 100 years ago; and yet, in what I believe to be PR’s greatest renaissance, many of their early philosophies and contributions can be sourced to further evolve PR today.

Ivy Lee developed the first working press release; you can love him or hate him for it. But, what we can’t overlook is that he believed PR was a “two-way street” where communications professionals were responsible for helping companies listen as well as communicate their messages to the people who were important to them.

Edward Bernays, who is often referred to as the father of PR, was most certainly its first theorist. A very interesting bit of history is that Bernays is a nephew of Sigmund Freud. Freud’s theories about the irrational, unconscious motives that shape human behavior are the inspiration for
how Bernays approached public relations.

What’s absolutely astounding to me is that he viewed public relations as an applied social science influenced by psychology, sociology, and other disciplines to scientifically manage and manipulate the thinking and behavior of an irrational and “herdlike” public.

According to Bernays, “Public Relations is a management function which tabulates public attitudes, defines the policies, procedures and interest of an organization followed by executing a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance.”

Why is this astounding to me?

Basically, Bernays is the inspiration for the PR 1.0 publicity and spin machine and the architect of how a majority of companies still approach PR today—even though this is all changing right before our eyes. Many of his thoughts, which fueled his books, Crystallizing Public Opinion, Propaganda, and The Engineering of Consent, were on the cusp of predicting what PR currently is facing in the dawn of Social Media. And, Social Media is reintroducing sociology, anthropology, psychology, and other sciences back into marketing.

If we combined the theories and philosophies of Bernays and Lee with the spirit of the new “social web” aka Social Media, we might have a new outlook on this social science that resembles the new driving principles behind PR 2.0.

But what happened to PR?

It no longer triumphs as a darling among the various marketing disciplines, and in many cases, is regarded as a necessary evil these days. Somewhere along the way, we, as an industry, lost our vision. We got caught up in hype, spin, hyperbole, and buzzwords, and forgot that PR was about Public Relations.

Unfortunately, these days PR is more aligned with theatrics than value.

Enter Social Media and the democratization of the Web.

These are indeed exciting times as Social Media is truly the catalyst for reflection and an opportunity to do PR and amplify value and increase effectiveness in the process.

What is Social Media?

Social Media is anything that uses the Internet to facilitate conversations between people. I say people, because it humanizes the process of communications when you think about conversations instead of companies marketing at audiences.

Social Media refers back to the “two-way” approach of PR that Ivy Lee discussed in his day. It’s about listening and, in turn, engaging people on their level. It forces PR to stop broadcasting and start connecting.

Monologue has given way to dialog.

Now, enter PR 2.0.

Just so you understand, it’s not a trendy term meant to capitalize on the current trend of “everything 2.0.” Honestly, it’s already ten years in the making, but Social Media is truly advancing the adoption of a new, more significant role for PR.

Here’s how I defined it in the 90s (it’s dated, but it is still relevant today):

PR 2.0 was born through the analysis of how the Web and multimedia was redefining PR and marketing communications, while also building the toolkit to reinvent how companies communicate with influencers and directly with people.

It is a chance to not only work with traditional journalists, but also engage directly with a new set of accidental influencers, and, it is also our ability to talk with customers directly (through online forums, groups, communities, BBS, etc.)

No BS. No hype. It’s an understanding of markets, the needs of people, and how to reach them at the street level—without insulting everyone along the way. PR will become a hybrid of communications, evangelism, and Web marketing.

PR 2.0 was actually inspired by Web 1.0 and the new channel for the distribution of information it represented. It changed everything. It forced traditional media to evolve. It created an entirely new set of influencers with a completely different mechanism for collecting and sharing information while also reforming the daily routines of how people searched for news.

PR 2.0 is a philosophy and practice to improve the quality of work, change the game, and participate with people in a more informed and intelligent way. It’s not about the new Web tools at all. They are merely tools used to facilitate conversations…but everything, especially intent,
knowledge, and enthusiasm, are unique to YOU.

You are the key to new PR.

To be direct, the truth is that PR 2.0 is really what PR should have been all along. Now with the democratization of media, people are becoming the new influencers, complementing the existence of experts and traditional journalists, but still regarded as a source and resource for customers equally.

Understanding new PR to reinvent it is the goal of this book. Deirdre Breakenridge has poured her life’s experiences and passion into these pages to inspire and empower you with the ability to change, and ultimately, participate in new media. In doing so, you will learn today’s communication methods that will help you engage in meaningful conversations and build
stronger trusting relationships—both personally and professionally—with customers, influencers, experts, and traditional media alike.

PR 2.0 is about putting the “public” back in Public Relations.

Other relevant stories on PR 2.0:
- PR 2.0 = The Evolution of PR, Nothing Less, Nothing More
- The Value of Online Conversations
- Distributed Conversations and Fragmented Attention
- The Art of Listening and Engagement
- The Social Media Manifesto
- Will the Real Social Media Expert Please Stand Up

Buy Deirdre's book on Amazon.com

Connect with me on Twitter, Jaiku, LinkedIn, Pownce, Plaxo, FriendFeed, or Facebook.

social media social+media culture sociology anthropology expert guru science social+science socialmedia media2.0 media+2.0 brian+solis pr+2.0 pr listening listen art marketing communications public+relations customer+service publicity community conversational conversation people social+network public relations relationship tools darwinism darwin online web2.0 web +2.0 pr2.0

Zude, Where's My Social Network?

One of the more talked about companies at the Web 2.0 Expo is Zude, an interesting example of what's possible in the realm of social computing.

The world maybe doesn't need another social network, but what we sure could use is a platform that allows us to aggregate social elements from all over the web into one place - how we want, when we want.

Zude officially announced in beta and allows users to grab elements from any social networking site and integrate them into their own Zude page. It makes it easy for you to create, consolidate, communicate, and share "your" Web.

This concept takes the premise behind the Data Portability Workgroup and OpenSocial standard and empowers people to pull items, content, and contact, from other places to create their own online domain, quickly and easily. Using the company's SocialMix technology anyone can automatically mashup (zudify) key elements from leading social networks including MySpace, Facebook, Bebo, Hi5, and honestly from any Web page, to integrate directly into their Zude page.

Hayden Panettiere

It's much more scalable, customizable, and well, fun, than Ning, which is a customizable DIY social network builder. Essentially, Zude itself is a mashup of a WSIWYG Web site builder, DIY social network, and social media aggregator, strung together with drag and drop functionality. It is a digital/social canvas to build a customized one-page portal or profile, or if you're creative and ambitious enough, you can create a multi-page, fully assembled Web destination that features your online brand or create a site dedicated to anything you find interesting. And, sites, pages, and individual components can also feature RSS feeds for visitors to subscribe to the content that specifically matters to them.

Sites can be simple, complex, and/or rich, limited only by your imagination. A full library of ready-to-go widgets are also available within Zude to help provide a compelling kick start to add everything from contact lists, self-contained content from popular networks, application widgets, video and image players, feeds, maps and a wildly long list of other options.

I see Zude earning tremendous traction from consumer-focused brands and products. Businesses looking to appeal to mass audiences and also specific market demographics, niche communities within the Long Tail, can use Zude to create a variety of destination portals that are mainstream and also highly targeted and personalized.

Anna Nalick

Zude is a deceptively powerful social computing platform that provides developers with almost unimaginable power, freedom and flexibility. And, here's the most important part, visitors can also remix these pages to interact with your brand or content, their way. Since almost anything can be dragged and dropped, they can move or even add new objects to further customize the experience - or use it to build their own fan or related topic site.

Zude has just provided us with the ability to create highly engaging and interactive online destinations and communities that truly socialized media, amplifies and extends user generated content, and empowers users with true data portability.

Other relevant stories on PR 2.0:
- The Value of Online Conversations
- Distributed Conversations and Fragmented Attention
- The Art of Listening and Engagement
- The Social Media Manifesto
- Will the Real Social Media Expert Please Stand Up

Connect with me on Twitter, Jaiku, LinkedIn, Pownce, Plaxo, FriendFeed, or Facebook.

zude identity brand online community social social+media media media+2.0 media2.0 brian+solis social+network network pr public+relations advertising marketing pr+2.0 pr2.0 2.0 Web2Expo web+2.0 web portal

In Blogger and Media Relations, You Earn the Relationships You Deserve

Every now and again a reporter or blogger decides to shake up the PR industry by showcasing how we FAIL, flop, or simply when we do things wrong. Some do so out of anger, others are genuine in their desire to help, while some are simply tired and do so out of spite.

This time around however, Marshall Kirkpatrick of ReadWriteWeb has started a conversation that proactively helps PR and communications professionals learn how to more effectively work with influential writers for future stories and maybe, just maybe, forge and cultivate ongoing relationships. In his post, “Five Wrong Ways to Pitch RWW and One Great Way,” Kirkpatrick gives us a glimpse into his daily routine for receiving and reporting on news and trends.

Wrong #1 - Email the wrong email address
Wrong #2 – Phone Calls
Wrong #3 – Twitter, Especially DM
Wrong #4 – Facebook
Wrong #5 – IM

Great Way #1 – RSS



He summarizes what you should do this way, “PR people, please send us the RSS feeds of your clients' blogs and news release. The full fire-hose of company news and updates for us to pick out what's interesting, someplace outside of our email inboxes, free of dreadful press release rhetoric (skip to the second paragraph where details usually are, then skip past any executive quotes and hope there are readable details somewhere) - that sounds like a dream come true. I know that's where I get most of the stories I write about, not from email pitches. Send both, but company feeds are likely to be looked at more closely.”

We’ll talk more about whether this is all you need to do to help get your story out there, but at the very least, what Marshall is shouting, is what he wants and how he wants it. He’s not alone in his requests to receive information in a specific format and process.



Stowe Boyd, a technology and thought leader who is helping to define the social web, recently created an account on Twitter specifically for PR pitching.

He shared his rationale in a recent post, “I can't believe what a pain in the ass it still is to do something as basic as trying to schedule meetings with startups at a conference. But in order to make things simple for me, I am hereby posting a schedule of the times that I will make available for meetings with companies at the Web 2.0 Expo, and I am not going to accept email-based proposals to meet, only Twitpitches. All companies who would like to have a meeting with me, need to send me a Twittered description of the product. Yes, please Twitter it to me at www.twitter.com/stoweboyd. Yes, one tweet, 140 characters less the eleven used for ‘@stoweboyd’.”



Adam Ostrow of Mashable, a popular blog covering the world of social networks, also shared tips for increasing the chances of getting coverage in their post, “12 Things Not to Do When Pitching a Story to Mashable.”

Here’s your Top 12:
1. Don’t Send an Invite from Your App
2. Don’t Reference Your Media Coverage on Mashable Competitors X, Y, and Z
3. Don’t Private Message on Social Network
4. Don’t Try a Backdoor
5. Don’t Contact Pete
6. Don’t Make Unsolicited Phone Calls
7. Don’t USE ALL CAPS
8. Don’t Misspell Their Names
9. Don’t Try to Setup a Lunch
10. Include a URL
11. Offer a Preview of Your Private Beta
12. Don’t Pitch Old News



In January 2008, Tom Foremski advised PR to leverage Facebook when running story ideas by him, “After some thought I decided that I would like my PR pitches through FaceBook and not through email or phone. I will only look at pitches that come from my FaceBook "friends." I will give those priority over all other communications channels except for face-to-face, which trumps all other channels.”



Robert Scoble, last year, reported that he preferred receiving pitches through his Facebook Wall, “PR people pay attention. I don’t answer email anymore. Too much of it. But there’s one thing that gets passed to my Nokia phone: Facebook wall messages.”


Photo Credit: Scott Beale, Laughing Squid

Merlin Mann, who publishes the popular productivity site 43folders, has made it crystal clear on his stance for PR. Don't contact him any other way except by suggesting links to him via del.icio.us. Tag = "for:43folders"




Allen Stern, publisher of CenterNetworks, shared his reviews in a recent post, "Your Pitch Title Does Not Matter To Me."

In his post he shares his advice for getting stories not just on his blog, but others as well, "If you are a PR person, you should must ask every blogger you contact how he or she would like to be pitched. By spending a few minutes doing this, you have a MUCH greater chance of being covered by that blog. It's the same as knowing I like milk in my coffee, Arrington takes it black, Ostrow takes 2 sugars, Om would rather have tea and Eric only drinks Pepsi. I don't care that much about the subject and if you use the contact form, the subject is pre-defined. I personally look at every single email we get (about 300-400 a day) and no matter the subject I still scan the email. The key is to capture my attention in the first moments of the email, not in the subject."

--

So, what is everyone saying to you?

Do your homework! They’re only helping you.

Listen, I know that it’s a huge amount of work to shift from a blast mentality to a one-on-one pitch regiment that requires you first to read before you reach out. But, I think your alternatives may be running dry. Yes, it takes longer. Yes, it requires more work. And, yes, the results, and your reputation, will benefit from the diligence.

Reporters and bloggers are asking you to work with them. So why wouldn’t you?

I’m pretty sure the only reason you wouldn’t is because you’ve either been instructed otherwise, or just didn’t know. However, neither are defensibl