Have you been toying with the idea of using social medium to promote your business? True, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and such won’t work as your only marketing strategy, but it can add a new dimension–not to mention new customers to your existing message.
In the video below, green industry expert, marketer, and video blogger Jeff Korhan comments on why traditional marketing is dying, and why you need to consider not just new media, but why your business may be dying in this new economy if you are holding on too tightly to the methods that got you here – including your …read more

I was excited when the President’s new administration announced that their website Http://www.whitehouse.gov would play a big role. Here’s what it said:
One of the first changes is the White House’s new website, which will serve as a place for the President and his administration to connect with the rest of the nation and the world.
Awesome!
They’ve also opened the site up to search engines, for the very first time. Great step!
They promise more communication, transparency and participation. Sounds good, but their blog is not open for comments.
That’s right. Although you can fill out a form, commenting on their blog isn’t available.
Communication …read more

I don’t know who Nancy Pelosi and the House of Representatives have doing they’re public relations, but did you catch her YouTube video which was created to kick off the House’s new YouTube Hub?
Here’s the video, just in case you missed it.

I feel bad for the Speaker of the House. A Rick Roll? Really?
It’s so old – and got even older after Macy’s tried to do the same thing at their 2008 annual Thanksgiving Day parade.
Nancy, if this was your (or your PR people’s) idea to look cool, hip and with the times, you’ve made a big mistake.
The Speaker …read more

The basis of any PR campaign, no matter what tool you use, is to identify your target audience, right?
Then what the heck is going on with the folks on Facebook?
I don’t know if you are experiencing this, but I’m getting a lot of invites to events promoted on Facebook from my ‘friends.’ The problem is that they are just blindly emailing all their Facebook pals their promotion, whether they are in the target market or not.
For example, I’ve gotten invitations to events and classes where I will learn:

to find true love in 2009 (I’m happily married)
the strategies to keep the …read more

Fineman PR just released it’s annual list of the top public relations mistakes of 2008. While I am sure (or at least, I hope) that you aren’t on the list, there are some lessons to be learned.

Accountability is important. No matter if it was the AIG party scandal or McCain dumping Letterman for a ‘better’ gig. Being open and accountable for ones actions is always the way to go. In today’s 24/7, media driven world, it’s too easy to find out the truth when you’re not.
We are always watching. As alluded to above, the spotlight is always on, always waiting …read more

Jason Falls is a great new media public relations person. And recently, I read his blog post “Is The Future of Advertising Public Relations?”
Jason makes some great points about the future influence of bloggers on the media landscape, but right at the beginning I squirmed:
(I say new-fashioned because old-fashioned is sending blast emails to hundreds of media outlets or bloggers and calling it a day. New-fashioned is reaching out personally to individuals to build a relationship and working with them to meet their needs and yours in symbiotic fashion.)

Ummm… I didn’t know that the new-fashioned wasn’t always the case, Jason.
Good …read more

Sure, no airline is perfect. But I have to admit Southwest comes pretty darn close.
Why? They know that good PR comes down to one thing: happy customers. It’s a tough job, especially when you are an airline.

But when they do it, they do it well.
I just learned on Twitter, directly from Southwest (Yes, even they are on Twitter!) that they’ve teamed up with The Container Store to wrap passengers gifts at the Southwest Airline Gates in Dallas, Denver and Phoenix.
It may not seem like a big deal but think about it for a moment…
Thousands of passengers carry their gifts on …read more

So the big conversation in the PR world last week was the question: Is PR dead?
Many who say yes have pointed to how social media has taken over and how it’s important to have personal conversations.
Yup, I agree. But that doesn’t mean PR is dead. Not in the least.
The real issue is that a lot of PR people aren’t adopting social media as part of the public relations toolkit. And some are even shunning it. And I hate to say it, but there are plenty of people out there who think PR stands for press release.
Well, tell that to Motrin, …read more

Sure, sure. The big news on election night was that Barak Obama was elected the 44th president of the US.
However, I think a story got buried as a result: CNN using ‘hologram’ technology. (The reason why hologram was in single quotes is that the image isn’t a real hologram.)
It was really cool to see (and if you missed it, the video is below). But it got me thinking what it means for people being interviewed using that technology.
You see, as a publicist, I have always advised people to look their best on camera, especially concentrating on the waist up, and …read more

My friend Stuart Davis regularly pulls together photo/sound packages for the Vancouver Sun. Sometimes it’s other photographers’ work and sometimes his own.
The latest one is a nice look backstage at Ballet B.C., with some beautiful photos, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons playing in the background, and the voices of some of the dancers and choreographers.
The photo essay can be found at this link for a while. After a while, you have to go to the menu for Sun Galleries and scroll down to the Ballet BC item.
Technorati Tags: photography, photos, photo essay, vancouver sun, stuart davis, vivaldi, dance, ballet bc, dancers, choreography, …read more