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

Drew Kerr’s insightful post on Ragan’s really got me thinking…

Sure, I agree PR people shouldn’t use the words “excited,” “thrilled” and “honored” in press releases because, as Drew points up, they are just fluff.
But I also think there plenty of marshmallow words that public relations writers whould ban from their news release vocabulary.
Words like:

‘solution’/ ’solutions’ -  As in “This new solution provides the answer.” It appears more than thousands of times in Google News.
‘announces’ – “Company XYZ announces the…” First, a company cannot announce something. Only a person can announce. Second, surely there is a better way to beef …read more

If you didn’t know (Honestly, I didn’t until I did the research for this post!), is that the Adult Entertainment Expo is this week.
So was it really that surprising that Larry Flint and others have now announced they are heading to Washington to ask for their piece of the multi-million dollar bailout? And although they say this isn’t a stunt, I really can’t believe that it’s not? Can you?
Although this did give the adult entertainment industry some notice and most of us a little chuckle, I think the leaders of this stunt also gave Americans a chance to rethink what …read more

A recent survey from Pew Research Center has found that the Internet has now become the main news source, other than TV, for most national and international news. The survey has found that 40% of respondents use online sources to get their daily dose of news.

So this can only mean that newspapers are going to die and publicity seekers will have to focus their PR efforts elsewhere, right?
No way.
What it does mean is that as there are more sources for news, you’re going to see newspapers (and other media) doing more niche-focused news. And that’s when a savvy publicity seeker …read more

How do you create news when it’s the slow season for your business?
Ask Ben & Jerry’s, the ice cream gods.
They used a major PR tactic, called piggybacking. I talk about piggybacking on Startup Spark’s Monday Media Marketing Minute and at my other blog: The Power Publicist.
The folks at Ben & Jerry’s created a new ice cream flavor in honor of Obama’s inauguration. Called “Yes Pecan,” it pays homage to the president-elect’s battle cry, “Yes, we can.” Plus, they added a bonus, proceeds go to a charity that helps people get involved in the politcal process.
You may think it’s silly. But …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

I know some might argue with this, but I think social media is a PR tool. One, that when used correctly, can really create brand awareness and publicity.
JeanAnn VanKrevelen recently listed her 2009 predictions for social media, and I agree that the ones she has highlighted make sense.
I also think it will be used by journalists to monitor trends and hot news stories. That means that a savvy public relations professional will also be monitoring social media to find the trends and lead the trends as the experts to the media.
Plus social media is cost effective, so it’s obvious to …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

I appreciate your readership. And since it’s the season of giving, I’d like to give you a couple of public relations related gifts as well:

On December 30, I’ll be hosting a FREE teleseminar called “Three Steps for Free Publicity” at two different times, so you can pick the one most convenient to you. So check your schedule and see if you are available either at:

December 30  at Noon EDT, 9 AM PDT
December 30 at 8 PM EDT, 5 PM PDT

In ‘Three Steps for Free Publicity’, sponsored exclusively by ReadyTalk, you’ll learn the strategies I use every day for myself …read more

One of the best ways to take your PR skills to the next level is to see what others in the field are doing.
So I am proposing that PR folks (whether in a firm of DIY-ers) share their best practices and publicity success stories.  It’s a great way to show off your skills.
But I want to do more than just a list. I want the public to decide which campaign, public relations tactic, etc., is the best of 2008. So I’ll incorporate a voting poll as well.
Are you game? Great!
So here’s how to do it:

Post a comment with your publicity …read more