Aussie start-ups look for US gateway

Aussie start-ups look for US gateway

MIS Australia and Australian Financial Review writer Rachael Bolton wrote this cool story about the Australian companies attending this year's ANZATech Summit.

Computerworld also covered the story at:
http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/320473/australian_companies_hit_silicon_valley

Both these pieces of coverage were generated from a press release on NewsMaker :
http://www.newsmaker.com.au/news/1508


Shared via AddThis

Great coverage for PODMO internet bus story :)

PODMO got a whole bunch of media coverage recently, thanks to a press release distributed from NewsMaker:

The press release:
Adelaide's carbon-conscious commuters get on board with Podmo

A few coverage examples:
Anthill: http://anthillonline.com/adelaide-bus-commuters-get-free-wireless-entertainment-platform/
Adelaide commuters get free wi-fi Digital Media
Net savvy Adelaide bus commuters get free Wi-Fi Computerworld Australia
Internet-enabled bus hits road in SA Australasian Bus and Coach
Adelaide commuters get Internet Bus - Stuart Corner iT News
The Wheels On The Broadband Bus Offer Wi-Fi Gizmodo Australia
all 44 news articles » See Google News

Plus plenty more TV/Radio/Print
PODMO for the people!

Why would a journalist bother reading your press release?

For all those who have asked me what makes a good press release, here's the inside leg:

http://www.justweb.com.au/public-relations/how-to-write-a-press-release.html

Any other tips, just ask me :)

SEO doing the trick - 2nd spot in Google

Thanks to JustWebs writing a fantastic article about us, if you search Google "Australia Only" for "free press release" or "free online press release", NewsMaker comes up at about No 2 in natural results - out of about 22m! Very convincing and thanks, Rob!

PR fails hard via Twitter

This is the funniest thing I've read all day, from Advertising Age. A heated discussion after a US PR firm forgot to BCC her contacts in a press pitch (i love that, makes me feel less stupid!) and were subsequently flamed on Twitter. The bit that caught my eye was ... "Then again, some of them are "social-media experts" and we all know that's a pretty low bar." (can't we come up with some other term for "social media" - it's so last year :) Found this through #fail where you can find everybody's bloopers.

http://adage.com/adages/post?article_id=138547

Coverage in The Oz wins applause!

This has been a record week at the news-making coalface and, at the risk of pumping up my own tyre, it started well with this great testimonial from Matthew Michalewicz, SolveIT Software Pty Ltd.

"Having used a number of media distribution services in Australia and
overseas in the US and Europe, I can tell you first hand that the
results NewsMaker delivers is head and shoulders above any other
service on the market. The first time I used NewsMaker it delivered
more media hits than all the previous releases I had distributed using
a different service. If you want results, use NewsMaker."

Here's a link to just some of the coverage from SolveIT's press release:

http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,25910639-5013038,00.html

It came with a lovely pic - having good-looking staff never hurts in the media!

OMMA Metrics & Measurement Conference

An online metrics expert has labeled traditional marketing departments as "fossils" at the OMMA Metrics & Measurement Conference at the Yale Club, NY. The gathering, many of them marketers, was told that in future (as in, now) marketers’ performance will be measured in the way sales people's performance is measured, because they are increasingly responsible for the consumer's ‘click’ action. Today's top online marketers are achieving breathtaking conversion rates of 15-30%, Jeffrey Eisenberg of FutureNow claimed. But the trick is, where did the sale came from, or to which activity do you dedicate the 'attribution' - buzzword du jour. Was it the video ad, or the Google ad, or the website copy, or the PR? Means marketers have to be across more territory than ever before.

PR drives up to 80pc of content: The Australian

A University of Sydney study reported in The Australian's media section this morning says it's a myth that journos don't use PR and press release content to generate their stories - instead, 30-80% of content comes from PR efforts.
The article also reports it's a myth that PR people don't spin - or to put it another way, it's true that PR people spin, when directed to do so by their clients. (You always hope that readers are smart enough to see that, equally, journalists work under the instruction of their editors. They have to espouse the party line they don't always share and sometimes put a negative spin on stories just to increase their newsworthiness.)
The study's author, Jim Macnamara, says: "PR is a fact of life. Journalists should recognise it as an important communication channel and not deny it. And if there is PR material being used, it should be open and transparent." Couldn't agree more - the more quality PR, the better the relationship with the journalist, the better you become as reliable and trusted a source as any other. Bloggers themselves have become both a source of news and a publishing vehicle for PR - there's another debate in the making.
A debate on this topic will be held on Wednesday this week in Sydney.

Trial by Social Media - Hanson et al

When the alleged Victorian bushfire arsonist was outed with his photograph published on Facebook and numerous blog posts, did the social network and possibly the self-publishers breach a court order that prevents media discussing the case? Should social networks be subject to the same conditions as other media publishers and broadcasters? Read the rest of the post at:
http://www.e-channel.com.au/blog/2009/03/23/trial-by-social-media-hanson-et-al/

Shamless Self Promotion: Do Australians need more of it?

Shameless self promotion is un-Australian but I reckon we need to get over it. I've just spent some time in the US and it's like talking a different language: everyone who sells anything online, namely anyone with a website, seems to know why they need proactive SEO (eg, to be first page in Google organic search) and SEM (eg, google adwords).
But I talk to many companies here in Australia and there is a profound suspicion of what is widely regarded as a 'black art'. People don't want to pay someone else to do it because they suspect they could do it for themselves - but then they never find the time. Get it straight - SEO, SEM and constantly updating your online content are no longer optional. If you want to survive the recession, invest a larger proportion on SEO, SEM, and social media - the only promotion you can really control. That means talking yourself up online at every opportunity. Shamelessly self promoting.