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.

Ground-breaking news: How to be the journalist's true friend

Can journalists and PR people ever really be friends? Mainstream metro daily journalists are driven by their editors to produce a certain kind of content. They are not there to promote your product but to provide controversy, humour, human interest or some other parochial factor that aligns with editorial policy.(This differs from the 'op-ed' opinion based columnists who are more like bloggers.)
If you, as a PR person, bombard a business or general news journalist with product-focused media releases, you are going to get the flick. You, and more likely your client, then get upset because your perfectly crafted words and ground-breaking world first announcements have been rejected. Product releases belong with the trades, unless they truly are sensational, ground-breaking world firsts.
It's a better strategy to offer your favourite journalists a real story at any time - even when it doesn't apply directly to your client. And even to offer journalists stories you've identified when they're not related to your clients at all.
The problem is of course that your clients want you to send product focused releases - so send them you must. What I find works for me is to send the release but include in the body of the email a note that talks about how the content of the release could fit in a real story - whether this is because it's relevant to the news of the day or because it could become part of a larger feature story. This is hard work - and you must convince your client of its value. That's a whole other story :).

Why journalists are important

I read the gorgeous Simon Small's blog and couldn't resist a rant on my favourite topic.
As I commented to Simon, I agree that social media is of course another PR outlet - because PR is not just media relations, it's the whole shebang of getting a message across to people using any medium. But there are a few differences and coming from a background of old school journalism i feel kinda sad that trained journalists may not be perceived of value up against the flood of bloggers. The biggest difference is that journalists are trained to report a story more or less without prejudice (this argument can take place separately LOL) , whereas bloggers ALWAYS have prejudice....
Journalists are paid to to present their story from many viewpoints, and because they get paid they can hone their message to give it depth and/or entertainment value. Eg, i would be deeply saddened, even distressed, if the Australian Financial Review could no longer employ great journalists because of a lack of ad revenue. IMHO - and as I'm actually building a business based on Simon's premise that the web allows you to control your message, this is not self-serving at all -- trained journalists can't be replaced by casual bloggers unless the whole thing comes down to money. It's always been said that people get the politicians they deserve; much as i love and adore the social networks - i hope we are not going to get the newspapers and other media outlets we deserve if all their ad revenue goes where the eyeballs apparently are.

Further, yes you can promote your product online rapidly using self-publishing tools combined with DIGGing, Google News etc -- but you still need the skills of a GOOD or even GREAT PR person to manage your message - it's not just about the relationship with a journalist, it is multi-dimensional. Somewhere along the line you want someone to buy your product - Simon does and I do. Somewhere along the line you need to close the deal. I'm interested to see how the wonderful world of social media will wend its way -- inevitably towards that sale!
Thanks, Simon, for getting me going with a real blog!! Mmmwaaah xl

Not everyone is attached by the umbilical to Facebook

According to this survey, the internet has surpassed newspapers as a source of national and international news for the first time, with only TV still attracting more news viewers. I find it surprising that TV continues to lead, though in the sub-30 bracket the internet and TV are neck and neck. (This is a reminder that not everyone is attached by the umbilical cord to facebook!!) So where would you spend your advertising dollars in this scenario? If this survey spells impending doom for newspapers, where does that leave advertising agencies, still pumping out the media spread of TV, print, bus shelters and cinema ads, with a continued uncertainty of how to milk the millions of online consumers. Online consumers like control, they are a breed apart. They make agencies accountable for every click and purchase. Is 2009 the year of the search engine marketer?