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?

Top Ten Tips for Successful Online Press Releases and Publicity

The following tips for writing online press releases will help generate buzz about your products and services across the web, driving traffic back to your website and creating a direct channel to journalists, media outlets and customers.

1. Use major keywords in your heading and first paragraph - these are often all that will be picked up by Google and other News Indexing services
2. Proactively share your news using the share and RSS buttons on press release websites
   
3. Don't use "you" and "your" or "I", "we" or "our", unless it's within a quote - your press release should be written in the third person so it doesn't sound like an advertisement
4. Make your headline meaningful to media and search engines - don't be too clever
5. Keep it short - Google will not index news item that are too long
   
6. Make your press release relevant to news or trends - get the message across succintly in headline and first par
   
7. Make sure you have good landing pages on your website relevant to your press release - otherwise you are missing an opportunity
   
8. Proofread your release and make sure it's of a press-ready standard; your release could end up anywhere and you don't want to spread an unprofessional image of your company (or yourself)
9. Use free online press release services tagged with relevant keywords to make it easy for people looking for your products/services to find them - this is the cheapest, easiest free publicity you will find
10. If you're new to online press releases, post older material first then work your way up to the present so you have a good history online, driving incremental (long tail) traffic back to your website

Have fun - email me editor at newsmaker.com.au if you want to discuss any ideas you think would make a good press story.

Connecting Up CEO named Innovator of the Year

Congratulations to Doug Jacquier of Connecting Up Australia who was named Non Profit Innovator of the Year by Equity Trustees. This is so well-deserved. Doug has worked fearlessly to champion the use of technology ro reduce costs and increase productivity in the non-profit sector for many years.

Two degrees of separation: a coincidental world

It’s open season for conferences in Australia, and I’m keeping my end up. In the past few weeks I’ve attended 3 conferences interstate, and I’m struck, even moved, by a definite trend. At all three I have been ‘reunited’ with people I have met through a web-based social network: just for example, at Connecting Up in Brisbane I met Brett Hooker of Roarz and Kim Sheree of CarpeDiem , whom I met through LinkedIn via the amazing Sonja Bernhardt (the networking guru and IT entrepreneur) .

Also at Connecting Up, I met Beth Kanter, international blogging legend, who has just encountered Australian blogging queen SilkCharm through Twitter – I met SilkCharm at the national Public Affairs Conference in Sydney after being introduced to her through Liz James of social networking business GaggleHouse (more to come soon on that subject).

Any claims that cyberspace makes people antisocial have been smashed by the social web.

I am sure all this synchronicity will have a deeper impact, let’s watch what happens next. PS: join me on Twitter

No I don't know how it works yet either.

Ash shows that Karma is a two-way street

Ashley Rosshandler of Karma Currency opened his presentation at Connecting Up 2008
with a joke about chooks but followed through with a peck at the gift wrapped prize he'd won as Top Innovator in the nonprofit IT sector at the Australian Community ICT Awards.
Ash quickly recycled his food and wrappings around the room (hmm... kept the wine). Point taken, Ash - we'll make sure it doesn't happen again :-)

Holly Owen and Sam White Make top 30 entrepreneurs list

South Australian innovators Holly Owen and Sam White have made it to SmartCompany's List of Top 30 Entrepreneurs under 30. Top freelancer Brad Howarth found "an extremely talented bunch emerging from a broad range of market sectors, from beauty products and fashion to high technology and marketing services".
Holly runs Champagne for the Ladies and is the creative genius behind the controversial Coolest Girl in School (GTA for girls). Sam is co-founder of the People's Republic of Animation.