It is just sort of a fact that very few trade associations blog. One of the few that does is the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), whose blog is called shopfloor.org.Not only does NAM blog, it does so very effectively. What makes shopfloor.org work is that it is written by real live human beings who have opinions. Sure, some people aren't going to agree with NAM's point of view. But regardless of your politics you have to respect NAM's willingness to participate in the conversation online. What they are doing is extradinary for a DC-based trade association.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Trade Association podcasts
Todd Zeigler in the Bivings Report offers a case study for Public Relations practitioners who are working for trade associations in which he says:
Monday, October 02, 2006
Monitoring using RSS and other tools
Simon Wakeman discovered an interesting post by Steve Rubel about how he finds news and material to blog about - Steve has created what he calls a blog feeder.
Simon notes the potential for this just got greater, as Steve has blogged that Technorati now offers RSS feeds for searches, which means that it’s a whole lot easier to include Technorati searches in a blog feeder (althoug it does not cover all blogs and sometimes takes a long time to index sites). Also spotted this news on i-wisdom and Webfeed Central.
Can I add that it is also possible to use RSS for Google News, Google Scholar and any web site can be monitored using Google Reader (When you find content you want to read on a regular basis, you can subscribe to it, and Google Reader will monitor that website for updates and add them to your reading list). There is an issue with how fast it will update with Google.
As I am now experimenting with Google Reader, it is an interesting option. In addition, of course, I do have my sumarisation software that allows me to load interesting items direct to my blog in summary form which is very quick.
Of course there is a ton of software out there to help you monitor changes on web sites.
If you can't monitor news, blogs and web sites these days you will be at least 20 hours behind the news so I do it and I expect every PR practitioner does it as well.
For some practitionser these tools are helpful to maintain modernity for thier client blog.
Simon notes the potential for this just got greater, as Steve has blogged that Technorati now offers RSS feeds for searches, which means that it’s a whole lot easier to include Technorati searches in a blog feeder (althoug it does not cover all blogs and sometimes takes a long time to index sites). Also spotted this news on i-wisdom and Webfeed Central.
Can I add that it is also possible to use RSS for Google News, Google Scholar and any web site can be monitored using Google Reader (When you find content you want to read on a regular basis, you can subscribe to it, and Google Reader will monitor that website for updates and add them to your reading list). There is an issue with how fast it will update with Google.
As I am now experimenting with Google Reader, it is an interesting option. In addition, of course, I do have my sumarisation software that allows me to load interesting items direct to my blog in summary form which is very quick.
Of course there is a ton of software out there to help you monitor changes on web sites.
If you can't monitor news, blogs and web sites these days you will be at least 20 hours behind the news so I do it and I expect every PR practitioner does it as well.
For some practitionser these tools are helpful to maintain modernity for thier client blog.
Monitoring using RSS and other tools
Simon Wakeman discovered an interesting post by Steve Rubel about how he finds news and material to blog about - Steve has created what he calls a blog feeder.
Simon notes the potential for this just got greater, as Steve has blogged that Technorati now offers RSS feeds for searches, which means that it’s a whole lot easier to include Technorati searches in a blog feeder (althoug it does not cover all blogs and sometimes takes a long time to index sites). Also spotted this news on i-wisdom and Webfeed Central.
Can I add that it is also possible to use RSS for Google News, Google Scholar and any web site can be monitored using Google Reader (When you find content you want to read on a regular basis, you can subscribe to it, and Google Reader will monitor that website for updates and add them to your reading list). There is an issue with how fast it will update with Google.
As I am now experimenting with Google Reader, it is an interesting option. In addition, of course, I do have my sumarisation software that allows me to load interesting items direct to my blog in summary form which is very quick.
Of course there is a ton of software out there to help you monitor changes on web sites.
If you can't monitor news, blogs and web sites these days you will be at least 20 hours behind the news so I do it and I expect every PR practitioner does it as well.
Simon notes the potential for this just got greater, as Steve has blogged that Technorati now offers RSS feeds for searches, which means that it’s a whole lot easier to include Technorati searches in a blog feeder (althoug it does not cover all blogs and sometimes takes a long time to index sites). Also spotted this news on i-wisdom and Webfeed Central.
Can I add that it is also possible to use RSS for Google News, Google Scholar and any web site can be monitored using Google Reader (When you find content you want to read on a regular basis, you can subscribe to it, and Google Reader will monitor that website for updates and add them to your reading list). There is an issue with how fast it will update with Google.
As I am now experimenting with Google Reader, it is an interesting option. In addition, of course, I do have my sumarisation software that allows me to load interesting items direct to my blog in summary form which is very quick.
Of course there is a ton of software out there to help you monitor changes on web sites.
If you can't monitor news, blogs and web sites these days you will be at least 20 hours behind the news so I do it and I expect every PR practitioner does it as well.
Charity site launch
Former Turner Broadcasting executive Richard Kilgarriff is launching a community-based broadband offering in November, allowing people and companies to promote their products and services online, while raising money for good causes, reports the Guardian.
Famous Top Fives offers users "best of" lists provided by celebrities, experts and members of the public for everything and anything - books, films, albums, DVDs, songs, wines, hotels, TV shows.
Celebrities already signed up to provide a list include Minnie Driver, Michael Stipe, Pete Doherty, Cliff Richard and Lennox Lewis.
This means that practitioner involved in not for profit and Charity PR may like to add this site to their 'little black book'.
If
Get involved with peer-to-peer media platforms
With a background provided by Kami Huyse, and a very interesting talk by Dr Kolb, considered Text 100’s ‘resident futurist’, you can join a discussion about how new media technology is changing PR practice. He outlines some new skills PR practitioners need to develop.
To my mind there is no alternative. Would one expect a PR person (what ever the domain of practice) to ignore the press, radio, television, or the web? Of course not.
In this Forward podcast, Dr Kolb encourages PR students and new practitioners to get involved with peer-to-peer media platforms, and also outlines Text 100’s involvement in Second Life. To begin the podcast, Kami Huyse gives some introductory information about what Second Life is and why PR practitioners should take notice of it.
TV is dead? Jarvis
Jeff Jarvis in the The Guardian suggests that the definition of television is up for grabs.
His article begins with a disagreement with Amanda Congdon - a daunting experience no doubt.
In the meantime, the success of Sixty Second View in its niche is an example of how powerful this new for of TV can and will be.
His article begins with a disagreement with Amanda Congdon - a daunting experience no doubt.
The video blog Rocketboom.com made Amanda Congdon a star on the internet. It earned her a guest slot on the TV series CSI. It got her considerable publicity in the major American media when she left the vlog. And it just plopped her into a hybrid car with her name emblazoned on the side for an internet-video tour of the US. That was what brought her to my den in New Jersey with three friends wielding cameras for an interview that is now online at AmandaAcrossAmerica.com.I have no trouble with this idea except that there is huge market inertia.
Amanda and I got into a tussle over television. I said she was creating the new TV. She dismissed the label "television" and insisted she was making something else, a video blog. But I argued that the definition of television is up for grabs. What is TV now? We don't know yet, for every time I think I've spotted all the sticks of dynamite set to explode under old, linear television, I discover new fuses sizzling.Apple has just announced iTV, a box that will wirelessly transport internet video on to our televisions. Thus, the line between broadcast and online - like the line between terrestrial and cable or satellite - is erased.
In the meantime, the success of Sixty Second View in its niche is an example of how powerful this new for of TV can and will be.
Blog alert goes mobile
Always-on reports that mobile search company 4info allows writers to upload their blogs so that mobile phone users can receive them as text messages or alerts.
This is a useful additional lever that PR can use to extent the impact of their on-line relationship management.
This is a useful additional lever that PR can use to extent the impact of their on-line relationship management.
Watching on-line politcal PR - case study in the making
Stuart Bruce agrees with Anthony Mayfield's analysis analysis. Webcameron is a very good initiative.
He says that the key difference between what Labour is doing and what the Conservatives are doing is understanding. You get the impression that the Tories get what social media is really about, while Labour still just sees it as a set of new tools.
Watching what is happening in Politics offers an excellent case study for practitioners with commercial and not for profit portfolios.
He says that the key difference between what Labour is doing and what the Conservatives are doing is understanding. You get the impression that the Tories get what social media is really about, while Labour still just sees it as a set of new tools.
Simon Collister has some interesting thoughts about Webcameron on his eDemocracy Update blog. He also questions if "Politics needs a sea-change in attitudes, not a ride aboard the blogging bandwagon."
Watching what is happening in Politics offers an excellent case study for practitioners with commercial and not for profit portfolios.
Bebo worth mega bucks
Four-and-a-half years after Michael and Xochi Birch created www.Bebo.com it is one of the hottest properties on the internet. In less than two years it has acquired more than 27m users and claims to have overtaken MySpace to become the leading social-networking website in the UK and Ireland.
“At the moment there’s a race for traffic,” says Birch and for public relations practitioners this mantra is critical as well. It is worth watching how Birch is going about doing it.
Birch is adamant that he has no interest in selling. “We used to follow conversations a bit more (when we received approaches). Now we pretty much just say ‘No’ immediately. I was more curious to begin with.
“At the moment there’s a race for traffic,” says Birch and for public relations practitioners this mantra is critical as well. It is worth watching how Birch is going about doing it.
According to The Sunday Times Bebo still has only 15 full-time employees, including four in London, and as yet generates modest revenues from advertising. But its huge and growing audience of young users has prompted suggestions that the business is already worth hundreds of millions of pounds.
Sounds fanciful? It might have been last year, before News Corporation (ultimate owner of The Sunday Times) paid $580m (£310m) for the company behind MySpace.Birch is adamant that he has no interest in selling. “We used to follow conversations a bit more (when we received approaches). Now we pretty much just say ‘No’ immediately. I was more curious to begin with.
Google to tell Tories about the digital age
Eric Schmidt, chairman and chief executive of Google, is set to make a keynote speech to the Conservative party conference on tomorrow.
Following his first speech to the Tories as party leader on Sunday, Mr Cameron, 39, is to welcome Mr Schmidt to Bournemouth, where he will address the conference on challenges posed by the internet and digital age.
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Newspapers are now doing PR
"An exciting new interactive service starts this weekend so you the Cardiff City fans can tell us what you think about the Bluebirds ."
Fab...The Echo is launching a new Cardiff City blog on our icWales website to give fans an opportunity to have their voice in your favourite paper.
Are YOU spreading your podcasts about?
Figures obtained by the Scottish Conservatives showed eight people downloaded a podcast of a recent sports summit at Stirling University.
Tory MSP Derek Brownlee questioned the amount spent on creating the downloads when "the figures are so poor" reports the BBC.
The politician wants to know about ROI - over how many years?
Silly Mr Brownlee.
Evaluate before the PR campaign...
Glenn has given us this advice :
Evaluation is often thought of as a “concluding” activity - something that is done once a programme or project is finished. But evaluation has its role “before” and “during” an activity. A recent experience highlighted for me the importance that evaluation can play in the “before” phase.quote>In landscaping (see: Gregory. A. 2002 Planning and Management Kogan Page, London) in preparation for planing public relations one has to get the widest view possible. In the use and application of Social Media, which is very dynamic, one needs to be able to both maintain monitoring and evaluation and feed this into both strategy and tactics as a continuum.
This there is no 'PR plan' but a process for managing the organisation's capability to maintain mutually effective relationships.
Create voting sites and get RSS on your Blackberry
Philippe Borrimans always has good stuff.
He introduces us to Ning, a social web service, let's you create and customise applications such as
voting sites, online groups etc... Then ethere is a new RSS to e-mail service called SimplyHeadlines. I think this is a nice one for people who want to stay up to date with news headlines by e-mail based on RSS feeds. The lay out is very easy to read and they also have a "mobile" version for Blackberry or other mobile readers. Another one to add to the list of "RSS by e-mail" readers. Then there's the mix of blogs and forums set off by Tooum and called Switchboard. Their hosted service includes categories, tagging, RSS feeds, sticky posts etc...
He introduces us to Ning, a social web service, let's you create and customise applications such as
voting sites, online groups etc... Then ethere is a new RSS to e-mail service called SimplyHeadlines. I think this is a nice one for people who want to stay up to date with news headlines by e-mail based on RSS feeds. The lay out is very easy to read and they also have a "mobile" version for Blackberry or other mobile readers. Another one to add to the list of "RSS by e-mail" readers. Then there's the mix of blogs and forums set off by Tooum and called Switchboard. Their hosted service includes categories, tagging, RSS feeds, sticky posts etc...
Political PR online
In Ohio, U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland, a Democrat, has stocked his campaign website with video clips of speeches and TV commercials. MySpace.com and other websites display cyberspace bumper stickers that can be copied to promote Strickland's campaign for governor.
These candidates aren't alone. The Tory leader has a vidcast. Blogs wikis and podcasts are everywhere in the political PR space are there too.
"If you think of the Internet as a city, those social networking sites are virtual town squares where people spend time, where they share ideas, show their opinion, share information," said Keith Dailey, press secretary for Strickland's campaign.
And I guess that is a pretty good explanation.
These candidates aren't alone. The Tory leader has a vidcast. Blogs wikis and podcasts are everywhere in the political PR space are there too.
"If you think of the Internet as a city, those social networking sites are virtual town squares where people spend time, where they share ideas, show their opinion, share information," said Keith Dailey, press secretary for Strickland's campaign.
And I guess that is a pretty good explanation.
Brands are sets of values
The idea that brand are a set of values is prettty old hat but works well in the Relationship Value Model which is why it is good to hear marketing people talking like Public Relations people.
A post in Marketingweb makes this contribution:
A post in Marketingweb makes this contribution:
In a world of spreading social influence due to the internet, brands are sets of values and ideas whose importance ebbs and flows among communities. Social influence affects which ideas are important within a group of people to such a degree that it is very hard to make accurate predictions. (Important values and perceptions may diverge in different communities and cultures). So we need to become far more flexible in how we manage brands. Coca-Cola has begun to address this by using different colours for its brand in England, depending on the colours of the football team that it supports.The extract is from Nilewide Vol 22 No 13. For more information or to subscribe, go to www.nilewide.com. and costs mega bucks (unlike the Relationship Value Model - which is free) but is informative and most of it is here.
Emerging blog law
Gradually we are getting legal advice about blogging.
In this case for the USA and covering employee blogging Law.com offers some insights.
It wouls seem that there is not much to stop and employee blogging and not musch more to stop the employee posting about thier employer.
In this case for the USA and covering employee blogging Law.com offers some insights.
It wouls seem that there is not much to stop and employee blogging and not musch more to stop the employee posting about thier employer.
How the Internet sells beer
The Internet's big, it's powerful, but how the heck do you use it to sell beer?
A simple question from Jim Ewing on Business Week.Easy, why don't you come to my pub The Calley Arms (in the hills near Stone Henge) . It does not have a web site, but lots of people put interesting stuff about it on the web. It is seldom mentioned on blogs (well now its is) and it sells local beers.
The landlady makes great food using locally sourced country ingredients. The locals are just so much fun and guess what, there are always plenty of people there - lots come for the food and some of us go for the beer :)
Of course, you will need a map - it is located here, and as you can see it is very rural and yet is only a couple of miles from Junction 15 on the M4 motorway.
A very friendly place and great beers... what more do you need....
And that is how 1000 people all over the world knows how to get good beer in Wiltshire. Not that hard then....
Well... whose coming over for a quick pint then?
Beyond Advertising
Advertising is not the only model for monetising Social Media but it seems to be the only idea in town.
I am tempted to write about this because of a Red Herring post.
Lets suppose, for a moment one took the advertising out of the deal.
What is of value.
Assets:
Relationships
The digital footprint.
Investment:
Systems and procedure development (especially to make the corporation responsive to consumers)
Creative (technical, managerial, systems) input into the organisation.
P&L:
Direct contact
Sales opportunity
Sales completed
Continuous consumer relations
The problem is that we are hamstrung by the accounting systems we use.
I am tempted to write about this because of a Red Herring post.
Lets suppose, for a moment one took the advertising out of the deal.
What is of value.
Assets:
Relationships
The digital footprint.
Investment:
Systems and procedure development (especially to make the corporation responsive to consumers)
Creative (technical, managerial, systems) input into the organisation.
P&L:
Direct contact
Sales opportunity
Sales completed
Continuous consumer relations
The problem is that we are hamstrung by the accounting systems we use.
The Rise of the Celeb Social Network
The BBC's Marc Cieslak has been digging arround Social Media to get some celeb comments and begins by saying:
It is also quite useful to keep the celeb brand in view.
The notion of Web 2.0, or an internet model where content is created and shared by users, has given birth to some of the most popular sites the internet has ever seen. So much so, that anybody who is anyone, wants to be part of the online social networking scene.Obviously one has to be seen there, otherwise one does not exist and one would like to be thought to exist!
It is also quite useful to keep the celeb brand in view.
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