John Moran
Paul Gillin has been covering the tech industry for over 25 years, leading prominent organizations such as Computerworld and TechTarget. These days he's consulting and maintaining a couple of blogs - one on his own; the other, Tech PR War Stories, is co-hosted with David Strom. Paul is also author of the widely acclaimed book "The New Influencers." Check out this podcast - Paul offers a number of important suggestions on how companies can leverage social media. Here are a few notes:
- There's a giant global conversation going on - and it's likely someone is talking about you - get in the conversation.
- Identify the critical influencers in your market and figure out how to engage them.
- It is possible to measure what's happening - pick a small number of metrics important to you (e.g., comments, links, subscribers).
- Don't be shy - bloggers are likely to write positively about your company.
- The new model of journalism - experts can speak freely and community standards will help screen out and regulate errors.
- PR professionals should be publishers as well as a channel to reach publishers.
- Most importantly, don't be overwhelmed - take it one step at a time - learn something new every day.
Posted by John Moran on January 30, 2008 at 8:30 AM
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In our first conversation, we spoke with Dan about Fake Steve Jobs. This time, the senior editor from Forbes talks about lessons learned in the blogosphere and the interaction between PR people and business reporters. Check it out.
Posted by John Moran on December 12, 2007 at 8:23 PM
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Until the New York Times blew his cover back in August, Dan Lyons had industry insiders trying to figure out the mystery writer behind the Fake Steve Jobs blog site. In addition to maintaining FSJ and his work as a senior editor at Forbes, Lyons has also published a book, "Options - The Secret Life of Steve Jobs: A Parody."
We had a chance to sit down with Dan recently to discuss a number of topics. For his take on the Fake Steve Jobs experience, check this out. Coming up next week, we'll talk to Dan about lessons learned in the blogosphere and the interaction between reporters and PR people.
Posted by John Moran on December 6, 2007 at 3:59 PM
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Tony Perkins is, literally and figuratively, AlwaysOn. He's the person who started the AlwaysOn web site for tech insiders in 2002 - and he's always ready to dish out opinions and insight on what's happening in business today. Tony founded Red Herring magazine in 1993 and published the book "The Internet Bubble" in 1999, which accurately predicted the troubles that would soon hit the industry.
Tony recently spoke with Schwartz about trends for 2008, including topics as social media, green tech and investment opportunities. Hear it here.
Posted by John Moran on November 30, 2007 at 2:36 PM
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I had a chance to speak with Alexis Ohanian and Steve Huffman, the founders of reddit.com. It took them all of 16 months to take their social news site from inception in June 2005 to acquisition by Wired and Conde Nast in October 2006. Piece of cake, right? Not a chance. Ohanian, Huffman and two colleagues spent countless hours in a small Boston-area apartment working on reddit. Their recipe for success is timeless - "work really hard and respect your customers."
To get their take on reddit's future, the social news movement, competing with Digg and lessons from the trenches of the start-up community, listen to this Schwartz-cast.
Posted by John Moran on November 7, 2007 at 12:09 PM
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About a year and a half ago, Tom Foremski (former Financial Times writer, now publishing the Silicon Valley Watcher blog) put out a call to trash the traditional press release and replace it with "new media communications releases." Essentially, releases would be deconstructed into special sections in order to make it easier for journalists to get the info they need - the news itself, quotes, financials etc. Since Tom's call to arms, there has been plenty of chatter in new media and PR circles about these new announcements. The current ruckus has to do with sneaky PR firms trying to have their new media releases picked up as items that appear to have been written by a reporter. This may be fascinating stuff for those in our business (actually, it isn't), but it's going to be awhile before we see any dramatic change in the lion's share of press releases.
What can be done to improve everyone's lot? A few suggestions...
Organizations issuing press releases:
* Listen to what journalists and good PR people are saying - stop stuffing every empty cliche, buzzword and acronym into your announcement.
* Tight, clear headlines - assume the reader only sees your headline and sub-headline, will they know who you are and what's newsworthy?
* Less is often more - trophies are not awarded for the most words used in a release. You will, however, pay higher distribution fees and put your intended audience to sleep.
* Embed links in your press releases - it's a great way to bring interested parties to your web site where they can obtain more information.
PR agencies:
* Stop writing to impress the client - it's not important that the VP of Marketing knows you can speak their jargon. It is important that you tell their story in a clear and compelling fashion to the outside world.
* Push back - if the VP of Marketing scoffs at your draft and insists on more jargon, you have a responsibility to explain why the campaign will benefit from news that is written in English.
* But they're demanding we issue junk - if they ignore your counsel, move on. Let's face it, you're going to pitch the story the way you think is going to maximize coverage. If the release is a stinker, don't include it in your pitches. Which brings us to our final point -
* Use some of the tactics Foremski advocates - after the conventional release crosses the wire, send the reporter what they need to write the story. If all it takes is a quick pitch and the release, fine. But for most reporters, it's better to send a quick pitch with a variety of pre-packaged components (quotes, financials, graphics etc.).
Press releases are an organization's official announcement of news. They are not designed solely for journalists. The audience also includes investors, customers, prospects, employees, communities and analysts. Companies should issue news that is concise, compelling and easy to understand - and PR professionals should promote it accordingly.
Posted by John Moran on October 25, 2007 at 7:21 AM
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OK, maybe Al Gore didn't actually invent the Internet, but he has certainly demonstrated the effectiveness of combining traditional media with new Internet media. Gore's crusade to combat global warming was recognized last week with the announcement that the former Vice President will share the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with the International Panel on Climate Change. Author David Rothkopf told Thomas Friedman, "Gore, even without the presidency, used all the modern tools of communication, the Internet, video and globalization to reach out and galvanize a global movement."
The key phrase is "modern tools of communication." Gore wisely used all the tools at his disposal. Inexplicably, many organizations today are still sitting on the sidelines when it comes to utilizing new forms of digital communication. There are tremendous advantages to be gained by combining traditional and new Internet communication tools. You may not need to spark a global movement, but I'm sure a movement within your market space will do just fine.
Posted by John Moran on October 17, 2007 at 12:51 PM
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Today's New York Times has an interesting story on ABC-TV's attempt to bring the Nightly News to the millions of people who now get their news online and rarely, if ever, watch the traditional evenings news broadcasts.
While CBS and NBC mainly use the Web to repackage their regular nightly news shows, ABC's "Webcast is an entirely different animal, sometimes resembling a younger, more technologically advanced version of the traditional 6:30 p.m. report. It is intended in part for people who view Web pages on iPods and cellphones, and ABC executives say they are deliberately aiming to please the 25- to 54-year-olds whom every news organization covets."
ABC acknowledges this "a first step toward a future that looks increasingly digital and multimedia." They're right, and it's only a matter of time before the other networks do the same thing.
PR agencies, and our clients, should also be making this transition to a new digital world. There are exciting opportunities for those that do it well.
Posted by John Moran on October 12, 2007 at 11:23 AM
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Tom Friedman's piece in today's New York Times is worth a read. He chronicles the efforts of two environmental group's use of the Internet to significantly impact the construction plans and $45 billion acquisition of a major Texas power company, TXU. "The Internet age is an age of transparency, when more people than ever can see right into your business and judge you by your deeds, not your words. TXU could not manage its reputation by just hiring a P.R. firm and issuing a statement - because, thanks to the Internet, too many little people could talk back or shape TXU's image on a global basis, for free."
Does this mean the P.R. business is living on borrowed time? It may for those that don't adjust. If your organization's P.R. efforts are limited to cranking out jargon filled press releases and briefings with core media contacts, you're going to have problems. But those P.R. firms and organizations that understand and embrace the new communication channels (blogs, podcasts, wikis etc.) opened up by the Internet will do well. These channels, which give voice to anyone that dares to speak out, force all of us to be ready to back up everything we say and do. The Age of Transparency may just as easily end up being called the Age of Accountability - and that would be a good thing.
Posted by John Moran on March 16, 2007 at 4:02 PM
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