By VolumePR on 6/19/2008 2:20 PM

Peter Shankman recently launched a media service that could not be more valuable – delivering request from the media three times a day. Think Profnet, but free.

So the call to action? Sign up as soon as you can, receive media leads, and quality leads at that.

In addition though – share this free resource with reporters to build rapport, be a resource to the reporters and bloggers you work with and pitch.

VolumePR shared with Peter how we are sharing details of this service with the media, and it appeared to today’s post (listed below) – an idea re: how PR folks can help Peter continue to increase the reach of this service which has already exceeded membership of 10,000, and continue to bring quality media leads to the PR pro’s that are signed up for this great service.

www.helpareporter.com

”Elizabeth Robinson at Volume PR emailed me to let me know that VPR is putting this at the bottom of all her emails to reporters:

Side Note! Wanted to share a new tool for the MEDIA to help with finding experts, content for stories, etc. A great resource for building articles: www.HelpAReporter.com/press

 

“Simple and brilliant! Why not do it? Make yourself beloved to some reporters today!”

By VolumePR on 6/17/2008 10:42 AM

The June 2nd BusinessWeek cover story (link below) is a must read for marketing and PR professionals, providing a great synopsis of the current landscape and applicability of social media to business and marketing.

Beyond Blogs - What Businesses Need to Know

Peppered with lovely little gems such as the Twitter ID's for key reporters (co-authors Stephen Baker = stevebaker, and Heather Green = heatherlgreen, the article is great on its own, but the online version includes an added bonus well worth a visit to the site - a video of Stephen Baker discussing other little known tools such as www.Many-Eyes.com.

www.Many-Eyes.com has clear implications for communication professionals. Just imagine being able to visualize your data – showing words that are repeated throughout a press interview for instance - in a Tag Cloud which makes content of any kind – a press release, a blog posting, interview notes, etc. instantly visual. Words regularly repeated show up larger, etc. Talk about something that can increase the effectiveness of your message delivery... help one of your company spokespersons see how well they delivered their key messages... or how well they didn’t....

The BusinessWeek online video shows an example stemming from a 5 hour interview with IBM, and how he quickly sifted through the notes of the interview to bubble to the surface the key phrases that lead the conversation: social software, beehive, people...

Will Twitter replace Google, and blogs eliminate press releases? Likely not. But the value behind these social media forums should not be overlooked.

By VolumePR on 6/17/2008 9:11 AM

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By VolumePR on 6/16/2008 10:50 AM

Blogs. I don’t need to be the one to tell you of their power. Having first been seen as a novelty, in recent years they have exploded, and not just in numbers, but in their growing value to your PR and marketing initiatives.

BUT – the implications for how they can harm your company can sometimes be just as great. For instance, do your emails contain a restriction on the use of the contents of the communication being permitted for use in a blog unless permission is granted?

Precious few do so.

Taking a cue from the footer of emails from David Meerman Scott, author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR  – consider adding the following footer to all of your email correspondence (or some variation): “The private communication in this email is not bloggable unless you ask first. Thanks.”

As blog expand in importance and reach, its equally important we ensure ourselves and our clients from having intended private information shared with a global audience.

By VolumePR on 6/13/2008 10:59 AM

MySpace, the social networking site that claims more than 110 million members, has just announced a complete overhaul of its website, starting this weekend and concluding by June 18.

Click here to view the article at WashingtonPost.com
 
Proof that not even one of the biggest Web 2.0 businesses in the business can ever sit back and relax.
 
In an effort to increase engagement – a buzzword meaning they want more people to spend more time on the site – Myspace is altering its home page, naviation, profile editing, search and MySpaceTV player facilities. That last one is huge – they are going into YouTube territory.
 
As so much of today’s PR is happening in the Social Networking space, this is big news. Outlets like MySpace are no longer just for college kids to rant about bad profs and post pictures of themselves they’ll regret later. No, now these are crucial conversation creators for journalists, editors, PR professionals, marketers, and business people who all need to connect with each other and have discovered a way to do so which is more personal than email.
 
It will be fascinating to watch the sites which have all begun to realize this vast new market of users, and which ones come out on top – MySpace, FaceBook, LinkedIn, etc. Meanwhile, see you there!
 

By VolumePR on 6/13/2008 10:53 AM

Think YouTube is only for laughs, or hoaxes like cell phones popping popcorn?

Think again, as the business implications of YouTube – and the publicity implications – are quite significant.

InformationWeek recently ran a great piece looking at the application of YouTube and its value for business. Think no? Think again. As Fritz Nelson, executive producer of Techweb TV  wrote in his recent article “Make it YourTube,” it isn’t video production skills that will help your business compete through YouTube, “... it takes will and the belief that video is the most effective form of communication on the Internet today. Believe it.”

But sifting this through a PR filter – are there even further benefits of enterprise use of YouTube? Absolutely.

One of the chief objectives many PR professionals face is in building awareness and credibility for our clients. So it seems drastically counterintuitive (a.k.a. DUMB!) to not give the coverage we develop longer legs... To not empower our results to work for us.

For instance, as we build our clients visibility in broadcast media, each clip is posted to YouTube, and then regularly used in our correspondence with print media, conference producers, etc. so they can experience our spokesperson. See the message delivered themselves. Confirm that our speaker is in fact incredible and someone they should feature, invite to keynote, etc. Is this a ground shaking new approach? No... But its alarming how often this credibility building step is overlooked.

 

A couple VolumePR client YouTube examples:

• The Alternative Board’s appearance on Fox Business News.

• Dahn Yoga’s appearance on ABC’s Healthy Life.
  

By VolumePR on 6/12/2008 11:09 AM

There are a lot of books out there touted to be a “must read” for PR and marketing professionals, but we recently read one book where we found ourselves highlighting darn near every page.

David Meerman Scott has written a book that is required reading at VolumePR, and an invaluable resource often shared with our clients and partners to help create shared knowledge as to why the new PR elements we incorporate into their programs are a necessity.

The New Rules of Marketing & PR does something many books attempt, but fall short of doing... collect everything we know about social media (and all the things many PR pro’s still don’t know), and quickly articulates the “so what” of each practice while providing real examples of how their application has been proven to grow businesses, increase sales, create something from nothing, etc.

Guaranteeing no overstatement or exaggeration – add this book to the stack on your desk ASAP, and on the top of the pile (c’mon... You know we all have a dreaded stack ‘o reading!). Not only will change the way you approach PR and marketing for the rest of your days, it will give you a wonderful source for sharing your social media acumen with colleagues and clients so they can feel as empowered to attack social media as you are.

By VolumePR on 5/1/2008 9:18 AM

VolumePR founder Elizabeth Robinson is featured on the "Stars of PR" radio show - check out the full interview, now available on the VolumePR news page.

By VolumePR on 3/10/2008 10:12 AM

 

Welcome!  On March 10th the new VolumePR website was launched and will continually be updated with new and exciting content, as well as maintaining a blog with smart, creative (and often comical!) commentary, news and links.

There are still some areas of the site we're building out, so check back often. The intent for the VolumePR website is to serve you with tangible resources, and therefore will be continually offering new tools that you or your company can immediately and independently implement, such as a "Cheat Sheet" of more than 20 bridging phrases to use in your next media interview to ensure you maintain interview control.

Please sign up on our "Contact Us" page if you'd like to be alerted when these items are available, and we also welcome any feedback re: specific tools or info you'd like us to make available through the site.

Thanks again for visiting the new VolumePR website, and together, we'll make sure your company is HEARD!