By VolumePR on 8/8/2008 10:16 AM

What news web sites are worth their weight in public relations gold? Here's the list of the top 30 sites from Nielsen Online by way of editor and publisher.

From Nielsen Online by way of Editor & Publisher:

Brand or Channel — June ‘08 Unique Audience (000) — June ‘07 Unique Audience

1. MSNBC Digital Network — 37,644 — 27,434
2. Yahoo! News — 34,992 — 32,293
3. CNN Digital Network — 33,417 — 28,321
4. AOL News — 22,081 — 21,938
5. NYTimes.com — 17,650 — 12,535
6. Tribune Newspapers — 15,059 — 12,038
7. Gannett Newspapers and Newspaper Division — 12,405 — 12,279
8. ABCNEWS Digital Network — 11,556 — 10,852
9. Google News — 10,543 — 9,195
10. Fox News Digital Network — 10,471 — 8,192
11. McClatchy Newspaper Network — 9,849 — 7,708
12. USATODAY.com — 9,626 — 8,592
13. washingtonpost.com — 9,062 — 8,181
14. CBS News Digital Network — 8,561 — 8,682
15. WorldNow — 7,957 — 6,963
16. MediaNews Group Newspapers — 7,442 — 7,384
17. Hearst Newspapers Digital — 7,372 — 8,624
18. Advance Internet — 7,107 — 5,761
19. Slate — 6,751 — 3,302
20. IB Websites — 6,079 — 5,351
21. BBC News — 5,944 — 5,733
22. Topix — 5,914 — 5,765
23. Boston.com — 5,226 — 4,254
24. Cox Newspapers — 5,122 — 4,835
25. Gannett Broadcasting — 4,806 — 4,241
26. New York Post Holdings — 4,617 — 3,057
27. Guardian.co.uk — 4,405 — 2,455
28. NPR — 4,300 — 3,121
29. TheHuffingtonPost.com — 4,042 — 1,267
30. Daily News Online Edition — 3,803 — 1,821

 

By VolumePR on 8/8/2008 9:08 AM

VolumePR founder Elizabeth Robinson is featured in Horizont Magazine - the German equivalent to AdAge - in a controversial piece on the prolific misperceptions that could "Big Oil" in the United States. Check out the full story, now available on the VolumePR news page. An especially great read if your Deutsch is up to snuff!

By VolumePR on 8/1/2008 7:58 AM

We are saddened to hear of the death of long-time technology writer and consumer advocate Ed Foster, an InfoWorld fixture for more than 20 years and a terrific writer and reporter of the revolution in technology that we’ve seen during that time.
 
Ed ran The Gripe Line at Ziff Davis Enterprise, the blog dedicated to consumers who wanted their tech to run better. To view The Gripe Line, click here.  He passed away of an apparent heart attack Saturday, July 26, at age 59.
 
Over the years he served as a writer, editor, columnist and resident much-loved smartest guy in the room while InfoWorld moved from magazine to online powerhouse, all the time covering in the tech industry. VolumePR has worked with the magazine and its writers since our inception and we know this is a blow to their entire newsroom.
 
His family has requested that in lieu of flowers or further commentary, mourners contribute to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).

If nothing else, for Ed’s sake, check out the EFF – for folks like us at VolumePR, who care deeply about tech (because that’s where many of our clients live) and freedom of speech and the connection of online intellectual rights with our Constitutional civil rights (because we are communicators) – we take this opportunity to share this organization with our readers.

Bye, Ed.

By VolumePR on 7/30/2008 4:33 PM

Nobody likes Power Point anymore. Have you see the hilarious "How Not to Use PowerPoint" by the fabulous Don McMillan? (click here to view)
 
Perfection. Nails the problem.
 
Today there was some discussion on Twitter about the problems of presentations – because everyone wants visuals.
 
As one brilliant twitterer pointed out this morning: “I want to give a good presentation but me blathering for an hour without visuals means they’ll all tune out.”
 
He was referred to Presentation Zen  – a terrific blog by Garr Reynolds filled with tips, snippets of good presentations, advice on visuals that really work – just a treasure trove of a blog and one worth recommending here as well.
 
So if you’re looking for some good ideas for your next presentation, here’s a great resource.
 
Volume Public Relations is constantly updating our knowledge base on how to best communicate with media, clients and prospective clients. The question of what visuals work best is a point of constant discussion, as today we find ourselves bombarded by logos, lines and lingo. How to cut through the clutter?
 
It’s a terrific challenge and one we enjoy meeting. Through resources like Presentation Zen and our fabulous network (twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and other social media) that is connected with the cutting edge 24/7, we get a lot of great ideas that we get to share, too.
 
So, check it out. And tell us what you think!

By VolumePR on 7/7/2008 9:15 AM

Volume Public Relations discusses how HR consultants can achieve national exposure with the Society for Human Resource Management publication.  Check out the full story, now available on the VolumePR news page.  To read the full article, click here.

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

VolumePR media guru Wendy Manning speaks out on "That Marketing Show," addressing the ins and outs of celebrity public relations, and managing a high profile spokesperson.  Check out the full interview, now available on the VolumePR news page.

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!