A while back I was discussing how the ability of driving traffic to stories is nothing new for PR professionals. Actually, I strongly believe being able to generate buzz and traffic around a story published in the media about a client is something journalists should consider when covering a topic. In the current background, it seems that this ability of PRs will prove to be worth quite a bit in the business world.

We all know that blogs and online news outlets usually give bonuses to their writers based on traffic, engagement or shares that help spread the word. It’s not unusual for a writer to make more just because his or her story gets tons of retweets or Facebook shares or because it brings in thousands of visits. Continue reading

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The journalists vs. PR professionals war has been going on for decades. It is fueled by frustration, impatience, beginners in both fields, moral high grounds being taken over every day and powers beyond your imagination, such as trends, traffic and boredom.

The two opposing armies

Journalists – mostly overworked, tired, frustrated, bored of seeing the same announcement and questions and mistakes over and over again. In control of powerful mass destruction weapons (revealing dozens of spammers in their magazines) or targeted, refined technology (taking it out on a certain individual).

PR professionals - a joint force of company employees and agency staffers; mostly overworked, tired, frustrated, bored of seeing their story dropped for hard to grasp reasons. Wielding powerful weapons such as exclusives, hot stories, tips and inside information Continue reading

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What I think you shouldn’t have missed last week…

It’s been a rich week in the online world in what usefull business, PR and Marketing tips are involved. Here are a few must reads for you to kick start the week with:

Lip-sticking blog’s guest writer Chloe Spencer explains Why Teens Are Addicted to Facebook.

A scandal raising once again well known issues – is the media biased? how far should you go when a journalist has published something partially true about yourself? are journalists in the business of half-truths? Oracle CEO to Fortune Reporter: ‘Hey Jerk…your job is telling half-truths’ via PR Newswire. Continue reading

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A couple of weeks ago, I went to an interview with one of my clients. We were meeting an IT journalist who was working for a local business magazine. We met, the interview went great, the story was supposed to be included in a future edition of the magazine.

We even sent some photos after the interview, as there was no photographer available for that interview. And then we waited. It was a 2-week wait. But after just one week, we heard that he magazine had been shut down. Most employees had been fired, a few of them had been transferred to a different business magazine of the same group.

This is the third magazine that’s closed down since last autumn. Will more follow? Should we get used to not have our clients’ stories published not because they’re not good enough, but because there’s no newspaper/magazine to publish it in?

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This is the kind of news that makes all those predicting the end of print media go “Aha!”. Starting February 2009, we’ll have to say goodbye to the print version of PC Magazine. It will be changed into a digital format, with similar subscription options. I’m looking forward to see how advertising options will change, but even more curious to see how many of they readers switch from paper to downloadable format.

How did they announce it? Well, it’s all posted on their site, the CEO emailed their contacts and, just in case that email was lost among others, account managers also contacted their clients. From what my contact shared with me, before this move, a large part from the magazine’s income was generated by their digital branch. This leads me to believe the complete switch was a pretty smart move.

What do you think? Any predictions you’d like to share? Will other magazines follow the same pattern? Is this easier for a tech magazine? I’d love to read your thoughts.

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