As you arleady know, a while ago I debuted on Everything PR and have since become one of their regular writers. It’s been fun and challenging and I’d like to keep you updated with what I’m posting there. So I decided the best way was a monthly roundup (along with the tweets and Facebook shares that annouce my new articles). Here’s what I’ve been up to this month, hope you enjoy it!

Coca Cola’s New Social Media Model: Going for the Kill
Coca Cola has revealed its new social media model. It is called the 4P model, namely reviewing, responding, recording and redirecting. There’s nothing quite revolutionary behind the fancy naming, but it is a tested, well documented, experiment and success backed model to help them accomplish marketing and sales goals.

Vocus Launches New Social Media Monitoring Tool
Vocus has released a new and improved version of its social media monitoring software, the Summer ‘10 Edition. The new application focuses on monitoring and analyzing the massive amounts of online information spread across blogs, forums, Twitter, LinkedIn and other online communities, identify and help engage key influencers.

Vocus acquired free PR service Help a Reporter Out (HARO)
Following a recent release of their social media monitoring software, Vocus announced they had acquired Help a Reporter Out (HARO), a free service connecting bloggers and journalists with their sources, mostly small businesses and entrepreneurs. Continue reading

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Yes, common sense! What we should really take for granted is becoming as rare as miracles. People are so hasty in pushing their own agenda that there’s no time for courtesy, for being nice instead of completely selfish and oblivious of the fact you’re addressing a human being.

Never mind the poor texts sent through email, blog comments and all other channels. Never mind the “what’s in it for me part”! That’s a whole other level of refinement. I really mean the basics of social interaction. Like saying hello, using someone’s name, saying thank you and goodbye. Yes, I am talking about making that other person feel a bit more valuable than just a blog name and an email address you’ve just ticked on a long xls file.

This is becoming so rare, it scares me. OK, you have no time to look for my name, although you can see it on every post I publish. I get the pressure of long to-do lists. But use a ” Hello” or a “Hi” or just “Good morning”! Thank me for allotting 5 minutes of my time to your email or message, then drop a copy/paste line such as “Best regards” or “Have a great afternoon!”.

Either PR people lack all common courtesy skills, or they think bloggers are vane, sub-human creatures that don’t need hellos, but need their ego-boosting pat on the back. Something like saying you chose them because they rank well on some fairly popular site. By the way, try to use a site they actually show up as top dogs on!

I tend to believe it’s the first theory, because such thoughtless messages are also sent to journalists, business partners, customers and whoever else they might come in contact with, not just to bloggers! I understand the fast-paced, Internet-bound world we’re living in has turned us into creatures talking in text message and instant messaging slang. But even on Twitter and messenger we stop to say hello!

Let’s return to the basics! Let’s be nice and thoughtful, act like human beings and have a tidbit of common sense! It’s good PR

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Now that you know that the Mirror Communications PR and Marketing Agency is up and running, I’d like to share another piece of news today. I’ve also launched the Articles and eBooks section with a first piece on events and the myth of the almighty booth.

This section will cover PR and Marketing topics, but not in the usual format of this blog. There will be longer articles and ebooks that will each debate a topic and present it more thoroughly. This first article is intended to show how getting a booth at a trade show is not always the best alternative, especially for the business to business segment and for products with a medium to long purchase cycle.

Hope you like this new section and that you find it usefull in planning yoru PR strategy and in getting more business.

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This entry will be part of a series of more, based on bad pitches I experience or hear of. Turning them into tips and tricks will probably help those pitching do a better job in the future.

Some blogs have moved, some are simply abandoned. Whatever the reason, the owners are clearly not interested in writing on them. So pitching to these people would be a waste of time and a full scale proof of lack of research skills or of not paying that much attention.

Continue reading

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