How Spooky Is Social Media?

In a recent opinion article for CNN, Andrew Keen, a British-American entrepreneur, professional skeptic and author of “The Cult of the Amateur,” and “Digital Vertigo,” warns us about the dangers not only of Facebook, but with our growing obsession with social media.  (Opinion: Facebook threatens to “Zuck up” the human race) He describes it as digital narcissism, a narcotic, that is defining and desensitizing us.

In his article he quotes, Sherry Turkle, Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who says there is a “shift” from an analog world in which our identities are generated from within, to a digital world in which our sense of self is intimately tied to our social media presence.”

Keen explains that our capacity for solitude and an inner sense of self is quickly fading and being replaced by an external sense of who we are and how we are valued.  Scary stuff, mainly because it’s true.  Don’t get me wrong, I think that Facebook, Twitter and the other social media sites are great communication tools – for marketing tools.  They are tailor made to help build and brand, sell a product and build a business, but the trouble is most people use them to build personal relationships.  Or believe they are building personal relationships.  Most people are selling themselves using social media and not their company or products and by doing so are losing any authentic sense of who they are.

So what’s the secret to learning how to effectively utilize social media?  Understand what it can and can’t do.  Social media is great for staying in touch, but not so hot for being in touch.  It’s a great promotional tool, perfect for communicating information about your company product, service or cause, but it’s a poor substitute for real personal connection or communication.  Again, it’s an amazing promotional tool, perfect for PR and marketing, but it is not so great as a communication tool.

If you want to get the word out about your product, social media is a great way to do it.  But you are not a product, you are a person – deal with it!  If you want to connect with someone you care about, how about picking up the phone and talking, or (here’s a strange idea) actually getting together and meeting face to face.  Social media has very little inflection, or nuance, you don’t hear the person’s voice; you don’t see his or her facial expression or body language.  It’s a strange static form of expression.

But people seem to forget that and believe they are actually connecting.  They feel if they’re not on social media, they’re missing out, they’re not good enough, or stranger yet, they feel they don’t actually matter.  It’s spooky stuff.  The trick is to use social media for what it is.  Have fun with it; use it as a marketing tool, use it to set up face to face meeting, then get off of Facebook or Twitter – and go outside and play!

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

SEO Press Releases: Part 2

The upside about learning SEO is you’re not alone if you feel you’re behind the learning curve.  The truth is everyone needs to learn to keep on track in this field.  It’s an ever changing, ever shifting process.  So, wherever you are in the process, that’s okay.  My previous article focused on how to write an SEO press release in order to garner increased online visibility and ultimately more views.  The basic how-tos include knowing your keywords, using anchor text, and including your URL

While all of this helps you in the world of search engines such as Yahoo and Google, that’s not enough.  You don’t simply want to move yourself up in the search engine pecking order; you also want to have a compelling story, a well written targeted release that reaches your target audience.  Increasing your website traffic is great but it can be useless if it’s not the right traffic, you need to be speaking to your audience.

Whereas you definitely want to use keywords and it’s important you learn and know your keywords before starting to write a release, you don’t want to get lost in jargon.  Every business has its own jargon and to those outside of the business it often sounds like a foreign language.  That is not going to make for a compelling read, so keep your jargon to a minimum.

Be sure to bold your secondary keywords and phrases in your release and include a link that will allow the reader to access additional information. Double check that you’ve included the http:// portion of the URL in your press releases or the links will not be clickable when published.

Most releases have a date included, but in this case I think that backfires.  Unless your information is timely and has to do with a specific event, season or breaking news story adding a date to your release will only server to make the release look dated.  This is particularly true with online-oriented releases.

Write a concise descriptive headline that includes your primary keywords. Don’t be shy about them.  This is the real estate that counts.  You want to utilize your important keywords in the headline, in the lead and then pepper them throughout your message.  I’m not sure this makes for the best releases from a journalistic standpoint, but from an SEO perspective it reinforces your message

The writing and the story are the parts of your release that will engage your audience, SEO is the science of being discovered by your audience and in the online world – you need both.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

The Secrets of Fiction For PR Success

I began as a fiction writer and then moved into journalism.  From there I found my way to PR.  It wasn’t a career path I was thinking of taking, it more or less was a process that evolved.  But, whether I’m writing fiction, journalism or for public relations campaigns, the basic tenants remain the same.  It all comes down to a good, compelling story.

When I worked as a journalist I wrote with my readers in mind.  I wrote with the intention of being relevant to my target market.  When I write a novel or a play, I’m looking to tell a good story, but I’m also looking to connect with the public.  In essence, as a fiction writer, I’m once again, looking to connect with my target market. To some writers that sounds crass and although I don’t write my fiction with the market in mind, I do hope and try to write a compelling enough story that the play, novel or screenplay directly connects with my audience.  From my perspective, that is part of my job as a writer.

I’ve written quite a bit on how PR comes down to effective storytelling, which is in fact what public relations is all about.   Here again, it’s not just telling a story, it’s telling a story that resonates with a specific audience.  When it comes to traditional media, your job is to convince that editor or producer that the story you’re pitching is going to captivate his or her readers, listeners or viewers.

It needs to be compelling, but it also has to be relevant to that particular target market.  For example you could have an incredibly captivating tale that has to do with sports or fitness.  From your perspective it’s a slam dunk.  It has all of the elements of a strong, powerful story.  But creating that pitch is simply step one, now you have to present it to the right media contacts.  If you spend your time pitching your sports-oriented story to the beauty editors of the top women’s magazines, I’d say your chances of landing an article are slim.  Yes, you have the story, but there is a disconnect when it comes to the media you’re pitching.  In effect you haven’t built the bridge necessary to take your story from being a strong concept to being a produced segment or published article.

There lies the secret.  You need to develop a strong story with a compelling narrative, but you also need to know when to pitch it and who to pitch it to.  In other words you need to know your audience.  Combine those two elements, a strong story and a defined market, and, regardless what style or form of writing you work in, you’ll succeed.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

How to Figure out what Marketing Is Right For You

Mashable’s definition of Marketing is a great place to start thinking about your own company’s marketing mix:

How do you decide what marketing direction is the best for you?  That’s not necessarily an easy question to answer.  You need to know your company, your product or service, your target market and the direction you want your company to go.  Begin by writing out a marketing plan.  Initially have fun with it play with it, then start to hone it down.  Start with a list of questions and then fill in the answers.  But do it a few times and set it up so your answers can’t always be the same as the previous responses.  Look at your company and your business from a number of angles.

Do you need to:

  • drive sales?
  • find new clients?
  • build your brand?
  • reach a new target market?

PR and media relations can achieve a number of goals, but before launching a campaign, you need to define exactly what your specific goals are.  Once you have your marketing objective list, your next step is to review your marketing budget.  How much can you realistically spend to achieve your marketing goals?  Your budget is going to help define your approach.  If you have thousands that you can dedicate to marketing each month you have different options than if you have a couple of hundred or less to put towards your marketing efforts.

If you have a finite marketing budget, your first focus should be on establishing an online presence, by building an easy to read, informational website that speaks to your clients’ needs.  The Internet offers you a way to position yourself and your company online without breaking the bank, but simply having a presence on the Internet does not mean anyone is going to see it.  You need to drive visitors to your site.  This is when a social media outreach program, article marketing program and a blog can help.

But back to the PR question, although your budget will dictate how you’re going to implement your marketing campaign, your budget, or lack of it, does not need to stop you from utilizing media relations.  Draw up a campaign blueprint.  Then move forward.  Don’t waste valuable marketing time trying to figure out if you should launch a PR campaign, focus on how.  It is the one form of marketing that reaches your target market, offers you validation, credibility and establishes you as an expert in your field.  Define your needs, your objectives, your budget, the most appropriate approach and move forward.  The worst decision you can make is to do no marketing.  That’s a sure way to go nowhere fast.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

Marketing. Mashable. Retrieved May 24, 2012. http://mashable.com/follow/topics/marketing/page/2/

How The Big Boys Use Social Media

CNN recently ran a piece called The Top 10 Social Media Stars.   Companies can learn from how these business giants utilize their social media campaigns, it is important to keep in mind that companies such as Walmart, Home Depot, Starbucks and Disney start with an obvious huge advantage.  One because of their size and the numbers that their traditional PR, marketing, advertising and media relations campaigns drive to their social media sites, there is not really a one to one correlation between how you can utilize your Facebook and Twitter sites and how these companies use theirs.  Still, it’s worth paying attention and taking note of what they’re doing in the major leagues.

For example, Walmart boasts over 15 million fans on Facebook. Not long ago they ran an Easter fill-in-the-blank question inspired over 11,000 comments. It also finds warm and fuzzy ways to peg its promotions such as “National Puppy Day.”

Pepsi offers Pepsi Deals discounts to its 8 million Facebook followers.  It also lets users post photos of Pepsi cans or bottles in unusual or different settings, which allows users to participate.  Starbucks can boast nearly 30 million fans.  They offer deals, community feedback and direct feedback for angry or upset customers.

While the CNN piece focused mainly on Facebook, that’s obviously not the only social media avenue available.  Consistency, interaction and engagement are key.  And, while the companies spotlighted begin with an army of followers, it does help to study their social media approaches.  You never know what you’ll learn.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

Ameen, Yasir. “The Top 10 Social Media Stars.” Photo. The News Tribe. 13 May 2012. 23 May 2012. <http://www.thenewstribe.com/2012/05/13/top-10-social-media-stars/#.T710f45ZUUU>

A Novel Approach to Reading: In Defense of the Lowly Book

IPads and Nooks and Kindles have gotten more than their share of PR and media coverage.  There has been a press battle among them with press releases flying fast and furious.  And the media campaigns are working.  They’re selling.  These e-reader devices are fine for reading magazines.   I suppose they could be okay for reading some non-fiction books.  But when it comes to reading fiction, there I firmly draw the line.  It’s not so much that I’m a Ludite in this arena; it’s that as a reader you lose so much of the essential reading experience when you shift from a book to a shrunken computer.  There is a certain romance to reading novels that supersedes merely looking at and digesting words.

I’m an admitted novel junkie.  I cannot go to sleep without reading for at least half an hour.  And it has to be a novel.  Reading non fiction or current affairs as I lie in bed only serves to agitate me.  With a novel, I can blissfully drift towards Morpheus.

But I am getting ahead of myself.  Before I find myself lying in bed lost in strange and foreign lives and worlds, I need to choose the book.  Here too, I admit to being old school.  I actually go to bookstores.  Not only do I go, I do so with the same enthusiasm as a five year old goes to a toy store.  It’s an outing, an experience, an adventure.  I never know what I’ll find and seldom go with any particular book in mind.  I browse, pick up the various books, study the covers, and touch the pages, read some pages; it’s a totally sensual experience and not simply a visual one.  You touch books, feel them.  Books have a scent.  You can read them aloud and make it an experience that touches all of the senses.  Reading novels is not simply about the words, but about the experience of choosing, holding and being engulfed by a book.

If the focus is on how many volumes you can carry in a particular device and how quickly you can read a particular book, I’d say you’re losing a good deal of the joy.

There are people who like to figure out the most practical and least time consuming ways to eat; people who have shakes for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  They get their nutrients, their calories, but, at least from my perspective, they’ve lost quite a bit in that bargain.

And that is not unlike what I fear we’re losing when it comes reading.  It’s meant to be a sensual experience.  The focus is not supposed to be on transferring information from a machine into your brain.   The physical book, with its specific size, layout, cover, graphics, font and paper, is all a part of the total experience.

I suppose it’s an experience that is losing ground, as e-books and various pads and devices flourish.  Oh, well, I hold on to my book mania.  Plus, at least on my end, I really don’t have much of a choice.  You see, I often fall asleep while I’m reading, drifting off as I’m lost in a novel.  And, there are times, when said book falls from my hands to the floor.  This isn’t a constant occurrence, but it’s happened often enough.  And my novels, being the sturdy troopers they are, take the plummeting and live on to fight another day.  They neither complain, nor do they break.    Now think of me lying in bed reading my IPad and having it tumble onto the floor.  Disaster!  Reading would become such an expensive pastime; I wouldn’t be able to afford it.  No, I’ll happily stay on the sidelines in this e-reader revolution and stick with the romance of my books.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

Tew, Sarah. “Kindle vs. Nook vs. iPad:…”  Photo. CNET. 05 12 May 2012. 21 May 2012. <http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20009738-1/kindle-vs-nook-vs-ipad-which-e-book-reader-should-you-buy/>
Carr, Austin. “Twitter Stats Reveal How the iPad, Nook, and Kindle Stack Up.” Photo. Fast Company. 11 Jan 2011. 21 May 2012.  <http://www.fastcompany.com/1716018/how-the-ipad-kindle-and-nook-stack-up-on-twitter>

How PR Drove Facebook’s IPO

Sometimes an amazingly effective PR campaign can be a dangerous thing.  Take Facebook for example.  The company raised the price range for its IPO to $34 to $38 a share, from $28 to $35 a share.  That illustrates how the media frenzy has hungry investors biting at the bit for this offering.  It also shows how perception can create what could be a false reality perhaps blinding investors to the reality of the situation.  Facebook’s initial price range put its valuation at $77 billion to $96 billion, but now that shifts to $93 billion to $104 billion under this revised price range.  That, my friend, is a lot of money.

Facebook has yet to prove that its $3.7 billion in revenue and $1 billion in profits last year can justify such astronomical evaluation. . Last month, Facebook disclosed that its first-quarter profit and revenue shrunk from the fourth quarter of 2011.  The company claimed that it was do to seasonal trends in advertising.

Facebook going public can be dangerous.  The pressure of being a public company can make companies lose sight of what made them so successful to start.   When it comes to Facebook, the pressure will be particularly great. Its earnings are quite a ways below its projections.  It’s hard to see how it will find a way to grow at the lightning speed investors will not only expect, but demand. 

Another red flag is that Facebook has real exposure to Europe. Apparently over twenty five percent of its users are fromEurope, giving Facebook definite financial exposure on that front. With the state of the European economy, and Facebook’s reliance on European advertising, that could be dangerous.

According to the media, most savvy investors seem to be shying away from Facebook’s IPO.  There are probably some credible reasons for that.  This is not to say that Facbook is not an amazing success story.  Its success and growth have been astronomical; still that doesn’t necessarily justify such aggressive valuations.  And that’s where the media and PR frenzy comes into play.  From newspaper and magazine articles to radio and TV segments Facebook’s IPO has been a front page story for weeks. And then of course, there is Facebook itself.  The social media outlet is its own non stop marketing machine.  The buzz creates more interest and investors start beating the investment drums.  It looks like a difficult road for Facbook to live up to those projections; time will tell whether the drum beating will lead to success or investor disappointment.


Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

Flauraud, Valentin. “he loading screen of the Facebook application on a mobile phone is seen in this photo illustration taken in Lavigny.” Photo. Chicago Tribune. 16 May 2012. 16 May 2012. <http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/automotive/sns-rt-us-facebook-retailbre84f0x2-20120516,0,4596444.story>

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How To Decide Which Marketing Approach Is Best For You

Marketing can be tricky. How, where, when and to whom you market all depends on the specific needs of your business.  The media mix that works for a physician will probably differ from the approach that will work for a coffee house.  But then again, maybe not, maybe the same marketing mix will perfectly fit both and it’s only the approach and implementation that needs to shift.

Before you decide on and implement marketing, advertising, public relations or a social media campaign, do some soul searching and figure out what marketing approach is going to most effectively serve you and your company.  Each company’s needs are different, which is why your approach needs to be individualized and tailored to your specific business.

When I launched my company I focused primarily in traditional public relations, that approach is still the most effective way to do if you want to reach your target market and gain the legalization and credibility that being featured in the media affords you.  Appearing on a TV show or in a magazine or newspaper can separate you from the competition, establish you as a news story and present you as an expert in your field.

That is one approach, but there are several others that sometimes work on their own and other times work in conjunction with a PR campaign.  A short marketing list would include:

  • Traditional advertising (including print ads and commercials)
  • Online advertising (including ads, banners, pop ups, etc.)
  • Direct marketing (including flyers, mailers, etc.).
  • Traditional public relations (including print, TV and radio)
  • Social media (including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, GooglePlus, etc).
  • Email marketing
  • Seminars
  • Workshops
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Cold Calling
  • Article Marketing
  • Digital Media Apps
  • Mobile Advertising

That covers a pretty good marketing spectrum.  Chances are if you are doing some type of marketing outreach (which you definitely need to be) you’re utilizing one of the approaches listed above.   But again the question remains, how do you know when to use which type of marketing approach?  It took me a while to learn that this generally needed to be my first step when working with clients.   First we needed to define the objectives.  What did the client want to achieve with his or her marketing campaign?   Once we have that defined, we then decide on which approach or which combination of approaches are best suited to meet those objectives.  We developed a questionnaire to help clients define their needs, objectives and target markets, once we have that information, we then use that as a guide to help develop their most effective marketing plan and approach.  It could be one approach or a combination.  Or it could be an orchestrated sequential shifting from one approach to another.  It all depends.  Each business has its own specific needs.  Before you jump into a marketing direction take some time to define your objectives, your needs and your most effective marketing approach.  In the long run, you’ll be glad you did.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

Petronzio, Matt. “47 Digital Media Resources You May Have Missed.” Photo. Mashable. 05 May 2012. 07 May 2012. <http://mashable.com/2012/05/05/digital-media-resources-39/>

Alice Cooper, Pat Benatar PR- & You

I began in the media world as a freelance writer.  My focus was on music, primarily rock.  I learned how the PR and marketing machines worked, but also learned how working with their teams, rock acts formed their own brands and created their own legends.  For example, two of the rock stars I interviewed, Alice Cooper and Pat Benatar and Kate took very different paths and approaches, but both created an image and a brand that defined them, and made them quite a bit of money.

Alice (Vincent Damon Furnier) had perhaps the most fun of any rock star with his mage, paving the way for KISS and a plethora of shock rock bands.  The band was the house band at the Whiskey on the Sunset Strip and became the band to walk out on (something I had to admit to Alice that I had done myself).  As the image and act grew, he added guillotines, electric chairs, fake blood, boa constrictors, and baby dolls to his act, drawing on a number of  influences from horror films, and vaudeville acts, to the more theatrical Broadway musicals.  He pioneered an over-the-top, theatrical and uber violent brand of heavy metal created to shock and rock.  In person, Alice is a fun, funny amiable guy, who talks about his alter ego with a wink and a smile.

Not as over the top as Alice, Benatar created her own alter ego.  Initially Benatar’s focus was on classical and Broadway theatrical styles. Rock did not seem to be in the cards.  Inspired by Liza Millelli she quit her job as a bank teller and decided to give a singing career a stab.  Yet, Out of that Pat Benatar the rock sex goddess was born, which lead to two multi platinum albums and decades of success.  Again this was a case of creating a brand, an image and turning that brand into a career and an amazingly successful business.

You might think you have nothing in common with Alice Copper or Pat Benatar, but (surprise) you’re wrong.  Chances are you’re not launching a new rock act (then again maybe you are), but the basic gameplan of creating a brand and an image is the same whether you’re an entertainer, an entrepreneur, a physician, an attorney, a jeweler, or the owner of a new social media site.  You want to establish your brand.  You want to create that message, story and image that is specifically you and that separates you from the competition.  Your brand and story can be loud and carnival like or extremely subtle and sophisticated.  It depends on you and your company.   You’re image probably won’t have much to do with spandex, guillotines, or over the top make up.  Then again, if it does – use it!

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

 Ochs, Michael. “Alice Cooper.” Photo. Rolling Stone. 02 May 2012. <http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/alice-cooper>
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