Every now and again a reporter or blogger decides to shake up the PR industry by showcasing how we FAIL, flop, or simply when we do things wrong. Some do so out of anger, others are genuine in their desire to help, while some are simply tired and do so out of spite. This time around however, Marshall Kirkpatrick of ReadWriteWeb has started a conversation that proactively helps PR and communications professionals learn how to more effectively work with influential…
The Future of the Press Release – Part I, Acceptance
The press release is on life support and I’m rallying a team of supporters to euthanize it – not to put it out of its misery, but to keep it from contributing to the misery of reporters, analysts, bloggers and the people who read them. The process of writing and distributing a press release can be excruciatingly painful and is almost laughable when you read the final product. Company X Launches World’s First, Industry-leading, Innovative Thingamabob that will Change Our…
Thank You for Bringing Attention to the Need for Change
The conversation regarding the need for evolution in PR still rages on (with the SMR aka hrelease at the center of the controversy.) Some bloggers “get it,” others are forcing us to do a better job explaining what we’re actually doing, while some (and the people who read their blogs) completely miss the point. If anything, this conversation demonstrates why the blogosphere (and most importantly, people) will chew-up and spit-out traditional PR and corporate marketing types – without thinking twice….
Enough Already: Getting the Social Media Release All Wrong
After spending a week writing “Social Media Killed the Press Release Star,” which painstakingly explains in great detail the need to improve the content and overall relevance of PR and press releases as well as putting a microscope on why the hell a social media (or let’s just call it “an overhauled”) release WILL exist, people still don’t get it. Good friend, Stowe Boyd wrote an interesting post that I’m afraid is drawing the wrong kind of attention to an…
Social Media Killed the Press Release Star
A New Year is upon us and I think I’ll start off the New Year with a rededication to the Social Media Release (SMR), the Social Media Club, and why the hell all of this will matter to marketing, communications and PR professionals this year. The truth is that somewhere along the way, a few of those who “got it” embraced it as their own, those who are just now learning about it are “not getting” it, and a few…
How to Write a Social Media Press Release, Why, and What It All Means
As a function of the Social Media Club, Chris Heuer and I were recently discussing Social Media Press Releases with a reporter at a PR trade magazine when we realized just how many people have yet to even learn about the fundamentals of social media. For example, as we were defining the building blocks of an SMR (social media release), Chris stopped and asked the interviewer if she knew what a “tag” was. That was a great question, it turns…
The Social Bookmarking Faceoff and its Effects on PR
Hats off to Paul over at StarkedSF for this tip. An interesting story ran over at Read / Write Web discussing the market of social bookmarking as well as comparing several leaders in the space – although it doesn’t seem to include RawSugar and FURL , among others. I’ve recently held discussions with Todd Defren , Shel Holtz , Chris Heuer, and Tom Foremski regarding social bookmarking, individually, as well as on the NMR “New Media Release” Cast, and how…
Social Media Club Forms Working Group to Develop New Standard for Press Release
On the heels of its official launch, Social Media Club (SMC) formed the Media Release Working Group to begin development of the hRelease , a new standard for modernizing the traditional press release for a Web-centric world. The Media Release Working Group will work closely with the Microformats community, while evaluating other technologies such as XPRL, XBRL, and NewsML to establish a standard way of organizing, tagging, distributing, and sharing ‘official’ organizational communications among blogs and other online communities. The…
Social Media News Releases
Yesterday, Todd Defren ran a short, but sweet, post to help PR pros “stop and think” in order to develop more successful SMPRs . Democratize “Access” Ensure “Accuracy” Embrace “Context” Build “Community” Be “Findable” I also added an idea or two, and in my discussion with Tom Foremski , the list is far from complete, but it is off to a great start…so stay tuned for updates. Write “intelligently” “Eliminate” hyperbole Be “informed” “leave” the spin to the reporter As…
Six Degrees of Social Media
Today I spent my day at the SocialMediaClub HQ working on the official announcement for the working group dedicated to developing a new, social media aware standard for press releases. This is exciting stuff and I really believe that this is the sign of many new things to come that will (and already is) fundementally changing the PR industry and its targets. Some of the most influential, smart, and visionary people are already on board, including: Chris Heuer, Social Media…
