Press release distribution

Posted on | March 31, 2008 | No Comments

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. OR you could subscribe by email if that is easier. Just enter an email in the box to the right. Thanks for visiting!

On LinkedIn over the weekend an interesting question with even more interesting answers. The question: “What is the best method to distribute a press release? ”

Excerpts from some of the answers:

From a PR professional: ” The best method for distributing press releases would be through snail mail with the option to “opt- out” of it. ”

From a “content maven”: ” I’ve had the most success by contacting relevant online magazines and sites and proposing two or three article ideas.”

From an Internet marketing expert: “I can e-mail to about 500 reporters if the release is within what they are looking for and I often do that selectively and then distribute via PRWeb or PRLeap. If a client is publicly traded I usually use BusinessWire. ”

A marketing strategist: “…the best way to distribute a press release is PERSONALLY.”

Not one of the answers included any discussion on who the target audience is, how do they get information, what is the message, what are your objectives in doing th release in the first place?

If you don’t ask questions first how can you advise someone on the right approach to take? The Internet opens up a whole new wardrobe of possibilities. For some it might be just over the Internet, for others you might need online and offline. The biggest question to ask first - is your message newsworthy? Too many times I see “news releases” with not a whole lot to say just trying to get their name in my face. I don’t have statistics but my guess is that you cause more bad will than you create. It is not that difficult to find something of note. If it is then you need to work harder.

One option not used often enough is the whole notion of optimized press releases you can find a very good explanation of them here.

I have seen tremendous success with these OPR’s. I suggest you do your homework; find the right keywords for the content of the release, learn how to embed back links into the release and pay to have them accepted to 15 - 20 release points. Do you have any stories about using online releases you would like to share ?

Category: Internet Marketing

Google Universal search takes blogging mainstream

Posted on | March 21, 2008 | No Comments

Stephan Spencer has a great post over at CNET about making the most of Google’s Universal search(where video, image, news and blog results are displayed along with regular search results instead of being only in their respective specialized search engines.)

What this really means for site owners is that there are new opportunities to gain placement or additional placement in the search engine results pages. By adding a blog, releasing online press releases to authoritative wire services, uploading video to sites like YouTube, and adding a local.google.com listing, businesses increase the chances of having search result listings that may directly or indirectly drive traffic to their sites.

Watching universal search unfold will give site owners a view into where they need to focus their efforts beyond their own site, especially as these types of blended search results continue to make their way across all the engines.

Amen. Now blog posting are more likely to be found in the main search engine, so even Google is treating blogs as mainstream. When are you going to add one to your site?

Definitive tutorial on RSS readers

Posted on | March 14, 2008 | No Comments

How do you staying up to date with blogs and websites? Using RSS feeds is a easy method anyone can learn. There’s only so many websites you can visit in one day and web feeds will allow you access more material and knowledge at a more efficient pace. This video by CommonCraft explains it all in a very simple way.

Category: News Media
Tags: feed readers > RSS feeds

Keep them out of the Philadelphia online marketing scene

Posted on | March 12, 2008 | No Comments

Time to call out a few companies for doing the wrong thing and I see I am not alone. Chris Silver Smith , Barry Schwartz, and Gabriel Goldenberg all agree with me or should I say I agree with them. It is about time the community spoke out more about these charlatans.

Gives the whole industry a bad name. Not to mention idiots like this one, taken from an actual proposal for a new website:

“The site will appear on the first page of each of the three major search engines, Google, Yahoo, and MSN for at least one of the words from the above list as mutually agreed between us within twelve months time of starting work after the website has been published with a domain nam”

What crap. As many have mentioned before - if someone is willing to give a guarantee like the one above you can be assured they will be spending more of their time fulfilling this promise and less time actully helping your business.

Lets say it again - It is not about being number 1. It is not about driving traffic. It is not about a great click thru rate. It is not about many other things typically mentioned by purveyors of our services. It is about the visitor to the website taking appropriate action - as identified and agreed upon by you and your client - period.

If the industry is going to survive we must bring more of these scoundrels to light. If too many potential clients end up with the likes of these they will back off the Internet and not only will many of us Internet marketing professionals feel it but more importantly it will hurt the client.

So the question becomes how do we police ourselves - my approach is for more education to the public - We all need to be out there doing the grunt work. I speak in front of any group that will ahve me because I think it is that important- where have you spoken lately?

Category: Internet Marketing

Not having analytics = driving with your eyes closed

Posted on | March 7, 2008 | No Comments

SEOmoz has a report on Searchfest 2008.

I found this section to be most insightful.

About web analytics:

Analytics does not simply equal “reports”
Not having analytics = driving with your eyes closed
Search analytics = 5 step checkup:
- phrases
- page views
- time on site
- bounce rate
- conversion
The time on site combined with the number of page views is the most useful data
Conversions are slightly overrated. CEO can obsess about conversion numbers, even though conversions can happen months after someone visits a site.
Onsite search = a missed opportunity. Try to track what your users are searching for and see if you can better offer it to them.

I alway like to put a custom search box on sites, not a Google search box. This way I help visitors find what they are looking for. Even better, I can login to the Admin panel and see exactly what phrases visitors are searching for and if the search found a page or more on the site. If the search result returned empty that is a HINT to create some content on that topic [of course, only if relevant to site focus]

Category: Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization
Tags: Onsite search > web analytics

Ask not what your search engine can do…

Posted on | March 6, 2008 | No Comments

I’m a fan of the underdog. If I don’t have a vested interest in a football game, I’ll quietly go against the favorite because I like competition better. Ask.com has never been a big player but more of an innovator and have done some interesting things through the years. The concept of a user actually asking a question was a novel one and I think an effective one, the acquisition of Teoma, the creative user interface and the takeover of IAC back in ‘05 all seemed to be positive moves. Not all has been effective though (including the retirement of Jeeves, I was actually sad to see him go) and all along, they’ve struggled to really see substantial increases in search market share. Even after the huge injection of funds, the aggressive advertising campaigns we’re now looking towards an 8% staff layoff and a focus on a particular niche…women. Not sure why but this still all sounds like speculation. We haven’t received official word from Ask.com yet.

While we’re not sure of the “new” direction for Ask, whether or not Google has something to do with it (blended results maybe), it’s a shame to hear that the focus is gone from being a part of the big 4 towards a niche that is probably unnecessary. In any event, we will keep you posted on any future updates. The message here continues to be, keep focusing your SEO strategy on Google.

Category: Internet Marketing, SEO, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization

Barnes & Noble take the leap to Internet TV

Posted on | March 5, 2008 | No Comments

B&N has been dabbling in online video for a little while now. Up until now, they have mostly focused on promotional items, featured books, interviews and events. Now it appears they are moving towards Internet TV shows with the recent addition of both “Tagged” and “Book Obsessed”. I always applaud innovation (although it’s more about adoption here than innovation), particularly with new media and really think that this format is something that more and more people are heading towards and B&N have done a fairly good job embracing it.

While not my cup ‘o tea, I think these two shows will appeal to an audience who may not necessarily be early adopters of Internet TV. For the early adopters, these slick productions that mimic shows and formats you will see on TV are not necessarily what this new medium is about. It’s more about grass roots, organic, user-centric shows driven by personality and content. Shows like Happy Slip, Wine Library TV and Rocketboom have been a few that have resonated with Internet audiences, so to see these new shows tends to be a little awkward for those used to these other formats. However, in the name of progress, I think we’ll be seeing more and more of these shows with budgets and crews and pre-production and post-production that will most likely appeal to a larger audience.

I don’t think I’ll be a regular viewer of the B&N shows (not to mention the fact that it’s really tough to subscribe) but kudos goes out to them. Where’s your Internet TV show Powells?

Category: News Media, Video SEO, social media marketing
Tags: internet tv > video tv

Word of Mouth Marketing Strategies

Posted on | February 29, 2008 | No Comments

Word of Mouth Marketing (WOMM) is a form of promotional campaign which operates through an individual’s personal recommendations of specific brands, products or services.Like its literal meaning, word-of-mouth marketing spreads from one person to another outside of a formalized setting, without heavy intervention by advertisers.

A recommendation from someone familiar and trust-worthy is the easiest path to a product sale, link or new subscriber. Why? Because recommendations are generally perceived as incentive-free, unlike the obvious motivation of advertisers, who may over-promise in a bid to increase sales.

The Blogosphere can be rough

Posted on | February 27, 2008 | No Comments

I’ve been doing this blogging thing for a while now so I’ve learned some of the intricacies involved in being a part of the blog community. Blog etiquette is an unwritten code and not knowing some of the nuances can result in severe backlash from others. Then you have to figure out commenting and spammers and trackbacks and pinging and attribution and other linking techniques etc.

I was recently reminded of this after one of our posters neglected to appropriately cite a reference from another blogger. The link was there (a little buried) so credit was given but essentially the post was repeated verbatim with a couple of comments at the end. Not necessarily what one would consider to be great etiquette. Now from my perspective, I wouldn’t really care. In fact, I’ve had articles stolen, blog posts pinched, press releases ‘reworked slightly’ and I put it down to the nature of the beast. There are bigger issues out there than having my 2 cents passed off as someone else’s 2 cents. My favorite is an article written be me years ago that appears on their website with a link title to our website but the link going to another one of their pages and of course with no credit given, appearing to pass it off as their own. Still, like the real world, opinions differ and some may take offense at such an action.

It’s complex, particularly when you start looking at folks who are getting paid to blog but here are a couple of my own “best practices” with regard to citing others, including those with a copyright statement.

Link source - always link to the original post. Links should be encouraged as that’s what the community is about. Make the link noticeable. Try to link it to the individual page or post rather than the home page of the website like www.dinkuminteractive.com/about.html instead of just www.dinkuminteractive.com.

Blockquote - if you need to cite a reference verbatim, try to restrict it to a few sentences. There is no hard and fast rule as to how much, just don’t go crazy. You might have to experiment a little with blockquoting depending on your platform. In its simplest form though, use “quotations and italics.”

Learn more. Fair use does come into play and Blog Herald provides further insight into the Basics of Fair Use which is more than enough to make your head spin but may be just what you’re looking for.

“The doctrine of fair use is designed to place a limitation on those absolute rights and weigh them against the needs of society. Fair use, in short, allows copying of copyrighted materials in certain, limited, situations.”

Obviously, I’m simplifying things but this should offer a little more insight as you consider entering or are new to the blogsosphere. Sometimes it can feel as though everyone is picking on you and making you feel like you’ve made the biggest mistake ever (yes the blogosphere is full of drama). You probably haven’t. Just remember to learn from it and maybe share your experience so someone else can learn.

Category: Blog Marketing, social media marketing

Why and how to ask a question on LinkedIn.

Posted on | February 22, 2008 | No Comments

RainToday had an interesting article how to get the most out of LinkedIN.

Jason Alba, the CEO of JibberJobber, wrote a book I’m on LinkedIn – Now What?

In his book, Alba shares a whole slew of uses I’d never even thought of before. If you’re just starting out, it’ll help you get going right away. One thing that intrigued me was when he talked about why and how to ask a question on LinkedIn. I decided to give it a try.

LinkedIn can be used to support the entire sales lifecycle: lead generation, sales acceleration and solution delivery. Let’s look at each of these pieces:

Lead Generation

Find and be found. Search by title and industry for the ideal contacts at your ideal companies. Search by title and company name for specific target prospects. Be sure your profile is complete and contains the appropriate keywords for your business so that people looking for your solution will find you.

Endorsements/recommendations count for a lot – get them from people who have actually been your clients if at all possible.

Sales Acceleration

Search for people in your prospect’s company who are not closely involved in your deal – preferably 2nd degree contacts, not 3rd degree. Ask for an informational interview. This is where strong, trusted relationships count for a lot – “light linking” breaks down here.

Ask your interview subject about the priorities that are going on at the company – what are the high-level factors that might be influencing the buying process. Be completely open/transparent. If you have a good solution and a really good referral to a true “friend of a friend”, you will very likely find an internal champion in that person. This is the #1 technique that LinkedIn supports better than any other tool.

Solution Delivery

Quite often, especially for small businesses, you can’t do it all yourself. LinkedIn is invaluable for finding partners with particular skill sets who can help you deliver the total solution. In addition to searching, you can post questions asking about the solution area you need expertise in and use that as a way to attract potential partners.