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SM Seminar!
Learn how to implement a social media strategy in 3, 5 and 10 minutes a day!
Big Ooga
Tuesday, June 7
6-8 p.m.
Catalyst Ranch
656 W. Randolph
Chicago
Free to members &
guests. $25 non-members, $35 at door.
R.S.V.P. to
lennie@bigooga.com
or call 708-524-4562. | | |
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Lunch is on me if...
you're the first person to tell me the one word that appeared in press releases 776 times in a 24-hour period?
Hint: it's an overused buzz word that starts with "L."
E-mail me at chris@chrisruys.com
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Facebook's New 'Best Practices Guide' a Winner
No matter what your level of expertise with marketing and building traffic on Facebook fan pages, you'll find something useful in the company's new "Best Practices Guide."
I liked the 14 case studies of how the bigger brands have used Facebook to boost traffic. I summarize three of them in my latest blog post, where you'll also find a link to the free download. |
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Growing Hyper-Local News Sites
If you're looking for ways to get your message out, and your business is located in one of seven south suburbs, Winnetka or Wilmette, check out 22nd Century Media.
It's a new player on the hyper-local news scene, with on-line editions covering the towns of Homer Glen, Frankfort, Orland Park, New Lenox, Mokena, Tinley Park and Lockport. Plus, they distribute print editions in Winnetka and Wilmette. Post with care: they only cover news in their respective cities. The ad department says they reach 115,000 homes and businesses.
The other major hyper-local sites are TribLocal and AOL Patch. Google Alerts does a better job of catching mentions in TribLocal. Also, TribLocal often "promotes" our posts to their home page for much greater visibility. This week, a TribLocal reporter called to tell me she planned to use my post in the print edition of the Chicago Tribune.
AOL Patch is a bigger and faster-growing animal. They're up to 814 sites in 8 states and eyeing a near-future map of "Patch" communities everywhere, according to a recent news release.
If all this sounds good, but you don't have time to write and post the stories, we can help. For a free consult, contact us at 312-337-7746 or chris@chrisruys.com.
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Can Your "Elevator Speech" Use a Facelift?
How many of us THINK we have a great 30-second sound bite to deliver at networking events?
If you network for new business, your ability to delivery a short, funny and memorable message in 20-30 seconds is SO important.
WBENC showed us how on its recent webinar. Julia Hubbell, of The Hubbell Group, said great elevator speeches and capability statements will absolutely differentiate you from competitors. Among her WOWs:
- Focus on the #1 thing you do best rather than deliver a laundry list. A confused mind cannot buy. Once in the door, you can cross-sell.
- Is your message sticky and funny? Example: "You call, we haul, that's all."
- Use power words like transform, originate, craft. Drop the word "help" -- it is not a power word.
- Have several short capabilities statements ready. "This March, I conducted XX, did XX, it resulted in XX, and you can call XX to see why they're so happy."
Got a great elevator speech or capabilities statement you'd like to share? Send it to me at chris@chrisruys.com, and I'll publish it in next month's PR NOW. |
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How 'Live Drafting' Can Help You
A guest post by Jonathan Lehrer
 | | Jonathan Lehrer |
How many times have we professionals heard such cries of anguish when faced with the prospect of updating their organization's 10-year-old corporate mission to 21st-century language?
Whether it's a mission statement, a proposed Web site content tree or a plan outline, they all involve collaboration among a roomful of people.
I've developed a process called "live drafting" that makes
these sessions more bearable and maybe even productive.
For the complete article, click here. |
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Camera and Videocam in One
How times have changed!
Used to be that you hired a professional video production company to shoot b-roll, the footage that TV stations use to supplement the main elements of a news story. Today, it's increasingly difficult to get a station to shoot b-roll, and the lack of it could kill an interview.
PR guy Dave Silbar says a Chicago station used b-roll he shot with his Canon HD handicam when they were unable to send a camera out, and "it looked fine." Most cameras are in the $500-1,000 range.
A growing number of marketing/PR professionals are eyeing the combination camera and camcorder, which alternates between shooting video and still shots with the press of a button. Right now there are four options. Do you have one, and do you like it? |
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Man Ordered to Tweet Apology -- 100 Times!
Remember when you chewed gum in class, and got caught, and your teacher made you write "I won't chew gum in class again" over and over on the blackboard?
Here's a grown-up version of that punishment. A judge in Kuala Lumpur ordered a well-known social activist to apologize 100 times (three times a day) to his 4,500 followers on Twitter for "defamatory" comments related to HIS comments about the poor treatment of his pregnant friend by her employer, Blu Inc. Media.
Follow @FahmiFadzil on Twitter and #defahmi to see what people are saying about the case. |
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