Social media blogger Chris Brogan recently wrote about the idea of “microfame” and the power of social media to make people “famous” on any of a number of levels. Chris Brogan for example has become “famous” in the world of social media as an expert in the latest trends and developments. Likewise, I have a friend (offline) who has become “famous” within his small Facebook circle because of his profile pictures (currently John Travolta circa Sat. Night Fever) and updates.

The point is that we now have a very powerful platform to connect and express ourselves in ways that weren’t possible just five years ago. However, while it is much easier today to become “famous,” this fame doesn’t necessarly mean opportunity. According to Brogan,

We have this distribution mechanism, this platform, this potential to share ideas that matter, that brings us a further opportunity.

But fame isn’t trust, and the real goal, in my estimation, would be to develop trust, build relationships, and earn the attention of people in our circles of interest. That’s what matters.

As more and more self proclaimed “marketing gurus” and “social media marketing experts” jump into the world of social networking, it quickly becomes obvious that while they may have thousands of friends on Facebook or friends on Twitter, what good is it if they don’t provide something of value.

As my Twitter following grows, I’m finding that I’m being followed more and more by people with 10s of thousands of followers and I’ve followed some of them in return. However, I’m quickly finding many of the twitter users with the most followers have the least to say. I even followed one who has “twitted” about nothing more than how many followers she has and an occasional comment about coffee or something.

I’m also finding, that as I follow more and more people on Twitter, the less I’m actually reading on Twitter. I know which twitter users I enjoy, those who I talk to and those who provide valuable information. The rest get screened until I find value in something they provide.

The same is happening to my Facebook account. As the list of Friend’s grow, I tend to look for those I am interested in reading about and letting the rest go by. As the numbers grow, it’s the only way to manage these networks.

Without providing value, internet “fame” is worthless. People quickly learn how to screen the noise and even worse, label the spammers as such.

And yet there are so many out there that don’t get this basic concept. Take a look on almost any LinkedIn group and you’ll see people looking to blindly expand their network. There are now a number of Twitter applications that do nothing more then bring the classic pyramid scheme to Twitter to build followers. If you’re looking to add a random collection of followers quick, they may work well.

The RNC leadership even got into it a few weeks back bragging about who had the most “friends” on facebook culminating in the absurd challenge, “I’ll meet you on Facebook any day.”

From a business perspective, a large network is of no value unless the members of your network see value in what you bring to the table. By consistently providing value and conversing on a level of transparency and trust, the network will respond. Your network will grow, it will be much easier to spread content (with your name attached) and ultimately, bring in more customers.

What does your business bring to the table? Have you considered a white paper? White papers provide valuable information and can establish your company as an expert in the industry. Contact Jim Lodico to see how he can help you harness the power of white papers today.

I finally broke down and joined Twitter this week.

I’ve been meaning to do this for a while now and I’ve been holding back. I have information channels to keep track of as it is. But something finally spurred me to it.

It was David Henderson’s examination of the FedEx-Ketchum Twitter saga from the journalist perspective. Like a good journalist, Henderson went looking for the story. And what he found didn’t reflect all that well on anyone involved.

Reading about yet another Twitter flap got me thinking: 95 percent of this so-called news has little to do with social media transparency or PR capabilities in the Web 2.0 era. Isn’t it really about using common sense and practicing reasonably professional communication? Which, as communications professionals and business owners, is what we’re being paid to do.

So armed with my newly minted Twitter account, I decided to explore the landscape a bit more firsthand. And in this new wild west of communication, sure, there may be some new rules and a lot of new opportunity to engage people. But the old rules are still in play, too. As I read what’s floating around the Twittersphere, I wonder whether we might all ask ourselves a few questions before we start typing into that little box.

1. What’s my strategy? Social media tools are no different than other marketing tools. It’s important to know why you’re using it, how you’re using it, and how that ties into your business goals. If you’re using it for business, then keep your business in mind.

2. Would I send this to my clients and customers? If you can’t say anything nice… then, as your momma probably told you (and as Ketchum could attest), it’s better to hold your tongue. If you wouldn’t email it to your boss or your clients, then why are you typing it into Twitter?

3. Am I taking “authentic” too far? Bringing your authentic personality to your marketing doesn’t mean being the least professional side of yourself. If you’re a spokesperson, you’re still responsible for the brand image. If you’re a consultant or a business owner, you are what you put out there. Twitter is a messaging platform just as much as a conversational one.

4. Am I saying this just because I can? Do your followers really care what you had for lunch? Some may disagree with me here-and I value the conversations that can develop on a number of topics- but these are the tweets I just pass on by. There’s too much else of value out there.

5. What’s the value in this? Guy Kawasaki has written a great post on how to attract followers on Twitter. What’s so great about Guy’s advice? Almost every one of his suggestions boils down to this: add value, engage and offer something interesting to your audience.

Right. In social media circles, just as with anywhere else, common sense still rules.

Sally Anne Giedrys is the founder of artisan communications, an independent copywriting and communications consultancy that works with businesses and nonprofit organizations to craft compelling marketing and PR messages. For more than 15 years, Sally has been making businesses “sound good” in print and online through a potent combination of great writing, savvy strategy and high integrity communications. Learn more about artisan’s services at www.artisancopy.com. Or reach Sally directly at sally@artisancopy.com.

I started my first blog three years ago blogging about my favorite sports team The Ohio State Buckeyes. As an alumni and fan, it was a great way to learn the world of blogging, follow my team and create a platform to talk Buckeyes with whoever would join in. From the beginning, I approached it as a journalist and while I may not have had the same access or resources as a traditional journalist, I soon found an audience for my rather opinionated sports talk.

Three years, nearly 400 posts and a few tough bowl losses later, I’ve received a number of p.r. pitches both good and bad. Below is a list of 10 things I’ve learned about pitching to the blogs:

1. Don’t fear the blogs

Yes, there still are a number p.r. professionals who don’t approach bloggers because they are afraid of what they will say. No, most blogs don’t have the editorial structure of traditional media outlets and yes some tend to speak more…how shall we say…”freely” than others. Hopefully, you’ve actually read the blog before pitching. If the blog regularly attacks or makes you nervous, leave them off your list.

2. Treat bloggers like you would any other journalist

Successful blogs don’t just happen. Building a blog takes a great deal of time, talent and effort and unlike traditional media the entire operation often consists of one or two people. If the blogger has built an audience you want to reach, do everything you can to make their job easier and the publicity will come.

3. Offer Access

Often, more than anything else, bloggers need access. Without the weight of a traditional media conglomerate behind them, press passes and media access can be hard to come by. At the same time, access to one big event or one big interview can launch a blog into the prime time.

The political parties caught onto this some time ago but others are slow to come around. The New York Islanders recently offered press credentials to bloggers. In order to accommodate the media elites who may not approve, the Islanders set up a fan friendly “blogger’s box” which could handle all the cheering and nacho eating that goes with the typical watching of a hockey game. From a sports marketing perspective, this makes perfect sense. Who is going to be more passionate about a team then the fan who takes the time to build and regularly contribute to their blog.

In the end, it is truly a win/win situation. The blogger gets much needed access along with links on the team’s website which will drive traffic. Not only do the Islanders get the publicity generated by the bloggers, by being open and reaching out to bloggers, they presenting team management in a very positive light.

(By the way, if anyone at the Ohio State athletic office is reading this, I can be reached at annapolisbuckeye@thebuckeyeforum.com – hey, I’ve got to try.)

4. Offer Contest Prizes

One of the most powerful ways to grow a blog is to give something away. Offer bloggers product samples to give away as contest prizes (be sure to include one for the blogger.) This is a great way to generate buzz about a new product and provides an excellent opportunity for the blogger. Don’t worry about the details of the contest, let the blogger determine what will work best for the blog and the blogger’s audience.

5. Make the blogger feel important

This is similar to #3 above. As a blogger, I love it when I’m considered in the same vein as top journalists. For example, this summer, ESPN invited me to sit in on a conference call with Erin Andrews and a number of other ESPN personalities. They were promoting their “Title Town USA” competition and to be honest, I didn’t really care what they were promoting. The fact that I was getting recognized by one of the biggest sports media outlets in the world was enough for me. It was exciting, it didn’t cost them anything to include me and they got a post.

6. Offer Valuable Content – Without Copyright Limitations

Just like journalists, bloggers love content they can use. Without the resources and access of traditional media content which fits the topic of the blog can go a long way.

This fall I was approached by a p.r. rep from the NFL. He told me that the NFL was making video “available” to bloggers and offered a video clip with an excellent analysis that fit my blog perfectly. I was writing the post when I realized that there wasn’t a code to embed the video on my site. I wrote to the p.r. rep asking for the code and he was very quick to tell me that I due to copyright limitations, I could not place the video on my site.

Considering that the initial contact “offered” the video, I had assumed I could use it on my site, complete with NFL client advertisement, NFL logos and link to NFL site. Without the video, my post didn’t just didn’t seem to work and the p.r. “pitch” failed (at least on my blog).

7. Make personal contact

You’ve heard it before, blogs are about the “conversation.” Reach out and talk to the blogger. Honest, open and personal contact from a p.r. rep is usually acceptable. Rarely have I used a traditional press release but on a number of occasions, I did use information provided by p.r. reps after a personal contact. The fact that the p.r. rep took the time to reach out and talk to me personally shows that they see some value in my blog. At the very least, I’ll give them a look.

Also be careful how you use the comments. Bloggers don’t react well to advertisements in their comment section. If you have something to contribute to the discussion, fine. If you have something to pitch, use email.

8. Pitch to the blogger’s audience. If it doesn’t fit blog’s niche, don’t pitch.

Most blogs have a very specific niche. Don’t pitch products or information that don’t fit that niche. At the same time, when you find the blogs with the perfect audience for your pitch, don’t be afraid to reach out to them. Bloggers want to provide value to their audience and if your product or service truly helps their audience, they will usually respond.

9. Don’t forget the smaller blogs

While it’s great to get those placements in the Technorati top 100, don’t forget the smaller blogs. Often these smaller blogs hit a very specific niche and although the number of impressions may be smaller, you’re much more likely to hit your target market.

These smaller blogs are usually the one person operations and are more likely to be more responsive to many of the tips above.

When looking for these smaller blogs, search for blogs that are well indexed. Search key words that match your pitch along with the word “blog” and see what comes up. The first page on Google should be worth pitching. While they may not always have high volume traffic, If you found them, so will others.

10. Offer an Affiliate Relationship

Most bloggers are looking for ways to monetize their site without turning away readers. If your product or service is a good match and is of value to the audience, give the blogger a cut. With an affiliate relationship you only pay for the advertising that works. Affiliate relationships can result in both banner advertising and blog posts on your product or service.

Jim Lodico is an independent public relations consultant and freelance copywriter. For help with your public relations efforts, contact Jim at jalodico@bizwritings.com or visit www.jalcommunications.com.

Related Posts:
Who are the New Influencers?

As we create public relations and media plans for the new year, my clients are increasingly looking for ways to reach out to and communicate with bloggers and other online influencers. It’s not just about the traditional media anymore. It hasn’t been for a while, but many businesses are just catching up.

But with more than 112 million blogs out there, how do you find the ones you need to connect with?

In its recent study, the Society for New Communications Research asked social media power users in a number of industries to share how they evaluate the relevance of bloggers, podcasters and other online influencers.

Here’s what they had to say:

The number-one criteria is the quality of their content.

A close second is the relevance of the content to your business, brand or industry, followed by the influencer’s web site search engine rankings. Power users also cited a number of other factors to check out, such as name recognition, blog search engine rankings and overall traffic.

Less important, but still relevant was whether the influencers are affiliated with a traditional media outlet or have been quoted extensively within the traditional media.

Least important? Surprisingly, typical measures of audience engagement, such as active commenting on blog posts, content syndication and distribution methods, and the longevity of the blog, were ranked last.

Looking to target new media influencers in your PR efforts? Start with blog searches on your industry or business (try Google and Technorati for starters). Sort what you find with the criteria above. Then go ahead and start a conversation.

Sally Anne Giedrys is the founder of artisan communications, an independent copywriting and communications consultancy that works with businesses and nonprofit organizations to craft compelling marketing and PR messages. For more than 15 years, Sally has been making businesses “sound good” in print and online through a potent combination of great writing, savvy strategy and high integrity communications. Learn more about artisan’s services at www.artisancopy.com. Or reach Sally directly at sally@artisancopy.com.

As we create public relations and media plans for the new year, my clients are increasingly looking for ways to reach out to and communicate with bloggers and other online influencers. It’s not just about the traditional media anymore. It hasn’t been for a while, but many businesses are just now catching up.

But with more than 112 million blogs out there, how do you find the ones you need to connect with?

In its recent study, the Society for New Communications Research asked social media power users in a number of industries to share how they evaluate the relevance of bloggers, podcasters and other online influencers.

Here’s what they had to say:

The number-one criteria is the quality of their content.

A close second is the relevance of the content to your business, brand or industry, followed by the influencer’s web site search engine rankings. Power users also cited a number of other factors to check out, such as name recognition, blog search engine rankings and overall traffic.

Less important, but still relevant was whether the influencers are affiliated with a traditional media outlet or have been quoted extensively within the traditional media.

Least important? Surprisingly, typical measures of audience engagement, such as active commenting on blog posts, content syndication and distribution methods, and the longevity of the blog, were ranked last.

Looking to target new media influencers in your PR efforts? Start with blog searches on your industry or business (try Google and Technorati for starters). Sort what you find with the criteria above. Then go ahead and start a conversation.

Sally Anne Giedrys is the founder of artisan communications, an independent copywriting and communications consultancy that works with businesses and nonprofit organizations to craft compelling marketing and PR messages. For more than 15 years, Sally has been making businesses “sound good” in print and online through a potent combination of great writing, savvy strategy and high integrity communications. Learn more about artisan’s services at www.artisancopy.com. Or reach Sally directly at sally@artisancopy.com.

You may remember the panic which ensued last spring when Starbucks shut down their stores for a mid-afternoon, company-wide meeting. It was around this time that Starbucks launched My Starbucks Idea which is nothing short of a coup.

In the sake of full disclosure, I drink Starbucks about once a year. I first learned about My Starbucks Idea last April at a PRSA Maryland conference on social media. Although the site was only a month or so old, Starbucks had built an active community with their customers.

The premise behind My Starbucks Idea is simple. Starbucks customers post ideas for a better Starbucks which are then voted on by other users. The most popular ideas are evaluated and possible adopted by Starbucks.

Ideas include everything from asking employees to wear name tags to making ice cubes out of coffee. The site also offers daily surveys such as “What is your favorite sugar free syrup?”

And there you have it. Starbucks is conducting marketing research which used to cost thousands for practically nothing. They have created an open line of communication allowing them to develop products in direct response to customer’s desires.

If you or your company is still struggling with the idea of social media, browse the Starbucks forum from a marketing perspective. If that doesn’t change your mind, nothing will.

Blogging evangelists will tell you that every business-large, small or solo- should have a blog. I disagree.

Sure, blogging is a great way to increase visibility, build your brand and interact with customers and clients. It’s a gatekeeper-free platform for putting your message out into the world. And there are many examples of blogs that have completely changed the way companies communicate with their customers and clients. (Check out this Washington Post article for a few.)

But a blog isn’t an automatic add into your marketing toolkit. In fact, for many companies, starting a blog is simply a bad idea.

Here’s when not to start a company blog:

When you have nothing to say. It sounds silly, but think about this for a minute. Do you know what your blog is about? Can you give it a tagline that sums that up? Do you know who is going to write it? What is the point of view? How will your brand messages be communicated? Who would be interested in reading that and are they really your target market? What exactly will you be writing? Is there an editorial calendar? Ask questions first, blog later.

When you want to sell, sell, sell. Do your eyes (or those of your sales folks) light up at the opportunity to send a constant stream of sales messages into cyberspace via your blog? Being the gatekeeper doesn’t give you license to bombard your audience with sales messages for your products and services. In the right context, blogs can be great sales tools. But information is the key here. If the content you’re providing isn’t interesting, no one is going to read it. And I don’t know anyone who searches Google in hopes of finding daily sales messages.

When you know you’ll never maintain it. I’ve seen this happen a number of times: a company leader gets it into his or her head that a company blog is a fantastic idea. Not just a company blog, but one he or she will write personally. All goes well for a few weeks. But no one’s commenting. The blogger loses interest. If this sounds like you, stop. If it’s your boss, head them off at the pass. Before launching any blog in the name of your brand, be sure you have a firm commitment and schedule for posting on a regular basis, or hire someone to do that. Understand that it might take time to build readership and commit to the process.

When you need to control the conversation. You know who you are. If your business operates rigidly from the top down and every single line of copy you write must be run through legal counsel at least twice, then blogging is not for you. Blogging is all about interaction. You can’t necessarily control where your content goes after you post it, or whether people will comment on that content elsewhere in a way that you’d rather they didn’t. So if a need for control is deeply ingrained in the business culture, save yourself a lot of time and headache. Pick something else.

Don’t get me wrong. Done right, a blog can be an effective marketing tool. But as with anything else in your marketing communications toolkit, having a solid game plan makes all the difference.

Sally Anne Giedrys is the founder of artisan communications, an independent copywriting and communications consultancy that works with businesses and nonprofit organizations to craft compelling marketing and PR messages. For more than 15 years, Sally has been making businesses “sound good” in print and online through a potent combination of great writing, savvy strategy and high integrity communications. Learn more about artisan’s services at www.artisancopy.com. Or reach Sally directly at sally@artisancopy.com.

Marketing and PR managers in many industries remain skeptical, but the rise of social media offers great potential for businesses looking to increase their visibility. Whether you’re a true believer or not, “new media” has changed the rules. And as marketing communications professionals, we need to change, too.

Press releases are one of the easiest places to experiment. Why? First, optimizing your press releases makes them easy to use and therefore more likely to be picked up by the increasing number of new media outlets as well as traditional media. Second, online press releases aren’t just for reporters anymore. They’re read by customers, competitors, researchers, potential hires, thought leaders, and anyone else who’s interested in your business. They’re easily emailed, copied and shared.

Tweaking your PR content in a few simple ways can increase your visibility and effectiveness:

Make it media and search engine friendly
This means keeping your news releases under 400 words-and making those words count. Aim for brevity and an appropriate density of relevant search terms or keywords. That goes double for headlines.

Make it user-friendly
Consider linking to relevant survey data, background information, company boilerplate or related products for starters. Add links and quick buttons that encourage readers to bookmark your release, share it through social bookmarking sites like Delicious or Digg, or share with a colleague.

Release more news
Issuing short, newsworthy messages on a regular basis helps manage your company’s message. In an interactive social media environment, you can’t control the conversation, but short bursts of regular information, can keep your message out in front and keep people talking.

Get creative
Could you embed a coupon into your press release and track its use back to your campaign? Add video or audio? Links to previous coverage or reviews? Using a social media press release template can spur creative thinking (drop me an email and I’ll send you one to get started).

How are you adapting your press release strategy to a social media environment? Please feel free to share what’s working for you here.

Sally Anne Giedrys is the founder of artisan communications, an independent copywriting and communications consultancy that works with businesses and nonprofit organizations to craft compelling marketing and PR messages. For more than 15 years, Sally has been making businesses “sound good” in print and online through a potent combination of great writing, savvy strategy and high integrity communications. Learn more about artisan’s services at www.artisancopy.com. Or reach Sally directly by clicking here.

Earlier this week, internet marketer Matt Bacak, who calls himself “The Powerful Promoter,” discovered how not to use social media. Bacak put out a press release on P.R. Web claiming that he had “achieved another social networking milestone” by becoming one of the top followed commentators on the microblogging site Twitter. The press release went on to state that ealerie this year, Bacak had surpassed the top 5000 “friends” mark on Facebook placing him in the top 500 facebook users.

Up until this point, I didn’t know who Bacak was. According to this website, he specializes in email marketing. With that in mind, at first glance, the press release makes sense (although as is so typical with poorly written press releases, I’m not so sure I see how this as “newsworthy.”) Bacak wanted to show the world that he knows how to successfully grow and manage social media networks for marketing purposes.

However, the press release was quickly picked on internet content sharing site “Digg” with a headline I won’t repeat here. The comments that followed both there and on Twitter provide a lesson on how not to use social media. I won’t go into detail here but you can see them by following those links.

As I see it, Bacak made two mistakes. First, social media is about becoming a member of a community and giving back to that community. The world of social media is a world of conversations in which all are expected to contribute something to the discussion.

When you look at Bacak’s Twitter profile, you can see that while he has 2,000 some people following his comments, he in turn only follows 32 Twitter users. This is basically the equivalent of shouting to those who will listen as opposed to participating in the medium.

The second thing is that the press release makes it obvious that Bacak has approached social media as a competition to gain the most “friends” or followers. I spoke to this concept in an earlier post. Yes, if you want to spam your contacts, then a huge network is good. However, spammers on social media networks will quickly be spurned as such or kill the network entirely.

And while I’m sure that Bacac has gained some serious publicity from the press release (I had never heard of him before), most of us don’t want that type of publicity. At the same time, I’m sure he has increased the number of people watching him on Twitter. It’s sort of like people turning to watch a car wreck.

The lesson to take from this is that the world of social media quickly vets itself. It is not a place for ego and it is not a competition. It is about a shared conversation and giving to the group. When you provide something of value, people will respond. Do it well and you form powerful relationships that can be benificial to all involved.