All You Need to Know About Writing and Using Google Alerts

Posted on July 20, 2012 by Marilyn Buckner in blog, Tips 5 Comments

Even though I work in a tech environment, I periodically like to remind myself that not everyone does; and even those who do, don’t necessarily know about and use all the cool tools available to them. Google Alerts is one of those tools that can be extremely useful to virtually anyone, and best of all, it’s free.

What is a Google Alert?

Available since 2003, a Google Alert is simply a system that sends you an email notification whenever Google finds a word or phrase you specify anywhere online. It’s like having a free, full-time research assistant combing the Web and sending you results tailor-made to your specifications.

How do you create a Google Alert?

Setting up a Google Alert only takes a few minutes at http://www.google.com/alerts. For each subject or topic you want to follow, write a simple search query (exactly like you would in a Google search) and answer the three simple questions that follow in the drop-down format.

As soon as you enter your query, Google will show you the current results your query will produce to help you further define it. Here are a few tips to help you with that process that will also work in normal Web searches:

The four drop-down questions help to further define the results you receive: Google Alerts

Result types

how often

how many

deliver to

Once you have created your alert, Google sends you an email notification asking you to confirm the alert before it becomes active, unless you are signed in to a Google account when you create it. (Thank you, Google! I can only image the mischief that could ensue without that.) Once verified, you’ll receive an email whenever Google Alerts finds new results for your search.

Google also provides a handy menu at the bottom of the set up screen that allows you to manage alerts you have already set up, as well as a help screen with links to the following topics:

What can a Google Alert do for you? Tons!

First, as mentioned before, it’s a time-saving way to get relevant research delivered to you automatically. Second, it’s an effortless way to keep up on topics of interest. Third and particularly important for those in marketing and public relations, it’s one of the best ways to know what is being said online about an individual, a firm or a product as soon as it hits the Web.

Google Alerts can provide a virtual online thermometer to the public’s pulse regarding your search topic. If you consistently get positive results, your subject is healthy. Anytime you receive negative results, Google Alerts has provided the opportunity to remedy a potential cancer before it can metastasize and become much more difficult to cure. Lastly, if nothing is being said about a company or product, don’t wait until it gasps its last breath – give it a transfusion of online public relations to power up its pulse and potential profit.

Steve Jobs Quotes Applied to Internet Marketing

Posted on June 15, 2012 by Brad Smith in blog 1 Comment

Sometimes trends change and people want something different. As Steve Jobs says bluntly the problem is “people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.” The truth is people have a hard time telling you what they want because they have a limited imagination of what is possible. As a company, your number one purpose in marketing would be a lot easier if you recognize and establish what that purpose is.

Steve Jobs I can help you figure it out: your purpose is to make money. That may only be a part of your purpose, but it is still the overarching purpose. The only way you will get sales is if potential customers know about you and your products. The most common form of internet marketing is indirect marketing, sometimes referred to as pull marketing. For example, let’s say that 250 million people read stories, see advertisements, commercials, watch videos, or see news bulletins stating that Apple has a new iPad coming. That does not mean that there will be 250 million new sales. But if no one hears that Apple has a new iPad coming out then there will be no new iPads sold.

Clearly, a person has to know about a product/service/company in order to become a customer. Online PR is great because it is the fastest and cheapest medium to get your product/service/company in front of potential customers.

If you are taking a unique product to market, Steve Jobs’ quote is even more important–the key word is show.

“It’s really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.” I talked about other lessons learned from Steve Jobs here.

PR campaigns are great tools to show people what they want. PR campaigns involve more than a press release, it is an integrated approach that includes posts on industry blogs, social media, contests, self promotion, and creating stories so that everyone and their dog knows about you.

Many companies put a lot of effort into shooting a television commercial or a radio ad but put no effort into online marketing. Remembering to have an online marketing strategy that is every bit as thought out as a TV commercial or radio ad will make for a robust and more effective product release.

What types of products have you seen that have showed you what you wanted verse told you what you wanted?

Doing It All, Having It All, and Other Lies We Tell Ourselves

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Marilyn Buckner in blog 1 Comment

I recently came to the stark realization that I’ve been living a lie most of my life. I’ve been one of those women who frequently get asked, “How do you do it all?” In asking that question, they are referring to my working full time at a marketing firm, working part time in real estate, keeping a large home clean, decorated and organized, keeping a three quarter acre lot blooming and beautiful, with time left to make home made whole wheat bread (grinding the flour myself, of course), meals, paint oil paintings, etc., etc., etc.

The truth of the matter is that I am a task-oriented person. Nothing is more fulfilling to me than 1) getting things done, and 2) having few to no loose ends hanging over my head. But it’s also true that doing all these things takes its toll on other areas of my life, like rest, recreation, and relationships. I sometimes feel absolutely starved for a little recreation, more time to be creative, and more time to spend with family and friends. Believe me: “doing it all” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, nor is “having it all” worth the sacrifices it demands. They may look good in the showroom window, but the prices they demand are definitely not affordable to any of us in the long run.

Why on earth do some of us sign up for these lifelong, massive marathons? Why is it sometimes so hard to parcel out or delegate to others at home or at work? Even if this is not a major problem for you, see if you can identify with at least a few of these little gems:

We can’t say “no,” even when our time is already stretched to the max.

If we do, we may fear the boss will think us incompetent, or a co-worker will think we’re not a team player, or a family member will not feel loved or supported.

We don’t like asking others for help.

It may be embarrassing to take off the super-hero costume and admit that we can’t do everything, or to allow others to see our “dirt.” We may also not like to bother others or add to their burdens. Or, we may fear that asking for help may make us feel or look incompetent.

We must be seen as a hard worker, or as the person who works harder than everyone else.

Work for the sake of work alone is pointless if it doesn’t produce the intended results. We once had an employee that proclaimed more than once that they worked harder and longer hours than anyone else in the office. It didn’t seem to matter to them that they were not producing the results they were hired to achieve. But it did matter to their boss, and they were fired in spite of those long hours. It’s far too easy to lie to ourselves and put a higher value on the quantity of time spent than on the quality of our results. It’s also counter-productive to wear ourselves out today on that which is less important, to the point of diminishing personal resources needed for the important tasks of tomorrow.

Doing it all ourselves will save money.

I must admit that this has always been a major hurdle for me. When our budget has been tight, I’ve told myself that we can’t afford it. When we could afford it, well, that didn’t seem to matter either. I’d usually rather buy a tool that I thought would help me do it myself faster or better than pay someone else to do it. The problem with this is that with everything else I usually have on my plate, the task would continue to hang over me and remain undone for sometimes weeks longer than it needed to, often adding unnecessary stress to my life, and impacting results. At PRMarketing.com, we see businesses who try do-it-yourself online PR to no avail–outsourcing help can be a great thing.

If we work just a little harder, longer or later we can somehow fit it in.

This is one of the biggest lies we tell ourselves, and I should know – I’m a world-class expert at looking to bite off more than I can chew. It may have the biggest impact upon me than any of these fibs, because I hate to go to bed at night if there is still something important on my “to do” list that will “just take a few more minutes.” The problem is, those minutes add up – and then subtract from the rest I need to be my best the following day. The same story applies to those things we feel we need to do before leaving the office, except in that case we are sacrificing time with our families as well as personal rejuvenation.

No one else can do it as well as we can, or the way we’d like it done.

This one is for all of us perfectionists out there. We tell ourselves that it’s easier to just do it ourselves than to teach or train someone else, or to monitor and then clean up after the person who will probably do it beneath our standards. This flawed thinking keeps us in the work rut, enables others to be slackers, and robs others of learning opportunities that can enrich and grow our organizations.

The very bottom line is that all of this flawed thinking is exhausting, depleting, and discouraging. Left unchecked, these lies we tell ourselves can snatch away the very success we are seeking in our careers, homes, and relationships.

Your thoughts?

Crappy Rankings due to Google’s Latest Update? Hire an Online PR Firm

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Lori Gilson in blog 8 Comments

Losing Rankings Google makes changes to their algorithm frequently. These changes affect how websites rank in the search engine results. However, none of their recent changes have had quite the effect as this week’s algorithm update. In fact, SEO.com’s Greg Shuey indicated that this update is one of the worst updates in years in regards to eliminating webspam.

The Back Story

Earlier this week, Google’s Matt Cutts announced that they are going live with an over-optimization algorithm update. We started seeing the first impacts of this update on the evening of April 24th. The update focuses on cleaning up webspam and taking action against sites that violate Google’s guidelines.

What Does This Mean?

Depending on your on-page and off-page optimization strategies, your website may have taken a dive. We have heard from a number of our clients that do SEO on their own, as well as those that utilize SEO firms, that their rankings have suffered. We work closely with a few SEO companies that optimize sites and build links the right way, but it is my belief that many SEO firms (especially overseas) use gray and black hat tactics. Eventually, Google notices and these sites are penalized heavily.

So, Now What?

Hire an online PR firm. Now. Seriously. None of our clients with a budget for good, strong, relevant content have seen issues. If you work with a PR company that writes quality articles and works hard to promote those articles on news sites, relevant blogs, and trade magazines, you will receive quality links from pages with high PageRanks (in addition to new customers). These links are relevant, and will build your online authority quickly, landing you at the top of the search engines faster than writing crappy content and spinning it 20 times. Bad SEO firms, bad!

4 Areas of Do-It-Yourself Marketing to Avoid

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Marilyn Buckner in blog 2 Comments

They are out there virtually everywhere: myriads of programs, processes and plans to help the average Joe think he can perform like a marketing Merlyn. “All you have to do is follow these simple steps,” they’ll tell you and many of them will even provide this “proven” plan free of charge.

With dollars to be saved dancing in their eyes, the unwary marketer-to-be, a.k.a. company president, office manager, IT guy, or tech-savvy office flunky jumps on the do-it-yourself bandwagon and eagerly starts down the road toward what they believe will be an increase in sales. What they too often miss, however, is the road sign indicating they’re off on the kind of detour that is frequently followed by sudden stretches of missing pavement, chuckholes, and unmarked forks in the road.

Let’s get real, some things like amateurish marketing don’t change much over time and most of us can spot them instantly. I was recently struck by this fact as I glanced through some vintage telephone directory ads. Like technology, effective marketing and marketing strategies are in a constant state of warp-speed evolution and change. As Dave Thomas of ThomasArts put it, “When people mess around with their marketing dollars, they don’t understand that they’re playing with their revenue, not an expense.” Here are four key areas where it pays to put your dollars to work with a professional, and why.

Marketing Strategy
One DIY site I visited had a page outlining a simplistic marketing plan. Further down the page was a paid advertisement for toilet paper at Target. In a weird sort of way, I thought that was somewhat appropriate, because it almost instantly created a credibility problem for the article.

If a company does not have a professional marketing staff on board, it is too easy to miss the fundamentals of finding the demographic, and where and how those individuals can be effectively reached. This is purely a case of “put your money where your potential buyers are.” Guesswork and trial and error are not only ineffective, they are expensive.
Branding

Your brand encompasses much more than a company name and logo. It is the sum total perception of your company; it is also the personality that distinguishes your company or product. Effective branding creates credibility and motivates sellers to buy from you, rather than the competition. It can extend beyond a company name, logo and tagline into the elements of shapes, graphics, color, sounds, movement, smells and taste. For example, no other motorcycle sounds quite like a Harley, and no other chicken tastes just like KFC. Meaningful brand development is essential in building successful brands, and can’t be pulled out of a cardboard box (or created from a checklist) any more than it can be pulled out of a top hat.
Copywriting
Okay, maybe you got consistent “A’s” in your college English classes, or harbor a secret dream of someday writing a novel, but the truth is there is a world of difference between being able to write something and being able to write good marketing copy. Crafting a print worthy press release takes training and talent of an entirely different type than it takes to write a proposal. And the more concise the message needs to be, the tougher it is to get it right. It’s far easier to recognize what works than to create it; great word crafting is compelling to consumers.
Design
Desktop publishing software and affordable digital cameras have without question enhanced everyone’s creativity, and even turned a great many of us into amateur photographers. As I have experienced in art classes, it takes a lot more than knowing how to mix and match colors to come up with a piece of art someone wants to buy and own. Good design can be a tricky and complex process involving just the right amount and placement of white space, negative space, color selection and saturation, and above all, style. In addition, the pros can get it done not only better, but in a fraction of the time we novices can. It takes the right tools, technical skills, training and above all, talent to turn out terrific marketing design.

You owe it to yourself, your budget and your bottom line to enlist professional help in at least these four key areas. Your marketing dollars will not only get you further down the road to success, but you’ll also enjoy the ride much more without those noisy and unnecessary backfires.

Online PR Lessons We Can All Learn From Apple

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Brad Smith in blog 1 Comment

What company wouldn’t kill to have their name in the press as often as Apple? The thing is it is possible, even if you are not coming out with a new product that boasts a 90 percent market share like the iPad.

Lessons Learned From Apple

Apple constantly talks about the changes they are making to their current products, products they plan on debuting, and products that they are discontinuing, etc.
They don’t shy away from saying that their product has a few bugs or doesn’t work the way they want it to.
They don’t filter what people say about their product, instead, they respond accordingly.
They are constantly developing new products, ideas, and ways to involve themselves in the constantly evolving marketplace.
They market their products with the consumer’s purchase process in mind. For example, naming their third iPad “the New iPad.”

You might be thinking that it is easy for Apple to be featured in the press because they have a lot of new products coming out with a loyal customer base, however, even if you’ve just started your business taking a look at Apple’s overall strategy can help any organization.

Apple is following the simple mantra of PR, to get your name in front of as many people as possible so that there isn’t a single person who doesn’t know who you are. And they are doing it by using every possible method including online PR.

What to Say

Of course people like to read stories that are interesting, but if you look at most of the stories on Apple you will start to realize that the only thing that is interesting about them is the company in and of itself. The stories aren’t necessarily amazing, in fact they are sometimes negative. A recent headline concerning the company was “Apple’s iPad has problems – so what else is new?”

This headline was featured on CBS news, a fantastic news source that thousands of people see, if not tens of thousands of people. Put your company name in the title, “[your company]‘s new [product] has problems – so what else is new?” Perhaps you would go into a cold sweat if this showed up on CBS news, but it shouldn’t.

But why shouldn’t it? Because people like to read about things that are negative, not working, a problem or generally speaking, that are bad. Not everyone likes to read articles that are about good deeds done in the world. If you are skeptical try the test on yourself. Go to your favorite news source and see which articles you want to read the most. Don’t be afraid, just be ready to respond and build your reputation.

It’s Not All About You

One last tip, the story doesn’t have to be about you. All you should really care about is getting your name in front of the highest number of people. If there are 70 million people reading articles about the New iPad and you are a company that makes apps, take a hint and write a story about the iPad and get your name in front of that audience. Even if your company only contributes a quote about how excited you are that your apps will function smoothly on the new iPad. That is 70 million more people that have a chance of hearing your name than if your story was titled, “Joe’s Apps launches new cross browser app.”

While I have my own opinion about whether you should go to where your audience is or if you should try to make your audience come to you, tell me which method has worked best in your experience.

Invisible Children and Damage Control

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Taylor Donohoo in blog 13 Comments

Correction: Since then, it has been clarified that Jason Russell was not arrested, but rather detained. There are no charges pending against him.

Healthy skepticism never hurt anyone. In fact, doing your own research before committing to anything is an excellent idea, which is why the nonprofit organization Invisible Children didn’t shy away from criticism two weeks ago after they launched their Kony 2012 campaign. However, the criticism concerning the organization is about to get a lot worse.

Among some of the initial criticisms surrounding the Kony 2012 campaign was where the money donated was being delegated. Because nonprofits are required to disclose how they spend their money, people dived right into the finances of Invisible Children and found out that only around 30 percent of the donations actually go to Uganda. The majority of the money went toward their awareness campaign including filming, travel expenses, etc. While this information is still of concern to critics, Invisible Children is scrambling to justify another reputation wringer: the alleged arrest of co-founder Jason Russell.

Last week, Jason Russell was detained in San Diego for being drunk in public, lewd behavior, and vandalism. As if the organization wasn’t already under scrutiny, this stunt has changed the game from answering public concern to damage control.

Russell has been the face of the entire campaign, which is why his wild behavior put Invisible Children in a tough spot. The man has lived his whole life trying to bring change to Africa, and in two weeks he tarnished his reputation. The CEO of Invisible Children, Ben Keesey, issued an official statement:

Jason Russell was unfortunately hospitalized yesterday suffering from exhaustion, dehydration, and malnutrition. He is now receiving medical care and is focused on getting better. The past two weeks have taken a severe emotional toll on all of us, Jason especially, and that toll manifested itself in an unfortunate incident yesterday. Jason’s passion and his work have done so much to help so many, and we are devastated to see him dealing with this personal health issue. We will always love and support Jason, and we ask that you give his entire family privacy during this difficult time.

The prime purpose of Invisible Children has been to create awareness for Joseph Kony and his crimes against humanity. You can learn more about the campaign here. Now, Invisible Children has to divide their efforts between pushing the Kony campaign forward and preserving their image.

What Invisible Children needs now more than ever is a solid PR strategy to help them with this unpredictable storm. Of course the organization couldn’t precisely prepare for this kind of behavior, which is why a PR strategy is essential. Considering the entire campaign is online, the best approach at this point is implementing online PR strong enough to smooth this over.

What do you think of this entire scenario? Can anyone argue “there is no such thing as bad publicity”?

Online PR: Opportunity and Results

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Aubrey Miller in blog 5 Comments

online PR

Sixty percent of Americans will judge your company based on your online presence, think about that for a moment. Though your website plays an important role in your online presence, there is more to it. People search for your brand and judge your company based on what comes up on search engines as well. Investing in online PR helps you manage your online presence and it isn’t something that solely belongs in the future. In fact, it is becoming a vital part of any marketing strategy in this day and age. Having a powerful online presence can put your brand leaps and bounds ahead of the competition with minimal effort on your behalf. Do you want to set your brand apart? Well you need to be tech savvy in our tech-savvy world.

3 Big Reasons for Good PR

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Jon Davidson in blog 5 Comments

A recent survey of the top 100 growing companies in 2011 showed an amazing common characteristic: they had all increased their PR budgets substantially over the last few years.

Why are most successful companies today putting most of their budgets into PR?

Let’s look at an example.

In the spring of 2008 an online gamer with the username “Levinator25” found a glitch in his Tiger Woods golf game. Apparently when Tiger’s golf ball flew into the water at a specific point in the game, Tiger could walk out onto the water to retrieve the ball.

He posted a simple 30 second video exposing the glitch and called it the “Tiger Woods Jesus Walk.” This video received an amazing 800,000 views and is rated 4 ½ stars, which is unheard of among the infamous harsh Youtube audience.

EA Sports, the company who manufactured the game responded with a video of their own as a response, showing Tiger himself actually walking on the water and proclaiming “it’s not a glitch, he’s just that good.”

The EA Sports response video received a staggering 6 million views and a perfect 5 star rating!

When most people think about PR they think of large companies with big budgets. Traditionally PR may have been press releases, media coverage, and managing what the public thinks of your company but it has evolved. Now, managing that public persona can be done much more effectively using online PR. Online PR combines image management with social media, social press releases, media outreach, and targeted media relations. Effectively utilizing online PR builds a powerful and beneficial online presence.

Good publicity has many benefits that extend beyond impressions. Most people don’t realize that these additional benefits can be far more powerful than the publicity itself. The initial publicity is just the tip of the iceberg. People should also expect to:

Super charge SEO efforts

In addition to the publicity that you get when you earn editorial stories in publications and blogs, having a link or even a mention of your company on a credible site can increase your page ranking with leading search engines. Your online releases should include a healthy dose of keywords to link back to your site.

2) Gain credibility

People do business with those they know, like, and trust. Having a credible publication mention your company’s name in a positive way will have a substantial effect on gaining the trust of those you wish to work with. You need to use this credibility to create the needed momentum for good PR.

3) Experience more effective marketing/advertising

Once mentioned in a reputable publication, you will be able to refer to those publications in your marketing efforts. In addition, it will make your brand more recognizable. Publicity done right can positively impact your target audience and surge other marketing efforts.

At the end of a good campaign, you can come out on top just like EA Sports.

Knowing Your Publics for Successful Brand Development

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Alyssa Vincent in blog 3 Comments

It is essential that businesses know who their publics are, and which ones are important—for both the sake of time and money. A public is any person or group of people who will form an opinion about your business. Some publics are more important than others, and thus deserve more of your attention. This concept is essential to grasp when it comes to online public relations.

KFC & PETA: A Hate-Hate Relationship

Take KFC for example. KFC’s publics are YUM stockholders, employees, customers, suppliers like Pilgrim’s Pride, and animal rights activist groups such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

In 2004, KFC found itself (yet again) caught between a rock and a hard place with PETA. One of the Pilgrim’s Pride chicken farms had employees caught on tape abusing chickens by stepping on, kicking, and slamming chickens against the floors and walls.

PETA was behind the video, sending one of its members in undercover as an employee who taped the cruel activity. PETA pointed the blame at KFC, not Pilgrim’s Pride, and the media jumped all over the story. KFC soon found itself in a crisis situation.

KFC quickly put their PR strategies into place. They conducted their own investigation of Pilgrim’s Pride and discovered that the incident was confined to that one location. KFC halted their relationship with the facility and told Pilgrim’s Pride that their relationship with the location would resume once the situation was rectified. When KFC did resume their relationship with the farm, it was on a probationary terms, hiring an animal welfare expert to monitor the farm.

KFC’s actions renewed its brand image in the eyes of its customers, employees, and stockholders, but PETA was still not happy. They sent a letter to Pilgrim’s Pride, KFC, and the Associated Press with a list of demands. They continued to voice their message through a series of publicity stunts—dedicating an entire website to the scandal and visiting Colonel Sanders’s gravesite, purchasing a nearby plot, and subliminally writing “KFC Tortures Birds” on the plot’s gravestone.

In the past, KFC has been criticized for trying too hard to please PETA. In 2003, PETA sued KFC for “lying to the public about their animal welfare policies.” The activists were upset that KFC’s website stated that “chickens raised for KFC suffered no pain or injuries” and that “humane treatment of the birds is ensured.” KFC eventually caved in and agreed to stop making the claims, even giving PETA the power to approve what the company can say about the way chickens are treated.

Managing & Balancing Your Publics

This begs the question: Is PETA a public that KFC should pay attention to?

In my opinion, no—at least not as much as they have been in the past.

Let’s face it, PETA is never going to like what KFC does. KFC is in the business of selling chicken for consumption, and PETA is against eating chicken. You’re not going to see a diehard PETA member order the extra crispy chicken strips anytime soon. The two are like water and oil, and will never see eye to eye.

KFC does not profit from PETA in any way, in fact, it’s quite the opposite. KFC needs to focus on keeping their omnivore customers happy by addressing questions about animal cruelty as they arise and putting preventative measures in place to ensure that chickens are being treated humanely. No matter how KFC slaughters their chickens, PETA will see it as inhumane, and the sooner they realize that, the better.

I’m not saying that KFC should outright ignore PETA, because they are still one of their publics whether they like it or not. Ignoring PETA could have even more disastrous results. It’s about finding a balance between addressing the issues PETA brings up to keep your customers happy, but not letting PETA run the business entirely.

Knowing your publics is important for any brand development strategy. The message you craft in your strategy will largely depend on the public you are targeting and the goals you want to accomplish.

For an example of brand development gone wrong, read this post concerning Netflix.

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