Craig Rentmeester's Blog

Name that Tune (or Brand)

To keep things light,  I figured I would dig up some  renditions  of theme songs.

Not only are these performances fascinating, they go to show how catchy theme songs can actually be.

 

Good work guys.

How Much Advertisers Pay in NYC

Here is a neat video a found on 5min.com about how much advertisers pay for various signage in New York City.

Enjoy.

Blog Rush - Trial Run and Overview

I just added BlogRush to my blog. I plan to do areview of how much traffic it actually generates in a few months.

See the right-hand column of this blog to view the widget in action.

If you want to see a video overview, watch the video below.

 

Here is my initial overview of what it is and how it works.

What is BlogRush?
Is is a widget that is placed on a blog that displays five headlines from other BlogRush user's blogs.

How BlogRush Works?
Every time someone visit your blog, you receive a credit. The credits are used by BlogRush to syndicate your blog headlines on other blogs with a similar focus, that are also using the BlogRush widget.

Each person that you refer that signs up for BlogRush counts as a credit as well. Then, each visitor that view their BlogRush widget counts as a credit to the initial referrer as well.

It's basically a pyramid scheme that rewards people using the widget who enroll more people to use the widget.

Why Use BlogRush?
It is supposed to drive targeted traffic to your site. It does this because you select a category for your blog that helps  Blog  Rush determine where to display your headlines. 

How to Add BlogRush?
Cut and Paste script, generated by Blog Rush, into your blog.

Easy of Implementation - 9 out of 10. It was functioning within 24 hours.

I'll do a follow up post in January about whether or not it is effective.

Disclosure

To piggyback on the point I left open ended in my last post, I thought I would write about disclosure.

A misconception is that the Internet provides anonymity. This is only true under certain circumstances and usually applies only when you don't want to leave a trace, which is not how companies should view contributing to forums and blogs.

A track record is important. It helps your online reputation.

I think that disclosure actually improves credibility. It lets the audience know where you're coming from and know that you understand their questions and concerns, which is a connection that not many companies make.

Example
An example where nondisclosure hurt credibility is Whole Foods CEO John Mackey posting negative comments anonymously, about Whole Foods competitors, on message boards.
Which ultimately led to this policy change by the company

The policy bans senior Whole Foods executives and directors from posting messages about the company, its competitors or vendors on Internet forums that it doesn't sponsor.

Monitoring blogs

Do you have someone in your company that looks at industry-influencing blogs and tracks mentions of your company in the blogosphere? I am guessing you don't.  Most companies still don't understand how influential blogs can be.

RSS feeds and Technorati have made this extremely easy to do. It's as easy as checking, or monitoring,  a stock price.

Not only will it help your company understand how the (Internet savvy) public feels about your company's moves, it will also help the company become a valued member of the community, provided it takes an open, honest stance to contributing.

Black Friday - A penny saved is a penny earned

Black Friday is one of the strangest days of the year. Millions of people flock to stores, leaving somewhat disappointed (the items are sold out, need to get a rain check, have to wait in line for hours, etc.)

Overall though, most customers are satisfied. 

After all, a penny saved is a penny earned.

My Story
At Kohl's today, there were people lined up around the entire store waiting to check out. I left. 50 percent is only 10 dollars after all. However, most people stayed.

Rather than acting like me, most people plan ahead. They bring friends and family -- which does two things.

1. For Shoppers
It allows shoppers to put someone in line to hold their spot.

2. For Retailers
It allows more eyes to gander at the savings, allowing for more additional purchases.

Could retailers open more lines? Yes.

However, waiting is part of the game. It's an experience. A story.

To some, it's ridiculous. To others, Black Friday is a holiday in itself; a journey to find the right gifts at the lowest prices.

The equation that retailers continually try to satisfy is the right balance between allowed annoyance and delivering the advertised specials. How much of a discount is the right incentive to gain visitors and cause some "incidental", yet expected pain?

Thanks for visiting, commenting and sharing

I'd like to say thanks to those of you who visited this blog, posted insightful comments and shared links. It's the users and contributors that make it worthwhile.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Craig

Two Free SEO Resources

I posted two more links in the sidebar. They are both SEO resources. Both are free and useful for different reasons.

These tools are great at giving a quick glance at how your Web site functions and how it could be improved. Some of my other favorites like this are Web site Grader, Compete, and SEO Digger.

SpyFu

What is it used for?

SpyFu is good at looking at organic search result rankings and paid search campaigns for competitors and your own site.

Submit Express

What is it used for?

Submit Express is good for quickly looking at meta data, link popularity and html. It also has measures in place to determine how relevant keywords and descriptions are for each page.

What to Provide to and Expect from an Editor

In media relations, the person to contact is the editor. Depending on the size of the publication, and especially at daily newspapers, it will likely be the editor a particular section (National, Local, Sports, A&E, etc. )

When establishing contact with an editor, or journalist, it's important to know what you can expect and what your media contact will expect. Here's brief list of items to prepare for journalists once they've decided to move ahead with story on your organization

Company History - View an example.

Fact Sheet - View an example.

Logos - Print (300 dpi) and Web (72 dpi).    dpi = pixels per inch.

A person that is available for comment. Preferably, someone with clout that manages or leads the department that the article is covering.

Product/service Information

Contact Information

Milestones and Awards, etc. - This may already be covered in the company history depending on the design.

For publicly-traded companies, the journalist or editor will want to financial results for the past fiscal year, the company's stock symbol and which Index the company is listed on. 

Other helpful things to provide are recent press releases, if they apply to the story angle, and links to other coverage you've received in the past three months. Journalists do not want to rerun a story that someone else has already done.

In return for doing this work, gathering these resources and making people available for the media, you're ultimately guaranteed nothing. News controls the media.

However, you should expect to be notified by the publication if a story doesn't run that was expected to.

6 PR Tactics to help your Personal Brand

Public relations professionals help the companies they represent maintain a positive reputation with people, or groups, important to the organization's success. 

It seems very straightforward.

To accomplish this, though, PR professionals use a variety of tools to help their clients gain goodwill in the markets that they operate.

This post is intended to point out ways that a professional can grow his/her brand, and reputation, by utilizing public relations tactics.

- Professional organizations.  Being involved in professional organizations can be a good way to grow your network and create new relationships.

- Awards. As superficial as it may seem, awards do lend credibility and provide reassurance. Most industry groups, publications and non-profits give out yearly awards.

- Community service. Community service is a great way to generate goodwill and make new relationships.

- Letters to the Editor. These are free, easy to distribute and are a good way to get your ideas out.

- Writing Articles. Writing guest articles in publications is a free way to gain some publicity. However, these gigs are not that easy to land.

- Blogging. Whether it is creating your own blog or guest posting on someone else's blog, blogging is a good way to get your name and ideas out. Blogs also rank well with search engines, which HR professionals are using more and more to find out about potential candidates.   

Types of Stories that Publications Run

Here is a fluid list of stories that publications often run.

Business Profiles
Business Issues
Case Studies
Columns
Interviews
Seasonal articles
Sidebar
How-to articles
Interviews
Op-Ed
Personality Profile
Human Interest
Essay
Exposé
Photo Essays
Letter to the Editor
Reviews (Products, Services, Movies, etc.)

If you have additions that you'd like to make to this list, feel free to do so in the comments section.

Another thing that newspapers often do is run a picture with a caption, but no story. This works especially well for things related to weather or a time of the year.

It allows people to submit their photos to the newspaper and for organizations to submit photo news releases. 

How to Establish Yourself as a Trusted Source for the Media

Introduction. Questions. Value.

This is basically the approach that I take when trying to establish a relationship with editors and writers.

The introduction can be done a variety of ways – usually it’s via e-mail, phone, or through a face-to-face meeting. Chances are you will not get a face-to-face meeting unless you are at a particularly well-known and well-trusted company, or you’re prepared to break a story exclusively through one source of media.

Personally, I prefer to send a well-crafted e-mail. I think sending an e-mail is great for a few reasons.

- It allows you to show the journalist that you can write to their standards.

- It allows for time shifting. If the editor or journalist is busy, they can reply later.

- It gives you more time to make your pitch.

- It can be archived by the editor or journalist.

What to include in your introduction
Your name, company/organization name, brief description of your company and why you think their media outlet would want to cover your business now or in the future.

I usually ask about lead times for stories and when are the normal story deadlines. If you’re talking to a publication, ask who to contact about press releases. If you’re talking to a magazine, ask if you can have a copy of the editorial calendar.

Asking questions is important. It allows you to get a sense of if they’re truly interested in using you or someone at your company as a source. In addition, it allows you to provide materials and resources to their standards, which is underrated and goes along way to developing a good relationship. 

One thing to do prior to sending out e-mails and phone calls is to do some research on the media outlet. Find out how the editors are that you need to talk to. Don’t expect e-mails or phone calls to get through without a name and knowing about the publication’s focus.

The Importance of Media Relations

What is media relations?
Media relations is the practice of developing relationships with journalists and editors at media outlets. The hope is that, from doing so, you will garner media coverage for your business or cause. In addition, establishing relationships with the media can ensure fair coverage should controversy arise involving your organization.

What types of media are there?

Traditionally, the media was thought of as being people in charge of content at television stations, radio stations, newspaper, popular magazines and trade magazines. Today, depending who you talk to, bloggers, online TV stations, online radio stations, online magazines, and podcasters are now considered part of the media as well.

Media Relations Online

The Internet has, in a sense, democratized the media and the way media relations is practiced.

Don’t believe it?
According to recent article in Fortune magazine, Gizmodo, a site dedicated to the latest technology news, had eight million unique visitors in September. Engadget, another site dedicated to technology news, had just under 10 million unique visitors.   

In today’s world, with blogs, podcasts and social media, a well-placed, well-timed article can get syndicated and disseminated throughout the world in a matter of hours. 

For example, take the post that I did in the past about Kijiji, which was launched by eBay The story that I read and linked to was written at 11:06 PM by the BBC. My post, with reaction and commentary was online seven hours later (12:02 AM CST). 

Robert Scoble, tech blogger, does this on a regular basis. He regularly syndicates news from TechCrunch and Techmeme. However, he doesn’t just rerun their news. He often provides additional insight and takes original angles. 

Now, even blog posts can get additional coverage through trackbacks, delicious tags and StumbleUpon, to name a few of the ways. 

Establishing relationships with online media outlets (see above) is critically important in some industries, especially consumer electronics. Not only does it help spread awareness, it helps with search engine optimization because of the links that are spread amongst blogs.

Why is Media Relations Important?

Media relations is important for obvious reasons; media placements can extend marketing budgets, increase credibility and allow a message to spread much faster than advertising alone.  Not to mention, strong relationships with the media can ensure you're able to tell your side of the story should a situation arise.

 

DIY Public Relations Week

This week is all about public relations. As such, I am going to post (at least) five different items related to media relations and personal branding using PR tactics. 

These posts are geared for people that unfamiliar with public relations tactics, dealing with the media and getting exposure through the media. 

Look for these upcoming posts:

- Why media relations is important.
- How to establish yourself as a trusted source for the media.
- Types of stories that publications run.
- What the media expects from you and what you can expect from the media.
- Growing your personal brand using public relations tactics.

I'll try to provide links and examples along the way to add clarity.

If you have other ideas related to PR that you'd like me to talk about, send me an e-mail.

Craig

Poll Question; Widgets and Third Party add-ins

I am posting this poll to find out what users think about widgets and third party add-ins and how they affect a Web site.

For example, widgets are like the translator in the upper right corner of this blog.
Add-ins would be considered the search box that have on the right-hand side of this blog, which is sponsored by FreeFind.

I am interested in seeing the results.

Please vote only once and feel free e-mail a link to this page.

Opinion Polls & Market Research