Carson and Company

Update news. I’ll keep this short, as there isn’t much to say after I make my statement.

It was just over a year ago when I wrote about Google’s introduction of their WAVE concept. At the time, it was going to change how email and social media is used by business and consumers. The article I wrote titled: Is your PR  Marketing Strategy ready for the next “WAVE” was written in May 2009. Today, Google announced it was canceling the program by the end of this year.

Seems that even the people with all the money just can’t demand to change things if people are not willing to accept it. A lesson I hope was learned by Google. So what then happens to all these followers who jumped in? They will just have to go back to the old fashioned email programs that they have been using for the last 15 years.

So if you are a pr marketing person, or a pr client who thought this would change how we communicate, dust off that old email account and get back to business.

Everyone could use help when looking for a job, especially knowing jow to be a good interviewer can make all the difference. That’s whay I am going to tell you about this great new product.

A new iPhone APP titled “Power Resumes and Interviewing” gives a quick study for those who want to improve their softs skills. What are soft skills? Well, it now has become a very improtant issue when HR people interview a person. These are the skills that we are not taught inschool. These are job readiness, skills, things like how to communicate better, what to expect at your job, how to interview,  writing a business email (that doesn’t have happy faces or typing in all lower case), and a lot more great information.

Having these skills will help you find a job and the 30+ cards in the APP deck for Pwer Resumes and Interviewing is an excellent source. If want to make sure your soft skills are at the level you need, go visit the website at www.Businesssoftskills.com. Better yet, go to the iTunes store and by a set of these cards today, it’s only $2.99. This could be the best investment you make!

For those who want to really get the jump on your competition when looking for a job, be sure to see the full set of video lessons that get right to the core of the information without all the fluff. Good luck with your job hunting.

Is email part of you PR Marketing Strategy, or do you only use Social Media?

There have been a lot of discussions about the future and what role email will be playing. Some people, even the COO of Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg, thinks email is on its way out and people will rely on social media to communicate. This could be possible, but not in any near future. I doubt in my lifetime this will happen. As some writers said, like Chris Crum at WebPro News, all (most of them) social media requires an email to subscribe, or become a member. So that doesn’t sound like the system of social networks has or is ready to abolish email as the means to communicate.

We can only wait and see what new methods of communication develop over the next decade. Who knows, we may soon just think our thoughts and send them through brain waves. “Beam me up Scotty!”

Ok, enough said. This now brings me to the second part of this blog. How involved are your PR Clients with social media? Do you have a plan? Do you have a campaign in place? Writing one blog, or using twitter once or twice a week is not getting involved in social media. Social media can become a powerful marketing tool for any pr marketing strategy. If and when done correctly, results can be very positive. If you need to refresher course, just refer to some of my blogs that discuss “How to Use Linkedin to Increase Traffic“, or “Learn How to Use Social Media for PR Clients“. Or just click on the archive files to see many other related topics.

When you are ready to begin and implement a campaign, then give George Carson a call at 949-477-9400. It’s the social thing to do!

I normally do not get into these types of discussions in my blog, but a lot of controversy has been running around about multitasking. So, does it cost a company when employees multitask, or make them more productive? No simple answer.

It seems PR Clients and major corporations are pushing their employees to multitask due to the reduction in staff. But are these decisions going to actually hurt a company in the long run? I think it will, and it seems to already be happening. When we multitask, many of us think it is doing a few tasks at a time, when actually we are doing a portion of a task. So nothing gets completely accomplished, and if it does, it is over a longer period of time.

When I first began working we did several tasks during the day. Was that multitasking? No. Are what young people doing today multitasking? No. The reason, our brains are not capable of handling more than one function at the exact same time. That’s a fact, a scientific fact. When people say they are multitasking, I prefer to use a term “Parallel Tasking”. That makes sense. This means you do one task, such as printing out a status report, and while that is printing, you complete an excel sheet. Another example, you begin to write or type a letter, then decide to have a drink of coffee or water that is on your desk, while drinking, you answer a phone call. So are these multitasks? They are “Parallel Tasks”. Remember, the brain is wired to focus on one thing at a time. Just like a circus juggler who looks like he is tossing objects in the air and then does something else (in the same spot) is using his reflexes that he taught to keep a motion going while he re-directs his attention to another task.

There are a lot of studies on the subject, even one called The Myths of Multitasking.

So I ask again, is multitasking helping or hurting your company? Before you answer that, check your email and finish typing that report, and oh, change the song on your iPod and get another cup of coffee.

If you haven’t done any web marketing on your web site in the last 8 to 12 months, then you probably think Google’s PageRank is important. Brace yourself folks, it isn’t any longer. Actually, it hasn’t been a tool that Google has relied upon for a year. 

A Google Webmaster Trends Analyst stated “We’ve been telling people for a long time that they shouldn’t focus on PageRank so much; many site owners seem to think it’s the most important metric for them to track, which is simply not true. We removed it because we felt it was silly to tell people not to think about it, but then to show them the data, implying that they should look at it.”

If this doesn’t convenience you to change your pr marketing strategy and re-work your web site, then you may just want to close your eyes and let the competition take away your market share.

Here’s an inside secret, Google is probably going to re-brand PageRank because a lot of people still use the PageRank in the tool bar. Why? Because some people still use PageRank as their final analysis for web sites.

If you need to hear this from the top people at Google, then watch this video – it is an interview with Norvig. Still need more? Ok, visit the WebPro News article from Chris Crum.

When you are ready to make things happen in a positive way with your website, contact George Carson at Carson Marketing, Inc.

Blogging is still one of the most required media when creating a social network program. PR Clients need to make sure their blogging is done on a regular basis. Business blogs are necessary and helpful. Companies can control what is said about their people, products and services and can use their business blog sites to better understand the needs of employees. When done correctly, business blogs can help pr clients target thier customers needs by “listening’ to what is said. In turn, pr clients should respond to any negative or positive comments so customers feel a connection, which builds trust.

So what is different from a business blog vs a typical blog site?

This important pr marketing tool helps you to communicate more effectively to customers and potential customers as well. Last year in April, a blog I wrote listed of a few companies’ that have business blogs. These will give you an idea of how other company’s use blogging to improve their position and image:

• Gizmodo

• Google Blog

• Loosetooth.com Shop Blog

  If you need more reasons why a business blog can improve your company’s position and image, give George Carson a call at 949-477-9400. It could be the best call you make this year!

Publicity is everywhere! And that is why social media is one of the most successful resources to get publicity quickly in front of your potential customers. Ok, I will now get into why LinkedIn has actually become a solid pr marketing tool.

Unlike Twitter (which should be part of your pr marketing campaign), LinkedIn is purely a businessperson’s social media. Yet, too often it is thought of as a place for job hunter’s or those looking for people to add to their company. In the past this was how LinkedIn was used, but it has grown more as a means to build traffic to your web site. Why is this a good thing? If you own a business, or are a VP or manager of a company, it can be a place to create topics, and discussions among peers. It can direct them to your site and establish business relationships that can lead to more networking and sales.

Without trying to give you many examples, just visit Chris Crum’s article on this topic. I was glad to see and read his article because finally someone else recognizes the value and maybe pr clients will listen to a different person who sees this as a major opportunity to build traffic to your site. As many of you may know (at least I hope you know) LinkedIn announced it is now integrated into Microsoft Outlook. This is a big deal for LinkedIn! So now you should more than ever take advantage of this powerful social media and add it into your pr marketing strategy campaign.

If you do not have the time, or the staff to handle a social media campaign, then contact a social media company that could get you started. Don’t know anyone? Then call George Carson at Carson Marketing, Inc. - 949-477-9400.

If you are a car enthusiast, like me, then you’ll appreciate this ‘70 Mustang Gran Turismo called the “Trans-Cammer”.

One of my PR Clients, Phil Koenen of Grand Touring Garage, called me a couple of weeks ago with some great news.

Phil Koenen, owner and designer at Grand Touring Garage, built a ‘70 Mustang this past year. And like all car buffs, he entered the car at the recent SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) show in Las Vegas. While enjoying the show and seeing lots of wild cars and accessories, Phil attended the awards presentation at the Palms hotel. That evening, Kazunori Yamauchi – creator of the Sony PlayStation Gran Turismo video game franchise, selected one car to be represented in the upcoming Gan Turismo 5 driving game. He selected the ‘70 Mustang “Trans-Cammer” that was built by Grand Touring Garage.

Phil was extremely excited that his 600 hp Ford powered, black beauty was chosen. I have known Phil Koenen for over 25 years and know that he builds excellent cars. This just proved that! Although I was very excited to hear this news, Phil is accustomed to prestigious awards over his restoration building years. He has won numerous awards at Pebble Beach, Hillsborough, Silverado, Amelia Island and Santa Barbara and at many specialty marques shows like the National AACA Shows and the Corvette Bloomington Gold Events.

I understand that in a couple of months, the engineers, designers and other craftsmen who create the Gran Turismo game will be developing the new version using the 70 Mustang “Trans-Cammer”. I don’t know how they do their magic, but I am sure it is going to be a wild ride.

Grand Touring Garage can now add this great award to their list.

With the new battle among Google, Yahoo, and Bing to become the “choice search engine” by users, it is important to keep your pr marketing strategies current. That means knowing how SEO’s are finding your site to give it a ranking position in their index. Keywords are very important, and keeping the content fresh is also key to a successful web site.

These tips below to optimize your site are used by professional web marketing companies and should be added to your pr marketing strategy as an on-going program. Just optimizing your site once a year, or every 6 months can cause your site to loose its page ranking. Why? Because your competitors are more aggressive today than ever before to keep their company in front of potential customers. If you do only the minimum web marketing for your site, then do not expect customers to find you. Or to see your site listed on the first page of any search engine.

Let’s look at a few pr marketing strategies for web site optimization.

1- KEYWORDS. You need to do more than add a few keywords to your web site html. You need to research which keywords are most often used by your customers. Don’t guess, or use what YOU think are the best keywords, use an analyzer tool, or contact a professional.

2- FRESH CONTENT. Keep the web site fresh with new information on a regular basis. Do this every 3 months. It isn’t necessary to change every page of text. Have your blog be part of your site, and add a link to your Twitter account.

3- USE LOCAL TERMS/WORDS. Not all businesses are nationwide. Even if you are a national company, be local with your site. Use words that relate to location. Such as “local publicity in Orange County”, or “full service advertising in Santa Ana, CA”.

4- DISCUSS YOUR INVENTORY. If you have a cosmetic or beauty store, mention what new items, or clearance products you have. That will help your visitors and those surfing for products know your inventory.

These are just a few tips to optimize your site to get better ranking and positioning with the search engines. For more in-depth, professional help contact George Carson at Carson Marketing, Inc. at 949-477-9400.

Social media has become a staple in the world of communication. The proof is the new battle between Bing, and Google who both recently announced deals with Twitter and Facebook. So how does this affect your web site? A lot, and in a positive way! This shows that SEO and social media are partners in your pr marketing strategies success. Be sure your public relations campaign includes these updates.

Since both SEO’s like content, and a lot of it, then your Twitter and Facebook can become major sources to be recognized by these SEO’s. But remember as I mentioned in my recent posts about Twitter, you need to have good content in those limited words. Don’t make sales pitches, give content.

Use keywords in your tweets and Facebook sites. And important are the links you use in the content. One tip, don’t have your feeds cross back and forth from your tweets and Facebook, turn it off, if the messages are the same on both. This may affect Bing from picking up your feeds if the are the same. Make them each unique, and you are good to go.

This is just another change in the war of search engines struggling to become the choice of consumers. Keeping informed of these types of changes is a full time job. So keep following this blog and we will do our best to help you be current so that your public relations campaign and pr marketing strategy is a success