Carson and Company

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.

Seems the popularity of Twitter is slowing becoming a follower’s site rather than a business site. Let me explain. Yes, Twitter is great for those who want to know what celebrities are doing, or what your friends are doing at the time. But for pr clients, it can be a great marketing tool to get higher rankings in Google, as well as get more traffic to your web site.

The great thing about Twitter, you can be a local orange county business, or a national company, even a global business and get people to follow you. So why, if you are a pr client, wouldn’t you want followers? It is a great pr marketing tool! When done correctly, you can actually increase traffic to your site. But remember, the content in those 140 characters need to be inviting. Don’t try to sell junk, or build traffic to only sell ad space on your site. Followers can be an important factor in growing your twitter name and your business web site.

I read a study by Rapleaf stating “active” Twitter users studied (40,000) had this in their report: “The most followed users gained followers at a faster rate than less popular users, contributing to a growing ‘popularity gap.’”  Also, “Users in the top 0.1% have around 5x as many followers as users in the top 1% and about 40x as many followers as users in the top 10%.”

Basically this is saying that many top celebs are being followed faster, and that people are more interested in the following than building their own followers. One writer uses the words “popularity gap” to explain this. That’s where the business part is loosing ground with this powerful pr marketing tool. If you understand this, it can actually be a good thing. Because you can use Twitter to build an awareness campaign for your service or business before too many companies realize the “gap” in their pr marketing strategy. So all you pr clients, wake up. Now is the time to improve your branding and increase traffic with Twitter. If not, your competition will just “twit” past you and gain more market share.

It’s great to see when competition helps to change the Internet landscape. Since Twitter became an overnight smash, the big SEO’s like Google, and Yahoo are now learning their “searches” need to be more targeted. This is good news when developing pr marketing strategies, or a marketing and advertising plan. Have you checked out some of the new features that Google has added? If not, it is worth it.

Basically, you can now get more indepth info rather than surfing hundreds of  web pages. The new feature, listed near the top and next to the word “Web” is called Options. This neat feature will give you more options for your search. Such as, videos, forums, results in the past 24 hours, or up to a year ago. Then there is the wonder wheel. This is a circle with spokes that give you further areas to review and develop your pr marketing strategy. Let’s say you type the word “encryption”. With the Wonder Wheel, it gives you options that read: encryption samples, history of encryption, java encryption, and several others. If you don’t want all of these “options” you can click “hide options” and it brings you back to the normal Google search of web sites.

A writer pointed out that even Facebook is looking to Twitter to see how they can improve their pages to be more real time and usable. A WebProNews Blog Partner, Bill Hartz, commented “From what I am seeing, the ’search engine optimization’ industry is actually turning back around to what it used to be: good old fashioned website marketing.” This again is good news. Search was getting confusing, because the way you received results was ovewhelming. Now the SEO’s are answering our needs, finally.

I have said this in past blogs, we are just starting to open the door of the Internet Future. Who knows what we will be saying and using in the next 12 months. I don’t know about you, but I sure am looking forward to this new passage.

If you have been reading my blogs you already know about www.cuil.com. It’s neat and has some great features to envy Google. But there is another search engine that most people do not even realize exists. It’s http://search.twitter.com

Yes, Twitter actually has a very good search and gives good results. You can get local publicity information. Unlike Google, or Cuil, or Yahoo, this offers a different type of searching. For example, an article titled ” Twitter Search Will Be Powerful” by Joe Marchese explains his experience. When the earthquake happened in Southern CA the other day, he did a Google search to get more info. Joe had just landed and was eager to find more about the local news in Orange County and Los Angeles and level of the quake. Google provided hundreds of sites, but nothing current to that day’s event. Then he tried Twitter. The search allowed him to read people’s reaction to the quake. He was able to see/read the effects of the earthquake immediately. This is how local publicity in Orange County, or Los Angeles can be accesses immediately.

This is not to say Google, or Yahoo, or even Cuil cannot offer this information. It now shows us that search has become more than an encyclopedia of pages, but can now become a tool for other uses. Twitter is opening the door to new search. And according to Joe, he believes that Google (or someone else) will purchase Twitter to gain this feature it doesn’t offer. Sounds right to me. Joe wrote an article in March about his perspective on this.

Remember, what we thought was a new way to do things just a couple of years ago, actually just last year, is old news. This fast paced social media is teaching us that we are going to see new territories and discoveries opening up shortly. Who knows, this blog site just might become old news next year, and I’ll be communicating in a different platform.

If you want to keep on track with social marketing, do it now. Call George Carson today. 949-477-9400.

You can get caught up in the social networks and get the wrong type of publicity for your pr client if you do not know or understand how to use this powerful media. If you don’t believe me, just read a recent article in today’s LA Times that discusses the issues and problems using social networks.

For example, companies like Amazon and Domino have learned the hard facts and how to control your social network campaign, only after getting hammered by fans and other online followers. Remember, if you use this media, like Twitter, you better realize it opens you up to all sorts of people. You need to use the social networks as a tool to market your pr client or your products and services. But don’t treat these like a TV commercial. That isn’t why you have followers, or fans, etc. These can be your best approach to getting the word out, if done properly.

On the good side, look what Ashton Kutcher did for CNN. Yeah, he outpaced them with followers, but CNN got a lot of exposure and they used this to help strengthen their position by hiring the person who began the CNN “Breaking News” account.

If you want to start using this new and powerful social network (like Twitter), be sure to know the game.  It is best to get a professional to guide you in the right direction. Then you will be able to use it to your advantage; otherwise you can get destroyed faster than it was to build your company. Need help? Give George Carson a call at 949-477-9400. His company, Carson Marketing, Inc. can get you into the social game so that your pr client, or your company will get great results.

Unlike a couple of years ago, today there are dozens of different social networks to choose from. So how do you know which ones will work for your business? Do you create a Facebook page, or a MySpace page, or do you jump on the Twitter circuit? What about all those other social networks like Friendster, Flickr, or del.icio.us and many others?

Before you begin to use social networking for business, you need to answer these questions. First, do you have a pr marketing strategy? If not, do you have a pr marketing plan? Ok, if these are not in your business plan, then it’s time to develop a pr marketing strategy that includes social networking. It would also be an excellent pr marketing strategy to start a blog site for your company. All successful PR Clients have a solid pr marketing strategy that has social networking as part of their plan.

I have written about using of MySpace and Facebook as a means to market your business. And I wrote a lot on blogging, which in all should be a continued program with all companies and PR Clients looking to be successful in the next 12 to 16 months. Now let’s look at how you can use Twitter as a business tool.

What makes Twitter so exciting? When used properly, Twitter is a great way to reach out to new prospects and keep a trusted connection with existing clients.

Some important issues to know: Unlike the many other social networks, Twitter followers do not like in-your-face marketing. And unlike MySpace and Facebook, Twitter has “followers”. These are usually friends, and other people that you may not know directly.

The rules for using Twitter:

1- Don’t add people you don’t know. This new social group gets annoyed if you just add people who follow others you know. Start slowly, add people you know, and then let it build. The main reason people like Twitter, they can leave if they don’t want to follow you because of your content.

2- Look for people that are in your industry. If you find people that are recognized in your industry, or are smart, then getting them to re-follow you is easier. That’s provided you offer something they want to follow, or know more about. Remember, no one like spam, so don’t start the hard sell with followers.

3- Be genuine about your business. When you begin to tell about your business, tell it from the heart. Not like a sales pitch. Twitter followers will respond if they see you have a passion for what you do.

4- Be active. If you choose to use Twitter, you need to invest at least an hour or two during the week. Just like other social sites, keeping it fresh is important. But with Twitter, people follow because they feel they are getting up-to-the minute info about you.

Still want to Twitter? If not, at least build a social network that includes the blog site and the traditional Facebook site to keep your business alive. Need help with social networking? Then give Carson Marketing, Inc. a call at 949-477-9400. Ask for George Carson, he will personally assist you with your social networking needs.

We are entering another level in the world of cyberspace and social networking. Jut a few years ago chat rooms were the craze, and then came the social networks like MySpace and Facebook, and the business networks like Linkedin. Now they are trying to make money on these successful sites. So why not Twitter? Yes, the overnight successful social network is thinking people are willing to pay to meet friends. Would you pay? At present it’s free. But for how long? An article in web pro news discusses this topic further.

There are still other social networks that are free. And new ones are entering the crowded market, such as Twellow.com (still in beta). So how do these social sites profit from an industry that is hungry to meet others? Place banner ads on the sites? Collect the personal data and sell it to prospects? Or begin membership clubs to keep from all the commercials and banners?

I am not sure what the answer is, or if there is going to be an answer that meets what people will be willing to accept. Only time will tell. In today’s rapid pace of social media, we can only wait and see.

I thought this short blog will help my pr clients and “friends” in the publicity industry, as well as publicity professionals are informed about the latest direction for social networks. If you are a pr client, or publicity firm that needs help in developing a social visible network, then give me a call. I’ll be willing to guide you in the direction to take your business to the next level. Good luck, George Carson.

Here we go again! Another attempt at social media, but this time it is one of the giant Internet companies, Yahoo. It is not well known, but Yahoo did an attempt at social media called Mash. It “crashed and failed” on September 29, 2008. This shows you that just because you have a fat piggy bank with unlimited resources, you can fail. To be effective with your pr marketing strategies you need to know this.

Unlike Google who used “Blogging” to get social with it’s “Follow this Blog” link, Yahoo tried being another Facebook, or MySpace. Now Yahoo has learned a lesson and has re-invented itself in terms of social and blogging. This time Yahooo  is claiming to be more of a social destination. According Stoneham, who says the following about the new yahoo social direction:

I want to make it clear that this new profile is not intended to be a new social destination on Yahoo!. Rather, our plan is to integrate “social” as a central dimension into the services you use every day. For example, if you’re on Yahoo! Messenger 9.0, you’re already seeing Yahoo! Buzz, Mybloglog, and Twitter updates as part of your friends’ status messages. Soon you’ll see social capabilities added elsewhere across Yahoo!, beginning with places where you start your day. The new homepage we’re testing will soon have an application that lets you stay up to date with what your friends are doing across the Web. And Yahoo! Mail will be delivering a smarter inbox, displaying emails from your most important connections first.

Developing a pr marketing strategy for your pr clients, or if you are a pr client, don’t feel these attempts are showing a crowded market for social networks. I still feel the industry is growing and maturing. Yes, there will be fallouts, and that in turn builds a stronger understanding of where the next level of social networks is going. In my opinion, it is going to be more “business” related. There will always be consumer sides to social, but the business community is hungry for this as well, but on a mature level. So keep your pr marketing strategies in touch with the changes and keep an eye open for new social BUSINESS networks, it is only a matter of time, and the time is not far off.