Offer more. This doesn’t mean having more inventory (though that could be a good business move, if it makes sense). It means that you can offer more for the same price or commitment from the consumer. For example, if you want people to subscribe to your newsletters, make it clear that doing so is a great idea. Offer quality tips, stories, etc. in your newsletters to make consumers feel better about their decision to get your weekly emails. Also, offer more in your overall site; subscribing to an RSS feed of your blog or simply returning to your company website takes a time commitment. Make it worth it to your readers by offering all that you can.

Analyze the situation. This can include performing a SWOT analysis of you and your industry. If you find that someone else is offering the same product at a lower price, really consider if it makes sense for you to do the same thing. Otherwise, you’re following the actions of someone else who may have made that move because it made sense to do so in their company. Lowering prices isn’t something you need to follow, nor are promotions. Shopping this weekend I saw two stores next to each other advertising sales: one was having a 75% off sale, and the other an 80% off sale. I don’t think either store benefited much from having an almost identical sale, though it may have encouraged some customers to go into at least one store if they had considered not going into either. This can also tie into being honest: if your promotions are mostly false, customers may not notice, but some may. Seeing a sign for an 80% off sale and seeing one item with that discount may prompt a customer to generate negative WOM. A promotion is, again, something that ought to be done according to what your company needs.

Moreover, analyzing the situation and industry can help you to see where there are holes or ignored markets that could use some attention. For example, a company that offered delivery pizza when there were no competitors probably experienced some great results from having a competitive advantage from being the first in the industry. As history can show, the rest of the mainstream pizza industry soon followed suit by offering pizza delivery. Additionally, the Internet makes it easy and smart to pay some attention to those niche markets that have been ignored. For a majority of businesses, it didn’t make sense to cater to the niche markets’ needs; it wasn’t cost effective, and very rarely created revenue or profit. Now, with lowered risk and costs, paying attention and marketing to those niche markets can be beneficial.

Be there. Offering a better customer experience, assistance, and advice can make a world of difference in the eyes of your customer. So, whomever your customer may be, offer something of value (as stated above), but that can include being more available. This can be through email, in person, on the phone, through social networking sites, etc. Allow conversation to take place, and get involved in it, too. Offer support where it is needed for your company, and try offering it where it isn’t needed but would be appreciated. Try to avoid stepping on toes when it comes to opinions, but know that your advice will likely be appreciated.

Overall, know that you can’t differentiate yourself by simply offering promotions or an awesome product. That may help, but in the long run it is about the experience they have and the service they are given that help to solidify you in their minds. Create a slogan of sorts for the things that differentiate you from other companies. So long are you are truthful, flaunt what you’ve got to let your customers know what they’re getting.

What tips do you have for differentiating you and your company?

Here are 3 ways to increase your reach:

1.) Offer quality content, advice, and tips. Capturing an audience starts with having great content. On top of that, you must get your content shared by others. That has to start with collaborating and fostering relationships with other bloggers, users on Twitter and LinkedIn, and helping others when you’re able. Know that if you help someone by giving them something of value to read, or by offering them some assistance with a link exchange or free eBook, you will undoubtedly be rewarded in the end.

2.) Offer your content in more than one format. Some visitors prefer to read your content while others prefer to watch a video. Offer both versions, and mix it up: do a recording of your best blog posts, and create a video tutorial for some of the tactics and strategies you may talk about. Consider hosting webinars, podcasts, or videocasts to capture even more traffic. Also, try offering your content to article sites, like Ezine or BusinessExchange, where your articles can be shared with others and found in more places online.

3.) Share your content through your social networking accounts. This is a little different than simply advertising your company. This should be your attempts at sharing your expertise, opinions, and advice with your followers on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. Use your accounts to promote your content and to interact with others.

Helping others is a fundamental part of finding success in the online world, or business world in general. Assisting others is the beginning of a relationship where you will be remembered for your kind actions. Those actions may not be reciprocated by the person you helped directly, but good things will come your way from others looking to help someone else, too. Build relationships, which is what blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are meant to help relationships form and to enrich our reach to the online world.

Do you have any tips for increasing reach, or helping others?

Here are 5 tips to improve your PR writing:

1. Avoid jargon. Jargon, or terms that are used in an industry by professionals in the industry, are often not terms that consumers can define. Trade magazines may have an audience that can understand jargon, but for a blog, Twitter account, or website, avoid jargon so that you do not alienate or deter customers from visiting.
2. Write clearly. To elaborate on the first point, write in a clear manner that is easy to understand. Think about someone who may not know anything about the topic you are writing, and write for them. Get to the point: if you can write something in a more concise manner, do so. This can make for an easier, faster read.
3. Avoid over-used terms that have lost their meaning. There are a lot of terms that get used frequently that have lost their initial meaning and are used to level out the playing field. For example, David Meerman Scott writes in his book, The New Rules of Marketing and PR, that words like “industry standard, ground breaking, flexible, scalable, or cutting-edge” don’t mean much, and are rather used to say that “we are like the rest”. He writes that industry standard “means nothing unless some aspect of that standardization is important to your buyers.” If you use these terms, explain what makes your product “scalable” or “industry standard” so that you give the terms some meaning relative to your product and how it will help customers.
4. Proofread. This takes little time and it can save you lost visitors! Take a minute to reread your work to ensure that it reads well, makes sense, and that grammar and spelling are correct. This can help to show readers, visitors, and customers that you take pride in producing quality work and that you take the time to correct mistakes.
5. Offer timeless content. This means that, although information from the current period is important, information that can be read in 5 years and still be considered valid is content that will continue to get traffic and readers. Write on topics that will matter later, and not just for the next month because you’ve written about Tiger’s marital issues.

There are a few ways to get yourself prepared and tips to finding an internship that is a fit for you and one that you are fit for. Some can include the following:

• Create a personal marketing plan. This should involve some things that go into a normal business plan, like your own S.W.O.T. analysis where you can analyze your internal and external strengths and weaknesses. Here, you can set a budget for your job searches, really define what you want to do with your degree or for your career, and how to get there. This is a great place to set goals and map steps to achieving those goals.

• Get business cards. These are great tools to use at networking events and job fairs, and they serve as a quicker, smaller version of your resume so that people can get in touch with you. (Carry your resume with you at these networking events too, but know that business cards are an effective way to get your name and contact information in the hands of professionals.) Print you business cards on a paper or matte material so that the professionals you meet can take notes on your card once they’ve met you; this can help them to remember you and the conversation you had.
• Create your social media profiles. In particular, create a LinkedIn account. This is a way for employers to see your history, your connections, and places you’re involved online. Remember that it is a representation of yourself online so keep it professional. LinkedIn takes minutes to create, and you can even upload your resume, saving you lots of time in the profile-creating process. Use this as a tool to get connected and stay connected with people you may meet at networking events, in classes, or through other connections. Join groups there, too, to get connected to other professionals using LinkedIn. (For PR students and those looking to intern in the PR industry, there’s even a PR Intern group.) Even if you do not advertise your Facebook or MySpace accounts, know that you can be evaluated there too, so use professional images, copy, and content.
• Attend networking events. These can be through school fraternities or groups or though a larger organization like the PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) or the AMA (American Marketing Association). For students, prices are lowered to ensure that you can attend, so take advantage of these associations and their events! They are put on to help you as new entrants in the industry and to help companies fuel their companies with new perspectives. Be sure to keep in touch with the people you meet there, as you may have made a good impression.
• Go to career fairs. Even early in your college years, go to these fairs (which are usually cheap to attend) and see what sort of businesses attend and to see if a graduate school is for you. This is great practice for speaking with professionals, getting your information out there, and for finding internships which may be of interest to you.
• Practice, practice, practice. Though this has probably been engrained in every graduate’s mind, there is a lot to be said for someone who practices. Preparing and running through questions you may be asked in an interview can create a great advantage over others looking for internships or jobs. Practice may not make perfect, but it can surely improve your answers, speech, and comfort level in the interview. Go to your career center on campus (if you are still in school) and look at their list of commonly asked interview questions, sign-up for a mock interview, and ask them for pointers.
• Dress the part. Even if you are interviewing over the phone, dressing well can make you feel more professional and get you in ‘work mode’. Working from home can be dangerous if you are not in the right mind set, too, so go about your days normally as if you were going in to a business to interview or work. This will help motivate you to be more productive. Remember to dress well (business casual) for an interview, at career fairs, and at networking events. You are allowed to ask the representative from the company you are communicating with what the office attire or dress code is; this will show that you are a forward thinker, and that you are preparing yourself. Though appearances are not the end-all, be-all of you success as an employee, it is easier to see your work and your personality when not distracted by worn or overly casual clothing.
• Revamp your resume and write a cover letter. Though cover letters may not even be read, they are a great tool to reiterate your interest in the position, company, and career. It is also an opportunity to take what your resume says and make it relevant to the advertised position. Take the time to figure out who to send the resume and cover letter to, as this can show your attention to detail and your ability to do some light homework.
• Act professionally. Some personalities are a better fit with others, and while you cannot control how your personality is received by people you can act professionally and respectfully to ensure that you put your best foot forward. First impressions are often times difficult to overcome, and with people interviewing dozens (if not more) of candidates, it is vital to your success that you act like a mature professional, even after you get the internship.
• Do your research. And then do some more. Internships and jobs don’t usually come out of nowhere, and more often than not they are a result of your networking efforts and the connections you’ve made. Keep your eyes on job boards at school, LinkedIn, and even CraigsList. Apply to those that you find interesting and personalize your cover letters.

From Brad Shorr of Word Sell, “Don’t Forget SEO When Writing an Online Press Release“:

Online press releases are a fabulous way to promote your own business as well as clients. In the b2b space where I spend most of my time, they are underutilized. Furthermore, many of the releases that are distributed are poorly optimized for search, making them far less effective than they could easily be. Here are some quick tips for giving your online press release a little SEO punch.

• Use primary keyword phrase in the title, and early in the title whenever possible.
• Repeat the primary keyword phrases two or three times in the body of the press release. Too many repetitions can be interpreted as spam by search engines.
• Repeat a secondary keyword phrase two or three times in the body of the press release as well, if you have one.
• Write out industry specific terms in full. For instance, if I’m writing a release for a packaging firm that is promoting a new type of shipping container, I’ll want to refer to the products as “shipping boxes” or “multiple depth shipping boxes” rather than “boxes”. The latter term is too broad, whereas the former two might well be search terms used by packaging engineers and designers.
• If you have the option, customize your press release URL to include primary keywords. PRWeb allows this with an upgraded release, and it is well worth the cost.
• When linking to your featured landing page(s) from the press release, use primary or secondary keyword phrases in the anchor text of the link. For instance, taking the earlier example, “Learn more about multiple depth shipping boxes from ABC Company” has more SEO impact than “Visit the ABC website.”
• When using images, use keywords in the captions and ALT Text.

Many of these SEO techniques enhance the press release’s appeal to readers by making the information contained therein more specific and precise. In addition, repeating key phrases helps readers to remember the key points and associate them with your company or the client.

Brad Shorr lives in the Chicago area and is president of Word Sell, Inc. He helps organizations strengthen their online presence with business blogs, as well as content strategy and SEO copywriting.

Follow Brad on Twitter

Before, in order to get noticed, a company had to buy advertising space or convince a journalist to write a story. Now, a story can reach hundreds of thousands of people in an instant with the Internet’s wide array of tools. A company can blog, Tweet, or share on Facebook. Instead of waiting for a middleman to take a story and distribute it, you’re free to connect with your consumers, directly. What an amazing opportunity!

While PR is still serving as relations to the public, it has become public again. Companies don’t need secret contact lists or to ask favors of journalists; they can make the PR moves themselves, send out stories and press releases on their own, and let others pick up the story. Don’t get me wrong; contacts in the press and media are necessary for local news and news that perhaps has more of an impact on people. This may require the assistance of a PR firm or agency that has more contacts and more experience in getting stories picked up.

The great thing about the shifting power and the increased PR potential is that PR efforts don’t have to be just about creating hype or buzz about the company or product. Companies can use the tools online to create a more genuine, trust-worthy image through PR they do themselves. PR is already more trustworthy than advertising, and being an open book and readily available contact can only further strengthen your company’s image. Customers can connect directly with you, and vice versa. There is potential for greater exchanges and better relationships.

Consumers are inundated with advertising on a minute to minute basis; when they come to your website or blog, they are looking for information, so provide it! Instead of creating a landing page that will sell or promote your products or services, offer something of value to your consumers, such as a way to get in touch with you, a way to connect with others who love your company, and a way to feel a sense of belonging. The alienation and distance between companies and consumers is a thing of the past.

Some old PR tactics will still work in the “new age” of PR, but most won’t; there are new tactics to learn and new strategies to implement with the ever changing tool box that PR professionals (and novices) have at their disposal. Online, marketing and PR have become somewhat synonymous with one another; if you were to contact another blogger with a story and they featured it, it could be considered PR, but if you were to put out a press release yourself, that could be considered marketing. Where do you draw the distinction?

In order to be most effective and get the greatest reach, a target audience needs to be established. This sort of specification can be done through demographics, which is normally the case. Deciding on a target market/ audience can be tough, but through research (whether primary or secondary), you can usually figure out who is best to target. Some methods used in primary research can include surveys, focus groups, or product tests. Some secondary research can include using demographic research, surveys conducted by other companies, or product reviews online from consumer groups.

Once you have decided your target audience, it is important to learn how to speak to/with them. Are your target audience members on Facebook, Twitter, or MySpace? Pay attention to studies and learn where they connect with other people. As a company, connecting with your consumers ought to be a top priority.

According to Pew, 19% of Internet users use Twitter or “another service”, which was vague, but Pew states they wanted it to be left open so that anyone who updates a status somewhere can say “Yes, I use Twitter or another service to update my status or see the updates of others”. Below are some results from a Pew Internet and American Life Project study that shows where people are spending time online:

Furthermore, Pew indicates that “Young people flock to Twitter”. Below, see the users divided into age groups and the percentage that use Twitter:

(You can read the rest of the study here.) With that sort of information, you can know whether or not it would be beneficial to launch a PR campaign that utilizes Twitter, though I think in most cases, utilizing Twitter is beneficial. It shows a more personified image of your company, and can create a sense of belonging for consumers when they can connect and talk with you, a company they may have loyalty and love for.

If Twitter’s main users are your target market, do not abuse the potential there. Instead of barraging Twitter’s users with advertisements or product placements, use Twitter as a means of connecting with your consumers rather than a means of advertising. There is something to be said for companies that connect with people when they want to be connected with, instead of interrupting their daily lives with ads and product pushes. Be there as a way for consumers to ask questions. Bear in mind that when a consumer asks a question, they are often looking for an answer, so respond! Also, know that people may follow your twitter account to keep up with company news and updates.

You can also use Twitter or another social media tool as a means for holding a contest. (Just remember to keep your promises if you offer a prize.) You can also hold chats where you can have professionals from your team offer advice, hold a Q&A session, or answer product inquiries. Be there as a source of information, and try to make it valuable.

SEO, or search engine optimization, is not a new tool, and certainly not a new topic on Public Relations Blogger, but it can be a new tool for many new bloggers, business owners, and website creators alike. SEO takes some time and effort, but it shortly becomes second nature in your normal blogging or website writing. Search engine optimization is essentially the use of keywords and phrases (hopefully related to your blog or company) that can help increase traffic. When search engines send out “spiders” that crawl the web and record, in a sense, the information on your website, having more keywords and phrases that web users search for can move your website up the search results, in turn brining more traffic to your site.

One vital thing, and perhaps the most effective way of gaining new traffic, is to pay particular attention to the long tail of the keyword curve. Every day, new searches that have never been searched before are made in Google, while simple keywords that are one or two words long are repeated many times. While it may seem illogical to aim for these new searches, it is rather the opposite. When a consumer searches for something like “shoes”, there is going to be an endless amount of results, and your website or blog can very easily get lost in the sea of options. In order to differentiate your blog or website, focus on the long tail of the keywords. The graph below from Elliance is a great visual to explain the concept of the long tail.

The chances of your site grabbing the attention of users from the head (or front) of the curve is less likely to occur than capturing those of the long tail. The majority (~74%) of the traffic that comes to this blog comes from search engines. More than 75% of that traffic comes from a term or keyword phrase that was only made once, a single search of a more descriptive phrase that would put them into the long tail. Without much effort, I gather a ton of traffic and potentially new readers by focusing on the long tail searches. Long tail phrases can also bring more than one visitor from search engines. For example, “new public relations tools to benefit your business” has brought more than two dozen visitors in the last two weeks, but it still only accounts for 1.4% of my traffic. In the last month alone, 1,244 searches brought this blog traffic.

Try out different phrases, use Google’s keyword tool to get ideas, and experiment; marketing and public relations is all about figuring out what works and what doesn’t. If this doesn’t work immediately, don’t give up; it may take time for the search engines to record your site’s data. Keep optimizing, pay attention to the long tail, and offer great content.

Any other tips for SEO and the long tail? Leave a comment!

While open-source tactics have been used for years in the tech industry, the arrival of blogs, social media, and greater numbers of consumers on the Internet, crowdsourcing has become easier to carry out. It has also become easier to gather larger crowds for more input. All the feedback, ideas, and solutions that consumers have to offer can be economically smart as well as a smart tool to use to generate publicity and PR. BNet put it beautifully: “The idea of soliciting customer input is hardly new, of course, and the open-source software movement showed that it can be done with large numbers of people. The difference is that today’s technology makes it possible to enlist ever-larger numbers of non-technical people to do ever-more complex and creative tasks, at significantly reduced cost.”

First, let’s define the media. From the Glossary, I defined the media as: “A vehicle (or vehicles) used to communicate information, entertainment, news, and advertising messages to an audience or market. TV, cable, magazines, radio, billboards, and newspapers are all examples of a medium.”

In essence, the middleman, messenger, and method of delivery for any sort of message or information. The recipient of these messages are consumers. As such, having good relations with people in the media can often result in your messages and information being delivered.

Here are a few ways to maintain good relations with the media:

• Specify who you target and contact with stories. Not doing this can do some major damage to your PR efforts. Like spam mail consumers receive in the mail, your press release that you spam blast to a reporter that has no interest in your story or announcement will not pay any attention to your release. If they keep track of companies and individuals who do this, it can deter them from running a story or a news release in the future, even if it interest them and falls into the category of what they often report on. That being, do a little research and read up on reporters to figure out what they enjoy, report on, and seem to take an interest in. Keep track of their interests so that you can address them properly with a press release they may be more likely to find value in.
• Have media kits available. Whether you’re having an event, hosting a press conference, or being interviewed for a story, have a media kit available and ready to send. These can greatly help a reporter or journalist in writing about you or your company, and doing so correctly. It can also help make their jobs a little easier with deadlines and questions that may arise. A press kit should include everything they would ever need to know about your company, the product you just released, or the statements you made and the course of action you’re taking on a product recall. They will appreciate not having to keep getting in touch for little bits of information, and their story will be more complete and accurate. This may encourage them to come to you again for a story in their area of interest.
• Get in touch with the media, and maintain contact. Be prepared to call to learn who is best to contact, and be prepared to call again. Persistence (within reason) is good.
• Respond to reporters. If they call, respond. They have deadlines they need to adhere to, and your lack of a response can burn bridges in the future. Even if you can’t do an interview right away, ask for questions they may ask in an interview (to prepare and ensure the interview goes well), and say that you will get back to them before the end of day. Look over your schedule and keep them informed on what you plan to do. Ask them for a deadline as well so that you can try to plan accordingly.
• Keep the entire company up-to-date. If you (as the PR contact) are not available to answer questions, and another person gets asked about a specific product release or company announcement, make sure whomever answers knows what to say. This means keeping everyone on the same page and not leaving anyone in the dark. Not only does this create a sense of camaraderie (which is good in the long run and helpful internally), but it also means that one person isn’t saying one thing and another person saying something different.
• Be honest, and try to avoid “No Comment” statements. Rather than saying no comment, explain what you can, and if the “no comment” would have replaced an answer that would have been negatively received, try to turn it around and make it positive. Avoid eluding the question, and don’t lie.

1. Make an invitation list: Every event will attract different journalists because of their interest in what your company does, what you are attempting to benefit, or what your event plans to announce. Internally, create your own lists to keep journalists in mind, and separate them based on specifics like their location, what they write about, and what media they represent, such as radio or video. Taking these things into consideration can help you to invite the people that will take come value from your event, and in turn benefit you in return.
2. Make (and distribute) a media kit: This is a great tool for reporters and journalists because it (should) contain everything they would ever need to know to write a story about you, your company, or client. Include in this all the information that is presented at the event including product specifications, people who are involved, and how it affects the public, which should all be found in the news release. Also include copies of any speeches that are give, company information, and biographies of any persons who speak at the event. Send out more generic versions of these media kits to reporters and journalists you invited in #1; this can help them write better stories about why consumers ought to be interested in the event, or introduce the event better.
3. Do some DIY PR: This can include sending out news releases to others that you didn’t send an invite or media kit to, adding your event to community calendars, announcing it to people who connect with you on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn, and by utilizing a network of bloggers to help spread the word.
4. Make some callbacks: Once you’ve invited people, make some followup calls to confirm attendance. Invites can often get lost, put aside, or forgotten about, so a callback is crucial to ensure that the right people who were invited can make it to the event.
5. Set the date and time of the event: This can conflict with many things, such as other events taking place the same day, holidays, weather, etc. Do some research and if there is no other day to do the event, promote it well. Otherwise, if you’re able, reschedule before press materials are sent out. This can help to ensure some attendance numbers.

1. Get the word out yourself. There are a numerous ways to do this: press releases, news releases, Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn, etc. Let people know when there is some news to share.
2. Get involved. For example, get involved in forums (but not only when there is something said about you). Try getting involved when you have something of value that you can add/share with the community. This can help establish you as a real person who isn’t online to only promote a product or service, but also there to help others. Let the people who know about your products get involved too; they ought to be able to answer questions and give feedback. If you feel more comfortable having a OPR professional get involved instead, make sure they talk to the people who know most about the company or area of interest from an outside party. (In addition to getting the right answers to people, ensure that they are not releasing important information, and ensure that everyone is on the same page.)
3. Stay involved. This simple (though time consuming) act can be the difference between lots sales, bad publicity, or lost customers. Once you’ve done the above and gotten involved, keep it up.
4. Stay aware. Keep track of things that are said about you and your company online and respond. This can help avoid some crisis that may affect your company simply by responding to a rumor or customer problem. Doing the above can help in this area: when you find something said about you on a forum or a question that you should address, do so. With the credibility your involvement has created from the above steps, your answers or responses may be well accepted and much appreciated from your customers.
5. Be available. When something like a crisis arises or media has some questions, be responsive and available. Again, this can be the difference between a sale, a lost customer, etc.

If you find that these are too time consuming and something you would rather not risk messing up, look into hiring a PR firm or PR team for your company. While these things are easy to do internally with the help of people from all of the company’s departments, it may be easier to have a core group who gets in touch with the right departments and organizes things for you.

Having a professional company (hiring an outside PR firm in contrast to doing the PR in-house) has it’s perks; they (ought to) know what they’re doing and should have contacts in the media that may help a story get published. Remember to measure and evaluate how they’re doing, and if you’re not happy, don’t be afraid to tell them.

Whichever route you go, it is always best to be genuinely involved as a company. Consumers appreciate a company that actually cares and takes some initiative to respond when consumers have an issue or problem with a product or policy. Be honest, reachable, and responsive.

Here are a few helpful and basic tips to help you make the most of Twitter, including some shortcuts and definitions:

If your sole reason for blogging is to make money, this may not be the blog post for you. I would hope that you blog with the intention of making something to share with others simply because you are passionate about your subjects, or to offer something useful for readers.

Sure, there are plenty of ways to make money blogging: advertising, advertising, promotions, and advertising. (I’m sure there are other ways to make it happen, but I think those sort of sum up the ways you can make some revenue blogging.)

In addition to doing your homework and sending your press release to some important folks, try posting your press release to some free press release distribution sites. It can increase traffic to your blog or company website, and your “search-ability” when you have more content to show up in search engine results. Below, find some sites that can help you with that press release distribution, for free.

While the following sites will all distribute your press release for you, there are other sites that can help to get your press release featured on Google News, though those sites all require more of a commitment, such as money. These will give you some exposure, but my not get your press release on Google News. There are many press release distribution sites, but here are a few to start you off:

1. I-Newswire
2. 1888 Press Release
3. PR Compass
4. Click Press
5. Free Press Release
6. PR Log
7. PR Insider
8. Press Method
9. PR Urgent
10. PR.com
11. 24-7 Press Release
12. Idea Marketers
13. Media Syndicate
14. Directions Mag
15. Live PR
16. A Fly
17. See Nation
18. Press Release Point
19. Trans World News
20. US PR Wire
21. PR Window
22. My Free PR
23. Free Press Index
24. SB Wire
25. Page Release
26. Tech PR Spider
27. Open PR
28. Press Release Spider
29. Press Exposure
30. My Journal Courier
31. PR Focus
32. User Groups
33. World ACD
34. Press Release.com
35. Download Junction
36. News Reel Network
37. Press Box
38. Promotion World
39. Web News Wire
40. Xpress Press
41. Franchise Newscenter
42. Free Press Release
43. Press Release Circulation
44. Any Release
45. Big News
46. PR 9
47. Post A Free Press Release
48. Exact Release
49. Press Booth
50. News Blaster
51. PR USA
52. News Album
53. PR GB
54. PR Friend
55. Fast Pitch Networking

Whether you write on a personal blog, your Facebook or Twitter accounts, or a company website, there are a few things to consider when writing. Here are a few tips to writing more professionally and effectively:

Not only do blogs offer consumers a new way of reviewing products, companies a new way of interacting with said consumers, and every-day mom’s to blog about crafts they’ve created, it gives PR a new outlet, but they’ve created a portal that any company or individual can use to share ideas, opinions, and ask questions.

PR met the blog some time ago, but here are some tips for creating a blog that is your own, but is also productive and successful:

- Give your blog an aesthetically pleasing look.

There are templates and themes available for use (more often than not, for free), that any one with any level of HTML or CSS knowledge can use. Giving your blog a clean, professional, or interesting look can help keep visitors on your site. We are a fast, visual species, who can judge something in a split second. If your site is not appealing, you’re bound to lose some traffic, or have an increasingly large number of bounced visitors. (A bounce is a visitor who comes to your site and, after looking at one page, leaves, hits the back button, or closes the browser. The main idea here is that the visitor “bounces” from your site before visiting any other pages of your blog. These visits are usually very short, but they can vary.) Spruce up your blog, give it a welcoming feel, and ask for feedback from other bloggers or visitors.

- Get your visitors involved.

Bank on that amazing characteristic of the blog: it is a communication tool that can get you in touch with your consumers or readers. You can earn some degree of professionalism, and people may start to see you as a trusted resource for the industry you write in. Make a forum, leave comments open, and respond; leaving these tools up and on the site without any sort of activity on your end (other than making a new post now and then) does not say much about your efforts to communicate. So, get busy replying! If you don’t get comments right away, don’t let it deter you; visitors will come, and you can encourage comments and questions by asking your own to the readers in your posts, or by opening forum questions. Encourage involvement!

- Write for your readers, buyers, subscribers, and the media.

When you make your content interesting, and keep things up-to-date or timelessly relevant, people will continue to read what you’ve got to say. Keep your content flowing, and advertise that you’ve written something people may consider useful through Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. If you’ve got a small following, but would like it to increase (and who doesn’t?), let people know you’ve got content to be read. Look into what people want to read about. How, you ask? Google offers a great tool to see what keywords are searched for most. Instead of buying AdWords, which is what this tool is primarily used for, utilize the results you can find from this tool and optimize your posts. In writing what others are looking for in relations to your market, you can create your own niche blog that will attract visitors. Make your content useful and related, and you’ve got a recipe for success.

- After you’ve written the content, get others to help you share it.

This involves a level of collaboration, a “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” sort of thing. You can help other bloggers get traffic from your site as well. (There are many factors that come into play with this, and it can depend on the page rank Google assigns, and how many sites link to your site. It can get a bit confusing, but don’t fret; keep creating connects, sharing links with other blogs or websites that fit in your blog’s market, and feel free to do favors for other blogs. This can include advertising an event the other blogger is holding (especially if that blog belongs to a company), or posting an article they’ve written to help get some more exposure.

Another great way to get others to help share your content is to let them know you exist. This can involve following other bloggers on Twitter. I usually look into who’s following me, and a lot of times, I’ll share what they have to say because I think it’s valuable. Someone may do the same, as they’ve done for Public Relations Blogger, and it can generate some great traffic. Sometimes it happens without any effort, but it usually works better if you do give it some attention.

While there may be millions of blogs clogging up the Internet, there is always room for a great blog that has something to offer.

The term “webinar” is somewhat self-explanatory: a web-based seminar. (Like “blog“, which was derived from “web log”.) Despite their somewhat easy to decode name, webinars are a little more difficult to understand and master.

Don’t get me wrong though; webinars are great tools for many reasons. Similar to podcasts, a webinar feels a little more personal and can really get viewers involved in a dialogue with the webinar providers or with others who watched the webinar. The ability to interact back and forth is the real value of a webinar, whereas videos, webcasts, and podcasts are one way transfers of information. Even though webinars have this ability to be interactive, most times they are still one-way conversations.

Usually a webinar is comprised of some sort of workshop or lecture that is (at times) useful to the viewers. (Sometimes, as with a lot of content found on the Internet, webinars are completely useless.) To provide a useful webinar, think about your target audience and what it is they are interested in. Are they interested in learning how to write a press release, or how to avoid a public relations crisis? Share that information with them, if you know it. This is a great way to get others to ask questions, keeping the conversation alive and interesting.

Webinars involve some sort of audio, video, or presentation from powerpoint or other program, and is often used by companies to showcase the benefits of products and the problems that product can solve. I think the most value from a webinar can be the complete lack of advertising done therein. Rather than advertise a product, why not offer some useful content, tips, and advice to participants/viewers? You are sure to garner more followers, participants, and customers that way. Advertising will only work so well, and since we (consumers) are inundated with advertising day in and day out, we may not be prone to participate in a webinar about a product. Instead, offer a webinar on how to capture audiences and you may reach a wider array of customers (so long as your product is somewhat related).

Try to offer something valuable for free. This is a great way to instill trust, and shows customers that you are not simply there for their business. A webinar can be a great place to share information, tutorials, and create an interactive place for people interested in the topics related to you and your company.

If you’d rather not do a live webinar (which may detract from the value of the webinar, and in fact change the meaning of the word), you can prerecord the video and post it on your site for visitors to access. If you’d like to keep it open and more of a two-way conversation, try adding a forum to your site, and open a thread about the webinar.

Expand your blog or website and make it interactive, whatever process you feel is best for you and your company. People are happy to talk and give their opinions, and may be even more prone to doing so if they’re asked for. The best way to get people to share their opinions is to ask for it; end a webinar with a question, open that forum, and make comments open on your blogs. You can choose to moderate all of the content that is added there, but it makes your blog inviting and open to others to participate, and that may make others happy to share your blog and get involved.

Tags: What is a Webinar?, How to do a Webinar, Utilizing Webinars

The following is a list of some helpful tips to consider when writing a press release:

1.) Titles are important. While it may seem a bit trivial on the surface (in comparison to the actual content of the press release), the title is the first time people will read. As such, it should be paid some well deserved attention. Journalists, reporters, bloggers, and the like are all pressed for time (aren’t we all?). They may review hundreds of press releases, which means your press release may not even be read. The title, then, needs to be a quick, succinct representation of what is to follow.

The title is also a great place to optimize for search engines (SEO). It can help your press release rank well when people search for topics your press release may cover. Using long keywords may bring traffic that means more to your company as well, since anyone can search for generic keywords, but may not find your press release useful.

Here are a few things I do to help my blog:

1.) I try to post daily. Not only does Google reward sites (and blogs) that post regularly, but readers may be more prone to suggest your blog to others when the content is consistently fresh and mildly interesting. This can help your blog’s overall success. Building readership in the beginning is a step all blogs go through, and though it takes time, keep at it.

2.) Participate in other blogs. This could include commenting on posts (after you’ve actually read them, mind you). Rather than simply posting a two word sentence or congratulatory phrase, like “great post”, think about your comment and if it will add any value to the post. If it won’t, don’t worry about posting. Rather, comment about it on your blog if you found it to be interesting. This is a way to contribute to the blog in your own way, on your own blog. Another means of participating is posting guest articles on other blogs. Most bloggers welcome, or should welcome, guest articles, so long as they are relevant and in-line with the rest of the blog. You should also consider adding guest bloggers to your own. A guest article gives readers a new voice to read, and may also provide your blog with some information you may not have considered posting before. Most guest bloggers will also link to the article they wrote for your blogging, bringing more readers your way.

3.) Use Twitter, Facebook, BusinessExchange, etc., to announce your posts. Though it may seem a little “salesy”, it can bring some traffic to your blog. What’s even better is when someone uses the “TweetThis” feature and shares your blog post with the rest of the world. (With applications like TweetDeck, which can update your MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter accounts at the same time, a “TweetThis” option can really increase your reach.) BusinessExchange is brought to us by Business Week; it is a beta site, but it seems to be a great resource already. You can share your articles there with other members of the site.

4.) Optimize you posts. Though search engine optimization (SEO) can be a difficult thing to master, let alone grasp, it is easy to learn how to add more ‘search engine’ power to your posts. I was referred to a quick, concise overview of SEO. You can find it here.