Tips for Successful Blogging
Thanks to Kevin Gove, one of my long-time account executives at Nancy Marshall Communications, for providing this article with tips for successful blogging. Kevin’s article will be featured in our bi-weekly e-newsletter, “The NMC Report,” coming out today. If you haven’t already, please go to our website at www.marshallpr.com and sign up to receive The NMC Report, which is packed with useful (and free!) information about the intersection PR and social media. Continue reading
E-newsletters versus Blogs for new business and relationship building
We publish a monthly e-newsletter called The NMC Report that focuses on the intersection between public relations and the Web. Since my agency was founded in 1991 purely as a public relations firm, and has grown from there into a full-service Web site development, Marketing Communications and Internet Marketing agency, we use our e-newsletter to share our knowledge and expertise with our readers. Continue reading
How the World of PR Has Changed In the New Century (for the better!)
Many of you know that my agency is handling the PR and Web site for Saddleback Maine where they are currently building the largest glade in the East. It’ll be called Casablanca, not after the famous movie but after a ‘streamer fly’ which is famous for catching trophy trout in the Rangeley Lakes Region. All the trail names at Saddleback are fly fishing-related.
So last week Icalled Scott Thistle, who is regional editor at the Lewiston Sun Journal, and in a previous life a ski patroller at Sugarloaf. I invited him and his buddy/photographer Russ Dillingham to head up to Saddleback and do a story about “A Day In a Life of a Glade Cutter.” Not only did they go and create a two-page feature that appeared in the newspaper on Sunday November 15, but they also did a video that appeared on their Web site, called “The Sawyers of Casablanca Movie.” Continue reading
Playing with my new toys
I’ve been away from my blog for over a week…shame on me. I do have an excuse, however. I’ve been playing with my new toys.
First of all, I ordered a new iPod. My old one was nice, but it was full and had no more hard drive space for me to download podcasts. My new one is the new pink Nano, with 8 Gigs of space for all my stuff. I’ve grown to really love listening to podcasts. My favorite is FIR, which stands for For Immediate Release, is all about PR and social media. The hosts are Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson. Continue reading
Multimedia Information for News Media on Web sites
Everyone knows that the news media is now providing news and information in a variety of formats. News journalists are being encouraged by their management to not only provide stories in print but to create blogs, podcasts, video clips in order to tell their stories. Jane Wooldridge, travel editor at the Miami Herald, is one journlist who has been an early adapter in all things “new media.” Check out her blog. I heard Jane speak on a panel at the meeting of the Society of American Travel Writers recently and she talked about how when she travels now, she not only takes her reporters’ pad but also her audio recorder, her still camera and her video camera. She writes stories, creates blog posts, records podcasts and shoots video segments for every story.
We’re doing the same. PR people cannot stay in the dark ages, and hope that good old fashioned press releases alone are going to produce measurable results. We are working to create information for the news media in a variety of formats. Check out our client page on my agency’s website where you can see the video ‘vignette’ we created for Maine Built Boats as well as the podcasts we have created for the Department of Economic and Community Development of the State of Maine.
We are also creating YouTube videos for clients such as Saunders Manufacturing, the company that markets Rhinoskin products. Sarah and Alyssa on my team produced this video and Anna did the voice over. This was shot right in our own offices in Augusta. Check it out on YouTube.
For several years now, we have created video news releases during the fall foliage season in Maine to show the progression of the colors as the leaves turn bright orange, red, and yellow during the fall months. We send these videos to meteorologists at local stations and the Weather Channel, and we have had great success. We’ve done the same for snowmobiling and skiing. A picture is worth a thousand words and a moving picture (video) is worth a million words.
There are so many new ways of communicating for publicists as well as journalists. I find it exciting and stimulating.
First Blog Entry
Over the past 25 years, I’ve had the privilege of doing PR in Maine for a wide variety of clients and organizations. It’s been a great experience, despite the many ups and downs of a sometimes stressful career. I’m starting this blog now in order to share what I’ve learned with others who are trying to communicate their messages. Communications methods have changed, however many things have stayed the same. Even though I used an electric Smith Corona typewriter when I started my first job in Maine public broadcasting, I still had to know what my message was and what audience I was targeting. When I got a new electric typewriter with an erase key, I was on the top of the world! It wasn’t until the late 1980s that I started working with a PC, and we started using the fax machine to get press releases to the media. But I still had to know my messages and my target audiences. So here’s my thought for today. There are three things to think about when planning a communications strategy.
- What is the key message and the peripheral messages you are trying to communicate?
- What tools are you going to use to get the message out?
- Who is your target audience and what tools will work best for that particular audience?
Check back here regularly. I am going to continue to ponder these questions and others as I continue building my career as Maine’s PR Maven. Please chime in with your comments, too. It will be fun to hear what you are thinking about communicating in today’s 24/7 world.
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