EndGame Public Relations Helping Two Marketing Firms Join Forces
“New” EndGame Public Relations client NetSearch Direct announced today that it is joining forces with IMPAK Marketing to create a unique company. Jim and Laurie Baldwin founded the Richmond, Virginia based Search Engine Optimization (SEO) firm NetBaldwin five years ago, and now they’re using their skills in optimizing websites in a partnership with Central Virginia’s top direct marketing firm.
You can read the release on the EndGame Public Relations News page, or by looking at a copy of the release on PRWeb.
EndGame PR has a long history with the Baldwins. NetBaldwin was one of our first clients and we’ve done work for a number of Jim and Laurie’s clients. Currently EndGame PR is not only their public relations agency, we’re also partnering with them on an SEO project for another of our clients, Fight SMA. We are performing the non-profit organization’s SEO PR services, while NetSearch Direct is providing assistance with SEO and SEM. Congratulations to the Baldwins on this new venture!
Let the denials begin!
An update regarding my post from yesterday entitled “Antonella Barba: Victim or Social Media Genius?” The Outside the Beltway blog reports the following quote from Ms. Barba’s friend and former fellow American Idol contestant, Amanda Coluccio:
“They were meant to be seen by one person and one person only,” Coluccio said at her Holmdel home. “The really bad ones aren’t her. I’ve studied them. It’s not her nose. She’s never had (acrylic nail) tips in her life. She’s the least slutty person I know.”
So, the denials begin. Antonella herself can’t comment because FOX doesn’t allow interviews with contestants until they’re voted off the show. Maybe she posted them herself … maybe she didn’t. The conspiracy-theorist in me says Ms. Coluccio could be in on the whole thing. This is starting to sound like O.J. Simpson and Al Cowling to me. Regardless, my original stance remains: If she did post them herself, I’m impressed with the results.
Antonella Barba: Victim or Social Media Genius?
I hesitated for quite a while this evening while trying to decide whether to blog on this topic. But, here goes…
By now you may have heard about the racy pictures of American Idol contestant Antonella Barba that are flying around the Internet, particularly if you’re a fan of social media or at the very least a fan of the reality show. If you haven’t seen them, I’m not going to leave you completely on your own to find them. Nor am I posting them here, however. If you look around, it should be relatively easy for you to find what you’re looking for.
If you haven’t heard what’s going on – here’s the story: Antonella Barba is one of the top 22 contestants on the reality show. She is, in my opinion, a mediocre singer but a very attractive woman. She was nearly voted out last week when suddenly some pictures, a bunch of her in various states of undress and another that might or might not be of her performing a very personal act, appear in blogs across the world. Because of this, she is now even more famous than she would have been if she had merely been a contestant on the show. In fact, her name is, at the time this blog was written, the top search on social media search engine Technorati.
At this point, you’re likely asking, “So what?” Well, here’s my point — either Ms. Barba is a victim of friends and/or ex-boyfriends who really don’t like her much, or she is a social media genius.
Think about it for a moment. A lot of reality show contestants have gone on to pose in girly magazines after their shows are over. At least one other has become a talk show host, if you can believe it. If Ms. Barba is indeed the source of the pictures that are floating around, and I believe she is, I’m impressed.
One of the keys to using social media to promote anything from yourself to dog food is creating something that turns viral. Marketers and public relations folks search far and wide to find something that will spread across the Internet on its own. Sometimes they succeed, and sometimes their efforts fall flat. What this reality show contestant is doing is manipulating her show while it is underway, by using the power of social media. She reason it might work is that the winners and losers on the show are chosen by telephone voting by the audience. She won’t win the show with singing talent, but she could pull a huge voting block into her corner — teenage boys. They’ll dial until their fingers bleed, hoping more pics will surface next week.
Is releasing racy photos of yourself and then denying you did it a new tactic? No. it’s probably been done before by people from Paris Hilton to Britney Spears. There are an awful lot of so-called unauthorized sex tapes out there. However, this is a different because those people were already famous. Before these pictures, Ms. Barba was on the cusp of celebrity. Now, she’s extremely well known, at least in the growing blogger community. It remains to be seen how far these “unauthorized” pictures take her.
Tips on Corporate Blogging
Almost a year ago I wrote a “news you can use” type news release for a client of mine, NetBaldwin, that performs search engine optimization services. NetBaldwin is actually about to make some news, but more about that at a later date. The release included tips for business folks on how to create your own corporate blog, and how to make it successful. It can still be found in my news release archives. It’s titled “Blogging: It’s not just for self-expression anymore.” We didn’t get too many bites on the story in the traditional media. Honestly, I’m beginning to think the release was just a bit ahead of its time. I’m hearing more and more now about corporate blogs and how they’re becoming more popular. I’m also finding more and more clients interested in my SEO PR services, which include (among many other things) blog marketing. So … I decided to dust off the release and excerpt a bit here, in case you decide to do it yourself.
It’s nothing new to find bloggers, whether intentionally or unintentionally, hogging the top of the rankings on search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and MSN. What is new, however, is that companies large and small are entering the blogosphere in droves, hoping to create that success for themselves.
“One of the biggest reasons blogs are at the top of the search rankings is that they are rich in keywords,” said Laurie Baldwin, CEO of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) firm NetBaldwin. “Search engines create their rankings in part by looking at the words on a site and how often the words are repeated. They use those words to determine what the site is about, where it should be ranked, and what terms a search engine user must type in to find the site. A standard website’s text can only include the basic keywords, but the longer form prose used in a blog will ensure that less obvious combinations are covered.”
Baldwin cautions that all of that blogging time is wasted if it’s not done properly. She has provided a number of tips on how to create a successful corporate blog,
Update, update, and update again
·Search engines rank frequently updated sites higher than stale ones. Baldwin suggests updating as much as twice a week or even more. Aside from the search engine ranking benefits, frequent updates can turn users into frequent visitors or even customers.Stay on target
·Whether you write your own corporate blog or you have someone internally or externally do it for you, be sure that what is written relates to your business. An anecdote about Uncle Benny’s hernia operation might be interesting, but unless your business has to do with hernias or operations, it won’t help you with the search engines!Offer real content
·The best content is articles about your industry or tips and tricks for novices. Don’t be concerned about people not coming to you for business if you give away too much information. By giving them usable information, you’ll be demonstrating that you’re an expert in your field.Free isn’t necessarily a good deal
·Websites that offer blogging as a free service are great, but they’re not going to help your company’s search engine ranking very much. Baldwin recommends using a package such as MyST Blogsite™ (Editor’s note: WordPress works great too) that resides on the same web server as your website. Using this strategy, the search engines will consider your blog part of your site and rank it accordingly. If it resides elsewhere, it’s considered a separate site.
These days I would add at least one additional tip:
Make sure your blog is optimized and marketed
If no one can find your blog, no one will read it except perhaps your Aunt Hilda. To ensure your hard work pays off, be sure to do the necessary SEO work to optimize your site, and market it on the many social bookmarking sites out there today (such as Digg, Del.icio.us, and Technorati). It’s time-consuming work, but it pays off. If you don’t have time, hire someone like me to help you!
Feel free to add your own tips, via the comment form. If you’re a member of the media and want to interview Laurie or I on this topic, feel free to email me.
EndGame Public Relations Main Site Redesign
I just finished redesigning the EndGame Public Relations main site. It’s mostly a cosmetic change for search engine optimization (SEO) purposes, although I did revise a little content while I was at it. It’s not only more search engine friendly, but I think I like this design better.
Enjoy!
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