PR Learning to Bypass the Media Filter

Posted: October 29th, 2009 | By: Steve Mullen | Filed under: PR Tactics, Social Media Tactics | No Comments

newspaper-headstone Public relations has always included business-to-consumer promotions in its arsenal of tools, but a large portion of the PR business has traditionally involved attempting to get stories placed in the media, in the hope that the consumer will then see those stories. Even highly public promotional stunts were largely, in the end, designed to gain mass media coverage.

But, what happens when the media weakens, and there aren’t enough reporters to cover even the most fascinating stories?

I happened upon two different articles this week that say essentially what I’ve been saying for some time — the answer is to create your OWN media. Blogging, podcasting, web videos, online news release distribution, Tweeting, and Facebooking all can take your message to your customers in an unfiltered way.
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Tags: newspapers, public relations, social media

Facebook Groups Better for Businesses

Posted: October 22nd, 2009 | By: Steve Mullen | Filed under: Social Media News, Social Media Tactics | 2 Comments

It went unnoticed for a lot of people because Facebook groups are not used as widely as they used to be, but Facebook earlier this week unveiled a redesign of those groups. The screen shot below is of the former Fight SMA Facebook Group, which I’ve been working for some time to transition to a Fan Page.

The first thing you’ll notice (click the image for a larger view) is that the look and layout are now much more in line with Fan Pages and individual profiles. One obvious unique addition is organization information in the left sidebar, above information about group members.

So, the first question I asked myself after hearing of this redesign is, “Are groups now better than Fan Pages for businesses?” For the answer, lets look at the pros and cons of each…

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Tags: facebook, social media, social networking

Client Website Promotes Educational Travel

Posted: October 22nd, 2009 | By: Steve Mullen | Filed under: Client News, Web Design | No Comments

I’ve been remiss in mentioning a brand new website I recently finished up for a client. I’ve done quite a bit of web work for the Virginia Community College System (VCCS), and the most recent work involved their international study program. It may (or may not) surprise you to learn that the community college system here in Virginia has a great student and faculty exchange program. It’s not the kind of thing you normally expect from a community college.

VCCS already had a section of their existing website that had information about exchange programs, but they wanted more. They asked me to build a relatively simple website that showed more images and had more information. I’m quite happy with the results!

You can see a screen shot of the site to the right (click for a larger version), or visit the actual site here.

Tags: Client News, Web Design

5 Steps to Proper Setup & Feeding of Twitter

Posted: October 14th, 2009 | By: Steve Mullen | Filed under: Social Media Opinion, Social Media Tactics | No Comments

twitter_bird If you’re a member of the Twitter Elite (Twelite? Tweelite?) or even a regular user of Twitter, you probably already know everything there is to know about setting up your Twitter account. This post is for everyone else.

I’m surprised at the number of people who have 1,000+ followers, but haven’t filled out the basic information that Twitter allows. In fact, when I see an account with a mess of followers but no details, I automatically assume they’re playing the Twitter Numbers Game, and don’t follow the person.

Below are a list of five tasks that I feel are required for a successful Twitter account:

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Tags: twitter, twitter tips

Social Network Saturation?

Posted: October 13th, 2009 | By: Steve Mullen | Filed under: Social Media News, Social Media Opinion | 2 Comments

There’s an interesting article at Mashable today about data suggesting that Facebook and Twitter traffic is flattening. According to the article:

Somewhere in June [...] Twitter stopped growing, at least according to Compete. The same thing happened to Facebook (Facebook) at the exact same time; at first we’ve attributed the traffic numbers to the summer slumber, but now that Compete’s numbers for September are out, there’s no doubt that both Facebook and Twitter are no longer growing, at least in the eyes of the (admittedly US-centric) Compete.

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Tags: facebook, social media, twitter