To some these days, social bookmarking sites are almost a little quaint.  Facebook and Twitter are the kings of social media content, and bookmarking sites seem so … five years ago.  I’m here to tell you, however, that social bookmarking is alive and well as a traffic generator.  Recently, for client SleepBetter.org, I was researching which tactics we weren’t using to help people find the sleep tips and advice provided by the site.  Of course, we’re on Twitter and Facebook, and we’re also utilizing Google Buzz.  We tried Digg, Delicious, and Reddit with little success.  Then, we started submitting links to Stumbleupon.  The results were immediate and dramatic.  In fact, in the month of February, Stumbleupon was our second largest referrer, after Google.

Unlike other social bookmarking sites, such as the aforementioned Digg, Delicious, and Reddit, users of StumbleUpon don’t have to be looking for your content to find it.  I’ve often thought this was the downfall of trying to use Digg to help visitors find you.  Unless your content is tech-related or involves someone falling off of a donkey and hurting a sensitive part of the body, posting to Digg is often like whistling into the wind.  StumbleUpon is different.  In fact, the whole point of the site is finding random content that you didn’t know you were looking for. You click a button and “stumble upon” a site.  It’s much like channel surfing.  StumbleUponn can help you find random content that’s been submitted, or you can have it help you find random content within a category. Obviously, it’s an outstanding time waster.

StumbleUpon’s strength is it’s lack of the cliques found on Digg and other sites.  On other sites, it can be hard to generate interest unless you’re already well known.  In other words, if you’re well known already, you’ll get plenty of “Diggs”. Thing is, if you’re well known already, you don’t NEED Diggs to help people find your content.

So, what’s the strategy for using StumbleUpon if you’re hoping to generate interest in your site or your other content?  It’s pretty simple.  First of all, submit your content to StumbleUpon.  You can go directly to stumbleupon.com to do it, or you can download a toolbar for your browser that will help you.  Then, review others content.  Don’t give random reviews that are not well thought out.  Find good content relevant to your own, and write good reviews.  After doing a couple of reviews per day, if your content is good you’ll find that more people are reviewing and finding your content.

Pretty simple.

Happy stumbling!

If you’ve been here before, you surely notice that I moved a few things around. Actually, I completely tore the place down and started over!

EndGamePR.com has a new design!

The last version of the site was more than a year-and-a-half old, and I was tiring of its limitations. Mind you, I’m still rather fond of it. I’ve never seen a layout quite like it. However, I never liked the look of the blog page, and a few other things with it were rather ponderous.

Here’s a quick nickel tour of the new design:

• My favorite thing about it was a late addition.  Just yesterday, I decided to add the social media tabs you see on the right side of every page except for the front page.  If you slide your mouse over them, they pop out.  Pretty cool, huh?  I’d like to thank the Human 3rror Blog for the code used to make them.  I made a number of modifications to the original design, including the addition of the white shadowed tabs.
• Interior pages of the site actually have several layouts.  There are two versions of the right sidebar layout (with different text in the sidebar), and one of the left sidebar layout.  I made a page layout with only one sidebar, but so far I haven’t found a reason to use it.
• The new blog layout is MUCH neater and easier to read than the previous iteration of the Social Media PR Blog.  Despite the fact that I styled it myself, I never liked the way it turned out.

Last, but not least, one thing that remains the same: This site is built using my favorite software … Wordpress.

Have a look around, starting with the home page.  Let me know in comments what you like and what you don’t like.  If you find a bug, I’ll be happy to squash it :)

This is the third installment of my running review of online news release distribution sites. If you’re finding these reviews for the first time, you should know that I’ll update this post as best I can throughout the year as sites change their offerings.  Previous editions of my review can be found here and here.

This post has been a long time coming.  Client work and family life keeps getting in the way, but the online distribution universe changes so fast, and I’ve received so much goodwill as a result of the previous two versions of my online news release distribution reviews ( that I had make the time to write this update.

Let’s take a look at a some good reasons to distribute your news releases online:

1. By including a link in your release, you’re building inbound links to your web site.
2. Your news is being spread beyond the boundaries of your web site, increasing the odds of it being seen by your audience.
3. There is the possibility that it will be seen by new media or traditional media, leading to coverage from these outlets.  This isn’t something I ever count on, but it does sometimes happen.

Disclaimer: There have been occasions where I have been given free “try out” release distributions. I do accept these because they allow me to sample different services, but I do my best not to let them sway my judgment in the review.  I consider it the same as a product reviewer accepting a sample product.  Disclaimers about specific services can be found within their reviews.

So, which is the best place to distribute your news releases to reach your goals? Below is a review of what I consider the best of the best, both free and paid. Feed free to add your own via comments!

Premium News Release Distribution

PR Newswire (PRN)
Cost: Varies, starting at $170 for a 400 word release
Review: PR Newswire has been around in one form or another for more than 55 years.  They market themselves as being a mainstay among reporters and news organizations, and are recently pushing their ability to get news to bloggers via their opt-in distribution lists.  They also do a good job of distributing your release for use on other websites.  Your release will rank well on Google News for your keywords, and you’ll get plenty of quality backlinks.

The problem with PR Newswire has always been cost. They have a yearly fee that you have to pay for the privilege of paying more to post your releases.  They have been known to waive that fee for small businesses, so be sure to ask if you qualify.  Releases start at $170 for distribution on their city or state wire, with an additional charge for every 100 words after that. That’s for a short release of 400 words, though, and they charge you for each word after that.   At that price, the distribution to the media is limited.  If you want distribution to nationwide media, you’ll pay almost $650 for a single release.  With all of this said, I do think PR Newswire does a great job getting the word out to the media, and as I’ll say in a number of cases during this review — you get what you pay for.

BusinessWire
Cost: Varies, starting at $180 for the first 400 words, or $175 for EON distribution
Review: Business Wire has become my “go to” service for clients who have the money to pay for premium distribution. As with PR Newswire, their service is not cheap.  A basic citywide distribution will cost you at least $180 for the first 400 words, with an additional charge for every 100 words after that.

A basic release from BusinessWire will generate quality links for your release, and plenty of them.  The version of your release on the Business Wire site will rank on Google and Google News, but I’ve never been overly impressed with how well it ranks.  Generally speaking, the sites they distribute TO will rank better than the actual Business Wire version.  The good news is that Business Wire has a long list of sites that automatically will run your release, and after your distribution they will send you a link that will show you all of those sites.

One thing I should also note is that releases I have posted on Business Wire HAVE resulted in legitimate coverage on blogs and other new media sites.  What I mean by this is that rather than just posting the release verbatim, the bloggers or new media journalists have rewritten it or contacted me to learn more.

New for 2010 from Business Wire is a different pricing plan for their EON release distribution.  The EON platform, launched several years ago, is designed with social media and SEO in mind.  EON releases rank well on Google and Google News.  You can include images and videos, and style your release using HTML.  Previously, EON was an add-on to standard geographic distributions, but starting January 1, 2010, you can purchase it separately for $175.  A word of caution, however: with an EON release, your release is NOT distributed to Business Wire’s online partners.  It will only be posted on Business Wire’s site.

PRWeb
Cost: Packages range from $80 to $360
Review: When PRWeb was launched in 1997, its owners seemed to realize that releases would become more than a tool for sending news to the media.  They were correct, as releases are now a means of pushing news to your audience and pulling them back to your web site.

The two benefits of PRWeb are SEO and price.  Your release will rank very well on Google and Google News, and they do distribute to many of the same sites as PR Newswire and Business Wire.  While you may not receive as many backlinks as with the two services reviewed above, you also won’t pay as much.  Distributions on PRWeb start at $80, and range up to $360.  My personal favorite is the $200 package, which offers a nice mix of cost and features.  Additionally, they don’t charge per word, so a longer release will cost the same as a short one.

All PRWeb releases include live links, feature quotes, and a framed view of your web site below the release text.  Starting with the $200 distribution, you can also utilize anchor text links, which help greatly with your site’s search rankings.

Budget News Release Distribution

Online PR News (OPN)
Cost: $12 (free releases available)

Disclaimer: Since the last time I updated my review of online news release distribution, I have begun partnering with Online PR News on their podcasting service. I have also consulted with them on marketing in the past. In return for my consulting services, I receive complimentary distributions.

Online PR News is a relative newcomer to this stratosphere of distribution services.  Founded by two SEO content producers, the site naturally focuses on helping you publish a release that ranks well in the search engines.  The site has installed many upgrades for 2010, and has in turn raised its prices.  Free ad-supported releases are available that include one backlink, but with the low cost distribution beginning at $12, there’s no reason not to ditch the ads.

OPN has taken many cues from PRWeb in its release design, with each paid release receiving a pull quote and a frame below the release text that shows your web site.  Paid releases at the $12 level can also include user images, and releases at the $49 level and up can embed YouTube videos.  At the $349 level, you not only receive their maximum visibility and distribution, you also receive release editing services AND distribution via PR Newswire.

OPN does not yet have the push to other sites that Business Wire, PR Newswire, or PRWeb offer, but their prices are attractive and the OPN version of the release will rank very, very well on Google and Google News.  This service is definitely worth trying out.

PR Leap
Cost: Distribution starting at $49
Review: Started several years back as a free service, PR Leap has grown into a full service paid distribution site.  New for 2010 is a feature called PRTube that allows you to embed your release on a web site or blog using a code much like a YouTube video.  Additional services include Google News distribution, text links, and submission to (but not guaranteed usage by) outlets like the AP and UPI.  My previous experiences with PR Leap have been good ones, with their releases ranking well for my keywords.

PR.com
Cost: Distribution starting at $30 (free option available)
Review: The first thing you’ll notice about PR.com is the AWESOME domain name.  It doesn’t get any better than that.  The second thing you’ll notice is a slightly confusing web site set up.  I don’t normally distribute using this service, so I in writing this review I needed to go back to check pricing information. It took about 10 minutes to find the pricing page, which is about nine minutes too many.  The major issue is that the site has lost some of its focus on release distribution and is now also posting job listings.

Aside from the navigation and focus issues on the site, distribution from PR.com appears to be quite solid.  After running some Google searches for releases posted there, I found that the site does help spread your release to a number of other sites.  Distribution costs start at $30, but after perusing the options at that level, it appears that you’d really need to spend $50 to get much distribution to other sites.  A free option is available, but is ad supported.

PRUnderground
Cost: Distribution starting at $9.95
Review: PRUnderground is one of the more successful of the sites using a social media approach to distribution.  You’ll likely want to disregard the $9.95 package, as it doesn’t include much distribution and you will have ads on your release.  At the $29.95 level, the ads go away.

Distribution from PRUnderground focuses on channels such as Twitter, Facebook, Digg, and Moreover.  The technique seems to work, as the releases from PRUnderground that I tested by searching for them in Google did seem to get distribution beyond the PRUnderground.com site. You can also embed a YouTube video, and a preview of your web site is shown in a frame below your release text.

Other paid distribution services: Marketwire, PRBuzz, 1888PressRelease,

Free News Release Distribution

Fewer and fewer sites offer quality free distribution anymore.  Here are some of the better options:

PRLog
Cost: Free (ad supported)
Review: PRLog has been around for years, and despite the unattractive layout of the site and its releases, it’s hard to beat the rankings they achieve for releases posted at this Romanian-based site.

A couple of years back, PRLog branched out from news releases and started offering job listings as well (is this a trend?), which cluttered up the site considerably.  Despite my cries that I’m going to stop using the site, I keep coming back.  If you can tolerate the look and feel of the site, it’s something worth considering.  It’s one of the last truly free release distribution services that isn’t neutered, as they include a user-uploaded image, some customization (bolding and italics), and the first three links included in your release will be live.

24-7 Press Release
Cost: Free (ad supported), with a $49 paid option
Review:24-7 Press Release is another of the sites with free options that I have on my roster for secondary distribution.  Generally for a client, I post on one of the premium paid sites such as PRWeb or Business Wire, and then I post versions of the release with different headlines on some of the free sites, such as this one.

One of the only major downsides to 24-7 Press Release is that they hold your release for a day or two before they post it on their site.  However, if you pay for immediate distribution, they review it pretty quickly.  Once live, your free release will rank well on Google and sometimes Google News.  Links in the release body are not an option unless you pay for the upgraded release, but a link is included in a small company profile box.  Their paid option of $49 includes enhanced SEO benefits such as anchor text for links within the release.

Wikio
Cost: Free
Review: Wikio is actually meant more for articles and for sharing links, but it can also be used to post your news release content.  A voting system similar to Digg is utilized.  When setting up your release, you can post anchor text links and format your release in many of the same ways you can when using a paid service.  There’s no additional distribution beyond the version posted on Wikio, but that version does seem to rank fairly well in Google.

I-Newswire
Cost: Free (ad supported) with paid option
Review: Going the route of many of the free release sites, I-Newswire has neutered its free options and increased its paid options.  Their free releases no longer include a link.  That will cost you $35.

The Open Press
Cost: Free (ad supported) with a $10 paid option
Review: This is a great free distribution site, with one downside — signing up is extremely ponderous.  Currently, you cannot sign up on the site.  Instead, you have to send an email and request to be registered. The explanation given is that they’ve had issues with spammers.  Once you go through that process, however, the site is very good.  It looks businesslike, and the releases posted there rank well in Google web search.  Tasteful ads are placed on your release.  They can be removed by paying $10.  The site’s owners truly review your release before posting it (unlike some sites who say they’re reviewing it, but really want you to pay for expedited distribution) and WILL reject releases that they don’t feel meet their standards.  I know this from experience.

PressReleasePoint
Cost: Free to post on their site (ad supported) and $15 to distribute elsewhere
Review: This site sounds good on the surface — they post your release on their site for free, and for $15 they’ll post it on 50 free distribution sites.  I have not tried this service, but it concerns me.  Google’s duplicate content rule may come into play after the same content is posted on that many sites.

Another problem is the site itself.  Previously, it had a number of layout problems.  Some of those have been fixed in the past year, but what hasn’t been fixed is that the web site itself is riddled with grammatical and spelling errors.  My suggestion to the owners is that they have a professional copy editor go through the site with a fine-toothed comb.

One thing I do like on their site is the comprehensive list of more free and paid sites than I can possibly list here.  The list is found here.

PitchEngine
Cost: Free (no ads)
Review: PitchEngine is a bit of a conundrum for me.  The site, which features a slick social media news release format, has numerous fans.  However, while the version of the release on PitchEngine ranks rather well on Google, there’s no Google News distribution.  The site has had it in the past, but has lost it several times.  Additionally, releases posted using the free option expire after 30 days.  To have them posted permanently costs $35 per month.  To get the full benefit of the site, with a custom newsroom and permanent hosting, will cost you $50 per month.  I’m not certain what happens if you pay your subscription for a year, post releases, and then decide not to renew.  If anyone can tell me whether those releases then expire or not, I’d be happy to update this review.

The bottom line is that while PitchEngine has many loyal fans, I’m not really one of them.

Other free distribution sites: PR-USA, PostaFreePressRelease, Express Press Release

The Best of the Best

So, which of these sites do I think are the BEST?

Premium Release Distribution: PRWeb and Business Wire (Tie)
It’s hard for me to pick between these two, so I’m taking the easy way out.  PRWeb does a better job of ensuring your release ranks well and generates some backlinks.  Business Wire, however, will make sure your release receives loads of backlinks.

Budget Release Distribution: Online PR News
With budget distribution services, you normally won’t get a lot of distribution, so I’m judging how well the version of the release on the distribution site ranks on Google and Google News.  OPN gets you VERY good rankings with both, and they’re continuing to expand their offerings.
(Honorable Mention: PRUnderground)

Free Release Distribution: PRLog
I keep trying to replace them on this list because I wish they’d do something to clean up their site, but it’s hard to argue with a free release service that offers their features, and will get your release excellent search rankings.
(Honorable Mention: Wikio)

Disagree?  Agree? Want to talk about another distribution service (preferably not one you work for)?  Please let me know about it in comments!

If you appreciate the work it took to compile these reviews, please be sure to “retweet” it using the button at the top of the page, or post it on one of the services below!

I’m late with this announcement almost to the point of negligence, but I wanted to post here about an exciting new partnership for EndGame PR.  At the beginning of this year, online release distribution service Online PR News relaunched their site, with a new design and new lineup of services.  One of the new offerings is podcast production … and that’s where EndGame PR comes in.

When you sign up for a podcast produced through OPN, you’ll be put in contact with me, and we’ll work out a time for you or your designated spokesperson to be interviewed over the phone.  Podcasts from OPN will be approximately five minutes long, and will be fully produced, including a short introduction and intro and outro music.  When completed, the podcasts can be posted as part of an OPN podcast, and will also be included in the Online PR News iTunes “store”.  Clients will also receive a copy of the file that they can post on their own web site.

To listen to a sample OPN podcast, click play on the flash player below.  For more information on this offering, visit the Online PR News podcast page.

I’m in a bit of a quandary. Please bear with me while I explain. This actually does relate to social media, but you’ll need some background before we get to that.

When my wife and I moved into our last home, the previous owner of the house left behind a dresser.  It was in acceptable condition, but it was horribly out of style, so I ended up using it for tool storage in the garage.  This old dresser made its way to our new house, where it soon became the bane of my wife’s existence.  She finally convinced me recently to get rid of the old dresser and replace it with high metal shelves that use our limited space better.  The dresser is a very low and wide one (six feet wide at least) and wouldn’t fit into our car, so I decided to take it apart and cut it into smaller pieces that could more easily be taken to the dump.  Upon taking out the drawers, I made a discovery.

Under one of the drawers I found stacks of papers.  They included letters to girls (never finished or mailed), letters FROM girls, greeting cards, information about applying for college, report cards, a book of matches, an empty carton of cigarettes, some high school newspapers, a folded Styx poster, a picture of a guy with a mullet (the former owner of the dresser?), and two pay stubs.  After looking through the papers, I found that they belonged to a teenager named Randy, who lived in Missouri in the mid 1980s.

Understandably, I was excited about my find.  Being a child of the 80s, it was much like digging up a time capsule.  Reading through the letters, I felt like a combination historian/voyeur.  I even started to make plans to use social media to locate the owner of these treasures. My good friend Jeff Kraus suggested I start a blog to find the guy. I thought it would be a fun social media experiment (I bet you were wondering how social media played into this blog post!)

Unfortunately, the fun took a dark turn when I found a small stack of papers with information about teen suicide.  I told myself that it was possible the materials were left over from a health class in school.  Then, I looked on one of the pay stubs, and found Randy’s social security number (how times have changed!)  I hopped on my computer, went to the social security death index, plugged in the number, and found out Randy died in November of 1994.  I don’t know the cause of death, but given that he was born in 1967, it was certainly premature.

So, we’ve finally come to my quandary. With the information I have (Randy’s high school, age, where he lived, etc.) there’s a chance I could use social media to find someone who knew him.  The question is — do I try?  Do I try to find someone who might want these letters and other materials? If a brother or child of yours died prematurely (perhaps at his own hand?) and someone randomly found some of the remnants of his life, would you want them? Is it ethical to reveal details about a person (whether deceased or not) to the world via social media, just because you’re trying to find them or their family?

Let me know in comments.  I’d love to hear your thoughts!

There’s a great post today on Mashable about something I’ve been talking about with clients and when I present to groups for quite some time — the fastest growing segment of the social media world has grey hair.

The article, Baby Boomers and Seniors Are Flocking to Facebook, has some great stats about the growth of the number of Americans 44+ on Facebook.

According to Deloitte data, 2009 was the year that social media bloomed for Baby Boomers, with nearly 47% of them actively maintaining a profile on the social web, which is up 15% from 2008. Further driving home that 2009 was the year of the social BB is the fact that from 2007 to 2008 there was barely a measurable change — just 1% — in that demographic’s adoption of social media.

For another quirky finding, take a look at the percentage of “Matures” — individuals between the ages of 63 and 75 — who use Twitter regularly. Seventeen percent is actually quite high when you compare it with the percentages of the other demographic groups. Also of note is that nearly all the Senior social media users (90%) have picked up Facebook as a new hobby.

Fact is, Facebook is actually BETTER for people who are older than those who are 21 or 22-years-old.  Why?  Let’s take a look…

• Facebook is fantastic for sharing pictures of kids and grandkids.  What do people love to do more than show off pictures of kids and grandkids?  I say “not much”.  People 44+ are more likely to have kids and grandkids than 20-somethings.  The 21 and 22-year-olds only have pictures of parties to show off, and sometimes it’s best to keep those to yourself until you’re 44.
• People who are 44+ have had plenty of time to get over grudges with people from high school, and are interested in reconnecting.  In fact, by that age they’re probably interested in connecting with anyone from their hometown, particularly if they don’t live there anymore.  The 21 and 22-year-olds still have fresh wounds and grudges are are still very much active.
• People who are 44+ simply have more time on their hands.  If you’re 21 or 22, you’re still going out at night, perhaps dating or hanging out with friends.  Most people who are older than 44 are pretty much done with that.
• There are more adults in the U.S. who are older than 44+ than any other age group.  And, that age group has more of the wealth.  What they want … they take.

I’m not quite to the 44+ age group, but I can see it from where I am.  I us “old folks” should just declare that we own Facebook.  Those kids can keep texting.  We don’t want it.

This is the second part of a two part primer on social networking giants Facebook and Twitter.  The first part gives basic information on using Facebook.  This post will cover basic information on Twitter.  This primer came about when a client asked me to send him an email on how to use the two sites.  The information I emailed him ended up being longer than he was likely expecting.  When I was finished, it occurred to me that I could re-purpose this information into a two part blog post.  Bear in mind when reading this that I’ve edited it somewhat, but it was originally written in more of an email format than a blog post format.

This isn’t a complete textbook on Twitter, nor was it meant to be.  It’s merely some information to get you started.  Whether you’re just learning, or you’re a social networking pro, please be sure to follow me on Twitter, at @stevemullen!

A Primer on Twitter

While Twitter and Facebook have some similarities in what they’re used FOR (at least when it comes to business), the atmosphere at each is very different.  Using Facebook privacy settings, you can control who sees your posts.  On Twitter, everything is out in the open for all to see.  Additionally, there’s the 140-character limit to deal with on Twitter, which means posts are usually limited to a sentence or two and a link.

There is really only one type of Twitter account.  When you sign up, you have the ability to post a short bio about yourself and a link to a web site.  People tend to make the mistake of not filling these out.  They’re missing an opportunity to promote themselves that no one will begrudge them.  Advertising yourself in Twitter posts on a regular basis is generally a no-no, so plug away in the bio!

When you follow someone on Twitter, their updates show up in your “stream”, which is the list of your posts seen on the Twitter site when you click on “profile” at the top of the page.  When someone follows you, your posts show up in their stream.  There is NO obligation to follow someone back if they’re following you, but the fact that you don’t follow them back doesn’t stop them from being allowed to follow YOU.

There IS a way to protect your Twitter posts so that they’re not seen by everyone, but I don’t recommend using it unless you’re a minor (in which case you really shouldn’t be on Twitter anyhow).  The way it works is that new followers have to request to follow you, and you have the opportunity to approve or deny them.  I don’t understand why you’d want to do this on Twitter, and I never ask permission to follow anyone.  It seems very anti-Twitter.  If someone is particularly bothersome, you can unfollow them, and they probably won’t bother you.  If they’re REALLY bothersome, you can “block” them, and they won’t be able to see any of your posts or message you in any way.  If someone gets blocked by enough people, their account will be deleted from Twitter.

When considering Twitter, think of it as a giant all-inclusive networking meeting.  People are having all kinds of conversations, ranging from sports, to business, to industry news, to simple goofing off.  Whatever you want to talk about can surely be found on Twitter.  Joining in is simple.  On the Twitter website, hover your mouse pointer over the post you want to respond to, and then click on “reply”.  This will populate the form at the top of the page with @username.  Then, just type your message in 140 characters or less.  Putting an @ symbol in front of someone’s name on Twitter indicates that you’re talking to them.

Twitter has developed its own terms … some would say its own language.  Here is some Twitter terminology:

• Tweet: One post on Twitter.  If you say, “I just tweeted that”, you’re saying “I just posted on Twitter about that.”
• Retweet: Copying a tweet from someone else, and posting it on your account.  This has the affect of alerting your followers about the post.  It’s a way of rewarding a person who tweets something useful, witty, or simply interesting.  To retweet something, type “RT”, then the original poster’s username with an “@” in front of it (i.e. @sleep_better), and then their original post.
• Tweeps or Tweeple: Your friends on Twitter.
• Hashtag: A way of categorizing posts on Twitter.  To utilize hashtags, simply put the “#” symbol in front of a word. For instance, in every post I write about my area, Richmond, Virginia, I include the hashtag #rva.  Anyone who knows this hashtag will then be able to easily search for posts about Richmond.

Finding followers in Twitter is different than Facebook, mainly due to the lack of stranger anxiety and the fact that everyone can see your posts.  The first thing I always recommend to people is to write a handful posts.  When you start following people, they’ll check out your posts.  If there aren’t any, then they won’t be likely to follow back.  Also, if you write about your favorite topics, this alone is likely to gain you a few followers.  People out there have searches set up to automatically follow people who talk about certain subjects.  You’ll be amazed how one post on something like real estate can lead to a bunch of real estate agents following you.

The next thing to do after writing a few posts is to have Twitter search your email address book, just like Facebook does.  Then, do some searches for people in your area.  Try to figure out if your area has an established hashtag, and do some searches for that word.  You can also do some simple keyword searches (with or without the hashtag) that indicate your interests.  If you like golf … search for “golf”.  You’ll find golf enthusiasts, people giving information on how to play better, as well as some golf courses.

A note about spam: You will find significantly more on Twitter than on Facebook.  This is largely due to Twitter being more open than Facebook.  Remember that you’re under no obligation to follow someone back if they follow you.  If it smells like spam and looks like spam … then it probably is.  Either that, or it’s a legitimate business person who has no idea that he or she shouldn’t post a mess of advertisements on Twitter.

After doing some hunting and following people in your area … keep posting.  Followers will find you … I promise.

A client recently asked me to send him an email on how to use Twitter and Facebook.  I wrote him what amounts to “Facebook and Twitter 101″.  I don’t think he realized just how long this email was going to be.  When I completed the long email, it occurred to me that I could re-purpose this information into a two part blog post.  The first of those two parts is below.  Bear in mind when reading this that I’ve edited it somewhat, but it was originally written in more of an email format than a blog post format.

This isn’t a complete textbook on Facebook, nor was it meant to be.  It’s merely some information to get you started.  While you’re learning, please be sure to become a fan of EndGame PR on Facebook!

When you’re done reading this post be sure to read the sequel, A Facebook and Twitter Primer, Part 2!

A Primer on Facebook

The general idea of social media, whether it’s on Facebook, Twitter, on a blog, or somewhere else, is to provide something of value that people want to consume — whether it’s an article, blog post, video, audio, or something else.  Before launching a social media presence, think about what you’re going to do with it.  That may tell you which site is best suited for you, or that none of them are.

There are a few different types of Facebook presences:

• The first type is the simple individual account. This is what you get when you sign up for the first time.  It’s primarily good for networking with people you know, and keeping in touch with old friends by becoming their Facebook “friend”. People generally don’t like to network with strangers on Facebook because one of the primary activities on Facebook is posting pictures of your kids, grandkids, house, car, vacations, etc. When you become a “friend” of someone, unless they’ve tinkered with their privacy settings, you can see all of their pictures and news about kids, grandkids, vacations, etc. People get nervous about showing these things to people they don’t know. I call this “Facebook Stranger Anxiety”. The other two types of Facebook presences (charted below) solve this stranger anxiety problem, but you MUST have an individual account to create either of the other two.
• The second type of presence on Facebook is a Facebook Fan Page. While it looks like an individual account, it allows people to network with a company or cause without the administrator/owner of the page having to reveal pictures of his kids, grandkids, etc. to complete strangers. People who have elected to become “Fans” receive all news updates that posted on the page.
• The third type of Facebook presence is a Facebook Group. For a variety of reasons, this is great for private organizations, but not great for publicizing a business.

Finding “friends” for an individual account on Facebook is relatively simple. With 350 million registered users, surely you know SOMEONE on the site! When you sign up, you can have Facebook hunt through your email address book and look for people you email who are already on the service. Additionally, you can search on Facebook for your high school, college, organization, or anything else, and surely find people you know. Once you’ve made a few friends, look at who they’ve “friended”. Chances are, you have a mutual friend.

When I launch a Fan Page (whether for myself or a client) the first thing I do after I’m finished is invite all of the “friends” from my individual account. The idea behind this is to start seeding the page. People who are friends of these friends may then learn about the Fan Page, and join as well.

What you post on Facebook depends upon what type of presence you’re talking about. On an individual account, if you’re not using it for business purposes, you can post anything you like. On a Fan Page, it’s best to stick to the topic. It’s NOT a place to advertise on a frequent basis.  That sort of thing will cause you to lose fans quickly.

The important thing to remember about Facebook is that it’s meant to be a community, while Twitter and LinkedIn more closely resemble networking events.  If you go to Facebook expecting that if you shout the loudest, more people will hear, you’ll soon learn that you’re using the wrong strategy.

It’s fairly obvious … I haven’t been blogging at near the frequency that I should. I thought I’d write a blog post that explains why. This serves two purposes. One, it puts a new blog post on my blog. Second, it explains why there weren’t many posts before it for a while. Make sense? Good.

Back in November, I picked up a great new client that has been keeping me quite busy. MEMI Tech is a company based in Louisville, Kentucky. They make the 911 Medical ID Card, a credit card sized USB device that allows you to easily store all of your personal health information, making it available for first responders in the event of an emergency. Since November, I’ve written and pitched to the media a couple of news releases about 911 Medical ID, evaluated the 911 Medical ID web site and made a number of SEO suggestions for the new and improved site they’re planning to launch (and may have launched by the time you read this), built a blog add-on for the web site and wrote all of the posts on it, launched and started managing the @911medicalid Twitter account and a Facebook Fan Page, and produced the first in a series of podcasts. As you can see … this is keeping me busy.

If you’re interested, you can listen to the 911 Podcast (featuring myself and MEMI Tech CEO Mark Weiss) on the 911 Medical ID Blog, or in the player below:

I’m not done with my story yet.  On December 1, I started work for yet another new and interesting client.  Carpenter Company, an organization that makes premium bedding products, has a sleep advice web site called SleepBetter.org.  Since December, I’ve overhauled that site for usability and (more importantly at this juncture) search engine optimization.  I rebuilt about 3/4 of the site and I’m not yet done, but we’ve seen some incredible improvement in their rankings.  I’ve also been writing articles on that site and have released one sleep tips news release for SEO purposes.  I also started managing the @sleep_better Twitter account and launched a Facebook Fan Page.  During that time, planning for 2010 was underway.  For the next year, I’ll be continuing to conduct an SEO campaign and will provide web site management services as well.  If you have trouble sleeping, be sure to visit the site.  There is a LOT of great information there.

On top of that, I am of course continuing to service the long time clients I love so much, Sheltering Arms, Fight SMA, and Richmond Association of Realtors.

This is all to say I’ve been quite busy, and part of what’s keeping me busy is blogging and tweeting for other people.  I hereby resolve, however, that I’m not going to get so busy that I can’t blog for myself.  If I fail … be sure to poke at me with a sharp stick via my Twitter account, at @stevemullen!

If you’ve stuck with this rather self-serving post this long, here’s a treat: One of my plans in the next week or two is to update my popular Review of Online News Release Distribution Services.  This will be the third edition and will include a lot of changes that have come to the distribution services.  Look for it!

From Mashable, this headline:
McDonald’s Adds Free Wi-Fi to the Menu

Halleluia!

I wrote a post on this very blog (well, it had a different design at the time, and maybe a different name, but it had the same URL anyhow) nearly THREE YEARS AGO, laying out a case for why McDonald’s needed to get rid of its $2.95 wi-fi fee.  And, it appears the reason they switched is the exact reason I laid out in my post.  Here’s what Mashable says:

…McDonalds is hoping to become a hang-out spot of the coffee shop variety — it also plans to start selling frappes and smoothies mid-2010. And given the fact that coffee chains like Starbucks charge customers to surf while they sip, the idea doesn’t seem all that pie-in-the-sky.

…and here’s what I said in my post, On Wi-Fi Hotspots and McDonald’s, on February 10, 2007:

Free web access [...] would open McDonald’s to an entirely different set of customers. If you walk into a Panera Bread Company store in the middle of the day, you’ll see that it’s crawling with business people who are eating and getting a little work done. McDonald’s could combine cheaper food with free Internet, and draw a bunch of those businesspeople in. Parents could even get some work done while their kids catch syphilis from those hamster tube play areas.

It’s nice when a big company reacts to a reasoned argument from a PR guy like me ;)

Those who don’t learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.

Cliche’?

Sure.

True?

Absolutely.

Back in February, users argued with Facebook so much over who owns the material they post on the social networking site, the site was forced to amend the privacy settings it had just changed.  That change in privacy settings probably didn’t slow down Facebook’s exponential growth, but it left a lot of users with a bad taste in their mouths.

Now, it sounds like we’re having another round of issues with Facebook over privacy.  Recently, the site changed its privacy settings again, and asked all users to review them.  The site made recommendations on what settings users should utilize, and some are suggesting that if users take those recommendations, their personal information (pictures, videos, status updates, etc.) will be LESS private than before.  For an example of some of the reactions from the web, we go to Jason Calacanis, who suggests the company has turned evil:

Facebook proved again this week that they are either the most unethical or clueless internet company in the world. An amazing accomplishment since Facebook is also one of the most promising, and certainly fastest growing, internet companies of all time. Perhaps I’m being hyperbolic (who me?), or maybe they are a little of both, but the fact remains they screw up on important issues almost as if it’s a “best practice” to do so.

More negative reaction, this time from the Electronic Frontier Foundation:

Although sold as a “privacy” revamp, Facebook’s new changes are obviously intended to get people to open up even more of their Facebook data to the public. The privacy “transition tool” that guides users through the configuration will “recommend” — preselect by default — the setting to share the content they post to Facebook, such as status messages and wall posts, with everyone on the Internet

One suggestion is that Facebook wants more of this material indexed by its own search engine, as well as by Google, which will draw even more users to the already massively colossal social networking site.

I’m not going to begin to guess at Facebook’s motives for this change.  I will, however, speak to their execution.  It was done very, very poorly.  I walked myself the other day through the changes, and made sure everything stayed the way I originally had it set, because I knew that pictures of my kids, vacations, etc. were protected from viewing by everyone except my friends.  What Facebook should have done was give a clear explanation of what each user’s current settings meant, and what Facebook’s recommendations would change.  They didn’t really do this, or if they did you had to go digging a little for it.

Truly, it seems more people are losing trust in Facebook.  The minute that happens, you can expect to see more people doing what Dan Gilmor did.  He deleted his account.

Hat tip to Ragan’s PR Daily Newsfeed, which helped me with the research for this post.

I just read on Mashable about the official release of the Twitter Peek, a new handheld Internet device that connects only to Twitter.  It’s a head-scratcher.  Obviously, any smartphone out there will connect to Twitter one way or another.  The price is good ($199.99 with lifetime mobile service included or $99.99 with six months included and then a monthly fee) but it seems to me that purchasing a smartphone makes a lot more sense because it can accomplish other tasks, like .. well .. making phonecalls.  Peek is known better for their handheld email-only devices.

Regardless of whether the product makes sense or anyone will buy it, I think it’s an interesting statement on how much Twitter is weaving itself into our lives.  Have you ever seen a Facebook-only device?  Yeah … me neither.

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.

From Advertising Age:

As the body count of magazines and daily newspapers continues to rise and the once-robust news and feature holes of surviving publications shrink along with reporting staffs, some marketers have given up on the traditional path to media coverage: pitching journalists. According to the website Paper Cuts, which tracks layoffs and buyouts at U.S. newspapers, nearly 30,000 reporters have left the industry since the beginning of 2008. So instead of pitching their stories to reporters, a growing number of marketers are directly engaging consumers through original content they and their agencies are creating.

This bleak picture of the media industry is one that I see on a regular basis.  I still do quite a bit of traditional media pitching, in addition to the social media PR tasks that I perform for clients.  While I still have success with my client media pitches, there simply aren’t the same number of opportunities for media placement as there were for PR professionals ten years ago.  The answer is to add to the value of your announcement/story/new product/etc. by utilizing social media tools.

More on the topic comes from Newsvetter, which says the death of the newspaper beat system is a huge opportunity for PR pros to become the experts that reporters so desperately need.  I’ve lived the issues that this article brings up as well.  At medium to large newspapers, there used to be one reporter in charge of health, another in charge of technology, and so on.  Now, one reporter might be in charge of health AND technology AND food AND any number of other things.  Even worse, reporters might be assigned to stories based completely on availability, not on knowledge of a topic.  One suggestion from Newsvetter to make yourself the expert that reporters can rely upon is to utilize corporate blogging:

Minimize the use of the dreaded press release and focus instead on developing your own corporate news channel that distributes information via blogs, Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed, or some other platform that you control. This will get your information to both consumers and the media.

Solid recommendation.

One thing to bear in mind in this new world of PR is that you can’t ignore the traditional media any more than you can ignore the new social media channels.  The old media is not dead, and I don’t think they’ll ever completely die.  I’m not ready to write their obituary and chisel their headstone, despite the attempt at an amusing picture at the top of this blog post.  The world is changing, however, and PR professionals who want to be successful need to change with it.

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…

Groups have always had one huge benefit over pages: You can send a message through Facebook to every member of the group at once.  You’ve never been able to do this with a Fan Page.  If you are using Facebook to promote a business or other organization, it’s a great way to contact people and perhaps offer a coupon or other special benefit to members of your group.  It can help you create something along the lines of a “special customers” club.

The benefit that Fan Pages have had over groups is that when you post something on your Fan Page, it shows up in your fans’ news feed.  This is great for promoting your company, as the posts show up in the feed alongside status updates, pictures, and videos posted by friends of your fans.  This obviously makes your news more likely to be seen.   The problem with groups has been the lack of this feature, which made your news invisible to anyone who didn’t actually visit the group page.  This has changed somewhat with the new group redesign, as Facebook has introduced a somewhat neutered version of this feature.  Facebook explained how it works in their blog on Monday…

To ensure that you get the most interesting and relevant content from groups you’ve joined, you only will see stories [in your news feed] when one of your friends posts within a group rather than when all members post. For example, you now will see a story when your friend uploads photos from a recent party at your high school alumni group or when one of your friends posts a message on the Wall of your pick-up soccer group saying that there is a special game this week.

So what does this all mean?  If you already have a Fan Page or a group and have a decent number of fans or group members … keep the status quo.  I know from experience that it’s VERY hard to get people to move from a Fan Page to a group, or vice versa.  There’s no way to pick them up and move them all at once.  They have to do it themselves, and it’s like herding ferrets.  Until this redesign I would have recommended that any organization move from a group to a Fan Page, but it’s no longer a clear cut decision.

If you don’t currently have a group or a Fan Page, or are thinking of making a change, you have a decision to make about how you plan to use Facebook.  If you’ll be primarily posting news about your company and perhaps having discussions with your customers, then a Fan Page is the way to go.  If you’re close with your customers (i.e. you’re Facebook friends with many of them) and need a way to message all of them at once (perhaps to send a coupon) then consider starting a group.

One more note: Become a “fan” of EndGame PR on Facebook!

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.