Recently, I contacted and called a few dozen daily newspaper editors and publishers around Missouri, asking them if they would like to meet with a client. Most accepted the meeting.

A few said no. One editor, however, was blunt is his refusal: “Any public interest group that can afford a large public relations firm can afford to advertise itself and its mission.”

It was the sweetest rejection in my PR career. And why? Because I don’t work for a large firm. In fact, Slay and Associates is small. But his assumption that I worked for a large firm was a huge compliment. My boss was pretty happy about it, too. It means that we are enjoying the best of both worlds: We have the capacity to turn out work that matches a large firm with massive resources, while employing the nimbleness and cost advantages of a small firm.

So how do we do it? How do we look so big, when we’re not?

It takes coordination, planning, cross-training and a working understanding of technology.

Why did that newspaper editor think we were a big firm?

Well, first, he saw the 11-page media kit sent to each editor and publisher. It wasn’t on slick paper with some fancy folder. It was sent in a digital Microsoft Word file, with our clients’ logo on each page. It looked nice, but it didn’t take a team of staffers, printers and graphic designers to put together.

The kit included a few articles written about my client. We keep and catalog an electronic copy of every article involving our clients, and use Nexis as a back up. So assembling those wasn’t time particularly time-consuming. I also put together a short question-and-answer section about the client. Those questions were devised weeks earlier, as we determined an overall strategy for educating the public about the organization.

Not a lot of extra work there. Just cut and paste.

I spent a lot of my time with web developers who put together the new web page for my client. We created a simple, but elegant and easy-to-navigate site. I’m hoping that anyone who went to the site thinks my clients spent tens of thousands of dollars on web designer to put it together. But that’s not the case.

The media kit did not include a link to our website. But our firm’s name was there. PR professionals have to assume that every press release, every media contact will be followed by a visit to your site by a journalist. And despite the protests of one media person, it’s better to look big and polished, than small and disorganized.

So my boss has done a smart thing. She has invested time and effort in designing our site. But that’s not enough. It has to be maintained well, too – constantly updated so the information is always fresh.  So one of the two full-time employees here at Slay sees to it that our site looks great all of the time. It’s imperative to have a dynamic, constantly updated website for any PR firm. And it’s a lot easier to have that if someone working for the firm can keep up with it.

So put it all together, and you have one editor complaining, while others came away impressed. I’m thinking that our big-firm look provided some credibility and helped get us in the door at some of the newspapers. Once inside, of course, that’s when our real work begins.

Related posts:

NAUDI, ELSWICK JOIN SLAY AND ASSOCIATES MARKETING, PR TEAM

I was a skeptic for quite a while about the impact of the social media in providing a coherent media message. Let me correct that: I was uninformed, unenthusiastic and unmoved about the need for social media in crafting a public relations message. I chalk that up to a generational thing. When I was in college, the Commodore 64 was all the rage.
But I’ve seen the light.

Let me go point-by-point through my concerns and how they’ve been alleviated.
MY CONCERN: I wasn’t sure what social media was. All I could see was a maze of disparate websites, with seemingly different audiences and different philosophies. I saw no way to connect to them.
THE AHA MOMENT: It came through a belated appreciation a single word: web. That word has meaning. You literally can get from one part of the Internet to another by moving down or up and over a few strands of the web. That’s precisely what social media are about. Yes, there are scores of sites, but they’re all interconnected. It really doesn’t take that many messages on that many websites before one of two things happens: Your message moves down the strands to other social media or users, or users work through the web to your message.

MY CONCERN: We lose control over a message just dropped onto social media. I mean, there’s no telling how the message might morph, like the infamous telephone game we played as children. “Jimmy likes green tomatoes,” could easily have become “Jimmy ate greasy turtles” in three or four whispers. Imagine what could happen on the Internet.
THE AHA MOMENT: Cut and paste folks, cut and paste. Most people spend very little time altering messages placed onto social media sites. They forward links or they cut and paste the items. Perhaps more importantly, the original message is always around. You certainly can lose control over who gets your message, but the message itself will stay virtually intact in the virtual social media world.

MY CONCERN: How do I talk to so many different people at the same time? How do I find the target audience?
THE AHA MOMENT: OK, here’s a cavalier thought. The target audience really doesn’t matter. A good message tossed out to a variety of social media sites – Facebook and Twitter being the most obvious – will find its way to a target audience. Of course, the deeper answer is it takes work. You have to build followings for your social media pages or tweets or whatever you might use. Which leads me to my next concern.

MY CONCERN: But how do I build the right kind of social media following?
THE AHA MOMENT: Your only battle is to get followers. It doesn’t matter at all who they are, where they’re from, their ages or genders or religious affiliations. Just get them. The web is a place where exponential math is the driving force. If you have only two 65-year-old grandmothers following you on Twitter, and that’s your target audience, all you might need is one of them to retweet a tweet to her garden club members and your message is off and running. In my opinion, the worst thing you can do is try to limit your followers or your pages or you social media sites.

Related posts:

SOCIAL NETWORKING SURGE CREATES OPPORTUNITY

First, let me acknowledge what BP did badly from a public relations perspective. In the beginning, BP appeared evasive and equivocal about the disaster and its effects. There also was a short period where it seemed to point fingers at other responsible parties. That’s never a good tactic. BP should have adopted a position of helpfulness, compassion and understanding. That means pointing out its efforts at finding a permanent solution to the oil leak, while acknowledging that it would work hard to prevent such a thing from ever occurring.

And it didn’t help that Tony Hayward, the company’s CEO who will be stepping down soon, had an almost cavalier approach to the Deepwater mess and its effects on the public. He needed massive media prepping and either didn’t get it, or ignored it. It amazes me how often this is the case; company leaders don’t have a clue how to deal with the media in disasters. But it’s pretty basic.

You have to develop a sensible message and stay on it, and you can never let yourself appear flippant, cold or unsympathetic. You must be consistent with both your message and your attitude.
BP, weirdly enough, was helped by the duration of this disaster. It was given what few companies have in a disaster, time. Eventually, BP figured it out. Silencing Hayward, whose credibility was shot, and bringing in an American, Bob Dudley, who is seen as far more compassionate, was a key public relations moment. In addition, BP is running television commercials showing that it cares. OK, so the commercials are obvious ploys, but they will help the company image.

So BP is figuring out the attitude. But what about the message? Well, after the rocky start, BP figured that out, too. The company frequently cautioned that its solutions to the oil leak might not work. It acknowledged that the size of the leak is far larger than originally stated. And it appeared to have accepted blame for the disaster, while acknowledging that it will spend what it takes to restore the environmental damage.

I also want to focus on one important aspect of the disaster: the deaths on the day of the explosion. The 11 people killed on April 20 have become little more than footnotes in a disaster – at least from a PR perspective. I put human lives ahead of other negative impacts, and probably most others do. Those 11 people aren’t coming back, and BP has all-but avoided public shame or scrutiny for that.

Yet BP has managed to escape scrutiny over the deaths on that oil rig. And, yes, I credit PR for that; the one message that has been consistent for BP is to stay mum about those deaths. BP had help, because the media were riveted on the leaking oil. But the last thing it wanted to do was to transfer attention to those who were killed.

The full extent of BP’s PR success or failure won’t be known for a while. But my prediction is that five years from now this disaster will be a faded memory and BP will still be a highly profitable oil company, with an acceptable public image. In the end, that’s what PR is all about.

Related posts:

THE TRUTH CAN HURT, BUT YOU SHOULD STILL TELL IT

But the tricky question is who should get the exclusive. There are a several approaches to take in considering who should get the exclusive, and, in the end, you have to accept that some media members probably won’t be happy.

In no particular order, here are the approaches:

• Mercenary. This is pretty basic. You pick the biggest or the best media outlet – print, broadcast and online – and give it to them. When you want impact, you’ve got to be mercenary. That means you might end up wounding some other important media relations.
• Small leak. Sometimes, you just want a small bit of publicity for a client, which might be appropriate for a soft launch of a product or service. But you also want it a story that might build a bit. This would be a perfect place for a well-read blog. It might take a few days for the mainstream media to pick up the item. That could lead to maximum exposure for the hard launch.
• Trusted source. When you want to hand over an exclusive that’s sensitive, you need to pick out a media source who you think will be the most objective.  This one seems obvious, but you need to be careful, too. Your job here isn’t to manipulate this person, but simply to provide truthful information that you want reported accurately.
• Relationship building. For low-impact, but interesting sorts of information, you will probably want to pick media sources that you’ve neglected in the past. You don’t want to burn bridges. So if you are in the habit of giving exclusives, you need to make sure that most of your media contacts get one every once in a while.

So I’ll finetune this with some Do’s and Don’ts.

DO use exclusives from time to time, and the media source should depend on your strategy.

DON’T play media favorites. You really do need to rotate exclusives, or you could end up burning a media source or journalist. And journalists talk to other journalists.

DO ultimately make the exclusive information available to other media and work with those media.

DON’T make excuses for why you gave a story to one media person or another. Ideally, you should be able to assure most journalists, bloggers and others that their turn will come.

Related posts:

BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU PROMISE EXCLUSIVES

But a few times, I got burned. That story appeared first in competing publications.

In each case, the PR person had some excuse, but it all came down to the same thing: At least two journalists were given access to the same information at roughly the same time.

There might be some reasonable explanations, but journalists really won’t care about them. Promising an exclusive and then not delivering is seen by journalists as a serious offense. Promising an exclusive and then delivering it first to a competitor is an unforgiveable, traitorous offense.

I’m going to spend the next two columns talking about exclusives. In this one, I will define two important terms, then get to my usual Do’s and Don’ts. Next week, by the way, I’ll discuss how you should decide who should get an exclusive.

Exclusive: This means only one reporter has access to critical information that will be published at a certain time. When an exclusive is promised, no other media should have access to the information.

Embargo: This is the date that the exclusive is supposed to be published or aired. Until the embargo date, no other media should have access to it.

So with those in mind:
DO approach one journalist at a time for an exclusive. If the first begs off, quickly move on to the second.
DON’T give one journalist some of the information and another journalist different information on the same subject. An exclusive should be an all-or-nothing proposition.
DO make certain you are in sole control over releasing the information surrounding an exclusive. If others also have that control, you must make sure they don’t share it with others.
DON’T share the information with other journalists until after the embargo is over – even on an embargoed basis. Overly competitive journalists might break the embargo.
DO set clear ground rules. For example, if the embargo date comes and goes without a story, is it permissible for you to shop the story to someone else?
DON’T promise more than you can deliver. Maybe this goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: Make sure your client is really willing to share the information before you offer it.

Related posts:

HOW TO DECIDE WHO GETS EXCLUSIVES

Visit www.twellow.com.

1. Sign up for an account (take advantage of the categories and be sure to link in all other social medias)
2. Use search to look for GOOD followers (i.e. if you’re a Nonprofit promoting music composition, search words like “composer”)
3. Look over the results.  They put them in order of followers, meaning the top results have the most people following them.(Therefore, if they follow you back, more people will be seeing your tweets…which is the whole point!).
4. Also be sure to search your city “St. Louis” or “Central West End”.  Look over the results to see if anyone/place local would be appropriate.
5. Lastly, be sure to search for media!  Definitely local and niche media and journalists!

Follow the same procedure for www.wefollow.com.

1. Add yourself with full info.
2. Search for relevant followers.

Find a perfect match for your organization and click their profile to see who they are following.

They have probably already done the relevant source searching for you so…follow all they follow that apply!

Send Twitter button out with emails.

In employee’s signature and definitely in any newsletter, membership communication.

Place your Twitter updates to automatically feed to your webpage.

Need help?! Just ask!!  There are PLENTY of options for this on all different platforms.  (See our’s on the right sidebar or in our Twitter Section).

Offer incentives to follow or create a ‘campaign’.

(i.e. “1,000 followers in 10 days!”).

Use and connect your other social medias.

(i.e. send a message to your Facebook Fan page Fans. Link your Tweets to your Facebook—there’s easy apps for this. ETC).

Learn (and use) the lingo:

@username (i.e. @SlayToday): When @username begins a Tweet, it is counted as a “reply”.  When @username appears somewhere else, it is a “mention”. Both can be viewed in the “replies” tab on your Twitter “home” page.

#topic: AKA “hashtag”, this is a way to group tweets by keyword.

D username (D SlayToday): A private (direct) tweet that do not appear in the public timeline.

Favorite: A “bookmarked” tweet. Consider your “favorites” as a reflection of you.

Follower: Someone who sees your tweets. Following is not automatically reciprocal (like it is with Facebook or LinkedIn).

RT or Retweet: Analogous to forwarding an email; re-sending a tweet sent by someone else. Courtesy: include the @username of the person who authored the tweet. Consider revising in your own words and then crediting the sender with via @username.

TweetUp: A real-world meeting of people who have connected via Twitter.

–Michelle Kubot

Related posts:

OLD MEDIA ARE STILL RELEVANT

Primary research for solid domain/company names. You may have noticed that suggestions are provided as you are typing in a Google search bar.  For example, when starting to type “Healthy relationships” the suggestions include: characteristics, quiz, tips, activity, boundaries, worksheets, lesson plan, curriculum and quotes.  Domain names, or shall I say avaliable domain names, are very hard to find these days.  Using these Google suggestions can be a great way to find what people are searching AND where Google is directing them.  Search engine love domains with exact matching keywords, boosting SEO and therefore visibility.  So if your deciding on a domain, social media user name or even a name for a business be sure to get direct feedback from users–quick, easy and free.

Google suggestions can directly dictate content and provides keywords to use on your website and in tags. It is showing you exactly what people are wanting when they are searching for your keywords.  Go back to the example suggestions: characteristics, quiz, tips, activity, worksheets, lesson plan and quotes are blatantly telling our client these components are what need to be on the website.  Including, a list of characteristics and a quiz section will significantly help boost their SEO.  Users and search engines are both thankful for you providing the content you want–and you will be rewarded with higher ranking and more traffic.  Which we all know is leading to greater awareness and increased sales!

Take notice of Google results. Monitor where your page ranks frequently and take note of how your ranking changes over time.  Try to correlative these ranking changes to content, web design or SEO tactic changes.  Also check out the ‘competition’.  Search your keywords and click around.  What content do top-ranking websites have?  How is their website structured?  Evaluate these websites and take any tips you can!

–Michelle Kubot
Online Marketing Manager

Related posts:

15 QUICK TIPS TO BOOST YOUR SEO

Top Audio Pick: Audio player
I use this plugin to post any radio media hits.
Why I choose this one: I can easily customize the player’s color in the setting and the player has a nice high-tech look. See it in action on this In the News posting posting.

Top Video Pick: TubePress
Displays very attractive YouTube galleries in posts, pages and/or sidebar.  See an example of this plugin in action on a post about our client St. Louis Healthy Marriage Coalition’s broadcast media hits, TV segments and commercials.
Why I choose this one: Looks sleek and can display videos from multiple users (via playlists), meaning we could combine all client videos from their separate YouTube account, videos we have created for our clients or for ourself hosted on our own account, PR/marketing industry videos we like…the possibilities are endless.

If you decided it’s time to dive into the web world and need website development, design or consultative help, contact us today!

Next week: Top Social Media Plugins.

–Michelle Kubot
Online Marketing Manager

Related posts:

SEO WORDPRESS PLUGINS WE LOVE

The Process
1. User sends text message with a dedicated keyword to your short number
2. They receive confirmation messages and must reply YES to complete the donation
3. The donation shows up on their next phone bill
4. Payment is remitted to your organization in (60-90 days) – note the serious lag time!

Summary of Key Findings

• Typically only small amounts ($1-$5 per donor).  However, this method can (and should) be done repeatedly–at various events and with multiple campaigns.  The amount raised depends on depth of our list and strength/reach of our campaign.  Over $35 million has been given to Haiti release through mobile fundraising!  Obviously a “results not typical” disclaimer is more than nessicary.
• Most text-donors are recruited online. Strong email and social media (specifically Facebook & Twitter) programs should be established prior to mobile fundraising and should be utilized throughout the length of the campaign–announcing, thanking, providing updates, etc, as well as creating a prominate text message sign-up page on the website.
• You have to have a list of phone numbers to go off of. An obvious, vital, yet oftern overlooked conponent.
• The annual dropout rate for text messaging lists is high.
• Texters can utilized outside fundraising  and have the benefit of responding to immediate requests. A recent study has found that mobile contacts respond to requests to make advocacy phone calls on behalf of a cause at a rate of 4.7 percent, nearly five times the response rate of people called to action via email.
• It is very complicated to get a Text based fundraising effort rolling. To own a “short code” directly, there is an upfront investment required of $1,000+ required, as well as agreements with the various mobile carriers and middlemen involved in the billing process, transaction fees, etc.
• Two companies currently offer solutions to nonprofit organizations: MGive.com and Mobil Commons.  But can often be out of budget (Mobil Commons – $500 per month & MGive – $900 for investment for 1 year).

Related posts:

GET YOUR MESSAGE OUT TO THOSE WHO WILL LISTEN

Unless you’re a web developer with a knack for mind-numbing punishment, you’ve probably benefited from the collaborative attitude of today’s tech world.  When looking for a new or better feature on a website, you’ve discovered…there’s an app for that! (already created).

Slay & Associates–along with the likes of CNN, Dow Jones, NFL, People Magazine and about 295,108 others (as of 2/23)–uses the Wordpress Application.

I wanted to take a series of blog posts to highlight some of the best Wordpress Plugins that I have researched and continue use.  After all, these creators deserve recognition and will hopefully continue to release more and better technology.  Not to mention, that by by sharing my tedious research and allowing others to see these plugins in action, this series will undoubtedly help fellow Wordpress users sort through the almost half a million plugins.

1.  I start the development of any and every website by downloading the All in One SEO Pack.

Quite obviously, this plugin helps with the search engine optimization of our website.  In the age of half a million online searches taking place daily in the U.S., anything that can help move a website link closer to the top with multiple keywords is a must-have resource!
Why I choose this one: Because it is very simple and easy.  See my blog on SEO to for tips on how to utilize this tool.

This plugin returns a list of related entries based on a unique algorithm to display with links at the bottom of your page.  There are options for stylizing, widgets and RSS feeds.  In the same way this plugin encourages search engines to browse around our website, it encourages users do the same.
Why I choose this one: Because it works!  The plugin is accurate, simpe and looks good.  Scroll down to the “Check out Related Posts:” section and see for yourself.

This plugin adds the necessary JavaScript code to enable Google’s Analytics.  Instead of tedious and potentially faulty copying, all I had to do was enter my UID on the settings page.
Why I choose this one: It is so much easier then doing this manually and the results have been flawless.  I can proudly say that our website traffic is up 165% from December 2009 to January 2010, with 66% of those being absolutely unique visitors!

If you decided it’s time to dive into the web world and need website development, design or consultative help, contact us today!

Be sure to come back for much “cooler” plugin reviews next week: Top Social Media Plugins. & Top Multi-Media Plugins

–Michelle Kubot
Online Marketing Manager

Related posts:

BEST WORDPRESS AUDIO & VIDEO PLUGINS