Big Influencers in Social Media Marketing and PR

I am talking about Paul Gillin's new book about blogging "The New Influencers: A Marketer's Guide to the New Social Media." If you come out of technology like I do, you probably already know Paul. He was editor-in-chief of Computerworld, then started TechTarget. I met him along the way when I worked for several anti-virus companies. But as the book tells us on the cover, "This is essential reading for anyone who missed the blogging train when it left the station." I was on the train, but like many PR professionals, was preoccupied looking out the window watching the landscape speed by while others, like Paul and most all of those mentioned in his book, were conducting.

The problem with recommending this book is that the more people who know all the details about social media marketing, the more competition MarCom Broadband will have. LOL Oh well. I got an earlier start than most, and have been doing search engine optimization and marketing for almost three years now. My first assignment was trying to get rid of negative Internet posts for one client. (Hint: Be careful what you write on the Internet, because it will stick around for awhile.) I am still tripping over some technical issues with blogging. Adding trackbacks, blogrolls, etc. It's easier to recommend to one's clients than to have the time to do it for yourself sometimes. It's that old shoemaker and his kids going barefoot routine. But I'll get there.

We have successfully converted many traditional PR clients to half PR and half social media. Again much of what PR people do best is writing - and its all about content on the web. (See my other blogpost on this topic.) One project in particular that has been a big success is T.S. Wiley, who is an author (Lights Out and Sex Lies and Menopause) and an expert in the controversial topic of hormone replacement therapy, having developed The Wiley Protocol.

Here's one bit of advice that everyone can use. The future is all about change. A new economy is emerging (or for some - has emerged). And if you made it through the tech boom without getting rich, now's your chance again. Study up, be innovative and start blogging. The difference now is that we all must be totally honest, because communicaitons is all about new ways to connect, and share ideas and information in real time.

PS: After finishing the book this morning, I was convinced to start another blog - a special interest blog, which I did, and will divulge it once I have made some posts. (Just a hint, as my friends know, it is about a favorite topic of mine -- real ghosts or "energy" and psychic experiences.)

The Value of Podcasting and Online Radio/TV

I mentioned these numbers in my last blog, but some info is worth repeating. According to Arbitron, 27 million Americans have listened to a podcast, or online radio and TV. Early adopters in any category are going to benefit from this.Internet radio has been around for awhile. One of our clients, Big Media USA, Inc. , provides this service. It's not music, it's information.

Just think of them as the Time Warner of the Internet -- with a number of stations that have a number of channels on topics such as business, health, sports, spiritual, etc. In fact, very soon I am going to be hosting a new channel there on social media marketing.

The value here is that Big Media has been around awhile, so their site has allot of content on it, and Google spiders their site daily. This is great, because if you have a radio or podcast show on BMUSA, and your key words are in the copy of your show promo, or in a press release that BMUSA or you put out, you will be spidered too.Podcasts are easy for others to listen to or watch online 24/7.

Plus the content is great to have transcribed for use elsewhere via social media marketing -- in press releases, online articles, and even in forum posts -- all excellent ways to optimize your website for better rankings by the search engines like Google, Yahoo, or MSN, etc. Then if someone is seeking information open something, they may come to your podcast. That's why it's important to keep them short, and get the key messages about you and your products or services into the first five minutes or less as you can.