Your company's customers are talking about your brand right now on Myspace, Facebook and other blogs, forums and chat rooms in ways that you haven't approved. You can bet that conversations with your customer service representatives and your customers will find their way on Youtube and so will any other form of advertising and promotion you do in reference to your products, services and even the corporate values that you promote. The very values that associate your company with it's brand. The CEO or president of your company is going to some day get wind of what is happening and ask for help from you and your colleagues to find a way to tone down this surge of people speaking their minds. It will come like a hurricane from a thousand sources and wash over a traditional business. Like any storm it cannot be stopped in one section to save another. It cannot be stopped at all. This is the movement that these clever and informative authors call the Groundswell. They say that “while you can't stop it, you can understand it. You can not only live with it; you can thrive in it. No business or industry, product or service, large or small can afford to not begin today to create the strategy and approach needed to begin to find ways to be involved in this movement.

I had the opportunity to listen and speak with David Meerman Scott through a private telephone session he hosted for Duct Tape Marketing Coaches on the New Rules of Marketing and PR. Below, are some key points that may give you a fresh perspective on how to enhance your credibility online.

1. The old ways to get noticed were to buy expensive advertising and beg the media to write about you and your products. The best way to get noticed today is to publish great content online.

2. Don't talk about what your products and services do. Instead talk about how you solve problems for your customers.

3. Be enthusiastic and have fun. People want to do business with people they like.

4. Don't rely on spamming the media with your press releases and PR pitches.

5. Use press releases to reach buyers directly.

6. Comment on blogs, forums and chat rooms (but don't talk about your products and services).

7. Read the popular books in your market and write a review on Amazon. Use your real name and affiliation.

8. Shoot a short video and put it up onto YouTube

9. Know what search terms people are using to find products and services like yours and create content that search engines will reward with high search engine rankings.

10. Don't be egotistical. Nobody cares about you and your products. Your buyers care about themselves and solving their problems.

Like this article?

Subscribe to Cidnee's FREE bi-weekly marketing tips at (http://www.strategiesforsuccess.ca/tips.htm) for small businesses and also receive a special report on the 7 Steps of Marketing Success.

About the Author

Cidnee Stephen is the owner of Strategies for Success – a marketing company that focuses on the needs of budget minded small businesses and professional services. She has helped hundreds of small businesses get out of their peak and valley ruts to finally achieve that next vital level of success. Cidnee is also a sought after speaker, writer and blogger on marketing topics that affect small businesses and B2B service based operations.

Feel free to use this article as long as you include the following: by Cidnee Stephen of Strategies for Success http://www.strategiesforsuccess.ca

This book, with the full title of “Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies” is a must read for anyone trying to figure out how to benefit from the social networking phenomenon. There is only one major negative aspect of this book: It wasn't written 3 years ago . Shame on you Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff! (joking of course!)

This book is perfect for anyone who doesn't understand 'social media'…and for those that think they do! It provides case-based examples of how organizations have used social media to engage their users. The examples provided in the book are quite good and describe how organizations have used social media to embrace their community.

Before you go out and buy the book on my recommendation, let me point out a couple of important points:

This book does not tell you how to implement a social network. This book will not solve your social media problems. It will help you with understanding your problems and give you some ideas for solutions.

What this book will do is help you understand that there isn't any one answer to the question of 'how to embrace social media”. The book provides many examples of social media experiments…some successful and some failures.

The book provides a ton of information about demographics and age group differences and how age normally affects social media usage. Excellent information that everyone should review.

For me, the most interesting section of the book is the one in which the authors state very clearly that any social media project (or really any project for that matter) can be made more successful if the following four steps are followed:

First, look at your People. Second, Set at your Objectives. Third, Review your Strategy. Fourth, look at Technology.
This approach, which the authors abbreviated as POST, is no different than any proper strategic planning initiative…at least in my book. When any organization starts to look at new things like social media, they must first look at their people and their customers. Is this new strategy something that can be achieved easily? Is it viable?

The second step is to Set your Objectives for the project. What are you trying to achieve with this social media project (or any project)? The third step is to review your overall strategy as well as determine your 'go to market' strategy. The last step (which most organizations perform first), is to select the technology platform that you will use to carry out your strategy. I can't count how many times I've seen this process performed backwards with technology selected before any real thought was put into the strategy, objectives and people. Many of those projects failed miserably because of that.

The book is well reviewed…and is well deserving of those reviews. Its an excellent book for anyone interested in this topic. Highly recommended.

Recently, a colleague of mine told a story about how management at his organization had arbitrarily decided to change the title of his department from “Public Relations Department” to “Marketing Communications Department.” Surprised? You should be, but not just because they changed the department title on a whim.

What's surprising here is that management failed to realize that marketing and public relations are really two very distinct management functions, each ultimately having a significant effect on the organization as a whole. It's an all-too common mistake in today's business environment, and an easy one to make. Both are very similar in structure: they work to identify audiences, segment those audiences and set objectives. The purpose of public relations is not, however, to promote goods or services to increase sales, as marketing does.

This isn't to say that public relations and marketing don't work together. In fact, to achieve organizational goals, organizations should make use of both functions. Each makes its own special, but complimentary, contributions to building and maintaining the relationships necessary for an organization to thrive.

The Differentiating Factor Marketing always aims at an exchange, usually one that involves money. It is the management function that identifies needs and wants (consumer demand), offers products and services to satisfy those demands and causes some kind of transaction that delivers those products and services in exchange for something of value. It's the exchange between two parties bit that distinguishes this function from PR.

It's All Relative. Of course, public relations may, and should, assist in this process, but does so in a different way. Effective PR assists the overall marketing effort by maintaining relationships through gauging awareness, attitude, mitigating crises, controlling damage, enhancing opinions or through other specific objectives not directly linked to sales.

The Whole Picture. Organizationally, marketing is usually a line management function, the first level of management, with supervisory or team responsibility for individuals and tasks. Line management operates in real-time and works closely with the workforce to contribute to the goals of the organization. Public Relations, on the other hand, is a staff management function and one that provides counsel and other services to support line functions.

Not All PR Practitioners Are Spin Doctors. I know that when I said “enhancing opinions” you thought “Ah-ha! They really are only letting us hear what they want us to hear.” The fact is that most PR professionals subscribe to a code of ethics, one that truly values and promotes honesty. What true PR professionals do is work at establishing and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and its audiences, those folks on which the success or failure of the organization depends.

In the end, it's easiest to say that while marketing focuses on exchange relationships with one public (customers), public relations covers a broad range of relationships and goals with numerous audiences, such as employees, investors, governments and special interest groups.

The point is, whether you think you need some really good marketing or a great public relations campaign, you can't get away without using both.

Becoming a public relations consultant is a career that is definitely on the rise and over the last few years pr has become somewhat of a buzz word in the business world. Especially with it's relation to the internet and advertising it is just one of those industries that everyone hears about and wants to be involved in. It's exciting, challenging, and you get to deal with people everyday.

If you are a person looking to get into consulting then the public relations sector might be something that could interest you. If you the sound of writing press releases, updating blogs, sending out email campaigns, and speaking to media sound interesting to you then maybe this is the industry that you want to get involved in.

As a pr consultant your job would basically include looking after the overall image and media promotion of a company or individual that you are representing. Basically you are assisting in the way that the world sees your client and what kind of words are circulating out there.

Also on the internet these days especially with the explosion of the social media world reputation management has become very important. Basically what that means is managing the reputation of how the public sees your company. If you are into public relations then you might also play a role in the social media arena and help out managing the views of your clients' customers.

With all of this public interaction and management of your clients image you should be fairly proficient and writing and communications. As a pr professional you'll be doing lots and lots of emails, reports, articles, and more. So if you are not comfortable with writing then you better start studying up on the art of writing well or don't even bother getting into this field.

I would also recommend that you study up on developing promotional campaigns and strategies. People involved in pr consulting need to come up with event ideas, arrange special parties, and more. You basically have to think about how you can bolster the image of the firm you are working for. You'll also probably work very closely with marketing people and brand designers.

So if you are thinking about getting into the exciting field of public relations then follow some of this advice and you'll be well on your way. Remember if you do get into this profession you should have solid writing skills and a good understanding of the role branding and marketing play in the effective promotion of any business.

By Mac H McIntosh

Help your potential clients realize how you can help with great marketing; the best public relations events end up giving you a new lead. What's public relations? A wide range of activities can be considered PR, from business marketing to personal luncheons. Outreach in magazine is the most common form of lead-generating PR. The object is to get a mention for your business, service, or staff members to appear in a publication.

Alternatively, one of your management staff can have something published which they write or have ghost written. This sort of press can have a big effect on the number and quality of leads you generate. However, although this kind of PR is cheap compared to advertisements, getting covered in magazines requires sustained effort and a time commitment, in order to nurture relationships with magazine people in your business field. An organized campaign is usually more successful than scattered attempts at getting press. The best campaigns utilize the following elements:

1) A press release

2) A press kit with bios, product photos, and reprinted content

3) Good relationship with the press

4) Features supplied by managers and other staff

5) Media coverage featuring your employees as industry experts

6) Testimonials

Complete the following actions in forming your program:

Research, compile and read the publications. What's the audience? Think about the info that gets published – is it news? Make your contributions appropriate. Talk with the writers and go to the web site. Who's the right person to talk to? Call the editors and ask for submission guidelines and what they like to publish. Try to find the editorial calendar and see what stories they're running month by month. You can usually find this on the last page of the magazine or at the site. Then decide what you'll submit, and what publication month to target your efforts toward. Don't give up – keep at it to gain rapport with editors. It gets better with time. By becoming a source of relevant info, you may supply the publication with information which is vital to their readership, and become an important contributor. Your pitch should explain how it is relevant to the editorial calendar – offer to provide an outline upon request. It can be a good idea to use a ghost writer, as these professionals have experience working for magazines and can form the article to the format of the publication with relative ease. These deadline-driven contractors will take the initiative to get the work in on time, freeing your technical or management employees to work within their fields of expertise.

Be sure your press release provides newsworthy content. It should answer some of the following questions:

1) What's the problem you help solve?

2) What is accomplished?

2) What's the take-home benefit?

4) Is it a product or service?

5) How can it do this?

6) Why will the readers be interested?

7) How much does it cost?

What are the main features?

9) When's it available?

Don't brag about yourself or your company. Steer clear of words like “best,” “revolutionary,” and “unique.” These are overused. Editors prefer testimonials instead. Avoid language that is inaccessible to a lay person. Really, even the writers won't have an expert understanding of your offerings. Keep it simple. Always include contact info in two places on the page, and photos if accepted by the publication. Most prefer digital images. Name these files with relevant terms that one can search on to find them. In short, do the prep work and make it easy for them to run your piece.

PR can help improve Search Engine Optimization efforts as well. For example, wire services are excellent – after sending these out, your release will be discoverable by search engines and news wires. By including links in your online release, you can raise your info in the search engine rankings. A recent survey showed that most journalists use the Internet daily. About 75% of them make searches for press release info. For a free news wire to get you started, try: http://google.com/alerts and create a free subscription.

M. H. “Mac” McIntosh is described by many as one of America's leading B2B sales and marketing consultants and an expert on public relations .
Source: www.isnare.com

“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some hire public relations officers.” Those words, spoken by historian Daniel Boorstin, have never been truer than in today's corporate climate. Those who are dedicated to their public relations careers find themselves always “on”; always working to promote their company. They miss no opportunities to ensure the message is heard at every turn. Gone are the days of public relations being solely for the celebrities.
PR, or public relations, is a must for large companies, however, many feel their PR departments are the “cure all” and fix any public scandal or problem that emerges. This simply is not true. A good PR person can certainly affect the public's view on the company announcements. From being accused of hiring illegal immigrants to a very public and scandalous affair among company leaders, the public relations department can often determine how it plays out in the media and ultimately how quickly it becomes yesterday's news. It's not surprising that experienced PR personnel usually do quite well when negotiating salaries and bonuses.
The better the relationship between your company's PR department and the media, the more advantageous it is for the corporation. If you cannot depend on your public relations representative to successfully pull off a media release regarding labor relations or any other uncomfortable event, then it is time to reconsider your choice for your company's media contact. To say this person must be likeable, convincing, authoritative and even physically attractive is an understatement. It is an unwritten and unspoken rule, personal appearance including being healthy, “camera friendly,” and physically attractive counts.
PR specialists have many titles, including public affairs representatives, communications agents, company points of contact and many others; but it still comes down to the one person who acts as the liaison between a company and the general public. He or she must be well versed, objective, convincing, remain cool under pressure and must, at all times, provide thorough information. It is a fine line between revealing too much about any particular subject while providing enough not to appear as though anything is being hidden from the public. Often, the PR representative is the bearer of bad news, but there are many times your company PR agent provides good news from a company standpoint. New contract awards, which translate into new jobs; expansion announcements and other information that is of the public's interest offset the times when bad news is broken.
Other responsibilities of a public relations specialist include research, providing input for company manuals, including employee guidelines, remaining current with global issues to ensure company representatives aren't traveling to unstable international areas, coordinate company films for new employees, schedule conventions and tradeshows and many write bid proposals for their companies. Many PR reps find themselves providing statistics and other confidential information during shareholders meetings and staff meetings.
/>Public relations is an exciting field, albeit a bit overwhelming at times. Most PR reps have assistants and sometimes entire departments for their support. With so many media reports, proposals, event coordination and other events, an assistant is vital, especially in larger companies. As with most executives, the assistant is the one who makes sure meetings are attended, flights are caught and engagements are kept.
For those who choose Public Relations, most thrive on the fast pace and even the stress that is involved with walking the fine line of responsibilities to the public as well to their employers. They must be organized, able to speak with authority and clarity and a healthy knowledge of psychology is always a bonus. Human nature plays a big part in these positions. Hours are long, but rewarding, and deadlines are always looming.
Educational requirements vary by company, but most who have degrees are usually in communications and business areas, or sometimes journalism. Even then, most employers are more interested in their skills and experience as much as the education of their candidates. For those who are wondering if jobs will be available or not, the answer is an absolute yes. In fact, the job outlook is considered excellent for all fields related to public relations.
For those who do not mind unpredictable events, long hours, travel, and can work well under stress, public relations is often a first choice. The pay is excellent but determined by many factors, mostly the size of the company and its budget. It is both rewarding and exciting. One final note, in a survey done in late 2006, 87% of all companies surveyed indicated a growing need for a solid public relations specialist and/or department. Of those, more than two-thirds anticipated adding to their staffs within twelve months. The trends from 2008 reflect those anticipated changes as more companies, even as they were undergoing lay-offs due to current economic times, found themselves adding to their staffs those who could improve the company's public image.

Are you interested in a public relations career? There are many opportunities to pursue careers in both corporate public relations and with public relations companies. PR is a growing career field, and there are many opportunities in this profession.

Public Relations as a Career

Public relations professionals spend the majority of their time planning, implementing, and evaluating promotional campaigns on behalf of their clients or companies. Public relations jobs typically include one or more of the following: writing, media relations, graphic design, public speaking, event planning, and other similar tasks. Depending on the type of organization with which you are employed, your job may involve any or all of these responsibilities, as well as other duties.

Skills Needed for a Public Relations Career

In order to be considered for a position in public relations, you will need to have strong communication skills. Successful public relations practitioners must be able to be able to write and speak clearly. PR practitioners communicate with their clients, employers, coworkers, the general public, and media representatives on an ongoing basis. Nearly every PR job requires, at a minimum, writing press releases and pitching stories to journalists via email, by telephone, and/or in person.

Many public relations jobs require making guest appearances on television programs, being interviewed on radio shows, and giving speeches or making presentations to groups of all sizes. Others require writing in-depth documents such as speeches, brochures, training manuals, and other publications. Additionally, PR practitioners are often responsible for coaching company executives and clients regarding how to speak to reporters and other media representatives.

In addition to strong communication skills, public relations professionals need to have excellent organizational skills, particularly if their job duties encompass media relations and event planning. PR professionals can be responsible for handling pre-planning, logistics, setup, and promotions for news conferences, grand openings, new product launches, and many other types of events.

Training for a Career In Public Relations

A degree specific to the public relations field is not necessary for a career in public relations, but it can certainly be beneficial. Most companies do require Bachelor’s degrees or a significant amount of related work experience for even entry-level PR positions. Many people choose to move into Public Relations from careers in journalism, publishing, sales and other types of occupations that require strong writing skills.

Many people who are successful in public relations have completed formal education in fields such as: Advertising, Communication Arts, Creative Writing, English, Journalism, Marketing, Mass Communication, Psychology, Public Relations, and similar fields. Regardless of your major, if you college has a student chapter of the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS) professional organization, it is a good idea to get involved.

A college student who wants to pursue a career in PR will be well-served by completing an internship with a public relations company or in corporate communication in order to get hands-on experience in the field. A combination of classroom training, hands-on internship experience, and recommendations from professionals in the field are very beneficial to anyone seeking employment in the public relations field.

By Mac H McIntosh

Help your potential clients realize how you can help with great marketing; the best public relations events end up giving you a new lead. What's public relations? A wide range of activities can be considered PR, from business marketing to personal luncheons. Outreach in magazine is the most common form of lead-generating PR. The object is to get a mention for your business, service, or staff members to appear in a publication.

Alternatively, one of your management staff can have something published which they write or have ghost written. This sort of press can have a big effect on the number and quality of leads you generate. However, although this kind of PR is cheap compared to advertisements, getting covered in magazines requires sustained effort and a time commitment, in order to nurture relationships with magazine people in your business field. An organized campaign is usually more successful than scattered attempts at getting press. The best campaigns utilize the following elements:

1) A press release

2) A press kit with bios, product photos, and reprinted content

3) Good relationship with the press

4) Features supplied by managers and other staff

5) Media coverage featuring your employees as industry experts

6) Testimonials

Complete the following actions in forming your program:

Research, compile and read the publications. What's the audience? Think about the info that gets published – is it news? Make your contributions appropriate. Talk with the writers and go to the web site. Who's the right person to talk to? Call the editors and ask for submission guidelines and what they like to publish. Try to find the editorial calendar and see what stories they're running month by month. You can usually find this on the last page of the magazine or at the site. Then decide what you'll submit, and what publication month to target your efforts toward. Don't give up – keep at it to gain rapport with editors. It gets better with time. By becoming a source of relevant info, you may supply the publication with information which is vital to their readership, and become an important contributor. Your pitch should explain how it is relevant to the editorial calendar – offer to provide an outline upon request. It can be a good idea to use a ghost writer, as these professionals have experience working for magazines and can form the article to the format of the publication with relative ease. These deadline-driven contractors will take the initiative to get the work in on time, freeing your technical or management employees to work within their fields of expertise.

Be sure your press release provides newsworthy content. It should answer some of the following questions:

1) What's the problem you help solve?

2) What is accomplished?

2) What's the take-home benefit?

4) Is it a product or service?

5) How can it do this?

6) Why will the readers be interested?

7) How much does it cost?

What are the main features?

9) When's it available?

Don't brag about yourself or your company. Steer clear of words like “best,” “revolutionary,” and “unique.” These are overused. Editors prefer testimonials instead. Avoid language that is inaccessible to a lay person. Really, even the writers won't have an expert understanding of your offerings. Keep it simple. Always include contact info in two places on the page, and photos if accepted by the publication. Most prefer digital images. Name these files with relevant terms that one can search on to find them. In short, do the prep work and make it easy for them to run your piece.

PR can help improve Search Engine Optimization efforts as well. For example, wire services are excellent – after sending these out, your release will be discoverable by search engines and news wires. By including links in your online release, you can raise your info in the search engine rankings. A recent survey showed that most journalists use the Internet daily. About 75% of them make searches for press release info. For a free news wire to get you started, try: http://google.com/alerts and create a free subscription.

M. H. “Mac” McIntosh is described by many as one of America's leading B2B sales and marketing consultants and an expert on public relations .
Source: www.isnare.com

Recently, a colleague of mine told a story about how management at his organization had arbitrarily decided to change the title of his department from “Public Relations Department” to “Marketing Communications Department.” Surprised? You should be, but not just because they changed the department title on a whim.

What’s surprising here is that management failed to realize that marketing and public relations are really two very distinct management functions, each ultimately having a significant effect on the organization as a whole. It’s an all-too common mistake in today’s business environment, and an easy one to make. Both are very similar in structure: they work to identify audiences, segment those audiences and set objectives. The purpose of public relations is not, however, to promote goods or services to increase sales, as marketing does.

This isn’t to say that public relations and marketing don’t work together. In fact, to achieve organizational goals, organizations should make use of both functions. Each makes its own special, but complimentary, contributions to building and maintaining the relationships necessary for an organization to thrive.

The Differentiating Factor Marketing always aims at an exchange, usually one that involves money. It is the management function that identifies needs and wants (consumer demand), offers products and services to satisfy those demands and causes some kind of transaction that delivers those products and services in exchange for something of value. It’s the exchange between two parties bit that distinguishes this function from PR.

It’s All Relative. Of course, public relations may, and should, assist in this process, but does so in a different way. Effective PR assists the overall marketing effort by maintaining relationships through gauging awareness, attitude, mitigating crises, controlling damage, enhancing opinions or through other specific objectives not directly linked to sales.

The Whole Picture. Organizationally, marketing is usually a line management function, the first level of management, with supervisory or team responsibility for individuals and tasks. Line management operates in real-time and works closely with the workforce to contribute to the goals of the organization. Public Relations, on the other hand, is a staff management function and one that provides counsel and other services to support line functions.

Not All PR Practitioners Are Spin Doctors. I know that when I said “enhancing opinions” you thought “Ah-ha! They really are only letting us hear what they want us to hear.” The fact is that most PR professionals subscribe to a code of ethics, one that truly values and promotes honesty. What true PR professionals do is work at establishing and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and its audiences, those folks on which the success or failure of the organization depends.

In the end, it’s easiest to say that while marketing focuses on exchange relationships with one public (customers), public relations covers a broad range of relationships and goals with numerous audiences, such as employees, investors, governments and special interest groups.

The point is, whether you think you need some really good marketing or a great public relations campaign, you can’t get away without using both.

Article Source: http://www.ezinearticles.com/?Marketing-Versus-Public-Relations—Yes,-There-is-a-Difference&id=1923807