140 characters just not enough? Twitlonger.com is a cool lil site that will let you create longer than 140 character tweets. Try it, you might like it…but don’t go crazy with it now. Part of the beauty of Twitter is the micro-blogging 140 character aspect.
Can you sell a simple red brick? Ogilvy is on the search for the world’s greatest salesperson. If you think you have what it takes you could win a fellowship. I personally like working here at Big Star, but this may just be what you were meant to do.
I just heard the wackiest story on NPR this morning. It was about a new internet flavored ice cream. Internet flavored! The Boston ice cream shop that whipped it up is just a small, local outfit, right outside of campus at MIT.
They made the new flavor in honor of the Internet Culture Conference going on this week. The ice cream shop had nothing to do with that conference. But somebody over there was creative and smart enough to know they could still get some publicity out of it. But what what does it taste like, you ask? That’s exactly what reporters wanted to know, too. It’s simply vanilla with nerds swirled in. Easy enough…but also brilliant enough to get them mentioned on NPR’s Morning Edition show. Now everyone in the country has heard about them and will probably seek them out next time they’re in Boston.
This is a small, local business makes big story. However, if you have the right angle, it could be you. All you need to do is think a bit different than the rest of your competitors. Be fearless enough and brave enough to do something wild. Forget all the hum-drum ribbon-cutting, grand opening press releases. Do something that will really help you stand out and get a reporter’s attention.
Stuff like internet flavored ice cream is what reporters live for. They need something out of the ordinary. It’s their job to find that stuff. Make their job easy and come up with it. So get crackin’ on the creativity. And don’t be shy to run it by me. I’m all ears (and may just have the connections you need to get noticed for it).
Hello, Big Star PR intern, Ali Slyce, here. The Salt Lake Running Company had a grand opening at their new location at 700 E. 2454 S. Big Star celebrated with them by asking runners participating in the Salt Lake City Marathon share their stories on video. El pres of Big Star, Sarah Buhr, brought her camera to the event and became the impromptu media by filming all the stories. Two of the ladies running in the marathon were from The Huntsman Cancer Institutes Home Town Heroes. Both of these ladies shared their inspiring stories about how they overcame cancer and are now running for everyone who is still battling cancer and unable to run. I was so inspired! Also, 13-year-old Leah Coleman was there and shared that she is running the half marathon along with her whole family. Leah’s nine-year-old sister Lucy has spina bifida, which means she is unable to walk on her own. Her mom is going to help Lucy participate by pushing her alongside the rest of the family in a stroller. What is even more amazing about their story is that they are practically going to be running barefoot with the vibram five fingers shoe. The Coleman family wants to show everyone that just because someone has a disability, they shouldn’t have to be limited to just their wheel chair. It was a great morning listening to all the runners speak; I was touched by all their stories and was so glad I was there for everything. Well, gotta run. Write ya later
Clothes don’t make the man, the man makes the man. Clothes (and the brand) just amplify that. - Seth Godin
I love Seth’s blog today.
If you don’t know already, VP Biden dropped the F-bomb yesterday at the official Health Care Reform Bill ceremonies. All the world was a-Twitter. Now is a great time for etiquette experts and publicists alike to gain their own media attention and talk about what we should expect from our Vice Pres. It’s also a great time to talk about whether this should matter. Some may say this is just sour grapes griping from the losing party. Is it? Great time to get your opinions and spin into the mix.
Check out what Pete Cashmore, CEO of Mashable has to say about new FB app Buxter.
Just in time for VDay, here’s a way for you to create the kind of relationship that keeps on giving - with bloggers.
Bloggers, particularly the kind that blog about your industry, should be your best friends in promoting your business for several good reasons. Here’s just one:
Target audience - If you find one with a large audience that speaks to your target market they could be your key to getting the word out about your product. They promote for you on their blog, their readers see it and pass the info on or also promote on their blog. You get a bunch of those passing on your info and it’s quite literally more effective than anything CNN could do. Large news organizations also monitor these blogs for news stories and often pick them up from here as well.
Now, there are a few do’s and don’ts to approaching this coveted blogging bunch.
Do
* Send a nice, friendly email introducing yourself as a real person
* Research what the blog tends to write about so you are giving them something that interests them
* Describe the who, what, where (especially where they can get your stuff)
* Give them an incentive to write (but careful of the new FTC rules here)
Don’t
* Send an autobot email like “To whom it may concern, I noticed {insert blog name here} writes about {insert topic}”. You know it’s spam when you get it and so do they.
* Give a lengthy email or write them several times to “check in”. Put yourself in their shoes. You wouldn’t read through a long, formal email and you wouldn’t like someone emailing you over and over.
Now get out there and spread the blog love. Let me know how it goes.
Just a few days ago a friend of mine was featured on CNN. He’s an Elvis impersonator. Yep, I know a real live Elvis impersonator. He didn’t get on with a press release and he doesn’t have a website with a newsroom. He actually uploaded his photos to Flickr and then responded to a request on a CNN blog for Elvis stories (to commemorate the King’s 75th birthday). Before he knew it, CNN producers were on like Donkey Kong to get his story. To further the report he then posted it to Facebook, Twitter and his own blog.
Things have changed, folks.
As I write, Brittish news outfit, Sky News, is installing Twitter software across their network to encourage more use of social media for news gathering and reporting.
One of the ways I personally use to reach reporters is through Twitpitching, or chatting them up on Twitter to tell them about stories I’m working on for clients.
Don’t just toss your old PR tactics out the window, though. Press releases are still valuable. They just aren’t the first way to approach the news people anymore.
Think about your own strategies this past year. What has worked and what hasn’t? Adopt social media pitching in this new year and you’ll see the value it can bring to coverage for your company.
Need help with a creative PR or Social Media campaign? Big Star PR specializes in online public relations and social media. Call and ask about services today at 801-708-0958.
Sincerely,
Sarah Buhr
Owner / Consultant
Big Star PR
801-708-0958
p.s. Easy ways to find Big Star PR (and me) on the web:
http://www.twitter.com/sarahbuhr
http://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahjanebuhr
In case you missed it, breast cancer awareness went viral yesterday with a campaign to get all the women on facebook to share the color of their bra. You may have noticed the one or two word status updates mentioning just colors. The note that went out from women to their girlfriends went like this:
“Some fun is going on…. just write the color of your bra in your status. Just the color, nothing else. And send this on to ONLY girls no men …. It will be neat to see if this will spread the wings of cancer awareness. It will be fun to see how long it takes before the men will wonder why all the girls have a color in their status… Haha”
Women who got the message copied and pasted it and sent it on to the other women friends on their list.
Whether it sparked anyone to do something about breast cancer was not the point. It was to spread awareness in a way that engaged and empowered women to feel that they could personally do something to help spread the message. At the same time it involved men’s curiosity, enough for some to start typing out their own random colors and discuss what they thought the women were doing. It was a social experiment that seemed to go really well.
No one knows exactly who started the trend, but there is much speculation. Whoever it was really gets social media and just how powerful it can work to raise awareness.
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