Half of you have no idea how much of your info is public on Facebook

December 31, 2013 BG&A Staff
by J. O'Dell @jolieodell In spite of recent concerns about privacy and surveillance on social media, most of us are extremely lax about our public/private boundaries on the biggest network of them all: Facebook....

Bob Gold & Associates Receives 2013 California Excellence Award

December 30, 2013 BG&A Staff
December 30, 2013 10:45 AM Eastern Standard Time LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bob Gold & Associates has been selected for the 2013 California Excellence Award amongst all its peers and competitors by the Small Business Institute for Excellence in Commerce (SBIEC). The company has also been named one of the country’s top 10 telecommunications-focused PR firms by Top PR Agencies. “Our agency is dedicated to providing the best quality support and service, in a customer-driven culture. This is central to our core values” Each year the SBIEC conducts business surveys and industry research to identify companies that have achieved demonstrable success in their local business environment and industry category. They are recognized as having enhanced the commitment and contribution of small businesses through service to their customers and community. Bob Gold & Associates has consistently demonstrated a high regard for upholding business ethics and company values. This recognition by SBIEC marks a significant achievement as an emerging leader exceeding industry benchmarks. "Our agency is dedicated to providing the best quality support and service, in a customer-driven culture. This is central to our core values," said Bob Gold, president and CEO of Bob Gold & Associates. "We are honored to be a recipient this year." Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the selected companies in each category. This research is part of an exhaustive process that encapsulates a yearlong immersion in the business climate of California. About Bob Gold & Associates Bob Gold & Associates builds and burnishes brands, specializing in hi-tech, consumer electronics and media companies. Founded by Bob Gold in 1997, the agency is dedicated to providing highly-targeted creative services with reasonable fee structures. Headquartered in Redondo Beach, California, Bob Gold & Associates is a co-founder and sole North American affiliate in the Whiteoaks International Network (WIN), a global tech-focused public relations agency network with 17 offices in 37 countries across five continents. For more information, visit www.bobgoldpr.com. About SBIEC The SBIEC is a leading authority on researching, evaluating and recognizing companies across a wide spectrum of industries that meet its stringent standards of excellence. Particular emphasis is given to meeting and exceeding industry benchmarks for customer service, product quality and ethical practices. Industry leading standards and practices have been developed and implementation of the same has been pioneered by the dedicated efforts of the business community and commerce leadership. More information on SBIEC can be found at www.sbiec.org

Figuring out how your #PR campaign went wrong

December 30, 2013 BG&A Staff
by Mickie Kennedy Sometimes your best laid plans go astray no matter how likely they are to work. You can spend weeks upon weeks imagining every scenario possible with a PR campaign only to see it fall apart for no reason at all. Not everything can be a success, unfortunately, and you truly never know until you put it all out there. Although every campaign can’t be a success, you can learn something from every failed campaign. Even the biggest disaster you’ve ever suffered through can teach you vital lessons about your business and the public at large. You just have to be willing to look at where you might have gone wrong in the past. What could be different?  Though you might not have had any control over what went wrong, you still should look at how you could have done things differently. If the campaign totally failed, then you probably made a misstep at some point. Of course, you don’t know what this misstep was until it happened, which is how we learn and get better. Try to break the campaign apart and see which aspects you could do differently next time. For example, if the rest of your idea might have hit it out of the park, but you realize the social media aspect wasn’t strong enough, then you’ve learned a valuable lesson for the future. On the other hand, you don’t want to get stuck thinking about the past. You can only consider what went wrong for so long before you should just move on. Ruing the past can leave you spinning in circles and worrying that everything new you do will also fail. Listen  During the fall of your campaign you were probably worried about trying to save face or set things into recovery mode. Therefore you may not have listened to your customers as you should; you might even have disregarded what they said altogether. Now is the time to go back and think about what they said. There’s likely some real solid info in their words, even if they came off as angry or rude. Angry people often speak their minds directly, showing you what upset them. This can shed light on the real source of the campaign failure. If nobody is around to be angry, ask. Find out what your regular customers thought about the campaign by asking them. Also, see whether they have ideas about how you can improve in the future. Get an outside opinion  You’re probably too close to the situation to be objective about what went wrong. You’ll always view what you learn through the lens of “yeah, but I made this, so it can’t be that bad.” This causes a huge problem if you want to move forward. Do you have a mentor, colleague, or other trusted third party who can offer a candid opinion? Now’s the time to call in a favor. Ask them what they really think and how you can improve what you did. It’s important to get somebody who will be honest. You don’t want anyone sparing your feelings, as getting bad advice at this point could further sink your business. What was your biggest PR failure? What did you learn from it that has served you well now?

5 ways to keep client reviews from ruining the holidays

December 27, 2013 BG&A Staff
by Rebecca Scully  @Smarts_PR We are quickly getting submerged by December festivities, full of good will and mulled wine. That partying goes hand in hand with an annual tradition in the PR industry: year-end reviews and proposals. In order to keep the festive cheer flowing and to avoid getting overwhelmed with reviews, we have put together our top five tips to make the process as pain-free as possible. So, here goes: 1. Always be honest.  If any issues must be addressed, it is best to be honest, confront the problem head on, and, most important, provide a solution. Due to the nature of our industry, there can be unexpected situations that affect the success of a piece of work. So, if something hasn’t gained as much coverage as you’d expected, you must make sure your client understands why, as well as laying out how to avoid a repeat. Although we do our best to mitigate these situations, sometimes they can be unavoidable. By being honest with your client and with yourself, you can analyze results and identify areas to be improved, while reviewing how to build on your successes. 2. Work toward the review year-round.  A great thing about an annual review is that you can see it coming for 365 days. In management terms, this means that there is no excuse not to be prepared. Reviews are there to both celebrate results and to justify business spending on your service, so don’t sell yourself short. Give yourself enough time to thoroughly evaluate activity. Collating results monthly ensures that nothing gets missed and that you have enough time to do what really matters: to review last year’s activity and plan for the coming year. 3. Speak your client’s language.  Communication is at the core of our industry, but many businesses fail to successfully communicate results to their clients. All clients have different business objectives and, therefore, have different things they want to achieve through PR. Translating PR results back into something relatable is essential—sometimes AVE simply isn’t enough. Businesses are continually looking at budgets for efficiency, especially around review time; communicating the results that matter to a client’s objectives shows how your service is helping them, and it makes proving your worth easier. ROI, referrals to the website, KPIs, or industry share of voice could make all the difference to presenting PR activity. Simply providing the total amount of coverage achieved through the year may not do you justice. 4. Sometimes less is more, but not always.  Identifying how your client likes to receive information is well worth the investment and can be used throughout the year, at any meeting. Is your client a detail person, or does he or she prefer core information only? If you are presenting to a number of people with different styles of communication, it is important to appeal to everyone. If in doubt, it is best to over-prepare. It is your responsibility to make sure your client fully understands what you’re saying; it won’t be their duty to decipher it. 5. Approach them like new clients.  As well as assessing the previous year’s work, review meetings give you the perfect opportunity to plan for next year. Working with a client year after year can have its advantages, but don’t forget to think laterally. At Smarts, we approach all our reviews as if we are thinking about a new client. For a creative agency, you don’t want to be seen as static and unimaginative, and becoming complacent with a client who has been around for years can be dangerous territory. As a colleague once said to me, a client who is “happily ticking along” is a client who needs serious attention. Putting our top tips for the review season into practice may mean that you can put your feet up with a cup of tea and a mince pie after all. 

It’s Google’s World—#PR Just Lives in It

December 26, 2013 BG&A Staff
by Brian Greene @bwilliamgreene With the release of three updates to its search algorithm since July, Google has adjusted the way it calculates PageRank, the fundamental paradigm for determining website visibility. The updates—known as Panda, Hummingbird and Penguin—have changed the game for PR professionals, forcing them to readjust old strategies and invent new ones in order to get their content seen. In August, Google announced a change to its link schemes that changed the way PR professionals use one of their most potent weapons—the press release. In an effort to curb a strategy known as “link-stuffing,” Google announced an update to their Webmaster Tools guidelines, explaining a new scheme that could pick up on authors who linked to the same press release hosted on different services. Instead of providing a boost in PageRank (which used to be the case because of the value Google places on linking to outside sources), Google now punishes authors who link to the same press release more than once in the same piece of content. Other changes include a move toward encrypted searches, making keywords that lead users to a website harder to track. Likewise, many have surmised that Google is favoring their social media network, Google+, in ranking websites, although they have not yet specified exactly how each “+1” directly contributes to a website’s favorability in search. Still, some have argued that Google +1’s are the number one contributing factor leading to a higher PageRank. Here are some tips to help you align your PR strategies with Google's algorithm updates: Optimize your website for "conversational search." Users search in sentences, not in keywords, and Google has started to recognize that. If you don't already have one, establish a Google+ page for your business and link to it directly from your main website. Write original content. Google does not take kindly to content scraping and will continue to work against content "repurposing" in the future. Link to less but more authoritative websites. Think quality over quantity.

Tips for becoming a #PR writing jack-of-all-trades

December 26, 2013 BG&A Staff
by William Comcowich @cyberalert1 With all the roles PR pros play, they must master different writing styles to publish effective press releases, social media posts, and content marketing articles. Several recent articles address these needs by offering tips for all forms of writing so PR writers can establish themselves as a jack-of-all-trades, including: Press releases and pitches Richard Brownell shares 10 takeaways from a workshop that featured valuable information for writing shareable press releases, attention-grabbing pitches, and compelling social media content. Among the key best practices addressed were: • Post with mobile in mind. Nearly half of all emails are opened on mobile devices. Use only close-up images, avoid attachments in pitches, and keep headlines short (but informative). • Pitch the story, not the brand. Or as Dharmesh Shah puts it, “pitch solutions, not products.” • Use keywords wisely. If you don’t believe that Google penalizes those that neglect its link guidelines in press releases, Vladimir Gendelman’s story proves Google enforces its decrees. • …but don’t leave out links completely. Always provide readers with an opportunity to learn more about your brand. A press release without links fails to serve its purpose. Social media posts The “rules” of social media come second nature to some, but Courtney Ramirez’s social media etiquette tips in "Twitter 102: the dos and don’ts of Twitter writing" should be kept in mind. The rules include: • Do follow basic rules of English. Twitter’s 140-character limit doesn’t mean spelling, grammar, and punctuation rules go out the window. Start sentences with a capital letter and spell out words, or you’ll tarnish your company’s professionalism and credibility. • Do share posts with links. According to Guy Kawasaki, every single social media post should carry a link. (But don’t publish long links. Use a URL shortening tool such as Buffer or Bit.ly). • Do test multiple headlines—and don’t just share the article’s headline. Content marketing The way you craft content can change a person’s perspective and find connections where there had been none, Meaghan Keaney Anderson asserts. In "What makes good copywriting? 6 characteristics of top-notch copy," Anderson illustrates the power of words with a compelling story about a homeless man sitting in a community square. Bottom line: Concise and well-written content proves your credibility to the media, executives, and your audience.

Facebook starts testing in-feed, autoplaying video ads

December 25, 2013 BG&A Staff
by Tom Cheredar @TChed Facebook has announced that it will begin testing its new video advertising units this week for a limited number of accounts, confirming earlier reports. Facebook clearly understands that one of its biggest opportunities is in grabbing a piece of the billion dollar video ad industry, which is mostly dominated by TV commercials right now. Its new video ads will appear within a person’s news feed and play automatically when the user scrolls down the page. But before you decry Facebook’s move, it’s worth noting that the company understands users may not openly accept the change, so it has done a lot to ensure the ads don’t disrupt your overall experience. First of all, the ads may automatically start playing, but you won’t hear any sound unless you enable it. I’m also guessing that Facebook has put a lot of effort into making sure the ads don’t drastically slow down the load time of the page content, which can sometimes happen when streaming video. Facebook said it has been testing the mechanism for its new ads with regular videos and has seen a 10 percent increase in people watching since starting. Evidently, the process is relatively successful in enticing people to watch more videos, so naturally it’s time to roll out the version that will line Facebook’s pockets with lots of cash. In its official announcement post, Facebook does indicate that the in-stream video ads are simply in testing mode and that the company will make a final decision about whether to roll the feature out to all users after seeing the results of the testing. For a closer look at the new video ads, check out the demo video Facebook has posted on its business blog.

Google’s top trending searches of 2013 a mix of news and celebrity

December 24, 2013 BG&A Staff
by Matt Wilson @MattAtRagan Just as Yahoo and Bing’s top searches of 2013 offered slightly differing versions of what’s capturing the world’s interest, Google’s newly released list of the most-popular queries of the year offers yet another view. Google offered a list of global results, along with several dozen lists categorized by country. The top trending search in the world—that is, the topic with the largest increase in search volume since 2012—was former South African President Nelson Mandela, who died Dec. 5. Here’s the world’s full top 10: 1. Nelson Mandela 2. Paul Walker 3. iPhone 5s 4. Cory Monteith 5. Harlem Shake 6. Boston Marathon 7. Royal Baby 8. Samsung Galaxy S4 9. PlayStation 4 10. North Korea And for the United States: 1. Paul Walker 2. Boston Marathon bombing 3. Nelson Mandela 4. Cory Monteith 5. iPhone 5s 6. Government shutdown 7. James Gandolfini 8. Harlem Shake 9. Royal baby 10. Adrian Peterson The United Kingdom’s top trending searches look fairly similar to those of the United States, with “The Fast and the Furious” actor Paul Walker, who died in a car crash on Nov. 30, the top trend there as well. Google also divided its top searches into categories. The most-searched event of the year, both in the United States and globally, was the Boston Marathon bombing in April. As for the people users actually searched for the most? Miley Cyrus dominated that list in the United States. People just plain love twerking. Or, more generally, they love pop stars. Here’s the United States’ list of most-searched people: 1. Miley Cyrus 2. Drake 3. Kim Kardashian 4. Justin Bieber 5. Beyonce 6. Rihanna 7. Taylor Swift 8. Selena Gomez 9. Katy Perry 10. Kanye West

4 reasons why #PR pitching is an art form

December 24, 2013 BG&A Staff
by Scott Matter @scottmatter via @PRDaily Artists have paint, clay, marble, video, mosaics, and many other media with which to express themselves. PR pros have email, direct messages on Twitter, InMail on LinkedIn, and plenty of other communications channels. Editorial pitching provides us PR professionals with a creative channel for securing a story. It’s an art form, too, and here are four reasons why: First, a PR pitch offers the practitioner unlimited creativity. You know the charge at hand and can accomplish your goal—connecting with a key writer or editor and seeing that they give attention to your story idea—in any manner that is appropriate. The words you use count so much. You might be succinct or detailed, punchy or rich with metaphor or vignettes. Each pitch is a clean canvas and every outreach an attempt to inspire a specific reaction. It’s exciting, as every communication is another opportunity for success. Second, like an artist working on a commissioned piece, it’s crucial that you consider the audience before getting started. That’s typically both the audience (reporters) and the audience’s audience (editors and readers). The better you capture the imagination of the reporter with your initial outreach, the better the chances he or she will be inspired to “sell” the idea to editors and, ultimately, disseminate the story to legions of your client’s preferred readers. Third, just as when you see a painting and are moved by what it attempts to convey, you know right away if your PR pitch struck a chord when you hear back (immediately and positively) from your editorial target. It’s a thing of beauty when your creativity captured the interest of your intended subject and inspired action. Fourth, the preceding point is particularly true if your pitch was highly personalized for and delivered to a priority writer or editor, whose coverage often results in a landslide of other writers covering the same topic. It’s valuable to create the pitch that keeps on giving, paying dividends long after the client’s last check has cleared. Can you think of other ways that editorial pitching constitutes an art form? Please off your thoughts in the comments section. Scott Signore is the principal and CEO of Matter Communications. A version of this story first appeared on the agency's PR Whiteboard blog.

When #PR expectations are unrealistic

December 23, 2013 BG&A Staff
by Mickie Kennedy @ereleases via @PRDaily I’m going to crush some dreams. I’m hoping to help readjust your PR expectations, because many are unrealistic, so you’re just setting yourself up for failure. This post isn’t about discouraging you and telling you not to shoot for the stars. It is about making sure your expectations are grounded in reality so that you have a sound strategy with measurable goals, helping you create sustainable growth and success for your brand. So, let’s crush some dreams, shall we? National TV is an outside shot You probably won’t end up on “Good Morning America,” “Today,” “Dr. Oz,” “Dr. Phil,” or any other major national news show. I’ve often had clients ask things like, “When are you going to get me on Oprah?” The chances of your getting a coveted spot on one of these big shows are pretty slim. Yes, I’ve had clients get some pretty awesome PR opportunities over the years, but these major shows have an incredibly limited number of slots available and the competition is insanely fierce. Landing one of these opportunities is possible with the right pitch and a heaping dose of luck, but it simply won’t happen for most people. You know what? That’s not a bad thing. Just because you don’t get placed on a huge national TV show doesn’t mean your PR efforts are futile. That’s not how you should be defining success. Remember, PR is a long-term strategy. Success doesn’t happen by getting your “15 minutes of fame.” It happens by getting consistent results over a long period of time. You won’t see results overnight Our society craves instant gratification. We’re used to getting what we want when we want it. That’s not how it works with PR. If you’re expecting to see amazing, long-lasting results from your PR efforts in just a few weeks, you’re going to be sorely disappointed. Sure, it’s possible that you might get lucky and have a story earn a flurry of media coverage overnight, but you’ll find that the benefits from that kind of success don’t last long. PR isn’t a short-term strategy. You won’t get significant, enduring results in a short period of time. It takes time to build your brand, to gain credibility, and to shape the public’s perception of you or your company. You must commit to PR for the life of your business. You’re not changing the world I fully stand behind my clients and what they’re offering. I believe in the messages I help promote. However, I also understand that most likely none of us are going to change the world. Often times, clients think their product, service, or idea is the most amazing thing ever, and they assume that everyone in the media will automatically agree and be dying to cover it. Reporters are pitched dozens of “game-changing” ideas on a daily basis; so, while you might have something truly interesting to offer, you’re not the only one. Sometimes, it’s important to take a step back to make sure you have realistic expectations for your publicity campaign. This will help you stay focused, motivated, and on track to achieving sustainable, long-term results that deliver real benefits for your business. Mickie Kennedy is the founder of eReleases. A version of this article first appeared on the PR Fuel blog.
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