News & Opinion

The independent authority on PR, toppragencies.com, has selected Bob Gold & Associates the best PR service for January 2014. Bob Gold & Associates was selected the best PR service due to their effective performance in the in-depth examination process. Thousands of PR firms are considered while only the 10 best are highlighted in the ratings PR consultants are put through the toppragencies.com genuine analysis process in order to identify which consultants produce the best overall solution. Consultants are selected based on merit established by achievement in the analysis process. This process consists of the use of a set of analysis criteria, connecting with client references, and performing various market and industry research projects. The independent examination team spends time benchmarking the PR industry as a whole to better interpret how contesting PR companies influence the industry. Time is spent attending various industry events to obtain a wider interpreting of the industry and to connect directly with PR companies in a neutral setting. Customer references are often used as another metric to learn which PR companies supply the best services. Bob Gold & Associates has been scrutinized as a part of the meticulous examination and has earned their placement as the best public relations firm. Through strong customer referrals and high scores in each of the five areas of evaluation, Bob Gold & Associates has passed each phase of the examination process. Those hunting for a solid public relations firm to assist them should consider Bob Gold & Associates.   About Bob Gold & Associates Bob Gold & Associates develops highly tailored integrated public relations, marketing, and social media communications programs that connect with audiences to make a direct, positive impact on the bottom line. Their experience in serving organizations ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 firms vary in industries including telecommunications, M2M-connected devices, high-tech, customer care, cable TV programming, and sports. About toppragencies.com toppragencies.com is a organizer of public relations evaluations. The main ambition of toppragencies.com is to learn and announce those individuals or companies offering best public relations solutions available. Public relations companies are put through a meticulous analysis to ensure the listings contain the absolute best companies the public relations industry has to offer. The 10 best PR companies for January 2014 can be found at: http://toppragencies.news-prs.com/us/public-relations-rankings  

by Kathleen McFadden Search engine optimization (SEO) determines where and how businesses rank on search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo. As the competition for online real estate continues to heat up, B2B and B2C marketers have planned to increase their SEO budgets by 43 percent and 45 percent, respectively. With marketing departments increasingly seeing more value in digital services, PR professionals must understand how to best incorporate SEO tactics into their service offerings. Become your client’s trusted SEO consultant with these six rules to live by: 1. Take advantage of Google’s free tools. Claim your business’s location on Places for Business, and suggest that your clients follow suit. The same goes for Google+, which can and does influence Google Search. A +1 is similar to link-backs and Web traffic, in that it helps Google determine which sites people deem important. Last, identify the top search terms in your client’s industry for which they’d like to “own” a top spot in search results, and then use the Google AdWords Keyword Tool to find which phrases are searched most frequently. Sprinkle these words throughout your news releases and media advisories. 2. Always link to your client’s homepage in an email pitch. News outlets’ websites can generate some of the strongest link-backs for your clients. To increase the chances that your client’s name will be hyperlinked in a reporter’s story, always include it in your email correspondence with media contacts. 3. Never distribute a hyperlink-free news release. Take every opportunity to drive traffic to your client’s website, whether it’s through a release that crosses the national newswire or one that’s simply emailed to a media list. The rule of thumb is to use three to four hyperlinked keywords per every 400 words. Anchor text should direct clicks to pages within the company website that are most relevant, such as a page where a study’s full report can be found, where people can download an infographic, or where a particular service offering is described in detail. 4. Make the most of your news release’s lead paragraph. Search engine results often display only the first 75 to 100 characters of body text. Start with the most important, keyword-rich information to ensure that’s what Google uses to describe the release. 5. Start blogging. A company blog is one of the best ways to continually update your site with strong keywords. Blogs can be shared on popular social networks, thus creating a channel to increase site traffic. Plus, guest blogging opportunities may arise, and these can generate powerful link-backs from other sites. Map out a content strategy, know which keywords you want to target and stick to a publishing schedule. Blog posts published on Monday and Tuesday mornings often do best, traffic-wise. 6. Become the Web developer’s best friend. If your client is launching a website, you will likely be brought on to write the copy for each page. Take this project a step further by working closely with the developer to see how the site is being built to accommodate strong SEO. Meta title text—the page title you see in search results and at the top of your browser—is extremely important for SEO. Suggest title text for every page on the site by using Google’s Keyword Tool and your client’s Google Analytics account, which will show you how they’re already being found online. What other SEO tactics have you embraced in your PR work?

by @ElainePofeldt One way to get back in control of your time in 2014 is to spend less time onsocial media. That’s not so simple if you use Facebook and other sites for marketing your business. I spoke recently with Michael Fernandez, co-founder and owner of Factory 360, an experiential marketing firm in New York City that has served clients such as SVDEKA Vodka, ESPN, Chase and PayPal, about how to pull this off. Here are some tips. Use Facebook as your “mothership.” This is the social media site where many customers will first look you up, so if you’re going to maintain a presence on just one site, this is generally a good choice. “If you are a more visual business, then Facebook coupled with Pinterest might be the right social formula,” says Fernandez. Stay focused. Creating pages on social sites that you have no time to maintain can backfire. “The last thing you want to have someone do is look at your page and it’s December 2013 and the last post was in May 2013, ” Fernandez says. “ They think, `Did they go out of business?” Post to all of your sites from one place. Fernandez recommends signing up for HootSuite Pro, which is free. “If you want to post to Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram, you can do one post and it will push it out to all three,” he says. Using Hootsuite also allows you to monitor the comments on all of the social sites you use from one dashboard. Listen frequently. Building a regular routine where you quickly check your social media pages when you start work, in the afternoon and maybe once in the evening will help you stay on top of any complaints from customers and respond to them before they escalate. “In social media, things happen in an instant,” Fernandez says. “You don’t want to wake up and have a whole controversy. The voice of one person on social media is as loud as 10,000. It’s not a dialogue between you and one person. It’s between you and everyone who’s watching in this arena.” Don’t hash out disputes online. If someone does post a negative comment, contact him to tell him how you will resolve the complaint or send him your private email address to discuss his concerns. Don’t get sucked into a public argument on a social media page. “It’s like a bar altercation,” he jokes. “Take it outside.”  

by @ereleases There's more to writing a press release than you might think. Not only is there a format to follow (headline, summary, date, content, section about the company), but a set of standard procedures to adhere to—AP Style. Read on to learn how to make sure your press releases follow commonly-held stylistic procedures. What is AP Style? The Associated Press (AP) has set various regulations for news publications to follow. While they aren't the only rules out there, they are the most commonly used. The Associated Press has also set standards for press releases: 1. Set your objective in the introduction. Set your goal at the beginning of the release. If a journalist reads the first line or two of your release and doesn't find the objective, he'll toss your release and move on to the next one. 2. Cover the five Ws in the body copy. Once you have a reporter's attention, you need to deliver the pay off. Follow the five Ws to make this happen (who, what, when, where, why). In other words, make sure you give the editor all the information she needs to write a full story. Because of their tight deadlines, editors don't have time to dig deep. 3. Check your spacing. Here's where it gets a little more technical. While it may seem picky, you should only use one space after punctuation—none before. This may seem different to you, as some people like to add two spaces after punctuation. 4. Drop that extra comma. When you list items in a series, you typically have the option to use a comma before that last "and." For example: I ate bananas, peanut butter, and chocolate. I ate bananas, peanut butter and chocolate. When you follow AP Style, drop that last comma. I like that last comma, but I've made myself stop using it in press releases. 5. Use full names and titles only when you introduce someone. When you first introduce someone, like a CEO, in your release, give his or her full name and title. But don't keep doing so, as it will prove superfluous and make your writing sound clunky. After the introduction, simply use the last name. 6. Get numbers right. AP Style rules for numbers are a bit tricky. Spell out numbers one through nine. After that, use numerals like "10." Also use numbers for dates, and abbreviate months with more than five letters. AP Style is important for PR Yes, it seems trivial. Who cares if you get all the little intricacies correct? Editors care. And since you want them to pick up your stories, you need to play by their rules.

by Caysey Welton In 2013, a lot of focus shifted away from impressions and moved towards shareable media. Sites like BuzzFeed, The Onion and Gawker were among some of the major content producers that created a new narrative—shares are king. That is, shares make your content sticky and bring in new audiences. Not only that, but shares are an extremely attractive metric to advertisers. Of course, for publicists, creating shareable content is a bit trickier. Posting shareable content for a branded website is one thing, but crafting a release and distributing it to journalists is another. Now, your news pitches must have panache and characteristics that shout “share me.” Easier said than done. Still, there ways to convince journalists that your news is shareworthy. With that in mind, PR News asked Taylor Cole, director of public relations and social media at Hotels.com, a few questions on how to write better press releases. PR News: What really makes a press release shareworthy? Taylor Cole: Press releases are shareworthy when they’re accurate, well-written (to the point) and timely. With the abundance of information available to consumers and the media, press releases will no longer be the primary source of data on a brand’s topic. Instead, press releases will increase awareness, spur conversation and help build a brand’s reputation. PR News: How do you craft a release to read like a news story?  Cole: Begin by considering the headline you’d like to read about your brand’s topic, then work backwards to tell the story with the who, what, when, where, why (and why should I care?). As you’re crafting the release, be mindful that any good news story will be balanced and present all sides of an issue. Your release will need to be balanced as well (and not masquerade as a stand-alone sales tool). People have short attention spans. Don’t waste your first paragraph on obvious information that any consumer could easily gather elsewhere. Use the first paragraph to draw readers into your story and give them the call to action early. PR News: What is your number one actionable tip for writing better releases? Cole: Never miss an opportunity to include visuals such as photos, infographics, short videos or charts with your press releases. Visuals can be shared along with the text of your release to draw more eyes to your content. Tag your images or visual content with your brand and add keywords that illustrate your topic. With social media and web links, visuals can become the initial driver to lead viewers to your release, blog or brand’s website for more information.

by Carm Lyman A new year is the perfect time for a fresh start. As you kick off 2014, you have a chance to consider more ways to be successful at your job, providing your company and clients with even better results. Here are four thought-starters to get you going: Consider what the media sees as news, not what your team believes deserves coverage.  Although a major product update or an award is a huge win and great accomplishment by your team, it is seldom news. Media and bloggers are not covering every update to every product by every company—unless of course you happen to be Apple, Twitter, Facebook, or otherwise hot enough for near nonstop coverage. Product updates haven’t been news for years in many industries; for some industries, they never were. Give the media what they want and need: trends, stats, or how a product or company is improving our lives and businesses. Something that shapes the world around us is almost always newsworthy. If you present what impact or role a product or company plays, that’s how you’ll make news and gather a faithful following of journalists. Consider how you’re managing a situation, client, executive, or problem.  You’re the PR pro—remember that it’s your job to guide the client or your execs. Take a look at 2013. Were you consulting, guiding and providing the strategy for communications? Or were you taking orders on how PR should be done and, as a result, not fulfilling expectations? You know what works. Execute on that, and stick to your guns. You will keep your sanity, your client/exec will thank you (in the end), and the media will respect you. Consider what you’re not considering.  We get so busy in the day to day that it’s easy to fall behind on being proactive. What should or would you be thinking about, initiating or doing today if you found free time? Have you checked in with your teammates or client? Are you measuring tangible results to uncover what’s working, or what’s not? Should you be thinking a little harder about what would really make an impact on a campaign or program? What else might you not be considering that you should? Consider others.  It’s amazing what insight can be gathered by putting yourself in others’ shoes. Maybe start with a series of questions: How can you make today easier or more successful for your client or boss? Can you do any thinking for them? Take something off their plate? Consider the media when it comes to beat, schedule, and deadlines. Being thoughtful versus unintentionally negligent or distracting will net better relationships and ultimately a more successful venture.

by Lauren Riley @smexaminer  Is there anything from your online past that you would not want people to see? Do you want to start cleaning up your online identity? Your digital footprint is everything that shows up when people search for you online. From images to comments and blog posts, this collective first impression can make or break your online reputation. In this article, I share 5 tips for making sure your online presence reflects well on your brand or business. Read the full article here:  

by Caysey Welton @CayseyW Facebook’s Instagram Thursday announced its newest messaging feature that will allow users to directly message 15 friends simultaneously. The latest feature is not unlike Twitter’s direct messaging. But with Instagram, users can snap a photo or shoot a video and send the content directly to the friends they follow. Once a message is sent, users can continue a dialogue about the photo or video—just like any other messaging thread. Here’s the hook: If you send a message to someone who isn’t following you back, he or she can choose to ignore your message altogether. The latest feature for the mobile app is now available on both iOS and Android platforms. Of course, communicators might be scratching their heads wondering what this tool can do for them. The simple answer is, not much. Although Instagram will be aggressively introducing ads onto its network in 2014, the company clearly operates with a user-first mentality.  In other words, brand integration is not top of mind when Instagram rolls out  a new feature. The ability to direct message 15 users doesn’t exactly offer PR execs much leverage to reach out to their stakeholders. Still, it does provide another portal to connect with influencers and loyal followers, particularly among the media. It also opens the door for marketing strategies, such as contests and quizzes. If communicators choose to tap into the newest feature they should first consider this: Instagram users have developed a reputation for being allergic to phoniness, and are not receptive to blatant promotion and inauthentic appeals. With that in mind, perhaps your best strategy for now is to proceed with caution and do as Instagram does—consider the user first.

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. A third of us haven’t checked our privacy settings in a year or longer — in spite of the fact that Facebook changes those settings and policies quite frequently. And we’re giving away our information to companies far more than we realize. Sixty-one percent of us have no idea how many companies have the keys to our Facebook profiles via app permissions and Facebook logins. Don’t even get us started on passwords. Here’s a snapshot courtesy of the analysts at NextAdvisor: