It’s that time again – another Sounding Board Amplifier. I recently had a conversation with Josh Rehrer, Director of Sales at Business Wire and got his thoughts on the evolution of press releases and the emerging trends of SEO. Think you know all the tricks of the trade when it comes to putting your news over the wire? Take a look at Josh’s comments and you may surprise yourself.
- Mary Evans
There has been much PR industry talk about the proclaimed 'death of the press release.' What's your response? How has the press release changed in the past few years?
A well-written press release is a tremendously effective tool in an organization's communications efforts. In today's very fragmented audience environment, the press release provides a great platform to break news, inform, reinforce marketing messages and drive audiences to additional information and dialogue. Our press releases serve as a mini portal for the company or organization more than ever before. Releases now include sharing links for popular social media services, photos and multimedia in a variety of formats for traditional journalists, bloggers and consumers, hyperlinked keywords to provide additional information and background for various audiences and search engine optimization (SEO) features, including back-end coding (XHTML language - an advanced version of HTML) and copy optimization.
Beyond the various features designed to provide relevant information for journalists, investors, analysts, consumers and other audiences, Business Wire both distributes news to key media, news systems, disclosure destinations and individuals but it also licenses with content providers, sites and portals to post in full-text, often with multimedia, to services that directly reach audiences that pre-Internet would not have seen a press release.
So, the press release is a tremendously valuable starting point for dialogue with audiences.
Earlier this year, Business Wire was the subject of posts by some high profile bloggers, after proactively claiming that companies and marketers can use Business Wire's reach to bypass journalists and bloggers to get into key news outlets like Techmeme, and to boost search engine rankings - a nod to the power of optimization. How has SEO, in your opinion, changed news announcements?
There was a blog post on a Business Wire ranking highly in Techmeme but it was a bit off the mark. Business Wire always considers journalists a critical part of our network and a vital component in vetting news and information. But, we have long-recognized that the roll of the press release has changed from being a closed communication between a company/organization and a journalist. Since 1996 or so, Business Wire has been posting press releases on our website and other information services, available to all. And prior to that, we had contracted with Dialog, Nexis-Lexis and other information platforms to make releases available to researchers and the financial community.
So, we've long been an advocate of increasing the reach and the role of the press release so that it effectively reaches consumers, investors and others. Not every press release is reported on by media and even when they are, much of the information in the press release may not be included in the reported story. Having the company press release widely available helps more people access the company's information. And because we post releases in so many different locations, the press release will often show up alongside reported news.
Any specific tips for press release optimization?
Write with an eye towards your audience and do some homework to determine the keywords and phrases that are being used to find your service, your competitors' services and your industry. There are a number of optimization tools that can help with that. Work those phrases into your press release, taking care not to over-stuff with terms. The release has to strike a balance between containing appropriately placed keywords/phrases and being a compelling story to a human reader. Include relevant links to pages on your company's site - helps drive traffic and the reinforcing information on your site helps authenticate what you are saying is relevant for search engine algorithms. Unless you are a well-known brand, avoid using your product names and instead provide more descriptive, commonly used terms that someone unfamiliar with your company might use in a web search.
Business Wire was acquired by Berkshire Hathaway just over two years ago. Have you met Warren Buffett? If so, what's he like?
Yes, I met him when he came to our 2006 international conference. After a two hour Q&A session, he came to our awards dinner, picked up a ukulele and sang a couple of songs.
Are there any emerging trends you're keeping your eye on?
Tools to share press releases, measurement, advanced language technology - XHTML and XBRL, which open more doors to more sophisticated content being used in more advanced ways by information services, portals, engines and individuals.
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(Photo Credit: The Huffington Post)
After causing furor and concern in the blogosphere last week, the Associated Press is looking to improve its blogger relations by forming guidelines to help bloggers determine how to property quote from AP materials. Last week, the prominent wire service sent a legal notice to blogger Rogers Cadenhead, author of the Drudge Retort, a parody of the popular Drudge Report site. In the notice, the AP stated that Cadenhead was to remove several entries in which the AP believed their stories were improperly used.
The legal action caused quite a backlash for the AP from bloggers, many of whom claimed that use of AP stories fell under the widely-used “fair use” provisions of copyright law. TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington wrote that the AP “doesn’t get to make its own rules about how its content is used, if those rules are stricter than the law allows.”
In response, the AP’s director of strategic planning, Jim Kennedy, is planning to meet this week with Robert Cox, president of the Media Bloggers Association, to create standards that would both protect the AP’s content and allow bloggers to quote from AP stories as necessary.
This story hammers home the notion that the blogsphere and other areas of social media are still very much in their legal infancy. From lawsuits involving MySpace and Facebook to copyright challenges for bloggers, many aspects of Web 2.0 are just beginning to test the legal waters and both media companies and users are finding themselves in the middle of a developing area of law. Once developed, the AP and Media Bloggers Association guidelines could end up being the de facto standard for the blogging community with respect to copyright concerns so stay tuned…
-Jen Becker
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Our thoughts go out to the media community as well as communicators around the world, all of whom undoubtedly took more than a deep breath on Friday upon hearing the news of Tim Russert. Our condolences go to his family for their loss.
We heard from clients who were in mourning or in shock, and our team reminisced about their experiences watching Tim Russert exemplify the integrity that creates great communicators.
We tip our hat,
ES
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I read this morning on TechDirt that a concerned group of corn farmers wrote Congress demanding that the potential harm of a Yahoo-Google deal be investigated. The author also notes that this is the same group of individuals who NBC claimed would be severely hurt by movie piracy through a loss of popcorn sales. Supposedly, a lobbying/PR firm called Law Media Group (LMG) helped the farmers get their message across.
I know that this news is focused on lobbying rather than actual PR, but these actions run very close to the astroturfing (fake grassroots movements) employed by some media campaigns. While astroturfing is morally reprehensible in-and-of itself, something so blatantly ridiculous like choosing a farmers’ group to represent an Internet issue smacks of rampant incompetence
NBC at least had a (partial) leg to stand on with their claim, but LMG or whatever other firm is responsible needs to explain why farmers of any kind should care about Yahoo, Google or Internet advertising models at all. You couldn’t slap together a concerned search engine users posse or maybe a front group from a somewhat-related industry?
If we’re just going to start selecting causes and citizenry at random, I’m going to power up an effort by middle-American video gamers mad about the constant increases in stamp prices.
Congress, prepare for our letter.
-John Terrill
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I love celebrity gossip. There – I said it. Please don’t judge me or think less of my intellect when I tell you that I have both TMZ and Perez Hilton bookmarked on my home computer. It’s not a hobby of which I’m proud but it’s something I’ve come to accept about myself. So imagine my delight earlier this week when two of my loves – PR and celebrity gossip came together in the form of the yet-to-be-born Brangelina twins. (If you didn’t know that Branglina is the widely accepted nickname for the super-celeb couple that is Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, then I feel both oddly sorry and yet somewhat happy for you).
The story goes like this – Entertainment Tonight (ET), the self-proclaimed “most watched entertainment news program in the world” announced to the world in a broadcast last Friday night that Angelina Jolie had given birth to twins in France. Citing a “source who says she was in the delivery room”, ET not only announced the alleged birth, but also mentioned the names of the newborns. Problem was, in their haste to break one of the summer’s biggest celeb news stories, ET got it wrong. Dead wrong. The twins, whom Jolie said are expected to arrive in August, were still in the womb. ET took the story off their website and made no mention of it on their Monday broadcast but has yet to issue a retraction. The show did state that it is looking into whether an impostor posed as Jolie’s assistant to trick them with the fake news.
So what does this have to do with PR you ask? This story is a great example of how today’s news media is frequently so rushed to break stories before competitors that the practice of fact-checking has become almost non-existent. Fact-checking was once a deliberate, thoughtful process whereby every fact in a story – from the spelling of a last name to the exact amount of VC funding a company received – was verified as accurate by a designated researcher. All media outlets used fact checkers frequently and while it was often considered a lowly job, some former fact checkers have gone on to make names for themselves (Jay McInerney, Anderson Cooper and Esther Dyson to name a few).
While it was at one time uncommon to see numerous corrections and updates to stories, it’s now become the norm. Whenever there’s a breaking news story, on-air reporters seemingly repeat anything that comes through their earpiece, regardless of veracity, in an attempt not to be “outscooped” by the competition. It’s this drive to have the most interesting, compelling story that led to the downfalls of both Jayson Blair and Dan Rather, and may lead to the professional fall of some ET producers. It is also this drive that leads us to caution our clients that fact-checking isn’t what it used to be and interviewees must use caution when making statements they do not know to be accurate.
For as much as I like the concept of fact-checking, I also acknowledge that the world has changed and I would be less inclined to check out a news site if I knew it was only updated after a tedious and time-consuming fact-checking process that its competitors skipped. The good news is that the time it takes to check facts has been greatly shortened by the Internet; the bad news is that the Internet is the culprit behind the need for quickly updated stories. I have yet to decide how I truly feel about the decline of fact-checking and the rise of quick updates but it will be interesting to follow the progression over the next few years.
-Jennifer Becker (media specialist and future wife of George Clooney)
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So you’ve launched a new product and worked hard getting it recognized in the media, now it’s time for reviews. Everyone loves a good review but no matter how good you know your product to be, reviews are still cause for nail biting… who will review it? What will they say? Will they love it? Will they find holes in it? Below are some SBX tips on getting through the process with no sweat and a positive outcome:
1. Make Absolutely Sure the Product is Ready to be Reviewed – Run every test imaginable to ensure that the product performs to the expectations set by the industry. The reviewer will do a comprehensive evaluation so the product should be tested for stability in a number of situations. Also, it is important to chose your reviewers carefully and avoid untenable situations where the client might not perform well.
2. Leverage the Pre-Briefing – Conducting a pre-briefing with the reviewer prior to him or her testing the product allows you the opportunity to fully explain the product, its functions, audience, benefits and differentiators. It can also provide the reviewer critical background on the technical environment and industry.
3. Know Your Competitors – It is important to be very familiar with your competitors since most reviewers will have researched them as well to use as a comparison. Position the client in the marketplace and draw clear distinctions that set the client apart from the competition.
4. Be Honest – Honesty is the best policy… Reviewers work very closely with products and will be able to tell if they don’t meet expectations. They must be able to test all features outlined or they will assume that it doesn’t work or doesn’t exist.
5. You Win Some, You Lose Some – There is no way to control the outcome of a review – sometimes it’s favorable and sometimes it’s not. Ultimate success depends on how the client reacts to the outcome. If the client focuses on the negative the entire experience will be negative but if the client focuses on the winning reviews and promotes those wins the outcome will surely be positive.
-- Ali Smith
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(Photo credit: Top Position)
The business of public relations is rooted in just that….relations. As experts, we must be proficient in all types of relationships; namely with journalists, third party vendors, industry influencers and executives. But our most important relationship is the one we share with our clients. For some, the client / agency relationship can be an enigma, but it need not be. My personal approach? The silver bullet is simple:
Listen.
I listen to my client contact express what results he or she expects, where we can provide value and efficiencies in scale. I listen to the CTO share wisdom about how industry trends affect their business. I listen to the CEO explain why his or her business model is different and why it matters.
I listen to what’s not being said. I listen to silence and the words between the sentiments.
And finally, when it’s my turn to communicate, I ask more open ended questions so that I may listen again.
- Julie Buckley
TAGS: client relations, PR business, agency relations
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Our next installment in the “Meet the Influencers” feature is a Q&A with local VC, Gary Golding, General Partner of the McLean office at Edison Venture Fund. Keep reading to get Gary’s take on the economy, social media companies and his advice for today’s entrepreneurs.
-Katie Hanusik
* Can you give us a quick overview on Edison and the kinds of tech companies you’re investing in these days?
For the last 21 years, B2B software investments have been our mainstay -- starting with Best Software in 1986 (incidentally, this deal remains the firm’s biggest winner with a 25x return). We’ve started to look at companies outside of B2B, companies like Neat Receipts (scanning and software solutions) and PlumChoice (online technical support for the home and small business). We’re also a long-time investor in financial services I.T. with companies like GAIN Capital (online foreign exchange platform), CorrectNet (investor and client reporting for asset managers) and Scivantage (enables financial transactions and online trading).
The common denominator with all our investments is a focus on new markets, growth markets and under-automated markets. We’re looking for that needle in a haystack.
* How is the economic downturn affecting the venture capital and entrepreneurial communities?
Though we’re seeing strong deal-flow right now, we’re anticipating a quieter year this year for our portfolio companies that target the financial services industry. We’re working to get term sheets out quickly, though we’re not at a point where we’re making a lot of concessions. We’re choosy about the companies we work with, but if we can’t come to some sort of agreement, we move on. We’re also seeing plenty of companies that need to do a little more work before we’d consider investing. We’re waiting to see if they can make progress in this economic climate.
* What is your take on the vibrancy of the DC entrepreneurial community? How will AOL’s leaving affect that community?
I’ve never been more optimistic about the D.C. region than I am now. Former executives from AOL, UUNet and MCI continue to make their stamp on the region. The biotech industry is blossoming and is attracting executives from other parts of the country. Microstrategy is another spawning-ground firm spinning off companies like Appian and Clarabridge. Finally, we have a strong heritage in this region working with the biggest enterprise customer – the U.S. government.
* We're seeing an increase in the number of social media companies in the D.C. area -- are you or are local VCs considering these deals? How do you feel about the advertising business model?
One of our partners, Joe Allegra, has been looking at social media companies, and we’ve probably had presentations from two to three of them. The big question… how do you monetize these companies? Most of them have very little revenue. If the West Coast VCs have success stories with social media companies – and obviously they do with YouTube and Facebook – they are more likely to invest, rather than anybody out here.
* Are there specific sectors or types of technologies in which you are keenly interested?
I spend my time focused on the government and telecom sectors. Edison did very well on an initial investment with BDS (which merged with BTG, then went public in 1992). That deal resulted in a 6x return, one of the bigger returns for government deals – but Edison hasn’t done a singe government deal since. After several years looking at government technology providers, we’re starting to zero in on some strong opportunities – I have three term sheets out right now. We’re looking for industry leaders that can sell globally. People view government as cheap and slow to upgrade, but I think there’s an element of automation that all enterprises welcome.
* What advice can you share for technology CEOs and marketing professionals, in managing through these tough times?
CEOs should be visible and recognized as a leader in their niche. If they don’t feel comfortable in that role, then they need to be willing to pass the mantle to someone else on the executive team. It’s also critical that executives focus on identifying differentiators. Overall, my advice to CMOs is to get on the Web and look for ways to automate lead generation. Whether you’re selling to the enterprise or to small businesses, you need to make it easy for people to find you.
Consider Regent Education, based in Frederick. Regent had one tired competitor and the market hadn’t seen a new product in 20 years. With our investment, Regent was able to transition their product from COBOL to a JAVA platform and introduce the industry’s first web-based financial aid management solution. Within just a few months, the market started to take notice. Earlier this year, Regent was recognized as “Firm of the Year” by the Tech Council of Maryland and was a finalist for the CODiE Awards (the only peer-reviewed product award in the software industry). I like the fun of zeroing in on a market and knowing that if we just execute, we could catch their competitors napping. That still gets me charged.
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Meet the Influencers – Rene Salas, Program Director, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year, Greater Washington Region
Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur Of The Year is one of the world’s most prestigious business awards for entrepreneurs. As the first and only truly global award of its kind, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year celebrates those who are building and leading successful, growing and dynamic businesses, recognizing them through regional, national and global awards programs.
Each year several SpeakerBox clients participate in the process and labor over their award submissions. We were delighted to sit down with Rene Salas, the program director for the Greater Washington Region to get some insight on the regional process...
- Katie Hanusik
* What makes the Entrepreneur of the Year award different from other award programs?
This is the only entrepreneurial awards program that takes place on 6 continents and in over 50 countries. Unlike any other awards banquet, this is a year-long and worldwide program. Many awards programs base their winners solely on financial performance. 9 out of 10 times you can take a look at the financials of a company and know who will win. That is not the case with EOY. This program considers the entrepreneur and his or her story first. The company's success and financial performance are secondary. That makes this program especially difficult to judge, since there is such a qualitative aspect. It also makes it that much more interesting!
* What is the evaluation process? How many stages are there (e.g preliminary, finalist) and how many people qualify at each stage?
An independent panel of judges is assembled to select the pre-finalists, finalists, and award winners. We have a panel of 7 judges representing various industries and experiences - venture capitalists, CEOs, Board Members, former winners. They bring a depth of experience that is unmatched and they really understand the process because so many of them have sat in those entrepreneur's seats. The judges are limited to a three-year term, to ensure there are always new insights brought to the process.
There are several stages to the program. All nominees are considered. Then some are chosen to receive an onsite interview as part of the due diligence process. After that, Finalists are announced. Lastly, after interviewing the pool of Finalists, the judges will select one winner in each of the 7-8 categories.
These 7-8 regional winners move on to compete at the National level in Palm Springs in November. There, 10 award winners are announced, and one winner is selected overall to represent the US in the World competition in Monte Carlo the following May.
* Can you share any insight into the judging? The nomination form references: financial performance, innovation, leadership, integrity, community involvement. Are these factors equally weighted - or is one significantly more important?
Our judges consider first and foremost the story of the entrepreneur. They want to hear the magic of the nominee's story including the highs and lows, risks and opportunities they have experienced to get where they are today. They want to know what motivates them and how their product or service is enhancing lives. Some important characteristics include innovation, integrity, strategic direction, and unique characteristics that set them apart from the competition. Also, you can't achieve success by yourself. How these entrepreneurs motivate their colleagues and employees is equally important to the judging process. Lastly, I've noticed our regional judges do like to see that these C-level executives are investing in their local community by demonstrating corporate social responsibility.
* How are the categories determined?
Judges have complete discretion over the categories. Generally speaking, categories are aligned by industry. However, the judges have the right to make up their own categories on the regional level. So, we might see a "Social Entrepreneur Of The Year" or an "Emerging" category. They vary from year to year. The judges will usually select the top 7-8 entrepreneurial stories as the winners and determine the finalist categories around those people. This prevents there being two great candidates in one category and none in another. They take the 7 or 8 best, instead of the best one from each category.
* What advice would you give to future applicants? How can they best position themselves for success? Should they be nominated by someone else? How important are references? How important is packaging (a big binder full of testimonials/media clips as compared to an online application)?
I would say that this is not the time to be modest. You've worked long hours and took many risks to get to where you are today. This is a forum to be recognized among some of the best and most innovative business people in the world. Don't hold back on sharing the trials and tribulations or the victories. It is also important to position yourself in the same way you market your business - unique.
In my experience the nominator does not make a difference to our judges. Submitting an application online definitely streamlines the process. 98% of our nominations for this year were submitted online. Media hits can easily be uploaded if they are helpful in making a case. We receive so many applications that the more we can streamline them for the judges, the happier everyone is. The judges are not interested in the quality of your PR materials, they are interested in hearing your story.
* Realistically, how should an applicant decide if they're ready for an award of this caliber? Are there thresholds in any of the categories that an applicant should consider (especially related to financial performance)?
We have many entrepreneurs submit nominations for several years in a row. The opportunity for networking is significant. We have been told that Entrepreneur Of The Year contributes to employee morale, and I think people just have fun with this process. Generally speaking this program recognizes high growth companies and the entrepreneurs who lead them. Both private and public companies compete in the program. Sometimes if a company is going to go public, we might suggest waiting one more year, but as I said, it is also beneficial for the nominee to get their feet wet by participating and understanding the process first. If you've had a couple of particularly successful years of growth, coupled with a comeback story you're a good candidate for this program.
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The press release has been often marked for death (most notably by Tom Foremski) and resurrected through design (by Todd Defren of SHIFT Communications), but the fact remains that it is still a viable way for companies to get their news out to the general public. The means of pushing these announcements, however, have changed drastically.
Search engines and social media rule the Internet, so it’s up to PR professionals to make sure that potential customers are finding their companies and products through the information maelstrom. How do PR pros do this? By optimizing their press releases with keywords.
Keywords are specific words or phrases that customers use to find certain products, services or companies and are the driving force behind search engine optimization and relevance in the online community. PR teams need to closely examine their current websites and marketing materials, and determine what terms are popping up the most. This becomes a great starting point for a SEO strategy.
Analysis tools are also a good solution to help in a keyword analysis, with some of the more popular being:
- Google AdWords Keyword Tool – Designed with advertising campaigns in mind, Google’s solution is a keyword relevance tool that determines what terms or phrases are being searched for the most.
- Wordtracker – offers a free trial but is pay-to-use
- KeywordRemix – Similar to Google’s Keyword Tool, KeywordRemix provides a holistic view of targeted words and phrases
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