By Melanie McCraney

McCraney Communications

SEO: It’s one of those “techie” terms that is annoyingly overused by some who want to keep the web mysterious. Is every CEO tuned in to SEO? Well, no, but your CEO should know about SEO, and that’s where the fundamentals of SEO come in.

SEO means “search engine optimization.” Lots of people simply call it “search”. Like Agent Gibbs on NCIS when he tells his high-tech agent McGee, “In English, Tim,” in English, SEO means making your website more likely to turn up when someone searches with Google or another search engine for the kind of products or services you offer.

How do you do that? It’s not magic – it involves skilled use of keywords and phrases for starters– and there is an elaborate art and a science to it. Watch out for cold calls by “SEO Pros” who want to charge you an arm and a leg and guarantee “front page of Google.” Did you know you can pretty much guarantee you’ll turn up on Page one of Google all by yourself, simply by setting up a (free) Google Plus account? Google your name and there you are. Where’s the value in that? Good question.

It’s great if you’re only trying to get in front of people who already know your name. In fact, everyone should use the free social media tools available to help control on line image and reputation. Google +, Facebook and Linked In are masters of SEO, and when you index your name with them, you have the benefit of riding along with their search savvy for free.

But if you’re seeking to use SEO to build audience and increase visibility for your business, you need to take it a step further. Google, Bing and the other search engines constantly change their algorithms (the metrics that determine who lands on top in search) and it is critical to have an informed strategy to take you where you need to go.

A digitally savvy public relations professional can help put the art and science of SEO to work to enhance your business.  PR firms that don’t have search experts on board full-time frequently partner with digital pros . Search strategy is complex and there’s much more to it than tags and keywords; the good news is that a digital professional can build you a successful SEO strategy with measurable benchmarks on most any budget.

While many of us will spend this week planning holiday traffic routes or preparing a menu for the annual feast, I hope we can take a moment to reflect on those who should receive a bit of gratitude. All year long, our clients and our customers help us become more  profitable by trusting in our services and paying our fees. It is because of them that our table will be filled and we can afford other holiday blessings. Regardless of our industry, communicating our appreciation is a habit that should be adopted year round.

Maybe chicken should be the official holiday bird?

I have to admit that when I place my order at Chick-fil-A, I’m a little startled to receive “my pleasure” in response to my “thank you.” Fast Company has noticed this, too. There is something about that little bit of gratitude that sticks with me, especially when I’m lucky to get anything more than change and a receipt at other restaurants. Are you thanking your customers for the opportunity to use your skills to their benefit? Are you articulating it? Consider ending your next strategy meeting with a client, or your next encounter with a customer with a sincere “thank you” for the opportunity to be of service to them and a reminder than you enjoy the work you perform.

Are you properly and promptly thanking customers for their business referral?

Representing small, service-bases businesses has shown me the amount of new customers that can be generated by referral. Especially for small businesses with little marketing or advertising budget, a word of mouth reference, a favorable post on Angie’s List , or the retelling of favorable service on Facebook can be golden. However, having a system in place to ask for these referrals and rewarding them is key. Be sure to ask customers if they are happy with the service they received and ask that they tell others about it. Here are some tips from About.com. This also allows the customer the chance to tell you if they aren’t pleased, rather than have them blast you to their family, coworkers and friends. Determine how you want to thank people for directing a new customer your way. Will you give them a discount on their next service? Or, is a gift program (complete with promotional items featuring you logo, of course) a better route for you? Duct Tape Marketing has a couple of ideas.

Take a break from the food prep, or do some brainstorming while you drive. Simple solutions can help your company be more thankful, and more profitable, throughout the year.

By Amy Kossoff Smith, Write Ideas, Inc.

I flew Virgin America to California this past weekend, and couldn’t wait to get back to my desk to write about the unique marketing muscle behind this flying experience.  It’s hard not to look at my own customer service experiences through a marketing/PR lens, and this was no exception.

Initially, I thought I was flying on one of those “off brand” airlines, and wasn’t sure what to expect, if anything!  Instead, I couldn’t believe the swank, nightclub feel on board.  Black leather, comfy seats, decent leg room, magenta-ish track lighting, a safety video cartoon-style with some attitude & humor (didn’t know THAT was possible).

The highlight, though, was the personalized TV/computer control panel (felt like an iPad to me) in front of me where I could order drinks, gourmet food, movies, all with a light touch (and for some options, the swipe of a credit card).  Well done, Virgin America!  Comfort, attitude, convenience, and FUN!  Pretty powerful marketing combination, I’d say!

This “party” video I found gives you a peek on board…I didn’t see this guy on MY flight, but can relate to his enthusiasm!

By Deb Trivitt, TrivittPR

Oh, that PR professionals had as much influence over journalists as they say we have!  Keith Trivitt (no relation) debunks the myth that is evidently circulating among the journalists.

I don’t hear it from PR professionals!

There are several reasons we ask questions of journalists when they ask to interview clients or CEOs or anyone else in our realm of influence.  One is to be sure they are prepared.  We don’t want to say “I don’t know the answer, I’ll call you back.”  That wastes everyone’s time.

Another is to be sure we are making the right person available to the reporter.  Sometimes the best person to answer your questions is NOT the CEO!

A third reason is that the reporter is not asking appropriate questions…unfortunately, they sometimes go on “fishing” expeditions, looking for issues where there are none, or they don’t have a clear idea of what a corporation does or doesn’t do.  PR professionals are able to direct them to a more appropriate organization to answer the questions.

Like many PR professionals, I was a journalist before moving into PR (more opportunities, but not less stress).  Most of the good PR people I know work hard to make sure the stories they pitch are truly news-worthy and work to manage their client’s and CEOs expectations in regard to the media.  AND most of the journalists I work with appreciate the work I do to help them get the information they need.

Keith is correct…our influence in greatly over rated!

Thanks to Susan Hart, Hart PR, for sharing this post from her PR blog, EveryDayPR.net.

When discussing a work project, a business mentor used to constantly ask me, “what’s the message?”  The same question applies to Occupy Wall Street, a headline-garnering, fast-spreading movement taking place in cities around the country. Even watching the local news in New York last week didn’t clarify unified messages or goals for me. Every person who responded to the “why are you here” question by reporters gave a different answer.  On the upside, crowds were entertained by impromptu musical renditions of 60s classics like “This Land is Your Land”.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m all about fixing a broken system. Contrary to Gordon Gekko’s 1980s “greed is good” talk in the “Wall Street” film, I think reform is better or at least as good.  But give me a common purpose, a call to action or an emotional response rather than universal skepticism.  Even the Occupy Wall Street website lacks clarity of message and goals although it does accept donations to fund protest operations.

Vagueness of purpose makes an organization’s mission impossible. A lack of consistent messaging exacerbates the situation. And while we’re discussing some basic tools of a public relations campaign, the absence of a media policy or at least talking points further confuses the audiences.

While Occupy Wall Street is spreading to the point of an official groundswell, any measurable action achieved (other than media attention) will be negligible. Effective public relations professionals know that our clients judge us by results. Successful results start with clarity. Success continues with consistency.

You get my point.

By Bob Schiers, President and Founder of RAS Associates Public Relations, LLC

It was no secret that Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was seriously ill.  Reports of his ongoing battle with pancreatic cancer were part of the news for several years.  His day-to-day condition was shrouded in near secrecy.  Most news reports amounted to nothing more than pure speculation about his condition and long-term prognosis.  That was due in large part to Jobs’ and most likely Apple’s desire to keep his medical condition as private as possible.  That was no small task given the love the world shared for Jobs, as well as the more practical and somewhat seamy side of things, Apple’s bottom line.

Such was Job’s vision and leadership that Apple became the single wealthiest corporation in the world, trading market rankings with the likes of giants like Exxon-Mobile and Wal-Mart, flush with billions in cash.  So it was reasonably understandable that Apple had a lot at stake in terms of keeping Job’s medical condition as quiet as possible.  I can’t fault them for that.

That said, when I heard of Job’s passing last evening, I was torn with mixed emotions as I watched news outlet after news outlet pay homage to one of the greatest minds of our time.  Torn at the loss of a technological and marketing genius.  And equally torn by all the pundits who lauded Jobs’ genius.  Torn because many of them were the same ones who just a few years ago tried their best to bury Jobs and Apple Computer in the 1990’s.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t for one second think anyone is insincere in praising Jobs in the time of his passing.  What bothers me, and what makes me bitter is that so many of those who are quick to praise him today were rabid in their efforts to destroy Apple Computer and with it, Jobs’ singular vision for a better way for the world to embrace technology.

Without naming names, I’ve watched one so-called expert after another praise Jobs on network newscasts since his passing.  Many of them are the same folks who trashed Apple (and later, Macintosh) as “toy computers” and “make pretend devices” that were incapable of being used for business.  Therein lies Jobs’ true genius – he alone recognized the absurdity of “corporate computing” and set out to create computers and devices that were consumer-friendly… computers and software for the masses – totally unthinkable at the time.  And the single greatest reason why most of us have vastly better computers and other hardware in our homes than we do in our offices.  Thanks Steve.

Jobs and Apple (Apple Computer back then) faced an epic uphill battle in the 80’s and 90’s – a battle first waged from his parents’ garage with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.  His opponents? None other than the likes of IBM and Microsoft, as well as a jaded PC-friendly trade media that did more then its fair share to bash, trash and nearly destroy Jobs and Apple Computer.  Why?  I can only speculate and offer my opinion. First, the obvious… MONEY.  IBM and Microsoft recognized early on that Apple was a formidable foe and they spent themselves silly combating Apple at every turn.  Second, and less obvious, was a campaign waged by those businesses so deeply entrenched in PC hardware and software that they were in a near panic at the thought of having to dump billions of dollars worth of “hard-to-use” DOS based hardware and software in favor of buying the fast emerging MAC OS (operating system), which was (and is) vastly superior and easier to use than any PC OS.  Hence, my bitterness.

I’ll elaborate…  I’m annoyed by the legions of “Apple Newbies” who just a few years ago used to mock me (and the “relative handful” of thousands of Apple/Mac loyalists) for using Apple products.  They would sneer and say things like, “Why don’t you get a real computer?” or “That thing is useless for business” while I would argue back that they were dead wrong.  What they failed to realize was that they were BRAINWASHED by big businesses that didn’t DARE want to “re-hardware” and “re-software” their companies – it would cost them billions.  But big business ignored one critical piece of the puzzle – PRODUCTIVITY!  Steve Jobs was busy creating computers (and later, other devices) that EVERYONE could use – and use them easily and effectively.  Meanwhile, Big Blue and Big M were busy scrambling with ways to try to make their clunky (okay CRAPPY) operating systems more ‘Mac-Like” while their (yes, I hate to admit it) PR machines were doing their damndest to convince people that Apple and Macs were inferior…. no, wait a minute… DEAD.

But something happened along the way.  People like me, one of just several hundred thousand diehard Mac loyalists, who in Apple’s darkest hours, NEVER gave up on the original  “Rainbow Apple” machines of the 80’s and early 90’s. Mac User Groups (MUGS) like the one I belonged to NEVER stopped believing in Apple, NEVER stopped preaching about Apple’s superior features, NEVER stopped debating with brainwashed PC-addicts that the Mac OS was vastly superior and vastly easier to use than ANY PC operating system.  I was never MAC FANATICAL but I was always honest with myself about Apple/Mac.  One of my favorite ways to try to convert the brainwashed PC legions was to acknowledge that yes, at the end of the day, they are both just computers, and in the end, they do much the same thing.  But then I’d get them with my clincher…  “If we both have to dig a ditch and you use a spoon (i.e., a PC) and I use a steam shovel (i.e., a MAC) we’ll both have dug a ditch at the end of the day – but it will be a whole lot easier, and get this, a whole lot more fun, using a Mac.  Another analogy I used with great success to convert those on the dark side to come over to Apple/Mac was to say, “Here’s a PC and here’s a Mac” and then throw a phonebook on the table and say “this is the PC Manual” and then toss a tissue on the table and say “this is the Mac manual – which do you want to use?”  It worked every time!  Macs are just that simple to use.  After all, who wants to work hard at working?

We Mac loyalists can take comfort in the fact that we helped Apple survive.  We enabled it to live on through the lean years when Steve was ousted by his very own.  We enabled Apple to survive long enough for Steve to return and rewrite history.

What galls me most are the “Apple Bashers” of the past who now pretend they never had a bad thing to say about Apple.  I call them ‘The Rotten Apples.”  To me, they’re like the worst of the worst reformed smokers, with their “holier than thou” attitudes about how great Apple is.  How fast they forgot how they bashed and mocked Apple loyalists for not being “PC” people – and I don’t mean politically correct!  More than one of them tried to embarrass me in meetings when I’d break out my Apple Newton (an ingenious precursor to ALL handheld devices including the iPad) telling me to “put my toy away.”  I guess if there’s any kind of silver lining in their past anti-Apple rhetoric, it’s that they finally get it.  Good for them.

Despite the millions of dollars spent by the PC crowd (companies, developers and consumers alike) to destroy Apple, they FAILED.

Given that I’ve invested more than $100,000 in Apple/Mac hardware and software since 1984, I PROUDLY take a fraction of the credit for Apple’s survival.  So too should the thousands of other other Apple/Mac loyalist.  We NEVER walked away from Apple and we NEVER bashed a Mac user.  In return, we’ve been rewarded with the greatest computer and technology products the world has ever seen.  Products like the iPod, the Mac computer, the iPhone, the iPad, Apple Airport Networking, and countless other cool items that are EASY and FUN to use.

I for one will truly miss Steve Jobs.  Not because he made cool stuff – because he no longer can.

Rest in peace Steve, rest in peace.

By Marisa Vallbona, APR, Fellow, PRSA

This blog post first appeared in PRSAY

In an age of declining journalism standards, where anything goes and credibility is in serious question, it’s about time we see a network take the high road and announce it’s going back to the true practice of journalism. According to The Daily Beast, ABC News division president Ben Sherwood has decided the network will do just that and no longer pay for interviews or images, a practice called “checkbook journalism” that has become all-too-common in recent years.

ABC spokesman Jeffrey Schneider told The Daily Beast: “We can book just about anyone based on the strength of our journalism, the excellence of our anchors, correspondents, and producers, and the size or our audience. These licensing deals had become a crutch, and an unnecessary one.”

ABC’s decision came after the network had egg on its face after paying Casey Anthony $200,000 for photos  in 2008, and after paying several sources of recent high-profile cases for photos and video just to get them to appear in interviews.

While ABC is making the right move ethically, will other networks and news media follow their lead? One can only hope.

So blurred have become the lines between paid and earned placement, that now when we pitch our clients, we sometimes get calls from “producers” or “editors” telling us they’re excited about our clients and want to talk to us about booking them on a morning show or writing an extensive feature article in an upcoming magazine issue. We quickly find out these “news” opportunities are pay for play.  The worst are the national feature shows that charge in the tens of thousands of dollars and are not clear on who their target audience is or how a client will even be presented on the show.

Not exactly the most ethically sound or comforting notion.

The Los Angeles Times summed up this problem beautifully in its article, “Is that a morning show or an infomercial?” It wouldn’t be an issue if both sides disclosed it’s a paid opportunity.  But the problem is that most of them don’t. They leave their audiences thinking the products featured in the news segment are there for the news value, not because someone paid to have them there. That’s unethical and violates principles of journalism.

If the Federal Trade Commission can compel bloggers to disclose when they are given a product or paid to write a review, then why are TV and print news media lagging?

The last straw for me came last week when my firm distributed a simple news release announcing our new account coordinator. We received a response from a representative who is now handling the “People on the Move” at the San Diego Business Journal . We were informed that our account coordinator  was perfect for the new, redesigned section and the Business Journal representative was excited to talk to us about it. It sounded suspicious already. The catch? She wanted at least $175 to feature our new account coordinator in this new section, which used to run real news about new company hires as long as the information was newsworthy. The only thing the Business Journal did right was include a disclaimer in its publication that the section is a paid advertisement.

Have newspapers, magazines and networks really gotten that desperate that now they’ve even resorted to charging for “People on the Move” – type announcements?

Does this mark the beginning of the end for “checkbook journalism” and pernicious pay-for-play schemes?

________________________________________________________________

Marisa Vallbona, APR, Fellow PRSA, serves on the PRSA Board of Directors and is president of CIM Incorporated, a Southern California-based public relations firm with offices in Los Angeles and San Diego.

By Amy Kossoff Smith, President, Write Ideas, Inc.

Despite – or because of – this recession, there’s still clearly a hearty appetite for designer duds at discount prices.  Target‘s recent launch of Missoni, an upscale Italian label with wild, colorful, geometric patterns, was a huge success on many fronts.  Even though their website crashed from the sudden surge in traffic, I’d call it a PR success story for lots of reasons.

Lydia Dishman reported in Forbes (The Genius of Target’s Missoni Madness) “Two full hours before Target threw open doors…to offer rabid fashionistas a lower priced collection of haute Italian label Missoni…the discount chain allowed shoppers to buy the limited edition goods online.”

Success #1:  Mass distribution of “limited edition” designer labels

The site crashed, but ah, the buzz it created online, on-air, everywhere!  Target’s spokesperson told The Today Show that the New York “kiosk” they set up was scheduled to be open for days; instead, it sold out in HOURS!

Success #2:  Make lemonade out of lemons.  Site crashes; talk about demand and popularity, not a techno-glitch!

The Today Show segment included a Today Show staffer and contributor each wearing Missoni (one the “real deal” and one “the Target version”) – I certainly couldn’t tell the difference!

Success #3:  Show, don’t tell, but in a meaningful way.  The more senses you engage, the easier it is to tell a story.  Always more powerful!

I’d say Target hit the bulls-eye on this one!

Only criticism:  The Target spokesperson (Dustee Jenkins, VP Communications) did a great job promoting the story (wearing of course, a “Missoni” vest) — but I might have advised her against ending the interview with, “Target always has something great in store.”  THAT sounded rather self-promotional, and I think they got enough fabulous promotion already without being so direct!

Signing off to go track down some designer Missoni at my Target!

Beware of the Tweet that could result in legal repercussions!  Many professional communicators are launching into social media marketing campaigns and not considering the legal mistakes they may be making.  This oversight could result in fines and/or a disruption in the client’s business.

So before you post that next photo or conduct a sweepstakes on Facebook, read this blog on Write Speak Sell by attorney Kyle-Beth Hilfer about the most common legal errors in social media marketing…

Click here to read full post.

Social commerce or buying sites such as Groupon and LivingSocial are popping up at an astounding rate. (In fact, it is reported that Groupon is one of the fastest growing companies in the world.  Their proliferation – on the national level as well as on the micro level – make sharing hot and seemingly scarce deals with friends easy to do. Capitalizing on basic social principles, these buying sites are fast becoming part of the social media playbook.

But, are they good for a brand and a business? This debate no doubt will continue as players such as Facebook get into the game. Facebook Deals allows “users to share purchases with friends via their Facebook update stream, as well as let one user “unlock” a deal and then share that same deal or discount with friends.”

In a recent post on iMediaconnection, Francois Gossieaux, Co-founder and Partner of Human 1.0, adamantly stated that Groupon is bad for business and for consumers based on basic business fundamentals.

Profitability:  Once people expect a product at a certain price, it is very hard to get them to pay more for it. So if you are going to discount your products or services by 50 percent, you will find it almost impossible to ever get paid what you used to get paid before. Discounts not only destroy your profitability, but they also destroy the profitability for every other business around you; they destroy the profitability for entire geographies or industries.

As a Groupon affiliate, you could find yourself selling tons of products and services at 75 percent off from what you normally get to the same people over and over again, for months. Not only that, but regular customers, those who have been paying full price for years, are likely to hear about Groupon offers and use them as well — and there is no way anyone can justify the profitability of existing customers that way, even when making more than 75 percent margin on product or service offerings.

Customer Loyalty:  You cannot build a lasting competitive differentiator based on pricing — pricing is the only differentiator that can be copied by others in a matter of seconds. Plus, it does not help you build loyalty. If customers buy your products based on price, they will go wherever the best price is. Coupons only make sense if you can attract new customers and if you can get those new customers to buy more products at full price — and clearly that is not what is happening. According to a study by Professor Utpal Dholakia from Rice University, only 13 percent of Groupon users buy additional products at full price.

On the other side of the fence, marketers say that these sites offer new businesses a great way to launch and introduce their services and products to potential customers. It’s all about getting people in the door, or trying the product. And, they leverage basic social instincts: getting a great deal, wanting something that is ‘limited,’ being in the know, and sharing with friends.

It seems to me as brand protectors, we need to be mindful of the long term impact of these sites and craft messaging delivered through them that will ultimately maintain a brand’s reputation, build customer loyalty and repeat business. I am sure that we all have seen remarks such as one in a recent EaterNY post sounding the death knell for a two-month-old restaurant needing to offer deeply discounted coupons to get diners in the door. So, does offering a 50% coupon automatically say that a business is in trouble?

As social buying sites become more and more popular and part of a total social media campaign, that once again, to ground their use in the basic business strategies developed for a client is important.

What is your experience with these sites? Love to hear your feedback.