Social Media Training - Recently Updated Pages

Fundamentals

vlectronica — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 03:43:10 CDT

Conversation, Not Selling

Social Media is a communication revolution that thrives via Social Networks. Information that is transmitted among friends and acquaintances via Social Media channels is done so through conversations, much like a conversation that one would have face to face.

Brands and Businesses have a valuable opportunity to join these online conversations, but must be very careful not to overstep their position. Just like no one wants to talk to that friend who over-promotes their semi-talented band, people don't want to feel like they're being pitched to on social media sites. If brands and businesses overstep their boundaries they run the risk of being removed from the conversation, or the even bigger risk of having poor feedback broadcasted to the community at large.

It's best to play it safe in the beginning and engage passively by listening. Let me repeat that because it's the most important part of any conversation, online or offline - listento what your audience is talking about and what they're saying about your brand before joining in the conversation. You will gain valuable information about your industry and about how people feel about your brand. Armed with this information you'll be able to participate by posting similar content to what your audience posts. Ideally, you will give them access to key information related to your industry before they get it elsewhere.

Relationships, Not Transactions

We're still looking for useful training content under this heading. Feel free to edit the page and add your thoughts!

Listen, Learn, Participate

We're still looking for useful training content under this heading. Feel free to edit the page and add your thoughts!

I have several modules on this - part of a blogging workshops
Listening 101 -Step by Step
Reading and Commenting on Blogs

Social media is not a strategy. It's part and parcel of an approach to corporate communications and public relations.

We're still looking for useful training content under this heading. Feel free to edit the page and add your thoughts!

Useful Social Media Tools

martinwaxman — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 23:00:09 CDT

RSS Readers:
Google Reader
Bloglines
Flock
Newsgator
Netvibes

Conversation Tracking:
Google Alerts
Google Blog Search
Technorati
Blogpulse
Twitter Search

Blogging platforms:
Blogger (free, hosted)
WordPress.com (free, hosted)
WordPress.org (free, open-source, host your own)
TypePad (free, hosted)
Tripod
Tumblr (free, hosted)
Blogonize (free, hosted)
Chyrp (free, host-your-own)
Textpattern (free, open-source, host-your-own)
Movable Type (free, host-your-own)
Simplelog (free, host-your-own)

Monitoring Services:
Radian6 (paid $$)
Nielsen Buzz Metrics (paid $$$$)
BrandWatch (paid $$)

Audio editing software:
Audacity (free)
MP3 encoder for Audacity (or other software)
WavePad (free or paid versions)

Podcast hosting:
Libsyn

RSS feed management:
Feedburner

Blog stats:
Google Analytics
BlogPerfume
Mint (paid)
MyBlogLog
PostRank (free & paid $)

Downloading YouTube videos:
iDesktop.TV
KeepVid

Video:
YouTube (sharing)
Dailymotion (sharing)
Seesmic (production/sharing/community)
Viddler (production/sharing/community)
Mogulus (live streaming/production/sharing/community)
Kyte (production/sharing/community)
Blip.tv
Vimeo (sharing/community)
TubeMogul (uploads to multiple sites)

Social Bookmarking sites:del.icio.us
digg

Micro-Blogging Tools:

Tweetdeck
Twhirl
Hootsuite
Seesmic
Twitterific (Mac only)
iTweet (Mac only)
60+ Twitter Tools (from Mashable)
The Wall Tweet Journal - A knowledge base for innovative Twittering, micro blogging, social media and Web 2.0 technologies
Twoogle - Custom Search Engine at The Wall Tweet Journal
Twittionary (Twitter wiki glossary)

Social Media News Release

graf1771 — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 06:50:24 CDT

A "social media news release" (or "social media release" or "social media press release") takes advantage of the linking,multimedia and social media capabilities of the Web to make releases more reader-friendly and useful.

Although traditional news releases can incorporate links and can include some multimedia elements, a social media news release aims to completely rethink the narrative, text-focused approach to news announcements.

Social media news releases can appeal to any of three constituencies:

traditional journalists
bloggers/podcasters
and consumers/readers

Background

The origins of the social media news release can be traced back to Tom Foremski's 2006 post, Die Press Release, Die Die Die.

Foremski called traditional news releases useless and artificial, and challenged the PR industry to rethink its strategies and adapt them to new realities, such as increasing disdain for "marketing clutter" and growing number of non-traditional publishing taking place on blogs and other Web sites.

From Foremski:

Here is my proposal:

Deconstruct the press release into special sections and tag the information so that as a publisher, I can pre-assemble some of the news story and make the information useful.

Provide a brief description of what the announcement is, but leave the spin to the journalists. The journalists are going to go with their own spin on the story anyway, so why bother? Keep it straightforward rather than spintastic.
Provide a page of quotes from the CEO or other C-level execs.
Provide a page of quotes from customers, if applicable.
Provide a page of quotes from analysts, if applicable.
Provide financial information in many different formats.
Provide many links inside the press release copy, and also provide a whole page of relevant links to other news stories or reference sources.

And tag everything so that I can pre-assemble my stories.

In reaction, Todd Defren of SHIFT Communications introduced his "social media press release template" and kicked off a debate that continues to this day.

On March 5, 2008, IABC announced it would take a lead in the push to develop standards around the social media release. Check out the social media release and the traditional release of the announcement.

Reactions to the Social Media News Release

Press Releases With 'A Song And Dance' - PR Week (requires login, free)
Social Media News Releases: Do Them or Not? - InfoWorld
Why You Should Embrace The Social Media News Release - Search Engine Guide
Press Release: Alive And Well And Kicking - BusinessWired
Direction of the Social Media Release? - SoSaidThe.Organization
The "New" News Release - Blog Herald
Watching the Street Fight And A Case Study On A Press Release + Social Media - Web Strategy by Jeremiah
Broken Record Time: Bagging on Press Releases - POP! PR Jots

Pros

Optimised for search
Optimised for conversation
Optimised for sharing
Tells the entire story through multimedia
Provides context on complicated stories
Makes a better impression, visually, than a wire release

Cons

We're still looking for input on the disadvantages of social media news releases. What are you waiting for?

Case Studies

Do you have a case study of a social media news release that you want to showcase? Add a new page under this one and go to town! Add a link here so people can get to it.

Other Examples of Social Media News Releases

A list of companies having experimented with the social media news release (some courtesy of Todd Defren):

Coca-Cola
Belkin
Cisco
Ford Motor Co.
Gatorade
Verizon
ITV2
Symantec
Vauxhall
WebEx
Nutrisystem
Colour
Yahoo! Canada
Weblo.com
Veritas/com.motion
Doritos (along with a traditional release)

Las Vegas Township Justice Court

BEA

SAP AG

Novell

Hubspot

Eurekster

Plant-It 2020 (Second Life Reforestation Project)

The first & second GeoCommons SMNRs

SinglePipe Communications

A list of PRX Releases

Pretty much every release in General Motors-Europe’s Social Media Newsroom

Converseon

Centrum Vitamins

Digital Britain on Pressitt

A list of some U.K. SMNRs distributed by webitpr can be found here.

You can create and release your own SMNRs with Pressitt

Unlocked cell phones

stevefranklis — Thu, 21 May 2009 17:52:34 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Success Stories

Bob.King — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 12:41:03 CDT

Have you successfully effected a change within your or a client's organization to adopt & use Social Media?

Overcoming the resistance to "all things new" often seems an insurmountable challenge. With our without top-down support, many appear to be changing their organizations from within, at the grassroots level.

Please share your case studies in success. Presumably those visiting and using this site face similar challenges. Perhaps your experience may encourage them to keep pressing.

Using Social Media To Create Social Media Training

conniecrosby — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 10:47:39 CDT

Social media is quickly becoming a topic that no professional communicator can afford to ignore.

Promote the wiki on your site

This site explores social media training and provides a resource for those looking to evangelize social media in their organizations.

What should a 'Social Media 101' course cover? What tools should people be aware of? How should we use those tools? What are the pitfalls? What are the basics that everyone in your marketing/communications department should know?

In the spirit of social media, there's no better way to develop a curriculum for social media training than through a wiki. Let the collaboration begin!

Feature Topic: Blogger Relations

The online world has been abuzz this week with talk of PR people pitching bloggers after Gina Traponi (from the LifeHacker blog) set up the prspammers wiki. Some people - generally on the receiving end of pitches - bemoaned the lack of professionalism of the pitchers, while others - usually PR folks - took a more conciliatory tone.

For an overview of what's been said, tips on how to pitch bloggers and to contribute to this important topic, check out our blogger relations page.

Topics:

RSS Feeds

Blogs

bobdole82 — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 10:14:32 CST

What Are Blogs?

A blog (a combination of "web log") is a website where entries are written in chronological order and commonly displayed in reverse chronological order.

Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. Blogs are also used by businesses to promote products, network, publicize news, and position themselves as experts in their fields.

As of September 2007, blog search engine Technorati tracked more than 106 million blogs. (from Wikipedia)

General Features

A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. Thanks to many online services, bloggers can also add video (from YouTube and other video-sharing sites), audio (such as podcasts), and even embed documents in easy to read formats (via Scribd, docsctoc and slideshare).

A major feature of blogs is their RSS feeds. These feeds allow people to subscribe to the content and view it in RSS feed readers, such as Google Reader or Netvibes. Bloggers can also add the ability to subscribe to automatic e-mail updates via feed management services such as Feedburner.

This video gives a great introduction to RSS feeds.

The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs.

Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (artlog), photographs (photoblog), sketchblog, videos (vlog), music (MP3 blog), audio (podcasting) and are part of a wider network of social media. Micro-blogging is another type of blogging which consists of blogs with very short posts.

What are the Main Blogging Platforms?

Blogger
Wordpress

Wordpress.com (free blog)
Wordpress.org (need web host)

Typepad
Movable Type

Pros

Blogs deliver fresh content, which delivers increased SEO
Increased brand exposure
Positions the blogger as an expert, creates thought leadership
Helps expand the bloggers social network, and bring in real business leads.

Cons

Takes a lot of time to manage a successful blog. The tasks involved in managing a successful blog include: writing posts, managing and responding to comments, reading other blogs for ideas, commenting on other blogs.
Demands patience: there is little instant gratification with a blog. It takes consistent investment of time and effort over months before the blog owner may begin to see results.

Case Studies

Got an example of successful blog use within an organization? Profile it here!

Top Blogs

RSS Feeds

bobdole82 — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 10:14:23 CST

What Is RSS?

In a nutshell: Usually when you want to find stuff on the Internet, you have navigate to other websites to find it. RSS brings the web to you.

Here's a great analogy from Ed Lee:

Your Web content is like water in a lake. Lots of people want it and you want them to have it. They want to drink it, swim in it and play water polo in it.

But, to get it, they need to visit the lake, fill their buckets and then go back to their homes to use it.

RSS enables your audience to create a stream from your lake (where the content is) to their home (where they need the content).

RSS is a format for sharing content online. It started out as a way to distribute news-related headlines and descriptions.

RSS allows you to subscribe to information that gets delivered directly to your RSS reader or Web browser. So instead of visiting several different web pages each day or performing the same web searches over and over, you can set up RSS feeds to do it for you.

RSS is an acronym for Really Simple Syndication and Rich Site Summary.

How Does RSS Work?

Subscribing to an RSS feed is really easy. There are three simple steps:

Select a reader.
Find a feed.
Add it to your reader.

Here's a great video that explains RSS feeds in plain language.

RSS Readers

Web-Based Readers:
Bloglines
Google Reader
NetVibes
PageFlakes

Stand-Alone Readers:
FeedDemon (Windows)
NetNewsWire (Mac)
NewsGator
SharpReader (Windows)

Find A Feed

Find a link to an RSS on the site you want to receive content from automatically. Sites often draw attention to RSS feeds using one of these images:

Many news sites have a dedicated page listing their RSS feeds on different topics (news, sport, business, etc). If you can't find a link to an RSS feed on the page you're on, see if they have a dedicated page.

When you click on the link, some feeds will offer you a list of ways to subscribe to the feed. If you use one of the ways listed, you can easily subscribe to the feed by following the prompts on-screen. Otherwise, or if the feed doesn't offer these options, just copy the address in your browser's address bar and follow the instructions for your RSS reader.

Ethics

bobdole82 — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 10:14:14 CST

Code of Ethics

Kami Huyse suggested the following code of ethics regarding astro-turfing:

I will not fabricate a public concern by paying or coercing individuals to falsely act as concerned citizens. I will only seek to help give voice to those who already hold an existing concern and/or provide education to stakeholders that might be affected by a particular issue.
When supporting grassroots efforts, I will ensure that I am transparent in all my actions and clearly and publicly state what actions I am taking and which organization or client I represent.
I will never knowingly distort of falsify information to help my client/interest achieve a strategic/emotional advantage in a public debate.
I will encourage all grassroots supporters to be open and honest in all of their communications, just as I will be open and honest in mine.

David Jones wrote about Ogilvy's code of ethics for blogger relations:

We reach out to bloggers because we respect your influence and feel that we might have something that is “remarkable” which could be of interest to you and/or your audience.

We will only propose blogger outreach as a tactic if it complements our overall strategy. We will not recommend it as a panacea for every social media campaign.

We will always be transparent and clearly disclose who we are and who we work for in our outreach email.

Before we email you, we will check out your blog’s About, Contact and Advertising page in an effort to see if you have blatantly said you would not like to be contacted by PR/Marketing companies. If so, we’ll leave you alone.

If you tell us there is a specific way you want to be reached, we’ll adhere to those guidelines.

We won’t pretend to have read your blog if we haven’t.

In our email we will convey why we think you, in particular, might be interested in our client’s product, issue, event or message.

We won’t leave you hanging. If your contact at Ogilvy PR is going out of town or will be unreachable, we will provide you with an alternate point of contact.

We encourage you to disclose our relationship with you to your readers, and will never ask you to do otherwise.

You are entitled to blog on information or products we give you in any way you see fit. (Yes, you can even say you hate it.)

If you don’t want to hear from us again, we will place you on our Do Not Contact list – which we will share with the rest of the Ogilvy PR agency.

If you are initially interested in the campaign, but don’t respond to one of our emails, we will follow up with you no more than once. If you don’t respond to us at all, we’ll leave you alone.

Our initial outreach email will always include a link to Ogilvy PR’s Blog Outreach Code of Ethics.

Tom O'Brien added: Here is a comprehensive guide to social media marketing from the Word of Mouth Marketing Association:WOMMA CODE OF ETHICS

Mathew Ingram, speaking to Third Tuesday Toronto gave this succinct piece of advice that applies to everything online, and especially ethics: "Don't be a dick." Before doing anything online, take a moment to wonder how you would feel if you received that email, read that comment or received that friend request.

Social Browsing

tom8williams — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 11:36:49 CST

What is Social Browsing?

Social Browsing allows you to share the pages that your are viewing with your social network. Some social browsing technologies allow you to save the pages in a shared space for your social network to follow, where others allow people to observe your movement between various Web sites real time.

What are the Main Social Browsing Platforms?

General Features

Pros

Cons

Case Studies

Wikis

leehopkins — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 21:40:13 CDT

What is a Wiki?

A wiki is a type of computer software that allows users to easily create, edit and link web pages. The main power of wikis are enabling users to collaborate in creating content.

What Are The Main Wiki Applications?

General Features

A wiki enables documents to be written collaboratively, in a simple markup language using a web browser. A single page in a wiki is referred to as a "wiki page", while the entire collection of pages, which are usually well interconnected by hyperlinks, is "the wiki". A wiki is essentially a database for creating, browsing, and searching through information.

A defining characteristic of wiki technology is the ease with which pages can be created and updated. Generally, there is no review before modifications are accepted. Many wikis are open to alteration by the general public without requiring them to register user accounts.

Sometimes logging in for a session is recommended, to create a "wiki-signature" cookie for signing edits automatically. Many edits, however, can be made in real-time and appear almost instantly online. This can facilitate abuse of the system. Private wiki servers require user authentication to edit pages, and sometimes even to read them. (from Wikipedia)

Pros

Convenient and easy to edit
Information is not lost when edited
Easy to undo mistakes
Allows multiple people to contribute
Permits information to evolve over time
Relatively safe to give many people access
Easy to cross-reference pages

Cons

Can lead to a sense of chaos - no-one is in charge
Potential for conflict between users
Potential for malicious tampering with pages
Difficult to verify information - can lead to unintended inaccuracies

Case Studies

Wikipedia is perhaps the best-known wiki site. The name comes from a combination of "wiki" and "encyclopedia." Wikipedia is one of the web's largest reference sites, hosting over 9,000,000 articles edited by over 75,000 active members.

Useful reading material

Wikipatterns by Stewart Mader -- just published, flamin' brilliant!

Social Media Profiles

Ronna.Porter — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:27:07 CDT

I shared on the For Immediate Release room on Friendfeed that "I'm preparing for a client some profiles on networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Xing, Twitter, etc. as a tool to help them understand in their own language who is in their community, and where their community might already be hanging out. This used to be called a 'media pack', produced for advertisers but also useful in communications planning to understand the aims, editorial focus, and readership of the media. I'd love to know if anyone else has produced something like this already, and would like to share it." Shel Holz suggested that I add them here for others to use - which I now do with pleasure.

I'm now attaching my first draft of these. Feel free to use, improve, or add to as you see fit. The approach I've taken is:
1. Video from the ‘… in Plain English’ series to demonstrate simply how people really use the network. 2. Any relevant media planning data as provided by the network itself (edited as necessary, quality/detail varies). 3. Useful links, including link to the relevant Wikipedia.com article.

So far, the most useful data from a communications planning perspective comes from LinkedIn, as it is the only one that gives a detailed breakdown on a number of different levels of its readership/membership, as a traditional media pack would. Getting an overview of Facebook was fairly inpenetrable, and data for Xing and Twitter was fairly thin.

Twitter Profile

Ronna.Porter — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:22:31 CDT

Video: Twitter in Plain English (click to view)

Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to send updates (otherwise known as tweets) which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length. Updates are displayed on the user's profile page and delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them. The sender can restrict delivery to those in his or her circle of friends (delivery to everyone being the default). Users can receive updates via the Twitter website, instant messaging, SMS, RSS, email or through an application such as Twitterrific or Facebook. Twitter does not take advertising, and so does not provide media data. For example, its ‘About Us’ page contains only employees’ Twitter avatar links.

Useful Links Twitter in Plain English Video Wikipedia Profile on twitter.com Twitter Secrets Report

Xing Profile

Ronna.Porter — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:20:03 CDT

Video: Social Networking in Plain English (click to view)

Profile: Global network for business professionals

Target group: Business professionals worldwide
XING makes your professional network an active part of your life. Far more than a directory of business contacts, XING enables its members to discover professional people, opportunities and privileges through its unique discovery capability and advanced contact management tools.

With the successful IPO of XING as the first Web 2.0 company to go public, XING AG has had a long-term impact on the social networking trend amongst professionals. By focusing on the target group “business people worldwide”, the company is able to offer tailored features, thereby making networking and contact management simpler. Besides Headquarters in Hamburg, XING AG is also represented with offices in Barcelona (eConozco, Neurona) und Beijing.

Traffic Statistics

Page Impressions/Month	300 MM
Visits/ Month	20 MM
Unique Users/ Month	5.5 MM
Male	69%
Female	31%
Age <25 26-30 31-40 41-50 >50	Percentage Share 12% 21% 30% 13% 24%

Targeting Options
Gender
Age
Country/Region
Seniority

Useful Links
Social Networking in Plain English Video Wikipedia Profile on Xing.com Ratecard

_____

Data collected from Xing.com

Comments
Xing.com is the main competitor to LinkedIn and now has about 5.5 million users. As a German company, it has also been successful in edging LinkedIn out of the German market.

Its portal lets you write your profile in a user-friendly way and helps you to find other profiles quite swiftly and accurately. Users need to upgrade to a paid account in order to see unlimited profiles in their network, instead of just the people who are directly connected to them. Unlike LinkedIn it is not so much recruiter-oriented. It also lets you state your business needs and wants. Each keyword is indexed and thus searchable. Although Xing could be considered more ‘friendly’ and ‘usable’ than LinkedIn, it has a smaller market share with the notable exception of Germany.

Facebook Profile

Ronna.Porter — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:13:30 CDT

Video: Social Networking in Plain English (click to view)

About Facebook
Founded in February 2004, Facebook is a social utility that helps people communicate more efficiently with their friends, family and coworkers. The company develops technologies that facilitate the sharing of information through the social graph, the digital mapping of people's real-world social connections. Anyone can sign up for Facebook and interact with the people they know in a trusted environment.

General Growth · More than 80 million active users · Facebook is the 4th most-trafficked website in the world (comScore) · Facebook is the most-trafficked social media site in the world (comScore)

User Demographics · Over 55,000 regional, work-related, collegiate, and high school networks · More than half of Facebook users are outside of college · The fastest growing demographic is those 25 years old and older · Maintain 85 percent market share of 4-year U.S. universities

Applications · No. 1 photo sharing application on the Web (comScore) · Photo application draws more than twice as much traffic as the next three sites combined (comScore) · More than 24 million photos uploaded daily · More than 6 million active user groups on the site

International Growth
· Our Translation Application is first step for us in helping users all over the world connect and share information with those that matter the most to them – wherever they live and in whatever language they choose
· In a little over five months, we have released the site in more than 15 languages, including Spanish, French, German, Russian and Korean. Our goal is to offer Facebook in as many languages as possible, as quickly as possible.

Platform
· More than 400,000 developers and entrepreneurs
· Over 24,000 applications have been built on Facebook Platform
· 140 new applications added per day
· More than 95% of Facebook members have used at least one application built on Facebook Platform

Product
Facebook’s simplified navigation gives users easy access to core site functions and applications. Profile, Friends, Networks and Inbox – pages core to the user experience on Facebook – have a prominent place at the top of the user’s profile page. Facebook applications – Photos, Notes, Groups, Events and Posted items – are displayed on the left side bar, along with any third-party applications a user has added to their account.

Technology Facebook is the second most-trafficked PHP site in the world, and one of the largest MySQL installations anywhere, running thousands of databases. Facebook has built a lightweight but powerful multi-language RPC framework that allows the company to seamlessly and easily tie together subsystems written in any language, running on any platform. The company is the largest user in the world of memcached, an open-source caching system, and has created a custom-built search engine serving millions of queries a day, completely distributed and entirely in-memory, with real-time updates.

Platform Facebook Platform is a development platform that enables companies and engineers to deeply integrate with the Facebook website and gain access to millions of users through the social graph. Facebook is a part of millions of people’s lives all around the world providing unparalleled distribution potential for applications and the opportunity to build a business that is highly relevant to people’s lives. More information can be found at http://developers.facebook.com.

Privacy Facebook has led the industry in giving people tools to control the information they share and with whom they choose to share it. User privacy has always been a top priority for the company, which has worked with such organizations as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and WiredSafety. Facebook is TrustE certified. Users also have the ability to share and restrict information based on specific friends or friend lists.

Useful Links Social Networking in Plain English Video Wikipedia Profile on facebook.com Ratecard

_____

Data collected from facebook.com

LinkedIn Profile

Ronna.Porter — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:08:55 CDT

Video: LinkedIn in Plain English (click to view)
Reach the largest group of business-decision makers on the web
An Audience of Influential, Affluent and Ambitious Professionals

· 20,000,000+ Professionals and growing by 1 million members per month
· 750,000+ Senior Executives
· Executives from all Fortune 500 companies
· 46% are Business Decision Makers
· Average Age: 41
· Household Income: $109,000

Professionals Use LinkedIn To Actively Manage Their Professional Brand By:

· Showcasing Their Skills And Experiences on their profile pages
· Sharing Their Insights and Expertise on Answers
· Recommending people — and being recommended — to other professionals
· Managing Their Network of Trusted Connections

An Engaged And Active Audience

· Over 450 million page views per month
· Over 560,000 professionals visit the LinkedIn homepage on a typical day
· 42 page views per member per week

Maximise ROI by targeting ads based on Connect With Your Audience In Three Ways:
1. Run-of-Professional: Deliver your messages to professionals from all industries and professions.
2. inCrowds: Connect with a specific segment of LinkedIn Professionals:
· Corporate Executives
· IT Professionals
· Small Business Professionals
· Entrepreneurs
· Finance Professionals
· Sales Professionals
3. Custom Targets: Reach your specific audience target defined by rich LinkedIn profile data

Targeting is powered by rich user profile data
LinkedIn profile data is 10x more accurate than typical registration data because the profile represents a user's public face on LinkedIn and the web.

Choose your audience based on:

Industry Seniority

Job Function Company Size Geography

Number of connections Gender

Industry

defense & space
computer hardware
computer software
computer networking
internet
semiconductors
telecommunications
law practice
legal services
management consulting
biotechnology
medical practice
hospital & health care
pharmaceuticals
veterinary
medical equipment
cosmetics
apparel and fashion
sporting goods
tobacco
supermarkets
food production
consumer electronics
consumer goods
furniture
retail
entertainment
gambling & casinos
leisure & travel
hospitality
restaurants
sports
food & beverages
motion pictures and film
broadcast media
museums and institutions
fine art
performing arts
recreational facilities and services
banking
insurance
financial services
real rstate
investment banking/venture
investment management
accounting
construction
building materials
architecture & planning
civil engineering
aviation and aerospace
automotive

chemicals
machinery
mining & metals
oil & energy
shipbuilding
utilities
textiles
paper & forest products
railroad manufacture
farming
ranching
dairy
fishery
primary/secondary
higher education
education management
research
military
legislative office
judiciary
international affairs
government administration
executive office
law enforcement
public safety
public policy
marketing and advertising
newspapers
publishing
printing
information services
libraries
environmental services
package/freight delivery
individual and family services
religious institutions
civic & social organization
consumer services
transportation/trucking/railroad
warehousing
airlines/aviation
maritime
information technology and services
market research
public relations
design
non-profit organization management
fundraising
program development

writing and editing
staffing and recruiting
professional training
venture capital
political organization
translation and localization
computer games
events services
arts and crafts
electrical and electronic manufacturing
online publishing
nanotechnology
music
logistics and supply chain
plastics
computer and network security
wireless
alternative dispute resolution
security and investigations
facilities services
outsourcing/offshoring
health, wellness and fitness
alternative medicine
media production
animation
commercial real estate
capital markets
think tanks
philanthropy
e-learning
wholesale
import and export
mechanical or industrial engineering
photography
human resources
business supplies and equipment
mental health care
graphic design
international trade and development
wine and spirits
luxury goods and jewelry
renewables and environment
glass, ceramics and concrete
packaging and containers
industrial automation
government relations

Seniority

c-level manager

vice-president individual contributor

Director Owner

Job Function

accounting
advertising
business
consultant
creative

engineering finance
hr
IT
legal
marketing

operations PR
product
sales
support

Company Size
myself only

1-10 employees
11-50 employees
51-200 employees
201-500 employees
501-1000 employees
1001-5000 employees
5001-10000 employees
10001+ employees

Geography
Locations are determined by zip codes rather than less accurate IP addresses.

# of Connections Identify influencers and take advantage of word of mouth marketing.

Useful Links LinkedIn in Plain English Video Wikipedia Profile for LinkedIn Premim Advertising on LinkedIn.com Premium Ratecard Premium Ad Specs

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All content Copyright © 2008, LinkedIn Corporation

Blogger Relations

davefleet — Tue, 20 May 2008 14:54:02 CDT

The key to successful blogger relations is relationship-building. And out of that comes the need for respect and transparency.

While the UK's The National Union for Journalists (NUJ) has admitted its first full-time freelance professional blogger as a member, the majority of bloggers would perceive an out-of-context press release as spam and not know what to do with it, other than hit the delete key.

PRSpammers Wiki

Controversy erupted when Gina Traponi from the Lifehacker blog published a wiki to name and shame PR firms that "spam" bloggers.

Some of the people and publications that have weighed-in on this issue:
Alan Patrick - Spam Spam Spam Spam Spam Spam Spam Spam Spam Spam
Blog World - Should Bloggers Blacklist PR Firms?
Brian Solis - Making Mistakes And Amends In Blogger Relations
Brian Solis - Dear Chris Anderson, An Open Letter To Make Things Right
Chris Anderson - Sorry PR People: You're Blocked
Chris Lynn - Unsubscribe Lifehacker: My Email To Gina Traponi
Chris Lynn - Gina Responds! And: About Yesterday's Post
Geoff Livingston - Dear Nasty Reporter/Blogger
Jason Falls - Why PR Folks Should Blacklist Bloggers
John Cass - Are Media Database Companies Complicit In PR Spamming?
Matt Haughey - Stop Asking, Start Filtering
Meg Roberts - A Young Pro's Take: Media Relations And The New PR Blacklists
PR Week - PR Blacklist Won't Fix Imperfect System
Robert French - PR Bludgeons Itself Again
Stowe Boyd - The Growing Backlash Against PR Spam, And The Rationale For MicroPR
Susan Getgood - Blogger Relations Tip: Check The Blog Before You Press Send
Todd Defren - Open Letter To Gina Traponi Of Lifehacker

Blogger Relations Tips

In response to the PRSpammers wiki, Todd Defren published a downloadable list of "7 promises" for PR professionals to adhere to when pitching bloggers. Good advice for everyone involved in blogger relations.

Brian Solis also published an e-book guide to blogger relations (available in PDF and MS Word formats).

Build Relationships Over Time

The most effective media relations campaigns are those based on relationships that have been developed with journalists over time. The same holds true for bloggers.

Whether these be through ongoing monitoring and comments in blogs that are key to your clients' interests, or meeting bloggers face to face at BarCamps, YULblog meetings or through other similar blogger networking opportunities, treating bloggers as individuals and getting to know them will go a long way towards being heard.

Get Involved In The Community

Ongoing involvement in the community goes hand-in-hand with building relationships with bloggers. Make a genuine effort to participate on relevant blogs, forums and other sites.

Blog yourself. Not only will this give you an appreciation of the commitment it takes to maintain a blog, it'll give you street cred. You're no longer an anonymous PR rep coming out of left field. You've put yourself out there, just like the bloggers you're trying to reach, with postings that can be reviewed and commented upon.

Know Who You're Pitching

Demonstrating that there is a direct link between a blogger's editorial line and your client's news item is a sign of respect that will be appreciated. This can be done by referring to a past posting in your pitch, or showing a clear awareness of the blogger's specific area of interest.

Beware of bulk, impersonal mailings. They won't work. What's more, missing your target can incur the wrath of the blogosphere, who will feel they have been spammed and that their time has been wasted. Instead, be sure you've understood what makes your individual blogger tick and bring him news that will be of direct interest to him.

Be Transparent

Let the blogger know who you are and what you're after. Explain that you're offering him the same access you'd offer a journalist : access to documentation, access to your spokespersons.

Blogger relations are time consuming, but getting visibility for your client in the blogs of influencers will create a viral effect that can translate into increased notoriety, goodwill and sales.

Events

davefleet — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 10:31:12 CDT

New Communications Forum 2008

What: NewComm Forum brings together thought leaders and decision makers from around the globe to discuss the impact of social media and new communications on media, marketing, journalism, PR and advertising, business, culture and society. NewComm Forum is not a typical conference and it’s definitely not “Blogging 101″. It provides an in-depth, hands-on exploration of the future of communications. In its four year history, it has come to be known as one of the world’s leading conferences focusing on the latest trends in new emerging media and communications platforms. NewComm Forum is designed to teach communications professionals the strategy and tactics to effectively utilize the power of new media and communications tools and trends.

Produced by the Society for New Communications Research, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) global think tank dedicated to the advanced study of the latest developments in media and communications
For more information, visit http://www.newcommforum.com or email us at info@sncr.org or call (650) 331-0083.

When: April 22-25, 2008
Where: - Vineyard Creek Hotel & Spa, Sonoma County, CA
Cost: $995.(Academic discounts available.)
Info: http://www.newcommforum.com

Add your event to the list!

Micro-Blogs

MartinDiano — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 09:05:25 CDT

What is Micro-Blogging?

Micro-blogging is a form of blogging that allows users to write brief text updates (usually less than 140 characters) and publish them, either to be viewed by anyone or by a restricted group which can be chosen by the user. These messages can be submitted by a variety of means, including text messaging, instant messaging, e-mail, MP3 or the Web. (from Wikipedia)

What are the Main Micro-Blogging Platforms?

General Features

Micro-blogging is sometimes criticized for encouraging dull or meaningless posts, conveying the minutia of daily life, such as what the writer is eating, who the writer is waiting for, how far behind schedule the writer's flight is, and so on. This criticism, though, could be leveled at any communication tool, from longer-form blogging platforms to telephones to Post-It Notes. Not every bit of communication is riveting, but the potential for profundity and powerful prose is promising.

Additionally, the term micro-blogging, is perhaps more narrow than the true potential of the platform allows. For example, Twitter has often been compared to "time-shifted" instant messaging in which people can converse directly with quick messages without the need to be online together. Perhaps more common, Twitter can be compared with a chat room filled with only the people you choose to hear from, again without the need to be online at the same time -- although that's part of the fun.

Micro-blogging is what you make of it. The simplest way to think of the power of micro-blogging is to imagine tapping into the thoughts and lives of any number of people who have common interests, concerns, geography, hobbies or professions. You can:

Learn about new tools and ideas
Ask questions and receive immediate feedback, and
Develop a deeper understanding of the people with whom you connect online.

Pros

Easy way to spread information quickly.

Cons

Short message platform - not suitable for detailed or complex messaging

Case Studies

Twitter during the 2007 California wildfires: LA Times, KPBS News, Red Cross
Micro-blogging for business: Direct2Dell, Dell Outlet, JetBlue Airways

Background

Twitter Facts

Twitter Tools

Twhirl
Twitterific (Mac only)
iTweet (Mac only)
More Twitter apps...
The Wall Tweet Journal
Twoogle - Custom Search Engine at The Wall Tweet Journal

Social Networks

kanter — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 17:54:07 CST

What is a Social Network?

Social networks focus on online communities of people who share interests and activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others.

Most social network services are primarily web based and provide a collection of various ways for users to interact, such as chat, messaging, email, video, voice chat, file sharing, blogging, discussion groups, and so on. (from Wikipedia, edited)

What Are the Main Social Networks?

General Features

Facebook is a great place to build your profile and network with others. You can also start and join groups relevant to your interest.

Pros

Cons

Case Studies

Eight Secrets of Using Social Networking Sites Effectively

Social Media Training - Recently Updated Pages

Fundamentals

Conversation, Not Selling

Relationships, Not Transactions

Listen, Learn, Participate

Social media is not a strategy. It's part and parcel of an approach to corporate communications and public relations.

Useful Social Media Tools

Social Media News Release

Background

Reactions to the Social Media News Release

Pros

Cons

Case Studies

Other Examples of Social Media News Releases

Unlocked cell phones

Success Stories

Using Social Media To Create Social Media Training

Feature Topic: Blogger Relations

Topics:

Philosophy

Training & development

Tools

RSS Feeds

Blogs

What Are Blogs?

General Features

What are the Main Blogging Platforms?

Pros

Cons

Case Studies

Top Blogs

RSS Feeds

What Is RSS?

How Does RSS Work?

RSS Readers

Find A Feed

Ethics

Code of Ethics

Social Browsing

What is Social Browsing?

What are the Main Social Browsing Platforms?

General Features

Pros

Cons

Case Studies

Wikis

What is a Wiki?

What Are The Main Wiki Applications?

General Features

Pros

Cons

Case Studies

Useful reading material

Social Media Profiles

Twitter Profile

Xing Profile

Facebook Profile

LinkedIn Profile

Blogger Relations

PRSpammers Wiki

Blogger Relations Tips

Build Relationships Over Time

Get Involved In The Community

Know Who You're Pitching

Be Transparent

See Also:

Events

New Communications Forum 2008

Micro-Blogs

What is Micro-Blogging?

What are the Main Micro-Blogging Platforms?

General Features

Pros

Cons

Short message platform - not suitable for detailed or complex messaging

Case Studies

Background

Twitter Tools

Social Networks

What is a Social Network?