Lessons From an Angel

Every year, a group of angel investors called Tech Coast Angels in Orange Country, Calif. holds a “fast pitch” competition in which aspiring entrepreneurs have exactly 60 seconds to pitch their plans. BusinessWeek wrote about it and recently ran an tipsheet kind of article that reminds us of the importance of brevity, with ideas for CEOs to keep in mind when giving the company pitch to would-be money folks.

It’s an excellent guide for communicating with any external auidence–be it a potential investor, reporter, industry analyst, potential partner, you name it.

In communications, being on message is a critical component to successful product launches and ongoing corp PR campaigns. CEOs and company spokespeople need to be succinct and to the point–and less is so very much “more”. Capturing the essence of a company in 60 seconds is not easy, but it can be done, and it’s an exercise every company exec should work on at perfecting. Sound hard to do? Try it and you’ll be closer to being ready for that media interview.

Some additions I have to their “60-Second Pitch” list, some things to consider when talking to the media:
1) AUA: Avoid using acronyms. Reporters don’t know your industry as well as you do. Technology CEOs should watch ever more carefully this habit.
2) Benefits, Not Features: Don’t get stuck on exlaining the whiz-bang of your technology. Instead focus on what matters most: the beenfits of your product or service to your customers, expound on how it makes their lives easier, why people, and customers care about your company.
3) The Magic is in the Message: Stay on message, prepare yourself with the top 3 main ideas that need to get across. Everything you say should somehow connect or as we say in PR “bridge” back to those top points. 
4) Keep it Short: In the words of Donald Trump ”They [an entrepreneur or CEO] has to be enthusiastic, succinct, and fast.”

Can we be more in love with ourselves?

Ok, this is too much.

TechCrunch featured a mention on its homepage tonight that compels me to throw up a quick post here. It was a piece on a new service called FlickaDay (yes that’s right, strangely familiar to another photo related site you may have heard of). It’s a startup out of Boston and it’s smug satisfaction with oneself to the nth degree. I mean come on, pictures of yourself everyday? And it lets you update the world on your mood that particulat day–set to music no less.

It’s a bit much. I won’t go on about it and analyze the company’s merits as a viable business, applicablity of the products features/benefits, mainstream use, how quickly it will probably catch on, or even it’s use in social media and PR. I just won’t.

I think it’s just dumb.

Can we love ourselves anymore? And do we need another technology to further quench the self-obsession?!

Why B2B Loves Organic Search

A recent study confirms what many of us in the B2B world have known for some time–the majority of B2B buying decisions are influenced most heavily by organic search. Yup. Tell me something we marketers don’t already know. Yes PPC works. Yes, traditional advertising can work. Yes, PR works.

How these findings impact PR is that SEO rankings are influenced heavily by links into your site. So the more articles, blogs etc that are linked to your site, the better chance your site has of coming up in top rankings on google and the like on keyword terms. Most of your reading probably already know that though.

Here’s the link to the article on ClickZ that talks about the study. Some compelling numbers here:

In the awareness phase, 65.3 percent of users said they would start their research with a general search engine. That number dropped to 51.8 percent in the research phase, 42.1 percent in the negotiation phase, and 42.6 percent in the purchase phase.

The study found that in the researching phase, a purchaser is five times more likely to turn to a generic search engine for information than a B2B search engine. As purchasers enter the later research phase and start compiling information to begin the actual negotiation, many rely on B2B vertical search engines, such as Business.com, KnowledgeStorm, or Thomasnet, to help gather the detailed information they require. B2B search engines were the first choice of 22.1 percent of respondents in the negotiation phase, and 18 percent of respondents in the purchase phase.

The two factors that remain the most influential to buyers are a vendor’s Web site and a word-of-mouth recommendation by a colleague.

It’s why web content is critical. It’s why updating articles, adding whitepapers, case studies and a newsroom with press coverage are key to a site that gets traction on rankings. It’s why we counsel clients to push news releases out not only to media lists via email but also via Businesswire or PRNewswire It’s a good idea for most every business–not just Fortune 2000 companies. It creates an official timestamp of a newsworthy occurence, and when done well (meaning in a search engine optimized fashion) has a very good chance of appearing at the top of search rankings.

Check out the study for yourself.

Google Killed the Ad Agency

Scott Karp’s recent post Google is an Ad Agency Competing with Madison Avenue is a good one. Yes, Google aims to dominate everything related to marketing. Scott’s view of it as he smarlty connects the dots is the first time I have seen the evidence so clearly. As a PR pro, I would like to think that there still is a place for the marketing agency, but for certain, the old model has changed–and will never be back again. It’s why the intersection of PR with technology is so critical. But there still is a place for consultative advice. Yes, small businesses prefer to try to do it themselves, which is where much of the DIY Google solutions will ring loud.

Here in Phoenix, we have seen massive consolidation in recent months as the with two recent examples local ad agencies of old hussle to bring interactive into their toolkits, not as an afterthought as we have seen for the last several years, but as a mainstay in the client’s strategy–a driver in most cases. Nationally, and internationally it’s the same story just with much bigger players.

So back to this Google argument–the players all want to own the kingdom, with Google having the most points on the board so far, despite Microsoft’s aquisition of aQuantive or Yahoo’s hopes and dreams.

Ink is Ink: Sometimes a Disagreement Will Work to Your Clients Advantage….Or Will it?

Ink is Ink—a philosophy PR professionals live by.  

Grammy award winning and original American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson is in a feud with her record label as reported by the Associated Press. 

“There’s always this battle, and it’s not a bad battle to have,” she explained. “I mean, you obviously don’t want yes’ people around you. And, obviously, (Davis) and others at the label have been in the business far longer than I have. So you obviously take their opinions in,” said Kelly Clarkson.

Her outspoken disagreement with Clive Davis’ dislike of her new CD “My December” was originally discussed on MTV Radio. The result was a flow of media attention toward the pop star that could ultimately led to a jump in sales for the album slated to hit stores on July 7. The downfall is the possibility that critics and fans won’t go in droves to buy Clarkson’s new CD.  

As Clarkson’s fans sit at the edge of their seats in anticipation, there is no doubt her publicist is or should be preparing for a crisis. Or should they? 

While her reputation isn’t going down the drain like Brittany Spears or Whitney Houston, could the rejection of her new CD lead to a downward spiral of her career.   As an avid fan of Clarkson, I am anticipating to be first in line to buy her new CD. Disappointment is not an option, but for many this isn’t the case. While I don’t foresee her 15 minutes to come to a screeching halt, she will experience a slue of negative media attention if her CD isn’t what is expect from the Grammy Award winning pop star.  

What would you do if you were Clarkson’s publicist?  

By Daniel Moran   

Godin in PHX

Posted By Kathy Sacks
Well, actually… Tempe. My fave author and esteemed marketer Seth Godin will be in Arizona at the Tempe Improv on May 24. He’ll be here as part of a multi-city tour to promote his latest book “The Dip”. I can’t wait ot get my copy. As part of attendance, each of us will get 5 books. (Thanks to Matt LaPrairie for leading the campaign to get Godin to come here to Arizona.)

Therein lies the genius of Godin. Of course, I will share the 4 of the 5 books with my friends and colleagues–plus I have a big mouth so if it’s good I’ll tell at least 50 people. If you read Purple Cow, you’ll know that as part of the launch of that book, he gave away the book free as a downloadable book, knowing full well that people would still buy it.  And they did. Give people something for free–content that they absolutely want–and they will still buy it.

And so goes word of mouth. It only works when you have a good product or service. I spoke with Jami Clark, PR Manager for Cold Stone Creamery recently. She attended the WOMMA event in New Orleans a few weeks ago. The Word of Mouth Marketing Association is the official organization for the viral, blog, buzz, evangelism, influential, consumer-generated-media and word of. Jami was there as a panelist, and had nothing but good things to say about the gathering. I have yet to attend a WOMMA event.  Who else out there has attended a WOMMA event? 

Survival of the Fittest or Geekest

posted by Celeste Johnson 

The world of Marketing and PR is inherently changing everyday. Branding one’s company is no longer just up to the Marketing directors and PR mavens out there, it’s a bare-naked place that is up for grabs, and if you can do it, someone else will. According to an article written by Kate Maddox in this week’s BtoB magazine entitled, “CMOs under pressure to develop new skills” it explains that the roles of Marketing Executives are no longer clearly defined, their capabilities need to expand immensely to a new breadth of understanding including process development and strategic decision making.

On the other side of the coin PR gurus should no longer feel comfortable in their roles either. With the deep emergence of social media, our landscape of understanding needs to drastically increase in order to keep our caps on tight. It’s being written all over the walls or the web to be precise, to shape up. 

My condolences to the PR and Marketing flacks who just don’t get it, we’re on it, trust me.

GETTING UNDER THE COVERS WITH COMPANIES: IS THIS THE FUTURE OF BUSINESS?

Disclosure.                                                                                                                                                                                

That’s not a word companies are familiar with and more importantly an action they are not comfortable taking. As PR professionals we are constantly encouraging our clients to speak out—be open with the public. While even with our best clients, we always seem to hit limits where a magical line is drawn and can never be erased.

Wired magazines April issue tackles the idea that the future of business is the act of companies exposing themselves to the world—leaving themselves open to discussion and not scandal. One of its lead articles appropriately titled, “Operation Channel 9” discusses the launch of a website called Channel 9. The website created by Lenn Pryor a Junior Executive at Microsoft, is a project that stripped Microsoft of its barriers and featured footage (often raw and unedited) that went behind enemy lines and disclosed a lot more than what executives and its PR team wanted too.   The thought behind Channel 9 is that it’s not a trend, but a business practice that’s the wave of the future.. As a PR Pro I encourage my clients to share their thoughts, practices and corporate culture with the rest of the world. Disclosing and being open will help build trust amongst the public, especially in a corporate environment where people don’t have confidence that companies will “do the right thing”—causing us to create legislation like Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) and Fair Disclosure, Regulation FD.  

Bottom line, if you have nothing to hide then flaunt away. What are your thoughts? Is this the future we are headed for?

by Daniel Moran

Actually it’s The World According to Generation Y

posted by Celeste Johnson 

I tend to talk a lot about myself, what my needs are, what I’m interested in, etc. Who could blame me? Every time I turn around it seems the world is really catering to my “people”.

There are countless articles on how to coup with us in the workplace and life. Mainstream pop culture seems to have bred a brand-conscious generation, bombarded with ads from a number of venues on television, the radio, the Internet and more. Gen Y is definitely on the up when it comes to Tech gagets, we are the first generation that grew up with the Internet and CELL PHONES.

All the resources of the internet provide countless resources from downloading music to online chatting to blogging, and heavens don’t forget social networking—it seems as though every new internet phenomenon that is scooped up by Google, or new social networking land created is in some way marketed directly to this generation.

Of course I’m not complaining, I’m here to talk more about Y or myself. Don’t be jealous if you’re not a Y.

Social Media: It’s a Web 2.0 world

Social media. From blogs to Myspace.com it’s what everyone is talking about—and for the PR world it’s one of the best places to generate a buzz for your client.

Last week I went to a conference put on by PR Newswire that talked about living in a Web 2.0 world. It was made clear to me in just one hour that leveraging blogs can be a great form of viral marketing by doing just what I am doing now—creating a blog.

One caution: don’t just talk about your client—talk about the industry as a whole and bring them in when possible. While the blog world is inviting, it was made clear that you can be blacklisted with a touch of a button.

In true PR spirit I wanted to share with you the tools that were presented to me by the Director of Emerging Media for PR Newswire, Michael Pranikoff. Below are a list of key blogs and websites that are at your disposal:

>www.socialmeter.com—a great tool to measure your clients and their competitors social popularity

            >Technorati—the world’s largest blog search engine

>http:del.icio.us—see how many people have tagged your blog, your client’s website and a great way to track the buzz around your client and the latest press release you just issued

Word of advice: explore these different tools and see how best to use them to your client’s advantage.

Have any advice on great blogs or websites to use? Let me know.   Daniel