Fakebook?

With traditional media outlets putting the squeeze on editorial or just plain disappearing, I have been a big fan of social media taking it's place.  Facebook seemed like the perfect site for letting people know what you're doing either via a fan page or as an individual.  Remember how your FB friends howled when they changed the timeline?  Did you notice that you weren't seeing as many of your friends posts as before?  Changes coming down the pike again according to the folks at Dangerous Minds, and it will cost you an arm and a leg.

Learning to Like Facebook

I help out with PR at Constellation Gallery here in Portland Maine.  We're trying to get the word out about our shows and gain a reputation with local media so that when we do have a "big" news story, we might get some ink.  But one of the other things we need to do is to keep up the work in social media. 

Today I met with another member artist (we're a collective or cooperative that runs the gallery) who is going to help by posting our information on local websites and the like.  He's old school and came up through the ranks as a graphic designer and then a journalist in Europe.  He is skeptical about Facebook.  But he also sees how editorial inches and the papers themselves are shrinking.

I think it's that he doesn't like the idea of it.  But it certainly is a way to get information out there.   But there are effective and ineffective ways to go about it.  Just about the whole industry is in a learning curve. 

That's why it's good to listen to all voices out there even if  they're talking specifically about marketing rather than just PR, like the folks at Synapse Marketing are in this article.  

Hear the Little Birdies?

A couple of years ago when I was still living in Sacramento, I joined the PR Association there and went to their annual luncheon.  The food was meh, as usual for that kind of event, but the speaker,  Shane Rhyne of Ackerman PR, was very interesting and talked about social media - Twitter in particular.  Follow this LINK for a very basic tutorial about Twitter and how it can help your PR efforts.  I do agree with Rhyne that I'm more of a editor on Twitter, sharing information among my followers.  Of course there's always the link to the funny cat story, but everyone needs a laugh, right?

PR 101

Every once in a while, it's always good to be reminded of the basics.  One of the most basic things in PR is the event and news release.  Notice the distinction there?  An event release is to inform the media of an event that is happening and that is the news worthy angle.  A news release on the other hand has more "newsworthy" information in it that might entice a reporter to interview the client.  This article (originally posted by Arthur Fink on Facebook) is a gentle reminder that we need to realize how bombarded the media is these days and not to try to make PR mountains out of molehills.

Just July?

Although I try to post more than once a month, it seems as though that's my current posting schedule.  Of course I was very busy this spring and early summer consulting for the Portland Performing Arts Festival and now I'm helping with the PR for Constellation Gallery in Portland. No more excuses.

I have an old (actually I think he's younger than I am) friend in Sacramento who has been doing marketing consulting for many years.  Yes, I'm talking about YOU Michael Boyd!  I first meet Micheal when he ran a small desktop publishing business in midtown Sacramento.  This was back in the day when the archival color printers were still too expensive for mere mortals like me to own.

Today Micheal posted a very good article about the best times to post on social media sites.  Of course I'm not posting this blog at a very good time according to the article.  As a writer I need to write when the spirit moves me however, which is a little different than posting for PR's sake.

I've also almost finished the final rewrite for my PR booklet - Public Relations for Artists, Photographers And other Creatives.  Many thanks to consultant Bob Walters and write Kate Maney for their feedback.  I'm thinking that I will go the Amazon route, but will post more info on that when I sort it all out.

Jumping, Jiving June

It really has been in my little corner of the world.  I can't believe we're almost at the end of June and the Portland Performing Arts Festival (PPAF) starts on Thursday, June28th!  The reason the  month has flown for me is that I've been working with PPAF on the PR end of things.  The Executive Director sent me an email with the following:

I have a phone interview this morning ... (newspaper)
I have a live interview slot on public radio monday morning (radio)
sunday's paper would have an overall festival preview (newspaper)
the (other paper)  expects to have a sizable article on Tuesday (newspaper)
we are the cover story in thursdays go section next week (newspaper)
I'm booked on the morning show next Tuesday (TV)
fritz and steven (the eepys) are doing 207 as well next week (TV)
musician live on the show friday next week (radio)
taping musician concert for later broadcast (public TV)

Needless to say we've already had hits in other media but I'm very proud of the work that we've done on getting this much PR for a brand-new festival here.  I had hoped that we'd get a visit from the dance critic from either the New Yorker or the New York Times because of Alison Chase's new company premiering a new show here, but alas not this year.  If you're not familiar with Modern Dance, Chase is one of the co-founders of Pilobolus and one of the greats in the dance world.  It will be interesting to see what all the press amounts to audience-wise.

Make May Marvelous

How did April get past me?  Perhaps I've been busier than I expected doing PR consulting work for Portland Performing Arts Festival, as well as planning to direct a one-act for the Port Fringe theatre festival which happens at the same time as well as a few visual art projects I'm involved with along with finishing up some work on my book - "PR for Artists, Photographers and Other Creatives".   Yes, that was why April flew by.

But here we are in the merry month with our friends at Mashable serving up interesting as always information for you and your business.  With our continued focus on new media, check out their list HERE.  The article I think is the most valuable  in PR terms is this one.

Up here in Portland Maine, the tulips are just about gone.  It's springy in that chilly, rainy way and I'll just bet we get thrust into summer by Memorial Day!

What's New is Old Again

Back in the days before social media, most PR types tried to coordinate their efforts with the marketing folks because PR campaigns will have better traction if they are tied to when ads in a variety of media are airing.  It's the bombardment theory: direct mail advertising, ads in print and radio and TV happening all at the same time will have a greater impact.  Makes sense doesn't it?  Especially when you know that it takes at least seven ads before people actually "see" the ad.  To me this is an indicator that if you can't spend a wad of money on ads, you can at least try to hit as many PR places as possible. 

In this age of social media, the folks over at PR Newswire have come out with a "White Paper" which shows what is old is new again.  I guess one can say that certain human behaviors haven't changed - even when it comes to social media.  I'll bet that other keen observer of human behavior - Shakespeare - would agree.

Social Media - Marketing or PR?

Marketing and Public Relations seem to mingle more on social media.  Sometimes campaigns that companies devise will have elements of both in efforts to expand their customer base.  Here are five
 smart ways that social media helped to boost brand awareness using social media and interactive techniques.  Perhaps they will give you some ideas to more actively use social media in your PR planing.

I'm off on hiatus for the next week and a half.  When I get back, I'm going to be doing some consulting work for the brand new Portland Performing Arts Festival!

Seeing Pink

If you've been reading this blog, or perhaps some of the links that I've posted, you probably know what bad choices The Susan B. Komen Foundation made in their announcement of not funding breast exams at Planned Parenthood.  I'm sure someone told them if they just made the announcement with teh Super Bowl and Presidential primaries getting lead positions in both electronic and print media,  no one would notice.  If my guess is true, you can be sure this person doesn't know much about social media.    Another thing that can be said about this bad, sad PR snafu is that Planned Parenthood was ever gracious in the way they accepted the eventual apology.