I wanted to make note of two public figures lately that have created a stir due to some knee-jerk retorts to their loyal disciples. Lets start with our favorite mock-turtleneck obsessed fan boy Messiah, Steven P. Jobs. Unless, you live in North Korea, you couldn’t help but notice there has been some negative reception surrounding Apple’s latest golden boy, the iPhone4. Sparing you of my whole karma theory surrounding this product since the get-go (just Google: Jason+Chen+front+door+bash), the sleek new antenna design appears to have been a move in the wrong direction, dropping calls regularly but only if you hold the phone like any normal human being since the first handset arrived in 1876. And if you can somehow manage to not touch the lower left side of the iPhone, then you might be able to make it through a call with ease. This is of course you one of the lucky few standing 5-feet from a local AT&T tower, but lets move on.

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Technorati Tags: PR, public relations, social media

Frankly, it depends. If you own a rural hardware store that has no competition, then relying on newspaper ads or putting a few spots on the local radio station will probably serve you well. However, if you own a larger company or are seeking to move forward, then Do-it-Yourself PR may not only limit your growth, it may hinder it.

Public Relations can be a tricky business. This is especially true for companies who are fairly new or for those who may seek to change an established image. Many media outlets offer PR services, such as newspapers and radio. (more…)

Technorati Tags: Marketing Tips, PR, PR Tips

We are proud to announce the new SSPR.com! After months of planning and hard work, the new website went live today and while we still have a few tweaks to make we are extremely excited about the finished result. We feel the look and feel represents our 30 years of success while also invoking our modern and ever-evolving industry expertise. “Publications relations evolved” is a powerful statement; SS|PR embodies rich tradition and a history of lasting success but we also remain extremely focused on constantly maturing as our industry grows. The new site will feature a regularly updated blog, client successes and even specific media placements secured by our extremely talented team so be sure to come back as often as you can to see what we are up to.

Technorati Tags: SSPR

To evaluate the public perception of a product or an individual, public relations experts must conduct market research and situation analysis and respond appropriately to the results. Traditional PR techniques have involved press releases, satellite feeds, wire service distributions, publishing information in various outlets, product placement on television and radio, press conferences, and media events.

Although these standards of PR still provide a solid foundation for marketers, modern approaches to PR have grown exponentially in recent decades thanks to the Internet. The Internet provides valuable PR opportunities that often eclipse standard marketing strategies. Tools such as search engine optimization and social network marketing allow marketers to deliver information about a product or service to targeted or global audiences, dramatically increasing their exposure to various markets and media.

Internet newsgroups allow you to reach the public much faster and easier than traditional PR methods. By monitoring these groups and joining into discussions, you can make a direct connection to people who have specific interests and then establish yourself as a subject matter expert. But be careful to keep your advertising to a soft-sell approach; regular visitors to newsgroups can spot a sales pitch a mile away. (more…)

I briefly discussed during my last post about the impact of Web 2.0 and used blogging as an actual impact tool for the newest sharing universe. The example cited the astonishing domino effect of using the blogosphere to track Katrina survivors. The basic idea of blogging is fairly simple; it’s the easiest, quickest web publishing tool that is, in essence, available to anyone with an internet connection and something to say. From Match.com to MySpace, blogging has also become one of the most common methods of communication within social networks. However, this new, widely accepted tool can also be your own personal soapbox, allowing the writer to sound-off about almost anything on their mind and they can do it almost instantly. This trudges-up a growing unease surrounding the ‘policing’ of the blogosphere. Newspapers, magazines and other preceding forms of a publishing have editors, publishers and even attorneys keeping a watchful eye on what is being printed in their publications. Should blogs adhere to the same rules of engagement? Or does that defeat the purpose of a blog altogether? Journalists adhere to a strict code of ethics but if a blogger isn’t technically a trained journalist, does that mean they have to adhere to these ethics as well? Does libel exist in the blogosphere? Where and what ARE the ethics?

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