PR and marketing

On the weekend I attended the launch of ln Situ, an exhibition featuring traditional sculptural works and contemporary installations in shops along Military Road in Mosman.

The exhibition is billed as “Australia’s newest art trail with over sixty works by Australia’s leading sculptors and installation artists.”

One of my fibre sculptures is featured in the exhibition and when I was listening to the speeches it occurred to me that Mosman Council is using this as a tactic to create community as well as drive visitors to the area.

This year it is part of a bigger event called Festival of Mosman with the tagline as “An unmissable Sydney experience”. Obviously Mosman isn’t Bondi, but Mosman Council is aiming to draw in crowds from outside the area like Sculpture by The Sea. It’s a great idea.

The sculptures are in shops so it’s like taking art to the people, and hoping they shop while they are there!

They using Twitter, Facebook and Youtube to promote the event and build online engagement. When I was installing my sculpture a videographer shot footage for the Youtube channel and was taking photos for the Facebook page.

They have also used an augmented reality program,Layar, which recognises real world objects and display digital AR experiences on top of them using a smartphone.

Its early days for their social media engagement, but it’s good to see a council taking steps to use social media and art to engage their community.

I hope you enjoy reading this newsletter.

Outsourcing your social media campaign
So you want to start up a social media campaign for your business but don’t know where to begin? If you decide its best for your business to work with an expert there are a few things you need to think about.

Do your research before picking a company. Different companies work within different sectors, such as lifestyle and retail, and can be experts in different fields.

Set targets: Know what you want out of the social media campaign and set realistic targets. This can be a certain amount of engagement, comments on a blog or number of customers taking up an offer from a social media site.

Communicate with the company to make sure you are both on the same page. Social media is an ongoing, daily activity and you want to make sure you both have the same idea when it comes to the message and public persona you want to showcase. 

Read the article on CP Communications News.    

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How to determine your target audience
Your target audience are the individuals, groups and communities that have influence and decision making power over your brands’ products or services. They are the ones you are trying to attract and sell to – they are the people want to communicate with.

The key is to dedicate time to really refine your audience before you start ‘talking’ to them. To clarify your target audiences answer these questions:

• Who needs to hear your message? Who are the people that would be interested in hearing and learning about what you have to offer them?
• Who are the influencers? All target audiences have people who have great influence over their decisions. They can be family members, friends, authoritative figures such as doctors and even the media.
• Who must be moved to action? Who are the targets that actually follow through with the purchase?
• Who has the greatest impact on the business’s outcome? Who are the people who will affect whether you fail or succeed?

Once you have researched and determined your target audience, you can now begin to create strategies, messages and tactics that are tailored to your target audiences needs, wants and values.

Read the article on the Public Relations Sydney blog.    

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Upcoming events
Here are some events coming up that we thought you might be interested in:

Social Media Women: Website and Ecommerce: Set- up and beyond - Tips, trends and ideas with Nancy Georges
Websites and Online Stores are essential for EVERY business. Integrating the website to your social media & offline activity is as important as the site itself! Nancy will discuss her own experiences with a wide range of products and services, and will give you the information to get you started and to define the world that we are now operating in.
8 November – Sydney, NSW

Magazine Week
Magazine Week is a full week of events that will bring all segments of the magazine publishing industry together to learn and share the latest information on business and technology trends. Featuring international and local industry experts and case studies, the Magazine Week conference will offer guidance on how to do better business.
9 November - Sydney, NSW

Google Analytics Seminars for Success
Learn Google's own best practices directly from a Google Analytics Certified Trainer. Ensure the accuracy of your website visitor data and learn how to use Google Analytics to measure the performance of your website and online marketing results. The seminar is great for people involved in marketing, advertising, public relations, e-commerce, business development or web management.
9, 10 and 11 November - Melbourne, Vic

ADMA Digital Day
Marketing is evolving more rapidly than ever before as technology empowers customers and marketers across the globe. Digital Day brings you some of the world’s most successful digital marketers from leading brands to help you improve marketing efficiency and effectiveness through deeper insights, enhanced capability and the implementation of new platforms and technologies.
14 November - Melbourne, Vic

Social Media and Communications Summit
The Social Media and Communications Summit brings together Australia's leading social media intelligence, communications, Innovation, generation and trend practitioners to share industry insights with your organisation. Four of Australia's thought leaders on social media and digital communication will power your organisation with a SWOT analysis of your social media strategy.
15 November - Sydney, NSW

The 5 Pillars of Web Engagement Management Revealed
Online Engagement Management is the new idea in web publishing – it’s no longer enough to simply publish material and hope your customer gets the right message. Join Mammoth Media, and web veteran Greg Baxter from Sitecore, for a journey through the new paradigm, and understand the power behind the “connected customer”.
18 November - Brisbane, Qld   

Recently I went off the grid. While I do have hippy tendencies, I don’t mean going solar! I went off the social media grid for a week.

For anyone who knows me, I’m pretty addicted to social media. It’s a part of my everyday life, both professionally and personally. For the week I didn’t tweet, Facebook, blog, LinkedIn or Instagram. I didn’t make a phone call, send or check emails or turn on a computer.

I didn’t take a photo on my phone and instantly share it (a photo is so much better shared don’t you think?). I didn’t even turn on my iPhone!

Did I start twitching nervously wondering if I would miss important conversations? Did I have withdrawals?

No. A very big NO. I loved it. It was great to truly have a break from the world.

Funnily enough, I found myself on an island in Fiji on a yoga retreat, teaching the resort owner how to do social media! They now have an up to date YouTube Channel and a Flickr page. Hilarious. I can’t get away from it, even when I try to!

Speaking this month: I am a panelist on the NSW Government’s Small Business September: PR & Social Media - winning strategies for business success on 16 September. I hope you can join me!

I hope you enjoy reading this newsletter.

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What's the real difference between marketing and PR?
As PR professionals we are often asked how public relations differs from marketing. Here are some useful analogies:

1. Activities/tactics: Marketing generally covers promotional, direct marketing and advertising which seeks to return direct sales; whereas PR is focused on reputation management through generating positive media coverage and stakeholder communication.

2. Target audiences: Marketing aims to reach current and potential customers, whereas public relations is all about maintaining positive relationships with anyone who has an interest in the organisation or brand. This covers a broader audience across customers and media, to employees and shareholders.

3. Two separate goals: The goals for marketing teams are to reach consumers and make them think, believe or do some kind of sales focused action. Essentially it is about selling the product or service. Public relations is about selling the company or brand through positively managing the communication channels between a company and its stakeholders.

4. Legitimacy of messages: Messages delivered through PR channels such as articles, conference speakers or reputable bloggers are subconsciously regarded by consumers as more legitimate than those presented through marketing tactics. Generally, people can clearly recognise that advertising and marketing are driven by a company’s desire to increase sales.

5. Business ROI: Marketing is generally defined as a business investment – paid branding and promotional activities with new customers being the ROI. Whereas PR is classified as free exposure for increasing credibility around a company’s image.

6. Longevity: Marketing is a relatively short term activity, whereas PR reaps its benefits over a longer period of time. While marketing seeks to drive instant, tangible sales success, the benefits of a PR program can be viewed as a long term investment that a company would recognise for future achievements.

Read the full article on the Public Relations Sydney blog.

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How to be a good ghost tweeter
Ghost tweeters are teams or individuals who are outsourced by companies to tweet on their behalf. It sounds like a simple concept, and in many ways it is, but tweeting for a client is very different to tweeting for your own company or for yourself.

If you are considering becoming a ghost tweeter for someone, or if you already are a ghost tweeter, here are some tips on how to make sure you do it well:

Get to know their topics of interest
Your client’s online presence on Twitter relies on consistency, as social media is all about connecting and engaging with a target audience. When tweeting for your client it is crucial you understand the topics that they wish to be tweeting about. Find out how they want to be perceived, research their areas of interest and stick to it.

Learn their language
When it comes to tweeting for your client you’ve got to know how to talk the talk...or tweet the tweet in this case! Learn the language of your clients. Read articles written by them, listen to them speak and take into account what industry they are in and who their target audience is.

Don’t do anything they wouldn’t do
It can be easy to forget at times that you are not tweeting for yourself. Before you reply, comment or re-tweet anything always ask yourself: “Would my client want to be associated with that person, company or comment?”

Although you may find the tweet funny, interesting or re-tweet worthy, your client may not – it may even be damaging to their reputation. From the very beginning you should learn what conversations your client can be engaged in and what conversations to avoid.

Read the full article on CP Communications News.

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Upcoming events
Here are some events coming up that we thought you might be interested in:

Brand engagement in a multi-channel environment
It is more important than ever to understand the customer journey across channels and create a brand strategy for the connected customer. At this forum you will gain advice from retailers who will showcase case studies, and hear research conducted with 100 Australians on their route from search to purchase.
7 September – Sydney

Social media applications for business
This two-day intensive workshop introduces participants to the context of social media use for business, strategies for social media application and a practical introduction to the most common and useful social media tools for business.
7-8 September – Perth

Social Media Women September: Learn how to make your real life presence compliment and match your online presence
Today everyone is, in one way or another, digitally branded. Whether it is through Facebook, Twitter, a blog or LinkedIn, your personality and your brand are online for all to see. Mariette Rups-Donnelly will share with you some tips and techniques to make sure that when you meet your contacts in real life you compliment and match your digital personality.
13 September – Sydney

Future of Digital Publishing
Tablets are promising to breathe new life into the publishing industry, with more than 1.5 million tablet devices estimated to be sold in Australia in 2011. At this half day seminar, speakers from the magazine, news and web publishing sectors will discuss how they are preparing for the future of print and publishing.
21 September – Melbourne

Online Retailer Conference & E-commerce Expo
A four-day conference with guests discussing problem-solving solutions and career networking. Learn how to acquire new customers, optimise retail website performance, boost conversions, foster loyalty, improve marketing ROI and maximise business operations and profits.
26-29 September – Sydney

Ghost tweeters are teams or individuals who are outsourced by companies to tweet on their behalf. It sounds like a simple concept, and in many ways it is but tweeting for a client is very different to tweeting for your own company or for yourself.

If you are considering becoming a ghost tweeter for someone, or if you already are a ghost tweeter, here are some tips on how to make sure you do it well:

Get to know their topics of interest
Your client’s online presence on Twitter relies on consistency, as social media is all about connecting and engaging with a target audience. When tweeting for your client it is crucial you understand the topics that they wish to be tweeting about. Find out how they want to be perceived, research their areas of interest and stick to it.

Learn their language
When it comes to tweeting for your client you’ve got to know how to talk the talk...or tweet the tweet in this case! Learn the language of your clients. Read articles written by them, listen to them speak and take into account what industry they are in and who their target audience is.

Don’t do anything they wouldn’t do
It can be easy to forget at times that you are not tweeting for yourself. Before you reply, comment or re-tweet anything always ask yourself: “Would my client want to be associated with that person, company or comment?”

Although you may find the tweet funny, interesting or re-tweet worthy, your client may not – it may even be damaging to their reputation. From the very beginning you should learn what conversation your client can be engaged in and what conversation to avoid.

Don’t let trouble brew
As a ghost tweeter you may be on the lookout for negative comments of feedback about your clients. Make sure, if this happens, to respond in a professional and timely manner.

If, however, your response does not seem to work and the problem is lingering, or if it seems to be escalating, contact your client and make sure they are aware of the problem. In any case do not keep quiet and assume it will all blow over.

The best way to be a successful ghost tweeter is to communicate with your client and make sure you completely understand what they want to achieve. A tailored social media strategy will always be more successful and gain far better results than a general plan used across all clients.

Yesterday I had corn & quinoa soup for lunch. So what? I hear you ask. About a year or so ago a cafe in Crows Nest called Montagu started following me on Twitter.

As a result of conversations on Twitter I started going there for lunch and having business coffee ‘catch ups’ there. In the last month or so they have started tweeting me what soup they have on.

Why this is special is because I’m vegetarian. So in winter I struggle to find soup in cafes that I can eat (as most vege soups are made with chicken stock).

Now mid morning, if Montagu have a vege friendly soup available for lunch, they tweet it out and include my twitter handle so it comes into my ‘mentions’ section of Twitter. 

I love it! It means I get to eat yummy soup that I know is vege friendly. And how clever of them to use such a creative way to generate business!

Learn how to do your own PR! – My next one day workshop on PR and media releases that get results is on next Thursday (11 August). Learn how to construct a PR strategy including how to develop media angles, pitches, media releases, articles, case studies and editorials. You will also learn how to strategically use these tools to maximise your chance of achieving your PR objectives. Sydney Writers’ Centre. Book now!

I hope you enjoy this newsletter.

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Using PR and social media to engage a community
Macquarie University has been running the annual Women, Management and Work Conference for 23 years, with the 2011 conference focusing on Women and Leadership: Ignite your strengths. Leading women spoke about how women can use their unique strengths to become influential leaders.

This year, Macquarie University once again asked CP Communications to run the PR and social media of the event as well as the sponsorship drive. CP Communications drove engagement and registrations by expanding and renewing the online community, in addition to traditional PR strategies.

The focus of our strategy was to use the various issues the conference would cover, to strike a chord with the target audience. We wanted a long lasting campaign that didn’t end when the conference did.

We reignited the conversation in the online community “Women at Work Australia” which included blogging, Tweeting, Facebook and a YouTube channel. We also added a new platform, a LinkedIn group.

CP Communications identified that the media talent were the conference speakers and invited them to be involved in PR. We sent media releases, various pitches and invited the speakers to provide contributed articles, which were pitched into online publications

Yet again we achieved amazing engagement and print and online coverage.

Read how we achieved these results at CP Communications – Success Stories

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YouTube for business - How to create a professional YouTube Channel
We can all be TV stars now by starting a YouTube TV channel. Creating compelling videos helps you engage with your target audience and is a great way to bring exposure to your business and also a way to position yourself as a thought leader or expert in your field.

Here are some tips for creating quality videos:

1. Use a good camera.
   The whole point of a YouTube video is to visually show or demonstrate your product, service or expertise. There is no point in uploading a video onto YouTube that is fuzzy, dull or blurry.
2. Get the lighting right.
   Again the whole point of YouTube is to visually get your message across professionally and that also includes making sure the video looks professionally made. Make sure the lighting is even and that there are no dark shadows.
3. Buy a good microphone.
   There is nothing more frustrating than trying to decipher what someone is saying while watching a video. If you want your messages, tips and advice to be clear investing in a good quality microphone is a good idea. Also, remember to test the sound before doing the whole recording.
4. Aim for one to five minutes.
   Your audience will probably be busy people who have short attention spans. With that in mind your audience will most likely press stop after the two minute mark. If you can, create short two minute videos but if you have to go over be sure to keep within the five minute range.

Read more tips and how to set up your channel on the Public Relations Sydney blog.

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Upcoming events
Here are some events coming up that we thought you might be interested in:

Brand Management 
This one-day master class workshop will equip participants with the core knowledge and skills necessary to successfully and profitably manage a brand. Learn about brand equity, brand research, positioning and managing your brand and brand building. This workshop is designed for marketers and senior managers who have responsibilities over one or more brands within their organisation.
4 August 2011– Brisbane, Queensland

Social Media Women August: Learn about social media's role in the health industry with Heidi Allen of BodyinMind.org
Finding information about health is one of the highest uses of search engines today. Is the information we find reliable? How do we know? Is my doctor using social media? How do I feel about my health information going online? Heidi will help you understand the challenges of implementing a digital and social online strategy in a quickly evolving business ecosystem.
9 August 2011 – Sydney, NSW

Doing Business Online: The Latest Trends and the Legal Risks
The internet and Smartphones are now being used by many for business purposes. During this seminar a panel of expert speakers will present information about the latest trends and techniques being used by businesses. The legal risks of conducting an online business and how business owners can cover themselves will also be discussed.
9 August 2011 – Robina, Queensland

PR and Media Releases That Get Results with Catriona Pollard
Catriona will teach you how to construct a PR strategy that gets results. By the end of this workshop you will understand how to come up with a media angle, write a pitch, media release, article, case study and editorial. You will also learn how to strategically use these tools to maximise your chance of achieving your PR objectives.
11 August 2011 – Sydney, NSW

AFR Leadership Conference
The Australian Financial Review Leadership Conference 2011 brings you a fresh look at corporate leadership. At this one day conference learn about how to get the best out of multigenerational workforces, how to be a leader in the aftermath of a crisis and the importance of strategic HR.
16 August 2011 – Sydney, NSW

Integrating Online Services to your Existing Community Engagement Strategy
The explosion of online communications tools offers an enormous and often untapped potential to address a great deal of challenges faced by community engagement practitioners. Topics to be explored include the integration of online strategy with traditional methods of community engagement and examples of effective online strategies.
30 - 31 August 2011 – Melbourne, Victoria

Last week I finally did my 24 hrs for B&T. I’m not sure if you know about this column in B&T magazine but it profiles the day of someone in the marketing industry. It has been on my list of things to do for, well.... a year. It’s been moved from my monthly list of things to do so many times I didn’t even notice it anymore.

Our clients’ PR always comes first, obviously. But one of my New Year resolutions was to make sure we focus on our PR to help the business grow but also to showcase our skills. So one of our clients is...us!

Alison is our consultant, and updates our action plan just as we do for our clients. I’m now the annoying client that never gets back to her! In an attempt to get me to do the 24 hrs column, she even printed out a blank document with ½ hour intervals on it, and a motivational quote at the top to encourage me to do it!

It worked. It’s done now and hopefully will be printed in the next couple of months. She has also booked me in to do more videos for our YouTube channel, which I’m told, I can’t cancel!

We are half way through the year and it might be time to reflect on how you are going with your New Year resolutions. Is it time to update them? Reflect on them? Or even ditch them and create fresh goals?

Speaking this month: I will be speaking at the Leichhardt & Annandale Business Chamber breakfast on 14 July and SheBusiness lunch in Balmain on 28 July. The breakfast is booked out, but there are places available for the lunch. 

WIN a ticket to Macquarie University's Women, Management and Work Conference:
Attend Social Media Women in July to automatically go into the draw to win a ticket worth $2,300 to the Women, Management and Work Conference on 28-29 July 2011 in Sydney. The conference will inspire and inform women who are looking for insights and key tips to develop their leadership skills. Read more at www.lmsf.mq.edu.au/womenandleadership.

I hope you enjoy reading this newsletter.

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Why 'how to' articles work
Writing articles is a fantastic way to gain publicity. There are specific types of articles that work well – the ‘how to’ article is one of them but there are specific ways to write them.

‘How to’ articles can not only position you as an industry expert, they can offer topical, helpful and interesting information to readers and are one of the easiest types of articles to write because they have a 'tried and tested' structure that works.

1. Know what you are writing about. When writing a ‘how to’ article make sure you do actually know how to do it. Your information needs to be backed up with real life experience and knowledge.
2. Stay on topic. The article should be objective and written in an informative and entertaining manner, but keep on topic. No editor will want to receive an article that goes off topic or becomes a promotional piece.
3. KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid). Particularly if you are writing a ‘how to’ on something complex. Avoid jargon and write in short, clear sentences, using sub headings, dot points and bolding to communicate key points.
4. Proof read it. Once you are finished, proof read it and then give it to somebody else to read. It is very common for authors of articles to miss mistakes. Allowing another person to read over the article can help. Also, by doing this you can test if your 'how to' article is effective in communicating information to people who are not experts in the area. 

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Should you BranchOut?
Most people who have joined Facebook have ‘friended’ everyone they know from people they went to school with 30 years ago to new friends.

Their pages are filled to bursting with both personal and professional information about themselves and yet, in order to network on a professional basis, you need to use LinkedIn and start that networking process all over again.

At least that’s how it used to be until BranchOut was launched.

The BranchOut application, created in July 2010, is Facebook’s largest professional networking service. In many ways it is quite similar to LinkedIn allowing users to create networks, search for jobs or people at specific companies to relay interest to and seek endorsement from previous clients or employees.

BranchOut seems to have one advantage that LinkedIn doesn’t. It uses your existing Facebook network so your contacts are already there, waiting for you to explore as soon as you create your account.

And while on the topic of learning something new, for all you social media savvy people who feel they are starting to get bored by the already existing list of social media platforms – brace yourselves.

Word is quickly spreading about a new social media platform that is yet to hit our Australian social media shores called Kohort. Users are already able to stake their claim by creating their own user account name; however you can’t enter the site yet.

Mysterious or what!?

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Upcoming events
Here are some events coming up that we thought you might be interested in:

Social Media Women July: START UPS, Tips & Tools for Overcoming the Hurdles with Catherine Eibner
Starting any business can be challenging. Practical advice based on experience helps save time, energy and money and a free program that helps support a start-up is the cherry on the cake! Catherine Eibner will share her tips and advice for entrepreneurs on starting a business.
12 July 2011 – Sydney

Marketing Women Victoria social media event
‘Social media’ is on everyone’s lips and smart phones, but how many people and businesses actually get it right? The interactive session will be led by an impressive group of experts in the social media space: future leader of Haystac’s newly formed digital and social media unit, Kristen Boschma and fellow social media gurus Yvonne Adele, Eloise Zoppos and Trevor Young.
13 July 2011 – Melbourne

Chamber of Women in Business presents Sofia Majewski – director of Speak2us
Develop and strengthen your public speaking skills and become a confident and articulate public speaker with Sofia Majewski, Director of Speak2us. Learn about where and when you speak, who your audience is and how to manage nervousness and anxiety.
13 July 2011 – Canberra

Online Retail: Differentiating Online Businesses
This event, run by AIMIA, will help retail businesses entering the online space clearly understand how to differentiate their online offering and integrate with a multichannel retail business strategy. It features speakers from the e-tail multichannel space.
12 July 2011 – Sydney
14 July 2011 – Melbourne

Macquarie University’s Women, Management and Work Conference
Learn how to become an influential leader at Macquarie University’s 23rd annual Women, Management and Work Conference. This two day conference will inspire and inform women who are looking for insights and key tips to develop their leadership skills. Speakers include CEO of Medicare Lynelle Briggs Board Director of CoSolve, Anna Booth and Director in the Royal Australian Navy Captain Michele Miller.
28-29 July 2011 – Sydney

PR and Media Releases That Get Results with Catriona Pollard
Catriona Pollard will teach you how to construct a PR strategy that gets results. By the end of this workshop you will understand how to come up with a media angle, write a pitch, media release, article, case study and editorial. You will also learn how to strategically use these tools to maximise your chance of achieving your PR objectives.
11 August 2011 – Sydney

Most people who have joined Facebook have ‘friended’ everyone they know from people they went to school with 30 years ago to new friends.

Their pages are filled to bursting with both personal and professional information about themselves and yet, in order to network on a professional basis, you need to use LinkedIn and start that networking process all over again.

At least that’s how it used to be until BranchOut was launched.

The BranchOut application, created in July 2010, is Facebook’s largest professional networking service. In many ways it is quite similar to LinkedIn allowing users to create networks, search for jobs or people at specific companies to relay interest to and seek endorsement from previous clients or employees.

BranchOut also allows you to transfer all the information from your LinkedIn account over to your BranchOut account to make the start up process easier.

Although LinkedIn still may be the head honcho when it comes to online professional networking, BranchOut seems have one advantage that LinkedIn doesn’t: BranchOut uses your existing Facebook network meaning your contacts are already there, waiting for you to explore as soon as you create your account.

To a person who already has a pretty savvy LinkedIn account, this feature may not make much difference to you. However, to a person who is new to professional networking, this feature may be the tipping point when it comes to choosing between LinkedIn and BranchOut.

However, regardless of whether you are a LinkedIn professional or a first time rookie, BranchOut is worth a try, if nothing more than to have something professional to do while you’re on Facebook. Learning something new, especially in this fast-paced social media day and age, really can’t hurt.

And while on the topic of learning something new, for all you social media savvy people who feel they are starting to get bored by the already existing list of social media platforms – brace yourselves.

Word is quickly spreading about a new social media platform that is yet to hit our Australian social media shores called Kohort. Users are already able to stake their claim by creating their own user account name; however you can’t enter the site yet.

Mysterious or what!?

Although I have lived in Sydney nearly half my life, I’m still a country girl at heart. At times when I am stuck in Sydney traffic I dream of living somewhere there aren’t any traffic lights (like where my parents live!). But last week, I was reminded how lucky I am to live here. Not only is Sydney beautiful, but we have access to so many great events.

I attended Vivid Creative Sydney, a series of free events about the future of creativity, technology and business. Industry leaders shared their experiences and discussed how to create innovative brands and products. One was an artist who creates ‘unseen sculptures’ using augmented reality. He placed a giant squid above the Opera House that could only be seen through your smart phone. Amazing!

On Sunday it was a beautiful clear winter’s morning and the CP Communications team joined hundreds of people on the MS Walk Fundraiser around the botanical gardens. The walk helped MS Australia raise funds to provide assistance to the 20,000 Australians living with Multiple Sclerosis. It’s not too late to help out a good cause and donate!

That afternoon I found myself sitting next to an Aboriginal woman artist from Tjanpi Desert Weavers who taught me how to weave in their unique way. They are a renowned group of indigenous women artists who work with grass fibres to make baskets and sculptures. They had travelled here from remote desert communities in central Australia for the amazing exhibition at Manly Gallery, KURU ALALA – eyes open. I was so thrilled, I couldn’t quite believe it!

Every event I went to last week was free, and they were all about community – creating, contributing and engaging. So have a think about how your business, brand or you as an individual can create and contribute to your community. The goodwill you create will be priceless.

I hope you enjoy reading this newsletter.
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What journalists are looking for and how to get their attention
Journalists work in a fast-pace, high-pressure environment every day and are only looking for stories which capture their attention right away. They constantly receive media releases, phone calls from PR consultants and emails about the latest and greatest product or business. So to make sure you are noticed there are a few things to keep in mind when contacting the media.

Make them want to know more. Whether you are sending them a media release or pitching an article over the phone, make sure to present the most interesting information first. The information may have to be tailored for different types of media.

Personalise your attempt. Research first and find out which journalist you may wish to speak to. Simply using someone’s name can get their attention and makes them feel like you have a put in a bit of effort.

Pick your time wisely. A bit of research and common sense can tell you when a media outlet's deadline is. Daily papers will obviously have a deadline each day, so get your information to a journalist earlier in the day. Monthly publications such as some magazines have long lead times so don’t call at the end of the month trying to get into the next month’s issue.

Don’t be afraid of journalists. They have good days and bad days and there are ones who will be nicer than others. But don’t be intimidated by them. If you have all your information at hand, know what you are talking about and are polite at all times you should be received well.
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TwitterCue: The new social media idea
In today’s world of 24 hour news cycles and social media channels that never sleep, people across the globe are constantly gaining access to large amounts of information on a daily basis.

It is particularly challenging when communicating via Twitter, when your clearly written and informative media release is reduced to a 140 character line.

How do you express essential and maybe even critically important information in only 140 characters? Enter ‘TwitterCue’ – a 140 character line written at the top or bottom of a media release which sums up the content and can be then spread through social media channels without losing any essential information.

Not only is TwitterCue a great addition to a social media optimised media release – distributed to bloggers, citizen journalists and through services such as PR Newswire – it will also be useful for time-pressed journalists.

The challenge, however, is getting all the information needed into that 140 character line. To help you get the most out of writing a TwitterCue, here are some useful tips:

• Lose the fancy talk and get straight to the point – concentrate on facts only
• Always use a suitable hashtag
• Include a URL that links to the full media release
• Leave space for unedited re-tweeting – 120 characters should be your aim
• Channel the language of your Tweeps – use abbreviations e.g. to = 2; for = 4; you = u 

An example of a TwitterCue is one we did for our client Community Engine when we released their annual survey. We included the hashtag on all tweets:
The Nielsen-Community Engine 2011 Social Media Business Benchmarking Study released 2day http://t.co/6KoQiXt #B2Bsocialstudy
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Upcoming events
Here are some events coming up that we thought you might be interested in:

Social Media Women June: Learn about online business with Shoes of Prey
Social Media Women’s June event features inspirational creator of online business Shoes of Prey, Jodie Fox. Jodie will share how she built her incredible online business and some of the secrets to her success.
14 June 2011 – Sydney, NSW

Nice Girls Just Don’t Get It
Dr Lois Frankel is running a breakfast presentation about her book ‘Nice Girls Just Don’t Get It’. During the presentation Dr Frankel will teach women how get what they want in both professional and personal areas of their lives.
15 June 2011 – Brisbane, Qld

Web 3.0 and the Future of Social Media
New technologies collectively known as Web 3.0 are already providing a momentous opportunity to businesses and marketers.This conference will investigate the web and how it will transform marketing. Key areas to be discussed include the future direction for social networks and progressive social media marketing.
21 June 2011 – Sydney, NSW

PR and Media Releases That Get Results with Catriona Pollard
Catriona will teach you how to construct a PR strategy that gets results. By the end of this workshop you will understand how to come up with a media angle, write a pitch, media release, article, case study and editorial. You will also learn how to strategically use these tools to maximise your chance of achieving your PR objectives.
23 June 2011 – Sydney, NSW

Business in the Social Age
Simon Betschel (Sensis) and Brian Giesen (Ogilvy) will be speaking about the opportunities and challenges that are being presented to Australian businesses in the social age. They will aim to help business owners make more informed decisions about how to use and engage in social media for business.
7 July 2011 – Melbourne, Vic

Macquarie University’s Women, Management and Work Conference
Learn how to become an influential leader at Macquarie University’s 23rd annual Women, Management and Work Conference. This two day conference will inspire and inform women who are looking for insights and key tips to develop their leadership skills. Speakers include CEO of Medicare Lynelle Briggs, Board Director of CoSolve Anna Booth and Director in the Royal Australian Navy Captain Michele Miller.
28-29 July 2011 – Sydney, NSW

Journalists work in a fast-pace, high-pressure environment everyday and are only looking for stories which capture their attention right away. They constantly receive media releases, phone calls from PR agents and emails about the latest and greatest product or business. So to make sure you are noticed there are a few things to keep in mind when contacting the media.

Make them want to know more
Whether you are sending them a media release or pitching an article over the phone, make sure to present the most interesting information first. The information may have to be tailored for different types of media, eg: community newspapers are generally only interested on something to do with its immediate area. Most media releases won’t even be read all the way through if the journalist isn’t interested from the beginning.

Personalise your attempt
Whether emailing or calling, do a bit of research first and find out which journalist you may wish to speak to. Simply using someone’s name can get their attention and makes them feel like you have put in a bit of effort and aren’t just calling every media outlet in the country. If sending out a mass email make sure to BCC all email addresses so journalists don’t know you are sending it to every media outlet in the country, they will be less inclined to use information they know everyone else has.

Pick your time wisely
A bit of research and common sense can tell you when a media outlets deadline is. Daily papers will obviously have a deadline each day so getting your information to a journalist earlier in the day may be an advantage for you as you’ll be contacting them when the stress is a bit less. Monthly publications such as some magazines have long lead times and can be looking for articles months in advance, there is no point contacting a magazine at the end of the month trying to get into the next month’s issue.

Don’t be afraid of journalists
They are people too. They have good days and bad days and there are ones who will be nicer than others. But don’t be intimidated by them if they are less than sugar and spice, they will respect you more for not sounding nervous. If you contact them at a bad time apologise once and move on, apologising more than that can become annoying. If you have all your information at hand, know what you are talking about and are polite at all times you should be received well.