Posts Tagged ‘pr’

Mondays have that spinny, reeling, to-do-list spitting out tasks kind of feeling, don’t they?  Luckily, VOCO has condensed today’s must-reads into a short and sweet list!

• PR is the new marketing:  A nice vlog on the intersections of two former cousins…now conjoined twins?  [via SmartBrief on Social Media]
• AdWeek has released its Magazine Hot List for ’09.  What’s hot:  Fast Company and Wired.  What’s not:  anything that can’t (or won’t) adapt to changing times.
• Are we “exquisitely, irretrievably f*!ked“?  You be the judge.
• Say it ain’t so:  Google has a “paralyzing lack of design focus”?!

Where does the time go?  Our Google Analytics series will be back for the attack later this week…in the meantime, here are some marketing and branding-related links to whet your appetite:

• How on earth do you monitor social media?  Social Media Explorer shows you how.
• Some most excellent facts and figures on the effectiveness of different marketing channels…hint: e-mail wins [via AAF SmartBrief]
• Oldie but goodie on using Google Alerts to track information about your business
• They’re getting real about marketing messages at Women’s Wear Daily

• My current obsession, Help A Reporter Out, is hosting a conference call on “How to Pitch a Reporter” that is promising to be a goldmine (and for just $50 it’s pretty much a steal).
• Here’s a quite comprehensive article on finding the tweet spot and using Twitter to your advantage.
• SmartBlog asks:  “Are you getting in the way of your customers?“
• Celebrity magazine circulation is down? Say it ain’t so!

As someone who has been inundated with requests for representation (?) and publicity for different causes, I was overjoyed to read the Open Letter to Fitness and Health Brands Pitching to Bloggers at Stephanie Quilao’s excellent Back in Skinny Jeans blog.  Stephanie lays it out honestly to brands who want her to cover their products…but aren’t prepared to take the time to find out who she is, craft an interesting pitch, or respect her business. She hits the nail on the head when she says:

Your pitch should not be all about you, it should first be about my audience and next me the blogger, and how my readers will benefit from your product or service, and how I the blogger will benefit by posting about your product. [Italics mine]  As a blogger this is what I care about; relevance, quality, traffic, exposure, and revenue.

So many people pitch from a purely self-motivated perspective.  They forget that, whether it’s a blog or a major newspaper, audience matters.  If you have the demographic wrong or are just plain opting for the blanket cover-every-possible-base approach, your chances of success are woefully small compared to if you targeted one or two publications that you researched, read, and analyzed.

Bottom line:  do your homework.  A little respect for the people who could enhance your career goes a long way.