Jack Loechner of Media Post shares a recent report from ROI Research that’s full of stats and discusses the substantial changes social media has made…and how we’re more actively participating with brands and each other. Read more…

We source information from blogs – recipes, opinions, news – but did you know you can pitch stories to bloggers just like you to journalists?

The first thing to note when pitching an idea to a blogger is – they aren’t journalists. They have a very personalized medium where they interact with their readers through comments on their blog. So you need to make the contact with them personal.

Sending an irrelevant media release to them is obviously a big no-no but rather than pitching a general release, be sure to make your contact with the blogger a little more personal than you would with a journalist.

Read their blog first, make mention of posts that interested you and if possible make this friendly contact before sending a ‘pitch’ email. You can also start building a relationship with relevant bloggers by posting comments on their blog and engaging with them.

When a relationship has been built, a blogger will generally be more receptive to your ideas. The pitch should be in the form of an email – which needs to be clear and to the point. Busy people do not read long emails, so in the first paragraph clearly outline your idea and why their readers would be interested.

Bloggers won’t always publish a phone number on their site so a follow up phone call is not always possible which is why building the relationship first will usually deliver more promising results than a one-off email pitch.

Obviously if you are asking them to review a product – send them the product but first ask them if they would like to receive it. Blindly sending products in the hope for a review is a waste of time.

To sum it up: The best thing to do first is watch, listen and read what a particular blogger is doing. See what they’re writing about now and in the past, what they’re tweeting about, who they’re chatting with.

Then if you still think your product/service is relevant to the blogger and their readers contact them and arrange for a general chat before going into specifics about your current campaign or pitch.

Brand marketers seem to be jumping on the Facebook bandwagon left and right.
They know engagement through social networking is important to understanding
consumers, so they’re trying to do it. However, creating a branded community
locked within Facebook or any other broad-reaching social network is
probably not the best long-term strategy for communicating with consumers.

Don’t get me wrong, Facebook is not a bad marketing practice 300 million
users is a big pond to fish in. Done properly and coupled with other social
marketing tactics, it can enhance any big picture social media strategy. But
let’s be clear, Facebook is a tactic, not a strategy.

Here are a few reasons why:

User intent
On Facebook and similar sites, you never really know why someone is there,
but for the most part, the intent of the user is to interact with friends
around a variety of topics not, typically, to talk to brands. Unless it’s
being introduced by a friend, in order to engage with consumers, brands
have to interject themselves and disrupt the conversation. That sounds like
what a TV commercial does, and it’s something consumers may ultimately
resent. Or ignore.

That’s not to say consumers don’t want to talk to brands online. They do.
According to the 2009 Cone Consumer New Media Study, 89 percent of new media
users believe companies should be interacting with consumers via social
media. And a recently released Razorfish Study said 40 percent of U.S.
internet users had actually “friended” a brand on Facebook or MySpace. But
posting updates to a fan page every few days lacks any built-in value for
consumers and certainly does not qualify as an effective social media
program.

There’s also relevance
Most people would agree that it’s a critical factor when they decide to put
out a welcome mat for marketer messages. Finding relevance in the ocean that
is Facebook can be tough in fact, lack of relevance is a choice on
Facebook’s survey of reasons why users might not like an ad they see on
Facebook.

Affinity-based social networks, on the other hand, are built around a common
interest. They bring together like-minded individuals who want to connect on
a particular topic. That oozes relevance. And that’s a perfect opportunity
for brands.

For example, Meredith Corporation has begun creating affinity-based social
networks as a way for brands to build strong relationships through social
conversations. They took their expertise from Better Homes and Gardens
magazine and BHG.com to create MixingBowl.com a social network for cooks.
It’s a place built entirely around recipes and people sharing them; sharing
their ideas and passions for food. That’s certainly a relevant place for
food brands to engage and add value to the conversation.

Additionally, Gannett has created a national network of 80 local
communities, all specifically tailored for moms. Through MomsLikeMe.com,
moms can connect, form groups, plan events, and share advice, while
marketers have new opportunities to enter the conversation, create
relationships, and gain valuable insights into what moms want and need.

As these examples illustrate, a successful social strategy needs to be
tailored to your specific brand.

Facebook has more than three hundred million users. Certainly it has a place
in online brand marketing. But it should not be the center of your brand’s
marketing.

I get so annoyed trying to connect to hotspots when I travel for business, especially when I have more than one device (laptop, camera, phone). I used to have Boingo Wireless, but now there’s a new a new portable hot spot device that creates a Wi-Fi connection for wireless devices. Verizon’s new MiFi (get it…MiFi?) will deliver the carrier’s 3G wireless network to up to five gadgets including laptops, Netbooks, gaming devices, and cameras. Of course, you could connect a Wi-Fi-enabled Verizon phone like the Samsung Omnia, but the good news is that you’re not limited to just the carrier’s handsets.

Made by Novatel, the MiFi has integrated CDMA (EV-DO Rev. A) and Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) radios. It sports a simple rectangular design in basic black. And since it’s designed to be portable, it’s also compact (3.5 inches by 2.3 inches by 0.4 inch) and lightweight (2.05 ounces).

Two service plans are available. A $40 monthly subscription gets you 250MB of data; if you go over you’ll pay 10 cents per megabyte. For $60 you can use 5GB and pay 5 cents per megabyte for any additional use. Alternatively, you can purchase a 24-hour “DayPass” for $15. The MiFi is now available for $99 with a $50 rebate.

A friend of mine asked me what social media could do for her business, so I thought I would put together a list of five topics that I thought would be useful for business owners to know about.

1. FIND AND ACTIVATE YOUR BRAND AMBASSADORS
Social media can help you identify and engage your brand ambassadors. These are folks who are passionate about your brand and are not shy to talk about it using social media. Consider engaging them in your new product development, provide them with a window into your company’s culture and continuously supply them with information so that they may continue talking about your brand.

2. FIND AND HELP THOSE HAVING PROBLEMS W/ YOUR BRAND
Similarly to using Social Media to find your brand ambassadors, you’ll find many of your existing customers who are having issues with your products or your customer service and who are not afraid to use social media channels to let their voice be heard. I see that all the time on Twitter and by monitoring my company’s branded keywords on Technorati or through Google alerts. You can choose to ignore these folks or you can jump in to help. Your participation in social media gives you a unique opportunity to reach out to these customers through channels they might not expect to receive customer service through. Comcast has done it through @comcastcares on Twitter and many other brands are following in their footsteps.

3. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF SOCIAL MEDIA CONVERSATIONS THROUGH SYSTEMATIC MONITORING
Have you started monitoring social media for your branded keywords? How about your competitor’s keywords? Add to it your branded product names, industries you play in and verticals you are venturing into. Social media gives you an incredible opportunity to listen in on conversations from your current customers and prospects (including your competitors’) who openly discuss their needs, generate new product ideas and alert you of issues with your existing products.

4. PRACTICE CONVERSATIONAL MARKETING
Social media is not about constantly pushing the same marketing message through every available channel and hoping that 0.2 percent of your recipients will actually pay attention to your ad. That’s traditional advertising. What you are hoping for is to energize social media participants through conversational marketing. How? For starters consider using social media to amplify your company’s philanthropic activities. Set up social media channels with content about your initiative and make it easy for others to virally spread it to others. I did not understand the power of social media viral spread until we used for the Firefighter Calendar Judging Event my company was sponsoring. Social media outreach took the campaign to the next level and created a powerful word-of-mouth marketing mechanism.

5. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN YOUR WORKPLACE
Finally, don’t forget that social media is not limited to your customers and external stakeholders. Through Enterprise 2.0 tools including wikis, blogs, instant messaging, internal social networks and microblogging apps, social media can help improve your employee communications and help them collaborate with one another regardless of office location, business unit association or positioning on the corporate ladder.

Committing corporate fraud, being named in a class action lawsuit by shareholders or being called out by the President as “greedy” are surely the fastest ways to be included in the New York Times business section. However, as people who study media and have a vested interest in advising clients who would like positive general media coverage, a firm cataloged 124 stories within one week last summer (excluding World Briefs and Market Gauges columns).

Some of the highlights are as follows:

Context
29% of the articles were positive.
20% of the articles were neutral.
51% of the articles were negative (the kind you do not want to see written about your company).

Large companies dominate coverage. Small companies received about one-tenth the coverage as their larger counterparts.

Research findings can increase your odds of being covered. Sample articles within the study included Cambridge Energy Research Associates Report on Driving Less and CEO’s Surveyed on Economic Outlook.

For small- to mid-sized companies, the following columns and features may provide an opportunity for coverage:

Monday: Tech Coverage
Thursday: http://www.nytimes.com/pages/business/smallbusiness/index.html
Saturday: Ron Lieber’s “Your Money” column
Saturday: Personal Business section
Sunday: “Bright Ideas”
Sunday: “The Boss”
Sunday: Kelley Holland’s “Under New Management”

The New York Times is a great newspaper and will continue to be a leader in publishing.

Yes, it’s happening. Companies are capitalizing on ‘Swine Flu’, the potentially pandemic disease that is currently freaking out a lot of people, including me. If we’re stressing out, is it also the right time to make a quick buck? Perhaps. I guess it’s still opportunistic, but instead of selling Swine Flu T-shirts, some of promotions currently being offered by companies are actually potentially useful. Some of the ones I’ve read about are:
Phonevite — allows organizations to use its mass communication tools free of charge to broadcast emergency messages. ZocDoc — online booking site for doctors’ appointments, which has set up a dedicated hub for Swine Flu checkups being offered by doctors in the New York area.

If you’ve seen any others - please reply.

Toasted Head (wine) has attracted nearly 3,300 fans since launching a Facebook presence five weeks ago. Not an unusually high number but unusual for a wine brand considering the largest fan base for a wine is around 1,000 members.

I’m tipping my hat the agency that gave Toasted Head some cool features related to the brand’s name and mascot image - a fire-breathing bear. Some of these include “burning question”, tips on how to “fire up” your life and videos and photos showing fans and how they’re firing up their own lives.

There is also a FB social calendar that can reach over 9 million users with mad-lib style toasts, a fired up quiz and other fun activities.

Toasted Head’s rapid growth on FB site speaks most to its somewhat cult-like following.

Thumbs up on this one!

More and more companies are being more thoughtful about where they spend their marketing dollars. Our clients are looking for partners who are giving them more value for their money. Despite the state of the economy, our clients still need to reach consumers, however, in a much more economical way.

We are excited to announce the launch of our new service called FastLane to help companies who don’t have a big budget, but need to generate some buzz digitally.

FastLane is a “Traction lite” for small businesses, non-profits, civic groups and individuals who need fast results from a communications agency that has digital PR/social media expertise.

Businesses shouldn’t have to sacrifice value for cost. By using social media tools like social networking, social bookmarking, e-zine and e-book development, blogger relations and online public relations, we help you meet your goals in an affordable way.

The result: a program that allows you to speak directly to your consumers when and where they want information – online.

Mark Harden’s Denver Business Journal story yesterday (about the challenges facing local charities) made us think less about our own wallets and more about the plight of organizations that rely on donations to provide much-needed community services. While we are struggling with our holiday shopping lists and our holiday budgets, many local charities are trying to meet increased demand when donations are flat.

Given the state of the economy, consumers will have less to spend on charities and holiday shopping this year. By taking some tips from Charity Navigator, we’ve decided to engage in some philanthropic shopping and buy a handful of our gifts directly from some of our favorite charities. This way we’ll make our dollar do double duty - we can knock a few items off our lists while simultaneously supporting organizations that make our city a better place to live and work. Now that seems like a nice way to add to the spirit of the season!

To find great holiday gifts with a charitable twist, check the websites of your favorite charities and look for items in local boutiques where a portion of proceeds go back to support local organizations.

2009 Firefighter Calendar- $15

One particular cause close to our hearts this season is of course Fired Up for Kids. Each year Fired Up for Kids produces the annual firefighter calendar with 15 of Denver’s hottest firefighters. The calendar makes a perfect stocking stuffer and all proceeds go to the Burn Center at The Children’s Hospital.

Fire Hose Tote - $250

Also on our list this year are products from Eako- a sustainable luxury company that has transformed decomissioned London Fire Brigade hose into a stylish line of handbags and accessories. Eako generously donates 50% of proceeds back to Fired up for Kids when customers use the code FIREDUPFORKIDS at checkout.