Twitter for fun & Customers' attention

Everyday, more and more discussions about the power and impact of new social media outlets are penetrating PR publications. Alexandra Bruell, writer from PR Week, recently recounted the story of Lane Bryant. Lane Bryant is a plus-sized clothing retailer who utilizes popular social outlets such as Twitter, to build brand recognition.

To engage consumers, Lane Bryant created a wardrobe giveaway contest in which the winner won a trip to London with tickets to the premiere of the movie Mamma Mia! Kristyn Wilson, the media relations manager of Lane Bryant’s PR team (MediaSource) felt “that the media doesn't cover who won contests, unless you won the power ball, it was not a story angle.”

To overcome that obstacle, the contest winner used Twitter to “tweet” her journey overseas and build interest in the movie and clothing brand. Amy Vogt, VP of marketing, PR and Communications for Lane Bryant said, “This is the first time it was used purely for fun…We believe this is the first time Twitter was used in this fashion and our feedback has been nothing but positive.”

Lane Bryant and the PR team both agree “now that we have our customer’s attention, we want to keep their attention.” For more on developing media strategies and online networks through new social outlets, read Alexandra Bruell’s article Lane Bryant builds online strategy with Twitter, MySpace.

Online Gaming Increases Brand Awareness

Online Gaming, the topic of PR Week’s May 12, 2008 Inside Information section was entirely foreign to me. The article eludes that PR professionals are using online gaming to achieve their dreams of “captivating consumers with brand messages for hours.”

According to Joe Kessler, partner at SS&K, “success is derived from consumer insight, between the nature of the game and the brand supporting it. It’s never a good idea to do a game just to do one.” The article also states that “online games can increase traffic to company Web sites, and draw attention to other content.”

One example of online gaming that struck me as useful was MSNBC.com’s NewsBreaker Challenge. The challenge was launched April 14 and ended May 9, 2008. MSNBC.com incorporated a “falling brick” game with featured headlines reporting on varying news from “Britney Spears to the 2008 Presidential election.” The individual players with the highest scores were eligible to win an Xbox 360. Furthermore, at the end of the contest, the media agency with the top average score won a one-day MSNBC.com homepage takeover for a national charity of its choice.

Games are typically separated from work, and therefore this approach to PR is refreshing. For more on companies that are using online games or to read “Online Gaming Increases Pitch Time, Brand Awareness” by Nicole Zerillo, click here.

Expand Your Web Site By Using a Content Management System

Craig McGuire of PR Week recently wrote an article titled “Expanding Web sites helps readership.” McGuire found that updating Web sites to offer easier and effective tools brings in a broader audience and I couldn’t agree more.

McGuire used FedEx’s Online Newsroom as an example of how an organization can take regular press release, news and company background content and turn it into an interactive, Web 2.0 hub for all Web site users from the press to shareholders. FedEx used a permission-based content management system to apply such effective and descriptive tools as videos, images, social bookmarking, multimedia flash video and many more. FedEx went from having 4,500 unique visitors per month to 65,000 per month.

The Furia Rubel site is also built on a content management system foundation and we completely stand by McGuire’s analysis. Your company’s Web site is your store front or as quoted in this article, “one centralized, 24-hour official company online newsroom.” You want your store front to look good and feel clean, offer the most recent and desired goods and entice customers to keep coming back. McGuire lists some key Web site guidelines that may help you expand your Web site.

Do
- Track audience interest and allow feedback
- Lean toward simple, clean navigation
- Offer a means to subscribe to news

Don’t
- Follow the herd
- Produce a variety of Web sites
- Let your content grow stale – timely content is vital

Court Decision Perpetuates Fodder in Mumia Case

Today, a Federal Court overtured the death penalty in the Mumia Abu-Jamal case. To this, I certainly have something to say since I was Judge Sabo's law clerk in the mid-90's when we heard the PCRA matters. I published my two cents on The Legal Intelligencer's Blog at http://thelegalintelligencer.wordpress.com/2008/03/27/court-decision-perpetuates-fodder-in-mumia-case/.

Details about the Court's ruling can be found in Shannon Duffy's article, Abu-Jamal’s Death Sentence Overturned, But Conviction Upheld.

As I said in my blog for The Legal Intelligencer, this decision just gives rise to plenty of fodder for the media, continues to keep the case alive and perpetuates the injustice to the Faulkner family.

Here is some of the coverage today......

Court orders new death-penalty hearing for Abu-Jamal; murder ...USA Today - 59 minutes agoA federal appeals court has ruled that black activist Mumia Abu-Jamal cannot be executed for murdering a Philadelphia police officer in 1981 without a new ...

US court overturns death sentenceBBC News, UK - 2 hours agoA US federal appeals court has overturned the death sentence imposed on former Black Panthers member Mumia Abu-Jamal. The court said Abu-Jamal's conviction ...

US court orders new hearing for death row campaignerAFP - 4 hours agoWASHINGTON (AFP) — A US federal appeals court on Thursday upheld the murder conviction against Mumia Abu-Jamal, but ruled the death-row campaigner cannot be ...

US court says Mumia death sentence may be reviewedInternational Herald Tribune, France - 7 hours agoPHILADELPHIA: A US federal appeals court on Thursday upheld the murder conviction of black journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal for killing a white policeman in 1981 ...

Court: Mumia Deserves New HearingThe Associated Press - 7 hours agoPHILADELPHIA (AP) — A federal appeals court on Thursday said former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal cannot be executed for murdering a Philadelphia police ...

Free Mumia Abu-Jamal! Emergency protest March 28Bay Area Indymedia, CA - 57 minutes agoby Partisan Defense Committee ( pdcbayarea [at] sbcglobal.net ) On March 27, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision upholding Mumia ...

New Hearing On Sentence But Not Murder Conviction For Death Row InmateAHN - 1 hour agoWashington, DC (AHN) - The Third Circuit US Court of Appeals on Thursday refused to reinstate the death sentence of death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal in the ...

Mumia Abu-Jamal to Be Re-Sentenced, Date Not Yet ScheduledBay Area Indymedia, CA - 1 hour agoThe Third Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against a new trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal. The court has called for a sentencing hearing that would result in ...

Abu-Jamal conviction upheldphillyBurbs.com, PA - 1 hour agoFormer Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal can’t be executed for murdering a Philadelphia police officer without a new penalty hearing. The murder conviction was ...

BREAKING! Court rules against new trial for Mumia! SF Actions Friday!Bay Area Indymedia, CA - 2 hours agoby SF Mobiliation to Free Mumia LOCAL PROTESTS SET FOR FRIDAY, MARCH 28 FOLLOWED BY NATIONAL PROTEST APRIL 19 (SAN FRANCISCO) AND APRIL 26 (PHILADELPHIA). ...

RIGHTS-US: Court Rules No Death Row for Mumia Abu JamalIPS, Italy - 2 hours agoBy Adrianne Appel BOSTON, Mar 27 (IPS) - A federal court has ruled that Mumia Abu Jamal, known the world over in the fight against the death penalty, ...

Court: Mumia deserves new hearingWLOS, NC - 3 hours agoPHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Prosecutors in Philadelphia are reviewing a federal appeals court ruling that orders a new sentencing hearing for a former Black ...

He Still Shot the SheriffReason Online, CA - 3 hours agoRemember Mumia Abu-Jamal, the cop-killing NPR contributor who rallied legions of campus radicals during the 1990s to protest his innocence? ...
Death sentence lifted for time being against Black PantherMonsters and Critics.com - 3 hours agoWashington - A federal appeals court Thursday upheld a lower court decision to suspend the death sentence against Black Panther member Mumia Abu-Jamal. ...

Cop's Widow Reacts to Third Circuit Court of Appeals Granting ...SunHerald.com, MS - 3 hours agoBy The Lyons Press "Today, after 26 years of waiting, my family and I can finally say that Mumia Abu-Jamal is officially a 'murderer. ...

Federal appeals court backs new sentencing hearing for Mumia Abu-JamalJURIST - 4 hours ago[JURIST] Journalist and former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal [advocacy website; Philadelphia Inquirer archive], convicted in 1982 of killing Philadelphia ...

No death for Mumia Abu-Jamal — at least for nowPhiladelphia Inquirer, PA - 5 hours agoBy Emilie Lounsberry In a major victory for world-famous death-row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal, a federal appeals court today refused to reinstate his death ...

US court overturns rights campaigner's death penaltyRaw Story, MA - 5 hours agoA US federal appeals court on Thursday overturned the death sentence passed against human rights campaigner Mumia Abu-Jamal, while upholding his conviction ...

Court: Mumia deserves new hearingKGAN, IA - 7 hours agoPHILADELPHIA (AP) -- It's up to prosecutors now to decide whether to seek another death sentence for Mumia Abu-Jamal . The former Black Panther has been on ...

No death sentence for Mumia Abu-Jamal without new hearingCNN - 1 hour agoBy Bill Mears WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal, sentenced to death for gunning down a Philadelphia police officer 27 years ago, ...

Court says famed death-row inmate deserves new penalty hearingInternational Herald Tribune, France - 7 hours agoAP PHILADELPHIA: A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld the murder conviction of former Black Panther and celebrity death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal, ...

National DigestAnnapolis Capital, MD - 3 hours agoPHILADELPHIA - A federal appeals court has ordered a new penalty hearing for celebrity death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal. The 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals ...

News Minute: Curfew in Baghdad...Economic report...TI's guilty pleaLocalNews8.com, ID - 1 hour agoPHILADELPHIA (AP) - Prosecutors say they are weighing their options now that a federal appeals court has ruled that former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal ...

Cop's Widow Reacts to Third Circuit Court of Appeals Granting ...SunHerald.com, MS - 3 hours agoBy The Lyons Press "Today, after 26 years of waiting, my family and I can finally say that Mumia Abu-Jamal is officially a 'murderer. ...

Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn

We have posted several articles on the benefits of utilizing on-line networks such as LinkedIn. You may have checked it out, or even signed up for an account, but have you capitalized on any of the opportunities of networking on social media sites?

If not, here is an informational article to jump-start your on-line networking capabilities, Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn. The author, Guy Kawasaki, is a managing director of Garage Technology Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm and a columnist for Forbes.com.

In this article, Kawasaki provides the following “how to” tips on on-line networking:

• Improve your connectability
• Increase your visibility
• Perform blind, “reverse,” and company reference checks
• Gauge the health of an industry

For more information, check out this article on-line.

New Research Shows Overall Yellow Pages Usage is Growing -- 17.2 Billion Searches in 2007

People ask us all the time about Yellow Pages and the long-term outlook. According to the Yellow Pages Association, “Yellow Pages -- in print and online -- remains a go-to resource for ready-to-buy consumers.”

BERKELEY HEIGHTS, NJ--(Marketwire - February 26, 2008) - The Yellow Pages Association™ (YPA™) today announced that industry research shows 2007 Yellow Pages usage grew to 17.2 billion searches in 2007, up from 16.7 billion in 2006.

Print usage remained stable with 13.4 billion print Yellow Pages references, unchanged from 2006, according to the 2007 Knowledge Networks/SRI (KN/SRI) Industry Usage Study, while comScore reports Internet Yellow Pages (IYP) searches increased 15 percent in 2007 to 3.8 billion, up from 2006's 3.3 billion IYP searches.

"The Yellow Pages medium is still a go-to resource for ready-to-buy consumers. Overall Yellow Pages usage increased in 2007 as Internet use continues to grow and print usage stabilizes," said Neg Norton, president of YPA.

Some of the other important statistics from the Association include:
- Approximately 87 percent of the U.S. population used the print Yellow Pages in 2007. (KN/SRI)

- Average number of monthly IYP searchers up 16 percent: 73 million IYP searchers per month in 2007, compared to 63.1 million IYP searchers per month in 2006. (comScore)

- Of the 144 million people performing local searches online in December 2007, over half (51 percent) used IYPs. (comScore)

To read the full story, go to http://new.marketwire.com/2.0/release.do?id=825649.

Put this New Promotional Web Tool to Good Use

In a recent PR Week article, Web tools enhance promotions for in-person campaign, Marc Longpre highlights a fabulous promotional web tool, Zvents. The new web tool helps corporations and organizations promote and market their events by:

- Organizing and localizing an event’s information
- Improving links on search engines like Google
- Increasing an organization’s ability to find niche audiences

Zvents increases a business’ ability to target specific audiences by featuring a database and search tool for events around the country. Ultimately, the site gives promoters more control over how the event is promoted which is always a challenge for PR professionals.

Cole Silver Launches Legal Expert Audio Series on FindCareerSuccess.com

Cole Silver, the Legal Marketing Secrets blogger, announced today that they will be launching an expert audio series through http://www.findcareersuccess.com/. He says the audio series will feature

interviews from world renowned experts and advisors that will provide you profitable and incisive information, secrets, and tactics that will help you create the legal career you desire.

The line up includes:

• Dan Janel, member of the public relations team that launched America Online.

• Harry Beckwith, one of the world's most respected marketers and author of What Clients Love.

• Gerry Riskin, world renowned expert in law firm management and rainmaking.

• Jim Hassett, founder of LegalBizDev and author of seven books and more than 70 articles on legal marketing.

• Margaret Grisdela, the author of "Courting Your Clients: The Essential Guide to Legal Marketing”.

• Trey Rider, one of the country’s premier legal marketing experts.

• Hindi Greenberg, author of the best selling, The Lawyer's Career Change Handbook.

• YOURS TRULY . . . Gina Furia Rubel, Esquire, a communications expert, attorney and publicist, is the owner of Furia Rubel Communications (We'll be talking about the advice in my book, Everyday Public Relations for Lawyers, due out mid-December)

• Mike Schultz, Principal of the Wellesley Hill Group and Publisher of RainToday.com.

I'll keep you posted about my audio interview. Be sure to check out Cole's blog too!

Glossary of Web 2.0 and Social Media Terms by Digital Influence Group

For those of you still trying to figure out all of the new vocabulary used to identify all of the cool tools and features of Web 2.0 and social media, there is a great glossary of terms provided by Digital Influence Group - a company started by Larry Weber. Larry is the author of "Marketing to the Social Web" which is a must read!

Keeping Up With the Blog Conversation

Here are some tools to help you keep up with the conversation on blogs. These are tools you can use now to track what’s being said about you, your industry, your company and your competitors:

Ice Rocket (www.icerocket.com)
Blog digger (www.blogdigger.com)
Blog Hop (www.bloghop.com)
Plazoo (www.plazoo.com)
Feedster (www.feedster.com)
Google Alerts (www.google.com/alerts)

Online Investment – Survival Guide

Take a look at tips from Julia Hood’s “Survival Online Will Require Investment in Measurement,” article published in the September 24, 2007 edition of PR Week. This article succinctly outlines how to make your business survive in the world of online media.

Some of Hood’s tips for online survival include:

• Invest in internal measurement programs – hiring an external partner will cost you money and enable you to know your audience first hand
• Provide a clear message – like any branded campaign, messages need to be clear to capture audiences – so invest time in what you want your audience to know
• Track your audience – by consistently interacting and meeting the needs on your online audience, you will create loyalty among them
• Analyze feedback – generate new business leads or potential opportunities from data collected
  

If you take away one concept from this article, let it be the word INVESTMENT. The more time and energy you invest into tracking, measuring and analyzing feedback, the more benefits your company will see in return.

For more information on this topic, click here.

The New "American Idol" - Internet Style

A recent video from YouTube called “Chocolate Rain” by Tay Zonday is proof that the Internet is an impenetrable machine to be reckoned with.

A Minneapolis graduate student was able to generate 9.5 million hits and has received so much national attention that he appeared on Jimmy Kimmel’s “Internet Talent Search.”

One can argue the level of talent, but my point is to show the power of online resources.

You can check the video out here:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=NattlyH0IeM

Staying on Top of Your Game: WSJ, Drudge Report, Law.com

There is so much information out there that we’re constantly on overload. I tell all my clients to stay on top of the news and the reporters that cover their topic. Get a news aggregator and pull the RSS feed from your favorite blogs, and so on. Here are three more great places to start your morning: The Wall Street Journal’s The Morning Brief by Joseph Schuman which you can subscribe to online by going to “My Online Journal,” Law.com and of course The Drudge Report, known as one of the leading places for breaking news.

There’s a great piece today by Tony Mauro on Law.com titled, Supreme Court Heads into New Term. Among the issues to watch this year is that of Internet Free Speech.

Law Firms Get Video Online With Yellow Page Ads

Dionne Searcey of The Wall Street Journal reported in her article Bulky Yellow Phone Books Turn the Page to Online Video that yellow page companies across the country are offering video advertisement as editions to Web listings.

My colleague, Kevin O’Keefe, commented that he believes this is a “gimmick meant to serve outmoded yellow pages business models” and that yellow page sales reps “don’t give a darn” how their customers’ ads look.

I disagree.

Studies indicate that consumers still turn to yellow pages ads first for their local buying needs.


My husband was a sales rep with Yellow Book USA and although he’s since moved into a management role, I’ve witnessed the depth and breadth of his commitment along with that of the countless other sales reps I’ve worked with and become acquainted with over the years. It’s their job to care – if an ad doesn’t produce a solid ROI and the advertiser cancels, it’s money out of their pockets.

According to eMarketer, August 2007, “Video's high engagement factor combined with the Internet's tracking and targeting capabilities, potentially offers (advertisers) a highly accountable method to sway the hearts and minds of their target audience.”

I love the idea of Plaintiffs’ firms adding video ads to their yellow page listings online. For firms that already produce commercials, this is a no-brainer. The cost of the Internet ad is going to be exponentially less than reaching their target audiences on television.

I’m not crazy about the idea of having any ads produced by directory-owned production. It’s not that the sales reps or their production assistants “don’t care.” Rather, I believe law firms would be better served by spending the money it takes to produce top-notch branded video ads that fit within their brand strategy, are targeted to the most important audiences, set them apart from their competition, and comply with the rules of ethics that are mandatory for all law firms in the U.S.

Bottom line: these ads are valuable tools to increase a firms business if done right.

What's Your Number One Song?

Okay, so for a fun bit of trivia, do you know what song was number one on the day you were born.? I didn't until my friend Suzanne sent me this link: http://www.joshhosler.biz/NumberOneInHistory/SelectMonth.htm.

If you're going to be hosting an anniversary event, this is a great site to look to for theme ideas tied to the number one song on the day you incorporated . . .

Food for thought.

I Am Big Brother

In an article I read today in our local newspaper, a substitute teacher was arrested for having sexual relations with two girls, ages 14 and 15. He got caught because the parents had installed a program on their computers called "Iambigbrother." I had never heard of this program until today but it sounds like something that all parents should be aware of! The fool (substitute teacher) then bragged about his activities on facebook.com. He said, "Hah . . . im so going to hell . . . I can't believe I hooked up with two 9th graders!!!" Well Mr. substitute teacher (whose name I don't want to appear in my blog), if you call jail hell, happy trails to you!