• 3 Time-Saving Twitter Tips

  By Keith | Posted Feb 27, 2009 | 0 Comment(s) | Filed in: Social Media

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  As more and more companies start developing or evolving blogging and content-marketing strategies, Twitter is becoming an important component because it enables a user to find and build personal relationships with an unlimited number of like-minded people.
  
  In the past, we've posted a blog that deals with building a Twitter Strategy, so this time, we’ll cover some time-saving Twitter tips that can easily be overlooked when launching your account.

  1) Twitter Background Design

  While Twitter’s default backgrounds work well, it’s a good idea to develop your own background to really personalize your profile. The most important aspect is the description column because it is here that you can include a different picture of yourself, a longer bio and contact information. Check out this example: @Mashable.
  
  I created my own background (@KeithMoehring) using Apple iWork’s Pages and Adobe Photoshop. It took some time to lay everything out, create a .jpg the right size, and then test it to make sure everything fits properly. Here are a couple tips to save you some time when creating yours:

  • Your description column should be on the left. It will always be the side that is exposed first as someone enlarges their browser.
  • The background image should be approximately 800 x 500 pixels, but this may vary. Just make sure when the browser is full screen that your description column is completely visible. The description column should be about 150-200 pixels wide.
  • Find ways to integrate images of your hobbies and interests behind or around the description column. This frees you up to write a less-cluttered description. However, the main keywords you want to be found for should be included on your Twitter account bio. Twitter won’t be able to tag the words in your background image.

  2) Twitter Desktop Tools

  It’s a good idea to utilize one of the many Twitter Desktop Tools to monitor your Twitter account. Currently, I’m using Tweetdeck because it allows me to easily create groups and automatically scans Twitter for mentions of my @username.

  3) Twitter Groups

  Before you start making friends on Twitter, define several groups of people you want to follow. For instance, I work in Cleveland, so I created a group for everyone I’m following from Cleveland to monitor what they are discussing.
  
  As you befriend new “tweeple,” flag them as belonging to a specific group because sifting through their profiles after you’ve started following them is a very time-consuming task.

  More Solutions?

  These are by no means the only ways to overcome these issues, and if someone has any other ideas, please share.

   

   I’d love to hear additional solutions.Keith Moehring is a Consultant for PR 20/20, a Cleveland-based inbound marketing agency and PR firm. He is a certified Google Adwords Professional and has been working in PR & Marketing for more than three years. You can follow him on Twitter @keithmoehring

   

• MC Hammer Proves the Power of Social Media

  By Paul | Posted Feb 22, 2009 | 0 Comment(s) | Filed in: Internet Marketing

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  Success in social media boils down to doing three things well: monitor, participate and publish. On Friday, Feb. 20, while hanging out at HubSpot for their weekly live video podcast, I was lucky enough to witness the power of an effective social media strategy when MC Hammer Dropped by for Camera Time on HubSpot.tv

  So how did it happen? Simple really. HubSpot is brilliant at all three phases of social media.

  1) Monitoring
  

  HubSpoter and viral marketing scientist Dan Zarrella (@danzarrella) saw on Twitter Friday morning that MC Hammer (@MChammer) was in Boston:

   

  

   

  2) Participating
  

  So Dan, who has more than 8,200 followers on Twitter, did what any intelligent inbound marketer would do — he took a chance and reached out to Hammer:

  

   
  Amazingly Hammer responded. Now keep in mind that Hammer has 106,000+ Twitter followers, so just getting a response was an achievement in itself.

  

   

  

   

  The HubSpot team then went to work with additional tweets reaching out to Hammer, including the one that really caught his attention from HubSpot TV host (and marketing genius) @mvolpe:

   

  3) Publishing
  

  Despite their best efforts, Hammer gave the impression that he would not be making an appearance.
  
  But HubSpot’s team had one more thing working in their favor — they are content marketing machines who aren’t afraid to take risks and invest resources in YouTube videos, blogs, eBooks and live podcasts.
  
  And as you can see from the video below, their commitment to content put them in the position for a memorable moment that will be talked about and viewed for years to come.

   

  Click here to watch his full interview on HubSpot TV.

   

  Paul Roetzer is founder and president of PR 20/20, a Cleveland-based inbound marketing agency and PR firm. He can be found on Twitter @paulroetzer.

   Subscribe to receive the PR 20/20 blog by email or RSS feed.

• Newspaper Execs Say Print Media Is Not Dead

  By Lyndsey | Posted Feb 12, 2009 | 1 Comment(s) | Filed in: Advertising, Social Media

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  On Feb. 3, a small group of newspaper execs came together and launched The Newspaper Project to promote the value and vitality of newspapers in a dynamic economic climate, and to combat the notion that the industry is dying.
  
  The Website, www.NewspaperProject.org, writes, “While we acknowledge the challenges facing the newspaper industry in today’s rapidly changing media world, we reject the notion that newspapers — and the valuable content that newspaper journalists provide — have no future.”
  
  The organization is promoting its message through print ads, in a plethora of community dailies, as well as industry giants like The New York Times, and banner ads, and is publishing “insightful articles, commentary and research” on its Website.
  
  But what’s ironic about this campaign?

  • The organization is attempting to reach younger generations by publishing its message in print ads, a place where 20- and 30-somethings are nowhere to be found.
  • It advertises 100 million daily readers, but the majority of that number is online readership.  
  • It promotes journalists as valuable assets to the industry, yet the industry as a whole has laid off hundreds and thousands across the country, and continues to do so. 
  • The print ads are being run pro bono — costing struggling newspapers not only ad space that could be sold to paying advertisers, but also the ink and paper to print them.

  With this aside, the heart of the campaign is in the right place; the message is not. For a campaign trying to reach younger generations, the execs are going about it all wrong. The audience, and readership, is there to be reached — but online, not in newspaper ink.
  
  The organization should set up Twitter profiles to reach relevant and interested professionals. It could start a YouTube Channel featuring newspaper exec interviews. And how about dabbling in Facebook groups?
  
  Launching a social media campaign is all it takes for the younger generations to hear your message. Now, whether we listen is a whole other blog…

   

  Related Posts:
  
  Blog Series — The Battle for Influence: Print vs. Online Media
  
  Part 1 — Newspapers without the Paper?
  
  Part 2 — Views from the Mainstream
  
  Part 3 — Print Media Is Losing
  
  Part 4 — Public Relations: The New Fundamentals
  
  Lyndsey Walker is a Consultant for PR 20/20, a Cleveland-based inbound marketing agency and PR firm. After five years in the journalism field, she is happy to have made the switch to public relations. Follow my updates on Twitter: @lyndseywalker

   

   

• Disrupt or Die: 6 Tips on Disruptive Innovation

  By Paul | Posted Feb 12, 2009 | 0 Comment(s) | Filed in: Business

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  Every entrepreneur and business has a choice. Continue down the path of traditional wisdom and conventional solutions, or employ a strategy of disruptive innovation.

  According to Harvard professor Clayton Christensen, "A disruptive innovation is a new product or service or a new business model that doesn't attack the core market by bringing a better product to established users in direct competition with the leaders in an industry, but rather it comes into the low end of the market, either through a business model that can compete at much lower costs, can compete profitably at lower costs, or brings to the market a product or service that is so much more convenient and simple to use and affordable that a whole new population of people who previously couldn't afford or didn't have the skill to own and use a product can now own one." [1]
  

  For me, in this economy, it’s an obvious choice. I would rather be different, and take a risk based on something that I believe in, than continue to follow the established practices of industry leaders.
  
  When we introduced standardized services and set pricing into the PR industry in 2005, I’m sure there were plenty of professionals at traditional agencies who thought it was a ridiculous business model. As a matter of fact, most professionals and agencies today still seem convinced hourly rates and retainers are the only viable way to run a professional services firm.
  
  While they may be right, there isn’t a day that goes by when I’m not grateful I took a chance and gave myself the freedom to fail. After all, that’s what being an entrepreneur is all about.

   

  6 Things I’ve Learned About Disruptive Innovation
  

  
  1) Just because it hasn’t been done doesn’t mean it won’t work. When you have a vision to change the game and truly do something unique, most people won’t “see” it. That’s the first indication that you might actually be onto something. As Howard Schultz said, “Vision is what they call it when others can’t see what you see.”
  
  2) Take risks and dare to fail. Forget conventional wisdom and what the so-called “experts” say — look where that got our financial industries. Be different and follow your own path, even if that means faltering along the way, while facing doubt and criticism from your peers.
  
  3) Be bold and decisive in your actions. Have the confidence to lead. Never doubt yourself or your ability to succeed.
  
  4) Execute and adapt faster than your competitors. Focus on executing your business strategy and adapting to the countless factors that influence success and your competitive advantage.
  
  5) Have the passion to make your vision a reality. Many people have a vision for something greater, but it’s the entrepreneurs and innovators who combine vision with the passion to make it reality.
  
  6) Maintain perspective and cherish every moment. Don’t get so caught up in the destination that you forget to enjoy the ride. Take the time each day to appreciate the people and experiences that make life and business so amazing.

   

  RELATED POST: 12 Life Lessons of an Entrepreneur

   

  Paul Roetzer is founder and president of PR 20/20, a Cleveland-based inbound marketing agency and PR firm. He can be found on Twitter @paulroetzer.

   Subscribe to receive the PR 20/20 blog by email or RSS feed.

   

  [1] Holzner, Steven. How Dell Does It. New York: McGraw-Hill: 2006.

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