33: Are PR people spammers?

David and Paul riff on Wired magazine editor Chris Anderson’s anti-spam manifesto, which includes the publication of hundreds of addresses of PR people who are banned from his inbox. David is appalled that Anderson would go so far as to publicize e-mail addresses for every spambot to harvest. Paul agrees, but sees merit in the problem that Anderson is highlighting. Both agree that there are tools journalists can use to manage their inboxes more effectively and that the onus is on reporters to become familiar with those tools.

The hosts would like to hear from their listeners about ideas that are working for them. How are you getting through the e-mail deluge and getting your message to reporters? Comment below, and we’ll include the best ideas on a future episode.

The hosts also discuss Steve Rubel’s blog post this week in which he laments the craziness that has overtaken the Web 2.0 market. They agree that the hype machine is out of control, but believe that this is nothing like the Internet bubble of nearly a decade ago. Paul says that new platforms invariably spark a surge of innovation and that this is basically good for the market. A shakeout is inevitable, and the survivors harvest the best ideas of the companies that didn’t make it. Sustainable new markets need to go through this process, he believes.

Get the podcast here. (15:58)

31: Scott Kirsner talks shop

This week, Paul and Dave are joined by Scott Kirsner, a Boston Globe columnist, freelance writer, blogger and conference organizer. As a writer who’s had significant experience in both mainstream and new media, Scott understands the power of each to shape opinion in different ways.Scott sees greater convergence happening between newspapers and citizen journalists, but believes newspapers still have to come up the learning curve in understanding the unique characteristics of Internet content. PR people are skilled at pitching him as a print reporter, he says, but pitches tuned to his blog are almost non-existent. For every 250 print pitches, there’s one blog pitch. This is an opportunity missed. PR still doesn’t give bloggers the attention they merit.

Marketers can adopt new media to understand and engage with their markets better, Scott believes. Start by reading Cluetrain Manifesto. Then stop talking at your customers and start asking them for comments and feedback. You can leverage inexpensive tools like online video to tell people about innovative work your company is doing or to showcase interesting people. Scott’s book, The Future of Web Video, can help you there.

Get the podcast here. (16:51)

27: Guard that address book!

This week, David and Paul discuss social networks that steal address book entries in order to recruit new members. Paul was a recent victim of Quechup, an apparently legitimate social networking service that’s outraged many people by apparently hacking their address books. Dave and Paul agree that you should be careful with who gets access to your contact files.

In a wide-ranging discussion, they also talk about how social networks are binding together technology journalists. An online network for ex-CMPers is quite active, indicating that old contacts are still strong. A lesson for PR practitioners: don’t burn bridges because people stay in touch with each other.

The sudden demise of The New York Times’ Times Select service is also fodder for discussion. Dave thinks it’s crazy to try to charge for content and that publishers should focus on building traffic. Paul thinks paid-membership models aren’t an altogether bad idea.

Download the podcast here. (14:08)

24: Mitch Wagner on Second Life for PR pros

Our guest this week is Mitch Wagner, who writes for various CMP online and print properties, principally InformationWeek.com. David and Paul talk to Mitch about what PR people should know about the virtual world Second Life. His five rules for Second Life article is posted here and talks about both good and bad practices that he has observed with businesses “in-world”. Meeting areas work better than billboards, for example. Once again, it is all about conversations and dialogs. As another example, host interesting, fun and offbeat events that will attract the media outside of their traditional beat areas.

Download the podcast here.

23: BL Ochman on social media campaigns and PR

This week, Paul and David’s guest is BL Ochmnan, author of the popular What’s Next Blog and the creative force behind such popular social media campaigns as EthicsCrisis.com and ClutterControlFreak.com. BL tells how her blog has been a huge driver of business and why she thinks blogs are here for the long term. She also discusses how she maintains her privacy in a world that’s increasingly open. BL also has some choice words for some of the seamier tactics she has encountered in the public relations profession.

Download and listen to the podcast here (15:10)

22: Surviving a blog swarm

What should you do if you’re at the center of a blog swarm? Fear of negative publicity or an attack by an angry mob of bloggers is enough to keep many companies from experimenting with social media. But these fears are mostly overblown, Dave and Paul believe. In this episode, they talk about how having a thick skin and a willingness to swallow one’s pride can create a revealing and rewarding experience in social media space. They also offer examples of how the blogosphere can be a remarkably forgiving and accepting place, if participants are only willing to listen and respond to what’s said there.

Read this article from CIO Magazine for more advice on how to handle a flame war.

Download and listen to the podcast here (11:29)

21: Shara Karasic, social media bonzana!

Our guest this week is Shara Karasic, the community manager at Work.com. She maintains a fascinating and very extensive directory of social media sites here. She talks to Paul and David about the sites that PR people should pay more attention to depending on their client’s goals such as Xing.com. Also, some of the more obscure sites that you may not have heard of, and specialty sites that might be relevant to particular market segments.

She talks about the reasons for the big uptake with businesses using social media for their own purposes and the ways influence is gained and maintained.

You can download and listen to the podcast here (16:05)

20: PR’s role in social media campaigns

This week, our guest is veteran PR professional Giovanni Rodriguez, co-author of a new white paper about the role of public relations in social media. The paper has stirred some controversy among PR bloggers who disagree with its authors’ findings.            

Among the surprises the research turned up are that PR people believe they’re competing with other marketing and even corporate disciplines to own the social media conversation and that new media may actually be weakening PR’s hold on its traditional function. Giovanni suggests there’s a bit of an identity crisis going on in PR as a result. Quite a few agencies have experimented with social media, but enough people are intimidated by the new influencers of social media that a debate has emerged over whether social media should be PR’s responsibility.

In reality, Giovanni says, social media relations isn’t all that different from media relations. You need to speak to the interests of the blogger as you would to a reporter. Public relations should really be about relating to the public, not just the media, and if PR professionals embrace the opportunity, their career growth will be enhanced.

Download and listen to the podcast now (18:10)

19: Shameless self-promotion

Paul and David take time out to talk about their own multitude of activities and give their listeners a view of their own emerging media empires. Both of them write, podcast and webcast for various TechTarget properties (where Paul was the founding EIC). Paul writes a weekly blog for Ziff-Davis on innovation that despite being sponsored by IBM is independent. David is the EIC for a new site called DigitalLanding.com that sells home broadband services, as well as writing for eWeek’s channel demographic, Computerworld, various CMP properties, and the New York Times.

Paul does a lot of custom social media consulting work, while David consults on product marketing and reviews strategy. Paul’s efforts right now are focussed on his new book, called “The New Influencers” which has gotten reviewed in the WSJ earlier this month. David’s doesn’t have a book in him right at the moment, but does offer some commentary about the self-publishing industry and talks up the local St. Louis Publishers Association support group.

Both do a fair amount of public speaking, with Paul doing a keynote at the RightNow Technologies user conference next month. David has spoken at various conferences as well, and both will be participating at the December New Communications Forum in the Boston area.

Download and listen to the podcast now (16:10)

The role of PR with social media

Paul Rand and Giovanni Rodriguez have written a manifesto of sorts, interviewing some members of fairly large PR firms and internal corporate PR folks about their use of social media. It makes for interesting reading. Called “Relating to the Public: The Evolving Role of PR in the Age of Social Media,” it contains such nuggets as the following suggestion from journalist Brian Oberkirch, author of the Slidell Hurricane Damage blog, about when to use blogs, podcasts, and social networking sites:

1. Social media is about connection, not content.
2. Social media is about them, not you.
3. Social media may be cheaper initially, but it takes far more homework.
4. Get small fast. (Niche is nice. Think smaller feature sets, more targeted audiences, less chatter from you,
and so on).