Alan Weinkrantz PR Web Log

BusinessWire Offers Webinar on SEO and Social Media

BusinessWire is offering a free webinar later today so you can learn more about Learn more about EON: Enhanced Online News -- Business Wire's suite of services, some new and some already available, which improve the online display, availability and interactivity of your news release turning that page of content into a direct-to-consumer online marketing tool for your company's products and services.

In this webinar you will learn how to:

• Get FREE Search Engine Optimization on your Business Wire release.

• Use the latest tools to find the best keyword phrases being searched online.

• Incorporate social media links and tags into your news release.

• Utilize the wire to reach out directly to your customers using new media.

Title:  EON:Enhanced Online News Webinar
Date:  Friday, August 10, 2007
Time:  noon - 1:00 pm CT

Systems Requirements

PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista

Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.3.9 (Panther®) or newer
Click here to Reserve your Webinar seat

See you there!

Blogger Buddy, Kami Watson Inteviews Me At the Olmos Soda Fountain in San Antonio

Blogger buddy and Social Media guru, Kami Watson Huyse interviews me at the Olmos Soda Fountain on my take on blogging.

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Wednesday's Tech PR True Confession #3: "We don't always know what the media is writing about."

This week, I am making a daily entry confessing to the realities of what we do in serving our clients and pitching new business.

Got any confessions of your own?  Send them along to me at: alan@weinkrantz dot com.

Confession #3 for Wednesday, April 4:  "Even with editorial calendars in hand, we don't always know what the media is going to write about."

1. Editorial calendars are a good barometer of what a publication "might" be writing, but it's by no means a guarantee of coverage.

2. Please don't assume that we know what the media will be writing about.

If there is a story written about your competitor or your industry and they don't mention you in the article, there are a variety of reasons why that could happen.

Most of the time, I find that you are not being "found." 

A good way to fix it:  produce daily content with relevant tags on your webs site or blog.  Your rankings will go up and you'll be found.

3.  Once a publication has written about your space or your competitor, it's OK to make the journalist aware of who you are, but don't assume you'll get coverage in the near term from as the result of this type of encounter.

I tell the client to be:

Stay focused. 

Keep your messages current. 

Make sure you can be "found."

By all means pitch based on editorial calendars, and keep trying.   I personally find that sustainment in your outreach yields the best results.

Alsbridge Report: Low Operating Margins on the Outsourcing Industry Contribute to Innovation Crisis

Our client, Alsbridge, today released a report which found that the operating margins of the leading U.S. outsourcing providers rapidly declined from an average 17 percent in 1974 to about 6 percent today and says competition from international providers, economic instability and strict purchasing processes share part of the blame.

Read the press release here.

10 Questions To Ask Before You Update Your Messaging for 2007

So we are off to a new year.

Don’t forget that your business deserves some attention and follow up to your New Year’s resolutions.

One of the most important things to do as we move forward in this new year is examine the core messages of your business: your purpose and mission, your marketing slogans, your PR boilerplate — all your statements about who you are, what business you’re in, what you stand for, and how you relate to your various publics.

Here are a few questions to which you should seriously ask and if need be, update and refresh your message:

1.   Has your market broadened or differentiated over the past year?

2.   Do the words — especially any jargon — you use in your messages still mean what 
      they did when you first used them?

3.  Has your target customer changed or have the applications for your products shifted to new uses?

4.   Are the data in your boilerplate still accurate and complete?

5.   Have you re-read your “current” materials to be certain they still make sense and
reflect your products in an appropriate light for today’s market?

6.   Do your print materials and your website look like they represent the same company?

7.   Is there a consistent thread or theme throughout the components of your public image?

8.   Would your customers recognize your company and products from your PR,
advertising, packaging, and sales presentations? Would their reaction be positive?

9.   Do your employees know the company’s purpose, mission, etc.? Would they agree it is accurate?

10. Do industry analysts, the media and bloggers have a mental image of your company that is coherent with your own?

And there are more relevant questions, as you might imagine.

While businesses should engage in this type of self-evaluation on an ongoing basis, there’s no better time as we approach the beginning of the year to schedule such a review.

Take what you learn and design a program to address the elements systematically. Your goal should be to have a message and image that are fresh, dynamic, and reflective of your market and your position within it, and that honor the core values and purposes of your company.

Refresh this new year’s resolution annually and you will maintain an accurate, exciting, and dynamic message and culture in your organization.

   

MaxxAudio Delivers Bigger Better Sound in Windows Vista - Waves psychoacoustic technologies vastly improve acoustic performance in notebook PCs

Our client, Waves,  has announced that it is delivering its MaxxAudio PC solution for evaluation and licensing to major PC manufacturers. You may download the press release here:

Download waves_delivers_bigger_sound_in_vistafinal.doc

Working in conjunction with the timing of the Windows Vista launch, we were also included in Microsoft's Partner Press Center, which provided the Waves announcement.

MaxxAudio is a suite of psychoacoustic technologies that enable small loudspeakers, such as those found in notebook PCs, to sound dramatically larger, deeper and more powerful.  MaxxAudio PC is a solution for these technologies that utilize the improved audio capability in Windows Vista to support audio plug-ins.

Waves MaxxAudio PC solution provides a comprehensive APO solution for small speaker compensation using it patented psyschoacoustic algorithms.  It includes several patented technologies for dynamics, frequency response and imaging.  Waves’ new MaxxAudio technologies enable both improved audio quality and smaller speakers enabling innovative industrial designs. 

Visiting Financial Institutions in New York Next Week

Next week I am in New York visiting several financial institutions to discuss my knowledge, insight, and experience in the IPTV space in the context of my other blog, SAtechBLOG.com

I will be addressing the potential impact for the "phone" companies in the U.S. and the world to disrupt and possibly reinvent the telecom and broadcast industries.

I will be in Silicon Valley doing likewise at the end of July.

Please contact me at alan at weinkrantz dot com if you would be interested in learning more.

En Route to World Congress on Information Technology

Today I am en route to Austin, where I will be attending the World Congress on Information Technology. 

My greatest interest is the theme of the digital divide.  While certainly a noble and wonderful cause, I am going to beg the question, "how does one address the notion of the digital divide in a place like Cuba," where I was just last week.

See my blog post tomorrow.

Photo by Alan Weinkrantz (c) 2006

IP Communications Pioneer, Jeff Pulver, Launches Viral Video “Save The Net” Marketing Contest

Our client, Internet ommunications pioneer and entrepreneur, Jeff Pulver, has launched a new initiative calling for the submission of short, creative ideas -- videos, flash ads, other Internet-based gimmicks – that effectively communicate to government and communications policy leaders in Washington, that they must write rules to enable the Internet innovators to transform the Internet and communications experience.

   Announcing his Viral Video “Save the Net” Marketing Contest –  Pulver stated, “I am fed up with the current wave of sound-bites, platitudes, ads and marketing flooding the airwaves that profess to speak for the advancement of the Internet and communications.  These ads are influencing the U.S. Congress and governments around the world as they write the rules that will shape the future of the Internet and communications.  It is time the Internet community started speaking for itself.”

Pulver Seeks The Voice and Message of The Internet Community

Pulver, who was successful two years ago in the FCC's adoption of the “Pulver Order,” which designated computer-to-computer Internet communications services as “Information Services” not subject to telecom regulation, is seeking to hear the voice and message of the Internet community -- the Internet innovators, entrepreneurs and enthusiasts -- in this world-changing discussion.

“While the Internet community might not have the lobbying muscle, money, resources, or connections of the entrenched players in the communications debate, we surely possess the individual and collective will and creativity to transform the debate.”

Pulver contends the revolutionaries of the Internet and communications should be the ones revolutionizing the way advocacy is done and communicated in the Internet Age.

“We are the creative forces verifying that the medium is the message. Who better than us to harness the enabling power of the Internet to bring our message to legislators, to policymakers, to the public?  Let's throw away the old rulebook and try to think outside the box to send a message to Congress from the global community of Internet innovators and enthusiasts,” Pulver added.

Contest Rules:
Applicants must complete and submit the online entry form at: http://www.pulver.com/savethenet/submit.html, along with one of the following with each entry: your video or other advertising message in English (Flash Ad/Video/Message). With each entry form, you must submit a Flash Ad/Video/Message of no more than three (3) minutes or 1000 words demonstrating why and how public policy should be written to save and fulfill the promise of the Internet and advance communications. ( Note: 30 Second and 60 Second spots are highly recommended for viewing purposes)

The winning recipient of the cash prize of $1,000.00 (and glory) will go to whoever comes up with the message (viral video ad or other creative marketing tool) that is used to spread the word and save the Internet. In order to be eligible for the prize (and also to ensure maximum impact during the great policy debate, both in DC and around the globe), entries must be submitted by June 6, 2006. 

For contest details, see the Save the Net Contest Rules by clicking here.

Google-Israel's Presentation at The Marker "Comvention" In Tel Aviv

More slides from Meir Brand, President of Google Israel's presentation.

(above) Google Adwords impact.  Israel is a country of six million people and has one of the highest per capital Internet usages in the world.

(below) Case study of travel agency leveraging Google-Israel's search and disruptive advertising model and how it can impact a business.