Last week, my friend and colleague, Theresa Freeman, provided an overview of the emergence of the “hyperlocal” scene. As her post explains, these sites combine user-generated content along with some professional content. While the sites Theresa focused on categorize information into localities, they fall into the larger context of citizen journalism, which (as she discusses) faces considerable criticism. Theresa points to comments from the Cape Cod Times ombudsperson who, to paraphrase, calls on consumers to question information derived from citizen journalism. To her credit, she calls on the owners of these entities to offer clear disclaimers like CNN does with its iReports.

So, with all this criticism out there it got me thinking – do consumers really trust these sources? (14 million people can’t be wrong?) If the answer is no, how do I in good counsel spend my time pitching these outlets or even submitting articles directly on behalf of my clients. Where is the value?

Up until this past Monday I thought I had a pretty healthy dose of cynicism when it comes to reading reviews and information, and letting any one particular article guide my decision. That is until I read the WSJ.com article that told me Consumer Reports does not recommend iPhone 4. In the WSJ.com poll that followed, I quickly voted that based on this review “I won’t buy it now.” Me and 903 other people; 40% of the voting population. Oops. I guess I don’t know me as well as I thought I did.

I’m not comparing the quality of Consumer Reports to citizen journalism; but, when I took a step back and realized how quickly I lost my cynicism, I realized that it’s not entirely necessary to answer my original question, do consumers trust citizen journalists? Somewhat regardless of source, there’s always going to be value in spreading awareness in both traditional and new media. While a product review in Consumer Reports is likely to carry more weight with consumers than say, a vendor-contributed article on Associated Content – we’re still getting eyes on our brands and generating new awareness. So next time the consumer sees our brand or product, there’s a familiarity, an ‘I’ve read about them’ moment. It’s also these moments that make true PR ROI measurement an impossibility. But, that dear reader is a blog post for another time.

There is no shortage of topics to explore related to better press releases. Should you use a social media news release? Who is right about style – the AP or Yahoo? These are important topics that require considerable thought, research and evaluation.

Who has time for THAT????

OK, you do need to make time for what I like to call “big thinking” to continuously improve your PR and marketing efforts over time. But there are also a million little things that can generate huge improvement in your day-to-day work NOW. With that in mind, I present the first installment of “Small steps, big results,” which (I hope) will become a regular feature on Matter Chatter. On to the tips…

For the love of all that is holy, kill the jargon!

Real people (like, the people you hope read and care about your release) hate jargon. And, if you’re being honest, you’ll admit that a little bit of you dies every time you write about “taking paradigm-shifting, turn-key solutions to the next level.”

We’ve all done it. Let’s all agree to stop. (Not sure if you’re using jargon? Here’s a good reality check.)

Use the quote(s) to SAY something

At some point, you are going to be tempted to have your executive quote start with “We are pleased / thrilled / delighted…”

Don’t do it. Ever. Really, don’t. Trust me.

The quote is the place where you can editorialize and provide context around the facts that are provided in the rest of the release. It’s also the part that tends to be pulled verbatim into news stories. Say something additive, interesting and valuable.

Give yourself a fighting chance that somebody will finish reading the entire release

1. Write shorter releases. That is all.

Fine…if you can’t get ‘em under 400 words (additional benefit alert – you’ll save yourself some $$ on wire distribution!), at least break up the content visually by using section headers (ahem) and bullets.

Taking my own advice, I’m going to stop now. Do you have other tips? Drop ‘em in the comments!

During the past few years buzz has been building around the idea of hyperlocal journalism and the PR industry has followed suit, seeking out ways to pitch these outlets. The execution of hyperlocal coverage varies slightly by outlet, but in general it appears to be a mix of user-generated and professional edited content. Media watchers, including those of us in the PR game, are waiting to see which services will emerge as the strongest – with the biggest backing to hire staff and / or with the largest readership and / or commanding the biggest ad revenue.

The Columbia Journalism Review this past fall noted in a lengthy piece on the reconstruction of American journalism that, “Reporting is becoming more participatory and collaborative.” Indeed, USA Today publisher Gannett recently announced plans for hyperlocal sites in 10 markets across the U.S. while it’s been reported that AOL will pour $50 million into Patch this year. Even YouTube is throwing its hat into the ring, last month launching its test CitizenTube news feed.

Locally, in Massachusetts, GateHouse Media has been ramping up its WickedLocal.com site during the past several years to be a “portal” site representing featured content from 158 individual community websites.

Advertising Age recently detailed some of the bigger players on the hyperlocal scene:

The big story about the news business these days, as a matter of fact, revolves around companies that generate news and information using big networks of cheap freelancers. They include Associated Content, which Yahoo bought last month for about $100 million; Demand Media, which is reportedly considering going public this summer; Seed, where writers, photographers and others can submit their content for publication on AOL; and Examiner.com, which says it has 40,000 freelance “Examiners.”

They’ve already got big traction with readers. Examiner’s sites got more than 14.4 million visitors in May, according to ComScore — more than the 14 million people who visited all the McClatchy newspaper sites combined, or the 13.4 million people who visited MediaNews sites, or the 12 million who visited Hearst newspaper sites.

AOL and Yahoo have separately been staffing up their original blogs and news sections; Yahoo is currently advertising for a blog editor for Yahoo Finance, who will report original stories plus hire a team of bloggers. And sites that aggregate local content are also mixing things up. Last year MSNBC.com acquired EveryBlock, giving it a new ability to horn in on newspapers’ role as local information centers.

Newspapers have, meanwhile, been cutting reporters, thinning the distinction between their products and those of their rivals.

However, even The Gray Lady has stumbled in its foray into the hyperlocal market. The New York Times just last week shuttered its hyperlocal and collaborative journalism experiment called, appropriately, The Local, and hooked up with the New Jersey-based Baristanet.com which now has free reign to link to The Local archives.

As PR professionals we should all be on the look-out to make sure any articles we submit or post are transparent in their origin and clear in their objective. While sites such as these or Allvoices.com, NowPublic.com or Helium make it easier than ever for PR pros to submit news and feature stories we’ve still got to rely on some of our tried-and-true pitching strategies: know who we are pitching and make the info clear and relevant for their readers. In Matter’s own backyard, The Cape Cod Times recently cautioned readers of hyperlocal sites to look closely at and consider the source of their news. Newsroom ombudsman Jayne M. Iafrate wrote, “Citizen journalists are reporters and editors with little, if any, professional journalism training who write and publish news. Many practitioners have a specific point of view they wish to promote; others mean well, but fall short of professional ethics and standards simply because they lack training. And other citizen journalists flourish because they provide unvarnished glimpses into their worlds — places and ideas left unexplored by or unavailable to trained journalists.”

Have you been pitching hyperlocal or user-generated sites? What tips would you share with other PR pros for dealing with this new breed of media?

Last month, my colleague Melissa blogged about whether or not social media is a valid investment for brands. Melissa made a key point in her entry: at the end of the day, it’s between you and your client whether Facebook and Twitter are the right move for their brands.

Since then, new research was released that may make the argument to use (or not to use) Twitter a little easier for brands.

A recent study about moms using Twitter revealed that not only do the majority of moms use Twitter to find out about new products and keep up with businesses they like, but they’re also interested in getting links to news and articles on topics that matter to them.

The most important factor for moms to follow a business on Twitter is because the business provides useful information. The study found that other important factors include:

• A desire to find out about the company’s products or services (67%)
• To get good deals (60%).
• To follow businesses on Twitter because they’re already customers. (67%)
• To follow up on a retweet (41%)
• Famous person doing the tweeting for a business carries little clout with moms (6%).

Does this make the argument to join Twitter any easier? Is your business or brand on Twitter?

How often have you heard something along the lines of “We’ll have to get PR to create a story around this.”? This line of thinking doesn’t sit well with me. (And don’t even get me started on “spin” – ugh.)

Is PR about story-telling? Absolutely.

But it is NOT about making stories up. It is about finding (really good) stories that exist within a company and sharing them in ways that are compelling and valuable to the readers (and yes, to the company, too!). I call it story mining. Like a diamond in the rough, the stories are already there, but they need to be searched out, dug up and cleaned off a bit.

This process can START with what the company sells (be it a hard good, services or content), but should also include things like causes, points of view, advice, personalities and more.

Often the best stories are hidden gems that people don’t necessarily think of as being part of the PR program, so you have to dig a little deeper than you may be used to. (OK, I’ll drop the whole mining analogy now…) Here are a few of the best ways I’ve found to do this.

Find out what stories the people that matter most to you want to hear!

Conduct an audit of customers, partners, the media, etc. Ask for input via your Facebook fan page. Conduct an online survey to your prospect list. While this step often feels intrusive, my experience is that, generally, people at a minimum don’t mind helping out and often are thrilled that you are taking such an interest in what matters to them

Conduct internal Q & A sessions

Select a group of the smartest / longest standing / most interesting / most controversial people within the company and conduct one-on-one interviews using a prepared (but not rigid) set of questions, almost as if you were interviewing the person as a member of the media would. (NOTE: this is not the same as media training, since the focus is on getting at great content, not honing interview techniques)

Participate in more discussions and meetings

OK, full disclosure, I think most meetings are crap (more on that in future posts). BUT they are also a / the primary means of communicating vital information within a company. Too often, if drafting a press release isn’t the next step coming out of a meeting, PR is not at the table. And there are TONS of missed PR opportunities because of this. For example, rather than relying on the biz dev folks to identify when a potentially interesting industry trend story pops up during a partner meeting, PR should strive to be involved in the meeting itself

Each of these techniques needs honing, based on every organization’s unique dynamics. And yes, some will be a waste of time. But the potential payoff from telling real, valuable stories that engage your stakeholders is huge. (I’m sure Woodward and Bernstein “wasted” a lot of time, too!)

What other techniques do you use to find great stories to tell?

Amber Naslund, the director of community at Radian 6, posted a story over at Marketing Sherpa last week called “Measuring Social Media’s Contribution to the Bottom Line: 5 Tactics”. (This story is useful, as is most of Amber’s stuff, so if you’re not already following her, you should be.) Measurement is something we talk about a lot around these parts – amongst ourselves, with our clients and with industry peers. It’s a historically tough nut to crack for PR pros and social media has made the formula even more complex. Watch this space for more on the measurement topic from me in the coming weeks.

Today, though, I’m taking a step further back from measuring social media to look at the decision of when is it (actually, “are they” is more accurate I suppose) an appropriate path for an organization to explore. My initial thoughts are summed up in my comment to Amber’s story, which you can check out below. (Another topic you’ll hear me start to bang on about is efficiency, so I’m taking the opportunity to avoid wheel reinvention by re-purposing my own words here!)

Very good stuff, indeed, Amber. One thing I’d add (realizing you weren’t trying to do everything in one article!) is that organizations need to take a hard look at whether they are the type of business that should be embracing social media from a cultural / philosophic standpoint.

For example, is Virgin considered a customer-centric business that drives loyalty b/c of how well they do social media? Or is it that customer-centricity is at the core of the Virgin business, so they naturally do social media well (further benefiting both their customers and the business)?

A related element to this is understanding and accepting what social media is good for (and, hence, really should be measured against). Your mileage will vary depending on whether you are all about customer acquisition or if you place an emphasis on lifetime customer value.

Probably seems self-evident / blindingly obvious, but too many companies rush into the “let’s use to social media to drive sales” mindset without first taking a look at whether what social media requires and delivers fits with their core business philosophy and strategy.

What do you think? Is social media right for every company? What should the criteria be?

The Associated Press Stylebook has been guiding word usage, punctuation and grammar for countless reporters since 1953, and while it’s not the only style guide out there, it’s certainly the most popular. AP reporters are known for their strong reporting, and the Stylebook is constantly referenced to ensure consistency and excellence in writing. But as newer forms of media evolve, is there another set of rules needed for online content creation? Yahoo! thinks so.

Yahoo! has launched The Yahoo! Style Guide: The Ultimate Sourcebook for Writing, Editing, and Creating Content for the Digital World, whose purpose is to provide a framework for grammar, punctuation, writing and editing for the Web. Some of the article topics in the guide include, “Streamline Text for Mobile Devices,” “Be Inclusive, Write for the World,” and “Construct Clear, Compelling Copy.” It also includes a word list and an “Ask an Editor” page to help clear up questions about word usage and upcoming developments for the guide.

As Mashable points out, there are a few points on which Yahoo! and the AP disagree, including whether to hyphenate e-mail (the AP says yes), and “smart phone” or “smartphone” (one word, according to Yahoo!). The overall topic is particularly timely, as Matter recently held a training session to refresh everyone on strong writing practices. We explored common mistakes that writers make and looked at the differences between the AP Stylebook and Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style.

But the debate came down to two core factors that guide Matter’s writing: consistency and client preferences. Often, Matter’s clients want their teams to bend AP writing rules, and as long as we’re consistent in our deliverables, the content we generate passes their tests. For example, serial commas are a source of debate between teams. Some clients require them (X, Y, and Z) and others don’t want them (leave out the comma before “and”). For the clients that don’t have a preference, we simply use them or don’t use them throughout all our writing.

It will be interesting to see to what degree writers gravitate towards the Yahoo! guide over the AP Stylebook, if at all. What do you think will happen?

Three years and three months ago, my father died. My dad was a wonderful man who could wax philosophical and dream big ideas, but who found deep and lasting joy in his practical, everyday life. On this past father’s day, while giving due attention to my loving husband and the father of our three children, I took time to consider all the gifts my father gave me – some intentionally, others by example.

One of those many gifts was a kernel of wisdom that’s been relevant to life in general, my days at work, and my career in PR specifically. I remember I was in high school and made some smart-ass remark about “the way things are” – in that “I know everything” voice which sixteen year olds wield with such mastery. My dad looked at me, the way only he could (nobody has ever silenced me faster, with only a look, than my father) – and he said very quietly: “Patty, one thing I’ve noticed in this world is that it’s terribly easy to be cynical.”

Now, the thing about my dad was that he typically just doled out an unfinished nugget of wisdom, and left you to figure out the rest of it. Maybe it was his training as a college professor – some leftover, distant relation to the Socratic Method he favored – or perhaps it was simply his trust in the intellectual rigor of his offspring, but he never felt it necessary to connect all the dots for me. Either way, his simple sentence fundamentally shifted something in me; made me pause to consider that cynicism may make you sound smart, worldly and sophisticated – but (and here’s the half that I figured out for myself…) it usually isn’t the best way to find a resolution to a problem, or to gain real intelligence, or to live a productive life.

It is easy to be cynical. There’s a lot of crazy in this world, and it’s much easier – and sometimes more fun – to sit back and find something snarky to say than to dig in with purpose and passion, and try to make it a better, less crazy place. But the truth is, if everybody is sitting back and being cynical, nobody is getting anything done.

And that’s especially true when you work in PR. As good PR professionals, it’s absolutely necessary and healthy to ask questions, to poke holes, and to be investigative, curious and sometimes even skeptical about claims that our clients’ products, services and people are the (insert superlative here) in the market. And after almost 20 years in the profession, believe me when I say that I’ve heard a few things (think Internet bubble) that would justify a cynical attitude about “breakthrough technology” or “extraordinary value.”

But the fact is that finding our clients’ right, good and true stories also requires us to remain above cynicism, to have a positive and productive perspective on asking questions, and to maintain a certain sense of wonder for the ingenuity that creates products and services that people and businesses need. And I think one of the many joys of our profession is finding that true and good story, and telling it to the world: ultimately helping people who are looking for a solution to find it – helping our clients articulate exactly the right message for their audience.

Thanks, Dad. In the most important ways, you’re still with me, every day.

We’ve all gone through the pros and cons of whether a client should start a Facebook page, but thanks to a recent survey by social media measurement firm Syncapse, that pro/con list might become a bit clearer.

The survey resulted in some interesting stats – like the average fan is worth about $136.38 – that show social media engagement can be linked revenue generation:

• On average, fans spend an extra $71.84 they would not otherwise spend on products they describe themselves as fans of, compared to those who are not fans.
• Fans are 28 percent more likely than non-fans to continue using a specific brand.
• Fans are 41 percent more likely than non-fans to recommend a product they are a fan of to their friends.
• An average fan may participate with a brand ten times a year and will make one recommendation. But an active fan may participate thirty times and make ten recommendations.

Similarly, social media guru Brian Solis also reported yesterday that social media engagement does indeed have its rewards, quantifying word of mouth leads Facebook and Twitter can generate for brands:

At the end of the day, it’s between you and your client whether Facebook and Twitter are the right move for their brands. But surveys like these showing the potential return on investment make it hard to hold out for much longer.

Peter Shankman makes all the right moves.

The guy is brilliant and, if you’re in PR, you can’t help but know that he has a cat named Karma and, when he’s not jumping from an insane altitude, he’s training for an Ironman. Oh, and he’s the founder and CEO of a PR/journalism game-changing company called Help a Reporter Out (HARO).

HARO was founded on Facebook in 2008 and has since grown to be THE social media services company that connects writers and sources. In my opinion, two things make HARO particularly unique: It’s a free service for all involved and it’s a no-BS community where PR pros are held accountable for the pitches they send. Users get booted for spammy, spray-and-pray pitches and, as a result, HARO is somewhat of a safe haven for members of the media.

The lucrative HARO “sponsorship” program that Shankman created is also noteworthy. He places advertisements at the start of each email, which are chock-full of media queries, and the open rates are said (by HARO) to be about 75 percent.

In fact, this business model is so remarkable that, just last week, Shankman announced that his little enterprise had been scooped up by Vocus, a company that provides on-demand software for public relations management and manages the press release distribution service called PRWeb.

We join the industry in congratulating Peter Shankman on this significant accomplishment. According to a Mashable story, he will continue to build the HARO brand with the help of the folks at Vocus and, more importantly, the service will remain free. We look forward to seeing what the future holds for HARO – and continuing to use this fantastic service to supplement our daily PR activities and outreach!