Social Media: Santa Goes Viral

Suddenly Santa...flys on the World Wide Web...without the help of his reindeer.

Central Florida media outlets were invited to cover a sneak peak of Suddenly Santa, a “flash mob” video production being filmed today at the Winter Park Amtrak Station and in the surrounding park area. The script included an impromptu appearance by Santa along with hundreds of orchestral singers and choreographed dancers in a surprise performance to local cast members staged as families and tourists enjoying a day in the park. The joyous four-minute video, Suddenly Santa, was unleashed on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 26, 2009 at 2 a.m. on www.YouTube.com/SuddenlySanta.

Want to create your own viral video? Contact me and I will hook you up with all of Santa's elves, in this case it was volunteers, to fly around the world.

B-roll: More than pictures

B-Roll is video footage, with or without sound, used by broadcasters to supplement the main elements of a news story. In addition to the video, B-roll includes key images, copy and back-up material. It may include short quotes from spokespeople as well as sounds and images. It typically contains video without sound for broadcasters to select their own segment of the video for their story and they will match it with a voice over or on-screen explanation from the reporter or anchor.

For the most part, B-roll enhances, adds dimension or visually tells the story, but the origin of B-roll was footage shot that could cover an editing jump cut.

In the world of film and documentaries, B-roll is quite often thought of as back-up footage. For film, the producer uses the footage to edit together unconsecutively shot clips or scenes. This is done by changing from the A-roll to the B-roll while the audio from the A roll shot or another source plays under the B-roll. The footage allows the editor to cut back to footage, so that it appears as if the two scenes, visual and audio, were shot together as one piece.

In the context of news, B-roll has a different use. B-roll footage is provided to a broadcast news station to complement a story. It is shot in advance of the story that will run on the news. Producers set up the the provided visuals, but add their own or provided script from a news release or fact sheet and the reporter or anchor does the audio narration so the story appears like it was all done by the news station.

B-roll for news includes the picture stories followed by a series of soundbytes from spokespeople, people interviewed, sounds or "words from the man on the street". Each section of the video is introduced by what is know of as a slate. A slate is a black frame that runs for a few minutes before the B-roll footage is shown. The slate typically includes the title of the slate/segment, spokesperson's name and title, a short description of the footage and the the time the footage runs (usually in seconds).

When footage is provided in this format, editors and producers use the copy provided such as a suggested script, talking points, a fact sheet, a backgrounder or other important information to describe the story with the visual B-roll footage to backup the story for a segment in their news program.

Video publicity needs high-quality, timely, newsworthy footage to get the attention of news decision-makers. Broadcasters are likely to use B-roll of events with celebrities, action-packed stories, and new products or services.

B-roll works best when it is carefully and concisely edited. Accompanying interviews or sound bites always follow the B-roll footage.

Remember to always include a table of contents of slates, logo(s), graphic(s), photo(s) and the contact name and number on a slate at the end of B-roll.

Shake A Tail Feather: Book Holiday Business

An event company owner sent me the following question...

I am a catering , production and entertainment company. I need to know how to get more holiday parties for this season.. Help!!!!!! Corporate parties, invitations, entertainment, catering and more is our business help me get more business.

Sherry Schweitzer
Owner, A TOUCH OF CLASS,INC. CATERING AND EVENT PRODUCTIONS
----------------------------------------------------
Sherry,

Assuming you already have an awesome website and collateral materials to sell your services, try the sales and marketing tactics the Tina Turner way and "Shake A Tail Feather" today.

1. Advertise in the local business journal newspaper starting in October. Offer an early booking special that includes added value such as invitation design, printing and mailing included for parties of a certain size (Bump up your prices a little this year to cover the added value). Or the first X number of people who contact you get a one-hour consultation for FREE.

2. Write short articles or tips. Distribute them to the local media and post them online.

3. Start a blog. Write about what you offer that makes your company different. Post your articles and party tips. Post photos of other events and parties.

4. Offer to speak for a few minutes on how to have an amazing holiday party or event at local women's clubs, civic clubs and business organizations. Sponsor a table or donate inexpensive center pieces of pine needles and magnolia with floating candles. Call them now to book for October.

5. Start sending weekly e-newsletters to your old clients and add potential new clients. (If you don't have a database, you can buy a list or create your own by researching businesses that you want as clients. Call them for the name of the contact who books their events and holiday parties. Ask them if it is ok to send them holiday event information.

6. Get booked on local TV or radio programs to talk about party and event planning. Ask them to put a link to your website on their website. You are an expert and the media wants to talk to you.

7. Send out news releases about your company, new clients, photos of creative invitations and events, unique entertainment you have available

8. Host a VIP after 5 what's coming this season open house with wine and cheese NOW! and invite area businesses. Display (video/photos) to showcase your company.

9. Get flyers or brocures made with colorful photos of your previous events, parties and invitations. Distribute them to area businesses including banks, doctor's offices, law offices, car dealerships, hair salons.

10. Pick up the phone and call people and ask for the business. Cold calling sucks, but it works! An old sales adage is that you should make 10 calls to get two appointments to make one sale. If it were only that easy today! I'm guessing that now it is more like 25 calls to get two appointments to get one sale. And ad that, you have to call them at least twice because it is hard to reach someone on the first call.

Why Tina Turner? Well this one is a look-a-like, a good one, and she made me think about using the name of one of Tina's songs to grab attention, or at least use as your motivation...



Good luck! And, if you need help with any of these, I'd love to help market your company!

Event: Creating A Mythical Opening

All hail the Olive!

It seems like a new restaurant opens every week in Central Florida. And being in the center of the entertainment and theme park world, for the opening event to stand out, it means having more than food and drinks for a memorable "ribbon cutting". Besides sending out invitations to the VIPs and key media, creating the event flow, planning the menu, and more, I wrote a "blessing" as an attention-getting way to kick off the grand opening night.

After the presentation, a friend asked which book or movie the words came from as they were so mythical and "Disney-esque," they had to come from a Greco-Roman story. He was right about the mythical part, and it was a story only the words and dramatic scene were written from the theater of my "Monte-esque" mind.

For your reading pleasure:

The olive has been held in high esteem since the beginning of time. Myth has it that the Goddess Athena introduced the precious fruit of the olive to the ancient Greeks and they named a city for her.


Homer called the oil of its fruit, “liquid gold.”


Hippocrates, considered the father of modern medicine said, “Let the food be the medicine and the medicine be the food.”


With a multitude of uses – for light, food, and healing – the olive and its oil has been revered for its magical properties, history even deeming it greater than the power and speed of Poseidon’s horse.


I present the olive.


A precious seed
Born forth from this small fruit
Placed with care by hand
Connected to Earth
Enriched by soil
Peppered by rain
This olive doth grow to be
A life-giving tree
The harvest cometh forth
Bountiful and mythical
Most blessed fuel
Oh nourishing food
Hail its healing tenents
Treasure guarded by royalty
And reveled in world religions
Now an Olive tree blossoms in Orlando
So we celebrate nature’s gift tonight
And with this act
We commence a new flame
Of a forever blessed light.


Ladies and gentlemen
Raise your glass and toast to the grand opening of The Black Olive.

Now, here is a peak at the grand opening ceremony:

Ten Tips For An Awfully Unappealing Presentation

Watch paint peel...Slow. Tedious. Messy.

Great presentations require a bit of skill, forethought, a lot of work, and practice (even when doing the same presentation over and over). Giving a poor presentation is easy. Try any or all of the following tips that are guaranteed to be as exciting as watching paint peel off bricks.

1. Misspell words. To for two. Lie for lay. Delete the “i” in Public Affairs. Don’t run spell check! Forget spell check to generate laughter that isn’t a joke.
2. Use too dark or light type on a too dark or light background. Green on blue, red on black, light blue on white or yellow on peach...all are especially difficult to see.
3. Be creative with type. Combine Old English uppercase, Comic Sans italic, Times New Roman bold, Brush Script, add shadows and several underlines for emphasis and several font colors. Make it look pretty. (fyi...the design rule of thumb is no more than two fonts including different styles i.e. bold, italic, condensed of the same font)
4. Use 6 point type. Pretend you are an optometrist! With a free vision test you can say, “This isn’t readable, but here is what it says…”
5. Stttttrrrrreeeetttttcccchhhh logos and photos. This way they fit. Who cares if the circle is now an oval? Or the square is a rectangle?
6. Insert low-resolution logos, photos and graphics. They look fuzzy and faded on your computer screen and even worse when projected or blown up. Be sure to use less than 75 dpi or and smaller than 900 pixels wide by 720 pixels high.
7. Dress down. Wear a shirt “worthy of discussion.” Wear your “holy” jeans. Flip on those flops. If dress down was good enough for the White House a few years ago, it is good enough for anyone.
8. Read every word of every slide, poster, handout. Keep your back to the audience. Then you can't tell who is sleeping.
9. Use free clip art. Why spend $5 for stock images, photos or illustrations when free means kudos for being budget conscious.
10. Don't practice. Don’t rehearse and never arrive to set up early. You don’t want to seem overly polished.

Seen it, heard it or slept through the presentation? If so, may these memorable tips be memorable enough for you to remember not to use them.

SMT: Building Buzz

Here are a few smart reasons to do a satellite media tour.

1. Incredible cost savings.

- Effective TV commercials and radio ad campaigns cost thousands upon thousands of dollars, not only in the creative process, but also for the time purchased on air.

- They produce buzz...that the news media helps create. (Yes. That is me briefing Col. Buzz Aldrin for the SMT on July 16, 2009 at 5:55 a.m. Photo by Lisa Cannon)

- Satellite media tours "start" at around $18,000 for pitching and producint. Fees may increase for remote locations and other add ons such as catering, make up artists, number of cameras, lighting crews and such.

2. No advertising.

- They are NOT a commercial and broadcast audiences know the difference.

- News typically owns a captured audience so people tune in and don't change to another station until the broadcast is over...or during commercials.

- An aired segment helps a company stand from their competition.

3. Say "credibility".

- Interviews in the news translate into credible experts for the viewing or listening audience.

- The art of producing a great tour is working with the client and person being interviewed to ensure their talking points or responses to the host, anchor or reporter don't sound like a commercial. It is news by the way!

4. Timing is everything.

- Incredible timing means SMTs offer a chance for opportune and strategic placement in the news.

- Both offer the ability to quickly respond to regional or national issues.

5. Very little effort for client.

- Media tours are written, pitched and produced by an SMT specialist.

- Production can be conducted in a studio or can originate from remote locations by hiring a satellite truck.

- It only takes set amount of time for the client (typically three to six hours during a tour) to reach an audience of millions.

6. Huge value.
- Because of the Internet, broadcast interviews live on! They are posted on a station's website and are then shared via social media (YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc.)

- A news story has a higher perceived value placed on it than advertising. When measuring, a news story MAY be valued up to four times the cost of the same length for a broadcast advertisement during that same time.

- And lastly, SMTs are measurable in many ways!

Check out my earlier posts of several SMT interviews with Buzz Aldrin that I helped produce on July 16, 2009 for the 40th Anniversary of Apollo 11 at Kennedy Space Center. I was three feet below him and one foot behind the camera working as the floor producer. There was also a camera guy, a lighting tech, a makeup artist, Buzz's assistant, and two caterers on the floor in addition to three producers in the satellite truck.

For more info about producing a tour, working with me to pitch and book your tour or to discuss your next Satellite Media Tour, give me a shout at 407-341-9866 or mmonte@hotmail.com.

Satellite (SMT) and Audio (AMT) Media Tours

Shoot from here (location) up to there (satellite) and down to there (broadcast station).

Satellite Media Tours (SMTs) are used to book a company expert, CEO, spokesperson or celebrity on television to be interviewed for the news. They are usually live, but can also be live to tape (meaning the interview seems live when it runs later.)

Organized, pitched and produced by a public relations specialist, these one-on-one interviews, are booked by news producers or talent bookers. In what are called windows, the producer works with the person pitching the tour to secure a specific time for the interview. The interviews are typically booked within five to 10-minute windows. The interview, typically from one to 10 minutes, takes place within the window and the hit time is the on-the-spot time that the interview is scheduled to start.

To organize all of the information, the specialist uses a tour production grid which is shared with the client, the talent or person being interviewed and the production staff. The grid is the Bible, plan, part and parcel for the tour production team.

A typical grid contains the following:

1. Number of windows (6:00-6:10, i.e. 6 a.m.-9 a.m. with 5 to 10-minute windows
2. Hit time (6:03)
3. Segment length (i.e. 2-2.5 minutes)
4. Station name, location and affiliation
5. Anchor, host, reporter or talent name(s)
6. IFB # (more on the technical stuff later)
7. Control room number
8. Producer's name, phone and email
9. A back up phone number
10. Key information about the station, producer, talent, etc.
11. Address to send b-roll (Beta or DVD) before the tour

Media tours get out a specific and news worthy message to millions and can target a key audience!

Check out posts on the recent SMT for the 40th Anniversary of Apollo 11 with Buzz Aldrin at Kennedy Space Center.

For more about producing a tour, pitching and booking your tour or to discuss your next Satellite Media Tour, contact me at 407-341-9866 or mmonte@hotmail.com.

SMT: Buzz Aldrin KARE11 Minneapolis

Aldrin reflects on 'Moon Landing' 40 years later

kare11.com Twin Cities, MN Aldrin reflects on 'Moon Landing' 40 years later

SMT: Buzz Aldrin and Boston WCVB

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin recalls historic moon landing.

Col. Aldrin paints a beautiful picture about standing alone on the platform of the Saturn V rocket as he waited to board that July 16, 1969 morning.

SMT: Buzz Aldrin and CTV.ca

Aldrin recalls moon mission on 40th anniversary

Updated Thursday, July 16, 2009 10:07 AM ET (Transcript of Media Tour-video not available) CTV.ca News Staff

Buzz Aldrin, an astronaut on Apollo 11, speaks on CTV's Canada AM from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. on Thursday, July 16, 2009.


They dreamed of conquering new frontiers, and 40 years ago today they made it happen. On July 16, 1969 the crew of Apollo 11 blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on the historic quest to be the first men on the moon.

"Twelve, eleven, ten, nine -- ignition sequence start -- six, five, four, three, two, one, zero, all engines running -- liftoff, we have a liftoff, 32 minutes past the hour, liftoff on Apollo 11."
And with that, as the world watched on, a bold new era of space exploration began.
Aboard Apollo 11 were the men who would make history: Mission Commander Neil Alden Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin Eugene 'Buzz' Aldrin Jr. Four days later, on 20 July, Armstrong and Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the moon.

Looking back on that day four decades ago, Aldrin called it an "enlightened experience."
On CTV's Canada AM on Thursday, Aldrin described his wonderment at landing on the moon.
"I was looking out at lifeless scenery in front of me, no colour at all, shades of gray, black sky, no stars visible, and I just thought, this place hasn't changed in 100,000 years. And I used the words 'magnificent desolation,'" he recalled.

And he marvelled at what it took to get there. "I think of what a magnificent achievement it was for humanity to be able to progress to the point where we could fly airplanes, and then hop inside a rocket, a spacecraft and take creatures from the Earth and land them on the moon," Aldrin said.

The veteran astronaut was not only looking back, but also forward to the next journey into space -- to Mars.

"It may take us two decades, or a little bit more, to chart and fulfill an exciting, achieving pathway to the moon of Mars, Phoebus, prepare the surface of Mars for human settlers there for a growing permanence. I think it's an inspiring time, and we need to be optimistic."

In 1963, Aldrin was picked to join the select corps of early U.S. astronauts, and six years later he set a record -- now broken -- for the longest space walk by spending five and a half hours outside the spacecraft during the Gemini 12 orbital mission.

He was the back-up command module pilot on Apollo 8, man's first flight around the moon, and on July 20, 1969 he made the historic moon walk with Armstrong.

After retiring from NASA, the Air Force and from his position as commander of the test pilot school at Edwards Air Force Base, Aldrin remained a strong advocate of space exploration.
A crater on the moon, near the Apollo 11 landing site is named in his honour.

SMT: Buzz Aldrin and MyFoxDC

WASHINGTON - Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin Jr. spoke with FOX 5 News about his memories of Apollo 11 and about the 40th Anniversary of the launch.

LISTEN to the audio of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/apollo11_landing/

SMT: Buzz Aldrin interview with CBS News

Unplugged: Buzz Aldrin Promotes Mission to Mars
Interview with Bob Orr

July 16, 2009


Watch CBS Videos Online

The second man to step foot on the moon, Buzz Aldrin, took some time away from celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11's mission to explain his ambitions for space exploration on "Washington Unplugged."

"It is time to move on back into exploration. And I think now, with the new administration we are wisely re-evaluating the path," Aldrin told moderator Bob Orr.

Aldrin told Orr that he never felt like a hero during his 1969 mission rather "we felt like very fortunate people being given the opportunity to be responsible, alert and to carry out our task...enjoying what we were doing but also paying very close attention to our once in a lifetime opportunity that just came along."

The Satellite Media Tour was pitched and produced by WOW! for Kennedy Space Center at the Saturn V Center.

SMT: Buzz Aldrin and Good Day Atlanta

July 16, 2009

Buzz Aldrin Satellite Media Tour from the Saturn V Center at Kennedy Space Center for Kennedy Space Center. Pitched and produced by WOW! Interview time 4:21.

Example of SMT Advisory

ATTN: A.M. Producers – Live Talk Backs – Thurs., July 16 (6-9 a.m. EST)

“THE EAGLE HAS LANDED:” 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF HISTORIC APOLLO 11 LAUNCH TO THE MOON

Apollo 11 Astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins
– The world watched Aldrin and Armstrong walk on the moon; Three men gave the world a priceless gift.

LIVE INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITY WITH ASTRONAUT BUZZ ALDRIN

Buzz Aldrin on the Moon - July 1969 - NASA

WHO: Buzz Aldrin, lunar module pilot of the historic Apollo 11 crew. On July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and became the first manned spacecraft to perform a lunar landing. The lunar module, Eagle, landed on the moon July 20, 1969 with less than 30 seconds of fuel left. Upon landing the crew announced: "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed!" Col. Aldrin and Neil Armstrong made history by becoming the first two people to set foot on the surface of the moon.

WHAT: A live interview opportunity is available on July 16 with Buzz Aldrin to mark the 40th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11 from Kennedy Space Center. Also on July 16, an elite group of astronaut guests will celebrate the Apollo program during a public ceremony at the Apollo/Saturn V Center at Kennedy Space Center. The astronauts will share their personal stories with guests. A new exhibit, the Apollo Treasures Gallery, showcasing treasures from the Apollo moon missions will also open that day.

WHEN: Live interviews from the Apollo/Saturn V Center at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex on Thursday, July 16 from 6:00 a.m.-9:00 a.m. EST.

BOOKING: To book an interview, contact Ms. Monte Martin at 407-964-1557, mmonte@hotmail.com or Ms. Rhonda Murphy at 407-435-6093, rmurphy56@cfl.rr.com.

Col. Buzz Aldrin's Bio and Apollo 11 Briefing

Bio: Buzz Aldrin attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, graduating third in his class with a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering. He then joined the U.S. Air Force where he flew 66 combat missions in Korea and was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross.
     Selected by NASA in 1963, Aldrin was the first astronaut with a doctorate degree. He devised space docking and rendezvous techniques which were critical to the success of the Gemini and Apollo programs and are still used today.
     On July 16, 1969, the intrepid crew of three men, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, launched aboard the massive Saturn V rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center carried the hopes and dreams of mankind with them. The Apollo program changed the way we looked at ourselves – as travelers beyond Earth.
     Aldrin and Armstrong made their historic moon walk becoming the first two people to set foot on another world. They spent 21 hours on the lunar surface and returned with 46 pounds of moon rocks. An estimated 600 million people - the world's largest television audience in history at the time - witnessed this unprecedented event.
     Apollo 11 achieved its primary mission - to perform a manned lunar landing and return the mission safely to Earth. It paved the way for the Apollo lunar landing missions to follow. The mission also fulfilled President John F. Kennedy's goal of reaching the moon by the end of the 1960s. In a 1961 speech, Kennedy stated: "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth."

BRIEFING: Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, the launching point of all Apollo missions, will mark the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo program with an all-day celebration. Former astronauts will spend the morning sharing memories and stories of their incredible journeys with guests.
     Later in the day, the Visitor Complex will also mark the opening of a new exhibit, the Apollo Treasures Gallery, at the Apollo/Saturn V Center, showcasing treasures from the Apollo moon missions.
     Rarely seen publicly before, the Apollo artifacts in the new Apollo Treasures Gallery will include a rare collection of space suits and other gear used by the Apollo moonwalkers to explore the lunar surface during space walks, featuring Apollo 14 Commander Alan Shepard’s space suit and the Apollo 14 “Kitty Hawk” Command Module. Alan Shepherd’s corvette will also be on display.      Complimenting the suits is a collection of shoes, helmets and gloves, plus tools used to excavate the lunar surface, Apollo 16 astronaut John Young’s cuff check list with instructions on how to deploy the American flag on the moon and Apollo 13’s space suit repair kit and service module rescue book.

For more information, visit http://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/.

###

Online: Are you distinct or extinct?

The brand of Google. It began by being known as a search engine and a noun...www.Google.com. Then Google became a verb as in..."Have you Googled yourself?" or "Be sure to Google that new job applicant." or "When going on a blind date, be sure to Google them."

Have you Googled yourself lately?

Are you distinct or extinct?

Using Google in this way is fun and interesting, but it also is a way to proactively learn about online identity. Experts say online identity affects professionals in many ways, both positively and negatively and in the world of online communications, if you don't show up in Google, you don't exist. When applying for a new job, being considered for a board position or going on a date, you can count on being Googled. Knowing what Google says about you and proactively managing your name or company online can be a critical step on the road to success.

According to Reach Communications, the company that developed a free tool to measure your distinctiveness online, "In the new world of work, your online profile plays a critical role in your ability to achieve your professional goals. Until now, there has been no way of evaluating the strength of your online personal brand."

Over 44,572 people have tried this application. Now, I am one more! It took about five minutes and my score shows that I am "Digitally Distinct." Well, I do spend a "certain" amount of time utilizing the World Wide Web.

Google results can change fast so, regularly monitoring an online identity is a must! If something negative, such as an anonymous character attack on a blog or forum pops up, it can be quickly addressed!

Click on the button above and discover your level of distinction. And heck, it is free to use!

Then, if you are less than digitally distinct or find something that is negative, contact me to to create a plan to bump up your brand or bump out negativity. It may mean the world to understand, monitor and make sense of your online identity.

Social Media: Buzz Goes Viral

Who "woulda" guessed this...back then...or even yesterday?

...In the Summer of 1969, Buzz Aldren flew to the moon.

...In the Summer of 2009 Buzz Aldrin flies across the World Wide Web.

Check out Buzz Aldrin's new song "Rocket Experience". A portion of the proceeds from the song sales of Rocket Experience will go to ShareSpace Foundation, to further benefit and support the work of the National Space Society, the Planetary Society and the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. To learn more about Buzz, go to http://buzzaldrin.com/

Buzz Aldrin's Rocket Experience from Buzz Aldrin

I think both experiences qualify as "a giant leap for mankind."

Are you taking the social media leap seriously? It really can be fun!

For a campaign that's out of this world...I am your Houston. Contact me to launch your rocket experience that will fly across the World Wide Web faster than the speed of sound.

Social Media: twitter making you twhurl?

tweet, tweet, twitter aps are twsweet!

Twry twese twerfic twools twoo twake twitter twork twetter twor twyou.

Tweetr - This applications allows you to share files up to 10MB via Twitter. Tweetr will upload your file and covert it to a short URL. One other feature of Tweetr is that you can use your webcam to share images with your followers.
Twellow - In short, a yellow pages for Twitter users. This directory service enables you to easily search, find and follow people that interest you most. Registration is free.
Twitalyzer - Use this application to evaluate your impact and success of your Twitter activity. This tool measures your clout, generosity, influence, velocity and signal to noise ratios.
Twitter Job Search - Looking for work? This app searches and sorts available job positions discussed on Twitter. You can browse the jobs by category or use their helpful map of jobs tweeted within the last 72 hours.
Tweetmeme - This site tracks the most popular links found on Twitter. Search the business category for the most recent news and trends for your industry.
Topify - Give your Twitter email notifications more power. When Twitter emails you that you have a new follower, Topify provides you with all the important info you need without having to visit the person’s profile. Quickly see their stats, follow back by replying to the email, or send a direct message via the email.
Tweetake - Use this application to back-up your list of Twitter followers, the people you are following and all of your Tweets. You never know when Twitter may crash, so save yourself the headache by making sure you’ve backed up all of your contacts.
Tweetstats - Convert all of your Twitter activity stats in an easy to evaluate graphs. Quickly see how often you’ve tweeted, who you’ve re-tweeted, and who’s Tweets you’ve replied to.
Tweetlater - The free version of this application enables you to schedule Tweets, track keywords, send direct messages and much, much more. Saves valuable time and boosts productivity.
Tweefind - This Twitter search engine returns results based on rank, resulting in the most relevant results and users first.
Twiturm - Do you have musical aspirations? Share the music you create by uploading your MP3 files and turn them into a Tweet to promote your creations.
Twitzap - Find the stuff on Twitter that matters the most to you. Twitzap lets you divide info into channels which are then updated in real-time.
FollowWatch - FollowWatch simply watches your followers. You will receive hourly alerts of followers that you have lost or gained.
TwitterMass - TwitterMass consists of a whole suite of tools to help you grow your Twitter network. See the site for the numerous features available with this app.
Tweetbrain - This crowdsourcing app lets you pick the brains of fellow Twitterers. Post your questions and/or answers and build relationships while exchanging knowledge and info.
Qwitter - Monitor who quits following you with this app. You will receive an email notification whenever anyone stops following you.
Twazzup - Search topics and discover real-time Tweets, related photos and the most popular links. You can reply and retweet directly from Twazzup.
Twist - Search trends discussed on Twitter by topic. You can compare topics, view the most recent tweets and see what topics are “Hot Now”.
Twuffer - Keep on top of your Twitter activity by scheduling your Tweets in advance.
Twisten.FM - This app in real-time lets you explore and listen to all of the music Tweeted about on Twitter.
Twitterific - This iPhone application makes reading and updating your Tweets a breeze. If you want to learn more about the features, they have short video “Tweetorials” on the site. Twitterific is also available for Mac users.
TwitterContd - Need more than 140 characters to finish your Twitter thoughts? TwitterContd gives you 1250! Post your Tweet, shorten a URL and upload images, video or audio files in one easy step.
CalendarTweet - Tag, share and promote your business events with this handy application.
TweetPhoto - This is a photosharing app that can upload photos by email, mobile or web. You can also publish photos directly to Facebook. You’ll be able to track who’s viewing your photos, favorite other people’s photos, moderate comments and more.
Twitteranalyzer - Analyze your Twitter account activity in depth. You can look through your stats in detail along with the stats of your friends. This app is deceiving from the home page. You really need to put in your account name to get the full effect of what’s provided with this app.
TwitterGrader - See how your Twitter activity measures up.
yFrog - Easily promote your products or services by uploading and sharing images and videos with this simple application.
FileTwt - Quickly and easily upload and Tweet your files with FileTwt. You can share files up to 20MB.
TinySong - Share songs with this application. TinySong creates links for you to easily share with your friends.
TweetMic - This iPhone application helps you publish audio to Twitter. Great way to connect with clients and customers.
Twiggit - The name of this app results when Twitter and Digg meet. Let your followers know which articles you Digg with this automated service. When you Digg an article, Twiggit will automatically update your status with the link.
Twitter Toolbar - Downloading this free toolbar gives you instant access to Twitter. You can use the toolbar to access online Twitter tools, check your Twitter stats, post your updates and more. Versions are available for both Firefox and Internet Explorer.
Twitoria - This simple application lets you quickly find out which of your followers has not been actively tweeting. Easily sort through your network of followers and purge the inactive users.
Monitter - Get a live streaming view at what Twitter users in your location are saying about you or your small business. Simply insert keywords you would like to search for and the surrounding area you would liked monitored.
Bubble Tweet - This unique application lets you post a short video message that pops up on your Twitter profile in a bubble shaped player. You can personally introduce yourself and/or your business to anyone who visits your profile.
Twitter Gallery - A collection of free backround themes for your Twitter account. You can use the one click installation or manually install them yourself. Lots of nice designs and colors to choose from.
Tweepler - Simplify the way you manage your Twitter followers. Tweepler enables you to easily sort through new followers and accept them or ignore them on one simple screen. They have made accepting followers easier by giving the Tweepler user the followers stats and last 3 tweets in one screen view. This will save you time by eliminating the need to visit each individual follower’s profiles.
Twit This - Allow visitors to your blog or website to easily post Twitter messages about you or your business. Post the TwitThis button to your website or blog pages with the instructions and coding provided on their site.
StockTwits - Follow and join into conversations with traders and investors. An active community of investors are sharing their views on current market conditions and recent news happenings. You can quickly see what others are saying about investments in your portfolio.
HelloTxt - Update your status to several social networking sites in one simple step. You can choose from over 35 social sites to post to including Twitter.
TwitterFox - This Firefox extension is one of my personal favorites. You can post Twitter updates without visiting the Twitter site each time. A small icon is added to the bottom of your Firefox status bar. The icon opens to reveal your friend’s most current updates. You can add your updates from that dialog box, even for multiple Twitter accounts.
Future Tweets - Do you have something to promote on Twitter tomorrow but are afraid of forgetting to do it? With FutureTweets, you can schedule your tweet ahead of time for a specific date and time. Even schedule reoccuring tweets to post daily, monthly, even yearly.
TwitPic - Share your favorite pictures on Twitter. This would be a good way to introduce your new product to your network of followers.
twtQpon - Create exclusive coupons for your business services or products and share them with your Twitter followers.
Tweetburner - This site is designed to help you track your tweets. With Tweetburner you can shorten URLs and track the clicks your tweets accumulate.
Tweetbeep - Just like Google Alerts, Tweetbeep tracks Twitter conversations that mention you, your business or your products and services. Alerts are sent to you via email.
Twitter Counter - Proudly display the number of Twitter followers on your business blog or website. Add the badge to your site and invite customers to follow you on Twitter.
Group Tweet - This app enables all employees within your company to post updates which can be privately viewed only by your group of approved members.
Twitter Safe - This free service protects your years of hard work building your community of followers. This one click backup will restore your network of followers in the event that your list is compromised.
Twitxr - Post product pictures and updates from your mobile phone directly to Twitter.
Track This - This app enables tracking of any UPS, USPS, FedEx or DHL shipment. Updates are sent to your Twitter account direct messages whenever your package changes location.
CoTweet - CoTweet lets your company manage one Twitter account while allowing several employees to contribute. Each person maintains their own identity and their activity can be monitored.
Tweet Later - This one application contains several Twitter productivity tools. You can track keywords, track replies, schedule tweets, send welcome direct messages, and much more.
Splitweet - Managing and updating multiple Twitter accounts is easily done from one screen. Choose to send updates to one or all accounts in one step. You can also follow your brand with notification when your company is mentioned on Twitter.
Twimailer - Sign up to receive more extensive email notifications when your account obtains new followers. Instead of the generic Twitter email notification; the email contains the followers location, followers stats and their most recent tweets. At the bottom of the email, you can choose to follow the individual without even visiting Twitter.
Digsby - Keep track of everything your followers are doing at all times. The Digsby box display gives you a real time view into your Twitter account right from your browser.
HootSuite - Easily manage multiple Twitter profiles, pre-schedule tweets and measure your progress. You can even add multiple editors to your business profile.
TwitterHawk - This marketing app helps you connect with consumers in your area and related to the keywords you choose. TwitterHawk will send Twitter users your custom response when they tweet your keyword in locations that you specify. Say you sell shoes and you want your response to reach anyone within a 20 mile radius of your business. When someone 7 miles away tweets about shoes, your response will automatically be sent to that person.

twonfused?
Try a couple of them for fun and you will be hooked. I love tweetdeck!

Email, call or tweet me at http://twitter.com/MonteMartin if you'd like to know more info about how twitter can twork for you!

Measuring Media: Feedburner

Can't cook?
Don't Panic!

Feedburner has nothing to do with overcooking a meal.
If you are not a chef in the kitchen, you CAN certainly cook better online with feedburner.

Feeds are ways that online content is distributed to a broader audience than to just one online user or reader. They kind of work like customized subscriptions to online info...and the info is automatically delivered to your refrigerator, then table and can either consumed or thrown out...errrr...delivered to your news reader, email or web portal.

With the growing use of "crackberries," content can also be delivered through "widgets," "gadgets," mobile devices, and posted to other blogs, websites podcasts, and news/sports/weather/outlets to anywhere to be read, heard or viewed by other users.

Who feeds?
Internet content feeds for most major news media such as CNN, ESPN, USA TODAY, ABC News, Washington Post, AP, Reuters, PBS, etc.;
Anything that is a news item and appears in Google News from local papers to congressional staffers to favorite magazines;
Hundreds of thousands of bloggers, podcasters, and videobloggers; and
Apple's iTunes offers mucic and podcast downloads.

There are literally more than 2,000 different feed reading applications, aka "news aggregators."

Here are some of the more popular ones:

NewsGator - Inbox for Microsoft Outlook(Windows)

NewsGator - FeedDemon 2.0(Windows)

Firefox(via "Live Bookmarks" feature)

Safari(feed support in the Apple OS X native browser)

Google Reader (My personal favorite and I have it post in an application on my igoogle page for easy updates)

NewsGator(Online)

My Yahoo!

Bloglines

Pageflakes

Netvibes

Botbox (paid service)

Confused about what to shop for? It is a bit abstract, but once you have the right recipe, you will be serving a customize feast that is what you want to know about, listen to or view.

For more info...contact me to learn more about where to shop and to get the perfect list!

Measuring Media: Google Analytics

Google Analytics...

What's your "web"site catching?

Google Analytics offers user-friendly features that allows marketers, not necessarily IT people...to gain insights into website traffic. This includes learning or finding out more about:

• Where users come from;
• Measurement of unique visitors:
• Pages that are landed on;
• How long users stay on certain pages;
• What pages are never accessed;
• How users move across copy, photos, aka content;
• What links are clicked on...or not;
• Which page designs, headlines or graphics convert more visitors to make a sale or take action;
• View AdWords ROI without importing cost data or adding keyword tracking codes; and
• Track different online campaigns from emails to keywords.

Now, here is the "official" definition:

1. Google Analytics (abbreviated GA) is a free service offered by Google that generates detailed statistics about the visitors to a website.
2. Its main highlight is that the product is aimed at marketers as opposed to webmasters and technologists from which the industry of web analytics originally grew.
3. GA can track visitors from all referrers, including search engines, display advertising, pay-per-click networks, email marketing and digital collateral such as links within PDF documents.
4. Integrated with AdWords, users can review online campaigns by tracking landing page quality and conversions (goals). Goals might include sales, lead generation, viewing a specific page, or downloading a particular file. These can also be monetized.
5. By using GA, marketers can determine which ads are performing, and which are not, providing the information to optimise or cull campaigns.
6. GA's approach is to show high level dashboard-type data for the casual user, and more in-depth data further into the report set.
7. Through the use of GA analysis, poor performing pages can be identified using techniques such as funnel visualization, where visitors came from (referrers), how long they stayed and their geographical position.
8. It also provides more advanced features, including custom visitor segmentation.
9. Users can officially add up to 50 site profiles. Each profile generally corresponds to one website. It is limited to sites which have a traffic of less than 5 million pageviews per month (roughly 2 pageviews per second), unless the site is linked to an AdWords campaign.
10. And did I say it is free.

Whether you do your own marketing or hire an agency or freelancer, this tool or some other web trends report is a must-do in you marketing toolbox toward measuring along the way to reach goals. If your web campaign is not measuring up, then it is time to change strategy, write different copy, add or delete a web page, change graphics, or try completely different tactics.

So strengthen your marketing initiatives today and so that your website has the WOW! that converts users into customers, believers and followers.

Learn more about how to get website WOW! and contact me for a free consult.

PR: 5 Whys For Public Affairs

If your affairs aren't public...they should be!

Don't hide or cover up!

According to the Public Affairs Council, there are five reasons why public affairs is more important than ever:
1. Public Distrust is growing;
2. Brands are valuable, but fragile;
3. Big Government is here to stay. At all levels, the government’s involvement in business is increasing, not decreasing;
4. Life is not fair. Terrorism, trade wars, government deficits, frivolous lawsuits—all of these eternal challenges can have a big impact on a corporation or association; and
5. You can’t go it alone. Every organization is tied to the communities it serves and governments that regulate its activities.

The most important thing to remember when it comes to public affairs is that unless you target the message to your audience of influence: elected officials, lobbyists, CEO’s, local community, and media directly, and ofetn with different messages, the action, attitude or influence desired will be missed.

Do you know:

• Who your key publics are?
• If your tactics reach them?
• How to change messages for different publics?

If you need help reaching the right people, contact me to create a WOW communication piece, special event or write a brand new plan!

Blogging: Is your blog credible?

Is your blog a reason for your readers go in another direction for information because they don't trust what you say?

In a recent poll:

• 80% of those polled said they used corporate blogs to get information;
• Of those who used them, only 16% rated them 4 or 5 on a five-point trust scale;
• Only 16% of online consumers who read corporate blogs say they trust them;
• Among people who regularly read blogs (at least once a month), 24% trust company blogs; and
• Among people who blog themselves, 39% trust them.

This result is not surprising. In the last few years, consumers have become more sceptical about corporations and even more sceptical their government. Consumers likely don't trust company blogs for the same reasons they don't trust corporate advertising and certain media outlets or reporters.

What would make anyone trust a blog more than a news release, ad or message from the CEO, Director, Mayor or City Manager?

Does this mean blogs are on their way out? No.

It just means that communication professionals, marketing folks, publicists and anyone else who blogs has to be extremely thoughtful about what they post. Here are a few things that make a blog more credible:

• Utilize a key strategy of being customer or client focused;
• Create a community for readers that encourages feedback and comments;
• Don't hide the name of the person who writes the blog;
• Respond or address comments, especially any negative ones;
• Blog about hot topics readers would like to know your opinion or "side"; and
• Be a voice in the community, be that a place, your brand or area of expertise.

If you'd like to know more about writing plan for your blog, want honest feedback about your blog or want to start a blog, contact me at 407-341-9866 today!

Crisis PR: Preparedness Can Help Prevent Panic

To take a quote from FEMA...
"Are you ready?"



Watch this 1976 public service announcement that actually ran on national television.

How does it make you feel?
Does the message provoke or prevent panic?
Is it rational and real or reactionary?

Fast forward 33 years.

The swine flu emerges again.

Now as the swine flu, a.k.a. H1N1, swept across our globe, a country was shut down, stories about pigs consumed the 24-hour news cycle, and the panic played out on the world stage when the Vice President "gave his personal opinion" about the pandemic.

Yep...it is true that in the world of communications, if it bleeds, it leads. The media devoured the drama of his quote and then they went on and on about every aspect of the what if's, why not's and how come's of H1N1. Many reporters and media types hypothesized and proselytized and then repeated it again and again about the pandemic to the point of what I saw as fear mongering.

Anyone in a leadership position as well as the media are held to a high standard to tell the truth, share advice and also serve for comfort in a time of crisis. Certainly any representative of the White House should know more about dangerous situations or things that might hurt U.S. citizens. I can tell you thought with my background in crisis communications and issues management, I cringed when I heard the V.P. Biden's comments. He told the truth...or did he?

In retrospect, we now know there seemed to be a missing link called education about H1N1 (or even better a black hole) and it went all the way to the White House. That meant the creeping pandemic was allowed to become its own pandemic of speculation instead of known facts.

Maybe the CDC didn't have all the facts? Maybe the U.S. doesn't have a strong interoperable disaster plan with Mexico? Maybe this experience was a dress rehearsal for the U.S. and its health organizations and government agencies to get in gear before we are faced with a much stronger version of H1N1 or worse?

Fortunately, knowledge is power and someone at the Centers for Disease Control sat up and took notice. The CDC began pushing out news release after news release. As their public relations efforts kicked in and crisis management began to play out, most responsible media outlets and journalists began to consciously report the facts.

The Drs. dedicated a one-hour episode to the topic. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta reported on the virus from Mexico City. And White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs issued an apology for Vice President Biden's comments that he wouldn't recommend taking a commercial flight or riding in a subway car because swine flu can spread in confirmed places. And the V.P. gaffed again on the Today Show as he tried to clarify his earlier comment. Once again, the White House put out a statement almost making it look like Matt Lauer set him up to answer the question to get a fear answer.

From all of this, know that when facing a crisis, the truth should always be primary. But with managing the message, the truth should be facts presented so that everyone understands them.

So are you ready? If not, you can get ready and get tips about preparing for any kind of disaster by checking out http://www.ready.gov/, http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/#stay_healthy, http://www.hhs.gov/ and http://www.fema.gov/plan/index.shtm.

As always, feel free to contact me with questions, to speak to your group or if you need a hand with your crisis plan or help handling any type of public relations issue. Hopefully you won't need the training, a plan or me, but it is always better to plan an escape route proactively than being in the middle of the street and using the "wish I may, wish I might form of crisis management" and hoping that the oncoming bus won't hit you...or at least not too hard.

Blogging: 10 Tips

"No rules. Just things to consider."

When blogging for yourself and/or for friends or family, there really are no rules. But if you are blogging for business, you are writing your own articles, so here are a couple of things to consider:

1. As a blogger, you are a publisher! Blogging can be part of a brand. Even if it is the brand of you! Think about your goals as a blogger. Do you want to be seen as an expert? Do you want to share your personal ideas and thoughts? Do you want to get people thinking? Do you want feedback? Or do you just want to use it to document your life?
2. You can have more than one blog. In addition to WOW!, which focuses on marketing, public relations and events for business, I have a personal blog about "stuff" that I share only with with friends and family.
3. Create your blog in a word document. Sometimes it is easier to use spell check in Word. And in a third world country, you never know when the electricity is going to go out and you lose everything you wrote for the last hour!
4. Stick to one area of interest for business. Be the expert in your field! If your blog is for business, or sales and marketing purposes, feature a key "story" or idea for each post. More than one post a day is ok too...especially if a blog is timely.
5. Edit yourself. A senior public relations professional once said "write what you write, and then cut at least 10%". How awful it seemed at first to cut out "my" wonderful words! Eventually, I learned to delete flowery adjectives (four meticulously unique and specially compounded, botanically formulated new-age hormones), flip sentences to write action-oriented content (use "is" not "will be"), and edit superfluous words from content (that is one word that can often be cut out of that sentence because deleting that will cut that copy by at least that much) - some words, such as that, can be deleted from copy without changing the meaning of the sentence.
6. Use bullet points or numbers. Formatting helps break out or define thoughts and makes it easier for readers to follow content.
7. Use subheads. Just like a magazine or newspaper article, subheads improve readability.
8. A picture is worth 1000 words. Post photos at the top and/or insert them throughout the content. Photos break up copy and add interesting graphics.
9. Be mindful of tense. Monitor flipping back and forth between yesterday, the present moment and the future. If the tense changes, use transitions, so the content is more clearly read.
10. End with a call to action. Always ask for the business, feedback or comments.

If you need help getting your blog started, want to know how to blog to market yourself and your business, or need someone to "ghost write" your blog, contact me at mmonte@hotmail.com or 407-964-1557!

Measuring Public Relations: Leading them to water...

You can lead a horse to water...
But you cant' make it drink.

Four days after a grand opening event, the restaurant manager questioned the fact that he had not “seen much publicity." He said, “I believe that event was a waste of time and a failure.”

At the event:

• 150 guests were in attendance;
• 30 reporters represented different media outlets;
• Extremely positive comments were heard during the 2 1/2 hours;
• Someone thought the WOW! moment (video and photo op) aka grand opening blessing came from a famous book (oh it was an original idea...mine : -);
• An hour into the event the mayor's staffer cancelled all his other obligations that evening because he was having a great time and did not want to leave; and
• The night went off without a hitch (not exactly what happened behind the scenes, but who knew except for us?).

Now...about what he did and/or didn't do:

• Gave the internal and external marketing and public relations team two weeks to pull off the event (the team already put in the plan the pre-event work would require at least a month);
• Distributed invitations two days before the event by email and a few hand-delivered invitations to elected officials (the plan suggested...and Miss Manners would say that invitations should be sent out at least two weeks ahead of time);
• Cancelled the $500 live entertainment because it was “too expensive” two days before the event and didn't tell anyone (the original budget was $1,500);
• Didn't order the $2 nametag logo'd credentials and didn't tell the team (this was also in the plan);
• Didn't put together the media kit (he had insisted on doing it himself because he loved the design he had created for the CD cover; so the marketing team with the help of bartenders made black and white copies and stuffed kits in plain blue folders 30 minutes before the event was to start);
• Forgot ???? to bring collateral, i.e. to go menus, catering menus, brochures (again...in the plan);
• Produced a much “less than special” goody bag as a take home (the day before he had shown everyone what it was going to look like, and then we all said...under our breath...NOT exactly the same one!);
• Finally, held the dress rehearsal 45 minutes before the event (it had already been rescheduled three times); and
• Failed to send any kind of thank you to guests...not even an an email (his final task in the plan).

Even though the client did not fulfill his assigned sales and marketing tasks, (a day-by-day two-week checklist was provided) he pointed a finger at the marketing and public relations team and said:

• “Business is too slow."
• "There wasn't anyone here the night after the grand opening except for one couple."
• "We paid a lot of money for the grand opening and are not seeing the results."
• "Why are we not on the front page of the newspaper?"
• "Why has channel X not been here to do a story?"
• "Why is there not a story on X website?”

As the saying goes...you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. And that is hard for a client to understand when they are a bull.

Long story short, two days after this one-sided conversation, the clips poured in and a reporter from a national media outlet called to set up a story.

The media and invited VIP guests had been lead to the water (otherwise at this event known as Martinis, Fois Gras and Crustinis), they just didn't drink as fast as the client expected.

Marketing, public relations and events are not exclusive. Though each uses different tactics and measurements, they all support the sales function. And like a ball of snow gathers more and more snow as it rolls down a hill getting bigger and bigger, so works the process of sales and marketing.

The client and the marketing and public relations team must work hand-in-hand. If a task is assigned. The delegate must perform...whether assigned down by the client or up by the team.

Do you want to know more about how to lead a horse to drink? Even if you have a beer budget, together, we can teach that horse to love it as much as drinking finest of champagnes.

Blogging: To Blog Or Not To Blog

As a child I had a diary with a key.
Now, I blog online just for me.

In December 2005, I spent five weeks in Costa Rica studying Spanish. Before the trip, I decided I didn't want to be obligated to email or commit to a time for regular phone calls because I wanted to "remove myself from technology," and not miss any impromptu surf session or una Cervasa Imperial on the beach at sunset.

After hearing a few groans/hints/concerns that I would not be in touch with "the world", I decided to start a blog. By blogging about my travels in Costa Rica, my friends and family (mom especially) would know I was ok.

I visited the local Internet cafe every few days. While enjoying the best cafe con leche, I would grab a computer in the corner and write (the cost was about $2.00 an hour!).

After returning home, I continued to blog my thoughts, adventures, lessons, hopes, dreams, occasions and life in general. Writing for me is like exercise, sleeping and eating. I have to do it. A computer makes the task much easier than pen and paper. My personal blog is really more like a diary. At times, I've posted on it daily and then months of working seven days a week and 12-14 hours a days left little time for me. Seeing those months with no writing is like looking at long lost time. Where did it go? What was I doing? What was I thinking?

It's time to set aside "Monte blogging time"! Personal writing can be a word map of your life, without visual pictures. And it is really awesome to occasionally read old posts to reflect, compare, contemplate and see the roads and paths taken.

I encourage you to write in a beautiful book, personal diary or online blog.

To learn more about how to set up a blog for business or personal use, contact me at mmonte@hotmail.com or 407-964-1557.

Social Media: Who uses it?

"A Growing Tool."

Are you a social media butterfly?
Is Tweeple in your vocabulary?
Do you know anyone who is hooked on Facebook?
Out of confusion, have you decided to "just say no" for now!?

According to a social media study by Michael Stelzner for the Social Media Success Summit 2009, "88% of marketers in a recent survey say they are now using some form of social media to market their business, though 72% of those using it say they have only been at it a few months or less."

Of social media tools, the % of responders use the following:

• Twitter 86%
• Blogs 79%
• LinkedIn 78%
• Facebook 77%
• YouTube/Other video 41%
• Social bookmark sites 38%
• Forums 38%
• StumbleUpon 28%
• Digg, Reddit or similar 26%
• FriendFeed 18%

Key survey findings about the applications indicate:

• Small-business owners are more likely to use LinkedIn than employees working for a corporation;
• Men are significantly more likely to use YouTube or other video marketing than women (52.4% of all men compared with 31.7% of women);
• Newbies to social media rank LinkedIn as their number-two choice;
• Among users of a few months or more, Facebook takes second place. This group also uses Twitter more;
• Twitter is used by 94% of marketers using social media for several years, followed by blogs. This group also endorses online video more than the other groups; and
• 72% of marketers say they have either just started or have been using social media for only a few months.

Since MySpace came on the scene in 2003, numberous cyber affairs a.k.a. social media applications have been launched. Maybe because of the MySpace successes or the scandals, the Internet doors swung open to mimic, improve, create more user-friendly and also implement "safer" measures of online networking for personal and business use.

To learn how to incorporate social media into a marketing plan, whether to tweet, post, blog, get linked in, or even a lesson on how to actually the tools in the cyber world, email me at mmonte@hotmail.com, invite me to be your Facebook friend at www.facebook.com and search Monte Martin, follow me on twitter at http://twitter.com/montemartin, get linked up to me at http://www.linkedin.com/in/montemartin or pick up the phone and punch in my digits (we do not dial anymore : -) 407-964-1557 to talk in real time about meeting in person! Hopefully, you won't get my voice mail - and that's a story for a future blog.

PR Tips: Social Media Defined

Social Media a.k.a. Cyber Affairs

It isn't defined by Webster yet, but other sources define it as:

• A form of Internet marketing which seeks to achieve branding and marketing communication goals through the participation in various social media;
• Writing content that is remarkable, unique, and newsworthy. This content can then be marketed by popularizing it; and
• Utilizing social networking and user-generated content platforms promote a product, service or content.

An easy way to picture it is how people use online communication to:

• Discover;
• Learn;
• Read;
• Share;
• Inform; and
• Connect.

It is a communication tool.

In the last 10 years, it has become a way for Homo sapiens — Latin for "wise human" or "knowing human" to share information across a distance. We certainly have come a long way from using smoke signals, drum beats and homing pigeons! Social media fuses the human desire to connect to each other using the technology of the world-wide web to:

• Transform a monologue (from one person to many people);
• Pushes the monologues out through dialog (many people take it to many other people); and
• Through information sharing, turns people from content users into publishers.

Social media applications allow people all over the world to connect online for personal or business uses. Depending on the application, how it is used, how often it is used and the person or people using it, social media use can create both loose and tight relationships. It may incorporate one or many forms of communication such as the written word, spoken word, music, live video, recorded video, slideshows, photos and more.

So how expansive or narrow is your communication around the world, in your community, with co-workers, to clients, within professional organizations, to neighbors, friends and even your family?

Want to grow it or control it? Contact me today by snail mail, email, phone or if you see me surfing, leave me a note in the sand.