Pierce Mattie Public Relations New York

Don't like the life you have now? Get a second one! Perhaps you always wanted to be a Supermodel, beauty editor, the next Oprah with a twist. We've all been playing simulation games around the office lately with the recent October launch of Desperate Housewives: The game. A company called Second Life, has created something different, it's social networking in that familiar 3D simulated environment that is fun, but can be profitable as well. Users can create, design, own virtual land, meet people, engage in real business opportunities, convert virtual cash into real currency, own IP rights and much more.

More than 900,000 users have signed up to build homes, form neighborhoods and live out alternative versions of their lives in the 3-D, computer-generated world. This is not just for Generation L (liquid generation) audience/demographic, Second Life is sure to attract anyone who was labled a Generation Xer (1961-1981) to todays new Silent Generation (S 2001-). Players spend around $350,000 a day on average or a rate of $13 million a year. I'm sure we'll be hearing more about Second Life in the real world as advertisers and marketers are sure jump at ways to reach out to those who choose to build a second life for themselves online.

Strike Two for Edelman PR as Their Second Fake Wal-mart Blog is Revealed, via B.L. Ochman's What's Next blog

WallStrip, via Repliqa is a RocketBoom format web-show that profiles a different public company on the stock exchange every day .

Sofia Speaks The face (errrr cartoon illustration) of the Holy Mud Company rants about beauty, fashion, art, pop culture and...Politics!

Next Generation Insights (Young Adult Panel) The panel itself is informative, the technology (video tag) is cool too.

Still warming up to Second Life? I am asked about it almost daily and wanted to get some basic info posted for those friends who read our blog consistently. Backstory is here. Follow the links.

New World Notes

From April 2003 to February 2006, I was a contract writer for Linden Lab, creators of Second Life, primarily hired by the company to cover SL as an embedded journalist in an emerging society-- its controversies, its personalities, its innovations and ambitions, along with larger themes of identity, social norms and organization, and cultural expression important to online worlds in general.

That contractual relationship has ended, but the story continues here. -Wagner James Au

Second Thoughts Do's and Dont's for Big Business.

"Every human being is interested in two kinds of worlds: the Primary, everyday world which he knows through his senses, and a Secondary world or worlds which he not only can create in his imagination, but which he cannot stop himself creating." W.H. Auden

Second Life Herald The Second Life Herald was founded on October 23, 2003, by philosophy professor Peter Ludlow. Its mission, as described the next day, was to observe, record and study "the legal, social, and economic implications" of life in the virtual world. Originally established as the Alphaville Herald and reporting for the most part on life on the Alphaville server of The Sims Online, the Herald soon branched out into coverage of other massively multiplayer online games and virtual worlds -- helped along by the murder of Herald publisher Urizenus (Ludlow's avatar) after Electronic Arts got wind of the stories the newspaper was printing about the scams and cyber-prostitution that were taking place within its game, and the company's indifference to reports of real-world violence.

I know this isn't exactly breaking news for everyone. However, for those who have lives and don't live and shop online exclusively, this may be news to you, it was to me. Many "recommendation" sites are popping up all over the Internet, yesterday a Fashion blogger referred me to one that is getting kudos in the New York Times; ThisNext.com. I was impressed just how organized this site was and even more impressed to find fashion and beauty bloggers I know doing Shopcasts there, such as Kristopher Dukes, The Jewelry Weblog, and Lola is Beauty.

What's a Shopcast? It's basically shopping and broadcasting combined. It's a playlist of products you recommend and you run them on a badge on your site and they also run on the ThisNext site, as well. You can create wishlists and also make recommendations by downloading a few buttons for your browser.

There are some really great recommendations just waiting for you to discover them, or if you feel so inclined, for you to make them at ThisNext.com

Yesterday Microsoft labs announce the first public release of Photosynth Technology Preview. Photosynth takes a large collection of photos of a place or object, analyzes them for similarities, and displays them in a reconstructed 3-Dimensional space. With Photosynth you can:

* walk or fly through a scene to see photos from any angle;
* seamlessly zoom in or out of a photograph even if it's gigapixels in size;
* see where pictures were taken in relation to one another;
* find similar photos to the one you’re currently viewing;
* explore a custom tour or see where you’ve been; or
* send a collection to a friend.

• Edelman Public Relations Disclosure Follies (Raving Lunacy) Edelman to Fund a Second Life Business screams the headline over at Micro Persuasion.

• $6 Billion For MySpace? (The Blog Herald) Rupert Murdock, CEO of News Corp., told Australian investors that MySpace would sell for $6 billion.

• Users Respond To The Dove Evolution Viral I find the user created responses to Dove fascinating, it is as if through retouching themselves, and manipulating their own digital representation, users can reaffirm their feeling in their true body, and experience an apparent sense of liberation through mutating themselves, looking at it and being able to recognise how ridiculous and distorted standards have become.(Marketing Babylon)

• Pepsi goes organic with new product lines at Whole Foods Market (SpinThicket)

• B.L. Ochman Yawns At Big PR Firms Getting Into "Social Media" (B.L. Ochman)

• Personal Care Appliances - Global Strategic Business Report : This report analyzes the worldwide markets for Personal Care Appliances in Thousands of Units.

• Spinduggery, The Flack: Peter Himler posts about Jeff Jarvis' snarky comment insinuating PR professionals have dishonesty in their DNA. Jeff Jarvis, being the 'spin'-ster he is, should love the quote "you can’t polish a turd."

• KFC Logo Relaunch - From Space, Near Area 51: I know all of you are saying "I thought of that months ago." Ever since Google launched satellite imagery on its maps, I've wanted to pitch this idea to a client. While not the first, KFC is doing it on a grand scale; a nice publicity stunt. For those of you who know my New York address, you can see me on the roof of my apartment building with my dogs, frozen in time from space.

• Loyalty VS. Advocacy CRM Lowdown: Most companies think that their job is done when they manage to convert a regular customer into a loyal customer. They tend to forget the guy because now ‘he can take care of himself.' Wrong! Once you’ve converted a customer, your job becomes even more difficult.

• Link Karma From The Copyblogger: 21 Surefire tips for a successful blog launch, 10 things to consider when choosing a site meter, and the five W's of great content.

• Hotels offer lots of freebies during winter (just not in New York City), The Mercury News: Winter travelers can take advantage of a number of hotel deals. Properties are offering free nights, free gift cards, special rates and other perks.

• How To Stop Comment Spam Without Lifting a Finger, Tubetorial: If you're a wordpress user, you have to visit tubetorial. Quick, easy-to-understand flash video - enjoy.

• The European Newspaper Design & Concept Awards Europe‘s most innovative newspaper 2006: Look and learn. This year, Europe’s best designed newspapers come from Belgium, Norway, Finland, Portugal and Spain. 287 newspapers from 26 countries participated in the eighth European Newspaper Award.

Jeremy Wright is a serial entrepreneur, some have even said a blogpreneur for his focus on communications-oriented ventures. He has been involved in IT, programming and the business side of IT for nearly a decade. Jeremy is the President/CEO of b5media, a prominent blog network. He is the author of Blog Marketing, a business book on blogging and writes Ensight, a popular business and technology blog. Jeremy consults on blogging, communication, IT and time management.

What was your vision when you first had an inkling that you wanted to start b5media?
While it'd be nice to say there was some grand vision when b5 started, the truth is that it was a simple idea by Duncan Riley: partner with a bunch of bloggers to get more advertising. Then if we were going to sell ads, why not join them into a network? And if we were going to start a network, why not start new blogs? And if we were going to do that, why not hire authors?

So yeah, no clear vision initially, just a bunch of guys trying to have some fun and make some money. Who knows where it'll go though? We certainly have a vision and an amazing team and a fantastic group of bloggers that continue to astound me every day, but who knows what the future will hold, eh?

What do you feel are the benefits of being a part of a network?
There are obvious benefits. More traffic. Better traffic. Better ads. More ads. Higher paying ads. All of these mean that a blog that joins b5, or is started for b5, will almost always earn more money than it would on its own. It's kind of like hiring a book agent: sure, you give up 15-20% of your advance and royalties, but if they get you a deal that's 80% better it's a real no-brainer. And if they take all the heavy lifting of landing a book deal off your shoulders so you're less stressed, all the better.

Beyond that, you get free hosting, access to some of blogging's leaders like Darren Rowse and Brian Clarke, and you get to do it all while blogging about something you're passionate about and making some decent bucks for the privilege! It isn't really that hard of a sell when we have to pitch bloggers.

When The Sims first came out, I was an addict. You could find me completely absorbed into creating families, neighbors, homes and watching everything interact. So when I was told there was the same type of game online except that instead of just random characters, they are real people, I knew I had to go check it out.

It’s called Second Life and it’s a virtual 3-D world of real people role playing their second life. This is a place just for fun or to create a real money making business, but it is entirely created and owned by its residents. Sign up was easy and you have a few options of how you want to be involved. You can have a basic account, which is free, or a Premium account for a monthly payment of $9.95 which grants you more access to things like owning land, building, entertaining, being given a weekly stipend and also the ability to create your own business on Second Life.

My sign up time was about 5 minutes, just filling out basic information. The fun part was picking my Second Life name. You can give yourself any first name you want and then you pick from a list of pre-determined last names. Download time was about 10 minutes with a cable modem and approximately 1 minute to install. Make sure your computer is set to 32-bit color or Second Life won’t let you connect. Once you connect, there are a few must-reads you need to go through, such as terms of service and behavioral don’ts.

My first time connecting was a little frustrating, as my computer kept freezing. After 20 minutes of freezing and then unfreezing, I gave up. My second try (the next day) was a little easier and I was able to make it through changing my appearance (although some things I couldn’t figure out) and moving throughout Help Island. About 30 minutes into playing, things started to slow down again and my screen would freeze and unfreeze for about 10 seconds each time.

Second Life, whose population is 60% men and 40% women, is getting a boost from iVillage with a bi-weekly "Girl's Night Out." Girl's Night Out consists of a curator who takes iVillage members on a tour of Second Life showing them interesting locations and meeting remarkable residents. It's a way for members to group together and get a personal tour versus stumbling about on their own through Second Life.

No, that's not me in the top picture. Nor am I in the zebra top, although some say I am an animal. You won't find me pregnant in Second Life, because at least I can enjoy life there without the aches and pains of my little boy kicking my bladder constantly.

This bi-weekly event comes on the tails of brands coming to market their products on Second Life such as, American Apparel. However, iVillage's approach is different, instead of marketing or touting wares, they are trying to improve upon what is already there: a community of women. The effort is being organized by Electric Artists and The Electric Sheep Company.

You can keep up to date with iVillage's Girl's Night out at their website or read more about this new trend at Springwise.

Glam Media, a widely popular beauty, fashion and lifestyle network, has acquired $18.5M in Venture Capital led by Duff Ackerman & Goodrich Ventures, with participation from Accel Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, WaldenVC, and Information Capital. As part of the financing, CNET chairman and E. W. Scripps board member Jarl Mohn is joining the board of Glam Media. Glam Media’s website boasts a robust 8 million visitors per month.

Glam will be using some of these funds to purchase other companies that are either Web 2.0 technology companies or those with a very secure vertical platform with a highly engaged and targeted audience. As you might remember from my interview with Jeremy Wright of b5media, he really felt that vertical companies were the way to go.

Glam intends to spread its wings and expand internationally and add to its sales and editorial team. Glam has also announced that it has signed on with Hearst Magazines to distribute content from Marie Claire on their websites, as well as linking to and promoting other Hearst Magazines for subscription.

Glam Media became an idea in late 2002 and was launched at Fashion Week in September of 2005; the Glam Network soon came to life in December of 2005. Considering the fact that it has only been a little over a year that Glam Media has been on the web, I would have to say that their ambitious goals and the hardworking behind-the-scenes individuals are what make Glam Media the mega-success they are today. As a beauty Blogger about to have her blog join the Glam Network, I am more than excited to see such growth and focus in this company.

** Event Alert! ** THE CANDLE BUILDING New York City. A new face on NYLON TV, NYLON editor Jared Flint skips the line at 11 Spring St, the canvas for the Wooster Collective's street art show. He talks to Sara, one part of the Collective, about how she wrangled together over 40 international artists to tag up the walls of this historically graffiti-splattered building and, a street art aficionado himself, points out his favorite works from the likes of Dark Cloud and Shepherd Fairey.

MyBlogLog was sold last night to Yahoo for a rumored $10 million dollars. For a company that was only launched in 2005 and without venture capital or any money for that matter, this is not a bad profit at all. MyBlogLog is operated by 5 savvy guys spread across the country; Eric Marcoullier, Scott Rafer, John Sampson, Todd Sampson and Steve Ho.

MyBlogLog is a blog tracking and social networking site that we (Pierce Mattie PR) and I use on our blogs to track traffic, note specific trends in searches and to interact with other Bloggers across the world. MyBlogLog has widgets that I am very fond of, and you can see it our sidebar, which tell you the latest readers, but can also be a means for people to find you and your blogs when you read other blogs and have your avatar appear on their widget. By moving your mouse over linked words on our site, you can also see which are the most popular with our readers.

For my personal blogs, I joined MyBlogLog when they first started and it is amazing to see the transformation they have taken on. One thing I think is key is their ability to listen to what their users wanted and their personal approach interacting with their users. Most of my interaction was with Eric Marcoullier through a few private posts in my profile on MyBlogLog and also through email. He was always timely in his responses and I never felt like I was intruding by contacting him. He was always super friendly and never sounded like some corporate-type.

The sale of MyBlogLog means that the team will now be part of the Yahoo Developer Network, which can only mean positive things if you have watched MyBlogLog’s growth from the beginning.

Glam Media, as you know, is a top 10 women’s property network and recently announced its $18.5 Million Venture Capital acquisition and a partnership with Marie Claire. b5media, also recently announced securing $2 Million in Venture Capital and when I interviewed b5media CEO Jeremy Wright back in November, he mentioned vertical networks being the only way to gain traction in today’s market. Glam Media just happens to be a vertical network, so the announcement of a partnership is not surprising.

The b5media partnership with Glam consists of Glam selling b5’s ads, something they are good at doing and in return Glam reaches a wider readership through b5media’s blog readership with Glam’s ads prominently displayed on each blog in the network. The partnership means increased visibility and revenue sharing for both Glam and b5media.

Prior to partnering with Glam, b5media also secured a partnership with Feedburner back in November. You can read Feedburner’s press release and Aaron Brazell’s post on the Pro’s & Con’s of Feedburner fore more details. Aaron is the Technology Channel Editor and Technology Manager for b5media.

So what’s next for b5media? Jeremy Wright gave a great interview to 901am that posted today and stated that they were aggressively pursuing a few partnerships. I guess we’ll be hearing about more b5 partnerships throughout the year.

Chances are, if you are a lover of celebrity gossip or fashion, you are familiar with Popsugar and Fabsugar (my personal favorite), but did you know that there are many other facets to the Sugar Network? There are, in fact, 6 more Sugar blogs (with another 5 soon to be launching) and 1 Social Networking and Community site.

Lisa and Brian Sugar started the Sugar Network with $250k of their own money last year moving full speed ahead to find venture capital to cover the remaining costs to launch additional sites, which will feature a variety of videocasts and podcasts. Their network targets "trendsetting, passionate, smart women between the ages of 18 and 35." The Sugar Network is definitely one to be watching this year.

An overview of each site:

* PopSugar- The insanely popular (and addictive) celebrity news and gossip site. It’s choc full of video comments, candid pictures, interviews and everything else you can possibly imagine to learn the dirt on your favorite celebrity.

* FabSugar- A fashion, beauty and accessory guide. Beauty and fashion mavens can hear all about the latest trends, style tips, must-haves and where to buy them.

* TeamSugar- This is the community hub and Social Network where all Sugar members can post comments, discuss what is being written about on the other Sugar sites, post pages of their own and share in all things Sugar.

Last year we really began to see big name brands participate with creditable, professional blogs. These blogs generate valuable supportive word of mouth advertising for brands. Still in its infancy, many did it wrong, such as the Wal-Mart and Sony PS3 flogs. While many did it right through advertising their products on blogs and social networks through BlogAds and Text Link Ads, as well as, viral marketing with You Tube and Revver and speaking directly to blog owners to review their products.

Moving forward and seeing the success that dual exposure in print publications as well as digital media can bring, Ogilvy & Mather has forged a partnership with Technorati to aggregate blog content relevant to Ogilvy clients, then will work with Ogilvy's senior creative directors to integrate existing word-of-mouth into campaigns, according to MediaPost. I have to agree with this statement in their article: “The benefit of social media is that it allows brands to build a more authentic, participatory relationship with its audience than was possible in the mass media era," said Peter Hirshberg, chairman and chief marketing officer at Technorati. Where print media can still be successful, I think the future success of brands lies within the relationship it can form with its consumers through online media such as blogs and social networks. It is, after all, the connection your consumer feels with your brand, that gives you brand loyalty, continued referrals and strong sales.

Make sure to subscribe to PROBE for our February issue and read tips direct from Pierce Mattie himself on how to get your beauty brand the exposure it deserves.

With so many social networking sites beginning to dominate the internet, it’s about time there was one that had one main focus to bring people with the same interest together to connect and network. IQONS is to fashion what MySpace is to music. Created by Rafael Jimenez and Suran Goonatilake with co-mentor Diane Pernet, they bring experience to the table that will see this new social networking site blossom.

IQONS is the global social network where designers, fashion labels, magazine editors, models, stylists, fashion PR professionals, fashion enthusiasts and the like can connect and network with each other. IQONS only launched last month, but it is already building a presence online with 820 designers with an online profile. Through their profile you can get a more in depth look into who they are and browse through their “showcase.” A showcase is where you can upload your work for the rest of the network to see.

IQONS has a few ways that members can connect and promote their work through the site. Influential and highly respected fashion industry professionals, referred to as Iqons, review and comment on work showcased by members on the site; IQONS features one Iqon each month; they also give members 15 minutes of fame by spotlighting a member profile every hour on the hour. IQONS also creates projects with influential fashion industry professionals for members to take part in. The first one is with online fashion retailer Yoox.com for a design competition.

I think this a great way to network with others in the industry and I’ve already started to create a profile, or “Portrait” as they call it, there myself. If you are already on IQONS, tell us what you think of the site.

According to Technorati, 175,000 new blogs are created each day by estimate of the 71 million blogs that they track. Everyone blogs for different reasons, but lately the idea of Bloggers being paid to write a review of a product by its brand has come under the microscope and leaves many wondering the ethics involved in performing such reviews. With blogs becoming a new form of media and in the beginning stages of being looked at as a form of journalism, there is so much gray area involved anyone is bound to wonder what is right and what is wrong when it comes to blogging for dollars.

The controversy stems from the ethics involved in giving a true unbiased review when you are accepting money by the brand that, one would think, does not want to have a bad review written about. Many feel that the review is tainted when a monetary payment is involved and others feel it is just another form of compensation when it comes to writing reviews. As one Bull Dog Reporter reader commented,

“How is this any different than a music reviewer accepting concert tickets, a fashion writer accepting clothes, or a golf writer accepting free greens fees? Influencers get paid, and they always will.”

I admit to the fact that I ignored the potential that social networking sites like MySpace had to offer me from a networking point of view for quite some time. I only really knew MySpace due to NBC’s “To Catch A Predator” and my local school district holding meetings for parents to monitor their children on the popular website. How could a social networking teen hangout benefit me in any way? What I didn’t realize was the “business networking” potential it held and that it would soon lead me to sites like IQONS, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Benefits to Social Networking:

* It allows you to connect with like-minded industry professionals
* It allows for networking beyond your current circle of contacts
* It gives your business a presence online beyond the typical corporate website
* It allows potential business contacts and clients to learn more about you
* It gives you the capacity to interact with others on a more “personal yet professional” level
* It generates referral-based contacts
* It allows for building professional relationships

What began as mere curiosity has now rendered me several contacts in the beauty and fashion industry. As a Blogger, it has helped me generate content for Pierce Mattie’s Fashion, Beauty and Jewelry blogs, as well as, content for my own personal blogs by making connections beyond adding someone to my “friends” list. While MySpace and IQONS have given me contacts such as Billy B. and Boaz David, LinkedIn has given me a connection to those professionals “behind the scenes” such as several owners of various beauty brands, the professionals of Glam Media and b5media and even venture capitalist, Deepu John.

The one mistake many make with their social network profile is to let it sit and think it will do all the work for them. You need to log in at least once a week and interact with others. It lends credibility and respect that you are there not just to “take,” but also to put forth an effort of sincerity into the relationships that you build there.

That’s really the main benefit of social networking—building solid relationships with those in our industry. Since Public Relations is a relationship-based industry, where better to utilize those skills than through social networking?

What do you feel are the benefits of social networking for business and public relations?

You've already created a Facebook sponsored group for your brand and your MySpace friend list reads like the white pages, so here's one new thing to add to your social media PR must-do list: Create a brand-specific social network on Ning.

Ning is a site where instead of just creating a page, you create a community with features like discussions, forums, and messaging. Instead of joining a myspace, you’re a creating a YOU-space, your own personal social network where brand-fans can upload their own content, blogs, videos, and pictures.

“We wanted to enable people to create their own worlds, not just join someone else's,” explains Ning founder and internet pioneer Marc Andreessen (he invented the first web browser) on his blog, blog.pmarca.com. “The more people learn what social networking makes possible, the more interested they will be in creating their own worlds, their own social networks, around every conceivable need and niche: their families, friends, cities, companies, start-ups, classes, hobbies, interests, political candidates, nonprofit activities, and so on.”

Another plus in Ning's favor is the ability for you to add RSS feeds so that you can update members of your network on any new content. Signing up is free and takes little time depending on whether you choose to use Ning’s templates or create your own fancier html code. You can also choose whether to make your network public or private.

According to Andreessen, 71,531 social networks have already been created with networks created by professionals and educators to MTV celebrity Kristin Cavallari, and the numbers keep on growing.

When it comes to creating truly customized social marketing, Ning's the thing.

Photo Credit: learnscience.net

Whether you are a makeup artist, photographer, painter or designer, an online portfolio community has just launched to give you a space on the web to not only set up a clean, professional and rich online portfolio of your images, but to also give your work more exposure and a great way to network with like-minded industry talent. Dripbook.com came out of private beta yesterday to showcase all it has to offer to the world of visual arts.

Dripbook is equally appropriate to the fashion scene as the fine art scene to the underground youth art scene. Painters, photographers, stylists and illustrators are equally represented. Dripbook also serves as a survey of the visual arts world, allowing users and viewers to find great artwork around the world.

Alex Wright, a New York based music photographer, is the creative mind behind Dripbook. In designing Dripbook, he took on the challenge of creating a place where artists can upload and organize their art into books, no matter the genre (even if they cover various genres) without the hassle of understanding code and plugins that go along with designing a website for yourself. The interface is easy for both the user and viewer, in that the entire site is HTML and doesn’t require anything extra for the portfolio to be seen. All users have a splash page, a profile, their book page and a place where other artists can comment on their work. The site is very clean, well laid out and easy to navigate.

I believe we’ll start seeing more niche social networks such as Dripbook, IQONS and PRVoices, as more industry professionals look for a way to see and be seen by other professionals in their industry, while avoiding the clutter of networks such as MySpace and Facebook.

See all that Dripbook has to offer at: www.dripbook.com

* Photo Credit: Alex Wright Photography via Dripbook

Online communities have become a major part in everyone’s lives. It is a growing trend that has become increasingly important for both young and old to have a place to communicate, network and share a piece of their personal lives. Among these online sites, social networks with a door policy have made their mark among those seeking a higher quality way of life. Building and exclusive network requires all the right connections and eVelvetRope has emerged as the pioneer in the luxury lifestyle category of social networking.

eVelvetRope provides an opportunity to reach a very specific demographic. It is an ideal vehicle for the targeted campaigns of lifestyle brands and services. This social network offers unique and highly effective promotional tools that enable event professionals to connect with their preferred audience. eVelvetRope members include entrepreneurs, world travelers, restaurateurs, leaders in online media, fashion, entertainment, medicine and many other professions.

eVelvetRope is an exclusive community of individuals with an affinity for cuisine, nightlife and leisure. By profiling members’ dining and nightlife preferences, eVelvetRope makes it easy to share recommendations of fellow members. eVelvetRope unites restaurateurs with foodies and wine lovers, fashionistas with designers, club owners with club goers and helps socialites keep up with each other’s social plans.

Prom season is upon us again and as this billion dollar industry continues its surge in growth and popularity, many brands are often wondering how to reach out to the teen market and get exposure for their product. Teens are becoming savvier and demanding more than just being told the latest trends, so I've compiled a list of tips that I hope you find helpful on how to get exposure for your brand during this momentous time of year.

1. Target long lead glossy magazines. In order to have your product considered for editorial in any of the teen-specific magazines, you must send your press release to the editors 3-4 months in advance. Editors are overwhelmed with product pitches daily, so make yours short & sweet and copy in an image of the product that you want to capture their attention with. Hot Prom Magazines: Prom, Your Prom, Seventeen Prom, Cosmogirl! Prom, Teen Prom.

2. Create buzz that drives teens to your website with a unique angle or spin. A fantastic example is Duck Brand Duct Tape’s Stuck at Prom contest (www.ducktapeclub.com/contests/prom). Duck Brand Duct Tape came up with the unique idea to let creative teens design their prom attire and accessories completely out of Duck Brand Duct Tape for a chance to win a scholarship and money for their school. The result? Amazingly innovative prom gowns and tuxes that resemble realistic theater-looking attire. Duct Brand took a product that may have not otherwise been associated with Prom and presented it in a way that got teens excited, interested and spreading the word about the brand.

3. Offer prom advice. This opens the door for just about anyone to enter the Prom arena. Whether you are a dermatologist, a hair stylist, Prom gown and accessory brand such as Jovani or Alyce Designs, makeup artist or relationship expert, teens are always looking for advice and tips on everything from taking care of their skin leading up to prom, having the gown, hair style, accessories and details that best suits their personality to Prom date advice. Whether you host the advice on your own website, promote it to online communities whose readership is the teen demographic or offer yourself up to the media as an expert, getting your name out there as a trusted source for Prom advice will drive traffic to your website and improve your brand awareness. www.PromAdvice.com, an extension of the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, is a great point of reference to start. Websites with great Prom advice: Promgirl.net, Sydney’s Closet, ThePromSite.com, PromSpot.com

Each year, people from around the world make the same New Year's resolution; to get into better shape. The only problem is that after the first few weeks they've already started to stray from their program, and by March, most have dropped off altogether. I sat down with Kristi Molinaro, one of the resident fitness advisors for FitFiend.com, a social networking site for the fitness enthusiast, to get some tips on why people have such a hard time making fitness a part of their everyday lifestyle.

Read the complete post and Kristi's tips on our Fitness PR blog.

The race for the White House is being done in a way that has changed the face of Presidential campaigns from here on out. Sure, we still see the typical television ads, town hall meetings, debates and so forth, but the candidates seem to have come to the understanding that social media has huge reach--a different reach than traditional methods of spreading the word regarding their campaigns. Going viral seems to be the way candidates are progressing vs. typical PR. It has left me wondering, will we see a change come November in who is coming out to vote? Has it changed the demographics of who is coming out to vote in the primary and possibly behind "the movement" that has been attributed to Presidential hopeful, Barack Obama?

Just looking at the Democratic bid for nominee, both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have MySpace pages. Both are on Twitter, which is interesting to note--Hillary Clinton has 1643 followers, has had 59 updates--but is following no one. Barack Obama has 13,712 followers, has had 75 updates and is following 13,048 (is he really though?) That's a pretty substantial difference and again makes me wonder if this places into Obama's "movement." (Has social media helped his campaign or is this organic?)

As always celebrities want to have their say on who they support and they are no longer just making a comment here and there hoping it will get picked up on the newswires, they are creating You Tube videos to reach a broader audience. For example, Jack Nicholson's video endorsing Hillary Clinton and will.i.am's music video regarding Barack Obama.

So what do you think? Are the candidates reach through social media bringing on and educating a younger audience of voters? Does it change each way the other campaigns and will campaign going forth once we have established Republican and Democratic nominees? Speak up in the comments!

Don’t Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me has been the beauty bible for most women (and men) for years. Now in its 7th and final edition, Paula Begoun’s most popular trustworthy source of information, has her on a global media tour and preparing her for the next transition in her career of educating the consumer from the truths and non-truths in the cosmetics industry—the launch of Beautypedia.

Read the full post on our Beauty PR blog: Beauty Pro

While many people wait until the last minute to file their taxes, others do the same when it comes to getting their bodies ready for swimsuit season. This year, invest part of your return towards something that will give back to you long-term; your health. We’ve searched for some of the hottest workout programs on the market today that will help motivate and whip you into shape. Who knows, you may even be able to use some of these as a tax write off at the end of the year.

Motivation is Key The most important part to any exercise program is motivation. Whether youworkout alone or have a gym partner, having positive feedback is key to continued success. FitFiend.com, one of many social networking communities geared towards fitness and health, recently launched with a number of interactive tools to help guide you on your path to a better body and overall health. Similar to Facebook, FitFiend.com allows users to connect with fitness and health experts, search for workout partners and trainers in their area, get fitness and nutritional tips, watch original fitness programming, read about the latest in workout trends, and interact with other fitness enthusiasts for positive feedback. The best part is that this service is free, but the benefits keep on giving. Log on today at www.FitFiend.com.

Read the full post on our Fitness PR blog.

Today marks the beginning of the first annual New Media Tastemakers Summit in San Francisco. Key players from blogging, vlogging, social bookmarking, among other vertical non-mainstream influencers will be collaborating and networking to discuss the ever evolving niche of new media. With industry giants speaking such as Yelp, Sugar Publishing, Style Hive and You Tube, it's amazing to see more summits like this coming together to further develop interest and understanding into this ever expansive world of social media.

One of the speakers and friend of mine, Lesley Scott-Silbergeld, Editor in Chief of Fashion Tribes, took a moment to answer some questions in regards to new media:

Shannon: With some of the chatter lately claiming that new media is over saturated (and over rated), what are your thoughts on this?

Lesley Scott-Silbergeld: What's so interesting is how many millions of blogs there appear to be and how many are actually in people's readers & have regular visitors. The increase in the number of people participating in the new media has brought us more attention, which is great. The downside, of course, is that there are so many more shoddy quality blogs to weed through in search of what's worthwhile. So yes, much of what's recently come on board is overrated, but overall, I think high quality online publishers and blogs have benefited. What I love most about publishing online is that if you are consistent and have a high quality site, loyal readers will not only find you, they tell all their friends about you, spreading amazing word of mouth.

Shannon: What are some of the ways new media is elevating a brand’s reach and influencing its consumers?

Lesley Scott-Silbergeld: Much of the appeal of a blog is that readers feel there is a person they are connecting with. Yes, the product picks are helpful, but they're more interested in the person doing the recommending. There is an element of trust that major print publications can't buy for any sum of cash, not that they haven't tried of course, but most corporate blogs fail simply because they are an afterthought and come across as such and readers are quick to recognize how inauthentic this is. By endorsing a product or brand, a blogger has their reputation involved, which obviously benefits a brand in terms of a way that a for-pay marketing or ad campaign simply can never replicate.

So often we hear about various brands and PR who use social media outlets simply to pitch to key players or use it to generate leads. While that is certainly not wrong, in most cases, it is the way in which these brands and PR approach these tools with a lot of old school mentality that lands them on black lists and leaves users with a bad taste in their mouth, thus tarnishing the image of the company. Aren't you tired of hearing about these companies? I sure am. So I went in search of one that does it right. I didn't have to look far though, I have long been impressed with Zappos and the way they solidify their focus on customer service through active participation in social media. Most importantly through my favorite microblogging tool--Twitter.

Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, isn't simply working behind the scenes to keep his company operating smoothly, he's a true leader in every sense of the word. He gets involved, works to be a motivational masthead and it is with this people-first moto that he inspires the Zappos team to be at the forefront of customer service. It is customer service, after all, that Zappos is well known for, even above the actual high quality products the brand sells. While on a flight to Cabo, St. Lucas for the SIMA Surf Summit Conference, he took the time to tell me how social media has helped improve upon Zappos' brand value.

Shannon: Which social media tool was the initial one put to use by Zappos? How many would you say Zappos is using now?

Tony Hsieh: We started out with a presence on MySpace and Facebook just to try things out, but the problem with both of those is that the people involved were not regular users of either of those social networks, so we didn't really get very far with either of them.

With Twitter, it was something that I was already using anyway and very passionate about (as well as several other Zappos employees), so turning that into a bigger presence for Zappos was a very easy thing for us to do.

Another Page Turns in the Facebook

The significant upgrade to the online social networking site Facebook that was launched today is somewhat of a sentimental milestone for me, if you would.  I’ve felt a part of Facebook’s growth as one of the first hundred thousand people to be invited though the pearly gates of procrastinator's heaven. That’s right; access was invitation-only, based on your school’s involvement with the site. I remember it being a status symbol of sorts if ones alma mater granted access to a Facebook profile.  

Over a period of time that I’m officially labeling "Facebook Adolescence," Facebook grew by imitating its peers, much like a teenager would, and took on its competitor's best qualities. Facebook emulated Friendfeed and Twitter by adding features that allowed users to mini-blog with both the status and the feed features. From Myspace they grabbed personalization options and top friend features.

It wasn’t until more recently that the appworld came about with countless third-party-created mini-programs invading the online homes of so many facebook profiles. Programs did anything from track ones hottest friends in a network voting contest, to qualifying one's undying devotion to a sports team.  In my opinion, this addition has created the most unwanted change to the site. I'm prompted to label this time for Facebook as "The College Years" because of the numerous casual, careless "flings" Facebook had with third party applications.  I avoid certain friend's profiles due to their uninhibited use of applications that subsequently clutter their profile.  It can take more than a few minutes just to find their wall! (see: right snapshot of one of those friend's app icons)

Fortunately the days of wall searching are nearing an end. The new design, launched today, targets site organization. The noise created from Apps has been replaced with a more organized layout. The once prominent “wall” has made its way back to the spotlight.  It seems Facebook is attempting to recall the basic layout that awarded it so much of its initial success.

Incidentally, in the un-cluttering attempt, the order of the Apps appearing on ones homepage gets shuffled around; ridding the reliability of placement and publicity for developers.  Before now, recently added Apps were the most prominently displayed on the profile. However, applications have now received “bookmarks” and have a new coveted home page spot.  

The more widespread design also opens up the text and allows a better focus on inline advertisements in the news feed.  That’s not the only advertising perk this upgrade has to offer. Facebook is now able to include the popular 300x250 ad unit, whereas before, FB could only use the odd size of 120x600. Good news for advertisers, great news for Facebook profit margins.

The new “facelift” is expected to be phased into existence over the next few weeks.  Users will be able to test out new features before the upgrade is made permanent. It’s safe to say Facebook has graduated into the real world and will have increased relevance in the years to come.

*Photo Credit: Insidefacebook.com 

ndustrimobile is a video to mobile network I had touched on last year when they launched PORTFOLIO, the first fashion newsmagazine exclusively for mobile phones and PDA's. With video becoming one of the fastest growing platforms and with over 210 million cell phones in use in the US, a marriage between the two looks to be a very promising way of branding and diving further into the depths of digital media.

ndustrimobile is launching "Overnight," a travel and lifestyle series, that goes into production mid-late fall and will begin airing around Christmas. It's a program that will take you to the most exotic locations of the Caribbean as you experience the food, night life and indigineous people. The program promises to not show you the typical tourist-type areas and they are currently looking for couples to be nominated beginning late September. Why couples? Because this series will feature a deserving couple in each episode as they tour each luxurious destination.

What I find incredible about ndustrimobile's video to mobile network is how this will be a great avenue for advertising, marketing and PR. When I talked to Ru-El Burford, CEO of ndustrimobile (and a heck of a nice guy), he explained that they are definitely open to relevant client pitches for the series that can include anything from fashion to tourist boards to resorts and everything in between. Ru-El hails from a marketing and creative background having also founded and built ad agency boutique The Quantum Group (named a top twenty African American owned ad agency by Black Entreprise Magazine) so if anyone understands branding, it's Ru-El.

Overnight will also be ad supported with pre-post roll ads as well as advertising within the context of the show itself and product placement. This is an amazing opportunity for those of us in PR to get our clients coverage in a virtually untapped media. With video to mobile's growth, it's one you should look into and get your clients up to speed on.

There's no argument that mobile phones are becoming not only a means of communication, but also an all-in-one tool in life and business. It's something an addicted tech society can't live without. And if you question that, then I ask you who do you know that doesn't own a cell phone?

Our Fashion PR Account Director, Real Hamilton-Romeo, has been featured on iVillage's Weekly Top 10 in Beauty & Style regarding transition pieces. Check out Real's fashion tip on page 4 of the 10 page spread!

While many may feel that social media is becoming more fragmented and expanding vastly at such a fast pace, I also think that as social media continues to evolve, there are certain aspects that have become very niche. All you have to do is look at the blogosphere, or Ning for that matter, to see that more and more people prefer to become a part of community that shares their talents, career interests and similarities. Where TheSpaProject.com may be a social network for spa goers, Spa Clique is geared towards spa and salon professionals to connect them and keep them up to date on the inner workings of their industry.

The media landscape has been changing since the emergence of social media as a highly influential platform. Everyone has a soapbox and everyone wants to be heard. Some voices are louder than others reaching further and riding that digital wave. Not every brand out there understands how to effectively become part of that conversation and if there is any one thing that people tell me when I talk to them about how social media is instrumental for businesses today, it's that there is so much fragmentation that it makes their eyes cross. They often wonder, where do I begin? Which social media tools are the most effective? Do I have to be on every single social media site out there for it to have any impact on my business?

It's no secret to those who know me that I spend a lot of time in the space of social media and it could be said that I am a bit of a Twitter-holic. This past weekend the dominating conversation topic on Twitter was about the commercial Motrin has had out targeting moms...and not just any mom, but the moms who are considered "baby wearers." While I understood the main idea of what Motrin was trying to express--holding a child for any duration of time can cause back pain (and I am a mother of 4, so I do understand this)--the wording that was used and the way it was conveyed set off a firestorm via Twitter (and posted to You Tube) and the blogosphere that landed the controversial Motrin ad in the New York Times this morning.

The bottom line? The folks at McNeil Consumer Healthcare were blindsided by said firestorm because their consumer brands are not actively engaged in social media and monitoring discussions, good or bad, about their brands. Had they been, certainly they could have quelled the wave of people outraged by the advertisement rather than allow 3 days to pass before they realized they had were in a PR crisis.

Fourth quarter is a time of great stress for many companies--it's crunch time and with a bleak outlook on the economy heading into 2009, brands that typically stick to safe venues of advertising, such as print and broadcast, are now looking to do more with less. A good example? Creme de La Mer is advertising on Facebook. The luxury beauty brand who targets the 50 yr+ market is now being seen by a younger audience and targeted to those profiles that meet their keywords. When a beauty brand that charges $500 for moisturizer begins using social media as an alternative to print, one has to wonder--will there be a mad rush into the social media space where advertising costs are lower than paying high priced fees in faltering print publications?

When a luxury brand such as La Mer begins advertising on social media sites is it an act of desperation to push product in a time of major cut backs or is it that the luxury brand is beginning to understand the influence of the social media space? Or maybe a little of both?

I'd love to hear your thoughts--do you think we will we see an increase in advertising spending into December and the first quarter of the new year on sites such as Facebook and MySpace with brands who typically aren't found engaging with consumers there? 

With the continued current of bad news hitting print publications everywhere, it is apparent now more than ever, that the tide is turning to online and social media as no longer the "alternative" to print, but the primary choice for obtaining news and information. Securing coverage in newspapers and magazines where the staff count is dwindling and editors and journalists are overwhelmed has made this already competitive task even more cut throat. So what's a brand do to that isn't yet well known or highly established? They embark on a very digitally savvy marketing campaign utilizing various aspects of social media to create their own success.

MySpace previously had dominantly held the position as one of the highest ranked social networking sites. Recently, though, Facebook has taken over that space as the leader in social networking and with Facebook now having over 100 million more users than MySpace, MySpace is seeking to regain it's number one ranking and plans to do so by changing their reputation via the entertainment industry. We have already seen this through the changes they have put into place through their music platform. Now they are looking to target women by beginning a wedding-themed reality series. It left me wondering, can MySpace really rebrand itself by targeting a new demographic?

2009 is already seeing a lot of change, and not surprisingly (or maybe so?) the axe is beginning to fall (a little too often) on print publications that had previously been considered successful. Back in November The New York Observer discussed the possibility of Domino folding, but today that rumor was met with reality as both WWD and The San Francisco Chronicle confirm that Domino has officially folded. It appears no one is safe in this economy regardless of success because when it comes down to it--it's all about relevancy and numbers.

Empowerment. We all feel it at some time or another and its driving force to aid in the creation of change. We saw it this past election, we saw it in Joel Comm's Tweet-a-Thon to raise money for Water is Life and we even recently saw it when 180 million Facebook users created a public relations crisis causing the top social network to revert back to their old TOS while it "re-evaluates" its newer version. We throw around the term "word of mouth" a little too easily, underestimating its true power. The power of the people. The power of their voice. The power of collaboration. It all has to begin somewhere with that one person who sparks that empowerment and passion in others. Are we miscalculating their strength?

Maybe you were on Twitter today and noticed that the Fail Whale kept making an appearance and wondered if this East Coast blizzard had anything to do with it. That is, until you realized that just about everyone in your Twitter stream was suddenly mentioning the rainbow candy brand, Skittles. A quick jump to Skittles.com and there you have it--Skittles decided to take a form of Twitter-branding by storm...and yes, coincidence that we get a huge storm today? I'd say perfect timing to get the maximum amount of exposure for this social media strategy. So is this tactic daring enough to be buzzworthy and what is the ultimate goal of this PR stunt?

Twitter has finally hit the mainstream media. Quite honestly, it has gotten so much press lately you would think this social networking site only just emerged on the scene. Yet it's been around for a few years now, so can we really call it "Twittermania" simply because the mainstream press has finally taken notice? The great thing about being an early adopter is being able to feel like you are in this secret, underground society where you know something most people don't. You know the advantages and disadvantages of being a part of this exclusive group, and you even try to lure people over little by little simply because you understand the value. But you also know that once enough people are on board, it's growth is like a high speed train careening out of control...until it hits a brick wall. Will Twitter become the next MySpace hitting the height of popularity only to then meet a turning point allowing a competitor to emerge and steal the spotlight? Or has the exposure Twitter is now receiving THAT turning point which determines how we will evolve the way we interact and communicate in the future?

Have you been procrastinating about grabbing a Twitter profile for your business? Not sure where to start or what to tweet about? Pierce Mattie recently wrote an article in GCI Magazine with some guidelines, as well as success stories, from those who are using Twitter to increase their online (and offline) visibility.

Twittering from the Bench and the Field...

"Social media sites, as exemplified by Twitter, have quickly become the 21st century’s version of word-of-mouth, quickly putting brands on the map and generating conversation around products and services. While jumping on the bandwagon may seem easy enough, there are definitely guidelines to follow to get the most out of connecting and networking for the sake of transparent communication, especially if it involves your latest cosmetic creation."

Read the article here:gcimagazine.com

Or the digital version here.

Come join the conversation on Twitter: @PierceMattiePR

An industry veteran last week got in a huff over an invitation they had sent someone on LinkedIn who rejected the invite with “don’t know.” They were upset by this and couldn’t understand how their invitation to connect could be rejected by someone in their same industry. After all, if you are looking to build your online social network shouldn't you just accept everyone's invitation to connect?

Not exactly! This example got me thinking about Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networks in regards to how people use them to create rolodexes that don’t really have any weight or metric value because they lack real authenticity. These are the people you haven’t really met, done business with or have any other real life connection with. Yet everyday we all have come into contact with these "list builders" and the trend only seems to keep growing.

An industry veteran last week got in a huff over an invitation they had sent someone on LinkedIn who rejected the invite with “don’t know.” They were upset by this and couldn’t understand how their invitation to connect could be rejected by someone in their same industry. After all, if you are looking to build your online social network shouldn't you just accept everyone's invitation to connect?

Not exactly! This example got me thinking about Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networks in regards to how people use them to create rolodexes that don’t really have any weight or metric value because they lack real authenticity. These are the people you haven’t really met, done business with or have any other real life connection with. Yet everyday we all have come into contact with these "list builders" and the trend only seems to keep growing.

An industry veteran last week got in a huff over an invitation they had sent someone on LinkedIn who rejected the invite with “don’t know.” They were upset by this and couldn’t understand how their invitation to connect could be rejected by someone in their same industry. After all, if you are looking to build your online social network shouldn't you just accept everyone's invitation to connect?

Not exactly! This example got me thinking about Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networks in regards to how people use them to create rolodexes that don’t really have any weight or metric value because they lack real authenticity. These are the people you haven’t really met, done business with or have any other real life connection with. Yet everyday we all have come into contact with these "list builders" and the trend only seems to keep growing.

Back in 2005 when I started my own blog, I wanted to remain anonymous not fully understanding (much like the rest of the world) that there is no such thing as anonymity on the internet. I know it's something Pierce Mattie has been on the fence w/ since their blogs launched in 2002. It's amazing to me how much privacy has evolved over these last 5 years due in part to social media. It seems we have been desensitized and actually expect all of our digital information to be much like our fingers... leaving prints all around the world wide web. We've become tagged, categorized, indexed, searched and googled leaving no clear line in the sand between public and private information; we've become an open book society with no page unturned.

The number one reason companies have always deemed social media as the "wild wild west" is because they felt there is no semblance of order and a lack of control over their brand's image. Essentially, they can put the message out there, but relinquish a portion of control once it is in the hands of the end user. Nestle's recent social media PR crisis is one such example of how a brand's use of the space can quickly turn from fan adoration to an urgent case of reputation management. So what can a brand do to encourage discussion amongst true fans and those there to graffiti them with accusations?

While Nestle's first attempt to quell the fervor was to essentially demand good behavior on the fan page and establish rules for interaction, they did so under the assumption that clicking "become a fan" meant those 98,000+ people listed as fans were indeed true fans of their brand. Demands + Anti-brand = Defiance (as witnessed by folks using the Nestle logo in the manner Nestle told them not to.) In a sense, Nestle was trying to control what you cannot: human behavior.

So when you get bad press or called out for something publicly, how should it be handled before it gets out of control?

Last week I watched a video interview of Richard Stacy, a social media consultant in London, on Cosmetics Design Europe. The headline that pulled me in was: "Small and medium-sized cosmetics players lead the way in social media." Before I even heard the interview, I nodded my head in agreement. It has been my experience over the years that smaller brands (regardless of niche) tend to be willing to try new things to expand their reach while larger brands have a tendency to "wait and see." Shoestring budgets often energize smaller brands to take creative approaches to marketing and publicity than a larger company would. Would you agree?

Here are some key points Stacy made regarding social media that I absolutely concur with:

I like to think of social media as a chameleon. Over the last few years it has shown us how unique it can be yet still be adaptable to almost any situation we utilize it in. Print magazines are now found online in blog format, blogs are now used for SEO, microblogging for social sharing and customer service, live streaming to bring behind the scenes, local and non-local events directly to you and social networks to build relationships with customers. I'm talking social media from a business perspective, of course, and now more businesses are looking to incorporate the ability to sell direct to the consumer. Not just tweets from @DellOutlet with exclusive deals, I'm talking jumping onto Facebook and seeing more than "We just launched a new lipstick" on your favorite cosmetics brand's fan page. Instead you find actual storefronts set up making it easy to read about said newly launched lipstick and simply clicking a tab to purchase it...all without ever leaving the Facebook fan page.

About two weeks ago, Chris Brogan posted a video asking "Are We Addicted to Social Media?" My response via Facebook was: "I like to think of it this way--we are social creatures, we're not addicted to the platform or social media, rather we are addicted to the interaction and push and pull of the relationships we create through it." From a personal perspective, it is the positive interactions that gives us the emotional fuel we need. It strokes our ego, it feeds our hearts and nourishes our soul. So when an article was recently published in Fast Company boasting "Social Networking Affects Our Brains Like Falling In Love", everything started to come together. Positive interactions with friends, companies we love and colleagues via social media increases our oxytocin levels (ie. the feel good chemical) only further encouraging us to repeatedly seek it out. So if you are a brand who previously blew off social media as an extension of reaching your consumers online, you may want to pay attention now. 

We here at Pierce Mattie PR have been blogging since 2001. Although I'm not going to go that far back into our archives, there are plenty of really good posts from a few years ago that I felt needed a re-look. Since it is well known that my passion is blogging and the overall use of social media, I've pulled up posts that seem to be the most popular with our readers.

         Social Media:

• Public Relations Strategies: Sifting Through the Clutter of Social Media
  
• Public Relations(hips): The Power of the People
  
• Brand Communication: Less Talk More (Inter)Action
  
• Brand Strategies: Driving Sales Through Consumer Engagement
  
• Can Social Media Increase Sales Through Feel Good Engagement?
  
• Transparent Social Media, Your Fake Rolodex & Followers Who Would Love To Be Leaders
• Has Social Media Changed Our View on Privacy?
  
• Do Smaller Beauty Brands Utilize Social Media Better Than Those That Are Well Known?
  
• Forget The Department Stores – Let's Go Direct To Consumer
  

   Pitching Bloggers:

• Social Media PR: Top 10 Ways Not to Pitch Bloggers
  
• Communication 2.0: Bloggers Speak Out on the Dos and Don'ts of Pitching
  
• PR Tips: How to Pitch Mommy Bloggers
  
• Etiquette Protocol For Pitching Products To Bloggers

  Bloggers Who Pitch PR Firms:

• Taking a Stand on Entitled Bloggers

Seems that social networks are all abuzz lately about the October movie debut of The Social Network, the alleged story of Mark Zuckerberg and the people surrounding the founding of Facebook based on Ben Mezrich's book The Accidental Billionaires. While Zuckerberg wasn't consulted for the book, Eduardo Saverin (a co-founder of Facebook) was, but as we know...there are always two sides to every story.

There is no doubt that the story of Facebook, and Zuckerberg being the world's youngest billionaire, reads like a fairytale...a bit of a twisted fairytale and as the movie's tag line suggests, "You don't get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies." Zuckerberg has made enemies, and you always do when you don't let anything stand in your way on the road to the top. But how far astray the story line veers off from the truth is unknown since Zuckerberg will not endorse or discuss the film.

Rolling Stone magazine critic, Peter Travers, tweeted that The Social Network is "the movie of the year that also brilliantly defines the decade." And for future generations to really understand how one network changed the definition of social on a global scale, perhaps this is the movie they will look to.

Regardless if the movie is fact or fiction, I plan to go see it...and be sure to tell my Facebook friends what I thought. What about you?

Everything we encounter on a daily basis has been taken over by technology. Let’s face it: we are now living in a digital age. Using social media and networks, customers and consumers now communicate and interact with businesses via digital mediums. Given this truth, it is important for businesses to keep up or get left behind. The Network is Your Customer: Five Strategies to Thrive in a Digital Age is a new book by David Rogers that aims to assist businesses with customer networking.

David Rogers, digital strategist and executive director of the Center on Global Brand Leadership at Columbia Business School, serves as the perfect expert on this topic. In The Network is Your Customer, Rogers focuses on five trends when it comes to networking with customers:

• Accessing
• Engaging
• Customizing
• Connecting
• Collaborating

He explores all five of these topics and offers companies effective strategies that can essentially build sales and clientele. Roger’s book will guide and business owners and management step by step to ensure that a company reaches its maximum potential.

Any individual proficient in public relations is fully aware that in order to remain relevant in today’s society, it is essential that social media skills are mastered. The skills presented in The Network is Your Customer provide PR professionals with a strategy to build relationships with their clients and get the most out of social networking. If you work in public relations, I would advise you to make this book your new best friend.

Everything we encounter on a daily basis has been taken over by technology. Let’s face it: we are now living in a digital age. Using social media and networks, customers and consumers now communicate and interact with businesses via digital mediums. Given this truth, it is important for businesses to keep up or get left behind. The Network is Your Customer: Five Strategies to Thrive in a Digital Age is a new book by David Rogers that aims to assist businesses with customer networking.

David Rogers, digital strategist and executive director of the Center on Global Brand Leadership at Columbia Business School, serves as the perfect expert on this topic. In The Network is Your Customer, Rogers focuses on five trends when it comes to networking with customers:

• Accessing
• Engaging
• Customizing
• Connecting
• Collaborating

He explores all five of these topics and offers companies effective strategies that can essentially build sales and clientele. Roger’s book will guide and business owners and management step by step to ensure that a company reaches its maximum potential.

Any individual proficient in public relations is fully aware that in order to remain relevant in today’s society, it is essential that social media skills are mastered. The skills presented in The Network is Your Customer provide PR professionals with a strategy to build relationships with their clients and get the most out of social networking. If you work in public relations, I would advise you to make this book your new best friend.

It’s no secret that social media has become a huge part of our world today. It’s rare to find someone who isn’t using it in some capacity. Companies are learning that in order to reach their customers, they need to have this online presence. “Guerrilla Social Media Marketing” by Jay Conrad Levinson and Shane Gibson will provide you with all the advice and tips you need to successfully launch your social media campaign.

Guerrilla marketing through modern technology is "non-traditional" and most importantly, effective. This strategy is very flexible and allows you to connect and market on a consumer level. This book is referred to as “THE social media guerrilla's go-to guide” and it is a great tool to have. The book offers social media secrets, how to measure ROI, attack plans and more.

Consumers today know technology. We blog, tweet and update our Facebook statuses as part of our daily routine. Many bloggers are reviewing products and Twitter users are tweeting about them. You can hope they’re saying only the best, but that’s not always the case as there are plenty of complaints and negative reviews everyday. Companies are finding it imperative to engage in this online communication and it’s necessary to maintain a positive branding image and a positive relationship with consumers.

I get emails, tweets and even mobile texts from some of my favorite brands every day- and it works. I spend the time reading about their new products, taking advantage of special offers or visiting their websites. “Branded!: How Retailers Engage Consumers with Social Media and Mobility” is an excellent read for businesses and PR professionals. Lori Schafer teaches companies that in order to reach your target audience, you need to think like them. Her book gives a clear review of social media and the use of mobile marketing and how every company will have a different personality when it comes to social marketing campaigns. Schafer also provides professionals with tools to analyze and measure performance and make intelligent and informed decisions on data.

Let me be clear from the beginning, it's not wrong to partner with a blogger for a product giveaway, but if you are looking for it to convert into sales, then you are employing the wrong tactic. Furthermore, if you are simply working with *any* blogger just to get a hit for your client or brand, then you are contributing to the brand discounting mentality that has suddenly picked up speed due to the toxic mix of the economy, newer bloggers looking for freebies and the brands/PR firms who are happy to oblige just so they can say, "Look we're mentioned on X blog!"

How is that working out for you?

I'm writing this as both a blogger myself and as someone who works directly with brands for their social media strategies. To capture the attention of a blogger and gain coverage via a review or write up, takes a lot of relationship building, and for some, a little luck with just the right subject heading and catchy pitch. I'm finding that more and more brands are getting desperate to get mentioned on a blog or to simply have the ability to say, "Yeah we work with bloggers..." And due to this, they are bypassing promoting a great product and instead offer it up as a giveaway because in a sense, it benefits the blogger as well. However, this is a slippery slope and one that I think more brands need to take precaution with because in the end, it's not about how many, but about who you are working with.

Why should I actually buy your product if I can find it on *any* blog giving it away for free?

There's something to be said for exclusivity. Pick a handful of reputable bloggers and work with them if you want to engage your potential consumers with a giveaway to spark interest in your brand. But certainly do not, under any circumstances, just work with anyone willing to host your giveaway. First of all Facebook numbers don't tell the whole story. So what if a blogger touts that they have 20K fans? If all they ever do is host giveaways and promote it via Twitter, and you've all seen it -- "Help us get to 3K fans! We're giving away X product!" ...well it's completely logical to come to the conclusion that the fans and followers are only there for free stuff, certainly not for their content or even to consider purchasing from you. If they don't win your product, they move onto the next giveaway.

ARM yourself with knowledge: Ask, Research, Monitor.

If you’re involved with media or technology in any capacity and are unaware of who/what Mashable is, I suggest taking a step out from the rock you’ve been living under.

Founded by Pete Cashmore in 2005, Mashable has since grown to be the top source for social media, tech, and web culture. The blog gained attention rapidly: it was quickly named one of the top 10 blogs in the world and is now followed by professionals in almost every capacity, from marketing and PR enthusiasts to bloggers and entrepreneurs.

Why is Mashable so popular? What has set this blog apart from all other industry blogs? For one, the blog has unmatchable name-brand recognition. Mashable has become a power brand, with a reputation that precedes its content – readers know that information from Mashable is trustworthy, and are thus more likely to read and pass on information to other industry professionals and media enthusiasts. It’s incredibly easy to share Mashable content – the interface encourages readers to tweet or share articles via Twitter and Facebook, and keeps a running tally of how many users have shared each piece.

Much like its American counterparts, brands4friends is a closed shopping community that sells fashion items through temporary sales. The urgency of the short sale time mixed with the deep discounts and exclusivity of member-only status compels budget savvy consumers to sign up for sites like these without having to compromise on style or brand name labels.

eBay's purchase also entitles them to brands4friends equity sites UK-based Secret Sales and brands4friends in Japan. This will give them a stronghold in Europe and continue to solidify the web property as a leader in online shopping.

What do you think of this acquisition? Smart shopping or buying in on a trend that may deflat in a year or so?

Photo by Joe Corrigan/Getty Images North America

Groupon has taken social buying by storm and in a time when daily deal sites are popping up as fast as McDonald's serves up burgers, the only next natural step for the group discount site is to expand it's wings internationally. Back in August they stepped foot into Japan and Russia through acquisitions of Qpod and Darberry. Followed by capturing the the Asian market through acquisitions of uBuyiBuy, Beeconomic and Atlaspost to stake their claim in Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines and Taiwan. And now they have their sights squarely set on China, a market American .com's struggle for success in.

However, with such rapid growth comes missteps and mistakes, such as Groupon Japan's New Year's Day PR nightmare when Japanese restaurant, Bird Cafe, couldn't keep up with the demand that it's Groupon discount generated for osechi. Overwhelmed by the response, the osechi purchased by 500 Groupon members was delivered in sub par quality. Thus prompting members to do what everyone does in the digital age...they take to the web posting their dissatisfaction over what they received. Only 6 months in and Groupon's CEO is already posting a YouTube apology.

It looks like brands aren't the only companies drinking the social media kool aid lately, we've especially noticed this at Pierce Mattie PR. Investment firms, like J.P.Morgan, are also looking towards social media as a new means of revenue. And I don't mean the folks at J.P.Morgan will be tweeting about investment portfolios, but instead they'll be looking for those interested in getting involved in a fund that backs privately held technology companies before they go public.

It makes sense. Most people have been talking about the dotcom bubble bursting for a while now, and others talk about social media peaking...but all we've witnessed is an evolution of the digital space that is not only remaining strong and moving forward, but proving its profitability. And after a recession that left the stock market in a shambles, and many companies picking up the pieces of losing it all, "new media" (which really is the "right now media") only seems to be gaining momentum and spawning new breeds of companies capturing consumer interest left and right. (See: Groupon, Gilt Groupe, Foursquare, etc.)

So now that both Goldman Sach's and J.P.Morgan have set up funds for investment into social media companies, can we finally say that if your company has not yet entered the social media space, you are truly living in the stone age? Yes, I think so. Tell us what you think via our Twitter page at @PierceMattiePR

How to Attract and Retain Customers Worldwide

The power of social media is undeniable. It’s a driving force in almost every aspect of our society -- from fashion to technology, virtually every company is diving into the worlds of media and microblogging. This new territory can be hard to navigate, and many companies are enlisting the help of professionals to create social media plans to grow their business.

As you stumble through Twitter and other social networking sites, you’re bound to come across self-proclaimed “experts” and “social media gurus” offering advice on how to max out on your social media potential. Before you haphazardly enlist the help of an unknown twitter friend, take a look at The Power of Real Time Social Media Marketing by Beverly Macy and Teri Thompson.

Macy and Thompson don’t just claim to be social media experts, they have the credentials to prove it. The duo has combined their award-winning experience in marketing strategy with their knowledge of “real time” media to create a book that is both practical and sophisticated. The Power of RTM is a media model: it provides stories, strategies, and practices of companies who are utilizing real time social media the right way.

We live in a competitive world. Why is it that some people forge ahead while others still struggle to make it? The answer simply lies in the supply and demand theory! What many businesses do not realize is in today’s world, customers have the power to make or break your business...via social media Today, the most important thing for success in any industry is to learn what people like and need, and to give them exactly that! Marketing and research is not just for starting up a business, but is also very important to make changes and ensure your place in your industry.

In Listen First!: Turning Social Media Conversations Into Business Advantage, Stephen Rappaport delivers advice backed up by research about how to use listening to give your business a competitive advantage.

This step-by-step guide for adopting a listening strategy in your business will help take it to another level. It starts out by telling you how to get organized to listen, then how to listen, understand what you have got, and finally what to do with what youve gotten from listening. This advice will help you gain a competitive advantage in many business areas including customer service, production, research and development, and advertising. If you already have an established business this method will help you understand what people think about your brand, whether that is what you had envisioned for the business, and whether you should make any changes to your brand to allow it to hold the image you want for it. Listening can also help you understand what people think about your competitors and whether they are a true threat to your business or not.

Whether you'll find yourself in the audience or backstage at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week or simply having to get your updates from afar (we know at Pierce Mattie PR a great beauty blog to get it from--shameless plug), there are ways you can be part of fashion week thanks in part to social media.

Here are 5 ways we at Pierce Mattie PR suggest you can stay connected:

1. Live From the Runway YouTube channel. As reported by NYMag, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week will have at least 30 designers this season who will be livestreaming their shows to YouTube. The channel will also give backstage access to beauty recaps and trend forecasting (which we here at Pierce Mattie PR love!)

2. Fashion's Night Out SCVNGR: No one has set up a challenge yet, but I think it would be a great way to get more interactive FNO activities going! (If you haven't heard of SCVNGR yet, do check them out!)

3.Foursquare Checkins: Back in February, designers like Marc Jacobs were getting involved with this location based social media platform by offering a Marc Jacobs Fashion Victim 2011 badge to those who check in at least once, then 4 of those people would be chosen to attend his show. This next go-round, I'm sure there will be more of the same.

4. Stylesight: Missed a show or want a sneak peek at the look books from Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week designers? Stylesight and MBFW have collaborated to give buyers and the press access digitally to everything just by registering for free. Stylesight also has a great trend forecasting blog!

5.Tumblr: Just as this did this past February, Tumblr is once again hosting fashion bloggers to contribute imagery to Tumblr blogs to capture all things #NYFW.

How will you be staying connected to the fashion shows, parties and activities this season? Tweet us @PierceMattiePR.

According to a recent press release by Newtek Business Services, they tallied a poll of approximately 2,200 respondents in regards to their use and sentiment of social media to find that nearly 60% of independent business owners utilized social media tools in order to attract new customers and communicate with existing ones.

The results were not necessarily surprising to me, as they still showed almost an even split when it came to using social media and its effectiveness overall. However, I'd be curious to know that of the 45% of brands who didn't find social media a significant means of sales growth (55% said they did), exactly the way in which they were using these tools to communicate with their customers. One, because so many brands are afraid to ask for the sale to begin with (so simple conversation that dances around without being direct goes nowhere) and two, because often brands go to the other extreme of always giving it away (which results in the question, what reason are you giving them to buy if you've become a freebie brand?)

Case in point, this past July while speaking at Cosmoprof North America I had a bath and body brand approach me to get my opinion regarding their social media tactics. They first were very proud to tell me that they had 17K fans on Facebook and when I asked how that was working out for them (because I had a feeling it wasn't), they told me that they had not generated a single sale from their fan base. I asked them to tell me about their content generation, in which they told me that every.single.day they held a contest and gave away product.

Well, then. There's your answer.

They had a captive audience, but they weren't understanding how to effectively use Facebook to communicate with them...so in order to retain them, they simply gave their product away. I will say this time and time again, please don't measure your success in utilizing social media simply based on how many followers or fans you have. Base it on the conversions you can create, the brand loyalists you empower to tweet/share/like and so on, and your overall retention. Because who cares if you have 17K fans and NOTHING happens? I'd much rather have 1K fans where 30% are making regular purchases, sharing links to product with a friend, and making recommendations on both the fan page and actual product page.

I'd like to hear what you think. If 60% of brands are using social media for business...just how many are actually effective? Tweet us @PierceMattiePR.

I'll be honest, it's not really news when someone joins Twitter. Even if you are Rupert Murdoch. Newsflash Mr. Murdoch: You could've avoided phone hacking by joining the social networking site years ago. Celebrities tend to overindulge here and there are no shortages of newsworthy tweets. And PS. They are all public, so it's all free game.

However, Murdoch may be using Twitter to draw up publicity or to give insight into the human side of the media mogul, rather than the ruthless businessman some consider him to be. While, Twitter has Murdoch's account verified, it certainly doesn't mean all the tweets are his own. And in the few short days his profile has been live, there has been some debate on that. If it is indeed Murdoch (and his wife, @Wendi_Deng, as well), this could be the PR-revamp he needs as 2011 saw the demise of News of the World, one of his most profittable newspapers.

What do you think? Will Murdoch being seen as a human being help play a part in some positive publicity? Or is this PR stunt doomed to fail? Tweet us @PierceMattiePR. 

Update: It appears Wendi's Twitter has now been unverified by Twitter and it is confirmed that it was a spoof. No word on if Murdoch's Twitter is real or not. 

A few weeks ago at a Papa John's store in New York, a woman was issued a receipt that contained a racial slur directed at her. Later that evening Minhee Cho posted a photo of the receipt on Twitter and sent a tweet to Papa John's. The story was picked up nationally and the photo now has over 213,000 views. We have to ask ourselves, in today’s marketplace, how does this keep happening?

Although things like this should never happen, when they do they provide a valuable lesson from a public relations standpoint. Papa John's promptly issued an apology on their website and several social media outlets. They said that they were “extremely concerned” about the incident and the matter went against company values. The public was then informed that they had taken care of the problem by firing the employee that issued the receipt. Papa John's recognized the problem, said it was against policy, said how they were going to fix the problem and apologized. That should be enough right? The answer is maybe.