Will Google Squash Social Media Optimizers? (or Can Twitter Get Your Website Banned?)

Brad Stone wrote a fascinating column about “social media optimization” in his PING column in Sunday’s New York Times. Everyone knows what Search Engine Optimization is—right? The little game that companies play to try to manipulate search engines, often paying tens of thousands of dollars to improve their rankings.

Now with Facebook and Twitter delivering powerful audiences, a new movement of “Social Media Optimization” is developing. Big business is at stake: the more visitors a site receives, the more ad revenue it can generate. To increase visitor numbers,  websites and blogs are adding prominent links to Twitter and Facebook inviting visitors to “share this with your friends.”  Many sites are overrun with links and icons that make it easy for readers to post content to their favorite social networking sites.

The result is that by actively inviting themselves to the party, these brazen websites are increasing their traffic numbers significantly.  And we all know that Google frowns upon such shenanigans, punishing abusers with the words that strike fear into the heart of anyone on the Internet:  banned websites.  Only five percent of websites have been “banned” by Google, but they reach this status by violating Google’s fairness principles.  The two most common ways to become a banned side is by buying and selling links and by using keyword spam.  For a good lesson on the subject visit Banned Websites.

Website visitor numbers have become very important in the world of shaping consumer opinions and actions.  In the “old days” of even a couple years ago, traditional media reached “influencers” by delivering their products to an elite group of trendsetters—I once worked for a newspaper where we delivered fresh issues of the newspaper with coffee to some of the city’s movers and shakers for special marketing campaigns.  Now people receive their news in real time, so the delivery vehicles—social media networks and the Internet news gurus—are much more important.

It’s too soon to tell, but will Social Media Optimizers invite the wrath of Google?  Stay tuned and in the meantime, of course, feel free to share this blog with your friends!

Backyard PR: Sometimes the best ideas are closest to home

One of my favorite parts of my job is getting to share where I live with others (okay, it helps that I live in Jackson Hole, Wyoming).  And while WordenGroup PR works with clients throughout the Rocky Mountain West (and even one, Olympic Lodge, on the Northwest’s Olympic peninsula), I’ve enjoyed building relationships with clients closer to home over the years, and representing great local institutions like the Jackson Hole Fall Arts Festival – not coincidentally going on right now, as you’ll have noticed if you follow our PRCred Twitter account – and the National Museum of Wildlife Art.

Marybeth Bond author of 50 Best Girlfriend Getaways visits National Museum of Wildlife Art

Last week I had the pleasure of giving travel expert and author Marybeth Bond (of GutsyTraveler ) a tour of some of the arts festival doings, including a visit to the museum, where I pulled out my camera and created a Twitpic of her in front of the dramatic totem pole, while the incredibly energetic and uber-organized Marybeth pulled out a copy of her book 50 Best Girlfriend Getaways in North America for inclusion in the picture (talk about being PR ready!).  And later this week I’ll be tooling around town with Mountain Living magazine editor-in-chief Christine DeOrio – in town to check out some incredible New West architecture examples by Jackson’s own Ward + Blake Architects, as well as to partake of the end-of-the-week fall arts festival fun.

I was also reminded of this “locavore” approach to PR by another client, Natural Habitat Adventures, based out of Boulder, Colorado: Though known for its wildlife ecotours to remote destinations all over the planet, NatHab set forth with its first run of a brand new tour this week, Wild Colorado – its first time sharing the amazing Rocky Mountain territory within hours of its Colorado offices.  And that tour is one of four new-for-2010 tours that explore the U.S., as NatHab finds itself remembering to take advantage of domestic opportunities in response to a trend by American travelers to look to their own U.S. backyards (and giving a big boost to national parks – including our Jackson Hole neighbor Yellowstone, with a record-breaking number of visitors this year – along the way). Meanwhile, another client, the Wyoming Inn, is also tapping that national parks interest with a new package tied to fall elk bugling in Grand Teton National Park

With the idea of “going local” being such a hot topic these days, we in public relations might take a little time to consider if we might be missing any opportunities to develop clients close to home (time on your hands? consider offering some pro bono work to a local nonprofit), and/or to suggest opportunities our clients may be missing in their own local arenas.  Because when it’s time for new big ideas, sometimes – as Dorothy so eloquently put it in “The Wizard of Oz” – there’s no need to “look any further than [your] own backyard.”

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The Psychology of Thrift – PR’s new normal?

 

Just a year ago, consumerism was in high gear and our travel-industry clients were getting great press with high-end offerings like elite custom lodging packages, unique concierge services, and anything that smacked of exclusivity.  Luxe was in.

Then quite suddenly, as lifestyle and travel editors were forced to adjust to the rapidly disintegrating economy (and pity the poor magazine editors, working six months out), everything changed.  Suddenly the watchword for travel stories – and life as we know it, really – became “value.”  And America slid with remarkable enthusiasm into an era where deals & discounts are king.

Writer Claudia Parsons talks about the change in perspective in a recent article in the Denver Voice, “Consumer Cutoff,” where she quotes journalist Lauren Weber, author of an about-to-be-released history of thrift in America titled “In Cheap We Trust.”   According to Weber, thrift is part of our national character, grounded in the hard work and simple living embraced by the Puritans.  From Parsons’ article:

            The trillion-dollar question is whether the recession will mean a fundamental shift in consumer behavior. Journalist Lauren Weber, who spent several years researching her book on thrift, doubts it.

            “Like most Americans I assumed that we were once a thrifty nation and we’ve become profligate,” she said.  “It’s not true at all. We’ve cycled through this virtue of thrift over and over again in our history.”

While we wait to see if Weber is right, the reality of dealing with our neo-thriftiness doesn’t have to be a death knell for business.  In fact, discovering and communicating true “value” in the products and services we promote can only be a good thing for everyone involved.

In travel, for instance, the idea of increased value is often tied not just to price but to sustainability – companies like ecotour provider Natural Habitat Adventures  that have proven track records of improving destination communities and supporting conservation efforts fit a “value” message that has legs in the face of combined economic and environmental crises.  Likewise, a “discount” or “deal” has more meaning – and thus better public relations potential – when it’s integral to the company’s mission, as with NatHab’s “Climate Change Stimulus Plan,” which offers a significant discount on select trips where tourism dollars are crucial to local economies and ongoing conservation initiatives for species threatened by climate change.

That connection between “value” and “values” holds equally for businesses that make life easier for traveling families, a segment of the travel industry that’s shown more resilience.  When canvassed recently about doing business in the downturn, executives from the travel company coalition Adventure Collection stressed that “their travelers continue to believe in the value of travel and the importance of connection and family on their journeys.”

Similarly, lodgings like the Wyoming Inn in Jackson Hole combine a family-friendly destination – in its case, easy access to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks – with complimentary comforts like free laundry facilities, airport and around-town shuttle service, and hearty breakfasts and snacks.  Those little things that make life easier (and help keep budgets in check) add up to authentic value for traveling families.

As dollars tighten, authenticity matters more both to consumers seeking economic relief and to editors trying to provide the most value to their readers.  As we all struggle to re-prioritize our lives and businesses, puffery and hyperbole ring false and items once coveted for high price tags alone are forced to prove their worth or founder under newly critical eyes (aided by Internet tools like blogs and Twitter that further democratize the process of determining real value).

And maybe in turn, marketing and PR people grown jaded through the “more is more” years can become reenergized, reinventing their business through the expression of real value that appeals to the spirit of Yankee thriftiness in all of us.

Guest blogger Anne McGregor Parsons is an associate with WordenGroup Strategic Public Relations

Palooza Celebrates the Love of Learning

 

WordenGroup’s principal Darla Worden is in Paris this month, immersing herself in an intensive French language class – along with a good dose of art, culture, pastries, cheeses, wines–and an ongoing quest to find the city’s best Crème Brûlée. Her experience is a fine example of how education can be life-changing, expansive and fun – the underlying message of last week’s Learning Palooza and Locavore Luncheon sponsored by the Vail Symposium. I attended as the guest of the our good friend and client Rob LeVine, GM of the Antlers at Vail hotel and president of the Symposium’s board. Here he is with Carrie Marsh, the Symposium’s lovely Executive Director:

Carrie Marsh and Rob LeVine

Representatives from organizations including Slow Food, Gore Creek Flyfisherman, Colorado Fourteeners Initiative, and Jack Rabbit Hill presented Colorado-focused educational topics at tables throughout the Donovan Pavilion. As we sampled a creamy soup made from Colorado Olathe sweet corn at the Slow Food booth, I spoke with Magda King, the Antlers hotel’s Conference Services Manager. She told me briefly about her upbringing in Ecuador; when a co-worker commented about Magda’s fluency in five different languages, she said modestly, “We didn’t have much money growing up and my parents often said, ‘All we can offer you is a good education.’ “

It was a fitting start to an event celebrating learning, which also recognized members from the 10th Mountain Division and included comments by Marsh, Vail’s mayor Dick Cleveland and his wife Kathy Langenwalter. Foods of Vail prepared a terrific luncheon from Colorado ingredients, like this tender range-fed Colorado steak accompanied by mashed potatoes and crispy onions:

Who among us will ever be happy with typical rubber chicken banquet fare again?  But I digress…

Colorado state senator Michael Johnston gave the keynote address. A Vail native, Johnston attended local schools before earning degrees from Yale and Harvard; his particular passion is education reform. He began by reading a stirring passage from his book, “In the Deep Heart’s Core” which details his experiences as an English teacher in one of the poorest school districts in the nation.

Colorado Senator Michael Johnston

Johnston is also the principal of the outstanding M.E.S.A. School in Thornton, and he told us about Colorado’s participation in the “Race to the Top,” a competition created through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that will provide financial support in the way of grants to the top ten states that demonstrate their commitment to improving education systems. Johnston’s zeal for the issue is infectious, and his talk made me vow to get more involved and pay greater attention to the isssues around our state’s pressing educational needs.

The Vail Symposium’s slogan is ”For the Love of Learning.” and I bet every attendee of this inspired event left feeling the love–enlightened, energized–and full. Did I mention that the finale of the meal was a dessert of warm Palisade Peaches topped with some sort of marvelous crumbly topping and served in martini glasses? Sorry…I meant to photograph it before I inhaled it.

Meanwhile, across the world our colleague Darla Worden studies French every day in a tiny classroom at Lutece Langue. “I feel I’m using a part of my brain that has been sitting on the couch and watching ‘Seinfeld’ reruns for years,” she writes. Fortunately for all of us, at the end of the day there is the delight and satisfaction that comes from learning–and in Darla’s case, the possible reward of a perfect dish of  Crème Brûlée.

~Eliza Cross

P.S. The nice folks at Slow Food USA provided the recipe for the wonderful Colorado Corn Soup they served at the luncheon, and I’d be happy to share it; just send an e-mail to eliza (at) wordenpr (dot) com.

Guest blogger Eliza Cross is an associate with WordenGroup Strategic Public Relations

Land of the “Free”

Malcolm Gladwell reviews Chris Anderson’s new book “Free: The Future of a Radical Price” (Hyperion; $26.99),  in The New Yorker.   Anderson, the editor of Wired,  is the author of the 2006 best-seller “The Long Tail.”

According to Gladwell, “Free” is essentially an extended elaboration of Stewart Brand’s famous declaration that ‘information wants to be free.’  The digital age, Anderson argues, is exerting an inexorable downward pressure on the prices of all things ‘made of ideas.’ Anderson does not consider this a passing trend. Rather, he seems to think of it as an iron law: ‘In the digital realm you can try to keep Free at bay with laws and locks, but eventually the force of economic gravity will win.’ “

Barry Diller in Bloomberg News takes the opposite argument.  Diller, chairman and chief executive officer of IAC/InterActiveCorp, said Web users will have to pay for what they watch and use, joining the refrain of media moguls who say an era of free Internet content is ending.

The ironic thing is that Diller’s comments appear on Bloomberg.com –which is free.

Is There a Recipe for Marmot?

Yesterday I sat at Valley Bookstore in Jackson Hole signing copies of The Rusty Parrot Cookbook with my friend/coauthor/associate Eliza Cross . We had anticipated that few people would show up for the book signing, which was hardly a PR coup in terms of advance promotion: The weekly newspaper had planned to cover the event—but an editor apologized for forgetting to include it in the paper. Instead, they offered to make it up on Saturday with three mentions. Eliza and I searched the paper twice and finally found one two-sentence entry in the  free daily paper. Meanwhile, a series of ads the bookstore had placed were so dark that the book title was not visible—the image looked more like a purple stamp of some sort than a book cover. Plus, it is summer in Jackson Hole, and sunny, so naturally people are out fishing, kayaking, hiking, biking—no one stays inside in the summer.

Why would I torture myself like this?To prepare, I checked out Jane Sutton’s “Book Signing Horror Stories” post on her “Jane’s Ride” blog, to build some “Well, at least it can’t be that bad” bravado – and appreciated the advice from the quote she opens with: Do not seek to have events happen as you want them to, but instead want them to happen as they do happen, and your life will go well.” -Epictetus.

Still, when Eliza and I arrived with a plate of cookies we’d made from a recipe in the cookbook, the bookstore staff couldn’t have been nicer. They had purchased a bucket full of iced wine and soda, and a magnificent bouquet of pink peonies (in July, no less!) graced our table. They kindly indulged us when we asked to move our table from outside the door to inside in the air conditioning. Eliza and I agreed on a plan that if no one bought a book, we ourselves would buy Christmas presents in the store to save face for the investment the store had made in us. We braced ourselves for two hours sitting stoically behind a table with books piled high, people maybe stopping by to grab one of the cookies and move on to chick lit or Jackson Hole trail guides. But it was 87 degrees outside, sweltering, and people streamed into the store seeking relief from the heat. During the first hour we sold a copy by telephone (someone from out of state who couldn’t be here) and then our friend (and IT guy extraordinaire) Toby Byrum bought a book, followed by more friends and family–including Tom Ward and Kathy Reedy, Ken and Emma Cohen–and other folks we didn’t personally know. Toward the end of the signing two men from Tennessee stopped by the table. “Do you have a recipe for cooking marmot?” one man asked. “A marmot chewed through my backback strap and I want to get him!”

At 4:00 we left the bookstore feeling good about the day. And if anyone has a good recipe for Marmot, please send it in.

Willie Neal is My Hero

I never knew Willie Neal.  But his short life changed mine.

Willie Neal from Jackson, Wyoming was a 19 year old biathalon champion who had been accepted to Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont, but had deferred for a year to train full time with the Maine Winter Sports Center in the hopes of making the 2010 World Junior Biathlon Team. He was rollerskiing on a road in Maine when he was struck by a car and killed on June 21, 2009.

In his short life he was a hero to many.  He won eight state Nordic skiing championships and served as a delegate at last August’s Democratic National Convention. He worked as an intern for Senator John Kerry’s campaign and Senator Kerry sent a five minute taped speech for Willie’s memorial service.

Neal was also the Executive Director and founder of “Cookies 4 Climate Change,” a non-profit organization whose mission is “to promote awareness and activism among youth about the dangers of climate change, and to be an organization that makes the transition into a more environmentally friendly lifestyle more financially feasible.

Willie had a campaign to stop cars from idling in the winter; idling cars produce toxic pollutants.  Jackson is COLD in the winter, and many times people sit with their engine running while waiting to pick up kids from school, sitting at a school bus stop, etc.  At the Jackson Hole Community School parking lot, Willie installed a sign asking people not to idle.

In Jackson last week, Willie Neal got one last firetruck parade through town. The parade – typically reserved for high school state championship teams – was instead to honor Neal’s life, and capped off an emotional, tear-filled memorial service on Saturday at The Presbyterian Church of Jackson Hole.

Yesterday I was waiting to pick up my daughter from the Jackson Arts Center on a warm day and  my air conditioning was on.  And I remembered Willie Neal.  I shut off my car and rolled down the windows.  This winter I’m going to be better at turning my car off when I pick up my daughter from  school.  It may be cold this winter sitting in a cold car but we  should all bundle up for the environment and Willie Neal.

My Parents Are Green (and They Aren’t Martians)

My parents are in their late 70s. They are from third and fourth generation Wyoming ranchers and they were born amidst the scarcity of the Great Depression. They are no-nonsense people and they would be shocked to know…they are green.

They catch rainwater in buckets to water their garden. They recycle—before recycling was cool. They lamented when the town of Sheridan lost their recycling center because of a funding shortage so they drove their newspapers, aluminum cans, and cardboard 30 miles away to Buffalo–and they celebrated when Sheridan got its recycling bins back.  They buy locally whenever possible:  produce, beef, poultry. They buy farm fresh eggs and shop at the health food store for flax seed. They help their community by driving truckloads of clothes to an orphanage  sixty miles away.  They don’t waste anything –they reuse it, or give it away to someone who can if they can’t. They help neighbors and elderly family members  on a moment’s notice.

They visited Jackson this weekend and I hadn’t realized the extent of their greenness.  We went to the Farmer’s Market and walked through a crowd, deciding not to wait in the long line to buy organic produce. When we arrived back at the car, they were disappointed that we hadn’t purchased the  ripe red cherries we saw.  We went on a mission in town to find fresh fruit stands–the kind sometimes found in the back of a pick-up truck. While Dad watched CNN, Mom, my daughter and I visited the Jackson Hole Farmers Market (coincidentally the same name as the street farmers market)—a little tent south of town, that sells organic produce.  We loaded up on cherries, raspberries, blueberries and nectarines—beautiful fresh fruit at an incredibly reasonable price—and headed home with our treasure.

We stopped at Jackson Whole Grocer to pick up a few more things for dinner and Mom was asking about plastic bottles.  She’d started drinking more water in recent years because she’s read it’s good for your health. But she’s concerned about plastic bottles—are they bad for you? On the drive to Jackson, she’d bought a case of spring water from Worland bottled locally and tasting delicious. Did she have to dump it? We googled  the number on the bottle, Number 1, which was safe (number seven has BPA.) so she was able to keep it and drink it. But when we talked about the plastic in landfills, we convinced her to use a Kleen Kanteen (we bought one at Jackson Whole Grocer and gave it to her as a present.)   We also picked up canvas shopping bags that she had never seen in Sheridan—she was delighted! (she’ll be the hippest grandma shopper in Sheridan.)

At the end of  their visit, they helped me do weekend chores making a trip to  Jackson Hole  Recycling bins and Mom was amazed that we even had a bin for  “tin foil.” (I had to distract her while I poured a mound of wine bottles in the green glass bin—“ Look mom, what’s that over there!  CRASH.)

In the media,  we often hear about eco friendly hipsters–but our enviroment and doing the right thing for the planet is a concern to all ages.

Magazine Fiction

Online shopping makes living in Jackson Hole possible.  As much as I try to shop local, there are times when you simply can’t find what you need at a local store.  But there have so many times when finding the item online can be a wild good chase. Recent example: I was shopping for a new camera to use for snapping photos on the go—small, good zoom, hi quality images.  Lucky for me in a magazine I found the Pentax “Optia S12” answering all of my camera needs. The article directed me to  the Pentaxwebstore.com and found after many frustrating searches:
1.    It is actually called the Optio not Optia (what happened to magazine fact checkers)
2.    The S12 is not listed on Pentaxwebstore.com
3.    I finally found it on amazon (at a lower price even) by doing a search on google

Moral to public relations people. If you drive visitors to your client’s web site through a news release, magazine article, blog, website or newspaper article make sure you are providing the correct web site, product name and that the product is actually on the web site. You need to make sure everything is ready to go before you fire off that news release. If the web site isn’t up to date or worse yet, not functioning, you are going to lose all of those visitors who probably won’t be back.

I ordered my camera on Amazon, saved $100 from the published price in the article and am awaiting its arrival to see if it as good as the magazine article promised.

When in doubt, write a book

With businesses searching for cost-effective marketing ideas—and increasingly turning to new media options like websites, blogs, tweets, and enewsletters–book marketing coach Brent Sampson, author of Self Publishing Simplified, offers an additional option: Write and publish a book.

In Bulldog Reporter PR trade newsletter, Sampson points out: “With self-publishing service providers, publishing a book is easier and faster than ever. Help your clients write and publish a book to share their knowledge and experience. Imagine how relevant that information is to their past, present and future customers. And it’s easy. Such a book is basically a rewrite of their business model combined with a rewrite of their product/service manual. Not only are you helping your client create a new revenue channel in its own right, but a published book further establishes your client’s expertise to new customers and provides a low-cost entry to their business. Potential customers who may shy away from your client’s initial price point will be apt to purchase a book in the $20 range. It becomes the book’s responsibility to communicate all the advantages and benefits that your client offers.”

Bonus? Once your clients are published authors, you have helped them open up a whole new marketing opportunity by reaching new customers through Amazon.com.  Sampson adds, “Offer your book free to potential clients as an ebook. Imagine helping your company or clients acquire profitable new business through a $20 ‘loss leader’ like a book. That’s the power of offering a free ebook edition to acquire email addresses for future marketing and publicity efforts. Now, your clients have a growing email marketing list which you can help them leverage through valuable correspondence with their prospects.”

Producing a book means betting the time it takes to write it, and we all know time is money.  But with the clutter that passes through our lives daily, and the additional competition for consumer attention on the Internet, maybe writing a book is just the way to capture attention.

WordenGroup associate Eliza Cross and I wrote a book the old fashioned way about the Rusty Parrot Lodge and its restaurant, Wild Sage.  The Rusty Parrot Cookbook: Recipes from Jackson Hole’s Acclaimed Lodge has just been released, and although we went the traditional route with publisher Gibbs Smith, the book is accomplishing many of the things that Sampson mentions: It’s spreading the word about Wild Sage restaurant, reinforcing the brand of exquisite dining at the lodge, and will provide a revenue stream as the restaurant sells books.  Copies are available for sale at the Rusty Parrot Lodge & Spa and at Gibbs Smith Publishers – and, of course, through Amazon