Why do I love doing P.R.? Good question! Because it helps companies build credibility with their key constituents.

Most people have no idea when they're reading or watching their favorite news sources that folks like me have diligently worked behind the scenes to help get our clients “ink” or a “soundbite.” 

One of my favorite expressions was (and still is): “Advertising is what you pay for, P.R. is what you pray for.”

Credibility also builds trust. And people want to do business with people they trust. Period. I can’t think of a single time when I chose to do business or work with a company I didn’t trust.

Trust is ephemeral at best on the Internet – People want to trust you, but there are so many little ways in which you can lose trust. First – crawl around your website as if you were a new visitor. Are there any broken links? Typos? Pages that take a long time loading?

Now let’s get a little more sophisticated: Do you have enough content (see last week’s post) to build authority on your subject? Do you have ‘thin’ pages that have very little text or that don’t match up keyword-wise with your page titles and headings? That’s important, because you’re making it hard for Google to classify and rank your page for those all-important keywords.

Finally, are you getting your content out there in the webosphere? There are a multitude of places to rewrite and repurpose your content so that it’s seen by lots of people, including your propects, the media, industry analysts, etc. But that’s a subject for next week – the 4th ‘C’ of Internet marketing – Channels.

Content is king, queen and the entire court for that matter. Content is what helps you get found. And it’s what helps you connect with your audiences.  

But it can’t be just any content. 

First, it must be keyword rich. That’s what makes it a little tricky. When you start writing, you have to think about the keywords that your customers and prospects are using. Do they Google the word “solution”? Highly unlikely. It’s far more likely they Google the specific technology or service they’re looking for. So you’ve got to do your keyword research first. 

Second, it must say something. Content that lacks, well, content, is no good to your customers and prospects. It must be have some meaning or significance, and it must address your customer’s key issues.

The LinkedIn answers section is great for that: after joining the groups where your customers are hanging out, simply pay attention to what your customers are asking.  

Third, there must be enough of it (remember the first C – change) and it must be updated frequently. Gone are the days when you can put up a website and wait for people to come and find you.

In fact, in Google’s own SEO (search engine optimization) guide, they state: “Create fresh, unique content. New content will not only keep your existing visitor base coming back, but also bring in new visitors.”  

Of course, there’s lots more info. on this topic, and if you’re interested, here’s a great (but lengthy) article: http://www.toprankblog.com/2009/02/internet-marketing-content-seo/.  

Next week, I’ll talk about the third C: Credibility.

A Change Will Do Your Website Good

I’m becoming a list person. Heck, it keeps me more organized. It’s the way I like to take in information. Step 1-2-3. Top 10 List. The Four P’s of Marketing.

It makes it all seem so easy. Kind of like a recipe. By the time you’re done getting through all the steps, your carefully prepared dish promises to look just like the one in the photo.

So I’ve come up with my own list: The Four C’s of Internet Marketing.

The first one is: Change.

Remember last week when I said one of my favorite karaoke songs was “A Change Will Do you Good?” (Great Sheryl Crow song, by the way). Well, a change will also do your website good.

Gone are the days when you could put up a website, sit back and wait for traffic. Build it and they will come? Yeah, right – in your dreams.

Part of the trick is to build your site for search (that's a whole other topic). But a big part of how you will get found is by putting up content that is fresh, keyword-rich and timely. A blog is perfect for that, because usually the foundation of your site doesn’t change that often. But your perspective on your industry, its trends and the latest news does.

Next post: the second C of Internet Marketing: Content. 

Can you blog for a CEO?

I’m usually surprised by that question. The answer is: of course I can!

But doesn’t it mean that the blog isn’t genuine?

Ummm, no. Not as long as the blog truly represents what the CEO wants to say. 

I’ve been doing P.R. for years. All along, I’ve ghost-written quotes, speeches and articles for CEOs. I’ve put tons of words in CEOs' mouths. Was it what they wanted to say? Absolutely! Is it exactly how they might have phrased it? Probably not.

Frankly, it’s usually a whole lot more eloquent and understandable ("real speak") simply because I’m a writer, a wordsmith.

While most CEOs are very articulate, they don’t have the time to sit down and carefully craft an article or a quote that’s “on message.”

Now that blogging has become de rigueur for most organizations, the CEOs I know certainly don’t have time to blog every day or even every week (which is the minimum frequency in my book).

So I’ve developed a little routine. Interview the CEO first – ask what he/she wants to blog on – I usually get a top of mind kind of idea. I dig into their perspective (the best blog posts have a little “attitude”). This interview usually takes around 15 min.

I then draft the blog and get it approved. This usually takes about 45 min. I’ve just saved the CEO at least 45 min. with this routine, while still communicating their perspective to their core audiences.

To me, that’s a whole lot better than silence from the corner office.

Last week, I gave a presentation on social media for 15 CEO’s of small businesses down in Faribault, Minn.
 
Their reactions ranged from engaged to downright resistant, bordering on belligerence. “What’s a blog?” asked one CEO. “Can you Tweet on a blog?”
 
It occurred to me that “getting” social media is all about having the right attitude. If you’re determined to NOT get it, guess what? You won’t.
 
Age has absolutely nothing to do with it. Sure, a lot of my contemporaries still do marketing and P.R. the old-fashioned way – writing brochures and sending out press kits in the mail.
 
The good news for me is that they then ask for my help when their clients ask them to set up a Facebook page, do keyword research and optimize their news releases and website content. I’m just as old as they are, but I have a different attitude: I am totally jazzed by the social media revolution and want to be a part of it.
 
Conversely, Gen X and Gen Y or the Millennials may be super comfortable with technology, since they’ve been on the web their entire existence. 
 
But while they know how to post their last frat party photos on their Facebook wall, they don’t know how to use Facebook and other social media sites to help businesses get found, connect with customers and increase referral business.
 
In short, if you want help developing a social media strategy to grow your business, find someone who has both the right attitude and the right stuff.