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	<title>Justin Levy&#187; Interview</title>
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	<link>http://justinrlevy.com</link>
	<description>Social Strategist &#124; Speaker &#124; Author &#124; Content Creator</description>
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		<title>My Interview with Restaurant Business Magazine</title>
		<link>http://justinrlevy.com/2010/11/my-interview-with-restaurant-business-magazine/</link>
		<comments>http://justinrlevy.com/2010/11/my-interview-with-restaurant-business-magazine/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 16 Nov 2010 03:20:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Justin Levy</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Caminito]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Interview]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Media Strategy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Videos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[videos]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://justinrlevy.com/?p=2527</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[During BlogWorld Expo 2010, my friends at PepsiCo set up some time for me to sit down with Sam Smith, editor of Restaurant Business magazine and MonkeyDish.com about my restaurant, Caminito Argentinean Steakhouse. It was a fun, short interview about the issues that the restaurant faced when I jumped in as a partner to help [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>During <a href="http://www.blogworldexpo.com/">BlogWorld Expo 2010</a>, my friends at PepsiCo set up some time for me to sit down with Sam Smith, editor of <a href="http://www.monkeydish.com/restaurant_business_archives"><em>Restaurant Business</em></a> magazine and <a href="http://www.monkeydish.com/">MonkeyDish.com</a> about my restaurant, <a href="http://www.caminitosteakhouse.com">Caminito Argentinean Steakhouse</a>.</p>
<p>It was a fun, short interview about the issues that the restaurant faced when I jumped in as a partner to help my best friend.  We discuss some of the specific actions that we took and how that helped lead us to becoming the #1 steakhouse in the Pioneer Valley.</p>
<p>If you can&#8217;t see the video, you can watch it over on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNI0LXlBE7A">PepsiCo&#8217;s YouTube channel</a>.</p>
<p><center><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="560" height="340" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/yNI0LXlBE7A?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="340" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/yNI0LXlBE7A?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></center><br />
</ br></p>
<p>If we managed to peak your interest and you wanted to read more about what we&#8217;ve down as a small business to build our community and increase sales at the restaurant using social media, you can find more <a href="http://justinrlevy.com/2009/12/06/social-media-marketing-in-the-restaurant-business/">here</a> and <a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/2008/10/27/social-media-for-small-business-caminito-argentinean-steakhouse/">here</a>.</p>
<p><strong>If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/justinrlevy" target="_blank">subscribing to the feed</a> to receive future articles delivered to your feed reader.</strong></p>
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		<title>A Little Bit About Tungle.me</title>
		<link>http://justinrlevy.com/2010/04/a-little-bit-about-tungle-me/</link>
		<comments>http://justinrlevy.com/2010/04/a-little-bit-about-tungle-me/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 22 Apr 2010 02:00:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Justin Levy</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Interview]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[applications]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://justinrlevy.com/?p=2013</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One of the apps that I have been playing with over the past few months has been Tungle.me. For those not in a Microsoft Exchange environment or that wants to schedule meetings with others outside of their office, Tungle.me solves the scheduling issues by sharing access to your calendar in a similar way that Exchange [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://tungle.me"><img src="http://www.tungle.com/Home/wp-content/themes/tungle/style/images/logo-main.jpg" alt="tungleme" width="200" height="66" align="left" /></a>
<div>One of the apps that I have been playing with over the past few months has been <a href="http://tungle.me" target="_blank">Tungle.me</a>.  For those not in a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Exchange_Server" target="_blank">Microsoft Exchange</a> environment or that wants to schedule meetings with others outside of their office, Tungle.me solves the scheduling issues by sharing access to your calendar in a similar way that Exchange does within an office.  So, I decided to conduct an email interview with CEO of Tungle.me, Marc Gingras.</div>
<p></p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Please tell me about yourself:<br />
</strong>Well, I&#8217;m an entrepreneur that loves to work with smart people – and make a difference by solving a real pain.  I have lived through the ups and downs of the startup life and the Internet bubble.  I was part of the team that built the leading Canadian online bookstore – Chapters.ca.  I also worked several years as a VC, before seeing the light and getting back into a startup called Nimcat Networks, which we sold to Avaya in 2005.</p>
<p>I have several degrees – all of them you can see on <a href="http://ca.linkedin.com/in/marcgingras" target="_blank">my LinkedIn profile</a>.  I also sit on the board of a non-for-profit organization that my parents started when I was six years old – that’s dedicated to help the poor in India.</li>
<p></p>
<li><strong>Please tell me about Tungle.me:<br />
</strong>Tungle.me  solves the pain of scheduling meetings for business professionals.  It makes scheduling meetings easy&#8211;across organizations, calendar systems and time zones&#8211;by eliminating the multiple emails, phone calls and double bookings that typically come with finding a time to meet.  We spent the last three years making sure Tungle.me worked in sync with all leading calendar applications including Outlook, Google Calendar, Apple iCal, Entourage for Mac, and Lotus Notes.  Finally, it is important to note that when you use Tungle to easily schedule a meeting, the others do not need to be Tungle users, and they don’t need to sign-up or register.</li>
<p></p>
<li><strong>Where did your inspiration for Tungle.me come from?<br />
</strong>It was while I was working at Nimcat Networks and other previous startups that I came up with the idea for Tungle. I found that as we began to grow, it became harder and harder to schedule meetings with other team members . Finding a time that worked for everyone was a real pain and we were too small a company at the time to afford a licensed copy of Microsoft Exchange, which would have allowed us to share our calendars. That gave me the idea for a creating a solution that would allow people to share calendars and availability without having to invest in an enterprise grade calendar solution…and the product evolved from there.</li>
<p></p>
<li><strong>What is the best unused or unknown feature of Tungle.me?<br />
</strong>I think that our iPhone app is pretty cool.  You can shake your phone and Tungle will intelligently propose times that work for everyone.  I don’t see a lot of people shaking their iPhones yet…I think we need to make it more obvious for everyone to shake and meet.</li>
<p></p>
<li><strong>It would seem that importing your calendar would possibly provide a lot of private information about some one personally or professionally.  What would you say to those that are concerned about privacy but want to test out the service?<br />
</strong>Tungle doesn’t share your calendar with anyone.  You, as a user, get to pick the times you want to make available for meetings, and that’s all that people see.  They never know if you are in a meeting or not, they never know what you are doing.  Complete control and anonymity.</li>
<p></p>
<li><strong>Tungle.me is currently a free service.  How do you plan on monetizing?<br />
</strong>This is an interesting question because we are often told that we should charge for our service.  But we won’t, not now, and not ever – at least for the features that are available today.  We won’t charge because there isn’t one solution, except for Tungle that solves the scheduling pain across companies, platforms, time zones. Not one.  </p>
<p>Tungle.me will be the defacto scheduling services for everyone – and we will achieve this by being very viral and keeping the barriers to using our service low – i.e. keeping it free.That said, we will be launching some premium features that will target our power users and specific segments later in 2010.  There are over 500 million professionals using electronic calendars – only a small percentage of them need to subscribe to our premium features once we launch them.</li>
<p></p>
<li><strong>Can you pull back the curtain and let us know what&#8217;s on the horizon for Tungle.me?<br />
</strong>Yes, three words: mobile, social, search.</li>
</ol>
<p>If you want to try Tungle.me for yourself, you can head over to their <a href="http://tungle.me" target="_blank">website</a> and test it out for yourself.</p>
<p>Have you tried Tungle.me yet?  What were your thoughts about it?  Do you find it useful?</p>
<p><strong>If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or </strong><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/justinrlevy" target="_blank"><strong>subscribing to the feed</strong></a><strong> to receive future articles delivered to your feed reader.</strong></p>
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		<title>Give Your Facebook Page a Facelift</title>
		<link>http://justinrlevy.com/2009/06/give-your-facebook-page-a-facelift/</link>
		<comments>http://justinrlevy.com/2009/06/give-your-facebook-page-a-facelift/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:17:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Justin Levy</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Advertising]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Community]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Facebook]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Videos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Interview]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://justinrlevy.com/?p=1320</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Recently Robert Scoble interviewed Caitlin O&#8217;Farrell for the new building43 site which was recently launched by Robert and the team over at RackSpace.  Caitlin is the program manager for consumer marketing at Facebook.  Caitlin spends her time working with celebrities or, as she notes, their publicists, to provide them with a Facebook presence. One of [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Recently <a href="http://scobleizer.com" target="_blank">Robert Scoble</a> interviewed Caitlin O&#8217;Farrell for the new <a href="http://www.building43.com" target="_blank">building43</a> site which was recently launched by Robert and the team over at <a href="http://www.rackspace.com" target="_blank">RackSpace</a>.  Caitlin is the program manager for consumer marketing at <a href="http://www.facebook.com" target="_blank">Facebook</a>.  Caitlin spends her time working with celebrities or, as she notes, their publicists, to provide them with a Facebook presence.</p>
<p>One of the key ways of accomplishing this is through a <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/" target="_blank">Facebook Page</a>.  As being someone that manages multiple Pages and Groups on Facebook, I was very interested to watch this interview.  Even though I spend hours each day on Facebook, there is so much development taking place by both Facebook and application developers that it&#8217;s hard to keep up.</p>
<p>Check out Robert&#8217;s interview with Caitlin:</p>
<p><a href="http://justinrlevy.com/2009/06/give-your-facebook-page-a-facelift/"><em>Click here to view the embedded video.</em></a></p>
<p>Two resources that Caitlin pointed out that I didn&#8217;t know Facebook provided were the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/influencers" target="_blank">Facebook Influencers</a> and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/marketing" target="_blank">Facebook Marketing</a> resource pages.  I&#8217;m going to spend a little time poking around there for new ideas, best practices and to see what some the featured pages are doing.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/justinlevy/3665592127/"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1322" title="facebookresources" src="http://justinrlevy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/facebookresources1.PNG" alt="facebookresources" width="430" height="283" /></a></p>
<p>Caitlin definitely left me with a list of ideas I now have for updating my fan pages and groups.  It was also a nice prod to get in there and maintain interaction in the various pages.  I think one of the normal things that happens in a lot of social networks (at least it happens to me) is that you set up a page, group, or forum where you want to build a community.  But, because of other work, home or other page responsibilities, the pages, groups or forums don&#8217;t receive the level of attention that they deserve.</p>
<p>Remember when you build these communities you have to stay active in them.  You have people that join them beacuse they care about the subject or brand that the community is based around.  Be <em>that</em> community manager that they need and want whether it&#8217;s Facebook, <a href="http://www.linkedin.com" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> or any other community you may be a part of.</p>
<p>If you want some more information on Facebook Pages, check out this excellent and comprehensive whitepaper by <a href="http://www.cc-chapman.com" target="_blank">C.C. Chapman</a> and his team over at <a href="http://www.theadvanceguard.com" target="_blank">The Advance Guard</a>: <a href="http://www.theadvanceguard.com/about_face_white_paper/" target="_blank">About Face</a></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">If you&#8217;re so inclined, jump onboard my two main pages: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Northampton-MA/Caminito-Argentinean-Restaurant/43382441118?ref=ts" target="_blank">Caminito Argentinean Steakhouse</a> and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10160003677&amp;ref=ts" target="_blank">Inbound Marketing Summit</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong>If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or </strong><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/justinrlevy" target="_blank"><strong>subscribing to the feed</strong></a><strong> to receive future articles delivered to your feed reader.</strong></p>
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		<slash:comments>35</slash:comments>
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		<title>What Makes a Social Media Expert</title>
		<link>http://justinrlevy.com/2009/05/what-makes-a-social-media-expert/</link>
		<comments>http://justinrlevy.com/2009/05/what-makes-a-social-media-expert/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 05 May 2009 00:31:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Justin Levy</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Interview]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Videos]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://justinrlevy.com/?p=995</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[While at SXSW I was interviewed by Christine Major of Perkett PR.  It was a fun and short interview but one of the questions that she asked me was concerning what determines a &#8220;social media expert&#8221;.  While there is a lot more that goes into a real response, I think my answer sums up how [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>While at <a href="http://sxsw.com" target="_blank">SXSW</a> I was interviewed by <a id="aptureLink_3u2jJbzj73" href="http://twitter.com/CMajor">Christine Major</a> of <a href="http://www.perkettpr.com/" target="_blank">Perkett PR</a>.  It was a fun and short interview but one of the questions that she asked me was concerning what determines a &#8220;social media expert&#8221;.  While there is a lot more that goes into a real response, I think my answer sums up how a lot of people I talk to feel.</p>
<p><a href="http://justinrlevy.com/2009/05/what-makes-a-social-media-expert/"><em>Click here to view the embedded video.</em></a></p>
<p>You can read the post I reference regarding the importance of face-to-face interaction, you can check it out over <a href="http://justinrlevy.com/2009/03/12/the-importance-of-face-to-face-interaction/" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
<p>So, what are your thoughts?  What do you consider to be the criteria that determines who is labeled a &#8220;social media expert&#8221;?</p>
<p>I want to take the best comments and make them into a blog post so please leave some thoughtful responses&#8230; <img src='http://justinrlevy.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p><strong>If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or </strong><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/justinrlevy" target="_blank"><strong>subscribing to the feed</strong></a><strong> to receive future articles delivered to your feed reader.</strong></p>
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		<slash:comments>19</slash:comments>
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		<title>NMTV Interview: Aaron Strout, Powered, Inc</title>
		<link>http://justinrlevy.com/2009/02/nmtv-interview-aaron-strout-powered-inc/</link>
		<comments>http://justinrlevy.com/2009/02/nmtv-interview-aaron-strout-powered-inc/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 28 Feb 2009 11:48:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Justin Levy</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Interview]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Marketing Labs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Videos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[newmarketinglabs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nmtv]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[videos]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://justinrlevy.com/?p=949</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Over on the pirate ship, we kicked off the 2009 New Marketing TV (NMTV) schedule with Colin Browning interviewing Aaron Strout of Powered, Inc.  We will be filming regular interviews for NMTV and also have something else really cool that we&#8217;re cooking up below deck.  Make sure you subscribe to the NMTV feed. The video [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Over on the pirate ship, we kicked off the 2009 New Marketing TV (NMTV) schedule with <a href="http://constructingsocial.com" target="_blank">Colin Browning</a> interviewing <a href="http://twitter.com/astrout" target="_blank">Aaron Strout</a> of <a href="http://www.powered.com/" target="_blank">Powered, Inc</a>.  We will be filming regular interviews for NMTV and also have something else really cool that we&#8217;re cooking up below deck.  Make sure you subscribe to the <a href="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/newmarketingtv" target="_blank">NMTV feed</a>.</p>
<p>The video is below in 2 parts.  If you can&#8217;t see this video in your feed reader, you can access it here: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOyf_f7FnV8&amp;e" target="_blank">Part 1</a> &amp; <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m763S_2yLQ8&amp;" target="_blank">Part 2</a></p>
<p><p><a href="http://justinrlevy.com/2009/02/nmtv-interview-aaron-strout-powered-inc/"><em>Click here to view the embedded video.</em></a></p> <p><a href="http://justinrlevy.com/2009/02/nmtv-interview-aaron-strout-powered-inc/"><em>Click here to view the embedded video.</em></a></p></p>
<div><strong>If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or </strong><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/justinrlevy" target="_blank"><strong>subscribing to the feed</strong></a><strong> to receive future articles delivered to your feed reader.</strong></div>
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		<slash:comments>7</slash:comments>
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		<title>Social Media and the Las Vegas Strip &#8211; How MGM Mirage and Luxor Are Taking Advantage</title>
		<link>http://justinrlevy.com/2008/12/social-media-and-the-las-vegas-strip-how-mgm-mirage-and-luxor-are-taking-advantage/</link>
		<comments>http://justinrlevy.com/2008/12/social-media-and-the-las-vegas-strip-how-mgm-mirage-and-luxor-are-taking-advantage/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 29 Dec 2008 12:48:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Justin Levy</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Interview]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Twitter]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://justinrlevy.com/?p=689</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Recently I had the opportunity to interview Brandie, known on Twitter as @LuxorLV.  Brandie is in charge of interactive marketing at the Luxor and social media initiatives at MGM Mirage. I first met Brandie via Twitter when I was in town for BlogWorld Expo a couple months ago.  I was sending regular tweets, as usual, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://flickr.com/photos/23856328@N02/2273963543/"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-695" title="luxor" src="http://justinrlevy.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/luxor-300x225.jpg" alt="luxor" width="300" height="225" /></a>Recently I had the opportunity to interview Brandie, known on <a href="http://www.twitter.com" target="_blank">Twitter</a> as <a href="http://www.twitter.com/luxorlv" target="_blank">@LuxorLV</a>.  Brandie is in charge of interactive marketing at the <a href="http://www.luxor.com" target="_blank">Luxor</a> and social media initiatives at <a href="http://www.mgmmirage.com" target="_blank">MGM Mirage</a>.</p>
<p>I first met Brandie via Twitter when I was in town for <a href="http://www.blogworldexpo.com" target="_blank">BlogWorld Expo</a> a couple months ago.  I was sending regular tweets, as usual, about what I was up to, what session I was at, the parties I would be attending that night, etc.  One night I received a notice from Twitter that @LuxorLV was now following me.  Interested, I decided to check out the profile and noticed that there had been several tweets about special discounts and events available to BlogWorld attendees.  I came to find out that Brandie had been monitoring the BlogWorld stream on <a href="http://search.twitter.com" target="_blank">Twitter Search</a> and was reaching out to attendees via Twitter to let them know of night activities that they could go to.</p>
<p>The fact that Luxor was using Twitter to listen, stay updated on what was happening on the Strip, and engage visitors really impressed me.  It is great to see another company using Twitter, as well as other social media platforms, as a way to directly communicate with customers in this way.</p>
<p>I probably would&#8217;ve never stayed at Luxor previously.  Not for any particular reason, I just always seem to stay some place else.  But, next time I&#8217;m in town I will definitely take a look into staying at Luxor because of the great service Brandie showed to me when I was just one of tens of thousands of people frequenting the Las Vegas Strip that weekend.</p>
<p>Without further ado, here  are the few questions that I asked Brandie, along with her response:</p>
<p><span style="color: #000080;"><strong>Please provide a brief description about yourself and your role at Luxor Casino:</strong></span><br />
I’ve worked for MGM MIRAGE and Luxor for the past 2.5 years and currently handle all the Interactive Marketing for Luxor. This runs the gamut from email marketing to online advertising, SEM, SEO, website management, Web 2.0, mobile advertising and marketing and social media. Basically, anything that’s not “traditional” marketing falls into my realm. Recently, I also took on social media and relationship management for MGM MIRAGE.</p>
<p><span style="color: #000080;"><strong>It appears as though Luxor Casino is one of the few casinos that are embracing social media.  What are some ways that Luxor utilizes social media (and other forms of interactive marketing) and how has this helped the casino?</strong></span><br />
Our number one priority is customer service. Social media has allowed me to easily and quickly connect with past, current and future Luxor guests to better understand how we can offer guests a better, more ultimate Las Vegas experience.</p>
<p>Customers will often ask for recommendations on places to eat or things to do. They enjoy receiving immediate answers from sources that know Vegas intimately. Moreover, I often proactively respond to questions about Vegas. Twitter Search is a wonderful tool for listening and being able to help customers solve problems.</p>
<p>You can find where we are in the social media space here: <a href="http://www.luxor.com/contact/contact_social.aspx" target="_blank">http://www.luxor.com/contact/contact_social.aspx</a></p>
<p><span style="color: #000080;"><strong>Have you begun to see other casinos on the Strip getting involved with social media after seeing what you’re doing at Luxor?</strong></span><br />
Yes. We typically test Interactive initiatives with one or two properties and then roll it out to all other interested properties. Currently, MGM MIRAGE participates in social media through the Vegas Beat Facebook Fan Page and @VegasConcierge.</p>
<p><span style="color: #000080;"><strong>What is your recommendation to those who may not be using social media?</strong></span><br />
There’s not one “perfect” way to use social media. Do what works for your business model and where your customers are.</p>
<p>If you aren&#8217;t already, make sure you follow Brandie and Luxor on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/luxorlv" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and on their <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Luxor-Hotel-and-Casino/7844127110" target="_blank">Facebook fan page</a>.</p>
<p><strong>If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or </strong><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/justinrlevy" target="_blank"><strong>subscribing to the feed</strong></a><strong> to receive future articles delivered to your feed reader.</strong></p>
<p><em>Photo by</em>: <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/23856328@N02/" target="_blank">David Alter</a><strong><br />
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		<title>An Interview with an Internet Strategy Expert on PR</title>
		<link>http://justinrlevy.com/2008/10/an-interview-with-an-internet-strategy-expert-on-pr/</link>
		<comments>http://justinrlevy.com/2008/10/an-interview-with-an-internet-strategy-expert-on-pr/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 28 Oct 2008 12:16:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Justin Levy</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Interview]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PR]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pr tools]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[press releases]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thatsgreatpr.wordpress.com/?p=457</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Today I had the opportunity to interview co-founder and CMO of Newsforce, Dana Todd.  Dana is also the Chairman of SEMPO, the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization, which is the largest independent trade organization serving the search marketing industry.  Dana earned her stripes in the internet marketing industry running a boutique interactive agency called SiteLab, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Today I had the opportunity to interview co-founder and CMO of <a href="http://www.newsforce.com" target="_blank">Newsforce</a>, Dana Todd.  Dana is also the Chairman of <a href="http://www.sempo.org/">SEMPO</a>, the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization, which is the largest independent <a href="http://thatsgreatpr.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/2007_headshot_cropped1.jpg"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-467" title="2007_headshot_cropped1" src="http://thatsgreatpr.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/2007_headshot_cropped1.jpg" alt="" width="181" height="205" /></a>trade organization serving the search marketing industry.  Dana earned her stripes in the internet marketing industry running a boutique interactive agency called <a href="http://www.sitelab.com/index.html" target="_blank">SiteLab</a>, which is known for its search marketing expertise and creative web development capabilities.  She has since turned her sights now to the general communications industry, which includes PR, to evangelize the incredible possibilities of the internet in communication strategy.  Dana says that she is going to &#8220;shake things up around here and evangelize some sexy new ideas and tactics for the fairly rigid world of corporate communications and public relations.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:red;">Newsforce currently offers two services to their customers.<span> </span>Can you please briefly describe each of these services?</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Newsforce has two main product lines right now. Most people know us for our SEO tool, but we’re totally excited about something we’ve just launched.<span> </span>Our new product is our “big story” that will ultimately change the way companies manage their online communications. It’s called the <a href="http://www.newsforcenetwork.com/">Newsforce Network</a>, and it’s an always-on communication platform to give companies and agencies total control over their stories, their placement and their engagement strategy.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Newsforce is the first company to build a network to put ultimate power in the hands of communicators. We can take any kind of fresh, interesting content – whether it’s a press release, a mat release, a blog entry or a feature article – and place it directly onto prominent positions in premium news. We buy only the best positions on the page, typically a large ad unit above the fold on an article or a section index (we’ve even run on the <a href="http://newsforcenetwork.com/images/screencap_newsweek_large.jpg">home page of Newsweek</a>!), and we replace the usual banners with much-more-interesting featured news slugs from our customers. When a reader clicks a Newsforce headline, they go to a beautiful and <a href="http://ads.newsforce.com/landingpage.aspx?preview=True&amp;id=813">clean landing page</a> that has multimedia and social media built in. We measure the engagement rates and actions on the article, and feed the data back to our customers so they can tweak their story to appeal more broadly to the viewing public. It’s evergreen, so it’s a living document companies can control as their story evolves.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We sell this service similar to how advertising is sold, on cost-per-thousand impressions (which translates to “views by actual people”. We throw in the social media news release template for free, and as a value-add you won’t lose its derivative SEO properties because we’ll keep hosting it even after we stop featuring it in our headline unit. We’re sort of mashing up PR, advertising, social media and SEO into one streamlined channel.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For people who are struggling with the SEO part of their PR strategy, we also sell an inexpensive tool for SEO, starting at just $20 per use. Our automatic press release optimization suite is an online service made just for PR people, to help them focus more on their writing skills than their technical skills. We have a version of it integrated into Business Wire’s EON offering, plus we sell it on our site www.newsforce.com.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="color:red;">How is the Premium News Network different than distribution channels such as PRWeb, PRLeap, and other similar sites?</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We’re digital-only, for one thing. They’re paid inclusion, we’re paid placement – verified and guaranteed positions, turn coverage on and off at will. I think of standard wire and feed services as being parallel to how people use SEO in the marketing side of the world: it’s a great thing to do for casting a broad net and hoping your story is interesting enough for a quality pickup or a high-volume return. It’s low cost, typically, and it is great for “organic” distribution. What’s been missing, though, is a serious level of control for communicators in either the online or the offline space. In the online space, we finally have some options we never had before.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the print and broadcast world, the journalists are the gatekeepers to the limited real estate they have – measured in pages or minutes. In the online space the engagement is 24/7, and the real estate is based on traffic of people, not time of day or numbers of pages. It’s unlimited and unending. So why are we still designing our communication strategies in “episodic” mode, moving from campaign to campaign or release to release? There is a steady stream of news readers hitting news channels online or on their phones, over 600 million page views worldwide every day! And it’s just getting bigger! In 5 years, most people in the developed world will access their news either on a computer or a handheld device. And just as the dayparts shifted for other types of media, it’s shifting for PR people too.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We think what we’re doing is evolutionary, but some people have called us revolutionary. I’ll take either compliment.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="color:red;">Where do you see the future of internet press releases heading?</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If we have our way, it’s going to be less about “press releases” and more about “story telling” and ongoing optimization of your stories for maximum reader interest and support of your corporate goals over the long haul. I’d like to see a return to the value of a professional communication team as keepers of the corporate stories, using their creative powers in new channels to influence the public directly, in addition to continuing with evolving media relations.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Maybe that’s too radical (or just too much work)? If you’re still uncomfortable with the idea of being an always-on writer/story teller, you can still think on a release by release basis, but you’re going to probably want to write three different versions: one for journalists, one for the mass public, and one for search engines. Oh yeah, and a mobile version too! So that should keep PR people employed for a very long time, because someone’s got to figure out how to best use these different channels to meet communication goals.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I am a reformed journalist-turned-marketer. Why did I change? Because I feel that ultimately the greatest opportunity to change people’s opinions, one person at a time, is through a multi-channel communication strategy. The power to create *action* is actually closer to the realm of marketing and PR than in traditional journalism, in many cases. While I loved writing news and working as a journalist, I truly found my calling when I wrote my first “advertorial” and realized how powerful a biased voice can be. That sounds like heresy, doesn’t it? And yet, if you think about it – as humans, we assume a certain amount of bias in any media we consume. Humans pride ourselves on being our own “filters” and making our own decisions, and we consume all types of information in context, whether it was produced by a journalist or an ad agency, in order to inform our decisions. So the biggest winners in communications are often the ones who are willing to take the most risk in terms of disclosure (transparency in your motivation) and creativity.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="color:red;">Do you think that all companies should be using internet press releases?<span> </span>Why or why not?</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I guess it depends on the goals of your campaign, and what is an appropriate mix of channels to help you accomplish them. Bottom line: I think that all companies should tell great stories on the internet. If it happens to take the form of a news release, then yes, of course. People do actually read press releases – we have piles of cool research showing that they read press releases just like regular editorial news. But I think that if you’re writing a press release for internet distribution you should strongly consider the omigod-this-is-so-boring potential of corporate messaging to a broad reading public. If you wouldn’t click it yourself, then you should probably give the story angle a little more thought. The potential of the internet is that it gets you directly to the public. That’s both a good and a scary thing. Since we can now track reader engagement (or lack thereof) in real time, I predict it will ultimately teach us all to be better communicators.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="color:red;">What is your best recommendation for companies who want to start using internet press releases but not sure where to start?</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We actually have a pretty <a href="http://newsforce.com/articles_pr_optimize_releases.html" target="_blank">great set of articles</a> on the Newsforce site written by one of our founders, Greg Jarboe.  Greg didn’t invent the internet like Al Gore did, but he is often credited for “inventing” the advanced search optimization strategies for press releases and popularizing the tactics among internet marketing types. If you want to get some broad exposure to search marketing, the <a href="http://www.sempo.org/learning_center/" target="_blank">SEMPO Learning Center</a> has piles of research, articles, glossaries and free webinars.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I always encourage people to keep a “keyword calendar” to go along with their editorial calendars for the year. If it’s part of your core strategy to have frequent pops in news search engines (so that you’re showing up in the fresh news results regularly), you will want to map a baseline of core keywords to target on a regular basis, plus a seasonal and/or opportunity set of keywords that you target based on the editorial “seasons” of your industry. Think of them as mini-topics to cover.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I guess with that in mind, one of the best skills a PR person can develop first is the art of keyword research. Internet outreach is just like any other communication strategy: it’s listening and responding. That is, “listening” to the keyword demand data and your social media buzz metrics, and then responding to threats and opportunities with various communication channels. The fact that we can literally see the words that people are using to describe all sorts of things, and the frequency and popularity of the terminology, is such a gift of insight. I’m honestly surprised that most PR people aren’t as freakishly obsessed with the information as search marketers are – maybe it’s because they haven’t learned to have fun with it yet. It’s very eye-opening!</p>
<p><strong>If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/justinrlevy" target="_blank">subscribing to the feed</a> to receive future articles delivered to your feed reader.</strong></p>
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		<title>New to Social Media? Read this first!</title>
		<link>http://justinrlevy.com/2008/10/new-to-social-media-read-this-first/</link>
		<comments>http://justinrlevy.com/2008/10/new-to-social-media-read-this-first/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:57:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Justin Levy</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Interview]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Media]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thatsgreatpr.wordpress.com/?p=413</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Today I had the opportunity to speak with Jason Falls.  Besides blogging over at the popular SocialMediaExplorer.com, Jason is Director of Social Media at Doe-Anderson, an in-demand national speaker on social media and public relations, and founder of Social Media Club Louisville.  With the extensive resume out of the way, Jason describes himself as being [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://thatsgreatpr.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/jasonfalls.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-418" title="jasonfalls" src="http://thatsgreatpr.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/jasonfalls.jpg" alt="" width="100" height="150" /></a>Today I had the opportunity to speak with Jason Falls.  Besides blogging over at the popular <a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com" target="_blank">SocialMediaExplorer.com</a>, Jason is Director of Social Media at <a href="http://www.doeanderson.com/" target="_blank">Doe-Anderson</a>, an in-demand national speaker on social media and public relations, and founder of <a href="http://www.smclouisville.org/" target="_blank">Social Media Club Louisville</a>.  With the extensive resume out of the way, Jason describes himself as being tall, dark and handsome, of course <img src='http://justinrlevy.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' />  .  Actually, he describes himself as a writer, thinker and web tinkerer, sports nut, dad, husband and swell guy to hang out and drink a beer or cocktail with. And not necessarily in that order.</p>
<p><span style="color:#000080;"><strong>What does a typical day look like for you with your commitments as Director of Social Media for a large agency, active blogger, involvement on social networks, etc?</strong></span></p>
<p>The typical day is normally a handful of meetings, as much client work (strategic planning, writing and some execution via blog posts, community administration, etc.) as possible and the occasional new business pitch lunch or planning with every other available minute cleaning out the inbox, sharing good content with my friends online and keeping an eye on other top blogs in the industry. Honestly, I don’t have enough hours in the day to do all I need to do so the client work comes first and everything else falls in line in some priority. Almost all of it is so much fun I <strong>almost</strong> feel guilty getting paid to do it.</p>
<p><span style="color:#000080;"><strong>One of the biggest issues I hear in regards to social media is the time commitment to manage and be an active member on all of these networks.  What are some of your suggestions and how do you manage this time commitment?</strong></span></p>
<p>The first thing I would do is determine which ones you get the most value from and which ones you can give the most value to and focus on those. Sure, I have profiles on 20 or more social networks, but I really only use two everyday – <a href="http://twitter.com">Twitter</a> and <a href="http://facebook.com">Facebook</a>. <a href="http://linkedin.com">LinkedIn</a> is a third that is almost required because the mainstream folks (potential clients) are most comfortable there since it’s a professional/resume-driven site. But I don’t get inherent value other than friendship connections out of <a href="http://myspace.com">MySpace</a>, so I don’t spend much time there.</p>
<p>The second thing I would recommend is finding utilities that make it easier. For instance, sharing content and bookmarking are important facets of what social media folks do. <a href="http://mahalo.com">Mahalo</a> allows you to bookmark and submit material to their community-driven search engine, but also has a utility that allows you to share the same content on <a href="http://stumbleupon.com" target="_blank">StumbleUpon</a>, Twitter, <a href="http://delicious.com" target="_blank">Delicious</a>, Facebook and other social networks all with the single submission. So, I bookmark one article in three or four places, providing value to those networks as well. I don’t browse to or through StumbleUpon everyday, but I still share great content there, so my StumbleUpon influence is still actively being maintained.</p>
<p>Finally, you have to embrace and master RSS. I subscribe to content from over 200 websites but can browse most of that content, deeply reading what looks interesting, skimming some and just headline browsing the rest, in about 30 minutes each day. I don’t miss much and when I see something interesting, I take the time to share it, comment on it, bookmark it or all of the above. RSS changes the way you consume content online and makes your time commitment to do so much more manageable.</p>
<p><span style="color:#000080;"><strong>What do you see for the future of social media?</strong></span></p>
<p>Social media is not some purple elephant that will revolutionize the world. It’s one channel in an assortment of communications options. It will get past the shiny new object stage in the next couple of years and become another spoke on the communications wheel, along with PR, CRM, advertising, packaging, direct mail and so on. I’m a believer that it most closely aligns with public relations as a discipline, so I’m hopeful PR professionals will get better (and fast) at understanding and owning at least the responsibility of managing social media within the organizational structure. Social media is something that, if done right, isn’t silo-ed into one department, but PR is the most suitable to take the lead on it. It’s not a fad, but it’s not the second coming, either. It’ll settle into a nice place in the marketing and communications world if it hasn’t already.</p>
<p><span style="color:#000080;"><strong>What is the biggest mistake that businesses make when getting into social media?</strong></span></p>
<p>Not coming to bat with a strategic position. Like web development, most people say, “I want one. Let’s build it.” I heard a great analogy to illustrate this problem from Ron Baumgarner at <a href="http://www.bitwisesolutions.com" target="_blank">Bitwise Solutions</a>. He said, “If your architect showed up on you property with a backhoe, would you be nervous?” Social media isn’t wall paper or a coat of paint. You have to think it through just like you would an advertising campaign or a direct mail piece.</p>
<p>Who is the audience? Why are you communicating with them? What do you want them to do as a result? How are you going to use the communication to build a relationship with them? What value can you provide? These are the questions that need to be answered before you even start. Put the backhoe away and draw up some plans for the structure, get all your permits lined out, make sure the property can withstand the size and scope of the building then hire the right people to do each of the tasks that come together to make the structure whole. And don’t forget that once it’s built, it needs to be cleaned, maintained, repaired and occasionally remodeled to ensure the residents stay happy.</p>
<p><span style="color:#000080;"><strong>What advice do you give to someone who is new to the social media world?</strong></span></p>
<p>Know that if you can’t or don’t provide value to the communities and networks you are apart of, even if that value is just your opinion, you won’t be successful. You have to give to get in social media. Those that give meaningfully earn respect, then over time trust. Having trust breeds influence and gets you where you are a respected member of the community. And all that is true for brands as well as individuals.</p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.doeanderson.com/" target="_blank">Doe-Anderson</a> is a brand-building agency, which closely resembles an advertising agency. They have an approach to building brands using brand enthusiasm as a platform to ignite passion points in people enabling them to spread the good word about the brand and build a community around it. Doe&#8217;s <a href="http://www.ambassador.makersmark.com/ambinfo.aspx" target="_blank">Maker’s Mark Ambassadors</a> program is often called the “Gold Standard” word of mouth marketing program.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com" target="_blank">Social Media Explorer</a> is Jason&#8217;s personal blog that he uses as an educational, informational and thought leadership tool to offer up reviews, insights and opinions about social media, public relations, marketing and other forms of communications.</p>
<p>Jason loves meeting new people so find him over on <a href="http://twitter.com/jasonfalls" target="_blank">Twitter</a> if you&#8217;re not already following him.</p>
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		<title>An Interview on PR 2.0 with Deirdre Breakenridge</title>
		<link>http://justinrlevy.com/2008/09/an-interview-on-pr-20-with-deirdre-breakenridge/</link>
		<comments>http://justinrlevy.com/2008/09/an-interview-on-pr-20-with-deirdre-breakenridge/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 02 Sep 2008 12:42:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Justin Levy</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Interview]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PR]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pr 2.0]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thatsgreatpr.wordpress.com/?p=238</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[After a few days off to enjoy the holiday with my family, I&#8217;m back with a new and exciting interview.  I recently had the opportunity to interview PR 2.0 expert Deirdre Breakenridge.  Deirdre is President and Director of Communications at PFS Marketwyse as well as an accomplished author with her 4th book due on bookshelves [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>After a few days off to enjoy the holiday with my family, I&#8217;m back with a new and exciting interview.  I recently had the opportunity to interview PR 2.0 expert <a href="http://www.deirdrebreakenridge.com/" target="_blank">Deirdre Breakenridge</a>.  Deirdre is President and Director of Communications at <a href="http://www.pfsmarketwyse.com/index.shtml" target="_blank">PFS Marketwyse</a> as well as an accomplished author with her 4th book due on bookshelves in early 2009.  Deirdre&#8217;s 3<sup>rd</sup> book, published in April 2008, titled, <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FPR-2-0-Media-Tools-Audiences%2Fdp%2F0321510070%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1220358551%26sr%3D8-1&amp;tag=thsgrprbl-20&amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325">PR 2.0: New Media, New Tools, New Audiences</a></em><img style="border:none !important;margin:0 !important;" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thsgrprbl-20&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=1" border="0" alt="" width="1" height="1" />, helps communications professionals to understand the exciting changes that are occurring in the PR industry, and how using social media tools we can build better relationships.</p>
<p><a href="http://thatsgreatpr.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/pr20-cover.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-240" src="http://thatsgreatpr.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/pr20-cover.jpg" alt="" width="98" height="146" /></a><span style="color:#000080;"><strong>Your most recent book is titled <em>PR 2.0: New Media, New Tools, New Audiences</em>.  What are some of the key differences between PR 1.0 and PR 2.0?</strong></span></p>
<p>There are so many key differences between PR 1.0 and PR 2.0.  To start, PR 1.0 was a time of web functionality.  PR professionals were able to use the Internet to produce better research, build stronger relationships with third party endorsers including the media and use the Web to get their news releases distributed more efficiently and in a timely manner.  During that time, new and improved services were born so that professionals could access incredible information and market research that helped them produce targeted communications and PR campaigns with greater coverage.  The functionality of the PR 1.0 made PR professionals feel comfortable and successful in their communications.</p>
<p>However, today, through Web 2.0 applications and social media tools, we have a new PR approach labeled PR 2.0.  PR 2.0 is an exciting time for PR people.  Yet, it poses many challenges.  Suddenly, PR people are feeling a little less comfortable with social media tools, which allow companies to speak directly to markets.  They can reach out to their customers, engage in conversations and even hear what their customers are saying to each other.  In many instances, PR people and their brands no longer have to go through traditional third party influencers such as the media.  Instead there are new influencers including bloggers and customers themselves who are sharing information in web communities.  For so long, communications professionals controlled the brand message and in PR 2.0, you can no longer control what’s being said and by whom.  The best part about PR 2.0 is that it allows companies to listen carefully and engage in meaningful conversations with stakeholders.  Although very different, I believe that the convergence of PR 1.0 and PR 2.0 will lead to the best communication and stronger relationships for brands.</p>
<p><span style="color:#000080;"><strong>How do PR agencies have to change their strategies and methods of execution to be successful in this PR 2.0 world?</strong></span></p>
<p>It’s a whole new manner of thinking for PR people.  Of course, we know that there are traditional PR practices to reach media and analysts that will still be a part of how we roll out with our product launches and campaigns.  However, we have to open up our frame of reference to learn a new process of relationship building.  When it comes to PR 2.0, communications professionals can’t really think about messages, audiences and the “pitch” anymore.  That’s not the way to reach people in web communities.  Everyone is different, and they all want to gather, organize and share information in a meaningful way.  First and foremost, when you interact through social media you take off your marketing hat, whether it’s communications with A-List bloggers, customers or citizen journalists.  You are peers who are engaging in dialog to share valuable information.  The strategy is no longer the broadcast message, but really tailored information to help someone make an informed decision.</p>
<p>The process has even changed from how we observe communities to the new rules of breaking news.  This new process includes how you have to be respectful of interactions with bloggers.  Now, you have to think about blogger relations, similar to how you handled media relations of the past.  There are so many different considerations in the PR 2.0 realm, from the way you form relationships to the social media tools that you select to reach people.  In PR 2.0 you are not marketing to them or speaking at them, rather you are talking with them and sharing the information that they need.</p>
<p><span style="color:#000080;"><strong>Part of PR 2.0 is utilizing social media/internet press releases.  What do you see as being the benefits of using social media press releases as compared to traditional press releases?</strong></span></p>
<p>The Social Media Release (SMR) is a valuable tool that allows journalists and bloggers to build their stories quickly and with more resources.   However, the SRM is also a direct to consumer tool that helps people who are interested in your product or services to make informed decision or purchase.  The SMR is very interactive and depending on the template allows companies to really tell their story in a meaningful and compelling way through video, podcasts, outside links and resources, bookmarking, etc.  They are free from the BS, hype, jargon and canned quotes of traditional news releases.  I think that the information in the SMR is better organized to provide more interactive material and resources than a traditional release.  The SMR is a great tool and the templates will continue to improve to provide a company’s stakeholders with valuable information more quickly and efficiently, much more than the traditional news release of the past.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#000080;">You are someone who is active on various social networks such as <a href="http://twitter.com" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and <a href="http://facebook.com" target="_blank">Facebook</a>. There have been plenty of <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/management/trends/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201808149" target="_blank">articles</a> written about the zap on productivity that is caused by social networks.  However, a lot of people I talk to in PR can’t say enough about the benefits of these networks.  What benefit would you say these networks have for a company or business professional that isn’t actively using them?</span></strong></p>
<p>There are tremendous benefits to using social networks.  I would never look at <a href="http://facebook.com" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, <a href="http://myragan.com" target="_blank">MyRagan</a>, <a href="http://www.pitchengine.com/" target="_blank">PitchEngine</a> or any other one of my social networks as something that zaps productivity.  On the contrary, if anything, these networks lead to incredible first hand research, excellent conversations that allow you to make decisions personally and professionally, business opportunities including leads, real world networking (where you actually meet your followers or friends offline) and connections to like-minded people who you would never have the opportunity to speak with before.</p>
<p>Businesses especially can benefit from the market research that is available on social networks, so that they can place the feedback whether positive or negative back into product development.  The ability to be a part of the conversation and to interact first hand is tremendously important. After all markets are conversations and in order to truly know what customers are saying, you have to participate or at least observe those conversations.</p>
<p><span style="color:#000080;"><strong>You are currently writing a new book.  Can you provide some information about it including title, release date and what it’ll be about?</strong></span></p>
<p>I’m very excited about the new book.  Although I can’t release the title quite yet, it’s going to dig deeper into the area of PR 2.0 and social media.  Communications professionals will benefit from this book as they learn that web communities are small societies in and of themselves, based on culture and rules of engagement. Suddenly PR people need to be more understanding and focused on the social sciences.  The book also discusses many changes in PR and the customer service processes, including how to handle the socialization of communication and service.   There are so many exciting topics, including how to best use micromedia and what’s the approach for breaking news when you’re dealing with bloggers.  There are also many challenges brought to the surface with discussion and examples to provide PR people with information allowing them to become PR champions for their companies.  I believe that my book highlights topics that will ultimately advance the PR industry, so that, once again, it is recognized as a valuable resource within any organization.</p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p>Deirdre Breakenridge has been involved in marketing in public relations for 20 years.  Deirdre is currently <a href="http://thatsgreatpr.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/deirdre_july_08.jpg"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-242" src="http://thatsgreatpr.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/deirdre_july_08.jpg" alt="" width="138" height="194" /></a>President and Director of Communications at PFS Marketwyse, a <a href="http://www.pfsmarketwyse.com/index.shtml" target="_blank">traditional and new media marketing and public relations firm</a> located in Totowa, New Jersey.  Besides her responsibilities at PFS, Deirdre is an adjunct professor at <a href="http://www.fdu.edu/" target="_blank">Fairleigh Dickinson University</a> in Madison, New Jersey.  She is an instructor for the University&#8217;s GBM program and  she focuses on teaching undergraduate students the latest real world business strategies in PR and interactive marketing.</p>
<p>Deirdre has also been an author for <a href="http://www.pearsoned.com/professional/index.htm" target="_blank">Pearson Education</a> since 1999.  During that time she has published three books and is currently working on a fourth title, which is due out in early 2009.  When not busy at PFS, teaching or writing, Deirdre also spends a great deal of time speaking to different groups on the topic of PR, PR 2.0, social media, branding and interactive marketing.</p>
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		<title>Tips from an Internet Marketing Expert</title>
		<link>http://justinrlevy.com/2008/08/tips-from-an-internet-marketing-expert/</link>
		<comments>http://justinrlevy.com/2008/08/tips-from-an-internet-marketing-expert/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:53:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Justin Levy</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PR]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Videos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Inbound Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[internet pr]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Interview]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Earlier this week I had the chance to sit down with Mike Volpe, Vice President of Marketing at HubSpot.  We talked about the differences between inbound and outbound marketing strategies as well as the importance of using internet PR and social media. Mike will be a part of a top-notch group of presenters at the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Earlier this week I had the chance to sit down with <a href="http://www.mikevolpe.com" target="_blank">Mike Volpe</a>, Vice President of Marketing at <a href="http://www.hubspot.com" target="_blank">HubSpot</a>.  We talked about the differences between inbound and outbound marketing strategies as well as the importance of using internet PR and social media.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><p><a href="http://justinrlevy.com/2008/08/tips-from-an-internet-marketing-expert/"><em>Click here to view the embedded video.</em></a></p></p>
<p>Mike will be a part of a top-notch group of presenters at the upcoming <a href="http://www.inboundmarketingsummit.com" target="_blank">Inbound Marketing Summit</a> on September 8th in Cambridge, MA.  As of the last time I checked in with Mike, there were only about 20 tickets left so get over to their site and <a href="http://www.regonline.com/Checkin.asp?EventId=195978" target="_blank">sign-up</a>.  Let me know if you&#8217;re going to be attending as I&#8217;ll be there as well.<br />
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