How Online Search, SEO and Social Media Have Changed the Face of Public Relations

By Amanda Miller Littlejohn | Follow on Twitter @amandamogul

Back when I was a newspaper reporter, whenever I got word of a new story, I immediately headed to Google. I wanted to find out all that I could on my potential story subjects.  And if I didn’t do my due diligence prior to editorial meetings with my editors and other reporters, I’d look like a jerk when I couldn’t answer basic questions about why the story was newsworthy.

If a company, organization or person pitched me and they had no online presence, they were already at a disadvantage, ESPECIALLY if they had competitors who were better optimizing the online space.

That was about five years ago, so imagine how things have changed. I lost my newspaper job when the paper downsized, and since then I’ve watched as newspaper colleagues have born the brunt of a shifting industry; they’re working longer, harder, posting incessantly and struggling to keep pace with the 24-hour news cycle.

Tweets are now taken as short-hand quotes; a cursory Google search and email interview may be the only interaction a journalist has with the subject before the story goes live. So, a question. If a journalist is searching for your company, what are they going to find?

As a DC-based public relations professional, I find myself on the other side, making sure my clients are going hard on the offensive by populating the web with content they want to share. Through publishing blog posts, tweets, videos, status updates, white papers, surveys and other pieces of content, I make sure my clients get to tell their stories first.

I recently attended the Vocus Users Conference in downtown Baltimore and got a chance to talk briefly with Lee Odden of TopRank Marketing-the industry leader in online marketing and SEO matters. Lee was gracious enough to answer the question of how online search and social media have changed the face of PR. Please forgive my iPad production-it was my first time using the iPad to shoot a video interview.

Just who is using social media for college admissions? Looks like it’s not just HR managers who are perusing social media profiles. Admissions directors check candidates out on Facebook, too. But not to worry. According to Kaplan, 62% of admissions officers reported that social media profiles helped applicants get accepted, instead of hurt their chances.

Filling out grad school applications? Go ahead and send the admissions director a friend request on Linkedin. But before you do, just make sure your profile puts your very best foot forward and is completely up to date.

Courtesy of: Schools.com

Thanks for reading. If you want more social media tips and tools delivered to your inbox, sign up for my newsletter. You can follow me on Twitter @amandmogul. Toodles!

If you need a new public relations job, mark your calendar for an upcoming 9-hour virtual career fair hosted by PRWeek on June 14. The career fair includes a few sessions for mid-level professionals and a long stretch of networking in the “online exhibit booth.” There will be panel presentations for HR directors at major agencies including  Ruder Finn and Ketchum as well as presentations from corporations Nissan and Yahoo.

If you’re looking for an agency gig, you should definitely attend. And tell all your #HAPPO friends.

From PRWeek:

The PRWeek Virtual Career Fair is an innovative virtual environment that offers free career advice in the form of three unique live webcast sessions.

• Moving Ahead- Why relocation could be the best next step for your career progression.
• A Diverse Industry- Lessons that can be learned from some of the top diverse PR pros in the industry.
• Continuing To Learn- The value of continuing your education while working full-time.

Featured speakers Karen Bloom, CEO, Bloom, Gross & Associates Louise Harris, president, international & senior counsel, global strategy, Ruder Finn May Petry, VP of corporate comms, Yahoo! Simon Sproule, corporate VP of global marcomms, Nissan Diane Thieke, marketing director, Dow Jones Rachel Wallins, director of global HR, Ketchum You will have the opportunity to: Attend live webcast presentations Meet with recruiters in online booths Search for positions in the PR industry Interact live with company HR representatives Drop off resumes.

Register for the career fair here.

If you’re not quite mid-level in your career yet, or you don’t know which route you’re going to take (agency, corporate, nonprofit, entertainment) my Mopwater Manual is a good place to start

Since it’s National Small Business Week, I thought I’d post about a successful small business owner and share some of her tips about how to grow your business.

Amanda Steinberg is the founder of Daily Worth-a free daily email with financial tips for women. Amanda built Daily Worth on the Daily Candy model and is intimately familiar with the venture capital funding process and how to raise capital for a growing a business.

She was recently interviewed at a conference in New York City about how to raise funding, how to make your business model attractive to investors, and how to think of an exit strategy. I’m inspired by Amanda, and thought you would be, too. Check her out!

Guest post by Melinda Emerson @smallbizlady

Meet Melinda at her extensive half-day training in Washington, DC on May 25. Attend her Succeed as Your Own Boss Tour and get the tips that will help you grow your business. Visit http://bit.ly/byob2011dc for more info.

In small business, your network is key is to your business success, but it is astonishing to me that people with no friends will start a business. I believe it’s best to plan 12 months before you quit your job to start a business.  In that year, one the most important things you need to do is build and reinforce your personal network. Why? Because, people do business with people they like and people they know. Hopefully, you can be both to your clients. There are many businesses like yours, but one thing that separates your company from others is who you know and how you know them.

An entrepreneur’s most valuable skill is the ability to make friends and influence people.

Look for Ways to Meet People Encounters with people you don’t know are important. Look at it this way: You don’t meet strangers; you meet friends you just don’t know yet. There are a few rules to this kind of networking. Always invite the person to talk about themselves first. After all, the more you know about them, the better you can tailor your thirty-second pitch. Be ready with your short commercial about your business. Consider this your opportunity to make a first impression.

The 30 Second Commercial Before you hit the street extolling the virtues of your great product or service, it is crucial that you have a clear thirty-second commercial (also known as “the elevator pitch”) for your business. When someone asks you what you do, you need to have a crisp and memorable response that makes it clear what business you are in and how you solve problems for your customers. Your commercial is intended for very brief, chance encounters. It is important because it helps you make a lasting first impression. You use it to showcase your professionalism, the benefits you provide, and your expertise. The goal is to capture your target’s attention and interest so that you can engage them in a more substantial and meaningful way. A strong thirty-second commercial will help you create better networking connections, and it can draw people to you. People will seek you out if you present yourself and your business professionally.

It is very important that you sound excited about what you do when you talk to people. You are always selling the business and yourself. Be careful never to tie up someone more than few minutes unless the contact seems to want to prolong the conversation.

Trains, planes, and buses are a great way to meet other business people. I only take the Amtrak Acela express train, which is how most business travelers in the Northeast ride. When I ride the train, I look for an open seat next to someone who looks like a businessperson. You just never know who could be a high-ranking executive, so I keep my mind and my options open. I try to make a friend or at least to learn something from someone during the ride. Most of the time, I accomplish both goals.

A Friendly Conversation Can Always Turn into a Potential Business Lead Learn how to strike up a conversation with anyone. Giving a compliment is a great way to start.  Look for something you have in common such as kids, sports, tired of being in line—anything you can thing of to make a personal connection with the person you are talking with. Whenever you attend networking functions or, for that matter, go anywhere, you should always have business cards. When it comes to networking, you never know where you might meet someone who can help you grow your business, so it pays to always be prepared with plenty of business cards. It’s like that old saying goes “never leave home without them.”

Build Personal Network When I first moved to Philadelphia, I put my nose to the grindstone for a few years to build up my career, then I turned my attention to meeting people. I did three things. First, I joined the Urban League to do volunteer work, socialize, and participate in professional development activities. Then I found a church home. The third thing I did was to reach out to the alumni association of my alma mater, Virginia Tech. These three associations paid off in spades years later when I started my business. My first customers came from those associations.

The Cocktail Hour Before Any Event is the Event! Be early for the reception so you can circulate. Once you sit down to dinner, the only people you can network with are the other nine people at your table. An accountant once told me that the rule of thumb is that you should go through 500 business cards roughly every two months when you first start a business. I even carry business cards to the hair salon because you never know who’s in the shampoo bowl next to you.

The Follow-Up The way to build relationships is through continued contact. It is essential to follow up within two weeks after meeting with a potential business contact. You can do this in multiple ways. The quickest and easiest way is e-mail. I prefer to send a handwritten note on my company stationery, since I feel this adds a personal touch. You can have note card stationary printed with your company logo on it.

Leave me a comment if you have any other good networking tips or stories to share.

Melinda Emerson “SmallBizLady”is a Veteran Entrepreneur, Small Business Expert and Social Media Coach who hosts #smallbizchat on Twitter. #Smallbizchat is the trusted resource on Twitter to discuss everything entrepreneurs need to know about launching and running a profitable small business. Melinda is best-selling author of, Become Your Own Boss in 12 months! A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business that Works!

Meet best-selling author Melinda Emerson and learn from her in an extensive half-day training in Washington, DC on May 25. Attend her Succeed as Your Own Boss Tour and get the tips that will help you succeed. Visit http://bit.ly/byob2011dc for more info.

When was the last time you were at a cocktail party and someone cornered you with a story about how things just weren’t going well with their new business, their job search, or their family? When it happened, how did it make you feel? If you’re like most people you probably felt helpless and uncomfortable. You listened politely until you could find a way to make your exit. And when you came across their business card the next day, those uncomfortable feelings  rushed back, so you pushed the card out of sight.

Sound familiar?

Unless you’re conducting a Nigerian bank scam, positivity as a general rule, works better than whining. Sob stories don’t sell.

Sob stories at networking events make people inch away. Sob stories on Twitter cause people to unfollow you. Sob stories during a  job interview leave a bad impression on the hiring manager, who won’t call you back for that follow-up interview.

Think about it. If whenever people see you or read your tweets and you’re frustrated and discouraged because things aren’t going well, your pessimism is what they’ll remember. And who’s going to want to work down the hall from Mr. Pessimistic?

Don’t be a Debbie Downer. Do your very best to always convey positivity. Because people want to work with people they like. And most people don’t like a Debbie Downer.

I know it can be hard to sound optimistic when times are tough. But people are always watching you, gauging you, judging you.  And the way you respond to adversity is how you will be remembered. This is how people will perceive your brand. So if you’re having an especially tough day, refrain from posting online. Wait until you feel better!

How to Project Positivity and Get Your Point Across

1. Focus on all the good you have done. Create an online portfolio or  list of career wins. (Reflecting on all of these wins will uplift you on a particularly bad day). Tweet a positive link to your profile, or update your LinkedIn status with what you have done and what you can do, i.e. “I love helping organizations tell their stories to the media. Take a look at some of my success stories. http://bit.ly/m4Rs84“
2. Lead with how you can help. Not what you want. Instead of saying “I’m looking for clients!” or “I’m looking for a new job. Help!” say “I’m a proven marketing professional who has helped large and small businesses double sales  through my outreach,” or “I’m a senior level fundraiser who helps struggling nonprofits land major funding through my powerful grant writing. How can I help you?”
3. Don’t miss opportunities Be sure to let people know where they can find more information about you. When you’re sending out emails, include your new portfolio and LinkedIn profile in your e-mail signature. Mention your website in your voicemail.
4. Be genuinely interested in people. Find out what other people are up to, what they need and how you can help them out. When you help others, they will naturally want to help you. The road to a great career is paved with mutually beneficial relationships. Don’t be the person who always has their  hand out asking for something. Ask how you can help. Can you volunteer your time? Before you ask someone to help you, be prepared to give something back.

How do you respond to negativity? Have you had a person turn you off with their pessimism online or in person?

Amanda Miller Littlejohn is a PR strategist at Mopwater Social PR, and the author of the Mopwater Manual, a career guide for PR professionals. Follow her on Twitter @amandamogul.

Guest Post By Joshua Waldman

Everyone is on LinkedIn these days. Let’s face it. Almost every CEO from every Fortune 500. Last count was over 50 million users.

In contrast, job boards have only about 3.5 percent of available jobs. This is common knowledge in the career industry, but then why do so many people spend so much time on job boards?

The answer is because it feels safer. LinkedIn is really all about networking. And socializing in an unfamiliar environment can be frightening. I know, I’m an introvert. I totally understand why job seekers try to spend as little time as possible in front of LinkedIn.

So I want to offer you 3 of the most common mistakes in using LinkedIn and how to avoid them. My goal is to help job seekers get over any unconscious resistance to using the most powerful job finding tool ever invented.

Mistake 1: Not Having a Brand

Shoe companies have brands, not people!

Wrong.

Looking for a job is just another sales situation. You are your product. And everything about you is going to either sell you or turn people away.

It’s really just a choice you have to make inside.

Just like how we make buying decisions emotionally, sometimes based on silly things, like the color of the packaging. So too do hiring managers unconsciously make decisions about our candidacy.

If your résumé doesn’t quite match your LinkedIn profile, and that doesn’t match what your referral said about you, then you are in big trouble.

The risk of being inconsistent is huge, and it helps to have defined “who you are” long before you put yourself out there.

The second part of branding is knowing your audience. What are their two biggest problems right now, problems that you could potentially solve?

The trick is to align the “who you are” with the “what they need” so there is a nice overlap.

This, my friends, is your personal brand. It will define your strategy, your writing style, your colors, photos and everything else about you online.

Most people crank out their LinkedIn profile without doing this step first.

Mistake 2: You are NOT Your J-o-b

“Systems Engineer”

“Marketing Executive”

“Fundraiser”

These appear under people’s names in their LinkedIn profiles. And they tell us nothing about who this person really is.

They are a commodity.

Quick story. I had a client, a network engineer, who wanted to work for a very large shoe company. No, not Nike, but good guess.

He knew they had two problems. First, they had no internal network. Second, their external network was so broken that it was affecting supply chain.

So in order to really appeal to this company, we needed to directly address their biggest challenges — challenges that he had the capacity to solve.

So his headline went like this, “Powerful Intranet builder | Supply Chain thought leader | Project management guru”

You have 120 characters to tell the world who you are and what value you bring.

And every communication you generate on LinkedIn will have this professional headline attached to it.

So choose wisely.

Hint: don’t use your job title as your headline.

Mistake 3: Don’t Look Like an Axe Murderer

Every single time I speak about social media in the job search, someone always comes up to me afterward to ask me this question, “But I’m just not that comfortable putting my picture up.” They are either too young or too old or too something.

Yes, ageism, racism and sexism are very real. It’s sad and terrible that they still happen in our society. But using a black and white photo, or zooming way out to try and hide something about ourselves is not going to solve the problem.

The only thing we can do is put some time and effort into our photos, to reflect who we are honestly. And to make a nice looking photo.

All too often, people will put up a mug shot, and wonder why they aren’t getting call backs.

This happened to a friend’s client. And the day he changed his photo, he got a job offer. No exaggeration. (I can hear the HR people cringing from this story, but it’s true).

So the lesson from this is that it is worth getting a professional headshot taken if you are serious about getting a job.

Joshua Waldman is the founder of the Career Enlightenment blog and author of “Job Searching with Social Media for Dummies”. He specializes in helping job seekers, frustrated by the traditional job search, leverage social media to find work FAST! Let him help you with your online job search.

Guest Post by Jennifer Ransaw Smith. It originally Appeared in Define You! Personal Branding Strategies for Women Entrepreneurs.

Stop being distracted by what others are doing! Look Ahead!

As many of you know, I’m training for my first triathlon; which is a really big deal since I have never been an athlete. For months, I put off working on the area I knew would be the most challenging…swimming.

I had a lot of excuses as to why I was waiting: too cold outside, not feeling well, not wanting to mess up my hair, etc. But, the time came when I realized that I could wait no longer. So, after years of swimming around leisurely underneath the water, I went over to a lane and hopped in. I slowly swam to the other side.

It was the fist time I had done that in 41 years. A few days later, I got in again and ended up swimming the pool length 11 times. And boy was I excited! In fact, I was feeling on top of the world, like “Man, I’m really going to be able to do this,” until…

I got up at 4:30 a. m. the following morning to head to the pool, and every lane was overflowing with “real swimmers,” many with Iron Girl gear on. They had fins, fancy watches and swimsuits; they had charts and their strokes were flawless. And while I was trying to top my 11 lengths from the day before, they were logging in hundreds of laps.

I remember stopping at the end of a half swim, doggie paddle and trying to catch my breath. I was so out of shape and I couldn’t help but compare how badly I was doing compared to where they were. For an instant, I actually felt defeated.

Then it hit me. A month ago, I was damn near a couch potato. I would never have dreamed that I would be somebody who got up at 4:30 a. m. to put in laps at the pool before my day began. I went from one length to 32 lengths in less than a month, with half the recovery time. Because I was so focused on what others were doing in their lanes, I truly couldn’t see, much less celebrate, what I was doing in my own lane. I began to laugh to myself because, as a public speaker and brand strategist, I often talk about “…staying in your own lane…” and here I was literally having to take my own advice.

Here is what I know for sure:

• You can’t improve your game, services, products, presentation or whatever when you are focused on what others are doing.
• Your success is measured by how much better you are becoming compared to where you used to be…not where others are and used to be.
• It is impossible to accurately measure yourself against others because everyone has started in different places and experienced different advantages and disadvantages along the way.

I wanted to share my story because I believe it serves as a great reminder for us all to place our goggles on and look straight ahead.

Your Assignment

Pull out a notebook and answer the following questions:

When you are looking for new ideas, where do you get them? Do they come from your competitors, books, articles, etc.?
How often do you spend time in solitude just listening to your inner inspiration?
When you get Divine ideas, do you act on them immediately? Or do you contemplate how they will be perceived?
Do you ever find yourself “holding back,” for fear of external reaction?

About Jennifer
Jennifer Ransaw Smith is a personal brand strategist and marketing mentor to women entrepreneurs around the nation. As the founder and CEO of Roar Coaching and Consulting, she is dedicated to empowering women solopreneurs/entrepreneurs. She shows them how to leverage their skills and talents to create a unique niche in the marketplace, effortlessly attract their “ideal clients,” and position themselves as “industry Rock Stars,” while they double their bottom line.

Yesterday, #SoloPR founder Kellye Crane launched an incredible new resource for PR people, and frankly any solo business owner who trades brain power for dollar bills. If you’re a consultant, a publicist, you need to download this.

From Kellye:

Legal contracts are often one of the most intimidating aspects of running a communications business, and perhaps the most important. What does all this legalese mean? Where do you even begin?

I’m happy to announce that Solo PR Pro’s first-ever ebook is now available for download: Get It In Writing! The Communications Consultant’s Guide to Contracts. Co-authored by me (Kellye Crane) and Jenny Schmitt of Cloudspark, this 30-page free ebook includes plain-language explanations of the critical elements of a legal agreement, as well as seven full contract examples for easy reference.

Get it now! Let me know how you like it and what you found most useful by shooting me a message on Twitter. Or holler at your girl on Facebook.

If you haven’t gotten to the point where you need PR contracts (because you don’t have any PR clients) no worries. Take a gander at my “Discover and Win” digital workbook. After putting this method into practice, you’ll not only have new clients, but new clients that you love. Download the workbook now.

American Civil Liberties Senior Media Relations (Washington, DC)

American University Public Relations Manager (Washington, DC)

Burson Marsteller Senior Public Relations Associate (Detroit, MI)

Intuit Executive Speech Writer (Mountain View, CA)

Ketchum Account Coordinator Public Affairs (Washington, DC)

Ketchum Account Supervisor (Atlanta, GA)

Schubert Communications Public Relations Account Executive (Philadelphia, PA)

Sensis PR Manager (Los Angeles or Washington, DC)

Swirl Integrated Marketing Social Media Manager (San Francisco, CA)

National Wildlife Federation Communications Associate (Reston, VA)

Williams-Sonoma Public Relations Manager (San Francisco, CA)

ZComm Digital Specialist (Washington, DC)

For some, getting covered by a news camera is the best kind of media coverage. But it can  be tricky coverage to get because news desks can be funny about sending their camera crews out to unknown location or to work with a new organization.

Thanks to Jennifer Wiggins and Danielle Johnson, producers at NBC 10 in Philadelphia, for offering up these valuable tips for contacting your local news organization.

Ten Tips for Local News Coverage

1. E-mail the press release 1 month-2 weeks before the event (NBC files all press releases in their ‘futures section’)
2. The day before the event, resend the release and call to ensure the press release was received
3. Ask for the planner on the assignment desk to make sure your release was filed. They are in charge of choosing the best events to cover and they will let you know if your event is something the station will be able to cover.
4. If the media comes out to cover your event, ask for their contact information. The more people you meet (reporters, photographers, writers, etc.) the better!
5. A newsroom is busy-no matter how amazing your event is, if the editors have to track down all the necessary information, your event likely will not get coverage.
6. Include the who/what/when/where/contact info for the day of the event /summary of the event in your press release and/or follow-up memo.
7. If it is an event (for example, a fundraiser) that spans from 9am-12pm-include the best time to send a camera. If  at 11am there is a check presentation, make that clear so the camera is sent at the correct time.
8. Utilize social media. Set up a Facebook page, Twitter account and post your events on community forums, in newspapers, on news websites to stay connected.
9. Include your EXACT address.
10. Follow up after the event with outcomes (i.e. how much money was raised, how many people were fed, etc.) Show the impact.

What are your tips for getting local television coverage?

Want more valuable tips like these? Order your copy of the Mopwater Manual.

Amanda Miller Littlejohn is a writer, public relations consultant and media strategist in Washington, DC. Follow her on Twitter or offer her new workshop ideas on Facebook.

I live online. Most people live in houses or apartments. I live in this alternate media driven universe. When the information is flowing, particularly information on media, journalism, public relations, storytelling-nothing matters. After observing that I hadn’t eaten a meal all day and was glued to one screen or the other, my husband once asked me if I simply drank coffee and ate Internet .

In my daily life, I often talk in terms of hashtags and DMs and it’s easy to forget that not everyone exists or works in this digital world, or uses the online tools everyday in their work.

I recently sat on a panel of journalists who were talking to the community non-profit and small businesses owners of Philadelphia. The topic was digital journalism and social media. I was in a room where the majority of people in the audience were NOT on Twitter. Whoa.

But after I stopped to think about it, maybe I’m the weirdo. Because everyone doesn’t live online. Everyone doesn’t eat Internet. So it’s understandable that some people are still wondering why Twitter is valuable. ( However I think the way journalists are covering events in Egypt should answer how critical these tools are ).

Saturday’s panel inspired me to  put together this guide for social media beginners. Media Access: Essential Online Tools for Small Businesses and Non-Profits is a free reference tool: a curated list of the most essential social media tools non-profits and small businesses should be using. For many of you this information is second nature. But remember that there are a lot of people out there who are  just getting to know the tools we depend on and take delight in every day. Hence the name (and theme of the workshop that inspired this document) Media Access. Please share this information with the community non-profit leaders and small business owners in your network.

Need help managing it all? Try Social Media Management Tool – Sprout Social

Want more valuable tips like these? Order your copy of the Mopwater Manual.

Amanda Miller Littlejohn is a writer, public relations consultant and media strategist in Washington, DC. Follow her on Twitter or offer her new workshop ideas on Facebook.

Digital Journalism Panel L-R: Lorraine Ballard Morril (Clear Channel) Amanda Miller Littlejohn (Mopwater) Norm Bond (NAMD), Darisha K. Miller (Ross Assoc), Crystal Cranmore (CBS3), Sarah J. Glover (Philadelphia Daily News), Karen Araiza (NBC Philadelphia)

Happy Monday. On Saturday, I went to Philadelphia to talk to community non-profits and small business leaders about media access. This amazing event was hosted by the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists (PABJ) and the Philadelphia Black Public Relations Society (PBPRS). It was a great event, and I’ll post more about what the amazing panelists shared later.

After my panel, a young man just starting his career approached me wanting to know how he could get a social media job at an exclusive tech start-up. I advised him to try an agency first, since those jobs are more plentiful. And look for names like social media strategist or comb through listings for account executives and associates and look for keywords: social networking, social media, Facebook, Twitter.

Talking to this recent graduate inspired me to bring back this dormant feature and to try to help some of you who are searching for jobs. I hope the jobs listed help you on your way in your media career, and the advice on this site can help you fine tune your understanding of where you want to be. Because trust me, as a media person it will change and evolve, just as the industry changes and evolves.
Happy Hunting

American Diabetes Association Director of Digital Strategy (Arlington, VA)

Associated Press Assistant Managing Editor (New York, NY)

Burson Marsteller Manager of Public Relations (Philadelphia, PA)

Burson Marsteller Digital Project Manager (Chicago, IL)

Feinstein Keane Healthcare (An Ogilvy Company) Social Media Strategist (Cambridge, New York, San Francsico or Washington, DC)

Fleishman Hillard VP of Public Affairs (Washington, DC)

Fleishman Hillard Digital Mobile Account Manager (Dallas, TX)

Fleishman Hillard Senior Account Executive (San Francisco, CA)

Gregory FCA Financial Writer/Account Executive (Philadelphia, PA)

Leo A Daly Public Relations Manager (Washington, DC)

National Public Radio Editor for Tell Me More (Washington, DC)

Nemours Communications Consultant (Orlando, FL)

Proof (a Burson Marsteller Company) Digital Strategist (Washington, DC)

Spitfire Strategies Account Coordinator (Washington, DC)

Spitfire Strategies Senior Account Executive (Washington, DC)

USAID via the Manoff Group Communications Officer (Arlington, VA)

Village Voice Media Food Critic/Blogger (Fort Lauderdale, FL)

Ogilvy PR Digital Producer (Washington, DC)

Ogilvy PR Account Director-Social Marketing (Washington, DC)

WomenWorking.com Web Writer (New York, NY)

Social Love

Follow Amanda on Twitter

Follow Mopwater on Twitter

Tell us about your job search on Facebook

If you work in PR and have any interest in social media, you’re likely a fan of Sarah Evans. You have probably participated in the wildly popular Twitter chat she started, #Journchat, an ongoing conversation between journalists, bloggers and PR people. Hopefully you get her daily email Commentz. You may have even hired her company Sevans Strategy for a social media campaign.

As Mopwater readers, you know that I am  fond of profiling PR professionals; the journalist in me enjoys deconstructing each individual path to success and sharing it with you. This interview is no different. I had the pleasure of meeting Sarah in October during the PRSA International Conference. Here is the Mopwater interview.

According to the Mobile Future Year in Review, location rose with Foursquare clocking 5 million check-ins in 2010 versus only 200,000 in 2009.

But influential tweeps have noted that geo-location is, frankly, played out.

As Jim Long tweeted over the weekend, geo-location has lost its luster for him.

As Jim mentions in this tweet, Brightkite just killed its check-in function. And as he tweets, “the shine is fading on the whole location thing…”

As I mentioned a few months ago, I found my favorite coffeeshop via Foursquare. And whenever I go to a new city, I still browse Foursquare search for coffee recommendations, scouring the tips left by people I trust. But in terms of checking in, I don’t do so nearly as much anymore.

I don’t check in to win.

I generally check in to a.) remember where I’ve been just in case I want to go back or b.) let my network know about a place that has a minimal social presence.

Now this isn’t to say that geo-location isn’t important to me. It is. I think it is amazing to be able to find out where friends are going, what they think of the places they’re frequenting–especially in other cities.  And I counsel non-profit organizations who don’t see the point of Foursquare to definitely use it for meet-ups and conferences. Geo-location is not just for storefronts.

But my use of Foursquare is much more utilitarian now. I’m not really playing games. I’m not even that interested in deals. I just want to know what’s near me, and what my social network has to say about the place. Sometimes (not always) it’s also nice to know that a friend is  nearby so that we can link up. But honestly, I could care less about winning anything, even badges or mayorships.

What about you? Is check-in dead?

This video from Mobile Future sums up the year in mobile quite nicely. Last year, 300 million apps were downloaded, but in 2010 the number of apps downloaded jumped to 5 BILLION. These are almost incomprehensible numbers, but they surely tell us that mobile is the now of the web. Got some content? Selling a product? Want to reach consumers? Apparently, a website isn’t enough. It’s time for an app.

Another interesting nugget: According to the Mobile Future Year in Review, the iPhone was the most popular camera used to upload photos to Flickr. How huge is this considering the iPhone’s main functionality is not its camera? It’s not called, after all an iCamera. And it doesn’t even have a flash.

Apple owned 4 of the 10 Technology Trends on Twitter. The iPad, which was released in April, was the number one Tech Trending Topic on Twitter in 2010. And the number 6 overall worldwide trending topic on Twitter this year.