DC bloggers, social media and PR pros got more than a taste of SEO (search engine optimization) at Saturday morning’s Basic SEO for Blogs training hosted by Mopwater PR in Columbia Heights. Nakeva Corothers of Nightlife PR gave an outstanding presentation on keyword research, driving traffic, how search engines work, and how to write your blog titles to drive traffic to your blog.

How #BSEO4B Came To Be

This workshop was essentially born after I heard an amazing keynote presentation by Lee Odden of TopRank Marketing during the Vocus Users Conference in June. Lee got me all fired up about search engine optimization, and shared a few tips after his presentation and I was so excited. Being the nerd that I am, I’d videotaped his keynote on my flip and uploaded the first 10 minutes to YouTube and posted it here on Mopwater. Nakeva saw the vide0, and commented on the blog post.

Fast forward to Digital Capital Week at the Media Bistro Social Times happy hour. I run into Nakeva and we start discussing, what else? SEO. In the middle of this jam-packed social scene, cocktails beer and whatnot, we’re totally NERDING OUT on the topic of alt tags and keywords. I immediately knew that she knew and understood the value of search and how PR pros must be thinking like search engines since journalists begin their stories oftentimes with search engines. I asked Nakeva to speak, Gia our intern began corresponding with her and the rest is SEO history so to speak.

Take Aways

If you weren’t at the presentation, you missed a great learning opportunity and some great coffee. But we used the hashtag #BSEO4B. Enjoy a few of these choice “Twitter Takeaways,” but be sure to search the hashtag on your own, and add your own SEO tips there as well.

@alexpriest Press releases should always be SEO’d too. Everything goes online. #BSEO4B

@jaywalk1 Quote of the day: “Title is your intro, your blog’s strobe lights. Subtitle is your blog’s red carpet.” #BSEO4B

@socialmediadc: Tips for bloggers. Link when appropriate to your competitors. Great for SEO. #BSEO4B

@ccooks3 Tagging metadata for photos is like having invisible keywords #BSEO4B

@misstorilynn The light bulb just came on. I know what my new blog will be about. Thanks to #BSEO4B for sparking that plug.

Additional Reading:

PR Pros Should Write for Search Engines

5 Ways to Repurpose Blog Content for SEO

The other day I got a note from Devon, the Spring intern. She was telling me how her summer and fall were shaping up work-wise and thanking me for the opportunity to work with me and learn on the job. Devon has lined up internships with two PR firms and is on her way. I’m so excited for her. Devon composed a letter for our readers and I wanted to share it with you.

My Internship Experience at Mopwater and MLMG

How much do you really learn when you copy your notes off a powerpoint presentation?  A lot of students sit at their desks, staring at state-of-the-art projectors on the wall, without even attempting to grasp the concepts that their professors are trying to share with them.  There is only so much you can learn from inside a classroom.  Real, hands-on experience is the only way to learn the ropes of the industry and get a head start on your professional career.  This became apparent to me during my first public relations internship.

In the classroom, I had written countless press releases and public relations documents for fictitious companies.  In most cases, just writing the average inverted pyramid style news release was enough.  As a student, it was easy to write a press release without worrying about the outcome.  I mean, who was going to get hurt if I got a B instead of an A on that one assignment?  The company did not exist and therefore they suffered no economic loss or failure due to my inability to sell their product or service.

My internship with Miller Littlejohn Media Group opened my eyes to the real pressures of the industry.  I immediately panicked after I got my first assignment to write a press release for Amanda’s event in January, Twitch!: Public Relations in the Age of Social Media. This was no longer a press release that would be read only by a professor; instead it had to grab the attention of every journalist who glanced at it.  I remember the first draft I wrote was plain to put it nicely.  Amanda met with me after I sent her the first draft to explain the undeniable importance of an “angle”.  “If you want a journalist to read what you have to say, then you better be giving them something that is essential to the lives of their readers,” she told me.

This was just one of the many invaluable lessons I learned while working for Miller Littlejohn Media Group.  Sure, I had been told this in the classroom, but I never saw the consequences.  The business world was no longer an image of my imagination, rather I was part of it and Amanda and her company were depending on me to complete certain tasks and to complete them well.

While working alongside Amanda, I gained knowledge of the skills necessary for the job, as well as how to find and keep a job in public relations.  Most importantly, she taught me the importance of being able to sell “me”.  While selling a product is extremely important, you must first prove that you are a valuable asset to a given company or firm if you want to survive and thrive in the PR industry.

Personally, I never learned these lessons from sitting in a classroom.  The knowledge I have gained from working for a real company is the reason for my current success. I know that my education and my career would not be where they are today if I didn’t have this internship.  I am grateful for the opportunities Amanda gave me and the lessons she passed on.  If I could give any advice to other students out there, it would be to dive in head first and learn the industry from someone who has mastered it.

Follow Devon on Twitter

Looking for a PR Internship? I am always looking for a few resourceful, mature, hard-working, social media savvy interns in various locales. Email info (at) millerlittlejohnmedia (dot) com for more information.

Want more great advice for your PR career? Order your copy of the Mopwater Manual.

Cablevision, Director of Media Relations (NYC Area)

Responsible for the development and implementation of media, and public relations activities in support of Cablevision’s consumer phone, cable and high-speed Internet services and related company programs and initiatives. Candidates with journalism and/or political campaign experience preferred, successful candidates will also have experience initiating effective PR campaigns on social media and Web 2.0 platforms.

The Director will create media relations campaigns, communicate with a diverse array of media including consumer, trade, online and wire service, and facilitate interaction between senior executives and external audiences. Must have 5+ years relevant experience developing highly effective PR initiatives in a fast-paced corporate or agency environment and be a self-starter with excellent written, verbal and platform skills, inherent curiosity and meticulous attention to detail.

To apply, send resumes to execrecruit (at) cablevision (dot) com

Domus VP Public Relations Account Director, Los Angeles

A full-service marketing communications agency located in Philadelphia has an immediate opening for a results-oriented VP Public Relations Account Director to work in Los Angeles.  The ideal candidate will demonstrate the ability to think strategically, pitch creatively, and utilize the full range of traditional, new-media, and social media Public Relations tactics to garner national, local, trade and broadcast placements for a high-profile client in the home furnishings category.

This position involves managing day-to-day activities for the client as well as hands-on research, conceiving, writing and polishing Public Relations correspondence, managing existing media contacts, and proactively seeking new opportunities for placements to ensure total client satisfaction.  Must possess strong business sense and financial aptitude.

Candidate should possess 7+ years experience.  Candidate MUST possess strong national media AND home furnishings background.  Culinary experience a plus.  Please forward resume and salary requirements to:  humanresources (at) domusinc (dot) com.  No phone calls please.

Online Community Organizer for Netcentric Campaigns in Washington, D.C.

The Online Community Organizer will develop strategies and projects to build a strong online community across a national network of organizations working to prevent childhood obesity.  The Online Community Organizer is responsible for facilitating the development of emerging online projects supporting the community and providing instructional technology support through online coaching and training.

The ideal candidate is experienced in internet strategy, online organizing, and online political or advocacy campaigns. She or he will excel at developing organizing strategies and empowering community leaders, be capable of translating user needs into functional specifications for online applications, and be responsible for meeting project goals and deadlines.

The Online Community Organizer will be organized and will thrive in the fast-paced tempo of an online campaign.  He or she will successfully balance the management of internal staff, clients, and vendors and will be enthusiastic, diplomatic, determined and quick witted.  The Online Community Organizer will also adapt well to a small but growing team and will bring along a blend of curiosity and professional courtesy.

Please send your resume, a cover letter, one writing sample (such as a blog post, e-newsletter, or short proposal) and at least 3 professional references toocoresumes (at) greenmediatoolshed (dot) 0rg.  Green Media Toolshed is an equal opportunity employer.

The Pew Center on the States Senior Associate Communications in Washington, DC

[Courtesy of FlackRabbit.com] A division of the Pew Charitable Trusts, is looking for a Senior Associate, Communications to be an active member of a campaign team working with the media at the local, state and federal levels. This position requires a minimum of 4 years experience in media relations and campaign communications, preferably with public policy or nonprofit advocacy organizations. Must have excellent writing skills and the ability to thrive in a creative, fast-paced and highly professional work place that emphasizes excellence, collegiality and teamwork.

Interested candidates should apply online and also email your resume directly to jlaudano (at) pewtrusts (dot) org.

So this Thursday, May 6 at Busboys and Poets, I have the distinct pleasure of hosting an awesome panel of Washington, DC journalists to talk social media for the second installment of Twitch! Public Relations in the Age of Social Media. For talk two, PoliTwitch we’re hosting journalists who focus on political reporting, and I must tell you we’ve got some heavy hitters who you won’t want to miss. Haven’t gotten your ticket yet? Register here.

Our moderator will be Peter Cherukuri, the DC Bureau Manager of the Huffington Post-and the real media mogul in the room for the evening. I hear he’s going to be talking about some of the HuffPo’s newest social media endeavors which should be exciting. And perhaps even newsbreaking.

We’re honored to have Mark Preston, Political Editor for CNN and editor of CNN’s Political Ticker.

Patrick Gavin from Politico will also be on the panel. He’s a staff writer for Politico and editor of Politico’s new “On Media” blog, which you can ask him about in person. You can see him below interviewing David Gregory on the new Meet the Press set.

Roll Call’s Jackie Kucinich will also be at the table as well as the National Partnership for Women and Family Policy Manager Rachna Choudhry, and of course me, Amanda Miller Littlejohn and my husband Marc Littlejohn the organizers and hosts.

Here’s what we’re going to be talking about:

• how social media and new media technologies have transformed the way news is reported
• how political and advocacy issues make it to the top of the news heap
• how organizations are using social media to set themselves apart from their competitors and get news coverage

So bring your questions for these decision makers in the news business. You won’t want to miss this discussion.

Like everyone else, journalists are using social media to multitask, carry on multiple conversations and be in more place at one time. Of course this ends up meaning they are able to communicate with more potential sources than ever before. The limitations of communication are (almost) removed, creating a hyper-journalism. Kinda like journalism on steroids.

PR pros consider these limitless pathways to communication in a pitching context of course, but it’s nice to know that journalists think of it that way as well. Thanks goes to DC Social Media Examiner Mary Fletcher Jones for capturing this great footage at Twitch! Public Relations in the Age of Social Media, the panel hosted by Mopwater on Thursday evening.  In the clip, Washington Business Journal reporter Jennifer Nycz-Conner discusses how reporting, aided by social media, is akin to cooking on a restaurant range as opposed to on your standard kitchen stove.

[Other #TwitchDC panelists included Jim Long of NBC (@newmediajim), McLean Robbins of Washingtonian Magazine (@deacondoesdc), Jamila Bey of NPR (@jbey), Arthur Delaney of Huffington Post (arthurdelaneyhp) Lindsey Mastis of WUSA9 (lindseymastis)]

Ryan Grim, Senior Congressional Correspondent for the Huffington Post and author of the 2009 Wiley release “This is Your Country on Drugs” was billed as one of 6 speakers for Mopwater PR + Media Notes’ first PR. 2.0 panel  Twitch! Public Relations in the Age of Social Media on Thursday night in Washington, but ended up canceling last minute due to an emergency.

A journalistic emergency?

Not quite. Turns out, it was Grim’s third wedding anniversary, which he obviously could not skip.

Grim sent fellow Huffington Post reporter Arthur Delaney in his stead, and to avoid becoming an official Twitch Ditch, he also sent these responses via email to my questions about his use of social media during his reporting and sourcing.

Mopwater: How has social media changed how you do your job?
RG: The biggest shift I’ve seen is toward IM [instant message], both on Facebook, blackberries, gchat or plain old AIM. People seem more relaxed on IM. So build an IM relationship with a reporter.

Mopwater: How do you use social media to find sources for your stories?

RG: LinkedIn has been an enormous help and is a great way to find people online, as is Facebook. If you want reporters to be able to reach you, make those accounts as public as possible and have a phone number easy to find.

Here’s my broad point: The PR people who are successful for me are the ones who can get through. Getting through is a function of staying ahead of the stream of communication that rushes our way. Once, emailing a reporter was the way to do that, but the inbox now is so stuffed it’ll just get buried. There will continuously be new ways to stay ahead, though. Facebook chatting is a good and underused way now. Some reporters might get annoyed at getting a FB ping from a PR flak, but whatever. It’s not your job to make us happy, just to get our attention. A direct Twitter message would get through, too, as would a tweet with my handle in it. Reporters are always out there looking to see what people are tweeting or writing about their work, so you can trap us that way.

Join the Mopwater Facebook Fan Page

You haven’t heard from me in a while because I have been working day and night putting together the very first Mopwater PR + Media Notes Panel, and it promises to be amazing. If you’re in the Washington, DC area, you won’t want to miss it. If you’re not, hopefully we can do some sort of recap for those of you who could not attend.

If you manage the public’s perception of your company or are concerned with increasing your organization’s media exposure in 2010, you will want to attend Twitch! Public Relations in the Age of Social Media. If you are like 80% of PR professionals who participated in the VOCUS fall survey on PR planning for 2010, you will be focusing more on social media this year. And if you are working in the nonprofit world, you probably can relate to the 85% of nonprofit executives polled by Weber Shandwick who say social media will be demanding a larger share of nonprofit spending dollars in 2010. But how do you harness the power of social media to get traditional media coverage? How do you embark upon, what I like to call, “social media relations?”

Find out how at Twitch! This event will feature a panel of working journalists who use social media daily to interact with PR professionals, communicators and the public. Think of this event as a “How to Pitch 2.0 Workshop.” Come with your questions about how to effectively use social media to land traditional media coverage. Learn how journalists are accepting pitches and twitches via twitter and Facebook, what they like and what they hate. Do some networking and  workshop the idea of social media relations.

Twitch! Public Relations in the Age of Social Media
Thursday, Jan 14, 2010
Busboys and Poets Langston Room
2021 14th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20009
Cost: $20
Note: Space is limited. We can’t accept payment on-site. You must register online through Eventbrite.

Register Online

Panel

Moderator:
Jim Long, NBC Universal / Verge New Media, LLC (@newmediajim)

Panelists:
Jennifer Nycz-Conner, Washington Business Journal (@jenconner)

Lindsey Mastis, WUSA News Channel 9 (@lindseymastis)

Ryan Grim, Huffington Post / Author of “This Is Your Country on Drugs.” (@ryangrim)

Jamila Bey, National Public Radio and WAMU (@jbey)

McLean Robbins, Washingtonian and DC Modern Luxury Magazines (@deacondoesdc)

Organizer:
Amanda Miller Littlejohn, Miller Littlejohn Media Group / Mopwater PR + Media Notes / Author of “The Mopwater PR + Media Notes Manual for a Stellar PR Career” (@amandamogul)

Other fun stuff:

RSVP on LinkedIn

RSVP on Facebook

Join the Mopwater Facebook Fan Page

When referencing the event, before during and after, please use the #TwitchDC hashtag on Twitter.

Eleventh Hour Requests: Turn it down or turn it around?

Ah the constant considerations and mental multi-tasking that make up the ever-evolving job description of the public relations professional. We’re the unofficial keeper of the company brand. The assessor of image and public sentiment. But we also keep up with the daily duties that must be made systematic; the tasks that without our thinking must become second nature, commonplace, routine.

Long-range and short range pitching and planning.  Searching for angles, securing opportunities for spokespersons, leveraging excitement around campaigns/seasons/holidays. The list goes on. Yet all of these tasks fit neatly into a package that clients and the public will eventually see as a finished, polished product.

But how do we get there? And how do we handle those eleventh hour requests from would-be clients who think it’s so easy to get there?

How many times have you been approached by an amazing potential client with an amazing story or an amazing product for which you could create an amazing pitch except this would-be client gave you absolutely no time to do your job? As in, one week to pull off a campaign? Or better yet two days? [Yes, this has happened to me.]

While this may fly at a large agency that has minions working around the clock, you may be dealing with 2-3 people max when you are working with a smaller firm. As PRos, we have to ask for, no, we have to demand time. And this may mean explaining that hey, when you work with a smaller firm you’re not dealing with layers of bureaucracy, or dozens of junior staff members.  You’re dealing with a greater attention to detail, a higher level of customer service, and of course a lower overhead.

Don’t be ashamed to turn down a project because there isn’t enough time to turn it around. Believe it or not, just because you are a public relations pro, doesn’t make you a magician. As with anything else, it takes time to do a thorough job and produce professional results. Clients expect nothing less than that from you. Demand that same level of professionalism from your clients.

When you are running your own consultancy, it’s easy to get caught up in how to get clients, keep clients, and how to get more out of clients. The client chase as I like to call it, is probably the number one consumer of a consultant’s time, outside of doing actual consulting work. We’re so obsessed with getting and growing that we sometimes fail to take the time to think long and hard about the people who we have supporting us.

Because at one point or another, you will come to depend on the services of a freelancer or subcontractor to help you with your client work. While you’ve heard me talk about the kind of clients to avoid, there also quite a few subcontractors to avoid, too.  Here are a few subcontractors to steer clear of:

The Diva Don’t let the feminine title fool you: a diva can be male or female. It’s the attitude and behavior of this dangerous contractor that will clue you in. Divas are generally very inexperienced and lack business acumen; they don’t understand the ins and outs of running a business so their actions and attitudes indicate as much.

The diva wants to do all of the glamorous things-attend red carpet events, get photographed, hook her friends up with VIP tickets, mix and mingle with the client or worse yet, the stars. But the diva does not want to do the simple tasks that keep the firm afloat. The diva does not want to be told what to do; the diva wants to tell you what she’s going to do.

There are service-oriented divas. The copywriter who can’t stand to be edited.The graphic designer who refuses to grant client requests because said requests will diminish “the integrity” of his “artistic work”.  Whatever the case may be, all divas have similar core characteristics: they think that somehow they are above instruction or menial tasks. They think you’re an idiot, and that they should already be running the show.

The Ditz Don’t we all know a ditz? This lovable character somehow makes it past even the most stringent screening processes and finds him or herself at work in the best firms. You know the ditz: you have to repeat everything to him 3 times. You spend so much time explaining a task that you wonder to yourself, would it have been faster to have just done it yourself. Read the full story

The ability to create a sound strategy to promote an event, person, product or cause lies at the core of our profession. That means making judgment calls about what medium or combination of media to use when crafting a good pitch. Increasingly, spreading the word and generating buzz requires a multitiered, multifaceted and multimedia approach. In addition to the original channels of media, we must continue to push the envelope and learn creative ways to attract attention and engender the compassion of our target audience-whether they are reporters at the Wall Street Journal or consumers.

This video for Share Our Strength is a great and inspiring example of this outside-of-the-box thinking. Created by the genius creative minds at Washington, DC-based iStrategyLabs, the video is beautifully scripted and animated. And what’s more, it’s scored with original music. Can you imagine sending this thing to a journalist as your pitch?

You know the feeling. You’re working on a new project and you’re in the zone. Your brain is rapid firing idea after idea; you’re drowning in a deluge of creativity. You’re thinking to yourself, “Wow...this client is doing some amazing work in the community,” or “This campaign is briliant; it’s so cutting-edge, the PR element needs to be over the top…” Especially when you have a new client whom you are trying desperately to impress, it seems that the ideas just keep coming and coming; you’re ready to produce the YouTube video and tie the Twitter campaign to a creative giveaway. PR superhero to the rescue!

Not so fast. Hang your cape back up on its hook.

If you find yourself working on a project and the scope seems to grow in medias res, take the time to solidify the details of your compensation before you continue doing your work. It can be nearly impossible to do for those of us who tend to get inspired and want to just do the good work. But a big part of our jobs as communications professionals, frankly, is communicating these evolving scopes with our clients.  Educating the client on how long things take, what steps are involved and how much things cost is all a part of that communications challenge.

Should you find yourself ready to rush to save the day, keep these things in mind first:

Don’t Squeeze: The same way you wouldn’t try to squeeze size 8 thighs into size 2 jeans, don’t try to fit a 2-Year campaign Into a 6-Month Contract. When you do, you’re setting yourself up for failure. If your client has limited time and goals that would normally exceed the time frame, let them know that in the future they should plan ahead so that everyone has the time to do a great job. And then let them know what in your professional opinion can be successfully achieved in the time they have left. Read the full story