IN THIS ISSUE: November 1, 2001 To Archive Index New Ways To Get Publicity Online REPORT: Secrets Of Effective Press Release Distribution Our Readers Ask Guest Article: Get Your Facts Correct

Hi dear everybody: I tried to write this message at least a dozen times since Sept. 11. Words just wouldn’t come. Until now. On September 11, I became a modern version of a hibakusha. That’s what Japanese people who lived through the Hiroshima atomic bombings in World War II called themselves. This translates to "explosion-affected persons." They were careful not to refer to themselves as "survivors" because that word’s emphasis on being alive could slight the sacred dead. I saw the first plane hit the Trade Center while walking my dog, Sam. The building where I lived and worked — just a few blocks south of the Twin Towers — was evacuated immediately after the second plane hit. I watched as both buildings were hit; saw people jump from the highest floors as the fires raged; realized that the buildings would come down; and ran with thousands of other people from the smoke and noise that turned a beautiful morning into a holocaust. I have no memory of the two hours after the first building fell. Sam and I finally got on a ferry and ended up in a hospital in New Jersey, where they treated me for smoke inhalation. I hope those lost hours never come back. We are now in a new apartment, a long way from Ground Zero, but all I need to do for an instant replay is close my eyes. Hoping for understanding and closure, I’ve gone many times to look at the site, weeping and praying for all the lost souls. After work, people gather quietly at the barricades around the site to watch those at work. At night, eerily lit by klieg lights, it’s a vision of true evil. Nothing you’ve seen on TV or in print can come close to visiting the still-smoking ruins. From some angles, it looks like a twisted — and weirdly beautiful -- Gothic cathedral. Nothing can duplicate the smell that invades your being, reminding you that people are what’s in the rubble. The dust on the ground is people. The smell is a dozen different noxious chemicals released from the lights, walls, wires and concrete. And people. Please don’t forget the many thousands of souls lost among the rubble. Please don’t forget that life is not getting back to normal for the families and other victims. Please don’t ever forget September 11, 2001.

NEW WAYS TO GET PUBLICITY FOR YOUR COMPANY:
SAIL RIGHT PAST TRADITIONAL MEDIA GATEKEEPERS

By B.L. Ochman

While the Internet has radically changed the way we communicate, one constant remains: no business can succeed until people know it exists. Being able to gain press and public exposure for your company, products or services can still make the difference between success and failure.

Today, people have a remarkable number of choices about where to get their news and information. For your message to be heard, you need to know what they are, where they are and how to influence them.

Online and traditional media still provide very important outlets for company news – but they’re no longer the only outlet, or necessarily the best one. And the traditional press release isn’t the way to reach them.

Communication free-for-all
In the past, editors were the gatekeepers between company news and the public, filtering news from innuendo and rumor. Now communication is a free-for-all where you can sail right past the gatekeeper and address your publics directly and seamlessly. Find the right strategy for your story and buzz will follow. Without the right approach, all the press releases, flossy press kits, press conferences and speeches in the world mean squat.

Getting your message heard through the noise online and off requires seeing PR from a new perspective. The new PR – which I call Reality PR TM -- means understanding how people use the Internet to gather and disseminate information about companies and their products.

Your communication objective in these new mediums is to establish credibility, create awareness of your existence, and make potential customers want to take a look at your site. Along the way, you’re likely to be picked up by traditional journalists’ radar.

Broad reach through e-zines and newsletters
While magazines online and off are suffering a huge drop in advertising or closing their doors, scores of online newsletters are going strong, and many have circulations in the hundreds of thousands. Many take article submissions. Self-serving trumpetry will be summarily rejected by all publishers. However, your short bio at the end of an article that has value for readers allows you to promote your business.

Speaking as a newsletter publisher, I can tell you that the vast majority of submissions I get are on inappropriate topics, sent by people who clearly have never read my newsletter. As with any other type of promotion, you must do your homework and personalize your inquiries.

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Directories of e-zines and online newsletters include:

• http://ezine-universe.com/ which lists nearly 8,000 e-zines and newsletters
• http://www.marketing-seek.com, which allows you to list your articles on their site so publishers can select them.

Brave new outlets
Unique to the Internet are content-community hybrids where millions of people each day get together to learn from, educate, or help eachother through the exchange of information, gossip and news covering niche fields. These include:

• About.com, a network consisting of over 700 Guide sites neatly organized into 36 channels. The sites cover more than 50,000 subjects with over one million links to Internet resources and a huge archive of original content. Topics range from pregnancy to cars, palm pilots to painting, weight loss to video game strategies.

Guides at about.com and other communities are in constant need of sources and are more likely to listen to you than, say, a reporter for Fortune. And since many about.com guides reach millions of people, your inclusion here can be far-reaching.

• Wz.com, a network of experts and enthusiasts who provide information in newsletters that can be read in 45 seconds. Subjects range from gourmet cooking on a budget to how to build Web Site traffic and sales, and some have circulations of half a million.

You can apply to become a wz-ard with your own newsletter on a topic in which you have expertise. If you’re not willing to make the commitment to a weekly or bi-weekly newsletter, you can become a source to those who publish newsletters.

• smallbusiness.com is a knowledge-sharing community that helps small businesses make better decisions through the free exchange of advice on a wide range of issues and products. Members rate the quality of advice offered by other members and those who most actively help others are highlighted.
  
  You can upload articles you have written on a given category. Blatant self-promotion will be ignored or flamed. If you provide truly useful information and are willing to answer questions about it, you are quite likely to attract new customers.

Usenet newsgroups, around since the Web began, are another brave new outlet for publicity. If you are willing to forgo marketing prattle and provide helpful information you can become a respected member of a given community.

You can find a searchable directory of Usenet groups at Google, Among well-known online communities are:

• The Well a members-only international cluster of electronic villages on the Internet, which people join for a $10 - $15 a month fee. Subjects range from jazz to Java, and each "conference" has a distinct style and its own loyal participants. Membership includes unlimited participation in hundreds of conferences, with an optional WELL homepage.
• CIX a not-for-profit organization that provides a forum for the exchange of ideas, information, and experimental projects among suppliers of Internet services.
• Tabletalk discussion communities created when Salon was launched and now a subscription service, many of which focus on particular products or services.
  
  While they might not appreciate unsolicited announcements, responding to inquiries in a related group would certainly be permissible. Marketing rhetoric would be poorly received.

Formulaic releases are a waste of time with these non-traditional outlets. Tailor your participation to the highly segmented, but fiercely loyal audiences and you can reach the heart of new media opportunity.

OUR READERS ASK

Dear B.L.:

My boss wants me to prepare a presentation that compares the features of various software products. Do I need to inform the vendors, or get permission to use their names? It will be a balanced, fair, objective comparison, nothing slanderous in any way but is there anything I need to do to protect us from possible negative vendor feedback?

Hi Judith: I just issued a report called "Secrets of Effective Press Release Distribution" I tested and evaluated a variety of services used for distributing press releases. I informed each company that I was publishing a report and I think you should too.

Even if you give an unfavorable review you still have the right to publish your information.
In addition to marketing and PR consulting, I work as a journalist and I certainly do not write a favorable article about everything I cover.

So, no, I don't think you need to worry about negative vendor feedback -- but you do need to be objective and present the facts fairly. When you offer an opinion be sure to clearly identify it as analysis.

Good luck,
B.L.
Have a question? Contact me at BLOchman@whatsnextonline.com

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Guest Article:

GET YOUR FACTS CORRECT

by Gerry McGovern

Fact checking is an essential content skill. It’s the last thing that should be done with content before it is published. Writing, revising and editing content can all introduce errors. Numbers, dates, quotes, website addresses, names of people and organizations, can end up incorrect.

Fact checking ensures that the appropriate corrections are made. Fact checking is a difficult and time-consuming process. Even in traditional publishing, it is often not properly done.

I’m a fan of the songwriter Lou Reed. For years I thought his real name was Louis ‘Firbank,’ because in practically every music encyclopedia I read, that was his given real name. Then I read an article by legendary rock journalist Lester Bangs on how Lou Reed became Louis Firbank.
Bangs had been editor of Creem Magazine and as a joke in the letters page, wrote that Lou Reed’s real name was Firbank. This ‘joke’ got picked up by one publisher, then another, then another …

The last issue of New Thinking mentioned a report by the Markle Foundation. I had problems finding its website because a Reuters news story I read called it the ‘Merkle’ Foundation. Now, you would think that an organization as reputable as Reuters would get their facts correct. Maybe it’s something to do with the pressure to publish quickly on the Web.

It is almost impossible to get everything you write 100 percent correct. Most readers understand this and will excuse a minor mistake or two. Think of yourself as a car dealer. Think of every minor mistake you make as a ‘scratch’ on that new car you’re trying to sell. (Major mistakes are like engine faults.)

Here are a number of things to do to avoid getting too many ‘scratches’ on your content:

• Print out the content you’re going to fact check. Read it line by line and make a note or mark beside every fact you need to check
• A fact-checking and editing trick is to start at the end of the document with a ruler. Put the ruler underneath the last line. Gradually push it upwards through the document, as you read the text right from left, watching out only for facts that need checking
• Be sceptical and investigative. Don’t accept anything just because it comes from a ‘reputable’ source
• Never rely on a single source. Always try to find at least two or three sources to confirm a particular fact. If a source you come across conflicts, then spread your net wider
• If an organization is being named, go to its website, and/or find official documentation that will confirm how it spells its name
• If the document contains website links, copy ‘n’ paste them into a browser and test them out so as to ensure that each link is correct
• Be extra careful with dates and numbers. Watch out for zeros and commas in numbers. Also, check whether it says ‘millions,’ when in fact it should say ‘billions’

Author and consultant, Gerry McGovern, has spoken, written and consulted extensively on Web content management issues over the last eight years. Subscribe to his extraordinary free weekly newsletter New Thinking Newsletter covering the role and function of content on the Web.

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