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“Chow Down: How to Use Friendfeed for Better PR”

Chris Apollo Lynn — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:41:33 +0000

So we’ve held off on posting about Friendfeed for several months. As adoption has slowly increased, we have started to warm up to it. While it may be too soon to ditch Twitter and throw all your efforts into Friendfeed, it can be a great tool to add to your arsenal. Today, socialTNT takes a look at some of the ways Friendfeed can help you build relationships and more effectively reach your target reporters and bloggers.

What is Friendfeed?

Friendfeed is a “social aggregator”
In non-Valley speak: Friendfeed is like the Facebook newsfeed, except it lists all the actions you do across more than 43 sites, including YouTube, Flickr, StumbleUpon, Digg and LinkedIn
Also like Facebook, you can share items directly into your feed.
Most exciting: Every action in the feed becomes a blog post, letting you comment in a conversation thread

Friendfeed for Media Research

To be the good PR person that you are, you do your due diligence by reading all articles and post by your target journos and blogos–if not daily, then before you reach out to them.

With Friendfeed, you can see:

All of their latest posts
What they are reading
Twitter-feed
Pictures of the fam
Videos

Take a look at the page from Chris Nuttall of Financial Times (click to enlarge):

You can stay up-to-date with any of the blogos or journos you follow by adding their feed to your reader. Scroll down to the bottom of the feed and click the RSS Logo:

Get Involved With a Reporter’s/Blogger’s Community

Friendfeed isn’t just a stalking device, it’s a great opportunity for PR peeps to form relationships and have conversations not usually possible.

Become a member of the reporter’s or blogger’s community by:
- Adding thoughtful comments to their items
- Participating in discussions

Check out the screenshot, below, from Robert Scoble’s feed. The red box shows you where to go to comment. Click “more” to link to this item or share it with your feed.

Click on “more comments” (as indicated by the green box, above) to see the full conversation thread related to that action’s comments. Robert even answers comments:

Getting Started with Friendfeed

Sign up for a free account
Add the info from the sites you want to share
Add me
Add some Reporters/Bloggers (a few listed below)
Join “Rooms” or groups based on your interests or your clients’ industry
Share posts, articles, interesting thoughts

Reporters and bloggers on Friendfeed

Just a small sample:

With Friendfeed and Twitter, you have a great non-intrusive way to get to know reporters and bloggers. You also get the chance to join their community and share ideas. Go ahead and give it a shot!

Also, check out the new widgets Friendfeed (like a Blogger Badge, Share This, RSS and others) has recently launched. It also looks like they are trying to speed up RSS. Cool!

Are you using Friendfeed? What has your experience been like? Like/dislike? Let us know in the comments!

Like what you read? Add our RSS feed! [what’s that?]. Or start your morning with socialTNT in your InBox! Or read Chris 24-7 on Twitter!

“3sday’s 3Q’s in 3Min: Paull Young, Young PR Blog”

Chris Apollo Lynn — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 02:01:19 +0000

Like the cold front that rolls in during late Spring, today’s “3sdays 3Q’s in 3Min” is so cool, it’ll make you put your hoodie back on.

Every Thursday, socialTNT channels the spirit of citizen journalism by putting bloggers, reporters, PR pro’s or anyone with something to say about social media in front of the camera for a short, three minute interview. In addition to helping PR peeps pitch these individuals more effectively, the videos are meant to encourage dialog between reporters, PR/communications practitioners and marketers on the future of media.

While at interactive marketing and advertising conference ad:tech, socialTNT had the chance to catch up with fellow PR blogger Paull Young. We’ve enjoyed Paull’s blog, the Young PR Blog, for quite some time and couldn’t wait to hear what he had to say. In today’s interview, Paull gives some advice to graduating communications students entering the workforce, and offers some tips to social media pr and marketers on how best to listen to your audiences.

Paull started off his career doing traditional PR at a Sports PR firm. In December of 2005, Paull started blogging his experiences as a freshly graduated PR professional. Less than a year later, Paull shot to celebrity status in the blogosphere by launching an “Anti-Astroturfing” campaign with Trevor Cook in July 2006. In March 2007, Paull left the big island of Australia for the Big Apple to join Constantin Basturea at social media communications firm Converseon.

As Paull’s career has evolved, so has his blog. No longer just a chronicle of his progression up the PR ranks, it now includes tons of tips, tricks, strategy and case studies. Check out this great post on using Twitter to form a conversation.

Fun Facts About Paull:

Noted as being Australia’s first student PR blogger
Huge Rugby Fan
Conducted a world tour to meet with fellow bloggers
In addition to Twitter and LinkedIn, you can also find Paull blogging at Forward
Paull’s mom is also a blogger!
Was recently on Fox News giving advice to Small Biz peeps

Watch as Paull explains the differences he’s encountered moving from traditional PR to strictly social media, gives advice to new PR pros entering the workplace, and shares a secret about listening to your audience.

How do you track the conversation around your clients? What advice can you give students graduating in May?

If you haven’t done so, please join PROpenMic, Robert French’s social network for communications students. They’d love to hear your insight

No time to watch the video at work? Get “3Q’s in 3Min” free from iTunes and watch it on the go!

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“3sday’s 3Q’s in 3Min: Mike Rothman, Security Incite”

Chris Apollo Lynn — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:01:23 +0000

No time to check out the spring wildflowers in bloom? No problem, today’s “3sdays 3Q’s in 3Min” is just as fresh and colorful.

This week, socialTNT is at the world’s largest security expo, the RSA Conference. While there, we ran into Principal Analyst and Blogger at Security Incite, Mike Rothman. Since Mike is a blogging analyst who was once a VP of Marketing, I was really psyched when he agreed to an interview. In today’s “3Q’s in 3Min,” Mike tells how he likes to get pitched and the value of a blog for brand building.

Mike has been in the security industry for over 15 years. Starting out as an analyst, he spent the mid-90′s as a VP at IT research firm The META Group. After that, Mike served as VP of Marketing at a couple of software firms. In 2006, Mike founded Security Incite, an analyst firm specializing in information security. With the founding of the company, Mike also started blogging. Alongside the bog, Mike has a highly circulated, daily newsletter and just recently started podcasting.

Known for offering a “no bull” take on information security, Mike’s blog aims to create a conversation between buyers, consumers and product manufacturers. He can’t stand product messaging that sets the wrong expectation for buyers, and will write a harsh reality-check, should he cover your product. Mike’s “Security Incite Rants” have pissed off many a CEO, but like any conversation, Mike encourages them to respond in the comments.

To marketers, Mike strongly recommends they jump on board the blog train as a great way to get their voice out and build thought leadership. He also believes in Karma, stating that you get what you give. While many marketers might shudder at the thought of giving away free products, Mike readily offers a free monthly analyst report to his readers. His reasoning: Karma–you have to give to get.

Fun Facts About Mike:

Lives just outside of Atlanta
Mac user
Used to have a column in Network World
Not on Twitter (he thinks that it’s not an important communication channel for his target demo)
Is on LinkedIn

Mike hopes that today’s video will help slow the tide of bad pitches in his Inbox. Watch as he tells us how to pitch a blogger and the best way your spokesperson to respond to a bad post. Also find out why Mike thinks blogging is so important for small businesses.

I like Mike’s take on blogging and the importance of distribution to increase the conversation amongst like-minded individuals. How has blogging changed you or your company’s role in the industry? Has the increased conversation changed your outlook on industry topics?

No time to watch the video at work? Get “3Q’s in 3Min” free from iTunes and watch it on the go!

Also, don’t miss a post: Drop socialTNT into your RSS reader [what’s that?]. Better yet, subscribe to socialTNT by email!

“3sday’s 3Q’s in 3 Min: Chris Parandian, MobileDiner.com”

Chris Apollo Lynn — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 01:01:26 +0000

Pardon our radio silence; we’ve been at CTIA Wireless in Las Vegas. (Almost) live from Vegas, it’s “3sdays 3Q’s in 3Min.”

While at CTIA, socialTNT met up with MobileDiner.com‘s Chris Parandian. If you or your client is in the Wireless space, pay attention. In today’s “3Q’s in 3Min,” Chris tells us more why he loves social media and shares his CTIA show faves.

Unless you’ve got the clout of GigaOm or TechCrunch, most bloggers don’t blog full time. Whether full-time or not, most bloggers are pretty passionate in the niche they cover. Chris is no exception.

Offline, Chris works as a mobile policy consultant. Not surprisingly, MobileDiner.com is a forum for consumers and feds to learn about the ins and outs of wireless policy. Don’t let the nichey-ness scare you, Chris also covers mobile startups or innovators that change the ways people connect and communicate. He’s also the founder of the DC-based, new media firm Tin Can Communications, so you’ll also notice posts on social media or marketing and PR.

Chris and I have been following each other on Twitter for sometime. Last month, he also covered news from one of my clients, so it was great to finally meet him in person. Even though both of us were over-stimulated and running on little sleep, we had a great conversation.

In the following video, Chris tells us more about his blog/beat and explains what he likes most about social media. He also drops his best-of-shows at CTIA 2008.

No time to watch the video at work? Get “3Q’s in 3Min” free from iTunes and watch it on the go!

Also, don’t miss a post: Drop socialTNT into your RSS reader [what’s that?]. Better yet, subscribe to socialTNT by email!

[Above photo courtesy of Jeff Pulver]

“3sday’s 3Q’s in 3 Min: Jon Swartz, USA Today”

Chris Apollo Lynn — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 21:02:39 +0000

After Spring Break hiatus, “3sdays 3Q’s in 3Min” is back with a star-studded episode.

This Thursday socialTNT meets with Jon Swartz, Technology Reporter at USA Today. Over the last year, Jon has moved away from covering just security. His beat has really moved to include social networking, big firms like Yahoo and AOL, and tech from the West Coast point of view. In this week’s episode, Jon share some of the social media elements USA Today is rolling out and also tells us why he loves social networking for PR.

Jon has been covering technology since 1987. Working his way through the ranks of MacWeek, San Francisco Chronicle and Forbes, Jon now resides at USA Today. If you have a non-gadget tech client, he may be a good contact. Pitch him before 11AM PT.

Fun Facts About Jon:

Learned the ins and outs of PR (including a blog and YouTube video) while on tour for his upcoming book with Byron Acohido, “Zero Day Threat,” discussing how banks and credit companies help hackers steal your identity
Microsoft is to Apple what Hillary is to Obama. Discuss.
Not on Twitter, but on LinkedIn
Thinks Walt Mossberg could beat Ed Baig in a mud wrestling fight
Has season tickets to SF Giants
Starts his morning with print editions of New York Times and LA Times. Then moves into WSJ Online and GigaOm.

If you haven’t seen some of the cool things USA Today is doing with blogs and video, check it out. Watch as Jon tells us more about his beat, explains how social networking has changed the PR pitch and then completely HIJACKS my interview!

Have you included social networking into your outreach? Do your spokespeople include their facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or IM when speaking with reporters? Should they?

No time to watch the video at work? Get “3Q’s in 3Min” free from iTunes and watch it on the go!

Also, don’t miss a post: Drop socialTNT into your RSS reader [what’s that?]. Better yet, subscribe to socialTNT by email!

“3sday’s 3Q’s in 3 Min: Liz Gannes, NewTeeVee”

Chris Apollo Lynn — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 01:00:23 +0000

No Valentine? No problem! Today’s “3sday’s 3Q’s in 3 Min” comes with all the sweet sentiment of a box of chocolates, but without that bad stomach ache afterwards.

This Thursday, socialTNT chats with Liz Gannes, Editor of NewTeeVee. In today’s “3 Q’s in 3 Min” Liz shares best practices for PR pros, and also explores the future of online video now that the writers’ strike is over.

In December 2006, Liz left her very PR-pitch popular position as writer covering the Web 2.0 beat at GigaOM to edit NewTeeVee, a new media focused blog published by Om Malik’s Giga Omni Media network. If you or your client is a start-up specializing in some aspect of new media–particularly focusing on the convergence with video or broadband–this is the place to be.

When Liz agreed to the interview and gave me a pier number as an address–and then told me to meet her by the docks–I got a little worried; had I sent a bad pitch and was about to get offed? Silicon Valley can be a bit of a mobster state. Plus, Om’s stogie-smoking imagery and all-encompassing media network are pretty mafia-like. Not so, said Liz. They had just moved and didn’t have any markings up yet.

Fun Facts About Liz:

Before moving to Palo Alto, Liz used to live a couple of blocks from me in SF’s hipster-haven Mission district
Graduated from Dartmouth College with a Bachelors in Linguistics
A night person, she wakes up late and then catches up on the daily news by reading a couple hundred RSS feeds
While not opposed to being pitched through Facebook and Twitter, Liz sees those as personal realms — email is best
Liz organizes the NewTeeVee Pier Screenings in SF
Introduced me to my new Video Valentine: blip.tv

Watch as Liz tells us a little more about her beat, names the most influential new media innovation in 2007, and let’s us know what makes a good communications professional.

What was the most influential new media trend in 2007? Or, for PR pros, how do you add value to your reporter relations? Let us know in the comments!

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[The above photo, “Liz Gannes” by joeywan on flickr, used under Creative Commons.]

“3sday’s 3Q’s in 3 Min: Kara Swisher, All Things D, Part 2”

Chris Apollo Lynn — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 20:01:42 +0000

It’s Thursday. I’m up in the sky on a trip to Austin, and you’re reading “3sday’s 3Q’s in 3 Min.”Every Thursday, socialTNT channels the spirit of citizen journalism by putting bloggers, reporters, PR pro’s or anyone with something to say about social media in front of the camera for a short, three minute interview. In addition to helping PR peeps pitch these individuals more effectively, the videos are meant to encourage dialog between reporters, PR/communications practitioners and marketers on the future of media.

This week is part two of our discussion with Kara Swisher from All Things D. Last week, Kara told us why she LOVES blogging. In this week’s “3Q’s in 3Min,” Kara tells TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington how to “Just Say No” to PR pitches, gives her tips on good PR, and explains the art of good video interviews.

A few days ago, PR pros everywhere sighed with relief; a study came out showing that reporters truly need the relationships they have with their public relations contacts. Although she knows a thousand and one ways to say No, Kara does value a good PR professional. For Kara, PR is more than just a one-night stand. It’s a relationship.

Here are Kara’s tips to becoming a good PR pro:

Know what the reporter writes about
Create and build an ongoing relationship
Bring interesting stuff
Be loyal to your client, but address issues and problems in an honest way

Wanna know more? Watch the video. She’ll even throw in a description of her beat.

What are other traits you think a good PR pro should posses?

On All Things D, Kara obsesses on companies/stories as much as she wants. How does blogging change the traditional media flow of information? Do news bloggers convey stronger opinions through their pieces than a traditional outlet? If so, do you consider that a good thing? Love to hear your thoughts.

Don’t miss out: Add us to your RSS reader, or sign up for our email.

Recommended reading

“3Q’s in 3Min with John Markoff, New York Times, Part 1”

“3Q’s in 3Min with John Markoff, New York Times, Part 2”

“How Media Relations Got Its Groove Back”

[The above photo, "Kara Swisher is looking at YOU, yes YOU. You know who you are." by Mark Montiero on flickr, used under Creative Commons.]

“Amazon PR Tries to Dam the River of News; Flood Ensues”

Chris Apollo Lynn — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 07:09:30 +0000

Oh, Amazon, your recommendations know me so well–maybe not so much on the books (I purchased some X-mas presents for my brother one year, now it thinks I like encryption and security)–but music is spot on. I wish your PR department understood blogger relations nearly as accurately.

This evening, Read/Write Web posted an account of their trials and tribulations of dealing with Amazon’s PR. Here’s what happened:

A week ago, Amazon approaches RWW with a draft of the release under embargo until November 15.
RWW writes post covering Amazon’s news up after 12 AM EST.
RWW woke up next day to see emails from Amazon at 11:59 PM EST–one minute before release time–saying the news was on hold.
More emails from Amazon saying news was not true and was under embargo.
RWW and Amazon PR in discussion throughout the day with Amazon requesting post be taken down.
RWW says they will change the post if Amazon sends statement.
Amazon sends statement written in first person for the blogger to post. Check it out:

“Since the publication of this post, an Amazon spokesperson contacted me to clarify that no announcement was made in regards to support for Open Social. The Amazon spokesperson went on to say that Social network developers have been using the Amazon Associates Web Service to merchandise Amazon products (and earn Associates commissions) for some time. She indicated that Amazon would continue to provide developers with tools that allow them to choose the platform that makes the most sense for them regardless of the Social networking site they are building on. She pointed out…”

RWW blogger Marshall Kirkpatrick (appropriately) reacts with the follow disgust:

I cannot believe they’d send me text written in the first person and expect me to post it under my own name! Not to mention the really uptight language they’ve got that puppet named Marshall using!

Ok, so what went wrong here? Is it really a case of bad blogger relations? Let’s break it down and see what we can learn.

Here are my Amazon Recommendations:

Drafts should never go out. If they absolutely must, then follow-up with the final when it’s available. If you aren’t sure you want it to go out, don’t send it out.
The news cycle has changed–and not just with bloggers. Even traditional pubs will post news online before the print version hits. You can’t pull news by sending an email at 11:59PM and expect compliance. I believe most people will respect an extended embargo, if you make a reasonable effort at timely notification.
Come clean. You made a mistake. It happens. Maybe some miscommunication happened btwn biz dev and marketing or it’s just not ready. Whatever, send a statement or, better yet, post a human comment on the “offending” blog. Don’t hound the blogger to take it off.
(Most important): DONT WRITE A STATEMENT IN THE BLOGGERS VOICE FOR THEM TO POST. Sorry for shouting, but, seriously, you just don’t get it. That assumes SOOO much. And you know what happens when you assume? You make an ass out of u and Jeff Bezos. PR pros should never ever ever tell someone what to write, especially not a blogger!

So, yeah, Amazon will probably cancel my Prime account and I may end up with a horse head in my next order, but if it helps people understand good public relations, then it’s worth it!

Anyone else have any other advice to give to Amazon or aspiring PR folks? Have you ever had to pull news? How did you execute that task and how did it turn out? Love to hear your thoughts.