5 tips for doing your own PR & 10 surprising social media facts

5 Tips for doing your own PR

This article in the New York Times offers 5 good  tips from a data company CEO who has done his own PR for the past five years – these include “accept that your company is not very interesting – yet”, “become part of a bigger narrative” and “be resilient” – all excellent advice.  It’s clear his primary objective in using PR is to generate sales leads and while others might have different objectives e.g. become a Key Opinion Leader in your industry etc – ultimately, people use PR to raise the profile of their business in order to grow it.

http://nyti.ms/1leEJAE

10 Surprising Social Media Facts

Did you know that your biggest advocates have the fewest followers, that brands have 1 hour to respond on Twitter and that Friday is the best day for engagement on Facebook? This is an interesting piece which also states the best days for different topics on Pinterest

http://bit.ly/1w3MEFx

Being a tourist in your own town!

Henry McKean of Newstalk becomes a tourist in Dublin for a few hours taking a tour on the green bus and visiting the Little Museum of Dublin where he talks to one of the founders, Simon O’Connor.  He also chats to both international and domestic tourists enjoying Dublin yesterday.  Disclosure – I’m helping out with some PR for the Little Museum as part of their prize in winning the 2014 David Manley Emerging Entrepreneur Award.

http://www.newstalk.ie/Can-you-be-a-tourist-in-your-own-town

www.linkedin.com/company/diy-pr

www.twitter.com/diyPRireland

how to get tv/radio coverage for your business, sponsorship for "best free thing to do in Europe" & more!

How to get TV/radio coverage for your business

Research the programme you are pitching to, be available, have a killer email pitch and don’t try to plug your company are just some of the tips here from a freelance UK journalist, Janet Murray.  The first one is particularly important and I always advise my diy PR clients if they can’t listen live to programmes they want to be on, listen back online when they have time.  And listen in a different way that you usually do.  Jot down the different segments within a programme – for example, a business programme may start with a review of that day’s business headlines, followed by an interview or discussion of a current topic, followed by a chat with an entrepreneur and so on.  This way, you soon see and hear where you might fit in.

http://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2014/aug/11/radio-tv-coverage-small-business

Rebranding Tips for Non-Profits

There’s some good tips here from a US non-profit, Rainforest Trust on rebranding - including focusing on your mission, polling current and potential donors about your new name and ensuring you have your Board’s support.  But I’m not so hot on the idea of using crowdsourcing to get a new logo.  While it will have obvious appeal to cash-strapped charities, a rebrand is more than a change of name and logo and how many designers will be willing to donate a huge chunk of time knowing that they haven’t been involved in the earlier part of the rebranding process - and that they could be competing against tens, hundreds or even thousands of other designers for a non-paying job?!

http://www.prnewsonline.com/water-cooler/2014/08/06/rebranding-tips-for-nonprofit-organizations/?hq_e=el&hq_m=2926743&hq_l=16&hq_v=aaa5d58855

“Best free thing to do in Europe” gets 3 year sponsorship

The Little Museum of Dublin has secured a 3 year sponsorship with Luas Cross City for its fab initiative described by the Sydney Morning Herald as “the best free thing to do in Europe’ and ‘the cutest tourism campaign probably ever’ by the Huffington Post.  “City of a Thousand Welcomes” is a greeter service which sees volunteers from the Museum (‘ambassadors’) pair with first-time visitors to the city to show them what Irish hospitality really means.  The Ambassador offers advice on the visitor’s trip to the capital over a free cup of tea, coffee or a pint in The Merrion Hotel, Bewleys Café or the Porterhouse Bar.  In the pic above are Grainne Mackin of Luas Cross City and Simon O’Connor of Little Museum of Dublin.  I declare an interest – as part of their prize for winning the 2014 David Manley Emerging Entrepreneur Award, I am helping LMOD out with some PR.

http://www.businessandleadership.com/marketing/item/47064-luas-cross-city-to-sponsor/

www.linkedin.com/company/diy-pr

www.twitter.com/diyPRireland

Fish that work out, 'Flocking to Unlock', how many listeners 4 your fave radio programme?

Fish that work out?!!

The ‘daily specials’ board (see above) at a Dun Laoghaire restaurant gave me a good laugh last week!   I did manage to resist the urge to order the seafood pizza and check out this unusual breed of fish that must work out?!!  On a more serious note, two friends of mine in the editing/writing business rightfully get very, very heated when they see misspellings and/or bad grammar – and I have to say I’m fast joining them!  While we all make mistakes, is it too much to ask that another member of staff checks spelling and grammar on any communication from a business?!  My own pet hate is people using “your” when it should be “you’re”. 

“Flock to Unlock” Twitter Tool

In the run up to the start of the new soccer season, Puma has used a Twitter tool, “Flock to Unlock”, to drum up interest in its new global ad.   This sees users who help reach the critical mass of tweets treated to a sneak preview of the advert.   Puma also has the celebrities who feature in the ad – Usain Bolt and footballers, Mario Balotelli and Sergio Aguero - tweeting their followers about it – with a combined reach of over 19 million!

www.marketingweek.co.uk/4011319.article?cmpid=mwbreak_448628

See Twitter’s guide on how to use “Flock to Unlock” here -

http://bit.ly/1mlM9wL

Newstalk & Today FM attract more listeners but RTE still tops

If you advertise at all with any radio station, no doubt you have been bombarded with emails from them since last week’s JNLR (Joint National Listenership Research) figures came out – the JNLRs show which radio shows are attracting more listeners, which are losing some and importantly the overall number of listeners the various shows have.  But of course, in terms of relevance to your business, it’s not numbers that count, it’s the socio-demographic information behind those numbers.  Nevertheless, the Irish Times’ analysis of these figures is always worth looking at so here’s their take on it.   

http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/media/kenny-draws-listeners-to-newstalk-but-rt%C3%A9-still-dominates-1.1884189

Should a restaurant use social media?

In this regular advice column for SMEs in the Irish Independent, a restaurant owner asks Feargal Quinn if his business should be online.  As the food community is very active online particularly on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram, the answer is most definitely, “Yes”!   It’s also a business tailor-made for social media as food is so visual.

http://www.independent.ie/business/small-business/problem-solver-how-do-you-showcase-your-business-online-30472352.html

www.linkedin.com/company/diy-pr

www.twitter.com/diyPRireland

5 tips to improve your 'Clickbait', SMEs - how to pitch to media & marketing to Fitness Fanatics

5 tips for ‘Clickbait’

No matter how good your content is, if you don’t have ‘clickbait’ not many people will get to see it.  A new term to me I have to admit, “Clickbait” is all about producing headlines that just beg people to click on and/or open them to find out more!  PR Daily features 5 tips on how to improve yours – 1) Headline, 2) Numbered Lists, 3) Relate the message to the audience and …..for the rest, I’m taking their advice and getting you to click on this link!  http://goo.gl/8wIqnp

SMEs – how to pitch a story to the media

This is a good, practical guide for SMEs on how to pitch a story to a journalist.  Things to remember include: ask yourself if your story is newsworthy; develop a one sentence explanation of your story (I like her tip about phrasing this as if you were telling a friend); whether to pitch by phone or email (personally, I do email first, then phone and then usually have to send it again by email anyway!) – more tips here:

http://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2014/jul/28/small-business-pitch-story-journalist

Marketing to Fitness Fanatics

I really like this series that Irish Marketing Journal (IMJ www.adworld.ie ) is running in association with Kantar/TGI where they give insights into which marketing techniques work best for different audience segments.  This week it’s fitness fanatics and apparently 79% of them are more likely than the average adult to purchase from companies that sponsor sports events or teams.  Outdoor advertising works particularly well for them – outdoor isn’t just those large posters u see as you drive home or ads on the Luas or DART, it also includes ads in pubs and clubs, interactive screens in shopping centres and much more.

http://www.adworld.ie/news/read/?id=f3e5f3d5-66e6-4bf1-aac7-9db5dc04a464

www.linkedin.com/company/diy-pr

www.twitter.com/diyPRireland

Beauty Success Story, Jodie Kidd Brand Ambassador & targeting Dubliners

Beautiful Success Story!

Most female readers will likely have heard of Glossybox – the beauty box company which sends miniature beauty samples to customers.   Just short of their 3^rd anniversary, they are doing business across 3 continents and 10 countries and in today’s Guardian, Rachel Kavanagh, MD, for Glossybox UK & Ireland, gives her tips which include: know your brand, know your products and what makes them different and make good hires.

http://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2014/jul/21/beauty-industry-glossybox-sme

Interesting Celebrity Tie Up

This is an interesting celebrity tie-up - sports lifestyle firm, Green Lamb, which produces ladies’ golf wear and is based in Cork has signed up the cool Jodie Kidd as the ‘face’ of their brand.   The former party girl who is best known as a model and horsewoman - as well as getting to the final of the UK Celebrity Masterchef last week, topping the celebrity fast lap leaderboard in “Top Gear” for a series and competing in “Strictly Come Dancing” a few years ago - has presumably been brought on board to help increase the brand’s profile in the UK?  Apparently she is also a keen amateur golfer with a handicap of 18 so she is a relevant choice.  Wonder how Green Lamb felt when the pic used to announce the partnership in the story below featured Kidd in the nip?!   You never have complete control when working with high profile people as they have featured in so many photos and so many articles before the partnership.

http://www.independent.ie/business/corkbased-firm-green-lamb-signs-supermodel-jodie-kidd-30433966.html

Reaching more Dubliners

Good news for any business trying to target Dubliners - the Gazette Group of newspapers now has 7 newspapers covering the greater Dublin region.  The “Dublin City Gazette” joins the existing 6 newspapers which span the M50 – Dundrum, Dun Laoghaire, Swords, Blanchardstown, Lucan and Clondalkin.  Combined they have a circulation of 57,000+ and can be collected from any one of 250 collection points.

http://www.adworld.ie/news/read/?id=f85125c5-e453-4f42-b482-508a737302fd

www.linkedin.com/company/diy-pr

www.twitter.com/diyPRireland

Product Placement solution to fast-forwarding ads, Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling & more..

Product Placement & 'Digital Insertion' - solution to fast-forwarding ads? 

With so many people recording programmes and fast-forwarding through the ads and/or viewing programmes on services like Netflix, product placement looks set to grow and grow.  It’s been around for years but now that ‘digital insertion’ is possible e.g. inserting different brands into different programmes or films after they have been filmed – as relevant to that particular marketplace, it looks like it will have exponential growth.  This is an interesting article from Joe O’Shea.

http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/television/tv-news/why-product-placement-is-now-bigger-than-ever-30425167.html

Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling

Another great article from prdaily.com on how to construct a story - I really like number 14  - “Why must you tell this story? What's the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That's the heart of it” - and I agree with the author that no. 9 is also very good – “When you're stuck, make a list of what wouldn't happen next. Lots of times the material to get you unstuck will show up.”

This one is a rap on the knuckles – “Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating” – bah, humbug, she’s removed an easy option!

http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/16845.aspx?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Savicom&utm_campaign=What%20makes%20a%20perfect%20social%20profile%3B%20Facebook%27s%20%27golden%20rule%27%20violation%3B%20The%20problem%20with%20%27Re%27%3B%20New%20Twitter%20analytics%3B%20and%20more&utm_term=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.prdaily.com%2FMain%2FArticles%2F16845.aspx&utm_content=grainne%40grainnebyrnepr.ie

Dublin Samaritans want to be ‘first port of call’ – not last resort

Dublin Samaritans this week will launch their “Talk to Us” awareness campaign which is targeting men as research shows that middle aged men are now the group most at risk of suicide. They’re encouraging men from the ‘buffer generation’ (caught between the stoic, silent, austere style of their fathers and the more open, individualistic attitude of their sons) to open up and talk to someone about their feelings.  Next week Dublin Samaritans volunteers will take to the streets of the capital to remind people that they are there 24/7, 365 days a year for people who are struggling to cope.  Disclosure, I do some PR work with the Dublin Samaritans – a fantastic group of people.

http://www.businessandleadership.com/marketing/item/46758-dublin-samaritans-to-take/#

www.linkedin.com/company/diy-pr

www.twitter.com/diyPRireland

Twitter masterclass from Apprentice social media guru, 9 Qs to help discover Brand YOU etc

Twitter Masterclass from BBC Apprentice social media guru

To stand out on Twitter - Be Human, Be Different, Be Funny - so says David Levin, the man responsible for the social media campaigns for BBC’s The Apprentice, for BBC’s The Voice and many more.  Also see if you can catch a ‘topical wave’ like Tourism Ireland did for the Kimye honeymoon.  This article also cites Mr. Tayto as doing social media well – its Facebook page has 275,000 fans.

http://www.independent.ie/business/why-social-media-really-clicks-with-irish-companies-30409205.html

9 questions to help you discover Brand YOU!

Many of us SMEs plan each week to dedicate some time to planning, to working on the business instead of in it etc etc – but if you’re like me, the week slips by, you get caught up in operational stuff - and it remains on the To Do list.   So, this article on LinkedIn which suggests we do a “Quick Take on Brand You” – appealed – initially, of course, because of the reference to “quick”!  But, of course, if these things are to be done properly, they require some time and thought – so I’ve already started working on Brand Me today – honest!    

https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140707051838-8825351-9-questions-that-tell-you-what-your-brand-stands-for-today?trk=nus-cha-roll-art-title

Coup for Failte Ireland

Thumbs up to Failte Ireland who got international sportswear brand, Columbia to bring international key adventure and outdoor journalists to sample the Wild Atlantic Way very recently.  The journalists took part in adventure sports in Donegal – some even taking part in Gaelforce North - and the photography and video footage that Columbia took will be used to promote its 2015 clothing range globally.  While I, along with Fiona Bolger Communications, am doing some work with Failte Ireland on their EDEN project, unfortunately I wasn’t involved in this!

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/transport-and-tourism/ireland-looks-a-picture-in-new-indirect-tourism-push-1.1856170

www.linkedin.com/company/diy-pr

www.twitter.com/diyPRireland