A Search Engine that Saves the Rain Forest
Is it possible for a new search engine to stand out against giant Google? Ecosia, founded a few months ago, is attempting just that by marketing itself as a green search engine. Ecosia servers run on green electricity and 80 percent of the search engine’s income will be donated to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Yahoo and Bing are providing Ecosia with search results and sponsored links. On average, each search on Ecosia saves 21.5 square feet of rain forest. The WWF said in a press release that the average Internet user could protect about 21,500 square feet of rain forest every year by using Ecosia, which is about the size of an ice hockey rink.
- Date: 08.25.2010
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HTML5: “You Keep Using That Word. I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means.”
HTML5 is undoubtedly a hot topic in web development these days and, fueled by Steve Jobs’ anti-Flash comments, the trend toward building “HTML5″ sites and applications has caught the attention of clients and marketers alike. However, many of these non-technical people don’t have a clear picture of what HTML5 actually is.
HTML5 is being thrown about as a buzzword to include all kinds of emerging open web technologies. Things like CSS3, geolocation, SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics), Web APIs and even mobile are being grouped in under the umbrella of HTML5. Even Apple’s own HTML5 gallery, designed to show off their browser’s support for HTML5, famously did little to clarify the situation (only two of their seven demos actually show off HTML5 features). This is definitely not the first time the web development industry has had a potentially inaccurate name slapped on new technology. Just like back in the dark ages (way back around 2004) “AJAX” was the term on everyone’s lips. It originally stood for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, and was basically a method for web applications to retrieve data from the server and update the page without a complete page refresh, but it was inaccurately applied to everything from simple JavaScript animations to glossy button graphics. Despite the confusion, the demand for “AJAX-y” sites enabled programmers to innovate and perfect techniques that have shaped modern web development.
So, while some developers argue that we need to clarify the difference between the hype and the technology, maybe the misuse of “HTML5″ as an industry buzzword isn’t a bad thing after all. Ultimately, what could be an annoyance to developers could end up being the saving grace of the open web. Seattle area web developer, Jeff Croft, sums it up perfectly: “But who cares? Ultimately, the coining of “AJAX,” and it’s (mis)use got us into building a lot of awesome things that are useful to regular people. Today, “HTML5″ is doing the same thing. That’s something to be stoked, not upset, about.”
- Date: 08.12.2010
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The Future of PR is Here
Recently, I was involved in examining resumes and interviewing for two internship positions here at MSL Digital and I’m struck by how accomplished the applicants are in professional social media work. Our embarrassment of applicant riches is in part explained by the nature of the economy and job market here in southeast Michigan; I think a lot more people are looking for work, even internships, than might be otherwise. But I think it also indicates that the PR professional of the future, one with well rounded experiences in content creation, community management and other skills, has arrived. Honestly, I wanted to hire them all.
I’ve been involved in the hiring and management of interns and AE-level positions before and I see a definite trend occurring. Here’s what I think the well rounded PR professional should have these days when it comes to social media, recognizing that not all candidates for entry level positions will have had a chance to try their hand in all areas, and here’s where I’m seeing the most experience on the applicants I’m reviewing. If you can use this as a checklist for your own skills or the skills of those you should be hiring, I’ll have contributed something valuable indeed – after all, I think the nature of our work on the digital side of PR and communications is evolving so rapidly that no one has had a chance to nail down what comprises the “compleat” professional.
1) Personal social media use. This one’s a given. Used to be that when we’d ask applicants about their experience in social media they’d always disregard their personal use of it as irrelevant. Not so these days. It’s more common to hear that applicants are personal consumers of blogs and blogging, Facebook, Twitter and others.
2) Content creation. Often, this is where applicants shine. They’ve been taught to write and sometimes produce video and graphics in school and have had a chance to produce materials either as students or young professionals. News and feature writing at college papers (print and online), email newsletters, blogging (professionally or as a hobby) are in evidence on the resumes I’m seeing.
3) Community management. Another area where entry-level applicants seem to have the most experience. I’ve noticed that often, daily management of Facebook and Twitter pages are seen by some companies as a junior function. I sometimes feel companies go, “I don’t get our Facebook page or see much value in it – give it to the intern.” A lot of the entry-level applicants I’m seeing have babysat and sometimes driven the strategy for these platforms.
4) Client training and policy development. A good opportunity for professionals at this level to grow is in the development of documentation for clients on what social media is and how it can be used. To be sure, at firms like ours the POV paper or official social media policy is a document involving the highest level of skill, authority and collaboration. But I’m seeing a lot of applicants that had to determine what some aspect of social media was and write up a memo for their supervisor or client and provide training in its use.
5) Outreach. This is a skill usually missing in the applicants I see. Maybe it’s that few firms seem to do influencer outreach aka social media relations the way we here at MSL Digital do, but very few people I interview have “pitched bloggers” and other influencers to any great degree. Now, I’m a big believer in training, coaching and mentoring and believe anyone can be taught, but when I’m looking for someone to contribute to our pitch teams I’m usually more drawn to someone from a traditional media relations background, someone that loves to pitch (and many PR people, ahem, do not love to pitch). We’ve had a lot of success adapting traditional practitioners of this craft to social media.
- Date: 08.02.2010
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Eight Lessons the Wu Tang Clan Can Teach Us About Social Media
I have a confession to make. I’ve been poking fun at the social media blogosphere for its numerous blog posts with this theme – X things Y can teach you about social media. I’ve derided them for their lack of creativity and repetitiveness. But I like them. I have a hard time keeping up with all the valuable insights and information in the blogosphere on our industry and I have to admit that Z things-themed articles make it easy for me to digest good ideas and give my own creativity a little jump. I can always pursue specific ideas that these articles bring to my attention through search and networking with my peers, or file something away for later.
So with tongue firmly in cheek and my apologies, I give you: Eight Lessons the Wu Tang Clan can teach you about social media. Please watch for my future BlogWorks articles: “11 Business Truths Revealed by the Talking Heads” and “James Brown’s Five-Point Innovation Manifesto.”
1) A Game of Chess is Like a Sword Fight; You Must Think Before You Move.
Obvious, really! Cull insights from relevant sources and develop a clear strategy before engaging in social media.
2) My Peoples Are You With Me Where You At?
Identify the influencers, evangelists and advocates relevant to your attack. I mean, program.
3) Killa Bees, They On a Swarm
It’s true. Social media participants often operate in large numbers that resemble a cloud of deadly insects.
4) Cash Moves Everything Around Me – CREAM! Get the Money, Dolla Dolla Bill, Yaw
Keeping client relations and a sustainable revenue stream foremost is of great benefit to one’s business. Bottom line, really, keep your eye on it, Tical.
5) They Call Me The Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Cuz There Ain’t No Father to My Style
Social media demands true originality. In truth, push the envelope and do something unique, yet effective. Shame uh yuh, for anything less.
6) Protec’ Ya Neck!
Define clear goals and ways to measure success. Seriously, you don’t wanna get your head chopped off. That is, you don’t want your KPIs aversely affected.
7) Everybody Wants to Talk About the Good Ol’ Days, the Good Ol’ Days
Nostalgia! A powerful force and reference point.
Where My Killer Tape At?
Once you earn an influencer’s trust, don’t abuse it. Seriously, how you gonna lose Meth’s tape when he let you hold it?
- Date: 07.28.2010
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How NOT to Pitch Bloggers
As an active mommy-blogger, I get many pitches from PR reps, on a weekly basis.
As a PR practitioner, with over eight years experience, now working in digital PR, I often find myself evaluating these pitches from a different point-of-view than most other bloggers.
Here at MS&L, my main responsibility is to pitch our clients’ products and services to bloggers. I work hard to craft clear, concise and compelling pitches. That’s why I am so shocked by how many bad pitches I receive.
Because I’m in PR, I try to give each and every pitch I receive (even the bad ones), the benefit of the doubt; because, I know that most times the product or service is a good one. Unfortunately, most bloggers aren’t like me. They’re not in PR, so they probably don’t even read the pitch because, on the surface, it doesn’t seem to be a fit, for their blog.
If you or your company has a product or service that you feel would be of interest to bloggers, take note of the following.
When sending a pitch, DO NOT:
Send a form pitch letter – I cannot stress how important it is, for your pitch to be individually catered to each and every blogger and their blog’s content. I’m not saying that you have to craft a new pitch every time, but adding some specific intro copy, would be good. For example, just this past week, I received two pitches for products for little girls. If they would’ve just spent a few minutes, looking around my blog, they would’ve realized that I have a 4-year-old boy and known not to send me the pitch.
- Ask the blogger to go to your website for more details – Most bloggers you pitch get several pitches per week. Some also have “real” jobs, in addition to blogging. They don’t have time to search around for information on every product that’s pitched to them. Always try to include all pertinent information, in your pitch.
- Send a pitch, with no call to action – Recently, I was emailed a press release for a product that I was really interested in. But the email didn’t include a request for product review. When sending a pitch, be sure to ask yourself, “Why would the blogger be interested in this product?” Be sure to include the answer, in your pitch.
Follow this advice, and hopefully, you’ll have more success pitching in the blogosphere.
Happy pitching!
- Date: 07.22.2010
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Yahoo Launches New Style Guide for the Digital World
Mashable announced this week that Yahoo will release a comprehensive style guide full of tips and guidelines for producing digital content. Since both the PR and journalism industries have relied on the Associated Press Stylebook, almost exclusively, for decades, it’s unclear how the new guidelines will be received, and the “word nerd” community is abuzz with feedback. Even Mashable, staying true to AP style, fails to use Yahoo’s trademark “!” in any mentions of the company.
Recently, some have found fault with the trusty old AP stylebook, especially as new words and phrases enter the digital realm. Just this year, the AP changed “Web site” to “website” in an effort to accommodate modern usage. The Yahoo Style Guide promises to be “a must-have for anyone who writes or edits for the web,” once it becomes available on July 6, 2010.
Our culture has made a habit of adjusting language to meet new technology, but what does this mean for the many traditionally-trained journalists and PR pros who are now, because of changes in the media landscape, writing more for online audiences than offline ones?
Following the release of the Yahoo Style Guide, we’ll provide an in-depth review, so stay tuned for more.
- Date: 07.01.2010
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The Social Web is Sink, Swim or Grab a Life Jacket
You know how you go to a website and you see those little buttons with the logos of Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other social networks on them?
Those aren’t for decoration, but many businesses, organizations, and other websites seem to think they are.
Case in point:
The other day I was looking up one of my favorite water ski show teams. I grew up competitive show skiing and lately have really been missing my sport. My best friend (we grew up involved in the same ski club) and I are thinking about taking a for-old-times’-sake trip to the U.S. Show Ski Nationals this year, and I was curious to see what a few of my favorite teams were doing.
I’m not going to call out which particular team I’m referring to, because it is a legendary team, near and dear to my heart. Besides, I’ve seen this happen all too often online.
However . . . upon going to the team’s website, I noticed it had been redone since the last time I had visited it, which was about six months ago. Right there, front and center, is “Follow us on . . . ” followed by the standards buttons for Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
As a social media professional this excited me to no end. I couldn’t wait to see what my favorite team had been up to, and was looking forward to seeing some videos of their latest shows and acts.
Their Twitter account hadn’t been updated since August 19, 2009. Their last sign in at their YouTube account was a year ago, and their featured video was highlighting their 2004 show. Their most recently uploaded video was dated January 20, 2009.
On Facebook, 1,183 “like” them, but their last update was almost two months ago.
This saddens me for many reasons. As a fangirl for this über team, I was very much looking forward to seeing what my favorite team was up to and interacting with them online. As a social media professional, it further emphasizes one of the key aspects of the social web:
You must cultivate your garden if you want it to grow.
If you don’t keep your content fresh, both on your website and your social networks, not only will you will fade into SEO oblivion, but you will disappoint your brand enthusiasts/evangelists, and your community will either a) wane, or b) not grow to its full potential.
The social web is no joke. If you’re going to make the commitment to have presences on certain networks, you better be fully prepared to fulfill that commitment to your community with frequemt updates. If you’re going to put the “Follow us on . . .” buttons on your website, people expect you to be active. If you don’t have designated people to update your social networks, if you have organizational problems internally, if your legal department is a PITA, or if there’s some other reason why you’ve got presences on social networks and you’re not active, please take the social network buttons off your website. You’ll be doing yourself a favor.
If you, your business, organization, or whatever are willing to dive into the social web waters head first, reality is that there’s no boat to tow you and your team. It’s sink or swim, and if you can’t do it yourself and need a life jacket, that’s what agencies are for.
Photo by Spierson82.
- Date: 06.28.2010
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A Public Service Message to AMU: Update Your Google Ads!
Today I clicked on a Google ad that was displayed above my Gmail inbox. It read: “Sports Coaching – www.amuonline.com – Begin coaching sports in your area with a coaching degree from AMU.”
But instead of seeing a convincing landing page, I got a blank page with this error message:
“The AMU website has moved! If you have reached this page from a bookmark, please use www.amu.apus.edu”
This means that American Military University, a for-profit institution, is wasting money on ads that go nowhere. Someone is not paying attention. Are you?
- Date: 06.23.2010
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Is Apple Making Google Search Irrelevant?
A provocatively titled post from 24/7 Wall Street predicts that Google’s search dominance will be toppled by none other than Apple, due to the latter’s burgeoning apps selection.
According to 24/7: “The app experience is what Google wants to deliver… Effectively, the app is a personalized version of the search experience. In the next few years, the App Store will disintermediate Google from search results, threatening the search engine’s primacy on the Web.”
Moreover, projected sales of 100 million iPhones through 2011 and 10 million iPads through the end of this year will naturally extend the App Store’s reach. While Google gets points for Android, the blog dismissed Google’s ability to snag high-end developers to create software for the platform – because they are already developing for Apple.
Visit 24/7’s review of apps corresponding with Google’s most popular search categories for more discussion, “How Apple Killed the Future of Search.”
- Date: 04.14.2010
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Girl Scout Cookies Aren’t Just “Tagging Along” This Year
Nichole Mrasek
Account Supervisor
Samoas, Tagalongs, Trefoils, Do-si-Dos, are names that are synonymous with America’s favorite cookie pastime. Girl Scout Cookies have been around for decades and, each season, people wait for their local green-clad scout to come around so that they can place an order for their annual treat. This season, we’re in for a new treat, because our favorite little girls in green are on a mission. The Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) are undergoing a rebranding effort in order to breathe new life into the dwindling cookie sales and scout membership.
The message on GirlScoutCookies.org is clear and consistent: “Every Cookie Has a Mission: To Help Girls Do Great Things.” This little cookie has come a long way, including the addition of a growing social media presence on Twitter, Flickr, Facebook and YouTube. In fact, GSUSA utilized its cookie Web site and YouTube channel to showcase the new campaign. The “What Can a Cookie Do?” video brings to life the purchasing power of the cookie, showing how each dollar of cookie sales goes to a bigger purpose, from supporting local community efforts to helping shape girls’ futures.
According to MediaPost, the video served as a launching pad for a rebranding effort GSUSA undertook this spring. “Girl Scouts of the USA is an iconic American brand with huge awareness, but we want to create greater understanding that being a Girl Scout isn’t just about camping, or selling cookies — it’s about how opportunities like this build leadership in girls,” says GSUSA brand manager Ashlene Nand. “Essentially, we’re trying to brand ‘leadership.’ ”
It’s apparent that GSUSA understands the importance of speaking to its traditional audience, while expanding its reach and presence online. To withstand the test of social media time, the Girl Scouts will have to be tough cookies. However it appears the national rebranding efforts are helping the organization earn its branding badge. Read more from MediaPost’s Marketing Daily, “Girl Scouts Organization Is Going ‘Viral.’”
- Date: 03.24.2010
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