Media Monitoring News Archives

• PR Grants Awarded to 22 Not-for-Profits
• F.r.e.e and Low-Cost News Release Distribution Services
• Internet Tops Newspapers as News Source
• Five Proven Ways To Waste Money With Pay Per Click Advertising
• Utilizing Social Media in PR and Marketing: 50 Successful Tactics
• 2009 Calendar: Easy-to-Read 12-Month Calendar on One Page
• Worth Reading: Recent PR Articles of Note
• PR/Marketing Job Openings
• Best of Previous Issues

CyberAlert, Inc., (www.cyberalert.com), the media monitoring company, awarded PR grants this month to 22 not-for-profit organizations in the U.S. and Canada. Each grant consists of one full year of free news monitoring / press clipping services, ranging in value from $3,000 to $4,000. Over 220 organizations applied for the grants. Since starting its PR grants program, CyberAlert has awarded 124 grants to not-for-profit organizations with an aggregated value of over $350,000. For 2009, the grants focused on national and international organizations that provide "personal help" services for children and adults. Here's the list of 2009 grant recipients.

Press releases (distributed to reporters) and news releases (distributed to Web sites that publish releases unchanged or directly to consumers) are among the more important tools of corporate communications and marketing. Most large companies maintain their own media lists of press contacts for press release distribution or utilize fee-based services such as Business Wire to distribute their news releases.

In recent years, a number of f.r.e.e and low-cost news release distribution services have sprung up on the Internet in most developed countries. These upstarts offer basic press release distribution services, deliver additional exposure and readership for news releases, and help improve search engine rankings. The f.r.e.e and low cost news release distribution services are most appropriate for and used most frequently by smaller organizations that do not believe they can afford paid press release distribution services. Seasoned public relations professionals would argue that f.r.e.e and low cost services can not match the in-depth distribution of the long-established fee-based services.

CyberAlert has utilized multiple sources to compile a comprehensive list of f.r.e.e and low cost news release distribution services, no one of which provides the in-depth distribution of fee-based services like Business Wire, but nonetheless offer worthwhile distribution and search engine optimization links. As a service to its customers and public relations professionals worldwide, CyberAlert maintains and updates this list periodically.

To evaluate these news release services, check out reviews of the best f.r.e.e press release distribution sites in The Cheapskate's Guide to PR.

The Internet is now the most popular source of news after TV, according to the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, which released its year-end roundup of news media consumption.

In 2008, 40% of the respondents said they got most of their national and international news from the Internet, versus 35% for newspapers. The Internet's share is more than tripled from 13% in 2001 (24% in 2007), while newspapers fell by almost a quarter—from 45%, in those six years.

The data confirms the long-term declines of print newspapers—especially big metro dailies-but also affirms big increases in audiences of the online versions of newspapers. Newspaper Web sites attracted a total of 68.97 million unique visitors in October 2008 —up 64% from 41.96 million in October 2004. The October 2008 figure represents 42% of the American adult Internet-using population—up from 28% in October 2004.

TV still takes the top place as a news source, claiming 70% share in 2008—but that's down from 74% in 2007, and a peak of 82% in 2002 as most all audiences have declined for national and local TV news programs according to the Nielsen ratings.

The continued growth of the online news audience strengthens the case for using online media monitoring services vs. old-fashioned press clipping services.

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is the biggest lead-generation and viewer-gathering breakthrough to come about in a long time.

For small and midsize companies in particular, PPC is one of the most efficient marketing and advertising tools ever developed, thanks to its ability to narrowly target prospects, tightly manage spending, and precisely measure results.

It does, however, have a downside. Because PPC campaigns are so quick to set up and start, a business owner can easily waste thousands of dollars in a matter of weeks before learning some hard (and expensive) lessons about what works and what doesn't.

This incisive article by John Grant of TakeAimSearch.com, a PPC marketing specialist, details the most common mistakes made with PPC so that your PPC campaign begins generating results as quickly and cost-efficiently as possible.

> Full Story

While social media isn't always the right tactic to get the word out about companies, products and services, it's now clear that deploying social media for marketing and public relations can achieve significant reach and impact. Effectively utilizing social media for marketing and PR requires selection of the most appropriate tactics for a given goal and situation. This list of 50 ideas (in no particular order) by Chris Brogan (www.chrisbrogan.com) provides a superb launch pad to organize promotional and pr approaches to social media that are likely to succeed for your company or brand.

> Full Article

The folks at CyberAlert have created an easy-to-read 12-month 2009 calendar on one 8-1/2 x by 11 sheet and have made it available to all.

Those of a certain age don't much "get" Twitter. Daren Rose of TwiTip tries to help the nescientes (Latin: know nothings) in Five Ways I Benefit from Twitter. He also wrote 11 Ways to Use Twitter to Help Your Site Go Viral and 7 Ways to Be Worth Following on Twitter. Interestingly, VentureBeat found that 93 of the Top 100 Brands Don't Control Their Twitter Name. Now there's a reason to "get it" quickly.

Financial News Releases: What Reporters Want. Ever wonder what financial reporters really look for in material announcement and earnings releases? Three Reuters reporters were asked that question and here's their advice to IR professionals on the DOs and DON'Ts of financial announcements. Observation: "press releases" (sent to reporters) should have different content than "news releases" (sent to Web sites that publish the content unchanged). Press releases should avoid the corporate "puff" phrases common in news releases — especially hype phrases in the first paragraph — and stick to objective reporting.

Is Your Blog Leaking Trade Secrets. This article, published about a year ago, carries an important warning about monitoring your own corporate bloggers. It also provides guidelines on preventing data leaks by developing blogging policies and then training company bloggers.

If you're working overtime to create or refine your corporate blog, you'll be interested to read the Study: Consumers Don't Trust Corporate Blogs.

Corporate Reputation Management on the Internet: A compilation by IRM Consultants of 20+ articles from top journals on managing your corporate online reputation.

New Media, New Influencers and Implications for Public Relations: A study by the Institute of Public Relations examines how consumer voices in blogs and other consumer discussion media influence public opinion and affect corporate reputation — and how corporate public relations practitioners are utilizing the new social media to reach and influence the new influencers.

A repeat from last month, Article Submission Sites lists over 200 Web sites where you can submit white papers and other documents.

Just for fun, The Top 10 PR Blunders of 2008, compiled by Fineman PR. Add to those gaffes the story of how Spirit Airlines managed to screw up the feel good story of US Air 1549 that crash landed safely in the Hudson river.

The listing for this issue includes 12 PR job openings and 11 marketing positions - with detailed job descriptions for each. Readers are invited to submit job postings to jobpostings@cyberalert.com.

Public Relations Positions
Manager, Employee Communications - Philips
Communications Coordinator - Big Ten Network
Public Relations Coordinator - Rose State College
Public Relations Manager - CheckFree Corporation
Communications Coordinator - The Threshold Incorporated
Public Relations Manager - Farmers Insurance Group
Director of Public Relations & Communications - Barnhart Inc.
Manager, Media Relations & Public Affairs - American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Inc.
Media Relations Specialist - Elementool, Inc.
Director, Media - RadioShack Corporation
Chief Communications Officer - Windham Hospital
Executive Director, Public Relations - Bobbi Brown (an Estee Lauder Company)

Marketing Positions
Marketing Coordinator - Urban Outfitters
Mass Audience Marketing Manager - United Way of Greater Los Angeles
Director of Marketing & Public Relations - Southface Energy Institute
Online Marketing Director - RedEngine Digital
Group Marketing Manager - Intuit
Marketing Programs Manager - AGL Resources
Direct Mail Marketing Manager - Dow Jones
Senior Marketing Manager - Washington Post Digital
VP Marketing - OnlineShoes.com
Director Online Marketing - Embrace Pet Insurance
Sr. Marketing Manager Customer Communications - DIRECTV

CyberAlert is offering new and existing customers a special discount: buy one and get 50% off any consumer discussion monitoring service. Anyone ordering CyberAlert 5.0 online news monitoring service will receive 50% off Netpinions, BlogSquirrel, or CyberAlert VDO. There are additional discounts when ordering three or more services together. Try all the services for 14-Days at absolutely no cost or call 800-461-7353 for more information and a price quote.

Media Monitoring Check-Up
Questions to Ask When Choosing a Media Monitoring Service
Viral Video for PR: Guidelines for Success
Guide to Handling a Blog Crisis
Corporate Blogging: Lessons, Opportunities & Pitfalls
The Biggest Mistakes in Crisis Communications
Press Releases to Drive Web Site Traffic