Thank you for being a friend-- NOT the Golden Girls version

Kuno Creative released a very interesting and wonderful info graphic about how much a Facebook friend is worth. Take a peak-- and I dare you to not start singing the Golden Girls theme song when you read the first line.

Pretty neat right?

Another One Bites The Dust

You know, there is a saying that celebrities depart in threes.  Sometimes this goes unnoticed, other times it is horrendously seen... As was the case with Farrah, Michael, and Ed in 2009. This subject is being tested right now with the sad and untimely passing of two adored music legends this weekend.  The first was the Queen of Disco... Ms. Donna Summer. Now, one of the last remaining Bee Gees, Robin Gibb.

Now, I really am hoping that this does not ring true this time.  With two legends gone within a day of each other, I don't think we can take another hit! So, in honor of Robin, here is one of my all-time favorite Bee Gee songs. Enjoy.

Another turn in this game of life

Well, I have officially graduated from college and everyone keeps asking me how it feels.  Well, honestly, it feels the same (it has only been 4 days).  My life is kind of in shambles at the moment because my family is moving in about 3 weeks and we haven't found a place to live yet!  I know all will work out, but it is still stressful.

I would like to say that I am truly upset about the passing of the amazing Donna Summer.  I love pretty much every one of her songs, and she sadly lost her battle with lung cancer this morning.  In honor of her untimely death, I am posting one of my favorite movie scenes from The Full Monty featuring her hit "Hot Stuff."

Rest in Peace Donna Summers.

5 Major Pranks Pulled Off By Big Name Brands

Happy April Fools Day!

In honor of today's lore of pranks and foolishness I thought it would be fun to show you 5 big pranks that big brands pulled on us!

Burger King


An ad was placed in the USA Today on April 1, 1998 introducing the "Left-Handed Whopper."  In the press release, it stated that the burger would "contain all of the same ingredients as a regular burger, but would be designed to fit more comfortably in the left hand."

Apparently the burger would result in less condiment spills as well because of the 180 degree rotation at which they would be placed on the burger to equally distribute the weight. Fancy.

Lefties and righties alike lined up alike to test out this new burger, not keeping in mind that burgers are round and circular.  The next day, Burger King released a statement telling everyone that the burger was a hoax.

Google... I mean Topeka


On April 1, 2010, Google announced that it would be renaming itself Topeka.

What makes this prank unique is that in March, the Topeka mayor announced that they would be unofficially naming Topeka, Google, to have the giant search engine choose their community for their "Fiber for Communities" program.

The next day, the site went back to normal, but not after a bunch of headlines!

Hulu looks very.... '90s?


On April 1, 2011, Hulu unveiled a new look and design.... that of a late '90s Geocities site.  The site included grainy images and simple fonts, along with of course, shows like 'The X-Files,' 'News Radio,' and 'Sliders.'

Taco Bell buys the Liberty Bell

This is one of the more memorable pranks because not only did the public fall for the prank, but it outraged them.

In 1996, Taco Bell took out a full page ad in six major newspapers indicating that they had purchased the Liberty Bell to help ease the national debt.

The ad said:

"It will now be called the ‘Taco Liberty Bell’ and will still be accessible to the American public for viewing. While some may find this controversial, we hope our move will prompt other corporations to take similar action to do their part to reduce the country's debt."

Following releases explained that the bell would be splitting its time between Philadelphia and the Taco Bell Headquarters in Irvine, California.  As you can probably imagine, all of this upset just about every person NOT involved in the prank.

Therefore, by noon the company had released a statement crying foul and donated $50,000 to help with the up-keep of the bell.

NPR reports on a new teen trend of brand tattoos


On April 1, 1994, NPR reported that big companies like Pepsi, were paying teens to tattoo their brands on their bodies.  The teens were reportedly given a 10% discount after the tattoo was finished.

Teens from all over the nation were calling to to try and cash in on this sweet deal.

This blog update was brought to you by:

http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/11266.aspx

What's a Facebook Timeline?

Slowly but surely Facebook has been turning user's profiles into the new "Timeline" format, which has some banging their heads against their monitor screens and others happily going with the flow.  The bigger question is what does this mean for brands?

Well to start, Timeline will be different for personal pages and brands... Marketers need to rethink their strategy a bit, so here's a few tips:

Plan for the aesthetic changes first!

The new format is a total 180 from the previous Facebook profile.  This means that you need to analyze what each part of the format works best for what.  The cover photo will be an obvious choice to showcase the brand.  All in all, PR pro's should take a second and figure out how the looks of the page can benefit their brand.

Courtesy of Mashable.com

What's your brand's story or history?
Timeline is made for this.  Users can easily go back through the years via a simple click, but you want your story to be exciting and interesting.  Since Timeline is extremely visual, have a photo gallery of different ads from over the years, or maybe even a gallery of products and when they were first introduced.

Interacting with fans has changed.
Now, instead of asking fans to "like" a post if they have used your product, posts will need to be made in moderation to emphasize a chapter in your brand's life.  In other words, we aren't expecting the customer service users to go away, but don't spam your own page with useless posts, because most likely thousands of users have used your brand today (given the size of the brand).

So what should we take away from this? Facebook has changes that come around every now and then, and we all have to adjust.  If used properly Timeline can beautifully showcase any brand or image, it just takes a little more understanding and patience this time around.

Flipping the bird v. Exposed breast

Last night was the Super Bowl, as I'm sure all of you know.  The half-time show is always highly anticipated, and this year it was the Queen of Pop- Madonna.  Madge was joined onstage by a few new artists like Nicki Manaj, M.I.A., LMFAO, and Cee-Lo Green.  At one point during her duet with Madonna, M.I.A. flipped the cameras off- the screen went blurry for a second- and returned to normal.

Now, we all remember the now-infamous Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake incident known as "nipple-gate" when Ms. Jackson had a major wardrobe malfunction and her bare breast was exposed.

Woopsie Daisy...

Okay, now that was a pretty big deal, especially since it happened at the VERY end of the performance and the cameras were literally paused on JT and Janet.  The Parents Television Council (PTC) laid down the law after this occurred because the Super Bowl is a family event, and kids do not need to see nudity.

Well, a few years later we now have a new scandal with M.I.A.  Will the NFL, NBC, or M.I.A. be held responsible for the hand gesture?  While I personally don't think that this is all that offensive, people are comparing it to the Janet Jackson incident.

While I do think that it was not in the best interest of the performance, and all would be fine if this incident never occurred, I do not think that this is the end of world causing for strict new rules for the performance.  No one involved other than M.I.A. herself knew that she was going to do that.

I realize it is prime time, and everyone and their mother is watching, but the game is changing with television.  What can and can't be shown on TV is changing every year, and it is a live performance.  I think people need to calm down for a second and realize that 99% of the people watching, probably only noticed that the picture freaked out for a moment, not that she gave them the middle finger for a split second.

What's hot in the news? SOPA

On Wednesday, Jan. 18, major websites joined forces in protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) by blacking out their websites to the public.

Sites like Reddit and Wikipedia were among the big guns that contributed to this online protest.  It is kind of a scary time for the Internet because if SOPA is passed, the Internet as we know it will be dramatically changed.  Websites like YouTube will be gone, also photo/file sharing sites.  On Thursday, Jan. 19, Megaupload was shutdown and persons linked to the website were arrested.

Under SOPA, Internet providers are able to shutdown domains, with no due process or appeals.  After the blackouts on Wednesday, websites like Google, Wikipedia, and Reddit all gathered millions of signatures to try and kill the act, there was also an increase in phone calls to state representatives about the act.

At this point in time SOPA has been shelved indefinitely because of the huge amounts of anti-SOPA/PIPA protests that occurred on Wednesday.

For more information, check out these sites:

SOPA Strike

SOPA and PIPA Explained

Rest in peace Mr. Dunn

We all heard about the tragic accident that resulted in the death of Ryan Dunn from MTV's Jackass.  This death hits home to many people of my generation because we watched him, Bam, Steve-O and Johnny for years while we grew up.

I have decided to write my condolences to his friends and family, and also to say that it is NEVER okay to drink and drive.  Not even one drink.  It is very irresponsible, and so incredibly avoidable.  The only good thing to come out of this is that, maybe now, people will understand because someone that so many people know was killed as a result this action.  We all hear the stories of people from our communities dying tragically via drunk driving, but I think when someone famous passes as a result, as sad as it is, people pay more attention.

I hope that this intense grieving and loss is lessened in time for his family, friends, and loved ones.

RIP Ryan.

Confession

I had started to follow Ragan's PR Daily News because it was recommended by my professors, and at first it was just for the assignments.  After many-an-email of the top 5 stories, I have become enamored by some of the sarcasm that is featured within the feed. I am 21 years old and now have an appreciation for humor that is smart and not slapstick. I just want to say thank you, PR Daily News, for making me enjoy my major even more than I already do.

Ahh, yes.

Long time, no post.

Sorry all, during the last semester of my classes I had an internship with the Chamber of Commerce in Winona, MN.  It was a great experience, and I was extremely busy.  But, now that it is summer it is time to brush back up on my blogging skills!

More to come!

How to garner more retweets

For those of you in the "Twitterverse," having someone retweet you can be a nice confidence booster because usually they're retweeting you because you were A) funny or B) smart/clever.

So, how do you get MORE people to retweet you?  Well, according to the article, "How you can attract more retweets"  there are ten things to keep in mind to garner more retweets.

Numero uno:  Timing.

Think about when you're on Twitter.  It isn't usually at 4 AM, you would normally be on it during the work day (Shhh... Don't let your boss know this!) between the times of 12PM and 5PM.  Well, this is the same with the rest of the world.  

Number 2: People really like sharing links.

Retweets more three times more likely to happen if there is a link involved.  If you follow the right people, the news will come to you.

Number 3: Keep it personal.

People are pretty into themselves, so they respond to the words "you" and "yours".  It will engage the  follower and get them to click on the links!

Number 4:  Slow down.

Don't be the annoying person on Twitter to tweet every minute.  Your followers will become immune to what you have to say and may miss out on the information you are trying to share with them.  If you tweet less often, your thoughts are more likely to be shared.

Numero cinco:  Tweet about Twitter

If it's about what you're using, people are likely to respond... Pretty simple!

Number 6:  Hashtags can help!

Trending topics can open up a whole new universe on Twitter.  If you tweet something with a hashtage, a follower can click on it and see what everyone else is saying too!

Number 7:  Include a call to action!

"CHECK THIS OUT!" or  "read this" can make people more likely to click on your link and retweet.

Number 8: Include a RT please

Asking kindly is a nice, but kind of pathetic way to get someone to retweet.

Number 9:  Leave a little space

Leave room for followers to leave a comment, that way it's interactive.

Number 10: Adjectives FTW

Adjectives are the missing ingredient in a great recipe. Without them your tweets can be bland and unentertaining, but with the right ones... BAM! You've got one delicious tweet.

Tragedy in Tucson

My condolences and prayers are with the families of the victims of the tragic shooting in Arizona.  This was a senseless act of violence, but a few brave people stepped up to the plate and saved lives.  We can all learn from tragedies like this, but I want to strongly encourage you to not make assumptions and rash opinions on political parties and political views.  We can sometimes get carried away with things like this, and can often take things too far.

Celebrity Twitter "deaths" come to an end...

Celebrities like Alicia Keys, Kim Kardashian, Justin Timberlake, and many others agreed to "kill" themselves digitally, meaning that they wouldn't update their blogs, facebooks, twitters, and other social media sites until the charity, Keep a Child Alive (helps raise HIV/AIDS awareness in Africa and India), reached $1 million dollars in donations.

Well, much to THEIR surprise, it took a lot longer than expected.  It actually took a whole week to reach its goal.  By the sixth day, the charity had only raised around $450,000.  Half, roughly, of what they really wanted or needed.

Now, celebrities like Kim Kardashian, who can rake in about $10,000 per tweet, were starting to get anxious little fingers because of the money they were losing.  Some people involved thought that the campaign would raise enough money in 24 hours, but obviously that wasn't the case.  

Is it that these celebrities really don't have that large of a twitter presence as they thought?  Personally, I find that the celebrities shouldn't have not tweeted... they should have promoted and asked their followers to donate rather than assuming that they would take action.  It probably would've happened faster and they wouldn't have needed a $500,000 donation by Stewart Rahr, a billionaire that owns the pharmaceutical company Kinray.

Oh well, I'm happy that they raised money for a great charity, and now people can go back to reading the thoughts of these celebrities that we care about oh so much.

We apparently, are doomed for the future.

Jogging... jogging paths... jogger is murdered... murderer on the loose... redrum... Stephen King's 'The Shining'... oh lord shine your light on me... lightening strikes house.

We all know about how search engines can kind of overload you with information.  You type in something simple like jogging, and end up learning how to prevent power outages from gale force winds.  But here's a fun little tid bit about what WE search for on the internet.

This is the year's top searches, via Bing and Yahoo!

Yahoo! Top Ten:
1. BP oil spill
2. World Cup
3. Miley Cyrus
4. Kim Kardashian
5. Lady Gaga
6. iPhone
7. Megan Fox
8. Justin Bieber
9. American Idol
10. Britney Spears

Bing Top Ten:
1. Kim Kardashian
2. Sandra Bullock
3. Tiger Woods
4. Lady Gaga
5. Barack Obama
6. Hairstyles
7. Kate Gosselin
8. Walmart
9. Justin Bieber
10. Free

Okay, we are obviously obsessed with other people and keeping up with the whoever.  I am pleased to see at least ONE current event on the list (BP oil spill).  That gives me a glimmer of hope for our generations.  I'm not sure if this is bothering me because I watch/read the news on a daily basis, and MANY people my age don't and aren't educated on what is actually going on in the world and all that we seem to care about are celebrities.  Please people, you might think watching the nightly or daily news is boring, but I promise you, it is much better to at least know and acknowledge the world and national events taking place, than being completely oblivious.  Remember, one day, we're going to be the ones running the world, and if celebrities are all we ever care about, then we are seriously in trouble.

Sexism in Ads... Not Just for Women.

I think we're all pretty well-versed on the idea of sexism against women in the media, especially back in the day when the woman's place was in the kitchen (insert the woman jokes now please).  But as time moves forward, now men are becoming the subject of sexism in the media.  Whether they are being attributed to pigs (I think Jessie Spano a la "Saved by the Bell" may have wrote this one) buying Trojan condoms or just being a beer-guzzling idiot in commercials and printed advertisements.

In PR Junkie's "10 modern ads that are sexist toward men" they show these said ads, and surprisingly I had seen them all except for one or two.  It is interesting how when we see these ads, some of which are actually very old (maybe 5 years), and how at first I didn't think, "Oh, that's totally sexist against men."  I guess the times are a-changin'.

Holiday PR Trends

Tis the season!  The article "5 Holiday PR Trends You'll See This Year" by Mickie Kennedy informs us about what kind of PR trends we should expect this season from companies and organizations.

What's the most common you ask? Going online.  Most people hate the long lines, disheveled stores, cramped parking lots, and probably the people hounding you to buy something as soon as you step foot into their loud and heavily fragranced store.  Not to mention the people ready to kill you to get the hot-button item at Wal-Mart.

The crazies definitely come out during the holidays

It's not totally shocking since they've created a black friday for cyber shopping, but the numbers will probably be increased since most people will buy some of their holiday gifts online.

Don't you just love getting e-mails from your favorite stores telling you that you can get free shipping with a certain coupon code? Well, this season it will be very odd if any online retailer isn't offering free shipping with purchases.  Technically, from a marketing standpoint, it would be REALLY stupid of them not to because it will dramatically increase sales, even if the customers have to spend a certain amount to get it.  People, even me, are guilty of purchasing that extra little trinket to get the no-added cost at the end of the transaction.

Gift cards are the next trend.  People may think they're a cop-out gift for men who do last minute shopping, but retailers have learned that gift cards tend to lure customers back to their stores even after the cards are empty.  When I worked at Barnes and Noble, gift cards were our main revenue earners.  During the holiday season, we'd easily rake in a couple hundred thousand dollars in gift cards, and yes, it was from men, and yes it was the day before Christmas Eve. (Sorry!)

Even though the economy hasn't been really great lately, a surprising trend is toys!

Now that's what I call a Nerf Gun!

Toys will be placed at the store fronts and near registers in stores with the hopes of you picking up one for your kids or maybe even for yourself.  People really do try to make it "the best holidays ever!" in their kids' minds, so having the toys within eyesight will probably make us buy them.

Last but not least, and once again beating the dead horse, SOCIAL MEDIA! Yes, everyone is talking about social media, but it really is not a passing trend.  Retailers and companies want direct contact with their customers, and what is a better way than via Facebook or Twitter?  If you follow any companies, expect an influx of posts related to sales and promotions.  I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.

Some Non-political tips that us, PR people, can learn from the recent elections

In the article, "Five (Non-Political) Public Relations Lessons from Campaign 2010" written by DeVol, lets us know some tips that we can learn from this years election, even if the people you voted for didn't make it.

1. Nothing is off the record, ever.
Because of technology today, one little slip up of an F-bomb will pop up on youtube, twitter, facebook, or CNN.  Everything anyone says is relative to public scrutiny, so in other words, we need to give our clients media training.  That way, our clients can't do anything stupid.

2. Bloggers are just as important as reporters.
As DeVol says, "Blogging is word of mouth on steroids."  People are more likely to take business advice from a blog that they read on a daily basis than something they only read occasionally.  The biggest blogs get almost 2 MILLION hits a day...I repeat, 2 MILLION hits PER DAY.  That is outrageous!  I mean, bloggers today aren't what people once thought bloggers were, i.e. weirdos in their mom's basement.  They are just as, if not more, important as reporters.

3. Anyone not using social media is getting left behind.
Because social media is a big deal nowadays, politicians use it to promote their campaigns, just as regular people tell you A) who they voted for, B) how you should vote, and C) that they did indeed vote.  If you don't know how to use Twitter, Facebook, or anything else you are being left behind in the dust, because the rest of the world is sojourning on.  If you want to be able to promote yourself or business successfully, you need to know how to use social media, or hire someone that does! Easy as pie.

4.  Personal touches still matter.
Even if you know how to use all of the social media sites, if they're boring, no one will read it or visit it.  DeVol explains that these sites are like an easel and paintbrush, and adding your personal touches to them can make them outstanding and gain more attention.  For inspiration, think of what Bob Ross would do.

5.  Keep your political thoughts off of your social media sites.
No one enjoys the obnoxious campaign commercials we are bombarded with once September comes around, so don't tell everyone who you support.  Why? Because no one REALLY wants your opinion, and why would you want to alienate half of your potential customers?  Your sites should be about your company or organization and the company or organization's mission/value statements... not YOURS.  Ever heard someone ask another person who they voted for and they reply, "I don't need to tell you"?  Well, that's how it should be online too.  We are constantly told, "crazies vote for this person, blah blah blah" and we don't need it from you too.


Overall, I thought that this article was entertaining and great advice.  It's great because we are learning about social media releases and press releases, so having some realistic tips is always a good thing... and I enjoy putting my spin on what the writer said.  I mean, who else would incorporate Bob Ross into a PR blog article?

On this gloomy day, I'd like to write about my generation.

This is a slightly more personal-esque post, but still keeps with the general purpose of this blog.  I wrote one post a few moments ago, and then gladly heard "You've got mail!" from my BlackBerry.  Inside, was yes, my PR Daily Newsfeed email...ahhhhh.

In this most-very-recent email, is an article about MY generation and how we basically have job ADD.
This article that I speak of is entitled, "The Price of Millenial Flibbertigibbetness?" My generation is referred to as the Millenial generation, probably because we have never worked before the new millennium.  Back to the point, the author of this article seems to believe that because we (my generation) are more likely to think that working somewhere, for say 3 years, is a long time that we are creating the work environments to treat everyone like they're seasonal helpers because we move on to new jobs fairly quickly.  The author mentioned that he has been working at the same company for 16 years, but I have only been LEGALLY able to work for about 4-5 years.  So, when I worked at Barnes and Noble for 4 years... that was a LONG time for me.

I think that the author has valid points, that it may not be in the best interest for my generation to go from job to job, but the article is very generalizing.  The article makes it seem like my generation isn't made up of hard workers, but only bored 20-somethings looking for the next best thing to come along.  If anything, I think my generation has a pretty tough outlook on jobs.  We've witnessed lay-offs of hundreds of people in a few days, a horrible economy, a war that brings with it outsourcing of jobs, ponzi schemes, and other events that, yeah, make us pretty wary to stay with a company for fear of these events happening directly to us.

I think another obstacle in the way for us is our parents' generation.  They have been running the world for a while, and with everything new coming into play (technology, new laws, etc) they've kind of freaked out a little bit.  Yes, my generation is addicted to technology, but people, use it to your advantage.  I can't count on my fingers how many times my mom has asked me to figure out how to use her phone, camera, or computer program for her and I've never even touched that piece of equipment before.  We just do it, and if you treat us like we're a welcomed part of the team, we can probably work wonders for you and your company.

I don't think that it is a matter of attention span for how long we keep our jobs, I think it has to do with what we have witnessed growing up, the same way that it has affected every other generation.  Plus, we're young still.  I know people that are almost 30 and still don't know what they want to do for a living, so please do keep that in mind, but try not to make it hinder us in the long run.

6 ways to optimize your blog for search engines

On the Social Media Examiner website, an article written by Jim Lodico called, "6 Ways to Optimize Your Blog for Search Engines," explains how people can use certain words and other technics to pop up on search engines more frequently.  The tips that are presented in this article are: start with quality content, determine targeted key words, write strong meta titles and descriptions, analyze and revise, internal and external links, and optimize the url.  In the article, Lodico goes into more detail about why each of these tips are important and how you can do them yourself.

This article relates to my PR class, because we are required to blog, and we have gradually learned how people have gotten job offers or other great things happen by simply blogging.  Having this type of information available is great for people blogging about their life or for a company because it will help them get their blog more traffic and attention, which I think everyone wants.  Granted, some of the tips listed above, may be a little more tech-savvy than others but with Lodico's explanations I think that everyone should be able to use them with little to no trouble.

STOP SHOUTING AT YOUR CUSTOMERS!

Today I read an article entitled, "Are You Listening to--or Shouting at--Your Customers Online? " and it was actually really funny.  It was funny because it was true, there are thousands of examples of companies constantly using all caps when promoting things on social media sites.  What really got me was they brought up the dearly departed Billy Mays.  They explained that people listened to Billy not because he was yelling at them, but because they actually liked him.  People don't like YOU yelling at THEM, so for the better of your business, you should turn the caps lock off.  The article gave examples of what not to do, like this for Twitter:

"ONE DAY SALE! BUY! NOW!" or "WOW, MY COMPANY SOLD ____ IN ONE MINUTE!"

Once the article was done describing the things that shouldn't be done, they informed the reader of what they could do.  They explained that there are four ways to talk to your online customers rather than yell at them, and I found them to be right.  If there is a customer service rep ready and available to comment on questions and concerns 24/7 people will probably come back more often.

A personal example would be that I follow Clarisonic on Facebook and on their fan page someone comments on every single post made by a fan.  Everything from just saying "thanks!" or answering questions or concerns.  It is actually pretty impressive because I don't think most people expect that from a company.  It wouldn't be hard for me to believe that people would assume that a company's fan page was stagnant and no one every checked it... That's what I would think.  I think that that is really good PR because Clarisonic is staying in touch with their audience by updating them on new products and sales but in a great "one on one" way.

We haven't really discussed this topic in any of my classes that I've taken thus far, but since I am constantly shopping online and view a lot of company pages, I can say that I do get really turned off when there are "shouting messages" constantly being displayed.  Thanks for writing this article to help companies tone down their loud messages to us unsuspecting customers.